A girl runs through the forest. Her short brown hair flows behind her against the wind.
"Inuyasha!"
She cries at the top of her lungs. The girl picks up her pace, trying to catch up to the man who is yards away. Inuyasha went off to gather firewood for the upcoming cold night.
The man, Inuyasha, hears his name and turns to face the person who is calling him. He sees who it is and smiles. Laughing at her childish antics. Inuyasha stands with the wood in his arms and begins to walk towards the girl, meeting her halfway.
"Izumi, what is it?"
He asks with a hint of worry underlining his tone. Izumi pulls him into an embrace. It's a bit awkward since Inuyasha is holding an armful of pointy pieces of wood,
"Look at what I've found"
She exclaims after she releases her arms from his torso. Izumi stretches out her hand and shows him a beautiful blue and black butterfly,
"Isn't it pretty Inuyasha?"
She says while looking up at him with her mismatched eyes. One is an ocean blue while the other is a forest green. For a human, this is quite uncommon.
Inuyasha leans in and lightly touches his nose to hers. Brushing it ever so slightly,
"Yes it is. However it will never compare to the beauty that is in front of me"
He leans in even closer and lays a chaste kiss upon Izumi's smiling lips. Once Inuyasha pulls away Izumi lets out a small giggle.
"Oh, Inuyasha"
The girl failed to notice that while she had kissed Inuyasha the beautiful butterfly had flown away, not that she cared at this particular moment.
"When will we arrive at your home village?"
"Tomorrow probably. I hope they take us in. I would do anything to just lead a simple life now that Naraku's dead"
He takes her small hand into his larger, calloused, one and leads her back to their campsite. The sun falls over the horizon and Inuyasha and Izumi are sitting closely together, looking into the fire.
"Tell me the story again"
Izumi whispers,
"Again? Izumi I've told you the story over fifteen times now"
He mumbles. Kissing the top of her head while breathing in her floral scent. Izumi sighs,
"Yes again, I like hearing it"
"All right, once Miroku and Sango had died at the hands of Naraku I left Shippo in the care of my home village, where he'd be safe"
Izumi interrupts,
"And Kagome? I thought you loved her?"
This question creates a frown on her face. Inuyasha chuckles,
"No, I was never truly in love with Kagome. I suppose that since she was the first person who was ever kind to me and treated me like a normal person it led me to believe that I was infatuated with her"
He pauses and looks to Izumi,
"Back to the story,"
He mumbles,
"I also left Kagome in the village. Before I left I told her how I felt about her, in the nonromantic sense"
"What about Kikyo?"
Izumi interrupts once more. Inuyasha tightens his embrace on her and reassures her,
"Kikyo died a long time ago. She only loved me because I was different. She treated me like a charity case that could defend the village. I was a fool to think I actually loved her"
Izumi cups his cheek in reassurance. He's been through so much, she thinks; I hope he realizes my love for him is true.
"I'm sorry for bringing it up Inuyasha, please continue"
Inuyasha nods and smiles to her,
"Once I left them I went in search of Naraku. As soon as I found him we began to fight. It wasn't easy, hell it nearly killed me, but I was able to finally defeat him"
"And then?"
He looks to her, puzzled. Then it finally clicks,
"Then I met you and lived happily ever after"
She smiles to him and kisses his cheek.
"Then what…" Izumi asked on.
Izumi looks to the night sky. A smile plastered onto her face. She yawns and Inuyasha brings her closer so she doesn't become cold. It doesn't take long for her to fall asleep. Inuyasha smiles lovingly and whispers into her ear,
"Sweet dreams, my love"
000
The lovers stand on top of a hill. Looking down to the village below,
"Here we are Izumi"
"I'm so excited Inuyasha!"
She exclaims with honesty saturating in her voice. Izumi lets go of Inuyasha's hand and begins to run down the hill into the village.
"Izumi! Don't run you'll fall!"
Even though he could easily catch up to her if need be he can't help but think what he would do if he lost her. To him that would be unbearable. He runs after her and hears her yell,
"Come on Inuyasha! We're almost there!"
She stops at the base of the hill and waits for Inuyasha to catch up, which didn't take too long. Once he is next to her he wraps his arms around his waist. This was mainly to ensure she wouldn't go running off again.
They make their way into the village. People begin to stare at them like they've seen a couple of ghosts. All of a sudden an arrow stops them in their path. Izumi lets out a screech of fright while Inuyasha crouches into a defense position.
"What the hell was that for?"
Inuyasha screams to the man who shot the arrow. Mutterings began to be voiced throughout the villagers. From what they could hear it sounds like they are whispering Inuyasha's name. An old woman appears from the crowd.
"Hello Inuyasha, pretty bold of yourself to show up here again"
She states.
"Kaede, what are you talking about?"
Inuyasha asks while pushing Izumi behind him for safety.
"You should have known that you wouldn't have been allowed to return here Inuyasha, not after what you did to Lady Kagome"
He glares at Kaede,
"What could I have done to her? Last time I saw her was when I left her and Shippo in this village for their own protection"
"You caused Lady Kagome's death!"
Someone from the crowd yells. Inuyasha begins to shake with anger,
"I did no such thing!"
He shouts. Kaede signals to the men to lower their weapons,
"Inuyasha, if what you say is true then I will give you a chance to prove yourself. But first, what does this woman mean to you?"
Inuyasha looks back at Izumi and squeezes her hand,
"This is the woman I love"
Kaede nods,
"Then, Inuyasha, to prove yourself you will have to leave the village for one month. In this month you lover will stay with us in the village. You two will have to part if you want to truly prove yourself"
As she says this she smirks proudly, like this is the most brilliant idea anyone has ever thought of. Inuyasha is speechless. He doesn't want to be separated from his love but he knows no other village will take them in. Izumi is too weak to live in the forest; this is their only option,
"Fine"
He says with an edge in his voice. He looks to Izumi and tries to smile. She smiles back reassuringly.
"This is fine"
She says, acting confident.
"It'll only be a month after all"
He nods and pulls her into a warm embrace. They stay like this the entire night. Remembering every detail about one another.
000
The month passes by none to quickly. Eventually, though, it does pass and Inuyasha returns to the village looking for his love. He makes his way to Kaede's hut. Knowing full well that's where she would be waiting for him.
"Oh, Inuyasha. You've returned I see"
She frowns but Inuyasha doesn't notice. He also hasn't noticed the extensive damage outside. Huts are ruined. Crops are burnt to the grown. It looks like a war has passed through here. No, Inuyasha notices none of these things. Instead he smiles and asks,
"Where is Izumi?"
Kaede sighs. She looks him in the eyes and begins to tell a story,
"Inuyasha, something happened on the night of the New Moon. Bandits took advantage of the overly darkened night and attacked. They stole our food, killed our people, and burnt our houses"
"What does this have to do with Izumi?"
He asks, though he has an idea. Inuyasha fears what he believes to be true but he asks anyway.
"Izumi was helping some villagers clean Kikyo's shrine at night. I'm sorry Inuyasha, she was one of the first to be killed"
"No"
He whispers, then falls to his knees,
"NO, NO, NO!"
He screams, tears clouding his vision. All Kaede could do is whisper apologies over and over while he cries his eyes out. Wishing with all his heart that Izumi was still alive. Even though he knew that no matter how much he cried, how much he begged, she would never be able to return to the land of the living.
End
A/N: Okay. So first off I wrote this story in like eighth grade for my friend who loved Inuyasha at the time. I decided to rewrite it because the grammar was God-awful. By the way, I know Inuyasha is out of character but like I said it was for my friend. Hope you enjoyed. Though I wouldn't blame you if you didn't.