By Luna Silvereyes
A/N: I do not own InuYasha. I only own Saeka, Miharu and anyone else you do not recognize.
Trouble In The Feudal Era
It was very dark in Kaede's village. Miharu was sitting on the rooftop, hiding from her father. He was wandering around below, searching for her.
" Miharu, come out now. Don't make me look for you." He threatened. Miharu wasn't playing around. She was mad at him. She had wanted to learn to use a bow and arrow, but he had said that it was only for priestesses to learn. When Kaede somehow found insult in this, they got into a big argument and Miharu and tried to step in. But Sesshomaru, in a fit of rage, had accidentally slashed at her with his claws, creating a severe gash within her hair, dying the silvery color a temporary red. Then, Miharu, now terrified had run out of the house, Sesshomaru chasing after her. She now sat on the roof of Kaede's hut, watching him walk around in search of her. Whenever he looked up, she ducked out of sight. The only reason he didn't pick up her scent was because she'd stolen that sickening remedy of Kaede's that disguised her scent to that of a badger. She could hide in plain sight, provided she made no sound at all.
" Miharu!" he yelled.
" Sesshomaru, give it up." Kaede said from the doorway. He whirled to face her. " I'm not just leaving her out here." He said. Kaede sighed.
" Sesshomaru, this too proves that she is indeed yours. She's stubborn and a sore loser. She won't come until she's ready to, not before. Even if ye found her, she'd still run. She's fast and would probably make it to the continent before ye could catch up with her. Just give up for awhile. She'll come."
Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes and sighed. " Why did she run?" he muttered. Kaede stepped out of the hut so that she was standing a few feet away from him. He was gazing up at the sky, lost in his own thoughts.
" She ran because ye scared her. She didn't expect to experience those claws of yours firsthand while trying to break up our argument. But I'm sure she realizes that being a nearly complete demon, her body is designed to heal wounds like that far faster than any human. But nonetheless, ye still terrified her. She won't come until she's ready to face ye again."
" I wouldn't hurt her." He said quietly.
" I know ye wouldn't. Ye aren't like that anymore. I remember when all ye used to think about was acquiring more power in order to kill thy brother. But now that Miharu and Saeka have entered thy life, ye gain power only to protect them. It's completely understandable."
" I don't get what you're saying." He said. Kaede sighed. " I'm saying that ye have changed. Ye care for something now. Ye want to protect it, before it's lost to ye. That something is thy family. I suggest ye learn to accept the hardships that come with it."
She turned and went back inside. Sesshomaru looked up at the sky again.
Maybe she's right. Maybe there's more to Miharu than meets the eye, aside from being some sort of weapon, she's different than I expected.
He sighed again and turned to go back inside. He paused.
" Miharu, I know you're around here somewhere. I also know you can hear me. I am sorry for what I did to you. But you shouldn't stay out here."
He went back in, and Miharu was left alone on the roof.
" Hey Sesshomaru." InuYasha grumbled. Sesshomaru ignored him and sat down against the wall several feet away. He was staring off into space. Kagome noticed this. She went over. " Penny for your thoughts?" she ventured. He gave her a funny look. " What's a penny?"
" It's a type of coin in my era. The phrase means, 'want to talk about it'?"
" Not particularly."
" It's about Miharu, isn't it?" InuYasha said. He knew where she was. Miharu had told him where she was going after Sesshomaru's episode. But she'd made him swear not to tell.
" I can't seem to locate her at present."
A sudden thump resounding from the roof brought all their attentions up.
" She's on the roof." Sesshomaru mumbled. He made to stand up. Kagome ran in front of the door. " You aren't going back out. Kaede went out there to talk to you about this. Miharu is a little upset, Sesshomaru."
Sesshomaru regarded her coldly, but seemed to change his mind and sat back down, staring at his left hand. Ever since he'd somehow reattached his original left arm, he continued to wonder whether it would suddenly drop off at some point, though it hadn't yet.
" Kagome," Kaede said. " Are Sango and Miroku still asleep?"
" Yes. I went in to check on them."
