What's a Hanyou to Do?

by lighthawkdemon1

Inu-Yasha goes through a horrific tragedy early in his life, but manages to move on. Years later, the poor hanyou has three attractive women on his…uh…tail, and he wants them too, but can only have one. What's a hanyou to do?

12. Scroll Eleven: O Brother, Where Art Thou...

Inu[STJ1] -Yasha
A Feudal Fairy Tale


Disclaimer: This episode of Inu-Yasha and the character Saeko are of my own creation. I do not own any portion of Inu-Yasha. "Inu-Yasha" and all related characters, names, etc. are ©1998-2004 Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. Inu-Yasha is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.


What's a Hanyou to Do?
Scroll Eleven:
O Brother, Where Art Thou?


Another beautiful day dawns on Takahashi High as both students and instructors alike make their way inside to begin another school day. Two young hanyou calmly walk up the hill to the main entrance, both taking their times and enjoying one another's presence. Unbeknownst to either of them, a lone figure watches them from the shadows, his bright blue eyes narrowing at the sight of Saeko. "Hmm…so that hot neko chick's back," he mutters with a small smirk. "That no good mutt-face has been hanging out with both Higurashi sisters a lot lately, but now I'll bet he won't be doing that anymore. That means that Kagome is finally free to be mine!"

______

Deep into the West, a large and grand castle stands proud, surrounded by endless forests. This castle has withstood the test of time, looking as magnificent now as it did several hundred years ago. That fact is mainly due to the innumerable amount of servants that reside here, each and every one of them working all the time to keep up the perfection of the castle, for if they do not, then they fear the wrath of the lord of the castle, who is a great and powerful youkai just like his father was, only the father was much less cold-hearted and malicious as the eldest son.

A lone and prominent figure enters the courtyard, his entire presence radiating both power and extreme regality. His elegant white haori with red designs on it, yellow and blue sash, metal chest armor, long fluffy tail and old sword at his left side would appear strange to anyone on the outside of the grounds, but in here it is a common sight to be seen on the youkai. The wind blows his long silver hair to the side, which, added with his normal stoic features, gives him a majestic look. A second figure joins the first, this one much shorter, though it carries with it an odd staff with two wooden heads atop of it that is twice the small creature's height. "Lord Sesshô-maru," the little imp begins, "are you ready to depart for Tokyo now?"

The youkai lord turns his gaze to the calm blue sky, a few clouds scattered here and there. "Yes Jaken," he answers, never altering his gaze, "it is time. Now we hunt for my dear little brother." Both are suddenly lifted off of the ground and a strange white and pink cloud forms underneath them, it being strong enough to hold their weight.

They are a few feet off of the ground when a young girl with a small pony tail on the side of her head comes rushing out into the courtyard, shouting, "Lord Sesshô-maru! Please don't leave!"

The cloud stops its ascent as the lord of the western lands looks down at the small human child. "Rin, I told you yesterday that I must leave for today, tomorrow at most. I will return when I have acquired what I am searching for."

"Can Rin come with you?" she innocently asks, her large brown eyes pleading at the youkai she has come to see as her make-shift father.

"I am sorry Rin, but you cannot. This mission could become dangerous, and I do not want you to get in my way." He makes a shooing motion with his left hand. "Now go back inside, I will return soon."

With a downtrodden expression, the little girl complies, turning around and slowly making her way out of the courtyard. As this small encounter took place, Jaken watched on, his bulbous eyes soaking in every detail. 'I still do not understand what Lord Sesshô-maru is thinking,' he thinks to himself. 'After he stopped those mangy wolves from killing that pathetic little human in his forest, she has followed him around practically wherever he goes…and he is not bothered by it! I don't see why he cannot just kill her and get it over with, she is nothing more than a human, and mi lord despises all humans…right?'

______

A sleek black Ferrari drives into the parking lot of school, catching the eye of everybody it passes, all of them admiring the very nice car. As it finds a spot and parks, the two women inside of it step out, now catching the eye of all of the men nearby. Kikyo and Kagome Higurashi make their way up to the school, a special stride in their steps as they both have a certain inu hanyou floating around in their thoughts. They enter the school, chatting idly about their plans for the day. They both pause as they notice familiar looking extravagantly long silver hair in the hallway. The two sisters both begin to say, "Hi Inu-Y…" but trail off as they notice another familiar figure, this one not too welcome in their eyes.

