A Hanyou in Tokyo
By socchan
Four: Shippo
A young fox demon sat on the steps outside of Kagome's high school, a guitar in his hands, the case, closed, at his side. He plucked a few random chords as he watched the students file in, identifying if they were human or not out of habit. There were quite a few youkai going to that school, more than many would guess, but it was Tokyo, after all. Absently, he played the opening chords to a song*, then let his voice join it, softly.
"Hello Darkness my old friend,
I've come to talk to you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sounds of silence."
People didn't know how vulnerable they were these days. They had fewer values, and the few they had were of lesser importance than what was on television that afternoon. More so in Western culture, but it was spreading with alarming quickness.
"In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobbled stone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence."
Nothing was real anymore. They hadn't been since the war (WWII), and it was only getting worse as time went on. Youkai knew, but most humans were oblivious, and those who weren't had a hard time spreading the message without it being distorted. Youkai knew better than to try. Eventually, civilization would collapse, and then they would be there to step from the shadows and take over. There were few youkai out there who would give a wit about what happened to humans after the Purging, when demons had to go into hiding or risk extermination. Shippo was one of them, but he didn't often voice his opinion.
"And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence."
Shippo had learned to respect the humans very early on. He was still very young when the Purging took place, but a human family had taken him and his parents in, hiding and caring for them, despite their blood. He, in turn, learned to care for them, and, with his family, warned them whenever a rogue youkai or miko hunter neared. He learned that no matter what youkai might do to them, however they might try to crush the humans' spirits, humans would find a way to rise above the youkai and force them once again into submission. He doubted the youkai would ever get complete control without killing all or nearly all the humans on the planet. Peace, Shippo reasoned, was only truly possible with a human uprising, and even then it would take a while. Still, he would like to be there to see it, even if it was in his last years.
"'Fools', said I, 'you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.'
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence."
Shippo watched with a faint smile as Kagome neared the school, the hanyou he had seen her with yesterday in tow, this time wearing the school's uniform. Kagome was another reason he thought so highly of humans. She thought well of everyone, and treated them equally. She was also a very powerful miko, even without having realized it or gotten proper training. In addition, she had the Shikon no Tama in her body, and that was a power in itself. Factoring all of that it, it was a miracle she had survived to adolescence, even with his help.
The hanyou noticed Shippo staring at Kagome, and scowled, a faint growl rising in his throat. Shippo smirked visibly as Kagome scolded him, and he yielded like a hurt puppy. Yup, Kagome even treated half-breeds with decency. Of course, she might not consciously realize she was doing it, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew what was going on. Shippo began the last verse.
"And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming,
And the sign said the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls,
And tenement halls,
And whispered, in the sound of silence."
"Good morning, Shippo." Kagome said, brightly.
"Morning, Kagome." Shippo returned. "Who's your friend?"
"Ah, Shippo, this is Inu-Yasha. He's the son of a friend of the family. His dad is on a business trip, so he's staying with us for a while." Kagome replied nervously. "Inu-Yasha, this is Shippo. He's in our class."
Inu-Yasha bowed stiffly. "Pleased to meet you," he murmured, a touch of malice in his voice.
Shippo bowed as well. "Likewise, Inu-Yasha. I hope you're with us for a while."
"We'll see." Inu-Yasha muttered, too quiet for Kagome to hear.
Shippo snorted lightly as he packed up his guitar. "We'd better get going," he said, swinging the guitar strap over his shoulder. "Class is going to start soon."
Kagome glanced at her watch and started. "Ah! You're right! C'mon, Inu-Yasha, let's go." Shippo choked back laughter as he watched Kagome drag the struggling hanyou to their classroom. Who could have guessed she'd have such influence over Inu-Yasha?
Wait a sec… Shippo frowned. Inu-Yasha? Didn't I hear about a hanyou with that name when I was younger? I remember it being one of Mom's favorite fairy tales…
"Shippo! We're going to be late!" Kagome called to him, derailing his train of thought.
Shippo shook his head, trying to make it back to reality. Ah, well. I'll figure it out later. He reasoned. He caught up to Kagome.
Inu-Yasha watched the fox demon out of the corner of his eye. The brat had been discretely staring at him for the entire morning, and Inu-Yasha wanted to know why. He growled low in his throat, so low that only someone with a high ratio of demon blood would have been able to pick it up, and then only someone close by. The dark-haired boy next to him cast him an irritated glare. Inu-Yasha returned it with a condescending one. The boy rolled his eyes and went back to his work. Inu-Yasha snorted, faintly. He'd finished the math problems they'd been given only a few minutes after they were assigned. He glanced at Kagome, who was frowning in frustration at the paper in front of her and his brow creased in concern. Maybe he could do something to help her… After all, she was letting him stay at her house…
What was with that damn fox?! Hadn't he ever seen a hanyou before?! They were rare, admittedly, but a lot less rare than that! Hell, half the people in the class had some percentage of demon blood, though a good deal of it was less than fifty percent pure. There was another couple of full demons, another hanyou, and the boy who'd glared at him earlier had to be at least seven-eighths demon (though how or why, Inu-Yasha didn't care to know). There wasn't exactly much special about him. Grumbling, Inu-Yasha resolved to find out just what the fox found so interesting, and soon.
