In a remarkable display of diplomacy and restraint, Inuyasha turned out to be willing to sheathe the Tessaiga after all. With him, Miroku had learned long ago, there was always a chance that stubbornness would win out over anything else. So he quietly breathed a sigh of relief when the hanyou proved willing to listen to Myouga and give Toutousai a chance to explain the situation.
Together they headed away from the impact crater that Toutousai's arrival had left in the road, moving closer to the forest where they would have some shade to rest in.
Miroku, who was well aware that all this was none of his business, found a comfortable place to sit some distance behind Inuyasha. That way he could keep an eye on the conversation without needing to be directly involved. While the others found their places as well, Sango drifted over. For once she was not accompanied by Kirara or Shippou; she tucked her hands into her sleeves, and kept sneaking glances over to where Inuyasha, Kagome, and Toutousai were clustered.
"So you're the old man that made the Tessaiga," Inuyasha began, when everyone had more or less settled.
"Yes, Inuyasha-sama," Myouga insisted, his tone the very essence of placating, as if he feared Toutousai might take offense at Inuyasha's brash behavior.
"Indeed," Toutousai agreed, "It was I who forged the sword from your father's fang."
A glance over at Sango revealed that she was now listening avidly, her pretense of not eavesdropping abandoned. Considering what she had shared about the creation of her own weapon—forged from the bones of youkai—her interest in any details about the techniques used to create a sword like the Tessaiga was a matter of course.
"All right. If you are the one that forged the sword," Inuyasha went on, his tone more challenging than strictly necessary. "I don't think you really came here just to sharpen it."
Toutousai's expression was completely unreadable. "I came here to teach you how to use its full power." It was difficult to tell if he was telling the truth, or if he was concealing some other motive. To Miroku, it seemed unlikely that the old man would have come all this way simply to teach Inuyasha about the sword. "However, I must warn you: if you prove unable to master it, I will take it from you and destroy it here and now."
There it was.
"You bastard, you came here to test me?" And there was Inuyasha's entirely predictable response. If they weren't careful, this situation could quickly turn bad.
"Right," Toutousai agreed, unfazed by Inuyasha's outrage. "My life is in danger. I want you to protect me."
"Protect you? From what?"
Miroku glanced over at Sango again, trying to gauge if she was as ready to step in as he was, but she was focused on Inuyasha and Toutousai and didn't notice.
"'Make a sword that is stronger than the Tessaiga, or I'll kill you.' That's what he told me." The old man gave a derisive huff. "What a stupid thing to say!" He shook his head. "Prove you've mastered the sword: protect me from him."
Miroku leaned over to get Sango's attention. "I'm not sure how that constitutes 'testing' Inuyasha's mastery of the sword," he murmured.
Sango shrugged. "Seems he's really just a self-serving old man," she whispered back, and he had to work hard not to chuckle in response. He found that he enjoyed seeing this side of her; she ordinarily seemed like an upstanding person, who avoided lying and always tried to do the right thing, but it seemed even she had a wicked side, underneath the exterior. He would have to remember that.
Suddenly Toutousai gasped, his eyes somehow going even wider and more bulging than they ordinarily were. "He's here!" he pronounced.
Miroku followed that bulging-eyed gaze toward the sky. It seemed that twice in the same day they would face a sudden arrival from above. This time it was no meteoric ox, but a two-headed dragon bearing a single rider. Wreathed in flames, it descended from the skies in stately splendor.
There was no mistaking the identity of this newcomer: long silver hair, fine clothing with a thick pelt of silvery fur over one shoulder, inhumanly perfect face. It was Inuyasha's brother, Sesshoumaru. And he had clearly come for a purpose.
Everyone was on their feet as he alit from his two-headed steed. Everyone except Toutousai, who crouched behind Inuyasha as if he intended to hide behind him throughout whatever would follow.
"Who's that?" Sango leaned close to ask.
"He's Inuyasha's older brother, the one I told you about," Miroku explained. He wasn't sure he liked the wide-eyed, impressed way Sango was watching the youkai's arrival. Then again, she hadn't yet seen how dangerous Inuyasha's brother could be, and awe was no doubt exactly what Sesshoumaru intended to inspire in any humans he was forced to deal with.
Although Sesshoumaru had leaped from quite a height, the descent and subsequent landing did not seem to affect him at all. In fact he landed quite lightly, as if he had dismounted on ground level rather than the air.
"Inuyasha," he said, his quiet voice reeking of aristocracy, a sharp comparison with Inuyasha. "Why are you here with Toutousai?"
He sounded calmer than Miroku would have expected, considering Toutousai had thus far managed to elude him, and Sesshoumaru did not seem the type to tolerate disobedience in those he considered beneath him.
"Simple!" Toutousai retorted, though it was hard to take his bluster seriously while he was cowering behind Inuyasha. "He's here to teach you some manners, you jerk!"
Sesshoumaru lifted one clawed hand, flexing the fingers threateningly. "I see. So you wish to die."
This was the Sesshoumaru that Miroku remembered from that first disastrous encounter: ruthless, so secure in his power that he did not visibly rile even when trading insults or preparing for battle.
"I guess I could make you a new sword if you defeat Inuyasha," Toutousai mused. It seemed Sango's assessment was only partially correct. Toutousai wasn't just self-serving, he was completely unreliable, willing to change sides in an instant if it might be to his benefit. Or for his survival.
"Hey!" Kagome protested. "Didn't you say just the opposite a minute ago?"
"Did I?" Toutousai asked, affecting an even more blankly unreadable expression than he usually wore.
Sesshoumaru smirked. "Toutousai," he suggested, hardly bothering to conceal the threat in his voice, "do not think you can so conveniently forget what you just said to this one."