Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Sloppy Seconds	By : CutiePieHentai Category: InuYasha > General Views: 23931 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 28
- 29
- 30
A/N: Konnichiwa! Merry Christmas, Happy Belated Chanukah, Happy Kwanza, and all that�This chapter is dedicated to NefCanuck, reviewer on FanFic.com. I re-read reviews when I need to feel inspired, and I came to the realization that NefCanuck has reviewed nearly every chapter since I began posting. Not just little blurbs, either. Full blown critiques. And in appreciation, this chapter is for you. Don�t get me wrong- I love ALL of your reviews, but NefCanuck has really gone above and beyond. I�ll being doing shout outs to the rest of you as well, over the course of the next few chapters, because you all mean so much to me. Until then, thanks to my readers on Media Miner, Fan fic.net, and AdultFanFic.net. On another note, I came up with an idea for this chapter that I have never seen before, so I think it�s actually a COMPLETELY original idea! Oh, joy! I have plans to run further with it and create a spin off from the idea after I have completed Sloppy Seconds (so no stealing, please). Of course, that�s if any of you think it would be interesting. I�d love to hear your take. I�m not revealing it, yet, because it�ll be a surprise when you read the chapter. After the chapter, there is another author note explaining the scientific qualifications of this. Piqued your interest yet? Oh, and can you find the children�s story book title? Well anyway, read on�
X*X*X*X*X
The sun was shining brightly, a few fluffy clouds hung in the sky like the purest cotton candy, a few birds sang of their merriment, and random butterflies flitted through sweet smelling blossoms in the garden. A gentle rain had fallen the night before, wiping away the smog and pollution, leaving only the fresh clean scent of earth behind. Even the Goshinbuku seemed rejuvenated and enjoying of the peace, new green leaves unfurling from its branches. But all was not well in the world and neither Inuyasha, nor Kagome, took notice of the grandeur. It was a bad day. A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

It was the day of the new moon.

Inuyasha had woken that morning feeling completely out of sorts. Usually, he awoke on the morning of the new moon with dulled senses; his ears would feel like they were stuffed with cotton, his vision, like he was looking through a fog. His sense of smell would be like what Kagome had described having a head cold felt like, and his strength he would mentally compare to the time he spent healing after Sesshomaru had put a fist through his stomach. Today, he didn�t feel half bad. Almost� normal. Well, as normal as one of human and demon descent could feel on any given day. But with the knowledge that the loss of the sun would herald the loss of his extraordinary abilities, he held little appreciation for the reprieve from the symptoms of his usual monthly depression.

Inuyasha sulked in the God Tree, ignoring the excited shouts of children at play and the normally soothing murmur of a breeze stealing through the leaves that shielded him from the outside world. Even the clatter of pots and pans that signaled the preparation of breakfast failed to inspire him to move from his branch. Giving into the urge to ignore his troubles, if even for a moment, he closed his eyes for a short nap.

The ruckus that Inuyasha had deliberately ignored was enough to rouse Kagome, though.

She faired little better than the demi-demon that dozed outside, waking unrested and irritable after having spent a fitful night, tossing and turning, bombarded by disturbing dreams. Visions of a modern era over run with miasma, should Naraku fail to be annihilated, was a recent consistency in her dreams. As were the nightmares of the loss of Miroku to his kazanna, Sango�s death at the hands of her brother, and grotesque mutilation of Shippo by hateful people, should she be unable to always protect him. But most frequent, and most unsettling, were the dreams that she woke to in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and trembling. Two dreams, in fact, reoccurred with only minute nuance and details that varied from night to night. One, Inuyasha�s decent into Hell with Kikyo. The other- Inuyasha�s death, absorption, or demon transformation during the battle with their arch nemesis. The only exception of the night before was in that the Sandman had deemed to not visit her only once but had instead driven every recent apparition through her mind, repeatedly, leaving her shaken and pale and even more morose than usual when she woke. She had once worried that the images were premonitions of a ghastly reality that was waiting to be enacted, but as the months had passed and the dreams that haunted her continued to change, with only the end result remaining the same, she had found some consolation that they were, in fact, nothing more than the Freudian manifestation of her fears. That didn�t help her peace of mind much, the strain of too little sleep and worry over her friends� fate often weighing on her for days on end until the dreams would relent for a time. She hadn�t been bothered recently with them, but when they had returned, they had returned in full force and she climbed out of bed with a heavy heart, almost willing herself to snuggle back under the covers and forget the day that awaited outside.

