Dispel

By: Teno Hikari
email: teno_hikari@yahoo.com / tenohikari@cs.com

* Disclaimers: All fictional characters belong to me ... I mean the ones I made up of course. All the YnM characters belong to .... um .... think brain, think!

* Summary: Based on the 'Two Daddies' Story Arc - Muraki Ruka's peaceful world is suddenly torn apart and she must journey to the past to save her present.

* Warning: violence ... not to gory but not for minors, and yaoi (m/m) pairings ... of course

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Byakko wished he hands to cover his ears as the baby continued to wail. Instead he used his paws and tried to push his nose deeper into the rug he was laying on. Inside the nursery, his master was sitting in a rocking chair trying to calm down the screeching infant. Little Ruka was going to be his new master, and so far he wasn't liking the idea.

"Now, now," Asato cooed to the crying girl and began to sing. "Hush little Ru-chan, don't say a word ... Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird ..."

The baby began to calm down slightly but Byakko didn't move his paws from over his ears. The infant tried to tug on one of her daddy's bangs but Tsuzuki moved away and she began to shriek again.

Wincing, he continued with the song, "And if that mockingbird makes you cry ... daddy's gonna bake you a mockingbird pie ..."

A quiet laugh came from the doorway, making Asato look over to see Kazutaka. His husband stood there with a bottle of milk is hands and a smile on his face. The doctor stepped into the bedroom, unfazed by his daughter's shrieking, and handed the bottle to his beloved. The brunette sighed in relief as the infant stopped screaming and Byakko finally moved the paws from over his ears and starred up in disbelief.

"Cute, Asato," Kazutaka murmured against the other man's ear. "Very cute."

"If you think that's cute, you'll find my slaughtered version of 'Three Blind Mice' utterly adora..." Asato was cut off as Ruka spat milk in his face and giggled. Giggled. Asato twitched. Muraki laughed and stopped immediately as angry violet eyes glared at him.

The silver-haired man took his giggling daughter into his arms while the Shinigami wiped his face with a dash towel before shaking his head. "She is so your child ... just know this ... we're only having one."

"Of course, beloved," the doctor smiled as he cooed at the baby who reached out and grabbed his nose. "Ruka has a strong set of vocal cords, I think she got them from you."

"That's just wonderful," Asato groaned, rubbing his temples.

Kazutaka burped his daughter before finally setting her down in the crib. Ruka reached out with her tiny hands for the one thing she wanted dearly in the whole world ... he pacifier. The doctor smiled as he placed it in her mouth before kissing the baby girl on the forehead. Looking down at his feet the child's guardian was already sitting up.

"Byakko," Asato stood up from the rocking chair and walked over to the white tiger. "Please look after her for a little while. Kazutaka and I will be downstairs having lunch."

The God nodded his head and watch the two parents head out, closing the door behind them. Relieved at the peace and quiet, the tiger dropped back into his laying position and closed his eyes. A half an hour of peace goes by until something small hits his face ... followed by soft crying.

Annoyed, Byakko opened once crimson eye and gazed at the pacifier laying across his nose. Why on Earth did Ruka toss out her pacifier only to cry for it again? Why did he have to have this job? Why not Suzaku who had more maternal instincts than any of their master's twelve Shikigami?

The sound of those cries intensified and the God quickly sat up with the pacifier in his teeth then padded over to the crib. Carefully, he balanced his weight on his back paws and gently lowered the pacifier back into the infant's mouth. Ruka stopped crying immediately, earning a sigh of relief from Byakko relief as he dropped back onto the ground. Maybe this guardian job wasn't so bad hard after all.


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Chapter Two: Guardian

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Ruka yawned as she sat up in bed and stretched her arms. Rubbing her violet eyes, she looked over to the side of her motel bed and saw Byakko sleeping on the ground with a pillow and blanket. She wondered if it was uncomfortable for the Shikigami to sleep like that in his human form and had offered him space on the bed. But the tiger God refused the offer and was now curled up in a fetal position, muttering something about 'pacifiers'.

