Hey Y'all! I'm back from intense finals and sudden educational camps! Sorry for the long wait!

I tried my best in updating as fast as I could but I was separated from my beloved laptop for about three weeks ( ) But I'm back!

I hope you enjoy my latest chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own Saiyuki or its amazing characters! I only own this story idea, Suzume, Yuki, Aoi, Kasumi, and any other minor character who does not belong in the manga! Thanks for understanding!

Now READ! READ 'till your hearts are content!


Culture Shock

Chapter 6: Father Dear, Mother Mine

"Kanzeon-sama! The portal isn't closing!" Jiroushin told the goddess of mercy in a panicked tone. "If it doesn't close, who knows what more of the island's creatures would pour into China! That would destroy the world's equilibrium even more!"

Kanzeon chewed on her thumbnail furiously as she tried again and again to close the damned thing but it was no use. It was as if something jammed it open. Kanzeon sighed and finally gave up. "It's no use. Something down there is preventing me from doing anything. That island isn't my territory anyways so I can't go down there and check."

"Couldn't we ask a favor from one of the deities there?"

"After what happened 500 years ago? I think not." Kanzeon shot down Jiroushin's suggestion almost immediately.

Jiroushin bit his lip. "Then what are we to do?"

"Just wait and see what happens. We have no choice." Kanzeon told him grimly. "We'll have to trust little Yuki and her friends on this one."

"…Kanzeon-sama? Why do you look so grim?"

Kanzeon's eyes wandered over to the lotus pond. "You poor girls…fate isn't going to give you four a break, is she?" She murmured to herself. "And even after all the shit she put all of you through in your past lives."


"I'm so hungry!"

A pause

WHACK

"…Ouch, that really hurts, Yuki."

Today, the seating arrangement changed a little in the stuffy jeep. Instead of Aoi sitting in the back, Yuki was moved back there so Aoi could spend the driving time explaining to Sanzo why she dumped his bullets inside her black cauldron of youkai glop.

Gojyo groaned in despair. "Can't Aoi sit here instead of this brat?"

"You like Aoi better than Yuki?" Kasumi asked Gojyo in shock. "But she's so cute and adorable! She can even rip mountains apart with her bare hands! That's cool!"

Aoi gave her best friend a look. "Only you would think that crazy albino is cute, Kasumi. Besides, anyone would like me better than Yuki. She's scary, not to mention insane."

A sandal sailed from the back and slapped Aoi on the back of her head. She cursed under her breath before shooting a deadly glare at Yuki. "Keep your feet in your shoes, kid! And that hurt!"

"It was supposed to you blue haired freak."

"Freak? Why you-

Hakkai looked over at where Sanzo was sitting and sweatdropped a little when he saw the monk twitching in annoyance. Oh dear, it seemed that the Sanzo priest was almost at his limit. Hakkai placed a calming hand onto Aoi's shoulder. "She's just a child, Miss Aoi. I think that she's just upset that she was separated from her mother figure and letting it out on you."

Suzume would've replied if it weren't for the fact that she was sleeping. The night before, she had to spend much of her energy to purify the land from the youkai carcass. Sanzo didn't even bother waking her up and carried her to the jeep instead, much to Gojyo and Goku's amusement.

The Sanzo priest felt that he wasn't going to live this one down for a while.

"Untrue!" Yuki retorted.

"Huh," Aoi's look of rage dissipated considerably. "That makes a lot of sense. I guess she was just throwing a little hissy fit 'cause she misses her 'Mommy'."

"LIES!" She cried out, only to be ignored again.

Kasumi giggled and slung her arm around Yuki amiably. "Aw, 'c'mon Yuki, lighten up! They're just trying to tease you."

"Get your hands off of me, woman, or I'll bite it off!" Yuki threatened. Kasumi only chortled with laughter. She turned to the sleeping Suzume and her eyes softened slightly.

Back in the old days of war, Suzume never slept this soundly. None of them did honestly but Suzume was the most restless out of the bunch. Kasumi always felt a weary aura from the priestess, not that she blamed her.

She was a priestess. Youkai despised her and frequently attempted to murder her even before the war began.

It was nice to see that she felt safe.

Kasumi giggled and latched onto Gojyo's arm in a friendly manner. "Lets play poker to pass the time, Gojyo! Goku can join in too if he wants."

