InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 21

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi


Chapter 21


Tameo looked at Hisa and his son, who nodded, then he stood up and faced InuYasha and Kagome.  “Now, since everybody here seems happy with having you two in the family, let’s go and make this arrangement final.  While I’m at it, I’ll get your marriage listed in the village registry, and then we’ll go pay our respects to the family’s shrine.  After that, I will leave you in Oneesan’s capable hands.”

“That fast?” Kagome whispered to InuYasha.  “Glad to meet you, we like you, welcome to the family?”

InuYasha shrugged, but Kaede chuckled.  “That’s the way my cousin is.  It’s one of the reasons the villagers keep choosing him to be headman.”

The old headman straightened his too small cap, while the others stood, then led them out of the house and headed towards a smaller building to the right of the main house.  

“I like to be at home when I’m home,” he said to InuYasha and Kagome.  “I’ve moved all the official business to this building.  The kitchen kami seem to be happier without people tracking in and out at all hours.”

Hisa, walking beside him, said, “And your wife, too.  Although,” she said, turning to her son Susumu, “perhaps not everybody in the house was so happy about the idea.”

Susumu refused to take the bait his mother dangled.  “It’s worked out well, I have to admit,” he said.  “Hey, someone’s waiting for you, Otousan.”

“So there is,” the older man said, frowning.  “One of Katsume’s boys.”

Kagome looked up at InuYasha.  

“Katsume’s the nephew of Haname,” he said, giving her hand a little squeeze.

The young man, maybe seventeen, sat under the verandah of the building, a basket tucked in his lap, looking bored.  He got up as he saw the group, and bowed low.

“Ah, Tameo-sama,” he said. “I was hoping you would be here.”

“You could have come to my door, Hiroki-kun,” Tameo said.  “You didn’t have to wait out here.”

The young man bowed again.  “I saw your company,” he said, bowing again, but with less politeness, in the direction of Kaede and the rest, “and thought it would be better if I waited until they left.”

Tameo gave him a serious look, and rubbed his chin.“We’re still not quite through our business. But please, what can I do for you?” His voice was neutral, even mildly pleasant.

The young man let out a breath, as if he was worried about how he was going to be received. “My aunt sends her greetings and asked me to bring you these rice cakes,” Hiroki said, holding the basket out to the older man.  “She knows how much you like them.  And on my way over here, my uncle told me that  he would like to speak to you today, if you have a chance.”

“Ah, Haname does make good rice cakes, it’s true,” Tameo said, taking the basket the youth offered him, then handing it to Hisa.  “Do you know what Tsuneo has on his mind?”

Hiroki tilted his head towards the group, and looked rather uncomfortable.  “I’m not exactly sure. He said something about . . . about . . . ” He coughed.  “Newcomers, I believe, Tameo-sama.”

“Yes, I know he has some opinions about that.  We discussed them already, but if he really wants to talk about it some more, tell your uncle I will come by his house this evening.  I have a lot to do today.”

“I will tell him,” the youth said, bowing once again.  “Please, I won’t keep you waiting. I will let my aunt know what you said about her rice cakes.”   He hurried off, stopping only once to make a sign against bad luck.

Tameo chuckled, but InuYasha and Kagome exchanged glances.

“Tameo-sama,” Kagome said.  “Is this going to cause a problem between you and Tsuneo?  I don’t want us to be the cause of anything bad.”

Tameo shook his head. “Nothing new that isn’t already going on, child.”

“When hasn’t Tsuneo had something to say about what you’ve decided, Otousan?” Susumu said.

“He always has something to say,” the older man said.  “Sometimes, it’s even good.  If his wife sticks her nose in, it’s not usually so good, but sometimes.  In this case, it’s nothing he has any control over.  This is a family matter, and the family has agreed.  And even more, since Toshiro-sama liked the idea, too.  And between his family and my family we have the backing of more than two thirds of the village elders.  But, as a courtesy, I’ll go listen to Tsuneo and his wife whine about all the bad luck that they think will come and never does.  It’s a small price to pay.”

He slid open the door to the office building. “Now let’s get it done.”

It was all actually rather simple.   The group walked into the office space and sat down on the floor, while Tameo pulled out the register of his kinship ko.  

