Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Warning: This chapter contains violence. You have been warned.

Chapter 2:

His Memories

"Inuyasha!"

Kagome didn't understand. She didn't know why the hanyou was as big as Shippou, or why the village children looked like they were about to kill him. One thing she does know is that she had to get him out of there. So without any further thought—knowing she could always come back to the questions in her mind later—she rushed forward, not sure if she felt it when she pushed those village children aside. As she was about to reach Inuyasha's body, her hand passed right through his curling form, as if she was a ghost.

"What the..." she said as she extended her hand again and it passed right through as if Inuyasha wasn't there. "Why can't I—"

"Die you filthy half-breed!"

"You're an abomination!"

"You're lucky your mom is still alive, or else we would've kicked you out of the village from the start!"

The village children scattered and Kagome took a step back when Inuyasha pushed himself up. Her heart ached when she saw his bruised face. He simply wiped off the blood that had gotten onto his forehead and started walking back to wherever he was going. He doesn't seem to notice her presence at all. Another thing, the village children said that Inuyasha's mother was alive. Does that mean... this was a memory?

"Everyone," Kagome said as she saw the confused look on her friend's faces. "I know this sounds crazy, but I think we're in Inuyasha's head."

"How?" Sango said, and gasped. "The old woman..."

"But I fail to understand why she brought us here," Miroku said and scratched his head with his staff. "Nonetheless, I would like to see what has made Inuyasha... Inuyasha. He rarely talks about his past, moreover, avoids it. But from what I just saw, I can assume it won't be pretty."

"Inuyasha..." Shippou said so quietly, that Kirara was the only one that heard. The nekomata, in her tiny form, rubbed her head against his leg, making the kitsune smile.

"I agree with you, Miroku-sama," Kagome said and pointed to the direction little Inuyasha went. "I want to see his past too. Let's follow him."

Everyone quickened their steps to where tiny Inuyasha headed. Apparently, they had to slow down because the little hanyou was limping. Everyone had a sympathetic look when Inuyasha only frowned, but didn't cry. His eyes were almost dull, but thankfully, there was still light shining inside those golden orbs.

All of them had to halt when, out of nowhere, a small black-haired Inuyasha appeared. He was floating, and was transparent.

"You should tell Mother that the village children are hurting you," human Inuyasha said as he floated beside the tiny hanyou.

"She doesn't have to know. I don't want to be a burden to her. Besides, she's the princess here, and her family needs her."

They noticed that Inuyasha wasn't moving his mouth while talking, so the group assumed that the hanyou was actually thinking—which was also communicating with his human side.

"But it's getting worse. Your last injuries hasn't even healed yet!" human Inuyasha argued.

"So what? I'm not some weak human, you know. I'm a half-demon too. I'll heal in no time."

Inuyasha ignored the rest of his human side's arguments. Kagome and the others could only observe sadly how tiny Inuyasha handles it. He wouldn't admit it that he was hurt, just like their real Inuyasha. They wondered how long it took for the village children to beat him to make him become like this. And he was only a child. He shouldn't feel like he was a burden.

They watched as Inuyasha entered an area, which in front of him lies a building that looked like a palace. They could only hope that the hanyou had it better at home.

They noticed that Inuyasha was approaching a woman with long black hair. She had pale skin and a beautiful pair of violet eyes. From the way she was looking at Inuyasha, they could tell that this was Inuyasha's mother.

"Inuyasha!" Inuyasha's mother exclaimed and ran towards the hanyou. "What happened to your face? Are you alright?"

Inuyasha gave a smile, which the group realised was forced. "I'm fine, Mother. I... I went to the outskirts of the village, and the demons caught me and attacked. But don't worry, I managed to escape."

"Oh, Inuyasha! I told you many times not to go near that forest. What were you doing there?"

"I wanted to hunt down for food..." Inuyasha lied.

"You don't have to, child," Inuyasha's mother cooed and stroked his hair. "Come. I'll ask the servants to prepare you a bath, and call a healer to tend your wounds."

