Chapter Text
Artwork commissioned by Sparkle Spell
It all started when a human girl came across a strange boy underneath the shade of the Goshinboku tree on the outskirts of her village.
“Why are you crying?” she asked him, more concerned for his well-being than about the claws that rounded the ends of each of his fingers others would have been wary of.
“My mother died. I’m all alone now,” he mumbled out from the bright red fabric of the pants he currently had his face pressed into. His arms wrapped around his folded knees as if he were trying to make himself as small as possible, to become invisible. But this boy was anything but ordinary. He did not have the luxury of blending in with a crowd despite his small stature.
For flowing out from his head was the most beautiful silver hair that the girl had ever seen, seemingly made of the same moonlight that poured in from her window on nights when she couldn’t find sleep in lieu of making wishes upon the stars. She could track their movements as they traveled a little further each night, connecting their patterns in a journal before talking to each one as if they were an old friend. It seemed one of them had finally come down to visit.
“I’m sorry,” the girl told the sad-looking boy. “My dad died recently as well. I miss him very much but I still have my mom, grandpa, and Sota.”
He said nothing in reply, but when he raised his head to look up at her, she couldn’t help but gasp at the striking color of his amber eyes. The boy did not realize that her surprise was fueled by admiration rather than fear and flinched away to hide his face, all too familiar with the cruelties of how others treated him solely based on their own prejudices.
But the girl was not phased. Instead, she crashed to her knees before him to get a closer look despite how the boy had turned his head away. She was thoroughly convinced that this boy was sent from the stars themselves just for her. To spend time in her company so they could finally respond to her never ending questions.
“My name’s Kagome!” she cheered, unaware of the panic in the boy’s heart when she leaned in closer to him. So close the only thing he could see was the shine of her big, brown eyes. “What’s yours?”
The boy hesitated. Though the girl hadn’t immediately taunted him or run away due to his appearance the way most children his age did, a lifetime of caution made him want to keep her at a distance despite her current close proximity.
“Go away,” he told her. At the slight frown that made her lips purse, he braced himself for harsh words or tugging on his hair, but it didn’t come. Nor did she move away. Only sat there leaning on her hands in front of him in a pout.
“Don’t you want to be my friend?” she asked him. The question took him aback, though even at a young age he had long learned to not allow too much emotion to pass over his face lest people misjudge his intentions.
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Why else would you be here?”
“I’m here because my mother died. I already told you.”
“Was your mother also a star?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked with more annoyance in his tone than he intended, but this strange girl was bringing it out in him. Kagome sat back on her heels, her pout now transformed into a look of concern as if he was the one who was talking nonsense.
“How sad. You must have lost your memories. And it’s up to me to help you find them,” she wondered with her thumb and forefinger wrapped around her chin in deep contemplation. “This must be the adventure I asked for!”
Her smile returned but the look of absolute confusion did not leave the boy’s face. The girl was crazy, made no sense…but at least she had distracted him long enough for his tears to dry.
“You’re really weird,” he said with narrowed eyes, more to himself than to her, but when Kagome snapped back her attention to his face with downturned lips again, he realized he had spoken the words out loud.
“That's not very nice. Is that any way to treat your new friend?”
“Who said anything about being your friend?”
“So then…you don’t want to?”
“Of course not, I don’t even know you! Just leave me alone. Why would I ever want to be friends with a stupid-”
But the rest of the boy’s words died in his throat when the salty stench of tears passed over his sensitive nose. The smell was one of his least favorite in the world, as he had come to associate it with the many times his mother had cried for him, for the cruelties of others to her innocent son. Too many times to count had his mother shed tears for him while she held him in her delicate arms. And now he smelled them coming from the girl in front of him as she balled her hands into fists and rubbed at her eyes in an attempt to wipe them away.
“A-are you crying?” the boy asked, his heart lurching into a panic. Yes, his mother had cried for him, though never as a direct result of anything he had said or done. But a few minutes after meeting Kagome, she was already in tears. “Did I make you cry?”
What he wasn’t expecting was for her fists to slam down to her sides as she leaned back into his face with fire in her eyes that rivaled a rageful demon’s.
“Yes, stupid! Who else would it have been!? You were supposed to spend your new life on earth with me, but now you’ve ruined everything!” Kagome yelled before shielding her face with her hands to sob back into them. The boy found himself stammering for words. Never before had he ever seen so many emotions pass over one person within the span of a few minutes. Yet not a single one of them had been disgust or pity, her anger only caused by the careless words he had said, not for what he was in general. He didn’t even think she had realized why he had the features that he did. She may be dumb, but she wasn’t unkind.
