InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Crest ❯ Determination ( Chapter 1 )

The Crest

Part 2: Determination

An Inuyasha Fanfiction by Azurite

azurite_moon@yahoo.com

http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon

Author's Notes: As I ranted about in my last chapter (and thank you Silver-sama, Laura-chan, Winter, and Calendar! ;_; *sniff* You guys are so nice…!) I don't take flames. They are signed, stamped, sealed, and delivered "returned to sender." So be nice or say nothing. ^^;; Also, I do not own Inuyasha. Keh. Feh. Or whatever. ^^ Anyone who has read Ookami's "Turnabout is Fair Play" (and by anyone, I mean everyone) is either wondering how in the heck my fic could have been inspired by it… so in answer to that… *grin* You'll see. It'll probably diverge so far off Ookami's tangent you won't even see it coming, but when you do get it, I think you'll laugh.

Request: I am looking to make a collection of sorts-quotes from bishounen and bishoujo alike. I originally got quotes from actual animes and mangas that said what a certain character thought of a certain subject. For example, Ranma Saotome on Sex would be: "Uh… doesn't it like mess up your training, or something?" [From the Ranma ½ OAV Series - ep. "The Two Akanes! Ranma, Look At Me!"] But now, I have collected funny quotes from signatures, fanfictions (^^; I'm kinda ashamed to admit it because it makes me look an uber-otaku, and certainly a fangirl/stalker, but most of them are from "Turnabout is Fair Play," and more than one is from LilFoxGirl's "You Make Me Retch." ^^;;; Anyway, I'm looking to collect more quotes of this same kind-

1) Signature quotes - funny, uplifting, inspiring, or just plain weird quotes from signature files.

2) Bishies On… - quotes from your favorite bishoujo/bishounen on a subject of their choice-only a few lines to a paragraph at the most; as many topics as you wish… but the quoted material must be canon (i.e. from actual anime or manga, and please specify the episiode/manga # / act # in question).

3) Fanfic Quotes - something that you read in a fanfic that was absolutely funny, incredibly angsty, or totally romantic. Be sure to quote the name of the fic, the author, and what chapter (if applicable) the quote can be found in.

Domo arigatou, minna-sama!!

Recap: In the last chapter, we are introduced to a time before youkai and humans fought each other… when in fact, the two races lived together. This integration was not necessarily peaceful, however, as many humans, brought up under the Traditional ways of the Old Religion believed that youkai were lower-class beings, and unworthy of being in the presence of humans. A young miko just beginning to discover herself and her powers finds herself witness at an important ceremony known as the Determination, when families who shelter youkai orphans or refugees are brought up as treasonous by those radical Traditional families, believing in the utter destruction of all youkai. She senses a powerful, yet afraid aura, that of a dog hanyou who was was given sanctuary in the village where she lives by a newlywed family. What will be the fate of the hanyou, and those who gave him shelter… and what will this newborn miko, held to her Traditional beliefs, do at the Determination?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Hundreds of years can pass before a people find it within themselves to rise from the depths of despair, and start anew. Wars that last centuries over time, their original meaning and purpose forgotten, continue to be fought even today, whether physically or verbally.

In this manner, wars were being fought, silent wars that many people refused to be witness to. The stirrings of a battle between the youkai people and the human race was beginning; brewing silently in the darkness of the deeper mountains and thicker forests. One race demanded how another could have the right to determine their worth, hold them up to their standards. How in the world could one race hate another so much… could they not coexist? But there was that lingering fear of the unknown in both peoples, and so the innate hatred in all humans, passing down from generation to generation, continued.

And in the village below the forest, in the Great Western Lands of Japan, a young boy persecuted by both races was to have his fate determined by humans. Kind humans, those whom he had searched for seven years, had taken him, an orphan of war and mistrust, into their home. But other families, who held a greater fear of youkai power and the destruction it could bring persecuted this family-saying the boy would be an danger to them all-and so took the matter to the local miko family. Normally, the Traditionalists would rule in favor of the more radical groups, believing themselves that youkai were not nearly as civilized as humans, and not worthy enough to even be pets or servants. Yet this family was different. Until this Determination of Fate, no one new just how different they truly were at heart.

People who are oppressed begin to fight back, their cause masked by years of mutual mistrust for the opposing party in question. And in this manner, the youkai people, tired of being treated as lower than dust, grew powerful… and fought back, united under a weak banner of freedom.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"The boy is a danger to this village and its people! He must be executed before he can cause any harm!" The leader of the taijiya radical family, the one that brought charges against the kind Nazuna and her groom, stood rigid on the platform in the village square.

