Disclaimer's Note: I do not own Inu-Yasha. ^^ My friend Bunny thinks she does own him however!
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The child crept slightly after his ball, getting ready to pounce on it any moment. However suddenly one of the adults picked up his ball. Inu-Yasha ran over to the man, arms flailing for his precious item.
"Half-breed." The man growled, before throwing the red ball away with disgust.
Inu-Yasha didn't understand what the man meant, but sensed the hatred entwined in that statement. Inu-Yasha quickly turned and ran after the ball.
When he told his mother later, she cried. Inu-Yasha didn't understand why she cried over what the man had said, but he let her.
But Inu-Yasha knew that being a half-breed must be a bad thing.
So the next day, instead of playing into the town, Inu-Yasha went into the fields beyond it to play.
He was having a lot of fun when a voice broke his concentration.
"Who are you?"
Inu-Yasha looked up to see a girl peering down at him from a tree. She had light brown hair tied back, and deep soulful chocolate brown eyes. Her face was covered with a few freckles, and her smile was broad, her eyes inquisitive.
"M-My name is Inu-Yasha." Inu-Yasha replied, slightly surprised by the girl. "Who are you?"
"My name's Lea!" she said grinning broadly, as she jumped quietly down from the tree.
"Why do you have ears?" Lea asked pointing at Inu-Yasha's tiny dog ears.
Inu-Yasha felt a pang of shame as he remembered how the children in his village always made fun of his strange trait.
Lea noticed that, and attempted to make Inu-Yasha happy again.
"They're cute! I wish I had some!" she added.
Inu-Yasha was thoroughly taken aback by this stranger.
"Can I play with your ball too?" Lea asked, pointing towards the bright red ball, tucked under Inu-Yasha's arm.
Inu-Yasha nodded, and Lea suddenly came at him, tackling the ball. The two sprawled across the grass, Inu-Yasha and Lea desperately scrambling after the ball.
Lea yawned after they had spent many hours playing around.
"Inu-Yasha… do you come here everyday?" she asked, propping herself up on elbow.
"No…" Inu-Yasha whispered softly.
"Will you come everyday now? We can play." She replied, snuggling closer to him.
"Sure,"
"Good…" Lea said, standing up. "I have to go home, but I'll be here tomorrow."
Inu-Yasha nodded, and Lea ran off towards his town.
"We live in the same place." Inu-Yasha realized, a little surprised.
For the next few months, Lea and Inu-Yasha would meet in their special place, and play or tell stories. Neither grew bored of the other's company, but one day, Lea came with a different story.
"Inu-chan, I'm going to tell you a real story today. My older brother told me it last night."
Inu-Yasha sat down quietly next to Lea, and waited for her to tell her story.
"In my village, there lives a boy, but he's really a monster, they say."
"Who's they?" interrupted Inu-Yasha.
"Well… everyone I guess. Shh… I'm just telling you what my brother told me." Lea frowned for a moment. "And he says its true anyway, but I can't think of who the people in the story would be."
Lea shrugged, and the continued.
"They say that he's a monster, because he's only half human. You see his father was a blood-thirsty demon who killed humans for fun. The boy, they say, will grow up to be just like his father, because who could resist the power of a demon, they say. So everyone is very careful of this boy, people say that he looks almost exactly human, except for a few things. One of the most obvious they say, is that his eyes will glow gold with a thirst for blood. However, his mother who raised the boy, say that he will be gentle, but powerful, and he will defend mortals against powerful demons. People do not trust her though, and they continue to be wary of the child, and call him bad names. Like monster, and demon boy, and halfbreed." Lea took a breath and then finished her story. "And when he's older they plan to kill the boy."
Inu-Yasha felt his heart stop.
'But… I can' t be half demon…' but a nasty voice in the back of his head answered. 'Yes you can. You never knew your father. You were raised by your mother, just like the story said. You have golden eyes, just like the story said. And people do call you halfbreed.'
"I have to go Lea." Inu-Yasha said, suddenly standing.
