Chapter 121

In the clutches of Shutendoji



"Jaken, land!" Mai screamed at the top of her lungs, as Sesshomaru caught up to Ah-Un and his passengers. Everyone glanced back.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" both Rin and Jaken exclaimed with the looks of ultimate happiness on their faces. The two-headed beast roared and obediently landed, followed by Sesshomaru. Mai slid off the furry back and almost immediately collided with Rin, who bumped into her, embracing the older girl and grabbing the handful of the inu-youkai's fur. Jaken also trotted in their direction.

"Sesshomaru-sama, your youki is back! Amazing!" he was squeaking with tears in his eyes.

The situation dragged on and was becoming more and more awkward with every passing minute. At first everyone was exclaiming how happy they were to see each other safe and sound, but then it became simply weird, as the silence fell.

"Sesshomaru-sama, why are you still in your true form?" Rin finally asked the question, which was bound to appear sooner or later.

Everyone stared at Sesshomaru, waiting for some sign. Mai cursed mentally – her boss couldn't transform back now, for he would shine with his naked balls. He needed to get dressed and she was the one, who had his clothes on her back. The girl cleared her throat and decided, that it was the right moment to save the inu-youkai from the embarrassing situation.

"Rin, don't bother Sesshomaru. He's tired right now, so go help Jaken start the fire. Everyone, let's set up a camp here!" she commanded, clapping her hands and ushering everything to perform some minor tasks – everything, that would avert their attention from Sesshomaru.

In the meanwhile the dog demon whirled around and slowly made his way deeper into the forest, sending Mai a meaningful look before he vanished behind the trees. The girl furrowed her brows. All right, the look was meaningful, but what exactly did it mean? It's not like she had the ability to read the people's minds! Or dogs' minds, to be precise. She sighed. Probably he wanted her to bring him the clothes. She made her way towards the packs, that were laying on the grass beside Ah-Un. She fished out her kimonos – the white inner and the green outer one. She changed behind the bush, trying not to draw any attention and went in the direction, where she last saw Sesshomaru.

The girl was warily looking around for any sign of huge white furry shape. It should be easy to spot something like that, but she had some trouble finding the inu-youkai. She heard the sound of flowing water – apparently she reached a river. The girl went from between the trees and froze.
She found him.

Her lid twitched, as Mai was feeling her innocence slowly wither away. Actually, she didn't expect Sesshomaru to transform back before she left him the clothes. Unfortunately he did, exposing her poor eyes to the shocking sight. He was standing in the river, with his back to her, washing himself fervently. The water was reaching only to the half of his muscled thighs, what meant, that everything else was exposed, along with his naked butt.

The demon glanced over his shoulder, looking straight at the embarrassed Mai, who was frozen in place.

"Finally you came. Leave the clothes on the riverbank." He said casually, returning to washing himself. The damn demon didn't seem to be embarrassed in the slightest.

"Um." Mai muttered the agreement.

Avoiding looking in his direction, she quickly put the kimono on the stone at the riverbank and fled towards the camp, trying to throw the memory out of her mind. Crap, it wasn't so easy to forget seeing Sesshomaru's buttocks!




The rest of the day was rather pleasant for Mai. Sesshomaru had gone somewhere with Jaken, so the girl could relax a little. Most probably he wanted to get his armor and clothes back. The dog demon assumed, that now when Naraku was considerably weakened and Shomyo wouldn't meddle anymore, it was safe to leave her and the kids for a day or two. After all, it would be weird if she or Rin got kidnapped twice in a row. Actually, it was a blessing, that he wasn't around, for the girl needed some time to come into terms with the traumatic memory. Moreover, it was nice to get the much needed rest.

Mai sighed and went to the packs, that were laying under a tree. She searched for a certain item, but she couldn't see it. She took out the contents of the bags, but the item was missing. Mai panicked. Shit! They're gone? She was sure, that before the trip to Mount Tate she had put the item in the packs. How could it vanish just like that? Crap, she needed them now.

"Look, Kohaku, you can stick it on! And they have wings!" Mai heard Rin's cheerful voice. She turned around, to check on the kids and froze. She stared at the scene, before bursting in laughter. The little girl found her pack of pads and was just sticking one on Kohaku's forehead. Mai came to her and snatched the pack. Rin gave out a protesting cry.

"Rin, you shouldn't play with my things." She said, finding it difficult to maintain a straight face, when Kohaku had still a pad on his forehead.

The boy saw her amusement and quickly took the pad off his forehead, examining it with a serious face. Mai grinned wider. "Watch Rin, Kohaku. I'll be back in a minute."

She rushed to the trees to do what a woman had to do. When she was far enough, she crouched. When done, she stood up and was about to go back to kids, when she heard a rustling somewhere near her. Probably it was just an animal, but she grabbed a stone from the forest floor.

