Disclaimer: I do not own Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou or Kirara. Rumiko Takahashi created them all and has first and foremost rights to their usage. Though, as long as she doesn't mind I will continue to write stories using them. The village and all it's inhabitants are mine and I can't see why you'd want to use them.
Author's Note: The bulk of this chapter will introduce you to the village of the fic.
Miroku's Worst Fear Chapter One: The Village"Rika-chan! Rika-chan!" a girl with bobbed black hair screamed through the streets of the village.
A solemn looking young woman, wearing red and white with her long brown hair pulled back, rose from the herbs she was examining.
"Eh… Sumimasen Rika-sama," the short haired girl stopped just before the young miko. "I just wanted to inform you that Haruko has returned home."
"Oh," Rika said with little emotion in her voice, "and why should that be something that I would care about?"
"Because he's Haruko. The boy who you've been pining after ever since he left to go work in the daimyo's castle."
Rika smirked slightly, "Ah but Sachi-chan you forget; I have given up all hopes of finding a suitor and given myself fully to the services of the town."
Sachi eyed her friend suspiciously before turning to leave. "I just thought I'd pass the news along," she said nonchalantly over her shoulder as she walked away. 'The old woman must be around,' she thought.
Rika stood staring off in the distance watching her friend disappear into the crowd of villagers that begin to gather at a home down the road. 'I wonder if 'Ruko-kun will be staying the night…'
**~**
"I can't believe I forgot!"
"Forgot?" Inu-yasha asked as he chased after Kagome racing off on her bike.
"Kagome's test is next week right?" Miroku asked the chibi-kitsune on his shoulder.
"Mm," Shippou nodded.
"Well she's still heading towards Kaede's village. Maybe she left an important book at home or something," Sango offered walking along side the houshi.
Kirara mewed in agreement.
They had been traveling with Kagome for so long that they almost understood what tests were and why she took them. The one thing they knew for certain was that test taking involved a lot of reading—which always made her pack heavier—and always a day or two spent in Kaede's village awaiting her return. It was almost as if with out Kagome—and sometimes Inu-yasha—the journey could not continue.
"Kagome, what is it? What did you forget?" Inu-yasha said as he jogged along beside her.
"Tomorrow is Souta's birthday and I didn't even get him a present!" she said pedaling faster.
Since she had her attention turned away from the road, she didn't see the jagged rock in time to swerve. Colliding with the rock Kagome's front tire blew, the bike made a horrible jolting movement, and Kagome went flying over her handlebars.
Catching her before she hit the ground Inu-yasha replied, "feh."
Miroku, Sango, and the others rushed up to meet them upon seeing Kagome take to the air. "Kagome! Are you all right?"
"Hai," she said as Inu-yasha set her down. "Mou…" she groaned noticing her flat, "Now how am I ever going to get back in time to go shopping before the stores close tonight?"
"Kagome-sama, might I suggest bringing something back from this time as a gift," Miroku suggested.
"Like…" Kagome sighed, lifting her wheel from the ground.
"Like this beautiful flower, or this fallen branch, or…" Miroku stopped when Kagome raised her hand.
"Miroku-sama, this is Souta's birthday not Jii-chan's. I can't just give him a four-hundred year old plant."
"Well then I'm sure we have something we can spare. How about one of Sango's youkai weapons, or one of Shippou's little magical toys, or Inu-yasha's rosary…"
"Or Houshi-sama's ponytail," Sango commented dryly—instead of smacking him.
"Hey…" Miroku turned to glare at her. Sango placing a hand to her wakizashi returned the glare.
"Oi!" Inu-yasha said getting their attention before those two went at it—again. They had been bickering a lot lately—a lot more than usual.
"Though I'm sure Inu-yasha would love to get rid of this rosary, I really must get back earlier than I had planned." Kagome said to them all. Turning towards Inu-yasha, batting her eyes, and clasping her hands together before her, she asked overly politely, "Could you take me back?"
"Feh," Inu-yasha replied.
