"This is even more confusing than before! How does a demon being cremated turn to snow and not ash? I don't understand this at all."
Sesshomaru was once again quiet while Jaken rambled on about the new information that was given. This time, they were walking down the alleyway instead of through town. It was quieter and there was a cobblestone walkway lit with many different lantern colors. The new pathway gave him time to think. His assumptions were largely correct when he was thinking about the clues before. Unfortunately, his rival's advice on how to approach this investigation, though helpful, made her the biggest suspect, and having a sword that can control ice and snow wasn't helping her case, but... Sesshomaru was hesitant on having Meioshi as a suspect. His list of misfortunes seemed to grow by the minute whenever she got involved. Now, only one of the questions remains: Was this town affected by the snowstorm from the black wall demon's curse? According to Norihisa, he would know by morning, but his gut was telling him not to trust the ambassador. Something about the way he acted around him was off-putting.
"Maybe I'm the one missing something here," Jaken complained, tilting his head to think of something useful to deduce.
"Hey, let go! I said I'm off!"
That sounded like Ohta. Sesshomaru looked up from the cobblestones and saw pink lanterns hanging from an extravagant okiya, or at least the back of one. Ohta snatched her arm out of some samurai's clutches, who was eyeing her lustfully, and glared at him with disgust and defiance. Her kofurisode was no longer on her body but a rainbow-colored yukata was in its place. She seemed to be leaving the okiya, or at least retiring for the night.
"Hey, come on, Ohta," the samurai pleaded, caressing her cheek. She backed away and closed her yukata tightly. The man then said, "I only want to kiss you. I'll give you two extra gold beads in exchange."
"Save your beads for my working hours. I told you I'm off!" Ohta snapped, gasping when another man snatched her from behind.
"Stop being nice to the bitch and just take her already. She's too pricey anyway," the other samurai said, forcing Ohta to look up at him.
"Don't mess her up, man," the samurai warned, holding up his hands. "You'll have a harder time paying for damages than just paying for her service."
"Behind you!" the other samurai suddenly shouted, seeing a towering presence creeping up behind his comrade.
All he saw was a figure with red eyes grabbing his comrade and tossing him away like dirty laundry. Before he could even react, he felt a devastating punch to his jaw that made it crack. It wasn't broken, but it would have a nice bruise and some swelling within the hour. Ohta watched the men run away before she looked up and saw Sesshomaru standing in front of her with a frown on his face.
She blushed with wide eyes and whispered, "Swordsman! What are you doing here?"
"Are you alright, Ohta?" Jaken asked, bounding around the corner. "We thought you were in danger."
Ohta's eyes softened before she smiled and answered, "Yes. Thank you, swordsman. I'm alright now. Those were just some sleazebags trying to patronize me. Oh! You weren't coming to the okiya for dinner now, were you?"
"No," Sesshomaru replied, oddly fast and with narrowed eyes.
"Oh, good!" Ohta said, clapping her hands together to smile cutely. "Are you staying at the local inn? They have excellent room service."
"No," Sesshomaru answered, knowing he could just stay at the Inu camp but didn't want to be around Norihisa.
"Then, where were you going to sleep? Not in the boat I met you in, right?" she asked, taking a step back with some shock evident in her voice. When Sesshomaru's mouth twitched a bit, she crossed her arms with displeasure and said, "Absolutely not! No acquaintance of mine sleeps on a random vessel with the threat of drowning or drifting to heaven knows where. You're coming with me where it's safe and there's food. We're having nabe for dinner and a steamy, lavender and jasmine bath. Let's go!"
He didn't know how he ended up roped into it, but Ohta got him to go with her. For whatever reason, it seemed safer around the girl than it did around his men. Well, more like his parents' men. Ohta and Jaken engaged in idle conversation about the village, and Sesshomaru learned that Ohta loved to read and write poetry. The western lord decided to wait to ask Ohta if she had seen snow when they reached her home. What he didn't expect to see after walking for some time was a three-building estate in the middle of a field of flowers. They crossed over a green soribashi bridge lit with green, yellow, and orange gas lamps before going up a beaten path to the home.