"Nah, he's a kid. He doesn't like poker. We can play by ourselves." Gojyo told her before Goku could say anything. Goku glared at the red head. "I like playing poker, you lying kappa! You knew that! You just want Kasumi to yourself, don't you? Well I want to play with her too! She's fun!"

"Shut up, ya stupid monkey. I'm trying to focus here." Gojyo muttered with shuffling the deck of cards.

Kasumi beamed at the pair. "You two remind me of a bunch of kids I know back home."

"Kids? How do I remind you of a bunch of kids? I understand the stupid monkey, but me?" Gojyo asked incredulously while dropping the pack of cards. Goku snickered at the comment before becoming curious. "Who do we remind you of, Kasumi?"

"A bunch of delightful brats back home." Aoi drawled from the front. "After the war, Kasumi found a whole bunch of orphaned or abandoned hanyou and decided to create a village for them. She raised and took care of the kids until they were ready to take on the world on their own. They're annoying as hell but they're good kids."

"Really?" Goku questioned excitedly. "You really take care of them, Kasumi?"

Kasumi shrugged. "We look after our own kind. What's so surprising about it? It's normal, isn't it? When you meet someone who's like you in this different world, you can't help but stay by their side and stick up to them. Those kids didn't have any parents to protect them so I decided to fill that role."

"Kasumi has a mother-like instinct, what can I say?" Aoi said with a smirk. "She'll make a great mother and wife in the future. I bet all my money on that."

Kasumi blushed and halfheartedly threw a pillow that she usually cuddled with when she took naps on the jeep at Aoi. "Don't say it that way! Those kids are little slave drivers who make me shop for them every day!"

"Well yeah, but that's your joy, isn't it? Getting little things for the kids that used to be impossible to obtain for them. If we push harder, I think we'll be able to convince to government to allow them to go to those schools and learn things when we get back."

Kasumi's lips turned upwards at the thought. "Maybe."

"Schools?" Goku asked curiously. Aoi nodded. "If those hanyou kids are able to get that chance to fit in with the society, they might live a better life. They might not get hated anymore…"

"That's wishful thinking, Aoi. But that's a pretty thought." Kasumi muttered while picking up the scattered cards. Goku looked surprised at the pessimistic comment that came from the usually optimistic woman.

Sensing his confusion and concern, Kasumi slapped on a smile and handed Gojyo the cards. "So Goku, what else do you want to know?"

"How many of them are there?"

"Currently? I think there should be about forty-six of them, not counting the ones that left to find their own place in the world." Kasumi answered after a moment of thinking. "Five are already full grown and I think one or two of them met a nice human to settle down with."

"Really?" Goku asked. "Wow! You helped them a lot, Kasumi! Do you visit them?"

Kasumi shook her head.

"But why? Don't you miss them?"

"Yeah," Kasumi told him without hesitation, "but I have other kids to take care of. Besides, they visit me sometimes so that's okay."

Hakkai looked at Kasumi through the rearview mirror. "It's impressive that you manage to take care of that many people on your own, Miss Kasumi. I'm sure that you're very concerned for them."

Kasumi nodded. "I hope they're doing fine on their own. Kanzeon-sama swept me away to China before I could tell the little buggers. But they're strong so I bet they can cope on their own for a little while until I come back."

"Did you have a parent?"

Kasumi looked at Goku in faint surprise. "Why the sudden question, Goku?"

Goku scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, I never had a mother or father. Just Sanzo. I'm just curious in what a parent is like. You don't have to tell me if you don't wanna!" Goku added hastily,

"…Mother died giving birth to me and Father died before I was born because he wanted to protect Mother from the villagers and youkai who wanted her dead. The only person I had in my life was Kazuma-sensei."

"Kazuma? Was he a special person to you like Sanzo is to me?" Goku asked.

"Yeah. You call people like Sanzo and Kazuma in your life 'surrogate fathers'. They're not your real blood parents but they're just as important."

Gojyo sent a mocking leer at Sanzo's direction. "Awww! I guess you're promoted to Daddy, Fake Monk!"

The all-too-familiar click came as a reply.

"So Kazuma was important to you." Goku stated.

Kasumi nodded. "He taught me how to read, write, use the sword, and lots of other stuff! He's a great man and I feel lucky that he decided to take me with him when he left the village I was born in."

