'Look at his hair.'
'Its so long.'
'Is that natural?'
Sesshomaru tried to make himself small, as he walked with Sota down the street. Humans all around him were whispering about him, commenting on him. He was never one to be self conscious about his appearance, but even he could see he stood out like a sore thumb among the hundreds of humans around him.
'Wow look at his eyes, are those contacts?'
'Forget his eyes, look at his ears, they're pointed!'
'Does he have claws?'
He hid his ears behind his hair, and stuck his hands into his pant pockets. His eyes darting from human to human, each one staring at him.
'He must be a cosplayer.'
'Look at his tattoos.'
'I like the moon on his head.'
"Hey Sesshomaru, you ok?"
Sesshomaru turned his gaze down to Sota, the boy looked worried. Was he being that obvious?
"Humans are scrutinizing my appearance. I do not care for it."
"Just ignore them. People can be real judgy."
"Hnn."
Sesshomaru collected his thoughts, and pulled himself together. He was a Daiyokai, who cares what humans think. He felt himself stand up a bit straighter as he walked.
"Hey look there's my school."
The two approached a very large building, it was full of children Sotas age. Just as they walked in front of the school, a loud buzzing came from Sotas pocket. He pulled out a black rectangle device, and held it up to his ear.
"Hey mama...Yeah Sesshomaru is still with me...uhuh...ok one sec. Hey Sesshomaru, mama wants to know if you can walk me home after school too."
"Hnn. I can do this."
"Ok thanks! Hey mama he said he would...ok...ok I'll see you later...love you too, bye."
Sota put the device back into his pocket and smiled up to him.
"Sota, what was that device? How were you able to communicate with your mother with it? I read nothing about it in that book yet."
"Oh, its called a cellphone. Its hard to explain how it works, but each phone has a number assigned to it, and when you punch in the number, you can talk to people through it, no matter where they are. You can also send messages through it if you can't talk at the moment."
"I see."
"Uhuh! Thanks for walking me to school, and for agreeing to walk back with me. Uhm, oh! Here's my watch."
Sota pulled off a black bracelet he was wearing, extended the strap, and put in on Sesshomaru wrist. Sesshomaru looked down to it confused. The bracelet had glowing green numbers on it, it was strange.
"What is this...watch. Why do I need it?"
"It lets to see what time it is. So you know when to come get me. I get off school in eight hours. So come back and get me when that numbers on the watch say 3:00. Also, you see this red button? Its an emergency alert button. This watch has a tracker in it, and if you press this button, it sends an alert to mamas phone telling her that I'm in trouble. And she can find me through the tracker."
"I see..."
"Uhuh, I'll message mama and let her know you have my watch for now. If you get lost or need help, press the button and mama will come find you. Ok?"
"Do you not need this device? What if you find yourself in need of help?"
"My phone has a tracker too. Mama is way over protective, don't worry."
"Hnn. What shall I do while I wait for you?"
"I donno. Maybe you could have fun exploring the city? Go visit the mall or something."
A loud chime sung out through the air from the school, and Sotas eyes got wide.
"Aaaah! I gotta go! Bye Sesshomaru! I'll see you later!"
Sesshomaru watched as Sota, among many other children, took off like bullets towards the building. The ringing chime must be to summon the children to their positions. He stood there for a while, watching late children scramble to the building. He than turned and looked out towards the city. He was not worried about getting lost, the scent from the Higurashi shrine, as well as the school have been imprinted into his brain. He could find his way to them with his eyes closed. Taking a shaky breath, he decided it was time to face his fears, and with small steps, he made his way deeper into the city.
Humans, markets, more humans, buildings that touched the sky, too many humans. Yes, Sesshomaru had come to the conclusion that there were way to many humans. Thousands...no, hundreds of thousands. All in one place. They flooded the sidewalks, the streets, he couldn't walk three steps without almost bumping into someone. He wanted to fly, to take to the air and get away from the horde. But he had remembered that Kagome said there were no demons in this time. He didn't want to start a panic. Not that he cared about starting a panic, but it would upset Ms. Higurashi for sure.
Wait, maybe that's what he could do today. He could search for his own kind. Demons don't just vanish, and he doubted that humans could wipe them all out. Maybe they were hiding among these humans, masking their yokai, and their scent. But if they were masking themselves, how would he find them? Sesshomaru noticed a small clearing across the street, it had little people in it, and had many trees. A gate stretched across the entrance. Tokyo Park. He crossed the street, and made his way to the park. Once inside, he checked to make sure no one was watching him. Once clear, he gathered his yokai, and let it rush out around him, like a ripple in a body of water. Metal machines started blaring alarms, glass windows cracked, and people screamed. Oops, maybe he over did it a bit.
