"Calligraphy. On paper, it is an art form that only the soul can create through ink and brush; in sand, through the Zen rake and tool; elsewhere, by the blade or tool of the heart's choosing. Some see this art form as a bowl holding fresh water. The purer the water, the purer one's soul. Every vertical, horizontal, and angular line formed in calligraphy is linked to the continuity of your purity. The human hand and kanji script are the conflicting entities that the soul must be the mediator for. The human hand finds beauty in human imperfection. It creates curves, stripes, dots, and diagonal lines to denounce straightness, pathways, and clarity. Script, however, finds beauty in freedom. It connects hand's rebellious strokes to create letters and words. When hand and script agree, they become one and your soul aids them in the cojoining of their spirits. Intimate, private, and seemingly spontaneous in its expression, calligraphy requires much time and effort to master but this art form activates the power of the soul through freeing one's emotions and enhancing hidden abilities within one's personality. To further your skill in this art, you must develop your creative talents and become a student of self-realization. Self-realization disciplines script's freedom and hand's emotions. You must never lose an opportunity to free your soul. For there is beauty to behold when the heart chooses your tool and the soul finds balance between hand and script."
Among lavender, sand, and stone, her Zen tool drew out many things. Anger, disappointment, protection, hope, and sign. Each word drawn then erased for another word to take its place. Plop. Splash. Water moved as she drew her final word. Confused. At that, she stopped and sighed before opening her eyes. The word touched her soul and became clear to her. There was so much she didn't understand, it seemed. So much uncertainty, so many questions, and yet... she couldn't form the right question to ask aloud. Placing the Zen tool back in its sacred home, she removed the rake from its shelf and began forming patterns around the spiritual stones in the sand. What could she do to mend her confusion? What could she do to make things right? She shouldn't be flooded with so much confusion. Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she let her soul do the talking and thought of nothing as she drew beautiful patterns in the sand. When she felt she was done, she opened her eyes again and swallowed at her artwork. She drew a shield. Her solution was protection.
"Looks like I have some work to do. Apologies in advance, Lord Sesshomaru, but I've to watch over Homugi. You will not be able to join me on this path. You have to march on your own..."
_________________________________________
Early mornings were almost always a peaceful time for him. Life was beginning to stir, and serenity was at its peak moment of beauty... He was neither at peace nor serene on this particular morning. He was lost. Sesshomaru had watched Homugi leave him as the sun was rising with blank eyes, but his chest moved uncomfortably when she entered the funeral home to fetch water. When he caught the smell of the water and heard it splashing, he was reminded of his time in the Blood Oath's Circle with the green pheasant. Whenever Meioshi bonded with another, the sun seemed to shine. The nuisance of a bird mentioned that the meaning of the sun rising in his world was that the oath keeper was entering a state of peace. For a split second, Sesshomaru stood there pondering if he should go to Homugi's side, but she had left the funeral home with a dark aura surrounding her. She was even walking slowly. If he had tried to speak to her or tried to find the doctor again, Homugi would hardly listen to him. He said enough.
She had truly gone rogue from the House of Inu. Her fur and raiment were no longer on her person, and she dressed in commoner's clothes. Truly a loss for the House of Inu. She was arguably one of the top defenders of the castle... the way she always dreamed of it, but at the cost of always being looked down upon. He caught the scent of metal oil and sweet orange at the doctor's estate. It was Kirameku Ha. He must be inspecting the damage from last night's fiasco. Sesshomaru reasoned he would have to find the doctor later. She may have been annoying to deal with at times, but she was hardly a coward. Something else had to have happened to her.
He took his time following the old man's scent to the doctor's home. When he approached the back entrance to the estate, he was surprised to see several people picking up damaged pieces to her home. Jaken was with Kyoko and the boys at another building, trying to pick up broken pieces of wood or otherwise, while the adults and some demons were picking up things at the home. The clinic was another story, but it was definitely hit hardest with half of it ripped off from the impact of that man's fiery blast. The clinic had a strong barrier surrounding it. One that seemed to match the one surrounding the cliff overlooking the land. Sesshomaru recognized Lady Uo and Mizu Hoseki, but the large red beast was completely new to him. Kirameku Ha seemed to be inspecting the support beams and foundation of Meioshi's home while the others picked up loose trash and such. Items of sentimental value appeared to be getting situated on a set of tables while broken or burned items were placed in two separate stacks of either trash or needing repair.
