InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 260

[ 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 259


While InuYasha and Kagome made their way out of their house to take the long way to Daitaro’s, Miroku stood solemnly in front of the gathered crowd that was surrounding Yoshimi. There was no sign of the spiritual light that had drawn him off the mountain. He frowned, watching Yoshimi stumble back into the center of the ring the group had made around him, not exactly sure what was going on.

“Houshi-sama,” Yoshimi said, nearly melting under the monk’s glare. Not sure of what else to do, he bowed his respects, as did Furume and Masu.

Miroku nodded his greeting in return, then looked across the group, and up at the watch tower, which he looked at thoughtfully, twisting up the corners of his mouth, as if he saw something up there that amused him. Smoothing his face, he leaned against his staff. “I met a strange woman at the temple a little while ago,” he said. “A highborn lady, by her looks, dressed in silk and wearing a veiled travel hat. She seemed to know a lot about our village. Did any of you see her?”

“A highborn lady, here? In our village?” Masu asked, looking surprised. He rested his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “That’d be a sight. It’s been a long time since one has passed through. Men once in a while, but women? They don’t like farming villages.”

“I’ve never seen anybody like that,” Furume said, shaking her head. “Ever.”

“You haven’t missed anything,” Hisako said, taking a step towards Yoshimi who was once again looking for a way out.

Miroku rubbed his chin. “There was a bright light that looked like it came from here. I could see it all the way from the temple. Like sun on a mirror. She saw it and disappeared. I was wondering if she had gotten ahead of me.”

“A light?” Choujiro asked. “I’ve been here for a while now, talking. I didn’t see anything. I don’t think anybody got past us to get on the watch tower.”

“Me either.” Denjiro scratched his head, then nodded in Yoshimi’s direction.  “Just this stupid person. Could it be a kami?”

“Bah,” Hisako said. “Kami, ghosts, monsters. I know who’s the monster here.” She glared at Yoshimi.

“Strange lights, strange women. You can keep it. I need to go see my brother,” Yoshimi said. He moved to push past Hisako. She lifted her staff, and he stopped, and sighed. “Craziness. I’m surrounded by crazy people, telling me tales about my sister-in-law. I need to find out what’s really going on.”

Benika bent down and picked up a pebble. “I’ll crazy people you, you piece of trash,” she said. “Crazy. Letting your sister-in-law get beat up and do all the work while you run off to the woods.” She moved to throw the stone, but Amaya, who had pushed closer, grabbed her wrist. Benika nodded, but didn’t let the stone go.

“Tell him, Houshi-sama,” Choujiro said. “Tell him what happened down by the Willows. He doesn’t want to believe us. Genjo told me what you and InuYasha did.”

Teruko and Yaya pushed into the group. “Ask him why he never did anything to protect Maeme-chan or his nephews,” Teruko said. She too, picked up a rock.

Yaya nodded. “And why he never does any of the work if he can get out of it. Her fields are near mine. I’ve never seen him doing any work unless his brother was there to put the fear of heaven in him.”

“You better listen,” Masu said, giving Yoshimi a shove. Yoshimi growled, and turned toward the farm worker, but before he could do anything, Miroku stepped forward and spun him around.

“I had heard you weren’t too smart, Yoshimi-sama,” the monk said. “But you might want to pay attention, instead of trying to bully your way out of a crowd for once.”

“Seiji’s not here to rescue you today,” Masu said. Heads nodded in agreement.

“Peace, people,” Miroku said. “Let us remember that anger is not the Buddha’s way.” He looked at Yoshimi, who he was still holding by the shoulder. There was a lot of anger in the man’s eyes, but also a growing amount of uncertainty and some fear. Putting on his best monk face, Miroku let him go and took one step back.

“On this day, this auspicious day, when the luck gods seem to have gone a little crazy, I found Maeme-sama in the river,” he said. Looking over at Furume, he gave her a small look of appreciation. “It was the sharp eyes of Masu-sama’s daughter, who just happened to be there by luck, that spotted her. I, with the help of InuYasha, fished her out of the water. She had walked herself into the river. But some god decreed that today was not her time.”  

