Charms
This is getting to be a much larger project than I first thought it would be. I am getting closer to the ending, but there's still so much that has to be sorted out and explained...hmm...I don't know when this will end, honestly. I want to thank everyone who's stuck it out and waited for these last chapters.
P.S. It's really early in the morning and I don't want to proof read so please forgive my excessive spelling errors.
Chapter 40
"Hiei..." Kurama squared off with the fire demon, looking into those red pools. Hiei's eyes were always mysterious. A product his intense training to keep his enemies and even his friends at a measured distance. //I'm not his enemy...or his friend.// Green eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"
"I told you I'd come." His voice contained inflection, but always managed to keep a monotone quality. Like his eyes, his voice shared nothing to express his emotions.
"And I told you not to." The fox demon wouldn't relent this time. The red head was already angry and the frustration that Hiei could pose a possible threat, lurked in the back of his mind. //Why can't you just tell me? What could have been so important ten years ago that it has to be a buried secret now? Either way, I have no use for someone who can't trust me, who won't help me.// "You should just leave. I can handle this." //Just for a little while. When this is over...we'll talk again.//
"This is backwards." Hiei challenged. "You should leave and let them handle themselves."
"I don't expect you to understand." The red head turned away, diverting his attention to his own thoughts. "Daiki needs..."
"What? A friend? A protector? Humph." the fire demon scoffed, folding his arms. "More like a maid, to clean up his mess."
"What do you know about it? Did you know he lost his father recently? And that he's supposed to fulfill some task in his father's will so that he can live the life he was meant to. He's about to lose everything and dispite that he's smiling and going to school and trying to be as normal as he can even though he's got the heart of a demon beating inside his chest. None of this is Daiki's fault, he's a victim and I'm going to help him the best I can."
"What kind of lines has he been feeding you? No, more importantly, how can you take all of this at face value? Are you even looking for the truth?"
"How dare you? You of all people should be supporting me and all you can do is critisize. Maybe the reason I can't find the truth is because no one will tell me the truth, Hiei!" That was a jab, Kurama knew it and didn't really expect it to effect the fire demon. He just wanted to blow off some steam.
"Maybe you can't find the truth because you're only paying attention to one version of it!"
"Excuse me?"
"Admit it Kurama that boy's effecting your judgement. With the knowledge you've obtained so far and the time you've had to work with it. The Kurama I know would have come up with a solution by now or at the very least a plan."
"Well I'm sorry I disappointed you. I guess my making a spectical of myself isn't entertaining enough for you. Now that I've ruined your expectations you should just leave me alone."
"Not a chance. The freak show's just about to start." There was a sudden knock on the screen that divided the room and the hall. Kurama turned his head in that direction.
"Who is..." his question trailed off as green eyes watched an envelope slide through the small crevase of the slightly open door. The red head came to it immediately as it softly tapped onto the tatami matted floor. "What is this?" he turned it over to look at the front.
It had his name on it and it was a bit heavy. The fox demon experimentally pulled on the door's edge. It was open. He looked into the hallway and saw no one, but his sensive nose and superior hearing told him that someone just left. It wasn't a ghost, anyway. He decided not to persue he wouldn't want anymore trouble for Daiki if Fuuyuki or someone were to see him wandering about. Closing the door behind him, it was only a glance before he realized that Hiei was gone.
"Why does he even come?" Kurama sighed heavily. He sat down on the tatami floor and opened the envelope. It was a simply folded paper that held it all together so when it was unfolded photographs, cards and other small notes came tumbling down his lap and onto the floor. "What...is this?"
Green eyes glanced at a few pictures and turned over a card or two. One of the pictures was a faded photo of a large family probably several generations. Another looked like a single family, another was a tall man in his fourties. That was the most recent picture among them. It was very conveinient how there was a date and a note on the back of each one.
The cards...one of them was a minimized death certificate, stating only name, date, time and means. No audtopsy. There was a postcard from Germany. And many other things. //Who would give me something like this? What does it all mean?// The folded paper envelope had some writing on the inside of it.
It read:
Minamoto-san, wasn't it?