Inuyasha nodded. He sighed inaudibly when his transparent human version appeared at his side again. Though, it doesn't look like he could see his human side floating near him. The group could only guess that Inuyasha couldn't actually see his human form, but can feel when it's there... talking to him.

"You're a liar. Humans attacked you, not demons," human Inuyasha said.

"Humans, demons... does it matter?" Inuyasha thought out loud, which silenced his human side. "Humans can be demons too."

Everyone hesitated to continue and follow Inuyasha. They weren't sure if they could handle what they were going to see next. So far, none of the things they saw were positive. But in order to learn his past, they all nodded to each other and stepped inside the palace building, gasping in awe at how huge the structure is. If Inuyasha's mother was truly a princess, then having a full-blooded demon as a husband must've been a really big deal.

They stopped abruptly when they heard a female voice hissing quietly.

"Stand still you dirty half-breed! Do you think I like doing this any more than you do? If you want to get over with it, then quit your movements and endure it!"

They all turned into a room and found a female servant scrubbing Inuyasha's tiny back vigorously. She ignored the small whimpers coming out of the hanyou. Inuyasha was in pain thanks to the bruises on his back, and her rough treatment wasn't doing anything to make it any better. Half of Inuyasha's body was under the water, while the other half was exposed to the merciless servant. She continued rubbing his back, until the skin turned red.

"Why are they so cruel to him?" Kagome whispered, her voice loud enough for only a nearby person to hear, which happened to be Miroku.

"Even if his mother is the princess of these lands, it seems the treatment used on her doesn't apply to her half-demon child," Miroku commented. "I heard half-demons are shunned by humans, but I didn't know it was this bad."

All of a sudden, the memories they were seeing started to waver, and everything turned pitch black again. Shippou jumped at the aburpt change of atmosphere, and immediately clung onto Kagome's leg. They were back into the pit of darkness for a while, until a familiar white light appeared on the ground, and the whole darkness shifted into a person's hut. They all blinked in confusion. A minute ago, they were seeing Inuyasha being treated roughly by a servant. Now, they were inside someone's hut.

They all gasped in horror when the child-like Inuyasha was thrown harshly on the ground. The hanyou's ear-piercing scream was the only indication they needed to know that this was something much, much, worse than the servant.

A man entered the room and brought a whip, dragging the tail on the ground. He swung the whip, causing a loud thud on the ground during the impact. Inuyasha backed away, trembling, until his back reached the wall of the room. The man walked like a predator with its pray—slow and menacing. When he reached right in front of the little hanyou, the group was disgusted when a smirk appeared on his face. Without warning, he backhanded Inuyasha, and the whip in his hand flew directly to Inuyasha's back.

"This is what happens," the man said as he whipped Inuyasha, ignoring the cries coming from the child, "when you're born. Do you really think just because your mother was a princess, she wouldn't die? Well, now that she's dead, we won't have to hold back anymore."

The back of Inuyasha's suikan was torn from the whipping, and blood started drawing out from his flesh. Inuyasha didn't beg for it to stop, only let out sounds that he was in pain.

"You understand why we're doing this, right? It's because you're an abomination. You shouldn't have been born," the man continued talking as the whipping never stopped. "Hey, hey, hey, you better not pass out. I'm doing the villagers a huge favour here by punishing you. Wait, no—oh, come on!"

Inuyasha had just vomited on the floor, and it earned him another hard slap across the face. The man brought Inuyasha's small frame towards his face by lifting him up by his hair. Inuyasha's eyes were half-lidded, and the man doesn't seem too pleased that the hanyou was losing consciousness. He let go of the silver hair, dropping Inuyasha unceremoniously on the ground.

"Look at what you've done," the man sneered and crouched to bring his face closer to the coughing hanyou. "I want this place cleaned up when I return. Or else."

The man never had to finish for Inuyasha to know that there would be consequences if he doesn't obey. The man left the room and Inuyasha resumed lying on the floor, his body limped.

The group who had just witnessed what had happened were shocked. Kagome was trying to calm the terrified Shippou; who had his eyes covered during Inuyasha's beating. Sango, at one point, couldn't take it anymore and looked away. Miroku was the only one who was able to watch the whole scene, though, a deep frown had formed onto his face.