"Why Inu-Yasha?" Lea asked, looking up at him curiously.
"Umm… I have to help my mother with something. I forgot, I'm sorry." Inu-Yasha lied.
"Will you come tomorrow then?" Lea asked, smiling her beautiful smile at him.
Inu-Yasha gave a tiny nod, before tearing off into the forest.
Upon arriving back in his village, he found the everything deserted. Only one home was filled, with all the people, they were having a meeting.
"The halfbreed has to be destroyed!" one man was shouting.
"But he hasn't harmed anyone!" someone argued back.
"My friends, we should not argue but think about this logically." The village elder interrupted. "True, the boy has done no damage or harm to anyone yet. But we do not know what he will grow into. He may be danger then, but he may not be. It all depends on whether you are willing to take that risk or not."
There was a murmur across the room.
"Now," the elder continued. "How many are in favor, of destroying the demon child?"
"Aye." Rang across the room.
"How many against?"
The room remained silent, except for one cry.
"No! You cannot kill my son! He has done no wrong! And he won't ever harm anyone! I've raised him to be human!"
Inu-Yasha recognized the crying woman as his mother.
'They're going to try and kill me.'
Inu-Yasha felt a lump rise in his throat.
"Shut up you dumb woman! Your son will never be human!"
Inu-Yasha watched his mother be flung across a faraway wall. He turned from the site, and the village, and ran. He ran through the field that he and Lea had played in, and into the forest.
"Wait! Inu-Yasha!" a cry echoed after him.
Inu-Yasha paused.
"Lea?" he called back after hesitating for a moment.
"Inu-Yasha were are you going?" Lea asked, running towards him.
"Away." Inu-Yasha answered.
Lea finally reached him.
"But you can't!" she cried, grabbing his hands.
"I must or they will kill me." Inu-Yasha found himself saying.
"But why!?" Lea gasped out in horror.
"Because I am the half demon." Inu-Yasha responded. "I must leave. I will be in the forest Lea. Don't tell anyone, please!"
"I won't. I swear, be careful Inu-Yasha." She hugged him. "You'll never be a demon in my eyes."
Inu-Yasha finally broke away from the girl, and ran further into the woods. Finally when it was dark, and he couldn't run anymore, he collapsed in the center of a grove of pine trees.
Inu-Yasha suddenly woke in the middle of the night to see the crescent moon hanging high over head.
"augh…" Inu-Yasha groaned, but however was silent as something moved over him at the top of the trees.
Inu-Yasha jumped to his feet.
"Who's there??" he called out into the darkness.
Someone suddenly landed in front of him, sending him sprawling backwards.
"Are you Inu-Yasha?" a deep voice floated over to him.
Inu-Yasha jumped off out of the leaves he had landed in.
"Y-Yes. Why? Who are you?" Inu-Yasha, questioned and the looked up to see two eyes peering down at him. The owner had silvery hair, just like his, and a black crescent moon marked his forehead. His outfit was elaborate, and looked nothing like anything Inu-Yasha had ever seen before.
Only one thought came to Inu-Yasha's mind: not human.
"I am a demon." The man said smirking. "But I am not here to hurt you. I just want to speak to you."
"But who are you?" Inu-Yasha persisted.
"My name is Sesshoumaru. I am your older brother of sorts."
Inu-Yasha felt his mouth hit the ground.
"W-We have the same father?" Inu-Yasha questioned.
"Yes. Inu-Yasha, you have just learned what you are. What does this knowledge mean to you?"
"I have to know where this boy's loyalties and priorities lie. I could care less about him if he wishes to stay with his humans, but if he choses to live the life of a demon, I must know more about him… to see if we should ally, or if he should just be destroyed."
"What does it mean to me?" Inu-Yasha echoed the question. "It means… I'm different!"
"Is different bad?" Sesshoumaru asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes! When they want to kill you, it's a bad difference!" Inu-Yasha said, balling his tiny fists.
