A/N. Last chapter: Sesshomaru finds out he has lost both of his swords.
To sorrellkaren, I thank you so much for your patience with my story. You have kept me going when I went through my moments of discouraging thoughts. Thank you.
to 677: Thank you so much also for the encouragement. Your reviews keep us, SessRin authors, going. Your English is fine. I think you should not hesitate to leave longer messages. Thank you so much.
to Jcat007: Thank you so much for your encouraging comment. I do hope that you did go on to read chapter 2 though. I hope it didn't bore you to death. But if it did, will you please tell me why, so I can fix it.
to SpiritedRanger: Yes, the lady in the rose garden is Aika/Hasu. She has her reason why she rescues them. This chapter will answer it. And yes, 'puppy' would be what mother would call him, though I didn't put that in the story though, I hope the readers would imagine that scene. :D.
Chapter 19: Hasu's Scheme
On the preferred boulder at Hasu's lake, Takashi stood, his arms crossed. Eyebrows knitting on top of his grimace, his silence spoke volumes.
"Takashi, wipe that off your face," said Hasu, chuckling endearingly.
Her open arms spun around, swirling the water, sending ripples rolling outwards. "You have Sesshomaru's swords in safe keeping?"
"I have them hidden, guarded by my most faithful orge."
"Why didn't you destroy them?"
"I've tried. The swords wouldn't budge. Sending them into the underworld is too risky."
"I see. That was easy. I had overestimated Sesshomaru's power." Hasu chuckled girlishly.
"He was already wounded. If not, we had no chance."
"Oh?! By who?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Scooping up water with one hand, Hasu poured it over her shoulders. Tilting her head slightly to the side, she smiled at her warping reflection on the disturbed water surface.
"Why did you rescue him from my Meido, Hasu-sama? Sesshomaru is powerful. We should kill him swiftly when there's a chance."
"Sending him to the underworld might not guarantee his death. If his mother has the Meido Stone which I presume, she could open a path for him. Also, those two must live a little longer to play their parts in my scheme to unlock my power. If I succeed, Sesshomaru is but a toy inside my palms. Then, Takashi, he'll be all yours to play with. Make his death slow and miserable if you want to." Hasu chuckled.
"Have it your way."
"Besides, only Sesshomaru can lure his mother out. You'll need that Meido Stone. The Inu brothers is not the only bump in your path to rule over the humans."
"Hm."
Takashi leapt away, leaving Hasu to her nightly bath.
Once finished, Hasu rose from the water, nude.
Above the lake surface, a platform of petals welcomed her lithe steps. She hummed a sentimental love tune, her silky voice pervading the air. Her robe slowly draped downwards from her shoulders. A shimmery aura materialized, swaying lazily behind her.
Hasu glanced back and upwards.
The man, standing in the shadow of the trees on the mountain, was watching her.
He had been watching her for several nights.
Like flies sensing honey, the humans had come for the Phoenix statues, sooner than expected. Words traveled fast; nonetheless, Hasu was ready - the sooner the better for the needed progression of her plan.
All she had to do was to pretend defeat, giving away the Phoenix statues, putting them in circulation, free for the humans to grab.
The man, however, had not made one move.
Slowly, she stepped onto her lotus staircase, her mind churning - how to invoke the motionless man into action.
Suddenly, swifts of shadow swooped down behind her.
"She demon, give up your Phoenix statues," a man said.
Turning around, spotting a horizontal line of three masked human ninjas with swords ready in hands, Hasu shrugged her shoulders.
Sparks of lights glared from her eyes.
Being challenged, the ninjas stared back at her, unknowingly. They became rigid, immobile.
"Hmph, if you want them, come and get them, if you can that is," said Hasu.
Three tendrils of woven lotus petals shot forwards from Hasu's hands, making their way for the ninjas.
By some force, too quick for the eyes, the tendrils suddenly turned their paths back at Hasu.
She flipped backwards landing safely on her petal cloud.
During the flip, a red Phoenix statue fell out from her sleeve, flying towards the middle ninja, hitting his head, effectively waking him up from the dazing spell.
The ninja caught the statue. He then knocked his two comrades on their heads to wake them up. Together, the three ninjas leapt away. "We got the statue, leaving her to you."
The ninjas were speaking to the man, the spy who had been watching Hasu from the shadow. At the moment, he was standing in front of her.
