Sequel of Captured and trapped.
Chapter unbeta-ed.
I don't own InuYasha.
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Chapter 1: return in the past
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Mrs Higurashi was sweeping in front of her house, lost in her thoughts. She didn’t know what to do. While she was overjoyed to have her daughter back home, sometimes, it seemed like Kagome wasn’t completely back. As if a part of her stayed on the other side of the Well.
She knew that her daughter was hiding things from her. She refused to talk of what happened to her during her capture, saying that she was fine and nothing too bad happened. She was lying and Mrs Higurashi knew it. It was rare that her daughter would not wake up at least once in the middle of the night, screaming.
Just nightmares, she said.
It was happening less often this days but she knew that it wasn’t because Kagome was having less nightmares but rather because she wasn’t sleeping. She thought that no one knew what she was doing but Mrs Higurashi knows that the young woman was staying awake as much as possible, only allowing herself some naps during the day when less people were around to hear her. Her daughter was getting herself sick and was losing weight again after fighting so much to gain weight since her return back home, three weeks ago.
She saw cuts and burn marks on her daughter’s arms once. Kagome told her that it was nothing and that it looked worse than it really was even if she would not let her mother takes a look. Since her return, her daughter had been wearing long sleeves and pants when she had always preferred to wear skirts. The weather was getting warmer everyday but Kagome still refused to wear lighter clothes.
Another disturbing point is that Kagome refused to leave the shrine. She seemed to have problems to be around people. Her daughter whom had always been a happy child, loving to help taking care of the people coming at the Shrine, was flinching at any strong noises and was disappearing in the little wood around the shrine or in the house each time people were around. In the weeks since her return, Kagome must have left the ground of their home maybe two or three times and only because Mrs Higurashi forced her to get medicine for her grandfather or get her brother after his soccer practice.
It was during one of her absences that InuYasha came looking for her. Seeing the young hanyou asking for her daughter after the very tiring days since her return made something in Mrs Higurahi broke. She didn’t really remember what she told him when she chased him away from the Shrine to never come back. She still could see the pain filled expression on InuYasha’s face when he left and she probably would have felt guilty if she couldn’t still hear in her head the screams of her daughter’s nightmares. She never told Kagome of his visit, not knowing how her daughter would react. Would she be happy that her friend came looking for her or would it makes things worse seeing him knowing that he failed to protect her? Mrs Higurashi sighed. It was the same dilemma that she had been thinking over since his visit, not knowing the right answer.
She paused in her sweeping and glanced behind her. Kagome was sitting on a bench under the shadow of the sacred tree, lost in thoughts, as always since her return. She had had hope that things were getting better for her daughter. She had been gaining weight slowly but surely making Mrs Higurashi hoped for the best only to have everything changing in the last couple of days. Kagome lost her appetite and vomited almost any time she succeeded in having something in her stomach. She had left things alone, not wanting to make things worse for her daughter by forcing her to do something she didn’t want to but enough was enough. Now it was time to act before Kagome’s health was even more in danger.
……
When Kagome came back home, she thought that finally, everything was behind her. At first, she thought that she only had physical wounds to hide and everything would be fine. She even had succeeded in dodging her family’s questions on what happened to her. But all this, it was without considering what she could not control… her subconscious.
Each time she closed her eyes, the pain, the hurtful words, the red eyes of Naraku were mocking her at every moment. While she could make herself think about other things when she was awake, as soon as she was sleeping, she had no control anymore. After the first nights waking the whole house with her screams, she had to tell her mother some parts of what happened. Not much, though, much to her mother dismay, only of her capture and that she saw some horrible things there. However, she never told her that she had been tortured and what happened with Sesshomaru. In fact, the only thing she said was that she wasn’t alone in the cell and that this person helped her a lot.
She didn’t say much but apparently, the way she said it was enough for her mother to deduce that her daughter admired this person a lot. Kagome didn’t even try to deny it. It was the truth after all.
So to avoid more questions and to worry less her family, Kagome took the habit to catnap in the afternoon when everyone was busy elsewhere and tried to stay awake as much as possible during the night. After three weeks like that, she was exhausted. She lost weigh again and tent to fall asleep anywhere at any time now.
Finish for her the school uniform, the short skirts and the short sleeves. Summer was almost there with its heat, but Kagome was still in pants and long sleeves t-shirts. She was forced to tell her mother that she had a couple of scars because of her ordeal and didn’t want to show them. It was putting it mildly when she was covered by them.
