Chapter Three: A New Addition

Day One –

Today my family was blessed with a new addition. Her name is Mikomi. My family and I spent a good deal of time naming the new baby.

Talk about an understatement. Kagome puts down her pen and rubs her already aching head. Naming the baby had practically started a war within the little group. Heck, it was a battle just determining the gender.

“Higurashi!”

Kagome stood up and walked to the front of the class. The teacher checked her name off of a list and handed her an object wrapped in a light violet blanket. Kagome took the object and looked down with a smile. It was so cute! It was also kinda heavy. It weighed about twelve pounds. Twelve pounds may not seem like much, but for something so small it was a lot.

After all of that time dreading the project, now that she was holding the little thing in her arms, she was starting to look forward to it. She wondered how her friends in the Feudal Era would react to it.

The rest of the class period went achingly so. Luckily it was the last class of the day. When the last bell rang, Kagome picked up the genderless baby and walked out of the school. It was surprisingly realistic looking and even the skin felt soft like a real baby’s. From a distance, it looked like very real. She looked around at her other classmates. Many of them had babies in their arms too. Some had blue blankets, some had pink, some had yellow, and some had white with little ducks or sailboats on them.

Many of the students carried the babies similar to the way Kagome carried hers, cradled in her arms like an infant. Others had made makeshift carries for them. There were also a few who didn’t seem too terribly concerned about their grades and had stuffed their babies into their backpacks.

The school girl had been more than a little surprised to find Inuyasha waiting for her by a tree just outside of the schoolyard with a blue cap on his head. Even though his glares had scared off her friends, she couldn’t help but giggle.

“Hi, Inuyasha!”

“Keh.”

She grinned. “Have you come to walk us home?”

“Keh.”

She had been tickled to watch as he tried to not look curious at the bundle in her arms. He wasn’t fooling anyone though, well, at least not Kagome. Finally she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and turned to the dog demon.

“Would you like to see?”

“Keh,” he scoffed, “Like I care.” But he peeked at the baby anyhow, though he was unwilling to actually touch the blanket or the plastic infant. There was something about his curiosity and… was that fear?... of the baby that warmed Kagome’s heart.

Inuyasha sneezed.

He hated all the smells of this time. There were so many strong smells that it was difficult picking up the important ones. And the one he was searching for right now was faint and in danger of being overpowered. He closed his eyes and sorted through the smells until he found the one he was looking for.

Quickly he jumped to the second floor of the building and peeked inside of the window of Kagome’s classroom. He was careful to not be seen. Last time she saw him watching her through the classroom window she had sat him. It was a long way down and hitting the concrete was a lot harder than hitting packed dirt. He had no desire to make that plunge again.

Kagome sat near the back of the classroom. He didn’t like the looks some of the other students were giving her. He also didn’t like some of the whispered conversations a few of the girls were having about her a few rows over. They were whispering about how unusually well Kagome looks for someone who is out sick all the time. They were whispering about how she was probably just skipping school to go hang out at a thing called a MAWL. Then they speculated on other things that Kagome may have been doing while skipping school. A blushing Inuyasha wondered how many times he would be sat if the shredded those girls. Well… if Kagome never found out about it…. And even if she did, maybe if he explained…. No. He didn’t want Kagome finding out what those girls were saying about her. Even if he didn’t understand everything they were saying, he was certain it would do nothing but embarrass and hurt Kagome.

“Higurashi!”

Kagome stood up and walked to the front of the class. Inuyasha frowned at the pairs of eyes that were watching her. One inparticular found Kagome a bit too interesting as she walked down the aisle. The boy had a vaguely familiar smell. Inuyasha inhaled, trying to remember who this boy was.

Ah. Now he remembered. Inuyasha growled at the memory of the boy. It wasn’t too long ago that the boy was with Kagome… though at the time he was calling her something else and was being entirely too familiar with her. That had been the day when Kagome was in something she called a PLAY.

Before the dog demon could snatch the boy out of the window and drop him onto the pavement below, he saw Kagome reach out and take the small purple bundle.

It looked like…a baby!

His mouth was slightly ajar as he saw her look down at it and smile. She looked like a mother with her pup…

When she turned around to go back to her seat, Inuyasha jumped back to the ground. The loud bell would be going off soon, and he wanted to be far away when that happened.

Within moments he was at the tree where he usually sat to watch Kagome leave the building. The image of Kagome holding the baby wouldn’t leave his mind. There was something about it that was disturbing… and interesting…

The irritatingly loud bell rang, and soon a flood of students poured from the building. He relaxed a bit when he saw Kagome finally exit. She was still holding the baby. His heart flip flopped and he scowled at the feeling. Hiding behind the tree he watched as she looked down at the baby again. This is what she will look like holding her own baby.

That same young man from her class approached the girl, intent on looking at the baby she was holding. The snarl that ripped from his throat caught the young man by surprise. Nervously the boy said his good-byes and left Kagome alone.

Certain that he was going to be sat, Inuyasha looked away. He wasn’t expecting Kagome’s soft giggle.

“Hi, Inuyasha!”

Embarrassed at being caught, all he could say was, “Keh.”

