Although it was far from morning still, as she and Sesshoumaru parted ways at her porch step, Kagome felt more revitalized than she had in many days. Now reassured that he would remain a part of her life, she found herself with renewed energy for it. Settling Taiyoutori down in a bed of straw near the door, she went about preparing dinner.
When Inuyasha entered the hut a short while later, Kagome knew that her radiant enthusiasm was apparent to more than just herself.
“You’re looking perky,” Inuyasha remarked from the door. In a cross of arms and legs, he dropped down before the low dining table, eyeing her shrewdly. “Really perky.”
“I’m feeling optimistic,” Kagome replied, walking over to him with kettle in hand. “Want some soup? The rice will be ready soon.”
“‘Optimistic’, huh?—that’s a new one.” Dolling out a generous helping of miso, Inuyasha continued to peer at her over the raised edge of his bowl, before his gaze cut abruptly to the sunbird sleeping in the corner. “What’s with the rooster?”
“His name’s Taiyoutori. Sesshoumaru brought him to me. His eggs are really nutritious for expectant mothers, apparently.” As Inuyasha’s look sharpened upon her, Kagome added quickly, “Maybe this’ll help with all the fatigue I’ve been having recently.”
The tense seconds ticked by. As Inuyasha continued to glower, Kagome willed her erratic pulse to calm.
“Don’t just accept strange gifts from people,” he said to her flatly.
Kagome exhaled in relief, even as she felt a prickle of irritation. “Sesshoumaru’s not ‘people,’ Inuyasha—he’s your older brother.”
“So what?” the hanyou said, turning up his nose as he glanced aside. “You’re my woman. If he wants to give you something, he should come to me.”
Turning back to the rice, Kagome rolled her eyes at his pettiness. “I’ll be sure to let him know.”
When she glanced back from the hearth a few minutes later, Inuyasha was crouched low on all fours, sniffing at the air around Taiyoutori. Cracking open an eye at this unwanted intrusion, the sunbird returned Inuyasha’s narrowed stare.
“Well he smells all right, I guess,” the hanyou said gruffly at last. Sitting back on his heels, he looked to Kagome. “Although I still don’t get how a rooster lays eggs.”
“We’ll see in the morning,” Kagome replied, not remotely certain herself.
The night passed for her in its usual delirium. Suspended in a maddening limbo of wakefulness and sleep, she rose at dawn feeling even more tired than she had before she’d lain down. It was an exhaustion that wracked her bone-deep, a fatigue of the body, mind, and spirit. Dragging herself up from her side of the futon, she cast her snoozing husband a jealous look—before the sight near the door had her jaw going slack with awe.
In the nest of straw bedding, Taiyoutori was no longer there, though Kagome still felt his presence in the ethereal red-gold sunbeams that slanted down through the hut’s thatched roof. Rising slowly, she padded over to the empty nest—only to find that it wasn’t as empty as it had seemed. In the slight depression where Taiyoutori had bedded down the night before now rested a large egg unlike any Kagome had ever seen. Crimson whorled through its perfectly round, pearly surface. The thin bands of red seemed to swirl before her eyes as she lifted the egg gingerly from the straw.
Taiyoutori’s egg was a good deal heavier than it looked. Weighing it in her palms, Kagome was contemplating how best to go about eating it when she heard Inuyasha stir behind her.
“So, that weird-ass rooster really did lay an egg after all,” he said as he approached.
Leveling the egg against the side of a bowl, Kagome nodded. “It’s almost too pretty to crack, but here it goes.”
Sharply, she rapped the egg against the porcelain edge, but apart from a dull click, nothing happened. Kagome arched a brow. With a little more force, she tried again—and chipped off a piece of the bowl instead. Pursing her lips, she attempted to smash it against the floor this time, but the egg simply seemed to absorb the shock of the blow. Almost mockingly, it rolled away from the faint dent it had made in the floorplanks. Pushing herself to her feet with a huff, Kagome lifted her heel high above it—
“Hey!” Inuyasha said, seizing her by the shoulders. “What the hell are you doing? You’re gonna get cut if you stomp it like that!”
