Mending

A/N: This is becoming a rather deep fic. I wonder why I keep writing mpreg where there's so much controversy and angst?...

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The monk yelled out the names of both Inuyasha and Kouga as he made his wary way through the forest. The forest covered much of the hillside outside his home village, it was usually quite a chore to make your way through the undergrowth but not now. Many trees had fallen by the force of Inuyasha's all-over fury. Miroku could only shake his head, dread slowly seeping into his mind, what would he find when he found his hanyou friend or the ookami that Inuyasha had pursued with violence in his mind?

He'd rather not think about it.

Miroku followed the trail of the fight, slowly, cautiously. He'd made Sango stay behind with the child his hanyou friend hadn't known he had before today. The monk had had a responsibility for both his wife and unborn child, and the daughter Kouga had borne to Inuaysha. The idea of a male giving birth still unnerved him but he was taking it in stride. Youkai differed from humans, after all.

Yet the news hadn't sat well with Inuyasha at all. The hanyou still lingered, almost wallowed in his grief over Kagome. He seemed unable to get over her death, didn't seem to even want to get over it. It had been clear that Inuyasha was determined to die and follow her in the afterlife. If only his friends would let him. And he had seemed to be getting better. Yet the moment Miroku had heard Inuyasha's surprised intake of breath, one that had ended in a snarl, when they'd come to Kagome's grave... then he'd known the full extent of Inuyasha's sorrow. And his hate. The hint of maddened grief that the hanyou had harboured, had blossomed into an all-encompassing rage, a rampage.

The forest bore the all too familiar signs of Inuyasha's attacks, rash and uncaring of the surroundings.

Finally, Miroku saw Kouga's fallen form. The forest gave out to a small clearing, the trees grew more apart. And there, fallen, lay the wolf prince. Miroku saw too much bruised skin to his liking, and as he drew nearer, he gasped in horror for what he saw. There was no hiding how far Inuyasha's madness had taken him. Miroku had seen horrible wounds, had had horrible wounds, had bandaged them... yet this horrified him the most. He stood appalled, unable to not look. Such cruelty... The violation of Kouga's body, the blood covering his body in places it shouldn't have been... After a brief glance, Miroku averted his eyes, he felt sick.

'How deep does your madness lie? How much free reign did you give your youkai?'

The monk took a deep breath to steady himself and shrugged off the upper layer of his kesa. He bent down and gently wrapped it over Kouga's battered form, to give him at least a modicum of decency. The ookami was in all purposes naked, his clothes having been torn from his body by Inuyasha's uncaring claws. What the nature and extent of Inuyasha's attack had been was evident. Ragged lines of blood and bruises, claw marks, covered Kouga's body with intense focus on his hips and thighs.

The monk looked away for a moment again, cursing under his breath. It was not what he'd expected. He hadn't realized that his friends hatred for his one time rival, his one time lover ran this deep. Never would he have believed Inuyasha as capable of this kind of twisted violence.

He hooked his arms under the youkai's prone body and prepared to lift him up. He glanced at Kouga's face, saw a bit of blood trickling down his cheek, but with the bruises covering his face, it's source wasn't hard to guess. A brief thought came to his head about how Inuyasha must now lie collapsed somewhere in the woods, his youkai wouldn't be able to keep his worn body going after fighting so much. But it was a thought for later. With a stab of hate, Miroku thought that his friend deserved to lie somewhere in the woods, forgotten, for a while after the things he'd done. Even if Inuyasha's anger was understandable, the way he'd dealt with it was not. Anyway, Kirara would surely be tracking the hanyou's whereabouts by now, being his silent guardian.

Miroku got up slowly as not to jostle the unconscious youkai, he thought his current state must be a blessing. A short reprieve from the violence which would haunt Kouga for a long time to come. The monk cursed himself again, he should have stopped Inuaysha the moment the hanyou had prepared to leap. It was his fault, he should have known better and leave well enough alone and not let the two meet each other so soon, especially after how their initial meeting had come to an end. He shouldn't have let Inuyasha's sorrow, the ache of his loss, cloud his own judgement. Yet, how could he have known Kouga would have been there too?

And with his wife.

So, as Inuyasha had lost it, Miroku had had to protect those most dear to him. His wife and unborn babe. Their safety in the hanyous' violent presence had been a priority. Because Inuaysha had attacked with no regard even to the safety of his own flesh and blood, of Kouga's daughter. Attacking an innocent, a child... it was a testament to how deeply Kagome's loss had affected the hanyou's mind. Even if Inuyasha had always had a rash nature. But he had not succumbed to his youkai in a long time. Not once since Kagome's passing. She had been the anchor to keep him from slipping away from sanity into madness.

But no more. Now the memory of her had driven Inuyasha to do mad things.

The leaves on the ground rustled and Miroku's wife came to the small clearing with the infant, now wailing desperately in her arms. It was a tribute to how deep in thought the monk had been that he only noticed her when she was paces away.

“Miroku?” Sango asked as she saw Kouga being hefted up from the ground by Miroku. She took one look at the bruises on his face, his body shielded by Miroku's cloak. “Oh no,” she whispered. “How bad is it?...” She asked, not sure if she really wanted to know. A nagging suspicion presented itself in her mind, there was something in the way Miroku looked. Something that suggested that Kouga hadn't simply been beaten unconscious by Inuyasha. But she was afraid to ask, not wanting to admit to such a thing being possible. For surely... No. A reminder of a shared past, a brief if passing closeness, was wriggling in her arms. Inuaysha couldn't have...

