InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ School of Hard Knocks: Lesson 1 ( Chapter 25 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Sesshomaru, Inuyasha or anyone else from the hit anime/manga series. Rumiko Takahashi does. I do own all OC's and plot in this story.

Chapter 22: School of Hard-Knocks

 

164 - 159 years before the search for the jewel shards.

 

And thus Inuyasha sets out to draw the enemy's attention and protect his comrades. How noble! How brave! How stupid! As if I had the experience back then to actually pull this off. A scout tries to avoid trouble and here I was going forth to deliberately cause it. I was never trained for war! All my combat skills were aimed at giving me the discipline I needed to control myself. Looking back, I really was lucky to survive. Thank you Grandfather, for your advice!

-Inuyasha

 

Lesson 1: Strengthen Thy Weakness

 

Inuyasha grimaced as he peered around the hut. He hadn't thought anyone would still be up at this hour, least of all in a farming village well behind the frontline. He had spotted the place a little after dawn. All the villagers had already been in the fields working by that time. They only stopped at midday for a meal then continued until sundown. The long day in the field should have had everyone too exhausted to think about staying up. The two lovers that had raised the alarm apparently had a great deal of stamina.

 

Inuyasha cursed himself for not paying closer attention to his surroundings. If he had just kept alert instead of assuming he would have heard the otherwise occupied couple before they saw him. And they had only seen him because he practically stepped on them.

 

The countryside had been stripped of anything edible by the enemy army that had passed through ten days before. It had been even longer since he had anything to eat and he was beginning to get desperate. With the growing season in full swing he felt the village wouldn't miss a single sack of rice. By the speed in which the villagers responded to the hue-and-cry, the way the torches were being lit and the pitchforks held, his reading of their situation had been completely wrong.

 

Worse still, it was the night of the new moon. His usual sensitive senses were dull tonight and all his speed and strength were gone. He should have waited one more night before pulling such a stunt. At least then he could have escaped with minimum effort the moment the alarm was sounded.

 

“There he is!” cried a voice behind him. Inuyasha pulled back in surprise. A middle-aged man with a square jaw, busted nose and broad chest stood two huts away pointing at him. The other villagers shouted and came running. Inuyasha swore and bolted. His ability to perceive an enemy's presence was useless when he was already surrounded.

 

“Come back here, bastard! You think you can steal from us? You're going to pay for that rice with your blood!” they shouted.

 

“This will be a very stupid way to die if they catch me,” Inuyasha muttered. People appeared before him blocking his way. With no other choice, he turned and jumped into rice field. Slogging water he struggled to keep running without tripping. Some of the villagers followed him but others ran back toward the path, the run on dry ground sure to be faster than his watery route.

 

“It will just be a question of whether Keiko laughs her ass off at this or kills me a second time,” he whispered between clenched teeth as he saw the villagers on the dry path pulling even with him. He leapt onto the path that bisected the field in front of him then turned. The villagers reached the intersection before he did and ran toward him.

 

“Nowhere to run to now, thief,” cried Busted Nose and hurdling toward him. Inuyasha really didn't want to hurt anyone since he understood he was in the wrong, but he didn't want to die either.

 

Not like anything I do is going to ruin his looks anyway, he thought then slammed into Busted Nose. He forgot his lack in strength.

 

“Got you!” the man cried, leering at the transformed hanyou he was crushing against his chest.

 

“Shit!” Inuyasha kicked then leaned over and sank his flat teeth into Busted Nose's throat. The man yelled when he felt his windpipe being crushed and released the hanyou. Inuyasha had barely taken a step back before a fist collided with his jaw. Stars exploded before his eyes and his knees almost buckled. He managed to maintain his senses then tucked his head and dove at the man's waist.

 

Busted Nose must have wrestled a lot in the past. His hand slapped the back of Inuyasha's head driving him into the dirt. “You wanna wrestle now? Then let's wrestle! Then when I done feeding you dirt I'll beat your ass so bad you're gonna wish your mother had raised you better,” he said and stomped down on the hanyou's exposed back.

