"Hey! Hey Kagome, wanna go for a walk?" Inuyasha asked, waking the girl up.
"What time is it?" The weary girl asked groggily.
"It's almost sunrise, c'mon lets go." he said, stretching his hand out to help her up.
'He just had to wake me up!' Kagome thought, staring up at him in disbelief.
'But still, why does he want to go on a walk with me anyways?' She thought, gradually putting her hand into his.
"Let's go! You humans are so slow..." he said, tugging her up from her half-open sleeping bag.
"Well, sorry," she said sarcastically. "I stayed up all night taking care of Shippou."
"Hn, what was the matter with the runt?" he asked offhandedly.
Kagome saw the tiniest flicker of care bolt across his eyes.
His voice sounds like he doesn't care, but his eyes show everything.
"He had a bad dream, and it took forever to get him back to sleep," she said, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Let's go before the monk and the taijiya wake up." he said, pointing in the direction of their two companions.
"Ok!" The girl whispered eagerly.
The wind blew softly as the two walked side by side out of the hut. They had gotten a one night stay thanks to a certain monk's skills in persuasion.
Inuyasha and Kagome soon wandered to a field just outside of the village they were staying at. The pair saw a Sakura tree gently dancing in the breeze.
"How beautiful!" Kagome said, watching the blossoms flutter away in the distance.
"It's just a tree..." Inuyasha said, grumbling.
"Want to watch the sunrise under the tree?" Kagome asked, staring into his amber eyes.
He let out a quick, but soft bark of laughter before nodding. She gave him a quick hug before running over to the tree.
'Kagome…you remind me so much of her.' Inuyasha thought before slowly following her.
By the time Inuyasha got to the tree, Kagome was already sitting down. She patted the ground, motioning for him to join her.
He looked down at her with a sense of security showing in his amber orbs as she looked up at him with her happy, pure eyes.
The hanyou sat down next to her as the wind picked up and blossoms fluttered down over them.
"These flowers are so pretty." Kagome said, placing one behind her ear.
"I guess," He said watching one as it landed in his lap.
"It's been a while since we've had some actual alone time, hasn't it?" She pondered aloud, plucking the petals off another pink flower.
"Keh, I wouldn't be so sure we're alone; they might be hiding in the tree for all we know." Joked the hanyou.
"Uh-oh, they're onto us." Shippou whispered to Kirara. "We better get out of here!" and off they went, jumping swiftly out of the tree, unnoticed.
A silent breeze stood between them as the sun began to gently poke it's yellow rays over the tree tops.
"Have you ever loved before, Inuyasha? I mean somebody other than Kikyou..." Kagome asked after a while, leaning closer to him.
"Feh, love is for the weak," he replied, looking up towards the blossoms flowing in the wind, "even what I had with Kikyou."
'I don't think he is even over Kikyou...' Kagome thought, staring at the sun rise slowly above the horizon.
"Actually," he said his words soft and low. "there was one more girl, you remind me a lot of her."
"Huh?" Kagome said, half confused, half shocked.
"Yeah," he continued "you and her are almost the same; always happy, always ready to help, always willing to cheer somebody up."
His amber eyes burned into her cinnamon ones, "and always needed my help."
Kagome nudged him in the arm, causing Inuyasha to smirk. "Except she was like me, a half demon."
"What was her name?" she asked, taking the blossom off his knee and holding it up to examine it in the rising sun.
"Naomi." The hanyou replied calmly.
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"Get back!"
"Go away!"
"Filthy girl!"
Young Inuyasha looked towards the crowd of raging kids. 'Who, or what are they saying that to?' he thought, picking up a rock.
"You're no better than dirt!"
"You don't belong here!"
"Get lost!"
The half demon quickly climbed a tree, trying to get a better look.
Through the crowd of teens he could see long red hair.
He saw one boy raise his arm and heard a girl let out a small whimper.
"Hey! Pick on somebody your own size!" he yelled, throwing the rock at the group of humans, hitting the one guilty of abuse on the head.
Inuyasha jumped onto the ground, his ears pulling back in anger.
"What was that, punk?" the kid said as he swiftly turned around.
"I said leave her alone." he said, his fisted hands turning white in frustration.
