Author's Notes: Please read. Important. This story is based upon the drama series Mars, yet I am only borrowing elements and some have been dropped because I do not believe I can write those topics to the best of my abilities. A major aspect which has been dropped is concerning rape, which I know I will not feel comfortable writing. Some character personalities will be drastically different from the persona they are supposed to represent in the series (a.k.a. Miroku).

Please remember that, it is based upon Mars, but it is not Mars. I don't intend to follow all the scenes/lines/or plot of Mars.

I also warn you. Some topics tackled will be extremely mature, and relationships will not be of the usual.

P.S. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha aren't brothers in this tale.

Disclaimer: The characters of both Inuyasha and Mars do not belong to me, and I renounce any right over the original plot of Mars. However, any elements and characters you do not recognize are my creation.

Dark Hero

Chapter One

Delinquent Child

She concentrated on her sketch, the pencil tracing over curves and shades on the paper. She gazed up at her subject, watching the kids running around the playground and giggling after one another. She felt numb to their cheerfulness before directing her attention back to the drawing, the pencil perfecting every angle as she unconsciously bit her lower lip in focus.

"Hello?" someone interrupted her, and she blinked once more as she gazed up and saw someone all too familiar. His white hair cascaded like silk over his shoulders as he towered over her, looking down placidly with those golden eyes of his. His left eyebrow was arched up slightly and he was sporting the usual red motorcyclist jacket she always saw him wearing. From that angle with the light shining through from behind him, she wasn't sure whether he looked like a god or a devil.

She immediately brought her head back down again however and continued sketching, hoping he would go away.

On the other hand, the person didn't seem to notice her reluctance and continued talking. "There is a hospital around here called Un…" he trailed off, his eyebrows coming together in contemplation as he struggled to remember something. "What was the name again…" he mumbled to himself, narrowing his eyes in thought.

She quickly flipped her sketchbook to a different page, ignoring his mumblings, and drew something swiftly.

He scratched his head and looked around him, as if the world could provide an answer. "Um…I think it was called…" he continued, but still couldn't quite remember.

He didn't have to wait however, as she quickly ripped off the sketch paper and held it up at him. He frowned before taking the paper from her hands, reading the words she had written on it. "Unmei Hospital. Oh, that was what it was called…"

He grunted to himself, and was about to just continue on his way, although she was faster. Brushing past him, she was walking away rapidly without once throwing a glance back. He arched his eyebrow in surprise, gazing at her almost timid posture and wondering why she was in a hurry. He had hardly seen her face either because she had looked away from him the whole time.

He shrugged, a nonchalant look on his face, before continuing towards his destination, his hands shoved carelessly in his jean pockets.

She on the other hand, gave one glance back at the man who had just asked her for directions. Seeing that he was on his way, she gradually slowed down her pace, her eyes lingering on him for a moment. She couldn't believe he had just actually talked to her. For some reason, it had slightly frightened her.

"Kagome?"

The girl jumped slightly at the sound of her name so unexpectedly, and whipped her head around to lock hereyes onto the person who had called it. Seeing her mother gazing at her, her eyes softened a bit and she breathed out a small sign of relief, which her mother noticed.

"Kagome, honey, are you okay?" her mother asked, distress written clearly on the wrinkles around her face.

Kagome nodded as her eyes subconsciously trailed over the scar which made its way down the right side of her mother's face, completely destroying the sweet maternal image. The scar had always looked bizarre on Kagome's mother who was gentle and always loving.

"What happened, dear?" her mother continued questioning, walking up to her daughter and looking with concern into her daughter's unique blue eyes.

"I saw someone I don't like at the park," Kagome whispered as she watched the way the warm sunlight reflected off her mother's short hair, making it shine. She could see the way her mother's brown eyes were filled with worry, and she quickly redirected her gaze to the ground, not wanting to see those familiar eyes.

"Who was it?"

"He's just someone who goes to my school."

"What did he do?" her mother continued interrogating, a hint of hardening in her voice.

Kagome hesitated to answer, knowing that it would sound a little ridiculous to be afraid of. "He asked for directions…" she mumbled in a low, reluctant voice, feeling her mother put her hand softly on her shoulders. She couldn't help but want to shudder at the contact.