'Oh my word!'
'What was that?'
'What a vicious gush of wind!'
'Where did that come from?'
Yes humans...a gush of wind...that's what it was. But demons would be able to see the rush of yokai. His yokai should have rippled across the entire city. He walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. All he had to do now was wait, wait for a demon to answer his summons. He sat, and he waited, and he waited.
He checked the watch Sota had given him. It read 2:30. It was nearly time to go retrieve the boy. He had spent all day in the park, and no one showed up. He felt no response yokai either. Not so much as a, yes we're here, and we're alive. His heart was sinking. Had humans really killed all of his kind. And this was the future...his future self should be here by that logic, but he felt nothing. Does that mean humans had killed him as well?
He shook the thought. Humans, kill him. HAH! That was ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as them killing...wait...THATS IT! Sesshomarus eyes lit up as an idea popped into his head. He knows where to find demons! Of course, how had he not thought of this sooner!? But wait...the boy. He needed to retrieve the boy soon. He couldn't do both...or could he?
He checked his watch as he walked, it read 2:58. Nearly time. He looked up and saw the school ahead, human parents stood outside of the school, as well as waited in their metal machines. For their children he assumed. He leaned against the wall in the very spot he had left Sota, and he waited. It wasn't long until the chiming from the school rang out again. And soon after children spilled out of the school. He eyes scanned the crowd, looking for Sota, and soon, he saw him. He was walking slow, talking with a small group of three other children. Sota then looked up, their eyes met, and he started to wave to him. Sota picked up his pace and ran for the Daiyokai, his friends right behind him.
"Hey Sesshomaru!"
"Hello."
"Oh Sesshomaru, these are my friends, Suki, Kento, and Ryo."
"Hnn. Nice to meet you."
"Hiya!"
"Hello!"
"So your Inuyashas brother? Are you a demon tooooo?"
Sesshomaru shot Sota a concerning glance and he laughed nervously.
"I...might have told them about Inuyasha being a demon...and Inuyasha might have jumped off a building...to impress them...hah..."
"Hah indeed."
"Oh can you jump off buildings too?"
"Show us!"
"Please?"
Before he knew what he was doing, he knelt down to the three children. He looked them over each and every one of them, before giving them a small grin. Faking to look around, to make sure no one was watching, he leaned in closer.
"Hnn, children. I can do better. I can fly."
There collective oohs and ahhs made him grin wider.
"Prove it."
His eyes met with one of the boys in the group. The boy held a grin, as if challenging him to say he was lying. Perhaps. He looked around for real this time, no one was looking at them. He would have to be quick. He stood, and gathered his yokai around his feet, with one small leap, he jumped, and floated there for a few seconds, before letting himself fall again. He quickly looked around, no one saw, surprisingly. The children however, were ecstatic.
"Oh wow!"
"So cool!"
"Awesome!"
Why he felt he needed to show off to these kids, he didn't know. Maybe it was perhaps, because he missed Rin. But as the children gushed over him, he felt himself smile. Perhaps, he just was indeed, a softie for children.
"Well I'll see you guys tomorrow!"
"Ok Sota bye!"
"Bye guys!"
"Later Sota, later cooler Inuyasha!"
Cooler Inuyasha... That was funny. But it was true, he was definitely cooler than Inuyasha. The two began to walk back to the shrine. But as they passed an alleyway he pulled Sota aside.
"What's up Sesshomaru?"
"Does your mother have you return home directly after school?"
"I don't have to. Sometime when sis picks me up we go to the mall and hang out for a while. Why? You wanna hang out with me?"
The boys smile could blind. Does he enjoy my company that much?
"I suppose you could call it, hanging out. I spent today searching for my kind, I was unsuccessful. However I do believe I know where I can find them."
"Oh? I'm gonna get to meet more demons!? That's so cool! Where are we going?"
"It is quite far, an hours flight away. Would your mother not mind if you go?"
"An hours flight!? Oh heck yah I'm going! I'll message mama right now and let her know!"
Sota pulled out his phone and started to type his message, his then shoved his phone back into his pocket and looked up to Sesshomaru with big round, excited eyes.
"So how are we doing this? We just gonna fly up in the air? Oooh how high are we gonna go? Above the clouds?"
"Indeed, high above the clouds."
Sota squealed and jumped up and down. He knelt down to the boy, and looked him in the eyes, with a grin.
"Do you still desire to see my true from?"