An Interview with Izayoi - A Mother's Tears
Izayoi's Story
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, but seriously, you should have deduced that by yourself… how would I be able to create such characters now?
Author's Note: Story told by Izayoi-hime, as an interview, with snippets of third person bits… Izayoi is by no means tranquil!
Also: I wondered whether this would be better with page breaks, but this was the way it was supposed to be presented, therefore here you go!
Uhm, I just speak in here? I don't know, I've never seen one of these before… [clears her throat My name is Izayoi and I have been asked today to tell you about myself ( is that right? Was that what I was supposed to say?)
Alright then, go on, ask those questions of yours. I am patient, but I do get impatient occasionally.
Hm? Oh, yes, yes. The great Taiyoukai, who people called 'Inu no Taishou', or Dog-General, was what you could call my husband. The youkai are partly animal so I would say we were "mated" in that youkai sense…
Eh? What's with these questions, of yours? I don't think I'm required to answer that…What? No, really, I wont answer that…
How I met him? I don't know. It was just one day, I suppose…
Izayoi-hime sat in the room with the open windows, watching the sakura trees blossoming outside, their petals fluttering down onto the pink covered ground.
"O-hime-sama?" A young girl opened the screen and made as if to speak again.
Izayoi waved her away impatiently. She didn't want to do anything today, just watch the cherry blossoms. She wasn't interested in anything else. Sometimes the duties of a hime really got tedious. She just wanted some time alone for once. She felt she had deserved it.
The sliding door clacked as the maid closed it again, flustered and bowing respectfully. Izayoi watched the door for a while, wondering whether anyone would dare disturb her again.
A sound caught Izayoi's attention and she turned her head as she noticed a figure walking through the sakura trees in full blossom, their petals falling around him. She got up, staring and her eyes widened as she took in the silver hair, jagged purple coloured stripes across his cheeks and on the back of his hands, the armour, claws and swords handing at his waist. This man was a youkai.
She couldn't move away though, the way he walked through the trees had entranced her and she stared as he turned his handsome face and gold eyes towards her, and noticed her watching him through the trees.
He was always there actually. He came back the next day and the next and whenever I went there, he would be around, just wandering through the sakura trees.
It was almost the end of the seasons and the last of the flowers had almost fallen off the trees. Izayoi was outside today, waiting for the youkai-man who she knew would come and who she had come to secretly love, even though she knew this was forbidden.
He appeared through the trees, today panting slightly as though he had run.
"Hello, Izayoi-hime. I am Inu no Taishou."
And thus they were introduced for the first time.
Most of the time we didn't say much at all, just sat there, watching the sakura, but it was the fact that he was actually there next to me that counted. It didn't matter that he was a youkai or anything. We were just two people sitting side by side, enjoying our lives. He was so sweet anyway…
What? No, I'm not telling you about that. Some things are better left unsaid. Let's just leave facts at that… people needn't know…
He came back to visit me often though and I really enjoyed talking to him and even when the sakura had all disappeared from the trees, we would just sit in the garden. It was pretty tranquil, but people began to notice my belly and a few people, mostly the servants though, noticed me with Inu no Taishou. I was engaged with a man who was one of my father's best generals at that time though and many people whispered that, well, the baby was his.
It soon became obvious after that, that it wasn't though. Quite amusing they were both generals though, really. My meeting with Inu no Taishou in the garden were revealed, but there was nothing they could do about it, even though many people despaired of their kingdom's only princess giving birth to a youkai child. Inu no Taishou disappeared for a while shortly after this. I wondered at the time whether he was hiding from the ningens or something, but he wasn't afraid of them… In fact, he was more afraid for me.
The day my child would be born, the man who would have been my husband came while I lay in pain, waiting for Inu no Taishou, and killed me. He and my father both, did not want a half-youkai child and felt it was better to kill their princess then allow noth of us to live. There was much pain and surely my blood splattered the walls and the soft veils which surrounded me as he ended my life and the life of my child inside of me. Guards had been posted the surrounding areas to stop Inu no Taishou, the great Taiyoukai, from saving me.
My killer hadn't exited for long, however, when Inu no Taishou came running in, having gotten past the guards and the general, however not remaining uninjured (or not remaining as injured as he was already), and found me dead. You have to understand a lot of this part is second hand, I never saw this myself as I was dead, but he took out the Tenseiga and with a sweep over me, killing the creatures of death, brought me back to life. I have never understood it, but that is the way it is.