" That's funny, because there's someone outside the window here." Kaede said. InuYasha sighed irritably and got to his feet. " I'll go—"
" YAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
" What on earth was that?" Kaede shouted. Someone had screamed outside the window. Sesshomaru was on his feet in an instant. Kagome turned as he hurried for the door.
" That was Miharu!" he shouted. In a second, he was gone. Kagome and InuYasha exchanged glances and ran after him.
They found the demon behind the hut, watching something going on within the forest. A hideous snarl sounded and an enormous silver dog-like creature burst from the bushes. It stopped when it spied Sesshomaru.
" Miharu!" Kagome exclaimed. Miharu suddenly dug her claws into the ground as someone shouted, " Wind Tunnel!"
Sesshomaru grimaced and charged forward, his Tokijjin sword at the ready.
" Sesshomaru, NO! That's Miroku!" Kagome screamed.
By now, Miharu had transformed back and was attempting to use her light whip to stop the wind from sucking her in.
" Miroku!" InuYasha yelled. " If you don't stop that, you're going to have your head ripped off!"
Abruptly, the wind halted and the young monk stepped out from the trees, just as Sesshomaru reached where he stood. He barely managed to dive out of the way as Tokijjin struck the tree behind him, nearly severing it from its trunk. He ran to Kagome and bared his right hand.
" Stay back, Sesshomaru! I was only doing an exorcism." He said, gesturing to Miharu. Sesshomaru pulled his sword back and took a ferocious swing at him, clipping off some hair, but missing him in general. Kagome stepped between the two. " Sesshomaru stop it! We've got it under control!" she shouted. He continued to glare at her. Miroku got up and ran to Miharu, his right hand held out threateningly. " All right, demon, this is it for you." He said.
" Miroku," InuYasha said. " Stop for just a moment."
Miroku did and turned as InuYasha came forward and pointed down at Miharu. He cleared his throat. " I'd like to introduce you to my niece, Miharu." He said. Miroku's jaw fell. " Your niece? But that means—" he turned to Sesshomaru who had his sword up and was growling at him menacingly. Miroku froze and hurried around behind InuYasha. " She's his daughter?" he squeaked. " Oops." He stood up. " My apologies, Sesshomaru, I had no idea that she belonged to you. I am very sorry."
" For nearly killing her?" Sesshomaru finished for him. Miroku laughed, embarrassed. " Yeah, that. Well I'd better go!" he zoomed off toward Kaede's hut. Sesshomaru watched his progress and turned to Miharu. " I suppose you know what I mean when I said you shouldn't be out here." He said, sheathing his sword.
" Can you really blame me?"
" No, actually, I cannot. But your mother had better never hear of this. Your friend Miroku won't live to see another morning if Saeka finds out." He said, turning to go back inside. Miharu sighed and shook her head.
" Well, at least he isn't as bad as mom says he used to be. As I understand it, in the 'olden days', he'd have obliterated that guy." She said to her uncle. InuYasha shrugged. " I've known him for almost seventy years and he still bugs me. You learn to live with it. At least he isn't after the jewel like other demons."
InuYasha left, leaving Kagome with Miharu.
" Come on," Kagome said. " You've had a weird night."
" I'm a weird demon and I have weird parents." Miharu said. Kagome smiled. " That, I'll vouch for. Your father can be pretty unpredictable at times. He's almost killed me several times since I met him."
" What?" Miharu gasped, shocked.
" He's out of that now. But it was sure freaky enough back then."
They went back inside where Kaede was holding off an argument between the two brothers.
" InuYasha, Sesshomaru, knock it off!"
" He started it!" InuYasha yelled, pointing at Sesshomaru. " He's the one who keeps attacking everyone!"
Sesshomaru took a slash at him with his poison claws and InuYasha swerved out of the way and pulled out his sword, fully transformed. Kaede waved her hands wildly. " NO! Not Tetsuaiga! Put that away now!"
" Why don't you listen for once?" Sesshomaru mumbled. InuYasha brandished the sword at him. " Anyone but you!"
