Chapter 3: Crossing Paths

"Kasumi is certainly bustling with people today," remarked Izayoi as she and Sachi made their way through the town. "I know our town is very popular and lively, but it's unusually crowded today. I wonder why."

"My lady!" exclaimed Sachi, clearly shocked by her statement, "Don't tell me that you've forgotten about the festival?"

Izayoi gasped in shock and disbelief as she turned to look at Sachi. "I can't believe it's already that time of year! My goodness how time flies!"

Sachi laughed lightly as she replied, "Yeah, and I can never seem to get over how many people arrive here for the festival. It's not even for two more days and people are already flocking over here!"

Izayoi smiled and nodded in agreement as they continued onward, stopping in front of one of the shops. A middle-aged woman was manning the shop as she stood out front, greeting people that were walking by. The woman took one look at Izayoi and immediately recognized her. She smiled excitedly as she rushed over to greet her. "I can't believe this! Lady Izayoi, in my shop! I'm so delighted to meet you!"

Izayoi smiled shyly, then immediately put one hand up over her mouth and looked away briefly, something she always seemed to do whenever she was embarrassed or flattered. Then, she bowed politely to the woman as she said, "I'm delighted to meet you as well. Are you new to Kasumi?"

"Oh yes," replied the woman, "I just arrived in town and decided to set up shop here. With the festival rapidly approaching, my business has been doing pretty good thus far."

"I'm glad to hear that," Izayoi said sincerely. "You certainly have nice wares here. And those kimonos over there look stunning."

"Then you have excellent taste if you are admiring those kimonos. In fact, if you'd like, I can show you some that would suit you perfectly. Of course, you would look beautiful no matter what you wore!"

Izayoi's cheeks immediately turned red at the woman's words and she could hear Sachi giggling a little, indicating that she noticed the blushing. Izayoi hated the way she seemed to blush easily, which was always very noticeable with her pale skin. But she did her best to look and sound casual as she answered the woman. "Yes, I would dearly love to see any kimonos you have."

"Wonderful!" the woman said excitedly. "Wait right here while I go get the ones you should see." With that, she went inside of her shop, leaving Izayoi and Sachi to wait outside for her.

"She certainly seems very friendly," Izayoi remarked to Sachi.

"Yes she does," agreed Sachi. "And you shouldn't get embarrassed when people say that you're beautiful, which you are."

Izayoi looked away modestly and laughed timidly. Suddenly, a gust of wind began to blow, causing Izayoi's mass of long, raven hair to flow gently in the wind. Izayoi breathed in the air, smiled, and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the wind in her face. More gusts of wind began to blow, allowing Izayoi to continue to savor the feel of the wind blowing in her face and hair.

"I wonder what's with all the commotion," Inutaisho said quietly to Myoga as they walked around the crowded town. "Even for a town, it seems unusually crowded."

"I overheard someone mention something about a festival that's coming in two days," replied Myoga as he glanced around at all of the people walking past them. The more they walked around, the more Myoga noticed that Inutaisho was certainly attracting a lot of attention, particularly from the young women in the town. Some of them would stare in stunned disbelief, some would turn and whisper to each other, giggling excitedly, while some even tried to get him to look their way. Inutaisho hardly seemed to notice or even care as he made his way from shop to shop, trying to seem inconspicuous.

"Hmm, a festival you say?" Inutaisho finally replied. "Sounds interesting," he replied in a casual tone of voice. Despite his nonchalant attitude, Myoga could see that Inutaisho was interested in the festival and would most likely attend. Human rituals and events never failed to intrigue Inutaisho.

Just then, a gust of wind blew by, sending Myoga flying off of Inutaisho's shoulder. "Master!" he cried out as he was blown away.

"Myoga!" Inutaisho cried out softly as he looked around for his little vassal. Eventually, he found Myoga on top of a shop counter a few feet away from where he had been standing. "Myoga are you all right?" he asked quietly with concern in his voice.

"Oh I'm fine, my lord," Myoga responded. "It was just that wind. It knocked me right off! But I'm perfectly fine now."

Inutaisho smiled and sighed in relief as he looked down at Myoga. "Well I'm glad. You truly gave me a fright there for a moment. You could have been…" Inutaisho stopped in midsentence as he suddenly became aware of a scent that the breeze had carried forth. It was a beautiful, intoxicating scent; a floral scent, mostly of roses and cherry blossoms, mixed in with the scents of the trees. To him, it was as though he had just stepped into the most luxuriant garden in the middle of a lush, green forest. As he sniffed more, Inutaisho became aware that the scent was also definitely coming from a human. Captivated, Inutaisho began to walk away, sniffing more and more as he followed the scent. "I must find whoever carries that scent," he thought to himself determinedly.

"Master Inutaisho!" called out Myoga, then he immediately quieted, not wanting to draw any attention to himself. He noticed that Inutaisho seemed to be looking for something, and therefore decided to follow him quietly at a distance.