"You live here, Ohta?" Jaken asked, impressed by the sight.
"Only for a little while, sadly," she replied, walking to the building on the left. "I work most of the year and only get to start coming home at this time of night or earlier around the middle or end of spring, depending on business. First things first, before you eat dinner, you have to wash up. You'll be in heaven after a good soak!"
Ohta reassured them with a smile and opened the translucent shoji door. Unfortunately, the bathhouse was occupied, and a person was walking around in orange hakama pants and white bandages across the chest and bust. Though Sesshomaru didn't recognize the woman at first, there was something about the way she was drying her hair that seemed vaguely familiar. Meioshi was drying her hair as she stepped out of the steam room, not paying attention to who was entering it. She just assumed it was one of the kids running inside to play in the water. When she looked up, she caught the sight of webbed feet and the cuffed bottoms of white pants. Both were very familiar. She looked up to lock eyes with no one other than... Sesshomaru and his imp attendant, Jaken.
"Aaaaaahhhh!"
It was no longer safer around Ohta.
"Jaken, we're leaving," Sesshomaru ordered, turning to walk out of the bathhouse.
He refused to be under the same roof as his rival. To hell with that! Sleeping outside, on a boat, in the middle of the sea, or wherever was going to be the better alternative than this for tonight. His list of misfortunes had grown two lines too long for his tastes.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Ohta said, snatching Sesshomaru's sleeve and forcing him to pivot straight back around to face her. Make that three lines too long... Ohta grabbed some towels from the shelves and forced the western lord to take them before saying, "You're having a bath and that's final."
"But we're not - "
"I SAID FINAL!" Ohta shouted, startling and interrupting Jaken. She puffed her cheeks and nodded with firmness in her decision. "Doc's done in the steam room anyway. You're not sharing the space."
"Why're they here anywa - ? Did you bring business here with you?" Meioshi questioned, exchanging a pointed finger at Ohta and then Sesshomaru.
"You know I don't do that," Ohta answered with a cat-like grin and lowered voice. She then pointed at the doctor's bandages and asked, "Are you ashamed?"
Meioshi smiled gently, pupils dilating simultaneously with the stretch of her rosy lips, and said with a remorseful tone, "No. I just put medicine on it. It hurts a little still. Huh?"
Ohta nuzzled into the doctor's bosom, sighed quietly, and embraced her softly. Meioshi looked down at the little one and returned the supportive comfort. It wasn't until Ohta spoke up and asked, "Will it be soon?"
Meioshi's gentle expression changed into something that surprised Sesshomaru. His eyes widened slightly at the darkened smolder emitting from the doctor's hazel depths. Her pupils shrunk and a fiery determination replaced the gentleness she had before. She replied just as quietly, "Yes."
Silently, Sesshomaru and Jaken just watched the two hold each other until a clamoring of footsteps arose. Three little children ran into the bathhouse with smiles on their faces and laughter bubbling up from their chests. They called out Ohta's name and tackled her to the ground to embrace or place kisses on her cheeks. Ohta returned the sweet gestures with a happy smile of her own and placed kisses on each of the three youngsters. Meioshi giggled before shaking her head at the bundle of kids linking together and retrieving a medium-sized bucket. Sesshomaru watched her fill it up with a large blue bottle, four smaller jars and four brushes of varying colors, two brown pumice stones, and a large rose bottle. The doctor then walked over to the towel shelves and retrieved more towels before placing them in a basket. As the children were describing the events of their day to Ohta, Sesshomaru stopped watching Meioshi for a moment and turned his attention to the children. One, in particular, was a half-demon from the smell of her. The boy and second girl seemed to be humans. Sesshomaru, however, noticed something of interest about Ohta. Actually, it was something slipping off of her. She was wearing a wig.
