Chapter 95

Lurking in the darkness



Just as she set the foot in young Maeda's room, Mai was greeted with an angry frown. The boy was sitting behind the table and grimacing.

"A maid should get up before the master!" the kid exclaimed, furrowing his brows and attempting to look intimidating.

However, Mai already lost her illusions, that she would able to keep up a servant-like front and be ordered around by a bratty child. The girl shrugged her shoulders.

"I overslept." She said, yawning. She noticed, that on the table still stood the bowl with the radish soup, the unsightly meal untouched. She rested her hands on the hips, smirking at the kid. "So, ready to accept the rules?"

"Hmpf!" the young Maeda snorted and crossed his arms, looking at Mai with all the arrogance he could muster. "A trash like you has no right to make such demands. I'm the daimyo's son! Hurry up and make me a breakfast!"

The girl refrained herself from sighing. If the kid wanted it to be the tough way… Well, she might as well take her revenge for what happened yesterday. If the brat was set on making her existence as miserable as possible, she would return the favor. Without a word, she left the room and made her way to the kitchen. She stopped for a chat with Soji, learnt the newest rumors and made the most delicious breakfast she could, remembering to decorate the plate beautifully too. Once the meal looked like a small work of art, she returned, holding the fancy breakfast in one hand and the unidentified gruel in the other.

She laughed evilly in her mind, when she saw the brat's startled face, as she put the gruel in front of him, while sitting by the table and beginning to taste her masterpiece. The young master gawked at her with disbelief, when Mai helped herself and poured herself the tea, not even bothering to offer him some too.

"What are you doing?" he demanded in a harsh tone, violently pushing his bowl away, the disgusted frown on his face.

Mai closed her eyes, emphasizing how heavenly the taste of her meal was. She even made a contented sound.

"Eating my breakfast." She replied the kid, after she swallowed the bite. Damn, she was good at cooking, Mai thought, congratulating herself. She looked at the brat, faking worry. "You should eat yours too. It's unhealthy to starve yourself, you know."

The boy's face turned red, as he clenched his teeth. He hit the table with his fist, making the dishes rock.

"Give me what you're eating, now! That's an order!" he yelled, the wild look in his eyes.
Mai sent him a horribly cheerful smile.

"No way, It's too tasty to waste it on such a bratty child." She said to him, still smiling kindly, and proceeded with eating her breakfast, ignoring the infuriated sounds, the kid was giving out. Finally she made a brief break to offer the little devil her advice. "If you don't respect someone's work, don't expect them to slave for you. The world doesn't work that way."

The boy grabbed the edges of the table, now resembling a tiger's cub in the cage.

"I'm a daimyo's son! You have to listen to me!" he screamed at Mai.

The girl put off her plate and looked at the kid seriously, resting her elbows on the table.

"That's right, you're daimyo's son." The girl said. "That's why probably no one told you yet, what I'm about to. You can make people do, what you want, if you bully them, using your money and position. However, they won't go into the fire after you. They will always hate you, deep down, and will betray you, once they have the first chance. But, if you win their hearts, being polite, respecting them, being simply a good boss for them, they will help even when everyone would turn away from you. You get, what you give."

Having finished lecturing the child, Mai took a sip of tea. She absolutely believed in every word she said – the same was with her and Sesshomaru. When he was just an ass, she didn't even hesitate to stab him with knife. However, once he showed his good and kind side, she would never leave him in need, just like now, when she was sharing all the hardships with her youkai boss. The girl hoped, that young Maeda would understand, what she tried to tell him. The kid was rotten, but still young. He had the chance to become a respectable adult instead of another Maeda Goemon. She looked at the boy.

The kid was staring at the table now. He was about to reply, but gave up and just sat in silence, his eyes set on the horrible rice gruel.

"My… my father… He's like that and the people talk horrible things behind his back." The child finally spoke, his voice quiet and unsure, so completely different from the usually arrogant tone. He gulped, as though he had difficulty with coughing out the words out of his throat. "But he has the power and they always do, what he wants."

The boy looked at Mai with challenge in his eyes, as though he accused her of lying. However, the girl noticed some insecurity in his eyes, as though he wanted to simply talk about some problems, he had. She sighed. Maybe he was a little devil, but still just a kid.

"What kind of man is your father?" she asked, gentleness in her voice. "Tell me."

The boy looked at her distrustfully, as though he was expecting some trap.

"He's rich and powerful, has many servants and mistresses to do his bidding." He said with pride resounding in the way, he was speaking. But, seeing Mai arch her eyebrow, he averted his gaze. "He mainly fools around with his whores."

The last words were muttered almost inaudibly. The girl stretched her legs under the table.

"Do you want to be like him in the future? Or maybe you want to be better than him, the greatest ruler, Kaga province ever had?" she asked the boy.

