"We're lost, finished, all dead!"
Screaming like a madman at the sight of Inuyasha being slammed to the ground easily, Totosai begins to spin around on the grass before looking towards Asahiko with hopeful eyes, though Asahiko simply turns his face away from him without giving him a second thought.
"Shut up, in the end Inuyasha always ends up winning in every confrontation!"
"You're sure that wasn't in your dreams. ah, put that down!"
Raising his hands in the air in front of a Kagome who seems to be thinking of hitting him with her own hammer, Totosai shouts exaggeratedly before looking down at the battlefield that is littered with scars from Inuyasha's cuts and the occasional toxic cloud floating in the drift.
"Umm... In this fight Inuyasha is at a clear disadvantage, it would be best if we retreat. Totosai, have you finished preparing whatever it is you're doing with your energy?"
"The old man was preparing something all this time!"
Asahiko's words makes everyone turn their attention back to Totosai who now has puffy cheeks, the first to react was Shippo who points his finger at him before shouting loudly for the whole group who have different kinds of reactions. Without giving any importance to all this, Asahiko hits the air with his fan causing the dome around them to disappear and in passing all the toxic clouds in the vicinity to be completely eliminated.
"Fuuuuu"
Barely letting the dome finish falling, Totosai opens his mouth, letting out a breath of dark red flames which quickly advance towards the direction where Inuyasha and Sesshōmaru are fighting. Inuyasha couldn't dodge it even though his clothes protect him from the flames again, while Sesshōmaru has to quickly retreat thus buying time for Inuyasha to return towards the group's location.
"Damned old idiot!"
Reaching Totosai and hitting him in the head from the attack he just launched, Inuyasha who has a face full of ash turns back to Sesshōmaru's direction, but before he can return to the fight, Totosai hits the ground with his hammer and Asahiko grabs him with his tail before throwing him into the air where Kirara with her huge cat form picks him up. Finishing all this series of quick actions, from Totosai's hammer that remains stuck to the ground, flames begin to sprout and then turn into molten magma, this magma spreads through the fissures created by Inuyasha to create a zone of extreme danger 100 meters around.
Some time later...
Christopher/Asahiko pov.
"I already had him, it was only a matter of time before I beat him."
"Yes, yes, Inuyasha."
Looking at Inuyasha who is retorting that he already had Sesshōmaru in the bag and Miroku who obviously doesn't believe him in the slightest. I spread a small amount of energy to the surroundings creating a sort of barrier that covers Totosai, his ox and myself.
"Why are you trembling, Totosai?"
"Hahaha, haha, Glup... Nothi, nothing."
Lifting my lips into a rather pure smile devoid of any malice, I slowly guided my hand towards Clouded Fang as I watched Totosai's trembling. Well, it was fun to see his fear, but I needed to finish this problem while Inuyasha's group's attention was elsewhere, with those thoughts I grabbed the hilt and squeezed it gently causing a sphere of light to come out.
"Sa, Sa, Saya…"
"Totosai, what's wrong with you... I get it."
Receiving Saya's puzzled look and feeling satisfied with the reaction of Totosai who seems to be thinking of jumping off the ox, I retract my hand from the hilt of Clouded Fang before pulling out my fan, then watching the reunion between these two old acquaintances.
"Saya, hadn't we agreed that that sword would be sealed for 700 years. Look at this situation now, ahh, sorry, sorry, don't kill me!"
Letting out a small sigh at how easily Totosai gets scared, I look towards Saya who has a more transparent body than usual and signal her with my eyes so she talks about the topic at hand.
"I don't know what happened either, according to me it had been 700 years since I sealed the clouded fang. Anyway, I want to ask you to make a sword for Asahiko."
"Umm... you know how dangerous it can be if one of my swords falls into the wrong hands, besides Clouded Fang is one of the most powerful swords. Do you still want me to forge another one for him?"
Looking up at the blue sky above us and the occasional animal scurrying in the forest below us, I lifted my ears to better listen to their conversation.
"Both you and I know the drawbacks of clouded fang, certainly Asahiko can use it without falling into Souga's temptations... But in the long run it's unsustainable."
"I see, he's been overusing it, since it's his only sword... But what's in it for me?"
He obviously wants me to help him with Sesshōmaru, though I can't promise him that... come on, it's idiotic to fight a stranger when I'm injured and without having any information about him.
"I've seen it all from the sword. Sesshōmaru is chasing you and I think I know what you want... Of course Asahiko won't accept it, but if I say a few words to him... He might change his mind."
Well Saya, well. You're literally selling him a blank check and he's buying it... Now all that's left is for him to take the bait.
"Fine, I'll create him something that will have nothing to envy my other creations... But I want a deal just like he had with Inu no Taisho."
"Sure, maybe the material he wants to use for his sword is one of those energy tails, just draw some power and use it as a repellent for other yokai or demons. Of course if that doesn't work, I promise to hold Asahiko to his end of the bargain."
What's going on here? Everything was going smoothly and suddenly I don't know what's going on, deal, Inu no Taisho? What's with these two?
"Executive meeting time!"
He energetically circled my hand before grabbing Saya's head then bringing him to my side and quickly divided the barrier into two separate areas to talk confidentially.
"Explanation?"
"It's a chance, no even better, maybe a lucky one. Cof, you may have seen that both Inuyasha and Totosai possess a humanoid appearance, though some yokai characteristics as well."
Bringing my hand under my chin, as my tail is encircling the ox's waist... I don't want to fall off. I start to think about his words and he is certainly right.
"Umm... So what?"
"What could I expect from you, it seems Kikyo hasn't taught you anything about this yet. Well for starters, yokais, demons and any kind of spirit being hate hanyō (semi-humans), they see them as aberrations, something that absolutely must be killed for soiling their bloodlines. While humans hate them out of fear and spite towards pure yokai causing them to find no refuge on either side."
Your words explain a lot... Well, not. But I guess it's interesting information to consider. That aside, I nod to him so he keeps talking.
"Totosai is a great blacksmith with a huge fame behind him to the right people, Inu no Taisho was known as one of the strongest and most famous Daiyoukai in all of Japan while using the swords he forged... Now put that information together."
"I mean that's a big bag of trouble."
"But it's not like you don't like that. Otherwise you wouldn't be with Kikyo or this group."
Accepting her words with my gaze and guiding my eyes towards Totosai, so I don't have to see the "Gotcha" smile on Saya's face, I start thinking about the pros and cons of the situation. The advantages were clear, my new sword which is absolutely necessary, having a high level blacksmith at my service and securing this partnership. On the other hand the cons were high or for my way of being they were... I hate obligations, I love to be like the wind, you know let things flow... Haaa, it's just like with Kikyo I'm going to feel obligated if I help him, although later with Kikyo it was more for fun... Haaa, let's just do and let what needs to happen happen.
"Are you going to be okay?"
"I'm fine Saya, the hair isn't that important."
Letting out a low and highly restrained laugh, I let go of my hands that are gripping my hair before giving a few words to Saya who watches me in dismay.
"Haaa...you can tell he doesn't know what will happen to him when he gets to the old man. hold on tight we're going down!
Hearing the comment from Totosai who slaps his bald head on top of his head, I look at the barrier that has become slightly weaker because of my fluctuating emotions and nod towards him to start the descent.