 

Inuyasha rolled to avoid the foot then, spitting out pebbles, cried, “You leave my mother out of this!” Busted Nose laughed then lunged. Inuyasha tried to dodge but he wasn't quick enough. His hikaze power was inexplicably tied to his demon power and when one failed so did the other. Something else his growling stomach had wiped from his mind when he was making his decision earlier.

 

The man grabbed his arm but Inuyasha had lined up a side-kick and drove his heal into Busted Nose's stomach. The man bounced back. Inuyasha spun smashed his fist into the man's face then swung his right. The man caught the arm then rubbed his cheek where the first had connected.

 

“That almost tickled,” said Busted Nose. He then patted his stomach. “And I did have this cramp in my gut for awhile now. But not anymore, thanks!” He grinned and pulled Inuyasha closer until his breath was ruffling the hanyou bangs. Inuyasha grimaced then gagged, the smell of decay emanating from the man's mouth. “Are you some kind of fallen noble?”

 

Inuyasha stiffened. That's not too far from the truth, he thought. He then slugged the man in the ribs with his left fist. The man giggled like little girl.

 

“Oh please, stop! I'm ticklish there,” Busted Nose said between sniggers. The villagers were sniggering too.

 

Inuyasha gapped at him. He's not that big a man. Why are my punches not being felt? Inuyasha pulled on the restricted arm and directed a roundhouse kick at the same place. The man just guffawed. Inuyasha froze as realization hit. This is only the third time I've used my martial arts in actual combat… and the first time I've used it in human form. I've never trained this body for battle!

 

“The little lordling has grown up taking everything he wants without having to work for it and has now failed to realize he has lost that privilege. Time to receive an education, Young Master,” Busted Nose declared in a booming voice. The other villagers jeered and laughed at his statements.

 

“Ah hell,” said Inuyasha as the brute grabbed his kimono and lifted from the ground. The man was stronger than he looked and Inuyasha was in serious trouble. The tone of the man's voice and the reaction from the gathered people told him they had suffered at the hands of greedy nobility. Now they had victim to take all those pent up frustration out on.

 

Kirara! Where the hell are you? Inuyasha had asked the twin-tale to watch his back just in case something went wrong. More than enough time had passed for Kirara to react to the situation. Her lack of appearance meant she had not done as she was told. What is it with young cats that can't pay attention for more than five seconds?

 

Busted Nose stepped to the edge of the path then dropped down, plunging Inuyasha's head under water. The hanyou's feet slapped the pack dirt, his free hand grabbing at the man's face, seeking vulnerable places. The tips of his fingers brushed the man's cheek but nothing more. His lungs burned and air escaped in an explosion of air bubbles. Just as his lungs threatened to inhale and drown him Busted Nose pulled him out. The villagers jeered and Inuyasha sputtered and gasped. Then he was back under again. The cycle repeated five more times. Inuyasha was on the verge of losing consciousness when Busted Nose pulled him back onto the path and dropped him.

 

Weak from lack of air, Inuyasha could only lay there and gasp. A foot connected with his diaphragm. What air he had managed to suck in blew out of him. Another kick and he doubled up. Busted Nose grabbed and lifted him up then shoved him toward two young men. “Hold him,” he ordered. The men complied with grins, each taking told of an arm. Busted Nose slammed his fist into Inuyasha's face, once, twice, three times. Blood ran from his broken nose and split lip and Inuyasha felt a tooth wiggling every time his tongue moved.

 

“Hit him with this for Kairin,” said an old woman while she held out a wooden pole. It was a popular idea as people roared their approval. The young men tossed Inuyasha onto the ground and took poles given to them by other women who were now joining their men. Inuyasha yelled as the first one struck his back. The blood crazed villagers did as well but in delight not pain. He tried to move before the next one hit but Busted Nose crushed his right hand with his foot then handed his pole to another young man.

 

“I already got some good slugs in already,” he said with a smile. “I'll hold him down while you three strike.” The crowd howled with glee. With no way to escape Inuyasha ducked his head and waited for it to be over. He could no longer feel the individual blows and was half delirious by the time they stopped.

