The Man Who Learned To Love

There was once a time, when demons (meaning shape shifters), and humans lived in peace. Humans kept to themselves, and preferred to hunt smaller, defenseless demons. Demons would mostly keep to themselves as well, and would leave humans alone. Though occasionally, one would kill humans, only if it was hungry.

So let us begin the story shall we?

This is a story about a great demon, who cared about nothing but himself, who despised humans, and was kind to no one. But a single human girl, would change his life forever

Chapter 1

The Cursed Twin Shackles

"Do not trouble yourself my son, for my time in this world is nearly complete. Before the sun sets, you shall become the lord of the west, and shall bear my title." The Great Inu No Taisho told his son, Touga, who uselessly tried to tend to his father's wounds; with his recent battle with the great dragon Ryukotsusei.

"I will not watch you die, father." Touga replied.

"Then take this." Inu No Taisho thrust his sword towards him, and Touga caught it in the blink of an eye.

"You are giving me Sounga?"

"Yes my son," he replied, "Use it wisely. You are strong enough to handle the beast inside, in exchange, promise me one thing. Promise me that you will not use the sword to kill humans. They must live beside you, too keep the world in balance."

Touga let out an irritated growl. He had never been a human lover, but, he regained his posture, and nodded in understanding.

"You have my word, father."

"Just in case you break my promise-" Inu No Taisho removed his hand from his son's wrist, and in its place, was a golden cuff, with a large, glowing blue sapphire in it.

"That is a 'Twin Shackle'; its twin is in a village, on the wrist of a human. These shackles bind you as one. If one of you dies, so does the other. Only when you discover the secret of the shackles, will they be removed. Take care of your son Sesshomaru. Teach him to become a strong leader."

With that, the Great Inu No Taisho breathed his last.

Touga almost frantically pulled at the shackle, but it was no use. It was as if the shackle was a part of his skin, for it would not budge.

An irritated growl rose in his throat, as he scented the air to see if anyone was nearby. There was no one. With that, he stood up, and began to walk away from his father's dead body.

"Oh! Look at this beautiful piece of jewelry!" exclaimed a young princess, as she picked up a thin, golden shackle with a large blue sapphire in the center of it. Her body guards followed her close behind, as she walked through the village, and looked looked the cheap object over.

"My lady," her servant Chizu interrupted, "Such jewelry should not be worn by a princess!" she rebuked, looking at the cheap piece of jewelry.

"Oh please Chizu!" Izayoi begged, "Just look at it, it is as if it was designed for a woman's wrist." With that, she put the large shackle on her thin wrist.

The blue sapphire embedded in it slightly glowed, and when the young princess tried to pry it off, it would not budge.

"The bracelet will not come off!" she said panicked, and one of the guards, Tokimo stepped forward.

"What is the meaning of this?" he ordered to the salesman.

"I am sorry!" he apologized, as he fell to the ground in a bow, "I did not know about that piece of jewelry and its magic! I simply bought it from a cloaked man, who told me it would be sold for a fair price!"

Tokimo was about to kill the man with his sword, but the princess raised her hand.

"Wait Tokimo-" she said, "If he says he doesn't know anything…I have no choice but to believe him."

"But-my lady-"

"Do not question my authorities Tokimo! I am the princess of Takatenjin, rightful heir to the throne! Now, we shall escort him to the palace, and wait for my father's return."

"Yes princess." He said bowing, and he grabbed the salesman by the arm, and they headed back towards the castle.

Touga, the now Inu No Taisho, stormed into the western lands castle, with Sounga slung over his shoulder.

The demon servants of the household gossiped about how Touga had returned alone, and without his father.

As Touga burst through the doors, and into the grand castle library, his son, who was sitting reading, immediately stood up.

"Father." Sesshomaru said, bowing.

Touga ignored his son, and walked over towards the bookshelf, desperately looking for answers on how to remove his shackle.

"What is that on your wrist father?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Your grandfather's sick idea of a joke!" Touga spit out, and growled in frustration when he found nothing.

