Inuyasha swung his legs back and forth on the porch, listening to the wind brush the leaves of the cherry blossoms around the shinden-zukuri. He could feel the cool breeze lick at his skin, sending a chill down his spine. He let out a deep sigh as he pushed his ears against his head; trying to block out the voices he could hear scolding his mother in the room. He bit his lower lip, trying to keep in a growl, he could hear every single thing they said to her but his mother never once apologized for him, and that seemed to infuriate those around her.

"Lady Izayoi you will never be fit for a husband if you keep that 'thing' around. You don't want-" If she was trying to hide her disgust for him she was doing a poor job of it. However, he was smart; he knew how humans worked, they knew where to hit it where it hurts the most and Inuyasha was his mother's most treasured person, thus making him her weakness.

"He is a good child. He has as much love in his heart as any human." His mother's voice cuts in with a vengeance, stopping the woman from finishing her sentence. However, it was steady and stern, like nothing could change her mind about her son. Inuyasha's ears twitched as he heard the two women huff out in annoyance towards his mother.

"Yeah, love for Yōkai like his harlot of a mother perhaps, that monster…" He could hear the other woman mutter with venom under her breath. He felt his face and ears become hot as he felt the anger threating to break the surface to her words, the air growing thick as he bit his lower lip; focusing on how quiet the room became.

"Call me what you like, but you will not insult my son; you forget your place. We are guest here, and you have no right here to speak unless spoken to unless you would like me to let your master aware of your clear disrespect to his guest; I recommend that you leave us and never speak a word again." Inuyasha's ears twitched, he had never heard his mother speak like that. Her tone was stern and intimating; she wasn't yelling; she was calm, and it sent a chill down his spine but not from fear but from pure respect for how strong his mother was for them, for him.

Inuyasha looked back as he heard the door slid open fast with a force, trying to sound intimating. He watched as two female servants stormed out of the room but not before sending a heated glare in his direction, whispering under their breaths. He glared right back as he ears twitched again as they caught their hateful words. A small grow escaping his lips as he watched them turn down the hall. He felt nasty; he didn't like the way those women made him feel, he didn't like how easy the anger consumed his body, his spirit.

"What do you want to be when you grow up Inuyasha?" Inuyasha broke from his anger like a trance the moment he heard her, looking over his shoulder to see his mother leaning against the door, giving him a loving smile. It was one of his favorites things about her; she never gave the hate the time of day. She didn't ignore it; she would tell him if he asked, but never without giving him her wisdom; she would always say to him that you shouldn't let hate run your life and hate is only as strong as the power you give it.

"I want to be a great warrior just like father. Then I could protect you so that you don't have to because I will be strong enough to protect both of us, just like him." Inuyasha's face lit up with a broad smile as he stumbled to his feet, running towards his mother, hugging her upper thighs with his face nuzzling her as he beamed up at her. She smiled at him before kneeling so that she was at eye-level with him, stroking his ears before resting her hands on his cheeks. His smiled widened as he placed both his small hands on her cheeks, rubbing his thumbs against her cheek the same as she was.

"Being a warrior won't make you a great man, being a great man means living without chains." Izayoi's smile lessened a bit. However, the kindness behind it never faded as she pulled his hands from her cheeks. She held his hands in hers, pressing her thumbs into his palms.

"Chains?" Inuyasha cocked his head to the side, his ears twitching at the word. He looked at his wrist trying to see the chains that his mother was speaking of. She released his hands, placing one hand under his chin, encouraging him to look at her.

"The ones you can't see, the ones in here." She placed her hand over his heart; he could feel her gaze burning into him as he watched her hand against his chest. He felt his heart beating loud into her palm; he closed his eyes, focusing on it; it felt loud in his ears as he focused on the rhythm, letting her words sink into him.

