InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Seven Feudal Fairy Tales ❯ Tiny Finger ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: These characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and other associated companies.

 

 

Chapter Five: Tiny Finger

 

 

“Where the heck am I?” Kagome muttered under her breath, smoothing her ruffled bangs out of her face. No matter where she looked, what the dappled light revealed was always the same. A wrinkled wall of woven fabric or at least that's what she thought the material was. Securely cocooned within its folds, she was surrounded by loosely spun, gray threads that were as thick as her forearm. Resembling rope more than string, the few gaps in their weaving did little more than let a bit of light into her textile prison.

 

Sighing lightly, she began to half wish that the strange mahjong tile stairs hadn't disappeared after she had stepped past them, thereby cutting off her only retreat. After all, the endless forest was pleasant compared to the stuffy labyrinth she now found herself in. However, the stairs were not the only thing that had vanished. She hadn't seen Sesshoumaru since he crossed the threshold and her growing anxiety over his absence was more than a little surprising.

 

Grumbling, the schoolgirl reached out above her head and grabbed at the mass of heavy cloth. Getting a good fistful, she pulled it behind her as she staggered forward. She didn't need his help. After all, wasn't she a strong modern woman who had fought with the fiercest youkai and defeated the schoolwork demons of chemistry and geometry? No matter what, she always managed to come away victorious and better yet, intact.

 

Losing focus on her footing as she rallied her spirits, Kagome accidentally stumbled forward, her foot catching on a wrinkle in the fabric. Through the twisted cloth, she fell headlong into something decidedly soft. After a dazed moment, she realized that the fleecy feeling that comforted her face was not the same as the rather coarse material she had been trying to navigate through. With a pleased smile, she then dragged her hand back and forth through the downy pile, her cheek still happily resting against it. Memories of dense, sheepskin rugs she occasionally saw at the department store rose to mind next with this only seeming slightly deeper and plusher. Dancing through the fur, her fingers sought out a few of the subtly curling locks and she wound and braided them in delight.

 

“What are you doing, woman?” a voice spoke tersely and she felt a pair of piercing, gold eyes bore through the back of her skull. Turning over, her gaze followed the cream-colored fur up to the silk draped body of a rather irritated daiyoukai. With a quick yank, the fur pillow vanished and her head met the all too familiar gray fabric with a soft thump.

 

“I'm sorry,” she apologized softly, silently regretting nothing.

 

Looking down at her for a moment longer, he was neither satisfied with her apology or its sincerity.

 

“Hmph,” he finally grunted and then ran his claws through his disheveled, silver hair. There were more pressing concerns than being mildly violated by a foolish human. His hand slipped to the hilt of Tokijin at his waist. Patience had never been his forte and neither were peaceable solutions.

 

“W-wait,” Kagome stammered, raising her hands defensively as the youkai lord retrieved the sword from his obi, “I didn't mean to--”

 

“I tire of this absurdity and I will entertain it no longer,” he declared callously, raising the blade steadily over her.

 

“No!” she screamed as the daiyoukai swung his sword. Over her head, it glided until its path met cloth. Then with the sound of ripping, warm light streaked in through the growing tear. Soon satisfied, the demon stepped over the shaking schoolgirl and out through the glowing opening.

 

“Woman, get up. We're leaving,” he ordered as he looked over his shoulder. Mildly perplexed, he noticed her strangely quiet and huddled appearance and thoughtfully considered whether or not it was an improvement over her usually loud and direct manner. “Woman?”

 

“Eh?” Kagome murmured, blinking away her shock.

 

He definitely preferred her loud and direct. At least she moved at an acceptable pace.

 

“Stand up. We're leaving.”

 

“You were making a hole to get out?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why didn't you say that you were? I thought you were going to kill me.”

 

“Did you wish for me to kill you?”

 

“No, of course not,” she exclaimed, shaking her head in exasperation, “But next time, you should tell someone why you're swinging a sword in their direction if it isn't to kill them.”

 

“That is not a situation that is likely to repeat, woman.”

