I have always wanted to visit this character in a story. I think I finally figured out how.
For years, a man had wandered the lands exterminating demons, rescuing humans, eliminating beasts, and making a name for himself. He was feared and revered, took on students to train and further his mission, and wandered farther than most of his colleagues. It had been a lifetime of work he was certain he would continue until his dying breath.
That had changed four years ago.
He had only had two encounters with the two of them in as many days. Those two had changed his entire understanding of the world. Those two haunted him, chased away his beliefs, made him second guess every decision he had ever made or ever would. His own students left him one by one because of those two, and eventually left him alone.
They had ruined him, and yet at the same time led him to a rebirth he had not anticipated.
The priest Ungai sipped at the tea in his hands as he remembered.
The one was a great and terrible demon. Their first encounter had been brief, a quick skirmish that ended with neither party injured. He had been left to wonder the demon's intent. That it had killed the brigands attacking the village was preposterous.
The other was a child. She rode away on a dragon upon their first encounter. He thought her strange and prayed for her soul, for it had been snared by a demon.
He had not expected to meet either again. The child fought his kindness when he found her among the children kidnapped from the village employing him, had apparently claimed humans more frightening than demons, and was adamant that Lord Sesshomaru would come for her.
He thought the child afflicted with madness, but come for her, Lord Sesshomaru did.
That demon who couldn't possibly have simply killed the brigands and walked away appeared to them. The child had not been bewitched by the dragon, but by the monster that stood before him, or so he had believed. She cried for the demon when they attempted to exorcise it, did not fear it even after all of the power the evil spirit displayed, and followed after it despite the priest's warnings, with a smile on her face no less.
He was not sure that he could say she was bewitched by the end of it all. What use would a demon of that caliber have for a child? Why give her a choice to follow if she was so inclined?
Retrospectively, he realized she acted very little like a child possessed. Her eyes had been too bright. Her words had been too emotional. She was clearly thinking for herself, even if her conclusions were dangerously naïve. Her smile told him that she understood the meaning behind his words, and was making her choice despite them.
When the other kidnapped children were safely returned to the village, Ungai had happened upon a group he had met briefly the evening before.
He saw them differently, and it shook him to the core.
The fox demon child and the two-tailed cat no longer appeared capable of turning on the humans they stayed with. The half-demon he had happened to encounter on the very night he lost his demonic powers, with the demon blade, angry scowl, and rough speech, appeared capable of friendship or even of protecting the young priestess who gently reprimanded his tone as she tugged on his canine ear.
Ungai left that village with an internal crisis. He was never again the same.
He finished his drink and paid the tea shop owner upon returning the cup.
For a while, he continued to exterminate demons as he had before, thinking routine would assist him. The simple exorcisms were fine; it was the complex ones that he stumbled on. His students worried for him and made him rest for a month to recover from the damage done by Lord Sesshomaru, but that made him restless. He went out on his own one day, bidding the call of a woman whose child had been lost in the woods.
Finding the child with a demon had made him pause much longer than he should have. For a brief moment, he thought the demon was helping. When the demon attacked him, he exorcised it with ease, but could not shake that image.
Thinking a demon kind? No.
But then it happened time and again. Those moments were more often proven a fantasy, but then there were times he determined the demon was not… threatening. There were times he let them go, much to his students' shock and dismay.
One student left him the second time he allowed a demon to go free. Another the fourth. He lost the third when he misjudged a demon and it sheared off his head, and the fourth and fifth quietly left his side the same evening. His last two stayed around for another year, but left after the encounter they had with a half-demon by the name of Jinenji, his mother, and the village that had mostly accepted them. They began to have a crisis of belief themselves when the demon offered them medicines and recounted the story of his own meeting with the dog-eared hanyou and the priestess that accompanied him.
Ungai had heard little of those two since, except for stories on the wind that they were involved in the defeat of the evil spirit Naraku.
