Back again!

Some pet news, since they're here to stay and are so adorable. Miguel and Tulio the mice have been settling well into their new home on my desk. They sit right beside me as I write these fics. I've actually taken to putting my ipad on top of their cage while I watch back episodes to write. They're both way past adorable and do take up a lot of attention, so please be patient while I get them settled.

I also have a new story up! An InuYasha fic called Catch The Rain. I'm really enjoying writing this fic, and I hope you will too if you decide to check it out. The others, In The Jaws Of The Wolf and Perfidious are also both being updated as regularly as I can manage, as well. I now have a loose schedule up on my profile, if you want to take a look and see what'll be posted when, provided my health is good

Until then, though, please enjoy Miasma 18

Miasma

Here the power is ruthless and the truth is deaf. Here the air is filled with the miasma of sin

- Jean Racine

The wait for Naraku to return was a long one. Neither Kagewaki nor I knew just how far away the village was, or quite how long it would take for Naraku to return. All we had was a vague promise that Naraku would return tonight. Still, neither of us wanted to sleep until we knew that the village had the news and was okay, even if that okay was in a state of mourning.

I had taken to running katas with the katana that Kagewaki had used tonight. The repetitive motions were helping to relax me somewhat, as they often did.

At any other time, I would have dragged a koto from the music room and taken to playing that. The music helped relax me more than the kenjutsu, but it was hard to forget that Kagewaki hated the koto with the face he had pulled when I had first mentioned it. Running these katas would have to do. It was good to focus on, at the very least.

It was funny, too, that I felt more relaxed now with a sword in my hand than without, now that the only threats I really had were gone.

Should something befall your dear Lord husband, it wouldn't be such a difficult feat to convince the castle workers that he was alive and well.

Perhaps not the only threats, but the ones that truly had anxiety coursing through me had now been silenced. I was safe from those threats, at the very least.

Though Naraku's threat wasn't a threat to me, was it? It was Kagewaki that should be worrying. Yet, I couldn't quite bring myself to speak that warning to him. Why?

It'd be so easy if you were the same person.

Heh, wouldn't it just?

Kagewaki moved in the corner of my eye, and I slid to a stop, turning to face him. He rose from his spot, lifting a hand to me. "Continue, please. I just need some air."

"Alright." It was quite a muggy night tonight. There was something in the air that made the air close and uncomfortable. I was sure, though, that part of that uncomfortable overheated feeling was down to how bothered we were by the events of the night.

A breeze passing through the room would do the both of us some good.

I slid my foot across the wooden floorboards as I returned to my katas and he slid open the door. The breeze that danced through the room was blissful. A pleased sigh escaped my lips as cool air flowed over the nape of my sweaty neck. Oh, that felt good.

A surprised noise sounded from my husband. "The woman demon slayer. She still has life."

That ended my attempts to get back into practicing katas real quick. "She... what?"

I lowered my katana and jogged towards my husband at the doorway, looking around him as I got there, grip flexing loosely on the hold I had on the katana.

He was right. From one of the dirt mounds I could just see at the edge of the garden, one of the Slayers had crawled across the garden back towards the castle building. A young woman in a pink and black suit. I recognised the suit. She had been one of the two that our men had slain - one filled with arrows and curled around the other. I hadn't realised one of them was a woman.

Not a woman, I thought to myself, getting a good look at her through the dirt that clung to her skin. Just a girl. She looked so young. There was no way she was past her teenage years. I'd be surprised if she was much older than my sister, a girl that was barely fifteen. This really was a different time, when a girl as young as this went to war against demons.

I nudged past Kagewaki and stepped down off the veranda, calling back to my husband over my shoulder. "Go get some servants, and anyone with medical experience."

His footsteps disappeared back into the room without a breath of pause.

Good man.

I crouched down by the woman's head, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. One of the only uninjured parts of her, I noted unhappily as I took a look down her body. It wasn't a pretty sight. Not in the slightest. Most of those wounds had to be our fault, too. They were mostly arrow wounds. I could see some of the snapped-off shafts of arrows through the cloth and dirt.

"Can you tell me what hurts?" I dropped into the important questions right away. There was no use wasting breath on 'are you okay?' when it was clear she wasn't. "I need to know in as much detail as you can manage."

Her body was shivering under my hand as she laid her cheek against the ground, giving up her attempts to crawl to the castle now she was found.

"My back, where Kohaku- the demon caught me with a chain scythe." Her body wracked with a sob, but she continued on with an analysis of her wounds. Mostly arrow wounds, some still containing heads broken off inside her. She could feel them as much as I could see them. There were a few smaller issues I wasn't worried about right now - strained muscles, a twisted ankle. Those could wait and rest. The open wounds were a much more pressing issue.

