Higurashi Shrine

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The Higurashi Shrine is a small shrine kept up by a strange family. On the property is a deep well which seems to be bottomless. It is said to attract a high number of spirits and Youkai. Even so the place doesn't get very much attention, even when the cherry blossoms are in bloom and the lamp is lit the lone shrine at the top is usually unoccupied.

The shrine known as Higurashi was so often vacant... until this night. Inuyasha, a former half-youkai born of Kyoto's Inudaiyoukai, sat at the shrine. His long, white hair cascaded over his back while the ears of a dog atop his head twitched. He was leaned against the shrine itself with an old katana in his lap, sporting no shoes, only a garb woven from the red fur of a fire-rat youkai. He seemed to be escaping something, and due to his efforts, it also seemed he had finally found some semblance of peace... as temporary as such a thing was for him at this point. With an elongated sigh, the white-haired reincarnated Devil closed his eyes, that he might drift off into a peaceful slumber.

That night, after leaving the company of another group, a white haired young woman was making her way towards the shrine currently occupied by a former half-youkai. She'd been looking for him, and had picked up his trail with relative ease, all the while she hadn't made a single sound. Her presence was quite suppressed, even more so by the spirits around this place. She had no real smell nor any kind of change in her disposition. In fact, to most senses she registered as an anomaly. As nothing. But that didn't really matter at present. She moved towards this lad, her body joining with another she slipped through the wall to come out at the lad's right side her own sword now moved to her lap as she also leaned against this wall. Seeing his form so close to slumber she was content to let him rest as given what she knew it was likely the first time he'd done so in quite a while. 'Oh? I wonder what kind of blade that is?' she allowed herself to wonder with apathy in her countenance. She was content at this point to wait until her presence as noticed to speak aloud. If he opened his eyes he'd see her, dressed in her dark green and white clothes with boots and a swirling ghost motif upon her clothes. Though she had a longer katana in her lap there was still a shorter blade strapped to her lower back.

Inuyasha's slumber remained uninterrupted even by the appearance of another individual within the temple. Even so, he remained unconscious for a total of only three hours ago. He woke easily, skipping the normal state of grogginess as his eyes opened to witness this strange visitor. He was clearly surprised by anyone's presence, though this certainly wasn't a person for him to be worried about as far as he knew. "Eto..." he muttered. He looked to her curiously, subconsciously gripping the sheath of his katana. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Oh. Did you sleep well?" she asked calmly as if there was nothing amiss with her presence. Of course, she noticed completely the way he gripped his weapon, but she seemed not to have any fear of this moment. She cut her ice blue eyes towards this lad and answered his questions rather easily. "My name is Konpaku Youmu. Yoroshiku." she said. "I was told to take a walk and look for you. But you seemed like you were sleeping comfortably, so I was content to wait for you to wake," she explained her presence here as if it was a perfectly normal thing to say. Of course, she was here specifically to check on him, and by being in such close proximity she was quite sure he wasn't under the influence of his Evil Piece and that he was simply running from his Master. After meeting with that girl she understood completely why one might do that, but her job here was to convince this lad to go back. She even had something to give him to sweeten this for him but she expected at least a little animosity given the person who'd created him.

When asked if he slept well, Inuyasha had nothing to say. He didn't automatically have anything against this person in his company, but he also wasn't in a position to be outright trusting of anyone. Still, she offered her name to him, and though he opened his mouth to respond... he had a sudden realization. "Konpaku... Youkai Taijiya..." His eyes were wide as he spoke these words. Suddenly, those widened eyes became narrow. This was entirely the fault of Youmu's claim to being sent after him. There were only two reasons someone would be looking for him at present, and he wasn't fond of either. The one called 'Youkai Taijiya was a thing of legends, and something both people who sought him might be keen on using to dispose of him. He had to be ready. Inuyasha's right hand reached for the hilt of his weapon while his left hand held its sheath steady. As he drew the sword, the gleam from its movement was quickly replaced by the appearance of a battered, chipped and rusty blade. In this same movement, Inuyasha rose to his feet and pointed the blade at Youmu. "Who sent you!? Tell me now!"

Youmu's name got a response out of this lad, given this the lad had to be much older than he looked. "Sou ka. I didn't know any would still know that name," she said. Youkai Taijiya, 'The Youkai Slayer' had been a title that Youmu possessed as a young lass, when she lived with her clan she'd been known for slaying youkai, sent after them even. Now, she had no such affiliation but she supposed most wouldn't be aware of her current disposition. This lad's sword was soon pointed at her as he demanded to know who'd sent her, her eyes moved up the blade and she examined it without moving at all her eyes traveling up the blade to the lad before her. "Your blade needs care," she mentioned absently. "Eira Gremory, sent me." she said, not knowing if this lad would have any idea who the heiress was or if he'd care if he did. "And for the record. I no longer slay Youkai with impunity, and I am under no orders to kill you. Though I'll test your blade if you like..." she mentioned finally moving for the first time she held her blade in her hand as if waiting.