That's when he saw her for the first, short time. She stood up, her long hair in tangles. He couldn't see her eyes since they were tightly shut; only a few tears could pass through.
"You half demons are all the same! Think you're so tough even though you can't-" was all the kid could get out before he was interrupted by a fist to the face.
The kid fell on the ground, clutching his cheek. Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and shot a death look at the main bully, stepping on his chest.
"You shut your face, human!" he said, glaring daggers at all the frightened kids in turn.
"Any of you want some of this?" he said, raising his fist again. They all gaped at each other and quickly ran away. The beaten kid slipped out from his foot and ran away yelling back at the dog demon, "this isn't the end!"
"Keh, showed them." Inuyasha said, congratulating himself.
"Thank you..." said a soft, female voice.
"Huh? Oh, no problem. Why'd you let them boss you around like that?" he asked, looking over to the girl.
She was wearing an old, ragged dress, her fiery hair came to the small of her back, and orange ears twitched at the top of her head.
'What kid of demon is she?' He thought.
"I don't know." was all she had to say.
"They did all those things to you and you don't do anything! You didn't even say stop!" he said, taking a step towards her.
He saw her eyes for the first time. The ruby red orbs enchanted him.
"I don't like to fight," she said, her gaze never leaving him. "People think demons are nobodies, good for nothings, but I'd like to prove them wrong one day."
"What, by not fighting? You're supposed to fight back!"
"That's exactly the reason why they think I'm nothing."
"Hn," Inuyasha said, eyeing her suspiciously, "I guess they don't fight you that much, do they?"
"Oh, they do..." she said in a sad tone, "I wish they didn't though."
"By the way, my name is Inuyasha." he said.
"Mine's Naomi. I'm sorry you got stuck in the middle of this..." she said, walking over to the scene of the crime; picking up a hair tie.
As she bent to pick it up, Inuyasha saw an orange tail with a white tip poking out of her dress.
"You're a fox!" he said as he watched her move the broken ball through her fingers.
"So? You're a dog." she said, her hair slightly blowing in the wind.
After a moment of silence, the girl walked over to Inuyasha.
"I really am sorry"
"You better be." Inuyasha barked sarcasticly.
"Hey, is what the kids said back there true? Are you a half demon?"
"O-of course not!" lied the dog as he parted his eyes from hers.
"I've got to go." Inuyasha said, turning back.
"Ok, well I hope I see you again." she said in a more cheery tone.
Before he ran away to his side of the forest, he mumbled under his breath, "Me too."
The next day, Inuyasha was out taking a walk through the cool shade of the woods. A little while later, he came to a beautiful valley.
Birds sang their secret songs; frogs croaked at the flies; water danced in the rays on the sun.
A multicolor butterfly caught Inuyasha's attention and he stalked after it through the tall grass.
As Inuyasha walked mindlessly in the field, a set of red eyes looked upon him.
He hunted the butterfly as it landed on a yellow flower. He set up in a crouching position. Just as he was about to pounce, a giggle came from a nearby tree.
His ears perked up, searching for the person who was laughing at him.
"Who's there?" he asked as the butterfly fluttered toward the river.
"Hehee, who do you think, idiot?" said the voice, plainly a girl's.
"I'm not the idiot! You are!" he yelled into the brush.
"No I'm not! I'm Naomi, Princess of the Fox Demons!"
"More like Naomi, Princess of the Pains!"
"That's me!" she said, bursting suddenly out from the top of the tree in which she was spying.
As she flew a short distance across the sky, the sun complemented her entire form.
Her red hair waving behind her, her crimson eyes as bright as the sun, her tail flailing behind her, smile so radiant.
For a small moment in time, they held each other's glance in their eyes.
The dog demon gave a small blush and broke the stare, looking at anything but her. 'She really is an idiot...'
Inuyasha stood wide eyed as he noticed where she was heading.
"Watch out!" he cried.
"Huh-?" was all she could muster before she landed flat into the spring with a big SPLASH!
It made such a great noise, silver fish jumped out of the water, crawling bugs flew up from the grass, and singing birds silenced as they flew away.
In a few moments, the girl came up with a gasp for air.
It only took a few seconds before Inuyasha started laughing at her.
