InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed ❯ Day Forty Three ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four - Day Forty Three

 

Shin's condition continued to improve under the expert care of a very capable Takana. Two weeks after waking up and remembering subsequent events after waking, the swelling on his head had completely corrected itself, the various bruises covering his body were little more than slightly discolored patches of yellow, though they still covered nearly his entire body, but the important thing was that they no longer pained him. His right arm and left leg were still kept in splints and Tanaka had told him that they would remain there until she was sure that the bones had healed properly and strongly. That meant another three or four weeks of wearing the annoying contraptions. The various gashes of different severities were also healing nicely. Only two still required Takana's attention though they no longer required her to bandage them, just apply a daily salve to the healing flesh. He was so much improved in fact, that Takana had recently allowed him to begin taking small walks around the hut as long as he promised her that he would use the crutch she had made for him and only put a little of his weight on his injured leg. The only thing about his condition that hadn't improved however was the simple fact that he could remember nothing about his life before coming to be in her care except flitting images a little girl. Not even his name. All he knew was that he had been severely injured and would not have survived if it had not been for the generosity, kindness and obvious skill of this one woman.

 

He continued to go by the name Shin though he knew it was not his. He spent hours each day just staring at one place in the wall, willing himself to remember something, anything about his former life. His inability to recall even obvious details weighed heavily on the healing man and each day that passed brought him nothing but a little more anxiety. He feared never being able to remember, living as though the first days of his life were the pain filled days of his early recovery.

 

“Moping about all day long isn't going to help you remember anything Shin.” Tanaka spoke up from the doorway.

 

Shin spun his vision in the direction of her voice, annoyed again that she was able to sneak up on him like that without even trying. It was a strange feeling he got from time to time, whenever she startled him, that he should have known of her approach long before she came anywhere near him. How he thought he was supposed to know that, he had no idea but it was a definite feeling.

 

He grunted non-committaly. It wasn't her place to tell him such things, he thought to himself. There it was again. Why would he think that? She was only trying to help but he was always thinking about her like that, as though she were beneath him somehow. He kept those thoughts to himself. He had no desire to incur her wrath about such matters today. He had made that mistake once before and though she hadn't yelled at him or anything like that when he'd once reflexively told her to know her place after she chastised him for not eating all of his meal, she definitely lost a little of that bedside manner while changing his bandages and dressings. He was well aware that she hadn't needed to move his arm quite that roughly in order to get her work done. He was now careful about the impulses he sometimes had about her station, what he wanted and telling her that she talked too much. None of those things helped him in any way and it only served to raise her ire at him.

 

She never did stay mad for very long though. She recovered far more quickly that he did and sometimes he hated her for it. What did she have to be so happy about anyway. He rolled his eyes at her and she must have seen it.

 

“In another foul mood today I see.” It didn't put a damper on her mood in the least. She'd grown rather used to it and didn't pay it a bit of attention. “You'd never know that it was supposed to be winter out there. The weather is so beautiful.” She changed the subject as she walked over to him and handed him his crutch.

 

He raised an eyebrow at it. She had already changed the bedding on his futon, so why did she want him to get up yet again.

 

“Come on moppy, were going to get you some fresh air. No reason in wasting such a fine day.” She waited for him to rise and he did so with about as much excitement as a dying turtle. “It will do you good and you'll be thanking me once winter really sets in.” She made sure he was correctly situated in the aid and then moved to his other side to assist him if needed. She knew he wouldn't. She knew he really didn't like being helped or pampered. It was one of his good qualities. In fact, it was the only good quality she could think of at the moment. She couldn't think of a more pompous patient she'd ever had.

 

With that, they walked out of the hut and into the crisp midmorning air. The sun shone brightly down on them and Shin looked around the area for the first time though he couldn't help but feel that it was familiar to him in some way.

 

“This area really gets a lot of snow since we're a little higher up on the mountain than most.”

 

“I know.” He stated reflexively in a rather bored tone.

 

They both stopped and their heads turned respectively to look at one another. Both were astonished at his simple declaration.

 

“You...” She started to say.

