Chapter 101: The Mysterious, Lecherous Monk

It's a new, red-orange hued evening in Edo, and we zoom in on the outskirts of a village surrounded by a forest of pine, as our well-known monk, Miroku, sends his goodbyes to some of the people he helped.

"I shall be off now, my good people."

We see that each of these villagers was holding a charm in their hands, grateful smiles on their faces:

"Monk, we cannot thank you enough for what you've done for us."

"Finally, we can now live again in peace."

"You saved our village and gave us peace of mind."

Miroku replies modestly,

"No such thing. I only did what had to be done. Farewell."

One man who was of somewhat heavier build calls to the retreating back,

"Wait, monk! Please tell us your name before you leave."

He pauses, before turning around to flash the villagers a suave smile while replying,

"I'd be more than happy to tell you my name: I am the monk called Miroku!"

They all gaze at his confident form in awe...

Time Skip

Come the next morning, we'd catch up with Inuyasha and company as they set out along another path for the new day. Coraline, she dressed in a white tank-top with an unbuttoned red/black/white flannel shirt, faded blue jeans with a small rip in her right knee and her black combat boots, lets out a yawn and says aloud,

"It's been a while since we've slept indoors, hasn't it? Not that I don't mind the great view of the stars, but it wouldn't hurt to try for an Inn..."

Freeman, he wearing a green tank-top with his black leather jacket, brown jeans and monochrome high-tops, stretches his arms over his head and comments back,

"Tell me about it. I need at least one night of lumbar support before my spine decides to file a two-week notice."

"So what I'm hearing is that out of the two of us, you're gonna be the old man first?"

The short-cut, coarse-haired teen side-glares his cornrow-styled twin, he wearing a light blue t-shirt, black jeans and his black/white high-tops, cheeky smile abundant, and retorts,

"Shut up. This don't got nothin' to do with getting old."

"Already in denial, huh? Now I'm concerned about your eventual midlife crisis."

"Besa!"

Everyone laughs at the brotherly banter, before Shippo spots a coil of smoke overhead past a small hut sitting at the edge of a pine forest, which was a clear indicator that there was a small populace of humans near.

"Look, a village!"

The group pauses, and Coraline comments with a smile,

"Really? Wow, that was convenient. We can all get some well-deserved Zs this time."

Miroku adds,

"And the villagers might be able to tell us something about Naraku."

Besa says with some excitement,

"Then let's not stand here pondering about it. Let's go!"

With that decided, they all begin making their way to the village, which as it turns out, is the same one with the many trunks of pine making up the greenery...Inside, the villagers were going about their morning business, including two women washing some linen in a tub by the riverbank.

"Nice and clean..."

By this time, our travel group had entered the village, walking along the dirt path running between the ribbon of water and some fields being attended to by a few of the men. Two of them recognize the monk in the party, and became, agitated?

"Guh, it's him!"

"Miroku!"

Another runs to ring an alarm bell for the rest of the village to hear, warning them of the monk's arrival:

"Miroku is coming, Miroku is coming!"

They all panic, and run inside their huts to hide, one mother pulling her daughter behind the door flap:

"Come inside..."

Inuyasha and the others would of course hear the warning bell, and became confused, with Freeman scratching the back of his head while mumbling,

"What's got their robes in a twist, and over Miroku of all people...?"

Attention would then turn to the village men, who were now surrounding the group with angered expressions and farming hoes at the ready! One man shouts,

"You corrupt monk! How dare you deceive us!"

Said accused steps up to try and figure out what's going on:

"Now hold on a minute! What on earth did I do?"

"Don't act innocent!"

"No need for talk; get him!"

The men all charge at the group, with one man raising a hoe to attack Coraline! Thankfully, Inuyasha was quick on the defense and used his sheathed sword to block the farming tool before throwing the man back. He then turns to ask,

"What's going on, Miroku?!"

Another villager tries to attack him, but is blocked by the twins holding the tool back, and Freeman adds,

"Better yet, could you explain to these guys we have nothing to do with, whatever-the-heck they think you did?!"

The monk himself was busy fending off a few other men with his staff:

"I'm trying to figure that out myself!"

Shippo and Kilala hold onto one another as they dodged a few of the hoes being swung at them, while Sango uses her Hiraikotsu to block another.

"What'll we do? There's so many of them, we'll be fighting forever!"

She shoves the man away as Miroku meets her back-to-back:

"I agree. There's only one thing to do before anyone gets injured...Run like the wind and don't look back!"

With that, the group makes a fast-paced tactical retreat, leaving the village and its bristled people behind, not wanting to take their chances any further than they had to...

