Heart of the Sword Chapter 2: Code I, an inuyasha fanfic

A/N: Well here I am, back with the first true chapter to HotS. I actually like this story and this will probably the first story I finish in its entirety. I hope you enjoy, I worked hard on it. I'm only saying this once, since I will probably forget to put it but here is the:

(I hope I did it right )

Code I

A man with long silver hair, bright amber eyes, and small dog ears atop his head, walked through yet another town. At his side was his treasured heirloom, the Tetsusaiga. He smiled, and looked around, realizing how peaceful this place was. Children played happily in the streets, people were very kind to one another, greeting each other as they passed.

Everyone seemed so happy, so content with living. It was probably the greatest thing he had ever seen. He shook his head, the smile still on his face. Maybe if his past was different he could've settled down here.

As he walked along, he came across a large building, with a sign that read "Higurashi Dojo". To say the least he was amazed, and a little excited.

Curiosity got the best of him, so he walked up the stone steps and slightly slid the door aside, peeking in. At the head of the large room he saw an ebony haired girl, maybe a year or two younger than him demonstrating sword techniques before a group of kids, obviously her students. When she swung her bokuto, her pupils imitated her movements with their own bamboo swords.

"That's all for today kids!" she announced with a smile, wiping the bead of sweat from her brow, "You all did great. Keep practicing!" "Thank you Kagome-Sensei," they replied bowing. "Make sure to come next week!" she reminded them brightly. The students headed for the sliding door the man had been watching from. He stepped aside as it opened, and watched as the woman's pupils left the dojo sweaty and exhausted from training.

He sighed and leaned back against the wall. 'These kids remind me of myself, back when I first began my training with old Totosai,' he thought, reminiscing of his past. "Looking for something?" a soft and friendly voice asked. He jumped slightly and looked over at the door to see the same young woman, who had been teaching those kids her sword style, standing there smiling at him.

"I don't think I've ever seen you around here before." She said striding up to him and looking at him, real close, "Are you new in town?" "He nodded and shrugged, "I guess you could say that. But I'm not staying for long," he replied. "Why's that?" she queried.

"Because...I am a rurouni," he replied, his hair swaying in the breeze, "I travel the land with no destination. No place to go and no place to call home. I am not but a mere wanderer."

"What kind of 'wanderer' carries a sword?" she said frowning, grabbing the hilt of his sword and drawing it from its sheath. The blade gave a dim sheen from the sun.

She gasped, looking the blade up and down. "What? This blade looks as if it hasn't been used or even sharpened in years!" she stated surprised, "What's the point of carrying a sword in this condition?"

"I stopped using it long ago," he said. "Then why keep it?" she asked confused, handing him his sword. He took it and slid it back into his sheath, "I carry it as a reminder."

"A reminder? A reminder of what?" she asked curiously. "Of what I used to be...and what I am now..." he replied, smiling slightly.

After some silence the ebony haired maiden spoke up, "Well, my name's Kagome Higurashi," she said holding out her hand, "This here was my father's dojo before he passed away. So I continue his teaching that swords are tools of protection, not killing." He took her hand and shook it, "My name is Inuyasha Takahashi. And I believe your father teaches a very good philosophy... "

"So do you need some place to stay for the night?" she offered, smiling brightly, "You can spend the night at my house." "I don't want to be a burden..." he said smiling, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." "I insist. There is only one lodging business here and I doubt you can afford it being a wanderer," she said.

He sighed in defeat and nodded, "Sure..." "Great!" she exclaimed happily, grabbing his hand and pulling him off to her house.

He sat across from her, eating his miso soup and munching down on her onigiri. "Wow!" he exclaimed, "This is the best food I've had in a long time!" She blushed and smiled, eating more of her own soup, "Thanks, I'm glad you like it."

He smiled, taking another bite of the rice cake. "There's something I've been wondering," he said, before finishing his soup, "Why did you offer to let me stay with you for the night? I'm sure you don't let complete strangers into your home every night."