Please forgive this sudden and probably confusing correspondence. I've heard a few rumors that you've been investigating our family. For Daiki's benefit no doubt. I wanted to thank you for your concern that night in the rain. I'm not sure if I'll be able to thank you properly however, Fuuyuki's declaired you off limits and a bad influence on Daiki. I don't believe that. It's been too long since someone has taken interest in the Hazama Family and no one has been as persistant as you.
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with some privliged information that should be handled with descretion. If you've changed your mind for whatever reason I encourage you to destroy this letter and it's contents. Sharing this information with an outsider bares sever consiquences. Please understand my position in this matter.
Wow, you kept reading. Good for you. I admire your determination.
The best way to understand the Hazama family is to understand our lenieage of masters. The first master of the Hazama's was an ambitious feudel warlord. Back then all you needed was enough people to say you were related to prostegious figures and the humble would flock to follow you. In the beginning, we were wood cutters by trade then our interests spread outward like a fan.
As an example, you may have heard the story of the ice demoness. One of my anscesters wrote that story, based off of the superstitions of the time.
"The ice demoness." Kurama said to himself. //She does have a connection to this family, if only remotely.//
Letter continued:
Ironically the very thing that sparked our ambitions would ultimately lead to an early grave. Some time during my family's exploits as wood cutters, we happened upon a rare desease that infected our very DNA. Back then, the Hazama's would have been whiped out after his death, if it hadn't been for the man's eldest son. He managed for many years to keep the family together as a single unit.
It was through him that we prospered and even today we hold a special observence in reverence to him. He was called Kohaku. Named for amber that was full of life and yet frozen at the same time.
Some how, even though his brothers and sisters were ailling from diseases that attacked their hearts, he was untouched by the plight. As the years passed on, even his existance became a mystery.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Kurama put down the letter and picked up a few of the pictures. "Eighteen ninty two. The family." was printed on the back. He flipped it over and looked at all the serious faces. There were four rows of people about ten people per row.
//There must be something important about this if it's included in this letter.// The background was nothing special. A large house with some lovely plants around them. Green eyes inspected each face more carefully. The fox demon nearly gasped when he saw the face of that demon from the fire ten years ago.
//How...how long has he been with this family? W-wait a minute. The letter says Kohaku never was effected by illnesses the heart illnesses. Then his very existance became a mystery. He's immortal. But how can that be? If he's the son of the Hazama family. A half demon has a long life span, but only a full demon could last this many centuries without aging. What does it mean?//
The red head suddenly remembered the hunter's words, {You're the only one who can help him.} //It can't be. Master's son born so long ago, before I studied under him. All that time...he never mentioned...perhaps he believed his son to be dead. Master didn't believe in speaking of the dead without good cause.//
//All that time, he was in the human world...with the Hazama family. Did he run away? How did he come be in the human world? Why didn't he ever return?// With a flick of the wrist, the letter was back in his hand.
Letter continued:
Now that we've got the history out of the way. The more recent Hazama masters have been working to get new blood into the family to hopefully weed out the disease, unfortunately, with little success. Fuuyuki is the results of one such experiment. His mother wouldn't have been called worthy to marry one of the heirs of one of the few direct blood decendents.
It was only after several attempts to manipulate the genetic pool that our last master forbade further marrages to 'unsutible partners.' Fuuyuki was doing well, much better than his brothers and sisters who have already passed on. The experiments weren't a complete success but there was progress. Dispite this Fuuyuki's mother was excommunicated from the Hazama family and sent to live in another country where she would be financially cared for.
It was only a year later that she committed suicide. Fuuyuki was six years old when he was told his mother threw her life away. They convinced him that such a thing was enevitable. Cruel perhaps, but this is the kind of life Fuuyuki is accustomed to. For the next few years he was trained rigorously to become the next family master, as the direct disendents did not appear to be producing an heir. After so many miscarrages the doctors told our master's wife to consider perminent contraception. She refused.
At the age of eight, Fuuyuki was told that he wasn't important any longer because because a 'true heir' had been born. That was Daiki and a then Miku was born. Dispite Fuuyuki's disappointment, he often went wit his parents to visit the main house that they had once called their own home. It was on one such occation that a fire mysteriously errupted. It completely consumed the home and took the lives of the master, his wife, Fuuyuki's father, and so many others. That was ten years ago.
