Nature or Nurture?

Chapter 1: Heir

 ***This story is on Wattpad as well as on Dokuga and I might be posting it on Fanfiction.net. All of these stories are by me, so no one is plagiarizing!

They were just bedding down for the night, having travelled most of the day starting at the crack of dawn. Inuyasha always insisted that they waste no amount of daylight, even when their group consisted of two children, three humans, a half demon, and four full demons. The children were the ones that had the most trouble with so little sleep, so Kagome had made and enforced the rule that if they started their days so early, then they had to make camp by a decent time, so the children had enough sleep to grow properly and be healthy.

Rin, Sesshomaru, Jaken, and Ah-Un had been fairly recent additions to the normal group of shard hunters, but they had gotten into a routine very easily and quickly. Basically, to resolve all disputes over direction and course of action between the feuding brothers, Kagome had final say on everything. Most of the time she tended to side with Sesshomaru because he was the more reasonable of the two, but there were some human needs that took explaining first before he agreed.

Inuyasha knew that the humans in the group had extra needs, but always was rushing them or declaring them to be pathetic because of them. With this system, though, Inuyasha's rushing and Sesshomaru's lack of knowledge on all things human dwindled swiftly. Kagome was the leader in all things, and everyone was fine with that, including Sesshomaru.

He had gained a new respect for the young miko once he learned of her origins and the situation regarding the jewel and what had happened to it. He thought that she was brave, honorable, and trustworthy considering that she could have escaped to her era many times over and left someone else to pick up the pieces of the jewel or handle the fight between them and Naraku, but she never did.

In addition to that, she was very motherly toward her adoptive son, Shippo, and his ward, Rin. She took care of them by making sure that they were well-rested, fed, and bathed daily. He had wondered why she smelt so much better than other humans, but now he had his answer. She bathed regularly and did not think that too much time in the water would turn her into a kappa, like the other uneducated and purposefully filthy humans of the time.

That brought up another of her good qualities. She was well educated and well read. Sesshomaru had learned about how she would return to her time in order to take tests to prove that she had learned the material being taught to her. It was really a novel concept considering that most, if not all, of the women in this era were not taught how to read or write, let alone things like math and science.

All in all, the miko was the one out of the entire group that he had a strong admiration for and considered a good friend. The slayer was still suspicious of him, the monk was a proven pervert, and the half breed was a vulgar idiot to say the least.

That was why, when he received news from his fortress that his heir was now being brought into this world and that the mother wanted to leave the heir with him to raise while she retired to her reward, he had the thought to bring the child back here for the miko to help him raise.

He didn't let anyone else in on this development just yet. He simply informed Kagome that he had something to attend to but would be back by the next day at the latest. She accepted this and said that she would look after Rin while he was gone, which was exactly the response that led him to his decision.

The mother of his heir was picked for her power and nothing else. She was not his mate and now she did not even want anything to do with the child she had birthed. However, here, right in front of him, was a woman that would be more than willingly to be the mother of his newest child for no other reason than that the child needed her. She would expect no reward or incentive for taking the position, of that he was sure. That was just the kind of person he was learning that she was.