As the story begins, a young girl is seen walking through the forest, not to far away from a fairly new-looking house

on the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan. A Family had Just moved in, and the young girl of the family was as very enthusiastic

about exploring the lands around her new home. At the tender age of four, this girl was practically fearless. She accepted

any challenge that came upon her, whether it was the right decision or not. Her parents, however, were not as enthusiastic

as she. Many a time did they tell her that exploring the wood around their house was unnecessary. Their excuse was always

the same thing, which, at that time, had always made sense to the small child. There were too many mysteries about the woods

that there was no reason to explore it, stake their claim to it, or humble it in any sort of way. Their job, he father always

portrayed to her, was not to take the forest, but rather to admire, and respect it. The forest, in turn, would annex its real

power into each soul, a power in which was said to have the power of healing a shattered heart, and to bring a being to it's

full potential. The girl took this belief to heart very quickly, and soon fit into her environment as if she had been there

her whole life. In a matter of a few years,though, something would happen that would change the girl forever.

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It had all started three weeks after her fourth birthday. The Family had just moved into their new house two weeks

earlier, and all seemed for the best. The fearless young girl adjusted to their new environment as if that was how it

was always meant to be. In turn, the girl brought her parents such joy, as that any problem that could ever arise would

be forever unseen. Despite the wishes of her parents, and her own belief, the girl had allowed herself to have explored

a small distance of the forest. The girl soon put to rest any controversy about her visit to the Area that her parents

had ever thought of. The final outcome was in the girl's favor, and she was allowed to explore small parts of the forest.

Day by day the girl spent endless hours playing in that bountiful and beautiful forest, always to return home at night

to her loving parents. Her father, A powerful and distinguished Youkai, would always tell her how proud he was that she

could take care of herself so well. He would tell her that the skills she learned in the forest were not just skills, but

instinct as well. Instincts that she would carry for the rest of her life, and if she tried hard enough, would never be

forgotten. He also reminded her of the fact, that even though her mother was a Human, Annexed with the power of strong dark

energy, there would be times that the Youkai energy in the small girl would show, and if those instincts were used for a

purpose that was not justified, the consequences would be horrendous. For the sake of her parents, if no one else, the girl

promised she would never use her powers for a useless cause.

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The family lived their life peacefully for the next two years in their house by the forest. Every once in a while

the young girl's mother would teach her the ways of dark magic, while her father would help her sharpen her 'natural

instincts'. By the time the girl was six, she had experted all her parents had to teach her, and was allowed further

into the forest.

On her seventh birthday, the girl made her way deeper into the forest, uncharted terrain she called it. She had been

walking into this terrain for about a half an hour when she peered out from behind a bush and a small stream came into view.

She followed the stream quietly, and it lead her to a small lake. Near the lake she saw what looked to be a boy, but he had

cat-like features. Her senses perked up as she watched him pick up some pretty rocks out of the shallow water and put them

neatly into a pile.

She put on a happy grin and approached the strange-looking boy. "What are you doing?" she asked him.

"I'm collecting pretty rocks to give to my mommy." He replied. She beamed at him. "Can I help too?"

"Sure!" he said enthusiastically.

They spent a good half hour looking for rocks when the boy picked up a shiny blueish grey colored one. "Here Sei, this

rock is for you because its pretty just like you are!" He announced and handed it to her. She blushed and smiled at him.

A little while later, she found a green one and gave it to him in a similar fashion saying it looked like his eyes. Every

once in a while, she would immitate his movements, even going so far as to lick her own hands as if they were paws. A while

later they decided they had enough rocks, and the boy headed for home, and the girl waved to him as she headed off to explore

even more regions of the forest, even though it was getting late.

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The scene changes to follow the boy as he head off for his home in the depths of the woods. He made his was to what

looked to be groups of tree houses. His 'Village'. Enthusiastically, the boy climbed an old-looking tree and entered one of

the houses, setting down his prize rock collection inside. His mother smiled at him and asked him how he got so many in such

a small amount of time. "I had help," the boy answered her. "A human girl that came into the forest for her first time today."

The mother's smile suddenly went to a frown and she dropped a cup of tea she was holding. "Humans? In the forest?!" She

shreiked. The boy just nodded a yes. The woman ran out of the room, leaving the questioning boy behind.

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The girl had explored some more and finally decided it was time for her to head for home. She sniffed out the way she had came

from. Her nose had been so trained by her father so that she could smell her own scent just in case she ever got lost. When she

got home, her parents greeted her happily, and acknowledged that she had made it home right before dinner time.

Dinner was peaceful, as usual. Rice and oden. 'Yummy' the little girl thought as she munched down her meal. The whole time,

between mouthfuls she talked about her adventure in the forest that day, how many new animals she saw, and how beautiful it was.

