Gunpowder

A/N: This chapter was very vague in my head. I’m not entirely sure if I’m completely satisfied with it either. Hopefully the rest won’t be like this. o.o;;



Replies to Reviews:



Ladykaa28: Thank you for your constructive review. Yeah, I was considering the same thing too but currently I just wanted to introduce the main characters and how their current lives are going before I get too in-depth. I kind of like leaving an air of mystery around them to make people wonder about their past and relationships with a hint here or there. As the story progresses, their past should gradually clear up revealing more and more as the characters try to open up. Well, that’s what I’m hoping to accomplish anyways. I did however reveal the main part of Inuyasha’s past in this update. Again I thank you again for reading.



Vyperbites: Thank you very much. I’m glad that you have enjoyed reading it! Here the next update!



Nikkie23534: Thank you. I’m happy that you liked it! As for your suspicion, you will just have to wait as you said. Lol Eep! The picture didn’t show? Crap. Maybe it’s because it’s a png file. Here’s the jpeg version. See if that works.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/Unari/Gunpowder/gunpowdersesshomaru02.jpg



Anyways, here’s an update. Enjoy! :D



"..." - dialogue

'...' - thoughts

xXxXx - Scenery change/Time break



Warning(s) in this chapter: Nothing really. Just a few curse words here and there. This chapter is really tamed…





Chapter Two: Something Familiar







The calming sound of flowing water drifted into downy ears soothing the stressed body considerably. A light sigh was emitted from a half-demon that was currently taking up space on a platform made of cement under a short bridge which arched over a stream on the outskirt of the city named Shikon. He was on the ground slumped against the hard brick wall hidden by shadows. The pain in his injured shoulder and arm dulled significantly since Kouga’s treatment a few hours ago. A shadow of a smile ghosted his lips at the thought of his has-been rival of love. Inuyasha snorted. Golden eyes softened hinting at the bittersweet emotions bubbling under their surfaces as nostalgia swept through his whole body. Fifteen years since they last saw each and only to meet again to get his (Inuyasha’s) butt saved (‘When I didn’t need saving’). Kouga didn’t change one bit in looks but in mind, he did. He matured and became more observant. That was probably all because he joined the police those twenty years ago.



‘Ever since she died…’



Inuyasha sighed heavily this time as he unbuckled the straps of his heavy boots and slid them off leaving bare feet unprotected against the cool air of the night. He rolled the ends of his red pants up to his knees revealing strong, pale, peach calves and scooted to the edge of the hard platform. He slipped his feet into the peaceful stream one foot at a time breaking the water surface. He winced slightly at how cold the water was but didn’t pull out. He leaned over the edge with his arms folded in his lap to stare at the surface of the water. The dark surface was littered with speckles of silver from the moon above. Inuyasha admired the sight for a short moment before his golden eyes clouded with thoughts again.



Ever since Kagome had died, he felt like his better half had died as well. Being a half-breed, he was looked down upon by both the demon and human society his whole life. He doesn’t even know his own father who was killed the day of his birth leaving him with only his mother and an elder full-demon, half-brother who, in turn, abandoned them both shortly after his (Inuyasha’s) birth. Things only got worse when his mother died from illness. Shortly after her death, his human relatives shunned and deserted the young pup to fend for himself. After about nearly two centuries alone, he had finally found someone that took him in and accepted him. Her big heart even attracted Kouga who was at the time running with the wrong pack. Her open-mindedness changed them both. He truly thought that perhaps the world wasn’t so harsh only to be stripped of such notion when she was murdered two years later with all evidences somehow pointing back to him. Knowing the truth, Kouga immediately went into training to become a police advising Inuyasha to keep a low profile until he can bring the “son-of-a-bitch” into justice. Of course that didn’t work out when he found out five years later that a human political head figure by the name of Naraku was the one who had killed Kagome just because she wouldn’t let him have her. In his uncontrollable rage, he went and killed the guy and successfully transformed nearly attacking everything else in his sight.



