A/N: HI everyone! I decided that since I already had the chapter written, I would just go ahead and update. Here's chapter 2! Hope you like!
Oh! and thank you kittykritik for the encouraging review! ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Thank you Rumiko Takahashi for blessing the world with his presence.
Chapter 2
Twirling the wooden pencil around my thumb, I stared distractedly out the second story window. Usually I at least tried to pay attention to the monotonous female professor standing at the head of the classroom, but today my attention was caught elsewhere. Sighing for the fiftieth time this hour, I glanced again at the slow moving clock silently begging it to move faster. This class ended at four thirty, and it was right now four twenty-six. Rolling my eyes, I turned back to the window and continued to blankly stare out at the grassy, sunlit lawns below.
Lost in thought, I heard my teacher close her textbook with a slam, and push back her chair to stand. Suddenly rejuvenated, I returned my hopeful gaze to the front of the room. "I suppose that is enough for today." she stated calmly. I quickly stood, eager to leave as she continued, "Homework is to study for the final. Enjoy your weekend."
I raced to the door, and managed to slip out in between a few of my fellow classmates. I was finally free of this god-forsaken place for a whole two days! In my frantic rush down the stairs, I almost missed a sudden tugging on my sleeve. "Dude, what's the rush?" a fellow track club member asked.
A little annoyed at being halted, I allowed myself to stop for a moment to talk to him, "Nothin' really. I'm just itching to get out of this place."
He smirked widely and matched my pace to walk with me down to the main floor. "I gotcha. Since we're done with track practice for the year, Me and some of the guys were talking about going out later. You want to come with us this time?" he asked politely.
"Well, I-" I began before I was interrupted.
"You have got to take a break sometime, man. You're in college. These are supposed to be the best years of your fuckin' life!" he spoke animatedly. He made room for a dark haired girl to pass in the narrow hallway, and couldn't seem to help the lecherous grin that spread across his face as he turned to watch her curvy form walking in the opposite direction. "Not to mention all the female attention we would attract with your exotic looks," he finished giving me a sideways grin.
I snorted at his less than honorable behavior and shook my head. His actions reminded me all too well of a certain smooth-talking monk. "Nah, man. I'm just gonna get a head start on next week's finals," I said as I turned away and continued down the long corridor.
Stopping in the middle of the hallway, he smirked as he slowly began to walk backwards in the direction of the young woman he had just been ogling. "Try not to make your brain explode, Taisho. Coach would not be happy if his star athlete didn't return next season," he shouted, failing to notice the frowns of many students whose hearing he likely just damaged.
"I'll try not to," I smirked back at him. Pushing the metal door open, I stepped out into the bright sunlight of the courtyard beyond. I didn't have to look around to notice there were humans mingling together everywhere on the university grounds. Being the last Friday of the term, most of them were planning a fun night out with their friends, or crashing one of the greek parties.
I heard a few guys call out to me, and I threw them a small wave in reply. I didn't feel like wasting any more time chatting with friends, so I quickened my pace in an attempt to avoid them. Plunging into the mass of people walking down the modern day streets of Tokyo, I soon became lost in the crowd.
I didn't have to walk far before I reached the subway platform that would take me home. Quickly scanning my subway pass, I pushed my way onto the overcrowded underground train. Being the early evening hours, there were hardly any seats available, so I grabbed onto one of the hanging hand-holds and cringed as I felt the car begin to move.
Even though I had been using these modern modes of transportation for years now, they still had a way of making me nervous. With the thumb of my free hand, I began to fiddle with the metal band that was tightly wrapped around my middle finger. The ring was a necessity in this time period. I rarely took it off anymore, content to just deal with the dulled senses that came along with it.
I grit my teeth as the underground train came to a stop in front of my stop. As I let go of the handhold, I unconsciously reached a hand up and flicked my silver bangs out of my eyes. As the next mob of people moved quickly to board, I walked up the staircase, back onto the street and the sunlight. From here it was just a few minutes walk to the shrine, so I tightened my grip on my book bag and started jogging the rest of the way home.
Grinning when I reached the hundred steps up to the shrine, I took them two at a time, barely able to contain my excitement. Upon reaching the top, I closed my indigo eyes and took a moment to enjoy the light cross breeze that stirred the leaves of the trees. This place was the one place in all of modern Tokyo that I felt any semblance of peace. Ironic considering it was the only thing still standing from the world I once knew. I could hear Jii-chan sweeping the pavement not far ahead of me.
"You made it back just in time!" he shouted while waving to me from across the grounds. "That boy was driving us up the wall asking for his presents."
"I hope you all decided to wait on me!" I teased back at the old man with fake irritation lacing my words.
