InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 290

[ 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 290


As the kami looked on, unseen, Miroku, followed by InuYasha, walked up to the headman.

“Let me up,” Seiji said. “I know my rights.”

“I’d be quiet if I were you,” the hanyou said.

This time, Seiji did manage to spit, but InuYasha nimbly stepped out of the way as he joined the monk and the headman.

“Feed him to Grandfather Catfish!” someone in the crowd yelled.

“Don’t wish that on the old kami,” someone else replied. “Might give the old thing indigestion!”

There was a wave of laughter. Masu, though, kicked dust in the bound man’s direction. “Just take his head,” he said, looking at Tameo “Or we could hang him. He doesn’t deserve to get a chance.”

“I think,” Eiji said, standing over Seiji, checking his knots, “that they aren’t too happy with you, man.”

Seiji tried to lunge up, but the bindings were too good to give him any leeway. The monk looked at him, thoughtfully, before turning to Tameo.

“The river challenge?” the monk asked. “I haven’t heard of that one. It’s a local custom?”

Tameo scratched the back of his head, and nodded, not particularly comfortable with the turn of events. “That’s what it is - an old tradition here,” the headman said. “A man who’s condemned of wrongdoing can swim the river. There’s a huge catfish who lives in the waters, not very far from the rocks where you spotted Maeme-chan.”

“I see,” Miroku said. “A really big one, I take it?”

“Big enough to eat a horse,” Denjiro said, dusting himself off from his wrestling with Seiji. “My otousan, he saw that happen once.”

“A fish that can take a horse?” InuYasha said, stuffing his hands in his sleeves. “That’s a mighty big catfish.”

Tameo nodded. “It is that. Some say it’s a youkai, others claim it’s the kami of this stretch of the river. I’m not sure which. He usually doesn’t make his presence known. But the tradition of the village is we call to him and let him know we’re asking him to judge. If an accused person can make it across the river without the catfish rising to the surface, he’s free to go. If Grandfather Catfish rises up, well, that’s an end to it.” He shrugged. “Nobody’s done it in a long time though, although a few people have gone into the water and we never found them. My otousan said that sometimes, Grandfather Catfish doesn’t wait for a trial. If a person with a black heart gets into the stream, he’ll render judgment all on his own.”

“My ojiisan told me about a time Grandfather Catfish leapt out of the water when a thief tried to swim across,” Haruo said.

Tameo turned to Seiji. “You’re sure you’re willing to take the chance?”

“Better the river than this shitty place,” Seiji said. “I’m not a thief. Let me up!”

The crowd began to murmur as a woman pushed through until she stood near Seiji.

“The river challenge,” she said. “Funny that I was the one looking for the water today.”

“Maeme-sama?” Miroku asked.

“You bitch. You’ve been planning this, haven’t you?” Seiji growled. He tried to lunge towards her, but Eiji’s bindings were too stout for him to get off the ground. “I ought to...”

“Ha-ha? Why did you run off?” Sukeo said. He made a move to join her, but she held her hand up to stop him.

“I...I...” Maeme looked thoughtfully at the bound man in front of her. “I didn’t want you to get hurt. Today...”

“I thought you were at my place,” InuYasha said. His nostrils flared and his ears pointed in the direction of the woman, and a very puzzled look washed over his face. “I left you with Kagome for your own good.”

“I...I heard the noise. I had to see,” she said. She shook her head. “I just didn’t want anybody else to get hurt.”

“I’ll hurt you,” Seiji said, straining against the ropes.

“I floated down the river,” Maeme said, looking at nobody in particular. Her voice sounded very distant. “It was cold, but peaceful. I guess Grandfather Catfish didn’t think I was worth the trouble.”

InuYasha moved over to Miroku’s side. He whispered to the monk. “That’s not Maeme.”

“You’re sure?” the monk said.

“Doesn’t smell like her,” the hanyou replied.

Miroku’s eyes grew big for a moment, but then he regained his composure. “I wonder...?”

The Maeme lookalike gave the monk a small smile and the nod of her head. “I wonder if Grandfather Catfish would think he is as worth ignoring as I was?” The woman fanned her face.

The crowd began to talk.

“Let the water have him!” Furume said. “Even Houshi-sama had trouble getting out of the water today.”

“But...but...” Masu said, obviously not happy with the idea. He was ignored.

“The river!” Ryota said. “It’s fitting.”

“Nobody should have his blood on their hands,” the Maeme lookalike said. She waved her hand again. “Let Grandfather Catfish decide.”

She turned, and headed back into the woods. A scent of incense wafted on the night air as she left.

“You heard her,” Denjiro said. “Let Grandfather Catfish decide!”

Several other villagers spoke up agreeing with it.

“What do you think?” Tameo asked Miroku. “I’m...well, confused.”

“I think there’s something more here than meets the eye,” the monk replied. “Perhaps...”

