May 2008
Title:How It Could Have Been; ch 57, Time Passes
Author:petalears
Universe:AU
Rating:PG
Summary:Time passes
Quote:"The surest poison is time." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Time Passes
Mostly for the next decade or so, not a lot changed for the youkai young of Inuyasha’s class. The pattern of lessons and holidays became established and was not a problem even for the panda cub, who sometimes had to stay in the Western Palace along with Inuyasha and the wolf cubs. Of course, Inuyasha was often at his family farm or else with his youkai family, while the others remained as guests with their own attendants. If they were together at any time there were always adults to keep play or sparring within acceptable limits.
During these years Inuyasha became an uncle three times, to Yori and Kaoru’s children; but this was nothing new or remarkable to his own friends, because some of them also had mated siblings with children, a couple were even younger than their nieces or nephews. He also went to the weddings of Sora and Chouko who were married a year apart and he came to like their respective mates, even if they smiled at the term. They too lived in adjoining lands to the farm, given as wedding gifts from Inu no Taishou. Fairly soon after that Inuyasha added four more nieces and three more nephews to his human pack and he doted on all of them, and they too grew to love him.
Inuyasha found the fact that the children started to grow up around him quickly and seemed to rapidly mature at least in comparison to him, as an anomaly he didn’t understand. He knew now that it was the way of things and he’d understood his mother’s explanation of the horses intellectually. But it was very unnerving; especially when the first born of Yori and Kaoru, a strapping boy like his father, reached eleven years old and was a finger breadth taller than his uncle. The fact that his nephew liked to play the same games as Inuyasha was however a redeeming feature, and soon the young hanyou just accepted the inevitable; he didn’t understand, but it didn’t change the fact.
Eventually it made no difference that his brothers both looked as if they could be his father too, or that Chouko reminded him greatly of his mother, in the days before Izayoi’s hair turned her into an Inu like him. Chouko annoyed him the most because she ruffled his hair, or treated and threatened him as if he were one of her children, seeming to forget the respect he was due as her older brother. But he really protested the loudest when she hauled both her son and him in and scrubbed them both down for their baths because they had been catching newts or something in the river and got all muddy. It didn’t make any difference to Chouko how much Inuyasha squeaked about her invasion of his privacy, if the boys were both dirty, she wanted them clean.
She also said in no uncertain terms that if Inuyasha didn’t like it then he should act as the older one and not get her son into the mud. But to soothe his ruffled feathers, she would always let the boys play for longer in the warm water before getting them out to dry. But the indignity had reminded Inuyasha of Inu no Taishou’s warning about Hanako, and how humiliated she would have felt if her little brother had had to look after all her personal needs, had she lived. She would also now have been a woman of twenty two, full grown and he would still have been only a little boy; for the first time he saw the truth behind his father’s concerns.
Once he was all warm and dry again in front of the hearty fire and eating some delicious meaty stew he stopped feeling so miffed with his sister. In fact he felt quite civil especially when she held him closely in front of her and brushed out his drying hair in a soothing rhythm while her husband told both boys stories. Then when Chouko’s little daughters were already asleep in the futon and her son too had gone to bed, Inuyasha was left alone with the adults; and Chouko would give him a special cup of warm milk and rub his ears gently, enjoying his little growl. It was never long after that before his head dropped and he too was put to bed; clean and dry, warm and comfortable and content. Any disturbing questions that were forming in his mind were for the time being, forgotten.
Izayoi found this period of her life a mixed blessing; she was still healthy but was now in her fifties. She was surrounded by her children and their families, all of whom gave her and Makoto a great deal of pleasure and occupied a lot of their time. But as time passed, she worried more and more for her eldest and yet at the same time, youngest child; Inuyasha still didn’t understand what aging would ultimately mean for them as humans. He barely understood the fact that he was still so young when even his siblings’ children were catching him up.
