Chapter 80

Shomyo's trial



The sun was already setting, when Sesshomaru found a suitable place for a camp – a cave hidden by the plants, located not far from the human village. The dog demon ordered his companions to stop and was watching, as Jaken and Kohaku were building a fire, while Mai was teaching Rin how to cook properly. Exhausted Ah-Un crawled deep into the cave and fell asleep instantly. Sesshomaru wondered how lively the camp was – the voices and laughter echoed throughout the small cave. This was the noise that was not entirely bothersome for the inu-youkai.

Sesshomaru unsheathed Tenseiga and examined the sword carefully, as the last sunrays were reflecting in the polished surface. He furrowed his brows, discontented. Tenseiga was still weak, as the Meidou was not complete. Today he did not manage to finish all the opponents with the sword. They were weak, so it was not a bother, but if the enemy was stronger, it could be a problem. Before he finds Naraku, he had to find the solution. He heard of a person, that could be of assistance. At the top of Mount Tate resided an eremite, who was said to be nearly two thousand years old. Therefore a short journey awaited Sesshomaru. In the place he chose for a camp his group would be safe for days or even weeks, if needed. Moreover, Kohaku and Ah-Un should serve well as protectors.

However, there was one issue, that was unsettling the inu-youkai. He glanced at Mai, who was patiently instructing Rin, in which order to throw the ingredients into the pot to make a good stew. The woman was smiling widely, obviously in a good mood now. It did not escape Sesshomaru's attention, that she was getting herself into trouble every time, he was not keeping his eye on her. It seemed almost to be supernatural, like some unique ability. The dog demon was leaving Rin alone frequently and rarely something happened to the child. However, when it came to the older female, it was an exception from the rule, when she managed to stay safe. Sesshomaru came to conclusion, that it would be probably the safest option if he took the woman along, so that he could watch her and protect personally if needed.

"Jaken," the dog demon addressed his servant. "I will be gone for some time. Watch Rin and Kohaku."

The green imp made an unhappy face, disappointed, that his master would be going somewhere alone, leaving him behind even though it was Mai's job to take care of Rin. He opened his mouth, about to protest, but closed it almost immediately. Maybe Sesshomaru-sama meant, that he counted on him, Jaken, and expected him to protect the children and Mai while he was away. Suddenly his heart filled itself with pride, that his master relied on his strength. It was a relief for the imp, especially, that recently the human woman was in spotlight. Jaken liked her, but couldn't refrain himself from being jealous.

"Understood, Sesshomaru-sama." He said seriously. The dog demon didn't bother to grace Jaken with a single look.

"Sesshomaru-sama, you'll be back soon, won't you?" a childish voice spoke from below. Sesshomaru looked down to see Rin, who ran to him and was glancing with concern in her eyes. The demon reached his hand and gently patted the child's head.

"I will, Rin." He assured the little girl, who beamed a cheerful smile at him. The dog demon shifted his attention from the girl to Kohaku.

"Kohaku, protect Rin while I am away." Sesshomaru commanded. The boy nodded.

"I will, Sesshomaru-sama." He answered immediately.

The inu-youkai nodded, acknowledging the Kohaku's words. The human boy seemed to be the most reliable of all his companions. Sesshomaru felt an angry gaze on him and lifted his eyes to meet it.

"I need protection too!" Mai protested, feeling left out. The girl grabbed her new umbrella tighter, as though she was holding a weapon. For no apparent reason she felt like whacking the crap out of Sesshomaru for ignoring her.

The demon didn't react to her words and stalked to her. Mai opened her mouth to say something, but she yelped, as he grabbed her wrist and yanked her upwards.

"Hey!" she fussed. The inu-youkai sent her a warning glare, silencing her for a while.

"You are coming with me." He decided.

"What?" she asked, slightly confused. Sesshomaru turned around and made his way towards the entrance of the cave, still holding her by her wrist.

"I want to stay!" she protested and dug her feet into the cave floor, making it difficult for the demon to drag her along. The inu-youkai pulled her hand stronger.

"You said yourself, that you need protection." He reminded her, growing annoyed with the constant defiance. "I will provide it."

Mai gawked at him. It was kind of nice, that he was thinking about her safety, but he wasn't exactly eager to go somewhere with him alone.

