A/N: I was rereading a chapter of Runaway that was posted, as you read this, a while ago. Yet, when I wrote it from my perspective it wasn't very long ago because I'm writing those final chapters at the same time as I'm writing these beginning chapters. So I reread it and saw an error and I'm so hideously embarrassed. I need to proofread these before I post them, I apologize. Anyway, my mistake, it reads something like, "Inuyasha grabbed the breads around his neck" obviously, I meant BEADS. The sad thing is I think I wrote that with my old computer. The new one has screwed me up a bit, for some reason I hit the spacebar when I don't mean to and often type things wrong even though the keyboard with my new computer seems unchanged.
Disclaimer: Nope, I only own Akisame, Koinu, and (takes a deep breath) Kohimu, Tisoki, Kasai, Masuyo, Riki, and Koudo. Ouch, I pity Sango. Oh, also I own Ginrei, Hanone, and Saya. Of course, you might not ever meet them here…oh and Tsukiyume and Shimofuri too.
Last Chapter: Sango and Miroku are preparing to exterminate a migratory youkai that lives at sea, a whale they believe. It lures men into the sea to eat them. Akisame briefly discussed her frustrations over being female to twin sisters, Appu and Umou. Shippo has come home. Koinu and Akisame learned that Inuyasha and Kagome will have Sango and whichever of her children she brings with her living with them for a time. Inuyasha freaked at the idea of anything male even looking at Aki the wrong way. Later, with Kagome, he worried about the new moon for some unknown reason.
Reunion and the Ningyo
Inuyasha decided to send Shippo and Koinu on the road to meet Sango and the other slayers partway. At first he wouldn't have even considered sending Akisame, but she begged and pleaded until at last Kagome joined the battle and convinced the stubborn hanyou to let Akisame travel with them. Shippo and Koinu were old enough and strong enough to protect her—and Shippo was family, not about to become interested in Akisame sexually.
Begrudgingly, Inuyasha allowed her to leave with them. He made sure to pull Koinu aside, however, on the morning that they set out and to order him to keep careful watch on Aki. It went without saying that Koinu would do that anyway, but he assured his father that everything would be fine—not that such assurances calmed Inuyasha's overly paternal paranoia.
Kagome fussed over her children and Shippo for a time, trying to make them food as snacks for the journey. Part of the reason she did this didn't stem from motherly concern—it came from the knowledge that Akisame and Koinu would eat anything, much like Inuyasha, if they were hungry. They weren't all that picky. Koinu had a finer sense of taste and tended to mimic Kagome as far as his favorite dishes, but overall if there was nothing else to eat he would join his sister picking at roots and insects in the soil. If they were in the modern era she shuddered to consider what they might get into along the side of a road—road kill certainly, crows and other scavengers…
At last, by midmorning, Koinu, Shippo, and Akisame set off. Without Kagome or any other humans to be concerned with, the three traveled off the road. Shippo had matured enough over the years that he had gained the ability to take on his true form and did so while they journeyed. Koinu and Akisame used the trees as Inuyasha would've. This kept the curious eyes away from their group that otherwise would've found them if they'd used the road.
They talked little while traveling but unanimously settled as soon as the nighttime fell thick over the rolling hills and forests. Shippo reclaimed his bipedal form and used his fox fire to start up the camp. The kit wasn't hungry as his companions were and instead sat back and relaxed, listening calmly to the siblings argue. It was much like it had been while Shard hunting, making the kit nostalgic. The major exception now, however, was that these were Inuyasha and Kagome's children so there wasn't any entertaining romantic tension between them, just annoyance and sibling rivalry. But that in itself was hysterical enough.
Both Akisame and Koinu wanted to hunt. Neither of them wanted to clean the kill or prepare it. By way of conservation, neither wanted to eat the food Kagome had given them either. This was one difference they had from their father. Inuyasha would've eaten the food that Kagome had provided and then not bothered to clean or cook his kills at all.
"I'm older and my nose is better than yours." Koinu held his chin up confidently, sniffing. He was staring at his sister across the flickering, bright orange tongues of the fire.
"Like hell it is, stupid! And yeah you're older—and senile too." Akisame snarled, baring her white fangs at him. In her mouth, set in her otherwise perfectly human-like face, Akisame's teeth were almost unnerving. She was less reminiscent of a dog than she was to some kind of wildcat or panther. "Besides with your hair white like that even the sleeping birds will see you coming."