Tameo looked for the the woman and didn't see her, and at his son. Susumu shrugged. “It does seem fitting,” the village guard said. “And it is his right.”

“Well then,” the headman said. “Then let’s go down to the river.”

As Eiji hauled Seiji to his feet, unseen by mortal eyes, Shimame rejoined the other kami.

“Don’t let anybody accuse me of loving drama,” Kazuo said.

“But you do,” Shimame said, smiling at him.

“And you do, too, Dono,” Daikoku said. “Well done, well done.”

Yoshio nodded appreciatively. “They’ll be talking about this night a long time. Shall we see this to the end?”

“Of course,” the land kami said, fanning herself. “We can’t miss the end of the play.”



It was an odd looking procession down to the river, with Tameo and Susumu, carrying lanterns and leading the way. Then came Seiji and Eiji, and behind them InuYasha and Miroku. The monk looked solemn, and his lips moved, almost silently. InuYasha, though, could hear him intoning a sutra. Behind them, not nearly as quiet, the rest of the witnesses seemed almost in a festive mood, jeering at Seiji.

“I didn’t expect to be heading back to the river this soon,” the hanyou said.

“It feels...strange,” the monk replied. “This is the same path I took this afternoon with Sango. I had gotten Rin-chan and her friends to watch the children and just wanted a little quiet time with my wife. And then everything changed.” He sighed. “Amazing how different a world it is tonight than it was this morning.”

“Keh,” InuYasha said, nodding. “Sometimes everything...well, one moment, everything is wonderful. The next, you don’t know what the hell went wrong.”

“Oh, we know what went wrong in this case.” Fumio said. He was right behind the two friends. “A festering sore got lanced. We just didn’t know how badly it was infected.”

“Shut the hell up,” Seiji said, looking back over his shoulder. “You always talk so high and mighty, but you’re just like all the other men in this damn village. And look what it got you. An idiot daughter, and a wife who leads you around by the short hairs.”

Fumio tensed, and lifted his hammer off of his shoulder. “If the river doesn’t take you, man, I’ll show you what a real man does.”

Seiji laughed, until Eiji pulled on his rope. “You talk big for a man destined to go to hell,” the village guard said. “One way or another.”

“Bah,” the bound man said. “Women, the lot of you. I’ve swum that river plenty. Nothing there for me but a bath. And when I get to the other side - who’s going to catch me?”

InuYasha cracked his knuckles. “Nothing like a night hunt.”

Seiji froze for a moment. “You...you can’t do that. The challenge...” he said, but his voice was uncertain. Eiji pulled on the man’s rope again. This time, he turned and let himself be hurried along.

A few minutes later they reached the same outcrop of rock where Miroku had dived in after Maeme earlier in the day. The moon had begun to rise, but it was only a half moon and shed little light on the waters there. The villagers and their lanterns barely penetrated the darkness of the night as they grew close as they could to the headman and Seiji.

“You could still go back to the lockup and let the elders meet tomorrow,” Tameo said as they stood near the water’s edge.

“What? You’re not going to take my head if I go meekly?” Seiji said.

“Fat chance,” someone from the rear said. “If they don’t...” The threat was echoes by others in the group.

“Enough,” Tameo said. “We’ll do the right thing.”

Seiji spit then straightened up, looking once more like a soldier. “Yeah, take my wife and sons and give me nothing. Some justice.” He shook his head. “I’ll take the river. It’s my right.”

The headman sighed. “Then so be it.” He walked to the edge of the rock, clapped his hands and bowed. “Grandfather Catfish, it’s been a long time, Dono, but we come to you tonight asking for your justice. Chichi-ue told me that his otousan taught him that you can read the heart of all who swim in your waters. Tonight we bring you Seiji, son of Sadayori. Look upon him, and read his soul. If he is innocent, we ask you to let him pass across the river untouched. But if you judge him guilty, we turn him over to you.”

Everybody grew very quiet as the headman spoke. Somewhere out on the river, there was a sound of splashing water.

“I think the catfish heard,” Miroku said.

“Bah,” Seiji said. “Get these ropes off of me.”

“You have to cross the river,” Tameo said. “If you land on this side of the river, you’ll be judged guilty.”

“I’ll show you guilty,” the condemned man said. “Just cut me loose.”

The headman walked back to the main crowd. “Untie him, Eiji.”

Eiji unfastened his bonds and coiled the rope across one arm. “Get the hell out of here.”

The crowd watched to see if he’d try to run off or attack, but Seiji just laughed and shook the kinks out of his arms. “I’ll go. But don’t be surprised when I come back for what’s mine. All you wife stealers and children thieves - don’t think I won’t remember!”

He took off his armor and stripped down to his fundoshi. He turned, and gave the crowd a shallow bow. “I’ll be back. And then we’ll see who’s the real man in the village.” After that, he turned, and taking a deep breath, he dove in.

