The temples in Tatsuhana's forehead throbbed. She rubbed her sore eyes. Beneath, dark, red half-circles decorated her face. Tatsuhana shouldered her bag, which carried all of her textbooks, pencil case, her only sketchbook, and all the other essentials. She shuffled out of the classroom and entered the crowded hallway. Pulling the hood of her sweatshirt over her eyes, Tatsuhana did her best to avoid making eye contact with anyone and everyone. Everything was too bright, too loud, and had too many people.
The return to class and school was a bit harder than Tatsuhana anticipated. There were eyes following her around. Her skin prickled, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Her chest felt so tight that she couldn't figure out how to breathe. Tatsuhana gripped her bag tighter and kept her eyes towards the ground. She only looked up when she needed to.
"Ah, ha! Just the girl I wanted to see! Miss Hamasaki, would you kindly follow me to my office?"
The bug-eyed professor Totosai came bounding down the hallway towards her. As soon as he drew near, Totosai led Tatsuhana by the shoulder in the direction of his office. It was awkward as Tatsuhana was so much taller than him, and she had to lean to her right while Professor Totosai led her along. He slammed the door shut behind them, scattering some papers to the floor by force. Totosai scrambled around the piles of books he set along the floor to get to his desk. From a drawer, he fetched a familiar dagger and its sheath. Totosai maneuvered around the stacks and placed the dagger into Tatsuhana's hands.
"Is this—" In all the drama and stress of the last few weeks, Tatsuhana had utterly forgotten about the dagger.
"The dagger lent me for research, yes!"
"Okay? So…is there anything else you can tell me about it?"
"The metallurgy technique used to create that blade is without a doubt one used in the fifteenth century, used exclusively by demons during the Ōnin War and Sengoku period. Its main components contain iron, dragon fang, and firebird talon. The sheath, however, is older than that. Its made from wood that was rare in China back in the fourteenth century. Essentially, you have a Japanese dagger with a Chinese sheath."
"Is that all that you found?" Asked Tatsuhana.
"There is a little bit more. ON the blade itself is a carving. I had to take it to the lab to better look at the engraving and then take it over to the linguistic department for translation. It's written in kanji several hundred years old, but it's mixed in with Chinese letters as well. It took us a couple of weeks to pull apart the languages just to decipher the message," said Totosai.
"And?"
"The message reads, iThe strength of the dragon and heart of the firebird/i."
Tatsuhana furrowed her brows. "That's it? That's all it says?"
She didn't know why she was banking on more information. An old dagger inside a more aged sheath with a code made up of two different languages. The riddle didn't make any sense. There was no preceding question or leading clue, just a sentence fragment.
"Are you sure there weren't any carvings elsewhere or maybe on the sheath?" She asked.
Totosai shook his head. "Just the one we were able to translate. The dagger shows no other sign of having carvings, and X-ray tests showed that nothing was on the sheath. I'm sorry to disappoint. It's well made for what it's worth. It would make a collector very happy, should you wish to sell it."
Tatsuhana unceremoniously dropped into her bag along with all her other stuff. She reshuffled her pack onto her shoulders. She smiled weakly before turning to leave the room.
"Thank you for your efforts anyway, Professor. You went over and beyond what I asked for. Have a nice day."
Professor Totosai had opened his mouth to say something further, but Tatsuhana turned away from him and was already walking out the door. He tried to move around his stacks of books; however, Tatushana was already down the hall, and either couldn't hear him or ignored him when he called out to her. Totosai scratched the back of his head as he watched her disappear down the corridor.
"Damn, brat. So stubborn, that silly woman," he mumbled to himself before retreating into his office.
The bus pulled to a stop. Tatsuhana shook the sleep from her eyes. She'd been nodding off since the moment she stepped aboard. All the coffee in the world wouldn't be able to keep her eyelids open. It was nothing short of a miracle that she woke herself up in time to get to her stop. She stepped off the bus and turned the corner. The inn was about three blocks from the bus stop, and the foot traffic was growing heavy. Tatsuhana walked past the bars and pushed past business people making their near-nightly pub crawls. She kept her head down, and her hoodie pulled around her face. No matter where she went, it felt like someone's eyes were always on her.
Just as she came upon the street where she lived, Tatsuhana made a glance. This morning there was a strange man with a camera asking her all sorts of questions. He was a persistent bastard who followed her half a block before she hopped onto her bus and headed for school. There was currently no sign of him.
