Inukouken – Ch 3

By TetsuyaDL

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and related characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan Inc., Bandai and Viz Communications. I do not claim ownership over these characters, only over the story and original characters that are of my own creation. Please do not copy or use them without my permission. Thank you.

Rated PG-13 for strong language and violence (as the anime itself would be as well)

Misc Notes: Italics indicate a character's thoughts. -WORDS LIKE THIS- are onomatopoeias that indicate sounds, like sound effects that one might see in a manga.

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"Where…"

"What?"

"Where is he? Naraku… where is that murdering bastard?"

Shippou smiled halfheartedly. "I have no idea."

Suyo stared him in the eye for a moment longer, then pushed past him, storming back up the forest path. Shippou watched him go with satisfaction, and then calmly ran to catch up.

"Hey, what gives? Where are you stomping off to?"

"Where do you think? I'm going to ask that houshi if he knows where Naraku is. At least he wasn't wandering around in Tokyo like an idiot for the past week."

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're up to the task. I'm just curious, assuming that Miroku knows anything more than I do, and that you do manage to find Naraku, how exactly do you plan on killing him?"

"Shut up, kitsune."

"I thought so. Human schoolboys might fall easily to those fists of yours, but youkai are something else. You can't kill Naraku as you are now."

"If I wanted your opinion, I'd ask for it."

"Frankly, any youkai that stumbled upon you in the woods could eat you alive. A tasty, human snack."

Suyo's pace slowed, his fists clenched. Shippou continued pressing.

"A random, forgotten victim in the forest, never even had a chance…"

Suyo whirled around to face the kistune. "I've never lost a fight, ever. Youkai or not, Naraku doesn't scare me. I'll take on anyone and anything!"

Shippou smiled and crossed his arms smugly. "Well, there's a youkai right here. Care to try your luck?"

Suyo chuckled grimly and clenched a fist. He wanted to hurry up and find Miroku, but he had to admit, secretly at least, he didn't know what youkai were truly capable of. This would be a good opportunity to test himself against one. And on a deeper level… he really wanted to beat the crap out of something, anything, right now. To cover up the soul-wrenching pain he felt with the only way he knew how. "Heh…. damn it, Shippou, that attitude of yours has been getting on my nerves since I got here." He cracked his knuckles meaningfully. "I'm not going to hold back."

"That's fine. I might get some fun out of it then."

"Shut up and fight!" Suyo charged up with a punch aimed right at Shippou's face. Shippou merely leaned to the side, and the blow passed harmlessly past him. Suyo caught his balance and attacked again, but the nimble kitsune eluded him, dancing ahead just inches in front of his all-out attacks.

"Hold still, damn you!"

"Tsk, that tongue of yours. What would your grandmother say?"

"Bastard!"

Suyo charged up with a low punch, but Shippou simply vanished from his sight. Moments later, Suyo felt someone tapping him on the shoulder. "You know, I'm not nearly as fast or strong as some of what's out there. Even a human should do better than this."

"Arghh…." Suyo growled in frustration. He was mad, but he wasn't beaten. He'd had his fair share of fights against thugs and gangsters who wanted a piece of him, and he still had a trick or two up his sleeve. He crouched down and drew his fists back, as though he were about to spin around and rush Shippou again, but instead, he reached quickly behind him and grabbed Shippou's ankle. The surprised kitsune found himself on his back as Suyo pulled his leg out from under him.

"Not so smug now, are you!" Suyo yelled as he turned to finish his opponent before he had a chance to recover.

Then, instead of finding a prone, vulnerable target to strike, Suyo found himself face to face with a tiger. A very large, very angry, very dangerous looking tiger.

"Yahhhh!" Suyo fell over backwards in terror as the tiger leapt at him… and flinched as something small landed on his chest. Suyo grabbed the object and slowly sat up to find himself holding a painted, wooden carving of the tiger that was about to rip out his throat.

"Not bad, not bad... you might last long enough to find a tree to hide behind," Shippou said, snickering from where he sat in front of Suyo.

Suyo flung the tiger carving at Shippou, annoyed with himself for being tricked so easily. "Feh! Like you can talk, hiding behind those magic tricks of yours!"