Saeko Orikasa is hanging onto the inu hanyou, her arms wrapped both lovingly and protectively around him. They are talking to Sango and Miroku, both of whom don't seem to be too bothered by the young neko hanyou's presence back in Japan, especially the houshi. Saeko's furry ears twitch slightly and she turns around, her eyes resting on the two other women after her Inu-Yasha's heart. She smiles at them, waving slightly. "Why hello you two."

Inu-Yasha, Miroku and Sango all look over at Kikyo and Kagome, smiling at the two as they notice them. They walk up to the sisters, greeting them as they get closer. "So…when did you get back?" the younger of the two Higurashi's asks the hanyou girl, her voice oddly higher than normal.

"Yesterday," she answers, either not noticing Kagome's change in voice, or ignoring it. She rests her head on the inu hanyou's shoulder and closes her eyes with a relaxed smile. "Daddy let me come home early and right after the plane landed I came straight for my koinu." She leans up and kisses Inu-Yasha on the cheek, giggling afterwards. "And since he doesn't want me to stay home all by myself, he said that I could stay at Inu-Yasha's…as long as we keep in line," she adds with a sultry smile and a suggestive wink.

Needless to say, this completely shocks the now flustered Kikyo and Kagome, feeling their chances with the hanyou boy quickly slipping from their grasp. "And…and you are not bothered by this news Inu-Yasha?" Kikyo asks, finally regaining her ability to speak.

"Not really," he answers truthfully. "It's been a long time since me and Saeko have seen each other, so it will be good to have her around and talk about what's each of us has been doing these last several months, you know, catching up and all."

"I for one am pleased to see Saeko return sooner than expected," Miroku says, slowly inching his way closer to the neko girl. Just as his hand darts out to cop a quick feel on her nice rear, he is stopped by two slaps to the face from both Sango and Saeko, and a punch on the top of the head, courtesy of Inu-Yasha.

Shaking their heads, the small group walks away from the young unconscious houshi, who now has two red handprints on his face and a large bump on top of his head, his left leg twitching every few seconds. Kikyo looks up at a clock on the wall. "Well classes will be starting soon so I must go and prepare. Have a nice day everyone." With a slight frown directed at Saeko, the beautiful instructor leaves.

"Well that was fun," the neko hanyou happily states, "but just like the lady said, class is going to start soon." She begins to tug Inu-Yasha away to her locker. "Bye guys!" she says cheerily to the two younger girls.

Sango's eyes dart back and forth between Kagome and the two retreating hanyous. 'Poor Kagome,' she thinks. 'Just when things were looking up between her and Inu-Yasha, Saeko had to come home. I think she can pretty much throw her chances with him into the garbage now.' With a small sigh, the taijiya walks away, hefting up her hentai boyfriend along the way.

Kagome watches Inu-Yasha walk off with his girlfriend, feeling all hope leave her with every step away they take. With a downcast expression, she turns and walks to her locker so she can put her yellow book bag away and gather up her books and supplies for her first period class. "Why did she have to come back so soon?" she mumbles under her breath. "This wasn't supposed to happen. I finally had a really good chance with Inu-Yasha and she comes and steals him away from me. This isn't right. I…I feel like I'm going to cry." She walks down the hallways, not paying attention to anyone around her and promptly bumps into someone, dropping her book bag as she falls onto her rear.

A clawed hand reaches down in front of her and a deep voice asks, "Hey, are you alright?"

The young Higurashi reaches up and takes the hand, embarrassedly looking down. "Yeah. S-Sorry for bumping into you…" She pauses in surprise as she looks up into a pair of bright blue, pupil less eyes. "I…um…hi."

The young man grins cockily at her, his fangs poking out. "Nice to meet you. The name's Koga, and your Kagome," he adds, leaning down towards her.

"H-How did you know my name?" she asks, backing up slightly.

Koga's grin widens. "Well you do look a lot like your older sister, though I think you're a lot cuter than her." He sniffs the air a few times and he nods once. "Yeah, you smell a lot nicer too."

Kagome quickly covers her face with her hands, turning a lovely shade of red. "R-R-Really?!" she squeaks out. "Do you mean that?!"

The ookami reaches down and lifts up her yellow book bag and hands it to her, the smile never leaving his face. "Of course I do. Well I gotta go to class, see you later!" He turns around and rushes off with a wave.

The young woman watches him leave. 'Wow,' she thinks to herself. 'He was really nice…and I know I've seen him before.' She starts to turn around, but pauses as something about the older boy catches her eye. She squints at his quickly retreating figure. 'Was I just seeing things…or does he have a tail?!'