When he found himself alone, he decided to embark on a pilgrimage of sorts, searching for demons sympathetic to humans as he exorcised those who proved evil. Along the way, he met some, conversed with others who decided to humor him, and happened upon one who was injured and more afraid of him than anything.
Helping that demon had proved a turning point.
Ungai went from exorcist to wanderer, providing some services every now and then, but mostly observing the way beings interacted with the world. When his name was recognized and he was asked why he was no longer the man he used to be, he told the story of the child and the demon who had forever changed him. Some wondered if he had been cursed. He told them that he had thought that, too, but had seen other priests about it at the beginning. They told him they felt nothing. The curse was his own doing.
Today, he found himself wandering the plains of Musashi. He had been told that great evil spirit had been vanquished in a village around here, and that demons regularly came and went. It had piqued his curiosity, as he had not had any interactions with demons in some time, and so he went in search of it.
It took him several days to track it down. It was a humble place, untouched by the war so far as he could tell, and bustling with activity. There appeared to be a shrine within it, and he hoped to have a chance to pay his respects to it.
From here, there was no sign of demons, though he thought he could feel the aura of one or two nearby.
Ungai walked along the path leading into the village. He was greeted by a few residents despite their concerned looks, and he greeted them warmly to deter their worry. One asked him what business he had within the village, and his answer was that he was simply wandering through, though he would like to greet the head of the village on his way. That same person directed him to the home of the village priestess, considerably less concerned.
This village was protective of its residents, he realized. He wondered if being a monk was of more concern to them than being a stranger. Perhaps the rumors of demons coming in and out of the village were true, then.
Approaching the small lodgings he had been directed to, Ungai was drawn by the sound of voices in the garden beside it. Over the fence he could make out three figures, two in priestess garb, and another in a bright purple kimono that struck him as somewhat out of place among the more humble shades of fabric he had seen on the other villagers. It was not an easy color to come by, especially with such a pattern.
The three of them were all separated by age; an older woman he thought might be the head priestess and thus the village matron, a young woman in training, and a child.
"These ones are not quite ready, right Lady Kaede?" the child asked as he came up to the fence to greet them.
"Aye, child," the older woman replied. "Too green yet."
Something about the child struck him as familiar, but Ungai was not sure what with her back turned to him.
"These are going to make a great stew when they're ready," the younger woman hummed in delight.
"I hope so," the child agreed. "This is my first time taking care of all of them!"
"And you've done well, Rin," the older woman praised.
Rin? Hadn't he heard that name before?
"Excuse me," Ungai addressed them. "Would you be the village priestess, Lady Kaede?"
They all turned to him, and then everything about him froze. Before him was no doubt the child who had changed everything, older by a few years, but hair still in the style in which she had worn it when they met, eyes still bright. How she could be here, he didn't know, but here she was.
"Ah, I remember you!" the young woman next to her exclaimed. "Master Ungai, right?"
He recognized the young woman, too. She had been the one with the half demon he had met during those days he had tracked down the kidnapped children. Her appearance now was more traditional, and she stood to greet him properly without the nervousness she had displayed during their first encounters.
"Y-yes," he stumbled a reply and bowed in response to her own, quickly attempting to compose himself. "I apologize – I don't believe I caught your name when we first met."
"Kagome," she supplied with a cheerful smile. "I never expected to see you again. How have you been? Are your students nearby?"
His smile was somewhat sad. "Much has changed for me," he replied.
She looked surprised. Behind her, Lady Kaede approached.
"Master Ungai, was it?" she asked. "I've heard stories of ye. What brings ye this way?"
"Tales of the defeat of Naraku. I was told this was the site of his demise." He did not mention that he came more for the demons rumored to come through the village regularly. He would wait until he had the chance to thoroughly explain his current situation.
"Not much to see, really," the older woman shrugged. "The seasons have erased the physical scars. We're all recovering from the internal ones in our own ways."
"I see."