Koinu winced as if her words hurt him. His ears flattened. "You've always been jealous because I look like Father. And this…" he pulled on his hair rather violently, "…always worked for Father." Both siblings were fine hunters but they were well aware that Inuyasha surpassed them several times over. The hanyou could smell things they couldn't, he could see things they missed, and his claws somehow found more vital, mortal areas to pierce than their inexperienced blows ever could. They might come away with dirt and blood all over their clean clothes and get their mother's wrath while having nothing in the way of meat to show for it. No meat, just mess.
"I am not jealous! Why would I want to look like Dad when I'm a girl?" Akisame glared murderously.
"Easy—because everyone says that Sesshomaru's daughters are exquisitely beautiful. And they have this same hair." Koinu grinned, thinking he'd trapped her and continuing to yank on his own hair in demonstration.
Akisame crossed her arms over her chest, looking very much, except for her golden eyes, like Kagome imitating Inuyasha's pouting. "Heh! I guess that makes you exquisitely beautiful, doesn't it, Koinu?"
As Koinu frowned, realizing that the tables had turned, Shippo at last interrupted them, laughing loudly. "You guys are sad!" he snorted through his nose gleefully, grinning. His fangs gleamed wetly in the firelight. "The fighting doesn't feed you guys any faster and you're starting to smell like hunger. What would Kagome think of you?"
Koinu's ears flattened, his face colored. He mumbled something that might've been agreement; it might've also been a weak attempt to make Shippo shut up. No one could tell. It was Akisame that reacted as Inuyasha would've: "Who the hell asked you? Heh! Why don't you cook for us, you pus—"
At once Koinu shushed her, making a hissing sound. "Aki! Don't say that!"
The girl huffed exasperatedly and started to curse again, now with the venom aimed at her brother, but Koinu interrupted her, suddenly landing on an idea. "Yeah—Shippo you should cook it."
The kit looked uninterested and absolutely unconvinced that this was in any way a likely solution. He rolled his green eyes skyward. "And what makes you think that I can cook? I'm just a kid."
"You're over 20 fuckin' years old!" Akisame growled, jabbing a clawed finger at him as if she'd caught him in a lie.
Koinu scoffed, "Fine! I'll cook it Aki—you can scrounge for grubs. And Shippo, you can catch it."
Both the kit and Akisame fought this proclamation immediately. "But I'm not even going to eat the stupid thing!" "What the hell, Koinu? Grubs while you eat real meat? To hell with that!"
"That's the way it's going to be if I cook it." Koinu growled, at last beginning to lose his temper. "So get used to it, both of you!"
And that was why they ended up going to bed hungry.
The men and women of the tiny village were bent over in the rice fields, their sunhats shading their heads and shoulders. They were rank with sweat, every last one of them. The day had grown hotter and hotter, and the humidity was stupefying. It was the stickiness between Kasai's fingers, the shine on her face, the frizz in her straight black hair.
It almost exhausted Kasai enough that she didn't look at the men in the fields as they passed…almost.
One of the men straightened and pulled his sunhat free, wiping his brow tiredly. Kasai, walking in the middle between her older brothers, slowed a bit, caught by the man's shoulders, his biceps. He wasn't wearing a shirt. Sweat collected in the hollows between his muscles on his chest and back. The hair on his head was thick and glistening with sweat. Kasai caught sight of the dark bloom of hair on his underarms as he wiped his brow. She looked quickly away, her heart pounding.
Those powerful arms, the wide shoulders…
"You're falling behind, Sis." Masuyo bumped into her backsides, pushing her playfully. He was thirteen, just barely beginning to sprout up out of his pudgy, child's body.
Kasai startled and then sighed, the tension leaving her body. "I'm sorry Masuyo."
She picked up her speed again, but her eyes wandered back to the man. He was bent over now, stooped and digging at the ditch. His peasant pants had slipped, revealing the beginning of his butt cheeks, the line like cleavage. Kasai laughed and turned away again, back to the midst of her family. She caught Kohimu staring at her, his face torn apart by disgust. Kasai dropped her eyes to the ground, suddenly full of shame.
As they passed through the huts, a young man about the same age as Kasai stumbled out of one just before the slayers passed by. He paused to gawk and, as he saw Kasai, grinned mischievously. Sango glared at him as she passed but the boy only had eyes for Kasai. Sango didn't need to nudge Kohimu before her firstborn son was falling behind to walk directly at Kasai's side, like a body guard.
