InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Home for the Holidays ❯ Birth of a Notion ( Chapter 2 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: kokoro no miko 
Inuyasha decides what to do with the information he received from his pack.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance / Angst | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.21.2011 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.4K | Visits: 489 | Status: Work In Progress
Inuyasha decides what to do with the information he received from his pack.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance / Angst | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.21.2011 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.4K | Visits: 489 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I do not own Inu & Co., nor do I have any intention of infringing on the rights of Rumiko Takahashi, et al.
A/N: I think I’ve finally got the hang of doing this again--it’s been a long time.
“Nothing important, Babaa. I found out that tonight will be a really important holiday where she comes from, and there’s no way in hell she’ll be able to be there by then.” He paced across the floor with obvious irritation.
“Calm yourself, Inuyasha. Obviously, there’s nothing that can be done about it.”
Filled with a sudden resolve, he pushed open the door covering. “Maybe not,” he agreed, “But I can try, can’t I?” Before letting the covering fall back into place behind him, he said, “Keep an eye on things, okay? Don’t let her do anything stupid.”
Before Kaede could answer, he was gone.
------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------
T he young hanyou raced through the forest that bore his name, thinking about all that he had learned this night. If the well hadn’t been so completely blocked, it might have been possible to get her home in time for the celebrations. As it was, he would have to do the best he could right here.
He experienced a not-unfamiliar sensation as he considered the information he had been given. As unpalatable as it was, he could only think of one possible reason why the girl would be so upset at the prospects of spending this night here rather in her home world--there must be somebody in particular she wanted to spend it with, and that meant….
He shook his head. No, that couldn’t be it. She had only ever mentioned one young male from her time, and he had always picked up the scent of acute discomfort when she spoke of that Hobo kid’s continuous--and obviously unwanted--attentions. He didn’t think it even remotely likely that the young miko would be willing to spend her life with someone so much weaker than she herself was, someone who would be unable to protect her from even the slightest danger.
He somehow understood that she needed someone much stronger--at least physically--than she herself was. While he realized that her time didn’t have quite the same dangers as his, he didn’t for a second doubt that her natural talent for attracting trouble would operate there with just as much efficiency as it did here. Besides, her miko abilities, uncontrolled as they were, were more than powerful enough to protect her from many of the dangers here, but of relatively little use back in the world she called home. Suddenly it seemed to him that she needed his protection more at her home, rather than less.
Silently vowing to never allow her to return to that strange future world alone again, he paused as he realized that he had reached his first destination. Glancing around the small grove, he made his decision quickly. Throwing his prize over his shoulder, he raced through the darkness on his way back to the village.
Considering the matter further, he realized that he would have to have at least a little help with this project. Still, that phase of the preparations could wait until after daybreak. As he deposited his burden behind the abandoned hut he used when he needed to get away from the others for a time, he headed back out to the forest, to the ancient tree that was one of the two landmarks that remained from this time to the other. Moving carefully around the massive trunk of the tree, he finally found the spot he searched for. Shifting a stone larger than his head out from its position wedged between two of the roots supporting the enormous tree, he dug frantically beneath the roots, searching for the object he had left there decades earlier, when he had first arrived in this area.
When his claws scraped across some hard surface rather than slicing through the soft earth beneath the roots he knew that he had reached his goal. The pouch was only about the size of his hand, but he wasn’t at all concerned that the contents might have been damaged by the passage of time--he had made the container himself from dragon hide, guided in the process by Myouga, so he didn’t doubt that the little pouch would be sufficient to protect the precious items within.
Surely, he thought, something inside would be appropriate for his purpose.
He sat back suddenly, blinking at the realization that he actually had a specific purpose in mind. He had spent most of the last two years denying what had seemed obvious to practically everyone around him. Still, the events of the past thirty-six hours had shown him with perfect clarity that he had been lying not only to the others but to himself as well. There was, he decided, no point in trying to deny the inevitable: he would make his position entirely clear, and then….
And then he would learn his ultimate destiny.
--------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------
Leaping up into the branches of the massive tree, he decided that he could spare the time for a brief rest while he considered everything that now seemed painfully obvious to him. After a brief moment of indecision, he decided to wait until after daybreak to examine the contents of the pouch, and stuffed the object into his haori for safekeeping.
He wasn’t at all concerned about the condition of the items in the pouch: dragon hide was one of the strongest naturally-occurring substances in the world, and the processing technique he had learned from Myouga would have made it practically impervious to anything but a direct attack with a weapon enhanced by either miko energy or youki. It wasn’t likely that a few decades spent underground would have any effect.
