Chapter 4: Discussing The Master Plan

The festival was underway for another night in the village. People were celebrating all over as usual. But there was someone in the village who didn't have time to stop and celebrate, for he had some important matters to attend to. Myouga couldn't stay by his prince's side all night, because he had to hurry down the mountain to concoct a master plan for his prince's social welfare.

"I must hurry." Myouga said "Master Inuyasha will wonder where I am if I am gone for too long."

It wasn't too long before the old flea approached the quarters of the village head. He stopped at the front door and hopped frantically up and down. "Priestess Kaede! I am in need of your help!"

A few seconds later, the door was answered by an old woman wearing priestess robes and an eye patch. Her eye caught the small flea bouncing in front of her. "Old Myouga?" She asked, surprised. "I haven't seen you around here in a while. Please, come in."

The flea complied and followed the old lady inside. "Now, what is it that troubles you?" She asked.

Myouga seated himself, ready to explain. "You know of Master Inuyasha's secret, do you not?"

She nodded. "Yes, of course I know of it. I haven't told a soul."

Myouga sighed. "Master Inuyasha is only willing to appear outside during a new moon. I worry that he will end up going through life without making any friends. It saddens me to imagine him at his deathbed without any knowledge of what it's like to have friends."

Kaede only sighed. "As you know, this was not always the case."

Myouga nodded. "I know, but the reason I have come here is not to reflect on the past. I have come here to explain an incident that had occurred on the first day of the Lunar Festival."

Kaede raised an eyebrow. "What sort of incident?"

Myouga took a deep breath and continued. "The other day, Master Inuyasha was riding on a float for the Moon Parade. As we were riding, Master Inuyasha and I both looked into the crowd and saw a girl that bore a striking resemblance to...her."

Kaede's eyes widened, knowing exactly what the old flea was talking about. "Do you know her name?"

Myouga shook his head and sighed. "I am afraid not, but when I looked at the girl, even though she looked a lot like her, I saw something that I had never seen in your sister. I felt like she could help mend Master Inuyasha's broken heart."

Kaede nodded. "What would you like me to help you with?"

"I need your help in developing a plan to get the girl and Master Inuyasha to meet before the end of the new moon."

Kaede had to think about that one. "That would be no easy feat, but I suppose we could at least try. If this girl truly is as you say, then maybe we can undo the damage my sister caused him so long ago."

Myouga nodded. "I think that since a lot of people come to this shrine to pray, this can be where they can meet. We just need to figure out a way to get them both here at the same time."

Kaede nodded. "But if you do not know where the girl lives or what her name is, then how do you expect to find her?"

Myouga sighed. "I don't know. I guess my only option is to search the village and hope I can find her before the new moon ends."

Kaede nodded in agreement. "I will be waiting here when you find her."

Meanwhile, back at The Prince's palace, the little Kitsune was sneaking around the back, looking for an entrance. He was having a bit of trouble with all that running around, so he decided to stop for a second and catch his breath. "Why does Miroku always have to go for the hard ones?"

He took a few more breaths and continued searching until he looked up and found a high window that led inside. Shippo really didn't want to go with that option, but he had no other choice in the matter. He sighed. "Alright, here it goes."

He transformed himself into a giant pink balloon with wonky eyes and started slowly floating up to the top. Once he got to the window, he transformed back and latched himself onto the windowsill, opening the window with all his strength. Once he got it opened, he quietly slipped into the empty room and sighed. "Alright, here we go."

Meanwhile, Prince Inuyasha was wandering throughout the dark palace, bored out of his mind. "I can't wait for this festival to end." He said to himself. "Then I can just go back to my normal existence."

The palace was dark during the day, but even more so at night. The Prince could see well in the dark though, so he had no trouble getting around. There were no servants around, it was just him and Myouga. He couldn't risk anyone learning about his secret, so there could be no servants.

It didn't take long for Inuyasha to realize that something wasn't quite right in the palace. He couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't alone. He grabbed his sword and pulled it out of its scabbard, even though it only looked rusty and old.

A shadowed figure appeared behind him, and Inuyasha quickly turned around, only to whack a giant pink balloon to the wall with his sword. Shippo hit the wall with a thud and de-transformed back into a fox demon. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, confused as to why something so small and non-threatening would want to break into his palace.

Just then, he heard a knock on the palace's front door, which was weird, since nobody ever knocked. He picked up the little, unconscious demon by the tail and headed over to the door. The palace doors opened wide, and soon Inuyasha was standing face to face with a holy monk, dressed in purple priest robes. He had a serious expression on his face.

The monk opened his eyes and began. "I apologize for disturbing you this hour, but I came here because I sensed the presence of a demon, and its fantastic strength and power cannot be overlooked." He said it with such a serious voice and expression, Inuyasha may have believed him, if it wasn't for the small demon in his hand.

He raised an eyebrow. "So, you're saying that my palace is being haunted by a powerful demon that will reek havoc if I don't have it removed?"

The monk nodded. "It is imperative that I have it removed immediately."

Inuyasha revealed the unconscious fox, still holding him by his tail. "Here's your demon."

He shoved it in Miroku's hands and shut the doors as quickly as possible. Miroku only blinked. "Well, this didn't turn out like I had hoped."

Shippo looked up at him and gave him a death glare. "You don't say?"

Miroku just shrugged the death glare off. "Oh well, we'll just have to find the second nicest house and sleep there tonight."

He turned around with Shippo in hand and started walking down the mountain, but little did they know, they had not escaped the attention of a certain flea coming back from the house of the village head.