"Of course we did! You are one of the family after all," the old man huffed indignantly.
Chuckling to myself, I took the straw broom from the aged priest, and ushered him inside our home. Before the door could even close behind me, all of my breath leave my mouth in a 'whoosh' of air as I was tackled by the body of an almost teenage boy. I threw my book bag down, and wrestled the youth to the ground. The boy was laughing uncontrollably as I easily pinned him to the carpet. Continuing to shove his face into the ground, I smirked at his muffled pleas, "Ok, ok - haha - Inuyasha! Stop! Uncle! Uncle!"
Glancing up, I saw Mrs. H standing close by smiling that bright smile of hers that has long since stopped paining me with its striking similarity to another's. Smiling up at her I asked, "Are you sure you don't want to give him his birthday 'love-pats' while I got him down?"
Immediately the boy began to squirm, struggling to escape from the death grip I had on him. Chuckling to myself, I let him go before he decided to start whining. Standing, I picked up my bag as Mrs. Higurashi said, "Welcome home, dear. Supper will be ready in about an hour, and then we're going to let him open his presents."
"But Mom I don't know if I can wait that long," Souta pleaded rather loudly.
"You've waited all day. It won't hurt you to wait another hour," she said lovingly. She turned, and walked back into the kitchen, no doubt to finish cooking the boy's birthday dinner.
I moved up the stairs to my room with Souta following at my heels. "Please let me open my birthday present, Inuyasha. PLEASE!" he tried to persuade, but I shook my head vehemently in response. I opened the door to my room and set my book bag down beside my desk.
Slumping into my desk chair, I swiveled around to face the overeager young man. "You know whining isn't gonna get you anywhere with me. If you keep it up I'll just keep your present for myself," I teased with a wide grin stretching across my face.
Horrorstruck, he whispered breathlessly, "You wouldn't…"
I leaned forward, and smirked, "Try me…"
Without a word the boy took off out of my room and back down the stairs to bother someone else. Sighing softly to myself, I leaned back in the chair, content to slump comfortably with my eyes closed. Unconsciously, I began to twist the silver ring around and around my middle finger. It had become a nervous habit of mine.
In a feeble attempt to unwind from the stress of today, I leaned back even further in the chair and propped my feet up on top of the desk. I lost myself in the memory of when Mrs. H had given the strange ring to me… It was a few months after I had been stranded here. I was at the kitchen table attempting to figure out geometry, when she pulled out a chair, and sat down with me. She told me she had a surprise for me and asked me to close my eyes. I felt her grab my clawed hand and slip something onto my finger. Without warning my superior hanyou senses just vanished. To say that I freaked out would probably be an understatement.
Once she had me calmed down again, I learned that it was this ring that was hiding my demon-like senses along with a few of my more noticeable features. She claimed that she had found it in the shrine storehouse with the many other ancient relics. I still don't know how she managed to find something so valuable in all of that junk, but I'm just grateful that she did. It's because of this ring that I am able to go about daily life in this time as a human, rather than a monster.
Without leaning forward, I put my feet back on the floor and slipped off my shoes, wiggling my toes to relieve them of their stiffness. Opening my eyes, I looked over at the reflection of myself lounging comfortably in the long rectangular mirror. Deep violet eyes stared back at me, blinking occasionally. My once long silver hair was cropped short in the style that most guys wear their hair today. I had become used to seeing myself without any claws or fangs, or the triangular ears that had once adorned the top of my head. It was strange to think that this person had not always existed. I never would have expected myself to be capable of changing so drastically in such a short amount of time.
Sitting up straight, I slipped the small ring off my finger and watched my appearance blur in the mirror. Within a second it cleared, and I immediately felt an overload of sounds and smells as my hanyou senses kicked back in. Unnatural golden eyes now blinked back at me… frightening claws that could rip through steel sat calmly in my lap… dog ears that would make any person from today run away screaming, swiveled on top of my head… This is who I really am… a deformed creature of the night… I was blight upon the face of the earth.
In a matter of seconds, I began to feel the familiar aching in my chest that always accompanied me when the ring was off my finger. I glared at my own reflection, disgusted with the beast that was staring back at me. How could someone who was supposed to be so strong fuck things up so badly? How could I have left her behind like that? How could I have let her die?
Lost in the past, I couldn't stop myself before my mind soon shifted to another memory. In a rush of images that came too fast for me to control, I saw her… That beautiful smile-her lilting joyous laugh-her wide eyes screaming of fear-her twisted body lying in pain… I saw myself from all that time ago, frantically ripping the dirt from the bottom of the well. Seeing my new family shattered on the floor crying for the loving young girl they would never see again. Sitting in the Sacred tree with blood seeping through my clenched fists as I unsuccessfully tried to stop the infinite number of tears from streaming down my face.
