Mizukithepanda: ...stares at you, wide eyed... You are very, VERY close. In fact, you're correct about like everything. Except for who Jiko's dad is. ...snickers evilly... See my post a.n. please. But I'm still REALLY impressed . . . is my fic that predictable?
Guardian of the Hell Gate: You didn't have to wait THAT long, did you?
inu'sgirl67: Actually, yes. It's supposed to be that way. Kag is afraid of Inu. ...mock wonder... But why?
Disclaimer: No habla . . . no habla . . . uh . . . Japanese . . .
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It had been days now. No. Weeks. It had been weeks now, and she hadn't seen hide or hair of him. He must've . . . given up . . .
"Mommy?"
But she couldn't just leave him thinking that she hated him. No. She'd die before she hated him. How could he believe such a horrendous thing?
"Mommy?!"
But what could she do . . . she couldn't go out and find him. If she did, everything would finally be revealed. He'd know why she ran away . . . and despise her for it.
"Mommy!"
Finally blinking back to reality, Kagome looked down at Jiko who was giving her an annoyed look.
"Uh, yes, Jiko?"
"It's about time you snapped out of it!" He immediately smiled widely at her from his mat. "Will you sing me the song, Mommy?"
"The song?"
"Mommy? Are you feeling okay?" Jiko sat up and felt her forehead. "You seem a little feverish . . ."
Chuckling half-heartedly, she removed his hand. "I'm fine, Jiko."
"You've been acting strange . . ."
"Mommy's just been thinking . . . that's all . . ."
"About Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha . . .
"Mommy?"
Inuyasha . . .
"Moooooommy."
Inuyasha . . .
"MOMMY!!!"
She snapped out of it again. "Uh, y-yes? Jiko?"
"Why do you always space out when I talk to you about him?"
"I-It's nothing, Jiko . . . just go to sleep . . ."
"Then sing me the song . . . won't you?"
"Uh . . . Jiko . . . Mommy . . . Mommy really doesn't feel like singing at all right now . . ."
His face immediately contorted into a pout. "Why won't you sing? You haven't sung to me since I first met Inuyasha." Jiko's face immediately showed revelation. "Is . . . is the song about him?"
Kagome immediately felt like a dagger had been shot through her heart. The song was about him. It was her simple way of keeping him around, even after everything that had happened. Despite everything, she still loved him with all her heart.
"It is, isn't it?"
The priestess immediately looked away from him, knowing that he knew. Knowing that he would soon start asking questions. The exact questions she had hoped never to answer.
"Was . . . was he my daddy?"
Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as the words came from his mouth. "Oh, Jiko . . . how I wish he was your father . . ."
His face split with surprise. "Th-Then . . . who?"
The question she'd hoped never to hear. Who is my father? Little did the boy before her know, the question itself was enough to shatter the priestess's resolve.
Who is my father?
"J-Jiko . . ." Her voice shook as she tried to find the words. "M-Mommy . . . Mommy . . . d-" She stopped. She couldn't tell him. She couldn't tell him. There was no way she could tell him. That piece of information would destroy him. She knew it. She could never let him know. Ever.
"Mommy? Who was it?"
"Jiko . . . Mommy can't tell you . . ."
She expected him to protest, but he didn't. He merely gave her a look of pure understanding, way beyond his years.
I understand, Mommy.
She could practically hear his voice speak the words as he merely looked at her with those ever understanding eyes. Kagome almost felt like she could tell him everything that had happened, and he'd 'understand.' He wouldn't add any of the extra emotion to it.
But she knew better. No matter what the outside looked like, the inside would be viciously torn apart by the truth. And she couldn't bare to see that fate happen to her one and only son.
"Jiko . . . please go to bed . . ."
Looking slightly downhearted, he nodded and curled up on his mat, closing his eyes tightly.
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A few hours later, Kagome was traveling on an all too familiar path into the forest, an old, worn bow clutched in her hand.
She had to get him off her mind. If she didn't, everything she had worked so hard to hide would come to the surface. And the best way that she could think of was archery, one of her favorite pastimes.
Traveling deeper and deeper into the forest, her eyes suddenly became ever frostier than before, clouding into a cold abyss she only wore when her duties called for it.
Stopping in a clearing, she closed her eyes, feeling all the presences around her. Silently, she drew an arrow and pulled the bow string taut.
Fasting than lightning, she turned around, opening her eyes and releasing the arrow. With a small thud, it hit dead center on a tree, pinning a small lizard demon to the rough bark.
Walking over to it, the demon started squealing and writhing around. Kagome grabbed it by its tail as she removed the arrow, letting it squirm in her grip.
"Gotcha." She smiled as the demon continued to wriggle around between her fingers. Suddenly, it twisted around, sinking its fangs into her hand. Kagome immediately released it as blood oozed from the wound.
"Kuso!" She sank to the ground, already searching through her clothes for something to bind it with. Her hand finally fell on a soft cloth, and she pulled it out.
