Chapter 4New Year Preparations, Part 1
Hard work pays off in the long run
The preparations of the New Year's feast and festivities took the whole week. Even the villagers participated in the work. The whole village was celebrating.
Day 1: Sessho-Maru took Inu-Yasha out to hunt. He hunted in the woods nearest to the village and Inu-Yasha fished in a nearby lake. Both were becoming better hunters each and every day. Sessho-Maru made sure to avoid the other hunters as to avoid being hunted. Meanwhile, Izayoi helped put up decorations at the part of the palace farthest from the stables; the farmers were going to slaughter the farm animals and sent them to the kitchens to butcher, and Izayoi did not wish to witness the death of any living creature. Her father, as a lord, was doing the arranging and planning; the other farmers, preparing crops and vegetables; and everyone else, to their chosen assignments. Even the children worked, making kites, toys, and sweets and helping the adults in their work. Everyone worked until the day's end and went to bed tired but excited and anxious.
Day 2: Pretty much the same as Day 1, but the hunters scared away a deer Sessho-Maru was attempting to kill. Much to his predicament, the warriors tried to kill him instead because he was a demon, regardless of whether they recognized him or not. Poor Inu-Yasha was in pretty much the same situation. The fishermen had spread out around the freezing lake and one managed to glimpse him. His 'hallucination' was confirmed when he reeled in the half-breed by his hair. "Ku?" Inu-Yasha asked curiously before the shocked fisherman bellowed, "OMG! A DEMON!!" before flinging the puzzled half-breed back into the water, paddling away like a madman, muttering about cursed fishing spots. A short while later, Inu-Yasha's head popped up above the surface of the water and held onto the fish that swam into his mouth as he was underwater and swam to shore. His fishing was better; he had managed to catch a catfish, a couple of carps, and, yet again, fewer guppies which he instinctively threw back into the lake. Even though the lake water chilled you to the bone, it didn't freeze. Inu-Yasha had wondered why he was the only one swimming in it, unaware that the demon blood which flows through his veins enabled him to endure the cold.
At the beginning of dusk, Sessho-Maru, with his game, arrived to pick up Inu-Yasha with his fish. Together, they discreetly raced toward the palace within the shadows of the forest, although Inu-Yasha kept stumbling. They hurriedly handed their catch to the chef (Sessho-Maru sneaked some off for himself. Oh yeah, and for Inu-Yasha, too) and rushed to Izayoi's room. She was still busy helping the maids set up the decorations for the palace. Usually, the lady was too worn out to notice dust Sessho-Maru and filthy Inu-Yasha, but you just never know. If she saw how dirty he was, she would force him to take a bath. The maids would scrub him with needle-like brushes until his skin felt on fire and pull at his hair until he got a bald spot, or they would snip his hair until his head was bald or pour acid all over him, saying they thought it was water or—do not think about it. Sessho-Maru made a mental note to go to the lake with Inu-Yasha to wash off before he was tortured—er, 'washed'. After tucking Inu-Yasha in, Sessho-Maru hid under the covers until Izayoi walked in, looking like a zombie. Then, she collapsed on her bed and was immediately asleep as she hit the covers. Sessho-Maru, drained from the hunt, dozed off, too.
Day 3: The two dog demon brothers headed to the lake. Because Inu-Yasha went there daily, he was clean until they returned to the palace. Sessho-Maru, on the contrary, hadn't washed for days. So, today, he hunted with his brother, always swimming far from the eyes of fishermen. With his help, Inu-Yasha caught a lot more fish. The samurais had to admit that they were quite impressive; even all the fishermen combined couldn't beat the sum that they brought back day after day.
Fortunately, Lady Luck had favored them this day. Izayoi, who finished the decorations, greeted them and complimented them on how clean they were. "You know," she said cheerfully, "if you two weren't clean, I would've had the maids wash you! After all, you are mature enough to care for yourself, Sessho-Maru. I am glad that you made sure that Inu-Yasha was clean too!" On and on she rambled as Sessho-Maru sighed with relief. He had walked out in the open just so he and Inu-Yasha wouldn't get dirty after they've just cleaned. Luckily, the villagers didn't throw thing too hard and had such terrible coordination, otherwise they would've barely escaped with their lives, not to mention staying clean…
"Ah…ah…ahCHOO!" Inu-Yasha sneezed, sending the fish he was carrying flying all over the place. Sessho-Maru swiftly zigzagged to catch the dropping fish. Consequently, he caught some or missed them altogether.
"Oh Sessho-Maru!" Izayoi exclaimed, surprised. "You better give those fish to the cook; I'm sure they're quite heavy." Sessho-Maru nodded (at least tried to nod), but no one could see it from the pile of fish blocking his face. Hurriedly yet carefully, he walked towards the kitchen.
"Achoo!" the ill half-breed sneezed again.
"Come, Inu-Yasha," his mother said softly, "let's warm up in our room." Inu-Yasha, imitating Sessho-Maru's nod (well, he saw it), following her. When they reached the bedroom, Izayoi started rummaging through a trunk and pulled out a flame-red kimono and helped Inu-Yasha put it on. "This is a kimono made of fire rats' fur," she told him as he stared at her with a strange understanding in his eyes. "It will protect you from heat and cold and some attacks." Just then, Sessho-Maru walked in, smelling strongly of fish.
"Oh yes!" Izayoi exclaimed, ignoring the smell. "Tomorrow, because of all the fish you brought us, you get the day off! So I'm going to bring you and introduce you to the villagers." Inu-Yasha clapped his hands vigorously as Sessho-Maru paled; the encounter today was enough already, but being with the stinky humans for a whole day was even worse. (As if he could talk; he is smelling terrible at the very moment)
With that said, they crept into bed.
Day 4: Sessho-Maru and Inu-Yasha washed at the palace, though fortunately by themselves (to Sessho-Maru's relief) because all the maids were currently occupied. After washing, they headed out to the village. All the villagers outside saw Izayoi and her guards and began to bow. She then signaled them to rise, and as they did, one began, "What brings you here—" until he noticed the two demon brothers. "Ahhh! Demon lads! What are they doing with Lady Izayoi?!"
"Perhaps they have possessed the Lady!" said another.
"Then what are we waiting for?" asked one other. "We must save her!"
"Stop!" Izayoi commanded. "These are my sons—"
"They truly have her under their control!"
"STOP," a strong voice ordered. A beautiful woman appeared, her clear eyes flashing and silky long black hair flowing in the wind. Although not too thin or fat, she was unusually small and pale. "Bring those two lads here." All of the villagers scooted out of the way in a fearful rush, and Sessho-Maru managed to catch some murmurs from them.
"That's Saminoke!"
"They all-seeing priestess?"
"Such a good time that she's arrived!"
"But why is she here?"
"I hear she's here for the festival."
"The festival, or the demons?"
"The almighty priestess!"
"She'll see through their lies."
"I've wondered if that village had forgotten about us."
"SILENCE!" she yelled, and the villagers shut up immediately.
"She must be quite powerful," Sessho-Maru thought.
"Come closer you two," she said more softly and gently to Inu-Yasha and Sessho-Maru. Sessho-Maru coolly walked towards the priestess as Inu-Yasha followed in suit, timidly behind him. She merely glanced at them for a brief moment before bursting out in laughter.
"What's so funny?" a villager dared question.
"Well, their potentially dangerous," she commented after regaining her calm. "But at this stage, they're quite harmless. It should've been obvious." She playfully tugged at Inu-Yasha's little puppy ears as he tried to stop her, though to no avail. The villagers stared in awe and became a little sheepish, but some cried out incredulously, "You mean they're innocent?"
Saminoke rolled her eyes. "Yes, didn't you hear me the first time? They're harmless.
"So, Lady Izayoi, what brings you here?" the priestess inquired.
"I may ask you the same thing, Priestess Saminoke," Izayoi replied.
"Fine. I shall start first. Well, we heard that your palace was burned down, and our prosperous village arrived to help. After getting rid of the fire, your father invited our village to celebrate with him at New Year's. I just came here to see if I could be of any assistance. And it appears you've been found at last. But where have you gotten these demon children?"
