Hanyou Brat

by Dark-Black-Wolf

Inuyasha is a small, innocent kid but the villagers think other wise. When a monster devoures all the live stock he is the first to get blamed and his mother has to pay the price. What will he do and who is this strange girl that keeps following him?

A new fic that I thought would be fun to do. I love Inuyasha as a kid so I decided to make one about him and his mother. Really long one-shot, just to warn yah.

Though it may seem happy at the beginning, when it comes to the end it's going to get a little bit tragic, so for people who don't like tragic kinds of stories; might I suggest closing this one and looking for another wonderful, happy story that another talented writer has posted for your pleaser.

What you're still reading? All right but don't say I didn't warn you…also this is my first story that has a tragic ending so please, flamers, can you please tell me why you don't like it or, better yet, what you didn't like about it. If you say 'It sucks' then I wont know what to improve.

Credit: I give credit to Rumiko Takahashi for making such a wonderful anime for me to watch and write about, also to my friend Alex Dark-Dragon-Chick for supporting me through this. If it wasn't for you I think my brain would have burst or I would have gone into a dark corner and cried…and thanks to you my brain almost did burst because you made this story even harder to write then it already was! None the less…you DID help me in some parts and for that you have my gratitude!

Disclaimer: No, sadly I do not own Inuyasha or Izayoi, but I do own Kohana, Sakura, Teri, Yaki, (say the two names together and you'll get the joke) Naturo, Miyo and Dolly. At least I have some characters who are mine…

Hanyou Brat

As the sun set over the horizon, villagers tucked their young ones into their beds and blew out the candle. Horses where put into their stalls and animals into their pens, safe from any hungry predators.

When only cricket chirping could be heard an ogre like figure ran through the village, hungry for blood.

Villagers awoke when they heard the animal's cries. They rushed to the stables with pitchforks and torches in case anything tried to attack them. When they got to the stables they couldn't believe what they saw.

Every single horse that they owned was slaughtered and same with the livestock. Each villager mourned over this and, as they did so, only one thought ran through their mind. Only a demon could have done this and the only demon around was that child of Izayois'.

That hanyou brat, Inuyasha.

An eleven-year-old, silver haired boy watched, with his golden eyes, the sun rise over the horizon. As soon as the sun was fully visible he would wake up his mother who was sleeping beside him.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1," he counted as the sun light reached the small shack that he called home. When it shone through the bamboo drapes he yelled, "Wake up mama!" right into her left ear.

The ebony haired woman woke with a start at her son's voice. Her eyes quickly squinted when the sunlight hit them. She blocked it with her sleeve and saw her son staring at her, full of excitement.

She sighed, glad that nothing was wrong, "Inuyasha, you scared the life out of me" she said. His dog-ears dropped, "I'm sorry mama, but you said we could go to the lake today"

She smiled. The lake was Inuyasha's favourite place to go to and everyday he would ask her to go with him, but she never had time. "Yes I remember," she chuckled, "Now let your mother get changed and then we can go"

His smile went so wide that Izayoi was sure his jaw would have fallen off. He nodded and ran out of the room, well skipped was more like it. Izayoi shook her head with a grin before undressing.

When she was done and came out in her floral Kimono, Inuyasha was already waiting for her at the door. "Ready?" she asked though already knowing the answer.

"Yep," he chirped.

They both walked out of their home, Inuyasha going ahead of his mother. She giggled when he yelled, "Hurry up mother!" to her. She loved it when he got so excited like this. These past years it was hard to see him smile because of all the bulling he went through. She could only imagine.

She frowned when she saw angry villagers come towards them. She called Inuyasha back and stood in front of him, waiting for the villagers to come closer. When they were close enough that they could hear her she asked, "And what, may I ask, are you here for Hitushi?"

The village elder stepped up, "Can it Izayoi. Where here for your son." He pointed to the boy behind her leg. Izayoi moved in front of him to that Inuyasha was blocked from the villagers view.

"You may not take him. He has done nothing to you," she said, glaring daggers at them.

All she felt for the villagers was hate and nothing but. They would always accuse Inuyasha with what ever went wrong in the village, even though it might have been one of the village kids or just a natural disaster. They felt no sympathy for him and in return she felt no sympathy for them.

Hitushi glared back at her, "Yes he has. Your son killed all of our horses last night"

Izayoi blinked in astonishment, "Inuyasha would never do such a thing. He hates blood!"

"He is the only one with the strength to kill that many horses" Hitushi snapped.

From behind his mother's leg, Inuyasha could only watch as the villagers glared at him, each glare full of hate. Scared he hid behind his mother's leg wishing at he had the ability to turn invisible.

"He's a monster," yelled one of the villagers from the crowd. "A danger to our children," yelled another.

Each accusation hurt Inuyasha and he winced every time one was called. Izayoi took a deep, cleansing breath, "Let's go Inuyasha"

She walked away from the villagers not looking back. Inuyasha, did however and cringed when every one of the villagers were still glaring at him. His grip tightened around his mothers hand and he moved closer to her, desperately wanting her protection.

When they got to the lake Inuyasha stayed with his mother instead of playing with the animals, like he usually did when they came here. Izayoi's eyes softened. He was probably still sad about this morning. He had been quiet the whole time when they were walking.

"Inuyasha, are you still worried about this morning?" she asked.

He looked at her before quickly looking away and saying nothing. "Inuyasha?" she asked again. He sighed and finally looked at his mother. "Mama is it because of me that the villagers hate you?" he asked. Izayoi frowned and opened her arms. He ran to her and closed his eyes as she hugged him. "Why would you ask such an odd question?"

"Because the villagers, they say I'm a nightmare, something that should have never been born and they always seem to take it out on you mother. Sometimes I wish that if I was never born, then maybe, they wouldn't hurt you as much"

He felt something wet fall onto his nose. It smelt like salt, but it was wet. He looked up and saw that his mother's eyes were wet, same with her cheek. Before he knew it his mother was hugging him tighter, "Inuyasha, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Don't ever think that without you, I would be happy, and remember" she tickled his nose, "Together forever…"

"You and me" he finished for her.

After a few minuets of embrace, Izayoi looked into her son's golden eyes, "Now go play Inuyasha. We don't want a beautiful day to be ruined, now do we?"

Inuyasha nodded and walked to the pond.

It was a pretty pond; with such clear water that it's as though you were looking at a mirror. Inuyasha always loved to see his reflection in the water but this time, he frowned when he saw his ears. If he never had these then he wouldn't be treated differently. Maybe if he pulled them off…

He started to reach for his ears, only to stop when he saw fishes swimming in the water. Though fishes never caught his attention, one fish was away from the group of fish that were on one side of the pond. He watched as the fish tired to swim to the group but when he got too close the fish would push him away.

Inuyasha didn't understand why the fish was being bullied. It was much prettier then the others, with many different colors; orange, black and white. The others were just one color; red, white or orange.

"Mama," he called. His mother came over beside him and looked at him with curiosity, "What Inuyasha?"

He pointed a clawed finger at the rejected fish, "The fish" he simply said. Izayoi's gaze fallowed her son's finger to the fish he was pointing at. When she saw the fish being pushed away by the others, she understood why her son called her over.

"The poor thing," she said sympathetically, "It's much prettier then the other ones, it's just treated differently because it's…."

"Different," interrupted Inuyasha eyes full of sorrow and sadness. Izayoi nodded and her eyes looked the same as Inuyasha's. She wanted to help him, but she couldn't and she felt bad for that. A mother not being able to comfort her child is something that hurt beyond compare.

After a moment of looking at the misfit fish Inuyasha suddenly asked, "Can we take it home?"

Izayoi was startled at her son's voice but calmed down, "I don't know dear. We have nothing to carry him in" The little hanyou's ears dropped only to pop up again when he thought of an idea.

"Wait here mama. I'll be right back,"

Before Izayoi could reply Inuyasha had ran away, towards the house. She shook her head, smiling at the same time. She looked back at the unwanted fish, "My son has taken quite a liking to you little one"

The fish swam in a small circle.

"Compared to my son, you have it easy. You don't get rocks thrown at you, just water. You don't get teased, kicked, or beaten"

The fish swam up to her, making her smile, "At least he'll have a friend"

Just then Inuyasha came running to her, holding a jar in his right hand. He was panting hard and Izayoi could see his tongue falling out the side of his mouth. "I got this Mama. Do you think it's big enough?"

Izayoi examined the jar seeing if there were any cracks that water might slip threw, and if the fish would fit and have enough room to swim in. When the jar passed all the tests she nodded, "It will be just fine"

Inuyasha beamed and ran over to the pond, looking for his fish. When he saw it he quickly scooped it up, waiting a bit so that the jar could fill with water. He placed it upright on the ground and watched as the fish swam around its new home. The smell of fish entered his sensitive nose and it made Inuyasha sneeze. He didn't like the fish smell but over time he would get used to it.

Izayoi walked over to her son and also looked into the jar, "What are you going to call him?" she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Specs"

Izayoi blinked, "Why Specs?"

"Because of all the spots he has on him" Inuyasha pointed to the spots that were on Specs eye, tail and fins. Izayoi giggled, "Well why don't we take Spec home? It's getting late and tonight is that special night, remember?"

Inuyasha closed his eyes and thought hard about why this night was so special. (Think of how Winnie the Pooh thinks when he has a problem and then you'll see how cute that would look on Inuyasha) His eyes widened when he remembered, "Oh yeah!" When he realized that this night wasn't as great as he thought, his ears drooped and his eyes darkened, "Darn it"

Each month on this day he would always have to stay in and watch the stars and fireflies from inside. His favourite time of the night was lying on the grass and watching the stars twinkle and fireflies fly across him. He always hated the new moon. It made him stay in. At least this time he'll have a friend to watch the stars with him.

He picked up the jar and carried it to him home, walking along side his mother.

---

Night fell across the country and everyone fell into a deep slumber. Well almost everyone.

Violet eyes watched as the stars twinkled. Inuyasha smiled in amazement at how bright the stars where tonight. On the night of a new moon stars had there chance to shine there fullest, no moon light to block out there twinkle. The stars dominated the sky and Inuyasha had never seen a prettier sight. When he had his nose he would be able to smell the blow out candles from the village and the many scents that the wind brought with it. Now that he was human he could only smell the fish that was beside him. "See that?" he asked his friend, "That's the North Star. Mother says that the North Star is the brightest star in the sky" Specs swam in one spot, as if he was listening to what Inuyasha was saying.

"I love the stars," he continued, "You can see pictures if you look really hard enough" Inuyasha searched the sky for a constellation to show Specs in case he didn't know what Inuyasha meant. "There's one" Inuyasha moved his finger along the constellation to show Specs. "It's a dog"

Inuyasha crossed his arms along the window sill and laid his head on his arms. "Mother says that father was a dog. I never met him cause he died when I was really small. Mother says I have, I just don't remember." He exhaled deeply. "Do you remember your parents?" he asked Specs who now was swimming around in circles.

Specs answer was a jump. Inuyasha smiled, "Guess not"

He looked at the stars one last time before taking the jar and placing it on the table. He stretched and was just about to go to sleep when he heard a scream. He quickly ran to the window and looked outside to see if he could see what was wrong from the window sill.

When he couldn't he ran outside, ignoring his mothers rule about not going outside.

He ran into the forest and fallowed the direction from where the scream was coming. The forest looked really spooky at night. The trees branches looked like clawed hands and there bark looked like deranged faces. Woodland critters watched him as he ran through the forest, curious about why they had a guest so late at night. Inuyasha cursed when he didn't have his sense of smell. If he did he would be able to find that girl no problem. Now that he was human it took him much longer to find the girl.

She had long black hair going all the way down to her bottom. She wore a kimono with red pants and white shirt. Inuyasha moved closed when he noticed that she was crying. A twig snapped when he did so and it made the girl look at him, terror and fear filling her puffy, red, wet eyes. When she saw that it wasn't a demon or any other frightening monster that might be lurking in the forest she calmed down some. "W-who are you?"

"Inu…" he stopped himself from saying his full name. The girl would know him from her parents and he didn't want to scare the girl anymore so he simply said, "Inu. My name is Inu"

The girl's eyebrow rose, "Inu? That's a strange name for a boy"

Inuyasha gave a cocky smirk, trying to look like he wasn't lying. Luckily the girl shrugged, "My names Kohana" she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. When that was done she gave Inuyasha a good look before asking, "I've never seen you before. Are you new here?"

"What's wrong?" he asked completely ignoring Kohana's question.

She frowned at being ignored, but none the less Kohana pointed to the doll that was hanging on one of the tree's branches, "My doll got stuck in the tree"

Inuyasha crossed his arms, "I don't see why you had to scream"

"I wanted to get someone's attention"

"That's strange"

"My name doesn't mean dog"

Inuyasha frowned. The girl did have a point. "I'll get it for you"

Kohana blinked, "You can climb that high?" she asked.

He shrugged, "It's not that big"

Kohana smirked and crossed her arms. This guy sure was cocky. "Really?" she began, "Well then, Inu, go get my doll" she moved away from the tree and stood far enough so she could see how Inu would be able to climb.

Inuyasha rolled up his sleeves and was ready to climb, when he stopped. The tree was pretty big. He could easily climb this tree when he was a half demon; he just had to jump from branch to branch. Human legs weren't as strong as demon's so if he did try to jump he would only be able to lift himself only an inch off the ground. Maybe he could climb? He looked down at his human finger nails. Dull and small; not good climbing fingers.

He looked over at Kohana to see if she was watching. She was, unfortunately, and seemed to be enjoying the look of worry that was all over Inuyasha's face. She moved her head in an upward direction as if to say, go on and climb.

He looked back at the tree, gulping down the lump in his throat. He had to do this. If not then his dignity would shatter; not to mention his pride. Taking a deep breath he wrapped his arms around the tree and began climbing. He closed his eyes and slowly but surely he began to climb. When he opened his eyes he was surprised that he was moving! He looked below him and saw that he was about a meter from the ground. He smirked as he looked up and started to climb towards the doll.