Time Skip

It's now nighttime, and everyone was now sitting by a campfire in a small clearing inside a forest made of beech and oak trees while discussing earlier events, Sango beginning by asking aloud,

"I wonder what that was all about?" Freeman exclaims,

"No kidding! I get this era's not famous for peace-talk, but what the hell happened to conversations before violence?"

Besa hums,

"I dunno, but something tells me we won't be going back to that village for a long time, (mumble) at least not until the people get their heads checked..."

Shippo frowns into the fire and comments,

"We all know what Miroku's like: He probably did something sneaky and got on their bad side."

Sango replies,

"Whatever it was, they sure seemed angry..."

Coraline turns and asks the monk the question that was on everyone's minds:

"Miroku, what did you do?"

"Huh, I can't imagine..." Sango eyes him suspiciously with a hmph:

"You sure?"

The monk thinks on the subject for a moment...before brushing it off with a carefree smile:

"Oh well, no sense on dwelling on matters of the past."

The demon slayer sighs in exasperation, while Inuyasha scowls and accuses,

"I bet you can't keep track of all the bad things you've done!"

"Trust me, Inuyasha: If I was surrounded by beautiful women and living it up each and every night, I wouldn't forget it!"

Besa winces and mutters,

"Baaad choice of words, my friend," as he notices Sango gain an irritated tick-mark:

"(Growl) Listen...!"

(BONK)

One clonk on the head gives Miroku a painful entry into dreamland, with Freeman peering down at his form from his seat with wide eyes.

"...Well he won't be able to now."

Coraline yawns and scoots herself closer to Inuyasha to lay her head on his shoulder:

"Let's just forget it for now and go to sleep, okay?"

She's answered with a mixed chorus of 'Kay' and 'Fine', and everyone settles down to rest for the night, with the redhead sleeping in the arms of her dog demon boyfriend, the twins resting between Sango and Miroku (Freeman flat on his back while Besa laid on his stomach), the slayer sleeping on her side with Kilala tucked by her head, and the monk asleep with Shippo snoozing away on his chest...

Meanwhile, in another village, this one caged by a forest of bamboo trees, a familiar figure was sitting with some rather pretty, giggly girls inside a fine mansion.

"Would you consider bearing my child?"

"Oh, yes!" "I would!" "I would love to!"

One young woman with black hair tied in a bun under a light pink headscarf, matching her skirt wrap that went over a salmon pink kimono, says to Miroku(?) excitedly while pouring him more rice wine,

"I'll bear your child, so drink up!"

A second one with her hair tied down at the end, wearing a yellow kimono with a white skirt wrap beams with a giggle,

"Come on, drink it all up, monk!"

"Alright then. Bottoms up, (sip)."

The girls clap and gush at the monk like he was the Messiah, while he blushes and laughs cheerfully...

Time Skip, Coraline's POV

The next day after being chased out of that hostile village, my friends, brothers, lover and I come across a new one surrounded by stalks of bamboo.

"Look, another village!" Freeman comments after Shippo,

"Maybe this time, we can sleep in some nice beds for the night..."

I sure hope so, bro...Hm?

Suddenly, we get a different kind of unexpected greeting, that being a group of fairly pretty girls running towards us with cheerful smiles, or rather, to one of the men in our party.

"Miroku, (laugh) you're back!"

I fold my arms and hum,

"Well, I guess this is a slight improvement to yesterday's reception, but nonetheless strange..."

Miroku seemed to think that as well, and asks the girls crowding him while the rest of us stood back to the sides,

"Ladies, what is going on here?"

"Oh, where have you been? You promised I could have your child!"

"Don't be ridiculous: I'm going to bear his child! Isn't that right; tell them, Miroku!"

I facepalm and grumble,

"On second thought, I'd take angry villagers again over this stupidity..."

Freeman whispers to me,

"I feel worse for Sango...but at least Besa's taking the initiative to comfort her."

I look up, and see said brother held a hand on the mood-dropping Sango's shoulder with a sympathetic smile, making me smile a bit.

It's a wonder Besa doesn't have a girlfriend yet with that sweet heart of his...

"My my, is that so? You'll just have to take turns, ladies!"

Sango calls to the leaving monk walking with the 'fan-club' in agitation,

"Where are you going?!"

"You have some nerve coming back here, you fake monk!"

Our eyes then fall on a new group of angry men with their farm tools at the ready:

"Don't think you'll get away with this!"

"Oooh dear. This is not voting well for us, ladies. (Turns with a nervous smile) Any objections to shortening our stay in this village?"

Sango and I give him our own expressions of a disappointment, I for once, not in the mood to try and lighten his possible actions.

"Uuuh, what are you looking at me for?"

"You're the one in trouble. Why should we have to run?"

"I'm with Sango this time: Man up and apologize for whatever blunder you conveyed this round."

"Ladies, don't be so heartless..."