Inuyasha frowned feeling disgusted with himself. Clawed hands clenched tightly onto his pale forearms drawing beads of blood as they remember the feel of chunks of flesh and blood dripping off them. The half-demon suddenly felt dirty and in need of a bath. Ears and nose intently scanned their surroundings to find any wandering soul. Upon sensing no one in the immediate area, he unstrapped the gun holster and quickly removed his sleeveless coat and black undershirt. He lifted legs up out of the water to remove his pants and underpants before tentatively stepping into the stream wincing slightly at the cold. Mindful of his bandages, he waded out from the shadows under the bridge and made sure to stay in the shallow part of the stream where the water only reached up to his slim waist. His pale skin practically glowed under the soft moonlight. He reached down into the water to wash away his own blood that was drying on his forearms and hands while at the same time trying to get rid of the feel of someone else’s blood on them.



After five good minutes of rubbing his hand red, he splashed water onto his face and tilted his head back staring up at the clear night sky to clear his mind as drops of water traced down his chin, along his neck, along the contours of his chest and abs, and slipped back into the stream of water. Suddenly a curious thought crossed the half-demon’s mind making his handsome face contort in confusion.



‘How exactly did Kouga stopped my transformed self?’



In all his life, fifteen years ago was the first time he had transformed. He always knew he had the ability to change into a full-demon but never tried to knowing the danger of it. He remembered clearly how his mother had told him specifically when he was little not to give into bloodlust because it would make him lose himself; not only hurting the people around him but ultimately himself too. She never mentioned a way to stop it and revert back to normal so he assumed that there wasn’t a way. How did he change back then? During the period of his complete transformation, all he could remember was rage and bloodlust but he felt like something big was missing.



The pale body shivered as a breeze swept through. The half-demon pulled away from his muddled thoughts and waded back towards the shadows underneath the bridge for his clothes. When he reached the platform’s edges, the scent of another demon hit him and the hair on the back of his neck raised. Immediately he bolted out of the water, sprung for Tetsusaiga and cocked the gun ready to defend himself. He shivered again as another breeze swept through and brushed against is naked body. Trying to ignore the fact he was cold, his delicate ears flicked from side to side to pick up any telltale sounds that could possibly be the source of the scent. Not being able to detect anything, he quickly dressed himself; all the while never dropping his heightened sense of awareness.



“Shit. I shouldn’t have let myself be so consume in my own thoughts. Why did I even let my guard down in the first place? It never happened before. Hmph. I blame Kouga for appearing out of nowhere today,” Inuyasha muttered as he tightened the belt around his waist. With Tetsusaiga still in hand, he tried to follow the direction of the scent but it had already gone stale like whoever it was had already left. Inuyasha’s brow knitted together once again in confusion. It seems like lately all he’s been doing was getting stump by one thing after another. Why a demon would come here and just left without noticing him, or did he or she noticed but left anyways? What was worse was that the scent smelled familiar to him but he can’t quite put a finger on why it does.



Inuyasha heavily sighed once again. All his stresses seem to have come back in full force weighing his body down. He really needed to find a way to rest and get some food into his system if he’s ever to keep surviving.



xXxXx



The sun had already risen a few hours ago. Inuyasha sprinted up a rather large tree just outside of the suburban town adjacent to Shikon City which was also miles away from the stream. Even though whoever it was left him alone, he wasn’t taking any chances and made sure to be nowhere near his earlier spot.



Finally finding a stable branch, he leaned against the trunk making sure to keep balance and dug through the pockets of his pants pulling out a solid black bandana and a thin, long strip of leather. Holding the bandana with his pale pink lips, the half-demon quickly pulled back all his hair (except the long hair at each side of his head that kept nonexistent ears hidden) and tied it into a high ponytail. Now with his had free hands, he took the black bandana from his lips and folded it in half to look like a large triangle. Holding the two ends at wear the fabric was folded, he place it across his forehead and knotted the ends under his long ponytail. He then pulled on the last corner of the bandana backwards to cover the top of his head making sure to hide snowy ears. He felt somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that his hearing was now slightly muffled but pushed the feeling to the far corners of his mind. He tilted his head down to glimpse at his clothes and frowned.



‘I’ll be too noticeable in these but if I take them off, my scent would no longer be hidden.’ His stomach growled and his frown became more prominent as he lightly rubbed his flat stomach.



‘Maybe I’ll only take the coat off and hope to any divine entities willing to watch over me that no demons comes close enough to recognize my scent. Better yet, hopefully over the years they’ve forgotten my scent.’