"Houshi-sama, I'm ashamed of being human now," Sango said with anger in her tone. "How could they do something like that to Inuyasha?"

"What makes it worse is that, Inuyasha did not fight back, even if he has the power to do so," Miroku replied with a heavy sigh. "If I was Inuyasha, I wouldn't have held back and, instead, attack."

Kagome, who noticed that everything was wavering again, realised that they were going to see another part of Inuyasha's memory. Her eyes went downcast to the shivering kitsune. "Don't worry, Shippou-chan. It's gone now. I hope it's not—"

Her sentence was caught off midway when she saw an adult Inuyasha walking across the forest, a scowl on his face and eyes roaming the surrounding area as if in search for any enemies. She wasn't sure what the memory was going to show, but one thing for sure was that, this must be Inuyasha before he met her. Which means, this must be the time when Kikyou is alive.

But her thoughts were cut off when she heard someone shout, "What the hell?!"

Everyone whipped their heads to where the voice came from, and froze when they saw Inuyasha with ebony hair—which was human Inuyasha. His violet eyes were staring at them, wide-eyed, mirroring their exact expression. They noticed that this Inuyasha wasn't part of the memory, since he could obviously see them. After a short staring contest, Inuyasha snapped out of his daze.

"What are you—" he shook his head, "How—?"

"It's a long story," Kagome said and stepped forward, which unfortunately, made human Inuyasha step back. She blinked, "Inuyasha?"

"You can't... You can't be here..." human Inuyasha muttered, his voice somewhat hurt. "I'm sorry. But after what you did to him, I can't allow you to continue and wander inside our head."

Kagome was confused. "Did what to who?"

"To—"

"What the hell?!"

Human version of Inuyasha turned his head towards a full-demon Inuyasha. They could tell it was Inuyasha's demon form by the crimson eyes and purple jagged marks on his cheeks. Just like human Inuyasha, demon Inuyasha doesn't seem too pleased with them being inside his head.

"What are they doing here?!" demon Inuyasha hissed at human Inuyasha, as if they couldn't hear that he was talking about them.

"That's what I would like to find out," human Inuyasha answered, and glared at the group. "Explain how you got here."

"Some old woman brought us here, which apparently, is in your mind," Kagome explained. "But that's not it. Inuyasha, we saw your past—"

"Well, you shouldn't have," human Inuyasha snapped.

"Hey!" Shippou shouted and hopped onto Kagome's shoulder. "What's wrong with you?"

"Me? Nothing's wrong with me."

"Then why are you acting like a jerk?!"

The violet orbs that belonged to human Inuyasha widened, before it narrowed dangerously, sending shivers down Shippou's spine. "Me? A jerk?" he started laughing, and the sound almost turned into something hysterical. "Listen, runt, you think I'm acting like this for no reason? Well, let me tell you that it's because of you," he pointed a finger to the rest of the members, "and them, I'm like this!"

"Well, you have no right to act like a jerk, especially to Kagome!" Shippou yelled bravely. "You left Kagome for Kikyou again. Do you have any idea how much it hurts her?!"

"Shippou-chan..." Kagome whispered.

The lips of human Inuyasha were pressed into a thin line, and the demon Inuyasha glowered at Shippou.

Everything turned silent, and somehow, they could feel the murderous intent flowing out of demon Inuyasha. Demon Inuyasha, on the other hand, felt like he shouldn't get involved. He had no feelings for a human wench, so this had nothing to do with him. Even though he was disappointed that his dominant didn't find a youkai as a mate, but if his dominant had chosen a human, then he would have to accept his choice. Still, that doesn't mean he would accept those that treats his dominant badly.

After what it seemed forever, human Inuyasha finally spoke, "Why does it hurt when I see Kikyou, Kagome?"

Kagome looked at him, shocked. "I..."

When Kagome couldn't complete her sentence, Sango decided to help her, "Inuyasha, you should know by now that Kagome-chan has feelings for you. You have to understand that Kikyou is dead, and it hurts Kagome-chan when you leave her for Kikyou. I know it's hard, but you have to let go of the past."

