Notes: I got the Name "Naota" from Gainax's masterful series, "Furi Kuri

Notes: I got the Name "Naota" from Gainax's masterful series, "Furi Kuri."

Naota (the character from this particular story, not Furi Kuri) is my character, please don't use him without my permission.

Pushing the Limits

An Inu-Yasha fanfiction by Matt Gburek (AKA Recca)

PROLOUGE: The Transfer Student

"On your mark, get set, GO!"

And with that, the tryouts for the track team began. A small, dark-haired boy with brilliant eyes took off like the wind. His name was Naota, and he was a transfer student. Nobody seemed to like him much; he was cynical, antisocial, and had a generally poor attitude. But Naota didn't mind. He didn't really care for anyone else, either.

Huff…

He drew in breath systematically, pushed himself for all he was worth. He was never sure what he would be good at; he didn't hold himself or the world in good self-esteem, but he knew he could run, and this was confirmed by the fact that all the other runners were far behind him.

Huff… huff…

Naota didn't know or care why, but he had never tried this hard at anything. He wanted this. It didn't matter why, but he had to have it. But deep down, Naota really knew why he had to have this, why he had to bend over backwards for it: it was all he had.

Huff… huff… huff…

He was breathing faster now. But he looked up, and saw that the finish line was in sight. Just a few more steps! Just a little bit more…

The next thing he knew, the ground was closing in on him fast. He was falling, fast. He hit the dirt of the track with a thud; his face fell flat into the dirt. He scrambled to his feet, ran a few paces, and fell again. When he looked up, the race was over. When the brunt of that fact struck him, he began to cry.

He had lost.

He stood up, dusted himself off, and wiped the tears from his eyes. He looked at his shoes, and discovered that the laces were untied.

"But…" he said to himself. "I…I tied them! I know I did!" He seethed with rage. "That means…" He searched frantically for the culprit. It was plainly obvious someone did this when he wasn't looking, but who? Who had the motivation?

He knew who it was. It was Dean. Dean, like Naota, was a transfer student, although Dean came from much farther away, America to be exact. Naota HATED Dean. People say that hate is a strong word, but Naota meant it, maybe even five times stronger than what it normally was.

Dean was a pretty boy, no doubt about it. He had shoulder length blonde hair, green eyes, and strong build. All the girls liked him; all the guys looked up to him. Naota was jealous of him. He never would admit it, but he was. The difference was that the other students saw him, and Dean's face seemed to say to them, "Try hard! You can do it! Follow your dreams, just like me!" This gave the students a bright hope.

But Naota didn't see that in Dean. Whenever he saw Dean, instead Dean seemed to be saying: "I am everything you wish you were. You will never achieve the success I have. You are nothing, compared to me."

The coach brought his whistle to his lips and blew.

"Alright!" he said. "Tryouts are over! The names of those who made the cut will be posted tomorrow. Good luck to all of you!"

****

Naota waited until everyone was gone before he gathered his belongings and headed home.

"See you later Naota."

"Later…" thought Naota. "Notice how he didn't say, "See you tomorrow…"

Naota stopped dead in his tracks, and turned around to face the coach.

"Did I make the team?" he asked.

"Results will be posted tomorrow, Naota. Tomorrow, You'll-"

"Did…I make…the team?!"

Naota demanded, this time saying his words both slowly and angrily. The coach sighed, looked at his clipboard, and shook his head. "No. Probably not."

Naota choked. He ran out of the school track, and stopped to sit on a nearby bench.

But he wasn't crying. He was laughing. There was one fact that kept him composed: The fact that soon, Dean would get his. Very soon, he would be more sorry for anything he had ever done. And Naota would hear his profuse apologies.

Just before Naota killed him, of course.

****

Dean walked home alone, on the sidewalk. It was getting dark, and there were few people in this part of the city at nighttime. He would be home soon though, so it was no big deal.

"Maybe that was a rotten joke to pull…," he thought to himself. "Tomorrow I'll go apologize to that kid…"

Clang…

As he passed an alley, he heard a strange sound.

