Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; this is only a fanfic.

Authors Notes: I would like to take this opportunity to thank my 100th reviewer – shippousangoffe: incessantly bows: I never thought I'd make it! Thanks for the review sangofan89.

Volume II

Koji ma Oshi

(Good things, Many devils)

Chapter 19: Light and Shadows

Sitting atop his horse, Hajime twisted in the saddle and looked to the rear of the procession. He had planned to keep an eye on the one called Miroku, but he was not with the remaining monks.

It was no easy task trying to influence the others from the Buddhist sect to join their forces. Hajime had finally gotten comfortable that this would be achieved, however, that was until Miroku came along.

The young monk was not as reputable as most of the senior monks, but he came highly recommended by his mentor, Mushin.

It was actually Mushin who was extended the offer to attend the talks, but due to illness, he was unable to join them. Hajime felt the older monk, who had a penchant for sake, would have been easily persuaded to aid his cause. He would have compensated the monk with a quarterly stipend arranged for his dotage. Originally, Hajime had planned to use Mushin's weakness for spirits to his advantage, but instead he had sent his colleague.

Although Hajime was disappointed, it was presumptuous to think that the young monk that came in Mushin's place would be easy prey. Who knew this Miroku would have such an influence over the villagers. He spoke with them and they responded, he showed an interest in their ideals and they were willing to open up to him.

Having racked his brain the last few days, Hajime was relieved to find out through reliable sources that the monk indeed had a weakness. Instead of sake or money, it was the fairer sex... the young monk had a weakness for women and the daimyo had hopes of extorting that. He had planned to lure Miroku to the Keikoku-ikki today.

Leaning from his saddle, Hajime addressed one of the sekkou's near him.

"Junnosuke-san!"

"Hai, Hajime-sama," the scout appeared instantly at his side and bowed to his superior.

"Find the monk… the one called Miroku. Once you find him, you are to report to me immediately."

"Is that all, my lord?" the scout asked with a gleam in his eye.

Junnosuke was bloodthirsty. Unfortunately, he happened to be one of the best trackers and spies under his command. He was almost as good as the renowned shinobi scouts and was quite resourceful. However, he was hard to control at times as he had a hunger for killing. One could say, the scout's methods had an artistic quality and they were practically undetectable.

Personally, Hajime had no problem with that. However, he preferred to choose the time and place for such discretions, unlike Junnosuke.

"I simply want him watched!" Hajime snapped. "At least for now," he lowered his voice.

It appeared, Junnosuke thought; he was not allowed to have any fun this time. That was a pity; he had a new wakazashi he was dying to test. "Where do I find you, sir?" the scout asked in a bored tone.

"Where else?" Hajime gave a lusty chuckle. "With Mayura, of course."

The soldiers had made it safely through the mountain pass. They were now busy setting up camp as their superior completed the financial transaction with their guide.

Sango, or rather Koji, held out their hand as a bag of coins was deposited into their palm.

"It's all there," the sentry leader stated. "Forty yen, as promised."

Koji made a stiff bow, wordlessly turned and left abruptly without a backwards glance.

"Do ya' think he's a mute?" one of the foot soldiers asked his superior.

"Naw," the leader answered. "I've heard 'em talk before; got sort of a raspy voice."

They watched as Koji approached his recruiter, Akio. Although they thought the shinobi scout a little weird, the troops were grateful for his expertise in guiding them through the difficult pass.

"You ready to go?" Akio asked his recruit.

Sango simply nodded in response and they both turned and left the encampment.

About a quarter of a mile from the troops, Sango removed the jingasa and her braid spilled down her back. Pulling the mask from her face, she lifted her head to the sky and inhaled deeply, reveling in the fresh mountain air.

"Would you like to rest, Sango?" asked Akio.

"No… if we keep moving, we'll reach home by nightfall."

She and Akio continued their trek down the passage. They made small talk on the way, but neither was really focused on the conversation.

Akio thought of Nari. He was sure the procession had arrived at their village by now. The troops would set up camp on the outskirts, but a few who would enter the village, just to browse.

He trusted Nari wholeheartedly, but he knew how unruly a bunch of bored foot soldiers could be. Akio simply wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Sango's thoughts were of the children. She hoped they were behaving themselves and staying out of trouble. They promised they would, but sometimes trouble seemed to find them.

It was hard, as their mother, to see the look of disappointment on their face each time she had to leave. It hurt her to see them that way, especially when she was responsible. Sango did not know how much longer she could do this type of work.

She wanted to watch her children grow, to be there for each new phase in their development. She did not want to miss any of the twin's endeavors.

