A/N: yes, I have been spruced up with inspiration...particularly for this story!

P.S. The stone is NOT the Shikon jewel, after all it wouldn't be as fun if it was.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or it's characters. I do own Kyo Higurashi.

Eyes On Me

Chapter#3: Colorblind

It was dark by the time Kagome passed the shrine gates, Aya wasn't in today which meant she had to take over the project and spent most of the evening going over draft details. Her heels clacked and scuffed against the stone path as she continued passed the well house. The lights weren't on...she thought oddly, Kyo was bound to be up, after all it was only nine thirty. Kagome reached the house that sat darkly before her, digging in the pocket of her jacket for the keys, she unlocked the door and was greeted with a unexpected aroma. "Kyo?" Her voice read uncertainty, at the same time she was nervous, the lights weren't even on and the downstairs stunk of meat, it was strong, as if her son decoracted their entire kitchen with poultry, salami slabs stuck to the ceiling, a rope of sausages hanging like vines. She tossed her jacket on the couch and proceeded to the dinning room.

The room was in fact dark like the others. Kagome's eyes wavered over her son, he sat at the table with a plate full of medium rare steak. She raised an eyebrow when he simply looked back at her over his shoulder. "Kyo." His expression relayed that he was unaffected by her tone, and unlikely to respond. He did.

"You're home late," Kyo said dully, turning back to his meal and forking another chunk of steak. She became slightly relieved when he spoke, but there was still something resting uneasily at the pit of her stomach. Instinctively she flicked on the lights, the room instantly lit up with a warm glow. He flinched slightly, barely even. She sat down adjacent to him, observing almost fascinatingly.

"I see you managed to fend for yourself, but it is rather late...I figured you'd be starving by the time I got home." Kyo glanced at his mother as she spoke, she stared back smiling somewhat.

"Kind of, I assumed if you weren't home by seven-thirty as usual I better figure something out." His eyes were more intense than usual, deeper. The complexity of this look was strangely reminiscent, a flash of Inuyasha seared her mind.

"How did you cook that?" He was a bright boy, but she had only made steak for him a few times throughout his life, she was surprised he knew what to do with it, and completely forgotten all about having bought steak a week ago.

"The grill out back." Kyo retorted, grinning. She felt at ease and slid her hand closer to his. "What is it, mom?"

"Nothing really...I was just a little startled when I walked in." Kagome said softly, her eyes held his gaze.

"Whys that?" Kyo replied nonchalantly, finishing with one last mouth full.

"Well for starters all the lights in the house were off, what are you, some kind of vampire?" She teased, looking back at her son affectionately. Another tingle floated down her spine as his face tensed, she had expected some smart ass comment, there was none, that was her son's humor.

"No, I just think its more relaxing." Kyo replied smoothly, the chair cried dryly as he slid it back and stood. Tall and ominous, he turned his face to look down at her. "Mom..." Kagome's heart felt a light wave splash over it, a feeling of concern filled it, concern only a mother would know.

"What is it?" She questioned.

"I-" Kyo wavered. It was like a crispy old film, as if she were peering back into old memories. Everything she was seeing wasn't just inside her mind, but there with her in the room. Kagome blinked doubtfully, it was no longer her young son standing in front of her. There was no color in sight, all except those eyes...a golden unlike any other staring down at her where she sat. His long silver mane floated behind him so peacefully, she could almost smell that tranquil scent of forest as he stood so confidently, as he always did.

"Inu...yasha."

His brows furrowed, "Mother." Kagome let her eyes close slowly, she wanted to savor that last image. They fluttered open like butterflies, Kyo stood solemnly beside the table. "Are you okay?" Such a question, it was so simple, but her head had to play in over again. She frowned.

--

Something had gotten under her skin, as the night progressed she only became more distant. Immediately afterwards Kagome disappeared upstairs, he glanced up from the living room, above sat her study...he could tell that's where she had retreated to; he sensed the soft thuds as she moved around. That stone. Chills instantaneously snaked down his spine, sensing it was something he should do, Kyo let his eyelids become heavy, slowly shutting them. In some form of mind isolation he wandered back to that morning.