Kohana watched as Inu was climbing. She tried not to laugh and embarrass the poor guy for he was climbing the way bears do. It was also really kind of him to be doing this for her and this late at night. What she was doing out here she would keep to herself. Sometimes when she couldn't go to sleep she would walk around and try to tire herself out. Her doll was her friend and she brought it where ever she went.

When she was walking threw the woods she would throw her doll up in the air and catch her when she would fall back down. She threw her doll up and waited a while before noticing that her doll would not come back down. She looked up and saw that the doll was stuck in the tree and then you pretty much know what happened after that.

"I got it!"

She snapped out of her daydream and looked up at the tree. Inu was waving her doll around, beaming his little heart out. Kohana smiled and ran beneath the branch, "Throw her down to me!" she called. He did what he was told and the doll fell down to the ground only to be cached by a young girls arms. Kohana hugged her doll, happy to have her back in her arms.

The doll wasn't much to look at. Two pieces of cloth sewed together by thread, and stuffed with sheep's wool. Her hair, eyes and mouth were made of yarn and her dress was also made of cloth. Her grandmother, grandma Kaede, had made it for her when she was two. She died a few years ago and her doll was the only thing that would remind her of her grandmother.

Inuyasha smiled at his good deed only to frown when the branch began to break. "Uh oh"

When the branch could not hold on any longer it finally snapped and the branch, and Inuyasha, fell to the ground with a big 'thump!' Inuyasha rubbed the pain from his back and growled when Kohana began to laugh hysterically. "You…klutz!" she managed to say between laughs. Tears were falling down her cheeks and when she found it hard to breathe, she fell on to the floor.

Inuyasha's cheeks became hot with embarrassment. He dusted himself off and began to walk back home, away from the girl.

Kohana stopped laughing when she noticed that Inu was walking away. "Wait!" she yelled. Inu stopped but he did not turn around. Kohana stood behind him, taking a leaf out of the yarn that was her doll's hair. "I didn't tell you how thankful I was to you for getting my doll"

"I think your laughing was thanks enough"

Kohana frowned with guilt. She never meant to hurt Inu's feelings. "I'm sorry, but thank you" she hugged her doll again, "No one has ever done that for me"

Inuyasha turned around. "Really?"

Kohana nodded, "My father would always have to. Boys from the village always pick on me and throw my doll around, not letting me have it until my father would come," she looked at her doll and smiled, "My grandmother made this" she continued, showing Inu the raggedy doll. "She died a few years ago, when I was seven and when I have kids I'm going to name one of them after her"

Inuyasha looked up at the sky and saw that instead of black, the sky was turning a light purple. He had to get going. "I have to go" he said.

"What, why?" she asked.

"My mom will be worried if I'm not home when she wakes up"

Kohana looked at the sky. It was turning a purple and pink color, very nice to look at but not enough time to. "Yeah, same with my parents. Hey!" she grabbed Inuyasha's arm. "Let's walk home together! Your home shouldn't be to far from mine so we could both get there before our parents wake up" Inuyasha blinked and was about to tell Kohana that he didn't live in the village but he guessed every human around here had to. Reluctantly he followed her to her village, hoping he would have enough time to get back home.

He had been to this village before, and he never wanted to be here again. This is where all his pain came from; the bulling, teasing and hitting. He was happy that everyone was asleep but soon they wouldn't be so he had to get going.

The village looked empty at night, almost like a ghost town. Every thing seemed dead; nothing was moving. A few sheets moved with the night's wind, but other then that everyone was sleeping. Carts were full of food that was calling Inuyasha to them. It took a lot of will power for Inuyasha not to pick one from the cart. One house caught his interest more then the others. It looked to be a stable house but the stable, was completely destroyed. Wood planks were scrambled all over the ground along with some animal bones.

Kohana noticed Inu's interest in the house, "That's old man Kinta's place. He was attack last night by that half-demon that lives near here. Have you heard of him?"

Inuyasha frowned. Did these people really think that he was responsible for this? He could never do anything like that, anyway. He hated blood for one thing as well as seeing the insides living things. It would make him sick.

"Have you?" Kohana asked again. Inuyasha shook his head, "No"

She looked at her doll, frowning as she thought about the half-demon. "Father says that he is a blood thirsty demon"

Wrong. He hates blood.

"His claws and fangs would rip anyone to shreds"

Right, but he would never use them to attack humans.

"He has blood red eyes"

Wrong. He had golden eyes last time he checked.

"And he will eat me if I stray to far from the village," the thought of that happening made Kohana shiver with fear.

He had no comment on this one but his eyes went a bit darker. Where people really afraid of him?

"There's my house!" said Kohana. Inuyasha jumped at her sudden outburst. She pointed to a hut that was right beside the entrance to another village and on the other side of the lake that cut through the village. Luckily there was a bridge that they could cross. As both of them walked over the bridge, they made clumping noises when each of their feet hit the wood. Inuyasha gave the lake a quick glance and saw some fish that were swimming underneath the wooden bridge. He grinned when he thought, "None of the fish looks as cool as Specs"

"Inu, what are you looking at?"

He blinked when he heard Kohana's voice. She was on the other side of the bridge waiting for him to cross. "Nothing" he replied as he walked over to her. When they got to her house she turned around and smiled at Inu, "Thanks again"

He shrugged.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked.

Inuyasha said nothing. He didn't know how to answer that question and he didn't have the time to think about it. The sky was already tuning blue and the sun wouldn't be far behind. "Maybe" he said quickly, "I really have to go Kohana"

The young girl blinked. That was the first time he said her name and, to her, it sounded really beautiful. "Okay then. Goodbye Inu"

He waved as he ran out of the village, not looking back.

---

The sun was rising and Inuyasha could feel his demon blood come back. Though he still had violet eyes, black hair and human ears, his running had become a lot quicker and his nails were staring to grow. He hoped that his demon strength would be able to get him to his house fast enough before his mother wakes up.

When Inuyasha got to his house he was panting hard. The sun shone through the window and he went through the last part of his transformation. His black hair turned white, eyes turned gold and his ears moved from the side of his head to the top. Though that my sound gross to everyone else, he had gone through this transformation every twelve months for ten years and one hundred and twenty days. (I counted)

He greeted his ears arrival by moving them a few times.

He tip toed through the house, not wanting to wake up his mother and get in trouble. As he passed his mothers room he stepped on a squeaky board. He stopped moving and watched his mother with wide eyes checking for any sudden movements. He started to walk again when his mother only moved into a comfortable position on her bed and fell back asleep.

Inuyasha wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve when he came into his head. He exhaled deeply when he thought, "I made it" To his surprise he yawned. He was more tired then he thought. He yawned four times before falling on his bed and as soon as his body hit the futon, he was asleep.

Just when he fell asleep his mother walked in. Izayoi had been awake the whole time when Inuyasha entered the house to his room. She was going to give him a long talk about what happens when he doesn't obey the rules, but when she saw her son's adorable sleeping face she didn't have the heart too so she tucked him in, gave him a small kiss on his forehead and walked quietly into the living room.

She heated up water in a pot and made herself a hot cup of tea. Crossing her legs Izayoi sat down by the living room table. Specs, happy to see someone beside him, jumped out of the water. Izayoi chuckled, "Good mourning to you too Specs." She blew her tea, trying to make it cooler before she took a sip.

A bird chirped a gay melody outside along with others who also joined his tune. "Today is a beautiful day to go for a walk" Izayoi said when she walked up to the window to feel the fresh morning air on her face. The warm air from her tea blew with the wind, as if it was dancing. "Inuyasha will be asleep the whole day today," she shook head, "He shouldn't have stayed up"

She took another sip of her tea. "I have to go shopping," she said to herself, "Specs," she continued, "Can you tell him, if he wakes up, that I'll be at the village"

Specs jumped.

"Thank you"

Izayoi placed her cup on the table, grabbed her basket and headed for the village. Even though the villagers did not like her coming into their village she had to eat and the closest place to get food was that village. Some villagers, like the wives, were kind to her but that was not many of them. As Izayoi entered the village many villagers watched her, each eye glaring daggers at her. She learned to ignore them and continued on her way.

On the far side of the village there was a small family, the only family that would let Izayoi into their home. Five children were playing outside in the nice summer air; three boys and two girls. They were a poor family, hardly able to afford their own food; unfortunately some children have stolen so that there family wouldn't go hungry. When they saw Izayoi they cheered and ran to her. She bent down to the children's level and gave each one a hug. "Hello little ones. Have you kept out of trouble?"

Each one nodded. "Miss Izayoi!" said one of the children.

"Yes Sakura?"

Sakura had brown hair, like each one of her siblings and blue eyes. Her hair was tied into two pony tails on the side of her head and a bracelet on her ankle. The small, six-year-old girl opened her mouth and showed Izayoi the hole where her tooth would be, "I lost a tooth!" she exclaimed. She was bouncing up and down with excitement making Izayoi giggle, "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday!"

Izayoi gave a fake, but convincing, gasp. "My goodness, you're growing up so fast!" Sakura beamed, showing her teeth and the huge gap in the middle of her smile.

"I already lost my tooth," said the oldest boy, Naturo, "Three of them"

Naturo had short brown hair tied into a small rat tail. His ice blue eyes were as cold as the color. He was thirteen, the oldest child in his family and had a very stubborn attitude.

"It's your sister's first one" said Izayoi standing up. Naturo crossed his arms giving Izayoi one last glare before walking back into the small hut that he lived in. Izayoi looked down when she felt a tug on her sleeve. "Miss Izayoi…" it was the youngest child of the family, the four-year-old Teri. He had darker and longer hair then his other siblings, not including his twin brother Yaki, who was sleeping in his older sisters arms. He had brown eyes that looked like chocolate and a bracelet on his wrist that Sakura made for him. He was a shy boy and he hardly ever talked. When he did everyone knew that it was important.

"Yes Teri?" she asked.

"Where's Inuyasha?"

"He's sleeping right now little one. He was up very late last night"

At the horrible news Teri's eyes went dark, "Oh"

Inuyasha was Teri's best friend. Inuyasha would always play with him and teach him many interesting things. They even had there own handshake, which Izayoi found quite adorable. Over the years Inuyasha's visits would decreases and is was very rare for him to come to the village. Izayoi put his hand on Teri's shoulder, making Teri look at her, "I'm sure if he was awake he would have loved to come over"

Teri nodded and stuck his thumb in his mouth, telling everyone he didn't want to talk. She smiled at him one more time before standing up and looking at the oldest sister, Dolly. Brown hair like all her other siblings, she was the one who took care of everyone else when her mother was not home. Her hair went down to her shoulders and was only one year younger then Naturo. As she was cradling Yaki back and forth she hummed a small tune that her mother taught her.

"How's this little one doing?" Izayoi asked patting Yaki's dark brown hair. Dolly smiled, "He's fine. He was up a little past his bed time yesterday so he's tired"

"Just like my son," Izayoi giggled, "Where's your mother?"

"She's just inside making breakfast. Would you like to come in?"

Izayoi nodded, "That would be lovely dear" She followed Dolly into her home.

The house barley had enough room to fit five children and there mother. Dust was everywhere; on the walls, table and even on the floors. Izayoi felt horrible wearing such a nice kimono while everyone else was warring rags. In the living room all the kids were sitting at the table, waiting for breakfast. Izayoi followed Dolly to the table and when she saw their mother she yelled, "Miyo!"

Miyo had black hair, the same color as Izayois', tied up into a ponytail. Her cheek had a small bit of mix on her but it didn't matter for her skin was filled with dirt. She was the mother of five children, an impossible task, but she was doing well. Her husband had died at the hands of a demon two years ago, and it surprised Izayoi that they would become friends to Inuyasha. Her heart was twice the size of a normal person, Izayoi would tell herself; she had too much kindness to share.

Miyo stopped stirring the pot when her name was called and she looked up to Izayoi. "Izayoi!" she hugged her friend trying not to get the mix on her friend's nice kimono, "I didn't know you were coming over"

She shrugged, "I just decided to drop by"

Miyo looked behind Izayoi and noticed that someone was missing, "Where's Inuyasha?"

"He stayed up to late. He's still sleeping at home"

Miyo giggled, "Reminds me of one of mine" she glanced over at Yaki who was still sleeping in his sister's arms. Feeling rude to her guest Miyo moved out of the way and made a space for Izayoi, "Come sit, Izayoi. Breakfast is almost ready"

Izayoi shook her head and raised a hand, "No I have to get going. I don't know when Inuyasha will wake up." Miyo smiled and gave her friend one more hug, "Take care of yourselves!" she called as Izayoi left the house. All the children waved goodbye to her and she waved back; those children where angels sent from heaven.

She walked through the village, glancing at the many foods and trinkets that the stores had to offer. She passed by some of her friends houses, not being able to waves when their husbands came into view. As she passed by some villagers, they were whispering to their neighbor's ear. Izayoi rolled her eyes; probably another rumor. She sighed, "This was an interesting day"

She stopped walking when she saw a girl being bullied by three boys. They were throwing a doll by the looks of it and the girl was crying yelling at the boys to give her doll back. Izayoi hated to see children cry; it made her heart twist up. Then she thought of an idea. Maybe the rumors would be able to give her an advantage.

She walked up to the children and they only noticed that she was there when her shadow cast over the four. The three boys looked at her with horror, backing away. "It's the demon mother!" said one of them.

"Run!" yelled another. They obeyed his order and ran like ferocious dogs were at their heals, dropping the doll in the process. Izayoi shook her head and bent over to pick the doll up. When she brought the doll over to the girl, she was frozen in fear. Her eyes went as wide as they could go, shaking as if she had ants in her pants. Izayoi could feel her heart tightening when she looked at the girls eyes. They were filled with fear and nothing but. She tried to hand the doll over to her but she would only move further away.

"Don't worry little one. I will not harm you" she cooed.

The girl's hand, which was now above her head, started to come down; a good sign. Izayoi continued to talk, "Is this your doll? It is very pretty"

She tried again to give the girl her doll back; this time the girl did not move away but moved her hands, cautiously, to the doll. When she sensed that everything was going to be okay she grabbed the doll from Izayoi's hand and hugged it. Izayoi smiled and started to walk away.

