Sesshomaru and Jaken were flying through the air, leading the way for Reijiro and Sanraku. Reijiro was riding Aa-Un as Sanraku rode a temporary steed in the form of a silver and blue wyvern. It may not have been a beast of burden like Aa-Un, but Sanraku preferred this steed for travelling over water. Wyverns were better at fishing chores like pulling lost boats to shore or broken fishing nets to men with minimal loss of catch. They were also excellent fishing partners, capable of detecting certain fish via echolocation and alerting their masters of poisonous catch. Despite their affinity in water, they could fly just as efficiently. The group was fairly quiet on their way to Heiwa. Sesshomaru begrudgingly explained that he wanted to attend Meioshi's funeral and would visit Kirameku Ha's home to inquire about the event. The two soldiers didn't argue, but they kept the information in the back of their minds.
With the situation at the Akabeko Temple fully gone over without compromising anything, Reijiro and Sanraku volunteered to continue to follow Sesshomaru out of personal interest. Sesshomaru feigned disinterest in their choices, but Jaken took note of a sliver of gratefulness in the western lord's features. For Sanraku, he explained that he wanted to see the Green Pheasant again. He thoroughly enjoyed being around him and was considering becoming more involved with holy warriors. They fulfill missions with great charity in their hearts and seemed to be selfless. At least, the ones that he was able to see through memories and Meioshi's more physical work. For Reijiro... he heeded Naonobu's warning and chose to simply go with Sanraku instead of report to Fort Sutabei. He wasn't ready to face Kirameku Ha just yet, but he was curious to know how he lived and where. Also... he didn't mind Sesshomaru as much as before. He may have been snippy before, but Sesshomaru cared about the oni girl in the same way that Reijiro cared about Sanraku. Really, he couldn't be mad at that. Since Takamuku only briefly explained his relationship with Sesshomaru in the past, he wasn't sure if Sesshomaru was at fault for what happened to him. He didn't even know the man was an inu arts teacher.
Unknowingly, a vessel was flying overhead of the group. It was really too high in the clouds for the boys to see anything, and neither the dragon nor the wyvern sensed the threat above, but the vessel was extremely quiet and stealthy. The bottom of it was completely hidden behind clouds and the passengers made no noise. Right as Sesshomaru reached peak position, one of the passengers smiled mischievously and tilted the vessel at a perfect angle before free-falling down onto the western lord. No one heard a thing until they felt a small ounce of power raining down on them. Before anyone could react fast enough to look up...
WHAM!
Sesshomaru and Jaken were abruptly shot down from someone landing on them. All Jaken could do was let out a startled scream while Sesshomaru let out an "oof!" Sanraku and Reijiro were startled themselves before they curved and tried to follow the western lord. Sesshomaru and Jaken spiraled out of control for a second until they heard smug laughter and Sesshomaru felt a pull on his armor to straighten his flight.
"If I were an assassin, you'd have no head."
Sesshomaru sharply turned around and was met with hazel eyes before the extra weight jumped off him. Jaken gasped before calling, "Meioshi? Is that really - ?"
"Genso Shushu-Sen!" Right before their eyes, Meioshi smiled with her trademark adventurer's grin before her boat and a little girl appeared to collect her. It was the girl that his mother was with before! The doctor then said with a toothier smile, "So sorry to bother you, my lord, but I'll be needing to borrow Jaken for a moment."
"Wait what?" Jaken questioned.
"Miko Snatch!" Hasumi yelled, shooting Shinto papers out of her staff to ensnare Jaken and reel him on the boat.
"God dammit, witch! Why are you and a yellow dwarf abducting me?" Jaken demanded, struggling to get out of his paper trap.
"You love it," Meioshi responded, shaking her head and pointing a finger at Jaken. Summoning her boat oar to steer the boat upward with more speed, she soared through the sky with Hasumi in tow to look at the world below.
"Wow!" Hasumi said, looking over the boat's side. "Look at the view!"
"Lord Sesshomaru, you're coming to save me!" Jaken said, making the girls turn to see Sesshomaru chasing after them.
"Think you can handle steering, Lady Fukuyama?" Meioshi asked, winking at the girl and dropping the oar in her hands.
"Huh?" Hasumi and Jaken questioned, turning blue in the face.