There was a murmuring in the crowd, and heads nodded. “See, I told you he was a brave man,” Furume said to Amaya.

Masu bowed towards the monk. “You have impressed my daughter very much, Houshi-sama. She’s been telling everybody.”

Yoshimi spat. “I always knew she was a fool. Young foolish girls - what do they know?”

Denjiro looked at Amaya.“You should have let Benika throw that rock.”

The women snickered. Yoshimi raised a fist, but Miroku tugged it back down.

“That’s enough foolishness,” the monk said, letting the man’s arm go. “Neither I nor InuYasha was supposed to have been there. But we were, which meant that Maeme-sama is supposed to live. She is up at my house, and she will stay there until all this is settled.”

“What gives you the right - ” Yoshimi said, stepping forward.

Miroku gave him a small shove back into his place. “I wasn’t even supposed to be here.” He looked up at the watch tower, and a small smile crossed his face, to be smoothed back into place, as he turned his gaze back to Yoshimi. “That woman...that light. Perhaps the village kami saw what your brother was doing and decided that they want all this settled. You would be a wise man to pay attention. Perhaps the luck gods are trying to rebalance something.”

“But...but...” Yoshimi said. “What do you know, stupid monk?”

Hisako tapped his foot with her staff.   

Yoshimi grabbed her staff. “Stop that, Babaa,” he said. “You’re going to tap me one time to many.”

“And you’ll do what?” she asked. “Hit me like your brother beats his wife?” she asked.

Yoshimi’s nostrils flared, and he swallowed, as he thought of something to say, but he let Hisako’s staff go. She pulled it back with a flourish, and made a mock lunge to the young man, who cringed. Some of the group laughed. Yoshimi’s face grew red with anger, but for some reason, he just stood there. “Maeme’s got you all fooled, doesn’t she?” he growled, looking at his feet. “That clumsy cow...always tripping and running into things. You really think Ani-ue did that to her?”

This time it was Miroku’s staff that did the tapping, and none too gently, either, hitting him solidly on his left arm. The rings jingled as the wood made contact.

“I’ve seen men who had accidents falling off of roofs,” the monk said. “They have certain types of bruises and cuts.”

“Like InuYasha-sama?” Choujiro said, grinning.

“Ah, my friend takes falls rather easily,” Miroku said, looking at the woodworker. “But I have seen others not so fortunate. And I have seen men who have been attacked by bandits and left for dead. Men in combat. They all have certain types of injuries. If you have experience, it’s easy to know the difference. But the worst are prisoners who are beaten regularly, day after day.”

He grabbed Yoshimi’s chin and looked into the man’s eyes. “Poor Maeme-sama’s body  resembles the last.”  

For a moment, nobody spoke. Yoshimi pulled himself away from Miroku’s hand, and there was more fear than anger in his face.

“That poor child,” Hisako said at last, and her voice was very sad. “And I promised her mother I would keep an eye on her. I have failed her so much.”

“She was my friend when we were young,” Yaya said, covering her face. “Before that one’s monster brother decided to keep her penned up like a beast.”

“Beast. Why do we keep a beast like that in our village, I want to know?” Choujiro asked.

Miroku tapped his staff on the ground, making the rings jingle one more time. Yoshimi focused his eyes on it warily, as if worried it would meet his flesh again of its own will. The monk took a step forward. “What happened to her didn’t happen because she tripped doing her work. It didn’t happen all at once. You had to have known what was happening. I want you to explain to us why you never told Tameo-sama, or even Toshiro-sama what was going on.”

Up on the watch tower, the two kami watched the events. Kazuo seemed rather pleased with how things were turning out, but the land kami hid her face behind her fan, uncomfortable with the confrontation.

“That monk. He can sense us,” Shimame said. “He cannot see us, but he is aware.”

“I told you he was good,” Kazuo said. “He has confronted great evil in his time. He knows the difference between dark and light.”

