The Burned Bridge 2 (Post-Yashahime/Inuyasha, OC!MC)
Ah yes, to be back in Tokyo.
To be fair, I had long thought of having my main office there but... memories and other logistical issues made the move unsavory.
No, I stuck by Niigata for most of my chores for my business. And so I had to first take a 'week-long leave' from my affairs, pay for some specific equipment for a potential trip to the past and... first visited the Higurashi Shrine before starting a proper investigation.
While Old Man Souta may have had good reasons to think the Tree was indeed inactive, it was not that easy for a normal human to just 'know' that.
So, I checked myself and confirmed that he hadn't been wrong: the tree was now back to its normal purposes, leaving no space for suspicions on Yokai coming through this known portal... and then I looked into the so-called Bone-Eater's Well.
It was also another 'time-travel tool' that was used by one of Kirinmaru's alter-egos. Looking into it, I was surprised to find several seals draining its natural abilities, cutting away any chance that someone may have used it.
With those two places crossed out of my list, it was time to finally check the crime scene and all local news on these 'disappearings'. From what the local papers were keen to mention of the police's own clues on the topic was that... whatever took those girls and women, it was looking to someone bearing the same hair color and eye color as Mei.
Since chestnut-brown was a common hair color for women in this area, it was fair to say that the creature behind the attacks was not as bright or aware of who it was trying to find... until it did as the kidnappings had completely stopped right after Mei.
While part of me wanted to just check what else the police found on the crime scenes, I decided to check the one clue no human could have noticed: the disgusting bird-like scent that was oozing within those locations. Depending on the date from which the crime unfolded, the scent was more or less intense.
Wandering around, I could tell that the Yokai had been quite diligent, scouting around at first and then using the darkness of the night to secure its preys. I was impressed by the lack of awareness in establishing curfews within the first two cases, but it was clear that no one suspected things would have escalated as badly and...
This ward of Tokyo was known to have too lenient of a hand for thugs and criminals due to the grip the local Yakuza had on the bureaucracy. Ironically so, I was too aware of this as I had been part of that riggest system that prepped me up to become what I was now.
But where my original 'life as a thug' was driven first by a need of surviving with what little cash I could make out of this pathetic effort, I would say it also seeded the ambitious needs to become more than what I had been condemned as: an orphan that had a crappy life situation at the orphanage and little option to be an 'upstanding individual'.
After spending two nostalgic hours verifying several of those crime scenes and remembering some good ol' times about getting some cash from wimps from fellow thugs that tried to beat the bush around my old zone, I finally managed to localize the general area where the fucking bird monster had always convened the most after each crime: a small section within an alley with a tree growing by the side.
Said tree had several charms that, at first glance, appeared to be seals too but... they were inbued with demonic energy. And the calligraphy was handled in such a manner that the 'seals' were actually reinforcing the weak purpose of the tree: to time-travel.
A dumb kid would have brazenly rushed through and ignored the threats on the other side, but I was a pragmatic man that was aware on how some demons reacted to potential 'chasers'. In fact, I had yet to fully understand the purpose of this specific crime and I couldn't rule out that I may be the target.
I had several reasons to believe some people in the past that weren't goodie two shoes were behind this, especially with what adventure I had in destroying Kirinmaru's little kingdom, but the more I thought of this and the more I realized this felt less plausible.
I never mentioned my connection with Mei, so I doubted these morons were after me. That didn't mean I was going to step through until I had set my own ambush- there was no way for me to tell that there was a trap waiting for me in the other side, and it made sense for me to use this opportunity to be the one ambushing my troublesome headache-causer.
I made sure to cause 'reason' for someone to pass through, using some of the 'two-ends' charms to activate and send signals to its other 'twin' and stirring whatever was lurking on the other side to come out. Not even ten minutes of doing this, and something did come through: a Tengu.
Crow monster humanoid, quite strong but... overall, a little fry. Clicking its beak, the creature barely noticed me as I took hold of its throat, pulled it away from the portal and slammed it against the nearest wall, forming a fine indentation of its avian face upon the surface.
"Y-You-" Recognition? This was good news!
"Oh my, I am so so sorry, I tripped and I ended up using a fraction of my strength to push you. You see, I am worried sick about the girl you kidnapped and I need to see some of my questions answered or I will really lose my fucking shit today," I remarked with a vicious grin on my face and my eyes piercing its skull with a glare. "First, some introductions. I am your worst nightmare, you are a little feathered shit-bird. Now that we are through with the basic courtesy- how about you start singing, lil' bird~?"
And he sure started to sing some fancy tunes- just not without some incentives of the pain kind.
I soon was introduced to a plot of kind that, albeit unrelated to me, it may still cause me some trouble as it was a 'kick the hornet nest' sort of situation- one that involved people I wanted to left to 'sleep'.
Sleeping was... her only bliss nowadays.
