Chapter Seven:

Changing Appearances

Inuyoshi ran through the forest, his rational mind completely lost.  The sword was him.  He was one with the sword.  He was Toukijin.

~I will hunt down Inuyasha and destroy him,~ he thought crazily.  ~His blood will become rust on my blade!~

Branches snapped in his face and he didn't even feel it.  If he'd been more alert, he would have also noticed how fatigued his body was; he'd been running for nearly twenty-four hours straight.  His body ached for rest and food, but his mind was so far gone that he couldn't even feel his own pain.

~Kill him!~

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"What is this?" Sesshoumaru asked, narrowing his eyes at the beaded bracelet Hiroshi held out for him.  The inu youkai had been given simple old-fashioned clothes which he was much more comfortable in.  He wore a plain white haori [shirt/jacket] and black hakama [baggy pants], identical to those worn by Inuyasha despite the color difference.  Though he wasn't pleased with the very simple outfit, he accepted it, for he'd rather look simple than wear the clothing of the time.

"This charm will allow you to walk in public without being noticed," Hiroshi explained.  "It will give you the appearance of a ningen."

Sesshoumaru practically snorted in disgust.  ~So this is what it has come to,~ he thought, glaring at the bracelet, as though the situation was its fault.  He growled softly, and then took the charm from Hiroshi and studied it carefully.  Prayer beads, as he suspected.  They could be made to do anything.

Seeing no way out of it, Sesshoumaru slipped the beads onto his wrist.  They glowed faintly, and he felt an oddly warm tingle spread across his skin.  Looking down, he saw that his claws had dulled, and the magenta stripes on his wrists were gone.

"Look here," Hiroshi instructed, and led him to a large mirror.

Shocked, the inu youkai's eyes widened just slightly.  His beautiful knee-length hair was now coal black, and his eyes were dark.  The facial markings he was so proud of, the markings that made him who he was, were gone.  His pointed ears were rounded at the top.  He looked, to his complete disgust, like a human.

The sight infuriated him, and he tore the bracelet off and threw it to the ground.  Instantly, his appearance reverted back to normal.  Hiroshi sighed.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, you cannot go outside looking the way you actually do," he told him, picking up the bracelet from where it had been thrown.  "Perhaps if you didn't have markings on your face, you could get away with it.  But as it is, you will not be accepted like you are."

"I am NOT a ningen," Sesshoumaru growled, surprised at how furious he was.

"Neither am I."  Hiroshi took an identical bracelet from his pocket and placed it around his wrist.  Instantly, he looked the way he had when Sesshoumaru had first seen him.  "Does this make me a ningen?  No it doesn't.  I am no more ningen when I wear this than you are the humanoid form you wear when you are not in your true form.  It is only a change in appearance that makes things more convenient.  Nothing more."

With that, he held out the charm again.  Eyes narrowed, Sesshoumaru once again took it and put it on.  He watched as his beloved youkai appearance was replaced by a human one, and it was all he could do to not tear the charm off again.

"I look like my tanechigai [half brother] during the new moon," he said mostly to himself.

"You will get used to it, Sesshoumaru-sama," Hiroshi told him.  Then, he frowned slightly.  "There's one more thing.  In this modern time, it is customary for men to keep their hair short.  You will not find any men with hair as long as yours.  It may be best…"

Sesshoumaru turned, placed his hand around Hiroshi's throat, and growled, "Don't you even say what you are going to say."  He tightened his grip when Hiroshi tried to speak again, silencing him.  "I have already submitted to this foul appearance even though every drop of my noble blood screams against it.  I will never…NEVER…cut my hair.  Is that understood?"

Hiroshi nodded with some difficulty, and Sesshoumaru released him.

"You have provided me with the means to walk through this ningen village unnoticed, and for that I am in your debt," the inu told him darkly.  "Once I find my daughter, I will see to it that you are rewarded for your service.  I, Sesshoumaru, am a youkai of honor; I will not break my word."

He walked purposely towards the door, and Hiroshi followed.  Upon reaching the door, Sesshoumaru turned to him once again.

"Arigato [thank you], Hiroshi," he said.  Hiroshi smiled and bowed slightly.

"Be careful," he told him.  "And don't get in any more trouble with the police.  I may not be there to help you again."

The inu cocked an eyebrow slightly.  "I assure you, one encounter was enough for me to learn my lesson."

With that, Sesshoumaru departed, heading back into the city and feeling, to his surprise, very uncomfortable.