InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 166

[ 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 165

Kagome and InuYasha entered their little house, still laughing.  

After putting the dish of pickles on the kitchen cabinet, the young miko stretched, and then went to sit down by the fire pit on her own mat. She leaned forward, letting her hands skim near the top of the ash there. “Do you think there’s any heat left in the coals?”

“If not,” InuYasha said, grabbing his basket of kindling, “that’s easy enough to fix. We did get out of here in a hurry last night. I might have to start a fresh fire.” He stirred the ashes, looking for enough coal to start the fire.

“I ought to fix us some breakfast,” she said, reaching for her rice pot, but as she got up, she gave a big yawn, and then giving into the sensation, stretched her arms.

InuYasha, looking up, said “Only if you want some. They kept offering me food all night. I’m not really hungry.” He found a coal, added some wood shavings, and began building the fire back up.

“They did the same to me,” Kagome said, putting the pot back down. “I guess they thought it would help keep me awake.”

“I don’t really think that helps much,” the hanyou said. He reached for some firewood. “Being busy or scared helps more.”

“I prefer busy to scared, if you want to be honest about it.” Kagome walked over to the water bucket, and got a drink of water while she looked thoughtfully around their little house. “If you don’t want to eat anything just now, then I’ll lay the bedding out.  I’m not sure if I’m sleepy enough, but the way I keep yawning, it won’t hurt to get ready.”

“Works for me,” he said. “I’ll make just enough fire for us not to have to make a new fire when we’re ready.”

She walked to the cabinet where they kept their bedding, and opened the door to get the futon out. “Last night they kept me busy to stay awake. I wasn’t ever afraid,” she said, grabbing the bedding. “I was excited some, and curious and nervous, the way people can get when they’re doing something the first time, but never scared. Now if Kaede-obaasan had gotten frightened, I probably would have.”

“Keh,” the hanyou said, snapping some smaller pieces of wood in turn. “It takes a lot to ruffle Kaede-babaa. If she’s afraid, there’s probably a real reason.” Nudging a larger piece of wood to catch when the small wood got going well, he dusted off his hands. “That’ll do it.”

Kagome unrolled their bedding. “In fact, I think I amused Sayo by how I was acting. Maybe it helped her, talking me through each phase, telling me stories about her other childbirths. Anyway, until the last bit, when it gets hardest, she had amazing patience with me. There was a lot of time that I felt all thumbs. Kaede has delivered so many babies, and Nanami had several of her own, and this was Sayo’s fourth. And I didn’t know anything, except what I’d heard and read about.”

“Everybody’s got to start somewhere,” InuYasha said, moving next to her. “So what did you do?” He helped her spread the cover over the futon.

“Mostly learned about ways to help a woman relax when it hurts,” she said, going to get their pillow bolsters. “Massage and stuff like that.”

“Pain hurts more if you tense up for it,” he said, nodding. He squatted down to watch her finish making the bed. “I learned that one the hard way. Got hurt enough to get a lot of practice about not tensing up.” He turned his head to the side, thinking a moment. “I...I haven’t seen how humans give birth but I’ve seen animals in the wild do it. It’s kind of hard and bloody. Did it bother you seeing how it really happens?”

“No, not at all,” she said, standing up and  unfastening her jacket. “Remember Mama’s TV box? The one that looked like it had plays and stuff inside it?”

“Yeah. I always wondered how that worked. I know you didn’t have little people in there.” He looked up at her. “Figured it was some sort of weird magic.”

“It is, in a way,” Kagome said. “But anyway, there were programs where they showed how birthing happens. So I’ve kind of seen it, although not in the same way as being there. Nothing beats being there to realize how real it is.”

“Yeah, I can believe that.” He stood up.  

“Anyway, by the time the baby came, I was really pretty excited, and not bothered at all,” Kagome said, slipping out of her chihaya.  

“I just was wondering. I know a lot of men try to stay busy and do stuff, and not get too wound up about their women giving birth. I guess it’s because there’s nothing they can do much to make it better. Miroku was here when the twins were born. It took Sango a long, long time with them,” he said, watching her. “More than twice the time it took Sayo. I think Miroku was afraid she’d never want to have another one.”

“Twins can be more difficult, and I’ve been told the first one takes longer, usually, anyway. But Kaede told me she didn’t have any trouble with Naoya.” She examined her jacket, and decided it could be used one more day, and laid it on their chest. “But why did you want to know if it bothered me?”

He looked down at the floor, having found the wood grain suddenly interesting. “I don’t know.” His ear flicked. “It’s just that...well, nobody here knows more about birthing than Kaede, and she sure never has tried to have one of her own.” He looked up at her. “I was wondering if that was because...”

It dawned on Kagome what he was asking. “No, InuYasha,” she said, moving next to him to lean up against her husband. “Kaede never had any children because she never found a man she valued more than her work here. It didn’t make her afraid of having children. It’s not going to make me afraid either.”

He wrapped an arm around her. “Yasuo was telling me about how his okaasan died. She got sick towards the end when she was carrying her last baby, and when her time came, she and the baby both died.” He pulled her close, letting his hand sweep across her head and arm. “This is why he gets so nervous when Sayo has a baby.”

“Ah,” Kagome said. “I’ve heard of things like that. It would happen sometimes in my...in the time where my mother lives.” She looked up at him. “It’s not common.”

Wanting to change the subject, she let out a big yawn and stretched. “I’m tired of thinking about babies.”

“There are other things we could think about.” His hands went to the tops of her shoulders and began to gently rub.

“Like what?” she asked, melting into his touch.

“Oh, like how to get Kagome to relax.” He planted a little kiss on the side of her neck.

“Just keep doing that,” she said. “You’re on the right track.”

He let one hand trail down to her waist and begin to fumble with the ties of her hakama. “You want me to take it up a notch?” he asked.

