InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Quarter-Demon ❯ The Past of the Past ( Chapter 1 )

Quarter-Demon

Chapter One: The Past of the Past

By Kurohi Tatsaki

"speaking" ***POV switch/Passing of Time

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha! Don't sue! I'm broke!

Note to all readers: If you don't like my OC: Kurohi, then don't read this. He plays a big part.

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"Mom? What's goin' on?!" I demanded, my eyes wide and still a little puffy from my crying yesterday.

"There isn't much time! Go to the well!" she shot back, readying her bow and arrows. She held onto both items as if her life depended on it, and that was very much possible with the events going on here.

"Bone-Eater's?" I asked, cocking my head to one side.

"Yes! Yes! Now GO!" Her eyes were watery.

I frowned. "But what about-"

"Just..." Her pretty eyes were full of tears. She pushed me into the well, shouting loudly, "GO!!"

My stomach plummeted as I fell head-first. I feebly reached out to grasp my mom's hand, but by then, I was too far down, and an eerie light that I'd never seen before surrounded me. The sight disturbed me somewhat, and I closed my eyes.

The demons and humans were at war on my side. Shikon jewel shards that Inu-Yasha and Kagome never managed to collect were being used as power sources as well as other things. Well, the thing is, demons are attracted to the jewel's power, so the demons came, and fought against us, even if it was for one measly shard.

Actually, there isn't an "us" because I'm not really a part of it. I'm neither human, nor demon.

Then, I didn't know what I was, even when the facts were presented to my eyes and ears. And now... I'm still a bit uncertain.

When I landed at the bottom of the well, I looked up, and saw the sky. [Strange...] I thought. [We don't have an opening in the well-house.] I climbed out, hand over hand, and looked up and around. I was in the middle of a forest, but a thought hit me again. [MOTHER!!] I let go and fell again, only to have the light appear again, and this time, I kept my eyes open.

When I jumped back through, everything was dead. I smelled blood... Bones, flesh, still warm with blood, crunched under my lime-green shoes. I observed the scene with hidden horror, but that showed itself quickly as I spotted the bloodied and mangled forms of my parents some feet away from me. Dashing over quickly, I was by their sides in a second or two.

"Mom... Dad...?" I never called my father "dad". I always used his first name...

Inu-Yasha.

"Ah... it's... you... Why'd... you come... back?" he choked, too weak to even sit up.

Helping him, I moved him slightly so his head rested in my lap. My eyes watered, and I knew that no matter how much of a fighter he was, he wouldn't last very much longer at all.

I couldn't answer, but my face contorted into a look of uncertainty. "I had to... I suppose. I wanted to help you fight... Mom pushed me into the well..."

"Yeah... I... told her to... Look, y'gotta go back..." He gripped my wrist tightly, but almost weakly. "Back where.. me and Kagome were... searching for.. the... jew...el... sha......"

He fell silent and his chest heaved twice, and, tightening his grip, his eyes slid shut.

My eyes widened and I strained my sensitive black ears for a sound. Any sound. "D-Dad...?!"

But there was no sound coming from my father's chest.

He was... dead.

Mother was already dead by the time I got there, I noticed. That's probably why this place was so quiet... so... empty. It was empty of life.

Forcing myself to rise and look away, I went back to the well. I concentrated on their past before this.

Before Kagome could no longer see the shards.

I would help them find every last part, so they wouldn't have to die.

I nodded once with conviction, a grim expression on my face. I readied myself on the well's edge and jumped. I was soon enveloped by the eerie purple and blue light, and I closed my eyes.

Yes, I would do this for them, not me. In doing so, I don't care that my birth could be canceled.

And sometimes, I wondered what death would be like.

***

"Kagome! D'ya NEED to go back home NOW?!"

"Why not?! I need to restock, anyway!" she retorted, glowering at her hanyou friend.

"You got plenty left!" insisted the white-haired half demon, pointing accusingly at her big yellow backpack.

"I do NOT!" yelled back the black-haired girl.

"Do too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"*SIT!!*"

"Augh--!!" The white-haired half-demon was on the ground. The force created a small crater.

"I'll be RIGHT BACK!" With that, she prepared to depart, when standing atop it stood a boy. He looked about sixteen, with moderate stature. His bright red kimono hid a lot of his build. The sleeves reached about his knees, and the pants covered his green shoes. His deep blue eyes stared at her with unfathomable emotion, close to the brink sadness, before it was wiped away with a blink. Those eyes - accented by slender eyebrows - seemed almost permanently etched in an expression of anger.

