Several hundred years ago...
Hikozaemon II was quietly eating his lunch underneath an oak tree as his pet rabbit was hopping about in the garden. His small grandson, Sesshomaru, was busying himself with making a rabbit house for the fluffy creature. Milady had helped design it with some input from the boy and Toga, so Hikozaemon II took the liberty of bringing the boy material hunting and showing his gratitude for the fluffy gift. At the very least, it kept the boy occupied so that he wasn't terrorizing his parents in the middle of "cuddle time". The older gentleman couldn't figure out why the couple weren't honest about what they were doing. The boy popped in on them once before, and he showed no signs of disgust from what he saw. He just seemed confused until he remembered what he went in their room for in the first place. He couldn't find a puzzle piece for his three-dimensional animal puzzle. The creature had no head. That disturbed Sesshomaru more than his parents being intimate with each other.
When Hikozaemon II heard a displeased huff and the back wall of the house collapsing, he turned his attention to the boy who popped his head out of the small rabbit house with a pout on his face. Tears were bubbling up at the corners of his eyes and a small blush of frustration crept on his cheeks. The older gentleman supposed that the boy didn't realize how hard building a house truly was because of his excitement to simply build one. Stepping away from the lunch table and walking over to Sesshomaru, he kneeled in front of him and waited for the boy to come out. Sesshomaru didn't. He simply sat there until part of the roof landed on him and made him blush more from frustration.
"Why don't you eat with me for a little while, young one?" Hikozaemon II asked. "Give yourself some time to think clearly."
"I'm not hungry," Sesshomaru mumbled, fighting back his growing tears.
Hikozaemon II merely raised an eyebrow before looking at the design of the house again and then to the pieces the boy was putting together. He then said, "This is quite a puzzle you're trying to put together, but it looks like you're missing some pieces."
"Huh?" Sesshomaru questioned, looking up at him with those big, glittering eyes.
"You won't be able to complete anything this way, young one," he said, wiping away the tears from the boy's eyes. "We'll have to find the puzzle pieces that go with it. Perhaps we should ask the rabbit."
"Junibun has the pieces, Jikomo?" Sesshomaru asked, blinking cutely.
"That's his name?" Hikozaemon II questioned, looking at his rabbit hopping over to them. "I'll take that as a yes. Who better to know what he needs in a house than Junibun himself?"
"What piece am I missing, Junibun?" Sesshomaru asked innocently, turning to the rabbit. Oddly enough, the bunny growled then thumped onto a piece of wood like it was answering the boy's question. "That's pine. You want more pine, Junibun?"
"Let's put the pieces of wood we have into separate piles. We'll let Junibun lead us to find the puzzle pieces for his perfect house," Hikozaemon II suggested, earning a small nod and smile from his grandson. "But only after lunch. Junibun is hungry."
The bunny growled again and thumped at his masters. His ears went up once he saw Hikozaemon II going for a small bowl of vegetables. From there, the older gentleman simply had to babysit for the remainder of the day. Sesshomaru wouldn't let him help build the rabbit house until he fell asleep. He had such pride and determination at such a young age! It was well into the night before the boy had finally stopped working for the day, taking breaks only when his grandfather suggested it. Sesshomaru spoke to the bunny often to see what Junibun wanted for a perfect house. He seemed to like pine wood and "scratchy time", so the boy changed up his mother's original house design for something to accommodate Junibun's favorite things. Hence why the floor of the house was large enough for a person to sit... or for a boy to nap.
Toga walked up to his father in the garden and asked, "Dad, have you seen pup? It's late."
Hikozaemon II took a small bite of a sweet potato chip before standing up and walking over to the rabbit house. He kneeled in front of it and lifted the roof like it was a lid to a jar then nodded for his son to look. Inside, his cute grandson and Junibun were sleeping side by side underneath the roof that had fallen again. This time, however, the floor and three walls remained in place and the roof looked more like someone had placed it above the boy and bunny. Probably why Hikozaemon II was able to lift it with ease and without disturbing the boy or bunny. The pine wood pieces were painted with colors at the corners and shapes were cut into some of the boards. In Sesshomaru's little hands was also a rubber mallet. Junibun had grass in his mouth as though he chewed himself to sleep.
Toga chuckled at the sight and then said quietly, "You're too cute for your own good, pup. Who put the shapes and colors on the boards?"
"He's too young to mess with nails," Hikozaemon II replied, lowering the roof and rising to stand. "Took me forever to make the boards into puzzle pieces. He wouldn't let me assist."
"He did all that on his own?" Toga questioned, impressed.
"Well... the bunny helped," Hikozaemon II answered, mouth twitching at his grandson's chosen name for the rabbit. He guessed it was probably a better name than simply Brown Rabbit.
"Which one, dad?" Toga asked, folding his arms and looking at his father with a playful twinkle in his eye.
"Obviously not the one who keeps mating with another little bunny," Hikozaemon II shot back, fixing his jacket before walking off to let Toga retrieve his cute grandson.
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"My lord, might I inquire about our new, um, traveling companions?" Jaken asked, a bit uncomfortably.
"What of it?" Sesshomaru asked, leading the way to their new destination.
"Well, I was under the impression that only Kirameku Ha was joining us on our journey, but, uh... well... exactly what did I miss since our return to camp? Because we now have two guards from your clan with us," Jaken stated, peeking over his shoulder for a second before one of the guard's eyes caught his.