"So, Daiki was originally supposed to be the master after all. He seems to think he was adopted and that was the only reason. If he knew this...he probably wouldn't doubt himself so much."
Letter continued:
The next decendent in line for master had no sons or daughters so he readily accepted Daiki's adoption. The other reason was because Daiki had changed. He was no longer ill infact he was like a normal child without a care in the world. His sister Miku was not. Although she was just a baby, she was in and out of the hospital at least twice a month.
Although Miku was placed in the care of some of our relatives she wasn't officially adopted by anyone. It was believed that she would parish before she was three years old.
"How cruel. They were just waiting for her to die."
Letter continued:
Fuuyuki seemed to take pity on her and visited her as much as possible. Two years after the fire, the main house was completely rebuild and Fuuyuki was sixteen. With the consent of the new master of the family, he married. He and his new bride offically adopted Miku. She was three years old. She's been well taken care of these past eight years. Unfortunately, they never had any children of their own.
Aya was diagnosed with leukimia when Miku was five years old. She obeyed Fuuyuki no matter her own heart, so when she was sent to Germany for a new treatment method, she kissed her adopted daughter goodbye. She believed in Fuuyuki and his judgement. Saddly, she died that same year.
I'm not sure if Miku even remembers Aya, but she loved her family very dearly. I'm sorry, I'm straying off the topic.
A little over a month ago that master died under mysterious circumstances. His health wasn't he best, but his personal doctor gave a report only days before that his condition was acctually improving. It begs the question that Daiki has been asking ever since the funeral. Why? I don't know. I do know that Daiki was not ready to take the place of master. For a time, I wasn't sure if he ever would be. Daiki had become a growing concern to his adoptive father ever since Aya died. He neglects his training and shurks responsibility more and more. It seemed that his path of laziness and self-destruction would never end. But it was only after his father died that I believe he realized his mistakes and shortcomings. I know this family is a corrupt and tragic thing. But I also believe that Fuuyuki and Daiki, have the power to change our fate. They have power inside them that's just waiting for an opportunity to show it's brilliance. Please help them. I think you have that power inside you and surrounding you.
-Sincerely
Tosobaru Hazama
P.S. If you ever need a date on Sunday, give me a call okay?
"He never gives up." The red head felt a sweat drop at his temple. "But thank you." He focused on the scattered leaflets of papers and pictures. "Daiki's real mother and father. Why wouldn't they tell him that he wasn't just adopted? Why did they make him believe he was just a cousin?" There was a single post card from germany. It was addressed to Fuuyuki, then it was resent, addressed to Daiki.
//Aya must have been something special to you. She was taking care of your sister after all. She may have become a second mother to you, Daiki. Fuuyuki had to take care of Miku by himself for six years now. Is that why you can't help but to trust him, Daiki?// A quick message was scribbled on one half of the post card.
It read: "I miss you." P.S. Please make up with Dai-chan.
//They must have been angry with each other.// Just then Kurama considered something. //W-what if this was the first and last message they received from her? She must have been lonely. I can't imagine how deeply this simple message would have effected them, after learning of her death. They've all suffered so much.//
The other papers were death certificates of miscarrages and still births. //Daiki's mother.// A sketch of their family tree about six generations back. //So many people.// There were X's across the names of the family members who died of heart problems. There were only three of the fourty people on the tree without the X's. Those deaths were marked with a single line through them. //So many...// Kurama set down the papers, feeling deeply sympathetic for this family.
//Insitefull, but ultimately, I've only answered a few questions and now I've got a whole lot more. Just how old was that demon before he gave his life to Daiki? If he's that powerfull, why would he save a little boy rather than himself? What caused the fire in the first place? If I remember correctly, that burning home looked more damaged than the fire could explain. Then there's Hiei. If he had just set a fire in some one's home, he wouldn't hide it so carefully. No. There's more to this.//
Kurama sat in a meditaive position and focused his energies inward. He had to clear his mind and consider these matters as objectively as possible if he was going to find a sensible answer. //Ice demoness, wood cutter, fire, demons, Hiei, curse of disease and death...How is it all connected? There has to be an answer.//
This is getting to be a much larger project than I first thought it would be. I am getting closer to the ending, but there's still so much that has to be sorted out and explained...hmm...I don't know when this will end, honestly. I want to thank everyone who's stuck it out and waited for these last chapters.