______

A light pink cloud flies towards Tokyo, two occupants standing on top of it. Sesshô-maru gazes ahead at the city below, an impassive expression on his face. "We are here at last. What an unimpressive little city. Not much has changed since I was last here," he calmly says.

"Indeed," Jaken adds, "this city is still infested with too many worthless humans mi lord, and somewhere down festering with them…"

"…Is my dear little brother," the inu youkai finishes with an evil smirk. "Prepare yourself Inu-Yasha, for if father truly did hide the whereabouts of his grave with you, then I will soon find out where it is, hopefully in the most painful way imaginable." The strange little imp at Sesshô-maru's side giggles nastily as the cloud flies on, the youkai on the hunt for his prey.

______

Saeko quickly adjusts to being back in Takahashi High. She adjusts nicely to the transition back to her native tongue and learning system. She adjusts back with her old friends…and rivals, but more importantly, she most certainly adjusts to having Inu-Yasha around. Whether it be in the hallways or the classrooms, she makes her presence known by her fierce territorial protection over her man, glaring evilly or growling and even hissing at just about any female who tries to talk to him or looks at him appraisingly or gets a little too close for her comfort.

Inu-Yasha for his part is slightly embarrassed at her actions, but he can't deny that he'd probably act in a similar fashion if the roles were reversed and he had to leave her to defend herself in this school ripe with young men and raging hormones. He keeps an arm around her waist, both to keep her close and to prevent her from trying anything with any of the females around.

As they go into their third period class, the one Professor Higurashi teaches, Saeko suddenly wraps her arms around the inu hanyou, pulling him very close. Kikyo watches them, a large twang of jealousy forming inside of her. 'Why is it that whenever anything good comes my way, something always appears to take it away from me?' she thinks sadly. The instructor waits for everybody to take their seats before she takes attendance. As she gets to the two young hanyou, a large forms on her beautiful face as she sees that the neko girl has scooted her seat close to her boyfriend. "Miss Orikasa," she begins in a stern voice, "you will move your desk back to where it originally was stationed right this instant. As you know, I do not like to have such things as personal relationships start to bring a ruckus in my classroom." She folds her arms, waiting for the young woman to comply.

With a deep sigh, Saeko scoots her desk back, grumbling under her breath the entire time. Kikyo nods in approval before going back to attendance. 'Great,' the hanyou girl thinks to herself, 'now she's gonna be on my case all the time. I knew leaving for a while was going to be a very bad thing for our relationship. He told me in a couple of his letters that he was getting a bit closer to Kikyo and Kagome, but that he still did love me,' she adds with a smile. 'I may have my koinu back, but those two are probably going to watch my every move, looking for a chance to steal him from me.' She holds in a vicious growl. 'He's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'm not giving him up without a fight!'

Right beside her, Inu-Yasha is having a nasty internal debate, and has been having one since yesterday when Saeko unexpectedly came back. His perfect plan for slowly backing away from the two Higurashi sisters so he can get ready for Seako's regular expected return has pretty much blown up in his face. Though he does care a lot for both of them, his koneko has a much firmer grip on his heart, and always will. The inu hanyou does feel some guilt about how he got a lot closer to Kikyo and Kagome than he expected and now how he has to stop seeing them as much, seeing as how he greatly enjoys spending time with both of them. His attention is diverted at the instructor begins to hand out some in class homework for everyone to do. As she passes him, he notices the sad look in her eyes. 'Oh man,' he thinks, 'I need to talk to her or something, but I can't with Saeko hanging on me right now.' As he looks at his homework sheet, he notices that the back is blank. Thinking quickly, he writes down a small note for Kikyo. When he finishes with that, he then writes, 'please read the back,' on the front next to his name. He then sleekly pulls a blank sheet of paper out of his folder, his eyes darting around to see if anybody is watching him. When he is satisfied that nobody is, he begins to write another small note, this one for Kagome.

______

A little while later, the end of period bell has rung and the class begins to leave, placing their homework sheets onto the instructor's deck. As Inu-Yasha puts his down, he gives Kikyo a quick nod. Her eyebrows rise up slightly in confusion. As the last student leaves, she searches in the pile of homework, pulling out the hanyou boy's homework, instantly noticing the little request on the front. She turns it around and begins to read:

______

Kikyo,

I don't know if I should say sorry for Saeko coming back early or not, because I had nothing to do with it. One thing I am sorry for is that we're gonna have to not hang around as much anymore. Now that Saeko's back, things are going to get a little weird, and I think they're gonna stay weird until everybody adjusts. I'm really sorry.

