In Memory of You
Superhero Complex I
None other than his son, Chiwaii could match the hanyou's stubbornness. Hojo respected Chiwaii's decision but Inuyasha would have none of it. For weeks, Inuyasha made his presence known not only in the Akai household but also in the school causing aggravation and nerve-wracking moments on part of Chiwaii.
But neither would budge: Inuyasha still demanded Chiwaii to go back with him to the past and Chiwaii wanted Inuyasha to stuff himself into the well and stay there.
Chiwaii didn't know that his father and Inuyasha were on 'friendly terms' not until Hojo announced one afternoon that the hanyou would be coming for dinner.
Chiwaii didn't think that otou-san was serious.
But he was and not only did Inuyasha arrive in their apartment last night for dinner, the hanyou also brought some dressed rabbits from Sengoku Jidai.
Chiwaii could only stare incredulously at his father then to Inuyasha. To say that he was confused would be an understatement. He hated it how elders wanted children to act normal in the direst of all circumstances.
Mustering whatever was left of his strained fibers of civility, he went to the kitchen and took out some dishes to set the table and after a second, Hojo approached him.
"I'll take care of those. Why don't you go there and make Inuyasha comfortable."
The boy took his chance to express an inkling of his feelings on his glowering stare.
Hojo took note of it and was genuinely surprised by his son's reaction.
"I told you about Inuyasha coming over."
Chiwaii turned his attention away from his father and continued on with his task.
"I think it would be good if you would get to know each other better."
With that, his son looked at him meaningfully, abruptly nodded and then marched off to where Inuyasha would be.
Inuyasha gazed at the modest family pictures framed on the wall and that was only then he had truly realized the impact of time and his absence.
His sights lingered on the only picture where the Akai family was complete. It was taken after labor: Kagome tired and smiling, proudly holding young Chiwaii close to her and Hojo in his most harassed and happy expression, hugging both wife and son.
He felt like an outsider, an unwanted intrusion to this home and before he could fall again into misery, he turned away only to face Chiwaii who was looking at him with feigned nonchalance.
"Do you hate me?" Inuyasha asked before he could stop himself.
"No." Chiwaii admitted quite surprised at the hanyou's abrupt frankness." I don't even know you to hate you."
They talked but the gaps between their conversations were more prevalent and the silence more awkward than before. Thus both were relieved when Hojo finally called them for dinner.
Inuyasha, despite having been used to eating ramen and other foods with chopsticks, still devoured his food with childlike gusto. Hojo watched with amusement as Chiwaii would glare and sometimes loudly comment on Inuyasha's table manners. In retaliation, the hanyou would roll his eyes and intentionally worsen his performance in etiquette just to irk the boy.
When a piece of rice from the hanyou's frenzy of bowl and chopsticks flew right smack in Hojo's face, Hojo good naturedly smiled and wiped of the particle from his cheek. That didn't go unnoticed by Chiwaii.
"Look at what you did!" the boy exclaimed.
"Don't bother me, brat." Inuyasha bantered back at Chiwaii." Can't you see I'm eating..."
"Heck, you're practically inhaling that thing."
Seeing the bickering between Inuyasha and Chiwaii, Hojo, out of the blue, loudly mused," It feels as if I have two sons..."
Both Chiwaii and Inuyasha stopped in the middle of their argument upon hearing Hojo's comment.
"Oi, Hobo" the hanyou slammed his palm on the table." don't get any stupid ideas if you don't want trouble."
"Don't talk to my father that way." Chiwaii growled.
Inuyasha arched his brows, concealing any semblance of hurt. Grumbling to himself, the hanyou then continued to attack his bowl of rice toppings.
"I was just joking really..." Hojo smiled nervously and tried to act diplomat between two volatile personalities.
"Ah, Chiwaii, you should try the rabbit, it's delicious..."
The night went on too quickly as the three of them talked and played board games, as suggested by Hojo. Soon it was late and Inuyasha had to leave.
"I'll lead you outside." Hojo said when the hanyou announced that he had to go.
"Don't bother about it."
