InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 330

[ 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 330

It was late afternoon by the time the three village guards got back from the woods and into the paddy fields.  They stopped for a moment at the crossroads that would lead them back into the village.  Few people were out.  Susumu waved to Isamu, who was heading home, his hoe across his shoulder.

“Well, this has been some day,” InuYasha said.  “I wonder if it’s safe for me to go home now.”

“At least you got a couple of rabbits for your troubles,” Susumu said, pointing at the two animals in InuYasha’s left hand. “I’ve got to go tell Chichi-ue what we found.”  He held up Yoshimi’s beat up axe.

The hanyou shrugged.  

“Two less to eat your fields,” Eiji noted.  “That’s not a loss.  You can come do that for mine any time you want, InuYasha.”

“I don’t know if I can eat enough to make a real dent, but I’ll remember that,” the hanyou said.

“Most of us eat them from time to time,” Susumu said.  “There’s still plenty left to be pests, alas.  It’s one of the fates of farmers, to have to deal with it.”

They looked down the fork in the road.  The path to the left lead across some of the paddy fields and headed to the center of the village. This was the one Isamu had been on. The one to the right followed the paddy dykes and would take the person who followed it to the east side of the village, the shrine and the road that went to Daitaro’s farm and up the hill.

Eiji stepped to the left, looked at the sky with its gathering clouds and rubbed the back of his neck.  “It’s been an interesting afternoon.  I was glad to be able to make some sense about what happened to Yoshimi. But now,  if you don’t mind, I’m going home and reconnect with my family.”  He elbowed Susumu.  “For all the craziness of the last few days and stepping up today, you should let me skip the rotation next time it’s my term.”  He was only being half-joking.

Susumu laughed. “What? And lose out of your delightful complaints about the nightwatch? How could I let that go?”  His reply was also only half joking.  “I’ll think about it though.  We’ll see what’s happening then.”

Eiji gave Susumu a nod.  He started to walk away.

“Wait a moment.  I’ll walk with you,” Susumu said.  He turned to InuYasha who had already began moving to the right. “Oy, InuYasha!”

The hanyou’s ear flicked but he turned around to face the two men.

“So when are you going to join me on the night watch?  It’s time for you to learn what we do and the joys of not getting enough rest for the sake of the village.”

The hanyou thought a moment, and shrugged.  “After the new moon.  Kaede wants me take Kagome somewhere where she can relax.”

“Take her somewhere?” Eiji asked.  “Did she tell you where to go?”

“Where it’s quiet, and nobody will tempt her to use her spiritual powers for a few days.  You saw how she was after this morning.” InuYasha’s ear flicked.

“Like a to a temple or a shrine?” Eiji asked.  “A spiritual retreat?”

“I guess,” the hanyou said.  “I don’t know much about that type of stuff.”

“Ah, like the mountain sages going into the mountains to get away from everybody.  But instead of going away to try to make their magic better, she’s not supposed to use any.  Someplace quiet and private and serene.”  Susumu scratched the back of his head.  “Probably not a place on a pilgrimage route.”

“From what I hear, they’re noisy, and lined with towns trying to sell them stuff or rob them. I’d head north,” Eiji said.  “The road east has too many people heading for Odawara and the shrines up in the Hakone mountains.”

“Yeah,” the hanyou said.  “I have a place in mind that’s nothing like that. You think you can keep the village from going crazy until we get back?”

“Maybe.” Susumu grinned at the hanyou.  “You know what a sleepy little place this usually is.  Houshi-sama’s staying, right? And Kaede-obaasan is here, always.”

“The bouzu better, if he knows what’s good for him,” InuYasha said.  

The two men snickered. “Then it’s settled,” Susumu said.  He wrapped his arm around Eiji. “Let’s go  home.”

“Good idea,” Eiji said, and the three men turned and went their own ways.

At the house where Kazuo and Yoshio were watching, Benika placed a platter of rice cakes on a tray in front of her company.

“You really need to try one of these, Sora-chan,” she said, urging the woman to pick one.  “They’re very good.”

Sora looked at the tidbits.  They were done in shades of pale yellow and white, and looked quite appetizing. “Are these from the wedding last night?  Daitaro-ojisan and Chiya-obasan left some with me this morning, but I haven’t gotten into them yet,” Sora said.

