InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mayumi's Story ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi


Mayumi's Story, Chapter 11:


    I stood and let the waterfall cascade around my shoulders.  It was hot, mid-July, and I had been married for about three months.  Auntie Sango had left me two containers as wedding presents.  The first, in a bamboo tube with a cleverly hinged lid, was my hair dye.  The wolf youkai had all seen me with my hanyou ears but I still kept up the pretense of having dark hair.  I didn't want to give them any reason to think of my father when they saw me.

    The second container, fitted with a cover like the first, held shampoo--real shampoo.  I was under no illusions as to where Auntie Sango had gotten the shampoo.  'Thank you, Mama,' I silently mouthed, as I shook a handful of the precious liquid into my palm and lathered my hair.

    It was the shampoo that almost gave me away.  I had been so concerned about disguising my inuhanyou traits so Uncle Kouga and the others wouldn't be reminded of my father, that I forgot they had known Mama, too.   After the first time I'd used the shampoo, Uncle Kouga sniffed the air around me with a puzzled expression.  "Something smells familiar," he said, sniffing my hair in particular.  "I know that scent.  But where do I know it from?"  He walked off, scratching his head, still trying to figure it out.  I had a moment of panic before I rationalized it away.  Uncle Kouga hadn't remembered me in the future, therefore he didn't discover who I was in this time.  That's how it generally worked, so I should be safe enough.  Besides, I really wanted to continue using the shampoo!

    It wasn't that I was not prepared to live my life like everyone else in this time--I was.  I didn't need instant noodles or pocky.  And if my mother had given Auntie Sango schoolbooks to give to me, I would have handed them right back.  But shampoo . . . I was not that much of a purist!

    In the end, Uncle Kouga had decided he must have remembered wrong, for he never mentioned the smell again.

    Living with the wolves was kind of cool.  They avoided contact with humans, generally, with the exceptions being the slayer village and Kohaku, who was their contact with Uncle Sesshomaru.  They did this by choice, being a little on the wild side.  In fact, for the first time I was in the awkward position of being thought of as more 'human' than 'youkai,' and it took some getting used to.  Auntie Ayame, whom I respectfully addressed as 'mother-in-law,' although she looked hardly older than I was, had tea and hot meals for me until I finally told her I didn't mind my food raw and red.  She and Auntie Sango had become great friends over the years, and it was Ayame's way of being polite to the 'human' child.  Daichi tried to make me feel better by saying that none of the wolf youkai held my human blood against me.   "In fact," he told me, "my father actually was in love with a human girl, once.  That was before he met my mother."

    I nearly spit out the mouthful of tea I'd just taken.  Daichi had no idea!  The human girl he so innocently spoke of had been my mother, Kagome!  I knew the story too. My Mama had started the wolves on their path of integration with the humans.  Because of her, they didn't eat humans anymore.  If it hadn't been for Mama, would Daichi have even looked at me?  I was suddenly grateful for my mother's influence, and I resolved to make the best of my situation.  I would have to show these wolves that I was just as much a youkai as they were, but at the same time, I would let them know I was proud of my human blood as well.

    The wolves were surprised that I could keep up with them on their runs.  Little did they know that I learned to run with some of these very same wolves when I was a small child.  We kept to the mountains of the north mostly, but sometimes we would venture down into human territory, and that's when my dual heritage came in handy.  With my dark hair and kerchief, I could 'pass' for human, as long as they didn't look too long or too closely.  I taught Daichi to do it, too.  He merely had to hide the points of his ears behind his already dark hair, and stop acting so skittish around humans.  If there's one thing I learned from Uncle Shippo's Youkai School, it was how to fool the eye.  Most of us did not have the power of magical illusions, like Uncle Shippo or even Uncle Fenn, but we had other things we could do.  People tended to believe what was common over what was extraordinary, so they overlooked the differences in our mannerisms and even in our features, and put human interpretations on them.  That's what Uncle Shippo had taught us.  People see what they expect to see.  As long as we didn't act too much out of the pattern, we would blend in.  It didn't always work, but it worked enough.  As time went by, and more youkai assimilated themselves within human society, people started to forget the old tales of wild creatures out of legend.  Then it became even easier to fool their dull senses with simple illusions, disguises and misdirections.  Of course, I was good at it.  I fooled the wolves, too.

    Kazuki met me periodically at my cave between my new home and the slayer village.  I had kept the location of the cave secret even from Daichi.  We had met nearby, in the forest, but he could not know how I came and went.  Kazuki, of course, merely followed my path through time.  He brought me news from home, and for a long time he asked me if I would go back with him.  I always said no.  As it was, I hated taking the time to meet Kazuki at the cave because it felt like a betrayal of Daichi.  I'd made my choice, and even though it was hard, I would live with it.  "How's Dai?" I asked one day, really wanting to know.  Dai was Daichi, eventually, and naturally I was concerned for his welfare.  Was he doing all right without me?

    "He left right after you did, and he isn't planning on coming back," Kazuki replied.  "It was too hard for him to be around us--I don't think he would have handled it well if you had come back to visit, so he took himself out of the picture.  So you can come back now.  It's safe."

    I felt terrible, knowing the pain I had put Dai through.  "I can't," I whispered, eyes downcast.  "I don't expect you to understand, but I just can't."

    "Even for Mom and Dad?" Kazuki asked.  "They had to cover like crazy since you disappeared.  School, records, stuff like that."

    I hadn't even thought about the repercussions that my leaving would have upon my modern family.  "I--what did they do?" I asked.

