Title: Tsuki no Aika (Lament of the Moon)
Summary: The tale of the love between the daiyoukai of the West and a hime from the East.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its elements. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.
Note: Based on feedback from Lou, I'm going to give a try to not italicizing Japanese terms. This style's on trial since I am of the school of thought that foreign terms should be indicated as such. I would like to hear what you think of change – to keep or not to keep.
Thanks to Lady Eve, Minako Miharu, Lou, and Lady Izayoi for your reviews. Hope you like this chapter!
And many, many thanks to Eleia for taking time from her busy schedule to beta-read and give me such concrete feedback. This chapter would not have been nearly as good without her help!
Thoughts go out to Quietharm. Hope things are going well with you, hon. Catch up with you soon!
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- Three -
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She gave fervent thanks that she had not let Kuma garb her in the junihitoe.
The town was filled with people from many stations of life, from the most menial laborer to wealthy merchants and distinguished artisans, but she saw no nobility beside herself and Amaya. Had she been formally attired, she would have been painfully out of place, the only one in court garb. As it was, her maru obi had drawn more than one surreptitious glance, which she pretended not to notice. Moreover, in the cumbersome robes, she would have been hard-pressed to keep up with Amaya as her cousin flitted from one place to another.
They had gone through one stall selling sweets, another selling fine porcelain, and then a scribe's nook and had finally arrived at a clothier.
"Hime-sama, what do you think of this one?" Kuma held up yet another bolt of fine silk for her consideration.
Izayoi nodded ever so slightly, eyes flitting to the hovering attendant. Her handmaid seemed intent on making her buy something and her continued prompting made things increasingly awkward.
Amaya was standing just inside the threshold of the store, chatting amiably with the proprietor. Izayoi shifted so that she could watch them. One of the menservants was hovering unobtrusively with ink and parchment, attentive to every word.
"Yes, the new arrangements have opened up many possibilities that we never could have considered before. Yukio-sama is a most visionary young man to have thought up this idea." The merchant was effusive.
Amaya nodded and smiled but there was something in her posture that Izayoi thought might be strain. The older cousin murmured something demure and then raised her voice slightly. "Would Washi-san care to explore further trade expansions into the East then?"
The cloth merchant bobbed his stately grey head. "Most certainly, honorable lady. This modest merchant would be most grateful if Yukio-sama would bestow such knowledge upon him."
The Amaya of five years ago would have made a face at such flowery words. The Amaya of that day merely nodded as the servant made a notation, and then the older cousin joined Izayoi in perusing the store's goods.
They left with three bolts of cloth and proceeded up the street. Geta clip-clopped merrily against the paving of the roads. The sound was oddly loud in Izayoi's ears without the muffling of trailing hems.
Two doors away, a couple stepped out of a shop and onto the cobblestone pavement. Hair of burnished copper and pale gold caught Izayoi's attention. The couple, laughing in a carefree manner, started down the street in her direction. And then she caught sight of their delicately pointed, lobeless ears.
Youkai.
She had only been five when youkai had breached the outer defenses of her father's palace, but the terror of that day rang suddenly in her mind. Huddled in a corner, bewildered and forlorn, she had watched servants stampede through the once-tranquil halls of her home. She never saw the source of the chaos for Kuma found her and swept her away to safety before the creatures entered the palace.
Watching the two bright-haired figures approaching her, Izayoi recalled the words of her childhood teacher with more clarity than she had in years.
"Youkai are the scourge of humanity. They attack humans, destroying homes, pillaging fields, thieving and killing," Mikage-sensei had told her. "They are a force of chaos, with no reason and no honor."
Fear curled up her throat, stealing her breath, fouling her feeble attempt to hold onto her calm.
"There are many types of youkai; they come in different forms; you must learn to recognize them, hime-sama," the memory went on.
She had thought it was safe; she had not known, when Amaya said humans and youkai dwelled in harmony in the Western Lands, that she meant that the creatures lived among humans.
"Some even appear almost human. Those," sensei had paused for emphasis, "Are the most powerful and dangerous of all youkai. Be extremely wary of them."
She distantly heard Amaya say something and dimly realized that she had stopped dead. She tried to answer, tried to tear her gaze away but could not make her body respond.
They stopped directly in front of her.
Be extremely wary.
