InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sayonara, Kanashi Houshi ❯ Kiroi Akumu ( Chapter 1 )

Sayonara, Kanashi Houshi

(Goodbye, Sad Monk)

By Golden-sama

Rated: PG-13, for Mild Language, Violence, and Miroku's usual habits

Summary: Miroku discover he has only one week to live before his Kazanna devours him. How will he live his last week alive? Read it! You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll get to read one dam' good story. So what are you waiting for?

Chapter One

Kiroi Akumu

(Yellow Nightmare)

The odor of candles and vanilla floated throughout the entire manor of the lord. It was Tsune-sama's stronghold. Made of strong, good wood, the kind that makes good homes. The sides were white, and the roof was red. There was a small fish pond out in front of the main building of the castle. A pretty, quiet fish pond with a few lilies perfect for frogs and insects to live on. Sakura trees blossomed all over the gardens, of which there were many. The only thing to compare with the gardens in numbers, were the maidens. Tsune-sama enjoyed the company of young maids to work for him, thought that was all they did. Tsune-sama was a good lord of this castle, and its nearby village, and he treated everyone as if they themselves were equal. As if they all had money and fame, as he did. And that is why no one every questioned Tsune-sama.

Some thought him too soft at fist, until he killed the captain of his own Samurai for disobeying his orders. He was just and fair. He was a good lord. Much better than the old one. Tsune-sama was not related to the former lord of this nice little village, he had appeared only recently and saved the village from an evil Youkai, yet in the battle the old lord and his sons were killed. Tsune-sama was made the new lord. And that was good.

The only oddity of Tsune-sama was his smell. He always smelled of strong vanilla and candles, as did his castle. His candles were always lit, and he always had some vanilla burning with them. It was strange, but Tsune-sama was such a good lord no one thought twice about it.

Tsune-sama was a tall man, strong and broad of shoulder. He wore the finest silk, but carried an old battle-worn sword. He was surrounded by the village's most beautiful maidens non-stop, yet he was unmarried and celibate. His eyes were both deep and full of thought, though one of was blue, and the other green. He was shy and deep of consideration and reflection, yet he was an easy-going man who enjoyed sake and rice.

Yes, Tsune-sama was a good lord, and very loved by the people, ever since he defeated that horrible Youkai, Naraku . . .

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"She did what!?"

Miles away from Tsune-sama's fabulous village of vanilla and candle burning was a small lake-front village. Most villages in Japan in the fine year of 1496 had great fear of the youkai, but this one was used to them. One youkai in particular, was quite the common site.

"Don't worry about it Inuyasha, she said she'd be back in three days."

Kaede-sama was the local priestess of this village. Fifty years ago her elder sister, Kikyo, was the guardian of the Shikon no Tama. Fifty years ago, this village saw a great battle between Kikyo and her lover, the Hanyou, Inuyasha.

And if she didn't get back soon, the village may see a similar battle between Inuyasha and Kagome.

Kaeda-sama's hut was filled with people. The old woman dressed in the usual attire of a miko who sat by the stove, preparing sake, was indeed its owner. The rest of the people inside were her usual company.

Dressed in the noble color of lavender was a young, good-hearted monk who was called Miroku. Always with him was a large variety of wards and charms, as well as his gold staff which was a family heirloom passed down from his grandfather, to his father, to himself. Yet it was one of two heirlooms passed down from Miroku's grandfather, it was the nicer of the two. The second heirloom was Miroku's right hand, covered in a cloth and tied with prayer beads; the Kazanna was both a blessing and a plight.

Besides Miroku was a small Kitsune youkai. He looked like a normal young boy, bright eyes and an innocent face, as well as a whiny yet mischievous nature. Of course this young boy had a large bushy tail of bright auburn hair to match that on his head. Currently Shippou was entertaining himself with a small spinning top; the top was his favorite toy of course.

Next to Shippou was a small blond cat, with two tails and dark colored paws. Kirara had bright and pretty eyes and soft fur that made her look very cuddly, of course that was because Kirara was happy. When she was unhappy, then she could be very much the opposite of cuddly. For she was a Neko youkai, and she was also very skilled in the area of fire and heat. But right now she had no thoughts of fighting with other demons, but instead just eyeing the spinning top of Shippou, which she thought would make a very nice toy.

And next to Kirara was her favorite person in the world, a young girl with rich brown hair. Sango's eyes were quite the mystery; they were filled with such joy and bliss most of the time, however deep beneath all of the fog of pleasure was the tears of bitter sorrow. And Sango knew sorrow well. Whenever she became truly happy and content, her mind would replay those horrible images and drown out that happiness. It was her punishment for enjoying herself. She gave it to herself. And it would only go away again the day she saw her beloved brother once more. Saw him free.

