Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Kazemaru and Miharu ❯ Chapter 37

When Kaze returned to the island, Miharu was still sleeping. He woke her, to check on her. She fingered the koto a moment, her face blank and empty, and then she fell asleep again. Concerned, he left her alone only long enough to visit the old woman, and ask some questions. He couldn't tell her the whole story, so he only said that Miharu had lost the child.

 

The old woman shook her head. “Such a tragedy. Not unusual, the first time, though. Usually they don't go that close to the delivery, though.” She sighed. “As for the fatigue, she's probably just brokenhearted. Give her some time to greive, a month or so, and if you don't see any improvement in her behavior by then, I'd be concerned. She can't sleep forever, though, so she should be more alert within a couple weeks. Here.” She packed a special meal that she said would help Miharu recover, and even gave him a little bag of herbs to make her a tea remedy. She also wouldn't let Kaze pay for it.

 

The next few days, Kaze was spared his grief for his daughter by his concern for his wife. Despite the old woman's advice, he couldn't help but feel that Miharu was slipping further and further away from him every hour, and that soon he would lose her too. His fears were only confirmed one evening by an unusual conversation.

 

Miharu had just finished eating and had laid back down, but seemed to fight sleep in favor of speaking to Kaze.

 

“When we first met, you asked me why I wasn't afraid of you,” she murmured.

 

Kaze sat next to her and held her hand. She stared off at the point of light emanating from the hole in the cavern ceiling as she spoke.

 

“I told you I just didn't find you scary, but I never did explain why. When I was six, my mother became very ill with some sort of wasting disease. It wasn't contagious, but my father and all the servants thought it was best that I not witness her suffering. But she absolutely insisted I visit her shortly before she died. I think she knew, somehow, that she wasn't going to last very long.

 

“I remember the smell, like she was already partly dead. There was sweat on her forehead, and even I could tell she was hiding a great deal of pain. But she smiled, she was beautiful even then, and she told me,

 

“ `Miharu-chan, you know mommy's been very sick for a long time, and that it's been hard for all of us?'

 

“I nodded.

 

“ `And you know that mommy is going to die very soon?'

 

“At this I began to cry, and she brushed the tears from my face, still smiling like a bodhisattva. `You musn't cry,' one of the servants warned in a harsh whisper. `Your mother will stay to comfort you and become a ghost!'”

 

“This frightened me into stopping, but my mother shook her head. `I understand if you cry,' she said, `I know you'll miss me, and I'll miss you too. But you mustn't feel sorry for me. Don't cry for me. You see, when I die, I'm going to stop hurting. I'll go on to live another life, maybe better than this one, and I want you to be happy for me.'

 

“Of course, I was still too little to understand much of this, but the look on her face was so… peaceful. She looked transfigured when she spoke of her next life, and I could tell she really did look forward to it. It both unsettled me and put me at ease.

 

“Of course, I did cry when she died, no matter how the servants scolded me, but even as young as I was I recognized that I was crying for myself. The memory of that last conversation remained crystal clear in my mind, and I thought of it often. Because of her peace, I suppose I've never really feared death.

 

“So you see, since the only threat you really held over me was death, I wasn't afraid of you.”

 

Kaze stared at her, watching her fade from the exertion of speaking so much. He didn't like this talk of death, there was something about it that was not right. He knew humans sometimes killed themselves to avoid dishonor, but hadn't he heard somewhere that they sometimes did it for other reasons? He shuddered.

 

At last Miharu turned to look him in the eye and patted his hand. “I'm not afraid to die, Kaze. You musn't…” she murmured, but fell asleep, unable to finish the thought.

 

Kaze was terrified and relieved at the same time. He hoped with the desperate hope of denial that the conversation was merely philosophical, brought on by the death of their child, but was also glad for once that she had fallen asleep, so that she would stop thinking of such things.

 

 

 

The next morning, Kaze could not wake Miharu. He panicked, but felt that she was still breathing, although weakly. Despite all attempts, he couldn't even get her to open her eyes for a moment. With a sense of urgency, he wrapped her in an extra kimono and flew for Yokosuka as fast as he could.

 

He didn't bother with the signal when he reached the old woman's house, but merely threw open the door and walked in, setting Miharu down on the floor near the fire pit.

 

The old woman came running from the front of the house, wielding a ladle like a weapon. “What is the meaning of this?!” she demanded.

 

“It's Miharu,” Kaze said, out of breath. At the sound of his voice, the old woman relaxed, lowering the ladle. “She's not well. I… I didn't tell you everything before. When she lost the child, I think they poisoned her, on purpose. She's not getting better.”

 

The old woman suddenly became very angry, throwing the ladle down on the floor with a loud clang. “Of course she's not getting better, you idiot! She's human!”

