“Well met, priestess,” the captain said, his lips crooking up at the corners. “My men and I owe you an immeasurable debt.”

Kagome shook her head. “Putting down murderous youkai is my job around here.”

“Is that so?” Hawk-like, the captain appraised her. “Then might you be the one they call ‘The Shikon Miko’?”

“That’s right,” she said, assessing him in turn. “My name’s Kagome, and if you owe me anything, Heichou, it’s an explanation of who you are and what you’re doing in Edo.” Coolly, she added, as if switching to another topic altogether, “We’ve had a rash of demonic attacks here, recently. Villagers have been forced to flee inward for their own safety, abandoning their homes and possessions in the process. To make matters worse, some bands of miscreants have moved in to capitalize on the chaos. They set up keeps in the deserted villages and waylay travelers and refugees, which threatens the peace of the entire region—from what I understand, there’s even one such keep not far from here.”

A flicker of false sympathy stole through the man’s burnished gaze. “How unfortunate,” he replied, the pity in his voice almost convincing. As Rin returned to Kagome’s side, his eyes cut to her, glinting. “And who is this fair maiden?”

Rin’s expression darkened in a scowl as she ducked behind her horse, glaring warily at him through the fringe of its mane. At her reticence, the captain’s crooked grin turned rakish.

“Her name is Rin,” Kagome answered shortly. “What’s yours?”

The captain inclined his head. “Forgive my rudeness, Kagome-sama—once I was known as Mizuno Rennosuke, but these lowlifes have butchered it with their common tongues. ‘Ren’ is what I now am called to my shame—though perhaps I should view it as a blessed coincidence, wouldn’t you say, Rin-chan?” he added smoothly, catching the girl’s distrusting eye. As her scowl deepened, his conceited gaze slid back to Kagome. “It seems these lands are as troubled as the ones from which we came. You see, my lady, we are but refugees ourselves—victims of a most terrible and unnatural flood, which tore us few unworthy survivors from the bosom of our departed lord, to seek succor elsewhere.”

“You’re mercenaries, then,” Kagome surmised.

“Alas, without a master, we have roamed as wild dogs, with no recourse but to take such scraps of work as we can find—sorry a lot as we are,” Ren said woefully. “Once, I was a samurai of some passing worth, yet now you see what I am reduced to.”

“A rounin,” Kagome said, crossing her arms at the chest. “Wouldn’t an honorable death have been a better choice for you?”

Ren’s fine features twisted in a grimace. “And now you see why I myself have forsaken my own noble name. Wretch that I am, my life yet holds some meager value—if not to me, then to these fellow mongrels of mine, who left to their own devices would like as not have gotten their heads lopped off long ago.”

“Ren-heichou…” the burly warrior beside him said, his voice trembling with devotion. “It is true—you are our savior!”

As the other men hurrahed in agreement, the captain waved them smugly off. “Now, now, Uetsugi—you’ve got them riled.”

Kagome frowned, glancing away. To live in disgrace for the sake of others… It was a sentiment that struck an unwilling chord within her—regardless of her suspicions concerning the one who’d voiced it. Inwardly, she sighed, looking back to the captain.

“I can sympathize with your plight, Ren-san, but you’ll have to search for employment elsewhere. There are no lords here.”

Sharply, Ren smiled at her in reply. “Edo is wondrous indeed.”

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi