Jack couldn't recall having ever being so angry- and... And at a child, no less. Granted, the child was Aku's, lord knows how that ever happened... Anyway, the child seemed to know that he was at the end of his rope, and she looked up at him with eyes that had to have been her mothers. There was no way Aku could even dream up an illusion to make his own eyes look that cute on anyone's face. The sparkling jet black saucers watered and glistened as the child looked up apologetically at Jack, crayon in hand seeming to disappear. But Jack knew better than that.
"What have I told you about crayons!" He asked, barely restraining the urge to pull out his katana that remained always by his hip.
"They are for paper only..."
"Then why are there crayon marks all over my white yukata!"
"The paper ran out..."
"You ran out of paper? Why didn't you ask me for more then! I would have given it to you!"
"You were meditating... I'm sorry..."
Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose. Little Akihito was so terribly adorable... but she couldn't keep out of trouble for five minutes. FIVE. MINUTES. Jack hadn't slept in almost two weeks.
"I know, Akihito, I know... ne, Aki-chan, I think its time you had a nap."
"But I'm not sleepy! Tell me a story!"
"Aki, it is time for sleeping, and even if you are not tired, you have worn me out more than you realize."
"Pleeeeeaaaase, papa!"
Jack stooped down to pick her up from the floor, away from his poor soiled yukata robe and the carpet, and stopped. Papa? Didn't think he'd ever hear that one...
"Oh, Akihito-chan, I am not your papa. Uncle, … maybe... eh, no, not that either... I am not related to you, Aki-chan. I am merely your caretaker."
Akihito looked put out as Jack carried her to the room that had been his until Akihito took over it with her toys and blankets and childrens books and such.
"But you act like Kiraoi-chan's papa. You take care of Akihito-chan, you tell Akihito-chan stories, and you play with Akihito-chan too!"
"But I am not part of your family by blood. To be honest, Aki-chan, I never thought I would ever be your caretaker. Your father and I hated each other until the day he was vanquish- I mean, until the day he passed on."
"But you love Akihito-chan... right?"
"Of course. Unexpected as that may be."
"Good. Akihito-chan loves papa. And you're Akihito-chan's papa. Will you please tell me a story?"
"Alright. If it will get you to go to sleep." Jack sighed, laying the five year old in bed beneath the covers of her futon.
"Long ago, Aku, the shape-shifting master of darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil upon the peaceful land of Edo. But a lone samurai warrior stepped up to oppose him. A furious battle ensued, and things seemed to be in the favor of the samurai. But before the final blow was struck, Aku tore open a portal in time, and flung him into the future, where Aku's evil was law. The samurai foolishly clung to the hope that he would be able to return to the past."
Akihito snuck further into the covers as Jack continued.
"The samurai and Aku fought many times, some from a distance and some, face to face, until, one day the samurai dealt the final blow that had evaded him centuries earlier. However, he was still unable to return home, to his past, because Aku had left him one more battle. At first, the samurai wanted nothing to do with this last war, nothing at all. Aku was vanquished and he had the chance to return home."
"What made him change his mind?" Akihito queried, only her bright black eyes visible under her messy black hair.
"There was a woman; she was weak, and weary, but she begged the samurai to help her. This woman had been Aku's love- the samurai had not known that Aku was capable of that, nor had he believed that it was possible for Aku to be loved. But the woman, she beckoned him close. And it was then that the samurai realized, that she was with child, due to have her baby any moment. The samurai called for help, and the woman was whisked away to a hospital. But not before the samurai was granted a task. The woman knew she would not last the night, so she begged the samurai to look after her baby- the proof the samurai needed to show that she truly had loved Aku. That samurai had not wanted to look after the child- wanted nothing more than to go home and be done with Aku. But when the child was born, he could not look away from those eyes. He had to stay, and he indulged the woman, and in a way, began to understand Aku-san. He is raising that child as best he can to this day, hoping to live happily ever after in a world not his own. With a child not his own, but, contented."
"Did he learn to love the baby?"
"Yes, he did, and the baby brought him a sort of joy he could never have imagined. Now go to sleep Akihito. It is both of our bedtimes."
"One more question... Is... Is the story true, papa?"
"Yes. The child in the story is you, Akihito."
"I liked the ending."
"So did I." Jack sighed, slipping into his own futon across from Aki-chan's. It was time they both got some much needed rest, and, somehow, Jack's anger had dissipated from the start to finish of the story. He realized that while Akihito's true father was a shape-shifting master of darkness, she was innocent as a lamb, and he was actually grateful to Aku for her.
