Inuyasha, "Next Generation: Shiori Chronicles" Kohaku/Shiori [pg]
Title: Next Generation: Shiori Chronicles
Chapter Title: Woman's Intuition
Author: Paynesgrey
Characters/Pairings: Shiori, Kohaku, (slight Kohaku/Shiori)
Rating: PG
(Chapter) Word Count: 1,280
Genre: Adventure/Romance
Warnings: None
Notes: Post-manga.Continuation to my "Shiori Chronicles". This is the fifth installment. Written for the "food" theme at inuyasha_et_al.
Summary: An unpleasant dealing with the village lord prompts Shiori to use her intuition.
The moment she and Kohaku walk up to the village’s fief lord, Shiori sees the instant disgust on his face when he lays eyes on her. She stands her ground, and she falls a step behind Kohaku when he instinctively moves ahead of her, as if he’s guarding her protectively.
“Slayer, is this one of the demons who caused the mudslide?” His eyes look over Shiori suspiciously, but Kohaku makes things clear.
“My lord, this is my companion, Shiori-dono,” Kohaku introduces her, and their eyes briefly meet until Kohaku turns back to the lord. “We fight together. She is a hanyou with great instincts and power.”
Quickly, Shiori chimes in. She bows low and says politely, “I promise to lend you a hand, my lord. I am here to serve you and help your people recover from this tragedy.” Desperately, Shiori tries to keep her tone polite, and if there is even a cadence of arrogance, she knows that her chance to appeal to the lord will be lost. Kohaku’s lips thin into a line, and she knows that he doesn’t like that she spoke. Well, she thinks, he’s just going to have to accept it.
“Ah, Slayer-done, no offense to your friend here, but we hardly think a young woman, least of all a hanyou, can help us,” the leader says, and it’s obvious he’s patronizing her; though, Shiori thinks he could possibly be that bigoted as well. She looks at him with unchanging eyes, but she tries not to stare. Her youkai senses are not that off from only being hanyou because she can smell his fear.
“I assure you, my lord, I will not harm anyone; it is not my way. I am more capable of helping, even if it’s for the simple task of taking care of your women and children,” Shiori says before Kohaku can speak. This time the lord doesn’t even look at her.
“If you please, my lord, Shiori-dono will stay by my side, and if you need her, please don’t hesitate to ask,” Kohaku speaks, and Shiori notices the diplomacy in his words. She tries desperately to hold back her frown. “In the meantime, please let me know what I can do to help restore your village.”
As soon as Kohaku’s words direct Shiori to the background, the fief lord ignores her and drones off the progress they are making on their own, and what the village has left to restore.
“Most of the water is gone, and the women are helping to see if they can salvage the crops. The men are helping with the rebuilding of homes, so I don’t want to bother you with those things.” He gives Shiori a hesitant look, and she wonders if he’ll volunteer her to help the women. If he does, she will see it as mighty amiable of him, but when he catches her eyes, he looks away sharply and continues to speak only to Kohaku.
“No, the thing we want you to do, if you are able, is to destroy whoever is responsible for this,” he says, his voice getting darker. “This village knew about a youkai group that lived out in the forest. They usually didn’t bother us, mostly because they knew we had a miko here that would take them down if they did.”
“Miko?” Instantly, Shiori thinks of Kagome, and even, the legendary Kikyou. She wonders what kind of woman this miko is.
“Yes, Azuna,” the man answers, and Shiori is shocked he even regards her. She supposes this is progress. “Azuna is a strange one, but she keeps the village safe, and that’s good enough for us.” He pauses and lets out a deep breath. “Lately, Azuna hasn’t been around. When we first noticed she had left, we just thought she had gone out to find food. It’s pretty well known around the village that Azuna doesn’t eat meat, but she doesn’t socialize much with the villagers either and searches for her own fruits and things. Usually, she’s gone for only a day or so, but when she didn’t come back after seven days, we realized she was gone.”
“So your village priestess is missing.” Kohaku muses aloud, and Shiori senses that he’s immediately suspicious.
“Yes, and the youkai group is gone as well,” the lord says. “Convenient, eh? Azuna disappears, the village gets bombarded by a mudslide, and then the youkai disappear.”
“Are you certain that the youkai group left after and not before the mudslide?” Shiori asks, and both Kohaku and the lord gape at her for asking such a bold question.
“How can... what do you mean by that?” he snarls at her. “Of course they were there before the mudslide! They caused it!”
