InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 128

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


Chapter 127

Tameo sat down next to Daitaro, looking at the little temple and the men gathered around it. He rested his hand against his lower back and rubbed. “Remember when our backs were that young?”

“Speak for yourself, cousin.” Daitaro laughed. “I don’t know if I can remember that far anymore.”

Kimi, Eiji’s wife came by the two older men, carrying a tray. “Tea, Tameo-sama? Daitaro-sama?”

“Thank you, Kimi-chan.” Tameo watched as Kimi set the tray down and poured the green liquid into a cup. “How’s that boy of yours? I don’t see him here helping.”

“He’s supposed to be working on the soybeans,” she said, as he took his cup. “Maybe he’ll do what he’s supposed to. I wouldn’t be shocked to find out that he ran into Akemi somewhere along the way and they’re down at the river.” She offered a cup to Daitaro. Surprising his cousin, he accepted.

“Eh, steady work is hard on a boy his age,” Daitaro said. “Yoshi’s no different from any other boy of twelve years. He’s better than I was at that age.”

“He tries,” Kimi said. “Please, let me know if you want more tea. I’ll be over there,” she said, pointing to a brazier where two other women were cleaning the last of the lunch dishes and heating water. “We’re going to keep tea ready for whoever might want some.” She picked up her tray, and bowing, went back to join the others.

Tameo watched her go, and took a breath. “If things weren’t so...well, busy, at my place, I’d go home, and if my back didn’t hurt, I’d go back to the fields...” he said, shaking in head. “Anyway, I see you can remember being a young one after all.”

Daitaro chuckled. “It’s fuzzy sometimes, but I get flashes,” he said, then took a sip out of his cup.

Tameo said, grinning at his cousin. “And drinking tea?”

“Saving the good stuff for when the job’s done,” the old farmer said, patting the jug hanging from a strap across his chest. “Just in case we need a clear head, what with all those young backs up on the roof.”

As if on cue, one of the men moved one of the ladders while they watched. As he moved it, he stumbled, taking the ladder with him before he let go and it tumbled to the ground. An arm on the roof grabbed at the ladder and missed, almost taking the body of the man who belonged to it over the edge, but he was steadied by Genjo.

InuYasha leapt from the edge of the roof and landed on the ground, helping the man who had tripped, then moving the ladder back into position.

“Shinjiro, you let anything happen to you before your wedding, and your okaasan will skin us all,” he said, looking up at the man, still held tightly by his brother.

Tameo turned and looked at his companion. “You might have a point there, Daitaro. Or else we need to get drunk enough not to care.”

“Didn’t bring enough for that,” Daitaro said, and finished his cup of tea.

Shinjiro glanced at his father and Tameo looking at them working, and back down at the hanyou. “Don’t worry, InuYasha. If I do anything too stupid, after all the preparations Haha-ue’s done, Chichi-ue would make sure we’re all properly tenderized so she wouldn’t have much work to do.”

Daitaro looked up at his grinning son. “You’re damn right, after all the craziness this is putting us through. And Takeshi and his family would finish up.”

Shinjiro laughed. Genjo handed him a roof rock that he passed to InuYasha. “Then we’ll have to make sure nothing happens to me.”


Back at Hisa’s house, the pleasant conversation stopped as they heard a shout and a sudden wail from outside.

“Mitsuo, no!” Yorime’s voice said, clearly irritated. “Leave those girls alone!”

Emi sighed and stood up. “Maybe I better go see what’s happening.”  

“Boys will be boys,” Hisa said as her daughter-in-law headed to the door to see what had happened. “If you think you need to stay out, I can manage.”

Emi nodded and stepped outside.

“They’re so sweet at this age,” Sango said. She put down her sewing for a minute and brushed her son’s hair. “Sometimes, I don’t know if I’m looking forward to him getting older.”

“They are indeed,” said Fujime. “And they can still be sweet later, even when they grow up and turn into scoundrels like my sons.”

“Okaasan,” Teruko, daughter-in-law of Fujime, said as she walked in, carrying her own child. “You know that Haruo isn’t a scoundrel. He just gets sidetracked.”

“Ah, Teruko-chan, you’re too nice to him,” Fujime said, patting the mat next to her. “Didn’t he make you late today?”

The younger woman shook her head. “Not this time. It was your granddaughter. She had to get changed at the last minute.”

“Even little girls can have their scoundrel moments,” Koume said, digging through her sewing basket looking for some thread. “After all, look what happened to mine - running off to marry Eiji. And her sister...”

Fujime laughed as she worked on basting two lengths of fabric together. “So it’s not my son? It’s your daughter who’s the scoundrel there?”

Koume smiled back at her companion. “Well, her father was thinking of that smith down in Edo...”

“You know my son and your daughter had wanted to be married for years,” Fujime said. Kagome couldn’t tell if Fujime was really irritated or mocking the other woman. “Not my fault she has your husband wrapped around her little finger. He might be good with hammering out metal, but she’s good at hammering out people who try to tell her no.”

Teruko, putting her daughter down next to her, nodded. She reached for her sewing basket. “She’s very good at that, and it’s a good thing she is, considering her youngest is almost as good at that as she is. She’ll be having her own worries in about five or six years, I suspect.”

“My father always used to say grandchildren are the best revenge a person can have on their own children,” Fujime said. “When I least expect it, I keep finding it to be true.”

The older women chuckled, while Teruko and Mariko sighed, and exchanged glances with Sango.

“Do they talk like this often?” Sango asked.