"Greetings, beautiful." The boy leered at Kasai, starting to walk toward her and forward to keep pace. Kasai turned her head and saw him for the first time. She started to smile back—though he was a scrawny member of the male population and not really worth a grope—but then felt something hard and solid bump into her shoulder. Dazedly she found her brother at her side, glaring furiously beyond her at the other boy.
"Get away, boy." He ordered, his voice deep and mature. Kohimu was almost nineteen, fully mature for the Feudal era and ready to be married. If the siblings hadn't looked so much alike it could easily have appeared that Kohimu was actually escorting his wife, not his younger sister.
The boy frowned but stopped, apparently intimidated. The slayers left him behind.
"You have to be careful, Kasai." Kohimu spoke abruptly, his face stern. He wasn't looking at Kasai, but rather at the road ahead. "You never know what kind of danger you could be in."
Kasai scowled. "I'm not some defenseless village girl."
Kohimu ignored her and left her, jogging away to join their mother, leading the way. Kohimu was the oldest, the strongest, possibly the handsomest of her brothers. Kasai had often harbored a not-so-secret envy. Kohimu appeared, by family rumor, to be Sango's favorite. He was the only one of Sango's three eldest children that wasn't a pervert. Now, watching Kohimu take his place at Sango's side, with his gray-blue robes, his proud, muscular build, Kasai felt her old jealousy again. She turned her eyes away, burying her emotion.
They traveled onward, leisurely but at a steady pace.
When at last the heat of the day had begun to recede as the sun dipped down toward the horizon, Kasai felt a tingle run down her spine. She looked up, startled by the sensation. The feeling changed, becoming one she identified as her ability to sense youkai auras, inherited from her father. As backup she looked toward Tisoki and found his eyes already pinned on her, questioningly.
"You feel that too, Kasai?" he asked.
"Yes." She found the sensation and emptied her mind, calling on her instincts. Canine. Feline. Carnivore. Kitsune. "It's a fox."
Ahead of them on the road a shape appeared, as if called by Kasai's words. Four-legged, with a long, bushy tail that it held high and waved as if it were a soldier marching into battle with a banner. It moved gracefully, almost appearing to strut like a trained show horse, regal and pampered. But it wasn't a horse; it was a fox, a kitsune.
Sango spotted it immediately and halted. Kohimu stopped as well, his hands moving at once to the bow that was strapped to his back.
The fox sat in the middle of the road, its ears upright and alert. Then its mouth fell open in a toothy, leering grin. Its eyes were a bright, shining green.
Sango sighed and made a motion to Kohimu, signaling him to stand down. His stance changed, relaxing slightly, but his hands remained ready to grab a weapon. Behind him Kasai and Tisoki were also tensed, ready to defend themselves. Masuyo, too short to see clearly beyond the others, poked his head between Kasai and Tisoki, trying to see what was going on.
"Shippo?" Sango queried aloud, shouting to the fox.
The kitsune dipped its head and closed its eyes. Its shape smoldered, as if catching on fire. A heartbeat later the kitsune shape was gone, Shippo stood in its place with his arms crossed. "Of course it's me!" he grinned.
The slayers relaxed as one and advanced to greet the kit. Tisoki and Kohimu were especially well-bonded with the fox, though as they'd aged they'd seen less and less of him. Shippo was inclined to travel; it was in his nature as a kitsune.
"I think you've gotten bigger!" Sango exclaimed, smiling nostalgically as she came closer to Shippo, taking him in. "Definitely gotten taller…"
The kit shrugged noncommittally. "Inuyasha thinks I'm done growing."
"Is he here?" Tisoki asked, turning to look around them. Sometimes Inuyasha chose unusual ways to greet them, like sneaking up on them if he could. His aura wasn't demonic, not truly, so he could almost escape Kasai, Miroku, and Tisoki's radars. The hanyou took advantage of this at times by ambushing them on the road.
Shippo shook his head. "Nah, he stayed back with Kagome. Koinu and Aki are with me though."
"Where are they?" Sango asked. Her tone indicated her surprise, though exactly what about wasn't clear.
"They are fighting like cats and dogs a ways behind me." Shippo sighed at this, disgustedly. "They're worse than your whole family—and there's only two of them!"
