Disclaimer: I do not own either Inuyasha or Rurouni Kenshin.
Chapter 14.
Tae was just about done washing and some of the other ladies were starting to get out of the water when Sango returned. They had all heard the crash and Sango had bounded off to find out what was going on. Sango came leaping to the bank and stopped at the water. She hadn't bothered dressing to go investigate, after all ninja's are supposed to be accustomed to being unseen.
"Aoshi and Saitoh are coming. Inuyasha is back and got bounced off a tree by somebody and now they're apparently coming to collect us." Sango said sourly.
"I'll kill him." Tokio said hotly.
Everyone turned to regard the woman. "It isn't THAT bad Tokio." Tae said calmly. "They're still treating us like luggage, but at least it isn't Sanosuke."
"Or Miroku." Sango added with emphasis.
"You girls just don't know. Don't let yourselves be tricked by a man's outer exterior. It's the ones you can't read that bear the closest scrutiny. Hajime didn't get the nickname 'wolf' because of his ferocity. Unless I miss my guess, he'll "stumble" through some bushes at an inconvenient moment and brush it off as an accident. He'll act all stoic like he doesn't care whether we're dressed or not and then turn his back until we get out." Tokio looked ready to shoot her husband. "I swear, the man can sense a criminal behind him at thirty paces, but expects me to believe he can just 'accidentally' wander in on us bathing."
The rest of the women regarded Tokio for a moment. "I never figured him for the type." Kaoru said slowly.
A sudden thought struck Tae like a load of bricks. "Sango, you said that Aoshi was with him?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Here's our chance ladies, we're putting our plans into action. It's time these men learned a lesson in how to treat women." Tae grabbed Kamatari and started positioning women in the water.
"Kamatari, myself, Misao, and Tokio are going to stand facing the bank. The rest of you turn your backs to them. We'll act like we're having a normal bath when they get here." Tae said with a devilish smile crossing her face. "If Aoshi sees Tokio it's Saitoh's fault, I really don't care if they see me or not, and Misao and Kamatari can watch Aoshi's reaction. This will start our plan in action."
The women hastily got into position. Tae let Tsubame get dressed. She didn't have a stake in this and she could be their "look-out". The women stood around talking until finally Saitoh "stumbled" out of the bushes with Aoshi in tow. Tsubame started to squeal, but fainted instead.
Most of the women ducked into the water or covered themselves, but the damage had been done. Tae looked at Aoshi to gauge his reaction. He saw Misao and his cold calculating look never changed, he began to turn around but then his gaze fell on Kamatari. Tae had to give him credit; most of his face betrayed no emotion. His eyes however spoke volumes. They had gone slightly wider in surprise at seeing Kamatari's chest. Then he stood there, just stood there. Tae could tell he was dumbfounded, even if his face was impassive.
Saitoh must have been disappointed, but he hid it well. From what Tae knew of the man, he must have been disappointed because he was usually cross when he was disappointed. Saitoh growled when Aoshi didn't turn around.
"That's my wife out there you pervert, turn around." Saitoh growled menacingly. Tae considered his nickname apt in all respects. Aoshi's expression didn't change; he merely turned around. Saitoh gave him another good glare and then turned around himself and helped Tsubame stand. "My apologies ladies, I didn't realize how close I was to the river." His explanation would have carried more weight if Tokio hadn't been lip-syncing the words. "I'll leave Aoshi to stand guard for you, but Alanor has returned and wants to speak to Kagome."
"That's OK Saitoh, we were just getting finished." Tae said sweetly. She looked at Kamatari and Misao. Misao looked dejected and Kamatari was beaming. She just hoped the two of them could handle Aoshi from here on out. Soujiro hadn't done much to get into trouble with Misao so far, at least nothing she hadn't already punished him for, but Aoshi was going to take both of them to handle.
The ladies all got out of the water and dried themselves before getting dressed. Kagome carried some perfumes from her own time. Such things were extremely expensive in Tae's time though apparently they were common to her time. The women indulged themselves and walked past the men. Most of the plans were in motion; it was just a matter of time.
