InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Flutist ❯ A Flutist ( One-Shot )

Disclaimers:

I do not own Inuyasha series. Inuyasha series belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Sesshoumaru, Inu no Taishou, and Izayoi are characters of Rumiko Takahashi.

No profit is made from this work.

 

I based Minamoto no Hiromasa on a figure with the same name existed in 10th century Japan.

(Though I did not specify that was the time of this story)

He was a musician, and there is a legend that he exchanged his flute with an oni at a gate of the capitol city. I only used the "flute exchange at the gate" idea, and all the dialogues and situations are part of my own tale.

I've been wanting to do something that incorporated this legend.

 

 

This story starts off as if it is not an Inuyasha Fan fiction, but characters will pop up...find out who!

 

 

A Flutist

 

 

One

 

Minamoto no Hiromasa was a renowned musician favored in the Imperial Court.

He was most known for his skill with the flute.

Hiromasa was the firstborn son of the first prince Katsuakira. His grand father was Emperor Daigo. Though he could have been in line to the throne or to any of the top positions of the government, he chose to be removed from the Imperial succession to pursue his love of music. He had no interest in political advancement. He took up a new family name "Minamoto", and chose to work for the court as a registrar of records. Minamoto no Hiromasa was no longer considered by his family and the court as a member of the Imperial family. After that, only his musical talent brought him to the important events of the court and palaces of powerful nobles.

Though it disappointed his father greatly, Hiromasa had no regret in following the path he chose for himself.

 

 

It was a pleasant full moon evening in mid Autumn, a perfect night for a moon viewing.

The air was not too cool, and there was not a single cloud in the sky.

Hiromasa was invited to a celebration at the Udaijin's *(minister of the right) palace to perform his flute.

It was a celebration for his youngest daughter, Lady Izayoi's coming of age.

Lady Izayoi was known to be the most beautiful daughter of the Udaijin, though she was rumored to be a little eccentric.

Instead of spending her days playing lute or learning calligraphy like her other sisters, she preferred to raise falcons for her father's hunting.

The Udaijin was fond of falcon hunting, and his falcons were known to be the best hunters.

Some of the emperor's favorite falcons were gifts from the Udaijin.

 

When he performed his flute, Hiromasa was invited to stand closer to the seat of Lady Izayoi.

At this distance, he was able to clearly see the one who this celebration was held for.

She was as beautiful as he had heard, though she did not smile like most girls her age.

Hiromasa made an eye contact with her as he played his flute, for it was a habit of his when he played in front of a person.

She looked right back at him without inhibition. He was pleasantly surprised.

 

"Hmm. The rumor was not completely incorrect. She is an extraordinary young girl." Hiromasa thought.

 

The Udaijin and guests at the celebration were delighted by his performance that night.

The minister offered him gifts. Hiromasa did not accept.

"The gift I cherish is this opportunity to perform for you and your beautiful daughter, Lady Izayoi. "

He said to the Udaijin as he gave him his formal bow, and glanced over at Lady Izayoi.

She surprised him again. She did not respond to his flattery like most women in court did.

She gave him a subtle smile, but she seemed to be a little bored.

"She probably would rather watch her falcons, I'm sure." Hiromasa smiled in his mind.

He could relate to her disinterest in affairs of court life, and thought favorably of her uniqueness.

It was an interesting evening for him.

 

 

"Being a daughter of the Udaijin must bring Lady Izayoi so many suitors. I wonder who the Udaijin would choose for her..."

Hiromasa wondered as he rode his carriage back to his house.

Life for a noble woman can be decided by her marriage.

Having a sense of self was an inconvenience when one did not have the option to decide one's own path.

"Someone like Lady Izayoi would not be happy with an ordinary noble." Hiromasa said to himself.

 

Hiromasa had been attempting to court a nun who was 7 years older than himself.

She lived in a temple right out side of the capitol city.

She was from a respectable noble family, and she was once married to a noble who was older than her own father.

It was all decided by her family.