I shook my head roughly ridding myself of those painful memories that I had tried so hard to bury away. Growling with self-hatred, I turned away from the repulsive image in the mirror. I jammed the small ring back in its place on my finger, and tried to force myself to forget the past. Running my dulled fingers through my short silver locks, I fought with myself to hold back the tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks. I had failed her… I had promised to protect her from the world and I had let her down.
Clearing my throat, I lifted my gaze to the ceiling, pushing back the tears. Reaching down, I took one of the books from my bag, and started flipping through the chapters. In this era, it was easy to find something to distract myself from the pain.
Having become lost in study, I didn't hear my bedroom door creak open, or the soft footfalls sneaking across the carpet. Souta snapped me out of my studies by slamming his hands down on my hunched shoulders. I jumped in surprise, and turned just in time to see the young boy running out the doorway. I jumped to my feet and took off down the stairs after him.
Slowing as I entered the kitchen, I found him sitting at his seat with an innocent smile plastered on his face. Smirking at him from the kitchen doorway, I said, "I'll let it go this time kid, but only because its your birthday."
"Alright, boys. I don't want to hear any bickering from the two of you tonight," Mrs. H said bringing over the feast that she had prepared for the special occasion. "Why don't the two of you go wash your hands and then we will eat."
Sighing, we both went over to the kitchen sink, and did as she asked. Jii-chan ambled into the kitchen and took his turn at the sink after us. When everyone was seated at the table, we began to eat.
Souta regaled us with the story of how his day at school went. Being one of the youngest in his year, the other boys had 'congratulated' him on finally turning twelve by pressuring him to talk to the girl that he likes. I teased him by asking if he planned on kissing her anytime soon, only to receive an appalled look from the almost teen. He blushed as red as a tomato, and quickly changed the subject to how well he did on a recent exam.
The rest of us ate in relative silence, content to just listen to the innocent rambling of one so young. He could hardly contain himself when I helped Mrs. H clear away the plates, and Jii-chan snuck off only to return with an armful of presents. The boy was a Class-A snoop, so the gifts had to remain hidden in an undisclosed location until now.
Returning to my seat, I couldn't help but smile as Souta was bouncing in his seat with unrestricted joy shining on his face. His mother beautifully began to sing as she turned from the counter carefully, heavy with the burden of the boy's birthday cake. Jii-chan and I tone-deafly joined in, watching the woman gently set the cake down and slide it closer to the gleeful young man.
"Happy birthday dear, Souta… Happy birthday to you…" we finished as Souta took a deep breath, and blew out all twelve of the flickering candles. With his bight eyes shining, he looked up to the rest of us, clearly happy with the grand conclusion to his already wonderful day. Mrs. Higurashi began to slice evenly into the chocolate cake, as the young man's eyes wandered hungrily to the stack of presents seated beside him.
"Go ahead," his mother smiled softly.
"Yes!" he screamed to no one in particular. Digging through his few gifts, he took out the largest one from his mother whose box was sized suspiciously like that new gaming system he had asked for. Scrambling like mad, he tore the paper off, and looked as if he had died and gone to heaven when he saw that the logo on the side of the box was indeed what he had wanted. I tried to hold in my laughter as he ripped the cardboard apart probably to snuggle with his new found best friend, and found instead a new pair of sneakers.
Looking as if the world had just crashed down all around him, he turned his gaze to his mother in complete and utter shock. I began to laugh even harder, when he then turned his astonishment onto me. Snickering I said, "Happy birthday! You don't like your new shoes?" I could hear his mother giggling softly to herself, she too had been in on the prank.
"Inuyasha-" the boy began with murderous intent in his eyes.
"Don't worry," I said placidly, "It's been hiding in my closet. I'll help you hook it up when you've finished opening your presents."
He still didn't look pacified, but moved on to the next gift from his mother which managed to bring the smile back to his young face. Watching the youth jump around in happiness, I took the small piece of cake that Mrs. H offered to me. Re-joining the rest of us at the table, the young boy's mother smiled softly at her son's antics.
I sat back for a moment to take it all in. Three generations of a family all gathered around this small table to celebrate life. Words couldn't express just how much these people had done for me; just how much I had grown and matured in the past three years thanks to them. They knew the things that I had done… that I was the reason they had lost yet another loved one. And in spite of that, they accepted me and cared for me without a hint of loathing or regret.
We all knew, but chose to ignore, the ever present awareness that someone was missing from this falsely created world.