AN - In case you don't all know the words I'm using…
reikai: spirit realm/world
makai: demon realm/world
ningenkai: human realm/world
hanyou: half-demon
youkai: demon
reihado: spirit wave

Fateful Encounters

Chapter 5: Pregnancy, Part I

After Ku-Loon had finished Kagome's story Genkai had invited them to stay for lunch and informed them about how things were at present. She told them about how the three realms came into being after the battle with Naraku: reikai, makai, and ningenkai. She also explained about why there were few demons in ningenkai, including the periphery barrier that barred access to all A-class+ demons and the monitoring done by the spirit realm.

"All the demons you knew would have reached A-class level or higher by now, if they are still alive. Thus, they would be prohibited to live in the human realm. I don't expect you will ever see them again, unless you somehow make it to makai and that is not an advisable action for a human, much less a miko. Have you thought about where you are going to live and how you are going to hide your child's youki from spirit world's monitoring?"

Kagome nodded as she tried to hide a yawn with her hand. She was sleepy, as she usually was nowadays after meals. "I want to raise my child here. I can conceal a demon's youki without a problem, I've done it before. I can also do illusions but I have never tried to hide the demonic attributes of a demon or hanyou before, but I think I know where to start. If he or she, as an adult, wants to go to makai that will no longer be up to me."

"I see." Genkai said looking at her with a thoughtful expression on her face. She was silent for a long time and Kagome just waited, knowing that in the end the decision to help was Genkai's alone.

"I admit that you annoyed me at the beginning. Other than your miko power, though considerable, you looked like a weak teenager trying to act grown up. However, after listening to your story and taking your youth into account, I suppose I can understand your actions. First off we must speak of how I'm to help you and what my care would entail before we do anything else. For one, you will have to come live with me until you give birth at least. As of now you can't stand anyone's touch and obviously I will need to touch you if I'm to be your midwife. In addition, your pregnancy has too many unknowns, not only because you are human but because you're a miko. Daily or almost daily monitoring will be required. The first examinations can be done using my reihado, but I will have to do a physical examination at some point; something I doubt will happen if I allowed you to keep hiding in your mother's skirts."

Kagome didn't know what to say. Though what Genkai was saying sounded harsh she was smart enough to see that it made sense. Still, it didn't lessen her unhappiness with the situation. She needed to feel completely comfortable in Genkai's presence by the time she gave birth; otherwise she would be making things harder on herself than they needed to be.

"My family will still be able to visit me, right?"

"Of course, though for now I will just encourage that they don't visit you more than once a week. Once I have a better idea of how your pregnancy is progressing and how much of my attention you will need, we will change visitation times accordingly."

They spent the rest of the day talking everything through and convincing Genkai to accept their reimbursement. Genkai had only wanted their permission to add Kagome's experience onto her miko research (unanimously of course). However, from Kagome's point of view if she was going to be living there, the least she could do was pay for the food and attention she will be receiving. In the end Genkai had accepted the deal with a smirk, telling her that she wasn't a push-over like she'd feared.

Kagome still didn't know if that had been a compliment or an insult.

KHSSKHSSKHSSKHSSKHSSKHSSKHSSKHSS

Kagome was nervous. She had moved in with Genkai yesterday evening, after coming to an accord with her the day before that. They had set up a daily schedule that will be adjusted as needed but for the most part first thing in the morning will be an examination. Then breakfast and chores followed by lunch. After lunch was Kagome's nap, which she could no longer do without, followed by meditation and then dinner. After dinner, came a half-hour walk accompanied by Genkai and then to bed by 10pm to wake up the next morning for the 6:30 exam; overall, not too bad with plenty of personal time (and in Kagome's case, nap time) for the both of them.

They had already agreed that Genkai will take care of breakfast, Kagome will be in charge of lunch, and they will trade off preparing dinner. The dishes for each meal will be done by the one that cooks it while the person in charge of dinner that day cleaned up the house after breakfast. Cleaning won't be much of a chore really since Genkai was a stickler for cleanliness and order, so it should be a quick task.

This morning, the first of many Kagome will be spending there, was her first prenatal examination and she had no idea how things were going to turn out.

When she entered the room it wasn't as big as the others she'd seen in the house but it was still spacious. It was also decorated in a soothing blue color so light that it was almost white, which was very different from the rest of the house which consisted of natural dark wood and a black/white color scheme. There was a single one-person bed in the middle of the room, a small bedside table, and what looked like a large medical cabinet on the wall opposite the door.

