InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Memory Of You ❯ After All These Time ( Chapter 4 )

After All These Time             &nb sp; Under the afternoon sky, Miroku ran through the fields of wildflowers, his heart rapidly beating against his ears. But he took no heed of it. His eye had caught something that was white and red lying amidst the meadow. Hoping against hope, he prayed that it would finally be the hanyou.             When Inuyasha finally woke up, he squinted his eyes, having grown to be unaccustomed by the light. He could see a face and watched as words formed into its mouth. The voice called his name.             Miroku!!            ;  He finally recognized the monk’s voice, breathlessly talking to him. Slow and steady, he tried to get up but only managed to sit down. Giving both time for them both, Miroku waited for him before speaking.             ; “ Where have you been?”             “ To hell.”           &n bsp; Without warning, Inuyasha’s head came in contact with the hard ground. He could hear something crack, probably his skull, at the impact of Miroku’s shakujo.             “ You damnable bastard of a cur!!!” the monk spat with as much venom as he could muster.             Repeatedly, the hanyou’s body was flayed under the assault of the staff but he did nothing. When blood began pouring in, soiling his clothes, he found himself weeping yet it was not because of the pain of his battered body. If Miroku  noticed him crying, the houshi would not have given a damn. Each stroke he thought of the people whom this self-centered brat had both betrayed and hurt.             “ And this is for Kagome and her child!”           & nbsp; The staff stopped in midair as Inuyasha caught it with his bloodied hand.             “ What do you mean child?” Inuyasha implored at the monk who looked at him with such contempt. The word rang in his ears, unmistakably shaking him out of his senses. Inuyasha was then thrown over as the staff struck his face.             “ I will tell Kagome that you are dead. She would definitely be better off without you.”           &nb sp; Without bothering to look back, Miroku walked away ignoring the hanyou’s cries.                     “ Miroku!!” Inuyasha sat up then momentarily stopped at the sting of the staff on his cheek. “ Where is Kagome? How long has it been since I was missing?!”          &nbs p;  He called out the monk’s name again but again he heard no response. Steadily he got up and ran after him.             ‘ The nerve of that hanyou.’Miroku trembled with rage as he took no heed of Inuyasha’s shouts.  He continued to walk through the grassy fields, suppressing the urge to turn back and give the hanyou another beating.             He could not help it.             “ Four months, Inuyasha!” Miroku’s voice was strained and he repeated those words in a heavy whisper.             “ Kagome told me to tell you this” the hanyou stopped running and intently stared at the back profile of the monk, silently urging him to go on.” She said she still loves you and wants you to come back.”            ;  To come back…            ;  After all the things he had done to her, Kagome still loved him. Would she forgive him if she knew the truth about Kikyou?             It did not matter…something inside Inuyasha was lifted and he could feel the lightness as he ran through the fields, catching a handful of wildflowers all for his love.             He could not wait even for Miroku to catch up.Bubbling with laughter and new hope, he resolved to begin again together with Kagome and their child. The anxieties of fatherhood crept in him, but he pushed them away with the ecstatic feeling of having a family. If it would be a boy, he would teach him things like using the Tetsusaiga, catching fish maybe or if it would be a girl, he wondered what her hair would be like: Would it be raven black like Kagome’s or white like his?             The rush of wind was all he felt as he flew through the branches of the forest. Still clutching the flowers close to his heart, he effortlessly crossed the distance as each step brought greater anticipation for the future.             He has decided that the first thing he would do was to admit to Kagome his feelings for her.       --             Nothing could ever stir the young kitsune.  The deep forest had gradually melted into the darkness of dusk but the cub still sat on the ledge of the well, unmoving and waiting. Even when his older companions had left for the village, he would stay here. He would not come with them though they pleaded, forced and even bribed him with his favorite pocky sticks. She would come back. She always does. A ghost of a smile etched on Shippou’s young face when he would think upon Kagome’s return. Her face would light up with joy when she would see him and he would hug her tightly as she would come down to the village with her wonderful parcel of filled with sweets and lots of lovely shiny things.         She will be here in a short while… He gripped the flimsy shawl around him, spasmodically coughing up with fever. Looking up the skies, he wondered how many moons had passed when she last went into the well. She had promised to come back and Shippou in return swore that he would be always waiting near the well.             And thus the young fox kept the vigil everyday and the only time he failed to keep his promise was the time when he got sick and Sango had to pry Shippou out and bring him to the village to be treated.             That was the time a young boy came out of the well and told them that Kagome was dead. It was all lies. He could not be Kagome and Inuyasha’s child. Kagome was only gone for a few months; a human child could not have grown up so quickly. But in the deep recesses of Shippou’s thoughts as he saw the boy and knew of his name, he knew it to be true.                    Despite all that, Shippou still sat near the well, waiting for something that would never happen.  In the stillness of the forest, something was coming and his ears perked up at the rushing sound of leaves and wind. There he caught scent of the incoming hanyou. Without hesitation, he clambered down the well and tumbled to the ground, running to the direction of the familiar presence. The woods echoed the hanyou’s name as Shippou roared with the ferocity of a child’s broken heart.  “INUYASHHAAA!!!!”