He cast no wavering glances at the sobbing couple at his left side, nor at the audience, murmuring amongst themselves. Even the children of the villagers were sitting on the edges of the large gathering, most of them clumped together, staring at the odd boy hunched over in the couple's side of the platform.

A hanyou -not a human and not a demon- in an oversized red kimono, with a cloud of white hair falling to his waistline. He had not yet spoken, and it was unlikely he would in this ceremony that would determine whether he would live out the day. It was hard to understand, but to the older children, it was disheartening. No matter what the elders said, the boy didn't look cruel, and certainly didn't seem like the type to be a danger to the village. After all, the kindest people in town -newlyweds, too, who were often too busy in their newfound lifestyle to pay much mind to others, let alone youkai or hanyou orphans and refugees-had taken the boy in, and had it not been for a slip up in the strength and agility of the boy, he never would have been discovered.

Kikyou sat silently, her eyes wandering from her adopted sister Kaede to the other villagers-and even those who appeared to have wandered from afar, just for the sake of seeing a true Determination. Among the strangers was an oddly dressed Man of the Cloth-he appeared to be a Buddhist priest of some sort, but what kind, Kikyou couldn't tell. Since her family was so strictly religious in and of itself, she paid no mind to him. Other strangers to the town included a cloaked woman-nothing more of her form could be seen than that-and a child who looked rather strange-nothing too much out of the ordinary, but his eyes seemed just a bit too bright; his face strangely anxious. For a moment, Kikyou wondered if the strange child was a kitsune, or fox demon, as she had heard of in legend. Stories told that they were mysterious little pranksters with the ability to shapeshift into whatever they wished. They were full-blooded youkai through and through, but it was not uncommon to hear of a kitsune hanyou. Far more common than dog hanyou, at any rate.

She turned her attentions back to the Determination. Nazuna was so upset; her adopted son was being persecuted simply for existing, and the new life that she had just gotten used to was on the verge of being destroyed by those who had different beliefs than she. Kikyou mulled over the possible outcomes of this Determination. Despite her family's belief in Traditional ways, they were more lenient than the prosecuting family at this gathering. Not radical exterminators out to rid the world of youkai, Kikyou's family believed that the two peoples were just too different to coexist, and should thus be separated. Would her father really order about the death of a boy no older than Kikyou herself? If he did, Kikyou wasn't entirely sure she'd be able to look at her father in the same way again.

'But what treacherous thoughts I am having!' Kikyou thought to herself. She hadn't completely crossed the line between a child and a pure miko, whose thoughts were never to leave her duty. Today, the excitement over seeing a Determination ceremony for the first time outweighed her now-instinctive calmness and serenity, though none of it truly showed through her face.

Far more mature than her little sister Kaede, Kikyou had long since given up the life where getting dirty was a way of life, and to have your hair flying behind you as you traipsed up a grassy hillside was simply a thing that happened. It seemed as if reality had captured the future miko before imagination could, and what little of Pretend Kikyou could remember she relished in the deepest corners of her heart.

'Why do I sympathize for a hanyou?' Kikyou wondered, her gaze drawn to the slumped-over boy. It had been odd, when she'd Extended her senses and quite immediately felt the boy. It was more than just sensing his aura-any person of true religion could do that. But Kikyou had felt the turmoil raging in the boy-a suppressed conflict between his human and youkai blood. There was a dark past that called out to the boy, begging to be brought into the light. And then there was the fear. Kikyou had been so taken aback when she felt it, such a bright and powerful unknown in her world that she'd gasped aloud.

Kikyou's father, at his place on the podium, had cast a glance back at his daughter. Kikyou had the decency to blush, but straightened immediately, and tried to avert her gaze from the boy, wondering what was going on in his mind. Was he so different from humans, after all? Could he truly be a danger? If Kikyou could only see his face, would he be in tears, as his surrogate parents were? Could youkai even cry…?

These questions boiled in the young miko's mind, and the emotions welling in her that she had long since ignored since the Rite of Passing from childhood to adulthood had occurred earlier in the year. She pursed her lips, waiting for something interesting to be said… yet of all the possibilities she could have been mulling over in her mind, not one of them involved the hanyou speaking.

Yet he did.

"I'll leave then!" The hanyou stood, an angry expression on his face. As Kikyou had noted previously, the boy was no older than herself, but had an aura about him that spoke of hardships untold… an adult life forced upon the boy when he was not yet ready for it. Kikyou hadn't been paying too close attention to the arguments being shot back and forth, nor her father's silencing commands as he attempted to listen to both sides. Rather, her attention had been focused on the hanyou boy sitting not more than two meters from her, and the incredible turmoil she felt coming from him. Indeed, such angst she had only felt before from a grieving human…

Could it be… perhaps being a hanyou made the boy not less of a man… but more of one?

