Holy Hill by Luna C.
Paying Respect
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Chapter 2: Paying Respect
“… As the circumstances grew worse, the shrine-maidens started leaving as they found one of their fellow sister hung in the storage shed.”
“Miroku, can you cut it out?” Sango nearly yelled at the young man, not finding the story hilarious as Miroku covered his mouth with his sleeve, quiet chuckles emitting through that angered her. The only one that seemed frightened was Sango, who still cling to Kagome like white on rice, not once letting go of the girl’s arm even though Kagome tried to shake her off or tell her to loosen her grip. Miroku continued counting the tale that was weaved about the place, amused at the young woman’s reactions.
“You really need to stop Miroku, Sango’s about to make my arm numb if you keep trying to scare her.” Kagome said, trying to put some distance between them, though it was futile since Sango followed her, and her grip tightened once more, nearly giving her an Indian burn.
“I’m not scared! I just find his story ridiculous!” Sango defended herself.
“Then, can you let go of my arm?” Kagome’s request went unanswered and she could merely sigh as the other girl glared at her. After that she didn’t complain anymore, there was no use if Sango wasn’t going to listen to her.
“Anyways… one by one, weird event happened to the family, dangerous events.” Miroku creepily said, looking from the side of his eye at group, his sleeve still covering the lower half of his face. Kagome rolled her eyes and shook her head, finding his behavior cheesy. “The first to go was the eldest child, the first born son. He was found in his bed with his neck broken and his limbs in backwards angles. Then it continued down the line, the second, his innards spilled out as he hanged from a beam. The third, drowned inside the koi pond, the fourth was burned to crisp in the kitchen. And the fifth was dismembered and scattered in a trail across the grounds, almost like Hansel and Gretel.”
“Hansel and Gretel?” The youngest member of their group asked, his bright green eyes staring questionably at Miroku.
“A western story about two children who left a breadcrumb trail behind them to follow back home, but birds ate them, they got lost and found a house in the middle of nowhere that belonged to a cannibalistic witch.”
“Ah, okay… so what happened to the parents?”
“The parents were grief-stricken, all their kids except for the youngest were found dead in the course of seven nights and always around the witching hour. They were alerted by their cries before it was silenced. Then the parents were killed the next night, poisoned in their sleep.”
“It was the little girl that killed them.” Inuyasha gruffly said from the front, nearly racing with Sesshomaru on who leads.
“We don’t know that, it said that she disappeared without a trace.”
Kagome scoffed, of course Miroku would make it seem like it was real, only to scare Sango and Shippou. “It didn’t say anything ‘cause that story doesn’t exist.”
Miroku didn’t get a chance to reply as they arrived the steep stairs leading up to the shrine hidden behind overgrown trees and brittle shrubberies. The stone stairs were caked with dirt, creaked as the years chafed against the once smooth steps. The group stood at the bottom, apprehensively looking at the dark pathway, no one having the courage to volunteer going up.
“So… we’re here.” Inuyasha awkwardly stated, fidgetting slightly where he stood, the dimmed light behind him casting ominous shadows and obscuring his figure to a dark blob.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared Inu-baka.” Shippou mocked the male, snickering when Inuyasha growled before trying to catch him, running and seeking cover behind Kagome, knowing that the girl would protect him from Inuyasha’s violent temper.
“That’s enough.” Kagome glared at the two boys, shivering when the steady stream of wind refused to relent. “We came all this way, we might as well climb these stairs.” Looking the clown, she gave him a pointed look, waiting for him to proceed.
“Sesshomaru can go first, he wanted to be the leader after tripping me.”
“Of course the idiot would be frightened of some stairs.”
Inuyasha mouth twisted in a frown, he was glaring at his older brother behind the mask even though it had no effect on the older male. “Screw you Sesshomaru, I don’t see you stepping up.”
“Neither have you little brother, technically this was your idea, we’re waiting for your call.” Unsurprisingly, this gave Inuyasha a false confidence boost as the clown-suit boy stomped to the edge of the stairs, but paused as a light came from his side. Turning to the source, he saw Miroku crouched on the ground, fanning a small growing fire on a slab of concrete with dry leaves and twigs.
“What are you doing Miroku, and I didn’t know you smoked.”
Said male sheepishly looked up, rubbing his head when he noticed everybody watching at him with various looks of curiosity. In his hand was a lighter, and the group was probably wondering why he was carrying it around.
“Did you plan this with Inuyasha, Miroku?” Kagome asked, narrowing her blue eyes at him, waiting for his answer.
“Ah… um no, I just like carrying a lighter around for convenience.” The girls didn’t believe his excuse, it was relatively weak and he stammered at the beginning.
“So you smoke then?”
Miroku raised his hands up, trying to placate the group. “It’s not that, I’m just giving the spirits here an offering. They may not be my ancestors, but the least we can do is honor them before we desecrate this haunted place.”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind us walking in there, it’s not like its worth shit, the worse that could happen is some evil spirit following us.” Inuyasha sarcastically joked, not giving his comment much thought, though Sango seemed to whimper at it.
“I’m going to ignore that, anyways, let’s give a short prayer for the spirits.” Miroku gave a hopeful look around the group, though all the males looked away and the girls were merely staring at him uncomfortably.
“You can pray for them and do that little ritual for us Miroku, I’m raised as a Shinto follower, not Buddhist.”
Miroku pouted before turning to the only member of the group who hasn‘t said anything yet. “My dear Sango, can you join me?”
Sango groaned, releasing her grip on Kagome’s arm before kneeling besides the garbed monk, sweeping her cloak back from resting her knees on them. She gave Miroku’s hands a watchful eye, not trusting him for even a second, especially since he was very touchy when it came to her. She bowed her head and clasped her hands together as Miroku commenced chanting a short, quiet prayer, waiting for a couple seconds for the offering to be burned away before standing and helping the woman beside him up. He gave her a cheerful smile, ready to proceed up the steps and into the shrine.
“Now we are protected from the lingering spirits unlike those four.”
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Prompt: Obon
Kneazle’s Halloween 2013 Challenge