She was a surprisingly good patient. Clearly, this sort of medical conversation was something that happened often enough for her to be familiar with how to talk about it. In this day and age, I didn't know whether that was impressive or sad. The poor girl had hurt a lot if she could run through wounds like this so clearly even when she hurt so bad. She had experience with listing off injuries.

It made me a little sick thinking about it.

"Okay," I said calmly, eyes lifting to the veranda when a handful of servants - both male and female - filed out, followed by my husband. "We're going to get you inside and we'll clean up your wounds, then see what we have to do from there."

This was the most bedside etiquette I'd had to extend for a long while. It was taxing when all I wanted to do in the moment was scrub down and get stuck into her., to get everything else that was stuck into her out of her.

The woman nodded slowly, her cheek brushing the ground.

"You two, get her inside. Carefully." The two men I had pointed out hopped up right away to do what I'd told them, while I turned to my next instructions. "You three, go fill buckets with warm water. I want her bathed as best as you can. Clean up all that dirt, everywhere. I don't want her on her back. Sit her up, but when she's down, lay her on her stomach. Kagewaki, clear your futon. We're laying her there."

She wouldn't be comfortable moving her any further afield right now. Kagewaki could give up his futon for one night.

The women jumped up and disappeared immediately back into the castle. Kagewaki followed them without pause.

That left one man kneeling on the veranda. He and I winced sharply when the woman cried out, not enjoying being lifted. I didn't blame her in the slightest, but I tried to block it out as I hoisted myself back up to the veranda and knelt beside the man. "You're the physician here?"

"Yes, my Lady."

He was an older man, perhaps in his fifties, hair already greying heavily.

"You were brave," he began as I made to start discussing her wounds and care, "to look upon a body so mangled as it was. Rest assured, I will do what I can to help her pass comfortably."

Pass? As in pass on? Not happening. "We can save her."

He apparently didn't think so. "Her wounds are too grievous, my Lady. We can do nothing for her in that state."

This was a different time, I tried to tell myself. This was a long time in medical history's past. People here couldn't do, hadn't been trained to do, all that I could. The medications, the drugs, even the equipment that I was used to wasn't available in times like this, particularly to a Warlord, who focused on fighting over all else. Times just were not the same here.

No matter how much I tried to tell myself all that, I was just getting angry at the thought.

Was this really how injury was looked upon here? If you couldn't slap a bandage on it quick, then there was no point? No, I wouldn't accept that. I couldn't.

"We're not just letting her die. That's not happening," I told him, tone brokering no argument.

Or so I thought. The physician wasn't hearing me just as much as I wasn't hearing him. "My Lady, there is no use."

Kagewaki stepped out to join us on the veranda again, warm eyes turning between us when he noticed the heavy frustration in the air. "Aoto? Nori?" he prompted us both.

Aoto was the first to speak. "You should endeavour to control your wife, my Lord. She is being unduly unreasonable in the face of such a tragedy. Weak-willed women have no right to make demands on with fragile constitutions."

Fragile... constitution.

Me?

I could barely form a thought through my disbelief. Weak-willed woman with a fragile constitution, was I? I'd like to see how weak-willed he would be after going through the years of training as I had. Had he ever run on just coffee and spite for years? I doubted it.

"Nori?" Kagewaki questioned.

It took me a minute to focus myself enough to not just lash out at Aoto.

"I can save her. I will save her." I gestured towards the young woman being prepared for a bath through the open door. Our eyes met, and I held him fast. "I'm not going to just give up and let her die. You understand that, right?"

Kagewaki nodded slowly. "I understand your good intentions, my wife, but-"

"I don't want to hear it," I cut him off, holding his gaze steady. He fell silent right away. Good. Smart man. "I spent eight million yen on medical school. I'm not about to let that go to waste because a physician thinks a trained surgeon can't do her job. I am saving her. That's what I was trained to do. Bring broken people back from the brink. You two can either get out of my way or I will cut you down to do it."

I was not playing around with these stupid games.

I'm a fucking trauma surgeon and I'm going to do this, whether they believed I could or not.

I was regarded with intense brown eyes for a few long moments before he relented. "Aoto, you will work with her."

"But my Lord-"

"Aid her," my husband insisted with a strength I didn't think he possessed. Maybe he wouldn't be totally lost in his father's position after all.

The physician certainly didn't look happy about it, but he nodded, expression sour. "Yes, my Lord."

I let the silence run for a few moments before addressing Aoto. "The women are getting her cleaned and prepped for surgery. I can handle that. From her rundown, it's the scythe wound I'm most worried about. There are a lot of arrow wounds I need to stitch up, but I've managed plenty of those in my time."

It was truly astounding how many people got hit with arrows, even in this day and age. It was almost a game to see how many people a day would come to me with arrowheads stuck inside them at the hospital now. Not all trauma surgery was rushing to theatre with an almost-dead patient. Sometimes you got stuck with the smaller, boring jobs.

