... ...
It took a few hours for Rin to get sick, but took two days for her to recover enough to leave her bed. During that time, I wasn't allowed to leave the castle for any reason, always in the company of at least one demon, and was only allowed in the room I'd been given- right next to Rin's, coincidentally- and whatever room she was in. As time progressed, she recovered more and more, which was obvious to even the average passerby. Her skin regained it's color, although she was still pale, I was pretty sure that was natural. Her eyes sparkles, and she grinned widely at everyone in sight. She was allowed outside of her room, and she would skip and run down hallways, picking flowers in the main garden. (A third one. Honestly, how many gardens could one place have?)
"Look Haruka-chan!" she brandished a light grey flower proudly. "It's just like your eyes!"
"It sure is Rin-san. You've got a good eye." She grinned and skipped back to where she'd been picking flowers, no sign of illness showing as she sang cheerfully to herself.
I watched her, bored, and fiddling with the burnt parts of my yukata. This may have seemed interesting at first, but now... I'd just been sitting around for days. I was ready to just take off with my bag, continue wandering.
"Wench!" I turned, seeing Jaken standing there impatiently. Apparently I was demoted from 'Healer-sama' to 'wench.' Did the little toad have issues with my name or something? "Your presence has been requested."
"Jaken!" the little girl threw her arms around him, and he squawked indignantly.
"Impertinent girl! Get off!" He swatted at her, and she beamed happily.
"Look at the flower I found!" She brandished a multitude of different flowers, and began showing him each one individually. I heard a chuckle behind me, and Akatsuki smirked as the imp tried to escape.
"Little imp deserves what he gets. You ready to leave, Haruka-san?"
Rin looked up, beaming happily and running forward to hug the demon's legs. "Aka-kun!" He patted her head, and I shook my head at the nickname.
"Hey, Rin-chan! You mind if I borrow Haruka-san for a while? You can show Jaken the flowers you found!" He leaned down conspiratorially. "I heard that he likes those little flower crowns you make." She beamed, skipping back towards the imp.
She plopped down on the ground, beginning to weave together flowers and chattering to the imp. As Akatsuki gestured for me to follow him, Rin yelled. "Bye!" From behind us, waving happily before continuing her work.
The demon waved over his shoulder, and I struggled to keep up with his stride. "Did something happen?" I asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.
He grinned. "You've got an appointment with Sesshomaru-sama and his advisors later. We can't have you going in like that." He pointedly glanced down at my yukata, one that I'd had in my bag, wearing it until I could replace my other one.
I raised my eyebrows. "And what, pray tell, is wrong with my clothes?" He just shook his head, leading me through the hallways quickly.
... ...
I fidgeted, tugging at my new yukata while we waited for the heavy doors to open. Akatsuki had dissappeared into the doors earlier, telling me to wait, the only company a stone-faced youkai guarding the door. She looked slightly familiar, but I couldn't place from where, and I entertained myself by staring at her, seeing which one would look away first.
In the past hour, Akatsuki had made sure that I was clean in every way imaginable, having a maid see to it that I received new clothes, going so far as to have her put my hair up carefully, keeping silent as he led me to the room.
Footsteps approached, and I looked away for a moment, cursing when I heard the guard snicker. She shot me a smug look, as if to say, 'I win' and two people stopped next to me
"What are you doing here?" a voice asked incredulously, and I turned to see Akilah, escorted by another youkai, who took his place next to the other guard. I shrugged, turning back to my staring contest with the guard.
After only a few minutes the door opened a crack, and the youkai guards nodded.
"You may enter."
Akilah and I entered, him shoving past me arrogantly to enter first. The wooden doors closed behind us, and I took the brief moment of silence to observe the room.
We were in a large room, with cushions facing each other on both end of the room. Youkai were seated on some of the cushions, it looked like about eight in total, with one seated on the only chair on the far end, two youkai on either side.
He was dressed in fine clothing, like that of a noble, with red flowers going across the shoulder, the white kimono hardly even wrinkled with not even a spot of dirt. He had a spiked pauldron- attached to the armor over his chest- protecting one shoulder, a mokomoko covering the other, and I could faintly make out two katana hilts at his side. He flicked a strand of white hair over his shoulder, cold amber eyes looking us over. Maroon markings slashed across his cheeks and eyes, the crescent moon on his forehead confirming my suspicions.
One of the youkai behind him shifted slightly, and I realized that he was Akatsuki, his face blank. When he saw me looking at him, he winked slightly before going back to his stoic facade.