She realized her own folly, the futility of actually sleeping peacefully again, and instead grabbed a pair of jeans and trudged into the bathroom, sullenly brushing her teeth and hair after changing, then headed downstairs to join her family for breakfast.

If her family noticed her preoccupation, no one said anything, nor did they comment on the lack of one certain hanyou from the morning meal. Kagome absently pushed her eggs around on her plate, picked at her rice, and nursed her orange juice.

It wasn�t until after she had failed to rise to her brother�s baiting as he ran out the door for school and after her grandfather went out into the shrine proper with out a word from his granddaughter, that her mother joined her at the table. Mrs. Higurashi reached around her shoulders and squeezed her in a small, sideways hug, �Kagome? Are you okay?�

Kagome shook her head to clear it, finally noticing that she and her mother had been left alone during her meditation, �Sorry, mama,� She smiled weakly, �I�ve had a lot on my mind.�

Her mother patted her hand, �I know, dear. Sometimes it helps to talk about it?�

�I don�t know.� She started with a shrug, �It�s nothing specific, I guess. I didn�t sleep good �cause I�ve been having bad dreams off and on, we�re going to battle against Naraku soon, which means the jewel will be complete, and I don�t know what�s going to happen to me after that. Just, after all this time, I can�t believe it�s almost over. And then what? I don�t understand why this all happened to me. I almost wish I�d never fallen in the well, that I was still some normal school girl. Sometimes, I just don�t know if I�m strong enough.�

�Well,� Her mother tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment, �Did I ever tell you about my pregnancy with Souta and your father�s illness?�

Kagome looked puzzled and shook her head.

�It�s a long story, one that took me many years to be able to tell without crying, but I think you need to hear it.� Her mother poured herself a cup of tea and settled herself, �After your father became ill, the doctor�s said we wouldn�t be able to have any more children because of the treatments he was receiving. It was difficult to learn that, hard enough with everything going on with your father, then add that to it� but we handled it because at least we had you. I don�t know if you remember, but your father was in and out of the hospital for almost a year and a half, and when he was home, he was often too weak to do much. But, by some miracle and even though we weren�t trying, I became pregnant. I dreamt of a little boy climbing a bunk bed and calling me �mama,� even though I didn�t know I was pregnant yet. And when I found out, I somehow knew what day he going to be born. The doctor�s tried giving me a different due date, but after the first sonogram, the changed it to the date I told them. Unlike with you,� She chuckled lightly in remembrance, �Souta gave me no problems during pregnancy. I had no morning sickness, no strange cravings or mood swings. It was all very easy. Of course, we were dealing with your father throughout all of this and I just thanked the Kami�s for their understanding, giving my body an easy time since there was so much turmoil in everything else. When I was seven months along, your father went into the hospital for the last time. You might remember, you stayed with Grandma Higurashi, Gods rest her soul, and Ji-Chan, while I was with him. I slept at his side, in a chair, while he was there. Throughout our whole marriage, even when he was hospitalized, we never spent a night apart. My mother wanted me to come home, to be near my family, but to me it was more important that I be at his side. He needed me. He was there for two more months and I went into labor on the day I said I would- the day before your father�s birthday. And many hours later, Souta was born. Your father was brought up, in a wheelchair, to the delivery room, but because we were not in Tokyo, I had no one else there with me. Not my mother or my sister, not any of my friends. But it didn�t matter, so long as your father was there. Your father joked and asked if I couldn�t wait a few more hours so they could share the same birthday, but Souta was ready and he came that morning, an early birthday gift for his daddy. Only ten days later, your father went into a coma, but I never left his side. It was hard, the nurses wanted us to leave, saying that a hospital wasn�t the best place for a newborn, and I was very alone, but Souta needed me. He was so small and yet so beautiful. He helped me hold on, helped me be strong. Exactly three weeks after Souta was born, your father passed. I finally came home and we laid him to rest. I wanted to give up, to crawl into bed and forget everything, but I had you two. I had bonded deeply with my infant son during all of our time alone, and you were still too young to understand much of what was happening, but knowing that you two needed me, that I was the holder of all of the memories of the man who loved you both so much�that gave me the strength to go on, to get up every morning,� Both women�s eyes filled with tears at the memories, but Mrs. Higurashi continued, �I would cry, sometimes, thinking about how unfair it was. That he wouldn�t be here to watch you two grown up. That he wouldn�t get to teach Souta to ride a bike or play catch. That he wouldn�t get to walk you down the aisle when you married one day. When Souta was not yet a year old, and before we lived with Ji-Chan, there were no other men in my life, but Souta�s first word was �Daddy.� He pointed to a chair in the living room and said �Daddy.� I sank to the floor then and cried until I could cry no more. You were at school, but I felt like someone else was here. Then, I knew. You baby brother could see things that we, as grown-ups, over look. And I knew, then, that your daddy is watching you two grow. He may not have stood behind him and pushed the bike the first time, but I believe he�s the one that kept him from falling. And we may not see him, but I believe he will be on your arm the day you walk down the aisle� You�re probably wondering why I�m telling you this now; what this has to do with how you have been feeling, right?�

