InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 146

[ 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 145

For a moment, InuYasha stared at Miroku, who looked at him expectantly. The hanyou’s face moved from surprise at the monk’s question, to irritation, as his lips drew down to a solid scowl and his eyebrows knitted together.

“No you don’t, Bouzu,” he said. “You’re not going to use me that way. I’m not here to make you feel better about yourself.” InuYasha glared. “Why are you asking me? Go find someone who understands living in a village, not the hanyou who spent most of his life being chased away from people.” He stepped into the stream, ready to pick up the water bucket.

Miroku wilted for a moment and dropped his head. “Why am I asking you? Because you’re my friend,” the monk said. He picked a new spring leaf off of a shrub he was standing next to. He straightened his shoulders and smiled sadly at his friend, before dropping his eyes again as he twirled the leaf in his fingers. His voice grew soft and questioning. “And I need to understand this. I’ve done what I can to give Sango and my children a good life. But...” Taking a deep breath, he let his words drift off.

InuYasha, still standing in the water, turned away from the bucket to look at Miroku. He crossed his arms, stuffing his hands into his sleeves. “I’m not the person to ask,” InuYasha said. “I don’t understand any of that stuff you do. Or really, why people even listen to you. I’ve seen you in action too often.”

“I know sometimes you think I’m just hustling people,” Miroku said, dropping the leaf and glancing at his friend. The look the hanyou gave him confirmed his assumption, but the monk shook his head. “It’s not that simple, although I cannot say I haven’t sometimes used my position to my advantage.”

The hanyou snorted.

“That was probably deserved. Still,” Miroku said, tilting his head and scratching the back of his neck, “it’s supposed to be for the good of their souls. And this is how monks have always done it, since the days of the Buddha. We’re supposed to give them the chance to get good karma from supporting the Buddha’s work, and help them with their sorrows and hurts, and it’s supposed to make us humble and compassionate towards those who support us. Together, as one, we are supposed to work for the salvation of all.” He sighed. “At least, that’s how Mushin taught me.”

“Compassionate, eh?” InuYasha said. “Is that what you call it?” He shook his head. “Seen some mighty rich monks over the years, while the peasants who fed them were mighty hungry.”

“I did say supposed to,” Miroku said.

InuYasha shrugged. “I guess.”

Miroku’s face grew serious and his eyes stern. “You know I’ve never taken advantage of the village.”

“Keh,” the hanyou said. “I know. You’re not like that damn yamabushi was, hustling people and leaving them worse off than before. Even so, you’re the one who’s got to live in your own skin. If you think you’ve been doing the right thing, why are you bugging me?”

Miroku sighed. “Right now...my skin is feeling, well, a little uncomfortable.” He looked down at the ground and scuffed his sandal back and forth, like a child who was being called down and scolded. “Did I step over the line? I knew Sango was lonely. Remember, I told you about it the day after Kagome came back?”

“I remember,” the hanyou said. His ear flicked at the sound of a bird flying overhead. “You thought it was because she was trained as a taijiya, and she and the other women were uncomfortable with each other. She hides it pretty damn well. I didn’t realize it until told me.” Bending down, he picked up the full bucket.

“She’s the one who thought that,” Miroku said, nodding. He gave the hanyou a sad, thin smile. “She does hide it well, but there were moments...She would see women laughing together and I could see the longing in her face. We talked about it a few times. I even tried to get her involved in a few things, like the sewing parties at Fujime-sama’s house a while back.” He shook his head. “She didn’t tell me exactly what happened at them, but I knew she felt uncomfortable about even trying after a while. And now I find out that...that woman...had been trying to make Sango think she wasn’t welcome.”

“She didn’t tell you who was making her feel bad?” InuYasha said, stepping out of the stream.
  
Miroku sighed. “Sango never wanted to talk much about it, and only asked me to stop trying to get her to do things with the village women. She claimed she was too busy, but I never quite believed that. She only mentioned Chiya saying something about how she made the women uneasy once.” He looked up at his friend. “But the names she did tell me, now that I think about it, were women who tend to be in Chiya’s circle.”

“Feh.” InuYasha picked up the first bucket where it sat beside the stream. “And I thought you kept up on the gossip.” He began moving back toward the house.

“Unfair, InuYasha,” Miroku said, frowning. “It’s not like I was hearing talk about it. Don’t you think I would have done something? Sango said Hisa-sama and the other women didn’t realize it either.  Why should I be the one who figured it all out?”

InuYasha stopped for a moment, and gave Miroku a hard look. “Maybe because Sango’s your wife, and you have more reason to care,” the hanyou said. “And you live with her.”  

“I do care,” Miroku said. He grabbed his friend’s sleeve, which jostled the bucket InuYasha was carrying in that hand. “You know that. Don’t tell me I don’t. I tried to ease her way.”

InuYasha put the buckets down, but didn’t say anything, and merely crossed his arms.

The monk took this as a cue to continue. “There was always something going on. Getting the temple built. Funerals. Our own work. And then the children. Somehow, the fact she was spending most of her time up here or with me just...” He tried to think of something, but shook his head. “You didn’t even realize it until I told you.”

“I’m not married to her, either,” InuYasha replied.

“I don’t think Kagome-sama would be happy with you if you were.” Miroku’s lips curled up in a bitter, sad grin. “I doubt if I would be, either.”