“You try cracking it, then,” Kagome shot back in frustration.
Inuyasha’s eyes sparked at the challenge. “Keh, fine. You just watch.”
But even after a series of much more aggressive cracking attempts by him, the egg remained as infuriatingly intact as before. Inuyasha leapt up with a curse. Despite barking at her for attempting the same, he brought his bare heel down hard on the egg, grinding it ruthlessly.
“What. The. Fuck—” he growled, now jumping up and down on the egg to make the whole hut shake, “—is wrong with this fucking thing?!”
“It’s like it’s unbreakable,” Kagome whispered anxiously, clutching the slight swell of her stomach as dust began to rain from the walls and ceiling.
“Oh yeah?” Panting, Inuyasha kicked the egg across the room, where it rebounded violently against the doorframe—to no avail. Glaring at the egg in utter contempt, he unsheathed Tessaiga, which transformed in a blaze of youki. “…We’ll see about that.”
“Inuyasha, stop!” Kagome cried, her sleeves whipping back in the demonic breeze. “You’ll destroy the house!” Grabbing hold of his arm, she said desperately, “Please, go and get Sesshoumaru—maybe he’ll know what to do.”
“Goddammit,” her husband snarled, sheathing his sword nonetheless. Hurling it spitefully at the egg, he rounded upon her. “You wait here.”
Kagome shook her head as he dashed by her. As if she would go anywhere else.
Inuyasha returned a few minutes later on Sesshoumaru’s heels. The demon lord’s golden eyes swept briskly over the scene—taking in the sight of his bedraggled sister-in-law, his fuming younger brother, the discarded sword and chipped crockery, and laying in the center of it all unscathed, the shimmering culprit itself. Crossing over to the egg, the daiyoukai lifted it lightly in his claws. The atmosphere was tensely silent as he regarded the egg in measured pause. Then, as wordlessly as he’d taken it up, Sesshoumaru stepped over to the low-burning hearth fire and dropped the egg into it.
Kagome gasped. She hurried over as Inuyasha did the same—just in time to hear a splitting sound echoing up from the coals.
“Damn it,” the hanyou grumbled, stuffing his hands in his sleeves, “I should’ve thought of that…”
Ignoring him, Kagome peered closer, watching in surprise as threads of light now splintered the egg’s gleaming surface. With the very tips of his claws, Sesshoumaru plucked the busted egg from the fire. Dropping it into the bowl Kagome’d abandoned, he offered it to her. Through the fine fissures in the shell, a golden, yolk-like substance began to seep out.
“Eat now,” Sesshoumaru said to her, “before it cools.”
As Kagome picked up a spoon and reached for the bowl, Inuyasha blocked her path, eyeing the glimmering contents with open suspicion. “Maybe I should try it first.”
“Oh, come on, Inuyasha,” Kagome groused, edging around him. “That’s enough.”
Taking the bowl from her brother-in-law, she dipped her spoon into the yolk. As the rich taste of it met her tongue, her eyes widened in wonder.
“Well?” her husband demanded, wheeling her around by the arm.
“It’s so…so good,” Kagome murmured. Warmth flooded through her as her eyes began to mist. “…It tastes just like Obaachan’s crispy fried pork.”
Inuyasha’s ears flattened. “What?”
But Kagome could explain no more, because the warmth she’d first felt was now accompanied by the most blissful sensation of lightness. Her eyelids drooped as her hold on the bowl gave way. Clawed hands went around her a second before her legs gave out, and she fell at once into a deep and dreamless sleep.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Revised 11/11/22
Can I just say that I love the way you write Kagome and Sesshomaru? I didn’t even like KagSess until I read your stories! You made me ship it! Lol
Wow, I’m flattered!! Thanks so much – and welcome to the dark side lol
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Luv, luv, luv your writing! I’ve been missing your work lately and am very glad to see your updates. Love the way your mind works, your depictions of the characters, and your way with words.
