InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lost in the Past ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

 

 

Lost in the Past, Chapter 4

 

 

There were fewer and fewer youkai as they approached the slayer's village. When he was no longer able to sense any at all, Kazuki slowed to a stop and set Mayumi down. For the last hour she had alternated between strangling him and trying to get down while he was in mid-air. She had started a steady whining in his ear that she was hungry, and he was acutely conscious that she hadn't gone pee in a very long time. All that stood between him and her was his t-shirt.

 

“Be quiet,” he told her, putting his finger to his lips. “I'll get you something to eat, but you have to stay still, ok?” Even though there were no youkai nearby, that didn't mean they were out of danger. Uncle Shippo had taught him how to spot human wards against youkai, and while he wasn't too worried that they would affect him, he didn't want Mayumi to get hurt.

 

She nodded her head and sat in the dirt, content to let her big brother get her something good to eat. He disappeared, but returned a moment later with something furry. She sniffed it. It didn't smell like Mama's food.

 

“Eat it, it's good,” Kazuki urged, holding out the piece of meat he had sliced off for her. He knew Daddy sometimes sneaked her little pieces of real food when he took her out for walks at home. Mom had no idea.

 

Mayumi ate the piece, then wanted more. When she was satisfied, Kazuki used a few leaves to wipe her off, then buried the remnants of their meal. “Want to play a game?”

 

Mayumi loved games. This one was called `statue.' When Kazuki said so, she had to pretend she was a statue. She couldn't move until he touched her head. They played the game all the way up the last hill to the village. Just on the outskirts, they stopped, still within the shelter of the forest.

 

“Statue,” called Kazuki, satisfied to see that Mayumi instantly crouched down, hands on head, and waited. It was more of Uncle Shippo's training, but he thought she was ready for it. Now he could approach the gate without having to worry that Mayumi might get burned by the barrier he already knew was there.

 

The gate was open, but the barrier was definitely in place. He hated to have to go through it—that hurt—but he would if there was no other way. He had done it before. He glanced down at himself, wearing nothing but shorts since Mayumi had on his t-shirt. His ears were completely visible on top of his head. How many times had his parents told him he was not allowed to leave their mountain without covering his ears? Oh, he was going to be in so much trouble when all this was over.

 

“Hello?” he called, from his side of the barrier. “Uncle Miroku? Auntie?”

 

The village had grown since the last time he was here. Several people stopped and stared at him through the opening. He heard footsteps, then to his relief he saw Uncle Miroku rapidly approaching.

 

“Kazuki!” Hurriedly, Miroku raised his hand and dispelled the barrier. “It's safe now,” he said, puzzled when Kazuki turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction. “Kazuki?”

 

A few seconds later Kazuki came walking back towards the village, holding a toddler by the hand.

 

“Is that Mayumi?” Auntie Sango pushed past Miroku and gathered the little girl up in her arms. “My, how you've grown!” She glanced around, then focused on Kazuki. “Where are your mother and father?”

 

Kazuki, who had managed to keep his fears in check long enough to get here, started to cry. Angry at himself for being such a baby, he wiped away his tears. “We came here by ourselves,” he answered. “I don't know how to make Tetsusaiga take us back home. I was hoping you could help me.”

 

“Tetsusaiga?” asked Miroku, glancing around. If the children had used Tetsusaiga to get here, then that meant Inuyasha and Kagome were stuck in the future. “Where is it?”

 

Kazuki briefly explained how he had hidden the sword in order to escape the youkai who had stalked them on their way to the village. He remembered where he had put it, and they could go to fetch it now if Uncle Miroku was willing. He could show him the way. Mayumi fussed a little, cranky from her long day without a nap.

 

Sango stopped the conversation right there and ushered them all into her house. The villagers would be discreet, she knew, and she would be sure to have a talk with them all a little later. Each of the families that had settled in their village had come to accept that this slayer village had dealings with youkai and did not indiscriminately condemn all youkai out of hand. Miroku and Sango were very explicit in their expectations before they allowed outsiders to settle here.

 

“First, we need to clean you up and get you something to eat,” she said. She sized Kazuki up, then threw him a cloth and some of her son's clothes. “Get washed,” she instructed, pointing outside.

 

Kazuki knew the way, He went to wash and change, relieved that the grown-ups were going to take charge. He wondered where his friend Hiroshi was. He could smell Hiroshi's scent on the clothes Auntie Sango had given him.

 

Meanwhile, Sango stripped Mayumi down and washed her with a damp cloth. She substituted one of her children's outgrown kimono's for the long shirt that Mayumi had been wearing. That was all the child had been wearing, except for an even smaller shirt underneath the long one. Must be more of those modern clothes, she thought.