"He was my light."

Goku's eyes glinted in understanding. "Like Sanzo!"

Sanzo pretended not to be interested in the current conversation and lit his cigarette. Hakkai sent him a knowing smile, which he ignored.

"What about you, Aoi? Do you have a family like that?" Goku asked Aoi. She grimaced a little but answered. "I used to live in a village filled with Demonslayers. I had a mother, a father, a handful of younger siblings, and other family members. But," Aoi's fist clenched a little, "they were all killed during the war."

Aoi could remember the incident so clearly, as if it happened just a few minutes ago instead of years.

"Oh…" Goku looked down and felt terrible for asking the question in such an insensitive manner. Aoi rolled her eyes and bopped the boy on the head lightly. "Hey now, it's fine. They died honorably."

"How?"

An unknown emotion flashed across Aoi's eyes.

"They died defending the village from a youkai scum."

"Oh."

Aoi grinned. "Oh don't worry about it! I still have a great friend who's like a sister to me back at home! She's amazing! SHe was the one who made all of my weapons!"

"Really? That's so cool!"

What a boring conversation.

Yuki closed her eyes and yawned. It wasn't as if she heard her companions' sob stories before. It wasn't as if she was a heartless creature or anything, though that theory is pretty believable, even to her. It's just that she experienced and seen worse things in her lifetime.

Yuki silently recalled the days of war with her companions. They spilled their own sad pasts to each other a week before they ended the war permanently. Except for Yuki. She kept her story to herself.

It wasn't her place to tell.

"Hey Yuki! What about you? Do you have any family?" Goku's annoying voice grated against her eardrums, destroying the moment of peace that she was beginning to enjoy. Yuki glared at him. "Hn? What about them?"

"Did you have any?" Goku asked.

Yuki looked up and saw that all eyes were on her (minus Suzume and Hakkai). She resisted from shifting uncomfortably and cleared her throat awkwardly. "Yeah…I think."

"You think?" Goku wrinkled his nose in confusion.

She whacked him over the head with her iron fan. "Don't give me that look! I never really got to know mother dear and my old man." She crossed her arms and looked down at her sandaled feet. "The last time I was with them was a long time ago, okay?"

Despite her defensive scowl, Yuki felt a wave of unease wash over her.

When was the last time she saw her parents' faces?

"Mother…I think she had beautiful, night-sky hair. Her skin was really pale, not the unhealthy kind. Unlike mine, it glowed. Her eyes…I think they were purple. Not like me, though! They glittered in a way that remind you of those...those amethysts that Suzume really likes." Yuki tried to describe her mother in full detail and desperately grabbed any inkling of what her mother looked like. She listed them off out loud because she feared that she would forget in the next moment.

"The last time she held me, she was really cold." Yuki stopped at this statement. What else? What else could she remember? The rest of the group, in the other hand, looked at each other with an air of solemnness. Goku scrunched up his face in guilt.

Poor Yuki! And she's doing so much in not showing that she was sad about her mother's death!

Meanwhile, Yuki was pondering over her fuzzy memories.

"Um, what about your dad, kid?" Gojyo asked, trying to change the subject. Yuki scowled. "Oh…him."

Gojyo, Goku, Hakkai, Aoi, and Kasumi all sweatdropped simultaneously at her murderous tone. Goku wondered if anyone else could ever put that much venom in such a simple word.

"That bastard. He's the most annoying person. He nags and pampers so much that it makes me sick. And the other women." Yuki shuddered, "They tried to gain little 'ol me's favor by showering me with overly-perfumed gifts. They flock around Father and think that he'd eventually get tired of mother. Ha! Good luck with that one! I might not remember his face clearly, but I know for sure that the idiot was head over heels for mother. He wouldn't take his eyes off of her for a second. Except if I was in the room, of course. He didn't want his special little girl to get lonely."

"Boy, that sounds like a normal father to me. All of 'em do that. They treat you like their little, breakable princess and act as if all the male population is out to kidnap you or something like that." Aoi stated with a grin. Yuki shook her head. "He's weird. He acts all idiotic and harmless when he's actually not. He's scary when he's serious."

"That's normal." Aoi repeated. "Daddy was like that."

