A Life's Ending
Regrettable, we are left to our own imaginations as to the exact cause of Izayoi's death. Our only source of information reguarding this topic comes from InuYasha. Although he appears to have loved his mother very much, InuYasha rarely speaks of her to anyone, indeed becoming quite irritated when she is brought up. He states that his mother's death occured "a long time ago" when he was just a child, and that "it wasn't [her] fault". Her death was indeed a long time ago, and I can roughly determine that it happened no later than a century before the current timeline.Many have tried to calculate InuYasha's age at the time of Izayoi's death, for although he appears to be about 6 in the flashbacks, InuYasha does not age as a normal human. I assume that becaue he is only half youkai, he does not age exactly the way a youkai would, and the same goes for being half human. Despite appearing to be a young child, InuYasha could have already aged a decade or more. There is the simple explanation in that InuYasha eventually outlived his mother. But it appears that Izayoi never seems to age during the series - she is only shown as a youthful young woman in her late teens or early twenties. If InuYasha had outlived her, and assuming that she died of natural causes, why does she not look old? While it may be true that people rarely lived past forty, Izayoi certainly doesn't look that age. Perhaps it was just bad luck that the writers only chose to show Izayoi youthful in InuYasha's childhood memories. Or perhaps she he didn't outlive her.
Izayoi's death has been drawn out in many ways, from a terrible sickness to a murder. A personal favorite that I have read is where Izayoi bravely defends InuYasha from some youkai. Despite her best efforts, Izayoi is killed by the youkai who then go after InuYasha, although he manages to hide. I like this story because it ties in with another of InuYasha's childhood memories: InuYasha is seen running from some nasty youkai during the Shiori Arc. Perhaps she just died young. Losing your lover and your home to a fire and having to raise a son hated by humans and youkai alike is probably a bit painful. Maybe the simplest explanation is the best one in this case.
After her passing, Izayoi is buried near a sparkling lake in the mountains. Her grave is simple and marked by a few moss-covered stones, of which the biggest has her name carved into it. By the start of the series, Izayoi has most assuredly been deceased for at least a century, and probably many more. Still, InuYasha occasionally visits his mother's grave to tend to it and leave flowers. This shows just how much he did care for this woman, the first woman who gave him love and affection, something that he would have to wait a very long time for after Izayoi's passing.
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