After the dinner was over, the girl and her parents went into the living room, where her mother and father sat down in the

armchairs and the girl climbed into her mother's lap. "Sei, have you ever though about having a little brother or a sister?" her

father asked. "Its okay with me if its okay with you papa" The girl replied happily. Her father smiled, and the little girl put

her hand on her mother's stomache. "I can feel its youki already papa, it's so small! I want to protect it!" The girl announced.

She then started to lick her hands because she had forgotten to wash them after dinner. "Sei," Her mother asked, giggling. "Why

are you washing your hands like a kitty? Don't you remember that you're a inu youkai?" The girl finished cleaning her hands and

then told her mother all about how she copied the movements of a cat-boy she met in the forest.

It was finally time for the young girl to go to bed. She walked into her bedroom and dressed into her pajamas, making sure to

put her rock in the shirt pocket, and them pounced on her bed. Her parents came her in, and as her father tucked her into the

covers, as her mother began telling Sei's favorate story about the Shikkon no tama. Her mother was almost done with the rest of

the story when the girl fell asleep. She had never made it through to the end of the story, she did once, but it was such a long

time ago that the girl didn't remember. She swore silently to herself. 'I'll remember someday.'

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Meanwhile, the cat-boy awoke from his slumber. He had just had a premintion that something bad was going to happen.

He crawled up out of bed and walked to the curtain or his window. Withdrawing the curtain, a look of horror filled his face.

There was smoke coming from the human girl's part of the forest. The boy made a dash out the front door and decended the

tree at an alarming rate. When he reached the bottom, he re-orientated himself and ran to save his friend. 'Don't worry Sei,

Im coming to save you!' He thought and ran swiftly through the forest, not another thought entering his mind.

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The girl awoke as the large paws of an unfriendly-looking cat Youkai were carrying her outside. He swung her over his

shoulder and she clawed and scratched at him so bad that his entire back side was torn and bleeding. 'No ordinary human girl

has this much strength' The cat-man thought and then grunted. He dropped the girl with a thud and grabbed her hands, tying them

to one end of a rope, and proceeded to tie the other end to the base of a tree. The girl pulled at the rope and growled at the

man. "grrrrrrrr!!!let me go!" she screamed over and over again, gripping and pulling at the rope in hopes that it might snap.

Not even a minute later, her eyes made their way to her burning house. 'Mama, Papa! oh no please let this only be a dream!'

Sadly, the girl was out of luck this time. It was pure reality. She then saw someone run towards the slowly burning house.

'Oh no, it's the boy! He's gonna get hurt, please, let him see me before...before...' The boy ran inside screaming her name. The

girl gave one look as the boy entered her house. She tore so much at the rope tied to her hands, that the flesh on wrists began

to bleed. Finally, the rope snapped, and the girl ran back towards her house, in hopes to rescue anyone left alive. She hadn't

gotten but a few feet from the tree she had been tied to, when the roof of her house collapsed. The girl sank to the ground with

a blank look in her eyes, and said nothing, as three souls acended from the burning structure. The glowing orbs, One a Amber color,

the other two purple and green, floated near her and nuzzled her hand before floating away into the sky.

A Cat-woman looked on from behind the girl. 'Only inu youkai have amber colored souls...that must mean...dear kami, we killed

a inu youkai! The spirit of the forest will be very displeased with us...I thought it was only humans living here!'The woman

mentally punished herself for not looking into the subject matter beforehand. She walked up to the girl so she could get some

answers. "You, girl. Who was the Inu youkai that resided in this house with you?" "Papa," The girl said softly "...you killed my

papa...and mama too...and the boy was my friend...he didn't have to die too..." The woman just looked as the girl spoke again, this

time it was a yell. "ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Sei screamed, and turned around, bringing one of her claws up, and scratched the woman's

face. "That...thats for what you have done...you'll always be here to remember it, but mama and papa won't!" The girl ran off into

the woods, the opposite direction of the way she always went. This direction, was the one that faced the city. She got a few miles

into the forest and collapsed at the base of a tree.

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A small girl was coming home from School when she spotted a potential friend curled up at the base of a tree. She poked at

the girl until she awoke, and then greeted here. "Hiya! im Amagichi! Will you be my friend?" Sei looked to the girl, never actually

having seen another girl, nodded excitedly. The small girl lead Sei to her house, where she introduced Sei to her parents as her new

best friend. The girl's parents confronted Sei about her family, and Sei told them everything. She was soon allowed to stay with

their family as sort of an adopted daughter, until she was well off enough that she could make it on her own. The story cloases as

all the members of Amagichi's family give her a hug.

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Hildy : what do you think, is it okay? R&R please! Im thinking of making a elementary school sequel to this!