InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 57

[ 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 57


Unaware of the flurry of activity taking place near their homes, InuYasha and Miroku hurried on their way to the village of Kagemura.  Miroku worked hard to keep up with his friend who was setting a hard pace, even as the ground grew rockier and steeper and the trees thinned out.  It was getting harder for the monk to keep up, and he was growing irritated and tired.  Spotting a large flat slab of rock near the roadside, he stopped.

“Wait, InuYasha,” the monk said.   “I have a rock in my shoe.”

InuYasha turned around, his ear flicking, and frowned.  “That’s what happens when you wear shoes.”

Miroku sat on the boulder and slipped off his sandal, watching the offending pebble fall to the ground. “Unfortunately, not all of us have feet gifted with youkai toughness.”.

The hanyou said nothing, but crossed his arms as he watched the monk put his sandal back on.

“Now that’s better,” Miroku said.  He fumbled for his water container, then unstopped it and drank deeply.

InuYasha stared at his friend, impatient to get further down the road.  

“How much further do you think?” the monk asked.  “We must be nearly to the marketplace crossroads by now.”

“Not much further,” InuYasha said.  “If we keep it up, maybe we’ll get to Kagemura in less than an hour. We’ve made good time.”  He frowned as he watched his friend give him a small smile, then drink again.  “You done yet?”

“No,” Miroku said. “You’ve been setting quite a pace this morning. Ever since we met that peddler, I’ve barely been able to keep up.”

“Feh,” the hanyou said.  He looked up at the sun, trying to gauge the time. “We have a job to do and I just want to get it done.”

“Well, if we keep at this speed, I’ll need to take a rest before we get started.” He restoppered his water container.  “I really don’t think I want to tackle a bakeneko while exhausted. I know Sango expects me to get home in one piece.”

InuYasha let out a long breath, knowing when he was going to have to give in. “Keh,” he said, and sat down next to the monk and nodded; from the way he tapped his fingers on the rock, it was obvious that he was really not ready to stop.

“Relax, my friend.  I know what your problem is, but there’s nothing to worry about.  Kagome’s in the best hands. You know that Kaede, nor Sango, nor Tameo will let anything happen to her. I imagine Daitaro’s patrolled the area at least twice, hoping to find his troublemaker.”

“I know that.” The hanyou’s ear twitched again as a bird landed in a tree across the road.  “Yeah, I know it.  But I just have this feeling.”

“A feeling about what?”  Miroku stretched his right leg, and rotated the ankle.

InuYasha looked off into the distance.  “I don’t know.  Something.  It just feels like something’s not right.”

“All the more reason we should continue at a reasonable pace, InuYasha.” Miroku drew his leg up and rubbed the calf. “We’ll be there soon enough.  But I really need to take a break first.”  

A man, his head covered with a conical rush hat, walked towards them, leading a horse laden with bundles and baskets. Spotting the couple, he gave InuYasha a hard look.  InuYasha met his eyes with an equally stern look, but made no move as he watched the man.  The traveler nudged his horse to the far side of the road, chanting something about protection from monsters. Neither of them spoke until he cleared the area.

InuYasha bent down, and picked up a pebble then tossed it across the road. “Stupid merchant,” he muttered

“Some are,” Miroku said, rubbing his other leg. “I’ve always found that to be handy. Wonder where he’s coming from?”

“Who knows? Smells like he’s packing  fish,” InuYasha said.  “Maybe he came from Edo.”

“Could be,” the monk said.  “A good bit different from the peddler we ran into this morning. I for one don’t want to catch up with him.  If you spooked him that badly just sitting here, it could alert whatever youkai we’re going to find in Kagemura that something unusual’s coming.  Let’s sit here a bit longer.”  Miroku pulled out his travel bag. “Good time to eat lunch, even if it’s a bit early.”

“You sure you’re not just using him for an excuse?” the hanyou asked.

Miroku laughed.  “Well, this way we’d get three things done at once - let an unpleasant person get down the road, let me rest, and give you something to do while you’re waiting.”

InuYasha snorted at Miroku’s analysis, but stuck his hand in his jacket for the bundle Kagome had sent him with for lunch.  As he grabbed it, the small carving Hiseo had given him to carry fell out and landed near the monk.

Miroku stopped spreading his own lunch bundle out as he watched the little carving land by his foot.  He bent down and picked it up, then ran his fingers over the little item. It was carved like  a chubby boy dressed only in a long bib garment.  The work looked amateurish, but it was clear who the figure was meant to be.

“Here’s your Kintaro toy,” the monk said, handing it back to InuYasha.  “I wonder why Hiseo thought you ought to have it.”

“Luck, he said.”  He held it for a moment in the palm of his hand.  “You know the Kintaro story, don’t you?”

