Chapter 19

A quick-handed monk

The next day

Mai winced, as she looked at a baked mushroom on a stick, that served as her breakfast. Again. For the whole previous week she didn’t eat anything other than fish and mushrooms, not counting apples the other day. At first she thought it was only temporary, but soon she came to conclusion, that Sesshomaru’s group didn’t eat anything else. Speaking of Sesshomaru, Mai didn’t see him eating even once. Or sleep – she was sure, that every time, when he was sitting with his eyes closed, he was faking.

There was also a problem of lack of basic items like comb, soap, toothbrush or spare clothes. Mai’s kimonos weren’t exactly fresh. She tried to do a laundry in the river once, but without soap it was no good.

Soon Sesshomaru ordered his group to set off and Mai was walking beside Jaken, munching a mushroom left from the breakfast. She looked at Rin, who was sleeping soundly on Ah-Un’s back and covered the child with one of the spare kimonos.

Mai clenched her fist, as she encouraged herself and decided, that now the time came, the time to do something about those horrible travelling conditions.

“Sesshomaru!” she called to the tall demon and ran to him, till she was walking beside him. “Sesshomaru, we need to talk.”

The silver-haired demon didn’t respond. Mai was determined.

“Sesshomaru!” she called louder. The demon emitted an annoyed growl, as his technique of ignoring the woman failed.

“What is it, woman?” he snapped. Mai furrowed her brows and folded her arms.

“My name is Mai! Why do you keep calling me ‘woman’?!” she fussed. Sesshomaru send her a warning glare. Mai got the message and decided to get to the point.

“The thing is, we can’t eat those damned mushrooms and fish all the time. We should get vegetables, meat and some rice.” Mai stated firmly, glaring back at the demon. However, he ignored her again. Mai narrowed her eyes.

“Rin really can’t live only on mushrooms.” She said and smiled in her mind, as she noticed, that she got Sesshomaru’s attention by mentioning Rin’s name.

“She has always eaten these and she is fine.” He said.

“Rin is a growing child, you idiot!” Mai snapped, ignoring the furious glare, Sesshomaru gave her. “I have no idea how you, demons, raise your children, but human kids need to eat properly! And when I tell you, that she needs rice and meat, it means, that she does!”

Mai was so busy trying to talk some sense into the demon’s thick head, that she didn’t notice, when they stopped. As she finished her tirade, she realized, that she managed to infuriate Sesshomaru again. The demon was glaring at her in his most scary way. She felt, that he gave off a strange feeling – Mai would describe it as an aura of pure wrath.

Oh shit. – Mai cursed inwardly, as she saw Sesshomaru’s face changing. The stripes on his cheeks became jagged and his eyes turned red. The girl froze in fear, as the demon took a step towards her, closing the distance between them.

“What did I say about disrespecting me?” he said, nearly growling. Mai felt, that she began to sweat.

“Sesshomaru,” she began unsurely. “Please, calm down. I’m sorry. I was just trying to do my job. I should take care of Rin, right?”

Mai let out her breath with relief, seeing, that the demon’s eyes turned the usual gold again. He sent her a final intimidating glare and walked away from her.

The girl thought, that she must do something about her habit of pissing him off, if she wanted to stay intact. She turned to join Rin, when she felt something slamming into her back. Startled, she staggered forward and looked for the item, that hit her. On the ground was laying a small leather bag. As Mai picked it up, she felt the considerable weight. She took a peek inside an gasped. Gold. A lot of golden coins.

“Sesshomaru?” she turned to the person, who was most likely responsible for hitting her with the bag. The demon didn’t turned to her, but graced her with an answer surprisingly fast.

“There is a human village nearby, in eastern direction. You are free to spend it all on what you need.” He said. 

Mai opened her eyes wider in disbelief. Did he just say, that she can go shopping? And with enough money to buy the entire village!

“Thank you!” she exclaimed happily, clutching the leather bag. “Which way is east?”

Jaken groaned and made a face palm.

Mai hummed happily as she entered the village, a town to be exact. The girl felt wonderful, being among the people again. Since Sesshomaru kidnapped her, she didn’t see any human except Rin, not counting the robbers. The town was very lively and seemed to be prospering well. The girl weighed the money in her hand and smiled to herself. She will definitely use the money, Sesshomaru gave her. Mai thought, that she definitely deserved some pleasure. She was walking along the street, passing the busy people. There were a lot of shops here and the girl wondered, where she could start shopping. Then one of them caught her attention. In front of the building hung colorful kimonos. Mai looked at her own tattered and dirty one and headed to the shop.