 

“Enough. He isn't even whimpering now. Let's take him back to the village. I'm sure we can still get something out of him if he stays alive,” said Busted Nose. The crowd yelled their agreement.

 

Busted Nose dragged the hanyou back into the village. “Get some rope!” he called as he brought Inuyasha up to the village's giant oak. A length of rope was brought over and the men pulled Inuyasha's hands back then linked them with the rope so his arms were reversing hugging the tree. Another length went around the trunk and across his chest four times securing him further.

 

“Let's see the lordling get out of that. I'm sure the army would be interested in a fresh recruit,” said Busted Nose to his companions. The men hooted their agreement. He turned back to the semiconscious hanyou and said, “They'll make a real man out of you for sure.” He and the villagers returned to their huts laughing.

 

The predawn light was graying the eastern sky before Inuyasha regained his senses. He pulled at the rope holding his wrists and felt flames blossom in his shoulder. He didn't know if the villagers would sleep in, considering their late night, but he couldn't be there when the sun rose. He couldn't risk them seeing him as a half-demon come morning. He didn't want anyone to know when he turned human. It was one thing to attract Kuromakaze's attention it was another for him to learn when Inuyasha was vulnerable to attack.

 

Birds began to sing as the sky continued to lighten. Inuyasha braced himself then began twisting his right hand. The crippled limb was not as sensitive to pain and was stunted from the poison that had settled into the bones' marrow. It was also less valuable. The injuries across his back screamed with every twist and his stomach threatened to cramp. Something cracked, his wrist slipped from its restraint then a searing pain shot through his arm.

 

Inuyasha bit down on a cry and whined instead. His right wrist was broken but his left was now free. He slid his arms down until they were at his side; the fibers of the rope scraping his skin raw as they moved. But the motion had the desired effect. It caused the chest ropes binding him to the tree to slacken. It was only a slight difference but it gave him room enough to begin wiggling out of the bonds.

 

Inuyasha bit his lip as the motion of his shoulders and arms jarred his broken wrist and put pressure on his bruised back. His chin reached the rope and he turned his head sideways and slid the rest of the way down, the rough bark snagging his hair, scraping skin off his cheek and inflaming his battered jaw. Finally, he sat on the ground free of the ropes panting. The few clouds in the sky turned a soft pink as the sky behind became a bright blue. The sun was rising and he needed to be gone.

 

Mustering the last bit of his strength, he rose to his feet and staggered away. The first rays of light breached the horizon while he was still midway through the fields. He heard shouts from the village behind him as people awoke and found him missing. He ducked his head as he felt his ears crawl up the sides of his skull and pushed his wounded body harder. He reached the trees before any of the villagers turned toward the fields.

 

Clear of the immediate danger of being revealed, Inuyasha raised his head but didn't stop running. He needed to put as much distance between him and the outraged villagers as possible. They would undoubtedly send people out to look for him. He wasn't certain they would not link the beat-up hanyou with the young man they had beaten last night if he were found.

 

It was mid-afternoon before his body gave out and he crashed to the ground. He yelped when the landing jarred his broken wrist. He lay there panting for several minutes, hunger, exhaustion and pain finally taking their toll. Leaves rustled nearby and the forest litter crunched. Inuyasha stiffened then managed to push himself up. He looked around for the source of the noise. He thought he smelled blood but wasn't sure if it belonged to whatever was out there or him.

 

He heard a growl next to him and he whirled but the action caused his vision to spin. He held still for a moment waiting for the world to settle. Something dropped next to him and the scent of blood became stronger. He slowly raised his golden gaze and blinked. Kirara's big red eyes stared back. Her muzzle was spattered with drops of blood. He blinked again then peered down at what she had dropped. A large boar lay on the ground between them. He glanced back and just looked at her. Kirara's ears folded down and back. Then, with a groan, he toppled over. Kirara lunged forward and he landed on the soft, fluffy, warmth of her flank.

 

“Kirara,” he muttered into her fur, “I'm one pathetic human.” Kirara twisted around and licked his forehead. She wisely kept any comments to herself.