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Kagome wasn't a vindictive person. She'd never wish harm on anyone.
That being said, if one more dead woman who had issues with Inuyasha popped out of their grave, she was going to make it her life's mission to kill every single necromancer on the planet.
"It's tragic really. Inuyasha was simply what happened when things didn’t go as they should have," Izayoi laughed softly before throwing a sympathetic look Kagome's way, "I truly appreciate that you’re willing to overlook his inhuman qualities. Not many would tolerate such a beast."
Kagome’s fingers tightened in the fabric of her skirt before she could stop herself. For a second, she just stared at Izayoi like she was trying to reconcile the softness in her voice with the words that had just come out of her mouth. In any other situation, with anyone else, Kagome would have immediately launched into a heated defense.
"Yet I honestly do not understand how you’ve convinced yourself you can manage him,” Izayoi went on gently like that was a perfectly acceptable thing to say, “You cannot reshape what is…" a carefree gesture, "Fundamentally flawed.”
Kagome winced when Sango abruptly got up, shouldered her boomerang and left the hut with one fist clenched tightly by her side. Miroku got up a moment later and followed after her.
For a split second, Kagome considered simply following them and leaving Lady Izayoi to fend for herself against Kaede whose expression was the poster for 'if looks could kill.' She hadn't said a word so far but Kagome had no doubt if the old priestess was given free reign, Izayoi would be out on her ass already.
Problem being Inuyasha wanted everyone to make this witch feel welcome so, for Inuyasha's sake, Kagome was determined to be polite. That'd been easier to agree to when this poor excuse for a mother was behaving herself in front of her son but with Inuyasha checking the perimeter, this poor excuse of a mother just really let loose thinking she'd found people who "understood her predicament."
No one "understood her predicament" nor could they help her with it. Izayoi's "predicament", far as Kagome could tell, was that she was a narcissist who wanted to play victim after her demonic baby daddy contingency plan died. If how she spoke about Inuyasha was any indication, it wouldn't shock Kagome - at all - if Izayoi had come crawling home claiming to have had a less than consensual relationship so her family wouldn't disown her. Which, you know, Kagome could understand to a degree with it being the feudal era and women being extremely vulnerable in every way. It was also entirely possible that it wasn't a consensual relationship. Kagome didn't know but either way, there was absolutely no reason to be talking about your child like this.
Still, Inuyasha wanted her to play nice so Kagome plastered on a strained smile so tight it hurt.
Izayoi seemed not to notice any of it. Or maybe she did and simply did not care. She sat as composed as ever, sleeves folded neatly in her lap, moonlight catching in her hair and painting her in the sort of soft beauty that made cruelty look civilized.
“I only mean that half-demons are difficult by nature,” Izayoi said after a moment, “Cruel. Unstable. Excessive.”
"It would seem ye have not met many half-demons," Kaede clipped as she continued stirring what was left of stew so she had something to do with her hands. Izayoi tilted her head slightly.
“What do you mean? Inuyasha has always been like that."
Every word hit Kagome like a slap not because it was unfamiliar, but because it wasn’t. Because she had heard versions of it before in villagers’ whispers, in terrified looks, in the casual disgust of people who saw Inuyasha and decided what he was before he ever opened his mouth.
But this was his mother.
His mother.
"Ye must be mistaken," Kaede countered coolly as she set the ladle down and gave Izayoi her full attention, "I know the young man quite well and I assure ye, Inuyasha is not as ye say."
Kagome shot the old miko a subtly grateful half-smile.
"I simply meant his childhood would have been far easier if he were anything other than what he was," Izayoi hummed sagely. Kaede's mouth fell partially open like she couldn't quite believe that was the response. Kagome's eye twitched, "He was a very bothersome child. Wanted far beyond what he was ever meant to have."
"What exactly do ye mean?" Kaede asked as she shifted in her seat to sit taller.
