PART 2
Chapter Ten
Fifty Years Later – Wandering Hanyou
Ah, the ocean smells good, Inuyasha thought, closing his eyes and slightly tilting his head back as his nose took in the salty scent. He sat on the top of a rocky cliff overlooking the water, the ocean wind tossing his silver hair around and catching in his large red sleeves. For a moment he seemed to forget about everything else, and was content to simply sit and listen to the waves crash below him.
"Inuyasha-san?"
One ear turned towards the voice. He heard light footsteps coming towards him.
"Nande?" he responded without turning around.
"May I sit with you?"
He shrugged. "I can't stop you."
There was a rustle of cloth, and a girl who appeared to be a young adult knelt beside him. She looked to be, in most ways, a common village girl, and wore the traditional kimono and skirt, though in colors slightly more radiant than usual. Her hair was nearly the length of his and fell in an almost identical fashion, with wild bangs and a piece to each side of her head that fell in the front. But that was just about where the similarities ended.
For starters, this girl's hair was blue. The wind blew her hair back, revealing human ears, though her skin was naturally darker than an ordinary human's. Her eyes were a radiant purple with very small pupils, and her lips were cherry pink as if they had been colored, though they too were naturally that way. Her nails were slightly sharper than usual, though there were no youkai fangs in her mouth, for she, like the man she was now sitting next to, was a hanyou. A koumori [bat] hanyou, to be exact.
The two seemingly one-of-a-kind creatures sat in silence, gazing out at the ocean. In the distance was a human village situated right at the edge of the water, and at the edge of their vision was a dark cave on a small rocky island. The cave was abandoned, though long ago it had been the home of the Hyaki Koumori.
"So, Shiori, I take it you like living here?" Inuyasha said finally, breaking the silence between the two hanyou. She smiled slightly.
"After you and your friends came when I was little, and defeated jiisan [grandfather] and the Hyaki Koumori, the villagers accepted me back," Shiori responded. "They let me live with okaa and grow up in the village. I protect it now with my power to create barriers, and they let me live with them as one of them, even though okaa died a long time ago."
"I'm glad," Inuyasha said. "When I first came here, those humans stirred up bad memories. You deserve better than them, but I can't tell you what to do."
"You're so kind, Inuyasha-san," Shiori smiled sweetly. He rose to his feet.
"I'll be leaving now," the inu hanyou announced. The girl looked up at him, somewhat sad.
"Will you come visit me again? The villagers…they are nice, but there's no one here who understands me. Only another hanyou can really understand. Please, Inuyasha-san? Will you?"
He gave her a smile. "I can't promise nothing, kid, but as long as no youkai gets the best of me, I'll do my best to visit again."
She smiled brightly again. "Arigato, Inuyasha-san."
* * *
Sitting high in the branches of a tree, the inu hanyou pondered where to go next. For the past ten or so years, he'd been traveling the lands checking up on some of those he had helped back when the group had been together searching for the Shikon no Tama shards. Of course, none of the humans were alive seeing it had been about a hundred years since then, but there were still non-humans he could find again, and Inuyasha had made that his quest for the time being.
He didn't know why, but amidst everyone else he had remembered coming across during their travels, the young hanyou girl, Shiori, had stuck in his mind. He had easily found her living in the same village she'd been in years before, a grown woman now with impressive powers and a peaceful life. She had actually remembered him, claiming he looked exactly the same (though shorter it seemed) as he had when she'd been just a child.
The past fifty years of his life had been interesting, to say the least. He hadn't remained in his forest anymore after Kagome's death, instead leaving his home to his son, Higurashi Yoshiomaru, and going out to seek adventure.
Most of the fifty years had actually been spent with his brother, Sesshoumaru. Shortly after Kagome's death, the youkai lord's girl, Rin, had also died. After her passing Sesshoumaru had found his hanyou brother and requested his company in the now silent youkai castle their father had originally sustained.
With all of his claimed hatred towards humans, Sesshoumaru had found Rin to be the one exception, and allowed her to be the only human living in his castle. The youkai lord and the human girl had shared affections, and had even had what could be considered a relationship similar to being youkai mates or human husband and wife, though it had never been officiated or known of outside of his castle. They had no children; no matter much Sesshoumaru loved his Rin he would never allow another hanyou to be born in his family. Rin had understood and had never been upset by this. She knew he loved her even without having to produce children, and the girl had lived a life no other human girl would have ever lived.
At her death, Sesshoumaru found Inuyasha, and after telling his younger brother of what all had conspired between the youkai lord and his human, he had requested the hanyou's company. There were no apologies; for the most part the brothers had acted as though the bitterness between them had simply never existed. The fact of the matter was this – both of them craved a companion after having both lost their mortal lovers, and had found a sort of comfort in each other's presence. The fact that he'd had a mortal lover made Sesshoumaru somewhat more gentle towards his brother.
After Sesshoumaru took an inu youkai female in order to produce an heir to his lands, Inuyasha had once again began traveling, feeling somewhat uncomfortable in the female's presence. She had, of course, rejected him, but had pretended to be accepting in order to please her lover. But Inuyasha knew the truth, as did Sesshoumaru, and they had parted, though none of the tension that had previously separated them existed anymore. Sesshoumaru had told him that he should try and find another woman; after all, what was the good of living hundreds of years alone?
I cannot love another woman, Inuyasha thought, remembering when his brother had given him that advice. I promised Kagome. She will never be replaced in my heart. I don't care how many years I live by myself.
Shippou the kitsune was still alive. He lived in the mountains where he had previously lived with his family, and now had his own family. Inuyasha hadn't seen him in many decades. Miroku and Sango were, of course, gone, and their descendants tended the shrine built around the well and the house Inuyasha had built. The shrine that would exist through Kagome's time, and where Kagome herself would one day be born had been built in front of his eyes. It was amazing.
The sky turned crimson as the sun set, and Inuyasha sighed. Guess I better hunt before it completely sets. There was another reason why he had wanted to leave Shiori's town so quickly – it was the first day of the month, meaning no moon, and no youkai powers until dawn. Gracefully, he leapt from the tree, and walked a little ways before arriving at the beach to the ocean. He was far from Shiori's village, but still at the edge of the water.
In no time, the hanyou had a nice catch of salt water fish, a rare supper for him. Leaping from rock to rock, he headed out into the ocean, returning to the cliffs where he knew the cave of the former Hyaki Koumori was. That abandoned cave will be a good place to rest tonight, he thought. It'll be safe, and no one will stumble upon me in my human form.
He arrived just as the last shaft of sunlight disappeared, and quickly set about building a fire. He had to trust Shiori's words that the cave was abandoned, for his sense of smell and superhuman hearing had already abandoned him. It wasn't long until he felt the familiar shiver take his body, and he closed his eyes and waited calmly for the change to finish. His silver hair turned pitch black; the soft dog-ears perched on the top of his head migrated to the sides of his face, before turning into human ears. His fangs and claws disappeared, leaving weak human nails and dull teeth. When he opened his eyes, they were no longer slitted and gold, but round and dark brown. When he felt his remaining powers dissolve, he knew the transformation was finished. He was a human.
Inuyasha cooked his fish, and after filling his belly, rested against a wall of the cave, holding the sheathed Tetsusaiga in his crossed arms and patiently waiting for morning. He would not sleep; he never did as a human, and never would. So he simply settled back in a comfortable position and waited out the hours until sunrise.
