InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ 10 years later... ( Chapter 53 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Black Wren 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.20.2013 | Pages: 6 | Words: 10.2K | Visits: 143 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.20.2013 | Pages: 6 | Words: 10.2K | Visits: 143 | Status: Work In Progress
Part 3: 10 years later…
Kuromakaze hissed at the news&nb sp;his spymaster brought. “So the old man has finally
perished,â&euro ; he said, “and Toromaru is&nbs p;now the lord of the Shiro Tenko.â&eur o; He
dismissed the man as he ;growled in frustration. His brother wasn&ac irc;€Ÿt the fool their
father was.& nbsp; Already he was repealing every edict&nb sp;his father had made.
â€&o elig;This is hardly terrible news,†sa id Yamibi, running her finger along his ear causing
it to flick. â€& oelig;Just because their leadership has improved&n bsp;doesn‟t mean everything is
w ell. It will be awhile before they ;can recover. We still have time to&nbs p;act against
them.â€
â ;€œIf we couldn‟t act agai nst them before, how are we going to&nbs p;act against them now?â€
whispered&nbs p;Kuromakaze in disgust.
â€&oelig ;Indeed, not only did we lose our mainla nd supplier we lost the weapons we had&n bsp;
already acquired prior,†said Nori ko, blue eyes flashing. Yamibi growled and the
two women shifted as if rea dying for a fight. Kuromakaze was not&n bsp;in the mood.
“Enough! †he shouted and both women stepp ed back, though neither had even
stepped forward. He stood and stormed out ;of the tent.
Yamibi was trying&nb sp;to be optimistic but Noriko had spoken&nbs p;the truth. His plans for a
final push had been ruined by Kakiboufuuâ&eu ro;Ÿs meddling. He had assumed his ;cousin
would find the Chinese junks and try to stop them. That was why&nb sp;he had hired the
demon slayers to&nbs p;guard the route. Even if the inuyokai had killed the first guard, it
wou ld only spur the remaining slayers to at tack demon clan out of vengeance. He&nb sp;
had counted on the resulting feud to& nbsp;occupy Kakiboufuu for years while he lau nched
his own attack against the Sh iro Tenko, destroying them and claiming victo ry at
last.
What he hadn&acir c;€Ÿt counted on was Kakiboufuuâ€& Yuml;s ability to talk the demon slayers ;into
withdrawing permanently. They now ;refused to do any business with him and it
left his Chinese traders without&nbs p;protection. After the second failed shipme nt, he
received a message from his mainland contact. The second fleet had returned with
every crewmember, guard and&nbs p;merchant dead. Their bodies strung up ;along the
yardarms and along the railin gs like decorations. A message written in Chinese
script with the victimsâ&eur o;Ÿ blood had said simply, â€&oeli g;Do not interfere further.†The ;
contact ended the message by stating he no longer wished to do business with&nb sp;the
Kuro Tenko and that was the last they heard from him.
With&nbs p;no further shipments coming, Kuromakaze had ;tried to plan his assault with
what&nbs p;he had. It would not have been i mpossible but it would not have been as& nbsp;swift
and absolute as he originally ;planned. Then, while planning the details&n bsp;of the
attack with his generals, the castles that contained the Chinese rockets&n bsp;and other
black powder weapons had b een destroyed within two days. Kuromakaze&nb sp;had
dozens of smaller castles throughout&n bsp;his territory but none as well equipped&n bsp;and
defensible as Castle Arai had be en. Knowing that, he had scattered the& nbsp;precious
mainland weapons to be stored&n bsp;at five separate locations that only he&n bsp;and a few top
ranked officials knew& nbsp;about.
While he knew such tac tics were countered by attacking all the ;castles, he also
knew Kakiboufuu didnâ €Ÿt have the man power to make ;such aimless assaults.
Somehow, Kakiboufuu& nbsp;managed to hit all five castles almost&n bsp;simultaneously; a feat
that required bypa ssing several other keeps. It had left& nbsp;the evil hanyou speechless
and then ;infuriated. He had rampaged through his&nbs p;ranks seeking spies and
informants, certain that someone had told the enemy where&n bsp;to find the rockets. He
tortured&nb sp;many of his underlings and killed several& nbsp;officers that he suspected of
treas on. The unfortunate result of his rage& nbsp;was lower productivity; everyone
cowered ;from him and tried to do nothing that&n bsp;would get them noticed, including
the&nbs p;avoidance of making high quality goods. &nb sp;Soldiers, terrified of being suspected
bec ause of things they said in the past,&nb sp;deserted, shrinking his forces.
Nori ko was the only one to stand up to& nbsp;him, pointing out the damage his out&nbs p;of
character temper was causing. It&n bsp;had been a sobering moment for the m aster of
strategy. He had thought himself above such petty emotional displays. It still took
a whole year before& nbsp;anything returned to normal. To try&nbs p;to speed recovery, he
offered pardons to deserters who would return to his com mand despite the protests
of his general s. The set back had left him wonde ring if he should lure his father
i nto another “end the warâ&euro ; campaign.
Kakiboufuu chose then to remind him he was not unaware of ;his plots. At every
attempt to st age events that would stoke the pride an d confidence of Kuromaru,
Kakiboufuu countere d with arrangements of his own that serv ed to humiliate Shiro
Tenko troops. &nbs p;The men were rarely hurt but the painf ul defeats that sent them
running would& nbsp;only force the Shiro Tenko to remain&nbs p;on the defensive.
Kuromakaze had ;learned in the fight over Castle Arai t hat his cousin was capable
of setting&nb sp;sentimentally aside in battle. The only&n bsp;signs of it now was that the man&nbs p;
didn‟t kill his allies. He wondered how long until that changed. ; It seemed to the
Kuro Tenko leade r, the edge of ruthlessness in Kakiboufuu&nbs p;was becoming more
defined with each cl ash. For Kuromakaze who took advantage of such sentimental
feelings, it was a&n bsp;disturbing trend.
Now, Kuromaru was dead and his son, Toromaru, was the&nbs p;lord. Kuromakaze knew
he only survive d the conflict at Castle Arai because Ka kiboufuu had not wanted to
be found ;by Kuromaru. If such a conflict were&n bsp;to happen now, the outcome would be
different. While his cousin would not&n bsp;have betrayed the blue third, he would&nb sp;have
followed him with the fresh ;army and pressed the attacked. The blu e third under a
black first was onl y good until the next day. Those i ll feelings between the hanyou
and his&n bsp;uncle were Kakiboufuu‟s only weak ness and now it was gone.