"Did your Daddy have blonde hair that shined to the point of blindness and a pretty face that could be mistaken as a girl's?"

"…"

Yuki smirked victoriously. "Thought not."

Gojyo smirked. "Hey, that sounds like-

Click.

"…"

"Say another word and you die."

Yuki scratched her head and ignored the possible violence that was about to break out in front of her. "But I had lots and lots of half sisters and brothers."

Everyone froze at that.

"H-Half?" Kasumi questioned tentatively.

Yuki nodded. "Uh-huh. Lots and lots of 'em from both sides."

"O-Oi, kid, are you saying that your parents were cheating on each other?" Gojyo squacked. Yuki shook her head. "Of course not! They loved each other very much!"

She paused a little bit to catch her breath.

Everyone sighed in relief. "So you're saying that your half brothers and sisters were born from your parent's past marriage. Did they die from some fever?" Aoi asked.

"What are you all talking about? Their spouses never died! I was Mother and Father's illegitimate child!" The silver-haired girl announced a little too proudly, "That's why strange people took me away from them when I was younger. Father was burning up so bad when I left, too." Yuki added sadly.

Wait, so her father was sick when she was separated from him? The whole group thought simultaneously.

Silence again dominated the car. The looks that her companions were giving her both confused and annoyed her. Yuki looked away and rubbed her eyes. "I'm tired." She said and then curled up into a Kasumi-like ball and fell asleep while the others allowed the new information sink in.

"So she never told you three about her parents?" Hakkai questioned lightly after making sure that the child was asleep. "Not even once?"

Aoi shook her head. "She would mention them sometimes but she never went into full detail about them."

"Huh, no wonder that brat's so violent. She hardly spent any time with her parents." Gojyo tried to joke but was jabbed roughly by Goku. He sent a glare at the kappa. "You shouldn't joke about that! Yuki was probably all alone for most of her life! She was probably very lonely..." He trailed off when he saw that his raised voice almost woke Yuki up.

When she stopped shifting, Goku let out a sigh in relief. He jumped uneasily when he felt a hand on his shoulder but relaxed when he realized that the hand belonged to Kasumi. She gave him a warm smile. "You truly understand and care about Yuki, don't you Goku?"

Goku nodded. "Uh huh! I'm really worried!"

"You have a very kind heart, Goku. I'm glad that our Yuki has a person like you who defends her so passionately." Kasumi praised, making Goku's cheeks flush with pride. "Can you protect her for us when we're not there, Goku?"

"I will! I promise!"


Yuki remembered. When she slept, she never dreamed. No, that would take the horror out of her 'punishment'. She rebelled against heaven and the price for it was high.

But she never regretted.

Never


"Haha-ue!"

Yuki's bare feet slapped against the stone floor as she ran to her mother. She giggled joyfully and wrapped her arms around her mother. Her mother, in turn, squeezed her affectionately before setting her down. "Yuki missed Haha-ue so much!"

"I missed you as well." Her mother's cold touch still lingered over the young goddess' skin. It was a comforting kind of coolness that calmed Yuki.

There were so many differences between the two in that scene. A much more older Yuki watched her younger self critically. At that time, she was so oblivious to the difference in how they looked. Her mother was so…beautiful, graceful, and much more kind. Compared to that, Yuki was violent, rough, and boyish. To be compared to her mother was like comparing a pebble to a gem.

Her mother lifted Yuki up and kissed both her cheeks. "My beautiful, beautiful daughter. You'll become a fine bride when you grow older. I'll make sure that the man you choose will be someone who you can be truly happy with."

"What about Haha-ue? Is she happy with Chichi-ue?"

"Yes. I'm very happy with your Chichi-ue. But he and I are not married."

Yuki looked at her mother in confusion. "Not…married?"

"No," her mother agreed, "I was arranged to be married to another man when I was born. My parents did not even ask if I wanted it to be like that. I fell in love with your Chichi-ue after I was married to my husband."

Yuki blinked as if to tell her mother to go on.

"I care for my husband dearly but I cannot love him like he loves me. He already knows this, Yuki. He already knows that I created a child that was not his own and that saddens him and our children."

"Does Yuki have siblings?" Yuki questioned. Her mother nodded in response. "Many of them. Some have already found their own duties to fulfill as gods and goddesses. Most simply become deities of trees or plants."