 

“No.” He answered immediately.

 

“That's strange. Before I found you at the bottom of the ravine, I'd never seen you around before. Also, no one I've spoken to about you knows who you are either and no one has reported anyone in their family missing since I found you.”

 

Shin just nodded his head. His response had shaken him. How did he know that it snowed a lot in this area? But deep down, he knew it was right. Somehow, he knew that it snowed thickly in this area in the dead of winter.

 

They started walking again. They were now a small distance from the hut but Shin was surprised at how tired he was quickly becoming. They continued to walk in silence but he was sure Takana was aware of his fatigue.

 

“Why don't you sit down here?” She indicated a spot beneath an old, majestic maple that had lost its leaves some time ago.

 

He agreed with another nod of his head, so they headed in that direction. After she helped him sit down, she left him to go back to the hut for something. He rested his back against the trunk of the tree and found the position he was now in somewhat comforting. His injured leg stretched out straight ahead of him while the other, he bent at the knee and rested his injured arm on. Though he hated to admit it, she was right, the outside air did feel good and he was glad for the change of scenery from something other than the walls of her little hut. He took his good hand and ran it through his hair that fell just above his shoulders. When his fingers traveled the length of it and out, he had the distinct feeling that his hair should have been longer.

 

Takana was arriving back just as he had this thought. “Did you cut my hair?” The woman stopped next to him and looked down at him.

 

“Do you remember having longer hair?” She asked back.

 

He looked off into the distance, another frown marring his handsome face. “No...not really, I just have this feeling that it should be longer than it is.”

 

She gave him a lopsided smile. She'd hoped that he'd remembered something specific but at least this was something, like the snow comment before it. It was something.

 

“Yes, it was longer, quite a bit longer in fact.” He looked back at her. “I think it actually fell to about your calves.”

 

“You think?” He asked in a mildly irritated tone. She paid it no heed.

 

“Well, before I found you, I think something else found you first. I think some animal must have thought it would make perfect bedding or something because it was all kinds of different lengths when I found you. The only really long parts were the ones you were lying on. Other than that, it had been gnawed off. I cut it all to the shortest length, the length it is now.”

 

He looked away from her now. He wasn't sure why, but he was disappointed that his hair wasn't longer.

 

“I'd never seen such long hair and you have a lot of it.” She was no longer just talking to him. She had brought back one of her packs. He knew what it was. He'd seen her use it in the hut before and he'd seen several examples of her workmanship. Though he didn't tell her, he was actually impressed by her skills. Not only was she a skilled healer but her ability to carve was also quite advanced.

 

“I was actually jealous; my hair would never get that long and I don't have as much as you either.” It was a simple comment and one that didn't require a response from him so he said and did nothing.

 

He again looked off into the distance. It felt right to do so. He squinted, wishing he could see farther. After a long while of silence, he looked back at her while she worked. It was the first time he'd ever seen her in the light of day and not the dark confines of the hut. Despite not remembering any others, he knew that she was a rather average looking woman. She was of a medium build though he was positive she was stronger than the average. After all, she had managed to drag his limp form back to the hut and get him in a futon all by herself.

 

“Why do you live alone?” He asked spontaneously. He saw her tense and he raised an eyebrow at the reaction. Just as quickly as it came, it passed but she didn't look away from her current project when she answered. That too was unusual. She always looked directly at him when she addressed him and though it had always mildly annoyed him, it now fascinated him. Why did this question bother her so much?

 

“I like living alone.” She said in a quiet tone.

 

She was lying! He wasn't sure how he knew but she was and that fact piqued his interest even further. Ever since he had woken up in her hut, she had been nothing but sincere and honest with him but now...

 

“You are lying.”

 

Her eyes shot up to his. She actually looked a little panicked and Shin took pleasure in the effect he was having on her now. It was the first time he'd seen her off balance. So she wasn't as confident as she portrayed herself to be. He let a smirk show.

 

“What? What do you mean?” She back peddled.

