InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 37

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


Chapter 37

While Kagome and Sango wondering about what he was doing, Miroku was walking up the path towards InuYasha’s house.  While he walked,  his staff beat out a rhythm, the brass rings that adorned the staff’s tip jingling with each step, which he put to use as he began humming, then singing a song he was fond of, but didn’t like to sing around his wife:

“Do not wear white
do not wear white
when you step outside
and walk that path,
do not wear white.

“If you wear white
if you wear white
when you step outside
to walk that path,
someone might see.

“Under the moon, white
under the moon, white
could shine and give you away
as you walk that path
that leads to my gate.

“So much talk at night - ”

There was a crunch in the woods to his left.  Miroku swung around, his staff at the ready, only to see the graying head of Daitaro peek out from beneath a pine branch.

“Now that’s a fine song for a monk to be singing,” Daitaro said as he stepped forward and let the branch swing back into place.  The old man’s eyes looked at him with amusement as Miroku regained his composure.

“Ah, Daitaro-sama!” the monk said, bowing a bit.  “And here I thought only the sky and the kami would be here to witness.”

“Maybe the kami got tired of you making a spectacle of yourself,” the old man said, with just a touch of a grin. He adjusted the straps of a large basket he had on his back.

“Or they’re warning me that my singing’s not that fine,” Miroku sighed.  “My wife, she reminds me often enough.  So what brings you into the woods this fine day?”

“My Chime, she’s busy right now, plotting something with   Takeshi’s and  Susumu’s wives,” he said, unstoppering his water jug.  The smell that wafted out of it smelled stronger than merely water.  He took a sip and offered it to Miroku.  “Something about a wedding.  Got too noisy and decided to go see if any mushrooms were up yet.”

“I understand that one.  My home is filled right now with women chattering over their sewing.” Miroku accepted the jug, and brought it to his nose, breathing the scent of fine saké.  He took a small sip - Daitaro was known for the fine quality of the saké he brewed, and as he swirled the liquid around his mouth, he wasn’t disappointed.

“Ah, that is good, friend,” he said, handing the jug back.

This made Daitaro grin.  “The kami blessed this last batch, if I say so myself.  Easier to appreciate how good a job they did out here in the quiet than at home listening to women talk about weddings.”  He hung the jug’s cord back over his shoulder. “So where are you headed, Houshi-sama?  Off to meditate?”

Miroku shook his head.  “Not this time,” he said.  “I’m off to go see InuYasha-sama.  After all, part of the reason I have no quiet at home right now is his wife is there.  It seems fitting that I go suffer in the quiet of his home, since my home has none.”

“Sounds like a reasonable trade, if you ask me,” Daitaro said, nodding as he chuckled.  “Doubt if he’ll talk your ear off.  He doesn’t seem to have a lot to say, most days.”

The two men began walking up the trail.  

“True, true,” Miroku said.  

“Still, he seems to be a good man in a pinch,” the older man said, looking thoughtful.  “I know young Masu’s glad to have his children back, thanks to him. Not afraid of my bull, either. ”

“There’s not too much he’s afraid of, I suspect,” Miroku said,  “after everything he’s been through.”

“Except maybe that wife of his,” Daitaro said.  “I seem to remember back when she was here the first time that she could give as good as she got.  Maybe a little better.”

“I could tell you tales,” the monk said.

Daitaro laughed once again, and nudged him with his elbow.  “One day when my Chime is out visiting instead of being visited, you’ll have to come by and tell me the stories.   Maybe I’ll have some even better saké.”

“I’ll remember that,” Miroku said.  “Although maybe we should find a day with InuYasha’s also busy elsewhere.”

“Maybe so,” Daitaro said, still highly amused.  “I’m going to head off here.  There’s a good place on the other side of the Goshinboku that had the best mushrooms last year.  Going to go see if there’s any up yet.  And if not, there’s a tree there just perfect for taking a nap.  Take care, Houshi-sama.  May you get your peace and quiet!  I’m off to find mine!”

“Enjoy,” Miroku replied, as he watched the old man leave the trail, and cut cross country to find his secret spot.

