InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tomorrow ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three

 

“I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him, I'm going to KILL HIM…”

 

“Isamu-kun?”

 

The party had begun all right. Who wouldn't complain about a chance to dance, sing and drink sake? Until Kazuki, baka that he was, had slipped some sort of poison into Isamu's drink and fled into the forest. Maybe it was a stink pellet, come to that, since Isamu's senses had clearly gone to hell for the evening, and now he was in the middle of the forest, unable to tell where the hell Kazuki had gone… and, therefore, unable to give him an ass-beating…

 

He focused to look at the woman who'd just come out of the bushes. He didn't need to, actually, since he'd instantly recognized her aura.

 

“Haruka-chan?” he said. “What are you doing here…? For that matter, have you seen Kazuki?”

 

Haruka swung one of her nunchaku in the air for a second before tucking it back into her obi as a reply. “Yeah, Yuki told me that someone had gone and put stink pellets in your sake…” Knew it! “… and I came to find you since I know how bad you end up when you even smell those things, let alone drink them…”

 

“Thanks,” Isamu said gratefully. He followed her down the path until they came out on the lake. He sat down on the bank and, with a groan, stuck his head in the water. Haruka giggled when he snorted water out his nose on resurfacing, turning the noise into a shriek when he shook the water off like a dog.

 

“Isamu-kun!” she chided, then sat down next to him. “You'd better not let your mama catch you doing that… remember when we were little, and your papa was teaching you to swim, and he shook all over her?” Isamu nodded, having to work very hard not to burst out laughing at the memory. Kagome had been mad, all right, and the first thing she'd yelled was “OSUWARI!” Which had made InuYasha jump about a mile into the air and fall back into the water. It was then that she'd explained about the kotodama rosary that his father always wore, and the curse she'd removed just after they were married, and Isamu had resolved to never, ever piss his mother off…

 

“Yeah, we all swore to be good just so she'd never put one of those on us,” he grumbled. Haruka giggled.

 

“Never seen Kazuki more serious,” she said. Then she sighed, laying back to look at the stars. “Can we stay here for a while?” she asked. “They're going to be doing couple dancing in a bit, and Yuki always insists on being my partner… I swear, if it were up to her, we'd be joined at the hip forever…”

 

Isamu leaned down to drink a little water in the hope of clearing some of the poisons from his system. “Sure,” he said. “Or you could leave Yuki to Kazuki and dance with me…”

 

He blushed in the darkness, silently praying, and felt his heart soar when she giggled and replied lightly, “Sounds good to me. Although I doubt she'll want to dance with the only guy at the party with two black eyes…”

 

“Two?” Isamu whistled appreciatively and, as his head cleared, heard the distant music ending. They were probably setting up for the couple dances. He stood and extended his arm to Haruka. “Shall we, m'lady?” he said, hoping she couldn't see the pink dusting his cheeks in the dark. From the way she tentatively took his hand, however, she was probably blushing as well.

 

“It would be my honor, m'lord,” she said formally and then laughed, the sound expelling Isamu's blush and giving him confidence as he lead her back to the village.

 

“And if Kazuki says even ONE WORD…”

 

***************************************************************** **********************************

 

Rin accepted the villager's congratulations with a smile, but it was tight and worried. Kohaku sat next to her and handed her a cup of water- she couldn't drink sake, not while she was nursing. “What's wrong?” he asked her quietly. She sighed at stared up at the sky.

 

“SesshoMaru-sama…” she said distantly, “He's never been this late… he was always around for at least the start of Yoshinori and Takumi's welcome parties…”

 

Kohaku put his arm around her shoulders to reassure her. “Maybe he's farther away than usual,” he suggested, “Or is still getting a gift…” SesshoMaru's visits were rare, but he always left some gift or treat behind for Rin or the children. There wasn't a lot of strength behind his reassurances, however. It was odd that SesshoMaru was this late…

 

“He'll come soon,” he insisted. “You'll see. He's like InuYasha-sama that way… he always make it just in time.”

Rin nodded, but few of her worries, if any, were dispelled.

 

***************************************************************** **********************************

 

“How long do you intend to keep that thing around, Kazeko?” her mother berated her.

 

“He, Okaa-san, not it,” Kazeko said irritably, “and I don't see what the problem is. He saved us all from death… or worse.” She shivered inwardly, remembering the leering faces and rough grip of the bandits as they'd chased her and the other women of the village.

 

“It's a youkai, Kazeko,” her mother said. “Who's to say it wouldn't have killed us if that bandit hadn't hurt it?”

 

“Well, he swears that he only harbors ill intent towards bandits,” Kazeko said, standing and picking up a bamboo tube, “And I think he's telling the truth.”

