InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Awry ❯ Confounding ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

-x-

Miroku was getting frustrated. Where was that damned tanuki when he actually wanted something? He had looked all over town and into the surrounding countryside, but it seemed that Hachi had beaten a hasty retreat after their last encounter. Perhaps it was his own fault for being too forceful, but Hachi's continued absence was only adding to his ire - and his conviction that the tanuki knew more than he was sharing about what was going on.

Since it was becoming obvious that he would get no more information from Hachi just yet, Miroku had taken to devoting his time to pursuits that might prove more fruitful. As it turned out, there was more to Lady Sango's strength and stubbornness than a fierce punch, and he had found himself banned from the castle and all its servants instructed to ignore him. That, of course, had not stopped him from trying. If anything, it had just made him more determined to succeed.

He had been turned away three times - and thrown out twice more when he tried to sneak in - before he finally resigned himself to lurking outside. Under the guise of doing useful things for the villagers, of course. A good monk would never skulk about outside a castle, waiting for an opportunity to make a move on its lady, after all. Especially not when the guardsmen were strongly hinting that their patience might be nearing its end.

Unfortunately, he was running out of useful, less than suspicious ways to keep himself occupied. There were only so many fake exorcisms he could perform, as the villagers were quite wary of wandering priests, and only so many young women willing to have their fortunes read for coin. And besides all that, his own agitation was growing. He wanted answers. He had seen neither hide nor hair of Hachi for days now, and had no idea where else to turn, but the questions remained. Who was behind this escapade? What was in it for him? Who wanted this woman shamed so badly? And... what was it about her that was so captivating that he couldn't just let the whole damned thing go?

And he had to admit it: he couldn't let this - or her - go. Not yet, anyway. She had been remarkably successful in resisting him thus far. She had barely even given him a chance to work his way under her skin, but she'd succeeded in getting under his - and without even trying.

He paused in his wandering to look over at the castle. There was no sign of activity.

A muscle in his face twitched, and he touched the spot gingerly with one hand. The day after his last encounter with the lady of the castle, in which she'd seen fit to punch him in the face for what he considered a minor infraction, he had been overcome by morbid curiosity and borrowed a mirror from the innkeeper's wife. The Lady Sango had given him a lovely - and painful - purple-yellow bruise across most of one cheek in return for his attentions. It ached dully even now, several days later.

He sighed. He had known from the moment he saw her that this woman would be a challenge. She had made it abundantly clear that she was not the type to fall for his usual tricks... at least not right away, but he had never expected her to be this difficult.

He honestly had not thought she would throw him out a second time, especially after he had caught her so off guard. But she had. And it rankled, a lot more than he would have thought. And this time it would not be so easy to blame his failure on Hachi. The woman was simply headstrong and righteous to a fault, and not easily swayed - or duped.

What made it worse was that she was wary now. And angry, too.

Ordinarily, he would simply have moved on to another target and forgotten all about this icy-hearted noblewoman. But she was not merely an icy-hearted noblewoman (how else to explain the fire he'd seen in her eyes just before she hit him?), and none of the other women in this village could compare. He'd tried. Oh, he had tried. But in the end, he had always found himself thinking about Sango. Wondering about her. Pondering how to break through that shell of hers. And he'd be a liar if he said he wasn't curious about who set this whole scheme up. He had a few guesses, but he was unfamiliar with the local nobles, something his inability to gain access to the castle was not helping with.

All he needed, he had grudgingly decided, was to win over one of the servant women. Just one, one he could convince to go behind her lady's back and give him an entrance into the castle, that was all he could hope to ask for. But it seemed there was not a single one that would be swayed; even if the lady's noble fellows were less than enamored of her, it seemed that the women who served her more than made up for this lack.

Some time later, he was still pacing moodily when something caught his eye - a lone female figure heading into the village from the castle. It was Suzume, who Sango had sent to show him out of the castle the first time he'd been... escorted out. She was one of the younger women in the lady's service. Happily, he had been rather half-heartedly pursuing her for a while now, when he could catch her out and about, and felt he might be near to making a breakthrough with her. Each time he encountered her, she grew a little more feisty, and let a little more information slip. First her name, then her station among the castle staff.

Perhaps this would be his chance to learn more about Sango.

He carefully altered his path and his pace so that he caught up with Suzume after only a short while.

