Ch. 105- To Be Happy


Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi


After a while, Kagome and Inuyasha were sitting inside Jinenji and his mother's hut, the former carefully grinding up some herbs into a paste using a tiny rock and a plate. His mother sat nearby, stoking a fire in the firepit. It was during this time that Inuyasha and Kagome had explained themselves and what their purpose was being here, and they apologized for the misunderstanding.

"So that's all it is, eh?" asked Jinenji's Mother.

"Yes, ma'am," Kagome nodded.

"...Inuyasha, wasn't it?" asked Jinenji's Mother as she glanced at the half-demon that sat by Kagome's side. "You're a half-demon, though you don't much look it."

"So you can tell, huh?" Inuyasha inquired.

"Half-breeds are funny, that way," said Jinenji's Mother. "For some that's born pretty like you, there's another born what ain't."

"Yeah, Inuyasha's pretty cute, all right," Kagome mused as she reached over and touched his shoulder, causing his cheeks to turn red a bit, which caused her to giggle.

"Hmph...you're a lucky feller, then," said Jinenji's Mother as she glanced up at her son. "Just imagine what it's like for him. Being a half-demon shouldn't matter...but those villagers, they treat him like he's some kind of brute or a monster or somethin'!"

"You mean...they bully him?" asked Kagome.

"Pah!" Jinenji's Mother scoffed. "Bullyin' is puttin' it mildly. Tryin' to kill him is more like it!"

"I'm sorry, Ma," Jinenji said, hanging his head, shamefully. "If only I wasn't born like this, I..."

"You stop right now, Jinenji!" his mother scolded. "Don't you apologize for bein' different!" She then closed her eyes as a warm smile appeared on her wrinkled features. "Now your father, he was different...but that never made no no-mind to me."

Flashback

A young woman lied on the foothills of a mountain, alone with a basket of herbs strapped to her back. Her left ankle was a bit swollen and bruised, possibly due to the fact that she tripped on some rocks on the way down. She grunted as she attempted to stand, only to fall down, once again. She sighed in resignation, thinking that all hope of her getting back home was lost...when suddenly, this golden light flashed before her very eyes. She gasped as she looked up...and there he was: a man wearing the robes of a common farmer, and yet they looked as clean and as new as they could be. He held a staff in his left hand that had small herbs and mushrooms sprouting from the tip.

However, his most noticeable features were his icy blue eyes and his long mane of lavender hair with silver tints.

The man approached the maiden, who gasped as she shielded her eyes...and yet, he gently kneeled beside her and took her ankle into his hands, being as tender as he could possibly be. As she looked at him, he smiled at her, warmly...and soon, feeling safe and confident, she smiled back, a light blush tinting her cheeks.

"I'll never forget the night I hurt my ankle and I couldn't walk home...and how it was your father who saved me...ohh...the man I saw, he was glowin'! But I knew he weren't real...no man is that perfect...but I loved him, anyway...him and his demon light."

Flashback end

Jinenji's Mother sighed wistfully as she placed a hand to her blushing cheeks while Inuyasha and Kagome both glanced at each other, somewhat disturbed.

"Wait, hold up," Inuyasha said. "So...if you're saying that Jinenji's father was the demon...then you're the human parent?!"

"What'd ya think I was?!" Jinenji's Mother asked.

'I thought she was Baba Yaga!' thought Kagome when all of a sudden, Jinenji held out a tiny pouch to her.

"Here you are," he said. "It's for your friend. It's an antidote for the poison in her."

"Oh, thank you!" Kagome said as she took the pouch. "Uh...how much do we owe you?"

"Ah, nothin'," Jinenji's Mother answered. "It's the least I can do for the clubbin' I gave, earlier. Now leave before I grind yer bones and make our bread."

With that, Inuyasha and Kagome soon left the farm while Jinenji and his mother went back to tending to the herbs. As they left, however, Kagome glanced back at the farm where they saw the large half-demon and his mother toil, then looked to Inuyasha, who was already walking away.

"Inuyasha?" she asked as she walked behind him. "Don't you think we should stay here?"

"Why?" Inuyasha asked. "We got what we came here for."

"But Inuyasha," Kagome began, "we can't just leave things like this. The villagers are accusing Jinenji of eating people...just like how Shinichi accused you, that one time."

Inuyasha didn't speak...but Kagome could tell by how he tensed up that it still bothered him a bit.

"I mean...yeah, Jinenji is different," Kagome said, "but that doesn't mean that he's guilty!"

"...But that's what it's like when you're different," Inuyasha said. "No one trusts you, you're always the first to be blamed, and it is always, ALWAYS your fault!"

With that, he walked on ahead of Kagome, who stared sadly as she followed him.

'...Sometimes...it's easy for me to forget how much Inuyasha's been through before he and I met. Seeing Jinenji must have brought up some really bad memories.'

XXX

Concurrently, in the village, the village folk were gathering up bamboo javelins, spears, swords, and anything else of the like that they could find.

"Gather every weapon in the village!" shouted one of the elders.

"This is plenty!" said one of them. "Even he can't take all these!"