The teenager swung her legs off the bed, stepped over the sleeping young man, and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. After that, she dressed back into the rest of school uniform and wondered if they could go shopping for clothes. She also wondered how long they planned to stay here in the past. How much money was on that credit card? Would they have to find jobs?

Not that Ruka would have a problem with working but holding a job and trying to keep history together was going to be a challenge. Also, what if just being here affected her present? Byakko had told her not to worry about it so much, just keep a low profile.

She sighed quietly as pulling Veronica into her arms and cradled the doll closely while studying the mission documents. Tomorrow night, Tsuzuki and his new partner Kurosaki Hisoka, will stop those vampire attacks caused by singer, Maria Wong. Tomorrow night, Hisoka would be kidnapped by Muraki ... and the next morning after that, her parents would become enemies.

Her dad had never lied to her, and she knew how difficult it was to admit all those horrible crimes. What worried Ruka the most, was actually seeing how ... different ... he was in the past. If she could save, would she be able to look at her father the same way again? Her heart told her 'Yes' while her mind was giving off mixed answers. She wanted to say 'Yes' but what if she found his villainous acts unforgivable? Could she really close her eyes against them and pretend they didn't exist after witnessing them herself?

'Stop it Ru-chan ... just concentrate on your mission right now.'

Byakko mumbled something incoherent and Ruka brought a hand over her mouth to cover the giggles. Her stomach began to growl, demanding breakfast, and she groaned before reaching into the backpack and found her wallet. A part of her felt a little guilty for using Tatsumi's money, so she decided to spend whatever she had on her. Which wasn't much considering they had to pay cash for the hotel room for the next two days while they were in Nagasaki.

After this, Ruka wasn't sure where they would go since Muraki and Tsuzuki wouldn't meet again until the Queen Camellia, and that was almost a month away. 'I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there,' the girl thought to herself as she silently tiptoed out of the hotel and closed the door behind her. The sun shined brightly that morning and so did her smile as she sprinted down the concrete steps and headed for the nearby restaurants ... hoping they served apple pie.

After wandering around the area a bit, the teenager noticed most of the restaurants were full and she really wanted to find a nice quiet one with fewer people. About half an hour later, the silver-haired found a place to her liking since there was only one customer at the time. Pleased, she sat down at a table by the window, looked at the menu and waited for one of the waitresses to came by her table.

"Hello, may I take your order?"

"A slice apple pie, please," Ruka smiled, folding the menu back. "With a cup of hot chocolate."

The waitress blinked as she looked up from her notepad and Ruka wondered if she had something on her face. Realizing she was starring, the waitress quickly apologized. "I'm so sorry, it's just you ordered the same exact thing as the other customer ... I'll be right back with your order ..."

'The same exact thing?' the violet-eyed girl wondered. 'Who else loved eating apple pie and hot chocolate for breakfast?'

"Hi there," said a friendly voice from the table behind her. "I guess I'm not the only one."

Ruka flinched inwardly as her pulse began to race. Slowly, she turned to meet those painfully familiar smiling amethyst eyes and cursed her luck. 'Of all the restaurants in Nagasaki, you have to go to the one where he's at and order the same thing!'

Quickly, the girl closed her eyes and smiled at him, "Good morning!"

"Good morning," Tsuzuki Asato returned her smile.

Her heart was beating so loudly, she wondered if he could hear it even with the short distance between them. The Shinigami then turned away and continued to eat ... as the stack of plates grew taller. Ruka sweat dropped as he happily cut the next piece then popped it into his mouth before giving a satisfied and happy sigh. 'Some things really don't change.'


***


The White Tiger God of the West, awoke with a pain in his back on the floor. Groaning, he slowly opened his crimson eyes and winced as he was assaulted by sunlight. Turning over on his other side, away from the offending rays, he yawned and stretched his limbs as if he were back in his feline form.

