InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Side Effects ❯ Desires of the Past ( Chapter 1 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: King Baka 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 04.14.2017 | Pages: 9 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 04.14.2017 | Pages: 9 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha. I will make no
money from this fic; I write for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment
of my readers.
A/N – this story takes place sometime in the later part of the manga, after Kagome saves Kikyou from Naraku’s miasma but before Kikyou’s final demise.
The story is currently finished. I plan to post a chapter every one or two days until it is fully uploaded. I just need to give each chapter one or two final proofreads. Posting it in installments will ensure that I don’t slack off in completing this (somewhat tedious) process!
Desires of the Past
“What the hell is that thing?”
“It appears to be a rodent of some kind.”
“No shit, bouzu. Any idiot could figure that one out.”
“If you are so knowledgeable, Inuyasha, then perhaps you would care to enlighten us as to exactly what it is?”
“Keh.”
“I’ve seen or heard stories about most of the youkai native to this land, but this is new to me.”
“So you think this creature came to Japan from somewhere else, Sango?”
“Yes, possibly from the mainland.”
“Who cares? Let’s just kill it.”
“Is that your answer to everything, Inuyasha? We aren’t even sure that this is the creature which has been troubling the village.”
“I don’t give a shit! We already waste enough time stopping and helping every fucking village with their problems.”
“It’s not a waste, Inuyasha. They said the creature has been growing bolder lately, even sneaking in and taking the village dogs at night. A small child is only one step up from a dog.”
“So let’s just kill this damn thing and be done with it!”
“We can’t just assume—”
“It kind of looks like a hamster.”
All eyes turned to regard Kagome quizzically. The schoolgirl turned miko had not participated in their conversation thus far, engrossed as she was with wracking her brain to figure out why the creature looked so familiar. It was definitely a rodent, though standing at over two meters tall at the shoulder, it was by far the biggest rodent any of them had ever seen. It had a rather lithe build, with short brown fur and a darker stripe running down the center of its back. It had a whitish belly, and was tipped at one end with a pinkish nose covered in long whiskers, and at the other with a short tail. Its eyes were enormous and black as night, unsettling in their emptiness. Overall, it looked almost exactly like Mr. Mao, the Chinese hamster her class had kept one year in elementary school. Except of course, for being much, much bigger.
“What the hell is a hamster?”
They all shushed Inuyasha, not wanting the increasingly exasperated hanyou to accidentally give them away. Fortunately the creature continued to forage in the field as they watched from the tree line. Either it hadn’t noticed them, or they weren’t close enough for it to consider them a threat.
“A hamster is a rodent. This kind comes from the mainland. In my time, people keep them as pets.”
“People keep that thing as a pet?!”
“Well, usually they’re much smaller. You can hold them in the palm of your hand.”
“So why is that one so damn big?”
“There are many ways for a normal animal to become a youkai,” Sango interjected. “What do ‘hamsters’ usually eat, Kagome-chan?”
“They’re omnivores.”
“Omni-what?”
“Omni vores, Inuyasha. They eat plant material and meat, mostly insects.”
“Keh. That thing ain’t eating any insects.”
“It might eat a dog though,” Miroku observed. “This could be what’s been troubling the village.”
“It could,” Sango agreed. “But we still need to make sure.”
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to retort, but immediately snapped his jaw closed and turned his attention to the northeast.
“It feels like an oni,” Miroku declared, his spiritual senses confirming what Inuyasha’s nose had already detected. Apparently the giant hamster sensed the approaching monster as well, but instead of fleeing for its furry hide, it surprised everyone by scurrying toward the danger.
“Quick, after it!”
Inuyasha knelt so Kagome could climb onto his back, and Kirara transformed in a blaze of fire. At this the hamster paused briefly and glanced in their direction, but then continued on its previous course. The Inu-tachi set off in pursuit, catching up just in time to watch the dumb animal trot right up to the much larger oni. It stared blankly up at the predator as the giant’s clawed hand reached for it.
“Inuyasha!”
“Idiot!” the hanyou growled. No one could be sure whether he was talking about the suicidal hamster or the miko on his back who so desperately wanted to rescue it. Probably because she thinks it’s ‘cute,’ he reflected with an inward roll of his eyes. It didn’t matter as far as he was concerned; either of these creatures could be the one troubling the village, so he fully intended to slaughter both of them. If the hamster was dead before he got there, then so be it.
The little rodent, however, surprised everyone. Instead of allowing itself to be picked up, it hunched its hindquarters and leapt the seemingly insurmountable distance to the oni’s neck, where it clamped down hard with its teeth. The oni roared in pain, and reached for its attacker with its hand. But the great muscular arm slowed and finally froze in mid-air. To the astonishment of all onlookers, the flesh began to wither before their eyes, eventually leaving little more than bone covered by a thin, wrinkled layer of skin. As more and more of the oni shriveled away, the hamster glowed brighter and brighter with a sinister demonic aura.
“It’s sucking out all of the oni’s youki,” Miroku stated in amazement, even as the oni’s great eyes dimmed, and what remained of its once mighty body collapsed backward to the earth. Finally the hamster released its hold on its victim’s neck, only to seek out one of the few spots on the body where actual flesh remained and tear into it with gusto. The members of the Inu-tachi experienced varying degrees of nausea at the sight of the rodent devouring the emaciated corpse, but they quickly snapped out of their collective stupor.
“So it eats flesh as well as youki,” Sango observed forebodingly. Everyone knew what that meant; the villagers were all in danger with this thing on the loose.
“Indeed. Though it appears that some of the youki is being stored in its cheek pouches at the moment.”
“Are you sure this thing doesn’t have any jewel shards, Kagome?”
The miko focused for a moment. “No, it doesn’t.”
Inuyasha nodded in acceptance. “All right, you lot stay back. I’ll handle this.”
