I Never Knew
Summary: He was a hanyou… fated to be shunned and hated among the world of humans and fated to be hunted among the world of demons. She was an orphan… a human who helps cure injured demons; fated to be shunned and hated by humans, but most demons…sought her care, her love… what happens when their paths cross? Inu-Kag
Warnings: Characters are OCC and rated for later chapters
Konichiwa!
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own Inuyasha, simply writing from my own entertainment as well as my readers. =)
Authors Note: Yosh! A better update this time! I'm getting excited about this fic, I have finally decided where I want this to go, I just need some fillers to get it there =) I'm still not sure how long it will be but stay with me for the ride and I promise not to let you guys down!
Responses to my Loyal Reviewers:
Purianne: Thanks for being the first to review after my long update! I am glad you are still with me! I also love family love as well! I wanted to portray that in this story =) Family is always important no matter where the come from. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
ImSexy'NdINoIt: Arigato! It is so nice to hear that! And it also makes me happy to hear that you have learned something new from my story! I strive to become a teacher someday, so knowing that makes me incredibly happy! Stick with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
Glon Morski: Now that would be funny! But I have a different idea of what I would like to do and I hope you enjoy it! And it makes me soo happy to hear that you think I am balancing my fic so well! I worry sometimes so its reassuring! Thanks for sticking with me after that long update! I hope this was better and I hope to continue updating more frequently!
soliea0death: Oohh! It's so good to hear that you have loved my fic since chapter one and enjoy the idea of my story! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
Rose-Aki: It is so good to hear from you every chapter! You have helped me so much! I hope you continue to enjoy my story!
twistedheart27: Thank you for your review! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
kkiibbaa: Thank you for another review! Thank you for sticking with me and I hope that you enjoy this chapter as well!
Ages:
Inuyasha Takahashi: 25
Kagome Higurashi: 22
Hinata Ryuu: 17
Yuuto Nakamura: 12
Yuka Nakamura: 12
Sakura Ishii: 1
Shippou Kitsune: 11
Chapter 10: Yuuto
A few days had passed, the winter squalls beginning to become less frequent and the outdoor temperatures were starting to warm slightly. Even so Kagome still had yet to wake from her slumber, still to weak to open her enticing grey-blue eyes. Inuyasha was at her side again, having just finished feeding her. He was gazing at her intently...sadly...
'Kagome... please wake up...' His mind pleaded silently. Grabbing her fragile, pale hand in both of his, like he had done day after day, he brought it to his warm lips. Bending down slightly he placed a gentle kiss to the back of it. Then he brought his forehead down to rest upon the delicate hand he held within the contents of his large calloused hands.
"Gomen-nasai, Kagome... I should have gotten to you quicker... I am so sorry that I have broken my promise to you." He whispered low enough so the eavesdropping demons in the other room could not hear what had been said. It was something he had been saying sincerely to her everyday and it would be something he would tell her the moment she woke up.
'I haven't been this worried or apologetic toward anyone since my mother died...' The silver-haired hanyou thought to himself. He sat back on his heals, dropping his and her hand into his lap and moved to look upon her peaceful face once again.
'Kagome is the only one since mother... who has ever shown me any sort of kindness...' He continued thinking to himself. His thoughts running wild over the miko sleeping peacefully before him, the only one who has ever made them run wild.
'...she desires for me to stay by her side without a second thought...and... the kids...' He trailed off, glancing toward the doorway to the main room where each of them resided at the moment.
'...They believe that she... is my life mate...' He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, yet just the thought of that made him incredibly happy, sending his heart soaring.
'Why does that sound so... right?' He questioned himself. For a long time he had known that many demons spent lifetimes searching their life mates... he had a half brother from that sort of situation and eventually his father had found his life mate... hence leaving Sesshomaru's mother. But him... he was a half demon, he hadn't even known that it would be possible for hanyous to have life mates... heck he didn't even think there was a single soul on earth who would even consider becoming intimate with a hanyou, let alone get married and have children with them. Dwelling on that fact, the fact that he hadn't trusted a single soul before her he thought...
'...I was able to trust her so quickly... without a second thought to it... would that be what they consider the bond between life mates?' He wondered. Thinking about it to himself again he gasped and his eyes snapped open to look upon the sleeping maiden again with wide, gentle eyes. It was unbelievable if it was true.
