InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Illiteracy ❯ Chapter 1

Illiteracy

 

 

Kagome's short fingernails dug into her palms, her hands in tight fists. Inuyasha had waged war on her and her tests once more, protesting that finding Naraku was much more important. His Evilness had gotten a hold of their jewel shards yet again, this time stolen by a stronger verison of his puppets, and Inuyasha had been even more irritable than normal. He would guard any uneaten ramen jealously, and bark out orders and insults. Kagome was absolutely fed up when he refused to let her go home to take a few tests; she hadn't been home in a month in a half! He stood looming over her, arms crossed defiantly and face set in a scowl. Huh. Even his scowl was scowlier than normal.

 

She inhaled slowly through her nose, taking in the wonderful, pure smell of a feudal era forest. 'Calm.' she thought angrily. 'I'm totally calm. There is no way I'm going to blow up at him. No way. That's just what he wants me to do...'

 

Kagome took in a deep breath a second time. "I haven't been home in a month, Inuyasha! And I need to take these tests! Why can't you understand that?!"she shouted loudly. Most birds fled their perches in nearby trees, and all of the ones that stayed where they were stopped making any noise whatsoever.

 

"Well, we need to find the jewel shards before Naraku does, and you're the only one of us who can sense 'em, wench," he ground out, adding the wench under his breath at the end. Unfourtunately for him, Kagome, being a little moody lately, reacted worse than he'd planned.

 

"So," she began in a dangerously quiet voice. Inuyasha had leaned that that type of voice could promise yelling, and pinned back his ears in preperation. "the shard detector isn't allowed vacation time or sick days, and there's no dental plan?! WHAT KIND OF JOB IS THIS?!" Kagome's voice seemed to reverberate in his skull, jarring his teeth. If she ever decided to sing opera, that girl wouldn't have any trouble with projection. "INUYASHA, S-" She was going to say sit, but this was predicted by the young half demon. In a panicked rush, the hanyou sealed his hand over her mouth, just before he could be forced to take a relaxing repose on the ground.Then, he put his other hand securely on her shoulder.

 

"Kagome," he declared with just a bit of arrogance, "if I go down, I'm takin' you down with me!" Inuyasha smirked in triumph daring, even, to remove his hand from the school girl's mouth. That one he dropped to his other shoulder, holding her firmly infront of him.

 

Rather than chew him out, the angry young woman decided to try to teach an old dog a new trick. "Inuyasha, let me explain something to you. Those 'stupid tests', as you call them, they determine my future. In my time, you need an education! It's not like this era. Survival of the fittest doesn't apply to my world." Kagome paused, looking up at Inuyasha to see if she was getting through at all. Sometimes, talking to him was like talking to a brick wall. Luckily though, today seemed to be a special day. The little white ears ontop of his head were twitching, and they were trained in her direction; only briefly would they flicker backwards or sideways, but she supposed he was just checking for danger.

 

Reassured that he was at least partially paying attention, Kagome forged onward, "You're actually a perfect example. I mean, you're really strong; you don't need maths, you don't need to be literate to kick a demon's ass." She directed her gaze towards the well, "On the other side of that well, brawn isn't everything. A person needs to be educated to get a job, and that's why the tests are so important."

 

Finished her little rant, she now noticed how cold her shoulders were. Inuyasha had removed his hands from her, and now, looking both hurt and angry, he took a step away. His eyes were narrowed, but then relaxed; Kagome felt the slight breeze as he jumped high into the air, and over her head. She spun on her heel to catch him, but Inuyasha was already invisable in the trees.

 

She shivered. Now that the hanyou had left, the cooling dusk air swollowed all that was left of her warmth. It was almost as if his temper and gruff personality had been enough to keep the temperature comfortable. Then again, she'd probably only now realized how cold her school uniform could get.

 

Kagome stared off in the direction that Inuyasha had left in, instantly regretting what she'd said a moment before. She hadn't meant to call him unintelligent. He was good at tracking ennemies, deciding where to make camp, and his fighting methods were very well-organized chaos. There was no denying that he picked up technological knowledge from her world fairly quickly for someone born five hundred years in the past, but her was a half demon and had more than likely been denied any form of education.

