InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Needing It ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: Parting

Shippou was the first to awake the next morning. He was excited after Sango had told him that Inuyasha had went to see Kagome and couldn't wait until she would be back. Not bothering to wake the others, he sniffed the air for any signs of what he had come to consider as his mother. He found none. Confused for only a moment, he concluded that Inuyasha was probably still working on getting her back. Taking a deep breath and readying himself to welcome the day, he caught a scent that made him freeze in mid-inhalation. It was the unmistakable odor of the stubborn hanyou. Sniffing again, he found no trace of his dear Kagome. What was going on? Why was he back, and where was Kagome? 'That baka, he better not have done anything to make her mad,' the kitsune thought angrily as he ran to the source of the scent. His sudden movement woke Kirara, who mewled loudly at her abrupt awakening. The chain reaction continued until finally everyone in the hut was awake, each groggily wondering what had occurred. Sango noticed first.

"Where's Shippou?"

Inuyasha woke with a start. For a moment he thought he had had the most horrible dream. As he stood, he felt a soft pulse of energy in his robes and the night before came crashing back all at once. 'Kagome…' His musing was cut short when he heard soft footsteps racing toward him. He knew immediately who's feet they belonged to and he knew also that he would have to have face them all eventually. Deciding that now, however, would not be that time, he crouched as low as he could before leaping into the air. The sun blinded him for a second before he oriented himself. With another jump the hanyou disappeared into the forest just as the young kitsune reached the well. Not stopping for a second, Inuyasha ran through the trees. There was somewhere he needed to be, and someone he needed to see before he could do what he knew he had to do.

Shippou stood on the edge of the well and peered into it. Inuyasha's scent was strong inside as well as a faded smell of salt that the kitsune did not recognize. However, the hanyou was nowhere to be seen. Confusion developed within the young child and he decided to sit down and ponder the mystery before him. As for the rest of the group, they had Kirara follow the kit's scent. Imagine if you will their reaction at finding young Shippou sitting cross-legged at the edge of the Bone-Eater's Well, his fist holding up his chin with a thoughtful look on his face. Sango couldn't help but notice how unbelievably adorable he looked while Miroku wondered what had brought him here in the first place. Upon noticing their arrival, Shippou stood and welcomed them.

"What are you doing here Shippou," Miroku asked. The kitsune gave his explanation quickly before returning back to the hut. The grown-ups would figure it out; all he had to do was wait. As for said adults, they were just as confused as their younger charge. "What do you think this means, Lady Sango," the monk finally asked after a long silence.

"I don't know. I thought that after yesterday Kagome would come back for sure," she said, reminding herself of her promise. Right after Inuyasha had run off, he appeared again and made the taijiya swear their little heart-to-heart to secrecy. She understood and agreed to take what had been said to the grave. "Something terrible must've happened." Worry was biting at her heels as her teeth gnawed on her lower lip. 'Did he back out? What if he messed up? That hanyou had better not have bungled things up and broken her heart!'

The trees of the forest blurred past him as he made his way to his destination. So many disjointed images in his mind as he leapt from branch to branch. Each hurt more and more until he started to just run, barely registering as a stray limb slapped against his chest. His body cut a path through the canopy until abruptly the forest ended, revealing a large grass-covered hill. The hill overlooked a tiny village in the distance. At the top of the knoll were the charred remains of what had once been a great house. Inuyasha breathed in deeply and sighed. The smell of jasmine was everywhere, just like it used to be. Many years had passed since he had returned here, but everything that had happened demanded that he visit this place. He knew what it meant to come back, but he needed her right now. Entering through what used to be the front door, Inuyasha made his way through the ruin. His mind's eye put everything in its place and he walked down the hall to the door on the far right. The gaping hole posing for an exit revealed a garden with a lake running around it in a haphazard pattern. A red arching bridge connected the little island on two sides. Not trusting their dependability he hopped over and saw what he came for.

"Hi mom." The stone in the middle of the mini-island greeted him silently, making him feel instantly at ease. Here, in the resting place of his beloved mother he sat, his back leaning against the expressionless stone that marked her grave. "I know it's been a long time since I came to visit, but a lot has happened." At that he paused, gathering his forces. He came to bare his soul, and the fear he felt at that moment was horrifying. Then he talked and talked, telling his mother everything, from his many lonely years after the fire that destroyed his childhood, of meeting Kikyou and falling in love, of Naraku's deception and how the monster pitted her against him. After the fifty years in which he slept, he told her of Kagome. At that point it became harder and harder to talk. Just thinking about her made his insides churn with pain, made his heart constrict with each mental image of the woman he loved. But he would not stop, he could not, she deserved to know, even if Kagome would not, and might never know. Salt drops trickled down his cheeks, forcing his body to tremble with each tear that fell on his chest. Her smile, her kind eyes, it hurt so much! Finally the pain forced his mouth shut and the hanyou sat in the skeleton of his home with his heart shattering once again. After some time, he felt a sudden rush of calm gush over him. It felt like someone just embraced him from behind. The calm reached into his heart, slowing its frantic throbbing. The tears stopped, never to fall again. Inuyasha closed his eyes, letting the tranquility steel his resolve. "Thank you," he said to the stone behind him, the spirit that was lending him her strength. A moment's silence later he stood up straight and left the wreckage of his innocence. A mask now covered his face, bottling the emotions that he could no longer use. Turning back one more time, he bowed low before the ruins. "Good-bye mother, it was nice seeing you again." The wind blew and the hanyou vanished.

