The Maze of the Matchmaker Summary: Inugang's on the quest and stumbles upon a shrine in mountains.
A/N: This work was originally published on AO3 (2017-03-29) as a part of InuKag Week 2017 (Day 7 - Soulmates)
If you can guess on which anime the plot is based - congrats - you won!
o0o
The heavy blanket of grey clouds was covering the whole sky and since the morning Inuyasha was in a bad mood, predicting that rain would catch them in middle of nowhere TT- it was just a matter of time fot it to start pouring down at them. He wasn't afraid of getting wet or stuff, but he really hated the experience of cold rain tricking down his back and wetting his hair and furry ears.
There were not too many things worse than water in his ears.
The rest of his pack seemed as unhappy as he was. As he was walking at the front of the group he turned his head to look at his friends. Sango and Kagome were walking side by side, Kirara perched on the slayer's shoulder while Shippou on Kagome's. Miroku was walking a few steps behind them, his eyes glued to Sango's rear. It was a matter of minutes before her slapping his face. The forest around them was quite calm and the rocky path was going in the direction where Kagome had sensed a jewel shard. Inuyasha sighed and inhaled deeply through his nose.
Pine trees, a stream flowing near their path, the scents of wild animals keeping their distance from the travelling group, a few lesser youkai, but none close enough to provide an excuse to run away and hunt it down. Suddenly he stopped and took an another sniff - the wind carried to him the scent of burning wood, cooking food and humans.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome came to stop beside him, her voice full of curiousity and a hint of worry. "Is something wrong?"
"I smell people ahead," he replied, examing the wind. A few cold drops fell on his head, making him scowl. "From the smell of it there's a shrine up the road."
"Oh, this' great!" Kagome smiled widely. "I feel the jewel shard is nearby, maybe it's at the shrine?"
"Even if not we could find shelter there," Miroku said from behind the hanyou. "As much as I appreciate the view I'd like to stay dry." Sango glared at him, but just shook her head.
"Let's move," the hanyou growled at the increasing amount of cold water falling from the sky. Kirara meowed in agreement and jumped off Sango's shoulder upon seeing Inuyasha kneel down. In no time the three humans found themselves on backs of their youkai friends. Inuyasha was running first, the neko youkai mere feet behind him.
The hanyou couldn't stop a small smile curling the corners of his mouth up at the feeling of warm arms of the miko wrapped tightly around his shoulders. He didn't let her scent and warmth distract him (too much) as he was running under tree limbs creating a roof above the path. Soon they reached the line of the forest - between it and a stone wall of a moutain was an empty space. Snuggled to the cliff was a group of small buildings.
"Ha!" Inuyasha winced at Kagome's cry just beside his ear. "The shard must be in the shrine, I can sense it there!"
"Keep quiet, wench," he growled back and jumped from the questionable shelter the forest could provide. As soon as they left the shadow of the trees the rain became harder. They reached the gates in no time and stopped when they found themselves on the steps leading to the shrine, under its roof. They all sighed in relief and pleasure of getting off the rain, then Inuyasha started to sniff the air. Miroku tuened to the door of the shrine, but before he could open it the hanyou grabbed his wrist.
"A youkai!" he hissed and the whole group tensed again, but from a different reason. Kagome looked around to see her friends standing around her, obviously preparing themselves to protect her. She bit her bottom lip as she reached for an arrow - she wasn't a hopeless girl, she could take care of herself!
"There is no need for violence in the Matchmaker's sanctuary," the door of the shrine slid open and the whole group looked at the person speaking. It was a short woman, her red-haired head reaching Inuyasha's waist. She gave them a small smile and folded her hands before her, bowing politely. A tip of a fuzzy tail was visible from under the hem of her kimono, her bright green eyes full of playfulness and politeness. She turned to look at Shippou. "Hello, brother. Can you, please, assure your pack that I pose no threat to them? Fighting is strictly forbidden in the Matchmaker's sanctuary."
"You're a kitsune, huh?" Kagome smiled at the little woman. She nodded and stepped to the side. The whole group wasn't really willing to trust the stranger, but one could see that they relaxed a bit. Shippou gave the woman a shy smile.
"She does look kind..." he murmured.
"Please, come in, come in," she waved her hand in a welcoming gesture, indicating for them to enter the faintly lit room behind her back. Inuyasha wasted a second to smell the air before entering it as the first one, not letting the kitsune out of his sight and positioning himself between her and Kagome. The room was almost empty, only in the center was a small table with a stone vase and writing utencils on it. On the opposite wall from the entrance was a pair of other doors. It smelled safe enough and Inuyasha growled quietly, annoyed.
When they had met a youkai during their quest it usually was trying to kill them or steal the shards. Or both. Yet the kitsune seemed to ignore the presence of the jewel fragments as she walked to stand beside the table. It was odd and unsettling, Inuyasha would like to know where and how they'd be attacked.
"You travelled far, dear friends, but alas, you reached the sanctuary of the Matchmaker," the kitsune said after clearing her throat and capturing their attention. "Now you can ask him for his judgement," she said and gestured to the paper, ink and brushes in a simple clay cup.
