Inupunzel

Disclaimer: I don't own any Inuyasha characters.

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Chapter 3: The Child

Izayoi kept Inuyasha and herself sequestered in their rooms. She accepted her meals from the servants at her door, and once a week she bundled her baby in blankets, taking special care to cover his ears and hair, and let them in for an hour to clean. She did allow visits from her parents, for they knew the truth of her baby's parentage, but for the same reason their visits were infrequent and brief. She was terribly lonely, but she knew Inuyasha's life was forfeit if the truth were found out. So she spent her days in quiet solitude, tending her infant and hoping for his father's return. As time marched on without word from him, her worry grew.

Inuyasha was only a few months old when the news came. Izayoi woke from a restless sleep to find a tall, masculine figure with sweeping silver hair and an authoritative presence standing over Inuyasha's crib. Her heart leaped and she sat up, reaching out to him, thinking him her long-absent love. Then he turned and as the moonlight lit his face, she saw she had been mistaken. The demon looked at her with cold eyes. "So," he said. "The rumors were true. My late father did spawn a half breed."

Izayoi's sleep-befuddled mind struggled to make sense of the pronouncement. "Late?" she repeated in confusion.

"My father died in battle two months past," was the flat reply.

The news hit Izayoi like a physical blow. "Kikyo?" she managed to gasp out.

"After being wounded by the priestess, he fell to a rival who took advantage of his weakness."

It was a nighmare come true. Izayoi curled up on her bed and began to sob. "It's all my fault!" she wailed. "Oh, what should I do?"

The demon paused on his way out the window to answer her question. "Die."

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When Izayoi's meal trays remained untouched, the servants alerted her parents. They entered her chambers to find their daughter sitting upon her bed, holding her infant infant in listless arms and gazing at the wall with blank eyes. No amount of pleading or bargaining could make her eat. She did not respond to shouting or threats. Finally her mother attempted to slap some sense into her, but Izayoi simply left her head facing the way the slap had directed it, staring just as blankly in the new direction. They concluded that a doctor must be called in. With great reluctance the mother lifted the baby from Izayoi's unresisting hands and hurried him away to another room where the doctors would not see his condemning features.

The doctors came. At her parents' insistence, they examined Izayoi from every angle; poking, prodding, and questioning. Their efforts yield only one small response. "He's dead," she whispered. Then she closed her eyes and refused to move again. The doctors looked at the empty crib beside her bed, made their own assumptions, and told Izayoi's parents there was nothing more they could do for her.

In a week's time, Izayoi had followed her lover to the grave.

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Kikyo was on the last leg of her self-appointed task. Her battle with the thieving demon who'd dared to pair with a human had not gone as well as she'd wished, but she'd received word soon after that he had been removed from this world. That contented her on his score – he would not impose upon humanity any further. All that remained now was to remove his unholy offspring from this world as well.

He had been careful to hide from her the whereabouts of his lover and child, but not careful enough. Fortunately for Kikyo, her reputation preceded her, and the lesser demons of the forests were easily terrified into revealing the rumors they'd heard. It took some time to sift through the variations of the story and find out the truth, but Kikyo felt confident she had finally ferreted out the right location.

Kikyo entered the village and was immediately accosted by several curious children. She smilingly answered their questions, and soon they ran off to broadcast the news of her arrival. In short time the local shrine keeper came hurrying out to meet her. She questioned the man with care, and soon had him recounting the local gossip. Included was the tale of a local family's daughter who had become pregnant out of wedlock and subsequently become a recluse. The tragic story claimed that the child had died, and that the grief-struck mother had passed away not two days prior. Kikyo made sympathetic noises and requested directions to the family's home, saying she would like to see what comfort she might offer. Privately she resolved to confirm the details of the story while she was at it. If luck was with her, the infant in question was the one she sought, and if even more luck was with her, the child was indeed already deceased.

The family in question turned out to be quite wealthy. As a priestess of great renown, Kikyo easily obtained an audience with the master of the house. She studied the man with his graying hair and grief-lined face sitting opposite her as she offered perfunctory civilities. What would be the best way to get from him the information she required? Her ruminations were made unnecessary when the man's wife entered the room carrying a baby.

"We are glad you have come to us, Lady Kikyo," the woman greeted her. "We are in need of your wisdom."

Kikyo nodded to the woman. "Then I as well am glad that I have come. How may I be of assistance?"

The woman unwrapped the baby's blankets, revealing what Kikyo already knew to expect. She had found her hanyou. "Our daughter died two days ago, leaving this child to us. As you can see, he is not human," the woman explained.

"Lady Kikyo!" the husband broke in urgently. "We loved our daughter, but even if it is her child, we cannot raise a demon!"

Kikyo stared down at the baby. "Half-demon," she corrected absently. The baby murmured sleepily, then blinked his eyes open and peered blurrily up at her. After considering her for a moment, he smiled a happy baby grin and began waving a chubby fist around. "I did not expect him to appear so human," she admitted.

The homeowner seemed nonplussed by her response, but quickly rallied. "Even so, if we try to raise him it will only be a matter of time before we're run out of town."

Kikyo nodded her agreement. "Yes, you are right. There are many reasons why he cannot be allowed to live among humans." She pulled herself up straight, and looked the couple in the eyes. "I am leaving the village tonight. I will take this child with me."

The husband looked relieved, but the wife must have caught something of Kikyo's intent, for she grabbed the priestess's arm and inquired urgently, "You won't harm him, will you? You'll find some place where he can grow up safely?"

Kikyo looked down again at the babe and thought of his human half. "I will do what I can," she sighed.

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Next chapter: The Tower.

I hope you'll look forward to it:)