The Reveries of Izayoi

Luna Silvereyes

A Short Oneshot about my idea on how InuYasha first met his older brother and what Sesshomaru thought of him. This also includes a small tid bit on how Izayoi might have met the Great Dog Demon.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. I own no character in this story.

Izayoi sighed as she watched her son scurry about the yard after the same small red ball that he often carried around. He tripped over his kimono and fell to the ground, but sprang back up instantly, laughing. He scooped up the ball and bounced it around the courtyard, chasing after imaginary friends who had come to play with him, since none of the village children would, even if their mothers let them. He threw the ball into the air and jumped up at an extraordinary height to catch it. He'd gone a full six feet in the air, and Izayoi knew that this was just the beginning. Provided she lived long enough, she'd soon see him jumping up onto buildings and trees and such. She'd seen his father do it often enough. In fact, now that she thought of it, that was how she'd met him. She'd been sitting at the base of a tree inside the palace walls and a sudden shower of leaves raining down on her had startled her from her embroidery. Glancing up, she saw the Great Dog Demon himself sitting in the tree, staring right back down at her. Her first reaction: Instant fear. She'd leapt up and ran back inside, slamming the door behind her.

A few hours later, she'd dared to open the door and found him to still be out there, studying her embroidery work she'd left on the ground. Since there was no way he'd have been inspecting it for this long, she figured he must have left and only recently returned. She saw his eyes move at her presence, but he politely pretended not to notice as she stepped back outside and cautiously approached. Now, he moved and looked up.

" Good evening." He said pleasantly. Izayoi had been stunned. Her parents had always told her to avoid demons at any cost, and Takemaru said the same thing whenever he came to visit every other month. She'd always thought demons were vicious killers bent on destroying the humans. But this one, the fabled Dog Demon of the western domain, seemed…different somehow. She could tell as he gently picked her work off the ground and dusted it off. He slowly came over and handed it to her delicately. " You left this." He said. Izayoi took it shakily and stepped back, trying to hide the fear she was tending. He bowed his head and turned to leave.

Izayoi remembered calling after him and asking why he'd come. He had turned slightly. " Just passing through." He'd replied. " That's very beautiful by the way."

" Uh, thank you." She'd replied. This was weird, she thought. With that, he turned and hurried away.

Izayoi reluctantly pulled herself from her memories and focused her tired gaze on her son. Never in her wildest dreams when she'd been growing up that her life would ever take a turn like this.

InuYasha stopped in his game and looked over at her. " Mom!" he called. She looked up wearily. " Yes?"

" Watch this!" he yelled. He hunkered down and then pushed off the ground into the air. He turned over once and started back down headfirst, his hand out to brace his fall. He landed on his one hand, supporting his weight somewhat haphazardly. With a cry, he fell over backward flat on his stomach and grumbled.

" Dang it! I'll get it eventually." He mumbled, picking himself back up. He made his way over slowly and looked up at his mother.

" InuYasha, it's time to go home now." She said quietly. He nodded and she took his hand as they started back toward their little house outside the village. She always marveled at how similar to his father he was, especially in personality.

As they neared home, Izayoi suddenly tensed. Something was making her skin prickle uncomfortably. She paused and turned around, looking back the way they had come. InuYasha cocked his head curiously. " Mom?"

" Nothing, dear, let's just keep going." She said reassuringly, though to her, it didn't sound as much as it did to him. Her heart was pounding like crazy and she put her other hand over it to calm it.

Suddenly, something exploded from the foliage ahead of them. Izayoi screamed and pulled InuYasha around behind her, covering her face with her sleeve. Peeking out, she saw that it was a large coyote demon, glaring at them hungrily. InuYasha's face changed to that of awe, while Izayoi, knowing the danger so this kind of demon, grew only more fearful. Nevertheless, she tried to be strong for her son and the memory of his father to back her up.

" Stay away!" she commanded harshly. The demon only took a step or two forward. Izayoi didn't move, as much as her instincts were telling her to just run for it.

" Stay away!" she repeated, with a little more emphasis. The demon kept coming. Now, she started to back away, keeping InuYasha out of sight as best as she could. She knew that if it were to attack her, he'd be able to run to the village and find someone willing to help him.

The coyote demon growled menacingly and braced to attack. His fangs glistened eerily in the moonlight as it anticipated its next kill.