Sango adds with a cold shoulder,

"Besides, you made the bed; you should sleep in it. Take responsibility for your actions for once!"

Yipes...

"I told you, I didn't-...Hey, Freeman, Besa, won't either of you lend me a hand?"

My said brothers shoot Miroku matching mean smirks and quirk,

"If you're lookin' for a quick way out of idiocy,"

"You're lookin' in the wrooong place, dude."

Double yipes...literally and metaphorically.

Inuyasha chuckles under his breath at that response, and Miroku tries to appeal for help once more time.

"...Shippo? Won't you back me up?"

"I-I'm just a kid! I don't understand this grown-up stuff!"

I smile sadly down at the fox demon's form, knowing he actually understood more than he makes himself to, and was just trying to keep out of unnecessary trouble like the rest of us...So with all possible shortcuts blocked, one of the village men decides to get on with grabbing Miroku:

"Quickly, capture him!"

"Please, stop! Hear me out!"

The rest of us watched the scene with sweatdrops, Shippo muttering,

"I'll have to make it up to him," and Besa adding in exasperation,

"This better not become a new pattern..."

Soon, Miroku was sitting under a tree by a fence, tied up tight with rope around his arms and torso, while we watched from the side of the angry crowd. I hear Shippo say while sitting on Freeman's shoulder,

"I'm never gonna get involved with women," and he whispering back with a wry smile,

"Why do you think I prefer men? Jealousy over and from women's more dangerous..."

Sango walks to them with a fierce glare and asks,

"Did you say something?" They reply with winces,

"No, not really..."

Sighing with an eyeroll, I focus my attention to the angry crowd to try and get a story this time:

"Okay, so what precisely are you lot accusin' Miroku of doing, anyway?"

"Not a damn thing, and that's the problem."

Another man with a goatee nods, and I raise a brow at the first's statement while Besa asks with a frown,

"Can you be more specific than that?"

They explain how our friend played swindler by marketing sacred sutras that based on their furious faces, did not do what they were made for...One fellow steps up and points an accusing finger at Miroku while shouting,

"Now you understand?! This despicable monk tricked us into buying useless charms, at exorbitant prices!"

I put my hands on my hips and reply back sternly,

"Excuse my criticism, but some blame has to go to you all for falling for the con."

A man of heavier built shoves the other down and barks up his piece of the tale:

"That's not all! When he was at my house, he went through the pretense of an exorcism, and then ate and slept like there was no tomorrow!"

That made me widen my eyes in confusion:

Huh? That, doesn't sound like Miroku at all. I mean sure, in the past, he sometimes asked for a bit more food than needed, but he was never a pig...

"That's not the half of it!"

Besa groans and asks,

"Fantastic. What else could he have possibly done?"

"Every time he came to the village, he flirted with the women. Thanks to him, now all the women are-well, see for yourself!"

Following the goatee man's point, we glance over at the crowd of young girls who were acting like those crushing sheep you'd see at the red carpet of a celebrity awards show.

"Oooh monk~, even under arrest, you're simply divine~!"

"Release the monk so I can have his child~!"

Shippo comments,

"There you go. Just the usual Miroku stuff, nothing special."

Freeman and Sango seemed to disagree:

"I dunno, little dude: Miroku may be a flirt, but I don't remember him drawing this big a crowd..."

"Same here. He was never this popular with the ladies before..."

And Miroku obviously disagreed with them:

"I beg to differ, you two." Sango asks back,

"And how exactly are either of us wrong?"

"First, about my popularity: The ladies have always loved me. And of course, by standing idly by while I wrongly suffer the humiliation of being tied up."

I scoff at his choice of argument:

Really, that's the case you're going with? What an idiot...

Inuyasha then asks Miroku,

"What'd ya mean, wrongly?"

"(Smile) It's very simple: This is the first time in my whole life that I had been to this village."

...There's a long silence, before the man who spoke about the first crime Miroku allegedly committed spat with a tick-mark,

"Stop your lying!"

The heavier-built man gets into our friend's face and shouts,

"How can you just sit there looking so unbelievably smug and lie through your teeth like that?!"

"But it's the truth. You have to believe me."

"First yesterday, now today, you're nothing but lies! You'll pay for your brazing dishonesty!"

Wait...did he say yesterday?

...Oh my god. Add that to the rest of these details, Miroku really didn't-

"Come on, men, let's throw him in the river!"

Just as the men ready to grab Miroku to punish him further, I quickly cut in to stop them:

"Okay, stop! I've heard enough!"

"Huh?"

The men back a bit from my heavily annoyed and fierce expression, and Inuyasha asks me,

"What is it, Coraline?"

"I'll tell you what: This whole situation is a bunch of nonsense. (Glares at the villagers) You people are accusing the wrong man!"

