Someday, Somehow
How the hell did we wind up like this
Why weren't we able
-Nickleback
Prolog-The beginning of the road
Inuyasha could think of other places he rather be then here, as he wondered through the booths. It wasn't the first time he had visited a human town, but usually he stayed cleared of anyplace where human gathered. Tonight he had no choice.
He looked up at the moon, wishing it was any night but this. He felt uncomfortable tonight. It wasn't from the stares that he wasn't receiving, or the lack of people darting away form him like he carried some sort of weird diseased. The problem they weren't, which was really unsetting. He never figured he would miss it, but after almost a hundred years of living with human prejudice, it was really unnerving not to have it.
"I wonder what they are celebrating," Miroku said watching a couple beautiful girls walking by, giggling. He smiled at them and they giggled and hurried away. He would have followed them if it weren't for the threat of Sango and her big boomerang.
"Why do we have to come here," complained Inuyasha out loud.
Kagome turned around and looked at her companions. She never had seen him like this. Mostly he could careless that if he was in a village, now he was acting like it was something new.
"What's wrong with you tonight," said Kagome, hurrying ahead to walk near Inuyasha. Most of the time he always walked ahead, followed by her and the rest, which she never understood why. He never seemed to want to be part of the group.
She looked at him again, wondering why he was acting this way. True they were on Seehomaru lands, but after the last encounter with Naraku, there seemed to be a strange peace between the brothers; one that might allow them to travel in his lands without the treat of his claws.
"Nothing," he growled and turned around, swishing his black hair in front of him, as if to hid what was really going on in his mind.
Maybe that was it, Kagome thought. Inuyasha never liked being out in public during his time of the month, and had hastily agreed to come to town with them.
Kagome shook her head, she figured he would want to come be apart of the human crowd tonight, Myoga had mention that Inuyasha used to sneak off into town as a child, during these spells.
Kagome sign, give it up to old soar puss to ruin the one night that she thought everyone could relaxed. Well, it wasn't going to ruin her night, she always loved festivals as a child and now she had a chance to visit a genuine medieval festival. Not that these people knew that they were living in the feudal age, to them it was the presents.
"Chill, Inuyasha, it's only for a night, you really need to learn how to relax," she said touching his shoulders.
He turned and growled at her before walking away. She looked at him hurt, as many times as he had yell at her in the past, he had never growled like that. As if he was saying don't touch me.
She sign, wishing that the old flea was here, he was a lot better at explaining Inuyasha then she was at trying to figure him out.
"Kagome, look there's a storyteller," Shippou said, pulling on her leg. She picked up the kitsune before heading over to the entertainment. Let Inuyasha stalk all he wanted she was going to enjoy herself.
"I still want to know what this festival is for," said Miroku said as the story tell, told a story. "I don't remember any kind of festival around this time."
The storyteller stopped and looked at the young monk. "So you want to know about the festival," he said walking over to the monk. The crowd parted allowing the old man to have access to him.
"This is the day that young princess, last of the royal line, gave her life to a very furious dog lord to save our village over a hundred years ago," he said his voice dropping. Miroku could feel some really bad acting coming on.
"She not only give up her life, but her virginal blood for this village, and for that we honor her sir," said the storyteller, throwing his hands up in the air.
"So he raped her," said Miroku, not really believing it. As much as he had studied youkai he knew that they were able to control the human mind. They didn't need to worry about a human not being cooperative.
"That isn't how it happen, Old man."
The whole villages turned to face Inuyasha, who was leaning up against a wall, his hand cross and a scow in his face.
"What did you say," the storyteller said.
"I said that isn't how it happen," he said.
"I doubt young man you would know of it," he said
"I know more of it then you would ever known," said Inuyasha turning to leave.
Kagome watched as he walked away, trying to figure out why he was acting like he was. He never stuck up for youkais the way he did just now. He always agreed that they were dangerous lot, best left for him to deal with. But now he was acting like the very idea of youkai savagery was offensive and all lies.
Dog youkai? Kagome looked backed at the storyteller, not believing it. Inuyasha was part youkai, dog youkai and the other part was human. And Myoga once mentions that both sides of Inuyasha blood were noble. Plus, the village was on Sesshomaru lands, which would have once belonged to Inuyasha's father.
She didn't say anything, but handed Shippou to Sango.
"Where you're going?" Shippou asked, not happy to be past someone else.
"I need to be alone," she said turning to take off. "I'll catch up with you later."