She was smiling at him. “Have you come to walk us home?”

“Keh.”

“Would you like to see?”

“Keh,” he scoffed, “Like I care.” But he decided to peek at the baby anyhow. The thing looked too delicate to touch. He thought about his claws and about how easily it would be to break it. And he was certain that if he broke this thing, that Kagome may never forgive him.

It looked real, but it didn’t smell real.

“It’s a girl!” Kagome insisted.

“It’s a boy!”

“No it’s not, Inuyasha. It’s a girl!” She peeled off the violet blanket and the diapers from the baby, much to Inuyasha’s horror. Shippo however, took a peek.

“I think she’s right, Inuyasha. I think it’s a girl.”

Sango looked over Shippo at the doll. “I don’t know, Shippo. It doesn’t really seem to have the right… parts to be a girl.”

“It doesn’t have the right parts to be a boy either,” Miroku countered, looking over Kagome’s shoulder. He didn’t get a chance to look long before he was physically removed from touching distance of the young miko by an angry hanyou. Miroku gave him his most innocent smile.

“I think it’s supposed to not be specifically either one… so you can decide which one you want it to be.”

“You can’t decide the se… the se… you can’t decide if a baby is going to be a girl or a boy, Kagome!”

She couldn’t help but find his inability to say the word ‘sex’ to be anything but hilarious. Sure he could swear with the most colorfully foul words with the greatest of ease, but this one little three letter word had him stammering and turning red. It really was charming.

“Sure you can.”

The look he gave her clearly indicated that she was not using all of her mental facilities. Though likely he was just calling her ‘stupid’.

“With today’s medical technology, people can now decide if they want to have a boy or a girl. It is expensive though.”

“How is that possible?” asked Sango.

Kagome smiled. “Well, I don’t know all the specifics. But I do know that they take a woman’s egg from her body, and the man’s…”

“Egg? Like a bird?”

“Um… not exactly, Shippo…”

“Then what kind of egg?”

Whooo boy. She could already feel herself turning red. “Well… when a woman is ready to have a baby, her body releases this…egg. It’s very very tiny.”

“Does it come out like a bird’s?”

“Umm… no. Look, maybe you should have this discussion with Inuyasha a little bit later. I bet he can explain things to you.”

A short bark of laughter was heard from above. She looked up. Inuyasha had found a comfy spot in the tree to rest. He looked amused, but not very helpful. He didn’t have to use words to tell her that no way on earth was he going to be explaining the facts of life to the kit.

“Or Miroku…”

The monk smiled benevolently at the young kit. “Come, Shippo, and I will endeavor to explain to you the wonders of a woman’s…”

“NEVER MIND!” Kagome’s eyes were wide and panicked.

“Maybe we should decide if we want it to be a girl or a boy,” Sango said, coming to Kagome’s rescue.

The girl sighed with relief. She had been spared. “That would be a great idea.”

“I think it should be a girl.”

“I think it should be a boy,” Sango said, glaring mildly at Miroku.

He rolled his eyes at her. “How can you possibly think that I would be thinking anything along THOSE lines about a BABY? You wound me, Sango.”

“I didn’t SAY anything, lecher!”

He gave her a hard look. “Your tone of voice clearly indicated your thoughts.”

“I don’t care if it’s a brother or a sister,” interrupted Shippo, looking down at the baby again. He was smiling at it, touching its nose gently with his finger. Kagome looked down at him sadly before pulling the young fox demon into her arms and kissing the top of his fuzzy head. He looked up at her with a grin before looking eagerly back down at the baby.

“What about you, Inuyasha?” Kagome asked, tilting her head up to see him directly above her. Always the watch do, she thought fondly.

“Keh. Don’t care. It’s your baby, you decide.”

Kagome thought about it. Like Shippo, she didn’t necessarily have a preference to if she wanted a son or a daughter. Whatever she was given she would love dearly. She looked at the baby doll closely. They were right, it didn’t have the features for either a boy or a girl. But… it did look closer to being a girl…

“She’s a baby girl then,” Kagome finally announced. She hoped Sango wouldn’t be too disappointed in her choice. She glanced at her friend, and breathed a sigh of relief when the demon slayer gave her a nod of approval.

“What’s her name?” asked Shippo.

She scratched her head. “We’ll just think of a name together. What do you guys want to name her?”

The camp was quiet as the group thought about a name. Kagome sat the baby down, letting Shippo hold it, as she prepared a dinner of ramen. She boiled the water, poured it into the little containers, and counted under her breath for three minutes until they were ready to be eaten. She gave everyone their containers, then took her spot next to Shippo and the baby. Before she had completely settled into eating position Inuyasha was seated next to her gulping down his ramen.

“Suki.”

Kagome turned to look at Shippo. “What was that?”

“Maybe we could name her Suki. It means love.”

“That’s a sweet name, and very thoughtful too.”

“How about we name her Toutoi.”

Kagome thought about that name. It meant ‘precious’. “That’s a good name too, Sango.” She turned to Miroku. “Do you have a name picked out?”

Miroku thought about it for a moment. “I like the name Saiai. After all, any daughter of yours will be ‘beloved’, so the name would fit perfectly.”