She blushed and sighed, "W...well I can't stand to see a fellow swordsman have no shelter or food for the night." "Oh," was all he could say.

It was the dead of night and Inuyasha sat wide awake, unlike his hostess, gazing out the window at the moon that radiated a pure, ivory glow. He sighed, unsheathing his sword slightly and looking down at the now visible gleam of metal.

Why had he agreed to stay the night with her? Why did he even tell her his name? In the morning he would be gone and she would forget his name soon enough. He would become nothing but a blurry memory to her, like he had to others he had met along his unending journey.

He returned the sword to its fully sheathed position, and shook his head. He closed his bright golden eyes and ran a hand through his silvery-white hair, brushing it out of his face.

'This fate as a rurouni,' he said to himself, 'To be nothing more than a phantom...A fleeting memory to the world.' He shook his head and returned his gaze to the bright moon, the glimmer of hope shining evermore in the dark blanket of night.

All of a sudden, a scream pierced the peaceful night as well as the hanyou's thoughts, as if it was a knife delving into flesh. In a flash he was gone, Tetsusaiga at his side. Kagome sat up drowsily and looked around. "Where's Inuyasha? And what was with the scream?" she pondered aloud.

Inuyasha dashed through the streets, frantically searching for the source of the disruption. He stopped when he caught the strong scent of blood to his right and turned. There, in the darkened alley, he could see many mutilated and slashed bodies littering the ground in a giant pool of reeking crimson fluid.

He looked further to see a young woman cowering in fear against the wall of the dead end. The person that had cornered her was a man, no a demon. The demon had slightly tanned skin, long black hair in a braided ponytail, and brandished a pike covered in human blood.

"Now it's your turn wench!" he exclaimed, in a bloodthirsty and excited voice. "Think again!" the hanyou growled drawing his sword. At the last second he jumped in the way and blocked the killer's pike with his dull sword. Being caught off guard, the demon lost hi balance and was pushed back by the hanyou's strength, landing quite a few meters away.

While he was on the ground, Inuyasha urged the woman to run while she had the chance and she did, fleeing the alleyway. The man got to his feet and scowled in disgust, "How dare you, a lowly half-breed, challenge me, Hiten, final heir to the Kaminari Clan!"

"Oh, you'll pay for that one," the hanyou growled, running at the thunder demon, swinging his sword. Hiten raised his pike, hindering the strike. "What do you hope to accomplish with a dull sword?" he growled out, as electricity and energy began to crackle where the opposing weapons collided. The two leapt apart with what little space they had.

"You're not bad for a half-breed," Hiten said, smirking, "But let's see how well you hold up against this attack." He began twirling his pike above his head at a very high speed, electricity crackling around it. Then he was gone. Inuyasha looked around in frustration, "Where did that bastard go..."

A clang caught his attention to his left and saw an unseen blade leave slashes upon the wall.

Mere seconds later his body was ridden with pain as the invisible weapon began slashing away at random parts of his body. Blood began to flow from cuts and gashes from his chest down to his legs. He stood there, allowing himself to be attacked. He closed his eyes concentrating...trying to find some sort of pattern to his attack.

He realized every five seconds he was slashed, Hiten attacked the wall for a moment. He was moving so fast he didn't even know what he was attacking.

The second he heard the sound of metal hitting the wall, time seemed to slow down, he reached out and felt fabric grasped in his clenched fist. He took the opportunity to throw and flip the demon against the wall.

Hiten got to his feet, panting. He spat some blood to his left and wiped his mouth. "No one...No one has ever been able to counter that attack," he said in awe and frustration, "You...are no normal swordsman." The hanyou took a deep breath, the pain from his wounds already lessening.

"What say we take this somewhere a bit more open and take it to the next level," Inuyasha asked, smirking. "Couldn't have said it better myself..." And so the two took off as fast as they could to a field on the outskirts of the village.