And the last person sitting within the hut was a boy. His face and smooth skin told those who looked at him that he was young, perhaps only seventeen or more. However his ears told that that was a deceiving look. He was much older than that, but didn't look, feel, or act like it. His long silver hair was fairly well kept, but not nearly as groomed as that of his brother. And his odd ears could easily become a dinner conversation topic. He was an Inu youkai, a dog demon. Or at least half of one. Dressed in the ruby red robes made from the fur of the rare fire rat, and carrying an old battered sword around with him that was his only gift from the father he never knew. Inuyasha was his name.

"Three days?" Inuyasha barked in his usual foul mood. "And I'm supposed to relax? What about the jewel, and Naraku!"

"It is at this time which I miss Kagome the most." Kaede commented, more to herself than to anyone else. What she truly missed was the word "Oswari". Anyone could say `sit', but it would only force Inuyasha to shut up and fall down when Kagome said it.

"Well, nothing we can do about that now." Miroku said, and then he turned his head and tried to reassure Inuyasha. "I know how you miss Kagome-sama, but she will return soon do not worry Inuyasha."

Miroku was rubbing a back very reassuringly, in an attempt to cheer up Inuyasha. It may have worked better if it was Inuyasha's back, but instead he was rubbing the back of Sango.

*Slap*

Inuyasha ignored Miroku as he talked, and continued the same actions as the monk was slapped. At some times this would have amused the hanyou, but not today. Today he wanted Kagome to come back so they could go looking for the jewel shards.

"You know what." The dog-demon suddenly said. Everyone turned and looked up at him. "I don't need Kagome for this; I'll get the shards myself."

And then they ignored him again. This caused Inuyasha to become quite upset. They ignored that too.

"Ah Inuyasha, if only I could meet a woman for every time you've said you could get the shards on your own, I'd have a son by now."

There was a second slap from Sango at this comment, but it was true. Inuyasha had, since the beginning thought he didn't need Kagome, and since the beginning he had been proven wrong. Of course he was madly in love with the young schoolgirl from 500 years in the future, but if you tried to make him admit it he'd be apt to attack with his Tetsusaiga.

Before this conversation could continue, there was a great uproar from a villager, Inuyasha and Miroku were already on their feet, for Inuyasha had smelt it, and Miroku had sensed it.

"YOUKAI!" Was the general scream of the village. It was only a spider-head, nothing to really worry about. Inuyasha would kill it in a matter of seconds.

As the giant spider-beast ran towards the town, Inuyasha drew his old battered sword, which in an instant became a giant gleaming fang of steel. With a battle cry the red-robed hanyou leapt into the air and brought the steel-cleaving fang down to a crashing halt in the spider-head's head.

"Fuujin no Mai!"

Before Inuyasha even had smelt her, Kagura's white hot blades made from the very wind that blew in the sky everywhere, had struck him in his chest, there was a spatter of blood as the hanyou fell to the ground with a great "ugh".

Miroku however had noticed the she-demon as the wind blades were created and thrown, and he had leapt aside. Behind him Sango, no longer in her yukata and apron, but now in a black cat suit that symbolized her rank as a youkai taijiya, had also avoided the sneak attack.

Miroku grabbed at the teal prayer beads on his right hand, slipped them off, and aimed his hand at Kagura. In a second a blast of black light shone from a hole in the palm of his hand, and the wind began to suck, rather than blow. Stones and grass and sticks were all flying quickly into the tunnel of wind, and Kagura was being sucked down the same path.

"Such a predictable bastard." Naraku's detachment hissed to herself as she was pulled towards the Kazanna. She reached into her kimono and pulled out a small orb, it looked much like the Shikon no Tama did before it broke, but it was burning with yellow light, like a miniature sun.

She threw the small orb and it flew straight on course to the Kazanna, and inside the Kazanna, and as it did Miroku screamed in pain and dropped to his knees. Sango was at his side in a second, and Inuyasha, who was already back on his feet waiting for a chance to fire a `Kaze no Kizu', looked up at Kagura and called out:

"What the hell did you do, Gaishou*!?"

Kagura laughed a bit as she turned a feather from her hair into a raft for her to escape by air. "I just did a favor for Naraku!"

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Far, far away from the waterfront village where the conflict with Kagura was taking place, far, far away from Tsune-sama's vanilla scented castle, was a small dew-soaked meadow. The grass was a green as any could every hope to be, and the sky above was a bright and blissful blue. Many types of flowers grew here, and many children loved to play in this place.

One of those children was named Rin, and she was just like all the rest. She loved playing in the soft field, picking the fragrant flowers, and splashing her bare feet in the cooling waters of the nearby stream. The only thing that made her any different from the rest of the children was the small green youkai that followed her around.

"Jaken-sama?" Rin asked with curiosity burning in her voice. "Where did all the other children go? Rin wanted to play with them!"

It was true that as soon as the young girl in the cream and orange checkered yukata and her small toad companion had arrived, the other children had quickly made their way back to their village.

"Ah, well you see Rin, it's because --"

"Jaken."

