InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 71

[ 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 71


For a moment, the gathered people just sat there and watched  the battered yamabushi, trying to decide what to do.

Morio, acting like a frightened five-year-old instead of the grown adult he was, rocked side to side clutching his head. His eyes were clenched tightly. “Okaa, make it stop,” he cried. “I’m scared, Okaa.  Please come get me.”

Hisa walked up to Kagome and  clutched her arm.  “I know he tried to hurt us, and you in particular, Kagome-chan, but . . . ” She took a deep breath. “What do we do with him? This is so strange.  Perhaps we need to call Kaede back.”

“Kaede has her hands full right now with Haname,” Kagome said.  “But wounds - that’s something I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with.” Steeling her shoulders, she took another step and crouched  down not far from the man.  

He opened his eyes to look at her and stopped moving. “Did my okaasan come yet?”

She shook her head.  “I’m sorry.”

“But she’s got to come . . . I hurt so bad.” He started rocking again.

“Morio-kun, will you let me see where it hurts?” Kagome lifted up her hand and moved the cloth away from his shoulder where Shippou had torn it.

He yelped as she touched it, and scooted away. “It hurts!  Don’t touch it. I thought you were nice.”

Kagome sighed.

“You’re not my okaasan.” He wiped an eye with the back of his hand. “Haha-ue wouldn’t have made it hurt.”

“I need to see what happened if I’m going to make it better,” she said. “Please?  You’re still bleeding.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want you to.” He put both hands on his head and began to cry. “Everything is so wrong.”

While Kagome tried to talk Morio into letting her help him, the men, who had not yet moved into the garden, watched as she gently brushed the confused man’s head, only to see him jerk away.  She shook her head, but didn’t stop.

 

“I’m impressed,” Tsuneo said, folding his arms. “Not half an hour ago, that man was trying to kidnap Kagome-sama.  And now she’s trying to help him?  You picked well, Tameo. She’s got the right heart to be a healer.”

“You’d have known that if you’d paid more attention to her when she was here three years ago,” Daitaro said.  He took a drink from his sake jug, then wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “But this man - he’s going to be a handful, ” he said as he corked the jug.

The headman nodded, looking at the gathered men, and scratched the back of his head. “Definitely a handful. So who’s going to take care of him?  He’s going to need a keeper. Someone’s going to have to make sure he has food, clothes, medicine. The kami’s not going be happy if we just kick him out and let the forest take him.  You heard him.”

“It’s going to be a big job,” Tsuneo said, rubbing his chin.

Morio gave a loud keening wail as he moved once again away from Kagome. There was a murmur from the people behind them. A child, not one of Tameo’s grandchildren, walked up and peeked out from behind Susumu.

“No, no, Taro. You need to go find your mother,” Susumu said, turning the small boy around. “We’ll tell you all about it later.”

“Is he a child?” Taro asked. “He sounds like a child.”

“Not exactly,” Susumu said.  

“Haha-ue went to work in her garden,” the boy said, still trying to look past the men. “Is he hurt?”

“Then go see Matsume.  I’m sure she’ll give you a treat if you tell her I told her to,” Tameo said.

“Sweet dumplings?” the boy asked, hopeful.

“Maybe. So go,” Susumu said, pushing him out. As he watched the boy move down the path, he turned to his father.  “Maybe we should get Toshiro in on this.  He’s still with the Isao and Aki.”

Joben had been listening to them talk while glancing from time to time in Kagome and Morio’s direction.  Making a decision, he lifted his head up and rested a hand on his father’s arm. “Wait, Otousan, Tameo-sama.  I brought Morio to the village.  I should be the one who bears the responsibility. It should be my giri.”

Tsuneo looked at him, surprised, and looked at the younger man thoughtfully. “You’re not thinking of vengeance, are you, son?”

“No,” Joben said. “It’s just . . . I feel like I need to do something.”

“Are you sure?  He could be like this for years.” Tsuneo said.

“This one time, on this one thing, let me be the man, Otousan.” The younger man looked at Morio, instead of his father.  “What happened with Okaasan and Aki, and maybe even how I behaved today . . . I caused that when I invited him here, because I thought our luck was being hurt and I wanted to make it better. You were talking to Aki about responsibility. Maybe . . . maybe if I take this on, the kami will . . . ”

“He may,” Tameo said. “Let us know what you need, son.  The kami asked the whole village to take care of this man.”