“I mean he was born reaching for things that were never meant to be his,” Izayoi continued, her tone still maddeningly gentle, as though she were discussing the weather rather than her own son, “Status primarily. The world is not kind to those who forget their place.”
"Their place?" Kaede repeated coldly as something cold and hard settled behind her eyes, "Where exactly do ye believe his place should be?"
Izayoi did not flinch.
“Below notice,” she said softly like that was the most natural answer in the world, “At a distance far enough to never be mistaken for equal. He is not meant to exist."
The air in the hut seemed to still.
"Ye cannot be serious," Kaede breathed in horror, "What on earth?"
Izayoi seemed completely unbothered albeit a little confused.
"I am simply speaking truth."
Kagome’s patience finally snapped.
“Okay, no,” she cut in, stepping forward before Kaede could say another word, “No, absolutely not. Everyone stop.”
Kagome inhaled deeply and pressed her fingertips together then tapped them against her lips.
"So..." a long exhale, "So..."
The fire popped softly between them.
From somewhere far outside the village came the distant sound of Sango taking her anger out on something unfortunate and wooden.
“I have tried,” Kagome began slowly. Her voice trembled even as she fought to keep it steady, “So, so hard to be respectful to you because Inuyasha asked me to be. I have sat here and listened to you call him broken, and a beast, and flawed like he’s some inconvenience to everyone around him."
Kagome let out a slow controlled breath.
“None of what you said is true. You have to know that none of that is true," Kagome managed to get out.
"None of what I said is unkind," Izayoi hummed with a small pout, "I do not understand why you both are getting so upset."
"Are ye quite serious or are ye merely a half-wit?" Kaede replied in a colder voice than Kagome had ever heard, "How is it ye fail to grasp why we take offense."
Izayoi worried her bottom lip and glanced at Kagome.
"Have I offended you?"
"Yes, absolutely," Kagome licked her lips and tapped her fingertips together, "So let's start over, hm? Inuyasha is a good man. Okay? Let's start there."
"You call him a man when he's hardly-"
"No, no, shut up. Let me finish," Kagome cut in sharply before clearing her throat again, "Inuyasha is a good man. He is loyal. Brave. Kind. Got it? Good. Loyal. Brave. Kind."
Izayoi’s expression did not change, but there was something faintly amused in her eyes now.
“Very well but those things do not erase what he is.”
That did it.
Kagome rose so quickly her bag tipped sideways beside her.
She stared down at Izayoi with all the anger she’d been swallowing since this woman opened her lovely mouth and started carving pieces off Inuyasha like they were defects.
“Okay. Okay, know what? That's it. I tried to be nice but I'm done because you do not get to talk about him like that,” Kagome snapped, "I don't know where you get off thinking you can!"
For the first time, Izayoi’s expression cooled.
“You are very bold.”
“And you are awful,” Kagome snapped.
Shippo made a tiny choking sound from the corner he'd tucked himself into.
Kagome’s heart pounded so hard it hurt, but now that she’d started she couldn’t stop.
“You know what I think?” she demanded, tears stinging hot behind her eyes out of sheer furious frustration, “I think maybe the reason he’s spent so much of his life fighting everyone is because nobody ever let him forget they thought there was something wrong with him in the first place. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH HIM!"
Izayoi stood then, slowly, gracefully, but Kagome did not back down.
The older woman’s face remained composed, though her voice lost some of its honeyed warmth.
“You speak of things you do not understand.”
"Oh, I understand perfectly. A child born out of wedlock in this era is a scandal on its own but you got it on with a demon and that was so much worse in the eyes of the society," Kagome snapped back, "I've seen what it's like for mothers like you first hand except, spoiler alert, most of the mothers I've met love their half-demon children. They aren't ashamed of them at all. They sacrifice for their babies. They would die for their babies and here you are acting like he's some monster you tolerated. You are quite possibly the worst mother I've ever had the displeasure of meeting! What is wrong with you?!"