Sesshomaru made use of the gap in her defense and flung her over his shoulder. The girl yelped and looked at her companions, who were observing the scene with interest, as though the only thing they needed was popcorn. Rin happily waved to Mai.

"Have a safe trip!" the child exclaimed. Mai sighed heavily and waved back, smiling at the little girl.

Once Sesshomaru carried her outside the cave, he lowered her gently to the ground, much to Mai's surprise, as usually he would just dump her like a sack of potatoes. He grabbed her wrist and led her between the trees in the direction of a small clearing. She tried to free herself from his steel grip, but the demon didn't even pay attention to her struggling and kept the even pace.

"A woman should be more obedient." Sesshomaru said suddenly. The girl looked at him and narrowed her eyes.

Great, so the arrogant asshole is a sexist too.

"So you think, that women are inferior to men." She stated in a dangerous tone, the demon failed to notice.

Sesshomaru glanced at her, slightly surprised, that it was not obvious to her.

"It is the natural order, as females are weaker than males and must be protected by them. That is why women have to be submissive to men. I believe, that it is the same with humans." The demon patiently explained it to Mai.

He was about to look at her to see if she understood the lecture, but only thanks to his youkai reflexes he managed to snatch her other hand in midair, before an umbrella could land on his face.
"Submissive, my ass." The girl hissed through the clenched teeth.

After hearing this medieval nonsense she couldn't help herself and gave in to her urge to whack the demonic jerk with the umbrella. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy, as he was a youkai, after all, and blocked her with ease. The demon furrowed his brows and his eyes changed his color to blood red. Mai gasped and instinctively took a step back. She knew, that attempting to hit Sesshomaru was stupid, but she didn't think, that he'd get that angry.

"Sesshomaru, I'm sorry!" she said quickly and a shiver went down her spine as his powerful demonic aura swirled around him. Then, he released her wrist and took a step back, not taking his eyes of her. Next thing she knew was a flash of purple blinding light, as he transformed into his true form.

"Oh." Mai muttered and let out a breath, she was holding. So Sesshomaru wasn't going to murder her, after all – he just readied himself for the journey. She was relieved, that he didn't want her to get on the damn cloud. After the demon in his dog form growled at the girl, obviously impatient, she rushed to him and clumsily climbed on his back, clutching her umbrella in one hand. Once she was sitting firmly on Sesshomaru's back, he soared into the sky and flew above the clouds, that looked nice and fluffy, exactly how his fur was. Mai was considering for a moment pulling out some of it to leave a bald spot, but decided not to test the demon's patience. It was a miracle already, that he didn't kill her off a while ago, considering that he had rather short temper.

The sexist remark really pissed her, but she couldn't really blame Sesshomaru for it. It was just the way people in feudal era were thinking. She sighed. Damn the cultural differences.



It were still many hours till dawn, when Sesshomaru and Mai arrived at the feet of Mount Tate. The girl was napping, but woke up immediately, when the dog demon lowered the flight. She looked around, but there was only darkness, when they found themselves beneath the thick clouds. She grabbed the youkai's fur tighter, as she felt the impact, as they landed. Mai carefully slid off Sesshomaru's back and gazed at the big shape, barely visible in front of her.

"We will have to climb up." The girl nearly jumped, hearing the demon's voice behind her back. She looked at him and furrowed her brows.

"Climb?" she repeated slowly. "Can't you just fly up there?"

"Hn." The demon measured the mountain with his eyes. "Not if I want to obtain the eremite's assistance."

Mai opened her mouth to ask another question, but she felt Sesshomaru's big hand grabbing her own, as the demon began walking along the path towards the mountain.

"Do not waste my time. I will guide you." He said shortly and pulled her after himself.

"Ouch!" Mai stumbled on a stone and hit herself in a foot. She decided not to argue with the inu-youkai and watch her steps from now on. It was pitch dark and the girl had to rely completely on Sesshomaru, who seemed to see quite and was leading her by hand. He was holding her small palm firmly, but rather gently, as though he avoided squishing it. The girl was thanking god, that she was walking behind him – she was sure, that her face glowed red right now. It was Sesshomaru's hand, but still… it felt awkward and she felt her heart begin pounding faster. She never held hands with a boy before… not that this was actually holding hands…

The pain in the joint made Mai return from her little world to the reality, as the demon forcefully pulled her hand and jerked the girl upwards. The path was getting steeper. She clenched her teeth not to hiss from pain and focused on walking. After one or two hours – it was difficult to keep count, when the sun wasn't up – Mai got tired of the silence, interrupted only by the sound of falling stones every time she stumbled.

"Sesshomaru, what are we doing here?" she asked. The demon dragged her along, but wasn't that kind to tell her where were they going. Sesshomaru wasn't answering for a while.

"I have to pay a visit to an eremite, who lives on the peak of this mountain." He said eventually. Mai supported herself with an umbrella, as the path was getting more and more vertical.

"Oh." She muttered. "And why you're looking for him?" she inquired.

"I search for a way to strengthen Tenseiga." Sesshomaru replied surprisingly fast. "The Meidou is not complete."

"And you think, that the eremite will help you with that?" Mai made sure, surprised how smoothly the conversation was going.

"I believe so." The demon said. Mai looked up and noticed, that the sky in the east was getting slightly brighter. The dawn was near.

"Sorry for trying to whack you with umbrella." She said to Sesshomaru, making use of his conversational mood. The youkai glanced at her over his shoulder.

"Hn." He turned his head again in the direction, where they were going. "Apparently you are not a submissive female." He stated.

"I'm not." Mai said, a challenge in her voice. Suddenly Sesshomaru pulled her hand forcefully, helping her up.

"Submissive females are good for peasant, not warriors." The demon said.

The girl didn't answer and furrowed her brows, trying to figure out if the inu-youkai just complimented her or not. Either way, what he said sounded kind of weird. Weird in a suspicious way.
"We reached the destination." Sesshomaru announced, diverting Mai's attention from his earlier words. The girl looked ahead and saw a small shrine-like building lit by the first rays of rising sun. She was really glad, that it was the end of climbing, as she got really tired and everything was aching, even though her stamina wasn't that bad anymore. She wanted to wipe her sweaty forehead, but something stopped her from doing it. She was holding the umbrella in one hand and the other one was still trapped in Sesshomaru's palm. The girl tried to wriggle it free, but the demonic bastard didn't budge.

"Sesshomaru." She hissed to him, feeling self-conscious again. The inu-youkai looked at her and followed her gaze, as she pointed with her eyes downwards. The demon saw, that she was still holding Mai's small palm in his own and mentally cursed himself. Immediately let go off her hand and turned away from the woman to hide his uneasiness. The inu-youkai began walking towards the shrine-like building and Mai followed him, thankfully now silent.

The girl carefully peeked inside from behind Sesshomaru's back. Inside the building looked nothing like a shrine – more like a normal cabin: there was folded futon, fireplace, some barrels, probably filled with rice and lots of items usually seen in households.

"Sesshomaru, are you sure, that an eremite lives here?" Mai asked unsurely, but the demon was standing still like a statue and nothing indicated, that he'd be answering her question. The girl came closer to the fireplace and saw, that the wood was still warm. "The old man must have been here not so long ago." She said.

"Who are you calling a man?!" suddenly a high female voice shrieked. Mai's eyes widened from surprise and she muffled her mouth with a hand, not to scream. She turned towards the source of the voice and saw a small, skinny old demoness with a walking stick. She looked exactly like witches from fairy tales, including a crooked nose. She just crawled through the window.

Mai noticed, that Sesshomaru was also surprised by the sudden arrival of the old hag, even though he barely expressed it. It was quite strange, as he was a youkai – he should have heard her or smelled long ago.

"Mothers didn't you teach not to barge into someone's house?" the old woman shrieked, eying Mai and Sesshomaru in a hostile way. The girl's mouth opened agape.

"Your house?" she repeated. "Don't tell me, that you're the eremite."

The hag furrowed her brows and waved threateningly with her walking stick.

"Of course I am! Being a woman doesn't mean, that I can't be an eremite, girl!" she snapped at Mai and looked up at Sesshomaru, who was towering over her.

"You must be Sayuri's son." She pointed her skinny finger at Sesshomaru. "You look like your grandfather from mother's side. He was quite a looker, your grandfather…"

"My name is Sesshomaru." The inu-youkai said calmly. "I came here to seek your assistance, Shomyo."

The old demoness furrowed her brows and bored her gaze into the dog demon's face.

