Chronicles of Hitaro: A New Youkai Age

by Jack Rhien

Hitaro is a youth who had just turned sixteen. His 16 years of life have been a living hell though. He has a somewhat inhuman attributes (including different colored hair, long nails and fangs, and rare eyes), he has very few friends, abusive guardians,

1. A New Arrival

Chapter 1: The Beginning

I lied there on the ground. Blood poured from the gaping wound in my stomach as I breathed heavily. My eyes stared at the sky as the sun shined down on me. I heard someone screaming my name as footsteps pounded on the earth. The booms on the ground became louder and louder. They soon fell silent as a figure knelt down next to me and grabbed me by the shoulders.

"Hitaro!" A man shouted. "Hitaro!"

"Oh no!" A girl shouted. "Hitaro! Say something! This wound isn't good. Hold on!"

"Hitaro!" The man said again. "C'mon! Say anything! HITARO!"

That's me. I'm Hitaro. Right now, I'm on my deathbed. Well, not exactly. It's more like I'm on the cold hard ground. I bet your wondering a few things. Exactly who am I? What happened? And why am I dying right now? Well, I'll tell you before I pass on... that is, if, I pass on. Still with the way things are going, it isn't likely I'll get through this.

This all happened about three months ago. Back then, I was completely different in both personality, and looks. I had messy hair that was fairly long. It was about as black as space… or so it seemed. In truth, it was silver. It shone brightly in the moonlight. That was the only time I would show my true hair… at night. I had eyes that were a golden-amber color. I had an athletic body. It was muscular, yet limber. I was about five feet and five inches tall and weighed about one hundred-ten pounds. I'm proud to say it was all muscle. I still am though.

I wasn't completely normal though. I had some things that a dog would have. First of, I had fangs. I had elongated canine teeth. They were extremely sharp too. They made knives seem dull. Another thing that I had were extremely sharp nails. They were just like five swords on the tip of my hands. My eyes had a rare color. They were a brilliant golden-amber. I had rarely seen any one with those colored eyes.

Another little fact, I wasn't really human (and I still am not). This is not a lie. I have abnormal strength and speed. I have strength equivalent to that of five adults of impressive strength. As far as speed goes... imagine seeing a blur. You're not sure what it is. In fact, you're not sure if it was real in the first place. That blur would be me.

I had an aggressive personality. I always wanted to fight to keep myself entertained. I was also extremely stubborn. I would refuse to do anything that someone told me to do unless it had some benefit. I was also extremely smart-mouthed, I was cocky and always thought I could get away with everything. That isn't all. There were times when I would, "lose myself." I became a whole new being. I felt like I wanted to kill.

I was also extremely cold. All I felt was pain and anger because of how I was treated. I was an outcast to the rest of the world. I was constantly shunned out, insulted, and beaten. Worst of all, there were only a couple of people who stood up for me. I had a couple of friends, but that was it. I had no parents to give me any love at all. All I had were my drunkard aunt and uncle. Lousy trash. All they did was care about themselves. That made me even worse. The only thing colder then me, at the time, was the Antarctic.

I never knew about my parents. They dumped me with my aunt and uncle when I was young. I was only a couple of years old. I know nothing about them whatsoever. I don't even remember what they looked like. Feh. They probably forgot about me, so I felt it didn't matter if I forgot them.

Now I suppose I should tell you how this all happened in the first place. I remember it so vividly. I had just turned sixteen about thirteen days before it all happened. It was night and I was at my home in Tokyo. There were only two on. The first light was the lamp in the living room I was in. The other was the moon, which gave an illuminating glow across Japan. It was rather different. I couldn't figure out why it was so different that night. I soon learned why it was like that.

"Oh man this is as boring as hell," I muttered under my breath.

I was on the couch, leaning on the armrest with me eyes closed. I took in a deep breath and let out a deep sigh. My aunt and uncle had left an hour before hand. They were going to a party, just like they always did. And like usual, they left me at home. It wasn't like I wanted to go. They would have just beaten me with every chance they had. The more I was away from them, the happier I was.

"Why can't I have a different life?" I asked myself.

"Because you never take a chance," A voice echoed.

I opened my eyes and immediately got to my feet. I looked left and right. I had an angered look on my eyes. I couldn't believe someone said that! That was a direct insult. I tightened my hands until they were tight fists. I growled quietly as I continued to scan my house to see where that voice came from.

"What did you say," I said in a low voice.

"You never take a chance. Why do you always just sit by and just take what you get?"

"That's because this is all I'm given," I said angrily. "Now where are you? Show yourself!"

The door behind me opened up swiftly, creating a loud bang that flew threw my home. It echoed briefly, and then went silent. I turned around to see what happened. A man in a white robe was at the door. He wore a hood that concealed most of his face. He also wore a black sash and held a staff with an ornament on top. He had a smug grin.

"Amazing. Even the unknown doesn't seem to scare you."

"Don't give me that "I'm impressed" crap. Who are you?"

"I'm just a concerned individual. I've been watching you. You seem to live a depressing lifestyle."

"No crap, Sherlock. Now why are you here?"

"I've come to fix your lifestyle. I've come to offer you a chance to live the life you've always wanted. I've come to give you the good life. And as a "bonus," you may just learn about yourself."

