Inuyasha's face was growing redder with every step he took on the way home to the shrine with Ms. Higurashi's arm hooked with his. He felt like the new clothes were just drawing more attention to him.
He noticed it the first time when they were in the shop; the women there were staring at him after he changed, their faces red as they watched him bow to the salesclerk after Ms. Higurashi bowed, copying her as a child would do to their mother. He could feel his cheeks getting hot as he felt their eyes on him, whispering amongst themselves.
He needed a distraction from his apparent uneasiness, so once he saw Ms. Higurashi grab the bags off the counter, stopping her from taking them, stating that he would carry them for her as they walk back to the shrine. It was a mistake because this simple gesture only seemed to make the women squeal and giggle at him.
Another time was when Ms. Higurashi took him out to eat lunch at a local ramen joint that day. Their server kept looking at him funny and would stop talking, almost like in a trance every time he would make eye contact with her. He started becoming confused with this behavior and would look to Ms. Higurashi for help trying to understand what was happening.
But she would just sit there smiling, looking at the young server as she started to get flustered with Inuyasha's stare. Ms. Higurashi giggled, finally getting the server's attention; the poor girls face red with embarrassment from being unprofessional.
Later on, he noticed that the server was watching him eat his ramen, she was leaning against the counter, her cheek held a hint of red as it rested on her hand, smiling at him like she was in a trance. Inuyasha was starting to get uneasy with the stare; his face became red as he looked to Ms. Higurashi, begging with his eyes for any hint for why this girl was staring at him like she wanted to eat him. But all he got from Ms. Higurashi was a light giggle as she continued to eat.
He scratched his head to the memory, embarrassment, and irritation growing on his face as he heard girls giggling as they walked past them. He turned his head back to look over his shoulder to the girls only to see them looking at him, with smiles on their glowing faces.
They were whispering to each other, and one of the girls pointed at where his and Ms. Higurashi's arms looped together. He could hear the word "gentlemen" slip off one of their lips. He was unfamiliar with this word, but the way the girls were looking at him, he wasn't sure if they were making fun of him or not. What was this word? Was it a bad word like half-breed? He wasn't getting that dread feeling he would get when people called him that.
"Hey …what's a gentleman?" The words slipped from Inuyasha's lips as a sad whisper.
The sound reminded him of an ancient memory of his mother when he asked her a similar question. He was just a pup when he was trying to play the Kemari game with the villagers only to be shunned. They threw the ball, letting him chase it, making him believe that they wanted to play with him, only to leave him alone, with the word "half-breed" slipping from their lips. This word, he wasn't sure what it meant. But something deep down told him it wasn't right. He remembered running to his mother, confused.
"Mother… what's a half-breed?" He remembers seeing tears run down her face from the question. But she kept her smile, hugging him, trying to hide her tears from him so that he wouldn't see her sadness. That's right, he remembers. His mother was crying-crying for him, she knew what it meant, what his life would be like.
He looked to Ms. Higurashi to see if she had the same sadness in her eyes as his mother, but only saw her watching him with a sweet smile on her lips. It caused him to blush as she again showered him with attention. She looked up to the sky with a finger tapping her lower mouth as she tried to think of the best way to explain the word to him. It was something he has seen before; it was a similar thing that Kagome would do when she was thinking of the easiest way to explain something to him. It caused a small smile to form on his lips, so this is where she gets it.
"Well, you see, dear, the word gentleman means what it appears. It's a man that is respectful and considerate of those around him. Acts politely. Treats women with respect, like walking them home. Just like you have been doing, my dear." Her arm tightened around his as she rested her head against his shoulder for a moment as her smile grew. She felt his arm tense up from the sudden contact and giggled, lifting her head to see a now flustered Inuyasha; he tried to distract himself by looking around, but she could see the blush creeping on his cheeks, she patted her hand on his shoulder, as she laughed harder.
"What's so funny!?" Inuyasha asked as he could feel his face starting to get hot. He wasn't used to someone giving him so much attention, let alone someone holding onto his arm like this. But surprisingly, it felt nice; he wondered if he would be having similar walks like this with his mother if she were still around. He looked at Ms. Higurashi, wondering if his mother would act like this. From what he could remember, she was a lovely woman. She had sacrificed everything for him and his father, and yet he never saw an ounce of regret in her eyes, only love.
"Oh, nothing dear" She was able to calm her giggles, but her smile stayed wide. She looked at Inuyasha's face; he blushed easily, just like her husband did. She remembered how she used to tease him about when he was embarrassed or wanted to tell her something corny, his cheeks always gave him away. She remembered the one-day that she couldn't read him as quickly as she usually could. He was earnest and had brought her to the sacred tree. It was one of many times that he made her blush as he confessed all his love for her and asked for her hand in marriage. Ms. Higurashi smile grew wider at the memory.