Shippou snatched the carving effortlessly out of the air and put it away. "Heh. There's more to youkai than fangs and claws..." the kitsune raised his hand, which was now supporting a small ball of bright blue fire over it. "... and if you expect Naraku to stand there and go toe-to-toe with you, you're in for a nasty surprise."

Suyo was surprised by Shippou's magical fireball, but kept his expression dismissive as he got to his feet. "Whatever. Magic isn't true strength if you don't have the guts to back it up."

Shippou closed his hand around the fireball, extinguishing it. He stood up and dusted himself off, casually examining a clawed hand as he replied offhandedly, "You know, it's funny you should say that. Because there's a way you could become a lot stronger... if you've got the guts to go for it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're part youkai, aren't you? All you have to do is learn to use that to your advantage."

"I never said I believed the part about my dad being half-youkai, fox."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I'll show you what I mean. But let's do that tomorrow, it's getting late."

"….all right."

"Say… do you want to head back home for the night? I can come by tomorrow morning… although we'll have to explain to Miroku why we need to take the Shikon shard out of its hiding place again…"

"No. I mean… forget it. It's not worth the trouble… to get the shard, and come back here, and…"

Shippou smiled. "All right then. You can sleep in my hut in the taijiya village. It'll be a… what's the word your world uses… party!"

Suyo gave him the most exasperated look imaginable.

"No… fucking… way."

"Aww, come on!"

Suyo turned and walked off towards the taijiya village once again.

"I'd rather sleep in a tree out here than listen to any more of your chatter than I have to."

"That's mean, you don't really mean that…"

"Just a constant stream of mindless babble, that's what you are!"

The two of them continued arguing as they headed back up the hill towards the palisade.

----

The night hung silently around him as he lay on his makeshift futon. He had been lucky enough to get a hut to himself for the night… even if it was used for food storage. That was the least of his worries, though; Miroku hadn't had much information to offer, and as Sango and Kohaku were off for who knows how long, he was still where he had started: nowhere.

Suyo was unbelievably tired after the day's events, but somehow, he just couldn't sleep. He quietly got up and left the hut, stepping out into the cool night air. The moon hung in the sky obscured by dark clouds, but just enough light shone through to illuminate the village around him, bizarre in its almost fantasy-like purpose. Suyo slowly walked around the village, observing the quaint rural huts, until he came to the wooden house in the center of the village. It wasn't terribly fancy, but it was definitely some kind of permanent residence, traditional to the era. No doubt Miroku and Sango lived in this building.

Careful not to disturb anyone inside, Suyo walked up to the patio of the house and sat down, his legs hanging over the edge and resting on a rock below. He gazed up at the cloud-shrouded moon overhead, trying to make sense out of everything that had happened to him in the past 24 hours.

"Hey, oniisan! Why are you sitting out here all alone?"

Suyo turned to look behind him, and found a small girl standing there. She was wearing a raggedy pink villager's kimono, and he recognized her as the girl who had been carrying armor plates around earlier that day.

The little girl came and sat down on the patio next to him, her feet dangling freely. "It's cold out here, you know. You'll catch a cold. Right, oniisan?"

Suyo chuckled, and closed his eyes. "Your mother probably wouldn't want you talking to me. I'm a scary person," he said automatically, the phrase rolling off his tongue with the smooth nature of repeated use.

"My mother's not here. She's dead."

"Oh… sorry."

"Nope! It's okay, I'm happy here! Miroku-sama and Sango-sama took care of me and my brother Keisuke after a youkai killed our parents, but that was a long time ago! Now they're teaching me to become a taijiya just like them, so I can beat scary youkai by myself!"

"Is that so… good for you then."

"My brother and I aren't the only ones, either. There are lots of others here just like us, and we're all going to be taijiya! Miroku-sama and Sango-sama will teach us!" She turned to look up at him curiously. "Hey oniisan, are you an orphan too? Are you going to be a taijiya like us?"

Suyo turned to glance down at the little girl. "You're a talkative one, aren't you," he said, more like a statement than a question.

The girl nodded enthusiastically. "Everyone says that."

"Heh… at least you're not getting me to jump down wells and fall asleep all day… damn kitsune."

"Oh, you've met Shippou-sama?"

"Youkai bastard said he'd show me how to become stronger."

"Really? Wow, you're lucky! Shippou-sama never has time to train anyone, you must be really special for him to teach you!"