P.S. It's really early in the morning and I don't want to proof read so please forgive my excessive spelling errors.
Chapter 40
"Hiei..." Kurama squared off with the fire demon, looking into those red pools. Hiei's eyes were always mysterious. A product his intense training to keep his enemies and even his friends at a measured distance. //I'm not his enemy...or his friend.// Green eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"
"I told you I'd come." His voice contained inflection, but always managed to keep a monotone quality. Like his eyes, his voice shared nothing to express his emotions.
"And I told you not to." The fox demon wouldn't relent this time. The red head was already angry and the frustration that Hiei could pose a possible threat, lurked in the back of his mind. //Why can't you just tell me? What could have been so important ten years ago that it has to be a buried secret now? Either way, I have no use for someone who can't trust me, who won't help me.// "You should just leave. I can handle this." //Just for a little while. When this is over...we'll talk again.//
"This is backwards." Hiei challenged. "You should leave and let them handle themselves."
"I don't expect you to understand." The red head turned away, diverting his attention to his own thoughts. "Daiki needs..."
"What? A friend? A protector? Humph." the fire demon scoffed, folding his arms. "More like a maid, to clean up his mess."
"What do you know about it? Did you know he lost his father recently? And that he's supposed to fulfill some task in his father's will so that he can live the life he was meant to. He's about to lose everything and dispite that he's smiling and going to school and trying to be as normal as he can even though he's got the heart of a demon beating inside his chest. None of this is Daiki's fault, he's a victim and I'm going to help him the best I can."
"What kind of lines has he been feeding you? No, more importantly, how can you take all of this at face value? Are you even looking for the truth?"
"How dare you? You of all people should be supporting me and all you can do is critisize. Maybe the reason I can't find the truth is because no one will tell me the truth, Hiei!" That was a jab, Kurama knew it and didn't really expect it to effect the fire demon. He just wanted to blow off some steam.
"Maybe you can't find the truth because you're only paying attention to one version of it!"
"Excuse me?"
"Admit it Kurama that boy's effecting your judgement. With the knowledge you've obtained so far and the time you've had to work with it. The Kurama I know would have come up with a solution by now or at the very least a plan."
"Well I'm sorry I disappointed you. I guess my making a spectical of myself isn't entertaining enough for you. Now that I've ruined your expectations you should just leave me alone."
"Not a chance. The freak show's just about to start." There was a sudden knock on the screen that divided the room and the hall. Kurama turned his head in that direction.
"Who is..." his question trailed off as green eyes watched an envelope slide through the small crevase of the slightly open door. The red head came to it immediately as it softly tapped onto the tatami matted floor. "What is this?" he turned it over to look at the front.
It had his name on it and it was a bit heavy. The fox demon experimentally pulled on the door's edge. It was open. He looked into the hallway and saw no one, but his sensive nose and superior hearing told him that someone just left. It wasn't a ghost, anyway. He decided not to persue he wouldn't want anymore trouble for Daiki if Fuuyuki or someone were to see him wandering about. Closing the door behind him, it was only a glance before he realized that Hiei was gone.
"Why does he even come?" Kurama sighed heavily. He sat down on the tatami floor and opened the envelope. It was a simply folded paper that held it all together so when it was unfolded photographs, cards and other small notes came tumbling down his lap and onto the floor. "What...is this?"
Green eyes glanced at a few pictures and turned over a card or two. One of the pictures was a faded photo of a large family probably several generations. Another looked like a single family, another was a tall man in his fourties. That was the most recent picture among them. It was very conveinient how there was a date and a note on the back of each one.
The cards...one of them was a minimized death certificate, stating only name, date, time and means. No audtopsy. There was a postcard from Germany. And many other things. //Who would give me something like this? What does it all mean?// The folded paper envelope had some writing on the inside of it.
It read:
Minamoto-san, wasn't it?