"But why can you see Kohaku?" human Inuyasha whispered angrily. "He's dead, isn't he? He's only alive because of Naraku's jewel shard," he then looked at the others, his lips pulled back into a snarl, "How come it's okay for Sango to see Kohaku, while we can't see Kikyou?!"

"I... That's..."

"Inuyasha," Miroku said, his voice calm in order to avoid angering the human Inuyasha further. "Kohaku and Kikyou-sama aren't the same. Kohaku is Sango's brother, while Kikyou-sama is, well, your..."

Everyone stared at the monk in awkward silence, noticing that the monk never finished his sentence.

Human Inuyasha glanced at Kagome, a defeated sigh escaping his lips. "I'm sorry that I hurt you, Kagome. We never meant to hurt you whenever we go to Kikyou. And honestly? Our dominant had just figured out that the reason why you don't wanna talk to him is because of Kikyou. I guess... our dominant is really bad at reading people's feelings, and expressing his own to others," he said and averted his gaze to the forest. "I know you're probably still hurt that he went to Kikyou the other day, but you have to understand why he does it. I can show you why he keeps going back to her."

Kagome fidgeted with her fingers. "Inuyasha, I... I'm sorry that I've been acting so childish. I know it's wrong to keep you from going to Kikyou, b-but I need to know if you... if you still love her..." she then let out a half-hearted laugh. "I know this is messed up, but I just..." she met his violet eyes. "I have to know whether you still like her or not. I can't... I just..."

When human Inuyasha didn't answer immediately, she was starting to think that maybe Inuyasha still loves Kikyou. But his next sentence gave her hope.

"That's something you have to ask our dominant about," human Inuyasha said with a faint smile, and decided to elaborate, "By our dominant, I mean, the real Inuyasha. Not me, not his demon side, but the hanyou you know."

"You mean, Inuyasha-Inuyasha?" Miroku asked.

"That's what I just said."

"Can I... Can we see him?" Kagome questioned.

Unfortunately, human Inuyasha and demon Inuyasha shook their heads in sync. Demon Inuyasha responded, "Not a good idea at the moment. He's—"

Both Inuyasha's eyes widened, and a horrified expression took over both of their faces. The group looked at each other, confused on why the sudden change of expression.

"Dammit! What is he doing?!" demon Inuyasha clipped and shot a glance towards his human form. "Go check on him! If he goes any further, we won't be able to save him!"

Human Inuyasha nodded vigorously and disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving the group members puzzled. One thing they could conclude from just now was that something happened... and it wasn't good.

"That idiot!" demon Inuyasha roared and faced his pack. "All of you stay here and don't explore any further. Although I'm still mad at all of you, but go and see our memories with Kikyou so you can finally understand our dominant's relationship with her. I have something I needa' handle."

They heard demon Inuyasha murmured to himself that this was happening because of them, but before they could ask what was so urgent, demon Inuyasha was already gone.

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. It made me post this chapter faster than I had planned. I actually finished writing the document a few days ago, but I had to fix a lot of things within this chapter. I hope this chapter satisfies everyone, although, I left you guys at a cliffhanger lol. I'm not sure about Inuyasha's past since they don't reveal much in the anime, but from what I could tell, Inuyasha had a hard life. He had to learn how to survive on his own, and there was a part where Kagome figured out that Inuyasha was bullied. Those were the only things I needed to know that Inuyasha was treated harshly. Not sure about the part where Inuyasha's mother is a princess, though. But it would explain why Inuyasha's mother hasn't been kicked out from the village yet for giving birth to a half-demon.

- Replies -

daisukigohan: Thank you for reading!

Guest (Slipknot): I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Amanda Horton1: Inuyasha's group never took his past seriously, and it's sad whenever Kagome is upset with him because of Kikyou, they blame him. I really want to rant further, but I'm afraid that I would reveal the important part of this story. I'm glad that you enjoyed this story, and hope that you'll continue to find it interesting.