InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 297

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


Chapter 297



While Miroku was discussing Maeme’s house to Kaede, Susumu tapped on the door to his father’s office.  At Tameo’s invite,  he slid the door open and he and InuYasha stepped in. Fumio was there still, sitting with Tameo and Toshiro. Someone had pulled the jug of sake that Tameo always kept stashed in the office, along with three cups. The other elders had left.   

“Good news, or bad?” Tameo asked as the two men came inside.

“Good news would be nice,” said Toshiro.  “I’m getting tired of the other type.”

“Indeed,” Fumio said, nodding.  “We’re due for some.

“I’m not sure yet, Chichi-ue.” Susumu walked next to his father, while InuYasha stood back, closer to the door.  “We’ll  have to check it out.” He noticed the cups on the table. “Sake already?  Was it that hard of a meeting?”  

“The meeting went surprisingly well, considering how early it was.  Amazingly, we all pretty much agreed from the beginning, and our friend here,” nodding to Fumio, “showed up at just the right moment to resolve everything.”

“It wasn’t a hard thing to agree to,” Fumio said.  “We all want what’s right for the boy and his family.  But we still have to do something for Moeme.”

“I’m working on that,” Tameo.  “We’ll head over there in a bit and see what the damage really  is before we make it definite.”

“But you showing up today  -  we were mostly agreed in idea before you showed up, but it really went smoothly after you got here-, old friend,” Toshiro said.  “I’m glad you’ve taken a liking to the boy.  He needs a good role model after everything that….man did to his family.” He poured the last of the tea into his cup.  “Sake in the morning is a little much for me,  but it was necessary.”

“We pulled it out to finalize appointing Fumio as Sukeo’s guardian for the next few years.” Tameo lifted up the village registry book.  “That has to be sealed in a drink.  Your okaasan knows how that goes.”

Susumu chuckled.  “I’ll let you explain it, then.  You know she always knows when you pull it out.”

“I think she has secret methods for marking the jug,” Tameo said.  He shrugged.  “She looks out for me.  Probably a good thing.”

“Good choice for guardian,” the hanyou said, turning to the old smith, and gave him a nod.“That boy looks up to you.  I saw how he was yesterday.”

“And I think he’s a boy worth saving,” Fumio said. “Hard to believe that an otousan that rotten could produce a boy that could become such a good man with a little help.”

“I’m glad you took that on,” Susumu said.  “Now for our news.  Yoshimi left Kaede-obaasan’s house this morning before she got up.  We don’t know where he is yet.”

Tameo sighed, rubbing his eboshi cap across his head, much like the kami Kazuo had a habit of doing.  “I knew the morning was going too well.”

Fumio’s brow creased, and he reached for the hammer at his waist which wasn’t there, then crossed his arms instead. “It might not be bad. Do you really  think he’s going to try something stupid?”

“He better not,” InuYasha said, cracking his knuckles.  “Had enough of that family’s foolishness.”

“I sent Haruo up to Houshi-sama’s place just in case,” Susumu said.  

“And I’ll head up there once I leave here,” Fumio said.  “I know my wife wants to check on everybody.  I’ll take my hammer.”

“If he’s hot at home, we’ll have to go looking for him,” Tameo said, shaking his head.  “Just to be sure.  He’s always hidden behind his brother as a threat and not done too much himself that could get him into bad trouble.  But with his brother not there to back him up, I don’t know what to expect.”

“If we’re lucky, he just went home to lay low.  He might not even know what happened to his brother,” Fumio said.  “He was out cold when most of this happened.  He had gotten beat up pretty bad.”

The headman sighed.  “Go see if he’s at home, Susumu,” he said.  “If he’s not, well, we’ll find him.  There’s only so many places around here to lay low.”  He poured a tiny bit of sake into his cup, then tossed it back.  “I’m tired of these crazy days.  I just want everything back the way it’s supposed to be.  Dull.”

“Here’s to dullness,” Fumio said, and finished his own cup.



“Ani-ue is gone?” Yoshimi asked. He rocked  back and forth, his fingers pulling on his hair.

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you,” Tadaki said, not exactly sure what to do for his friend.

Suddenly, some idea must have struck Yoshimi, because he stopped rocking and looked sharply at his companion. “How do know he didn’t make it across the river?  He’s strong.He knows how to swim. I’ve seen him swim further. Hard to see across the river at night unless the moon’s full.  Moon’s getting near new.  Wasn’t much moon once it rose.  Maybe they just thought Grandfather Catfish got him.”

“I was there,” Takadi said. “I saw what I saw. Do you really want me to tell you? To put you through all the details?”

Yoshimi sat up straighter.  “I..I need to know. Don’t ask me why, I just do. Damn, I was passed out cold. I should have been there to help him. He’s my older brother!”

Tadaki gave him a confused look. “From what I heard, he was the reason you weren’t there to stand with him. It’s all his fault. You don’t have anything to feel guilty about.”

