Hey there, folks! Its FL again (and Dreamish is here too) and I've decided to do a little work on this hilarious short story and see what I can make of it. So, without further ado, Uh-oh, Puppy Ears.
Uh-oh, Puppy Ears
By
FL and Dreamish
Kagome gasped for breath as another wave of pain wracked her body. This was all his fault, although which male the term "his" meant was up in the air at the moment. She screamed, a gut wrenching sound that had Inuyasha pacing in short, quick strides.
Sesshomaru, on the other hand, chose not to show his worry. After all, he was, ostensibly, here for "moral support" for his younger brother. He leaned casually against the wall of the hut, looking completely at ease as the screams escalated in volume.
However, what his lidded eyes hid were two blood red balls and purple slits for pupils. He could barely keep a hold on his beast and his claws were beginning to lengthen, thus why they were hidden in his flowing sleeves. The smell of blood, sweat and pain mingled in his nose. If this didn't end soon, he wasn't sure what was going to happen.
The soon to be mother squeezed Sango's hand as another contraction hit, forcing her uterus to turn and push the unborn child into position. It hurt like hell, but there was nothing she could do about it. After all, epidurals weren't going to be invented for another few hundred years at the least.
The pain eased and Kagome panted, taking advantage of the short respite to bring some oxygen into her poor, abused lungs. The fleeting question of why she hadn't brought condoms with her flew through her mind. It would have been a great help in preventing all this. But no...she had to be a good girl and promise her mother that everything would be alright. Why did her promises always go awry?
Example number one: The monk looked between the happy couple, a lecherous grin on his face. "So, Inuyasha, are you ready to say your vows? The ones that will bind you to her and she to you? The ones that will promise each other everything, including fidelity?"
The hanyou gulped and nodded as a light blush flagged his cheeks, studiously ignoring the jab at his early loyalties. Slowly, he began to echo the vows Miroku spoke. "Watakushi wa kono josei to kekkonshi. Fufu to narou to shite imasu. Watakushi wa kenkouna tokimo. Soudenai tokimo. Kono hito o aishi. Kono hito o uyamai. Kono hito o nag same. Kono hito o tasuke. Watakushi no inochi no kagiri. Kataku sessou o mamoru koto o. Chikai masu."
"And, Kagome, are you ready to recite your vows?" A grin tugged at the corner of his lips. No matter how hard he tried to remain serious, all he could think about was the wedding night.
"Hai, I am." Slowly, and without a hint of doubt, she began to repeat the words Inuyasha had spoken. "This man, I marry. No matter what the health situation is, I will love this person, respect this person, console this person, help this person until death, protecting fidelity. I swear." A smile spread across her face as she spoke the last two words.
I swear! Kagome screamed in her head, when I figure out who's responsible for this, I'm going to rip his tallywacker off! Kagome only hoped it was the younger who was responsible.
But Sesshomaru has always been better...simpered a nasty little voice in the back of her head. Why not have his child?
All the wealth and riches Sesshomaru owned, which, according to Jaken's very big and loud mouth, was quite a bit, would be at her disposal. Imagining herself draped in finery and riches like nothing the world had ever seen was quite a pleasant thought. But then, Kagome began to wonder where he lived. Did he live in the o-shiro with his mother? Or was he a constant wanderer? She certainly hoped it was the former and not the latter.
Still, Inuyasha was her first love and always would be. She didn't know why she and Sesshomaru began to see each other...okay, so she did know but she wasn't ready to admit it.
Kagome sat alone at the hot spring, gently washing off the day's grime. She hummed quietly under her breath, glad for the respite from her husband of almost a year. She loved the hanyou, but there were times when he was just as overbearing as he used to be. Today had been one of those days.
The sky overhead was a clear, bright blue, signaling just how hot the day was going to get. With no clouds in the sky, it meant no shade which meant no comfort to those below. She had been tending her vegetable garden, on her knees and ripping out each weed by the roots with a vicious jerk, when she suddenly felt Inuyasha's hands alight on her hips and slowly work their way up to her breasts were they gently massaged them before sliding back down to tug at her hakama.
A slight growl came out of the young woman's throat. "Not now, Inuyasha," she snapped. Plucking his hands off her waist, she returned to her chore of weed-killing. How she wished for some Round-Up right now.
"Aw, but come on, you know it'll be fun. I want to hear you screaming like last night," he crooned in response. He slid his hands back up to her hakama, beginning to untie the knot that held them in place. "Right here, right now," he whispered hoarsely.
