A/N: I love getting reviews from all of my readers. Seriously the feedback has been amazing! You guys rock and make writing this story all the more fun. Onto chapter three!
"Thanks for everything!" called Kagome over her shoulder as they left the village. They all waved until the people were out of sight.
"I feel well rested and ready to take on any demon!" Shippo shouted bravely from the basket of Kagome's bike.
Kagome smiled and petted his head.
"You seem happy, Shippo," Miroku commented.
Shippo grinned broadly, his little fangs sparkling.
Unaware of the conversation flying around him, Inuyasha dwelled on the heart stabbing memory of his childhood…
Inuyasha awoke to the rank smell of human flesh and stinging smoke. His body had mostly healed itself in his sleep thanks to his demon blood. He felt as tired and heavy as before, though. Hardly realizing what he was doing, Inuyasha pulled himself to his feet and staggered toward the collapsed remains of his home. Smoke still wafted in the wind and embers smoldered silently.
He dreaded what he would find but knew he couldn't leave…her…to lie in the ruins. For what seemed an eternity, he dug through the ashes and dirt. He walked through the entire blackened mess, remembering everything as it had been. His foot suddenly kicked something up along with a gray cloud of ash.
Inuyasha rubbed his eyes and waved the smoke away. He reached down and looked at the thing that had snagged itself on his foot. His eyes brimmed with tears as he recognized what it was. It was a singed piece of cloth that was ready to fall apart in his hand. It was a piece of his mother's kimono. He held it protectively in his hand as he continued to search.
At last, the remnants of a burnt corpse were all that Inuyasha found of his beloved mother. He felt his stomach lurch at the sight and he had to turn away for a moment. It was a few minutes before he dared to look once more. The instant he saw it again, he heaved…and vomited.
Wiping his mouth, Inuyasha began to clear a space around the skeletal remains. He removed his fire rat cloak and carefully picked up every piece of her. After an hour of making sure that no part of her had been neglected, Inuyasha began to dig.
He dug a hole deep in the ground which made it difficult for him to climb back out. He wrapped his mother's broken body tightly in a rag and set it in a long box. Inuyasha cast it into the ground as gently as he could. For a moment, he stared at the box with what remained of his mother. Then he began to cover it up once more. He shoveled dirt on top of the grave until it was a small mound of fresh earth.
The little hanyou knelt before it and folded his hands in prayer.
"Destroyed by her own despicable race, was she?" said a familiar voice.
Inuyasha looked over his shoulder to see a silver haired demon, not many years older in appearance than he.
"You're…"
"Sesshoumaru, yes. You're older brother. It's a bloody mess back there you know," he said tossing his head to the right. "All those dead humans…that wouldn't have been you, would it?"
Inuyasha lowered his head.
"They killed her," he said quietly. "They locked us in and burned everything. I wanted them to die."
"It's her fault."
"What?"
"You're mother was a weak human and wrongly fell in love with our father. The result is you, a hanyou whose blood is dirtied with human weakness," Sesshoumaru said with contempt.
"It wasn't my mother's fault!" Inuyasha shouted standing to his feet. "What the hell would you know about it anyway?"
Tears began to sting his eyes and he hated himself for it. Dammit, why do I have to cry in front of him? He thought angrily.
"A man never shows his tears, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha leapt at Sesshoumaru in a fit of rage. However, Sesshoumaru easily swatted him aside and dealt him a sharp blow to the neck, knocking him unconscious.
It was nearly midnight and the Inuyasha gang had just finished dealing with a particularly nasty demon. As tired as they all were, no one seemed able to sleep, save Shippo who was sound asleep in Kagome's bike basket.
Kagome took a seat next to Inuyasha on a grassy hill. He was staring thoughtfully up at the night star spangled night sky. His eyes were unusually emotional.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Kagome asked casually.
"Huh? Oh, nothing I guess."
"Really?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"You have been quiet and reclusive since we got back!" she shouted. "And I'm not gonna leave you alone until you tell me why."
"I've just been thinking! OK?" he shouted back.
"About what!"
"Nothing important or that you need to know about!"
"Don't make me say it!"
"Say wha—? You wouldn't dare!"
"SIT!"
Inuyasha fell face down on the grass.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Kagome said grinning evilly.
"You see, when I was little, people hated me and my mother. We couldn't leave the house without being yelled at. I hated everyone except my mother who I loved with my whole heart. She was everything to me." He paused for a moment and fiddled with a grass blade.
"What happened to her?" Kagome asked gently.
"She was murdered."
"M-murdered?"
"Yeah, murdered by her own people. Just forget it."
Inuyasha stood to his feet and leapt away into the night.
Kagome sat brooding over what he had told her. She had known his childhood had to have been rough. After all, she knew his mother died when he was still small and he never even knew his father. Plus she noticed that demons were less than respectful of half demons.
"Poor Inuyasha," she whispered hugging her knees.
A/N: this chapter took a little longer to upload. Sorry about that! Ug I really don't want this to get out of character! It's hard to keep Inuyasha in character when talking about emotions or his mother or something like that! Oy! Well, I cant tell you how much I love you guys, my reviewers! God Bless!
