Rustling and noises were heard in the front of the house. Rin woke up groggily, trying to decipher what was so important that she couldn't sleep an extra ten minutes. It sounded like Kagome's voice, though. She seemed excited about something. When Rin slowly recovered from her deep sleep, she noticed the sun creeping in and the ghost of Sesshomaru standing there to look out of her window. She hurriedly popped up from that to wipe her eyes and blink a couple of times, believing him to be there, but, no, he wasn't there. She was disappointed with that since he was so late in visiting her like he normally did. Where was he? What happened to the House of Inu? Was this the start of him weening her from him? Suddenly, she smelled perfume from somewhere. It was a light, flowery smell. It was actually cute, which was odd because cute wasn't a smell or a word meant to describe a smell, and it made her turn around to see different gifts on the other side of the room. Little fur trimmings and ribbons decorated the bags and boxes.
Lord Sesshomaru was here!? Rin thought in a panic.
She ran over to her gifts, picked up each one, and ran to the front where Kagome and Kaede had to have been. Sure enough, the priestesses were together and lifting up packages with similar wrappings. Well, Kagome was. Kaede seemed to have gotten a letter and tamagushi. It was glowing with power.
"Interesting. How did ye find that warrior clan without a dragon to guide ye, young lord?" Kaede asked to herself mostly, inspecting the beautiful branch.
She brought it over to a glass case that was awfully colorful and speckled, but she didn't seem pleased with its condition. It looked like she had that case for some time. It wasn't necessarily old, just aged. Retrieving a cleaning cloth, Kaede took her time dusting and cleaning the case until she was satisfied. Kagome was trailing behind her like a bee near a flower.
"Hey, I've never seen this case before. Where'd you get it, Kaede?" Kagome asked, blinking and holding it up out of curiosity. "It's really pretty."
"My apprentice made it. It's a little childhood hobby of hers," Kaede replied, wiping away the dust fondly and remembering the day Meioshi had given it to her. "She is fascinated by map-making. When meditation and training just isn't enough to calm her down, she makes these lanterns to 'capture' special moments in her heart. The dust is covering up the images of stars and soul carriers."
"Soul carriers?" Kagome asked.
"It is something that only she can see quite clearly and quite closely. They are friendly creatures that bring good souls to the heavens. She speaks to them," Kaede said, turning the case around to show Kagome the images of small dragonets, sheep, and other friendly youkai. The painting had holes, or speckles, all throughout. Kaede continued, "It'll be easier to see where ye might find such creatures once a light enters the lantern."
With that, she completed her wiping task, put the cloth away, and placed the tamagushi inside of the lantern. The soul carriers were among the stars! That's what the speckles were supposed to be! The small Shinto papers that were on the tamagushi all burst into pieces and forced the lantern's door open. A string of talisman formed to create a hook for the lantern to hang somewhere. It made the shape of a coiling dragonet. Kaede's pupils dilated a bit before she let out the most pleasant smile Kagome had ever seen come from the elder. She hardly ever smiled so brightly! Suddenly, a small ghost shot about and popped like a firework until a whiskered baby dragon appeared and blinked its big eyes cutely. It was inside of its egg until it spotted Kaede. The elder priestess reached out to pet the small creature and watched the little one squeak and coo before it formed a barrier around her home.
"Ah, so that's how he found that clan. They've met," Kaede said, narrowing her eye at this news.
"Who? What clan? How? When? All these goddamn secrets!" Kagome finally shouted, throwing her hands up in the air and stomping her foot loudly. "I CAN'T STAND IT!"
"Uh, should I wait to ask who left us all these gifts?" Rin quietly asked, mesmerized by the lantern.
"NO! ASK HER EVERYTHING!" Kagome roared.
"The answer ye seek is obvious, young Rin. Your Lord Sesshomaru gave you those gifts. Oddly enough, he gave all of us gifts," Kaede replied, making Rin gasp.
"H-h-he did? When did he come here? Why didn't he wake me up?" Rin asked.
"I'm more surprised that Inuyasha didn't smell him," Kaede responded, turning to Kagome. "They usually confront each other to some degree."