"Fair kitsune," Miroku started and smiled charmingly, taking his role as the one speaking to newly met people, as always. "I am afraid we are not pilgrims. We are merely travellers, who desired to get out of the rain. With all due respect... We haven't heard about the Matchmaker."
"We're looking for the Sacred Jewel shards, so better hand the one you keep here over or..." Inuyasha's voice was low and he did nothing to hide his fangs. Kagome gave him a glare and elbowed him.
"Can we try a peaceful approach, Inuyasha?" she growled at him and the hanyou winced before stuffing his hands in his sleeves. "Yes, we are on a quest to collect those, so if you have one we'd really appreciate if you handle it to us," she said politely to the kitsune.
"Yeah!" Shippou jumped off Kagome's shoulder to stand beside the other kitsune. "Inuyasha can be really mean."
"Who is this Matchmaker person?" Sango asked, looking around the room again, but finding nothing. The kitsune gave a small gasp and smiled at them all.
"I shall answer all your questions," she said and turned to face Miroku, "You are welcome here, no matter why you came to the sanctuary. Within its borders you're protected by the Matchmaker," Inuyasha snorted. "And you can stay as long as you want to."
Then she turned to Kagome and Inuyasha. "Yes, a shard of the Sacred Jewel is indeed in the sanctuary, but I cannot handle it to you, even if I wanted to, for it is within the Maze and I cannot go there to fetch it for you."
"Then we'll go ourselves!" Inuyasha stated firmly. "Just show us the way and we'll do the rest!"
The kitsune smiled and clasped her hands in front of her chest. "It would be amazing, thank you for the offer. Since the day it came here and got stuck in the Matchmaker's mirror many of our visitors get upset by the Matchmaker's judgement."
"Great!" Inuyasha took a step forward, fisting his right hand in excitement, his ears perked. "So where's this maze of yours?"
The kitsune chuckled and turned to Shippou.
"Your pack member isn't that bad, brother, I appreciate his eagerness to help us," she said. Shippou just shook his head.
"Trust me, he can change in a blink of an eye and start destroyig stuff," he assured the woman, who obviously didn't believe him, as she just smiled and looked at Sango.
"I am Kiba, the Matchmaker's helper," she introduced herself. "And as such I am bound to answer all your questions regarding him and his sanctuary. But that will be a long explanation, and from the look of you and the rest of your pack I can tell you are travelling for a long time. Please, let me offer you a warm meal and some place where we can sit and talk.
"We can talk later, show me the stupid maze," demanded Inuyasha, proving once again that his mind could focus only at one thing at time and was currently focused at the shard. Even a meal couldn't push off his mind the thought that the shard was practically begging to be collected.
To his irritation the rest of his gropu decided to follow Kiba's lead and accept her offer of food and warmth. The hanyou followed after them, muttering curses under his nose. Couldn't they see a shard was almost within their grasp? And there was a chancce they could get it without a fight - well, he definetely wasn't afraid of a battle, but he wasn't stupid. No fight meant no injuries and no injuries meant that they could get on the road faster.
An hour later, after a neal served by Kiba's human companions living in a few houses beside the shrine, the whole group was sitting with cups of tea in their hands and listening to the kitsune lady, who the humans were treating much like villagers were treating their mikos. They were gathered in a small room, opened at a garden. Shippou was sitting beside Kiba, showing her some of his tricks and Kiba shared one or two of her own with him. Inuyasha could see Kagome smile warmly at this sighr, he thought she was probably thinking that they acted almost real siblings. The hanyou was sitting just beside his miko, his ears swiveling as he was scanning the area for any suspicious sound. Miroku and Sango seemed to relax after speaking to the humans - well, Sango was relaxing, the monk seemed to be a little dizzy after getting beaten for welcoming a few women with his usual greeting line: "Would you consider bearing my child?"
"Alright," Kiba hid her woodden coin which was always landing on its edge, no matter how one'd toss it in the air. "Now let us focus at the reply for lady Sango."
"Please, tell us about your master and his maze," Miroku nodded and rested his back againt the wall behind him.
"And what is this mirror where the shard is," added Kagome before Inuyasha could say anything. Good, he thought, at least one person remembers we're here not to learn useless folk stories, even more useless pranks or hit on girls.
"The Matchmaker is the spirit living deep within his Maze in the mountain behind the sanctuary," Kiba explained and laid her hands on her lap. "He blesses pilgrims with his judgement and they wander through his Maze until they reach his sacred mirror to see visions of their future with their soulmates. Those who reach the mirror will be blessed with his sacred power and can be joined in a marriage by the Matchmaker himself."
"Oooh, so that's why he's called the Matchmaker!" Miroku gave a wide, in Inuyasha's opinion stupid, smile.
"He can really predict who would be one's soulmate?" asked Sango, stroking Kirara's back as the cat youkai was curled on her lap. Kiba gave an affirmative nod.
