"Wife, where are you?" Yamashi asked from the entrance of Meioshi's stone garden.
The ladies greeted him politely, undeterred from their activities of small games and music playing. Those who were mothers had their children also running around to play, dress up, or dance. Yuko was getting her makeup touched up before she finally responded to her husband's call. She rose to her feet and skipped over to him to see what was going on. Homugi was talking to Kita while Chiura and Hasumi were playing with Meioshi's lamb. It refused to go in the barn with all this fun and excitement going around. It's little tail wiggled when it made a baa sound. Naughty, little lamb! No farm animals were supposed to be in the garden!
"Hey, Yamashi," Yuko greeted, throwing her hands up playfully. "What's up? Aren't you supposed to be at the Welcome Center? We're not ready yet."
Yamashi smirked at this, pulled Yuko close to him, and whispered, "I missed you."
"I've only been away from you for like five minutes. What's there to miss?" Yuko argued, letting Yamashi nuzzle her nose and cuddle. She just blushed and said softly, "You're such a cuddle bug."
"Only for you," Yamashi purred. "You look beautiful, wife."
"You never fail to remind me," Yuko said softly, closing her eyes and just resting in the prince's presence. "I love you. Did you see where sensei went? She won't keep still to finish her hair!"
"You always struggle to keep her still when you're doing her hair!" Yamashi remarked with a light chuckle. "It was worse when she had it short!"
"She has such pretty locks, though! The waves are so cute!" Yuko gushed, wiggling about. "I miss her in her medical kimonos!"
"Oh, my Yuko!" Meioshi said with a light giggle, swinging Fuyu Joo's hand in hers and the basket of goodies in the other. A magic wagon was carrying bouquets of flowers from Nihipali. Water wheels were making the vessel move. The doctor smiled and called, "Girls, Lord Sesshomaru and Lord Nihipali brought us something to share. Would you like some of these treats?"
Sesshomaru and Jaken hesitantly entered the gardens after Meioshi and Fuyu Joo did. The ladies were quite beautiful... and quite unmarried. Well, some of them. His lordship felt wildly uncomfortable being in such a space, so he stuck to an unoccupied part of the gardens and took notice to a covered bridge leading elsewhere. He found he liked how it was built. It had an exit to Meioshi's museum, potentially her medical clinic, and what might have been Kirameku Ha's gardens. He only said that because the man himself was walking on the bridge with Maniwa, his youngest son, at his side. It felt funny meeting two samurai in a peaceful manner instead of a violent one. Sesshomaru had gotten somewhat used to killing foolish warriors. These days, he was slowly making peace with a chosen few. Kirameku Ha and Maniwa were among the small number. The trees leading to a powerfully guarded forest were turning colors on the right side, so the reds, oranges, and yellows were a gorgeous display during the autumn season right now. Bushes and smaller flowers were homes to smaller, whimsical insects and perhaps smaller creatures. A squirrel ran quickly across the bridge. The covered parts of the bridge added to the aesthetic, and a small lounge area was directly in the middle. It was possible that the lounge spot was meant for the elderly or for those who simply wanted to have tea against the backdrop of nature. The bridge sort of gave this illusion that the plants were purposely put there, but only the smaller flowers might have been truly planted in spots. The rest was as wild, natural, and free as can be.
Curious and wanting to get away from the inappropriate gathering of fine ladies, Sesshomaru met the old man in the middle of the bridge. Jaken followed him in a hustle. To Kirameku Ha, Sesshomaru reminded him of a quiet, faithful dog - namely the ones that recognized your sounds and waited for you to greet them. He may not be trotting on paws, but he was standing there with patience. It was endearing. He just made sure never to bring it up because that would probably just embarrass the young man. Remembering that he had the incomplete bouquet in his hand and that Kirameku Ha was a professional gardener, Sesshomaru hesitantly got just close enough to the men and handed the bouquet to Kirameku Ha. Technically, his lordship had no use for it since it wasn't good enough to give to the ladies. That just made Kirameku Ha laugh internally, though. The dog was offering a gift. Maybe he'll expose his belly someday, metaphorically, of course.
The old man blinked before smiling with genuine amusement and said, "Thank you, young Lord Sesshomaru. I am honored."
"You are not a lady, though, father," Maniwa said, holding in a strong laugh.
"No, but this one does not give gifts often. I will have to think of something to give in return," Kirameku Ha replied, taking the bouquet from Sesshomaru and strapping it to his extra belt. "You are going the wrong way if you are looking for my pupil. This way leads to my home."
"The holy warriors that live here, do they have a castle or not?" Sesshomaru asked, visibly frowning. Meioshi's garden was large. Large enough to fit twenty to thirty people in it comfortably.
"I do not know about young Kinzo, but his village is no more since you and my pupil left it. If he had a castle to live in, I did not see it. Young Hasumi's situation is unusual, but she had a castle she lived in once. I did not see it. Young Liuxian and his family live in a Buddhist home here. They are across from me. They do not live in a castle," Kirameku Ha explained.
