InuYami tugged the cowboy hat onto her head. She sat down, adjusted it, and nodded. Looking up at Souta, she told him, "This one fits nicely, Uncle Souta. It doesn't crush my ears like the other one does."

"You can't wear that one, Yami," Souta said with a sigh. "It would make you stand out more than you should. Those rich, red robes and that white hair...they don't scream 'ten gallon hat.'"

InuYami scowled and pulled the hat off. Souta thought for a few minutes, then snapped his fingers. "I got it!" He reached back into the closet and pulled out a small baseball cap. He tugged it down on top of the little youkai girl's head. "Try that on."

InuYami blinked and ran her fingers across the soft fabric of the cap. It felt good; in fact, she could hardly feel it at all. She smiled, nodding to Souta. "I like it. It's nice."

"It used to be mine," he explained. "Back in the days of little-league baseball."

Tsugaru's head popped up from behind the closet door. He stared at the hat on his sister's head, then scratched behind his ear. "Looks cool on you, Yami," he said. "And it really hides your ears."

InuYami pulled the cap off her head and held it in her lap. "I know, but I don't like hiding them." The white appendages twitched in an irritated way. "People shouldn't care that my ears are different."

"If only we could find a way to make everyone believe that," Souta murmured. "Then there would be no more fighting. But, sadly, the world doesn't listen to most ten-year-olds."

"I'd make 'em listen."

Souta shook his head, smiling slightly at his bold youkai niece. InuYami replaced the cap and stood up. "So can we go now?" she asked excitedly. Souta nodded, motioning for Tsugaru to follow behind him.

"Mama!" he called. "We're leaving now!"

"Have fun, you three!" his mother's voice replied. Souta grinned, and took InuYami's and Tsugaru's hands in his own. They left the shrine, headed for the park. As soon as they were out of the door, the two tugged their hands free from their uncle's grasp. InuYami crouched down on the ground and Tsugaru hopped on her back.

"No! Yami, you can't. You have to act like a mortal girl. Mortal girls can't carry their brothers on their backs while they jump four feet at a time!"

InuYami scowled. She hated this new world. The rules were too specific. Mortal girls didn't have white puppy ears. Mortal girls couldn't run faster than a slug. Mortal girls couldn't carry their own weight on their backs, and run and jump unhindered. Mortal girls couldn't do anything!

Tsugaru slid from his sister's back glumly. "But then how're we supposed to get there?" he asked. "Yami carries me everywhere. She's really fast!"

"But she's supposed to be a human, Tsuga," Souta said gently. "And humans can't do what youkai can. Yami's demon blood has to be kept a secret."

InuYami shrugged and stood up. She dusted off her robes. "Fine," she growled. "I don't care. But it's not my fault if it takes more than a few minutes to get there."

Tsugaru padded over to his sister and wrapped his arms around her neck. InuYami lifted him effortlessly. She looked to Souta. "Is this all right?" she asked dryly.

"Yes. You can carry him like that, so long as you walk and not jump. I know how hard this is for you, not being able to show your youkai side."

InuYami was silent for the rest of the walk up to the park. But, Souta noticed, the whole time they were walking, Tsugaru held his sister's hand, and appeared to be soothing her. They do get along fine...it's just a matter of what they're doing.

;-:-;-:-;

InuYami gave a joyful yelp and ran towards the playground, half-dragging Tsugaru behind her. Finally, after that tedious, slow walk, they were here. Not too far away, she spotted a group of friendly-looking girls about her age. She uncurled Tsugaru's fingers from her own. "Okay, Tsuga," she said, "you find some people to play with, and I'll do the same. We'll meet back here in an hour. After that, we should have a pretty good idea of what the future will be like."

Tsugaru nodded. He could see a group of boys playing with a bright orange ball on a black thing in the distance. But what really appealed to him was seeing a bunch of younger girls playing together in the sandbox. InuYami nodded, giving him a parting hug, and walked off to join the other girls.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully, coming towards the group. The tallest, who was slightly shorter than the youkai, examined InuYami with a mixture of interest and disgust.

