InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tomorrow ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four

 

Isamu lay contentedly in the branches of Goshinboku, listening to the soft rustle of the leaves around him. Last night, he'd danced for hours with Haruka, despite the loud music and laughter, the harsh scent of fire and sake. Combined with the lingering after-effects of the stink pellet he'd drunk, he now had a splitting headache...

 

Still, he grinned as he remembered the happy smile on Haruka's face as they danced, her light laughter that he could always hear no matter how loud the music, how right it had felt just to hold her...

 

“Worth the headache”, he decided.

 

“OHAYOU, ISAMU!” Kazuki bellowed, promptly screaming like a small girl when Isamu lashed out in pain and knocked him off of the branch. Kazuki landed on the branch below in a manner that made Isamu wince.

 

“Damn it, Kazuki,” Isamu complained, shielding his ears. “I shoulda shredded you, although I think you're in pain enough...”

 

“Damn straight,” Kazuki panted, hauling himself into a more comfortable position on the branch. One eye had turned yellow already, but the other was much more swollen. It looked as if it had been blacked twice. “All right, I've paid for my sins,” he said, holding his hands up in mock deference. “So, what happened when Haruka went looking for you in the forest? Anything dirty? Do tell.” Isamu looked down incredulously at him.

 

“Who do you think I am? You?” he said in shock. “Of course not. I had to dunk my head in the lake to wash off some of the effects of that damn pellet, then we came back and danced. Why, what did you do?”

 

Kazuki grinned pervertedly. “Weeeeeell...”

 

“Let me rephrase the question,” Isamu said, sniffing the air. “Who did you do? Is that why you're here? In case Otou-san smells you and tells your father?”

 

“Chichi-ue, given his youth, holds no fears for me,” Kazuki insisted, still grinning. “Haha-ue, however...”

 

“Yeah, I get it,” Isamu grumbled. “I'd take a few swims, if I were you. Hentai.”

 

Kazuki laughed as he jumped off the branch, heading down the tree. “You youkai may know your mate on sight, but I'll never know when I've met the perfect woman until I've investigated every... aspect of her.” Laughing obscenely, he strolled off to the lake. Isamu leaned back against the trunk and closed his eyes. He'd often heard his father say that Kazuki was worse than his father, considering Miroku had never actually had any woman take up his “offer” except Sango. At least the girl, judging by the smell, had dumped him fairly quickly... that may explain the re-blacked eye, come to that...

 

“I can't wait to see,” Isamu thought with a yawn, “The woman who can finally nail that idiot down...”

 

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Captain Yamazaki watch without remorse as the hut burned, listening to the screams inside. He raised his arm as a signal to the soldiers, who loaded their new guns and aimed them at the house. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of energy, and a man rushed out, his eyes glowing red. The captain smiled and dropped his hand, and the gunmen fired, their bullets tearing through the youkai. It howled and then dropped to the ground. Women screamed from inside the house and a couple ran out, calling to the dead man, but they too were shot down by the second row of gunners. Yamazaki drew his sword and motioned for several of the men to follow him behind the house. A large crowd of villagers had gathered, some looking approving at the flushing out and exterminating of youkai, some looking horrified. One woman was sobbing, her husband struggling to hold her back.

 

“You can't do this!” she screamed. “Youkai or not, they were good people! They've lived here a long time! I beg of you, don't kill the children-“ her husband covered her mouth and dragged her away. Yamazaki moved on to the back of the house. So there were children, eh? Perhaps they'd escaped out the back...

 

As he came to the back of the house, he saw it- the broken door, and the broken tree branches and fallen leaves that showed a hurried escape through the forest. He shook his head and returned to the front. He knelt down by the dead bodies. In death, their spells and false images had fallen away, showing the vivid orange of their hair and the black stripes across their skin. He motioned to a scribe.

 

“Tiger-youkai,” he said. “Three killed, but two escaped. They seem to have headed north. We're heading in that direction anyway, so we'll probably get them.” Then he stood and faced the crowd. “My good people!” he called. “Today you have seen how easily evil spirits can hide themselves among us, as if they are human. But never forget that they are not. They are youkai, and we will exterminate them wherever we find them, to make this land safe for you!” Many of the people cheered this speech, but some still stared, in grief or horror, at the three bodies. As a breeze blew through, they collapsed into dust and blew away.

 

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Kazeko stared in some horror at the letter her mother had gleefully handed to her.

 

“Your father's campaigns are going so well!” She said happily. “They've got a few monks working with them to flush out the youkai hiding in towns, as if they're people. Isn't it terrible how good their disguises are? Why, there could be one in our village and we'd never know it!” She glared over at the hut where SesshoMaru was. “Well, aside from that one.”

Kazeko walked over to the hut, rereading the letter. It went on about the numbers of youkai found and destroyed, and the direction of the campaign. They were moving back north...

