His hands clenched at his sides, and his mother sent him an apologetic glance over her shoulder. He knew that it didn't mean she didn't love him. It was her love for him that had started this in the first place. But oh how the human heart can be corrupted.

He watched tearfully, as they left him behind, and not once did they stop to look back at the small hanyou fighting back tears as his family left him alone in an abandoned hovel, to reclaim the riches and luxuries that they had known before he'd been born.

"I still think you're pushing this too far." an old man replied, testing the weight of a golden shakujou against his palm, while eying his companion wearily.

"Ah, you always think I'm going to far. I think it's perfect. What better way to prove my worth than to be of some use. You were always saying that, remember? To get off my ass and do something," was the response from the considerably younger male, who was currently digging through a basket, searching for something valuable.

"I didn't mean to get your ass killed," was the stiff response from the elderly man, who sent the boy's back a glare, before turning back to the unconscious man they were now pillaging.

"Those earrings look nice. I think you could get a few shells for these Milord." the man replied, seemingly forgetting his earlier frustrations with the boy.

"They'd get you no more than three at the most. Could you kindly let go of my ears, place down my staff, and stop rummaging through my food?"

They stopped at the sound of this new voice, coming from the man that shouldn't have woken up until three days into next week. He grabbed his staff and picked his basket up, before placing it on a rock, and turning back to the would be thieves.

"If you're interested, I've got plenty to trade, and you may have something I want, however I don't like being stolen from."

He folded his arms over his chest and looked very imposing as the wind blew dark strands of hair in his eyes and ruffled his robes. However, they weren't phased. Well, the old man was, but he was a known coward.

"Aren't you going to try and slap some sort of ofuda on me or something?"

"Why should I? You've got demon blood yes, but you're no demon." was the monk's response, which truly set the boy off.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I'm just as strong as any demon out there, and I could kick your ass without blinking."

The monk's hands went up in an almost comical defensive pose, and he waved the anger away.

"I merely meant that you did not intend on killing me. Any other demon would have slain me without a second thought, not snuck up behind me with a really hard rock." He rubbed the spot on his head where he'd been hit to emphasize the point, and gave a smile to the men in front of him.

"I fear we may have started off on the wrong foot. I am Miroku, a wandering monk of Buddha."

"I am Myouga, and this is Inu-Yasha." the old man said, bowing before the monk.

"So, tell me Myouga, what's a nobleman like you doing trying to rob a poor man such as myself."

Myouga choked on air, looking at the monk with a bewildered expression upon his face, his face reddening a bit before he could respond properly.

"How did you know that I was a nobleman?!"

Miroku's own expression changed to bemused, as he took in the man.

"Well, you weren't trying to hide it were you? That outfit just screams 'rich man'."

Inu-Yasha snorted, glad that the monk had not decided to comment on his own clothing, which was a fierce shade of red. He didn't feel like discussing the properties of hi-nezumi with a nosey monk.

"He was helping me, if you must know," Inu-Yasha stated, prepared to explain the hows and whys that a nobleman would be out trying to rob a monk for a hanyou beggar.

To his surprise, Miroku merely nodded. Nobleman helping out beggars was not completely unheard of. Too afraid to steal from their own lord's palaces, they'd prey on wanderers such as himself.

Any more conversation was cut short though, as the bushes ruffled, and a girl appeared in front of them.

She was younger than all of them, and she had black hair pulled back, and then up, in a very dignified manner that did not suit the sparkle in her eyes.

"Myouga," she said, "If Sesshomaru-sama catches you, he'll have your head."

Myouga scampered over to the girl, but Inu-Yasha merely smirked, "Princess, I'm sure you could talk my brother out of it if the opportunity were to arise."

She blushed at the insinuation, but held her head defiantly up in the air.

"If I don't hurry, the guards will come, and we'll be testing your faith in me quite soon."

The two of them disappeared into the bushes, and Miroku absorbed this new information.

"I fear I'm very confused."

Inu-Yasha shook his head and began walking back towards the city.

A/N:...I edited some things...ever go back over your old fics and desperately want to take them down? But since you can, you just try and hide some of the evidence that it sucked more than it did once you got done attacking it? Yeah. I may actually get around to finishing editing the story (and, now that I'm back into IY fandom, dammit, I might actually get around to finishing WRITING it...)

Also, this might bother some people - I spelled it Inu-Yasha when I first started watching and now I spell it Inuyasha. So it's Inuyasha in this chapter and not in the others, unless I get around to editing those as well. I probably won't though, since the formatting is SO IMPOSSIBLE now.