The girl watched as the strange woman walked away. Her father had told her that her husband used to be a demon and that she had given birth to a demon child. They would always say that she was cruel and mean, but she thought differently. That woman helped her get her doll back and in her books that was a very kind thing to do. She got up from the ground and dusted her bottom off. She watched the woman go deciding weather or not to thank her.

As Izayoi was walking she looked back when she heard, "Thank you" coming from the village. She smiled when it was the small girl that she helped. She gave a small bow to the girl before continuing on her way.

When she got home Inuyasha was still sleeping soundly in his bed and Specs was jumping like crazy when she came threw the doorway. She placed the basket of food on the table and smiled at the jumping fish, "I'm glad to see you too" she grabbed a knife from the counter and began to cut the carrot she had bought from the village, "Has Inuyasha woken up yet?" she asked, "It's almost lunch time"

She could hear a small splash coming from inside the bowl. "I'll take that as a no then" she said.

After she had cut the potatoes, carrots and meat she mixed them up into a stew. She placed it underneath the fire and began stirring, making sure that all parts of the soup would become warm. The house was quiet with a few crackles coming from the fire, but other then that it was very silent. As the smell of cooking food drifted through the house Izayoi heard a bang. She smiled; Inuyasha woke up.

"Doesn't surprise me that food would wake him up" she said to Specs, "He has a bottomless pit for a stomach"

When footsteps could be heard from the hallway Izayoi looked over and saw her son rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleep. "Morning Inuyasha"

He yawned before answering, "Morning mum. What smells so good?"

"Your lunch"

He blinked, "It's lunch time already?" Izayoi nodded and gave the soup a quick stir. She didn't want any to burn at the bottom of the pot. "Why did you wake up this late Inuyasha?" she asked, although she already knew the dreadful truth. Maybe if he told the truth she wouldn't give him that hard of a punishment.

"I was tired"

She shook her head. Would he ever learn? After all the lessons she told him about lying she would at least think that he could say the truth more often. When she felt that the soup was hot enough she poured the soup into the bowls. "Careful hun; it's hot" she told him when she handed over the bowl to her son.

He took it, said morning to Specs and sat down at his spot by the table. Izayoi sat bedside Inuyasha quietly drinking her soup. Inuyasha also ate quietly yawning a few times before eating some more soup. The bags under his eyes indicated that he was still tired and, by the looks of it, he could have fallen asleep while he was eating.

Her son definitely had something on his mind, or else he wouldn't be this quiet. Izayoi ate another spoonful of her soup before speaking, "I went to see Miyo today"

Inuyasha's ears perked up at the familiar name. "Really? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you were sleeping so soundly after you sneaked into the house last night"

His ears drooped down. That's what a mother does to you. They talk about one thing and then they're able to bring up another thing with the same topic. "Inuyasha I am very disappointed in you," she continued, "I told you not to – Inuyasha stop playing with your food – to go outside on that night and you disobeyed me"

"I know mother but…"

"You could have been hurt!" she said ignoring her son, "You know that you are not as strong when you're a human! If anything ever happened to you," she hugged him, "I don't know what I'd do"

A wave of guilt went through Inuyasha when his mother hugged him. He didn't know that she would worry that much about him. He just went outside. "I know mother but I heard someone scream"

"Who?"

"A girl named Kohana and her doll got stuck in a tree. I helped her get it down and then I took her home. I'm not hurt either mother," he showed him his arm to emphasize his point, "see?"

His mother was still frowning, "You're still in a lot of trouble Inuyasha. Don't think that just because you're not hurt that you can get out of it"

He looked away from his mother and said a small curse under his breath. He didn't know if his mother heard it but the look on her face made him flinch. She was glaring at him, her frown almost going down to her chin. The lighting in the room didn't help much and only made her look even scarier. His mother could be really scary when she had to be. "Inuyasha, you might not think it's a big deal but it is to me"

It surprised him that his mother could talk so calmly when she was mad. He looked at his fingers, too ashamed to look his mother in the eye.

"I have thought of a proper punishment and I think that it's fair that you go to bed before I do so you can't sneak out when I'm asleep"

Inuyasha's mouth was wide with shock. His mother went to bed when the sun was still setting and they sky was pink and purple. He would go to sleep when it was dark at night and he could see the moon. Going to sleep with the sun still up was not the kind of punishment he had in mind. "Mother that's not fair!" he whined.

"Then you shouldn't have run out last night"

"Someone was in trouble!" Inuyasha yelled, a fang poking out from his mouth as he frowned. His mother frowned, "Inuyasha! Do not yell at your mother!"

His hands were in fists as he held in his anger. His mother always told him to help people in need, and when he does she gets mad! Becoming frustrated, Inuyasha ran out of the house, ignoring his mother's call for him to come back.

---

A strong wind blew threw the forest where Inuyasha was hiding. He was sitting on a high branch; high enough so that he could see his house and the village. The wind played with the branches and Inuyasha's silver hair causing his bangs to go into his face. He would have brushed them away but he was thinking about other things. He usually never got mad at his mother like that but that punishment was unfair. He went outside to help someone! Not go out and get himself killed! Inuyasha crossed his arms and pouted. "Stupid mother" he said to himself.

He loved his mother very much, Inuyasha did, but sometimes she could do things to him that would just make him want to scream at her. It was not like this was his first time running away like this, oh no! He had done this once before and didn't come back until the next night and he might do the same thing tonight, maybe even longer.

As he thought about his idea of staying out for two nights a familiar smell entered the forest. He knew it wasn't a forest animal; they didn't smell as good. The smell was getting stronger so whoever had that smell was coming closer. He stood on his legs and waited for the thing, or whatever is was, to come closer. He waited for a few minutes until the bushes started to move. His eyes stayed fixed on the bush acting as if he was going to pounce on the thing that was behind it. When the thing did come out it surprised him.

It was the girl from the village, Kohana was her name. Like always she had her doll clutched in her hand but instead of her hair flowing down, she had it up in a ponytail. Her cheek had a small cut but it wasn't to deep so blood would come. Inuyasha remembered she had said something about being scared of coming into the forest and wondered why she would be here. She seemed to be looking for something judging by her frantic movements so Inuyasha watched her, eyes fallowing her every move.

"He went this way, I'm sure of it" she said moving around in a circle in case she didn't check that spot yet.

Inuyasha blinked. She was looking for someone, in the forest? No villager would ever go in here when rumors told them that a horrible human eating half-demon lived in the forest.

"Oh Inu, where did you go off to?"

He almost fell off his branch. When he caught his footing and smoothed his hair back trying to act like that never happened. After all that was finished he looked back down at Kohana. Should he go down there? Nah that would be a stupid idea. The person she was looking for was a human with black hair and violet eyes. Inuyasha was a half-demon who had silver hair, golden eyes and about a million rumors saying that he would gobble her up if he had the chance. A very stupid idea indeed. He would just have to stay up on his branch and wait until she left.

Kohana sat down by the bottom of a tree, one directly opposite of Inuyasha's tree. She looked at her dolly who now was dancing happily on her lap. "Inu is pretty brave, dolly; going into the forest all by himself"

Inuyasha was lying down on his stomach, one elbow up and listening to all the stuff Kohana was saying about him.

"It was very nice of him to get you down from the tree – what's that?" She put her doll up to her ear listening to what the stuffed toy had to say. She giggled, "Yes it was funny how he climbed up the tree"

He blushed.

Her grin slowly turned into a small frown, "I miss him too dolly" she looked up to the sky. Inuyasha moved back so that he could become hidden in the shadows and only a demon with a good sense of smell would find him. "I don't know if I'll ever see him again…"

Inuyasha nose flared when a smell entered his sensitive nose. A demon was nearby. His ears moved in every direction; one going left, the other going right, both looking for a sound as to where the demon was and how far away it was from them. It took them a while but when both ears pointed forward, toward Kohana, his eyes widened and his heart began to pump faster. The demon was behind her. Just then he could see claws coming from the shadows, about to take the little girl and eat her as prey.

Kohana had no idea what was behind her and she kept playing with her doll.

He snarled. No demon would ever harm her, not when he's around.

Just when the demon reached in to grab her, Inuyasha jumped from his spot in the trees, picked Kohana up, and ran to some tall bushes. He placed her down on the ground and waited to see if the demon knew where they were.

"What did you do that f…" she couldn't continue. The boy had dog-ears, twitching at the top of his head. His silver hair flowed all the way down to his bottom, maybe even further; she couldn't tell. His finger nails were longer then hers and he had a tooth poking out of his mouth. When she finally knew who she was sitting beside both her eyes and mouth widened. She inhaled deeply, ready to scream but the boy put his hand on her mouth.

"Shuuush" he whispered. Kohana was going to complain about why she should listen to a demon like him but when he pointed to the enormous demon behind them, she shut up. She was shocked that his eyes weren't red like her father told her they were but instead they were a nice gold.

As the demon moved closer to them the boy moved his hand down word, telling her to go closer to the ground. She obeyed and went as close to the ground as possible. The boy kept alert, in case the demon would find them and try to make a sneak attack. Luckily the demon was about as smart as a snail so hiding from him would be easy.

Kohana tried not to but she watched the boys ears move back and forth, searching for sound. They looked so fuzzy and soft almost as soft as cotton.

She felt a sudden tug on her shoulder and noticed that the boy wanted her to come with him. She looked back to see the demon moving further and further away from them. She got up and followed the boy, happy to get away from one demon.

They walked to the biggest tree they could find and stood behind it, in case the demon fallowed them. Inuyasha's ears stopped moving when he was sure that the demon was gone. He was about to look at the girl but he felt a huge stinging pain on his cheek. He cursed and put his hand over his sore cheek. He bared his teeth to Kohana, the person responsible for his sore cheek. "Why did you do that!"

"How dare you do that? You scared me!"

"I saved your life if you haven't noticed!"

She crossed her arms, glaring daggers at Inuyasha, "I was perfectly fine until you took me away!"

"There was a demon or did you not see that?"

She glared at him one more time and she was about to cast another remark to him but she stopped when she got a good look at the Inuyasha's face. "You…"

Inuyasha blinked but kept his glare, "What?"

Memories from the night before went through Kohana's mind. Inu's face look just like this boys. Kind with a bit of rough mixed in. She shook her head not believing what her mind was telling her and back away into the tree. "It can't be" she said, almost in a whisper.

"What!" Inuyasha asked again getting more aggravated.

"Inu…your Inu"

At this Inuyasha's face softened. He crossed his arms and nodded, "Yeah"

Kohana was in total disbelief. "But…Inu, you, were so nice. Father said that…"

"Your father is wrong!" he snapped, baring his teeth. He had scared Kohana with his outburst and she backed away closer to the tree. Seeing this Inuyasha tried to calm down, "Your father, everyone, always makes up rumors about me and they make me sound meaner then I really am" He sat down cross legged on the grass, not making eye contact with Kohana. He didn't want her to see his eyes get watery. "I hate blood; it makes me sick and insects, especially moths. I love the stars and animals." As Inuyasha continued to talk Kohana became less and less scared of him. She moved closer.

"I just wish that they would treat me better, that's all"

Kohana sat down beside him, lifting her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. "I never knew"

He smirked. That was no surprise, "Yeah, not most of you do"

"Have you ever told anyone? I bet if you did…" she stopped when he snorted, "You don't think I've tried? When I was little I noticed someone who had lost there doll, like you except it wasn't caught in a tree." Kohana smiled. "Anyway. I tried to give it and the kid still wanted it but her parents didn't want there child touching a doll that was contaminated with demon germs"

Kohana frowned, "That's horrible"

"I never go to the village much anymore, only sometimes but that's only to see my friends at the far side of the village"

Kohana thought of all the different people who lived near her or the houses that she remembered. When something in her brain ticked, she said, "Are they the really poor people who live at the very end of the village?"

Inuyasha frowned when Kohana said that Miyo was poor, "There not poor, they just don't have lots of money"

Her eyebrow rose, "Isn't that the same thing?"

"Not to me it isn't" he snorted.

Kohana giggled, "You have a really stubborn attitude, Inu"

"My name's not Inu. It's Inuyasha"

"Inuyasha?" Kohana said that name in her head a couple of times before saying, "I like Inu better. Is it okay if I call you that?"

He blushed at the new nickname she had made for him, "Yeah it's fine" Kohana's eyes widened when Inuyasha's ears moved back then up again. He noticed her interest in his ears and raised his eye brow, "What?"

Kohana did not answer his question and instead she got up and rubbed his ears. The soft feeling that they had made her smile, "There so soft!"

"Oi!" shouted Inuyasha at Kohana who was rubbing his ears. Though he was surprised at first the feeling got better as time progressed. Soon he closed his eyes and relaxed, not noticing a low rumble came from his throat. Kohana stopped and smiled at the strange noise. "Inu, were you…purring?"

The noise stopped, "No! That was a growl!"

She knew that was a lie but didn't bother to say anything. He would argue if she did anyway. "I didn't know you were part cat, especially since your name starts with Inu"

"What! I am not part cat!"

Kohana blinked, "But your ears…"

"They're dog ears! Can't you tell?" he said, glaring at her stupidity and ears twitching with annoyance. This made Kohana squeal and made Inuyasha's ears go right against his skull. "What is wrong with you!"

"They are so cute!"

Inuyasha crossed his arms, "You're really weird"

She exhaled deeply and sat back down making a loud, thump, sound as she did so. Another breeze blew through the forest making both Inuyasha and Kohana's hair come to life. Kohana closed her eyes as the breeze blew through her hair. "When ever the breeze comes and I'm sitting like this I sometimes imagine that I'm flying"

Inuyasha smirked, "Really?"

Kohana nodded, "I've never told anyone that before. It's strange but when I with you, I can tell you anything. You're like my doll"

"I'm a doll?"

Kohana smiled at the confused expression Inuyasha was making, "Just the way I can tell you stuff that I don't tell anyone else, not even my parents, oh!" Kohana moved over a little so that she was in front of Inuyasha. "I met your mum today"

"You did?" Inuyasha blinked. That's right! His mother went out today but she never told him that she met Kohana. Guess he ran out on her before she could.

