His Untold Past
Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any of the characters in the story. They're all Rumiko Takahashi's. Lucky...
"Hey, have we gotta stop in at this crumby village? They haven't got an inn that I can see."
"Now, now InuYasha. We are sure to find someone willing to take us in for the night." Miroku smiled, already looking at the hut below to see who would make the best victim for his ominous cloud routine.
"And I'd like a nice warm meal and a bed that I won't have to worry if bugs'll crawl into or if it'll rain," Kagome smiled as she walked up next to him dragging her bike along. Shippo nodded with delight from her shoulder. The little fox kit agreed with almost anything Kagome said.
"You have to admit, InuYasha, we do have more energy after a nice sleep indoors," Sango added, her giant boomerang slamming down on Miroku's head as his hand wandered a little too close for comfort.
InuYasha sighed. He was out numbered four to one. "Fine. Have it your way. Don't blame me if they don't have room."
They followed the road until it lead them to the edge of the village where the people were crowed, headed back to their homes after a long day in the field. The villagers watched the group carefully as they enter and Kagome suppressed a shiver. The group had gotten plenty of warm greetings in their travels, plenty of not so warm ones too, but for a town to be so cold towards them seemed unnatural.
A villager came up to them, old and wrinkled, maybe older than Kaede with an eye patch over his right eye. He held a bow, the quiver at his waist, and he was glaring at them with the most deadly of looks.
"So, you have returned to finish what you started demon? Be warned that we shall not stand for it." The old man notched an arrow and pointed it squarely at InuYasha's heart, the other villagers looking at him and bringing out their own weapons. He could live through one arrow, maybe even ten or fifteen, but not close to a hundred.
Kagome stood in front of InuYasha calmly as Miroku spoke to the old man. "Lower your bow, my friend. We mean you no harm. We are merely travellers seeking refuge for the night."
"Lying monk! It has been many years since I saw this demon, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. That very demon tried to destroy this entire village over fifty years ago. He took my right eye."
"InuYasha? He would never do anything like that. If he even tried, Kagome would not allow it."
"How could a mere mortal stand against a demon! She must be a demon too!" A voice from the crowd. None of them knew who.
"Kagome, if you will."
She wasn't willing, but a nice warm bed outweighed her doubt. She sent him anapologetic look before she said the words gently. "InuYasha, sit."
The villagers looked on in awe as the hanyou fell flat on the ground.
"W-what witchcraft is this?" asked the old villager as some quiet curses left the hanyou's mouth. She had to do it, hadn't she? She had to ruin his pride like this, make him look like some kind of pet. He already heard the talk among the villagers.
"No witchcraft," Miroku replied as Kagome sent him an apologetic look. "She is a miko and it is that which allows her to subdue him."
There was some quiet murmuring as he got up again. The old man watched carefully. "Fine. You may spend the night in my hut, but you leave shortly after dawn and the miko is never out of sight of the demon. Understood?"
There were nods all around from the little group, excluding him. Satisfied, the old man lead them into the village and to his hut. They were left inside and told to use their own stores to feed themselves before he left, uncomfortable to be so close to him. Thankful for the shelter, Sango began a fire and started dinner. Dinner was made and finished some time later and the group began to set-up for bed. It had been a long day on the road and there was little any of them wanted to do besides sleep. He watched as they all drifted off, all unconcerned about what the old man had said, taking it for the old blabbering of an old man, but he knew better. He had known the village since he had first laid eyes on it.
There were things in his past that had once given him the greatest amount of pride, that now, he was more ashamed of than he ever could have imagined. Things that lurked in the dark recesses of his mind, that he wished had never happened, that he dared not allow to touch light. They were such things that had seemed like the only way to make himself known, to get respect, to get people to fear him rather than poke fun at him. Now, those things were so clearly so wrong, he feared that if anyone heard of them, they would leave him, a fate worse than death. That had been why he had resisted coming into this village, why he looked at the villagers cautiously, praying none of them knew the tales of what he had done over fifty years before, why he was sure that after that day, he would never be allowed near his friends again.
He remembered the last time he had seen the village; the smoke and the fire, the corpses of his victims lining the street under a thick layer of smoke and blood. He remembered the screams, but worst of all, he remembered the feeling of complete power as he stood a little ways off, the pride that had swelled through him. Those had been dark days, days when he was similar to a number of demons that he now considered bloodthirsty and evil, he had been little better than Naraku rejoicing in the carnage he had created, at the death he had caused. Those had been the days before he had meet Kikyo, before he had heard of the jewel, before Kagome had changed him for the better. If someone had told him that in mere years from that time, because for him, although close to fifty years had passed since he had caused that pain, to him, it seemed much closer to three.
How many innocents had he killed? How many children had he orphaned? How many lives had he ruined with these claws? If someone had told him then he would regret his actions to this extent, he wouldn't have believed it, at least, not after a scant three years. Kagome had done that, aided, only the smallest bit, by the less than a year he spent with Kikyo before their betrayal. He remember when his demon blood had taken over and he slaughtered the bandits some months back. That had brought back the memories of his dark days when, he now thought of himself, as being more demon than human. His friends had stayed with him then, mostly because they understood it wasn't his fault but his demon blood. He wouldn't tell them he remembered every instant of that time or how he had felt a rush as he murdered those men or how it seemed little different than when he had done such things in the past. He had felt regret after those times too, but he had locked it off, saying they had deserved it, knowing noone to whom he would regret causing harm.
He turned to Kagome, the poor girl that lay asleep only a few feet from him. What would he do if he hurt her in one of his murderous rampages? She would forgive him, of that he was almost certain, but he would never forgive himself? No, most likely he wouldn't. He already couldn't forgive himself for the pain he had put her through concerning the now un-dead Kikyo. He hated the doubt she put herself through, the pain that filled her thinking that she was nothing compared to her incarnation, that she was a replacement for his first love and a shard detector. She was so much more than those things, so much more it sometimes hurt being around her, knowing she could never be his, but wanting it more than life itself. For now, he satisfied himself with being her protector, her guardian, her friend. He'd always be there for her and she would always stay with him. She had promised him that so long ago, but she had kept that promise more times than he could count. She had stayed with him through transformation and danger. He doubted that her love for him would ever let her break that promise, not that he minded. She didn't know, nor did she need to know, the pain he felt when she went back to her own time, the fear that she wouldn't come back, that he'd have to live without her in some way or another. He feared losing her, yet he needed her near him putting her in danger from other demons and the like, perhaps, even himself.
The girl shifted and turned to look at him, perhaps not as deep asleep as he had thought.
"InuYasha?"
In the dark, her eyes were unfocused. She probably couldn't see him that well if at all.
"Yeah Kagome?"
She rolled onto her stomach and looked at him curiously. "Did that old man really recognize you? Did you really attack this village all those years ago?"
He felt his stomach sink. "Why do you ask?"
"You didn't try to defend yourself. You let us do it for you. Did you do it InuYasha?"
He was quiet for a moment, debating whether to tell her or not. "Go back to sleep, Kagome. We have along day ahead of us."
She looked at him for a few moments, a look of understanding and sadness on her face. As she settled herself in her sleeping bag, he heard her whisper something he was unsure whether he was supposed to reply to it. She fell back to sleep after a few moments and he smiled sadly. He replayed her final words in his mind.
You're not alone anymore, InuYasha.
I know, Kagome. No matter what happens, you'll always be there for me.
What do you think? The dark side to InuYasha's past with a bit of fluff. At the moment, this is a one shot, but it may (or may not) turn into a story. Anyways, R&R please!