With Kagome and her pack on his back, Inu-yasha set of into the trees.
"Well I suppose we could follow on Kirara," Sango said stroking her companion's neck.
"Mew," Kirara said hopping down to transform.
"No wait," Shippou stopped her. "Kagome's going home, and Inu-yasha will probably go with her. We were heading back to the village anyway, if we rush there now we're just going to have to wait at least three days for them to return. I say we take our time and just walk. Who knows we may find something on the way."
Looking between one another Miroku and Sango shrugged. Shippou was right either way they were going to have time to spare. "Who's going to carry Kagome's bicycle?" Miroku asked.
**~**
"Haruko-san, it's so good to see you home again. I trust that your journey was pleasant," Rika said greeting the young man in front of his house.
"Rika-chan, I never expected to see you become a miko," Haruko commented tugging on her sleeve.
"She's not a full miko yet," an old woman said from just behind her.
"Miko-sama," Haruko bowed in greeting. "It pleases me that you would honor my homecoming with your presence."
"Mm, mm," the old miko said before passing into the house.
As soon as she was out of sight Rika relaxed her stance and rolled her eyes, "It pleases me that you would honor my homecoming with your presence," she said in a mocking voice. "I don't see why having that baa-baa around is an honor."
Haruko smiled, "Now there's the Rika-chan I remember."
"Yeah well don't get to attached, I'll be the new miko of this village before she allows herself to pass on."
"Aren't you a little old for miko training?" Haruko asked. "I mean you're what seventeen, eighteen?"
"Aren't you a little old to be a daimyo's concubine?" Rika retorted, "I mean you're what nineteen, twenty?"
"Maybe it isn't your age I should be questioning, Rika-chan." Haruko nearly spat at her.
"Oh?" she hummed, "And just what would you like to question, Ruko-kun?" she asked while stroking the backside of her fingers over his chest and abs crossing to the doorway of the house and opening it.
"I'm not now, nor will I ever be a concubine," he corrected under his breath before turning to enter. 'Honestly, every time I come home she has to make things difficult for me. What if my mother had heard her say that?' he thought glaring at her as he walked past.
"Prove it," came the whispered response from behind him before Rika slid the door shut and turned to head back to her shrine.
"That girl is simply incorrigible why do you insist on training her?" a middle aged woman said to the elderly miko.
"Mm…" the miko paused as if in thought, "I am not as young as I used to be. I cannot wait for the children to be of age."
"Miko-sama? Okaa-san?" Haruko said coming upon the women, "Why is Rika training to be a miko? Why not one of the younger girls who expressed interest in the position? She can't possibly be a better candidate."
"Mm, mm…" the old miko nodded "have you not informed your boy of this village's troubles?"
The woman looked as if she'd just committed a serious crime, "I was trying to protect him," she said bowing deeply.
"Protect me from what, kaa-san?"
"Ruko, it's getting late. You'd best be leaving before it gets too dark to travel by. We'll talk about this the next time you come home."
"Kaa-san?" Haruko paused, "But…I wasn't planning on leaving."
"You must go before the sun sets," his mother said sternly.
"A foreboding darkness shall settle upon this village by the rise of the next moon," the miko said in a hoarse whisper before heading back to her shrine.
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Author's Dictionary:
Sumimasen: Excuse Me
Miko: A priestess. Kikyo and Kaede are mikos. Kagome has inherited miko powers. Not all miko's possessed great magical powers though.
Daimyo: A feudal lord. The ruler of some land.
Chibi-Kitsune: Chibi equals Small or Little and Kitsune is fox. So a little fox.
Hai: Yes
Mou: A noise to show anger, being peeved, or just being upset.
Youkai: A demon. Though not the way we westerners would think of demons. Youkai range from bug form, to animal form, to human form. Inu-yasha, Shippou, and Kirara are all various kinds of youkai (even though Inu-yasha is only half youkai.) The giant snake like creatures that often attack are a lower level of youkai. Some youkai have great powers, others simply have great strength, and most can heal faster and outlive humans by centuries.