Sango and a few of her boys chuckled, laughing with disbelief at his words, but as Shippo opened his mouth to fight for this claim, he saw the slayers glance beyond him, toward the road behind him. Shippo didn't turn to look; his excellent youkai hearing already told him what was coming: Koinu and Akisame. They were still arguing, and now the slayers could see it as well as hear it. Shippo stepped back, falling in at Sango's side as they started walking again. He crossed his arms over his chest and harrumphed. "See what I mean?"
"…you could try washing your feet once in a while." Koinu was grumbling in a low voice. His eyes were pointed downward, at the dirt. He failed to notice that the slayers were now visible, he was absorbed apparently just with taking one step after another through the wall of heat and humidity, and by bickering with Akisame of course.
"What? All that dirt is from today dummy!" Akisame snapped, slugging him in the shoulder. She too might've turned her gaze back to the dirt but as she looked forward again she stopped, her face changing from one of disgust to frank and open surprise. She grabbed Koinu's arm and pulled on it, trying to get his attention. "Shippo found Sango and…"
"Huh?" Koinu at last looked up and came to a halt, staring ahead. The slayers were walking toward them already, most of them grinning and laughing.
Sango led the way with Kohimu close at one side and Shippo trailing at the other. She smiled, showing all of her teeth to the siblings. "Akisame! I haven't seen you since you were a little girl! When did your father start letting you out of his sight?"
This was a joke but to Akisame it hit a nerve. Her face soured immediately and she crossed her arms over her chest. Her golden eyes glared viciously, saying all the obscenities that her lips just couldn't utter as the first words said to her "aunt" of sorts. Ignoring Sango was rude as well, but Akisame was beyond caring. Her hormonal teenage mind was filled with Kagome's awkward "becoming a woman" speech and Inuyasha's cold, angry reaction to that same topic. Now Sango was tossing it out at her too?
Sango saw the girl's reaction and her lips curled into a hard smile, her eyes expressed worry. Apparently that was the wrong way to greet Inuyasha's only daughter. She decided to try her luck on Koinu before her sons and Kasai took over and mingled and teased uncontrollably. "Koinu! You're almost as tall as Inuyasha now, aren't you?"
He shrugged amicably, smiling. "It's good to see you, Aunt Sango."
Sango grinned, enjoying Koinu's easy going nature. Long ago she'd realized that Koinu took more after Kagome in this respect. "I'm not Inuyasha," she laughed, starting to walk, resuming their journey but now, for Koinu, Shippo, and Akisame, it was in the opposite direction, heading back to the coast. "You don't have to be formal or call me 'aunt' anything."
Koinu nodded to her and then found himself surrounded by Sango's boys. Tisoki nudged into his shoulder and jeered, "Are you any better with Tetsusaiga these days?"
"Are you any better with the ladies?" Koinu replied smoothly, unfazed. He smirked when Tisoki frowned at him.
"He's gotten a little better, I've been helping him." Kohimu inserted, taking up a position on Koinu's other side. His head cocked to one side as he registered Akisame walking just ahead of them. "Whoa…"
Koinu glanced between both brothers and saw that their attention had shifted as one to Akisame. They watched the girl's legs as they worked, making out the push and pull of her muscles as they moved beneath her skin. Akisame was dressed in a childish style still, a kimono that barely reached her knees. She'd secured it high on her waist to keep the top closed but to allow the bottom half a wider, freer range of movement. She needed it with the way she and Koinu preferred to travel, leaping and running. Before they'd left the estate on the coast, Kagome had given Akisame leggings, insisting that her daughter wear them—short kimono had a way of flying up after all—but Akisame had torn the leggings off and left them in a bush just outside of Kaede's village.
Now Koinu felt his face heat up, instantly flushing red. Anger pulsed through him, deep and instinctual. "What the hell are you looking at?" Koinu demanded, glaring between Kohimu and Tisoki.
Tisoki made a gulping sound that turned into a short, nervous laugh. "She's…got legs!"
Without thinking Koinu elbowed Tisoki in the stomach. The young pervert coughed and doubled over, stumbling and falling with the force of Koinu's blow. In his abrupt stop, Tisoki collided with Kasai and Masuyo both. All three fell in a heap into the dust.
Ears flattening, face burning, Koinu stopped and looked back ashamedly. Kohimu glared at him but mercifully said nothing.
"Tisoki?" Sango called concernedly, "What happened?"
