Encounters with Obakemono by tenchi no mai
Tsukumogami
This was written in response to MontiK's challenge.
Theme: Tsukumogami
Due: August 02, 2009
Required Word Count: 700
Actual Word Count: 2,531
Universe: Canon
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine, they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz Media. Only the plot to this story and my original characters, Shun and Hayato, are my intellectual property. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
'Italics' = thoughts
Tsukumogami
The tachi was returning to Edo and had been quite close to the village when Miroku first took ill. Setting up camp in a clearing not too far from the Bone Eaters Well, the group had been embedded there ever since.
When Kagome went to see Kaede about getting some herbs to make draughts and teas to help Miroku, she found out there was some type of illness affecting the entire village. Almost everyone was either getting sick, was sick, or was very slowly recovering from what appeared to be a rather nasty and virulent strain of flu. There had been a number of deaths, and the strong, acrid smell of funerary incense hung over the shrine and burial grounds.
Sango had been taking care of Miroku, and as soon as the worst of his illness had seemed to pass, she became deathly ill. Kagome made the first trip home, and after discussing the symptoms with her mother, returned with enough antibiotics to treat the entire tachi, as well as Kaede. After stopping on her return from the first trip through the well to give Kaede some of the antibiotics and instructions for taking them, she had avoided going into the village again. Kagome didn't want to take the chance of reinfecting anyone in the camp.
Whatever was making everyone sick didn't seem to be affecting any of the youkai or hanyou. Kagome was glad her mother had insisted several months ago that she get a flu shot. If she got ill, hopefully it would only be a mild case.
While treating Miroku and Sango, she realized the illness would probably soon be transmitted to both Rin and herself. Kagome began pro-actively medicating herself and Rin, eager to shorten what was beginning to appear to be a rather nasty illness, resulting in a long recuperation.
This trip she was going home for more food. Inuyasha had brought her to the well, then left to return to the camp. She had told everyone she would be back at the latest by dusk.
On the first trip home her mother had told her to come back in a few days and she would be stocked up with supplies for the group. Inuyasha had been hunting, which was fine for the ones not ill, but both Miroku and Sango were unable to eat anything heavy. Besides, she was going to need massive amounts of ramen to keep Inuyasha from having temper tantrums.
Climbing up the ladder Kagome swung her legs over the edge of the well and listened for any tourists that may be walking around the shrine. Not hearing anyone close by, she exited the well house and flew across the open space to the house.
"Mom, I'm home!" Kagome ran into the house, and gave her mother a huge hug. "You don't know how much I appreciate you getting everything for us. I can only stay for a few hours, they are expecting me back by dusk."
"That's okay honey. Inuyasha and your group are like a part of the family. We all need to stick together." Kagome's mother hugged her back tightly, then took the backpack and headed for the dining room table where everything was laid out, to begin efficiently packing it with enough food for several weeks.
Kagome watched, amazed at how many supplies her mother could always manage to fit into the large yellow backpack. 'I'm sure I can always leave any extra stuff with Kaede when we are ready to set out again after the jewel shards.' Packets of dry soup mix, bouillon cubes, crackers, tea, dry juice mix, pocky for the kids, packets of tuna fish for Kirara, trail mix, ramen, candy, dried fruit, breakfast bars, more ramen, cereal, packets of powdered milk, treats for Ah-Un, and some more ramen. Kagome often wondered where her mother found some of the stuff she sent back to the feudal era.
Time flew by as Kagome had lunch with her mother and Souta, then went to check her e-mail and log onto the website to pick up her homework assignments for the next few weeks. The home schooling program Mrs. Higarashi had enrolled her in was one of the better ideas they had come up with. She could work at her own pace, then submit her homework and take tests online when she was home. Kagome waited impatiently for the printer to spit out the last few pages she needed, then she was ready to return to the Feudal era. Grabbing them off the printer and stuffing them into a folder, she ran downstairs to shove them into the backpack and get going.
