InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mayumi's Story ❯ Chapter 18 ( Chapter 18 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

 

 

Mayumi's Story, Chapter 18:

 

 

I sat huddled on the ground, trembling as the repercussions of my journey back in time finally hit me. I had met my grandfather, the Inu no Taisho! Not even Papa had managed to do that! And yet, I couldn't go back. Not ever. Some things were not meant to be tampered with. As it was, I think I might have changed the course of time by just that one unintended visit. Was it always destined that I had to go back in time to meet Grandfather? Did I change his heart, at least a little, enough for him to meet my human grandmother years later and make a child with her? Or would it have happened regardless, because it did happen?

 

Had the strange youkai brought me there on purpose? Or was it all some cosmic coincidence? I didn't know what to believe. I shook myself, literally, and went back home. Surprisingly, very little time had passed since I had been gone. Daichi was just getting back from a hunting expedition with Gintaro and the twins. Kenji caught sight of me and raced to meet me, his catch swinging from his left hand as he held it up to show me. He sniffed the air around me curiously, picking up Grandfather's scent which still clung to me from where he'd grabbed me by the arm. It's stupid little details like that that cause problems. Now I had to explain why I smelled like Dog—or more so than usual, anyway.

 

“Kenji! Did you catch the rabbits all by yourself?” I reached down to take them from him, making sure to hug them to my chest. That ought to mask the smell, or muddle it enough. “I'll skin these for you, all right?” Never had I been happier to see a pair of bloodied rabbits!

 

“Mine, too!” shouted Takashi, as he rushed up to dump his armful of limp rabbits into my hands as well. Those boys were forever competing with each other. I gladly took Takashi's catch, too, and gave my husband and eldest son a wry grin as I hurried away to prepare them. Daichi and Gintaro each had a deer slung across his shoulders. The wolf tribe was going to eat well tonight.

 

Later, I had to go down to the waterfall to wash off, and I took the time to pop out to Kazuki's place to tell him of my latest adventure.

 

“I don't think we should tell Dad,” he said, after he had heard my story.

 

“Which part? Meeting Grandfather, going back even further in time, or being attacked by the strange youkai?”

 

“The first two,” Kazuki answered, and I saw his point. Papa didn't like the fact that we kids were able to travel this way at all. He probably wouldn't be happy to find that we had the ability to maneuver through any time and space, and not just back and forth between this one and our original one, let alone that I had met his father, who wasn't the benevolent youkai everyone thought he was, at least not when I met him.

 

“I think we have to let him know about the attack,” Kazuki continued. “That youkai threatened all of us. I wouldn't mention about going back to Grandfather's time, although I might like to go. Maybe I can find out why that youkai brought you back to that particular time.”

 

“Absolutely not!” I answered. Kazuki looked too much like Papa, who already looked too much like the Inu no Taisho. Grandfather would be sure to notice the resemblance. “We can't take the chance of disrupting history any more than I already have,” I said, unwilling to tell him my real reason. “Besides, I'm pretty sure the strange youkai didn't expect Grandfather to be there. He seemed very surprised.”

 

“Yeah, but that doesn't explain why he went directly to Midoriko's cave,” Kazuki objected.

 

“Well, it wasn't Midoriko's cave yet,” I replied. “Maybe it had nothing to do with Midoriko?”

 

“If it had nothing to do with Midoriko, then we have to assume it had something to do with Grandfather,” Kazuki reasoned. “Either way, we need to find out why that youkai went back to that time and place. I think I should go back there.”

 

“Well, you can't go back on your own, and I won't take you,” I said stubbornly.

 

Kazuki glared at me for a few moments, but finally he let it drop. “Fine,” he sighed. “I'll go get Papa. Meet us in two days by your summer house.”

 

I nodded, getting up to leave. I had to get back before I was missed. “How are the kids?” I asked, before I went. I hadn't seen them around today.

 

Kazuki sighed again. “They're a handful for Sachi,” he said. “It's hard for her with two hanyou children when I'm out on patrol most of the time. Sango has them today, but she's not getting any younger, either. The kids don't mean harm. They're just stronger than humans, and they're old enough now that they take advantage of the differences.”

 

I felt bad. I should have been a better Auntie and visited more often. Kazuki had chosen to bring up his children in a human village, and even though it was a village of slayers, who knew they were hanyou, the rest of the village was still human. It must be difficult. “I'll come by soon with my kids,” I promised him. “Then Sachi will see how easy she really has it!”

 

We both laughed, and I popped out, reappearing at the waterfall just in time to see Ayame with my two girls coming down for a quick dip.