"I know plenty about myself. Everyone hates me, nobody cares about me, and I'll beat the crap out of anyone who gets me POed. That includes you."

"If I were you, I wouldn't get cocky. You may be different, but I could still kill you right here."

"Oh yeah," I said with a grin. "Well, let's see about that!"

I shot forward at the man. I pulled my arm back and swung it at him. When my arm was about to make contact, he disappeared. I blinked a couple of times and looked around. He was gone. I growled quietly as my hand turned into a fist again.

"You coward!" I shouted. "You couldn't kill me! All you can do is run and hide!"

"Is that what you think?" The man's voice said. "Well you thought wrong. You see, I was going easy on you. Now I guess I'll have to teach you a little lesson."

I scoffed. This guy's is full of it I thought. I closed my eyes and shook my head. I soon opened them again. I felt a strange sensation. All of a sudden, I felt a force pull me to the ground. I let out a brief yelp. I landed with a loud thud. I groaned as I tried to move my arms to push myself up. I grunted as I tried to move them. I was paralyzed. And it wasn't just that. I felt my body moving on its own. An invisible force was pulling my arms back. I growled quietly in pain as I could feel them being pulled out of the sockets. My hands were being twisted. I groaned quietly.

"So what do you think now? Will you take up my proposition?"

"You little son of a... fine! I'll go with you! I'll go you cheap piece of crap!"

The sensation went away. I gasped as my arms went back into their sockets and my hands were in their normal position. I groaned as I pushed myself off of the ground. I turned my head to look at the door. The man stood there, waiting for me. He still had the sick grin on his face. I growled quietly as I stared at him. He raised his hand and motioned for me to follow him. I grunted as I followed him out the door. When I got out side, the door closed behind me. I quickly spun around and stared at it. I growled. I knew that I couldn't turn back now. I turned around and continued to follow the man.

It was dark now. The moon disappeared, leaving the land as dark as the mysteriousness of the man I was following. This made it extremely difficult to follow him. I couldn't tell where he was going. Even when I was a few feet away, I couldn't see him. I was glad when we arrived at our next stop twenty minutes later. It was at a site that was very memorable throughout Tokyo.

"Welcome to the Higurashi Shrine," Said the man.

"The Higurashi Shrine? But... why are we here? There can't be anything here except for..."

I was cut short. I saw a door open. I gasped and quickly pushed myself against a wall, hiding myself from view. I leaned over and checked out what was happening. A bright light came from the door that was opened. There was a silhouette of a girl. I stared at the figure as she left the house.

"Okay mom!" The girl said. "I'll see you later!"

She ran off to a shack. She opened the door, quickly slid inside, and closed the door. I stared at it for a while longer. Soon, I saw a quick, but brilliant flash. I stared in amazement. I felt myself being pulled by my curiosity. When it came to the unknown, I didn't fear it. In fact, it fueled me. The more mysterious it was, the more alive I felt. I always wanted to learn about the dark truth of everything. This was one of those things.

"So what's the secret for this place?"

I neared the shack. My footsteps echoed in my ears. I placed my hand on the handle of the door and pulled it back. I looked inside. It was dark and dry. I could see almost nothing. Except for some silhouettes, I was completely blind. I moved forward a few steps. I tripped as I missed a step to the stairs. I staggered forward and lost my balance. I fell to the ground with a loud thud. I grunted as I made contact with the hard wood. I growled as I pushed my self off of the ground. When I looked up, my vision suddenly became sharper. My eyes quickly adjusted to the dark. I could see. It couldn't see completely, but it was better.

I walked forward to what looked like a box. When I got closer, I realized that it was actually a well. I let out a puzzled grunt. As I stared at the well, I slowly neared it as if I was in a trance. I didn't let my eyes off of it. All I could do was get closer. I snapped out of it when I laid my hands on the edge. I shook my head. I looked around. It had become brighter. The clouds moved out of the way of the moon, creating an eerie glow. I looked down the well. I let out a sharp whistle. It echoed loudly.

"The Bone-Eater's Well," Said the hooded man. "It is the home of many youkais that have died. Their bones lay scattered all over the bottom of this well. However, that is not all that it is used for. It is also a connection between two worlds. It can take you to a whole a new time."

"How the hell do you know all this?" I asked, not turning my head. "You've actually checked this well out and turned out somewhere else?"

"Indeed I have."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Because you are about to have some proof… by going into the well yourself."

I raised my head. I felt something poke me in the back. I quickly turned my head to find that he had his staff on my back. I let out a nervous grunt.

"Wait!" I started to say. "Don't even think…"

I couldn't finish. He pushed me with the staff. I staggered forward and grunted as I started to fall over the edge of the well. I tried to grab onto the side, but it was too late. I started to fall down the stone square well. I yelled loudly as I flew down the giant pit. Before darkness covered up the hole, I could see the man's sheepish grin.

During the fall, a vibrant blue light surrounded me. I stared at the neon glow that enveloped me. I felt a tingling sensation. I felt so strange. All I could do was spin around and look at everything around me. After a few seconds, it all disappeared. It was replaced with the rock hard ground. I yelled briefly before I made contact. I grunted as the whole front side of my body hit the cold stones. I groaned quietly as I lied there.