"Inuyasha's the other one who won't tell me his big secret! Where did he get that freakin' moki moki ball?" Kagome shouted, amusing Kaede to a light chuckle. Though this wasn't necessarily the revenge she sought for Kikyo's reincarnation, she enjoyed teasing the girl. Justice was closer than she thought. "I'm gonna write a bunch of mystery novels where the hero burns every goddamn secret around in a minute!"
"M-hm," Kaede hummed in reply. "What did Lord Sesshomaru gift you with?"
"Huh? Oh! A bouquet and a food tray. We ate it for breakfast. It was really good, actually," Kagome answered, calming down tremendously like she didn't have a fireball of frustration on her person earlier. "He left a note calling us boring, too. Jerk!"
"Did he leave something for the monk and demon slayer?" Kaede asked out of genuine curiosity.
"Yup. Toys, a bouquet, and a food tray. He left a letter behind for Kohaku, though. He wouldn't let anyone read it," Kagome answered.
Kaede was slow to smile, but she had a mischievous grin from those words. She then said, "Oh? Interesting."
"Woman, if you tell me you got a letter from Sesshomaru OR YOUR SECRET BEAU, I WILL BLOW UP," Kagome threatened, reigniting her flames. Rin snuck off to open her gifts, now excited to see what she was given.
Kaede said nothing but kept her grin. Instead, she ever slowly lifted up not just one... but two letters. Kagome roared from that, but Rin only shook her head and opened one of the packages. Inside of a box were many things: a wooden puzzle, confetti popper, and a small ball with tassels on it. In a purse was a small girl doll dressed in a small pink yukata. She had accessories like a brush for her hair, little hairbow, a small paper lantern, and a little fish treat. It looked just like Rin! All sweet Rin could do was tear up and whisper Sesshomaru's name with gratitude. In the other purse was that perfume she kept smelling. It wasn't in a large bottle, but the bottle was in the shape of a cloud. Another bottle was in the shape of the sun. It was sweet-smelling, too, and seemed to be like a milk soap. The last bottle was in the shape of what could only be Aa-Un, the twin-headed dragon, and that seemed to hold a creamy substance. It had to either be a body cream or another soap. That made Rin cry.
"You really were here, Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin whispered to herself. "Why didn't you wake me up? Why didn't you say hi? I wanted to see you..."
|| ... ... ... ||
Matron Kaede,
This letter is part of three I left behind. I have words to exchange with you the most, however, so it is no surprise that your part is the longest. Kohaku and Rin should be able to read theirs together if they choose to do so. As much as I wanted to wake Rin and Kohaku from slumber, I chose not to this time. I wanted to simply visit before I embark on my new journey elsewhere. I detest you, humans, and your presumptions of thinking you know about my kind and how we think first and foremost. However, it appears... you... may have been right.
I met your apprentice, Jigoku Meioshi, some time ago in the summer. That is why I had not returned for my usual visit in quite a while. Each new day spent around this woman is a new battle, new mystery, or new fond memory waiting to be uncovered. Jaken, of all creatures, has personally requested lessons in combat from your apprentice. Ridiculous! But..., his explanation was a testament to how different my path has become. Things have changed. With this has come new deaths and dangers, however. I will not be able to avoid the House of Inu's demands to investigate our new assailant any longer. I will be away from Rin longer than expected, but I am not displeased with this. Perhaps, this is the test you were implying from our last deep conversation. Can Rin and I, and maybe even Kohaku, live our lives away from each other and from those we have become attached to when we all shared a common enemy in Naraku? How can we shape that new life? What will be most important to us now?
At the moment, I am disturbed to admit that my rivalry with your apprentice is important to me. She is far stronger than you priestesses, but she is not different from you. It is not clear, but I believe she could have perhaps killed Naraku with some ease in the past. I have only seen or experienced her power in short bursts, but it is easily beyond the women I have seen. There is some level of might acting as a limit for a priestess, even Kagome has hers. Meioshi is different. Her limit seems to be further beyond. I have just learned recently that she is prohibited from using her true strength like the other holy warriors we've found together. There's no telling how many other clans there are or even if she has met them all. I only know that her strength may potentially be comparable to mine. I don't like that. But, this suffices enough to claim her as my rival... She has also... become what you said.
