Mothers and Sons

The moon rose slowly over Tokyo. Kazuto watched the stars emerge, barely visible, over the neon lights of the city. From his vantage point at the top of his high-rise apartment building, he could see for miles. A million sounds reached his ear, a million smells drifted past his nose. He'd learned to ignore the constant barrage of sensations, living in such a large city.

He brought a forbidden cigarette to his lips, scolding himself for the renewal of a habit he'd dumped years ago. He exhaled in a puff of smoke, enjoying the feel of it, reveling in the subtle guilt. It reminded him of his mother. Not that she was into guilt. It was more the idea of knowing what she would think about what he was doing. It made her feel closer to him, and he missed her very much.

He hadn't seen her in several years.

He hadn't seen any of his family in years.

Kazuto Higurashi sighed, and stubbed the cigarette out under his boot.

"You know, those things will kill you." Came a voice from behind him. He noted the scent before turning around, but he couldn't stop his single cat ear from swiveling towards her.

"Go home, Chiyo." He said, suddenly feeling exhausted. It was an effort to keep it out of his voice.

"Shut up Kaz." Chiyo snapped, and leapt to land lightly next to him, perched as delicately as a cat, even though she was a dog hanyou. Kazuto stole a glance at her, trying not to turn his head or show interest.

She was taller than he remembered, but still graceful and elegant. Her long silver hair shone in the moonlight, and the single magenta stripe of her cheek told him she had eschewed her concealment spell as he had. He glanced up at her two, perfect, downy silver dog ears peeking out through her hair. He felt the stump of his missing ear sting, and his remaining ear flattened against his head as if self-conscious. He never could quite control it.

Deep amber eyes met his, catching him in his perusal.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it buddy?" She said, quirking an eyebrow and looking a lot like her father. Kazuto just pulled another cigarette out of the pack in his jacket and lit it with his last match. He turned away from her, but he could feel her breath on him as she sighed. She smelled faintly of vanilla, as she always did. Her scent made his chest constrict a little bit.

"Don't call me that," He said finally, the silence too much for him. Chiyo could sit through a silence for ages, but it unnerved him to know she was waiting for him to speak and could wait all night if need be. Seeing as how she had inherited her father's acid-related abilities, it wouldn't be wise of him to try to make her leave by force.

"Kazuto, then," Chiyo said. "I came to bring you home."

"You know I'm not going home," Kazuto said flatly.

"You might want to rethink this feud of yours," Chiyo said, "At least for your mom."

"Look, we've been over this before. It's been years. Why show up now?" Kazuto said, starting to feel irritated. Her scent was unusually strong. Maybe she was just sitting closer to him than she'd done before. But it was distracting him from his cigarette and he wanted her to leave.

"Listen Kaz, your mom...she's pregnant."

Kazuto felt his stomach drop a little bit in panic.

"Again?" He asked, trying to sound like he didn't care.

"Yes, and she wants to see you. She's afraid….well you remember how the last one went."

"Yes I do." Kazuto had tried hard to forget.

"She wants to see you, to be with you in case...in case it goes like that again. In case it's worse."

"You mean in case she dies?"

"Yes."

Kazuto swore, wishing Chiyo had never showed up with her scent and her hair and her bad tidings.

"Kaz," Chiyo said, her voice soft, "I miss you."

Kazuto contemplated the moon. It seemed to him that if he opened his mouth a whole lot of words might fall out, words he didn't want to say. He heard the rustle of her clothes, felt her hair brush against his arm as she stood.

"Fine." She said, turning her back on him to go.

Before she got very far, Kazuto's hand shot out and grasped her silky silver tail, the unique hanyou trait she'd hidden as a child. She used to squeak and squeal in shock whenever he tweaked her tail playfully when they were younger. Now only her sharp indrawn breath revealed that she'd felt anything at all. She didn't even turn around.

"I'll come," Kazuto said, standing up and dropping his cigarette butt. It had been long enough. If she needed him, he would come. In spite of all he'd been through, he'd never stopped loving Kagome Higurashi.