Chapter 3 - Questions and 'Keh!'
Inuyasha's life fell into a sort of pattern: care for Katin, protect the village, and care for Katin. He visited Kagome's family every few weeks for supplies and a break; their unrelenting love was the one thing he could count on to refresh his sagging sprits, and it kept him from giving up, it reminded him so much of her.
He had built a hut for himself and Katin at the outskirts of Kaeda's village – not wanting to inconvenience the others with Katin's constant vocalizations. Of course his expressed reason was: "To get the hell away from you guys and you're constant meddling." His new found solitude with is daughter was at first very lonely, without the others to talk to (or at least listen to) he was left with no distractions from his aching heart and the raging guilt trip that constantly barraged his thoughts. The only respite he received was from Katin. The fact that her survival was wholly dependent upon him, and her innocent, if ignorant, trust in the care he provided, began to heal his waning confidence.
Their solitude was short lived. Miroku and Sango soon arrived at his door, carrying their small son, Keto, and a proposition: they would help him raise the child and keep his home if he allowed them to share it with him. His answer was decided before they even finished their speech, but he only gave them his indifference, which they took for what it really was. Within a week the five of them were settled under one roof, and a patchwork family was formed.
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The years passed, and Katin grew. Inuyasha watched with fascination as she learned to sit on her own, to crawl, and then walk. That was where the fascination stopped and the trouble started. She was a hanyou and therefore much more resilient then human children her age, which was a good thing, because Inuyasha was sure no human child could survive all the trouble she got herself into. He was much too over protective, this he knew. He watched Miroku laugh off the tumbles his son took, but he could not help himself from scooping up Katin and scolding her every time she made his heart jump to his throat with worry.
She was a happy child regardless of his scowls and scolding. He had the others to thank for that, they offered her the normality and open love he could not. Since the time she was able to speak and understand the special bond between them had been broken. He could no longer bring himself to cuddle and openly love her. To the others it was a mystery, the best they could figure was that he was suddenly embarrassed by showing affection – which was not completely implausible, since that was how he had been at first with Kagome. But it wasn't that. He was not completely sure why the sudden change had come over him. He did know, however, that he must protect the child at any cost, and there was no room for emotions or idleness in the roll of protector. He would protect Katin and the village, and never loose that which was important to him again – he refused to fail anymore.
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Katin grew steadily in to a beautiful pup. Her raven hair and brilliant golden eyes were a startling contrast, and her adorable little dog-ears gave her an innocent sweetness that no one could deny, despite the tiny fangs that protruded over her bottom lip. She had the entire village wrapped around her little finger, even her indifferent father couldn't always hide the affection he felt for her. Despite all that there was one thing she could never get, and that was a straight answer concerning what had happened to her mother.
It was not until she was five that Katin became really curious about the absence of her mother. Since she could remember she had listened to tales about hunting the Shikon shards, from Uncle Miroku, and she had spent countless weekends at her grandmother's shrine looking through picture albums. No one had ever tried to pretend her mother hadn't existed, she was constantly told of and shown how wonderful the Miko Kagome had been. But no one bothered to explain the woman's absence, and Katin was determined to know…and to find out from her father.
"Otousan," the young hanyou approached him, a tentative finger in her mouth. She might be young but she knew her father well, and she when to be direct with him and when not.
"Hmmm?" He looked to her, taking his attention way from his thoughts.
He always looks so sad.
"Otousan, why…why do I have eyes like yours, and not Okaasan?"
He stared at her for an unblinking moment, then turned way.
She knew she would get no answers from him now, so she left to find her Uncle. Her father was always so serious, so angry…so sad. It confused her and hurt her feelings, but Uncle Miroku was always smiling, and so she turned to him whenever her father tuned her out.
No one ever spoke of why her mother wasn't around, especially her father. That much alone told her something terrible had happened.
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"Tell me again Miroku!" she exclaimed, giggling into her hands.
Miroku smiled, "You have to promise to keep this a secret. If your father ever found out that I'd told you I'd get a good pounding for sure!"
The seven year old giggled again and nodded. "Cross my heart." She mimicked the pledge, grinning.
"Okay," he leaned in, as if intrusting her with life's greatest secrets, "When ever your father misbehaved, your mother would yell "Osuwari!" and he'd slam face first into the ground!"
The little hanyou dissolved into another fit of giggles. The fact that anyone had any power over her stoic father was amazing enough, but the image of him eating dirt was enough to send her into hysterics.
The whole conversation had come about when an angry Katin had stormed into the hut claiming her father was the most horribly unmovable person to ever exist. He refused to let her play with the village children out of his sight. They were all planning to play hide-and-go-seek in Inuyasha's Forest.
"Absolutely not! Don't you realize how dangerous it is? Without supervision you'll all be demon lunch!!"
Aho Otousan! He's killed all the demons within miles…!
Miroku had sought to calm the girls anger with humor.
"So how could Mama 'sit' him? Did she use her miko powers?"
He chuckled, "In a way. You know the prayer beads he wears around his neck?"