They look at me with disbelief, which gave me the opportunity to move in front of my friend to state my case, holding up a finger in a matter-of-fact manner.

"First of all, while there are alot of words to describe Miroku, Glutton is not one of them. Sure, sometimes he takes a bit more than he needs, but never enough to feed a starving horse by the way you're describing. That's just overkill!"

I twitch up a second digit as I went on:

"Second, while he does have an old reputation of being a con artist, it's been months since he's pulled anything, and even if he were to start up again, he certainly wouldn't use the more obvious tricks. I mean, selling fake sutras at high prices and conducting a weak exorcism? (Holds up hands in exasperation) Come on, even a five year-old could see through those ploys!"

The men glare at me a bit from the discreet insult, prompting Besa to duck his head to me and whisper,

"Uh, sis, you might wanna dial back a bit before they consider throwing you in the river...?"

"No worries, Besa, I got this."

"If you say so."

He steps back, and I finish my deduction:

"Finally, and I cannot begin to stress how important these last two points are, Miroku's reputation as a ladies man is not as successful as one may think. He knows how to talk, and that's it; not much in the long-term commitment department. (Sly smile) My brothers are more likely to land themselves romantic partners before he does..."

That didn't serve to please my friend on the stand:

"Hey!"

But it did make the rest of them snicker a little, with Freeman muttering,

"She might not be wrong if we compare track records..." I continue:

"Also, you said that this all occurred yesterday, correct?"

The men nod...

"Well we've all been traveling and sleeping in the backwoods for days now, and had only just arrived in your village. Through this entire time period, Miroku has been with us and nowhere else. Unless someone can show me evidence that he can teleport, it's pretty obvious that the man who's been causing you trouble is not the one you have currently tied up, moreover, an imposter."

The villagers gasp and start whispering among themselves, and I turn around to face Miroku, who gives me an annoyed smirk and asks sarcastically,

"Gee, you couldn't have stepped in sooner with those deductions, Sherlock?"

Heheheh, he must be reading Besa's books again...

I smirk back and reply,

"Can it, Watson. You're lucky I'm deciding to not be heartless and help you."

My brothers give me a thumbs-up each and chime,

"Nice work, sis!" "Way to sleuth!"

I nod back at them, while Inuyasha and Sango ponder the situation themselves:

"She's right..."

"Then that means..."

Miroku sighs in relief and says to himself,

"I can't believe they were doubting me until Coraline stepped in..."

Shippo then asks while tilting his head in confusion with Kilala,

"I don't get it, Miroku: If it wasn't you, then who could it have been?"

That's a very good question, Shippo...

No POV

At the same time everyone was cluing into the possibility of a mischievous 'Miroku-Double' on the loose, we zoom in briefly to a third village generously fruited with plum trees, they just starting their flowering and acting as home to one of the local thrush bird species, as a middle-aged man spoke with whom he believed was the monk in question.

"Ooh, so you are the famous Master Miroku."

"Y-Yes, uh, yes!"

"So, Master Miroku, what is it that brings you to our small and humble village?"

'Miroku' replies with a more confident air,

"Whilst on my travels, I happened upon this village quite by chance, and I sensed a very suspicious Demonic Aura."

The villagers gasp, and the middle-aged fellow replies,

"I should've known..."

'Miroku' forms a look of confusion, and the man adds,

"You are amazing. How incredible that you were able to sense the presence of the demon that plagues our village."

As the rest of the villagers walk off, the man prepares to guide 'the monk' to where their problem was:

"We must ask you to slay the demon at once."

He readies to turn, but then his eyes catch the shape of 'Miroku' bugle at the sides briefly as their knees buckle...

"Hm? I could've sworn you've grown larger for an instant..."

'Miroku' panics a little but manages to talk his way out of any possible suspicion with a nervous laugh:

"Uh-heh, uh, must be your imagination."

Back to the Bamboo Village

"(Collective) A fake?!"

Miroku nods firmly and says to everyone,

"I'm afraid so. As Coraline cleverly deduced, someone using my identity is up to no good in this region."

Said redhead adds as her eyes flash back from icy blue to their normal two-tone blue,

"Not only that, but I'm picking up faint traces of an Aura that's trying to mimic Miroku's."

Freeman asks,

"Can you narrow down who it is?"

"Not from this distance, at least not without help...Lumos?"

Said Will O' Wisp pops out of the Coraline's satchel and hovers in front of her eyes as she directs,

"Could you please take a quick tour of the village and see if you can get a better hair on this copycat?"

He 'nods' and darts off through the air, leaving everyone else behind to brainstorm on the situation. Sango was still skeptical of the facts:

"I'm not sure if I can fully believe this..."

"Why not?"