Misao walked behind Aoshi for a few minutes beside Kamatari. He hadn't said anything all the way back from the river. Which wasn't necessarily unusual, but she knew he had gotten a good look at Kamatari and surely he was curious. Misao decided to sate his curiosity for him. She moved herself and Kamatari up until they were directly behind Aoshi and whispered in her direction.
"I know you wanted to be accepted as a fighter in a man's world, but why did you do it? I mean, surely you must get lonely with everybody thinking you're a man. If we hadn't walked in on you taking a bath we'd all still think you were a man." Misao winked at Kamatari. She knew Aoshi had some of the keenest (and cutest) ears in the Oniwaban. If he couldn't hear he was going deaf.
Kamatari leaned over in a conspiratorial whisper. "You know how men are. As soon as they found out I was a woman, they would have been treating me like I was glass. This way they wouldn't try to stop me from fighting and they'd be too freaked out by my presence to expect me to do anything with them. Could you imagine all the men going down to bathe and asking me to join them?"
Misao couldn't help but let out a short giggle. "Yeah, Himura's the worst. He guards Kaoru like a precious gemstone. Pretty to look at, but you'd never dream of carrying it into battle. Fortunately, I think she likes it."
Kamatari let out a harrumph and continued walking. "Not me. If I'm going to have a man it's going to be one that doesn't try to protect me all the time. I can take care of myself. I want a partner, not a protector."
Misao nearly cried but forced herself to continue according to their plan. "Well, the only one that you'll find like that around here is Aoshi. None of the other women would have him. He's cute, but he's too cold. He got tired of taking care of me so now he's palmed the job off on Soujiro. The other women have someone to watch after them."
Kamatari grinned in spite of herself. "You mean none of the other women want him?"
"Goodness, no. He's like a fine sculpture made out of ice. Nice to look at, but not something that'll keep you warm at night. I spent a rather long time trying to warm him up a little, but it was no use. At least Soujiro has a sweet smile." Misao thought about what she was saying for a few minutes. Soujiro still used that ever-present smile of his. It was sweet, and he used it to protect his emotions by hiding them. He had learned it while his family had physically abused him. Misao thought of all the physical abuse SHE had visited on the boy and vowed not to hit him again, unless he REALLY deserved it.
The women made it all the way to the village where Alanor was already busy going through his things. "Who's been in my clothes?"
"Sorry!" Kagome shouted as she ran up to him. "I was looking for something that might help us."
It was late, so the women excused themselves to go prepare something to eat. Kagome stayed with Alanor and the other men, and Misao decided to do some eavesdropping. The men were moving to a clearing near the forest, so Misao launched herself into the trees quietly. It was there she met Sango.
The two of them weren't startled to find each other there, so they merely nodded and followed the men. The men got seated around the clearing on logs as Hiko spoke up.
"I believe you said something about an explanation. Kagome explained everything she could, but we thought you might be more able to explain everything." Hiko sat down and reached out for a jug of sake that wasn't there. "Yahiko, go get me a jug of…"
"Nothin' doin'!" Yahiko blurted defensively.
"Go or I'll have you practicing till MY arms ache." Hiko growled.
"That's fine, cause if I cross Tae she'll dress me in an apron again and I may not even get anything to eat!" Yahiko pleaded.
"Fine." Hiko mumbled. "Start swinging."
Yahiko got up and went off to start his practice. Misao couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She'd have to say something to Tae on his behalf. It wasn't fun getting caught up in other people's arguments.
"Now that the boy is gone," Hiko started, "what exactly is it that he's supposed to do. I know he's important because he and Tsubame are supposed to be the ancestors of someone important."
Alanor rummaged through his books and pulled out his orb once again. "That's pretty much all you need to know right now. I'm sorry, but I can't reveal anything about your futures."
"Why not?" Sano piped in. "You seem to know everything about us. Obviously, some of us are from times later than others so the history MUST be known."
"It isn't that simple. Knowing your future may accidentally change it so that the future you knew about doesn't happen. And I don't know the future. All I can do is compare this dimension's outcomes to other dimensions and get a general idea. It doesn't guarantee accuracy." Alanor sat down and looked at Kagome.
