InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Beauty ❯ Chapter 1

It was a gorgeous summer day, and Kagome was spending it in the Warring States Era.  She smiled to herself as she watched the wind blow through the God Tree.  She was sitting down with her back against the sturdy trunk, and although there was a manga volume in her hands, she wasn't reading it. 

“Hey, Kagome.”  Kagome looked up to see Inuyasha standing over her.  She smiled at him and patted the ground beside her.  He sat down and rested his own back against the tree that had imprisoned him so long ago.

Kagome noticed him glancing curiously at her book, so she offered it to him so he could look at it.  He took it in his hands and opened it, studying the pages and flipping through them. 

“This is different from what you usually read.  When you don't have a textbook, you've got a fantasy one.  I've never even seen one like this in your room.”  Kagome raised her eyebrows in surprise.  She hadn't realized that he paid so much attention to what she read.

“You're right Inuyasha; I usually prefer to read novels.  With these, it takes a really long time to tell the story.”

The half-demon looked confused.  “Then, why read it?  You could have bought something more enjoyable.”

            ; Kagome let out a small laugh and looked up at Inuyasha.  “Ah, well, this one caught my eye because the drawing on the cover is so beautiful.” 

Inuyasha frowned and looked again at the cover.  It showed an angel with an expression of great longing and pain.  A tear slipped from each empty eye; one tear had just started its journey down her pale cheek, but the other was barely clinging to her jawbone.  Her hair was black and straight, and fell nearly to her feet.  It curled around her, hiding most of her body from view.  The angel's arms were held out in front of her, but sadly so, as if the angel was horrified by something that was on her hands.  She seemed to be asking someone to wash them clean for her, while knowing that they could never be clean.  There was no background behind her, just a dark gray.  But her wings, her wings were shockingly white.  They stretched proudly out to her sides, not ashamed of the person that they were attached to.  Yes, they were attached to a person, because that's all an angel is once you strip it of its wings.

            ; “It's not beautiful, it's sad.” Inuyasha stated.  He could find no beauty in the pain that the picture held.  He heard Kagome laugh again, and looked at her, surprised.

“Inuyasha, look past the whole picture and concentrate on the individual things for a moment.  The picture tells a story if you know how to read it.  Look at her tears; they're like a beginning and an end.  The way she's holding her hands makes it seem like there is something she is ashamed of.  And her hair, look how she hides behind it.  She looks so afraid.  Her wings, however, say just the opposite.  They're bright and unashamed.  Do you see the contrast between the background and the color of her wings?  It's like an old life and a new one.  When you put it all together, you see that she has suffered so much.  But she's beginning again, starting over.  Her wings will carry her, but she is the one who will decide what she wants to be and how she wants to live.”

As Kagome said these things, Inuyasha reflected that it reminded him of his own life.  The tear that was still hanging on was Kikyo, while the one that had just begun to fall was Kagome.  Inuyasha could picture himself holding out his hands just the same way that she had them, because he was ashamed of all the senseless blood they had spilled.  He didn't hide behind his hair, but in a sense he did hide.  He hid from his human self, because he was afraid of all the emotions that came free; but at the same time, he hid from his demon blood, because it turned him into a heartless monster.  His demonic power was also his wings, though.  He used just enough of it to go through life and protect Kagome, but in the end, he was still the one who chose who he wanted to be. 

Inuyasha looked again at the drawing.  He saw the story, now, but he still couldn't find the beauty.  In his opinion, it would be more beautiful if the sadness were taken away.  “I don't understand, Kagome.  I see the story, but knowing that this angel suffered doesn't make it beautiful.”

Kagome's face broke into a happy grin.  “Close your eyes, Inuyasha.”  The dog demon did as he was told.  “Now, when you open your eyes, look at the whole picture again, at how all the pieces fit together.  Ready?  Ok, open them!”

Inuyasha opened his eyes, and gasped.  He turned to look at Kagome, his golden orbs alight with wonder.

            ; “What, Inuyasha?” the schoolgirl asked, thinking that she already knew the answer.

            ; “It's beautiful.”