Chapter 54: Cultural Differences

The trip back could have easily ended in tragedy, made more painful by the ease in which it could have been avoided. With the cart full of herbs, there was no room for people to sleep inside as they kept moving, so they were forced to stop for the night and set up a camp. Everyone broke off to perform their individual tasks, with Dekuyume, Kōryū and the children fetching firewood, Sango and Kohaku tending to the horse and cart, and Inuyasha scouting the surroundings to make sure that there were no causes for concern nearby. Kagome began showing Jinenji how to safely set up a campfire, and would go to the river to refill everyone's water afterwards. It would be a difficult night, while everyone had eaten at midday, they still didn't have much in the way of extra food.

Kagome halts in explaining stone placement for a camp fire and looks up at Jinenji as his stomach growls loudly. He blushes, and Kagome bites her lip. I was going to save them for tomorrow morning, but Jinenji-san is so big… he needs them more than I do. Kagome grins at him and jogs over to her bag, and pulls out some dehydrated, pitted persimmons. Opening the bag for him she pulls some out and hands them to him, "Here, it isn't much, but these dried fruits should help tide you over until we get to the village tomorrow. Jinenji accepts them gratefully, and is moved to tears by her kindness. It was so strange for a miko to be so kind to someone who looked like him. Kagome grins and holds up a finger to her mouth, "I'm going to go get the water now if you want to finish putting the stones in place. Your little snack will be our secret ne?" Grabbing the bottles, she then skips out of the camp towards the river.

Carefully setting the food out of the way, he finishes building the base for the campfire. It is only because Kagome asked him to finish with the campfire first that he did not move to eat the persimmons until just as Dekuyume was walking into the clearing with the children behind her. She dropped the wood to her feet and sprinted to Jinenji, just in time to slap them out of his hands. "Did you eat them? Answer me! Have you eaten any of them?!" Jinenji, just scrunches himself smaller, this miko appeared to be normal at least. Her cruelty was not a surprise. He understood that their food was precious, and until he swore himself to them, he was not a member of the herd, no matter how kind the youngest miko was. "No, I did not."

Dekuyume nods, picks up the dried fruit and sighs, "Who gave these to you?" Jinenji looks away from her, she was so kind, he would not tell. Recognizing his silence for what it was, Dekuyume asked him nothing more. She knew that she would get nothing more out of him. Her kindness had done much the same to her a few times before. After gently asking the children to finish setting up the campfire, she remains standing next to Jinenji, waiting for Kagome to return.

Kagome returns humming to herself as she carries her bottles of water, but swiftly realizes that something is wrong when she spots her anesan holding the fruit she gave to Jinenji. "Anesan?" Dekuyume sighs, "Kagome-chan, did you give these to Jinenji-san?" Kagome frowns taking in Jinenji's posture, why was Anesan being so mean? "I didn't think it would be a problem." Dekuyume turns to her and shouts, "That's the problem with you! You never think!"

Dekuyume bites her tongue and lets out the rest of her breath on a hiss before speaking in a much calmer voice, "I am sorry. That was unnecessary and harsh. Just… just give me a moment to calm my temper." Dekuyume takes a slow deep breath in and exhales out just as slowly three times. "I know it is not your fault, and most of the blame can be laid at my feet. Weeks ago, when you were worried about how you should behave around everyone, I told you to treat everyone as if they were human unless they specifically asked you for something else. This is good for their hearts and their minds, but it cannot be applied to their bodies. Imouto, persimmons are a tasty healthy treat for humans, but they form a sticky gel in the stomach of horses causing intestinal problems that can become fatal without surgery."

Jinenji's eyes widen in surprise, he had been wrong, the miko had not been angry because he was eating their precious fruit, but because it was poison to him, no matter how good it smelled. Kagome's eyes widen in surprise and horror. Dekuyume sighs, "I stopped him before he ate any, so there was no harm done, and even if he had, I am capable of fixing the problem without surgery even if it would leave me drained of magic, haggard and weak for a few days. Truth be told I have epi-pens in the med kit just in case something we bring from the future gives someone an allergic reaction. It's just adrenaline, so it won't hurt anyone, not even the yōkai, and it will give us time to remove or isolate whatever is causing the problem with magic."

With another sigh Dekuyume turns to Jinenji and bows slightly. "I am sorry if I hurt your feelings in my upset." Moved, in that moment, Jinenji chooses to become a vassal to the Higurashi. And when he tells them? It's a tossup between what surprises him more, the fact that when Kagome is happy, she emits so much holy energy that she glows from it, or the fact that being bathed in that light brings not harm, but peace.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

In the future, in the yōkai sanctuary, Jinenji suddenly appears, causing Kagome no kami to jump up and give him a hug. "Jinenji-san! It's been so long since I saw you last!" Hearing someone shout her name she pulls back and pats his arm, "Sorry gotta go! See you around." He stands there dazed and confused before he mutters, "But Kagome-sama, you were just at my garden to get some spirit grass yesterday…" Taking pity on him, a red eyed goddess increases her power of existence so that he can see her, "You will have to forgive Kaasan, she is a little behind for a kami." Jinenji can only stare in surprise as the woman blinks into and out of existence. Shaking his head he returns to his cottage, perhaps some tea would help. A second red eyed goddess drinking tea chuckles, causing the first to complain about how difficult it is to hold conversations like this.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dekuyume sighs, so many cultural differences, basic needs, and simple wants… And only she knew them all. She would have to change that if she didn't want another incident like this to come up.

Dekuyume speaks, "We cannot afford an accident like this to happen again. There is no excuse, we are not enemies, we are comrades and family. If everyone is willing to step out of their comfort zones, we should take some time to go over everyone's differences, both physical and cultural. I will go over the finer details as we go, but for a day, everyone can all learn what it means to be kitsune from Shippō-kun, and we call all learn what it means to be elemental yōkai like Sōten-chan. Kirara can teach us about cat yōkai, Kōryū about dragons, and Jinenji about horse yōkai and the herbs his mother taught him, Sango and Kohaku about exterminators, Kagome-chan can teach us about miko, and Inuyasha can teach us about surviving when the whole world seems to be against you."

He nods at her, grateful that she didn't say he could teach them about dog yōkai. "It won't be easy, I know for a fact that the a typical day in the life of an exterminator is filled with difficult training and attempts to call upon their chi, kitsune bathe in family groups, thunder yōkai go for runs in the middle of thunderstorms, Jinenji probably knows more about medicinal herbs than I do, archery is a lot harder than it looks, cat yōkai have no concept of personal space and…" She sighs, meeting his eyes, "Surviving is not for the faint of heart." Inuyasha blushes, looking away from the group.

Shippō's tail wags in excitement behind him, "And what about Anesan! What will you teach us?" Dekuyume pauses for a moment, "It will not be pleasant, but I can teach you the difference between being human and being humane."