Lub Dub

Chains

Lub Dub

Inside

Lub Dub

Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes, his breath steady as he watched the light from the storm dance across the ceiling. He sat up on the couch, confused with his surroundings. The room was dark with only one light on that was upstairs, he looked down to see that someone had placed a blanket on him. He jerked away a bit when he noticed a figure beside him; causing all his senses to go on alert but only to relax once he realized that it was Kagome. She was resting her head on her arms on the couch cushion; her breath was even, hinting to him that she was in a deep sleep.

He left out a deep sigh as a smile tugged at his lips when he pulled the blanket off himself, draping it around Kagome shoulders before lifting her in his arms, carrying her upstairs to her bed. He must have been tried, the last thing that he remembered was Kagome's mother talking to him and tying his hair back in a braid. She must have been waiting beside him as he slept to see if he would return to normal once the sun went down, but it seems like she couldn't keep her eyes open long enough either.

Crazy girl.

She was probably going to get sick now because she was more worried about him then herself.

His smile dropped when he saw his black hair brush against her as he laid her down on her bed. He felt his body hesitate before pulling the blankets over her. He felt a bitter smile spread across his lips as sat on her bed, looking at the black lock against his chest. Kagome must've pulled his hair undone as he slept, maybe she wanted to see it turn from black back to white or felt that he would be more conformable with it free or perhaps she just wanted to run her hands through his hair; he doubted the last thought. He looked up at the ceiling; a growl escaping his lips, becoming frustrated; it seemed like the gods weren't smiling down on him, as he was still a human. Maybe he was in some sick game that the universe was playing and he's just a pawn in their big game.

Inuyasha let out a sigh as he patted Kagome's blanket, just like his mother used to do for him when he was a child when she tried to distract him from the hateful whispers he could hear in the halls. His eyes settled on his wrist as he finished his fake spell, his face becoming sad. He thought back at the dream; well it wasn't a dream but a memory of when he was very young. He knew what his mother meant by chains, she was telling him about his inner struggle with being a hanyō and the realization that he wouldn't fit in anywhere. But she was trying to teach him to break his chains, to make his place, his belonging. That just because he was a Hanyō doesn't mean he had to live by it, it didn't make him the man he is.

However, it felt like the chains were getting stronger with all the tragedy that followed him after his mother's death. He locked his heart away, adding more metal to the chains. Even with Kikyō, he was willing to give up his Yōkai side and use the jewel to be with her, but that wasn't breaking the chains; that was hiding them away, coating them with a different metal. But they were still there, becoming stronger. He didn't accept himself, not as a human, not as a Yōkai and definably not as a Hanyō.

Yet…

"Kagome." He whispered as he leaned down towards her, his hair creating a private curtain around them; keeping them a secret to the world. He rested his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes as he took in the moment taking a deep breath, letting her sent engulf him; he loved the way it made him feel. In all of his life he only started to feel the chains weaken after he met Kagome, that little at a time, she was chipping them away with that same arrow she pulled from him many years ago, making him feel like he belonged.

Kagome accepted him as a Hanyō; she took him as he was.

Inuyasha brought his hand up to cup her cheek, dipping his head down to the side; his lips meeting against her ear as he whispered to her, letting his voice trail off as he felt his heart beating against his chest.

The sun shined brightly through the drawn curtains, causing a sharp point of light to rest on her eyelid forcing Kagome to stir in her sleep. She rolled over on her side, trying to block the sun that was invading her. In doing so, she jerked her blanket with her body until she was laying on her stomach. Kagome pushed out her hand across the mattress; a smile grew across her lips as she spread her fingers out feeling the cool material devoured the heat of her body.

Kagome furrowed her brows as an assortment of noises that attacked her ears quietly; it was a series of dull, repetitive thuds and voices. She covered her head with her pillow trying her best to block out the noise to no avail.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

She threw the pillow against the wall as she hoisted her body out of bed; slipping on a pink cardigan over her white tank top that felled pass her light pink night shorts that had white stars. Her feet stomped as she descended the stairs; someone had the nerve for making all this noise so early in the morning, for Christ sake it the sun had barely risen. She rushed passed the kitchen where she almost collided with her mother.

