Hooray, another chapter! Okay, so this one has a bit of drama, and a little forshadowing on what confessions Toshio hasn't come out with yet. Very interesting. Sorry, but no replies today, too busy, sorry! Okay, so enjoy!
Chapter 17
" Toshio, I... I really never made up an explanation to why you left. All those years I hated you for leaving, never really knowing why. All I knew was that you left us, and you never even said goodbye. The only thing I had from you was a picture. A picture! What am I suppose to do with a picture? Was I suppose to imagine what my own father was like? No child should ever do that, no matter what. Why was I an exception? Huh? Answer me!" Kagome couldn't help but start to cry. At first it was just a couple of tears, but then it was uncontrollable, and she tried to suppress the cries, but she couldn't hide it anymore. Not until everything had been said was she going to stop." Oh Kagome. I never realized what I had done to you. I thought I was doing the right thing, but, now I see that I was terribly wrong. Kagome, why didn't you tell me this before?" He was touched deeply by her words and tears, he had never known the full extent of his damage to her emotionally.
" When?! You were never here! Was I suppose to tell you by phone or letter? But how?! You never called! You didn't even write a letter! Not even on my birthday! What did you want me to do?!" Kagome was exasperated and could not stop the flood of tears from streaking down her cheeks.
" You need to know the truth, Kagome. You can't go living your whole life thinking that I never loved you!" Toshio was to the point of tears. His eyes were desperate to explain to her, to make her change her mind. He knew that he wouldn't be able to take another loss, even if it's been more than 15 years. He couldn't.
" So then convince me that you love me! Convince me that you left, because it was life or death! Convince me!" Kagome's cheeks were wet from the tears, that were still flowing freely. The sun's yellow glow changed into a dark and deep orange, an orange that set the mood for Toshio's confession.
" I need you to trust me. What I'm about to say may come off as a lie, but you have to believe me." His expression shown despair and angst, practically jumping at her as if wanting to shake her into belief. It frightened her for some reason, how quickly Toshio was broken, and all it took was the truth. A truth that was oblivious to him. Something she had exposed, even if it meant changing him into that pathetic man in front of her. His wide and strong shoulders were now weighed down with depression, his firm figure changed into a pitiful body, not even the shadow of the previous figure Kagome had seen. But she didn't pay much attention to that, not after what he had just said. What was he going to say? She knew that she about to find out.
" Inuyasha! Weren't you with Lady Kagome?" Mirouku's tone held nothing immature, it was serious and slightly concerned.
" Yeah. I was." He slumped down and sat, legs and arms crossed, against Lady Kaede's hut's wall. Head bent down, he saw the streaks of the sun's rays playing across the floor. The night had gone, along with his Kagome.
" What happened?" Sango's voice held the impression that she thought that they had gotten into another one of their petty arguments, which angered Inuyasha, it wasn't like he went around picking a fight with her every chance he got.
" What are you say? That I made her mad, or that I made her cry? Is that it? Well, your wrong! I don't try to make her mad on purpose, I'm not that big of a jerk! Got it?!" His tone was deadly, not leaving room for apology, in case he slashed out at the next person to say anything. Just then Lady Kaede walked in, a basket filled with veggies in her right arm, and her left arm holding the flap that covered the entrance of her home open. She took a single glance at the enraged hanyou, and she knew not to ask questions, but her curiosity took over. Hey, she's not perfect.
" Why is it that you are here, Inuyasha? Were you not at Lady Kagome's time? Did something occur?" Her voice was not teasing or suspicious, but patient and warm. Inuyasha sighed and thought for a while. Taking in a deep breath he looked up at the elderly woman in front of him, basket now set upon the table near by.
" Kagome's dad came back." Was his simple reply. He expected choas, havoc, but all he got was a still silence. An eerie quietness that not even Naraku would dare disrupt. Fragile and brittle, the silence hung over them, threatening to break at any moment. Shippo was the first to move. He stepped closer to Inuyasha and placed himself in his lap. Looking expectantly at Inuyasha, his eyes were dead still, awaiting for the rest. Inuyasha was shooken by that look, the look that an elder wisemen would have, and here a child was playing it, with depth that would challenge that of any elder. Looking away from the child in his lap, he again placed his gaze ontop of Kaede.
" Her father came back?" Sango repeated, asking if she heard right. Inuyasha nodded, and then shook his head, not quite sure if he should tell them the rest, but then he thought that he would want to know anything about Kagome, so he sighed once again, deep and heavy.
" There's more. Lot's more." Shippo shifted in Inuyasha's lap, bringing his attention to the kitsune on his lap. He knew that he would be broken to know that Kagome might be leaving. But, they had to know.
" Inuyasha." Mirouku urged Inuyasha to continue.
" Her dad...well, he lives far away from here...and he wants...he wants to take them over there." Inuyasha stumbled on a couple of words, but he was thankful that they came out.
" You mean for a sort of vacation?" Sango's hopeful voice hurt Inuyasha. He knew that Sango would also be heartbroken by the news, but he had to go on.
" No. It wouldn't be like a vacation. It would be for years, many years. He wants them to live over there." Inuyasha's downcast head, caught sight of Shippo, now slumping down on Inuyasha's lap. His eyes glazed over, expression motionless, masked over not allowing Inuyasha to see any emotions. But he could smell them. Inuyasha choked at what he smelt. The poor child was destroyed. His heart was in turmoil, and his small body began to shake, but no tears came, as if in denial.
" Kagome? She's leaving? Where? She's leaving? Kagome? Where..." Shippo's voice seemed mechanical, yet low, barley a whisper, repeating the same thing over and over again. Inuyasha reached over, about to comfort him, but the child jerked away, still repeating the same things. He jumped out of Inuyasha's lap, and leapt into the middle of the circle. He began to rock back and forth, and his words became louder, more urgent. Sango stepped forward, bending down to caress the child. He didn't protest this time, instead he fell into her arms, tears falling down endlessly. His eyes were brimming with tears, falling and then being replaced, making it into an endless cycle. His whole body shook uncontrollably, and hiccups echoed around the room, cries escaping between his fingers which were pressed against his lips. In a matter of seconds he was drenched in tears, and his crying had not gone down, you could even say that they had increased.
Sango had stepped out of the room, bringing Shippo with her, still sobbing. She couldn't hold them in anymore, and she let tears stream down her face, and the occasional cry escaped from her.
" Poor Shippo." Inuyasha said, looking out towards the door, where the cries were still heard. He shook his and looked up at Mirouku, who so far had said nothing. He seemed deep in thought.
" What do you think about all this, Inuyasha?" Inuyasha just shook his head and gazed at the floor beneath him. He smiled a bitter smile.
" It seems that the only stable thing in my life is the ground beneath my feet. What a happy thought, no?" He laughed a cold and empty laugh, residing into silence once again. Mirouku, shooken by that laugh, felt the sudden intensity of Inuyasha's pain and sorrow. Mirouku sighed, now fully grasping the concept that Kagome might well be leaving them. For good. He faced the tired hanyou below, and saw that he had fallen asleep. must be exhausted.' Mirouku thought, and left to comfort the two outside.
Inuyasha fell asleep to the cries of a devastated child fox, the hushes of a sniffling young woman, and the soft words of a saddened monk. Sweet dreams.
I know no replies, but please review! I'll try to write back the next chapter, 'kay? Laterz!