It was certainly a thought to be hold-youkai being better than humans. But it was true, in more than one respect, and this was why Kikyou believed that humans feared the demons so. There was an innate fear in every creature to be wary of the unknown; the powerful; the new. Humans had been studying youkai for hundreds of years, using them as servants and slaves; pets and companions. Some even lived freely as citizens in certain cities, while others, like this one, were orphans on the run, refugees because no society would accept them. So there was no way to truly say that all youkai were the same, since there were so many different situations. In this way, youkai truly did supercede humans-they could adapt and accept things far faster than the human enigma ever could.

"Inuyasha!" Nazuna exclaimed in surprise. She stared up at her surrogate son, her bloodshot and red eyes rimmed with tears.

"So, the demon has a name," The taijiya sneered, barely sparing more than a simple turning of his neck to glare at the boy. The boy only glared back, not lowering himself to the taijiya's level.

"I do. It was given to me by my mother-" Inuyasha paused, his tongue running over his fanged teeth in an almost feral satisfaction, "A lady of the court-and a full human."

The crowd burst into excited murmuring-the boy was the offspring of a royal?

Inuyasha hid the truth behind his slight smile; his mother was of royalty… but not of humans. That is to say, she was brought to his father's court years and years ago, and had first acted as a maidservant, and later as a courtesan. According to the stories Inuyasha remembered from his youth, his father and mother had met quite by accident-and fallen deeply in love. Since dog demons mate only once in their lifetimes, their love was sealed on a winter night… and Inuyasha's mother climbed the social ladder and became a queen. What her life and been like before coming to the Dog Clan palace, or what circumstances led her to even go to the palace in the first place. It didn't matter.

Some days Inuyasha was proud of his human heritage, but he had not felt that pride in quite a long time… not since…

"Regardless--!" The taijiya spoke up, immediately silencing the crowd, "The boy is a danger. Having him wander the forests around the village is no safer than letting him stay in a house with a newborn child!"

"Why you-" Inuyasha stood up once more, enraged at the man's implications. Nazuna quickly grabbed the boy and forced him down, despite the boy's immense strength. He knew, just as well as Nazuna did, that if he provoked the taijiya, it would only sentence him faster.

"You see! The boy cannot be trusted!" The taijiya had said nothing else of relevance, nor offered any evidence to support his claims. Everyone determined the course of events by what they saw then and there, and what they heard through the grapevine.

"Hino Fujia-san, Hino Nazuna-san. Have you claims to make in your favor?" Kikyou's father asked in his calmest voice. However, it was quite clear that he was tiring of the whole event; but there was no way to appease both sides of this incident and get it done quickly.

"We do, Holy Sir. We found Inuyasha quite by accident in the fields two weeks ago. He was badly injured, possibly by other humans-" Fujia, Nazuna's groom, cast a meaningful look at the taijiya, who only smirked innocently, "Or possibly by other youkai. It is well known that hanyou are not well accepted by either society."

"And nor should they be!" The taijiya interrupted loudly, standing up. Kikyou's father stared down harshly at the man, and told him in a calm, quiet voice that was his angriest in public, "If you interrupt or shout one more time, Taijiya-san, I will prevent you from ever speaking up in a public hearing again." This was quite the threat to the belligerent taijiya, and so he silenced immediately.

"…Sir, if we may be allowed to continue?" Fujia asked. A nod was his answer, and so the young man continued to speak.

"…We treated his wounds as any being would to another-surely one would not leave a broken-legged sparrow in the fields to be eaten by the falcon when he could watch him fly once more?"

"Sparrows do not have fangs!" One person in the crowd yelled. Fujia didn't turn or acknowledge the comment, but it did set off some murmurings amongst the crowd. As Kikyou looked up, she noticed the throng of people in the village square had increased in number. The strangers that had called her attention earlier seemed to have faded away into the masses, and she could not spot them, even with her Extended senses.

"…We treated him, and when he came to, it seemed as though he couldn't speak. We fed him some simple meals in the hopes of ensuring his health, and we soon discovered that he was an orphan."