Tired as she was, Tatsuhana climbed up the steps to the inn. The courtyard was well-lit by the time she reached the top of the steep hill. She walked through the front entrance. Even though this wasn't the first time she saw the results of everyone's hard work, Tatsuhana was still amazed every time at what a few minor changes could make. New paint, a little wood varnishing, polishing up some paintings, it all gave the inn a new spirit. Currently, Hanzo was being assisted by one of the new hires in learning how to use the new booking system. Hanzo was almost as old as her father would have been, so he didn't know a lot about computers. One of the many hurdles still to climb over was the lack of wi-fi. If the inn was going to survive into the modern age, Tatushana figured, then it would need a massive tech update. Her father discussed it before the previous owner's passing, but unfortunately, she never got the chance to convince her father of this.
"Tatsuhana, how was school?" Asked Hanzo.
"Same old, same old. A man was standing at the bottom of the hill this morning. We may have to consider having added security to the list of things to do. He followed me to the bus stop, and he had a camera," said Tatsuhana.
Hanzo's brows furrowed. "A camera? What did he want?"
"I don't know. He was asking all sorts of odd questions. I ignored him and went to school. Did the health inspector ever call back?"
"Yes, he did. He's available this Saturday. The boys are almost done with the kitchen; there's only a couple of minor details. If there aren't any further distractions, they'll be able to get it done tomorrow afternoon," said Hanzo.
"Be sure to send my best regards and an extra tip to your son-in-law for fixing the kitchens. He can have a complimentary bottle of our best sake.
"I believe he'll appreciate that very much," said Hanzo.
"Woah, you should probably get some sleep. You don't look so good." The new hire's tone was a little more casual than what Tatsuhana was used to.
Hanzo gave the young man a sharp look and was about to say something when Tatsuhana interrupted.
"I plan on going to my room and sleep for the next forty years. I don't think even the ghosts could wake me up," she said.
Tatsuhana shuffled to her room, which was still her old childhood bedroom. She hadn't the courage to move her precious few belongings into the master bedroom. That room still held too much sorrow to think about moving and claiming the space as her own. For now, it served as a silent shrine to her parents and their last moments on earth. Tatsuhana dumped her heavy backpack by the door, lit a few candles, and turned off the headlight. Tatsuhana threw her clothes onto the floor without concern. Her body ached, and she was far too tired to stand in the shower. If she ventured to the hot springs, in all likelihood, Tatsuhana would fall asleep in the spring and drown. Maybe she too would become another spirit who claimed the inn as her resident. Her cousin would undoubtedly be pleased with her sudden, unexpected demise. Of course, Tatsuhana wanted to live as long as possible so that she could keep the inn out of spite and rub it in his face.
She slipped into a kimono and pulled out the bedding and pillows. Tatsuhana strained to see because her eyes kept fluttering closed. She managed to crawl under the covers after blowing out all the candles.
Tatsuhana woke up to the dull ache spread over her lower belly at three in the morning. Her lower back hurt too. She rolled over in bed but only made matters worse. She tossed and turned in bed and slept in short bursts of time. When it was a more reasonable hour, Tatsuhana crawled out of bed like a slug. Everything below her midriff hurt. It was a familiar pain that left her gutted and barely able to walk. She got to her feet, legs shaking. However, once she was on her feet, she noticed the damp spot on the back of her kimono and something wet running down her inner thighs.
Tatsuhana flicked on the electric light instead of lighting the candles. The tension headache returned as soon as the lightbulb started to hum. She peeled back the blanket and sheets and grimaced at what she found beneath. A dark red stain marked where she lay, and no doubt a similar one bled onto her kimono. Sweat beaded down the side of her face. Tatsuhana touched the coin around her neck.
"Izayoi," said Sesshomaru.
His stepmother came into his apartment unannounced. She helped make breakfast and set the table.
"I was hoping to take Rin for the afternoon. I thought we could have a little girl time together," said Izayoi.
"Very well," Sesshomaru sighed. "Where do you plan on going?"
"Just some shopping. I was hoping to stop by that herbal store to pick up some special tea. Rin's also getting too big for some of her clothes."
"Are you going to give her dinner?"
"I hoping to check in on Tatsuhana…."
Sesshomaru flinched. He hadn't spoken about or to or even considered thinking about Tatsuhana. He kept to his word about giving her ample space. Rumors about the tabloids leaked to his office. Sesshomaru watched the situation from the shadows and bribed the photographers and paparazzi to stay away. That didn't mean that one or two hadn't slipped between his fingers. It had been six days since their argument, but it seemed closer to a decade. He almost caved the other day when he drove past an art supply store and was tempted to buy a few bottles of whatever paint he could get his hands on just to have something similar to Tatsuhana's scent nearby. Thankfully, Sesshomaru regained his senses.
"That's fine," said Sesshomaru.
It was not fine.
"Are you ready to go, sweetie?" Izayoi glanced into the rearview mirror.
Rin was big enough to buckle her seatbelt. Izayoi pulled out into the street for the thirty-minute drive. The herbal store was on the other side of town in a more eclectic part area and stood in a near-perfect spot for its clientele. The older woman who ran the shop specialized in homebrews and natural tonics, used mainly by demons and half-demons. The prejudice of humans using anything sold out of that store held a stigma for some people. Not so for Izayoi.