'I hardly know anything about being a life mate...' He realized as he pondered upon that thought.
'The only people who could have explained such things to me died long ago, never mentioning anything of the sort to me... and of course Sesshomaru is of no help but...'
"Otou-san?" Came a small voice from the doorway of their bedroom. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he reluctantly tore his gaze from Kagome to the small figure standing there.
"Yuuto?" He raised his eyebrow, not really expecting him to be the one to interrupt him. Releasing the miko's hand, Inuyasha turned on his knees to face the young neko hanyou. He wouldn't look directly at Inuyasha and only continued to fuss with the doormat hanging in the doorway. Inuyasha couldn't help but wonder why.
"Hai... I-I'm sorry to bother you but.. we need some more firewood." Yuuto explained as a matter-of-fact and Inuyasha smirked thoughtfully.
"Hai, Hai." He responded before pushing up off his knees to stand. Then he walked toward the doorway Yuuto had just left through and stole one last glance at Kagome. Pushing the doormat aside and walking into the main room, he headed straight for the outside door, not really bothering to look and see what everyone had been up to. Since Inuyasha had woken, him along with the boys and some occasional help from the girls, had begun to repair the run down old drafty hut, including installing a new wooden floor with wood sliced up from trees. Inuyasha had used his sword to cut the smooth pieces, for some pieces that weren't completely smooth. The kids had been able to run down to the village and receive assistance from a friend of theirs, who helped making the board smooth enough to walk on. It was almost completed, the main room only needing a few more pieces and the bedroom had yet to have the floor installed. The entrance was now a low lying wooden floor, level with the ground outside, this would be where they would dispose of their shoes, from there the floor rose a step into the main area. In the center remained their fire pit in an opening in the floor like most of the other huts in the village.
The newly installed floor made the run down hut look exceptionally large now, having enough room for their family of seven and then some. It was much cozier and certainly more comfortable for the children to sleep at night. The boys had even assisted Inuyasha in hand carving some benches, which were placed around the fire now, so they wouldn't have to sit on the floor any longer.
After Inuyasha finished donning his winter weather gear, he took one glance around the hut to see Shippou and Yuka lain by the fire, drawing pictures and writing letters with the ink and brushes he had bought them. These more than likely being done for their adoptive mother as a surprise for when she would finally wake up. Hinata was in the far corner of the hut teaching Sakura how to walk... she wasn't quite there yet and still needed the assistance of another's hands for her to take a step without falling. But one was missing...
"Ne, Yuuto!" He called and suddenly, without warning, the hanyou in question popped up by his side. Inuyasha hadn't been surprised though, the young hanyou had tended to do that often.
"Come with me and help me gather some firewood." He requested, instantly making the younger hanyou light up with excitement. He had always enjoyed helping out where he could, especially when it came to the 'men' duties.
"Hai!" He replied excitedly and nearly ran out of the hut's front door.
"Oi!" Inuyasha yelled, the sound of his voice making the boy freeze in mid run, right in front of the entrance. The other children stole a glance to see what was going on, but continued to resume with their prior activities.
"Put the winter gear on Kagome knitted for you boy." Inuyasha said sternly as a father would, crossing his arms firmly over his chest. Yuuto turned and nodded, not daring to rebel against him and moved to don his own winter gear.
The two hanyous gathered firewood for their home in the woods surrounding it, careful not to wander too far into the woods staying within the barrier Kagome had erected and not too far away from one another, always staying cautious even though no one but the family could leave or enter the barrier at the present time.
"Ne, Inuyasha-otou-san..." Yuuto called, breaking the calm silence that loomed over them ever since they had left the hut. Looping another piece of wood on his stack, Inuyasha turned to face the young hanyou who was picking up another piece of wood himself, behind him.
"Hai?" Standing upright and turning to face Inuyasha as well he shifted nervously under Inuyasha's gaze.
"Were... were your mother and father... life mates?" Yuuto asked nervously, not willing to make eye contact with the elder hanyou just yet. He didn't feel it was his place to ask Inuyasha such a personal question, but he was curious and needed to know. Inuyasha's eyes widened at the unexpected question and he remaining silent for a while, unsure if he wanted to answer the question. Inuyasha looked away from the boy and a few more moments of silence passed over them before Yuuto worked up the courage to speak again.