When the lunch bell rang, Inu-Yasha saw his chance. Scowling, he walked up to Shippo. "We need to talk." He stated, plainly.
Shippo met his gaze with mild interest. "Fine. I've been meaning to find an excuse to do that, anyway." He swung his guitar on. "Let's go to the roof; no one should be there now." Without waiting for a reply, he walked out the door, Inu-Yasha tailing him.
Far across the city, a person who appeared to be a young man in his early twenties with coiling black hair neared the end of a search. He stopped by a pit of land that had been undisturbed for centuries, and held out his hand expectantly. Earth exploded outward with a burst of power, and showered down around a wooden box, sealed tight against the ages. Smiling slightly, the person that appeared to be a man stooped and lifted the box up. Flinching a bit as he came in contact with it, he cut open the seal, and opened the box, revealing a skeletal right hand with bits of long-dead flesh still clinging to it. Around it was wrapped a piece of cloth and a Buddhist rosary. Dust was thick around the bottom of the box, except near what used to be the palm of the hand, where a clean spot vortexed out. The hand itself pulsed with unholy energy, even so long after its owner's death. Smiling slightly, the person who appeared to be a man closed the lid. He glanced at the pit, and clumps of scattered earth lifted from the ground to collect in another box at his right. Once the second box was full, the person who appeared to be a man shut and sealed it with a burst of youkai energy. He flicked his wrist, and a handful of enormous wasps came to lift the boxes into the air, and carry them off. The person who appeared to be a man watched them fly off until they were no more than a speck on the horizon, a now familiar unholy smile on his face. "One down…" he addressed the wilderness, almost silently. "Two to go." Turning, Naraku left the desecrated burial ground behind. Soon, the youkai would again be masters of the world, with him at its head.
Inu-Yasha and Shippo stood some distance apart on the otherwise empty roof. Shippo had unpacked his guitar and was now plucking random melodies out of what Inu-Yasha supposed was a nervous habit. Inu-Yasha put that out of his mind as he focused on the task at hand. It appeared that Shippo didn't want to be the first one to speak and, as there were a limited number of people on the roof, that left it up to Inu-Yasha to make the first move. "So why were you staring at me in there?" he asked, bluntly. Inwardly, he winced; this was not the best way to start this sort of conversation, particularly on such uncertain ground for the hanyou, but it was the only way he knew how.
Shippo continued to pluck out melodies, almost absently, as he stared into space. Inu-Yasha was about to ask again when he spoke. "My mom told me a story when I was little. It was about a miko, a hanyou, and a mystical jewel named the Shikon no Tama. There was also a wounded human bandit, but I'll get to him later."
Inu-Yasha looked at Shippo curiously. So far it was familiar, aside from the bandit. As Inu-Yasha pondered this, the fox continued.
"The miko, Kikyo, had been entrusted with the jewel so she could purify it. She was very powerful, and well suited to the task. At the time there lived an inu hanyou named Inu-Yasha. He was drawn to the jewel, but also to Kikyo, gaining her trust in an attempt to get the jewel. Eventually, they grew close, but how close it is hard to say. They had known one another a long while in human terms before things began to go downhill.
"One day Kikyo happened upon the injured human bandit Onigumo. Burns on his body rendered him immobile, and Kikyo gave him her mercy. She looked after him, visiting him periodically, feeding him and dressing his wounds. She was not aware of this, but he could sense her aura, and how her powers faded as she grew closer to the hanyou. Onigumo harbored feelings of his own for her, and would not allow the other two to grow any closer.
"Onigumo struck a deadly blow. He invited demons into his body to gain power so he could obtain the Shikon no Tama. The demons thrived on Onigumo's already corrupt soul. With the power he received from them, Onigumo took the guise of Inu-Yasha and destroyed Kikyo's village, mortally wounding her in the process.
"Details get sketchy from there, and there get to be about a dozen different endings, but the most popular amongst the current demon community has Kikyo giving the Shikon no Tama to Inu-Yasha with the last of her strength. Inu-Yasha uses the jewel to become a full demon and hunt down and kill Onigumo." Shippo met Inu-Yasha's eyes for the first time since he began the tale, holding his gaze with a solemnity the hanyou hadn't expected. "I suppose, though, that if you're any indication, most of those endings can be tossed out the window."
