InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Clouds and Odd Monks ❯ The Encounter of Two Peculiar Monks ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha's not mine, belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

AN: Here's the second chapter. I hope you will have as much fun reading it as I did when I wrote it!

 

Chapter 2: The Encounter of Two Peculiar Monks

 

 

The odd young monk glanced at the lord with a troubled look after giving his terrible news. The rich owner gasped naively at his misfortune.

 

“If you want, for thirty yen each, I can put holy scrolls around your house so you won't have any-“ the monk paused and looked directly into the man's eyes sombrely, “-bad surprises this week.”

 

Miyatsu repeated soundlessly the words `thirty yen' with his lips, totally disgusted by such a high price.

 

The man swallowed painfully. “Are you sure that they will be effective?” he asked with a worried voice.

 

“Absolutely, but-“ the young man continued his manipulative game by turning around and walking away, “- I can understand that you might have other priorities than your family's safety,” he finished.

 

There was a critical silence. Miyatsu, still spying, couldn't take his eyes off the lord. He secretly wanted him to discover the boy's deception. The man bit his lower lip. It was as if he was in a great conflict between his fear and his material needs. He couldn't resist anymore.

 

“Wait! Houshi-sama!” panicked the man. “Will two scrolls will be enough?”

 

The holy man stopped and Miyatsu noticed a tiny and subtle smile of self-satisfaction that was forming at the corner of his lips, as if he had won a battle. He turned around to face the villager once more, erasing the proof of his fraud from his lips.

 

The monk stroked his chin pensively. “Hard to say, I've probably seen some people surviving with only three-“

 

“How about five? That should be enough to disperse the evil aura,” The man added.

 

“It's better than two.” The monk made a show of his hesitation to his potential client.

 

“Alright, I will buy seven scrolls!” he suddenly said.

 

Miyatsu was now clapping his hand on his forehead, discouraged by the lord's gullibility. `What an idiot!' He thought to himself.

 

“Seven will definitely be perfect, no need to worry!” said the monk way too cheerfully, pulling seven ofudas out of his pocket.

 

Miyatsu's eyes suddenly widened. Those scrolls held as much holy powers as boar demons held intelligence! They were just some pieces of paper. He decided that it was the time to make an appearance. He was going to teach a good lesson to that brat.

 

“How will I ever thank you for saving me?” said the man. “I know, will you give me the honour of staying in my house for the night?” he added, relieved to finally be at the end of his problem… or at least so he thought.

 

Before the odd monk could respond, Miyatsu has finally made himself known to the others.

 

“Good evening sir. Houshi-sama” he said, nodding to the two people standing in front of him. The man responded rather cheerfully, while the boy forced a smile, his eyes flinching. Miyatsu smirked.

 

“It's a beautiful night, don't you think? The moon is full and bright, the stars are shining everywhere. There are no clouds in the sky or over the houses-“ he emphasized every last word, suspiciously eying his colleague, making him cough nervously.

 

The naïve owner didn't notice the increasing tension between the two Servants of Buddha.

 

The boy didn't welcome this new presence. His plans could fail and he didn't want to lose this potential shelter for the night. From what he noticed, Miyatsu seemed to be good with words. He had no other choice but to play his game. Fortunately, he was good at it.

 

“I don't think I introduced myself, my name is Miyatsu-”

 

He didn't even have time to finish the rest of his sentence before the other monk cut him off.

 

“And I'm Mushin. I'm a traveling monk and I help communities get rid of demons that attack them.”

 

Miyatsu snorted at this, making no effort to hide it, though he tried to contain any trace of envy that he had toward Mushin for being able to travel.

 

The owner innocently spoke up, “And I'm-“

 

However, neither monk noticed his presence. A slow rivalry began to form between the two of them.

 

“Really? `Help communities?' At such a young age?”

 

That comment grated on Mushin, making him want to clench his teeth

 

“That means you must have incredible powers!” Miyatsu tried to be as sarcastic as he could possibly be to make his point obvious.

 

He kept going “Can you show me your ofudas so I can see how much power they contain?”

 

Mushin frowned. He was sure that this guy knew of his trickery. However, he couldn't lose this battle. He never lost one before and he won't lose one to that pretentious monk. However, Miyatsu looked as eager as Mushin to have the last word. Mushin grinned to himself: this is just going to be interesting.

 

“I would kindly accept, friend, but I think your excitement has taken over your senses. You seem to forget that we cannot show our scrolls unless we're using them, as I was about to do before you arrived, or else they lose their power,” he responded with a satisfied grin that annoyed Miyatsu more than he had ever been annoyed in his life.

 

Miyatsu crossed his arms and tapped a finger on his arm. He thought, `This boy sure knows how to improvise.'