She parked the car across the street from the shop. Both passengers hopped out of the car and made the short walk to the other side. Rin held unto Izayoi's hand while crossing the road. The girl looked up at her grandmother and asked, "Do you think Miss Hana is mad at me? Was there something I did? She hasn't talked to us in a while."
"Miss Hana could never be mad at you. She's very busy with school and her job at the inn. The issue is…between grown-ups. We're just going to check on her after our little shopping trip in here, okay?"
"Okay!"
Once safely on the sidewalk, Rin let go and raced Izayoi to the storefront. Being so young and lively, Rin quickly reached the door first. Even with her little arms, she managed to pull open the door and hold it open.
"Thank you!"
While the shop was small, it was well-organized and well-lit. Herbs dried on the wall behind the counter. A kitchen stood in the back with a window like a restaurant. Izayoi could almost make out one of the employee's shadows through that window.
"Hello, Jinenji!" She said.
A large, scarred hand reached up to where it could be seen and waved. An older woman bursts through the kitchen door carrying a crate full of jars bursting to the brim with more herbs. She laid them out on the counter by the register and dusted off her apron.
"How can I be of service to you?"
Izayoi stepped up to the counter. "Hello, Mrs. Koma. It's nice to see you again. Are you doing well, I trust?"
"Yeah, well, my back's not what it used to be. I ain't gettin' younger, that's for sure." Mrs. Koma popped her back. "Is it migraines again for Mr. Taisho?"
"I'm afraid so. I was also wondering if you'd recommend sleep. I haven't gotten much in the last—"
The bell above the door clanged. Izayoi would have otherwise finished her sentence if she hadn't picked up on the ragged huffing of hard breathing. The customer was panting for breath. The sound drew Izayoi's concern. She turned to look at them, only to have her body move immediately into action.
Tatsuhana stood in the doorway. One hand clutched the frame and the other on her lower abdomen. Her face was beet-red, cheeks puffy. Tatsuhana's eyes were red and watery. Sweat beaded down her face and neck like she ran a marathon to get here. Izayoi closed the gap between them and pulled Tatsuhana's arm behind her neck. Mrs. Koma disappeared for a moment into the back and returned with a chair. They made Tatsuhana sit down.
"I'll fix something up and get a damp towel for her face," said Mrs. Koma.
The little old lady was faster than she looked. Through the window in the wall, others could hear Mrs. Koma rifle through cabinets, opening and slamming them closed, and the clatter of metal pots. Izayoi did what she could by offering a handkerchief to at least wipe the sweat from Tatsuhana's brow and stop it from leaking into her eye.
"Miss Hana?" Rin stood on the other side of the store, too frightened to move.
Tatsuhana visibly swallowed and licked her parched lips. "I-It's okay. I'm going to be…fin—"
She swore under her breath as she lurched forward in her chair. Tatsuhana gripped her lower stomach, biting her lip as if to stop herself from letting out a scream. Her eyes closed tight. She shuddered in her chair until it seemed that the wave of pain passes through her system. Izayoi stayed by Tatsuhana's side while trying to keep Rin out of the way. As much as Rin wished to help, the truth of the matter was that she'd probably stand in the way.
"Do I need to call an ambulance?" Asked Izayoi.
Tatsuhana weakly shook her head. "No, n-no doctors. I don't need a hospital. I just…I just need the tea."
On cue, Mrs. Koma arrived carrying a tray. A kettle of steaming hot water, a cup, a tea strainer, and dish of herbals lay on it. She set it on an empty shelf. Though her finger was no longer delicate, Mrs. Koma was still fast when it came to making the proper cup of tea. She poured the hot water of the herbs she placed in the filter. The room filled with a pungent smell as the tea steeped. She swirled the contents around before removing the filter. Mrs. Koma held out the cup on a chipped platter towards Tatsuhana.
"I think you know what you have to do next, sweetheart. I don't think Izayoi is going to much care," said Mrs. Koma.
"Tatsuhana, what is she talking about?" Asked Izayoi.
Tatsuhana was silent as she reached behind her neck and unclasped the necklace. The worn leather slipped from her neck. She curled it in her fist for a second before slipping it into her bag. Mrs. Koma gave her the cup and makeshift saucer. Izaoyi remained where she stood.
Before her very eyes, Tatsuhana's face and body began to shift. She took on a paler complexion with inhuman porcelain likeness. Her ears turned into pointed ends. She grew an inch taller, and her muscles became more defined. When she opened her eyes, Tatsuhana looked back at her with slit pupils, like a cat's, surrounded by green and gold-flecked irises. As her hand encircled the cup, Tatsuhana revealed a set of sharp pointed nails.