Tisoki had yet to regain the ability to speak and, as Kasai and Masuyo pulled themselves out of the heap, he was soon the last one on the ground. Masuyo grumbled and dusted himself off. The youngest in the band of demon slayers currently, Masuyo gazed up at Koinu irritably, but the sight of Koinu's ears distracted him immediately. He grinned, forgetting the mishap that had sent him sprawling moments ago. "Nice ears! Why are you blushing?"
"Uh…" Koinu stammered stupidly, losing any semblance of thought, as his eyes landed on the only demon slayer that still intimidated him—Kasai.
She was dressed sleekly for travel, but in a mature style, unlike Akisame who denied and ran away from womanhood, Kasai nurtured it. Her kimono was baby blue and yellow, her feet were in simple sandals, her ankles were caked with dirt, as were her palms. There was a sword at her waist, short and small, designed for a woman's use: Burikko. In the time since Koinu had last seen her, Kasai hadn't grown any more height-wise, but her figure had filled in, curving beautifully. Her freckles had partly faded, the muscles in her neck stood out, strong and powerfully.
She lifted her violet eyes to him and blinked twice, ceasing all other movement. This was the first time in two years that she'd been able to admire him face to face. Following Kohimu, Tisoki, and Sango she'd only seen his backside before, fairly impressive all by itself. Koinu's lankiness had mostly vanished; his frame had grown thicker, bulking up. But his hakama and haori were too billowing and thick for her to see anything useful, so it was his face that stole her attention at last.
Two years ago Koinu had been stringy muscle, awkward and clumsy. Even his face was poorly adjusted. His nose was too big then, growing faster than the rest of him, his jaw too small. His lips had always been delicious, a fine, full mixture between Inuyasha and Kagome's, and his eyes a bright, intelligent blue. Seeing him before her, Kasai was taken aback. As a boy Koinu had been very handsome, but adolescence had been cruel to him—it was making up for it now. His jaw had caught up with the rest of his face, his ears were no longer too large for his head, his nose was neat, almost small…
She shouldn't have been surprised: both of his parents were beautiful, why should their son be any different?
It was Kohimu's turn now to be alarmed at the way another halfway familial male was staring at his younger sister. "Earth to Koinu…"
Koinu jumped as if caught sleeping on the job and glanced to Kohimu. "What?"
Stepping forward, Kohimu lowered his voice, trying to avoid letting others overhear him. "I won't stare at Aki if you won't stare at Kasai—okay?"
At once Koinu's face flushed brilliantly red. "No!" he pushed Kohimu away easily with one shoulder, making the older youth stumble with the force of it again. "Sorry." Koinu growled halfheartedly and searched Sango out where she was helping Tisoki up. His ears flattened and he turned away, sighing and growling in one.
Akisame appeared almost magically at his side. "It isn't so bad!" she peeped, mockingly, "Are you eating your words now, Older Brother?"
He snarled at her but the expression died in a tense laugh. "Shut up!"
Miles away, over the hills and ranges between the coastal lands and the Middle Lands, back inside the slayer's village, Miroku left his home dressed in his full monk regalia. Two little boys followed him, dressed neatly, the younger Koudo in green, the elder Riki in black. They walked with energy and enthusiasm, chattering animatedly.
Miroku passed through the bustling streets of the slayer's village, impressed with every person he saw. The village's success always startled and pleased him as much as it distressed him. The increased population meant that the town was being noticed, and oftentimes being noticed was not a good thing. It was being noticed that had gotten Sango's family and the village before this one pillaged and burned by demons.
They moved to the center of the town where a small temple had been erected. Miroku led his boys to the door where they slipped out of their sandals and passed inside. Well-trained and for the most part obedient, both Koudo and Riki grew solemn, keeping their eyes downcast as they followed their father. Miroku nodded in greeting to several of the other worshippers and priests that they passed, and the boys snuck quick glances at these people, receiving warm smiles when their eyes met with the other's gaze.
Miroku moved to the alter and knelt, searching inside his robes for incense. He pressed the fragrant stick to the small candle in the alter and, when it smoldered and smoked, placed it into a cup filled with other such offerings.
At this time Koudo and Riki followed his example, kneeling before the alter.
What his boys prayed was of course their business, but Miroku always prayed in thanks—to do the job properly he could've stayed kneeling for hours. The years of his life spent without the weight of the curse in his hand always ready to suck him into it. He had never realized how horrible it was until it was removed and enough time had passed that he could look back at those days. With the continual threat of an early death hanging over him, Miroku cut away his own emotions, avoided giving himself over to others around him. Especially to Sango.
