"You can't travel with this kind of injury! Are you insane?" Homugi argued.
"I'll be fine, my Homugi," Meioshi said softly, smiling confidently. "It's just another stupid test I got roped into. Woman warrior having to prove herself to these gents and all. Hopefully, this will be the last one for a while. I rather enjoy being able to see you all. Azumamaro's gone, my Hasumi. He didn't do this."
Hasumi looked down at her feet before throwing herself around Meioshi's neck quietly. She knew that evil beast was no more. She just... didn't want to see her new mother hurt. How could she be so confident and kind despite this physical pain? It didn't make any sense. Meioshi returned the little girl's embrace as reassurance that she would make it through. It was her time to prove more than her ability as a warrior. She had to be the living testimony of her teachings to Homugi. She had to show her what it looked like when she let go of the wrongs done to her. Though she wasn't ready to see the souls of the hell travelers before her leave her, Meioshi could admit to herself that it was because she missed them. Her strong, foundational, and humble grandfather, Arimasa, and her sweet, compassionate, and fiesty mother, Suiren, could not remain in limbo for eternity. They deserved peace... and so did she.
Kiyonobu was a lot like Arimasa now that she was thinking about it. The oni may have been a quiet man, but he was proud of who he was and never let anyone talk down to him about it. It was evident in the way he moved and treated others. He loved his wives and his children. He was respectful of other warriors. All those qualities were just like Arimasa. She promised Lord Aka that he would be able to see his beloved friend again. She couldn't go back on her word out of selfishness. She would be able to see him again herself once he's released. Why steal that from herself? Oyakawa was right. She couldn't live her life drowning in her tears of sorrow. She had to celebrate the legacies before her. She wondered if Shanwang would find it in his heart to see his old masters transition to the "afterlife". He did, after all, joke with Arimasa quite often. Though the smelly ogre would never admit to anything regarding his feelings towards the hell travelers, Meioshi could see emotions in his eyes when he referred to certain ones. Meioshi knew Shanwang would be hurt to see Suiren leave him. He favored her cooking and feistiness the most. Even tried to get her to live with him for access to her moon cakes! Arimasa was not happy about that, but it was part of the joke. The day of Meioshi's thirteenth birthday was probably the most special time for the masters and Shanwang. That was when they had their first real dinner together and celebrated each other. That's what Meioshi wanted most if she had to say goodbye to her family. She wanted to celebrate. She could grieve for now as long as she didn't live in grief.
This was what she wanted to teach Hasumi. Though she lost her family to Azumamaro and the akashita demon, she shouldn't live her life in grief or sorrow. She was granted a second chance by the grace of Kouumoto and Captain Yoshiaga. Using his last bit of power, Kouumoto allowed her to live a human adult life. Captain Yoshiaga, as a gift for helping the haunted stirrup, or Azumamaro, find peace, gave Meioshi the necklace that Hasumi now wears as the Taiyoko-Sen Coin's permanent wielder. Instead of grieving for the loss of her family, Hasumi deserved to celebrate their lives as she remembered them. One day, when she was ready and old enough, Meioshi vowed to help the young miko build a family shrine. She deserved peace herself.
"How do you intend to walk or steer your boat with no eyes?" Homugi demanded, rolling her eyes and wiping Meioshi's wet face with her yukata sleeve.
"I don't need eyes to see that cretin!" Meioshi joked, scoffing as she lifted herself out of the kappa guard's bowl. She reached out to help Omezo, but the child happily splashed around some more before crawling out himself. "Independent young man we've got here! Yasuhide, might I inquire your services as an escort? You seem to not mind Lord Kiyonobu. He called you a brother of the shield."
"We recognize each other as guardians," Yasuhide replied softly. "I was yours before you were born. Where's that old coot anyway? He hasn't visited me in months!"
"Who? Uncle Kirameku Ha?" Meioshi questioned, laughing a bit.
"Kirameku Ha's your uncle?" Jaken shouted more than questioned.
"He was my grandfather's brother-in-arms. He taught me to call him uncle, so I do. He's been my guardian for as long as I can remember just like Yasuhide and Tsuchiya. That's why he's not allowed at the children's school anymore," Meioshi said, smiling at the memory. "I can't believe you tried to wrestle a six-year-old!"