Lady Uo was the first to sense Sesshomaru's presence and narrowed her eyes at him before widening her smile. She stood next to a burly man, who was holding a support beam's end while Kirameku Ha inspected things, before she said something to him and walked over to Sesshomaru. Her kimono was a different color this time. A very pleasant peach and gold. The top was off the shoulder but made that sweetheart neckline showing both a prominent bust and a set of pearls decorating her chest. Her family crest was still on her sleeves. She still had the trademark long slit on her dress, but her ribbons were a different color on her hip. They were a minty green. Sesshomaru merely locked eyes with the seductress once she got close enough and waited for her to speak. He did notice, however, that her hair wasn't pinned up like the last time he saw her. Her icy blonde hair was a bit tusseled like she had just gotten out of bed. She must have rushed down here when she heard about the attack.
"Are you here for your imp, Lord Sesshomaru?" Uo asked.
"The doctor," Sesshomaru corrected, taking note to Uo's sigh in response. "And... Kirameku Ha."
Uo's eyes widened at this, smile remaining in place. The only indication of surprise that she would allow him to see. Her eyes returned to normal, but she softly asked, "Why?"
For whatever reason, Sesshomaru found that he could not answer her. Although it truly wasn't her business to know of his intentions, he just wanted to see the old man. He supposed that's why Uo hummed in response before chuckling briefly.
"As tough as that man is, he seems to have a way with taming wild personalities... even the quiet, defiant ones," Uo said. "He's occupied presently, but I'll let him know you're worried about him and my beloved."
"I said no such thing," Sesshomaru responded, narrowing his eyes at the implication.
"You didn't have to. Your eyes exposed you," Uo said, walking away from him. "If you aren't helping with the assessment, take this time to clear your thoughts. Your troubles are on your sleeve."
Troubled? Him? Ridiculous! Since everyone's so flipping busy, Sesshomaru decided to check on his attendant. The Bestiary Museum was a rather large building about three stories high and filled with stuffed animals, skeletons, and statues of different specimen. Scrolls and books were all over the floor while clay pieces were littered about. Surprisingly, there were some statues of demons among the number of specimen that Meioshi quite possibly had observed. How long did it take her to gather all of this information and build these replicas? Surely being a doctor wouldn't require so much, would it? Is she simply so advanced in her studies? Walking inside of the building, Sesshomaru heard some grunting as he entered the first floor. Large statues of land, air, and sea creatures seemed to fill the room along with tapestries showing the directions of where each beast's information could be properly located. Archives of scrolls, books, and journals seemed to be on the walls, but a lot of the printed or written information was tossed to the ground or burned or blown into the forest behind it.
The children seemed to be on their own, trying to pick up a stuffed animal that was half blown to ashes. They were struggling to lift what looked like a mountain lion. Jaken was assisting them with the statue in question.
"Jeez! This thing's way heavier than I remember," Musuko complained, lifting the front left of the mountain lion.
"You're the one who decided to stuff it with fiber and sand to make it more life-life!" Shotaro remarked, guiding everyone to the engawa outside.
"Where's this even going, Sho?" Kyoko asked, lifting the back left.
"To the left of the engawa. This one's not badly damaged," Shotaro explained. "All the adults are putting not broken stuff on one side and busted down stuff on another side. It's probably easier that way."
"Lemme get this straight. You have to move all of these things outside?" Jaken questioned, lifting the back right of the statue. "And they're all this heavy?"
"No, just the smaller ones. Lord Aka and Miss Uo's husband are gonna move the big ones," Musuko said with relief that they didn't have to move bigger beasts. "We're just picking up what we can. I think big brother, Ohta, is picking up the ones we can't lift, too."
They walked past Sesshomaru like he was a ghost until they all flopped onto their stomachs or butts once the statue was put down. If he heard that right, Musuko had actually designed the mountain lion they were lifting. That was a very impressive skill if so. It was life-like! Fur and all! Sesshomaru then felt something on his leg and looked down to see Chiura hugging him and smiling cutely. He kneeled down to inspect the little girl and noticed that she had two bears in her arms. Well, one was the bear that she always held in her arms, but the other was simply attached to a small purse.
"Hi, Lord Sesshomaru!" she greeted quietly.
Jaken heard Chiura say his lord's name and looked around the engawa to see where he was but couldn't seem to find him. When he crawled over to the door, there he was looking at Chiura. Fearful that his lord might have been neglected, Jaken hustled on all fours and yelped, "L-l-lord Sesshomaru! When did you get here?"
Sesshomaru turned to him and replied, "You were moving that lion when I got here. Are you so incompetent that you can't lift these sand beasts on your own?"
"W-we-well, that particular beast was simply heavier than I thought!" Jaken explained in a panic. "I can lift the other beasts, no problem!"
"See to it that you don't disappoint me," Sesshomaru said, rising to stand.
"Yes, me lord!" Jaken responded, bowing rapidly before hustling to pick up a beast that had toppled over in the next room.