If anyone asked, he would probably say that he wanted to act alone because the last few days had been fairly uneventful and he was itching for a good fight. While that might be true, he also didn’t want his friends rushing into battle against an enemy whose capabilities were unknown. He was tough enough to survive a mistake, but the humans might not be. His instincts were also warning him not to take this creature lightly, despite its relatively unimposing appearance.
The hamster didn’t acknowledge his existence until he skidded to a halt a half dozen meters from it, drawing Tetsusaiga with a flourish. That got the rodent’s attention. In an instant it switched from eating to aggression, as only creatures with limited intelligence can, and charged Inuyasha so quickly that the hanyou was caught somewhat off guard. He dodged the gaping jaws once, then swung his sword as the creature lunged for him again. To his surprise and horror, the hamster caught the blade in its mouth, its fur glowing with youki as it stopped the forward momentum of the blade and bit down firmly. Tetsusaiga howled as the hamster began to suck in its youki.
“Oh no you don’t, bastard!” Inuyasha cried, leaping into the air and raising his free left hand in preparation for a strike designed to slice this rodent to pieces before it could drain his precious sword. The hamster saw it coming, releasing Tetsusaiga and swiftly backpedaling a few steps. Inuyasha’s analysis of this move as a retreat, however, was promptly contradicted when the hamster opened its mouth and a ball of concentrated youki formed between its jaws. At that range, he could only duck behind Tetsusaiga and pray the sword held together.
It did, though the shock of the impact launched him backward many meters. He landed on his feet, immediately checking Tetsusaiga for damage. It sported a few fresh marks, but fortunately no cracks. He didn’t know if that would hold true if he let the hamster bite it again, and he didn’t intend to find out. The rodent was charging, but wouldn’t be on him until it was too late. To Inuyasha’s dismay, however, the Kaze no Kizu was not as effective as he would have liked. There was an explosion of youki in front of the creature, dissipating Tetsusaiga’s attack enough so that it only received a glancing blow. It could also apparently project youki from its hide as a makeshift shield, and as a result managed to escape with just a few patches of singed fur. The reduced potency of the Kaze no Kizu due to Tetsusaiga losing some of its youki undoubted played a factor as well.
“Dammit,” Inuyasha swore, though the situation was not as dire as it appeared. Yes, the creature had managed to steal some of Tetsusaiga’s youki, but its own reserves of youki appeared to be nearing exhaustion. I get it now. This overgrown rat doesn’t have much youki of its own, so it steals the youki of others and uses it to defend itself. How the creature was able to concentrate and wield foreign youki was a mystery, but it didn’t really matter. This would be over in one or two more melees, and then Tetsusaiga would reclaim what it had lost and be back to full strength.
The hamster paced back and forth nervously, seemingly unsure of itself. Inuyasha was about to charge in when he felt the telltale flare of Kagome’s spiritual aura, indicating that she was drawing an arrow. He glanced over his shoulder to find all of his friends far too close for his liking, Kagome standing with an arrow ready and the others hovering nearby on Kirara. No doubt they had moved to support him when it appeared that he was in trouble, so he couldn’t really blame them. The problem was that the hamster obviously noticed them as well. And when it opened his mouth, Inuyasha realized what was about to happen and sprinted toward Kagome without any hesitation.
It was a close call, but he was able to spirit her out of the way of the barrage of youki. She fired an arrow, but he didn’t see whether it struck her target. By the time he set Kagome down well away from the battlefield, the hamster was gone.
“Are you okay, Inuyasha?”
“Keh! I’m fine. Now stay with the others!”
He returned to the battlefield, his nose carrying him to the spot where Kagome’s arrow and the hamster had briefly met. The smell of scorched fur was thick here, as well as the more pungent aroma of fresh blood. The arrow had clearly landed a glancing blow, which at the very least would make the creature easier to track. He could both see and smell the trail of blood droplets leading into the nearby forest. And since it probably didn’t have any more youki with which to defend itself, tracking and killing the hamster should be no more of a challenge than hunting wild boar.
He set off at a dead sprint, able to follow the trail easily due to the smell of blood in the air. He would have to compliment Kagome on her shot…or more likely, remember not to criticize her for ‘only’ landing a glancing blow. Yeah, that was better. If the wench wanted a compliment, then she shouldn’t have put herself in danger in the first place. And if that didn’t make logical sense, then screw the whole thing.
Soon enough his ears picked up the sounds of a large creature crashing through the underbrush up ahead. Inuyasha smirked, knowing he would come upon his quarry soon. Then the sounds abruptly ceased.
“What the—”
He soon discovered the reason for the silence; the hamster had retreated to its burrow and fled underground. Cursing, he plunged after it, slowing his pace as the light from the outside world faded away. Eventually he found himself in near pitch blackness, and had to rely on his other senses to find his way, at least until he noticed an unnatural glow shining up ahead. The main passage seemed to continue on, but the glow came from a side tunnel which appeared to branch off at a right angle. Instead of charging recklessly around the bend, he listened to his instincts and slowed to a stop, tentatively sticking only his head into the opening.
That was a very wise decision, as it turned out. Even so, the small but compact ball of youki singed a few hairs as he ducked back out of its path. He held his breath as the ball’s impact with the tunnel wall caused the ground to shake all around him. Evidently the tunnels were sturdily dug, for they showed no sign of damage except for a few bits of dirt falling on his head. But he didn’t want to tempt fate by getting into a battle of youkai energy with this thing. The hamster could probably dig itself out if it was buried alive, but in the worst case he might actually asphyxiate from lack of oxygen.