Kagome wiped the tears from her cheeks and nodded.

�You see, if someone asked me if I could go back and change things, if I had any regrets, do you know what I would say? � I would tell them that I would do it all over again. True, I wish we hadn�t lost your father, but even knowing everything I do, I would still drive 300 miles and sleep next to his bed. I would still go through it all, just to have the time we spent together. Even if it wasn�t the fifty or sixty years that I had thought it would be the day that we said our vows, I would still have married him, still have gone through it all. Seeing the look on your father�s face as he held each of you, as he saw you come into this world, is one memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Your father once told me that the thing he wanted most since he was a little boy was to be a husband and a father. And he got it. He appreciated it, you, me, us, in a way that most husbands and fathers don�t. Even if it wasn�t the length of time that we all would have wanted, he got his greatest wish. He lived his greatest dream. I come to believe that we are never given anything more than what we can handle. And I believe in destiny. Do you understand?�

Kagome nodded and smiled weakly, �I think so. Even if I could go back, I would still fall down the well and I would still unseal Inuyasha from the tree. I would still live the double life that I have been living. Even if I don�t know what the end result will be, even if things don�t end up how I want them, I will always remember everything we have gone through. I wouldn�t trade my friends for anything. I�I wouldn�t trade knowing Inuyasha, for anything. And I�ll always have our memories. Plus,� Kagome gave a half-hearted chuckle, �The only way you can explain a lot of the things we�ve been through is destiny. �

Kagome�s mother nodded, satisfied.

�Thanks, mama. How do you always seem to know the right thing to say?� Mother and daughter hugged each other tightly before Mrs. Higurashi stood and began walking to the back of the house.

Before she left the room, she stopped at the doorway and smiled at her daughter, � Call it mother�s intuition�� She smiled fondly, wistfully, �You know� Inuyasha reminds me a lot of your father. He couldn�t always say the things he felt, but if I listened with more than my ears, I could hear what he was trying to say. And I think, like your father, a family is that boy�s biggest dream. Maybe, someday, he�ll have his dream, too?�

Kagome blushed and stammered, but her mother continued out before she could respond.
X*X*X*X*X
The sun was setting and Kagome still had yet to talk to Inuyasha. She knew he preferred to be alone on the day of the new moon, so when she had found him in the branches of the Goshinbuku earlier in the day, either asleep or pretending to be asleep, she had left him there to get ready for the trip back through the well. Now, hours later, multiple bags of clothes, food supplies to last many months, and personal items like books and photos to remind her of her family, were piled near the well, awaiting the return to the Sengoku era.