He spread the document on a low table and sat down to prepare his ink.  “Everybody who belongs to our ko is written down here, how they are related, and what their rank within the group is, from my family as head of the group, to the last servant.”  He picked up his pen.  “Every year, after the new year’s celebration, I rewrite the list, adding births, marking those who have gone on.  It’s been a good bit since we’ve added a fresh family.  But I will put it here,” he said, pointing to a place slightly below where his own family’s name was written on the paper.  “This will make you the same status as Kaede-oneesan. A good place for our new village miko, don’t you think, Kaede?”

The old woman nodded.  “A good decision. Not too high, but not low.  A miko should have some rank. And it will make it clear to all that she’s more than a servant-retainer.  But it will probably help keep things going on the right way if Tsuneo’s family can feel they are still above you, Kagome-chan.  Wise as usual, cousin.”

“What do you say, InuYasha?” the old man asked, looking up. “I hope this isn’t too below you. I am just a villager, and can only offer you and your wife a villager’s protection.  I have no pretense to noble or even samurai blood. Kaede tells me that both your human and youkai families came from the  nobility.”

“Feh,” the hanyou said.  “Neither side never did me any favors.”  He studied Tameo, seeing how he was waiting for an answer, and sensed nothing but sincerity from the man. “I don’t know anything about any of this stuff, village rank and who matters and why.  But if Kaede-babaa says it’s good, it’s good.”

Kagome nodded, then bowed.  “It is not the way we did things where I came from.  But we appreciate all you are doing. Thank you for being so kind to us.”

Susumu chuckled.  “Shame we can’t adopt you as my sister.  I would surely like to see how the old sour-faces would react, but Chichi-ue is right.  You’re going to be the talk of the village by tomorrow night, and when it’s time to go drink, the gossip is going to be rich anyway without pushing the limits of who thinks they’re better than anybody else.  I’m looking forward to that.”

Hisa stood up, and went into the back of the building, where she began taking things off of a shelf.  “And then you’ll have to come back and tell me all about it,” she said. “Just don’t let anybody get into any fights over it.  We want our new cousins here to feel at home.”

“There won’t be,” Susumu said.  “But we’ll know really quickly who to keep an eye out on.”

“That we will,” Tameo said.  “But we probably already know most of that already.”  He put away his family’s register into its cubbyhole in the wall near his table, and  then pulled out another.  “You are now family, Kagome-sama, and an official member of the village.   As headman, I also register all marriages in the village in our record lists.”  

He looked up at InuYasha.  “Once I do, InuYasha, Kagome-sama becomes your official wife, and that too will give you a legitimate place in the village. No one will be able to claim that she’s just your concubine, and you have no true place staying here.  Of course, she becomes your legal responsibility.  And you, Kagome-sama, if you decide your husband is too hardheaded for your tastes, you’d have to go to one of those refuges run by kindly monks where they negotiate a settlement before you are free to choose another.   Having said all that, as my duty as headman, let me give you a moment to be sure. This is the  chance for either of you to change your minds.”

InuYasha took Kagome’s hand. His ears laid back just a little. “Feh,” he said.  “Just write it down, Tameo.” He looked at Kagome, and his eyes studied her face.  “I’ve been hers since the day she released me from the Goshinboku.”

“I traveled an amazing journey to get here,” Kagome said, smiling back at her husband.  “My home can be only where InuYasha is. Yes, I’m sure.”

“Well, what destiny has decided should be, is what it should be,” Tameo said, and with a flourish, he added their names to the register.

Hisa sat back down next to her husband.  He put the register away, and she produced a jug of sake and the cups to go with it.  She poured some in each of the cups, and then handed one to Kagome.

“But I don’t drink sake,” she said.  “Where I come from, I’m too young to drink.”

“You must drink,” Tameo said. “This seals all the agreements we’ve made here today. They’re just scratches on paper unless you drink.”

Kagome looked at her cup, and back at InuYasha, who nodded at her.  

“You need to drink first,” Tameo said, “And then InuYasha.”

She sniffed then sipped the liquid, not sure if she liked the smell or the taste  of it, but then tossed down the tiny amount Hisa had  poured for her.  It felt warm as it slid down her throat. InuYasha, smiling, drank his next.

“Congratulations, cousins,” Hisa said.

“Blessings, children,” Kaede said.

“To your new life with us,” Tameo added.

Susumu, downing his cup, added, “And thanks for the happiness I am going to get when Tsuneo and Haname find out.”

The rest raised their cups and drank down.

“One last thing and it’s all over. Now to pay our respects to the kami of our family, and introduce you to him.” Tameo said.  “And then let  people say what they want.  You’re ours now.”