Gabrielle's father seemed oblivious to her daughter's frustration towards Miroku the following morning, as Inuyasha and the other's prepared to leave, Miroku vowed to make one last attempt to patch the damage. He came to Gabrielle's chamber as a servant was brushing her hair.
"Gabrielle, I wish to speak to you."
"I don't wish to listen, but I shall non-the-less."
"Gabrielle, I do care for you. Last night I spoke without thought and perhaps forever harmed your heart. It was not my intention to do so. Sango does mean a lot to me, but we cannot be together the way I can with you, and even if you forever hate me for what transpired last night, know that it hurts my heart as well."
Miroku bowed and slowly backed away. By the time Gabrielle turned, tears in her eyes, Miroku was gone, and he and the others were leaving.
"So Miroku, did she ever get to show you her appreciation," Inuyasha asked with a smirk.
"Inuyasha!"
Before Kagome could say more, Sango had slapped him instead. Miroku, Shippo, and Kagome were all almost as stunned as Inuyasha. Sango snuffed her nose into the air and walked on ahead leaving the group stunned.
Inuyasha sat on the back of Kagome's bike nursing his reddened cheek, while Shippo in the basket asked Kagome what she thinks it means.
"It means Sango must have lost her mind," Inuyahsa interjects.
"I think Sango must have overheard something last night, that made her feel sorry for Miroku, haven't you noticed he's been looking rather down too?"
The three of them all slowly looked back at Miroku as he slowly trailed behind, "What?"
"Oh... nothing."
'I don't get it... When I proposed, she didn't accept, but- she seems to care,' Miroku couldn't work it out in his head, 'if she cares for me, why didn't she say yes when I asked her to marry me... I was willing to relinquish my position as a monk for her.'
"Miroku, hurry up, your falling behind..."
"Coming!"
Kagura looks into Kanna's mirror, "It seems the monk still hasn't realized that he's lost the Kazaana, perhaps now is the time, I can't wait for Sesshomaru and his silly little quests."
Kagura flies off until she finds the demon she was looking for, deep in a lake, she calls out the massive Ryu Youkai within.
"Anikai!"
"Who seeks an audience with me."
"I do, I wish to make a deal with you," She pulls out a shard broken off from the majority of it that she also had with her, "In exchange for this, you shall attack and kill the monk Miroku, but he will have powerful friends with him."
"What's to stop me from just taking the shard and killing a weak demoness like you."
Kagura tried, though not very hard, to avoid laughing, starting with a few quick intakes of air that built into a maniacal laughter, "Weak, not only am I perhaps one of the strongest Youkai you'll ever meet, I have the majority of the Jewel Shard myself, if you do favors for me, well, it'll be in your better interest to stay on me good side."
Anikai opened his mouth and unleashed a blast at her; the water below yielded to his will and followed the energy as it rushed towards her. Kagura raised her fan and the air pushed the water back at Anikai. Anikai raised himself up towards Kagura, she held out the fan and Anikai's entire form was hoisted out of the water, his body trailing out for miles and all above the water.
Anikai pulled hard at the air holding him and managed to coil up. Spinning around he pulled at the air himself and sucked up the lake below into him. "Arashinamiko!"
A massive Hurricane waved upwards from the spinning Anikai and turned down towards Kagura, she swung her fan again and both the attack and the dragon demon slammed back into the lake.
"Why do you want me to do your dirty work...?"
"I just want to show Miroku he's lost his curse, I'm curious to see how he will react, I want to show them Nuraku is dead, but I'm not ready to reveal I'm still alive, and have the jewel, they are obviously weaker than me, but they have an annoying habit of pulling of surprising feats in crucial moments."
Anikai grumbles to himself.
"So, will you do as I request?"
"I don't lower myself to doing other's dirty work, even for a Shikon jewel shard."
"Keep the shard," she threw it down, knowing they would likely stumble upon him soon enough anyway...
