Chapter Three: Beginnings
"I was born during a time of pain and destruction," he began. "It was time of infamy and evil. There was a war going on between the southern hanyou and the northern hanyou. My father led the northern hanyou into battle. The southern army's leader, Mekaimaru, had attacked us at full force without any warning. (A/N: I do not know his parents real names, so I'll just call them 'mother' and 'father')
"We were weakening dangerously fast. My father was desperate to somehow get more recruits. Unfortunately, hanyous were too scared for wars back in those days, especially wars against powerful hanyous such a Mekaimaru. But now the hanyous today are so determined that they kill anything they want out of pure pleasure. History is a very strange subject."
Kagome nodded in agreement, thinking back to her history teacher and the subject of the Vietnam War. It confused her so bad, she got an 'F' on her test grade and her mother had fainted when she saw the paper. Not to mention that she was grounded for two weeks.
"But anyway," he continued, "during this time my mother was in labor with me. Since my father was out leading the northern army, he could not be there to comfort her. But she somehow managed and gave birth on her own, and I was brought into the world.
"Her first words she said to me was, 'Inu Yasha'. And the name stuck. But the downside of my existence was that as soon as I was born, my father was slaughtered by Mekaimaru. It's a family curse, I suppose. It's happened before."
He chuckled lightly, but not in good humor. Some people, like Inu Yasha, can't help but laugh lightly when something terrible happens. Kagome supposed that this was to keep their tears down and their spirits high. "Inu Yasha," she began. "No, no. I'm fine. Don't worry," he assured her with a small grin.
She nodded, and he continued his story. "Well, after the war was over, our side ended up losing. So Mekaimaru and his army came over to our territory and started taking us away. Where we were going to be put, I had no idea. But it seemed like my mother did not want to find out.
"Even being weak from childbirth, she ran away from the territory as fast as her legs could carry her. She was fast for a human."
"A human?" Kagome interrupted. "Yes," he replied. "And my father was a demon; a full-blooded demon, to be exact. But because my father mated with a human, I became a half-breed."
"Oh," she said, blinking. "I see now. Go on."
"Well, it turned out that my mother did not know where to go. She was weak and scared and alone, and was frightened at the thought that Mekaimaru might catch her. But these thoughts had made her go faster and faster, and somehow, something was leading her in the right direction.
"As she stumbled into a clearing, she saw a little village not far from her. She ran up to one of the houses, and pounded on the door. A young man opened the door, and she fell into his arms, sobbing out the words, 'Help me. Please help me.'
"So he took us in without another word. He took care of us, but he mostly took care of my mother because she was dangerously near to death from straining herself. But she had lived, and as she slowly got better, she and the man fell in love. His name was Sai. He was a good man, and they were both human, so I did not care about their love for one another.
"We lived with Sai for five years, and I had become a small child. We were living the good life when we got the news that Mekaimaru was assassinated, be he had a son named Menomaru. My mother was frightened all over again, but even though I was very young, I comforted her by saying that Menomaru did not want anything to do with us. He was probably a good guy, anyway.
"She only smiled weakly and hugged me. Our life still carried on with no word from Menomaru, which was a good thing. But one day something happened to me that I would never forget."
He paused, as if he was not sure if he wanted to continue. "Go on," Kagome said softly, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. "What happened?" Inu Yasha sighed, and then continued.
"Well, there were only humans in the village. Therefore, there were children. My mother and Sai never let me outside to play with the children. 'You can play in the woods' my mother would say, 'But do not go near the humans.'
"Of course, being the ignorant and daring child I was, I disobeyed and set off into the village when I told my mother that I was playing in the woods. So I ran off and pretty soon found a group of kids and adults tossing a round ball around. It looked like fun, so I asked if I could play. They said no.
"But instead of saying 'Okay' and walking off, I began jumping around trying to catch the ball that sailed over my head. They ignored me, but then I eventually caught it. 'Hey kid!' an adult cried angrily, 'Give us the ball!' But I ignored him and started bouncing it on the ground experimentally. I was quite fascinated by the nature of this round object.
"They were all losing their patience; there were about ten of them. Yet as much as they wanted the ball back, they did not try to come close to me. Was it that they were afraid of me? Well, of course that was the reason. But since I was a stupid little kid I did not know that.