'Human bodies are uncomfortable to sleep in on the floor,' he noted. 'Especially this floor ... maybe next time I'll try the bathtub.'

Sitting up, the young man ran his hand through his spiky white hair before looking over to the bed, expecting to see his mistress. She wasn't there ... how odd. He leapt to his feet and checked the bathroom, no Ru-chan. Very odd ... and very bad. Running back to the bedroom, she noticed their belongings were still there, and Ruka would never leave Veronica behind. Veronica ... the antique doll was sitting on top of the made bed with a note in her lap.

Curious, Byakko plucked the note from the doll and began to read Ruka's cursive handwriting: 'Went out for breakfast, will be back soon - love, Ru-chan.'

He bared his fangs as he began to shrug into his coat and put his boots back on. The girl was his top priority and now she was gone. Didn't she know that there were people after her? People who probably wanted to kill her? Not only that, what if she ran into trouble? What if she ran into one of her parents? What if, ... what if ...

The tiger growled as he marched himself down the steps, getting some frightened looks from the other hotel occupants. Shrugging hands into his pockets, he pulled on his sunglasses and headed for the restaurants across the street. That girl was going to be the death of the God one day ... and Byakko swear to himself that if he survived, he was never having children of his own.

***

The two waitresses, starred at their only two customers who had ordered the same thing and were both eating in a similar fashion. Ruka couldn't help herself, she had inherited her daddy's sweet tooth - fangs, were more appropriate - and apple pie had been one of their favorites. A smile twisted on her lips as she remembered her dad was constantly taking her to the dentist and made sure she brushed and flossed right after their meals ... and sometimes before.

'Kazutaka, you're making a big deal out of this,' she had remembered her daddy saying, while they were eating cake and ice cream. 'Besides, Ru-chan has baby teeth ... which she will lose even if they are cavity free.'

This had not pleased her father, and Ruka smiled at the memory because it was the first time she had seen them bicker. She was beginning to feel happy again as she ate with her daddy's past self. It was the same as eating together as a family, but it was close enough. Finishing up her pie, she ordered another one to go for her sleeping Shikigami and was glad to know she had money left over.

She nearly gawked when Tsuzuki's order had come up to 4500 yen. It was enough to feed four people ... where in the world did it all go? Ruka also wondered if her daddy's pay check had simply gone into feeding himself desserts ... which she didn't doubt.

A woman's cry shook her out of her reverie and Tsuzuki took off quickly, leaving his receipt. Turning back to the waitress, Ruka kindly offered to take it to him, in truth she just wanted to follow. The teenager took after she left the restaurant and took a shortcut by rooftop hoping.

Arriving at the scene the same time as the Shinigami, she noticed a strange green bat like creature flying away. Bats? During the day time? Her violet eyes narrowed from her perch and wondered if Muraki was involved in this.

Sure enough, a tall man with silver hair and dressed in white, appeared in the small gathering crowd. Tsuzuki was checking the side of a neck belonging to a little girl who had fainted. A look of relief spread across the Shinigami's features before he looked up at the mother and told her something. All the while, the man in white appeared before them, making Tsuzuki turned to face him. Eyes locked on to each other, Ruka wished she was closer so she could hear what they were saying.

But already they were moving from the crowd and Ruka slowly began to follow. Not far from here, they took the girl over to a rest house. As her eyes followed Muraki and the mother taking the little girl inside, she was a bit relieved to see that the Shinigami remained outside to wait.

The brunette had a waiting and worried expression on his face as she slowly approached him. Hearing her footsteps, Tsuzuki looked up and was a bit startled to see her standing before him. Slowly he smiled at her, and she longed to just throw herself into those familiar arms. But it took willpower alone just to smile back and hand him his receipt.

"You ... you left this back at the restaurant," she said hesitantly, not making eye contact.

His small smile widened, "Thank you, very much."

The violet-eyed girl wondered how foolish she looked now. He probably thought she was just some silly girl stalking him. 'Quick, change subject!'