Young Maeda looked at her sharply and bit his lower lip, having difficulty with coming up with the answer.

"I want… I want to be… I will surpass him." The kid said with a determined gleam in his eyes.
Mai smiled slightly. Maybe she would make a human out of this little devil after all. She reached for a second cup and poured tea into it, before passing it to the kid. The boy hesitantly took it.

"Good boy." She praised him, stuffing the rest of her breakfast in her mouth, what made the kid exclaim with protest, as his stomach rumbled.

Mai swallowed the food and stood up, laughing at the child, who was glaring at her again.

"Come on, we're leaving." She said to the kid, making the gesture for him to follow her.
The boy furrowed his brows.

"Leaving where?" he asked slowly, looking at her, as though she was crazy.

The girl folded her arms and flashed a smile at him.

"Isn't that obvious? To the kitchen. I'll make you the breakfast." She shrugged her shoulders.

Young Maeda stared at her with wide-opened eyes, as though she was an alien, who just demanded a meeting with the president of the United States of America. Mai rolled her eyes, growing impatient with the kid. She grabbed him by the fabric of his kimono and pulled him up, dragging him towards the door.

"You can't expect me to go to the kitchen! It's good for the servants!" the boy protested, once again trying to strike Mai down with his supposedly intimidating glare.

"If you want to get that meal, you'll go to the kitchen with me. End of discussion." Mai stated, never letting go of his clothes and dragged the struggling boy to the lower level.

The kid put up quite a resistance, but the girl had already some practice with getting Rin bathe against her will, so she could handle him. Once they reached the kitchen, Mai pushed the boy inside. Soji, who was just making another disgusting meal for the sailors, turned around. He beamed a smile at Mai, his favorite companion on this ship, but the smile fell from his face, as his eyes rested on the pouting boy, who was standing with his eyes folded and was glaring daggers at everyone.

"Sit there. I'll make the scrambled eggs, okay?" Mai ushered the daimyo's son to sit on the wobbly stool in the corner of the kitchen, while she got to preparing the meal, getting the ingredients herself.

Soji was glancing nervously at the boy, who was covering his nose with the sleeve of his richly embroidered kimono. The cook looked as though he was about to have a heart attack.

"Mai, you can't bring the young master to the kitchen!" he whispered hastily to the girl.

She looked back at him and waved her hand casually, dismissing his worried remark.

"Relax, Soji. Oh, and by the way, his name is Akira." She said, gaining Sogi's terrified glance and a glare from the boy, who was shocked, that she dared to call him by his name.

However, his belly rumbled again and young Maeda refrained himself from angering Mai. After all, the fate of his nearest meal was resting in her hands.

The girl was humming while frying the eggs, trying to ignore the tense atmosphere in the kitchen. Then, she waited for the kid to finish eating, even though he made a fuss about having his breakfast in "an unsightly place."

Dealing with the spoiled young master proved to be manageable, but quite troublesome. The boy gave up his sadistic pranks and attempted to improve his horrible attitude, but it was hard to change his character in a few hours. Fortunately, Akira's schedule was quite busy and was including fencing lessons, classes with master Sekiguchi and some political lessons conducted by Sasaki. It meant, that

Mai had quite a lot of free time during the day. There was no point in cleaning the whole room thoroughly everyday – she just quickly put everything on its place and went to master Sekiguchi's quarters, searching for Sesshomaru. She decided, that it was best to check on the demon every now and then.

She knocked at the neighboring door and invited herself in. She saw the old scholar, sitting in his spacious cabin, leaning over some scrolls, that looked ancient. However, Sesshomaru was nowhere to be seen. Sekiguchi was furrowing his brows, comparing a plant with the sketches in his scrolls. Finally, he noticed Mai.

"Oh, good to see you here, pri… Mai. Perhaps you could lend me hand." He said, inviting her inside and making a gesture to sit down. The girl did as requested, looking around with growing impatience. The scholar passed her a small plant. "This plant was brought to be before the ship set sails. Sadly, it is unknown to me and I am unable to indentify it. Maybe it has some wondrous curing properties."

Mai sighed heavily, seeing how Sekiguchi was focused on his work. She took the plant from him and examined it. The shape of leaves was somewhat familiar. She brought it closer to her nose and sniffed it – she detected no scent, not the faint smell of leaves, but absolutely nothing. She smiled to the scholar.

"I know this plant. It's used by the demon-slayers to mask their scent, so that the youkai would not sniff them out." She came up with the reply.

"Oh." The old scholar looked slightly disappointed. "So it is of no use for me. You can keep it."
Mai nodded and stuffed the plant into her sleeve, thinking, that it could come in handy later. After all, she and Sesshomaru would have to travel a bit more from Hizen coast to Saga, so they needed all the protection, they could get. Speaking of Sesshomaru…

"Where's Sesshomaru?" she asked the old man.

Sekiguchi shrugged his shoulders.

