Author-chan's notes: WOW!!! Chapter number four!!! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: (*Author-chan is wearing a pair of ruby slippers, and her eyes are closed. Then, tapping the slippers together three times, she makes a wish.*) I wish I own Inuyasha, I wish I own Inuyasha, I wish I own Inuyasha. (*Author-chan opens eyes.*) Drat! I still don't own Inuyasha! Note to self: Don't buy a pair of magical ruby slippers from an evil witch you meet on the street. Hmm. I wonder if Dorothy still has those slippers she got from OZ…
*Important Note! Must Read! *: Okay, this chapter picks up from chapter two. Remember that Mira and Takashi are about to get beat up by a gang of other kids. Inutaisho has heard someone calling for help, and he and Yuta are running off to find out who it is. (Of course we all know that Mira and Takashi are the ones in trouble.) Well, on with the fic!
The Golden Stare of My Brother
(Chapter Four: New Friends)
In the woods outside the village (with Inutaisho and Yuta)
"I think the screams came from this direction!" Inutaisho told Yuta as he ran toward the village.
"Are you sure, Inu?" Yuta asked as he ran, "I didn't hear anything."
"Just trust me!" Inutaisho snarled, "I know I heard something!"
"Whatever you say, Inu!" Yuta said, running after his friend. However, as many of us know, trying to keep up with a demon is kind of stupid. Yuta lost sight of Inutaisho in a matter of seconds. Yuta stopped trying to keep up with his friend and took a couple of deep breaths.
"Damn!" Yuta swore in his mind, "He's too fast!!! I can't keep up with him! I've never seen anybody move that fast!!! Hmm. I wonder…"
"Hold on!" Inutaisho muttered quietly, "Whoever or whatever you are, hold on! I'm coming!"
***
In the village (with Mira, Takashi, and the bullies)
"Hold on! Whoever you are, hold on! I'm coming!" Mira blinked in surprise. She thought that she had just heard a man's voice, promising to rescue her and Takashi. But that was impossible, right?
"What's with the dumb expression on your face freak?" Takashi's older brother asked.
"Stop teasing her, Onii-san!" Takashi yelled.
"Shut up, Takashi!!!" his brother yelled, as he punched Takashi in the stomach.
"STOP!!!!" Mira cried, tears running down from her face. Takashi's brother just sneered at her.
"You can shut up too, witch," the older boy snarled, "Takashi needs to be taught a lesson. He has to learn how to respect his elders!"
"What's going on here?!" a new voice called out suddenly. Mira looked up to see a man standing nearby. The first thing that popped into Mira's mind was that he was handsome. The man's tall form cut a dashing figure, making the man look like some sort of hero from a story coming to save her and Takashi. The man's long black hair hung to his waist, and his unruly bangs hung into his eyes, so that Mira couldn't tell what color they were. For some odd reason, Mira was positive that the man's hair was actually a wig, but looked very real. Maybe Mira's mind was just playing tricks on her.
"Well, boy, I'm waiting for an answer," the man said coldly. The bully simply cursed under his breath.
"This isn't over yet, witch," Takashi's brother snarled at Mira, "We'll be back to finish what we started!" Then with a quick turn of his heel, the bully (along with all of his followers) left, leaving Mira and Takashi alone with the stranger.
"Hey, are you two brats alright?" the man asked.
"I'm fine. What about you, Takashi?" Mira asked.
"I'll be alright," Takashi wheezed, still clutching his stomach, "Shingo-onii-san has hit me harder before."
"WHAT?!" both Mira and the man screeched at the same time.
"That punk was your brother?!" the man cried out in surprise.
"He's hit you harder before?!" Mira cried out. Takashi just nodded dumbly. Both Mira and the man just stared at him until the man exploded.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! I MEAN, COME ON!!! SURE, YOUR KIND AREN'T THE KINDEST PEOPLE AROUND, BUT I WOULD THINK THAT AT LEAST YOUR PEOPLE WOULD HAVE AT LEAST SOME SORT OF LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR FAMILIES!!! I WOULD EXPECT THIS KIND OF CRUELTY AMONG YOUKAI, NOT HUMANS!!! HECK, I DON'T THINK I WOULD EXPECT THIS KIND OF CRUELTY AMONG DEMONS EITHER!!!" the man fumed.