As soon as the oar fell in Hasumi's hands, the boat leaned into a nosedive and made the girl and imp scream with panic, but Meioshi was as calm as a summer breeze. Hasumi struggled to get the boat under control, jerking it in all directions, but she eventually made the nose go back up. She almost knocked Aa-Un's heads off in the process, but they just barely missed theirs and Reijiro's head. The inu soldier let out a small yelp before he ducked down. Sanraku looked behind him on the spooked wyvern and hurried up to pull back its reigns as Sesshomaru darted past them with malicious intent.
"You're doing good, my lady," Meioshi complimented, looking behind and spotting Sesshomaru practically within reach of the tail end. Summoning up a small ounce of mianyi, Meioshi stomped on the left side of the boat and made it spin just hard enough for Hasumi to drop the oar but with enough momentum to get the oar to bounce back into her hands. She then steered the boat on waves of mianyi to keep away from Sesshomaru. "Hope you like catching waves!"
"Help! I'm going to drown from air! Or breathe too much holy water! Witch, what are you doing?" Jaken demanded.
"Having some fun, Lord Jaken!" she replied with joyful laugh.
"Catch that wave, doc!" Hasumi said, pointing at a shiny wave that rode like a bank.
Steering the boat along the waves, Sesshomaru simply slowed down to watch her. She really was here and not a spirit. She survived... but how? She was dead! She even had the smell of death on her! When she smiled brightly and let the wave of mianyi flutter across her skin, Sesshomaru let himself admire her wild beauty and admit, if only to himself, that he would have greatly missed seeing her in her natural element. He allowed himself to be happy... that his friend was alive. When she stopped riding waves and calmed her ride to a simple cruise, he was able to catch up to them easily and land on the boat. She looked at him with that lovely expression from before. While he wasn't comfortable enough with returning an equivalent expression, he did wait for her to speak and merely locked eyes with her. Neither person said anything until Meioshi saluted him and bowed elegantly, he might add.
"Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru," she said.
He was quiet for a while until he finally replied, "You've no reason to do that."
"Of course, I do. You helped me save my sunflower miko here," Meioshi said, nodding to Hasumi. "And... you refused to leave my side, even when I knew death was coming. You completely ruined my goodbye speech. I'm not supposed to have someone with me when I'm on missions like that, but... you were there until the end. I'd say our rivalry has become quite the spectacle. I owe you many a favor, my lord. Plus, I've never seen Jaken cry!"
"I didn't cry!" Jaken retorted.
"You really would've missed me, after all, Lord Jaken!" Meioshi said cheerfully, kneeling in front of the imp.
"No, I wouldn't have!" Jaken argued, only making Meioshi give Jaken one of the warmest smiles the imp had seen someone give him. "I just don't have another person available to rub my feet. That's all."
Meioshi giggled before looking passed Sesshomaru to see Reijiro and Sanraku catching up to them. She nodded to the boys and said, "Your caravan is growing quite nicely, my lord."
"I have no need for such a thing," Sesshomaru said softly.
"Do you always short yourself like that?" Meioshi asked, making Sesshomaru lower his eyes. "You shouldn't. If Hasumi can be given a second chance at life, you can be given the same. You are the lord of the western lands, are you not? Give yourself a chance to be that... taisho."
Sesshomaru gasped at the name before closing his mouth. He thought, 'But that's my father's - !'
"A good general can lead his army to battle with minimal casualties and few, if any, injuries, but a good king..." Meioshi paused to choose the right words, laughed a bit, and then continued, "well, I believe a good king never loses sight of those who are closest and most important to him. That's what it takes to be a true friend as well. I look forward to the day when you can call someone your true friend... because that will be the day... you have become my taisho. No matter what part of the land you're in. It would be a high honor to put my life in your hands someday but only... if you give yourself a chance."
Jaken looked at the soldiers behind them and then to Sesshomaru, but the look in his lord's eyes was enough to illuminate the sun by double of its brilliance. He had never been called taisho before by anyone. The witch... was too sweet for her own safety, but... Jaken found he minded that quality about her much less.
"Is Little A-roo going on vacation with us or something?" Hasumi questioned.
"Nope!" Meioshi replied, summoning up a huge wave of mianyi that knocked Sesshomaru and Jaken off the boat.
