Consequences

By Ami/Clara (That's one person, two nicknames; just thought I'd clear that up)

Chapter Four

Inu Yasha breathed in Kagome's scent with guilty pleasure as he carried her back to the village. While there was something wrong with it, she still smelled like Kagome fundamentally. And he could almost recognize what it was that was wrong with her. She smelled like... like...

Inu Yasha was on the verge of an epiphany. He took another deep breath, then nearly dropped the woman resting lightly in his arms as it registered. She... She smelled like one of those village woman when they were pregnant!

He sniffed Kagome surreptitiously again, to make sure. There had been no mistake, however. Inu Yasha stared at her, nonplussed for a few moments. But... But according to Miroku, he had been alone that night!

Although, come to think of it, Miroku had also been pretty drunk at the time in question. And too busy trying to grope Sango to pay enough attention, besides. Never trust a perverted monk when he's busy trying to cop a feel from his favorite victim. Inu Yasha felt that the monk more than deserved the whack he had recieved from Sango's boomerang. "Inu Yasha... is something wrong?" Queried Kagome, pulling away slightly to look at him.

Well, there was his opening. But what would he say? Did she remember that night either? Did she even -know- that she was pregnant? And what if he was wrong? What if Kagome wasn't pregnant? What if he was just jumpy because the new moon was tomorrow, and his mind was playing tricks on him so he would concentrate on something else? All of these thoughts flowed through Inu Yasha's mind in mere seconds.

He stared at Kagome bemusedly, trying to phrase his thoughts into coherent speech. "Kagome, do you remember... that is... did you... did we..." Fed up with his dithering, Inu Yasha finally managed to return to his usual blunt manner. "Feh! Do you remember anything that happened on New Year’s Eve?!" He demanded. It was Kagome's turn to look bewildered for a few moments.

Back in the future, Higurashi’s first and second generations were having it out in front of one of the two members of the third. Kagome's grandfather rarely if ever got angry. But when he did, he pulled out all stops. "You THREW her OUT?" Yelled Kagome's grandfather, his voice sounding strangled from anger, frustration, and sheer amazement at his daughter's (in his opinion) stupidity.

If he was fire, his daughter was ice. "I did not throw her out," replied Kagome's mother coolly. "I merely walked out on her."

"It might as well be the same thing! She probably thought she was disowned! She might NEVER COME BACK!" The last sentence was half-wailed with despair at the thought. And that was a major factor as to what had made him so upset. Kagome was more of a second daughter than a grandchild, as he had played a major role in raising her. She was very special to him.

Ever since Kagome had started making trips to the past, and they became longer and longer, he had held a secret fear that she might never come back. He was afraid that the lure of the adventure and excitement in the Feudal Era would entice her away from the more mundane present. That had been the reason for him trying to seal the well so many times. "Besides which, how DARE you hold her up to standards you yourself FAILED?!"

At those words, her icy facade broke. "I..." Kagome’s mother put her head in her hands. "I just... don't want her to repeat the same mistakes that I did." She replied in a tired and dead voice. She looked up. "You know how the women in this family are. If not for her family threatening to disown her, mother probably never would have told you. At least, not until I was ten or twelve.

"If given any other option, we tend to try and keep it a secret. Maybe it all started with my ancestor. Even she tried to sneak off without telling the man she eventually married that she was pregnant. And that was the Feudal Era! I myself didn't tell Shin until Kagome was at least a couple years old. Then died so soon after we were finally married. If I had told him all those years before, we could have spent all that wasted time with him!"

Kagome's grandfather's anger was immediately doused. He had truly not meant to bring up the painful subject. "Honey," he said, awkwardly patting her hand, "It's not your fault. And I doubt that the father of Kagome's child will die anytime soon."

The two hugged briefly, before a small voice interrupted. "So Mom had sis 'n me without being married and Kagome's pregnant and Inu Yasha‘s the dad?" It asked, sounding absolutely fascinated. The two eldest members of the Higurashi family looked up in shock to find that Sota had been listening to them the entire time. As an afterthought, he added, "Cool!" After all, he had always not so secretly idolized Inu Yasha.

Kagome glanced up to find Inu Yasha staring at her, a weird expression on his face. She put up with it for a few moments, before finally asking, "Inu Yasha... Is something wrong?" Was there something on her face? What was he staring at her for?

He stood there, stuttering for a few moments. He was acting very strangely, completely out of character. Of course, so had Kagome a few moments ago. But she was pregnant. What was his excuse? Finally, Inu Yasha got ahold of himself and bluntly demanded, "Do you remember anything that happened New Year's Eve?!"

At first, Kagome was flummoxed by the strange question. For a moment, Kagome wondered where that question had come from and why he had asked it. Immediately, however, she wondered if perhaps he DID remember something from that night. And if he had, why had he not told her sooner?!

Kagome decided to answer his question with one of her own. "Do you?"

Inu Yasha blushed briefly. "Uh, no. But, that is, you see..." He was back to stuttering. Just as suddenly, he was back to normal again. "Just answer the question!"

He didn't remember?! For some reason, this pissed Kagome off. It was not like anything had changed. But at least SHE remembered some of what had happened, the basic, more important parts of what had occurred. But nooo, Inu Yasha didn't remember ANYTHING!

"If you don't remember anything, then why should I tell you?!" She yelled back.

"Because I want to know if I’m right and we slept together on New Year’s Eve and you’re now pregnant!!" Replied Inu Yasha.

Kagome blinked. How did he know? Inu Yasha, on the other hand, had returned to looking embarrassed.

"I mean... that is... uh..." Inu Yasha trailed off, staring at the ground. It was quite apparent that he had not meant to say that aloud. In a much quieter voice, Inu Yasha said, "So, are you?"

Author's Notes: Yeah, I know. I'm evil. I haven't written for a long time, and then it's rather short, with a slight cliffhanger. So sue me. No, wait, don't. I'm saving all of my money up for my trip on Spring Break. Besides, I don't have all that much in the first place. As for the whole conversation between Kagome's mother and grandfather, I had always wondered what happened to Kagome's dad, so I thought I would just make up a bit of history for them myself (but if it was mentioned somewhere and I missed it, please tell me, so I can fix that part of the chapter).