"Yes. When one enters the Maze they must pray to the Matchmaker and write down their name of a slip of paper, then throw it to the sacred jar," she elaborated further, capturing Inuyasha's attention at last, since she was talking about the place where the jewel shard was. "Then a person takes off their paper and sees the name of their soulmate, the one who they'll love forever," Shippou grinned as he saw two couples looking at each other and trying to do it discretely. "Then the person, if they want to, can travel through the Maze to find the Mirror and witness the sweet visions of their future."
Inuyasha was partially scared of this whole "telling you who'll be your soulmate" thing - talking about emotions in general wasn't his thing, showing affection publicly was awkward. He had feelings for a certain miko (even if he didn't confess them yet, but he was working on it, besides she should be able to tell from his actions what he felt) and wasn't sure he wanted a certain monk tease him about this. Still, it'd really help to make her realize he didn't love Kikyou - well, not in the way she thought he loved her.
Sango did her best not to look at the certain monk from Inuyasha's musings. He was still annoying her to no end and she was a little scared of binding herself to this man who had captured her heart, aware of his bad habits. If the Matchmaker would tell that he was her soulmate would Miroku become a bit less focused on being a pervert? The young woman had lost her entire village and her life would never be the same - she needed something solid in her life. As much as she liked Miroku she was afraid to let someone into her heart again.
Kagome's heart was pounding in her chest and she was pretty sure Inuyasha could hear it, that the rest could hear it as well. She was pretty sure Inuyasha knew she loved him already and she was sure he cared for her deeply, but what if there'd be Kikiyou's name on his slip of paper, not hers? What would be his reaction to her name on it? He wanted to protect the dead miko, would he decide to follow her into death after getting the Matchmaker's judgement? And would her heart handle the paiful truth of learning that he'd never be with her?
Miroku gave Sango a fond smile. He'd really like her to finally trust in the sincerity of his feelings. He knew he had bad habits and there were so many fair women in this world, but he was doing his best to show her she could trust him with her heart. With the affirmation of the Matchmaker she couldn't do anything else than fall in his arms. Lately he started to dare to think what would happen after lifting the curse from his hand - he wanted his future to include the youkai slayer.
Kiba was observing them all think about what she had told them. Then the kitsune lady bowed her head.
"If you decide to help us and remove the shard from the Mirror we'd be utterly thankful."
"We'll do it," Inuyasha promised, his voice firm.
Ten minutes later he was really regretting making this promise.
"WHAT?!" a mighty roar shook the little shrine as the hanyou stared at the slip of paper in his clawed fingers. Kagome was frowning at her own paper until this moment and now stole a glance at his.
"Miroku," she read snd turned to where the monk was standing, his slip of paper dropped to the floor. Sango, standing just next to him, was staring at Kagome, her eyes wide. Shippou scouted to grab Miroku's paper and rolled on his back in a fit of laughter. "What does it say, Shippou?"
"Inu-" Shippou never finished his answer as the enraged hanyou jumped in his direction, his snarl a promise of quick death. The kid squeaked and ran to Kagome for safety.
"Mine says Sango," Kagome stated calmly when Inuyasha, running after Shippou, stopped just before her, his rage growing a little smaller as she smiled at him calmingly. He inhaled deeply, letting her scent soothe him.
"And mine says your name, Kagome," Sango said from behind the hanyou. "I love you as a sister, Kagome, but..."
"I have similar feelings towards you, my dear hanyou friend," Miroku added as he cleared his throat.
"I know, I know," Kagome reached out to take Inuyasha's slip of paper, but he growled and stole her own instead. Moving in fast jumps he gathered all four papers and tore them to pieces, stuffing them in the jar with a loud, angry growl.
"The pervert ain't my soulmate!" he turned to Kiba, who was standing beside the table.
"According to the judgement of the Matchmaker he is," she replied calmly, showing great courage in face of the angererd dog hanyou. As Kagome saw his ears go flat against his skull she sighed.
"Sit," the miko said softly and as Inuyasha went crashing to the floor she stepped to his side and knelt beside his head. "Inuyasha, listen. Kiba already told us that the shard messes with the Matchmaker's powers. It seems it is the outcome of it. So stop being angry, so we can go to the Maze and take the shard, okay?" she had to speak fast, before the spell's hold on Inuyasha would fade.
"Stupid jar, stupid beeds, fucking stupid shard..." came his reply and Kagome smiled as she reached to rub one fuzzy ear before he could get up.
"So what now, lady Kiba?" Miroku asked as he watched Kagome help Inuyasha stand up, the hanyou had a fierce scowl on his face
"Now you must enter the Maze," the kitsune went to the closed doors in the back wall of the room. "When you find the Mirror and take off the shard you will find a straight way leading back here, where your friends an I will wait for your return."
She went to the doors and turned to them before opening them.
"Ah, yes, you must do one thing unless you want to be pushed off the Maze immediately," she gave a small smile as she saw the two pairs standing just behind her.
"What is it?" asked Sango.
"You must hold your soulmate's hand all the way."
A/N 2: I'm working on the 2nd part of this fic, hopefully will post it soon - it's partially written, but I work on it when I don't write Barks or Forest Spirit, which are my babies righ now. So be patient - you can drop a comment or wonder what's going to happen in meantime.