"Oh, good morning dear." Mrs. Higurashi gave her daughter a warm smile as she regained her grip on a tray she was holding with some tea and fluffed eggs on.

"Mamma, good morning. What is all that noise?" Kagome asked with confusion on her face as she looked around to see no one else in the kitchen or table.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear; we didn't mean to wake you. It must be Inuyasha an-." Mrs. Higurashi was barely able to get his name out before she saw something changed in her daughter; almost like a snap in her personality.

"Inuyasha." Kagome could feel her eye twitch as she took off running, ripping the door open; her eyes scanning the environment for the troublemaker. She swore he was going to get it human or not if he was hacking Tessaiga away on some random tree because he was bored.

She could feel her blood start to boil once her eyes caught the fire rat from afar, one would even say that she had a dangers aura emanating from her body as she marched her way towards him, she could see that he was with Sota and grandpa. There was a log resting upright on a stump and several pieces of logs split in half; so, he was hacking away with Tessaiga.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled with a fire in her voice, that was until he turned around. She felt her breath catch; Inuyasha's hair was still black. She thought for sure that he would have changed back since the new moon had passed, but it seemed like this was different. Something was preventing him from changing back to an Hanyo. Her eyes followed his hair until her eyes caught sight of some tan skin. He had his hitatare sleeves tied back with a Tasuki, showing off his arms; which were strangely erotic for her because she rarely sees them. He thrust an ax into the stump as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. His fingers gathering his long black hair into a high ponytail as his eyes followed her voice; connecting with hers. She could feel the blush creeping on her cheeks; suddenly feeling out of place and embarrassed as she noticed that she was really about to start a fight with him in the middle of her yard in nothing but her PJs in front of her family.

"What's the matter Kagome?" Concerned, Inuyasha arched his eyebrow in confusion as his hands worked absentmindedly with the hair tie as he started walking towards her.

"U-u-um.." Kagome's words were stammering out of her uncontrollably. Her cheeks were on fire as her eyes scanned all three of them, noticing that they were looking at her like she was insane. What is going on with her, why was she losing her cool now of all times?! It wasn't like this was the first time she saw him like this. Something was different and wasn't sure what it was. But she needed to come up with some excuse on why she was out here, and at the moment she was the one who was looking like the bad guy.

"Well..." She gave a little nervous smile as she started playing with her fingers in front of her; peeking up at him with her eyes. Maybe it's just the morning light, but he looks pretty cool standing there.

"Well?" That was it, that hint of irritation was all it took for her world to crumble as a tidal wave of rage consumed her.

"What? Well, excuse me! I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to go somewhere, like the city or the movies. You know, since you live in the woods! Hell, why not find out why you haven't changed back?!" She was so angry; she could feel her eye twitch as her arms flung in the air, frustrated because she couldn't "sit" him at this moment. Her mind wasn't working; he broke her mind; she just wanted to get something out that will piss him off as much she was.

"Well, maybe if you take a hundred years to answer questions and why the hell do I need to see a "movie," where could it be going so fascinating that I have to watch it! Plus, do you think I like being this way? Being a weak human?! " Kagome scuffed at his remark as she made her way back to the house, knowing that this wasn't going to end anytime soon. This action just seemed to piss Inuyasha off more as he followed her towards the house, becoming more annoyed with each step.

"Well since all that noise is finally gone, let me continue about the tragic tale of a giant octopus who drown 1600 year ago...somehow." Grampa slipped in nonchalantly like he's been talking the whole time. He knew that Kagome would be in no mood to listen to the shrine tales after what "part-timer" said, but knew that it was harder for Sota to escape.

"Grandpa..." Sota sighed out as he was now forced to listen to this story as those two dummies try to rip their throats out of each other.