Chapter Text
The scream reverberated through the forest that bordered the village by the well. It tore through her head, clattering around her skull, before it abruptly and terrifyingly ended mid-shriek.
Shit.
Kagome met InuYasha's gaze then, taken aback by the lack of emotion in his expression. There was no doubt that he'd heard the scream, too—his hearing was far more sensitive than hers, and that shriek had been too loud for even her to ignore—but for whatever reason, he didn't seem eager to seek out the source.
Why? It wasn't like InuYasha to avoid helping others nowadays, unlike when they'd first met, and he was always itching for a good fight whenever he found the opportunity.
She sighed. Whatever was going on with him right now would have to wait. She didn't have the time to wait for him to decide to come around and help, not when someone was hurt and in need of their help. She'd have to set off on her own and hope that he came along, but if not, well, she'd handle it on her own.
She lifted her bow, an arrow in hand, as she took off in the direction of the scream. With any luck, the one who'd made the noise wasn't too badly injured.
She had to make it in time.
She heard InuYasha bellow her name as she ran, but she paid it no mind. He knew her well enough by now to know that she wasn't going to turn her back on someone in need, and if he had a problem with that, well, he'd just have to come along like he always did.
Besides, it wasn't like he had a right to stop her, anyway. They were no longer a couple, and any rights InuYasha thought he still had on her decisions and life were null and void. He was a friend, and he could advise, but her life was her own now—and so was his.
"Dammit, K'gome, come back here before you get your ass killed!" InuYasha hollered after her, forgetting, as he occasionally did, that she wasn't the same girl who first fell down the well.
"Fat chance of that," she grumbled under her breath. It had been nine years since she'd first tumbled down the well, and six since the well had closed. She wasn't fifteen, and she wasn't helpless. Most of the time, her friends remembered that, but every once in a while, InuYasha got lost in his own thoughts and panicked.
She rounded a tree and skidded to a halt as she reached the edge of a clearing near the opposite edge of the forest. Oh hell. She blanched at the sight before her. There, at the base of a large tree near the opposite edge of the clearing, lay the bloodied and torn body of a beautiful yokai—or at least, the woman seemed beautiful, but underneath all the blood and mutilation, it was hard to be sure—as a large crow yokai ripped off a section of flesh from her hip and swallowed it.
No. Not on her watch. Not while there was still a chance to save the yokai. Kagome notched the arrow and let it fly, blinking back the tears. It was probably too late to save the female now, but dammit, she was still going to try.
Her arrow hit true a moment later, lodging into the crow's maw as it squawled, its wings flapping vigorously. Blood spilled from its mouth as it turned to her, a scrap of skin still in its teeth, and took to the air. A moment later, it screeched before charging her position.
"Shit. Shit, shit, shit." Kagome reached for another arrow, her hand shaking a little as she notched it. Maybe she should have waited for InuYasha because she hadn't expected that the death blow, combined with a bit of reiki, wouldn't dispatch the yokai—
He arrived a moment later, swinging his sword just as the crow dove to attack and cleaving it in two. A second arrow struck the bird a moment later, delivering a killing blow with a blast of purity far more substantial than her first had been.
"Fuck, K'gome," he grumbled, hoisting Tessaiga onto one shoulder. "You coulda waited."
Kagome dropped the bow as she made her way to the inuyokai's side, scrambling to find a pulse. "She couldn't," she said quietly, her heart breaking as she realized there was none. If only she'd been a little faster, if only she had moved as soon as she'd heard the scream—
InuYasha dropped onto her shoulder. "Keh." He awkwardly patted her arm, no doubt copying what he'd seen Miroku do before. "Ain't like you didn't try, K'gome."
"I know." She let out a breath as she slowly closed the woman's eyes. "But it wasn't enough." She hadn't been enough. She hated it every time she'd failed to save someone, but those failures never stopped her from trying again. She always had to try.
"Shit happens," he said, not unkindly, as he sheathed Tessaiga. "It ain't your fault."
She gave him a small smile, touched by the gesture. Sympathy wasn't InuYasha's strong suit, and even though they both knew he sucked at it, he was trying anyway. "I know," she repeated, but this time, she wasn't sure that she meant it. She just couldn't help but feel like she should've done more.
