InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 237

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

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


Chapter 236


Furume had finally made it home, just in time for the midday meal, where most of the farm hands who worked for Tsuneo but had no other family of their own would come to eat. They were gathered in a shady spot in front of the family’s little house at the back of Tsuneo’s farm buildings.

The chatter of the adults was filled with discussion of the news she had brought, but that didn’t stop her from needing to do her usual chores. Furume, even though she was still agitated by the morning’s events, stood next to her mother Kahoru, Masu’s wife, who was manning the soup and rice, ladle in hand.

“Are you sure, Furume-chan?” Masu asked. “It was Seiji’s wife in the water? This isn’t just something you think happened?” He looked at his daughter thoughtfully as she walked towards him with a steaming bowl of rice.

“I saw it with my own eyes, Otousan. I was there when Houshi-sama jumped in,” Furume said, handing it to him. “I saw her myself. I was the one who yelled loud enough for Houshi-sama to come see what was happening.” She returned to her mother as her father started to eat.

Kahoru handed her a bowl of soup.  “Give this to your little brother, child,” she said. “It was a lucky thing you were there cutting mat rushes today.”

Furume nodded. “I guess it was. If you hadn’t said something about it, I’d have probably just worked on the bean field.”

Taking the soup bowl, she walked over to where her brother was playing with Tadaki, mock-wrestling. Her brother was on top of the older boy, laying across Tadaki’s back

“Help me, Furume!” Tadaki said, looking up at the girl, and giving her a big grin.  “He’s pinned me down! He’s too strong for me.”

This brought a peal of laughter out of the boy that did not amuse his sister.

“Get up, Sho,” Furume said impatiently holding out the bowl. “Eat your lunch.”

“But...But...” the boy said. He sat up, allowing Tadaki to sit up as well.

“A time to play, and a time to eat, silly boy,” Furume said. “Okaa didn’t cook for you to just eat straw, you know.”

Tadaki pulled a length straw out of the boy’s hair. “If you want straw, you could eat this,” the young farm hand said.

“Or this,” Furume said, handing her brother his bowl.

“This tastes better,” Sho said, finally accepting the dish from his sister.

She headed back to her mother, and picked up more to hand out.

“The water in the river must be cold still,” Masu said, as Furume walked past.

“It was. My feet were cold almost all the way home. I bet they were really exhausted when they came out of the water,” she said.

Amaya from time to time when she was too busy to go home and cook her own meal, would come and join them for the noon meal. Today was one of those days. She accepted a bowl from the teenaged girl.

“Did anybody say how she got in the water?” Amaya asked.

“I don’t know, but Houshi-sama was very brave jumping in like that. He swims as good as a fish,” Furume said, taking her own soup and rice and sitting down, but quickly getting up. “Who put that stick on my mat?”

Sho looked steadily at his own food. Furume kicked it away and sat back down again. “Someone will remember that.”  

The boy snickered, but stopped at the withering glance his mother gave him. “Someone will remember more than that,” she said, dishing up her own food.

Hideo, Tadaki's brother, mouthed the words, "I told you so," at Sho, then went back to his own eating.

Furume took a bite of rice then tilted her head, gazing thoughtfully in the direction of the river. “She looked so peaceful as the river pulled her along. I’m wondering...”

“Wondering what?” Amaya said, picking up her bowl of soup.

“I was wondering if she walked into the river on purpose,” Furume said. She took another bite of rice. “Why else would she be just floating along in the deepest part of the water?”

Kahoru paused for a moment as she considered her daughter’s words, her dipping ladle posed in midair. Her brows knit together as she considered it. “Could it be?” she said. “I know Seiji was strict with her, but . . . ”

“Strict? Keeping her locked up in that shack and only letting her out to do his work is a bit more than strict in my book,” Amaya said. She took a drink of her soup. “Isao-kun was heading over to go fishing with Sukeo one day when he heard her shrieking and Seiji yelling. Sukeo wouldn’t admit anything to him...but I heard that Kaede-sama had to be sent for. He said she had fallen out of a tree, but I don’t think she believed him. I know Haname-obasan didn’t. A man who beats up on his woman all the time...”

“Do you think they’ll do anything if she did?” Furume put down her rice bowl and picked up her soup.

“Oh to be an elder,” Masu said. “If it’s true, I suspect the next time the elders meet, it’s going to be an interesting meeting. Especially if Houshi-sama takes her side.”

“He’s a good man,” Kahoru said. “And you know what he thinks about women.”

That caused the men to laugh.  

“So,” Tadaki said. “You women noticed that?”

Amaya giggled. “How could we not? I remember before he got married to Sango-chan...”

“Hmm,” Kahoru said. “If Maeme walked into the river because he made her that miserable, they should give Seiji to the women. Big man thinks he’s so tough. I wonder what he would do if we all gave him what he deserved.”

“That’s a scary thought,” Masu said.

His wife gave him a particularly vicious smile. “I know.”


At Miroku’s house, Sango was feeding lunch to her daughters and their babysitters.  Although Tazu and Rin were trying to keep the twins quiet, the air still filled with soft giggles. All talk stopped though, as the door to the sleep room slid open.


Sukeo stepped out, followed by the old miko. Tall for his age, nearly fifteen, he carried himself with bent head.  Worry radiated off of him.