Inuyasha sighed (a little too often these days) and unbuckle the black belt around his waist before proceeding to strip off the heavy coat. Now only wearing a black muscle shirt and red pants with his left arm and shoulder still covered in bandages, he rolled up the coat into a compact bundle and bound the belt around tightly around it to keep to the bundle from falling open. He made sure he left a significant length of the belt from being tied down so he could use the extra length as a rope to carry the red bundle around.



Making sure that his luggage wouldn’t fall out of the tree by gripping the strap with his teeth, he tighten the knot on the bandana as so it would not loosen at any given time and moved out across the branch keeping balance easily. Inuyasha slung the package over his shoulder, kept his grip on the belt, and leapt out of the tree onto the soft ground several meters below. He headed towards the entrance of the town in swift strides with his long silver ponytail swinging slightly from side to side.



Upon entering the little town, Inuyasha relished in the homey feel the place was giving off. Unlike the cold and harsh city with tall edifices always hiding the sun, this place was rather nice and warm with cozy small buildings that seemed welcoming even though he knew better than to expect such.



“The place even smelled nice,” Inuyasha murmured as different aromas drifted into his nose from the marketplace in the center of the town. He wandered down the dirt path towards those enticing aromas and heard nonsensical chattering becoming louder and louder as he approaches. As he came closer to the sources of the aromas, he noticed food stands with decorations (‘What’s the occasion?’) that were set up outside crowding with hundreds of people. He sniffed the air for any predators that usually has the stench of gunpowder or lead coming from the weapons they were suppose to hunt him with. So far finding no such things, his hand unconsciously rummaged through his pockets but he stopped the action immediately when he realized his actions. Knowing all too well that he can try to dig through his pockets all he wants but no money will ever appear. He almost pouted like a child that was denied his treats and sighed again.



“I’m an idiot. Why did I even come here when I know I don’t have money.” Inuyasha’s posture slumped and his head lowered letting golden eyes wonder onto the ground but instead of seeing the dirt under his feet, his eyes met with large, round, brown eyes staring up at him. Startled, Inuyasha stumbled backwards.



“H-hey, brat! Didn’t anyone ever told you you’re not supposed to sneak up on people like that?!” The little raven-haired girl just kept staring at him with big bewildered eyes. Never being very good with children, Inuyasha became uncomfortable under her unblinking innocent gaze.



“Er… Are you okay, kid? Is there something on me?” The little girl who looked about nine years old shook her head furiously and then smiled at him; her eyes were practically glittering.



“May I ask you a question, mister?” the little human girl finally spoke up. Inuyasha raised a brow in a quizzical manner.



‘Why would she want to ask me something?’



“Uh, sure. Shoot,” the half-demon replied before realizing it and clawed hand shot up a little too late to cover his mouth. The little brunette beamed up at him and Inuyasha almost wanted to cringe at the brightness of her smile.



“Are you a prince, sir?” Inuyasha stumbled backwards dumbfounded.



“W-what?”



“Are you-”



“Yeah, I heard and no, I’m not a prince! Do I look like a prince to you?!” The little girl merely blinked blankly at his outburst. Then her soft brows knitted together as if she was in slight frustration and fidgeted with the hems her yellow dress.



“That’s weird. I was told that demons with pretty silver hair like yours were royalty.” The little brunette stared up at him once again with wide innocent eyes. Inuyasha’s brow twitched.



“Who the hell told you that bullshit, kid?” The little girl perked up at the question.



“Oh! Lord Sesshoumaru did!” She seemed to brighten up even more (if that’s even possible) at the aforementioned name. Inuyasha gave her a weird look and she just giggled.



‘Sesshoumaru…? That name sounds familiar…’



Inuyasha stomach suddenly growled and he frowned. The little girl giggled behind her hands before running up to him and latching onto the half-demon’s clawed hand pulling him forward; which was quite uncomfortable because of the height difference making him bend down a little.



“H-hey! What are you doing?! Haven’t you heard about not talking to strangers anyways? I might not be a good person, y’know.” Inuyasha said in exasperation but allowed her to lead him through the crowds of people anyways lugging his own luggage over his unwounded shoulder. The young human girl paused in steps and turned around to look up into his face.



