InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 89

[ 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 88


Daitaro entered the office to find two of the village elders, Toshiro and Tameo, sitting down at Tameo’s table.

“Ah, cousin, I see you’ve managed to join us,” Tameo said, grinning.

With a nod, Daitaro plopped himself next to his cousin. “I couldn’t let you get started without this,” he said, setting his jug of sake on the table. “The stuff you have doesn’t make for good considering.” He uncorked the bottle. “Or drinking.”

Toshiro barked a short laugh. “Someday, someone will show you a jug of sake better than the stuff you make. Then what will you do?”

“Impossible,” Daitaro said, rocking back and forth as he got comfortable. “At least for humans. Maybe some of the Yousei can, but I haven’t tried any of the little people’s stuff.”

Kinjiro, who was leaning against the wall by the window snorted. “Doubt if they’ll offer you any. They’re probably afraid you’ll steal their recipe.”

“More likely, they’ll try to steal mine,” the older man said, looking around the room. “So where is Tsuneo?”

“Out back with the boys,” Kinjiro said, turning to look at Daitaro.  “Where is everybody else? You didn’t get here by yourself, did you?”

“No, no I didn’t.  No, I got here with InuYasha and his wife, and even the monk in tow.”  He looked at Tameo. “Where are the cups?”

“This early?” Tameo asked, reaching to a cupboard behind him. He retrieved a set of tiny cups and put them on the table, but then picked up his own tea cup. “So where are they?”

“If you’d had my morning, you’d join me,” Daitaro said, grabbing one of the cups. “Your wife grabbed them before they got here.”

“Today can’t be as bad as yesterday,” Toshiro said, also grabbing one of the cups. “Not the oddest day we’ve ever had, but pretty close to it.” Daitaro poured some of the liquid into Toshiro’s cup, and placed the jug back on the table. Toshiro returned the favor for Daitaro.

“No, not quite,” Daitaro said, lifting his cup, “but if we don’t stop having days like this, I think I’ll go become a hermit in the mountains.” He drained its contents down.

“So why did Hisa grab InuYasha?” Tameo asked. He sipped his tea.

“Now that’s the interesting bit. Morio was playing with your grandson in front of the house.” Toshiro reached for the jug to refill Daitaro’s cup, but the farmer shook his head no.  

“I saw them when I walked over here,” Tameo said. “Looks like Mitsuo-chan has found a new playfellow, although I’m not sure how wise it’s going to be long term.”

All three of the older men nodded.  

“Joben should have locked him into a shed,” Kinjiro said, sitting down and grabbing one of the cups. He scowled at it, not wanting to meet his father’s eyes, but Daitaro obligingly filled it. “It can’t be good luck to have him hanging around like that.”

“Not sure if the kami would say that, after what we saw yesterday,” Daitaro said, putting down his jug. “Anyway, when InuYasha and Kagome-sama got up to the house, Morio saw InuYasha and began crying for Joben. I think Joben may have to take him home.”  He scratched the bottom of his chin. “Don’t know why he reacted like that - the ghost of a memory?  But he seems more confused than harmful.”

Toshiro sighed. “I can see he’s going to be a handful to care for. Maybe we need to set up a schedule of people to take care of him.”

“If he’ll ever let Joben out of his sight.” Daitaro shook his head.

“Karma,” Kinjiro said, taking a sip of his sake. “Joben brought him here.  He can take care of him.”

“We’ll figure out what to do,” Tameo said.  He put his teacup down. “So how did Hisa get involved?”

“She grabbed InuYasha and Kagome and brought them inside, thinking it might calm him down. Didn’t work, but I suspect they’ll be a few minutes delayed.”

“One thing after another,” Kinjiro said.  He tossed back the last of his sake. “I’ll go tell Tsuneo.”

Getting up, he walked out of the room.

“Where did he get that impatience from?” Toshiro asked, after Kinjiro left.

“It wasn’t from his mother,” Tameo said, picking up one of the sake cups.  “Nobody’s got more patience than Hisa.”

“Unless it’s Chime, or that wife of his.  Matsume has to have tons of patience to cope with that boy of yours,” Daitaro said.  He reached for the jug.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Tameo said, watching as Daitaro filled his cup. “You haven’t heard some of the sounds coming out of his house at night.  Gets kind of loud once in awhile.”

“I bet,” the farmer said.  

While Tameo and the men were discussing the morning’s events, InuYasha sat in one of the back rooms of Tameo’s house and watched his wife getting ready to change clothes. His ear flicked as Miroku laughed at something Hisa said in the other room, but he wasn’t paying much attention to their discussion.

“It sounds like they’re having a good time,” Kagome said.

“Keh,” InuYasha said. “Miroku’s in a house filled with women. You know he’s going to find something to enjoy.” He leaned up against the wall, resting his sword on his shoulder. “At least with him keeping them busy talking, I got to get away.”

“Hisa-obasan is very nice, InuYasha.” Kagome reached for the tie on her wrap skirt. “It only took a few minutes to be nice in return.”

“Yeah,” he said.  “I just...”

“And it’s nice she has an extra room so I didn’t have to change behind a screen.”

“Don’t know why you think you need to change clothes,” the hanyou grumbled. “Everybody knows what you are and who you are.”

Kagome stopped pulling at the bow on her wrap skirt for a moment to look at her husband. He was sitting quite rigid, with a firm scowl on his face and didn’t meet her eyes, choosing instead to stare at the far wall.

“That’s besides the point,” Kagome said. “How do you feel going out without your fire rat jacket or your sword?”

He looked up at her. “But your miko robes are just...clothes.  Not armor or a weapon.”

