The dawn was rather peaceful when it finally arose. The night seemed to pass so slowly, even if - by the moon's position - it seemed the night was almost over with. Whenever he was, the place reminded him enough of home, unlike when he was in Kagome's time. There was the possibility to feel a shred of tranquility here...if he allowed it. Or if it was allowed FOR him.

"Damn it brat, I told you to knock that off!"

His threat went ignored, as that childish hand again went to his twitching ears that tried to bat his hand away. He didn't want to lay a hand on the kid and have his strength hurt such a small thing. Hands tightly gripped his forearms. This kid and the girl were about as bad with his ears as Kagome, Kagome's mother, and Souta rolled into one! He lost his patience the second anyone toyed with his ears like that. To know that this kid kept doing it, regardless of open threats and looks, was rather annoying. He knew a lot of the kid and girl's bravery had to deal with the redhead sitting mere feet away with that stupid smile on his face as he merely watched.

It was so aggravating to have to put up with them all night and now in the morning, they seemed even chipper. None of the adults would give him any type of answer, instead headed into the house as if this was an everyday occurrence. They moved about doing morning routines, though the sun hadn't risen yet, but said there was no point in going back to sleep for the brief time with him there. He took that to mean they hadn't let their guard down to give him some room to at least roam around. He knew this guy was only human, but was a good swordsman. That much was definite from the very brief fight they shared. A part of him wanted to do another challenge, as he needed to get rid of some stress and also to find out about this guy's talents. It seemed the style of fighting hadn't dimmed in whenever he was, even though it apparently evolved.

He suddenly growled and bared his fangs to the boy, twitching his ears all the way back. "Damn it! Knock it the fuck off!"

"Whoa! He's got fangs too!"

"Yahiko...you shouldn't bother our visitor like that."

Gold glared to the kid as fierce as he could, wishing he could backhand the youth. Didn't the kid know his not to mess with something he didn't know? He turned irritated eyes to violet and glared at the swordsman. About time SOMEONE kept the brat in line. "Is this how the youth in your time operates? Do you let them poke and prod as much as they fucking want? Where's your sense of discipline?!"

"Hey!"

"I keep telling myself that whenever he runs off and skirts his practice. At least I'm not the ONLY one who sees Yahiko being a pest."

"Buzu, nyah!"

"Stop CALLING me that!"

"Let's not get into that again." Boy and girl looked at each other in a fierce competition of wills before they looked away almost at the same time.

His eyes subtly followed the girl as she kneeled and set a large tray of breakfast foods on the engawa. The trio mentioned having breakfast out here and he planted in this space in wait for them to get outside. Though he was a little hungry, he wasn't going to let them know that.

The boy reached in and grabbed his fill as the others did at the same time. His nose was twitching slightly at the smells as the food was disturbed when the three moved it around, but he tried not to make it noticeable. Whatever it was smelled ok, but he gripped arms tighter and pretended not to be interested. Gold suddenly swung over at finding one of the smells near his nose and his head jerked back at finding a bowl almost in his face.

The girl's eyes closed with a smile as her hand remained out for him to take the bowl. "Here..." She amiably offered.

He didn't want to admit defeat that easily. Even if her attitude reminded him a LOT of Kagome, he didn't want to admit the soft spot to Kagome with his slipup last night. Nor did he want to be on friendly or pleasant terms with these people. He wasn't staying long. He looked toward the yard again, as if to say he wasn't hungry and remained silent.

"Oi, we made enough breakfast for the four of us, not just three. So stop being so rude and accept it!" The girl ordered, her voice none too pleasant.

His ear twitched to her, showing he heard, while his mind was comparing her and Kagome again. That attitude change, almost at the drop of a coin - this was getting scary.

"Ano...Kaoru-dono...do you think you should be so hasty?"

He scowled at the guy's voice. Why couldn't he just get answers and go find the youkai? This was taking way too long and who knew what it could be doing right now! It could be finding a way to use its powers to send itself back the way they came and trap him here! Then he'd be stuck in someplace in some past and be forced to catch up to Kagome's time the long way. And depending on how far back or ahead he was in time, he could be dead before that happened!

The bowl was suddenly shoved under his nose and hands shot out in reflex as his head jerked back again. He took the bowl with a deep, unhappy look sent the girl's way. She merely smiled and sat to eat her share. TOO much like Kagome! Gods, their names even started with the same first kana! That different hairstyle and eye color were the only things helping him keep them separate. The daylight helped to pronounce this girl's looks and point out the differences so he wouldn't screw up like he did last night.

He accepted the small defeat and took his chopsticks. He avoided everyone's eyes, knowing he had them, and ate as quietly as possible. He would show gratitude for the food by eating properly and not inhaling it.

It was good, that was sure. Whatever he was having had good flavor and he mentally commended the cook. It wasn't as good as ramen - NOTHING could be as good as that - but still good.

The girl gathered up all the dishes and tactlessly dragged the boy with her, almost kicking and screaming. His ears flicked to the back of his head at the boy's whining, once again proving this era was too lenient on childbearing.

Humans.

"Now that food is out of the way, would you care to give me your name again? Your last rebuff was rather rude, that it was."

He shifted as the guy did, facing him a little better to talk. Finally, they were getting down to business. Hands went in his sleeves as he leveled violet with a penetrating gaze. That was said about his eyes, but it was effective and he was going to use it to intimidate and get control. "I want answers before I tell you anything about myself first."

A red brow rose. "You sure are asking a lot without anything in return, that you are." There was a moment of silence as the guy looked the way the others went, as if making sure they weren't in the vicinity, before narrowing almost equally piercing eyes to his. "If you want, you should give in return, that you should." Violet narrowed even further. "We've all been rather lenient in letting you stay here and not turning you into the police after all you've done. Any further ill-will won't get you very far with me."

Gold narrowed to slits. His teeth bared a little in frustration. This SUCKED!

But it proved the guy wasn't a COMPLETE wuss. Which was a total irony given his looks and physical stature. It made him want to challenge the scrawny human even more to find out if that burst of speed last night was due to adrenaline and not talent. He resisted the urge to fidget as those narrowed eyes still bore into his. The softness of violet a minute ago melted away to resemble edged steel. They almost reminded him of Miroku's eyes when he finally left Sango alone and got serious about something important.

Knowing that, he also knew there was no way to get out of it without backing down. It hurt his pride immensely to back down to a human, even though he was part human. His youkai blood wanted to stay on top here and be the one in charge, but it turned out he was rather at this human's mercy. That fact alone pissed him off to no end.

Finally admitting a small portion of defeat, eyes wordlessly dropped to the wood boards with a small growl. He glared at wood, wishing he could tear something apart to alleviate his aggravation! But he already did that to their drying rack and they were rather forgiving of it so far...well maybe not the girl...

Fists tightened even further, but his mouth slowly edged open. Finally, he decided to at least give a smidgen of information about himself, if only something vague and not too direct. "Inuyasha." He mumbled, hoping that his name wasn't heard all too clearly. Gods but he hated doing this! How unreasonable could this human be? When he looked up after a bout of silence, having expected talk in return, he found another one of those annoyingly pleasant looks complete with smile. Again, this guy reminded him a very little bit of Miroku - minus the hentai qualities.

"Well Inuyasha-dono, what brings you to this time?" Violet looked away and took in his form briefly before meeting his eyes again. "You're the first...creature I've seen in my life, that you are. What are you?"

His chin lowered a little to his chest. That would always be a touchy subject until he either gained the jewel and became a full youkai, or found a way to become even stronger than he was now. "Hanyou." He mumbled, eyes boring theoretical holes into the floorboards again.

"What's a hanyou?"

His gaze jerked up in surprise, meeting genuine bemusement. His head cocked to the side in shock, anger and bad emotions forgotten for a brief time. What's a hanyou?! Was this guy SERIOUS?

"You...don't know what a HANYOU is?" He breathed. He wanted to pinch himself, but resisted the urge. There was a small bit of glee in knowing this person didn't know of his stained blood and therefore, couldn't pick on him for being half of what he should be. The rest was irritated. Great...did he have to explain THIS too? Although, if a demonstration was in order, at least he could work the stress out of his shoulders. He sighed from that clueless shake. And the others called him clueless. This was nuts!