Quickly heading for the dining room, Kagome found her mother adding some fresh fruits to the space left in the backpack. "Now don't give me that look young lady! You've told me how much Inuyasha's half-brother likes the oranges and that his servant and the children like the bananas." Haruko zipped the top and tied the flap securely. "This smaller pack goes with you also. I've put some more fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as a big zip-lock bag of cut up vegetables and meat, along with the seasonings, for a stew for dinner. All you have to do is add water and cook."
"Thanks, Mom, you're the best!" Kagome picked up both bags, kissed her mother goodbye and started for the door. "I don't want to keep Inuyasha waiting."
"Oh, Kagome, I also added some more crayons and coloring book for the children." Haruko smiled as she watched Kagome disappear into the well house. She hoped they like the surprise that she had included.
Souta had tried to talk her out of it, but Haruko was a lot like her daughter, very determined when she put her mind to it. Little did she know the problems that were going to result from the intended "surprise".
~*~
After falling through the blue radiance and landing at the bottom of the well in the Feudal era, Kagome slowly climbed up and peeked over the edge of the well. She was expecting to see Inuyasha impatiently pacing around the clearing, growling about having to wait for her. Instead the sight of Sesshoumaru sitting under the closest tree was somewhat of a shock. He, by this time, knew about her time travel, but had never accompanied her on the trips either to or from the well.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, I'm surprised to see you here. Where's Inuyasha?" Kagome dropped the bags on the ground at her feet and sat down on the edge of the well to catch her breath.
Gracefully rising from his seated position, Sesshoumaru joined her to sit on the edge of the well. Putting an arm around her waist, he pulled her towards him and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Inuyasha left camp a while ago. This Sesshoumaru was aware you would return by dusk and did not trust the hanyou to be back in time to retrieve you from the well."
Kagome blushed profusely before returning the kiss. After their run in with Hayato, the dai-tengu, Sesshoumaru had continued what could only be described as his slow seduction of the miko. Even though her girlfriends from the future readily talked about their boyfriends and what they have done with them, Kagome was still somewhat shy around Sesshoumaru. He was so handsome, and it was still somewhat overwhelming to be on the receiving end of his attentions. "Well, I'm glad you came to meet me."
"Hn." Sesshoumaru watched her blush, then smirked, before picking up the larger of the two packs and waiting for Kagome to retrieve the smaller one. He could smell the scent of some kind of meat emanating from the pack and it reminded him that he would have to go on a hunt when the hanyou returned. It had been several days since he had eaten. He occasionally tasted the food Kagome prepared, but his youki needed to be fed with raw meat and lots of it.
Arriving back at the campsite and entering through Sesshoumaru's barrier, Kagome quickly added some more wood to the fire and got dinner started, silently thanking her mom for being so thoughtful. "Miroku can you please look in the small pack. My mother sent some more crayons and coloring books for Shippo and Rin. That should keep them busy until dinner is ready."
Miroku found the crayons and coloring books for Rin and Shippo and settled them down in the shade to color. There was still enough light and quite an array of the books that they should be occupied for some time. He still could not understand the fascination the little ones had with the wax sticks and the papers, but if it kept them quiet and sitting in one place it was easier for Jaken to keep watch over them, and they didn't have to listen to Jaken squawking.
Besides, he had seen something interesting in the pack that he wanted to have a closer look at. After making sure Kagome was still involved in tending to their dinner, he dug back into the bag and removed a strange cloth covered package with unusual emblems on the front that he didn't recognize. It looked similar to some of Kagome's books, but with a zipper holding it closed. Since she had long ago shown him how to work the zippers on the backpacks and sleeping bags, he was able to easily open the package. There was a note stuck in the front that fell out as he flipped through the pages He noted circles of hard colored material, again with pictures and writing that he was unable to decipher. "Kagome-chan, what are these?"
Before she could look over and answer him, everyones attention was diverted by Rin's loud shriek and the word "Tsukumogami!" She was hiding behind Shippo with her hands covering her mouth as Kagome ran over to see what had happened.
'Tsukumogami... I've heard that word before, but where? Maybe from Grandfather. But what could have set Rin off like that?'