The coyote demon launched toward them, jaws bared and claws extended and Izayoi pulled her son close to her to shield his small body from the attack. Even though his fire rat kimono was strong, it wouldn't protect him forever. She closed her eyes, but the piercing pain of a dagger-like fang sinking into her body never came and she wasn't too afraid of it if it did, for she knew what it felt like. Takemaru had stabbed her the night of InuYasha's birth in an attempt to kill both her and her soon-to-be son just because he was the child of a demon. Of course, InuYasha's father had restored her to life not ten minutes later, and not even five minutes until his own death in the fiery death trap Takemaru had ordered after the demon had severed the man's left arm. She knew about this because she had attended his funeral and he was missing an arm.

She opened one eye cautiously and turned around. She gasped sharply.

" It can't be." She whispered. Standing with his back to them, facing down the coyote demon was the Great Dog Demon.

No, Izayoi thought grimly. It can't be. He's dead.

InuYasha peeked around from atop her arm and stared, mouth agape in fascination. " Woah." He said in admiration.

The coyote demon whined and bounded away, into the forest. The Great Dog Demon look-alike hummed in a low dominance and turned around to face them. Izayoi saw instantly that this wasn't the Dog Demon after all. But she was sure of one thing in any case. He wasn't The Great Dog Demon, but he was indeed a dog demon.

" Sesshomaru?" she said disbelievingly. " Is that you?"

" Hello, Izayoi." He grumbled in reply. " You can't seem to stay out of trouble. Can you?" His eyes narrowed dangerously. Izayoi straightened up. " What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to keep InuYasha out of sight, though she knew it was pointless.

" One of father's last wishes was that I check up on you and the pup occasionally." He said tonelessly. He tilted his head to the left and Izayoi knew he'd spotted InuYasha. She sighed and allowed InuYasha to come forward. " I take it you recognized him." She said. InuYasha crept closer, studying the demon carefully. He paused a few feet away from him, staring up at him curiously. " Are you powerful?" he asked out of the blue. Sesshomaru blinked and reverted his gaze back Izayoi. " I forget his name." He said.

" InuYasha." She said. " I don't really blame you for forgetting. The last time you saw him was a couple of years ago and he was still just a baby." She said, glancing down at him. InuYasha turned and gave her a look of surprise.

" Mom, you know him?" he said, bewildered.

" Don't tell me you haven't informed him, Izayoi." Sesshomaru growled. Izayoi rolled her eyes and sighed wearily. " Sesshomaru, you know as well as I do that he has virtually no idea as to who he really is and who his father was, much less who you are. He likely doesn't even remember you."

" Hmm." Sesshomaru responded. InuYasha followed the conversation between them back and forth until finally he groaned and folded his arms. " Mom, who is he?" he whined.

Izayoi knelt down. " InuYasha, this is your older brother, Sesshomaru." She explained. InuYasha's mouth formed a small 'O' and he looked at the demon again. " Wow! You're my brother? That's so cool!"

It was Sesshomaru's turn to sigh and he shook his head. " Izayoi, you'd better inform him of everything. You know your time is running out on you." He said, turning to leave. Izayoi bowed her head and nodded. " I know. It seems to be spreading. I believe it might be too late. I suppose I only have a few more years." She said sadly. Sesshomaru reflexively put his hand to his swords. " That's plenty of time. He should know everything by then, Izayoi." He said. " When I return, he'd better. I'm not about to explain it to him for the rest of his life."

Sesshomaru whirled around. The bright sphere surrounded his body and he vanished into the night sky. Izayoi stared after him and moaned. He resembled the Great Dog Demon is many ways. But he was nowhere near as kind.

" Mom?" InuYasha said. " Are you okay?"

Izayoi looked up at her son and smiled weakly. " Yes, my darling. I'm fine. Come. Let's continue on. It's getting dark."

Hand in hand, they proceeded along the path toward home. But while InuYasha's mind was working on the fact that he had a brother, Izayoi's thoughts were mainly concerned with the young demon that saved their lives just now, how InuYasha was going to fare in life with such a strange half-sibling and other things. But toppling those things weighting down her mind, was the thought of the gnawing lump growing in her breast, that was efficiently draining the life from her still beating heart.

A/N: And there you have it! I know I haven't continued the series yet, but I needed a break and I wanted to do this idea before I lost it. Once the series is done, I'm going to start working on one about Izayoi's life before, during and after her acquaintance of The Great Dog Demon. Let me know how this is and I promise, I'll get the rest of the series up as soon as I can.