disclaimer: i don't own anything.
Chapter ten: It Wont Be Long
The car ride home was much more eventful than the car ride to the hospital. It consisted of Inuyasha getting yelled at by his mother and having frightening glares from his father being sent through the rearview mirror. And as Inuyasha endured this torment, which sent his self-respect and self-esteem to all time lows, Sesshoumaru sat back in his seat with a most pleased smile on his face. It was making Inuyasha feel all the more terrible and ashamed. With each renewed round of chastisement from Izayoi, Inuyasha's head lowered more and more in shame. It had been a good five minutes since Izayoi's last berating of Inuyasha, and another one was due. She would restate everything again, adding a few new words and sentences in there to pack another painful punch to her son.
"I CANNOT believe I raised you to be such a hooligan!" Her arms flew up into the air at the words 'hooligan', as if the mere mention of the word was preposterous. "Where did you learn such bad behavior? I certainly know it wasn't from either your father or me, and Sesshoumaru hasn't been in trouble a day in his life!" Of course, she was exaggerating a bit with that statement, but Inuyasha was in no place to argue and Sesshoumaru wouldn't correct her. "You are soooo grounded young man. Forget spending time with your friends. For the next month, the only friend you will have is the broom! No cell phone, no games, and no television except for the news! Do you understand me?" She asked shrilly, turning in her seat to stare down her defenseless son, who was afraid to respond. She had forbid him from speaking since they got in the car, and now she was asking him to answer.
"Y-Yes mo–"
"Didn't I tell you to be quiet?!" She interrupted snarkily, her eye twitching once more in absolute rage. Inuyasha stared at her with wide, insecure eyes, his mouth agape as he tried to understand what she wanted from him. "Ugh! Forget it; I don't think I can put up with whatever answers you have for me." They were pulling into the long drive way now, slowly making their way into the extensive garage attached to the house. "You will go straight to your room and if I hear the smallest peep I will not hesitate to come in there and show you how serious I am. Now go!" Inu-Taisho had parked the car and shut off the engine by then and Inuyasha all but scrambled to get out of the vehicle. Sesshoumaru slowly followed; he was in no rush and basking in the joy of the situation. Inu-Taisho and Izayoi remained in the car. For a while they just sat there in the awkward, unsure silence. Neither had ever been presented with this sort of situation that rocked their self-confidence as parents. Had they actually played a part in Inuyasha's horrid actions? Izayoi didn't want to think she had, but then she knew Inuyasha had been moody as of late. Could he be acting out? Now a much more subdued and meek woman, Izayoi looked sidelong at her husband, hoping he was more confident than she. But behind his distant eyes, she could see the disappointment. He might be detached from the woes of the less fortunate, but he hadn't raised his sons to be so rude and disrespectful of others, no matter their station.
"Touga…what should we do? How do we punish him for something like this?" She questioned, her voice small and childlike. Inu-Taisho let out a deep sigh, his entire body relaxing in his seat. He felt a painful tightness in the back of his neck and between his shoulders; must have something to do with all the added stress in his life now. He looked back at his wife, knowing she needed him to give her clarification on the matter. He felt very ill-equipped for something like this.
"I'm not sure Iz, but I think you know; deep down you know how to punish him. If you leave it up to me I'd probably be too harsh." He gave her a side-ways smile, and she nodded back at him. He would be too hard on Inuyasha if left to decide his punishment.
"Alright, I'll go up and talk to him." She leaned over the console between them and planted a chaste kiss on Inu-Taisho's lips before promptly leaving the car, her heels echoing through the garage as she left through the door. Inuyasha had tromped up the stairs, down the hall, and stormed into his room with a vengeance. But what awaited him was the straw that broke the camel's back. His TV had been removed, along with his game consoles, and his personal computer. The only thing electronic that remained was his alarm clock. The spaces that those items had once occupied were just dusty and empty now, making him feel all the more bitter. In a blind rage, Inuyasha began to throw the nearest objects at the wall opposite him. Desperate grunts of anger ripped from his throat as he used all the strength he had, finding no other way to exert his feeling. Shoes and toy trucks hit the wall, leaving dents and scratches upon impact. And in his fury, Inuyasha didn't hear his door opening behind him or the soft footsteps approaching. It wasn't until he felt a cool hand on his shoulder did he stop. Whirling around in his place, hand clutching a Batman action figure and arm poised to throw it, Inuyasha was confronted by his mother's sad, sympathetic eyes.
She stared down at him, and he stared back at her with a glare so menacing it should have been frightening. But as she observed the destruction of his room, all Izayoi wanted to do was take her son up into a hug. Dropping to her knees in front of him, Izayoi pulled Inuyasha's small body into hers in a crushing embrace, placing her hand behind his head and the other between his shoulder blades. Inuyasha fought it. He wanted to be the farthest possible distance from the woman. He pushed against her chest, making animalistic noises as he tried to squirm away, and even pulled at her clothes to get her to release. But Izayoi's grasp only tightened. Eventually, Inuyasha's angry sounds became sounds of a little boy crying, and his hands stopped attacking her so they could clasp behind her back. He buried his face into her shoulder, his hot tears dampening her shirt as his small body was wracked with sobs and hiccups.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry mommy. Please don't be mad at me." He wept into her shirt, voice trembling as she made cooing noises in his ear. She rubbed her palm along his back soothingly, waiting until he was calm again, and lead the sniveling boy to his bed. Izayoi sat Inuyasha next to her. He was sadly wiping at his eyes. He was no longer crying, but his body shuddered with his erratic breathing and hiccupping. He was such an infant in times like these that reminded Izayoi how desperate and needy Inuyasha still was. He wasn't an early mature-er like Sesshoumaru had been. It would probably be a while until Inuyasha would be considered a man.
