A soft whimpering woke Miroku in the middle of the night. He sat up and looked around Kaede's house. The fire was burning low, casting just enough light for him to make out the shadowy faces of his companions. Sango was still sound asleep, laying as close to her brother as she physically could. Inuyasha was sleeping with his back against the wall, as he almost never slept lying down. Shippo was curled up with Kirara. Lady Kaede was still snoring softly from her sleeping spot near the fire. Finally, Miroku located the source of the noise. He could see Hotaru thrashing in her sleep from across the room. As quietly as he could, he got up and crept over to the young girl. Her face was twitching in her sleep. Her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes could be seen moving rapidly under her eyelids. Her cheeks flinched as if she were grimacing.
Miroku reached out to wake her. The moment he touched her, he had a horrible vision. A wave of destruction overwhelmed him, for a moment he was aware of nothing but darkness and agony as if he had been plunged into the depths of Hell.
Then Hotaru's eyes snapped open with a gasp. She frantically pushed herself backwards, scrambling away from Miroku until she hit the wall. Her face was stark white and her eyes were wild with fear. She looked at Miroku as if he were an adder poised to strike.
Miroku was startled by what he had seen, but his years of training had taught him how to remain calm regardless of the situation. He slowly put his hands up in front of him where she could clearly see them to show her he was no threat.
"I only meant to make sure you were alright." Miroku told her. "You seemed to be having a bad dream."
Hotaru continued to stare at him. She was breathing quite heavily, her eyes were still dilated in fear. Miroku wondered if she recognized him. Perhaps her mind was still in her nightmare.
"Hotaru, you are safe here." Miroku assured her. He approached her as if he were approaching a wounded animal. He moved to place a comforting hand on her arm but she flinched away, he backed off a bit.
"How much did you see?" She asked.
"Not enough to understand." Said Miroku. Though that wasn't entirely true. He was fairly certain he understood one thing quite clearly. He had just caught a glimpse of the full extent of Hotaru's power, and it was more terrible than he could have ever imagined.
"Wouldja stop makin' so much racket?" Inuyasha grumbled from where he slept.
Miroku glared at his friend. "Come on." He whispered to Hotaru, "The fresh air will help you calm down."
Miroku stood up and started towards the door. Hotaru was still huddled in the corner. He walked back to her and held out his hand to her.
"I do not intend to harm you." He said. "Let's just go outside where we can talk."
Hotaru was shivering. She hesitated but slowly slid her hand into his, Miroku helped her to her feet and led her to the door. She stopped and cast a glance at Kohaku. She was always reluctant to leave him, even if it was just to go outside. Miroku touched Hotaru's shoulder, she flinched and started walking again.
Once outside Hotaru immediately sat down and pulled her knees to her chest. Miroku sat down next to her. Her shoulders were hunched, and she turned away from him. Fireflies began to appear around them, a few landed in her hair.
"The fireflies seem to like you." Miroku commented. "They must know your name."
"Fireflies carry the souls of the dead. Death has always been attracted to me." She put her finger out for one to land on. Miroku waited for her to say more. She did not. He wondered if her comment was referring to Lady Kikyo and Kohaku, her companions who walked in between the line of this life and the next.
Finally, after a very long time Hotaru dared to repeat her question from earlier. "How much did you see?"
He gave the same answer. "Not enough to understand." Hotaru buried her face into her crossed arms. " Would you mind answering a few questions?" Hotaru shrunk down even more, if that was possible. Perhaps she was trying to make herself small enough to disappear.
"You don't have to tell me anything you don't feel comfortable with." Miroku assured her. "You can answer as many and as few of my questions as you choose."
"Alright." Hotaru said, her voice was small and muffled.
"First of all, are you okay?"
Hotaru looked at him in surprise.
"Your dream seemed quite distressing. I understand how intense nightmares can be at times, particularly if they are remembering events that are best left forgotten. Are you okay?"
"Yes." She finally said.
"Whatever was going on in your dream, was it something that really happened?"
Hotaru looked down again. "Yes."
"Will you tell me about it?"
"No."
"Does Kohaku know about it?"
"Yes."
"Are you in danger?"
Hotaru hesitated. "I...don't want to answer that."
Miroku felt a darkness settle over them. He thought of the wave of destruction from the dream. He remembered the carnage from Hotaru's fight with Naraku.
"Hotaru, do you have full control over your powers?"
She was suddenly very tense and rigid. Even in the darkness, Miroku could see the fear in her eyes.
"I would like to stop answering questions now."
Another silence settled over them. Miroku contemplated what he had just found out. He couldn't help but pity this girl. She was clearly struggling with quite a lot of guilt and fear. He wanted to ease her burden, but he had a feeling that it was beyond his abilities. Instead he sat with her, silently. Watching the fireflies. After about an hour he stood.
"It's getting cold." He said. "Dawn is still many hours away. You should try to get some more sleep."
She nodded.