I coughed heavily as I pushed myself up. Instead of getting on my feet, I let myself slowly fall back and sit down against the wall. I rubbed my head. I looked up and growled quietly. I quickly got to my feet, not letting my eyes off of the surface.

"When I get up there, I'm going to beat that guy down. Even with those powers, he's going to wish that he wasn't born!"

I walked up to one of the walls and looked for a way to get out. I saw vines protruding from it. I grabbed it and started to pull myself up. I grabbed each vine that I could. Along the way, I grabbed a loose vine. I yanked it out of the stone and I began to fall. I let out a quick yell as I grabbed another vine. I looked down at the bottom of the ground. I had a nervous look grow on my face. I chuckled nervously.

"I think I'll get back to climbing up now!" I said to myself.

I picked up speed and moved even more quickly then before. I groaned nervously as I continued to pull myself to the top. When I got to the surface of the well I pulled myself over the edge and let myself fall to the ground. I panted quietly as I closed my eyes and let myself get a few moments of rest. I opened my eyes slowly. When I did, they opened up wider then my eyes ever have before. I saw the night sky. I slowly sat up, not letting my gaze loose upon the darkness of the space above me.

"What the hell? I'm outside?"

I looked around. There were no buildings in sight. I looked left and right trying to figure out what was going on. I scratched my head as I stood up. I was dumbfounded beyond belief. This was the most impossible thing that has ever happened to me. As I pondered the thoughts, a rustling sound broke the silence. I turned my head to look for where it came from. I growled quietly.

"Show yourself now and I won't have to make your life a living hell!"

An arrow came out of nowhere, emitting a loud whistle. It zipped past my head. My eyes opened wide as this happened. I turned my head to see the arrow stuck in the tree, about an inch from my head. I yelled in shock.

"Oh crap!" I shouted. "What's going on!"

"A youkai!" A voice shouted. "Get him!"

"Huh?" I said in a confused tone. "A youkai? Where?"

Another arrow flew towards me. I yelped as I ducked. I looked up, staring at the projectile. I groaned as I stared at it. I looked forward again. There were five people. Three of them had arrows. Another two had spears. They all wore kimonos. I stared in shock. They wore such primitive clothing. Where was I? The thoughts left my head when the three people with bows pulled back their arrows, getting ready to launch They had angered and bloodthirsty looks in their eyes. I growled quietly. I raised my hands. They flinched briefly. However, they didn't break eye contact with me.

"So you really think I'm a youkai? You people really are idiots."

"Don't try to trick us!" One of the men said. "We know you're a youkai! You have those long nails and fangs! And besides, you threatened us!"

"I wasn't threatening you!" I shouted. "I was trying to scare you off!"

"Don't lie!" Said another man.

He released the arrow. It whistled loudly. I ducked and caught it with my right hand. The man gasped as they stared at me. I gave them cold stares. I slowly stood up. I pulled my arm back, looking at the one who fired the arrow. He began to quaver. I had an evil grin on my face. I wasn't going to hit him. I was just going to screw with him. I launched the arrow. He yelled and stepped back. The arrow went into his heel. He let out a scream of pain as he fell to the ground. I stared at him in shock. Two of the men rushed to him and helped him up. The other two stared at me.

"You are a youkai!" One of them yelled. "I knew it!"

"No!" I said, starting to back up. "You don't understand! I wasn't aiming at him! I hit him by accident! I swear!"

"Silence! We'll kill you here and now!"

"Oh crap! I'm screwed!"

The men with bows launched more arrows at me. I ducked to the left as the arrows flew passed me. I quickly got to my feet and ran off. The men began to chase me. I breathed heavily as I tried to keep myself from running out of breath. The men yelled loudly as arrows continued to zip passed me. I growled in irritation, trying to make sense of everything.

"What the hell is all this? Did I go back in time or something? No! That's impossible! You can't just go back in time! It... wait... it was that guy! That SOB! I really will kill him when I find him! I-ll..."

Before I could finish, a branch seemed to have come out of nowhere. It made contact with my nose and I fell to the ground. I groaned loudly in pain as I grabbed my nose. I got to my feet and removed my hands from my face. It was stained with blood. I groaned.

"This is just great!" I muttered.

"He went over here!"

I turned my head to see the men appear out of nowhere. I ducked to the left, into some bushes. I took a deep breath and held it. I was perfectly still, waiting for the men to pass by. Instead of running by, they stopped right where I was. My eyes opened up wide in agitation. When would the torture end?

"Where is he?" One of the men said. "That youkai got away!"

"Blast!" Another said. "Now what do we do?"

I wondering if them going away would be an option. I was started to grow faint. I couldn't hold my breath much longer. I groaned quietly as I tried to hold my breath just a little longer. I heard one of them sigh as their footsteps traveled away. I peeked through the bushes. I couldn't see them. When I felt it was clear, I exhaled loudly and started breathing heavily.

"Oh God!" I said, gasping for air. "I thought they would never leave!"

I looked around. It was almost pitch black. I looked up at the sky. Clouds began to cover up the moon. I frowned. I suppose I could just go rest somewhere then head back home tomorrow. I looked around. It seemed like the only place I could sleep was under the trees. I grunted as I walked up to the one that had the most leaves. It was going to rain, I wanted to have something that would keep the rain away from me.

"I can't believe I'm resorting to this," I muttered to myself. "Ah screw it. I'm too tired to do anything right now."