Izayoi felt the strength leave her legs and thought for one horrified moment that she was about to faint. It was said that youkai could smell fear; could they sense hers?
But the two youkai were not looking at her. "Amaya-chan!" called the red-haired female. Instead of bowing, she merely lifted one hand in casual salutation. The hand was clawed and marked with a corral-red line that spiraled around her wrist. "Shinju-chan," she added, turning so Izayoi could see that her eyes were a brilliant, inhuman green.
"Tsubomi-chan, Wakagi-san," her cousin returned without batting an eyelash.
The female – Tsubomi – smiling in apparent delight, stepped forward. "What brings you to town? We rarely see you these days."
"The usual." Amaya gave a slight shrug. "And if you miss me so much, you know that my door always open to you," she reminded archly.
It was surreal watching Amaya speak to the youkai as she would to a childhood friend. The world seemed muffled, faraway, as Izayoi watched the scene before her, trying to grapple with this turn of events.
Tsubomi smirked and then another voice cut in.
"Won't you introduce us, Amaya-san?" The other youkai's voice sent chills skittering down Izayoi's back; it sounded like wind rustling through a forest, smooth and swift and utterly alien.
And with those words, Izayoi was no longer a passive watcher but a part of the nightmarish tableau. She lowered her gaze, buying time to gather the threads of her frayed composure.
"Oh, of course!" Her cousin turned so that she stood between them, pinching her lips in silent apology. "Mai-chan, these are Tsubomi and Wakagi."
Aside from its appalling familiarity, the introduction sounded truncated to Izayoi's ears; did youkai not have last names? She looked up to find them both giving her friendly smiles that showed unnaturally sharp canines. Off balance, she sought words of courtesy, but found none. What did one say when meeting youkai? If there were correct phrases, she had never been taught them.
"Takahiro no Izayoi," she murmured, bowing shallowly. It seemed the polite thing to do even if she heard Kuma's hiss that she would bow to youkai.
"Izayoi-hime is my cousin from the East," Amaya elaborated as Izayoi straightened.
Both youkai nodded, the expression on their faces hinting that there was an unspoken message in those words.
Tsubomi spoke into the barest awkward pause. "We must be going. I shall call on you some other time, Amaya-chan," she said smoothly. "An honor meeting our guest from the East," she added, tipping her head to Izayoi.
Wakagi gave her a bow as one who was her equal. "Enjoy your stay, hime," he said in that unsettling voice.
And then they were gone.
Amaya did not seem to take their abrupt departure amiss. She linked her arm through Izayoi's and resumed their foray through the mercantile area. The older cousin's uncharacteristic silence belied her casual actions, but Izayoi did not notice, head still whirling from that unsettling encounter.
Shaken, Izayoi found herself gently towed past a stall selling medicinal condiments, and then tugged towards the shop beside it. They were about to step inside when two figures sailed through the door in a flurry of colorful sleeves and giggles.
Izayoi glanced after the retreating figures and felt her breath catch when she spotted the white tips of three bushy red tails waving merrily from beneath the hem of each female's kimono.
Kitsune.
And then Amaya was mounting the single step that led to the shop and Izayoi perforce stepped up with her. There was no time to think or to react.
She barely registered the handsome wood paneled walls, and the beautiful hand-painted scrolls that adorned them. She was only vaguely aware of a silk-covered table on which baubles lay strewn, and of the person standing behind the table.
"Amaya-sama," came a jovial hail.
Amaya unlinked their arms and stepped forward.
Izayoi looked up in her direction.
"Konnichiwa, Akaishi-san. How do you fare?"
Izayoi registered the irony in Amaya's voice as her eyes found the merchant.
At first glance, the grey hair lent the impression of age. An elderly businessman, was her first thought. But the youthful face and wide smile dispelled that illusion. Then she saw the pointed canines and noticed the delicately pointed ears protruding from the grey hair.
She felt the floor drop from beneath her feet.
"Getting by, if only just." The youkai's deprecating tone gave away the understatement. Amaya's snort confirmed Izayoi's suspicion.
If the youkai was perturbed by Amaya's show of disbelief, it did not show. "It has been a long time since Amaya-sama has patronized this humble store." He bowed, showing every human courtesy unlike the pair on the street, but Izayoi thought the gesture exaggerated, sanctimonious. "Is there something I can offer you and your lovely companion?" he asked, straightening and Izayoi found herself the focus of a shrewd, twinkling gaze.