Crossing his arms, smirking, he said, "Must be some valuable relic you have there. Pardon me, you had there."
"Hm, you're with those three men. How clever." Hasu rested her arms behind her back, a friendly gesture for the unwelcome guest.
"I have no association with them. It's you who is of my interest."
'He's not here for the statues?'
Hasu narrowed her eyes, sparks of bright lights flickered behind her lenses.
The man turned sideways. Undoing the sash around his ponytail, he used it to blindfold himself. "Better be safe. Those bewitching eyes of yours could become a nuisance."
"You're going to fight me in the dark?"
"No. I'm going to kill you in the dark," said the blindfolded man.
Hasu's glare darkened. "Who are you? And why do you want to kill me?"
"I'm Kohaku. I have been commissioned to take your life."
"A demon slayer, hah? Do not make me laugh."
A madness bunch of lotus tendrils flung forwards, whipping fiercely.
Kohaku leapt upwards and forwards, dodging the paths of the tendrils. Landing behind Hasu, he sent his sickle to the airspace under her feet. It split into three upward moving prongs, encasing her body, their sharp ends curving inward, all in position to spear her chest.
"Hmph."
Hasu slipped her dissipating body out from the wide gap between the sickle prongs, reforming in the air.
She chuckled, but stopped abruptly when a myriad of tiny sharp tongues sprang out from Kohaku's sickle, forming a thick case surrounding her body, leaving only a very small opening right at their level of her chest.
The end of a sword quickly closed the hole, plunging its sharp end into her chest.
Unable to escape the sickle case, she mustered all her power to push back the sword, preventing it from piercing her heart.
Kokaku was too powerful. His sword must have been made with some powerful demon's bone. She had underestimated him.
The wall of Hasu's power abruptly shattered. The sword pulsated forwards, pricking a tiny hole on her heart.
Hasu yelped in pain. 'It cannot be. I cannot die by a human's hand.'
She wasn't the most powerful demon, but she could at least escape from a human.
This human - was too skillful for her.
Unable to resist Kohaku's strength, the image of Uekya-sama flashed into her mind.
Hasu transformed into her true form and hid among the lotuses in her garden during a game of hide and seek. Uekya's hand caressed the petals of a lotus gently, a loving smile spreading his lips, "My lovely Hasu, it looks like I've found you. Come on out, the butterflies are waiting to play with you."
Kohaku's sword inched deeper. Perhaps, she was finally going to reunite with Uekya-sama.
Hasu closed her eyes, smiling. 'Uekya-sama, I love you, and I'm sorry.'
"Arghh!" Hasu yelped from the backwards slicing of the sword blade, yanking away from her chest.
The sickle case retreated, folding on itself into one blade, its attaching chain pulling it back toward its wielder.
Hasu widened her eyes. 'Why?'
"Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance. You won't get a second chance."
Tendrils dispatched from her hand, whipping furiously in chaotic patterns towards Kohaku, to no effect to Kohaku's agility.
Leaping through the air, Kohaku halted when he was within arm reach from Hasu. Stretching out a hand, he cupped Hasu's cheek.
Hasu recoiled from Kohaku's hand.
After undoing his blindfold, Kohaku gazed deep into Hasu's eyes with a glint of curiosity. One end of his lips turned up, his face glossed with gallantry. "I'm trained as a demon slayer because there are demons I would gladly destroy with no regrets. However, there had been great demons who had saved me, protected me, fought for me when I needed most. I forever appreciate them."
"Hmph. Doubtful. The human is an unappreciative and greedy race."
"Is that so."
A moment of silence ensued.
"Kohaku. My name is Hasu." From her sleeve, Hasu produced a Phoenix statue and handed it to Kohaku. "It's a gift for sparing my life."
"Hum." Kohaku turned the relic round and back, inspecting it, eyes smiling like a kid with a new toy. "My lovely Hasu, I'll keep it safe."
Launching a long rope, latching it around a tree high on the mountain, Kohaku swung out of Hasu's eye reach.
'My lovely Hasu?!'
Hasu smirked. Lovely? The only person who had called her so was Uekya-sama. The only person she had ever been lovely to was Uekya-sama.
No one else.
The gift she just gave Kohaku was his death sentence.
For the next several nights, warriors, ninjas, mikos, demons slayers came to challenge Hasu for the remaining Phoenix statues.
Hasu surrendered all the statues to them.
As they should be.
...