Their marriage was nothing but a formality, and her husband died after 3 years.

She told Hiromasa she had only met him several times after their wedding. They did not have any children.

After the death of her husband, her family tried to set her up with another man. However, she chose to leave her family to become a buddhist nun.

It was the only way for a noble woman to leave her family on her own.

She did not hesitate to cut off her beautiful long hair, and leave all the luxury and comfort of life of a nobility.

Hiromasa had met her because his mother's grave was under the care of the temple where she joined.

They shared interest in poetry and music. He was attracted to her inner strength which comforted him.

He had been trying to persuade her to leave the temple and be with him, though she was very reluctant to go back to the secular life in the capitol city.

 

 

Hiromasa was brought back from his thoughts by the sound of a flute.

It was startlingly clear. He had never heard anyone who could perform a flute with this degree of skill.

Who could that be? I have known all the musicians in the region, but I have never heard a sound such as this!

Hiromasa was very excited, and became determined to find the flutist.

"Hold. I am not going home just yet. Follow the sound of the flute."

He ordered his servants and guards.

 

With Hiromasa's ear as the guide, they had arrived at the edge of the capitol city.

The Suzaku Gate, A ceremonial gate that marks the end of the central capitol city stood before them.

The sound had stopped as Hiromasa's carriage halted in front of it.

 

"Master, may I tell you about the rumor that I have heard recently about this gate?" one of his two servants whispered him.

"What have you heard?" Hiromasa asked.

"Well, I have heard that it is haunted." The servant lowered his voice.

"I have also heard that an Ogre appears here at night. We'd better turn back, " an another servant chimed in.

"Haunted, you say? An Ogre? Do you always believe every rumor word by word?" Hiromasa laughed.

"Anyone or anything that could make a sound such as this could not possibly be some lowly ghost or brutish ogre. I believe that an honorable musician would not harm another musician, whether it is human or not."

Hiromasa took out his flute, and repeated the melody he had just heard from the gate.

The gate was silent.

His servants nodded to each other to confirm their master's peculiarity.

"This whole event could have been all just happening in our master's mind."

When one of them was about to speak up again, his face froze as the sound of the flute came back from the gate.

It played an another complicated melody. Hiromasa grinned, and repeated the melody effortlessly.

The gate and Hiromasa had parried their skill at length.

Hiromasa became quite impressed. "Astonishing. I must meet this mysterious flutist." He got out of his carriage.

"Master, You must not approach! you may become possessed! " "Or get eaten! " his servants tried to stop him.

"You stay there with the guards. I shall return." He walked up to the gate.

As he approached to the gate, suddenly dense fog appeared around them.

"M...Master! Where did he go? I can't see anything," one of the servants said helplessly.

"And I can't move." The other replied.

They could hear each other, but could not see each other in the strange fog.

"I can't either......Oh bodhisattva of mercy!"

There was nothing they could do, except to chant all the sutras they could possibly remember.

 

 

Hiromasa stopped right in front of the gate, and bowed.

"My name is Minamoto no Hiromasa, a court musician and registrar of records. I wish to pay respect to your skill in your flute."

"A human." Hiromasa heard a deep voice above him.

He saw a white silhouette land on the ground. It approached him through the fog.

It was a male, but not a human. He could immediately tell from its appearance.

"A youkai...."

It certainly could be as tall as an Ogre. Hiromasa was not a short man, but even his height only reached to its shoulder.

Its long white silver hair was drawn back and tied.

It looked at him with bright golden eyes. There were blue markings on the cheeks.

Though it was not human, it had the handsome face of a man. It carried three swords, two on its waist, one on its back. It wore unique armor, nothing like he has seen before, and a long cape of fur was trailing behind. The fur reminded him of the mane of a mythical beast he had seen in a scroll that a mystic friend of his owned. There was something savage yet stately about this creature.

It stood in front him quietly as if to wait for Hiromasa to finish his inspection.

"I am honored to have played with you." Hiromasa was finally able to speak.