"I-I just wanted to know... because you are a hanyou as well..." The last part of his sentence was barely above a whisper. Inuyasha turned to look at the unruly haired boy again to see him staring at his own feet that continued to shift nervously in the white snow. Inuyasha's expression softened and he sighed. That was a logic he couldn't beat and he could understand why the young neko hanyou would want to know. Taking a look around, he walked over the sit on the log he and Kagome had sat on when she had fallen ill, setting his pile of wood down beside him. Then he looked back Yuuto who was watching him with concern and motioned for him to come sit beside him. Taking note Yuuto lightly jogged over to him and set his wood down as Inuyasha had done, sitting on the log next to the hanyou looking up to as a father figure. Inuyasha's gaze drifted to watch the water flow down the now low-flowing, half-frozen creek as Yuuto watched him expectantly, waiting patiently for him to respond.
"Hai, my mother and father had been life mates. My mother had been human and my father, well renowned dog-demon InuTashio, former ruler of the Western Lands." He responded thoughtfully, flashes of memories playing back in his mind.
"What... What happened to them... Were they happy?" Yuuto asked hesitantly. The question surprised Inuyasha a bit again, but he smiled.
"Hai, they were very happy... one of the happiest couples I have ever known... from what I can remember." Inuyasha started, noticing that he wasn't finished Yuuto continued to listen intently, interested in what Inuyasha had to tell him.
"I even have a younger hanyou sister who goes by the name Shiori... but we were separated just shortly after she was born... you see a comrade of my father's, hell bent on revenge greed, kidnapped my mother and killed her in front of him. They battled and he won, but my father had been weakened by the loss of his life mate, not to mention fatally wounded in the battle... He could have survived, but instead, worrying about more retaliation that he would not be able to hold off, used the last of his strength to place Shiori and me into safe homes where we wouldn't be harmed... shortly after that he was found dead by my mothers side." Inuyasha explained to the younger hanyou with a solemn expression coating his features. Silence fell over them again and Inuyasha took his time to look at the hanyou besides him, to see if he could get an idea of what may have been going through his mind, because the mixture of scents coming from the boy confused him. Yuuto was fidgeting with his fingers, he was looking dejected... worried and Inuyasha could smell that he was afraid.
"Do all human-demon relationships end in tragedy?" Yuuto asked suddenly, surprising the elder hanyou again his eyes widened. This question was making his heart race like mad with worry about his own relationship with Kagome.
'N-no... they can't all...' Inuyasha squashed that thought immediately. He only knew of his own parents fate, he knew not of any others. Not that he had crossed many other hanyous in his journeys, but when he had, he had never bothered to asked. All hanyous were the same, none shared their life storied with one another, because they were too afraid of being rejected by the rest of the world.
"My mother and father... they weren't life mates... but they did love each other... at least that's what mother told Yuka..." Yuuto began, Inuyasha watched him, listening intently. Yuuto raised his head to look ahead of him at nothing in particular as he continued.
"But... their relationship was forbidden... by each of their families... even after Yuka and I had been born... even so, they still continued to go against their families demands, enraging them both... it had gotten to the point where my father's family were threatening to kill off my mothers family... including my mother if they did not separate, not caring what our parents did with Yuka and me. As time went on the threats progressively got worse and the likelihood of the posed threats became reality... they separated. Yuka and me were only a couple months old at the time... Yuka was to go with my mother and live with her family and I with my father to live with his..." Yuuto revealed, Inuyasha albeit being slightly shocked, had expected that the twins must have had a difficult past, being as they were Kagome's orphans after all.
"You two were splint up at such a young age... seeing you two together... I never would have guessed that you two were separated from each other for that long." Inuyasha comment seeing Yuuto smile a bit.
"We were separated for ten years..." Yuuto noted, Inuyasha's eyes widened still finding it hard to believe. Yuuto's expression dropped again as he continued.