 

Nothing untoward happened over the next few days, and I lied to Daichi by telling him I was going to meet Kazuki and Sachi at our summer house to discuss ways to handle their hanyou children. I took two wolves as guards, whom I sent back as soon as we arrived at the small house Daichi had built for me near my cave. Daichi had waved to me, surrounded by our children, as I headed off into the woods. I hated lying to him. The sooner we took care of this youkai problem, the sooner I could stop sneaking around behind my husband's back. It was all for him, and for our kids. I needed to keep them safe.

 

Predictably, Papa was incensed that the strange youkai had dared to come after one of his people—me. I described the youkai in detail, but Papa shook his head. He still couldn't be sure if it was the same youkai as the one who had attacked him—and Daichi—when Daichi and Hiroshi were just babies. I'd forgotten that Daichi had been attacked. If it was the same youkai, this went further than even I had imagined!

 

Papa kept pressing me as to where I had last encountered the strange youkai, and Kazuki and I glanced at each other as I tried to think of something to tell my father without giving away the truth. I finally told him it was near the wolf youkai village, and Papa vowed he would remain to keep watch over the village until the youkai threat was over.

 

“Papa, you can't do that!” I said. “What would Mama say?”

 

“She'd say `keep your daughter safe, no matter what it takes,'” Papa answered.

 

“I have Daichi and the entire wolf youkai tribe to keep me safe,” I protested. Papa couldn't stay indefinitely near the wolf village. Sooner or later he was sure to be spotted, and that would screw up history big-time!

 

“Keh,” he muttered. “They're not doing a very good job of it.”

 

“Yes, they are!” I said. “It's my fault for sneaking off without telling anybody!”

 

He snickered. “I can believe that. You always were too headstrong for your own good. All right, I'll trust your wolves to keep you and my grandkids safe for now.” He looked at me sharply. “But at the first sign of danger, you come get me. No more handling it yourself, understood?”

 

I nodded. He knew I wouldn't actually leave the Sengoku Jidai to get him, but I would send Kazuki. At least I'd try. If the strange youkai showed up suddenly again and there was no time to go for help, well, I'd do what I had to do to keep my family safe. Same as Papa would.

 

He frowned at me, somehow guessing what was in my mind. I smiled back.

 

Kazuki and Papa both insisted on accompanying me back to the wolf village. Of course, Papa stopped just on the outskirts and Kazuki escorted me in. He stayed for a while, visiting with Daichi and enjoying some uncooked food for a change. He told everyone that Sachi was sick, but she was looking forward to my visit at the slayer village in the near future, which neatly set up my next excuse for leaving the wolf village. I planned to really visit Sachi and the kids, but at the same time I wanted to do a little youkai sleuthing while I was away.

 

My daughter Choko turned out to be a great help with Kazuki's kids. They were around the same age, and she was so obviously youkai that my niece and nephew were somewhat awed by her. We ended up traveling to the slayer village quite often over the next few years. Masashi and Akiko listened to me better than they listened to their father, and they listened to Choko, too, perhaps because she was so close in age to them. They seemed more human than my kids, but their youkai blood was strong, as was to be expected with Kazuki for a father. It was a shame that Papa couldn't reveal himself to them now that they were somewhat older. They would have benefited from his experience and training.

 

I cringed to see Miroku and Sango age over the years. Even Sachi and her sister began to show signs of aging, while I and Kazuki remained forever young. It must have been painful for Sachi to watch. Hiroshi had married a village woman, but they never had any children of their own and often visited Sachi and Kazuki and their family. I had a hard time coming to grips with the signs of age on my friends' faces, but Kazuki appeared to have no such trouble. He was affectionate with his wife, and he looked at her with complete adoration, no matter her outward appearance. I hadn't exactly lied that time when I said Sachi was sick. Of course, we never planned to have her really come to the summer house that year, because the whole purpose of the meeting was to update Papa, but she really was sick. Over the years, she lost weight and had little appetite. No wonder she had such a rough time taking care of her kids! I worried about her health, and I worried even more for Kazuki, who I know would be lost if anything happened to Sachi.

 

The strange youkai managed to elude us on both sides of time, despite our continued efforts to find him and his followers and deal with them. I started to think that I had something to do with that. Every time there was a confrontation between me and the strange youkai, they disappeared for a long period right afterward. Maybe they were afraid of me. After a while, I stopped worrying about them and began to enjoy my life again with my husband and growing family. Naturally, that's when the strange youkai made his appearance again.