Please forgive this sudden and probably confusing correspondence. I've heard a few rumors that you've been investigating our family. For Daiki's benefit no doubt. I wanted to thank you for your concern that night in the rain. I'm not sure if I'll be able to thank you properly however, Fuuyuki's declaired you off limits and a bad influence on Daiki. I don't believe that. It's been too long since someone has taken interest in the Hazama Family and no one has been as persistant as you.
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with some privliged information that should be handled with descretion. If you've changed your mind for whatever reason I encourage you to destroy this letter and it's contents. Sharing this information with an outsider bares sever consiquences. Please understand my position in this matter.
Wow, you kept reading. Good for you. I admire your determination.
The best way to understand the Hazama family is to understand our lenieage of masters. The first master of the Hazama's was an ambitious feudel warlord. Back then all you needed was enough people to say you were related to prostegious figures and the humble would flock to follow you. In the beginning, we were wood cutters by trade then our interests spread outward like a fan.
As an example, you may have heard the story of the ice demoness. One of my anscesters wrote that story, based off of the superstitions of the time.
"The ice demoness." Kurama said to himself. //She does have a connection to this family, if only remotely.//
Letter continued:
Ironically the very thing that sparked our ambitions would ultimately lead to an early grave. Some time during my family's exploits as wood cutters, we happened upon a rare desease that infected our very DNA. Back then, the Hazama's would have been whiped out after his death, if it hadn't been for the man's eldest son. He managed for many years to keep the family together as a single unit.
It was through him that we prospered and even today we hold a special observence in reverence to him. He was called Kohaku. Named for amber that was full of life and yet frozen at the same time.
Some how, even though his brothers and sisters were ailling from diseases that attacked their hearts, he was untouched by the plight. As the years passed on, even his existance became a mystery.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Kurama put down the letter and picked up a few of the pictures. "Eighteen ninty two. The family." was printed on the back. He flipped it over and looked at all the serious faces. There were four rows of people about ten people per row.
//There must be something important about this if it's included in this letter.// The background was nothing special. A large house with some lovely plants around them. Green eyes inspected each face more carefully. The fox demon nearly gasped when he saw the face of that demon from the fire ten years ago.
//How...how long has he been with this family? W-wait a minute. The letter says Kohaku never was effected by illnesses the heart illnesses. Then his very existance became a mystery. He's immortal. But how can that be? If he's the son of the Hazama family. A half demon has a long life span, but only a full demon could last this many centuries without aging. What does it mean?//
The red head suddenly remembered the hunter's words, {You're the only one who can help him.} //It can't be. Master's son born so long ago, before I studied under him. All that time...he never mentioned...perhaps he believed his son to be dead. Master didn't believe in speaking of the dead without good cause.//
//All that time, he was in the human world...with the Hazama family. Did he run away? How did he come be in the human world? Why didn't he ever return?// With a flick of the wrist, the letter was back in his hand.
Letter continued:
Now that we've got the history out of the way. The more recent Hazama masters have been working to get new blood into the family to hopefully weed out the disease, unfortunately, with little success. Fuuyuki is the results of one such experiment. His mother wouldn't have been called worthy to marry one of the heirs of one of the few direct blood decendents.
It was only after several attempts to manipulate the genetic pool that our last master forbade further marrages to 'unsutible partners.' Fuuyuki was doing well, much better than his brothers and sisters who have already passed on. The experiments weren't a complete success but there was progress. Dispite this Fuuyuki's mother was excommunicated from the Hazama family and sent to live in another country where she would be financially cared for.
It was only a year later that she committed suicide. Fuuyuki was six years old when he was told his mother threw her life away. They convinced him that such a thing was enevitable. Cruel perhaps, but this is the kind of life Fuuyuki is accustomed to. For the next few years he was trained rigorously to become the next family master, as the direct disendents did not appear to be producing an heir. After so many miscarrages the doctors told our master's wife to consider perminent contraception. She refused.
At the age of eight, Fuuyuki was told that he wasn't important any longer because because a 'true heir' had been born. That was Daiki and a then Miku was born. Dispite Fuuyuki's disappointment, he often went wit his parents to visit the main house that they had once called their own home. It was on one such occation that a fire mysteriously errupted. It completely consumed the home and took the lives of the master, his wife, Fuuyuki's father, and so many others. That was ten years ago.
