I bet I know what you're thinking: "Oh no! Teresa's never going to update! She doesn't love us anymore!" Well…that's not it. It's just that I'm in coffee week, a.k.a., the last week of classes, where you live off of coffee while working on all your final projects before the final tests (they shouldn't be allowed to give both!) and try not to sleep through class even though some severe trauma has been visited upon your already touchy alarm clock. Oh well, I'll get through it!…maybe…
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Fate's Reversal
Part 2
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"Mom, this bag is way too heavy." Haruka complained. She'd been complaining all weekend, hoping that her mother would decide she'd rather take a vacation without her teenaged daughter. She had seen through the act, though, and she knew that her daughter would probably more annoyed than Kagome herself was.
"It's okay, sweetie." Kagome smiled brightly at her oldest child. "Remember? We're almost there."
"It's been so long since you came over, might be hard to think of where everything is." Inuyasha added helpfully. "Just stick with your brothers, they'll take care of you."
"Those two?" Haruka couldn't help but laugh at her brothers, who were conspiratorially whispering as Mottomo held a little sack that she was almost sure contained fireworks. "Yeah right. I'm sure they'll help out tons." It was a mark of how distracted they were that they didn't even notice her comment as the small family continued walking toward the village Kagome had come to love during her time in the Sengoku Jidai.
"Oi! Trespassers, stay back!" Suddenly a threatening figure loomed over them in front of the path. It looked like some vicious type of youkai that Haruka couldn't name, but her family's lack of alarm caused her to realize who it was.
"Hello Shippo-san. Long time no see." She flashed him a smile and a wave. Even though she hadn't spent as much time here as her brothers and parents, she could recall Shippo's magic, and she remembered the kind kitsune man with fond memories.
With a loud pop and a burst of smoke, the threatening monster was suddenly an overexcited kitsune youkai rushing forward to greet the family. "Hi everyone! I'm so glad you're here! And Haruka came! It has been a long time."
"Almost two years since she's come over for longer than a day or two." Kagome confirmed as she took her turn hugging the youkai.
"Like I want to spend the night here." Haruka made a noise of disgust as the greetings ended and the group made their way down the last bit of the path through the forest that led to the village.
"That thing with the twins, eh?" Shippo asked her mother, and Kagome nodded slightly.
"They're idiots, and they're perverts." Haruka informed the two of them.
"They better not try anything." Inuyasha made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl, and he put his arm around his daughter's shoulders. "You tell me if they try any of that shit again."
"Inuyasha, you know their father is—" Kagome began.
"Yeah, I remember how Miroku was, and I don't want anyone to treat Haruka like that." Inuyasha puffed out his chest. "You don't need me though, ne, Haruka? You beat them up pretty well last time."
"Ha! Yeah, Haruka kicked Tsuyo in the head!" Mottomo looked up from his bag, his eyes shining with pride at his sister. "And then she slapped Sekatsu so hard he got a black eye. She's really strong, huh, Yoru?"
"Whatever." Yoru and Haruka stuck their tongues out at each other as the group emerged from the forest and into the beginning fringe of the village. Haruka looked around at the huts and wells, the children and the animals, and she had to admit that she really had missed this place.
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"Are you sure this is a good plan, Nigai?" Amai asked her brother as the two of them snuck out of the women's caves.
"Sure! We should go on an adventure before we have to be separated." Nigai assured his sister, hitching the knapsack up on his shoulders. "You don't wanna go?"
"No…no, I do. I just was wondering if we'd get in trouble." Amai asked him.
"Probably." He smiled at her mischievously. "But that's half the fun, right?"
"Knowing we're misbehaving?" Amai's blue eyes flashed with excitement at their copies set in her brother's face.
"Yeah." He stuck out a hand for her to hold, and with a broad smile she took it, leaning over to kiss her brother's cheek.
"Yeah." She confirmed, following his lead as they snuck out of the wolf territory in the middle of the night.
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"Now." Kanna smiled faintly at her mirror and what it showed her as she paused in her passage toward the place shown inside the mystic glass. "Now is the time to act. Everything is falling into place, isn't it?" her smile faded as she watched the two young youkai making their way over the rough terrain of the wolf clan's territory. "Children, I must apologize in advance, but this opportunity is too much to resist." Kanna nodded, letting her mirror fall back to her hip as she continued to seemingly float over the ground at the bottom of the mountains that the children were leaving.
Once she had reached a good proximity to the oblivious young youkai twins, Kanna stood and waited for them, not even bothering to hide. For what she planned, she wouldn't need the element of surprise. She would just need the children to come where she could see them…
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"Fuck! They're gone? For how long?" Kouga growled at his eldest son and his mate, both of whom were attempting to explain that Amai and Nigai had run away.
"Dear, it may be nothing." Kagura told him. "Likely they just decided they needed one last adventure together before the Winter Ceremony. You know how hard the idea of seperation has been on Amai and Nigai."
"I know…it's just that…well…I don't want to just leave them and let them fend for themselves! They're still children!" Kouga growled.
"I know, and they are our children. I understand that you are worried, but you have to remember, this won't be the first time one of our children has wandered off alone." Kagura aimed an admonitory glance at a suddenly innocent looking Yuki.
"What? I just wanted…to prove I was a man." Yuki blinked red eyes at his mother. She sighed and shook her head. "She's right, though, father. I was younger than the twins when I ran off for an adventure, and I was alone."
"Yeah, but you should have seen how your father panicked." Kagura stroked her son's hair lovingly. "He was sure you were dead."
"Just…cause it's my family…and it's my responsibility. I'm supposed to worry about them." Kouga frowned gruffly. "And you aren't stopping me from going out to search for them."