Inu-Yasha closed his eyes and raised a hand to massage his temples. "I never knew about Onigumo…" he murmured. He turned back to Shippo. "Kikyo thought it was me who ransacked the village, and pinned me to a tree with a holy arrow for the last three or four centuries. Kagome woke me up three days ago, so that's sort-of why I'm staying with her."
Shippo whistled, softly. "So you don't know about the Purging?"
Inu-Yasha frowned. "The what?"
The fox shook his head. "Never mind. I'll explain later. Let's just say that there aren't that many demons outside the big city. They're even a little closely packed here."
Inu-Yasha blinked. "Why's that?"
Shippo gave a pained smile. "Most of them are subconsciously drawn in by the power of the Shikon no Tama. A few have other reasons, but not many. The reason they are only subconsciously drawn is the fact that most of the demon community as a whole believes the Shikon no Tama has already been used up, so they don't go looking for it. Once in a while though, there are a few problems."
A growl worked its way up Inu-Yasha's throat, and he struggled to suppress it. "Problems?"
Shippo shrugged. "Soon as I figured out what the strange energy that dragged me here was, I started keeping an eye on our little 'carrier'. She purified a demon that was attacking her when she was two years old without even realizing it. When she was five, she brought down one in her sleep. About that time her aura had seeped into enough of her property that lesser demons were pretty much kept at bay, but some of the more powerful ones could still get through. I started picking them off myself before she turned seven, because by then she would be able to figure out that there were things around her that weren't supposed to be, and that would've turned her world upside-down and endangered her more in the process." He sighed, heavily. "However, the more powerful demons are only now beginning to realize what's right under their noses, and they're going to attack more… formulaically. I might have a problem with them."
"And you?" Inu-Yasha asked, evenly. "What do you want with the Shikon no Tama?"
Shippo looked away. "I don't want it." He said, quietly. "I'm not interested in those kinds of power games. If Kagome wants to give it to me, I'll take it, but other than that…" He shook his head. "I don't want to see her hurt, though. She's too important."
Inu-Yasha looked at Shippo suspiciously. "Do you, ah…" he started, fumbling for what he was trying to say, "Do you… have any… feelings…"
Shippo watched him a moment, a confused look on his face, then laughed. "Oh, Gods, no! Nothing like that! I'm not interested in Kagome that way. She's not my type; besides, after all this time, she's almost like a sister to me! What I mean by important is, if humans and youkai ever go to war, she may be the human side's only chance of winning."
Inu-Yasha released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Relief flooded through him, followed closely by confusion. Why would he be relieved that Shippo wasn't interested in Kagome? He shook it off and chose not to think about it. "Fox," he addressed Shippo, "You are too damn political."
Shippo chuckled. "I guess. I suppose you're going to be helping me protect Kagome?"
Inu-Yasha shrugged. "You could put it that way. I don't exactly plan to let anyone kill her, if that's what you mean."
Shippo grinned. "Good enough. Do you think you could help me break the news to her? I've been trying to think of a good way to do it for years."
Inu-Yasha shrugged. "You mean about the Shikon no Tama? Don't worry, she already knows. She knows I'm a hanyou, too. I could tell her you're a demon, though."
Shippo looked taken aback for a moment, then grinned and shook his head. "I forgot how blunt people were in the Warring States era. Don't worry, I'll tell her myself. I could use your backup, though."
Inu-Yasha nodded. "Fine. When do you want to tell her?"
"Probably this afternoon." Shippo replied. "C'mon," he said, packing up his guitar, "We've already missed most of lunch, and I don't want to go into any major confrontations on an empty stomach."
Inu-Yasha nodded. It looked as if he was going to have to tell her about his decision sooner than planned.
=^-,-^= End Chapter Four =^-,-^=
*Sounds of Silence is copyright Simon and Garfunkel. Good stuff. My mom got me addicted to it. That stuff at the beginning was partly an excuse for my own little political rant, and partly a reason for Shippo to be okay with humans in general. If you have problems with it, please feel free to contact me with them. But don't you think that Shippo makes the most bishonen musician?! Hee hee, natural guitar picks, too ^_~. Gotta love it.
Anyhow, my number one reason for writing this fic appears in the next chapter, so stay tuned.
Tenshineko? If you happen to guess what I'm planning to do with Naraku and the dirt clods would you contact me in private? I want to make sure some people are surprised by it at least. And I shouldn't be glad you haven't guessed what I'm planning for Kouga yet, but I can't help it; I am. And stop reading my mind!
Disclaimer: If I owned Inu-Yasha, I would probably have done a much worse job with him and the rest of the crew than Takahashi-san has done. For this, I thank her. But I don't own it, and that means that it is the wonderful story we all (supposedly) know and love. Thanks for listening!
Edit (1-1-04): First edit job of the New Year. Didn't change much in this chapter, just the few typos I could find by scanning. 'Course, I liked this chapter.
-socchan