InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Chichiue ❯ Fatherless ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A/N: Okay… revising all of this again. No big changes, as least not in this chapter, so I’m mainly just updating the style and formatting ^_^

“Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy!!”

Kagome looked up from the paperwork in front of her, finding her son’s excited blue eyes looking up at her as he skidded to a halt on the carpet of her study. “What’s the matter, Inu-chan?” she asked, turning in her swivel chair, a slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“There’s- There- There’s a-”

She smiled and leaned down to place her hands on her son’s small shoulder. “It’s okay. Just slow down and take a deep breath.”

He did, his chest inflating until he looked ready pop, then exhaled in a rush, nearly shouting, “There’s a man here to see you!”

The smile disappeared from her face in a flash, leaving her looking surprised. Patting him on the head and muttering a thanks as she passed him, Kagome made her way out to the hall, half-hopeful, half-dreading what was to come.

Her hope died when she saw who it was, leaving only the dread. She masked a sigh, letting her footfalls on the ceramic tile of the front entry alert the auburn-haired man of her approach. Hojo turned from where he had been politely inspecting the scrolls hanging on either side of the doorway, a warm smile splitting his face when his eyes fell on her. Kagome gave a small, cordial smile in return.

“Higurashi-san,” he breathed, bowing politely. It was amazing how he always managed to make her surname sound like the warmest endearment, Kagome thought as she followed suit. When he straightened, he simply regarded her silently for a few moments, prompting a raised eyebrow from Kagome; she had become more defensive toward his advances in recent years. Hojo shook himself, smiling. “Forgive me. I… I suppose I am still taken with your beauty after all these years.” He scratched the back of his head, a hint of a blush crossing his cheeks, and suddenly he was the young gangly boy Kagome had gone to school with, despite his undeniably manly build and expensive business suit.

Kagome swallowed and tried not to smile as she felt a blush rising on her own face. It was of course nice to receive compliments, especially when they came from attractive young men, but still… “Was there something you wanted?” she asked, managing not to sound too forced.

Hojo looked slightly taken aback for a moment, but quickly recovered, smiling as if he had just been let in on some dark, terrible secret, but was understanding nonetheless. “I had hoped that you would take me up on my offer…”

“Dinner. Right.” Kagome looked down at her stocking-clad feet, absently playing with the ring on her fourth finger. “Hojo… I can’t. You’re nice and all, but I just… I can’t.” She looked up into his face, waiting for anger, sadness, betrayal.. anything.

Instead, Hojo smiled placidly. “I understand how you feel, Higurashi, but you need to move on.”

Kagome’s face froze in shock. “Move on..?” she repeated slowly.

Hojo nodded slightly, glad he was finally getting through to her. “You know, go out and have fun. I know you need to take care of your son, but you need time for you as well. You’re still young, after all. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you,” he said, smiling down at her.

Kagome wasn’t sure what she should be feeling. Anger seemed to come easiest, so she grabbed hold of that and ran with it. “How- How dare you?!” she demanded, her hands balling into fists at her sides. “How dare you even suggest that I-”

“Kagome.”

She stopped short, swallowing hard. That voice. It was the first time he had called her by anything but her family name, and he had somehow managed to use that same calming voice that he had always used. It had an immediate effect on her.

…But when she looked up into his face, and didn’t find those blazing golden eyes staring out at her, it was almost too much to take in.

She turned quickly away, folding her arms around herself, almost as if for protection. “Don’t act so familiar with me,” she retorted, her voice much steadier than she felt.

Behind her, Hojo sighed. “We’ve known each other for years, I…” He sighed again and conceded softly, “I’m sorry. That was rude.” There was a beat of silence when Kagome could feel his gaze on her back, and then he stepped forward, placing his hands on her shoulders. Kagome tensed as he began to speak gently in her ear. “We could be happy together, if you’d just let me in…” She jerked away from him, turning to face him, her hands fisting at her sides again. Hojo gazed at her, his eyes sad. “Higurashi…”

“You’re not him!” She finally choked out. She swallowed hard as Hojo just looked surprised for a moment, before sighing and running a hand through his hair.

“Look, I know you loved your husband, but you have to let him go,” he said, looking her hard in the eye. She started to sputter again, but he cut her off, showing frustration for the first time. “It’s been four years for heaven’s sake!”

“He’s coming back,” she said firmly.

Hojo sighed again, rolling his eyes in exasperation. “Chances are he’s either dead or he forgot about you a long time ago,” he said flippantly.

Kagome could only stare at him for a moment, and then said in a deadly quiet voice, “Get out.”

“What?”

“GET OUT!”