Joben nodded.

“There’s the back house,” Tsuneo said. “You might want to put him there. I don’t know how long your mother’s going to be at Kaede’s, but once she comes home, I wouldn’t want to put those two together.”

“I’ll ask Akina to help,” Joben said, as he left the group of men.

Kagome was about ready to give up trying to convince Morio to let her look at him. She knelt on the ground, resting her chin in one hand, staring at the confused and weeping man. Joben stopped in front of her, and bowed  “Let me try, Miko-sama.”

Kagome looked up at Joben, surprised by the title. “Try?”

“I...I feel he should be my obligation, Miko-sama.” Joben said, bowing again. “If it wasn’t for my . . . attitude . . . toward  your husband, this day would have never happened. I need to make amends.  Let me start with this.”

She studied his face for a moment - what she saw was sincerity, mixed with sadness and a touch of fear.  But there was a determination in the way he carried himself.  She nodded.

“Morio?  Morio-sama?” Joben said, squatting down near the miko and the yamabushi.

Morio cracked an eye and looked at Joben, then looked around. “Who are you calling?  Morio-sama is my grandfather.  He’s not here, is he?”

“No, Morio-kun,” Kagome said, sighing. “He’s not here, and I’m afraid your Okaasan isn’t coming here, either.  I’m sorry.”

Morio looked from Kagome’s face to Joben’s. Joben nodded.

“My . . . my okaa’s not here?” His face fell. “Where am I?  This isn’t my village. I don’t know you. I...I don’t know where I am!”  His eyes shimmered with fresh tears. “How did I get here?”  He clasped his hands over his head and began to rock back and forth.  “My head hurts so bad.  And my shoulder hurts, too.  How did I get here?  Why do I hurt so bad? I...I can’t remember why I hurt so bad. Okaa!”

Like a little lost boy, he began to cry loudly. “I want to go home. I want to go home. Okaasan would know how to make my head stop hurting.  She always knows how to make it stop hurting.  I want to go home.”

Joben reached out and rested a hand on his head. “I’m sorry, Morio-kun. I don’t know how to find your okaasan, but I have some medicine for the headache. I get them, too.”

“You do?” the confused man said.  He wiped his nose with the back of the hand.  

“Really bad ones, where I have to lie down in a dark room.”  Joben took one of his hands. “They can sometimes hurt for days. But I have a cure. Would you like to come with me?  I can help. My wife knows just the right type of medicine to take away the pain. You’ll feel better.”

Morio sniveled. “Will you help me find my okaasan?”

“If I can,” Joben said. “I’ll give you medicine for your head, and maybe some sweet dumplings, and if you want, my daughter will tell you a story. While you rest, we can see about what happened to your okaasan. So will you come home with me?”

“You want to help me?” Morio asked.

Joben nodded. “I have a son myself. His name is Aki.  He would want me to help you.”

“You won’t let anybody else hurt me, will you?” Morio wrapped his arms tightly around himself.

“Of course not,” Joben said.

Morio chewed on his lip a minute, then nodded.

“Good.” Joben stood up, offering him a hand.

“Would you like me to have Kaede-obaasan stop by?” Kagome asked as they were walking off.

“I think poor Kaede-sama’s going to have her hands full with Haha-ue,” Joben said. “It’ll be all right, at least for a day or so.  Akina and my cousin Amaya have some good experience with dealing with injured boys.” He gave a short sad laugh. “Our sons have given them a lot of experience.”

Morio looked around at the edge of the garden, then pulled on Joben’s hand.  “Come on, Ojisan.  I don’t like all these people watching.”

“Just a moment, Morio-kun.  We’ll be leaving in a moment.”  Joben turned to face Kagome. “I am so sorry, Miko-sama, about everything. I had no idea what he was doing behind my back.  I have been far too shortsighted.”  He gave Kagome a quick bow. “When your husband returns home, I will come by and discuss amends.  Please forgive me and my family for all that we have wronged you for today.  It won’t happen again.”

Kagome, standing up, returned his bow. Joben then led Morio out of the garden, and the gathered crowd, surprisingly silent, parted for them.


Morio’s leaving was evidently the sign that it was safe to enter the garden, and the men joined Hisa and Emi to gather around Kagome.