 

Kaze stared at her in numb disbelief. She had known, all along, exactly what the situation was. She knew, without doubt, that Kaze was yokai and Miharu was human. And still she had helped them in every way. He should have trusted her more.

 

“Well, you're useless,” she argued. “I'll have someone fetch the doctor. There's a screen in the next room. Sit behind it so you can speak to the doctor without him recognizing you.” And with this, she left.

 

Kaze found the screen, and set it up opposite the door to the room. He arranged Miharu so she would be comfortable, and watched her shallow breathing with rapt attention. The old woman was right. He was completely useless.

 

 

 

When the he heard the doctor arrive, Kaze darted behind the screen. The fire prevented his shadow from being cast on the fabric, and allowed him to see vague outlines of the figures beyond. The doctor introduced himself, and set to examining Miharu.

 

It was a strange process, involving chants and mantras. The doctor held both of her wrists for a moment, silently, and then opened her mouth to examine her tongue. He then passed a small branch of leaves over her body a few times, and tossed it in the fire, nodding solemnly as he studied the smoke. At last he delivered his diagnosis.

 

“The Lady has been possessed by an evil spirit,” he declared. “The jyaki has poisoned her aura and is slowly killing her. It must be removed immediately.”

 

“No!” Kaze spoke for the first time. He knew without a doubt that it was only through his jyaki that she was holding on, he could feel the drain on his energy she took. “That is not the problem. There is something else wrong, some mundane poison.”

 

Even through the screen Kaze could recognize the doctor's offended posture. “I assure you, this woman is possessed. Even if there were another poison at work, she'll never recover from it until this spiritual poison is lifted.”

 

“I forbid it,” Kaze stated simply.

 

“Well.” The doctor stood. “Clearly you do not need my services, if you are so sure yourself.” And he left.

 

The old woman came around the screen and frowned down at Kaze. “You're sure about this?” she asked.

 

“Yes. We've spoken of it before. She's… attracted to my jyaki, I don't know. It doesn't hurt her, anyway. I think it's all she's hanging on to.” He sighed and stared at the floor.

 

“Alright. I'll go find another doctor,” the old woman said, kindness slipping into her voice.

 

 

 

Two more doctors produced the same diagnosis, and both refused to treat her without removing his jyaki. The sun had set long ago, and Kaze was running out of hope.

 

“That's the last one,” the old woman lamented as the third doctor left. “It's unusual to have this many in the area, as it is.”

 

Kaze pressed his hands against his face, trying to think. Nothing but a strange tugging, a sort of presence, came to mind.

 

The little service bell in the front rang, and the old woman poked her head through the door. “We're closed!” she shouted across the house.

 

“I'm not here for the food,” came the returning voice. It was soft and deep, but carried to the back room clearly. Kaze could see the old woman shiver, and suddenly recognized the aura of the would-be customer.

 

“Bring her in!” he insisted.

 

A confused expression crossed the old woman's face, but she complied.

 

A few moments later, she returned, followed by a young woman. She was dressed in hakama and a short kimono, much like a miko, but the pieces were died black. She wore a large amulet around her neck, and though her face was creaseless, her black hair contained streaks of white.

 

“Hello, again,” she said to Kaze with a smile.

 

Kaze felt a smirk cross his face. “I should have known you would become a Kuromiko,” he admitted.

 

She merely giggled.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

AN

 

Man, I have so looked forward to introducing this character. To avoid confusion, I'll warn you now that the next chapter is a flashback.

 

So… I noticed earlier that there was some problem with the order of chapters on this story. I tried to fix it, made it worse, and ended up having to re-post everything from chapter 4 on. Then, I discovered that around chapter 30, there was a repeat of the last 3 chapters. I had wondered why the numbers on here didn't match up with the numbers on the original document. So I fixed that, as well.

 

Of course, that means my views went down from 1293 to about 220. *pout* so, if anyone is returning to read the recent chapters, please just flip through the rest of them to get the numbers back where they're supposed to be.

 

Also, my deepest apologies if anyone had this story on alert, and I totally spammed your inboxes.

 

Lastly, in going through the older files, I realized that I was a total DORK when I started posting this! Some of my ANs made me practically fall off my chair. I got my first review though!!! *happy dance* Yes, DeathbyMinnow, the grammar and spelling is atrocious in the earlier chapters. I started writing this story in 2006, shortly after I visited Japan. None of this has been beta read, and it's all just my first drafts. I've already gone back and re-written small chunks of the beginning, as is. Frankly, I'm a little embarrassed by the early chapters, but I want to get all the way through before I do any heavy revisions.

 

Thanks to all my readers, and I hope you enjoy the story!