No, his concern was more that none of the contents would be suitable for his purpose. He had dug into this store of his memories once before, presenting one of the precious objects to --
He angrily squashed that thought. At that time, more than a half century earlier, he had been alone for well over a hundred years, his only personal contact (aside from those youkai and humans who wanted him dead) consisting of the flea youkai who had served his father. As a result, any interpersonal skills he may have learned in his brief time with his mother had faded away and been forgotten. It was not surprising that he had mistaken a combination of desperation, loneliness, and gratitude for the slightest hint of acceptance for love.
In retrospect, he supposed that he and the priestess actually had loved each other, as much as was possible for either of them. That love, though, had been tainted, both by their mutual distrust and by their early experiences that had caused each to think of the other as an enemy. It was, he decided, a love doomed to failure from the start, for even if Naraku hadn’t fooled them into destroying each other the whole business would still have ended badly. If he had actually used the Shikon no Tama to make himself human, one of two things would probably have happened. The jewel might have twisted the wish, causing it to go horribly wrong in some unforeseen manner because, as he had come to understand, the miko’s motives for wanting him to become human were not entirely pure. Even if the wish was not corrupted by their distrust, he thought it likely that the “normal life” the priestess had desired so would have been--for him, at least--both savage and short. Without his hanyou strength and senses, he would have been an easy target for any youkai (or human mob, for that matter) who learned of his changed condition and wanted him out of the way.
He had been horribly confused after he had been awakened from his seal. As far as he could tell, he had only been there for a few moments. His judgment had been clouded by his anger at the miko who had sealed him, and it had taken him a little time to realize that this girl, regardless of her admittedly strong superficial physical resemblance to Kikyou, was in fact completely different.
In the time they had traveled the countryside together, the girl had been the catalyst that had brought his strange little pack together. By all the rules of this era, each of them--human, youkai, or hanyou--should have been trying to kill off the others. Instead, they had learned to work together, to give (and take) orders when necessary, to defer to whoever had the greatest knowledge and the deepest understanding of a given situation, to make decisions based not only on how those decisions might affect their ultimate goals, but also on how they would affect each member of the group, to trust those who were fundamentally different, and, eventually, to love.
And still, she had no idea just how deeply her presence had affected not only the members of their pack, but practically everyone else they had encountered on their journeys. She had enslaved hearts all across Musashi country, and beyond. Whether human, youkai, or hanyou, none could prevail against her gentle spirit and kindly nature.
‘Not even me,’ he thought, finally surrendering to the inevitable.
Looking to the east, he noticed the growing lightening of the sky and reached into his haori for the pouch he had extracted from the roots of the great tree. Spreading the contents out across the massive branch, he examined each item carefully, finally making his choice. He looked at it closely, remembering what he knew of the history of the piece, and the tales his mother had told him about it. An odd expression--a sort of half smile--crossed his features as he realized with absolute certainty that she would have approved of his decision.
Leaping down from his perch, carefully replaced his treasures in their hiding place. As he meticulously erased all traces of his presence he sent a brief but heartfelt plea to whatever kami might be listening that he not be making a huge, irreversible mistake, that she wouldn’t be so utterly repulsed by the gesture that she stormed back to her home and sealed the portal behind her. Still, he was nothing if not determined, and now that he had finally reached a decision he would see it through, and consequences be damned.
Now that the day had begun to brighten, the time had come to begin the next step in his preparations. Checking that his prize was still secure in its place inside his haori, the hanyou headed back in the direction of the village he helped to provide for and protect.
--------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------
After making certain that the little miko was still deeply asleep and likely to remain so for some time, he continued with the plan he had formulated in the past few hours. He stopped briefly at the hut in which the rest of his little pack had spent the night and explained that he wanted them to return to the old miko’s home this evening, as usual. He mentioned the small pile of brightly-wrapped parcels he had found in the bottom of the girl’s bag, and his belief that she had brought them so that her friends could celebrate her holiday as well.
He pulled the kit aside for a few moments to give him some special instructions, then he was gone. He had to meet with a number of the villagers to complete his preparations, and wished to get the arrangements made quickly. After that, he would be making a long journey, only hoping that he could reach his destination and secure the youkai’s cooperation before daylight began to fade.
He cursed to himself as he thought about the small bit of information that the kit had let slip. He couldn’t help but wonder exactly what a “rain deer” was: he knew, of course, about the various kinds of deer youkai living in the region, but had never heard of one with the ability to fly. Deciding that the deer in question were probably both extremely rare and native to a distant land, he had made his decision rapidly. Granted, his choice probably didn’t look very much like the deer youkai his little miko had described to the kit, but he had too little time to find anything closer.
Moving faster than anyone would have believed possible, he headed for the plains of Musashi with great, ground-eating leaps.