I do like you a lot and I've really enjoyed all the times we've spent hanging out and getting to know each other better. I would still like to hang out with you once in a while, that is if you aren't angry at me. I hope you're not.

Sorry again,
Inu-Yasha

______

Kikyo places the note down, a small smile on her beautiful face. 'I do not think I could ever be angry at him, he is too sweet and cute for me to feel that way about him,' she thinks with a light chuckle. She reaches up and takes off her glasses, cleaning them against a small cloth on her desk. 'I may have lost another battle, but his letter has given me hope about our chances at a future together.' A faint blush traces her cheeks. 'I can open him up to a world he could not even possibly dream of!'

______

The receptionist at the main entrance of Takahashi High, a pretty woman in her mid thirties, looks up from the romance novel she is reading as she hears the front doors open. A small gasp escapes her as the most handsome man she has ever seen walks in. 'Is he…is he a youkai?' her mind says in an awed whisper. 'Oh my Kami he is hot, this is just like in my book!' her eyes dart down to the novel in her hands for a brief moment before they go back to the oh so fine looking youkai, a very friendly smile appearing on her face. As he reaches her, she kindly says, "Well hello sir and welcome to Takahashi High! How may I help you?"

Sesshô-maru gazes down at the woman, his deep penetrating gold eyes causing the woman to gasp again. The youkai lord feels a bit of revulsion as he easily reads her body language and the look in her eyes. His sharp eyes notice the book in her hands. 'Hmm…I remember overhearing some of my servant girls discussing that particular book. If I remember correctly, it is about a youkai and a human falling in love. How disgusting. To think that this pitiful human could even suspect to attempt anything with me, the great lord of the Western lands. Who does she presume I am? My father? Pathetic.' As he finishes this thought, another one comes, this one from the more logical side of his brain. 'A pitiful human she may be, but she does hold information on where my dear little brother is in this schooling facility, and I do not wish to make a large scene this time around, the human police and their government can become such a bother at times.' He manages to muster the strength to let out a small smile. "Yes, I need to know the current whereabouts of Inu-Yasha, my younger brother."

"Oh! He's your brother?" she asks in surprise. She looks him up and down, taking in his long silver hair and gold eyes. "Ah, I can see some of the family resemblance," she comments with a faint blush. She swivels around on her chair so she can do a search on her computer. After a few seconds of furious typing, her eyes light up. "Okay, I found his schedule for you. He should be in his fourth period right now." She quickly grabs a note pad and a pen, scribbling down some information. The receptionist hands him the note, feeling her knees buckle at his clawed hands. 'They make him so…so exotic looking! And those beautiful stripes on his cheeks and that crescent moon mark on his forehead…oh Kami what I'd like to do to him!' She holds back the deep blush that is threatening to come out and keeps her composure, albeit with great difficulty. "I…I hope you have a nice day sir," she stammers out.

"Thank you," Sesshô-maru curtly says to her before swiftly turning and walking off down the hallway. He looks at the note in his hand, seeing the room number that his brother is in now. His eyes narrow as he sees a phone number under the room number with the words, 'Call me anytime handsome!' written under it. He is about to crumple the note pad up and toss it aside, but something in the back of his mind begins to nag at him, telling him to keep it. Going against his better judgment, he pockets the note and continues to walk down the hallway, thinking, 'Now I will finally find the location to father's grave and take what is destined to be mine. Soon, very soon now I will become invincible.'

______

The aforementioned hanyou is sitting down in his fourth period World Civilizations class, chatting idly with Saeko. Their instructor decided to give them all the period off and has allowed them to chat with one another, as long as they keep the noise down to a respectable level. "So does it feel good to be back here in this school?" he asks his girlfriend.

"Yeah," she answers, "but then again, anything is like a million times better if you're involved." The neko girl smiles sweetly at her koinu as he starts to chuckle at her little comment. Her smile quickly leaves Inu-Yasha yelps out in pain and slaps his cheek. "What's wrong?"

The inu hanyou pulls his hand back, revealing a squashed little old nomi youkai in the palm of his hand. It quickly pops back into its normal shape and bows slightly at the young hanyou who just squished him. "Greetings and salutations Lord Inu-Yasha," he greets.

