InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mayumi's Story ❯ Chapter 21 ( Chapter 21 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

 

 

Mayumi's Story, Chapter 21:

 

 

I whooped and ran after my little grandson, Noboru, to his delighted shrieks of mock-fear. He wasn't really afraid of me. I smelled like wolf, like his mother, from my years of close proximity with the wolf youkai. He had my ears, or rather, Papa's hanyou ears, although they were black velvet rather than white like mine. He had Hiroshi's dark hair, but even I could tell the youkai blood was strong in Noboru.

 

Hiroshi and Choko seemed truly devoted to each other. She was pregnant again, about to give birth to her second hanyou child, which was why I had come to the slayer village. I figured I could take Noboru off her hands for a day or so until his baby sister or brother was born.

 

It seemed there was a baby explosion these days. Akiko was pregnant, too, and over at the wolf village, my oldest son Gintaro had decided not to be outdone by his little sister. He and his wife, a wolf youkai from a distant tribe, had just had a little boy. Now Gintaro's son would inherit Daichi's silver bracelet, just as Hiroshi and Choko's little boy would eventually get Hiroshi's. The third silver bracelet, the one Ayame had given to my mother far in the future when Kazuki was born, was still in Masashi's possession. He hadn't found the right girl yet, though not for lack of trying! I had a feeling he would end up `having' to get married one of these days.

 

Aiko, Rin's daughter and a full human, had married Daichi's youngest brother and still lived in the wolf village. She was beginning to show her age, and while her husband did not seem to be bothered by it, I knew someone else who was.

 

Sesshomaru had been a frequent visitor to our village in the early years of Aiko's marriage. She looked an awful lot like Rin, and for a while after Rin died, Sesshomaru stopped by even more frequently. He didn't pay nearly as much attention to Rin's two sons, one of whom was my great great however many times great grandfather, Eiji. That's why, years later, he had no idea that my Mama was related to his Rin. Not so with Aiko's branch of the family. Through Jaken, Sesshomaru kept track of them over the years.

 

As Aiko aged, however, it became very apparent that Sesshomaru was re-living Rin's passing every time he saw her daughter. After a while, he stopped coming around altogether, although he still kept tabs on her descendents through Jaken, who had become a permanent fixture in the wolf youkai village.

 

Daichi and I were the only youkai who still kept in close touch with the slayer village, because of Choko and Kazuki's children. Even Shippo didn't come around anymore, now that Miroku and Sango were gone. Oh, and my parents still kept an eye on the slayer village for the same reason as Daichi and I did—the grandkids. It was unspoken between us, but we all kept watch for that mysterious youkai. All except Daichi, who didn't know. How could I tell him about the strange youkai who had been plaguing our family for years, without having to tell him my family's secret?

 

Daichi thought we came to the slayer village to teach our grandchildren how to be youkai. Well, that was true, too.

 

I grabbed Noboru around the waist and threw him up over my head. “Caught you!” I grinned. “Now, let's go stalk Grandpa!” I held Noboru's hand and together we jumped the stockade and entered the forest where Daichi awaited us. Someday I'd be able to be honest with Daichi. Just not yet.

 

Choko had a girl, and while I helped settle my daughter with her new baby, a wandering miko stopped by and offered her blessing. Hiroshi had finally consented to leave his wife's side and was currently outside with Noboru and Daichi, so he didn't see the miko. Most of the villagers who might have still recognized her were gone.

 

“May I hold the baby?” The miko spoke softly to my daughter, who clearly did not remember her. Except for Rin, miko did not often come around places that harbored youkai.

 

Choko hesitated. “She's hanyou,” she told the miko, worried that the miko might hurt her baby, either by design or accidentally.

 

“It's all right,” I assured her, glancing sideways at the miko, who gazed back serenely.

 

Choko trusted my judgement and placed her new daughter in the miko's arms. Like Noboru, this baby had ears like mine.

 

“She's beautiful,” the miko commented, stroking the baby's downy ears. “She will do great things someday. Thank you for letting me hold her.” The miko handed the baby back to Choko, placing a last kiss on her forehead before she turned to go. Choko's eyes widened, and she looked from the miko to her baby, confused but pleased with the blessing.