She is... an acceptable choice as a friend. She fights for the justice of others often, but she is not flawless at this. She accepts that. She works with that. Such a thing confused me strongly before. We had crossed paths our second time at a village of okiyas. I met a boy there named Ohta, and other children like him who were forced to work there. Perhaps you know him. When it came to him and those children, that was the most vulnerable I had ever seen Meioshi. She was crying, scared, and tired. You could smell it. It was a thick aura surrounding her that threatened to just engulf her until only a fragment of herself was left. I didn't tell her that the reason I confronted her at the creek by her estate was because I knew she wasn't herself. What 'herself' meant at the time? I couldn't explain it. I only knew that she wasn't as calculative as before. She didn't make funny faces like before. Her smiles and her shoulders were tense like she was always waiting for something to strike her. It wasn't her that she was so defensive over. It was the children. Once they all were transported elsewhere to safety, she had changed into a vengeful creature. She killed without mercy. She destroyed without feeling. That was the closest to a demon I had ever seen from a human. All of that crumbled when Ohta was in her arms, and they said their final goodbyes to perhaps the first child that she lost.
Our third time crossing paths... was when I had become vulnerable. Meioshi is what I consider an opposite to me. She accepted her shortcomings in combat when we met again. I did not. Rather, I do not. I let myself be vulnerable when I lost to Inuyasha. That is how Rin and I met. Two creatures of different status and races shared a common ailment of vulnerability and weakness. We became stronger together with time. That is how our history, our story, our loyalties began. Meioshi is different.
It wasn't until she harbored and protected Homugi, my former betrothed or rather the one my parents were choosing as a candidate for marriage, that I had come to accept a very vital flaw in my life. At one point in my life, there was someone I wanted to protect and didn't. If I had to be more honest than that, it's best to say I couldn't. Not in the way I should have. When Meioshi struck me that night, I... was relieved in a sense. It was like... I had been freed from the chains of guilt and silence. I could talk about it. I could be honest about it. Meioshi didn't hit me to punish me like my father had. She hit me - at least, I chose to believe that she did this - to reveal how broken I was. I was whipped into being this manicured prince. That isn't who I am. I was still very hurt by what happened between me and Homugi. We both argued with each other like that night had happened a moment ago. I'm steadily realizing that I am still in great pain. I lost one of my best friends within an instant, and no amount of sneaking around to try to see her or protect her was enough to get her back. When Homugi told me her truth, I was desperate to hold her in my arms and apologize over and over again. But..., I couldn't. I hadn't been a real friend to her in years. What right did I have to convince her I was sorry? I didn't treat her well afterwards on purpose. That was the most painful part about it. The fact that I wanted to be her friend again, but I damaged her so much that I lost the right to be that. I lost the right to ask that. I... was a coward.
I didn't have the courage to do what was right. I was too stubborn to apologize. Seeing her now, flirting and interested in another man of her kind showed me how much she had grown in such a short amount of time. She was ready to move on. She has made new friends. All I can do is watch and remain silent. I tried to use the training under my mother as a potential rekindling of friendship, but Homugi was far more engrossed with her participation in the village festivities. I couldn't push her anymore. I am but a small fragment in her shadow now. If I was lonely before, she had made me feel the loneliest in that moment. I deserved it. She deserved her life back.
I was a coward before no one once. That was a title I refused to accept or take.
Yet, being around this one woman...