Yuki wrinkled her nose. "But those jobs sound boring!"

"They are very important duties, Yuki."

Yuki disagreed but she nodded to make her mother happy. "Will I ever have a better duty when I become a goddess? One that isn't a tree or bush?"

"I'm sure that you will. You have an older half-sister who has the duty of being the deity of the flowers. She is very much like you."

Yuki grinned in excitement at the mention of a sister. "Really? Will I be able to meet her?"

Her mother gave her a sad smile. Back then, Yuki had no idea what that smile meant. But now, that smile made every other thing that happened after her mother's visit make a little more sense.

"You will, Yuki. Sooner than you think."


"My beautiful daughter! How were you while Daddy was gone~!"

A strong pair of arms suddenly picked up Yuki. She squealed in surprise and whacked the person on the head with her paper fan out of instinct. "Let Yuki go!"

A grunt of pain was heard and Yuki blinked in surprise when she realized that it was her father. "Oh…Chichi-ue." It was then when it dawned on her that she had just hit her father. "Chichi-ue! Yuki's so sorry that she hit him!"

Her father chuckled good-naturedly. "It's fine Yuki dear. Your Chichi-ue is very strong, remember?"

The Yuki of the present snorted at her old man's comment. That liar, his forehead was still bleeding.

Yuki giggled. "Yes! Really, really, really strong!"

Pure affection shone through the blonde god and he rubbed his nose against hers, making her giggle. "That tickles!"

"Yuki, dear! I have something to tell you!" Her father said excitedly. "You do remember when I told you about the orphan deity from India who I took under my wing?"

Yuki nodded. "Yuki remembers. Chichi-ue saved him from the mean River God."

"Well, he agreed that he would become your brother!"

Yuki bit her lip in confusion. "How?"

"Your Chichi-ue became his Chichi-ue too. Remember what an orphan is, Yuki?"

"Someone who doesn't have a Chichi-ue and a Haha-ue." Yuki announced, proud that she remembered the definition of the hard word.

Her father patted her head. "Good girl. So that means he has no Chichi-ue. That isn't very fair, is it?"

"No."

"So your Chichi-ue decided that he would become the poor child's Chichi-ue also. Is Yuki okay with that?" Her father asked her. Yuki nodded without hesitation. "That means I have a new brother! Will he be Haha-ue's son too?"

"No Yuki. He is going to be my own. To make your mother his mother also could make the bad people suspicious and find out about you."

"But that means that Yuki can't meet him!"

"I'm sorry Yuki dearest. That's just how it's supposed to be."

Yuki crossed her arms. "But I want to meet my new big brother!"

"You will, you will." He crooned. "And I'll give you so much more."

The young girl fixed her purple eyes up at her father's curiously. "What does Chichi-ue mean by that? More?"

"My cute, cute daughter. When you're old enough, I'll give you the whole skies as a gift so you can rule over it." He promised. Yuki pouted. "But Haha-ue promised that she would let Yuki marry whoever Yuki wants when she grows up! Yuki likes that better!"

Yuki heard her father wince at her comment. The present Yuki chastised herself for being so loose-tongued. That was a sore subject for both her mother and father. If only her mother wasn't married to the Deity of the Forests. If only her mother's parents considered mother's opinions a little more. If only…

"Chichi-ue? Did Yuki say something bad?"

Her father grinned broadly and bounced her cheerfully. "Never ever never! Yuki is a good girl. Yuki did nothing wrong. Yuki is innocent of everything."

Even back then those words seemed like some mantra or song. Her father would repeat those words to her many times. Present Yuki knew what message her father was truly trying to send to her as he sat the younger her down to read a story.

You did nothing wrong by existing. Just because your weak-willed parents sinned does not mean you are guilty. Yet, if the world ever knows of you, you will pay for our mistakes.

Forgive us

Yuki


In some ways, her parents were fools to think that they could keep their affair a secret from the world. But Yuki was thankful that her parents were fools. They gave her happiness in her life, something she could look back to as she was forced to face the cruelty of the world after she was taken away.

The 'others' took her away.

It was so sudden.


"CHICHI-UE! HAHA-UE!"

Yuki screamed and bawled as she was ripped away from her mother's cold arms. Her mother struggled to get her back but was restrained by many strangers. Her father was more successful in breaking out of his captor's holds. He fought his way toward her.

