A/N: Hello all, and thank you for taking a look at this little fan fiction.

I want to point out that this is not my first fanfiction nor is it my first time posting this particular one. This is a rewrite of the story I posted on MediaMiner under the name "animelover23". So no, I'm not stealing another writer's work, since this work is my own.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I am not affiliated with Viz, Sunrise, or Shonen Sunday, and I do not gain any monetary value by posting this piece of fiction.


Prologue

The night was quiet; too quiet for a hanyou's liking. Sitting on the roof the headman's hut, his black hair blew in the wind. His golden eyes glowed eerily in the moonlight as they shifted to investigate the smallest noise that reached his canine ears. He let out an agitated sigh as the said ears twitched, picking up the movements of the girl below and her near endless pacing.

She was human tonight, so his instincts to protect her were on overdrive. Its not that he didn't question his headman's ability to protect his own daughter, he just had to be with her; to know she was safe.

The girl looked up at the moon again and scowled. Every month it was the same; the first quarter moon would rise and she'd lose her youkai abilities for one night. Sure she had a whole village there to protect her, but that still didn't mean she'd settle down and pretend everything was just fine and peachy! Give her a battle against a powerful taiyoukai any day; she would enjoy it far better than being human. This sucked!

"Michiko, you're going to form a rut in the ground if you keep doing that," her mother warned as she slipped out their hut, grabbbing a few herbs from her garden for the dinner she was preparing.

Michiko paused and clenched her fists, "I'll stop as soon as Otou-san gets back."

"Keep in mind, he may not be home by tonight," her mother reminded her sadly as she walked over to her daughter.

"He's always been here on my human nights," the young woman stomped up to her mother, her voice slowly rising, "and he promised to be here for this one! He always keeps his word to me. I-" A warning glare from her mother stopped the girl short.

"I understand that it's your human night," the older woman said calmly, "but that doesn't mean you can act like a spoiled child. Have you forgotten that there's a war going on?"

"But he promised!" the young woman pouted as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"What are you, five? Michiko, sometimes you're so much like your papa it's scary," her mother sighed, "and personally, I think one of him is enough."

"If she starts falling trees, can I knock her out?" Tamotsu offered as her jumped off of the roof, feeling more confident now that Michiko's mother had calmed down.

Michiko snorted, "Have you forgotten what tonight is?" She held a clawless hand for emphasis.

"How could I forget with your whining? You do a good job of it too, even without your youkai blood." He ducked as the predicted fist flew over his head and then tackled her to the ground, being less rough than usual because of her current state. The two rolled on the ground, play fighting like two rambunctious puppies would.

"Give it a rest you two!" the sharp tone of the girl's mother caused the two adolescents to pause in their mock fight and pull away from each other. "Go wash up, dinner with be ready soon,"

The human rolled her violet eyes as she stood up and made her way towards the river, Tamotsu at her heels. "Yo, wait up!"

"What?" she scowled at him.

"Your father would kill me if I let you walk in the woods alone tonight. Besides, who knows what's out here?" The hanyou pushed her along the forest path to the river.

He's so cute when he's in protective mode. Michiko blushed at the thought and shook her head, Damn human emotions!

The wind changed direction, carrying a fowl scent with it, not that she could tell, but Tamotsu's warning growl caused her to stop dead in her tracks. The human instinctively stretched out her senses, and scowled when she was reminded of how dulled they were at the moment. Looking around, she saw several shadows move in the underbrush nearby, causing her to step closer to the hanyou at her back.

"What's goin' on?" one ear twitched; his signal to her saying he had heard her, but was still keeping his full attention to the dark shadows of the forest. Michiko watched as his eyes moved across the surrounding area. His growl escalated.

"Something's out there... we should head back." He grabbed her hand and started to lead her back to the village, but the girl didn't budge, "Michiko?"

Her head felt light and her eyelids suddenly were very heavy. The forest swam in front of her, the different shades of green blending together into one big blur. Her heartbeat was pounding in her ears as she reluctantly let go of consciousness. In the distance, she heard the muffled yell of her hanyou companion.

A/N: Please review to tell me what you thought.