I, Motofan713, own nothing in th Inuyasha universe. I also don't own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or any of their affiliates (simply for the use of King Yama) This is just an act of my imagination.
So, this is my first real attempt at writing fanfiction. I hope this goes well...
A/N: If you want to gain the full experience of this introduction, I highly recommend that you listen to an instrumental piece by the username sakuraharuhime on youtube. They have an instrumental piece called sad music(piano and violin) that I believe does a great job in not only setting the mood of this introduction, but also actively involves the reader with the emotions the characters experience. Enjoy!
There was no way he was going to get all this done before lunar eclipse. There was simply too much paperwork, and from one individual! What he was looking at was almost four inches thick, and the print looked very fine. He looked down at his desk, frowning, wondering how in hell or high water that one half-demon could have such a riddled life, bordering on the lives of those wolf demons, who seemed to live forever. As he was contemplating this, he chanced a look over the ledge. What he saw both surprised him, as well as humbled him at the same time.
What stood before him was a half-demon child, looking no older than twenty, but still showing the signs of childhood, looking in regards to a human eight year old. King Yama looked on at his new subject.
Ragged and worn seemed to be a good starting point for description of what he saw before him. The young spirit was wearing what seemed to be a red robe, but it was severely tattered and torn. In certain places where it had been ripped wide open, Yama could see the poison and burn marks etched deep into the soul's arms and legs, along with the way that the soul's hands and feet had been severely cut, but there was no blood seeping out of the wounds. Also, one of his ears had a large rip in it, giving the look of a dog that had come out of a fight barely alive. As Yama's gaze rose, his curiosity settled upon the poor soul's face. There was no way that this young soul could be twenty years old, regardless of its appearance. No normal eight year old boy would have such pain, disappointment and longing in those orbs of liquid gold. No normal eight year old would try so hard to set their face so straightly and defiantly, as if to show that their inner sadness didn't exist. No, no one that young could possibly carry that look on their face. Granted, this was the face of a young half-demon boy, but it shown the regrets and sadness and utterly defeated look of someone who had seen too much, lived through too much and had lost everything to them before they died. This was the look of someone who knew too much about treachery, and betrayal, and rejection, and it was written plainly and boldly upon the young spirit's face.
King Yama didn't know what to make of this soul, for the vast majority of spirits that passed his judgment were well-bearing and happy, wearing heavenly clothing. The only time he had ever seen a subject even close to this was when that follower of the Jewish king had come under his judgment after hanging himself. That man had a traumatized soul, one that believed it was beyond redemption and ready to accept the harshest punishment possible. However, King Yama had taken pity on that lost soul, and granted him access to the higher ground in the afterlife. It had been King Yama's proudest day. But it seemed that that wasn't the case here, nor was this one going to be as easy as the last one, judging by the looks of it. So, King Yama set to work, taking out the file for this young lad existing in front of him. But before he had a chance to start reading the soul's file, a quiet, and rather childish voice piped up. What it asked, however, was far from childish by any means.
"King Yama, sir, if I may ask, what's going to happen to me? I mean, I know I haven't been a good soul while I was on the earth, and I did a lot of bad things, and I really don't want to go to the netherworld, but I know I don't deserve to go to Heaven, so is there some other place that I can go?" the young soul asked, scared to find out what would happen to it.
King Yama looked down upon his subject once more, with a puzzled look upon his face, replied, saying "I'm not sure where you'll end up, uh, hmm…" King Yama scanned the pages for his subject's name. finding it, he continued: "Oh, Inuyasha. I have to read your file first."
And without furthur ado, Yama started to speed-read through the hanyou's file, exploring every aspect both at high speed and in great detail. It seemed to start out typical enough (for a Hanyou anyways), but as he started to get deeper and deeper into this soul's file, Yama had a harder and harder time keeping face. What he was reading was stunning. Being resented by his brother, the loss of his true love to a jealous demon, the loss of his mother at an early age, and the traumatic adolescence this Inuyasha had trudged through somehow… it seemed as though everything possible that could have gone wrong for this hanyou had indeed gone wrong, and then, as a cruel twist of fate, somehow those events had gotten even worse as time passed. As he read over the countless tragedies that had occurred in this spirit's lifetime, his pity for him grew ever stronger.