Afterwards I escaped with the son he named Inuyasha and we ran as he stayed behind to fight those who would have chased after me and hunt me and Inuyasha down. I couldn't help noticing he was horribly wounded already and was even more injured as he came to my rescue. I had no idea why, but it wasn't my place to ask. I have no doubt he died that day, yet I still hoped he had managed to get away somehow. All I had left of him was the fire-rat kimono wrapped around Inuyasha.
Izayoi entered the town, panting. She had run so far, would they chase after her, even with Inu no Taishou's efforts? She covered up Inuyasha more and knocked on one of the doors to ask for shelter. If they saw Inuyasha they would be denied to stay.
That family allowed me to stay a while, but the next day, as soon as they saw Inuyasha, they told me to get out. The word spread through the whole town but an elderly man took us in. He understood about half-demons, hanyous, and was kind to us before he passed away.
After that, we lived together there, in the house the jii-san had left. The people didn't accept us, but at least they let us stay, as long as we kept away from them as much as possible. Inuyasha didn't understand why noone would play with him and would often leave as they saw him coming. At those times I would cry and the only thing I could so was hug him.
"Ofukuro, why won't they play with me? What is a hanyou?"Izayoi knelt down, tears in her eyes, and hugged her son. "It's okay, Inuyasha, don't worry about it."
"What is a hanyou though? Is that the reason they hate me?"
Izayoi shook her head but didn't reply. Inuyasha glanced at his mother, understanding deep in his heart somewhere the meaning of the word, but unwilling to believe it. His mother hugged him more tightly and he let himself relax in her comfortable embrace.
After a time, as me and Inuyasha both grew older, I knew our peace for now would be smashed. After all, as a hanyou, and as I and he both knew, he was in constant danger from both parties. Ningens saw him as a youkai and hunted him down and youkai saw him as ningen and the shame of their kind and tried to kill him also.
Eventually, we had to run for it and I was killed in the process.
Inuyasha cried as he laid the body of his mother in the grave he had dug out. His mother was the only person who had ever cared for him and now she was gone too. He couldn't help but blame this on himself. It was his fault she was dead after all…
I knew very well it wasn't his fault. If anyone's it should have been mine. I should have taken better care of him. Inuyasha…
Inuyasha scooped the rest of the dirt into the grave and smoothed it down. Pulling over the heave piece of rock he had found, he carefully scratched the characters which his mother had taught him into the stone marker.
"I – za – yo – i"
Inuyasha stood back to admire his work before he drove the marker into the ground. Then he whirled and ran again, as fast as he could, away from the youkai and humans his mother had warned would be hunting him down.
… especially because he was the son of the great Taiyoukai and of a lowly human (ningen). Such blood of a great demon in a hanyou was almost unheard of.
It was never Inuyasha's fault. I still believe I was the one to blame. Perhaps if it had been different, I would have been able to keep Inuyasha safe, at least until I grew old enough that Inuyasha outlived me, but I was always so afraid that he would die. He is so young…
Regrets? None I suppose…but when do the dead have regrets? I'm dead remember? Alright, that's not true. I do have a few, I admit. I love Inuyasha and looked after him as best as I could over the years I was alive. The only regret I have is for leaving him so early and for not being able to help and protect him.
I have been watching though. I watched as he grew up and met that girl… Kagome, I think … and then that Yura girl, my impersonator and was even sitting there mystified over how the Black Pearl got into Inuyasha's left eye. I suppose I'll never know who did that particular amazing feat.
I haven't looked down at Inuyasha anymore now. I know he is safe and I'm glad he has friends. There's a time when all people grow up and don't need the protection of their parents anymore and begin to protect others, so I knew it was my time to go.
What's that? It's no problem. This interview gave me a good chance to think. Well, I have to go now, Taishou-sama is waiting for me actually, along with the mother of my step-son. Perhaps you've heard of him? Sesshoumaru? I still get awfully worried about when they fight, even though I can't do anything about them.
Taishou-sama, that is, Inu no Taishou was pleased that Inuyasha found his heirloom though, even though he was less than pleased that Sesshoumaru tried to take it and broke it and so on, but I'm rambling now, aren't I? Well thanks for your time then.
Izayoi takes a final look down at her son and returns once again to the spirit world as, below, Inuyasha turns from his friends and takes a look towards the heavens, feeling the smile of his mother lingering overhead.
"What's wrong Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha glances back a final time as he rejoins his friends, a smile hovering on his face that his friends can't miss.
"Nothing..."