 

I caught up with the miko on the outskirts of the village and walked back with her to where my father waited, not very patiently, near Midoriko's cave.

 

“Did you mean it?” I asked. “About the great things? Or was that just something you said to put Choko at ease.” I wondered if my mother had met this particular great-grandchild already in the future. It was frustrating, sometimes, not knowing how things were going to turn out.

 

Mama smiled, but didn't answer me. Instead, she gave me a hug, just as we rounded the last corner and saw Papa perched on top of a large boulder, watching us approach.

 

“Keh,” my father said as he hopped down, miffed at not having been able to meet his great-granddaughter himself. “Did you get the pictures?”

 

“Right here,” I said, turning my palm over to show him the tiny digital camera I had hidden there. He snatched it from me and thumbed through the stored photos, his eyes softening and a crooked grin on his face.

 

“I'm glad you were both able to come,” I said. “How's Kazuki?”

 

“He'll live,” Papa said, his attention still on the photos.

 

“And Dai?”

 

 

Papa looked up. “Haven't seen Dai in years,” he said. “He and his wolves took off up North. They have their own territory up there now. Don't come down to our place anymore.”

 

I'd kind of thought as much. Kazuki never said a lot about Dai, and honestly, I rarely asked. Still, it hurt just a little to think he had isolated himself so completely from me.

 

“But what about the youkai problem?” I asked. This time's Daichi may not have known about it, but the future Dai had been actively trying to track the youkai since I was a kid. Was that no longer the case?

 

“He still watches,” my mother said. “He guards the North, while your Papa keeps watch in our territory as well as over here.”

 

“That's right,” my father agreed. “And Fenn takes care of the rest.”

 

“Papa, what does Fenn think about these creatures? They are kind of like him, aren't they?”

 

Papa scowled. “He says they're not the same. Does he think we're that stupid? Of course, they're like him. I don't know what his game is, but he's been taking them out when he finds them just the same as we do. He does that little trick you and your brothers do—he follows them when they disappear and gets them that way.”

 

That's all we had been doing over the years. As often as we were able to wipe out the voracious lesser youkai that seemed to follow their leader through time, more would always appear. It didn't do any good to take out the followers. We had to get their leader. “What does Fenn think of the youkai that controls them?” I asked my father.

 

“Not much,” he answered. “Fenn doesn't take much of anything too seriously, which is why I was surprised when he was the one who told us about these youkai in the first place. I don't believe him when he says he doesn't know where they came from. He knows. He's helping, just to show us he's on our side, but I think he wants us to take care of his mess for him.” Papa folded his arms across his chest. “That's what I think.”

 

I agreed with my father. Unfortunately, since the strange youkai seemed to have targeted our family for some reason, it was our problem to take care of. “Have there been any incidents back home?” I asked.

 

“Not as many as over here,” Papa replied. “The swarms go after humans that have associated with us. They don't kill `em, but they weaken them. It's more like they're trying to expose us and cause us trouble. I don't get it. Half the humans we have dealings with have no idea we are youkai. Why go to the trouble of attacking them? It's more like the humans get sick and then we have to deal with new humans, and start all over again. Like the other day, the contractor who was hired to start building my latest project suddenly had to quit, health problems. Now I have to hire a whole new crew.”

 

I understood it. The strange youkai was trying to make a point. Youkai shouldn't mix with humans. It was pretty obvious. But why? That's the part I still didn't get.

 

As we were leaving the slayer village, Hiroshi gave Daichi a parcel of slayer weapons to bring back to the wolf village. There were still some slayers here. Masashi and Akiko had both trained as slayers. But the truth of the matter was, the art was dying out and it was only a matter of time before this village was just an ordinary mountain village. Besides, with Miroku gone, no one here, except possibly Choko, and she was busy with babies, had any power to curb the awesome youki that was still exuded by some of these weapons. Most had been stored in the recesses of Midoriko's cave, but Hiroshi had set some aside to give to the wolf tribe, who would be able to utilize them to their full potential without causing problems.

 

“Be safe, Dai. Mayumi,” he said. Dai. Even Hiroshi called him that. I looked up at my Daichi's face, lean and somber, and I gave a start. When had Daichi started to turn into Dai?