Faintly, as he stood there, he could hear the sounds of axe chopping wood.  It only took him a minute or two more before he saw the hanyou’s house in its clearing, and the sounds of wood cutting, and the occasional curse grew stronger.

He arrived to find his friend working there without his jacket, and his kosode was clinging to his lean frame damply. Having cleared the limbs off of one the trees he had cut, the hanyou was rolling it out of the way to get it ready to season.  The pile of limbs waiting to be cut up for firewood was growing quite high.  InuYasha ignored them though, and began working on the next tree.  Looking up, he saw the monk, and nodded, then went back to his work.

“I thought you were staying at your house,” InuYasha said as Miroku walked up and  leaned his staff against the wall of the house.  The hanyou studied where to cut next.  Hopping on the tree trunk, he grabbed a protruding branch.

Miroku turned and faced him.“Weren’t you doing this the last time I came by?”

InuYasha brought the axe down in a flash, and there was a small crunch as the branch, almost cut through broke off, leaving a jagged edge on one side.  The hanyou hit the broken wood once more to smooth it, and then wrestled the limb free from where it was entangled with other branches and tossed it on the pile.

“Yeah, well some of us have a lot of work to do,” InuYasha said, studying what he should cut next.  He picked a branch and moved in. The axe flashed down again.

“Yes we do,” Miroku said.

InuYasha looked up at him as he hauled the branch off to throw on the stack. “We?  What’s that supposed to mean, Bouzu?”

“A man came to the village today from Kagemura, that village just past the market day inn.  Seems the locals have a problem they think is a youki or ghost.” Miroku bent over and picked up a broken branch, and tossed it on the pile. “They’ve been seeing dancing flames in the garden and shadows on the wall, but no one there to cast them.  And people who’ve seen it have gotten sick.”

InuYasha took aim at another branch and let the axe fly. The wood gave with a resounding crunch. “Sounds like a ghost to me.”

“It could be a bakeneko. Cat youkai can do things like that.” Miroku  walked up to the veranda. “Of course, they think they’ve been haunted by a black kitsune. Some yamabushi told them so.”

“They always think it’s a kitsune,” InuYasha said, swinging the axe again. “But kitsune don’t make people sick.”  He broke the branch free and tossed it to the side.  “Ghosts do, though.”

“Neko do, too.  Some of them can drain the life right out of a person. And that’s not the only type.  Some of the spider youkai can do it.  And there are others.  But,” Miroku said, “we won’t know until we get there.”

InuYasha tossed the last cut with the others, then turned to his friend, scowling. “You’re expecting me to go with you, I guess.”  He walked over to the side of the house, leaned his axe against the wall, and grabbed the water bucket resting there.

“I was hoping.  Neko can be tricky things to deal with alone. I’m sure you remember what they can be like.”  He looked up at his friend.  “I don’t really want to do this one alone.”

InuYasha’s eyes were unreadable as he lifted the dipper out of the bucket, but Miroku took that as a sign he was considering.

The hanyou  lifted the dipper to his lips.  He took a long drink of water, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and put the dipper back in the bucket.  “Can’t go tomorrow, and maybe not for a few more days,” InuYasha said. “And I don’t think I’m ready to leave Kagome alone yet, especially overnight.”

Miroku nodded.  “I can understand that, but we’re close enough that we shouldn’t be there all day,” he said, grabbing the bucket.  “Maybe a three hour walk there, three hours back, an hour or two to do the exorcism. Kagome-sama can be with Kaede or Sango the entire time we’re gone. You’ll be home in time for dinner.”  He picked up the water ladle and drank.  “Not nearly as good as what was in Daitaro’s jug,” he said, dropping it back in the water to get another scoop.

The hanyou gave him an odd look.  

“I’ll think about it,” he said.  “Good thing that it’s too late today, and we can’t go  tomorrow, either.  Kaede-babaa told Kagome to do some training that she wants me there to help her do. That’s enough wood for today.  Think I’ll go hunting while she’s still busy.”

“What’s Kaede-sama want you to help her with?  Archery?” the monk asked, taking another drink.

“No,” InuYasha said, pulling his jacket on. “Touching.”

Miroku started to choke.  It took him several minutes before he could catch his breath and leave.