The toad in an instant shut up and turned around to where he stood. Regal, elegant and graceful, even effeminate in his facial features. He stood proud and tall. His eyes were as dark and cold as the crescent moon on his forehead. Sesshoumaru had only one arm, the reason was his younger brother, Inuyasha. Carried with him was a long drape of fur which was slung from his shoulder to his feet, and some had mistaken it for a tail. On his belt were two swords.

"Ah, Sesshoumaru-sama! Rin missed you!"

And at the sight of the regal Youkai, Rin forgot all about her question, and Jaken did not tell her that the answer to it was because she was in the company of demons.

"Jaken, take Rin and go wait at the lake."

Sesshoumaru's eyes were red, as was common with youkai, but they had a chill to them that could freeze blood as it flowed in one's body. Those eyes did not look at the toad or the girl. Both of his Chibi-sized companions blinked and peered off in the direction that he gazed.

"Jaken."

Remembering the order that his master had given him, Jaken grabbed his staff and Rin's hand and pulled them both along towards the river. As they left, a new group came.

The children lived in a small, poor village near this nice meadow. The village had few luxuries, and no lord. It was full of famine and disease. Yet one blessing did they have. A while ago a beautiful young miko had come to their village and had every since helped the sick and the poor. She left many times but came back many more times.

"That's the one Kikyo-sama." One of the children said. They had gone to find the miko upon seeing two demons that had been `kidnapping' the young girl. They obviously thought Rin was in danger. And when Kikyo had heard that one of these demons was an Inu youkai with long silver hair, she had come at once.

Sesshoumaru and Kikyo gazed into each other's eyes from across the meadow. They had met long ago. It had been a cold and a drab night, when Sesshoumaru and Jaken had come to her village. That was over fifty years ago. Sesshoumaru wanted to see if it was true with his own eyes, if that disgusting thing that was called Inuyasha had truly fell in love with a human.

Sesshoumaru had not killed Kikyo then, and she had given him the same courtesy. And nothing had changed this time. Without a word to each other, Sesshoumaru turned around and walked back towards the lake where Jaken and Rin waited, and equally silent Kikyo had turned and walked back to her village.

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"I'm, urgh, back!"

With a heavy sigh, the young raven-haired girl pushed her heavy backpack over the edge of the Bone Eater's Well. Her face was still beat red from what had happened, and she was thankful to God that her friends from this era hadn't been there. Now they never could have understood why she was embarrassed, but they didn't go to school, so they couldn't forget when the school was closed for teacher day, and they spend a hour getting ready for school only to find she was later, only to run down the road in a huff, only to realized that it was teacher's day and no students had to come.

"Kaaaaaagomeeeee!"

Shippou hurled himself like a lightning bolt towards the black-haired beauty, and in an instant fastened himself around her neck in a tight hug. Kagome wished that the Kitsune had waited till she was at least out of the well to jump her like that, but she had missed him.

"Shippou-chan, take it easy!"

But in an instant of seeing the teary eyes on Shippou, she was worried. She knew Shippou always cried when she left and when she came back, but those were tears of the utmost sadness.

"What happened?"

Five minutes later Kagome and Shippou came through the door of Kaede-sama's hut, Inuyasha and Sango turned their heads at once, and both of them looked very surprised to see her.

"Kagome-chan!" Sango called out, her eyes were also filled with tears. Her eyes were even sadder than Shippou's. And that was no surprise, for recently Miroku had asked her to marry him, in a way. Inuyasha had no tears in his eyes, but he did have a for longed expression on his face and a bloody cut on his chest.

And between where Sango was hugging Kagome and where Inuyasha sat in thought, lay Miroku. His body was covered in sweat, and his eyes were clenched shut as if he was in great pain. No sound escaped his mouth, but tears of silent pain streamed down his cheeks. He held the wrist of his right hand with his palm of his left, and the palm of his right was clenched shut.

"Is he going to be okay?" Kagome asked worried.

"No." Sango said, nearly choking on her tears. "He's dying."

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Author's Notes:

Okay, I think it's Important to keep in mind that this story is set after episode 132 "The Most Dangerous Confession of the Monk, Miroku." This means that a LOT had happened in the series already.

Translations

Youkai = Demon

Neko = Cat

Inu = Dog

Kitsune = Fox

Hanyou = Half-demon

Fuujin no Mai = Dance of the Wind Blade (Kagura's attack)

Kaze no Kizu = Wound of the Wind (Tetsusaiga's attack)

Kazanna = Air Void (Miroku's curse)

Okay, any Japanese words not listed above, such as "Gaishou" that appeared in this chapter, or upcoming chapters, is a very obscene word that I'm not translating. The reason is because I know these are what the characters are liable to say, but I don't like including language like that in my stories. So it's in Japanese. That way the story is kid-friendly and it's true to the characters.

Anyway, chapter two will be coming up as soon as I write it, which could be a day, or a week. I don't know. But I will finish this story, for once.

Well, Ja ne

~ Golden-sama