“F-fine,” the boy sank into himself with crossed arms, eyes unable to meet hers as his cheeks flushed a soft pink. “I’ll be your friend.”
Kagome’s crying paused with a single sniffle as her hopeful eyes peaked over her hands. “Really?”
“Yeah,” he grumbled. And as if she had never shed any tears in the first place, her face broke into a smile with a sweet giggle that somehow had the boy’s heart more relieved than it had been since the news of his mother’s passing and his forced relocation to this new village in the Ningen Kingdom. This would not be the last time Kagome would use this method to get what she wanted from him as she quickly found that it would always work without fail.
“Do you want to come play at my house? I can ask my mom if you can stay for dinner, too. If your dad hasn’t made any, that is.”
The boy allowed his eyes to find hers again, though they were as guarded as ever. Meeting one little girl was one thing, but to bring him back to her entire family? His base instincts told him to refuse, to run back to the house he was now living in and hide away. But something about Kagome had him rethinking everything he had been taught about people his whole life. That if she was not cruel to him, then maybe her family would not be as well. He doubted she would even take no for an answer anyways.
“My dad’s not around either. I’m staying with Totosai from now on. He was friends with my dad when he was alive, but I hadn’t ever met him before today.”
“Oh, I know him! He makes all those swords! He’s really funny,” Kagome’s kind smile was never faltering, even at the news that the boy had no father either.
“He’s crazy. No wonder you get along with him.”
“I’m not crazy! You’re the one sitting out here by yourself and being mean to someone you just met, Star Boy.”
“Star Boy?”
“You never told me your name so what else am I supposed to call you?
“I’m not a star, dummy. I’m a dog demon. Well, half anyway,” he muttered the last part with a downturned face, but Kagome did not flinch. Did not react other than a slight tilt of her head as if she was wrapping her mind around the new information. Her eyes glanced up to the top of his head where two triangular ears sat nestled in the tufts of his silky silver hair. They were pressed flat against his head in an attempt to hide them, but now that Kagome had noticed, she could not deny the proof of his dog demon heritage.
“Is that why you have those ears? Can I touch them?”
But instead of waiting for a response, Kagome reached and grabbed one fluffy ear in each of her tiny hands. A bark of protest started in the boy’s throat, but quickly died when she rubbed them so softly, he realized just exactly how touch starved he had been. No one but his mother had ever revered them in the way that this girl did. He wasn’t sure how to react, only sat frozen while she took her fill.
“Was your mother a human?” Kagome asked him, apparently aware of what it meant to be born a half-demon. The boy simply nodded, unsure how to explain the full complexity of his family situation. At least his mother being a human and his father a full dog demon was simple enough a concept for her to understand. That his father was actually the great Inu no Taisho, previous ruler of the Youkai Kingdom, was something else entirely.
“Let’s go home now,” she told the boy when it seemed the initial appeal had worn off, and she stood before him, a hand reaching out to help him stand. He took it and rose from the cold dirt where he had been hiding the last few hours, unsure of where else in the village he could be by himself. But now, he found that maybe he didn’t have to be so lonely. That maybe having this girl as his friend wouldn’t be so bad after all.
They began their trek back to the heart of the village, and even when they reached civilization again, Kagome did not let go of his hand, heedless of the stares of the villagers milling about that had never seen the likes of this unusual child. When they arrived at the door of the Higurashi household, the boy broke their comfortable silence.
“Inuyasha.”
“Hm?” she looked up at him, pausing with one hand on the doorknob.
“My name. It’s Inuyasha. Inuyasha Taisho.”
“Inuyasha,” she said the name out loud as if to see how it felt rolling off her tongue. “It suits you. I like dogs and all, but I’m still not convinced you aren’t a star.”
“Would you let that go? I already told you I’m not.”
“Uh-huh, that’s exactly what a star who was trying to conceal his true identity would say.”
His exasperated sigh made her giggle, but him not pulling his hand from hers, even as she opened the door and pulled him through, told Kagome that he didn’t have any intention of leaving. Inuyasha was her star now, one that she could finally hold in her hand.
They were inseparable from that day on. Rarely a day went by where the villagers did not see the two children in each other’s company. Some days the girl would pick flowers in the field while the boy leaped from tree to tree around her, always on the move yet never letting her leave his sight. Later, many would notice the blushing boy with his hair woven through with those same flowers as he walked the girl back to her house, always hand in hand. Other days, Inuyasha could be seen on the path to the Higurashi residence, a book in hand for the girl to read to him, though he would pretend to not be interested.