“You don’t look like a bad person to me.” The little girl smiled earnestly. What he heard from the child surprised him and he blushed.



‘Argh! Why the hell am I blushing at a little kid for!?’ he practically screamed in his head but Inuyasha felt defeated and allowed himself to be escorted as the little girl picked up her steps smiling widely all the while.



As Inuyasha followed the human child, still in an uncomfortable bent position due to the small girl still holding onto his hand, his nose picked up scents that were coming from the kid in front of him. He wrinkled his nose in confusion. Besides her own natural smell, there was an underlying scent that was similar to the one he had encountered last night. It was too hard to be able to tell though since it was so faint, and with her own scent overwhelming it, made it even more difficult to decipher.



They stopped abruptly pulling Inuyasha out of his contemplations and almost toppling over the tiny girl but he managed to catch his balance just in time. Straightening up, the half-demon was about to chastise the little girl but was cut off by her questioning.



“What would you like to eat, mister?” Surprised, Inuyasha hand slipped letting his bundle fall onto the ground with a thud. Finding himself dumbfounded again, he just blinked. He finally noticed the outdoor stand that was selling assortments of food in front of them. He glanced down at the child still holding onto his large hand into her tiny ones. She smiled up at him waiting patiently for his answer. He bent down to pick up the dropped package before replying.



“Um… I don’t have money, kid.” If his ears weren’t already hidden by the black bandana, they probably would have in embarrassment into his silver mane that was still currently in a ponytail. The little human shook her head.



“That’s okay! I’ll pay!” She grinned again. Inuyasha almost blushed again.



“No! That’s too weird! I’m not letting a stupid little brat whom I don’t even know pay for me!” Inuyasha crossed his arm over his chest. It would’ve been two arms if she wasn’t still holding onto his other hand. The human girl pouted. (‘Oh. She does have other facial expressions.’)



“You don’t have to worry about taking money away from me. Lord Sesshoumaru always give me plenty for these festivals!” she urged with sincere honesty.



“No way! A grown man like me shouldn’t be taking money from little kids no matter how much they have!” Inuyasha refused again stubbornly.



“Pul-leeeeeeeeze? Imagine it as a gift! I don’t want to eat alone…” The raven-hair child lowered her eyes to the ground and Inuyasha stomach filled with guilt.



“Uh…” Inuyasha intelligently uttered.



“Um… pardon me.” The half-demon peeled his eyes away from the dejected human girl in front of him and looked in the direction where the voice came from.

“You should just give into her. I won’t tell anyone that you took money from a child,” giggled a young woman who was probably the tender of the stand. Inuyasha this time did blush and then he scowled. The half-demon huffed out in annoyance.



“Fine.” Immediately, the small human child grinned up at him with the earlier dejection nowhere on her face. Inuyasha pale brow twitched in annoyance.



‘Great. I have just been played by this brat.’



“Yay! Please pick what you want, mister!” Inuyasha sighed in defeat and stepped forward to get a better look at what the outdoor stand had to offer. The lively child followed still clasping onto the half-demon’s hand. Golden eyes skimmed through the assortments of snacks before finally choosing something.



“Er- I’ll take a couple of those grilled squid-on-a-stick.”



“No! We should get more so we can share! Also a bag of dumplings too!” the little girl chirped enthusiastically. Pale brows rose in surprise.



“Wait. Why are you getting so many?”



“Like I said! So we can share! You look hungry anyways.” Inuyasha face heated up as his stomach grumble to agree with the child.



“Fine. Do whatever you want.” Inuyasha averted his eyes away from the human child in embarrassment barely noticing that the tiny hand had let go of his own hand.



‘Argh! What am I fucking being so embarrassed for! How did I even get stuck with her?’ The half-demon felt the urge to slam his head against a brick wall but suppressed it.



“Here you go and thank you!” Inuyasha return his vision back to the human child and noticed that she had finished paying; stuffing a little silk pouch into the pocket of her dress before receiving a rather large paper bag and six grilled squids. Seeing that the little girl was struggling trying to juggle both the large bag of dumplings and sticks of grilled squids in her tiny hands, he grabbed the bag from her before she dropped it. The girl smiled up at him in thanks and Inuyasha scoffed.



“Where would you like to go sit and eat, mister?”



