Keiko gets to know about reishi. I was thinking for a long time if the Asakura family knew or not, and within this story, I thought it made sense for them to withdraw such important information from Keiko about who they already think is blinded by her love for her sons.

Mikihisa sat on the chair as Keiko bandaged a cut on his shoulder.

"Really, you should be more careful," she sighed, bandaging it. That morning, he had finally returned from the mountains and Keiko almost got a heart attack. Blood was seeping through his shirt. Immediately, she hurried for the first aid kit.

Mikihisa gritted his teeth.

"I know, Keiko, I know. I'll try to be more careful," he said, and for a moment, Keiko was almost inclined to believe it. But her husband had returned with more injuries than just this one cut.

She finished patching him up and patted his other shoulder gently.

"Go get some rest," she told him, watching with a heavy heart as he stood up to do so. Keiko packed the first aid kit back, slowly rolling the bandage and thinking.

Mikihisa didn't need any reason to stay in the mountains for so long, of course. He was free to come and go, so why did it hurt so much when he left her with their twins? A day, two or three, she'd understand, but almost three weeks seemed to be too long for her liking. He was supposed to be there for her, and if not for her, at least for the twins.

Keiko stopped her actions abruptly. The twins… An intrusive thought passed by in her brain, and she almost let go of the bandage she was holding.

"No…" she whispered, horrified. As much as she wanted not to believe her sudden suspicion, why else would Mikihisa spend all his time up in the mountains? It would explain all of his mysterious injuries that he refused to tell her where he'd got them. She didn't pry, but this thought was enough to doubt her previous actions.

Is he training because of Hao staying here? she thought, a drop of sweat rolling down her back. She knew that these were only suspicions, however, after their last fight… it wasn't improbable.

I would say so, yes, a now-familiar voice resonated through her head. Keiko turned to see the Spirit of Fire with Hao and Yoh. He is dirty, Hao announced, and Keiko sighed. Sometimes, dealing with her children just wasn't easy.

A few minutes later, after changing his diaper, Keiko waved with the swan plushie in front of Yoh's face. The infant giggled as he outstretched his tiny arms, trying to reach it. He kicked out his little legs, almost rolling onto his stomach. He was almost there, and Keiko knew by now that she had to make sure that the twins weren't anywhere near any edges or in high places. She had set them on a tatami mat, sitting down with them. While Mikihisa was resting, she took the swan and cat plushies and was playing with her children.

"Now look what we have here, Yoh," she cooed, letting the swan 'fly' right in front of his eyes. Yoh giggled; he did that a lot nowadays, since he started giggling and laughing a few weeks ago, he didn't hesitate to express his joy over things, and playing with his mother was one of them.

Yoh giggled and during this attempt to catch the bird toy, he had successfully rolled over to his stomach. Immediately, his eyes welled up. He didn't like his tummy time, though Keiko had always made him lay on his belly for some time every day. It was one step to a healthy baby, she'd been told. Hao, on the other hand, suffered through belly time and didn't make any efforts to roll over, claiming it was too childish for him.

"Come now, Yoh, you're a big boy," Keiko set the swan in front of him, and Yoh folded his arms beneath him and supported his upper body all by himself. Keiko smiled at that. Yoh was indeed growing up well.

Hao, on the other hand, was not even trying to. Keiko knew that he could do that. She had seen him support himself but he wouldn't do so for a toy. Only when he wanted to, which wasn't often. Hao was proving to be difficult with this. If he didn't do his exercises, his body wouldn't develop well, and it had Keiko a bit concerned.

"Come on, Hao," she said, waving the kitten plushie in front of him. Hao threw one uninterested eye at it and stayed in his place, lying on his stomach. He wasn't in the mood to play at all.

No, he huffed in Keiko's mind, making his disinterest known. The mother of his current body sighed.

Does he have to be this difficult? she thought, and slowly retracted the hand with the toy. If Hao wanted it, he would have to say something.

Hao snorted.

Parenting is a hard job, isn't it? he inquired knowingly. Keiko's head snapped back to her older son. Her eyes were wide in surprise. If she didn't know any better, she would say that he was replying to her question. To her unspoken question.

But Hao was being a good baby now, turning his head to look at his twin, his 'other half', as he had put it himself. Yoh was now lying again, grasping his plushie in his hands. He could do that quite well now; Yoh enjoyed grabbing things to inspect them or to start fitting them in his mouth. He would always spit out his pacifier, however, as soon as he was presented with a toy or a plushie, he would try and fit them into his mouth, leaving it wet from his saliva. A lot of it would then stick on his face and it would be up to Keiko to clean him up again.

Keiko set the plushie cat next to Hao. She needed to check up on Mikihisa. If her suspicions were true, she wouldn't be surprised if he was lurking around rather than resting.

Fortunately for her and the twins, her husband was sleeping on his futon, half-covered in blankets.

Keiko smiled. Since before the babies were born, tension was present in the family. She had known for a while that it was because of Hao's arrival; because they knew that he would reincarnate again as an Asakura. Since then, Yohmei and Mikihisa had been tense, and Kino as well. However, her own mother wasn't around, she was back in Aomori where she trained her pupil, almost a full-fledged itako by now.