She dragged herself out of the river soaking wet, hair in her face, ears down, smile gone.
Inuyasha hadn't noticed, he was too busy rolling on the ground laughing. "And you say you're not an idiot!"
Naomi, instead of yelling at him, stood there silently, waiting for him to finish.
Just as he was about to stop, he took another look at her, and the laughs started all over again.
She let out a sigh as he let out a few hollers of joy.
Naomi looked down at herself and let out a laugh too. One laugh turned into two, and before either knew what was happening, they were both rolling on the ground in fits of glee.
After a few minutes of laughing, Inuyasha managed to stand up and take a breather.
Since the two were laughing so hard for so long, they hadn't noticed the dark clouds engulfing the sun.
"Looks like rain." she said, squeezing the water out of her hair.
"Looks like you were in the rain!" he said, making her giggle.
"I'm not alone," she said, shaking the water onto him.
"Hey-!"
"Quick, to the tree!" she said, pushing him over to the plant.
All seemed dark as the two headed under the tree.
Just as Naomi's tail got into the safety of the leaves, a great boom of thunder ran across the valley. Rain started pouring down from the heavens as the fox spoke to the dog.
"You should probably get to your home." she said, giving a slight shiver.
"I don't need to, I can handle myself." Inuyasha peeked over at her, still in the raggedy clothes as she was in yesterday.
"Think what you want," she said, staring at the rain.
Then a thought crossed his mind as silent rain drops splattered the ground.
"Where do you live, Naomi?"
"Nowhere, I guess. I don't have an actual home. But you probably do, so go." she said, giving him a nudge.
"But how are you gonna, you know, stay warm?"
"I'll find a way." she said, pointing at her tail. "It's always done the job."
"You really are a moron," he said. "I can handle a little rain." Inuyasha boasted, puffing out his chest as a splash of water landing on top of him. "Damned rain!" he yelled at the sky as she rolled her eyes at him.
"Just go home," she said, pushing him out of the protection of the tree.
"Hey!" Inuyasha said, running back towards the shelter, trying to fight off the girl.
"You're lucky you have a home, so don't abuse it!" Naomi said, pointing towards the direction of the forest.
A flash of bright lightning slashed across the sky.
"Go, now, or I'll go instead." she said, giving a small laugh.
"But-"
"Go!" she said, kicking his back so he'd leave.
'Its for your own good...Inuyasha. You wouldn't even want to get close to me anyways...' Naomi thought as she watched him dart through the woods.
'Stupid girl...got me soaking wet;' he thought as he climbed into his tree. 'I wonder where she sleeps every night...'
The next night, Inuyasha went strolling in the dew drenched forests.
A soft fog covered the ground where Inuyasha stepped, the wet grass tickling his feet.
His yellow eyes shown through the darkness of the night when he came to the opening he found the other day, full moon shining down on the rippling stream.
It seemed so quiet, so peaceful.
'Something isn't right.' He thought, ears alert as well as his keen nose.
"Inuyasha? Is that you?" he heard a whisper. He looked around to where the small voice was coming from.
"Its me, is that you, girl?"
"I have a name." she said in a weak, tired tone.
He didn't pay attention to the statement.
"What's the matter, Naomi?"
"Nothing, why do you always think I'm hurt? If I can survive humans, I think I can survive living."
"If I'm not mistaken, the last time you couldn't." replied Inuyasha. "Now what's wrong?"
"You have to find me to understand." she said, slightly chucking a rock at him.
"Hey!" Stupid wench! She shouldn't throw rocks at her savior!
His sensitive ears picked up a slight giggle.
Inuyasha smiled as he searched for her in the silver light of the moon.
He followed it and soon found her, smile disappearing.
"Naomi!" he said, looking down at the cut body.
"Calm down, I'm alright." she said, trying to get off the grass.
"Naomi! What the hell-?" he asked, noticing her hair had turned brown as she fell back down.
"Nothing..." she said. Inuyasha noticed her ears were gone...
"Are you...?" he saw no fluffy tail.
"You got me, I'm a half demon." she blurted, her now brown eyes staring up into his demonic amber ones.
He stared down at her in disbelief. 'I'm not...the only one?'
"Naomi..." he said in a soft tone, kneeling down at her side.
