InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 219

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


Chapter 218

At Tsuneo’s place, while the men walked around the outbuildings and made jokes about the difference between farmers and warriors, a different scene was taking place in the room where Haname was lying down on her bed.

Kaede tried using her spiritual powers on Haname, but she was not satisfied with what she sensed. “Do you mind if I let Kagome-chan examine you? I’m sensing something, but she’s always had stronger reiki than I do.”

Haname looked at the young miko, who was looking at her with worried, sympathetic eyes. She chewed on her bottom lip a moment, then nodded. “If you think it will be worth it.”

“I do,” Kaede said. She motioned for Kagome to come and sit next to her. “I believe all you will need is to hold Haname-chan’s wrist,” the old miko said. “It should be all you need to see what’s been going on.”

Kagome nodded and moved into position, and took the ailing women’s wrist in her left hand. Kaede watched her technique. The young miko, still inexperienced held it awkwardly.

“I don’t...I can’t seem to get her pulse right,” Kagome said, looking at Kaede.

“You need a better grip. Hold her wrist like this,” Kaede said, adjusting Kagome’s hand. “Now what do you feel?”

“There it is,” Kagome said, looking first at Kaede. “Thank you.” She looked back at Haname, and knit her brows in concentration. “It feels...fast, but not strong. Is that what you felt?” she asked the older miko. “I’m not sure how to say it, but that’s what it feels like.”

“That’s how I would describe it, too, child,” Kaede said, nodding. “Now open your mind, and let your spiritual power touch her lightly. You can follow her ki channels, but don’t dip into them deeply. You just want to trace them. Then tell us what you see.”

Kagome looked up at Haname. The young miko felt far more uncertain than she looked. “Are you all right with this, Haname-obasan?”

“Go ahead, child. She is your sensei,” Haname said. “And even though we sometimes,” she looked straight at the old miko, “have words that shouldn’t have been said, I have never known Kaede to do anything that was intentionally harmful. Do what she says.”

The young miko nodded, and wrapping her hand more firmly around the woman’s wrist, she took a deep breath and let her own spiritual energy loose, delicately, delicately tracing the path of the woman’s ki channels.

Her eyes were closed at first, but then she frowned, opening them to look at Kaede. “I don’t really have the words to explain it. The closest I can come to it is that it’s kind of like what happened to Miroku when he got sick near the last battle.”

“What do you mean, child?” Kaede asked. “We could see the path the shouki poisoning was taking from his hand to his heart. There’s nothing to see here.”

“I don’t understand,” the ailing woman said.

“I know,” Kagome said. “It’s not the same, I know, but there’s something dark, almost like a bruise, except it’s all energy,” she told Kaede. Looking back at Haname, she said, “The energy following your ki channels, moving from its source until it spreads out over your whole body. I guess that’s why you haven’t been getting better. It’s kind of feeding off of you, and you haven’t been making enough energy to both feed it and get better.”

Haname looked up at Kaede. “Could this be?” she asked.

“If Kagome-chan is sensing it, there is something there,” Kaede said. “She has great powers to see magical energies.” She turned to the young miko. “Where is it centered?”

“It seems to center here,” Kagome said, hovering her hand in an area between Haname’s throat and her heart.

Kaede nodded, then looked at Haname. “Was that where the amulet rested?”

Haname nodded. Akina watched in rapt attention, twisting the fabric of her wrap skirt.

“What is it, Kaede-obasan? Is it a curse?” Kagome asked, looking up at Kaede. “Curses can be hard to break if you can’t throw them back on the curser.”

“I don’t think so,” Kaede said. “You were right saying it was like a bruise. I believe it is a spiritual wound.”

Haname looked at Kagome, then Kaede, then back at Kagome, then shook her head. “I don’t really understand any of this. A wound?” Haname asked. “But how?”

“Magic stronger that the person who uses it can turn on a person and do this - it wounds the spirit of the user,” Kaede said. “It can twist their soul, and sometimes leave them wounded long after they let the container of that magic go. And this amulet was far stronger in magic than you are.”

Haname sucked in a breath.

“Twist their souls? Like the Shikon shards did?” Kagome asked. “I’ve seen what they could do to most youkai who got them. Only a few, like InuYasha’s brother, seemed to be immune from that effect. But youkai heal much faster than humans. I’ve never seen a youkai who was damaged like this after the shard was removed.”

Kaede nodded. “Youkai and humans are not quite the same, child.” She turned to Haname. “This is what the yamabushi’s amulet has done to you. This is what I was feeling, but Kagome-chan confirmed it for me.”

Haname covered her face with her hands.

Akina came near and sat next to her mother-in-law. “Okaasan...” For once, the ill woman did not brush off the offering of sympathy. Instead, she grasped her daughter-in-law’s hand and held it tightly.

