CHAPTER 34

"So you don't actually go fishing? Why is it called 'Go Fish', then?"

"Uh… I guess it's because you sort of… you 'fish' for the cards you want."

Isha did not understand card games very well. "But, why? What is the purpose of this game?"

"There's not supposed to be a real purpose to it, it's just for fun." Souta was shuffling a standard deck of cards, although he was more and more sure that they would probably not be playing any card games that day.

"It doesn't sound like much fun. You either give me the card I want or else I have to hope I get it myself? That sounds like work."

Souta snorted. "Oh, you don't think anything's fun."

"So what?!" she said indignantly.

Souta sighed and tossed the deck back in his bag. "Geez, I was just thinking we could do something simple for fun while Hagane's off getting water, but I guess we'll both just sit here angrily instead."

Isha's nostrils flared, but spoke flatly. "All right."

Kannon, absentmindedly picking dirt and leaves off her clothing, said, "You two are the most ridiculous children, honestly."

Shippo nodded in agreement.

Souta and Isha were both about to protest – Souta was going to accuse Isha of having started it, and Isha would just have told them to shut up – when Hagane returned a newly filled canteen. And, more surprisingly, with a teenage girl.

Before anyone had a chance to voice a reaction, Hagane explained. "I'm sorry, but she was being pursued by some, er… unsavory characters. I didn't want to just leave her."

The girl looked from person to person, and her face lit up with recognition when she saw Kannon. "Lady Kannon!" She ran over and gave the nun a friendly hug. "It's me, Koharu!"

Kannon finally recognized her with a name to put with the face. "Oh my, I didn't recognize you at all! You've grown so much. It must've been three years, now, hm?"

Koharu explained for the benefit of the confused and curious on-lookers. "I lost my family in the wars. A wealthy oil merchant took me in. I thought he was being kind, but he made me work like a slave. I was so tired, and so hungry all the time. But one day, Lady Kannon came into the village to perform an exorcism. She was nicer to me than anyone had been since my parents were alive. She gave me food, and spoke such kind words to me. But," Koharu's face fell, "she had to leave the village eventually. She apologized, saying she would take me with her if she could, and she'd try to come back with a solution as soon as she could. And then…" Koharu's face hardened, and she shuddered. "Just recently, my master's son started… looking at me. He scared me, so one day I just…"

"Ran away?" Souta suggested as Koharu paused.

She shook her head. "No, I took a piece of firewood and beat him in the head until he stopped moving, then I ran away." Koharu then looked up earnestly, "But you're here now, and that must mean you've finally worked out a plan! And such great timing, too!"

Kannon only laughed nervously in response.

Koharu didn't seem to notice. "I've got nowhere else to go. And anyway, I'm 14 now, so I know I won't get in the way like I would've three years ago!"

It didn't take a genius to see that no one was jumping at the chance to bring Koharu along with them. But it also didn't a genius to see what a delicate situation it was.

Souta did the only thing he could think of. "Um, Koharu, you're looking a little… parched? Want to go to the river with me and get some water?"

Koharu looked at first like she had forgotten Souta was even there, but agreed. She was very thirsty, as it turned out. And Souta hoped while they were gone, the others might come up with a solution that wouldn't further endanger Koharu, but still would let her gently off the hook.

"So, uh… you really took to Kannon, huh?"

"Oh, yes!" Koharu agreed, wiping water from her mouth. "There was just something about her. Her demeanor was so calm and… and knowing! And she was so encouraging. She told me, our hardships we face are just meant to test us. That everything we go through is a means to make us stronger. And whether that's physically stronger, or mentally stronger, that's up to us."

Souta couldn't help his blank look of surprise, but tried to cover it up with what he hoped looked like a genuine smile. Kannon had never dispensed advice quite that profound… or useful. It was pretty thought-provoking, however.

Souta shook himself out of his thoughts to notice Koharu staring at him. Presumably she was wondering why he had been staring at her with a blank smile on his face, without saying anything. "I guess it was that advice that got you through the past three years?"

She nodded, and her face hardened. "Yes. There were times I felt like giving up, though. It… it's been hard."

He wasn't sure if he should say anything now, letting Kannon and the others talk to Koharu later. But, the longer it took to tell her, the worse it would feel. Still, he tried not to be blunt. "I know. I understand, I mean. But, the thing is, it's hard for us too – that is, for me, and Kannon, and the others. So you'd just be going from the boiling pot to the fire, so to speak."

Apparently that expression was unknown in feudal era Japan. "I… don't understand. But," her face took on a determined look, "the things you all face can't be any worse than what I've been through!"

Souta was really in no position to argue – and, he thought, living at least three years as a starving slave, fighting off unwanted advances from your boss's son, was probably worse on the whole than several months of fighting demons, nearly dying. On second thought…

"Well… maybe we should head back now." Souta decided that thought process was a no-win situation, and not worth continuing to consider.