She made the boat perform a barrel roll before waving goodbye to Sesshomaru and flying off to her next adventure. Even though Sesshomaru had an opportunity to chase behind her again to remind her that she was still Jaken's servant and still responsible for finding the Meido Stone, he decided not to. He watched her go before leading his group to Heiwa to wait for her to return. They needed a new clue to find his mother's necklace now, anyway. But... if Reijiro and Sanraku really were sticking around... he needed time to adjust to his army and his own kingdom finally growing...
___________________________________________________
"Sensei!" Yuko cheered, running into Meioshi's arms.
"You made it back," Homugi said, smiling.
Meioshi hugged her girls in unison, making them blush and smile softly. Upon her return home, they both gave Meioshi a firm talking-to about how scared they were. She accepted the lectures because she was genuinely apologetic for the matter. Though they all asked her questions about what happened, she promised the holy shield wielders to keep things a secret until all was said and done. Her powers, unfortunately, had gone completely dormant, so a vacation was well-deserved this time. With Hasumi in tow, she made sure to introduce everyone to her. Surprisingly enough, she seemed to adopt Chiura instantly. Even tried kidnapping her as another rare catch! Like most children, Hasumi adored the bestiary museum and was eager to help clean some of it up to restore it to its former glory. As predicted by Homugi, she developed a competitive rivalry with Kyoko on the knowledge of the beasts. Hasumi was extremely eager to learn about taxonomy and dissection. She didn't want to cut into any animals, but she was okay with making sculptures of them. Meioshi pointed Homugi and Hasumi to the guest bedrooms of her home, and they thoroughly enjoyed following Meioshi's nightly routine of making tea and soaking in the bath. She even took the girls shopping for vacation clothes in both the human and demon districts of Heiwa, taking care to pick out some fabrics for future sewing projects.
As a surprise, Meioshi had help from her friends and the grapple bears in redoing Hasumi's miko clothes. Liuxian and his family visited her home to pick up Hasumi and bring her to the beach to play in the sands for a while. Once the girl came back, she was met with her favorite style of bows and colorful obi to switch out of for her different outfits. She twirled around in her miko suit before flopping into Meioshi's arms... and trying to kidnap Chiura when the little one gave her trinkets. Hasumi didn't want to go to sleep half the time, but Meioshi and Liuxian promised that things would be okay and that she could always look forward to tomorrow. Once Kirameku Ha returned, Meioshi ran into his arms to show that she was okay. Hasumi only remembered them speaking about something the night before the girls went out again to pack up vacation items.
That's pretty much where Hasumi and Meioshi were now. Back at the wagon with vacation stuff while Homugi and Yuko were waiting for them to come back.
"Yup! It was awesome! We rode way up in the clouds and banked waves and I even got to steer the boat! The view was amazing, too!" Hasumi said, twirling on her toes with joy. "What are we doing next?"
"We're pretty much off to the hot spring site I was telling you about. Did you check to make sure you had your collector's gear?" Meioshi asked.
"Lemme see!" Hasumi said, rushing to the wagon to rifle through some things. Shooting a hand up among the items, she exclaimed, "Found it!"
"Right then," Meioshi started, pointing a finger forward with a little gold star at the end of fingernail. "Away we go!"
"Hey, Yuko, did you tell Prince Yamashi that you were leaving again?" Homugi asked.
"Yes, but I'll stay home for a while after this. If I'm out too long, he'll get worried and track me down. High-class demons like that get a terrible case of separation anxiety," Yuko explained. "Plus, I don't mind being home. He gives me cuddles, and I like his cuddles. We make sure to spend time as a couple first before I go back to my work as a nurse and he goes back to do his trade. Sensei's marriage counseling is extremely helpful when it comes to learning how to divide your duties between family and work."
"How often do you do that sort of thing, doctor?" Homugi asked.
"I practically started off in that field, but I'd say it was my top service next to hygiene for joros. As an apprentice myself, I studied much about herbs and common illnesses, but I took notice to family dynamics breaking down a lot in Heiwa. There was no herb for that, and it was so common in the village and the farmlands that I simply couldn't ignore it. I don't know what made things so terrible, but I wound up harboring wives for safety just as much as I was caring for joros. Do you remember when you helped me fix my barn for the animals?"
"Yeah. It looks good now," Yuko replied, turning to Meioshi to hear her next choice of words. Although, she feared the answer her sensei was going to give them.