Her mother let go of her, surprise clearly written on her face. "Directions…" she echoed, before smiling slightly and looking relieved. "Just directions. You had me a little worried there."

Kagome bit her lips slightly, not sure what to say after her mother had made it so clear that she was acting a little foolish. Silent for a while, she decided to answer with a simple, "I just don't like him very much."

---

"Honestly, you're in the hospital and you are still smuggling in food you're not supposed to be eating," he commented lightly, his form slouched over on one of the hospital chairs as his sharp gaze followed his friend on the other side of the bed, who was rummaging through some food from other countries with one hand.

His friend lifted an elegant eyebrow before taking out a jar of some brownish substance. "Vegemite," his friend explained as he put it back in the bag. "From Australia…You know, one of the Aussie's favorite things, or stereotypically called so. Personally, I think the thing tastes terrible. But you might not."

The boy slouched in the chair simply grunted as a reply.

The friend raised his eyebrow once more, gazing apathetically at the boy. "Inuyasha, you're a useless kid. Make yourself useful and get me the wine from the suitcase."

"Get it your---" A guilty expression suddenly appeared on Inuyasha's face as his gaze slanted down towards his friend's left arm, seeing that the appendage was missing and the hospital gown's sleeve was hanging loosely off his shoulders.

His friend was about to make his way to the suitcase, indignant at such disrespect from the kid, before Inuyasha got up rapidly and blurted out, "Yo Sesshoumaru, I'll get it."

Sesshoumaru merely went back to his bed and sat down on it, watching the otherboy go over to the suitcase on the counter and take out two large bottles of wine. He shook his head slightly, as if almost lamenting at the image he saw before him.

Inuyasha turned around and brought the two bottles over, handing one over to his friend. His eyes lingered on Sesshoumaru's left arm, and he finally asked in a rushed manner, as if he had been trying to suppress it for a while, "How do you feel about it?"

Sesshoumaru looked down uninterestedly at his arm, before attempting to open the bottle in one hand by placing it in his lap. "Doesn't matter, us demons can take pain better than humans and hanyou."

Inuyasha's ears twitched in his friend's direction as a frown appeared on his face. "I can take pain as well as you can. Don't act like you're so old. I'm 21 and you're 27, what's the big diff?" Inuyasha growled, placing the other bottle on the counter next to the bed and almost sulking.

Sesshoumaru seemed to ignore Inuyasha's childishness, knowing that Inuyasha still had a long way to go before he completely matured. Instead, he answered the question he had previously been asked with a casual tone of voice. "When I made that turn, it felt like my whole body skidded. I don't remember much, I don't remember the crash," he said evenly, his expressions never once pained or aggrieved, although he did seem unwilling to admit he had made a mistake.

"But, I meant your arm."

Sesshoumaru shrugged as he looked around for cups for the wine. "They'll get me a new one soon enough," he announced in an offhand manner, as if it didn't bother him. His eyes strayed to the door and he announced, "Here comes the glasses."

Inuyasha turned his head to the door as a beautiful woman walked in, holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and two glasses in her other. Her crimson eyes only betrayed a small amount of astonishment when she saw Inuyasha, before she simply strolled over to the other man and placed a small kiss on his cheek, handing him the glasses.

"Hello Sesshoumaru, Hello Inuyasha," she greeted with a smile, as she drifted over to place the flowers in the empty vase next to the bed.

"Hey Kagura," Inuyasha replied before watching Sesshoumaru hold a glass out for him to take, and then proceed to pour wine.

Kagura looked over her shoulders at the two boys, raised an eyebrow, and questioned, "Are you allowed to have that in the hospital?"

Sesshoumaru's expressions seemed to lighten when he talked to his mate and wife. "What are you talking about? This is water."

Kagura narrowed her eyes, before shrugging innocently. "Okay, do whatever you want."

Inuyasha laughed slightly at the two, knowing that only Kagura could crack the indifference that always seemed to be set in Sesshoumaru.

"Glad someone's happy today," Kagura commented idly, as she continued to play around with the flowers. "He's been nagging me all day yesterday to give you the directions to the hospital, it's almost impossible to bear. He's like an old man sometimes."