"Yup, she got my doll back from the boys who took it from me. Her kindness surprised me, just like you" she placed her head on her knees, "I felt bad when I didn't say anything so I said thank you"

Inuyasha looked at the ground. He felt bad for running out on his mother; she was only worried about him that's all. She didn't have his father there anymore and, he guessed, that he was the only thing that reminded her of him. Inuyasha frowned when he understood why his mother was so angry at him for going outside. Kohana saw Inuyasha's sad look and frowned, "Are you okay Inu?"

He shook his head and walked away; "Sorry Kohana but I need to go" he said and ran off

She got up, "Wait! How am I going to get home!" she yelled to him.

"There's a path to the right of you. Sorry but I can't say!" he yelled back as he ran.

When Inuyasha was out of sight she crossed her arms and shook her head at how rude that half-demon could be. She turned to her right and just as Inuyasha had said there was a path leading straight to her village. As she walked down the path she told herself that she would not tell her parents, or anyone, that she had met Inuyasha. Only when she had to she would tell them, other then that, it would be a complete secret.

---

Izayoi waited nervously for her son to come back. The sky was getting dark and there was still no sign of him. To help her calm down she would pace around the room or crumple the end of her dress when she sat down. Her son had done something like this once when he was seven and came back two nights before. That was the first time he had run out on her.

She went crazy those two nights, thinking about all the horrible things that could have happened to her son. Now she was calmer and told herself that he would come back safe and sound.

Crossing her legs, she sat down beside Specs jar. "Oh Specs I hope that he's okay"

Specs jumped. Izayoi expected that a jump meant yes and a splash meant no. She smiled, "I'm sure he is too. I still remember when he was born you know. Eleven years ago on a night of the full moon…"

A cry echoed through the hallway of a home where the great dog lord, Inu No Tashio lived. A baby had been born, his son and oh, what a handsome boy he was; beautiful silver hair and golden eyes, just like his father, but the gentle face of his mother. His adorable feature though was the two dog ears that twitched to all the new noises of the world.

He was wrapped up in a blanket so that he wouldn't catch cold and his mother rocked him back and forth. She had never been so happy in her life. To see her son smile made her complete as if nothing else in the world mattered. Her husband leaned over her and kissed her on the forehead, "Well done"

She smiled and kissed him back. The baby made a gurgling sound as he looked at his father and mother for the first time. They both smiled as he smiled a toothless grin to both of them. His mother leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, black hair falling down on to the baby's small face. Her hair tickled his nose and right when his mother moved away, he sneezed.

His father smiled, took his son from his wife and held him in his arms. As he rocked the baby over the room it giggled and laughed as if there was nothing more fun then spinning around.

"Careful now. We don't want him to get sick"

His father rocked him one more time before giving the baby back to its mother. She walked over to its cradle and placed her son into it, giving it a little push so that it would help him to fall asleep. Both parents kissed him on the forehead, "What should we call him?" his mother asked.

"Inuyasha" his father said, never taking an eye off his new son.

She smiled and took a look at her son, seeing if the name would fit. "Yes, I think that will do just fine"

"His father loved him so much" she said to Specs, "But he died when Inuyasha was very young, so he wouldn't remember him"

Izayoi got up and walked to the window. The sun was setting and the sky was turning a nice pink and purple hue. "I miss his father very much." Izayoi felt something wet fall down her cheek. She wiped it away when she noticed that she was crying. "Oh dear, look at me! I'm crying" she chuckled as she wiped the other tear from her cheek. "How silly"

She heard a splash.

She giggled and looked at the spotted fish, "You're a very sweet fish Specs but that will get you no extra dinner." When Specs did nothing out of disappointment Izayoi walked away and went to the window.

A wave of relief went over her when she saw Inuyasha running out of the forest. She ran out of the house ready to greet her son with open arms.

"Mama!" he called as he ran into her giving her a great big hug. Izayoi did the same, hugging her son as if they had not seen each other in years. Tears flowed freely down her face and she hugged him a bit tighter. He was okay.

"I'm sorry mother" he said as they hugged, "I shouldn't have run away," he stopped when he saw his mothers tears, "Mother, why are you crying?"

She smiled, "I missed you Inuyasha. Promise that you won't do this again?"

He nodded, "Okay mother, just please don't cry. I don't like it when you do." Izayoi smiled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, "Okay"

Both of them walked back into the house hand in hand, ready to go to sleep.

---

When Inuyasha woke up the next morning his mother was outside standing in front of many angry villagers. He walked out beside her, rubbing his eyes, "Mama, what's wrong?"

"Hush Inuyasha" she said, still looking at the villagers.

"Your sons at it again Izayoi! This time he got into out chicken coop" yelled Hitsushi getting nods of approval from the villagers behind him. Izayoi glared at them, "How could he when he went to sleep right before I did?"

"He could have sneaked out" said one of the villagers from behind Hitsushi.

"He's not allowed to"

"He could have defied you!"

Hitsushi shut the villager up with his hand. "Enough of this. All we want is your kid Izayoi, nothing else," at this Inuyasha moved behind his mother's leg, "You may go free" he made a signal with his hand and some of the villagers moved towards them. Izayoi stood her ground, "You will not have my son. If you must you will have to go through me first"

Hitsushi frowned, "Very well then. I'm sorry to say this Izayoi, you are a very beautiful woman, but we must take you along with your son"

Inuyasha looked up at his mothers face to see if she showed any sign of weakness or faltering but she kept her glare and stood her ground against the villagers. "If that is what you must do"

Three villagers moved forward and went for Izayoi while another three went for Inuyasha. He moved closer to his mother's leg, as if it was his life line and if he were to let go he would die. "Stay by my side Inuyasha" Izayoi whispered. Inuyasha could only respond with a nod. When a villager tried to grab Izayoi's arm she slapped him right across the cheek. The sound made Inuyasha wince when he remembered how much Kohana's slap hurt him.

To distracted by his mother Inuyasha didn't notice a villager slowly creep up to him. Quickly the villager grabbed him, covered his mouth up and put his dagger to Inuyasha's throat.

Hitsushi smiled at Kinta's good work. He looked back at Izayoi who was preoccupied with the two villagers, "Now, now Izayoi I don't want to resort to violence" he made a head gesture to tell Izayoi to look beside her. She did and gasped when her son had a dagger at his throat. He was on the edge of crying but he didn't want his mother to worry too much.

"One signal Izayoi, that's all it takes. If you come quietly then your son's life will be spared. If not well," he looked over to the boy, "you know the rest, and believe me. Kinta will not hesitate"

To show he was serious Kinta moved his dagger closer so that it was pressing against Inuyasha's skin. Inuyasha held his breath accepting his fate of dying. His mother would be safe if he did. She wouldn't get teased anymore.

"Stop!" she yelled. Everyone turned their heads to look at her. "I'll come" her head hung low.

Hitsushi nodded to Kinta telling him to let go of the boy. Reluctantly he let go of the kid and walked away, glaring at Izayoi the whole time. Right away Inuyasha ran to his mother clinging on to her leg, not letting go. Hitsushi held out his hand to Izayoi. Seeing her son unharmed she walked with Hitsushi to the village, Inuyasha still clinging to his mother's leg.

The jail was a horrible place; leaks in the ceilings, cracks in the floors as well as the walls. A small candle light filtered the hallway and without that, Inuyasha and Izayoi would be in complete darkness. They were each placed in a different jail cell so that the half demon could be alone. At least Izayoi was placed in the cell in font of Inuyasha's. Prisoners who had been there before had marked how many times they stayed in here with stone. The longest one, Izayoi counted, was 467 white marks on the wall. Many pests walked by her, some even going so close that Izayoi had to shoo them away.

She sat in the closest corner to the wooden bamboo bars that held her in and looked over to Inuyasha checking to see if he was alright.

His cell was similar to hers, only smaller with the candle right beside the bars. Two soldiers were standing guard by him, which was not necessary. Inuyasha could never hurt a human, not even if he tried. He was quiet, not making a sound, but his harsh breathing could be heard all through out the cell and it calmed Izayoi down. Hitsushi had kept his promise and had not killed Inuyasha. She wanted to talk to Inuyasha, see if he was alright but the guards would not let her so she was only able to look at her son.

Squeaking of metal echoed threw the jail and Izayoi turned her head around to see who had entered the door. One of the keepers was bringing down food for them. He slid the food underneath the bars, the plates making screeching noises as it hit the pavement. Izayoi looked at the plate then sighed when she saw what was on it. Stale bread and dirty water; yummy. Izayoi moved the cup of water to the side, not drinking it in case it was poisoned but ate the bread none the less.

When the keeper had come to Inuyasha's cell he started to shake. Izayoi lifted her eyes up from the bread to the shaking jail keeper and watched what he would do.

He placed the food down just as he did with Izayoi's food and pushed it, with a stick that he had brought down, into Inuyasha's cell. When that was done he quickly moved back as if something had jumped out and scared him. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before walking out of the jail cell. Izayoi noticed a clawed hand poke out from the wall and grab the plate of food, dragging it closer so that he could reach the bread.

When the bread was finished and the water poured on the pavement, Izayoi placed her back against the wall and closed her eyes. Tonight was not going to be very comfortable.

His mothers breathing became steady. She was asleep. Inuyasha poked his head out from behind the wall to see if his mother was still there or not. She was and was sleeping in a very uncomfortable position. He wanted to complain, say that the bread was stale and his water was brown but his mother wasn't so he wouldn't either. He crouched on the ground trying to get some sleep like his mother but a sharp pebble stopped him from doing so. He had to move where he was sitting and find another place that didn't have too many pebbles.

When he got up one of the guard was watching him from the corner of his eye. Inuyasha came up with a delightful idea that made him grin with happiness. When he turned his back to walk to the next corner, he made sure that the guard was still watching him. When he was Inuyasha smiled, turned around and yelled, "Boo!"

The guard screamed and jumped back, frightened that the demon tried to attack him. The guard next to the frightened one hit him over the head, "Pull yourself together man!"

"T-the demon," he stammered still shaken up from his surprise, "I-it tried to attack me!"

The guard glared at Inuyasha with one eye and jabbed Inuyasha's stomach with the end of his sword, "You better know your place demon. One word from us that you tried to attack and it's over for you"

Inuyasha crossed his arms and walked to the far right corner. That guy really knows how to wreck someone's fun. He slouched on the corner, pouting and glaring at the annoying guards that were in the front of his cell. Inuyasha planned to stay up all night and wait for the guards to fall asleep then he would be able to get out of here and save him and his mother. Unfortunately as the time passed, Inuyasha had dozed off right before the guard blew out the candle.

---

Hitsushi was rather cheerful when he walked through the door, something that never happens. He had a skip in his step, and was ginning ear to ear. His daughter watched him as he walked into the house, rather confused at her father's strange attitude. "Dad, what happened?"

"What do you mean my dear?" he asked in a cheery tune still grinning.

"Why are you so happy?"

Hitsushi smiled, "Oh Kohana. Should there be a reason for someone to be so happy?"

Kohana adjusted her doll's dress, "In your case, yes"

Usually her father disliked her snappy attitude and would send her off to bed in the blink of an eye, but, thank goodness, he was still smiling and talking in his cherry tune. "Very well," he sat down beside his daughter, "We have finally caught that half-demon"

Kohana gasped. "You mean the one that lives in the forest?"

Hitsushi nodded, "Who else?" Hitsushi frowned when his daughter did not look to happy about this, "What is wrong Kohana? Are you not happy that we have caught the half-demon?"

Kohana shook her head, "No Dad, I'm just wondering what you are going to do with him now that you have it"

Hitsushi made himself some tea and sat back down, blowing on the hot liquid, "I can't do anything to it yet. Izayoi wouldn't let me go near him when I tried to" he took a sip, "We will just have to try something different"

Kohana wanted to get more information, "Like what? Kill her?"

"Oh no dear," he took a sip and whispered under his breath, "that little bastard will kill us if we tried"

Kohana heard that, "Daddy!"

"I'm very sorry dear. Don't say that word ever! Only when you're as old as your old man" he hesitated trying to sound like the responsible father. "No we won't kill her," he continued, "Izayoi is a very beautiful woman. Now that her husband is gone she'll need someone strong to protect her" visions of what he was going to do popped into his head and he grinned at how smart he was.

Kohana stood up, "I'm going outside"

"Don't stay out to late hun," he called to her. She did not say anything to him for she was much too angry at him and kept walking. Poor Inu, stuck in a scary prison at the age of ten! She had to help him out of there, and his mother. It was the only way she could repay him for her father's wrong doing. She stopped walking so she could think of what to do.

She could never do it herself, but who would help her save a half-demon that so many people are afraid of? Her head popped up when she remembered a conversation that she had with Inuyasha.

"I never go to the village much anymore, only sometimes but that's only to see my friends at the far side of the village"

Kohana thought of all the different people who lived near her or the houses that she remembered. When something in her brain ticked, she said, "Are they the really poor people who live at the very end of the village?"

Inuyasha frowned when Kohana said that Miyo was poor, "There not poor, they just don't have lots of money"

She had to find them. They would be the only ones that would help her get Inu out.

---

Naturo tucked the twins into their beds, kissed there foreheads and blew out the candle. "Night twerps. Sweet dreams"

"Night Naturo" Teri and Yaki said in unison.

The thirteen-year-old walked to his room passing both his sisters. He was the only one that had his own room, not including his mother. Dolly and Sakura shared a room and same with Teri and Yaki. That's what you get when you're the oldest; a whole room to yourself, no annoying sibling to share it with.

His mother was still up, cleaning the bowls with the stream outside. She always went to sleep after them, he didn't know why. When he got to his room he went onto his futon, blew out the candle and went to sleep.

Miyo washed the bowl in the cold water by her home. It was giving her Goosebumps on her hands and arms and making her shiver from time to time. She hummed at tune that made her work faster and more efficient. Two bowls were done, two more to go.

"Miyo!"