"I'm expecting you to take over post-op care. Keep her wounds clean, dry and bandaged. Make sure there's no infection spreading, set up a pain management regime. Anything that girl needs, you do it. You know the medicines in this region better than I do. Make sure it gets done."

I waited for him to nod to continue. "Now we need to talk anesthetic. I can't operate with her awake. The stab wounds too close to her spine. What do we have in terms of anesthesia here?"

"Ane-thesia?"

I did not like that he didn't even know the word.

That made my life a thousand times more difficult.

"Right," I sighed, leaning back and looking up at the night sky, watching the stars twinkle. It was a lovely clear night. "We need her knocked out. That's non-negotiable. Alcohol just won't be enough, no matter how much she drinks. Saké is out. Anesthetic... Anesthetic... Ketamine? Not this century. Mmm... Tsusenan, perhaps... Morning glory, monkshood, Szechuan lovage... shit."

I couldn't remember. That was out of the picture, then, too.

I rubbed at my temples as I tried to come up with some solution. There had to be something we could use.

Anything.

I didn't care how unorthodox it was. Anything was better than nothing.

What could knock someone out long enough to perform surgery on them, that was potentially available in Ancient Japan? That was a tall order, but there had to be something. An easily treated poison? A drug? I didn't care what it was, as long as it worked and she could be healed after.

"Oh!" My head snapped up. "Opium! Did your father smoke opium?"

If I ever wanted someone to be a drug addict, now was the time. I could be a judgemental bastard about it after I saved that girl.

Kagewaki wasn't quick with his tongue, looking at me confused. What could I want with a drug like opium right now when we were talking about trying to save a woman's life? Well, I could show him if he answered right.

"Come on, come on. We don't have all day. Was he an opium smoker or not?"

"Yes," he finally gave.

Perfect.

Thank you, Nagasaki Hitomi, you terrible, terrible human being. "Good. We'll need some."

After giving Aoto a list of just about every makeshift item I could think of that I'd need during a surgery, I laid back on the veranda, eyes slipping shut.

It was getting late. Way too late for me to stay up and actually perform surgery. I'd probably do more harm than good if I cut into her now. We'd have to wrap the wounds once they were clean and I'd perform at first light. It was a risk, leaving her for a few more hours, but the risk was equal if I ended up doing damage to her spine because of it.

I let out a rough sigh, rubbing at my throbbing head. There was only so much stress I could handle in one day. This was a particularly stressful day. How did it just keep going on like this? Was it truly just this morning that I woke up to my first day as a married woman? It seemed like an age ago.

It was so quiet tonight, peaceful out despite the night's tragedies, and the horror tomorrow was sure to bring. It had been so long since I last performed surgery. Now was not the time to be rusty. I hoped I could just get back into it without issues. I had to save this girl. I had to. There was no other option. Nothing else I would accept.

When I woke, I was achy, unhappy and totally unready for the day.

I moved through getting ready and eating breakfast in a bit of a haze.

Before I knew it, I was knelt in front of the prone body of the unconscious woman I was bound to save. Sango, one of the women who had bathed her told me as I stepped into Kagewaki's chambers.

Sango.

Pretty name. I hadn't even thought to ask her. My bedside manner was abysmal at best in the hospital, but it had never been so bad that I hadn't asked my patient for their name, or at least read it on their notes. Just goes to show how stressed I was about everything happening. I forgave myself in the wake of that, but I told myself firmly as I began cutting through pale skin that I needed to make a point of asking people their names personally before I cut into them.

That wasn't a personal target I ever thought I would need to make for myself.

Well, it was a strange time. I never thought I'd be princess, then Lady of a castle, either. Not since I'd grown up and got a real job, much to my inner child's disgust.

A job that was exceptionally difficult to do without trained professionals around me. I'd never thought I'd be doing surgery quite like this, and boy did I never want to do it again. The women surrounding me were quick to pass up the sight of blood and debris and disappear out into the halls to recover. Aoto had a slightly stronger stomach, but he, too, was struggling with the sight more than I thought possible for a doctor. Particularly one from this day and age. When war was everywhere, shouldn't a doctor know horrific wounds?

Aodo clearly wasn't so adept with truly horrific wounds.

Sango's body was still not the most beaten up that I'd fixed up. I was lucky that the wounds weren't fatal, and so was she. If they were worse, I might not have been able to do anything here.

But after way too long hunched over her body, I had the girl sewn up again.

Kagewaki found me in the baths an hour later, staring down at the pink-tinged water.

"She is awake."

My head dropped back to look up at him. "She is? She smoked enough to be unconscious for way more than just a couple hours. That girl must be a beast. Give me a minute and I'll come do follow-up with her."

