Prowess of the Bushido Rivals

The Suspicious Sensei

Kirameku Ha was seated with the three widows underneath a maple tree as Meioshi danced. Her elegance through this art aged well. The spectacle of the Tailwind Dance was already quite beautiful, but, for demons, it was an unheard-of occurrence for a human to honor the death of a fallen warrior among their kind. Perhaps, the part that intrigued any demon the most was seeing the purification process of another demon's soul through this funeral rite. The calligraphy she etched into the ravine's depths was what cleansed a demon's spiritual form. Stilling the waters released them from the confines of the living world and, in a way, convinced the soul carriers to let the demon decide how he or she wished to serve the celestials above. He or she could become a soul carrier themselves if they truly wanted, or the demon could act as a messenger to a deity. Either way, the demon could choose how to repurpose its soul. When the music slowed, Meioshi waved her staff in a semi-circle motion to silence the winds and waited. When the soul carrier did not return for some moments, she smiled, turned to her audience, and bowed before them.

"He is anew," she said with firm reassurance. "His final testament will be ready for viewing in four days. Those who he wished to leave something behind for will be notified accordingly. You are free to use the courtyard as you wish in honor of Tsuyoi's memory. The dining hall is open to the immediate right. Guest rooms are to the left. This is the final resting place of the fallen. Respect it. Cherish the place they chose to cleanse their souls before going to their new home. Remember who they were so that they can be free to simply be."

Many of the demons looked down before bowing to Meioshi. She took her leave from the ravine and walked to her mentor before feeling something a tad off. Someone else was here. A familiar presence but not one that should be here. She looked into the crowd but didn't see anyone unfamiliar, at least in regards to who Tsuyoi knew. She turned to Kirameku Ha, seeing him raise an eyebrow, and exchanged a glance with him to silently notify him of a possible intruder. He looked into the crowd quietly and spotted the intruder lurking behind everyone by taking refuge under some trees. So, the boy returned after all? Meioshi looked to the widows to see their reactions in case one of them noticed the intruder beforehand, and one of the women had already caught the intruder out of the corner of her eyes. She smirked a bit, looking at Meioshi, and tapped her shoulder with her lace fan. The intruder was a man? Meioshi looked in the direction Kirameku Ha was looking and immediately went wide-eyed in a mental panic. It was inexplicably Lord Sesshomaru and his two (or maybe three considering the twin heads in the form of a reptile) companions, Jaken and the dragon looking into the sky. Luckily, most of the mourners were already headed to the bridge leading to Meioshi's shrine and didn't care enough to pay attention to him, but there were some demons of a higher class that did notice his presence and they tensed up.

Gods, no! Meioshi thought, worried about her shrine being desecrated out of fear. Right as Sesshomaru was about to lock eyes with her, she turned away and kept walking toward her mentor as though she hadn't seen him. Just keep walking! Just keep walking! He's not there. He was never there. The other lords can't see him. The other lords don't know him. Why is he even here?

"Something wrong, doctor?" the widow dressed in a black and pink kimono. Her eyes flashed as though a shooting star had zipped right across her pupils. "You look troubled."

Shit, Meioshi thought with a slow drawl. She's about to unleash some top-shelf shenanigans now. All because of this muppet popping in on a funeral! Why?

"Come now, Nakasone," the widow dressed in a black and blue kimono said, opening her eyes slowly and giving her friend a miffed look. "Not every curious eye is going to be set on our girl."

"Are you sure, Morihei?" Nakasone asked, opening her fan to cover her growing smile and glittering eyes. "Because no one told him that."

Morihei, the other unnamed widow, and Kirameku Ha gave a discreet glance in Sesshomaru's direction, only to be met with the young lord turning to them slightly. He furrowed his brow at them for a moment before returning his gaze elsewhere. He seemed to be focused on Ichi speaking to another demon for a while. Meioshi refused to meet the Western lord's gaze and instead took a deep breath. She couldn't look Nakasone in the eyes. It would give away too much information. Nakasone, the rosary maker, was a sharp woman. She could read the slightest twinge of emotion coming from parts of the human body an average person wouldn't even think to look, but she could only do it if you slipped up and it was hard to know how you slipped up around her. Her observant nature made her the best choice in Meioshi's funerary services and business, but it also made her the most troublesome when it came to her and her meddling.

Shit, Meioshi thought again, fighting the urge to look behind her. She looked to Kirameku Ha for any kind of reprieve only to see him taking a deep breath to pinch his nose. Sensei, no! You invited him here? Why?