Your apprentice has taught me something greater still. Doubt is your biggest traitor. It makes you lose sight of what's good by foregoing the attempt to make things right. That's what makes her not the strongest opponent or the most strategic opponent but the most feared by far. I saw my father as competition. I fought him. I may have lost against him, but I was not afraid to fight him back. Same with my mother. I may not have raised my hand against her, but I have snapped at her. I had no fear in doing that. Of all the people, demons, and creatures of the Earth I've come across, I have seen her, Jigoku Meioshi, as something to be feared because she has enemies in many different circles. What coward intentionally makes enemies? She can be brought to her knees, she can be forced to tears, she can be beaten to near death, she can be stripped of all her powers and be made a truly useless human girl, but she keeps standing up because bravery and duty is so engrained within her. Perhaps she has seen her greatest fear already, so she met it and prevailed or met it and accepted that she was no match for it. I cannot say. I only know that she repeats these two phrases:
"I am a goddamn doctor"
"I have one enemy to fight"
What enemy has told her she was unworthy of being a doctor? What coward is hiding behind these other enemies? There is much I don't know about your apprentice, matron. So, I am leaving Nihon for an undisclosed amount of time to learn about her. Is Heiwa a civilization of cowardice and she a hero by mistake? Or is it something more? There are several other youkai like me and Inuyasha living in her village. They have battled her, found humility, and now guard the village with her. I met another prince like me named Yamashi. I remember him being one of the upcoming war generals of the Wild Boar Kingdom. You may (or may not) have heard of them. It is no matter if you haven't. Yamashi is with the clan no longer. He owns an overseas trading company with his sister, Yatsumi. I intend to leave with them. However, there is something I must do first.
Meioshi has been visiting with a holy warrior from another world often. He has been teaching from some sort of book and points to a crucifix. They seem to compare religions and duties to understand each other. I have been trying to figure out the language that this other man speaks, but it is impossible to decipher without a mentor! I do not like the way he places his arm around Meioshi's waist or tries to learn her language - our language - by constantly touching her. It is disgusting! He seemed satisfied with his new knowledge of her and the holy warriors with her, but he left behind this book and crucifix with Meioshi. She's been reading from it, but I doubt she understands it. She is such a scientist, my rival! Taking notes and asking many questions.
Last night, I saw her pack away armor, old flags, and urns, but she seemed to be loading up a separate boat. She mentioned leaving early for her trip. The three older women and Kirameku Ha, my rival's sensei who I also know little about, were also seen packing away things and giving Meioshi comfort. She had been praying a lot, judging from the smell of incense coming from her home. She said she had to bury her liege, but she did not disclose a name. It could be assumed she means her general, but she would not need a ship so large to do this. She is even behaving worse than she did at the okiya village. Her grief is great.
Kirameku Ha's sons seem to be in charge of things while their father is out. I saw Eikichi and Maniwa dividing responsibilities at his home. Perhaps, now is the time to follow her. I will return to Nihon soon enough. Perhaps I will revisit with more gifts.
I wish to conclude this letter... in saying... thank you, matron. Not just for your talk with me but for taking of Rin and the others. Thank you for teaching my rival so much as a youth. You aided in creating someone... I can call the friend I deserve.
Sincerely,
Sesshomaru of the Western Lands
|| ... ... ... ||
SWOOSH! Tap, tap, hoist. Creak, splash, rattle.
Loading the last bits of luggage aboard her family ship, Meioshi and Kirameku Ha opened the sails to make their voyage towards the Sea of Japan. The three grandmothers, Anju, Nakasone, and Morihei were setting the deck up for defense against pirates and shelter from any storms. It was that time of the year when flooding and rough tides occurred. Meioshi was dressed in full samurai armor and filling out paperwork to document her departure time and the reason for sailing. It was a force of habit, honestly. She had no one to report this to other than herself. This ship belonged to her family. Sensing a familiar presence, Meioshi lifted her head from the papers and charcoal to see Sesshomaru standing there with narrowed eyes. He seemed miffed. Not wanting to entertain this, Meioshi politely bowed in greeting and then walked to the family docking area to clean up the last bits of trash there. It took her a while to gain the courage to clean out a place filled with so many memories. It was practically empty now, but... she could fill it again with memorials like her beach studio. They were connected to each other, after all. Stroking a wall to look at the empty place one last time, Meioshi leaned on the wall and looked down at the floor.
