InuYasha and the Fair Maiden

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of its characters.

Chapter One

It had been many weeks since the passing of Inuyasha’s mother. Inuyasha had found a cave to stay in. It was near a stream, so Inuyasha had a source of water and food. This was his new home.

Of course it really wasn’t his home though, for even though it had been many weeks since the passing of his mother, he still had the empty void inside of him. Everyday was the same. He ate, he slept. Then in the next morning it would start all over.

Inuyasha hated his routine life and missed his mother more than anything in the world. It seemed to him that his life would always be this way. No adventure, no fun, no love. He hated that fact, but it was what was destined to be.

Inuyasha was bathing in the stream right now. The water was warm and felt good on his exposed body. The current was slow here allowing him to lay in peace. For the first time in many weeks, he was relaxed. All of his troubles were gone, his sorrow hidden.

He sighed and wished that everyday could be that good to him. He dunked his head under the water wetting his hair. He saw fish swim by and he tried to catch them, but to his disappointment, they all swam away. When he could no longer hold his breath, he popped his out of water. He shook the water from his eyes and looked over towards the bank where his clothes were at.

There was someone there! He jumped backwards into the deeper end of the water in fright causing him to almost be carried away. Luckily for him, there was an overhanging branch. Soon his strong grip had taken hold on the branch allowing him to get back to safety.

The person on land laughed as Inuyasha struggled to get out of the deep end. Inuyasha glowered, noting that the human was a female. He didn’t see what was so funny.

“What is so funny?” he asked the girl standing on land by his clothes. Inuyasha was disgusted at the sight of her, as he was with all humans. However, as Inuyasha looked at her laughing form, he felt that she was somehow different. She smelled different too. She smelt nice.

“You should have seen your face!” she laughed still looking at Inuyasha. Inuyasha got out of the water to confront the girl, exposing his naked body. The girl stared at him.

This was the first time that she had seen a naked boy before. She looked his body over and noted that it was somehow different. She was curious, but decided not to ask questions.

Inuyasha felt uncomfortable under the gaze of the raven-haired girl. He moved quickly to gather his clothes as he asked, “What are you looking at.” The girl turned her head quickly.

“Nothing,” she replied looking at him again. She watched him slip on his clothes. There was something odd about him, but she didn’t know what. Even after the examination of his body. It wasn’t his personality, or even his lower body, but something else. She looked at his head. That was it! He had dog ears!

She felt an undesirable urge to touch them as she continued to watch the boy dress. She began to walk towards him, not taking her eyes off of the half-naked boy’s ears. She walked up behind him, reached up, and touched them, causing Inuyasha to jump in fright.

“What are you doing?!” Inuyasha yelled at the girl causing her to let go. She stepped back from the boy.

“I was touching your ears. Why are they like that?” she said pointing to his dog ears. Inuyasha growled out his answer.

“It’s none of your business. No go on and leave me alone. You’re disturbing my day!” He glared at her hoping it would make her go away.

She looked at him, amber eyes filled with tears. Why was he so mean? She let a tear roll down her cheek before running off into the woods crying.

Inuyasha felt regret hit the pit of his stomach as the girl ran deeper into the woods, hair flying in the wind behind her. He thought about going after her, but pushed the thought from his head. She didn’t matter to him.

But, as the day wore on and Inuyasha sat in his cave, he began to wonder if she did matter. She was the first person he had met since the death of his mother and he was beginning to think that he actually enjoyed her company. His conscious was bothering him about what he had said, not letting him forget about her.

Inuyasha stood in his cave and looked toward the day’s light coming in through the entrance. He was going to find that girl. He wouldn’t feel better until he did, besides he didn’t have anything else to do.

Her scent still lingered in the air making it easy for Inuyasha to track her down. He found her by the side of a large tree. She appeared to be gazing off into space.

The odd thing that Inuyasha noticed about this girl was that she had not gone back to the village. He had expected her to go back to the village that was near the forest. He had seen the village at night, but no one was ever out.

He tried to silently approach her, but before he even got to take three steps, she looked over in his direction.

“Oh, it’s you again,” she said looking at the hanyou with anger. Inuyasha still walked towards her, ignoring her comment.

He reached her and sat down by her side, but she turned her head away from him. He sighed and said, “About earlier…… I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m not used to seeing people.”

The girl turned around and looked at Inuyasha with a certain happiness in her eyes. Inuyasha guessed that she had been wanting him to apologize, not only because he had hurt her feelings, but because she wanted someone to talk to.

“It’s okay,” she said beaming, “I’m not mad at you…… er…. what’s your name?” Inuyasha replied.

“My name is Inuyasha. What’s yours?” he asked the girl.

“I’m Kikyo.” She said looking at him. Inuyasha looked away from her uncomfortable gaze. He asked the question he wanted to ask earlier.

“So, Kikyo, why haven’t you gone back to the village, aren’t your parents worried?”

She looked at him sadly. “I don’t have any parents. I am just traveling to this village in order to become a priestess.” Inuyasha felt saddened.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” he said. The girl looked at him, the brightness returning to her eyes.

“It’s okay. Where are your parents? I haven’t seen them around.” This time Inuyasha looked at her sadly.

“I don’t have any parents either. My dad left, and my mom was murdered.”

“I’m sorry, but look on the bright side, we’re both orphans.” Inuyasha looked at her he didn’t know what was so bright about that.

They got into a silence after that, neither finding anything to talk about. It was awkward to say the least. Inuyasha and Kikyo alike grew uncomfortable.

Inuyasha looked over at Kikyo and turned his head really quick when she turned towards him. She noticed and laughed ending their silence.

“So, you’re going to be a priestess huh?” he asked her trying to start conversation. She looked in his direction.

“Yes, that’s right. They say the powerful priestess Midiroku is there. I am hoping that she will train me.”

“Well, I hope you have luck with what you want to do.” he said clasping his hands together in his lap.

“Thanks,” she replied, “And by the way, you never answered my question earlier. Why do your ears look like that?”

Inuyasha didn’t reply instantly, instead he looked away. Finally after a moment he said, “I’m a hanyou.” Kikyo looked shocked.

“You’re a half demon!” she scrambled up on her feet in an attempt to run. Inuyasha felt hurt sting his heart again.

“Where are you going?” he asked frantically. Kikyo looked back at him and saw the hurt in his eyes.

“My mom was killed by a demon. Demons are not to be trusted.” Suddenly she felt something inside her snap.

The hurt in his eyes convinced her that he was good, but her mother had been killed by a demon. Should she trust him?

“If I were going to kill you, I would have done it already,” Inuyasha said briskly. Kikyo nodded convinced and sat back down.

They sat for a moment in silence. Then, they began to talk again. Soon the sun was setting calling an end to their day of happiness.

That was the first of many days that they would spend together. After that, everyday, they would meet at the same spot, under the large tree. Their friendship grew, and both of them learned that they would never have to be alone again.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed- NO ONE! I Have Only had 3 hits. Well, if you were one of the 3 please review next time, and I hope you like the story!