Meioshi and the older children were helping everyone pack away clothes, sheets, pillows, toys, and anything else of value to them for summer school. Sesshomaru and Jaken were sitting under beautifully bloomed trees as the kids played, packed, or worked. Well, Jaken watched all the children like a proper chaperone while Sesshomaru looked elsewhere. He wouldn't dare admit it aloud, but he was impressed with Ohta's ability and devotion to save so many children in this awful place and at such a young age. He was helping Chiura, Juba, and Kijiro pack up their satchels now. Chiura, of course, had trinkets all over hers. Juba had different patches of fabric on hers with various designs on each one. Kijiro had bug carcasses on his. He had some favoritism for smaller creatures. Ohta's satchel was probably the most fascinating as it had the symbols for "Fail no More" and the names of the children who bought their freedom along the bottom similar in design to Meioshi's haori. That's what he explained to Sesshomaru and Jaken when he pulled his satchel out to pack different items. Ohta promised to visit everyone at least once a year when he was set free.
"Are you going to return to your men?" his rival asked with that accented voice.
Sesshomaru looked up at the doctor, taking note of the seriousness of her demeanor and arms wrapping around her lower waist and upper hips. Meioshi couldn't have meant anything metaphorical in speaking about Shinju o Tateru being burned to nothing soon. She gave Sesshomaru only a few more days since the night they had spoken near the stream to investigate the village due to the children having to leave at different times. Different schools were available to them for the summer, but that also meant they wouldn't be coming back to this place. Based on the efficiency of his rival's daily agenda, she was making sure that nothing would be left behind. What would happen to this haven, though? Would the children miss this estate? It's where they go to escape life's miseries and be with their "Mama Mei-Mei" every year. Was the doctor going to burn the village down? It seemed too contradictory for a healer.
"Well..." Jaken started, looking to his lord for a change in disposition as an answer, but seeing that Sesshomaru was more interested in Meioshi's plans for the village than anything else. "The situation in the Mujina Woodlands is as tense with Lord Sesshomaru's presence as it was without. It won't be easy to act as a mediator with these killings or that wall being built. There has to be something we've overlooked."
Meioshi was quiet for a moment, respecting her boundaries with their investigation, but said, "Pardon my interference in this, but I believe there is something you overlooked. I owe you one for helping Ohta, so I will tiptoe around your mistrust of me for a moment since you are delaying my progress in handling legal matters between me and the village masters by staying here. Pushing our disagreements aside, I'll offer a piece of advice for your investigation from a medical perspective. There are three crucial things you must be thorough in analyzing with these sorts of things: evidence, potential witnesses' accounts, and blood or fingerprint samples if readily available. You said you visited the murder site twice so far, yes?"
"Correct, doctor," Jaken replied with a soft nod.
"How many witnesses of these attacks have you encountered while there?" she asked softly, letting those wispy eyelashes flutter as she blinked. Jaken was about to reply with a number until he stopped. Sesshomaru remained silent, making the doctor raise an eyebrow. She then asked, "Who told you about these murders?"
"The soldiers recounted Ambassador Norihisa's statements on the matter. No one mentioned any witnesses," Jaken answered.
"Your problem starts there," the doctor responded with a hum of concern. "If no one witnessed the attack or heard anything of value like a scream or perhaps gurgling during the attack or even spoke to the victims before the attack, then the person who's been handling the bodies is a primary suspect as they may have started cleaning up the corpses prematurely. This could be intentional to hide his or her tracks as it would lead to falsified evidence. This stops your ability to properly develop a picture of what happened in theory. Recounting a statement related to the event holds no merit and should be taken with a grain of salt. Do you know what happened to the bodies after the attack?"
"They've been burned supposedly," Jaken replied. Sesshomaru merely watched his rival's brain tick. "Oh, but the ambassador did mention something about that! He said the corpses turned to snow and not ash."
"Who burned them?" the doctor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, there wasn't a ceremony like yours. Not everyone has a service," Jaken answered. "Probably a local burial group in their village."
"Now, you have two problems. How would the ambassador know that the bodies turned to snow if he didn't handle them? Who contacted him to tell him that? The two groups of interest are on fighting terms right now. It would have been near impossible to meet with him without starting a war. You've been able to travel back and forth without a hitch, so I'm assuming that these woodlands are close to this village. Unless you've seen demons from that area make their way here, this ambassador of yours must have another rendezvous point where he meets them for information. If the bodies were drained and then burned, which you've no idea who did that, there would be very little ash remaining if at all. The same for snow regardless of its heat resistance. You seem to have barely looked at the surface."