She stiffened and felt Kuma draw close behind her, but whether it was from protectiveness or unease, she could not guess.
Amaya was eyeing the assorted bangles, hair ornaments and necklaces that were displayed. "Just paying a routine call on one of my father's most trusted merchants."
The youkai took his gaze off Izayoi, and the hime breathed a little easier. The irony had not left Amaya's tone, she noted, and wondered at it.
"Ah, but fortune has smiled on me today when it bought you to my door! Wait one moment, please," the youkai said profusely and then seemed to vanish.
Izayoi was unnerved but Amaya turned to give her a small reassuring smile, apparently unfazed.
As quickly as he had gone, the youkai reappeared, bearing a small, hinged box. "Hiroshi-sama commissioned this two moons ago." Bowing, he presented it to Amaya who took it without a second thought for the other's sharp claws. "To the good health of a mother-to-be and her kit, he said."
Hiroshi. The nakodo, Izayoi recalled with some surprise as Amaya lifted the lid of the box.
Nestled on a bed of silk was a necklace of small pink rose quartz beads. A larger tear-drop shaped crystal formed a pendant, flat but as wide as two fingers. On the smooth surface was etched the outline of a bird in flight.
Amaya exclaimed softly, lifting the piece of jewelry up.
"It is to be worn near your heart where the crystal will work best," the jeweler put in.
"This is beautiful." Beaming, Amaya turned to Izayoi, holding up the necklace for her to see.
Behind the table, the youkai bowed again, only a slight inclination of his body but the action seemed sincere. "I echo Hiroshi-sama's wish for the honorable lady and her kin."
"Thank you, Aikashi." The formality of rank had left Amaya, leaving only... her cousin.
A friend of youkai.
With a smile and a tone that was almost affectionate, Amaya slanted a glance over her shoulder at the being behind the table. "For a swindling, philandering trickster, you do good work."
"You flatter me," the jeweler said blandly. "But I cannot accept thanks for the necklace, Amaya-sama. That privilege belongs to the gift-giver."
"Indeed." Amaya's face smoothed, irony and reserve returning. "I believe I shall deliver my gratitude in person."
The rest of the shopping excursion was cut short with profuse apologies from Amaya that Izayoi assured was unnecessary. Shortly after that, she found herself back in the cart, rumbling slowly to the estate of Hiroshi, the matchmaker.
With time to think and feel at last, Izayoi stared out the window. Strength drained from her limbs in delayed reaction to what she had witnessed that day.
She guessed, from Amaya's nonchalance, that the presence of youkai was an everyday phenomenon in the West. On her last visit, she had never ventured off her uncle's property and if there had been any youkai in the Takase manor in that time, she had been blissfully unaware of their presence.
Perhaps she would confine herself to the manor again and avoid encounters with non-humans.
Feeling better for having found a way to resolve her predicament, Izayoi turned her mind to other matters. It occurred to her that she had never been in a situation of visiting a man before... and why that was.
She hesitated before speaking. "Juushi-san?" Izayoi ventured.
"Hmm?" was the distracted response she got.
Amaya was admiring the necklace, holding it up to the light. Shinju murmured appreciation for the remarkable clarity of the crystal and the fine detail of the etching.
"...Is it... proper for us to be visiting Hiroshi-san like this?"
"Why ever not?" The question was apparently surprising enough to distract Amaya; she lowered her gift and looked at Izayoi with raised eyebrows.
"Well, he is a man and we are unescorted—" She broke off when her cousin grinned.
"I see your concern," her cousin said. "But believe me, it is completely all right for us to pay a call to the nakodo. You'll see."
Puzzled but somewhat reassured, Izayoi nodded, wondering what it was that made the matchmaker different from other men. Was he a eunuch?
"Tsubomi is beautiful, isn't she?"
Amaya's non sequitur startled her. She hesitated before replying. "Hai."
Amaya was smiling at her, the necklace seemingly forgotten in her lap. "Most youkai are."
Izayoi forced herself to stay still, squelching the urge to fidget uncomfortably. The knowing way Amaya was looking at her was disconcerting. She elected not to reply.
"Mai-chan?"
"Hai?"
Amaya bent a shrewd eye on her. "I saw how you reacted to Tsubomi and Wakagi and that conniving fox. You were not staring because they were beautiful." Her voice softened, as if to make up for the difficult message. "They scare you, don't they?"