"That's fine, dear. They'll probably head back here soon enough, but if that makes you feel better, I won't stop you." Kagura smiled at her mate and kissed him softly.
"Yeah, after that first night outside, they'll come right back. Trust me." Yuki smiled reassuringly at his parents.
"Yuki, while I'm gone, I'm leaving the clan in your charge." Kouga reached over to pat his son's shoulder. Yuki's eyes widened in surprise.
"Me?" Yuki asked. "What about Sanka?"
"Sanka isn't my heir, is he?" Kouga asked.
"No…but I just thought that maybe I was still…" Yuki fumbled.
"Too young? Do you think you won't be able to handle this responsibility?" Kouga asked gruffly.
"No…no, I can do it." Yuki accepted the offer. "Thank you for this chance to prove myself, father. I will not let you down."
"I know it." Kouga winked at his son before sweeping out of his private den to go in search of his two missing children.
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"Sekatsu." Haruka lowered her chopsticks to her bowl for more food without looking over at the grinning teenager beside her. "Hands." Her calm voice hid her mounting anger with the twins' over affectionate behavior toward her. She might have hit him for the "accidental brush of his hand against her thigh, but her father was at the table as well. He could handle it this time.
"Oi! Miroku, what the fuck have you been teaching those damn sons of yours!" Inuyasha growled at Sekatsu and Tsuyo, who were seated on either side of Haruka at the table.
"Boys, don't grab a girl when her father is at the table with you." Miroku spoke calmly, pretending not to see how Inuyasha was glaring at him. Sango smiled at the former dog demon apologetically.
"He's just kidding, you know that Inuyasha." Sango told the upset looking father before turning on her two eldest. "You two, how many times have I told you to behave!" she glared at them each viciously, getting the desired affect when both of them scooted slightly away from Haruka, and Tsuyo pulled his own wandering hand back to his lap.
"You two, keep your hands up on the table where we can see them." Kagome spoke up from next to the still very angry looking Inuyasha. The twins glanced between Haruka and Kagome before reluctantly putting their hands up on the table where everyone could see them.
"You guys are so stupid sometimes." Keshiki told her older brothers. "I mean, do you see any other guy groping their girlfriend?"
"I'm not their girlfriend!" Haruka reminded the younger girl adamantly. She uttered a few choice words and stormed out of the house. Kagome shook her head and sighed. It was so reminiscent of how Miroku and Sango had been, she couldn't help but wonder if one of the boys would end up with her daughter.
"Dammit, Keshiki! Look at what you did now!" Tsuyo cursed at his little sister.
"Watch your mouth!" Sango admonished.
"Really, Keshiki! What a stupid thing to say! Now look what you did!" Sekatsu stood up and stormed outside, supposedly after Haruka. His twin stared after him but instead left toward his room.
"I didn't…mean…" Keshiki looked up at the table apologetically, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Keshiki, you know better than to listen to your brothers." Sango smiled at her eldest daughter. Under the table, she felt a hand cover hers, and gasped when she saw it was from the blue-eyed boy next to her.
Yoru. She smiled. At least he understood her.
"You're right, anyway, Keshiki." Kagome shook her head. "Those two should keep their hands off of her if they want to stand a chance." Inuyasha nodded vehemently, and Kagome suddenly wondered if her mate understood that she was talking about the twins dating Haruka, not about them living to see tomorrow. From his white knuckled fists, she wasn't quite sure.
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Haruka stopped walking once she reached the top of the hill just a short distance from the town. She remembered playing on this hill with Sekatsu and Tsuyo when they were much younger. Then later, with her brothers, and Keshiki, Seishin, and Kokoro. Shippo had always been there with them those days, watching over them. Sadly, the kitsune man had run off to take care of a nearby demon infestation, and it just wasn't the same without him there to keep Sekatsu and Tsuyo in line.
"Oi," Haruka tensed as a black-haired teenager sat next to her, his purple eyes gleaming softly in the moonlight.
"What are you doing?" she asked, scooting a bit away from him. Sekatsu sighed wearily and didn't bother to move closer to her.
"I knew you'd come here." He told her. "I just wanted to make sure you'd be alright."
"She shouldn't have said that." Haruka huffed.
"Keshiki didn't mean it like that." Sekatsu told her.
"I know." Haruka admitted grudgingly. "But I still didn't want to hear it."
"What's so bad about it?" he asked. "What's so wrong with me that you don't want anything to do with me?"
"I don't…it's not that I don't want to have anything to do with you…" Haruka managed. "I just…you guys…Tsuyo and you…"
"Hey, this is just the two of us now." Sekatsu turned to her. "Leave Tsuyo out of this."
"You two…I mean, you're just alike." Haruka spoke in a voice that indicated this was a bad thing.
"We look the same, but you don't see…" Sekatsu edged closer to her. "The things…we do…we don't mean it. I don't mean it like that."
"Then why do it?" Haruka asked.
"I don't know how else to show you…how I feel." Sekatsu blushed, and Haruka's breath caught in the confusing mass of emotions. "How…I love you, Haruka. I do."
"Sekatsu…" Haruka didn't know what to say. No boy had ever admitted such feelings to her before, and she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. Then she felt a hand on her bottom, and something in her snapped. "Dammit!" she screamed, slapping him and jumping away.
"Haruka…I'm sorry…I didn't think about it!" Sekatsu jumped after her, and she kicked high, hitting his chin and watching as he fell to the ground, stunned. Wanting to be alone, she ran off into the woods by herself, unaware of what dangers might await her there.
*****
The End (Of Part 2, That Is)