A NEW RIVAL

Chapter 1

Rikuo watched the evening sun from his favourite perch in the sakura tree in his yard. While he was now able to take his yokai form at any time of day, he still found it easier to wait for nightfall. 'It's finally over.' He thought to himself. Rikuo had spent the past several months in what had seemed an endless loop of battling the yokai who wanted to rule over humans and lesser yokai alike, and and training with Itaku, who showed even less mercy in fights. In the end he had faced the leader of the evil yokai, Abe no Seimei, and destroyed him. Doing so had very nearly cost him his life. He remembered waking up in a unfamiliar village and being told that he was lucky to be alive. The one who had brought him there and saved his life, Hagoromo Gitsune, had stayed only long enough to explain the situation, as she still had a grudge against him.

His musings were interrupted by a blond yokai who's head floated above his body. "Rikuo-sama, there are some people here to see you." He called up. "I'll be right down Kubinashi" Rikuo answered. Carefully jumping down to avoid aggravating his still present injuries, Rikuo headed toward the front gate wondering who could be calling at such a time. After all, it was too late for most humans, but still too early for most demons. Turning the corner he felt his face break into a grin. " Kagome, Inuyasha, Shippo, what are you doing here?" Rikuo exclaimed.

"You forgot to bring your medicine with you when you left." Explained a young woman with black hair and brown eyes. "So we thought we'd bring it and maybe meet your friends, if were not a bother." "No, of course not" Rikuo said hurriedly "Come on in, and you might want to talk with Zen about the medicine, I don't know the first thing about it." Turning to the other two, a teenage, white-haired, dog demon and a small, orangey haired fox demon kid, he added "go ahead to the back, we'll see you there." The two boys watch Rikuo and Kagome leave, and then followed the sounds of commotion to the back yard.

'Get him , 'Come on', 'Go' A large group of low level yokai were gathered around a pair of arm wrestlers The older of the two, a cyclops demon, was clearly having trouble , he was scowling and, even as Inuyasha watched, his arm tilted, and was then slammed onto the fold-out table they had been using. " Ha, I win Hitotsume! Now pay up!" Yelled the victor, a very tall boy with red streaked, white hair. "I know Shoei, you don't have to rub it in." Hitotsume grumbled, handing the boy a handful of coins. "Anyone else?" Asked Shoei. "I'll take that challenge." said Inuyasha, stepping forward. Shoei smiled. "And you are?" "Inuyasha, I'm from the hanyou village" "And I'm Shippo" the little fox demon piped in. "Well I'm always happy to get new challenges." Shoei said cheerfully, holding his arm out. Inuyasha grinned as he took his place.

"Ready, " Shippo started, "Set, ...GO!" Both of them started immediately each trying to force the others arm down. Shoei realized that this opponent was different, this one was much stronger that anyone he had faced before. He knew that this time, there was every likelihood he was going to lose, and he loved it. He enjoyed the challenge that pushed him to his limit, straining to keep his arm off the table. Then as everyone watched, cracks appeared on the surface of the table, spreading out from the centre Neither Shoei nor Inuyasha noticed, they were both so intent on beating the other. Suddenly the table, which was by no means flimsy, shattered under the pressure of the two demons. For a moment, no one moved, then Shoei burst out laughing. "Wow, that was amazing, I haven't met anyone since dad who could push me like that!" Still grinning, he held his hand out. "The name's Shoei. Nice to meet you." Inuyasha smiled. "Likewise, I'm Inuyasha."

-END OF CHAPTER ONE