“Ah, cousin, I am so sorry for everything that has happened here today,” Tameo said, bowing.

Kagome nodded in return. “Morio was a surprise to all of us.”

“Give her room to breathe,” Hisa said, stepping in front of Kagome and pushing back a little on her husband’s chest.  He nodded and took a couple of steps backward. Daitaro did likewise, but not her son. She gave him a push as well. “And that means you too, Susumu. The danger has passed.“

Susumu laughed. “You caught me not paying attention, Okaasan. Too busy thinking about what to do next.”  He stepped back to the edge of the little circle of people. “If I’m that distracted, maybe I should go and see how Kinjiro is doing with Kaede-obasan. It would wake me up.”

Tameo nodded. “And take Isao with you. He looked like he’s still in a lot of pain.”

“He’s a good kid for all of that,” Susumu said, “He’ll probably complain, but I’ll do it anyway.  Just be sure, cousin,” he said to Kagome, nodding at the village elders, “you don’t let these mother hens drive you too crazy. They’re all bossy. If they do, come get me. I’m not always standing around with my mind a thousand ri away.” Giving her an encouraging smile, he headed back toward the houses.

“I’m all right, Hisa-obaasan.” Kagome took a deep breath and chewed on her bottom lip. “You don’t need to worry over me. Maybe I should go help Kaede.”

“No, no,” Hisa  said, taking her by the arm. “I’ve been dealing with people who have been around our kami-sama a long, long time. And besides that, there was everything else. After all this, you need to rest.”  

“Still, it’s been a long time since Kazuo decided to actually manifest,” Tameo said. “This is a day I’ll have to write down in the annals.  The last time - ”

“Bah, tell her later,” Hisa said. “Come dear, let’s go back to the house. You’ve had enough excitement for the day.”

“I don’t remember any other day being quite like this,” Emi said, agreeing, and taking Kagome by her other arm

“I...” Kagome started, then she slumped a little, as the reality that everything was over hit her, and she felt very tired. “Maybe so.”

“Just a moment, Hisa-sama,” Tsuneo said, resting a hand on her shoulder, “and then I won’t bother you or Miko-sama here any more today.”

Hisa nodded, although she took a deep breath and tried, unsuccessfully not to frown.

Tsuneo bowed to Kagome.  “I cannot take today away, and what we have let happen to you, but I can make some amends. Tell your husband to come talk to me. I hear he’s trying to split some trees into boards.  I have just the right person to do it.  It won’t make up for what you went through, but it’s something I can do.”

Kagome returned his bow. “Thank you, Tsuneo-sama. I will tell him.”

“Now that’s enough,” Hisa said.  “We’re going inside. Kagome-sama deserves a long hot bath, and then Emi can give her a massage, and after that, we’ll give her some time to rest before InuYasha-sama comes dashing back home.”

“He’s not going to be happy,” Daitaro commented.

“Especially since it’s going to be the little kitsune child giving him the news,” Hisa said. “Now go away and do your men’s business.”

And with that, Hisa pushed past the group of elders with Kagome and Emi in her wake.

“You have a bathtub?” Kagome asked, surprised. “One you can soak in?”

His nodded. “A big one. You need to come by once in a while to soak and tell me all the news.”

The women walked off.

Tameo looked at Tsuneo, his brows creased as he thought.  He scratched his head.  “That news about InuYasha and the kitsune - I’d go home if I were you. Maybe take your grandson.  We can figure out what’s the best thing to do with him tomorrow.  We’re going to have enough fireworks when InuYasha-sama gets back, at least until we make sure he understands what happened. ”

“Maybe I’ll go home and get another jug of sake,” Daitaro said.  “We might all need some before the evening’s out.”
“It won’t be boring, that’s for sure,” Tameo said. “Kazuo-sama,” he said, turning toward the shrine, “I hope you’re amused now.”

And as the three of them walked out of the garden, Tameo was sure he heard laughter on the wind.


A/N  

I don’t often  throw in extra Japanese words out of the courtesy titles and relationship names and basic clothing words, but today I felt the need to use these two words.

giri - a type of duty you are really, really obligated to do, not something you can get out of, or you will lose face and/or honor.  Often not something you really want to do, but have to.  Duty in English just doesn’t have the same weight.

ri - a distance measure a little less than 2 ½ miles.  It just felt wrong to have Susumu say 1000 miles away...