“So now what happens?” InuYasha said.

“We wait,” the headman replied.

It was too dark for anybody but InuYasha to see him swim much beyond the riverbank, although they could hear him splash.

“Well?” Tameo asked. His voice was soft.

“Halfway there,” Seiji yelled. “So much for your catfish. Never did believe in him, anyway. Stories people tell to frighten children. I -”

As he spoke, the river around him started to glow, a bright greenish light, easy for the people on the bank to see, and the waters around him started to churn.

“What the hells?” Seiji said. After that, he screamed as he was tossed up in the air by something big, and dark that burst out of the water.

“It...it’s almost as big as a whale,” Miroku said. He looked at Tameo. “Do you feel that? That’s no youkai.”

The headman nodded. “I’ve never seen him come up like this. So huge...he can’t live down in the waters like that. This river’s not big enough.”

“Look at those whiskers,” Eiji said, pointing at the catfish’s face. “Must be longer than I am tall.”

Seiji splashed back to the river and tried to swim, but the monstrous fish grabbed him by the leg. He let out one more scream and then he disappeared down the great fish’s gullet. The fish looked toward the bank, and the gathered villagers began to draw back. Some of them ran.

Tameo, though, stood there respectfully and then bowed. “Thank you for appearing, Grandfather Catfish. Thank you for your justice and for keeping our village safe.”

Nodding its head at Tameo, the fish splashed its tail once, made a mighty leap and dropped back into the river.

Slowly, as the gathered villagers who hadn’t run watched, the green light faded, and there was no other sound but the river flowing downstream.

“I don’t think I’ll ever want to swim in that water again,” Furume, Masu’s daughter, said, breaking the silence.“Ever.”

“He’s been there all along, girl,” Masu said. “If he had wanted you, you would have been gone.”

“Not the way I’d want to go,” InuYasha said. “Down a fish gullet.” His ear flicked.

Miroku tapped his staff on the ground, making the rings jingle. “Nor I. But it was what he asked for.”

“I think,” Tameo said, rubbing the back of his neck, “I need a cup of sake after that.”

“I’ll join you, Otousan.” Susumu walked up to his father, and gave him a grin. “You think there’s any left at Daitaro’s?”

“What - you rather drink that old man’s sake instead of mine?” the headman asked in mocked outrage.

“Well, we do have to get Haha-ue,” Susumu said. “And you know he never runs out.”

“Good point.” Tameo patted his son on the shoulder. “Coming, Houshi-sama, InuYasha?”

Miroku shook his head. “I’m going to stay here and pray a moment. Even though he was an awful man, he deserves the prayers for the dead. He’s going to have enough trouble not being a hungry or angry ghost. I’d like to keep that from happening.”

“I’ll make sure he gets home in one piece,” the hanyou said.

The headman nodded. He and the rest of the gathered people began to leave.

The kami hovered over the river, watching the villagers slowly go their own way, drifting off in ones and twos and threes. Miroku’s voice echoed on the water as he chanted his prayers, adding an especially somber note to things. Most of the humans leaving didn’t talk much; each seemed to be contemplating what they had witnessed.

“So this long play is finally at an end,” Daikoku said. He pulled on his beard in a thoughtful way.

“A sad play,” Shimame said. Her eyes glistened, as if she too felt the heaviness of the moment. “I...I thought I would feel...” She looked at the ancestral kami, and at the luck god. “Satisfied? But somehow...”

“Tragedies are like that,” Kazuo said, sagely. “Humans so often bring their own bad ends on themselves. Seiji...well, he chose, every step of the way. The tragedy there was there was nothing he would let us do to help him do the right thing. Something inside him...”

“Sometimes, some souls need to be reborn to start fresh,” Daikoku said. He shrugged. “Now he’s Emma-o’s job.”

“I hope he has a better time with Seiji than we did,” Yoshio said.

“Oh, the king of the dead has seen far worse than Seiji,” Daikoku said. His lips turned up in a knowing way. “Seiji’s not nearly the worse of them. He’ll manage without even blinking.”

“I hope so,” Yoshio replied, although he sounded a bit doubtful. “But the village - what for the village, the families here?” Yoshio said. “Maeme and her sons, and the others - what happens next?”

“Perhaps,” Kazuo said, “They and this village can have some peace.”

“Until you find another reason to stir the pot.” Shimame said.

Laughing, the kami vanished.

Elsewhere, in Miroku’s sleeping room, Sadayori rested a ghostly hand on the head of his youngest grandson, still sleeping. “You’re safe now, Grandson. Live a good live, boy. You will stay in my heart.” Suddenly, a gentle breeze blew through the room, one only he could feel. “Time to rest.”

Closing his eyes, he let the breeze take him to the next world, his work done.

A/N - Starting on July 9,2021,  I will start posting new episodes starting with a brand new chapter 291.  Hope you'll join me!