Quiet Confessions
Kagome glared back at the well as she stomped towards her home. The nerve of that hanyou! Sometimes she wondered how he could have such a big ego! She clenched her fist and threw the door open to her house. Her mother looked up in shock as Kagome stomped past her with her aura crackling in anger.
"Hello, Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi said, unaffected by her daughter's bad mood. "How are you today?"
Kagome sighed, now that she was away from Inu yasha, she could feel her bad mood slipping away slightly. But only slightly…
"Been better, been worse, mama," Kagome said with a sigh and propped herself up onto the counter as she watched her mother do the dishes from breakfast this morning .a breakfast of many she'd missed.
"Did you have another fight with that sweet little friend of yours?" Mrs. Higurashi asked with a small smile.
"Sweet?" Kagome asked in disbelief. "Mama, you obviously don't know Inu yasha too well. He's rude, arrogant, pompous, egotistic, violent, bitter, aggressive, destructive…he's a jerk mama!" When her mom made no reply, Kagome scooted closer, "mama?"
"Reminds me of your father, really," her mother said quietly and smiled at her daughter. Kagome watched her mother's tranquil demeanor and leaned back against her hands, propping up her body weight. She'd heard some stories of her father, but not much.
"Mama…"
"He was a little rough around the edges, but I knew that it was all a façade," Mrs. Higurashi said wistfully and looked out the window sadly. "He was such a jerk sometimes that I thought that he didn't care about me. But sometimes there were those rare instances…when I knew…I knew that I was everything to him."
Kagome was silent, unsure how to answer her mother's remark.
"Then one day, I caught him, he was alone, but he was talking to himself," she smiled, "it was the day before he asked me to marry him. He was actually talking to the flowers, he later told me, but he was just confessing everything to the one thing he knew would keep his secret. Too bad I heard him." She smiled, "After I caught him he pretended to not know what I was talking about, like it was a joke. We fought and I ran home to the shrine. I was under the God tree crying when he confessed to me…he told me how sorry he was and asked me to marry him."
Mrs. Higurashi closed her eyes and recalled the memory. "There's a lot about your father that I really found annoying, but I think that if he wasn't the way he was, I wouldn't love him as much…"
"Mama…" Kagome said the only word she was capable of saying.
"I wouldn't always call your father nice and sweet, but he had his moments when he completely surprised me, Kagome. When he got rid of his tough guy act," she smiled, "he was a completely different person, but I still loved him…"
Mrs. Higurashi started to hum and clean the dishes with a flourish. Soon they were done and she wiped her hands on her apron. "Well, Kagome, I have to go get some groceries, if you're going back to the past, please lock the door," Kagome nodded dumbly and watched her mother grab her purse and walk down the steps of the shrine.
Kagome swallowed and looked back at the well.
---
Inu yasha glared at the well sadly and crossed his arms in his haori. If the stupid girl was going to be a bitch, then let her, its not like he needed her.
He walked away towards the god tree, deciding he would mutter his curses towards the future girl there. He walked into the small clearing where he first met Kagome and his heart sank. Sinking to his knees, he sat at the base of the tree, watching the light filter through the leaves and the wind rustling the branches softly.
Birds fluttered in the trees around him and his golden eyes surveyed them silently. Birds…they were always everywhere, and they couldn't speak. His ears twitched when he got an idea.
He sat very still, he barely breathed.
Birds flew around him and one dared to stop by his foot. He observed the bird quietly before hesitantly holding out his clawed hand. The bird looked at it hesitantly and hopped towards it. Its brown feathers ruffled up before it flew away. Inu yasha watched it go sadly. Even the birds thought him as a monster. He slumped against the tree and fisted his hand. Birds sung around him.
Another brown bird fluttered towards him and Inu yasha watched it quietly. Many thought him to be an impatient moron, but he knew how to be calm and quiet. He'd done many times before when he was hiding from youkai as a pup.
The bird opened its wings and fluttered onto his shoulder. It chirped happily and snuggled up into the soft fabric of his haori. Inu yasha smiled softly and slowly turned his head. More birds were around him. Some were on his knees, another was on his other shoulder and he could feel one chirping near his ear.
Then a small bird with blue feathers landed on his hand. Its small beady eyes studied Inu yasha without comprehension; after all it was a bird…
Inu yasha observed the bird and it cocked its head to the side. In a way, he felt like he could trust these birds. "Can I tell you a secret?" he asked, and some of the birds fluttered her wings in surprise. The blue bird chirped and Inu yasha smiled. "There's this girl…"
---
Kagome hoisted herself out of the well. Her eyes scanned the area and she was relieved, if not slightly disappointed, to see that she was completely and totally alone and no inu hanyou was preparing to cut her throat for walking away from him. She sighed and rubbed her eyes as the bright sun beat down on her. She pulled herself completely out of the well and began walking towards Kaede's village. That is until she saw a small little bird fly away from the god tree. She had a sudden urge to go there. She walked through the bushes, the soft wind pushing her hair back from around her face and whipping her small skirt around.
She pushed a bush aside and stared in shock to see Inu yasha. She…she had never seen him like that before. He sat calmly his face lowered to his hand where a small bird rested as he whispered to it. She noticed the many birds that were around him, how caring he was, how gentle he was, how quiet he was. This was her rude, arrogant jerk of a hanyou sitting like he hadn't a care in the world. She felt her heart thunder and she kneeled in the bush so that he wouldn't see her. A bird on his shoulder heard the noise and flew away, Kagome's eyes widened she watched Inu yasha follow the bird's flight with a sad, wistful look.
She gaped at him; she didn't know…there was so much she didn't know about Inu yasha.
He looked back at the small blue bird in his hand and whispered one last thing before holding out his arm and watching the bird fly away. Then his clear, soft, slightly painful voice said, "Fly…at least you can fly away from it all."
His voice must have scared the birds because they all got up at once and flew away quickly, the wind whipped Inu yasha's hair around his face and he turned his head towards her. "I know you're there, Kagome," he said calmly and Kagome jumped at the intensity in his golden eyes.
She guiltily stood and walked towards him, the stray birds resting in the field flew away and she sat beside him, observing him. He said nothing, just simply stared at the sky, watching birds fly around and clouds collect into shapes. His silver hair blew softly and his ears twitched.
"I thought you went back," he finally said.
"I did…" Kagome said with a smile, "But I came back."
Inu yasha said nothing, his attention somewhere else, Kagome hesitantly looked where he was looking and saw the small blue bird return. It was hopping towards Inu yasha and Kagome felt herself smile. The bird flew into Inu yasha's hand when he offered it to the bird and it chirped at Kagome.
"She came back," Kagome said with a smile.
"She did…" Inu yasha said and Kagome had a feeling that he wasn't only speaking of the bird. She smiled and linked her arm with his and he turned to her and smiled and she happily returned it.
"She'll always come back…" Kagome said softly and rested her head on his shoulder. Inu yasha only nodded.