Aww thanks so much!! It’s good to be back 🙂
Hope you enjoy the next updates!
<3
I love the egg xD
Hahaha yay!
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Unfortunately, Inuyasha, despited all your pettiness and cautioness towards your older brother, he still got to your wife without your notice, and with all your snarling and toxicity, you’re just making it easier for him to get to her. You’re showing her how wrong she is by marrying you and how Sesshoumaru is the husband you failed to be. So yeah, I think I should thank you hahaha
Can I just say how cool Sesshoumaru is? Ugh, I love how he just calmly put her worries to ease and just tend to her even without her telling him. Like?? He dotes on her so much it’s freaking adorable and makes me question by principles ’cause I hate infidelity!!
Anyways, thank you so much for this chapter! <3
P.S: I just noticed that ohmyghad I can see my picture when I comment! The horror!
Haha yeah, I think if you have a gravatar (?) thingy, the site’ll try to pull your pic in! Seen it happen a couple times 🙂
Loved hearing your thoughts about Inuyasha!! Poor guy lol. And glad you’re liking cool!Sess 😎 hahaha
Thanks, Rain!! <3
Iiiiinteresting… I’m assuming Sesshomaru knew they would need his help on cracking that egg lol! I hope it helps Kags because goddamn, I myself am pregnant and know what kind of fatigue she’s talking about! Now I want crispy fried pork, damnit! 😆 Inuyasha is just so damn annoying, but I sincerely love how you write all three of them, it’s just so believable and in character. Please let this end well (as in Sess and Kags and baby together)! They really deserve each other at this point, what with going behind Inuyasha’s back and such. Kagome clearly chose her champion, she’s just too much of a coward to admit it, but who could really blame her? She doesn’t want to hurt Inuyasha, and I can understand that, but it’s a bit too late. Thank you for these timely updates! Seriously. I am wondering whether you’ll be submitting these to Dokuga eventually? This story would blow a lot of people’s minds 😉
Thanks, Mecca! So glad to hear you’re enjoying the various characterizations! As unflattering as my portrayal of the characters can be in this story, I really do love them all to pieces – especially Inuyasha lol!
I do plan to publish this story (and prolly some others) to fanfic sites like Dokuga someday 🙂 No idea when that’ll happen though haha
Thanks again – hope you enjoy the rest of the series! And congratulations on your pregnancy!!! <3
You know, I want SO BADLY to be able to root for Inuyasha– even though umm obviously I’m ACTUALLY in this for Sesshoumaru being a terrible and thrilling creature, but whatever– and every time I’m feeling really bad for him/my innocent inukag shipper heart from like 20 years ago gets a tiny pulse, he goes and pulls the controlling husband act– which I think is a really interesting angle as to what could possibly drive a wedge between them. OF COURSE Kagome as a 21st century woman (it’s got be like circa year 2000, 2001 in this fic’s timeline right?) would buck such heavy-handed attempts to control her– even if she “sympathized” or “understood” where he was coming from with his views on how a husband and wife should be together, the older she got the more difficult she would find that sort of unequal power dynamic impossible to sustain.
At the same time, while Inuyasha’s attempts to rein Kagome in under his control are blunt and out in the open… I can’t help but be suspicious that Sesshoumaru is working a much more subtle (and therefore effective, but no less frightening– maybe even significantly MORE frightening) manipulation. The more I thought about it, the more the episode with the egg that was impossible to break under normal circumstances seems like a very careful set up meant to frame him as the competent caregiver/lover, and Inuyasha as the incompetent. Basically, I’m highly suspicious of Sesshoumaru here at all times AND I LOVE YOU FOR THAT.