"What the hell is that?" Akio's panicked voice penetrated her thoughts. Sango looked up to see a giant boar devouring a horse a few feet away.

With its back to them, the air was thick with the stench of fresh blood; you could hear the bones snap as the beast chewed and mauled its prey. Sensing their presence, the boar looked over its shoulder and noticed Sango and Akio.

As it turned to them fully, Sango could see it was a demon. The former slayer could sense the shouki and the beast was three times the size of an average boar.

Sango's instincts kicked in immediately and she stepped in front of Akio. "Move back," she said quietly, her hand going automatically to the weapon strapped to her back.

"Wha…" Akio began. "You're not going to engage that thing in battle; are you?"

Sango did not respond. She was focused entirely on the beast in front of her.

"Leave it, Sango!" Akio instructed.

"We can't do that!" Sango snapped. "Those troops back there will be slaughtered. Now… stay still!"

She was a different person when battling demons. Gone was the soft-spoken mother, gone was their reserved, yet pleasant neighbor. This was the Sango - the demon slayer.

Snatching the scabbard from her back, she slid her weapon from its sheath to reveal a large Tessen - a fan, that when fully opened, covered her entire body. Sango had designed and made it herself.

The body of the fan was made from the remains of a youkai dragon's wing. It appeared light, but was actually heavy. It was flexible, but strong enough to withstand damage. The points of the fan were lined with the claws from a panther demon. The tips could slice through almost any substance.

This weapon was only used for occasions such as this. Only Akio, Rie and the children knew this weapon existed. Sango carried it in a sheath that was mistaken for an elongated broad sword when traveling.

Akio watched, transfixed, as Sango flicked the fan open halfway. Controlling it with her wrist, she rotated it behind her and crouched low into a cat stance. Her movements were fluid motion, as she focused intently on the demon. Seeing her ready herself, Akio clutched his kunai knives firmly in his grip.

The beast sensed the impending attack and abandoned its meal. Turning on Sango, the beast reared back, roared, stomped his hooves and then charged the demon slayer head on.

Rie looked up as the children entered the teahouse. She started to move forward, but stopped when she noticed Suiren was holding a monk's hand and leading him to a table. Shun'ei and the rest of the children followed close behind. All five children sat down with the monk and started talking animatedly.

Suiren moved away from the group and approached the serving area. The little girl came on Rie's side of the counter, washed her hands and began preparing a platter of Futo maki with slices of banishingo on the side.

This was odd to Rie, Suiren was similar to her mother about working in the teahouse. Neither liked it and they were not very good at it. The occasions when the little girl was called to help, they were subject to listen to heavy sighs and a lot of grumbling on her part. This had to be a special customer for Suiren to prepare a tray.

"Would you like some help?" Rie asked, looking over the child's shoulder.

"Yes… please, Oba-sama," the little girl turned with sparkling eyes, "the houshi, over there, has two friends joining him. Would you prepare trays for them and a pot of tea?"

"Well… why can't you do it, since you're already fixing one?"

"Oh… this is for him," Suiren pointed to the monk at the table.

Finally, Rie understood what the child was saying. She was preparing a special tray for the monk, made with her own little hands. Although a sweet gesture, Rie's protective instincts rose to the surface. Monk or no monk, she was going to find out what made this person so interesting to Suiren.

Looking over at Shun'ei, Rie took small comfort that all was well. The boy had a sixth sense about bad intentions. Although he was not as verbal as the other children were, the boy appeared relaxed in the monk's company.

"Why don't you take your tray to him, Suire-chan," Rie smiled. "I will bring the tea over."

"Thank you, Oba-sama!" she said, delighted that she could rejoin the others.

The old woman watched as the little girl maneuvered through the tables with her special tray in hand. Once she reached them, Rie turned back to the business of preparing tea.

"Does the hanyou belong to you?" Ichiro asked.

"He's not gonna hurt Roko and Goro, is he?" Chisato squeaked.

"Does the hanyou do whatever you tell it to?" inquired Yamoto.

Shun'ei remained silent.

"Well, let's see… no… no… and I wish." Miroku laughed at the children faces. "You see… Inuyasha is my friend; I don't own him and don't worry about the boys, my friends won't hurt them, but they will be punished. "Now…" the monk continued, smoothly, "… about Inuyasha. He listens to me because we are friends, just as I listen to him. Unlike him, I simply try to avoid trouble."

"That sounds something like us," Ichiro looked around the table. "We are all friends and we listen to each other. Shun'ei must be like you, Houshi-sama; he tries to keep us out of trouble."

Miroku eyes went to the boy; he was glad to have a reason to look at him again. The boy's senses were highly tuned, if he kept staring, the boy would withdraw from him and Miroku did not want that. The child called Shun'ei was quiet, he noticed, but that must be his normal behavior or his friends would have commented otherwise.

