**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or it's delightful characters. This was written for entertainment purposes and I am making no profit off of this, so please don't sue.

Tell Me Why

Scritch scritch, squeeeaaakkk.

I cocked my head to one side, straining to hear more. 

Scrape, drag, scrape, umph!

"Kagome?" I called softly, "Are you still awake?"

There was another scuffling sound and then silence flooded my ears. I laid my knitting aside and tip-toed out the door and around the corner to check on Sota. Moonlight brightened his cheek, sliding over his small form to show me he was safe. My little Sota seemed so serene in his sleep. Next I moved onto my father's room to see that he hadn't forgotten Kagome had returned for the time being and that he needn't go to the well to "summon" her. He was sprawled on his bed, blankets askew, with charm papers littering the floor. I crept in and straightened out the blankets. "Oyasumi," I whispered, remembering that I had forgotten to wish him a good night earlier.

He muttered in his sleep and kicked aside the blankets in response.

I calmly proceeded to Kagome's room where I suspected the sound had come from. It was unlikely that a youkai had gone into her room to attack her, and even if that was the case I knew she would protect herself. She had survived all her adventures so far, why would tonight be any different?

"Kagome? Kagome-chan…" I paused at the doorway when I saw the Kagome was asleep and her "Shikon shards" were safely on her table. An open book lay next to her elbow and she clutched a pencil in her hand. It seemed as if she had fallen asleep while studying, but who had turned off the light and covered her with a blanket then? Sota had gone to bed long before Kagome went to her room and I was pretty sure that my father had been asleep as well. A soft breeze stirred my hair and I glanced over at the open window, mildly surprised that I hadn't noticed it before. So, he was here this time. Kagome would be angry that he was, in a sense, babysitting her. She had often complained to me that she felt he didn't trust her enough. I approached the window with caution, so as not to startle him, and leaned out the window. "You could come inside where it's warm if you like," I murmured, knowing that his dog ears would be able to pick up the sound of my voice, "It's rather cold out tonight,"

A muted creak answered me, as if he was shifting his weight, and then his head appeared over the edge of the roof. "Feh! I have youkai blood. The cold doesn't affect me,"

"Yes," I mused aloud, "But leaving the window open could give Kagome a nasty cold, and then she'll be unable to travel back in time with you…"

He shot me a look of annoyance, "Then close the window!"

"What kind of mother would I be if I left my daughter's friend outside for the night? Besides, if you don't come inside I can always wake Kagome so she can convince you…" I opened the window wider so he could slip in easily and moved aside to give him room. Kagome had told me once about his temper and distrustful nature.

After a good amount of muttering he screwed up his face and grudgingly swung through the window. He was tall and looked much more menacing than when I had first been "introduced" to him. His thick white hair looked silver under the moon and his golden eyes had a strange glint in them. I moved closer towards him to peer up at his face and his eyes darted uneasily from Kagome to me. No, he wasn't so menacing after all, his eyes held a kindness that they hadn't before. Then again, the first time I had met this young dog-boy I had…

"Oi, what're you doing woman?!"

I blinked, "Ara? Am I doing something?" I looked down and noticed I had seized his ears, one in each hand, and was rubbing the soft, velvety texture between my fingers. "Ah! Gomen!"

A deep growl rose in his throat, "If you've noticed you're doing something, then STOP DOING IT!"

"But they're so soft to rub," I countered reasonably, "A little ill-groomed…"

He cracked his knuckles, the growl growing deeper, "LET GO DAMMI-"

Kagome rolled over in her sleep and clutched at her pillow, "Inuyasha… osuwari…"

I let go of his ears in surprise as a purple light emmited from the rosary around his neck and he plummeted through the floor with a sickening crunch. Oh my, I'll need to call in the carpenter again to fix the hole in the floor… I got down on my hands and knees and looked through the gaping hole in Kagome's floor. There was Kagome's friend, lying face down in the floor amid the rubble and dust. "Are you okay?" I asked, concerned for his condition.

The only answer I got was a muttered, "Shit. What the hell did I do this time?"

