Kagome peered over the steaming bowl of ramen in front of her like a psychotic giant peeking over a mountain at its prey. She dramatically pulled apart her chopsticks. Across from her, at the dining table, was InuYasha with his own bowl of ramen in front of him.
"Why are we doing this again?" He asked politely, slightly afraid at what was to commence.
"Cause races are exhilarating. You scared?" She puckered her lips at him accusingly.
"Not in the slightest." He smirked, adjusting the chopsticks in his grasp.
They waited for the app on Kagome's phone to chime and the gluttony began. They were seated at a small hole in the wall café near Kagome's old job. She was hopeful that enough time passed since the news report that bringing out InuYasha in public would be fine. She felt bad keeping him cooped up all day while she went out galivanting on her own adventures. She was growing more and more fond of his company as the days went on. He was probably the closest she would get to a nonjudgmental friend.
She introduced copious servings of noodles to her mouth, determined to crush her Shikon in the eating challenge. Kagome brought the bowl up to her face to slurp up the broth, completely obstructing her face from InuYasha.
"Done!" Kagome knocked down the bowl onto the table, her cheeks flushed now from the warm ramen raising her body temperature. She met InuYasha's unamused stare, his palm resting under his chin and his elbow on the table.
"It's about time."
Kagome leapt out of her chair to glimpse at InuYasha's bowl; it was completely empty. There was no way she lost!
"Bullshit, where did you hide it?" Kagome started looking under the table, much to his amusement. "Knowing you, you probably chucked it across the room when I wasn't looking."
"Admit that you're just slow, Kagome." He simply grinned, extending his arm out to brush her bottom lip of excess broth. The gesture took Kagome by surprise but she opted to suppressing it like she often did.
"How the hell do you even take in food-now that I think about it. Your abdomen must be equipped with a furnace."
A woman shyly approached their secluded table. "U-uhm, excuse me."
InuYasha and Kagome both turned simultaneously. The woman before them was wearing a traditional summer yukata and appeared middle-aged but wore it well nonetheless. Her hair was like satin and was nearly floor-length, making Kagome feel like she had a buzzcut in comparison. Her expression was soft but hesitant, her rosy lips deciding what to say next.
The woman met eyes with InuYasha and her eyes began to well up with tears despite her wishes. She clutched the fabric near her chest and used her sleeve to soak up any oncoming tears.
"I-I'm so sorry." She sighed, feeling slightly bashful.
"No, no, you're okay." Kagome urged, her face laced with concern for the woman eagerly anticipating why the woman had come over in the first place.
"This is going to sound a little insane, but I first saw you at the shopping district a few days ago," She began, referring to InuYasha, trying hard to organize her thoughts in a comprehensible way. "and…you see…you resemble my late son, so naturally when I saw you my heart nearly stopped beating."
Kagome's heart seemingly sunk to her stomach and her own eyes threatened to unleash the flood gates.
"I know it's silly," The woman continued, "but seeing you felt like a godsend and a 'one last hello to my son' so I mustered up the courage to-I…I'm sorry to have disturbed you two." She cut herself off, knowing full well she must have sounded insane to the strangers.
Kagome reached out and clasped the woman's hand between hers for comfort.
"Would you like to join us? I'm Kagome. This is InuYasha. I'd love to hear your story." She offered a sympathetic smile.
InuYasha remained silent but was attentive to the woman that sat across from him on Kagome's side of the table. She tried her best to not just stare at InuYasha the entire time respectfully.
"My name is Izayoi. It's nice to meet you both." Izayoi reached into her sleeve and pulled out a coin purse. She delicately loosened the knot tied and inside lay a single polaroid photo. She examined it for herself first and smiled sadly, then placed it on the table for Kagome and InuYasha to see. "This is my son. I lost him just last year."
Kagome and InuYasha both leaned forward to examine the polaroid and Kagome instantly got chills.
She glanced at InuYasha and then back at the photo. It was a portrait of a young man, a photo taken beyond his knowledge that captured genuine bliss and happiness. Despite the obvious long black tresses of his hair he looked nearly identical to InuYasha in Kagome's eyes.