"So," Ruka then nodded towards the house. "Is she going to be all right?"

"I hope so, a doctor is with her now ..." Tsuzuki began as the doctor walked back outside.

Swallowing hard, she did her best not to stare as she saw her father wipe his glasses on a handkerchief. It was just weird ... all three of them were so close in her present ... but now ... now, they were all strangers to one another.

"Doctor?" Tsuzuki asked anxiously as he stood up from the bench.

"She's alright," the doctor assured him. "She regained consciousness."

"That's good to hear," the brunette sighed as he brought his hand to his heart. Ruka allowed herself to smile slightly at his concern.

"I told them to perform a close examination on her," the silver-haired man said as he placed on his glasses and turned to face them both. His eyes momentarily flickered on Ruka, a little surprised before they settled on Tsuzuki. "You were that man from yesterday ... where are my manners ..."

A smile appeared on his pale face before he held out his hand for the other to shake, "My name is Muraki Kazutaka ..."

The Shinigami starred at the offered hand before he took it, "Ah, Tsuzuki Asato."

Was it just her, or did their handshake last up to fifteen seconds? Slowly, Tsuzuki pulled his hand back and the doctor seemed reluctant to let go before he turned to face her. Blood pounding in her ears, she resisted the urge to swallow as the doctor smiled down at her.

"And what's your name?" he asked politely, his single silver eye widened slightly to take in her violet orbs.

"Mura...," she swear inside her head for almost letting her last name slip. "Murasaki Ruka."

She swear again, 'Dammit, Ru-chan! Just draw more attention to yourself with 'purple' as your last name so they can say how well it suits your unnatural purple eyes ... Bya-chan's going to kill me before those people get the chance."

Ruka quickly bowed her head before smiling in return, "Please to meet you, I better get going ... my brother is probably looking for me."

Tsuzuki smiled as she turned to walk away before calling, "Thanks again, Ruka!"

The teenager stopped herself from flinching as she quickly ran off to hide behind another house. 'Ruka' her daddy had called her ... not 'Ru-chan' .... it was to weird ... and to wrong. She shouldn't have left Byakko, and followed Tsuzuki. She shouldn't have spoke to either him or her other parent. How much was history going to change because of this incident?

Groaning, she leaned against a wall and Ruka waited for them to part as she remembered the mission report. She couldn't afford to take her eyes off Tsuzuki now to get Byakko ... just in case anything happened, she still had her ofudas with her. Just in case ...


***


Byakko cursed as he wandered around the crowded streets of Nagasaki, wondering where the hell Ruka was. It was almost evening, hours since she had left that morning. So he kept wandering around, returning every hour to hotel to see if she was there ... but she wasn't. The tiger God had never been so worried as his red eyes scanned through the crowds of people who were still preparing for that Sea God Fair event.

[ "Byakko, White Tiger God of West, protect your mistress at all costs... if we survive this ... we will summon you both back. Understand?" ]

The stern voice of the Hades Agency's Secretary, echoed in his ears and Byakko could see the furious look on his face if he realized that his departed friend's daughter was missing. But that was one thing, another was the shame. If he couldn't protect his master, then what? Was there really a life for him without Ru-chan?

'No,' he answered as he continued to wander. 'If she dies ... if I fail to protect her ... then there truly is no meaning for my existence. I've been her guardian since birth. I've never failed in my duty then ... and won't start now!'


***


'Finally,' Ruka breathed as she watched the Shinigami turn and walk away. It was getting late and the sun was about to set, Byakko must be worried sick by now. As soon as she lost sight of the Doctor, the teenager headed towards the path Tsuzuki had taken since the hotel was back in that direction.

It was a mistake to make sure he was gone. As soon as she past the small house, soft laughter caught her ear. A shiver ran down the girl's spine because she knew that laugh. She had played 'hide and go seek' with her dad enough times to know that was the laugh he made when he knew where she was. But the laugh this time did not belong to her father ... no it belonged to a totally different person, a killer.