"Keh!" Inuyasha watched her smile grow as he brought his hand to his necklace, rolling the beads between his thumb and finger, trying to get rid of the blush on his face as much as he could. He caught a glimpse of his black hair as it felled forward, reminding him that he was still human. He had forgotten. How long has it been now? Four hours? Five? He brought the lock of hair to his face, getting lost in thought. He still remembered the first memory from when he changed into a human.
He was asleep in his mother's embrace; until a strange feeling crept through his body woke him. He wasn't sure what it was. When he opened his eyes, his vision was blurry. He rubbed his eyes with his little fist as he sat up, looking around the room. For some reason, it seemed so dark. Was it always this dark? He remembered that he could see better than his mother during the night. But maybe this was just an extra-dark night.
He looked to the window and saw that there was no moonlight, which had to explain why it seemed so dark in their room. As he laid back down, he noticed that his mother's hair had looked to grow longer during the night since he was lying on it. He lifted his little body, trying not to pull her hair as he was going to push it from under him, but the hair ended up moving with him.
It caused him to freeze; he moved his body again, causing the hair to move too. He took a lock of the hair in his little hand and pulled it gently not to hurt his mother, but he was the one that felt the slight pain against his head. His eyes widen as he brought the hair closer, running his hand against the lock to the roots to find its end at the side of his head. His fingers ended up brushing against something on the side of his head that spooked him.
He froze again and then brought his hand to the strange thing against his head. He ran his tiny fingers against it, tracing the shell of the flexible object. It felt familiar to him but completely foreign at the same time.
His hands unconsciously reached to the top of his head, trying to find his canine ears, only to find nothing but hair. His eyes widen with panic, as he was about to turn around to tell his mother. But his body tensed as he felt a pair of arms encircled him, pulling him back. He felt a warm body against him and a quiet voice whispering into his neck.
"Don't be scared, my dearest." It was his mother; she had awoken to his movements to see him messing with his hair. This time it seemed different than the rest. She felt like he was more frightened than curious like he was when he was a younger pup. She realized that he mustn't have remembered the change before.
"Mother, what happened to my hair and ears?" He turned around in her embrace to look at her face, only to see a sweet smile on her lips. She placed her hand on his cheek, rubbing it with her thumb as she placed a kiss on his forehead. It calmed him a great deal, causing him to smile from his mother's affection. He leaned into her touch as she whispered against his hair.
"There is no need to be frightened, my dearest, this occurs every new moon. You become a human for a night then return to your old self when dawn breaks." She lifted her head from his to look at his now black hair and dark brown eyes. She ran her fingers through his long hair as she felt a ping of sadness as she missed those golden eyes and silver hair he shared with his father, her beloved. Oh, how she loved those eyes. She always felt like his father lived on within his eyes, still watching her with curiosity as his father did.
She remembered when she was hiding around the castle grounds; she was hiding from her father, who wanted her to meet another prince. She had enough princes to visit her that day, and her patience was running thin. She just wanted some time alone, to enjoy nature and all the beauty that it brought with it.
She had stolen some of her servant's clothing, changing into them so that she could be in plain sight, but no one would give her a second glance. If she had stayed in her royal robes, she would have been found too fast for her liking. She had bumped into Takemaru after she changed into her servant's clothing, forcing her to drop her basket as he noticed it was her right away.
"Lady Izayoi, what are you doing in those clothes?" He sighed; she was doing it again; this wasn't the first time that he had caught her trying to disguise herself as a servant so that no one would bother as she explored around.
"Takemaru, I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone that you have seen me. Please, I just need some air; father has been inviting princes to the castle left and right asking for my hand in marriage. But I just want some alone time to think. Please Takemaru, I'm begging you." She was putting her beautiful long hair in a messy braid, trying to make herself look more like a servant than a princess as she spoke to Takemaru.
"Okay, Lady Izayoi, but the moment your father orders me to get you, I cannot refuse him." He sighed as he picked up the basket for her, handing it to her.
"Oh, thank you, Takemaru! I promise I won't be too long." She gave him a polite bow and rushed down the hall out to the castle's grounds before she could bump into anyone else that knew her face.
Izayoi picked apples and herbs along her way through the large garden. She loved how large and private the garden was. She could be out here for hours before someone could find her, always having a panic on their faces as they thought they lost the princess.
She giggled at the thought. She was quite the troublemaker princess, wasn't she? She was always causing her poor servants to stress out when she would disappear once their eyes were off her. Only for them to find her doing un-princess things. Like grounding up herbs, sticking her feet in the koi pond instead of practicing a dance, or playing an instrument.
She remembered when she was a child and an elder servant that was teaching her to write and read would tell her over and over again that a woman has no way of independence through life. When Izayoi was young, she must obey her father; when married, she must abide by her husband; when widowed, she must comply with her son.
Izayoi puffed her cheeks in annoyance at the memory as she continued to walk through the garden until something caught her eye. She noticed a young man with long silver hair pulled back in a high ponytail sitting on a branch of one of their apple trees, watching her with curious eyes. She stared at him, trying to make out his features the best she could from where she was.