"I did not nag you at all," Sesshoumaru defended himself, drinking his wine with a satisfied look on his face.

Kagura rolled her eyes behind his back, and Inuyasha smiled slightly. Those two really did get along. The wind demon smiled again as she went to sit next to her husband, placing her hand lightly over his one hand. She looked up at the hanyou. "Was it hard to find the hospital?"

Inuyasha frowned at the mere thought and looked huffily at Sesshoumaru, as if everything was his fault. "Yes it was. What's the idea of staying in a hospital so hard to locate? I was lucky however because some person drew a map for me." As if acting on impulse, he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and smoothed it out, gazing at the directions the girl had drawn for him.

Kagura blinked as she noticed something behind the paper, before getting up and taking the paper from the boy's hand. "Oh, that's a lovely picture. But it's just like you to crumple it up and ruin it." She gave it back to him and Inuyasha turned the directions over, gazing at a picture on the back.

It was a sketch of a mother holding a baby boy close to her, and it reflected warmth and tenderness. He stared at it, feeling something grow inside of him which even he was unable to explain. Frowning slightly at the emotion, he forced it into a deep recess of his mind.

Stuffing the paper back into his pocket, he raised his glass at Sesshoumaru. "Another one," he demanded, but Sesshoumaru simple ignored him and gazed at the clock in the room.

"Shouldn't you be going? School starts in an hour. Don't be late for the first day of school." Sesshoumaru motioned for Kagura to pour him another glass, and when she did, he simply sipped from it and gazed out the window.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, wondering what Sesshoumaru was thinking inside his head. He stood there for a few more moments, before he realized Sesshoumaru was serious about him leaving. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, if you're so eager to get rid of me, I suppose I shouldn't grace you with my wonderful presence any longer."

Inuyasha turned around, with his hands behind his head. Looking like he didn't care about the world, he casually made his way to the door.

However, Sesshoumaru stopped him with a single word. "Inuyasha."

The said hanyou turned around with a questioning look on his face, before it shifted to one of surprise as Sesshoumaru threw something at him with his one hand. Inuyasha caught it easily and instantly felt cold metal touch his flesh. He uncurled his fingers to see a key in his palm He stared at it for a while with an unreadable expression.

"Take it," Sesshoumaru offered, resuming his wine sipping as he gazed at the bland expression on the hanyou's face.

Inuyasha glanced over at Sesshoumaru, his eyes settling upon the missing limb once more. "So you really won't be able to ride a motorcycle anymore?" he asked quietly, a tense strain in his voice.

Silence pursued as Sesshoumaru seemed to reflect on the thought, before replying with a shrug. "I'm giving the keys to you, aren't I? You know where it's parked." He stopped gazing at the younger male and instead put his glass down and held his wife's hand tightly, signaling that it was time for Inuyasha to leave.

Inuyasha watched his friend intently for a few more moments, before he turned around and made his way out the door. "Bye," he said simply, and was gone.

---

He walked down the road to the school in a casual manner, although one hand was throwing his paper bag in every direction possible and the other was pointing at students one would only assume he knew. A boyish grin was on his face as he told a random student, "Students from the neighboring university are coming to bet on basketball next Friday. Be there at the basketball courts at 3!"

"Miroku, honestly, it's the first day of school. That's two weeks later," the student replied, but Miroku simply shrugged and continued on his way towards Ashikawa University, sending a spontaneous wink over to a group of freshmen girls who all giggled slightly before continuing on their way. He sighed---yes, today would indeed prove to be a rather productive day.

However, the smile wavered on his face when he saw a girl walking slowly in front of him. He watched discreetly as she avoided contact with a student who had been passing out flyers, possibly in an attempt to snag some unsuspecting freshman for some sort of club on campus.

He quickly gave her a once-over. So, she was still as conservative as ever, as he saw her wearing a sweater with a scarf and a skirt that went past her knees. She hadn't changed one bit.

He would normally have simply went up to her, slung a casual arm over her shoulders, and greeted her as an old friend---if she had been any other girl. But Higurashi Kagome was untouchable. There was an aura around her that immediately set off whatever male survival instincts in him that told him she would not take his friendly gesture pleasantly. In fact however, he had known her for a long time, ever since high school to be exact, but she had always been untouched by him.