Suddenly, Tetsuaiga was wrenched from his grasp and fell to the floor, regressed into its neutral form. The snaking light whip fell lower to the floor as Miharu stepped in. " Seriously, why can't you both listen for once?" she snapped. She pulled the light whip in and crossed her arms. " Honestly, you both claim to be powerful demons, but the both of you act like immature children."
" You don't speak to me like that." Sesshomaru said, bordering on anger. Kaede stepped up. " Actually, she's right, Sesshomaru. The few times ye and your brother have gotten along were so far between, I can't remember a single one, though I know they happened."
Off to the left, a door opened and shut and a sleepy voice called out, "What is going on out here, are we under attack again?"
" Saeka." Sesshomaru said. InuYasha quickly sheathed his Tetsuaiga and folded his arms behind his back like nothing had happened. The healer came into the room and yawned. " Sesshomaru, what's going on?"
" Nothing, Saeka. Go back to sleep." He said. " We're sorry we woke you."
Instead of going back however, she came and sat down beside the hearth.
" Are you two at it again? Honestly, I feel more like your referee than your companion." She said. Kagome snickered and he glared at her. Saeka yawned again and looked up at Sesshomaru. " Where is Miharu? She's supposed to be sleeping. It's eleven at night."
" Sorry, Mom." Miharu said. " I was sort of…well."
" She was mad at Sesshomaru." InuYasha said. Sesshomaru whirled on him and snarled, " Shut up!"
" Make me why don'tcha?"
" Gladly." He said, flexing the claws on his right hand. Saeka glowered at them both, opened her mouth slightly and exhaled.
Sesshomaru and InuYasha both cringed and InuYasha sank to the floor, while Sesshomaru remained frozen.
" What's happening?" Kagome asked. She looked at Miharu who had her ears covered and was crossing her eyes. " It's a special ability my mom has. She uses it whenever dad gets on her nerves. It's a high frequency wail that only animals and dog and cat demons can hear and when she does it to this pitch, it's deafening!"
" Saeka!" Sesshomaru yelled. " Stop it already!"
She closed her mouth. " Very well. But let me warn you, I will not hesitate to do it again if you irritate me once more." She said. InuYasha, dazed swooned and fell to the floor. Sesshomaru shook his head lightly and turned to leave. Saeka followed him with her eyes. " Where are you going?"
" Out for awhile. There's something I have to do." He said. Then he was gone. Saeka murmured something under her breath and got to her feet. " I'm going flying for awhile." She said. As she left the hut, Kagome saw that her dark brown hair was beginning to tinge to a teal color.
" Saeka," Kaede called. " Would ye mind catching a fish while ye are out?"
" Not at all, Lady Kaede." Saeka replied. She left too.
Miharu sighed. " It isn't easy living in this family." She said. Kagome looked at her. " What isn't easy about it?"
" Lately, though I've only known them a few weeks, mom and dad seem to be fighting a lot more. It really seems to be about me."
" Don't blame yourself. Parents fight all the time. It never really means anything most of the time." Kagome said. Miharu shook her head. " I can't help but feel that maybe they were better off without me. I mean, when dad attacked me today, I truly felt that that's what he wanted to do. That he did that on purpose. Of course, it healed right away, but the memory of that, seeing his face as his claws tore through my hair when I intervened, all I could see was…fury, hatred. Toward me, it seemed." She said, looking at the floor. Kaede listened in and turned to them. " I have noticed that they have been arguing quite a bit. But it's always where they both back down. They are equals, and so cannot effectively fight one another. As much as Sesshomaru may dislike to admit it, a half-demon is indeed his equal."
Miharu looked up. But Kagome could see the worry in her eyes.
" I want to believe it so much, but I just can't Lady Kaede." She said.
It's because of me they're fighting. Kagome said that they were so close. Now that I'm in the picture, they fight constantly. Well, argue more than fight, but still.
A/N: The first chapter of the fifth book! Beware, things get very, very morbid in these next two books and anyone who has a problem with sci-fi had better stop reading and forget you ever heard of this book. This story is almost pure sci-fi. If you wish to keep going and risk it, it's your own choice. R&R!!