"No, I insist." Hojo immediately put his coat on and told Chiwaii that he would be back before ten as he opened the door for Inuyasha.
When he came back, Hojo was surprised when he saw Chiwaii still awake, sitting on a chair, facing the door in which Hojo had just entered. It was clear that his son was waiting for him.
"Why?"
With that one word echoing inside the dark and quiet room, Hojo tentatively glanced at his son. But the light from the window behind Chiwaii had shadowed his face, preventing Hojo from seeing any expression from him.
Recalling the incident in the kitchen, he fell silent. After a few seconds, he took his coat off and carefully placed it on the coat hanger. Then he began.
"You know Chiwaii, when your mother died, I was really devastated…"
His son let out a loud exasperated sigh; Being all too familiar with how his father would dwell on difficult subjects such as this.
Sitting on the nearest chair, Hojo spoke wistfully, staring at the darkness, seeing nothing but memories." …I could not eat anything. I could not even sleep.I pretended to close my eyes just to keep the nurses from fussing over me but when they have gone away, I find myself staring at the plaster ceiling."
From the corner of his eye, Hojo could see his son shifting uncomfortably. Frustrated that he could not make his son understand nor could he make himself more articulate, he got directly straight to the point and hope that his son could see his good intentions.
"He's alone, Chiwaii. I know what Inuyasha going through, I've been there and somehow I understand."
"He has his friends in Sengoku Jidai." Chiwaii grumbled.
"You're here." Hojo simply said.
Chiwaii rose and looked out the balcony, his back on Hojo. "He just wanted me to look for the shards…"
"How about this, "Chiwaii faced his father with a very serious expression." I help him find his precious shards and in return, I would make him promise not to bother us anymore."
He could see his father frowning on his proposition.
"It's getting late." Chiwaii tore his gaze away from Hojo, hating to see the disappointment and disapproval from his father's expression." I better go to bed."
"It would be better if you would think it over."
Chiwaii grasped the doorknob of his bedroom tight, fighting the urge to scream that he could not understand how his father would side with Inuyasha despite the trouble the hanyou had caused.
"Good night, father."
"You know I love you, Chiwaii."
He looked at his father, a little embarrassed. Chiwaii could never get used to his father being open on his affections.
Feeling his anger dissipate, he managed a small smile. "Yeah."
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When Inuyasha came down on the ladder, he snorted dispassionately at the charms and amulets surrounding the well. It certainly took more than those to keep him from traveling through the well.
He jumped and the magic of the well engulfed him. After a few seconds passed, he stared up and saw the dark sky above him.
Climbing out of the well, Inuyasha walked through the forest until he came upon the Goshinboku tree.
For a moment, he looked around and noted that there was no trace of campfire. Probably the others preferred to stay in the village.
He climbed up the Goshinboku tree, settling on the topmost branches. The night air was cool and the hanyou crossed his arms, hiding them under the folds of his sleeves.
Breathing out a loud sigh, he let his head fall back on the trunk of giant tree.
At last he closed his eyes to sleep.
However, a few minutes passed, his eyelids partly opened and absently, he stared at the scenery of the dark forest surrounding him. Nothing would be the same; he knew that from the moment he came back to Sengoku Jidai on his first visit to Kagome's grave.
He could feel the animosity of the others towards him and Shippo did not even bother to hide it. Not that he blamed them, of course.
It was all his fault and he would have given anything just to make things right.
The night was calm unlike his soul, whenever he tried to sleep, images of the past and the painful incident invaded his dreams. He could never sleep peacefully again, more so when he saw those pictures of Kagome and his son together with Hojo.
Failing to find refuge in the darkness of his slumber, he turned instead to the serenity of the night. The stars were few and yet there was the moon and its light drew the hanyou' gaze, mesmerizing him with its stillness.
And so it was and so it would be, Inuyasha never found sleep, even if centuries would have passed.
In the morning when the first light of dawn shone through the recess of twilight, the hanyou never realized he was weeping until he touched his face and felt it wet with tears.
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The scent of summer air hung heavy even early morning. Most people are oblivious to it but Chiwaii could sense it and as he rode his bicycle towards the school, he reveled on its smell. It meant that school days would soon be over. To be exact, when he previously checked his calendar, classes would end one week from now.