It would be rather strange to admit that in some sort of way, Kagome had this thing about her that sometimes interested him. Of course, he would never openly admit it. After all, Miroku plainly thought that his attraction to Kagome was beyond what one would consider innocent, yet he knew it wasn't a materialistic appeal. It was much more than that, in a much more unexplored region which Miroku never liked to delve into. Thus was the reason Kagome was untouchable.

He began to hum artlessly as he looked away from the quiet girl to gaze around at the scenery of the school to the long and wide stretch of road that took students many minutes to cross from one end to the other. He was beginning to think of what new methods were possible in approaching a girl before he heard a rumbling sound in the distance, which held much resemblance to a roaring engine.

Miroku turned his gaze to look back at the other half of the campus road he had taken at least five minutes to walk across, and saw something in the distance. He raised an eyebrow as he saw the object rapidly closing the expanse towards him, as many students jumped from the middle of the road for the intrusion to pass.

Squinting his eyes, Miroku soon realized it was a motorcycle. Catching sight of an all too familiar red jacket, Miroku began waving his arms around---bag and all---and yelled out as the bike got closer, "What took you so long, Inu---"

He never got to finish his sentence however as Inuyasha sped past at a tremendous speed on a powerful silver motorcycle, grabbing Miroku's bag on the way and racing onwards without a hello.

"My breakfast!" Miroku shouted after the hanyou, a horrified look on his face as he realized the evil culprit had managed to snatch his food. Seeing that Inuyasha wasn't about to stop, he shook a fist, and began running after him, yelling along the way.

---

Inuyasha rode his bike to the parking area, parked it, and took off his helmet, allowing his long white hair to flow like water from the confinement. He took in a deep breath and brought Miroku's breakfast bag to his nose, giving it a sniff. Bagels and cream cheese. As always.

Taking out one of the bagels already spread with cream cheese, the hanyou took one bite from the snack before he began to secure his helmet to the motorcycle. However, it wasn't long before the silence was broken by a heavy breathing coming from the general area in which Inuyasha had just sped by just a minute ago.

Turning his head, Inuyasha saw a rather skinny, bony man running in his direction, his second finger already in the air in preparation for the lecture Inuyasha was in no doubt of hearing. Putting on a smirk, Inuyasha watched as the demon teacher with bulging eyeballs stopped in front of him, one hand at his hip as he drew in heaving breaths. "So early and you're already exercising, Toutousai-sensei?" Inuyasha questioned innocently, watching the man narrow his eyes and shake his finger with passion.

"You…speed…" the teacher wheezed out before stopping, closing his eyes, and taking in a deep breath. "Do you know what speed you were going at, young man?" he finally managed to force out, a strict authoritarian look on his face.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "Hmm…40?" he guessed haphazardly.

"Try presuming at 100!" Toutousai grounded out.

"100?" Inuyasha echoed, looking thoughtful. "I still felt like it was 40," he finally came to as a conclusion.

Toutousai made a disapproving sound as he shook his head at the shocking behavior of this delinquent child. "I'm warning you, Inuyasha, let me catch you again and you're in trouble."

Inuyasha shone out in a light of all things possible of innocence and truthfulness. "You can always turn a blind eye, sensei," Inuyasha suggested, before patting the teacher on the shoulders and left, leaving behind Toutousai who continued to shake his head in disappointment.

Inuyasha whistled nonchalantly as he made his way to the bulletin board in which his classes were posted, his previous encounter with Toutousai already forgotten considering he had too many to even begin to count. He raised an eye at a passing girl, vaguely remembering her face as being one of his exes who he had been in a short relationship (if he could rightly call it such) last year. He noticed her nose wasn't as crooked as he had remembered, and reckoned she had invested in plastic surgery or somewhat.

Taking his eyes off of her, he peeked over shoulders of various people to gaze at the numerous pieces of paper with names plastered everywhere on the wall. He could begin to feel a headache forming as he saw all the tiny small print. He was not what one would call an extremely motivated student.

"Don't bother, you're in the same classes as me," a voice said from behind, adding a rather reluctant, "…again."