There was one good thing; after three weeks in the future, still no trace of InuYasha. She should feel guilty for those feelings but she couldn’t. She knew that she should have at least inform her friends that she was back and safe but she didn’t have the strength as of yet to confront any of them. When her family was content, more or less, with half answers, it would not be the same with the gang and worst InuYasha. She wasn’t ready to face them.
In the last days, she had been able to feel more and more the worried glances of her family as her health was taking a nose dive again. She could not keep anything in her stomach. Any food or strong scent was making her nauseous and when she forced herself to eat, she could not keep it down more than five minutes before she throw up. Her family wasn’t the only one truly worried. She wasn’t stupid. Something was really wrong with her.
She was shaken out of her thoughts by her mother’s voice beside her. She didn’t hear her but by worried voice, she had been calling her several times.
“Kagome ?”
“Yes, mom ?”
Her mother didn’t say anything more and handed her a piece of paper. Eyebrows furrowed, Kagome took it.
“What is it ?” She asked, puzzled.
“I took a rendez-vous for you to see the doctor.”
“Mom-“
“Not a word Kagome.” Mrs Higurashi cut her off. “You will go. You can’t continue like that. You haven’t been keeping anything down in the last three days and you are not sleeping. Yes I know that you are keeping yourself awake to avoid the nightmares to not worry us. I know you, my daughter, I know that you are always thinking of us and trying to not worry us. But now, you need to worry about yourself. You are ill so you will go see the doctor, and that’s final.” She said firmly.
Seeing Kagome hesitating still she softly added. “Please, Kagome. If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for me.”
Kagome looked down at the paper in her hands, turning over and over. Her mother put her hand on hers, stopping her movement.
“Please.”
Kagome looked up at her mother. She knew that she was right. Something was really wrong with her and it wasn’t just that she couldn’t sleep because of her nightmares. The doctor could maybe give her something to sleep without dreaming and found out why she couldn’t eat now without throwing up. She knew that her mother was right but… how will she explain the scars? It was the only thing that was making her hesitating.
She needed to be lucid though, and she could not continue like that or she would probably end up in a hospital.
“Ok.”
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When she came back from her rendez-vous, she was in a daze. What was she going to do?
She had been right; the first thing the doctor remarked was her numerous scars. When she was waiting to see him, she cooked up the explanations that she was going to serve to the good doctor. She decided to tell him half-truth. She told him that she had been kidnapped with someone else far away while she was travelling and she had been back home only for a few weeks. If it hadn’t been in the media it was normal. The ‘person’ that kidnapped her was still running and it was decided that no media should talk about it until he was caught. He wasn’t buying it totally but he had been following the Higurashi for years now, since she was a child really, so he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. There was no reason for the maiden of the Higurashi Shrine to lie that he knew. He prescribed to her some cream and oil to massage all her scars to help reduce them a bit. For the pills for sleeping that she asked about, he told her that he needed more information before deciding what would be the best for her. He took some of her blood to make urgent analysis and made her pee in a cup. He didn’t tell her anything but it seemed that he already knew what the problem was.
He kept her talking. He wasn’t duped. The only explanation for the collections of marks on her body was torture. It was the only explanation for having cutting, burning and so on scars all over. Kagome knew that she couldn’t lie about this.
He made her wait in the room while he continued with other patients. She had the choice either she waited there or she could come back later or he would call her as soon as he had the results. She preferred to not move. She couldn’t go back home now without knowing what was wrong with her. She waited a few hours, she didn’t know how long, and might have slept a bit. She was surprised when an assistant came back with the results first analysis and told her that the doctor was going to see her in a bit.
When he came back in the room he looked at her with what could be qualify as pity in his eyes. She thought the worst. Was she dying? But when he told her what her ‘illness’ was she was shocked to say the least. When thinking back now it was not that shocking and she didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of it.
She was pregnant.
Her frozen reaction combine with her multitude of scars might have made him thought of rape because he immediately told her that he could give her information about abortion. She snapped out of her frozen stance long enough to tell him that she hadn’t been raped when she realized what he was trying to say without saying it clearly. She just told him that it was with the other person that was kidnapped with her but no rape was involved and that she didn’t want an abortion.
