My name is Hitomi and I am the current protector of the village. Well
I wouldn't call myself the 'protector'. All I have to do is hold up a
barrier nearly 24/7 for everyone including my parents while they
figure out a battle strategy. But what they're really doing is
relaxing and talking about their day!
My best friend, Toshiro, told me our parents were just standing
outside, looking up at the blue sky and talking about the good old
days... That really pisses me off. Sure I've seen villagers working
out in the fields and building more homes, but I've got the hardest
job! I'm only 13 and I have to protect everyone from our main enemy!
Why can't my mother take over once in awhile? She's not sick or
anything.
Speaking of our enemy: they're vampires. Some can come out during the day - a few of them but most come out at night. A few I guess have asked to speak to my father but Toshiro's parents refused. I would have let the vampires in if Miroku and Sango (Toshiro's mother and father) hadn't been around. My mother and father, Kagome and Inuyasha, just ignore me half the time because they're 'busy' but I think it's because they don't want me around to interrupt their relaxation...
I wish I had someone else besides my best friend to talk to. At least his parents don't ignore him and make him do stupid jobs. No other kid will talk to me because, I believe, they think I need to be by myself so I can concentrate on the village. Sometimes I cry at night. I go outside to cry and when I'm out, the moon is usually full and I can't smile.
Hitomi closed the scroll her mother had given her recently and stuffed it into her kimono as she heard someone nearing her. 'Please be Toshiro. Please be Toshiro.' She repeated over and over. But it wasn't her best friend. It was her mother...
Kagome paused a moment as she stared at her only child with brown eyes before speaking. "Uh Hitomi, sweetheart?" She began as her daughter stood with a pissed look. "I just wanted to tell you how much your father and I care about you."
"Since when have you and father ever cared about me!? You have never once said you've loved him since I was 6!" The teen realized tears had begun to roll down her tan cheeks. And as the girl tried wiping them away, her mother began nearing her.
"That's not true!" Kagome shouted as she watched her daughter back away. "We have always loved you since the minute you were born. I have always wanted to help protect the village but - !"
Finally getting rid of the tears, Hitomi yelled "But what!?" She stepped forward. "You can't or you won't?"
Her mother reached out towards her but the girl stepped back once more. "I - I can't. If I explained why, you wouldn't understand."
"Try me." Hitomi's face was red.
Kagome sighed and stared into her daughter's beautiful light brown eyes. "When a priestess loses her virginity, all of her powers go to the first born child and she becomes useless. That's why I can't help."
"I highly doubt that." Hitomi scoffed. "I bet you still have some powers left and you haven't even tried to see if you do." She turned and began walking until Kagome grabbed her wrist. "Let go of me!" But her mother refused to.
Struggling to break free, Hitomi cried out "I hate you both!"
Kagome's grip immediately loosened and Hitomi slipped out and ran off towards the barrier, realizing how upset her mother was.
She stared at the barrier, so lost in thought about what lay beyond it that she didn't even hear a certain man growling behind her. Hitomi was forcefully turned from the only way out just to face her father. He was not happy with her at all. In fact, he was extremely pissed off and she knew why.
"I don't care if you hate us, Hitomi. You should keep your cruel words to yourself! It doesn't give you the right to break your mother's heart!" He glared into her light brown eyes.
Hitomi knew her father all to well. He would kill for his family but mostly her mother. Plus, he would protect them until he died which Hitomi and her mother thought was stupid and uncalled for. "I want to know why I have to hold up the barrier and not mother!"
Grabbing his only child by her plain light blue kosode he didn't do anything but grit his teeth for awhile before dropping her on the ground. "I'm sorry I can't be a good girl but I just can't embody that persona in your mind." Hitomi glared once more into his eyes as she backed up towards the barrier, weakening it just a tad.