“Sure,” Miroku said, opening the carry cloth that held his lunch.  “The way I heard it was that Kintaro was the son of a samurai and a woman who became a Yama-uba.  He was really, really, strong, and the children who lived on the mountain where he grew up would have nothing to do with him, so he made friends with the animals, He learned their language and had many adventures.”

“Yeah, that’s sort of the way my mother would tell it to me,” InuYasha said, putting the figurine back in his robe.  “It was my favorite story when I was little.”  He unfolded his own lunch bundle and began to unwrap an onigiri. “It’s kind of funny. I think I kind of felt we were a lot alike. I was the strong boy nobody wanted to play with, and my father was a youkai, while his mother was.  But I never had any good adventures like he did.”  He took a bite of his food.

Miroku put down his own rice ball for a moment. “And, Mushin said, that after all these adventures, a samurai found him and took him back to the world of people, where he became a famous warrior.”

“Yeah, well nobody ever came and rescued me,” InuYasha said, frowning.  “Instead, I ended up being chased by everybody until I was strong enough to hit back.”

“Sorry, my friend,” Miroku said.  “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“Keh,” the hanyou said.  “It’s all done now anyway. It was just kind of interesting that the brat wanted me to have his toy.”  He finished his rice ball.  Kagome had packed some pickle slices with his food, and he slowly chewed one.

Miroku stared thoughtfully while he finished his onigiri, but then smiled as an idea struck him. “Yet, InuYasha, in an odd way, you still parallel his story.  It wasn’t a great samurai who found you and brought you to civilization and made you a heroic warrior, true.  But look what happened when Kagome-sama showed up.  She freed you, and as you began searching for the shards, you definitely became a hero.  Now you have a home, and respect, and a place to belong. Funny how that worked out.”

“Huh,” InuYasha replied.

Miroku ate the rest of his meal in silence.  InuYasha, finishing his pickles, wiped his hand on the carry cloth then, pulled the toy out one more time.

“Never thought of it that way before,” he said. “Me and Kintaro.”  Then stuffing the toy and the cloth he carried his food in back into his jacket, he stood up.  “Get up, Bouzu.  We’ve got a youkai to take care of.”

Miroku got up.  “Sounds good.  Long as we don’t try to walk there at your top speed.”

While the men walked, Kagome and Kaede returned from the shrine and got seriously to work as Kaede pulled out various healing herbs used to help people with pain.  Soon the space around them was filled with jars and packets of fragrant and not so sweet scented items.  

Shippou popped back in once, but started to sneeze and went back out.  

“Ginger can help reduce the swelling and make the pain more bearable,” Kaede said, handing Kagome a piece of the root.  “It’s usually better to try to relieve the cause of the pain than just deaden the pain itself, although sometimes we have to do that for a while when the pain is great. Grind this up for me, please.”

Kagome took it and began grinding it in the mortar.   She sang as she worked the herb.

“My sister went to Edo.
One two three
She bought a box of candies
one two three
and gave them to my brother
one two thee
and let me have the box.”

“You have a good voice, child,” the older woman said.  “Although there are better things to sing when making medicines, songs that actually help them work better.”

Kagome looked up at the older woman, surprised. “It’s not going to hurt anything, is it? It’s just a little children’s song I would sing when I was young and doing chores” she asked, dropping the pestle.  “I could start another batch.”

“No, no,” Kaede said, patting the younger woman’s hand.  “It’s fine. It’s just your voice is good, and I think we’ll add learning about word magic to your training.”  She smiled at Kagome.  “Not everyone has the talent, and it takes more than a good voice, but a good voice makes it much easier. I don’t want to try to drown you in too much to learn too fast, though. If Tameo-sama finds out, he might try to have you sing the blessing for the rice planting.  If he asks, don’t - ”

Before she could finish, the door mat blew open and a breathless Shippou ran into the house, scattering a pouch of dried angelica as he hurried to stand next to Kagome. His eyes were wide and panicked. “She’s coming!  She looks really mad, like she wants to hurt someone.”  Taking a deep breath, he sneezed.

“Who is, Shippou-kun?” Kaede asked.

Kagome put down her mortar and held out her arms to the small kitsune, and he bounded into her lap.

“I was on the roof when I saw her headed this way. It’s -” He sneezed again, and rubbed his nose.

Suddenly, there was a banging on the door frame.   “Kaede, are you there?” a woman yelled.  It was an unpleasant voice, bitter and angry.

“Ah, I know who this is.  Let me take care of it.”  Kaede put the herb basket she was holding down, and with a grunt stood up and walked slowly to the door.

“Kaede!” the woman called again.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, Haname,” Kaede said.