Re-writing my First few chapters,seeing as fanfiction went all "nom nom,I'ma eat your story...or at the least eat big chunks of your story." So..new Improved,and I hope you enjoy reading this,Which,if you are reading this,it means I've written and posted chapter 4(or 5,depending on my re-write.) ANd sorry for the delay everyone,but..I'm back. It takes a little more than a rolled up newspaper to take this spider out! ;)
As the sun began to set and the city streets became cold and dangerous,they came out. The old gods of a former life,the rulers of all the lands now claimed by humans. The beings who were now,through no fault of their own,forced into assuming the shape of their domestic counter-parts,Those that didn't had two choices,live in the shadows as the homeless, looked down upon by the majority of the cruel society they lived in,or die. And,in having such choices,Once proud beings such as Sesshoumaru, were now reduced to almost mentally incapable creatures who lived on discarded food,and didn't trust the humans who ran even the smallest soup kitchens...
In a dark alley a short while after Midnight,Kouga was caught up in thoughts on his former life as a leader,And the many changes that came about since that time so long five hundred years had passed him by,And as he watched the once proud western lord scrounge through a foul-smelling and dirty garbage can in a desperate search for anything resembling food,He began to wonder just where this shift in power had occurred. was it because his kind had underestimated the humans,and their growing knowledge of weaponry? Or perhaps they had just overlooked anything at all that the weaker species had accomplished,Merely passing it off as something that could never touch twirled a dirt brown dreadlock between a no longer clawed thumb and forefinger;And glanced at The former Lord of the west once silver hair,stained a dirty blonde from years of street living,Was dragging through mud that,were the inu-youkai lucky for once,was the product of rainwater and dirt,instead of the many liquids the Ookami could think of.
He sighed in a defeated way when Sesshoumaru had made a rasping yip in victory and brought him half a piece of what looked like it had once been bread,Breaking it in half again to share it with his two canine companions.
Ginta,and Hakkaku. Oh how he wished they had just gone off on their own,instead of taking this option;When the choice had come down to leaving their beloved leader and brother,or turning into mere animals and following him still,they had chosen the latter. Kouga's chest clenched painfully at the thought,And he found himself wishing quite often that there were more he could do for his now mis-matched pack,But changing times had not allowed for it. The humans technology had ,once begun,advanced so fast and so far that the youkai of the world couldn't catch up with to top it all off,the further the technology advanced,the further into the shadows his kind were pushed,swept under the rug,and considered myth. And with this less than pleasant developement,Came a related complication. the less the humans believed in them,The weaker they tail had vanished years ago,as had his assumed Sesshoumarus pointed ears,And poison claws went much the same way.
And now...here they were. Present day,Sharing moldy bread,while wearing rags and various bits of trash. Oh how the mighty had fallen. The only hope still held by the Ookami,was the slim chance of the new Shelter being ran by someone who understood. Someone who wouldn't try to "send their poor tired souls to a better place." He couldn't count how many times he'd been poisoned or beat,along with Ginta and Hakakku at various only thing he was really thankful for-while he still had it was his seemingly demonic was the only thing that had kept him alive to this point, And from what he could get from the few and far between conversations with Sesshoumaru,the same was true to him.
Kouga bit into the moldy crust of bread the former Daiyoukai had handed him and did his best impersonation of a made him sick to think that he was this low on the food Sesshoumaru,well he really did get physically ill when he was reunited with the once proud lord of the western lands who had travelled with his half-brother Inu-yasha at the time. He mentally sighed. Inu -yasha. muttfaced bastard,why did you have to go and leave us? he ran his fingers through his dreadlocks as he thought of the Hanyou. He had died last winter,froze to death it Kouga honestly thought that perhaps Inu-yasha had finally just given up and allowed the cold embrace of death to take him was just like the rest of them,No home,no blankets,no unfortunately,no will to keep himself alive.
Kouga grunted as his hand got tangled in his hair,He'd lost himself so thoroughly in thought he hadn't noticed his fingers get ,Sesshoumaru made his trapped finger seem less important as his wheezing cough began to echo through the only had the cough a week,but it was getting worse by the day. It seemed the once Stoic ice prince had finally lost his famed will.
In a final desperate attempt to Distract himself from his thoughts,Kouga finally freed his finger from the unruly mass of dreads,and looked across the street.
Shirayuri Shelter. The old building. The last spark of hope.
At five thirty in the morning a young woman pulled her older car up to the building that would house the Shirayuri Shelter;And began unloading boxes of food,clothing and final few boxes for the moment,As it was less than a week before the shelter would open and she would finally be able to begin relaxing,knowing she was doing good in the world once again.
After Kagome had taken the last box upstairs,she closed the trunk of her against it and scanning the area she was in. That's when her eyes fell upon the alley across the street,and the men sleeping in ,Kagome wasn't knew it was dangerous to approach strange knew it from first hand experience,gained from her own when she saw these two,She felt an odd twinge of emotion deep within almost like something long forgotten prodding at her mind,and wanting her to remember. that is how Kagome knew she had to help them,Right now;Days before the shelter opened.