If& nbsp;Toromaru upheld his father‟s fee lings concerning the hanyou, then things migh t
be different, but he doubted that ;would be the case. The only way h e could salvage
the situation was to&nbs p;keep Kakiboufuu from learning of his uncle& acirc;€Ÿs death. If he could
keep his cousin believing Kuromaru still ran& nbsp;the Shiro Tenko…
Wh ile it was a pain to have Kakiboufuu&nbs p;off one flank and the Shiro Tenko off& nbsp;the
other, divided forces did have their weaknesses. The two sides were no t in contact
with one another and c ould not coordinate their moves. Toromaru&nb sp;would focus on
recovery if left alone . If Kuromakaze took advantage of that, he could then focus on
Kakiboufuu and, this time, annihilate him with his full force. His focus on the
Shiro Tenko may have been a mistake but his father‟s tendency to launch all-out
campaigns on impulse was the rea son why he hadn‟t be ignored.&nb sp; It was the reason
why he had&nb sp;failed at Castle Arai. Maybe it was& nbsp;good Toromaru was now the lord. He wouldn‟t attack without warning and he wasn‟t watching their&nb sp;movements as
carefully as Kakiboufuu. &nbs p;He wouldn‟t question the silence&nb sp;until it was far too late
for th e inuyokai.
Kuromakaze smiled to& nbsp;himself as new plans began to take form as he mentally
changed the directio n of the war. Then he paused in&nb sp;his stride as he remembered
one impor tant detail. Kenji knew Kakiboufuu was with the inuyokai, he knew
generally whe re they were and he was still with the Shiro Tenko. With Kuromaru
dead,&nb sp;was he now telling Toromaru about the ;missing demon clan? Would
Toromaru dec ide to invite them to unite with his&nbs p;forces? Kuromakaze remembered
how he reclaimed his lost troops with pardons. ;Why would Toromaru not offer
Kakiboufuu ;the same especially since he was the Ta isho?
He turned and ran back& nbsp;to his tent. He needed to issue&nb sp;a search and destroy order
against th e wolf demon. If Kenji was able to reach Kakiboufuu the hanyou would
no&nb sp;doubt choose to reunite with Toromaru. &nb sp;His clan didn‟t have a supply line and
the Taisho knew just how& nbsp;vulnerable they were. Yes, Kuromakaze n eeded to hurry.
Any hope in killin g Kakiboufuu would diminish if he returned&nb sp;to the Tenko and he
was too dang erous to be allowed to live.
*********
Toromaru sat upon the da is before his generals and commanders and&nbs p;sighed. With
his father now gone,&nbs p;a great deal of tension had vanished, but he knew it would
return soon. & nbsp;He had summoned Kenji to come before&nbs p;him. The wolf demon was
their be st tracker and the only who would be&nbs p;able to handle the mission he had in&n bsp;
mind.
“Let me be gin by expressing my gratitude in your l oyal service during such difficult
times,&aci rc;€ Toromaru said to the gathering.
“We are just grateful t hat you did not inherit your fatherâ&eu ro;Ÿs lack of sense,†said one&nb sp;of
the generals. He was older t han Toromaru by only a few years and&nbs p;had witnessed
their army‟s ent ire slide to ruin.
“ Here here!†cried General Makoto, poun ding his fist on the floorboards. The&n bsp;old
wolf hanyou was the only lively& nbsp;one in the group. Everyone else st ill looked as if the
end were nigh. Toromaru understood their gloom. The& nbsp;Shiro Tenko would not
recover quickly&nb sp;from his father‟s short-sighted po licies even if he had withdrawn
them.&nb sp; He wondered at the reception his lat est decree would elicit. The others had
been met with approval and relief but this final one probably wouldnâ€&Yu ml;t.
Toromaru sighed again. ;A promise was a promise and there was&n bsp;no telling when
his end would come.& nbsp; He needed to do this now or e lse it might never be done.
& acirc;€œI have one last edict to m ake,†said Toromaru and the gathering& nbsp;gave him his full
attention. Some& nbsp;of the men showed obvious confusion whil e others were merely
curious. He h ad already withdrawn all of his fatherâ €Ÿs edicts, what else would he be&n bsp;
declaring? Kenji looked on with eag er anticipation from his position in front&nb sp;of
Toromaru, the shadow of smile flic kering on his face, as if he already&nbs p;knew what the
new Tenko lord would&nbs p;say.
“I will now g rant full pardon to my cousin, Kanzaki I nuyasha, for all past
transgressions includin g insubordination, assault, escape and desertion&n bsp;and invite
him to return from exile, †Toromaru announced. There was silence for a full minute
as the st unned gathering absorbed the news. Then ;everyone tried to talk at once.
< br> “You pardon that coward?â€
“About damn time, I say.â€
“He ru ns away and now you want him back? What will that say to the rest of& nbsp;the
army who stayed?â€
“He was facing a wrongful execution, of course he fled!â€
&n bsp;
“We‟ve been doing&n bsp;all the fighting and he‟s ju st been kicking back somewhere,
outrageous!&a circ;€
“We donâ&eur o;Ÿt need a petty scout who canâ&e uro;Ÿt follow simple orders.â€
&nb sp;
“SILENCE!†Kenji&nbs p;slammed his fist into the ground and e veryone bounced off their
pillows. No&n bsp;one said a word as they picked thems elves up and settled back into
place.&nb sp;
“Thank you, Kenji,â&e uro; said Toromaru as he straightened his&nbs p;dark brown haori.
Ignoring the obviou s questions that still remained in much of the gathering‟s eyes,
he ;turned his attention to the wolf demon. ;
“You want me to fin d and bring back our lost hanyou,â&euro ; stated Kenji, a full grin on
his& nbsp;face.
“Yes, if it&nb sp;is not too much trouble,†said ;Toromaru.
“I object!â&e uro; shouted someone from behind Kenji. ;Everyone turned to see the speaker,
a&n bsp;brown haired hanyou with blue eyes. ;His blue outfit trimmed in gold marked him
the rare himizutenko, one that wield ed both water and fire.
â&eu ro;œIt is not your place to object ;Hideaki,†said General Kenshin, a han you and the
younger one‟s f ather.
“I will&nbs p;still object nonetheless,†he stated.&nbs p;
“Object all you want,&n bsp;we all know the real reason this par don doesn‟t make you
happy, ;Heartbreaker,†said Kenji, annoyed despite the lightness of his tone.
& acirc;€œWhat was that, Wolf?!†s napped Hideaki, rising slightly.
â ;€œEnough! It is my decision and& nbsp;it is final,†barked Toromaru. &n bsp;Hideaki settled back
down, glowering. &nb sp;“Now, Kenji, you donâ€&Yuml ;t seem bothered by this assignment, even&nbs p;
though you might be gone for some ;time.â€
“Shouldn&a circ;€Ÿt take me more than a week,& acirc;€ said Kenji his smile returning. “Unless old
Kuromakaze finds&n bsp;a way to waylay me.â€
Toromaru gaped in surprise. â€&oeli g;You know where he is?â€
“Yep,†replied Kenji. &nbs p;His smile faded as he explained, â&eu ro;œI kept it to myself since
find ing out ten years ago. Didnâ€&Yum l;t want Kuromaru overhearing and making any& nbsp;
more stupid decrees. It would have just caused us further problems and giv en
Kuromakaze another advantage. We pro bably could have finished Kuromakaze
back&nbs p;then if we all hadn‟t been&nbs p;certain Kuromaru would be more interested i n
destroying his nephew then in finishin g his treacherous younger son.â€
& nbsp;
“So he joined up with ;his older brother and is now under the& nbsp;protection of the
inuyokai clan,†muttered General Makoto. “Yea h, I can see how that would cause < br> problems if the idiot wanted to push ;matters.â€
“Will h e rejoin us once he hears he had be en pardoned?†asked Toromaru. Kenji&n bsp;
rose to his feet.