In the beginning, they were often met with cold stares, but in time they grew to indifference. This was more than Inuyasha could have ever asked for in a home. For there was no one who mattered to him more than Kagome Higurashi, the rest merely background characters in the story that they were making together.
While Totosai let Inuyasha run off on his own every day, too absorbed in his own work to wrangle the energy of a young half-demon, Kagome’s family earnestly welcomed him in as if he was one of their own. Many mornings after Inuyasha had stayed the night, Kagome’s mother found the two innocently sleeping by the fire or on Kagome’s bed, limbs tangled together in a heap that she found too precious to disturb. Despite his usual standoffish behavior, it seemed Inuyasha was the one who would always cling tighter.
Everyone in the village was of the understanding that little Kagome and Inuyasha shared a deeper connection than merely friends. They were partners, seemingly two parts of one whole split into separate bodies. Other children learned that to bully Kagome meant having to deal with the hot-headed Inuyasha, but what struck even more fear into their hearts was the wrath of Kagome when Inuyasha was taunted or harassed. It was truly a sight to behold and one that few people dared to ever tempt twice, though it often meant that Kagome was isolated from playing with other human children her age. Not that she needed anyone by her side other than her half-demon and she refused to share.
While she knew of his true lineage after Inuyasha finally revealed it to her one night after she had shown him her journal of the stars that she still believed he came from, it did not change her feelings towards him in the slightest. Only brought them closer despite their difference in status.
“So you’re a prince, too?” Kagome had shrieked, jolting upright from where she had been laying out on the grass. To have her companion be both a star and a prince? She suddenly worried that maybe she wasn’t as worthy to hold him as dear to her as she had previously thought.
“Hardly. ‘S’not like that even matters,” he assured her as he remained where he was, arms tucked behind his head while he watched the patterns in the sky. “My half-brother rules the Youkai Kingdom now and he wants nothing to do with me. Would probably prefer it if I never showed my face around there ever again.”
“Well, I don’t want you to go there,” she selfishly whined as she lay back down beside her friend who in turn rolled onto his side to face her, “Not without me. You wouldn’t leave me, right?”
“What kinda question is that? I’ll always protect you, dummy,” he vowed, one hand reaching out to enclose around hers.
“And I’ll always be by your side.”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”
Her fingers intertwined with his and their promise was sealed. And despite the following years they shared together, it was not broken.
As the boy and the girl grew, so did their love. The first time Inuyasha’s lips met Kagome’s skin was shortly after she had fallen in the forest, the irritated scratches on the heel of her hand colored a soft pink. Though it was merely a scrape, she cried as any child would, unfamiliar with the hurtful sting. Inuyasha, without a word, took her hand in his and pressed his lips to her injury with a distinct memory of his mother doing the same for him whenever he was hurt. Immediately, Kagome’s wails had turned into whimpers and sniffles as she watched, his comforting touch alone enough to lift away any pain she felt.
The next wasn’t until a year later. As thunder shook the foundation of the humble Higurashi house, Kagome hid under the quilt donning her bed as she did every time a storm gathered. But like always, she was not alone. Inuyasha lay beside her, speaking soft words to her while she trembled and tried to hold in her tears.
After a particularly loud crash, Kagome’s body had nearly left the bed entirely when she flinched, but though he was small himself, Inuyasha was there to cover her with his arms. He pulled her close and placed a kiss on the top of her head as she clung to him. And soon enough, she was able to find her way into a peaceful slumber, the sound of his heartbeat providing a gentle rhythm to lull her down.
As they aged into their teenage years, their kisses grew more frequent, a sign of their deep connection no different from when they held hands or leaned a head onto the other’s shoulder. Kagome would often reward Inuyasha’s kindness with a peck on the cheek when he did something nice for her, a kiss on one of his ears when they twitched as she braided his silver hair. It was done without thought and the tender blush that would flush Inuyasha’s cheeks whenever she did so went entirely unnoticed.
But it wasn’t until the time Inuyasha placed his smirking lips to the inside of her wrist after he teased her for spilling ink on her woolen skirt that she felt a fluttering within her belly when he made contact. This had been no different from any other occasion where they had gifted the other a kiss, yet when she looked into his amber eyes, she realized that her claim on him was becoming more than she had ever anticipated. The girl was falling in love with her star.
So the pressing of Kagome’s lips to Inuyasha’s beneath the falling cherry blossoms was easy. And when he returned it, Kagome’s world was filled with light only hair spun from the moon itself could cast. Only golden eyes that burned more powerfully than the sun could give her. He held her close until nightfall then walked her home, hand in hand as he would any other day. They were still the same, yet with just a single kiss, became something more. Something inevitable.