Kneeling down beside the children, Kagome gathered Rin into her arms to calm her down and try to ascertain what occurred. Rin was pointing to the coloring books and whispered in Kagome's ear. "Tsukumogami."
"Shippo, let me see the coloring books." Kagome reached out for them as Shippo gathered them up to hand to her. She was very careful about what she brought back with her to give to the children. It wasn't that she was afraid of scaring them, but it was easier not to have to explain some of the things from her time. Kagome always made sure that the coloring books were from a series she had found at the local bookstore. These included seashells, flowers, animals, or scenery and people from old Japanese history in kimonos and samuri armor. Something the children could easily recognize.
A sudden thought entered her head. 'Oh, no! What did mother send in the package with the crayons?' Taking the books from Shippo, she flipped through them and when she came to the last one, Shippo explained that was the one Rin had been coloring.
"Beauty And The Beast." Kagome was aghast. How was she going to explain this to Shippo, Rin, and especially Sesshoumaru, who had risen to a crouch, fingertips glowing green, and had now raised an eyebrow at her in question.
"It's okay Sesshoumaru-sama. It's just a childrens fairy tale from my time. Nothing to get upset about." She sure as hell hoped he wasn't going to get upset, she didn't feel like getting melted into a puddle of green goo.
"Rin, honey, it's just a story, a fairy tale, about a Prince and a village girl, and the enchanted servants of his castle." Kagome tried to soothe Rin with the further assurance that if she didn't like the coloring book she would put it back in the pack and take it home with her.
Miroku came over and sat down with them, putting Shippo up on his shoulder, to see what the commotion was about. "May I see the book Kagome-chan?" Paging through it, he came to the pictures that had caused Rin's sudden fright. "Ah, they do look like tsukumogami, don't they Rin? But if Kagome-chan says they are enchanted, then they are not tsukumogami. Kagome, why don't I tell you and the children the story of the old Scroll Master Kobun and how he taught the discarded artifacts the secret art of being transformed into youkai, and then you can tell us the story of this beauty and her beast?"
Sesshoumaru sat back down and watched as Miroku began the tale of how the inanimate objects, through the theory of yin and yang, transformed into youkai and took a variety of new shapes, to avenge themselves after having been thrown out, then were converted to Buddhism and gaining enlightenment became Buddhas themselves. Giving an internal nod, Sesshoumaru admitted to himself that the houshi told a decent tale. Now to see how the miko was going to explain the 'coloring book'.
"Oh, now I remember, my Grandfather used to tell stories of tsukumogami. That's where I heard the word before." Kagome still had Rin sitting on her lap as she began to turn the pages of the coloring book and tell the tale of Beauty And The Beast. She only hoped most of the story was in the coloring book since it had been years since she had read the story or seen the dvd.
When they came to the pages with the enchanted servants of the castle, and Kagome told how the witch had enchanted them, Rin piped up. "You are sure they are not Tsukumogami?" Satisfied with Kagome's explanation, Rin started pointing out the pictures she knew the names of the Tsukumogami for. "See, Kagome-nee-chan, there is Morini-no-okama (the tea kettle), Zorigami (the clock), and Karakasa (the umbrella). The rest of them, Rin doesn't know the names for."
"So, are you okay now Rin? Do you want to finish coloring in this book, or do you want me to put it away? I need to go check on dinner." Kagome sat Rin down next to Miroku when she said she wanted to keep coloring in the book.
As Kagome walked back towards the fire she heard Rin ask Miroku if he would write the names of the Tsukumogami over the pictures that she was coloring. Kagome shook her head. 'Well, that went better than I expected it to. Let's hope that there are no more surprises tonight that need explanations to go with them.'
After stirring the stew, she went to check on Sango and see if she wanted some tea or broth.
Hearing a rustling sound behind her, Kagome turned in time to see Inuyasha digging into the small backpack. "Cool, a whole bunch of dvd's and a player!"
Kagome put her head in her hands as she tried to think of a way to explain this 'enchanted object' and keep Sesshoumaru from melting the dvd's and the player if he decided they were Tsukumogami she brought back from the future.
~*~
Fin