Inuyasha

The Cave

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Ichiro Higurashi and Tsukihime © Me

Summary- Ichiro learns about the origins of his father's greatest enemy.

"Over here, Ichi!"

"Pass it here!"

Ichiro grunted as he kicked the ball up and down on his toes before he passed it to a 7-year-old Roku, who smirked as he kicked the ball up onto his knees, then used his heel to pass it to Tsukihime, who caught the ball on her head and bounced it a few times. A simple game of kemari ball between three friends. Granted, Tsukihime was a first-time player since she never really interacted with the human children whenever she came to Ichiro's village, but it seemed she picked it up rather quickly.

"Come on, Tsuki, stop hogging the ball and pass it to me, already!" said Ichiro, growing irritated with the young wolf demon's showing off.

"Okay, Ichi, here you go!" said Tsukihime as she bumped the ball with her forehead, which Ichiro tried to catch with his hands when it went over his pointed ears.

"Wait, no hands, Ichi!" Roku shouted, causing Ichiro to yelp as he pulled back his hands, only for the ball to bounce off behind him.

"No, wait!" Ichiro called after the object before he glared at Roku, who grinned sheepishly.

"Um...sorry...?" he apologized, weakly.

"Never mind, I'll go get it," Ichiro muttered as he ran after the ball, and Roku and Tsukihime soon followed after him.

***Short timeskip brought to you by Katakuri's Mochi Powers (One Piece reference)***

Inuyasha sighed as he tapped his foot against the porch of his and Kagome's house, impatiently. It was almost dinner time, and Ichiro had not yet returned from playing with his friends. It wouldn't be much of a problem if the young quarter-demon didn't have such a habit of wandering when he shouldn't.

"Ichiro~!" he called out, but no answer came, causing him to sigh. "Dammit, where is that kid?"

"Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha turned to see Kagome, who was carrying little Yamako in a bundle that was strapped to her chest.

"Ichi still missing?" asked Kagome.

"Yeah, I saw him go off with Tsukihime and Roku," said Inuyasha. "I'm starting to wonder if I should go and look for him, myself."

"I'm sure he's around somewhere," said Kagome, "but...maybe you should go and bring him back home, just in case."

"I'll be back," Inuyasha said as he began to head off into where his firstborn son went off to.

"Inuyasha," Kagome called, causing Inuyasha to glance back at her. "Please go easy on him, okay?"

"Baaa..." Yamako cooed as he reached out to his father, causing Inuyasha to chuckle before he went up to his wife and infant son and kissed them both on their foreheads. Then he turned and ran off in search of Ichiro.

"I'm sure he hasn't gone too far," the half-demon muttered to himself.

***Short timeskip brought to you by Luffy's Gear Fourth: Tankman (One Piece reference)***

Ichiro stood before the mouth of a dark cave while Roku and Tsukihime stood behind him. For some reason, the children seemed a bit tense as they looked at the inside of the cave, in which their ball had rolled into. Ichiro gulped, almost wanting to turn around...and his two friends looked ready to do the same, although Tsukihime seemed to be trying to put on a brave face.

"Well, Ichi?" Tsukihime asked. "Go and get the ball, already!"

"Umm...I-I dunno," Ichiro answered with drooping ears. "I'm getting a bad feeling coming from this cave."

"I actually don't blame you," said Roku. "My Mom and Dad said that an evil demon was born in that cave!"

"...Well...evil demon or no evil demon," Ichiro began, "I'm going to get our ball back."

"W-w-wait a minute, Ichiro!" cried Roku, but it was already too late, for the young quarter-demon walked into the cave. Ichiro looked around, his yellow eyes glowing within the darkness. Normal children would run and shriek at such things, but not him, since he had inherited his father's innate ability to see well in the dark. Now he just had to find his ball and then get out.

Besides, he didn't want to be late for dinner.

At that moment, Ichiro finally spotted the ball...lying near a patch of bare earth while moss and grass grew around it.

"Huh?" the boy muttered as he took a step forward to pick up the ball...but some unusual feeling came over him, causing his entire body to shudder before he backed away.

"Ichi!" Tsukihime called. "Did you find the ball?!"

Ichiro didn't answer her. He just kept staring at the bare spot...like there was something there. He couldn't see it, and yet he sensed its presence. Suddenly, Ichiro gasped as he felt that odd sensation again, and this time, he could see some sort of...aura, forming from the patch of earth. It was this ominous black color, like plumes of dark smoke...and if he didn't know better, he'd say it almost swirled about to form some kind of face, which glowered at the boy, who let out a noise of surprise as he backed away...only to bump into a pair of red-clothed legs.