It took her a while to find Inuyasha, even in human form he didn't leave a trail. He had made his way to the village's temple and now was siting down looking at something.
She approached him causally, knowing she was heading onto very unstable grounds. Inuyasha wasn't the type of guy that would talk about his past without a fight. Come to think of it, she knew nothing, except what Myoga had let slipped or what she found out on her own, which was about a handful of information.
She had seen his mother once, when Sesshomaru had used the Muonna on him to obstruct information from him. But even Myoga said that wasn't a real picture of her ladyship.
Quietly she sat down next to Inuyasha, tucking her knees into her chest and wrapping her hands around them. She placed her head down on her knees and looked at the simple stone statue that stood there.
"Is that where your mother's body is laid to rest."
He looked down at the small human, for the last year he had been connected to. She always was a strange creature, one of great strength and greater gentleness. But worse of all he couldn't hide from her, like he could do to the others, and she knew it. She knew how he was thinking, how he was feeling, even when he wasn't ready to confront those emotions, she knew. She had the ability to hurt him worse then anything that Sesshomaru or Naraku could ever do.
So he wasn't too surprise when she followed him here.
"No, my mother died far from here. Her body ashes were toasted into a river, like she wanted to be."
Kagome looked at him; she didn't always understand this world. This was a world full of her world superstition. What lived in the back of her world's men minds and their fears: lived in reality here.
"What the man said, it didn't happen like that," she asked.
"My father wasn't a rapist," he said, but not sure he believe the words. "Unlike human, males of my kind don't see the need to force what woman will freely give," he said, a bitterness in his speech.
"I didn't say he was," Kagome said back.
He keep forgetting this little thing had a backbone, more so then anyone else he had known. She never back down; much like his mother. Unlike all the other females, including Kikko, she wasn't afraid to speaking her mind.
"I know you didn't," he said. Not really wanted to end up face down on the ground.
They sat in quiet for a couple of minutes each one lost in their own thoughts.
"So how did they meet," asked Kagome after a while. She knew the whole story of how her parents fell in love, but it probable wasn't as romantic as how Inuyasha's did. The story had to be dripping with romance, look at the leading characters, a beautiful princess and a very powerful youkai. Being a girl made her a sucker for a good romance story.
"Why do you want to know," said Inuyasha, a little pusillanimous on the reasons. The girl was getting to close for comfort. Even Kikko hadn't been able to get this far into his soul, and the worse part is each time she dig a little deeper, his soul wouldn't let go.
"It sounds romantic," she said.
"Romantic and my sire don't go hand and hand," he said.
"How would you know, you have told me more then once you don't remember him," said Kagome in defense. There was no why he was getting off that easy.
"Look at me and Sesshomaru, do we act 'romantic'" he said. He really wasn't sure of the word. He only had it come from her mouth and the way she talked about it had to be some sort of wishy-washy thing.
True, they weren't the stuff that romance novels were made of, but there had always been something, she dare say, sexy about both of them. Maybe it was the better then thou, rough, manly appeal to both of them, that had to come from their father. Even if both of them hadn't realize it. Maybe that was one of the reasons why she was so attracted to him. Somewhere in the back of her mind, there was some dirty dreams about Inuyasha, that still hadn't come into play.
"You're not going to say anything," he said very casually.
She smiled, not today, maybe one day when this was all over, and Kikko was out of the picture she would. But until then she would just have to keep her thoughts to herself.
"I don't want to spend the night arguing on how each of us perceives you, Inuyasha. So you don't know how your parents met?"
Inuyasha sign, realizing not to dig any farther, there were things he wasn't ready to admit to, one of them was Kagome.
"No," he said. "I really don't have any recognition on either of them."
"Well you must have been awful young at the time," she said.
"Eleven," he said.
"Eleven? How the heck do you not have any memory of them if you were eleven when they died."
"I was stuck to a tree for fifty years of my life, Kagome, you usually forget stuff by then," he said.
"But don't you wished that you remember," she asked. She had lost her father when she was very little, so the little memories that she had of him were very precious to her. She couldn't understand why something like this, he wouldn't fight to obtain them again.
"What's the point," he said.
She put her head on his shoulder, which cause him to jump a little. He still wasn't used to the fact that she didn't cringe when she touched him. She even once told him that she felt safe around him.
"I still think it is a romantic story," she said yawning.
"You would," he said relaxing once this whole life.