 

She regretted the callous way she'd explained things, it had probably dug up some pretty bad memories, but she vindicated what she'd said by the fact that Inuyasha might possibly understand the situation better. Kagome was tempted to search him out and apoligize, but she was cold tired, and hungry, and still had to study for her first exam. And she needed a bath. Badly.

 

She left the beauty of the Warring States Era, jumping through the time portal in the well before she had a chance to change her mind. Given just enough time, she would most likely succum to her guilt and go running off into the forest.

 

***

 

Deep in the forst, Inuyasha sat in a low branch. One could say he was sulking, but that would bring with it an impression of normalcy. What our favorite hanyou was doing wasn't very normal for him. He was sullen, and overcome with nostalgia; Kagome's insensitive words had brought with them painful memoties of his mother.

 

His mother who, despite the controversy, taught him everything that she knew. His mother who, though a human princess, fell in love with a powerful dog demon ruler, and bore him a half demon son. She would be disappointed in him if she knew that he hadn't read, nor written a thing in years. Izayoi had spent years educating him in higher learning, a thing that evoked scorn and anger from all corners of their community, and he hadn't let on at all that he knew much more than any of his compantions assumed.

 

He sighed, his form slumping against the side of the tree. Kagome really thought he was dumb. That was the worst of it. Even though it totally didn't matter to him, he knew that there was no way that she could ever care for an uneducated half-breed like himself. And it's not like he planned on reading aloud to her to prove his worth. If he ever did a thing like that, questions would arise, and those questions would lead to discussions of his painful childhood; he did not want to relive that experience. And those discussions would be followed by pity, which would take its toll on his precious ego.

 

No, that chain of shudder-provoking events could easily be avoided. Inuyasha was perfectly fine with being considered ignorant, dumb as a stump. Perfectly. Nope, nothing wrong with it. At all.

 

Which was definately why he was off sulking about what the wench had said. Mmhmm...

 

For some reason, it hurt when Kagome had said what she had. It bothered him. 'Of course,' he reasoned, 'this is probably because the group is a lot like my pack.' Every pack leader is prideful and hwving a member of your pack insult your intelligence was an action that, in the wilder packs, was usually a challenge for the postion of leader. Even if it wasn't meant that way, dealing a blow to pack leaders pride was almost always followed by consequences.

 

'Yes,' he thought. 'that's it.' At ther same time, though, Inuyasha couldn't see himself being affected in the same way had Miroku or Sango been the one to call him stupid. Then again, being called stupid dwas never very pleasant. It was actually quite angering. Kouga probably couldn't read...

 

During all this thinking, drops of rain made their way out of the nighttime sky, and through the canopy of the trees, and he realized that it was probably pouring outside of the forest. The water spattered onto his delicate, furry ears, and he flicked it off unconsiously. Sitting Indian-style on the branch of a particularly roughly-barked tree, Inuyasha crossed his arms in a stubbornly defiant manner. There was no way he would be forced inside by a small drizzle. His frown deepened as he remembered just how much he hated the rain.

 

Though it bothered his ears relentlessly, Inuyasha refused to return to Kaede's hut a cold, wet puppy. Instead, he opted to be a cold, wet puppy in the unfriendly, dark forest where no one would see him. The rain, instead of washing them away, dredged up more memories of his broken childhood, and his time spent without shelter, just after his mother's death. Needless to say, he was quickly driven inside.

 

***

 

Miroku very nearly choked on his stew when the door of Kaede's hut slammed open. There, standing in the doorway, was a very soggy Inuyasha. His ears drooped forwards, and his bangs hung in his eyes. His usually full hair was stuck to the side of his face and the back of his neck; his barely visable, golden eyes glared at everyone in turn, daring anyone to make a comment. Nobody made a comment, but Miroku's snickering resumed the moment he got his food down the right tube.