She could hear her grandfathers' voices either arguing or throwing jabs at each other in the docking house. She would run through here at top speed to deliver maps or other information to Arimasa. Viswamitra would capture her to blow air onto her cheek and make gross, gassy noises. Other men and some wives would come down to inform Arimasa of new construction orders for fishing boats or leisure ships. The emperor took a liking to his design of the leisure ships, so Arimasa made a healthy ichibuban every year for a new one. Mizuonimura paid fine prices for naval ships as well. It was how Arimasa earned his wealth aside from the occasional exorcism as a hell traveler. Umehana would often retrieve Arimasa from work to come home for dinner... or things related to their wedding anniversary. She had no tolerance for him skipping out on that, and he didn't seem to mind her bossiness around that time. In fact, the running joke was that Umehana was the only woman who became a general for the general... around her mating season. Meioshi remembered all of that. Down to the days when she left home to take on that siege mission.
Only Amarante supported her decision to leave for the army. She may have cried, held onto Meioshi like a lifeline, and admitted that she didn't want to bury her beautiful grandchild, but Amarante told her the story of when Umehana had pushed her to run away from home. They were being traded off by their own parents to serve as maids or worse, but Umehana refused to be used as compensation. She helped Amarante and Anju escape and had met a swordsman who was willing to train her in self-defense. Had Amarante not left, she would not have met the very tall, dark, and handsome Viswamitra. She would not have learned how to fight from him and the holy warrior clan he served. She may have been a pacifist, but Amarante would happily knock you on your ass if necessary. She felt that perhaps Meioshi was stronger than either of her grandmothers. She had a greater understanding of defending a woman's virtue and defining the line between a man's honor versus a woman's. Meioshi cried in Amarante's arms when she said that, but she pushed on and left her home. When a tear escaped her eyes, Meioshi sniffed it up and held herself.
Once she came back from this grand burial, she had much to do. She was going to have to take Sesshomaru's request to find his missing medallion more seriously. She had to clean up her estate and cremate her family's remains. There would be more tears to shed going forward. More battles to fight to obtain the power she needs to battle her final opponent. Potentially, more lessons to teach to her new allies and her children. As much as she loved her family and missed them terribly, as much as she wanted to properly mourn, she had to keep going. It was the only way she'd be able to avenge them. She had to save her true grief for the end. Then, she could let it all out.
Shuffle, shuffle. She turned around this time, believing one of the elders were coming to retrieve her, but it was Sesshomaru again. This time, he no longer seemed miffed. His facial expression may have been blank, but Meioshi caught this ghost of expressiveness zipping across his eyes. His ears twitched a hair and pulled back before returning to normal.
"... You need not be concerned for me, inu prince," Meioshi said softly, rubbing her forehead with one hand before holding herself again.
"Get out of here," Sesshomaru ordered. "You are a warrior. You do not surrender to your emotions. You control them."
"Hmph!" Meioshi scoffed with a smirk. "That is how you operate as a warrior. I take what is instinct and use it to guide me."
"... Why?" Sesshomaru asked sincerely. "Emotions serve no purpose in battle."
"You never fought the right kind of war, inu prince," Meioshi replied, nodding at him and erasing her smirk. "Being as blank as scroll paper teaches you nothing about war or your sense of duty. A true soldier, or at least the ones I fought beside, fights for what he is leaving behind and hopes that his death may serve the cause that will protect that. Soldiers are taught to anticipate death because the enemy is just as passionate about their opposing cause as you are for yours, and they may go to lengths you wouldn't dare go just to strengthen their side's morale. I picked up a sword to protect those who often hide behind me. My fears, sorrows, and passions push me to the line of defense even when I don't want to be on it. Those are emotions. Protecting someone I love or someone I perceive to be in immediate danger is my driving force. You believe that bears no purpose?"
Sesshomaru said nothing to her, but he did think about his father just before he left to fight Ryukotsusei. He then asked, "That would imply that I was not worth protecting. The soldier I had idolized once died to protect another family he found in what felt like a day."
