From that first encounter, my father had always been intrigued by Kirei. How could he not have been? Here was this woman, nearly 6 feet tall and stunningly beautiful who pulled the strings of thousands as easily as most others breathe. She was truly other-worldly; as a young child, I believed she was a goddess, presiding over the world with regal dignity. My father knew he would see her again, but he did not expect her to act as she did. The next time Kirei appeared before my father, she came alone, but clad in the same armor she had worn in the battlefield.
"Do you intend to fight me alone?" he had inquired.
"Of course. There are no ghost samurai behind me; just to inform you," she responded.
"And do you intend to win?"
"Yes. I never settle for less. But what I do not intend to do is draw a weapon against you. If you can understand, I have an atypical disease." To this, I could imagine my father's amber eyes would have narrowed into a strange glare. "It is a disease," she continued, "for which there is technically but one cure. I have a lust for land and power that will drive me to the edge of my sanity, then eventually to my death. There is no soothsayer needed for this prediction. My foresight has told me how the rest of my life is going to be, yet there is very little I can do about it. I need someone to...what shall I say? ...Keep me in line." She would have paused for a moment then continued by saying "When I witnessed your raw power the last time we met, I was truly inspired. Like a righteous, celestial assassin you restored an order like which I have never seen before. The atmosphere on that battlefield was absolutely surreal. It was life-shattering and I was almost beyond words; in a sense, I still am."
"You love me because I am powerful?" my father asked her.
"If only it were so simple. That order, that tranquility...I lust for that within my soul like nothing else. I am slowly tearing myself apart. As you have come to understand, I am a malady to myself and the rest of the world. Lord, you are my cure, the one and only. You must destroy me, completely eradicate me from this earth or instill that tranquility that you have shown during warfare. If you do neither, I guarantee that I will annihilate everything, and then perish with the rest of existence. I ask humbly that you give me a chance."
This in itself would have been shocking to anyone familiar with my mother. She was obsequious to no one, she bowed to no one, she took orders from no one unless it suited her. Kirei was immensely proud. At this point in her life, not a soul would have expected her to be 'ask humbly' for a single, solitary thing. But proud as she was, she valued her life. She realized for once that she had to swallow this pride of hers, (as bitter a pill as that was) for her life relied upon it.
"It pains you to say that, doesn't it?" inquired my father.
Mother would have chuckled lightly. "Only if you refuse."
Father told me that he was taken by her for reasons he didn't have explanations for. At first he did not love her, but believed what she had told him. Father's sharp intuition rarely steered him in the wrong direction. He did not wish to kill her, for he found her to be interesting and thus worth his time and affections. It took them awhile to bond, but once they did, it seemed that nothing could separate them. My mother did indeed dispel her power-hungry ways. Of course that would always be part of her, but she was able to suppress it with the guidance of my father. It seemed like she was correct in assuming that my father would save her. It seemed as if there would be a fairy tale ending, like things were finally in their places and life was as it should be.
Over time, Kirei fell deeply in love with my father and he was taken by her as well. They seemed to belong together. Kirei would follow my father into battle and assist him in any other way possible. She put her speaking skills to use to keep my father in favor with the people during hard times. This was of utmost importance in the turbulent warring times. Even my father could only suppress one rebellion or riot at a time. My parents did argue occasionally, but that happens in all relationships. My mother always spoke her mind and often behaved in a flagrant manner that is not typical of females. She refused to bow to the other lords, showing respect to my father alone. She was extremely respectful toward my father, however she debated politics with him frequently. They held some opposing views; Father was content ruling his division of the country while Mother thought he should dominate the world. She always obeyed him though and never acted on her theories. She became totally devoted to him and would have flung herself off the face of the earth if it pleased him. After all, she credited him with saving her life.
Mother told me that my arrival was this highlight of her life. She and Father zealously adored me. Mother was the one who chose my name, which means "Killing Perfection". I would have expected nothing less from her, for she was certain I would inherit my father's strength and power. Father, on the other hand, wanted my name to mean something a touch less violent; he told me later that he never expected his innocent little son to turn into a killer. However he submitted to my mother out of respect.
