InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Clouds and Odd Monks ❯ Meeting the Monk Miyatsu ( Chapter 1 )

Clouds and Odd Monks

 

 

Disclaimer: All Inuyasha's characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Summary: A strange monk sensed an ominous cloud over a wealthy house. However, another holy man is watching him with suspicion.

 

Author's note: There's a long introduction before we actually begin to see the real events. That is because it's a `pilot fanfiction' for a bigger story that might do if reviews are positive and I sense some interest for Miyatsu. But I'm still not sure.

Miyatsu is Miroku's grand-father, in case you didn't know.

 

Chapter 1: Meeting the Monk Miyatsu

 

 

A stranger walked into a village. He was 22 years old and was quite handsome. His long dark hair, tied into a ponytail, was covered by a woven rice straw hat especially made for people of his kind. He wore a yellow squared kesa over a dark robe. People, animals, youkai, and insects could hear him from a good distance because of the rings of his shakujo that rang together at every step he made. The man was impressed by the large community, not very common in these areas.

 

There were about 10,000 habitants, while usual villages had no more than 500. A river flowed through the middle of it, giving the merchants from the farthest lands better access. The highest point was the residence of the village's lord. He possessed 500 guards and 200 servants and slaves. The prison was situated at the bottom of the hill, where thieves, assassins, and anarchists were kept. It was hard to live in this community where the crime was high. Mothers didn't like to see their children running alone in the roads because of all sorts of strange and suspicious people walked around freely. The guards patrolled at times, but they only stepped in when they weren't being respected.

 

“Houshi-sama! Houshi-sama!” called a woman with a baby in her arms, pulling the man out of his reveries. “Can you give my child some prayers for good luck?”

 

The monk stopped, turned around to face the woman and child, though he could not see their faces because of his mushroom hat. “Please lady, call me Miyatsu,” he said, smiling innocently. The monk mumbled a couple of incomprehensible words under his breath while putting his right hand on the little forehead.

 

“Thank you, Miyatsu-sama” giggled the woman, blushing slightly. She turned around and went back toward her hut, not noticing that the servant of Buddha was looking right at her bottom.

 

Miyatsu caught himself in the act and chose to purify himself later for this un-monkish behaviour. Women. He thought that they were the most beautiful and delicate creatures that were living in this world. He began to notice them at the age of 15 when he had accidentally saw a 16-year-old girl changing clothes.

 

Before, his master always taught him that that they were useless and weak except in their roles in procreation. Plus, as a monk, he had to control his unconscious behaviours, at least until he got married, if it had to happen one day. But sometimes Miyatsu broke the rules and did some subtle flirting that wasn't easily noticed.

 

He kept going; his destination was his master's temple, situated in the forest to the north of the city. Miyatsu's mission was to give him some boring research he had done in his cousin's monastery. He had to write about the weaknesses and strengths of each type of demon that was in his region including their habits. It was easier to teach young, aspiring Buddhist monks to how to exorcize demons if they had some references under their nose.

 

It was not that he wasn't passionate about the subject. On the contrary, it would be really helpful in case he had to encounter a demon on the road. But research in ancient parchments locked up in a monastery was too dull for him. Miyatsu had never been motivated in that work and it was something that his master was aware of.

 

From as early as he could remember, what Miyatsu truly wanted to do was to travel the world, discover the life's mysteries, meet folks, do exorcisms, and concretely help villagers. A travelling monk: that's what he wanted to be. But the only travelling he usually did was from his master's temple to his cousin's, a two days walk.

 

The only thing that was keeping him at the temple was his dying father's wish. He was to stay under the protection of his current master until he wasn't needed anymore.

 

Usually he wouldn't have passed through this village because it made his trip longer, but his master's wife was sick, so he had to buy her some herbs from an old woman who could only be found there. As Miyatsu loved traveling, he didn't mind extending his trip a day and a half day longer.

 

***

 

As Miyatsu walked down a darker road, he was noticed by three wary men.

 

The tallest had a scar from his forehead to his left cheek. He was wearing a stringcourse to keep his long hair from falling in his face. The second man had two teeth missing and one that was replaced by a gold tooth. He didn't have any hair and was wearing a ring in his ear. The last one had a big tattoo on his neck and his eyes were different colours: one grey and the other yellow.

 

The three of them looked at the lonely monk and sneered silently. That was going to be a piece of cake.

 

The thief with the tattoo had a knife on his hand and walked slowly behind his victim. The two others had their sword ready, hiding in front of the monk.

 

Miyatsu suddenly felt a cold blade at his throat.

