A/N: A handful or so to thank for last time's reviews: Rukia's Reflection, Dark Inu Fan, KitElizaKing, Dragon and Sword Master, Lynansidhe, and Cecilia54. And thank you to anyone who put this or its author on their lists. Again it's been far too long but this is the second chapter I've managed to post in two days so I'm getting better.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Bleach or Inuyasha characters, mangas, animes, movies, etc. They belong by copyright laws to Tite Kubo et al and Rumiko Takahashi et al, respectively.
Secrets Abound
Forest Finds and "Cute" Cubs
Ichigo sat down in the nearest chair after Kouga left and contemplated what had just happened. Rukia let him think in silence, going back to her treatment of the sunburn that was growing redder by the minute. There was little doubt that she'd be peeling soon. Hopefully she could get Orihime to heal the damage before they got home and either her brother or Isshin saw the burn. Isshin would insist on treating his "third daughter" and her brother would instantly blame Ichigo despite the fact that he'd had nothing to do with it. Then again, Isshin would probably do the same and try to punish his son for not protecting her.
By the time she was done coating herself in aloe vera gel, their friends had returned and were talking the situation over with Ichigo who suddenly looked more relaxed. Whatever conclusion he'd come to, had apparently put him at ease. "How long should we give the wolves?" she asked, coming to stand next to his chair.
"They probably won't go until tonight so we should wait until tomorrow morning." Ishida took off his glasses to clean them. As much as he'd enjoyed being with Orihime one-on-one, his lenses had suffered through a salt bath.
"Are they really wolves?" Orihime asked, her eyes alighting on Rukia. "Kuchiki-san, you're sunburned! Let me heal that," she said, her hands going to her hair pins.
"Not yet, Orihime. We don't want anyone to know that we have powers. I pushed things when I bound Ichigo yesterday. I will take you up on that when we're done with our mission, however. If I go home like this my brother and Isshin will not be pleased."
Ichigo opened his mouth but closed it sharply when he apparently thought better of the comment he wanted to make. "Che, they'd probably blame me before Dad would do something lecherous or just stupid. Anyway, I agree with Ishida, let's wait until tomorrow. No sense in worrying about it unless something happens in the meantime."
"And what should we do until then? There's only so much surf and sun I can take," Tatsuki said, swearing she felt sand between her feet.
"Well, anything we want, I guess. Looks like there might be some video games available if that controller is any indication," Ichigo replied, pointing towards the TV. "Personally, I could use a nap." So saying, he stood and went to the he was sharing with Rukia and shut the door. The petite Shinigami gave her friends a glance and went after him worriedly. No one needed to ask why.
"A nap sounds wonderful," Orihime agreed and stood while yawning. The boys and Tatsuki watched her weave her way through the furniture, amazed when she didn't run into anything even though she was clearly exhausted.
"I think I will go read. Let me know when it's time to order dinner," Ishida said, giving his friends a small nod in farewell.
"Anyone up for a game?" Keigo asked, bounding over to the entertainment system. "What about you, Chad, old buddy?"
"Sure," the tall teen agreed quietly, not minding a game or two. "Mizuiro?" he asked quietly.
"Think I'll go peruse my new collection, thanks anyway." The playboy secluded himself in his room, earning a sigh from the only remaining girl.
"I guess he wants to go to the Soul Society early." Getting to her feet, she grimaced when she the gritty sensation got worse. "I am going to soak my feet. Try not to get into trouble."
"She acts like I do it on purpose," Keigo grumbled before flipping through the choice of games. "How about a race?" he asked, finding a racing game.
"Mm," Chad murmured, bending to search the nearby cabinet for the likely second controller. Finding it, he plugged it in while his friend set up the rest of it.
"I'll just go grab something to drink and then I'll be ready to speed my way to victory." Keigo ran to grab a bottle of water from the fridge, snagging a second for Chad as an afterthought. "All right, nothing but fun and games for the rest of the night."
Chad raised an eyebrow at his friend's words as he felt a shiver run down his spine. Surely Keigo hadn't just jinxed them. With a quick prayer, he turned his attention back to their current activity, determined to ignore the small doubt now lingering in the back of his mind. They could do nothing about the mission until the next day and since no one had figured out who they were, there was nothing to worry about.
Nothing at all.
Near dusk Hisana sat opposite the wolves and narrowed her gold eyes at them in pretend menace. "You wish me to watch your three disasters? Why can you not ask your adult daughter who is so intent on making her own mischief?"
Ayame pursed her lips and chose her words carefully. "We feel you are by far the better choice, my lady. After all, you have raised an upstanding ruler of our society and you've had many grandchildren to guide into adulthood with resounding success."