And yet the tired young woman currently hogging the nice warm pillow of her nice small bedroom could tell it was time to wake up due to the annoying light coming through her window's curtains. She had tried to ignore it, and it's been two wonderful hours of more sleep that, unsurprisingly so, added little to no energy to her current sore frame.
Still... she had to pull herself out of bed, ignore the call to pull a full-day in there and 'get to work'. After all, it was a duty for her to live in a town that hardly demanded much out of her.
Life for one Higurashi Towa, one of the twin daughters of Lord Sesshoumaru and Lady Rin, was a slow and uneventful one. Some may think this was good since she had long yearned to be done with facing scary demons and live happily and in peace with her family.
But while peace had been welcomed by the white-haired lady, the overall calm and quiet life of feudal Japan had been a 'shocking new issue' for the young woman: having lived for fourteen years in the modern world, to be suddenly deprived of the many services and features of the 'future' felt like a slap in the face. A big and mean one at that.
Towa should have grown accustomed with the different 'culture' of this era, but as the adventures ended, her last 'foe' left without a fight and she was allowed to live a happy life with her sister, her cousin and Riku, things should have been fine for her. She should have done like Auntie Kagome, accepted her fate as a past-dweller and...
And she didn't.
Truth be told, the 'withdrawal' became more acute when it came to matters of medical worries. Japan was not as well-geared to handle sicknesses, and a mere cold could have easily killed many if not for her quick efforts to limit the worrisome trend.
That didn't stop for a case of pneumonia from claiming the life of Grandma Kaede. The poor lady had lived for so long that it was miraculous she lasted up to that point, but the way she vanished so suddenly brought immense grief to her village.
Kagome took over as the new leader despite having been a local after she joined it in her teenage years and... this meant that Moroha was to be pushed into the duty of priesthood despite her best efforts to try and avoid that responsibility.
That had led to some intense whining from the 'dog-girl' as she had wanted so badly to continue being Setsuna's partner in hunting down dangerous demons. Still, nothing that warranted problems in that front as Moroha agreed to still split her chores between demon-hunting and miko-training.
Setsuna was the luckiest in Towa's current opinion as her twin sister had managed to not only continue through the path she set herself off from 14 to now, but she was also entertaining a potential marriage with Miroku's son, Hisui.
So...
Where did that leave Towa?
Her own home, alone and drained. Gone was the tough tomboy that had once planned to be something of a life-bound warrior and protector, her sword left to the corner and her body left to lose its slim and lean frame to give way some hints of weight.
She had neglected herself, there was no doubt in her mind about it but... some were wrong in assuming a single cause was behind it. And she hated it when either her mother or the rest of her family (minus her father) brought up Riku.
Riku had been her rock, her solid rock. He had given her so many reason to be fine to think of him as her future husband, to prepare for such a duty, to learn how to handle house chores and even... entertain naughty thoughts about it, the naughty and hot mating needed to make babies.
Yet, that thought never became reality as Riku... died when she was just 16.
The reason? Riku's life in this world was not bound to be as lengthy as it had been when Kirinmaru had been alive. When he was first 'cut away' from his origin and then given autonomy, Riku had been expecting to be just as strong and enduring as any normal demons but... his body was not 'perfectly alive'.
His resurrection without his connection with Kirinmaru had given him just a few years and then, like a flower that was denied much needed water, he perished due to the strain. It had broken her heart, it made her weep and then... it made her angry.
His face returned to mind, his taunting words, his vicious slip into a true villain. Hayato, that was the name that haunted her the very night of the day when Riku died. His words being first a taunt, but now a promise that was realized.
A puppet?! You truly believe he will be around for that long? Is that it? The reason why you don't go back where you belong? Because you went doki-doki for a pretty boy-doll?
The cruel amusement and the sickening truth only made Towa cry harder that night. She was alone, her independent streak to pursue 'her own home' away from her family's manor made her hilariously annoyed. Here her own chance to be 'free' made her more caged than ever.
She wanted to reach out, but she couldn't and those years of recovery were tumultuous and rather upsetting.
She was fine... was she? She couldn't even tell after years of solo self-recovery. Her family was somewhat close, but Towa rejected opening up to any of them. The haunting cackling of that familiar face, reminding her of how right he had been had only made her paranoid of being told something and her 'ignoring the signs'.
Despite this horrible mindset she was stuck with, Towa's life as a mere farmer went on. Any attempts of wooing her from any of the young men this village had to offer constantly rebuked as she couldn't just imagine having to be the 'submissive wife' of anyone.
She may have accepted the life of feudal Japan, but she also refused to give up her modern independence.
So... Towa was stuck.
Life went on, things remained unchanged and... her nose caught a familiar faint scent but... maybe she was overthinking it.
There was no way he could ever return here... right?
AN
A Dark Man's Curiosity, a Broken Woman's Hope.