'You did one good thing for me, Aku, to make up for all of the anguish you made me endure. Arigatou.'
That was Jack's last thought before he drifted off into a contented slumber, Akihito's breathing as much a lullaby to him as his breathing was to her.
"Samurai... You overstep boundaries that you should know better than to cross..."
"A-AKU!"
"Yes, samurai, Aku. I am pleased to see that I am still alive in memory, samurai."
"How are you- What sorcery is this! Where is Akihito!"
"Akihito is where she was when you put her to sleep. You are in the netherworld via your dreams, samurai."
"Why would I ever dream of a monstrosity like you!"
"Silence samurai! …. You show much concern for a child not even your own- the daughter of a monstrosity, even."
"Akihito is nothing like you."
"I realize that, samurai. That is the cause for my concern."
Jack eyed Aku dangerously, the flames of red surrounding the chamber that housed them seeming dim, like Aku's dead eyes.
"Akihito is my daughter samurai. I will NOT have a blasted Samurai with a magic blade keeping her under his protection. I will NOT HAVE HER GROW TO DESPISE ME!"
Jack had nothing to say for a moment, wondering what, if anything, he could say.
"You're jealous of me... And the time I spend with Akihito..."
"Silence, samurai! I'll destroy you in your sleep!"
"Aku-kun! Please! Is it not enough for you that she is provided for? That she has a roof over her head! That our daughter is loved not only in this world but the one we have left behind!" cried a young woman who had entered from somewhere behind Aku.
"You..."
"Silence, Senihiro!"
"No, Aku! You shall heed my words now, for if you had heeded them previously we should both be living to take care of Aki-chan ourselves! You will listen to me, the samurai takes good care of Akihito. He can be trusted with what she is without serious consequence. He took her in, Aku, even though she was your blood; Even though she has your blood in her veins! You will trust him, or feel my wrath over your own!"
Jack, aghast at the display of domestic violence, noted the bright red gown the woman with jet black hair like Akihito's wore.
"You- You are of Edo!"
"You will not speak to her directly, Samurai!"
"AKU! SILENCE!" The dainty woman roared, taking both Jack and Aku by surprise.
'she looks like Edo, but she sure does not sound like Edo...' Jack thought, cringing a bit as her icy glare rested on him. It softened for a moment, and then she began to speak again.
"Promise us, that no matter what, you will always love and care for Akihito...?"
"Always. Why would I cease to? Such a thing is not possible, even though Aku is her true father. Please, tell me, what is it that troubles you- Both of you, so that you must contact me in my dreams?"
"Akihito... She is dangerously underdeveloped. In regards to her powers, that is, samurai. She is going to hurt people, which I am sure you would not appreciate." Aku muttered, disdain obvious.
"Forgive my bluntness, Madam." Jack said to the young woman, and then turning to Aku. "But Akihito has trouble hurting spiders that occasionally wind up on her walls. She wont even pick up a fly swatter."
"That is why we are so terribly concerned, Samurai!" She cried, near in tears. "All those powers, all that darkness- It has had no escape! She will explode!"
"... Explode...?"
"What you mortals would call... Doomsday." Aku muttered.
"What!"
"It's true." The woman sobbed. "its true! You're the only one who can save her!"
"I will do what I can."
"Arigatou gozaimasu, samurai!"
"He will not be happy once he realizes... it is Akihito, or the universe, Senihiro."
"I am confident that the right decision shall be made. I am Certain."
"Are you, Senihiro? Are you certain that the samurai will not simply destroy her for the sake of the many!"
"The samurai would not dare!"
"The samurai is for the people! The samurai hates everything that I stand for! He hates the blood that flows within me!"
"But he still does not hate Akihito!"
When Jack awoke, Akihito was still fast asleep. He was grateful for the quiet as he went to the large full wall window and pushed back the curtain just a bit so as not to wake her.
"Doomsday..."
It seemed too unreal. That sweet little Akihito could be dangerous to anyone. It just didn't make any sense.
"Papaa..." She cried, turning over in her futon with a troubled look on her face. Jack could see black smoke swirling about her person, filling the air around her and seeping up from under the covers.
"Aki-chan!"
"Waa- Ah!" She cried, hands flying to her face and then back down to her sides in an instant as a black pillar shot from her mouth and eyes. It was so dark, but at the same time, so intense that Jack had to shield his eyes.
"AKIHITO!"