Inuyasha had seen death before, of Hanako of course, and also his step-grandmother, but he was unaware as yet that the old lady had died from natural causes. Izayoi didn’t want him to start thinking that one day she too would do the same; he was a child that thought deeply in any case and the last thing she wanted was that he would dwell on the inevitable for too many years yet. She could reasonably hope for another twenty or more decent years, but there was no stopping ageing for her or her children except the one, and her heart wept knowing that one day Inuyasha would say goodbye to them all.
So at first she and Makoto trod a fine line with the boy, sharing his time with each of his siblings’ families so that the new children would grow up comfortably with him, just as their parents had. It would give Inuyasha longer with human family he knew and loved, but it meant that she had less time with him. Izayoi was in effect trying to slowly wean him off his dependency on her, which was a very bitter thing for her to do, when all she wanted was to keep him by her side for as long as she had left; Inuyasha was her baby, her first and last and secretly in her heart, her most precious.
Inuyasha of course knew nothing of his mother’s turmoil, but he too was torn. On the one hand he missed his mother if he was staying at one of his siblings homes, but on the other, he valued having so many more playmates once again. As with most children, Inuyasha didn’t notice the changes in Izayoi, and he wouldn’t know the significance if he did; she was Mama that was all. But one day when his exuberance at seeing her made him forget, he jumped into her arms without warning, and caused her to stumble.
Makoto caught them both, but he was no longer as strong as he’d been either and had to take a step back to steady them. Inuyasha’s eyes went really wide and scared as Izayoi staggered under his solid weight, the boy might have been small for his age in human terms but, he was still a sturdy size with momentum. Before he could overly worry, Izayoi laughingly told him not to do it again as he had grown and got bigger, soon he would be taller than she and then she held him firmly to her, so that he would know she wasn’t cross.
Inuyasha gave her a big toothy grin that lit his face, he longed to be taller and she was thankful she’d known just what to say to make her boy happy. He then ran off to greet the rest of his family and Izayoi burst into the tears she’d long held in and turned to Makoto for comfort. He took her inside quickly and Kaoru made her a cup of tea. Their daughter in law was concerned and took Izayoi’s hands in her own and asked her to confide in her.
Kaoru was a good listener and wise and had a practical solution for them; Izayoi and Makoto should go visiting along with Inuyasha, that way they could watch him play; and of course, none of their offspring would mind, the children too were always happy to see the grandparents. It was such an obvious idea and worked so well, that Izayoi berated herself for not seeing it earlier and making such a fuss; Inuyasha was also happier that she was around more again. It even allowed her to forget sometimes, that time was inexorable as it leaked its insidious poison, which all too soon would eventually separate her from her child, long before he would understand.
Still Izayoi’s sometimes morbid thoughts aside, as a growing family, the humans were happy and busy with their lives and Inuyasha was always pleased to see and be part of them all. He was also a happy pup in the Western Palace and now the older youkai were very used to three smaller bodies racing and playing along the corridors and gardens. They got under foot regularly and popped up disconcertingly all over the place when playing hide and seek, their favourite game that helped develop their senses. It had also been decided that Hiroto could join Inuyasha in his school once he’d turned fifteen, rather than set up a class for him; a decision come to when two of the other boys’ parents had asked for their young sons to join Inuyasha’s class.
Hiroto had had a private tutor that taught him his basics from the age of ten and he was more than ready by fifteen. He enjoyed reading and study and with extra help from his tutor within the lesson, he would catch up fairly quickly over the years. Inuyasha was fiercely protective over his younger brother, even though the younger boy was now a few inches taller than him, not to mention bigger in general size. So for the past six years each boy had a special friend in his brother at school as did the other sets of siblings.
Being that bit younger than the others, stopped Hiroto from being an immediate target for those who needed to impose Alpha status. He was Beta by age for now, although as he matured in years to come it would almost certainly come to the fore in a way that wouldn’t happen for Inuyasha. As all the boys developed, they would find out their pack positions at different times, but that was why the sparring areas were provided. Hiroto was also too young at the moment to comprehend the sly comments directed solely at Inuyasha by Xing-fu every now and then.