He then turned to Chiura and asked, "Are you helping lift these creatures?"
"Yes. I'm helping Ohta," Chiura replied with a nod.
She then gestured an "oh" before detaching the smaller bear from her purse. It wasn't a bear at all, however. It was Sesshomaru with his Moko Moko and all. The only incorrect feature on the small bear was that it was rabbit. In that moment, the western lord softened his features and took in the amount of detail the little girl was able to remember in order to make the small rabbit. His hair was made from white and silver tassels, but the whiskers and eyes had magenta striped patches representing his markings. His eyes were little yellow buttons, and the haori jacket that she made had magenta honeycombs on it. She got a yellow sash to represent his obi, a small red cord to represent his obijime, and a piece of regular black silk to represent his armor. She was excited to give him this particular gift. She must've worked quite hard on it. In all honesty, the girl had a gift for making stuffed bears. It took him a second to realize she even put his crescent moon on the bunny. It looked too shiny to be a patch, so it must have been a badge she or someone else had made.
"Thank you for helping us, Lord Sesshomaru," Chiura said sweetly.
As much as he wanted to walk away and not take the gift, Sesshomaru found he simply couldn't and held out his hand for the girl to place the stuffed animal in it. Surprising both himself and the halfling child, he pulled out her trinket from underneath his sash and attached it to the bunny's jacket. She blushed brightly and ran at Sesshomaru's leg again to hug him tighter than before. He flinched at the contact, let his brow twitch, and then watched the girl run off to a different room on the right. If she was here, then Ohta and the others had to be over there.
"Hey, it's the guy from the pond!" Kyoko cheerfully declared, hopping on one foot to stand before him. "You left your dragon again. We're gonna run out of food and shampoo soon if you're not careful with them."
"Have you been taking care of him then?" Sesshomaru asked, watching the girl hold her hands behind her back.
"Uh-huh," Kyoko answered, nodding her head and smiling brightly. "Sensei let me before she left for work to the other village. After that, Lord Kirameku Ha's been letting me. He had them cart his produce to the market during the day, and we put them away in sensei's barn at night. Oh! I made a drawing of them! Wait here!"
To say Kyoko was a human girl, she could move fast! As soon as she told him to wait, she hustled in a room and came back with a sketch book in her arms. She turned to a page in it and showed him an excellent drawing of Ah-Un. Her artistry would be astonishing once she matured in both skill and age. The boys, Musuko and Shotaro, waltzed in just as he was taking in the details of her sketch and stood by Kyoko's side for a moment until they heard Jaken yelp.
"That sounded like Jaken," Shotaro said with some concern.
"Oh, man, he better not be dropping my leopard cat!" Musuko threatened, running to a room on the left where Kyoko had just run from. "That took two months to finish!"
"Ah, you really are here," a familiar voice said.
Sesshomaru turned around to see Ohta with the statue of a serow placed over his shoulder and a smile on his face. He was wearing male clothes this time with the classic hakama pants and kimono top combination. He was going to be a parent's problem when it came to the village girls with that look, but it was more appropriate than the joro's furisode Sesshomaru met him in and there was no mistaking him for a woman despite his beauty. He looked a bit taller and thicker in the face and neck like he was gaining more muscle in place of the delicate thinness he had before. Has it really been that long since Sesshomaru had seen him last or did Ohta just fill out more? These kids with these growth spurts!
"We're having breakfast a bit late today if you haven't heard, Lord Sesshomaru," Ohta said with his natural, more masculine voice. It wasn't deep per se, but it was an indicator that Ohta was giving way to manhood. "Mama Yumi's cooking this time to help everyone out. What have you been up to?"
"Who is Mama Yumi?" Sesshomaru questioned, tilting his head slightly.
"I am."
Sesshomaru turned to see a fairly tall human woman walking onto the engawa and into the museum. She was a beautiful, elegant woman with a serious expression on her face... until one of the grapple bears ran into the hall with scrolls in his arms.
"Mommy!" Kijiro called out. He caught sight of the western lord and greeted happily, "Lord Sesshomaru! So many surprises today!"
"Lord Sesshomaru, you're here, too!" Juba cheered, carrying some smaller statues of a squirrel and rabbit.
Chiyumi chuckled at her little one before she melted into a gentle smile and said, "Food's ready, kids. We'll come back to this in a little while. Have you been putting the scrolls in the right bin, my son?"
"Yes, mommy! Oh! Well, not these yet," Kijiro corrected, lifting up his arms.
"It's all right," Chiyumi said, laughing lightly. "We'll put those on the table over there. C'mon!"
"You, too, Lord Sesshomaru! You're eating auntie's food today! That's final," Ohta said, putting down the goat statue and tapping Sesshomaru's shoulder before running off.