"I agree," Mira nodded, "Not even youkai would do anything this mean! And I think youkai are probably the evilest creatures that ever lived!" Unseen by her, the stranger flinched slightly.
"Don't be so sure about that," the man muttered under his breath.
"INU!!!!" a new voice called. Yuta came running towards the group. When he finally reached them, he collapsed on the ground, completely out of breath.
"Oi! Something wrong, Yuta?" Inutaisho asked.
"N-n-n-no," Yuta gasped, "Nothing's wrong!"
"You sure, sir?" Mira asked, "You look like you've been running for miles!"
"I have," Yuta muttered darkly. Then turning to Inutaisho, he said, "Remind me never to try to keep up with you. It will kill an ordinary man."
"Funny," Inutaisho smirked, "It didn't kill you!"
"I'm not an ordinary man anymore, my friend," Yuta muttered quietly under his breath. Yuta had said this so quietly, that no human could have heard him. But Inutaisho, the Great Demon of the West, did. And those words made Inutaisho think.
"Um, excuse me?" Mira said, interrupting Inutaisho's thoughts, "But who are you?"
"My name is Inu," Inutaisho began, "And the poor wretch on the ground is my traveling companion, Yuta. Say 'hello' to the nice kids, Yuta."
"Hello to the nice kids, Yuta," Yuta mumbled. Mira stifled a giggle.
"Well, my name is Takashi," Takashi said, "And this is Mira."
"Hi!" Mira said cheerfully, looking up at Inutaisho with bright purple eyes. Inutaisho's own eyes widened.
"Y-your eyes! They're purple!" Inutaisho sputtered. Mira's eyes began to fill up with tears. Inutaisho began to sweatdrop at her tears.
"H-h-hey!!! Don't start crying on me now!!!" Inutaisho began.
"W-why did I have to be cursed with such eyes!!!" Mira cried, throwing her arms around Takashi's neck. Takashi turned bright red as Mira cried into his shoulder. Yuta smiled slight to himself. It looked like the boy might begin developing feelings for the girl.
"What do ya mean, 'cursed'?" Inutaisho blinked in confusion, "I thought your eyes were pretty."
"R-r-really?!" Mira hiccuped.
"Yeah," Inutaisho shrugged. Mira grinned. Then, without warning, Mira gave Inutaisho a quick hug. Unfortunately, she was still hugging Takashi when she did this, so the poor boy got squashed in the middle.
"Aww! How cute! A group hug! Can I join?" Yuta asked. Inutaisho glared at him.
"You do, you die," Inutaisho growled.
"Does that mean, I can't have a hug?" Yuta asked, pretending to be sad.
"Of course not, Yuta-san!" Mira giggled. She let go of Inutaisho (but she didn't let go of Takashi), and hugged Yuta. And yet again, our poor Takashi-san was squashed between two people.
"Mira-san! I can't breathe!" Takashi gasped. Mira let go quickly, and let Takashi catch his breath.
"Gomen, Takashi-san! I didn't mean to hurt you!" Mira gasped.
"It's alright," Takashi said.
"How can I make this up to you?" Mira asked.
"Well, why don't we be friends?" Takashi suggested.
"How about being friends forever?" Mira suggested, holding up a pinky. Takashi smiled.
"Forever and ever!" Takashi agreed as he hooked his pinky with hers. (AN: As many of us know, the classic Japanese way to make a promise is to pinky swear. I don't know if they did this during the Feudal Ages, but they do in my fic.)
"I can see this friendship growing into love, don't you agree, Yuta?" Inutaisho whispered to his friend.
"Perhaps," Yuta said quietly, "But 'forever' is a long time. It's hard to live forever." Inutaisho raised an eyebrow. Since when did Yuta start acting so deep? Perhaps Yuta always was deep, it was just that Inutaisho never noticed it.
"Maybe it is hard to live forever," Inutaisho began, "But is it hard to love forever?"
"No," Yuta said, smiling slightly, "It's not hard to love someone forever. And it's not hard to be friend with someone forever. But what if you outlive the ones you love? What if you outlive your friends? What then?"
"I-I don't know," Inutaisho said, "But I believe that even if you outlive the person you love, you still carry a little bit of that person around in your heart. Even if the person is no longer there, the love still lives. That's how love can be forever."
