InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 140

[ 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 139

While Miroku and Sango were busy discussing how Chiya had managed to cause all the problems she had, most of the women headed over to the garden where Kazuo’s shrine was kept, along with some of the children. InuYasha and Kagome, though, sat on the verandah of Tameo’s house, waiting in case they were needed. Most of the children who stayed were playing a game of ball, and the two watched as the game progressed.

At least InuYasha was watching. He turned a bit to glance at Kagome, who was staring off into the distance, frowning.

He tilted his head, trying to decide what was wrong, started to say something, changed his mind, and touched her hand. She looked at it for a moment, but turned back to stare at the yard, still not speaking.

“You could go with the other women if you’d rather do that than sit here,” he said. His ear twitched as one of the girls gave a shout. “I don’t mind.”

Kagome shook her head. “I think I’d rather stay here. Sango was pretty upset...”

“Yeah,” the hanyou replied. “That surprised me. It takes a lot to get Sango upset like that.”

“Just the right something,” Kagome replied, giving him a small smile. “I’ve seen her like that before.”

“I guess,” he replied, shrugging. “The woman thing?”

The miko nodded. Just then, Jun’s son Mikio ran into the game and bumped one of the girls, who shoved him back. His mother Riki, who was watching the children, got up and grabbed him.

“Go sit over there, boy, if you can’t play with the rest,” she told him with a small swat to his rear.  Frowning, the boy went and sat under a tree.

“What did she say to you?” InuYasha said.

One of the children tossed the ball and it rolled near the veranda. “Who?” Kagome asked, watching Suzume running after it.

“Excuse me, Miko-sama,” the small girl said, grabbing the ball and running back to the others.

“That bitch.” InuYasha stashed his hands inside of his sleeves. “She’s been more trouble than she’s worth today.”

“Oh, the same old thing. It’s a scandal about being a married miko, having people with youkai blood is bad luck. I don’t think she believes it. She just said it to hurt me.” She leaned up against InuYasha’s shoulder.

“It doesn’t sound like it worked,” InuYasha said, touching her hand.

Kagome shook her head. “It just made me mad.”

An older boy, who looked like he was about eleven, ran through the crowd of younger children scattering their game.

“Move, Hanshi,” the boy said, “You’re in the way.”

“Will not,” she said, crossing her arms. “You’re not Chichi-ue, or even my brother. You’re just my cousin. I was here first. We all were.”

“You’re just a girl,” the boy said in a rather loud voice. “Get out of my way before I make you.”

“Will not,” she repeated.  

The boy glared and made fists and took a step toward the girl.  

InuYasha stood up. “Get the hell out of here, Toshiki,” he said, his voice just as loud as the boy’s. “Go find some other place to run. Leave those kids alone.”

The boy swerved around, looked at the hanyou and gulped. Nodding, he stepped back and ran off in another direction. “I’m not going to forget this, stupid Hanshi.”

As he ran, she stuck her tongue out at him. This made InuYasha grin as he sat back down next to Kagome. “Girl reminds me of you,” he said. “Getting mad and holding her ground like that. She has spirit.”

“Sometimes mad is the right way to be,” Kagome nodded. “He was being a bully.”

InuYasha shook out his sleeves. “Bullies don’t handle being told no very well. Hope Akiko knows how her nephew is picking on her daughter. That brat spent too much time around Aki.”

Riki looked up at the two on the verandah. “We’ll be sure to let her know,” Riki said, picking up one of the smaller children who was falling asleep on the grass. “Thank you for helping.” She laid the child down on a blanket.

InuYasha nodded, and turned back to Kagome. “Bullies. Chiya’s sure been trying to be one today. Don’t know exactly what all was said here, but it sure got that woman wound up by the time she got up the hill,” InuYasha said. “It seems like if she’s unhappy, she likes to stir up trouble.”

