InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 218

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

I do not own InuYasha or any character created by Rumiko Takahashi


Chapter 217

Amaya was still working on her laundry as InuYasha, Tsuneo and Michio headed out of the main house. Wet clothes, mostly white and blue with a smattering of other colors, flapped in the breeze, testimony to her hard work.

She was still singing as she hung up another towel to dry.

“Hang them in the sunlight
let the breeze work,
there at the house
with the wicker gate
they move like warrior’s banners,
they dance like warrior’s banners.”

“Yes,” Tsuneo said, as they walked past her and around the main building, “It’s much less gloomy out here.”

“Keh,” the hanyou said, nodding in agreement. “Outside is almost always better than inside.”

“When the sun’s shining,” Michio said. “I don’t know about on rainy days.”

InuYasha shrugged. “It counts,” he said.

He looked so solemn as he said this, with his hands stuck in his sleeves, that Michio let out a short, sharp laugh, then clapped the hanyou on the arm. “I see you’ve had different rainy day experiences that I have, friend. Maybe digging in the dirt when it rains gives one a different perspective.”

“I guess,” InuYasha said. He shrugged once more.

There was a small path, not quite an alley, that ran behind the main house that ran along the outbuildings and the homes of Tsuneo’s farm workers. As Kaede had explained to InuYasha earlier, there was more activity here than could be seen from the road.

The group, led by Tsuneo, headed for the largest of the outbuildings. “That’s where we keep the carts and wagons we use around here,” the farmer said, pointing to their destination, “and some of the other tools. Tadaki had better not still be there, unless he has a good reason.”

As they neared it, a boy about Aki’s age was raking straw that had been spilled on the ground. He had a rather exasperated look on his face, and was grumbling, but he worked with good efficiency for one so young.

Tsuneo, a bit curious, walked up to the boy. “You’re working hard, Hideo-kun. Good boy. Have you seen Tadaki?” he said.  

The boy, hearing his name, stopped. For a moment, his eyes widened just a bit in surprise, and he made a quick bow. “Ani-ue was here earlier, Tsuneo-sama. He spilled a lot of straw when he filled his cart, then told me that was what younger brothers were for, to clean up after their older brothers.” The boy frowned. “I am not sure if that is right.”

“Hmph,” the elder said. “Not exactly, boy. I’ll have to talk to him.”

This made the boy smile, and he returned to his work. A chicken wandered in front of the area the boy was going with his rake. “Now why did you want to do that, bird? Go!”  Hideo made a push with his rake, and the bird squawking, moved out of the way, but not too far.

Chuckling a little, the trio headed down the path to the next building. Out of sight, but not out of hearing, someone was hammering on something. Someone else was leading an ox towards the animal pen. Somewhere else, a horse neighed.

Watching all of this activity, Michio heaved a sigh. “Tomorrow, I will have to get back to the fields,” Michio said. “I should have gone today, but...”

“There’s nothing like dirt and seed to connect a man to what matters,” Tsuneo said. “You’ll feel better once you get back to work.”

“Maybe if you’re a farmer,” InuYasha said, shrugging. “Dirt I know, but I’m not all that good with seeds.”

“So where do you feel better, InuYasha?” the elder asked.

The hanyou pointed to a stand of trees. “In the forest in a tall tree, where I can keep a proper watch on things.”

“Better you than me,” Tsuneo said. “Heights don’t make me feel safe at all.”

Michio laughed. “And this is why there are all types, my friend. Keeping watch, eh? It’s a good thing you do more than watch. You’re far better at fighting bandits than I will ever be.”

A cat wandered out of one of the outbuildings, and saw the men gathered there. It rubbed up against Michio’s ankles, and he picked it up. “And I’m not nearly as good a hunter as this cat.” He scratched it behind the ears. “I hear you’re pretty good with that, too.”

“It’s how I’ve been making my living a long time,” the hanyou said. “Might have starved when I was younger if I didn’t.”

“See? Different skills for different work,” Michio said, putting the cat down.

“Sometimes, even the farmers go hungry,” a voice from within one of the outbuildings said. Masu, the man whose children were rescued by InuYasha, stepped out of it, pushing a cart. “But some folks like to prey on us, like we’re rabbits or something.”

The other two men nodded. “That’s true. Last winter’s a good example,” Tsuneo said.

Masu bowed in the hanyou’s direction. “InuYasha-sama, don’t let these farmers make you feel like you’re missing something. Having someone like you who can deal with the bandits makes you worth your weight in seed.”

InuYasha wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, so he changed the subject.“How are those young ones of yours today?”

“The two little ones are busy helping their mother in our vegetable plot, I think,” Masu said. “Or that’s what she said they were going to do. More likely driving her crazy.”

Tsuneo sighed. “Seems like that’s the job of our children and grandchildren, to drive us crazy. Have you seen Tadaki?”

“Last I saw, he was heading out to the south field,” Masu said. “Or at least, that’s what he told me. He did have a load of straw.”

“Well, that’s something,” Tsuneo said. “Maybe he’ll stay away from mooning over that girl he’s sweet on long enough to get things done.”

“Ah, spring. Hard not to moon after those pretty things,” Masu said, lifting up the handles of his cart. “That is, until you find your own pretty thing. At least if you’re smart. Now it’s time for me to get my own load of straw spread.”