Was there really such a thing as hypnotism? If there in fact was, something about that rock had viced his entire body. And for the first time in his life, he didn't feel half empty. It was a comforting feeling, Kyo glanced up again. What was she doing up there, he wondered? What else was she hiding in that room?

The stone...the pictures. Kyo frowned, the way they were hidden away. His mind was trapped in a current, did the modern world possess something that seemed so surreal, celestial. When he was young he fixated himself with with the vast, vivid world of the Discovery channel. It nurtured his mind and showed him all the beauty of the world few people have seen with their own eyes, it offered everything to know about the animal kingdom, and what he found most intriguing was the earth's many paternal children, in all form, shapes and sizes. Molten crust, all kinds of rocks, igneous, sedimentary and metaphoric. There were a few specials on limestone caverns and all their glory, and the prettier more exquisite sister, geode.

Thinking back, from what he'd seen, the stone was idealistically similar to the wondrous geode. The center, both seemingly crystallized while the outside was rough and patchy. Simple enough, but at the same time it wasn't anatomically correct for something as dead as a rock to emit auras, or induce trances. Sure, curiosity killed the cat, but what about the d-- What in the hell am I thinking, it's probably just a souvenir from some vacation, or one of those wacky gifts Gramps used to give her for her birthdays. The gears in his mind churned dryly as he fidgeted on the couch.

--

"Hello Mom...How are you feeling?" Kagome's brittle nail scratched at the wooden face of the her desk. An unsettling feeling overtook the soft spot at the bottom of her belly as she waited for a low, hoarse response over the receiver.

"Better than most days, dear." They both were silent for a moment, "It's nice to hear your voice Kagome, it's been quite some time." The daughter sighed as quietly as she could, to not sound as if she had expected that comment when she knew it had been coming.

"I am sorry mom. If it wasn't inhumane I swear they'd handcuff us to our desks and never let us leave." The elder of the two cleared her throat, it was a dry tortured sound.

"I'm sure they would." Kagome would have wagered money her mother was smiling as she spoke, it just seemed natural it would be accompanied by that sunny, empathetic tone she spoke in. "Now I didn't mean to scare you off, or make you think I'm holding a grudge or anything." Forgive me...

"You have every right to," Kagome's brows drooped, her guilt was becoming a large monster more ferocious and more frightening than any she encountered in the feudal era.

"Now don't be like that. Tell me then, how have you been?" She dismissed pleasantly.

Kagome breathed in sharply, had she come so far down this path only to crumble and cave. It was ridiculous, but in that moment with her son she lost her nerve. Her head was so full of steam, it was practically spewing from each ear. She needed to vent, the only one who gave her a any form comfort or gentle guidance in the right direction was her mother. "I've been fine, trying to juggle work and an adolescent boy..." no. It was wrong to call under these circumstances... "But there's no need to worry, I've got the shrine under control, just how you would've wanted it."

"Really?" Her voice had aged since she'd been facilitated, it had been stripped of all it's vitality. Kagome acknowledged this silently, "I assumed you wouldn't have the time. You made your schedule sound rather hectic."

"Yes, I may not have the time...But a friend of mine specializes in landscaping, he does most everything for a reasonable amount. It's something I wouldn't think twice about, because I know how important the shrine was to you and Grandpa."

"I appreciate that Kagome, it puts my heart at ease." They both remained quiet, there was a rush of tranquility that lasted only a moment. "How is my buxom young grandson?"

"He's..well he's just like his father." She spoken something that seemed forbidden, but as the words slipped passed her lips the feeling evolved to something lighter and very relieving.

"Ahh, whom we are never speak of." She could practically see her mother's look of doubt transfixed with interest. "So he is quite the character then?"

"Yes...it makes me wonder, how long I can keep up these walls around him."

"You know, when he was born and you distinctively told me never to mention Inuyasha again, I was skeptical. I thought my God, what could have happened that you would keep those two apart?" She waited for the answer, it had been years, she was part of a play and had no idea of the plot.

"What I did uncomplicated things and made my son's life safer and far more normal than it would have been."

"That is true."

"I just felt that if he loved me as much I knew he did, than he'd understand keeping our son here with me was the right decision."