'These soldiers are so tense!' Jaken thought. 'I think I liked it better with just the old man. Speaking of which, where did he stay while I was busy with the cursed Nintojo? And... why is he way in the back of the caravan?'
Anxiety was probably to be expected in this situation. Kirameku Ha had returned just shortly after the two inu soldiers had setup their own place at Meioshi's campsite. They didn't speak much beyond what they had planned on eating for the night and kept answers to questions at a minimum. The old man didn't say anything at all on the matter. He simply analyzed the site, noticed the additional number of people, and walked over to his bedding to sleep for the night. Everybody was just quiet. When Jaken woke up, he was face to face with three extra people at camp. The soldiers, however, were young men who appeared to be about Sesshomaru's age if not a year or two older.
One man had reddish-brown hair like a dusty maroon color just reaching his shoulders and eyes of a similar shade. His furs were mainly arm cuffs and a belt. He wore a tight-fitted, long-sleeved, gray shirt with teal markings to signifying his rank as a second-class soldier. The teal mark on his right breast had a small piece of gold on it. He was on his way to first-class. The other young man was interesting. This one wore a similar shirt with similar markings, but the emblem on his right breast was more like an attachment. That usually meant that the person wasn't sure or that his commanding officer wasn't sure where on the ranking scale he should be, and that he may potential leave the military depending on some arbitrary circumstance. Of course, Jaken wouldn't know that, but Sesshomaru did. This unknown soldier could blend into a human crowd with ease, given his features. He had lengthy black hair styled in a topknot and deep brown eyes. His scent and furs would be the only things giving him away. He didn't smell bad by any means. He just smelled like a commoner inu much like the maroon inu next to him. They must live in the same area then. The dark-haired man's furs were worn differently. His was like the hood of a cloak. It was draped around his shoulders like one but had two flaps of fur dangling behind him like a scarf. Normally, the fur on an inu matches the hair of an inu, but this inu's fur was black at the top and white on the bottom. At the very tips of his scarf fur were black and white spots. Was his hair hiding such features?
"Would it be out of line if I asked these soldiers' their names, me lord?" Jaken asked, staying close to Sesshomaru just in case.
"That information is unimportant," Sesshomaru said, stopping his walk. Everyone else did the same before he turned slightly to catch the eye of the dark-haired soldier. "Why did you join the army if you were just going to leave? That is of greater importance."
The dark-haired man said nothing in response for a moment before he replied with equal suspicion and some rudeness, "If my name is so unimportant, then so is everything else about me. You've got somewhere to be, don't you?"
"This Sesshomaru doesn't need an escort," the western lord said with a growl in the back of his throat.
"Yeah," the man said, scoffing, "well, 'this Sesshomaru' might want to get his act together because if he can't complete this mission then he's not going to be a this or a that for long. I'm only here to do my job. That's my focus and my business. What I choose to do in the army is none of your concern."
"It is if I'm the one who commands it," Sesshomaru responded, growl getting deeper.
"That's funny. Because last time I checked, you're not the commanding officer of the army. The general is. If you wanna take his place, take it up with him. I'm not here for anyone's shit. Only the shit that matters to me now," the man said, firm in his words and narrowing his eyes.
His partner was extraordinarily uncomfortable with all of this and sighed. He then said, "Reijiro, stand down. Look, we're not looking for a fight. We were chosen to escort you because we were with you when you apprehended that oni girl for information on the attacker of the Floating Citadel. Your exchange with her confused us. Reijiro's upset because our sensei was involved in the attack. We wanted to come along to prove he was innocent to the elder. He would never betray the House of Inu."
"Your sensei?" Jaken asked, interested in this confession.
"Takamuku," Reijiro said, eyes lowering until he was looking at the ground with remorse in his eyes. Sesshomaru sharply gasped in surprise with widened eyes before he fully turned around. His expression returned to the neutral blankness as he listened to Reijiro speak again. "Sensei loved his people too much to destroy everything like that. He wasn't himself at all. He didn't even recognize us. He was being controlled. I know it! He was suffering! He wasn't dead, but... he may as well have been a sentient puppet."
"We were close to Takamuku-sensei," the maroon inu said, looking at his comrade. Sesshomaru assumed that if Reijiro was the dark inu then the maroon one was Sanraku. Sanraku then looked at Sesshomaru and said, "He's the one who recruited and trained us to join the army. I haven't decided on whether I should leave or not, but I agreed to think about it carefully if that oni girl had something to do with what happened to our sensei and you spared her life. We may not be important to anyone, but we cared about Takamuku. And he never shied away from his guilt of what happened to you."
"Something happened to my lord?" Jaken questioned, turning to see Sesshomaru's eyes shifting as if reliving part of the memory.
Abruptly, the scent of a beast filled the air and a gust of wind picked up from the west. Beaming yellow eyes cut through the thickness of the woods and a drooling mouth with blades for fangs breathed in deeply. The mouth then moved to speak, "Such delicious finds! You might actually be rewarded for your scouting, bratty miko. One of them even has the scent of the late Inu no Taisho! Perfect!"
In the distance behind some bushes, Kirameku Ha caught sight of a young girl with a cold expression on her face. She looked like she had been beaten up recently.
"Can you spare that old man with them? Please... Lord Azumamaro?" the girl asked quietly.