"Actually, they are my children, or at least Inu-Yasha is," Izayoi admitted, putting her hand on the smaller demon's shoulder. The priestess arched an eyebrow. "Did you…?" she began as Izayoi nodded. "I loved and married a dog demon named Inu no Taisho, Lord of the Western Lands. He is now dead, for me, and I am widowed." The villagers either fainted, paled, gasped in shock, or did a combination of the above when they heard this. Their respected lady, married to a demon? In their state, they did not see the painful tears that welled up in Izayoi's eyes as she gripped Inu-Yasha's shoulders tightly and he held her hand but sneezed, this time not because of a cold. Sessho-Maru sensed it too; Izayoi was about to cry, and demons did not like tears. Hopefully, it would end soon. Perhaps if he held his breath and pinched his nose…
"I understand how you feel," Saminoke said quietly, and everything was silent except for Izayoi's sobbing. (Inu-Yasha was, yet again, imitating his older brother) It was quiet for a while, and Sessho-Maru knew he was turning beet red from lack of oxygen and was desperately praying that she would stop or else he'd explode from holding in all that air. Ironically, his prayers were answered as Izayoi stopped crying and laughed at the turning purple Sessho-Maru and at Inu-Yasha's act of imitating him. Sessho-Maru let go and gasped for air (that means Inu-Yasha, too, but he didn't need to gasp for air because he was more fortunate than his big brother; he wasn't holding it for that long and wasn't really holding his breath properly in the first place) as Izayoi began speaking. "I'm sorry to have bothered you, but I thought that perhaps these two—" she placed one hand on each shoulder. Sessho-Maru had to use all of his will power to resist the urge to shrug it off and inch far away—"could meet all of you and get to know each other better." All of a sudden, a girl burst out of her house and called out, "Ma! The rice is ready!" and noticed the crowd. "Oh! The lady is here!" she exclaimed and bowed her respects. When she rose to her feet, she glimpsed Inu-Yasha. "Oh wow! He's so adorable!" She picked him up, cuddling and tickling him, showing no fear of him at all. Sessho-Maru used this distraction to scoot…very far away. The girl's mother screamed. "Sachiko! Don't touch it! Drop it right now! And don't get near it ever again!" Inu-Yasha looked at her with such large, innocent eyes, and her voice faltered a bit.
"How rude, calling him an 'it'," Saminoke muttered.
"But Ma," Sachiko whined. "What's wrong with him?"
"He's a half-breed! And you know what I told you about them! That infant's tainted with demon blood!" her mother screeched.
"Be quiet," Saminoke hissed quietly yet firmly. Izayoi was astonished. This woman kept her calm and could command with a quiet word (or phrase, in this case), and just as effectively as one would yell. "I'm sick and tired of listening to all your complaints. EVERYONE'S! None of these demons are doing anything wrong (one of them's run off), and I'll be here to exorcise them or whatever when they do! Seriously! Anybody else?" No one dared make a sound. "GOOD!"
Growl. Everyone looked at Inu-Yasha.
"Oh!" Sachiko exclaimed. "He must be hungry!" And she dashed into her house with him in her arms. Her mother turned to face Izayoi. "Fine," she sighed submissively. "I shall give those demons a chance. But just ONE!"
She then walked into her abode to help her daughter.
"Priestess Saminoke," Izayoi called, "thank you for helping my son. But why did you do it?"
"Because," Saminoke said softly, "I see into the hearts of men and beasts. I am the priestess of truth, and I judge fairly. It is not just to discriminate others by merely what they appear to be."
"May I return your favor? What would you like?" Izayoi asked.
"For warm housing and plentiful food," the priestess replied.
"Come stay with us at our new palace, then."
"Oh, it would be a pleasure."
"Guards," Izayoi commanded. "Please escort Priestess Saminoke back to the palace. A couple of you shall stay." With that, the soldiers ushered her along the way.
"Sessho-Maru," Izayoi called, "you can come out of hiding now!"
"I was not hiding," he grumbled as-a-matter-of-factly and held up two hares as evidence. Izayoi smiled sheepishly; she was so sure he chickened out and ran away!
"Hey!" a voice boomed. "You're a demon, right?" Both turned to look at the villager. He was slightly skinny and was extremely tall, perhaps about 6 to 7 feet in height. "Pleased to meet you, Lady Izayoi, and you, young demon. (Sessho-Maru twitched)" The tall youth bowed with a wide sweep. "I'm Kirotama, but you may call me Kiro. Now that that peace agreement has been made by the very persuasive if not eloquent priestess, I challenge you, demon kid."