Kagome growled harder and threw her elbow back, landing a blow squarely on the bridge of his nose. She smiled slightly at the sickening crack.
Inuyasha screamed as blood poured from his nose. Gasping, he grabbed the severely misshapen cartilage between his pointer and middle finger, wrenching it back into place. He pinched the tip, halting the blood flow as he glared at his wife through blackening eyes.
"What did you do that for?!" he snarled, the pain making his control slightly tenuous.
"Hm, what? Oh, jabbing you in the nose? I told you that I didn't want to right now and yet you come and try to shove your hands down my pants, I think I have the right to elbow you in the nose. Although, I'm sorry it broke, I wasn't intending that to happen." She threw a sweet, apologetic smile to him over her shoulder before turning back to her task for the second time.
The hanyou snarled, seeing red at her complete refusal of him. While he hadn't lost control, he was quickly getting pissed. Grabbing her around the waist, he threw her onto her back, a position of complete submission, before pinning her wrists with his hands. Sighing imperceptibly, he leaned down to nuzzle the crook of her neck when her knee collided with his groin.
Gasping and grabbing his family jewels, Inuyasha freed Kagome's hands to roll him off her. He lay incapacitated, gasping from the force of the blow.
With a haughty sniff and a toss of her head, Kagome uttered a word that she hadn't said in years. "Osuwari," she commanded before turning on her heel and stomping to their hut.
Grumbling, she gathered her bathing supplies and the only other clean outfit she had, her old school uniform. She sighed reluctantly. She really needed to do their laundry but she just didn't want to! So, she trotted back out the door and to her usual springs.
Giving her hair a final rinse, Kagome arose from the water and began to dry herself off, unaware of the ever-watching presence.
Sesshomaru sighed slightly through his nose as he tried to regain control. This was not working out to well. Attending the birth of what could possibly be his child was not the wisest move on his part. His beast clamored to be near its bitch. It wanted to see its pup born to this world, to be the first to hold it and allow no others the privilege.
He opened calm, golden eyes to glare at Inuyasha. This was all his fault. If he hadn't married the girl in the first place, this whole fiasco would never have happened.
Sesshomaru watched as his brother's woman dried herself off. He dug his claws into the bark of a nearby tree to save his palms. She was yet another thing his brother had that he didn't. First, there was their father's fang, and although he no longer coveted it, he still resented the fact that Inuyasha had it instead of him.
Then, there was his pack. Although it wasn't inu in nature and didn't follow most of the inu laws, it was still a larger pack than his. And the whelp commanded a respect from them that even he, himself, could not attain!
Finally, there was this slip of a woman, the Shikon no Miko. She, above all things, was something that he desired from his brother. The woman herself was of no consequence, but the status and prestige that came of marrying the most powerful miko of the time was something that wasn't lost on the Taiyoukai. Also, it meant that his brother, his half-breed, half-witted brother, had found a suitable partner before he had, no matter the amount of females throwing themselves at his feet.
He watched as this woman stepped from the onsen, her lithe, curved body highlighted by the fading evening light. He felt his pants grow tight from his desire.
Sesshomaru did not desire the woman, necessarily, but he desired his brother's possession and was no fool when it came to appreciating a women's body. That said, he knew when to play his cards and how to play them to get what he wanted.
His attention was refocused on her once she was fully dressed. His eyes widened and a slight smirk appeared on his lips as he recognized the old outfit she wore years ago. That short skirt that barely covered her buttocks and the short sleeved shirt that now barely covered her arms. She had grown indeed.
The deadly predator silently stalked his prey as she made her way back to her village. Just as she was to reach the edge of the forest, he made his move. Stepping from the bushes, he unleashed his aura, quickly gaining the young woman's attention.
She sighed, though, placing a hand over her heart as she gathered herself together. "Onii-san," she smiled, "what brings you here? Inuyasha is in the village...recovering."
Sesshomaru frowned at the irritating nickname. This would not do at all, he needed to convince her he was not her brother, otherwise he would never attain his goal. "Kagome," he spoke, his voice rippled with a lusty undercurrent.
Said miko's eyes widened considerably. She nearly tripped over her own two feet as she took a step back. "H-h-hai?" she stuttered.
Sesshomaru allowed his heated golden eyes to rake her body as he spoke. "You have something I desire."