As the two approached the little hill where the others were, they both noted that Kannon was missing.

They greeted by Isha. She immediately said, bluntly, "You can't come with us."

Souta, stung, opened his mouth to angrily protest, before realizing Isha very likely did not mean him.

Koharu was not as slow, and was more anguished than Souta had been angry. "But, why? I swear, I won't get in your way!"

Isha snorted dismissively. "Oh, sure! And won't it just be great for us to be dragging some weak, useless human around while we're out risking our lives!"

"Whoa, geez!" Souta was surprised; Isha was being remarkably callus, even for her. She was, of course, correct, it WOULD be hard to have someone tagging along who couldn't defend herself against demon attacks – unless she had a woodblock and was in a position to hit them repeatedly with it, Souta supposed.

Kannon, thankfully, arrived just then. "Everything's all settled," she smiled kindly. Her smile fell as she noted Koharu's trembling lip. "Ah… come here with me." She pointed to a path that would take them downhill a ways, perhaps thinking that Koharu might better be comforted without the four strangers around, one of whom had rather rudely delivered devastating news.

Speaking of which, "You couldn't have, I don't know, been a bit more tactful than that?" Souta said, exasperated, when it seemed the girls were out of earshot. "I mean, geez, the poor girl's got nowhere to go, and she was relying on us for help. I know she can't come with us, but, wow, I thought you had a heart, you know?"

He was surprised to see Isha look as if she was suddenly slapped. Then her face flushed and her eyes narrowed. "Well, I thought it might be easier for her if she thought she was unwanted. Not just that we couldn't take her with us because it was dangerous, but that we didn't want her anyway because she'd be useless. It's easier to let go when you think someone hates you." She crossed her arms and pouted.

Her explanation did make sense… sort of. Souta thought of those movies where the kid has to get rid of his dog, and leaves it out somewhere yelling 'Go on! I never liked you anyway!' Apparently that was what Isha had been attempting to do to Koharu. But it didn't seem to have worked the way she intended.

It was clear, anyway, that Souta was actually in the wrong. And for that, he apologized. "Well, I… I didn't mean to hurt your feelings before." He shuffled his feet. He was nervous all of a sudden, but could not understand why. "You were just being meaner than normal, I thought…" He looked down at his shoes, like a little boy apologizing for stealing cookies or something stupid and boyish.

Isha, graciously – oddly – replied, "That's okay. I don't…" she paused. "I don't want you to think of me as a monster or anything."

Souta jolted his head up. He was going to protest that he didn't think of her as a monster, not anymore, and he didn't think he could really see her as one again anyway, but the words caught in his throat. Instead, he said, "Wow… you look like a girl!"

It was hard to explain. Obviously, she was still the same person she was when Souta had last looked at her a minute or so ago. But it was something in the way she stood, the way her arms were folded, the particularly teenaged way her mouth curved into an annoyed little pout, the way the flush of her cheeks was fading to a fainter pink by that point. There was just something so much more feminine about her in that moment.

This peculiarly girlish appearance was shattered quickly, however, as she replied in anger and confusion, "What do you mean by that?"

"I never know quite what to make of the two of you," Hagane said.

Souta jumped and blushed. He had forgotten Hagane was still standing there. He realized also that Shippo was still there. He briefly thought that he always seemed to forget Shippo was there, even though Shippo did always seem to be there.

Isha's cheeks took the angry red flush back on. "Feh!" She gave an angry and dismissive wave. "Isn't Kannon done talking to that girl yet?"

Hagane rolled his eyes and turned his attention back down the hill, where Kannon and Koharu were. "No. I wonder… Well, it's just amazing that the girl formed such a strong attachment to Lady Kannon after only knowing her such a short time."

"I guess, but…" Souta considered. "I mean, you've never had that happen to you – where you met someone and just felt, I don't know, like a really strong magnetic pulse for them?"

Hagane didn't turn around to look, but tilted his head quizzically.

Isha glared at Souta, still flustered from earlier. "What do you mean?"

Souta explained. "I had this friend back in grade school – when I was a lot younger, I mean. We were in the same class, and even though we'd never met before, by the end of the day we just felt like we'd known each other for forever. Sometimes that kind of stuff just happens, right? You just meet someone and it's just the right combination of personality or whatever, and you end up getting along so great…" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I think most people experience that kind of magnetism when it comes to romantic relationships rather than friendly ones, though…"

Isha pulled a bland and unconcerned face. "So you're saying you were in a romantic relationship with that boy?"

Souta, hand still on chin, glared. "Was that supposed to be a joke?"

Hagane shook his head. "You two can stop your weird way of flirting, Kannon's coming back."

Souta and Isha flushed once again and began protesting in unison before Kannon and a red-eyed Koharu interrupted.

