Shikon no Go
The Language of the Shikon
A Fanfic in 100 Chapters
By DQBunny

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DISCLAIMER: This story is based off of "Kendo no Go: A Fanfic in 100 Chapters" by Akai Kitsune. Her story in turn is a parody of "In the Language of Love," a story by Diane Schoemperlen. My thanks and appreciation goes out to Akai Kitsune for letting me borrow her fic idea! "Inuyasha" is the property of Takahashi Rumiko.

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Chapter 91: Twins

"Doggy! Doggy!"
- Miroku and Sango's twin daughters: Chapter 558

In the days and weeks that stretched out since the defining moment when Inuyasha emerged along with the well, life in the village returned to the daily routine it had had before the arrival of the strange miko in the even stranger clothes. Naraku was gone, and so was the Shikon no Tama. Everything was peaceful, despite the small changes among the village's population. Its permanent residents grew by four - Inuyasha, Shippou, Rin and Kohaku.

Three months after Inuyasha's returned, Miroku and Sango announced that there would be at least one more.

"What the hell were the two of you doing while Kagome and I were in that hellhole?" Inuyasha yelled when the news was announced at dinner.

"Most people express their congratulations, not demand an account of people's private matters," Sango shot back.

Miroku rested a hand on his shoulder. "Do forgive Inuyasha, dearest Sango. He's just expressing his jealously at our conjugal bliss. It's not like we haven't been together since the final battle."

"Don't we know it," both Inuyasha and Shippou muttered beneath their breath. Their enhanced hearing - combined with sharing the hut closest to the newlyweds - meant that they definitely were aware of their more private moments.

Even so, the monk and the taijya hadn't formally bonded until the previous month when their permanent home was completed. In the days following his return, Inuyasha hadn't noticed the shift in Sango's scent. By the time he noticed it, he kept silent, hoping that he was wrong. He hadn't imagined that she had been this far along and it irked him that while he and Kagome had been fighting for Kagome's soul that the two of them had been canoodling in the Sengoku Jidai.

It also reminded him of the aching loneliness he wrestled with every day.

Shippou eyed Inuyasha, his small heart beating faster when the vacant look entered the hanyou's eyes that meant he was thinking of Kagome. He sniffed back tears, swiped his nose with his arm and did what he did best - kicking Inuyasha in the head.

It did the job.

"Why the hell did you do that, runt?" Inuyasha yelled, grabbing the kitsune and tossing him across the room.

Shippou didn't answer. He merely whooped and took off running.

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For all the criticisms that Miroku later received for not being around for the birth of his third child, there was a very good reason behind that.

The birth of the twins had been traumatic enough.

When Sango entered the deepest pangs of labor, all the weapons had to be removed from the hut. This only happened after Sango had managed to get ahold of Hiraikotsu and smashed Miroku upside the head. Inuyasha grabbed the monk's heels and dragged him out of the hut before returning to clear out the weapons. Before he could flee to the safety of the well, Sango turned her rage to him.

"This is all your fault!" she screamed at him between contractions. "I would have never met that perverted monk if it wasn't for breaking the damn jewel!"

"Blame Kagome, not me!" Inuyasha yelled back and dodged a flying piece of crockery. "She's the one who broke the jewel in the first place!"

"I can't!" Sango wailed. "She's not here! I wish Kagome-chan was here!"

So do I, Inuyasha thought desperately. Even a round of "sits" was better than this!

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Kaori and Midori were rather cute for babies, Inuyasha had to admit. It had taken the collective group nearly a week to decide on the names, and he even appreciated the nod to Midoriko taken with them.

Although the little girls clung to their mother and father, they became Inuyasha's shadows. He first noticed this when they began to crawl. He'd been working on replacing Kaede's roof when he spotted two small humans crawling toward the shadow of the house. He leaped down and scooped them up by one hand.

"Oi, you two aren't suppose to be here," he announced.

Kaori yawned. Midori cooed ... then deposited a smelly load in her diaper.

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose. Holding them away from him as far as possible, he marched the twins over to Miroku and deposited them in the monk's lap. "Your problem," he announced and fled as Midori's diaper overflowed and Miroku yelped as his robes were ruined.

A week later, Inuyasha made his normal trek to the well. He stared at the wooden structure. It seemed to be mocking him, sitting there serenely in the sunlight like it always did. He whirled around and sat with his back resting against the side of the well, watching the tall grasses bend in the wind. If he listened hard enough, he could almost hear Kagome's laughter.

He closed his eyes. Because he was alone, because no one else would approach without his knowing, he allowed the tears to come.

"Bah?"

He cracked one eye open. Kaori and Midori were there and how the hell had he missed them? Inuyasha cursed himself for being so wallowed in his own misery that he hadn't smelled them. "Hey, where'd you two come from? Sango's probably pitching a fit by now."

By this time, the girls had crawled into Inuyasha's lap and he bent his nose to Midori's head. The scent of clean baby wafted into his nose and soothed the ache in his heart. Knowing he needed to return them to the village, he allowed himself a moment to indulge in this.

Midori wanted none of it. She spotted Inuyasha's twitching ears and made a grab for them.

"Oi!" Inuyasha held the baby out at arm's length. "What do you think your doing?"

Midori gurgled, then replied, "Doggy!"

His jaw dropped.

"Doggy?" Kaori, who'd been playing with her toes, looked up. A big smile appeared and she began bouncing in Inuyasha's lap. "Doggy! Doggy!"

"The hell?" Inuyasha managed. Miroku and Sango had been encouraging the 11-month-old girls to speak, but they hadn't responded to the urges to say "Chichi" and "Haha."

"Doggy! Doggy!" Midori cried, kicking her feet.

Inuyasha grinned, snatched up Kaori and plopped both children on his shoulders. They squealed and grabbed for his ears. He ignored the pain, the pride and the satisfaction of being able to lord it over Miroku that his daughters had identified him as their first word.

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Author's Note: This chapter, and most of the ones following, are inspired by chapter 558 of the manga series. It's finally over! The original theme for this chapter was "moon," and this chapter was going to follow that theme. But these little girls are just way too cute.