"Hotaru." he said before she entered Kaede's house. She stopped to look at him. "There's nothing I wouldn't do for Sango, and there is nothing she wouldn't do for Kohaku. I can promise you, so long as you are here with us, we will do everything within our power to keep you safe."
There was another long silence before Hotaru murmured.
"Thank you."
The next morning, Hotaru's nighttime disturbance was all but forgotten. She did not bring it up to Miroku, nor did he ask about it. It was clearly not something she wished to talk about.
As the days went on, Rin and Hotaru both seemed to steadily grow more and more comfortable around the village. Rin would now go off to play with the other children without hesitation. Jaken often chased after her in a furious state. Hotaru still preferred to stay close to the house, but she was becoming feistier. Her calm and pensive demeanor would occasionally give way to quick quips and sassy retorts. She would even joke around sometimes. Though all and all she was still an unusually serious child.
Hotaru mostly stayed by Sango's side. The two of them had become very close, very quickly. They were united in their despair over Kohaku, and soon became virtually inseparable.
Miroku still had so many questions for the young girl. He had attempted a few times to steer conversations with her in the direction of some answers, but she was not easily manipulated in such ways. She picked up on what he was doing every time, and she would quickly shift the conversation away from herself. She never got angry or defensive, but she made it very clear she was not going to divulge any information. Miroku respected her privacy and ceased his inquiries.
She was fascinating when it came to other subjects, however. She had extraordinary knowledge of space and what existed beyond their own world. She knew incredibly detailed accounts of history, and knowledge of the future even Kagome did not possess. She had a great passion for art, literature, and poetry. Miroku took great joy in listening to her speak at length on any one of these subjects.
However, she was not content with simply giving information. She had a hunger for knowledge that simply could not be satisfied. Once she became comfortable enough around Miroku to do so, she began asking him questions about every topic he had even the slightest bit of knowledge about. Miroku, of course, was more than happy to oblige. The two of them would often get lost in conversations for hours at a time.
Kagome was supposed to be gone for eleven full days this time. Which gave the group plenty of time to plan their next move. Sesshomaru had gone after Magahatsuhi, and his sword was the only thing that seemed to injure the noncorporeal demon. But that still left Naraku. He was wounded. He had lost all but one of his incarnations. For the first time, they had him at a disadvantage. Moreover, Hotaru seemed to have the ability to actually cause him damage. They had been hacking away at him for a year, with nothing to show for it. Yet Hotaru had encountered him once and his demonic aura seemed to have weakened by at least half. With her, they stood an actual chance in defeating Naraku once and for all.
However, they could do nothing until Kagome returned. Something that made certain members of their party restless. A certain white-haired member of the party in particular.
It was just past noon, about a week after they returned to the village, when Miroku heard the familiar sound of Shippo crying. The young fox demon came running into the hut and jumped into Sango's arms.
"Shippo, you get back here!" Shouted another all too familiar voice.
"Quick, hide me!" Shippo squeaked, as he burrowed himself deeper into Sango's arms.
Moments later Inuyasha appeared in the doorway.
"Where is he?" Inuyasha demanded. "Where is that little brat?"
"What's going on now?" Miroku asked with a sigh. Honestly, some days he felt as if he were a father breaking up fights between these two.
"Inuyasha punched me in the head!"
"The pipsqueak ate all my snacks!"
Rin spilt through the door, she had obviously been running very hard to keep up with the two demons. Jaken fumbled in after her.
"Inuyasha, please don't blame Shippo." She said, out of breath, but still incredibly polite. "He had told me about the ninja food Kagome brings him, and wanted to let me try some."
"Honestly!" snapped Sango. "Inuyasha, you are the only one here who can go through the well! Why don't you just go get some more food for yourself?"
"No way! Kagome said these 'entrance exam' things are real important. She's been goin' on and on about them all year. If I go over there and distract her before she's ready to come back it will be bad news for everyone involved. Ya got that?"
While Miroku was genuinely impressed by Inuyasha's respect for Kagome's request to be left alone, he was still incredibly annoyed by the fact he had to break up yet another fight between these two over food. Especially since either one of them could simply wait five days for Kagome to return.
"Did you really hit Shippo?"
Hotaru's voice from the corner of the room surprised everyone. Hotaru rarely spoke directly to Inuyasha. At first, Miroku had wondered if she was afraid of the half-demon, but soon it became apparent she was simply uninterested in him. She would occasionally watch him with an expression of amusement on her face, as if she seemed to find his various tantrums entertaining. But other than that she seemed content to ignore him.
Inuyasha, of course, ignored Hotaru entirely. He still didn't believe that she was the one who drove Naraku off. He insisted "no scrawny kid could do that". The fact she was traveling with Sesshomaru made him even less interested in her. While he took great pleasure in beating up Jaken from time to time, Hotaru and Rin generally didn't get in his way, so he generally treated them as if they were furniture.
The shock of hearing Hotaru question Inuyasha silenced the room for a moment. So Hotaru repeated herself.