Returning back to the room where her babies lay, Keiko was stunned to see Hao having the tip of the plush cat's tail in his mouth, the soft fur all wet. Her son had been quick to let go, his cheeks colouring pink from embarrassment, and he muttered something. It was probably just the regular baby sounds, but he didn't seem happy to have been seen in such a compromising position.

Yoh cooed when Keiko entered, his eyes following her movements. He ceased playing with his swan now, finding his mother much more interesting.

The babies' vision had improved significantly now, and with more things to explore, the babies were staying awake and alert a lot. They still needed a lot of sleep though.

Yoh had fallen asleep after Keiko gently played with him, teased him with some other toys, and lightly tickled him on his exposed stomach. The baby cooed and smiled and laughed even, and Keiko smiled. She was glad to know that he was having such a good time.

Smiling, the mother picked him up and set him in the crib, tucking him in. Yoh smiled in his sleep, and his fingers curled up around a tiger plushie that he and Hao had in the crib.

Keiko returned for Hao, picking him up. He was still awake, but a big yawn told her that he wouldn't stay awake for too long. Her son was tired and it would be better for him if he slept.

"There," she whispered, pulling the blanket over his legs; the blanket that he was sure to kick off during his sleep. "Go to sleep, sweetheart."

She could swear that Hao's peaceful expression turned to one of disgust, and she sighed. Apparently, her son didn't like being called names mothers usually called their children.

Maybe it has to do something with not calling me mother, Keiko thought as she left the room, leaving both sleeping children and Mikihisa behind. She was going to the library. Does he not want to get attached to us?

Her steps were slow, and she was thinking. How on Earth had Hao been able to answer what she was thinking? It happened more often during the past months, she realized now, but she had only noticed it today.

Being a shaman, she had heard of this ability. It was rare, and she needed to confirm it. Slipping into the Asakura household's library, she went for the big book of shamanic techniques that her family had been gathering during the past 500 or so years. If she wasn't mistaken, it was just before the last Shaman Fight that this book, this huge, fat encyclopedia for shamans, had been started.

She flipped the pages rapidly, slowing down at R. Her eyes scanned the titles of the pages, each containing a term, some familiar, some unfamiliar, until she finally stopped. Turning the book towards the light, she started reading.

Reishi ( 霊視)

The ability to read and feel other people's hearts and thoughts. If the shaman isn't strong enough to control it, onis will generate.

Keiko frowned. It did seem like Hao had this ability, but at the same time, she hasn't seen any onis around the house. Was Hao so powerful that he was able to control this power? She narrowed her eyes. That was where the entry ended.

"So you've figured it out," a voice behind her said and Keiko almost felt her soul leave her body. Putting a hand over her heart, she gasped.

"Father! Please don't do this to me," she said, breathing heavily. Yohmei smiled, holding his pipe in his hand.

"I made quite the noise, you were just too immersed in reading that you didn't notice me," he told her with a sinister smile.

Keiko narrowed her eyes. He asked her if she had figured it out. That meant…

"Did you know that Hao has reishi?" she asked curtly. Yohmei took a few seconds of silence to answer her.

"Of course we knew," he said and watched how Keiko's expression fell. "Kino and I know. She learned it from Matamune, the nekomata spirit. Then she told me when we knew we would let Hao live."

Keiko let the book be, and stood up abruptly. Her expression clearly portrayed the betrayal that she felt.

"Why did you not tell me?" she asked in a desperate voice. "I'm his mother, I should be the first one to know!"

Yohmei attempted to put the pipe near his mouth to smoke, but after his daughter's cross expression, he lowered his hand again.

"We thought it would be safer not to tell you," he remarked slowly. Keiko shook her head. She was Hao's mother, she should have the right to know things about him. She felt betrayed. Hurt . Hurt because they thought it better not to tell her. How could they not predict that she would get to know sooner or later?

In a broken voice, she rasped out: "Does… Does Mikihisa know?"

Yohmei, to her immense relief, shook his head.

"He doesn't know yet. We didn't tell him either. Maybe he should know, just in case." Keiko nodded stiffly. Maybe it would be best to tell him so that he wouldn't have to find out in the same way that she had, but on the other hand, she was afraid. In his state, he could use such knowledge to make Hao more dangerous than he really was. She didn't doubt that her son could do quite the damage if he so wished, but he wasn't the monster everyone was painting him to be. The monster that even she had believed in while growing up. But he wasn't like that. He was human, with human emotions, and his feelings were real. She had seen how he looked at her. At Yoh, despite telling her that he only saw him as his second half. He wasn't just a second half to Hao anymore, he was his brother now, despite the denial Hao was in.

"Maybe, she finally agreed to Yohmei's words, clapping the book shut and putting it in its place. Yohmei stood in his spot, waiting for her next words.

"But for now, I shall take a walk. I need to think about it," Keiko said, pushing past her father. "I will be home in some time."

The elderly shaman didn't try to stop her. Keiko left the library, slipped on her shoes, and went to the gardens. Maybe she would be able to think about something nice there.

But the only thing stuck in her mind was the question of just how much her own family didn't tell her.