He exhaled as he gestured for her to get up. "This is why I didn't want you to come," he muttered under his breath, forcing her to lean closer to catch the words. So he had known; that was why he hadn't rushed forward.
"You couldn't have stopped me, InuYasha." She rocked back on her feet, but she wasn't going to leave this yokai, not until they'd had a proper burial. "Will you help me bury her?"
Used to the request by now, InuYasha just nodded as he irreverently began using Tessiaga, sheath and all, to dig a hole next to a tree at the edge of the clearing. He only dug one hole, but that was all they needed. The crow yokai didn't deserve a burial, not as far as Kagome was concerned.
"Be gentle," she warned as InuYasha turned to lift the woman into the hole. With the shredded state of her body as it was, it wouldn't take much to jostle the yokai apart. "She's in really bad shape."
"I know, I know. I ain't stupid." Far gentler than she'd expected, he gathered the woman into his arms and rose to his feet.
A quiet cry rang out then.
"Shit!" InuYasha nearly dropped the woman in his arms.
"Stop!" Kagome rushed to her feet, pressing her hands to the woman's neck for her pulse. Maybe she'd been wrong; maybe she'd given up too soon and missed something. She knew yokai were sturdier than humans, so maybe this one was still alive, clinging to life with all the yokai had. If so, she'd have all the aid Kagome could—
Nothing. Her fingers found nothing. Kagome's hand fell away as the last tendril of hope died within her chest.
"Never mind." She exhaled as she turned away. Maybe she'd heard something, she thought, forgetting for a moment that InuYasha had heard it, too. "Let's get her properly buried, InuYasha."
But then she heard that cry again, a little wail that was slowly increasing in volume.
"The fuck?" InuYasha's mouth fell open as they stared at the woman again.
Kagome opened her mouth to reply, but a stir of motion caught her eyes. She gingerly shifted the thick layers around the woman's waist as suspicion gripped her. Absently, she noted the fine kimono, but the observation was far from her mind as she peeled back the last layer to find a small infant tucked against its mother's side, wailing in earnest now that it had been exposed to the cool autumn air. "It's so little," she managed, reaching out to touch the tiny cheek still pressed against its mother's chest. "How do you think it...?"
"Hell if I know." InuYasha pressed his lips together. "Without her, though, the kid's as good as dead, anyway."
"Like hell." She shot him a warning look as she gently removed the infant, shedding its bloodied wrap before opening her lapel to help it touch her skin instead. InuYasha's curt words were no doubt a product of his own childhood, not a lack of empathy, and so she wasn't going to give them any credence. "Poor little thing. It's already been through so much," she murmured, her heart softening as the baby buried its face in her chest and huddled into her as though it, too, knew she was its only chance for survival. "Where do you think its father...?"
"Dead, probably." Despite his curt words, InuYasha winced. "No yokai worth his salt would let his mate leave to give birth without protection. If she's dead, then he is, too."
Brushing back the hair from the baby's forehead, Kagome took a moment to study the child. It was obviously a full yokai from the ears alone, if not the faint yoki she sensed within the child, but even if that hadn't been obvious, the two vertical dark blue stripes lining his lower eyelids and a third that lined the top would have confirmed it. She didn't know what sort of yokai the baby was, but it didn't matter.
The infant needed her.
"We can't just leave the baby," she said, noting that its clothing was as expensive as its mother's had been—and twice as thick. This child had been dearly loved and cared for, and it was more than obvious that its mother had done all she could to ensure its survival. "I won't."
"Then give it here. I'll handle it." His expression wasn't without sympathy as he reached for the baby. "Don't want to see you fucking bawl your eyes out later."
She turned, keeping the infant just out of his reach. "We'll find a way." Her voice cracked with desperation as she pleaded with him.
"K'gome—" He sighed as she took a step back, shaking her head vigorously as she silently protested. "It ain't that easy."
She lifted her chin, blinking back the tears. She didn't care; she was not going to let this child die. "I don't care," she told him firmly. "I'll find a damned way if it kills me."
He exhaled, but evidently didn't see a point to arguing with her further. "Keh."