"Ah," he sighed, loud enough that he was sure she would hear. "A beautiful day and beautiful company. A man couldn't ask for more."

Suzume half-turned and scowled. If he squinted, he thought he saw playfulness in her eyes. "What do you want, Houshi?"

"My lady Suzume, you wound me! I have asked for nothing," he pointed out.

"Yes," she said, rolling her eyes. "My words cut you to the quick, I'm sure. But even that's not enough to keep your hand off my bottom!"

Lest she take her example from her lady, he quickly pulled his errant hand away. "I apologize. You see, this hand used to bear a great and deadly curse -"

"Yes, yes," Suzume interrupted, waving a hand dismissively. "You can't help it. I know, you've told me that so many times already. And yet it seems you don't even try to stop it."

"I will endeavor to try harder in the future," he promised. The look she gave him was skeptical, but she did not protest when he continued to walk beside her. After a while, he asked, "Where are you off to today?"

She sighed. "If you must know, I'm on an urgent errand for my Lady. I'm to make a purchase for her from old Kanon and return as quickly as possible." Kanon was, he had learned not long ago, the village's herb woman. What could Sango possibly want from an old woman who spent her days harvesting and preparing herbs, who was also commonly referred to as 'the herb witch'?

"I see. What sort of purchase?"

She frowned. "She didn't say anything about it, but I really don't think she'd want me to tell you."

"But she didn't say that you could not tell me. I'm merely curious as to what the Lady is up to."

Suzume grunted in annoyance; she had a quick temper and was already tired of dealing with him. "If you're so interested in my lady's doings, go ask her yourself," she hissed, pointing down the road they had just crossed. Miroku glanced over, his eyes widening slightly. There was a commotion a short distance away - he counted at least three castle guards and about twice that many villagers. And something else: Sango.

It was the first time he had seen her outside the castle in all the time he had been staying in the village. He would have expected a woman as strong-willed as Sango to flaunt her power and independence, but he was learning that such was not the case. She seemed to prefer to keep to herself and avoid stirring up trouble for her husband.

He wondered if she actually preferred the situation as it was, or if she was merely forced to accept it.

Either way, Suzume had just given him the opportunity he had been looking for.

"I think I will."

Suzume stiffened suddenly, realizing she had just disobeyed her lady's orders. "No, wait -"

But it was too late, he had already set off toward the lady and her entourage. Suzume flung herself after him, catching hold of his arm and yanking. "Don't," she insisted. "It's not a good idea to upset Lady Sango!"

Miroku paused. "Don't worry for my sake. I've faced down a deadly curse, I think I can handle a Lady's ire." He shook himself free of her grasp and continued on his way, Suzume trailing behind and fretting. They had already attracted Lady Sango's attention.

The Lady, clad in that wonderful armor of hers, approached them, her expression dark. The rest of her entourage trailed nervously behind. The villagers obviously had no idea what was going on, and the guards were not particularly fond of Miroku. The situation was quickly growing more tense than Miroku would have liked.

"Ah, Lady Sango, what a wonderful coincidence!" he announced cheerily, bowing respectfully. "I am most pleased to see you are well!"

The Lady sighed. "What are you doing here?" Her gaze twitched in Suzume's direction. "Suzume, I gave you a job to do."

Suzume kept her eyes on the ground at her mistress's feet. "I apologize, My Lady."

"See to it that it is taken care of," Sango said dismissively. "And as for you..." She turned to Miroku. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

She did not say anything about the bruise on his face, but her gaze lingered on him a moment too long and her expression went melancholy for a moment; she felt guilty. He could use that. And he decided, then and there, that wherever she was going was where he was going as well. Suzume could return to her errand, or go with them, or suddenly cease to exist, for all he cared at this particular moment.

Of course, that all depended on his ability to sweet-talk Sango into tolerating his presence. "I was merely curious," he said, careful to keep his tone neutral. "I ran into Suzume a little while ago, and she mentioned that you had sent her on an errand with the herb witch. I could not help but wonder what use a Lady would have for such things, and worry that some illness may be afflicting you -"

Sango's expression silenced him. "Fine. If you must know, come with us. But stay out of the way. You are to watch only. If you attempt to get involved in any way, I will see to it that my guards remove you." She did not say it, but the look in her eyes told him that she would not ask her guards to be gentle with him.