"If you were not at his side in that final battle, you were behind him. That sounds like a dutiful soldier to me," Meioshi replied, making Sesshomaru's eyes soften and blink quickly once. It wasn't a show of surprise, but it seemed to be him reviewing her previous words and making the quick comparison for himself. "Is it not possible for that soldier to protect an instantaneously built family and the family that provided him with the foundation to lead or be a man worth idolizing simultaneously?"
"... Does betrayal stop you from loving them or not trusting one who reminds you of them?" Sesshomaru asked in a challenging tone.
"... No... I am afraid not. I'm glad that it doesn't, though," Meioshi said, looking out of the window and out to sea. "The true test of will is understanding the teacher that is in betrayal. You can never hurt the other person enough to make the pain of their betrayal dissipate from your heart. It hurts, and it might always aggravate the wound on your heart despite your efforts to try to ignore or heal it. The most dangerous man, and I daresay this could apply to a woman as well, is the master of betrayal. He knows exactly how much forgiveness he can give to an enemy and someone he cares about, and he can see how shame, disrespect, and withholding affections to others will damage the roots from which a better love could grow. In order to be the master, even then, means you must acknowledge that pain and undergo a very strict and very exhausting training to overcome the very thing you're trying to master. The worst reward you can take from betrayal is safety because complacency is the enemy to all masters, and disappointment and bitterness have time to take root and eliminate all of your training."
"The enemy you must fight is one who betrayed you?" Sesshomaru asked carefully.
"To be completely honest..., I forgave my enemy years ago once I discovered the truth," Meioshi said, turning back to Sesshomaru to lock eyes with him. "I am in the middle of teaching Homugi to do the same thing. It is this incessant need to destroy that is what I disagree with."
"Then, that makes you one of the most dangerous men, yes?" Sesshomaru responded, lifting a brow. "How much forgiveness did your enemy need?"
"Not much. They just wanted sex. Let 'em have it," Meioshi said, waving a hand lazily and turning to look out at sea again.
"I thought you said you could make the walls rattle. Was that not appealing?" Sesshomaru offhandedly joked.
It was enough for Meioshi to turn around again with a silent chuckle and arched brows. Oh, he heard that? That acute hearing came in handy, she supposed. She then said, "You had the perfect opportunity to challenge a strong opponent, and your selective hearing instead focused on such grotesque language. You're a dog, after all."
"Enemies that you cannot handle alone, I will deal with. You have incompetencies to work on, doggie toy," Sesshomaru insulted with narrowed eyes.
"... Did you just call me a chewing toy?" Meioshi asked with some fury.
"You said you went to the market to find some. You are empty-handed. I'm assuming one doggie toy can't buy another," Sesshomaru challenged, smirking evilly.
"Oh, you prick!" Meioshi responded, shaking her head angrily and making her hair fluff up to show her anger.
"If you can't make the walls rattle truly, mine has no use for you," Sesshomaru challenged, tucking a loose lock of his hair behind his ear. When Meioshi was stomping towards him, he backed away slowly until she was at a reasonable distance. Satisfied, he stood still until she noticed him stopping and said softly, "Doctor. If your enemy has been forgiven to the extent necessary to move on, you have no reason to continue fighting. You have completed your training. There is something you are not saying. There is a reason why you continue to fight beyond facing this one enemy. You are not the most dangerous human I know for no reason. Your emotions are pointing directly at the lie you're hiding. You have the ability to kill and the ability to heal. Did you gain both from the war you fought in or from your training to fight this enemy?"
"... Was this your way of getting me out of the docking house?" Meioshi asked in response, avoiding his question entirely.
"Meioshi, my darling, stop fooling around with your man," Nakasone said, hiding her amused face behind a fan of goose feathers. "We'll be late and at the mercy of storm waters!"
"Madame, this is not the time!" Meioshi argued, snapping her attention to the ship and Nakasone waving her hand on it.
"Need you a harpoon?" Kirameku Ha asked, walking up to the bickering duo.
"No, I've my bow. It will not be necessary, great uncle," Meioshi replied calmly, standing straight before her mentor.
"My swords are enough," Sesshomaru answered, closing his eyes calmly.
"YOU are staying here!" Meioshi barked, teeth turning to exaggeratedly thick fangs.
"..."