“Anywhere’s fine,” the half-demon replied no longer trying to resist.



“Okay! Let’s go to those pretty flowers!” Inuyasha glanced down the dirt path and saw a big field of wild daisies bordering the small town. He nodded and the little girl bounded towards the yellow field. His golden eyes softened as the cheerful girl skipped down the path reminding him a bit of Kagome.



Finally reaching their intended location, they settled down under a large tree that shaded them from the harsh rays of the sun. Inuyasha settled the bag onto the ground and unbundled his red sleeveless coat hoping the girl most likely wouldn’t recognize it. Lucky for him, no one had found out who he was. He silently thanked the divine entities he had asked for protection earlier. Sliding the coat on and buckling the belt back into place, he relished in the sense of safety knowing his natural scent was completely hidden by the heavy coat that had some magical properties. He then noticed the human child gave no sign of recognition and breathed out in relief; though he didn’t know what he was relieved for. It probably would’ve been better if she was scared of him and ran away then staying with him knowing all the trouble that could appear any moment now even with his scent hidden.



Nestled up against the rough trunk, he placed the large, brown paper sack between them. Smiling giddily, the human girl handed him the grilled squids; keeping only one for herself. They ate in a comfortable silence. Every now and a refreshing breeze would brush against them.



“Rin.” Inuyasha brow rose in confusion. He had already finished off the grilled squids and was in the process of devouring delicious dumplings. He faced the little girl that had broken the silence.



“Huh?” The girl smiled again.



“My name. It’s Rin. You had said that you couldn’t let someone you don’t know pay for you. Well, now you know my name and you can accept my gifts.” Inuyasha snorted at her logic.



“Yeah sure. Whatever,” Inuyasha said in semi-sarcastic tone.



“What’s your name?” Rin asked. Inuyasha hand froze midway from stuffing his mouth with another dumpling. He lowered his arm and contemplated if he should answer her.



“Um… I don’t think you would want to know my name,” Inuyasha solemnly replied. Puzzle, Rin’s soft face scrunched up.



“Why is that?” Her wide brown eyes stared up at him in curiosity. Inuyasha frowned at her persistence.



“Because it just is.” The half-demon’s frown deepened averting his eyes from Rin’s. Rin noticed the unhappy air around her new friend and stood up abruptly. She then run into the middle of the field and picked a bundle of yellow daisies before returning to a very confused half-demon. Rin grasped the hand that wasn’t occupied with the white dumpling and shoved the wild flowers into warm clawed hands.



“I’m sorry! I won’t ask you for your name again. Please don’t be mad.” The human girl’s word startled him a little.



“Uh. That’s… okay. I’m not mad,” Inuyasha said awkwardly. Rin peered up at him with hopeful eyes.



“R-really?” Inuyasha smiled awkwardly at her earnestness.



“Yeah,” he replied before taking a bite out of the round dumpling he was still holding. Rin grinned again but then soften into what looks like a nervous smile.



“Um… can I call you Prince?” Inuyasha sputtered.



“W-what? I already told you I’m no royalty!” Suddenly, Inuyasha was the one to stand up abruptly this time. The same demon scent from last night drifted into his nose. The hair on the back of his neck stood up on ends as a powerful demonic aura sped towards them.



“Is there something the matter, Prince?” The half-demon would’ve rolled his eyes if it weren’t for the rapidly approaching doom. He glanced down at the girl and nodded.



“Yeah, I have to go right now.” Rin was about to protest but he cut her off.



“I’ll really need to go or you can be endangered too!” Inuyasha exclaimed and twisted around to break into a run but before he could do anything though, his body went rigid at the tall figure in front of him. The half-demon cursed and glanced up.



Golden eyes met with equally golden eyes.



_____________________________________________________________________________



A/N: Very slow pace? Yeah… o-o;; Eh… not so happy with this chapter. It’s a lot shorter than what I had planned but it’s still an important chapter no less. :X Anywho, I did a picture for Kouga! :D I wanted to put him in a sexy uniform but then I got lazy…… >_>;; Here’s the link.



Kouga - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/Unari/Gunpowder/001wtv.jpg



Hmm… who should I do next? Maybe Rin? Anyhow, drop a review if possible. I would love to know what you guys think.