InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 311

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


Chapter 311


Miroku stood in the yard in front of his house.  The crowd that had been there earlier had vanished, and the last of his visitors were about to leave.  Somehow, an aura of peace had settled over everything while he had been gone, for which he said a silent thanks to Kwannon.

It was time for the last of the visitors to take their leave.  And for him to attend to one more task before having time to spend with his own family.  He watched as Koume, Fumio’s wife, and Sango walked over to where he and Fumio were standing with Sukeo.

“I hope we all didn’t overwhelm you this morning, Sango-chan.  You’ve been a very gracious hostess.  We told you you belong to us now,” Koume said.  “And we meant it.  Sad we had to show up for because of this sad situation, but expect us more often now. And your children...such lovely daughters you have.  Makes me remember...”

“Remember chasing after our wild little flowers, wife?” Fumio said.  He chuckled.  “I remember a time or two when you ran screaming to my okaasan...”

“That’s what obaasans and obasans are for.  But there are times I still miss my babies...well, being babies,” Koume said, giving her husband a playful shove.  She turned back to Sango.  “Tell Maeme we’ll have the kosode back to her, probably tomorrow.” She held up her basket.  “I’ve got it all here.”

“Are you sure, Koume-obasan?  I don’t mind sewing at all,” Sango said.

“No, no, no,” Koume said.  “You have your hands filled right now, and we all have lighter loads.  And more hands than you.  Take care of your family and your guests.” She bowed. “Once again, thank you, Sango-chan, for a lovely morning, even if the circumstances were difficult.”

Sango gave the older woman a brilliant smile. “Thank you for caring enough to be here,” Sango replied, bowing in return.  “I know Maeme appreciated it.”

Koume nodded.  “She deserves some appreciating after all she was put through these last few years, and I mean to see she gets some of it.”

“And you, Fumio-sama. I’ll be sure to catch up with you later, Fumio-sama,” Miroku said.  “It’s time to make decisions.”

The smith nodded.  “I’ll be sure to tell you what Toshiro says.  Maybe we can get everything set up by tomorrow.”

“I do believe Maeme would like to be back in her own home again,” Koume said.  She shifted the basket she was carrying to the other arm.   “Even when times are hard, at least you are in your own place.”

The smith turned to the boy. “What do you think, Sukeo-kun?” Fumio said. “You should have some imput here. It’s your home, your family, your okaasan.  I may be your guardian, but I want what’s good for you.”

“I...” The boy stared down at the ground, scratched at the ground with his sandaled foot.  He swallowed, and looked up at the smith.  “It feels strange to have someone want my opinion,” he said, shrugging.

“But I do,” Fumio replied.

Sukeo took a deep breath. “I have to go there every day anyway.  Even if Haha-ue isn’t ready to come home, I need to be there.  The animals need care, and I need to finish working on the bean field.  And starting the eggplants. The vegetable garden needs tending. The sooner I can get home the better.” He turned to look at Miroku. “I’m not so sure about my okaasan, though.”

“Good answer.” Fumio gave him an approving pat on the back.  “Spoken like a true farmer.  Identifying your priorities and what matters.”  He rubbed the back of neck. “We probably could arrange for you to stay there, but let’s talk to Toshiro first. There’s things we need to decide. I think we could use another hand to get the planting finished while your okaasan is recovering. He promised help that way. And maybe another woman to help out around the house for a little bit, until your okaasan’s more back on her feet. That’s why we need to go there next.”

“And I’ll want to talk to your okaasan and to Kaede-sama before we do anything like letting her go back to stay first,” Miroku said.

The boy nodded.

“And I want to check up on Nahoi. Sometimes, when things happen, she gets anxious,” Koume said. “And I think what happened is maybe bringing up memories for her. And she can help with the sewing.”

“We’ll find something to do to keep her busy. Work helps a lot. Shall we go?” Fumio said.

Together, the little group headed down the hill.

“So Kagome was able to purify the house, and you were able to bless it?” Sango asked.

“She did indeed, but it was hard on her. I’m not actually sure why, or fully, what she did. I’m thinking I should go over to InuYasha’s next, and see how she’s doing and what Kaede says.”

“And then maybe you could convince Kaede to take a rest,” Sango said. “She looks very tired.”

“I’ll try. She’s almost as stubborn and Kagome,” Miroku said.

“While you’re doing that, I’ll start making lunch.” She looked back towards the house. Yusuko and Noriko were quietly playing with their stick toys, and Nakao was working in Sango’s vegetable patch, weeding. “I better take advantage of this quiet moment. No telling what the afternoon will bring.”

She was about to turn back to the house, but Miroku wrapped his arms around her. “I promise you, we’ll have more quiet soon.”

“I know,” she said, leaning into his arms. “This is important too. I don’t resent it.”

“Now all the company is gone, our house guest is sleeping, and our daughters are playing quietly while our son naps. And somehow, you even got Nakao weeding the garden. How did you get him away from our beautiful daughters? Last I saw they were very busy giving him all their attention.”

“I think our girls got tired of all the company. Nakao seemed bored, so I handed him the hoe,” Sango said. “I know he doesn’t want to get very far away from his mother in case she wakes up, but watching small girls can’t be the highest thing on his list of amusements.”

“That’s only because he’s still young,” the monk said with a slightly wicked grin.  “There’ll be a day coming...”

“Where you’ll be watching all the boys who come here like a hawk, remembering your own youthful days.” Sango leaned her head back on his shoulder, trying to hide her giggle that overcame her, imagining it.