They stood across from ach other, gripping their weapons. Before we end this, there's something I want to ask you," Hiten said growling, "There has never been someone able to match my speed, no one able to match my strength with a dull weapon... Who are you...really...?"

Inuyasha smiled and replied, "I am nothing more than a wandering swordsman that I am..."

"Don't lie to me...I see something in you...The heart of a true warrior," the thunder demon scowled, "Enough talking... let's finish this."

Inuyasha smile turned into a feral smirk, "I agree, true warriors speak with their blades...Not words..."

At the same instant, the two ran at each other, metal clashing with metal, their faces inches apart. They backed up and leapt at each other once more. Inuyasha leapt into the air and brought his blade down upon him, Hiten, raising his staff horizontally and blocking the attack.

This continued on for a few minutes, one attacking, and the other blocking it. Neither of them really winning the duel. 'I can beat him like this,' Inuyasha thought, as he parried another attack, 'There's only one way I can end this and survive...'

At that moment, yellow flames erupted down the sword, turning it into a gigantic fang-shaped crusher sword.

'That sword!' Hiten gasped, wide-eyed and disbelieving. Inuyasha ran at him, prepared to make the final strike. The thunder demon raised his pike to stop the attack, but to no avail. Inuyasha slashed right down the middle of Hiten and his weapon, splitting them both in half (Hiten from his neck down.)

Hiten fell to the ground, spitting up torrents of blood, the crimson fluid flowing from his mouth and chest.

"Yo...you can't..." he stammered weakly, "You can't b...be hi...him." And those were his final words before he died in a pool of his own blood.

The hanyou dug the fool a grave and buried him, saying a quick prayer, before his heart stopped racing. It was just like old times. The scent of spilt blood made his old blood boil, and he was starting to calm down.

He heard a gasp and turned to see Kagome standing there.

"You're 'him'...aren't you?" the girl asked, "The legendary Satsujinsha...He who slew over one thousand men during the Shinku Revolution..."

He looked down, so his bangs covered his eyes. "I was... but I tried to leave my past behind me." He slowly sheathed his sword and began walking away from the peaceful village and away from Kagome.

"Please," she said grabbing his arm, "Please stays...at...at least until your wounds heal." He looked into her eyes and saw concern and sincerity. She cared about his well being. He smiled kindly and nodded, "Sure."

Inuyasha sat on the floor against the wall, while Kagome dipped a small ball of cotton into disinfectant and wiped it over his wound. His eyes clenched shut and he hissed in pain, "Damn!" His body tensed up slightly at the pain.

"I'm so sorry!" she replied, pouring water over the gash, "I'll try and be more careful." He smiled and winked at her, wiping some sweat from his forehead. "Don't worry about me," he assured her, "This pain is nothing."

"You sure?" she asked, concerned. He nodded and sighed, relaxing, "Okay, continue..."

She continued to clean his wounds with the stinging chemical, each time he hissed and tensed up slightly, but the pain lessened as the swordsman got used to the pain. When she finished, she poured water over him and dried him before wrapping them in bandages.

"Thanks Kagome," he whispered smiling, laying down on his futon, "I think I'm gonna go to sleep now." He closed his eyes and before long he was sound asleep.

She giggled as she watched him, finding him very cute. She noticed his small little dog ears twitching and fought the urge to touch them. Unfortunately, she lost and could not resist rubbing them.

She reached up and gently gripped each white, furry ear between her thumb and forefinger and rubbed gently. He smiled in his sleep and emitted a sound from his lips that was a combination of a growl and a purr. She giggled and blushed slightly and continued rubbing the small twitchy appendages.

To be continued in Heart of the Sword: Code II

A/N Okay, so what did you think? I worked hard and finally finished typing it up. I was inspired with Hiten's attack from the manga One Piece, and I will actually have scenes and chapters inspired by other anime and manga. See if you can guess which. Well until next time Read and Review! Thanks for reading.