Five minutes later, he was done, and the only way to describe his expression was shocked beyond belief. Never before had the King seen so much strife, shortcomings, betrayals, rejection, and overall hurt in one file, much less five, and never before had such a large weight seemed to settle upon his heart. King Yama then chanced a glance at Inuyasha again. What he saw pulled at his heartstrings. The soul before him looked so fearful of his fate, with his eyes wide, small streams of tears running down his cheeks, his lower jaw quivering, his body shaking in the absolute terror one finds in a scared child, which he was. In essence, Inuyasha took on the appearance of a pup on the verge of abuse by its owner, what with the pitiful look upon his face. Never before had Yama seen someone look so vulnerable before, or so far on the verge of breaking down.
Yama's breath caught in his throat, and true pity welled up inside him. For the first time in his eternal life, all Yama wanted to do was envelop the lost soul and give it comfort. And without a second thought, as his own eyes started to glaze over, Yama stood up, rounded his desk, and opened up his arms, saying:
"Come here, son."
And Inuyasha, without thinking, without so much as a snide remark, ran blindly into Yami's arms, sobbing uncontrollably, twin rivers flowing down his face as he clung desperately to the King's robe. King Yama gathered up the young soul in his arms, holding his as one would a newborn, and carried him back to his chair where he proceeded to sit down and attempt to comfort Inuyasha, even as his own tears started flowing down his face.
"That's right, just let it all out. No one here will think worse of you for it, so just let it out." And with that said, Inuyasha fully let go of his emotions, wailing loudly and fully. Images of his life passed before his eyes: Kikyo's first death, the rejection of his hometown, the many times he had run for his life from the demons surrounding him, the death of his mother, the many time he had been rejected by his own brother, they seemed endless, and they fed his grief, and fueled him to wail even louder than before, for he was finally letting all of his sadness, all of himself out, and flow freely through him all at the same time.
King Yama pondered just how things had become so far out of hand. Where had Inuyasha's saving grace gone? Why had no one bothered to check on him and give him good luck from time to time. Yes, there was that girl, Kagome, who seemed to keep Inuyasha happy, but judging by his appearance now, Inuyasha had never been truly satisfied with his life. And now, here before Yama, in his arms, lay the soul of one who was much older than most humans who passed through his doors, and yet it took on the form of a child. Why that was had initially stumped him, but now it made perfect sense. This soul was delicate, pure, and so willing to trust him, regardless of what had happened in its past lifetime, and had so willingly and trustingly beared its heart and soul fully to him without a second thought. Yama had never encountered someone so troubled, and yet wanting so badly to trust someone. He wondered if there was anything he could do for this soul, even as his own silent sobs formed.
A good while later (as the afterlife doesn't keep track of time), Inuyasha's sobbing petered out into sniffling, and soon enough the soul was too tired to carry on and simply lay there in Yama's arms, looking downtrodden and insecure, still clinging to him as if Yama was his one and only lifeline. And at the time, he was.
Inuyasha reflected back to the last time he had felt this way. As he thought about it, a memory he never knew he had flashed before his eyes.
He was about three years old, although he still looked as if he were less than ten months old. He had badly injured himself after falling headfirst down the meager steps of Izayoi's home, and had immediately stumbled over to his mother, bawling his heart out. She had scooped him up into her arms, much like Yama was doing now, and back then he had let go just as completely as he had just now. Back then he had never felt more safe than when he was in his mother's arms, and he sorely missed that feeling of being protected and accepted that he had been lacking for so long. And somehow, in the arms of a deity, he had found that feeling once again.
In all his years, King Yama had never been dealt such a heart-wrenching situation as the one he now found himself in. Yama was now bound and determined to make it up to the hanyou, as he believed without a shadow of a doubt that Inuyasha deserved a second chance at his life, one in which he might find true happiness, one in which he might come back as a pure soul in heavenly clothing, content with his life, but not as he was now, what with his disfigured skin, his saddening appearance, and his disheartened demeanor. Yama was going to Kami right away, and he would somehow make it up to Inuyasha, no matter the cost, regardless of how far this might set him back, he wanted this hanyou who now lay looking vulnerable and weak in his arms. Granted, he had an indication of what might happen when Izayoi had passed through his space, but he never imagined that it would be this bad.
With his mind set, and his determination as high as ever, King Yama let himself through the archway to the right of his desk, the archway leading him to Kami's level of existence.
A/N: So, what do you think? Is this something that I should pursue? Did the music go well with the scene? Is there anything I can improve on in this scene in order to fully bring it out? Any and all reviews will be greatly appreciated! Oh,and thanks for spending timke out of your lives reading this, it's an honor.
Motofan713