The Struggle to become a Man
Chapter 1.
A/N: There are some references to GunZ Online: The International Duel. Maiet is in full control there, I am just borrowing the move names, and am making up the descriptions as accurately as I can. (They better be accurate, I play the game.)
I do not own InuYasha, and there is the very large possibility that I never will.
InuYasha slammed his locker closed angrily, locking it. He turned away and walked down the hall, growling in anger. He had fallen asleep in Social again, and the teacher had given him a detention for it. InuYasha glanced at his watch and saw that it read 4:30. InuYasha turned left, and walked down the hallway leading to a set of doors that would give him the easiest path back to his house. He was supposed to meet Kagome at the theatre at three thirty. His mind was on his missed date, and he wasn't paying attention, so the sound took a moment to register. When it did though, he stopped and listened. He heard what sounded like slashing sounds, then the sound of metal upon metal. InuYasha guessed that the sound was coming from the East gym, so he walked back a few metres to a set of double doors that he had just passed. As he opened them, he was greeted by an amazing sight.
A girl was standing in the far end of the gym, but it was where she was standing that surprised InuYasha. She was standing on a roof support beam, almost two storeys high. InuYasha wondered briefly how she got up there, and wondered how she would get down. InuYasha was startled when she threw herself off the edge, leaning back as she did so. As she rotated backward, arms spread, eyes closed, she drew a magnificent katana from a sheath at her side. As she completed the backflip, she began a series of blade strikes that seemed totally random and pointless to InuYasha. He watched as the blade began to hum through the air, leaving a faint light blue pattern in its wake. As the girl swung the blade around her body, often making several hand position changes, the blue strike pattern began to resemble something akin to butterfly wings. InuYasha watched as the girls descent began to slow, until she touched the ground with a light tap, her dark brown hair fluttering around her, the shiny sword in her hand, reverse grip, so that the blade curved up over her shoulder. InuYasha leaned against the wall, entranced, as she walked over to scoreboard display box, usually used for basketball games. She set a thirty second time limit, before walking back to the centre of the gym, facing the opposite wall, her back to InuYasha. The girl turned around, stretching her arms, and spotted him, staring him in the eye. InuYasha got a good look at her for the first time, and he immediately knew who it was.
"Sango..." he said, but the buzzer had sounded and she had turned around, not seeing his mouth move, nor hearing him speak. The thirty seconds were ticking away as she ran toward the wall, jumping toward it from a metre away. She leaned back and placed her feet on the wall, pushing down. She took 6 steps up the wall before seeming to hover there for a second. Then she backflipped off the wall, stunning InuYasha with what she did next. She slashed downward with her sword, and seemed to be propelled into the wall, as if she had pushed off of something, yet there was only the air. As she came into the wall, she slashed her sword down on the wall, propelling herself upward. She placed her right foot on the wall, and kicked down and sideways, turning herself paralell to the wall. She began to spin the sword around her body, and the effect was again that she seemed to hover in the air. InuYasha gasped as she began to dash forward at an incredible rate of speed, without ever touching anything, it seemed, and all while performing that beautiful sword pattern. InuYasha watched as she placed her foot on the wall, and began to run on the wall. InuYasha started counting.
"Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen..." Sango sideflipped off the wall, immediately dashing back into the wall to start the wall running process again. The buzzer sounded as her foot slipped off the wall and she plummeted down toward the ground. InuYasha started running, but he didn't think that he could make it in time to catch her. She righted herself in the air, and began to whirl her sword around her body, and her rapid descent toward the ground slowed immediately. As she touched down, she sheathed her blade. She walked over to a camera mounted on a table by the adjacent wall, and ejected the disc. InuYasha stopped her as she was about to leave by calling her name, wincing as it echoed throughout the gym.
"Yes?" She asked, stopping, but not turning around to look at him. InuYasha walked over to her, and stood in front of her.
"Can you teach me how to do that?" He asked, wanting to learn so bad. Sango glared at him, and shook her head.
"It's not something you just learn in a day or two, and you don't just learn it because it looks cool, or because you wanna show off to your friends." She said, pushing her way past him. InuYasha grabbed her arm, but she easily twisted out of it, reversing the lock and spinning him around so that she was holding InuYasha just under the elbow. She twisted a bit more, making InuYasha wince.