Inuyasha answers to Coraline,

"Because why would someone try to imitate Miroku of all people?"

Besa shrugs and suggests,

"Maybe this is just a really bad practical joke," and Freeman adds with a joking smile,

"Or maybe we finally found Miroku's doppelganger, (laugh)!"

Coraline smirk-glares at him and replies,

"Come on, be serious, Freeman: Finding anyone's doppelganger is incredibly rare. I'm willing to bet a demon might be responsible for this."

"A demon?"

Shippo comments,

"If I was gonna be someone, I'd pick somebody important."

Miroku pipes back in with a frustrated tone,

"And that is why I am suggesting that we check this out!" Coraline chides,

"Why do you think I sent Lumos to scope the village? Exercise some patience, people."

The villagers then cut in, too mad about what had befallen them to fully listen to reason:

"We don't care about these theories!"

"Just grab him and throw him in the river!"

Coraline groans and barks back,

"Would you people please hold your anger for the real trouble-maker?! (Grumble) Honestly, as if yesterday's round of hornet buzzing wasn't annoying enough..."

Sango adds in calmly,

"I understand your frustrations, but he said he didn't do this to you, and she's made some rather valid points."

Miroku mumbles with a chagrin,

"Kind-a not helping, Sango..." Shippo suggests,

"Why don't we wait until we find out the truth, and then you can throw him in the river?"

The twins lightly scold the fox demon:

"Shippo!" "Dude!"

The monk wriggles a little in his bindings and says,

"I don't even care anymore, just please untie me!"

The heavy-built man exclaims with a glare,

"Don't try to talk your way out of this, 'cause it's not gonna work!"

"I'm not!"

The first accuser then says,

"Okay then, if it really was someone else, then show us proof besides this red-haired lass's strange ability!"

"How can I do that?"

Coraline becomes a bit bristled by the villager's lack of faith:

"Auh, rude much! Are they suggesting I'm a fraud, or are they that nit-picky?"

Lumos, now would be a good time to return with your findings...

"(Growl) I've had enough of this racket!"

The redhead snaps out of her thoughts to the sound of Inuyasha's aggravated shout, and he walks over to stand by her while putting a hand on her shoulder and looking at the men with a fierce glare that made the twins and Shippo shudder a bit from their stand on the sidelines.

"Yipes...!" "Look out, people." "Overprotective boyfriend's out..."

"Hey, you there! If you're gonna insist that Miroku's guilty and insult my intended's intelligence, then how 'bout you show us some proof!"

Coraline blushes a bit from his defense, but then forms her own glare and adds,

"He has a point, ya know: Where's your evidence?"

"I knew you'd say that!"

"Hm?" "Huh?"

The man with the goatee says as he and the rest of the men reach into their robes for what will likely be the same item,

"Then we'll show you. Ready, men?"

(Brandish)

"(Collective) Here's your proof!"

And low and behold, the evidence is revealed as...leaves?

...The grounds fall silent for a moment, quiet enough that you could hear one of the roosters pecking the dirt nearby, as our group looks at the villagers in disbelief, minus Miroku, who was...smirking humourously, before bursting into laughter! Sango asks him with mild concern,

"What's wrong?" Shippo asks the twins,

"Has he lost his mind?"

"Beats the heck outta me..."

"Same here...Either that, or we're missing an inside joke he just found."

Miroku then remarks,

"Leaves...Now it all makes sense."

Everyone makes a noise of confusion, as the monk rises his head with a confident smile and exclaims,

"I have unraveled this mystery!"

He glances in Coraline's direction and adds,

"And when Lumos returns, tracking our true culprit will be easy, will it not, my friend?"

She smiles a bit and replies,

"Uh, I suppose, but perhaps we should untie you first...?"

Shippo comments with his arms folded and eyes closed,

"He still doesn't look too convincing." Miroku replies back in exasperation,

"That's why I keep asking you all to untie me! Hasn't anybody been listening?! Come on!"

Freeman and Besa sigh before stepping over behind the monk to undo the rope:

"Alright, alright, we get it now. Quit your bellyaching..."

"Sooner we find this real troublemaker, the sooner we won't run into this problem again for a third time..."

Once the group finishes persuading the villagers to let them leave in peace, they set off across a grassy plain to track down the impersonator who's been causing our poor monk trouble for the past two days...

"We must hurry! The imposter is heading for the next village!"

He was aboard Kilala's true form with Sango, Shippo and Freeman, while Inuyasha leaped not too far behind them with Coraline and Besa piggybacking opposite sides of his back, and Lumos was floating ahead all of them to help track the imposter down.

The redhead then calls out,

"Hey, Miroku! Is this copycat who I think it might be?"

"We'll know for sure once we get there! He obviously knows me well-enough to imitate me!"