She opened the door and entered. Inside, an older woman and two girls were tailoring kimono for some female customer. The room was spacious, filled with colorful fabric.

“Hello.” Said Mai and started looking at the clothes. Most of them were ordinary, but there were also fancy ones, of the same quality as Mai’s princess outfits. The girl touched one of them, when she heard someone clearing the throat behind her. She turned around and looked at a middle-aged woman, probably the owner of the shop. The woman studied Mai sternly, glancing critically at her torn clothes.

“I’d like to buy a few kimonos.” Mai stated quickly, feeling uncomfortable and ashamed, as the shop’s owner scanned her with eyes.

“How much money do you have?” the woman asked, arching her brow. Mai, slightly embarrassed, took out the little leather bag.

“Oh, I don’t really know.” She admitted, as she opened it to count the golden coins. “I’ll check if I have enough.”

When Mai started counting money, the stern shop owner gasped and opened her eyes wider. She got on the floor and bowed deeply before the girl. 

“I’m terribly sorry, hime-sama.” The woman said to Mai, her forehead still touching the floor. “I’ll present you the finest kimonos right away!”

Mai stared at her, surprised and looked at her leather bag. Did Sesshomaru give her THAT much money?

“Please, get up, no need to do that.” She said to the older woman, helping her to get up.

The shop’s owner insisted on treating Mai like a princess. She ran off to look for her best attires, and surely the most expensive as well. In the meantime she ordered her two daughters to take care of the girl. Mai got a chance to bath quickly – with a soap, what was like her dreams coming true. One of the girls brushed her hair after cutting them a little and the other applied make-up – all on the shop. 

Then Mai was showed a variety of kimonos. She picked up a couple of inner layers and three beautiful silk outer kimonos, the most expensive, the woman had – one was brilliant green with floral pattern, the other pale pink with roses and the last one blue, embroidered with silver thread. She put on the pink one right away and picked two more kimonos in Rin’s size. Mai paid with three golden coins and, judging by the look on the woman’s face, it was more than enough.

“Hime-sama,” the shop’s owner addressed Mai, while bowing once again. “Would you need help with carrying the packages? I could call my sons to help you.”

“Really? It would be wonderful!” the girl answered, looking at all the clothes, that she just bought. It would be difficult to carry it all by herself.

One of the daughters ran to call her brothers.

“Hime-sama,” the woman asked Mai quietly. “I don’t want to be rude, but  I was wondering, what such a wealthy woman as you is doing in this town, so far from castles.”

“Oh.” The girl looked at the ceiling, wondering, what she should tell the woman. “Actually, I’m travelling now and I wanted to replenish supplies. My escort is waiting outside the town.”

The one of the girls came, dragging two teenage boys with her. They grabbed Mai’s kimonos and were waiting for orders.

“Umm…” Mai mumbled. “Thank you for everything. Come on, boys!”

When the girl came out of kimono shop, she felt like a different person. Refreshed, clean and well-clad she rushed to the market, the two boys silently trailing behind her. She was gaining the numerous looks from the onlookers, probably because of her expensive attire. Mai smiled to herself, glad, that she got to spend some time in this merchant town instead with her sadistic demonic boss. She regretted a little, that Sesshomaru didn’t let Rin come with her. The kid would use a difference from time to time too.

Mai purchased various goods on the market – a lot of food, including sweets for Rin – and for herself, soap, a knife, which he hid beneath her kimono, thinking, that it would be good to have a weapon, just in case. She bought also few bars of perfumed soap and various items, which could come in handy.

Mai was looking at the stall with hairpins, when she heard someone near her mention a familiar name. She looked up and searched for the owner of the voice.

“I’ve seen many youkai flying south, in the direction of Hanemasa.” An old fish-seller said. Mai got interested, when he mentioned youkai. She moved herself closer towards the man and observed him with a corner of the eye.

“That must be Naraku!” exclaimed childish voice. Mai gasped, as she heard someone mentioning the name of Sesshomaru’s mortal enemy. The girl decided, that it was the good opportunity to get some intel and prove herself useful. She sneaked closer, pretending, that she was watching wares.

“It may be, Shippo.” Said a masculine voice. “Anyway, thank you for the information.”

Mai lifted her head to look at those people, before they would walk away. Were they looking for Naraku as well? She noticed, that one of them was a young man, a Buddhist priest, judging by black and purple robes. He had rather short black hair and quite handsome face. In his hand he held a staff, characteristic for priests. Mai’s eyes widened, as she saw the man’s companion, the one with the childish voice. On the priest’s shoulder sat a little youkai. There was no doubt about that – he had pointed ears, just like Sesshomaru had, animal legs and a fluffy tail. Mai could see his little fangs, as he was talking to the priest. The kid had red hair, gathered in a ponytail. It was unusual to see a holy man in the company of a demon, even if it was still a cute child.