"Since when did you start giving out sage advice?" Yuta asked playfully.
"Don't know," Inutaisho shrugged, "Since when did you become so deep and sad?" Yuta laughed.
"You got a point there," Yuta said, "I have no idea what came over me."
"Same here," Inutaisho agreed.
"Come on," Yuta began, "Be better look after these kids."
"Yeah," Inutaisho agreed, walking towards the two eight-year-olds.
"When did I start acting so deep and sad?" Yuta asked himself, "Is it because I became immortal? Living forever is hard; you have to watch your friends and loves grow old and die. But Inu's right. You can be someone's friend forever and you can love someone forever; you just have to keep a piece of them in your heart."
***
"So what now?" Inutaisho asked.
"Um, why don't you come over to my house?" Mira suggested, "I'm sure that Okaa-san and Aunt Bara would like to meet you all."
"Sure," Yuta said, "Will they have food at your house?"
"Yep! Okaa-san is a GREAT cook! So is Aunt Bara!" Mira said.
"All right!!!" Inutaisho and Yuta yelled together, sounding like little kids again (AN: Hehehehehe!!! Imagine those two acting like that!).
"Food!!! How long has it been since we've had food?" Yuta asked.
"I don't know," Inutaisho mused, "Days, weeks, months? I lost track."
"How about you, Takashi-chan?" Mira asked, "Do you want to come over?"
"Sure!" Takashi grinned.
"Food!!!" Yuta and Inutaisho yelled. Mira and Takashi giggled at the older men's antics.
***
Akiko, Bara, and Mira's house (a few minutes later)
"Mira! Who are all these people?" Bara asked her niece.
"Friends," Mira answered simply.
"Well, don't just let them stand out there! Invite them in!" her aunt ordered.
"Hai! Would you all like to come in?" Mira asked, turning to her new friends.
"That would be nice, Mira-chan!" Takashi chirped.
"If there's food, I'm going in first!" Yuta declared.
"No you're not, I am! I haven't eaten in days!!!" Inutaisho moaned.
"So?! Neither have I!" Yuta protested, "And besides, you ate the last bit of food in our packs!"
"But that was days ago, remember?" Inutaisho countered, "And anyway, you were eating more that me on a daily basis!"
"WAS NOT!!!"
"WAS TO!!!"
"WAS NOT!!!"
"WAS TO!!!"
"WAS NOT!!!"
"WAS TO!!!"
"WA-"
"Listen, you two, you don't need to fight," Bara interrupted, "We have plenty of food."
"WE WEREN'T FIGHTING!!!" the two men yelled.
"Men!" Bara snorted, "I swear, all they do is eat and fight!"
"That's not all we do!" Yuta protested.
"Fine. You sleep too," Bara said, rolling her eyes. She walked back into the house, still muttering about men.
"Now that was harsh," Inutaisho muttered.
"Mira, I mean no offence, but your aunt has got to be the scariest thing I've ever run into!" Yuta joked.
"Even scarier that Koru?" Inutaisho teased.
"Ha! You mean that fox demon? He couldn't scare anything if his life depended on it!" Yuta proclaimed.
"You sure about that?" Inutaisho questioned, "After all, Koru is one of the Great Demons."
"'Great Demon' my butt," Yuta sneered, "Anything could beat that idiot. He's no more a Great Demon than you are!" Inutaisho paled for a moment.
"Are you okay, Inu-san?" Mira asked.
"I'm fine," Inutaisho muttered, "Guess I'm a bit hungry. Shall we go in?"
As everyone walked into the dwelling, Mira couldn't help but wonder about a few things. Who was Koru? Why did Inu pale at Yuta's words? Why were Yuta and Inu here in the first place? And why did Mira get this strange felling from both of them? Who and what were they really?
Author-chan's notes: Mira is really thinking hard, ne? She's already thinking beyond her age. I suppose that's because she's kind of already grown up inside. They grow up so fast. I suppose Takashi is also kind of grown up already too. In the next chapter, Yuta, Inutaisho, and Takashi meet Mira's mom, Akiko. Hmm, what will Akiko think about all these guests? Find out in the next chapter!
P.S. Please R+R!!! (Just no flames!)