The young woman gulped, although whether it was from fear or desire she knew not. "And what might that be?" The next moment she found herself pinned to a tree by a large, strong body.
The white dog leaned in, speaking directly in her ear. "I believe you know what it is I seek, little miko." A quick caress on the side of her face and a light kiss on her lips that left her breathless and he began to leave.
Kagome gasped at the contact, although it wasn't entirely uncomfortable... But what about Inuyasha? she thought.
He'll never know, and you just want to know what Sesshomaru wants...simpered a voice.
"Wait!" she called, a little more breathless than intended. The miko made short work of the distance between them. She planted her feet before the taiyoukai, looking up into his heated golden eyes. "What is it you want?"
This time, Kagome was only slightly more prepared for the kiss she received. It lasted a bit longer than the last but had more passion than any Inuyasha had ever given her.
"You know," Sesshomaru whispered in her ear. He began to walk off again, when she caught him by the hand. He turned to look her in the eye, and saw a mischievous sparkle in their cerulean depths.
"Oh? I do? Well, would you care to enlighten this ignorant miko?" She tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck and showing acceptance and partial submission.
"And what of your husband?" he asked after a quick kiss to her pulse point.
"I--that is, he-- I don't know," she finished, nearly whimpering. "I love him but--there are times when he pushes himself on me and doesn't really consider how I feel." She looked down, tears filling her eyes as she spoke.
"Hn, know that this Sesshomaru only takes what is freely given."
"Kagome!" Inuyasha's voice rang through the air as he called for his wife.
A slight curling of his lip indicated his displeasure, but nothing else. Sesshomaru placed one last kiss on her lips before uttering a spell that would remove his scent from her person.
"Meet me here, tomorrow, little miko, and I will show you what I desire." With that he was gone and Kagome could only nod numbly in his general direction before fumbling in a slight daze back to her home.
And that was how it all started. The next day, Kagome did meet Sesshomaru, only to sit and talk before her curiosity overwhelmed her sense of duty to her husband. That was the breaking of her promise but she never noticed.
Of course, there were times when she questioned what they were doing, but those moments of doubt were fleeting and short-lived. Every question was erased by a single kiss from her inu lover. She especially relished those times when he would transform for her, allowing her to simply pour her heart out to someone who would never tell her secrets.
Now, Kagome just hoped this child didn't have puppy ears. If it did, she was in deep trouble with Inuyasha. He suspected enough as it was, but if the child was hanyou, then it could destroy their marriage.
Another scream tore itself from her lips as a contraction hit. She vaguely heard Kaede instruct her to push. So she pushed, screaming as she did so. "Get this kid out of me!" She remembered the time when she announced to her lover she was pregnant.
Inuyasha walked into the door of his hut and froze as the scent wafted across the room. Quickly he dashed inside, stripping the covers off his wife and sniffing around her abdomen.
"Inuyasha!" she screamed, "what are you doing?!"
He ignored her, though, pinning his ears to his head to protect them and continuing to sniff until he was satisfied. Sitting back, his eyes and ears focused on the woman before him. He sat quietly for a moment, digesting the news that her scent told him.
A slow grin settled on his face to slowly disappear as a look of total concentration crossed his features. Slowly a frown tugged at his mouth as his golden daze searched Kagome's face solemnly.
"Is it mine?" his voice whispered, slow and even, not a hint of the anxiety in his heart seeping through his words.
Kagome's gaze swirled in confusion as all color left her cheeks. "Is what yours, Inuyasha? I don't understand..."
With a vicious snarl Inuyasha trapped her body beneath his, his nose pressed to hers. "The pup Kagome...is it mine?" His voice now revealed how much this particular question actually meant to him.
Kagome fought the urge to scream as a snarl flew from Inuyasha's throat. Her now indigo gaze flickered in fear for the briefest of seconds as his gaze bore into hers.
"A pup? I-I'm...no. I couldn't possibly..." she whispered contemplating the reality of her situation. She was with child and her husband was questioning the parentage of the pup?
Inuyasha couldn't help himself, a growl tore from his throat as he nearly flew off of the bed. He began to pace as millions of ideas and memories of the past few months roared like hurricane force winds in his head. Kagome coming home late from her baths...reappearing without a single scent that wasn't Kagome on her. Kagome returning home her hair disheveled and her eyes gleaming with a secret delight. He had ignored the warning that a voice had whispered in his mind, but now...with a pup on the way...it mattered more than ever.
