InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 340

[ 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 340

Tsuneo, still holding his soup bowl from his interrupted breakfast, watched his wife storm out of the house, the ruins of their unfinished breakfast scattered around the fire pit, trays mostly unfilled, his and Joben's growing cold. He downed the last of his cup of soup, then slowly stood up. First, he moved the soup pot to the side of the fire pit so it wouldn't scorch, and put the lid on both it and the rice tub.

"Not the most auspicious start to a day," he said, dusting off his hands. "Poor Asuka-chan, whatever got into her head. May the gods of luck and children be watching over her until we find her. And a morning with Haname-chan without her breakfast and worried about her grandchild…" He sighed deeply. "Whatever sins I did to deserve a month like them, may Amida be merciful."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Michio muttered, his voice just above a whisper. still kneeling near the fire pit with bowed head. "I didn't know what else to do. I didn't know."

For a moment, the older man just stood there, uncertain of what to say or do.

 

While Tsuneo gathered his thoughts about what to say to his son-in-law, the door mat fluttered open by a breeze no one felt. An invisible light blew in on the breeze, circled the two men three times around and then rose overhead. Unable to see anything, but feeling something, Michio lifted his head up for a moment and shivered, but glancing at the look in his father-in-law's face, quickly resumed his groveling. The light left the two men, and rose up in a numinous cloud towards the roof of the house, dancing around the beams and rafters, finally settling on one closest to the two men. It flared brightly, intensely brilliant for a moment for those who had the gift to see such things, but totally unmarked by the two men who below who did not have that talent. As the light faded, it revealed the form of Shimame no kami, resplendent in brilliant red robes surrounded by her family kami retainers. On her left was Hitoshi no kami, the family god of Tsuneo's ko, and to the right, Yoshio, the kami of Toshiro's ko, and thus the guardian of Michio and his family. One hand of his held tightly onto an adze, symbol of his kami power. The other had a death grip on the sleeve of Kazuo, the kami of Tameo's family, who, strictly speaking, didn't need to be here, but had been drawn along in Yoshio's anxiety.

This did not mean Kazuo was happy about the play he was to watch unfold below. He had already felt the sting of Shimame accusing him of staging Asuka's wandering off. He still wasn't sure she believed him. "So you said they've found the child already?" he asked.

"Indeed," Shimame said nodding. She opened her fan for a moment, hiding most of her face.

"So why did you call us out here?" Hitoshi asked. In his hand was a rake, and on his head a rush hat. He too seemed uncomfortable about being called out to witness. "Knowing Joben, he's going to call me to the family altar any time now."

"He's still doing that?" Yoshio asked. He let go of Kazuo's sleeve, seating himself more comfortably now that he was less worried that the kami would run away. Kazuo took a moment to shake his sleeve out. Small sparks of the kami's power cascaded to the ground, like a fine dust. Later, Amaya walking over that spot would get the strongest urge to go visit Hisa and Emi at the headman's house. Giving into it, she brought them a nice basket of treats, and the next thing that happened was they planned another sewing party, this time being sure to include the women of Tsuneo's ko. Thus sometimes even the kami didn't realize how they spread seeds.

"Multiple times a day," Hitoshi said with a sigh. "Maybe not quite as much as before, but he's there a lot."

"Not this morning, Hitoshi-kun," Shimame said. "Joben will be busy for a while, at least until the word gets out about the child, so you can relax. Tsuneo sent him to the dry fields between Michio's house and Tameo's. There are a lot of pathways there to check out, so you don't have any reason not to sit and watch with me."

All three land kamis sighed. When Shimame wanted an audience, there was little they could do. They were, after all, officially her retainers.

Tsuneo, down below them, walked over to the younger man and crossed his arms.

Shimame glanced quickly at Kazuo, which gave the old farmer kami a sharp sting, then turned back to the scene below. "Whatever spirit or kami convinced that child to leave home this morning seems to have set up a bit of a crisis in that one," she said, pointing at Michio. "And Haname's words may have driven it home."

"About time," Yoshio mumbled. "I was beginning to wonder if anything could get through to him."

"Have faith," Kazuo said, leaning close to whisper encouragement. "You know how he is."

"Now to see if Tsuneo can water that seed and make it bloom," Hitoshi said, pulling his rush hat up a bit. "Do you mind if I give him my blessing, Shimame-no-kami?"

She nodded in the affirmative. He lifted up his rake and slapped it on the rafter. A cloud of gold light formed, glowing with a promise unseeable to those without spiritual eyesight. It drifted off to land on Tsuneo's head and shoulders, granting him a nimbus of authority that hadn't been there the moment before. He stood up straighter, studying his son-in-law with thoughtful eyes.

"Well done, Hitoshi," Shimame said, opening her fan. Let's see what happens. Will this be one of those interesting moments, like in a drama?"

The gathered kami leaned forward and watched.

 

Tsuneo, unaware of the audience he had overhead, shifted his feet, drew a deep breath, and finally, unexpectedly, found words to say. "It's not easy, being married to the women of this family."

It must have been the right way to start, because Michio, his eyes reddened and his face drawn in his misery, stopped his grovelling and muttered sorries and looked up at his father-in-law, surprised by Tsuneo's statement. "How...how do you do it, Otousan?"