"I don't know why we keep looking for shards when its obvious Nuraku has most of the jewel," Inuyasha complains.
"Because, we still don't know how to find Nuraku unless he wants us to- sooo, until we find Nuraku, all we can do is look for the last of the jewel," Kagome calmly explains, trying not to get too flustered at Inuyasha's impatience.
"The more shards we find before we beat Nuraku, the less shards we have to find after we beat him," Miroku assures.
"There's a lake up ahead, it should be freshwater from the mountains so we can fill up our canteens."
"Wait! I feel a Shikon jewel shard nearby."
"My master Anikai has trusted it to me."
From behind a tree on the other side of the lake, a young man steps out, his dark blue hair bound upwards by the red headband. Hanging outside of his tight, white shirt, is two chains bearing amulets, one bearing the Shikon jewel shard, the other a blue spherical gem and two empty jewel places. He takes one last step on the lake's shore then pushes off and leaps over the entire lake, landing gracefully on the opposite shore.
"Kagome-san, it's been ten years, you've grown up into a nice young woman, hm, with powerful friends."
"Ussou!"
"Yes Kagome it's me, aside from the demonic awakening, unchanged as I was 10 years ago."
"Cousin Meiyakouto?"
Meiyakouto nods. "I can only assume amongst you is the monk Miroku, the demon wench Kagura wanted my master Anikai to assault you and demonstrate that you lack your curse anymore, whatever that means, so now I have a personal quest to avenge my master who was disgraced when Kagura deflected his Arashinamiko back upon him."
"I no longer have my curse- but, that's impossible," Miroku quickly opens the beads and clothe holding it bound, he looks down at his unmarked hand, "But how could this be, unless Nuraku is dead..."
"Kagura wanted you to realize that, but not that she still lived."
"But Meiyakouto, how did you end up in the feudal era, and what demonic awakening."
"It's a bit of a tale, my father married into your temple in an attempt to purify the last of his Youkai blood, my line was one of the last with traceable roots to the last of the pureblood Youkai, his Youkai blood and mine was so dulled through the generations as to be unawakened, however, in coming here I found the power to awaken my blood."
"But how did you get here, through the well?"
"Yes, I assumed then that it was a once in a lifetime fluke and was unwilling to look a gift horse in the mouth. I spent 4 years tracing my roots until they lead me to Anikai, then I went looking for a power to awaken my demon blood, the three gems of Umiko suited my purposes, I have one around my neck of course, the other two are on my blade, the Umikokoro, all three can be placed on either my chain or the blade, Valson outdid himself in making the Umikokoro, I hear he retired afterwards."
Inuyasha unsheathed his Tetsusaiga, "You enjoy being a monster?"
"Please, lets not lower ourselves to petty name calling, after all, I am no monster, I enjoy the pride and power my demon heritage gives me, but I'm not about to go out and perform evil for evil's sake."
"So are you going to give us the Shikon jewel shard?"
Meiyakouto pauses in thought, "Not as of yet, but when the time comes, I will relinquish it to Kagome-san, though a question, I left many things of value to me in the present, is it possible for me to go back and retrieve them?"
"Yes, but what do you want, most of your things were boxed up, we all thought you ran away to live with your uncle Alfred after your father killed himself?"
"Nah, I am envious of dear ol' Alfred and his wife, who shares as much demon blood as myself, but I rather like Japan, and not America. But speaking of family, whatever happened to my mother, I imagine she took it rather hard, my disappearance."
"She moved out of the temple, I haven't heard from her since I was seven, you might ask my mother though?"
"Just more reason for me to quest with you for the time, I will make Kagura pay, my master has lived in this lake for almost a century, and she defiled him by lifting him out of the lake!"
Anikai raised his head from the water; with a flourish of spinning water he came out, looking human, with long lavender hair, aside from the one blue streak that matched Meiyakouto's hair color. He wore an interesting scale armor, possibly made from his own scales, and a Nodatchi over his back; his stood a good four inches taller than Meiyakouto in human form.