Kagome, frowning, shook her head. “No, that’s not quite true. They’re armor, just different than yours. People see me and know what I am at a glance, the same way they know what you are and today, what Susumu was dressed for. They protect me just by what they stand for.”  She went back to unfastening her wrap skirt bow. “And besides, it was the easiest way for us to get a moment away from everybody. I thought you might like that.”

His scowl hung on another moment as she let her wrap skirt loosen. As she pulled it away from her body, he let loose a long breath. “Yeah, you’re right.  I do.  They all mean well, but sometimes...”

“I know.  And this hasn’t been an easy morning,” she said, folding the skirt and putting it carefully on the mat next to InuYasha. “I don’t care what the others were saying about getting back to normal - after talking with Haname and seeing Morio, things still feel a long way from that to me.”

InuYasha looked at the garment next to him for a moment while he gathered his thoughts and traced the outline of one of the designs with a fingertip. “Yeah. What I really want is some time to think about everything that’s happened since yesterday afternoon. It’s not just Morio. That story Haname told you...” He looked up and met her eyes. “I bet you do too, but I can tell we’re not going to get that this morning.”

Kagome shook her head. “No, I suspect we won’t.” She loosened the plain belt that kept her kosode closed. “And this week looks like it might be busy, too. If we’re lucky tomorrow might be quiet, but the day after that will be Miroku’s work party, and the village women getting together here. Sayo’s about to have her baby any time now, too.  And I have no idea how much care Haname’s going to need.”

On the other side of the door, they could hear Mitsuo shriek with laughter and Susumu’s voice join in. “Miroku’s not the only one enjoying himself,” InuYasha said.

Kagome nodded as she folded the obi and placed it on her wrap skirt before giving  her husband a wry, if a bit sad, smile.  “I don’t blame them for enjoying a bit of fun. If I had my choice, I’d ask you for another trip to that hot spring we went to before market day.” Her smile broadened. “That was definitely a fun moment.”

InuYasha stood up walked over to her, and before she could slip off her outer kosode, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. “It was, wasn’t it? I’d take you back there today if we had the time.” He rested his cheek on the top of her head. “Everything the last few days has been crazy. I’m sorry I got you dragged into this mess.”

She rested her hands on top of his arms where they circled her waist and leaned back against him.  “You didn’t do anything wrong, InuYasha. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“But - ” he started to say.

Kagome turned around, interrupting him. "When Haname was attacked by whatever youkai that was that killed her family, you were pinned to the Goshinboku, right?  She’s not old enough for that to happen before then.”

“I guess,” he said, his look uncertain. “I kind of get confused by that type of thing.”

“It had to be.  Kaede was a little girl when Naraku tricked you.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “You didn’t ask Morio to do any of those things he did, like egging Aki to come and pull pranks, or telling him to give Haname a nasty amulet, or spike their food with herbs that were going to make them listen to his suggestions, did you?”

His ear twitched. “No,” he said. “But - ”

She put a finger over his lips. “And most of all, you didn’t try to attack anybody in front of the shrine of a kami who is very active in keeping an eye on the people under his protection, either.”

InuYasha kissed her fingertip and gave a small, short laugh. “That kami has a mean punch,” he said. “I hope I never make him mad at me.”

Stepping away from her husband, Kagome shrugged out of her kosode and began folding it.  “I don’t think you need to worry too much about that. He seems to like you for some reason or other, silver hair and all.”

“He sure didn’t like Morio,” InuYasha said.  He went over to the folded stack of her miko garments and handed her the white jacket. “That’s a really hard punishment he dished out. I’ve never seen anything quite like that before.”

Kagome took the garment from him and nodded her head. “I know. I’m not sure exactly why he did it, either.” She slipped her arms into the sleeves. “He said it was a chance for Morio to work off some of his bad karma, but I wonder if he did it to make Joben learn something.”

“Joben definitely has his hands full,” InuYasha said, agreeing. “Watching Morio act like he was a small child just about Mitsuo’s age...” He gave a small shudder.  “That was...disturbing.  I hope Sesshoumaru doesn’t run across him.”

Kagome looked up from tying her chihaya closed. “Why?”

“Watching him is...well, you know something’s really wrong.” InuYasha bent down and picked up Kagome’s hakama. “Sesshoumaru might decide to kill him just so he won’t be disturbed looking at him.”

“Do you really think so?” Kagome asked, surprised at the idea.

InuYasha shrugged. “It’s possible,” he said. “He might actually think he’d be doing Morio a kindness, putting him out of his misery.”

“That’s...” Kagome said, frowning. “We’ll have to talk to the elders about it.”

“Yeah.” InuYasha handed her the red garment.

She slipped into it, and fastened the ties closed. “So many things have happened so fast.”

“I don’t things have slowed down since you came back,” the hanyou said.  He bent over once more and picked up her stack of clothes.  “What are you going to do with these?”

She took the stack out of his hand. “I guess I’ll leave them with Hisa-obasan until we get done.  Ready to go see what the elders want?”

“As I’ll ever be,” he said, moving toward the door.

“Oh,” Kagome said as a thought struck her.  She reached out and rested her hand on InuYasha’s arm, stopping him. “Will you do something for me when we get home?”

He turned and looked at her.  “What is it?”

“Set me up a target to shoot at,” she said. She gave him a rather InuYasha-like smirk.  “If you’re going to tell people I pack a mean wallop with my bow, maybe I should practice shooting again. I haven’t done any archery in a long time.  I wouldn’t want to prove you a liar.”

This made InuYasha laugh. “That I can do. You know, you’re a glutton for punishment.  Learning all this stuff. Dealing with all these people. Putting up with me. And now archery practice?”

Kagome smiled back, and slid the door open. “I know.  But you like me that way.” She stepped out of the room.”

“I must,” he said and followed her outside.