He stopped his pacing to look at his wife. He loved her with all of his heart, he honestly did, but there was a limit to how much he could forgive. Remembering the lesson on genetics he had overheard Kagome rehashing one evening, he knew that any child of his would have a one in four chance of having his ears. Which meant that fate was in favor of granting the child a mostly human appearance. Unless, of course, she had been sleeping with someone else.
But who? his mind wondered. Who would have slept with his wife? And why would she stray from his side? Fragments of forgotten images surfaced as this thought anchored his mind. Sesshomaru standing on the edge of the fields, watching him...Sesshomaru's scent found more often in the air, or his signature (the death of multiple lower class demons) found in the forest. At first, he had believed the bastard had come to visit his kid more often, but now, combined with the possibility of Kaogme's infidelity, he put two and two together.
Quietly, he spoke, his voice firm and even. "If it has the ears, we'll know."
With that, he was gone, fleeing his house and Kagome's broken sobs. He wondered the village until his feet found Miroku, working his trade at another wealthy person's house.
"Oi, monk, we need to talk."
Kagome screamed anew as she felt her hips and cervix widen for the baby to be pushed out. She grunted, pushing as she was told until allowed to relax. She barely realized when Keade and Sango switched places. Sango sat at her sister-friend's feet, checking on the baby's progress.
"You're doing good, Kagome, just keep pushing. The baby's head is almost out!"
At this exclamation, Inuyasha stepped inside. "How's she doing?" he asked.
"Get him out of here!!" Kagome screeched at the top of her lungs, as another wave of pain spasmed through her body, throwing anything she could grab at him.
With a yelp, Inuyasha was jerked backed out of the doorway. Craning his head, he saw his brother with a hand on his collar.
"The miko does not wish to see your face, I suggest you respect her wishes if you desire to remain...intact."
A child's cry pierced the air and the brothers stopped their quarrel to focus on the hut.
Sango caught the child as it slipped from its mother's womb. Carefully, she cleaned the birth fluid from the newborn girl's tiny body. With a soft smile, she wrapped the child in a pink blanket before noticing two previously unseen appendages.
"Aww!" the slayer cooed, "she has Inuyasha's ears!"
Kagome screamed anew, this time from something other than pain. She looked up to see Inuyasha's quiet acceptance in his amber eyes.
"I'm sorry," she cried, tears pouring from her eyes.
"No," he said coldly, "you're not. I just wish I had known earlier." With that, he turned on his heel, leaving a confused Sango and suspicious Kaede in his wake. He continued to walk until he almost ran into his brother. Looking up, he gazed into his sibling's amber orbs. "Congratulations," he spat, "you're a father."
"Yes," Sesshomaru spoke with a smirk and a hint of arrogance in his eyes, "it seems so."
Without warning, although the white dog needed none, Inuyasha let a hard blow to his older brother's chin fly. Sesshomaru stood for it, allowing the punch to land. He deserved it, he knew that much.
Walking past him, Inuyasha muttered one last thing. "Take care of them."
"Hn." Although this wasn't quite the outcome he had expected, his honor demanded he do no less. He may not have loved the miko, but she was his and nothing happened to his possessions unless he willed it.
When, the hanyou was out of sight, Sesshomaru strode quickly to the hut, standing in the doorway and watching the slayer and old priestess clean his daughter. He watched as Kagome's eyes caught his and she began to cry. A slight frown pulled at the corner of his mouth.
"Leave," he commanded of the two extra women. They looked from one to the other then to Kagome before doing so. When they were gone, he walked to where his child and her mother lay on the old futon. Sitting beside them, he gently pulled both onto his lap, holding Kagome as she cried.
For several minutes Kagome sobbed, letting the loss of her marriage, or more so Inuyasha's trust, flow freely through her emotions. Minute after minute the tears flowed until they slowed, leaving hiccups in their wake. With red, tearful eyes the new mother gazed down at the beautiful face of her...their...daughter. A swift smile crossed her features as she traced the small Prussian blue moon that rested between the strange golden-brown eyes. One belated tear slid down her cheek as regret seeped in, then a though occurred...perhaps she should never regret anything that made her smile.
With this, a hiccup rocked Kagome's body and her gaze slid over the raven tufts of locks on the baby's head to the black tipped puppy ears. With a soft laugh her gaze turned to Sesshomaru meeting his golden stare, Softly she whispered, "Uh-oh...puppy ears."