Just like Inu-Yasha's.

Said half-demon picked himself up off the soil. "He smells really weird. Back off, Kagome," the white-haired young man warned, gently grasping the woman's arm and leading her to a position behind him.

She eyed his black doggy ears, which twitched at Inu-Yasha's words. She couldn't help but run back forward, yank the boy down on the ground by his kimono's sleeves, and feel the furry black triangles.

"Wow! These things are real! But didn't you just come out of the well?"

The boy blushed heavily, then fixed his expression with a heavy blink and uttered, "What of it?"

Curious, Kagome replied with her own question, "Are you from modern Japan, 1997?"

"Ah, you're close, but not qui-aaah!!"

The gold-eyed half-demon had grasped a striped orange and black thing poking out of the boy's pants. He tugged it, which made the boy groan. He snatched his tail away, and forgetting that he was supposed to act as if he didn't know them... "Inu-Yasha! Leave my tail alone!!" He paused at this and looked away.

"How do you know me?!"

The boy chuckled nervously, but was interrupted by several others.

"See, Sango! I told you we'd find them here!" chirped a child's voice.

"I guess. Hey, who's that? He sure looks like a hottie!"

Mentioned boy eyed the giant boomerang-wielding woman, the one that had spoken last. [Just great! It's aunt Sango, uncle Miroku, and cousin Shippou!] He glanced down at the slayer's feet. [Not to mention Kirara, as always...]

The last-thought creature came up and sniffed the boy's robes. He smelled of death, along with the slight perfumed scent of Kagome and battle-ready Inu-Yasha. In confusion of her findings, the small animal backed up very slowly, and dashed back to her master, yipping softly.

"It seems Kirara's confused," explained the fox demon. The yellow tiger creature yipped again. "What? He smells like Inu-Yasha and Kagome??" He glared at the boy. "Just who are you anyway?"

He sat himself down on the ground, his tail wrapped delicately over his shoulder. It was long enough to wrap around his arm about two to three times. "My name is Kurohi."

"A demon, huh?" the fox child asked, stepping cautiously forward, toward the quarter-demon

"Not a full one," he replied. "Then again, I don't want to become a full demon, nor a full human. I like the way I am."

"Inu-Yasha!! He has a shard in his left shoulder!" came the sudden cry of Kagome.

Kurohi blinked and dodged to one side as the Tetsusaiga's Kaze no Kizo waves came into contact with the ground near him. He panicked. "AAAH! Don't KILL me, damn it! If you want the shard so badly..." Jumping backward to a tree, perching on a branch, a safe distance from his younger version of a father, he eyed his clawed right hand. He yanked off his red long-sleeved haori, letting it flutter to the ground, and raked his claws deep into his own flesh. He bit back a scream of pain as he fished around in the deep wound for the shard.

He pulled it out, and fell off the branch, landing on his self-wounded shoulder with a howl, still gripping the shard in one clenched right fist. He held it out to his would-be mother, and passed out.

***

The fire illuminated the room in a gentle, orange light. Several figures sat while others laid down on their sides, rather bored of the repeating conversation. Those that laid down were Shippou, Kirara, and the unconscious Kurohi. Kurohi had a thin blanket draped over his form, and bandages enveloped his arm where he had willingly mutilated it to remove a piece of the Shikon no Tama.

"So, ye say he had a shard in his shoulder, and willingly pulled it out?" asked an old woman with a patch on her eye. It had been useless for years upon years, but she didn't mind.

"For the thousandth time, yes, Kaede!" uttered the girls. Kagome yawned soon afterwards.

Inu-Yasha leaned heavily against the wall, fairly close to the weird part-demon child. He eyed him thoughtfully.

He had black dog ears, an orange and black tail, and he looked like a slim boy with a partially feminine build, but all of it was pure muscle. His eyes had been an interesting shade of blue when they were open, and he had Inu-Yasha's own eye structure. He seemed to stir under his gaze and slowly opened his eyes. He gripped his shoulder, biting back a whimper, and showing a pair of short fangs.

"Kaede, he's up," uttered the hanyou, shifting in his seat on the floor. He MUCH preferred his trees.

"Oh..." she shuffled around to see him, and knelt down by his side. "Good evening. How fare ye?"