 

“Well, you'd better be right,” the woman said. “In any case, it can't stay long. You know you're father's been promoted to a captain in the wars against youkai in the south? If he comes home to find his daughter hiding one of those things…”

 

“I understand, Okaa-san,” Kazeko said, filling the tube from the water pail and grabbing some bandages, “And for the last time, he, not IT!” She flicked away the door covering and left the house.

 

“It's all well and good to say that,” her mother called after her, “But does it even have a name?”

 

Kazeko kept walking, although mentally she paused. He did have a name, didn't he? She'd have to ask so she'd stop thinking of him as “The youkai who saved our hides”…

 

She was surprised to see him sitting up a bit as she entered the hut.

 

“Ohayou Gozaimasu,” he said, greeting her with a nod. She did likewise.

 

“Ohayou,” she replied. “Let's have a look at that wound.”

 

She peeled back the bandages and stared in fascination. “Um, not to sound disgusting,” she said “but… I can see your guts. Seriously.”

 

“Another reason why eating is not good for the healing process,” he commented. Still, it wasn't bleeding any more, which was a relief. She started rewrapping it with clean bandages.

 

“It's still disgusting, youkai,” she muttered, then looked back up at him. Her breath caught to find him staring at her with a distant look in his eyes. “Wh-what?” she stammered. He seemed to realize that she'd noticed him and looked away.

 

“It's nothing, really,” he said quietly. “It's just… you look a little like someone I used to know. She died a long time ago.”

 

“Sorry to hear that,” Kazeko said, tying off the bandages and leaning back. “There. Oh, yeah… that reminds me.” She looked back up at the youkai's face. “What's your name, youkai? I don't want to always be referring to you as “the youkai”…”

 

He stared at her for a second, then a slightly amused light entered his eyes as he formally introduced himself. “I am Lord SesshoMaru of the Western Realm,” he said. “And you? Unless I must always refer to you as “The human girl”…”

 

“SesshoMaru-sama, eh? Pleasure to meet you.” she said, with a slight bow. “My name is Kazeko. “Child Of The Winds”… apparently there was a gale blowing when I was born.”

 

This time, she didn't catch SesshoMaru's faraway look. Wind…

 

***************************************************************** **********************************

 

“Isn't that sweet!” Kagome exclaimed, touching InuYasha's arm and motioning to the dance, where Isamu and Haruka had taken the lead. “I guess it was Haruka, then.” InuYasha watched the two dancing, and took in the positively euphoric look on his son's face.

 

“Keh. I guess she'll do,” he conceded.

 

“She'll do?” Sango said incredulously. “Watch it when you talk about my daughter, or I'm borrowing Hiraikotsu back from Yuki…” Sango had given the girl the weapon three years ago at the conclusion of her training, but InuYasha knew better than to think that just because Sango didn't fight anymore meant that she couldn't…

 

“Sango, my darling,” Miroku said, appearing beside his wife, “enjoyable though it is to watch you scare InuYasha, should we not take the example of the youth?” he held out his hand to her in an invitation to dance. With a smile- and a warning glare back over at InuYasha- she took it, and they disappeared into the crowd of dancers. InuYasha shivered, then turned to his mate with a grin. “Well, Kagome?” he said. “Like to put those old-timers to shame?”

 

“Coming from a hanyou who's 170?” Kagome asked incredulously, but she joined him too, dancing through the night, till the bonfires faded in the light of dawn.

 

***************************************************************** *************************************************************************** **********************************************************

 

I'll just straighten out who's kids are who. You might have picked up on Isamu and Kiki being InuYasha and Kagome's kids (I've referred to Isamu as Inu-hanyou and I think I've mentioned Kiki's ears), Yuki, Haruka, Kazuki, Michio and Hitomi are Miroku and Sango's, and Yoshinori, Takumi and Tsukiko are Rin and Kohaku's (I think I may have mentioned that when Tsukiko was born) I know they're a little tough to all keep track of, but I'm hoping that once I've got their personalities and roles in the story set, it'll be a little easier.

 

In case I haven't stated the ages yet, Yuki and Haruka are 19, Kazuki is 17, Isamu is 15 (nearly 16), Michio is 12, Yoshinori and Kiki are 10, Hitomi is 9 and Takumi is 6. Taking the third movie timeline, InuYasha would be roughly 170 now (not counting the years he was sealed), Kagome would be about 36, Sango about 37, Miroku about 39 and SesshoMaru, although his age is never stated, would be something over 300 by my guess. Rin will be about 28, and Kohaku will be 32. I'd estimate Shippo to be about Rin's age, maybe a little younger. Kagome does look younger, and because I don't much like writing about the whole “marking” thing that has come up in fandom, I'm just going to say that being mated to a youkai extends a human's lifespan. No blood involved.

 

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-