Kohaku holds up his hands and runs in front of Shiori as the lord charges toward her. The lord is a bit of a large man, definitely one that towers over both Shiori and Kohaku, and his frame is so thick that Shiori thinks he looks like a stone wall. She watches him as Kohaku subdues him for now, but she remains confident, never wavering despite the lord’s obvious intimidation.
“My lord, please forgive her,” Kohaku says, and Shiori shares a stern look with her taijiya companion before he turns to appease the fief lord. “This is part of our work. We’re just trying to investigate all the possible details. If you say that the youkai caused the mudslide, then we believe you. We just want to make sure we have enough evidence to find these youkai.”
The fief lord seems content after that, even though Shiori is irritated by Kohaku’s coddling. He’s known that the lord wouldn’t have trusted her, but she doesn’t have to like his attitude. She can find other ways to help Kohaku, and the sooner she gets out of this lord’s presence, the better.
“Very well,” the lord says, and he releases a long sigh before turning to the right and heading toward the woods. “I suppose I can show you where they lived. Maybe you can find some sign of them there.”
Kohaku nods, following the lord dutifully. Shiori stays a few steps back, and when she hears a stone skip in front of her, she looks behind her. Turning around toward the bushes, she sees a small, gangly human girl meet her eyes with a look of distress. Shiori is immediately concerned, not only that the child is ragged and hasn’t had a decent meal in probably a long time, but also that she’s scared. And Shiori knows that the child isn’t scared of her.
“Shiori-chan?” She hears Kohaku’s voice, but she doesn’t turn around.
“You go on ahead, Kohaku-kun,” Shiori says, taking a step toward the girl. Shiori undoubtedly feels something strongly - perhaps the intuition that the Elder says she possesses. She feels the Elder’s scepter pulsate in her palm, and Shiori knows that she must follow the child. She feels Kohaku watching her, and she turns around and gives him a light smile. “I’ll be alright.” Kohaku nods, but the fief lord seems suspicious. He looks over her, but the child is concealed by the brush in the forest, so Shiori knows he does not see her.
It is probably for best, Shiori thinks. Whatever this child wants to tell me, I’m sure the village lord won’t be happy about it.
The child runs forward through the forest, and Shiori quickens her pace to follow. She turns around once and makes sure that Shiori doesn’t lose her, and when Kohaku is far behind her, Shiori starts to run, pushing away the claws of branches and thick leaves so she can catch up.
Chapter Five
Chapter Title: Woman's Intuition
Author: Paynesgrey
Characters/Pairings: Shiori, Kohaku, (slight Kohaku/Shiori)
Rating: PG
(Chapter) Word Count: 1,280
Genre: Adventure/Romance
Warnings: None
Notes: Post-manga.Continuation to my "Shiori Chronicles". This is the fifth installment. Written for the "food" theme at inuyasha_et_al.
Summary: An unpleasant dealing with the village lord prompts Shiori to use her intuition.
The moment she and Kohaku walk up to the village’s fief lord, Shiori sees the instant disgust on his face when he lays eyes on her. She stands her ground, and she falls a step behind Kohaku when he instinctively moves ahead of her, as if he’s guarding her protectively.
“Slayer, is this one of the demons who caused the mudslide?” His eyes look over Shiori suspiciously, but Kohaku makes things clear.
“My lord, this is my companion, Shiori-dono,” Kohaku introduces her, and their eyes briefly meet until Kohaku turns back to the lord. “We fight together. She is a hanyou with great instincts and power.”
Quickly, Shiori chimes in. She bows low and says politely, “I promise to lend you a hand, my lord. I am here to serve you and help your people recover from this tragedy.” Desperately, Shiori tries to keep her tone polite, and if there is even a cadence of arrogance, she knows that her chance to appeal to the lord will be lost. Kohaku’s lips thin into a line, and she knows that he doesn’t like that she spoke. Well, she thinks, he’s just going to have to accept it.
“Ah, Slayer-done, no offense to your friend here, but we hardly think a young woman, least of all a hanyou, can help us,” the leader says, and it’s obvious he’s patronizing her; though, Shiori thinks he could possibly be that bigoted as well. She looks at him with unchanging eyes, but she tries not to stare. Her youkai senses are not that off from only being hanyou because she can smell his fear.
“I assure you, my lord, I will not harm anyone; it is not my way. I am more capable of helping, even if it’s for the simple task of taking care of your women and children,” Shiori says before Kohaku can speak. This time the lord doesn’t even look at her.