Even present Yuki had to admit that he looked like a true warrior as he fought through the soldiers to reach to her mother and her. The fiery look of determination in his brown eyes was something that became imprinted into Yuki's mind. It was a source of power that she used.

She bit her captor's hand and wiggled herself free. She ran toward her father and fast as she could while dodging the hands that tried to recapture her.

"Chichi-ue!"

"Yuki!"

He was so close to reaching her.

So close

Like, fingertips touching fingertips close

And then, a dark cloud intercepted them. It pinned her father down and pushed her back into her captor's arms. The dark cloud turned out to be a man with orange hair, bronze skin, and red eyes.

He looked like some Fire Deity but something in her young mind told her that it wasn't the case. Her father ruled over those Fire Deities and they were strongly loyal to him.

The way he and her father looked at each other sent shivers down her spine.

That man was apparently not at all loyal to her father.

In fact, he seemed to hate her father with all of his being.

"Bastard." Her father hissed as he began to shine.

"Traitor." The red-eyed man snarled as his skin began to burn from being in such close contact with her father's overheated skin.

And in all the while, Yuki found herself being taken farther and farther away from both of her parents.

"Chichi-ue…Haha-ue…"

"I'm sorry." Whispered the person holding her. "I'm very sorry that this has to happen to you, child."

The person who was holding her was a woman. She seemed very gentle and her eyes were blue, unlike the scary man from before.

In a way, the kind voice calmed her a little but it didn't stop the tears from falling from her face. She cried for her mother. She cried for her mother. She cried for the paradise that seemed so far away.

The Yuki of the present stared on stonily.

No tears would be shed over this memory.

It was just a memory.


Jeep stopped by a marketplace to take a little break, turning back into Hakuryuu. Sanzo carried the still-sleeping Suzume out of the car, causing people to stare and whisper much to his annoyance.

Kasumi was the only one who dared to hold Yuki. The little girl looked so innocent while sleeping but the group knew the consequences in waking her up.

"When do you think the brat will wake up?" Gojyo whispered loudly to Hakkai. "I'm literally on an edge here! What if she throws one of those violent hissy fits when she wakes up in the village? She'll destroy all of it!"

"Yes, that does seem like a problem." Hakkai, who was usually calm, expressed a little concern in their situation.

Aoi chuckled at the pair. "No worries." She told the two in her normal volume. She snickered when the two flinched at how loud she was. "Yuki is a pretty heavy sleeper. Don't you think that she would've woken up by now? We're in the middle of a marketplace for Kami's sake! Just don't shake her."

The blue-haired girl's words made the rest of the group relax a little.

Goku pulled on Sanzo's robes. "Hey Sanzo, can I please borrow your card? I promise that I'll give it back."

"No way I'm going to trust something that important to you, Baka-Saru!"

"But I really need it!"

"Can't you wait until dinner, Monkey?" Gojyo sighed. Goku glared at the red head. "No! I need it use it now!" Kasumi could feel the desperation rolling off of him. She gave him a questioning stare that the young boy didn't notice.

"I said no!"

"But-

"No."

Goku glared at the blonde and huffed. "Fine you jerk! And I even said please!" Before the monk could whack him over the head, Goku ran off into the market crowd and disappeared.

"What the heck is wrong with him?" Gojyo wondered aloud as Sanzo grumbled under his breath. He moodily marched into the inn and left the rest of the group standing outside awkwardly.

"So…" Kasumi said awkwardly.

"Do we go after the monkey or follow the fake monk?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, kappa."

"You two are such meanies!"

"I think that Goku will be fine on his own, Miss Kasumi."

"ARE YOU COMING OR NOT?"

"Coming!" All replied out of fear and rushed into the inn.


A bright light blinded Yuki momentarily before she was able to see again. Sakura petals fell from the sky and only a single sakura tree was in sight. In a way, the tree caused her to feel a wave of nostalgia. It was so familiar yet cruel.

"Brat, stop coming into my office and bothering me!"

Konzen never liked it when she visited, did he? He was always annoyed when she ran in with flower crowns woven into her hair. He claimed that she was 'bringing in the bugs and pollen'. His complaining would only stop when her Ane-ue came into the room. He would fall into a sort of silence that her Ane-ue thought was a wordless way of saying that he didn't want her in there because she annoyed him. Yuki knew better. Konzen would never admit it but he was genuinely shy of women, especially of her Ane-ue because he liked her.