I sat down and leaned against the hard wooden bark. I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes. When I drifted into a sleep, I had a strange dream. There was a silver haired man with bright red eyes. He had blood stained on his face and a bloodthirsty grin. A jewel was held in his hand. I t glowed brightly with a black light. He was muscular and he was slowly walking towards a group of people. He laughed evilly. I experienced this nightmare through the rest of the night.

"Who is this boy?" A girl asked.

"I don't know," Another girl asked. "But look at his clothes! They look so strange! Is he a foreigner?"

"I'm not sure. Still... he is kind of cute."

I groaned quietly. I opened my eyes very slowly. The bright light stung my eyes. I blinked a couple of times. When my sight finally came into focus, I saw two girls standing above me. I blinked again. I could feel my face starting to turn red. They looked like they were about my age... and they were cute too. It took me a moment to realize that they were wearing kimonos.

"Oh!" The first girl said. "You're awake!"

"Uh... hello?" I said.

"Who are you?" Asked the second girl. "I've never seen you around here before."

"Um... my name is Hitaro."

"Hitaro? What an interesting name!"

"Is that a compliment?" I asked myself.

"Where did you come from?" The first girl asked. "Those clothes don't look like anything from here."

"I'm from Tokyo."

"To...ky...o? Where is that? Is it far away?"

I pondered the question. Now I knew this wasn't a joke. This was too weird to be a joke. I looked back at the well. I gave it a cold stare. The only thing that made me madder was that stupid SOB that sent me down here.

"In a way, you could say that," I told them.

"Oh wow!" The second girl said. "What's it like?"

"Uh... it's very busy. People are always walking around non-stop."

I looked at them. They had eager faces on their faces. A grin grew on my face. I could see where this was going to lead. I decided to tell them more... with a bit of a stretched truth.

"There are "palaces" everywhere too! They are so tall they reach the sky! And there are many "carriages" that pull themselves! But that's not all! Evil thieves and fighters are always prowling the streets at night! They carry "hand-cannons" with them!"

"Oh wow!" The two girls said in unison. "So amazing!"

I wasn't really lying to them. I was referring to the sky-scrapers as the palaces, cars as carriages, fighters and thieves as thugs and... well, thieves, and guns as hand-cannons. They were so amazed that they were right in my face.

"How do you live in a place like that?" The first asked.

"Simple... I fight. It's the only way I can survive."

"Are you good?" The second one asked me.

"Are you kidding? I could fight off ten people at least! I have to do it so many times that it's just a warm-up exercise now!"

The girls giggled with delight. That part I was being completely honest about. I did have to fight the occasional group of people. And they weren't pushover's. They were still pretty easy.

"Hatori?" A man called out. "Yoko? Where are you?"

I looked to see where the man called out from. I growled. I hid behind the tree I was under. The two girls looked at me. The had curious looks.

"Why are you hiding?" The first one asked.

"Uh... some people have the wrong impression of me. I don't want to make things worse."

"I see," The second one said. "Well, we must go now. Sorry Hitaro! I hope we'll see you later!"

The two girls smiled at me as they walked off. I looked at the man who was calling out the girls. It wasn't any one the ones from yesterday. I let out a sigh. I was safe. I didn't want to spark anything else up. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen. An arrow zoomed right into the tree. It was an inch away from my head. I gasped as I moved back. I turned my head to the left to see five men with arrows. I groaned in irritation.

"Don't you guys have anything else to do besides bug me?"

"Silence youkai!" One of them said. "This time we won't let you escape!"

"Yeah right!" I said in a cocky tone. "Just watch me!" I dashed towards them with incredible speed and agility. I punched one of them in the face, making him fly into one of the men. I kicked another one in the stomach, making him double over in pain. When I saw the other two, they had their arrows pulled back. I ran towards them then hurtled over their heads. I laughed triumphantly as they stared at me in shock.

"See you later, ch- AHHH!"

A net came up from under the ground and pulled me up. It stopped abruptly. I grunted as I tried to move around the net so I could see what happened. When I was in an upright position, I looked up. The net was being held up by a rope from another tree. I growled loudly. They set a trap! I can't believe I didn't see it.

"Ah hah!" A man said. "I bet you don't feel so high and mighty now, do you youkai?"

"Oh shut up!" I said angrily. "I was only careless! And I'm not a youkai!"

"Silence! Now be good and we may not kill you on the spot!"

I growled loudly. I crossed my arms and leaned against the netting. This was just perfect. I was stuck in the time of God knows when, I was stuck in a net, and I was probably on my way to my death. How could it have gotten worse?

"Make way! We have a youkai in this net! Stay back! He won't hesitate to attack! He attacked Shidoko yesterday! He attacked me and comrades too just a short while ago!"

I growled quietly. It just got worse. I was being exploited as a youkai in front of a village filled with people I didn't know. To make things worse, I didn't have a chance of getting out of this. As the net was being dragged against the dirt (along with myself, might I add), I looked left and right at the people. They all stared at me with disbelieving eyes.

"Boo," I said.

They backed up. I groaned. What morons I thought. These people really were fools. I just barely turned sixteen and they think I'm going to bring their doom to them. We soon came to a stop. They cut the net. They weren't completely stupid though. As they did so, they kept their arrows aimed at my head. I growled even more loudly. My arms and legs were crossed. I knew that I wouldn't be able to do much.