 

“And one more thing, I have a name. It's not just “woman” or “lowly human”, you know. It's--”

 

“Issunboshi!” a voice called cheerfully behind them and the ground began to shake with a steady rhythm. Slowly turning around, the two travelers looked up into the dark brown eyes of the largest woman either of them had ever seen. Leaning forward, her weathered face encompassed their entire line of sight. Rifts of wrinkles carved deep trenches across her face and a few black hairs curled erratically off her chin and upper lip. Her chapped lips parted into friendly grin, revealing her worn and yellowed teeth. Already rather grateful that she couldn't smell anything, Kagome was soon wishing that she couldn't hear either as the elderly woman exhaled her hot breath on them with a screech. “My goodness, what have you done to your blanket?”

 

“My blanket?” the schoolgirl asked sheepishly, doing her best not to look at the black, hairy mole sitting proudly on the woman's cheek.

 

“Yes, your blanket. You're such a mischievous boy. Young men like you should be out on adventures, not destroying the few mementos that your mother has left of your childhood.”

 

“Boy?!” she exclaimed and then pointed back toward the daiyoukai, “Don't you mean him?”

 

“Who? There's no one there. See how you're treating your old, decrepit mother today. Your father will hear of this if you trouble me anymore, young man.”

 

“I'm Issunboshi?” Kagome whispered quietly, hoping to be out of earshot of the cantankerous woman as she surveyed the damage Sesshoumaru had done to her precious blanket, “And she doesn't even see you?”

 

“So it seems,” the youkai lord confirmed nonchalantly, more interested in getting the matted tangles out of his hair than the attention of a giant woman. Wandering beneath the catching loops of the rough blanket had been less than kind to his long, silky locks.

 

“Why do I have to be a boy?”

 

“It seems to be part of the poetry exchange,” he then replied, furrowing his brow as he worked on a particularly stubborn knot, “I was the hero in the previous story and now it appears to be your turn.”

 

“But didn't I already play a part in the last one?”

 

“You were not the hero, but a mere support character and a ridiculous one at that--”

 

“All right, all right,” she interrupted waving her hands at the youkai lord, hoping to prevent any further elaboration on her role in the last story. Even now her cheeks began to flush. Stupid rabbit.

 

He sighed.

 

“What is the story of Issunboshi?”

 

“Let's see… Issunboshi was a gift to a childless, elderly couple by the sun goddess, Amaterasu. About the size of a finger, he was a small boy, hence his name Issunboshi or Tiny Finger.

 

“Obviously.”

 

“Eh-heh. When the boy grew up, he decided that he would leave for the capital and serve the emperor. Becoming a guard for the emperor's daughter, he protects her from a bandit for which he receives a mallet as a gift from the hime. The hammer hits him three times and with each blow he grows bigger until he's a full grown man. Then with the emperor's wishes, he marries the girl and they live happily ever after.”

 

Kagome pursed her lips, trying to remember the story in more detail and then she grinned slyly. She knew what to do. “Mother!”

 

“Yes, Issunboshi?”

 

“I wish to leave here and journey to the capital so that I may serve our glorious emperor.”

 

“You cannot for you are too small, my son. You will surely be hurt.”

 

“No, I must insist, Mother.  For the glory of my name, our family and the great goddess, Amaterasu, I must leave for Kyoto and seek my future.”

 

“Now--”

 

“I am leaving!”

 

“Wait a moment! L-let us at least speak with your father before you decide,” the old woman stuttered, her voice sharp with concern and she rushed away from sight, blanket still in hand.

 

“It's huge!” Kagome gasped as she stared at the massive room that was no longer obstructed by the blanket or the woman. Sesshoumaru looked up from his hair briefly and glanced around the barren, one room house.

 

“There is nothing amazing about a shack,” he replied indifferently.

 

“True, but it's so big,” Kagome went on quietly and then walked to the edge of the smooth plank they were standing upon, careful to avoid the deep grooves in between the grains. The immense space was like a perfect square canyon with the raised, wooden floor below wrapping like a horseshoe around a burnt black, fire pit. Smoke wafted gently from the smoldering fire and its orange flames licked the bottom of a heavy, iron, cooking pot. The sounds of the bubbling contents sent her stomach grumbling even though she couldn't smell any of the savory aromas.