"Don't worry," she said, gently rocking the child as InuYasha returned to burying its mother. "You're safe now, I promise. Nothing's ever going to happen to you again." The infant yawned as she spoke, shifting its head to root. It was instinctive, but the action only reminded Kagome how ill-equipped she was to raise a newborn. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically, "but there's nothing there. We'll get you something to eat soon, though, okay?"
Once the deed was done, InuYasha silently led the way back to the village, but, in all fairness, the child began fussing in earnest about its hunger, and she wouldn't have been able to hear him, anyway. Besides, the only thing that mattered now was getting the baby something to eat.
Hikaru—the name Kagome had chosen for the child because she didn't know the one his mother had given him—wouldn't take milk from any of the nursing women in the village. From the moment she stepped into the boundaries of the village by the well, he'd become moody and irritable, wailing the moment Kagome put him down or allowed anyone else to hold him. Given his size and age, he couldn't go long without a meal, either, and after a careful examination, even Sango had been concerned the child probably wouldn't survive the night if he didn't eat.
Finally, after Kagome spent half the day trying and failing to feed him breastmilk by bowl when he'd rejected the three nursing women's breasts, she gave up. This just wasn't going to cut it, and she didn't have the time to keep trying. She needed to get on the road before it was too late. With luck, if she walked as fast as she could, she'd reach Koga and Ayame before nightfall. Ayame had recently given birth, so maybe Hikaru would nurse at her breast. Of course, if Kirara weren't currently away with Kohaku, she could get there faster, but she could only get so far on her own.
She had to try.
"I'm leaving," she told InuYasha and Kaede as she set the bowl down. She wouldn't ask InuYasha to come, though she wouldn't reject his help if he offered. They'd certainly get to the wolves faster if he did, but for some inexplicable reason, she just couldn't bring herself to ask.
Kaede nodded, stirring a pot of soup without comment.
InuYasha, meanwhile, exhaled. "I told you, K'gome. It won't work." He looked pained, and maybe that was why she couldn't bring herself to ask. Maybe Hikaru brought up memories of InuYasha's own childhood that he simply wasn't yet ready to face.
"Well, I'm not going to quit." He didn't have to help, but she wasn't going to just throw in the towel before she'd done everything she could to save Hikaru. She began gathering up her possessions—no easy feat when one hand held a small infant to her chest—but when she dropped her blanket, she found another hand reaching for it before she could.
Silently, InuYasha refolded the blanket and tucked it into her yellow backpack. Whatever she grabbed next found its way into his hands a moment later, until the bag was completely full of supplies. Kaede had provided several onigiri, which found their way into a front pocket, and after that, everything was zipped up before her friend shouldered the bag.
"Thank you, InuYasha." She smiled as he led the way out of the hut. His attitude, she knew, stemmed from a desire to protect her from what he saw as the inevitable outcome.
But as they made their way out of the village, a familiar shadow ran across the ground. She glanced up to see Sesshomaru landing a short distance away for one of his visits with Rin, and an idea came to her. Sesshomaru was a daiyokai, familiar with his own kind as well as others. Sango and Kaede hadn't been certain what sort of yokai Hikaru was, citing that at his age, most of the obvious signs wouldn't have manifested yet. However, they'd agreed that InuYasha was right and Hikaru was probably one of the predatory yokai species, like a canine or feline, but that was the best anyone had been able to ascertain, and it was more of a guess than anything else.
Sesshomaru would know, though. Wouldn't he?
She rushed forward, careful not to jostle Hikaru as she stepped in front of Sesshomaru. "Sesshomaru! Can I ask you something?"
He briefly glanced down at her before stepping around her.
Well, that wasn't exactly surprising. They weren't exactly on the best of terms, even after all this time. Sesshomaru only really engaged with Rin, Kohaku, and occasionally InuYasha on his infrequent visits to the town, and even then, he wasn't exactly the chatty sort. But she'd be damned if she'd let that stop her. "I said I need to ask you something," she said, stepping out in front of him again. "It'll just take a moment, okay?