"That barn used to be the safehaven for those women and children," Meioshi responded, looking ahead as though the memory was fresh in her mind. "I was beaten up many times for hiding away those people, but I was lucky that my father and grandfather happened to be around. Otherwise, I could've been killed or raped myself. Some men were simply too strong for me. My fighting techniques were good, but they weren't always enough. This one time, though, a beautiful lady had stumbled upon me making soap for a few joros. Her husband was violently pulling on her to force her back home. I don't know what it was about him doing that, but I just... snapped. I don't know why, but... I just couldn't stop hitting him. I wanted him to stop, but I wanted everyone to stop. I guess all the beatings, the fear I felt, the guilt for getting my parents involved, and the fury just made me crumble that day. Even through tears, I was punching and kicking. He wasn't a weak man by any means, but I used every ounce of force I had to make him run. When he did, that was the day I started coaching that girl. She, unfortunately, committed suicide not long after that, but she said thank you in her suicide letter and claimed to have found her husband."
"Is that me you're referring to?" a familiar voice asked.
Meioshi chirped an 'eh?' before she saw Madame Pheasant running up to her. The bird's eyes softened before she walked in front of the doctor and made the woman kneel down. She then said, "Hello, again, my darling. Where's your husband?"
"Actually, he's at your estate with the children. Will you be gone long, my girl?" Madame asked, tilting her head.
"Wow, a talking pheasant! Can I catch her?" Hasumi questioned, eyes glittering at this new rare specimen. "Her feathers are so pretty! They're like a cream!"
"Oh?" Madame replied, giggling. "What a cute girl!"
"You don't smell like a demon," Homugi said, kneeling down to observe the pheasant. Hasumi was right about one thing. This bird did have beautiful feathers. The pattern on them was captivating, and the cream coloring of her wings and tail almost looked like the underdress of a kimono. Even her eyes were pretty like they were lined with kohl along the top to make wings. Homugi then continued, "But you do have the scent of reiki in you. You must be like a guardian spirit or something."
"I'm the wife of a guardian spirit if that's what you're implying," Madame said cheerfully, turning to Homugi.
"So, you were a human girl once?" Yuko asked, leaning over to ask.
"Indeed, I was. I met my husband before death through my friend here," Madame answered, allowing Meioshi to scratch her neck.
"I won't be long at all, my darling. Please. Make yourself at home. We all could probably use some time off. Would you like to join us, darling?" Meioshi asked.
"Not this time, my girl. When we made it to the estate, I passed by the barn. It's merely coincidence that you were remembering that awful time the same way I was. If you do go on vacation again, I'd like to go sailing! We can make the sails like before!" Madame cheered, flapping her wings excitedly.
"We could," Meioshi said, actually liking that idea. "I hadn't made sails in years. I'll plan for that when I come back. You'd best hurry back before it gets dark out here."
"You'd best be careful yourself. You're quite vulnerable, dear," Madame said, motherly instinct kicking in.
"I know. I will," Meioshi said, embracing the pheasant and watching her scurry away.
With that, the girls returned to normal conversation with the promise that Meioshi would explain Madame Pheasant's backstory. The trip to the hot springs would be a few days, but the foliage and nocturnal creatures traveling along the path were something to behold. The girls didn't stop until they reached a small creak that was out in open space. Meioshi was teaching Hasumi how to catch fireflies in a beautifully decorated lamp while Homugi was learning how to design her own lamp through sketches. Yuko was designing one with her, too. She might not have been good at it, but she enjoyed the simple task of picking out a design and crafting it. When Hasumi felt they caught enough, Meioshi led her back to camp and placed the lamp near the water to light up the area. Hasumi couldn't help but stare at the bugs as she laid on her stomach to watch them. Taking out her pink shell, Meioshi dragged it towards the girls and pried it open. It didn't have the food in there anymore, but it did have the stuffed animals. It wasn't long before the girls sat side by side to count the number of fireflies they caught and engaged in idle chit-chat.
"The water is so calming tonight," Meioshi said, watching the ripples walk across the water's surface.
"It's really warm in your shell bed, doc," Hasumi complimented, snuggling in a blanket with the lamp in her arms.
Homugi caught the scent of something approaching them and sat up straight for a second. She then said, "Doctor. Something's here."
Meioshi went to sit up, now alerted to what Homugi was sensing, but whatever it was seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden. Except it didn't disappear. It lifted the shell up about just a couple of inches off the ground before clamping shut just as Yuko let out a scream. Kiyonobu locked the shell tight and dragged it with him, leaving the girls' belongings behind...