"A hanyou is half youkai and half human." He nearly retorted. Teaching wasn't his thing, as that required patience. The only teaching he ever wanted to do was with his sword or his claws - much like what he selflessly did for Souta that one day.

"Whatever a youkai is, there are none around here."

He balked again at that. Was this era entirely clueless?! But if there were no youkai in this time and possibly no other hanyou...that meant he was the strongest being right now. His lips twitched in an evil grin. This was fucking GREAT! Well not entirely...there was that jikan youkai in this era. But other than that, he was the strongest.

Things were looking up a bit. His mood lightened a little to give his normal air of arrogance.

"So when is here? And WHERE is here?" He nearly ordered, straightening shoulders and tilting his head back a little. Gold never left the person across the way, though he noticed the reaction to his emotional change.

"This city is called Tokyo. You are in the Meiji era."

He blinked, though the Tokyo word sounded familiar - hadn't Kagome mentioned she lived in that city before? "Meiji? What's that?" Now it was his companion's turn to look surprised. Wide violet blinked at him and tested his patience. Now he felt like a baka and he never liked that feeling.

"Y - you don't know of...the Meiji era? Just where are you from?! Haven't you heard of Emperor Meiji at ALL?"

A hand absently rose and scratched his head. "Never heard that."

"Oi! Show a little respect!"

Gold moved to his right in a bored fashion. He missed the look of surprise in the other pair of eyes. "I wondered how long it'd take before you stopped keeping quiet. You breathe too loud boy. And tell that onna to stop shuffling. That cloth noise is getting on my nerves." The two came out from their spying posts with mild guilty looks on their faces and small blushes. But they eyed him with skeptical looks, not knowing about his senses.

"Kaoru-dono...Yahiko... How long have you two been listening?"

Yahiko gave an embarrassed grin and put a hand to the back of his head. "Long enough to hear this Inu guy's name." Dark brown glared at gold. "You need to learn respect for Meiji-sama! And you say I'm bad?"

He glared right back. "You are disrespectful!" He ground out, leaning forward at the subtle challenge. Teeth bared a little as the kid refused to look away. "You're a brat! At least Souta knows how behave properly around someone stronger than him!"

There was a small, muffled giggle from the girl as the two resigned their staring match to look at her. She looked rather amused. "Even for having a foul mouth, you sure can read people." She got out, sending a smug look Yahiko. "Brat."

"Oi, you two..." Violet sent a small glare to the two for having interrupted a private talk and also to get them under control to continue. After they quieted down and gave Inuyasha their full attention, Kenshin continued. "Now, if you've never heard of our era, what era are you from?"

He thought about that. There wasn't much he cared to know about the history of his homeland, unless it involved fighting and training. But he genuinely tried to recollect the era's name and or the emperor shogun of the time he was spewed from. A claw idly itched skin as he stared at the interesting ceiling. "Ano...eto..." An eye scrunched up. "Muru-mura-muro...Muramek-muramak-mura...Muramaki I think. The Muramaki era." Inuyasha stared to Kenshin. "But Kagome's called it the Sengoku before."

There was an almost tense silence as the three stared at him with unreadable expressions. It was making him highly uncomfortable and irritation rose to help him from fidgeting. "What? What's wrong?"

"Muramaki...you mean the Muromachi era?"

That sounded closer. He nodded. "Sounds about right." The look of equal shock on their faces confused him. "WHAT?" He barked.

Yahiko was the first to find his tongue. "The Muromachi...was from thirteen-thirty-four to fifteen-seventy-three!" He cried.

"Your point being?" Inuyasha retorted, crossing his arms unconsciously. Their staring hadn't changed. If anything, it got worse as if the numbers the boy just mentioned somehow connected to something.

"The year is now eighteen-sixty-eight!" Yahiko finished, the look on his face still there. "That was five to three hundred years ago!"

"And how did something such as yourself manage to get so far into the future?"