â&euro ;œHe better not or I‟ll be finishing him myself,†snarled Hideak i.
“You will do no&n bsp;such thing,†snapped his father. < br>
“I forbid such a conf lict,†added Toromaru, worried. Hidea ki was the wielder of his
ancestorâ ;€Ÿs sword, Anihimizuken, the most power ful blade in all the known world.
Inuyasha would be destroyed if he were&n bsp;attacked with that, he thought.
“That might be interesting to watch,†said Kenji, sharing none ;of the Tenko lord‟s
concerns.&n bsp; “I‟ll let him ;know you wish to challenge him so he&ac irc;€Ÿll be ready when he
arrives.& acirc;€
“Kenji!â€&n bsp;shouted Toromaru, alarmed. The wolf demo n waived his hand as he
walked from the room.
*********
Wh ile it was easy enough for a wolf a lone to dodge the many enemy scouts and& nbsp;
troops scouring the area, it was ob vious they were looking for him. Kenji& nbsp;felt
somewhat flattered for the attentio n, though, he knew it would make the&nbs p;trip back
hell. He wondered if t here would be a way to avoid most o f them. He sat high in
the tr ee watching the latest batch of Kuro Ten ko troops walk by beneath him. He
had arrived in the area he had left the inuyokai ten years ago and now ;needed to
figure out where they went&nb sp;from there.
He knew the g eneral direction and decided to head that&nbs p;way at a slower pace while
he kep t his nose open for their scent. H e didn‟t know how much further&n bsp;away they
were and it could be days before he finally found them. And& nbsp;I was so boastful before
Toromaru, he thought with a sheepish grin. He&nbs p;waited for the patrol beneath him
to&n bsp;disappear before he jumped down and conti nued his search.
The next day ;at dawn, he stumbled across the remains ;of a Kuro Tenko patrol. The
wound s on the scattered bodies revealed their ;opponents not only had traditional
weapons&n bsp;but claws as well. Kenji‟s& nbsp;nose told him it had been the work& nbsp;of inuyokai.
The kill was recent,& nbsp;made just that night and the scent was fresh, but the dogs were
refusing&nb sp;to travel by ground and their trail d isappeared within feet of the battle. & nbsp;
Kenji understood the clanâ&e uro;Ÿs need for secrecy. With their&nbs p;limited resources, it was
better if th e enemy didn‟t know their exact& nbsp;location. While the tactics kept the&nb sp;Kuro
Tenko from pinpointing their base&nbs p;it equally prevented Kenji from finding the m as
well. Kenji sighed and contin ued on his southwest heading and soon st umbled
across another dead patrol, though,&nb sp;older. The bodies were decaying and the larger
scavengers had already had th eir way with them. A third party w as nearby but
they appeared to have ;been dumped, none of the surrounding vegetat ion showed the
signs of recent battle&nb sp;as the other two did.
I mu st be getting closer, thought Kenji as h e studied the remains. This group must& nbsp;
have gotten very close to their bas e. Otherwise, there wouldn‟t ha ve been a need to
move the bodies.& nbsp;
He moved on, keeping an eye&n bsp;out for the Kuro Tenko patrols as we ll as the inuyokai.
He would have& nbsp;to spot them first if he didnâ&eur o;Ÿt want to be mistaken for an ene my. No
further patrols appeared, though , and only sparse signs of conflict were seen from
time to time as he moved. The scent of dog, however, was&n bsp;increasing; the air itself
carried the&nb sp;smell.
Good signs all around,& nbsp;he thought, grinning. “Now&nbs p;if I can just find some dogs that ;
would be great,†he said to ;himself.
Someone dropped behind him&nb sp;and Kenji jump back into the unknown assailant on
instinct, avoiding the blade&nbs p;that appeared in front of his throat. He raised his elbow
and slammed hi s opponent‟s solar plexus. The& nbsp;attacker didn‟t drop the sword&n bsp;but
he did retreat and Kenji dropped beneath the other‟s arm and&nbs p;rolled forward,
coming up in a fightin g crouch facing his opponent.
&aci rc;€œAs always, your instincts are good ,†said Xeno as he struggled to&n bsp;regain his breath,
“but you need to remember to be aware of yo ur surrounding at all times.â€
“You love doing that to me, don‟t you,†said&nbs p;Kenji in annoyance, coming out of his
crouch. “Aren‟t y ou getting too old to be playing such&nb sp;pranks? One of these days
Iâ&e uro;Ÿm going to wind up killing you,&nbs p;then what?â€
“Tha t will be the end of this old warri or and it will be no one‟s& nbsp;fault but my own,â€
replied X eno, walking toward the wolf.
&aci rc;€œAnd that‟s supposed to&nbs p;make me feel better about killing you?&acir c;€ snarled Kenji.
Xeno didnâ ;€Ÿt respond to Kenji‟s rem ark, speaking only to inquire, â€&oelig ;Did you bring
Sesshomaru-sama‟s ;swords? He had been rather anxious for them.†He passed
Kenji and walked further into the trees.
Kenji followed glowering at the old fire&n bsp;demon. “No I didnâ€& Yuml;t. Didn‟t think it was&nbs p;
important to bring them.â€
;
“Why not?†asked Xeno&n bsp;as he peered over his shoulder.
&nbs p;
Kenji smirked and shook his finger. &n bsp;“Nah-uh, you find out after ;you take me to
Inuyasha.â€
& nbsp;
Xeno narrowed his violet eyes, wondering at the wolf demon‟s playful&nbs p;manner. “You
should know&nbs p;that he isn‟t addressed as &ac irc;€žInuyasha‟ anymore. It&aci rc;€Ÿs „Kakiboufuu‟ ;now.â€
“Couldnâ&e uro;Ÿt that puppy come up with something more original?â€
â&e uro;œIt‟s traditional,†repli ed Xeno, returning his attention to the front.
“Didnâ€&Yuml ;t know he was going to be one of&n bsp;those types. I always took him for& nbsp;a rebel,â€
muttered Kenji.
&n bsp;
“Humph, if you donâ€& Yuml;t like it you could always refer to him as „Taisho‟,â € said Xeno.
Kenji tripped an d fell on his face, stunned by the announcement. “Ta-Ta-Taisho?!
Since when is he known as „ ;Taisho‟?†he gasped.