“Saiai… that’s nice.” She turned to the dog demon. “What do you think, Inuyasha?”

“Keh, I think you are all choosing sissy wimpy names. She needs a name that means strength… and power. She needs a strong name. Like… like… Chikara.”

“Chikara is not the name for a baby girl, Inuyasha!” scolded Sango. “A baby is a precious thing, something to be loved and cherished. She needs a name to reflect that. She’s a baby, not a warrior!”

“I don’t want her to grow up weak and defensless! She needs a strong name so she will grow up powerful and strong!”

“But she is just a baby, Inuyasha,” Miroku tried to reason. “She needs to know that she is loved and will always be loved. Having a name like Saiai, or even Suki or Toutoi will remind her of that.”

Kagome watched as her friends argued. Soon the arguing escalated into a full blown shouting match. It wouldn’t surprise her if soon they would come to blows. What did surprise her, however, was how adamant that her friends were about the names. And this was the name of a baby that wasn’t even real! She sighed heavily. Finding a name shouldn’t be this hard should it?

Suddenly the baby began to cry. Shippo looked up at her, not knowing what to do. Kagome picked up the baby and rocked it gently. The electronic mechanism registered this, and the baby began to quiet back down.

“My momma used to do that for me,” whispered Shippo, watching both Kagome and the baby closely.

The arguing ended with the cry of the baby. They watched as Kagome rocked the child. She looked up at her friends. They were still angry with each other. Why were they taking the naming of the baby so seriously? Surely they had to remember that it wasn’t really a real child. It was plastic with electronics, or, as they believed, magic inside of it.

But something told her that now would not be the time to remind them. After all, she was getting a rare insight on her friends. They didn’t often talk about family, or about the future beyond finding and killing Naraku.

Suki. Love. Kagome looked at Shippo. He was still watching as she rocked the baby. He was fascinated with it. Then she noticed the look in his pretty green eyes. He wanted a brother or sister, he really really wanted one. At first Kagome had brushed off his comments, but now… now she knew that he really did want a brother or sister. He wanted to be part of a family again. He wanted more than just that. He wanted to belong, he wanted love.

Toutoi. Precious. Kagome looked across the fire at Sango. The demon exterminator was looking at the baby in her arms with sadness and longing. Did Sango dream of having a family of her own? It was no secret that Miroku wanted a child, but Kagome hadn’t thought about what Sango might want. A baby wouldn’t replace the family she had lost, but… but it would be a family of her own. And wasn’t Sango past the age of when young women in this time found a husband and started having children and raising families? Sango had seen so much death and pain. A child’s life must indeed seem precious to her.

Saiai. Beloved. The name had come so quickly from the monk, and so seriously. It was no secret that he wanted a child, an heir. Kagome always thought he wanted a child so that he would have someone to continue the fight against Naraku should he be consumed by the wind tunnel in his hand. The name he chose had nothing to do with revenge, it had to do with loving, with cherishing. Maybe a baby means more to him than simply an heir. After all, Miroku had no family of his own anymore either. Perhaps he wants something in his life that would be his beloved.

Chikara. Strength. Power. Yes, Kagome could see how those would be important characteristics to Inuyasha for his children. He had to survive by being strong. He couldn’t be weak. If you showed weakness you died, it was as simple as that. And he wanted his daughter to be strong. Kagome had been surprised at how he fought for the name. She would have thought that he would give them a ‘keh’ or a ‘feh’ and hop into his tree to ignore them. But he didn’t. He was actually fighting for the name. It was actually important to him.

Each of them felt so strongly about the names that they had chosen. How in the world would she choose? Choosing one of them would be like choosing one friend over another. And that just wasn’t possible.

She could use all of the names. But Chikara Suki Toutoi Saiai Higurashi was such a very long name. Maybe there was some sort of compromise. What was it that they all saw in this child? Love. Strength. Precious. The future. A new life. A new start. Hope? Yes. Hope.

“What about…Mikomi?” Kagome asked. “It means hope.”

The arguing ceased, and each member of the group thought about the name and the meaning.

“I like it.”

Kagome smiled. “Thanks, Shippo.”

“I like it too,” smiled Sango. She called to Kirara, who was napping nearby, and held her in her arms. “I think that it is very fitting.”

“I agree.”

“Feh.” Inuyasha jumped back up into the tree. But Kagome knew that he was agreeing with the others.

“Mikomi Higurashi, say hello to your family.”

Mikomi began to wail.

What I Have Learned –

There is more to naming a child than simply picking a pretty name. When you involve an entire family in the process, you find out what kind of things are important to them. I learned a lot about the people I care about today.

It is also difficult, if not impossible, to get everyone to agree. Sometimes the best you can hope for is to find something that everyone can live with.

The baby cried a lot until we finally figured out how to work the buttons to make her stop. I also learned that sometimes you have to try more than one thing. Just picking up and rocking the baby doesn’t always work. Sometimes you have to try feeding it even if it isn’t feeding time or singing to it or burping it or checking the diapers.

I wish that you had included a guide to deciphering what the heck it is that a baby wants when it cries. It would make life a whole lot easier.

Kagome Higurashi