InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Eight-Fold Path ❯ Battling Demons ( Chapter 9 )

Battling Demons

 

 

Miroku rolled what he expected would eventually be a shoulder pad over his fingers. `Blue. Interesting color choice.' He vaguely wondered what type of leather the pads were made of, how the dye was made… how the color on the armor detailing was decided; he'd left on a youkai slaying expedition with InuYasha (`probably the last one until Kagome goes into labor,' he mused in the back of his head) and come back to find… all this.

 

---

 

“What?” Miroku gaped at Sango in a mixture of confusion and concern.

 

“You heard me, husband,” Sango said, a hint of steel in her voice. “Haruo expressed a wish to be `like Kohaku,' I believe were his exact words. He's built strongly and will make a fine taijya.” Her look dared the monk to refute her decision.

 

Miroku's jaw flapped weakly. `Only Sango can truly make me speechless.' Finally marshalling his thoughts, he knew he should test the waters before jumping in. His beautiful wife was rightly proud of her heritage and he didn't want to seem as though he were questioning her judgment.

 

But…

 

“Isn't he a bit too young yet to decide what he wants with his life?” Miroku suggested, eyeing the tiny quarterstaff Kohaku was smoothing out at the edge of the field.

 

Sango shook her head, motioning to where he played with his reluctant adoptive sisters. “Not at all. Look at him, Miroku. He moves smoothly on his feet already. At home, father began training those who showed promise even earlier.”

 

The girls shrieked and ducked as the boy spun to chase Kirara, laughing as though the argument about his worth as a brother was long forgotten. Knowing the children, it actually may have been - at least for the time being.

 

Miroku realized he was holding his breath as Sango playfully elbowed him in the stomach. “Relax, Miroku. It's not like we're going to give him a sword and throw him in front of a panther youkai. He has years of training ahead of him… and if he decides he doesn't like it, then he'll be no worse the wear.” Nodding as though everything had been decided (it had, Miroku realized… while he was away!) she moved to go prepare dinner.

 

Miroku moved his gaze back to Kohaku. The boy still had that look his in eyes - the haunted look, as though he were still fighting demons nobody but he could see.

 

`How well I know that feeling.'

 

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Miroku set aside the armor as his focus turned back to the present; he sighed, running a smooth hand over the staff so similar and yet so different to his own…

 

`Similar and yet not… is that what my son's life will be?' It hit Miroku like lightning then, the differences between Haruo's life and his. Miroku had grown following in his father's footsteps, as his father had followed in his grandfather's. But that battle was ended. That fight was over. There was no reason for Haruo to face the same childhood Miroku had.

 

His son would not know the threat of death clinging to his very hand. His son would not fear curse or failure to continue a doomed blood-line…

 

And if Sango had her way (`And she always does,' Miroku thought ruefully), Haruo would not know the pain, the guilt, the torment of knowing he'd killed a woman with his bare hand.

 

Haruo would move forward… and be strong without the guilt guiding him.

 

For a moment cold, hard jealousy gripped Miroku. Then it eased… slipped into something a bit more comfortable.

 

Perhaps… perhaps if his son, troublesome though his short life had already been, could look to the future with nothing more than wonder and hope…

 

Perhaps he could, too.

 

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“The Eight-Fold Path” is a serialized fic, written based on prompts from the mirsan_fics community on LiveJournal.

“Battling Demons” was originally posted August 14, 2009

Word Count: 624

Prompt: “Blue”

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any other characters from the anime/manga. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I just play with them