She tried to settle the baby in her arms but there was no settling her. Aiko knew her parent was near, and she was scared, crying desolately. “Hush baby, hush...” Sango buried her face into the girl's shock of white streaked raven hair, as much to her own comfort as that of the child's.

Miroku sighed deeply. He needed to tell her, there'd been too many secrets already. And there'd be no hiding what Inuyasha had done to Kouga, in the brief time the assault had lasted. This time, Inuyasha would have to face up to the consequences of his actions in regards to the wolf. By her shock, the way she sought calm in the child, Miroku knew Sango had doubts. One's he hated to be able to confirm.

“Inuyasha raped him.”

His words were followed by her horrified gasp. He saw all colour drain from her face as she took in what was said. The enormity, the devastation that the act Miroku claimed had been done to Kouga entailed. And she shook her head. He couldn't blame her, if he hadn't seen it himself, he wouldn't have believed it himself, either. But the blood mixing with semen coating Kouga's thighs... Miroku wasn't fool enough to believe that the two males had coupled in full amity.

“He couldn't...” Sango murmured. “Not Inuaysha, surely?...” she looked at Miroku for him to deny what he'd just said, deny what she'd dared suspect, if only in her darkest thoughts.

“Why?” she asked, cuddling the crying infant in her arms, tears ghosting in her own eyes. “Hush, child, he's alive. There, there...” Her words did nothing to calm Kouga's small daughter. She was held by unfamiliar hands, had been jostled and handed about, had known the tension in the air prior to Kouga and Inuyasha's fight... she was crying her heart out. And it made Sango try everything to soother her. Hoping that if the child calmed down, it would put a stop to her own tears.

Miroku's brow furrowed briefly in grief. He sighed. “I will tell you later, Sango, my dear. But now we need to get him back to the village and get him some treatment. And get you off your feet too, Sango-love.” He looked at her, noticed how worn she was, even if she'd have denied it, had he commented to that effect directly.

“Might as well,” Sango mused, her eyes moist with tears. The child in her arms was heavy and the trip uphill had worn her out. “It was my last trip up the hill, I imagine.” She turned to go and Miroku followed. She was glad to have a task she could focus on, something to keep her mind occupied. But in her emotional state, she was unable to stop the tears falling from her eyes as she walked on, burdened by so many things, both mental and physical.

They passed the route of Inuyasha and Kouga's fight, saw the damage dealt to the trees. Inuyasha had not held back at all. It was a wonder to both how Kouga was even still alive. Maybe there was hope for him yet. Albeit judging from what Inuyasha had done, even if he'd given in to his youkai... both were doubtful if he could come back from the experience unchanged. They hadn't, knowing what he'd done, it would surely alter their perspective of him.

Miroku broke the silence before they reached Kagome's grave.

“I think I told you to go back to the village and wait for me, Sango.” His admonition was slight, and his glance at her direction quick enough that he saw her frown. He knew how much his wife hated to be ordered around.

“I know you did, but you know how I am.” She looked at him. Had he honestly thought she would have gone back alone while he went to investigate? Once their hanyou friend had gone after Kouga, she had been sure any danger to her had passed. And then she'd only been worried for Miroku. She'd come so close to losing him when he'd still carried his curse, back when all their lives had been so different. “Have to keep an eye on you.”

He smiled at her, hoping to get to the village soon as Kouga was heavy.

They passed Kagome's grave on their way back to their hut in the outskirts of the village. Sango stopped by the marker engraved with their friends name, looking at it with downcast eyes. She was still softly weeping. She inclined her head to the stone and whispered.

“I'm so sorry it had to come to this, Kagome...”

'Why didn't you tell me if you knew? Such a burden must have been so hard to bear alone...'

Miroku stood by her, looking at his wife and the child in her arms, pressed to her bosom that was waiting to feed their first-born. He saw the resemblance, the blend of the hanyou and youkai's features on the childs face. She would grow up pretty, Kouga would have to beat suitors away from her. But where would her other parent land in this equation? Would there be a place for Inuyasha in her life, as Kouga had undoubtedly hoped for? So many unasked questions... How had the child's origin remained a secret? Surely Sesshoumaru had known, and if not him, someone would have been privy as to the other parent of Kouga's child. The wolf was a prince, after all. But maybe in the youkai world it wasn't such a big deal. The monk shook his head, he could spin these questions in his head until the sun set but he had things to do, urgent things. He'd think later.

“Come, Sango-love.” Miroku said gently, Kouga's weight heavy in his arms as he said a silent prayer to the girl who had had such hardships to bear and had died so young, too young. On the cusp of happiness, denied the family she'd wanted to have with Inuaysha, she'd been snatched away. Miroku closed his eyes briefly, hoping she was in a better place now. Such a mess it all was.

Sango nodded and they began their ascent down the hill.

The sun was slowly dipping down under the horizon and they hurried their step. Once they had reached the bottom, the early evening air was rent by a desperate howl. It held such pain, such agony. They knew it's source, and knew that Kouga's assailant, their friend, had realized what he'd done. But they couldn't do anything about it right away. They had to get inside before night caught them outside. Kouga needed a healer, even if there were wounds on him that couldn't be mended by one.