His ears flicked back and he sighed. �Why do I have to go to this stupid school anyway?� he grumbled.
When the letter had arrived from the school, his mother had been ecstatic. She felt it was the best possible thing for her son. He�d be going to a place where his gifts could be understood and nurtured. He wouldn�t be teased for his odd appearance and he�d be able to learn a little more about his youkai heritage.
Unfortunately, Inuyasha didn�t see it that way. He didn�t feel like he�d ever fit in anywhere and, after getting kicked out of three schools because of his temper, he�d reached the point where he didn�t care what other people thought of him. If they didn�t like him, it was their loss. If they wanted to push, well, he�d push right back and he�d beat them too.
Inuyasha sighed again and laid the last of his personal items in the suitcase, before closing it. It might not look like much, but the battered old sword held amazing power. It had been handed down in his family for years and, now that he was going away to this school, his mother had decided he should have it.
Almost 500 years ago, a hanyou had wielded the sword in defense of the human woman he loved. Eventually, they had found a way for him to become completely human. However, he still carried the blood of a youkai in his veins. Although it took half a millennium for them to express themselves, express themselves they did. Nearly fourteen years ago, his descendant had borne a tiny infant with a dog�s sharp teeth, claws and ears. His hair was stark white and his eyes were a beautiful golden color. Because he�d looked so much like his hanyou ancestor, his mother had named him Inuyasha.
�Are you ready to go, son?� a gentle voice asked, stirring the young man out of his reverie.
Inuyasha turned toward the sound and forced a smile. �Yeah, Mama,� he answered, closing the suitcase. �I�m as ready as I�ll ever be.�
Inuyasha�s mother hugged him gently and said, �It�ll be alright, you�ll see. You�ll make friends and learn all sorts of new things and the time will pass quickly. Before you know it, you�ll be home for the holidays and wishing you were back at school.�
The young man nuzzled against his mother and nodded. �If you say so,� he said doubtfully.
His mother nodded once, then held him back to look into his golden eyes. �Remember, Inuyasha, watch your temper and no cursing. We don�t want you to be expelled from this school as well.�
�I�ll try,� Inuyasha promised, a slight blush coming to his cheeks. As long as no one started with him, he wouldn�t have any trouble staying out of fights. His language, however, was a different matter. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed like his mouth had a mind of it�s own and rude or inappropriate words slipped out. It didn�t help that he had a canine mindset when it came to some of the words he chose. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he saw as appropriate to refer to woman in the same terms one would use for a female dog. He didn�t mean anything offensive by it, but that didn�t help him when he tried to explain matters to his female teacher.
**
It only took a few hours for them to reach the ship that would take Inuyasha to the school grounds. Already, there were parents waving to their sons and daughters, who were standing on the deck of the large ship, waiting to make the journey.
Inuyasha sighed and blinked away the tears forming in his eyes. �I don�t want to go,� he whined sullenly.
His mother sighed and hugged him close. �It�ll be all right,� she assured him. �We�ll see each other soon and I�ll write you every week.�
The young man rubbed his eyes and nodded. �Okay,� he said softly. After kissing his mother lightly on the cheek, he took his bags and loaded them onto the luggage trolley with everyone else�s. They were clearly labeled with his name, so he knew he�d get them back. He took a backpack and shrugged into it and then hung the sword at his waist.
Although she wouldn�t explain why, his mother had insisted that he carry the weapon on his hip all the time. Not wanting to upset her, he�d complied. Nodding to himself, Inuyasha bounded up the gangplank and onto the ship.
He was a little surprised to see that he wasn�t the only student not looking forward to going away to the Southeast Academy. To one side of the gangplank, a red-haired boy was hugging his mother tightly and, judging by the look on his face, fighting to hold back tears.
Not wanting to intrude, Inuyasha turned away from the scene and glanced around at the other students. Suddenly, he was very nervous and lonely. He turned around and saw his mother waving to him and found that he had to stop himself from rushing back into her arms. Instead, he only waved and sighed heavily.
�First time away from home?� a soft, gentle voice asked.
Inuyasha turned to see the red-haired boy regarding him closely. �Yeah,� he answered sadly.
�Me too,� the boy confided. �My name�s Shuichi, but most people call me Kurama.�
�Inuyasha,� he replied. His ears flicked and he frowned. �Why do I have to go to this stupid school?� he moaned.
�You�re a hanyou,� Kurama answered. �In a way, so am I.�
�Really?� Inuyasha said, blinking in surprise.