Shun'ei had started to squirm from the attention. The boy was glad when Suiren arrived and set the tray on the table.

"For you… Houshi-sama," she said smiling. "I made it myself!"

Yamoto reached over to take one of the rice rolls and had his hand slapped soundly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Suiren hissed.

"Uh… well, I was hungry, Suire-chan," whined Yamoto, rubbing the top of his hand.

"Where are your manners? The houshi goes first!" she snapped. As she spoke, the little girl, unconsciously, adopted her mother's habit of crossing her arms and pinning her victim with a death glare.

By now, Miroku's head was reeling as he stared at Suiren. First, the boy with his similarity to his lost love, now the girl was displaying her characteristics. The monk understood how Yamoto was feeling right now, having been on the receiving of Sango's wrath on more than one occasion. It was all a bit much for one day and Miroku found himself rubbing a weary hand across his forehead.

"Are you all right, Houshi-sama?" Chisato asked with concern.

"I'm just a little tired, is all," Miroku said in a flat tone, "we did quite a bit of walking today. Thank you, Suiren-san, it looks delicious and I am willing to share."

"Then you should eat first, Houshi-sama," Shun'ei said evenly and proceeded to place two rice rolls in front of the monk. Looking over his shoulder, he announced, "Oba-sama is on her way with the tea."

Rie was indeed on her way and they all turned to watch her progress.

Skirting through the tables, the old woman balanced the tea tray with ease. As she neared, Rie could see that Suiren had managed to wiggle in between Ichiro and the monk and was now sitting beside him.

Her eyes were focused directly on the monk. As they turned to her, Rie's steps faltered and she gasped before stopping completely. She felt the tray slip from her hands, but she could do nothing about it. She was spellbound by the sight before her and anticipated the sound of broken pottery.

The sound never came. Rie watched with wide eyes as the monk rose in front of her with the tray balanced in one hand. With the other, he encircled her waist and proceeded to walk her to the table where he lightly set the tray down.

"Well… that could have ended in a mess," he chuckled. He then turned Rie to face him and inquired with a disarming smile, "Are you all right, young woman?"

If Rie thought she was immune to any type of flattery, she was mistaken. The old woman did something she had not done in years… she blushed like a pubescent.

To say this man was handsome would not have done him justice. He was a tall, charming rogue with a voice that lured the senses. With the way he held her waist, he was no stranger to the female anatomy. His hold was one of comfort and none threatening, not many men took the time to know there was a difference. This was no monk, but a silver-tongued devil in disguise. It was that thought that snapped Rie back to reality.

Grabbing Miroku's hand, she firmly removed it from her waist. "Yes," Rie responded. "I don't know about the young woman, but I'm fine, Houshi-dono. Thank you."

Miroku felt relieved as he looked down on the old woman; there was a sense of humor under that stern expression she wore.

"There you are, Miroku," Inuyasha, yelled. He and Tsuneo had just entered the teahouse. "Damn it, man, next time leave directions; would ya'?"

The monk felt the woman beside him stiffen before she turned away. Thinking Inuyasha had offended her, Miroku hastened to make amends, "I'm sorry, ah…"

"Rie," she answered, not turning around.

"Ah… Rie-sama," the monk continued. "My friend is a little… uh… how do I say…"

"Its fine, Houshi-dono," the old woman interrupted. "I've heard worse. Just tell'em to watch his mouth around the little ones."

"Of course," Miroku replied. "That's as good as done."

"I'll bring your food to you shortly." Rie sauntered back to the bar, her mind a swirling mass of revelations.

What had startled her, as she carried the tray, was Suiren's uncanny resemblance to the monk. As she approached the table, they both turned looking like mirror images of each other. The same sapphire gaze, the same captivating smile and the lively, mischievous expression they wore. Was everyone else in that room blind that they could not see the likeness?

Before her thoughts had time to take root, his friend had called his name… 'Miroku'. It had been years since Rie had heard that name. The night they left the southern village, seven years ago, was the first time she had heard it. Sango had mumbled it persistently as her wounds were administered to. She had asked the demon slayer once before if she recognized the name. Sango claimed she did not, but the denial brought on a series of intense headaches to her friend; Rie refrained from asking again.

'Houshi-sama' was heard more frequently in Sango's mumblings. Although, Rie thought nothing of it at the time, there was now a connection. Could this monk be the children's father? The old woman was positive it was true, but only one question plagued her. What could have happened, that was so traumatic, to cause Sango… or any woman for that matter, to forget the father of her children?