Izayoi gaped at her for a long moment with tears welling in her eyes.
Kagome was too angry to feel guilty for it.
“So, yeah, I made a promise to Inuyasha to be nice to you,” she hissed, quieter now but no less fierce, “But I’m not going to sit here and let anyone, anyone talk about him like he’s less than human.”
She bent to snatch up her bag with more force than necessary.
“Oh, and if you want to know why I stay with him,” Kagome hissed, “It’s because he is worth staying for. Exactly as he is. Inuyasha is a good man despite you!"
Then she stormed out of the hut and headed straight to the sacred well to cool off.
From the Tree of Ages, a half-demon tried to remain unnoticed and catch his breath.
To be honest, Inuyasha didn't remember all that much about his mother. He really didn't. He barely, just barely, remembered what she looked like and how she smelled. He remembered her crying after a few villagers were mean to him. Other than that, though, he didn't remember much other than he loved her.
To discover she didn't exactly hold a high opinion of him...
Well, it'd be more devastating were it not for his friends' reactions. It still stung but it wasn't like he was alone and scared anymore. There were people who loved him. Well, okay, loved was a strong word but they liked having him around and he liked being around them. Honestly, he could take his mother's rejection a lot better than he could ever take theirs and she wasn't going to be around for much longer. That weird witch they'd killed only brought her back for a week or so because, for some asinine reason, the witch thought Tetsusaiga was still missing and that the fabled lover of the Great Dog Demon would either know where it was (she did) or she'd be a good bargaining chip. A mother for the sword.
Witch didn't think that one through. Died in less than thirty seconds. Easiest battle they'd had in ages.
Anyway, Kaede didn't think the spell used would last a long time unlike the one used for Kikyo. Initially, Inuyasha would admit he was rather excited to be given any time at all and very much wanted this very short period to go well. He'd all but begged his friends to be nice to her, not something he was actually worried about, and left to triple check the perimeter so he could collect himself and not come across too eager.
That decision turned out to be a good call. She might be his mother, but that didn’t mean she got to decide who he was or whether he mattered. That being said, that strongly held belief might've drowned under the waterfall of trauma she just dumped on his head. It was a small mercy that she didn't get the opportunity to say those things to his face. It was traumatizing enough hearing them all the way out here.
At least, though, out here, he could leave all the drama for other people to handle. People who thought he was rather okay.
As Kagome came into the clearing looking more pissed than he'd ever seen her, he tried to hide himself better in the thick branches only to find blue eyes on him once he got settled.
"How much did you hear?" Kagome asked quietly as she set her backpack down by the well and made her way over, "I can tell you heard something."
Inuyasha bounced his knee and shrugged.
"I'm fine."
"That's not what I asked," Kagome hummed sadly.
"That's the answer I'm giving," Inuyasha snapped back. Kagome nodded slowly and clasped her hands together.
"Well, for what it's worth, I am sorry I lost my temper at her," she offered although she didn't look sorry in the least, "I just couldn't stand by and let her talk about you that way."
Inuyasha bit his lip and cocked his head to half-listen to the tongue lashing Kaede was now giving the woman.
"I know," he mumbled absently, "You don't let anyone do it."
Kagome looked a little too pleased by that response and nodded with a hum.
"You want to come sleep at my house tonight?" she asked after a few moments of silence, "Or do you want me to stay? Happy to do either."
Inuyasha hesitated for a minute before dropping down and quickly stuffing his hands into his haori.
"Think I'll go with you. Maybe, maybe I'll try again tomorrow," he sounded rougher than he would've liked as he added, "You think your mom has any steak sitting around?"
"If she doesn't, I'm sure we can go get some for you," Kagome offered sweetly as she hooked her arm in his, "I do think she keeps some for when you visit though."
Inuyasha nodded and knelt down so Kagome could climb onto his back.
"Yeah, your mom always has the good stuff."