Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Takahashi-sensei does.
Like all children, he needed rescue.
Inuyasha was a kid, barely seven winters old, when he found himself surrounded by men holding shovels and pitchforks. His playmate was still crying hard, rocked back and forth by his mother.
"You foul beast. After letting you and your disgrace of a mother stay here in the castle with us despite your breeding, you had the guts to hurt my child."
"I did not hurt him," a frightened Inuyasha replied.
"Yes you did! I saw you push his shoulder!" One of his playmates pointed a finger at him. Inuyasha did not like him. He always convinced the other children to not include him in their games.
"I was the 'it' in our game! I chased after him and tapped him on his shoulder so that I get to run too while he was 'it'! We were playing!" His amber eyes were starting to get watery. He was confused. Why were they mad at him? He did not mean to push his playmate. He was also surprised when his friend fell to the ground. And he immediately came to his side to help him up.
Following that train of thought, he told them, "Please believe me. I really did not mean to push him down. Actually, I helped him get back up because I was really sorry."
"You scratched me," his playmate voiced out weakly.
"I did not mean that too," Inuyasha said softly. He looked down at his hand, at his claws actually, which still had little splotches of blood. He really did not mean to scratch his arm. He grabbed the boy from the ground, very gently if you asked him. He did not realize his claws had grown past the usual length. He remembered those claws being clipped by his mother just about four nights ago.
At the thought of his mother, Inuyasha's tears finally fell. There was no mother to cut his claws now. No mother to remind him that he should be always mindful of his strength. No mother to rock him back and forth as he cried. No mother to come in defense of him when he was being threatened. No mother to rescue him. Just, no more.
"You've already inconvenienced us enough. Creatures like you ought not to live with us. Not only did you bring the curse of the gods upon us, you've now started to act on your beastly desires."
He wanted to say that it was not really his desire to hurt his playmate. He wanted to say what his mother screamed at their neighbours when they wrongfully blamed him for the disease that had spread in the village.
My Inuyasha was just a child. Stop saying rude things about him!
And these people said harsh things about his mother too. They said she was a demon's hor and another that sounded like beach and slot. He did not really understand the words, and he did not ask his mother about them. He just knew they made her mother cry a lot. At night, maybe when she thought he was already deeply sleeping, she tried very hard to not sniffle aloud. Even when she had the disease, she tried to stop herself from coughing a lot.
If he was the reason for bringing the disease into the village, then why did it target his mother too? If it was really him, he would not let his mother have the disease.
But his mother had it too. And this morning, she died. The people said it was just. The demon's child angered the gods and brought the disease upon them, so it was right that the mother of said child suffered.
He did not cry when he woke up and found that his mother was not breathing anymore. He did not cry when he informed the headman of their village that his mother was no more. He did not cry when his mother was immediately brought out of the small room they live in. He did not cry even when he watched the men bury her. He was not sure why he did not cry.
He knew he had to eat by midday but there was no food for him so he continued sitting by his mother's grave. He was watching the village kids play and since he had nothing else to do, he tried to push his luck and asked them if he could play with them. Maybe they would pity him because of his mother's death. Maybe because of that pity they would let him play with them. And they did.
But it was not his lucky day after all.
Maybe he really did anger the gods. How, he did not know. Maybe these grown up people were right. He deserved to be punished. After all, was he not a frightening person? He had claws and amber eyes when the kids his age had nails and brown eyes. His strength could outmatch those of the men. He knew he was not normal. And maybe that was why he was being punished.
"You've overstayed here. Get out of this village."
He tearfully looked at this angry man. Maybe if he would see how much scared he was right now, maybe he would pity him. But the man was just so angry. He looked at the man behind him. It was the kind headman of the village. He tried to step towards him and maybe beg for mercy, but before he could do that, the leader just shook his head and mouthed his apology.
He thought of his mother and how he wanted to stay with her. Even if it just meant sitting beside her grave.
But the angry father held him by the shoulder and proceeded to shoo him out of the village. He looked for a kind face in the crowd, but there was none. None to rescue him.
It was then that he understood the situation. He was now alone. His mother had died. And he was now on his own.