 

Inuyasha passed him to go sit in the corner, and began burning holes in the back of the houshi's head with his eyes. "Shut up, pervert, or I'll give Sango something to laugh about. A mangled hentai." he barked angrily.

 

As if on cue, he did shut up, but that was right about the time that Sango gave a cry of outrage, and smaked him upside the head. She, apparently, hadn't seen the hilarity of Inuyasha's wet dog look, so when Sango tuned to him and addressed him in all seriousness, he listened.

 

"Inuyasha, we've found scrolls while you were out that are rumoured to contain information about the Shikon no Tama. Before a villager sold them to us, he'd found them in a deep cave out near a river to the east of here."

 

The hanyou didn't look very impressed. "It won't be anything more than what we already know." he scoffed, but his companions knew that he was a little interested all the same.

 

Sango shook her head, "Supposedly, it may not be possible for a priesstess to purify the Shikon Jewel. At least that's what some of the villagers have suggested; we'd have to read-"

 

"What do you mean?" he questioned obnoxiously. "There's no way that can be true." His face was set, his decision made. His stubborn mind rejected the idea, and there wasn't a very good chance of anyone convincing it otherwise.

 

Miroku, now with a straight face, contributed to the conversation, "If it is true, the only way we would be able to find out would be to read the scrolls."

 

"And . . .?" Patience was obviously running low in the corner.

 

"Unfourtunately, dear Sango and myself can not read most of the writing. There are only a few characters that are familiar. Even with all my training, all I've learned from Mushin-"

 

"Groping women," Inuyasha interrupted dryly.

 

The monk cleared his throat loudly, and, dissmissing the remark, continued, "We just couldn't figure anything out, even with the help of Kaede."

 

"So where are they now?" he asked in an irritated, yet somewhat condescending tone. It was the some voice he habitually used whed he argued with Kagome, and it had a way of making him sound fairly childish.

 

Sango rolled her eyes in exasperation and answered, "Kaede and Shippo have gone to a village found just west of here, closer, even, than the one where we bought the scrolls. They're looking to speak to a scribe, and took the scrolls with them. Kaede requested that we keep you here 'til she gets back; she doesn't want you beating on Shippo."

 

Inuyasha "keh"ed, saying something about stupid old hags and idiotic ideas. What made them think that they even warrented his following? The demon slayer of the group stoked the fire, petting Kirara, and ignoring the red-clad mass in the corner. Meanwhile, the forgotten monk was muttering to himself, "Keep him here until you, or anyone else, gets back. No, no, no. Keep him here . . ."

 

Soon, the fire burned down, and, feeling both sated and warm, the friends fell asleep to the sound of the rain tapping on the roof and walls.

 

***

 

Kagome awoke early on the morning after her last test to the sound of birds outside of her window. For some reason, she didn't think her feudal era friend would come to bring her back that day; she'd just have to go back all by herself. Oh, who was she kidding? She knew that Inuyasha was pissed off. He had every right to be. She would have been, too. Had he said something like that to her (and he had, too), she would have sat him until he made crater (which he did).

 

'He's probably gone running off to her again.' she thought bitterly, a thing that she couldn't help but think ever since she'd found Inuyasha amongst the trees, Kikyo in his arms. She mulled ruefully over what she'd said as she emerged from the shower and got dressed, ashamed that it had come from her mouth? She didn't usually say those kind of things to people she cared about.

 

Mrs. Higurashi had prepared another bag of things for her daughter's next excapade in the past, and Kagome was openly grateful. 'What would I do without Mama?' she wondered rhetorically. She did, however, come up with an answer. 'Jii-chan.' She smiled, wondering if he would protest to slave labour, feeling just a little better than she had when she'd woken up.

 

She took in the unique, majestic feeling that the shrine had always held. The birds twittered in the Goshinboku, and the sunlight streamed down on the few visitors to it. Making certain that no one saw her, Kagome slipped into the wellhouse, the old door creaking in protest.