Sango could feel madness tease her and worry disintegrating her insides like acid. From the deductions made at the well, it became increasingly clear that something grave has come to pass. Miroku, although not as worried as his counterpart, was interested in Inuyasha. 'Surely he did not forget to bring her? I do not believe he would come back without her…' As for Kaede, she chose to keep quiet both in speech and mind, using the patience that came with age. She knew that the hanyou would return and all that they could do was wait. Shippou had long lost interest in the quiet of the hut. Enticing Kirara, the two ran up to their favorite hill to play. So engrossed were they in their game of wrestling that neither noticed the blur of red jet past them at the foot of the hill. Inuyasha slowed down as he neared Kaede's hut until he casually walked through the screen that acted as a door. The inhabitants all turned to see who had come in. Several minutes passed in hushed silence before Miroku spoke first.

"Ohayo Inuyasha-chan, how are you?" The hanyou remained at the door without answering. Sango finally snapped.

"What happened on the other side of the well," she blurted, the worry in her demanding that she ask before she burst. The look on the hanyou's face unnerved her as his glassy eyes fixed on her.

"It was enlightening." At that moment Shippou and Kirara, having caught the hanyou's scent, appeared at the door. The questions began even as the screen swung close behind him.

"You're back? Why are you alone? Where's Kagome? Did you fight? Is she in the fields…" The interrogation would have continued were it not for Inuyasha lashing out, grabbing the kitsune and placing him on his lap after sitting down. The sudden gesture silenced the child, allowing for Inuyasha to finally began talking.

"After going through the well, I went looking for Kagome, but I couldn't find her. Her mother told me she had been sent on an errand so I decided to wait in her room for her. I waited a long time before the wench finally came back. The moment she saw me she started screaming at me, insulting me and calling me the biggest jerk she had ever known." As he spoke, the monk and taijiya noticed that despite what he said, which seemed to hint at a very harsh argument between them, there existed no change whatsoever in his countenance or tone. He could have been talking about why the sky was blue for all they knew. That and what he said afterwards proved that it was all a lie. "So I gave the wench a piece of mind, letting her know that she had obligations other than the ones of her time and that she was coming back with me. So we screamed back and forth until she said she wanted nothing to do with me and threw the shards at me." Oh Gods, who knew that those words would hurt him so much, for they were truth in disguise. There was more he had planned to say but his throat had had enough, closing off entirely. The kitsune in Inuyasha's lap had remained quiet as he talked and produced the vial as evidence for the false argument. Shippou understood then what it meant. Kagome was gone; she was never coming back, she had been taken from him. This realization made his eyes burn and with a choked cry he leapt from where he lay lodged. Turning on the hanyou, the kitsune beat his tiny fists against the hard red mountain.

"Why did you have to fight? You stubborn baka, you left her there! How could you? Why didn't you just apologize? Why? WHY? I hate you! I hate you so MUCH!" At the last screamed syllable the young child left the hut, his tears sprinkling the wooden floor. Kirara silently followed her juvenile charge, acting as both protector and supporter. Once the neko was gone, Kaede spoke for the first time.

"I think tis time that ye provide a more accurate account of what occurred on the other side of the well Inuyasha," she said softly, her tone giving nothing away. A tremble past across the hanyou's emotionless mask, but he did not answer. The silence preyed on Sango's mind, placing wild notions and conjectures onto its feverish surface.

"What is it, Inuyasha? What happened," she said, the last word trailing into nothingness, desperation now openly apparent. This time the hanyou looked at her, clearly smelling the worry that ate at her, tortured her. But he could not tell the truth; his pride would never allow it. The pain belonged to him and him alone. At the same time though, he could not leave the poor taijiya like this. So he summed it all up in just one sentence that only she would understand.

"You were wrong, Sango, you were wrong." She did not work out what he meant immediately, instead staring intently at her friend's face. She waited and waited until finally it cracked in the form of a single solitary drop of fluid pooling at the corner of his right eye. The conversation she had had with him came back to her with the force of a tsunami.

~"It's okay to feel this way Inuyasha. You love her. And she loves you. I know it. Go to her, she's waiting."~

Before she could respond to the dawning awareness he dropped another announcement on the group. "I came here to say farewell. I will go and seek the rest of the shards alone." This time Miroku stood up. It was time for this chaos to end.

"Hold on Inuyasha, are you saying that you are leaving us," he asked, trying to find another meaning in his declaration. 'What could have possibly possessed him to do this?'