She stopped worked to turn around and see who called her name. It was the village elder's daughter, Kohana and she was out of breath and her nice dress had dirt all over the bottom. "What is it dear?"

Kohana had to catch her breath first before she could speak. "Do you know someone named Inuyasha?"

If Miyo turned around just then she would see five heads poking out from the doorway, listening to her conversation. Miyo was still holding a bowl so she placed it down to talk to Kohana, "Yes I do. Why do you ask?"

"Because he's in trouble"

Miyo's eyebrow rose. The elder was a very mean man especially to them, the poor folk. She never really saw his daughter but she didn't expect her to be much different. "What kind of trouble?"

"My father has put him in jail same with his mother and he told me that you were his friends" her eyes looked to the ground, "I want to help him but I can't do it on my own"

Her kindness surprised Miyo but hearing that Izayoi and her son were in trouble convinced her, "All right"

Kohana's eyes widened, "Oh thank you!"

Miyo turned around and saw her five children try to hide there faces from her, but Yaki didn't do it quite fast enough. Miyo smiled and shook her head, "I know you're there. Come out"

Naturo came first, then Dolly, then Sakura and Teri and Yaki came out together. "We heard that Inuyasha's in trouble" Teri said, "I want to help him." Yaki nodded in agreement.

Miyo shook her head, a sure sign that she was going to say no, but Sakura was faster, "I do too mama. Inuyasha's our friend"

"Me too!" said Dolly

"And me!" said Naturo.

Kohana smiled at how loyal they were to Inuyasha. He wasn't as lonely as she thought.

Seeing no way out of this Miyo sighed, "Alright, but we must get ready." All the kids nodded and ran into the house. Miyo looked at Kohana, "Kohana come inside, and we'll get you all the stuff you'll need when we go in there"

Kohana bowed to Miyo before going inside. Miyo had never been bowed to before and personally, she liked the feeling.

When they got all there supplies and figured out the plan of what they were going to do, they left the house and set there plan into action. Teri and Yaki went first, being the smallest then Sakura and so on and so forth. Miyo was at the end so that she could watch everyone at the front.

At the jail, Teri and Yaki put there back to the walls as a guard passed by. They held there breath for if the guard looked over to his right, there cover would be blown. Quickly when the guard was far enough that they would be able to pass through, Teri signaled to the group at the back to go forward. Each of them walked quickly and quietly passed the guard. Kohana was surprised how well they had planned this out, as if they had done something like this before. She was going to ask them but she didn't want to make a sound.

Sakura was the one to go in first this time. She checked the surrounding to see if the coast was clear. So far there was a desk, chair and a sleeping jail keeper with the keys to the cells handing on his pants. Sakura gave a thumbs up sign and everyone came in. Sakura pointed to the jail keeper's pants and the keys that were hanging on them. Naturo smiled and rubbed his hands together with excitement. This was going to be like taking candy from a baby.

Slowly Naturo's hand reached for the keys and when he got them he pulled them off the pants, trying not to wake the man up. He twirled them on his finger, "That was too easy," he whispered. Dolly rolled her eyes, "C'mon Mr. Hotshot lets get in there and save Inuyasha"

Naturo frowned at the nickname his sister gave him and punched her shoulder as he passed.

"Ow!" she whispered as best as possible, and grabbed her sore shoulder with her hand. Kohana giggled.

"Hush you two" Miyo hissed. The jail keeper moved his position on the seat and all of them watched to see if he would wake up. When he didn't Dolly pushed the wooden door open, and stopped for a few seconds when the door squeaked. When the door was fully open and the jail keeper was still asleep, all of them went in to the dark jail cell.

"Ouch," said Teri when he ran into a wall, "Mama I can't see anything"

"Hold on," Miyo started to rub together two sticks that were on the floor. Though it did take a while, fire was made and they could now continue.

Kohana had never been into a jail cell before. Rats were everywhere, looking at them with their beady red eyes. No one else noticed them, only Kohana and she shivered when she saw one eating one of its own kind. She knew that when she got out of here she would never come back.

The fire eliminated the hallway, showing everything around it; cells, rats and even human bones. Yaki got spooked by the bones and clinged on to Kohana's legs. Seeing him scared Kohana wrapped her arm around his head and kept him close. Suddenly Miyo stopped and everyone behind her crashed into her. "Mum!" said Naturo through clenched teeth.

"Hush" she whispered putting a finger over her mouth.

She outstretched her arm so that the fire's light could go a bit farther. Two guards were sleeping on both sides of a cell's door, and in the cell was Inuyasha sleeping on the far left corner. "Inuya…"

Naturo put a hand over his younger brothers mouth, "Shut up Teri or you're going to get us all killed!" he moved his eyes to the guards. One of them moved but they didn't wake up. Teri pushed his brother's arm away and smiled when he saw Inuyasha. He wrapped his fingers around the wooden bars of the cell. "Dolly, open the cell"

Dolly walked up in front of Teri and used all of the keys that the ring had. Dolly cursed when the last key was Inuyasha's cell and it would have been a lot faster if she had done the other side. Putting the key in the lock she turned and the door opened, making a small clang sound as the door swung. Dolly watched the guards in case they would wake up. When they didn't she went into the cell and kneeled beside the sleeping Inuyasha. "Inuyasha," she whispered as she shook his shoulder, "Wake up Inuyasha"

He made a low mumble that Dolly could barley hear. She shook him harder and Inuyasha opened his eyes so that they were little slits. When he saw Dolly they went fully open, "Dolly? W-what are you doing here?" he asked.

She was going to answer but Teri ran up from behind her and jumped onto Inuyasha's lap, "Inuyasha, your okay!"

Inuyasha ruffled Teri's hair, "Yah squirt. I'm pretty hard to break. What are you doing down here?"

"We've come to save you!"

"If it wasn't for Kohana you'd still be down here" Dolly jerked her thumb backwards.

Inuyasha looked behind Dolly and Teri and saw Kohana standing outside of the cell along with Yaki, Miyo, Naturo and Sakura. She was smiling at him happy that he was alive.

He smirked, at the thought of her going through all that trouble to get him out. "Where's mother?" he asked.

Miyo turned the fire over to the next cell and sure enough there was Izayoi also sleeping in her cell. "Sakura, Naturo go get Izayoi" ordered Miyo.

Dolly threw the keys to her brother, the keys making a jingling sound as they soared through the air, and stopped when it landed in Naturo's hand. He opened the gate making Dolly pout when Izayoi's key was the first one on the ring. They woke up Izayoi and brought her out of the cell.

"Mama!"

"Inuyasha"

Inuyasha and Izayoi hugged, happy that both of them were unharmed. He grinned at the two guards who were still sleeping by his open cell. "Hey Naturo," he called, "Come help me lift these guys"

Naturo, as if he read Inuyasha's mind, grinned and ran up to Inuyasha, grabbing the guard on the right while Inuyasha got the guard on the left and dragged them into the cell. Inuyasha put the guard in quite quickly so he helped Naturo who was still pulling the other guard into the cell. When that was finished they closed the cell and Dolly locked it with the keys. Naturo and Inuyasha gave each other a high five at the good work but froze when they could hear screaming upstairs.

All of them ran out of the jail, freezing when everyone was running away screaming their lungs out. All the loud noises hurt Inuyasha's ears and he moved them down so it wouldn't hurt as much.

"Demon!" yelled one of the passing villagers.

They all looked to where the villager was pointing to and there was a huge ogre breaking all of the village houses. Its green skin shone from the fire that it was creating and its claws had a crimson color dripping off from the tips. Huge red eyes moved over every square inch of the village as if seeing which spot he would destroy next. It ginned when it saw the huge clump of humans by the jail cell. As it moved forward the ground began to shake.

That demon was the one responsible for the animal slaughter two nights ago and for the chickens that made Inuyasha and his mother go to jail. It also tried to hurt Kohana. Inuyasha's hand became a fist. "Miyo," he said. Miyo blinked when she looked away from the ogre, "Yes?"

"Take everyone to the forest. You'll be safe there"

Kohana frowned, "What about you Inuyasha?"

"I'll be fine. I'm a half-demon, remember? It will be harder for him to bring me down, you'll be able to escape" he smirked, "don't worry Kohana. I'll protect you"

Kohana felt tears prick the ends of her eyes. She didn't want to leave him, she would feel horrible if he died, but he said he wanted to do this and she couldn't argue with him. He would always win. Before she left she gave Inuyasha a great big hug and whispered into his ear, "Be careful"

He was surprised so surprised that he blushed. Was she hugging him? When he saw that she was, he hugged back.

The ogre was coming and they didn't have that much time left. "Go!" he pushed Kohana to Naturo. They all watched as Inuyasha ran toward the ogre, Izayoi more frightened then anyone else. "C'mon Lady Izayoi" said Naturo taking her away into the forest and even though Izayoi was walking to the forest she would not take her eyes off Inuyasha and the ogre.

The ogre's eyes fallowed the family and would have gone after them but something stood in its way. A small silvered haired boy but he didn't smell like normal humans. He smelt much worse; like horse dung. The ogre snarled when it felt a sharp pain on its leg. He looked down to see why and saw that his leg had three deep claw marks that were making him bleed.

Inuyasha looked at his bloody claws, surprised that he attacked something. The smell of blood made him sick to his stomach and he wanted to vomit but he stopped himself from doing so. He had to protect his friends and his mother.

It gave a swipe of its claws at the small pest but the boy easily dogged it.

The Ogre was much smaller in person, about the size of a maple tree. Maybe killing this thing was going to be easier then Inuyasha expected. He gave another swipe at the ogre, this time at its stomach. It dogged it but got a small cut on its side. It fell on its knee while holding its bleeding body. Inuyasha smirked and ran for the final blow when the ogre got up and caught him off guard. Before Inuyasha was able to leap up and get away the ogre pinned him to the ground with his sharp claws.

It started to press down, crushing Inuyasha's body with its weight. He could feel the air being sucked out of his lungs as the ogre pressed him closer to the ground. As he tried to wiggle out of the ogre's claws it only caused him more pain. A human would have been crushed at this pressure but Inuyasha's bones were much stronger then a weak humans but he knew if he didn't get out soon he would become flat.

The ogre was smiling at the half-demon's pain. The little twerp would pay for what he did to it, with his life.

His organs were getting pressed down flat to the ground, and the pain was unbearable and finally Inuyasha screamed out; telling the whole world his pain.

The scream echoed all through out the village and even into the forest where Kohana could hear it. She turned back around, fear and doubt running through her brain. Inuyasha was in trouble and this time it was serious. She looked at everyone else and they too had heard Inuyasha's scream. They all had the same look in there eye a look that was firm and strong. They were going to go help him.

"We're going back mum" said Naturo.

Miyo shook her head. She was too afraid that if her children went back there some of them might not come back and no mother should ever outlive their children. "No, no I can't let you do it"

"But mother!" said Dolly stomping her foot, "Inuyasha's in trouble"

Miyo still shook her head, "No! I don't want to lose you five!" her sudden out burst surprised them and they listened as she continued to speak, "You kids are the world to me. I'm just afraid that you might not come back…" she could not continue when tears fell down her cheek.

"Mama…"

"Mother what about Izayoi? Inuyasha's the world to her and he might be dying right now!" Dolly also had tears falling down her cheek and it took a lot of will power for her not to break down and cry. Miyo considered this and looked at her friend. Izayoi was terrified; shaking like a leaf with tears pricking at the ends of her eyes. Dolly was right.

Miyo nodded, "I will take Izayoi back home. Inuyasha would want his mother out of danger"

The kids hugged their mother before running back to the village. Kohana waved back to the two women before running to catch up with her friends.

"Stupid little half-breed" the ogre said in a very deep and wheezy voice, "You think you could defeat me and save your friends?" it chuckled, "Pathetic"

Inuyasha could not say anything for he could not breathe when his lungs were so close to the ground. He was going to die but at least his mother and friends were safe. They'd be far from here by now and this demon would not want to waist his time finding them. Just then his ears perked up when he heard yells coming towards him and the ogre. He moved his head and saw Naturo, Dolly, Kohana, Sakura, Teri and Yaki running with swords and pitchforks in their hands.

The ogre, now interested in the humans, let go of Inuyasha. Automatically his lungs let in all the air possible and his organs grew back to their normal size. He got up very slowly. What where they doing here? Didn't they know that they could die fighting this thing? Inuyasha became horrified. They were only humans; they wouldn't be able to kill this thing. They would die.

"No!" he yelled trying to run ahead of the demon before it swiped at them but it was already too far ahead. When the ogre was close enough to the humans he swiped at them, claws sharp and ready for shredding. Inuyasha could only watch and wait for all of his friends to be killed in a single blow.

"Now!" yelled Naturo.

They all moved away when the ogre swiped at them. Just as it did that Naturo threw his sword at the ogre's heart. It soared perfectly but as soon as it got close to the ogre it fell down a few meters off and stabbed it deep in the stomach. The ogre screeched in pain. Naturo wasn't happy about the horrible aim but was when he had hit it. He walked back to his siblings and friend to happy to notice the ogre lifting up his arm, fire in its eyes.

"Naturo, behind you!" yelled Sakura.

Naturo looked back and his eyes went wide when the claw moved down on him. Everyone could only watch as Naturo was hit, full blow, by the ogre's claw. He screamed when he could feel the claw go through him and his blood running out of his body. He fell to the ground as if he was a stuffed doll.

"Naturo!"

Dolly fell to her knees; unable to stand, tears falling down her cheeks. Everyone was speechless and stared at Naturo's lifeless body. Inuyasha slammed his fist into the ground, angry that he could not save his friend. The ogre was going to pay.

It licked its claws, tasting the fresh blood. "That will teach you humans."

Teri moved to his brother as if the ogre wasn't there. "Teri, get back here! You'll get killed" pleaded Kohana. She could not bear to see someone else get killed, especially a child. He ignored her and continued to walk to his brother. Maybe he was still alive and then everything would be okay. They would defeat the ogre and go home. When Teri got there, Naturo was laying in a puddle of his own blood. It soaked Naturo's pants, clothes and hair as some poured out from his body. His ice blue eyes were now a dark black color. Teri's face scrunched up when he realized that his brother was dead. He started to cry and tried to wipe his tears away; his brother would want him to be strong and strong people don't cry.

