InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 228

[ 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 227

In the cold waters of the river, it was taking Miroku longer than he liked to reach the bank, even though he was a strong swimmer.

His reluctant passenger picked up on this.

“Let me go, Houshi-sama,” Maeme said, her voice quavering and barely above a whisper as she watched their progress. “My life is worthless. I don’t want you to die because of me.” Her mouth may have said one thing, but even so, if anything, her grip on the monk grew tighter even as she spoke.

“Nobody’s going to die if I can help it,” Miroku said. “You’re coming with me. We’re almost to the bend. We’ll try to catch one of the willows there.” Working to keep Maeme’s head above the water, he yelled as loud as he could. “Sango!,” he yelled. “I can’t get to shore here. I’m going to the bend! Look for me there!”

“I’ll be there!” she yelled back.  

Miroku was not surprised to hear that she was tracking him as he worked on his rescue of the woman, but part of him was warmed with amazement once again at her strength, and how her voice held back the worry he knew she must have felt. Her ability to do what was needed, no matter how intense the situation got was one of the things he had always admired about her. It helped calm his own rising panic over how strong the current was and how heavy Maeme’s burden felt as he tried to pull them closer to shore, and increased his determination not to fail.

“So will I, Sango my dearest,” he whispered. “So will I.”

As they neared the bend, the current seemed even harder, and he was tiring, and he knew it. The closer he got, the more work it took to get closer. One thing was in his favor. Even though the water was high, it lapped against the trunks of trees, covering their roots. The tips of many branches were close to the water level. He grabbed an overhanging branch. It wasn’t strong enough to bear his weight, but he thought he might be able to use it to pull him in nearer to shore until he could grab something stronger.  

It worked. He lifted one hand and dragged, moving a little closer to the bank. “Hold on tight, Maeme-sama. I’m going to need both arms,” he said. She wrapped her arms more firmly around his shoulders. He grabbed another branch, and then another. They grew slightly closer to his goal, but the weight of Maeme holding onto him made reaching up an arm-wrenching task.

“Grab something and help, woman!” he yelled. “We’ll get there quicker that way.”

She turned her head and whimpered, clinging to him more tightly, as if afraid to let go even one arm. “I...I...”

Miroku had no time to argue with the frightened bundle clinging to him. Somehow he managed to wrap both of his hands around a thicker branch. “I think this one will do it,” he said, as he lifted up his right arm to get a better handhold, but he had misjudged its strength, and the wood, burdened with their weight split with a sickening snap, running up the length of the branch.

“I...I...No!” he roared, feeling his hands cling to nothing but a piece of wood that was fast separating. As he grabbed frantically, the wood snapped even more, the green split only connected by an inch-wide piece of wood that was giving away as the river tugged at him. The split dropped them towards the surface of the water, dumping them further and further into the current. He could hear the roar of the water as it went around the bend. There were rocks there he knew that would almost be sure to tear them apart, especially tied together the way they were.

Just when it looked like he was going to be swept away, there was a splash and a flash of red, and an arm that encircled both him and Maeme.

“Bouzu, you sure picked a lousy day for a swim,” InuYasha said, scowling. “You must like cold water baths.”

“About as much as you,” the monk managed to croak. “You wouldn’t have a towel, would you?”

“Heh,” InuYasha replied. “Hold on.”  

Acting like the current wasn’t even there, the hanyou pushed them to shore.

Sango was there at the riverbank, standing next to Kagome as InuYasha got his burden to shore. “See,” the miko said, her hand resting lightly on her friend’s shoulder. “I told you it would be all right.”

The taijiya nodded, but her eyes didn’t leave the three heading to the shore.

InuYasha gave her a small smile. “You missing something?” he asked as she scrambled to the water’s edge, still holding her husband’s staff.

“Miroku!” Sango said, taking in the sight in front of her. “Who? Is that Maeme?”

The monk nodded as she reached out and  grabbed his right arm, steadying him. He clasped hers in return. Kagome took his left as InuYasha shoved at the forms from below. Miroku arose out of the wet, water streaming from his hair, plastering the fabric of his under kosode against his chest, bent over from the weight of the woman still on his back. His legs trembled as his adrenaline gave way to exhaustion and he leaned against his wife.

“Help me get her off,” the monk said. “We’re tied together.”

“Poor thing,” Sango said, fumbled with the knot for a moment. “Are you all right, Maeme-chan?”

Maeme slowly turned to look at Sango with a dazed look, but made no sound or gesture. InuYasha grew impatient. “Here, let me,” he said, slicing through the sash. “Wet knots take forever.”

The remnants of the sash fell apart releasing the monk and the woman. Miroku shrugged, and it slipped to the ground. Maeme, though, didn’t move. Miroku arched, trying to get her off of his back, and Kagome and Sango guided her until, freed from any bonds, the woman’s feet touched the ground. As if she still couldn’t believe what had happened, though, she didn’t release her hold on Miroku’s shoulder. He had to turn around to peel her hands off of him.