"Keh. You're wasting your damn time." InuYasha shook his head as he walked up to her. "The asshole wouldn't know the first thing about a baby. Probably doesn't even know how they're made," he taunted with a pointed look at his older brother.
Sesshomaru paused then, and Kagome immediately seized the opportunity InuYasha had just given her. She briefly explained the circumstances of Hikaru's rescue and his refusal to eat, careful not to say too much. Sesshomaru had the same unfortunate tendency as InuYasha to tune most people out whenever he became bored.
His brows raised as he glanced down at the child in her arms. "How unusual," he murmured after a moment.
She blinked. That was honestly the last thing she'd expected him to say. "What is?"
"The child has imprinted himself upon you." Sesshomaru's expression and tone were both blank as he studied Hikaru for another moment.
"He what?" Her mouth fell open as she tried to understand what the hell that meant. It sounded like what baby ducks did when they hatched, and stupidly, she wondered if everyone had been wrong and Hikaru was actually some sort of duck yokai. Did duck yokai even exist...?
"The child is inuyokai," Sesshomaru explained slowly as though he believed she was too stupid to understand. "It is customary for a child in his predicament to bond to another adult pairing in his pack, related by blood, upon the passing of his mother and father. If there are no such relatives available, he would bond to the alpha pair." His lips thinned. "It would appear that he has recognized you as his alpha female."
Kagome looked over at InuYasha, her mind drawing a conclusion she wasn't sure she liked. "Then he sees InuYasha as the alpha male?" she asked slowly.
"No." Sesshomaru's lips quirked as though he were momentarily amused. "You are not his mate, and the child is aware of this. His insecurity no doubt stems from his instinctive knowledge that the alpha male is missing. Amongst our kid, it is the female who provides while the male protects." He ran his fingers through a lock of hair. "He is aware he is lacking in protection. He cannot thrive as he is, miko. It is best you cast him aside. In his current condition, the child will not live to see the dawn."
It was the most she'd ever heard him speak at once, but his assertion only angered her. "To hell with that. If he needs to feel safe to eat, well, I can do that. It can't be that hard." She hoped, at least.
He quirked a brow. "It is not the child you must convince," he informed her, "but his instincts."
"Then tell me how. I'm not abandoning him," she told him firmly as Hikaru began rooting against her chest once more. He'd fallen asleep and his whimpers had been faint throughout the conversation, but now that he was more awake, they'd steadily increase in volume. "I'll do anything."
Sesshomaru remained silent as though he were considering something. Finally, after a long pause, he offered, "It is possible that a pack tie with a strong alpha might give him the reassurance the child seeks." He eyed his brother for a moment, but if he expected a protest from InuYasha, he didn't receive one.
"Okay, let's do that," Kagome agreed. It didn't really matter what the plan was, only that Hikaru survived. In just seven hours, Hikaru had found a home within her heart. He was hers. "Er, how do we do that, anyway?" She figured it was probably something she and InuYasha would have to do, but beyond that, she hadn't a clue. How did anyone really go about convincing an infant of anything, anyway, let alone an inuyokai one?
"A scent marking." Sesshomaru took a step toward her, his amusement deepening as she swallowed and took an instinctive step back. "This one will mark you as pack, miko."
Sesshomaru? Her mouth fell open. Why would he...?
"A marking alone is not enough, however." He reached out to pull her lapel free of her neck, eying her skin as though he intended to bite it. "This one will need to monitor the child closely to ensure that his yoki thrives. It is far too fragile to be left as it is. Fortunately," he sniffed, "this one has yoki to spare."
Kagome nearly collapsed as relief suffused her being. Hikaru would be alright. He was going to be okay. "Alright." She nodded. So what if he had to bite her? She didn't even care if this meant Sesshomaru would constantly be around.
Hikaru was going to live.
"Come," he said, then to her surprise. "This village is not a suitable place for the child."
Kagome glanced at InuYasha behind her, but when he just shrugged, she turned back to Sesshomaru. Before she could verbalize her agreement, a cloud had formed beneath his feet, and a moment later, the four of them were in the air as Jaken and Ah-Un followed them from a distance.
She smiled as she cuddled Hikaru, tightening her hold to ensure he wouldn't drop from her hold. He was going to live.