The meeting with the village headman went well. Koharu was a good-hearted and hard-working young woman with a more or less impeccable sponsor to recommend her, and Miroku could be very persuasive when he wanted to be. And since on the road searching for Naraku was no place for an innocent young woman like Koharu, he was of a mind to be very persuasive indeed.
After extolling her virtues and explaining the dangerous nature of his own quest, he concluded with, "May we leave her in your care?"
"Certainly," the headman agreed. "We can always use another set of hands around here, and I can vouch for the men of my village. She will not come to harm here the way she did in her former home."
The headman and the villagers here certainly had the look of respectable, well-meaning folk. Miroku was tentatively hopeful that Koharu could indeed have a fulfilling future here. Though of course, that assumed that she would be willing to stay and give it a chance in the first place.
"I will go and get her, then," he told the headman, and took his leave.
Outside, the others were still gathered where he had left them at the base of the hill upon which the headman's house was built. Inuyasha seemed annoyed by the whole adventure, which was normal, and otherwise everything looked to be in order. After the way they'd reacted to Koharu's story—and that disastrous conversation with Sango afterward—he hadn't been sure. (It nagged at him again: had he really not asked her to bear his child? He was normally so thorough…)
As he approached the others, Miroku called out, "We've reached an agreement."
Everyone turned to look at him at once, which was disconcerting. More concerning was the way he could see hope shining in Koharu's eyes, and the stirrings of impatience on the faces of the rest of his group. Clearly Koharu yet held out hope that she would be able to continue Miroku's journey with him.
"I would like to speak with Koharu alone," he told them when he had finally reached them.
At least Inuyasha and the others were willing to go without protest, even if they didn't go quite as far as he might have hoped. They stopped just at the top of the hill, where they could still see and probably overhear everything that was about to happen. Well, he supposed that couldn't be helped. And it just might help them realize that he wasn't quite as bad as they were all acting like he was.
"Please understand, Koharu," he began.
"Miroku-sama!"
He'd intended to keep his distance, but the desperate young woman threw herself into his arms and he didn't have it in him to push her away. This was going to be difficult enough for her to hear already. There was no need to make it worse.
They were never going to see each other again. She could at least have this moment of closeness to remember.
"I know you wish to accompany me, and I wish that it were possible," he told her. "But in the battles that are sure to come, there is no way for me to keep you safe except to keep you away. The youkai that are after me are extremely dangerous and would not hesitate to harm you."
She clung even harder, as if that could prevent the inevitable.
"It will of course be painful to be separated again," he went on, "but you must be strong." He needed to choose his words carefully now, or he would cause even greater pain for Koharu.
"Couldn't you stay?" she pleaded.
"If I stay in one place for too long, my enemies will find me," he explained. The thought of Naraku, or even Kagura, finding this place and bringing harm to the people who lived here was repulsive. "And then they will destroy whatever they find."
"But, if you can't stay and I can't go with you…"
"There is no way around it," he agreed, but stopped short of what he had intended to say because it would be too painful for her to hear just now. But he thought it nonetheless. You should find another person to love.