"Good morning, Higurashi; any morning sickness today?" Genkai said and motioned her to lie on the bed. Kagome shook her head and did as instructed. Genkai raised her arms perpendicular to her own body, her hands hovering less than a foot above Kagome's abdomen. "Try to remain calm and don't fight my energy, but tell me if you start to feel pain or anything unusual; no matter how insignificant you might think it to be."

Kagome closed her eyes and relaxed her body as much as possible but couldn't contain a gasp as she felt Genkai's energy working itself into her body. She was barely able to stop her body's instinctive response to attempt and purify the foreign energy. However, once she became familiar with Genkai's energy, she was able to relax her guard without further problems and simply waited for the examination to be over.

It was over about 15minutes later and they decided to discuss the results over breakfast. It was not good for Kagome to be hungry for too long after all, she hated feeling grouchy.

"Surprisingly enough you are in perfect physical health. I am somewhat confused by everything else I found however…nothing bad, just not at all what I was expecting. I had theorized that because your child would be part youkai you will instinctively shield it from your purifying energy but this is not the case. Amazingly, your holy energy is flowing throughout your body like normal-"

"Are you saying that I purified my baby's youki and is now completely human because of me?!" Kagome asked horrified.

Genkai scoffed and answered: "Not at all. In fact, I can't detect a hint of human energy at all! If I'm not mistaken your child is a pure demon, not a hanyou. You have told me that you are close to 9 weeks pregnant. At this time in a human pregnancy the embryo should be no bigger than a grape. But in your case, the baby is about two inches long and seems to have already developed enough to move, though you can't feel it yet." Here she stopped and looked Kagome in the eye.

"He also tried to repel my energy and seemed to be trying to attract your attention. His energy was 'tapping' against yours, but since he is still so weak you won't notice it unless you look for it."

"He? It's a boy?" Kagome asked in wonder.

Genkai smiled for the first time at Kagome. "Yes, it's a boy."

Kagome smiled back, pure happiness spreading throughout her being: she was having a baby boy. But then…"How is this possible? I'm human; he can't be a pure demon."

"I have no idea at the moment. If you had been a dog demon you would be almost ready to give birth. Female dog demons only carry for 11-12 weeks. In human terms he would probably be considered to be around the 12th week; though a youkai, your baby is nowhere near the expected youkai level of development,. It is clear that he's developing faster than a human fetus but slower than a demon one. I had expected this, but I had been expecting this from a hanyou. I don't see how this can be when the baby is clearly a full youkai."

Genkai frowned and placed her hands behind her back trying to control her frustration. "You are an embodiment of contradictions. Somehow you are not fully mated. You seem fragile but are not weak. Your child is youkai even though you are human. Your miko energy is not affecting your child's youki in the slightest and I have no idea how he will continue to develop... I will need to look into my library. I have found no records of a miko giving birth to a demon's baby but I will look again in case I missed something. For now I would like to do daily examinations to see how fast your baby is growing and I suggest you try to reach him with your own energy as you meditate. Demons are much more in tune with their instincts than humans. It is possible he recognizes you as his mother and needs to be acknowledged by you somehow." Genkai shrugged as she picked up the breakfast dishes and left for the kitchen sink.

Later that day, after Kagome finished preparing lunch, she went to meditate and try to reach out to her son. It didn't take her long after gaining her focus to find her son's consciousness. Like Genkai said, he was quite adamant on attracting her attention. It was a new experience for Kagome. She had only done this once with Miroku, as practice, in case someone was in need of spiritual inner healing. In such cases healing can only be done by gaining access to the afflicted person's mind and inner energy.

This experience was completely different from that one however. With Miroku she had a sense of 'words' once she'd established a mental link. This wasn't like that at all. She could 'see' her son's youki reacting to her presence with what she could only describe as happiness, swirling around excitedly one moment and curling up around her in contentment the next.

It was a very unique experience, but one that filled her heart with love. This was her son she was communicating with, her son that she was feeling and seeing. It made everything somehow much more real to her, but with it came an overwhelming feeling of shame. How could she have ever resented this beautiful being, how…Her depressing train of thought was cut off before it could get any further however, when she suddenly felt her son's youki surrounding her even tighter, brushing against her in comfort and slight worry.

Kagome smiled and responded with her own holy energy. Now that she was completely certain that it truly didn't hurt him at all she spent the next hour in communion with her son. It was the most wonderful experience of her life and having this connection with him somehow made all her past pain worth it for a change.

AN: Please review and as always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

-Lina