Turning back, she gasped and her eyes widened in horror to see Doctor Muraki leaning against the same house she was behind. He had been waiting for her ... and she didn't want this kind attention ... not from him. Taking a deep breath, she uncurled her fingers and waited for him to make the first move. Hope that he would simply walk away, went with the wind as he stood up straight and took a step toward her.

"Good little girls shouldn't spy," he said, smiling at her. But it wasn't the kind friendly one she had gotten earlier that day. No, the smile he was giving her now, was one that belonged to a predator. "It's rude."

"Making children faint in public isn't exactly nice, doctor," she pointed out, glad her voice remained steady. It was the first time Ruka had ever used this tone of voice on her dad ... her daddy yes, but that was over a last piece of cake. 'He's not you father, Ru-chan ... not yet. Idiot ... why did you have to say that? Now he's even more curious!'

The doctor's smile widened, "Very clever, Ruka ... you manage to see through my facade when even Tsuzuki, the top of Ju-Oh Cho, could not. You Shinigami surprise me."

'Shinigami?' Ruka blinked. 'He thinks I'm a Shinigami? Oh, great mess you've got yourself into!'

"I'm not ...," she began, then stopped. There was no point in telling him otherwise since he probably just wanted to kill her.

Muraki caught the slip and smiled, "So you're not a Shinigami, well then that just changes things. Here, I just wanted to talk to you about your lovely violet eyes ... and now ... I think I want you dead."

'Dammit!' Ruka cursed as she slipped a hand into her pocket, clutching several ofudas tightly. She leapt back until she was at a safe distance before drawing the rectangular pieces of paper out. This man was the last person she thought she would be protecting herself against. Muraki caught sight of her wards and looked thoughtful.

"Full of surprises, aren't you?" The doctor then held up his hand and snapped his fingers twice.

Ruka starred at him, confused at first until she heard the sound of wings and quickly cast a barrier around herself. As bats, similar to the one she saw earlier, launched themselves at her. Violet-eyes narrowed as she thought up another counter attack, while watching those creatures slam and disintegrate against her shields.

'If I survive this, I'm going to need stronger wards ... maybe ones with the Thunder Script ... or is celestial calligraphy too much? Several of those are going to be murder on Tatsumi's credit card ...'

The kekkai's standing duration was running out and with her hand she held three other paper charms between her fingers. With the flick of her wrist, she sent the first one to incinerate the creatures behind her to prevent a back attack once the shield went down. The second cleared the bats between her and Muraki ... and the red ofuda, which she was hesitant to use, went straight for the warlock himself.

The doctor brought his hand up to cast his own shield, much to Ruka's relief. Instead of her charm causing near fatal damage in one place, it shattered like glass against the barrier and did damage in several other places. Not fatal, but Muraki's smile was replaced with an annoyed glare as blood dripped down his hands.

"I think," the pale man said slowly, brushing his hair out of his face so she could see his mismatched eyes. "I'll stop playing now."

The teenager didn't like the sound of that as she stepped back and noticed that night had come. With it, the winds got cooler, make Ruka shiver as she tried to keep her fingers from trembling as they grasped more wards. The doctor made a gesture with his hand and a pentagram made of fire burned on the ground ... followed by an intense light that made the girl wince.

The golden light died down and she swallowed hard as a three-headed griffin glared at her with menacing eyes. It's wings raised and flapped forward, sending a strong gush of air to knock Ruka off her feet. Crying out as she hit the concrete, the paper charms slipped from her fingers and fluttered away in the breeze.

Turning onto her side she quickly moved out of the way from the creature's razor sharp talons before rolling to her feet. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out her three remaining ofudas and launched them at the monster's three heads.

"Moeru!" she cried out as the ofudas burst into flames before all six of the creature's eyes, blinding it temporarily.