"Man, this blows," I muttered.

"Make way for high priestess Kaede!"

The people spread out even more than before. On a horse came a person in a white topped, red bottom kimono. It looked like a woman in her fifties or sixties. She was overweight and she had an eye-patch. Her hair was a dull grey and her skin was fairly wrinkled. I scoffed.

"Oh great. Don't tell me you're the one who's going to kill me."

"Silence youkai!" A man said.

The man took a hammer and whacked me in the head with it. I yelled out in pain as I grabbed the back of my skull. I groaned loudly as I gave the man an angered look.

"What the hell did you that for you crazy loon?!"

"I said silence!"

He hit me in the head again with the hammer. I yelled out again. I growled loudly as I held onto my head. I looked at the one they called Kaede again. She was walking towards me. My eyes narrowed. If she was going to kill me, I wasn't going down without a fight. As she neared, my hands began to twitch. I wanted to have a fight. I was eager. However, my hopes died down when she stopped in front of me. She just stared at me.

"State thine name," She said.

"For you? Why should I?"

"Show Lady Kaede some respect!"

He hit me in the head with the hammer again. I yelled out in agonizing pain. Now that was just getting plain irritating. I looked at the man and gave him a pleading look.

"Why do you keep on doing that?!"

"Tell Lady Kaede who you are!"

"Oh fine!" I said, turning to face Lady Kaede. "My name's Hitaro! Are you happy?"

"Where art thou from?"

"Geez! What is this, twenty questions? I'm from Tokyo! I doubt that you heard of it though!"

Her eye opened wide (I'd say eyes, but I doubted there being an eye under that patch). She gave me a curious look. I gave her a puzzled look. I didn't know why she was staring at me. She soon coughed to clear out her throat. She looked at everyone.

"This boy poses no harm!" She said. "He is not a youkai!"

I stared at her with disbelief. That's it? I said I was from Tokyo and she said I wasn't a youkai. I shook my head in disbelief. She motioned for me to stand up. I slowly stood up. I looked at the men. They lowered their arrows. I grinned evilly. They had nervous looks on their faces. I faked a step. They flinched. I chuckled quietly.

"She's only half right. I may not be a youkai, but I'm not harmless."

I turned around to look at Kaede. She motioned for me to follow her. I nodded as I trailed behind her. As I did so. I looked at everyone. They were still staring at me. I had an uncomfortable look on my face. Now this just felt plain creepy. I shook the thoughts away as I saw Kaede walk into a hut. I followed her inside.

I looked around. It

was fairly spacious. There was a bed in the corner and a fireplace at the eastern wall. In the center of the room was what looked like a grill in the ground. It was a stoney area with burning charcoal on the inside. Above it was a pot that held stew. Its aroma filled the air. Kaede sat next to the pot and started stirring it up. She gave me a brief glance.

"Sit down," she said.

"Uh... right."

I walked up to are with the pot and sat down next to it. I crossed my legs and let my head dip back for a little while. After a few seconds, I looked at Kaede again. She continued to stir the pot as if I was not around.

"Well... thanks for helping me out there. I'm surprised you actually didn't think I was a youkai."

"I didn't think thou was not a youkai. I knew. When you said the name "Tokyo," I knew thou was not a youkai."

"And how did you know?"

"Because Kagome is from Tokyo also."

"Huh? You mean Tokyo also exists here?"

"No it does not here in the Feudal Era. It only exists in the "Present," as Kagome calls it."

It was then I knew I was not the only one who had traveled through the well. I knew that the man had traveled through, but that was an exception. I meant I wasn't the only normal person. A small grin grew on my face.

"So I'm not alone."

Kaede nodded. She squinted as she stared at me. She got a little closer. I gave her a confused look.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"Thine face... it looks like... someone else's."

She inspected nearly every segment of face. I didn't know who she was talking about until later. The only clue I had was that the person's name was Inuyasha. Kaede muttered it every now and then. When she was done, she sat back down.

"Amazing," Kaede muttered. "So similar. Could it be that..."

"Excuse me, but what are you talking about? Better yet, who are you talking about?"

'Oh. Allow me to explain. In this village, there is a hanyou named Inuyasha. He had been searching for the Shikon no Tama. Right now, he is more of a protector of the village."

"A hanyou? But I thought these people hated youkais and hanyous (which I figured after the way they treated me)."

"Only ones they don't know. Inuyasha has been with us for quite a while."

I stared at her for a while. I was pondering the thought of having someone look like me in this time. I could see myself in a kimono. A grin grew on my face. The thought of it was rather funny.

"Oh boy," I muttered. "How stupid would I look?"

"Ye seem to share similar personalities as well."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Both of thee seem rather dismissive about certain things, ye seem rather proud, thou has a cocky attitude, ye have a love of fighting, and also..."

"Alright! I get the picture! Oi. I think I'm beginning to think it would be better to stay with my aunt and uncle."

"You must forget about them. In the mean time, we must wait for Inuyasha and the others."

"Oh great. We have to wait. This will be fun."

I sat there in the hut. I couldn't keep still. I was constantly looking left and right. Either I was imagining things or time was slowing down. I looked at my watch. I blinked a couple of times. It was slowing down! It took two seconds for it to move one second! I let out a groan of exasperation.