"Pathetic human, I will end your misery like I did your brothers"

The ogre lifted a claw, the same one he used to kill Naturo, and swiped it down at Teri but just before it did a red and white blur grabbed Teri and put him back with his siblings. Dolly, Sakura and Yaki hugged him getting some blood on there clothes from doing so.

"Get ready" said Inuyasha, "He's coming"

Everyone grabbed their weapon and prepared for the fight. As the ogre got closer Sakura yelled, "Fire!" and both Teri and Yaki threw there pitch forks as hard as they could. Yaki's missed by only a few inches but Teri's hit right on the foot. The ogre stumbled when the pitchfork hit it but it kept on going. Inuyasha, getting fed up with waiting, ran ahead. He was angry at Naturo's death and he wanted to blow off some steam. The ogre was a perfect target. Inuyasha jumped, bared his claws and cut the ogre's arm right off. Blood poured from the deep wound some falling on Inuyasha. He spat out the blood the fell into his mouth and backed away from the angry ogre. Out of rage it went and attacked Inuyasha, not seeing Dolly who jumped on to its other arm.

The ogre swung its arm trying to get the little pest off of it. She had a pretty good grip on its arm and wouldn't let go, "This is for my brother" she stabbed her sword into its arm, blood spraying onto her dress. The ogre violently started to shake its arm until Dolly lost her balance and fell to the ground. Her back hit the ground and it was hard for her to get back up. The ogre took its chance and plunged its claws into Dolly's stomach.

She gasped as the claw went right through her. She tried to breathe and get air into her but her lungs where destroyed along with her stomach, bones and almost every one of her internal organs. Even though her heart was not touched, she could feel it weakening when less and less blood pumped through it. When the claw came out only a small portion of the pain went away. Blood spilled down her clothes and dripped on to her hand. She lifted her hand when she felt the warm liquid touch it. Dolly tasted blood as some trickled down her cheek and coughed when it started to fill her throat. She could hear screams, shouts and even cries telling her to get up, but she knew that was impossible. Her stomach was missing.

Her eyes widened when she saw Naturo, smiling at her. His back which was destroyed by the demon was healed and Dolly could see no scars. He helped her get up and it amazed her that she could stand. She looked down and gasped when her gut that once had a hole in it, now was completely gone. Naturo held out his hand and she took it. Both of them walked off into the white light, and Dolly was happier then she had ever been.

"Dolly!" yelled Sakura to her sister, "Get up Dolly!" Sakura was crying as she yelled encouragement to Dolly. She would be the oldest one if Dolly died, and Sakura didn't want to be put up with that responsibility.

Kohana covered her eyes. She had seen too many people killed and she could not take anymore. Inuyasha snarled; they had to get out of here. He grabbed everyone's hands and dragged them into the forest. "What about Dolly?" asked Sakura, "we can't leave her!"

"Dolly's dead!" Inuyasha snapped back at her.

Tears filled Sakura's eyes at Inuyasha's snap and she started to cry. "Why did they have to die?"

Inuyasha kept walking, pulling everyone behind him, "They were protecting us and if they were here right now they would have wanted us to get away"

This cheered up Sakura and the twins. "You're right Inuyasha"

The footsteps of the ogre made the ground shake and when the ground shook so much that it made them jump, they knew it was close by. Inuyasha kept running slowing down a bit in case the others couldn't catch up. The birds were flying from the trees and the animals were running in the same direction as they were. Everyone wanted to get away from the one armed ogre. As they were running Sakura tripped over a stone, the ogre hot on their trail.

Kohana stopped running and ran back to get Sakura.

The ogre was right behind them now; face poking up from the trees. It smirked when it saw one of the humans fall down and it picked up its pace.

"Hurry up!" yelled Yaki frightened that the ogre might get his sister.

When Kohana got there the ogre was in full view smiling at them with its sharp pearly whites. She picked Sakura up but Sakura could not walk. Her foot had hit the stone quite hard and some how she had twisted her ankle. When she stepped on it a surge of pain would make her stop walking and fall back down. Kohana let her rest on her shoulder as she tried to get back to Inuyasha quickly. "Come on Kohana, you can make it" whispered Inuyasha as he watched them try and get back.

"Leave me"

Kohana blinked, "What?"

"Leave me. I will only slow you down and if the ogre gets you then what Naturo and Dolly did for us would be nothing"

"But what about you? I don't want you to die!"

Sakura smiled, "Its okay. I know that when I do die, Naturo and Dolly will be waiting for me," a tear fell down her cheek, "Maybe even father"

Tears fell down Kohana's face when she put Sakura down on the ground. Sakura was pretty mature for a six-year-old. Before she left Kohana gave Sakura a hug. "Take care of Teri and Yaki for me" Sakura said. Kohana nodded, "I will"

From a distance Inuyasha, Teri and Yaki could see Kohana putting Sakura on the ground. At first they thought she was letting her rest but when Kohana walked away without Sakura on her shoulder they became worried. "Kohana! What are you doing!" they all yelled, "Go get Sakura!"

She shook her head, "Her ankle is broken"

The ogre was closing in on Sakura.

"So! You could still carry her! I could carry her!" Inuyasha was shouting at her even though she was only a few inches away from him.

It took Kohana a few minutes before she talked again. "She wants to die"

"Like hell" Inuyasha pushed Kohana out of the way and ran to Sakura, well tried to. The ogre was right above her now, its shadow covering over body. Her eyes widened when the claw rose up to strike her, but luckily it missed when Inuyasha jumped up and slashed at the ogres arm giving Sakura time to get away. Teri and Yaki grabbed there sister and dragged her to Kohana. Sakura shoved them away, "No! Leave me!"

"But Sakura, you'll die if the ogre gets you!" said Yaki.

"Don't you think I know that!" she was yelling, "Don't you think that if I didn't want to die I would have gone with Kohana?"

Both Teri and Yaki's eyes were staring at her with disbelief.

"I want to die."

Teri was going to say something back, something that would convince her not to die but was stopped when Sakura started to talk, "I'm not going to change my mind." Teri and Yaki could only blink.

"Guys! C'mon!" yelled Inuyasha. He couldn't hold the ogre back for much longer. It's arm was badly injured but not decapitated and its right eye had a claw mark going down to its cheek. Mad like the elderly without their afternoon medicine, the ogre shoved Inuyasha into a tree and ran to the four young humans. The ogre was closing in and none of the four were moving. Kohana tried to but she couldn't leave Teri and Yaki.

They were trying to take Sakura with them but she would not budge. "Let me go!" she yelled, "Go and run to mama"

"No!" yelled Teri, "We're not going to leave you"

The ogre raised it claw.

"Teri, Yaki! Run!" yelled Kohana to them, hoping that they would listen to her for once.

The ogre's claw lowered at an amazing speed.

"Teri!" it was Inuyasha's turn to yell when he finally was able to get up from the tree that he got shoved into.

It was as if everything turned to slow motion. The ogre made a quick swat at the ground and the three children were gone. The only thing that remained was a blood splattered and heart shook Kohana drenched in blood. Teri and Yaki were standing but only for a few minutes then collapsed when too much of their blood were lost. Sakura, who was lying down, only flopped to the ground when she was hit.

When Kohana was sprayed with the children's blood she fell to her knees, utterly horrified. Seeing three children slaughtered right in front of them was something no ten-year-old should see.

Inuyasha's knees felt weak but he did not fall. Teri was dead, and he did nothing to stop that, nothing. His hands made a fist and they started to shake with all the pressure that he was giving them. It was all his fault that they were dead. If he never was put into the jail cell they would have never helped him out and right now they would be in their house, still alive and safe. His whole body started to shake as more and more anger built up in him. It was his fault that his mother was teased, his fault that people were afraid to go into the forest and his fault that his friends were dead. If it wasn't for that ogre…he stopped shaking when he realized something. The ogre was responsible for his friend's deaths, not him. The ogre was the one that killed them and laughed about it as he licked their blood from his claws.

When Inuyasha looked up he was glaring at the ogre, eyes flashing from blood red to gold.

Kohana crawled over to the bodies of Teri and Yaki, unsure if they were dead or just unconscious. A small voice in her head said they were but she wanted to be sure. She laid Teri's head onto her lap and moved back his hair so that she could see his face. She started to cry when she saw the huge gash in the small boy's stomach. He was dead along with Sakura and Yaki. They were so young…she thought.

She looked up when she heard a chuckle. "Those little ones hardly put up a fight" it looked at Kohana sending shivers up her spine, "Are you the last one?"

Kohana gulped.

The ogre looked around and when it saw no other form of life around it, it smiled, "I guess so"

She looked behind the ogre in search for Inuyasha. He had not been killed yet and she most definitely knew that a tree didn't have enough power to kill him. Where could he be?

"Do not worry little girl." It continued, "I will make it fast."

When the ogre lifted its claw Kohana cringed, ready for the blow…but it never came. Instead it was the ogre who came down, only a few inches away from Kohana, dead with a deep claw mark on its back. She blinked at who could have done such a thing then Inuyasha showed up out from the dust. She smiled, "Inu your okay"

He said nothing and looked down at the dead boy. She gasped when she saw Inuyasha's eyes. They were blood red and he had a purple mark on his cheeks. His claws and fangs had grown, Kohana could tell for even though he wasn't frowning they were still poking out from his mouth. She moved back when he moved forward, "I-inu? What happened? Why are your eyes like that?"

Inuyasha kept walking towards her, not saying a word.

Kohana looked behind him and to the ogre. Inuyasha did that? Last time he could only cut the ogre, let alone kill the thing! She looked back at him who was a few inches away from her face. He had changed.

Inuyasha smirked, a long fang poking out of his mouth. The smirk made Kohana shiver, "Stop it Inu! You're scaring me!" Out of instinct she slapped the half-demon on the cheek. His face moved with the force of her hand and soon a small pink spot appeared on his cheek. She covered her mouth and stopped breathing. She was going to die. When his face slowly went up she covered her eyes.

"What did you do that for!"

She quickly opened her eyes before turning her head to look at Inuyasha. He was glaring at her, with golden eyes! "Oh Inu! You're back!" she cheered when she hugged him.

Inuyasha blinked out of confusion, "Umm I went somewhere?"

She stopped hugging him and looked up at him with a confused expression. He didn't remember? "You, you don't remember?"

He blinked again, this time with a scowl, "Remember what?"

She shook her head. There was too much to explain. "Never mind"

Inuyasha shrugged and turned around. When he did so he was as confused as ever. He saw a dead ogre lying on the ground with a huge claw mark on its back. He frowned at the sight of Teri, Yaki and Sakura's dead bodies. He walked to them looking down at there lifeless state. "I didn't save them" he said in an emotionless tone. His ears were down telling Kohana that he was very upset.

She walked up to him, "You tried"

"A whole lot that did them" he growled before walking off. Kohana watched as he walked away and only fallowed him after she gave her respects to the children. They walked through the forest in silence for a while, Kohana looking at the different colored flowers and animals. Inuyasha on the other hand was still thinking about Teri. He was only four years old, a horrible age to die at. The poor kid hardly lived a life.

"Are you okay Inu?" Kohana asked, breaking the silence. He snorted, "Of course I am"

She kicked a pebble, "Well I'm not"

His ears perked up and his eyes moved to Kohana. "I'm still sad about everyone who died back there" she continued, "I hardly did anything to help and I feel horrible" tears started to fill her eyes as visions of her dead friends popped into her mind.

At the sight of tears Inuyasha became worried, "H-hey, don't cry. If anyone should be upset it should be me." Kohana rubbed her eyes dry with her sleeve, "Really?"

"Yeah. I was the strongest one there and could have done a lot more damage then a human could"

She scowled, "Are you saying that I'm weak?"

Inuyasha shrugged and looked up to the sky not answering her question letting a small smile show. Her scowl grew and she was thinking of slapping him again, but she didn't and took a deep breath, "Your mother should find something to restrain you and your horrible attitude" she giggled, "It would be funny if she taught you obedience," she stood up straight and tried to act proper, "Inu, sit!"

He started to growl.

"Inu, lay down!"

A vein popped.

"Inu, paw!"

That did it. "Will you quit it out! I am not a pet!"

"Could have fooled me," she rolled her eyes, "I bet they would have better manners then you"

Ouch. Inuyasha winced at that comment but showed nothing. He was used to insults from the boys in the village but from Kohana it was different. His eyes dulled as he looked to the ground and his ears drooped slightly. Kohana noticed that he was hurt, "I'm sorry Inu. That was uncalled for"

He snorted and picked up his pace so that he was now walking in front of Kohana. She sighed and went back to looking at the nature around her only to find a rather nice flower that would look lovely in her hair. She stopped to pick it and placed it in her hair right above her ear. "Inu" she called in the cutest tone that she could make.

He didn't turn around but replied with a grunt. He was still mad at the earlier comment.

"What do I smell like?"

Lucky that he wasn't facing Kohana because if he was she would have seen him blushing. "What?"

"Dogs have a really good sense of smell right? Well I just figured since your part dog you could smell really well, better then me. So I just want to know what I would smell like," she paused, "To you that is"

He was as red as his kimono. "Uh…" his brain was shutting down as it thought of different things that he could say; flowers, fruit, honey, wind, water, cinnamon…all these choices. "Umm you smell like flowers and cinnamon"

"Really? Is that good?" she asked with her eyes twinkling. He nodded, "Yeah, it smells really sweet and easy on the nose."

She went into a fit of giggles at the thought that she smelt nice. She twirled around in circles and danced with the air. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and continued on his way. As Kohana skipped around the forest she asked, "Where are we going?"

"To my house where Miyo and mother are waiting"

She gasped in a surprised tone, "That's right," then a thought of Miyo's dead children came into her mind, "How are we going to tell her?" her voice was low. Inuyasha crossed his arms and frowned, deep in thought. "I've been thinking about that"

Kohana waited for him to say more. He didn't and kept looking at the ground. "Have you thought of anything?"