&nb sp;
“You really do need to pay attention to your surroundings,†s aid Xeno dryly. “Did
you& nbsp;not hear the others address him as such ten years ago?â€
â ;€œUh?†Kenji looked away and&nb sp;scratched his nose. He couldnâ€&Yum l;t remember what
people had said back&n bsp;then. “I know he was giving orders but he is the Flufferâ&eu ro;Ÿs little
brother. Since our ic e prince was out cold it only seemed&nbs p;natural for his brother to
be in charge. I didn‟t realize he&nbs p;was in charge.â€
Xeno shoo k his head. Sometimes Kenji amazed him& nbsp;for all the wrong reasons.
_____________ _____________________________
Chapter 41: Homecoming
Kakiboufuuâ€&Yuml ;s homecoming is met with mixed emotions.&nbs p; Few understand the reason
for his&nbs p;departure. More shocking to all, though,&n bsp;is his rise to power within the
inuyokai ranks. How will the other inu yokai deal with the startling revelations
awaiting them?
__________________________________________& nbsp;
Author Chat:
Aeglos,&nb sp;I hope this three part chapter answered&nb sp;most of your questions concerning
the ;Prophet‟s Eye and the mainland conflict. In truth, I had planned to&nb sp;have a
moment where Kakiboufuu appears&nbs p;in Beijing to warn the Chinese from in terfering
further in Japan‟s int ernal conflict. It was supposed to be&n bsp;a ploy by the Emperor to
expand ;his influence. However, the unexpected appe arance of Kasumi and Kirara
changed my&n bsp;mind and it the whole thing became a side note. However, I think I did
better not going through the original&n bsp;plan.
Homecoming is finally up,&nbs p;however, I will have to do a bit of rewriting. The chapter
was the original Chapter 31 and it shows. There will be a bit of redundancy in the
opening dialogue but hopefully the rest is cleared up. I also have to&nbs p;expand it a bit.
I foresee Chapt er 43 introducing Sesshomaru‟s mother from the anime, though.
Iâ& euro;Ÿm glad you liked Kenji‟s&n bsp;tail-pulling antics. He and Naomi like&n bsp;to tease
Sesshomaru a lot but unfort unately the story has presented few opportuni ties to
express this humorous side. &nbs p;I imagine once everyone is back together&nb sp;at Shiro
Tenko headquarters I might b e able to show it more, but I can&a circ;€Ÿt make promises.
The i dea for the citations at the beginning o f the story came from another Inuyasha < br> fanfic I read prior to writing this. ; I thought it was a cool idea and& nbsp;opted for the
alternating voices. Unfortunately this left chapters lopsided as I struggled to
maintain the swing betwee n the two brothers. Once the story ;meets with the
moment in time they ;are talking from the citations will end,&nbs p;but that won‟t happen
until&nb sp;the story is within a couple of chapt ers of the end.
If you are&nb sp;interested in seeing some of my art f or this story I suggest visiting my
Deviant art account at black-wren(dot)deviantart(dot)c om. Be careful, though. I
have&nb sp;a habit of drawing ahead so the galle ry contains numerous spoilers.
As& nbsp;for this chapter… Iâ&eu ro;Ÿm aware I caused Sesshomaru to regre ss a bit when Raita
rebelled against&nbs p;his authority. You have to remember S esshomaru‟s tenure as
Taisho was a huge disaster. I can‟t& nbsp;see him recovering from that any time&nb sp;soon. He
is, however, surprisingly a dept at being a parent/big brother. Ses shomaru was
raised to understand the aut hority and responsibilities of the title Tais ho. While he
wasn‟t able&n bsp;to wear the title well he can still& nbsp;guide his brother who lacks that
ed ucation. This is why he can be so& nbsp;strong to his brother yet back down ;to Raita.
Also Raita had established&n bsp;himself as a leader among the clan b efore Sesshomaru
was born. Sesshomaru g rew up respecting Raita for his experience&nb sp;and ability to
lead. Between his&nbs p;own self-doubt and his subconscious respect ;for the elder Raita,
he backed down&nbs p;without fight. This lack of confidence&nbs p;in his own authority will be
something he struggles with throughout the story. ;
The last thing I like is tha t I was finally able to describe my ;version of human
versus demon aging. &n bsp;I did this to explain the reason why Kakiboufuu suffers
maturity swings. He will grow more stable as he ages b ut right now he‟s basically a&nb sp;
kid shouldering an adult‟s re sponsibilities and these are responsibilities that would
break most adults.
______________ ______________________________________________________
Translatio ns:
Tsuchi: earth
Hi: fire
Mizu:&nb sp;water
Ki: wood
Kane: metal
Kaze: wind
Himizu: as discordant as fire ;and water
Hikaze: fire wind
Tenki: ;weather
Enzeru: angel
Hanyou: half-demo n
Obi: the sash that is wrapped aro und a woman‟s waist to hold ;her kimono closed.
Matte: wait!
Shoji:& nbsp;sliding door.
Engawa: veranda, walkway r unning along the outside of the buildings.&nb sp;
Temee: you, derogatory term, very insultin g.
Kisama: you, derogatory term, more vu lgar than temee
Ano: uh
Hai: Yes&nb sp;
Aniyome: elder brother‟s wife;&nbs p;sister-in-law
Hime: Princess
Waka: Young&nb sp;lord, used for the son of a noble.&nb sp;
Otouto: Little brother.
Onii-(__): Big&nbs p;brother, general. Honorific added on to&nb sp;end, determining level of
respect of love. (Can also be used when addressing a young man.)
Aniue: Big brother, formal.
Imouto: Little sister.
Onee-(__):&nbs p;Big sister, general. Honorific added on&nb sp;to end, determining level of
respect of love. (Can also be used when ad dressing a young woman.)
Aneue: Big sist er, formal.
Ojii-(__): Grandfather, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of
respect of love. (Can als o be used when addressing an elderly man .)
Obaa-(__): Grandmother, general. Honorifi c added on to end, determining level of& nbsp;
respect of love. (Can also be ;used when addressing an elderly woman.)
Oji-(__): Uncle, general. Honorific added o n to end, determining level of respect o f
love. (Can also be used when&nbs p;addressing a middle-aged man.)
Oba-(__): Au nt, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of respect of
love.&n bsp; (Can also be used when addressing a middle-aged woman.)
Mina wa ookii aho&n bsp;desu: Everyone‟s a big idio t.
Sumimasen: Excuse me.
Oyaji: Fat her, informal masculine.
Otou-(__): Father, g eneral. Honorific added on to end, dete rmining level of respect
or love.
C hichiue: Father, formal.
Ofukuro: Mother, inf ormal masculine.
Okaa-(__): Mother, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of respect
or love.
Hahaue: M other, formal
Otaa-sama: Mother, said by ;children of court nobles to their mothers.&n bsp;
XX-(blank): Intimate or rude address depe nding on usage.
XX-kun: Male honorific, friendly
XX-chan: Female or young boy ho norific, friendly
XX-san: general honorific, polite, (Mr. or Ms.)