His brief glimpse into the creature’s lair had at least given him an idea of what he was up against. The unnatural glow emanated from a massive sphere of youki, swirling in breathtaking torrents of blue and white, the beauty of raw power constrained against its will. In his youth, he had gone through a phase of curiosity about the world around him. He had followed and observed various creatures, learning about their behaviors and how they interacted with the rest of nature. Hey, when you’re a bored, lonely kid you have find something to keep yourself occupied. So he knew that some rodents liked to cache their food, storing it in larders for leaner times. Usually it was done with acorns and seeds though. This was something else entirely. Rather than sustenance, this cache was meant for defense. How this seemingly primitive creature managed to constrain so much youki, he had no idea. But he had to find a way to kill it, preferably without getting himself buried alive.
With no other ideas, Inuyasha stepped out into the opening, then immediately dove to the ground, wincing as the next ball of youki flashed overhead, too close for comfort. He dug his claws into the earth, throwing himself forward and upward, catching himself on his feet and sprinting the short distance to his target before the hamster could fire again. The vermin was agile, Inuyasha would give it that. But these were close quarters, too small for him to wield Tetsusaiga effectively, but also too small for the larger-bodied hamster to outmaneuver a quicker opponent. Its projected youki kept repulsing his claws just enough to keep its hide intact, but that wouldn’t last long, and they both knew it. In desperation it finally charged at him, jaws agape. Inuyasha neatly sidestepped the attack and sliced deeply into the creature’s side with intent to disembowel. Instead of entrails, however, what emerged was a small flare of residual youki, just enough to throw the hanyou off balance. He had to leap blindly out of the way to avoid the creature’s counterattack, and by the time he realized what his likely landing spot was going to be, it was far too late to do anything about it. His eyes went wide, reflecting the breathtaking swirls of blue and white as the massive vortex loomed ever closer.
Inuyasha’s body burst into flame. He honestly couldn’t tell if that statement was literal or figurative, or if he was screaming, though his throat burned and his lungs rapidly emptied. Once all the air had left him, he found himself unable to draw breath again. Perhaps that was a mercy. His half-brother’s poisonous hand through his chest felt like a loving caress compared to this. His entire body burned, the pain tearing him down piece by bloody piece. He ceased to become the hanyou Inuyasha, as he slowly disintegrated into something else entirely. And yet, when he was reduced to nothing more than a throbbing man-shaped mass of flesh awaiting its inevitable end, the pain built him back up again, reconstructing him. Pieces fell back into place, some exactly as they were before, others in a new alignment, as a dynamic undercurrent of power surged through his entire being. When the roaring tempest abated at last, he found himself lying on the ground staring up at the dirt ceiling overhead. The same as he ever was, and yet, not the same.
He gingerly rose to his feet, half-expecting his body to fall to pieces as he moved. But for all the suffering that damn sphere of youki had caused him, he had apparently managed to survive it unscathed. He was glad to be alive. The sphere was gone, as was the hamster, though the latter had left behind some unintentional calling cards: a puddle of urine, and the stench of fear hanging heavily in the air. He felt his lips pull back in a vicious smirk.
As he pursued his prey, it occurred to Inuyasha in passing that he shouldn’t be able to see this well in the nearly pitch black tunnel, now that the glow of the vortex had vanished. But he ignored this odd phenomenon, focusing instead on the grisly task at hand, his claws flexing involuntarily in anticipation of the slaughter to come. His feet pounded into the dirt, propelling him forward at a blinding velocity, perhaps faster than he had ever run before. The hamster made it out of the burrow before he caught up with it, but not much farther. He thought about taking his time with the vermin, but the idea weighed on his conscience so he killed it quickly instead. Afterward he raised his hand and stared at the blood-soaked appendage for a few moments, fascinated by the gore. And this was odd—had his claws always been this long? Shrugging, he decided that he was seeing things, and chalked it up to lingering exhilaration over the life and death struggle of which he’d just partaken. As for the blood, he would worry about cleaning it off after he linked up with his friends.
They were not difficult to find; they hadn’t waited out in the field like he’d instructed, but were instead making their way cautiously through the forest. Again he couldn’t really blame them, since he had been gone for a while and they had probably felt the explosion of youki. It was strange to hear them readying for battle as he approached, however, since they usually recognized his aura.
“Relax, it’s just me!” he called, moments before emerging from the trees. Instead of greetings and expressions of gladness at his good health, as he’d expected, he received only shocked gasps and wide-eyed stares.
“What the hell is wrong with you guys?” he growled, a bit put out by their reactions. What gives? And was it his imagination, or did his voice sound different? A little deeper, more guttural…more feral.
Miroku was the first to find his voice. “Inuyasha…what happened to you?”
“What do you mean, what happened to me? I killed the damn rodent, that’s what.”
“What he means,” Sango interjected, “is that you look…different.”
“Different how?”
“You, uh…”
“Your face is…um…”
“P-Perhaps it would be better to show him. Kagome-chan, do you still have that mirror in your bag? Kagome-chan?”
Sango’s query finally startled Kagome out of her stupor. “Huh? The mirror? Oh…y-yeah, Sango-chan, I have it.”
She went to retrieve the mirror from her bag, throwing Inuyasha a parting look that had him officially weirded out. What the hell was going on? Miroku and Sango seemed to be trying not to stare, an element of restraint that Shippou and Kirara did not possess. He took a surreptitious sniff to sample their scents, and was surprised by how the olfactory information seemed slightly more vivid than usual. The first thing he smelled was fear, but he soon realized that while fear had been their initial reaction, it was no longer the dominant one. No, now they were gazing at him with varying degrees of concern and confusion. Again, what the hell was going on here? Finally Kagome found the small pocket mirror and hesitantly brought it over to him. He all but snatched it out of her hands. What he glimpsed in the reflective glass surpassed even his wildest imagination.