    "Officially, you moved back to Japan and live with Uncle Sesshomaru.  He has enough connections to make it believable."

    "Oh."  I was glad. 

    "We're all going to have to do it sooner or later," he added, and at my puzzled look, he said, "When we get 'older' in human years.  They're already talking about how they are going to handle it.  The older youkai have all done it a couple times already, but it will be the first time for Mom and the rest of us."

    "What about Dad?" I asked.

    "Technically, it will be his second time, since Uncle Sesshomaru had to set him up with a new identity the first time he came to the future to be with Mom."

    "Oh," I said again.  There was a lot I hadn't considered.  In so many ways, it was easier living in this time, without computer records and technology to contend with.  Although there were some things I would miss--like television, and music downloads.   I wondered if Kazuki would bring me an MP3 player if I asked him.  No--too anachronistic.

    Kazuki's eyes glowed faintly in the dim light of the cave.  He laid a hand on my shoulder.  "I do understand, Mayumi," he said.  "I told Mom she'd have to wait a while to see me go to college, too.  I'm coming here to marry Sachi."

    "Oh, Kazuki!"  I was happy for him and I hugged him, but at the same time I felt sorry for our parents, who would be losing two children to the past.  "When?"

    He told me it wouldn't be for another few months, enough time to give our mother and Auntie Sango time to plan the wedding.  They would marry in the slayer village and live in our little house there.  Mama and Papa planned on attending the wedding, so Kazuki asked me not to say anything to Daichi or the wolves about it.  He would bring Sachi to see us after they were married.

    "So I can't be there either?" I asked sadly.  Some things just weren't fair.  He and Koji were able to attend my wedding, but Mama and Papa couldn't.  Now, in order for Mama and Papa to be at Kazuki's wedding, I couldn't go.

    "You can," he replied softly.  "Just you."

    I smiled softly in return, because we both knew that wouldn't happen.

    It was ironic.  We were both hanyou, and one of us had chosen to live with youkai, and the other had chosen to live with humans.  I wondered what our brother Koji would choose.

   
    Shortly after that day, Papa must have found my cave, and he had brought Mama there, too, because there was a barrier around it, making it invisible to anyone who wasn't keyed to it, and, just like the barrier at home, it was keyed to me--and my family.  I never saw Mama and Papa there, but every so often I would find refills of my favorite shampoo, or soap, or, after the kids were born, a camera so I could take digital pictures of them and leave them in the cave for my parents to see how their grandchildren grew.  I was comforted that, in the future, thanks to that same technology I'd earlier disparaged, I would have these precious pictures of my children.  Daichi, who in this time knew nothing of such things, would have them too.

    Those first few years among the wolves were some of the best in my life.  I gradually got used to life in the Sengoku Jidai and looked forward to watching the world march forward.  I only regretted I hadn't paid much attention in history class, so I was sort of vague on what happened when.  I knew, from Papa and Uncle Sesshomaru, that many youkai disappeared and those that remained had blended into the human world, which was growing larger by the day.  If I was a little shaky on human history, I was seeing first-hand youkai history in the making.  Uncle Sesshomaru, sometimes with Kohaku, who was some sort of ancestor--my great great great great great grandpa on my Mama's side--and sometimes just by himself or with little green Jaken, periodically visited the wolf youkai enclave and exchanged information.

    On one of these visits, shortly after my marriage to Daichi, Uncle Sesshomaru spotted me among the women.  It was the first time I had seen him up close in this era, and I gulped.  He looked just the same to me as he always did, and I had to remind myself that this Sesshomaru had no idea who I was.  He stared directly at me for what seemed like hours, before he turned and followed Kouga.  I let out my breath.  He didn't recognize me; of course, he didn't recognize me.  He didn't know I existed--yet.  My scent was disguised, my hair was a different color from his.  I was safe.  I went about my business, even though I couldn't help sneaking glances at my uncle.  He looked exactly the same!

    He caught me looking, and stared back with a look I never thought to see in his eyes.  "Who is she?" I heard him ask Kouga, who glanced up at me.  I quickly turned my head and pretended I didn't see them.

    "She's my son Daichi's new wife," Kouga replied.

    "Pity."  Uncle Sesshomaru gave me one last, lingering glance, and promptly forgot about me.

    I was shocked!  He was my uncle!  What was it about me that attracted him?  A dark-haired human-looking girl?  Who would have thought that would be Uncle Sesshomaru's type?  I'd be sure to remember, though, and then I would set him up on some blind dates in the future, now that I knew his type.  Papa was going to be surprised.  As for me, I was just glad that he was a noble youkai, and once he'd heard I was married, he let the matter drop.  Thank goodness.

    On the night of Kazuki's wedding, I was feeling a little left out.  I wandered away from the wolf youkai settlement and wasn't surprised to find that Daichi had followed me.  I had been counting on it.  "Let's run," I said, and I took off with Daichi right behind me.  I didn't have a place in mind, but we ended up in the woods near my cave.  I was careful not to lead Daichi too close to the cave, not because I was afraid he would sense my mother's barrier--I knew he wouldn't--but because I didn't want him to get burned if he accidentally brushed up against it.  We settled down in the grass in our usual spot, and I took a deep breath, comforted to smell only Daichi.  The wolves were great, but I felt the need for some alone time.  It would be nice to build a little house of our own right here someday.  "Love me?" I asked, and I wasn't looking for a verbal reply.

    Daichi didn't give me one.