Chapter 1

I'm Izayoi, thirteen years old. I live in Jikan Village, with my parents. My dad runs a demon extermination business with his friend Miroku and his wife, my mum is a priestess at our local shrine. I forgot to mention, I'm the only granddaughter of Toga, Lord of the western lands and great dog demon. That makes me one quarter demon. It's normally impossible to tell me apart from an ordinary human but once a month, my demon powers will resurface. My eyes turn golden and my usually black hair turns whiter than Lady Kaede's. Everyone in the village is generally very respectful of my appearance but it still makes me feel awkward, looking so different from everyone. For this reason I am currently gathering herbs for my mother in the Forest of No Return. Don't let the name scare you, aside from the odd centipede demon and interdimensional portal, it's just another forest. Even so I was careful to be wary of demons. My parents had taught me self defense techniques and I always carried around a bow and arrows with me.

I was gathering bamboo when I heard a strange sound. I pulled out my bow and stood very still. I realised it was the cries of someone in pain and violent struggling. I was about to rush in the direction of the noise when I heard men laughing.

"Look at that, we actually caught one!" I edged in the direction of the voices and hid in a bush. There were three men surrounding what I guess was whatever they had caught.

"Please let me go, I wasn't looking for trouble" Came a cry from their direction.

"Don't lie, brat!" Said one of the men, kicking what I now realised, was a teenaged boy. Without even thinking, I rushed out into the clearing.

"Leave him alone!" I yelled. The men seemed much more scared than I would have expected. Then I realised that I did not look like a normal thirteen year old girl, that day.

"Another demon!"

"Get out of our forest! You demon!" yelled the men. Their words were aggressive, but they clearly weren't prepared to deal with an opponent they hadn't trapped in a aura-draining net.

"Leave this forest" I growled. The men glanced down at the boy in the net, then back at me, then ran out of the clearing.

"You'll be sorry, demon!"

"There's a half demon in the next village who eats your kind for breakfast!"

I sighed and brushed my snow white hair out of my eyes. Now the men had gone, I could get a good look at the boy. He had short black hair and tanned skin but the thing that drew my attention first was the vast pair of black wings on his back.

"Are you a tengu?" I asked. He nodded and I realised it was probably rude to question him before rescuing him from the net. It was a pain untangling it from his feathers, but he was soon free.

"Thank you" He said simply, seemingly still completely drained.

"It's alright"

"You look like a demon, but I can sense something different about you"

"I'm only a quarter demon" I explained, worried of how he would react. Outsiders from the village often became cruel when the found out about me and my father's demon blood. He looked confused.

"I didn't know that was a thing." He said.

"Well it doesn't happen much, but my grandfather was a dog demon" He nodded thoughtfully.

"I'm guessing you're not from here?" I said, I had never heard of any tengu in our area.

"That's right, I left home after a fight with my parents and ran straight into trouble"

"Humans can be pretty dangerous if they catch you by surprise." I said.

"Even so, I ask that you keep this secret, for the protection of my image, if nothing else" He gave me a lopsided smile.

"Ok" I said, getting ready to continue my herb gathering.

"I'm Matsukaze, by the way"

"Izayoi" I replied. He stood up haphazardly and I realised I may have been grossly underestimating the effects of the aura-draining net.

"Why don't you come back to my village? You can rest there, without worrying of being attacked again." I said. He seemed unsure.

"Me? In a human village?" I understood his apprehension.

"My father's half demon and is one of the most well liked people in the village"

"Are you sure it will be ok?" For a second, I doubted myself. Would everyone really be ok with me bringing a random demon they didn't even know into the village? When I saw how weak he looked, and how he could barely stand, I decided I would find a way to smooth things other. Anyway, it's not like the villagers weren't used to seeing demons every once in awhile, my uncle, Sesshomaru and Shippo, a friend of my parents, visited the village often and while they attracted some attention, everyone seemed to accept it as pretty normal.

I helped him back to the village and despite my earlier confidence, I decided it was probably best to avoid the busier parts of the village, for his sake as much as mine. I took him to Lady Kaede's house and luckily, she was home. She didn't seem overly surprised when she saw us.

"Izayoi, what have you brought home with you today?" she asked, in her own part playful, mostly accusatory kind of way.

"This boy was attacked by some humans using a cursed net, is there anything you can do to help him" I asked.

"A cursed net, you say?" She said, examining him closer. "I'm afraid the only thing that can help him is rest. Don't tell me, you've offered him refuge in our village?" I nodded and she smiled. "You grow more like your mother everyday". Then, she handed me a large blanket "use this to cover his wings, I'm sure he doesn't want to attract unnecessary attention."

I led him to my home, for the first time in me life that it was my appearance that was drawing people's stares, and not his. My parents weren't home. I tucked him into bed and told him I was just going to find my mother and would be right back.

Name - Izayoi Higurashi

Age - 13

Family - Kagome Higurashi (mother), Inuyasha (father), Sota (maternal uncle), Sesshomaru (paternal uncle), Mama Higurashi (maternal grandmother), Papa Higurashi (father), Grandpa higurashi (maternal great-grandfather), Toga (paternal grandfather), Izayoi (paternal grandmother)

Likes - Archery, Walks in the forest

Dislikes - Being stared at

Dream - To explore the world and experience many things.