She noticed Toshiro out of the corner of her eye who had his bag packed. Her expression softened as she stared at him. 'I'm sorry Toshiro but I don't want you to get dragged into any of my mess.' And just before Toshiro could take more than 3 steps towards her, she stepped out of the barrier with a severe look upon her soft face. "I'm sorry father and Toshiro but I can't take it any longer. I hate it here." Looking over at her best friend with a tiny smile, Hitomi said "If my father hadn't shown up then we both could've left. However, Toshiro, you would have had to come back. I don't want your parents worrying unlike mine."
"Your mother and I love you!" Inuyasha yelled drawing some attention from a few villagers nearby.
"That's a complete lie." His daughter turned and walked to the dark forest but stopped when she reached the edge. "By the way... Not mother's sacred arrow or your Red Tetsusaiga will be able to destroy the barrier. But if you do manage to destroy it..." Hitomi turned her head toward her father with a look that seemed sad but also... Uncaring? No one could really tell what her expression was, not even her best friend. "Let's just say it won't be good for me."
"What do you mean?" A middle aged man walked up besides Inuyasha holding a hoe in his left hand as it rested on his shoulder.
"Well let's see: you'll come looking for me and I'm not telling you the second reason!" Hitomi shouted and clenched her fist angrily noticing the barrier was starting to come down. Immediately trying to change her mood she decided to get away from the village and her parents as far away as she could and took off into the woods.
Yoshi was thrown to the ground as he was yelled at by his clan. The 16 year old vampire had refused to drink the blood of a human once again and was now being punished for it. His father, Hironori, was the one who controlled every single vampire except the ruler, Zoltan, who established the rules. Hironori helped provide blood for the ones who could not gain blood for themselves such as the ruler and women and children. Yoshi detested everything about his clan and wanted to leave.
"You're a weakling!" One kicked him in his left side as another picked him up by his dark brown hair and smashed his face into the ground repeatedly until it was covered in blood. Yoshi had never fought back when he was punished. He didn't care what they did to him. He never even cried no matter how much pain he was in. 'I don't care if they kill me! I'll be glad if they do because then I won't have to put up with their torture any longer!'
Hironori walked inside the small room where his son was being punished and raised a hand for the vampires to stop. His hair was as dark as night and his eyes were black. His magenta kimono only consisted of two layers unlike his men who wore three. Hironori had explained to their ruler that everyone but him should be more protected. He was the strongest one out of them all. Yoshi didn't care if his father died. He'd actually feel somewhat glad he'd be dead.
"Why do you constantly do this to me? You embarrass me and yourself in front of everyone." His father spoke as he looked down upon him.
Speaking quietly, Yoshi said "Because it's wrong to drink human blood. I'd rather protect them than kill them." He struggled to stand as his father neared him.
"You'd betray us all just for the sake of protecting humans?!" Hironori grabbed his son and slammed him against the wall.
"YES! I WOULD RATHER SEE YOU ALL DIE THAN LET A HUMAN BE KILLED BY ONE OF YOU!" Yoshi was immediately dragged outside and deep into the forest where there was barely any light.
"You better change your mind boy or you will die."
"No." Yoshi whispered painfully before feeling a sudden sharp pain in his chest. He screamed as he felt his father's hand pull out of him.
Hitomi was poked in the side once again in her side as she walked through what seemed to be a thick but small forest of sharp sticks. 'That's like the third time already. How much further til I'm out?' She already had a scratch on her leg and one on her face and now she might have one on her side. She wasn't bleeding and she was grateful for that but it still hurt.
Sighing, she stopped a moment and looked up into the bright setting sun. "I wonder what happens now." She looked back ahead of her and began walking again. 'I should probably write once I get out of here. It might help with my feelings and what's happened today so far.' The teenager saw an opening straight ahead and immediately pushed her way forward happily.
Upon getting out however, she was shocked and a little scared at what she saw just yards from her. "Is he... still alive?" Hitomi said curiously as she moved toward the boy. She realized immediately he was covered in his own blood and she could see that a few bones in one of his arms was broken. When she was next to him, Hitomi could see that there was a hole in his chest but it had just missed his heart. 'I guess I can check to see if he's still alive...'