 

“I mean exactly what I said.” He disliked repeating his words; he knew that much about himself. “You just lied to me. So let's try again, why do you live alone?” She had made him feel weak countless times and though he knew she didn't do it on purpose or with any malicious intent, he wasn't going to miss this opportunity to exact a little revenge for it anyway.

 

She looked away from him and sighed. She already looked defeated and he was disappointed that it had been so easy to accomplish.

 

“You really want to know?” She asked, her face still turned away from him.

 

When he nodded, he realized his folly and quickly spoke up. “I would not have asked if I didn't.”

 

He heard her let off one laugh. It was not joyful in the least like it had been when she found out just how much he liked her baked apples, no this one was hollow and sad.

 

“I was forced out of my village by my father.” There was a long silence until she drew in a deep breath. “I was raped while gathering herbs to restock our stores, by a youkai, the kind that looks mostly like a human.” She drew in another sharp breath and set her tools down. “I didn't tell anyone and just prayed that I would never have to. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible.” She now turned to look at him. Tears were streaming down her face. She stood and faced away from him again.

 

His desire for a little bit of revenge suddenly evaporated and for the first time, he felt far lower than he ever thought of her. She had done nothing but nurse him back to health and this is how he repaid her. He wanted to get up and get away from the situation he had callously caused but he could not. He wasn't well enough to get up on his own and would depend on her help for doing so. He was pulled out of his self deprecating thoughts by the continuation of her painful story that he truly had no right to know.

 

“I conceived... and it didn't take long for my father to see what was happening to me. He was the village's healer, I was his apprentice. He demanded to know who the father was and when I finally did tell him, he drew away from me like I was something disgusting. He threw me out of the village that day and told me to never come back or he'd tell everyone. If he did that, some of them might actually try and kill me for it.” Her voice was now nothing but a whisper.

 

He stared at her back and couldn't help the next question that was out of his mouth before he knew he'd said it. “But I don't see a child.”

 

“That's because there isn't one. I lost it.” She took another deep breath and he knew she was crying. “I don't know if it was the stress or if something wasn't right but I had a miscarriage a few weeks later. I almost bled to death, sometimes I wish I had.”

 

This wasn't the same woman who had been helping him all this time. He never would have guessed her saying something like that and it pained him to think that he was the cause of her pain at the moment.

 

“I found this place and have lived here ever since. That was almost four years ago.”

 

Four years! How old was she when she was thrown out. She didn't look much older than twenty. He now officially hated himself but he said nothing.

 

“At least I know how to make medicines and can do a bit of carving. Anything I can't grow or catch myself, I can trade for. It's not that bad really.” With that she walked off. He didn't blame her in the least. He knew she wouldn't go very far, the caregiver in her was too strong to leave someone that was helpless, alone.

 

He shook his head. That was not what he had intended to do. He hadn't expected anything that revealing and he was surprised that she had told him. He had no right to know and just because he had pressed her, didn't mean that she had to tell him. He now wished she hadn't and saved him the embarrassment but maybe that's why she did it. Maybe she wanted him to know what an ungrateful bastard he'd been ever since he'd woken up.

 

He wouldn't blame her if that was what she was up to but he doubted it. She just needed some time to herself since the pain of it was obviously still very much live and well though she hid it amazingly well.

 

He decided at that moment to resolve to be more civil with her in the future in light of all she had done for him. There was no real reason for his behavior and he now felt like the heal of the earth for having acted so poorly. Besides, acting like an ass as was his natural impulse to do, was doing nothing to help him remember anything about himself anyway. Perhaps going against his first inclination would work better in the end.

 

AN: To my reviewers, you guys are way to kind to have come over from the other story like you have. It really means a lot!

 

Puddle - All will be revealed in time but the one thing I will tell you, is that Sess is going to go through a few roller coaster rides in this fic. Hope you like.

White Luna - I can only hope I keep you excited by it! Thanks for the wish for success but I have no illusions that this one will do as well. It's not one of the common pairings so grabbing readers will be a huge challenge, but that's part of the fun.

Nikkie23534 - Takana is going to be a pretty complicated foil for our Sess but since he doesn't know he's Sess on a conscious level, I really get to play with his character!