"Ichiro!"

"AAAH!" Ichiro screamed as he turned to see another angry face...this one belonging to his father.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!" Inuyasha questioned.

"D-D-D-D-Dad!" Ichiro stammered. "Dad, I-"

"I don't wanna hear it!" Inuyasha barked before he pointed outside the cave. "Outside, now!"

"But-" Ichiro started.

"NOW!" Inuyasha demanded, causing Ichiro to whimper as he heeded his father's word. Inuyasha, himself, followed after, but not before he glanced back at that empty spot of earth. Then he growled at it...an almost feral growl before he followed after his son, who looked up at him, guiltily.

"D-Dad, I can explain-"

"I said I don't wanna hear it!" Inuyasha interjected. "Now come on! Your mother has supper waiting! Roku, you come, too."

Ichiro gulped as Inuyasha walked on while Roku and Tsukihime watched him in surprise.

"Wow," said Tsukihime. "I don't think I've ever seen your dad look so mad, before."

"Yeah, and I've seen Uncle Inuyasha when he gets mad," said Roku.

"...Oh, man..." Ichiro muttered.

"Speaking of home," Tsukihime began, "I gotta get going, too. Bye, Ichi! Bye, Roku!"

"See you later, Tsukihime," said Roku while the young wolf-demon hurried off towards the forest. As for Ichiro, he gulped nervously before he began to follow after his father, and Roku soon did the same. During the whole walk, Ichiro did not say one to his father, but instead cast his eyes downward to the ground, solemnly.

It wasn't too much longer until they reached the village. There, Inuyasha dropped Roku off at his parents' house, then continued on to take Ichiro home. As they drew near their little cottage, however, Inuyasha suddenly stopped in his tracks, causing Ichiro to bump into him from behind.

"Oof!" he grunted before he looked up at his father, who glanced down at him before he sighed.

"...Sorry for yelling at you, son," he said.

"...Dad?" Ichiro asked. "Is it true, what Roku said about that cave? That an evil demon was born in there?"

"...Yes," Inuyasha answered. "That cave is a place where a man named Onigumo died...and also where an evil demon named Naraku was born."

"...Naraku..." Ichiro whispered, his ears beginning to droop, fearfully.

"Naraku was a vicious, deadly person," said Inuyasha. "He had killed many innocent people...he placed a curse on your Uncle Miroku's grandfather, which was passed on to him...he killed your Aunt Sango's family...and..." He then heaved a small sigh. "He killed...my first love, Kikyo."

"You mean that lady that you fell in love with before Mom came along?" asked Ichiro.

"That's right," said Inuyasha. "Naraku was once a normal human being...but he did everything in his power to rid himself of that humanity...to think, I almost wanted to be like him..."

A pause...but then Ichiro grabbed the sleeve of his father's robe, causing him to look down at him.

"Well...look on the bright side, Dad," he said. "One good thing came out of Naraku being born."

"Oh, really?" Inuyasha asked, almost sarcastically. "And what would that be?"

"Well, if it wasn't for him," Ichiro began, "you never would've met Mom, right?"

Inuyasha's eyes went wide...but then they softened and he smiled at his son as he lifted him up into his warm embrace.

"That's true," he said, "and if I hadn't met your mother, neither you or Yama would be here."

"Heheheh!" Ichiro giggled as he hugged his father, tightly. "I love you, Dad..."

"I love you, too, Ichi," Inuyasha replied.

"...So...am I still in trouble?" asked Ichiro, worriedly.

"Well...we'll talk to your Mother about it," said Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha! Ichi!"

The father and son turned to see Kagome waving from the house while holding Yamako in her arms.

"Come on, you two! Dinner's getting cold!" Kagome called.

"Coming, Mom!" Ichiro called back as he ran to the house while Inuyasha remained behind. The half-demon looked up to the near starry sky as the wind blew through his silvery-white hair.

"...Well...I guess I have to thank Naraku for one thing, at least," Inuyasha said to himself before he headed to the house to eat dinner with his family.

THE END

Yeah, I'm getting back into this, as you can plainly see. Don't worry, though, it's not forever. I'll be getting back into One Piece stuff, soon enough. This is just something to put up.

Review, please!