He paced absently through the hall, sometimes greeting several familiar faces. For a few minutes he was dallied by his teammates from one of his clubs, the Judo club, bringing him news of how they have heard from a reliable source that one of the rival schools plan to do something underhanded. Chiwaii, being polite, listened but did not really believe in the gossip for the team from that school had always schemed for something dirty but had so far never acted upon their plans.
Shrugging his shoulders, he graciously excused himself and went inside his classroom.
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The teacher's lecture droned inside the classroom, accentuated sometimes with the sound of chalk tapping against the blackboard. While other students pretended to listen, the more diligent ones jotted down precious information that dangled in the monologue.
Chiwaii, belonging to the latter category, tried to pursue the teacher's pace only to be slowed down by mistakes in his writing. Frustrated, he forcefully crossed out a misspelled word. Try as he might, Chiwaii could not keep his mind from wandering and he was angry for it.
Knitting his brows, in hope of summoning his concentration, he shuffled through the textbooks, finally noticing a white envelope sticking out between the edge of the table and the wall. Suddenly curious, he momentarily forgot the lecture and cautiously, he peeked into the contents of the letter.
He held his breath as he read. Then quickly, he looked at the empty seat, where his friend had sat. Chiwaii loudly exhaled in defeat, knowing that he could never concentrate throughout the day.
In the afternoon, when the last school bell had rung, Chiwaii was in a terrible mood. He had enough problems to take care of and he certainly didn't need another one. The warning of his peers rang in his head, the gossip proved to be true and of all the schools to be targeted, of all the members of the Judo club to choose from, he had the misfortune of being given the particular attention.
As written in the letter, Chiwaii had to meet the rival club at a certain empty lot fifteen minutes from now. If ever he failed to show up, they would have to beat up his friend Nihro Jubei in place of him. It was cliché, this whole act of hostage and rescue, and Chiwaii was not in the least amused when he walked outside the school gates, moving toward the location of their rendezvous.
While walking, Chiwaii grimaced, recalling his performance on last year's tournament. He had knocked down his opponents in seconds flat, awing spectators and fellow teammates---which for him was not a good move. Despite being accomplished on every activity he got into, he was careful not to show his true strength. On that occasion however, he got careless. During the day of the tournament, he had just found out that he had been cheated out of his salary in one of his part-time jobs and by the time he had set foot in the arena, he was seething and every opponent he had encountered had their faces superimposed with the image of his greedy boss. With righteous indignation and a hyperactive imagination, he unleashed his anger, letting himself get carried away with his kicks and punches while he had thought of his situation, and then later his father's repressive working conditions. Soon enough he found himself fighting for the oppressed, and it was during the point of lambasting capitalists that he realized he had almost bashed his fist against his opponent's head. Fortunately, his rival had dodged it and thus hitting instead the concrete wall. It was a moment out of time, with their eyes interlocked both of them heard the half-meter wall rumble and finally crack. His opponent's eyes widened in fear as if he was seeing something inhuman, then with eyes rolling upward, his rival had mercifully fainted.
A deafening roar from the audience suddenly terrified him. Thinking that his freakish nature was revealed, he cowered from the mob that engulfed him. It took a few seconds for him to sink that they were cheering for his victory. Pale and sweaty, he stole several glances at the wall, and then desperately prayed to whoever was up there when he had seen some miniscule cracks slowly creeping visibly on the wall.
He should have taken up chess.
At least when things turn for the worst, jealous rival schools might kidnap him or some friend just for a challenge, the battle would consist of sitting down and the ensuing carnage and gory stuff would be limited to a square checkered board. The challenging group might even offer him some tea and biscuits for refreshments and that would be certainly nice for Chiwaii.
While he was still wondering why he had not resigned from the team and entered the chess club, he was suddenly snapped out of his reverie when someone called out his name.
It was his challengers, without realizing it; Chiwaii had arrived in the ascribed location.
They showed him Jubei, bound and gagged to a corner. He could clearly see that his friend was more annoyed than terrified.