Mai followed them discreetly, as they started to walk away. She thought, that she couldn’t let this opportunity go to waste. She sped up to catch up with the strange pair.

“Excuse me.” She spoke up, trying to get monk’s attention. 

The man turned towards her and his eyes brightened, as he saw her. 

“Hello, my beautiful lady. How can I be of service to you?” he spoke to her with smooth voice, smiling charmingly.

“I’m not that beau…” Mai started, but got distracted, as she felt a hand stroking her bottom. Startled, she realized, that the hand belonged to the monk. The girl looked at the monk and saw the expression of pure bliss on his face. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist, anger boiling in her.

“Miroku…” the youkai kid spoke up, trying to turn the monk’s attention to infuriated woman.

“YOU PERVERT!” Mai screamed at the top of her lugs, sending her fist of justice right into the monk’s face. The man staggered back, surprised by sudden blow. Mai was standing in front of him, fuming and massaging her sore knuckles. The kid, raccoon youkai as the girl thought, sighed heavily.

“You could see that coming, Miroku,” he said. Mai noticed glimpse in the monks eye, as he grabbed her hands.

“I have only one question to ask of you, my lady.” He said, looking her deeply in the eyes. “Would you bear my child?”

“Hell no!” Mai yelled at him, pulling her hands back and threatening the man with her fist. “Don’t you know when to stop?!”

The little demon shook his head with disdain. He sighed heavily.

“Forgive him, he’s always like that, but he’s not a bad person.” The child said to Mai. The girl lowered her fist. The monk straightened himself and cleared his throat.

“Yes, forgive me. My hands must be cursed” He said. “I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Miroku and I’m a travelling houshi. This little one’s name is Shippo.”

Mai fought her urge to scoop the little youkai in her arms and touch his fluffy tail.

“Shippo, are you a raccoon demon?” she asked the kid.

“I’m a fox!” the worked-up Shippo exclaimed. Mai covered her mouth with a hand to hide, that she chuckled a bit.

“Oh. And my name’s… Ma… Amayami.” Said Mai, giving her false name. Shippo and Miroku seemed to be quite friendly, but Mai learnt not to trust strangers. Befriending Rin led her to becoming Sesshomaru’s servant, after all.

“So, lady Amayami, did you want to ask us for help?” Miroku asked her. Mai gasped, remembering, that she wanted to ask them about Naraku. The lecherous action of the monk, however, distracted her.

“Eh… I heard earlier… by accident… that you were talking about Naraku. Do you have a clue, where he is?” she asked and immediately regretted it.

The monk and fox youkai exchanged surprised glances and Shippo eyed Mai suspiciously.

“Why do you want to know it?” Miroku asked frankly.

The girl wondered, if it was safe to tell them, that her boss wants Naraku dead. A monk shouldn’t be on the side of an evil demon, right? She decided to risk.

“The man, I work for, wants to find and kill him, for some personal reasons I think.” She answered.

“Revenge?” asked Miroku, his face now showing worry. “Naraku has hurt many people, but it’s dangerous for a human to go after him.”

Mai furrowed her brows. The monk was lecturing her, but he was a human himself! 

 “I’ll tell my boss to be careful.” She said ”Can you tell me about Naraku’s whereabouts, please? I really have to go and my boss is not the most patient one.”

“I guess, I cannot refuse such a charming woman.” Said the monk with a dreamy sigh. Mai instinctively checked, if there was a safe distance between them. “We believe, that Naraku went south, in the direction of Hanemasa. We’re not completely sure about it, though.”

“Thank you.” Said Mai, happy, that she got some useful information about Naraku. When she came back, she’d rub it in Sesshomaru’s arrogant face. Speaking of Sesshomaru, what time it was? Mai thought with terror, that she must have spend long hours in the town and the silver-haired demon was waiting for her all this time. God, he must be furious now. She had to go back. Mai locked the kimono shop’s owner’s sons on and rushed to them, without saying a word of goodbye to Miroku and Shippo.

“Hurry!” she said to the boys, who were carrying her things, and made her way to the outskirts of the town, as quickly as she could. The town people gave her stares and pointed her with their fingers, as she ran, lifting the hem of her kimono, with her two helpers trying to match her pace.

“She seemed to be in a hurry.” Noticed Miroku, regretting not having another chance to touch her bottom. Shippo sighed heavily.

“She is a suspicious woman’ if you ask me.” The fox demon commented.