InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When Lights Go Down ❯ Chapter 12

InuTaisho ran as fast as he could. He'd been more than elated when his lawyers had told him the one judge's decision had been reversed and Izayoi's rights had been immediately revoked, but that elation had disappeared the instant he'd heard his son was already in the hospital. All he could think about was getting there, to check on the boy and make sure he'd be all right. Everything else had taken a backburner to the drama that had unfolded in his life. He'd deal with any consequences later.

 

As he approached his son's room - the doctor had called him and told him which room the pup would be in and under what name - InuTaisho slowed down and listened. From inside the child's room, he heard a voice. A male voice and it was singing in a soft and low tone.

 

“I carry you up in my arms. I hear you sing yourself to sleep. The sky opens up over your room, sailing to your moonlight dreams. There's so much more than we can see. There's so much more than we can see . . .”

 

Tentatively, InuTaisho entered Inuyasha's room and paused. Next to his son sat a man with long, wavy dark hair and crimson eyes. He wore dark clothing but that wasn't what really caught InuTaisho's eye. It was the fact that this man held his son's hand in his own . . . and had his son smiling. Of course, the pup's eyes were drooping from sleep and he fought to stay awake, like any child would. It was a losing battle, though, as the man continued to sing softly. Mere seconds later, Inuyasha's eyes had closed, his breathing steady and even.

 

“You're good,” InuTaisho commented, gaining the other male's attention. “I wouldn't have expected him to fall asleep that quickly, especially with a complete stranger around.”

 

“Thanks,” he murmured, smiling a little in embarrassment.

 

“No,” the inuyoukai shook his head. “Thank you. You didn't have to stay with him.”

 

“I wanted to, though. He's a cute kid . . . and it's partially my fault for everything happening anyway. It's the least I could do.”

 

“Your fault?” InuTaisho echoed. The man nodded.

 

“Hai . . . I'm Hukara Izayoi's current boyfriend, Shiwonzu Naraku . . . She cleaned up because of me . . . tore your son away from you because I kept telling her she needed to take responsibility for her actions and to find the pup, make sure he had a good home.”

 

“You didn't actually tell her to go for custody of him, did you?”

 

“No,” he shook his head. “I knew she wouldn't be able to gain custody of him, not with him having been born addicted to whatever she was on at the time and her abandoning him. I would have been content with her coming to tell me that she'd found him and that he was safe and sound. She didn't need to tear him away like that.”

 

InuTaisho entered the room all the way and gazed at his son. The pup had been on the respirator at one point but now it was off. He could tell by some of the groove marks on the child's face. Now the staff had him on regular oxygen. Then he saw the bruise on his son's face.

 

“Did she do that?”

 

“No,” Naraku murmured. “She said her father hit him to get him to quiet down. His lips were turning blue by the time they got to their home and he was listless. I got him away and to the hospital as quickly as I could.”

 

“And for that I thank you . . . You're an honest man, Shiwonzu-sama. A very rare trait amongst humans anymore.”

 

“I'm half.”

 

“What?” InuTaisho blinked.

 

“I'm half,” the dark-haired man stated with a mirthless chuckle. “My father was a spider youkai who raped a human woman before she married another. I was the lucky one out of my siblings. I look more human than spider. Helps me to blend in better. Of course, they get the more exciting jobs than what I do but I also don't get treated like they do.”

 

“I see . . . I'm still grateful for your honesty, Shiwonzu-sama. You didn't have to do anything to help my son but you did anyway. He's still alive because of you. Please. Stay awhile. I'm sure Inuyasha would like to see you when he wakes.”

 

“See me? But the pup is blind . . . I saw how the staff interacted with him . . .”

 

“He can still hear . . . he has his nose,” InuTaisho explained. “Plus Dr. Sugara and I have been talking about possible treatments to correct Inuyasha's blindness. He'll see. I promised him as much.”

 

“Okay . . . I'll stay for a while longer . . . You're talking procedures with Dr. Sugara?” Naraku inquired as he sat back down. InuTaisho nodded as he took a seat opposite to Naraku.

 

“Hai. I'm just trying to decide which one will be safer . . .”

 

“How long has he been blind?” Naraku asked.

 

“Since he was born,” InuTaisho sighed, sadness creeping into his tone.

 

“May I make a suggestion, Shimizu-sama?”

 

“Of course,” he replied.

 

“Why don't you wait for him to get older? Let him decide if he wants it done or not.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Because he may not want it to be done,” Naraku murmured. “He may not have the use of his eyes but he can still see.”

 

“I don't understand . . .”

 

“You said it yourself, Shimizu-sama. He can hear. He can smell. He probably even has an excellent sense of touch, too.”

 

“But he'll never know what the sky looks like or what his brother looks like,” InuTaisho frowned. “The world is so full of colour . . .”

 

“I'm not going to disagree with you on that,” the other man stated. “But he probably does see colour. All sorts of colours that we may not even know exist, colours that are unique to him. Just because he's blind doesn't mean he doesn't know when the sun is shining or if rain is coming. He still feels the sun shining on him. His nose tells him if it's going to rain. He probably even knows what his brother looks like. To Inuyasha, the world is perfect the way that it is . . . He has his papa who loves him very much. Am I wrong about that?”

 

“No,” InuTaisho shook his head, tears threatening to overwhelm him. “You're not wrong about that. Not at all.”

 

“Then, when he's older, let him decide if he wants to see the world the way we see it. That is my suggestion to you.”

 

“Hai . . . I'll consider your words, Shiwonzu-sama.”

“That's all I ask . . . so he's five, right?”

 

“Yeah . . . and one of the sweetest children a father could ask for,” InuTaisho chuckled. “He adores his older brother. He adores my ex-mate and my secretary . . . he's just so . . .”

 

“Affectionate?” Naraku supplied, smiling some. “Most children like him are. At least the ones I help have been.”

 

“Oh?” InuTaisho glanced at him as Naraku nodded then proceeded to tell him about the daycare center he ran, something akin to what he had started for his employees. That was how his former mate and his son found them an hour later.