"You've got to be kidding me! How long do I have to wait here?"

"It shouldn't be much longer," Kaede said calmly.

"I better not!" I said loudly. "I can't wait any longer! If I have to wait five more minutes, I'm going to crack! Oi! Why can't they hurry it up?"

I could here footsteps in the distant. I turned my head and looked at the entryway to the hut. The footsteps grew louder. A grin grew on my face. That better be them I thought. I seriously did. If that wasn't them, I was going to leave this place. On second thought... did I really want to be back at my home? Hell no I didn't.

"Lady Kaede!" A girl called out. "We're back!"

"Huh?" I said quietly. "That voice... it sounds familiar."

A girl came into the hut. She had a long black hair, looked like she was about my age, and she wore a school uniform. I stared at her. It finally hit. It was that girl I saw the night before! I stared at her with wide eyes. Kagome did the same.

"Who are you?" She asked. "Are you related to Inuyasha?"

"I..."

"Hey Kagome!" A someone else shouted. "Who are you talkin' to?"

"Uh, Inuyasha?" The girl asked. "Do have any other relatives that you haven't told me about?"

"No," said the man again, entering the hut. "If I did, I would have told you already."

When the man came in we immediately stared at each other. He had golden-amber eyes, silver hair, sharp nails that looked like knives, a red kimono, a sword at his side, and a face that looked so mine. He looked like he was only a year or two older than me. We blinked twice. I assumed that was Inuyasha. He turned his head to face the one that I assumed was Kagome.

"Who the hell is this?" He asked.

"That's what I was asking you," Kagome said. "I figured that he was related to you because you two looked so much alike."

"Well as you can see, I don't know this kid," Inuyasha replied.

He turned his head to face me. I was still staring at him. I was still in complete amazement that he looked so much like me. He gave me an agitated look. I looked up a bit. I noticed that he had two dog ears on the top of his head. I stared at them amazement.

"If you don't take your eyes off of those right now, I'll do it for you."

"Inuyasha!"

"What?" He said. "That kid's staring at my ears! You'd do the same thing too if you had 'em."

"My name's Hitaro," I said.

"What?" Inuyasha said as he turned his head to face me.

"My name's Hitaro. I'm not a kid."

"You look like one to me," he said with a grin.

"At least I don't look like I'm in a costume," I replied with a cold look.

"What did you say?!"

We locked eyes. I could see sparks in his eyes. If he looked hard enough, he would have seen flames in my eyes. We both growled quietly. Kagome walked up to us, chuckling nervously as she tried to separate us.

"Okay!" Kagome said. "That should be enough for now! We don't want to start anything right now, do we?"

"Stay out of this!" Inuyasha and I said in unison.

Kagome flinched. She saw something in us that spooked her out. When I had that look, that meant stay the hell out of my way. It seemed like the same for Inuyasha. After a while, I just scoffed and turned away. Inuyasha gave me a surprised look.

"That's it?"

"I've got better things to do," I replied.

"Oh really? Like what?"

"I... I... I don't have anything. Okay?"

"Hah. Thought so. So you're just giving up?"

"Nope. I just got tired of staring at your face for the past minute."

"That's enough!" Kaede said firmly. "Thou must stop this petty squabbling!"

I stared at Kaede. Inuyasha did too. I could tell that the both of us just wanted to ignore her, but we couldn't. We both let out sighs of irritation.

"Fine," we said.

Kagome continued to stare at us. I didn't know exactly what she was thinking, but I had plenty of ideas. She was thinking how we looked alike, possibly wondering if we acted alike, and perhaps she was wondering how the hell I got here in the first place.

"So where's Shippo, Miroku and Sango?" Inuyasha asked.

"Shippo went out to help me gather some herbs," Kagome said. "He should be back soon. As for Miroku and Sango, I haven't seen them."

"Knowing Miroku, he's probably chasing Sango around."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was."

"Okay, now I have a couple more questions," I said. "First off, who the hell are they? Second off, are they youkais and hanyous too?"

"Well, Shippo is," Kagome replied. "He's a kitsune. Sango and Miroku are human. Sango's a youkai slayer. Miroku's a monk."

"He's a also a huge lecher," Inuyasha said.

"Hooray," I muttered under my breath. "A womanizing monk."

"My thoughts exactly," Inuyasha said.

I turned my head to look at Inuyasha. He gave me a funny look. When our eyes made contact, we didn't go into a stare down. Instead, a small grin appeared out of nowhere. He grinned too, although it was considerably smaller then mine. Mine soon disappeared and I looked away.

"Kagome!" A young voice shouted. "I'm back! I found some herbs!"

'Oh!" Kagome said in surprise. "There's Shippo! I was wondering when he would be back."

I looked at the door. FInally, I would see a powerful kitsune here and now I thought. I quickly stood up and headed towards the door. I moved the door of wheat and looked around. I had a puzzled look on my face. There was no one there. I looked left and right. I couldn't see him.

"Kagome? I don't see Shippo."

"I'm down here!" The voice said. I grunted and looked down. At my feet... was a kid. He had brown hair that was tied in the end with a blue bow tie. He wore a blue shirt with a pattern design on it. He also wore dark blue pants and a brown vest. He had a fox tail protruding out from the back and he had fox feet. The only thing that really surprised me was his height. He was tall enough that his head was past my knee. I blinked twice. He just stared at me.

