Inuyasha: The Story Continues

Chapter 13: Training or Tsuyo?

Izayoi's POV 

Everyone was resting inside that night while I was training. I figured that since Mochigo was resting then maybe it would give me the opportunity to train like Totosai said. I swung Tensoga around and hit a few trees but it didn't help me unlock any moves. Finally, I got frustrated after 3 hours of sword swinging. 

"Darn it!" I yelled in frustration. I threw my sword to the ground and just sat there. How was I going to save my family if I couldn't even master a stupid sword technique of my own?! I sobbed into my knees, figuring there was nothing else I could do. 

I cried for about 10 minutes until I decided to leave and get some water from the river. As I drank from the river, I felt a little better but not too much better. I still was depressed. When I was done drinking, I sat up against a tree and looked up at the starry night sky. The moon was in a cresant shape and the stars were shining brightly. 

"Well, look who's here." A familiar, and annoying, voice said. 

I sighed. If things couldn't be any worse. "What do you want Tsuyo?" I asked, not looking up at him. 

"Just wondering what you're doing here," he said. "Thought you were on some important mission with your friends or whatever." 

"I am," I told him, standing up to look him in the eye. "We're just resting that's all." 

"Geez, don't get so upset," he said. "I was just asking a question." 

I looked away from Tsuyo and looked down at the ground. I didn't want to deal with this guy. I just wanted to be left alone to think. 

"Hey, you okay?" Tsuyo asked, trying to sound sincere. 

"I don't want to talk." 

"Come on, just say what's up?" 

I sighed. "You won't leave me alone until I tell you, right?" 

Tsuyo smirked. "You're pretty smart dog-girl." 

He was so annoying. "Okay, look I'm struggling to master a sword technique." 

"Why would you need to learn something like that?" 

"......Because," I began. "......Because I'm trying to save my family." 

"What do you mean?" 

Why was he so concerned? My life didn't have anything to do with him. He should've been worrying about himself. Yet, why did I feel like I wanted him to talk to me? "Naraku took them." 

"Woah, Naraku? I thought Naraku was dead." 

"No, he's alive." 

After that, I explained everything that had happened since the faithful night that seemed to happen years ago. As I explained the story, I felt like the world had been lifted off of my shoulders. Tsuyo really did care though. He listened with intent and he let me finish before asking questions. When I was done explaining everything, Tsuyo let out a long sigh. "Man, that's rough." Tsuyo said.

"Yeah, you have no idea." I said.  

Tsuyo sighed. He looked at me and I looked at him. Tsuyo looked at me with eyes of pity and I got a little enraged. "Why are you looking at me like that?!" I asked with anger. 

"Like what?" he asked. 

"You're looking at me with pity!" I yelled with tears running down my cheeks again. "You don't need to feel pity towards me!"

I got up from my spot on the ground and prepared myself to run. However, Tsuyo grabbed me by the arm firmly. I looked back at him and saw his face had turned stone serious. "That's not what it is Izayoi," Tsuyo said. "I don't feel pity towards you. Izayoi, I couldn't be as strong as you are right now. If I was in your position, there's no way I could be that strong. You are way stronger than I thought you were. Me? Heck, I would crumple under all this pressure." 

I didn't know what to say. He called me strong. He had told me that he wouldn't have been able to handle the pain that I was going through. More tears ran down my cheeks. "Izayoi, why are you crying now?" Tsuyo asked. 

"Because," I sobbed. "You actual care. And, you don't mind seeing me this way. You don't mind seeing me as a weak half-demon. Right?" 

Tsuyo shook his head. "I don't," Tsuyo said. "And you don't mind me being a scrawny wolf. Right?" 

I laughed slightly. "Not at all." 

Tsuyo smirked. He then looked to the ground and saw a flower that was a beautiful midnight blue. He picked it and then placed it in my hand. "Here." he said. 

"What is it?" I asked. 

"It's flower stupid." 

"No, I mean why did you give it to me?" 

"Well, you deserve something. You've obviously been through a lot and I thought maybe that would cheer you up." 

I looked over the flower and smiled. It was beautiful. I then did something that still shocks me; I ran over to Tsuyo and hugged him. It caught him off guard and it caught me off guard. "Thank you." I muttered into his chest. 

Tsuyo wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly. "You're welcome." he whispered to me. 

We stayed like that for a while and finally I let go off Tsuyo, even though I wanted to stay with him for longer. I looked at Tsuyo and then began to walk back to Muchine's place. I only looked back over my shoulder once and saw Tsuyo standing there with a smirk on his face, making me smile. I waved to him and then went to get some sleep. 

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The next morning, as we began our journey once more, I stopped when I had Tsuyo's scent enter my nose. "What's wrong Izayoi?" Ayuma asked as she and the others stopped. 

"I smell-" Before I could finish, I saw the whirl-wind of Tsuyo. He came to a stop right in front of me and smiled. 

"Morning." he greeted. 

That's when I noticed the bouquet of flowers in his hands. "Here." he said as he gave it to me, making me blush. 

"You picked these for me?" I asked. 

"Yeah," he told me. "See you around." With that, he left and the others stared at me with confusion. 

"What was that all about?" Shippo asked. 

"I'm not entirely sure." Mochigo said. 

"Me either." Kayuma said. 

I sniffed the flowers and smiled. They were lovely.