“If you please, my lord, Shiori-dono will stay by my side, and if you need her, please don’t hesitate to ask,” Kohaku speaks, and Shiori notices the diplomacy in his words. She tries desperately to hold back her frown. “In the meantime, please let me know what I can do to help restore your village.”
As soon as Kohaku’s words direct Shiori to the background, the fief lord ignores her and drones off the progress they are making on their own, and what the village has left to restore.
“Most of the water is gone, and the women are helping to see if they can salvage the crops. The men are helping with the rebuilding of homes, so I don’t want to bother you with those things.” He gives Shiori a hesitant look, and she wonders if he’ll volunteer her to help the women. If he does, she will see it as mighty amiable of him, but when he catches her eyes, he looks away sharply and continues to speak only to Kohaku.
“No, the thing we want you to do, if you are able, is to destroy whoever is responsible for this,” he says, his voice getting darker. “This village knew about a youkai group that lived out in the forest. They usually didn’t bother us, mostly because they knew we had a miko here that would take them down if they did.”
“Miko?” Instantly, Shiori thinks of Kagome, and even, the legendary Kikyou. She wonders what kind of woman this miko is.
“Yes, Azuna,” the man answers, and Shiori is shocked he even regards her. She supposes this is progress. “Azuna is a strange one, but she keeps the village safe, and that’s good enough for us.” He pauses and lets out a deep breath. “Lately, Azuna hasn’t been around. When we first noticed she had left, we just thought she had gone out to find food. It’s pretty well known around the village that Azuna doesn’t eat meat, but she doesn’t socialize much with the villagers either and searches for her own fruits and things. Usually, she’s gone for only a day or so, but when she didn’t come back after seven days, we realized she was gone.”
“So your village priestess is missing.” Kohaku muses aloud, and Shiori senses that he’s immediately suspicious.
“Yes, and the youkai group is gone as well,” the lord says. “Convenient, eh? Azuna disappears, the village gets bombarded by a mudslide, and then the youkai disappear.”
“Are you certain that the youkai group left after and not before the mudslide?” Shiori asks, and both Kohaku and the lord gape at her for asking such a bold question.
“How can... what do you mean by that?” he snarls at her. “Of course they were there before the mudslide! They caused it!”
Kohaku holds up his hands and runs in front of Shiori as the lord charges toward her. The lord is a bit of a large man, definitely one that towers over both Shiori and Kohaku, and his frame is so thick that Shiori thinks he looks like a stone wall. She watches him as Kohaku subdues him for now, but she remains confident, never wavering despite the lord’s obvious intimidation.
“My lord, please forgive her,” Kohaku says, and Shiori shares a stern look with her taijiya companion before he turns to appease the fief lord. “This is part of our work. We’re just trying to investigate all the possible details. If you say that the youkai caused the mudslide, then we believe you. We just want to make sure we have enough evidence to find these youkai.”
The fief lord seems content after that, even though Shiori is irritated by Kohaku’s coddling. He’s known that the lord wouldn’t have trusted her, but she doesn’t have to like his attitude. She can find other ways to help Kohaku, and the sooner she gets out of this lord’s presence, the better.
“Very well,” the lord says, and he releases a long sigh before turning to the right and heading toward the woods. “I suppose I can show you where they lived. Maybe you can find some sign of them there.”
Kohaku nods, following the lord dutifully. Shiori stays a few steps back, and when she hears a stone skip in front of her, she looks behind her. Turning around toward the bushes, she sees a small, gangly human girl meet her eyes with a look of distress. Shiori is immediately concerned, not only that the child is ragged and hasn’t had a decent meal in probably a long time, but also that she’s scared. And Shiori knows that the child isn’t scared of her.
“Shiori-chan?” She hears Kohaku’s voice, but she doesn’t turn around.
“You go on ahead, Kohaku-kun,” Shiori says, taking a step toward the girl. Shiori undoubtedly feels something strongly - perhaps the intuition that the Elder says she possesses. She feels the Elder’s scepter pulsate in her palm, and Shiori knows that she must follow the child. She feels Kohaku watching her, and she turns around and gives him a light smile. “I’ll be alright.” Kohaku nods, but the fief lord seems suspicious. He looks over her, but the child is concealed by the brush in the forest, so Shiori knows he does not see her.
It is probably for best, Shiori thinks. Whatever this child wants to tell me, I’m sure the village lord won’t be happy about it.
The child runs forward through the forest, and Shiori quickens her pace to follow. She turns around once and makes sure that Shiori doesn’t lose her, and when Kohaku is far behind her, Shiori starts to run, pushing away the claws of branches and thick leaves so she can catch up.
Chapter Five