"Your flattery will only get you so far. I am already up to my eyes in trouble thanks to Inuyasha's youngest two. What makes you think I have the time to watch the triplets?"
"Oh, come on, enough of this. Will you watch them or not?" Kouga asked, not bothering to defend the nature of his children. They had all been little terrors at one time or another.
"I will watch them," Hisana granted. "Have they eaten yet?"
"They were inhaling food when I left them with the twins."
"Very well, you go about your task without worry." Hisana rose, showing that their audience with her was over. Once they had left, she called her granddaughter's cell.
"Grandmother, are you joining us soon?" the young woman asked, a yelp in the background already signaling that something was already going wrong.
"Not at present. I have far too much paperwork. You and your brother are to watch the cubs while their parents are off scouting."
"Great," Fumiko, muttered. "Well, do join us as soon as you can. I'll try to make sure there's something left to eat."
"Worry not about that, just make sure those triplets don't get into any trouble."
"Oh, we're way passed that," her granddaughter replied and hung up without saying goodbye.
"Well, so much for delegating. I'll just have to hope for the best." Hisana went back to work, never giving a thought to the things that could go wrong with two Taisho and three Ookami children having the run of the hotel.
By morning she'd wish she had.
Ayame sighed happily as she and her mate wandered the beach as the sun was setting, the romantic atmosphere relieving her of her stress. "This is nice," she whispered, grabbing Kouga's hand while he wasn't paying attention.
"You're the only youkai who thinks that a walk on a beach is romantic."
"I am not," the female wolf demon retorted. "I'll have you know that Kirara-san finds it vastly satisfying and the woman Sesshoumaru is attempting to woo has mentioned that it is rather nice to end the day watching the sun set."
"A cat and a half dog? Not really great references there," Kouga shot back but squeezed her hand anyway. "Can't say I care much for the beach but I do like having you all to myself."
Ayame grinned, her fangs shining in the moonlight that was beginning to bathe the sand in white light. "That's because there are no screaming children running around creating disasters that we have to fix. So, my dearest mate, what say you to taking this stroll to the forest?"
"Always did feel more comfortable in the woods," the wolf tribe leader said and they made their way leisurely to the spot the human teens had mentioned. Catching the fading scents of old men, they followed the newly made path through lush greenery. It wound around the island's undeveloped area in a seemingly random fashion, no doubt in an attempt to frustrate anyone who stumbled upon it to the point where they would give up trying to see where it led. Along the way there were plenty of fragrant flowers, making it difficult for those with sensitive noses to smell anything of use. The Taishos would have been bowled over for sure if they'd attempted to track the traitors themselves.
Ayame and Kouga took to the trees to avoid the worst of it, the smell of citrus a relief from the cloying flowers below. A half hour after beginning their stroll, they came upon a cave hidden deep in the lush interior of the forest. "Well, well, what do we have here?"
"Should we go in?"
"Nah, let's leave that to the kids. We have to make it seem like we just passed this place and ignored the cave. Now that we know where it is, we can make a quicker path in the morning. I wonder if dog breath and his brother even know this is here."
"Well, Sesshoumaru might as he could fly over the place but Inuyasha wouldn't be able to get here except by walking or jumping from branch to branch and I can't see him lasting long enough to get here." Ayame had long since stopped trying to get her mate to cease calling their inuyoukai friend by the disparaging nickname and Kagome pretty much ignored Inuyasha's equally rude term of "endearment" for Kouga.
"All right, then, let's get back to the triplets. Hisana's attention span isn't that long and I shudder to think what they could get into if we take too long."
"You're right. I like this place and would like it to remain in one piece." The couple went back to their task, making a false trail before returning to the beach and slowing their pace so that if anyone were watching they would think the ookamis had just found a place hidden from view to strengthen their martial bond.
It probably wasn't the smartest thing they could have done.
Fumiko and her brother showed up at the teens' suite shortly after the dinner dishes had been cleared away by the staff. With them were three familiar faces, brown eyes filled with equal measures delight and mischief. "We need help," the female twin exclaimed, her once neat hair sticking up in several unnatural directions.
"I see…" Rukia answered, having been the one to answer the door.
"Hey, you're that nee-chan that tried to drown that orange haired nii-chan." The comment came from the little girl, her eyes widening to what would have been an impossible degree on a human. "Why'd you bring us here, Fumi-nee?"
"Because Shu and I have to go help Grandmother try to salvage what's left of the staff quarters and we can't do that if we have to watch you three. And trust me, since you did more damage than Shu, Shippou, and I combined at our worst, I can say with utmost certainty that we are not equal to the task in the slightest."