It was the handkerchief that Inuyasha had given her. Kagome sighed as she fingered it gently. He really did care for her, and she couldn't just leave him out there to believe that she betrayed him.
Standing up, she gently tucked it back into her clothes as she drew another arrow and placed it in her bow. Pulling it taut, she aimed at the center of a tree about fifty feet away.
Inuyasha . . .
Sighting along the arrow, images flashed through her mind.
The well.
The tree.
Inuyasha.
The jewel.
The arrow.
Shippo.
Miroku.
Sango.
Inuyasha.
Inuyasha.
Inuyasha.
As she pulled the bow even tighter, the image of Inuyasha and his look of betrayal as she cried flashed through her mind's eye.
Whether she wanted to believe it or not, she had betrayed him. She had left without ever telling him why. She left, leaving him to believe that it was all his fault, and she never cared for him.
But she did care for him. That's why she left. That's why she could never see him again. But she had, and now she had hurt him. The whole reason she left was so that he wouldn't get hurt, and yet somehow, he had.
She readied herself to release the arrow. All she had to do was concentrate for a few seconds, leaving those thoughts behind.
Suddenly, a flash of red and silver flashed before her eyes, leaping and seeming to hover where her bow was aimed.
Inuyasha . . .
The string snapped.
Inuyasha . . .
The image faded as she sank to the ground.
Inuyasha . . .
She had betrayed him. She had betrayed him. She was no better than Kikyo to him anymore. And this wasn't all caused by a power hungry demon either. She really had betrayed him.
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Jiko's eyes slowly opened as the sun peeked through the cracks in the door. He rolled over, moaning, then lazily looked over at his mother's mat.
He shot straight up.
She wasn't there.
"Mommy!" He scrambled to his feet, frantically searching for her. "MOMMY!!!"
He ran out of the hut, tripping slightly over his blanket.
"MOMMY!!!" Tears pricked at his eyes as no one answered. He ran out and around the village, sniffing desperately but not picking up anything.
Running out into the fields, tears slid down his face as he found not a trace of his mother.
"MOMMY!!!!!" he screamed. Yet again, no one answered. "Mommy . . ." He sniffed, staring off into nowhere, tears sliding casually down his face.
"Well, well, well . . . if it isn't our favorite little hanyou . . ."
Jiko turned slowly around, coming face to face with his tormentor and his friends. The boy was tossing a rock into the air, never taking his glare from Jiko.
"Leave me alone!" The hanyou fought back tears of anger as he glared back at the much older boy.
The girl burst out in fake laughter. "Why if you aren't a feisty little thing today . . . what's the matter? Did your mom abandon you?"
Growling, Jiko fought back the wave of tears that threatened to spill as she said the words. "Mommy would never leave me!"
"Oh really?" The other boy looked around. "I don't see her."
"She . . . she just went to another village! That's all! She'll be back in a couple of days! You'll see!"
"Oh really?" The leader quit tossing the rock and held it tightly in his grubby hand. "Then why didn't she go tell the headman?"
"B-Because . . ." He struggled to find an excuse. "It was an emergency!"
"Is that so?" The leader smirked evilly. "So much of an emergency that she left her little hanyou son behind? That doesn't seem very smart to me . . ."
Jiko took a step back as the boy's friends also started smirking. "Wh-Wh-Whadaya mean?"
The group of children started taking slow steps towards him, following his backwards stride. In an instant, Jiko was running away at top speed as the children pelted rocks at him.
"Get out of here, half breed!"
"You don't belong here, hanyou!"
"We never wanna see your ugly face again!"
Tears flowing freely from his eyes, he took off into the forest, pursued to its edge by the gang of children who were still throwing rocks with full force at him.
'Mommy . . . where are you?!' The little half demon ran deeper and deeper into the woods, further than he had ever gone before.
He finally stopped in a clearing to catch his breath, still crying. "Mommy, why'd you leave?" His words echoed through the trees, reverberating his message all over the forest.
A slight scent tickled at his nose, and he looked down. A small trace of blood was on the forest floor. Human blood. Blood from a woman. A familiar woman.
'Mommy . . .'
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I don't know about you, but I am personally not happy with this chapter. However, I promised an update and here it is. So . . . yeah . . . I hope you enjoyed . . .
Now to answer about half of you guys' questions:
Who is Jiko's dad?
YOU'LL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH!!! I WOULD tell you, except that would give the whole story away. But I'll give you guys a hint: IT'S NOT MY FLUFFY!!! ...huggles him tightly... Trust me. I love him too much. So it's not him. And I'm NOT yelling at you guys. I'm just trying to get people's attention when they skim over this stuff. HELLO!!! READ THIS!!! Okay . . . I'll shut up now . . .
Or maybe not . . . cause here's the shout outs!
ChibiKenshin6490 (first reviewer!): ...pats you reassuringly on the back... Don't worry. They will. Everything'll be happy in the end.