Kagome sat at her desk for possibly the last time, looking through an old diary, its pages filled from her earlier adventures with her friends. She relived the journeys, the battles, the heartache, and the laughter, imprinting each thing to memory. She had already written a note to her mother, Souta, and Gramps, telling them goodbye incase she didn�t come back, and she planned on leaving the diaries for her mother. She hadn�t said anything, but in the morning, she would leave before they awoke, unable to handle a tearful farewell and fully knowing that she may never see them again. Something told her that her mother already knew. In any event, she had made her choice. She was certain her mother knew that, too.

A light tap at her window broke her musings and she turned to a pair of golden eyes. Silently, she watched as Inuyasha opened her window and padded over to her bed.

With a sigh, he sat, cross- legged, with his hands in his sleeves, �You ready?�

The small question brought so many answers and so many more questions. Was she ready? Ready for what? Was she ready to leave tomorrow? Was she ready to leave forever? Was she ready for the battle with Naraku? Was she ready to die? Was she ready to lose everything and everyone she held dear?

She felt the comforting warmth of two arms surround her, but she realized that Inuyasha was still on her bed. �Father. Thank you.� �Hai.� She nodded. Yes, whatever the outcome, she was ready.

She turned back to her diary and they sat in silence, awaiting the fall of night. When it became too dark to read, Kagome turned on her lamp and faced Inuyasha.

Only to fall out of her chair.

Inuyasha snickered at her, �You�re a clumsy bitch aren�t you? Damn, can�t even sit without needing me to rescue you.�

He prepared for a sit or two from Kagome but she merely gaped at him.

�What�s your problem?� He glared at her.

�Inu� Inuyasha�you�re� you�re not human.�

He smirked and raised an eyebrow at her, �Aren�t you a quick one. Hanyou, remember?�

Kagome shook her head, �No. Inuyasha� I mean� it�s dark� and you�re not human!�

Inuyasha�s scrunched his forehead. He looked at his hands, complete with claws. He took an experimental sniff. He brought a piece of hair to his face, still silver. He raised his hands to his head and located the two dog ears that were supposed to have been replaced by human ears this night. Finally, he jumped up and pulled Tetsuseiga from its sheath, transforming it into the giant fang that would not appear without his demon blood. He looked into the mirror on the back of Kagome�s bedroom door and blinked as his half-demon reflection stared back at him, �Okay, what the fuck is going on?�

Kagome recovered herself, jumped up, and ran to her window. There hung the slightest sliver of moon, like an umbrella in the sky, �I don�t understand. I thought tonight was the new moon. Did we get the day wrong?�

Inuyasha shook his head, �No. It�s supposed to be tonight.�

�Are you sure?�

�Look, bitch,� He growled. When she flinched he breathed deeply to calm himself and continued, �Do you think after all of this time, after all of the crap that happens on my human night, that I�d forget what night it is?�

�But�� A new idea occurred to Kagome and she grabbed his haori and tugged for him to follow, �Inuyasha, I need to check something.�

Before he could protest, he was being dragged down the hall, following when Kagome burst into Souta�s room without knocking. Her brother protested loudly at the invasion of privacy, but a shadowed glare from Inuyasha, as he sensed the urgency in her actions, silenced the boy.

Kagome plopped into the seat at her brother�s desk and pushed the button for his computer monitor, muttering to herself as the archaic machine warmed up, �Come on, come on.�

�Uh, Kagome?� Inuyasha tried.

But she was on a mission and ignored him. Finally the monitor blinked to life and she began typing frantically. Seconds, minutes, ticked by, with only the sound of the click of the keys on the keyboard and the breathing of the three breaking the silence.

�Aha!� The boys jumped at her sudden outburst.

�Aha, what?� The dog demon asked.