Silently promising to his friend that this would never happen again, he hid his hands in his pockets and in a clear calm voice, Chiwaii said to them:
"Well, here I am. Why don't we get this over with?"
After uttering these words, the bravest of the group moved forward, cautiously eyeing Chiwaii as he set into his fighting stance.
Issuing the first strike, his opponent kicked him on his stomach. Slightly tumbling back at the suddenness of the impact, Chiwaii made no move to retaliate or protect himself.
His attacker was surprised at his actions. Feeling more confident, he lunged at Chiwaii, punching him on his stomach then on his face.
" Baka!! Why don't you fight back?!!"
He spat on the ground with utter distate as Chiwaii had passively received his attacks. But the boy could see that Chiwaii was no weakling, he noted the fire in his eyes as he stood there somewhat taunting him.
I will make you fight with me then, the boy thought as he rain his blows on Chiwaii but Chiwaii only kept his hands fisted on his pocket, never taking them out even as he fell down to the ground.
The boy could only scream in anger and humiliation. Intending to help out their companion, the other boys from the group came forward and beat up Chiwaii. But it was useless, Chiwaii didn't fight back. In the end all, of them came and mauled him, Chiwaii had to cover his face, curling into a fetal position as they continuously kicked him and stomped him to the ground.
It was not a fight, thus they could not claim their victory even when Chiwaii had lain unconscious after their beating. Unsatisfied with the outcome, they let go of Jubei and halfheartedly hit him on his face.
When they had all gone away, Jubei walked hesitantly towards Chiwaii who had lain facedown.
"Idiot..." He muttered under his breath with a mixture of irritation and sympathy as he crouched down near Chiwaii.
"Who are you calling idiot?!"
Jubei almost toppled backward as Chiwaii suddenly sat up and faced him.
"And that's the gratitude I get for saving your sorry ass."
Jubei snapped out of his shock and replied.
"Hey, they kidnapped me because of you and it felt goddamn cheesy that you had to show up like some heroic martyr..."
He stopped talking, momentarily gawking at the bruises in Chiwaii's face. Jubei guessed that there were more under his friend's uniform and he felt a bit ashamed for his initial reaction.
"But you should have fought back, you know."
"And for what? To give them some satisfaction of a good fight?" Chiwaii slowly rose up and dusted off the dirt from his clothes." It would not be surprising if they or others would have taken you or any of my friends just to challenge me if I do fight. You get my point, don't you?"
"Well, yeah." Jubei stood up and looked at him, with concern evident on his face as he could see some blood tricking from his friend's temple. "But are you okay?"
"Hell no, dammit. I'm hurting all over." Chiwaii lied, "and you definitely owe me big time."
"I'll treat you to lunch for the rest of this month" Jubei offered." But we need to get you first to the clinic."
"That would be fine." Chiwaii mused, thinking of the money he would save. "And I need to stay at your place for a while. Otou-san would be hysterical if he sees me with these bruises."
"Okay."
And with that they walked away not noticing that among the foliage that clustered around the empty lot, there lurked the hanyou. Inuyasha grit his teeth in barely restrained anger as he had seen Chiwaii being mauled by a group of boys. Livid with rage he jumped of the branch and off to the walls and rooftops, itching for revenge in behalf of his son.
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Author's Notes:
I apologize for taking so long with this chapter. I originally planned to make this longer but I decided that I would take the other half on the next chapter. Thank you so much for the people who have reviewed this fic.
I admittedly adore those long reviews, thank you again.
Ah and as a reply to some readers:
I have not really calculated Hojo's age...but I imagine he's also quite young for a father...
And to blue rose, when I was writing the last fic, I haven't really thought hard of a name for the girl.So I just went with Keiko, but keep in mind she is not the Keiko from YYH. Maybe I could change it but let me finish the next chapter first.^_^
I 'm curious what part of this story gave more angst....I can't help to ask.
Oh, yeah also on Ch3: Truth and Storytelling...the verses come from " Simple and Clean" by Utada Hikaru.One of the inspirations for this story.^_^
P.S. ---Should it be latter or later? Let me know.