Kagome had grown into a young woman, short in stature but large in heart. She took up training as a priestess, spending more of her time concocting healing remedies to aid the villagers as well as learning the basics of how to exorcize evil spirits. Her prowess with a bow and arrow was unmatched, often seen on the outskirts of the village as she practiced on handmade targets. Villagers would stop their duties to watch how the girl would seemingly glow as she channeled power into her weapon before firing, never missing the mark.
This was all done under the watchful eye of Inuyasha, who rarely ever left her side. Though once as small as his human companion, the boy grew until he was nearly a head taller than Kagome, his body lean with muscle as a result of his demon strength. Totosai, recognizing the looming power within him, produced a sword passed down from the boy’s father with the instruction to train with it until he could surpass the Inu no Taisho himself.
Inuyasha, with no guide and no reference other than the stories people told of the previous ruler, did as well as he could. Though it took time, one day he learned that the seemingly rusty blade would transform into a giant fang at just the thought of Kagome, more specifically his promise to keep her safe while he fought against the weak demons that threatened to invade his village. He was often able to defeat them with a single swing of his sword, but the times when he returned to Kagome with even so much as a scratch, she was always there to mend his wounds and seal her bandages with a kiss.
“You know this will just be healed by tomorrow,” he would tell her, only to be promptly shushed.
“Be quiet, I need someone to practice on,” she didn’t lie, but it was hardly the only reason she insisted.
Though their love was never spoken between them, it was always understood. A soft hand placed on a cheek, a smile from across the room, a lap to rest one’s head on. They had each other. They were in no rush. Every day was one of their own making with the promise of tomorrow just on the horizon.
And with that promise, the boy laid the girl down underneath the same Goshinboku where they first met and gave himself to her completely. She sheltered him, welcomed him inside her as he surrounded her in hair of moonlight that she ran her delicate fingers through while he moved. It was far from perfect, shaking hands and fumbling words, but they laid their hearts bare to each other, clung together until they reached their precipice in unison with nothing but a name on their lips as they fell.
Yet, the cruelties of fate are always in motion, though they may not be easily recognizable until the knot is finally undone. For though two souls are meant to meet, to fall in love even, does not mean that forces larger than their own are not at work to tear them apart. Inuyasha did not realize this until returning that very same night to find soldiers waiting at the door of Totosai’s home.
He did not initially recognize the red and white colors of their uniforms or the seals of a flower enclosed within a hexagon pinned to their chests at first. It was only after a flash of memory to men in similar clothing tearing him away from his mother’s cold, dead body and placing him into a carriage that sent him to this very village that he knew just where they came from.
“What is this?” Inuyasha growled, baring his fangs to the unfamiliar men. He was all too wary of Kagome’s presence and positioned his body to stand between them. The stench of demon emanated from each one of the men, but the one that stepped forward looked human, a long braid down his back and a trident in his right hand.
“By order of Lord Sesshomaru, you, Inuyasha Taisho, are summoned to the Youkai Kingdom. We are to return at once.”
“Thanks but no thanks. I have no interest in ever going back there,” Inuyasha countered.
“His highness mentioned that you would decline his command, but I suggest you come with us as you are told, little puppy, before things get ugly. It would be a shame if others were to suffer for your actions,” the man jeered as he eyed Kagome’s form tucked behind Inuyasha.
Inuyasha felt Kagome grip the back of his shirt, her body trembling as it pressed into his. His growls grew into snarls at the threat to his lover.
“Touch her and I will not hesitate to rip that ugly braid from your head and choke you with it.”
Though his words were intimidating, the other men merely laughed among themselves. A hideous demon with reptilian features and a bulbous head chimed in, “Brother Hiten! This half-demon dares to defy us! Shall we show him the might of the Youkai Kingdom?
“Not yet, Manten. We are reasonable folk, after all,” the humanoid demon countered with a sneer. “We’ll give you one last chance, Inuyasha. Return with us now or that pretty girl will pay the price.”
Inuyasha threw out his arm in front of Kagome, the other placed on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw at a moment’s notice.
“If you won’t get the hell out of here, I’ll take each one of you on by myself. Just leave her out of this.”
“Seems like the intel given to us was correct then. The bastard son of the great Inu no Taisho has fallen in love with a common human. The very thing that got his father killed.”
“Shut up,” Inuyasha ground out. “What does Sesshomaru even want with me anyway? Why now?”