Both I and Akilah stood, waiting to be recognized by the council. One of the advisors was the first to break the silence.
"Milord, would you like me to begin the meeting?" The white haired demon nodded, and the advisor rose to his feet. "We are here to recognize an issue in one of the servants in this room. Akilah, the head Healer of this castle. Will you step forward?" He did so, looking confused. "It has been brought to our attention that you were unable to aid one of our lord's wards, nearly costing her life. In fact, it seems that you were the cause of her illness, because you allowed a plant dangerous to her to be put in her food. What is your response?"
The demon looked surprised for a moment before saying calmly. "I was unaware of it's effects on humans. There are very few cases of humans possessing this plant, and I didn't realize-"
"And yet," The advisor interrupted. "I'm to understand that a human was able to discover what ailed the girl and was able to cure her, correct?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Will this human please step forward?" I did, looking him in the eye as he asked, "Your name?"
"Haruka."
"You were brought here to help cure Rin-gozen, correct?" I nodded. "And how were you able to find what ailed her?"
I took a deep breath before answering. "Upon arriving, I was told that she had a high fever, painful headaches, exhaustion, dizziness, and stomach pains, and that these symptoms only worsened as time progressed. She'd collapsed after only a day. I was in the room with her for several hours, and didn't begin feeling any of the symptoms, which made me suspect a form of poison. I-"
"Poison? You believe that this was not accidental?" I thought for a moment.
"It's a possibility, but I'm more inclined to believe that it was an accident."
He nodded. "According to a servant near at the time, you managed to learn what the source of the illness was by drinking tea and looking at a flower bloom?" He sounded slightly skeptical.
"Yes, I've heard stories about the Mumburumu, what was used in the tea. It has deep blue petals and large bristled leaves, both of which are sometimes used in youkai recipes. It's very expensive, but tastes slightly sweet to the taste to youkai, and is most often used in tea, making it a dark blue color. The leaves create a more spicy flavor, and are often used as spices in cooking. In small doses, it won't have much of an effect on humans, but is devastating if had too often and not cured. Because Rin is so young, it affected her quickly, and she was ill within days. I recognized the taste of the flower, and confirmed my suspicions when visiting the garden." I was rambling, and tried to finish quickly. "A quick remedy was made, and she's already recovered completely."
"What remedy?" Another youkai asked curiously. He leaned forward in his chair.
"A mixture of crushed bramble vine root, mushroom tree sap, monksroot, and kuko root bark."
The youkai narrowed his eyes slightly. "The mushroom tree and bramble vine are youkai herbs. How did you know her body wouldn't react badly?"
"According to her medicinal records, for the past year she'd received demon medicines. I didn't want to use too many mundane herbs in case she was too used to youkai medicines."
"And where did you get such plants?"
"I kept an eye out when I was wandering." He nodded in satisfaction.
"Could you please tell us what your training as a healer consisted of?"
I blinked, surprised at the change in subject and a sneaking suspicion came to life as I answered, choosing my words carefully.
"I was trained to use both youkai and ningen herbs, and how to deal with injuries and illnesses for both demons and humans. I have the apprentice notes to prove it." Akatsuki stepped forward, holding out my bound book wordlessly, and my suspicion strengthened. The second advisor opened it, scanning over the words and nodding to himself, passing it along.
"She speaks the truth. Her teachings are correct, assuming that she retained what was written." He looked at me, interest glinting his purple eyes.
Another advisor scoffed, his voice slightly raspy. "I doubt that. Ningen are incompetent, this one is no different."
The second advisor shrugged. "Haruka-san, what are the symptoms for poisoning by Trickster's Cap for youkai and what are the ingredients used in the cure for it?"
"Usually, within a few hours of ingesting it the youkai will be in an extreme state of emotion, quickly turning to paranoia, increased heartbeat, and insomnia. After a period of time, the symptoms will seem to disappear, only for the youkai's yoki to lash out violently, turning on the demon and sapping his or her energy until they die from lack of yoki. The remedy consists of a small sliced piece of the Trickster's Cap, myrrh sap, and barbed bloom roots." He raised his eyebrows at the other advisor, who flushed angrily.
"Is that enough of a conformation, Daichi-san?" Said demon hissed angrily.
"She is a filthy ningen! She lies!" The purple-eyed demon snorted, flipping through my notes and turning it so that the other advisors could read what I'd written.