"Big brother, you forgot to take off your hair," one of the girls said, tugging on the item.
"Oh!" Ohta said, yanking off the wig and shaking a full head of wavy hair. He then said with a deeper voice, "Whoo! I was in such a hurry to get home to you three that I forgot to leave it at the okiya. Thank you, Juba."
"EH!?" Jaken shouted, pointing a finger at Ohta. Sesshomaru's eyes only widened at the reveal. The beautiful girl he thought he protected was a young boy this whole time. What on Earth? The imp continued to shout, "You're a boy?"
"Hm?" Ohta questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course, he is!" Juba replied, smiling brightly. "He just wears the wig because some cus'omers like that. Big brother's really good at being a girl, though, because he's still so cute."
"B-b-b-bu-but you - ! I mean we - ! How did - ?" Jaken stuttered, shocked from the transformation he just witnessed from something as simple as a wig.
"Oh! Mama Mei-Mei?" the other girl called, hopping over to Meioshi on one foot before hugging her leg.
Meioshi chuckled at the little one, lifted her leg with little effort with the child still on her, and replied, "Yes, my Chiura. Whatcha got?"
Chiura, the little half-demon girl, released Meioshi's leg and said with the innocence rivaling her fully human companion, Juba, "The stew's burning."
The doctor sucked in a rapid breath, eyes wide with dread, and performed an acrobatic kick that sent Chiura into the air. Meioshi caught her in her arms, placed the child down, and ran out of the bathhouse with her arms flailing and her towel forgotten. Sesshomaru only heard the swishing of grass and a few cuss words coming from the woman.
"Is the mister bathing with us, big brother?" the little boy asked, hugging Ohta's neck from behind.
"Yes, he is, Kijiro," Ohta answered, smiling.
"No, we're not," Sesshomaru corrected, moving to place the towels back.
"I said yes, he is," Ohta said with a challenging tone in his voice and a smirk on his lips. Sesshomaru turned his head very slightly to the boy but continued to put the towels back on the shelves. When he proceeded to make his way to the door, Ohta narrowed his eyes and said, "Chiura, grapple bear attack!"
Within a second, the little half-demon girl clung onto Sesshomaru's leg the way she did Meioshi's. The problem was Sesshomaru didn't want to catapult the kid into oblivion, and he was too shocked that the little girl was so fast at grabbing onto him. When he looked down at the little one, she merely looked up at him with a sweet smile and those big, glittering, fuchsia eyes.
The western lord growled at her before asking, "What are you doing?"
"Juba, misty lock!" Ohta ordered, plucking a gold bead towards the door. It rattled on the wood floors for the little girl to chase with her arms out and a laugh escaping her. Suddenly, her hands were glowing blue and covered in fog. She slammed her hands on the door and formed a barrier on the door. When Jaken reached out to touch the door, he was blasted with a sonic bullet of cold mist and thrown to the ground. Juba joined Chiura in hugging Sesshomaru's opposite leg. Fully displeased with the girls holding his legs hostage, his brow twitched before Ohta let out the final order, "Kijiro, nippy gnat spell!"
"Okay!" the boy cheered, spinning around and giggling until he started getting close to Sesshomaru. The western lord took a simple step back, contemplating the doctor's reaction time if he sent the kid flying into the air at the speed of a shooting star with a basic kick, but realized that Chiura's weight was getting heavy on his ankle. Juba was no different. In a burst of speed, the boy zipped to Moko Moko and clung to it like the girls were holding his legs. Kijiro then said, "I got him, big brother!"
"Now, then," Ohta said with a toothier smirk and crossing his ankles seductively, "I suggest you pick up those towels and come with us. Otherwise, you'll have three grapple bears with you all night long."
"I'll take my chances," Sesshomaru ground out, going to open the door.
