Breaker of the Dawn part 2

"Lord Toga!" Yonamine called, panting to reach the man.

She had made it back at the border between human and youkai territory. Like before, Toga and Shishido were together, but a boy was cradled in Toga's arms and covered by a veil of sorts. The red cow demon had a small stroller full of child's toys. Yonamine was dressed in her sunflower junihitoe this time, but she wasn't alone or crying. Instead, she was being followed by a dark-haired, thick-eyebrowed, handsome man. He must've been the man Yonamine wanted to marry and start a family with. Toga smiled cautiously as he put a hand on his child's back.

"Back again, troublemaker?" Toga joked, earning a short laugh from the cheerful girl.

"You know you missed me!" Yonamine replied, taking her love's hand and pulling him forward to introduce him. "This is Manzo Fukuyama. The boy I was talking about when we met."

"A~h, the one who was desperately in search of his wife?" Toga joked, earning some blushing and a grumble from Manzo. "You're too good for him, honestly. Why do you want a mumbler, my lady?"

"I don't mumble," Manzo said clearly, furrowing his brow.

"Did you hear that, Shishido?" Toga questioned, perking his ears up and looking up into the sky. "So odd. Could've sworn someone spoke."

"Perhaps it was the baby?" the red cow demon replied, chuckling.

"Oh! So, you really did just have your son! Can I see him, Lord Toga? He won't jump at me to bite, will he?" Yonamine asked, backing away slightly out of caution and giving Toga a questioning gaze.

Toga's eyes shifted a bit. He wasn't sure why he became defensive over the little one, but the shrinking of his pupils seemed to alarm Manzo before the man tightened the grip on his new lover's hand. The taiyoukai, though a father for only two inu years, seemed to have activated a certain protective mode within himself without realizing it because he kept his eyes locked on Manzo. Toga knew that Manzo was harmless, but the father in him was not having it for whatever reason. If it was just Yonamine, he felt better about letting his son be seen. Maybe it was because another man was in his presence. Fatherhood was such a strange thing.

"I'm not sure what kind of demon you are, but it's easy to see you're uncomfortable," Manzo started, releasing his hand from Yonamine's. "Maybe that's your instinct telling you not to expose your young. I don't... really know if I'll be like that someday, but... I guess that's a behavior I can kinda get behind. Regardless of how friendly a stranger might be to you, that's still your child. His safety comes first. Guess I'll wait at the hideout then. Nice to meet you, Lord Toga. Thank you... for being kind to my wife."

"Oh, so you did marry?" Shishido asked.

"Whoo, no! We've got a real battle ahead of us if we wanna make this public," Manzo replied, rolling his eyes, "but I can't imagine doing this with anyone else. That's what makes falling in love so worthwhile. Knowing that no matter the outcome, a joined courage is the strength we need to fight for the life we want, not her boldness or my loyalty to the throne alone. What we have is bigger than that. She had to show me what it looks like when that's taken away."

No longer smiling at the man, Toga simply stood there and meditated on Manzo's words. Something inside of him... understood. Maybe that was why, when the little one made a noise and jumped, he slowly reached his hand to the veil and revealed the child to them. The toddler merely looked around before he sneezed. He tried to escape his father's hand trying to clean him until he heard the woman squealing with joy.

"He's so cute! Look at him!" Yonamine said, slapping her cheeks with his hands.

The boy merely blinked in response before squealing himself and reaching out to Yonamine to be held in her arms. She looked to Toga for approval but saw the shock in his eyes at the boy's openness to the humans. So fearless and innocent! Hesitantly, Toga took a few steps forward before stopping and exchanging a glance from Yonamine to Manzo. He kept his gaze on Manzo for a lingering moment until the man smiled at him and backed away to give Yonamine room to play with the child. Toga couldn't put his finger on it, but he didn't want Manzo to leave the boy yet. Whether that was to reassure them both or not... he just couldn't say. Gently, Toga placed his little one in Yonamine's arms but reached out to shake Manzo's hand. Manzo took the offering very carefully as though Toga was made of glass and gasped when the toddler's hands slapped both men's joined hands before clapping.

"It appears my son is quite taken with your wife," Toga said quietly. Though this would normally be a joke, the taiyoukai spoke those words like the wind was supposed to take them away. He then continued just as softly, "He doesn't do that with just anyone."

"A-roo-woo-woo!" the toddler sang, making Toga look at him.

"A-woo!" Yonamine repeated in a sing-song manner, giggling at the boy.

"A-roo-woo-woo!" the toddler sang again.

Toga recognized the game he was playing and performed a magic trick with his hands that made a cookie appear. The boy's eyes lit up until Toga sounded with a deep voice, "A-grrr!"

"Grrr!" the toddler growled, reaching for the cookie with eager hands.

"What will you name your children if your leaders approve of you?" Toga asked, pulling back his hand to sort of bait the boy in a form of play.

"Hanying for my son," Manzo replied, smirking at the father and son torturing the cookie.

"That's not how that works," Yonamine chimed in. "I want a daughter first. You can have your son afterwards."

"Whaddaya mean after?" Manzo argued gently so as not to scare the boy.

"... I will join you," Toga said before Yonamine could reply.

"Join us?" Manzo questioned.

"In your fight..." Toga said, rubbing the boy's nose with the cookie and letting him catch it to nibble on it. "You deserve to live a long life with your own children. It isn't right to take that away from good people. I will not interfere completely. I will only make sure you are protected."

"You will?" Yonamine asked, hope resonating in her eyes.

"Always," Toga answered, watching his little one yawn. "You didn't say what your daughter's name was going to be."

Yonamine smiled gently before saying, "Hasumi..."

____________________________________________________

"So, let me get this straight... Azumamaro is still alive?" Homugi asked.

She, Yuko, and Liuxian were all sitting in the front room of Meioshi's clinic. The doctor had just returned from her visit to the Madame Pheasant for advice. Shishou was watching over the kids as they slept. It took a while for her to do it, but Hasumi let sleep claim her once Meioshi came back and reassured her that she'd find a way to get rid of Azumamaro one way or another. If that meant by death, then she'd have to get clever.

"Unfortunately, yes," Meioshi replied. "We only have three days to find this coin that he's after, and the thing's broken into three pieces. I have one of them in the form of a trinket."

"Your Chen-bi," Yuko said, earning a nod.

"The Himawari Jewel is missing along with this shield," Liuxian said, leaning on the doorframe in the clinic. "Any clues on the whereabouts of either?"

"Lady Hasumi mentioned that Azumamaro placed a curse on it, so he would know where it is. Homugi. You said Sesshomaru's father and Lord Okakura had tried to imprison this creature before, correct?" Meioshi asked, earning a nod. "Did Azumamaro go to Lord Okakura's home when this event took place?"

"No, I think it happened in something called a wasteland as far as the stories go," Homugi answered, placing a finger to her lips. "The reason why Azumamaro was such a hassle was because he combined with other spirits there. It's likely that this creature isn't just one lingering soul like the legend says but multiple."

"Then we'll have to break him into pieces just like the coin was," Meioshi said to herself, humming with thought.

A wasteland... Meioshi thought, remembering Kirameku Ha saying that Sesshomaru was looking for this place.

"Welp, guess I'm going headstone shopping in a few minutes then," Meioshi then said, slapping her thighs and hopping up and down.

"Headstone shopping?" Homugi questioned.

"I have an imp to kidnap..."