 

Daichi and I were traveling across country with a human caravan. No one knew we were youkai. We were escorting a wagonload of goods to the south, as were a number of other humans who joined us along the way. There was safety in numbers, even for youkai, in this war-torn world, and although we avoided the main travel routes as much as possible, we were somewhat constrained by the fact that we had to move our heavily-laden wagons over rough terrain. We hoped to make a profit selling our furs in towns that did not usually see such things.

 

It was fun, in an odd sort of way, to travel with humans. They were so superstitious! They had their charms and their wards, ineffective as those things were, since Daichi and I were living proof that they did not keep youkai away. Mirroring our journey, out of sight of the road, our wolves kept watch of their own for any evil creatures, including man, who might think to attack our caravan. At night, we could hear them howling, and the humans shivered in dread, thinking the worst.

 

Daichi slipped away one evening to meet with the wolves, but mainly to get away from the humans and have a little run. I was jealous. As a `human' woman, I would have no reason to go out into the dangerous forest alongside my husband, so I stayed in the camp, preparing our evening meal. That was another thing. We had to cook all our food. Ugh.

 

I heard the wolves calling to each other, and I heard Daichi calling back to the wolves. A human woman who was sharing the fire with me pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders. “The spirits are abroad tonight,” she whispered uneasily.

 

I laughed out loud. They certainly were!

 

Later, as we prepared for sleep, Daichi kissed me softly on the cheek. I glanced around, worried that someone might have seen such unseemly behavior, but for the most part, the camp was quiet. One old man stirred the fire to keep it going, but he was turned away from us and hadn't noticed. I ran my hand gently across Daichi's cheek, then settled myself down for the night, while he did the same.

 

I don't know what woke me up, but I sat up out of a sound sleep with a gasp and looked wildly around the camp. It must have been a bad dream. Everyone else was still asleep, except for the old man who was now watching me from across the fire.

 

“Mayumi,” he said softly.

 

My heart sped up. No one here, except Daichi, knew my name.

 

“Wouldn't the humans in this caravan be surprised if they were to learn that you and your husband are youkai?” he asked conversationally.

 

I threw back the covers and leapt across the fire pit to crouch beside him. “Who are you?” I hissed, sniffing at him. He obviously knew what I was, so there was no need to pretend. He smelled human, completely human.

 

The old man smiled. “I think you know the answer to that,” he said. “Are you ready to go home yet?”

 

“What? No!” I said. “Show yourself! You're not human. What are you?”

 

“Mayumi, I can be whoever I need to be, and you won't know the difference. I warned you once before. You don't belong here. Go home, before I have to do something you'll regret.”

 

I reached for him then, intending to put an end to him with my claws. He was the same youkai I had followed through time back to Midoriko's cave. As I sat next to him, I began to smell his true scent. I don't know how I could have thought it was human a minute ago. “I'll kill you!” I growled.

 

He was too quick for me. In an instant he had disappeared and reappeared a few feet in front of Daichi. “You don't want to wake your husband, do you?” he asked mockingly.

 

I didn't know what to do. He was too close to Daichi. I could never reach him in time if he decided to harm him. Maybe, if I talked to him, he would let down his guard and I would get another opportunity to kill him and end this nightmare once and for all.

 

“Why are you doing this to me?” I whispered. “Why can't you leave us alone?”

 

He shook his head at me, smiling with his old man's face. “You think you can kill me? You can try.” He trailed his hand over Daichi's cheek, in an imitation of what I had done earlier. He must have put Daichi under some sort of hypnotic spell, because Daichi didn't stir. His grin widened, and I realized he didn't have to put Daichi under a spell. He was stealing his energy!

 

“No! I lunged forward, intending to wrest Daichi bodily away from the youkai's influence, but the strange youkai let him go. His body faded to the form I recognized from before, and around him hovered his followers, all sharp teeth and grinning in anticipatory malice. “See you soon,” he said and then they all disappeared.

 

I didn't care about following them this time. I didn't care about anything except Daichi. I rushed to his side and fell to my knees, desperately seeking a pulse. He was alive! I let my head rest on his chest and I sobbed, frightened and relieved, until my crying eventually woke him up.

 

“My head hurts,” he said, as he sat up. Dawn was just breaking. “Mayumi? Are you crying?”

 

I wiped my eyes. “No, I'm not crying,” I told him, moving away to get him some water. “Here, drink this. It will help your headache.”

 

We continued our journey and made it home again without incident, but I was deeply shaken. That youkai was too much like Fenn. He could hear my thoughts, he could change his appearance, and worst of all, he could hide his scent until it was too late. He could be anywhere and I wouldn't even know it unless he wanted me to. It scared me, because I got the feeling he wanted me to know he was watching me.