 

Kazuki came back inside and handed Auntie Sango his dirty shorts and underpants. She took them, pulling at the waistband, amazed at how they stretched and then went back to their original shape.

 

“I wouldn't leave her like that, if I were you,” Kazuki said, noting how closely the kimono clung to Mayumi's bare body. “She wets.”

 

Sango bustled around, straightening up the room and getting out bowls of food for the two children. “She'll be fine,” she said. “If she wets her kimono, I guarantee she won't like it. Mayumi, do you have to pee?” she asked.

 

Mayumi blinked sleepily.

 

“Let's go outside, then,” continued Sango, picking up the little girl and briskly carrying her outside. Kazuki continued to eat.

 

“She's fine,” repeated Auntie Sango when they returned. She fed Mayumi some watered rice then put her down to sleep. Before she placed her on the bedding, however, Sango spread out a few extra cloths just in case.

 

Uncle Miroku came in shortly afterward. He took one look at Kazuki and made a decision. “We'll go after Tetsusaiga tomorrow,” he said. “Why don't you get some sleep, too?”

 

“But it's still light out!” protested Kazuki.

 

“I have some things to do here first,” replied Miroku, to salve Kazuki's pride. He knew the boy could barely keep his eyes open. It must have been an exhausting day. He hoped Inuyasha and Kagome were coping on their end. Given the situation, he was sure they would understand if their children came back a day later, safely, than if they rushed to return tonight, and faced who knew what sort of youkai danger in the process.

 

The next morning Kazuki woke with the dawn to hear Mayumi whimpering in her bed. She had wet during the night, and she didn't like the feeling of the soaking cloth stuck all around her. Auntie Sango had heard her also, and lifted her from the bedding, rolling it with one hand as she smoothly carried Mayumi on her hip and brought both her and the soaked bedding out the door.

 

She bustled back in with a dry Mayumi and set about preparing breakfast. “Kazuki, before you go with Uncle Miroku to retrieve Tetsusaiga, I think we need to disguise your true scent,” she said. “I don't have that curry stuff your mother used, but I think this will work just as well.” She took out a jar of bean paste and spread a dollop of it into a bowl of water. She dunked a cloth into the brownish water and dabbed it on Kazuki's arm. It smelled like food to him, but it was tolerable. She ended up smearing it all over his exposed skin, as it had the added effect of tinting him slightly browner, as if he had spent time out in the sun. “There, now you fit in,” Sango said, satisfied.

 

“I smell like lunch,” he huffed.

 

Auntie Sango subjected Mayumi to the same treatment. “Now, we need to do something about your hair,” she mused. “Watch your sister,” she directed towards Kazuki, “and don't go anywhere!” With that, she disappeared out the door.

 

A little while later, she reappeared with a bucket in her hands. “Lean down,” she told Kazuki, taking care of him first. She rinsed his hair, being careful of his ears, then patted it dry with another cloth. It smelled funny. He watched while she did the same thing to Mayumi's hair, and was amazed to watch the silvery-white hair turn dark, not exactly black, but very dark brown. Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

 

“Where is everybody?” he asked, as Auntie Sango finished up by tying a kerchief over Mayumi's rather noticeable ears. She pushed Mayumi's hands firmly down when the little girl reached up to pull the kerchief off.

 

“Hiroshi and the girls?” asked Sango. “They stayed over next door so you two could get some sleep. I told them they weren't allowed to disturb you.”

 

“Oh,” said Kazuki. “Where were they when I got here? I didn't smell them.” Kazuki glanced up in dismay. He wasn't supposed to say things like that in front of humans. Auntie Sango didn't seem to be upset, however.

 

“They were practicing slayer techniques,” she replied. “Outside the village. We have a whole group of young ones who are learning how to become slayers.”

 

Kazuki thought that was very interesting. He wouldn't mind trying that himself. Maybe when he brought Mayumi home, his Dad would let him come back for the rest of the summer and go to Slayer School with Hiroshi. If his Dad didn't ground him for the rest of the summer.

 

“Are you ready to go?” Uncle Miroku stood in the doorway. It was time to fetch Tetsusaiga. Kazuki tied a strip of cloth over his head to hide his ears and nodded.

 

Hiroshi stood just behind his father, grinning. “Hey, Kazuki,” he said, looking him up and down. “You look just like me!”

 

Kazuki laughed. With Hiroshi's clothes, dark hair and no dog ears, he blended right in with the other village boys.

 

“Bye-bye!” Auntie Sango and Mayumi waved as they set off.