Suddenly, strong hands grabbed her from behind. Mai tried to struggle, but the grip was strong. When she opened her mouth to scream, someone muffled her cries with a damp cloth. She twisted in attempt to free herself, but everything began to get hazy and she was feeling strangely light-headed. Then, she slipped into unconsciousness.




"I'm starving!" Inuyasha complained. The rest of the group eyed him with hateful expressions on the faces. Shippo clenched his little fists.

"Inuyasha! You were the one, who ate everything yesterday!" the fox demon shouted. The hanyou folded his arms.

"Keh! I needed it. Anyway, I'm the one, who does all the fighting!" he called back to Shippo, grinning smugly. Shippo's face turned red from anger.

"That was rude, Inuyasha." Kagome scolded the half-demon. "Miroku-sama and Sango-chan are also fighting. Me too." She added.

Inuyasha looked at her and arched his eyebrow.

"You? Fighting? Keh! Don't make me laugh!" he said loudly, ignoring Kagome, who was glaring daggers at him.

Sango and Miroku sighed simultaneously, knowing, what was coming. Shippo shook his head and Kirara meowed with pity.

"Osuwari!" the schoolgirl yelled and Inuyasha was slammed into the dirt.

Kagome didn't bother to look at him and continued marching. "Hmpf!"

The group calmly passed the hanyou, who laid sprawled on the road, as though not even noticing him. Sango squinted her eyes and pointed at something in front of them.

"I think, that there is a village ahead!" she exclaimed.

"You have a great eyesight, Sango." Miroku praised her. The demon-slayer smiled at the compliment, but then her face turned read, ad she felt a hand caressing her bottom.

SLAP!




When the group finally reached the village, Inuyasha had dirty and bruised face, while Miroku's cheek was graced with a red mark. Kagome could not notice, that the villagers were eying them suspiciously, especially the half-demon. Not that it was something strange – people often feared his kind.

"They are not very friendly." Shippo commented. Kagome thought, that it was an understatement. At the sight of their group, the villagers were fleeing of their way and hiding in their houses.

Miroku furrowed his brows, looking around.

"Did you notice it too?" he asked quietly. Kagome moved closer to the monk.

"They're scared of Inuyasha to death." She answered, but he shook his head.

"It's not it." Miroku said. "Have you seen any young women here?"

His question earned him a murderous look from Sango, while Kagome and Inuyasha rolled their eyes, tired of the monk's antics.

"Miroku, you think only of one thing." The hanyou commented. The monk smiled sheepishly, raising his hands. He was about to defend himself, when Shippo spoke, shifting on Kagome's bike.

"Miroku is right." He said, gaining everyone's attention. "There are men in all ages here, but only old women and little girls. I haven't seen a single young woman here."

The group stared at him, everyone considering the fact, that the little fox demon observed. Sango's anger subsided and she looked around.

"You won't catch me!" a voice exclaimed.

The group saw the children playing tag, one thing that made a village seem more lively. One of the kids darted off, not looking, where he was going and bumped right into Inuyasha. The hanyou glared at the child, who fell on his buttocks and was sitting at his feet. The child was staring at the half-demon with panic in his eyes. Kagome saw, that it was a boy of about thirteen, wearing male clothes, his hair gathered in the ponytail. Inuyasha grabbed the boy's collar and lifted him off the ground, not stopping to glare. He yanked the kid on his feet. Kagome smiled, seeing the hanyou helping the child to get up. She thought, that it was nice of him.

"Let go of my son!" a male voice yelled and the group saw a middle-aged man, running to the child.

He gripped the boy and embraced him protectively, eying Inuyasha suspiciously. The half-demon made a confused face.

"Son?" he repeated. "It smells like a girl to me."

At Inuyasha's words the man froze in terror, trembling. He gripped the child tighter.

"Please, don't take her yet!" he pleaded. "She is still a child! Please… she can't bear a child yet!"
The hanyou tilted his head, getting even more confused.

"What are you blabbering about?" he asked.

Miroku decided, that he should intervene, seeing, that Inuyasha wasn't calming the man down, but quite the opposite – he looked like was about to cry. Besides, all the villagers vanished already from the street, hiding in their houses.

"Do not be afraid! None of us will hurt you or your daughter." The monk stepped forward. "Inuyasha may look scary, but he would never harm a human."

The man gawked at Miroku.

"Unless they deserved." The hanyou said, folding his arms. That made the man to tense more.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded him, tugging his ear. "Be more polite!"

The man relaxed a little.

"This youkai isn't HIS servant?" he asked hesitantly. Everyone furrowed his brows.

"Inuyasha is a hanyou." Sango explained. "Who are you talking about?"

"I can't…" the man muttered, shaking his head. Suddenly, he darted off, pulling his daughter behind him.

"Hey!" Inuyasha yelled after him, but the man reached his house and barred the door.

"Psst!"

Everyone turned to the source of the sound. An old woman was lurking from behind the sliding door and motioning them with a gesture to come inside. The Inuyasha's group exchanged glances and made their way to the old woman's house. She opened the door widely, letting them inside.