He noticed that Ohta wasn't stopping him, and the children weren't letting go. Meioshi hadn't left her stew to retrieve the little monsters yet either. Something wasn't right. Silently and experimentally, Sesshomaru walked into the open field with the kids still clinging to him and leaped into the air to take flight. Elated, the kids blushed and cooed out an "Uwoah" as they soared in the sky above the field of flowers. Growling that the kids weren't afraid of heights, he tried flying at a faster pace, but the little ones were only more excited. Sensing Ohta walking out of the bathhouse with Jaken behind the teen, Sesshomaru decided to try to make the boy plead for his mercy by taking Juba and tossing her in the air to scare him. Only she wasn't afraid of being dropped and for good reason. She was sucked back to her position on his leg in mid-flight like he just fluffed his pants out for them to return in place! That disturbed the Western lord. He tried to peel Chiura off his other leg and tossed her out, but she just shot straight back to his leg. Finally, he took his Moko Moko and whipped Kijiro above him only for the boy to spin around and stick right back onto his fur attachment.
Enraged, Sesshomaru shot back at Ohta at frightening speed and stomped toward him after landing. The kids were enjoying themselves regardless and only made the western lord's brow twitch. He stood over Ohta like a dark tower and hissed, "Get these leeches off me."
Ohta didn't say a word more to Sesshomaru. Instead, he walked into the bathhouse, retrieved the towels he gave to Sesshomaru, and said with a bright smile, "This way then, my lord!"
"No," Sesshomaru growled, narrowing his eyes at the teen.
"Then, my little ones stay on you," Ohta said with a devious smirk.
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"You're amazing, mister swordsman!" Kijiro cheered, fisting his little hands and pressing them against his chest.
Sesshomaru inhaled deeply before letting out a frustrated sigh. He refused to admit that the bathhouse was pleasant in its design. There was a small garden inside of it with hanging planters forming chandeliers of creeping vines. Stones were architecturally placed to form a tiered blending of the garden and bathing room. Ohta was scrubbing his skin with the pumice stone while monitoring the girls chasing each other in their water game on the split side of the room. The teen's beauty was something to behold. Sesshomaru took notice of the imperfection on the boy's body, however. It was a brown scar along the shoulder. Kijiro tilted his head cutely, looking over to Ohta and spotting what the lord was eyeing, and walking to a particular stone to scratch at it.
"Should we leave after the bath, my lord?" Jaken asked, leaning over to Sesshomaru and whispering behind his webbed hand.
"You do and I'll use another attack formation," Ohta threatened, narrowing his eyes at Sesshomaru and Jaken. He smirked evilly before rubbing something sweet-smelling onto his skin. When he heard a large splash and light scream, he placed the jar down quickly and called out, "Juba, no climbing on those rocks! You'll hurt yourself!"
"Sorry, big brother," Juba said, pouting. Chiura slammed her hands on the water, waiting for Juba to rejoin the game.
"Do you want one, mister swordsman?" Kijiro piped up, holding up a sharp stone. Sesshomaru only turned to look at the little boy while Ohta went to the other side to take care of something with the girls. Kijiro then rubbed the back of his head of dark brown hair and said, "You were looking at big brother's scar. Did you want one?"
"No," Sesshomaru said, taking away the stone from the boy. He was quiet for a minute before he asked, "Is it the same as the doctor's scar?"
Kijiro nodded and said, "It comes from my favorite story about them. It sounds sad at first, but it has a nice ending."
"Huh? What story?" Jaken asked.
