I own nothing. I do not own Inuyasha, that belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Mushishi belongs to Yuki Urushibara.

It was said that beings that are considered otherworldly, lowly grotesque beings, far different from mundane animals or plants, and as time passed, these deformed beings came to be known collectively, with fear and respect, as "mushi."

"I've just realized, besides taking souls, do you ever eat or drink Mu-san?" asked a young woman as she sat under a tree by a fire. Near the woman's side was a female youkai known as the Muonna, a youkai that was born from the grief and suffering of mothers who lost their children to war and famine. The young woman smiled, staring at the faceless woman that appeared similar to her own mother; with long flowing white hair and tone of voice, despite lacking a mouth. Muonna chuckled at the question "For a human with a strange appearance, you sure do like to ask strange questions Megumi." she started "But now that you mention it, I'm not sure." she answered truthfully, as she stared with unknown eyes at the young woman known as Megumi. The strange young woman in question had the appearance of a youkai, but she lacked youki as the Muonna had put it. For a human, Megumi's long hair was as white as snow untouched by bloodshed that would cover her left eye yet leave her right eye that was a lush forest green visible. Because of her appearance, the Muonna assumed that the young woman was a youkai, but when she could not sense any youki, she knew that the woman was human. In fact, after realizing that Megumi was human, she tried to suck her soul, but failed once she accidently saw the woman's memories. Megumi smiled "Fair enough. I was just asking because I wanted to repay you somehow. If it weren't for our meeting, I would not have remembered what I had forgotten." she explained as her right forest colored orb twinkled, while the other stayed hidden by white bangs. Muonna laughed "I would say let me have your soul. However, if it weren't for your memories, your tales of mushi, and the unconscious release of purifying energy, I would have devoured your soul a long time ago." she responded playfully with laughter.

Megumi laughed in return while she pulled out a kiseru, some tobacco, and a forest green wine cup with her tekko covered hands from her belongings. "How about some kouki as a reward Mu-san?" she suggested. Muonna sighed "Megumi, you are the first mushishi I have ever met and it makes me wonder if all of you mushishi are as strange." she commented out loud while Megumi was preparing her pipe. After taking a puff on her pipe, Megumi chuckled "I can guarantee you that not all mushishi are the same." she responded to the nothing woman before closing her one eye. While her eye was closed, Megumi could sense two demonic auras. Of the two, one felt overwhelmingly strong and powerful, while the other held little to some power when compared to the first. Megumi opened her lush green orb slowly, while she brought her kiseru to her lips. "Something's coming Mu-san." she softly announced before taking another smoke. The Muonna could only nod in response as sound was coming from the large lake close by.

Sounds of foot steps and a boat being drugged out of the water could be heard. Megumi glanced towards the directions that the sounds came from, only to notice a tall figure and a small figure. As the two approached the light of the lit fire, the young mushishi could get a better look at the two youkai. The fairly tall figure was handsome and somewhat frail looking, but based off of the aura she felt, she knew to tread with caution. His skin was light, with nearly knee length silver hair, but what drew the attention of the mushishi the most was his face. The youkai's face held cold golden amber orbs, a blue crescent moon on his forehead, two magenta stripes on each cheek, and the pointed ears of a youkai. Judging by his armor and clothing, Megumi would take a guess that he was a noble. While noting his outfit, she noticed what appeared to her to be an animal pelt of some kind that hung on his right shoulder. 'It looks fluffy.' Megumi thought before turning her attention to the second person, a kappa youkai carrying a staff with two wooden heads carved at the top. 'An interesting group.' she thought to herself 'If only such a handsome face didn't appear to be so cold.' Megumi thought again as she turned her attention back to the tall youkai. The rather handsome youkai glared at her as he started to talk. "Jaken" he commanded, earning a response from the kappa. "Yes my lord." he replied before moving toward the two women. "Which one of you is the Muonna?" the kappa asked as he stared at both figures. Megumi chuckled on the inside 'I never would have thought that a youkai would actually consider me one. They tend to have better senses than humans.' she reflected while she took the pipe to her lips. "Are you blind Jaken?" the noble youkai questioned the kappa. In turn the kappa kept turning his eyes from one woman to another, before realizing that the woman without a face was the Muonna.