Converting /tmp/phpRVFZc9 to /dev/stdout
A/N: I think I’ve finally got the hang of doing this again--it’s been a long time.
2. Birth of a Notion
Fortunately, his charge was still deeply asleep when he arrived at his destination. The old miko, surprisingly, was awake and alert, sitting nearby separating the leaves from the dried stems of some herbs. She understood the reason for his concern instantly, shaking her head slowly. “She probably won’t wake for hours yet, judging by the amount of the broth she managed to drink.” After a brief pause, she fixed the hanyou with a steely look from her remaining good eye. “Exactly what are you up to?”“Nothing important, Babaa. I found out that tonight will be a really important holiday where she comes from, and there’s no way in hell she’ll be able to be there by then.” He paced across the floor with obvious irritation.
“Calm yourself, Inuyasha. Obviously, there’s nothing that can be done about it.”
Filled with a sudden resolve, he pushed open the door covering. “Maybe not,” he agreed, “But I can try, can’t I?” Before letting the covering fall back into place behind him, he said, “Keep an eye on things, okay? Don’t let her do anything stupid.”
Before Kaede could answer, he was gone.
------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------
T he young hanyou raced through the forest that bore his name, thinking about all that he had learned this night. If the well hadn’t been so completely blocked, it might have been possible to get her home in time for the celebrations. As it was, he would have to do the best he could right here.
He experienced a not-unfamiliar sensation as he considered the information he had been given. As unpalatable as it was, he could only think of one possible reason why the girl would be so upset at the prospects of spending this night here rather in her home world--there must be somebody in particular she wanted to spend it with, and that meant….
He shook his head. No, that couldn’t be it. She had only ever mentioned one young male from her time, and he had always picked up the scent of acute discomfort when she spoke of that Hobo kid’s continuous--and obviously unwanted--attentions. He didn’t think it even remotely likely that the young miko would be willing to spend her life with someone so much weaker than she herself was, someone who would be unable to protect her from even the slightest danger.
He somehow understood that she needed someone much stronger--at least physically--than she herself was. While he realized that her time didn’t have quite the same dangers as his, he didn’t for a second doubt that her natural talent for attracting trouble would operate there with just as much efficiency as it did here. Besides, her miko abilities, uncontrolled as they were, were more than powerful enough to protect her from many of the dangers here, but of relatively little use back in the world she called home. Suddenly it seemed to him that she needed his protection more at her home, rather than less.
Silently vowing to never allow her to return to that strange future world alone again, he paused as he realized that he had reached his first destination. Glancing around the small grove, he made his decision quickly. Throwing his prize over his shoulder, he raced through the darkness on his way back to the village.
Considering the matter further, he realized that he would have to have at least a little help with this project. Still, that phase of the preparations could wait until after daybreak. As he deposited his burden behind the abandoned hut he used when he needed to get away from the others for a time, he headed back out to the forest, to the ancient tree that was one of the two landmarks that remained from this time to the other. Moving carefully around the massive trunk of the tree, he finally found the spot he searched for. Shifting a stone larger than his head out from its position wedged between two of the roots supporting the enormous tree, he dug frantically beneath the roots, searching for the object he had left there decades earlier, when he had first arrived in this area.
When his claws scraped across some hard surface rather than slicing through the soft earth beneath the roots he knew that he had reached his goal. The pouch was only about the size of his hand, but he wasn’t at all concerned that the contents might have been damaged by the passage of time--he had made the container himself from dragon hide, guided in the process by Myouga, so he didn’t doubt that the little pouch would be sufficient to protect the precious items within.
Surely, he thought, something inside would be appropriate for his purpose.
He sat back suddenly, blinking at the realization that he actually had a specific purpose in mind. He had spent most of the last two years denying what had seemed obvious to practically everyone around him. Still, the events of the past thirty-six hours had shown him with perfect clarity that he had been lying not only to the others but to himself as well. There was, he decided, no point in trying to deny the inevitable: he would make his position entirely clear, and then….
And then he would learn his ultimate destiny.
--------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------
Leaping up into the branches of the massive tree, he decided that he could spare the time for a brief rest while he considered everything that now seemed painfully obvious to him. After a brief moment of indecision, he decided to wait until after daybreak to examine the contents of the pouch, and stuffed the object into his haori for safekeeping.
He wasn’t at all concerned about the condition of the items in the pouch: dragon hide was one of the strongest naturally-occurring substances in the world, and the processing technique he had learned from Myouga would have made it practically impervious to anything but a direct attack with a weapon enhanced by either miko energy or youki. It wasn’t likely that a few decades spent underground would have any effect.