Mother was always by side. No matter the circumstances, she defended me. Father told me stories of the trouble I caused when I was younger, often with a smile and laugh.
"You were hell-spawn as a kid," he told me. "I can't forget that time you snuck out of the estate in the middle of the night and wandered into Lord Ishido's garden, tore the plants to shreds, killed all the fish in the ponds and then managed to get into his kitchen. His servants were terribly worried, thinking an 'evil spirit' chanced upon the house." Then he laughed. "Lord Ishido found you at the same time as your mother. It is funny now, but I honestly thought she was going to slaughter someone. You nearly gave her a heart attack. Then there was that time you decided to let all the animals in the village out. As destructive as that was, it was in a way rather amusing."
"Oh yes." Mother sighed in recollection of that event. "That was certainly was quite a day. First you go missing. Of course I was feverishly worried about you; you never failed to get in trouble. When you father came back and told me that there was a report of the animals getting out, we both knew you were responsible. You are so lucky he found you. Those animals were dangerous." She was referring to the dragons and other demon animals used for labor and transportation. Any one of them could have easily mauled a young child such as myself. "But I will admit. It was extremely amusing to see those feeble geisha women running for their lives."
As soon as she knew I was in Father's care, Mother sat back and watched the show. She despised most other beings, especially geishas. She saw them as disgusting whores who disgraced women in general. She hated how they were so fawning, imprudent, and submissive and she especially hated the fact that they were more often than not tiny in size. Mother was very tall and slender and looked down on anyone shorter than herself. I suppose it was part of her superiority complex. She would have also been amused by the fact that my father was the one who, as usual, restored order.
The next day, those who lost property confronted my mother, demanding she pay them back for the damage I caused. She refused, saying the damage was a fitting punishment for not making the enclosures unable to withstand a child.
There were numerous other accounts where I ran off, only to be found by my frantic mother. When she found me, she would always say the same thing, never angry and always in her sweetest tone "My little koinu! Don't run off on me like that! I could never forgive myself if something were to happen to you." I was the only one my mother showed any mercy toward.
(A/N: koinu means "puppy")
In other respects, Kirei was strict with me, but in a gentle fashion. She taught me to respect myself and to be proud of my heritage. She also instilled in me a tremendous reverence for my father. Kirei was abrasive and did belittle others when it pleased her, but she never directly encouraged me to do so. She was also my formal educator, teaching me how to read, write, and speak in a dignified manner. Despising foul language, she scolded me whenever I uttered a "bad word". But I know she loved me. We spent much of our time together when I was a child because Kirei was so rabidly protective of me. When my father was away fighting, she never left my side. In fact, up until the time when she realized that I am by no means a weakling, Kirei was extremely nervous when I was not in either her company or that of my father.
As I grew older, my father began teaching me the ways of war and how to defend myself. When I was old enough and possessed enough skill, my father let me fight along side him. I never felt remorse for killing anything, but my father seemed sullen after bloody battles. I never questioned this, just disregarded it as a difference in personality. From the beginning, I noticed my father was compassionate towards humans, more so than any other demon. This was, and still is, strange to me. Feeling compassion and remorse for those beneath me is simply not in my nature.
Father was especially compassionate for a certain human woman he had encountered while subduing a rebellion in a wealthy city by the sea. She was breathtakingly beautiful; delicate as a flower, soft-spoken, docile and tiny. She was exactly the sort of woman Mother would have despised. Father sent me home, telling me that my assistance was no longer required for the moment.
"I appreciate your help, Sesshomaru, but I believe I have this situation under control. You can leave now. Tell your mother I intend to be home soon," he told me.
I was suspicious, however I subdued my worries with the thought that my father would never stoop so low as to betray my mother with a human. I didn't tell my mother; she would have been unbearably cross after hearing such an account. But Kirei had a keen intuition about her and there were certain secrets that couldn't be held in for long by neither my father nor myself.