"Holy shit-InuYasha you really do look just like him." Kagome said in astonishment. Izayoi seemed relieved that Kagome agreed with her.
"I was a single mother trying to get my son through college. And as if that didn't already cost and arm and leg, my own medical bills constantly snuck up on me. He was the sweetest son a mother could ever ask for. Despite trying to mask my troubles, he saw right through me and took on two jobs in addition to school to help me with my ongoing medical treatments. He was on break for winter and had planned to come visit me. He spotted a woman on the highway attempting to push her broken down vehicle onto the dirt road. A driver, not paying attention, hit them at full speed. I'd like to think my son was sent there in order to protect that woman who unknowingly at the time, was with child." Izayoi caressed the polaroid with her thumb as she reminisced. This was the first time she was able to retell her son's story without balling.
Kagome pulled at the skin near her teat ducts to prevent the production of tears from falling. She had no words. She never thought hearing a story from a stranger would evoke such deep feelings and heart ache.
"He seems like he was a very honorable man." InuYasha offered, breaking the viscous silence in the air.
Izayoi nodded, dabbing at her own eyes. "This could just be my mind playing tricks on me, but you sort of sound similar to him. I'm really happy I got to meet you. Even if only for a moment, I can imagine I'm sitting with him once more."
"What was his name?" Kagome asked.
"Aisha. His father named him before he went off to war. That was the last time either of us saw him."
Izayoi began to stand, shoving her coin purse back safely into her sleeve. "I must be going. It was very generous of you to allow me and sit and chat for a short while."
InuYasha and Kagome both tensed up at the usage of the word 'sit'-the forbidden word, but they were in the clear. They followed suit and pushed their chairs in to leave the café as well.
"This might be coming out of left field, but may I hug you goodbye?" Izayoi requested.
"He would be more than happy." Kagome assured, despite the reluctance forming on InuYasha's face.
Kagome watched the bittersweet moment. Izayoi had closed her eyes, imaging she was standing beside her son once more and embraced InuYasha.
InuYasha met eyes with Kagome, she mouthed the words 'thank you' to him with a sad smile. She could have sworn his eyes flashed brown momentarily and she stood agape. The woman pulled away from InuYasha wishing she could freeze time forever.
()()()()
Kagome locked the front door of her apartment and turned around and braced it dramatically.
"Alright seriously, what the fuck is going on." She asked, looking up at the ceiling. She had wanted to go ballistic about the resemblance factor at the café, but she insisted she was more mature than that.
"I have to show you something." InuYasha eagerly dragged Kagome by the hand over to the kitchen. She waited impatiently as he pulled out the notebook he had taken from her bedroom, from the drawer. "Since I first arrived, I felt as though my ability to write had delayed just as my speech did."
Kagome had a brow raised, not sure what he was going on about. He pointed down at the open notebook aggressively. Written in the center was 'izayoi' in hiragana. If it was some elaborate magic trick he pulled before they left for the café, she did not find it amusing.
"I must know that woman, right I don't know how or why, but I felt compelled to write that name nonetheless. The minute she said Izayoi-"
"Wait, wait, are you insinuating that you're Aisha?" Kagome chuckled, running her hands through her hair.
"I'm just as lost as you are, Kagome." He said defensively, his eyebrows narrowing.
"You came to me in a fucking crate." She reminded, emphasizing each word. She thought for a moment, attempting to cool down from the shock. Nothing about his expression insisted that any of this was a joke on her. The resemblance clearly left him puzzled as well. She felt bad for some-what snapping at him, he was clearly in the same boat she was in. She softened her face, trying to gather her thoughts. "Okay, do I think you're Aisha? No. Do I think you could have somehow been modeled after him, abso-fucking-lutely."
But if that was the case, why? Was it merely just coincidence? Kagome's Shikon poked at her curiosity more and more each day.
AN: For those that watched the Final Act in Dub, how did you feel about Kagome's voice? Cause I was not prepared for that when I went to re-watch all the episodes. LOL
Anyways, Next Update: 11/30/18