InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tears ❯ Crystal Tears ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

By: Kerichi

Tears

By Kerichi

A Shippou/Rin story

Disclaimer: If I were Rumiko Takahashi, well,in the great ways of BareNaked Ladies, 'I'd be rich!' Crystal Tearsis by On Thorns I Lay.

Chapter 1- Crystal Tears

Have you ever seen a human cry?

It's a disgusting process. The face scrunches up, and becomes an unflattering red. The nose becomes runny and the face is soaked with salty tears, which run down the face and pool at the chin. From there, the tears drip all over the clothes and neck.

I never cry now.

Imagine a yokai crying, the way we humans do. Can you? Can you really see someone like Sesshoumaru-sama or Kagura-san all red faced and sticky? I cannot. Perhaps my imagination is not as good as yours.

Yokai do not cry.

...

At least, that is what I was told...

I wonder if I have to believe

In something better

I sleep heavily

Into the cold of my pain

Or I travel to eternity...

Through seasons of passions

Open your eyes

Just try to be yourself

Nothing will change

If you stay dumb

Just open your eyes

I was picking flowers that day.....

I had found a very nice clearing between a few trees, and as I approached, I could see someone was in it.

The figure slumped on the ground was sobbing- no that's a human sound- he was making long painful sounds in the back of his throat like a dog's whine. I tenderly take one step into the clearing, trying not to make noise.

I couldn't help but be fascinated by this person. I had always been taught that men never cry. I had been told that a man who cries is to be looked down upon... frowned at.... yet....I cannot make myself scorn this Kitsune. I had sighed, apparently, though I didn't notice at the time.

Tears streaking from downcast cerulean eyes, fiery strands of hair blocking a porcelain face from view.... He looked up at me from his bent over position, his eyes filled with sorrow. This youkai wasbeautiful. Not like Sesshoumaru-sama's elegance, or his mate Kagura-san's fiery beauty, but an honest, unashamed glow.

'....He's not afraid.... to be seen crying....'

Defiant blue eyes watched me behind the sheet of red, his hands clutching something to the blue fabric. He didn't seem to want to speak, so I took a moment to memorize this sight.

The trees, the grass, the unnaturally bright air.... these help serve as reminders of how utterly miserable the man was when I met him. I have taken up the habit of remembering things like these on my travels. When the tentacles of self-pity try to strangle me as I wait for hours for my liege, I can always look back and know there are people who have been scarred more deeply than me.

With a final distrusting look at me, the blue eyed boy craned his neck to the sky to howl.

I shall never forget the painful sound.

I walk around the paths of my mind

Bleeding slowly

In irrational words

I saw my self

Into unknown

I have to stay sometimes alone

As his mournful cry ended, I approached him softly like one would a young deer, easily started.

His thick furry tail flopped limply as he stood, the oversized clothes rustling as they go. He was as tall as Sesshoumaru-sama, but more slender, less filled out. I could see the something he had clutched in his arms. Gently laying flowers on the mound I recognize as a grave, the man never once tried to explain himself.

"Goodbye." He whispered, and for one terrifying moment, I feared he was talking to me. He is a Kitsune, and they are known for the ability to pop in and out as they please.

I wanted to know- know what? I open my mouth to ask him to stay, to tell me how he can be so confident with tears rolling down his face.

Lifting one clawed hand into the air, his lips move in silent word. This is not a gesture of greeting, or to stay back or be quiet, but palm up, like he is holding a tray, or some great weight. His arm trembles.

"Goodbye, Kaede." his voice is loud, shattering the eerie silence. He gathered a pool of foxfire in his hands. The blue flames dance in an angry passion. "Goodbye, to you, as well...."

I hold my breath and listen to the furious pumping of my heart.

"Shippou." he finished. I breathed out, but not for relief. Choking, I gazed at the redheaded male as he slashed down with his extended hand, setting the mound on fire.

"Shippo?" I asked, trying to find out if the small boy from my childhood was really gone.

"He is dead, abandoned by all who remember him." the kitsune elaborated, eyes on thesingle grave. His expression hardened.

"I remember him." I whisper to myself, partly wanting this person to hear me. I thread fingers through my waist length hair.

"Oh?" the fox turned accusingly on me. I could tell he was trying to intimidate me, but years with the Taiyoukai had made me impervious to that.

"He used to play with me while Inuyasha-san and Sesshoumaru-sama fought." I explain to his scornful look, pushing a lock of black behind my ear.

Blue eyes widened with shock.

"Rin!?"

I hold the clawed hand in my own like a precious treasure. The fiery-haired man turned and looked up at the tree, the Goshinboku, and then at the burnt spot beneath it.

"How many years has it been?" he asks in that low, hauntingly familiar voice. The tone he had used on me so many years ago, the day we first met for real. The blue irises catch my own brown. "How long has it been since I almost lost my mind?"

"...I'm still young." I protest teasingly, poking him in the side. He wraps a strong arm around me.

He grins, showing off the dimpled smile that took me years to coax out. "Because of me!"

"Yes, well, how could you let this beauty fade?" I kid, tossing my hair back in an arrogant fashion, revealing the mark on my neck.

Rolling his eyes, he utters the words, "Rin-no-baka!"

Grabbing the sly fox around the neck, I laugh at his expression as I pull his tail. It's slimmed down, and the giant puffball days are just another fond memory.

He sighs, looking at the ancient branches. "Funny, how fate leads us back here, of all places...." He looked as strong as ever, but I have learned that that was not true... He was so weak back then, compared to now...

I bury my head in his shoulder.

Humans are very ugly when they cry.....

...and at that moment, I was incredibly ugly...

"Shippou..."