Facing the front again, Miroku adds more to himself,

"It was that leaf that gave him away..."

Scene Shift: Cave

By this time, the Fake Miroku had been lead by some of the men outside the plum tree-abundant village to a cavern cut into the bottom of a cliff deep in the forest, where the demon that's been causing the villagers trouble was hiding out.

"Go inside, monk."

"(Hesitant) Yes, right..." A more portly-bodied man adds,

"There is a shrine deep in this cave. You can't miss it. The spirit of a racoon-dog now haunts the interior of the shrine."

Though a little nervous, the Fake Miroku's heart calms at bit from the description:

A racoon-dog. Then, he should listen to reason...

A younger man remarks,

"It would be no problem if it fed on mountain prey, but now it attacks our livestock and fields. We don't know what to do."

The middle-aged man and portly gent add respectively,

"We're confident that you monk, Miroku, can put an end to our problem."

"But please be careful." The imposter monk replies to them confidently,

"Nothing to fear. Leave it to me."

He then enters the cave, and once he was deep enough in, he began calling out for the demon:

"Yoo-hoo, racoon-dog! Come on out; show yourself if you're in here!"

After a couple more steps, he finds a small shrine house set up inside the cavern:

"Huh. That must be the shrine..."

"...What do you want?"

The Fake Miroku flinches a bit from the sound of the evilly-raspy voice, but reassures himself on remembering,

Calm down. It's just a racoon-dog; nothing more.

"Are you the demon?"

The shrine doors open, and stepping into the dim cave light, was not a racoon-dog, but rather, a large weasel demon!

"What business does a mortal have with me?"

The Fake Miroku sighs with relief (and obviously a bit clueless on specie differences):

"You are a racoon-dog."

"I'm a weasel!"

"Uh? But you look more like a racoon-dog to me..."

The weasel demon is annoyed by Fake Miroku's characterization:

"I don't even look close! (Smirk) But I love eating racoon-dogs..."

That seemed to make the imposter monk nervous, and the weasel demon sniffs the other before asking slyly,

"Are you really a human?"

"Uh..."

"You smell more like a vermin to me."

Fake Miroku's eyebrow twitches as he think to himself in a light panic,

Not good...!

He quickly goes on an offensive defense, and jumps up high to thwack the weasel on their head with his staff before shouting,

"What are you saying? My name is Miroku, and if I may say so, I am a famous monk around these parts!"

"M-Miroku?! (Jumps backwards) The one who uses the Wind Tunnel?!"

"Precisely! (Holds out right hand) Apologize now and I'll forgive your transgressions!"

...However, while the weasel demon may have been nervous at first, they suddenly broke into a laugh before stating with glee,

"This is an opportune time! (Steps forward) I shall devour you and become the most powerful demon in the world!"

That would be enough of a threat to get the Fake Miroku crying for mercy:

"No, please don't hurt me!"

His body starts bulging again, just as the demon weasel opens its jaws wide and closes in...!

...It would be around this time that the real Miroku and the rest of the group arrive at the mouth of the cave, surprising the village men who were waiting for the imposter.

"Huh? But, how did you get out here?"

"I don't understand. We saw you go inside the cave, Miroku."

Everyone gasps, realizing what could be happening at this very moment, and Miroku says to them,

"We better hurry," before they all rush inside...

Meanwhile, the weasel demon's teeth did bite down on something, but it wasn't the Fake Miroku. Instead, it was a porcelain statue of a tanuki!

"(Spits object out) Where did this come from?!"

It looks up ahead, and sees the imposter monk running for his life in a panic, their body now fatter and sporting a bushy racoon tail on his back...

"You are a racoon-dog! A missing ingredient for my stew!"

The weasel demon then jumps over and blocks the Fake Miroku from escaping, before whacking him into the wall of the cave.

(Crash)

He falls down to the stone floor with a wince, sitting up as the demon closes in on him with an taunting laugh...

"Stay where you are! Come any closer, evil demon, (holds up right hand) and I'll expose you to my Wind Tunnel!"

Though seeing through most of the ploy, the weasel demon was still a bit worried about the possibility of being vacuumed into oblivion.

"G-Gh! I dare you!"

"Are you sure you wanna test your luck?"

Unfortunately, just as Fake Miroku said that, his face begins bulging, making the weasel demon sweatdrop:

"All that threat, but look..."

(Poof)

"Racoon-dog, you've turned back."

And surprise, surprise, the imposter had been Hachi all this time! He gasps, and feels himself over to confirm that his disguise was gone, before looking up at the weasel demon nervously for a short moment...then bursting into a panicked wail.

"Oooh, noo-ooo-ooo!"

"Stupid racoon-dog. Your time is up!"

"No, stop! (Kowtows frantically) I promise to stop this, please forgive me!"