"Now that adult that had spoke up before was getting very impatient and very angry. 'Give me the ball!' he snarled. When I still refused to give it up, he tried again. 'Give me the damn ball, you little shit!' I looked at him intently, wondering what these words meant.
"I just ignored them once again even as they cursed at me and called me by the most awful names. Finally I stopped and looked up at them. 'Could I please play?' I asked. The man glared at me with the sternest scowl on his face. 'No, you can't!' he shouted. He then kicked the ball out of my hands, and it went sailing over towards a bridge that went over a small stream.
"He said in a voice full of hate, 'Go fetch, you half-breed. And keep the damn ball. No one wants to use it after you touched it with your dirty hands.' And with that, he spat at my feet and headed off.
"Soon everyone else went away, and I chased after that ball. It had landed on the bridge and I picked it up. When I got up, I saw my mother sitting there at the other side of the bridge. I ran up to her and said, 'Mother, what's a half-breed?' She only looked at me with tears in her eyes, and she gave me the biggest hug she had ever given me in my life.
"When we got back to the house, my mother did not spank me as most humans did when their children were disobedient. Instead, she told me what 'half-breed' meant. After she told me the whole story of the war and my father and her running away, I had looked at her with a new kind of respect. I hugged her and cried, and she hugged me back. She was crying as well.
"She did not tell Sai about it, thank the gods, but she never again spoke about the incident. I had many dreams after that. They were dreams about me being a full-blooded demon, a powerful being that no one would mess with.
"From that moment on, I wished that I could become full-blooded, although every one thought that it was impossible to be fulfilled. When I asked my mother if I could become a true demon, she only looked at me fearfully and said that there was no way. I knew she was hiding something; I could see it in her eyes. But I did not try to press her into telling me the truth; I would eventually find out myself.
"But, as I told you before, I was a very ignorant kid, so a week later I went out into the village again without mother knowing. I ran into a group of kids that were gambling on a doorstep. Some were from the ball game a week ago, but I still went up to them and asked, 'Can I play?' even though I had no idea what they were doing.
"They looked up abruptly, and their eyes went wide and their faces went pale as they saw me, the half-demon, standing there asking to play. Then their eyes turned menacing, and the eldest boy, whom seemed to be winning the gamble, growled, 'What the hell did you just say?' I had looked at him, thinking that he heard wrong, so I asked again, 'Could I play with you?' They looked at me, and then each other. They started to snigger.
"I waited patiently for their answer. Finally the eldest boy looked up again and said, 'Naw, I don't think we would like to play with a dirty half-breed like you.' That word again. 'But why?' I asked. 'Why do you hate me so much?' They snickered again and the youngest one piped up, 'Because you're a freak, that's why. I mean, come on. Your daddy had sex with a human, and your daddy was some freak demon; an animal. So you were born as some mixed-up animal freak.'
"The laughter again. Me, not knowing what sex was, only looked at them. 'But I am still a bit human, just like you.' The eldest suddenly got up and was in my face before you could say 'hanyou'. He towered over me and glared down at me and said, 'No one gives a shit about you part human or not. You are still a freak, and you always will be.'
"With that, he grabbed my sensitive dog ears and twisted them. I screamed and pain and backed away, tripping over a rock and falling on my back. He grinned. 'Come on, freak. Show us how strong you are.' He punched me in the stomach. I cried out and tried to get away, but he was holding me down with his free hand and his knee. He was too strong for me.
"As he continued to beat me up, his buddies could only look at him in horror. 'H-Hey, Tsuya' the youngest one called. 'I-I think that that is enough, huh?' The others nodded in agreement, but Tsuya only growled back, 'Come on now, boys. This little freak needs to be punished. He doesn't deserve to live.'
"He continued to punch me, and I continued to scream. Soon blood was pouring out of my mouth, and people were coming out of their homes to watch. Not to help, but watch.
"I screamed for help, but they only observed, quite amused. Some of the kids that came out of their homes picked up sticks and small stones and started throwing them at me. 'Stop!' I screamed. 'Leave me alone!' But they did not stop. Tsuya's buddies ran away in guilt, not looking back.