With the curse lifted he'd found himself completely free—even marrying Sango had seemed like a freedom then. To be bound to one woman…what punishment was that when his life had been restored to him?
And each child born, another blessing that he didn't deserve. Another year he wouldn't have lived to see and share with Sango and his children.
He sniffled and lifted his head gazing heavenward. For all his complaints he was content and happy. He had no right to ask for more, but here he was…
It was a steadily increasing pain for Miroku to realize that his children were growing up. They were leaving him behind. One in particular haunted him most of all: Kasai, the jewel, the spitfire, his precious, only daughter.
Kohimu and Tisoki were old enough that they could enter into marriage negotiations, and Miroku had little doubt that soon Kohimu would actually go through with it. Unlike Tisoki, Kohimu was at a normal level of perversion and could control himself. When puberty hit the boy had been just as interested in mastering archery as he was drawn to explore female bodies. Someday soon Kohimu would find a woman that pleased him and he would marry, in his own time. All of Miroku's sons likely would, unless they chose monkhood and stuck with it.
But even if both Kohimu and Tisoki married, they would probably stay close to Miroku and Sango; perhaps they might even live together, sharing the same household. Yet, by tradition Kasai would be forced to leave her parent's home and join her husband's instead. Miroku could keep his sons close; his only daughter was a different story. And already she was old enough to be married. Within the last year Miroku had found himself assaulted by would-be suitors, seeking his permission that a marriage might take place. Most of the offers were silly and Miroku turned them away with little thought, but others could've been fine matches, letting Kasai live richly, without ever having to work again…
Still he turned them away, all the while shocked that the time had come so soon. How long could he put it off? The problem was made worse by a fact that he could hardly deny, even to himself, any longer: Kasai was a hentai, she had inherited his curse. Unless he married her off she would probably succumb to her own perverted, curious nature. That could lead to a bastard child and unspeakable shame on the entire family. No matter how beautiful and talented Kasai was, no respectable potential husband would propose a marriage to a woman with a bastard child.
He prayed often about it, though he scarcely knew what it was he expected would come of such prayers…
He caught Koudo peeking at him; one of the little boy's rich brown eyes was popped open, squinting at him. Miroku smirked and murmured in his deep, calm fatherly voice, "Concentrate on your prayers, Koudo."
"Yes, Daddy."
There were other reasons to pray on this day, however, aside from his usual worries. For the safe journey of his wife and older children. For the safe journey of Akisame and Koinu and Shippo as well. For fair weather on the coast. And certainly for safety as they fought the demon they were hunting. Please, let the boys never hear its song, protect my sons…
At last Miroku rose to his feet, sighing heavily. Koudo and Riki followed after him demurely. The small family exited the temple and headed home.
The sun drew lower and lower on the horizon, blazing a fiery red, as if the edge of the world had caught fire. Fishermen hauled their catches out of the sea, propped their boats up on the beach out of reach of the tide. They returned back to their feeble little village to join their families around the fires in their hearths, always cooking fish. They lived and died by the rise and fall of the tides, by the passing of the seasons and the migrations of the sea creatures, the fishes, the sharks, the seals, the whales, porpoises, and dolphins.
An old man, a grandfather, his hands and face worn and weathered into a leathery map of wrinkles by the sea and by time, sat around the orange light of the fire. The evening was warm and moist, the family stayed outside that evening, munching merrily on the fish that their father and grandfather and a few of the oldest sons had brought in from the sea that same day and the day before. They were wiry people, going through feasts and famines intermittedly. Now was a feast, but it wouldn't last forever.
The old man wiped the fish oils from his lips and began to mutter a story. So close to the fire the family couldn't see the stars, which was one usual source of entertainment, and they wouldn't dare to leave the smoke of the fire because of the flies and mosquitoes of the summertime. They began the old stories as always.
Before the story had gotten very far, one of the family's sons grumbled and, pushing the stick that had been used to skewer his particular fish into the fire, got up and started to walk away. He was a lean, skinny boy, barely a man. He wasn't handsome, but his small dark eyes shone with intelligence, though that was currently marred with irritation.
"Where are you going, Meiun?" his mother called around a mouthful of fish. A little of it went skittering into the fire and her younger children laughed at her, pointing their fingers at her rudely. Their father scolded them and slapped their hands down, trying to impart manners onto them.