Mariko nodded. “More than you might imagine.”

Koume laughed. “Oh, don’t mind us. Fujime-chan and I have been making jokes about Eiji and Kimi for years. Everyone knew they were meant to be married since they were about ten.” She knotted the thread she had been sewing with, and snipped it expertly.

“And she’s been an excellent daughter-in-law,” Fujime said. “And a good mother. She ought to have been here today. But since someone had to help them with taking care of the men working at the temple, she’s available to talk about.”

“That’s why I knew better than to stay away,” Teruko said. “Kimi made me promise to tell her everything you two said about her.”

Kagome laughed with the other women, as she took the last stitches in her kosode, cut the thread, then held it up. “I think I’m finished.”

“Let me see it,” Sango said. She looked at the seams inside, and nodded. “You’ve done a good job.”

“Is that for your husband?” Koume said. This time there was no hesitation over the word husband.

Kagome nodded. “It’s the first one I’ve ever made.”

“You’ve never made a kosode before?” Chime asked, surprised.

“No,” Kagome said, looking sheepish. “Where I came from, someone else made all our clothes.”

“And you gave all that up to come here?” Mariko said. She put down her sewing for a moment as her son stirred. Patting him on the back, she watched as he settled down. “You were rich and moved into a village of poor farmers?”

“We weren’t rich, really,” Kagome said. “It was just the custom that only some people sewed and other people did other things.”

The women shook their heads rather unbelieving.

“Well anyway, I hope you like to sew,” Fujime said. “You’ll be doing a lot of it.”

“Especially once the little ones start coming,” Teruko said. “And especially if they’re boys.”

Sango handed the garment back to her. “And knowing InuYasha, you’ll be doing a lot of mending.”

“I’ve noticed that,” Kagome said, folding the shirt. “I’ve had to mend his shirt twice this week already. I have a feeling I’m going to become an expert at it.”

“If you need more practice,” Akiko said, “just let me know. I’m sure I can give you plenty to practice on, with my brood.”

Laughing, Hisa made another pot of tea.



While the women drank their tea, the men at the temple removed the rocks and crossbeams that were used to help keep the roof in place when the storms blew up.
 
Masu climbed partway up the ladder where Susumu handed him a rock.  

“That’s the last one,” Susumu said. “How’s the other side doing?”  

“Good,” Masu replied. He backed down the ladder and added his stone to the pile.

“Almost there,” Hisoki said, peeking up over the roof ridge. “About half a dozen more stones. Your team wins this round.”

“It’s sure not because we have more people,” Susumu said, dusting his hands off.

“Well, our side doesn’t have InuYasha-sama,” Hisoki said, grinning.

“Feh,” the hanyou said, turning around to look up at the two men. “Still only have one pair of hands.”

“But you don’t need a ladder,” Isamu said, joining Hisoki. “That gives you an edge.”

“Just meant you got to use an extra one,” Susumu said. “That should give you the edge.”

“He’s got a point,” Shinjiro said.

Isamu laughed and went back to work.

“So what’s next?”  InuYasha asked.

“Tea for me.” Susumu moved toward the ladder. “You want some?”  He found no takers, and headed down.

“Remind me,” Shinjiro said, “to figure out something extra for him to do later.” While the hanyou chuckled, he began examining the boards. “First, we want to find out where leaky parts of the roof are. We may have to do more than just cover it up.” He carefully began examining the roof boards.

Miroku and Ryota walked around the building from the other side. “So how does it look?” the monk asked.

“The winter wasn’t very nice to your roof.” Shinjiro touched one board, weathered and a little rotten around the edge. “Some of these boards must have been bad to start with.”

“Considering we were having leaks, I’m not surprised to hear that,” Miroku said.

“This is what you get for not letting me fix it last time,” Ryota said.

Miroku scratched under his chin. “If I remember right, you were rather busy making sure about three other families had a good roof for the winter after that storm.”

“And I for one am thankful,” Hisoki said. “Haha-ue was sick enough last winter. It would have been worse if the rain had gotten in.”

“Better karma for you anyway,” Miroku said. “Maybe not so lucky for the temple, but we’ll take care of it now.”

“It was pretty busy,” Ryota acknowledged. “So how many bad boards you see?”

“At least three,” Shinjiro said. “We need to see how bad the sheathing is.”

Isamu peeked back up over the top of the roof ridge. “This side’s a little better. It gets more sun, but there are a few places...”

“Does that mean you can’t just put shingles on the old boards?” Miroku asked.  

“Not if you want the roof to last,” the foreman said. “Although if you’re in a hurry, we could just replace the damaged boards and forget the shingles.”

“That’s what we did last fall after the storm,” Miroku said, shielding his eyes as he looked up at the men on the roof. “It didn’t stop the leaks. Besides, a temple needs a better roof than that. I wish we could afford tile. But Kwannon was merciful, and after that samurai decided to donate all those cedar shingles, who was I to turn him down?”

“I don’t know if donate’s the right word,” InuYasha said. He bent down to look at the monk. “You might be a little more honest about it.”

“Well, it was a reasonable fee for what we did for him,” the monk said. “We did save his prize horse from that youkai. It was worth a lot more than the shingles.”

“I guess,” InuYasha said. “He seemed more worried about his horse than the men who were working on his lands.”

“Eh, Samurai,” Genjo said, walking up. “Not surprised. Funny how they think there’s a limitless supply of farmers, but only so many horses.”

“Just be glad they can’t ride you into battle,” Ryota said. “Let’s get those boards up so we can see what we need to do.”