"Is that a Twin Shackle?" Sesshomaru asked, his eyes growing wide.

"Does EVERYONE know about these cursed things besides me?" Touga growled.

"So who is the other lucky person?" Sesshomaru asked, quite amused by his father's anger."

"I don't know."

"Well, the only way that you can even TRY to remove it, is if you find the person who is wearing its twin." Sesshomaru explained.

Inu No Taisho sighed. "We leave this evening to find the other half."

Takase no Tadaharu was FURIOUS to find out that a "Twin Shackle" had been placed on his eldest daughter's arm.

He had every magician, priest, and wise men in the kingdom, try to remove the cursed shackle, but to no avail.

One priest said, that the only way to break the curse, was to offer her as a sacrifice, in hope to keep the evil aura from spreading to others around her.

So, gathering his courage and pride, Takase no Tadaharu, sent his daughter away with 4 servants, 2 children, and a priest, to a far away mountain, hoping that the presence of the innocent children and sacred priests, would be enough to relieve his daughter of this terrible curse.

Finally, after hours of endless searching, Touga found the scroll on the Twin Shackles, and hoped that the words "differences brought together" meant that once the shackles were reunited, they would be removed.

Of course, he had little to go on to actually FIND the human, and it seemed that he would have to tear through every city in Japan. But the shackle did seem to have a slightly acidic smell; that was at least something to go by.

Touga set out the next day, with Sesshomaru accompanying him. Although Sesshomaru was no more than 3 centuries old, and that his true form was no higher than the knee on his own; he knew that Sesshomaru would grow to become more like him within a few more millennia.

The two demons entered the first village near the western palace. It was humbling, to say the least, but the humans were courteous and only slightly wary. The acidic scent was not in the air, and none of the villagers had seen anything like the manacle on Touga's wrist. They left without wasting another moment.

They searched for over a half moon cycle before meeting a traveling salesman who had previously owned a similar shackle with a blue gem. He had sold it to a villager in Takatenjin, near to the western capital of Setsuna.

Izayoi put on a brave face as the 4 servants carried her on a wooden plank, up to the mountains.

Just as the servants were starting a fire, they were stopped by an ear piercing roar, and they dropped their torches in fear, as the two children, 4 servants, and priest all fled into the woods, leaving Izayoi alone.

A huge paw, the size of a small room, came crashing down on the wooden altar, making the ground tremble, as a large white dog came into view.

The minute the dog demon spotted the frightened princess, it lifted its head back, and let out a loud howl.

A moment of silence went by, and another roar came in the opposite direction, and the ground shook, as an even larger paw came crashing down on the ground behind Izayoi.

More frightened than she had ever been in her whole life, Izayoi quickly scooted back, out of the way, and up to a nearby tree.

Another dog demon? Only this one was at least 100 times bigger than the other one.

Izayoi screamed, more frightened than she had ever been in her whole life.

Eaten by a demon? That was worse than being burned alive!

A bright light shone around both demons, as they now appeared in mortal form. Both wore white robes, but one had stronger armorthan the other.

Both had a fur pelt, although the younger looking one wore his over his right shoulder while the older had a longer fur attached to… perhaps the back of his breastplate that hung behind him in two "tails". His skin was quite tan, and he had amber eyes and an indigo stripe on each cheek.

The other was white skinned, also with amber eyes, and had two magenta stripes on both sides of his face and a purple crescent moon on his forehead. Both had long silver hair, although the older demon had his tied in a high ponytail atop his head.

"Are you Princess Izayoi?" the older one asked, his voice rich and deep.

Unable to take in anything else, Izayoi fell forward in a dead faint

…..

Back and forth, and back and forth she felt her body being swayed.

This movement is so relaxing she thought to herself.

Izayoi wanted to stay asleep, in whoever's arms were carrying her, but the curiosity to know who it was flared strongly within her.

So, ignoring her body's protests and her instincts, Izayoi opened her eyes.

She was shocked to see that it was the younger demon, but before she could say anything, Izayoi could hear people calling out her name.

When she looked over to see who it was, she saw her servant, Chizu running towards her.