"Don't ever try that...ever again." She said, lifting up on his arm, making him stand up on his toes to relieve the pressure on his arm.
"Okay, I'm sorry." He said, not really knowing what had happened, for it took place so fast. She didn't let go, instead she applied more pressure, making InuYasha cry out.
For all his strength, InuYasha knew his arm was useless in the position it was in. He definitely didn't like hitting girls, plus she was a little faster than him, so he didn't even try to hit her with his other arm.
"Give me one good reason I should teach you anything." Sango demanded, not thinking that he would really think of a convincing one. She was shocked at his next choice of words.
"I wanna learn how to protect the one I love."
Sango dropped him, and spun him around, pushing him against the wall.
"What did you say?" She asked.
"Theres someone I love, and I want to be able to protect her." he said.
Sango backed up, and lowered her head, thinking about it.
'Hmm... thats the whole reason I got into this type of self-defence and combat, to protect the one I love. No other answer would have been sufficient, not if he told me it was cool, not if he told me it was for fitness reasons, nothing. Many people have asked, but the only one to give me the right answer besides this kid was that other one.'
She raised her head and looked him in the eye.
"Fine." she announced. "Come here tomorrow after school, but only if your completely serious." She said, turning away to leave.
"So this is where you've been while I was waiting for you at the theatre, you bastard!"
InuYasha spun around to see Kagome marching up to him, her brown eyes full of anger. She was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans, and a black belly top with a V-neck and a red dragon that spiraled around her waist and up the shoulder. InuYasha glanced behind him to where Sango stood, a slight sheen of sweat on her neck. InuYasha turned back to Kagome, only to have her open hand slap across his cheek. InuYasha felt her ring cut into him, but didn't say anything about it, ignoring the pain.
"Well?" She asked, her hands on her hips.
"I was in detention, I just got out, and I was cutting through the gym so I could get to the theatre faster." InuYasha said. "Then I seen Sango-chan practising her sword skills."
"Sango-chan?!? Your calling her Sango-chan now?" Kagome raised her hand again to hit him, and something clicked in Sango.
Sango's memory.
The girl was lying on the ground, on a piece of cardboard, and Sango had almost gotten up enough courage to go down the alley and give the homeless girl a piece of her sandwich. She finally decided to do it, when she was pushed out of the way by three older men.
"Out of the way, child!" They said, and Sango fell onto her bum, her sandwich falling into the dirt.
"Hey!" She yelled. "You can't do that!" She said. One of the men turned to look at her, and she hid around the corner, her sandwich forgotten. she watched as the men approached the girl, laughing.
"Hey little girl!" They called. "Want some food?" One of them reached into his pocket and withdrew a piece of candy, holding it out to the girl. "Want it?" They asked, mockingly. The little girl, unable to speak, merely nodded, only to have the candy yanked back harshly. "Too bad!" They said, laughing. The girl shrunk back down onto the ground, trying hopelessly to salvage what dignity she had left.
"We're just kidding ya, go on, take it." They said, holding it out once more to her, knowing she was too weak to reach up and take it.
"Whats wrong? Can't take it? Too weak?" They jeered, and the girl merely nodded her tiny head. "Okay," They said, "We'll feed it to ya."
One of the men reached out with the piece of candy in his hand, and the girl opened her mouth. The man was a few inches from placing it in her tiny open mouth, when he dropped it. He swiftly brought his other hand around and smashed her across the side of the head, sending her flying across the alley, into a brick wall, where she hit it with a sick thud, before collapsing into a pile on the dirty ground. The men laughed, before walking down the alley, yelling back insults and calling her names. When Sango was sure that the men were gone, she ran forward and retrieved her sandwich, and inspecting it. She threw it back down in disgust as she saw the dirt and mud on the bread, and mixed with the peanut butter. She ran forward on her tiny bare feet, and dropped down next to the girl that she had watched get teased and hit. She gingerly raised the girl up off the ground, and put the poor girl's head in her lap. She gasped when she saw the blood pouring out of a large cut on the side of her head, and as the blood leaked all over her clothes.