He had transformed into a full-youkai. Of course, it wasn’t that simple. His fangs and claws were elongated, yes, but beyond the fact that he still possessed his own mind, there were physical differences from his prior transformations as well. The purple markings which adorned his cheeks were no longer jagged, but were smooth, perfectly formed. They seemed to exude regality even as they spoke of tremendous power, just as Sesshoumaru’s did. His furry triangular ears, the most obvious mark of his mixed heritage, had migrated to the sides of his head as they did on his human nights, but instead of being rounded the lobes now gracefully tapered to a sharp point. Again, the resemblance to his half-brother was striking. The most obvious distinction, however, was his eyes. Instead of the blood-red eyes of a monster, his own amber orbs gazed back at him. Perhaps the shade had lightened just a hint, but they were still his eyes. His eyes, his body, his mind. Inuyasha was still Inuyasha. But he was obviously no longer a hanyou.
“I’m…I’m a full-fledged youkai,” he whispered, almost unable to believe it. But the proof was staring back at him in the mirror. It was in his heightened senses and every other odd thing he had noticed since being engulfed by the sphere of youki in the rodent’s lair. Slowly a brilliant smile spread across his lips. The purple markings and long fangs probably made the expression seem slightly crazed to his companions, but for Inuyasha, it truly was a manifestation of pure joy.
He threw his head back and laughed. He laughed until his sides hurt, and tears were threatening to leak from his eyes. He laughed because the alternative was to cry. For most of his life, he had desired this above all things. He had spent years pursuing every rumor he could find, any possible way to make his dream come true. Until months ago, when he had been forced to confront the cruel reality that he would never become a full-fledged youkai without losing his mind. With the support of his friends, of Kagome in particular, he had made peace with that fact, and resolved to move on. If before today you had told him with absolute certainty that he would never achieve his old goal of becoming a full-fledged youkai, he would not have batted an eye. But that didn’t mean he had completely rid himself of the desire. Repressed it, yes. Realized that he could live the rest of his life without achieving it, of course. But fate had apparently decided to fulfill a dream from his past, and he couldn’t claim to be anything but ecstatic.
“How did this happen, Inuyasha?” Miroku asked. A little irked at the monk for raining on his parade, Inuyasha nevertheless recapped the battle for them.
“Whatever agent or magic which bound the youki together must have allowed it to fuse with Inuyasha’s body,” Sango theorized.
“I was thinking the same,” Miroku confirmed. “I would not have thought such a thing possible, but the proof is standing right in front of us.”
“I don’t really give a shit how it happened. All I know is that it’s fucking awesome!”
“Are you sure, Inuyasha? What if there are negative consequences?”
“Keh,” he snorted dismissively. “You worry too much, taijiya.”
“Oh, really? Can you still use Tetsusaiga?”
Now that gave Inuyasha pause. But his already phenomenal mood brightened even further when not only did his beloved sword not reject him, it even transformed for him.
“Ha! See? There is nothing wrong with this! I’m still Inuyasha!”
“I thought Tetsusaiga was supposed to reject all full-youkai?” Sango muttered, not disappointed at this development but certainly perplexed by it.
“As did I,” Miroku replied. “But Tetsusaiga has proven itself to be sentient to some degree. It has evidently chosen Inuyasha as its master, regardless of his form.”
“Inuyasha?”
That quiet query drew everyone’s attention. Kagome had her hands clasped nervously in front of her skirt, as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth.
“Yeah, wench?” he replied. His words were harsh, but his tone was soft, almost gentle. As though he was genuinely afraid of the direction this conversation might turn.
“Are you…going to stay this way?”
His gaze hardened a fraction at her inquiry, his lips pursing. He glared at her, but she kept her eyes focused on the ground between them. Finally he heaved a sigh, appearing to return to some semblance of calm. When he spoke, he seemed to be both challenging Kagome and pleading with her.
“Is that a problem?”
Finally Kagome met his gaze. She opened her mouth to respond, then hesitated, and finally dropped her eyes, closing them for a few long moments. When she opened them again she met Inuyasha’s stare with a bright gaze and a small smile, both of which appeared only partly genuine.
“No, it’s not. If this makes you happy, then we support you.”
No one doubted Kagome’s honesty, but even Inuyasha should have been able to see that she harbored some fairly serious reservations. But he merely nodded in gratitude and flashed her a grin. If he did detect her reticence, he apparently thought it stemmed only from lingering shock and expected that it would disappear with time. Miroku for one was pretty sure that her concerns ran much deeper, and it looked like Sango agreed with that assessment. Oblivious to their thoughts, however, Inuyasha seemed content to take Kagome’s words at face value.
“I’m gonna go make sure all of Tetsusaiga’s attacks still work!” he declared, sounding very confident indeed. With that, he was gone. Moments later they heard blades of youki and diamond shards whizzing through the air in the distance, interspersed with exultant shouts from the hanyou-turned-youkai. That field was going to be one hell of a mess.
“I’m worried, Houshi-sama.”
“Agreed, Sango. Let’s watch him closely for the next few days, to see if anything is amiss.”
“Are you all right, Kagome-chan?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine, Sango-chan. I meant what I said.”
“I don’t doubt that, Kagome-sama. But no one would blame you if your feelings about this were somewhat…mixed.”
“Thanks, Miroku-sama,” the miko replied, this time wearing a smile which while tentative, was not in the least bit forced. “Come on, let’s go make sure he doesn’t accidentally burn the forest down.”
“I wonder if the rosary still works,” Shippou pondered anxiously, his first words since their reunion with Inuyasha.
Sango scoffed. “I’m sure it does. And knowing Inuyasha, it won’t be too long before he gives us an excuse to find out.”
Everyone grinned at this except Shippou, who was probably worried about being bullied. Kagome took him into her arms and ruffled his hair.
“Don’t worry, Shippou-chan. This will be an adjustment, but we’re all going to figure it out together. Everything will be all right, you’ll see.”