"After we were separated and I grew old enough to understand and comprehend what was going on... my father always seemed so... depressed. Rarely did he ever take care of me... he had always had the maids perform that job... he never even acknowledged me when I begged for him to spend time with me..." Yuuto admitted dejectedly. Inuyasha's heart when out to him, he had never experienced what it was like to have a father reject and ignore him... but he could just imagine how alone Yuuto must have felt. He saw Yuuto's body shake a bit and reached over to place a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. Instantly he was calmed, giving Inuyasha a thankful smile.
"Eventually... as time drug on, my father was forced into a relationship with another neko demon by his family, they had wanted heirs... heirs that weren't hanyous..." Yuuto continued.
"I don't believe he ever loved her... He was merely with her to satisfy his selfish, demanding families wants and needs..." Yuuto sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his small, clawed hands. He was containing anger within him.
"That... that horrible woman hated me...for... well you know... for being hanyou... and you can just imagine how that went..." Inuyasha clenched his first that wasn't soothing Yuuto, just imaging his adoptive son going through anything he had as a child growing up mind him want to go blind with furry.
"I swear... she would have killed me if she had gotten the chance, but my father... even though he would normally ignore my existence... would reprimand her whenever she laid a single finger on me... that was the only thing he ever did for me..." The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, clouds were beginning to cover the sky and the snow began to gently fall to the ground in small flakes. A cool night breeze washed over them and Inuyasha witnessed the neko-hanyou shiver beside him. Hesitantly, he removed the reassuring hand from Yuuto's shoulder and slid it to wrap around his small form, pulling the boy to him to share his warmth with his hand now coming to rest on his other shoulder. Yuuto looked up at him as he performed this gesture in slight fear and shock, having not being used to this sort of fatherly affection. He soon recovered and found himself feeling incredibly comfortable and strangely more inclined to finished his story. Relaxing he rested against his adoptive fathers side and continued.
"There were times where she was able to beat me when my father wasn't around and the maids of whom had raised me would always turn the other cheek, not caring, not wanting to become involved. Even if they had wanted to, most of them were humans or that of weaker demons, they did not have the power to stop her. As time went on my father continued to fall deeper into his depression and no one but me seemed to even care... Every time I had tried to confront anyone about my fathers depression, to get him help, I was either hit or completely ignored... Everyone in that awful house hated me and they made it known... I was always looked down upon, no matter where I went... and over time... I had come to believe that my father hated me as well, only feeling obligated to keep me alive for my mother's and Yuka's sake." A lone tear had fallen from the corner of Yuuto's eye. Lttle did the neko hanyou know, that a lone tear was shed for him from the elder hanyou as well, because his bangs were covering his eyes. Inuyasha's grip around Yuuto tightened as he continued, reassuring the boy that he was here and wouldn't be going anywhere. Yuuto shifted a bit to dig something from his yukata, pulling out an old crumpled piece of paper. Looking at it, he held onto it as if it were his lifeline.
"One night when I was around the age of ten, I was readying myself for bed, when I found a note on my pillow... Opening it, I had seen that is was written by my father for me ..." Yuuto then opened the note he held, proceeding to read what was within it's contents.
"Yuuto,
I apologize for never being able to be the ideal father you had desired for me to be... Even so, I want you to know that even though it may not have seemed like it... I did try... but looking back... I know now that I didn't try hard enough, that I could have tried harder... I suppose you could say, that your old man is a coward.
Yuuto... don't live your life like I have lived mine. Leave this horrid place, this place that is not a home and become someone your family can be proud of... I have recently received notice that your mother has passed away... she.. passed away a few years ago actually, I have only recently found out this information and wanted to notify you immediately...
Yuuto... I am sorry, but your old man is still a coward...even now... after receiving this news...
Yuuto... I wish to join your mother...
Son... my last wish is that you leave, leave and find your twin sister Yuka... Find her and protect her with your life, live strong and be happy...
Goodbye Yuuto, my son... I love you, even though I have not proved this to you... tell your sister that I love her too...
Dad"
Inuyasha stayed silent as Yuuto folded up his keepsake and tucked it back into his yukata, and let out a shaky breath, the tears now threatening to fall.