I carefully lowered myself through the hole and let myself drop on top of Kagome's friend. He gave a small yelp of surprise and then cursed under his breath, his ears twitching irritably. I couldn't help myself.  Leaning forward I pinched the ears with my fingers and thumb. They were wonderfully soft against my skin.

"OI! Let go! Let go you wen-" he stopped mid-sentence and glanced fearfully upwards through the hole in the ceiling. After a few more muttered curses it seemed as if he had decided to curb his tongue for the time being. "I'm only going to ask nicely once more, LET GO!"

I reluctantly released his ears and stepped off his back to inspect the damage done. "Nothing unfixable," I thought out loud, "and now we can get Kagome that new rug she's always wanted,"

"Feh!" Kagome's friend stood up looked at the hole as well, "Serves her right for 'sitting' me!"

"Ah, that's right!" I clapped my hands together and smiled, "I just bought some sugar cookies from the store. Why don't you join me for some?"

He blinked, probably wondering how I could remain so calm when he had just put a hole through my house. Come to think of it, it's also indirectly his fault that we had to remodel Kagome's room after it had been flattened by that firetruck. He made a small noise of assent and nodded his head, "If they're as good as that ramen stuff Kagome brings with her,"

Grabbing his sleeve I pulled him in the direction of the kitchen and seated him rather forcibly at the table. "Now sit here and wait while I prepare some tea. Have some cookies," I plunked the package of cookies down on the table for him and then searched through the cabinets for some tea leaves.

As I prepared the tea I could hear him sniffing at the package. Then there was a crinkling sound as he struggled to open it. "It's jinxed!" he accused me, eyes narrowing with displeasure, "You're trying to tempt me with food that I can't eat! Well I'll show you!" He cracked his knuckles and raised his arm, displaying his dangerously sharp claws to me, "Sankon Tetsu- eh?"

With a simple tug I pulled the plastic apart and handed a cookie to him, "Here you go. Try it, it's good! Really! Now… what's your name again?" I bustled busily around, heating the water, dispensing some tea leaves in each cup, heating up some leftovers in the microwave, and the such. Munching on his cookie, his eyes followed me as I moved around the kitchen. "Whaddaya mean 'what's your name'? Geez, didn't Kagome tell you?"

"Of course! I just never was too good with names. Let's see… it's Inu… Inu-something,"

His ears flattened against his head and he seemed offended. "Inerash," he muttered.

"Sorry, what was it again?"

"INUYASHA! My name's Inuyasha! Geez, you deaf or something? Wait… I… I mean…"

"It's alright, there's no need to be polite," I put down the steaming cups of tea along with two bowls of noodles in front of him, noting that he had only eaten the one cookie I had given him. He looked at me curiously and then followed my gaze to the package of cookies. Immediately he reached for them and stuffed a couple more in his mouth. "They're good. Better than that ramen stuff too!" he looked down at the food I had placed in front of him "Whas this?"

"Food," I answered simply. Inuyasha, this was the boy who was protecting my daughter? I sipped slowly at the tea and Inuyasha, carefully following my motions, did the same. His ears swivelled around, startled by every noise that I counted as normal. The hum of the refrigerator, the ticking of the clock, the sound of a lone car driving at night, they all seemed of interest to him. It was apparent that Inuyasha was painstakingly trying to keep his table manners prim and proper and he was trying not to feel out of place. He was very tense, his unwavering golden eyes locked onto my face even as he ate his food and drank his tea. I smiled to put him at ease, to show that I held no ill feelings towards him, but his body language told me he was still wary. "You're not eating?" he questioned, "It's getting cold,"

I picked up my chopsticks, "Itadakimasu,"

"Um… itadakimasu,"

As I slowly ate my noodles I fought to keep myself from asking him questions about Kagome's life in… now what was it called again? Right, the Sengoku era. She would often dodge questions we had about it, preferring that we stay oblivious to her doings there and satisfying our curiousity with heavily edited versions. Kagome was trying to protect us, but I was her mother and I should be the one trying to protect her. Instead, I stay at home and do what I can to make it easier for her. "Oi," Inuyasha interrupted my thoughts, "You're not going to ask me why I'm here?"

