Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Nor this amazing ship.
Author's Note: Just in time for Valentine's Day! This has been a WIP of mine since last fall, and while my Tumblr followers had a chance to see most of it because I posted it then, I wasn't satisfied with the ending. So today, after punching out a drabble for another fandom, I gathered some inspiration to finally properly finish this oneshot. This is pure shameless, self-indulgent fluff, not quite into sap territory, but definitely quite fluffy.
Enjoy!
Color My World
Children always grew up asking their parents what colors looked like. Of course, no one could really explain, which often left some rather frustrated children to contemplate with their siblings or friends what on earth was so special about "colors." Some adults compared them to smells, emotions, or even tastes, but it was never enough.
To most children – except the very, very lucky few who grew up childhood friends with their soulmate – the world was painted in shades of grey. Some were darker than others, some had multiple layers of shades, but it all amounted to the same "colorless" world that their parents described both wistfully and yet without remorse.
"Colors make the world a lot brighter and happier," parents told their disbelieving children over and over. "Someday you'll understand."
Like with most adult explanations, children were more often than not left unsatisfied.
A common age group for children to meet their soulmate was around high school or early college, a time already brimming with emotional and physical changes. Mrs. Higurashi once theorized to her daughter that perhaps that's the time you most need a soulmate.
"But why do you need a soulmate?" ten-year-old Kagome asked once.
"I suppose 'need' isn't the word... it's more like finding home," Mrs. Higurashi said, a tender smile on her face. "It's not just about seeing colors, it's a feeling. Like you've been waiting without even realizing it."
Kagome didn't know how to respond to that, so reverted back to her usual, and still unanswered question:
"What's so special about colors?"
"It changes the way you see the world," Kagome's mother said patiently, despite being asked for the umpteenth time, "like you can truly see for the first time. It's... beautiful."
"Do you ever miss the world like you did before?"
"Not particularly. I only wish I could relive seeing my first colors, all over again. It's an extraordinary feeling."
Kagome went throughout middle school without meeting her soulmate (presumably, as her world remained the same as usual), and her friends also never experienced the adult phenomenon of "colors." There was one famous couple at school who met at a club meeting and claimed they finally understood what their parents tried to explain to them. But even they were unable to answer their peers' persistent questions: how do they know they saw colors? What do they look like? How do you know if you missed seeing a color or not? Betting pools began forming, to who can get a proper answer for once. But the couple facing said questioning student, sitting in their usual designated spot, with joined hands, could only shake their heads sheepishly, admitting it was simply too impossible to explain.
On their first day of high school, Kagome's best friend Sango bumped into a handsome young man with a small ponytail at the nape of his neck. Something in Sango's eyes shone, and for a moment, she and the boy were lost in their own world. Kagome eventually gave up on coaxing her friend to come to class, and at lunch, found out that yes, indeed, Sango had met her soulmate. His name was Miroku, who, while holding hands with Sango, looked like he had just won the lottery.
"I wish I could explain it to you, Kagome!" Sango later exclaimed as they walked home together. "It's... it's unlike anything I've ever seen. It's exactly how the world ought to look all the time, for everyone! It's so beautiful!" Sango's eyes were sparkling, her eyes never staying in contact with her friend's eyes for long, as they were constantly wandering around, drinking in her surroundings.
"The world is already beautiful," Kagome pouted, watching a pair of birds flit by under the clear sky.
"Yes, it is. But you haven't seen its true beauty yet."
That night, Kagome stayed up, reading articles, blogs, poems, even song lyrics describing color. Nothing. Vague metaphors that made no sense to someone still stuck in a colorless world. She sighed and flopped on her bed. The more she tried to look it up, the more confusing it all was, and more aggravating. She found herself wanting to know the color of her bed sheets, her walls, her clothes, her eyes. Though her mother patiently always pointed them out to her, she could never remember them. How could she? She had no point of reference.
Kagome burrowed her face in her pillow. She prayed she wouldn't have to wait until college to meet the person who finally answered the question that's haunted her mind since she could remember.
A few months later, she walked into class, ready for another day, when the door opened and the teacher and a new student entered. Kagome dropped her pencil.
"Class, this is our new transfer student, Inuyasha Taisho. His family recently moved here, so I hope you'll make him feel welcome. Please excuse his outfit, he will be getting a new uniform tomorrow..."
Kagome barely registered her teacher's words. She was drinking in this... this sight! Not only was Inuyasha handsome to boot (with an athletic build, a beautiful face, and adorable puppy ears on top of his head), he also looked different from the rest of the world.
His clothes and hair were... bright. Like the sun, except it didn't hurt to see.
They simply looked... different.
And it was so beautiful.
His eyes met hers. She sucked in her breath. She'd never seen eyes likes those! Lighter, darker... no, it was something else...
