InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Aka-chan ❯ First Chapter ( Chapter 2 )

Aka-chan

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and I do not make money out of writing this story.

 

 

A/N: I know I neglected this story - I'm sorry for that - but here it is now. It's not going to be very long, but I hope you'll like it. Oh, and the thing about hanyou's rate of growth was invented out of convenience. I hope you enjoy the read, and please review. 

 

First Chapter

 

 

 

At first I thought I would be able to do this. He was no ordinary demon child - he was half-demon, and it was an extra reason for the difficulty I encountered in finding time to look after him. I wanted to raise Aka-chan, I truly did, yet my mission as a Miko kept getting in the way.

 

Daily, I refused to think about a time when I would not be able hold Aka-chan into my arms, because I had grown attached to him. I studied half-demons' development and I'd shudder every time I discovered something worth worrying over. The truth was, I was not to be Aka-chan's guardian for long. They said the rate of growing up was high for a half demon. Based on instincts more than anything else, they grew up fast until puberty, when their growth process would slow down almost to a halt. Half-demons lived long, even if demons lived longer. Half-demons were half human, half demons - that was stupid of them to explain; I already knew it. Half-demons, all the people I asked would say, were not only something in between physically, but mentally as well.

 

Seikai was a wise monk I deeply respected, but I was genuinely scared by what he told me. He was old, perhaps of Midoriko's age - maybe he had even known her - and even though I'm sure he wanted the best for me and any living creature, he wanted the best for The Pure World more. His allegiance was to Monks and Miko, and demons did not fit in his world. When I sought advice about Aka-chan, Seikai opened in my mind a doubt that had not been born there before.

 

Demons rebelled even against their own kind - how did I know that Aka-chan wasn't to rebel against me, the one who raised him? Could I say for sure?

 

It was a good question.

 

But I answered with a question of my own. Don't humans do the same? Seikai-sama didn't answer.

 

Akitoki had been particularly nagging recently, but I was relentless. The child would not be killed while under my protection. And I made sure to be the only one the child could be around. I took care of him, found him a woman to nurse from, changed him, held him when he cried, and worried over his out-of-ordinary traits. Even as a small child, he looked too much like…

 

My heart stung whenever I saw him, though I knew it was not Aka-chan's fault. I did not want to name him, because the only name I could think of giving him was forbidden. I could not utter it, so how could I name this child it?

 

Inuyasha…

 

Every time the brave, forever lost to me half-demon came to mind, my heart was pierced with a strangely chilly feeling of loneliness, as if I'd been betrayed. Yet I knew Inuyasha had never voiced aloud his desire to be with me, even if sometimes I wondered. Still, it was Kikyou who he had admitted he'd loved, and I stood out of their way.

 

I became a Miko myself then.

 

As far as I remember, I'd told myself I wanted to help people, but now I'm beginning to think I did it to be more like her. It was a fluke that I already looked quite a bit like Kikyou-sama. I wanted Inuyasha to feel something when he looked at me, even if it was she whom he was thinking of. Only now I realize how ridiculous I was.

 

Then Inuyasha died, and along with him died a part of my frail heart. I can only hope I can devote the lingering pieces to Aka-chan.

 

Yet I can't be his sole protector now. I was accused of ignoring my Miko responsibilities, and even though I knew it was a ruse to keep me away from the baby, Akitoki-san and the others managed to pose the problem well enough for me to question my right to be a Miko. I had to spend more time being a Miko than I was.

 

I really didn't like it, but I needed help with Aka-chan, so I chose the kind, old miko that was no longer in the service of the High Miko - Midoriko-sama, to help me. She, Kaede, had raised me, after all.

 

Soon, I confess, I saw less and less of Aka-chan, who in five months resembled a five-year-old. His hair grew long and silver just as Inuyasha's, and whenever the villagers asked me who the child really was, I would avoid the question. The fear evident in their eyes when they realized the child's strange resemblance to Inuyasha was the fear I knew was in my eyes, too, whenever my heart beat faster at the thought.

 

Kaede was a wonderful woman; she helped me a lot, taught Aka-chan a lot of things. She was kind and patient, like a grandmother. I was ashamed to call myself the child's guardian when I only saw him a few times a week.

 

Yet Aka-chan oddly clung to me hardest when he saw me. Whenever I came home, Kaede told me, Aka-chan would be elated and on his best behavior, so I would be neither mad at him nor disappointed in him. Equally strangely, I found myself quite drawn to him, as well. I cared about him in a way I'd never cared about anyone and I was excited to come home and see what new things he'd learned to do and hear how he'd behaved. I didn't punish him because he was always an angel, but sometimes I'd tell him what he should do and how he should act among people.

 

One day he told me people didn't like him and it broke my heart.

 

The fact that a two-year-old saw that was sad in itself, but there was nothing I could do to stop the hostility of the villagers. They hated him as much as they were afraid of him. People always feared what they didn't understand.

 

One day Akitoki Houjo stood in front of my while I was walking, efficiently stopping me. I imagine the flicker of annoyance was bright in my eyes, but he didn't acknowledge it; he was noticeably tense.

 

“How long are you going to do this, Kagome-sama?”

 

I asked him, what did he mean?

 

“This child - you're only keeping him because he looks like Inuyasha, are you not?” His words were poisonous and I was afraid I would die from the sheer venom coating them.

 

“I'm not sure I like where this is going,” I said and evaded the situation, like I always did, stepping around the man, but this time he pulled me back, quite unlike any other previous time.

 

“People are afraid of him; they can only see the half-demon that destroyed Kikyou-sama. You cannot be this blind. He has the same eyes, the same hair, claws - even the ears, and-”

 

“Aka-chan is nothing like Inuyasha.”

 

The bitter man snorted. “Aka-chan? You did not even give him a name. How fitting for a half-demon.” He didn't say half-breed thankfully, but in that moment I was appalled at myself. Aka-chan did not have a name, and I was stalling. Was it wrong? It… was.

 

At night there were dreams. Dreams, nightmares, where I'd lay on the freezing ground with no clothes on, the Moon as my sole protector, my soul stripped bare in front of a thousand hungry eyes with no desire to shield me from my own failures. My skin always tingled with something tainted then, because I was no longer a Miko. But I wasn't vile either -just something in between. No one understood me and no once cared enough to help me. I was alone, tortured, tormented, terrified.

 

I wanted revenge.

 

And when I woke up, I'd always realize that I did want revenge. Revenge for Inuyasha's death, for the cruel way everyone was treating Aka-chan. My world revolved around them now, even if one of them was no longer alive.

 

Inuyasha…

 

So I decided. It was really a one-moment's decision, but I didn't care. My heart fought against it, even Kaede did, but I was unyielding. Akitoki-san could say nothing,

 

I named Aka-chan Inuyasha.