She noticed that he had on armor that ran down both his arms and across his chest, he also had a long furry cloth draped over his back. She decided that she stared at the young stranger long enough, giving him a silent, polite bow and went back to picking apples and herbs nearby.
She could still feel his eyes on her as she made her way past him to the other trees so that she could continue to pick more apples. She kept glancing to the side with every noise she heard, refusing to move her head, not to give away that she was still very aware of his presence in the garden.
She wasn't sure what to make of him; she couldn't get a good look at him or know what he is. But she felt like she was in no danger in his presence, so why make a big deal about it.
This thought brought back another memory of the elder servant lecturing her about how she can't say hello to every soul that walks close to the castle's grounds. That she needs to be on her guard at all-time because she was a princess and some people would take advantage of that.
She huffed; she didn't have to worry about that because, at this moment, she looked far from a princess. Annoyed by the continuous nagging in her memory, she grabbed some herbs without realizing it had thorns, cutting into her index finger.
"Ow, what was that?" Izayoi muttered to herself as she dropped the herb and looked at her finger, seeing the blood peek out. She sat back on her knees as she placed her finger in her mouth, trying to stop the bleeding.
She thought back to the elderly servant again; she had told her over and over to let the servants pick the herbs so that Izayoi wouldn't get hurt, that her father would be furious if she had any scars on her hands.
She pulled her finger out of her mouth, looking at the blood peeking out, lost in thought until a figure walked approached her. She looked up to see golden eyes looking back at her. It was that young man that was sitting in the tree watching her. He was close enough to her that she could see all his features, from the curious golden eyes to jagged purple-blue stripes on both sides of his cheeks.
"Oh, it's you." she looked at him, so this man wasn't human. That alone should have frightened her, but it didn't. She didn't feel any fear as she watched him; instead, she could feel her face becoming hot from how close his face was to hers.
"Heh, how did you cut yourself?" He smiled as he pulled her finger to his lips, licking the blood away. Izayoi jerked a bit from his touch; his deep raspy voice ringing in her ears wasn't helping her get rid of the blush that was forming on her cheeks.
"Too bad Myōga isn't around, this would make his day." He muttered to himself as he reached behind her and pulled her white ribbon from her hair, allowing her once braided hair to flow free. He licked her finger once more before using the fabric has a bandaged, wrapping it around her finger.
Izayoi just looked at the strange man, shocked by his nonchalant attitude. He made her feel like they known each other for years, how is it that this man, who is clearly not human could make her feel so calm. Once he caught her staring at him she smiled, which seemed to confuse him a bit, he wasn't used to humans smiling at him, they usually run in the opposite direction once they see his eyes, but this woman. She was different.
"Lady Izayoi! Lady Izayoi! Where are you?" She turned her head to look behind her as she heard Takemaru calling her from the other side of the garden. Once she looked back the stranger was gone. Was he really there? She looked down to her bandaged finger then back up to the tree he was sitting in earlier, a smile forming on her lips. For some reason, she felt like this wasn't the last time she would see her golden eye stranger.
"A human…is that what you are, mother?" Inuyasha's voice brought her back to reality. He reached his tiny hand to her face, touching her cheek, looking at her like it was the first time as he studied her features. He felt a strong desire to look at every part of her face. He never realized that they were different.
To him, she was his mother, not a human nor a demon, just her, his mother. She said that he became a human…so what was he if not a human… was he not her son if they were not the same? He traced his fingers over her ear; he brought his other hand up to the side of his face, feeling the similar thing. That's why it felt familiar to him because he remembered messing with her ears when she would mess with his.
"Yes, my dearest, I'm a human, and so are you, but you are also part demon, my love." Inuyasha looked at his mother, confused. So, he was human but then not human? She noticed his confusion on his face and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"It will be okay my dearest, I know you feel confused now, but you will understand everything one day." She whispered to him. But she wouldn't be around for him to tell her that he understood now.
"Inuyasha, dear." Ms. Higurashi's voice ripped him out of the dark place he was about to go with that memory and thanked her for that. His human emotions were so foreign to him that he wouldn't be sure how to get out of it himself.
"Yeah?" Inuyasha looked towards the smiling woman looking up at him with her eyes filled with so much motherly love, man; he wasn't sure he had ever seen this woman, not smile.
"It will be okay my dear, I know you feel confused now, but you will understand everything one day." Inuyasha felt his heart stop, his whole body tense up as he stopped walking, causing her to stop, his eyes widened as he stared at Ms. Higurashi.
He felt a pain in his chest at her words. How was it possible? It couldn't have been a coincidence, could it? Before his mind could comprehend what, he was doing, he dropped the bags on the ground and pulled Ms. Higurashi in a tight embrace.
It startled her for a moment, then she placed one hand on the back of his head, pulling him into her more as her other hand rubbed up and down his back, trying to soothe him as best as she could like a mother would do to her crying child. It only pushed Inuyasha over the edge more as he felt his body start to shake as he tried to fight off the tears. Man, fuck these human emotions.