"The people were chanting, 'Hanyou, hanyou, hanyou' over and over again like a broken record. Blood and tears were pouring down my face, and I thought that I would have died if my mother hadn't appeared, screaming my name.
"She pushed through the crowd and threw the boy violently off me. He screamed as he landed on his arm, and I think he broke it. Serves him right, that little rat bastard. My mother picked me up in her arms and called my name, shaking me gently, trying to wake me, but in vain.
"She stood up with me limp in her arms, and she glared at the guiltless crowd with a gaze that would have burned a hole through someone's soul. 'You thoughtless, cruel animals!' she screamed at them. 'You bastards! How could you do this? How could you treat another human being just like yourselves with such hate? He may be different, but for the gods' sake, he's still a human being!'
"It was then that guilt was plastered onto their faces. Some looked at the ground or at their feet, some stared into space. Then, with a final glare of hatred, my mother took me to the house.
"I was cleaned up and my wounds were mended, but after I was well rested she told me, 'We're leaving as soon as you recover, Inu Yasha. This place is not meant for us.' I nodded in agreement and relief. She broke the news to Sai, and he nodded solemnly, knowing that he was forbidden to follow even though she loved him dearly.
"And she kept her word. As soon as I recovered, we left the house and journeyed to the west, hoping to find a new life. That was the last time we would ever see Sai, the village, and the cruel villagers."
He stopped and looked at an astonished Kagome. "And that is the beginning of my story," he said softly. Kagome shook her head in disbelief. "Those thoughtless bastards! How could they be so cruel?"
"Well," he said, holding her, "that is how the world works, Kagome, and the nature of the human being. It's just how life is." She glared at the ground. "Life sucks," she said simply. He laughed softly and kissed her hair.
"I should be going home now, Inu Yasha," Kagome said softly. "I would very much like to hear the rest of your story soon." He smiled and got up, helping her up as well. "Of course," he said, and they walked to the well together.
After Kagome kissed him good-bye and then jumped into the well, Inu Yasha's heart was filled with longing again. 'She'll be back next week' he thought. 'So stop moping, already.' He sighed and went back to his cave, laying down on a bundle of leaves for a much needed rest.
"I was born during a time of pain and destruction," he began. "It was time of infamy and evil. There was a war going on between the southern hanyou and the northern hanyou. My father led the northern hanyou into battle. The southern army's leader, Mekaimaru, had attacked us at full force without any warning. (A/N: I do not know his parents real names, so I'll just call them 'mother' and 'father')
"We were weakening dangerously fast. My father was desperate to somehow get more recruits. Unfortunately, hanyous were too scared for wars back in those days, especially wars against powerful hanyous such a Mekaimaru. But now the hanyous today are so determined that they kill anything they want out of pure pleasure. History is a very strange subject."
Kagome nodded in agreement, thinking back to her history teacher and the subject of the Vietnam War. It confused her so bad, she got an 'F' on her test grade and her mother had fainted when she saw the paper. Not to mention that she was grounded for two weeks.
"But anyway," he continued, "during this time my mother was in labor with me. Since my father was out leading the northern army, he could not be there to comfort her. But she somehow managed and gave birth on her own, and I was brought into the world.
"Her first words she said to me was, 'Inu Yasha'. And the name stuck. But the downside of my existence was that as soon as I was born, my father was slaughtered by Mekaimaru. It's a family curse, I suppose. It's happened before."
He chuckled lightly, but not in good humor. Some people, like Inu Yasha, can't help but laugh lightly when something terrible happens. Kagome supposed that this was to keep their tears down and their spirits high. "Inu Yasha," she began. "No, no. I'm fine. Don't worry," he assured her with a small grin.
She nodded, and he continued his story. "Well, after the war was over, our side ended up losing. So Mekaimaru and his army came over to our territory and started taking us away. Where we were going to be put, I had no idea. But it seemed like my mother did not want to find out.
"Even being weak from childbirth, she ran away from the territory as fast as her legs could carry her. She was fast for a human."
"A human?" Kagome interrupted. "Yes," he replied. "And my father was a demon; a full-blooded demon, to be exact. But because my father mated with a human, I became a half-breed."
"Oh," she said, blinking. "I see now. Go on."