The boy's pulse was fine so he was just unconscious. However his wounds needed to be treated and Hitomi didn't have anything but a cloth and a short knife on her. The cloth she'd gotten was from her mother and the knife had been from her father. She had never used either object but always kept them with her just in case.
The young teen pulled out the knife and cut the boy's light brown kimono down the middle from his chest to his waist. Tearing off her left sleeve of her kosode, she quickly wrapped his chest wound. Wrapping it around him had been a bit hard; Hitomi had to slowly slide the cloth under his back a few times.
'Now to wipe away the blood from his face.' She stood and walked off to find running water. 'Why am I doing this? Isn't he my enemy?' But she shook those questions away as soon as she picked up the sound of people nearby.
"We shouldn't be here!" A young girl whispered in horror.
"Just shut up and help carry these buckets of water!" A boy shouted.
Hitomi peeked from behind a small lacebark elm. It was perhaps 33 ft tall and 50 ft wide with a slender trunk and crown. Its leaves were small but beautiful.
Hitomi turned her attention back to the boy and girl with the buckets of water. 'I really need that water. But how do I get it?' She was becoming so frustrated with herself that she didn't even hear someone come toward her.
"Well if this isn't a surprise."
The girl jumped at hearing the voice and looked up. It was a vampire. He had dark black hair and eyes and he was wearing a two layered kimono. "You know," he grinned at her, revealing blood in his teeth. "It's not very smart to be out past dusk. In fact," he took a step closer making Hitomi back away. "It's dangerous." He licked his fangs as he reached out toward her.
For some reason though he stopped and glared. "I thought I killed you off..." He looked to his left as did Hitomi.
"Don't touch her." The injured vampire that Hitomi was taking care of was awake and glared at the one who was threatening her as his own blood dripped from his mouth.
"And why shouldn't I? You're not going to drink her blood are you?" Hironori smirked at his son.
Growling angrily, Yoshi ran towards them both and snatched Hitomi away only to bite her right wrist. "Now you nor the others can't touch her!"
His father only smiled at him lightly. "That will only protect her as long as you're alive." And then he was gone.
Hitomi finally pulled out of the vampire's bloody embrace and slapped him across the face. "I won't change into a vampire or anything, will I?"
Rubbing his left cheek, he stared at the girl in front of him with strange eyes. "Who the hell gave you that idea? Of course you won't! Vampires can't turn humans in to vampires."
"Oh okay then, well, I'm Hitomi." She gave a weak and nervous smile.
Yoshi then tried saying his name but with the way she was looking at him and those beautiful brown eyes and smooth face, he couldn't say a word.
"Well? Are you going to tell me your name or not?" Hitomi giggled lightly.
Looking away he whispered "It's Yoshi." He blushed lightly before clearing his throat and turning his head back to her. "Why are you all the way out here?"
"I was going to get you some water but then I saw two kids with buckets full of water so I was going to steal one but I didn't know how and - ." "I mean why are you away from home?" Yoshi cut Hitomi off before the girl could finish.
"Oh that..." Hitomi looked down. "I ran away."
"You have to go back!" The vampire yelled at her.
Angry at his words she yelled back "No! I won't go back! I'm not going back to that horrible place just to be forced to protect everyone while my parents do nothing but talk all day! I told my parents I hated them and I don't care how they feel!"
Yoshi was shocked at her words. His father never told him once he had loved him so Yoshi had just assumed his father did love him. But when refusing to kill a human a few years ago, he knew he wasn't loved at all. However, Yoshi didn't really care; he knew there had to have been a reason why his father had glared at him and he knew why. "Why are you the only one protecting the village?"
"Because I have spiritual powers like my mother but she won't help at all!" Hitomi growled like her father making Yoshi nearly laugh. Seeing that Yoshi wanted to laugh, she demanded to know what was funny.
"It's just that you growl like a dog. Sorta..." The young vampire scratched the back of his head nervously.
Looking away Hitomi sighed making the boy stare at her in confusion. "That's whatcha get for being part dog."
"What d'ya mean?"