 

“Of course, with ofudas, you are without a doubt the expert here! I must say that I rarely saw anyone buying that many expensive scrolls for an house of this size.” Mushin began to sweat a little bit, hoping that the house's owner hadn't heard to that bit of information.

 

Miyatsu put a finger on his lips, faking a pensive look. “When I come to think about it, I never actually saw…”

 

Mushin abruptly interrupted him, keeping him from saying more.

 

“That proves you, unfortunately, haven't seen much in your life. Maybe I'm not old, but I have seen odd phenomena,” he said, trying to sound convincing. “I've seen powerful and obscure forces penetrate a mansion kept safe by 24 scrolls. But, going by the lack of belongings you carry and by the clean robes you wear, I can tell you haven't traveled much.”

 

Miyatsu flustered. Mushin clearly observed Miyatsu's annoyance and took a mental note, glad to see that he had found a weak point.

 

“Maybe you like the tranquility of temples. Of course I have full respect for those people-” He smirked, enjoying every bit of irritation that the other monk expressed. “-They are very peaceful-” Miyatsu covered his ears with his hands and loudly sang an improvised song so that he wouldn't hear Mushin. “-quiet, calm, serene, predictable, uninteresting, boring-”

 

Miyatsu stopped covering his ears to see if Mushin had finished to torturing him. Obviously, he hadn't.

 

“-creatures of habit, conventional, unexciting… I don't remember Miyatsu-sama, was I talking about the monks in temples or their lives?” he asked while laughing hysterically.

 

“At least I have credibility when I talk about holy things and everything like this!” he barked, all red from anger.

 

A long silence passed where nothing happened.

 

“Are you doubting my honesty and reliability as a monk?” Mushin defied, raising his voice, making the conversation more obvious to the neighbours, as if it wasn't already loud enough.

 

Both monks sent deadly glares at each other.

 

“I have doubts about how much of a holy man you are!” Miyatsu growled.

 

`Calm down Miyatsu, it's not like you to lose control. He's just a kid after all,' the monk thought to himself.

 

“Such a nice thing to say when I can clearly sense different women's aura all over your body,” Mushin responded bitterly.

 

Miyatsu went red from anger and embarrassment. The hell with the control! They were getting closer to each other with every reply they gave.

 

“Is the sake I smell on you used for a new type of ceremony or it's just your usual odour?” shouted Miyatsu

 

“Interesting, I never saw a monk with long hair. We could have mistaken you for a tanuki!”

 

“A tanuki has short hair, bouzu!”

 

The owner of the wealthy stood silently in his door, totally forgotten by the pair of bickering monks. He had tried countless times to courteously ask them to go away, but they totally ignored him! So he listened carefully to them and decided that it was the kind of scene that he didn't think he would ever want to see again. He always thought that Servants of Buddha were patient and in harmony with all living things.

 

But these two monks were insulting each other for reasons he couldn't understand. From what he understood, the little one tried to trick him with fake scrolls and predictions, while the other one had tried to stop him. Or were they partners in crime that were having a fight? The poor man was all lost and tired.

 

“I'm sure you can't even spell Buddha correctly!”

 

“You couldn't even purify a catfish demon!”

 

The lord couldn't concentrate with all that yelling. He was seriously pissed off by these two morons who stood in front of him. The man clearly only wanted to go back to sleep beside his lovely wife.

 

Suddenly, the lord saw five guards who were patrolling near by. They were the only hope he had left to get rid of the odd monks. He was desperate, so he had no other choice but to ask them. The man ran to them, ignored by Miyatsu and Mushin, who had started trying to strangle on another.

 

“Sir, excuse me sir!” said the man, breathlessly. He was exhausted and sweat was rolling on his face.

 

The guards stopped and stared closely at the man. The person in command approached him, intimidating the owner of the house.

 

“Those two monks, over there,” he said, pointing the front door of his house with his index finger. “They tried to rob me, both of them.” He paused, then whispered shyly to himself. “I think… or is it the tall one who lied to me? I never had a very good memory…”

 

All the five guards stared blankly at the man, then they all burst out laughing, tears in their eyes. The smallest one was the first to start talking.

 

“Do you honestly think we would waste our time on two weak monks?”

 

The poor man whimpered and his legs shook.

 

But the commander seemed to have an idea. “I think we should arrest them.” His colleagues stared at him, surprised by this unexpected comment “Or kill them. Feel free. We don't get enough exercise,” he finished.

 

A loud cheer came from the four guards and they headed toward the two monks.

 

The lord decided that it was time for him to sneak back into his home.

 

The guards encircled Miyatsu and Mushin, who had begun wrestling on the ground.