"However in this case I can tell you that we have a problem. Kagome's actions in this time and in the time period that you are from have caused certain problems." Alanor looked at each of the men in turn.
"I'm sorry." Kagome said meekly.
"I wouldn't blame yourself." Alanor said seriously. "Kikyo should never have burned the jewel with her body. She transferred the jewel's powers to your soul rather than the one whose destiny it was to protect it."
Alanor looked back to the men. "In short gentlemen, we have a problem. You're stuck here."
This didn't seem to cause the men any turmoil. Most of them nodded and pressed on. "I take it this is about the demon gate?" Hiko said seriously.
Alanor regarded him coldly for a long time before continuing. "In short yes. The demons that should have closed the gate have now decided to keep it open. Unless we succeed in closing this gate, your time will become overrun by demons. We have to find the gate, close it, and then Kagome will have to make certain that the gate is never reopened."
The men all nodded to themselves. "So where is this gate." Aoshi said.
"I don't know yet. I need to search for the gate and I don't know how long it'll take me to find it." Alanor looked at Kagome. "I don't think Kagome is ready for such a journey right now."
"Why not leave her here?" Hiko said. "If it means getting home quicker, I'll teach her whatever she needs to know and you can go search for the gate. Cho and Anji can go with you. We'll stay here and protect Yahiko and Tsubame."
Alanor looked skeptical. "And how do you presume to teach a young sorceress how to cast magic?"
Hiko smiled. "I'll tell you later. Right now it smells like food is ready."
Sure enough, Misao could smell the food coming from the bowls as Kamatari, Tsubame, and Tae came up to the clearing. "You men had better eat before it gets cold." Tae said as she handed out stew and rice.
Misao watched as Kamatari handed food to Aoshi, Cho, and Anji. She hadn't bothered to bind her breasts either. Cho was the first one to pick up the change. "Uh, Kamatari? What are those?" He said pointing at her chest.
"If you aren't old enough to know honey, then I'm not about to explain it." Kamatari said coyly.
"I mean; you're a man. You're not supposed to have, you know, those." Cho said defensively. Anji was looking perplexed as well. Soujiro was staring wide-eyed, which he was going to be in trouble for later, and Aoshi didn't appear to notice.
"Kamatari is really a woman. She was posing as a cross-dresser in order to come to work for Shishio as a fighter. She was bathing with the women when we went to get Kagome earlier today." Aoshi didn't miss a detail. Misao could have crowed.
Cho looked at Kamatari as if for the first time. "No way! I've seen you go to the bathroom standing up before!"
Kamatari smiled. "From behind. You'd be surprised what you can accomplish with a hollow bamboo tube. It was enough to convince you guys I was a man and no more questions were asked."
"Why Kamatari?" Soujiro asked stupidly.
Kamatari rolled her eyes. "Because women don't get any sort of respect as fighters. Even a cross dresser would get more respect as a fighter because he'd be seen as a man, a weird man, but a man never-the-less. Once you guys were tricked, it was pretty simple to flirt with you enough to make you keep your distance. Shishio knew better, but I never was able to sway him away from Yumi. I guess he preferred the docile type."
Misao watched as the meal was served and the women left the men to their discussion. She looked down at Anji and Cho. They both looked startled, but Cho recovered quickly.
"To think there was a hot little number like that walking around and I didn't even know it." Cho said sadly.
Anji shook his head. "So Shinomori, are things different now?"
"What do you mean?" Aoshi didn't sound surprised, but it was rare for Misao to hear him not know what someone meant.
"You told us last night that you thought Kamatari was pleasant to be around, but that you weren't gay. You said if things were different it would be a different matter. Well, now things are different." Anji said simply.
"Two great big things are different." Cho added.
"How did she hide those things?" Soujiro asked to no one in particular.
"That had to hurt." Miroku added.
"So again, we ask you," Anji continued, "what are your intentions toward Kamatari."
"Yeah, she was our comrade before. Now I feel kind of responsible for her." Cho said seriously.
Aoshi stared at each of them in turn. "I really don't know."
"Well you men can discuss it elsewhere." Hiko said seriously. "Alanor and I have some things to discuss, so would you gentlemen please excuse us?"