 

***

 

Shippo was bouncing up and down uncontrollably, and had been for two days, ever since he and Kaede had returned from the neighbouring village. He had had a lot of fun playing with the children there, while the old priestess had taken some scrolls to a scribe. The kit's ears and nose were alert, waiting for any sign of Kagome. It was extremely boring, having to sit around while the adults read the ancient text; the scribe hadn't done a bit of good, confused by most of the symbols. It was on this sunny day that everyone had decided to work on the scrolls.

 

The small fox demon couldn't stand the quiet while the others spoke in puzzled whispers. All but Inuuyasha, who was sitting almost directly above the working bunch, helped out. He didn't seem interested in the least, preferring to hang lackadaisically around on a high branch in the God Tree.

 

Miroku had been the one to suggest examining the scrolls outside, and Sango, Kaede, and the few retired scholars who lived in the village concurred. They'd set up underneath Inuyasha's favorite tree, recording a list of symbols that were strange to their eyes. The scholars argued amiably between each other, and Kaede and Miroku called forth memories of their spiritual training, checking for spells preventing the scrolls from being read. Even Sango who, coming from a village of demon slayers, couldn't understand most kanji, helped as best she could. She dspent most of the time reasoning out theories on what the old writings might say, and why someone would hide them in the deep cave in which they were found.

 

What Shippo found strange was how much Inuyasha didn't look like he cared. He just lay in the tree, eyes closed, looking very much like he was asleep. The kit was confused. All it took was a rumour of a rumour of news of the jewel to get the inu-hanyou on the move. Here were several scrolls pertaining to it, and its purificating, and he was up in his tree. What an idiot.

 

The only reason that the scrolls were still being searched for information was because, out of the small amount of words unnderstood, Shikon, miko, and purification motivated them. Whoever had written the scrolls had probably decided to drive an unlucky treasure hunter insane with them.

 

Eventually, both voicees and tempers rose, and this was really beginning to annoy Shihppo. Perhaps he should ahve agreed to play with the local kids after all; the only reason he'd declined to begin with had been the promise of his adoptive mother's return after three day's time. She'd said she'd bring him a lollipop, - one of his favorite treats, apart from chocolate of course - but there had yet to be any sign of the girl from the future.

 

Suddenly, Inuyasha bolted upright, sitting rigidly on his branch. His eyes were fixed intently on the well, and the young fox demon knew that Kagome must be back. An instant later, his nose caught the unique, comforting scent that was Kagome, and he scurried from his perchon Sango's knee to meet her.

 

The school girl lifted herself out ot the well, smiling as an orange ball of fur flung itself onto her stomach. Oddly (or not so oddly) enough, the first thing that Kagome had noticed when she'd climbed out hadn't been little over-energetic Shippo. No, it had been the brief, but fiery gaze of Inuyasha. Carrying her adoptive son in her arms, who was completely content after being given a lollipop, Kagome went to stand by the group of people on the ground, and craned her neck to look up at the hanyou.

 

"Inuyasha?" She waited for an answer, but none came, so she continued, "Inuyasha, I'm really sorry about what I said. You aren't angry, are you?" Kagome squinted up at the tree , the sunlight that filtered in through the leaves making the half demon nothing but a dark shadow in comparison. Just when she had turned her back on him to inquire abnout all the racket that was being made in the grass, she heard a very faint "No." She smiled and looked back up towards Inuyasha, just barely capable of making out his form lazing about in the tree.

 

Grinning, Kagome sat sown beside Sango. She felt a little out of the loop, after all. The demon slayer look surprised to see her friend back so soon. "I was so concentrated on fending off Miroku's wandering hands that I didn't even notice Shippo leave." She glared at the monk who, in return, offered both women a sheepish smile.

 

When Kagome look towards the scrolls, lists, and stray piecees of parchement, bemusement evident on her face, Sango was quick to explain the current situation. She told her how and where she'd found the scrolls (Miroku had been terrorizing nearby women), and of the mystery that clouded them. The lead femal protaganist was eager to aid in the decoding.