But Xing-fu was merely an occasional annoyance, most of the boys found him amusing and good fun and he didn’t go overboard with his grievance against Inuyasha. So for most of the time everyone was happy at school, their active minds and energetic bodies needing the balance of structure and play. In fact the next decade was good and calm in the most part and Xing-fu and Hiroto became fast friends, they both enjoyed pranks and were good at their lessons and although both boys had to work hard to achieve, they did well when they did.
The friendship didn’t bother Inuyasha; he was an easy going child and quick to forgive. Besides which, he wasn’t losing his brother’s companionship as the whole group did much together and siblings in any case, shared the same room. However it did become obvious later that Hiroto was Alpha in nature like his older brother and father which led to some problems. He and Inuyasha got on very well until Hiroto realised he should win in tussles because he was bigger and stronger than his middle brother.
The fights started as normal sparring until Hiroto’s instincts kicked in and he tried to best Inuyasha in a more aggressive manner. Of course this was expected and explained to Hiroto, who would now learn his pack position at home, but Xing-fu could see opportunities to make mischief between the brothers. At first in their sparring, the panda would cheer on Hiroto, but the younger Inu was not yet as experienced as Inuyasha so despite being a bit bigger, the hanyou could use his smaller frame to great advantage.
Of course it all seemed innocuous enough, in any match the boys took sides, but it soon became apparent that the Inu brothers were the biggest draw. The problem started when Xing-fu started to ‘coach’ Hiroto; in private he would innocently comment that as a full youkai, even if younger, he should always be able to best Inuyasha. Not only that, the hanyou was obviously beta in nature and should concede to Hiroto’s Alpha. Hiroto had already been taught that his Alpha status had nothing to do with intimidating others, but in the natural desire to prove himself to his father and older brothers, he conveniently started to forget his lessons.
A/N In case of confusion in this chapter, here is a list of the main characters’ ages in years, from the start to the end of the chapter;
Inuyasha 23-47
Izayoi 39-63
Michiko 16-41
Yori 16-41
Sora 13-38
Chouko 13-38
Hiroto 7-31
Author:petalears
Universe:AU
Rating:PG
Summary:Time passes
Quote:"The surest poison is time." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Time Passes
Mostly for the next decade or so, not a lot changed for the youkai young of Inuyasha’s class. The pattern of lessons and holidays became established and was not a problem even for the panda cub, who sometimes had to stay in the Western Palace along with Inuyasha and the wolf cubs. Of course, Inuyasha was often at his family farm or else with his youkai family, while the others remained as guests with their own attendants. If they were together at any time there were always adults to keep play or sparring within acceptable limits.
During these years Inuyasha became an uncle three times, to Yori and Kaoru’s children; but this was nothing new or remarkable to his own friends, because some of them also had mated siblings with children, a couple were even younger than their nieces or nephews. He also went to the weddings of Sora and Chouko who were married a year apart and he came to like their respective mates, even if they smiled at the term. They too lived in adjoining lands to the farm, given as wedding gifts from Inu no Taishou. Fairly soon after that Inuyasha added four more nieces and three more nephews to his human pack and he doted on all of them, and they too grew to love him.
Inuyasha found the fact that the children started to grow up around him quickly and seemed to rapidly mature at least in comparison to him, as an anomaly he didn’t understand. He knew now that it was the way of things and he’d understood his mother’s explanation of the horses intellectually. But it was very unnerving; especially when the first born of Yori and Kaoru, a strapping boy like his father, reached eleven years old and was a finger breadth taller than his uncle. The fact that his nephew liked to play the same games as Inuyasha was however a redeeming feature, and soon the young hanyou just accepted the inevitable; he didn’t understand, but it didn’t change the fact.
Eventually it made no difference that his brothers both looked as if they could be his father too, or that Chouko reminded him greatly of his mother, in the days before Izayoi’s hair turned her into an Inu like him. Chouko annoyed him the most because she ruffled his hair, or treated and threatened him as if he were one of her children, seeming to forget the respect he was due as her older brother. But he really protested the loudest when she hauled both her son and him in and scrubbed them both down for their baths because they had been catching newts or something in the river and got all muddy. It didn’t make any difference to Chouko how much Inuyasha squeaked about her invasion of his privacy, if the boys were both dirty, she wanted them clean.