Leaping back from one swiping talon, Ruka howled in pain as another slashed at her thigh, drawing blood. The girl was sent slamming back onto the ground and it wasn't long before the thing regained it's sight. From behind, the doctor was chuckling softly, hands stuffed into his pockets.

"You put up quite a fight ... little girl," Muraki smiled at her as the creature advanced to her wounded body. "But I'm afraid it was in vain."

'My father is going to kill me,' she thought bitterly to herself as she tried to crawl back. 'How ironic ... since I came here to save both him and daddy ...'

Swallowing hard, her fearful violet eyes watched as sharp claws lunged forward. Blood splattered on her torso and Ruka only starred in disbelief. Her mouth opened silently to whisper his name ... before screaming it.

"BYA-CHAN!"

The White Tiger God, stood in his original form, growling in pain and anger as the creature's talons clawed into his shoulder. The monster let out a shriek of agony as the God dug his teeth in it's throat, tearing it wide open. Leaping back into a crouch as the creature staggered backwards, the tiger turned to Ruka with calm crimson eyes.

"Ruka, get on," Byakko ordered as he lowered himself to the ground level.

Wincing in pain, she obliged and quickly climbed onto his back. Once she was on top, the Shikigami quickly rose back to his full night, nearly throwing her off him. "Hold on tight."

She obeyed and a whirlwind from nowhere came forth and surrounded the two. The air whipped so fast around them, she could no longer see nor hear the creature or Muraki, only white howling noise. Clutching tightly on to his fur, the girl ignored the screaming wind in her ears as Byakko took off running.

***

Ruka didn't remember passing out when they finally arrived back at the hotel. But when she woke the next morning, the Tiger God in his human form was sitting beside her and still awake. Shameful tears burned in her violet eyes as she curled up into a ball, her bandaged wounds screamed because of the movement.

"I ... I'm sorry ...," she choked out, her hands covering her face. "Bya-chan ... you got hurt because of me ... I'm so sorry ..."

The young man sighed as he tried to pull her hands away so he could look her in the eye. Giving her a warm smile, he pat his shoulder, "See? Good as new. So, please stop crying... I can't stand to see you cry."

"I'm sorry," Ruka whispered, trying to dry her tears. "I've been nothing but trouble for you, haven't I?"

"What?" The God gave her a look of confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I know you never wanted to be my baby-sitter," she spoke quietly. "I never knew why daddy wanted his God of War to be my guardian ... and I'm sorry I was such a burden to you..."

"Ruka dear," Byakko said in a stern voice, almost mocking her dad in the future. "You are not a burden to me, nor are you a baby in my eyes. My former master made me your guardian because he trusted me ... now that I realize, it was the greatest honor of my life."

"Bya-chan ..." Ruka whispered but he silenced her.

"Let me finish my prattling, Ru-chan," Byakko smiled then looked serious once again. "You are master now, Muraki Ruka ... and I don't regret it. The way you fought last night, standing up to that man, must have been agonizing ... and I wish I could have protected you from ... but I am very proud ... and honored to be your Shikigami."

"Bya-chan ..."

"But ..."

The girl blinked as the tiger's tone changed once again.

"But," he repeated. "IF YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, I SWEAR I WILL CARRY YOU AROUND IN MY TEETH LIKE A MOTHER CAT, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

Ears ringing, she nodded quickly and Byakko's furious face became friendly once more.

"Great! Now, where's my breakfast?"

Ruka sweat dropped.



[ Author's Note ]

Like it? Hate it? R/R PLEASE!

Feedback responses ...

Pandora - Both Devil's Thrill part 11 and Chapter 2 of Dispel is up, so now you're torn between the two.

Crashed_crusade - I can't help but write so many stories since I get to many ideas in my head ... and they all gotta go somewhere. To answer your question (I think it was a question) ... No, this doesn't branch off 'Devil's Thrill' ... it could ... but it doesn't.

Jam - I will, I have ^_^

Eike - You got it, thanks for reviewing ^_~