"After reading the letter a hundred times to ensure that I had been reading it correctly, I began to hear commotion downstairs, stealthily I came out of my room and hid to get a better listen to what was going on. Everyone was hysterical... they were frantic about what my father had run off... well everyone except the lowly bitch he had been forced with, she couldn't have cared less... They said that my father was found dead in a humans cemetery by my mothers gravestone. They accused the humans of my mothers village, stating that they must have ambushed him and shot him once... point blank... to the head... but I knew, not only was that not possible due to my mother coming from a poor village, unable to have such amenities as the new developing riffles... it was also confirmed by the note my father had left me... my father had committed suicide... to be with my deceased mother." Yuuto hiccuped, tears now falling upon recalling the painful memories. Inuyasha continued to sooth him, rubbing his arm.
"Then... they proceed to blame me... because if I hadn't been around, he would not have any attachments to my human mother, to feel any obligation toward the human race... Upon hearing this, I took that as my queue to leave. I tucked the note, my fathers last words to me, close to my heart and crept back into my room, swiftly opening one of the windows and jumping out of it into the courtyard with nothing more than the clothes on my back, not even bothering to cast that home one last passing glance." Yuuto finished. Silence fell over the two hanyous as the young boy shook attempting to calm his cries. Inuyasha looked down at him, seeing that he wasn't only holding back his cries, but he had been holding back a decades worth of overwhelming emotions, all to stay strong from his sister. Inuyasha swiftly picked up the boy and moved him to rest in his lap. Yuuto looked startled for a moment before Inuyasha ruffled his hair affectionately, lowering his head so his lips were close to one of the hanyou's ears, ears that matched his own.
"It's okay for men to cry sometimes..." He whispered and pulled back to watch the young boys, dark bluish-purple eyes widen, then moved to look at him, as if ensuring that he had heard him correctly. When realization hit him, the tears began to pour from the eyes of the young boy without his control. He stayed silent initially, still recovering from the shock of realization, but when he came back to reality, he let out a loud ear piercing wail before clutching the fabric of Inuyasha winter hayori and burying his face into his broad chest.
"WHY?" The broken neko hanyou screamed, surprising the inu hanyou as his small fists began to pound his chest.
"WHY DID YOU LEAVE US YOU COWARD!" Yuuto bellowed, releasing all the built up emotions he had kept within him. Inuyasha's eyes softened as he moved a clawed hand to gently scratch the young boy's back soothingly, holding back his own anger. Inuyasha was angry for Yuuto, wanting to give Yuuto's cowardly father a piece of his own mind, but he couldn't, so he did the next best thing and soothed his adoptive son, allowing him to take out his frustrations on him. Slowly but surely Yuuto's sobs and cries began to slow, no longer hitting the elder hanyou with his fists.
"Why would you leave a ten year old boy to protect his sister on his own..." Yuuto's weak voice stated, it wasn't a question. At that Inuyasha pulled the boy back to look him directly in the eyes and flashed him a genuine, proud smile.
"You've done well son... you have done a great job protecting you sister." Yuuto's eyes widened in pure shock as the elder hanyou ruffled his unruly hair again. Sure Kagome, his adoptive mother, had expressed this to him many times and it had always meant the world to him but... to hear this coming from the man he looked up to as a father figure, who had gradually become the father he literally never had, the father he didn't have to be... was not only a feeling that was completely new to him, but also completely overwhelmed him with emotions he couldn't control. He wanted to scream out with joy, jump around and let the world know it... he wanted to cry in relief for having been able to be a son a father could be proud of... and he was eternally grateful for having the elder hanyou before him be such a huge part of his life. Taking in a deep breath, his tears now having dried, he looked at Inuyasha with a strong look of determination and gave him a smirk that he had picked up from none other than this fatherly figure in front of him.
"Hai." He agreed wholeheartedly. The whole act making Inuyasha chuckle and flash him a toothy grin.
"That's my boy." Inuyasha stated truthfully, ruffling his hair one last time. Motioning for Yuuto to climb off his lap, the young boy quickly complied and they both stood proudly.
"Come on, lets go back inside before we start to worry everyone, if we haven't already." Inuyasha mentioned, receiving a nod from his adoptive son in return. Picking up the wood they had gathered, they head back to their hut, the one place they could finally call home.
Feedback is love!
And greatly appreciated!
Edited By: Rose-Aki