Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or the characters of the show. The only things I own are the small plotline and the Original characters. Oh, and the names for some of these plants and fruits.
Summary: Monks are all the same, they always think they can slay a demon feely just because they are different, this is what little Half-demon Mayu always thought. That is until she met the monk Miroku.
The Beginning of a Bond between a Demon and a Demon Slaying Monk
Mayu looked out over the dim horizon. It was getting dark, and she hoped it wouldn't rain like she had heard some passing humans say. She only had a tree to sleep in, and that would only provide minimal protection for her if it rained. She pulled a giant Mayama leaf from one of the Mayama trees. Dragging it up the tree she slept in, she set it up just over her, since the Rishiama trees were bare of all their leaves in summer. She got situated, and then went back to gazing at the darkening horizon. Not before long, she found herself nodding off. Pulling her inky black tail over one half of her body, she pulled her ears down and fell into a silent sleep, just as the sun had done moments before.
The villagers huddled around the Monk eagerly, wondering if he could finally rid them of the half demon living just on the outskirts of their village. He adjusted his red robe, and turned his attention to the chief of the village.
"Are you sure you would like me to rid you of it?" He asked calmly. The chief nodded.
"Yes, that little demon always steals the fisherman's fish, takes a big part of our harvest, and kills some of our best cattle, it needs to be handled." The monk turned and calmly walked from the circle of villagers, only the chief, and a few other villagers followed along. The monk tried to follow the half- breed's demonic aura to determine where she was.
Mayu's milky white ears started to twitch when she took in the scent of approaching humans. Footsteps grew louder, and so did hushed voices. But it was raining, and with the droplets pounding down on Mayama leaf, all Mayu had to rely on was her scent. She opened her dark amber eyes and sat up on the branch.
"You, half-breed!" One of the villagers yelled from the base of the tree. She glanced down and sighed. Once again, those stupid villagers had decided to hire another monk to try and chase her far away from the village outskirts, or better yet, kill her. The monk made a move, and threw a flaming sutra at her. She jumped to avoid it and made her way to the next Rishiama tree. The monk continued on her trail by foot, shooting out more flaming sutras, a few which almost hit her. She continued to jump from tree to tree, finally taking cover under the Mayama leaves.
Once the monk had enough of her little game of hide-and-go-seek, he leapt into the tree. But, she was nowhere in sight. As soon as he looked up, he saw a figure against the blackened sky. Its tail was loosely swaying in the wind, and its fur becoming matted over in the rain. Its entire body was black. The only way he spotted it was its milky white ears. He climbed back down from the tree, where the villagers met him.
"Monk, please tell us you killed it!" One of them pleaded. The monk just shook his head.
"I did not, it managed to evade me, and escaped, I am sorry, but if it comes back, you will have to look for another monk or a demon slayer to take care of it." He said, before wandering off, leaving the villagers to cope with the fact the little weasel of a demon managed to flee once again.
Mayu kicked up the dirt under her paws as she landed. She had managed to escape, but the constant capture and kill attempts of those monks was getting tiring. She wasn't sure how much more she could take. And yet, it was like… like the village was calling her, like something or someone… was going to be there soon, to help her. That's the only reason she would return after being chased out by a monk. Once in a cave she had found, she returned to her half-demon form and rested against the wall. She scoffed quietly. It was so stupid. Who was going to help her, a lousy half-breed? So if it was so stupid, why did she keep going back? All her relatives were gone.
Her father, a great dog demon, had died right after she was born, leaving only her mother and her fraternal twin Inuyasha. Her mother died years after her father, and it left her with only her twin Inuyasha, and her half brother Shessomaru. Well, she had never really seen Shessomaru around, but she learned about him from her mother. Not long after, Inuyasha was bound to a tree with a sacred arrow by a priestess he was in love with named Kikiyo. After failing to remove the arrow, she had to go off and live on her own, without her brother. She had heard people say he wasn't dead, just in… Suspended animation, if you will.
But she no longer wanted to look like an adult, as she was afraid she would fall in love with some demon slayer or monk, and suffer the same fate as Inuyasha. So she, at the cost of a weapon she wielded, had an enchantress make her appearance that of a child's. It worked, as her personality altered as well. She did not feel like she needed to love a man. Those villagers think she could have killed all their cattle? With her child-sized body, she could hardly manage to kill an imp! She took off her blue vest and laid it on the floor. Using as a pillow, she fell asleep once again.
A couple of days later, the villagers were in an irrational state, all complaining to the chief. One woman stepped up, a child in each arm.