To admit fear was weakness, was the pinnacle of dishonor. So Izayoi would not speak. Yet, she had always been honest with Amaya and so she would not lie. Her averted gaze said it all.
She heard a noisy breath released on the other side of the seating compartment. "Mai-chan," Amaya began. She was silent until Izayoi looked back at her. "There is no need to fear them. They're people too. They just look a little different," and here her lips curved in a jaunty smile. She sobered quickly, her humor short-lived. "They're not monsters."
Izayoi tried to imagine thinking of youkai as equals – and failed. They were monsters, creatures who ravaged and killed wantonly. They were not civilized, or mannered or reasonable or... or honorable.
And yet, it was Amaya who said otherwise. Amaya, the older cousin Izayoi looked up to and trusted explicitly. The older girl had lived with youkai – presumably – all her life. She could not be so wrong.
Izayoi, on the other hand, had only secondhand stories to base her belief on.
Unbidden, the memory of the jewel merchant demurring Amaya's gratitude flashed in her memory. In her mind's eye, she saw Wakagi bowing, wishing her a pleasant visit. She recalled Tsubomi's sparkling charm and good humor.
Izayoi found herself in turmoil. They were not what she had imagined.
"Mai-chan?"
"I shall think on what you have said, juushi-san," Izayoi said, hiding her confusion. She did not think such an ambiguous answer would satisfy her cousin. To her relief, Amaya only nodded and did not pursue the matter further.
They arrived at Hiroshi's estate shortly after that. Looking out the window, Izayoi was surprised to see a sizable manor surrounded by well-tended gardens. The matchmaker was a man of some means, it appeared.
A figure in azure haori and black hakama appeared at the entrance as the carriage rolled to a halt.
Amaya climbed down from the carriage first, followed by Shinju. As Izayoi alighted, she heard a light tenor voice say amiably, "Amaya-sama, what a pleasant surprise."
For some unknown reason, the simple greeting made Amaya laugh.
Izayoi straightened her tsukesage with a surreptitious tug and went to stand with her cousin. Only then did she get a good look at the man... who was no man.
"Hiroshi-san, do not pretend that you did not know we were coming," Amaya chided while Izayoi tried not to stare at the nakodo who was youkai.
- - -
He had indeed known they were coming. He did not openly admit it but there was laughter in his melting brown eyes.
Izayoi could hardly believe she was sitting in a youkai's house, drinking his tea, attempting to make polite conversation with him.
"Hisui is well. She has gone with the children to see the rest of our clan," he was saying in response to Amaya asking for his wife. He had rich russet hair, pulled back at the crown to display his widow's peak prominently. A narrow face and slanted eyes and a sharp nose made him look almost vulpine. Besides the physical differences, his manner also struck Izayoi as strange. He looked – and sounded – like an amiable young man, yet acted the indulgent middle-aged lord. She wondered how old he was.
They were in a room that looked like the interior of any normal human home, with tea laid before them and a servant waiting silently just outside the screen door. The kamon – a stylized fox – was subtly worked into the woodwork framing the screens and painted on the lampshades.
The opening formalities of asking after each other's families had already been taken care of. Talk lapsed and silence fell.
Feeling stifled, Izayoi set down her teacup with care, making sure her hand did not tremble. She and Amaya faced the youkai, both seated seiza, with backs straight, legs folded beneath them.
"Hiroshi-san, I really must thank you for your generous gift. It is lovely," Amaya said, coming to the point of the visit at last.
"Ii-e, ii-e, Amaya-sama, do not mention it; it was a mere token," Hiroshi waved a hand expansively. "I do like to see my matches come to fruition," he said.
Izayoi darted him a shocked glance but his expression was deadpan, save the way his eyes danced. Glancing at Amaya, she saw her normally unflappable cousin blush and look faintly annoyed.
"So happy to have obliged you, nakodo-san," Amaya said caustically.
Hiroshi only laughed. "Is this the hime's first visit to the lands of the West?" he asked, changing the direction of the conversation.
Izayoi struggled for composure, the sudden attention catching her off guard. "Ii-e, Hiroshi-san. I visited once before, years ago," she answered, trying not to sound like a timid child.
"I see. For your health, is it?" he asked, startling her anew. "I detected some congestion in your breathing, hime; that is all," he soothed in response to her wide-eyed look.