"Seven years ago, Mama Mei-Mei was traveling to a village far, far away. It was her first trip as a doctor. She had a wagon full of medicine and food on her journey. One day, she found some injured men on the side of the road. While she was nursing them, a pretty girl was running away from the Evil Danna and Crooket Mistress. She took care of her and hid her away in the wagon. Mama Mei-Mei was mad that the pretty girl was being beaten, even though she worked really hard, so she went up to the Crooket Mistress and tried to buy her freedom, but the Crooket Mistress wouldn't let her have the pretty girl because the Evil Danna put too high of a price on her. Mama Mei-Mei didn't give up, though. She took care of the girl and tried to earn money in different ways to convince the Crooket Mistress to let her have the pretty girl. Time went by. The pretty girl got sick. Big Brother was sold to work for the Evil Danna, but the pretty girl took big brother and hid him away in Mama Mei-Mei's wagon. A big fight happened! Mama Mei-Mei lost but the Evil Danna was so moved by Mama Mei-Mei's strength of will that she gave her a chance to buy the pretty girl and big brother's freedom. She could have them both if the Okiya village earned more money than the richest person the Evil Danna knew. Mama Mei-Mei agreed and rebuilt the entire village with the money she earned doing different things. The pretty girl got even sicker. Mama Mei-Mei tried to heal her, but the pretty girl didn't want to be healed. She died. Because she died, her price was added to big brother's and he had to take her place. Super-duper angry, Mama Mei-Mei fought even harder to keep big brother away from the Crooket Mistress and the Evil Danna, but a samurai beat big brother and Mama Mei-Mei had to say sorry for causing trouble. Big Brother was extra mad at the samurai and tried to fight back, but he lost and was whipped. That's where his scar came from. Mama Mei-Mei blocked the rest of the whipping to protect big brother, but he agreed to take the pretty girl's place to save Mama Mei-Mei from death. Ashamed, Mama Mei-Mei took a knife and carved out 'fail no more' on her chest in honor of the pretty girl. The pretty girl is the only person Mama Mei-Mei never burned because of her guilt for not setting her free, but she vowed to one day give the pretty girl true peace and to set big brother free. So, she fights to keep everyone safe because she loves us just like she loved them."
Sesshomaru and Jaken were quiet at the little boy's retelling of Ohta and Meioshi's story. Neither one knew that Meioshi was leaning on the wall, listening to Kijiro paraphrasing Ohta's version of the tale. The doctor smirked at the little boy, impressed by Kijiro's memory, and then left the group to continue bathing. She walked to the main house to retrieve the extra bedding for Sesshomaru and Jaken's guest room in complete silence.
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The shoji door to the guest house had opened quite gently. Jaken was dressed appropriately for the visitors, of course, and he wore a white yukata with grey and black chrysanthemums along the right side and a yellow sash to tie it together. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, was only halfway decent. He was going to scold Jaken for putting on something that his rival possessed, but Juba was the one who chose it for Jaken and the imp liked the change of clothing. His experience there from being around Ohta to the bathhouse to the guest lodging was quite the opposite of the Western lord's. Though Jaken had some fear in expressing it aloud, he seemed to genuinely enjoy the treatment. None of the children were unkind to them, and, though a bit bossy, Ohta held no ill will towards them either. He cared about their well-being. How Ohta had time to get the girls to pick out everyone's yukatas was the biggest mystery to Sesshomaru, but the little ones had good fashion etiquette for their age.
The yukata Jaken wore seemed to be made from fine cloth. Sesshomaru simply kept his bathrobe on until one of the children finished washing his garment, though. Kijiro had hidden his clothes per Ohta's instructions and Chiura had chosen a red yukata with a gold crescent moon and silver stars on the right sleeve for Sesshomaru to wear for the night. The western lord was convinced that Meioshi (a.k.a. "Mama Mei-Mei") was lacing his clothes with poison, so he left the yukata alone and sat on the floor in the guest room ready to growl at the next ridiculous thing to come up. Ohta and his three little ones all entered the room unannounced with smiles on their faces and an assortment of blankets and pillows in their arms. Sesshomaru tried to decline the offering, opting to simply sleep against the wall instead, but Ohta would have none of it. The children went to work to prepare the room. Ohta opened the curtains of the guest room, revealing the glass shoji door leading to the small stream and pond outside. The blooming trees and long shoots of flowers both wild and purposely planted gave the view an almost utopian feel. The smell of Meioshi's nabe filled the air and mingled with the floral scents.