"Yes Houshi-sama," he said, Miroku wincing at being called his title by his friend. "I have decided."

"You decided to just up and leave, is that it? You're going to play the lone wolf now that you have no use for us anymore," demanded the distraught taijiya. "Have you forgotten that Naraku also has Shikon shards? Are you telling us to stop hunting him as well? Are you that selfish?"

"Enough Sango," he said sharply, silencing the exterminator. "I am not asking you to stop your quest for vengeance. All I ask is that you do not search for any more shards." His mask still firmly in place, the hanyou stood up. Bowing low to Lady Kaede, he left the hut, the monk and taijiya in close pursuit. Sango summoned Kirara and the two prepared to give chase to their fleeing comrade but were stopped by the wizened old body of Kaede.

"Leave him be."

"Kaede-sama, he's getting away," Miroku said with just a hint of desperation.

"Inuyasha must complete his journey alone now. He has suffered a terrible sadness and must cope with it on his own." Hearing the monk sigh exasperatedly, she explained, "When Inuyoukai mate, they are together for life. There is no other that can destroy their devotion to the chosen mate. Inuyasha has chosen Kagome to be his life-partner, his soul's repose, his love. What specifically came to pass we might never know, but it seems clear that Inuyasha had reason to believe that Kagome had rejected him. Just like the cataclysmic obliteration of his heart, his youkai self suffered a fatal blow. He will never love another, even if he tried. No female, be it human or youkai would ever take him. He has been condemned to a life of solitude once again. Leave him be, let him be." Sango felt a great wave of pity and sadness overtake her but she was not about to let Inuyasha leave like that and neither would Miroku. Mounting Kirara, the two followed the Inuhanyou's scent. Trees rustled as he plowed a path through the forest. As the running hanyou reached a small patch of clearing, the two blocked his path.

"Inuyasha, I demand an explanation," Miroku said with great frustration, feeling his anger slipping from his grasp. That damnable mask took its place on the hanyou's face.

"No." At that word the monk gave up, deciding he might try to beat it out of the stubborn fool, swinging his staff at the red-clad figure. Aforementioned hanyou hopped out of the way, unsheathing his sword. Not surprisingly, it did not transform. It was meant to protect humans after all. Taking it in stride, Inuyasha still swung in a downward arch. The battered-looking blade connected with the houshi's right shoulder blade, knocking him out instantly. Using the distraction, Sango threw Hiraikotsu and successfully removed it from the hanyou's grasp. The sword lay suspended for a split second before coming to rest near the edge of the clearing. However, in the course of the disabling, the giant boomerang was drilled into the ground not far from it. Now without weapons, Sango and Inuyasha took stances and attacked. Punch, punch, block, kick, dodge, hop, punch, uppercut, right hook, block, block, stance, punch, kick, the pattern continued, Inuyasha's youkai-enhanced speed and Sango's skills hindered by her yukata made the two evenly matched. Neither spoke as limb contacted with limb. What could the taijiya possibly say? Still, she couldn't let another friend leave her, so she fought that much harder. He wouldn't go anywhere if he were unconscious right? As for the Inuhanyou, his pride refused to let them travel with him. He would not allow them to see his weakness. 'Let them know me for my strength, not my tears.' From the higher branches of a tree a pair of small eyes watched the fighters, the corners red from weeping. The salt tang of tears reached Inuyasha's nose, destroying the mask instantly; revealing eyes empty of all hope, of all happiness. All there remained was the same emptiness Higurashi-sama had seen, revealing the darkest void she had ever seen, darker than even Miroku's Kazaana. Kaede's words repeated in her mind and the will to fight left her. The hanyou walked over to where his sword lay on the ground. Picking it up and sheathing it, he turned his back on them and began disappearing into the trees. The two eyes took form as Shippou came out of the shadows and appeared in the clearing, fresh tears trickling down his cheeks. He was angry at the hanyou, no doubt about that. That bastard had taken away the closest thing he had ever had to a mother since the real thing. Not to mention no more candy or chocolate! 'I hate him,' he had thought. But now, seeing him walk away too, to see him leave, it hurt just as bad. Any anger he might have had melted in the face of the possibility that he might never see Inuyasha again. Just before the silhouette vanished into the forest shadows, one word broke through the pursed lips of the kitsune.

"Chichi-ue…"

God, how it hurt! He slammed his fist into a tree; unable to relish the way it gave under his strength. Shippou had blamed him for all that had happened, but not even that could anger him. They would all blame him no doubt, but at least it was better than pity. The hanyou continued his slow walk among the trees, his mind devoid of thoughts. The slate had been wiped clean and it was time to start a new story. He knew he was being followed, knew the flea-demon that was trying valiantly to be discrete, but he did nothing. He had just turned away his friends, but Myouga was different. Despite his cowardice and his nasty habit of telling the bluntest truth, he was still Inuyasha faithful servant, passed down from his parents themselves. He was family now, the only one he had left. Myouga held the impending insanity at bay, for now. So the two trekked until nightfall, their doomed quest continuing.