Hojo looked startled, and started to back towards the front door, his hands held in front of him in a placating gesture. When Kagome grabbed a picture from off the wall and looked ready to throw it at him, he quickly turned and yanked the front door open. “You’re going to have to face facts eventually, Higurashi,” he called, dodging behind the heavy wooden door. “He’s not coming back!”

“GET OUT!!!”

The door slammed closed and Hojo disappeared from her sight. Kagome let her arm fall, the picture clattering to the floor beside her as she crumpled into a sobbing heap.

Just around the corner, peaking out from behind the wall separating the hallway from the front entry, a small boy of about five years of age watched wide-eyed as his mother sat and cried her heart out.

The rest of the day was quiet, almost painfully so. No one came to the house, no one called, and nothing happened. At dinner, Inuri was restless, picking at his macaroni and cheese despondently as the oppressive silence weighed down on him more and more with each passing moment.

After several minutes, he looked up at the adults sitting all around him, silently chewing their dinner. Great-grandpa had his eyes half-closed, probably because of his ‘special medication’ that Mama had told him about, his dry old cheeks puffing up slightly as he sat and slowly ate his food across from him. Mama, on Inuri’s left, looked like she might start crying again at any moment, her face troubled as she stared down at the noodles on her plate. That left Grandma, on his right, who alone looked conscious and happy. Grandma was always like that, even when Mama was sad – somehow, she just always knew what to do and made sure that everything turned out right in the end. Inuri leaned toward his grandmother to talk to her.

“Gramma!” he hissed in a loud whisper, cupping one hand over his mouth as if that would keep the other two from hearing him. Grandma looked at him and smiled, and his mother looked up in interest behind him, while Great-grandpa just made a kind of deflating noise with his nose, his jaw cracking loudly as he chewed. “Gramma, who was that man who came to talk to Mama earlier?” Inuri whispered, completely convinced that the conversation was concealed solely between he and his mother’s mother.

Grandma’s smile disappeared, and she looked past Inuri to Mama, her face worried. Inuri turned around as his mother sighed and pushed away from the table. “I’ll talk to him,” she said, her voice sad, resigned. Inuri stared up at her, wide-eyed, hesitating to take her offered hand. He had never seen Mama look like that before…

Mama led him up to their bedroom. She sat on her bed and placed him on her lap, her arms hugging him lightly. "Mama?" he asked after several moments of silence, frowning up at her.

"Inuri…" she began, then sighed, looking away, unsure how to explain. Finally she decided on, "Inuri, that man… His name is Hojo, and he used to be a friend of mine."

"But you're not friends now?" he asked, tilting his head in a perfect imitation of his father.

Kagome smiled despite herself. "Well, maybe not anymore. Hojo… Hojo wants to be your Daddy."

Inuri wrinkled his nose, looking offended. "But I already have a Daddy!" To prove his point, he jabbed a finger at the photo sitting on the night-stand by her bed. It was from several years ago, shortly after Inuri had been born, and showed Kagome glomped onto one of her husband's arms while he held their tiny son in his other. Both were beaming out at the camera, no doubt held by Jii-chan, if the bits of fingertip along the edges of the picture were any indication. It was one of the few times when they'd been truly happy.

Kagome had to look away from the image of the dog-eared man before her eyes teared up too much. She nodded, smiling down at her son. "Hai. That's your Otou-san."

Inuri growled softly and snuggled against her, glaring out the window and, presumably, in the direction Hojo had left hours before. "You better tell that hobo guy to go away, or else Daddy will come get him, right Mama?"

Kagome had to stifle a laugh at what Inuri called Hojo - he was so much like his father! - and just held her son close. "Hai. Someday, Daddy's going to come back, and everything will be alright again." Please..!

"And then we'll live happily ever after, just like Sleeping Beauty, right Mama?" Inuri asked, pulling away and smiling wide up at her.

Kagome laughed out loud. "Yes, just like Sleeping Beauty." It amused her to no end that her son's favorite bedtime story just happened to be a backwards version of how his own parents met - girl enters enchanted land to wake up demon prince, rather than the other way around. And she didn't rouse him with a kiss - what a wake up call that would've been for Inuyasha! One minute Kikyou's shooting him, and then the next minute, he opens his eyes and finds her kissing him! Ha!

She shook her head, trying to dispel her thoughts. Even after all these years, it was hard to think of the priestess without any bitterness. Instead, she just smiled down at her son again and murmured, "Just like Sleeping Beauty…" Inuri smiled up at her once more, and then squirmed out of her arms, running off to go finish his dinner.

Kagome sat for a while, staring out the window at the darkening sky.

Please, Inuyasha… Wherever you are… Be safe…

Come back to me soon.

Edited & Re-posted 9.4.05