Wakizashu: a Japanese style sword shorter than a katana. Both are single edged swords…Tetsusaiga is a katana, Sango carries a wakizashu.
Baa-baa: Old hag if you're being disrespectful.
Okaa-san: A respectful term for mother. The O is honorific… so when Haruko says kaa-san he's still talking to his mom he just isn't exonerating her.
Jii-chan: Grandpa. Or at least what Kagome calls her grandpa.
The Name Game:
Many of you will know this, but for those who do not. Here's a list of suffixes and their usages.
-sama is the highest honor to call someone by. It's usually reserved for kings and queens and certain messengers of the gods or anyone you really, really want to suck up to. Sango calls Miroku Houshi-sama because it is the politest way to address a houshi. Miroku calls Kaede either Kaede-sama or Miko-sama for the same reason.
-dono does not appear in this fic, and is not often seen in Inuyasha. It is a polite form to call people, but not as honorific as –sama. In Rurouni Kenshin, Kenshin calls all the women and people he respects –dono because it's polite. It's a little archaic so people don't commonly use it in this day and age.
-san is the usual ending. In the English language it roughly translates to Mr. or Mrs. In Japanese it is used to address adults who one is not romantically involved with. (If you go to Japan and call everyone –san. You will be just fine.) When Mr. Miyagi called Daniel, Daniel-san he was showing that he was treating him as an equal or another adult anyway.
-kun is an ending typically used to address school aged boys (by teachers and friends). On rare occasions it is used by teachers in reference to any of their students. (If you watch Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon you can hear some of Makoto's teachers call her Kino-kun.) It's not the way one would address complete strangers or people they didn't consider their friends so this is why it's a big deal when Kagome calls Kouga, Kouga-kun.
-chan is used in three ways. 1. it is used to address younger children. When someone calls Shippou, Shippou-chan it's because he's a kid. 2. It is used between girls to address their friends. Sango and Kagome call each other Kagome-chan and Sango-chan because they are friends who are approximately the same age and not because they see each other as children. And 3. it is used between boyfriends and girlfriends when making up cutesy names for each other. Best example: Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon and Usagi calling Mamoru, Mamo-chan.
-ko is a suffix that means child or girl in names. Some boyfriends will call their girlfriends by a nickname ending in –ko to be cute. Again…BSSM: Mamoru calls Usagi, Usako.
An important note, in Japan (nowadays) when two adults call each other by a name that is not followed by a suffix it is usually assumed that they are in a relationship. This is a big part of why just about everyone Kagome meets will be addressed with a suffix. I'm not sure if this was true of the Sengoku Jidai and if that's why you don't really hear the suffixes used a whole lot between people of the time or if they're just being crude and uncivilized.
And lastly, do not refer to yourself with a suffix. It's beyond unnecessary and sometimes considered very rude (especially if you use a higher term than is appropriate).
Author's Notes:
Well this concludes chapter one. I needed some reason for Kagome and Inu-yasha to leave the picture for a few days and I didn't want to just have her going home to take a test. They will be back eventually… but the majority of this story is for the other four.
My dictionary is not up for questioning… even if I have something wrong (which I shouldn't). It's the author's dictionary to go with the author's fic… though… this particular dictionary should be fairly Japanese filled.
Well I put the little naming guide in this chapter because the other chapters should have a bit more of a history lesson to them. I hope you've enjoyed the chapter. Please tell me what you thought. And don't forget, If you haven't done so yet read Sango's Ordeal before next Saturday when I post the next chapter because it will reference back to that story. Once again don't forget to review.
~Mina~
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Coming up in Chapter Two: The Darkness
"There's a horrible curse on our village. It's been slowly sucking the happiness out of our lives. Please you have to say that you can help us!"
Shippou smiled from Miroku's shoulder, "A curse you say? Well that just happens to be our specialty! Of course we can help."
"It is?"
"You can!"