"My father is a half dog demon and my mother is a human priestess. I heard that if a priestess loses her virginity, she becomes useless but I don't believe it. My parents met 16 years ago." Hitomi spoke while Yoshi watched her head for a bucket that had been abandoned by one of the children. He could see how upset she was but he wondered why she was. "My father had been pinned to a tree by another priestess he had fallen in love with and died soon after. Fifty years passed and my mother came along, removing the arrow from his heart. They didn't get along for awhile for some reason but they became friends, then best friends. Next father's old lover was brought back by a witch who wanted to use her but the witch was killed afterwards. Father never let go of her until she died again. Mother had always been jealous of her because my mother was in love with father but he was too stupid and arrogant to see. He always made her cry but he wouldn't apologize for his actions."
Yoshi was amazed. He had never heard a story like Hitomi's parent's before. "Why didn't your mother just forget about him?"
Hitomi looked at him with tears. "She tried many times but was unable to. They had been through many fights and he had saved her so many times. She wanted to stay by his side even if it meant getting hurt by the one she loved most."
"She was stupid then." Yoshi ground out.
The 13 year old was very surprised at his words. Yet they seemed right. She smiled lightly at him before picking up the bucket that was still half full. "Yes," she straightened and looked down into the pond. "She was..." Her smile faded as she looked at her reflection seeing both her parents in her. Angry, Hitomi splashed away the reflection and turned only to bump into Yoshi. "Yoshi..." She stared into his beautiful aqua eyes. She could see pain and sadness in them.
The vampire she was beginning to have feelings for pulled her into his arms lightly and she didn't resist. Hitomi felt happy as he held her tightly. She dropped the bucket and buried her face into Yoshi's still somewhat bloody chest and cried.
The two continued to hold each other until Yoshi's ears picked up the sound of laughing and he knew it wasn't any humans. "Damn!" He grit angrily.
Hitomi looked up at her newfound friend worriedly. "What is it?"
"They're coming to kill me just so they can have you! We need to find somewhere to go."
"I know somewhere! It's far from here though. It takes a couple days or so depending on our speed."
Without saying a word to her, Yoshi threw her on his back even though it was painful. "Lead the way!"
Hitomi pointed northeast not realizing how soon they were going to arrive at their destination.
"Inuyasha, please, we need to go after her!" Kagome pleaded as she watched her half demon walk back and forth in anger and thought.
"Hitomi said that neither of us can bring the barrier down by ourselves. She also said if we do bring it down it won't be good for her."
Kagome stared at him before asking why. He looked at her and spoke. "1 because we'd go looking for her and 2... Well she wouldn't tell me. And she just gave me this uncaring and sad look."
"I could see if I have any left and get us out of here."
"You're crazy, Kagome!" Inuyasha nearly yelled. "You lost your powers when Hitomi was born." But the woman wouldn't listen. She stood and walked out toward the barrier.
"I wasn't done talking!" The dog demon yelled in anger and stood following his wife.
"Sango!" Miroku shouted after her. "Where are you going?"
"To help Kagome." The demon slayer didn't look back at him.
"With what?"
"Haven't you noticed? The barrier has weakened to the point where anyone can walk out or come in." Sango still didn't look back at him.
Miroku paused in mid step. 'Why do I notice things last half the time?' He growled angrily at himself before getting whacked by Inuyasha.
"Have you seen Kagome?" The half demon demanded.
"No. But Sango said she's going to help her plus the barrier has weakened so much anyone can come in and go out. This is bad." The monk rubbed his head looking up at the barrier which was now only a thin layer.
"Damn Hitomi." Her father whispered under his breath.
"We should stop for awhile so I can take care of your wounds" the young teen spoke with worry. "especially that hole in your chest. I don't want it to get infected."
"Are we almost there?" Yoshi ignored her.
"No!" She growled with annoyance. "I told you already it'll take up to a couple or more days!"
"Do you even realize how fast we're going?" The boy shouted making her look around. Everything was practically a blur. Hitomi never knew someone could go this fast... It was amazing! She loved the wind in her hair as she began to cuddle into his ripped up kimono and how he could put a smile on her face so easily. She wanted to close her eyes but couldn't. She had to look through the blur to find where they were going to stop.