She also said in no uncertain terms that if Inuyasha didn’t like it then he should act as the older one and not get her son into the mud. But to soothe his ruffled feathers, she would always let the boys play for longer in the warm water before getting them out to dry. But the indignity had reminded Inuyasha of Inu no Taishou’s warning about Hanako, and how humiliated she would have felt if her little brother had had to look after all her personal needs, had she lived. She would also now have been a woman of twenty two, full grown and he would still have been only a little boy; for the first time he saw the truth behind his father’s concerns.
Once he was all warm and dry again in front of the hearty fire and eating some delicious meaty stew he stopped feeling so miffed with his sister. In fact he felt quite civil especially when she held him closely in front of her and brushed out his drying hair in a soothing rhythm while her husband told both boys stories. Then when Chouko’s little daughters were already asleep in the futon and her son too had gone to bed, Inuyasha was left alone with the adults; and Chouko would give him a special cup of warm milk and rub his ears gently, enjoying his little growl. It was never long after that before his head dropped and he too was put to bed; clean and dry, warm and comfortable and content. Any disturbing questions that were forming in his mind were for the time being, forgotten.
Izayoi found this period of her life a mixed blessing; she was still healthy but was now in her fifties. She was surrounded by her children and their families, all of whom gave her and Makoto a great deal of pleasure and occupied a lot of their time. But as time passed, she worried more and more for her eldest and yet at the same time, youngest child; Inuyasha still didn’t understand what aging would ultimately mean for them as humans. He barely understood the fact that he was still so young when even his siblings’ children were catching him up.
Inuyasha had seen death before, of Hanako of course, and also his step-grandmother, but he was unaware as yet that the old lady had died from natural causes. Izayoi didn’t want him to start thinking that one day she too would do the same; he was a child that thought deeply in any case and the last thing she wanted was that he would dwell on the inevitable for too many years yet. She could reasonably hope for another twenty or more decent years, but there was no stopping ageing for her or her children except the one, and her heart wept knowing that one day Inuyasha would say goodbye to them all.
So at first she and Makoto trod a fine line with the boy, sharing his time with each of his siblings’ families so that the new children would grow up comfortably with him, just as their parents had. It would give Inuyasha longer with human family he knew and loved, but it meant that she had less time with him. Izayoi was in effect trying to slowly wean him off his dependency on her, which was a very bitter thing for her to do, when all she wanted was to keep him by her side for as long as she had left; Inuyasha was her baby, her first and last and secretly in her heart, her most precious.
Inuyasha of course knew nothing of his mother’s turmoil, but he too was torn. On the one hand he missed his mother if he was staying at one of his siblings homes, but on the other, he valued having so many more playmates once again. As with most children, Inuyasha didn’t notice the changes in Izayoi, and he wouldn’t know the significance if he did; she was Mama that was all. But one day when his exuberance at seeing her made him forget, he jumped into her arms without warning, and caused her to stumble.
Makoto caught them both, but he was no longer as strong as he’d been either and had to take a step back to steady them. Inuyasha’s eyes went really wide and scared as Izayoi staggered under his solid weight, the boy might have been small for his age in human terms but, he was still a sturdy size with momentum. Before he could overly worry, Izayoi laughingly told him not to do it again as he had grown and got bigger, soon he would be taller than she and then she held him firmly to her, so that he would know she wasn’t cross.
Inuyasha gave her a big toothy grin that lit his face, he longed to be taller and she was thankful she’d known just what to say to make her boy happy. He then ran off to greet the rest of his family and Izayoi burst into the tears she’d long held in and turned to Makoto for comfort. He took her inside quickly and Kaoru made her a cup of tea. Their daughter in law was concerned and took Izayoi’s hands in her own and asked her to confide in her.
