Chapter Three

The next day Haruna woke up she found herself alone in the room. She took her time, staring at the ceiling. Minutes had passed and there could be no sounds heard from the house. She turned her face to the left. The katana was still where she had seen him the day before, unmoved, and so were her belongings wrapped in the blue and white specked linen cloth that she carried with her. She pushed herself upright and opened her kimono to inspect the bandaging: it seemed to have been done right. Her arm reached over to her belongings and she pulled the bundle closer to her.

'This has been all wet...' she remembered.

She opened the knot that kept the bundle closed to reveal the items she carried. There was a scroll sealed with a wax stamp. It looked like it had been stored for a long time because the paper had been yellowing except on the side where it touched a surface in the past. It was about 8 inches wide and 2 inches thick. Yellow strings decorated the sides of the wooden stick the scroll was rolled around. A sigh of relief went through her body.

'Good... it hasn't been damaged by the water'.

She knew the scroll was protected by a blessing by an honored priest, but feared the worst nonetheless. Besides the scroll there was her wallet, which kept a reasonable amount of money. There was also a small figurine of a female boddhisattva carved out of jade which was quite precious. She of course had clothing with her, in fact two kimono's, underwear and an apron. There was also a small stack of paper sheets with a flaxen rope holding them together which had turned into a pulp, the ink markings faded. There was also a small inkwell with a pen to match. And lastly, a pouch of rice and dried curry paste, completely ruined in the course of her ordeal.

'I'll ask someone to throw this away for me'.

She took out the ruined food and closed the bundle. Then she turned to the katana which was so important to her. On closer inspection she could see that luckily it did not need anymore attending besides some polishing of the wooden sheath. Her fingers trailed the lines of the hilt. For a moment she hesitated, wondering if she should take a look at het blade, but felt an unpleasant sensation in her fingertips coming from the sword and thus placed it back against the wall. At that moment Setsuko walked in.

"Owh, I see you're quite awake! The doctor is out gathering herbs, but when he comes back he'll want to take a look at that wound of yours. Perhaps you want my help dear, to get some fresh air?"

Haruna nodded in agreement.

"Uhm, thank you, Setsuko-san? …Right? Would you please throw away this spoiled food for me?" She pointed at the package of rice and curry paste.

"No problem! First let's get you to the porch, here, wear this padded coat".

She supported Haruna while they walked out of the room and entered a hallway which had sliding doors to three other chambers. The hallway ended into another room. There was the front door of the house. They exited the house where Setsuko helped her lower herself on the edge of the porch. For the first time she could have a look at the village where she had ended up. On the right side of her were other houses build in a similar fashion, some with porches and others not, each having large stones on their roof to help against hard winds. In front of her was a mildly hilly landscape: a large field of green with tufts of trees that reached the jagged mountains, whose feet were covered by thick forest stretching beyond the horizon. A river coiled and carved itself along the hills, a dirt path accompanying its track.

'It's quite peaceful here, I don't sense any demonic aura.'

The village had one main road which led to a larger and enclosed building, probably the house of the village leader. There the road ended into a T-junction, on each side of the dirtpath more houses were build. It was a medium-sized village. From a distance she could make out some people talking close to that stone and clay wall. She couldn't make out for sure, was that the guy who had watched over her the other day? The figures turned around and one pointed in her direction, the one she thought to recognize started to come her way. When he got closer she saw he was indeed that young man. His hair was tied in a knot on top of his head and even from a distance the shine of this outfit revealed it was made of good quality fabrics. Was he a member of the village head's family?

"Goodmorning Yuna-san!" he said when he reached her.

'Yuna-san, that's right… I lied about my name,' she thought in shock, she had almost forgotten about that.

"Goodmorning! Uhm, what was your name again?"

"We've not been formally introduced, I'm sorry. My name is Akira Shobo, son of the village leader."

She bowed her head in respect.

"Pleased to meet you, Shobo-san".