"What is your proposal?" Sesshomaru asked quietly.
Lord Sesshomaru! Jaken thought, snapping his head to the western lord. You're... you're asking for her help?
"Proposal?" Meioshi questioned, turning her head slightly to tilt it down.
"From a medical perspective," Sesshomaru clarified.
"You can do one of two things: either find the other rendezvous point or speak to your men. Watch for odd body language from your soldiers. Maybe send Jaken as a scout to see if any woodland demons are sneaking out," Meioshi offered. "I'm afraid that's all the advice I can give you. I suggest you stay out of the village by nightfall. This property will no longer be a haven for you."
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Shinju o Tateru was quieter with the children workers gone for summer school. There were still some adults able to take up the mantle, but the numbers of working individuals were down significantly. Patrons were still coming in for entertainment. None of that had changed, but this was going to be their last night of vice and bliss. All the tradesmen, farmers, and fabric salesmen that were hired to work at the village had left once they saw the law keeper at their doorsteps. Final sales were made, material moved quickly and quietly, and only enough was available for the few people that were left. Farmers, butchers, chefs, and servers all were serving the last meals. With no remorse, as the moon shone beautifully, bottles filled with potent alcohols and combustible acids were thrown through shoji doors and windows. If they hit anyone, she didn't care in the slightest. Black, red, or yellow candles were thrown in succession. Flames began to encompass one okiya after another. Certain ones had back doors that she locked or blockaded. The only escape was the front door.
People started to run out to safety, pleading with her for help, but she only looked at them with anger in her eyes and told them to run to the outskirts of town. A haven was there. Otherwise, the alternative was a boat to a new location. Many were shocked or outraged, but she kept going. Every okiya was going to burn. A soldier or two tried to stop her, but she had backup. She continued her trek to the Masters' House in silence. It was in the style of a grand pagoda near the waters. Very beautiful waterfront property. As the fires raged, she made her way to the guards' gate. They tried to apprehend her, but she was furious enough to unleash her powers and send them all elsewhere through a portal without lifting a finger. It almost felt good doing it, but it was personal revenge for all the times they threw her in the mud.
The house mother was waiting for her in the dining room. The scene may as well have been deja vu from the day she vowed to free the children and destroy everything else. Like those years ago, the table was set for only two people. Rice, tea, and a green seating pillow were located on her side, and the mistress was chewing away on her side dressed in a gorgeous orange kimono with her hair perfectly combed into a high bun. Her age still carried her undeniable beauty. Silently, the doctor walked over to her seat and waited. She thought old Rosanjin would have more class, but he was having sex with some worker in the next room over. She let out a dark huff like she was stuck between laughing and insulting him, but the huff came out as a scoffing sound, and the house mother smirked from the doctor's response. She wasn't as excited to hear Rosanjin with another girl either; in fact, the house mother almost looked disgusted. It was in her eyes. Before, she would look up with excitement and feign innocence in front of Meioshi. This honesty from her was the keynote of change.
"Just like old times, isn't it, lawful beauty?" the house mother asked, eating her sushi. Meioshi said nothing. She only nodded. Her metal roningasa hat put a shadow over her eyes but those hazel eyes glowed them. Whether it was from the gas lanterns in the dining room of the house or just her hatred towards the danna, Meioshi's wild beauty shone brightly through the shadows like a proper predator. The house mother then said, "I believe you used to threaten us by saying things like 'You will drown in your riches' or 'Eat your weight in grime and shit.' That one was my favorite! I used that line a couple of times. Very effective for nonpaying customers!"
"My mother taught me that," Meioshi admitted, eyes softening at the memory. She pointed to her eyes to say, "Back when I got bullied for having these eyes. The more extremist the villagers raised their children to despise anyone foreign or demonic. If you weren't a purebred human, you may as well be nothing. Things have calmed down since then, but I remembered her saying that to another mother. It was the first fight I lost, and the day that my mother agreed to let me learn how to fight. Well, more like a few basics."