A habit I've picked up lately. Don't ask questions that you might not want to hear answers to. Everytime Kagome came back with one more bloodied set of clothes I'd clean them without inquiries. I'd buy new first-aid supplies for her without asking why they had been depleted so quickly. When she came home exhausted, weakened, and upset I said nothing about it. Kagome wanted to be normal while she was at home. She wanted to feel as if nothing was wrong, as if her life wasn't constantly in danger, as if she was just returning from vacation or a part-time job. It's the only thing I could do for her to not ask questions. I knew Kagome would tell me about it when she's ready to, but only when she's ready. "I won't ask if you don't want to explain," I said pleasantly, "You've kept my daughter alive so far. I trust you."

He made a soft grunting noise, "But you wanna know why I'm here, don't ya?"

"Alright then," I could tell he wanted to explain himself, "Why are you here?"

Tugging at the prayer beads around his neck, he gave me a meaningful look. "I'm bound to Kagome by these dratted beads that Kaede-baba stuck on me,"

Obviously this was supposed to mean something to me. I offered him an understanding smile which he took for pity immediately. "Don't get emotional on me! It ain't that bad…" he trailed off, "Anyway since I was stuck with Kagome I figured we might as well search for the Shikon shards together. And then I found out that I couldn't find the damn shards without Kagome detecting them,"

So that's why Kagome would come home at such random times, eyes blazing with anger and the "don't-you-ask-me-what's-wrong-I'm-just-fine-so-leave-me-alone!" look on her face. Inuyasha had probably referred to her as some sort of shard detector and knowing Kagome she would have taken offense. "I see, but that doesn't explain why you're here," I paused and tapped my finger against my cheek, "Unless I've missed the point,"

"I'm not done yet!" his voice held an umistakable whine, "So will you just shut up and let me finish?"

"Hai hai," I pushed away my tea cup and my bowl, "Continue on, if you please,"

"Feh! If you don't want to listen you don't have to force yourself to!" he pushed his chair away with a clatter, "It's too stuffy in here anyway!" With an effortless leap he was through the hole in the ceiling.

There's no question about it, he's a fiesty one. Those ears of his gave him a deceptively gentle look, although I had no doubt that he could be gentle. I quickly moved all the dirty dishes to the sink and wiped the table clean before running upstairs after the dog-boy. Cleanliness and the happiness of my family ranked first in my life; not necessarily in that order of course.

Scrape, shuffle, SLAM!

Oh dear, Inuyasha had become impatient and had moved to the rooftop now. It'd been years since I've been on that roof, but I can't leave him out there for the night…

I entered Kagome's room as quietly as I could, inching past the hole, and slid open the window. "You can do this," I encouraged myself, "No problem…" I took in a deep breath and slid the upper half of my body through the window. Grabbing hold of the top of the window for stability I twisted my body around and carefully managed to stand up on the window skill. Shakily, I reached upwards for the edge of the roof and attempted to haul myself upwards. Scrape, shuffle, scrape. Inuyasha glared down at me as attempted to heave myself over the edge. "Oi, what're you doing?"

"Coming up to sit and talk with you," I gasped out, struggling to get my legs over the side.

With a bored expression he grasped my wrist and pulled me over the side. "You're here, so talk,"

I wrapped my arms around my knees and gazed up at the stars, aware that Inuyasha was giving me a peevish look. "Well, aren't you going to continue telling me why you're here?" I queried softly, my gaze never leaving the soft glow of the moon.

"Heh, you sure you wanna waste your time listening to me?"

"Kagome's my daughter. Anything that concerns her and her friends is worth my time, don't you think? Anyway, it seems like you need to get something off your chest,"

Silence. Inuyasha clutched at the battered, age-worn handle of what I presumed to be a sword, it's sheath  in the same condition. His nose wrinkled a bit as he inhaled the night air through his sensitive nose and he used his free hand to finger the prayer beads encircling his neck. A blue spark crackled around the beads as he touched them but there was no change of expression in his face as they stabbed viciously at his fingers. I couldn't help wincing in sympathy, and when he noticed his manner turned to that of exasperation. "Stop making that face! It doesn't hurt anymore. Geez, are all women this squeamish?"