“No, I got these from Amaya-chan when I went there to ask about Chiya-chan yesterday afternoon.   Oh, their house was in such an uproar after Haname got out of bed.  Hard to believe that...that strange woman could cause such a splash.  I swear Haname must have totally forgotten what was happening to her daughter in all the noise.  Poor Chiya, totally forgotten about!  I believe Amaya gave me the cakes to get me away from them all.  I mean, I’m glad for Haname.  I hear she was near death’s door.  But Chiya’s still locked up in the riverside house, and Tsuneo’s not letting her have any company!  And Michio...can you believe that husband of hers?  Nobody locked him up because they think he had a temper tantrum.  But I don’t know what else you’d call it.”

Sora took one of the offered cakes. “Amaya’s rice cakes are almost as good as Haname’s,” Sora said.  “Michio’s really in a state.  I think he’s worse this time than last.  My husband told me that if anybody mentions Chiya-chan to Michio he gets angry and starts yelling about how wicked she is, and if he sees her, he’ll turn into Seiji and beat her.”

“Is he fox-possessed?” Kou asked, covering her face with her hands, shocked.  “That worried about him beating her if she’s near him...that sounds...”

“One does wonder,” Benika said.  “It’s almost like something’s been triggered in him. Look how he blew up just because Chiya wouldn’t apologize when he told her to.  And to whom.”

“I’m not sure I like the direction this is going in,” Kazuo said.  “Benika usually is just a follower, but she loves to spread trouble when it’s available.”

“I know, I know,” Yoshio said.  “I remember last time Chiya was in trouble.  And she certainly was one of the troublemakers giving the monk’s woman a hard time.”

“I had an uncle who was fox possessed once,” Sora said.  “It was not a pretty thing.  Finally, a Yamabushi and his miko came through and they were able to exorcise it, but before that, he would rage at everything and everybody.  They ended up locking him in his house tied up to keep him from harming his family and his village.”

“Has anybody talked to Miko-sama about it?” Kou took one of the rice cakes.  “You don’t think that little kitsune child who hangs around her house has anything to do with this, do you?”

“I would doubt that,” Benika said.  “My obaasan said fox possession is caused by black foxes only.  And they don’t show their faces very often.  That little one is definitely a red fox.”

“That’s good to know,” Kou said, before biting on the rice cake. “Michio’s got those two wonderful little children at home, and his father.  Are they safe?”

“I saw Arimasu-ojiisan coming back from the headman’s house this morning,” Benika said. “I was doing some laundry and he just walked by.  He looked so tired.  He’s never been quite the same since his wife died...and this...this thing with his son and daughter-in-law.  The fourth time. This can’t be easy, putting up with that...son of his.  And at his age, too.  Poor Chiya.  Poor Asuka.  Poor Masato.  Poor Nori.  Children that young need their mother.”  She gave an overly dramatic sigh.  “Everything has gotten so...intense, I guess is the word, since that strange woman who married the hanyou came back.  I know the kami vouched for her and put her under his protection, and she supposedly brought Haname-obasan back from almost dying, but still...”

“Is there anything we can do?” Sora asked.

“Sayo-chan will be coming out of the birthing house soon.  Maybe if we talk to her…” Kou suggested.  “After all, Michio is Toshiro’s responsibility.  Surely he could do something.”

“Has anybody talked to Nanami?  Benika asked.  “Toshiro does listen to her.  We need to find  out why he lets someone who’s acting fox possessed treat his family like that.  She’d be the one to do it for us.”

“She’s been so busy since the birth that she’s barely out of the house,” Sora said.  “If she’s not hovering over Sayo-sama, she’s working to keep the children in order.  I don’t know how she does it at her age.”

“Maybe we could go visit her tomorrow?” Kou said.  She finished her cup of tea.

“Yes, let’s,” Benika said.  “And maybe, after we’re through here, I’ll walk down to where they’re keeping Chiya and see if anything has changed.”

“I can be here after lunch,” Kou said.  “I’ll chase my man off to check the eggplant patch.  I already promised him I’d help finish the beans tomorrow.”

“Maybe I can get Yurime to watch my little ones,” Sora said.  “If I can, I’ll be here to.  I’d love to see what she thinks about all this.”