Inutaisho continued to make his way through the crowds, now sniffing more intently. "The scent is getting stronger," he thought to himself, "I'm getting closer." Eventually, he stopped as the scent was now incredibly strong, indicating that it was here somewhere. He looked around him, and then stopped and stared in disbelief as he saw where the scent had come from. There, a short distance away from him stood a beautiful young woman with long, black hair and pale skin. "It was this woman who carried that magnificent scent," he thought to himself, his expression stunned. "Judging by her elegant clothes, she must be a noblewoman. And that other girl with her must be her maid." He continued to watch the young woman intently as she was being shown different kimonos by an overly-helpful woman at the shop. Even though he was standing out of earshot, Inutaisho's superior hearing allowed him to hear most of what was being said. He watched as the older woman showed the young woman different kimonos and could hear her constantly flattering her. Eventually, he heard the older woman address the young woman by name. "Izayoi," he thought to himself dreamily, "Her name is Izayoi." Then, unable to suppress the urge, he sniffed once more, savoring her wonderful scent. "She's exquisite," he admitted out loud."

"Master Inutaisho?" asked Myoga, who had managed to catch up to his master. He had also managed to leap up onto Inutaisho's shoulder in time to hear what he had just said.

Inutaisho immediately stiffened and looked down at Myoga with a startled expression. He had not noticed when he had appeared and he hoped and prayed that Myoga had not heard him or had noticed his absorption. He tried to distract Myoga by pretending to be frustrated at him, which was not too hard; he was feeling some frustration at having been interrupted. "Myoga, when are you going to learn not to sneak up on me like that?" he scolded softly. "You know very well how it irritates me when you pop up out of nowhere like that!"

"P-p-p-please forgive me, my lord!" cried out Myoga, clearly fearful of his master's temper. "But you disappeared so suddenly and I just now caught up with you. I'm terribly sorry and I'll try not to do it anymore!"

Satisfied that he had succeeded in distracting Myoga away from the situation, Inutaisho's demeanor became relaxed and nonchalant once more. "You're forgiven, Myoga," he said to him in a sincere tone. He smiled as he saw Myoga breathe a sigh of relief at his words. He had to admit, Myoga's nervous and cowardly nature made him a source of great amusement. Then, Inutaisho found himself glancing back at the shop where Izayoi and her maid were standing. But to his shock, they were no longer there. In fact, they were now walking towards his direction, both women looking at each other as they conversed. Inutaisho just stood their, unable or unwilling to move as he watched Izayoi approach.

"Those kimonos truly were stunning," said Izayoi, her face beaming a bit as they left the shop. "I truly feel that I bought the perfect one for the festival."

"You certainly did," agreed Sachi, "None of the men will be able to take their eyes off of you. Not that they ever do anyway!"

"Sachi!" Izayoi exclaimed, her face looking completely embarrassed. As soon as she saw that Sachi was about to laugh at her, Izayoi immediately turned her face away from her in shame. As she looked ahead, Izayoi became aware of someone standing a short distance ahead of them. It was a tall, young man with long, silvery white hair, which was tied up in a ponytail; he was also wearing a hakama over his elegant-looking kimono, indicating he was probably a wealthy lord of some kind. As they walked closer, Izayoi could see that this young man was looking right at her. Although her mind told her she should look away, Izayoi could not take her eyes off of him. She could not believe how incredibly handsome this man was; he seemed to have walked right out of a dream. "He's like an angel," Izayoi thought as she continued to look at him, completely spellbound by this man. "Why does he keep looking at me like that? He seems stunned and frustrated at the same time." Izayoi then took a deep breath as she and Sachi began to walk right past the young man, who still had not moved from his spot, causing many people to have to walk around him to get past. Izayoi passed by him slowly, her shoulder accidentally brushing lightly against his, their eyes locked on each other. As she looked at his face, a strange sensation washed over Izayoi; she felt an unusual connection with this man, almost as though she knew him. Izayoi could tell from his dazed expression that he was feeling the same thing at that moment. And his eyes, his piercing, golden eyes were so beautiful, and yet haunting at the same time. Then, as quickly as it had begun, the moment was gone as Izayoi and Sachi finally walked completely past the young man. Even as they walked further ahead, Izayoi still felt compelled to turn around and look back, to get another look at the young man. But to her shock and dismay, he was gone! "He must have walked off and disappeared into the crowd," Izayoi thought to herself. She could not help but feel disappointed and a little sad that he was nowhere to be found.

"My lady? My lady, did you lose something?" Sachi asked as she noticed Izayoi looking back in the other direction.

"Oh no, Sachi," Izayoi told Sachi as she smiled reassuringly. Then she added, her tone slightly confused and her expression puzzled as she looked behind her again and said, "At least I don't think I did."