 

So they all sat in the their group of concentration. The concentration filled the air so thickly, you'd need a very large, very sharp knife to cut it. The concentration overwhelmed everyone in the region; it could probably be felt kilometers away.

 

You get the picture.

 

Shippo thought it was pretty funny, actually. All of the grown-ups sitting around on the ground, coming to conclusions about absolutely nothing. When he thought about it, all they were doing was arguing about what the scrolls in front ot them might say, writing completely useless things down, and shuffling parchement around aimlessly. The neat thing, he thought, was that if you squinted your eyes just a bit, it almost looked as if they were working! - not to mention making progress.

 

But they weren't, of course. Making progress, that is. Inuyasha noticed this, and the fact that the people down below him were making far too much noise for his liking. Here he was, thinking over ways to go about attacking, killing, winning over Naraku, and the ingrates underneath him were making a large fuss over something taht didn't need to be fussed over. Our ever-patient hanyou friend naturally tried ignoreing them, but the voices only got sharper, and more insistent.

 

Inuyasha, being a half-demon of action, decided to do something. His first option, and preferred, didn't involve moving, but yelling. He was wonderful when it came to yelling. "Will you keep quiet down there? I can't hear myself think!

 

Miroku, tired and irritated, was at breaking point. "You? Thinking? Give me a rest! We're the ones down here doing all the work!" he snapped.

 

"What work?!" Inuyasha cried in outrage. "You haven't accomplished a thing!" Oh no. This could get bad.

 

"And what exactly have you done, Inuyasha?" Sango raised an eyebrow. "We've been down here for hourse, desperately trying to clear a few things up, and what are you doing? You're sitting in your tree, probably drifting in and out of conciousness every now and again, and you're harping at us?

 

"Yeah! You big, mean jerk!" You probably can't even read!" Kagome winced as Shippo tactlessly put in his two cents; he probably couldn't read, either. Was Inuyasha really over the fight they'd had days earlier? She really hoped she wouldn't be forced to pity and scream "SIT!" at the same time.

 

Expecting a conspicuous attack on Shippo, Kagome readied herself when Inuyasha sprang from the tree. She was, however, just a little thrown off when he stopped, eyes ablaze, in front of the scrolls. Mumbling angrily about being underapprieciated, he brought the papers to his face. He skimmed through them, eyebrows raised. Finally, he looked up at the rest of them patronizingly. "Honestly!" he exclaimed, addressing everyone on the forest floor. "This," he pointed to unrecognizable kanji, "isn't kanji." There you go. "This is Chinese! And this," he moved his finger further down the page, "This is Mongolian!"

 

Everyone, even the hanyou, was wide-eyed, startled by his outburst. His eyes weren't as intense as they had been five seconds before, the anger and indignace replaced by worry, and, possibly, fear. He backed away, a slight flush to his face. Then, he turned and jumped through the trees until he was out of sight, vividly reminding Kagome of that day she'd pretty much called him stupid.

 

Nobody said anything. They didn't have to; they were all thinking the same thing: 'Inuyasha could read?!' But it was more than that. He could, they assumed, not only identify, but read three different languages. He was anything but uneducated. 'It would be interesting ' Kagome thought, 'to find out what else he's been taught.'

 

"So . . . what did they say?" one of the villagers asked quietly, through his voice boomed after the stunned silence. Every pair of eyes turned to him, not immediatly catching on. "I mean," he continued, "what did the scrolls say?"

 

Miroku was the first to respond, but only after a small pause. "I don't know."

 

The same villager broke the thick silence again. "Don't you think someone should go ask him?" his worn voice questioned softly.

 

The monk sighed, and stood up, ready to go after the inu-hanyou. However, Kagome stood and put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "I'll go," she said quietly. Miroku nodded to her in understanding. He and the rest could easily sense the love that dwelled between the miko and the hanyou.

 

'I should have gone after him last time,' Kagome thought, with one spared glance back towards the expectant faces behind her. She then began making her way through the trees. She was going after Inuyasha not only to ask about what he'd read, but also about who had taught him. How many people really knew Mongolian?