 

“Ohayou, SesshoMaru-sama,” she said distractedly as she entered the hut. She was still reading the letter with worry.

 

“Ohayou Gozaimasu,” He greeted her. He frowned as he noticed her preoccupied air. “Is something wrong?”

 

“It's my father...” she said sadly. “He's leading a campaign against youkai in the south. They're flushing out families in towns that are actually youkai and killing them...” She looked at him. She'd noticed that he wasn't given to showing much emotion, but now he looked faintly horrified.

 

“Slaughtering the peaceful youkai?” he said, the horror even showing in a vague tone in the voice. Kazeko nodded sadly.

 

“I don't get it,” she said. “I mean, if they're living in towns, then they're not exactly people-killers, are they? But Otou-san insists that it's some nefarious plot to infiltrate human society and kill us all...” she snorted in derision, then looked down at the letter again. “He's even killing the children...” she said sadly. She looked back up as SesshoMaru grunted. He was sitting up and trying to stand. He was a fast healer, but he couldn't possibly be healed already...

 

“Lie down!” she said sharply. “You're not healed yet!”

 

“Healed enough,” he said, the calm tone of his voice returning. “But I must pass on the message to the youkai in the south that they must leave. Those wild youkai who will attack the armies choose their own fate, but the peaceful youkai must not be allowed to die.”

 

“And neither must you, so lie down!” Kazeko said again. “Why does it have to be you?” she said. “What are you, the youkai emperor or something?”

 

“I am well known as one of the most powerful youkai,” he said, stilling but not lying down. “If I send out a warning, they will obey. There are so many youkai who only want a peaceful life. It's the little human in all of us.”

 

“What?” Kazeko said. “You're all hanyou or something?” SesshoMaru shook his head, finally lying back on the pallet.

 

“The first youkai were born of strong human emotion, centuries ago,” he said. “That's why strong emotions have the power to affect us, and enough humans feeling the same emotion will affect us too. So many humans are feeling peaceful now, at the end of the wars, it is affecting us as well. Even our own emotions can help or hinder us. Look.” He peeled back his bandages and Kazeko stared at the wound. He healed quickly, sure, but it was even faster now. She could visibly see skin growing and knitting together. “I have been seeking a purpose for a long time now. All I have found is that, out of respect or fear, the youkai will obey me- particularly the peaceful ones. Thus, I have a duty to ensure their safety. I must order them out of the southern lands. We must find a place that the armies will not search. The desire to prevent the needless slaughter is so strong that my healing powers are greatly accelerated. I will have healed sufficiently enough to travel by nightfall. If nothing else, this gives me a purpose to work towards.”

 

Kazeko sat back, still staring at the wound. “Wow,” she said softly. Then she stared back at the letter. “It is probably good that you are leaving soon,” she said finally. “My father will be riding up alone to visit us before returning to his campaign. He will be here in just under a moon. It will not be safe for you when he comes.”

 

“Or you,” SesshoMaru said. Kazeko knew what she meant. If anyone let slip that Kazeko had saved a youkai's life...

 

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“Whatcha doing, Yoshi?” Michio said. Yoshinori looked up from the plants he was uprooting.

 

“Miroku-oji-san said she'd teach me how to make ink,” he said. “I just need to find enough of these plants.”

 

“I'll help,” Michio volunteered, making for another patch of the plants a little further down the path. “Why do you want to learn to make ink, anyway?”

 

“It's for Ototo-chan,” Yoshinori said. “He was playing with a little spill of oji-san's ink the other day and drew a really pretty picture of a bird. I think he likes to draw, so I'm making him colored ink.”

 

“Wow,” Michio said. “So what color does this one make?”

 

“Red,” Yoshinori said, and then showed him another plant. “And this one's blue. You have to boil them, he said.”

 

“Oh, there's some more over here,” Michio pointed out, reaching for the plants.

 

“Besides,” Yoshinori said, “I'm hoping he'll make a pretty picture for Haha-ue to cheer her up. She's been really sad and worried since the party.”

 

“Why's that?” Michio asked, leaning back to look at his cousin. Yoshinori frowned.

 

“Maybe it's because SesshoMaru-sama didn't come,” he said. “He came when Takumi was born. I remember. He brought me a toy.”

 

“Well, I hope he comes soon, then,” Michio said. “Hey, this one stained my fingers!”

 

“Ooooh,” Yoshinori said, his mother's worries forgotten, “That's the green one! Miroku-oji-san said they didn't grow around here!”

 

“Let's go find some more!” Michio said excitedly, and ran off down the path.

 

“I bet I'll find more than you!” Yoshinori hollered, following.

 

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Yeah, I decided that, given both Kohaku and Rin's tendency towards polite speech patterns, Yoshinori and Takumi will speak like that too. Tsukiko probably will too.

Oh, and Kazuki doesn't do it because of his upbringing. It's just the way he is.

 

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. ^_-