 

"How curious. You don't seem to be born into the rank that makes you a musician or registrar. Why do you put yourself to a lower position than the one you were born in? Isn't it nature's design for you, to gain more wealth and power, to rule your territories and the men who follow you, and to climb up and maintain your rank at all cost, " the youkai said to him.

Hiromasa was stunned by its question. It somehow understood his imperial lineage.

"For some that maybe true, but not for me. The only nature that dictates who I become, is within myself. Music was my calling. I was fortunate to understand that it had nothing to do with the position I was born into. I chose to be at peace with myself as a musician and as a registrar, rather than to wage a war against my own nature," he said.

The youkai looked amused.

"Choose to be at peace with oneself." It repeated Hiromasa's words.

"I still could learn a thing or two from humans."

 

"Show me your flute," it commanded.

Hiromasa took out his flute, and hand it to the youkai with a formal bow. He saw long sharp claws on the hand that took the flute.

"A Ryuteki* (dragon flute). A fine human flute. I grew fond of the sound of it. I will give you my flute, "Shadowleaf" in exchange for this flute," it said.

"Your flute?" Hiromasa's eyes widened.

"Yes." It handed a shiny black flute to him. The flute had patterns of two leaves, painted in red and blue at the edge.

"Try to make a sound with it."

Hiromasa started to play. It was no ordinary flute. He felt as if there was not just his breath that was moving through the flute.

The sound which came out of it was not as refined as the youkai's, but it was still emotive and beautiful. There was not anything like it.

"I thank you for your generosity," Hiromasa said to the youkai.

"Not everyone can play it. It chooses its performer," it said.

"I will practice diligently to bring out the perfect sound." Hiromasa was genuinely grateful.

The youkai seemed to be pleased." I will hear it when that happens."

It ascended into the air and disappeared.

 

The fog that was so thick that made impossible to see a few steps away, cleared completely as if it had never been there.

It was a clear full moon night as it had been.

Hiromasa turned around, and saw his carriage, servants, and guards just as he had left them a moment ago.

He looked at his hand that held the flute. What he held was certainly the flute he received from the youkai.

It was not a dream.

Though he knew the youkai had left, he bowed to the gate again, and returned to his carriage. His servants and guards were completely stupefied.

They said they were surrounded by the dense fog, and became unable to move until the fog disappeared. However, no one was harmed or missing.

"Let's hurry back. It is getting late," Hiromasa said to his servants and guards.

 

 

 

 

Two

 

Ever since Hiromasa exchanged his flute with the youkai at the Suzaku Gate that autumn night, things had turned well for him.

As soon as the new year came, he was promoted.

He also finally succeeded in convincing his love to leave the temple, and to marry him.

It felt as if the meeting of that night granted him all the good fortunes.

Hiromasa's fame as a musician continued to grow, and some rumored that he had received his flute from a sacred spirit.

He was happy, and from time to time he wondered if he would ever see the youkai again to express his gratitude.

He wished to give his best performance when that time came.

As he promised to the youkai, Hiromasa practiced the flute, "Shadowleaf" diligently.

He loved his flute, but he still felt he had not found the perfect sound, as clear as the sound the youkai performed that night.

"It will come in time, when it is meant to be." He had faith in his own instinct as a musician.

 

Despite Hiromasa's good fortune, ominous news was spreading in the court.

A powerful youkai had bewitched the youngest daughter of the Udaijin, (the minister of the right) Lady Izayoi.

The youkai took her away every night, and returned her each daybreak.

No matter how many guards and priests the Udaijin used to keep it away from his daughter, it was able to take her.

The Udaijin decided he must send his daughter far away from the capitol city, and quickly matched her with a noble in the Northeast region.

It was better, he thought, to lose her to a man than to a youkai, and he stood to gain from her marriage.

However, her wedding was called off right before the wedding date, and Lady Izayoi disappeared from her family's palace in the capitol city.

It was said that Lady Izayoi was confined in her father's villa near the northern shore, far away from the city.

Some said that she had gone mad.