"Damn..." Yoshi skid to an immediate halt holding on to Hitomi tightly so she wouldn't fly off. Leaping into a nearby tree he told her to stay there before leaving.
"Why do I have to stay in some tree while he gets to check out what's going on? So not fair!"
'I know they're here but where?' Yoshi looked around the area carefully with his aqua eyes. 'The scent of wolf is close by. I shouldn't proceed further but if we want to get somewhere safe, we have to get passed them.'
"Um Yoshi?" A voice behind him made him jump.
"I thought I told you to stay in the tree." The vampire held back a growl.
Smiling, she said they were there. "You can go hunting for other animals. You told me you drink animal blood so I thought I'd bring you to an old enemy of my father. As long as you promise not to drink any of the wolves blood then we can stay. The wolves live in the mountains and the leader's name is Koga though I've never met him."
"Then what makes you think he'll let us stay?" Yoshi stared at the girl.
"'Cause he used to love my mother. Every time he would appear he and my father fought." She laughed. "But I've only been told stories so I don't know anymore than that." She began walking down the mountain path with a smile on her beautiful face that Yoshi loved so much.
Koga sat up against the cold stone, thinking about the past. 'I haven't seen Kagome or mutt face in over 10 years.' He did remember their 3 year old daughter. The wolf demon noticed how she looked like Kagome but acted like Inuyasha. Smirking at the thought he stood. "Looks like he'll have to deal with a mini Inuyasha." He said to himself.
"Sir!" One wolf demon came running in with another following behind.
"What is it now?" Koga barked full of anger. "It better not be some stupid fight over food between the same wolves!" He walked towards the two.
"It's not! There's a human girl walking this way and what's worse is there's a vampire with her!" The second shook with fear.
"Bring them to me! Now!" Koga shouted.
Yoshi stared at the mark he had left on Hitomi's right wrist as she held his hand. 'Should I tell her?' He squeezed her right hand which drew her attention.
"What is it?" Hitomi stared at him with worried brown eyes.
Seeing the worry she held for him, he decided to tell her. "Remember what he had said about us and the mark?" He started.
"Yea. Why?" She was sure it wasn't going anywhere good.
"The mark means I - ." He paused when he noticed tears forming in light brown eyes.
"Don't stop." She said.
"It means I own you until I die." He stared at her while tears rolled down her now red cheeks.
Hitomi was about to speak until four wolf demons with eight wolves surrounding them approached cautiously. 'What do they want?' "Um, we're looking for a way to Koga." She asked carefully.
"Perfect." One who had dark blue eyes and white hair that was smoothed off to the left side of his head spoke up. "He asked for you two."
Looking over at each other in confusion, they followed.
Koga recognized the girl's scent and his dark eyes widened. 'It can't be.' He stood quickly and ran for the exit but stopped midway. Standing in the entrance was Hitomi with a vampire at her side. "What are you doing here Hitomi? And with him no less!"
"I ran away from home and I'm not going back!" The girl yelled.
Koga stared at her a moment before telling every wolf to leave. "So why did you leave?"
"Mother and father have me protect the village. They won't help at all... with anything. All they do is sit around and talk with Miroku and Sango." Hitomi finally let it all out. "I just wanted to have time to myself so I thought me and Toshiro would leave for awhile but father found me at the edge of the barrier so he stopped Toshiro from coming along." She felt Yoshi wrap his arms around her and even though he owned her she didn't care at the moment. "Before that I had told my mother I hated both her and father for everything they were making me do and I don't regret it."
Koga was pissed at Inuyasha and surprisingly at Kagome as well. 'I can't believe they would make her do everything on her own. She could be lying but those tears sure are real.' Sighing, the wolf demon wrote a quick letter and gave it to a wolf demon telling him to take it to a certain village. Turning back to his guests, he said "you can stay for as long as you want. But just make sure your friend here doesn't eat any of my friends. Got it?"