"That busybody…"

"Shippou-sama's a really great fighter! He's a youkai, but he protects us humans anyway. And he's really cool, too!"

"Well, I guess everyone has their own opinion."

"Haha! You're funny, oniisan. I like you!" The girl smiled at him.

They sat there for a couple of minutes in silence, looking up at the sky and enjoying each other's company on the chilly night. The moon gradually came out from behind the clouds, covering the village in a silver sheen.

Finally, the girl yawned and stood up. "Well, I'm going to go inside now." She turned and gave Suyo a formal bow of departure, saying, "Do well on your training, so we can fight youkai together!"

She turned and walked towards the door of the house, only to have Suyo call after her.

"Hey, kid."

"Yes, oniisan?"

"What's your name?"

The girl smiled and said, "Tsukiko. It's Tsukiko!"

"All right then. Sleep well, Tsukiko."

"Yes!" she answered happily, and went inside.

Suyo smiled to himself as he heard the door shut behind him, feeling surprisingly at ease. Without realizing it, his thoughts had somehow managed to sort themselves out. He hadn't really known at the time what made him decide to spend the night here instead of back at home, but now he had an idea; despite all his complaints and denial, he really was eager to explore this new world. Maybe, he could find a place here, where he wouldn't have to be an outcast.

Still, his grandmother was probably worried about him. He'd have to go back soon to let her know he was okay.

The moon shone brightly amongst the twinkling stars, lighting the way as he drowsily made his way back to the storage hut and his futon.

----

Suyo finished his prayer in front of his parents' grave and stood up.

"I apologize, our village is so far from this place. It must be troublesome for you to walk all this way," Miroku said.

"No, it's fine." Suyo said, still looking at the stone. It was clean and well tended, free of weeds, with the grass neatly trimmed. "Thank you… for taking care of their grave," Suyo said quietly.

Miroku smiled politely as they turned to walk back towards the village. "Don't thank me. Shippou does most of the work; he comes here almost every day."

"Really? Wow… I never thought of him as the responsible type."

"You'd be surprised. He still misses them; they were foster parents to him, although perhaps Inuyasha was more like an elder brother. He didn't tell you?"

"Well, he did, but I wasn't taking him seriously at the time."

"You should talk to him about it."

"Well… I…. Feh."

"What is it?"

"If I talk to him, that means I have to put up with that bouncy attitude of his."

Miroku chuckled. "Yes, Shippou certainly is energetic. I doubt he's going to give you a minute alone, after taking the trouble to bring you here."

"What do you mean? He hasn't-"

"He's been following us for some time now. I sense his youki in that tree behind us."

"What!"

Suyo turned around and yelled with all his might, "SHIPPOU, DAMN YOU! SHOW YOUR DAMN KITSUNE FACE INSTEAD OF SNEAKING AROUND!"

"Ack!" Shippou came crashing down to the ground in surprise. "Don't scare me like that…" he complained, sprawled comically at the base of the tree.

Miroku looked at him, taken aback for a moment, then chuckled as he continued down the path.

Shippou jumped up quickly and ran up to Suyo. "You're up so early, I bet you can't wait to get started with your training. Let's go!" Shippou set off into the forest at a brisk pace.

Suyo sighed and followed after the kitsune. It was going to be a long day.

----

The forest was just waking as the sun began its slow ascent into the sky. Long shadows stretched behind two figures, one leading, one following. The leader seemed to be in a greater hurry than the follower appreciated.

"Shippou, why the hell did we have to come all the way out here? Where are we going?"

Shippou laughed. "We're going to start your training, in the best way possible."

Suyo tripped on a root and barely managed to keep his balance. "You mean to realize my hidden strength? That whole part youkai thing, which I still don't believe, by the way?"

Shippou continued at his brisk pace ducking under some low-hanging branches. Suyo had to run to catch up with him. "You'll be a believer soon enough. Remember when you ran away from that place with all the other people? That place where everyone sits in uncomfortable chairs and watches another human make scratches on the wall?"

Suyo pushed the low-hanging branches out of the way as he walked. "You mean high school?"

Shippou nodded appreciatively. "Ah, so that's what you call it. I was thinking that you had done something wrong, and that you were in the local prison."

Suyo couldn't help but laugh at that remark.