Instead of walking away, Kagewaki crouched beside my head, reaching out to stroke a hand over my damp hair. He wasn't dressed as he usually was in a fine kimono today. He wore a simple kosode and hakama. I hadn't seen him in such regular clothing before. When he was feeling low, he dressed for comfort over practicality. "What you did today was something incredible. I have never seen someone come back from such wounds. That she is awake now is a testament to your skill."

"Where is this flattery going, dear husband?" I questioned, turning around so I was facing him, pushing myself up so I could press a kiss to his lips.

"It needs to be said."

I let out a light chuckle. Did it? I'd done what any other doctor would in the situation, hadn't I? Fought my damnedest to keep my patient alive. "Stop distracting me and let me dry and dress. Go to Sango and see if there's anything we can do."

He stood and turned to the door, but looked back over his shoulder when I called his name.

"Has Naraku returned?"

He shook his head.

Damn. Naraku had said he'd be back last night. Something had to have happened for him to be delayed by a full day. Naraku was a reliable man. Whatever had gotten him caught up was something big.

I hoped he was okay.

He was a demon. He had to be okay, right? Demons were supposed to be strong and hardy.

The Spider demon was what took up all my thoughts as I moved through the motions of drying, dressing and heading back through the halls to my husband's chambers.

Sango was laid on her side in the middle of the room in a fresh futon, covered in a simple kosode. Kagewaki, Aoto and a servant knelt around her body, keeping her company and watching over her.

"-Deepest apologies," Kagewaki was saying as I moved to take a seat next to him, laying my hand on his thigh as I did. His hand rested on top of mine. "You lost your family and fellow villagers."

She didn't so much as look at him.

That... wasn't a good sign. "Sango." I reached out and set my free hand gently against her shoulder, avoiding the arrow wound I had sewn up neatly. "I'm the one that sewed you back together. My name's Masanori. The surgery went well on my end, but I need to make sure you're feeling okay and nothing's wrong on your end."

Her eyes turned up to me after a moment. I let out a little chuckle that I tried to hide behind my hand. That girl was still high as a kite. No wonder she was quiet. "I'll ask again later, maybe when you've found your tongue again. I'll check each site then, as well. Make sure everything's looking a-okay."

Now the hard bit was done, we had to tackle the difficult bit. I'd done all I could. Now it was Sango's turn to heal.

I'd do what I could for her, but in times like this, it was in the hands of the fates now. I just hope they were kind to young women like Sango.

"Young Lord, my Lady," a familiar voice spoke from outside.

My head turned up, searching out the familiar pelt quickly and relaxing some when I saw it as pristine as ever. He was back and he was safe.

Information Time!

Katas - A kata is a fixed pattern of movement to practice a martial art. They differ with each martial art, but they're a big staple. I couldn't tell you how many hours I spent doing katas when I was learning Judo as a kid.

Chain Scythe - The kusarigama is a Japanese sickle-like tool called a kama with a weighted chain mounted on the end of it. The weapons were first developed in the Muromachi period, so its presence is pretty accurate to historical Japanese weaponry

Eight Million Yen - So it costs something like 1.4 million yen a year for all general expenses when studying in medical school in Todai, the school that Nori went to. Nori has spent a lot of money learning to be a doctor, and she is not letting that go to waste, no sir

Anesthesia - So the first recorded use of an actual general anesthetic in Japan is in the 1700s, by a surgeon called Hanaoka Seishu, who learnt his techniques from both the Chinese and the Dutch. He called that potion tsusenan. We're, of course, a couple hundred years before that here, so there isn't an actual anesthetic she can use. Alcohol has been used for going on 10,000 years to dull pain for surgery. Opium has been used for going on 5,000 years in China. Ketamine is still used as an anesthetic today, but wasn't discovered until the 1950s. I chose to use Opium because it's like the best option Nori would have on hand in this particular setting. I am not suggesting you go take opium to do your own botched surgery. That's an insanely bad idea. Do no do what Nori is doing

Review Corner

AmoreDellaLuna - I'm not surprised you feel sorry for him. The boy's gone through a lot, and still has more to go through. Oh, there'll definitely be some good Nori and Naraku scenes coming up. Next chapter has a scene I'm excited for people to read. I'm glad you noticed that difference! It's subtle, but it's there; Nori is way more comfortable talking to Naraku. She doesn't really check herself or try to sound dignified around him like she does with Kagewaki

You don't know how excited I am to have Sango here in this fic. I love Sango as a character, and I can't wait to see more of her. You will get to see a lot more of her in the next couple of chapters. I'm so ready

I've also just started playing Secret of the Cursed Mask, and boy I'm loving it so far. I've only logged a couple hours on it, so I'm still baby on it so far, but I'm excited to see how the game is going. I'm hoping to get the InuYasha end first. We'll see how it goes. After the InuYasha end, I'm gonna try and get the Sesshomaru end. I do love those boys. Has anyone else played Cursed Mask? Any tips you want to share with me?