InuYasha ignored the monk’s attempt at humor and took a deep breath, his scowl softening as he let it out. “Go home and talk to Sango,” he said. “This ought to be between you two, not you and me. I can’t wave Tessaiga in the air and all of a sudden make you feel right. This isn’t some youkai to take down.” He picked his buckets back up. “Kagome’s fixing dinner, and it’s been a hard day. I just want to go inside, eat and talk to my own wife. You should do the same.”

He gave the monk one last look before turning around and heading into the house. “But if even the women didn’t figure it out, maybe you’re kicking yourself too hard. Still, if I were you, I’d stay far away from that bitch.”

The monk nodded. “I intend to.”

With a curt nod, InuYasha moved onto the verandah, put down the buckets of water, and went inside.

Miroku sighed once again. “Maybe you have a point friend. Maybe you do.” Taking a long, deep breath, he turned and went down the path.



While Miroku and InuYasha talked, the small group of women in front of Kimi’s house gathered around as first Kimi, and then Kaede walked inside, quickly followed by Koume and Fujime.

Chiya lay curled up on a mat in the corner of the house against the farthest wall. It was obvious that she had been crying, even if the women hadn’t been there to hear her outpouring. Her hair was unkempt and her head scarf had come off sometime during her tirade. The neckline of her kosode had slipped a bit, as if she had been tugging on her clothes during all of this. There were scratches on her cheeks as well. She was still not out of tears. Even as the women walked in, she sobbed quietly to herself.

After the door mat rattled closed behind Fujime, she took a deep breath and  slowly sat up. Finding her scarf, she dabbed at her eyes with the cloth, gaining some control as she turned toward the women. That done, she pulled the neckline of her kosode back into place, and sat up with as much dignity as she could muster. Her nose and eyes were very red, and she had bright blotches on her cheeks from her outbursts, above and beyond the scratches, but she didn’t look like a woman who was feeling defeated as she looked at the four newcomers. Instead, her eyes were angry.

She twisted the scarf in her hands. “I’m surprised there aren’t more of you. Come to gloat?” she said. “‘Let’s go look at Chiya, the woman whose own father didn’t have a place for her?’” She turned to Kimi. “You’re the one who invited me here. I thought you were my friend, to offer me sanctuary when my own family wouldn’t, but you invited these people in?”

“I am your friend,” Kimi said, stepping barefoot onto the raised wooden floor. “That’s why I sent for Kaede-sama. Fujime-okaasan and Koume-okaasan came because they were concerned, not because they wanted to gloat.”

Koume coughed, covering her mouth, but kept her face neutral. Kimi gave her a sharp look, but said nothing.

“How are you doing, child?” Kaede said, as she slipped off her sandals and stepped up on the raised wooden floor.

“How do you think I feel?” Chiya said, glaring at the old miko. “If you had never let those people use our village...”

“Those people had a destiny that was tied here,” Kaede said, refusing to react to the woman’s anger. Instead, she merely sat down next to her. “We have been over this before. It was what I was supposed to do. I’m here to see if I can help you.” She sat her basket next to her and reached for Chiya’s wrist.

Chiya pulled away, not willing to let the miko touch her. “Help? Everything started to fall apart when you let them in the village. Now I’m...How would you feel if you were ripped from your family because...because of that...” She covered her face with her hands.

“Oh, I know very well what that feels like,” Kaede said. “First I lost my parents, and later, my sister was taken away from me. Youkai were involved with that, too. Or did you forget what happened to Ane-ue? These were the people who avenged her for me.”

The distraught woman had no words to reply to that, and instead, picked up the scarf in her lap and began to twist it again.

Kaede took a long breath, shook her head, and turned to Kimi. “We need some hot water. The herbs I brought need to be made into a tea.”

Kimi nodded and moved to the fire pit where she put a kettle on to heat.

“So you plan on dosing me with the same thing you gave Haha-ue to get her under your control?” Chiya said.  

“I only gave her medicine to help her rest,” Kaede said. Her voice was touched with the almost exasperated tone an adult has when explaining things to a rebellious child. “I can assure you, she’s far from under my control.” She grabbed for Chiya’s wrist again, and this time, Chiya let her fatigue show and sighed as the miko wrapped her hand around her wrist, feeling her pulse.

“Or anybody’s, if you ask me,” Fujime said, stepping up onto the platform. Koume followed her up.

Chiya looked at the knot of women, the fire going out of her eyes. “I’m too tired to fight any more. I’ve been fighting all afternoon,” she said, hanging her head down. “Do with me what you want.”

“I want to help you get better, so we can figure out what to do tomorrow,” Kaede replied.

“As do we all,” Kimi said.

“A good night’s rest will help you most of all right now,” Kaede said. “Your pulse says you are definitely in need.” She picked up her basket and began going through the medicines she brought.

While Kaede selected from her herbs, Fujime moved next to her daughter-in-law. “Kimi-chan, I’ll fix the dinner for you. I suspect you’ll have your hands full.”

“That would be lovely, Okaa-san,” Kimi said, nodding, poking the fire with a stick. “You’re sure you don’t mind having the children stay with you right now?”

“Not at all, dear,” Fujime said, sitting down next to her daughter-in-law. “And if they make your otou too nervous...”

“Then they can spend the night with me,” Koume said, joining the two women. “You know your father. Nothing rattles him.”

Chiya pulled her hand away from Kaede again, covered her face, and began to sob. “But who is going to take care of my children tonight?”

“Perhaps you should have thought of that earlier,” Koume muttered.