Through the rays of the moon, he saw silver tears stream down her cheeks.
"Who did this to you?"
"Who else? Those damned people." she said, sitting up and pointing over to the village.
Inuyasha stood up in a fit of rage.
"I'll kill them!" he said, clenching his fists together. He felt a warm touch on his fist.
"No, Inuyasha." Naomi said, looking up at him, wiping away her tears.
"Why the hell not?!" he yelled into the darkness at the now human girl.
"Don't you ever, ever spill blood in my name." she said, standing up quickly.
"But look what they-"
"That doesn't matter right now." she said, hushing him up a bit.
"Look at all of this," she said, pointing at the starry scenery in the sky.
"Do you think stars shine for vengeance, for hatred, for violence?"
"What a stupid question." he said, looking up with her.
"What's really stupid is that you'd waste many lives and blood over one person that you barely know."
A star right above them shone with a brilliant light.
Inuyasha looked over at her. "Heh, idiot," 'I have to tell her...she's honest with me, its time I was to her.'
"Naomi," he started as she looked straight at him.
"You rang?"
"I-I'm a...a..."
"A moron?"
"Yes, no! I really am a half demon."
Naomi stared at him for what seemed like forever.
'Oh great! Now she thinks I'm a-' Inuyasha's thoughts got cut off as Naomi gave him a hug.
She held onto him like she would never let go.
"Inuyasha...I knew there was something different about you, other than your moronic decisions."
"Really? I had no clue you were a stupid half breed." he said, smiling down at her jokingly.
"You're so dumb...!" she said as she felt arms wrap around her.
'What am I doing?! I can't get close to Inuyasha, I just can't...'
"Hey! There's that half demon! Get her!" Both their heads turned towards the entrance of the woods. There stood a mob of humans with any weapon they could find. The swords and sticks shone in the flickering light of their torches.
"Looks like we're lucky today, boys!" the leader called out.
"Aww! Two half demons together!" one called out sarcastically.
Inuyasha broke the embrace and stared at them angrily, hands turning into balls.
"Get lost, humans!" he shouted, getting in front of Naomi. 'I have to protect her...'
"Why should we? She's a human too." said a 'smart' one.
"She's more human than you monsters will ever be!" he yelled back, pushing her back.
"Inuyasha..." she whispered, grabbing his sleeve.
"Oh, don't worry dog, we'll kill you too." said the leader, moving towards them.
"No!" the fox cried out. Inuyasha stared over at her as she pulled him behind her by the arm.
"You're after me, am I correct?" she said in a sly voice. Inuyasha looked over at her, her eyes full of excitement and trickery.
They all looked at each other stupidly. "Of course we are!"
"Well," she started "in order to kill me, you have to answer a riddle." she said, giving Inuyasha a wink.
"If you do kill me without solving it, you and your whole family forever more will be cursed. If you do solve the riddle, you may kill me." she said, flipping her hair behind her human ear.
"She's bluffing." said one of the children.
"Oh, no I'm not! Fox demons have special powers, good and bad. It's your choice, solve it or run." she said in a mysterious voice.
The men all formed in a circle and voted whether or not to solve or to be the real chickens that they are.
"Alright," said the leader "what's your riddle?"
"Hmm," Naomi hummed, thinking of a good question. "What is broken every time it's spoken?"
The men all stared at each other. "How many guesses do we get?"
She held up a few fingers. "Two."
After a minute of brainstorming, one man spoke. "Words?"
"Wrong, one more guess." she said, smiling. Inuyasha stared at her as if saying 'You sure about this?'
The night started to fade away as the men yelled at each other's answers.
Finally, the leader answered "W-we cannot guess!"
Naomi stared them down with a glare.
"Please forgive us!" someone cried.
"Hmm, what do you think, Inuyasha?" she asked, looking over at him.
"I say we curse them forever more!"
Gasps of fright came from the crowd.
"Curse it shall be!" she yelled, taking a step closer them, wriggling her fingers at them and chanting nonsense.
"Run away!" the leader screamed, and soon after everyone ran away to the safety of they're village.
Naomi laughed as Inuyasha fell to the ground.
The sun slowly peaked over the horizon, casting its light on all the wonders of the earth.