“You’re probably right, my dearest wife,” Miroku said, giving the top of her head a small kiss. “But at least I’ll know what to look for. It’ll be hard for any young monsters trying their tricks on me. After all, I no doubt tried them all before you trained me.” He stepped back. “But now I’m going to go check on Kagome and InuYasha.

Sango nodded. “I’ll cook some extra. Let InuYasha know.”

He nodded and walked off and headed for the hanyou’s house.   



On the other side of the village, there was laughter coming through the windows of the main house at Tsuneo’s place.

While the women plotted and laughed, Tsuneo calmly continued organizing the work of the day, sending Masu out with a load of rice straw and composted fertilizer for Kisoi’s fields down by the river house, with orders to free up Joban if possible to finish up the bean field nearby and to get Hiroki to start making some rabbit traps.
“Where’s Tadaki?” he asked.

“He went to work on the beanfield by the apple trees,” Sho, one of Masu’s sons said.  The boy was busy sweeping up the stubble that had fallen off the cart his father had just filled.  “Haname caught him daydreaming in the barn yesterday.  He told us as breakfast that he was going to get out early, in case she had something more to say.”

“Smart man,” Daitaro said. Not sure of what do do with himself, he looked around and saw a parked cart, lowered the back and parked himself down, content for the moment to watch how Tsuneo organized things.

“Haname’s tongue can do that to you,” Tsuneo said. “But Tadaki’s an odd one.  Works when you don’t expect it, and then goes mooning after one thing or another when you do.”

Soon, everybody was dispatched to their jobs and there was only the sound of Sho sweeping and Hideo, huffing and puffing as he carried water buckets to all the buildings, filling up their water tanks for the day’s work.

There was a loud peal of laughter from the main house.

“There they go again,” Tsuneo said. “Wonder what they’re laughing at now?”

“Getting out of the morning work?” Daitaro said. “Although I guess you could say I’m guilty of that myself. Still, my lands aren’t as big as yours, and I’ve got two good sons, not just one.”

“You have a good excuse, old friend.” Tsuneo went to the water barrel, lifted up the dipper and took a drink. “Day after a wedding has its own chores.”

“True, true. And yesterday was rather...well exciting, from the moment the monk pulled Maeme out of the water to the moment we got Kaede-chan home with that stupid fool Yoshimi.”  He scratched under his chin.  “Don’t think I’m up for a hard day today.”

“Somehow, I managed to sleep through most of craziest parts, evidently.  Masu, though, he was in the middle of it and told me everything,” Tsuneo said. He dropped the dipper back into the water barrel.

There was another wave of laughter.

“They do seem to be having fun,” Daitaro said. “You think we’ve been played by our women?”

“Don’t know about yours, old friend, but I do know mine,” Tsuneo said.   He sat down next to him. “I bet she’s plotting ways to drag all of us down to visit Chiya-chan.”  He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know what good it’ll do. Nothing much we can do. At this point, it’s not Chiya’s decision, anyway.  It’s up to Michio.  But Haname better not be getting any ideas. I’m not letting her back into this place.  I remember last time. Nobody got any peace. At least we get some quiet this way.”

“I know you talk to your son-in-law. No sign of weakening yet?” Daitaro asked. He offered him a drink from his ever-present jug of sake.

“What do you think?  It’s only been what, four days.” Tsuneo sighed, shaking his head. “No sake yet. Too early in the day for me, friend.” He picked up a bit of rice straw stuck on the cart, and began to twist it. “No weakening, not really. But think - this is the fourth time he’s kicked her out. He’s never taken her back in less than ten days. You even try to talk to him about it and he blows up still.” The straw broke in his fingers, and he threw it on the ground. “Says if he’s left alone with her, he’ll be the next Seiji. I don’t believe it, but…”

“It’s a good crutch to fall back on right now,” Daitaro said. The old farmer rubbed his forehead on that one. “Still, they won’t work anything out ever if they never get into the same space.”

Another wave of laughter hit the courtyard.

“That’s part of the problem.” Tsuneo spotted the boy Hideo lugging a bucket of water. “Hey, Hideo. Go tell the women I want some tea. And cakes. They can have their own party if they want, but I want some too.”

The boy’s eyes got big. “Are you sure, Tsuneo-sama? You want me to interrupt Haname-sama?”

“Look at that, Daitaro.  Even in my own house.” Tsuneo shook his head. “See if you can find Amaya or my granddaughter. Amaya’s probably in the garden or helping Kahoru in the worker’s kitchen. She won’t bite.”

Hideo put down his bucket with a sigh, and ran off to do as told.

Daitaro shook his head. “Most boys would be happy to be told to stop hauling water.”

“Most boys don’t have to put up with the women in this house.”  Toshiro rubbed the back of his neck again. “So how do we get Michio to at least talk with Chiya?”

“That is the question,” Daitaro said, nodding.  “Maybe for this, we need to talk with a different group of women.”

“Maybe we start with his obasan.  And maybe, I don’t know...Sayo-chan?”

Tsuneo shook his head  “No way  Yasuo or Toshiro would let us get near her yet. Too soon since she’s given birth.  But what about Nanami?”

“Nanami...” Daitaro scratched his head thinking.  “She can be almost as scary as Hisako.  I’ll talk to Chime about it.”  He sighed, lifted up his jug, and took a sip. “Sounds like a sewing party might be needed. Or something.  I hope not at my place. Wedding was bad enough.”