“Okay,” the kit agreed, comforted if not completely mollified.
If only she could bring herself to believe her own assurances…
A/N – this story takes place sometime in the later part of the manga, after Kagome saves Kikyou from Naraku’s miasma but before Kikyou’s final demise.
The story is currently finished. I plan to post a chapter every one or two days until it is fully uploaded. I just need to give each chapter one or two final proofreads. Posting it in installments will ensure that I don’t slack off in completing this (somewhat tedious) process!
Desires of the Past
“What the hell is that thing?”
“It appears to be a rodent of some kind.”
“No shit, bouzu. Any idiot could figure that one out.”
“If you are so knowledgeable, Inuyasha, then perhaps you would care to enlighten us as to exactly what it is?”
“Keh.”
“I’ve seen or heard stories about most of the youkai native to this land, but this is new to me.”
“So you think this creature came to Japan from somewhere else, Sango?”
“Yes, possibly from the mainland.”
“Who cares? Let’s just kill it.”
“Is that your answer to everything, Inuyasha? We aren’t even sure that this is the creature which has been troubling the village.”
“I don’t give a shit! We already waste enough time stopping and helping every fucking village with their problems.”
“It’s not a waste, Inuyasha. They said the creature has been growing bolder lately, even sneaking in and taking the village dogs at night. A small child is only one step up from a dog.”
“So let’s just kill this damn thing and be done with it!”
“We can’t just assume—”
“It kind of looks like a hamster.”
All eyes turned to regard Kagome quizzically. The schoolgirl turned miko had not participated in their conversation thus far, engrossed as she was with wracking her brain to figure out why the creature looked so familiar. It was definitely a rodent, though standing at over two meters tall at the shoulder, it was by far the biggest rodent any of them had ever seen. It had a rather lithe build, with short brown fur and a darker stripe running down the center of its back. It had a whitish belly, and was tipped at one end with a pinkish nose covered in long whiskers, and at the other with a short tail. Its eyes were enormous and black as night, unsettling in their emptiness. Overall, it looked almost exactly like Mr. Mao, the Chinese hamster her class had kept one year in elementary school. Except of course, for being much, much bigger.
“What the hell is a hamster?”
They all shushed Inuyasha, not wanting the increasingly exasperated hanyou to accidentally give them away. Fortunately the creature continued to forage in the field as they watched from the tree line. Either it hadn’t noticed them, or they weren’t close enough for it to consider them a threat.
“A hamster is a rodent. This kind comes from the mainland. In my time, people keep them as pets.”
“People keep that thing as a pet?!”
“Well, usually they’re much smaller. You can hold them in the palm of your hand.”
“So why is that one so damn big?”
“There are many ways for a normal animal to become a youkai,” Sango interjected. “What do ‘hamsters’ usually eat, Kagome-chan?”
“They’re omnivores.”
“Omni-what?”
“Omni vores, Inuyasha. They eat plant material and meat, mostly insects.”
“Keh. That thing ain’t eating any insects.”
“It might eat a dog though,” Miroku observed. “This could be what’s been troubling the village.”
“It could,” Sango agreed. “But we still need to make sure.”
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to retort, but immediately snapped his jaw closed and turned his attention to the northeast.
“It feels like an oni,” Miroku declared, his spiritual senses confirming what Inuyasha’s nose had already detected. Apparently the giant hamster sensed the approaching monster as well, but instead of fleeing for its furry hide, it surprised everyone by scurrying toward the danger.
“Quick, after it!”
Inuyasha knelt so Kagome could climb onto his back, and Kirara transformed in a blaze of fire. At this the hamster paused briefly and glanced in their direction, but then continued on its previous course. The Inu-tachi set off in pursuit, catching up just in time to watch the dumb animal trot right up to the much larger oni. It stared blankly up at the predator as the giant’s clawed hand reached for it.
“Inuyasha!”
“Idiot!” the hanyou growled. No one could be sure whether he was talking about the suicidal hamster or the miko on his back who so desperately wanted to rescue it. Probably because she thinks it’s ‘cute,’ he reflected with an inward roll of his eyes. It didn’t matter as far as he was concerned; either of these creatures could be the one troubling the village, so he fully intended to slaughter both of them. If the hamster was dead before he got there, then so be it.
The little rodent, however, surprised everyone. Instead of allowing itself to be picked up, it hunched its hindquarters and leapt the seemingly insurmountable distance to the oni’s neck, where it clamped down hard with its teeth. The oni roared in pain, and reached for its attacker with its hand. But the great muscular arm slowed and finally froze in mid-air. To the astonishment of all onlookers, the flesh began to wither before their eyes, eventually leaving little more than bone covered by a thin, wrinkled layer of skin. As more and more of the oni shriveled away, the hamster glowed brighter and brighter with a sinister demonic aura.
“It’s sucking out all of the oni’s youki,” Miroku stated in amazement, even as the oni’s great eyes dimmed, and what remained of its once mighty body collapsed backward to the earth. Finally the hamster released its hold on its victim’s neck, only to seek out one of the few spots on the body where actual flesh remained and tear into it with gusto. The members of the Inu-tachi experienced varying degrees of nausea at the sight of the rodent devouring the emaciated corpse, but they quickly snapped out of their collective stupor.
“So it eats flesh as well as youki,” Sango observed forebodingly. Everyone knew what that meant; the villagers were all in danger with this thing on the loose.
“Indeed. Though it appears that some of the youki is being stored in its cheek pouches at the moment.”
“Are you sure this thing doesn’t have any jewel shards, Kagome?”
The miko focused for a moment. “No, it doesn’t.”
Inuyasha nodded in acceptance. “All right, you lot stay back. I’ll handle this.”