Inuyasha turned around to grin at Miroku, putting an arm around the other boy's shoulders. "That means I'm passing my classes again!" he announced happily, while Miroku heaved an aggravated sigh.

"Indeed," he groaned and the both of them continued on their way to class, Miroku looking quite irritated and Inuyasha beaming as if the world couldn't get any better. Looking at the bag in the hanyou's hand, Miroku demanded, "I want my breakfast back."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow before passing it back to him. "It's all yours," he told his friend before walking on ahead, fully aware of another exasperated sigh from Miroku behind him.

"You selfish twat," Miroku grumbled and threw the empty paper bag in a nearby trashcan, his stomach rumbling as if to remind him he was in need of food.

"Darwin's law. Survival of the fittest," Inuyasha replied casually as the two of them entered the six story building and walked towards the center stairs. However, Inuyasha stopped in his steps and pulled Miroku to him when he saw a girl strolling up the stairs, her long hair swishing around in the air.

"That ass looks really familiar," the hanyou told his friend, his eyes narrowing as if to determine who the girl was.

As if hearing the voice, the girl turned around to gaze at who had made that comment. Her eyes widened slightly at seeing Inuyasha before she smiled almost mockingly. "Inuyasha," she greeted, one hand at her hip as she leaned her weight on her right leg.

Inuyasha slapped himself mentally for having committed such a fatal mistake. "Sango," he replied, seeing the girl sending him a rather indifferent gaze.

"And what have you been doing this whole break that you couldn't even hit up an old friend to hang out?" she questioned grimly, walking down the stairs calmly towards the hanyou who looked frustrated.

"I was busy," he lied, although his whole break had consisted of doing absolutely nothing.

"Oh really?" she questioned, even if her tone suggested that she didn't believe a word that was coming out of his mouth. "Well, we're in the same class, so I guess you can't be too busy now," she continued, looking slightly amused by now.

Inuyasha ignored her and continued on his way, leaving behind a scowling Sango who hurried to catch up with the hanyou and the boy who was following him. She never talked to Miroku---he just wasn't a person she liked to get involved with. Whenever he would make a grab for her ass, she would give a well aimed slap to his cheek, and he would back off. "Well, considering the way you're overlooking my presence, I would assume you wanted to brush me off," she directed at Inuyasha, sarcasm lacing her voice.

Inuyasha simply shrugged, leaving his answer ambiguous.

After a while of Inuyasha walking with Miroku and Sango following close behind, they all filed into the rather rowdy classroom. Gazing around, Inuyasha noticed that there were only a few seats left in the class. He also thanked whatever god was watching over him when he noticed there were two pair of seats in the same row unoccupied by students and was far apart from the rest of the vacant seats.

He took a step towards it, although Sango voiced her disapproval. "There's only two seats there."

"I don't care," Inuyasha replied and dragged Miroku towards the seats, dumping himself rather unceremoniously into the first one.

Miroku couldn't quite hide a small smile when he noticed that the seat Inuyasha had occupied was to the right of a rather familiar figure---Kagome. Putting himself into the seat behind his friend, he gazed at the girl slouched rather protectively in her seat, opening her notebook in preparation for the notes.

Tapping his friend on the shoulders because the teacher had failed to appear yet, Miroku told him, "Hey, some students are coming over to bet on basketball after school next Friday."

Inuyasha gazed over his shoulders to ask, "How do we split?"

"The usual, six and four."

Inuyasha shook his long mane in disagreement. "Seven to three."

"What!"

"Gas money."

Miroku grumbled, but gave no further argument when he saw that Kagome was packing her things, looking as if to move to another seat. However, that was thwarted as the teacher came into the class, his bulging eyes seeming to narrow when it settled upon Inuyasha, who seemed to be smirking like a fool by the way he had positioned his body. Miroku just knew those things.

"Hello class," the teacher greeted, going behind his desk and putting his textbooks down. "And welcome to a new year of college. I am Toutousai-sensei and I'm sure we'll be accomplishing a lot this year." He gave a crooked smile to his students before continuing, "Considering today is the first day of class, I will be taking attendance."