"I'm not in the mood for a story tonight." The boy answered, sighing. He'd moved far enough away from the fire now that he could look up and see the stars spread out above him. Blinking and twinkling in the spread of whiteness that was the Milky Way. He thought of a girl on the other, distant side of their village, further down on the beach. Sata with her giggling laugh and the little wrinkle above her nose…
"You should always listen to the old stories." His grandfather counseled in a deep, serious voice. "They are important; we remember them for a reason!"
"I'm going to go for a walk." Meiun told them, as if he hadn't heard his grandfather's words at all. His family allowed him to go, he was a man now, just turned 16. They wouldn't stop him, only his father had that power and the Meiun's father remained silent, sucking the marrow out of his fish bones.
The grandfather grumbled about Meiun's disrespect for a time and then began another story, a children's cautionary tale. In his deep, somber voice, which was most perfect for telling such stories, he began to recite the tale to his younger grandchildren. They stared at him, entranced, with wide, innocent eyes.
"This is the story of the sea's mighty wrath. This is why you children must be very careful never to stray far, for even adults have reason to fear. The sea is a cruel woman. She is always ready to harm you. She feeds you, but the fish she offers may be poison. It was she that released the world out of her womb in the beginning times, but there are other times when her temper rages. She does not much like mankind…"
Meiun walked just out of sight of the dark ocean. Its waves rolled, impossibly loud, to crash onto the rocky shores. Although the warmth of summer was still clinging to the air on land, the ocean hadn't forgotten the winter and she never would. The wind off the water was chilly, making Meiun pick up his pace, trying to keep his blood pumping vigorously to dispel the chill he felt away from the fire and his family.
His thoughts were on simple, beautiful Sata…
And then he heard the woman's voice, high and fluting, coming from the beach through the trees.
"Once, long, long ago, there was the Whale God, Hakugei. He was a massive creature, as big as an island! As big as a typhoon cloud rolling onto the shore! Hakugei, for all his size, was a gentle monster. He ate small fish and spouted water out a hole on top of his head to amuse and frighten fisherman. The whales are his children. He allowed mankind to hunt them, for he understood that mankind took only what he needed to survive. There were many, many whales, and so few men. The whales' spirits were reborn with each new generation, they did not mind the sacrifice. One day, Hakugei spotted a beautiful maiden swimming in the shallows. He fell in love with her and approached her in the water. The maiden was overcome by his grand size, and because her father and her brothers were fishermen, she understood his benevolence and his sacrifice for mankind. She gave herself to him as a wife does to her husband."
Meiun pushed his way through the trees, pawing at a few spider webs that caught him in the face. He found himself on the beach, staring at the darkness of the water. The night was dark, the moon was waning quickly and the sky had begun to become overcast. The stars were fading as the invisible clouds passed over them, blocking out their light. The ocean's waves made a great deal of noise, but very little light reflected from the surface at all.
Someone unfamiliar with the sea would've found it odd or unnerving, but Meiun had spent his entire life beside the sea. This wasn't unusual at all, it was just one more weather pattern that his family's mistress exhibited, it was just another mood…
"When the maiden returned to her family she was carrying Hakugei's child. They were all shocked and very angry with her for her carelessness. The maiden's family understood why she had done it and accepted her back into their midst—all but her eldest brother. When the day came that she gave birth to Hakugei's child, the maiden's eldest brother slit her throat to erase the shame from his family. Then, ignoring his family's guidance, he took the newborn child and cast it into the sea. Hakugei rescued his child, a daughter, and took her as his own. He mourned the maiden's undeserved death, for he had loved her very much, as he loved all mankind in those days. But as his daughter grew Hakugei became more and more bitter over the loss of his human lover and he whispered this resentment to the whales, his children with the sea, and they began to share those sentiments. Whales began to fight fisherman, killing them if they could, dragging them to the depths of the ocean, eating them alive."
The high, sweet song came again, drawing Meiun closer to the water. He searched the beach, narrowing his eyes. The sound was so beautiful, so haunting, it didn't sound like a cry for help, but Meiun was drawn toward the sea to investigate nonetheless.
Clouds skidded beyond the moon, letting the ghostly, pale light hit the water and illuminate the beach slightly. Meiun paused then, at last seeing something in the water. It was bright, like the waves that crested as they approached the shore, but unlike them this object stayed further out in the chilly seawater. It was like a fish or a seal or…a whale? A dolphin or a porpoise. A true whale was too massive to come so close to shore without beaching itself, and then it would look like a massive, bulbous rock, something so unusual that Meiun would never miss it. This thing was subtler…was it the thing that was singing?