“I’m afraid we were only given direct orders from the High Lord himself. He didn’t deign to fill us in on the details and, frankly, we could really care less. Now, I’m tired of talking. Why don’t you show us what makes you so worthy of returning to the kingdom and if you win, maybe you’ll get to stay in this shit hole just like you wanted?”
“Fine by me. Like I said, I ain’t going back,” and Inuyasha drew the Tessaiga from its sheath, the blade immediately transforming into a fang. Hiten made his first attack with the trident, rearing it back before thrusting forward. Inuyasha managed to block, but what he hadn’t expected was the air vibrating with an electrical current as lightning itself crackled around them from the force of Hiten’s hit. It was nothing like Inuyasha had ever fought against before.
All he could do was block as Hiten took the offense. Blow after blow was struck against the Tessaiga, each sending a wave of static down Inuyasha’s arms. He was mildly aware of the other demons egging them on, but even in the thick of battle, his senses reached out to find Kagome, grateful that she had at least maintained a safe distance.
“I’m sorry I can’t walk you back home, Kagome,” he called out to her, “Get out of here now where it’s safe.”
“I won’t leave you!”
“Go!” Inuyasha whipped his head back to where he had heard her voice coming. His eyes were filled with an absolute rage that she had never seen before. It was enough to make her back up several paces to turn and run.
But the demons were too many in number, too fast for a human girl to escape and they caught her easily, their grip on her arms not faltering in the slightest as she struggled.
“Inuyasha!” she screamed.
“Kagome!” Inuyasha responded in horror as he turned his body in her direction, his current opponent forgotten in a desperate attempt to reach her.
“Eyes on me, half-demon!” Hiten stuck again, but Inuyasha was not ready and the tip of the trident pierced through his back. Bolts of lightning ran through Inuyasha’s veins, paralyzed him in sheer agony and he fell to his knees, mouth agape as all he could do was scream.
When he was finally released, Hiten pulled the weapon from his body and kicked him to fall forward. His ears were ringing, but vaguely, Inuyasha heard Kagome’s voice calling for him. He tried to rally his body to move towards it, towards anything, but he could not move. Only felt the lingering pain as aftershocks shot through him and made him twitch. He tried to look, but the world was a blur and fading fast, only just making out Kagome’s form surrounded by demons that held her face down into the cobblestone. His mind screamed for him to get up, he had to get up. He had to protect Kagome.
“Not so tough are you now, Inuyasha,” Hiten mocked. Inuyasha grunted when he placed his foot atop his injured back and pressed down. Inuyasha cried out, but still, he was helpless. “All I have to do is give the word and my men will tear that girl apart. But not before they have a little fun with her first.”
Kagome cried. She screamed for help. Anyone, anyone. She tried to summon her spiritual power, but she lacked the proper training to channel her energy without a bow. She couldn’t focus. She panicked. Her half-demon was lying in the street and no one was coming to help them. Demons grabbed at her body, at her clothing. They pinned her down and touched her in places that made her writhe.
“I’ll go,” she heard a voice speak, one that was too broken to have come from Inuyasha. But it did. “Just don’t hurt her.”
“No!” Kagome tried to argue, but a hand clasped over her mouth so her words were nothing more than muffled shrieks.
“Now that’s more like it,” Hiten said, his voice swelling in victory. “You heard him, boys. Time to move out.”
“But brother!” the hideous creature named Manten argued. “What about this delectable morsel of a girl? Are we to simply leave her here without indulging ourselves?”
“Let her go. We have much more beautiful women waiting for us back home. Perhaps our new half-demon friend here will learn to partake as well,” Hiten smirked, lifting his foot off of Inuyasha and prodding him with a toe. He scoffed when Inuyasha gave no further response. “Pathetic.”
With a wave of his trident, billowing storm clouds formed around them, seemingly pulled from the air itself. The demons surrounding Kagome reluctantly released her and found purchase atop the dark pillows, dragging Inuyasha’s limp body along with them. The clouds began to lift from the ground into the air and Kagome shot up in a desperate attempt to catch it.
“Inuyasha!” she cried, her hands reaching out to him as if her measly human strength could somehow pull him back to her. “Please, no!”
“I’m sorry, Kagome,” he replied, his voice nothing but a faint whimper before losing himself to the darkness completely; the last thing he could see was his beloved as she futilely tried to call him back.
She ran until her legs gave out and she collapsed to the earth, her lungs burning for air that she could not breathe. She was choking, sobbing, gasping as the realization that for the first time in over a decade she was alone.
Kagome had lost her star.