The Lucky Ones
Chapter Four
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The Lucky Ones
By Terri Botta
Disclaimer: I don’t own
Inuyasha. Sole copyright belongs to Viz and Rumiko Takashi. I’m poor so don’t
sue.
Rating: R for later chapters.
Pairing: Inuyasha/Kagome,
Miroku/Sango
Summary: Sometimes Fate hands
you a gift you never thought you’d ever get, and it’s up to you to ac it
it
for what it is.
Feedback to:
tci100@psu.edu
Website: http://www.wordsmiths.net/Botta
*******
Chapter 4
The following day they reached
their destination and found that yes, indeed, there was a Shikon
shard nearby. It turned out to be in the forehead of a large centipede
intention of giving it up without a fight. Kagome discovered that it was
awkward firing her arrows with the baby positioned in front of her, so she
moved him to her back and that gave her more freedom to draw her bow.
addition, he reacted to her fear and began to cry. The
sound caught the centipede’s attention for one brief, fatal second and Sango
took the opportunity to cut it in half with hiraikotsu.
Once the danger had passed, Kagome
lifted the baby from her back and held him to her chest, rocking and soothing
him. Inuyasha jumped in front of her and rubbed the infant under the chin.
“Already a fighter, eh, pup? That
cry gave us the chance we needed,” the hanyou
praised.
“I don’t think he was trying to
help, Inuyasha,” Shippo answered.
Kagome patted the still whimpering
baby. “Ummm, I think he might be right, Inuyasha,”
she admitted.
He glared at her.
him immediately. “Well, I think you knew what you were doing even if these weak
humans don’t get it.”
Kagome gave him a tolerant look and
handed the baby to him. “I’m going to get the shard,” she said with a small
smile.
He took the baby and brought him
close to his face. “We both know better, right, pup? You’ll be getting your own
sword soon.”
The baby made a gurgling noise and
grabbed a lock of Inuyasha’s hair.
“How about he gets some teeth and
learns how to walk before you start teaching him how to swing a sword around?” Kagome
suggested dryly, dropping the shard into the vial she wore around her neck.
She opened her arms and he placed
the baby in them, giving him another ear rub. The look on his face was one of
paternal pride.
“It’s scary when Inuyasha’s happy a
baby helped us kill something,” Shippo said.
stunned silence and nodded.
“Remind me to keep him away from
our baby, houshi-sama…”
“Agreed.”
The baby began to make hungry
whimpers and nuzzled at Kagome’s chest.
“See. A good fight always builds up
an appetite. C’mon, Kagome. Let’s get something to eat,” Inuyasha enthused,
leading the way to a potential campsite.
“He really is scary, isn’t he?”
Sango commented.
Her husband nodded seriously.
Kagome gave them an apologetic look
and a shrug before following Inuyasha away from the centipede corpse.
“Wait. We should bury the centipede
and pacify its soul,” Miroku called.
“You do that while I hunt for
dinner!” Inuyasha responded.
“Yes, but…” the ex-monk began,
about to remind the hanyou that he was the best
choice for grave digging since none of them had a spade, but Inuyasha was
already gone.
Shippo
shook his head. “He’s such an impatient guy.”
“Well, there’s nothing to be done
for it,” Miroku sighed, following the others to the campsite Inuyasha had
chosen.
Later they did manage to get
Inuyasha to dig the grave for the centipede, but only after he had eaten four
fish and two cups of ramen. Oddly, Kagome found herself to be unusually hungry
as well and very very thirsty. She was so
water and went to the stream they had camped by for more.
“Oi,
Kagome. Are you alright?” Inuyasha asked, a hint of
concern in his voice.
“I think so. I’m just so thirsty.”
Inuyasha felt her forehead, then
his own. “I don’t think you have a fever, but here... just in case.”
He gave her his haori
and wrapped it around her shoulders. She smiled at him. “Thank you.”
“
sick. Who’d take care of the baby?”
She wanted to point out that he’d been
sharing baby duties rather well, except for changing him, but she thought the
better of it. She had long ago learned that Inuyasha always covered his concern
with an insult in order to protect himself, and even though he had started to
let his guard down with her when they were alone, he still put up the front
when they were around others. The fact that he asked after at all her showed
her that he was concerned for her welfare even if he had tried to cover it up
with a degrading remark.
“Maybe I’ve been eating too much
salt,” she offered, drinking another bottle of water. “I should be more careful
about what I eat.”
“
because it’s bad for me,” Inuyasha scoffed.
“I already say that, but I know if
I don’t bring it you’ll drag me back through the well and down to the grocery
store to buy some.”
“Damn right, wench.”
“Please don’t use foul language in
front of the baby,” she requested.
“Why the hell
not?”
“Because he will think that it is acceptable,
and it’s not. You may not care about how rude you are, but I want this- still
baby to grow up knowing his manners.”
“Hey!”
“It’s true. Your manners are
terrible, Inuyasha,” Shippo agreed, nodding sagely.
Inuyasha sputtered angrily.
what?!” He looked to Sango and Miroku, but they refused to meet his
eyes. “You guys too?!”
“Well…” Sango began, but he cut her
off with a snort as he plopped down next to Kagome, his arms in his sleeves.
“Fine, I won’t
fucking curse in front of the fucking baby,” he grumbled.
“Inuyasha.”
He cringed, waiting for it.
“
“Gah!” he
gasped as his face hit the dirt.
The baby made a burbling sound and
Kagome turned him to face Inuyasha. “See, Baby, this is what happens to rude
seals. They get binding prayer beads on their neck and someone forces them to
sit…”
Inuyasha slammed to the ground
again. The baby blinked and burbled again.
“See? Now, if you grow up nic
and
and learn your manners and don’t try to kill people, then this will never
happen to you.”
“Why you…” Inuyasha growled.
“Inuyasha…” Kagome said, warning in
her voice and eyes.
“
“Thank you.”
He picked himself up off the ground
and leaped into a tree, sitting just above them, sulking. Kagome sighed,
“Yes, I know. I’m tired too. It’s
been a long day, hasn’t it? What’s say we get ready for bed, hmm?” she said,
rubbing his puppy ears and smiling at him.
The baby closed his eyes and let
out a sleepy gurgle. She put him in his sling while she rolled out her sleeping
bag and did her nightly things. Then Shippo hopped
into her bag and settled next to her pillow as she climbed in, tucking the baby
to her chest.
“Goodnight everyone,” she said.
“Goodnight, Kagome-
Sango and Miroku replied, getting into their own bed roll as
“Goodnight, Inuyasha,” she called
up to the tree.
“Keh!”
She sighed, knowing he would sulk
all night, but hoping he’d be in a better mood by morning. The baby shifted
against her chest and an uncomfortable ache radiated from one of her breasts.
She frowned.
‘My
breasts are awful sore. I think he’s sucking too much,’ she thought to
herself, moving him so he wasn’t putting pressure on her sensitive flesh any
longer. She’d even left her bra on in an attempt to discourage him from trying
to nurse on her while she was asleep.
It wasn’t until she was warm and
comfortable and almost completely asleep, that she realized she was still
wearing Inuyasha’s haori.