Megumi began to take another puff from her pipe, while the kappa now known as Jaken exclaimed "You have no youki! Who are you?!" he demanded. The mushishi took in another puff thinking 'This isn't my first encounter with youkai, might as well appear to be polite. "My name in Ginko. I am merely a traveling mushishi." Megumi introduced herself, using her business name. The youkai with silver hair glared daggers at the mushishi "Do not lie to this Sesshomaru. Explain yourself." the youkai now known as Sesshomaru ordered. Megumi's only response to his command was to smile; her rich green eye twinkled in amusement. "How cold of you to say I am lying." she stated, bringing her sleeve to her face to pretend to cry. "I am merely speaking only half of the truth. I really am a traveling mushishi that goes by the name of Ginko. I just don't trust you well enough to tell you my real name." she explained to him. Megumi could tell that she had made Sesshomaru furious, so she decided to try to fix the situation before she was dead meat. She thought of an idea "I was going to offer Mu-san some kouki but I think I should offer it to you instead Sesshomaru-sama." Megumi suggested before humbly bowing before the youkai.

The fury slowly decreased but the overwhelming power still remained. Megumi could feel a chill run down her spine, which made her assume that Sesshomaru was still glaring at her. "Jaken, make haste in your plan." Sesshomaru ordered, his gaze never leaving the mushishi's place by the tree. "Yes Sesshomaru-sama." Jaken the kappa replied as he moved toward the Muonna, making the mushishi shift her gaze from the ground to the direction of which Jaken took the Muonna away. Without realizing it, Megumi had unintentionally revealed her left eye, or the fact that she lacked a left eye. She was certain that if Sesshomaru were human there would have been a reaction filled with shock or fear on his face. However, he glared "Woman, why is it that you lack the stench of humans but have the aura of one?" Sesshomaru questioned in an authoritative tone. Megumi smiled "My lord, I would imagine it has something to do with my encounter with a mushi that brought forth my current appearance. Although I had no idea that the meeting had changed my stench." she explained before moving her left tekko covered hand to her left cheek, revealing a nenju wrapped around the tekko. "My lacking of a left eye is also a result of that encounter with that same mushi." Megumi commented out loud before lowering her hand. 'A sense of smell and a pelt, definitely an animal youkai. He can't be a wolf, because I've seen them before. A dog maybe?' she thought to herself.

Sesshomaru's glare was still on his face "Did you already forget about your offering to this Sesshomaru." he commanded with a slight growl. Megumi smiled before bringing forth the forest colored wine cup. 'I didn't think that he would take me up on this offer. I'm not even sure if I can pull it off. Maybe he knows that I would not be able to, hoping to kill me for not making an offering.' the mushishi thought before presenting the cup to the youkai with her right hand. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as he stared at the empty wine cup, while Megumi began to close her first and her second eyelids. The mushishi could see in the depths of pitch black the river of life, made of the kouki. With her eyes closed she brought her right hand close to the ground, but it reality she was bringing the cup to the flowing kouki. After a moment or so, she could soon feel the weight of the cup in her hand increasing, as it was filling with kouki. Megumi opened both eyelids to the now kouki filled forest cup, as well as the youkai known as Sesshomaru standing near the tree that she was initially leaning upon. With both tekko covered hands she brought the wine above her bowing head, presenting it to the youkai of noble heritage. "Please accept this humble offering." Megumi said before thinking 'Please accept it in place of potentially taking my life.' The mushishi could feel weight of the cup leave her hands, making her slowly lower them, her head still bend forward. After some time had passed, she could hear the sounds of foot steps slowly walking away.