"Oh-ho..." Nakasone said with a flighty giggle. "There's a mole in the Meioshi camp. Who is he, milady?"

Shit! Meioshi thought with a squeak in her voice this time.

"I... well, uh, that is..." Meioshi struggled to explain, hoping Sesshomaru would just disappear with the passing summer breeze so she wouldn't have to do this at the funeral home of all places. "He's... just a visitor passing through."

"Passing through, dear?" Nakasone questioned, eyes narrowed and a smile creeping onto her lips.

"Yes, madame, and I'm sure my sensei," Meioshi said with acid in her tone and a fanged smile as she snapped her head to him before returning it to Nakasone, "can explain the reason for his invitation better than I."

Kirameku Ha's eyebrow twitched before he growled and said, "To confirm a prior suspicion I had of him."

I'm going to kill him... Meioshi thought, no longer holding an expression on her face.

"Suspicion, my friend?" Nakasone questioned, finger twitching. She got the clue she was looking for.

"He was defending your... honor, I suppose is the word," Kirameku Ha replied, opening his eyes to see that Sesshomaru was still standing a good distance away from them but was also talking with Moeru now. "He believes you and he share the same warrior's code, and that you don't deserve to be punished for what happened with your mission into hell. He seemed adamant about you being spared. The little one there mentioned that the boy took an interest in this during your journey. Young Ichi seemed to have told them about the funeral rites. The boy's actions... made me curious."

"My darling, why are you trying to hide him from us?" Nakasone asked, closing her fan, at last, to show her attention was fully gained.

Know what? Screw it. I'll see myself out, Meioshi thought, frozen in place at the question.

"Because I haven't the slightest clue why he's here," Meioshi said flatly and quickly without even blinking. "And I'm praying for some sort of miracle that will open up a hole into another dimension of existence for me to just crawl in."

"What is his actual name then?" Nakasone asked, rising to stand. The plot thickens.

"Ah, Lady Meioshi," Moeru called, walking over to her with Sesshomaru and the others in tow. "Lord Sesshomaru here had a question for you. Would it be appropriate to ask it at this time?"

Yeah, I'm thinkin' there's no such thing as options right now, Meioshi thought.

She quickly inhaled, softened her expression, and said sweetly, "Of course. It's the least I could do for your help. How might I be of service to you, my lord?"

"Surrender your sensei," Sesshomaru said without batting an eyelash, making Meioshi lose face.

"What?" Meioshi questioned, furrowing her brow and tilting her head in confusion.

"I have reason to believe your sensei is responsible for the murder of several demons in a distant territory. He mentioned that he traveled to inspect the deaths of fallen warriors if one was present. The best way to prove this is by testing his fighting capabilities. Should his fighting style match the attack pattern or methods used by the unknown assailant, he will be brought to the House of Inu to decide his punishment lest I am given the task to take his life for such dishonorable actions. If you can fight as well as you do because of his teachings, then he can fight with equal valor. Surrender him to me," Sesshomaru repeated, narrowing his eyes and glaring at Kirameku Ha.

Nakasone giggled a bit, covering her mouth gleefully, before saying, "What a fetching young man! Is he still defending your honor, doctor?"

"Considering the fact that he's threatening an older gentleman, I'd say no," Meioshi replied with a visible frown. "I will not let you fight an elder in my presence. What I can do is prove my sensei's innocence. Tsuyoi was the only demon under my medical care who passed on near Heiwa. Unless this demon territory is 10 to 20 miles out from the farmlands here, sensei didn't travel that far."

"Are you familiar with the Mujina Woodlands, doctor?" Moeru asked.

"Unfortunately, no, I'm not," Meioshi answered honestly, looking down at Moeru. "Is that where these killings occurred?"

"Supposedly so. Some days ago, in fact," Moeru replied, nodding quickly.

Kirameku Ha let out a sigh as he rose to his feet. He walked in front of Sesshomaru and said, "You just want proof, huh? Very well. I will fight you."

_______________________________________

"You're seriously going to fight this man with a broom? In the middle of the forest? Near my funeral home no less!"

"Would you rather them fight near the ravine?" Nakasone asked.

"I'd rather not where there are other demons nearby!" Meioshi argued, towering over the smiling widow.