Behind the mask of annoyance there was just a hint of concern. Hidden in the gruffness of his voice was a gentle note. Disguised beneath the glower of his eyes was an understanding heart.

Why did he insist on hiding his emotions like that? I yearned to ask him, but I didn't think he'd respond well to my question. When I flinched again at the sparks he let go of the prayer beads, his demeanor once again calm and reflective. "They're a curse and a blessing,"

It took me a few minutes to realize the comment was directed at me. "Pardon?"

A grumble. He rolled his eyes, no doubt something he had picked up from my daughter, and dropped his chin into his hand, "Keep up, will ya? The beads, they're a curse and a blessing," Before I could ask why he continued on, "Kaede-baba stuck them on me and now everytime Kagome says… says that word it pulls me down. She also has control over me. And I can't take the stupid thing off, it has to be a miko who does it. But without them I never would've stuck by Kagome,"

"Are you happy about that?"

He shot me a look of warning, "Tell this to anyone and I swear I'll hurt you!"

"Mm-hm," I waved aside the empty threat. I doubt he'd ever purposely hurt a human.

"I have fun with Kagome. I feel happier around her, more carefree. Her presence, they say it makes me gentler and I always become more powerful when she's in danger. I care about her well-being, I care about her…" a darkness fluttered across his features, "I don't care what Miroku, Sango, and Shippo say, I'm not leading her on!"

Inuyasha sounded as if he was trying to convince himself as well, but his tone was genuine at the least. Still, he spoke about it as if it were a much-debated subject, as if his companions harped him about it everyday. "Why would you be leading her on?" I questioned. There seemed to be a lot of details I was unaware of.

"There's someone else," he sounded absolutely miserable, "Someone I owe my life to. I pledged my protection to her, I promised to follow her to hell…"

Shivers travelled up my spine as he mentioned the other world. The world where poor souls were stuck forever, writhing in pain, having no choice but to wallow in their self-pity and suffer the torture heaped upon them. "It doesn't sound as if she's very stable," my policy was always to be open-minded and make judgements only after you had heard everything from all different angles. This other girl most likely had issues and her very soul was at risk. "I can see why you want to help her. It's like pulling someone back from the cliff of the edge, ne? Saving their soul,"

Silence.

Had I said the wrong thing? And I had meant my words to be reassuring to him. I racked my brains for the right thing to say to smooth over the situation. "I-I…"

"It's not like that," he cut me off, "Kikyo's not like that! She's not cruel, and she's not evil! She was kind to me, she talked to me, treated me as if I was special. Kikyo was the first person who didn't discriminate against me just because I was a lousy half-blood. She actually let herself love me!" Inuyasha turned his blazing eyes on me and I cowered beneath his fiery gaze. "Everyone's so damn hard on Kikyo! They don't know her like I do! They don't understand her like I do!"

His torrent of defense for Kikyo bombarded my already bewildered mind. I knew nothing of the situation, neither did I know this "Kikyo", and still Inuyasha seemed to think I had formed an ill-opinion against her. "You're… you're very loyal," I finally spoke, "This Kikyo is very lucky to have you,"

I could feel his anger fading, and his expression was almost apologetic. Almost.

"She doesn't want me. She pushes me away, she sabotages our mission, she tries to kill Kagome!" I barely concealed a gasp at this statement, "But I can't hate her. I can't stop thinking about her, I can't stop loving her, and I ain't gonna desert her. Our fates are… they're intertwined. She's suffered so much already, and if my being there is going to comfort her I'll be there,"

I wanted to be a confidante to him, I wanted to let him pour his troubled thoughts out, but as a mother I had to be selfish. "She wants to kill Kagome… why?"

A frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he regarded me with disbelief, "What? Did Kagome tell you nothing about what's going on?!"

I explained to him her reasons for not telling and my reasons for not asking. It was obvious Inuyasha thought the situation was ridiculous but he bit his tongue, something that probably wasn't characteristic to his nature. "Well, why is Kikyo trying to kill my daughter?"