Inuyasha, who had been smirking at the prospect of terrorizing Toutousai's life day after day, finally noticed something while making an observance of all the females in the class. His eyes fell upon the form of the girl next to him and recognition hit him hard. "Hey! You're the girl I met at the park this morning," he said, tilting his head towards her when he noticed that she made no attempt to look his way. "What's your name?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Higurashi Kagome," Toutousai said, looking around the class for someone to raise their hand or yell out 'Present.'

"Hello?" Inuyasha tried again, raising one eyebrow as he leaned towards the girl who seemed to tip further away. At least that meant she was listening to him. "What's your name?"

"Higurashi Kagome!"

"Here!" the girl suddenly answered abruptly, as if she had just heard her name.

"Kagome," Inuyasha tried on his tongue, finding that it sounded pleasant. "What was your last name again?" he asked, forgetting it.

"Higurashi," Miroku provided, as Inuyasha leaned back to gaze at his friend.

"You know each other?" he questioned, as he glanced at the girl who refused to look at him. Miroku nodded.

"Kotoku Inuyasha."

"Hey, Kagome. We met at the park when I asked you for directions. Do you remember me?" he asked, leaning almost completely over his desk to tease her. She acted as if she still didn't hear however.

"Kotoku Inuyasha."

Inuyasha raised his eyebrow in confusion. "How come you don't talk, Kagome?"

"Kotoku Inuyasha." Toutousai looked slightly infuriated by now as he glared at the man in his class who looked like he was making fun of one of his students.

"Helloooo, anyone home?" Inuyasha continued, looking like he enjoyed the entire thing while he was lightly poking his finger at Kagome's head.

Kagome ignored him however, and feeling slightly shunned, Inuyasha grabbed her face and turned it towards him. "Why don't you talk?" he asked, although she looked slightly surprised at his action and almost as if she dreaded his touch.

"Kotoku Inuyasha!" Toutousai repeated one more time, before grabbing his board eraser and flung it at the hanyou in an attempt to get the boy's attention and to stop him from terrorizing the poor girl.

Inuyasha's ears twitched at the sound and he turned his head towards the flying object. "Oh wow!" he exclaimed before moving his head to the side, making the eraser hit smack dab in Miroku's face.

"Ow…" Miroku mumbled as he felt white chalk dust falling down his face.

---

"Honestly, I don't know why I am your friend. It's a pain," Miroku complained as he washed his face in the sink, while Inuyasha was leaning against the wall next to the window, staring at the human with a sort of distant glint in his eyes. He didn't seem to be listening to Miroku as the violet-eyed boy brought up one sleeve to wipe away the water on his face.

Gazing intently at the hanyou for a quiet moment, Miroku announced, "Just give up on Kagome. It's for your own good."

Inuyasha blinked, breaking away from his reverie and looking at Miroku with a bewildered look. He instantly scowled however when he processed the sentence and appeared flustered. "Who said I was thinking about that weird girl?"

Miroku looked deadpanned.

"Uhh…but you know her?" Inuyasha continued, before adding, "She's interesting. That's all."

Miroku shrugged, leaning against the sink he had just washed his face in. "I've known her since high school. She is strange. She draws all day long yet somehow pulls off straight A's. She's quiet, doesn't really talk to anyone, and especially seems to not like boys. I remember once when we had a folk dance competition…she wouldn't participate and forced the whole class into a frenzy until I volunteered myself out of it as well."

"Does she have…a problem?"

"I don't know?"

Inuyasha looked thoughtful. "Men phobia?"

"I'm not sure if that's the exact term for it…but maybe. Especially if it's you…a walking sex symbol…" Miroku reflected, scratching his chin contemplatively. He smiled. "…Just like me!"

"You flatter me."

Miroku seemed to discard his joking exterior however as he advised his friend, "You better stay away from her anyway."

Inuyasha simply smirked and shrugged with a noncommittal air.

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Author's Notes: Wow, long first chapter. I think this is the only real chapter that closely follows Mars, then it'll start drifting. First off however, I will like to announce, this is an Inu/Kag story, no matter what I throw at you. Remember that. Miroku's feelings for Kagome will definitely be elaborated more, but it may not be what you think. Sango and Inuyasha's relationship will unquestionably be explained as well. Hope you enjoyed the opening of this story!