Meioshi and the three widows were in the forest a fair distance away from the shrine and pathway acting as an audience to this unruly duel. Moeru went along to be among the grievers and to ask about what happened in the Mujina Woodlands in detail if he could, but Jaken acted as an audience on Sesshomaru's side and Ah and Un found a plum tree to antagonize for the time being. This, of course, annoyed Kirameku Ha as they were trees that he picked out personally. How did things even come to this? No one knew. Kirameku Ha was quietly standing on one side of the "arena" with a broom in his left hand and a calm expression on his face, idly letting the warm summer breeze pass by. Sesshomaru was equally as quiet with Bakusaiga still sheathed in his hand. He only needed to see if the attack pattern at these crime scenes was the same as the old man; otherwise, this could serve as proof that the old man was equally as strong as, if not stronger than, Meioshi. Either way, this duel proved to be beneficial for Sesshomaru in terms of gaining new knowledge. One of the widows standing next to Meioshi was beginning to disturb him, though. She wasn't doing anything wrong per se. She was just eyeing him strangely like she was looking for information herself. Meioshi, out of everyone else, was the most displeased with the events. If either male dispersed a fraction of supernatural power, the mourners might try to investigate or start a war with Sesshomaru's clan. It could be a massacre! And a mess!

"It is fine," Kirameku Ha replied coolly.

"Like hell it is!" Meioshi responded, blushing from fury.

"Old friend, I don't think it's healthy for you to be fighting a young spry," Morihei, the widow in black and blue, advised with worry. "Now, suppose you trip and fall on some crafty tree root mid-swing?"

"Au contraire, our friend is still skilled with his hands," Nakasone, the widow in black and pink, commented, making Kirameku Ha smirk and chuckle at the suggestiveness of her words. "Besides, the boy only needs proof, not blood."

"I don't see how an old man thinks he can beat a demon lord anyway. This isn't up for debate!" Jaken argued. "My lord will wipe the floor with him!"

"Pfft! You don't know our old friend at all," the other unnamed widow said. She was dressed in a black and purple kimono and holding a sheathed sword wrapped in cloth. She then said, "There's a reason he chose a broom and not a sword, little imp."

"You can attack at any time, young man," Kirameku Ha said, wanting to get Ah and Un away from his plum trees.

"You are not about to do this here!" Meioshi argued, stomping her foot. Hearing movement, she turned to see Sesshomaru walking up to Kirameku Ha menacingly and holding a hand up to try to stop him while saying, "Hold on a second!"

By that point, the fight had already started and Sesshomaru rushed at Kirameku Ha at full speed. Hand ready to choke him out for even daring to think that the man could pose any form of a challenge or threat against him. He didn't, however, anticipate the old man's ability to retaliate at equal speed by smacking his claw away using the broomstick and slapping him in the face with the actual broom head. Kirameku Ha wasted no time in grabbing Sesshomaru's arm and flipping him over his shoulder. Wide-eyed and shocked, Sesshomaru was able to land on his feet expertly before turning his head to the side to see Kirameku Ha straightening his sleeves in a quick jerk of his arms before lowering them down to step away from the boy. His composure was still as regal as the day he met him. His scent was still just as human. So how in the fuck did he just disarm him so fast?

"Lord Sesshomaru..." Jaken said with shock evident in his voice. "How is that old man so fast?"

"Do you require more proof, young man?" Kirameku Ha asked.

"Are we still doing this?" Meioshi questioned angrily. "This is ridiculous! There is a fune - !"

"Enjoy the show, my darling," Nakasone responded, tapping Meioshi's shoulder. "The young man is fighting for your honor, remember? You didn't perform your punishment yet, and he's trying to investigate to make sure you're not in any more trouble. Let him be."

Sesshomaru had forgotten about that little fact. He was fighting the doctor's second. Summoning a small amount of yoki, Sesshomaru called out, "Old woman. Why are you carrying a sword?"

"He's talking to you, Anju," Nakasone replied, opening her fan to give herself some air. "Is that your husband's?"

"Why, yes, actually. It seemed appropriate given that Tsuyoi was a warrior," Anju answered. She looked at Sesshomaru and asked, "What about my sword?"

"Give it to the old man," Sesshomaru ordered, narrowing his gaze and cracking the knuckles in his claw. The old man did have similar strength and speed to Meioshi; meaning, he could take a few blows of his energy. Good.

"You are not powering up right now!" Meioshi exclaimed in a panic. "Calm your storm, Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Hey!" a voice called from the distance. Enter Yamashi with a concerned Ichi trailing behind him. He asked, "Why the hell is an inu here?"

Shit... Meioshi thought with that slow drawl again.