“Ha-ha? Why?” Noriko said between bites of rice.

Sango picked up a bite of fish out of her own bowl and popped it into her daughter’s mouth. “Ssh, baby. Remember? I told you Maeme-obasan is staying back there right now. She needs some rest.”

The girl looked unconvinced, but let Rin give her a piece of her onigiri. Chewing she watched the boy turn to the miko. Sukeo looked tired, but not so panicked as when he had run in earlier.

“The medicine you gave her...” he said, hesitantly. “Will it help her to become happy? I remember...sometimes when I was young, she would smile for real and sing songs to me and my brother. It’s been a long time since then.”

Kaede sighed. “It’s going to take time, son. It took her a long time to get to this point. We will do what we can.”

He nodded. “Please. I...” he looked ready to cry again. He turned his head and rubbed at his eyes.  

Sango reached for a clean bowl. “Sukeo-kun, would you like some food?” Sango asked. “You didn’t touch the soup I gave you earlier.”  

He turned to look at the little group around the fire pit.  

“It’s very good,” Rin said, feeding Noriko some more Yusuko held out her hand, and Rin gave her a piece as well.

“Mine’s not good enough?” Tazu asked, taking a bite herself. Yusuko shook her head.

“Thank you, Sango-sama,” the boy said. “I...I don’t think I’m hungry right now. My okaa...”

The old miko nodded, put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Give her time, son. She’s safe for now.”

“Safe.” He stared at his feet. “Can...can we keep her safe?” Sukeo asked. “Even safe from herself? I didn’t know she felt so...”

“We will try,” Miroku said, stepping into the house. He did not slip off his sandals. “In fact, there will be no trying. We will keep her safe.”

The boy looked up at the monk who stood there. Miroku’s eyes looked back at him soberly, but kindly, but the set of his mouth very determined. It was a look Sukeo found reassuring for some reason.

Sukeo bowed toward the monk. “You have my eternal thanks, Houshi-sama. If you hadn’t...”

Miroku nodded. “Not just me. If InuYasha hadn’t been there to pull us out...well, it’s over and done.”  

“The hanyou?” Sukeo said, straightening up. His brows knit together, a look somewhere between uncertainty and disbelief. “They told me that, but Chichi-ue says...”

“Did you want your lunch now, Miroku?” Sango asked, intentionally interrupting as she picked up the dishes that her daughters had used.

“Not just yet,” the monk replied, shaking his head.“Let’s go for a walk, Sukeo-kun,” he said, beckoning to the boy. “I bet there’s a lot happening today that doesn’t match what your otousan says. We’ll get that all straight, but first, let’s go to the temple, and say a prayer for your okaasan.”

Miroku led the boy outside. The well-wishers who were curious about everything had started drifting away, since it had been made clear that Maeme looked likely to survive her experience in the water. Daitaro and Genjo had headed back to their house and midday meal. Koume was talking with Kagome, not far from the front door. Susumu and Fumio and InuYasha, though, were standing under the monk’s favorite tree, glancing towards the house, and looked as if they were waiting for someone to step outside.

“You’re smart, Houshi-sama,” the boy said as they stepped outside. The women looked up, and gave him kindly looks, but didn’t say anything as he walked through the entrance. Embarrassed, he kept his eyes on Miroku. “Why...why did this happen? Why today?”

“I’m not really sure,” the monk admitted.

“But who made her like this? It...it was my otousan who made her like this, wasn’t it?” He looked down at his feet and swallowed. “It’s not fox magic, or a curse, is it? My otousan is always blaming everything on luck and foxes.”

“I don’t think it was a curse,” Miroku said, gently. “No, not a curse. Maybe destiny that brought her to your father.”

“Can we change destiny?” Sukeo asked. “I...she...It hurts to see.”

“We can try,” Miroku said.

“All right,” the boy said.  

As they walked around the side of the house to pick up the path that ran from Miroku’s place to the temple beyond, the three men who waited under the tree began walking towards them.

“I know this has been a bad day for you,” the monk said. “Susumu told me how you spent the night sleeping near your Otousan.” The boy nodded. “And Fumio told me how you wanted to protect your Okaasan.”

“I...” the boy said, letting his voice drift away. He swallowed, then looked up at the monk. His eyes were somber, and his bottom lip was trying to tremble, but he fought to get his emotions under control. “I just want to be a good son.”

“I know,” Miroku said, nodding. He stopped walking to let InuYasha and the others catch up with them. “Being a good son is sometimes one of the hardest jobs.”

“My...my okaasan would tell me that.” Sukeo looked up at the monk. “Especially after Chichi-ue had...had one of his bad days.” He covered his face. “She always tried to hide it when he...he...hurt her. When he got mad at me, she would try to encourage me. ‘Just do a little better, Sukeo-chan. Your father, he has high standards. Just do a little better.’” His throat caught and he sobbed, once, but shed no tears. He looked at the little circle of men who were now surrounding him.

“Why does she lie for him?” he asked. “It never was about high standards. We all knew that.”

Fumio rested a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I think...I think maybe she was trying to hide the truth from herself.”

“Pretending can help,” Susumu said. “Until the pain gets too bad.”

“We’ll find her a better way to take the pain away,” Miroku said. It sounded like a promise.

Sukeo looked in the eyes of each of the men who surrounded him, even InuYasha.  Nodding, he began to walk.