The fox youkai pulled back a large branch, revealing a clearing. Suyo had the misfortune to come up behind him just as Shippou released the branch and continued on, resulting in a bump on the head and a face full of dirt. Unaware of the offense, Shippou said, "Well, we're here. Ready for some exercise?" He turned to see Suyo sprawled on the ground. "Come on, this is no time to rest!"

Suyo stood up, nursing the large bump on his head. Damn kitsune, can't he watch what he's doing?

Suddenly, Suyo's eyes flashed golden. Shippou started. "You... your eyes..." Yet before he could manage another word, Shippou found himself staring into a pair of dark brown eyes once again.

"What is it now?" Suyo said, annoyed.

Shippou shrugged. "Nothing, forget about it," the kitsune said. His face didn't seem nearly as dismissive, however.

Suddenly, the peaceful early morning air was interrupted by a large crashing sound coming from the opposite end of the clearing. A huge, hulking oni burst out from the trees, roaring in a feral voice, "Who dares to enter the territory of I, Mugoimaru? Reveal yourself!" The humanoid youkai came to a halt in the middle of the clearing. Blue skin and a brown kilt covered its ten feet of muscle. Its one eye searched back and forth until it found the two figures partially hidden by shadow and foliage at the edge of the clearing. It raised its arms high above its horned head. "Come and fight me, cowards!"

Shippou gestured at the oni. "Well, there's your opponent. Show him what you've got!"

Suyo stared. "You want me to... to fight that thing?"

Shippou laughed and clapped Suyo on the shoulder. "Don't worry, low-level youkai like him are all bark and no bite. Oh, but when he runs at you, you might want to get out of the way."

With a puff of smoke, Shippou disappeared. Suyo now found himself alone, confronting an angry, charging oni. Part of him was frozen at the sight, but a nagging voice at the back of his mind ordered him to move.

WHAM Suyo dived out of the way just as Mugoimaru slammed a hole 3 feet deep in the ground. Ahh! What the! He's really trying to kill me! Suyo backed away as the youkai turned.

"Runt, you cannot escape me!" Mugoimaru raised a large fist. "Die!" The oni's monstrous feet pounded the ground as he moved in for a second attack.

"I don't know what you've got against me, monster, but I won't be pushed around so easily!" Suyo replied. He was used to fighting people bigger than him, and wasn't intimidated at all. He clenched his fist determinedly, already feeling pumped for battle. It was time to show this upstart who was boss.

Mugoimaru charged at him again, but this time, Suyo was ready. As Mugoimaru swung a giant fist at Suyo, the boy rolled forward underneath it, then jumped up and landed a punch of his own on his opponent's massive head.

"Take that, you overgrown troll!" Suyo jumped back, but to his amazement, the oni was hardly fazed by his fierce attack.

"Is that the best you can do? My skin is as tough as leather, and my skull is hard as a rock!" He swung a clumsy backhand at Suyo, who jumped away again, too surprised to laugh at the oni's tacky boast.

What the? I used to knock people out with one punch, but he wasn't stunned at all! Suyo felt his confidence slipping away, with desperation taking its place.

Mugoimaru rushed Suyo again, but this time with a flurry of jabbing punches to catch the annoying human off guard. The boy managed to evade the blows, but was hard pressed to keep away from the monster's fists.

So hard pressed, in fact, that he didn't notice the tree root on the ground behind him until he tripped on it.

"Ha! Runt, let's see you escape now!" Mugoimaru moved in for the kill. He grabbed Suyo by the neck and held him aloft, enjoying the sight of his victim struggling to draw breath.

Suyo knew he was in trouble, but all he could think about was that he was getting beaten.

"Dammit," Suyo muttered. His heartbeat was throbbing in his ears and his vision was getting murky, but at the same time, rage was building up inside him, an intense, desperate rage. "I... won't... be beaten... by someone LIKE YOU!"

Suddenly, a throb of power emanated from the fang hanging from Suyo's neck, washing over him with what seemed like a mixture of raw fury and invigorating energy. The rage overtook Suyo's mind, flooding him so completely that he knew nothing but an intense need to crush this upstart weakling.

A sudden flash of yellow light, and Suyo broke free of Mugoimaru's grasp. Suyo landed deftly on the ground, then sprang up and punched his opponent in the jaw. The sound of the blow connecting echoed in the calm morning air as Mugoimaru flew across the clearing and landed among the trees.