Inuyasha ignored the girl's question and pondered the years stated. So many?? Why was it such a large gap? Why didn't he end up in Kagome's time since he'd at least been there? Eyes strayed to the yard, taking it in with this new information. He assumed then, with the housing design, this era must be much more developed and powerful to be so rich-looking. In the Sengoku Jidai, the only homes like this belonged to the shogun daimyo. And he only knew that from Miroku and his stupid 'exorcising' rituals.

Miroku??

His eyes widened. That had to be it! Kagome's arrow and Miroku's ofuda! Being in the air above the jikan youkai as he was caught him a good glimpse of the pink ball that was the same color as Kagome's miko abilities. Also that little crackle of energy that struck the youkai. He felt a little bit of that jolt when it happened, only because the youkai was touching part of him at the time. He resisted the urge to growl and / or hit something. The magic from the bouzu's ofuda and Kagome's arrow, combined with the youkai's natural abilities and the shikon no kakera it had apparently set off some freak, chain reaction that flung them through time. He wondered if the youkai was even aware of where they were!

Fists clenched as anger spilled over. Such a careless move! If those two hadn't screwed up so royally, he wouldn't be hundreds of years in the future, NOT of his own violation as when he went to see Kagome!

A snarl left him as a fist lightly hit the engawa and made the boards creak. Everyone jumped in surprise and at the power he displayed, but he ignored them. "God damn fucking BAKA!" He jumped to his feet and began to pace the yard, fists clenching and unclenching. "When I get back there I'm going to throttle Miroku and beat him over the head with his shakujou and Sango won't be able to do a damn thing to stop me! Then tear every one of Kagome's arrows into pieces! Fuck!"

The three stared, almost a little fearful at Inuyasha's rage, before tensely eyeing each other.

"Dare we ask?" Kaoru whispered, sparing glances to the pacer.

"He seems to have a short temper, that he does. It would do no good to set him off even further."

"Don't talk like I can't HEAR you! Baka!"

"Don't call us stupid!" Kaoru bit out, glaring. Any suggestion Kenshin made not to anger Inuyasha flew from her mind at the insult.

Inuyasha stopped and met blue with a fierce glare. "Just don't flap your lips anymore and give me a fucking second to THINK."

There were times when Yahiko knew when to and when NOT to push Kaoru's limits. Even Sano and Megumi knew when to shut up and not piss her off. And right now, he knew her limit had DEFINITELY been crossed. A rapid glance to Kenshin found those eyes equally wide and almost horrified as the two jumped when Kaoru hopped to her feet, fists clenched. They both started inching away out of reach.

Before anyone could say a word, Kaoru picked up Inuyasha's sword and stalked across the area. She all but threw it toward his chest as hard as possible, not getting the satisfaction of hurting him as his hand whipped out and caught the scabbard mere inches from his body.

"You..." She hissed, eyes almost slits. "How DARE you degrade me that way! You're on MY property, you eat MY food, get information from MY friends... If you have a polite bone in your body, I suggest you dig deep and find it before I grab my shinai and do everything in my power to throw you out of this yard! I don't care HOW strong you are or what you are! Don't think I won't do it! You think anyone else is going to be so generous to someone that looks like you?" A hand rose and yanked on an ear, getting a loud warning growl. Kaoru let go, but didn't let lose her fury. "Whatever your problem is, it most certainly doesn't concern us! We're helping you as best we know how and do NOT appreciate this attitude! Not even SAITO is this bad! So I suggest you shape up and act more pleasant before we ignore you until you go away!"

His jaw set in a tight grip at the blow to his pride. His lips pursed and the glare never left. Degraded? She thought SHE was degraded? HE was the one who was just put in his place by a human! Could this get any MORE humiliating?

But he couldn't afford to lose this only real connection he had to this time. In broad daylight, he wouldn't get away with anything in this era. As it was, his sharp hearing could pick up distant sounds of zouri slapping amongst dirt and the smell of human sweat in the fall heat managed to hit him even inside the outer walls. The place was too developed and populated - hiding would do him no good. He was stuck and that was constantly being reminded to him in little ways, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Shit, he LOATHED this situation! If it were ANYONE else, things wouldn't be happening this way.

Sango would have already got the information she needed - politely of course - and found a spare set of clothes to disguise herself to start the search.