SAAAAAME. Inuyasha isn’t even really a jerk this time. Just childish and stereotypically misogynistic
Adlyb- You said everything I was thinking lol! When it comes to Char’s writing there is always a little twist waiting in the wings and Sesshomaru is always holding all the cards very closely. Also I feel you on the little InuKag tug. How can you not get nostalgic for their sweetness, but SessKag is so much more fun and interesting!
Thank you, thank you! Gotta say, I like the suspicion! 🙂 After all, Sesshoumaru has admittedly had his own hidden agenda toward Kagome before 😉
And I feel like I know exactly where you’re coming from with regards to Inuyasha – as sweet as his and Kagome’s budding romance was in the cannon (and as much as the InuKag shipper in me wants to root for them to live HEA), this fic is in part an exploration into how their relationship might otherwise evolve and change over the years, especially as Kagome goes from wide-eyed girl to woman grown…
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Intriguing. And Sesshomaru is still being petty even after being slighted. So maybe he’s still interested in Kagome and hasn’t kicked her to the curb entirely. 🤔🤔🤔 Better not say too much though…
Hehehe – we shall see! 😉
Thanks, girl!! <3 <3
Oh thank you, thank you.
You don’t know how much I missed your stories. With very few exceptions, most of the new stories on Dokuga are not worth a second glance. I’m seriously thinking of leaving that site.
Doug!! 🙂 Thank you – I’ve missed sharing my stories just as much!
I think it’s hard for us fanfic veterans nowadays – especially those of us who were around back in the heyday of Resmiranda, Tally Mark, etc. Although really, if I think back on it, finding good fanfic has always been a bit of a slog hahaha
Sometimes it’s depressing for me to go on sites like Dokuga and see the same old tired plots, bad writing, and cringe-worthy characterizations and scenarios. But then I think I’d better stay tuned anyway so I don’t miss the next fanfiction great 😀
On a related note, I’ve really been digging Inuyaoi’s story Canidae, Canidae on Dokuga- it’s got a very fresh narration and deliciously dark yet believable portrayal of Sess & Kagome both. Check it out if you haven’t already – I feel like you’d like it 🙂
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My favorite story in progress is back yay! Hope you’re getting settled into your new place now Char! I meant to post on the previous chapter – but I’m excited to see you writing again!
Yay, Molly! Great to hear from ya, girl!! 🙂
I’m mostly settled now, thanks so much! Although still recovering from assembling all that overstock furniture LOL
Thanks so much for dropping in, and hope you enjoy the next updates! <3 <3
Hi, I love your story and now I just felt marvelous to be able to read your chapter again.
From my view, Sesshomaru was really good controlling his emotion except in front of Kagome. He also more care for here than Inuyasha, but at same time still the same cold person.
I love your storyline and were eager to wait for another chapter! He now maybe excited to have a child, but at same time debate for himself to announce that the child in Kagome womb actually his or just stay along with the ‘pact contract’. I see it’s pain him deeply, and how he can’t freely show his care and love for Kagome deeply as she was his sister-in-law to begin with.
He really care for his Kagome and his unborn child, but he also cannot bear the risk that Kagome might be in danger if his enemy know about his scandal. He rather fine she stay with her husband and carry his child as Inuyasha child so his rightful heir will be save and in good care from his enemy eyes.
Maybe Kagome is to blame, but we don’t get into her shoes so we don’t know how she feel when she still not able to get a child. Woman often be blame when cannot produce the child even now. It’s hard for a women who cannot get pregnant, while she knows that she was healthy enough to carry a child. Man (husband) always blame woman in these case, although 80% problem caused from the men themself.
By the way, please keep writing and I will wait for your story! Thanks!
Hey, thanks so much!! 🙂 So glad you’re enjoying this storyline – and absolutely loved hearing your thoughts on Sesshoumaru’s feelings and Kagome’s struggle. It’s a messy situation for sure…
Tremendously appreciate the support! Thanks again and hope you enjoy the next updates!!
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