InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Collected Works ❯ Reflection ( Chapter 21 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Title: Reflection
Author: LuxKen27
Universe: Canon (mid-anime)
Word length (250 min): 1368
Rating: K+
Warnings: None
Summary: Jinenji’s mother reflects on her past when a determined stranger shows up at her door.

Author’s Note: Set during episode #96 (“Jaken Falls Ill”) of the anime.

Entry for: iyfic_contest Week 166, “Oil & Water” prompt (1st Place)

Disclaimer: The Inuyasha concept, story, and characters are copyright Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.

It’s wrong!

Youkai and humans.

It’s unnatural!

They shouldn’t mix.

Oil and water…cats and dogs…chalk and cheese.

But didn’t they understand that opposites attract?

Not a day goes by that I don’t miss him, my beloved. From the first moment I saw him, felt the gentle warmth of his touch, I loved him recklessly. I didn’t care what form he took – only that he showed me more compassion than any human ever had. Never once did I regret my decision to leave the village and go to live with him in the mountains: the human world held no value for me. I’d been alone before meeting him, chewed up and spit out by their so-called civilized society. Together, we could live freely, carving a small existence for ourselves in this corner of his vast holdings.

He had eyes only for me…and our child, Jinenji. He was so proud of us, and we of him.

The only regret I ever had was outliving him, plunging my hanyou child back into the hate-filled human world I’d worked so hard to escape.

“Excuse me.”

The voice at the door startled me. I cast a suspicious glance over my shoulder, surprised to find myself face to face with a little girl. She cringed when she received the full blast of my stare, but I didn’t care. Children learn fast what to like and what to hate. There’s no gray area for them.

“Who are you?” I barked, curling my hands into fists over the herbs I’d been sorting. “What do you want?”

She hesitated, but gave me a determined reply. “I’m sorry to intrude, but I want to see Jinenji.”

Come to gawk, have you? I groused silently. The villagers gave him no peace. Just because he was a ‘dirty hanyou’…

“Jinenji isn’t seeing anyone today,” I said sharply. “Just go on home.”

The girl gave me a curious look, stepping a bit further into my home. Her eyes roved around the tiny hut, landing on the shrouded bundle that was my son. “You’re here, aren’t you, Jinenji? Please hear me out. I need you to give me some senenso berries!”

Jinenji rustled under his blanket, the big coward. He never wanted anyone to see his weak, humanoid form. I tried to teach him to be happy and proud of who he was, just like his father had been, but mine was a lone voice in the sea of ruthless hatred.

“My friend has been poisoned and he might die any minute!” she pleaded, her eyes widening with fear. After a long pause, she continued. “Jinenji, what’s wrong with you? Why won’t you come out and talk to me?”

I watched her suspiciously as she interacted with him. “You’re just a little girl, you wouldn’t understand,” I muttered. “He’s a half-youkai.”

Her eyes grew even bigger, if that was even possible. I narrowed a glare at her. Surely she knew that? We didn’t have many foreigners come to our fields who haven’t heard about the ‘horrible demon’ that lived here. “He doesn’t want anyone to see him when he loses his demon form,” I informed her.

She rushed into the hut, startling both of us. “Then please tell me where I can find the berries, Jinenji! I’ll go get them myself!”

“Senenso berries are used as an antidote by youkai,” I mused, my curiosity getting the better of me. “Are you trying to save a demon, little girl?”

Her courageous gaze met mine directly. “Yes,” she replied, her voice devoid of shame or fear.

My heart softened a bit. “Do you mean you are smitten with this demon?”

She didn’t respond right away, and that made my gut clench just a little. The more I stared at her, the more I could see myself reflected back. Was she also alone in this world? Was that how she’d come into the company of youkai?

Did he make her happy?

She tilted her head. “What does smitten mean?”

I chuckled. So young and innocent, this one, I thought. Maybe she does not yet know the horrors of this world. Still…a youkai’s antidote?

Jinenji rustled then. He lifted the blanket away from his face, just enough to allow two glowing blue orbs to shine out. “Mother,” he said softly, “this girl reminds me of Kagome.”

“Kagome?” Words failed me at this abrupt change in conversation, until the memory struck. “Oh, yeah.” That pretty girl who showed no fear, who travelled with an inu-hanyou companion. Maybe that’s why this child looked so familiar…

“The senenso grows in the ravine of the mountain out back,” Jinenji said. “But there are lots of demons and beasts in the area. A human would never make it back alive.” He sighed. “When it’s dark I’ll return to normal. Why don’t you wait until then?”

I held my breath for her answer. I could hear the soft pleading in his voice, and feared for his vulnerability. Kagome may have shown him compassion, but that didn’t mean this girl would. If she rejected him, he’d be crushed.

“It’ll be too late!” Her reply surprised both of us – and her actions, even more. She ran forward, dropping to her knees in front of him, ducking her head to meet his gaze. “Tell me what kind of plant it is. I’ll go get it myself!”

This girl was stubborn, all right. I looked at my precious child over her shoulder, wondering what he would do. His heart was just as large and indulgent as his father’s. He turned the other cheek to the villagers all the time, just standing by and taking their abuse…and then helping them heal with the herbs his father had taught him to cultivate.

“Please, Jinenji,” she implored. “I don’t want him to die.”

The cover fell back over his eyes, and the girl sat back on her heels, looking absolutely crestfallen. We could hear it in her voice, the sheer desire she carried for preserving this youkai’s life. I wanted to reach out to her, give her some measure of comfort…but I didn’t. I’d been down the path she now walked, and all it had brought me in the end was bitterness and heartache. I loved my youkai fiercely, but without him, I was less than I had been before.

It’s a fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone, much less such a small, innocent child.

“Here,” came the muffled voice of my son. A small sheet of paper appeared from the edges of the blanket. “This is a drawing of what the plant looks like. If you so choose…there is also a map for its exact location.”

Her face absolutely lit up, with pleasure, with relief. “Oh, thank you!” she cried, hugging the scrap of paper to her chest.

The blanket rose up once more, the light twinkling in Jinenji’s eyes. “You’re welcome,” he replied softly.

The girl stood and turned away from us, but something within me couldn’t let her go quite yet. I grabbed her arm just before she walked out the door. She looked back at me questioningly, innocence radiating from every feature.

“Good luck with your youkai,” I said, happy nostalgia cloaking me. There’s nothing I or anyone else can do to stop her, even if she doesn’t know what lies ahead of her if she chooses to stay with him. “He’s lucky to have someone like you at his side.”

She gave me a brilliant smile, so full of confidence only a child could possess. “Master Jaken…and Lord Sesshoumaru – they are everything to me,” she bubbled. “We’ll never be apart, if I have any say in it!”

With that, she was gone, streaking across the herb garden with abandon.

Jinenji and I sat in companionable silence afterwards, he still hiding from the light, me sorting the herbs for drying. It was times like these that the memories of his father were strongest around me, and seeing such a compassionate act from my son at his weakest moment made my heart proud.

“You think she’ll make it out alive?” I mused aloud, never taking my eyes from my work.

“If she’s anything like Kagome…” His words trailed off with a happy sigh. “She’ll be fine.”