"It's probably just a cat, or something." He told himself, and began walking. But the sound was heard again. And again.

"I'll just go see what it is." He said to himself. He walked into the dark alley. The noise got louder, and louder. Soon, it was obvious that it was emanating from a trashcan.

His pulse quickened, and color flushed from his face. He slowly lifted open the lid, and…

MEOW!

A cat jumped out of the trashcan, and ran out of the alley.

"It was a cat…" said Dean to himself. He turned around to head home, but a boy was blocking the entrance to the alleyway…

It was Naota, from school. The kid's whose chances of getting on the track team he had personally ruined.

"Oh, it's just you!" Dean said, relieved. "I thought it was a gangster, or something…"

Naota remained silent. In was night now, and he stood there in the moonlight, still wearing his white tank top and gym shorts from the tryouts earlier to day. His head hung low, his shoulder-length black hair acted like a veil for his face.

"Anyway…" Dean began. "I'm sorry about uniting your shoelaces today. It was just a joke. Nothing personal."

Naota did not move. "I…see…" he said simply.

"Uh…" Dean stammered. "Yeah… anyway, I have to go home now… I'll see you tomorrow." Dean began walking out of the alley, but Naota stood there still, blocking his path.

"I can't go home if you're in the way…"

Naota still refused to move.

"Could you please move?" Dean asked yet again. Naota did not budge.

Dean was angry at this point. "I said MOVE, dammit!" and with that, he put his hand on Naota's shoulder and attempted to shove him out of the way.

But when he put his hand on his shoulder, Naota's eyes flashed red. Dean was sent flying through trashcans, dumpsters and other things before he hit the back wall of the alley.

Dean lay propped against the back wall. He coughed up a little blood, and stared at Naota at the end of the alley. "Wha…" Dean began. "What did you…"

Naota raised his head, revealing his face. His eyes were narrowed; his teeth and fists were clenched.

"So…" he growled. "A joke, huh? Was it funny?! WAS IT?!"

Dean spat out more blood. "N-no…" he said. "It was…"

Naota's eyes flashed red yet again. Dead was brought from the wall about 10 feet, then slammed right back into it at full speed.

"Liar!" Screamed Naota with a burning rage. "You had a DAMN good time with it, didn't you?! You thought it was funny that I lost! It's the only goddamn thing I'm good at! You're so much better at everything else, but that wasn't enough for you, was it?! You had to beat me in every possible way…didn't you?!"

Fear was evident in Dean's eyes. His lips trembled with fear; he looked as if he was about to cry.


"I'm sorry! He said. "I'M SORRY!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"You're sorry…" Said Naota. "…very well. As long as your sorry."

Naota began walking out of the alley. Dean was panting; blood was dripping from his head to his chin, and formed a small pool in front of the ground where he lay. He closed his eyes and sighed.

But Naota stopped in his tracks.

"Unfortunately…" said Naota, as he whirled around.

Naota's eyes began to glow bright red; the light emanating from them almost lit up the whole alley. He was about to do something big.

"It's too little…" Naota continued.

"N-no…" said Dean, as he scrambled into a corner, terrified. "Stay away! Stay away from me…"

"…TOO LATE!" Screamed Naota. At this point, his whole body seemed to emanate red light. A Dumpster, almost as wide as the alley itself, was flung in Dean's direction. He screamed, but it was cut off when the object ran into him at full speed. A large amount of blood was all over the wall, clearly visible behind the Dumpster. Underneath it, a large pool of blood was forming.

Naota exited the alleyway and walked home on the lonely streets. His black hair acted as a veil for his face yet again. He snickered to himself as he walked home. He wore a pendant around his neck; the stone eerily shimmered in the moonlight.

It was Shard of the Shikon no Tama.

Authors Notes: You're all probably wondering where Inu-Yasha and the gang are. This prologue was just setting up the story. But they'll be in the next chapter, you mark my words! Please drop a review, and tell me what you guys think.

-Recca