"I've sat idly by for too long, such that when it came time to fight, I was humiliated, I will go as well."
"Hai, Anikai-sama."
"Oh great, traveling with a demon and his wannabe servant..."
"I'd watch my tongue, Hanyou Inu Youkai!"
"Why I oughta!"
"Inuyasha- sit!"
"Gahf!" Inuyasha lie sprawled out; he pushed himself up and sheathed the Tetsusaiga, then turned to Kagome, "Kagome, he's asking for it."
"He's... Family."
"And Anikai, you've no blood relation to him," Sango points out.
"Meiyakouto trusts him."
"Yeah, well I don't trust either of them," Inuyasha snarls.
"I will do no harm to any of your companions- so long as none of you attack me."
"Which reminds me of another item I wish to find in the modern era, Anikai's Mizukiba should still exist in the present, each generation empowers it further, when the previous owner dies the sword is recast by the greatest blacksmith of the generation using the fangs and choice scales of the previous owner."
Sesshomaru came in to look at the blade Valson was casting, "So, tell me about this blade you made that you chose to retire after making."
"I'll tell you," Kai steps in, "It was cast from the bones of a demon that had lain in the water for over a thousand years, it was finely attuned with the water, in it was set three spot for these gems the guy had."
"And it was enough to make you quiver with jealousy," butts in Jason.
"Urusai-i!"
"The guy who wanted it had very little demon blood, but the gems he had awoke it, and the guy spoke strangely and very informal..."
"But very pronounced, like he held a lot of pride."
"If not for that sword and the gems, I bet he'd've gotten his but handed to him on a silver platter by now..."
"Right, so you could go track down the gems and the sword, eh?"
"Well it does match my element."
"I'll be practicing my archery out back again Kai, wanna come cheer me on?"
"Ah..."
"I'll be teaching Kazekage," he pauses for Kai's sudden stop, "Thought so..."
The two of them head out to the archery range behind the house, Sesshomaru looks over at Valson once, and the blade, before following as well, curious as to the level of skill they may posses.
Sesshomaru stands unobtrusively behind them as Jason helps Kazekage take aim, she pulls the arrow a bit too hard, and her hand slips just slightly as she releases, the arrow narrowly edged the target just barely catching. Jason sighs, "Watch."
Jason takes precise aim, obviously only slowing so as to demonstrate. He fires a perfect shot hitting the absolute center of the bull's-eye, before the arrow even stops quivering he unleashes the next, nailing the line between the bull's-eye and the next circle, then the line after that, forming a diagonal line up the target.
"Oops... got carried away," Jason makes a face.
"Here, lemme try," Kai takes one of the other Bows and draws back, not as precisely as Jason, but better than the learning Kazekage, he bites his lower lip and he focuses on the center of the target and releases. The arrow just barely hits within the center spot.
Kazekage takes aim again and nails the line between the second and third circle. Sesshomaru wordlessly moved foreword and takes one of the bows and a quiver of arrows. He takes aim and in a series of blows, pierces every one of the arrows already on the targets, splitting them into pieces.
Jason smirks and takes aim, splitting the arrow Sesshomaru already pierced at the center of the target.
"But can you hit a living target?"
"Is that rhetorical, or are you asking to test my skill?"
"You may try," Sesshomaru gives a partial bow.
Jason turns his bow towards Sesshomaru, who stands motionless, his body completely loose, waiting for the moment Jason's fingers unleash the arrow. As Jason unleashes the first arrow, Sesshomaru becomes a mild blur. Jason releases a second; all the way to a fifth before they both stop. Sesshomaru stands, appearing unmarked, after a second, a small cut across his left cheek spills a trickle of blood. Jason face slides back into a smirk, "Looks like the answer is yes."
Sesshomaru raises his hand holding one of Jason's arrows and crushes it in two, "It appears."