Kagome would've also gotten information the same way and probably find a way to invoke their aide with the city being unfamiliar to her. She would also need their help to take down the youkai, if these humans even could, and could probably get it too.

Miroku...shit that bouzu would probably ask this bitch to bear his child the second she came into sight! And there would be no one around to slap him for it, unless the onna did it herself. But still, AFTER all that, he would do the same as the others and probably be back where they started before the day was out.

Why couldn't he have found a bunch of samurai to talk to? He wasn't for all that peaceful, negotiation crap and subtly. Charge in head first, kill it, and get the job done was his motto. Waiting took too much time. He heaved a sigh, tension of all this confrontation getting a knot in his shoulders. Looking away with a sullen face, he wouldn't let her get the last word in. Shit, he didn't let his FRIENDS get the last word in, so why would he a complete stranger?

Hands stuffed in his sleeves as he assumed an arrogant pose. His chin tilted up as far as he could to look down his nose on her. "If I have to be 'pleasant' to you, you'd better be respectful of someone massively stronger than you and treat me a little better. I may be a hanyou, butmy father was an Inu taiyoukai." His eyes narrowed. "And you...you're just weaklings compared to me." He smirked.

There was a massive amount of sputtering by the girl before hands shot out and gripped his haori almost savagely. She yanked and off-balanced him and arms pulled from his sleeves to flail for stability.

Kaoru was seeing more than just the red of this asshole's fine clothes. Her fists tightened even further as she got inches from that straight nose and unveiled her fury in those blue pools. There was an indignant glare met back and the two stayed like that. She noted that Inuyasha hadn't touched her, but with the way his shoulders were lined, his hands were somewhere at his sides. Probably fisted to, which seemed to be some trend he had when angry.

On the engawa, the two watched the heated stare-down in shock and amaze. They sat with knees touching, faces turned to the other as they conspired as inaudibly as possible without Inuyasha hearing.

"Do you think he'll kill her?"

"I'd be more worried about Kaoru-dono doing the killing, that I would. Kowaii, kowaii."

The morning had risen enough since the extremely early breakfast to give the two a very clear glimpse of the look on Inuyasha's face and the position of Kaoru's hands fisting those expensive-looking clothes to the point of tearing them apart.

It seemed the stare-down would never cease, as Inuyasha was vying for the dominate position. No way would he submit to a human. It seemed hopeless until one of those furry ears flicked forward, soon accompanied by the other. His face lost any anger, replaced with confusion and interest as he looked over Kaoru's head and forgot all about her. "Oi; someone's coming."

"Oro?"

"Ohayou minna! Got anything good cooking? I spent all my money gambling and I'm a little short to go to Akabeko today. Mind if I have a little from you?"

Kaoru's irritation flared again, this time at the nearly unwanted visitor. As the footsteps slowly neared, she whirled around. "No! Go leech off someone else you bum - I'm not giving out handouts! And don't EVEN think of asking for money right now!"

"Oi...minna?"

Kenshin stood and quickly put his sakabatou through the ties to his hakama. This was going to get ugly, he just knew it. With Inuyasha's temper and short fuse, and Sano's short fuse and love for a good fight, he foresaw a brawl happening if he didn't find a way to get the fighter out for the afternoon. But all the speed he possessed from training in the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu couldn't get him to around the house in time to keep Sano from getting in eyesight of the two in the yard.

"What the hell is THAT?!"

"Ano...Sano...if you'll just keep your voice down and come sit down -"

"Is that an animal? It has dog ears!"

"Very astute assumption." Inuyasha wryly retorted, ears flicking back at the loudness of this new person's voice.

Sano blinked in shock and confusion. Then he whipped to Kenshin for answers. "What the hell is going on here? I leave for one night and you have some...THING drop in your laps!"

Kaoru abandoned her anger, trying to get her blood pressure back to normal, and slowly headed toward the duo. "Sano, please sit down. There's a few things that should be discussed to bring you up to speed."

"I am NOT explaining myself again! If this person arrived too late to hear details, that's his problem! Do you just let anyone waltz onto your property like that without proper announcement?"

"NANI? Say that again you!"