"Of course." She muttered and casually crawled towards the fireplace. She began building a fire, ignoring her unwanted guests. Mai came closer to Sesshomaru and her gaze was wandering between her boss and the eremite. It seemed like some mental battle – the old hag was obviously trying the dog demon's patience. Currently she was making tea. Finally, the inu-youkai snapped.

"I came here to strengthen my sword." He stated in a demanding tone. Eremite Shomyo finally looked at him and sighed.

"I know." She replied and threw some tea leaves into the kettle. Sesshomaru furrowed his brows.

"The Meidou is incomplete. Do you know a way to change it?" he inquired. The old hag sent him an irritated gaze.

"Of course I do. When you live so many years you learn things, boy." She said and went to get some rice cakes. The dog demon clenched his teeth, growing impatient with Shomyo's evasive answers.

"Will you assist or not?" he hissed out. The eremite sent him a toothless grin.

"It depends. My, my, you youngsters are so hot headed…" she mumbled and sat straight. "Tell me, young demon, what do you value the most in your life."

Sesshomaru furrowed his brows.

"It has no connection to Tenseiga." He snapped at Shomyo. The old woman stood up and straightened her dusty kimono.

"Quite the opposite, it is crucial." She retorted. "Now tell me, what is the most important to you, young Sesshomaru."

"Strength." He answered without hesitation.

Mai made a mental face-palm. She was sure, that it was the worst possible answer – in the situation like this he was supposed to say things like friends, family or world peace. She sighed. Sesshomaru was hopeless…

Apparently the girl was right, because Shomyo's face wasn't expressing approval.

"Strength." She repeated slowly. "You are proud of it, aren't you? It has become your reason for existence, that youkai power of yours. The people like you lack humility, they crush the weaker without a second thought, because they can. A man like you shouldn't possess the power to throw your enemies into the netherworld."

Sesshomaru clenched his fist and glared at the eremite.

"So coming here was pointless then." He stated. Shomyo returned the glare and broke the eye contact to glance at Mai, who was standing beside the dog demon.

"I will make the Meidou complete, but you must undergo a trial, Sesshomaru." The old woman said, a grin flickering on her wrinkled face.

"What trial?" The demon demanded. Shomyo waved her hand casually.

"If you meet me in the temple in Saga before twelve days will pass, I will help you with your problem." She said.

"Hn." Sesshomaru relaxed. The city of Saga was far south, bordering with Ariake Sea, but the journey would take him a day at most. "We have a deal then."
The old woman cackled.

"Good. Be sure to show up in time, boy, because if you don't, you won't get back what you lost." She said in a chanting tone. The dog demon furrowed his brows.

"Lost?" he repeated, baffled by the enigmatic words. Shomyo's wrinkled face got serious.

"Don't be naive, in order to gain, you must lose." The old woman explained in a way adults talk to children. "You desire greater strength… so the price will be equal. See you in twelve days in Saga!"
After the last words the air around the eremite swirled and she literally disappeared.

"Tch!" Sesshomaru hissed irritated. Mai looked around.

"She' s gone." The girl stated the obvious. The demon stormed out of the eremite's house and Mai jogged after him.

"It seems, that this Sesshomaru was deceived." The demon hissed out, fury in his voice. The girl sighed, regretting, they would have to go back empty-handed. However, the demon asked himself for it. If only he wasn't so horribly honest sometimes…

"What now?" she asked quietly. The inu-youkai clenched his fist.

"We are returning to Jaken." He said sharply. "I will find another way to strengthen Tenseiga."

Mai nodded and trotted after her boss, as the demon made his way down the mountain. Now that the sun had risen, she had to manage by herself, but Sesshomaru was helping her where the path was difficult. The trek down the mountain was much quicker, mainly because Mai wasn't tripping that much. Soon enough they found themselves back at the feet of Mount Tate.

The girl waited for Sesshomaru to transform, but he was dawdling for some reason, just standing in place like a statue, not moving, with closed eyes and a focused face expression. After a longer while Mai lost her patience.

"Sesshomaru, maybe you could take your true form and take us the hell out of here?" she said, muffling a yawn, as she had only a short nap tonight. The demon opened his eyes and looked at her with a strange expression – the mix between anger and bewilderment.

"What do you think I am doing right now?" he hissed out through the clenched teeth. Mai furrowed her brows, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"What do you mean?" she asked quickly. Sesshomaru turned himself away from her and clenched his fist.

"I cannot summon my youki." He said.