"With that demon back, how am I supposed to feed my children when all my crops are disappearing?!" She complained. Mayu had returned to the outskirts of town, and despite the chief trying to disagree with himself, he knew it would come back. Until someone had killed the demon, it would always come back.
"We need to try a demon slayer!" One of the village men suggested. Some agreed, but some of the younger women looked worried.
"Don't you think we should try a monk one more time? I mean, maybe if we had a powerful monk, he could just scare it off." One of them suggested.
"Maybe I could be of assistance?" Some asked from behind them. They looked behind them to see a monk, a gold staff in one hand, His black hair pushed back into a ponytail, and clad in a purple and black robe, his warm blue eyes scanning the crowd of young women. One brown haired girl went up to him.
"Oh monk, there is a demon on the outskirts of our village. We believe it is taking things from the village and killing our livestock, could you please help?" He took the girls hands in his own.
"I can, but only if your village can provide housing for me until I get rid of it." He answered. The chief spoke up.
"Surely, we can work that out, but you better be good monk." He warned, tired of all the monks claiming they could get rid of it. Though the monk seemed interested in the village girls only, he had no other choice but to trust the job to him.
Mayu picked some wild berries from the nearby bush. This was all she really ever ate, because it was all she could gather. No matter what those villagers said, she wasn't a thief, it had to be some other demon doing the harm, and knowing that she would take the blame. For years, she had lived quietly on the outskirts, never bothering the villagers. But recently, something has been taking their food and supplies, and they suddenly decided it was her because she was the closest demon they knew of. She had never even set foot in the village. She smoothed out her ruffled black hair. It felt oily, which meant it was time to bathe.
She swallowed down the berries and headed off to the stream. Shedding her clothes, she ventured into the water. Closing her eyes, she thought up possible ways to prove her innocence to the villagers. She could capture the demon and show everyone it wasn't her. But what if it turned out stronger than her, she couldn't risk it. Dying wasn't worth showing some humans they were wrong. She titled her head back, allowing the water to get into her hair. Once she got out and had her clothes on, she shook dry. It was getting dark, and she still hadn't figured out how to get them to trust her. Those villagers were too hard-headed to get the point.
Climbing back into the tree, she looked over the fields that lay just under a hill. She saw something, plowing through it. She slid down and off into that direction. The villagers were all most likely asleep by the time she reached the fields. She slipped between the fence and into the fields. A lizard demon was throwing crops into a burlap sack. A branch snapped under her foot and the demon turned, hissing at her. She flinched. It formed a crackling electric ball and cast it at her. She dodged and it collided with the fence behind her, breaking it into pieces. It hissed again and gripped her leg tightly.
"I think the explosion came from the fields." A man's voice shouted above other whispering ones. The Demon dropped Mayu and forced the burlap bag into her arms, taking off. Her leg was searing with pain and she couldn't make a move. The light of a torch shined on her.
"I knew it! It has been that mongrel that's been stealing from us all this time!" A villager exclaimed. Mayu struggled to get standing.
"I don't know, it looks like it's injured… " one of the women said.
"It obviously launched an attack and injured itself." Another man argued. Mayu wasn't concentrating on them; she was concentrating on the monk that was observing her. Wasn't he going to go after her already? She glew a bright orange, and transformed into a large black dog. She began to limp away.
"Wind tunnel!" She heard a shout from behind her. Everything around her, rocks, boulders, broken fence posts, everything was getting sucked away. She continually dug her claws into the dirt until she managed to spring up and out of the wind. She finally landed on a cliff far away from the fields. She noticed the wind had stopped. She limped away, not knowing the monk was silently following her trail. She lay at a trees base, not knowing what to do next, she was exhausted.
"What made you think you would escape demon?" Came the monk's voice from behind her. She turned to find him standing there, a hand on Buddhist Sutra Beads around the cloth on his right hand. She stood and growled.
"You have a chance to change to your half- demon form and explain yourself." He offered. Instead, Mayu realized she had done enough running. She moved her front paw slightly, releasing embers of orange fire the minute she started to kick up dirt. The monk removed the Sutra beads and the wind started up again. There was a large hole in his hand that was making all the wind! He sealed it back up and stepped out of the way when Mayu's grip on the ground finally gave in, She was slammed into the tree that was behind the monk. He whacked her front with the staff, and she transformed and fainted.
"I don't see why those villagers see this young demon as such a threat; she definitely did not have the power to use such an attack as the one that broke the fence…" He took the young demon and carried her to the village. He wasn't fond of demons, but this one could be of use in tracking the whereabouts of the demon that was really causing the trouble. As he walked into the village, the villagers were all staring at the fainted young demon.