"Well, it turned out that my mother did not know where to go. She was weak and scared and alone, and was frightened at the thought that Mekaimaru might catch her. But these thoughts had made her go faster and faster, and somehow, something was leading her in the right direction.
"As she stumbled into a clearing, she saw a little village not far from her. She ran up to one of the houses, and pounded on the door. A young man opened the door, and she fell into his arms, sobbing out the words, 'Help me. Please help me.'
"So he took us in without another word. He took care of us, but he mostly took care of my mother because she was dangerously near to death from straining herself. But she had lived, and as she slowly got better, she and the man fell in love. His name was Sai. He was a good man, and they were both human, so I did not care about their love for one another.
"We lived with Sai for five years, and I had become a small child. We were living the good life when we got the news that Mekaimaru was assassinated, be he had a son named Menomaru. My mother was frightened all over again, but even though I was very young, I comforted her by saying that Menomaru did not want anything to do with us. He was probably a good guy, anyway.
"She only smiled weakly and hugged me. Our life still carried on with no word from Menomaru, which was a good thing. But one day something happened to me that I would never forget."
He paused, as if he was not sure if he wanted to continue. "Go on," Kagome said softly, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. "What happened?" Inu Yasha sighed, and then continued.
"Well, there were only humans in the village. Therefore, there were children. My mother and Sai never let me outside to play with the children. 'You can play in the woods' my mother would say, 'But do not go near the humans.'
"Of course, being the ignorant and daring child I was, I disobeyed and set off into the village when I told my mother that I was playing in the woods. So I ran off and pretty soon found a group of kids and adults tossing a round ball around. It looked like fun, so I asked if I could play. They said no.
"But instead of saying 'Okay' and walking off, I began jumping around trying to catch the ball that sailed over my head. They ignored me, but then I eventually caught it. 'Hey kid!' an adult cried angrily, 'Give us the ball!' But I ignored him and started bouncing it on the ground experimentally. I was quite fascinated by the nature of this round object.
"They were all losing their patience; there were about ten of them. Yet as much as they wanted the ball back, they did not try to come close to me. Was it that they were afraid of me? Well, of course that was the reason. But since I was a stupid little kid I did not know that.
"Now that adult that had spoke up before was getting very impatient and very angry. 'Give me the ball!' he snarled. When I still refused to give it up, he tried again. 'Give me the damn ball, you little shit!' I looked at him intently, wondering what these words meant.
"I just ignored them once again even as they cursed at me and called me by the most awful names. Finally I stopped and looked up at them. 'Could I please play?' I asked. The man glared at me with the sternest scowl on his face. 'No, you can't!' he shouted. He then kicked the ball out of my hands, and it went sailing over towards a bridge that went over a small stream.
"He said in a voice full of hate, 'Go fetch, you half-breed. And keep the damn ball. No one wants to use it after you touched it with your dirty hands.' And with that, he spat at my feet and headed off.
"Soon everyone else went away, and I chased after that ball. It had landed on the bridge and I picked it up. When I got up, I saw my mother sitting there at the other side of the bridge. I ran up to her and said, 'Mother, what's a half-breed?' She only looked at me with tears in her eyes, and she gave me the biggest hug she had ever given me in my life.
"When we got back to the house, my mother did not spank me as most humans did when their children were disobedient. Instead, she told me what 'half-breed' meant. After she told me the whole story of the war and my father and her running away, I had looked at her with a new kind of respect. I hugged her and cried, and she hugged me back. She was crying as well.
"She did not tell Sai about it, thank the gods, but she never again spoke about the incident. I had many dreams after that. They were dreams about me being a full-blooded demon, a powerful being that no one would mess with.
"From that moment on, I wished that I could become full-blooded, although every one thought that it was impossible to be fulfilled. When I asked my mother if I could become a true demon, she only looked at me fearfully and said that there was no way. I knew she was hiding something; I could see it in her eyes. But I did not try to press her into telling me the truth; I would eventually find out myself.
"But, as I told you before, I was a very ignorant kid, so a week later I went out into the village again without mother knowing. I ran into a group of kids that were gambling on a doorstep. Some were from the ball game a week ago, but I still went up to them and asked, 'Can I play?' even though I had no idea what they were doing.