"Of course," he agreed congenially.

The Lady did not seem very impressed, but she allowed him to join the group. As they set off, Suzume beat a hasty retreat, returning to her original errand. Sango led them down the street to the very edge of town, where a small hut stood empty. It was in a shambles and the family that owned it was obviously not wealthy. And, too, there was something strange in the air.

Miroku sensed a demon's presence.

That explained a lot. Sango had left her home in order to fulfill her duties as a demon slayer.

The little group that had come with her came to a stop and waited patiently while she observed the house; the guards set about building a series of small fires. Miroku felt vaguely uncomfortable observing the proceedings, as if he ought to find some way to make himself useful rather than merely watching. But Sango was swift and competent and gave Miroku no opportunity to cause trouble.

When at last she was satisfied that everything was in order, she collected a leather pouch from one of the guards and drew from it a handful of small blue spheres, which at first Miroku thought were beads, or berries. Her warning gave him pause: "Stay upwind of these."

She placed a small pile of them near each of the tiny fires. "The heat will activate them soon," she murmured. Shooting a dark look in Miroku's direction she added, "Stay back, please."

He hastily obeyed, and soon saw why. The beads began to fizzle and melt, releasing clouds of something that gave off what was quite possibly the most foul stench he had ever encountered. Seeing his displeasure, Sango grinned. She's enjoying this! Then again, it made sense that she would take pleasure in this. She had been raised to fight demons, not to play at being some simpering nobleman's wife. Here, she was the acknowledged expert. She was in command.

"And that is why I told you to stay back. You do not want that smoke in your mouth or eyes," she commented, interrupting his thoughts. There was mirth in her voice now, the first time she had slipped from that controlled, frustrated tone she used so often. It was almost thrilling to watch her open up, even just a little bit.

"What is it?"

"It's a powerful irritant... it should chase the demons out. They'll remember this, and be less likely to return in the future."

"You don't intend to kill them?"

"Only if I have to."

He had not expected to hear a demon slayer be merciful toward her prey, but the look of determination he saw cross her face just before she covered it with a strange metal mask told him she would kill if necessary. "Don't try to follow me," she said, her eyes glaring sternly over the mask.

Miroku nodded, speechless, as she turned and walked up to the hut. She peered inside the door, and then made her way around to the back of the hut. It seemed that she had just disappeared when she beat a hasty retreat and returned to where Miroku and the family waited. A black cloud spewed out of the back of the hut; though it seemed "cloud" was the wrong word, for it was really a swarm of insects. The swarm buzzed and writhed through the air for several minutes before disappearing into the tall grass behind the hut.

Sango pulled her mask off and gave the signal to douse the fires. The guards obeyed without question, but the looks on their faces betrayed disapproval at being given such menial tasks. The Lady paid them no mind.

It was then that Suzume returned, carrying a bundle of strange herbs, which she gave to Sango. Sango took the herbs with a murmured thanks, and turned to the group of clustered villagers. An older man, who was probably the family patriarch, stepped forward to meet her.

"Let the hut air out for a day or two," she instructed. "And scatter these herbs about. The demons should all have fled. But these will help ensure that they do not return. If you have any other problems, come tell me right away." The patriarch nodded his understanding.

For his part, Miroku watched the exchange with mild curiosity. Based on the gossip he had heard from the village elders, he had assumed the Lady Sango not to be very well liked, but it seemed that among the commoners the opposite was true. They recognized the value of her skills, but lacked the pride of the nobles... and so it pained them less to have a woman as their savior. Perhaps they even related to her, being that she was also of common stock.

It occurred to Miroku that Lord Takeda must be a strange man indeed, to have taken such a woman to wife. But he did not have long to wonder about Sango's missing husband, for an older woman came running up to Sango. She had come from the same direction they had, and at speed.

"Lady Sango," the woman said, bowing deeply and breathing hard, "Your husband the Lord Takeda has returned. He sent me to ask that you return to the castle at once."

"I see," Sango said dispassionately. To the family, and perhaps, he dared hope, to Miroku as well, she added, "I must go, then."

And with that, she turned and left, her retainers following close behind. Miroku watched them go, noticing with no small amount of displeasure that she did not look back even once, as if after all that his presence had not made even the slightest impression upon her. How... irksome.