If anyone asked, he would probably say that he wanted to act alone because the last few days had been fairly uneventful and he was itching for a good fight. While that might be true, he also didn’t want his friends rushing into battle against an enemy whose capabilities were unknown. He was tough enough to survive a mistake, but the humans might not be. His instincts were also warning him not to take this creature lightly, despite its relatively unimposing appearance.
The hamster didn’t acknowledge his existence until he skidded to a halt a half dozen meters from it, drawing Tetsusaiga with a flourish. That got the rodent’s attention. In an instant it switched from eating to aggression, as only creatures with limited intelligence can, and charged Inuyasha so quickly that the hanyou was caught somewhat off guard. He dodged the gaping jaws once, then swung his sword as the creature lunged for him again. To his surprise and horror, the hamster caught the blade in its mouth, its fur glowing with youki as it stopped the forward momentum of the blade and bit down firmly. Tetsusaiga howled as the hamster began to suck in its youki.
“Oh no you don’t, bastard!” Inuyasha cried, leaping into the air and raising his free left hand in preparation for a strike designed to slice this rodent to pieces before it could drain his precious sword. The hamster saw it coming, releasing Tetsusaiga and swiftly backpedaling a few steps. Inuyasha’s analysis of this move as a retreat, however, was promptly contradicted when the hamster opened its mouth and a ball of concentrated youki formed between its jaws. At that range, he could only duck behind Tetsusaiga and pray the sword held together.
It did, though the shock of the impact launched him backward many meters. He landed on his feet, immediately checking Tetsusaiga for damage. It sported a few fresh marks, but fortunately no cracks. He didn’t know if that would hold true if he let the hamster bite it again, and he didn’t intend to find out. The rodent was charging, but wouldn’t be on him until it was too late. To Inuyasha’s dismay, however, the Kaze no Kizu was not as effective as he would have liked. There was an explosion of youki in front of the creature, dissipating Tetsusaiga’s attack enough so that it only received a glancing blow. It could also apparently project youki from its hide as a makeshift shield, and as a result managed to escape with just a few patches of singed fur. The reduced potency of the Kaze no Kizu due to Tetsusaiga losing some of its youki undoubted played a factor as well.
“Dammit,” Inuyasha swore, though the situation was not as dire as it appeared. Yes, the creature had managed to steal some of Tetsusaiga’s youki, but its own reserves of youki appeared to be nearing exhaustion. I get it now. This overgrown rat doesn’t have much youki of its own, so it steals the youki of others and uses it to defend itself. How the creature was able to concentrate and wield foreign youki was a mystery, but it didn’t really matter. This would be over in one or two more melees, and then Tetsusaiga would reclaim what it had lost and be back to full strength.
The hamster paced back and forth nervously, seemingly unsure of itself. Inuyasha was about to charge in when he felt the telltale flare of Kagome’s spiritual aura, indicating that she was drawing an arrow. He glanced over his shoulder to find all of his friends far too close for his liking, Kagome standing with an arrow ready and the others hovering nearby on Kirara. No doubt they had moved to support him when it appeared that he was in trouble, so he couldn’t really blame them. The problem was that the hamster obviously noticed them as well. And when it opened his mouth, Inuyasha realized what was about to happen and sprinted toward Kagome without any hesitation.
It was a close call, but he was able to spirit her out of the way of the barrage of youki. She fired an arrow, but he didn’t see whether it struck her target. By the time he set Kagome down well away from the battlefield, the hamster was gone.
“Are you okay, Inuyasha?”
“Keh! I’m fine. Now stay with the others!”
He returned to the battlefield, his nose carrying him to the spot where Kagome’s arrow and the hamster had briefly met. The smell of scorched fur was thick here, as well as the more pungent aroma of fresh blood. The arrow had clearly landed a glancing blow, which at the very least would make the creature easier to track. He could both see and smell the trail of blood droplets leading into the nearby forest. And since it probably didn’t have any more youki with which to defend itself, tracking and killing the hamster should be no more of a challenge than hunting wild boar.
He set off at a dead sprint, able to follow the trail easily due to the smell of blood in the air. He would have to compliment Kagome on her shot…or more likely, remember not to criticize her for ‘only’ landing a glancing blow. Yeah, that was better. If the wench wanted a compliment, then she shouldn’t have put herself in danger in the first place. And if that didn’t make logical sense, then screw the whole thing.
Soon enough his ears picked up the sounds of a large creature crashing through the underbrush up ahead. Inuyasha smirked, knowing he would come upon his quarry soon. Then the sounds abruptly ceased.
“What the—”
He soon discovered the reason for the silence; the hamster had retreated to its burrow and fled underground. Cursing, he plunged after it, slowing his pace as the light from the outside world faded away. Eventually he found himself in near pitch blackness, and had to rely on his other senses to find his way, at least until he noticed an unnatural glow shining up ahead. The main passage seemed to continue on, but the glow came from a side tunnel which appeared to branch off at a right angle. Instead of charging recklessly around the bend, he listened to his instincts and slowed to a stop, tentatively sticking only his head into the opening.
That was a very wise decision, as it turned out. Even so, the small but compact ball of youki singed a few hairs as he ducked back out of its path. He held his breath as the ball’s impact with the tunnel wall caused the ground to shake all around him. Evidently the tunnels were sturdily dug, for they showed no sign of damage except for a few bits of dirt falling on his head. But he didn’t want to tempt fate by getting into a battle of youkai energy with this thing. The hamster could probably dig itself out if it was buried alive, but in the worst case he might actually asphyxiate from lack of oxygen.