"He refused to sit with me." He replied, the sorry expression on his face.

Mai furrowed her brows, feeling, that she was getting irritated with the inu-youkai's stubbornness and stupidity. He should have known, that sitting with the scholar was safest for him. She excused herself and left Sekiguchi's room, now seriously pissed. Now she would have to look for that idiot. If he gets into trouble again…

She checked the closet, she shared with Sesshomaru, but it was empty of course. She looked at the futon with the tangled bedcovers on it. Right, the damn demon didn't bother to roll it and put back into the closet. Why the hell was she always doing all the work?!

Mai was about to start her search, when she bumped into the young Maeda and the general. She cursed under her nose, as she had to get the brat back to his quarters and patiently wait till he washed himself and changed the clothes. All the time she was waiting at the door, tapping with her foot, worrying for Sesshomaru. What was he thinking? She was sure he got himself into some mess.

Once Akira was refreshed and dressed back in his kimono, he made his way towards the bedroom, wanting to take a nap. Mai made an angry sound. If he left the kid, Sasaki will be furious like Godzilla. However, she really had to find the demonic asshole. Well, it was no other choice.

"Hey!" the boy protested, as he got dragged out of his room again.

"We'll take a walk." Mai said to him.

The child was protesting, but the girl was deaf for his ranting. After threatening him with the radish soup, she made the kid run around the deck. Most of the crew members and soldiers were there, but not Sesshomaru. She circled the place three times, before returning to the superstructure. Akira kept jogging after her, visibly unhappy.

"What are you doing?" he kept asking, but Mai shushed him.

She checked her private closet and Sekiguchi's quarters once again, before running downstairs. Akira tugged her sleeve, trying to gain her attention.

"Are you looking for someone?" he asked.

Mai nodded, as she bit her lower lip nervously. Sesshomaru wasn't on the deck and on the upper level. Damn, this wasn't good. Maybe the sailors ganged up on him and… she shook her head, chasing away the thought. The demon was too tough to let himself be beaten up. He would rather murder every single person on this ship. The girl began checking every room methodically – the laundry room, kitchen, the big chamber, where the sailors slept. But, Sesshomaru was still missing. Her heart began pounding faster, as she developed some bad feelings about this. There was only the lowest level left. The girl dragged Akira after herself and went downstairs.

Unlike as on the other two levels, on the lowest one was completely dark, as there wasn't neither windows nor any lamps lit. Fortunately right beside the stairs Mai found candles and lit two, one of which she passed to Akira, who was looking a little scared.

"Shouldn't we go back?" he whispered, trying to hide the trembling of his voice.

Mai shook her head.

"You can wait here if you want." She whispered back.

Actually, she didn't know, why she was whispering. Perhaps it was the atmosphere of this place. She began walking, lightning the way with her candle. She was passing the countless boxes, it also turned out, that about twenty horses were crammed down here as well. Mai pitied the animals – they had to spend a week in complete darkness. The place was creepy, but she was determined to search every inch of this ship.

In the meantime, Akira was having a hard time whether he should follow Mai, stay where he was or go back to his quarters. Finally he concluded, that he would follow the girl, as he would turn out to be a coward if she wasn't scared and he was. However, she vanished behind the boxes already, so he would have to find her somehow in this creepy, dark place. The boy rushed in the direction, where Mai went, or he only thought so. Actually, he lost his way and wandered towards the opposite end of the ship. Akira was carefully stepping, as the floor was rocking slightly under his feet. He wanted to call out to Mai, but the atmosphere of the place simply trapped his voice in the throat. He was walking forward, unknowingly making the distance between the girl and himself bigger with every step he took.

The boy nearly jumped, when a mouse ran near his feet. He clenched his teeth, not to squeak from fear and disgust. From now on, he decided to look under his feet more carefully. Then, he noticed something disturbing. The floor was covered with a layer of dust. The further he was going, the thicker it was getting. Apparently this part of the ship wasn't used frequently. The boy flinched, when he saw footprints. He crouched and examined them, feeling, that his heart began pounding like crazy. The footprints weren't covered with dust – they were fresh. Someone was walking here recently. Or maybe he was still lurking in the shadows. Akira felt a shiver go down his spine, as suddenly all the ghost stories, he ever heard, flowed into his mind.

The boy shook his head, telling himself to calm down. There was not possible, that the ghosts were roaming around the ship. Anyway, a ghost wouldn't leave footprints. However, Akira's mind fed him with another scary thought. A demon would leave footprints. He shook his head again. He was being stupid. The footprint was big, so it must have belonged to one of the sailors. No need to panic. Akira noticed, that his hand began trembling. Suddenly he regretted not staying by the stairs. The boy froze in place, as he heard the creak of wooden planks somewhere around him. It must have been just his imagination. Then, he heard the sound again, this time it was closer.