"Princess Izayoi! PRINCESS IZAYOI!" she called out, and bowed to her.

"Welcome home Princess!" she said in a humble voice, and the young demon set Izayoi down on her feet.

As Izayoi looked around, she saw that she was inside the Takatenjin Palace-her home.

The younger demon followed the older one inside her father's office, but Izayoi stopped in the doorway.

Takase no Tadaharu was surprised to see that his daughter was in fact, alive, and that 2 demons were with her.

"The lord of the west is always welcomed here." Tadaharu said, bowing down on the ground.

"I have returned your daughter to you," Inu No Taisho said, and waved his hand towards Izayoi, signaling her to come forward. "

She obeyed, and gracefully walked in, bowing to all 3 of them, and sat on the ground, keeping her head down.

"But unfortunately," Inu No Taisho continued, "the shackles are still unable to be removed, even when brought together."

"That is unfortunate," Tadaharu said, and seemed to think for a moment.

"It means that I must take her with me on my quest to have them removed." Inu No Taisho said firmly.

"But of course my lord," Tadaharu said, "you will have Izayoi's full cooperation in the duration of this episode. But I have one request?"

"Ask."

"My lord, I implore that once the shackles have been removed, you return Izayoi back to Takatenjin Palace." Lord Tadaharu begged.

"I'll do whatever it is in my power to ensure that your daughter returns safely."

"I am in your debt my lord. Izayoi."

"Yes father?" she asked, lifting up her head.

"Go and fetch your sisters. I wish to speak with them. Also, go and change you are not properly attired for such travel. Do not keep the lords waiting." Tadaharu said strongly.

"Yes, father." With that, Izayoi stood up, and hurried off into the palace, running unlike a lady, to fetch her sisters.

"Ayame! Mizuki! Saki! I'm back!" Izayoi called as she ran into each of her sisters' rooms.

They all came out, 6 year old Ayame, her long black hair pulled back into a high bun, came rushing up to Izayoi, jumping for joy at the sight of her older sister.

"Izayoi!" 11 year old Saki said tightly hugging her older sister, her short black hair tickling Izayoi's face.

"Where have you been?" 14 year old Mizuki asked, her long black hair pulled back in a low ponytail, sweeping down to her waist as she spoke.

"It's a long story, but you must go and see father ! He is looking for you!"

"Oh, yes!" Ayame said, and pulled on Saki's arm, as all 3 of them ran into the office, to speak with their father.

Meanwhile, Izayoi headed to her room, where already, servants were packing for her travel.

"Princess Izayoi." They all greeted, bowing at her approach.

"Continue." She said in a firm voice, and the servants once again, began packing for her travels.

"Chizu!" Izayoi called, and immediately, her servant came running out of her large wardrobe.

"Yes Princess Izayoi?" she asked, bowing to her slightly.

"Go and fetch proper attire for traveling, I am leaving to go with the lord of the west."

Chizu's eyes widened. "Y-you don't mean Inu No Taisho and his son Sesshomaru, do you?"

Izayoi cocked her head slightly, "So that are their names."

"Please forgive me Princess Izayoi! For I have said too much! Your father does not wish for me to tell you such things!" she apologized, falling to the ground in a bow.

"Chizu-please, get up." Izayoi said quickly, apologizing.

"Yes milady." She said, and she quickly walked back into the princess's large closet, and came back seconds later with a thick, blue kimono, with dark flowers printed on it.

"Will this do milady?" Chizu asked.

"Yes, it will do just fine." Replied Izayoi, and immediately, Chizu began to undress Izayoi, and within a few minutes, Izayoi was changed into her new kimono.

Quickly, faster than any lady-like pace, Izayoi ran to her father's office, and skidded to a stop in the front of the doorway, bowing to her father, and the 2 dog demons.

"I am ready." She said, bowing her head humbly.

"Then let us be off." Inu No Taisho said, getting up, as he and Sesshomaru both bowed to Tadaharu.

Izayoi let both demons pass, before she followed silently behind.

And So….the journey had begun