XX-sama: formal or& nbsp;very polite honorific, used for those of superior status or to show
great r espect. (Lord or Lady)
XX-dono: more for mal honorific, more respectful than XX-sama. Derived from tono
= lord.
Kuromakaze hissed at the news&nb sp;his spymaster brought. “So the old man has finally
perished,â&euro ; he said, “and Toromaru is&nbs p;now the lord of the Shiro Tenko.â&eur o; He
dismissed the man as he ;growled in frustration. His brother wasn&ac irc;€Ÿt the fool their
father was.& nbsp; Already he was repealing every edict&nb sp;his father had made.
â€&o elig;This is hardly terrible news,†sa id Yamibi, running her finger along his ear causing
it to flick. â€& oelig;Just because their leadership has improved&n bsp;doesn‟t mean everything is
w ell. It will be awhile before they ;can recover. We still have time to&nbs p;act against
them.â€
â ;€œIf we couldn‟t act agai nst them before, how are we going to&nbs p;act against them now?â€
whispered&nbs p;Kuromakaze in disgust.
â€&oelig ;Indeed, not only did we lose our mainla nd supplier we lost the weapons we had&n bsp;
already acquired prior,†said Nori ko, blue eyes flashing. Yamibi growled and the
two women shifted as if rea dying for a fight. Kuromakaze was not&n bsp;in the mood.
“Enough! †he shouted and both women stepp ed back, though neither had even
stepped forward. He stood and stormed out ;of the tent.
Yamibi was trying&nb sp;to be optimistic but Noriko had spoken&nbs p;the truth. His plans for a
final push had been ruined by Kakiboufuuâ&eu ro;Ÿs meddling. He had assumed his ;cousin
would find the Chinese junks and try to stop them. That was why&nb sp;he had hired the
demon slayers to&nbs p;guard the route. Even if the inuyokai had killed the first guard, it
wou ld only spur the remaining slayers to at tack demon clan out of vengeance. He&nb sp;
had counted on the resulting feud to& nbsp;occupy Kakiboufuu for years while he lau nched
his own attack against the Sh iro Tenko, destroying them and claiming victo ry at
last.
What he hadn&acir c;€Ÿt counted on was Kakiboufuuâ€& Yuml;s ability to talk the demon slayers ;into
withdrawing permanently. They now ;refused to do any business with him and it
left his Chinese traders without&nbs p;protection. After the second failed shipme nt, he
received a message from his mainland contact. The second fleet had returned with
every crewmember, guard and&nbs p;merchant dead. Their bodies strung up ;along the
yardarms and along the railin gs like decorations. A message written in Chinese
script with the victimsâ&eur o;Ÿ blood had said simply, â€&oeli g;Do not interfere further.†The ;
contact ended the message by stating he no longer wished to do business with&nb sp;the
Kuro Tenko and that was the last they heard from him.
With&nbs p;no further shipments coming, Kuromakaze had ;tried to plan his assault with
what&nbs p;he had. It would not have been i mpossible but it would not have been as& nbsp;swift
and absolute as he originally ;planned. Then, while planning the details&n bsp;of the
attack with his generals, the castles that contained the Chinese rockets&n bsp;and other
black powder weapons had b een destroyed within two days. Kuromakaze&nb sp;had
dozens of smaller castles throughout&n bsp;his territory but none as well equipped&n bsp;and
defensible as Castle Arai had be en. Knowing that, he had scattered the& nbsp;precious
mainland weapons to be stored&n bsp;at five separate locations that only he&n bsp;and a few top
ranked officials knew& nbsp;about.
While he knew such tac tics were countered by attacking all the ;castles, he also
knew Kakiboufuu didnâ €Ÿt have the man power to make ;such aimless assaults.
Somehow, Kakiboufuu& nbsp;managed to hit all five castles almost&n bsp;simultaneously; a feat
that required bypa ssing several other keeps. It had left& nbsp;the evil hanyou speechless
and then ;infuriated. He had rampaged through his&nbs p;ranks seeking spies and
informants, certain that someone had told the enemy where&n bsp;to find the rockets. He
tortured&nb sp;many of his underlings and killed several& nbsp;officers that he suspected of
treas on. The unfortunate result of his rage& nbsp;was lower productivity; everyone
cowered ;from him and tried to do nothing that&n bsp;would get them noticed, including
the&nbs p;avoidance of making high quality goods. &nb sp;Soldiers, terrified of being suspected
bec ause of things they said in the past,&nb sp;deserted, shrinking his forces.
Nori ko was the only one to stand up to& nbsp;him, pointing out the damage his out&nbs p;of
character temper was causing. It&n bsp;had been a sobering moment for the m aster of
strategy. He had thought himself above such petty emotional displays. It still took
a whole year before& nbsp;anything returned to normal. To try&nbs p;to speed recovery, he
offered pardons to deserters who would return to his com mand despite the protests
of his general s. The set back had left him wonde ring if he should lure his father
i nto another “end the warâ&euro ; campaign.
Kakiboufuu chose then to remind him he was not unaware of ;his plots. At every
attempt to st age events that would stoke the pride an d confidence of Kuromaru,
Kakiboufuu countere d with arrangements of his own that serv ed to humiliate Shiro
Tenko troops. &nbs p;The men were rarely hurt but the painf ul defeats that sent them
running would& nbsp;only force the Shiro Tenko to remain&nbs p;on the defensive.
Kuromakaze had ;learned in the fight over Castle Arai t hat his cousin was capable
of setting&nb sp;sentimentally aside in battle. The only&n bsp;signs of it now was that the man&nbs p;
didn‟t kill his allies. He wondered how long until that changed. ; It seemed to the
Kuro Tenko leade r, the edge of ruthlessness in Kakiboufuu&nbs p;was becoming more
defined with each cl ash. For Kuromakaze who took advantage of such sentimental
feelings, it was a&n bsp;disturbing trend.
Now, Kuromaru was dead and his son, Toromaru, was the&nbs p;lord. Kuromakaze knew
he only survive d the conflict at Castle Arai because Ka kiboufuu had not wanted to
be found ;by Kuromaru. If such a conflict were&n bsp;to happen now, the outcome would be
different. While his cousin would not&n bsp;have betrayed the blue third, he would&nb sp;have
followed him with the fresh ;army and pressed the attacked. The blu e third under a
black first was onl y good until the next day. Those i ll feelings between the hanyou
and his&n bsp;uncle were Kakiboufuu‟s only weak ness and now it was gone.