There were other children that Sesshomaru and Jaken hadn't met yet, it seemed. The giggles and chatting of a small parade of young people joined the sounds of wind chimes and a gong being hit. They all varied in age from very young like Juba, Chiura, and Kijiro to young adults like Sesshomaru and Meioshi. Two supposed teenagers waved to Ohta and the little ones. A few others called out to them to let them know that dinner was ready.
"Jya, I'm starved!" Ohta commented, stretching his arms.
"Eat with us, big brother!" Juba said, tugging on Ohta's yukata. She gasped like she remembered something, covered her mouth, and then said, "Uh oh..."
"What's wrong, Juba?" Ohta asked, kneeling in front of her with concern on his face.
"I forgot to ask how much the mister eats," Juba replied, eyes swelling up in size and shifting. "Mama Mei-Mei might not pick the right bowl for him."
"Oh!" Ohta said with a light laugh, cuddling the little girl but carefully so her high buns wouldn't come out of the hair ribbons. Sesshomaru didn't show it to the children, but Jaken saw the twinge of flattery in his lord's eyes and made a mental note of it. Ohta then said, "Don't worry. Our swordsman there might be too nervous to eat a large portion. We'll give him plenty of rice and honeyed squash to ease some of that anxiety he has."
"I am not anxious," Sesshomaru replied, furrowing his brow with annoyance.
This boy may have good intentions for Lord Sesshomaru, but his pushiness will end up being his demise... Jaken thought.
When Juba turned to him and hopped over to Jaken, she smiled brightly and asked, "What abouts you, green mister? How much do you eat? I'll make sure I gets the right bowl. Honest!"
Jaken blushed minutely and said hurriedly, not expecting her to ask, "Oh! Uh, well, I'll eat however much Lady Meioshi wishes to give me. If she has any more candied fruit and nuts, I'll even take that."
"You like that, too?" Kijiro asked with stars in his eyes, rushing over to the imp. He loved Meioshi's nut and berry mix.
"Well, she gave me some when I visited her home last," Jaken answered, looking down bashfully at his lap.
"You told me you met in passing," Ohta said, looking at Jaken directly. "When did you go to her estate in Heiwa?"
"A little over a month ago now," Jaken replied, folding his arms. "She was... in trouble, sort of."
"Did you help her the way you helped big brother, mister?" Chiura asked, standing next to Sesshomaru.
He was silent at the question. Those big fuchsia eyes, floppy pale blue hair, and round face gave weight to the fact that she was half a demon. Her smile is what made her the most human, though, and it was dangerously close to Rin's smile before he left her in Kaede's village. It was an emotional time for them both, but he had been able to see her in the faces of other young girls starting with Kyoko in Heiwa and now Juba and Chiura in Shinju o Tateru. Sesshomaru's quiet musings allowed Chiura some time to place a trinket in his hand. It was a small, metal flower with a piece of paper and a small yellow tassel attached to it.
Chiura then said sweetly, "Thank you, mister... for helping Mama Mei-Mei."
With that, the little one hopped back over to Ohta and held onto his leg while they all talked to Jaken about his time in Heiwa. The little grapple bear was going to be a beauty once she came of age. The same could be said for Juba. Sesshomaru wondered if the two would be okay in the years to come when they transitioned into young women. Men could flock to them both fairly easily. Kijiro was another one. If he grew up to look like Ohta, that could be a problem for the child once girls started to take notice of him. Right now, they were only six at the oldest, but it wouldn't be long before the little ones blossomed. The Western lord then began to wonder how Meioshi would take that.
"Your lordship isn't paying attention, Jaken," Ohta said. Sesshomaru couldn't remember when the boy learned of his name.
"Your conversation was of no importance," Sesshomaru replied, unconsciously cupping his hand around Chiura's flower.
"Well, you might want to say something important because doc's waiting for you," Ohta said, escorting the kids out.