"How did you come about this discovery?" Kikyou's father, as the acting Magistrate asked calmly. Kikyou's voice, had she been the one asking, would have been far more curious; how to pry secrets out of a hanyou who was so afraid? He looked strong enough -though Kikyou wasn't entirely sure whether or not to believe the taijiya that claimed he was such a horrible threat. Perhaps he hadn't been afraid when he'd first met the Hinos…

Fujia was silent a moment, looking to his wife and then his surrogate son. The boy had a look of despair and sadness on his face, surprisingly. Such human emotions were written so plainly on his face that it startled Kikyou. Her very beliefs were being uprooted from their foundations as she looked on, and nothing of much consequence was truly happening yet! What was this feeling welling in her… this curiosity, sympathy and… something else for the demon boy?

"…When we asked him if he had parents, he looked sad. Since we had noticed he was of the Dog Clan, which we are all aware was under siege by youkai some years ago, we discovered that he was the Prince of the Dog Clan-the last remaining one, in fact. Yet he is half human, and capable of emotion just as any of us are… he lost his parents when he was only six! He needs guidance, Magistrate, and we cannot leave him alone!"

"The forests surrounding this place are full of youkai. Are you telling me that this boy, supposedly the lost Prince of a Dog Clan, cannot survive amongst them?"

"That is precisely the point, Magistrate! He is only a boy, and hanyou or not, there is no better way to sure where his loyalty lies than to let him live, learn, and grow amongst humans. He was expelled from his own palace when he was but a child, Sir, and knows no other way of life than running away from what fears him. Sir… he is half-human."

The Magistrate looked to contemplate this fact for a moment-the boy's youkai rank may not have mattered, but he truly did look human-the only things that spoke otherwise were his pointed dog ears and shocking white hair. For a moment, he turned to glance at his daughter, and realized that his daughter's say in this matter would quite possibly be of value.

"Daughter… what do you think should be done?" The crowd hummed with excitement at the prospect of a mere teenager shaping the outcome of a Determination Ceremony. Kikyou herself was startled beyond belief, and snapped to attention in her chair, rigidly sitting up straight and flushed in face.

"Father… er, Magistrate?"

"You have insight and wisdom beyond your years, Kikyou. What should be the fate of this half-human, half-youkai boy?"

Silently, the young miko wondered if there was a hidden reasoning in the order of her father's words. Was he a human first and foremost-or perhaps, he had said youkai second, as a reminder to Kikyou?

Surprised, Kikyou looked around at the audience. Their eyes were all trained on hers, and as her gaze swept the audience from the back forward, she noted that of all eyes on her, the ones she felt the most were those of the hanyou's. Bright and golden, she wasn't sure what to make of the stare he riveted upon her face. She could not read his emotions, nor sense what he was feeling. What would he want her to do? How could she ever decide his face after only a few moments of unexpected contact with the boy?

"I believe," Kikyou began slowly, wetting her lips with her tongue, "That the boy should be placed under the care of a family neutral to both sides of this affair. He would be monitored closely, as per the taijiya's restrictions, but allowed to live amongst us all the same, as per the Hinos request."

"It is an interest proposition you make, Daughter." The Magistrate said after a moment, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. It appeared that he didn't know his daughter as well as he thought, for her suggesting such a thing hadn't been on the forefront of his mind when he'd asked her opinion in such a matter.

"Perhaps," Kikyou continued, taking her father's silence as a cue to elaborate further, "He could be better…" Her choice of words was limited, and saying the first word that came to mind felt strange, "controlled by… other means. Means that would not cause him to lose face so much as slavery."

The Taijiya looked downright infuriated at the suggestion that the hanyou wouldn't be killed, or at the least, exiled. He moved up to say something, but to question the word of the Magistrate's daughter -a future miko and protectoress of the village, no less-let alone the Magistrate's word himself… well, it was to ask for the very death that the taijiya delivered to youkai on a regular basis.

"What means do suggest, Daughter?" The Magistrate asked, a smile creeping onto the corner's of his mouth. He had some semblance of an idea what she was suggesting-and she was correct, since the means of control which she seemed to be proposing would be far better than enslaving the boy. At any rate, the Magistrate did not want to have the death -whether directly sentenced or indirectly-of a young boy, hanyou or no, on his conscience. He had to live somehow, but it would not be easy to "integrate" him into their society. Stories told of cities that thrived with other youkai, but the village was not a city… and while considered progressive, this was a dangerous matter which they treaded upon, one that had to be considered from all angles.

"A rosary, Magistrate," Kikyou smiled, withdrawing one from her robes. With the grace of her nature, she walked down the stage, and upon her father's nod, placed the ring of beads around the boy's neck. He looked at her strangely for a moment, seeming -just for a second- grateful for her intervention, because despite the taijiya's already poor attitude, the general fear of the people in the village was plain. And the Hinos were right-he couldn't survive in the forest. Prince or no, hanyou or no, the very fact that he was related by blood to the demons that the youkai now occupying the forest had worked so hard to overthrow would mean his death. His clawed fingertips wrapped around the rosary slightly, surprised when a strange force brewed about the beads, as if daring him to try and remove it.