As he walked, he sang:

“If I had my way,
I would make a road
through the tallest mountains,
a smooth road,
with no climbs or cliffs
so you could visit me
in the dead of winter,
and I could sleep by you
in the warmth of spring.”


While Tsuneo and his hired men and servants discussed the value of dirt and farming, back at the headman’s compound, Hisa slid the door to her husband’s office open and walked in, sliding it quickly behind her.

“I’m torn,” Hisa said, leaning against the panel.

Tameo looked up. He was sitting behind the table he used as a desk, brush held in midair, as his wife walked in, looking upset.

“You’re torn?” he asked. Quickly, he wrote down the words he was recording, a record of the fields they had planted in soybeans, before the ink dried, and having once recorded it, he put the brush down and put the planting registrar to the side.

She moved across the room and sat down next to him. “I am.”

“About what, Hisa-chan?” She was usually so calm and balanced, that to Tameo, seeing her perturbed about anything was unnerving.  

She moved over to his fire box, and looked into it. There were a few hot coals left, so she added some fuel and blew on it lightly to help it catch. A small flame leapt up as her reward. While she worked, Tameo put away his writing materials.

“Well,” he asked.

She put the water kettle on over the heat. “Seiji is making the place...unpleasant.”

“This is true, woman,” Tameo said, nodding. “It’s safe enough for the moment, I believe, but he’s being an annoyance.”

“That’s putting it lightly.” Hisa brushed a lock of hair out of her face and tucked it back under her hair scarf. “So far he’s sung every rude song he knows, and he knows a lot, called Jun an amazing variety of rude terms, and Koichi even more. Our grandchildren were asking me to explain what some of those mean. I caught Mitsuo trying to repeat one of the less pleasant ones.”

The headman sighed.“He’s doing this on purpose, you know,” Tameo said. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe I should go find InuYasha to get him to knock the man out again.”

Hisa gave him a small, wistful smile. “If only that was practical,” she said, getting up to find the small teapot she kept in the office. “Fujime came by and offered to put the children up at her place until you do something with him. I hate to put that burden on her.”

“It might be best for tonight,” Tameo said. “What does Emi-chan think?”

Hisa laughed. “She’s already gone over there. I suspect that Kimi and Fujime and maybe even Koume will be spoiling them all rotten before the evening.”

“So why are you torn, wife?” he asked.

“I want to go, too. But then, I want to go to check on Sayo,” she said as she began to rummage for the tea, “and I want to go help Chime, as well.”

Tameo chuckled. “Too many riches to choose from?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it riches when so many things are happening at once. More like being in a tsunami.” She frowned, and pulled the tea chest out of the cabinet. “You really need to put the tea back in the right place, husband.” He shrugged. “And someone needs to be here to cook lunch, and I haven’t been able to budge Matsume out of her house yet. She’s even closer to the lockup than we are. This can’t be good for our unborn grandchild.”

Tameo thought for a moment, drumming his fingers on his desk. “Perhaps you should see if she would like to go to Sayo’s in your place?” he suggested. “It might do her some good to visit Sayo. I’d keep her away from the main house, though.”

“We could go see if Nanami has finally relaxed enough to get some sleep,” Hisa said.  

“And then, maybe you could leave her there and then go to see if Chime wants some help.” Tameo rested his hand on his wife’s shoulder, and pulled her close. She nestled her head against him.

She nodded, and let herself lean into his embrace. “Maybe that would work,” she said.

His arm slipped down, and slid under hers, and he rested his cheek on top of her head. “See, we can get it all figured out.”

“But what...” Hisa started.

He could feel her tensing in his hold, and knowing his wife well enough, he knew that she would work herself into a new level of concerns if he didn’t put an end to it, and quickly. “Enough whats, woman.” He slipped his finger under her chin and lifted up her face to look at him. “I can fend for myself at lunchtime. Riki will stay here; she can work in her house, or in the kitchen at the back if she needs to, and cook for the rest of whoever’s around. We’re not going to let Seiji get the better of us. We didn’t when he got Susumu in all that trouble, and we won’t now. He’s still the bullying brat he was back then, only bigger.”

“But being big and mean is how he gets people to give in,” she said. Her eyes searched his, uncertain. “What are we going to do this time?”

“You forget, dear woman, that we have a new weapon. Seiji’s no longer in the village guard. And InuYasha, who is far stronger than he is, is.”

Hisa thought about that for a moment, and she began to smile, a smile which brightened quickly. “So if he tries anything to retaliate...”

“We’ll tell our new cousin to handle it,” he said, nodding. “After taking care of that awful youkai that took poor Kikyou away from us, I suspect Seiji will be a piece of cake.”

Hisa leaned forward and gave her husband a quick kiss, then pulled out of his arms and stood up. “I’m afraid, husband, you’ll have to make your own tea,” she said.

“So you’re no longer torn?” he asked.

“Not any more.” She gave him a brilliant smile. “I’m off to get that daughter-in-law of mine and we’re off to make our rounds. If you don’t see me before sunset, come and find me at Chime-chan’s.”

She walked out of the room, a determined set to her shoulders.

Tameo pulled out his accounting materials once again, and started to prepare his ink. “If only every problem I had got solved that easily,” he said. “Life would be so much simpler.”