~*Disclaimer: I've got … ninety dollars worth of bus tickets. (Don't ask.) You think that'll be enough to buy Inuyasha?
"…" - speech
'…' - thoughts
~*~*~ - change in scenery or time.
DividerFeb.22.299 NA
New Tokyo, Demon Division, Sector 118It was the same routine everyday.
Inuyasha would wake up later than everybody else at his student settlement, get dressed in fresh grey clothes, eat his instant breakfast alone, and run to school, arriving at just the last second. The teachers could do nothing to reprimand him when he slammed into class just as the final warning bell rang, since he had done nothing wrong.
When class started, the teenager would laze about, occasionally paying attention to the teacher. He only really listened when the lecture was about something new, or if a new simulator was being explained. In certain classes in which visual representations would be useful in teaching, such as history, there were virtual simulators in the classroom to enhance the learning procedure.
They were really quite simple looking- long, black rectangular-like boxes that were large enough to accommodate one person. The floor inside of the simulator was mobile, able to give the user the ability to walk around the virtual world without crashing into the simulator walls. To see the virtual world, there were vision headsets that circled the back of the head and was set across the eyes. There were also built-in speakers along the sides that covered the ears. Not only did the students wear the earphones, the interior of the box was lined with individual speakers that gave the simulation a real life like environment.
Motion sensor pads were required for the virtual character to be able to move with the real person. Some demons that had extra appendages, such as wings, were required to use specially designed simulators.
Inuyasha actually liked the classes when the simulators were being used, but today's Japanese Literature lesson revolved around a lecture. Barely tuning in, he discovered that it was about the reading material produced during first year of the Neo Age, and quickly zoned out. He'd read about that many months ago. His eyes remained unfocused on the back of some turtle demon's head.
As he became more relaxed, memories began to play through his mind's eye.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A tall, black-haired woman was crouching before a white-haired child him, and she was smiling. He, however, was on the verge of tears.
'Mommy… I got a cut. It really hurts!'
'Aww, Inu-chan, let mommy see?' He held the offending finger out. 'Don't worry, see, it's not deep. Mommy will kiss and make it better!'
The child giggled as his mother placed a gentle kiss on the cut Almost instantly, the wound healed over, and the finger was as good as new. The little boy looked at his mother and smiled.
'Look mommy! It doesn't hurt anymore!
She picked up her child and cradled him against her body.
"You see, little one, that's one of the advantages of having demon blood- you heal much faster than your mother does."
Inu-chan scrunched his nose.
"Are there others like you, mommy?"
"Yes. There are many humans, just like your mother, but they are all on the other side of the city." The woman smiled sadly. 'And I gave up that life when I took a demon lover…But as long as I have my child, it matters not.'
- The mother continued to hold the little boy, as he slowly fell asleep in the inviting warmth.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Student 10243, please answer the question." The monotone voice of the android teacher broke into Inuyasha's stupor.
He looked up, slightly disappointed, and a little angry. That had been one of the better memories of his mother, and the damn android had ruined it.
"What's the question?"
Several students snickered at the half-demon's lack of attention, thinking he wouldn't be able to answer it. Most of the full blooded demons themselves didn't know the answer.
"Who was the first demon to write a book that was accepted into the Government's teaching literature list? And in what year to this demon write it?"
"The half-breed probably doesn't even know how to read, how would he know who wrote the books?…"
"Why bother teaching him anything? It's no use, anyway…"
Ignoring the nasty whispers, Inuyasha stood up and responded calmly with an even exterior, even though he was almost shaking with rage on the inside.
"It was Omaro, a boar demons, permanent number 94870 in the year 26 of the Neo Age."
"Correct, stud-"
Inuyasha continued without acknowledging the android.
"And his first book was called 'A Life in Our World' that was focused on all the advantages of the lifestyle in New Tokyo. It was first published in the year 27, after which the Government brought it into the educational library. Omaro wrote two other books, and after he finished his third, became ill and died."
Taken by surprise at his lengthened answer, the whispering of the students abruptly stopped. The room was silent, while the android nodded its metal head.
"Correct, student 10243."
The boy sat down.
The android resumed its lecture.