If& nbsp;Toromaru upheld his father‟s fee lings concerning the hanyou, then things migh t
be different, but he doubted that ;would be the case. The only way h e could salvage
the situation was to&nbs p;keep Kakiboufuu from learning of his uncle& acirc;€Ÿs death. If he could
keep his cousin believing Kuromaru still ran& nbsp;the Shiro Tenko…
Wh ile it was a pain to have Kakiboufuu&nbs p;off one flank and the Shiro Tenko off& nbsp;the
other, divided forces did have their weaknesses. The two sides were no t in contact
with one another and c ould not coordinate their moves. Toromaru&nb sp;would focus on
recovery if left alone . If Kuromakaze took advantage of that, he could then focus on
Kakiboufuu and, this time, annihilate him with his full force. His focus on the
Shiro Tenko may have been a mistake but his father‟s tendency to launch all-out
campaigns on impulse was the rea son why he hadn‟t be ignored.&nb sp; It was the reason
why he had&nb sp;failed at Castle Arai. Maybe it was& nbsp;good Toromaru was now the lord. He wouldn‟t attack without warning and he wasn‟t watching their&nb sp;movements as
carefully as Kakiboufuu. &nbs p;He wouldn‟t question the silence&nb sp;until it was far too late
for th e inuyokai.
Kuromakaze smiled to& nbsp;himself as new plans began to take form as he mentally
changed the directio n of the war. Then he paused in&nb sp;his stride as he remembered
one impor tant detail. Kenji knew Kakiboufuu was with the inuyokai, he knew
generally whe re they were and he was still with the Shiro Tenko. With Kuromaru
dead,&nb sp;was he now telling Toromaru about the ;missing demon clan? Would
Toromaru dec ide to invite them to unite with his&nbs p;forces? Kuromakaze remembered
how he reclaimed his lost troops with pardons. ;Why would Toromaru not offer
Kakiboufuu ;the same especially since he was the Ta isho?
He turned and ran back& nbsp;to his tent. He needed to issue&nb sp;a search and destroy order
against th e wolf demon. If Kenji was able to reach Kakiboufuu the hanyou would
no&nb sp;doubt choose to reunite with Toromaru. &nb sp;His clan didn‟t have a supply line and
the Taisho knew just how& nbsp;vulnerable they were. Yes, Kuromakaze n eeded to hurry.
Any hope in killin g Kakiboufuu would diminish if he returned&nb sp;to the Tenko and he
was too dang erous to be allowed to live.
*********
Toromaru sat upon the da is before his generals and commanders and&nbs p;sighed. With
his father now gone,&nbs p;a great deal of tension had vanished, but he knew it would
return soon. & nbsp;He had summoned Kenji to come before&nbs p;him. The wolf demon was
their be st tracker and the only who would be&nbs p;able to handle the mission he had in&n bsp;
mind.
“Let me be gin by expressing my gratitude in your l oyal service during such difficult
times,&aci rc;€ Toromaru said to the gathering.
“We are just grateful t hat you did not inherit your fatherâ&eu ro;Ÿs lack of sense,†said one&nb sp;of
the generals. He was older t han Toromaru by only a few years and&nbs p;had witnessed
their army‟s ent ire slide to ruin.
“ Here here!†cried General Makoto, poun ding his fist on the floorboards. The&n bsp;old
wolf hanyou was the only lively& nbsp;one in the group. Everyone else st ill looked as if the
end were nigh. Toromaru understood their gloom. The& nbsp;Shiro Tenko would not
recover quickly&nb sp;from his father‟s short-sighted po licies even if he had withdrawn
them.&nb sp; He wondered at the reception his lat est decree would elicit. The others had
been met with approval and relief but this final one probably wouldnâ€&Yu ml;t.
Toromaru sighed again. ;A promise was a promise and there was&n bsp;no telling when
his end would come.& nbsp; He needed to do this now or e lse it might never be done.
& acirc;€œI have one last edict to m ake,†said Toromaru and the gathering& nbsp;gave him his full
attention. Some& nbsp;of the men showed obvious confusion whil e others were merely
curious. He h ad already withdrawn all of his fatherâ €Ÿs edicts, what else would he be&n bsp;
declaring? Kenji looked on with eag er anticipation from his position in front&nb sp;of
Toromaru, the shadow of smile flic kering on his face, as if he already&nbs p;knew what the
new Tenko lord would&nbs p;say.
“I will now g rant full pardon to my cousin, Kanzaki I nuyasha, for all past
transgressions includin g insubordination, assault, escape and desertion&n bsp;and invite
him to return from exile, †Toromaru announced. There was silence for a full minute
as the st unned gathering absorbed the news. Then ;everyone tried to talk at once.
< br> “You pardon that coward?â€
“About damn time, I say.â€
“He ru ns away and now you want him back? What will that say to the rest of& nbsp;the
army who stayed?â€
“He was facing a wrongful execution, of course he fled!â€
&n bsp;
“We‟ve been doing&n bsp;all the fighting and he‟s ju st been kicking back somewhere,
outrageous!&a circ;€
“We donâ&eur o;Ÿt need a petty scout who canâ&e uro;Ÿt follow simple orders.â€
&nb sp;
“SILENCE!†Kenji&nbs p;slammed his fist into the ground and e veryone bounced off their
pillows. No&n bsp;one said a word as they picked thems elves up and settled back into
place.&nb sp;
“Thank you, Kenji,â&e uro; said Toromaru as he straightened his&nbs p;dark brown haori.
Ignoring the obviou s questions that still remained in much of the gathering‟s eyes,
he ;turned his attention to the wolf demon. ;
“You want me to fin d and bring back our lost hanyou,â&euro ; stated Kenji, a full grin on
his& nbsp;face.
“Yes, if it&nb sp;is not too much trouble,†said ;Toromaru.
“I object!â&e uro; shouted someone from behind Kenji. ;Everyone turned to see the speaker,
a&n bsp;brown haired hanyou with blue eyes. ;His blue outfit trimmed in gold marked him
the rare himizutenko, one that wield ed both water and fire.
â&eu ro;œIt is not your place to object ;Hideaki,†said General Kenshin, a han you and the
younger one‟s f ather.
“I will&nbs p;still object nonetheless,†he stated.&nbs p;
“Object all you want,&n bsp;we all know the real reason this par don doesn‟t make you
happy, ;Heartbreaker,†said Kenji, annoyed despite the lightness of his tone.
& acirc;€œWhat was that, Wolf?!†s napped Hideaki, rising slightly.
â ;€œEnough! It is my decision and& nbsp;it is final,†barked Toromaru. &n bsp;Hideaki settled back
down, glowering. &nb sp;“Now, Kenji, you donâ€&Yuml ;t seem bothered by this assignment, even&nbs p;
though you might be gone for some ;time.â€
“Shouldn&a circ;€Ÿt take me more than a week,& acirc;€ said Kenji his smile returning. “Unless old
Kuromakaze finds&n bsp;a way to waylay me.â€
Toromaru gaped in surprise. â€&oeli g;You know where he is?â€
“Yep,†replied Kenji. &nbs p;His smile faded as he explained, â&eu ro;œI kept it to myself since
find ing out ten years ago. Didnâ€&Yum l;t want Kuromaru overhearing and making any& nbsp;
more stupid decrees. It would have just caused us further problems and giv en
Kuromakaze another advantage. We pro bably could have finished Kuromakaze
back&nbs p;then if we all hadn‟t been&nbs p;certain Kuromaru would be more interested i n
destroying his nephew then in finishin g his treacherous younger son.â€
& nbsp;
“So he joined up with ;his older brother and is now under the& nbsp;protection of the
inuyokai clan,†muttered General Makoto. “Yea h, I can see how that would cause < br> problems if the idiot wanted to push ;matters.â€
“Will h e rejoin us once he hears he had be en pardoned?†asked Toromaru. Kenji&n bsp;
rose to his feet.