Hitomi nodded happily and gave Koga a hug. "Thank you so much! And he won't drink their blood!" And she ran back to her vampire friend who had heard the news.
The wolf demon leader noticed Hitomi's friend smile softly at her. 'He doesn't look like a bad guy but you can't tell bad from good. Good thing I sent that letter to Inuyasha and Kagome.' "Hey you." Koga looked him up and down, noticing dry blood on his face and shirt.
Yoshi looked over toward the leader. "Yea?"
"You should clean up. All that blood is just disgusting."
"You're sounding as if you've never seen blood before." Hitomi spoke up and grabbed Yoshi's left hand before standing.
"It's not that." Koga looked away. "It just looks like human blood is all."
"Well I'll start cleaning up Yoshi, okay?" She said and pulled the elder teen away.
Koga nodded once and let one of his wolf demons lead the two to a small pond and a hot spring nearby. "Wow!" Hitomi exclaimed loudly. "I've never been to a hot spring before in my whole life!"
"Well go enjoy it then!" Yoshi laughed.
"I would but with you here I can't." The girl said rudely.
Moving away from her, he let her be while she bathed. "Okay, jeez..." He muttered.
"See, Inuyasha?" Kagome smirked. "We can go through."
"But so can our enemies." Sango provided.
"True." Miroku spoke in thought. "Maybe it's a good thing your daughter ran away." The monk turned to Inuyasha.
"Why is that?" The half demon glared at his friend.
Sango then spoke up. "We need to fight again. We can't just hide behind a barrier the rest of our lives while your only child protects us. It's not fair to her. What if she wants to do something with her life? Think about it Kagome." Sango neared her best friend. "Sure she hates you but that's because she's been doing all the work and she's never had a day off!"
Kagome took in her friend's words. Looking lost in thought Sango let Inuyasha speak his mind. "Who else will protect everyone?" He asked angrily.
"We will." Kagome looked at them.
"Kagome?" Inuyasha stared at her.
"It'll be like old times." His wife stared at all of them.
"Yea but - ." Miroku was cut off when Inuyasha saw a wolf demon standing at the barrier.
Sighing, the half demon walked over to him and asked what he wanted. "I have a letter from Koga." He spoke quickly and handed Inuyasha the letter before running back to the mountains.
"What's the letter say?" Kagome pressed only to receive a glare.
After opening the letter, Inuyasha didn't even have to read the whole thing. The moment he saw Hitomi's name, he told Kagome they were going to the mountains to talk to Koga and Ayame. Miroku and Sango were staying behind to protect the village.
Hironori silently walked around the forest, looking for anything that had to do with his son. 'I won't go back until he's dead and I get my fangs on that pretty little neck of that girl he saved.' The commander thought angrily.
"I've been thinking..." Hitomi rest her arms on the rocks in front of her toward the pond where Yoshi was. "If you want to come over here, you can. I don't own you." She was nervous yet happy about all this. 'If he does come over, what do I do?' She could hear water dripping from all over the place and it was getting real annoying. "Um Hitomi?"
Yoshi's voice could have echoed if he never had whispered.
"Yes?" The nervous girl whispered back.
"May I join you?"
Taking a minute to think about it she whispered back a 'yes'.
Yoshi got in the hot spring quickly but stayed on one side so as not to make her even more nervous than she already was. "So Koga is your mother's friend but father's enemy?" He began to cautiously make conversation.
Relaxing a bit, Hitomi nodded and said yes. "They would always fight whenever they saw each other. I can't imagine those two fighting. I bet it got real annoying for my mom."
Yoshi smirked but the smirk quickly faded. "Listen," he said. "I'm sorry for biting you. I didn't want him to hurt you is all."
Hitomi stiffened. "It's fine." She tried smiling. "You did what you had to in order to protect me."
"Then why are you crying?" His face was clear of any emotion. "You can be mad at me if you want."
Without even thinking, Hitomi lunged herself into Yoshi's arms, letting her tears roll down her face and into the hot water. "I could never stay mad at you." She felt her face heat up at their closeness and she felt strange - a strange feeling she had never felt before. 'Am I falling in love?...' She asked herself before pulling away nervously and telling him they should get out.