His brief glimpse into the creature’s lair had at least given him an idea of what he was up against. The unnatural glow emanated from a massive sphere of youki, swirling in breathtaking torrents of blue and white, the beauty of raw power constrained against its will. In his youth, he had gone through a phase of curiosity about the world around him. He had followed and observed various creatures, learning about their behaviors and how they interacted with the rest of nature. Hey, when you’re a bored, lonely kid you have find something to keep yourself occupied. So he knew that some rodents liked to cache their food, storing it in larders for leaner times. Usually it was done with acorns and seeds though. This was something else entirely. Rather than sustenance, this cache was meant for defense. How this seemingly primitive creature managed to constrain so much youki, he had no idea. But he had to find a way to kill it, preferably without getting himself buried alive.
With no other ideas, Inuyasha stepped out into the opening, then immediately dove to the ground, wincing as the next ball of youki flashed overhead, too close for comfort. He dug his claws into the earth, throwing himself forward and upward, catching himself on his feet and sprinting the short distance to his target before the hamster could fire again. The vermin was agile, Inuyasha would give it that. But these were close quarters, too small for him to wield Tetsusaiga effectively, but also too small for the larger-bodied hamster to outmaneuver a quicker opponent. Its projected youki kept repulsing his claws just enough to keep its hide intact, but that wouldn’t last long, and they both knew it. In desperation it finally charged at him, jaws agape. Inuyasha neatly sidestepped the attack and sliced deeply into the creature’s side with intent to disembowel. Instead of entrails, however, what emerged was a small flare of residual youki, just enough to throw the hanyou off balance. He had to leap blindly out of the way to avoid the creature’s counterattack, and by the time he realized what his likely landing spot was going to be, it was far too late to do anything about it. His eyes went wide, reflecting the breathtaking swirls of blue and white as the massive vortex loomed ever closer.
Inuyasha’s body burst into flame. He honestly couldn’t tell if that statement was literal or figurative, or if he was screaming, though his throat burned and his lungs rapidly emptied. Once all the air had left him, he found himself unable to draw breath again. Perhaps that was a mercy. His half-brother’s poisonous hand through his chest felt like a loving caress compared to this. His entire body burned, the pain tearing him down piece by bloody piece. He ceased to become the hanyou Inuyasha, as he slowly disintegrated into something else entirely. And yet, when he was reduced to nothing more than a throbbing man-shaped mass of flesh awaiting its inevitable end, the pain built him back up again, reconstructing him. Pieces fell back into place, some exactly as they were before, others in a new alignment, as a dynamic undercurrent of power surged through his entire being. When the roaring tempest abated at last, he found himself lying on the ground staring up at the dirt ceiling overhead. The same as he ever was, and yet, not the same.
He gingerly rose to his feet, half-expecting his body to fall to pieces as he moved. But for all the suffering that damn sphere of youki had caused him, he had apparently managed to survive it unscathed. He was glad to be alive. The sphere was gone, as was the hamster, though the latter had left behind some unintentional calling cards: a puddle of urine, and the stench of fear hanging heavily in the air. He felt his lips pull back in a vicious smirk.
As he pursued his prey, it occurred to Inuyasha in passing that he shouldn’t be able to see this well in the nearly pitch black tunnel, now that the glow of the vortex had vanished. But he ignored this odd phenomenon, focusing instead on the grisly task at hand, his claws flexing involuntarily in anticipation of the slaughter to come. His feet pounded into the dirt, propelling him forward at a blinding velocity, perhaps faster than he had ever run before. The hamster made it out of the burrow before he caught up with it, but not much farther. He thought about taking his time with the vermin, but the idea weighed on his conscience so he killed it quickly instead. Afterward he raised his hand and stared at the blood-soaked appendage for a few moments, fascinated by the gore. And this was odd—had his claws always been this long? Shrugging, he decided that he was seeing things, and chalked it up to lingering exhilaration over the life and death struggle of which he’d just partaken. As for the blood, he would worry about cleaning it off after he linked up with his friends.
They were not difficult to find; they hadn’t waited out in the field like he’d instructed, but were instead making their way cautiously through the forest. Again he couldn’t really blame them, since he had been gone for a while and they had probably felt the explosion of youki. It was strange to hear them readying for battle as he approached, however, since they usually recognized his aura.
“Relax, it’s just me!” he called, moments before emerging from the trees. Instead of greetings and expressions of gladness at his good health, as he’d expected, he received only shocked gasps and wide-eyed stares.
“What the hell is wrong with you guys?” he growled, a bit put out by their reactions. What gives? And was it his imagination, or did his voice sound different? A little deeper, more guttural…more feral.
Miroku was the first to find his voice. “Inuyasha…what happened to you?”
“What do you mean, what happened to me? I killed the damn rodent, that’s what.”
“What he means,” Sango interjected, “is that you look…different.”
“Different how?”
“You, uh…”
“Your face is…um…”
“P-Perhaps it would be better to show him. Kagome-chan, do you still have that mirror in your bag? Kagome-chan?”
Sango’s query finally startled Kagome out of her stupor. “Huh? The mirror? Oh…y-yeah, Sango-chan, I have it.”
She went to retrieve the mirror from her bag, throwing Inuyasha a parting look that had him officially weirded out. What the hell was going on? Miroku and Sango seemed to be trying not to stare, an element of restraint that Shippou and Kirara did not possess. He took a surreptitious sniff to sample their scents, and was surprised by how the olfactory information seemed slightly more vivid than usual. The first thing he smelled was fear, but he soon realized that while fear had been their initial reaction, it was no longer the dominant one. No, now they were gazing at him with varying degrees of concern and confusion. Again, what the hell was going on here? Finally Kagome found the small pocket mirror and hesitantly brought it over to him. He all but snatched it out of her hands. What he glimpsed in the reflective glass surpassed even his wildest imagination.