 

Hiromasa was never one to believe rumors right away.

He remembered Lady Izayoi from that night when he performed for her celebration.

That night was forever memorable for Hiromasa, for it was the night he had exchanged his flute with the youkai.

He felt for the noble daughter. What unsettling events had befallen her.

He wondered whether the one who bewitched her was the youkai he had encountered.

"I don't know the truth, but I wish her bodhisattva's protection." Hiromasa prayed for her.

 

Later that year, Hiromasa was sent to Western Chikushi Region as a member of a convoy.

It was an elaborate tour of investigation of the far western region.

For Hiromasa, it was an interesting opportunity. The Chikushi region was known for its major trade ports with China, and it was possible to obtain exotic items there.

During this trip, he acquired a unique Chinese lute from a merchant. He also obtained some scrolls of buddhist sutras for his wife, who ran his household back in the capitol city.

He had been absent from the city for several months.

 

 

 

It was getting late in the evening.

Hiromasa's convoy was finally coming home from its long trip in the west.

The head minister was pushing their schedule, and this suited the men in the convoy well.

They could have rested at the village they had passed earlier, but everyone wanted to return home badly. They thought they could make the last stretch back to the city by early evening. Their assessment was slightly optimistic. Despite their enthusiasm, their bodies were feeling the fatigue.

Fortunately they were traveling on a clear full moon night. However, they all agreed that it was safer to push on than to stop, for there was no knowing what lurked in the darkness.

 

The convoy stopped.

Hiromasa heard some yelling of the guards and sound of their formation.

"Bandits?" He wondered, and pulled the screen of his carriage to take a peek of this commotion.

It was not bandits. Not even close.

"A youkai! "

A giant oni had been slain in front of them, by a single human sized white creature.

 

"That is...." Hiromasa could not believe his eyes.

Could it really be the youkai he had met? What else would look like it? He remembered the long hair and the fur.

As it turned around, the commander of the guards ordered to shoot it.

"No, Stop!" Hiromasa rushed out of his carriage. They fired.

None of the arrows seemed to hit it. It disappeared.

 

Then suddenly, there was a scream.

From the air the youkai had reappeared.

With a single swipe, it sliced the commander and the horse he rode in two.

The blood from bodies splashed and fell on the convoy like a sudden rain storm.

The convoy fell into chaos. Some froze in fear, others ran frantically in to the woods. Some courageous guards who attempted to fight it were effortlessly killed by its bare hand.

Hiromasa saw the fragility of human bodies in front of the strength of a youkai.

"I must stop this. He must remember me if I play this flute."

Hiromasa took out his Shadowleaf and started to play.

The sound of the flute rose in the night air.

At that moment, everything seemed to come to halt.

The youkai stopped its movement.

The guards and other members of the convoy also became still.

They were baffled by Hiromasa's action. However, they felt that they were momentarily rescued from their fear.

 

The youkai leapt and landed right in front of Hiromasa.

"That flute..." It murmured.

He stopped playing. He realized that he was wrong.

It was not the youkai he exchanged the flute with.

It looked very much like that one, but this one looked younger.

Its white silver hair was long and flowing in the night breeze.

Its human face was that of a young man who had just entered the adulthood. It was a beautiful, graceful face, with features resembled the one he had met; though the golden light in the eyes of this youkai seemed hardened and distant.

 

Hiromasa bowed to it to show respect and his intention for not fighting.

"Why is this flute in your possession. Answer," it commanded.

"I have received this flute from a noble youkai, very much like yourself, in exchange for my own flute. We played together one night."

Hiromasa spoke slowly. He wanted to keep its attention on him. The youkai's eyes narrowed.

"....Your skill, is not worth your instrument. The sound of your flute is not as nearly clear as that of the true owner of the flute," it spoke with contempt.

"However, it is astonishing that a mere human could even make any noise with Shadowleaf."

 

Hiromasa was relieved to know that at least he was able to distract the youkai with the flute.

There might be a chance that he could negotiate.