"Are you all right?" Sango asked meekly, not understanding the damage that had been done. The girl made an apparent effort at speaking, but it was obvious that she could not. Sango pushed the girls hair out of her face, and thats when she glimpsed girls pointed ears. Sango then realized that she was in the presence of a demon, and remembered that her mother had always warned her not to go near people who didn't look normal. Sango swallowed hard, but stayed by the girls side, occaisionally yelling for help as the girl demon slipped in and out of consciousness. It was well after dark before the two were found, and Sango's mother, terrified when her daughter didn't come home for supper, had called the police. Now Sango's mother pushed her way through the police line, scooped up her child, before turning away. Sango awoke, as she was picked up, and immediately remembered the other girl.
"NO!!!! Mommy!!! The other girl needs help!! Mommy! Please help her! She's my friend, she needs help!" Sango's mother hurriedly ran back, picked up the other small girl, and ran out of the dark alley, back to the semi-lit street, escorted by a police man.
Sango dashed forward and intercepted the hit, grabbing Kagome's arm. Kagome looked at Sango and glared at her. "Who the hell do you think you are to grab my arm?" She asked angrily.
"Who the hell do you think you are that you think it's all right to slap him around? Is it because he's a half demon? Makes you think that you've got the right to hit him, because you think he's less of a person than you? And you know damn well that he won't hit you back, because he is part dog, and they are one of the most loyal creatures ever." Sango said harshly. Kagome blinked, and took a step back.
"Thats not--" She said, only to be cut off by Sango.
"Yeah, get the hell out of here before I have you charged with discrimination, you stupid bitch!"
Kagome closed her mouth, and adverted her eyes as she turned and left the gym, not daring to look at InuYasha. Sango, breathing hard, stared at Kagome's back until she dissappeared around the corner.
InuYasha turned to look at her.
"What was that about?" He asked. Sango shook her head. "I can't stand people like that, think they better than others."
InuYasha didn't say anything.
Sango walked to the corner of the gym, and retrieved her back pack, slipping the disc inside a protective case, then putting that into her back pack. She slung it over one shoulder, before heading out a set of doors, calling to InuYasha over her shoulder.
"Come on, now that I ruined your date, you can come hang out with me tonight."
InuYasha thought about it. He had nothing better to do, now that Kagome was angry at him.
"Okay, wait up!" He called, chasing after her. He caught up to her in the hallway, and followed her to her locker. Sango seemed down, staring at the floor as she walked, not saying anything. Sango's shoe squeaked as she turned a corner, and InuYasha's ear twitched. Sango caught the motion out of the corner of her eye, for she had been watching him, and she couldn't help but smile. InuYasha looked at her, unaware as to what had just happened.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing...?" Sango realized that she didn't even know the name of the boy walking next to her.
InuYasha caught the unasked question, and grinned.
"My names InuYasha, and I'm 18." He said.
Sango grinned back. "Sango, 17." She said, holding out her hand. InuYasha took it, and shook it. Sango turned, and stopped at her locker, quickly entering her locker combination. She opened it, and threw her backpack into it, taking out another one, and slinging it over her shoulder. She walked down the hall toward the womens showers, and walked in, leaving InuYasha to wait outside the door. InuYasha leaned against the wall, as he heard Sango slide her clothes off, even through the closed door.
InuYasha growled in frustration and embarrassment as he heard every move she made.