"Inuyasha, I know you won't tell me why you did it, but you still have to be punished. Part of your punishment is having your things taken away, for a month." She stopped when he turned his blotchy, red eyes upon her, lower lip trembling. Izayoi sent him a stern look and Inuyasha solemnly lowered his head again. "The second part of your punishment is you will come with me every day to see Kagome; starting tomorrow after all of your homework is finished. After school, Tom will drive you to the hospital and you will stay to visit. You will make up for what you've done to Kagome. She won't forgive you for a long time, and I don't blame her. Baby, I don't know what made you do that, but it worries me." Izayoi tenderly brushed away Inuyasha's globs of tears with the pad of her thumb. He wouldn't look at her out of shame and embarrassment, which brought on more tears. "I know what kind of person you are Inuyasha. You are sweet and funny, and that's why so many people love you. And if you show that side of yourself to Kagome, I'm sure she'd warm up to you. Okay?" When Inuyasha nodded, she pulled him into a loose hug and kissed the top of his head. "Good."
Izayoi rose up from the bed and maneuvered her way through the destruction that was his messy room, making her way to the door. Inuyasha watched from his spot, wiping away the snot from his nose and trying to calm his erratic breathing. He could care less if Kagome forgave him. She was the reason he was in trouble. She was the reason his mom wasn't on his side anymore. And she was the reason his father couldn't look him in the eye at all. If anything, she should be apologizing to him! When he saw that the door was securely closed, Inuyasha threw himself into his pillow, screaming his lungs out into the downy fabric.
"Izayoi, I don't know why you feel so obliged to do this for that girl. This is dangerous." It was the umpteenth time that Touga Inu-Taisho had complained about the task he was being forced to take on with his wife. She sat beside him in the backseat of their fine, expensive car. Her arms were crossed stubbornly and eyes refusing to look at him. Tom was driving them to the place where they'd encountered Kagome. It was still between noon and evening hours, the sun was going down, and the more unsettling and safe civilians were about on the streets now. The working girls were strolling the sidewalk in this part of the city, and men dressed with far-too baggy clothes were shuffling about suspiciously. Inu-Taisho's worries about being there were grounded, but Izayoi would not hear it. She was determined.
"Touga, I am the reason she is in the hospital." She stated simply.
"No, Tom is. Make him get out and find her things." Inu-Taisho responded quickly, his eyes cutting across to stare at the back of the driver's head. Tom visibly stiffened. Izayoi turned her head to look at her husband with an expression that read 'you are being childish'. He wasn't usually so annoying and stubborn, but for some reason he chose now to be against her. It wasn't as if they were in the WORST part of New York. Sure this area was seedy, but it wasn't the ghetto. Tom turned his head slightly to look back at them and announced they were there. He came to a gentle stop and parked the car. Izayoi thanked him absent-mindedly and began to unbuckle.
"Touga, I am going down there. You can either come with me or not. Did you bring the flashlight?" She asked him. Inu-Taisho unenthusiastically held up the large, black cylindrical tool and placed it in her open hand. Her expecting eyes remained on him though, and he knew what she was waiting for. With a heavy sigh, he began to unbuckle his own seatbelt and got out of the car with her. With a sense of victory, Izayoi quickly rounded the car and met Inu-Taisho on the sidewalk, lacing her arm in his. "This will only take five minutes. If we don't find her things in that time, we will leave." She said as they approached the dark entrance to the subway system. Inu-Taisho remained unresponsive and silent as they descended. He wasn't happy. Not in the least. The light from Izayoi's flashlight flooded the empty tunnel. Instantly the sound of rats and bugs scurrying echoed through the chamber, making Izayoi want to gag. She wasn't one who handled vermin and insects well. But the two remained quiet as they stood on the last step, observing everything that the light fell over.
There was trash everywhere, but it all seemed to be surrounded a rusted metal barrel, almost like a camp or something. Izayoi trailed the light across the cement floor, illuminating random pieces of trash and that sort of stuff. Then the light flitted across a crumpled up blanket. For some reason, that caught her eye and she found it again. She and Inu-Taisho stared at it through the darkness, deciding whether or not it was worth investigating. They saw a flat piece of cardboard sticking out from under it, and if one thought about it in the right frame of mind, it almost resembled a bed. "Touga, go look at it." She said in a hushed tone, but for what reason Inu-Taisho didn't know. Obviously, everyone was gone, or too far down the tunnel to be a bother. He was nudged in the arm and grudgingly went into the darkness to go investigate. With the toe of his shoe, Inu-Taisho kicked the cardboard out of the way. It scooted across the flat concrete to reveal a book underneath. Using just his thumb and middle finger, Inu-Taisho picked the book up and quickly made his way back to Izayoi and the stairs. When she fixed the light on the surface of the thin, hard-cover book, they discovered it was a 'Curious George'. "Do you remember what she said?"
Her voice was excited and hushed, as if she were solving a great mystery. Using her nail, Izayoi flipped the front cover of the book over and there it lay; a picture of a woman and a child. Inu-Taisho and his wife stared at the picture with great interest. It was a picture of, what they could only assume was, a young Kagome and her mother, Shima. The woman was quite lovely, both of them admitted to themselves, and Kagome was just darling. A secret grin spread across Izayoi's face. She knew Kagome would feel so wonderful when she saw this. "Alright, let's get out of here." She ushered him up the stairs and they departed from the tunnel for the last time either of them expected.