--

Kyo shut the front door stealthily behind him, and gazed up at the night sky. Every aspect of it reminded him of freedom, the endless darkness with tiny specks of light decorated unevenly across every corner. He sucked in a breath and let it float back through his lungs.

His muscles ached, it was similar to a dull pain, but nothing sharp or overbearing. To put a better word to it, his body felt stifled. It was a very uncomfortable, pesky feeling. Kyo wanted to just stretch out and let blood flow more loosely through to each limb. I don't think I could have been held prisoner in there any longer. Glancing around at his surrounds, he thought back to the last time he had explored the shrine grounds, he was seven years old.

Even that young he wouldn't allow himself to establish any vital friendships, so he spent most of his play time alone. There weren't many games you could play by yourself, so Kyo found himself scouting the shrubbery fencing along the shrine and kept himself preoccupied. And when that no longer amused him, he would stare at one of the larger trees on the property, one in particular ornamented in holy ropes and paper talismans. An avid tree climber, Kyo saw new potential in this prospect.

He let his hand travel down the old tree's torso, it's bark was very coarse but in the same sense very polished, hardly any blemishes. He never so much as grappled his way onto the trunk before his untimely grandfather would interfere and summon him down. You must've insult the goodwill of priests that sealed this tree so long ago, Kyo. Somewhere in his subconscious, the mimic of the old geezer's shrew voice nagged on. This tree was the resting place of much torment and animosity; some even say of a local notorious demon. He could envision himself then, a child with a blossoming imagination.

His late grandfather may have been a bit superstitious thinking back on it, still his rants had backfired and served to feed his younger self's curiosity. The world is a wonderfully enchanting place, it holds endless possibilities. At one point he had believed whole heartedly, had faith that that was in fact true. But now seventeen years old, and Kyo's belief in all things spectacular had long since faded.

Glancing over his shoulder, his eyes met with the window of his mother's office. Warm hues of tangerine light glazed the glass, and almost instantly Kagome stepped into view. Still up there I see...Kyo thought silently, continuing to follow her with his eyes as she paced around the small space with the home phone receiver to her ear. With an intoxicating breath of cold air the teen turned his back to the house, continuing down the path for a brisk jog.

--

"Enough about me, I want to hear about you Mom, are your doctors making any progress?"

As the conversation strung along, Kagome picked up on little signs that her mother's illness was still apparent. For the past six months they held her for closer observation, and to give her the hour to hour care she herself couldn't provide. All this time had gone by, and from the sounds of it Mrs. Higurashi was far from recovering. "Yes and no, I have a typical case of pneumonia...nothing about the virus is out of the ordinary, they've told me that my body is the obstacle."

"Your body?" The young women sank deeper into her chair, raising her hand to her brow.

"Yes, it seems this old thing isn't as productive as it used to be...as your flesh ages, your immunity to sickness grows weak." Kagome's throat became inflamed as her mother suppressed a wheeze.

"That may be true but it's not a death sentence!"

"No...it may not be Kagome, but no one lives forever." Towards the end of her sentence the elder woman hoarsely chuckled. Such a mindful woman, such a gentle woman, her daughter thought solemnly, even now she struggles to mask how truly sick she is simply for her child's sake.

"I love you very much Mom, thank you for listening to what I had to say."

"Anytime dear, now I'll let you go...its rather late and I'm sure you wake early." Kagome sensed that maternal smile on the other side, it brought her ease.

The other line clicked as she slowly set the phone down on her desk, deeply inhaling Kagome quickly readjusted her state of mind. She let her eyes flutter open, finding her gaze passing through the window. Such a black night, she found herself thinking.

--

"Ya'know I thought that somehow...just maybe, that it would work." Came the smooth voice of a male, which was abnormally lackluster than usual. "It was the first idea I've thought of in a while..."

"Leave it alone, did you ever think that you're just wasting your damn time."

The younger of the two felt a pang of reasoning, but still, he knew in his heart that it wasn't. "You shouldn't say things like that!" Conviction wash over him, when the other shunned him in silence he pressed on. "You may not care anymore, if it's true...then that's your choice, but I haven't lost faith...I won't, I'll keep trying!"

"Suit yourself, kid..."

--

A/N: not as long as some would have liked, but I figured I would save the suspense for the next chapter