Misao watched as the men got up. Aoshi helped Soujiro to his feet. "We're all going to go get baths ourselves. We can finish this discussion there."
No finish it here you moron! Misao thought to herself furiously. If they left now she wouldn't be able to find out what they were going to say about Kamatari.
Misao and Sango watched as the men left Hiko and Alanor to their discussions. They had just left earshot when Hiko spoke. "You two can come down now. I'm pretty sure none of the other men noticed you, but I really would like to discuss this with Alanor alone."
Misao and Sango got out of the tree and walked back towards the cabin. Misao was pretty steamed, but she walked behind Sango and went back toward the huts where the other women waited.
Alanor looked after the retreating women. "Those women you brought are going to be a handful. Sango and Kagome aren't so bad, but those women you brought with you are a great deal more headstrong."
Hiko sniffed as he looked after them as well. "They'll be fine. In the meantime, I wanted to talk to you about our current situation."
"What of it?" Alanor asked evasively.
"Well, as I see it you've got to be in more places than you can physically be in at once. And even from what I've seen of your power so far I doubt you're going to be able to do this alone. This is going to be a great deal more difficult than you've told them isn't it?" Hiko said slowly.
Alanor looked at the man for a long time before answering. "I didn't want to scare them. You men may be some of the greatest swordsmen of your time, and those two demons Kagome has working for her are powerful, but you're all going to be severely out of your league. The demons that are gunning for that jewel are more powerful than any enemy that any of you has ever faced. I'm not certain you're ready."
"I guess we'll have to get ready then." Hiko said simply. "What are you going to do?"
"I need to find the gate. Only after I've seen what's guarding it will I be able to determine what we need to destroy it. I need to train Kagome. If I don't, she won't be ready for the charge of keeping the jewel even if we DO manage to close the gate. Finally, I need to find a way to keep the rest of you safe. If Yahiko or Tsubame dies here…"
"I know, I read it in your book." Hiko said. "Why has Kagome's destiny been erased?"
Alanor looked startled for a moment and continued. "It's pretty much standard for wizards and beings of power to have their destinies erased from history. It's difficult but not impossible. It requires a great deal of temporal distortion."
"So nothing that Kagome does will impact the future?" Hiko asked.
Alanor actually chuckled. "I'm glad you didn't read THAT much of my books at least. No, it just means that she isn't required to do anything. That way she isn't hindered by being anchored to any historical events that can complicate her life."
"Complications?" Hiko asked pointedly.
"For instance," Alanor said. "How easy would it be for Kagome to accomplish the task of guarding the jewel if she were fated to die in her sleep, or to go insane, or become some larger than life historical figure? This way she can have a longer than normal life span, protect the jewel with anonymity, and not have to worry about a pathway being predetermined for her. There are only a few who MUST follow a certain path, but it still helps."
"So, how do we train her?" Hiko said nodding.
"I don't exactly see how a swordsman can train a sorceress." Alanor said critically. "I want her throwing spells not kunai."
Hiko looked at Alanor and leaned back to make sure no one was around. "I think I understand these secrets of magic better than you realize."
"Oh really? Please enlighten me then." Alanor said crossing his arms.
"Well, when a master teaches a student he often has one of the other students take part in some of the training so he doesn't have to spend all his time with his apprentice. This person is usually only there to supervise and administer lessons that the master has already designed. That and the fact that a lot of the "training" results in free labor of some sort as the pupil tries to find the meaning in the endless tasks that the master puts in front of him. Then occasionally, the master will show the student something that takes approximately ten minutes and then leaves the student to repeat it over and over until they get it right. When you get down to it if the master wished it they could probably train the pupil much quicker than the pupil realizes, but to do so would result in a lack of appreciation for the knowledge that the master had to come at the hard way himself. You see; I don't know magic. I know teaching. Truth be known, my master's muscles were so far gone when I learned from him he could barely hold a sword, much less wield one effectively, but he was still the best teacher I've ever known. That's pretty much how it works in swordplay, is there more to magic than that?" Hiko looked expectantly at Alanor.
"No that pretty much sums it up." Alanor said nodding. "Here's what you'll need to start her on…"