"Hi..." she replied at length. "What's...with your clothes?" She pointed to InuYami's crimson robes. "Where'd you get those? The reject pile at the Salvation Army?" The rest of the clique giggled. InuYami had no idea what the heck a "Salvation Army" was, so she decided to be honest.

"No...my Mom sewed them for me herself." She stood with her hands on her hips to show off the wide, flowing sleeves. "My Dad wears robes just like these, only bigger, 'cause he's really tall."

"And your nails?" one of the lesser girls sneered. "What look were you going for? Halloween's not for another month, kiddo."

InuYami opened her mouth to tell them that they were actually claws, and it took a significant amount of effort just to trim them. Anyways, her claws weren't always growing. They grew whenever they needed to, whether it was to heal a flaw in the nail or to accommodate for new growth in her hands. But then she remembered that Uncle Souta and Grandma had both forbidden her to say anything that might reveal her as being a demon and not a human.

"I...like them long," she said after a pause.

The leader of the clique sauntered over to InuYami and picked up a length of the youkai girl's silver hair like she would a snake. "I'm impressed," she jeered. "I was expecting your hair to be all slimy and unwashed. You know, long hair is so out." She brushed at her short, black hair to accent the remark. InuYami's heart fell.

"Well...my Dad keeps his hair like this. My Mom thinks it makes us look cute when we're together..."

"And this hat!" The leader gripped the brim of InuYami's baseball cap tightly between her thumb and index finger. The youkai shifted backwards a step or two. If that girl got her hat off...she would see her ears and know that InuYami was a demon. "What are you trying to pull? Are you a little tomboy? You're so cute it sickens me." She gave the youkai a shove.

InuYami normally wouldn't have been pushed back by such a pathetic blow, but it seemed that her sorrow at the girls' scorn had sapped her strength. She stumbled backwards, landing heavily on the ground. And there she sat, tear filling her eyes. Soft whimpers emanated from her throat, but no one noticed. No one seemed to care about the misfit girl who had gotten herself into a losing battle with the popular crowd.

;-:-;-:-;

Tsugaru wasn't faring much better. Everything had started out fine for him. The little girls at the sandbox had eagerly accepted his company, telling him he was cute. Tsugaru was in heaven. He recalled going to a lake years ago with his parents and InuYami. The foursome had spent hour after hour just playing in the sand together. It had been the perfect day for the little hanyou.

He had made so many friends in that first half hour. Claire, the oldest of the group, was his own age. She told him openly that she wanted to marry him when they were older. Tsugaru had laughed and said he thought she was pretty. He loved the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed. They were different eyes than the rest of his family had. He was used to finding comfort in golden eyes, but now he found himself entranced by the shimmering blue.

"Hey kid! What d'you think you're doing with the girls?" someone demanded from behind the hanyou. Tsugaru turned nervously. A group of boys his older than him were standing around the sandbox. He waved shyly.

"Uh...h-hi. Me?" Tsugaru pointed a claw to his chest. "I'm just having fun at the sandbox. My Mommy and Daddy took me and my big sister to the beach once, and we had a lot of fun there. I thought that the sandbox would be kinda like the beach."

The biggest of the boys leaned closer, putting his face up against Tsugaru's. "I get it...you're just a little fairy aren't you?" he asked. Tsugaru shook his head.

"No...my Daddy says I'm a hanyou," he declared. "And my big sister's a..." He stopped himself. "Er...I mean, no, I'm just a normal human boy. My sister's a normal human girl." He grinned broadly. The boy stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. Tsugaru gulped. This was not looking good, not good at all.

;-:-;-:-;

The sun had started to set, turning the world an eerie shade of red, almost like blood had drenched the landscape. Most of the families had left the park to go home for dinnertime or bedtime or because-your-little-sister-is-cranky-that's-why-time. Souta was still trying his luck at picking up a young woman.