“In the time you were wearing it, it managed to wound your spirit, probably made worse by that nasty potion he fed you,” Kaede explained. Her voice was sympathetic. “I was hoping that with it off of you and you taking the medicines I gave you, that your own soul could chase the darkness away and bring your ki back into balance. But so far, it has changed very little since that first day. I can’t see it as well as Kagome-chan can, but I can feel the blockage.”

Haname looked down. She brought her hand over the area that Kagome had indicated, and held it there, like she could feel the fountain of darkness. Suddenly, she began to cough, and cough hard. After she caught her breath again, she looked up at Kaede. “What...what is it going to do to me?”

“It is keeping you from healing fully,” Kaede said. “Until the magic fades away, you will stay ill.”

For a moment, Haname collapsed against her pillows and stared at the ceiling, taking shallow breaths to keep from coughing again. She closed her eyes for a moment, dared a deeper breath, then lifted her head. “Am I...am I going to recover?” she asked, looking at Kaede.

“I’m not sure,” the older miko said. “If we cannot help the magic to fade, or it does not do it on its own...”

Haname let out a deep sigh, and dropped her head back against the bedding. “If...if this is my karma...” Her voice was small, and sad, trying to sound resigned, but not really convincing anybody there.

“Whatever it is wounding you, Haname-sama, it feels like jyaki,” Kagome said, looking up at both women.   

“What do you mean?” the ailing woman said.

“It’s not just like a cut or a bruise,” Kagome said. “There’s something there, more like a splinter of dark magic, radiating out of that place.”

“Are you sure, Kagome-chan?” Kaede asked.

She hesitated a moment. “I think so,” the young miko said.

“You haven’t done this type of thing much yet,” Kaede said, looking at her apprentice thoughtfully. “Could you be mistaken?”

“I guess it’s possible,” Kagome said. “Still, I’ve always been able to purify that type of dark magic. If it’s a sliver of jyaki or something like that...Do you think I could purify away what’s making Haname ill?”




Up on the hill at Miroku’s house, things were much lighter than they were at Tsuneo’s house – no shadows of dark magic, just Miroku, Sango, his children, and the three girls he had rounded up to do his bidding on a promise of true stories.

The monk had not yet held up his end of the bargain. As soon as he arrived at his house, the girls trailing in his wake, his own daughters had made a beeline for Rin and her friends. The three older girls, quite amused, began to play with the twins immediately.

This definitely worked out in Miroku’s favor; it gave Sango enough time to finish feeding their son and getting him sound asleep in his wicker baby bed before he sprang his idea on his wife.
               
Currently, all five girls were involved in some sort of circle dance, one the older girls knew well, but was new to the twins. Amid much giggling, Tazu sang the song that they were dancing to.

“Over the mountain,
see the bird fly,
over the mountain,
where the nursemaid went home.”

At this point, the children changed direction and went back the other way.  Noriko bumped into Rin, not expecting the direction change. This led to a loud giggling laugh from Yusuko. For a moment, Noriko looked mad, but Rin said something, and Tazu repeated the verse and both girls made the change perfectly this time.

“But over the mountain,
she came back again.
What did she bring,
what did she bring,
to the bright-eyed children
who cried when she left?”

The girls imitated crying babies, rubbing their eyes. Yusuko lost her balance, and looked unpleased enough to start crying in earnest, but Iya helped her back up.

“A drum, a drum,
to beat out the time,
a whistle, a whistle
to play out the tune.

“Daruma who tumbles
with fierce looking eyes,
and a dog made of straw
to guard them all.”

The girls mimicked the varying actions. Noriko particularly liked the Daruma doll line, rocking stiff-legged from one side to the other. On the final line all the girls fell to the ground and barked.

Miroku, who was leaning up against the corner of his house, watched them and laughed. “Perhaps, it was good that InuYasha wasn’t here for that last line. I’m afraid his dog voice is a little more than Iya and Tazu might be ready for.”

Sango, who was standing next to him, smiled. “You might be right.” She leaned against her husband’s shoulder. “They do seem to be having a good time, though.”

“They do, indeed, all of them.” Miroku said. “Naoya is asleep, and not due to eat again until after lunch time. Rin and the girls seem more than capable of handling the twins. All your fears about them being overwhelmed seem unfounded. Let’s do what I said earlier and take advantage of the moment, and go for that walk.”

“But why?” Sango said. “You just want to walk? There’s nobody to meet, or anybody to visit?”

He shook his head. “Nobody but you, Sango my dearest. Is it wrong that I wish to spend some time with my wife?” the monk asked.  

“No,” she replied. “But it just seems...”

“I give so much time with the villagers,” he said, slipping his arm around her waist. “I wish today to spend that with you, instead.” He bent close enough for her to feel his breath. “A lovely morning, and an even lovelier woman. Who could ask for more?”

For some reason, Sango felt her cheeks coloring, but she was rather pleased at the same time.

Miroku waved to the girls and led his wife away from the house.