The youngest child, a little girl, piped up in her small voice. "What about Hakugei's daughter?"
The grandfather sat back, smiling widely, revealing a few gaps where he'd lost teeth. "Ah, a smart one you are, girl. I was just getting to her…"
The sounds came again, sweet and haunting. Meiun had never heard sophisticated music, nothing more than the wind, the sea, the storms, and a few trinkets that came to their remote village through trade. A polished wooden flute that one family kept as a treasured heirloom, a little drum that a brother-in-law owned.
Irresistibly, Meiun walked forward until his feet were washed by the surf. He narrowed his eyes, squinting at the white shape, almost glowing beneath the waves. There were times when the ocean gleamed an eerie, ghostly green with bioluminescent plankton, but this was the wrong color, and it was so localized…and the shape moved independently of the waves…
Suddenly, as the nearest wave surged forward, the white glow moved with it, swelling as it came closer to shore. Meiun gasped as the sound increased, humming through the air, he felt the sound inside his chest, thrumming…
"She has many names, but whatever she is called, Hakugei's daughter is a demon. A monster that comes out of the sea at night to exact revenge for her mother's death. Always she lures fishermen into the sea with her song and they are never seen again. Sisters and wives can walk beside their husbands and brothers and they hear the song and cry as their men leave them, walking straight into the sea as if into a loved one's arms."
The white shape broke through the surface just as the sound became unbearable, crashing on Meiun's ears. He screamed, but his own sounds were drowned out by this creature's noise. Pain, stabbingly sharp, pierced through Meiun's ears and into his brain. He stumbled backward, cutting his foot open on the rocks of the beach. He fell hard, his head landed on the rocks with a sickening crack that was impossible to hear over the demon's song.
"We call her Ningyo. She is a vengeful demon of the sea that preys on fisherman. You must always remember to be careful while walking on the beach at night. Never listen for her song, once you hear it, you are lost if you are a man."
The sound stopped, mercifully. Meiun lied stunned, shuddering with shock and pain. His eyes had stopped working with the blow to his head as the ocular portion of his brain was injured, perhaps dying. He blinked and whimpered pathetically, aware of pain and of the grayness that had taken over his eyes. Grayness? Where was the black of the sky? The milky light of the moon and the stars?
A white creature rose up on two legs and stepped out of the frothing surf. Her hair was long, flowing down to her wide curving hips. It was a deep, blue-black, like the sea had been before the moon came out, moments before Meiun met with disaster. She was naked as she knelt at Meiun's side and laid her hands on his wiry, lanky body.
The little girl grinned, looking between her grandfather and her older brothers. "Girls are safe! I can go walking on the beach any time I want then!"
Her grandfather sighed, "You must never assume you're safe! You should never try to taunt Ningyo! She is a demon! You must never underestimate creatures greater than you are…"
Meiun shuddered, registering an unfamiliar, cold, clammy touch on his body. "Wh—what—who…" he gasped, straining his eyes, frowning, desperately trying to see. His hands moved, rising to try and fight her off, but they were weak and shaking.
The woman, so pale she was seemingly iridescent, grinned savagely down at him, revealing a mouth full of conical teeth, each one identical to the next, like the inside of a dolphin's mouth. Taking his head firmly in her hands, she lifted his head while he feebly tried to fight her, and slammed it down, letting the rocks split open his skull. Blood and brains coated the rocks below Meiun now, but the tide would soon wash them away, cleansing the site of the killing.
The woman dragged his body away toward the sea and disappeared back into it, nothing but a glowing white shape passing through the surf, with a dark, bleeding shape trailing behind her.
A/N: Ningyo, by the way, means "Mermaid" in Japanese. A preview for next time!
"Whatever." Akisame brushed her off, picking up a little speed to walk more in line with Shippo and Masuyo. The last thing she wanted to do was discuss her brother's body with Kasai. Partly it was a betrayal to him, and the rest of it was simply not something she wanted to spend brainpower contemplating.
Unfortunately, Kasai wasn't ready to let her go. The young slayer reached out and took a gentle hold of Akisame's arm, pulling the younger girl closer as she lowered her voice conspiratorially. "I know this is going to sound bad Aki, but…" Kasai's tone dropped to an actual whisper and somehow the slayer failed to notice the way the younger girl was twisting, and cringing, trying to get away from her. "…is his hair the same color in…other places?"