He had transformed into a full-youkai. Of course, it wasn’t that simple. His fangs and claws were elongated, yes, but beyond the fact that he still possessed his own mind, there were physical differences from his prior transformations as well. The purple markings which adorned his cheeks were no longer jagged, but were smooth, perfectly formed. They seemed to exude regality even as they spoke of tremendous power, just as Sesshoumaru’s did. His furry triangular ears, the most obvious mark of his mixed heritage, had migrated to the sides of his head as they did on his human nights, but instead of being rounded the lobes now gracefully tapered to a sharp point. Again, the resemblance to his half-brother was striking. The most obvious distinction, however, was his eyes. Instead of the blood-red eyes of a monster, his own amber orbs gazed back at him. Perhaps the shade had lightened just a hint, but they were still his eyes. His eyes, his body, his mind. Inuyasha was still Inuyasha. But he was obviously no longer a hanyou.
“I’m…I’m a full-fledged youkai,” he whispered, almost unable to believe it. But the proof was staring back at him in the mirror. It was in his heightened senses and every other odd thing he had noticed since being engulfed by the sphere of youki in the rodent’s lair. Slowly a brilliant smile spread across his lips. The purple markings and long fangs probably made the expression seem slightly crazed to his companions, but for Inuyasha, it truly was a manifestation of pure joy.
He threw his head back and laughed. He laughed until his sides hurt, and tears were threatening to leak from his eyes. He laughed because the alternative was to cry. For most of his life, he had desired this above all things. He had spent years pursuing every rumor he could find, any possible way to make his dream come true. Until months ago, when he had been forced to confront the cruel reality that he would never become a full-fledged youkai without losing his mind. With the support of his friends, of Kagome in particular, he had made peace with that fact, and resolved to move on. If before today you had told him with absolute certainty that he would never achieve his old goal of becoming a full-fledged youkai, he would not have batted an eye. But that didn’t mean he had completely rid himself of the desire. Repressed it, yes. Realized that he could live the rest of his life without achieving it, of course. But fate had apparently decided to fulfill a dream from his past, and he couldn’t claim to be anything but ecstatic.
“How did this happen, Inuyasha?” Miroku asked. A little irked at the monk for raining on his parade, Inuyasha nevertheless recapped the battle for them.
“Whatever agent or magic which bound the youki together must have allowed it to fuse with Inuyasha’s body,” Sango theorized.
“I was thinking the same,” Miroku confirmed. “I would not have thought such a thing possible, but the proof is standing right in front of us.”
“I don’t really give a shit how it happened. All I know is that it’s fucking awesome!”
“Are you sure, Inuyasha? What if there are negative consequences?”
“Keh,” he snorted dismissively. “You worry too much, taijiya.”
“Oh, really? Can you still use Tetsusaiga?”
Now that gave Inuyasha pause. But his already phenomenal mood brightened even further when not only did his beloved sword not reject him, it even transformed for him.
“Ha! See? There is nothing wrong with this! I’m still Inuyasha!”
“I thought Tetsusaiga was supposed to reject all full-youkai?” Sango muttered, not disappointed at this development but certainly perplexed by it.
“As did I,” Miroku replied. “But Tetsusaiga has proven itself to be sentient to some degree. It has evidently chosen Inuyasha as its master, regardless of his form.”
“Inuyasha?”
That quiet query drew everyone’s attention. Kagome had her hands clasped nervously in front of her skirt, as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth.
“Yeah, wench?” he replied. His words were harsh, but his tone was soft, almost gentle. As though he was genuinely afraid of the direction this conversation might turn.
“Are you…going to stay this way?”
His gaze hardened a fraction at her inquiry, his lips pursing. He glared at her, but she kept her eyes focused on the ground between them. Finally he heaved a sigh, appearing to return to some semblance of calm. When he spoke, he seemed to be both challenging Kagome and pleading with her.
“Is that a problem?”
Finally Kagome met his gaze. She opened her mouth to respond, then hesitated, and finally dropped her eyes, closing them for a few long moments. When she opened them again she met Inuyasha’s stare with a bright gaze and a small smile, both of which appeared only partly genuine.
“No, it’s not. If this makes you happy, then we support you.”
No one doubted Kagome’s honesty, but even Inuyasha should have been able to see that she harbored some fairly serious reservations. But he merely nodded in gratitude and flashed her a grin. If he did detect her reticence, he apparently thought it stemmed only from lingering shock and expected that it would disappear with time. Miroku for one was pretty sure that her concerns ran much deeper, and it looked like Sango agreed with that assessment. Oblivious to their thoughts, however, Inuyasha seemed content to take Kagome’s words at face value.
“I’m gonna go make sure all of Tetsusaiga’s attacks still work!” he declared, sounding very confident indeed. With that, he was gone. Moments later they heard blades of youki and diamond shards whizzing through the air in the distance, interspersed with exultant shouts from the hanyou-turned-youkai. That field was going to be one hell of a mess.
“I’m worried, Houshi-sama.”
“Agreed, Sango. Let’s watch him closely for the next few days, to see if anything is amiss.”
“Are you all right, Kagome-chan?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine, Sango-chan. I meant what I said.”
“I don’t doubt that, Kagome-sama. But no one would blame you if your feelings about this were somewhat…mixed.”
“Thanks, Miroku-sama,” the miko replied, this time wearing a smile which while tentative, was not in the least bit forced. “Come on, let’s go make sure he doesn’t accidentally burn the forest down.”
“I wonder if the rosary still works,” Shippou pondered anxiously, his first words since their reunion with Inuyasha.
Sango scoffed. “I’m sure it does. And knowing Inuyasha, it won’t be too long before he gives us an excuse to find out.”
Everyone grinned at this except Shippou, who was probably worried about being bullied. Kagome took him into her arms and ruffled his hair.
“Don’t worry, Shippou-chan. This will be an adjustment, but we’re all going to figure it out together. Everything will be all right, you’ll see.”
“Okay,” the kit agreed, comforted if not completely mollified.
If only she could bring herself to believe her own assurances…