"So, Daiki was originally supposed to be the master after all. He seems to think he was adopted and that was the only reason. If he knew this...he probably wouldn't doubt himself so much."
Letter continued:
The next decendent in line for master had no sons or daughters so he readily accepted Daiki's adoption. The other reason was because Daiki had changed. He was no longer ill infact he was like a normal child without a care in the world. His sister Miku was not. Although she was just a baby, she was in and out of the hospital at least twice a month.
Although Miku was placed in the care of some of our relatives she wasn't officially adopted by anyone. It was believed that she would parish before she was three years old.
"How cruel. They were just waiting for her to die."
Letter continued:
Fuuyuki seemed to take pity on her and visited her as much as possible. Two years after the fire, the main house was completely rebuild and Fuuyuki was sixteen. With the consent of the new master of the family, he married. He and his new bride offically adopted Miku. She was three years old. She's been well taken care of these past eight years. Unfortunately, they never had any children of their own.
Aya was diagnosed with leukimia when Miku was five years old. She obeyed Fuuyuki no matter her own heart, so when she was sent to Germany for a new treatment method, she kissed her adopted daughter goodbye. She believed in Fuuyuki and his judgement. Saddly, she died that same year.
I'm not sure if Miku even remembers Aya, but she loved her family very dearly. I'm sorry, I'm straying off the topic.
A little over a month ago that master died under mysterious circumstances. His health wasn't he best, but his personal doctor gave a report only days before that his condition was acctually improving. It begs the question that Daiki has been asking ever since the funeral. Why? I don't know. I do know that Daiki was not ready to take the place of master. For a time, I wasn't sure if he ever would be. Daiki had become a growing concern to his adoptive father ever since Aya died. He neglects his training and shurks responsibility more and more. It seemed that his path of laziness and self-destruction would never end. But it was only after his father died that I believe he realized his mistakes and shortcomings. I know this family is a corrupt and tragic thing. But I also believe that Fuuyuki and Daiki, have the power to change our fate. They have power inside them that's just waiting for an opportunity to show it's brilliance. Please help them. I think you have that power inside you and surrounding you.
-Sincerely
Tosobaru Hazama
P.S. If you ever need a date on Sunday, give me a call okay?
"He never gives up." The red head felt a sweat drop at his temple. "But thank you." He focused on the scattered leaflets of papers and pictures. "Daiki's real mother and father. Why wouldn't they tell him that he wasn't just adopted? Why did they make him believe he was just a cousin?" There was a single post card from germany. It was addressed to Fuuyuki, then it was resent, addressed to Daiki.
//Aya must have been something special to you. She was taking care of your sister after all. She may have become a second mother to you, Daiki. Fuuyuki had to take care of Miku by himself for six years now. Is that why you can't help but to trust him, Daiki?// A quick message was scribbled on one half of the post card.
It read: "I miss you." P.S. Please make up with Dai-chan.
//They must have been angry with each other.// Just then Kurama considered something. //W-what if this was the first and last message they received from her? She must have been lonely. I can't imagine how deeply this simple message would have effected them, after learning of her death. They've all suffered so much.//
The other papers were death certificates of miscarrages and still births. //Daiki's mother.// A sketch of their family tree about six generations back. //So many people.// There were X's across the names of the family members who died of heart problems. There were only three of the fourty people on the tree without the X's. Those deaths were marked with a single line through them. //So many...// Kurama set down the papers, feeling deeply sympathetic for this family.
//Insitefull, but ultimately, I've only answered a few questions and now I've got a whole lot more. Just how old was that demon before he gave his life to Daiki? If he's that powerfull, why would he save a little boy rather than himself? What caused the fire in the first place? If I remember correctly, that burning home looked more damaged than the fire could explain. Then there's Hiei. If he had just set a fire in some one's home, he wouldn't hide it so carefully. No. There's more to this.//
Kurama sat in a meditaive position and focused his energies inward. He had to clear his mind and consider these matters as objectively as possible if he was going to find a sensible answer. //Ice demoness, wood cutter, fire, demons, Hiei, curse of disease and death...How is it all connected? There has to be an answer.//