"Come in, come in." she muttered. Kagome dragged Inuyasha behind her. They all sat.

"Welcome in my house." The old woman said. "My name is Chie. Forgive the rudeness of the villagers, but the fear makes people go crazy."

Miroku furrowed his brows.

"What is the thing, that you are so afraid of?" he asked. The old woman cackled.

"It is a long and bitter story, that began thirty years ago. In the mountains above our village lives a youkai called Shutendoji. He is a fearsome oni, who plagued our and the neighboring villages. He abducted about one or two children a month and ate them."

Kagome gasped, covering her mouth. The old woman smiled sadly.

"We wanted to get rid of him, so we asked a travelling miko for help. Her name was Tsubaki."

"Tsubaki!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "That woman was a kuromiko!"
The old woman silenced him with a gesture.

"We found out that soon. Our village leader said to her: 'We want him to stop eating human children. Make him know, how we, the parents of those human children, feel.' Tsubaki agreed, but she granted our wish in the most terrible way – she put a curse on the oni – he was supposed to father a child of a human. Should he fail to do so in fifty years, he would be burning to death for hundred days in an inextinguishable fire. Tsubaki came back to us and told the village leader, that our children wouldn't be bothered again and the oni will feel, how a human child's parent feels. She left and we were happy, till five years later the young women began vanishing, one by one. I lost all my daughters in this way."

"This Shutendoji was kidnapping them to make them bear his child." Sango figured out. The old woman gasped.

"Yes, but that is not all. The women die. One of the villagers found a large hole, where the corpses of pregnant women were thrown. Why he kills them, I do not know. He has accomplices – a youkai hag and a lot of helpers. The people try to escape or hide their daughters, but the demons prevent them from it. Shutendoji is very powerful."

"Keh!" Inuyasha folding his arms. "I'll slice him in two with my Tessaiga!"
Miroku nodded.

"We will defeat him." He said with a glint of determination in his eye. Sango, Kagome and Shippo nodded.




Mai moaned. Her head was feeling like exploding and there was pain in her stomach. Slowly, she opened her eyes. It was dark, but she could make out a ceiling over her head. She blinked and she began realizing, what had happened. Panicked, she pulled herself to the sitting position and frantically looked around. She was in the corner of a large room, filled with young women. Some of them were her age, some younger, another ones older – there were about forty girls here. Mai noticed, that the small window had iron bars in it. The bars also divided the room in half. So she was in a prison of some kind. Crap, she had been kidnapped. Again. Was this some terrible joke?

"You're awake." A female voice said. Mai saw a young girl crawl towards her and sitting by her side, pulling her knees to the chest. "My name is Kaho."

"Mai." She answered, looking at the girl, who just came to her – she wasn't older than fourteen and looked like a normal village girl, only a little pale and too thin. Kaho smiled faintly.

"You are new here, like me. I was kidnapped three days ago." The younger girl said quietly, her lips trembling. "I miss my parents."

Mai looked at Kaho, who just started crying and sighed heavily.

"Don't cry!" she said harshly. "There's no time for that! We have to figure out how to get out of here."

Kaho looked at her, wiping the tears.

"Escape? It's impossible." She said. Mai rolled her eyes. There wasn't an escape, that was impossible for Mai, the escape master. She would definitely manage to get out of here – either on her own or with Sesshomaru's help. It wasn't the time to sit around mopping. She had to get some information of the whimpering Kaho.

"Kaho, tell me, what's going on. Who kidnapped us?" she asked. Kaho gawked at her, surprised by Mai's ignorance.

"You don't know?" she said. "The servants of Shutendoji took you and the after the hag performed the ritual, you were thrown here. I managed to drag you over here, to the corner."

Mai furrowed her brows. Too much news and even more questions.

"What ritual are you talking about?" she demanded.

Kaho looked nervous. Hesitantly, she untied her kimono and opened her kimono. Mai was about to scream at her not to undress, but changed her mind, when she saw the girl's naked stomach. Around the bellybutton were scratched elaborate lines, resembling a tattoo. The wavy lines created an complicated pattern. The scratches on Kaho's belly were faint, probably would disappear in a couple of days. Mai's hand wandered to her own stomach. Slowly, she slid her hand inside her kimono to touch it. She flinched, feeling moisture under her fingers. She pulled out the hand and looked at it. She paled, as she saw the blood.

Mai looked at Kaho, who was tying her obi.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice trembling.


Author Notes:

Hello, my dear readers. How was your weekend? My was totally awsome (I had a brief holiday since Wednesday). I was on a trip with my beloved Viking, so I had to unwillingly deprive you from the updates once more. Sorry for that, but you know... the trip, beach, fine weather... it was awsome. Anyway, I'm back now to my working and updating routine.

Thanks for your reviews and sharing your opinion with me. Stay tuned for the next chapter and leave your comments!