"Did you really hit Shippo?" Hotaru's mystifying violet eyes were boring into the half-demon with calm indignation.
"Someone's gotta keep the pipsqueak in his place!"
"But he's only a kid. That's hardly a fair fight."
"So? Kid's gotta learn, don't they?"
"You can't just beat someone who isn't strong enough to protect themselves. That's dirty."
"He's plenty old enough to know not to take my stuff!"
"I thought you all shared your food."
"I had dibs!"
"It sounds like you're just being childish to me."
"Watch it, kid, you're startin' to piss me off."
"Seriously, Hotaru," Shippo said from Sango's arms. "Inuyasha won't go easy on you just cuz you're a little kid."
Miroku noticed the smirk that Hotaru was clearly trying to hide.
"Good." she said. "I won't go easy on him either. How about it, Inuyasha. Would you care to spar?"
Inuyasha looked as shocked as the rest of them, "Are you crazy?"
"Afraid you'll lose?"
Inuyasha's shock quickly subsided to his usual cocky confidence.
"Alright, kid, but remember, you asked for it!"
"You can't be serious," said Sango.
"Why not?" asked Inuyasha. "Kid's gotta learn who's in charge around here!"
"Hotaru, if you apologize now, you'll get off easy." Shippo whispered.
Hotaru didn't look ready to back down, on the contrary, she looked excited.
"Haruka-papa and I used to spar together all the time for fun. I've seen Inuyasha fight. He's impressive, but he has nothing on Haruka-papa."
Hotaru had mentioned her parents several times now. From the sound of it, she lived with one father and two mothers. Miroku had not asked how this arrangement came to be, but he deduced that Hotaru's father must be a very wise and lucky man indeed. She clearly held her parents in very high esteem.
"Ha!" Inuyasha was fired up now. "You're on, kid! But don't start crying when I beat you!"
"I can't believe this!" Sango said.
"Absolutely not!" Jaken piped up. "If anything happens to Hotaru, Lord Sesshomaru will surely…" No one paid any mind.
"Let's go to the forest right outside of town." Hotaru suggested. "That way you can even have home field advantage."
"Ha! I can't wait to put you in your place!"
Shippo spent the entire walk to the forest trying to convince Hotaru to apologize, but she didn't seem to hear him.
When they arrived at a suitable clear, Hotaru changed into her battle uniform, which she seemed to be able to do in a burst of light. She summoned a staff out of thin air. It was not her usual weapon, instead of a blade at the top there was a split piece of wood. Inuyasha drew his sword, but clearly following Hotaru's example, he did not allow it to transform.
Shippo let out a sigh of relief. "At least he's fighting with the blunt tessaiga."
"I don't think you're giving Hotaru enough credit." Miroku said. "I think she actually has a good chance of winning."
"What was that, Traitor?" Shouted Inuyasha.
Miroku ignored him.
"Yeah right!" Shippo protested. "She's done for."
"Are you confident enough to place a wager?" Miroku asked.
"Alright! I bet my whole share of ninja food that Inuyasha wins."
"You're on." said Miroku, "Sango, would you care to place a bet?"
Sango rolled her eyes. "I'm still hoping Lady Kaede shows up to put them both in their places." She said dryly.
Meanwhile, Hotaru and Inuyasha were discussing rules. They seemed to agree on no demon or magical attacks, no leaving the clearing, and first one to disarm the other wins. Miroku had never seen Hotaru look so spirited. She was suddenly so different from the quiet, insightful child he was used to. Though, it made sense, if sparring truly was something she often did with her father for fun. This must seem like a great game to her.
The fight itself was surprisingly short. It couldn't have lasted more than ten minutes.
Inuyasha charged first. With inhuman speed and agility, Hotaru jumped out of his way. Inuyasha stopped suddenly and looked around, locating his opponent once more, he swung again. Hotaru easily dodged. This continued for a while as she simply avoided Inuyasha's blows while she gathered information on his fighting style.
"Ain't ya gonna fight back? I didn't walk all the way out here just to swing my sword in the air!"
When Hotaru finally attacked back she did so with quick and furious precision. She waited for Inuyasha to attack, this time not dodging out of his way. Instead, she used her staff to parry his sword, she caught the blade in between the fork of her own weapon and gave a precise twist, sending the sword flying. She slipped underneath him so she could jab him hard in the stomach. While he recoiled, she swept her staff under his legs, dropping him to the ground. A second later, she was standing over him, with the point of her wooden naginata at his throat.
There was a stunned silence in the clearing. Even Miroku, who had been betting on Hotaru's victory, hadn't imagined such a short, efficient fight.
Inuyasha himself seemed split between indignant fury and complete bewilderment. Until Hotaru put her weapon away and offered him her hand.
"Good fight." She said.
After a second of confused silence, Inuyasha laughed and took her hand. He hated losing, but even he would have to respect such skill.
"Ya can say that again. You're one hell of a fighter, Kid. We'll hafta have a rematch sometime."
"Anytime."