"Hey Myôga," Inu-Yasha greets back, frowning slightly. "What have you been up to? I haven't seen you in years."

"Please pardon my rudeness for not answering right now Lord Inu-Yasha, but I have to warn you that a great and terrible danger is heading your way right at this very moment!" the tiny nomi answers, jumping up and down in anxiety.

The inu boy's frown deepens. "Danger? What kind of danger…" he trails off as his dog-ears begin to twitch and his nose sniffs the air a few times. A deep growl rumbles in his throat as the young hanyou turns his attention towards the door, his eyes burning holes into it.

Seako and Myôga are about to ask what is wrong when the door to the classroom suddenly opens, revealing a tall and intimidating looking man. Everyone in the class goes silent at he calmly walks inside, his eyes locking with those of his younger brother. "Um…him," Myôga replies, now looking very nervous.

Sesshô-maru smirks lightly as he senses the fear that has filled the room he has just entered, most of it coming from his half-brother. "My Inu-Yasha, you sure have grown much since I last saw of you." Many of the students take a quick glance in the hanyou's direction before quickly going back to the intruder. The youkai's smirk instantly vanishes and is replaced by his usual cold mask of indifference. "Now with the pleasantries aside, I wish to know the whereabouts of the gravesite of our father."

"How the hell would I know?" Inu-Yasha spits out, crossing his arms and snorting in amusement. "He died when I was a little pup. I don't even remember what he looked like, much less where he's buried. If you want help grave robbing, then you've come to the wrong place."

In a sudden blur, Sesshô-maru it at his brother's side, lifting him up off the ground with his left hand around his neck. Everyone around him jumps back in surprise of his incredible speed. The inu youkai's eyes are currently narrowed dangerously. "How dare you take such a tone with me," he whispers menacingly. "If I did not need you at the moment, I would surely kill you and rid the world of your ignorance."

"You won't hurt a single hair on his body!" Saeko shouts, rushing up to Sesshô-maru and leaping onto his arm in an attempt to get him to release her koinu. "Let him go!"

"How amusing," the youkai says, eyeing the hanyou girl up and down. "I see she is a half-breed like yourself Inu-Yasha, and not some pathetic mortal," he adds, his sharp eyes looking around at the fearful people in the room who are too scared to even move, lest the provoke the frightful youkai in their presence. "At least you are trying, I will give you that." With his right hand, he grabs Saeko by the back collar of her shirt and lifts her off of his other arm. "I suggest you stay out of this child, this is a family affair." He drops her onto the floor and turns his attention back to his younger brother. "Seeing, yet never seen…Protected, yet never known to its protector. I have read over this riddle countless times, but I cannot discover the true meaning of it, but I believe you know the answer."

Despite being strangled at the moment, Inu-Yasha lets out a cocky smile. "Feh, even if I did know what the hell that meant, what makes you think I'd tell your sorry ass what it means?"

Sesshô-maru smirks back at the inu hanyou in his clutches. "Well, since you are being uncooperative, just as I presumed you would be, I will have to move to more…drastic measures to get the information I desire." His right hand begins to glow a light green color and he points it at Inu-Yasha's stomach. With an evil sneer, he plunges his hand into his brother's belly, the corrosive poisons in his claw burning his insides as the young hanyou screams in agonizing pain as almost everyone in the room screams in fear.

The youkai suddenly releases him and leaps back, just in time to avoid the claw swipe directed at him. Sesshô-maru watches in mild amusement as the neko girl stands protectively in front of Inu-Yasha. "If you want him so bad, you'll have to go through me first!"


To be continued…

______

Translations (in order of appearance):

Haori: Japanese formal coat
Nomi: flea

______

Author's notes: Well…it's been a while since I've updated this story now hasn't it? Sorry for the delay, I've been job-hunting like mad and it took away my time for writing. I got a job now, but it's full time, and just this last week alone I worked 40 hours, plus another 12 hours overtime and when I came home, I was too beat to do much of anything besides shower and rest up. I'll try to get more done, but unfortunately I can't make you loyal fans any promises. Sorry.

In Inu-Yasha news: I'm sure some of you noticed that I'm getting to the part in the manga and anime where Sesshô-maru gets the black pearl out of Inu-Yasha's left eye and then goes into the tomb to get the Tetsusaiga. Well he's almost to that part, he just needs to get through an infuriated and overly protective Saeko to get to it! There will be a couple of battles in the next chapter so keep patient and get ready for some action! – lighthawkdemon

Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon@yahoo.com

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