"Konzen, why don't you come outside with Yuki and me to watch the flowers bloom? It's very beautiful to watch. I think you will like it."

"Yeah! Ane-ue helps them bloom prettily too, Konzen!"

"I'm busy."

But there were nice things that he did to Yuki even when her Ane-ue wasn't around.

Like the time when he let her sit on his lap

Or the time when he let her place a flower crown onto his head

Or the time when he didn't rat her out for visiting Tenpou's library

"Little Yuki, shouldn't you be sleeping? I know the contents of the book is exciting but a young lady needs to sleep to grow."

At the end, Yuki did listen to Tenpou's advice. He was always a strange person but he was kind. Yuki sometimes visited his library to read the books from the lower world. Her tutor pretended to be annoyed when she caught her reading Tenpou's books but ended up encouraging this because it was the most effective way for Yuki to learn. Her tutor stayed with her as she read, not that Tenpou minded the intelligent woman's presence. Her tutor helped Yuki clean his room in return of borrowing a book.

"I think you missed a spot there, Miss Tutor."

"Shut up, Weirdo Field Marshal! If you're so picky, clean this room yourself instead of making Lady Yuki and me do it!"

Kenren helped Yuki too when she cleaned the bookworm's room.

"You're pretty good at this, kid! Hey, what do you think about going out and getting some dango together after cleaning this mess, just you and me?"

He was her favorite after Konzen. He would make life seem much more beautiful than it really was with only a few words. He snuck her out of her martial arts training so they could slack off together. Her instructor would find them eventually and give them both a scolding.

"I can't believe you would be so foolish enough to take Yuki out shopping during her training! She needs to learn to defend herself!"

"Would you like to go out to dinner with me?"

"Wha-what? Stop trying to change the subject, you useless General!"

"Sensei, why is your face all red?"

Those were the beautiful times. The times that Yuki thought that happiness could go on forever. She wanted it to be that way.

"Nataku! Wait up! Is that any way to treat your fiancée? You should wait for me, you meanie!"

"Sorry Yuki! I just wanted to show you this pretty flower. It perfectly matches your pretty eyes."

"But I think Nataku's eyes are way prettier than mine!"

"You really think that?"

"Uh huh! Really!"

She truly believed that…

"Ouch!"

"Ow!"

"Hey, did you just fall from the sky?"

"Sorry! I was trying to reach for a book and lost balance! Are you all right?"

…That…

"My name is Yuki. Sorry for falling on you. I hope we can still be friends!"

"Friends? I like that! Let's be friends, Yuki! My name is…"

…happiness couldn't break.

Yuki blinked and rubbed her eyes before they widened in shock. She saw the silhouettes of her precious people sitting at the trunk of the sakura tree. She ran toward them. To her horror, the silhouettes began to fade away, one by one. Yuki ran harder. The last of the silhouettes stretched out his hand and she reached out to grab it-

"My name is…"

"GOKU!" Yuki screeched as he began to disintegrate before her eyes.


"YUKI! WAKE UP!"

Yuki literally jumped up and awake before a painful feeling crashed into her head. Someone else yelped in pain. Yuki rubbed her forehead and looked down at the curled up Goku. "Crap. You okay, Goku? What in the world possessed you to wake me up?"

"You seemed to be having a nightmare." Goku replied, "So I tried waking you up."

"Oh…does it hurt that bad?"

"Nah. Just…give me a second."

Goku hefted himself up and rubbed his jaw that she obviously hit with her forehead. It was bruising quickly and the pain wasn't lessening judging by the pained look on the boy's expression. Yuki sighed. "Come over here."

"Huh?" Goku gave her an innocently quizzical look.

Yuki sighed and crawled over to him. She placed her hands over his cheek and muttered something under her breath. To Goku's surprise, a faint light that resembled the light from Suzume's bow glowed over his bruise and soothed the throbbing ache. "Wow! What did you just do, Yuki?"