"Inuyasha? Is that you? I thought you only looked like that during the new moon!"

"I'm in here, Shippo!" Inuyasha said loudly.

Shippo peeked over the side. He stared at Inuyasha for a little while. He soon changed his gaze back to me.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Hitaro," I replied, not letting my eyes off of him. "You're Shippo, I presume?"

"Yep," He said with a smile. "I'm a great and powerful kitsune!"

After staring at him for a few seconds more, I looked at Kagome. I had a bewildered look on my face.

"This, is Shippo? You're telling me this midget of a kid is a kitsune?!"

"Hey! Don't insult me! I may be small, but I'm still a youkai!"

"You look pretty weak to me," I said, kneeling down next to him.

"Humph! You look and act like Inuyasha!" He replied.

Inuyasha stared at Shippo. Shippo paid no attention to him, though. Inuyasha stood up and walked towards him. I noticed that Inuyasha's right hand had become a fist. When he stood directly above Shippo, he gave him a whack to the head. Shippo yelped in pain as he grabbed his head. He gave Inuyasha a dirty look.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome said loudly.

"Hey!" Shippo said angrily. "What did you do that for?"

"Next time you better watch your mouth Shippo," Inuyasha said.

"Woah!" I said in surprise. "Inuyasha! Take it easy! Even I wouldn't have done that to the kid!"

"I'm not a kid!" Shippo said.

"I'm helping you out right now, aren't I?" I asked coldly.

I gave him a stare that made Shippo pipe down. I nodded as I turned my head to face Inuyasha. He gave me a look that showed he didn't really care about what I was going to say next.

"Geez, are you always this stubborn?" I asked.

"Look who's talking," he replied. "You're being pretty stubborn yourself."

"I wonder how long they're going to fight like this," Kagome asked Kaede.

"Be patient, Kagome. They will stop in due time."

"That's it!" I said firmly. "I should just beat you down right now!"

"Forget it, kid," Inuyasha said firmly. "You'd just be embarrassing yourself."

"Oh really? Well let's just see!"

I shot a fist at his face. He moved swiftly to the side. He had a surprised look on his face. Soon, a grin appeared. He threw a punch of his own. I ducked and avoided it... barely. I shot forward and tackled him to the ground. When he landed, he immediately got me in a headlock and started punching me in the head.

"You little punk!" He shouted. "I'm a gonna get you for that!"

"OW! OW! OW! OW!"

"INUYASHA!" Kagome yelled out firmly.

"What?" He said. "I'm teaching him a lesson!"

I gave him an elbow to the face. He gasped in pain as he staggered back. He grabbed his nose. I grinned as I crossed my arms and stared at him. He growled loudly as he gave me an evil stare.

"And that's the lesson of the day," I said. "Don't screw with me."

"Enough!" Kaede yelled out. "Ye two have gone far enough! If thou does not stop this, ye two will destroy the whole village!"

We stared at Kaede. We shifted our gazes to Kagome, who gave us an agitated stare. We moved our gazes to stare at each other. We narrowed our eyes and gave each other cold stares. How was it that we seemed so alike? It didn't matter. I scoffed and turned around. I headed out the door as everyone stared at me.

"Where are you going, Hitaro?" Kagome asked me.

"I'm going to show Inuyasha here I'm not a kid," I replied.

"We already know you're not a kid," Shippo said.

"I meant a weak kid."

I walked outside and soon heard footsteps. I looked behind me to Kagome, Shippo, Kaede and Inuyasha. He had an irritated look on his face. I grinned. This would shut his mouth for now. I looked around. There had to be something heavy around here I thought. I soon found just the thing. There was a huge boulder that I saw near the forest. I broke into a run. The others began to follow me. Inuyasha easily caught up to me.

"Hitaro, slow down!" Kagome said.

"Come on!" Shippo said. "You're too fast!"

I quickly halted to a stop. I glanced at Inuyasha who was walking up to me. I gave him a cautious stare. When he stopped, he gave me stare of his own. I growled quietly. A grin cracked on his face. My face changed into a face of surprise. What was he grinning about now?

"You're pretty fast, kid. I'm impressed."

"Uh... thanks," I replied.

I soon took my eyes off of Inuyasha to look at Kagome, Kaede and Shippo. It took them long enough to get here. I grinned as they arrived. They had puzzled looks on there faces.

"What are we doing here?" Kagome asked. "There isn't anything here!"

"Yeah!" Shippo said. "The only thing here is that big rock!"

"Is there a reason why ye brought us here, Hitaro?"

"Yeah. I have a reason. I told you all that I would show you I'm not a kid. I'm going to do that."

"Hitaro, you don't need to do that?" Kagome said. "Like Shippo said, we know you're not a kid. You're..."

Kagome began to trail off, trying to think of something. I crossed my arms and gave her a look. I let out a groan as I let my arms fall loosely to my side. I waited for some words.

"Well?" I finally asked.

"Well... you're... a little different from what I've seen," She said. "You ran faster then what seemed possible, you actually hurt Inuyasha..."

"Hey!" Inuyasha said irritably. "He didn't hurt me. He just surprised me."

"Yeah right," Shippo muttered. "You're just to stubborn to admit it."