Inuyasha had indeed lived a very long life, though it was hardly much by youkai standards. As far as his family would be concerned, he'd be about 17 or so in human years. However, what Youmu had to say about her own title was something strange. The idea that she wouldn't encounter another person who knew of her by name was baffling, as her work spoke for itself for a very long time. Of course, such a thing was a very long time ago for one such as Inuyasha. There was apparently no call for his death that Youmu was brought for, and she no longer did such a thing. What bothered Inuyasha more though, was the name of the person who sent her. "Gremory..." he repeated. This was a name he heard a few times since becoming a Devil, with two different given names applied, and two very different contexts. In the case of the name he heard from Youmu, it was one of distaste... which implied that there were no worries to be had that she was connected to his 'master' Roxanna. "So then... why are you here for me?" he asked, ignoring the comment about his blade, and refraining from lowering it in case she happened to have been sent by someone else he wished to avoid.

The name Gremory seemed to cause something to stir within this lad's mind. There could be several reasons for this, as Eira wasn't the first person with this surame, but Youmu wasn't the type to question this too much. "Eira doesn't like the idea that you've been alone and on the run for so long," Youmu explained calmly. "Though after meeting that girl, none of us blame you," Youmu stated, and this seemed to be very true. No one on Eira's Peerage could even be counted as criticizing this lad's actions. Still this blade was pointed at her and she wondered if he intended to use it at all. Instead of questioning it further she drew her own blade as well holding the blade in her left hand and the sheath in her right. "So, where are you going?" she asked while staring at Inu-youkai.

So, the Gremory girl he'd heard about had some issue with him being alone for such a long period of time. There was also a rather nonspecific reference to Roxanna as 'that girl' in Youmu's follow-up statement, which didn't have a very positive effect on Inuyasha. "You met her then... Roxanna Phenex. She nabbed me in a moment of weakness. I could have gotten over that, but... not the way she is. I'm not going back," he said whilst eyeing the sword held in Youmu's hand. Her body language wasn't doing much to say she didn't intend to assault him, but regardless of her intentions, he was prepared. "I'm going away. If you're not here to attack me, you must be here to stop me. That's not gonna happen."

Youmu was asked of she'd met Roxanna Phenex and the truth was, she'd seen this girl multiple times but at their most recent meeting had become too acquainted with the girl. What was more the lad claimed he wasn't going back, because of the type of person that Roxanna was, this brought a strange light to Youmu's eyes. "Roxanna Phenex isn't the type of girl I would even start to defend. I don't know what she did to you personally but we've seen what she's capable of," Youmu said calmly, though she didn't personally feel any particular way, she was disgusted by the actions of the heiress Phenex. "I wouldn't mind seeing what that blade actually does. I remember some interesting stories about the Inu-Daiyoukai," Youmu mentioned with a hint of that particular personal desire. To his statement about leaving, Youmu had only one thing to ask the lad, and it referred to his new comrades however short lived their bond was... "Are you really okay with that? Leaving the others behind."

"Then we don't have business," said Inuyasha of his dealing with the Youkai Slayer. If she understood his problem with Roxanna, she should understand his leave. With this in mind, he was more than ready to move on to the next location. He didn't care about returning, and he didn't care about testing his steel against this woman's blade. Whatever stories Youmu heard about his kind likely came from those who spawned him, if not his pure-blood brother, and he had no concern for whatever she wished to confirm about them. However, it could never be stated that he was fine with leaving the others to deal with Roxanna. "No, but you're better off helping them get out than trying to make me go back. The only time I'm able to even try helping them is when I'm not strong enough... but I don't think you're the type who has that problem."

When this white haired young man mentioned that they didn't have business Youmu couldn't have disagreed more. The lad didn't want to test his blade against hers, and that was a little disappointing, but she'd struck at least a bit of a nerve. That nerve being, the other members of Roxanna's Peerage. He apparently wasn't alright leaving those people behind, but he claimed to have some sort of problem helping them. Given what Youmu had observed of the members who'd shown up with Roxanna today she could make a few assumptions about what kept this lad from acting on behalf of his peers. "That blade is on its downward stroke..." Youmu said in mention of freeing the rest of the individuals. "But if we interfere it can only be after the damage is done. If you returned to help them, you could stop it before it happens. I find it hard to believe you are weaker than one like... Roxanna," she said in a manner most straight forward, having the slightest of hesitation when speaking the heiress name. This was an old habit, from hunting youkai, speaking the names of evil creatures was believed at some point to speak their evil into the world. And she disliked Roxanna to the point that her name was not worth speaking in most cases. Like she thought this lad seemed to be capable of resisting Roxanna's fallacies to some extent, but claimed some lack of strength. Given what Youmu had observed in how Roxanna viewed her peerage and the rest of the world at large, she could assume one of two things ate at this lad. "Are you chained like the pup, or did she maim you too?" she asked in a manner which she would have known to be blunt and apathetic.