"Ah, the hero's origin story!" the house mother said with excitement in her eyes. That's the look she normally had when Rosanjin was indulging himself. A moan echoed into the room, making the mistress direct her eyes away for a moment. She scoffed in disgust this time. She then said, "And that is the villain's origin story. I was 14 when I met him. Hunting for white snakes for good luck. He was underneath a plum blossom tree, meditating I thought, but it turned out he was taking a nap. I picked up a stick to get the snake to come to me, but that woke him up and frightened me. The snake was also startled, but it didn't attack us. Instead, the handsome sleeper guided the snake to his hand and into my trap with such ease. I thought perhaps he knew kung fu or judo the way he used his hands. He winked at me, waved, and watched me leave. Now and then, I would him in different places. Until the day of my fifteenth birthday when he found me by the waterfalls. We spoke to each other as friends then. He kissed my cheek then my lips, asked me if it felt good or tickled, and I said yes to both. He kept going until I became his. I thought it was love. There were days he would come to me. Nights when I would sneak out and go to him. Enemy soldiers had come to our village and taken the girls, but he came for me and helped the others escape. I was his. He claimed me and we ran away to this place. One small geisha house used to be here. Remember when we met, lawful beauty? It was only ever the one house for years. The same house where we married. Our wedding night was the night when I realized I wasn't his love or lover. I was going to be his prized whore and soon the new house mother of that pitiful okiya. He placed a blindfold over my eyes as a form of play. He left and let some other man come in and rape me. Things that caused me pain, he came in to teach me to find pleasure in it. I was built into this object of desire. When it was time for me to take over the okiya, all I knew was the mizu-age ritual, and, every year, girls like me were brought in droves. I hadn't seen my mother or father since my capture. We're too far from home is what I thought. They weren't coming to save me. I tried being such a good lover that a soldier would save me. None did. Imagine my eternal surprise when a young girl, who was barely age 20 and as beautiful as can be, entered the village to work as a doctor. Women aren't doctors! They're nurses or assistants to them! But, there you are, treating patients with an excellent hand. The day you learned of our auction was the same day we bought our most famous joro, Ohta, and your beloved friend was the first of our girls to fight us back. You were willing to fight for their freedom. You were willing to swim in the mud every day if it meant my husband would at least acknowledge your concerns for everyone's health. You were willing to save everyone... except me. Years spent hoping and praying someone would help me were wasted just because I'm too old and too beneath anyone to be saved. Years wondering if I could save any of these children wasted because my husband set the others free but took me. Suppose he takes another. He's beaten me before for trying to save another. He never taught me how to fight. The one I thought would save me, too, now only seeks to destroy me! Why do the gods hate me so much?"
Meioshi was quiet as the mistress cried, but she was relieved that she heard her speak. Of all the people in the wretched village, the house mother was the one she didn't understand the most. The main reason was that a joro was punished severely if he or she treated anyone in the okiya like an outcast. She never referred to an okiya as a whore house. It was the family home. The children even told Meioshi at one point that the mistress often looked into the waters with sadness in her features. She never thought of drowning or sailing away because she wasn't sure of the outcome for either one. She was stuck.
Hearing her finally confess to why she was trapped made Meioshi speak her next choice of words, "They don't. What happened to you is not your fault. The one who is destroying the village is offering you an option. There is an estate on the outskirts of the village that is now unoccupied and is worth the same value as my estate in Heiwa. Legally, it is under your name because of Ohta and Nayoko's accounts of you helping them before Rosanjin forced them to be joros. If you don't want it, take my boat and follow the fisherman to his village. He was able to buy another property and turned it into a guest house. You can stay there. Your husband is mine to deal with now. You are free to go."
The mistress gasped, multiple emotions washed over her body as she shook, and let her tears continue to fall. She watched Meioshi stand up, bow, and leave her at the table. The last thing she heard before running away to the boating dock was a sword being unsheathed and a loud thump...
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Sesshomaru and Jaken were with Ohta as they waited near an empty yard with only a singular grave covered in fresh flowers behind them. Footsteps sounded and a feminine figure rose from their line of sight with a knife in her hand and a rosary on her wrist. Ohta ran to her and embraced her tightly.
"Is he gone?" Ohta asked, voice cracking and tears escaping his eyes. He rose his head and looked into Meioshi's face. "Is he gone, mama?"
Meioshi smiled gently and whispered, "You are free, my Ohta."
Sesshomaru, Jaken, and Meioshi all watched Ohta let his emotions out from his tears to his hopping to his smiles. The doctor placed a kiss on Ohta's head before she walked over to the grave and kneeled before it. She quietly pricked her chest with the knife until blood was on the tip and held the knife over the grave until a single drop plopped onto it. A soft, playful wind surrounded her until the flowers and petals circled her body. From there, a ghost had risen and embraced Meioshi. The doctor felt warmth but knew she couldn't hold her in her arms.
Instead, she whispered, "You are free, my Nayoko. You are free."