"Should've spanked his little ass," Yasuhide grumbled, turning his nose up and folding his arms. He wasn't sorry about the ordeal whatsoever. "But the inu girl is right. You're in no condition to travel great distances."
"Well, my dark master believes otherwise," Meioshi said, taking Hasumi into her arms to carry her on her hip. The girl was longer than she thought, so the doctor wrapped the miko's legs around her waist to steady her. "I'll understand if you decline, however. The oni seem to be quite sensitive to their affairs. I'm learning so much more about them these days!"
"This guardian oni sees you as a child just as I do," Yasuhide said, lifting Tsuchiya's bowl and replacing it on his head. "I'll not decline you. It is my honor to serve."
Meioshi nodded with a small smile and then said, "Tsuchiya, would you mind shopping around for building materials for me? I have a lot of work to do, and... I need grandfather's armor. I'm going to the festival this year."
"You'll need a dress, my lady," the kappa guard said, rising to stand.
"Well, I needed an excuse to see my girls anyway. Ohta could use the lesson in sewing himself. I think Lady Fukuyama could use a nice kimono for her family name, too. If she's ready to wear it, of course."
"Are you ready to wear the maritime armor?" Tsuchiya asked with softness in his eyes. That was going to be the real struggle. Meioshi had no problem wearing a likeness to Unmei's armor or any of the variations of the hell traveler's garb. It was going to be Arimasa's armor that would be the most difficult.
"Yes," a familiar voice sounded, making Meioshi gasp and forcing her throat to tighten up. It was Kirameku Ha.
"Old coot!" Yasuhide greeted with a toothy smile and widened eyes. He was excited to see him! "We meet again!"
Kirameku Ha approached the group quietly before walking next to Meioshi and bowing politely. The kappa guards returned his salute with a polite bow of their own. This interested Kiyonobu. Kappa, like most high-class youkai, bow to no human. The oni guard activated his Oni Eye and felt the old man's power. When Kirameku Ha turned to the oni, Kiyonobu deactivated his sensor and analyzed the way the man carried himself. He had to have been Kachan Oni's other guardian. Surprising everyone, the oni guardian bowed to Kirameku Ha out of respect for his background as a military man and a family guardian. A brother of the shield must recognize another in oni heritage. Omezo was surprised himself and walked up to Kirameku Ha out of curiosity. His father was very particular in who he showed respect to, so his salute meant a lot. Kirameku Ha looked down at the boy and smiled before nodding in greeting. This sparked something in Omezo's very soul and made his determination to be a good guardian that much stronger. His orphan oni sister surrounded herself with respectful and powerful guardians. That's what he would strive to be someday!
"This is quite the treat for you to be out of the water. What happened?" Kirameku Ha asked.
"Call your men, old friend," Tsuchiya advised. "Your presence will be needed at the festival most of all. Our daughter here has much work to do."
"Sesshomaru..." Meioshi called almost shyly. She was blushing a bit and shaking a little. She then asked, "When I return... will you help me with something? I think... you would know how to do this particular thing I want to do the best. I'll understand if you don't want to or... if it's not an affair you'd want to be bothered with."
Up until this point, he was a ghost watching the men talk. Even when the girls and children were talking, he was a statue, but... what would he know how to do better than the people she was surrounded by? Why was she asking him specifically? She only ever asked for his help when it came to that black wall demon. It had to be serious enough for her to do so. Suddenly forgetting that he was fuming over his loss against Kiyonobu, forgetting that his rival was growing in power, forgetting that her eyes were taken out of her skull, forgetting that everyone was there, forgetting that he still had to find the Meido Stone for his mother, Sesshomaru lowered his eyes and took a moment to respond.
"What is it?" he asked in response.
"It's something only a rival would know how to do," Meioshi said with a chuckle.
Saying nothing more, Sesshomaru turned to leave the doctor's estate. Jaken followed behind him, taking note of Sesshomaru's sudden bout of happiness. His lord seemed quite pleased to be asked for help over the other men. The imp had to wonder about the request himself. What would a rival know how to do better than a family guardian of ancient power? Or even better than a family friend?
