Chapter 1: Day One

"Endure with soft grace,
a strength that needs no shouting
a silent resolve."

-Tyler Knott Gregson

It was during those in between hours, when you weren't sure if it was early morning or late night, that he first saw her again. She was sleeping, her mouth parted slightly, breaths coming out as little puffs, almost as if each one were a sigh. It was a mistake, honestly, pure coincidence that he happened to be there that night. He was stunned and rooted to the spot the moment he saw her. It felt like he was there for hours, just watching through the glass as her chest rose and fell, memorizing her features, cataloging each of the little facial twitches she made.

"Are you the father?" He started at first, and then looked to his right to see a young man with dark brown eyes and black hair looking at him expectantly. The look on his face must have said something the stranger, as he smiled sheepish and pointed through the glass at the two newborns resting in the nursery.

"To the little boy. Are you his father?" Inuyasha looked away before mumbling out a curt, "no." The man scratched the back of his head nervously, and Inuyasha realized he needed to swallow whatever he was feeling and converse with this man, unless he wanted to look like a predator outside of the nursery window.

"No," he began a little clearer, "that would be my newest nephew, Daichi."

"Well, you must be a pretty committed uncle, then." Inuyasha saw the man smile in the reflection on the window, clearly trying to make joke to ease some tension.

"His father is out of the country, so I'm watching over things until he returns." Inuyasha paused for a moment to evaluate the little pup, swaddled in the standard hospital blanket with a little cap on his head. Daichi, unlike Kagome, was wide awake, and making occasional little noises, attempting to squirm out of the blanket he was wrapped in. "I take it you're her father?" Inuyasha glanced back over at the man and saw the warm smile break over his face as the new father nodded enthusiastically.

"That's my daughter, my little Kagome. Isn't she just perfect? I know every dad thinks their kid is perfect...but man, look at her." He sighed longingly and looked back over to Inuyasha. "You'll have to excuse my manners, I'm Hideki Higuarshi." Inuyasha bowed back to the man and offered his own name in return.

"It's nice to meet you, Hideki. I'm Yashiro Takeshi. Is she your first?" The man smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head again.

"Is it that apparent? It's a bit overwhelming." Inuyasha smiled gently in reply.

"It is, but you're handling it pretty well." Inuyasha looked back at the little Kagome, still sleeping away peacefully. "She is perfect, truly. You are a lucky man, congratulations." A door opening caught them both off guard, but a nurse appeared with a smile on her face.

"Mr. Takeshi, Mr. Higuarshi, you both have clearance to come back and hold them if you want. It's time for Kagome to be fed, anyway. I just need to double check your wrist bands for formality's sake." The men looked at each other and then back at the nurse before nodding consent and going through the door. After a quick scan of the wrist bands each of them had been given by the labor and delivery unit, both men made their way through the door.

The nurse who had invited them in instructed them to wash their hands at the sink and use the disposable nail brushes to get any free debris from their hands. Seeing that they were following her directions sufficiently, she returned to the desk and began charting while they completed their task. The two men were operating in silence, and before long found themselves walking towards the basinets, arriving at the little Kagome's first.

Inuyasha really couldn't bring himself to move away from the little Kagome, even as Hideki leaned down, scooped her into his arms and offered her a bottle of formula. Up close, her scent was almost overwhelming, and his feet were instantly rooted to the spot, memory after memory washing over him. So, there he stood, looking over Hideki's shoulder at the baby, absentmindedly keeping up small talk with the man. He wasn't sure what was being said, but gathered that Kagome's mother had a rough delivery and, due to the medications she was on, was forced to use formula instead of breastfeeding. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard a phone ring, and soon a nurse was next to him, effectively forcing him to tear his attention away from the newborn.

"Mr. Takeshi, that was mom's nurse. She's feeling better and is up to breastfeeding, so her nurse is heading down to come get Daichi. I think she said your brother and his son are going to come down and walk the baby back up with the nurse." He must have still seemed distracted, so she glanced between him, Hideki and Daichi before continuing. "Did you still want to hold him?"

Just then, the door opened, and another nurse came in, greeting the nursery nurses before looking towards the two men. "Mr. Higurashi," said man turned his head to face her, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need some more information about your wife. Could you maybe let your friend take over for a little while?" Inuyasha didn't even have a moment to protest that he wasn't Hideki's friend before the man turned towards him with expectant eyes.

"Would you? I'm sure it won't take long, and you've already washed up. If you don't mind, that is." Somehow, Inuyasha was unable to stop his arms from reflexively extending out to support the small newborn, and before he knew it, he had the little Kagome against his chest with one arm and was offering her a bottle with the other. Mutedly, he heard the nurse that been addressing him say something along of the lines of "well, that works," but he was too absorbed in the little girl.

Inuyasha absentmindedly found himself rocking back and forth on his feet, falling into the habit after doing the same to many nieces and nephews, as he fed the tiny Kagome. Her little blue eyes sluggishly opened to look at him, and despite knowing there was no way she could truly perceive him at this age, he locked his own gaze with her, cherishing the moment for what it was to him. Inuyasha had no idea how long he had been there, rocking back and forth on his feet, holding the hours old Kagome, memorizing her smell again, but soon he felt a presence at his elbow.

"Yash, is that the little tyke?" Inuyasha glanced up to see Shippo standing next to him, eyes radiating some excitement and expectancy, before his nose caught up and he instead glanced towards the true Daichi and then at the little girl in Inuyasha's arms. "Please tell me you aren't planning to kidnap some random baby." Inuyasha's expression must have revealed something to Shippo, some of the fear he was feeling, some of the possessiveness, because Shippo was at his side in an instant. "You aren't are you?" Inuyasha felt a flash of annoyance rip through him, offended the kit could even think something of him like that after so long, sad that he didn't recognize Kagome's scent anymore. That was quickly replaced with a bit of melancholy that Shippo had been too young to remember it even as minutely as he did.

"No," Inuyasha began firmly, "no, I'm just finishing up her feeding while her dad is talking to a nurse." Inuyasha looked back towards the nursing station, seeing one of his nephews chatting up the nurses as they were signing over the transfer of Daichi from the nursery to the postpartum unit. He looked back at Shippo, content the pup at the desk was too busy to hear him. "This, Shippo, is Kagome Higuarshi." Shippo's eyes widened before he looked back down at the babe with new clarity before popping back up to Inuyasha.

"I'm guessing you don't want anyone else to know about her?" Inuyasha shook his head before responding with a sigh.

"No, we need to keep this between us. No one needs to know about her until after it's all over. We need to make sure she isn't targeted for the jewel." Shippo nodded, and both men returned to admire the infant until their time was up, stealing a moment that should have never been theirs to enjoy.

The meeting left many impressions on Inuyasha, but as he walked away from Kagome and her father a few minutes later, he knew one thing: he had to keep her safe, and that meant keeping her a secret.

A/N: Something that was rattling around between graduating college and starting my first "real" job. Hope you enjoyed!

Edited 3/6/2018