“I don’t think I was her real target.” Kagome looked down a moment, then back at her husband. “I really think she was trying to upset Sango, making sly little remarks about people who don’t really belong to the village and that awful thing about saying Sango-chan was like a dog having litters because of the twins.”  

“I know some people think twins are unlucky, but anybody who knows anything about Sango and Miroku...” InuYasha tensed up, obviously not pleased.

“And their such sweet girls,” Riki said, coming up next to the couple. “Who in their right minds would say anything like that about them?”

“Someone who wants to hurt their mother,” Kagome said.

“Keh,” InuYasha said, stuffing his hands back in his sleeves. “And she was still spitting vinegar when she got up the hill.”

Kagome gave him a wry, rather sad smile. “Funny, I laughed when she left. She was in such a huff to get away from us scandalous women, and I thought how she was going to act once she got to the temple and saw you there.” She leaned back against him. “Sounds like she didn’t act any better when she got there than when she left here.”

“I’d say. She saw me next to Kimi and just lit into her,” the hanyou said.  

“Kimi-chan?” Riki asked. “Why would anybody want to attack her? She’s like the kindest person in the village. My Jun calls her Kimi-Kwannon, cause she’s like a little goddess of mercy.” She looked at the children playing. Yukinari once again, stared at the ball that was rolling away from the area. “Are you still afraid of chasing the ball?”

The little girl, her thumb in her mouth, nodded.

“Suzume, go get it for her, please,” Riki said. “I’m afraid Yukinari’s just a little young for this game.”

The girl quickly went and fetched it.

“How come you’re able to manage so many children?” Kagome asked.

“Practice,” Riki said, smiling. “I seem to get the job watching the children a lot. And I like them, and there’s always a lot of them here. One day, maybe one of yours, too, Miko-sama.”

“Everybody’s trying to get me to have a child right away,” Kagome said, laughing a little. “But some day. When the kami says the time is right.”

“Keh,” InuYasha replied, coloring just a little, thinking no doubt about what Myouga had told him about their having a child. Kagome touched his hand, and gave him a reassuring smile.

Riki, not understanding exactly what was going on, decided to change the subject. “So, InuYasha-sama, why did Chiya get angry with Kimi?”

He shrugged. “Like you said, Kimi’s real kind. She saw I had a rip in my sleeve and decided she had to sew it up. She was still working on it when Chiya got there. I hadn’t even taken my kosode off. She was sewing it while I wore it.” He shook his head. “Chiya saw us and just started screaming at her. Don’t know how she kept working during all that noise, but she did. Didn’t get mad at all.”

“That’s Kimi-chan for you,” Riki said. “Patience of Buddha. I’d probably have started yelling back.”

“Keh,” the hanyou said. “I told her a thing or two.”

“A rip in your sleeve?” Kagome said, pulling on InuYasha’s sleeve. “That little place where you tore it this morning getting Aki out of the tree?”

“It got a lot bigger when I fell off the roof.” InuYasha gave Kagome a sheepish look. “I must have caught it on something on the way down.”

“You fell off the roof?” Riki asked, her eyes wide in surprise. “And you’re not hurt?”

“Feh,” InuYasha replied, chuckling. “Takes a lot to hurt me. Only things that got hurt this time were my kosode and my pride.”

“Your poor kosode.” Kagome said with a sigh. “It’s a good thing I just finished your new one. It might take me a week to get this one fixed.”

“Is he always this hard on clothes?” Riki asked.

“I hope not,” Kagome replied. “Otherwise, I might just have to quit the miko business and go into the mending business.”

This caused both women to smile. InuYasha, though, was not nearly as amused.


While this was going on, Tameo, Daitaro and Tsuneo neared the main village street, with Isao right behind them.

Daitaro leaned on his walking stick, and rubbed his hat across the top of his head. “So now what, cousin?”  

