Death Be Not Proud

by landofthekwt

Inuyasha and Shiori cling to each other after their spouses die "The Long Goodbye" "Carry On My Wayward Son" and a "Life Well Lived ""The Bravest Man in the World" and "Educating Musushio" are prologues to Death Be Not Proud and an ending to Ten Years After Don't own it or make make money from it

18. Carry On My Wayward Son

Title Carry on My Wayward Son

Author landofthekwt

Rating PG

Prompt Mortality (iyff)

Word Count 410

Warning none

Summary Musushito is frustrated by his father's coma

Musushito was angry. Angry at his mother for insisting on staying at his father's bedside month after month. Angry at his father for not having the decency to die. Instead he lingered more dead than alive

If his father would just die, he could become the headman of the taijiya village. As it was, his authority was in limbo. He was not the headman. Instead he was just the pretender. His father's son not headman in his own right.

His father should have stepped down before his mind went. Instead at seventy-nine he clung to power unwilling to name a successor. Unwilling to trust the son that he raised to lead the taijiya since birth

The resulting chaos was predictable. Many had left already unwilling to deal with the lack of leadership. His attempts to lead the taijiya had been seen as a power grab. Some saw him as too young. Some saw him as too old. Some thought him unworthy. Most saw him as his father's son.

He had been the defacto leader for nearly fifteen years. All important missions were led by him. At fifty-five he was still young and vital. Inuyasha told him as one quarter he could expect to live nearly four hundred years.

Now it was too late. His father had been in a coma for months. His mother who might have supported him maintained a vigil at his father's bedside. Sango and Miroku who fight have supported him were dead and buried. His cousins called the Sunset Village home were strangers to the taijiya.

He stood at the jizo which marked the place where his namesake had been buried. His mother always told him that they would never have had the courage to try for another child if he had not appeared to them. His grandfather appeared to Kohaku to tell him he was doing the right thing.

He had no visions. No ghostly apparitions giving him a pat on the back. He sighed. It was up to him to lead. He would still the lead the missions just like he had for the past fifteen years. He might not be headman, but his voice would still be heard in the council.

Until his father died, he would have to muddle along by himself. He wished his parents were there to guide him, but they weren't. It was time to stand on his own too feet just like all children did when their parents were no longer there to help them.