"Tell her the truth"

She knew that telling the truth was always the right thing to do but to tell someone that all their children have died in one night? That would be horrible. "Wont that kill her?"

He nodded, "Yeah but its better then telling a lie"

She sighed a sigh of defeat, "You're right" She stepped in front of him and pointed a finger at his nose, "But you are going to tell her, not me" she pointed to herself.

He moved his head away from her finger, "Feh fine. Now get out of the way."

She dusted her hands off at her good accomplishment and put out a hand towards the forest, "Lead the way." Inuyasha went in front of her and started walking again, this time with no interruptions. Kohana was looking around the forest checking if any animals were watching them when she bumped into Inuyasha. "Hey Inu, why did you stop?" He said nothing but his eyes were wide with shock. Her eye brow rose and moved her head to look at what made Inuyasha so shocked.

There was his house, broken down like Kinta's farmhouse. Many wood planks spread across the ground some in places that seemed impossible for a wood plank to be. The forest was an eerie quiet, no animals made a sound, not even the wind. The trees were still as if time had stopped and only Inuyasha and Kohana could move. The air didn't have a smoky smell to it so it must have been smashed by a demon, or possibly a human.

After a few minutes of staring Inuyasha slowly began to walk to his home, well what was left of it. Kohana stood where she was watching as Inuyasha walked to his broken down home.

A plank was blocking his way into the house so he shoved it aside with little effort and continued walking. Everything was in its place just as he had remembered, some chairs in different places then before. The sun light shone through the holes in the roofs letting a few critters peak in to see what was wrong. Plates and bowls were smashed along with cups, but nothing to really worry about. Inuyasha's ears moved back and forth in search of movement or any sound that was in the house. One ear twitched when it heard a jar smash. He quickly turned his head to see if it was his mother but, to his disappointment, it was only a rat that was now looking at him with wide eyes.

Something inside his mind ticked when he thought of a jar. Specs! He would have still been in the house when it was attacked. Franticly he ran to the table where his jar was two days ago. When the jar was missing from the table, he began to worry. He looked below the table and gasped when he saw the broken jar and its pieces. He stood up so that he had a full view of the table and even a bit further. There was Specs, lying in a puddle of water on the floor. Inuyasha rushed up to him and held Specs in his hands. His slippery skin made it difficult for Inuyasha to get a good hold on him but eventually he had Specs lying on both his hands. Specs was not breathing, Inuyasha knew that even before he had picked him up. He had been out of the water too long and suffocated.

A tear fell onto the fish's scales sliding off like rain on the window. Inuyasha put Specs back where he had found him and continued walking, looking for his mother. First place he looked was his mother's room. It shocked him to see that the roof had caved in completely making a teepee of wood. Inuyasha ran to the teepee and started to pull off the wood calling "Mama" as he did so. He kept digging desperately hoping that what he thought in his mind was not true.

"Inuyasha…" came a faint voice that only Inuyasha could hear, thanks to his ears.

When he located where the sound came from he started to shove the planks of wood at an amazing speed. He had to move broken wood out of a way and got many splinters in his hands thanks to them but he ignored the pain and continued digging. The loss of wood on one side of the teepee made the wood move and cause dust to come up into the air. Some went into Inuyasha's mouth making him cough a good number of times but he kept digging; nothing was going to stop him. He pushed away the last two pieces of wood that blocked his view from his mother.

Her body was fully covered with wood that Inuyasha quickly pushed away. Her face had many cuts and burses none fatal but deep enough to let blood flow down her face. The biggest cut, that he could see, was on her forehead making her hair stick to the blood on her skin. Her dress was torn thanks to the wood and her hands were covered in splinters. She didn't seem to be in pain at all for she was smiling at him, "Inuyasha you found me." Her voice was faint and when she spoke she croaked like a frog. Every breath hurt her, but she spoke anyway.

Inuyasha gulped down the lump in his throat and forced a smile, "Yeah mother, I would never leave you"

"I know you wouldn't" she whispered. Her hand reached up and placed it on Inuyasha's cheek, "I'm just glad that you're okay." Her smile was faint and her eyes were full of doubt. She wouldn't live much longer. "I'm going to get you out of here mother. Kohana is outside and…" he was talking way to fast for Izayoi and stopped him when she shook her head. "Inuyasha, I will not make it out of here alive; you and I both know that"

Tears were falling down his cheeks as he shook his head, not listening to his mother's words, "Yes you will mother! I'll take all this wood off you and then carry you outside"

She shook her head, "The wood is shoved right over top of my legs dear. If you moved them you would surely break them," some wood moved from underneath Inuyasha. His mother was wincing and the wood stopped moving, "Even moving them hurts." She noticed a tear falling down Inuyasha's cheeks, "Oh Inuyasha do not cry," she wiped the tears off his cheeks, "It will be alright." Tears continued to fall down his cheeks, despite his mother's attempts to dry them. Izayoi took a deep breath, "Without me you'll be able to do all the things that I would tell you not to do" she chuckled but stopped when her chest hurt, "I'm sure that you will have lots of fun without me"

"No. I'd miss you too much"

Izayoi smiled at his loyalty towards her and ruffled his hair. "Thank you dear" she saw him frown and lifted his chin up with her index finger, "keep smiling Inuyasha. It makes you look handsome." On his mother's order he smiled, not for very long but long enough to make his mother happy. "That's my boy" she said almost in a whisper. Her breathing was becoming long and short as her body was slowly giving into the pain. Inuyasha moved closer to her, sitting right beside her and holding her hand as if saying that he would always be beside her and would never let her be alone.

Kohana walked into the broken down home. She had been waiting outside for a very long time and she was getting worried. It was her first time in Inuyasha's home and she thought it would look like a dump with just a table and few chairs. She was wrong.

It was a really big home, almost as big as hers. The living room was the first room to go into when you entered the house then a hallway leading to two other rooms. The walls had many holes in them, letting Kohana see into the dark corners. Seeing nothing interesting here she decided to go down the hallway and check out the two rooms that it led to. Being as quiet as possible she looked into the room on the right. A kid's room by the looks of it, with some toys scrambled all around the room; wooden swords and a ball. She smiled, 'This is Inuyasha's room'

When she looked into the other room beside Inuyasha's, she moved back. The room had its whole roof caved in and in the middle of all the fallen wood was Izayoi. Inuyasha was above her, holding her hand.

"Be strong Inuyasha…" her voice was getting fainter and kept going into croaks, "I know that you will accomplish great things…" she paused to take a breath, "if you put your mind to it." Her eyes were moving to the back of her skull as she took one, last breath.

All was quiet as Izayoi left them. Kohana had her hand to her mouth, feeling total sadness for Inuyasha. She wanted to go and comfort him, but decided to leave him a bit longer and stay where she was. Inuyasha didn't want to believe what his mind was telling him. She was still alive; she just needed to wake up. "Mother?" he asked as he shook his mothers shoulders. There was no answer. Tears pricked at the end of his eyes when realization hit him, but he shook her harder. "Come on mother, you have to wake up."

Still no answer.

"No…mother…you've got to wake up! Together forever, remember? Just you and me…" he couldn't continue for sadness swept over him like a wave. His mother was dead, gone to a place where he could not reach her. He placed his head against her chest and cried. Kohana blinked. She never saw Inuyasha cry and always thought that he was too tough to do so. When she heard him cry it made her want to as well. Inuyasha's ears moved backwards when Kohana placed one foot down on the floor. He let his mothers hand go as he stood up, keeping his bangs over his eyes.

He walked past Kohana as if she was invisible and walked out of the broken down home.

"Inu?" Kohana called behind him almost in a whisper. When there was no answer she started to fallow him out of the house. When Inuyasha was almost out of sight, she called his name again "Inuyasha! Where are you going?" He stopped walking but never turned around. "Somewhere" he said voice low and dull, "Don't follow me"

"Why not?" she wined. His mother just died, she knew that but he didn't have to leave her behind! "I'm your friend and…"

"That's exactly it!"

His tone of voice frightened her and made her stop talking.

"Everyone who gets to close to me dies. My mother…everyone!" Tears were falling down his cheeks and he quickly wiped them away soaking his sleeve. "And," he sniffed, "And I don't want that happening to you"

Kohana felt her heart tighten, as if someone grabbed it and started squeezing, hard. She could not speak for her throat had a huge lump that would not swallow. The thought of Inuyasha so hurt yet still cared about her safety made her eyes water. As Inuyasha walked away into the forest, his silver hair and red kimono disappearing into the darkness of the forest, all she could do was watch.

---

Inuyasha never stopped walking and was happy that Kohana didn't yell at him to stop. It would just make it harder for him. His feet crushed the dead leaves on the floor as he passed a tall oak tree. Even though he tried, he could never get his mothers death out of his mind. Without his mother he was alone, now that he had scared Kohana away. He could cope though, somehow. A chilly breeze blew threw the forest and Inuyasha shoved his hands into his armpits to keep them warm before walking again. On days like these his mother would always make a fire to keep the house warm and sometimes make nice soup. He licked his lips at the thought of warm soup warming his belly.

His nose started to tickle and suddenly Inuyasha sneezed. Sniffing back all the snot that managed to run out of his nose, he shook his head at the thought of him catching a cold; he was part demon after all. He walked for a long time, looking for the right tree branch to sleep on. With out a home the forest was the next best thing. He would never get adopted and he didn't want to. It would make him feel way too uncomfortable.

Finally, after a long time of searching and lots of sneezes, he found a perfect tree branch. He jumped onto it, made himself comfortable and started to drift off to sleep. Suddenly he felt a hard knocking on his forehead. He opened his eyes and saw a squirrel jabbering away at him shaking an acorn in its right paw. Startled he lost his balance on the branch and fell onto the ground. "Ouch!" he cried. He looked up and glared at the squirrel that still was jabbering gibberish at him from the branch. "Guess that's its tree" he said to himself. Getting up, with some difficulty, he walked on desperately wanting sleep.

A low rumble echoed from the sky threw the forest. The clouds were sending out a warning that it would rain. Figures, Inuyasha thought to himself. He was hardly going to get any sleep tonight. While forest critters ran into there homes, safe from the on coming rain, Inuyasha walked on. Then, suddenly, his nostrils flared when he caught sent of a demon. Ears moving to and fro he searched for any sounds that might be close by. A twig snapped behind him and he spun around.

There standing in front of him was a man, looking well into his thirties but in demon years one hundred would be the best guess. He had silver hair, like Inuyasha, as well as golden eyes. Purple markings such as a crescent moon on his forehead and stripes on his cheeks. He wore a white kimono with red going down his sleeve and a yellow bow holding his pants up. A sword was resting on his left side but it showed no sign that it was ever used in battle. A white fluffy thing was on his right shoulder almost touching the ground on the other side. His face showed no emotion but his stare made Inuyasha's hair stand on end.

"Ah Inuyasha, I've finally found you"

He blinked. How did this guy know him?

The man sighed at the hanyou's blank expression, "So your mother never told you about me?" When Inuyasha shook his head he continued to speak, "Pity. If I knew that then I wouldn't have destroyed your home." Inuyasha's ear twitched when a vein popped, "My name is Sesshomaru, lord of the western lands"

He killed her, took her away from him. He growled. How dare he. "You killed her." He whispered through clenched teeth.

Sesshomaru walked up to Inuyasha making him look up. "I did not kill her, little brother; I simply destroyed your home. Your mother was just in the wrong place at the wrong time"

Little brother? Then that must mean...Inuyasha's eyes widened as realization hit him. This man, this killer, was his brother. His fists clenched and shook as he suppressed all his anger into them. The man looked at his fingers with interest, "Besides, I was looking for you."

Inuyasha was getting more confused by the second. Before he could answer a cold hand held him up in the air. He clawed at the man's hand, desperately trying to loosen his deadly grip. Sesshomaru was fast, faster then him no doubt. "This will be quick Inuyasha, you won't feel a thing." He couldn't speak for Sesshomaru's grip was crushing his neck. Tears formed at the bridge of his eyes letting a small gasping sound leave him. He was going to die, see his mother again. That wasn't so bad…

"Hey you!"

A rock hit Sesshomaru making him turn. Inuyasha just managed to lift his head so that he could see over his brothers. It was Kohana! She was glaring at Sesshomaru, a stone in her hand and fire in her eyes. "Put my friend down!"

He grinned, "You've become friends with them, Inuyasha. You're just like father" He let go of Inuyasha, making him fall to the ground. He coughed as air rushed into his lungs. Sesshomaru slowly walked toward the now wide eyed Kohana.

What have I done? She thought to herself, I'm going to get myself killed. She cringed when the demon cracked his knuckles. "Foolish human. You will pay for what you've done"

Kohana backed farther and farther away from the demon until she hit a tree. This demon was not like Inuyasha. She could not see any kindness in his eyes, heck; she would be surprised if she saw any emotion at all! Sesshomaru's hand came down and Kohana rolled herself up into a ball waiting for the demon's claws to come down on her…but she never felt the pain. Instead she felt a warm liquid on her cheek. At first she thought it was her own blood but when she opened her eyes Inuyasha was standing over her, blood trailing down his arm.

"Inuyasha…" was all she could mumble before he turned around and stood in front of his brother, despite that he had a broken arm. "I told you to get away, not to follow me"

She tried to smile, "I never listen to you Inu, you know that, and" she paused to look at the ground, "I was afraid that you might never come back"

Inuyasha looked back at Kohana with wide eyes then turned back around when he heard Sesshomaru snort. "Very touching but I suggest you move out of the way little brother. I will kill you later but killing two people in one shot takes out the fun"

Inuyasha didn't move.

Sesshomaru's frown grew. He cracked his knuckles, "Your choice." Just then a large yellow whip came out from his claws as he threw his hand down. Out of instinct Inuyasha raised his arm up as the whip zoomed towards him and the screaming Kohana. Remarkably when the whip hit Inuyasha's arm no mark or cut was visible when the whip went away. Sesshomaru did not like that and only a small lip twitch showed that he was angry. He shot the whip back at them but this time Inuyasha scooped Kohana into a bridal stride and jumped out of the whips way.