No, his concern was more that none of the contents would be suitable for his purpose. He had dug into this store of his memories once before, presenting one of the precious objects to --
He angrily squashed that thought. At that time, more than a half century earlier, he had been alone for well over a hundred years, his only personal contact (aside from those youkai and humans who wanted him dead) consisting of the flea youkai who had served his father. As a result, any interpersonal skills he may have learned in his brief time with his mother had faded away and been forgotten. It was not surprising that he had mistaken a combination of desperation, loneliness, and gratitude for the slightest hint of acceptance for love.
In retrospect, he supposed that he and the priestess actually had loved each other, as much as was possible for either of them. That love, though, had been tainted, both by their mutual distrust and by their early experiences that had caused each to think of the other as an enemy. It was, he decided, a love doomed to failure from the start, for even if Naraku hadn’t fooled them into destroying each other the whole business would still have ended badly. If he had actually used the Shikon no Tama to make himself human, one of two things would probably have happened. The jewel might have twisted the wish, causing it to go horribly wrong in some unforeseen manner because, as he had come to understand, the miko’s motives for wanting him to become human were not entirely pure. Even if the wish was not corrupted by their distrust, he thought it likely that the “normal life” the priestess had desired so would have been--for him, at least--both savage and short. Without his hanyou strength and senses, he would have been an easy target for any youkai (or human mob, for that matter) who learned of his changed condition and wanted him out of the way.
He had been horribly confused after he had been awakened from his seal. As far as he could tell, he had only been there for a few moments. His judgment had been clouded by his anger at the miko who had sealed him, and it had taken him a little time to realize that this girl, regardless of her admittedly strong superficial physical resemblance to Kikyou, was in fact completely different.
In the time they had traveled the countryside together, the girl had been the catalyst that had brought his strange little pack together. By all the rules of this era, each of them--human, youkai, or hanyou--should have been trying to kill off the others. Instead, they had learned to work together, to give (and take) orders when necessary, to defer to whoever had the greatest knowledge and the deepest understanding of a given situation, to make decisions based not only on how those decisions might affect their ultimate goals, but also on how they would affect each member of the group, to trust those who were fundamentally different, and, eventually, to love.
And still, she had no idea just how deeply her presence had affected not only the members of their pack, but practically everyone else they had encountered on their journeys. She had enslaved hearts all across Musashi country, and beyond. Whether human, youkai, or hanyou, none could prevail against her gentle spirit and kindly nature.
‘Not even me,’ he thought, finally surrendering to the inevitable.
Looking to the east, he noticed the growing lightening of the sky and reached into his haori for the pouch he had extracted from the roots of the great tree. Spreading the contents out across the massive branch, he examined each item carefully, finally making his choice. He looked at it closely, remembering what he knew of the history of the piece, and the tales his mother had told him about it. An odd expression--a sort of half smile--crossed his features as he realized with absolute certainty that she would have approved of his decision.
Leaping down from his perch, carefully replaced his treasures in their hiding place. As he meticulously erased all traces of his presence he sent a brief but heartfelt plea to whatever kami might be listening that he not be making a huge, irreversible mistake, that she wouldn’t be so utterly repulsed by the gesture that she stormed back to her home and sealed the portal behind her. Still, he was nothing if not determined, and now that he had finally reached a decision he would see it through, and consequences be damned.
Now that the day had begun to brighten, the time had come to begin the next step in his preparations. Checking that his prize was still secure in its place inside his haori, the hanyou headed back in the direction of the village he helped to provide for and protect.
--------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------
After making certain that the little miko was still deeply asleep and likely to remain so for some time, he continued with the plan he had formulated in the past few hours. He stopped briefly at the hut in which the rest of his little pack had spent the night and explained that he wanted them to return to the old miko’s home this evening, as usual. He mentioned the small pile of brightly-wrapped parcels he had found in the bottom of the girl’s bag, and his belief that she had brought them so that her friends could celebrate her holiday as well.
He pulled the kit aside for a few moments to give him some special instructions, then he was gone. He had to meet with a number of the villagers to complete his preparations, and wished to get the arrangements made quickly. After that, he would be making a long journey, only hoping that he could reach his destination and secure the youkai’s cooperation before daylight began to fade.
He cursed to himself as he thought about the small bit of information that the kit had let slip. He couldn’t help but wonder exactly what a “rain deer” was: he knew, of course, about the various kinds of deer youkai living in the region, but had never heard of one with the ability to fly. Deciding that the deer in question were probably both extremely rare and native to a distant land, he had made his decision rapidly. Granted, his choice probably didn’t look very much like the deer youkai his little miko had described to the kit, but he had too little time to find anything closer.
Moving faster than anyone would have believed possible, he headed for the plains of Musashi with great, ground-eating leaps.
Converting /tmp/phpRVFZc9 to /dev/stdout