"You better live up to that promise!"

"Guh?" "Who said that?"

Hachi and the weasel demon turn to where the path lead to the mouth of the cave, and standing a couple feet away on a small incline cliff, was everyone from our group! The tanuki felt tears of relief spring to his eyes:

"Oooh, Master Miroku!"

"Been a long time, Hachi." The weasel demon addresses the monk:

"So you're the racoon-dog's partner."

"Hey you, racoon-dog!"

"I said I'm a weasel!"

"I don't care about that. Just go back quietly to your mountain. I simply detest violence, so let's be civil about this and do the right thing!"

The weasel demon scoffs at the suggestion of settling this peacefully:

"Your kind of racoon-dogs don't talk big! I'll make stew out of all of you!"

Freeman mutters with a raised brow,

"He gets bristled about being mistaken for a tanuki, but messes up our species? Wow, talk about not smart..."

As the weasel demon jumps forth to take down the group, Miroku smirks and quirks,

"Hmph. I guess this racoon-dog doesn't understand reason..."

He then unleashes his own truly cursed power from his right hand:

"Wind Tunnel!"

(Whoooooosssssssshhhhhhhh...)

"What?!"

The weasel demon was taken aback, as Miroku began sucking back the loose stones of the cave, while Hachi ducked down in a safely-distant corner and everyone else in the group held onto eachother to stay grounded...

"Damn it, he's the real Miroku!"

Scrambling to hang onto a sunken stone, the weasel demon cries for mercy from the monk:

"I'm sorry, forgive me! I'll never do it again, I promise!"

Miroku smiles...before closing his Wind Tunnel, sparing the demon's life.

"I'm going to hold you for that!" Inuyasha was surprised by the monk's action:

"What? It's over already?" Sango and Shippo comment,

"That was pretty quick."

"Huh. Weak racoon-dog."

The three modern teens correct the fox demon at the same time:

"He's a weasel, not a tanuki."

Inuyasha sheathes his blade, while Miroku walks down the cliff incline to address the surrendering demon.

"Hey, racoon-dog!"

"I'm a weasel, damn it!" The monk replies fiercely with a thump of his staff,

"That is not the issue here!"

The weasel demon whirls around to face Miroku in a kneel as the latter says sternly,

"I want you to promise not to be naughty from now on."

"I promise, I promise!"

"I'm glad you learned your lesson. Now go back to your mountain."

The weasel demon does not hesitate:

"Yes, I'll go! Excuse me...!"

With that, the weasel flees from the cave...Miroku's stern gaze then falls on Hachi:

"Now..."

"Gu-ah!"

"I know what you've been up to and I want a full explanation without any lies!"

Small Time Skip

As soon as everyone was outside again, Hachi immediately kowtowed in apology to Miroku and the villagers.

"Forgive me; I'm so sorry!"

Coraline then asks curiously,

"So why'd you impersonate Miroku anyway?" The tanuki sits up to explain his actions:

"I just decided on the, spur of the moment! I was so hungry, I couldn't bear it, so I, (looks down) I impersonated Monk Miroku just one time..."

Shippo asks,

"And it went well for you?"

"(Holds out arms) Oh yes, oh yes! Better than I could've ever hoped!"

"Right, and before you knew it, you were hooked."

He bows back down guiltily to the tune of Sango's stern remark:

"Like a sluggish bottom-feeder..."

Besa quietly chuckles behind his hand and whispers to his brother,

"And people say Vegas has an addiction problem..."

"Hey, at least he's admitting it unlike most would..."

Miroku sighs before addressing the racoon-dog demon a bit calmer then earlier:

"Listen here, Hachi."

"Yes?"

(Bonk)

The latter then receives a whack to the head by the former's staff as they finish,

"I hope you learned something from your mistakes and will never try something so foolish again."

"(Nod) I won't..."

"And to think, all the trouble I went through because of your deceptive ways..."

That remark stroke some confusion in the tanuki:

"(Sits up) Y-Yes, but there's one thing I don't understand..."

"Hm?"

"Okay, I really did impersonate you, and I'm sorry, but I never did anything that tarnished your name."

That earned him another whack to the head from Miroku, who was highly offended by such a ponder:

"How utterly disrespectful of you, you wicked, wicked creature! Is that how you honestly see me?!"

"Hey, take it easy, would you?! I really did my upmost to pretend to be you!"

Coraline hms in thought over Hachi's impersonation skills:

"Well, aside some slight overacting..." Shippo finishes,

"How you acted, wasn't any different from how Miroku would've acted."

Kilala mews and nods in agreement, and everyone else folds their arms with grave nods, to which the monk would not be pleased by.

"Auh, how rude of you!"