The answer he gave me was an unexpected one, "She's the reincarnation of Kikyo. Kagome has Kikyo's soul,"

Kagome's soul was not her own? "So Kikyo wants her soul back," I pondered aloud, "and in order to do that she needs to kill Kagome?"

Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably and his eyes refused to focus on me. "Yeah…" he said the simple word slowly.

It struck me then that Inuyasha's mother was most likely no longer living in his world. He would've known, like any child, that a mother would never fall for his lie. But he was trying to protect me from some unknown knowledge, so I let him think he had done so. Disquiet had settled in my heart for real now that I knew someone was targetting my daughter, but Inuyasha would protect her. Wouldn't he?

A memory rose unbidden into my mind; the day I had found Kagome crying in front of the Sacred Tree. I had been shopping for groceries and safety supplies to replenish Kagome's stock and had found her staring at the tree, her eyes moist and her fist clenched. I hadn't known what to do. Asking her what was wrong went against my policy. When I had prevented my father and Sota from doing so I also gave up my right to ask her. "Kagome-chan?" I had said her name, just enough to attract her attention. Then I had dropped my bags as Kagome came running to me, crying. Crying as if there was a pain inside of her that she never expected to be fixed. Sitting underneath the old tree I told Kagome how her father had proposed to me underneath it, how it had calmed me enough to put aside the anger and accept. She had returned to the Sengoku era that afternoon.

Giving me a curious look, Inuyasha inched towards me, "What're you thinking?"

"Can you tell me why I found Kagome crying in front of that old tree?" I pointed to it.

Hands clutched at the prayer beads and I forced myself to watch the sparks attacking them. "S-she cried? I didn't…" he trailed off and lowered his head to hide his face from view.

There was no way I was going to let the question go unanswered. I leaned forward and took a firm hold of his chin, turning his face towards me. A low growl emitted from his throat but he didn't  resist and he didn't try to disguise the guilt and regret that filled his eyes. "You didn't what?" I kept my tone gentle, but his ears flattened against his head as if I had rebuked him harshly.

"Didn't mean to break her heart," he mumbled.

My suspicions were confirmed; Kagome loved Inuyasha. She had cried because he had chosen another, but she had accepted it. She loved him, nothing could change that. Pride in my daughter and her strength welled up inside of me and I allowed myself a smile. "Don't you worry about Kagome, she's a strong girl. She can take care of herself,"

Inuyasha's ears perked up in surprise. He had been waiting for a scolding, an outburst of anger. "You're not mad?"

"I'll leave that to Kagome," I answered cruelly, and his ears drooped again. "You're entirely too gullible," I informed him with a cheerful smile, "If Kagome was still angry with you would she still go through the well to help you and your friends?"

My comment pulled him out of his deep funk and he grumbled at being tricked, "Say what you mean then! I don't have time to sit and decipher everything you say!"

"You're right. So, you never answered why you're here," I reminded him.

His emotional outpour was over for the night and he was irritable again, "Why d'you think I'm here? To drag Kagome back in the morning, otherwise she'll go have one of her 'tests'!"

I glanced at the watch strapped on my wrist and yawned when I noticed the time. "Well, I should really be off to bed. Feel free to come inside and make yourself comfortable on the couch if you want. Oh, and promise me something?"

"What? I don't do favours,"

I carefully lowered myself from the roof onto Kagome's window sill and slid in with a contented sigh. Inuyasha followed after me, "Well? What do you want? You hafta tell me so I can decide whether to agree! Well? Well?"

"Keep Kagome safe, please? And if anything ever… if something happens to her could you come and tell us?"

"O-Of course…"

I smiled my thanks to him and paused outside the doorway.

"I promised to protect you too," his voice was soft as he spoke to Kagome's sleeping form, "I'll protect you as long as I can…"

No, he'll protect her much longer. I know Kagome, and I know she won't let him go to hell. Never.

~~~

**Author's Notes**

The title: I honestly couldn't think of one that would really fit. I took the title from Mrs. Higurashi's line of "Can you tell me why I found Kagome crying in front of the Sacred Tree" in the fic. The entire fic is basically Inuyasha divulging various things to Mrs. Higurashi, so I thought, why not?