â&euro ;œHe better not or I‟ll be finishing him myself,†snarled Hideak i.
“You will do no&n bsp;such thing,†snapped his father. < br>
“I forbid such a conf lict,†added Toromaru, worried. Hidea ki was the wielder of his
ancestorâ ;€Ÿs sword, Anihimizuken, the most power ful blade in all the known world.
Inuyasha would be destroyed if he were&n bsp;attacked with that, he thought.
“That might be interesting to watch,†said Kenji, sharing none ;of the Tenko lord‟s
concerns.&n bsp; “I‟ll let him ;know you wish to challenge him so he&ac irc;€Ÿll be ready when he
arrives.& acirc;€
“Kenji!â€&n bsp;shouted Toromaru, alarmed. The wolf demo n waived his hand as he
walked from the room.
*********
Wh ile it was easy enough for a wolf a lone to dodge the many enemy scouts and& nbsp;
troops scouring the area, it was ob vious they were looking for him. Kenji& nbsp;felt
somewhat flattered for the attentio n, though, he knew it would make the&nbs p;trip back
hell. He wondered if t here would be a way to avoid most o f them. He sat high in
the tr ee watching the latest batch of Kuro Ten ko troops walk by beneath him. He
had arrived in the area he had left the inuyokai ten years ago and now ;needed to
figure out where they went&nb sp;from there.
He knew the g eneral direction and decided to head that&nbs p;way at a slower pace while
he kep t his nose open for their scent. H e didn‟t know how much further&n bsp;away they
were and it could be days before he finally found them. And& nbsp;I was so boastful before
Toromaru, he thought with a sheepish grin. He&nbs p;waited for the patrol beneath him
to&n bsp;disappear before he jumped down and conti nued his search.
The next day ;at dawn, he stumbled across the remains ;of a Kuro Tenko patrol. The
wound s on the scattered bodies revealed their ;opponents not only had traditional
weapons&n bsp;but claws as well. Kenji‟s& nbsp;nose told him it had been the work& nbsp;of inuyokai.
The kill was recent,& nbsp;made just that night and the scent was fresh, but the dogs were
refusing&nb sp;to travel by ground and their trail d isappeared within feet of the battle. & nbsp;
Kenji understood the clanâ&e uro;Ÿs need for secrecy. With their&nbs p;limited resources, it was
better if th e enemy didn‟t know their exact& nbsp;location. While the tactics kept the&nb sp;Kuro
Tenko from pinpointing their base&nbs p;it equally prevented Kenji from finding the m as
well. Kenji sighed and contin ued on his southwest heading and soon st umbled
across another dead patrol, though,&nb sp;older. The bodies were decaying and the larger
scavengers had already had th eir way with them. A third party w as nearby but
they appeared to have ;been dumped, none of the surrounding vegetat ion showed the
signs of recent battle&nb sp;as the other two did.
I mu st be getting closer, thought Kenji as h e studied the remains. This group must& nbsp;
have gotten very close to their bas e. Otherwise, there wouldn‟t ha ve been a need to
move the bodies.& nbsp;
He moved on, keeping an eye&n bsp;out for the Kuro Tenko patrols as we ll as the inuyokai.
He would have& nbsp;to spot them first if he didnâ&eur o;Ÿt want to be mistaken for an ene my. No
further patrols appeared, though , and only sparse signs of conflict were seen from
time to time as he moved. The scent of dog, however, was&n bsp;increasing; the air itself
carried the&nb sp;smell.
Good signs all around,& nbsp;he thought, grinning. “Now&nbs p;if I can just find some dogs that ;
would be great,†he said to ;himself.
Someone dropped behind him&nb sp;and Kenji jump back into the unknown assailant on
instinct, avoiding the blade&nbs p;that appeared in front of his throat. He raised his elbow
and slammed hi s opponent‟s solar plexus. The& nbsp;attacker didn‟t drop the sword&n bsp;but
he did retreat and Kenji dropped beneath the other‟s arm and&nbs p;rolled forward,
coming up in a fightin g crouch facing his opponent.
&aci rc;€œAs always, your instincts are good ,†said Xeno as he struggled to&n bsp;regain his breath,
“but you need to remember to be aware of yo ur surrounding at all times.â€
“You love doing that to me, don‟t you,†said&nbs p;Kenji in annoyance, coming out of his
crouch. “Aren‟t y ou getting too old to be playing such&nb sp;pranks? One of these days
Iâ&e uro;Ÿm going to wind up killing you,&nbs p;then what?â€
“Tha t will be the end of this old warri or and it will be no one‟s& nbsp;fault but my own,â€
replied X eno, walking toward the wolf.
&aci rc;€œAnd that‟s supposed to&nbs p;make me feel better about killing you?&acir c;€ snarled Kenji.
Xeno didnâ ;€Ÿt respond to Kenji‟s rem ark, speaking only to inquire, â€&oelig ;Did you bring
Sesshomaru-sama‟s ;swords? He had been rather anxious for them.†He passed
Kenji and walked further into the trees.
Kenji followed glowering at the old fire&n bsp;demon. “No I didnâ€& Yuml;t. Didn‟t think it was&nbs p;
important to bring them.â€
;
“Why not?†asked Xeno&n bsp;as he peered over his shoulder.
&nbs p;
Kenji smirked and shook his finger. &n bsp;“Nah-uh, you find out after ;you take me to
Inuyasha.â€
& nbsp;
Xeno narrowed his violet eyes, wondering at the wolf demon‟s playful&nbs p;manner. “You
should know&nbs p;that he isn‟t addressed as &ac irc;€žInuyasha‟ anymore. It&aci rc;€Ÿs „Kakiboufuu‟ ;now.â€
“Couldnâ&e uro;Ÿt that puppy come up with something more original?â€
â&e uro;œIt‟s traditional,†repli ed Xeno, returning his attention to the front.
“Didnâ€&Yuml ;t know he was going to be one of&n bsp;those types. I always took him for& nbsp;a rebel,â€
muttered Kenji.
&n bsp;
“Humph, if you donâ€& Yuml;t like it you could always refer to him as „Taisho‟,â € said Xeno.
Kenji tripped an d fell on his face, stunned by the announcement. “Ta-Ta-Taisho?!
Since when is he known as „ ;Taisho‟?†he gasped.