Soon, the yellow rays hit Naomi. Her chestnut hair turned a beautiful scarlet shade, fox ears popped at the top of her head, tail fluffed about at the back of her.
Inuyasha looked up at the girl as she opened her beautiful ruby eyes.
"What was the answer anyways?" he asked, standing up.
She gave him a big smile, "Silence."
Inuyasha snickered at her cunning.
"I must be such a wimp to you. Every time you saw me I was either hurt or crying." she stated.
"You're not a wimp. You're just...stupid." he said, snickering.
"I'm not the stupid one!"
"Ok! We're both stupid, how 'bout that?"
"Deal." she said, taking his hand and shaking it like a mad man.
"I like you." she said, after letting go of his hand. "I mean...You're a real friend to me, thank you."
Inuyasha blushed for reasons he didn't understand.
"Feh, I'm sure you have other friends." he said, looking towards the woods.
Naomi stared down at the ground.
"You do, right?" he said, glancing back at her.
"No..." she said, a tint of hurt lingering from her mouth.
"Well, you do now!" he said, giving her a fake punch on the shoulder.
She stared up at him and tackled him.
"Hey-!"
"Gotcha, dog!" she said, laughing.
"Stupid fox." he said, turning her over.
She stared up at him smiling, the rising sun illuminating his appearance.
"What are you lookin' at?" he said in a soft tone.
"Hmm," she said playfully "maybe the little dog demon on top of me?"
Inuyasha looked surprised and stood swiftly; blushing a deep red, almost the color of Naomi's eyes.
Naomi stood laughing.
"Its almost morning, you should go." she said after Inuyasha took a breather and his cheeks returned to normal color.
"Why?" he asked, whining.
"Because I said so."
"Your word isn't law." he said, placing an arm around her shoulders.
This time, it was Naomi's turn to blush.
'Inuyasha...you fool...' she thought, grabbing his hands and holding them gently.
Inuyasha couldn't hold it in anymore, he pulled at her and hugged her close.
Naomi was surprised, but couldn't be happier.
"Arn't we going a bit fast?" the fox asked the dog.
"Does it feel like it?"
"Well, no..."
"Then lets live it up, eh?" Inuyasha said, pushing her closer.
'Why do I like her hugs so much?' He asked himself, patting the top of her head.
'How does he do these things to my heart?' She asked herself as she wraps her arms around him.
'What is this feeling?' They both thought as they met each other's gaze.
They stood there while the sun slowly crept its way above the horizon. The wind picked up as they stood there, frozen in time.
"Inuyasha..." she said, quietly, almost in a whisper.
"Naomi...these past few days have been..." his voice trailed off as the wind shifted her hair over her face.
"Like heaven?" she asked as she felt his hand brush the strands away.
"Better than that." he said, sweeping her off her feet and sitting down, her held into his arms on his lap.
Naomi gently rested her head on his shoulder.
"Inuyasha, we've only known each other for not even a week." she said, sighing.
"But yet I feel like I've known you forever."
Naomi giggled, her laughter carried away on the tip of the winds tongue.
"You're so corny, but so sweet."
A pink, cherry blossom landed on Inuyasha's lap, right next to their clasped hands.
They glanced up together at the swaying Sakura tree, flowers covering the area around it.
"Its so beautiful!" she said, grabbing his other hand.
"So are you." he said, releasing his hand and pulling on her ear.
"God you're so cheesy!" she said, suddenly standing up.
A red blush covered her face as she smiled down at the dog demon.
'He's so...different. Maybe I should tell him...'
Inuyasha still had possession of her hand, and he decided to use it.
While she stared at the tree, Inuyasha tugged at her hand, causing her to give a small yelp before landing on top of him.
The flowers blew by them as she slightly slapped him in the face playfully.
He gave a fake whimper as he held onto her tightly.
"Inuyasha?" she asked, her voice soft, low and sweet.
"Yes, Naomi?" he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"I-I'm not used to being this open. I mean, I always have a wall up...but you broke it down." she said, taking the flower and holding it out for them to see.
"I felt like my heart was closed," she gently pushed the petals towards the middle.