They exchanged the usual formalities and he inquired on her health, on which she answered he shouldn't be worried and that she was taken good care of.

"You know, it was I who had found you that day. See that gate of wooden poles over there?" he pointed to the west. A path had been cleared there through the woods with a gate marking it.

"You were unconscious and your clothes were stained with blood from your wound, next to that you were cold as stone. I commanded the other village men to help me carry you to the doctor's house, but we all feared it was too late. You have guardian spirits watching over you."

"Ah… I see…" Haruna replied, feeling uncomfortable.

"I may be indiscrete to ask, but what happened?"

"Ah… well… that katana, you see. It's a family heirloom with a lot of history. I was chased down because of that and… I got stabbed. I fell into a river which seemed ultimately my luck, since I could shake my pursuers off. Probably they think I'm dead. I wandered through the wilderness… and I-I don't know. It's confusing after that, I don't remember reaching that gate."

"Bandits chased you down?" Akira exclaimed shocked, "what an awful experience."

"Hmm… yeah…" she answered distantly. Akira had jumped to an early conclusion, thinking she was chased by bandits. It could be a good cover as to why she was injured, should she go along with this story? Her mind was racing. She was sure that there were other people still looking for her and now that she was unable to travel she was an easy target.

"At first they seemed like a group of monks, but that was just a disguise to earn trust of passengers. They caught me by surprise."

"What a loathsome thing to do! Bandits dressed as monks! This is serious news… I shall inform my father later, perhaps we should warn the neighboring villages."

"Ah… that's necessary?" she replied laughing sheepishly.

"Of course! They might offer these men lodging while they are bandits! Why? Are you worried they will come for you? Is that it?" he was starting to get worked up, "don't worry Yuna-san, now we can prepare ourselves for an assault, we have enough trained men here to protect ourselves."

"Ah, but I can't let you be in danger because of me, I will have to leave soon…"

"Leave soon?" another voice spoke before Akira could come up with objections. They both turned around to see that Ikeda had returned.

"Do you understand? You're still suffering from the after effects of anemia and your wound is difficult to heal. I had to use an experimental medical technique to close the wound. Without supervision of your recovery its likely to infect or re-open. You've had damage to your internal organs. You can't leave soon at all, if you know what's best for yourself you'll stay here until I tell you you're healthy."

'It's that serious?' she absentmindedly pressed her hand softly on the wound. Well, after what she has been through, should she be surprised? A feeling doomed up she might need weeks of revalidation, it scared her. Akira mentioned she had been found by that gate. How did she get there? She remembered she was walking through a canyon and there were yokai… and there was a girl. That girl! What happened to that child? Was she okay?

"You didn't happen to find a young girl with me, did you? Around the age of twelve?" she suddenly exclaimed.

"Ehh, no…" Akira answered in surprise, "did you loose someone?"

"Ahh, I don't know," she answered and clutched her forehead. "I think I was with a young girl dressed in an orange kimono. She didn't look like a common villager. There are gaps in my memory, I can't remember clearly what happened."

"Hmhmm, I think that's enough for today. You mustn't stress yourself Yuna-san. Let me help you get to bed."

Ikeda got onto the porch and put his arm under that of the young woman and around her back.

"You can come tomorrow to check up on her if you would like, Shobo-sama," he said over his shoulder. "If you will excuse me".

"Sure," Akira replied. He stared at Yuna's back and saw how hard it was for her to walk, she was panting from the pain of the effort. A worried frown appeared on his forehead. Something about this woman made him want to take care of her. He felt responsible because he was the one who found her. If it wasn't for him taking a stroll along the border of the village... He shook his head. Right now he had to find his father and tell him of the news Yuna brought.

A/N: No Sesshomaru in this chapter, but His Elusiveness will appear in upcoming chapters. I'm trying to get to some point in the story before he and Haruna will properly meet and eventually team up. Can't wait for Jaken, I think he's so funny. Next chapter will be a bit longer and Kagome, Inuyasha etc. will have their first appearance in the story. Will update soon!