"Something I learned from my mother." She told him curtly. "Now what do you want from me? You came into my room and disturbed my slumber for a reason, didn't you?" Goku scratched his neck nervously. "Well, I remembered the time when I asked you what food you liked and…"

He sheepishly held out an apple. "I could only get one 'cause Sanzo wouldn't let me use his card."

Yuki stared at the apple. "You…got it for me?"

"Uh huh."

Yuki blushed, scaring Goku because the normal Yuki would've whacked him over the head with her iron fan and yelled at him for not getting more. She took the apple from his hands and bit into it. She smiled. "Delicious. Thank you."

Was it normal that his stomach was feeling all funny after seeing her smile? He must be hungry. Yeah, that's it. He was hungry. "Heh, no problem."

Yuki finished up her apple and smiled at him again. "Let's go down and eat dinner."

Goku liked this side of Yuki.

"Well? Are you coming or not?"

Goku ran over to Yuki's side. Yes, he really liked this nice Yuki far better.

He should give her more apples.


Yuki knew it was too good to be true. She thought that she could finally have a moment of peace with Goku. Just a moment where the two could share a friendly conversation without fighting for their lives or being interrupted.

Yup, that wish seemed too good to be true.

"YUKI-SAMA!"

When she reached downstairs with Goku, laughing over a joke that he said, something small crashed into her chest. She was pretty strong so the impact didn't really do anything to her but she still stumbled back in surprise. "What in the-?"

"Yuki-sama!" The thing sobbed, "I finally found you! Do you know how hard it was to find you? You made me so worried!"

Yuki peeled the thing off of her and glared at it, her good mood gone. "Komu? What the heck are you doing here? I thought I told you to watch over the house! Back in Japan!"

"B-B-But Yuki-sama!" The little crow youkai wailed. "I waited for a very long time!"

"Who cares! Shoo! Go back to Japan, useless bird!" Yuki cried while kicking the poor youkai out of the inn. "Come back and I'll really eat you this time!"

Goku blinked and pointed. "Yuki…what was that?"

Yuki pinched her nose. "An annoying pest."

"Oh…"

"Lets go outside. It's pretty impossible for Komu to fly all the way here so quickly. He must've been sent here through the portal rip. See? That old hag makes all the mistakes, thinking that I would be always there to clean it up."

Goku silently followed the angry girl out.

Yeah, so much for a normal dinner


So it was like this when the two walked out:

Kasumi was surrounded by her little pack of orphan hanyou

Aoi was hugging this random woman like she was her long-lost sister (maybe that was the case)

Komu was sobbing on the ground, being comforted by Hakuryuu

Hakkai and Gojyo were just staring at the sight 'cause they have absolutely no idea what the heck was happening

And Sanzo…

Well, you can guess what he was doing aside from still holding the now-awake Suzume.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE?"

No, that was Yuki who said that.

"SOMEONE GET THIS BRAT OFF MY LEG!" Now that was Sanzo.

But there was one voice that seemed louder than the two of them (I know, amazing right?). It was the voice that caused both Aoi and Kasumi to pale in horror.

"Aha! So there you two are!"

"Oh my Kami…" Aoi breathed in horror. "Please tell me I'm hearing things that aren't really there."

"No Aoi, not only can I hear it…I can see it too."

The pair stared with dread at the figure that was marching toward them. Kasumi and Aoi began to run while dragging Gojyo. "Hey! Sweetheart, what's with the rush?"

"RUN!"

Hakkai saw the figure begin to run in a supernatural speed and sweatdropped. "Oh dear…"

"REPENT, YOU FOOLS!"

"HELL NO!" The two screamed back.


And the chapter's done!

I'm so proud of myself! I managed to type this baby up in two days! I hope that everyone else liked that I brought some minor characters back into the story. You'll see them more in the next chapter after the monk stops chasing poor Aoi and Kasumi.

Hmmm, should I make him torture Gojyo too since he's a hanyou?

Yay! More Gojyo bashing!

(No, I don't hate Gojyo. I actually like his character but he turned out to be painfully easy to bully. You know how characters can be, you eventually can't control them.)

So here's some translations if some people are confused:

Ane-ue: Big sister, Honorable older sister, etc.

Haha-ue: Honorable mother

Chichi-ue: Honorable father

Baka-Saru (shame on you if you don't know this!): Stupid Monkey

Thank you all for waiting so patiently! I appreciate it lots!

REVIEW!