"I think he might be referring to little cousin, father," Maniwa said, nodding at the other end of the bridge.
"Ah," Kirameku Ha responded, nodding slowly with realization. "You meant the estate. I do not believe my pupil trusts you enough to show you the hell traveler's castle. She might one day show you her home in its entirety. The damage has been repaired for the most part. Only one of the rooms is left to fix. She mentioned she may leave it roofless."
"Your age must be getting to you, veteran," Jaken said with respect. "The witch's home is but a shack."
"You have succumbed to little cousin's illusion then, imp," Maniwa replied, folding his arms and smirking. "That's no shack. It is often mistaken for a castle. When you came to her house before, did you ever see a garden?"
"Well, no, but - !"
"Go back and see the size of it. That will give you a clue to how large her home truly is," Maniwa instructed.
"Before I do, when did the wild boar kingdom try to take over Heiwa?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Between four and five years ago," Yamashi replied, walking up to the men. "The women liked your gift basket and flowers. They wish to thank you. Are you coming to see the girls, Lord Kirameku Ha? Didn't think you had an eye for the young ones."
"Hmph!" Kirameku Ha huffed, taking the joke in stride. "If I were a different kind of man, perhaps, but I worked hard enough to earn the woman I wanted. It appears you, young Yamashi, have done the same. Congratulations on your progress. How does it feel?"
"Feel?" Yamashi asked, knowing what the elder meant but wanting to hear him elaborate. His smile had much warmth and humility. He was being regarded by another man who once struggled to be a good husband himself. Much could be learned from the grand elder before him, but Yamashi took pride in just hearing him ask such a simple question. The disgraced prince, or rather the reborn prince, then asked softly, "What do you mean?"
"To have gone from being a soulless adversary to a refined gentleman," Kirameku Ha said. "You once said being around humans was an insult to your clansmen. Here you are now married to one and ready to start the path towards fatherhood with her. Quite the opposite from where you started."
"What's so great about marrying humans? I don't understand any of this," Jaken complained, folding his arms but voicing Sesshomaru's exact opinion.
"There's nothing special about marrying a human. There's nothing special about marrying a demon either," Yamashi replied honestly. "Marriage has become such a corrupted term and so institutionalized that many are forgetting what it initially was about. It's a union between two people who have worked to form a meaningful relationship with each other. Above all else, forget about the class, race, or ideals defined by a society. Look at what you're willing to give up for a bond as sacred and intimate as marriage. Look at where you draw the lines between an ally and a friend, a friend and family, family and a lover. That's what we, demons, don't understand when we face humans. For us, everything is about function. We choose beauties to marry - princesses are a popular choice - if we go outside of our race, we side with the most powerful to reveal our true strength, we are clever when we surround ourselves by wise ones, we don't even have to engage in sex to reproduce. Youkais are spirits. We don't understand development of character, but... we, demons, do understand spirits. The reason why we don't have to engage in sex the way humans do is because we mate through our spirits. We even call it our souls. Marriage to the humans is analogous to mating of the souls to us. It's not the vows that make the marriage, it's the sacrifice you make for the right to marry, it's your willingness to teach another how to mate with your soul, it's your eagerness to learn how to develop this thing they call character. The 'great thing' about marrying a human is nonexistent. You want to marry this other person who has an attractive spirit. That's all there is to it."
"You believe such a thing gives you an excuse to leave your family behind?" Sesshomaru asked bitterly.
"I am not your father, inu prince," Yamashi replied, turning to Sesshomaru. "However, I like to look at his story as a lesson. I didn't get to learn much about the human he chose to mate with, but the teachings that I learned from the humans here made me realize that I didn't want to live the life that he did. I was once an army commander. Gifts were often thrown at me to keep me loyal and disciplined. I very easily could have been married off to the finest woman. I very easily could've birthed a strong heir. Everything about that bothered me. But..., on a conquest for more land and political power, I was drawn to this place. A young farm girl studying to be a doctor had this strong, blinding spirit that I couldn't escape, but there was also a sense of peace and belonging that... I can't describe properly even to this day within her. My Yuko... ever cheerful and ready to learn something new much like her mentor. Doc was a motherfucker to fight back then. You've only seen a fraction of her power. I faced it full force. It took everything I had to down her, but wouldn't you know that the one who took me down wasn't the doctor. It was my Yuko! That enchanted wok skillet and a strong need to protect her sensei did the rest of the work! Hahaha!"
"Yuko's magical abilities are that strong?" Jaken questioned with astonishment.
"No, Doc put the spell on it. Yuko just used it to her advantage. From the moment she struck me, I knew she was my soul's mate," Yamashi said. He then slowly turned to Sesshomaru, making him make eye contact with him, and continued, "If you're not careful, inu prince, your soul will belong to a human's."