And Inuyasha went back to daydreaming, ignoring the dirty looks.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
During the lunch hour, the dog-eared half demon would sit at a table by himself, his dark gaze daring anybody to approach him. Most everybody steered clear from him, knowing what his status was, and why he had a larger room than everybody else.
Although everybody was equal, some were just more equal than the others were.
He was one of the more equal ones.
He was protected by his reputation.
But they still talked about him.
And he could hear the whispers.
The appendages atop his head weren't just for show- they provided Inuyasha with better hearing than many of the lower levelled demons and some of the higher ones as well. Sometimes, one of the braver students would throw an insult at the half-breed. He'd just flip them off when the androids weren't watching- obscene gestures were not allowed in a perfect world.
He hated it.
He hated his life in the student settlement.
Hell, he hated his life, period.
But he had grown used to it.
After all, spending four years in the place was enough to dull the experience.
Today was no different.
Inuyasha had actually slept for the entire night yesterday. As a result, he was now feeling more energised than usual, and actually paid a little attention in class.
Note the keyword: a little.
It wasn't that Inuyasha was a bad student. On the contrary, he achieved some of the highest grades on the final term tests every year. He just learned differently than others. Once something wormed its way into his head, he rarely forgot it.
In that way, the dog half demon was much like his sire and sibling.
Not that he'd ever admit to it, of course.
The other students hated him for being who he was. They couldn't take the fact that a half-breed who had 'primitive' human blood in him could take the top scores in school. They couldn't take it that whenever they threw insults at him, they would bounce off, and the freak would just continue what he was doing without so much as a flinch. They couldn't take his cool attitude when he should have been bowing to their superiority in blood.
So that made them dislike him more.
And Inuyasha knew that they did.
But he took no notice.
Let them hate him.
He didn't care.
Not at all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Glancing at his watch, the half demon silently counted down the seconds to the end of the school day. The second hand was ticking closer… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1
As soon as the final bell rang, he sprung out of his seat, gathered his things, and was out of the classroom faster than anybody else.
Sliding his personal identification card across one of the many attendance slots, Inuyasha sprung through the doors of the large education facility, and jogged away at a leisurely speed. Dropping off his belongings at his small room in the student settlement, the half-demon began walking away from the student settlements.
What did he do with his spare time?
Why, brood, of course.
What else could he do?
He had no friends.
He was separated from his only living family, a full-blooded dog demon, who, as Inuyasha suspected, disliked him to the point of hatred for tainting the family blood.
The only reason he hadn't died at Sesshoumaru's claws was because killing was against the rules, and the elder dog demon did have an image to protect. As one of the ambassadors of the Demon Division in New Tokyo, Sesshoumaru lived in one of the luxurious suits designed for government officials. His job was to monitor the activities of the demons, and occasionally file reports.
Sometimes, meetings were held to discuss the progress of the Sectors.
The progress of what, Inuyasha didn't know.
The only people who had treated him like a real person had been his mother and father.
Everybody else either ridiculed him, or chose to ignore him.
Inuyasha had been alone since the day his mother had died. His father had been too busy with his job, and negotiating with the other Government officials about his half-human son. He could remember a few vague recollections of being with his mother when they had been hidden.
He didn't know where they had hid.
He just knew the terror that had entered his heart when she had been taken away from him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The dog-eared boy trooped around the streets of the Demon Division of New Tokyo.
All he could see were the settlements and the occasional school.
The student settlements were round buildings with dome-like tops. They were all white, in contrast to the schools, which were made of a strange black concrete. They had all been built to be soundproof.
As he travelled further away from the education section of the town, the student settlements became fewer and fewer until only private residences remained. These were the houses in which the demons lived once they graduated. Depending on the career destination, they were assigned to different parts of the city.
The private residences were similar to the student settlements, only smaller, to accommodate for one family unit instead of several teenagers.
Sector 118 was an island off the coast of Sector 116. They had learned about the different sectors recently in geography class. New Tokyo covered nearly half of Sector 118's area. It was huge.
For those who had to travel from one place to another, the Government had designed travel stops. The travel stops were a form of public transportation that was operated by androids. The machines drove a large, expandable vehicle that ran on hydrogen. There were hundreds of stops located around the city.
Anybody who had to get from one point to another had to use the travel stops.
The possession of private vehicles was illegal.