Megumi lifted her head to see the back of Sesshomaru. The mushishi could not help but to stare at him 'Damn, and here I was hoping for a better view at his buttocks' Megumi thought to herself. She got up from her seated place on the ground before taking notice of the glare she was receiving from Sesshomaru. In turn, the mushishi narrowed her lush green eye at the youkai lord before hearing the sound of something flying in the air. Sesshomaru turned around revealing that he had no longer held the wine cup in his possession. Megumi panicked 'Why would you throw the cup?!' she thought angrily as she saw that it was going to land on the ground some feet in front of her. The mushishi pushed forward, bringing her arms out to reach for the cup as she slid across the ground. Luckily for Megumi, the wine cup landed in her grasp, allowing her to let out a sigh in relief. She turned towards Sesshomaru, only to notice that he was no longer there. Megumi soon felt something hard applying down on her wrists, forcing her to look at the sight of metal boots on her wrists. Megumi refused to cry out in pain, but she could not help but gasp a little due to the pressure applied to her wrists. "How is it that a mortal like you can have access to the river of life and the kouki?" Sesshomaru wondered out loud, his tone was cold. Megumi cringed, before letting out another gasp as the pressure increased 'If this keeps up, it will be difficult to recover from the damage done to my wrists, especially the left one if the nenju were to break' she thought. The mushishi growled slightly "My mother who was a mushishi taught me how to see the river of life. She taught me how to close my second eyelids in order to see it like she could." Megumi answered desperately. At her answer she could feel some of the pressure had been lifted.

Before she could continue, the mushishi heard the sounds of foot steps approaching. "Don't hurt her my lord! I'm not sure what she has done to upset you but please spare her life." begged a female voice. Megumi turned her attention to the source of that plea, to see a young noble woman, perhaps a princess. Before the mushishi was a princess dressed with layer upon layer of kimonos with flowing ebony hair that reached close to her ankles. Despite the perfect appearance, the only thing it lacked as a face. "Mu-san…" Megumi asked the woman close to her before she now noticed that her wrists were free from Sesshomaru's boots. 'Thank goodness' the mushishi sighed before feeling the weight of something standing on her back. "Muonna, if you give us your aid in our search I can assure you that the woman will live." Jaken the kappa proclaimed before raising his staff to strike Megumi's head. Unfortunately for the kappa, the mushishi raised up slowly getting up to the point where she was now standing, with the wine cup in her hands. Megumi glanced over her shoulder to look at Jaken. "Attack me with your staff again and I will be sure to return the favor." she remarked before making her way towards the Muonna. "I don't know what is going on but I want you to take care of yourself Mu-san." the mushishi admitted to her friend. Shortly after she had talked, Megumi suddenly felt something hard collide against her skull. As the mushishi was slowly falling to the ground, she saw Sesshomaru with the wooden staff held by his left hand. 'Damn, you handsome bastard' Megumi thought as darkness fell around her, slowing losing her consciousness. "Please….be careful." was all the mushishi could utter before blacking out.

Chirping birds were all that could be heard around the mushishi, making her awaken to her surroundings. Megumi slowly opened her eye, gradually taking in the scenery that she had woke up to. Memories from the events of last night began to swim in her mind as she looked around for something. 'I had a feeling that Mu-san would not be here when I had awoken, but where did the wine cup go?' the mushishi thought to herself before searching for it. Shortly after glancing about, Megumi finally came across it next to her wooden pack by the tree, near her shakujo that was hidden behind the tree she had been leaning against the previous night. She picked up the wine cup, only to notice a letter on the ground amongst the grass where the cup had been placed. After putting the cup away, Megumi picked up the letter, taking notice of the fact that it was addressed to her as Ginko the mushishi. She unfolded the letter before reading:

To Ginko, a mushishi who was a blessing in disguise,

Although I am saddened by the fact that I have to leave you while you were out cold, I am grateful to have met you. I enjoyed looking into your memories, but not as much as I've enjoyed your tales of your encounters with mushi. I am certain that we will meet again some day, but until the next time we meet, I wish you all the luck in your search for Naraku.

Muonna

Megumi chuckled after reading the letter, only to fold it up and place it within her pack next to the wine cup. The mushishi than pulled out some bandages to wrap around her head, eventually wrapping her left eye. 'If only humans wouldn't confuse me for being a youkai, than I wouldn't have to cover the left side of my face' she reflected on herself. After smoothing out her lavender yukata, Megumi decided to pull out her blue haori and green mo-bakama. She started by putting on her mo-bakama skirt before placing on her haori. With herself fully clothed, Megumi placed her wooden pack on her shoulders, and picked up the shakujo. The mushishi walked forward with her bare feet, heading in the direction of the nearest village to gather information on Naraku.

Whelp, I hope this was enjoyable to any who read this. If possible, I'd like to have some feedback on whether or not this was good. I've had this idea bouncing back and forth and I now decided to go through with it.