_____________________________________________
"This is probably a silly question, but where are we going exactly?" Hasumi asked.
Kiyonobu and Omezo were leading the way while Yasuhide, Meioshi, Homugi, and Kirameku Ha followed behind them. Homugi refused to stay behind, knowing Meioshi had a clear injury. She didn't even bother to cover her eyes with bandages! Instead, the doctor went to the clinic to pack some medicine for the pain and then to her bedroom to color her eyes with a beautiful fuchsia or deep pink powder that matched well with her light brown skin and topped it off with deep green liner that made leaf petals at the lid and outward. Even though she dressed like a commoner, the doctor knew how to make herself appear fashionable! Interestingly enough, the skull jewelry or pieces in Meioshi's hair was decorated with wooden stamps and orange tassels to complement her eye makeup. Though she didn't tell the doctor, the blue merle beauty did take her eye powder for her own use. She vowed to buy more for the doctor when she got a stable income. Kirameku Ha volunteered to go strictly to deliver messages to the men. He pretty much would act as the distraction for Homugi and Hasumi while the youkai handled business with Meioshi. The girls were going to be used as post girls.
Hasumi was walking backwards with her arms folded behind her head to ask her question. Kiyonobu seemed used to children's curiosity and answered calmly, "Meioshi is going to be meeting with the commander of the earth. Many centuries ago, all oni lived on an island that the humans have called Ogre Island, or Oni Isle in other parts of these lands. Our island is the home to the eight elements: water, fire, earth, wind, light, shadow, metal, and force. Each of the elements are ruled by a commander, usually the strongest or the most patient of us, and are in charge of maintaining the balance of the elements on our island. Numa-o, the commander of the waters, is who Meioshi challenged at the Reiki Palace. Shizukesa, the commander of the earth and the first female oni to be elected as such, is who I believed Meioshi would learn best from. However, being a human and not an oni like we thought, it might be best for Shizukesa to see if Shanwang lives and Meioshi is telling the truth about what happened to him. We were not aware of any messengers as Yasuhide has mentioned. Something must have happened to the messenger."
"Will the girl oni give Meioshi new eyes?" Hasumi asked, twirling around on her foot to hop over stones and keep up with Kiyonobu's long strides.
"Shizukesa has a lot of healing powers," Omezo replied in his father's place. He was on Kiyonobu's shoulders and clinging to his head with his small arms. "I'm not sure about growing parts like eyes, but she can fix up an oni like he's brand new! Her palace is very special just like Lord Numa-o's."
"How so, Mezo?" Hasumi asked, leapfrogging over a boulder.
"Mommy said that when our island split into eight pieces, it formed a perfect circle around all of Nihon. Lord Numa-o's palace is directly connected to Lady Shizukesa's palace in a perfect arc, and hers is directly connected to the commander of fire. It just keeps going until the circle is complete. When Sister Meioshi gathered the waters of our island into her pearl, mommy said it's possible that she disconnected the Reiki Palace from the circle. That's why it's not in the swamps anymore. Lord Numa-o was in a hurry to escort the people out of the palace to regain control over it. Mommy thinks it might have gone back to where our island once was."
"Your memory is getting more and more impressive by the day, my son," Kiyonobu complimented proudly, making Omezo blush and smile brightly.
"Lady Shizukesa's palace is at the base of Yami no Umi Overpass on the west. It's a port where Lord Numa-o can leave his palace and enter hers comfortably. The eastside is the Yōgan-kan Bridge," Omezo continued, spotting a hawk flying overhead. "It's not a fun side if you don't like a lot of heat."
"Welp, can't go on that side," Meioshi remarked. "My uncles over here would melt!"
"Daddy's not fond of too much heat either," Omezo exposed, making Kiyonobu grunt. "Spicy foods hurt his butt!"
"Ew!" Hasumi said, poking her tongue out before laughing.
"But the most special part is the mountain her palace sits on," Omezo said. "Just beyond the bamboo grove, the grounds are guarded by clouds. A hunter with green wings carries the night over oni town."
"That another riddle I have to solve?" Meioshi asked, raising a brow. Oh, gods, not again!
"Not tellin'!" Omezo said, winking at the doctor.