InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Quarter-Demon ❯ Trust ( Chapter 3 )

Quarter-Demon

Chapter Three: Trust

By Kurohi Tatsaki

"speaking" ~~~POV switch~~~ ***Passing of Time {sounds} [thoughts]

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

Now, on with the fic!

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Leaves fluttered around him as he sat on a high branch. A tree was a nice place to hide if you were a human, but as a youkai, or even hanyou... It also signified if one wanted to be alone.

He said it. He said who he was. The only things he had left to hide were his own secrets. What were their reactions?

Perhaps, he had fled too soon. Maybe he should have hung around to see. But what if he was ridiculed. He didn't want that.

His head bowed, brown, white and black-streaked hair cascading across his cheeks, and his sidelocks brushed even lower on his haori than normal. His blue eyes closed.

"Kurohi!"

He didn't move at the call of his would-be father. [Here it comes. He's going to yell at me.]

"Oi! Listen to me!"

His black ears twitched in reply. Yes, he was listening.

"Come down here."

Opening his eyes slowly, he stood up on the branch and jumped. He back-flipped, tucking his head against his knees for a moment, twisted to his right, and landed on his feet, facing the young Inu-Yasha. Kagome stepped off the hanyou's back, and everyone else followed a few yards behind.

Kurohi snorted once and calmly asked, "Nani?"

"You didn't even wait for our reaction. How do we know you're not lying?"

"I declared I hated it, didn't I?" he replied wearily, folding his arms against his chest.

"Well, yeah, demo... How can we be sure?" asked Kagome.

He was silent. His sad eyes took up staring at the grass at his feet. [Especially since I have a bit of Sesshou-Maru inside of me... this tail...] The tail flicked once. "You want to be sure that I am who I claim to be?"

Everyone nodded. Inu-Yasha's stomach flopped when he saw a strange glint in the boy's eye.

[I used to get into big shit for this until mother took it off...] "Inu-Yasha..." A wicked grin tugged his lips upward. He looked up just as said hanyou gave him a questioning look. "OSUWARI!!"

The hanyou was thrust into the ground face-first. "Aaaaugh!"

Shippou gaped at him with wide eyes. "You... you, you SAT him!"

Kurohi grinned nicely and nodded. "Hai, Shippou-chan. Did you know that you are technically older than I am? After all, you were born here, and I was born at a place past the well, and beyond even Kagome's current age... hehe. My first word... was the /s/ word that can throw Inu-Yasha to the ground. The first time I said it, THAT happened."

Kagome grinned. "Y'know, if you weren't from AFTER me, AND my later offspring, I'd go out with you!"

Kurohi blinked, normal/angry expression yielding to surprise. "Ehh..."

"Kagome, I think we'd best leave him alone. After all, wouldn't want to mess up his mind!" said Shippou, tugging at the hem of Kagome's skirt. She picked him up and not long after, both hers and Shippou's stomach gurgled.

Inu-Yasha finally stood up after the spell wore off. "Why I oughta...!!"

"Inu-Ya~~sha~~" both son and mother chimed. "Now if you misbehave, we can /s/ word you!"

Kurohi frowned and turned away, starting to go back to the tree. He hopped up to the branches. He sat on one of them and stared off into space.

"I know I don't really know you, but something's wrong, isn't it?" asked Miroku with concern.

"...Hn."

"Kurohi?" asked Sango, stepping up to the three and looking up.

"Nnn?" was the boy's reply. He glanced down at the brunette demon slayer.

"Would /sit/ work on you?"

"Only if I wore Prayer Beads like Inu-Yasha. Then, you could." His tail swished once and he sighed. "I just hope the plan to get all the Shikon Jewel shards will work.. cuz I had a few girls that actually liked me." He smiled slightly at the memory. "And one of them, I showed them my hanyou form... but... she shrieked, /Eeewww, a mutant!/ and ran off the day before the parents of mine that I know died... Geez... how can people think lowly of people who are different? It just... doesn't make any sense..."

Inu-Yasha huffed and jumped up to a branch just below his future son. "Look, kid-"

Kurohi suddenly smiled. The silver-haired hanyou blinked. "Eh?"

"You always called me /kid/, even after I nearly mastered the Ryukiba's Wind Scar... Continue."