"She said nearly exactly what was written."
Daichi narrowed his eyes. "I won't allow such a.. thing to be allowed in the great House of the West, much less this council. None of the other employees will stand for it, she won't last a week!" My suspicion was confirmed, and I grinned inwardly at the challenge he'd unknowingly given. This meeting was about me joining the staff, and thanks to him there was no way I was going to leave without proving him wrong.
The purple-eyed advisor laughed slightly. "'None of the other employees will stand for it' you say? It was my understanding that it was one of the royal guards that recommended her to begin with. And from what I'd heard, she can take care of herself."
The first demon cleared his throat. "Yes, a recommendation was made by a staff member. Akatsuki-san, would you care to explain?" The orange-haired demon stepped forward, looking around the room before looking the silent white-clad demon right in the eyes. I understood, then, that this entire discussion was trying to convince him that I deserved the position, as Akatsuki spoke strongly.
"I approached Haruka-san for the position initially, but she refused." Some of the other demons muttered amongst themselves, glancing at me curiously. "I'd heard of her reputation as a healer, and that she was capable of healing both humans and demons, moving from town to town, never staying in one place for too long. When my partner and I caught up to her in one such village, she quickly realized that we were following us, and waited for us to speak. When we got close, she managed to incapacitate us with a poison and get several days ahead of us before I managed to recover enough to catch up."
"You see! What's to stop her from doing the same to the other members of this castle?" Daichi asked loudly, and amber eyes flicked over to him and me before going back to Akatsuki, who continued.
"She could easily have killed us, if she wanted to, and even said when I caught up to her that she 'Wasn't expecting me to recover so quickly.' And, while Akilah managed to not only get Rin-san sick, but didn't know how to help her, Haruka-san only needed to stay for a day and managed to figure out what he couldn't in several days. He's a competent enough healer, but Haruka is more experienced for the Head position."
"And what of the problem Daichi pointed out, that she won't be able to defend herself? The position of Head Healer can be vital in certain situations, and it's doubtful that a mere human would be able to defend herself in an attempt on her life. After the death of the late Healer guard, no one has been offered the position yet." One of the other advisors asked, and Akatsuki shrugged, melting back into his lord's shadow.
"That was a good point, and how do we know that she could handle such an important role?"
"It's not just healing skills that are needed, but decision-making skills, leadership skills. How do we know that this ningen has these skills?"
I kept silent as they argued amongst themselves, preferring to just pay attention to how they acted. I scanned over all of them, recognizing that some seemed less resistant to the idea, while most were venomously against it, including Daichi. As I glanced over them, I met the amber eyes of Sesshomaru, who seemed to be watching all of them with a stoic expression.
He held up his hand, and everyone seemed to quiet at once. "Sesshomaru-sama? Have you made your decision?" Daichi asked eagerly, and the daiyoukai looked at him with an annoyed frown, instantly silencing any forthcoming comments.
"Onna." He said, addressing me. "You will be given a series of trials, to test your worthiness of this position. The tests will be examined by the advisors and myself. If you succeed, you will be given the title of Head Healer, and all of the attributes attached to this role. During the first month, if you pass the trials, you will go through a probationary period, during which you will be monitored closely by Ayumu." He gestured towards the purple-eyed demon, who bowed his head slightly. "If you succeed, the role of the Healer's protector will be given to Akatsuki, and the sub-Healer will be Akilah." Several of the advisors nodded, albeit grudgingly, in agreement. "Dismissed."
... ...
"So, that wasn't too bad." Akatsuki said cheerfully, and I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, I'm glad that you didn't interrupt, that at least got you some good points. Now all that's left is the test and you'll be fine!"
"You were looking for the promotion." I guessed, and he shrugged.
"Of course, but I'm not the only one getting a good position!" He smiled brightly. "I'm kind of surprised that Akilah was given a position, though." He said thoughtfully. "But you're lucky, he hasn't been here too long, and didn't have the chance to choose any other healers."
"How long are the tests supposed to take?"
"Just a week, but you'll want to take a peek in the library books. You never know what they'll come up with to ask, and some of it won't even be about healing. Some of it is practical, and how to act around higher officials, stuff like that. But don't worry, you'll pass this easily!" He grinned, and I rolled my eyes, wondering how I'd managed to get sucked into this.
A/N *winces* I'm sorry if you were expecting more Sesshomaru, but he's going to be gradually included into the story. ^_^