A/N: So this WILL be a novella. If I don't finish it, please FORCE me to. Not much to say with the first bit. Other than the disclaimer, which is on my profile and applies to all my stories. So without further ado, let me present:
Once Upon A Time
The school bell screeched and jolted Rei from her slumber. She opened her eyes blearily. Blurs were moving slowly toward the door. She yawned and rubbed her eyelids vigorously, as if to rub off the sleepiness that clung heavily to them. Her hands moved away from her face, and the grinning face of Ayaka Sato swam into view.
Ayaka patted Rei condescendingly on the head in mock pity. "Asleep again, eh? This would be the…hmmm," –here she put her finger on her temple to feign contemplation— "third time this week? Get a grip, Rei. Tanaka-sensei will catch you eventually. And you know how he hates it when people sleep through his class."
Rei groaned hopelessly. "Do you have any idea how boring this class is?" she ground out, annoyed. Ayaka just laughed, which made Rei's sleep-deprived brain that much more irritated. Her friend rapped her on the head. "Yes. Hello! I'm in this class too, remember?" She smiled good-naturedly and continued, "Come on now. You better hurry up. Our next class starts in-" she checked her watch "-three minutes."
Rei stood up and grudgingly noticed her limbs creaking in protestation. She stretched, yawned again, gathered her books, and stuffed them unceremoniously into her backpack. Then she lifted it onto her back, noting unhappily that it was very, very heavy. "Why do I have to carry all this stuff around? This can't be good for my back. When I suffer from premature spine deformation one day, I plan on blaming the school." She noted with even less satisfaction that Ayaka was striding away evenly, completely ignoring her.
"Stop blathering and get moving. I'm not going to be late because of you," Ayaka flung back smoothly without a backward glance.
Rei strove to catch up. It was going to be a long day.
xXx
It was the last class of the day, finally, blissfully. Rei sat in her desk and waited for Saitou-sensei start the class. She felt much more awake than she did for Chemistry, partly because it was four in the afternoon and not eight in the morning, and partly because Ancient Legends of Japan held much more allure than a dull, droning science class did.
Rei straightened when Saitou-sensei came in, five minutes late, as usual. Rei liked him much better than her other teachers. Since he was always lax on promptness, he hardly expected his students to be on time, and that was a great boon for Rei. And simply his red-cheeked cherubic appearance made it impossible to dislike him.
Ancient Legends of Japan was undoubtedly her favorite class. It didn't involve any complicated math or mind-bending concepts. Casting a wayward glance at Ayaka, Rei suspected that that was exactly why Ayaka didn't like it. Which completely baffled Rei. Who could resist fairytales? That was the very essence of this class, after all.
In an odd, unsettling way, the stories Saitou-sensei told were uncannily like the bedtime stories her grandma had told her when she was little. Grandma had forever instilled in her a love for fairytales, and Rei supposed that was why she liked this class so much. Grandma was so good at telling heroic epics, sometimes Rei wondered wildly and very insensibly whether they were real.
Saitou-sensei clapped his hands in anticipation. "All right, class. We have another lovely legend today that I hope you all will find interesting. It dates back to the Sengoku Jidai-" he wrote the date for the era on the board "-that I hope you all remember. We discussed it a few days ago. Most of the famous legends come from this era, and this one is no exception. It is rather famous as myths go." He rubbed his hands in excitement. "It's about a dog-demon this time."
Rei heard Ayaka expel a loud sigh. Ayaka leaned over and whispered, "This is so pointless. We all know there's no such thing as demons. What a waste of my time," she hissed exasperatedly. Rei raised her eyebrows. "Tell that to my grandma." Rei lived on the Higurashi shrine, and was exposed daily to the superstitious rants of her grandmother. Ayaka frowned. "The woman's crazy. Even your mother says so. She's completely nuts. Nobody believes in that stuff today."
Rei pointedly decided to ignore the comment. Her grandmother might be not right in the head, but that didn't make her any less of a person, and Rei was a little angry that Ayaka would say something like that. You know it's absolutely true, her mind supplied unwelcomingly. Rei forced the thoughts away from her head and concentrated on the lecture. She would not think about it now.
"This legend is called The Warrior-Girl and the Demon Lord." Rei heard Ayaka grumble something about how all fairytales involved a human female with a demon male and continued to ignore her. Really, for a girl who loved the supernatural, Ayaka could be amazingly close-minded about legends sometimes. Rei could almost call her a hypocrite, but decided that Ayaka would definitely not take that well. She settled comfortably in her seat and anticipated what would presumably be a good story.
"Once upon a time was where all fairytales start and where this one will as well." Rei loved his style of storytelling and listened closer. "There was a demon, and what a demon he was! He was a lord amongst his kind, revered and feared. He ruled well and for many long years there was nothing to disturb his lands. But on a fateful day, an evil hanyou was born of immense and unnatural power. His evil seeped into the ground and the air, poisoning everything around, until it could be ignored no longer. Something had to be done."
Rei felt that same nagging feeling that this story carried an air of familiarity about it that she could not put her finger on. Troubled, she listened.
"So this demon lord, who was had much pride in his power and ability, went to challenge the hanyou on his own." The sensei paused for dramatic effect. "But he failed. He was hardly able to accept that he could not defeat a mere hanyou, and it crushed his vanity.