Inuyasha rose his foot and stomped on Shippo. Shippo yelped in shock as the foot unexpectedly pushed him to the ground. Inuyasha gave him an evil look.

"Care to say that again?" Inuyasha asked.

"Inuyasha," Kaede began to say. "Let Shippo be. He does speak some truth."

Inuyasha growled loudly as he rose his foot off of Shippo. Shippo stood on his feet and dusted himself off. He gave Inuyasha a dirty look. Inuyasha just grunted and looked away. I shook my head and rested it on my hand. He was more stubborn than I thought. I rose my head and looked at the boulder again. I forgot that was there.

"Now, time for me to get back on track," I said.

"Just what are you going to do, kid?" Inuyasha asked.

"Just shut up and watch."

I walked up to the boulder and examined it. It was a big one alright. It looked like it weighed a little more than half a ton. Then again, it could have been more or less. Still, lifting this would leave them speechless. I stretched out my arms, put my fingers between one another, and cracked my knuckles. I grinned as I continued to stare at the boulder. I knelt down and put my fingers underneath it. I started trying to lift it. As I did this, everyone was just staring at me like I was some kind of loon.

"Hitaro!" Kagome said in shock. "You don't have to prove anything! Besides, you're going to hurt yourself!"

"He is as foolish as he is young," Kaede said.

"No," Shippo began to say. "I think he's just going crazy already."

"For once, I agree with you," Inuyasha said.

I ignored them. I growled as I tried to use more force. Soon, I felt a shift. The boulder began to rise. Even stared at me with wide eyes. I lifted up on end high above my head. I grinned. I stretched out my left arm to put my hand under the other side. I began to push up with as much strength as possible that side began to rise into the air too. Shippo and Kagome gasped loudly.

"Wow!" Shippo said excitedly. "That's amazing! I can't believe your doing that Hitaro!"

"How... is that possible?" Kagome asked as she stared at the boulder above my head.

Inuyasha stared at me. He had a completely bewildered look on his face. I grinned with pride as I stared at Inuyasha and the others. I didn't notice it, but villagers were passing by. They were as surprised about my stunt as Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippo and Kaede.

"AHHH!" one of them screamed. "HE IS A YOUKAI! THEY WERE RIGHT!"

"HE'LL KILL US ALL!" another shouted.

I ignored their comments. I was no youkai, I thought. I thought how I was all that right then and there. I felt extremely proud right there. I showed them what I was capable of. And then... things went wrong.

"So what do you think of me... now?" I said in a cocky voice which soon turned into a worried one.

My legs, they began to sink slightly into the ground. My arms were giving way. When I noticed this, my face went extremely pale and I yelled out in fear.

"Ah crap! Now I'm screwed!"

Kagome gasped and Shippo yelped loudly. Kagome grabbed Inuyasha by the collar of his Kimono and started to shake him.

"Inuyasha! Do something!"

"No way," he said. "He got himself into it, he'll have to get himself out!"

I groaned as my arms and legs went numb. I had a panicked look on my face. If somebody didn't do something, I was going to end up extremely flat. I growled in agitation as Kagome and Inuyasha started fighting.

"I can't believe your so self-centered!" Kagome said angrily. "You have to help him! You drove him to do this in the first place?"

"What?" Inuyasha replied. "I didn't do anything! He went and did this on his own!"

"After you kept calling him a kid!"

"I didn't mean it that way!"

"Then how did you mean it?"

"HEY!" I shouted. "I need help!"

Kagome looked at me. She had an embarrassed look on her face. Apparently she forgot about me. When she looked at Inuyasha, her face went sour again.

"Inuyasha, if you don't do something, I'll say the word," Kagome said coldly.

His eyes opened up slightly wider. His face had a hint of fear in it. He growled quietly as his face went back to his previous one and he walked towards me. He put his hands under the boulder and lifted it. He grunted quietly. His arms shook a little, but he still easily held it up. He threw it to the side and I fell to my knees. I gasped as I tried to catch my breath again. I breathed and sweated heavily. The beads fell from face and onto the earth as my lungs pumped air in and out. Inuyasha stared at me. He then let out a groan as he grabbed me by the arm and helped me up.

"You okay, kid?" Inuyasha asked.

"I... told you," I said out of breath. "I'm... not... a kid."

"You are to me," he said. "Now shut up. You used up your strength. Just rest."

I gave him a look. I didn't think he'd say something like that. He actually had some sympathy. I nodded as I continued to stare at him. He let go of me. My legs began to gave way. I grunted as I tried to keep my balance. I gave Inuyasha a cold look. However, he was already walking off. I growled quietly.

"Thanks a bunch," I muttered.

I groaned as I began to sink to the ground. I felt someone help me up. I looked to see who it was. It was Kagome. I had a surprised look on my face. I blinked a couple of times. She had an apologetic look in her eyes.

"Sorry about Inuyasha," she said. "He can be a little pig-headed at times."

"I could see that," I replied.

I groaned as I tried to move. My body felt almost completely numb. Kagome began to help me to the hut. As she did so, I stared at Inuyasha. Why did I feel like I belonged here with this... hanyou around? I knew that we were connected. There was no question about it. But how? I could not ask myself the question much longer. When I got into the hut, I went straight to sleep. However, I felt rather... uncomfortable.