&nb sp;
“You really do need to pay attention to your surroundings,†s aid Xeno dryly. “Did
you& nbsp;not hear the others address him as such ten years ago?â€
â ;€œUh?†Kenji looked away and&nb sp;scratched his nose. He couldnâ€&Yum l;t remember what
people had said back&n bsp;then. “I know he was giving orders but he is the Flufferâ&eu ro;Ÿs little
brother. Since our ic e prince was out cold it only seemed&nbs p;natural for his brother to
be in charge. I didn‟t realize he&nbs p;was in charge.â€
Xeno shoo k his head. Sometimes Kenji amazed him& nbsp;for all the wrong reasons.
_____________ _____________________________
Chapter 41: Homecoming
Kakiboufuuâ€&Yuml ;s homecoming is met with mixed emotions.&nbs p; Few understand the reason
for his&nbs p;departure. More shocking to all, though,&n bsp;is his rise to power within the
inuyokai ranks. How will the other inu yokai deal with the startling revelations
awaiting them?
__________________________________________& nbsp;
Author Chat:
Aeglos,&nb sp;I hope this three part chapter answered&nb sp;most of your questions concerning
the ;Prophet‟s Eye and the mainland conflict. In truth, I had planned to&nb sp;have a
moment where Kakiboufuu appears&nbs p;in Beijing to warn the Chinese from in terfering
further in Japan‟s int ernal conflict. It was supposed to be&n bsp;a ploy by the Emperor to
expand ;his influence. However, the unexpected appe arance of Kasumi and Kirara
changed my&n bsp;mind and it the whole thing became a side note. However, I think I did
better not going through the original&n bsp;plan.
Homecoming is finally up,&nbs p;however, I will have to do a bit of rewriting. The chapter
was the original Chapter 31 and it shows. There will be a bit of redundancy in the
opening dialogue but hopefully the rest is cleared up. I also have to&nbs p;expand it a bit.
I foresee Chapt er 43 introducing Sesshomaru‟s mother from the anime, though.
Iâ& euro;Ÿm glad you liked Kenji‟s&n bsp;tail-pulling antics. He and Naomi like&n bsp;to tease
Sesshomaru a lot but unfort unately the story has presented few opportuni ties to
express this humorous side. &nbs p;I imagine once everyone is back together&nb sp;at Shiro
Tenko headquarters I might b e able to show it more, but I can&a circ;€Ÿt make promises.
The i dea for the citations at the beginning o f the story came from another Inuyasha < br> fanfic I read prior to writing this. ; I thought it was a cool idea and& nbsp;opted for the
alternating voices. Unfortunately this left chapters lopsided as I struggled to
maintain the swing betwee n the two brothers. Once the story ;meets with the
moment in time they ;are talking from the citations will end,&nbs p;but that won‟t happen
until&nb sp;the story is within a couple of chapt ers of the end.
If you are&nb sp;interested in seeing some of my art f or this story I suggest visiting my
Deviant art account at black-wren(dot)deviantart(dot)c om. Be careful, though. I
have&nb sp;a habit of drawing ahead so the galle ry contains numerous spoilers.
As& nbsp;for this chapter… Iâ&eu ro;Ÿm aware I caused Sesshomaru to regre ss a bit when Raita
rebelled against&nbs p;his authority. You have to remember S esshomaru‟s tenure as
Taisho was a huge disaster. I can‟t& nbsp;see him recovering from that any time&nb sp;soon. He
is, however, surprisingly a dept at being a parent/big brother. Ses shomaru was
raised to understand the aut hority and responsibilities of the title Tais ho. While he
wasn‟t able&n bsp;to wear the title well he can still& nbsp;guide his brother who lacks that
ed ucation. This is why he can be so& nbsp;strong to his brother yet back down ;to Raita.
Also Raita had established&n bsp;himself as a leader among the clan b efore Sesshomaru
was born. Sesshomaru g rew up respecting Raita for his experience&nb sp;and ability to
lead. Between his&nbs p;own self-doubt and his subconscious respect ;for the elder Raita,
he backed down&nbs p;without fight. This lack of confidence&nbs p;in his own authority will be
something he struggles with throughout the story. ;
The last thing I like is tha t I was finally able to describe my ;version of human
versus demon aging. &n bsp;I did this to explain the reason why Kakiboufuu suffers
maturity swings. He will grow more stable as he ages b ut right now he‟s basically a&nb sp;
kid shouldering an adult‟s re sponsibilities and these are responsibilities that would
break most adults.
______________ ______________________________________________________
Translatio ns:
Tsuchi: earth
Hi: fire
Mizu:&nb sp;water
Ki: wood
Kane: metal
Kaze: wind
Himizu: as discordant as fire ;and water
Hikaze: fire wind
Tenki: ;weather
Enzeru: angel
Hanyou: half-demo n
Obi: the sash that is wrapped aro und a woman‟s waist to hold ;her kimono closed.
Matte: wait!
Shoji:& nbsp;sliding door.
Engawa: veranda, walkway r unning along the outside of the buildings.&nb sp;
Temee: you, derogatory term, very insultin g.
Kisama: you, derogatory term, more vu lgar than temee
Ano: uh
Hai: Yes&nb sp;
Aniyome: elder brother‟s wife;&nbs p;sister-in-law
Hime: Princess
Waka: Young&nb sp;lord, used for the son of a noble.&nb sp;
Otouto: Little brother.
Onii-(__): Big&nbs p;brother, general. Honorific added on to&nb sp;end, determining level of
respect of love. (Can also be used when addressing a young man.)
Aniue: Big brother, formal.
Imouto: Little sister.
Onee-(__):&nbs p;Big sister, general. Honorific added on&nb sp;to end, determining level of
respect of love. (Can also be used when ad dressing a young woman.)
Aneue: Big sist er, formal.
Ojii-(__): Grandfather, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of
respect of love. (Can als o be used when addressing an elderly man .)
Obaa-(__): Grandmother, general. Honorifi c added on to end, determining level of& nbsp;
respect of love. (Can also be ;used when addressing an elderly woman.)
Oji-(__): Uncle, general. Honorific added o n to end, determining level of respect o f
love. (Can also be used when&nbs p;addressing a middle-aged man.)
Oba-(__): Au nt, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of respect of
love.&n bsp; (Can also be used when addressing a middle-aged woman.)
Mina wa ookii aho&n bsp;desu: Everyone‟s a big idio t.
Sumimasen: Excuse me.
Oyaji: Fat her, informal masculine.
Otou-(__): Father, g eneral. Honorific added on to end, dete rmining level of respect
or love.
C hichiue: Father, formal.
Ofukuro: Mother, inf ormal masculine.
Okaa-(__): Mother, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of respect
or love.
Hahaue: M other, formal
Otaa-sama: Mother, said by ;children of court nobles to their mothers.&n bsp;
XX-(blank): Intimate or rude address depe nding on usage.
XX-kun: Male honorific, friendly
XX-chan: Female or young boy ho norific, friendly
XX-san: general honorific, polite, (Mr. or Ms.)
XX-sama: formal or& nbsp;very polite honorific, used for those of superior status or to show
great r espect. (Lord or Lady)
XX-dono: more for mal honorific, more respectful than XX-sama. Derived from tono
= lord.