Shu barged into the room, dragging the two boys by their arms and depositing them near the entertainment system. "Don't let them out of your sight for a second. I'm serious. Kouga and Ayame should be back soon."
"But just in case…" Fumiko started and shoved a box of sutras in a gaping Tatsuki's hand. "Make a barrier around the room with these in case you have to use your powers on them," she instructed before glancing down at the little girl. "This is Choko, and Gin is in the red while Samaru is in the blue."
"I'm Samaru!" the boy in red protested, pointing at his chest while it puffed out. "That's Gin." Gin nodded vigorously in agreement while their sister sighed.
"You always get them mixed up, Fumi-nee," Choko remarked, her hair waving back and forth as she shook her head.
"My apologies," the older female answered before looking back at the gang. "We got to split. Thanks and good luck." The twins beat a hasty retreat and the triplets were left with their unwilling babysitters.
"Say, Ichigo…." Rukia began, not so much minding watching the children as the trouble everyone seemed to think they caused.
"Yeah?"
"When did we volunteer to do this?" Tatsuki asked for her friend, the box of sutras heavy in her hands.
"It's a little fuzzy, but I don't believe we did," Ishida answered. Orihime patted his arm soothingly and went to introduce herself to the wolf cubs.
"Wow, Nee-chan, your chest is huge!" Samaru exclaimed, not bothering to hide the fact that he was staring.
"Yeah, Dad says Mom's only that big when she's nursing cubs," Gin added, unaware of the danger he'd just put himself in.
"Arasawa-san, if you would do the honors…"
"Way ahead of you," the martial artist answered in response to the dangerous glint in Ishida's eyes. Opening the box, she passed the sutras out to Keigo and Mizuiro to put on the walls before going over to the boys and hitting them on the back of the head. "Apologize to Orihime right now!"
"Ow!"
"Hey, you can't do that to us, we're princes!"
"Watch us," Ichigo growled, not liking the fact that one of his friends had been disrespected so. For her part, Orihime was still blushing, Chad trying to comfort her with the odd pat on the arm.
"Now, now, everyone calm down. I'm sure that as soon as we explain the fact that what they said was rude and inconsiderate, they'll apologize. Isn't that right, boys?" Rukia asked, trying to maintain a sense of calm.
"Don't see why we should…" Samaru said, getting a slug on the arm from his sister. "We were just speaking the truth. You know, like how you're flatter than a pancake."
Rukia's left eye twitched and after making sure the barrier was in place, summoned a kido spell meant to teach the boys a lesson. "I guess you do need to be taught manners."
"Uh-oh," Choko whispered. "She's got powers like Auntie Kagome…"
"Most of us have powers," Ishida responded, his bow now at the ready. "So, are you ready to make that apology?"
"Hah! You'll have to catch us first." Gin saw Ichigo's evil grin and felt fear for the first time since coming into the room.
"Say, Rukia, now that there's a barrier…"
"Go ahead, just don't leave your body lying around."
"Say, Gin…" Samaru started.
"Yeah…?"
"I think you two better start running," their sister finished for him. Instead of helping her siblings, she sat next to a still embarrassed Orihime and Chad. She knew when she was outgunned and had no intention of getting on the bad side of the human male teenagers. Now that they were using their powers, she could tell that she was no match for them and neither were ether of her brothers. She rather liked the orange haired nii-chan called Ichigo anyway.
Chad watched Ichigo and Ishida play tag with the boys around the room for a few moments before glancing at Keigo who was trying to get the rest of them bet on how long it would take the teens to catch the cubs. The small game of tag would have been over in a heartbeat if the two older boys had really meant Samaru and Gin real harm but as it was they were merely trying to teach them a lesson.
"I knew you'd jinxed us," Chad commented, remembering his earlier unease.
"Me?" Keigo questioned, confused.
"Didn't you say something about only fun and games for the rest of the day?" the large teen returned.
"We're having fun, aren't we?" the class clown asked.
Ichigo and Ishida had apparently had enough of tag and were beside the boys in an instant, holding them up by the backs of their shirts. Tiny claws dug into their arms but neither paid any attention to the new wounds and instead looked to the kido expert in the room.
"Do you have some sort of spell that can tie them up?" the Quincy asked hopefully.
"As a matter of fact I do," his Shinigami friend replied and shortly thereafter the boys were sitting calmly on the floor, yellow spiritual power wrapped around them.
"Now we wait," Ichigo sighed and dropped down into the nearest chair.
Choko wandered over to him and looked him up and down. "I think I'll marry you," she declared, earning snickers from the teens when Ichigo's face turned white.