"So make it a good difference. They fear you Inu-Yasha! That is why they want to kill you! They fear what they do not understand! You are stronger then them Inu-Yasha! If they fear you, then you should give them a reason to fear you, other then their ignorance." Sesshoumaru replied.
"Or I could just have the humans destroy him for me. It's really a pity, that he isn't a full demon that could fight by my side."
"What should I do?" Inu-Yasha asked, his lip quivering.
"Attack back."
"No! I couldn't it's not right!" Inu-Yasha answered, surprised.
"Inu-Yasha… I will show you what they do to people who are different." Sesshoumaru replied calmly.
Sesshoumaru picked up Inu-Yasha and jumped across the treetops.
Inu-Yasha looked up shocked.
'No way… we're so high up!'
Sesshoumaru landed on a treetop from where they could see his town. The sun was coming up, and a group of people was revealed in the center of town.
"What are they doing?" Inu-Yasha asked.
"Use your demon site." Sesshoumaru answered.
"What?" Inu-Yasha asked, but suddenly he could see what was happening.
The towns people were dragging somebody into the center of town, were a stake with firewood surrounding it was set up.
"Lea!" Inu-Yasha cried out. "What are they doing to her?"
"She wouldn't tell them were you where, and know she's paying the price." Sesshoumaru answered.
"No! I've got to stop them!" Inu-Yasha cried.
He flung himself from Sesshoumaru, but before he reached there, the fire that had just been lit around Lea's feet, was spreading around town. He stared up at Sesshoumaru, who grinned down at Inu-Yasha and then turned to leave.
'Why did he do that?!' Inu-Yasha's thoughts raced, but he reacted quicker.
Racing into the burning village, he quickly found his mother.
"Mother!"
"Inu-Yasha!" his mother cried out a cry of relief.
She hugged him, and he picked her up, and looked around.
"Lea! Lea, where are you?"
"Inu-Yasha…" his mother coughed. "Lea is gone…"
Inu-Yasha felt a surge of hate course through his body, and suddenly he was jumping away from the charred village, just as he had seen Sesshoumaru jump moments before.
When he stopped, he lay his mother down.
Inu-Yasha tried to ignore the tears that were building up inside him.
'Lea… It's not fair… You should be alive!'
"It hurts doesn't it Inu-Yasha?" he heard Sesshoumaru's voice come out from the woods.
Inu-Yasha looked up to the treetops, where his older brother stood.
"Why? Why did you do that! You knew that Lea wouldn't be able to survive!"
"To test your loyalties Inu-Yasha." Sesshoumaru answered. "What you don't understand, is that those people were right! You either have to be a demon or a human! You can't stand in between!"
"What did killing Lea have to do with that?" Inu-Yasha cried out.
"It will make your choices stand out more clearly." Sesshoumaru smirked.
"Be gone Sesshoumaru!" Inu-Yasha's mother cried out.
"Shut up you stupid woman. You can't protect yourself anymore then you can protect Inu-Yasha." Sesshoumaur snarled.
"No! You be silent Sesshoumaru! I'll show you! I'll become the most powerful ever, and I will destroy you, neither has human or demon!" Inu-Yasha cried out.
Both Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha's mother grew silent at his outburst.
'He's supposed to want to stay human now! Stupid idiot… No matter, he willl never be strong enough to defeat me!'
"I will wait for that day, little brother." Sesshoumaru said turning away.
Deep inside though, the real reason that Inu-Yasha had chosen neither, because he couldn't be either. Where black and white once stood, was a mixture of gray.
"Inu-Yasha, I know this may sound difficult, but you will be stronger then Sesshoumaru. You carry the powers of your father, and the heart of your mother. That will make you indestructible one day." Inu-Yasha's mother whispered.
"But it makes me so much more an easy target for pain." Inu-Yasha whispered, and cried out to his mother.
But Inu-Yasha knew his mother was right, and Inu-Yasha swore to himself on that day, that even if he wanted to become full human, or full demon, he would still carry the task of destroying the demons who threatened the world of humans.
Author's Note: Ahh… how sad. Anyway, please review or email me at vegetaztwin@hotmail.com