He... detected?
"It is improving," she managed to stutter.
To her dismay, Amaya suggested, "Perhaps we can get a crystal to help you recuperate faster, mai-chan."
Izayoi shook her head quickly. "That will not be necessary, juushi-san. Time spent in this fair land will bring healing enough for me." She looked up and, quite by accident, her gaze tangled with Hiroshi's. In that electrifying, awkward moment of contact, her lips pulled up in an automatic, weak smile and then her instinctive fear asserted itself and her eyes darted aside.
In the next moment, she realized how rude was and felt her face heat in shame. Slowly, deliberately, she made herself look back at him to find him watching her with a slight smile on his face. The smile grew when their eyes met but he kept his lips mercifully sealed so that no hint of fangs showed.
"I wish you a swift recovery then, hime-sama. If there is anything in which I can be of assistance, please allow this humble servant to help." He rested his palms on the floor and bent forward and she immediately did the same.
"Hiroshi-san is most kind." She was a little aghast at his generous offer, ashamed of her stilted behavior towards him.
Neither civilized nor mannered, her earlier thought returned to taunt her.
She had been wrong.
Her visceral fear eased, just a little and the rest of the conversation felt less forced. Still, she was glad when Amaya took leave of their host.
"By the way, Amaya-sama," the nakodo said on their way back to the entrance. "The last time we met you mentioned trade with the East has been strengthened. I have some ideas that I'd like to get your opinion on, if you don't mind."
Seeing the glance the cousins exchanged, he added, "It will not take long. Perhaps hime-sama would like to stroll in the garden? I believe the wisteria is still in bloom at this time."
Izayoi caught the tiny, encouraging smile Amaya gave her and bowed in acquiescence. "I would enjoy that, Hiroshi-san."
"Yumi will guide you," Hiroshi gestured to the servant trailing behind them; a youkai woman with a feathery fall of blue hair.
"That will not be necessary," Izayoi said, attempting to mask her alarm with courtesy. "My maid Kuma will be company enough."
Hiroshi bowed and she returned the courtesy. "An honor to meet you, hime-sama. If I may be of service, please do not hesitate to send word," he said again.
She briefly wondered if he meant that he could arrange a match for her should she require it. The thought filled her with equal amusement and alarm. "Arigatou," was all she said.
She left them to their discussion.
The gardens were larger than she had at first thought, opening up to the wild slopes of majestic mountains in the south. She found the wisteria, violet and abundant, lining the way to the wilderness. Turning away from there, she followed a pebbled path that led to an open expanse of higher ground where a pavilion sat in solitary serenity, overlooking the gardens.
Within the pavilion sat a sou inlaid with shell and ivory that traced an intricate fox motif into the polished wood.
After a moment of hesitation, Izayoi gingerly sank to her knees behind the instrument. The view was wonderful; in the foreground, wisteria nodded in unison to the breeze while in the background, a waterfall formed a silver line down the mountain.
Her fingers went to the strings almost without her conscious decision. The wind bore away the first note she struck. She plucked another, and then another, slowly molding the melody of a classic song about mountains and meadows.
- - -
Author's Notes: So you're wondering where the Izayoi/Touga fluff is, right? Soon, it'll be here soon. There will probably be teasers for the next chapter on the LJ communityin the near future(see my profile for the link).
I should mention that there really is a classic tune called Mountains and Meadows but it's not of Japanese origin. The version I know is played on guitar by the amazing Brad Prevedoros. There might be tunes in praise for mountains and meadows in Japanese that I just don't know about.
Glossary
-chan - Casual term appended to name to signify familiarity and closeness
hai - Yes
hakama - A very wide pair of pants traditionally worn by men.
haori - Hip- or thigh-length kimono coat.
hime - Princess / lady
ii-e - Literally, 'no', but connotative can mean 'say nothing of it'
juushi - Older cousin sister.
kamon - Family crest
kimono - Generic term for clothing
mai - From juumai, meaning younger cousin sister.
nakodo - Matchmaker
-sama - Title/honorific, generic
-san - Most generic title for people
sou - 13-stringed koto or Japanese harp
tsukesage - Kimono with modest patterns worn by unmarried women, somewhat casual
youkai - Creatures in Japanese folklore. Some possess part animal and part human features. Generally have a sort of spiritual or supernatural power.