His gaze drifted back to the child in the purple kimono. Rin looked at him somewhat nervously. He offered her a small smile in the hopes that she wouldn't find him threatening.
Why she wasn't with the demon, he didn't know. Ungai was somewhat afraid to ask, worried that something had happened to him. He could not imagine anything having happened to that demon, but she had been so adamant that she would not ever live in a human village again that to find her doing just that had to mean something had occurred.
"Oh, Inuyasha's back already," Kagome noted, looking over his shoulder. Ungai turned to see the half-demon with the red kimono approaching in bounds, until he stopped short of colliding with the fence.
"I thought I heard some monk was in town."
"Welcome back, Inuyasha!" Rin cheered, quickly brightening upon his arrival. "Did you find any boar?"
His ears flattened on top of his head. The child looked slightly annoyed.
"Don't tell me you forgot?" Kagome deadpanned.
"Look, I got distracted, alright?!" he barked. "Weasels, the bastards. I'm telling you, Shippo sent the band of tricksters just to annoy me!"
"It really doesn't take much," Rin noted.
"Inuyasha is rather hot-headed," Kaede replied.
"Oi, old woman, stop teaching her to be a brat! You know he's going to blame me for that."
The three women chuckled at his expense. He groaned, and then turned his eyes back on him.
"Speaking of that bastard, aren't you the idiot that tried to take on Sesshomaru when Rin was kidnapped a while back?"
"You're the one who's being rude, Inuyasha," Kagome noted with a frown.
"What? It's true! What kind of idiot tries to take him on?"
"...Doesn't that make you one?" Kagome and Rin both inquired in unison.
"I'm not-! Dammit, Kagome; I wasn't talking about me!"
Ungai had no idea how to actually become part of this conversation that he was technically part of already.
It was interesting to observe, though. They got along so incredibly well that minor insults could be cast without appearing to tarnish their overall relationship. Lady Kaede looked mildly exasperated, Rin amused, and Kagome smug, but they all appeared happy to him. This was the life they had chosen to live. This was their normal.
For Inuyasha be to so integrated into their life was astounding, especially given his status as a hanyou. His anger at being insulted was hardly anger at all. There was no fear that they would insult him so much that he might kill them. Hot-headed, yes, but not threatening. Inuyasha meant much to them.
"You probably couldn't now, though," Rin noted. "Lord Sesshomaru is really, really strong. He got his own sword!"
"Yeah, yeah," he dismissed her. "Sure, he's got Bakusaiga, but he still underestimates me all the time."
That exchange cleared up the demon's current status. Ungai was relieved to discover that nothing had seemed to have happened.
But if nothing had happened, why was Rin living here?
"One hit from Bakusaiga when it's active would literally disintegrate you, Inuyasha," Kagome scolded him. He frowned, apparently suddenly reminded of that. "You're lucky enough as it is that he's not overly annoyed by you. Don't push it. I'm not losing my husband for something stupid like trying to prove he's stronger than his brother."
Ungai could not help that his mouth fell open.
"You two are wed?" he questioned in surprise. "And you're related to Lord Sesshomaru?"
They appeared to have forgotten that he was there over the course of their argument, and blinked owlishly at him for a moment before recovering.
"Oh, yes," Kagome replied. "Not the ceremony I had in mind, but wed nonetheless. Inuyasha is hardly husband material, though."
"Keh," he snorted. "And you're a pain-in-the-ass wife."
The insults were traded with smiles rather than anger, which surprised him. What a strange couple, one of them being a hanyou aside.
"We're half-brothers, Sesshomaru and I," Inuyasha continued. "Not that he acts like it."
"You two get along a little more these days," Kaede noted.
"Hardly!" he scoffed. "He's rude, insulting, persistent, annoying, a bastard-"
"He's also here."
"Right, and frustrating, an asshole, and...wait, what?"
Behind Inuyasha, the demon Ungai had not seen since that day that had changed him was approaching from the sky. The half-demon's ears twitched before flattening.