But then she saw the way his eyes widened in shock. The way his gaze flitted up and down her, as if he'd never seen a uniform like hers (despite being surrounded by several other girls wearing the same one), and his jaw drop open.
Wait.
Were they seeing colors?
Did that mean...?
As if in a daze, Inuyasha stumbled to the seat next to hers. Kagome ducked her head, her face suddenly flushing with heat. Could he, this handsome transfer student, actually be him? Her soulmate? She covered her face with her hands, suddenly overwhelmed with the flood of strange things covering up her worldview. Her desk, her uniform, the chalkboard, the sky outside the window... All these new, beautiful, strange differences... Oh, it was all too much!
And yet... she watched him shuffle restlessly in his seat, watched his ears twitch curiously as he drank in his surroundings, and watched that strange new color – for what else could it be? - paint over his cheeks that most certainly wasn't there before she was sure...
"My name's Kagome," she dared to whisper, knowing his ears would pick up her words.
"Kagome..." He said her name like he was tasting a fine wine. It sent shivers down her spine.
"I like your name," she breathed, her heart thumping wildly. "Inuyasha. Sounds so exotic."
He graced her with a swoon-inducing smirk. It took all her will-power not to drown into his vibrant eyes, not to go faint at that cocky smile. She managed to smile back, trying to convey her excitement over what had just happened.
The stunned, positively-floored-by-her-smile look on his face was entirely worth it.
As the day went on, colors continued bleeding into Kagome's world. That was the best way to describe it: wherever she looked, her former colorless world would transform before her eyes, like water spilling across a smooth surface. Simultaneously and yet sporadically. Little patches of grey would remain until she focused her gaze upon it, and then, it seemed to erupt with color.
"But what are these colors?" she puzzled quietly to herself during break, staring out the window, drinking in the leaves of the tree and a pair of swallows chirping on one its many branches.
"Green," a soft voice said.
She jolted and turned around. Inuyasha was staring out the window with her, though his eyes kept flitting back and forth between the window and her. She swallowed hard, willing her heart to calm its thundering racket beneath her ribs.
"H-how do you know?"
"My mother used to go on and on about how it was the color of tree leaves – green – that was her favorite part about meeting her soulmate – my dad," he added quickly, as if with an afterthought. "So, I never forgot the word, even if I didn't know what it looked like."
Kagome nodded slowly. "My mom has this philosophy that she would never say which color was which until after I met my—my soulmate." Her face burned. As his cheeks painted over once again, it almost seemed to match what she was feeling – but what was that color? She went on: "She thinks part of the joy of seeing colors for the first time was not knowing right away what they are."
"Well, don't worry," Inuyasha said, another devastatingly handsome, cocky grin playing on the corners of his mouth. "I won't spoil any other names. Green was the only one I remember. It's the same as your uniform," he added, gesturing at her general appearance.
Kagome glanced down and gasped. Yes, her uniform skirt was indeed green! She looked back at Inuyasha, and frowned slightly. His uniform was different than the other boys. Inuyasha must have noticed her puzzlement, for his cheeks changed color once more.
(By all the gods, what was that color? It was similar to his uniform, yet not...)
"This is an extra, until my official uniform comes in. It's from an older model, so now, they reserve it only for newbies like me."
Before Kagome could question him more, class began again, and she was forced to move her eyes back to the blackboard.
But she couldn't resist passing a note to Sango: "What is the color of Inuyasha's uniform?"
Sango glanced back and grinned cheekily at Kagome, whose face flushed with warmth, and silently retorted with a pointed glare. Sango shrugged and jotted down the answer, passing the note back.
"Red. I looked up some meanings with Miroku: red means passion" - (she had the gall to add a winking face, making Kagome squirm nervously) - "violence, anger, and adventure. It also can mean 'good luck,' so good luck with you and the new kid!" (Two hearts and another winking face.)
Kagome shook her head and tucked the note out of sight. She continued taking notes from the lecture, her mind whirling as a second color now had a name for her to recognize.
Red. She silently moved her lips, tasting the word. She observed the world around her, catching glimpses of this new color, and returned to admiring Inuyasha beside her. Compared to dull, dark tones of the other boys' uniforms, Inuyasha's vibrant red uniform somehow made him stand out even more. More than just his ears, more than just being her soulmate. The color red seemed to envelope his whole being, like he was an ethereal being of fire.
Kagome propped her cheek on her palm and smiled at him. She wasn't sure why she knew all of this. Perhaps this was part of finding your soulmate. Knowing things about them they themselves couldn't possibly know. Or maybe she was kidding herself.
Still..., she thought with an affectionate grin, as he gnawed on his pencil's eraser, a very slight growl of frustration reverberating off his chest, as he clearly struggled over the problems on the board. I think it suits him.