 

The deep forest was shady, but it cecrtainly wasn't dark. Kagome had been walking through a series of clearings, her spiritual powerrs reaching out for Inuyasha's warm, calming aura. She didn't have a terribly extended range, so it took a while of meandering to find him, but she let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding when she did.

 

Kagome picked up her pace, wanting to feel safe in his presence. She always felt a little uneasy, and exposed when she was alone in the woods; with the monsters she'd seen, it was a miracle that she didn't have chronic nightmares. Soon enough, she was able to hear the faint song of moving water, and able to smell the clean fragrence of moisture in the air. The girl followed the sound, and the glow of her hanyou, to a small rillet.

 

There was Inuyasha, staring at the rill, eyes covered by his bangs. Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet hers. His features made it obvious that he was in a frantic state, and, frankly, Kagome didn't want to hear the news. 'It's something horrible,' she decided grimly. What else could make The Great Inuyasha so freaked out.

 

"Kagome." It came out as a statement, not a question. Though he wouldn't admit is, just saying her name made him feel a little better; her being there certainly helped. "It . . ." Inuyasha sighed, "I . . . don't know what to say." he remarked.

 

"What is it?" Kagome prodded gently. "Please tell me." She was begging to him now.

 

"It waid . . . It was about purifying the jewel." Kagome nodded; she knew this already. "According to those writings, a youkai can't purify the Shikon no Tama; they're the least holy, not possessing any spiritual powers." She nodded again; demons obviously wouldn't be able to purify it. "The thing is, neither can a miko."

 

Kagome, who had been expecting something along those lines after talking to Sango, still panicked. "How will we ever purify the jewel? Could this affect the wish? If Naraku ever finds out that the jewel can't be-"

 

Inuyasha cut off her ramblings, "It can be, though." That definitly shut her up. Intrigued, Kagome leaned forward in anticipation, too suprised to prompt him for an explanation. He didn't need any prompting, though, continuing on his own. "By someone in between the two. Half and half."

 

Kagome's eyes widened, "You mean . . . a hanyou?" Inuyasha grunted in response, and the school girl grinned. "Didn't I tell you you're fine the way you are? That you do well enough without being a full demon?"

 

The corners of his lips turned upwards slightly, and his face softened. "Keh!" he snorted. "You did not. You told me that you liked me as a half demon, but what sane being would trust your opinion?" He said this teasingly; he, of course, thrived off of what kagome thought, off of how close by she was, and off of the wonderful ramen that she brought from her time. She was his saviour.

 

Kagome nearly sat him, but saw, as he stood up, the smirk on his face and the sparkle in his eye. "Close enough. Meant the same thing." she muttered playfully. Inuyasha walked to where she was, and knelt with his back to her, offering her a ride. "No," she said gently. "I want to ask you something."

 

The boy in front of her cringed inwardly. He'd forgotten about being the only one to have read the scrolls. Now came the questions. It would be bad for him; kagome would probably start crying, and who knew how he could fix that.

 

"Who taught you how to read? And how the heck do you know Mongolian, for crying out loud? And why have you never told me about any of this?" She raised one eyebrow, clearly expecting an answer to every question.

 

Inuyasha leaned aginst a tree, facing away from her, and answered, "My mother taught me how to read and write. She also paid rediculous amounts of money and traded most of her dowry to get people to tutor me. Weak, frieghtened humans taught me Chinese, and my basic family history; the great wars always involved my mothers family. My father's ancesters were never talked about during my schooling. Not surprising, really. One of my tutors had a Mongolian background, and my mother paid him extra to teach me his native language and counting." He drew in a breath, letting it all out as he spoke again, "I never told you because you never asked."

 

Kagome could see that he was tense, waiting for her to pry even further. Instead, though, she just walked up behind him, gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, and laced her fingers through his. She walked onwards, pulling Inuyasha along beside her. Looking into his face, the young woman gave him a supportive smile, and whispered an "I'm sorry." It was then that he knew for sure.

 

Everything would be alright.

 

 

FIN