"The name is Sessho-Maru, and I accept your challenge," Sessho-Maru said smoothly, not aware that the challenge hadn't been named yet, just that he was going to win, obviously.
Kiro laughed. "Ha! I always wanted to compete with a demon, and now's my chance! So far, I'm the fastest in this area; no one yet could beat me! So I challenge you to a race through the forest."
"No one yet," Sessho-maru replied. "And the forest course is fine. Name your start and destination."
"The large pine in the very heart of the forest. We start here." "Heh," Kiro thought. "I've been here way longer than that demon! I know it like the back of my hand!"
"Hmph. Pathetic human," Sessho-Maru thought. "I've been hunting in and memorized every spot. I have a clear advantage. No way that human will beat me, even if he is taller."
Unknowingly, they held the same thoughts. Izayoi secretly hid a smile. These two glared at each other as it they thought they had the advantage.
"Kirotama!" another voice bellowed.
"Uh-oh," Kiro said. "Guess I better go. My father's calling. Here's a sample for tomorrow." And with that, he sped away. Izayoi's eyes widened. He was so fast! And she had never seen Sessho-Maru run. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.
Sessho-Maru's heart skipped a beat, but he retained his calm composure. He wasn't worried. He would beat that –BEEP—. He looked forward to tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Inu-Yasha just finished a bowl of rice and fish.
"Urp," he burped. Sachiko's mother looked at him disgustingly but said nothing.
"Do you want more?" Sachiko asked. The little half-breed shook his head. Sachiko was entranced by his ears when they flopped back and forth along with his head. She then reached and tugged his ears. "Oh! They're so soft!" she cried, astonished. Inu-Yasha crawled to another spot and settled there. He yawned and his eyelids drooped. Soon, he fell asleep. Sachiko smiled and drooped his hair. He reminded her of her little brother, who—she gasped as her heart lurched painfully. No. She didn't want to remember that horrendous day. Sachiko lifted Inu-Yasha up and hugged him tightly as she felt tears coming into her eyes and blurring her vision. Inu-Yasha's sensitive nose twitched, but he didn't stir.
Drip.
Drop.
Plop.
Sachiko cried softly and held onto Inu-Yasha closely.
"Sachiko, what's the matter?" her mother called as she entered the room. "It's not that wretched demon, is it?"
Sachiko shook her head. "Little…Peeko…"
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear," her mother cooed, drawing her onto her lap and sung a lullaby, and before long, she was fast asleep.
Izayoi and Sessho-Maru walked in. They noticed Inu-Yasha and Sachiko sleeping peacefully on Sachiko's mother's lap. "Welcome to our humble home, Lady Izayoi," the mother greeted them. "Poor child," Izayoi thought, looking at her red, puffy eyes and tears.
"Ugh. All this terrible smell. She's been crying," Sessho-Maru thought repulsively, wrinkling his nose. "Great. First I have to deal with these humans' stench and now this."
Just then, the young girl stirred. "Oh," she said and rubbed her eyes, "you've come to pick him up." She then crept off her mother's lap and carried the sleeping baby to Izayoi. "Thank you for letting him stay with us and have a safe trip back to your palace," she said humbly.
"No, thank you," Izayoi smiled, handing several coins to the girl. "Please accept my payment for feeding him and your kindness." She turned around headed out of the home.
"Wait." Izayoi paused, then turned around. It was Sachiko's mother who was speaking. "Lady Izayoi, I-I would like to apologize to you for what I've said about your son earlier. Will you forgive me?"
Izayoi smiled, as did Sachiko. "Gladly."
Sachiko watched them until they were out of sight and whispered, "Oh, please let Inu-Yasha be safe." After the prayer, she returned to her house and laid on her bed, awaiting slumber.
Author's Note: How did you like the first four days? Since nobody seemed to care about how I post up my chapters, I decided to cut Chapter 4 in half (honestly, it's reaaaally long; these first four days are the short half), so next week I'll post up the other half. This chapter part may seem pretty short, but wait till you read the second part! Ooooooh! And Chapter 5 is even longer!!