“His fault or not, I just need to know,” Yoshimi said. His stare was intense, and made Tadaki pull away.  Realizing what he had done, Yoshimi took a deep breath, wiped his hands over his face, and gave his friend a less frightening look. “Please, Tadaki. I’ve got...something in my gut. It won’t give me any rest until I know. Just do it.”

The young man nodded, plucked up a bit of grass, and bent it around his finger. He took a breath, and swallowed, then began again. “Like I said, they had him tied up and were talking about taking him back to the lockup. There were a bunch of people around him. I couldn’t get close enough to really hear what they were saying, when out of the blue, he demanded the challenge. He was really loud and determined, loud enough to hear over everybody else. They talked a few moments, and then Tameo agreed.”

“That easily?” Yoshimi asked. He reached for Tadaki’s water bottle. Tadaki gave him a nod, and Yoshimi took a drink.

“The night guard, Eiji I think, and Susumu was there too, and they untied him and everybody, the guards, the headman, the monk and InuYasha and the people who had knocked him down marched him down to the big stone near the Willows. Half the village must have been up there by then, and they all followed. Once they got there, Tameo-sama announced to Grandfather Catfish what they were doing and why. After that, they untied him and he took off his armor and stripped down, threatening all the vengeance  he was going to do to everybody for every slight he thought they had done him.” Tadaki took a breath. “None of what people were mad at him for doing had sunk in. He thought he was the victim who was going to get back at everybody, right to the end.”

Yoshimi nodded. “That sounds just like him.”

“Then he jumped in.” Tadaki got up and retrieved his water bottle. “I wish this was something stronger.” Unstoppering it, he took a drink and offered the water to Yoshimi. Yoshimi shook his head.  

“At first we couldn’t see much. We could hear him swimming, though. He yelled something about being halfway there and what he was going to do to us all after he got across. Then suddenly, the water began to glow, a weird green light, like if someone had put a huge lantern in the middle of the river. He had stopped swimming looking around him. At first, I thought it might be the current pushing at him,  because he drifted a little without swimming, but then he screamed. He got tossed into the air, and Grandfather Catfish broke through the surface.”

Tadaki swallowed. “The size….he looked as big as one of the whales they catch at sea sometimes. I was down at the coast once and saw them haul one in. No way something that big lives in the river.  But it caught your brother and...” The farmhand sighed. “He’s gone, man. It was quick, and then he was gone. The catfish bowed once to the headman afterwards, then disappeared back under the water, and the light went away.”

Yoshime curled into a ball, and hammered the ground with his right fist. “Damn them.  Damn them all. Damn Seiji and his anger and lies. Damn me for letting him out of the lockup.” He looked up at Tadaki. Tears were streaking down his eyes. “I had plans. Good plans. And he ruined them all because of his stupid mouth and fists. Damn everything about yesterday. What do I do now, Tadaki? What do I do now? Do I find the headman and beg?”

“You could go home,” the farmhand said. “Go home to your own house. Go work in your own fields. Or just go sleep or something. You were stupid for leaving when you did, I hate to say it. You know Kaede would have told the headman that you left before you got up. If they see you doing what you’re supposed to do, maybe they’ll say that’s enough.”

Tadaki stood up and picked up his own hoe. “I bet the beanfields at your place aren’t halfway done. Your brother and you leaned to much on your sister-in-law and your nephew. Go to work and prove the elders wrong. Or don’t. It’s your choice. I can’t make you do the smart thing. But I have to get back to work, or Haname-sama will have my head, even if Tsuneo-sama lets me keep it. And I’d rather face just about anything before an angry Haname-sama.” He walked back over to the row he was working on, and turning his back on Yoshimi, he picked up his hoe and went back to work.

“Dark the earth
warm the sun
wet the rain
yoiya yoi yoi

“Wake up, wake up
little bean
spread your roots
yoiya yoi yoi….”

For a little while, Yoshimi just sat there while Tadaki worked.

Kazuo and Yoshio, unseen presences, gathered around the confused young man.

“So now what do I do?” Yoshio said.

“You could try to nudge him in the right way. He may not do what you want him to do, but it’s where to start,” Kazuo said.

The two kami Yoshio and Kazuo watched Yoshimi sit there for a few minutes more.  Yoshio touched him on his shoulder. “You really ought to go home, man. Remember Kiyoko.”

Although the sound and sight and even the feel of the kami’s touch were imperceivable to the troubled farmer, Yoshimi shuddered once, then slowly pulled himself up. He looked at Takadi hard at work, and almost said something, then headed into the forest.

“Wonder if he’ll do the thing Tadaki suggested?” Kazuo asked.

“I have no idea,” Yoshio said. “Everything he did last night was a surprise to me. Sadayori was right. I hadn’t been paying enough attention to the people in my Ko. I’ve got a lot to learn.” He sighed. “Let’s go check on Michio and Chiya. I have the feeling he and his woman are going to be the next pain in my neck.”

“Been true ever since they got married,” Kazuo said. “You just didn’t watch them very closely.”

Together the kami winked out of sight.