 

“But he's too small, Kenta,” the old woman pleaded outside and two large shadows moved toward the doorway, “He's our blessing, so how can we let him go to die?”

 

“He's not a child anymore, but a young man,” a deep, gruff voice replied and then a hunched silhouette filled the doorway, “It would be the greatest honor for us if our blessing sought such a glorious path in life.”

 

Then a thin, old man ambled forward, his shuffling steps shaking the ground despite his frailty. Finally arriving, he leaned in close to Kagome. The two stared at one another at first, neither concealing their fascination with the other. Sharing the same deep furrows on his face as the old woman, what was left of his age-bleached hair was bound neatly in a topknot upon his shiny head. His dark sight drew her in and she watched her tiny reflection. True, it was a story and more than likely an illusion, but there in his eyes she could see his pride, the pride a father has for his child. Feeling a slight ache in her heart, the schoolgirl's eyes began to well up.

 

“He should at least eat before he goes,” the old woman blurted out, jarring both of them from their daze. Smoothly, she dabbed away the rivers of tears slipping down her cheeks and then tenderly handed Kagome a single grain of rice. Holding the sticky, white oval with both hands, she took a moment to marvel at its enormous size before attempting to eat it as politely and femininely as she could.

 

“We couldn't ask for a better child. He's both brave and cheap to feed,” the old man remarked with a hearty laugh, sending his wife into another fit of tears.

 

Quickly finishing her meal, the schoolgirl neatly wiped away the gooey bits that clung to her fingers.

 

“Mother?” she called out after the woman managed to compose herself, “I need a needle so that I may fight like a true warrior.”

 

“A needle?”

 

“Well, as a sword.”

 

“Oh,” she murmured before hurrying over to a bundle of cloth to retrieve a small, reed box hidden within, “Choose whichever one you like, Issun.”

 

Gently, she opened the case in front of the schoolgirl, revealing a myriad of fine, camel bone needles. Stepping carefully into the box, Kagome examined them, picking up each of them as she tried to gauge which one would do best.

 

“Sesshoumaru?” she called out, looking back where she last saw the daiyoukai, only to find him all too conveniently missing, “Fine then, I'll just choose this one.” She picked up one of the smaller needles again and held it out in front of her. It felt light, but it didn't seem too thin and likely to break. The tip was sharp and she swung it energetically through the air, her swordplay complete with clanging, sound effects. The old couple looked at her quizzically and her cheeks flushed. Inspecting her choice once more, she let out a satisfied grunt at last. It would have to do.

 

“Which way is the capital, Father?”

 

“Oh, let's see,” he wondered, rubbing his wrinkled forehead, “I suppose you'd have to go up the Yodo River to get to Kyoto the easiest”

 

“The river?!”

 

“Why yes, yes. That would be the only way I suspect.”

 

“Hold on,” the old woman spoke up with a smile and then scurried over to the fire pit, returning swiftly with a black, lacquered, rice bowl and two chopsticks, “A boat and two oars.”

 

“That's my boat?!”

 

“Wonderful idea, Mori. I knew there was a reason why I married you,” the old man said with a grin at his wife, much to her embarrassment. “Now my son you must go soon, before the sun rises too high.”

 

“Now?!”

 

“Of course. Don't worry the fish won't be stirring until evening.”

 

“Fish?!”

 

“Issun, are you brave or not? You have convinced us with your speech earlier. We believe in you, for you are our dearest blessing from the great, sun goddess, Amaterasu. How could a kami so glorious allow you to be consumed by water birds or spiders? Now go and bring honor to your name and our house.”

 

“Water birds? Spiders?” Kagome mumbled as the old man gently scooped her up in his hand. Tenderly, he carried her outside into the bright, mid-morning light. He was shortly followed out by the old woman who now had a curious white bump sitting on her shoulder

 

“Sesshoumaru?”

 

“Yes,” he replied placidly, his body remaining elegant and poised despite the lurching movements beneath him.

 

“Do you know how to row?”