%%%

Kannon, earlier, had spoken with the kindly old mayor of the closest village, and he had agreed to take in Koharu after hearing her sad circumstances. After carefully explaining to Koharu that she was being left in very kind hands, and if she traveled with Kannon and the others, she would be in constant fear for her life. Her situation would really not be much improved, and although it would be hard at first, and lonely, Kannon really could not forgive herself if Koharu were put in danger, or even killed, because she had allowed Koharu to travel this perilous road. Koharu tearfully and begrudgingly agreed.

And so, the group continued on their journey, with a short detour to drop Koharu off at the mayor's house. Although the major offered to let the group stay the night, Kannon declined on behalf of everyone.

As the group made their way through the village, Souta wondered if that may have been the wrong choice. "Are you sure about turning that offer down? We don't get to sleep indoors with a nice, cooked meal that often…"

Kannon nodded sadly. "Yes, but it would only make it harder for Koharu if we stayed with her longer."

"That's very considerate," Hagane inclined his head sympathetically. Souta's earlier explanation of how people can form strong friendships in a short amount of time had accidentally confused Hagane – and Isha – further.

Isha, who had been avoiding looking at both Souta and Hagane with stark determination for some time, pricked her ears up and stared at the path ahead. This change in posture did not go unnoticed, and shortly afterwards the other group members realized what she was listening for.

The sound of many feet treading the dirt path, and a low murmur of voices, was heading in their direction. As the sound came closer, the group first saw the glow of torches, and then the mob that was the source of the sound and light. The mob consisted of middle-aged men carrying weapons that mostly consisted of gardening tools, just like all the mobs Souta had remembered encountering before.

And just like all the other mobs, they attempted to attack the group, with gusto. "Kill 'em!" one man, brandishing a scythe, yelled. He led a smaller group of four men in the front of the mob. Isha took them out with a basic punch, which caused the men to fall to the ground, one right after the other. They cowered and rubbed their wounded faces.

"What's with these guys?" The men seemed almost offended at being hit. Souta also observed that there actually were some women in the mob, which was a first. Now that he thought on it, it seemed like all the young women in Feudal Japan mostly just died, leaving all the rioting to the old men.

"Are they possessed?" Hagane asked, his tone unsure.

"No." Isha watched warily as the villagers regrouped. "There's no scent of demons here."

Her ears perked again as she picked up on a new noise; well, the noise was new to the scene, but certainly not new to her or to the group. The others picked up on the noise at the same time: a distant buzzing that grew louder with every second.

Naraku's venom wasps.

OoO

Koharu remained a lady in-story. It was a tough choice – obviously in canon, the Miroku/Koharu dynamic provided some early seeds of jealousy for Sango. I think it would've been a little weirder for 16 year old Hagane to be jealous that a 14 year old boy had a crush on an older woman, though. So we shifted instead to Souta and Isha's relationship developing! Someday maybe Hagane and Kannon will get their own development as a couple. Or as individuals. I'm so sorry. ;_;

And if you thought I was implying anything between Kannon and Koharu, well… I wasn't. That's just what happens when I take the original canon and don't change any of it. But we'll never know just what exactly Koharu feels, or what Kannon said to her. But I wrote it as if they were two friends – or, Kannon feels they're more acquaintances than anything, while Koharu feels that weird magnetic super-friendship thing Souta was talking about – you know, how sometimes it takes a while to really warm up to someone, but then, sometimes, you'll meet someone and suddenly you're best friends after knowing them half an hour? That doesn't happen a lot, I don't think – at least not to me, but then again, nobody ever talks to me in real life… or online, really, but that's my problem, I guess.

Anyway, that's all Souta meant. I would say it's also likely part of Koharu's deal, both here and in canon, is just because someone was finally nice to her. Like sometimes when you meet a dog, and he's not sure about you, until you pet him, and then he's your best friend forever? I think of Koharu like that.

Ah, but, anyway, if you want to think maybe Koharu is in lesbians with Kannon, that's of course your business. It wasn't my intention, but I certainly put no effort into making it NOT look that way. The intended interpretation is that they're just good friends, but I deliberately left it vague… especially with that comment from Hagane.

And man, I know every now and then I've complained about mixing up character names, but I think this was the worst chapter at this. I was calling EVERYBODY Kannon. Hagane was Kannon, Koharu was Kannon, Souta was Kannon once. Ironically Kannon was Koharu several different times. Isha had no trouble, name-wise, and Shippo only came up, what, twice? I wrote this, why don't I know?

Weird question: Any Koharu/Jinenji shippers out there? I know there must be ONE person who ships them. Haha. Actually I think a great crack ship would be Jinenji and then Kasumi Tendo from Ranma. They're both pretty much the nicest characters in all of Takahashi-dom.