Kurama nodded. �I�m a thousand year old kitsune in the body of a fourteen year old human,� he stated. �Until this past summer, I had no memory of it. When my youkai abilities emerged, the memories started to come as well.�
Inuyasha sighed deeply. �I�m descended from a dog spirit,� he said softly. �He had a son with a human woman and one day that son became fully human � or so he thought. When I was born my mother knew the youkai blood wasn�t really gone from our family.�
�It must have been difficult for you in school,� Kurama said sympathetically.
Inuyasha shrugged. �I learned to deal with it,� he stated firmly. Blushing he added, �But I�ve also been expelled from three schools for fighting.�
Kurama smiled. �You remind me of someone I knew a few years ago,� he stated.
The young man fell silent and looked down thoughtfully. Inuyasha glanced around and blinked in surprise. At some point during the brief conversation, the ship had left the dock.
His companion pulled his attention back to the present, when he said, �Would you like to get something to eat?�
Inuyasha shrugged. �Alright,� he said, nodding and following the other to one of the lower decks. Someone had been thoughtful enough to provide a light snack for the students making the voyage � a snack that was rapidly being devoured by many nervous youngsters.
A couple hours later, the ship finally docked at the island where they would be attending school. A short man with straight dark hair and large violet eyes called to get the attention of all the students around him.
Once everyone had turned to face him, he said, �New students will disembark first. Once you�re all off, you will be guided up to the main school building, where you�ll be sorted into your respective houses. After the new students have all gathered, the returning students will begin disembarking.�
Just as they were instructed, the new students gathered at the top of the gangplank and began disembarking. Once they had gathered at the base of the ramp, a tall man called to them to follow him. When he didn�t wait to make sure they did as they�d been asked the students quickly queued up and began to follow behind him.
�Hello,� a cheerful voice called, gaining Inuyasha and Kurama�s attention.
Standing beside Kurama was a slender red-haired boy with large purple eyes. �Hello,� Kurama replied, eyeing the boy uncertainly.
�I am Kenshin Himura. It is nice to meet you,� the redhead stated.
�It�s nice to meet you as well, Kenshin,� the kitsune replied. �I�m Shuichi Minamino, but most call me Kurama.�
Kenshin nodded and looked Inuyasha, who was standing just behind Kurama. Inuyasha blushed lightly at the scrutiny and said, �Inuyasha.� His ears folding back against his head, betraying his nervousness.
�What are you doing here?� a cold voice asked.
The three boys turned to face a taller boy. Inuyasha growled when he realized who it was he was looking at. Scowling darkly, he said, �Obviously I got asked to attend this school, Jackass.�
�Oro!� Kenshin exclaimed. �Inuyasha, you must not use such language.�
�Feh!� Inuyasha grumbled, turning away from the moron to look at Kenshin and Kurama. �My cousin�thinks he�s all that just �cause he�s a full demon.�
Kurama nodded understandingly and said, �Still, Inuyasha, Kenshin is correct. The teachers will surely not approve of students using such language.�
Inuyasha sighed deeply as he remembered his promise to his mother. Closing his eyes, he tried to reign in his temper and pushed thoughts of his arrogant cousin out of his mind. Sesshomaru was descended from his own ancestor�s half-brother. On the rare occasions they�d gotten together as children, they had invariably fought, sometimes verbally but also physically. It seemed that the older boy knew just what to say to push his buttons.
The problem was, whenever they fought Sesshomaru always seemed able to turn the situation around so that it looked like Inuyasha had started the fight. As a consequence, Inuyasha was always punished and his cousin almost never was.
Just as he had just about gotten control of his temper, Inuyasha bumped into the person in front of him. His eyes popped open and he blushed. Sprawled on the ground in front of him, was a pretty girl with long dark hair and dark gray eyes. �Sorry,� he said quickly, helping her to her feet. �I � I wasn�t looking where I was going.�
�That�s okay,� the girl said, dusting off her skirt. �I�m fine. My name�s Kagome,� she said, handing him back his sword. �I think you dropped this.�
�Yeah,� he said softly, replacing the sword back at his hip. �Kagome�s a pretty name,� he added. Where had that come from? Blinking in surprise and blushing, he said quickly, �I�m Inuyasha.�
�Nice to meet you,� Kagome said, smiling warmly.
Still blushing slightly, Inuyasha trailed along behind Kagome, staring at her through hooded eyes. Occasionally, he would glance at Kurama to make sure the kitsune didn�t notice that he was taken with the girl.
As they headed for the main building on the school grounds, Inuyasha thought about all that occurred that day. In the short time since he�d left his mother at the dock, Inuyasha had made three new friends. Smiling to himself, he decided that it might not be so bad to go to this school after all.
End