Wow... he did it! He is Inukouken! Shippou watched from his perch in a nearby tree, and he approved of what he saw. Suyo's black hair now had streaks of silver in it, and as the fox youkai watched, the streaks became more numerous until Suyo's hair was completely silver. The boy's teeth had elongated into fangs, and his fingernails were now long and pointed like claws. Suyo did not seem to have noticed his transformation yet, as he was now focused on the battle.

Mugoimaru picked himself up and rubbed his jaw. "I don't care how much stronger you got, trespasser; you will die at my hands!" The oni picked up a sizeable log from the forest floor and hurled it at Suyo.

"Feh!" Suyo cracked his knuckles, then effortlessly sliced the log into pieces with a swipe of his claws. Mugoimaru was already charging, and swung a huge fist at Suyo while he was still distracted by the log.

THUD Suyo ducked under Mugoimaru's clumsy blow and punched him in the stomach, forcing him to double over and gasp for breath. Suyo grabbed the oni's still-outstretched arm, pulled him off balance, and swung him around.

"If you like this spot so much, why don't you enjoy it from a bird's-eye-view!" Suyo yelled as he spun Mugoimaru so fast that he was a blur. Finally, Suyo released the unfortunate oni, who suddenly found his massive self flying high above the trees. Suyo turned and dusted himself off, ignoring the crash of Mugoimaru landing in the forest some distance away.

"That'll teach him to mess with me," Suyo laughed to himself.

"Inukouken! You did it, Inukouken!" Suyo suddenly found himself being congratulated, praised, and patted on the back all at the same time.

"Lay off, will you?" Suyo pushed the enthusiastic Shippou away. "And where were you all this time? I had to beat that youkai all by myself!"

The fox youkai stopped celebrating to look at him, surprised. "Well, for you to practice, of course! How else were you supposed to learn to tap into your youkai blood? Your suppressed power?"

"What are you talking about, kitsune?" A clawed hand caught his eye. It took a moment until he realized the hand was his. "What the hell! What's happening to me!" Suyo yelled as he stared at his hands, amazed by how much his fingernails appeared to have grown since he'd last checked.

"Hey, hey, calm down! Everything's fine, you've just transformed. You've got fangs, and claws," Shippou unceremoniously plucked out one of Suyo's hairs and pointed at it. "And your hair changed color too!"

"Hey!" The silver-haired boy knocked Shippou's hand away. "Mind explaining what's going on?" Suyo felt ready to panic at any moment. Or maybe beat Shippou into the ground again. The two came hand-in-hand.

Shippou calmed himself a bit, and explained in a measured, even tone, "Okay. When you were born, Inuyasha placed a seal on your blood, so that you could live normally in Kagome's world until you were old enough to return here. That's his fang you've been wearing around your neck. But then, he never had a chance to go back and get you, so the seal remained longer than it was supposed to. Now it has begun to weaken, which is why you've been getting stronger and more hotheaded. Now, the battle triggered the final release, and you broke free of it! All you have to do is remember what is feels like to access that power, and you gain greater strength, fangs and claws!"

During Shippou's lengthy explanation, Suyo had gradually felt the adrenaline from his battle wearing off, and with it, the powers he had just gained. Finally, his fingernails changed back to their original length, and he felt a tingling sensation as his teeth and hair returned to normal. Suyo breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"So I get stronger when I transform... I guess I can't argue with that." Suyo looked at his hands again, now fully human. "But, I'm not a youkai, am I?"

"Not completely. You won't be as strong or fast as one, but there are ways to make up for that."

"So, if my mother was human, and my father was half-youkai…"

"Hanyou."

"… a hanyou, what does that make me?"

Shippou looked thoughtful for a minute, then smiled. "You're Inukouken, of course."

"Feh."

"What? That's the name your father gave you, isn't it?"

"Well, you say it is, and I guess Miroku and Sango thought so too… but damn, that's a weird-ass name."

"But it's an honorable name, of a respected youkai bloodline!"

Suyo shrugged and started heading out of the clearing, back the way they came.

"Just call me Suyo for now," he called over his shoulder.

"Su-yo… that's just too short and boring…" Shippou sighed as he followed. "How about Suyo no Inukouken? Or Inukouken, formerly known as Suyo?"