Freeman smirks and says coyly,

"Not that you haven't been improving, but you're sure taking your sweet time letting go of old habits."

Sango adds with her eyes closed,

"The only thing different is that Hachiemon was more the ladies man."

Those comments made Coraline and Besa laugh, the second joking,

"Wow! Then that means he got out-Casanovaed by a tanuki; that's hilarious!"

Inuyasha twitched the corner of his mouth up in amusement to the description, while Miroku shoots a glare at Besa before walking over to kneel in front of Hachi with an intent expression.

"Hey, Hachi?"

"Hm? Y-Yes?"

"(Whispers) Do you think you could teach me your methods?"

"(Whispers) Methods for what?"

"(Hiss) I mean the secret to your popularity with the ladies! What else?"

The racoon-dog forms a cheery smile as he sits up again and replies,

"Oh, well that's easy! Nothin' drives 'em mad like total indifference!"

...Miroku felt a wave of epiphany wash over him from his friend's words:

Indifference...

It would be broken when Sango walks closer to him and asks with her hands on her hips and a suspicious glare in her eyes,

"Miroku! What are you two whispering about?"

"Gh, uh, n-nothing. Nothing at all."

"Something lecherous again, no doubt."

Miroku stands up with his back to her and insists,

"Don't be silly! (Turns with a smile) Now does this look like the face of a man plagued with lecherous thoughts?"

Sango sweatdrops, and stutters with a light blush on her face,

"...W-Well, yes."

The monk sighs in exasperation from such an answer, before kneeling back down to Hachi to whisper about something in secret.
Once the racoon-dog got the message, they both stand back up, and he places a leaf on his head, before:

(Poof)

Hachi transforms into his Miroku guise again! The two then run around in a circle, mixing up their identities profoundly enough that it would be difficult to tell who's who.

"Okay, let's go!"

"Gotcha!"

The double Mirokus take off past Sango, who whirls around with a heated glare and shouts,

"You get back here this instant, Miroku!"

She starts chasing after them as they reply with matching grins,

"I think you're mistaken: He's the real Miroku! Tell him what's bothering you!"

"Don't listen to him, Sango: He's the real Miroku, trust me!"

"(Growl) Stop this fooling around, you trickster monk! You womanizer! You lecher! Crook! Fool! Are you even listening to me?!"

Everyone else watches on with mildly worried and amused smiles, and Besa asks Coraline,

"...So which one's which, sis?"

"(Sheen, smirk) Left's Miroku, Hachi's on the right."

"You gonna tell Sango?"

"Nope."

"Thought so."

The demon slayer continues to yell at the Mirokus:

"Answer me when I'm talking to you!" One says to the other,

"Indifference is the key!"

"(Chuckle) That's never going to work for me!"

...

...Suddenly:

"(Screech, screech)"

"Huh?"

The slayer, monk and disguised tanuki stop to the tune of a bird call that had sparrow origins, but were more pronounced and fierce. That chirp of course, would belong to our familiar Yozosume messenger bird, who came soaring out of the skies and flew low over the three, forcing them to duck, before it landed near Freeman, adding a few more calls that sounded, urgent?

"Huh? The Yozosume..."

"Strange, they seem to be more agitated this time...Oh! Their wing!"

Zooming a bit closer, we see that some of the brown/black feathers on its left wing were a bit ruffled with a scarring cut underneath, indicating an injury of sorts!

Freeman bends down to the sparrow demon's eye-level and gently asks with a worried undertone,

"Are you alright? What happened; did something attack you?"

The bird doesn't answer in human speech, but holds out its right leg with an intent and slightly panicky stare in its red eyes like it was saying 'Read the message, quick!'. Though slightly confused, the recipient does as they ask, and unties the scroll from their leg to unroll and read for himself.

Something's wrong. I can feel it...

...A minute or two later:

"GH!"

Oh my god...Ginta!

"...Freeman? Freeman, what's wrong?"

He doesn't answer directly to Shippo's question, but the look on his face indicated that the letter's contents were not as lighthearted or neutral as they usually were, and he dashes off the ground to where Hachi was standing.

"Hachi!"

"Uh!"

"You still wanna make up for the mischief you caused these last two days, right?"

Startled back into his regular form, the tanuki replies with a surprised expression,

"U-Uh, yes I suppose, why?"

"Then you can help your karma by taking me to the Sea of Trees, now!"

"Now?!"

"Yes now, please! It's a matter of life and death!"

Concerned by his erratic behaviour, Coraline, Besa and Inuyasha ask respectively,

"Freeman, what's going on?"

"Bro?"

"What's got you so hyper? What did that message say?"

He turns to face them with an increasingly-worried expression and exclaims,

"I dunno for sure what's going on; he wrote it so fast, but, Ginta...he's in trouble! Big time trouble!"