Note: Just remember, Kaede is Kazuki's younger sister, Kikyo's sister Kaede is deceased.
Eight Years Later
A demon roared as it flew towards the village. "Come on Kazuki, go for it!" Makoto shouted.
Kazuki grasped Tetsuaiga, transforming it, and attempted to use the wind scar, but he missed. The demon was infuriated as it charged towards the two.
"It's coming for us!" Kazuki yelled to his friend, Makoto. Kazuki began to bolt away.
"Take this!" Makoto shouted, throwing sutras. The demon landed hardly, sliding into the ground, knocking Makoto over. It got back up, and flew towards Kazuki, who stepped back, and fell backwards on top of Makoto. "Oh no! Um! Ah-" Kazuki thrust his sword in front of him. The demon spat fire around them and it got right in front of Kazuki's face.
"Hiraikotsu!" Haruna shouted, throwing the boomerang she received from her mother. Her twin placed a sutra on the demon's head, and it died.
"Geez, you two can't even slay a demon as weak as that? Man you're hopeless," Hoshiko said with a giggle.
"Instead you destroyed half the village! Way to go, you morons," Haruna said, sticking her nose in the air and turning away.
Kazuki reached his hand out. "Haruna, wait! I didn't mean to, I just-"
Haruna slapped his hand. "YOU have no excuse for your failure! You're part demon are you not?"
"Yeah, well-" Kazuki said.
"And you possess the sword forged from the fang of your father, who was one of the people who destroyed the demon Naraku, one of the most powerful, evil demons to live, am I right?" Haruna interrogated.
"Uhh...yeah but what does that-"Kazuki started.
"Then why the Hell are YOU afraid of demons!" Haruna interjected.
Kazuki groaned, and brought his head down. "Come on, sis. Let's go." Haruna said, turning to Hoshiko. The two walked off together.
Makoto sat down next to his friend and smiled. "Don't worry about it, Kazuki. I'd say we're getting a lot better. I mean, hey, you even tried to hit it this time."
Kazuki still stared at the ground, with his floppy bangs covering his face. He rubbed his hands violently through his long black hair in frustration and groaned again. "Oh man... not again! Why am I such a klutz? I screw up everything! Now she'll never-"
"Don't tell me..." Makoto said.
"Yes! OK Fine! I'm in love with your sister!" Kazuki admitted, blushing.
"It's about time you admitted it. You can't keep hiding things from your best friend forever," Makoto said, patting his friend on the back.
"You mean, you already knew?" Kazuki asked.
"Well, yeah!" Makoto replied. "As if it hasn't been obvious since the day you saved her from the river!"
Kazuki was surprised at this. "But how could you tell?"
"It's so easy to see what you're thinking, Kazuki!" Makoto said. "Besides, there have been all those times you've tried to impress her. Like that time you brought her flowers when she was sick, saying they'd help her feel better. But she could see right through you and ended up tearing the flowers apart. And that other time you tried to help her do everything for a week. Don't forget the time you tried to tell her she was beautiful as the sunset she was admiring. Or the time you made her the paper crane that she threw in the fire. Not to mention that other time you stole Tetsuaiga that one time to kill a wolf that was scaring her to protect her. You nearly killed her instead."
"And each time, I got a bump on the head and started crying," Kazuki added sadly. "and I'll never forget the lecture I got from dad for that last one." He shuddered. "He's not gonna be to happy when he hears about this. We're gonna get in trouble again. I just know it."
Makoto laughed. "As we always do. Come on, let's go home." The two boys headed home.
"Hi Kazuki!" Kaede said. "Wow, seeing all that damage-"
"I know, I destroyed everything," Kazuki slouched over when he said this.
"No, I was just going to say how strong you've got!" She smiled warmly. "Maybe the reason you've gotten so sloppy with your work is because of all that hair getting in the way. I'm going to cut it. You're beginning to look like dad."
"But-" Kazuki started, but sat down because he didn't want to upset his sister. She began to cut his hair. Kazuki watched as long pieces of hair fell to the ground.
"There! Done!" Kaede said.
Kazuki felt his hair with his fingers. "Wow, it hasn't been this short since I was a kid."
"I'm back!" Kagome announced as she entered the house carrying a basket of herbs.
"Hey mom!" Kaede said. "I just finished cutting Kazuki's hair. How does it look?"
"It's lovely!" Kagome said. Her daughter beamed, feeling pride in her work. "Maybe it will let Kazuki see when he's destroyed half the village," Kagome added, looking over to her son.
"Just what you were thinking, huh Kaede?" Kazuki said, rubbing his head, nervously.