“It’s all right, Maeme-sama,” he said, turning to face her. He put a hand on each of her upper arms, as if he understood her need for reassurance. He gave her a triumphant smile.“You’re alive, just like I promised. And I like I promised, I won’t let anybody else hurt you.”

For a moment, she stood there trembling, and her eyes grew wide as the implication of his words hit her.“Alive,” she said, in a voice just above a whisper. “Alive.” Suddenly, she went limp and crumpled to the ground.

Kagome was the first one of the friends to react. She bent over the crumpled form of Maeme, laying on the ground like a soaked, broken doll. “Oh my,” Kagome said as she lightly rested her hand on the woman’s throat checking her pulse. Sango knelt down and joined her.

“What...” Miroku said, shocked. “Is she...”

Kagome looked up at him, her lips twisted up in a frown. “Her pulse is good. I guess she just fainted.”

“She’s not had a good day,” the taijiya said. “I bet she hasn’t had a good day in a long time.”

“We need to get her out of these wet things so I can see if it’s more than just...well...nerves,” Kagome said, nodding.

“Let’s get out of here,” InuYasha said. He looked over his shoulder at the river behind them. “Can’t do anything for her in the willows.”

“Indeed,” the monk said. He took his staff from Sango, who was still holding it, even as she crouched next to Maeme. Sango stood up, and he leaned on her, his legs still trembling some from exhaustion. Together, they began to push through the willows and into the open field beyond.

InuYasha gently picked up the unconscious Maeme and followed as Kagome walked behind him. As they pushed through the underbrush, Kagome spoke the question that was on everybody’s mind. “Did she fall in?”  

Miroku turned and watched them bring up the rear, leaning heavily on his staff. “I don’t think so,” he said, shaking his head. Sango held back a willow branch and he ducked under it. “I suspect she jumped. Or walked. She asked me not to save her.”

Sango turned around to look at the unconscious woman, keeping the branch pinned back as InuYasha followed. “I...I knew her life was miserable,” she said. “I didn’t know she had reached that point.”

InuYasha glowered. “One more thing to blame on Seiji.”


On the west side of the village, there was no indication of the excitement going on down by the Willows. Sukeo walked across the paddy field dyke, his head down, anxious about why he couldn’t find his mother, but even more afraid of facing his father. He had been walking circles, checking the fields and the house one last time, but he knew he was running out of options, and he could feel his stomach churning. “I wish I had drank the medicine that Kaede-sama gave Nakao. It’d be a lot better to be sleeping. Where are you, Okaasan?” He kicked a lump of dried mud he found on the path into the nearest paddy field. It startled a bird that was hiding in the green barley, and with a loud whirr of wings, the bird flew off.

He shook his head.“You know how Chichi-ue gets when he has a headache, Okaa. Are you hiding?” He looked across the paddy fields like he might see her walking down one of the other trails, but there was no sign of her. “I wish I knew where you were, so I could hide, too. He’s going to be so angry when I get back to Tameo-sama’s.”

A small creature, maybe a rabbit, made the weeds nearby shake. He tossed another mud ball at it, and the movement stopped, but no animal bounded out. “Obasan would try to hide me if I asked, but she never seems to have good advice,” he said, sighing. “And Chichi-ue knows her too well. The last time Nakao tried that one, Chichi-ue went straight there. Maybe if she were  his okaa, she’d understand what to do, but she just doesn’t seem to be able to help any of us with him.”

Two paths intersected and he went left, heading towards the main street of the village. He stuck his tongue in his cheek then scratched his nose. “I could talk to Kaede-sama. She’s always tried to help. She tried to help Nakao.” He scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know how much good that did yesterday. Still, she kept my brother from getting beaten worse. And the headman listens to her.”

His thoughts were interrupted as two boys ran down the dyke.  

“Hey Sukeo! Wanna go fishing?” Jiro, the first of the two, called out, waving a fishing rod.

Sukeo, watching as they neared, shook his head. “Can’t do it today.”

The other boy, Akemi, knocked Jiro a light tap on the head. “Stupid. Did you forget what happened yesterday? I bet he has other things he has to do today.”

“Uh...no?” Jiro said, looking surprised. “Something happened?”.

Akemi gave  him a real shove this time. “Baka. I’ll tell you later.” He looked up at Sukeo with slightly embarrassed cheeks. “Don’t mind Jiro. He was over at the next village visiting his Obaasan yesterday. If we catch enough, we’ll save one for you.”

“Yeah,” Jiro said, giving his friend a very confused look.

Sukeo shrugged, trying to cover up his own embarrassment. “I have to go.”

As the two young fishermen walked off, he could hear Akemi whispering something to Jiro. Jiro turned around and gave him a pitying look. Sukeo flexed his fists and turned back to the village. “One day, Otousan. One day.”