'This hearing of mine is really a pain sometimes...' He thought, covering his ears. He held them closed for a few seconds, then heard the shower start up, and he let his doggy ears unfurl, for he could no longer hear anything besides the running water. InuYasha waited a few minutes before getting up, thinking that she would be a typical female and take a half hour in the shower. He walked to his own locker, and grabbed a change of clothes, wanting to get out of his clothes that followed the school dress code, and into some good comfortable clothes. He walked back to the male change room, right next to where Sango was showering, and walked in, not noticing that the shower had been turned off. He stripped off, and pulled on a pair of baggy dark green cargo pants and a tight black T-shirt with the Godsmack Logo on it. He slid a belt through the loops in his pants, and did it up just tight enough so that they wouldn't fall down over his hips. He clipped a pure gold chain around his neck, and slid on one of his silver watches. He placed his wallet in his back right pocket, and slid his Razr cell phone into his front pocket. He attached a silver chain from his pants to his wallet, and lastly, placed a black hat over his ears, the hat reversed so that the curved beak faced backward. He placed both hands on the hat, and slowly slid it downward until it covered his eyebrows, sharpening the look of his eyes. He grabbed a can of Tag from his back pack and sprayed some on his chest before throwing it into his back pack with the rest of his stuff. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black wrist band, which he slid over his left wrist. It had the words 'Realest Killaz' stitched into it, and a friend of his had given it to him a long time ago. He gathered up all the stuff he had taken off, threw it into his back pack, and zipped it up. As he left the change room he glanced at his reflection in the mirror and grinned. he pulled open the door--
--and walked straight into Sango. She smiled at him, and continued to comb her wet hair.
"Took ya long enough, I was starting to think you had gotten lost, I was about to come in after you." She said, smirking. She shook her head, and water droplets flew off her hair, splattering InuYasha. He grinned and wiped a droplet off his cheek, and pushed her playfully out of the way.
"Come on, lets roll!" InuYasha said. He glanced at her, and stopped, stunned.
Sango was wearing a black V-necked shirt that stopped about an inch above her belly button, and a pair black pants that had multiple chains hanging off them. The pants had a blood red stripe going down each side of the leg, and Sango wore them low. She had an elongated wrist band on her left wrist that went all the way up to her elbow, and a tiny one centimetre wide stip of leather around her right wrist. She had put her hair up into a pony tail, but had deliberately left a few strands out on either side of her face, framing it and giving her that innocent-yet-sexy look. As she walked ahead of InuYasha, he could see a tattoo of a butterfly on her lower back. InuYasha's eyes widened as he spotted it, for it wasn't just any butterfly. The butterfly was pure red, and had small blue trails coming off the wingtips, suggesting the pattern of the wings movement. InuYasha couldn't help but glance closer, and he noticed that a well detailed curved katana had also been tattooed on her body, its blade peircing the middle of the butterfly. Suddenly, he was staring at her hips, and Sango's voice reached his ears.
"Seen something you liked?" She asked. InuYasha winced and slowly raised his head, guiltily, knowing he had been caught staring. Sango had turned around, and saw him checking her out. InuYasha looked at her face, and was surprised to see she was smiling.
"It's just a tattoo, InuYasha. I wouldn't have gotten it if I didn't want people to look at it. Go ahead, take a closer look, if you want." Sango said, turning around. InuYasha blushed, but took the opportunity, moving closer and staring at the strange tattoo. He could see the letter A, and the tops of some other letters, but they were positioned under the butterfly, and covered by her pants. InuYasha cleared his throat, and announced softly that it was a nice tattoo. Sango grinned, and thanked him.
She fell into step beside him, and they walked for a few minutes, heading toward the front door. Suddenly Sango grabbed the bottom of his shirt and lifted it, revealing InuYasha's well toned chest.
"You got any tats that I should know about?" She said, laughing. InuYasha yelped and pulled his shirt down, blushing again. Sango grinned as she stopped at her locker one last time. She threw her back pack in, and motioned for InuYasha to do the same. He did, and she locked it up, spinning the dial before turning away. She grabbed InuYasha's hand, and led him away, toward the front of the school. She led him outside, where they stopped to let their eyes adjust to the harsh sunlight.
"So where are we going?" InuYasha asked, noticing that she was still holding his hand.
"To meet up with my lover." She replied. InuYasha slowed. "Wouldn't I just be a fifth wheel, then?" He asked, nervously. Sango smiled, and pulled him along.
"Naw, I promise, you won't. We won't be making out and stuff, leaving you to feel uncomfortable. We promise to include you in everything we do." She said slyly.
A/N ...Yeah. I know who Sangos date is, do you??
For all you GunZ Online: The International Duel fans out there, this is for you. I love that game, and a shout out to players -Albel-Nox-, and Kirousachi, may your feet never touch the ground as long as you can Butterfly.