"Like hell! What are you, four?"
"I'll have you know, I am twenty human years old. That's the legal age to get married in Japan without parental permission, isn't it?"
"No way in this dimension or any other," Ichigo denied again, giving the girl a glare that usually made people cower. It had no affect on her.
"We'll see," she declared and turned her own glare on the other females in the room. "I'm claiming him as my future mate. If you don't want to fight me, you'll leave him alone."
Orihime was too busy healing Ishida's clawed arms to retort and Tatsuki burst out laughing at the mere thought. Rukia for her part smirked, another ball of spiritual energy appearing in her hand. "Bring it on, little one. I got your brothers in a bind, would you like to join them?"
"You don't believe me?" Choko asked, her fangs appearing in challenge.
"I wouldn't mess with her," Ichigo warned. "She's a lot stronger than she looks."
"And you would know, right, Ichigo?" Keigo asked, chuckling at the memories. "Sorry kid, but I think you're going to have to pass on this guy. Kuchiki-san's had him tied up since the day they met. Pretty sure his dad already calls her his third daughter."
"Then I challenge you," Choko charged, pointing a clawed finger at Rukia. "Winner has the right to marry Ichigo-nii."
Rukia sighed and looked around the room. When no one offered any help, she shook her head and studied the girl. "Very well, just let me go change."
"As you wish," Choko agreed, not realizing that Rukia didn't mean she was going to change her clothes.
"Take it easy on the cub," Ichigo told her as she passed by his chair on the way to their room. "I don't think Kouga-san would appreciate a banged up daughter."
"Don't worry. Any injuries can be easily healed with my kido or Inoue-san's flowers."
"True…"
"Still, you best make it quick, Kuchiki-san. Taisho-san said their parents would be back soon," Ishida advised.
"Quick is my plan."
When she returned a few moments later in her soul form with Shirayuki at the ready, Ichigo knew exactly what she was going to do. "Didn't know you could do what I know you're going to do."
"I never mentioned it and you'd better remember that I can," she said, smiling meaningfully at both Choko and Ichigo. "Are you ready, little butterfly?" Rukia asked.
"Bring it on," Choko said and charged.
It was probably the worst idea she'd ever had.
Kouga and Ayame returned to the hotel and stared at the room where they'd left the triplets in object horror. Following the path of destruction, they began apologizing profusely to every person they came across who was attempting to clean, fix or in general put aright the damage that had clearly been done by three wolf cubs.
They finally found Shu and Fumiko in their grandmother's office being lectured by the grande dam herself, gold eyes alight with anger. "Ah…" Ayame began, tempted to leave the two miscreants to their fate.
"Your children are with the humans. Go and do not let them out of your sight again while they are in my hotel," Hisana ordered.
"Sure…" Kouga agreed, turning on his heel and walking quickly to the set of elevators that would take them to the suite Ichigo and his friends were in. "I'm almost tempted to leave them there," he admitted.
"Oh heavens, no, Kouga, we can't do that," Ayame protested. "They're humans, the triplets might have hurt them with their powers."
When the door to the suite was opened and the wolf couple ushered in, they found their three trouble makers sitting docilely on the floor. Two were wrapped in some glowing rope while the third was encased in ice. None of them looked too pleased. "Wow, you're amazing," Kouga said, stunned at the sight of his three cubs not having made a complete disaster of the suite.
"It's mostly due to Rukia's powers," Ichigo said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at the petite woman who was looking very smug.
"I have to say, you're the first unwilling babysitters to ever make it out without a scratch," Ayame complimented. "I don't suppose…"
"Hell no!" they answered at once before she could finish.
"Drat," she muttered.
"So much for that. Alright, you brats, let's get you into bed. Kuchiki-san, if you wouldn't mind…" Kouga, having a new found respect for the group, decided to use more polite language.
"Considering it would look odd otherwise, I probably should." Rukia released all three of them and turned stern eyes on the triplets. "Being nobility comes with responsibilities. You must learn to act with dignity and grace so as not to dishonor your family name. Learning how to treat others, regardless of rank, with respect is a must. I think you still owe Inoue-san an apology."
The boys mumbled an apology as they walked by the healer and followed their sister and parents out the door. When the group of wolf demons was gone, Ichigo and his friends breathed a sigh of relief. "Bed?" Tatsuki asked.
"Bed," the others chorused in agreement and didn't bother saying goodnight.
In less than ten minutes the entire suite was silent.
A/N: The triplets' names are as follows: Choko means little butterfly, Samaru is actually the Japanese version of Samuel, and Gin which we should all be familiar with means silver.