ArizonaGoddess89: ...cries with you and hands you a tissue... I know . . . it is sad . . . if I was a reviewer, I'd've killed me by now. But lucky for me, I know how this is gonna turn out . . . sorta . . . But yes, they were able to talk, which is always a good thing. Unless it winds up the way that one did . . . I guess you'll have to wait to see when they talk again. P.S.: Thank you for not asking above question. I might be patient, but getting 30 reviews all asking the same thing gets pretty old. Thanks for adding variety. And thanks for liking my fic so much!!!
Ayame: As you saw . . . I think . . . I read your story. It's a very good idea. I can just imagine the look on Koga's face . . . ...grins at the thought...
Amaya: You think you figgered it out, eh? Well . . . I'm pretty sure you got the right idea. Though I'm not positive. Just tell me if there's anything I can do to unconfuse you even more.
Mizukithepanda: ...sing song voice... I'm not telling you . . . ...normal voice... Though now you know it isn't my Fluffy. I wouldn't make him evil and have him do that. Besides, why would he want her when he has me? ...huggles him again... And don't worry about the over-confident thing. I'm just . . . pleased . . . with my reviewers. I've NEVER seen myself as a perfect writer. And as you may (or may not) have read above, I'm not happy at all with this chapter. It doesn't have the 'flow' I love . . . Anyway, I appreciate the reviews. Keep 'em coming!
ShadyLady06: Yes. I completely agree. Silly Inuyasha . . . ...lightly smacks him on the back of the head... He's never gonna understand how much Kagome cares for him. And yes! Yeah for my keeping them in character! Of course, if Kag seems a liiiiiittle bit OOC in this chapter, it's cause . . . well . . . it's been six years and she's a little tormented . . . yeah . . . I'll shut up now . . .
Jaeli: ...sheds a tear... Yes it is . . . and now poor Jiko's out on his own . . . and Kagome's missing! Though we all probably know where she headed off to . . . Oh yes, Jiko's father lives . . . ...points far, far away . . . in Japan... over there. And give him this rotten one for me. ...hands it over...
Neko-Chick: ...whacks Inu... How could you?! Thinking that Kagome betrayed you! You baka hanyou! Now kiss and make up! Now! I command you! Muhuhahahaha . . . yeah . . . I'll stop my ranting now . . .
Aarolye: Oh no it doesn't! ...holds up Japanese/English dictionary... I looked up 'accident' in this thing and it said 'jiko!' Ha! You must've thought geeko . . . which does mean school. Ya gotta admit they do sound alike . . . but I really do have a Japanese/English dictionary, and I picked out Jiko's name specifically for its meaning.
twincool: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry . . . ...hands you a tissue... But I also love it when they misunderstand each other. And I also love stories that make me sad and depressed. It's weird . . . that's why I wrote this . . . yeah . . .
MaekoChan: ...drags Inu back by his collar... There. Now's he's back. Now kiss Kagome and tell her that you don't care about Jiko! You heard me! Now do it before I sit you! Whoops . . . sorry Inu . . . ...laughs nervously... Yeah. Thanks for reviewing!
Mage of Swords: Well . . . ...thinks... . . . sorta . . . I guess you're right . . . but it's not entirely why she doesn't wanna be around him . . . but you're pretty darn close! You're just like Mizukithepanda . . . freaking me out like that . . . ...shifty eyes to all reviewers... But yeah . . . poor Inu-baby . . . ... hugs him... It's okay . . . she doesn't hate you . . . ...suddenly becomes evil... SO GO AND APOLOGIZE TO HER AND TELL HER YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT JIKO!!! ...rounds on Kagome... AND YOU!!! TELL HIM THAT YOU LOVE HIM AND TELL JIKO WHO IS DAD IS!!! ...glares at them both then goes over to Jiko and comforts him...
Leona: Woah! Woah! Woah! Woah! Woah! Don't go getting the wrong idea now! She didn't actually betray him. Inu just thinks that poor Kagome betrayed him. With all that happened, I'd be really confused too.
brigurl: I LOVE your words. Speaking of which, I've come up with a few of my own: funner, funnily, and geezy. Just random stuff that comes out of my mouth for no apparent reason . . . but here ...gives you a pad of paper... tell me more! And thanks for reviewing!
j baker: ...huggles Fluffy... Nope. Not Fluffy. And I don't know if I'm gonna put Koga in this. I don't want him to ruin everything, ya know? But I've decided I AM gonna put some other favs in here. Soon too . . . ...thinks... I'll have to write it before I know how soon though . . .
Also thanks to: PadFootCc (OMG yes!), Femalewolfdemon8 (I think the answer to your question is 'yes.'), Black Spell (Thx. See above.), animefreak321654 (Here. Here! Here!!!), chibi-chan666 (Here ya go. ...hands over chapter and an Inu plushie...), Double E (...happy... Thank you!), Zarbok (Short but sweet. Love it. Thanks!), Sarcasm Girl8 (How was it 'happyish?' I thought it was downright depressing . . .), Yulia Jade (Thank you so much! ...is VERY happy...)