Kaoru was a good listener and wise and had a practical solution for them; Izayoi and Makoto should go visiting along with Inuyasha, that way they could watch him play; and of course, none of their offspring would mind, the children too were always happy to see the grandparents. It was such an obvious idea and worked so well, that Izayoi berated herself for not seeing it earlier and making such a fuss; Inuyasha was also happier that she was around more again. It even allowed her to forget sometimes, that time was inexorable as it leaked its insidious poison, which all too soon would eventually separate her from her child, long before he would understand.
Still Izayoi’s sometimes morbid thoughts aside, as a growing family, the humans were happy and busy with their lives and Inuyasha was always pleased to see and be part of them all. He was also a happy pup in the Western Palace and now the older youkai were very used to three smaller bodies racing and playing along the corridors and gardens. They got under foot regularly and popped up disconcertingly all over the place when playing hide and seek, their favourite game that helped develop their senses. It had also been decided that Hiroto could join Inuyasha in his school once he’d turned fifteen, rather than set up a class for him; a decision come to when two of the other boys’ parents had asked for their young sons to join Inuyasha’s class.
Hiroto had had a private tutor that taught him his basics from the age of ten and he was more than ready by fifteen. He enjoyed reading and study and with extra help from his tutor within the lesson, he would catch up fairly quickly over the years. Inuyasha was fiercely protective over his younger brother, even though the younger boy was now a few inches taller than him, not to mention bigger in general size. So for the past six years each boy had a special friend in his brother at school as did the other sets of siblings.
Being that bit younger than the others, stopped Hiroto from being an immediate target for those who needed to impose Alpha status. He was Beta by age for now, although as he matured in years to come it would almost certainly come to the fore in a way that wouldn’t happen for Inuyasha. As all the boys developed, they would find out their pack positions at different times, but that was why the sparring areas were provided. Hiroto was also too young at the moment to comprehend the sly comments directed solely at Inuyasha by Xing-fu every now and then.
But Xing-fu was merely an occasional annoyance, most of the boys found him amusing and good fun and he didn’t go overboard with his grievance against Inuyasha. So for most of the time everyone was happy at school, their active minds and energetic bodies needing the balance of structure and play. In fact the next decade was good and calm in the most part and Xing-fu and Hiroto became fast friends, they both enjoyed pranks and were good at their lessons and although both boys had to work hard to achieve, they did well when they did.
The friendship didn’t bother Inuyasha; he was an easy going child and quick to forgive. Besides which, he wasn’t losing his brother’s companionship as the whole group did much together and siblings in any case, shared the same room. However it did become obvious later that Hiroto was Alpha in nature like his older brother and father which led to some problems. He and Inuyasha got on very well until Hiroto realised he should win in tussles because he was bigger and stronger than his middle brother.
The fights started as normal sparring until Hiroto’s instincts kicked in and he tried to best Inuyasha in a more aggressive manner. Of course this was expected and explained to Hiroto, who would now learn his pack position at home, but Xing-fu could see opportunities to make mischief between the brothers. At first in their sparring, the panda would cheer on Hiroto, but the younger Inu was not yet as experienced as Inuyasha so despite being a bit bigger, the hanyou could use his smaller frame to great advantage.
Of course it all seemed innocuous enough, in any match the boys took sides, but it soon became apparent that the Inu brothers were the biggest draw. The problem started when Xing-fu started to ‘coach’ Hiroto; in private he would innocently comment that as a full youkai, even if younger, he should always be able to best Inuyasha. Not only that, the hanyou was obviously beta in nature and should concede to Hiroto’s Alpha. Hiroto had already been taught that his Alpha status had nothing to do with intimidating others, but in the natural desire to prove himself to his father and older brothers, he conveniently started to forget his lessons.
A/N In case of confusion in this chapter, here is a list of the main characters’ ages in years, from the start to the end of the chapter;
Inuyasha 23-47
Izayoi 39-63
Michiko 16-41
Yori 16-41
Sora 13-38
Chouko 13-38
Hiroto 7-31