He gave her the name of an OBGYN and prescribed to her vitamins because she had several deficiencies. She was too weak and too thin and it was good neither for her or the baby. She told him that she was going to live with some family in the countryside and after some hesitations he gave her the prescription for medication for two whole months with the promise to see another doctor there as soon as possible. He explained what she needed to do to get better but she didn’t remember everything.
In fact, she was home with a bag from the pharmacy but she didn’t remember how she got back to the shrine. When she walked in the house, her mother wasn’t home. What was she going to tell her? She couldn’t face her she thought hyper ventilating.
Waves of panic assaulted her then. She prepared her bag in a hurry. She left a message to her mother saying that the doctor told her that nothing grave was going with her health and that he prescribed vitamins essentially so she could recover from her ordeal. That she was going back to the past and not to worry.
It was only when she was on the other side of the well that another wave of panic caught up to her. What was she going to say to the gang? To InuYasha? What would she do if what Naraku said was the truth? How would she react then?
As she climbed out she saw that no one was there waiting for her much to her relief. She had never been happier for this occurrence.
She hesitatingly made her way towards Edo. In the distance, she saw Kaede sweeping in front of her hut.
As soon as the old miko spotted her, she let it fall on the ground and made her way as quickly as she could towards Kagome. She did the same with her bag and threw herself in the arms of the older woman.
Soon they were sitting around the fire with a cup of tea. Kaede didn’t say anything and just wait knowing that pushing for answer was the best way to don’t have any. After some hesitation, Kagome told her everything.
The young Miko watched all the expressions switched on Kaede’s face but Kagome could not stop herself now that the gate was opened. Shock and pity was evident on the older woman’s face but she didn’t say anything.
She even told her that she wasn’t alone in her cell. At the last second, she remembered that she wasn’t supposed to say anything about this. So she stayed vague only saying that someone else was with her in her cell and that he helped her a lot. She ended up by saying something happened between that mysterious person, a youkai, and her during their captivity.
Seeing the shock on Kaede’s face she hesitates but ended up blurring out that she was pregnant.
The older Miko stayed silence for a full minute, sipping her tea. She then told her that she was not going to lie that she was a bit disappointed but she understood how something like that could have happened. They were alone in their cell and could count only on each other. She was more shocked that it could happen at all. She heard rumors about a miko-youkai couple or two through the history, other than her sister and InuYasha and they didn’t count since they didn’t do much more than holding hands, at least when she was alive. But more than the act it was the procreation that surprised her. Her powers should have neutralized the youkai’s semen, at which Kagome blushed. Kaede, unperturbed, told her that miko powers are able to destroy, to a certain extent, foreign bodies and poisons.
Kaede told her also that she could have guessed that something was different in Kagome because she could detect, even with her weak powers, the fluctuations of her aura, more than usual, like a dancing flame. She prepared for her a pouch with herbs to help her calm her nerves, settle her stomach and sleep. When she told her what herbs could be good for her and that it was not hurtful for the baby, Kagome realized that her doctor in the future told her about several of those herbs during her rendez vous but she had forgotten in her shock.
She gave her also something to carry around her neck. It would hide her smell. It should work for only a court period since it will be impossible to hide her pregnancy when the baby’s heart will start beating. The barrier hiding her scent should work for, at most, four weeks.
Kagome, blushing, thanked her.
That’s when Kaede put down her tea cup and, fixing her with her good eye, asked her bluntly.
“Now, when are you going to inform the Western Lord of this?”
Kagome froze. “How…?” She asked, shocked.
“I’m old, not stupid child. I don’t know any other Youkai around you powerful enough to maybe explain those fluctuations in your aura beside InuYasha’s brother. And stubbornness seems to run in this family. Also, while I don’t doubt that your captivity played an important part, Sesshomaru-sama is the only Youkai that you respect enough that it could evolve to this situation. It is more surprising from his part than yours.” Realizing that it could badly be interpreted, she added. “But on another end, while I don’t know much of InuYasha’s brother, if he was to be involved with a human, as surprising as it is, I don’t think another human could be a candidate other than you.”
They talked a bit more after that and Kagome panicked again when Kaede told her that her friends would be back today. But the older Miko reassured her that she will explain some things to them as soon as they would be there to limit the questions. After, it would be at Kagome to explain everything when she will be ready.
Kagome thanked her profusely. She was exhausted but at the same time, the confidence she had done with Kaede made the weigh she was carrying on her shoulders a bit lighter.
She decided to try to sleep a bit, hoping that the herbs will help her to sleep without nightmares.
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End of the first chapter.