“As long as you’re there to catch me,” she said. “That feels good enough that I might fall asleep standing up.”

“I’ll always be there to catch you, woman.” As he unfastened the last knot the red garment pooled to the floor, and he picked her up and laid her down. He had barely started rubbing the small of her back when she snored.

Chuckling to himself, he slipped out of his own red garments, and content to stretch out next to her, fell quickly into a dreamless sleep.




While Kagome prepared her bedding, the doormat at Eiji’s house rattled as his daughter Tazu walked in.

“Okaasan, Koume-obaasan wants to know if I should come home for breakfast or eat with her,” the girl said.

Kimi, hearing Chiya getting dressed behind the screen, looked at it, then looked at her husband, who shrugged.  Kimi bumped her lips with a folded knuckle, a habit of hers when she was thinking. “If your obaasan wants to share breakfast with you, Tazu-chan, then you should share breakfast.”

Tazu nodded, but didn’t turn to go.

“Is there something else?” Eiji said, eating another pickle slice.

“She asked if I wanted to help with the dyeing today, too.” Tazu wrinkled her nose, and made a face.

Kimi laughed, in spite of the worries that her houseguest was causing her. “Some of the dyes really smell.”

Tazu nodded. “She’s going to work with indigo today.” The girl looked down at her feet. “Do I have to help?”

Eiji looked at his wife, and tried to smooth his own face. He gave her a wink, then turned to his daughter. “Isn’t it your turn to weed and water the vegetable garden today?”

She knitted her brows together. “But I thought that was...” She stopped a moment, and realized what her father was suggesting, then nodded. “Yes, yes. I forgot.”

“Well, then,” Eiji said. “I want you to tell your obaasan we need you today. You can help her tomorrow when she’s not doing the indigo dyeing.” He rubbed his chin, watching her. “And while you’re there, tell her that Sayo’s baby’s come. She might want to check on her.”

“I will, Otousan.” Tazu bowed.

“Tell your obaasan I’ll come over later,” Kimi said. “If she still needs help, I’ll join.”

Tazu nodded and left.

“I always hated visiting you when Koume-okaasan was doing the indigo,” Eiji said, watching his smiling wife after his daughter was out of earshot.

“I hated working it,” Kimi admitted. She turned toward the screen. “Chiya-chan, there’s soup and rice when you’re ready.”

Chiya said something, but it was too muffled to make out. As the two by the fire finished their breakfast, they could hear the woman take care of her bedding and sit back down, but after several minutes, she did not come out from behind the screen or say anything else.

Kimi got up  to move their dirty dishes to her kitchen workspace, when Eiji pulled on her sleeve. “What, husband?”

He patted the ground next to him, and she set the trays back down on the ground and knelt close to him. “She’s too quiet,” Eiji said, too soft to be overheard. “What’s going on? Maybe you should check on her. You don’t think she’s going to do something stupid, do you?”

The housewife frowned, but picked up her trays, and carried them to the counter, and put the dishes on to soak. Quietly, she walked to the edge of the screen, and peeked around it.

Chiya had folded the bedding, and laid it up against one wall. She had tidied her clothes, combed her hair, but left off her head scarf, which was laying on the ground, laid out in front of her. On it were a few items - a fan, a comb, a small knife in its sheath, a small bottle, the types of things a person might carry in their sleeves. The woman, not hearing her hostess, for a moment, covered her face with her hands, shuddered, then dropped her hands. Straightening up, she lifted her head. Her eyes were strangely distant, but very determined. Catching sight of Kimi, she gave her a polite bow.

“I have been a bad guest, and a worse friend, Kimi-chan,” she said softly. You have been nothing but kind, and I have not deserved any of it.” She sat back up.

Kimi looked at her kindly, but worried. “Won’t you come have some breakfast, Chiya-chan? There’s rice and soup and fish.”

Chiya ignored Kimi’s invitation. “Do you remember the story Houshi-sama told us the other day?”

“Which one, Chiya-chan?” Kimi asked. “Houshi-sama tells too many stories for me to remember which is which.”

“The one about the old woman who tested a monk she supported by sending a woman to visit him.” Chiya caught her eye for a moment, then she dropped her head and sucked on her bottom lip, waiting, or perhaps, trying to put her thoughts in order.

“Ah,” Kimi said.  “I remember that one. I thought how very much like our monk. He seems to favor stories about women.” She heard the floorboard creak and peeked back around the screen to see Eiji walking towards her, then turned back around. “He certainly knows a lot of them.”

“I’d been thinking of how the old woman got infuriated with the monk, even though he had successfully resisted the temptation the woman’s maid had offered.” She looked up at Kimi, her glance intense. “He was so wrapped up in himself and his own striving for salvation, he showed her no compassion.”

“And so,” Kimi said, wrapping her arms around her middle, discomforted by Chiya’s gaze, “the old woman decided not to support him anymore, and had her servants burn down the hut where he lived, because he needed to learn some lessons.  So why, Chiya-chan, are you thinking about this story?”

Chiya bowed her head again. “I realized last night that I have been far too much like that monk. I wanted my salvation. But who have I shown compassion to?”

“Chiya, none of us have been perfect,” Kimi said softly. “If we were perfect, we’d be like the Buddha.”

Once again, Chiya ignored the woman. Reaching out a shaky hand she picked up the knife, ran her fingers gently over the black laquer of the knife sheath. With a determined motion, she held the knife in both hands, one on the hilt, one on the sheath. With a quick tug she bared the blade. Looking looked back up at her friend, she gave Kimi a regretful, sad smile. “Perhaps it is time to burn my own house down.”

As Kimi watched, horrified, but not quite able to make herself move, Chiya, trembling even more, began to raise the blade slowly to her own throat.