Koga sat there, waiting for his guests to come back while also waiting for a few others to arrive. He knew he wasn't a bad guy. He was just doing what he thought was right. Kagome told him he was like a brother to her and Inuyasha looked like he was ready to kill someone. He said he'd rather have Sesshomaru as a brother than some smelly wolf. Koga laughed out loud at that memory only to realize that the guests he was supposed to get the next day arrived a day early...
"I sent the letter to you guys about 4 hours ago and you weren't supposed to be here til tomorrow. Can't you two just slow down?"
"Hey mom?" Toshiro stood in the doorway watching his mother rummage through the piles of kimono and kosode. "What are you doing?"
Not stopping to look at him, Sango said "just looking for some old clothes. Why?"
"The villagers are scared. The barrier is coming down." The teen boy stepped toward her.
"It'll be okay." Sango finally pulled out something black and pink from the pile. "Your father and I know what we're doing." She turned and smiled at him, holding her demon slaying outfit up to him.
"Whatever you say... Just let me know when you need me." Toshiro stepped out of the hut and headed back to try to calm down the villagers. 'If only Hitomi were here.' He smiled to himself before reaching the people.
After finding washed clothes next to their bathing spots, they quickly turned from each other and dressed. Hitomi, however, did sneak a peek at Yoshi just to find out he was sneaking a peek at her. His body was toned perfectly, his chest was still wet which glistened in the rising sunlight and he unfortunately had half his kosode on.
Yoshi stared at her, trying not to look her up and down. He knew she was looking him up and down but he was halfway dressed while she was still completely naked. "I, um, I'll just leave you to dress. Sorry." He walked away towards Koga's cave.
Hitomi smiled after he was out of sight. "Yoshi..." He seemed to be the only boy besides Toshiro who gave her privacy when bathing and changing. 'At least I don't have to worry about him being a peeping tom.' She slid on her kosode and began walking back to Koga's.
"So where is she?" Inuyasha demanded. He never read the whole letter so he didn't know the real reason he and his mate were there.
Koga glared at him. "First, I'm going to say this once and I don't want to hear one word from either of you: you two are the worst -" the wolf leader was cut off when his 15 year old son, Dai, rushed in tripping over a boar skull.
"Hey father," Dai laughed embarrassingly before getting up. "I heard Inuyasha and Kagome were here so I thought I'd come see them."
"Well it's nice to see you again after 10 years." Kagome smiled. "You've grown so much I bet you'll be just like your father."
"You mean annoying and gross?" Inuyasha received a hit to the head.
Koga ignored the insult and continued on to what he had been saying earlier. "Like I had been saying earlier, you two are the worst parents I know."
Kagome and Inuyasha stared him in shock. "What the hell are you talking about?" Inuyasha demanded angrily.
Koga's glare deepened and his son knew it was time to leave the cave.
Hitomi happily skipped toward the cave but was pulled to the side by Yoshi who held her close. "What is it?" She tried looking him in the eyes but he only looked toward the cave with angry aqua eyes and grit teeth. 'I wonder what's going on.' Hitomi looked passed his left shoulder as she was held close to his body. The young teen noticed another wolf demon back out of the cave quickly and head their way. 'Maybe we can ask him what's going on?'
Yoshi seemed to have the same idea because he released the girl and pulled the wolf in to the tight spot they were in. "What's going on?" He demanded quickly.
"Well first, my name is Dai and I am the only son of Koga. Second, my father is speaking to Hitomi's parents. And third, who's hungry?" Dai said with a light smile.
Looking down, Kagome quietly said "I know we haven't done much for our daughter but we can't be all that bad."
"So making Hitomi protect you all these years and not helping her isn't all that bad?!" Koga yelled at the two in front of him making them flinch. "She came here and told me everything and cried. Why do you think I sent that letter? I wanted to talk to you about everything! I can't believe you two would treat your own daughter like a slave!"
Sick of hearing his mouth, Inuyasha put his hand on his sword hilt. "That's why her scent is all over the place then..."