;-:-;-:-;

InuYami walked backwards, her fingers arched to show her long claws. Her golden eyes flickered nervously left and right, back and forth. A thin line of red ran across the top of her left foot, a line that led up to a nasty scrape on her knee. She didn't care. The other girl had been lucky to escape with the skin on her arm. The youkai crept slowly, her gaze watchful for any more girls. She'd had enough of their taunts and cutting remarks. The next person to cross the daughter of InuYasha was going to walk away maimed...if they could walk at all when she was finished with them.

;-:-;-:-;

Tsugaru walked in reverse as well. His hands, unlike his sister's, were held up by his face. There was a throbbing patch on his arm that would erupt into a violently-hued bruise tomorrow morning. It hurt...he wasn't used to hurt. Nothing more than a stumble, or a smack from InuYami. He sniffled softly as he walked. Forget the future. He had been born in the past, and that was where he belonged! The hanyou wasn't looking for a fight. He was really looking for a way to avoid one. InuYami had given him self-defense lessons long ago. Now Tsugaru was prepared to use those lessons...well, the defense part of them, at least.

;-:-;-:-;

The two figures padded, back-to-back, towards each other. Their watchful eyes swept the emptying playground warily. The red light danced in their pale eyes, making them truly look like the hanyou and youkai they were. With one final step, their heels touched, and they whirled on each other.

;-:-;-:-;

InuYami whipped around, snarling and flexing her claws. Her eyes were wide and were shifting from gold to red at a rapid rate. All of the bitterness she had been shown in that one afternoon surged through her veins, beginning the transformation to the form of the youkai...her true form.

Her fangs lengthened, as did her nose and mouth. Bluish-purple stripes could be seen on either side of her face. Her white hair swept back in a flowing mane. She barked, loud and harsh. InuYami, the youkai daughter of InuYasha, was beginning to change.

;-:-;-:-;

Tsugaru heard the angry snarls and flinched, drawing his body close into a ball of fear. He willed himself to not wet his pants like he still did in bursts of extreme terror. Images flashed through his mind. What was it that was growling like that? A ferocious guard dog? An angry bully come to deliver yet another blow to his sore body? He whimpered quietly, hoping that whatever it was would get it over with now and leave him alone.

;-:-;-:-;

The siblings' reactions took place in the same instant. The light was getting lower every minute, making it harder and harder to see who was friend...and who was foe. Soon the only light left was the bloody crimson stain. Two figures stood locked in a battle of wills; the odds were a rough equivalent of what chance a hummingbird egg would stand of remaining intact when an anvil was dropped atop it.

;-:-;-:-;

InuYami was the first to realize what was wrong. She sniffed, and received a powerful flood of scent information. That was new. But what gave her the most cause to worry was the scent of her brother...and his fear. InuYami snarled angrily. Who dared scare her brother? She looked around. There was no one else there. "Tsuga!" she tried to say, but all that came out was a guttural bark.

;-:-;-:-;

Tsugaru whimpered and curled into a tighter ball. "Don't hurt me..." he whimpered.

;-:-;-:-;

InuYami took a slow breath in and looked herself over. Well. That was certainly different. She was covered in thick white fur. Her hands had become huge, clawed paws. This must be my...but then that means...I'm really a dog? But then I don't really look like Dad at all! I look like...Uncle Sesshoumaru! How do I reverse this? How? How? How? HOW?

The youkai bent down, almost frightened by her brother's shaking body. She didn't want to be like this...it scared Tsugaru. Then, in a rush of calm, it was over,. She checked her paws. Hands. Her arms. Furless. Her face. Nose was back to being a nose and not a snout. She tapped his shoulder. "Tsuga..."

Tsugaru uncurled, then flung himself at his sister. "YAMI!" he howled. Tears spilled from both pairs of eyes. United in fear and longing for their parents' return, the pair clung tightly to each other. After a few minutes of crying, InuYami stood up. She tore the baseball cap from her head and flung it on the ground.

"That's it!" she snapped. "I've had it up to here with people making fun of us! Come on, Tsuga. Let's go back."

She took her brother's hand, and the pair of them, youkai and hanyou, walked away from the playground. Night had fallen. Souta had pulled himself away form his lady friend long enough to shout, "Yami! Tsuga!...InuYami! Tsugaru!...Where are you?"