"The only one he could turn to help for was his brother, a weak demon that he had never much liked. He thought his brother a complete disgrace to the family. The demon lord would never consent to ask his brother for assistance.
"But then, something completely unexpected happened. The demon lord's brother crossed paths with a human girl. Now even the brother, weaker as he was, was loath to lower himself by being with humans. But this human was lost and cold and hurt, and his heart was moved enough to tend to her.
"When this girl became well again, she revealed to her benefactor that she was no simple human. Instead, she was a trained warrior woman who fought well and rivaled even the demon lord's brother. For weaker as the brother was, he was still a demon, and no match for a simple human. He was much impressed by her. Working together, the demon lord's brother and the human girl warrior managed even to fell the proud demon lord. He reconciled with his brother. And it was all made possible because of this human girl. The demon lord's brother fell in love with girl. Together, the two decided to battle the hanyou foe.
"In the end, the warrior-girl and the demon brother…" Saitou-sensei stopped abruptly. He did not go on and was silent for at least a minute. No one spoke, and the air sparkled with a heavy sense of suspense. Rei was itching for the ending. She began to raise her hand when she looked over at Ayaka.
This time, much to Rei's surprise, her friend raised her hand timidly. "Yes, Sato?" he asked dubiously.
Ayaka hesitated. "Well, what happened?" she asked quietly.
Saitou-sensei looked around thoughtfully. "That's a good question. We have never been able to find out what happened. You see, this story is of strange origin. Instead of being passed down orally like most legends are, this tale was actually recorded on an ancient scroll known to be a document of accepted history. Thus, many archeologists are convinced this particular myth has a root in truth. However, the scroll was in rather bad shape when it was recovered, and the story I have just relayed to you, was barely salvaged from the parchment. The rest has been lost to time. It is simply indecipherable from this point on, due to the bad quality of the scroll."
The class was quiet for a few moments before the bell rang in its usual grating, unpleasant sound. Everyone burst into talk at once. Things were gathered and people began to meander towards the door.
"I'll see everyone tomorrow!" Saitou-sensei called out.
"Come on, Rei, or it will take forever to get out of the crowded hallway," Ayaka said.
Rei felt a tug of curiosity inside her mind, and she responded, "You go. I have to do something."
Ayaka's brows stitched together. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yeah. Don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Rei reassured her. Ayaka nodded and rushed off, eager to leave the tedium of school.
Rei simply could not shake off the odd feeling this class gave her. She knew something was strange about the story, and now she knew what it was. It so resembled the stories of her grandma, that it was couldn't be a coincidence. Grandma's stories centered on a hanyou, and that hanyou had a name. Rei felt her stomach twist in unexplained nervousness as she approached Saitou-sensei's desk.
He was organizing his papers and didn't look up. Rei cleared her throat.
His head jerked upwards in surprise. "Ah, Nakamura," he said easily. "What is it?" Rei shifted on her feet. "You can call me Rei, you know," she told him. He smiled. "Of course. And your question?"
Rei wasn't exactly sure how to ask it. My crazy grandma tells me stories, and they sound quite scarily a lot like these didn't sound like the best of options. "What's the name of the hanyou?" she blurted out. Fabulous, she thought. Way to ask a question that really has nothing to do with this at all. What are the chances, huh? So her grandma's stories had a hanyou. Her hanyou definitely wasn't an evil scourge. Quite the opposite in fact. Her hanyou happened to be the hero of every story.
Saitou-sensei frowned. "That's an odd thing to ask. I don't know the name of the hanyou. But I do know the name of the demon lord. His name is Sesshoumaru."
Nothing clicked there. Rei should have known it was a stupid suspicion. Why the hell did she care so much anyway? It was just a stupid suspicion for a stupid story. So what if it sounded similar? Didn't mean anything.
"…And the demon lord's brother's name is Inuyasha."
Rei's heart skipped a beat. What? her brain thought coherently. Impossible. But…how…how did Grandma's stories have this Inuyasha in them as well? And Inuyasha was the hanyou, wasn't he? Her brain was wrapping around itself in confusion. Inuyasha. Inuyasha. She knew the name. But what did it all mean? Or did it mean anything at all? She could hear Ayaka telling her off again. Don't be insensible, Rei. It's nothing. It doesn't matter. You shouldn't care. I will care, she thought determinedly. Everything has a meaning.
She could only think of one thing. "I was wondering…I was wondering whether I could borrow the book with that story in it?" she asked tentatively. Rei had no idea how having this book was going to make anything make more sense, but she wanted to read it for herself, anyway.
The sensei smiled. "Of course. I don't see any harm in that. But just bring it back, okay? I'm trusting you."
And suddenly, the thick tome was resting in Rei's hands, the coarse red cover rubbing against her fingers, warm and real. The gold lettering on the cover read, "Myths and Legends of the Sengoku Jidai."
Rei grinned. "Thanks, Saitou-sensei. I'll bring it back."
And she rushed off, the name Inuyasha echoing in her head.
A/N: This story will not be what you expect. So the name Inuyasha is echoing in her head. Ha! That means nothing. Yes, I know Inuyasha is a hanyou, not a "weaker demon" or so he was referred to. Just go with the flow, okay? Please review and come back for the next chapter!