She nodded.
"Well, those are the cause, and 'sit' is the magic word!"
She giggled again, "What did father do to make her cast the spell?"
"Oh, he was quite wild in the beginning…out of control sometimes." His eyes glistened with mischief.
That shocked her a little. "Father, out of control? When? All he ever does is scowl and watch things." She shuddered a little, thinking of his impenetrable gaze. "He's got to be the most boringly controlled person ever! Geez, the most I've ever seen him in action is when there's a demon around…"
Miroku put a stop to her depreciating words, knowing Inuyasha was likely within hearing distance.
"Well he may seem so, but he cares for you very much."
"Keh!" she replied, turning up her nose at the idea and looking so much like Inuyasha that Miroku couldn't hold back his laughter. Slightly hurt to be laughed at she sulked for a few moments. Then forgetting her displeasure with a quickness that is only inherent in the very young, she asked the question that had suddenly occurred to her.
"Uncle, if the beads were Mama's spell, why does father keep them?"
A guarded looked came into Miroku's eyes and she knew she would get no satisfactory answer from him.
"I couldn't say child, I couldn't say." And with that he stood and brushed off his robes, "Why don't you go and find that son of mine, and bring him in for supper?"
She sighed, "Hai."
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Years passed and Katin grew. Her resemblance to both her parents was astounding, and not only in the looks department. Her benevolent personality matched her mother's, as well as her cleverness and sincerity, but she had also inherited Kagome's flaring temper. This wouldn't have been so hard to deal with on it's own, except that on top of it all she had Inuyasha's hot-headedness and stubborn pride.
Her coming of age had been delayed due to her human blood. A full blooded youkai would have come into their own at the age of nine, realizing their true powers and strength. So far Katin was maturing like any human would, but her time was fast approaching, that much Inuyasha knew.
Despite her unrealized powers, at eleven years old, she was already a force to be reckoned with, and that wasn't even taking into account the fact she was a hanyou.
Not to say that she was always moody or dangerous, she was usually a happy child, content and kind, but step on her toes, look at her the wrong way, or insult her sense a honor, and you would get burned. This, the village children had learned after a few unfortunate run-ins with a cranky Katin.
Sango was administering bandages after one such run-in with a group of boys.
"Katin, you know you shouldn't fight with the other children." She scolded.
"Keh! They started it. They said father destroyed the village, that he was once evil! That's the dumbest thing I ever heard, he's their protector, they should show more respect!" She folded her arms and refused to say more.
After a few minutes Sango gave up scolding and sent her to gather the others for supper. She didn't bother trying to explain to the child, she knew it was Inuyasha's place to speak of the past, if at all. But she did mention the incident to the hanyou after the children were in bed.
He bristled at the thought of her fighting. "That girl! I leave her for one day and she thinks she can…"
"I don't believe that is the point, Inuyasha." Miroku interrupted his tirade.
"Well then…"
"I think you have to tell Katin about the past. Everything. Kikyou, Naraku, Kagome…everything. The older she gets the more questions she has and the more rumors she hears. It's not fare to keep things from her."
"Yes," Sango interjected, " Just the other day she came home crying because she had a fight with some children. They were saying Kikyou was a better miko than Kagome…and I'm sure she doesn't even know who Kikyou is!"
He was silent for a few moments. He didn't like the thought of trying to explain the past to his daughter. He didn't want to relive it. He wanted it left the way it was, out of his thoughts.
"Do you really thinks she needs to know such things?"
The others nodded.
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The next day he tried to explain the past. He got about as far as "I fell in love with the miko Kikyou…" before Katin yelled at him and ran away. Thoroughly frustrated and annoyed, he'd jumped onto his perch to moodily wait out the day. He practically bit Miroku's head off when he came to see how things had gone.
Katin found herself in Kaeda's hut, listening to the old woman tell the tale of a man she hardly recognized as her father. When she had heard him proclaim him love for someone other than her mother, she had been furious - How could he!! – but somehow such a story coming from Lady Kaeda was not as offensive. She found herself feeling sorry for her father, hating Naraku, loving her mother, and wondering about the Shikon Jewel.
"But, Lady Kaeda, what happened in the end? No one ever speaks of the Jewel or Mama."
"Well child, that be a story for another day."
"But…"
"No, no, it be a tale for yer father to tell, not I."
Sighing, Katin nodded and left the hut, thanking the old woman.
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Half an hour later – following another yelling match and botched attempt to explain the past – Katin was back in Kaeda's hut begging for answers.
"Oh please, Kaeda, father is so mean! All he does is get mad and then be mad that I'm mad…and, and he doesn't care if I ever know about Mama! He doesn't care at all!!" She cried, tears threatening.
"Hush yerself child. He cares. He cares too much for his own good, but he cares well enough."
"Keh!"
"Now, I will not tell ye a word tonight. I'm very old and I need my rest. If Inuyasha hasn't told ye by the morrow, come back and I will."
"Arigeto, Lady Kaeda," Katin bowed in thanks and sealed her curiosity.