Who I am
~
an Inuyasha fanfiction
by
mkh2
~
~Who I am~
A love story in three parts:
The hanyou
The youkai
The ningen
~
Part 1: The hanyou
~
It had been a while since it was just the two of them, just he and Kagome, Inuyasha reflected as he settled back against the tree. It was comfortable feeling, one that he missed from the early days of searching for the Shikon no kakera. Just him and Kagome and their wits against the world. Not that he had anything against the others, Sango, Miroku, Kirara – he even had a soft spot for Shippou and had to (begrudgingly) admit that even ol' Myouga helped pull them out of a scrape or two.
The scent of ramen floated up to his nose and he licked his lips in anticipation. This was another thing he missed – their mealtimes together. Before, they would set down wherever they pleased, light up the cook stove and within minutes be eating a delicious cup of noodles or two. Before, once they finished eating, if Kagome was still tired he'd just carry her on his back, which came with an added bonus of getting to be extra close to her – not that he'd admit that he liked it. He'd sooner break the Tetsusaiga than fess up.
"Ramen's ready," Kagome's voice called up, a gentle lilt to her voice he rarely heard anymore. At first she had a tone that he decidedly called her "make nice" tone, when first trying to get him to be friendly to her. It was very similar to the one she'd use on Shippou and himself – a warning that if they continued messing around too much privileges would be revoked and 'Oswurais' doled out. The tone that soon followed, this one, was only heard when they were alone. It had followed the "make nice" tone quickly, almost completely replacing it, and he'd never admit that this tone made him melt like ice cream on a hot day – one of his new favorite treats from the future where Kagome lived.
Leaping from the tree, he landed lightly on his feet before shuffling over to the fallen log where Kagome made her roost and sat next to her comfortably close, accepting the offered noodles in silence. Quietly they both ate, slurping up the cooling broth and noodles before quickly collecting the trash and sticking it into a bag for Kagome to dispose of in her time.
Inuyasha stood up and stretched before ambling over to the thick base of the tree he sat in earlier and leaning against its trunk. It was late; night would fall momentarily, enshrouding them in a dark veil until morning broke. He watched as Kagome set out her sleeping bag before brushing her teeth quickly and crawling in. He licked his lips, the taste of ramen still on them and recalled the first time he tried toothpaste on the futuristic girl's suggestion. Unfortunately, it was mint, and far too strong for his delicate senses to handle. Even when she tried to suggest a milder bubblegum flavor, and even after being pacified with ten extra cups of ramen, he was still wary of toothpaste.
He wrinkled his nose. He preferred to think of the first time he tasted ramen. It was the day before they ran into that Nobunaga fellow – nice guy but not all quite together. The day before they met him, just two days after the encounter with his brother. Inuyasha nodded his head. Kagome had stormed home in a fit after he had 'insulted her' and she sat him. He didn't see what the big deal was – he already had told her to let her protect him – why did he have to promise it as well? At any rate, she soon came back with a fully stocked backpack… and delicious scents were emanating from it. Inuyasha squirmed. It smelled… so good.
Inuyasha had never been a very trusting person. He had good reason to act that way too. Shunned by both his human and youkai peers, feared and hated and despised, he was constantly on the move, doing all within his power to just stay alive from day to day. So when, that evening, after half a day's worth of travel, they set up camp, it was only natural he was hesitant to eat her strange foreign food. He refused it and leapt into the nearby tree on the pretense of guarding camp – he was really watching her to see whether or not she's get out a different cup to eat. Instead, after shrugging, she took the water she had set to boil, opened the cup she had offered to him, poured in half the water that was boiled and put the rest to the side to cool, and after that strange "egg timer" chirped… she ate it.
The next day her tried some of the noodles. He hoped the results with the Shikon no Tama would be only half so good.
~
It couldn't have been more than an hour after the sunset. Kagome had only just fallen into actual sleep and Inuyasha was feeling nice and relaxed when he felt his senses jump in a full-panicked alert. Kagome stirred and sat up tiredly, rubbing the new sleep out of her eyes.
"Youkai," he said.
"Shikon," she said.
In that moment after their breathless statements, the world seemed to explode. Bursting onto the scene was an eight-foot tall and equally wide pig-like youkai. It had many eyes, some big, some small, and two large, prominent tusks curling alongside its snout and five horns on its forehead, settled between its two flapping black ears. It was a deep crimson and mottled brown in color and had three long whip-like tails of black.
"It's a wild boar!" gasped Kagome.
"No, Myouga's a wild bore – that's a wild pig,*" Inuyasha countered as he scooped up Kagome in his arms and jumping, deposited her in the tree he sat in earlier for safe keeping, and well out of the youkai's reach even if it reared.
"Where's the shard?" Inuyasha questioned as he drew the Tetsusaiga.
"Under his chin, near the neck," Kagome swallowed.
"Great," muttered Inuyasha, leaping down from the branch and swinging his favored sword in a wide arm to bring down in a crushing blow on the pig's head. Except, it didn't hit the pig's head. With a mighty squeal, the pig darted out of the way, leaving Inuyasha to come crashing down on the smothered fire and wet earth. He sat up in a huff, smacking the ash and dirt off himself, coughing and sputtering as he took in the horrific scent of the youkai.
"Yeah, you've probably never taken a bath since the day you were born. I bet you don't even step out in the rain for fear of getting wet," Inuyasha growled, trying valiantly to keep from passing out. Everything seemed to be swimming and the hand and sleeve held tightly to his nose didn't seem to help much.
With another great "squeee!" the boar spun and kicked at him, lashing out with his tails. Having held the Tetsusaiga loosely, for feeling faint, he and the sword went flying, Inuyasha slamming into the loose dirt face first, the Tetsusaiga sailing through the air.
"Waah!" Kagome reached out for the Tetsusaiga, her fingertips barely brushing the hilt as it soared and landed with a sound "thuck!" and sticking into a neighboring tree. Losing her balance, she slipped and nearly tumbled, but, scrambling, her legs wrapped around the tree branch and she found herself hanging upside down.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha leapt to his feet worriedly, and started to head to her, tripping over himself. He felt sick to his stomach from the pig's stench, his eyes were out of focus except on the slight girl hanging precariously from the limb.
Kagome''s eyes widened in fright as her gaze shifted from the scuffed countenance of her… dearest friend… to that of the hulking beast behind him. Apparently it didn't like being ignored. A split second after having whipped Inuyasha it had rounded back to him, preparing itself to lash out at the downed hanyou with its front… not hooves, claws. Four terrifying claws on each of the front feet, with large hooves on its hind feet. Now it raised its right one, ready to bring it down on the unsuspecting hanyou.
"Inuyasha – look out!" screamed Kagome.
It was too late. Inuyasha stared in morbid fascination as his blood flew out in front of him, splattering Kagome's few possessions and the tree she sat in with the crimson liquid as the claws tore into his right shoulder. He staggered forward, his left hand clutching at the shredded flesh as blood thickly oozed forth, pulsing out in great waves with every thundering beat of his heart.
Then, all went black.
~End part 1 – The hanyou~
How was that? Okay? No? ::sheds tears:: Well, I'm planning on (hopefully) sticking out one chapter per day for three days of this story so I hope you enjoy it anyway. I'm working on my other fiction right now.
* I'm sorry, couldn't resist. The line is from "Robin Hood: Men in Tights." I just love those Mel Brooks movies. Everyone, watch "Space Balls"!
10:49 p.m. – 11:49 p.m., 10/07/2003 – whaddya know, also an hour.