He could be doing more important things than babysitting a bunch of do-gooders. Sitting a few tables away from his quarry, Junnosuke could see nothing threatening about this monk. Hajime must have gotten addle in his old age or had a spell of paranoia.

This Miroku traveled with a half demon, a novitiate monk and a kitty. He was led around by a group of children and kept old women standing upright. Yes… Junnosuke smirked; he could tell the monk was a real threat to Hajime's plans.

The scout would much rather be at the brothel with his comrades. At least you could get a good cup of sake there and not… tea. Junnosuke looked into the cup he had ordered, just to blend in, and felt nauseated.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Nari's fresh face appeared. "I could provide you with a fresh cup," she smiled at her customer.

"I'm sure you could provide more than that," Junnosuke turned to her fully, pinning her with a lusty glare. She had a plain, but pretty face. Her short-cropped hair was tousled and shiny and she smelled of tealeaves. "How about it, little lady, got any plans tonight?"

Nari was not as naïve as her looks portrayed. She clearly understood the customers query, but pretended not to. Smiling stupidly, she answered excitedly. "Why, yes!" she squealed. "My husband and I are taking our six kids to see their grandmother!" she ended by giggling like an idiot.

The gleam left Junnosuke's eye. Slamming his money on the table, the scout took one last look at Nari's slender figure and walked out of the teahouse. There were definitely better things he could be doing right now.

She had the most elegant hands and she moved with such grace. Hajime laced his hands behind his head as reclined on the futon and watched Mayura remove the ornaments from her hair. She was easily the most attractive woman here and it puzzled him why she stayed in this small village. The woman could hold her own with the best of them in Kyoto.

He had asked her once to relocate, but she had refused. She claimed to love the countryside and had no interest in the city. He did not believe her, of course, but he could do nothing about it.

Mayura was independent and had her choice of gentlemen callers. Hajime considered himself fortunate that she had accepted him. He was not exactly handsome, or young and definitely not rich by certain standards, but he hoped that would change soon. His efforts were more about opening the door on free trade with other countries than unifying this one.

There was money to be made and Hajime planned to be a part of it. Things had appeared to be going well… until a few days ago.

"Mayura-chan?" Hajime addressed the woman, "There is something I would like you to do for me."

The courtesan set the combs aside and turned to her client with a coquettish smile. "For a fee… all you need do is ask."

The mention of money did not bother him. Mayura was, after all, a businesswoman. They simply shared the same goal.

"I would like you to meet someone; a potential client." Hajime smiled slyly. "I doubt he is your type, however, I am sure you could find someone appropriate for him."

"Not my type, you say?" Mayura stood, grabbed a bottle of sake off the table and walked slowly to Hajime. "Should I be offended by that?" she asked in her smoky voice, trying to sound offended.

The courtesan kneeled and proceeded to fill his empty cup. She made herself comfortable as she shifted onto her hip and sat facing him as he drained his cup. "Explain, Hajime-sama," she continued. "Why is this 'potential' client out of my league?"

"That's not what I said, Mayura-san," the daimyo hastened to reassure her. "The fool is not worthy of your charms, however, he will require some convincing to be sure."

"He sounds… interesting," she purred. Leaning forward, her hand skimmed across his collarbone and she flattened her palm on his chest. "Tell me, Hajime-sama," she said softly. "Tell me everything."

His breath quickened at her touch and he reached for her. Mayura smoothly countered by gathering his hands in hers. The fool was so besotted; he did not notice she was controlling the situation.

"Who is this man, Hajime-sama?" Her voice was hypnotic as she lowered him to the futon. "Tell me," Mayura chanted. "Tell me everything."

The daimyo's eyes were glazed over by this time and his pupils dilated. Hajime's voice sounded distant as he began to speak; in his trance-like state he, indeed, told her everything. He informed her of his mission to either have the Buddhist sect join them or to vanquish them if they refused. He informed her that his plans were not to unite a country, but to make himself rich under the pretense. He informed her that the only person that posed a threat to his success… was a monk called Miroku.

To be continued…

Authors Notes: This is another informative chapter with not much action. However, there is a method to my madness.

Vacation starts next week…Yeah! Two weeks of R&R and I cannot wait! My family, however, has banned me from my computer and laptop. Therefore, I will be unable to write until I return.

Mind you, this is the age of high technology and all, but a good old pad and pen is still functional. So… just between us, I will still be writing. However, I will not make you wait until 7/24/06 for an update. I 'hope' to have Chapter 20: "Sango's Rebirth" up and posted by Friday.

banishingo – sliced pickled ginger

futo maki – sushi roll

keikoku-ikki – brothel

sekkou – military scout