The village headman sucked on his bottom lip a moment, thinking. “Let’s go back to my place and put the final touches on what we talked about. I’d like Hisa’s input. This is going to involve more than some of the men. She’s a good one for letting me know how the women will handle it.” Tameo rested a hand on Isao’s shoulder. “Run back to the house, boy, and tell Hisa-sama we’re on our way. If she’s still busy, let her know we’ll head over to the office, but I’d like to talk to her when she gets a chance.”

The boy nodded and hurried off towards the compound. They waited a moment to give him a head start, and began a more leisurely stroll down the road.

“Ah, to have legs like that still,” Tsuneo said, watching the boy run.

“Speak for yourself, old man,” Daitaro said. “I don’t think I ever had legs like that.”

“Been so long ago you forgot the time you outran my ojiisan?” Tameo asked.

That made Tsuneo crack up. “Even I remember that one. When they caught up with you finally, it was a week before you could sit down without a big fat cushion.”

The old farmer coughed into his hand. “Maybe that’s why I don’t like to remember. Chichi-ue had a way with using tools, whether it was a hoe or a cattle prod or leather on his wayward son. That day didn’t turn out like I expected. Today isn’t what I expected either.”

“Haven’t been that many days this last tenday that have,” Tsuneo said. His smile at the old memory faded as he thought about the present. “Hard to believe everything that’s happened.” He shook his head, and looked down at the ground as they walked.

Tameo patted the village elder on the shoulder. “Sorry it’s been so hard on your family.”

“Karma,” Tsuneo said, nodding. “Maybe if I had put my foot down sooner like Michio did today...”

“Bah, that man never has been able to stay away from Chiya for very long,” Daitaro said. “This too will pass.”

“Maybe,” Tsuneo said, shrugging. “Still doesn’t change the fact. I got tired of fighting a long time ago, and just stepped back and let things slide. Haname, my son...” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe we all earned it. Still, here’s hoping we can salvage something out of this and get my grandchildren headed in the right direction.”

“We’ll give it a try, old friend,” Daitaro said. “Aki’ll be coming over to my place in a few days. We’ll see if we can’t make a farmer out of him yet.”

“Good luck with that one, Daitaro. Hope you’re not making a mistake.” Tsuneo looked at Tameo. “Maybe your idea about to do with that man’ll work, too.” Tsuneo sighed, kicked a pebble in the path “Don’t mind me. All this in so few days - I’m just not sure of anything right now.”

“One step at a time,” Tameo said. “I think we have Aki convinced, maybe, at least for a few days, to stop pulling at the bit so hard. We’ll get your house some quiet so your woman can get better. You and Choujiro will get that shed built for InuYasha, and that’ll be out of the way, too. Michio will get over his mad, and your daughter will find something else to fret over that maybe the kami won’t be upset about. Anyway, before long, it’ll be the barley harvest, and then the rice planting, and we’ll all be too busy to even think about it.”

“Let’s hope,” Tsuneo said.

They passed Kaede’s house and moved closer to Tameo’s compound. From the distance, they could hear children’s voices.

“You really think you can convince Denjiro?” Tsuneo asked.

“If the price is right,” Tameo said. “He’s got a lot of mouths to feed, and not enough land.  And if not him, there are other people we can ask. Kisoi, maybe. He might even be a better choice.”

“His woman Sora’s not going to like it, I bet,” Daitaro said.

“That’s why we get Hisa to help us,” Tameo said, nodding. “If anybody could help pick the right people...”

“Couldn’t we just ask Eiji and Kimi?” Tsuneo said, scratching his chin.

“It might come to that,” Tameo said, nodding. “But after today, I suspect even Kimi will have had her fill for a few days. At least you won’t have to listen to Chiya whine all night.”

“Now that might be the luckiest thing of all to happen today,” Daitaro said, chuckling a bit.

“You have a point,” Tsuneo said. “Well, let’s go find Hisa, and get it all figured out. The sooner I can get this done, the happier everybody at my place will be.”

“That’s the spirit, man,” Tameo said.  

The three, striding as briskly as they could, headed past the gate and into the compound.