Panic took over. The boy whirled around and made a run for it, wanting to go back from where he came. However, he bumped into something and fell back, landing on his back. The whole time he was clutching the candle, afraid, that the only source of light would go out. Moaning form pain, slowly he looked up.

Akira froze, as he stared into cold, golden eyes, that glared at him maliciously.

Mai heard a child's scream. She whirled around, estimating, that it came from the opposite side of the ship.

"Akira!" she called him by his name, running towards the source of the scream and checking if she had her knife with her.

Akira stared at the face of the man, who was towering above him… no, not man… he must be a demon. This murderous glare, the magenta stripes on his cheeks… he couldn't be human. The boy dropped the candle, making all the light go out, while he ran for his life. He didn't manage to get away far, when something grabbed him by his collar and held in place. Akira whimpered, scared out of his wits and began struggling, not wanting to die.

"Akira!" she heard Mai's voice calling his name again and again, but he was too frightened to answer. Just when the girl made her presence known, the demon began walking in her direction, dragging the boy along with himself. Akira gasped, coming to conclusion, that he probably wanted to get rid of all the witnesses. He would kill both him and the maid.

"Akira!" Mai's voice sounded again, this time fairly close. The boy's thoughts were racing through his head. Should he warn her? Should he tell her to run? However, it was too late for that now.
The boy saw his maid emerging from the shadows, as she ran around the corner. Then, she stopped, staring at the monster, who captured him. Akira saw, that she was holding a knife in her hand.

Everything, that happened later, was just simply strange. His maid sent the demon a challenging glare, as though she was about to battle him, but sheathed the blade at the same time. Akira furrowed his brows, wondering what was she doing. Her weird behavior distracted him from his own desperate position. When Mai noticed the boy, she relaxed visibly. Akira widened his eyes. What was that supposed to mean?! She was at ease, when the demon was about to devour him?!
Mai hid the knife and rested her hand on the hip.

"You seem to have lost this." The demon spoke in a deep voice and suddenly threw the startled boy under the girl's feet. Immediately, she yanked him up and began removing the dust from his clothes, still glaring at the terrifying youkai, who was looking back at her with those scary golden eyes. Akira tugged Mai's sleeve, trying to point out, that they were in grave danger, but she didn't pay any attention to the boy.

"Sesshomaru, don't throw the kid like a sack of potatoes!" she scolded the demon.

Young Maeda furrowed his brows. Sesshomaru? She knew the demon? The situation was getting weirder with every passing second.

"Hn." The youkai came closer. "Perhaps you should watch the brat better."

Akira felt insulted, but kept gawking at his maid and the demon. What was with the two of them chatting, as though nothing happened?!

Mai narrowed her eyes, as she looked up stubbornly and with two steps closed the distance between her and the youkai.

"Do you have any idea, that you nearly made me having a heart attack?!" she hissed out, clenching her fist. "I had to search the entire ship to find you! I thought something bad happened!"

"Be silent, woman." The demon said in a low warning tone, but Mai carried on with her tirade.

"You were supposed to stay at Sekiguchi's quarters! You could have at least told him, where're you going! You didn't even roll the futon!"

Akira tilted his head, now completely confused. Was his maid just lecturing the youkai?

Sesshomaru's patience wore thin. The young Maeda could have sworn, that he saw him baring his fangs. The demon snatched Mai's neck, immobilizing her head, as he brought his face close to hers, leaning over her, for he was much taller than the small woman. Her eyes widened from surprise. He narrowed his eyes.

"Do not insult me again." He said in a calm voice, so calm, that it was scary. Apparently it affected Mai, because she shut her mouth. Pleased, that he reached his goal, the youkai released her from his hold and pulled back.

"You're not going back to master Sekiguchi?" the girl made sure, this time talking quieter.

"The old man talks too much. I will find you later." Sesshomaru replied.

"Okay." Mai agreed, thinking, that it was rather better than he was sitting here – at least no one would provoke him.

In the meantime, Akira was listening to the conversation and the mess in his head was getting bigger and bigger. The atmosphere between those two was too amiable!

"Mai, who is he?" the boy asked his maid, when he decided, that his life was probably not endangered.

The girl and the demon looked at him, as though both of them were surprised, that he was present here.

Mai offered the answer.

"Oh, he's my bo…" she bit her tongue, as she wanted to say boss. The girl felt her face glow red in the darkness, when she had to tell this embarrassing lie. "Betrothed. He's my betrothed."

Akira opened his mouth, gawking at the man. He didn't expect something like that coming.
"B… Betrothed?" he repeated, making sure. "He's not a demon?"

Mai and Sesshomaru quickly exchanged glances, before the girl turned the boy around, pushing him towards the stairway.

"What are you saying? Of course not! He's a human, just a human." She said fast with a smile glued to her face.

Akira thought, that her smile looked somewhat fake.