Sesshomaru wasn't sure what to say. The little ones weren't staying with Meioshi anymore? When he saw each child leave the museum to run to their respective parents, he grew even quieter than before. The doctor gave the little grapple bears homes. They were... okay.
"Lady Uo says you were looking for me?" a familiar voice asked, taking Sesshomaru out of his trance. Kirameku Ha was standing on the lawn before the engawa.
Sesshomaru took his time in answering the man until Jaken interrupted him by saying, "Wait! I didn't hear what everyone was eating? Uh, Lord Sesshomaru, is it okay for me to - ?"
"You may," Sesshomaru answered, locking eyes with Kirameku Ha. He huffed when Jaken tore out of the museum with eagerness and followed after the children. He then returned his attention to the old man and asked, "Why is the doctor in hiding?"
"She isn't. She's recovering," Kirameku Ha answered, folding his arms to look at her home. "One of her enemies decided to pay her a visit. She's lucky this is all they did. This was arguably one of their smaller warnings."
"Who are they?" Sesshomaru asked with a slight growl underneath his tone. This interested Kirameku Ha and made him turn to look at Sesshomaru's body language. Sesshomaru then demanded, "What do they want with a healer?"
"If she did not disclose this information to you yet, she doesn't trust you enough for you to be involved," Kirameku Ha replied as a test. What he did not expect was for Sesshomaru to tense up. That got to him. He then said, "This is a personal matter. Even we aren't allowed to help in some areas. I imagine you might have a problem that she can't quite be involved in too much, yes?"
"She doesn't act like it," Sesshomaru responded after a brief pause. "None of this has anything to do with her. She doesn't need help recovering."
Kirameku Ha took a deep breath then pinched the bridge of his nose and asked, "What did she do this time?"
"Nothing," Sesshomaru replied, turning away from the old man.
"If it were nothing, you wouldn't be looking for me of all people," the elder remarked, releasing his nose and looking at Sesshomaru again. "What did she do?"
"Nothing," Sesshomaru replied, a bit softer. The answer, Kirameku Ha realized, was literal. He let the western lord speak, expecting a short answer like before, but was surprised when he saw conflict take over his outward appearance. Even in the short time he spent with the boy, he had never seen his walls shake like this. The boy then said, "She was just kind... to someone I lost... because of my father."
"Why does her kindness to this person bother you so? Did you wish for her to stay away from that person?" the man asked.
"Because it's not the whole truth. I was... honoring her wish," Sesshomaru answered, looking down and to the side.
"You believe honoring this wish is an excuse to isolate a person?" Kirameku Ha asked, making Sesshomaru look at him. "In what way did Meioshi express her kindness to this person?"
"She took her away. She was angry."
Kirameku Ha's features immediately softened at this. That's what was bothering the boy. Meioshi was angry at him for whatever it was he did to this other girl, or at least she was going to be when they met up again. He then asked, "Why does that bother you if you know the truth? You don't typically care about others' perception of you. What is it about my pupil being angry that's so different? Is it her code of honor?"
Sesshomaru was quiet but that seemed to be the answer Kirameku Ha was looking for. Meioshi upholds her code of honor despite adversity. The boy firmly believes they honor the same code and respects that about his pupil. Whatever conflict that happened between him and another woman upset Meioshi enough to where it disrupted something between the two not necessarily Sesshomaru and the other woman. Kirameku Ha didn't realize exactly how much Sesshomaru respected Meioshi, but it must be a great deal if her anger is being equated to a form of punishment for him. Demons were something else!
The old man then said, "Eat with me, young Sesshomaru. When we are done, we will find my pupil. If you wish to clear your name before her, take this time to think of your words carefully. If not, perhaps you need some time away from her until she is no longer resolute in her anger. She mentioned you were missing an item from home when she was returned. Perhaps we can use this time to find a clue or two. If you show her your ability to move on through productivity, she typically reduces her anger and redirects it elsewhere."
Sesshomaru searched the man's eyes to judge his offer and said after some time, "If you wish."
"I do not operate this way," Kirameku Ha said, shaking his head. "You are a leader, young Sesshomaru. Do you want to right this wrong against you?" Sesshomaru didn't answer immediately. The old man then said, "When you have decided on your next actions, I will join you in finding my pupil. I know many locations she tends to choose to recuperate, but I cannot offer you this knowledge until you decide for yourself. A great leader cannot always let others choose for him."
With that, Kirameku Ha bowed before the western lord then walked to his home in silence. He would return shortly, but he would wait for Sesshomaru's answer... The mysterious sensei already knew that Sesshomaru was going to wait for him...