 

“Monk, give me all the money you have and I will not hurt you. Not too much, anyway,” was whispered beside his left ear. The two other thieves appeared in front of him.

 

A moment passed where no one said anything. But then, to the surprise of his attackers, Miyatsu smirked under his hat.

 

“I do not wish to start a meaningless fight, I'm not a violent person,” he said, eyes closed.

 

“Too bad that we aren't the type to listen to people beg for mercy,” the tallest thief responded.

 

“I see that you don't give me lot of options.”

 

And with that, Miyatsu threw his shakujo high in the air and then jumped, defying the laws of gravity, and landed on his assailant's shoulders. It made the thief lose his balance and fall hard to the ground with the monk landing with two feet on his stomach. The two other thieves ran at Miyatsu, swords in hand, attacking him at the exact same time.

 

Miyatsu caught his falling staff with his left hand and instantly blocked the two attacks with it. The scar-man moved his sword backwards and forward in the direction of his neck, but Miyatsu dived. The only casualty of this attack was that Miyatsu's hat was sliced in half. Then, in one swing, the monk disarmed both thieves, jumped at them, and hit them hard on their heads with his staff.

 

He brushed the dirt away from his kesa. Without his hat, he could finally feel the wind on his face. He took a good look at his three assailants laying on the ground, semi-conscious, moaning.

 

“Nice to meet you. I hope we will get together more often for another pleasant evening.” He gave the most innocent and annoying smile he could make, and made sure that the three thieves saw it.

 

Miyatsu wasn't as harmless as he looked. He had received training since the age of 5. His father, when he was alive, thought that it was a good idea for him to know how to defend himself in case he crossed paths with a nasty youkai. So Miyatsu's father asked a samurai who owed him his life to train his son and the samurai accepted.

 

Miyatsu left and finally managed to buy the herbs for his master's wife.

 

***

 

The sun set behind the mountains. The last rays of sunshine were radiating around the curve of the clouds. The sky was turning from yellow, orange, to purple, blue and finally to black, when the first stars made their appearance. The moon was already perceptible since earlier that evening. The chilly wind came to caress every passer-by.

 

Miyatsu sighed. He couldn't sleep in the streets because it was too dangerous. However, the village's only inn was full. He couldn't ask for hospitality because it was forbidden for a monk to ask favours. The only option available to him was to keep walking until he was out of the city where he could rest peacefully in the forest.

 

As he walked, he suddenly heard a strange conversation.

 

“Pardon me for disturbing you sir.” The voice was calm.

 

He looked around to see where the voice came from. Miyatsu located the discussion. A young man, a little younger than him, that was standing in front of the door of a surprisingly wealthy residence. He looked like a monk, with a brown kesa over a dark robe. His shakujo had a similar design to his, except that it had the point of an arrow at the top of it and one less ring.

 

The other monk wasn't tall; he only came up to Miyatsu's chin. He was round, a bit obese, but not enormous. His big nose was slightly red, like his cheeks. He had short brown hair that didn't even cover his ears. He couldn't be older than 16, but his voice was already grave.

 

The other monk was talking to a slim and tall man, the owner of the prosperous house. He looked rather tired, with big circles under his eyes. However, the monk didn't seem to mind this, or even care.

 

Without knowing why, Miyatsu decided to keep listening to the conversation.

 

“I'm a humble monk who was only walking around here. But when I came across your house, I couldn't help but sense an ominous cloud above your mansion.”

 

`Huh?' must have been Miyatsu's first reaction. He certainly didn't sense any “ominous cloud.”

 

He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to feel any demonic aura, bad vibes, or any trace of evil, but still felt nothing. Everything around there was perfectly fine and pure. Was it that his holy powers were not developed enough? No, his master had once said that he was a powerful monk for his age. Could his master have been wrong? If so, that meant that the holy man standing near him possessed great sacred power. But that didn't make sense, either, considering his age.

 

“As a Servant of Buddha, it is my duty to inform you of the possibility that a death might occur in your house in the next few days,” he added with an empathetic voice that was mixed with a hint of sorrow.

 

Miyatsu frowned. There was something wrong with this. He knew perfectly well that ominous clouds only foretold bad luck, not death.

 

He began to doubt of the sincerity of this boy.

 

 

End of chapter 1

 

Reviews are my best friends!

 

AN: This chapter was more an introduction to Miyatsu. The second part has more… well… Let's say that you will see by yourself :-)

I hope you find interesting his background story: we know so little about Miroku's grandfather and it's so rare fanfictions exclusively about him (without his grandson) that I couldn't help but insert it into this story.

Thanks again to Starzki for helping me with my rather limited English and other stuff about the story itself!

 

Gimp