Tsuneo reached out a hand and helped Michio to his feet. "Not well, really." He sighed again. "Too often, I just let my wife and son do what they wanted while I stepped back. But on the other hand, Haname is often rather smart about things, and I listen to what she says. I'm not so sure about my daughter." He rested his hand on the top of the younger man's shoulder. "Like now. Haname-chan told you to fix what's destroying your family. She's right, you know. Only you have the power to fix this mess."

"But - " Michio started.

"No, son, listen to me. Chiya may never really grow up. She may always like to act like she's better than she is, like to control things. She always was like that, even as a small child, this need to be the center of attention and want everybody's approval, especially Haname's. That is who she is. You are who you are, a good man who reaches his limits sometimes. But your marriage, your life here in the village, who you are in the community is bigger than Chiya's bad behavior. What you do affects more than you or her."

Michio hung his head down once again. "I was so afraid I would beat her." He looked up. "All I could do is think of Seiji and how he treated his wife and boys. It scared me, the wanting to hit her."

Tsuneo rubbed the back of his neck. "I can understand that." His eyes grew far away, caught up in some memory or another. "I'll be honest. I don't know what I would have done at your age if Haname had pulled that type of stunt. It was hard enough to know what to do when that fool of a yamabushi got his magic into her this month. Between her and Aki-chan…"

"I...I...I…" Michio covered his face with his hands. "I never meant -"

 

Up on the rafters' Shimame snapped her fan closed. It was a loud sound, quite audible to the gathered kami. Only the fact that the kami were in spirit form and the men below were not gifted with spiritual perception kept Tsuneo and Michio from hearing it. Elsewhere in the village, Kaede looked up from her breakfast soup, feeling the spiritual permutation and decided to make sure she would add a little something extra to her morning prayers at the shrine, just in case.

"These humans," the land kami said. "Are they always like this? You understand how humans think more than I do. Are they always this dense? He had no idea that his temper tantrum was affecting others? Look how Michio is reacting! It's like he's never thought about this before."

Kazuo shrugged. "Humans can be dense as wet clay, Kami-sama. And you know how hard that is to penetrate.

"Look how his spirit churns with guilty feelings," Hitoshi said. "He ought to feel it. Look what he's done to Tsuneo and all the people here.

"Wet clay, eh?" Shimame said. "Well that explains a lot. Let's see if Tsuneo knows how to break that up."

 

"It's all water down the river, son," Tsuneo said, interrupting him. "The real question is what now? What will you do with the now you have right this minute? Your youngest child ran away, maybe to look for her okaasan, your wife is sitting in a house down by the river. She may never really understand her role in why she's there, but she wants to come home. Your obasan is trying to pick up the pieces, but as good as Inishi-chan is, she's not the mother of your house, and she's too old for the job. She'd never admit it, but she too is overwhelmed. And your own otousan…" He tugged on his chin. "And this goes beyond your household. There's your ko. Think about Toshiro, who's dealing with a new grandchild and that wild household of his, and the problem with what to do with Seiji's family now that he's out of the picture, and if this doesn't resolve soon, what to do about you. I bet Benika and her hens are already trying to spread rumors about you, and they always cause more trouble than they're worth. "

"Benika has hated me for years," Michio grumbled.

"She's hated me even longer," Tsuneo said, with a short, sad laugh. "She's been Chiya's best friend since they were children, worshiping her like some sort of hero, and she tends to resent anybody who gets in the way of Chiya, even if it's a father doing his duty or…." He paused. "A husband."

"I guess," Michio said. "No telling what poison she's going to try to spread this time."

"But anyway," Tsuneo continued, "this is where we are now. As for us, my household, and if necessary, the rest of the ko, we will do everything humanly possible to find Asuka-chan this morning. And after she's found, it will be time for you to decide what to do next." He looked at him firmly in the eye, a serious look that made Michio take a step back. "Only you can decide what matters most – your pride or your place here in our village. Only you can fix it and move on to do whatever fate has in store for you and your household as a member of the community, or you can decide not to fix it, and let the pain pull down and run havoc over everybody's life who comes in contact with yours." He rested his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Life decisions aren't always what we want or are even just. Still, even not making one is a decision of a sort. I hope you choose wisely."

Up on the rafters, Yoshio gave out a bark of surprise. "Well look at that," he said, pointing to a wavering light growing in Michio's aura.

"Are you sure?" Kazuo said, rubbing his hat across his head. "He's one of yours and you can read him better than I do. Is he really weakening? Finally?"

"It looks small, that light, like a new sprout," Hitoshi said. "It could still get crushed."

"Hush," Yoshio said. "It's our job to help it grow."

Shimame opened her fan, studying it. "Perhaps the soil was finally ready. Here comes the fertilizer. Will it be too much or will this plant thrive?"

The kami watched as Michio thought about Tsuneo's words. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Chichi-ue, Chichi-ue!" Masato burst into the room. "She's home, Chichi-ue! Asuka's home!"

As Michio went to grab his son, Tsuneo grabbed him by the arm. "Choose well, son. Only you can fix it."

Michio nodded.