Chapter 26 – Children and Heritage
With a deep sigh, Inuyasha settled down for the long sad wait as the tragedy in Kikyo's hut played out. He didn't quite know how to feel. With every new baby that Sango and Miroku brought into this world, a new part of his soul would warm up and rejoice. It seemed like all those tikes were expanding his heart. They had suffered some tragedies with children dying young but that was only the way life was here in this era.
Maybe some day, he would want to risk having children too. That was still a ways off, since he was not yet an adult in demon terms. He could enjoy children, but he had no urges to sire any. For just a moment, he wondered if his older brother had ever had the urge to reproduce, or perhaps, had some offspring already running around. He truly didn't know much about Sesshomaru's life. For all he knew, there could be miniature frosty dog demons hidden in dens all over the countryside. He shuddered at the thought. Still, that might explain his incessant wanderings. And he knew his stoic brother had a gentler side, he had personally seen the look on his face after Kagura had turned to dust. They would have made a great pair and would have had some interesting children.
Inuyasha looked down at Otome. She had been someone's child. The question was whose. Did they miss her? Were they looking for her? He hadn't thought about trying to find her family before now because he had not looked past her slave status. Now, he thought about her possible family. Were they slaves too? Pets? Had they lost her to slave traders who indiscriminately kidnapped children to supply their market demands?
It was obvious that there was a great deal of human in her. It was also obvious that there must be some black dog demon blood in her. Still, why was she so dog-like in her behavior? Surely if she were raised by a human parent, she would be more like him, knowing something of both worlds. But, what if she were raised by the dog demon parent? Wouldn't she still act more humanoid, and have some form of communication? But, then, there was the off chance that the dog demon parent was a Mononoke like Kirara. Maybe he didn't have a humanoid form? But then, how would he have sired a child off a human? The thoughts and possibilities confused him, and made his head hurt.
Inuyasha's hand unconsciously stroked the top of the girl's black head and occasionally trailed down to scratch the furry black pointed ears that marked her demon blood. Inuyasha asked to no one in particular, although, Sesshomaru was the only one within hearing distance, "Why does she have demon ears and yet smells so very human? Why does she act more like a dog than anything else?" He made another pass over her cute black furry ears and pushed the hair behind it.
Sesshomaru assumed the question was directed at him, still, the demon did not respond, because he had no answer. Instead, he rose to his feet which only disturbed the sleeping girl slightly, and headed off into the village. No one was totally comfortable in the fearsome presence of the demon lord, but the villagers no longer ran screaming in the opposite direction.
Inuyasha listened to the disturbance in the distance as the blacksmith shouted at someone. The boy smirked, because he had a good idea what happened. Not a moment later, the white clad demon passed by him on his way out of the compound. A piece of the hated slave collar glinted from the magenta striped hand. Without another word, he was gone.
Inuyasha assumed that the question of the girl's heritage had nudged his brother's insatiable curiosity. Being the demon lord of the west, Sesshomaru surely had sources of information that the half-demon could only dream of. If the demon returned without an answer, then there just wasn't an answer to be had. Still, maybe a trip to old Totosai's was in order as soon as Sango was healed from their loss. It couldn't hurt to see if the forgetful demon swordsmith could remember who commissioned the slave collar.