InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Secrets ❯ Hanyou Thief ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Secrets Chapter 2: Hanyou Thief

The village was rather interesting, dirt roadways and paths alongside beautiful white houses and stores with dark wooden support beams and thatched roofs. There was a small bridge leading toward a quaint little home with a flower garden over a gushing stream. Behind the cottages, we assumed, were he privy dumps and chambers because when we passed behind one there came a sudden reek and we rushed ahead. As we neared a shop smelling strongly of bread I heard a shriek and an accusation all in one.

“THIEF! Scoundrel! Come back here ye… ye… Argh! Damn ye! Come back!” The stocky mother was dashing from a garden chasing a blonde youth, her fist in the air and her face red. Following the boy with my eyes, I took in the paleness of his hair; the way he was running and his strange clothing. He wore a dark reddish brown pair of trousers, bulky like men's hose but not slit, not stuffed and loose to his ankles. The boy wore no shirt, and he was lean and nicely built but smudged all over with dirt.

The woman in pursuit threw a rock at him and he laughed tauntingly at her.

“Ha! Wench!” He turned a corner sharply as the blacksmith came out of his barn with his hammer, and ran directly toward us. I took in his golden eyes as they widened and then… then… on his head…. My hand flew to my mouth with shock.

“S-Sango… his ears!” A large, clawed hand pushed us each to the side and the boy hopped the fence, diving into the cornfield and disappearing from sight.

“That boy stole mah cabbages! The nerve of him! He's always stealing from someone then hidin' off in the fields. Ah've seen `im in the tree's by the hall, stuffing his face on something bloody `e was!” The red faced woman had come to a halt next to us, her color fading and her breath coming in short gasps. She righted Sango, who'd fallen to the ground and game us grim smiles.

“You know him then madam?” Asked Sango, after she'd dusted off her bottom.

“Oh, aye. Everyone knows Inuyasha, filthy `alf breed that `e is!”

“Half breed?” This time I voiced the question, my fingers still on my lips.

“Aye. Some demon from the east `e says. Gave him those awful ears! It must be 'is mother's blood keepin' 'im from eating the lot of us! And that's not all tha's strange about `im: `e has eyes, yellow like cats that shine in the night… and his teeth are long at the sides, fangs `e tells us. I'm only tellin' you girls this so you'll watch out for `im. `E'll steal anything you've got and if you don't give over `e'll take it by force. An' you don't want that, let me tell you!”

“Oh my… may I ask your name?”

“Mah name? `Tis Mary Smith. Mah husbands the blacksmith down the way. Be off now girls, there be bachelors about and y'know `ow they are when they see obviously wealthy virgins `bout.”

“Obviously wealthy?” I queried, not bothering to comment on her assumption that we were virgins… even though she was right.

“Aye, you're richer than we are by any chance! `Tis in the cloth you wear and the way you carry yerselves and talk! Get off wi' ye now!” Mary turned and stomped off toward her cottage, hitching her skirts above her ankles and slamming the door. Sango grinned at me,

“What an amiable person!” I scowled at her.

“She's okay Sango!”

“I suppose so, what about that hafu?”

“…”

“Whatever, manage to blend okay? I'm going to fetch some bread for supper. Take care of yourself. You're tough.” My mind flitted to the Hiraikotsou under her bed and how I was always telling hershe was tough. I grinned at her and tossed back my hair laughingly.

“I'm good. Whatever. Get good bread though! It's been a long day and mama will need a good meal.”

“'Kay.” She turned and trotted toward the pungent store, and I only left myself once the door closed. Looking quickly about, I jogged toward the cornfield and scrambled over the fence. I immediately regretted it though. I felt lost instantly and kept losing my footing over fallen stalks, probably where that Inuyasha had gone. Following the route of destruction, I quickly found myself near an open expanse of meadow, with a single winding road through the center. I myself had to lift my skirts up as I tramped aimlessly through the dandelions and daisies toward a lonely blossoming tree in the corner.

Upon reaching the slender thing, I leaned against its trunk and sank to the earth. A breeze was blowing and kicking up the falling flowers.

“You follow me here, wench?”

I looked up into the branches and caught sight of a strangely clad leg, the foot bare and lolling over the side.

“Not really. I wanted to see where it was you hid.”

“Keh. So you did follow me then?”

“Mmmm.”

“Any other reason?”

“No.”

“Whatever. I'm getting tired of you.” With that, he leapt lightly down and began to walk away.”

“Inuyasha? Do you know who you're talking to?”

“Why should I, wench?” He kept walking, his voice scornful. He was probably about 16.

“That's not my name. My name's Kagome.”

“So?”

“Higurashi.”

“Wench.”

I huffed loudly and stood up, once again lifting the front of my skirts and striding toward him like the old woman had to her house. Lifting my palm, I aimed to slap him, but instantly thought better of it, wishing at once that I had my old guard gathered about me, because as soon as I withdrew my hand he seized my wrist and twisted it around so he stood behind me, grasping my shoulder with his other hand and hissing a warning into my neck. “Not smart wench.” He released me and leapt up into the tree again, I assumed because he didn't feel like wasting energy, and watched me flee as I held my injured wrist to my chest.

"Miroku! Sango!" I had run through the meadow as it started to rain and now the foot of my dress was muddy and my hair was wet. I still clutched my wrist in my hand, drawn up to my chest and with blood seeping between my fingers. Noticing this, I let go and drew in a gasp. There were four cuts down my lower arm where that demon had seized me; and another, larger cut near the bone where his thumb had rested. On my shoulder I noticed more claw marks and I broke down into sobs as my dear friends came rushing out of a room. Sango knelt down next to me, hugging me close and asking me over and over what was wrong.

`Sango let her go! Look it, you're hurting her!" Miroku grabbed my injured wrist as he knelt and examined it closely.

"That wasn't Sango, Miroku!"

"Who-- Kagome! You didn't! It was that bloke with the white hair wasn't it? The one with ears? You followed him didn't you! Oh my lord, what did he say? What did you say? What made him do this to you? Oh and your shoulder! He-- he didn't try and..." Sango's eyes were wide and her question was obvious. He didn't try and force himself on you, did he? We'd been told by our mothers that men were like that, quick to take the virgin and then leave her with his child. Better a bastard son than no son at all. The younger the girl the better, it seemed.

"N-no! It-- I followed--"

"What bloke? White hair? Sango?" Miroku looked grim and... hurt? What in the...

Even so, I quickly relayed the story to him, including our meeting with Mary Smith.

“… now that I rethink it, he looked kind of... doglike."

"It-- it'd explain the name. Could hardly be his god given name though. Inu Yasha m-means Dog Demon in an eastern tongue." I muttered under my breath.

"Demon?" Miroku sounded terrified now.

"No, half. A villager said his mum was human."

"Oh lord."

"What? What's wrong with that?" I trembled slightly.

"Demons are dangerous - hanyou's are worse. It's because they have emotions." I looked at Miroku incredulously.

"We'll see." If he thought hanyou's were dangerous, I wanted to get to know one.