"Tonight has to be the night!" said one of the men, shakily gripping a katana. "It's kill...or be killed!"

"But it's not!"

The villagers turned to see Inuyasha and Kagome approaching, the latter having a worried expression as she ran up to them.

"It's you two, again, is it?" asked one of the village men.

"You people aren't planning on going after Jinenji, are you?" asked Kagome.

"What do you think?" asked one of the other men. "Of course, we are!"

"But you don't have any proof that he-" Kagome started.

"Foolish girl!" barked one of the elders. "You can't be that naïve!"

"They hate us! The witch and her monster son!" yelled another.

"Cowards is what they are!" shouted a third.

"Oh, really?" Inuyasha asked as he stepped forward. "Because the way I see it, it's the other way around."

"Huh?" the villagers muttered.

"But right now, we have more important problems," Inuyasha began, "like finding the real demon that's behind all this!"

"What do you mean, 'real demon'?!" asked another villager, skeptically. "You planning on catching it?!"

"Inuyasha...I'm gonna be at Jinenji's farm, okay?" asked Kagome. "Someone's gotta stay there and protect him."

"...Do what you want," Inuyasha said, "but if you get into trouble, call me no matter what, got that?"

"I will," Kagome nodded, and with that, Inuyasha turned and bounded off, disappearing into the forest.

"You sure you can trust that boy, girl?" asked one of the villagers. "He's a half-demon, too, ain't he?"

"...Half-demon or not, to me it doesn't matter," Kagome said before she turned and glared at the villagers. "I trust Inuyasha more than anyone else!"

XXX

In the forest, Inuyasha sprinted as fast he could, following the scent of the demon that killed the young woman. It was somewhere nearby, he could tell. However, as he leaped up into a tree and landed on the branch...his mind started wandering to days he wished he could forget.

As he glanced down at his right hand...he could see the tiny scars that marred his skin. All over his body, he could feel it: the phantom pains from when he first received those scars. In his mind, he could hear angry voices yelling and growling. He saw himself as a child, staring up at shadowy figures that held clubs and sticks. They raised their weapons...and all that could be heard were screams of agony.

"Ugh...dammit!" Inuyasha cursed as he shook his head. "Come on, Inuyasha, concentrate! You don't need to think about that stuff, now!"

With that, he bounded off, once again to continue his hunt.

XXX

Meanwhile, Kagome returned to Jinenji and his mother's farm where she soon conveyed to them why she had come back and what the villagers had planned.

"They did, did they?" asked Jinenji's Mother as she pulled some weeds out of the dirt.

"Yeah," Kagome answered, "which is why I said I was going to stay here with you guys until Inuyasha finds the real demon behind the killings. You don't mind, do you?"

"Eh...have it your way," Jinenji's Mother shrugged as she continued to pull the weeds.

Soon, Kagome went over to Jinenji, who was also pulling weeds out of the ground. However...he looked rather tentative as the girl came and stood by him.

"Hey, Jinenji," Kagome greeted. "Mind if I help?"

"...Uh...you can if you want," Jinenji replied.

"Just pull the weeds, right?" asked Kagome.

"Mm-hmm..." Jinenji nodded, and soon, Kagome crouched down and began to pull the pesky plants away from the herbs. As she did, she noticed that Jinenji suddenly scooted away from her, not too far but enough for her to see him out of her peripherals.

"Is everything okay?" asked Kagome.

"Umm...yes," Jinenji nodded, shyly. It was then that Kagome took a moment to look at all the scars on his body. Unlike Inuyasha's, which were small and hard to see unless he was in some sort of lighting, these were larger and much more noticeable.

'Just like Inuyasha...he's been abused, too...'

"Uh...Jinenji?" asked Kagome. "Haven't you thought about leaving this village? You know, going somewhere where no one will bother you or your mom?"

"Not really," Jinenji answered. "This place is best."

"Huh?" Kagome muttered.

"...My Pa left me this farm," Jinenji said.

"Oh, I see," Kagome smiled. "Well...I guess as long as you're happy here, it's no skin off my back."

Jinenji swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, his heart pounding loudly in his ears.

'I did it...for the first time in my life...I talked to a girl and she didn't scream at me.'

"YAAAAAAAAAH!"

"AAH!" Jinenji yelped as he heard Kagome shriek before he looked down...only to see that she was shuddering at the sight of a tiny inchworm on one of the herb plants.

"It's a woooooorm...!" she whimpered, prompting Jinenji to gently pick the worm up and put it down into the dirt. "Thank you!" She then sighed in relief while Jinenji's Mother looked on, perplexed.

'She's scared of a teeny worm, but not of Jinenji?' she thought. 'What a strange girl...but then, she is friends with that Inuyasha feller...'

Later that day, as the sun began to set in the west, Kagome was still out with Jinenji, who was feeding some leftover seeds to a flock of larks, one of which perched onto Kagome's finger, to her amazement.

"Look, Jinenji!" she said. "Isn't it cute?"

"Mm-hmm..." Jinenji nodded, just as some other birds came and perched themselves on his shoulders.

'Is this what it's like...to be happy?'


It sure is, Jinenji. ^^

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