"Do continue, little brother," he encouraged him with a warning tone despite the dangerous smile on his face, gracefully landing just a few feet away. "You seemed to be on a rather strong streak. Has your wife expanded your vocabulary?"
"Apparently," Kagome said with a roll of her eyes before turning back to the growling Inuyasha. "How did you not notice he was coming? Did those weasels kill your sense of smell?"
"He was downwind!" the hanyou insisted. "...Damn that smoke bomb, crafty little shits."
"Insulted by weasels? How low, Inuyasha," Sesshomaru commented.
"I don't want to hear it from you, bastard!"
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin cheered as she slipped between the rungs of the fence to run up to his side. "You're back early this time. Is Master Jaken not with you?"
"I had business nearby," he explained. "Jaken is tending to other matters."
"Oh, well I'm glad to see you again! Will you be staying long?"
He shook his head. Rin immediately looked saddened by the news, her head lowering in disappointment. Ungai watched in awe as the demon's features softened in response.
"At least stay for tea, not that you ever drink it," Kagome insisted. "And let Rin show you the garden she's been working so hard on."
He glanced up at the young priestess before looking back down at the child.
"...Your garden is doing well?"
Rin brightened at the question.
"Yes!"
He did not smile, but there was something in the way Lord Sesshomaru looked at the girl that spoke of a bond he could not comprehend, and it was enough to throw Ungai back into those days when he no longer understood the world.
It was at that moment that the demon's golden gaze captured his. Ungai froze, unsure how to react.
"You're that monk," Sesshomaru noted. "What business have you here?"
It had been a long time since Ungai had felt the gaze of a predator, but he recognized immediately that the demon was sizing up his intentions, and wondered if his presence had caused the demon to return early as the child had mentioned.
"...Passing through," he replied with a bow. "It has been quite a while, Lord Sesshomaru. I hadn't expected to be able to meet you again."
Perhaps it was the bow and the honorific he used, but the demon seemed thrown by his reply. Ungai wondered how he should remedy that.
"I can't imagine why you'd want to, given the thrashing he gave you back then," Inuyasha noted. "Unless you wanted to try again."
"He has not practiced in quite a while," the other demon observed, much to his surprise. "If you had properly dealt with those weasels, Inuyasha, you would have noticed he lacks the scent of a holy aura, and that he is alone."
"Damn it, that's it!" the hanyou turned. "You want to fight, let's fight!"
"It has been some time since I've reminded you of your place."
"Just try me this time, Sesshomaru!"
"Inuyasha, SIT!"
At the young priestess' word, the rosary around the hanyou's neck came to life and pulled him into the ground with a forceful thud. Lord Sesshomaru seemed to observe with slight disappointment.
"I swear, you two," she continued with a warning tone. "Inuyasha, we just got done talking about this. And Sesshomaru! Stop egging my husband into fighting you. You know how much I love him – let up before I find a set of beads for you, honorable big brother."
The glare that set in his eyes sent a chill down Ungai's spine, but the woman showed no fear.
"I thought I made myself clear last time, woman," he reminded her of some conversation they had had in the past.
"And I reminded you that you're part of the family whether you like it or not. Relax; it's not like I'll call you that in front of your mother."
"She's as stubborn as a mule," Inuyasha noted from the ground, his own disapproving look directed at Kagome. "Hasn't gotten Rin on board with it yet, though, so you still have that going for you, honorable big brother."
Their honorable big brother placed his foot on Inuyasha's head and pressed it quite firmly into the ground, suppressing the hanyou's smug expression upon uttering the phrase.
Ungai had no idea what to think about this group. His world had been turned over again.
"He gets angry about it, but still refers to Inuyasha as little brother," Lady Kaede noted to him with an exasperated shake of her head. "Would you like to come in for some tea, Lord Ungai?"
Part 2 is forthcoming.
Thanks for reading!
-sf