Kagome took a deep breath and worked her nerves up,taking another glance across the street before crossing. As she got closer,she could see details of the men,She wanted to cry as she saw one man lying on the ground asleep,huddled close to a couple of wolf mix long brown hair was looked nearly starved,And she could clearly see his ribs. He wasn't wearing a shirt only a thin patched up pair of what used to be jeans,that were held to his emaciated frame by some sort of rope or twine. His companion was using his dreadlocks as a pillow,his own hair dirty blonde and so long it looked like it had never been cut. He was wearing a trash bag,and a pair of dirty shorts that hung loose on what she could tell was a tall frame,even though he was lying down.A memory flashed through her mind briefly but she shook her head and ignored it.
Her breath caught in her throat for a moment as she looked back to the building that had taken her years to had written essays,Saved every penny she earned or found;And Applied for grant after grant and had even gained financial backing from a small corporation here in japan to finally get this one last dream in life. She smiled and returned to the task at hand. She wasnt officially open for another five days,but...these two needed her she'd never turn away someone in need.
As she looked back to the alley,she could see the two sleeping figures were the only ones only hoped they wouldn't assume she was like most of the others in this city.
people just didn't want believe that there were really any good honest beings left in the world. Which,she thought at times,that maybe they were right. Sighing she pulled her black hair into a pony tail and walked the rest of the way to the men slowly,watching curiously as the dogs woke up and began yipping and wagging their tails as they sniffed the air around them,before running towards her.
At the sound of his wolves yipping excitedly,Kouga awoke,Nudging Sesshoumaru and sitting up,wondering what was going hadn't heard Ginta and Hakakku sound that happy in years. He looked the direction they had run,and there a few feet from him stood a woman with long black hair,And a smile he would never was pretty sure his heart had stopped beating when he saw only breath he took was one that whispered "Kagome?" before he rubbed his eyes and looked to Sesshoumaru as if he could give him the answer to what was going on. The western lord merely shrugged,and looked on in hadn't noticed anything about the girl yet.
Kouga had expected many things upon waking;An angry business owner telling him to move along,people kicking him and telling him to get a job,hell he would have expected santa and the easter bunny to come and wake them both to offer free teeth cleaning before he would even consider this as here they were,and there she wondered for a moment if it was really her,and if she would recognize them. But that question answered its self as she got closer and began to speak.
"Uhm...Excuse me,Guys?..I'm in charge of opening the shelter across the street and even though it's not quite open yet i was wondering if.." Her breath caught in her throat at that moment,and her next word replaced by a gasp as the man with dirty blonde hair turned towards her,His dull,pain filled amber eyes nowhere near what she remembered,but the face the same.
"..Se..Sess...Sesshoumaru?!" she was blinking back tears,wondering what kind of cruel joke fate was playing on her this time,when she heard the raspy ghost of a voice she knew from long only said one word,but that was all she needed.
"Miko." his tone sounded hopeful almost,and she launched herself at him without thinking,wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace,before pulling back suddenly,remembering his condition,and that he would probably kill her when he regained his strength.
But she didn't feel the poison claws rip through her skin,and his eyes didn't show he just looked slightly disappointed that she had let him go.
awoke slowly and nudged Sesshomaru, waking him with a start as During this odd show,Kougas heart was doing an odd little dance in his chest,he wanted nothing but to grab her,hug her tight and never let her go,however,he didn't want her to see him like wanted her to remember the strong, cocky wolf prince that had longed for her attention some 500 years ago. Not this broken down ..thing he was contemplating sneaking out of the alley,but a shrill cry of "KOUGA!" and a hug followed by sobs had stopped his plans cold in their tracks. He clenched his eyes closed as she looked at his face. A trembling voice asking him for one thing.
"Kouga...Open your eyes."
He slowly relaxed his eyes and opened them,revealing the now pale blue color they seemed to get slightly brighter as she looked at was a small spark of hope left in his gaze. A smile spread across Kagomes face as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks.
He suddenly felt like begging her for forgiveness,for letting himself get to the level he was at,but he wasn't sure why. A dam seemed to break in him and he embraced her tightly,his own sobs tearing through him as he finally let loose so many years worth of cried out of sadness,out of helplessness,out of when she stood,he thought he was going to she,his last hope,was going to walk away from him;But instead,she offered him a hand,Which he gladly accepted. when he was standing on his own feet,she moved to Sesshomaru and placed a hand on his shoulder before offering a hand to him,which he eagerly held onto as she helped him up.
Her next few words were the beginning of things starting to lookup for them,and the small spark of hope began to burn in even Sesshomarus eyes as Kagome spoke.
"Let's get you guys some food and clothes,maybe a we can figure out where to put you,figure something out for living arrangements."
Kouga grinned so wide it seemed to hurt his face,while Sesshoumaru smiled weakly and nodded,Following the one time Miko his brother had dragged throughout feudal japan. Maybe he would survive this time period after all.