Youmu claimed there was something to be done about the tyranny of Roxanna. However, she also claimed Inuyasha could be a necessity in this being seen to fruition. True, he was in no way a weakling. Had he not been caught under specific circumstances, he'd never have been made a Devil in the first place. Just the same, if not for other circumstances... he wouldn't be at the mercy of someone else. "I can't," he said. There was no way for him to be capable of going against Roxanna's whims, and on the rare occasion that he could... he was not strong enough due to the nature of his own birth. Youmu went on to ask about his situation, specifically whether he was bound or maimed like two of the other members in Roxanna's peerage. To respond to this, his left hand reached for the set of prayer beads around his neck. He seemed to be aiming to remove them, but to no avail; they wouldn't even rise over his head. "Kotodama no Nenju. This has been on me for longer than I can remember, but that Devil... I guess she found a way to make their effect stronger. These were made so I could be kept tame with a one word command. When she uses them, it's more like any command is one I have to follow, and it only doesn't work when I'm too weak to go against her. But... that is also the time I'm able to get away."

There was a claim that Inuyasha could not be of help to his fellows. Youmu looked at this lad and nothing about her face changed but there was weight to her gaze, as if she was confused by what he had to say. Obviously this lad was not a coward and also saw the problems with Roxanna's attitude. But there would soon be a revelation. This one about a necklace the lad wore which apparently was originally meant to allow him to be tamed by a single word but now allowed Roxanna to simply give him commands at her leisure without his ability to resist. His explanation made a small smirk appear on the face of Youmu something that usually went unseen by others. "Sou ka, she did say she tricked you we knew she couldn't have tamed a Youkai of any sort on her own..." Youmu said plainly. Perhaps this glint was a tiny hint of mischievousness which she'd picked up from either Eira or Izuna in the time they'd known each other. "And if I know someone who can free you of your bindings... would you return and help your comrades?" she asked of him. This wasn't a question of returning to his master's control, she wouldn't ever ask someone to do that, but she would ask that he not abandon his peers in their moment to potentially rid themselves of one such as Roxanna Phenex.

"Hai. Once a month, I lose my ability to fight. I basically turn into a human, but... I'm pretty sure you've met enough hanyou to know what I mean," he explained, granting some insight into how he was taken advantage of in the first place. If he'd been at full strength, one such as Roxanna could have never gotten close enough to tamper with the prayer beads around his neck, and only a certain amount of acceptance from him would have been enough for her to even use their basic power. As far as his ongoing issue was concerned, Youmu offered the clause of her knowing someone who could be of use. If this was true... if she did know someone who could free him of Roxanna's curse, he would most certainly see to the safety of his peerage mates over his own desire to not be bound. It was only the case that he never had the ability to do so before. "Of course I would, but why should I trust someone random to get that close to me again?"

"Sou ka... one of those. Technically I should be classified as hanyou myself but... phantoms are considered differently. I understand," Youmu offered with a nod. If this lad was the sort of person that turned into a normal human for a while. Then the necklace he wore was probably just to make sure his youkai part didn't overpower his human half and strip him of what was left of his humanity. It seemed that he was at least interested in what Youmu had to say and she found herself looking at him with calm eyes. "Ah... she's still a step ahead," she said of no one in particular. She pulled from her waist a contract which held the name of the Gremory heiress and her summoning seal. "This... for good faith can be used later. I'll take you to her now myself to take care of your current problem, if you'd like..." she said without thinking too much about it. "And you can ask her yourself why she'd help you. I'm sure you'd understand her answer, if you hear it from her directly," said Youmu. She held out the contract for the lad, and if he took it, she'd start walking again. Back towards the area she'd left a couple of hours ago at Kuoh Academy. Knowing that while she waited on something like this Eira wouldn't leave.

Inuyasha could follow the technicality of her status as a hanyou, considering the other title applied to her in the stories of old. What was important though, was that Youmu came with something to offer the white-haired male. This was far from the first time he'd seen a Devil's contract, but the one she held bore yet another unfamiliar seal to him. He sheathed his sword and then, reluctantly, reached out to claim the contract. As little as he could trust others, there were few options left for him besides continuing to run for an indefinite period of time. As such, he followed Youmu to whatever location she chose to lead, keeping a keen eye for anything that seemed suspicious all the while.