When he got down, he put Kohana behind a rock. "Stay here"

Kohana didn't like that idea, "What about you? He'll kill you if you go back!"

"I'll be alright"

Kohana was going to argue further but the stern and serious look in the hanyou's golden eyes made her shut up and sit back down by the cold rock. As he walked toward Sesshomaru Kohana peeked from behind the rock, watching and whishing that Inuyasha would survive.

"It's stupid for you to protect them Inuyasha" said Sesshomaru as he watched Inuyasha walk up to him, "They make you weak, but in your case weaker."

Inuyasha growled.

"A hanyou like yourself shouldn't be risking his life to protect," Sesshomaru paused to look at the little girls head that was peeking from behind the rock. When she noticed that he was looking at her, Kohana hid her head behind the rock. "Them. You should be more worried about fending for yourself. Being the nice brother that I am, I'll help you get rid of your problem"

Inuyasha's eye widened then looked at where Kohana was hiding. His hands were in fists, holding in all the rage that was building up inside of him. He wouldn't let Kohana get hurt, especially by Sesshomaru. He wouldn't let another person die because of him, never again. "Don't you dare try and touch her" he warned through clenched teeth.

Sesshomaru cracked his fingers, "I never said anything about touching her. Just kill her." Before Inuyasha could blink Sesshomaru already passed him and was running for Kohana. Noticing Sesshomaru running towards her she screamed and ran just as Sesshomaru's claws broke the rock in two. She tried not to think that if she had stayed there any longer, she would have been split in two just like the rock.

A tree fell behind her when Sesshomaru's claws hit the trunk. She covered her head with her hands as the tree hit the ground with a 'thump.'

"Sesshomaru, leave her alone!" Inuyasha snarled. He raced after his brother, no doubt in his mind that he might not catch up to him, but he didn't have to run. As he picked up speed he jumped when his right foot hit the ground making him soar into the air. It reminded him of when he was catching butterflies for his mother when it was her birthday. When they would fly away he would jump to catch them, and thanks to his demonic strength, he would always catch them and only a few would manage to escape.

He landed on tree branches, jumping off them right as he landed. He never noticed the sap on a pine tree and when he landed on the branch, he lost his balance and fell. Lucky for him, his claws grabbed on to the branch before he hit the ground. Lifting himself back up, despite his aching stomach, he got back on to his feet and jumped onto another branch.

Kohana continued running, strength weakening each second. She was breathing so hard that her throat felt like it was on fire and that she was going to be sick. She couldn't stop though for if she did she would be killed. As she ran she came to a stop when there was no land left to run on. She had come to a cliff. When her foot hit the edge she quickly took it back when the land gave way and small pieces of rock and dirt feel down to the land below. Tears filled her eyes when the tiniest bit of hope left her.

Sesshomaru started laughing, cracking his knuckles again as he slowly walked up to the scared girl, "No where to go."

Kohana slowly turned around, shaking violently as if something was in her clothes making her shake like that.

"This game of cat and mouse was fun, but the games over" he grinned.

"Sesshomaru!"

They both looked up, searching were the voice came from. Jumping over Sesshomaru, Inuyasha landed in front of Kohana so that she was out of Sesshomaru's view. He glared at him, a fang poking out from his mouth, "I said leave her alone."

Sesshomaru shook his head, "You still don't get it little brother," he shrugged, "oh well. I'll just have to kill you too"

"You might kill me Sesshomaru…" he looked down at the ground fighting back the tears that were forming at the ends of his eyes.

Kohana looked at him as if he was crazy.

He quickly looked up. Obviously he couldn't fight the tears back for some were already going down his cheeks. "But I won't let you touch one hair on Kohana's head!"

She inhaled sharply, when tons of emotions hit her like a wave. Inuyasha would risk his own life…for her?

Sesshomaru looked at him with disgust, nose in the air as if he had smelt something horrible, "Pathetic. You're becoming more human each day" He lifted his middle and index finger to the front of his face. "Pity I have to do this," he moved his hand to the right side, claws starting to glow, "At least when you're killed I won't have to admit to the fact that you're related to me" He swung his hand down creating a great yellow whip at the end of his fingers, heading straight for Inuyasha and Kohana. Again Inuyasha lifted up his arm, making the whip twirl around it. Although it didn't sting him instantly, the poison started burning his sleeve. As it burned through this sleeve, Inuyasha closed his left eye as he winced. Before it went closer to his skin he threw it back at Sesshomaru, thinking for some strange reason that it might hit him.

Instead of hitting him, like Inuyasha had hoped for, it simply went back in his claws. He frowned; this being shocking for both Inuyasha and Kohana for it was the first time Sesshomaru showed any emotion. "You're getting to be a pain Inuyasha. You just wont, die!" He ran forward, claws sharp and ready to pierce Inuyasha threw the chest. Kohana made a small whine when Inuyasha pushed her out of the way and barley able to dodge Sesshomaru's claws. Instead of his claws going threw him, they hit his cheek, sending the small boy flying to the other side of the cliff. Inuyasha's body dragged across the ground, stopping only when his back hit a tree. "Inuyasha!" Kohana cried out, tears going down her dirty cheek while the fresh dirt she had gotten from her fall became mud.

When Inuyasha didn't move at her call Kohana fell to her knees. He couldn't….he can't be…Inuyasha's been through way more then just a punch in the cheek. He'd almost been squished by an ogre! He shouldn't be. "Inuyasha," she called again, this time a little quieter as she started to weep.

A smirk appeared on Sesshomaru's face. That brat finally kicked the bucket. Turning on his heel he made his way to the crying girl, who didn't even bother to look up when he was in right up in front of her. Her crying made him frown; not because he felt sorry for the girl but because it annoyed the heck out of him. "Shut up girl," he snarled. He grabbed her hair pulling it up so he could see her tearful face.

He said something to her, but she wasn't listening. His mouth was moving but he wasn't saying anything. She looked over to where Inuyasha's body was hoping that he'd move, once, just to show her that he was alive. Unfortunately the only thing that was moving was his bangs which were covering his face and she couldn't see his eyes. The grip on her hair tightened and she was now looking into the demons eyes. He was still talking and the only word that she could hear was, "Dead," over and over again. It echoed through her mind as if it was some sort of cave.

The demon was watching as his claws started to glow green. She knew what was coming next, something that she used to never want to happen but, now that Inuyasha was gone, she could care less. If she died, at least she would see him.

"Pathetic human," Sesshomaru snorted. His glowing claws moved forward towards her face, and she could feel the heat from them. Immediately her cheeks started stinging from the immense heat. She closed her eyes, "Inuyasha…." she cried inside her head. She suddenly felt the heat stop and her hair being let go making her fall down to the ground. She rubbed her newly added bump on her butt and looked up to see what made her fall.

Sesshomaru was holding his right hand and blood was running down his arm, staining his white kimono. A stick was through his arm, which was the cause of all the blood. He was looking over at something, glaring but Kohana could see that he was surprised. Looking in the same direction she gasped.

It was Inuyasha! He was alive and standing! "I told you Sesshomaru. I won't let you hurt one hair on Kohana's head," he jerked his thumb towards his chest, "Not while I'm alive." Kohana would've cried but the funny thing was; she was out of tears. She had cried so much that none would come. Sesshomaru, still showing no emotion, pulled the stick out from his arm. Just watching it made her wince but it looked like it caused him no pain. Demons were such odd creatures. "You're stronger then I had anticipated Inuyasha," he started throwing the stick to the ground, "I'll have to fight a bit harder this time"

Inuyasha cracked his knuckles, "You bet on it"

Kohana slowly slipped away from Sesshomaru which she shouldn't have done, for it caught his attention. He picked her up by the kimono's collar, looking at her once before grinning at Inuyasha, "With her in my possession, you can not touch me," he paused when his arm started shaking because of Kohana, "Am I right Inuyasha?"

"Damn you!" he snarled.

He started swaying her around, almost like she was a piece of clothing. "I could use her to protect me, like a shield, but humans are so weak; one blow would kill them," he snorted giving a glance to the quivering child, "Almost like insects. Know this Inuyasha. You can't spend your life dealing with humans; they will only use you as their shield protecting them from demons like me. They do not care about you, only your strength; your power"

Inuyasha frowned, fangs poking out from his mouth drawing blood when they poked his bottom lip. He was lying….he just wanted him to get angry. Well he shouldn't waste his breath. He already was.

"Because they are so worthless," he moved back and stopped when he got to the end of the cliff, "Why don't we…throw them away?" Extending his arm Kohana still in his grip, she was now dangling above a 15 foot fall. She closed her eyes, trying not to imagine her falling down….down….down…..this wasn't helping. Inuyasha stepped forward but before him walking any closer Sesshomaru held up a finger and shook it. "Ah, ah. One more step and I just might lose my grip on the girl." To show Inuyasha the he was serious, Sesshomaru let Kohana fall for a few seconds before catching her again.

She started shaking violently, as if something was moving inside her.

Inuyasha stood there, thinking about what he should do. Sesshomaru would drop her if he moved again even though he could reach her in one jump. He looked down at the ground, eyes moving back and forth as he thought of a plan. If he moved fast enough he could catch her. He bent down to his knees so that he could get a huge leap to catch her. Sesshomaru and Kohana were both watching him, eyebrows arched.

When he looked up, Kohana gasped. He wasn't. He'd be an idiot, a complete and total idiot.

Planting his feet deep in the ground he lunged forward, trying to gain enough speed to reach Kohana in time.

Sesshomaru sighed, "Your human side has made your brain smaller as well" He released his grasp from Kohana's shirt letting gravity take her down. Everything became slow to Inuyasha as Kohana started falling, her scream echoing in his mind. He tried to pick up speed, but the cliff started growing taking him further and further away from Kohana. He wouldn't be able to reach her; he wouldn't be able to save her.

"Inuyasha!" she screamed, throat starting to hurt. It was as though her throat was on fire, burning her flesh inside. She was ignoring the pain though. Her falling was the only thing going through her mind now and what would happen to her when she hit the ground below her. Inuyasha would save her though…he always had. She saw him running to get her, so she would be okay. As long as Inuyasha was there, she would be okay. But…she was falling way to fast and Inuyasha's face disappeared from her view. This can't be. Inuyasha wasn't fast enough…Inuyasha wouldn't catch her in time…Inuyasha wouldn't be able to save her…

As he ran to the edge of the cliff and could only watch as she fell into the dark abyss of the bottom of the cliff. She was gone…the fall was too high for any human to survive. He fell to his knees and crunched up, slamming his fists into the ground. This time he didn't fight back the tears, he didn't fight back the pain that he was feeling inside. His fists tightened claws sinking in his palms, drawing blood. The realized something that he never wished would happen to him.

He was completely and totally…alone.

Sesshomaru looked at his brother for a few minutes before turning on his heel and walking away. He had done enough.

It was his fault….his fault that Kohana fell….if he never moved….

He started growling at himself. Why did he have to be so stupid and move when Sesshomaru told him not too! Kohana would still be alive if he listened. Naturo, Dolly, Teri, Yaki, Sakura, Kohana and his mother would all be alive if he never entered their lives…he was like a disease. Who ever got to close to him would get killed because of him because of him being a half demon. Slowly he got up when Sesshomaru's scent was gone.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, he continued to look down the cliff, his hair the only thing moving. He didn't want to leave her, but staying here would only remind him of what happened. Wanting to forget he ran, far, far away from the cliff, away from the memories…

Away from everything….

---

Jumping over logs and stick, a squirrel moved around the forest ground looking for any acorns that might've fallen from the large trees above. With no luck it continued its search, not giving up until it found some food. Just then something weird caught its eye. Standing up to check if it was safe, it moved closer to get a better look. It stopped a few feet when it got close enough. A human, in the middle of the forest? This was unexpected. Whenever the squirrel saw a human they were usually in groups. This one was alone, and looked to be asleep.

It moved slowly onto the sleeping, human's chest. It was alive since its chest was making the squirrel move up and down. Closer and closer it moved to the human's mouth. Wind was coming from it, and the squirrel was confused as to why that would happen. When it got close enough, it sniffed the human's chin. Its whiskers tickled the skin on the human, making it move its head. The squirrel jumped back when the human groaned. Did it anger the human? Was it going to eat it?

Slowly the human got up, very slowly. It looked to be hurt for when it got up to far, it fell back. When the human opened its eyes the squirrel panicked and ran away, forgetting all about its search for the acorns.

"Over here!"

She groaned when her head started pounding. Her vision was still blurry and she could hardly see her feet in front of her.

"The girl fell from the sky!"

Voices….they were so loud. She wanted them to shut up so that her head would stop echoing.

"Is she a demon?"

Shut up.

"She couldn't have survived the fall!"

Shut up.

They were in front of her now, but she didn't do anything to show she was alive. Her head hurt too much and just moving her fingers was difficult. Her eyes were open though, so the men knew she was okay. "This can't be a demon. She's just a girl!" One man picked her up her arms and legs swinging like a stuffed toy. They wouldn't be swinging like that, if they weren't broken.

"Let's take her to Lady Takada. She looks pretty beaten up…" said another man, who would've said more but she couldn't hear him for she fell into unconsciousness, falling into eternal blackness...

End.

---

To you adorable people who read through that…thank you. It was long and I'm sorry that it was.

You have read 55 pages of one short story. This shouldn't be called a short story huh? It should be called the overly large story. If you have read all the way down here without skipping or getting bored, I will give you a hug in spirit.

This story alone has taken me more then 5 months to complete. I stopped for probably 2 months and then started again. It's also the reason why I haven't updated any other story. There's also a little bit of memory in this story too.

My grandfather helped me with this story, at the part where Izayoi dies. He couldn't wait for me to finish it and read it when I was finished...but...my grandfather died on August 16 only a few weeks after he had helped me. He will never be able to read this, and I feel totaly guilty for that. If I had just finished it on time, then he could've read it before cancer took him. I could've seen his face glow with pride and he would say, "My granddaughter wrote this." My grandmother is just as egar, but it wont be the same...

Thank you again, and much love to all of you

D-B-W