"Then when I met you, I just felt, I don't know...free. Free to be whoever I was, usually I'm more defensive around other people, but you're different," she opened the beautiful pink flower, "you bring happiness into my life."
Inuyasha stared at her, feelings unknown and indescribable running through him all at once. All he could do was stare at her, his heart beating like crazy. She stared back at him, the same feeling soaring through her as well.
He didn't know what to do, what could he say?
The sun slowly hid behind the grey clouds, the birds stopped chirping as if the world was listening to them.
She narrowed her red eyes on him. 'I hope I didn't rush him...What if I messed up? What if I said something wrong? Should I even be doing this?'
"Naomi..." he said, his heart skipping every other beat.
"Yes, Inuyasha?" she said, sending shivers down his back.
"I-I...I think I'm actually in-" was all he could say before something dark flashed before his eyes.
Everything happened so fast, he couldn't process what was going on to his brain in time to react, or maybe he didn't want to. He saw long, black nails rush in front of him, red liquid spilling over him and the emerald grass, a scream of agony.
He felt numb, he couldn't move, even his heart ceased. He tried his best to play back the scene.
The only thing that moved was his ears at the shriek of the girl sitting in front of him as a sharp point pierced her shoulder and crimson blood flowed out like a waterfall.
He reached up and touched his face and felt something wet. "No..." he whispered.
"No!!" he yelled, clutching the shaking body in his arms. He looked over at the woods, but couldn't find anything there.
"Damn you!" he shouted, "You bastard!"
Inuyasha heard an evil cackle before it left.
He looked down at Naomi, her arm bleeding uncontrollably, her face twisted up in pain.
"Inu...yasha?" she choked, staring up at him.
"Shhh, Naomi...don't speak." he said, staring into her dulling ruby eyes.
"Heh...No," she uttered, grabbing a chunk of the earth and holding it at the wound, the nail still deep inside her arm.
"Naomi, please!" Inuyasha said, gently pulling her head onto his lap.
"I'm not as weak as you think I am..." she whispered, reaching up and touching his face.
"We need to get you some help..." he said, holding back tears.
"There is no help for this one, stupid." she said, her body slowly losing heat.
"Don't say that!" he yelled.
"Inuyasha, it's useless, I'm sorry..."
"No! No apologies, you're going to live, you're going to live with me!" confessed the dog hanyou.
A tear slowly rolled down her cheek. "I wish it could be like that..."
"It will be! Please don't die on me!"
"Inuyasha!" she yelled, hushing him. She moved her head to the side, poison dripping into her blood stream every second. 'I have no time to waste.'
"How would you feel," she said softly "if I told you I knew this was going to happen?"
Inuyasha stared at her, a look of shock forming on his face. "You...knew?" he asked finally.
"I didn't know when or how, but I knew I was going to die...soon." she said, her eyes feeling heavier by the minute.
"No! Naomi, we can ask for a miracle...you can heal, you can live!"
"There already was a miracle..." she said softly.
Inuyasha stared at her as he felt her body become limp.
"I got to meet you, didn't I?" she asked in a shaky voice.
His eyes dilated, his heart dropped, and his mind raced.
"I'll always love you, Inuyasha, but you must live on...You have to promise me you will." she said, her eyelids sliding down over her rusty eyes.
"I-I promise, Naomi." he said, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"Don't be affraid to...to fall in love."
"And remember..." she said, "We're both different, stupid half breeds." she uttered, giving a weak thumbs up.
A small laugh escaped his mouth as a tear slowly rolled off his cheek onto her face as her soul left her body.
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The half dog demon glanced over at the girl sitting next to him, tears dripping from her eyes.
"Inuyasha..." she whispered.
"Its ok, Kagome." he said, averting his gaze.
All of a sudden he felt arms wrap around him.
"K-Kagome?" he uttered, feeling his cheeks become warm.
"I never want to lose you, Inuyasha." she said, slightly rocking them back and forth.\
"You won't, Kagome." he said, placing her in his arms. "I promise." he whispered in her ear.
She then let the flower she was holding float away from her grasp, setting it free into the wind.
The blossom drifted over the grass, twirling around in the air, and soared through the sunrise.
It then flew around and found a valley.
The flower silently landed in a stream of clear water, and allowed the current to swift it away into the rising sun.