He paused for a moment, gripping his bandaged shoulder protectively. "...Itai..." he growled, but not unkindly.

"I imagine so, lad." She shifted a little so her old bones wouldn't get tired too fast. "Now, what business have ye here in Japan?"

Kurohi sat up, viewing everyone in the room. Now seeing that the mysterious boy was awake, Shippou and Kirara became a bit more alert.

"You're looking... to complete the Shikon Jewel, correct?"

"Yeah. What of it?" retorted Inu-Yasha, glowering neutrally.

"I won't lie," the boy began. He slowly sat up, his long tail wrapping around his waist protectively, and to give him the courage to speak in front of this audience, even if their appearances were quite familiar, because he always had trouble speaking in front of a crowd, no matter how big or small. "I'm a quarter-demon from the year 2018, and humans are using the shards of the jewel that you failed to collect as a power source. It has created nothing but war soon after. That war consisted of youkai crossbreeds such as myself, humans, and demons all fighting over said jewel shards. Both sides seem to have lost, and the entire world is now beginning to fall into a depression. The place where I lived was utterly annihilated by demons; as such, I am the only survivor in all of Japan in that time. I came here to enforce your search for the Shikon Jewel shards, as not only my own life, but also even Kagome's and your..." He stared at Inu-Yasha. "...life depend on it as well."

"So, we're gonna die?!" shrieked Shippou, clutching his head and crying his eyes out. "Waaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!"

"Only if you fail to collect every single shard of the jewel," he retorted loud enough for all to hear. He sighed as Shippou quieted. "The one in my shoulder was there since my birth, but for some reason, I was the only one who could see it, but at the time, I was afraid to pull it out, because to pierce the skin there gave me high levels of pain." He stood up and shook his head. "I need some air..." he uttered, grabbing his haori, and putting it on over his bare skin.

He stepped outside.

The air was crisp to his face outside of the hut. Clutching his left shoulder, Kurohi went up to a tree, staring apathetically up its length. It was wide, and especially tall. Using the claw of his uninjured arm, he touched the rough bark mostly with the pads of his fingertips. A noise tickled the boy's ear, and he remained still. He remembered the "feel" of that sound, and his ear swiveled back to acknowledge the hanyou's presence.

"Come to talk to me, Inu-Yasha?" His voice carried a low level of amusement.

"How'd you know it was me?" asked the younger version of his father.

"Your scent, and your sound."

Inu-Yasha paused a moment, almost unnerved. After a moment or two, he hardened his face, but his eyes held curiosity. "But, yeah, I did need to talk to you. Just why would you give up a Four Souls Jewel shard by injuring yourself to remove it like that?"

Kurohi shook his head, his claws clenching with an audible "gra-kk". One in the bark, the other hand remained free. "I cannot say... I'm sorry."

"And why not?" he insisted irritably.

Again, the brown, white, and black-haired boy shook his head vigorously. "I'm sorry, but I cannot say. Saying so would only complicate things." [I'm sorry!!]

"Then tell me, what did you mean when you said you were only quarter-demon?"

The boy relaxed slightly/ "Just that. I'm only a fourth demon, and three-fourths human. Not nearly as powerful as you, but close enough. I was raised by a human family, so I've gone a bit soft, but my father prided in me, so he trained me often, so I'm not quite as soft as I think I am." He smiled at the memory of his father training him - Inu-Yasha's Tetsusaiga versus his Ryuken. The Ryuken had been carved by Inu-Yasha himself from a smaller fang of his grandfather - Inu-Yasha's full demon father. However, to tell the hanyou that he was raised by demons pained him, especially when the truth was: He was raised by his hanyou father and sometimes-hanyou mother. "I think I will be pretty useful to you. After all, I, too, can see shards of the jewel."

"Only those of the Priestess Kikyo, which also means Kagome, can see the jewel shards!"

"Does it make sense now?" he demanded vehemently. [Does it make sense now to you that I'm her son?!!] "I CAN see jewel shards. As such, I can see where Kagome is, and..." He looked around and cursed, sniffing the air.

The man that Inu-Yasha said he had killed was close by.

His name was Naraku.

"Naraku...!!" he hissed.

Inu-Yasha blinked and sniffed twice before sneezing, but he caught the unmistakable scent of his enemy. "Your senses really ARE acute! Everyone! Naraku's around here! Let's go!"

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Finished: 4:08 PM, May 3 200? Revised: 11:15PM, June 28, 2004