"Can't you two at least try to stay out of trouble?" Kagome said irritably.
"Aunt Kagome," Makoto piped up in attempt to help Kazuki. "Kazuki was actually getting much better, I mean, he actually landed a hit this time. And we almost got it."
"That's not enough. You need to be able to protect people as much as possible. You can't be so reckless," said Miroku.
"There's no point in being able to challenge an enemy, unless you're able to defeat it. And there's no point in destroying a demon to protect something, if you're just gonna destroy whatever you're protecting along with it." InuYasha added. "If you two want to hunt down demons, you have to get that through your heads."
"Dad, I was scared!" Kazuki whined.
"It don't matter if you're scared! You're the more powerful one out of almost everybody in the village, so you gotta protect 'em! Don't worry until later!" InuYasha said. "You're not a kid anymore! It's about damn time you learn how to man up!"
'Somebody...to protect,' Kazuki thought, as he glaced at Haruna longingly. 'I guess dad's got a point.'
The next day, the two boys sat beside each other. "Man, I don't see how you do it, Makoto," Kazuki said. "You seem to be able to get every girl you want."
"I probably get it from my dad," Makoto replied. "How about we go out to another village together, and I'll show you how it's done?"
"Yeah, I guess," Kazuki said. The two ventured off to a nearby town.
"Are you sure this will work?" Kazuki asked.
Makoto reassured his friend. "Trust me, I'm an expert at this! When have I ever been wrong about something like this?"
'Plenty of times,' Kazuki thought.
Makoto began his instructions. "First, you must approach a woman. Make sure to go from behind. Gently put your hand on her shoulder, and give her a smile. Watch me!" Makoto approached a young girl. He placed his hand on her shoulder and said "Pardon me miss, I was wandering through this town when I became distracted by your elegance. May I ask your name?" He gave a handsome smile.
The girl was flustered at his remark. "My name is Miki. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh no," Makoto said. "The pleasure is all mine." This remark had the girl, as well as all of her companions squealing.
"Now it's your turn," Makoto whispered to Kazuki.
'Alright, here I go,' he thought. He found a girl and went up to her. His hand was shaking as he put it on her shoulder. "H-hey... t-there..." he stammered. "You're f-fine look-king," She turned around to see him with a big goofy grin and his eye twitching. She shrieked.
"EEK! A DEMON!" She whacked him on the head, and an angry crowd formed around Kazuki, who started to cower in fear. One man was about to attack when Makoto intervened.
"Now, now," he said. "Please do not show hostility towards this man. He may be partially demon, but he is in fact almost completely human. He is trying to become a member of the human society, so I took him in as my servant."
"Wait what-" Kazuki started but his mouth was covered by Makoto's hand.
Makoto smiled. "Shhh...you're not supposed to question your master, are you not?" He began to pat his friend's head head as Kazuki hunched over. "There. That's a good boy. I am sorry for all of the trouble he has caused you all. It's not easy when you've spent your life living in a cave." The humans nodded understandingly, and were touched by this tale. Kazuki glared irritably at his friend and growled.
"Now, we must be off. I believe my dear friend needs a good lecture and some practice on his interactions with humans. I can't have him scaring people all the time! Good bye!" He dragged Kazuki away from the village and they began to walk home.
"What the Hell did you think you were doing back there!" Kazuki said once they were far enough away. "Now I look like an idiot!"
Makoto rebuked him. "You're lucky I saved you! If it weren't for me, you'd be in a lot more trouble than you are! And you know what! You looked like an idiot before I even did anything! What was with that stupid grin anyways! You could hardly approach the girl before you managed to screw up! If you can't woo any woman, how do you expect to win Haruna's heart?"
Kazuki slouched over again. "I'm just a little shy, you should know that by now. Was I really that bad?" he asked.
"Considering the reaction you got, absolutely. That's it! I hereby declare you UNTEACHABLE!" Makoto proclaimed, pointing his finger at Kazuki.
"Un...teachable?" Kazuki said. He then sat down and stared.
"Considering how hard Haruna is to please, you're absolutely hopeless!" Makoto said adding insult to injury.
"Wait a minute!" Kazuki said. "If she's different than most girls, then I gotta do something different to please her!"
"Hmm...maybe you're on to something this time, Kazuki!" Makoto replied. "But that means it is all up to you to figure out how. I can't help you."
Kazuki moaned. "Then who AM I supposed to get help from?" He pondered this and then it dawned upon him. Who else would be better to ask than his own father. He grinned at the idea and rushed home to find InuYasha.