"They looked up abruptly, and their eyes went wide and their faces went pale as they saw me, the half-demon, standing there asking to play. Then their eyes turned menacing, and the eldest boy, whom seemed to be winning the gamble, growled, 'What the hell did you just say?' I had looked at him, thinking that he heard wrong, so I asked again, 'Could I play with you?' They looked at me, and then each other. They started to snigger.
"I waited patiently for their answer. Finally the eldest boy looked up again and said, 'Naw, I don't think we would like to play with a dirty half-breed like you.' That word again. 'But why?' I asked. 'Why do you hate me so much?' They snickered again and the youngest one piped up, 'Because you're a freak, that's why. I mean, come on. Your daddy had sex with a human, and your daddy was some freak demon; an animal. So you were born as some mixed-up animal freak.'
"The laughter again. Me, not knowing what sex was, only looked at them. 'But I am still a bit human, just like you.' The eldest suddenly got up and was in my face before you could say 'hanyou'. He towered over me and glared down at me and said, 'No one gives a shit about you part human or not. You are still a freak, and you always will be.'
"With that, he grabbed my sensitive dog ears and twisted them. I screamed and pain and backed away, tripping over a rock and falling on my back. He grinned. 'Come on, freak. Show us how strong you are.' He punched me in the stomach. I cried out and tried to get away, but he was holding me down with his free hand and his knee. He was too strong for me.
"As he continued to beat me up, his buddies could only look at him in horror. 'H-Hey, Tsuya' the youngest one called. 'I-I think that that is enough, huh?' The others nodded in agreement, but Tsuya only growled back, 'Come on now, boys. This little freak needs to be punished. He doesn't deserve to live.'
"He continued to punch me, and I continued to scream. Soon blood was pouring out of my mouth, and people were coming out of their homes to watch. Not to help, but watch.
"I screamed for help, but they only observed, quite amused. Some of the kids that came out of their homes picked up sticks and small stones and started throwing them at me. 'Stop!' I screamed. 'Leave me alone!' But they did not stop. Tsuya's buddies ran away in guilt, not looking back.
"The people were chanting, 'Hanyou, hanyou, hanyou' over and over again like a broken record. Blood and tears were pouring down my face, and I thought that I would have died if my mother hadn't appeared, screaming my name.
"She pushed through the crowd and threw the boy violently off me. He screamed as he landed on his arm, and I think he broke it. Serves him right, that little rat bastard. My mother picked me up in her arms and called my name, shaking me gently, trying to wake me, but in vain.
"She stood up with me limp in her arms, and she glared at the guiltless crowd with a gaze that would have burned a hole through someone's soul. 'You thoughtless, cruel animals!' she screamed at them. 'You bastards! How could you do this? How could you treat another human being just like yourselves with such hate? He may be different, but for the gods' sake, he's still a human being!'
"It was then that guilt was plastered onto their faces. Some looked at the ground or at their feet, some stared into space. Then, with a final glare of hatred, my mother took me to the house.
"I was cleaned up and my wounds were mended, but after I was well rested she told me, 'We're leaving as soon as you recover, Inu Yasha. This place is not meant for us.' I nodded in agreement and relief. She broke the news to Sai, and he nodded solemnly, knowing that he was forbidden to follow even though she loved him dearly.
"And she kept her word. As soon as I recovered, we left the house and journeyed to the west, hoping to find a new life. That was the last time we would ever see Sai, the village, and the cruel villagers."
He stopped and looked at an astonished Kagome. "And that is the beginning of my story," he said softly. Kagome shook her head in disbelief. "Those thoughtless bastards! How could they be so cruel?"
"Well," he said, holding her, "that is how the world works, Kagome, and the nature of the human being. It's just how life is." She glared at the ground. "Life sucks," she said simply. He laughed softly and kissed her hair.
"I should be going home now, Inu Yasha," Kagome said softly. "I would very much like to hear the rest of your story soon." He smiled and got up, helping her up as well. "Of course," he said, and they walked to the well together.
After Kagome kissed him good-bye and then jumped into the well, Inu Yasha's heart was filled with longing again. 'She'll be back next week' he thought. 'So stop moping, already.' He sighed and went back to his cave, laying down on a bundle of leaves for a much needed rest.