 

The commander, not taking the time to notice his targets, began to recite his declaration in his most threatening voice.

 

“Monks, we are under obligation to arrest and maybe kill you for thievery and for yelling in the middle of the night. If you cooperate, we might spare you. But if not, we won't hesitate to cut off your heads. If you have any kind of declarations, do it r-“ he couldn't even finish his sentence because a scandal flew through the air, hitting him in the nose and making him bleed.

 

All the guards laughed manically at their boss, who was fuming.

 

“Stop!” he finally yelled at both his colleagues and his targets.

 

Miyatsu and Mushin were now conscious of the five guards that were surrounding them. Their positions were odd. Miyatsu was on the ground, biting Mushin's arm and hitting him on the head with a scandal. Mushin was on top of Miyatsu and had a firm hold on his hair.

 

It seemed like a long time since they had realized that the rest of the world existed. They changed their positions to one that was more comfortable.

 

The commander coughed, before starting his speech once again. “As I was saying, you are both under arrest for…”

 

“What are those guards doing here?” whispered Miyatsu, not listening to the commander, who did not realize the lack of attention from his two targets. Miyatsu looked around and added, “Where's my other scandal?”

 

“Do you know how to fight, temple-boy?” asked Mushin quietly between his teeth so that the guards couldn't hear him.

 

“Of course I do,” he said, wiping away some hairs that were falling in his face. “And don't call me like that!” he growled while slowly grabbing his shakujo.

 

Mushin did the same. “I bet I can take down more guards than you.”

 

“You don't honestly think they will kill us?” Miyatsu asked, frowning.

 

“Temple-boy,” Miyatsu murmured under his breath.

 

“Will you stop it!” he barked loudly.

 

“Alright, that's enough!” said a third voice. The man in command had obviously seen that no one was listening to him. “Too much courtesy. Guards! Kill them!” he yelled.

 

Miyatsu and Mushin jumped on their feet with such synchronization that some guards gaped. They stood back to back, in a fighting position, with their shakujo in hand. The guards opened the battle and began to attack the men.

 

Mushin blocked the first attack and dodged the second from another assailant. He hit the first on the stomach with his staff and the second one with a foot to the face. Miyatsu had faster moves and greater strength, but the boy was able to defend himself.

 

Miyatsu kept going like this: jumping above the guards and sliding between their legs, punching faces, kicking butts and knocking heads. Mushin was hit several times: once in the stomach and he was bleeding from his head. Fortunately Miyatsu managed to knock out all of the guards before they could severely injure Mushin. All who remained was the commander, who was sadly watching his men being easily taken down.

 

Miyatsu and Mushin stood in front of the last guard. They had the wind in their robes, their hair floating gracefully. The small monk had his hands on his waist while the other had his arms crossed. Both of them had the same confident and teasing smile for their last opponent.

 

“Y-you two! You're both in big trouble!” He stammered. And with that, he whistled and ten more guards arrived from every side of the street, encircling the two monks.

 

They approached step by step, the two monks were panting rather heavily. “Time to run, Miyatsu-sama!” Mushin said quickly, but without hints of panic.

 

It seemed that it was not the first time that Mushin had been in that kind of desperate situation. However, Miyatsu felt his heart beat at an incredible speed.

 

Mushin then ran forward, hitting one guard's helmet hard with his staff and kicking another guard standing to his left. He escaped.

 

Miyatsu back flipped over a guard and landed outside the circle. He tried to follow Mushin, who was running toward the village's border.

 

Miyatsu ran to the forest. Mushin was nowhere to be seen.

 

 

End of chapter 2

 

AN: Something funny about this: when I did the first sketch of Clouds, I had thought that Mushin was the same age as Miyatsu. When I sent it to Starzki, she told me that if Mushin was as old as Miyatsu, in the series he would be way too old. I wasn't sure about this so I passed the rest of my evening doing a timeline on a sheet, with all sorts of suppositions of ages for each family member, including any sorts of clues from the series, such as Miroku's flash-backs, the whole “50 years ago my grand-father got his kazaana.” My conclusion was that Miyatsu would be about 10 years older than Mushin.

 

My story goes approximately like this:

If the kazaana didn't exist, their ages would looks like this from the moment Miroku meet Inuyasha in the series:

Miroku: 20 years old

His father: 40 years old

Mushin: 70 years old

Miyatsu: 77 years old

 

For the sake of my story I made Mushin 15 years old and Miyatsu 22.

Of course, it's only a theory, since I supposed that he could live with a kazaana for 25 years old and that Miroku was 20 years old. God I need to hang out with my friends -_-`'

 

Constructive and positive comments are always appreciated! Review!

 

Gimp