However, Inuyasha rarely used the public transportation, for several reasons. For one, he never had to travel to far away places, since he was still a student. When he did decided to explore the city, the half demon preferred to use his own legs instead of relying on a machine. It wasn't that the Government vehicles were slow- they travelled by hovering over magnets, and could actually go at extremely fast speeds. It was just that he had never really trusted the androids.
Not since his mother had been killed by a group of them.
Walking past the private residences, Inuyasha reached the business district.
This was where the demons travelled to for work.
There were hundreds of high rising buildings that one had to crane their neck to see.
When a person graduated from the education program, they were given a job and a new house. Some were assigned their counterparts as well.
Inuyasha doubted he would be partnered with anybody.
The Government wanted to keep the demon bloodline as pure as possible, and consummating a relationship between a half demon and full-blooded demons would taint the purity of that blood.
In a way, he was relieved.
If he were forced to mate with an unwilling female, there were bound to be many arguments.
And although killing was against the 'rules', Inuyasha doubted that a set of regulations could keep an angry, full-blooded bitch from ending his life.
And he just wasn't ready for death.
He was close.
But he didn't hate his life to that point just yet.
Sometimes, Inuyasha wondered about how the human side was like. He wondered how humans really behaved, and whether they were similar to the demons or not.
He wondered if he would have been accepted by the humans.
Acceptance.
That was the one thing he really wanted.
He wanted to belong somewhere, to have a place to call a true home.
There had been one person who had been close to giving him that.
But then he'd discovered it had all been a lie; that she had been working for the Government all along.
He should have known.
After all, humans weren't allowed in the Demon Division.
And she had been human.
He paused in his stride, and hastily directed his thoughts elsewhere. He didn't need images of her popping up now.
He hated her now.
The Government had told the students that the humans were an unintelligent species that were way below the demons on the evolutionary scale. They had been told that the two species could not live together because the difference in society would overwhelm the humans.
The half demon stopped at the border between the two Divisions and sat down, looking beyond it. This was where he spent the majority of his time, nowadays.
There really wasn't any visible divider.
There was just a line where the business buildings abruptly stopped, and a narrow patch of grass covered land ran down the width of the city. Beyond the line, there appeared to be a wasteland that stretched on forever. However, if a demon tried to go past the strip of grass, they were shocked horribly.
Literally.
When he had been a little younger. Inuyasha had watched as some of the older children had tried to run past the grass and into the Human Division. The first one, an eagle demon, had crossed the patch of grass, and he had grinned cockily at the rest. They had followed, planning to explore the new area before there was a sudden rumbling and the trio had been struck with some form of electricity before being thrown back into the Demon Division.
A group of androids had arrived, and they had carried off the three students without a word.
They had never been seen again.
The dog-eared boy believed that it was the lack of human blood that had triggered the silent alarm. But he couldn't be sure.
Almost unconsciously, his hand stretched out to touch the divider.
How he wanted to go beyond that invisible divider.
Only inches away from it, Inuyasha jumped back. His hand was shaking.
It was the same everyday. He would advance towards the divider, and then try and go past it. But every attempt had been cut short. He had a desire to see the humans, to be the first to enter the Human Division, and survive to make it back to the demon's side of town. To possibly find a place where he would finally be accepted. But every time, he would stop. And decide to try again the next day.
The half demon snorted, disgusted at his own cowardice.
He was better than that.
He shouldn't have to be afraid of some group of androids and the Government that controlled the entire world.
He shouldn't have to be afraid of what would happen if he broke some stupid rules imposed by said ruling power.
He shouldn't have to be afraid of what his human blood would do to him one day.
He shouldn't have to be afraid of what would happen if he failed to cross the barrier.
He shouldn't have to be afraid of what would happen if he succeeded.
But he was.
And for good reason as well.
He didn't want to be the next victim of the Government
He wanted to live as long as he could, just to spite them. Just to make them know that their world was far from perfect.
Turning abruptly on his heel, Inuyasha stomped back towards the direction of his student settlement.
He would be back tomorrow to try again.
He always was.
And one day, he would succeed.
He was damn sure of that.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In response to:
Safreil:
Revolt, you say? … You'll see… you'll see…
[The end of the chapter was interesting. I hadn't planned for it to happen but it did.]