"Ah, I assume you must know him then."

He was becoming hopeful. This flute has brought him many fortunes. This time might as well.

 

"The youkai you speak of, has perished, " the youkai said coldly. "His death was brought by humans. "

 

"Oh...no.."

Hiromasa was deeply saddened to hear that the youkai who had given him the flute had died because of humans.

As a registrar of records, he had seen many records of youkai and other creatures damaging human lives. He had also seen many records of their exterminations.

"When human and youkai cross paths, nothing good will come of it. " was the common belief.

However, he could hardly believe it would have harmed humans needlessly.

Was it exterminated? It certainly did not seem to be a lowly creature that could easily be dealt with by humans, either.

"I deeply regret this news. I have always wished to meet him again, to thank him for the flute and the fortunes it had brought me. I wished to show him that my skill with this flute has improved."

Hiromasa felt his eyes welling up.

 

The youkai did not respond. It stared at him in silence.

Hiromasa saw the bloodied right hand of the youkai. It looked still wet and glistening dimly under the moonlight.

It seemed, it was not a good moment for him to be grieving the loss.

His mind was racing to think of things to say to keep this youkai from further carnage.

However, what he uttered next was all he could think of at that time.

 

"...Is that why you kill humans?"

 

As soon as he had said it, Hiromasa thought these may be his last words.

The youkai glared at him.

He felt chill deep in his soul, and the air around him became dense as if it was to crush him. He was unable to breathe for a moment.

"Do not presume," it spoke in deep voice.

"Neither humans nor a selfish death in a guise of sacrifice, is worthy of my vengeance. I merely delivered the fate of those who chose to stand in my way."

 

The youkai took the flute from Hiromasa's hands with its clean left hand, and stared at it.

Its face was pale and placid. It was hard to discern what had crossed its mind.

It handed the flute back to Hiromasa, and said to him.

"Go. Play the flute until reaching the city. You will not be disturbed."

It turned its back on him, ascended into the sky and disappeared.

The rest of the surviving convoy had been gathering quietly in the distance while Hiromasa spoke with the youkai.

They thought it was a miracle brought by Hiromasa's talent.

When it disappeared, the convoy reassembled, and encouraged by the sound of his flute, hurried to the city.

 

Hiromasa arrived at his home very late that night. His wife was so relieved to see his return.

He was happy to be home. However, he felt restless; he told his wife to go ahead and rest without him.

He walked out into his garden, remembering the encounter he had earlier.

He believed that the youkai that he had met, was a son of the one who gave him the flute.

Hiromasa took out his Shadowleaf and started to play.

This performance was for the both of them.

To wish the father's soul to rest in peace, and to wish the son a moment of peace on his path.

When he played, his sorrow moved through the flute and rose as the purest sound he had ever heard himself make.

"I wish you to hear it." He played through the night.

 

 

Sesshoumaru was standing on top of the Suzaku Gate at the edge of the capitol city.

He rarely approached a human city. He did not care for presence of humans.

However, tonight he had followed the sound of a human flutist he had encountered.

The human played his father's flute.

The sound it brought out, was not the same as his father's.

Still, something about the sound drew him to it. It was hauntingly beautiful.

He listened into the sound of the flute drifted towards him.

The human shed tears for his father.

His father died protecting a human.

Some would value such acts as being selfless, acts of love and compassion.

I do not wish to understand.

What I see in morality is a make-believe, dishonesty, to conceal the reality in which all is driven by mere instinct, desire.

I am a youkai. I do not wish to pretend to be anything else.

You were the one who fought against your own nature, and lost to your fate.

I choose to be true to my own will. That is the only way of being I shall trust.

 

That night, Sesshoumaru understood what it meant to grieve.

 

 

 

END

 

 

 

 

Glossary:

 

Udaijin (the minister of the right): a name of a position in the imperial court. It is the highest deputy to Sadaijin (the minister of the left) who was the second most important minister in the government.

 

ryuteki (dragon flute): a type of flute used in Gagaku (classical Japanese music)