"She left about an hour before you bastards even got here." Koga smirked.
Drawing his sword full of anger, the half demon stood and glared into the wolf leader's blue eyes. "Don't lie to me Koga. I know she's still here. Her scent is close by."
'Koga will be killed if I don't step in!' Hitomi looked over at Yoshi with worried and pleading brown eyes. She was scared for Koga but she was also scared for Yoshi. Finally making her decision, she ran to the cave to stop her father with Yoshi following behind and leaving Dai in the tight spot. Yoshi wanted to stop her. He didn't want her to be taken from him.
"Stop!" The girl yelled, making both demons and human freeze and move their gaze toward her.
Inuyasha froze, his fang in midair, as he looked at his daughter. He heard Kagome whisper Hitomi's name but stayed in place. Someone standing next to her, caught his attention and he began moving slowly towards the two.
Kagome looked up at her husband and watched with curious eyes as he began walking towards her child. "Inuyasha?" But she got no reply as he continued moving forward.
Hitomi realized her father tightened his grip on his sword and quickened his speed but he wasn't after her. He was after Yoshi. "Hitomi go to your mother."
But the girl moved in front of the teenage vampire. "No."
Yoshi was surprised Hitomi was protecting him. She was the first who was trying to save him from death. But he wanted to face her father so he placed his right hand on her shoulder, getting her attention.
"Yoshi?" Hitomi looked into his beautiful eyes that were now holding love, strength, worry and so many other emotions.
The vampire had been wanting to do this since she let him join her in the hot spring; he leaned down and captured her lips. Happily she kissed him back. The bad part was that they had to separate. Yoshi stared into Hitomi's brown eyes and whispered that it would be alright. He watched as a few tears began to appear but were immediately wiped away.
She moved to Koga's side instead of her mother's, not breaking eye contact with her vampire.
Koga just looked back and forth between the two new lovers. 'This is not going to go down well. Maybe I should move this fight somewhere else.' And that's what he did. The fight was moved quickly to a bare and deserted area due to a certain half demon's patience. Many wolf demons followed just so they could see what happened and who would win.
"Okay you murderer," Inuyasha barked from across the battle field. "I would love to know why you stole my daughter!"
It was silent on the field as everyone waited for Yoshi to answer. Sighing, the vampire answered by sitting on the ground. "First off I SAVED your daughter from being killed and she will always be safe until I'm killed. Second, your mate or wife or whatever she is to you" Yoshi looked at Inuyasha tiredly. "Is stupid. I heard how you two met and about that dead priestess that you couldn't let go of until she finally died again. Plus you constantly hurt your wife by not considering her feelings when you were with that dead woman. And she cried but you never apologized." Yoshi closed his eyes as he waited for the dog to attack but all he heard was growling and the wind.
'Hitomi...' Kagome stared at Inuyasha worriedly. "Not all of that's true." The ex priestess whispered. "I didn't cry - well, except that one time when he pushed me because I interfered with his fight with his brother - so it's not all bad."
"Whatever." Yoshi lamely sighed. "Anyway, Inuyasha you want your daughter back, you have to take her by force. Now before you do anything stupid... Listen. Are your cute dog ears open?" Yoshi was grinning at the half demon who glared agitatedly back. "The bite mark on her wrist means I own her but I only did it to save her from being drained. I, am allowing her to do whatever she wants and have been since I bit her. Yes, we can be separated. Do I want to be? No. Have I drank any of her blood? No. I don't drink human blood. I prefer animal blood but I promised Koga I wouldn't touch his wolves and I've kept that promise." Yoshi was completely serious about everything he was saying. And he meant every word too.
Hironori was at the base of the mountains now. He had caught the small scent of his son's blood. 'He's in the mountains; I know he is. And once I catch him, he's dead.' But he didn't know he was going to be interfering in his son's fight with Inuyasha. He didn't care though. It would be much easier to kill the boy. 'There are wolves living here but I can kill them if they get in my way.' He smiled and followed the scent up the dirt path.