"Oi, Sano, you should calm down, that you should... Don't go losing your temper over something like this."

"That...thing just insulted me! I'm not going to let him do that!"

Kaoru gave a dry smirk. "He's done it to all of us so far, you get used to it. Sort of."

"Oi, weaklings shouldn't talk that way." Inuyasha called, smirking. He assumed the same pose as earlier. Ah conflict...it's what he did best.

"Nani!?" Kaoru snapped. A clenched fist hovered near her face in warning as she faced Inuyasha again.

"Baka! Don't talk to Kaoru that way! We're not weak...that's like a mass insult! Yurusanai!"

"Stop flapping your lips." Inuyasha goaded, smirk widening. This guy reminded him of Kouga's hotheadedness. If the two were similar, maybe he could beat this guy down and feel a small bit of triumph at making someone with such similar personalities cower before the stronger. This was great! Finally a fight!

Suffice to say, Sano's temper was perked and he started to walk forward, only to be held very poorly in place by Kaoru. "No fighting in my yard!" She ordered, glaring up at the lanky youth. "Kenshin, tasukete!"

Instead of doing as nearly ordered, Kenshin merely stood in slight wonder at how all of this progressed from a semi-peaceful exchange of information to a fight. A hand rested over his eyes as his head shook with the embarrassment that accompanied wonder.

Sano easily sidestepped Kaoru, nearly making her fall as her weight was fully pushing against him to keep him from moving. "Don't worry jou-chan, this won't take long."

"Your confidence is amusing human." Inuyasha lightly retorted, his arms crossing. "You're of no threat to me."

Sano's fists cracked in readiness for a fight. This was what he lived for and although those clothes were highly baggy, they seemed to be more for show. The guy didn't look that built. This would be easy. "I could say the same for you. You look scrawny. What're you hiding behind those ancient robes? You do realize where and when you are right?"

The humor in that wasn't lost on him. That smirk inched higher. "I do now. I learned it this morning. And now that I have my information, I have no need of any of you really. So I'll teach you a lesson in messing with a powerful hanyou and get to killing the youkai to head home."

"Yamero!" Kaoru shouted, taking a few steps. She eyed the two in center stage, facing off in her yard and felt a prick of worry. She was privy to a little bit of Inuyasha's strength when he hit the engawa and wondered if he tried a little harder if his hand could break through it no problem. But Sano was strong, strong enough to face Shishio Makoto from what she heard, and also stand up to Saitou. He fought a lot of battles and had his recently learned Futae no Kiwami. She should trust in her friend's abilities and stamina. Sano would be fine.

So she hoped...

Inuyasha's stance widened a little as his body inched to the ground in preparation to jump into battle. His claws tensed for attack. Tessaiga wasn't needed in such an easy battle and he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to use it against a human like this. But he didn't intend on killing...just a little roughing up and having some fun. "Let's see what you humans in this stupid, peaceful Meiji era can do." Inuyasha muttered, loudly enough for everyone to hear. It was a rather good insult and purposely placed to anger his opponent and blind him with anger.

It worked rather well as the human gave an enraged cry and sprang forward, fists clenched.

I am a BEGINNER Japanese learner...so if these are not 100 correct...please let me know if you care to do so. I only have a web page to learn from, a dictionary, and a few months experience to work with.

Translations: Onna-Woman Hentai-Pervert Ano/Eto-Um/uh (general unsure sounds, like fumbling for words) Shinai-Bamboo sword tied together with string with sword shape

Taiyoukai-Great youkai Zouri-Straw sandals Kowaii-Scary Ohayou minna-Morning everyone Sakabatou-Kenshin's reverse edge sword Minna-Everyone Tasukete-Help (me)

Yamero-Stop (it) Jou-chan-Miss Futae no Kiwami-Attack Sano learned from Anji

n.n Not what anyone expected, ne? ; But what else can anyone expect from IY's hotheadedness/stubbornness/pride/etc? I still give him his nice moments and he'll have more in further chapters, so I'm not making him to be the killing machine/bullhead we all thought in the beginning few episodes. I did comparisons of both anime characters because that will have an effect in later chapters. Thanks for reading! Ja matta! n.n