"My name's Higurashi Suyo. Quit fooling around."

"Higurashi Suyo, now that's a weird name…"

"And like Shippou isn't? Named after your fluffy tail, how pathetic…"

"It's Shippo-u! Don't forget the U!"

"Yeah right, no way is there seven treasures hanging out your ass."

"Ooh, you'll pay for that one!" Shippou lit up his hand with blue fire menacingly. "Kitsunebi!" he yelled as he flung the basketball-sized fireball at Suyo's back. Suyo saw it coming, and dodged aside.

"See? All magic, no guts! You'll never get me with that stuff!"

"Come back here so I can prove you wrong!"

The two of them raced off into the woods.

----

Author's Notes: Hoo yeah! One week, one chapter! I'm on fire today!

That probably won't happen again for a while though, as the next chapter doesn't have much prewritten, and I might even be going off in a different direction with the plot than I originally intended.

For those who don't know, "shippo" means "tail," and "shippou" means "seven treasures," referring to gold, silver, pearls, agate, crystal, coral, and lapis lazuli. Hence, the argument over the spelling of Shippou's name.

Shippou's moved up from wooden toys to wooden carvings. At least now he makes and enchants them himself.

Shippou uses the word "pa-ti," which is the english word "party" imported into Japanese. Using it would be a relatively trendy thing to do, especially for a youkai living decades before the English made contact with Japan.

It is important in traditional Japanese culture to tend for the graves of one's ancestors, often done on a certain day or two every year. Suyo obviously regrets not being there to do this for his parents' grave.

Bonus points for anyone who can figure out the moon's significance in this chapter! It carries over to chapter 1 as well, although I didn't intend for that at all when I first wrote the first scene. I made up "Tsukiko" from "tsuki" (moon) and "ko" (child), because it fits this theme, and it turns out it's a real Japanese name too! I love when things just fall into place.

I'm annoyed at how I can't find a better word for Tsukiko's outfit than "villager's kimono." You probably know what I mean by that, but I tried to research the subject, and only found information on Japanese upper-class fashion throughout history. On a side note however, Sesshoumaru's outfit is a hitatare, suou, or daimon. Hard to tell which. Inuyasha's outfit also looks like a hitatare, the standard warrior dress of the Kamakura period (1185-1333), which involves "hakama… worn with a short upper garment."

My brother commented that Suyo and Tsukiko's conversation sounds very Japanese. I was actually tempted to include "sou desu ka," "tsukiko, tsukiko desu!" etc, but decided not to for those who don't speak anime. It also conforms with my previous decision on using Japanese words, and it eases up on dictionary section too.

This chapter introduces what is quite possibly the most un-canon, AU thing I will write, Suyo's transformation. When I first wrote that scene, I thought to myself, "OMFG he just went Super Saiyan! I can't have that!"

I have a thing for transformations, but who doesn't? What could be cooler than pulling out all the stops, becoming a butt-kicking, foe-pwning, fighting machine with an awesome new look to go with it? Even after I came to hate DBZ as a matter of principle, I still hang on to the principle Super Saiyan, although now I've moved onto changing eye color, growing wings, and turning into giant animals. Now, I actually have Suyo's whole transformation sequence pictured in my head. Looking back, Suyo's willful transformation is pretty much the only thing that doesn't have a basis on the original Inuyasha series, but I decided to keep it there for coolness effect. Hope you can forgive my little indulgence there.

There's one problem with it though: coming up with a term for someone who is ¼ youkai and ¾ human. From "hanyou," a word Takahashi made up for Inuyasha, "han" means half and "you" obviously refers to "youkai." "Han" has its own kanji character and is a full-fledged Japanese word, but there's no specific word for "fourth." The only two real options are either to use the Chinese-based number system to make up a technical-sounding word like "one-fourth-youkai," or just avoid the issue altogether. Thus, Suyo will just be referred to as "part-youkai," until I come up with something better.

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Japanese Dictionary:

Inukouken – (Dog-Guardian) A name that sounded cool, so I stuck with it.

Kitsunebi – (Foxfire) Standard issue combat spell for kitsune in the world of Inuyasha.

Mugoimaru - (Cruel-man) Easy to see where this one came from.

Oni – (Ogre) Traditional Japanese mythical creature, generally humanoid, large, and horned. Male oni have one horn, and female oni have two.