“Maybe he does,” the land kami said. She put down her fan. “But I’m not as sure about you, Kazuo-no-kami. What are you trying to accomplish?”

“Planting seeds, Shimame-sama,” he said. He gave her a large open grin. “Ah, that monk. He does know how to work a crowd.”

“Planting seeds?” she asked, shaking her head. “Is that why you’ve been keeping Yoshimi penned in place? Three times now he would have run, but you made him stay.”

“Sometimes, you have to force a child to take its medicine,” the old kami said. “I had to do it with all my children.”

“And so you’re still doing it with these children of yours?” She shook her head. “It looks like you’re trying to cause a riot. Or worse. Some of those women want to do to Yoshimi what they want to do to his brother.”

“It won’t get that far. Look,” he said, pointing to the west. “Yoshimi will be rescued. Just in time to let the seed grow. Soon, soon, it will bloom.”

“Be careful,” the land kami said, thinking a moment. “The paths ahead are confused to me. It will take luck to not have a disaster.”

“Why do you think I waited until today?” he asked.

“Humans tire me,” Shimame said, standing up. “I rather deal with the earth.” She lifted her fan once more and was gone.


“Toshiro seemed a little unnerved, wouldn’t you say?” Eiji said as he, his brother, Susumu and Michio returned from the elder’s house.

“This whole day’s been unnerving,” Susumu said. “I would really like to just have a quiet hour before the wedding. I’d like to play with my children and sit next to my wife and not think about tomorrow. Now besides Seiji, we have suicide attempts and women confronting elders.” He shook his head. “They’re going to tell stories about today.”

“Enjoy Daitaro’s sake,” Eiji said. “Maybe it’ll be worth it. What do you think, Michio?”

“Heh, enjoy it today before the headache tomorrow?” Michio said. “I don’t know. Doesn’t sound very fun to me. Hasn’t been enough time since my last hangover. Glad I’m not going to be going.”

Eiji patted the man on his back. “You were really sick,” he said. “I was worried about you.” He looked up at the village guard captain. “You don’t want to end up like that, Susumu. Even if Daitaro does call you a lightweight.”

“I suspect we’re all going to disappoint the old man,” Susumu said, shaking his head. “Especially if we have to have a meeting of the council tomorrow.  Damn Seiji.”

“Oh, that’s not going to please him at all,” Haruo said. “He’s been planning – ”

Whatever it was that Haruo knew about Daitaro’s plans got interrupted by a loud yell. “It’s not my fault! Get away from me, Babaa! What was I supposed to do? He’s my brother!”

“The hells,” Susumu said, turning around to face the direction of the voice.

“Don’t let him get away!” a woman’s voice said.

“Stop him, Denjiro!”

“Look at that,” Susumu said, seeing the crowd gathered by the watch tower. “Are we going to have a riot on top of everything else today?”

Eiji pulled the club out of his belt, his badge of being on the watch, useful for knocking heads, but something that in their little village was almost never necessary. “What’s going on there? Who do they have in the middle?”

“And why?” Haruo said. The men began to walk in that direction.

“It’s not my fault!” someone within the knot of people shouted.

“It’s mostly women,” Michio noted.  
 
“Those women do not look happy,” Haruo said.  
  
“Amaya, and Furume, and Benika and Sora,” Eiji said, counting them out. “Chisuzu and Momoe.”

“It’s not just women, either,” Susumu said. “There’s Choujiro, and Masu, too. And Denjiro. ”

“What’s my wife doing there?” Haruo asked. “Teruko!”

One of the women turned around when she heard her name called. Seeing her husband, she merely stood her ground, unabashed, and crossed her arms.

Eiji nudged Michio and pointed at an older woman on the edge of the crowd. “Isn’t that your aunt over there?”

“I didn’t do anything,” the voice from within the group said.

“You didn’t tell anybody, either!” said another voice. “Why didn’t you tell the elders about what was going on? Houshi-sama, explain to this fool why what he did was evil.”

“That sounds like Hisako-sama. Let’s go see what’s up,” Susumu said, sighing. “This is the worst good luck day I have ever seen.”