Mulatto Moonchild
At three years old, Inuyasha looked up as his mother walked in the door. Pulling away from the fat neighbor lady, all he saw was Mother, warm arms hugging him, smile on her lips. She was comfort; she was warmpth; she was love. She was home.
At six, he saw more- the tiredness in her eyes, the wearyness of her body. He climbed into her lap and snuggled against her, babbling on to cheer her up as Mrs. Mariko from next door went back to her childless apartment.
"Mommy, mommy, I made a new friend today!" he exclaimed, excitedly
"Did you, dear?" He sensed the distracted manner with which she ruffled his hair, eyes closed, enjoying the chance to rest her aching feet. So he tried harder to get her attention.
"His name's Sessy-sama." At this, her eyes snapped open.
"Sama? Not kun?" A note of anxiety in her voice
"He said 'call me Sess-sama.'" declared Inu, glad of her attention. She turned him around, looking into his young amber eyes.
"Inuyasha, I want you to know something. You are every bit as good as anyone else alive, and I don't want you to EVER let ANYONE look down on you."
He didn't understand it them; he had led a sheltered life until the day the white-haired 9-year-old lept into his backyard. Well, technically not HIS backyard- the common area behind the shabby, run-down apartment complex. "For Humans" read the sign out front- "Suitable only for rats" was what it meant. But this was his home, his haven; here he stayed all day, hidden from the prying eyes of the world, while his mother revelled in the emancipation her grandfather had faught and died to obtain by working as a servant to clean a Youkai's house. Not that he understood this; at least, not at six.
And Sessy had this air of cold indifference that Inu strove to emulate. He was a hero to youn Inuyasha, someone to be admired. Inuyasha felt honored to give him his precious toy plane; he later never questioned being asked to steal for his "best friend". At nine, he was deemed old enough to stay home alone, and 12 year old Sessy-sama taught him how to steal, a little of how to fight, how to walk tough, how to look innocent. One day, though, he dared to ask why his friend could never "play" before 3:15 every afternoon. The older boy regarded him with a cold smirk.
"Because I go to school, something a dirty halfbreed like you would never understand. And if you insist on behaving like an ignorant pinky, you should show more respect and call me Sesshomaru-sama."
Hurt by the sudden coldness, he had asked his mother about it later that night. "Mommy? Why does Sesshomaru-sama get to go to school and I don't?"
His mother sighed, sadly. "...In-chan... when you go out and about with Sessy, have you looked closely at the people? Did you notice that there's two kinds?"
"..um... tall ones and short ones?"
"No... here, come look out the window with me. See that woman? See how her ears are pointed? Now look at my ears. See how round they are? She's a Youkai, and I'm a Human. Youkai... they don't live like us. They have real houses, big ones with soft carpets and fluffy matresses. They get good jobs with lots of money, and their kids go to good schools."
"..But...why?"
His mother took a deep breath. "I don't know, honey. You're... you're better than any of them... but that's just how it is."
"But my ears arn't pointed OR round. Mine are puppy ears."
"That's because you're a mulatto, a mix. All the best of both- Youkai strength and a Human heart."
"... a dirty halfbreed."
She looked at him sharply, turning from the window. "Don't EVER let me catch you saying that again!You're beautiful and perfect. My little In-chan." Her gaze softened, and he saw her, REALLY saw her, for the first time. How weak she was, how frail. How broken her spirit was. He could imagine her loving a youkai- not sex, that was unfathomable to his young mind, that his mother could have had sex- but love, tenderness. A strong man, a youkai, and tender young Mother, as a maiden, trembling before him, comforted by his warm, reassuring embrace. Her so soft, weak, and him so strong, gentle. Yes, it was easy to see her falling for him... but why would a Youkai, one who has it SO good, lower himself to her level?
"...Why don't I have a father?"
The sharp intake of breath, the way she closed her large eyes, these he was acutely aware of. Silence fell. Each tic of the small, cheap wall clock was a lash on his young soul. Just when he thought he couldn't bear another second of it, when he was about to blurt out, mother, I'm sorry, forgive me... she spoke.
"Would you like to meet your father someday?"
"Yes!" A father! What a wonderful concept! To Inuyasha's little fatherless brain, he was Zeus, Jesus, and Shoeless Joe Jackson all in one. His mother nodded slowly.
"I'm sending you to school starting tomorrow. If you're a good boy and study hard, make yourself worthy of his attention... I'll try to get him to notice you."
"..but who IS my father?"
"...Inuhoshi Inutaisho-sama. A very powerful youkai buisnessman..."
"...Inuhoshi?" Inu whispered, not daring to listen to the rest his mother had to say. Inuhoshi.. he knew that surname. In his mind he saw the superior smirk of his "best friend"... Inuhoshi Sesshomaru.