Kagome began pointing excitedly at the computer, �Inuyasha, I�ve shown you the computer before, right?�

He nodded, �You said it�s like a whole library of books and a fleet of couriers. You can look up information and send letters.�

�Right. Well, I found information here about the cycles of the moon. Look.� Both boys peered over her shoulder, �The earth travels through the sky, just like the sun and the moon, but at different speeds, that�s why the new moon is on a different night each month, it travels at a different speed than the sun. But even the earth travels at a different speed than the moon. Every year, the new moon falls on different nights!�

�Meaning?�

�It is a new moon in your era, Inuyasha. But it won�t be a new moon here for two more days!�

�No shit!� Inuyasha was finally excited, �You mean, if we go back tomorrow, I�ll actually miss my human night this month?�

Kagome smiled brightly and nodded, �Yep!�

�I wish I�d known this sooner. I would have come back here every month!�

�Well, if you�d just listened to me all those times I offered�� She smirked at him.

�Oh, hell. Still�If I don�t loose my demon blood this month, I should be even stronger when we battle Naraku!� Without thinking, Inuyasha grabbed the girl into a hug and spun her around, both oblivious to the teen still in the room with them, and laughing deliriously, �Gods! Yet another reason for me to love you.�
X*X*X*X*X
A/N: Evil, evil cliffie�.he he he.

First off, the story of Mrs. Higurashi and Souta is a very personal one to me. My husband had leukemia and was on chemo when we conceived- the story of her pregnancy and husband�s illness if actually taken from my life, no embellishment. My son was born 350 miles away from our hometown, but my husband was there. And my son was born the day before his daddy�s birthday- the day I had told doctor�s he would be. Christmas day was the last day my husband was awake, he went into a coma the next day. January 5^th, we lost him. That was four years ago, and I truly believe that God gave us our son to help me and our families deal with the loss. My husband was 26 years old- the age I am now. Our son is named Matthew, after my husband�s best friend, but we later learned the name means �Gift of God.� And to us, he is. He is our only child, but he is loved in a way that I think no other child could be. He filled a deep loss and was a reaffirmation of life in the midst of death. I wouldn�t change anything. If I had to do it again, I would. Seeing the look in Tony�s eyes when he saw his son for the first time was my greatest gift. A family was his greatest wish, and though we didn�t get to spend much time together, I�m happy that he got to see his son. My son�s first word was �Daddy,� even though there was no other man in my life, and there were times when I have felt like Matthew sees something, someone, that I don�t. And there are times when I have sank into deep grief, only to feel an unexplained warmth and comfort. I�m not devoutly religious, but I definitely believe that the Lord works in mysterious ways and that we are never given more than we can handle. And I do believe in destiny.

Ok, here�s the scoop on the moon thing. I read or watched something once, about how archeologists had a hard time figuring out what the pyramids were for. That is, until they took into account, that over the millennia the tilt of the elliptical orbit of the earth, in conjunction with the varying orbits of the planets, changed what the night sky and star patterns would have been from then to now. Meaning? The alignment of everything is not constant. I did some research, and sure enough, a solar year (how long it take for us to circle the sun) is 365.25 days long, while a lunar year is only 354 days long. End result of this madness? The new and full moons are not on the same nights every year. I found a site that let me compare our nights to those of 500 years ago. Guess what? When there was a new moon in the Feudal Era, there wouldn�t be one in modern times except on a few, rare, occasions. Take 2004. Only one new moon (February 20^th) would have coincided with a new moon 500 years ago. Hmmm. Makes you reevaluate the whole �let�s take Inuyasha back to the future for his time of the month� thing, huh? The spin off I�m considering will take a peek at what the effects would be if Inuyasha began escaping to Kagome�s time and no longer experienced his human nights, maybe even having a few extra full moon nights, instead. Yippee! A new idea! Well, now that�s a plot bunny I�ll be possibly running with in the near future. Let me know what you think. Random tidbit of trivia- on the same site, I found that the crescent moon in Japan, because of the location of the earth to their view of the night sky, looks like a smile or frown instead of the American view of the crescent moon- the upright banana. Just thought it was interesting. Yeah, I know. I�m a dweeb with too much time on my hands. C'est la vie.
- 28
- 29
- 30
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Sloppy Seconds