Up on the rafters, Kazuo just shook his head.  “I can see why you were getting such a stink.  Calling Michio fox possessed because his wife was stupidly headstrong in public? Let’s hope she doesn’t get a rumor started.  That’ll taint all the family.  And what is she trying to do, linking Kagome to this?”

Yoshio pulled on the other kami’s sleeve.  He looked a bit frightened. “Help me, Kazuo.  If they get Nanami to believe any of this…”

“We’ll work on it,” he said, tapping Yoshio on the shoulder.  “Nanami usually has a good head on her shoulders.  We’ll work on it.  Forewarned is always good.  Come back to my place.  I’ve got some good sake.  Then we’ll see if Shimame is back.  I don’t know if she can really do anything about this...ugly, but she see things and has more power than you or I.”

The two kami disappeared, returning to the August Fields.

Down in the center of the village, Tameo hefted the ax in his hand, letting the flat part of it land against the palm of his hand.  “So this is all we have left of him?  He didn’t stop by his house for anything else?”

It was getting late.  Tameo, his sons and his wife sat on the verandah, watching the thunderstorm build up.

“No, not at all,” Susumu said.  “There was no sign of him having been at his place since the night before.  He just dropped it all and headed for Morimura.  Either she has swept him off his feet, and he’s following her around like a puppy, or he was too scared by the turn of events to even want to go back.”

“He was pretty beat up by his brother last night, and before that, the crowd almost lynched him.  Maybe he didn’t trust going home?” Kinjiro said.  He was carving a piece of wood while he talked.  He knocked a chip off. “Can’t say I blame him.  Good thing you three went to look for him this afternoon.” He stilled his knife for a moment and looked up. “The way the sky is looking, we’re probably going to get enough rain that it would have been hard to track him tomorrow.”

“We could certainly use it, long as it doesn’t rain too much.  I surely hope the woman he ran off with appreciates what a baby she has adopted,” Susumu said.   He leaned back against the wall of the house, his hands clasped behind his head. “Lazy and used to hiding behind his big brother’s temper.”

“Don’t be that hard, son.” She reached over and touched Susumu on his shoulder. “He lost his brother.  He was beat up, both by people in the village and by his own brother.  And he did run off to warn Houshi-sama.  He has something of value buried in there somewhere.”  She was almost ready to give him her look, and suddenly Susumu, sat up straight, bent his head down, and found his hands rather interesting.  “Now that he’s found a woman and won’t have that awful brother of his to try to get him to do things,  or who will let him hide from other things, maybe he’ll have a chance to grow up.”

“You’re kind, very kind, Haha-ue,” Susumu said, nodding. “Let’s hope for both of them it works out.”

“The right woman can work wonders. Let him have his fresh start.  I’m sure we’ll hear about it on market days if he doesn’t settle down,” Tameo said, patting his wife’s hand.  “I was thinking we’d send someone over there to check on what’s going on, but maybe, we should give him a few months first.  And the longer he stays away and doesn’t put out feelers here, the sooner Sukeo can get settled in as the owner.  In fact, maybe, we should leave him alone until after the rice harvest.”

“That certainly would prove whether he’s going to be able to handle it or not,” Hisa said, nodding.  “I think I’ll go see if Emi needs help finishing dinner.”  She stood up then walked to the door where she disappeared inside.

“But what if he comes back before then?” Kinjiro asked his father.

“Every day he’s gone means the less anybody will be willing to let him interfere with Sukeo inheriting.  So if he does show up, it’ll be up to Sukeo and Fumio to decide what to do with him.  He no longer has rights to the second son’s house – by rights that should belong to Nakao when he gets old enough. He’ll have to come back as one of the landless.  Sukeo’s fields aren’t enough to split between brothers, and I doubt if Fumio or Toshiro would even let him start pushing for it.  And he’ll have a hard time getting by just hanging out in the woods and bringing out a tiny load of wood once a day…” Tameo let his voice trail off.

Kinjiro nodded. “So if he’s smart, he’ll stay with his new woman.”

“Exactly.  So unless it blows up in his face, he’ll be a lot better there than here.” Tameo put the ax down.

“Let’s hope he’s that smart,” Susumu said.

“Now that that’s over, I wonder if we can deal with getting Chiya and Michio to calm down?”  Tameo asked.  He looked up at the sky.  “Is that really too much to ask?”

Off in the distance, lightning flashed.