The Demon of the Alleys

Story: Before the Twists of Fate

By: Sky

InuYasha sat with his back against the wall, and looked out over the group of boys that had surrounded him. They called themselves his 'Pack'; those that tried to follow him around and either work off his reputation, or tried to get under his protection. He didn't really care about them, as long as they left him alone; and followed his code.

"Yeah, man. It was totally awesome!" one of the boys sitting on a crate was saying, as he took a puff of a cigarette. "It was flippin cool! I swear, the lady was crying so hard… and her pleading. Jeeze. I was just about to shoot her just to shut her up. And her little boy looked like he was about to wet his pants! His eyes were so wide, the barrel of the gun could of fit right in it!" Several of the other boys looked around nervously, noticing that InuYasha was perfectly still where he was sitting; not even pulling the cigarette from his mouth. That was a bad sign.

"Keep it down man!" one of them hissed softly, after casting a nervous glance at InuYasha. "Don't you know the rules here man!? You don't touch women or children! Never!"

"But she had such a cool necklace…." The first boy stated proudly, producing the gemstone laced necklace from his pocket. One of the boys couldn't help but whistle appreciatively at the thumb-nail sized rubies that were set all along the center of the necklace, and the pinki-nail sized emeralds and sapphires that surrounded them.

"There ain't no exceptions to the rule!" the other boy hissed again. "InuYasha might not care about most of the rules, if you break them or not, but he's touchy about that one. And if he finds out that any of us had harmed any of them…." The boy didn't finish his sentence, letting the imagination of the others take over.

The first boy snorted.

"He don't care," the first boy replied flippantly. " He's InuYasha after all. He the 'Dog-Lord of the Streets', 'The Demon of the Alleys', the 'Demon Dog' himself. Why would he care about such trivial things like if I scared a woman and her brat?"

"Don't speak of it again, or do it again!" warned one of the boys that had been there longest. "And he might just let you live!"

"I heard at one point, he had a boy beaten to death for harming this one lady," the boy nearest the fence commented. "Had another gang do it to him, to set an example for his pack."

"Another boy he cut to pieces himself because he shot the woman, though he didn't kill her," commented another boy.

"He made a boy try to outrun trained guard dogs once because they killed a little boy," said a third, and shook his head sadly. "No one could outrun those mongrels except maybe him." The boy looked over his shoulder as he said that; his gaze lingering on their black-haired leader.

The first boy was about to comment, but he wasn't able to being his sentence though, because he found himself pressed against a wall; a hand holding him by the throat. A pair of violet eyes bore angrily into his own, and he felt a stab of fear go through him. It was never a good idea to get the "Demon Dog" mad at you. It usually ended up as a death sentence.

"My, what a beautiful necklace you have stolen," InuYasha replied coolly, though his eyes still shone an angry violet. "Where ever did you get it from? A man taking it home to his wife I presume?" His tone had turned deadly now, and caused the other boys to take several steps backwards.

"N-n-no," the boy stuttered.

"Oh really? That's not what I heard you tell the others. Now, you wouldn't be trying to lie to me, would you?"

The boy finally understood fully why InuYasha was feared on the street. He might have been shorter then him, but the boy who had him by the throat was actually the scariest thing he had ever seen. And he truly feared for his life.

"N-n-no InuYasha. I would never think about lying to you."

InuYasha's eyes narrowed at him, and then he dragged him over to the gate, opened it with one hand, and threw the boy out by the neck.

"You are never to come back here. Ever. And if I see you, I'll kill you." The other boys gathered around behind InuYasha, and started making taunts as the kid walked away. Though he didn't get far before some other boys started to around him.

"Those are Nakami's men!" one of the boys stated, and moved to open the gate. InuYasha stilled his hand, and continued to watch as the boy was attacked by the others that surrounded him.

"Yes I know. They've been there for the last hour." Then he turned to the boys around him; his eyes boring into theirs, and each looked down after only a few moments, causing him to smirk slightly. "Let this remind you all, that you never go after women or children, or that's your fate." He motioned over his shoulder to the cries of pain, and then turned to go back to where he had been sitting. Though, he stopped halfway there, and looked at the necklace in his hand that he had taken from the boys hand when he had lifted him up, and then he threw it to one of the boys.

"Break it apart, and get rid of it. I don't want this linked back to us. Ever." His eyes bore into the eyes of the boys around him, and each looked down again. Knowing that once more no one was going to do or say anything, InuYasha went back to his spot, lit up another cigarette, and watched as the other gang attacked the boy. It wasn't nothing new to him. It was what happened when you lived in this part of the neighborhood.

Hey everyone. Because of the rating I have on this story, of course I made the language of the street boys g-rated. xD I was asked once to do a one-shot of InuYasha before the well. This is one of them. This is what he was doing before Sango go to him.

I hope you all like it. Please Review!!!