"Is it dead, Monk Miroku?" One of the men inquired. The monk, apparently named Miroku, shook his head.
"No, she is not dead, but I have chained her, there is a seal on the chain, it will prevent her from freeing herself, only I can, I need to see if she is really the one that is causing all this trouble for you all." He responded. A whisper broke out over the small crowd. The chief quieted them.
"If this is what the Monk has to do to assure us that this problem will end, let him do what he pleases." The crowd stopped and dispersed. Miroku went back to where he was staying and put the demon down. He then fastened the chain to a steel hook and placed a seal over the chain, so the demon could not make an escape attempt.
Mayu woke up the next dawn to find a chain around her neck and that she was in the village. Why hadn't the monk killed her when he had the chance? She touched the chain and was painfully shocked in a blue electrical current. That is when she noticed the seal. What was he planning now that he had captured her? The doors slid open and she noticed the monk. She turned away from him.
"I see you are awake." Miroku said. There was no response from her.
"Not in the mood for small talk, are we?" He asked. She finally turned in his direction.
"Look, why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?!" She questioned. He laid his staff against the door frame and sat down next to her.
"I know you aren't the one responsible for these problems, I don't kill for no reason." He answered. Her ears went back and she looked down at the floor boards.
"In fact." He continued," I need your help." She looked up at the monk.
"How would I help?" She asked.
"You saw the demon last night correct, and you appear to have a keen sense of smell, we can track it down, kill it, and then they will know it wasn't you." Miroku explained.
"I just need to know your name. I am the Monk Miroku, now had you done anything wrong, I would have killed you." She snapped her head away from him.
"What is my name to a monk like you? All you monks ever care for is helping people, you never can tell when it is the demon being ridiculed." She snapped. Miroku got up and took his staff.
"I will return later, if you feel like telling me your name then, maybe we can get somewhere." Miroku walked off, in the direction of a few village women. As she watched them, Mayu began to think this guy was more of a lecher than a monk. After an hour or two, Mayu sat up. Out of a pouch she carried on her waist, she produced a beautiful multicolored shell flute. It was the only item she had to her name, and item her mother had given to her. She ran her clawed fingers over it, her mother coming to mind. She put the flute to her lips and began to play; the soft sounds coming from it were unbelievably relaxing. The entire village heard the sound. This was not Mayu's skill, but the flute's natural sound. It was a whisper that was carried on by the wind.
"That's a nice sound." Mayu jumped at Miroku's voice. She held the flute protectively.
"Yes… it is…" She responded.
"Tell, me, where did you get such an item?" Miroku asked. She looked over the flute.
"I didn't steal it!" She snapped. Miroku put his hands up defensively. She looked back up at him.
"Mayu…" Miroku glanced at her.
"Pardon?" Mayu gripped the flute.
"My name… Is Mayu… I got this flute from my human mother…" She explained.
"It was her last gift to me…" Miroku took Mayu's chain off of the hook and into his hands.
"Mayu, are you ready to clear your name?" Miroku asked. Mayu nodded and transformed to her full demon dog form. He took her to the fields and had her sniff the burlap sack. She caught the demons scent right away. She pulled on the chain. Miroku understood and gathered some village men, letting Mayu lead the way. They soon came to a cave. Outside was Fish, produce, meat, and even fishing nets. Along with some gold and silver.
"You see men, it was not this demon that was stealing all your items, it was the demon that resides here." Miroku explained, patting Mayu's side. There was a loud hiss, and the demon appeared from nowhere. Miroku sensed it coming from the air and placed a Sutra on his staff, stabbing it through the demon, which then burst into blue flames. Miroku turned to the villagers.
"And there was your problem." The village men rushed off to get the chief. Miroku then grabbed a stolen wagon, one of the live oxen, that was probably going to be killed if they hadn't gotten there, and hooked it to the wagon. He then loaded many of the items into the wagon and took the chain off of Mayu.
Mayu transformed into her half-demon self.
"Miroku, what are you doing?" She asked.
"Taking my leave."
"With all the villagers stuff?"
"Consider it my pay." He answered, hopping onto the wagon's front. He turned back to Mayu.
"You know, though it goes against what I stand for to work with a demon, you seem reliable, how about you join me." Mayu thought about this. She didn't have anyone, and Miroku didn't seem so bad, besides stealing and being a lecher.
With that last thought, she hopped into the back of the wagon, and Miroku made the ox go, and that's how their partnership began.