Inuyasha didn't fully understand human magicks or science, but he knew it was generally dangerous to youkai. Though he was half human, the question remained-was this girl doing this for her own benefit-or his protection, as she claimed?

"A simple subduing word will prevent him from causing harm, should he lose control. He is a mere boy," Kikyou said, unaware of the harsh glare the hanyou shot at her for that remark, "And can easily be taught the ways of Tradition."

"The very ways which speak against youkai integration in a society such as ours?" A revered elder who had remained silent throughout the entire Determination ceremony now spoke. Kikyou looked at him.

"I have found it so that if cultures are unwilling to adapt, stuck in such things as tradition, others will dominate them, and they will die out. Concessions must be made, in the name of the future. Surely such a simple concession allowing the boy to stay here is not a sin. After all, he is part human, and therefore falls under the creation of our Gods."

Kikyou's reasoning was so clear and logical that it sent the crowd into another series of murmurings. She was an intelligent, if odd miko. What sort of girl raised in the Traditional ways would suggest such a thing as this?

"Do both sides agree to this?" The Magistrate asked.

"Before we do-" The Taijiya spoke, doing his very best to control what was doubtless anger and rage simmering just below his browline, "What family will care for him? Surely you do not expect us to believe that he will be… properly monitored in a family such as the Hinos? They are so blinded by their naivety that they do not recognize potential danger when it is in their own household."

The Hinos should have been insulted by the taijiya's remark, but remained silent. The Magistrate balled a concealed fist underneath his voluminous sleeves, but nodded. He turned to Kikyou, wondering just whom she'd had in mind. Unaware of the smile that blossomed on his daughter's face, he was taken aback when she said, "Why our family, of course."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

As the proceedings ended, Kikyou felt rather satisfied with herself. Her first Determination, and she had played a very active role. She felt proud of herself spiritually for saving a potential spirit, and no matter what her Traditions spoke of against demons, this boy was such a curiosity, such an absolute gem that Kikyou would not have his "punishment" be any other way. The Hinos were left scott-free, luckily, for their only crime had been nourishing a sick soul.

The taijiya wasn't entirely pleased, but it was enough to silence him for a good while, especially since his claim had been refuted by the very Magistrate due to the exterminator's belligerent and outspoken behavior earlier.

When the crowds were filing away, Kikyou stood next to a few select council members, only a few feet from Inuyasha. His feelings were not so concealed now; the sadness and despair still lingered in the recesses of his mind; that dark past glimmered slightly, muffled by a larger emotion which Kikyou could not decipher.

When the crowds had thinned considerably, the boy let out a low growl at the young miko who believed she had just saved his life.

"You should have let me leave."

"What? And let you be devoured by the demon in that forest?"

"I'm not a thin-skinned human, I can take care of myself."

"Why--! I just saved your life, you know. That Taijiya easily could have convinced the Magistrate to have your head as a trophy."

"Why did you bother stopping him?!" Inuyasha demanded, glaring at Kikyou. His face was mere inches from here, the rage in his eyes so incredibly clear that she stumbled backwards, fear rising in her heart. This boy… perhaps he truly wasn't as she'd imagined…

"You… you wish to die?" Kikyou asked slowly, shaking her head. "No, you are half-human, and whether you are proud of it or not, I saw emotion in your eyes. You aren't as unfeeling as you make yourself out to be."

"And how would you know, wench? Are you my mother?"

Kikyou stared, angered yet silent. How could the boy say that? His mother had been-

"No," Kikyou responded finally, softly. "Nor do I wish to be. I only wished to prevent the torture of a boy who has not yet seen life as it can be… as worth living as it is." And with those words, Kikyou walked off, leaving the hanyou boy standing alone, a rosary about his neck, and only the Hinos behind him to restrain him in any manner.

"You made quite an impression on the Council, today, Kikyou-chan." A voice spoke. Kikyou turned, surprised, to the sound of the voice.

"Cousin Naraku!"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

End of Part 2: Determination

*grin* Hehee… well, you still have yet to figure out what I mean by TIFP inspiring me… and I make no claims one way or another regarding any possible [future] pairings in this story. I will only say that this will be *long,* but I plan on continuing writing it, as often as I can, as long as I have the inspiration and motivation to do so.

I thank you, kind reader, for getting this far, and do hope you leave me some comments… feedback is good for the soul, which is true for both parties! =)

So, how'd you like this chapter's ending? ^^