"...Most people are just dense. Their brains have grown so used to the normal that they despise anything different. Trust me, I know."

The boy's eyes softened. "How, cannot I trust, my own father?" He leaned his head against a vertical branch, arms propped against the middle of his pulled-up lap. His feet secured his position slightly on the sturdy limb.

He took a look at his claws and flexed them. "We'll kill Naraku... especially while I'm here. I think I will be a pretty handy boost - especially if Kagome suddenly loses her sight of jewel shards!"

"Hey!" she retorted.

"Look, Kagome, in my time -"

"I know I lost sight of the shards. You don't have to rub it in my face," she snapped.

"M-miru koto, boku..." the boy started.

Kagome left.

He growled. "Rrrrrr... chikusho!" He jumped off the branch and stomped off the opposite way. "Feh! Shojo-tachi!"

"Well, Inu-Yasha, it seems your future son has inherited your short temper," commented Miroku.

"AND a tail. Must be in the father's side of the family, eh, Inu-Yasha?" chimed Shippou.

"...I'm gonna go find Kagome."

***

Feh! Stupid girls! Then again, she DID birth me...

Damn it!

I rush across the trees and come upon a familiar scent.

Sesshou-Maru.

Forgetting where I am, I hide amongst the trees, noisily brushing the branches with my tail.

Hide 'n' Seek.

"Show yourself, or suffer a painful death."

Eep... Now I remember.

I descend from the branch, landing in a crouching position. My ears flick back and forth, my tail swishes, and I look up at him. There is a girl by his side - a young Rin, it looked like - and Jaken.

"Who are you?"

I am silent. I stand up and give him a sideways stare. I finally answer. "Kurohi."

"Fluffy-sama, do you know him?" asks Rin innocently.

"No.. but his scent is oddly familiar." Inu-Yasha's half brother approaches me with an aura of confidence and power around him.

Kurohi snorted in a very Inu-Yasha-like manner. "Whatever. I know you."

"Of course you would. I'm quite well-known."

"M'lord, would you like me to get rid of him?"

Kurohi smirked and looked up to Sesshou-Maru. "May I fight him? Just for kicks?" He looked back down at the toad and cracked his knuckles. "I REALLY need to let off steam!"

"Jaken?"

"Oh, yes M'lord!" Flame erupted from the male head on the staff. Kurohi leapt effortlessly around the blast and declared one of his father's trademark move, "Claws of Steel!!"

Jaken lumbered back and let loose more fire.

[His speed and fighting style are nearly identical to Inu-Yasha's…] "Jaken! Kurohi! Stop the fight."

Kurohi blinked and looked at his uncle. "Nani? Dou shite?"

"Where did you learn to fight?"

He puffed out his chest. "From my parents. My mother was a human archer. No... the reincarnation of a Miko from this era... And pops? Hah. Half-demon. Can't you see the ears... Sesshou-Maru-san?" he asked.

Kurohi then plopped down and looked at Rin. "You look a heckuvalot younger than when I last saw you, Rin-chan."

"I don't know you! Fluffy-sama, can you get him to go away?" she asked.

Kurohi blinked. "Chotto, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm a lot like Kagome and Inu-Yasha all balled into one." His ears flicked and his tail swished. "Look, does this form scare you?" He pointed a claw at himself.

Rin simply eyed him warily.

"Okay, then. I wish I were human..."

His black hair came back and so did his brown eyes. He stared up at the marveled older brother. "I ask you as the future offspring of Kagome and Inu-Yasha that you help us collect the remaining shards of the jewel. Otherwise, everyone close to you shall meet their demise." His eyes narrowed slightly, but not threateningly at all. "I tell no lie, as I have witnessed this tragic event first-hand. I ask you as a human, or half-breed, or whatever you'd like to call me, for your help. I know Inu-Yasha will not be pleased, but at this rate, nothing shall change. If Kagome loses her sight of the Jewel, you'll have to rely on me. I know you don't know me, but in a few years after Kagome's time, you shall see me for the first time... or not... because I may not live once this deed is done. Onegai, Sesshou-Maru..."

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Kurohi asking for Sesshou-Maru's assistance...? Perhaps next chappie, you'll see why he trusts Fluff-sama so much! (gotta luv that nickname!)

Finished 6/14/03 Revised: 1:01AM, June 29, 2004