InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Once Upon a Time ❯ Down on the Farm ( Chapter 20 )

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything here except Mizuno. Damn.

20. Down on the Farm  

Although they had a wagon, the group traveled slowly, limited by the speed of those who went on foot. Still, they had no delays or detours to slow them down. Even though no one said as much, it was obvious to all that the group now contained two committed couples. The young mikos, Momigi and Botan, gradually became accustomed to the youkai--and hanyou--members of the party, finally realizing that being youkai or hanyou was not exactly the same thing as being evil.

This was fortunate, as the travelers arrived at Jinenji’s farm shortly past noon on the third day of the journey. Though still terribly shy around strangers, the huge hanyou greeted his friends warmly, insisting that they all stay at least for the night.

Jinenji was, however, angered by the sight of the neat bandage on Kagome’s leg. “Who’s responsible for this?”

Resting a hand on the hanyou’s shoulder, possible only because he was sitting on the ground, Kagome tried to exert a calming influence. “It’s all right, Jinenji--really. The one who did this was motivated by revenge for imagined wrongs done to her. She has since returned to the other world and her interrupted rest.”

“Couldn’t these others protect you?” He was still agitated, but willing to listen.

Kagome nodded. “They did protect me--a lot. One of the youkai with us manipulated the wind so that I was only wounded instead of being killed. Because of all the poisonous mist and fog on the battlefield, we never knew about the ambush until I was hurt. Inuyasha got me away from there so that the others could care for me.”

“Well, in spite of your bandages I’d say that you were the winners in this war of yours.” Jinenji’s elderly mother hobbled out to meet them, scrutinizing them closely. “You all look different somehow: bigger, stronger, happier, maybe.”

Inuyasha nodded. “We didn’t just win a war, old woman. We found our destinies.” He put a protective arm around Kagome’s shoulder. “All of us,” he added.

Later that night, while the others slept, the two hanyous sat outside under the moon. Jinenji shook his head. “Kagome is happy now.”

His companion nodded, silver hair gleaming in the night. “It took us a long time, but we finally found each other.” Glancing up at the huge shadow next to him, Inuyasha continued, “Human women can be strange creatures, Jinenji--they can spend hours worrying about their looks, but when love is involved they don’t give appearances a second thought. Look at us--if looks were all that mattered, why the hell would Kagome want me?”

“But appearances are the first thing they notice.”

“That’s true, but the ones worth the trouble will hang around to see what else there is.” He paused briefly. “I once thought I was in love. I had no family, and she was the only one in a long time who would even talk with me. But she didn’t feel the same way--she wished that I could be human because she couldn’t face my real nature.” He shook his head at his own blindness. “I was a perfect example of what Kagome calls ‘young and stupid.’ I couldn’t see what was right in front of me. Over the months we’ve been traveling together, I learned that Kagome not only cared about me, but that she was willing to accept me the way I was--she never tried to reshape me into something else. I’m just glad I wised up in time--if I’d waited much longer, I might have lost her forever.”

The two had lapsed into a friendly silence when the old woman emerged from her house and climbed the low hillside to where they sat. “Jinenji, that village girl is back. This time she says she won’t leave until she speaks to you herself.”

Inuyasha looked up in surprise. “Are you having trouble with the villagers again?”

“Not exactly,” the woman sniffed. “It’s just this one girl. I don’t know all that much about her--I don’t think she has any family, at least not around here.” She shook her head, as always suspicious of anyone from the village. “She’s been hanging around for a couple of weeks--says she wants to learn about herbs and healing from Jinenji.”

Something about the story sounded strange. The silver-haired hanyou got to his feet. “Why don’t we all go and see this girl together? If she wants to talk to Jinenji before she’ll leave, then maybe we should be willing to accommodate her.”

After just a few steps toward the house, he understood why the girl had seemingly appeared from nowhere with no history that anybody could discover. Though no relation to his own inuyoukai breed, Jinenji was still hanyou--his senses were much sharper than those of the humans among whom he lived. “Do you smell it?” he asked Jinenji.

The huge hanyou nodded slowly. “She doesn’t smell like the rest of the village girls. She smells a little like Kagome, a little like you, and mostly like a pure spring.”

Nodding, Inuyasha looked at his large companion. “You might want to take your time with this conversation--she could be worth talking to for a long time.” Turning to the old woman, he said, “Why don’t you get back to the house? I think that we can handle this without too much trouble.”

Recent events seemed to be having an effect on him--the hanyou, though tactless as always, had delivered the suggestion in the form of a more-or-less polite request rather than an ultimatum or threat. To his surprise, the woman walked slowly back to the house where the rest of their party was resting inside.

The pair walked around to the front of the house where they came upon a tiny girl even smaller than Kagome. Her hair was long, shining black, and seemed to flow like liquid in the light breeze. Her eyes were an unusual pale blue color. Surprisingly, she showed no sign of fear as she stood before the much larger hanyou. She bowed deeply and said, “I am called Mizuno. I have come here to learn healing from Jinenji.”

At first, Jinenji stood in silence, staring at the girl. A hard jab from Inuyasha’s elbow got him talking. “I’m Jinenji. Why do you want to learn healing?” he said, extremely curious. “And why do you want to learn it here?”

She looked up at him without the slightest trace of either fear or disgust. “I have no family or village. I have been traveling for a long time alone, and have not been welcomed anywhere--I have no skills or any connection with any of the villages I have encountered. As I found myself in this region, I began to hear stories about a skilled healer living in the area. It occurred to me that if I could learn something about healing it might make me of value to somebody somewhere. That’s why I came here.”

Jinenji was still feeling shy, but his curiosity was overcoming it. “But weren’t you warned that I am hanyou?”

She nodded briskly. “I was. I thought it more important that you were skilled in your field. Besides,” she said, “It seemed to me that since you provide help and advice to all the humans in the area who ask for it you might be willing to spare a little help for one of your own kind.” She held up a hand to show the slightest traces of webbing between her fingers. “My father was a river youkai far to the west. My mother was a fisherman’s daughter. She was helping him to repair his nets on the stern of his boat one day when a sudden storm came up. She was thrown into the water and nearly drowned. My father found her and saved her life. He tended her for days until she regained consciousness. By that time, he had fallen desperately in love with her. I was the result. So,” she said, returning to the subject, “Will you teach me?”

Too frightened by the prospect of spending any significant amount of time with the petite beauty to speak, Jinenji just nodded. Inuyasha, certain that conditions in the gentle hanyou’s life were about to take a serious turn for the better, slipped away into the shadows, returning to the small house where the rest of his friends slept peacefully, unaware of the little drama that had occurred just outside.

Sitting up in the corner of the room as he so often did, the hanyou sat quietly for the rest of the night, watching Kagome sleep and breathing in the sweet, slightly spicy scent that allowed him to find comfort in the harsh world around him. He wondered briefly if Kagome would be pleased that he had urged Jinenji to speak to the girl, and decided that she would--she had a strong romantic streak that he never really understood: he only knew that she sincerely believed that everybody had an ideal love somewhere in the world, and that nobody should have to spend their lives alone.

Telling her all about it would be interesting. Maybe he could manage to get a few minutes alone with her so that she could express her happiness in some tangible way without the interference of the large group of people around them.