Millefiori

Chapter 13

"Yumiko comes from a famed family of assassins- the Sato Clan." They had all finally calmed down enough for the genius redhead to explain.

"Each family member has a special unique ability- Takeo, Yumiko's guardian was able to use his spirit energy to teleport things. All of these abilities are quite useful and tempting to possess."

A different voice interrupted. "Rando has been stealing from the Sato Clan for decades. He kills them after learning their technique, and so gains more power by doing so." Everyone swiveled their heads to look at the demonic duo, led by Botan, entering the room.

(And yes, it did take the Tantai that long to calm down before the Shinobi's arrival.)

"Is it like when he entered Genkai's tournament to attempt to steal her Spirit Wave?"

"What do you think- idiot."

"Yes, that is correct Kuwabara. Rando also gained teleportation by killing Takeo, Yumiko's legal guardian. He probably has gained more, if all of the Sato Clan but Yumiko is dead."

Touya nodded in agreement. "Yumiko was ostracized by the Sato Clan. They thought her powerless- useless, and a disgrace to the Family, breaking the tradition of possession of special techniques."

The kitsune let out a little 'Ah' of understanding. "So they didn't realize that her own ability was shielding itself from their sight."

He shook his head. "She has the ability to cancel out energies. Any form or kind of energy- heat, light, Youki, Spirit Energy- Life Energy. If correctly used, many people could be killed."

"Oh Kami…" Yusuke stared at them. "With enough energy, she could destroy half the Ningenkai…"

"More. She could destroy the three worlds," Koenma said grimly.

"Only if she has enough. Her power is similar to a Void, and it takes large amounts to attract the vacuum. Potent powers, but they take a lot of spirit and life energy. Harnessing them would take time."

"No wonder Rando is after her."

Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep

"Her location!"

"She's in… the Ningenkai?"

"…Hokkaido…?"

"Why-?"

"Family compound," responded Jin. "Yumi's not gonna be happy…"

-(Ningenkai)-

"'Home Sweet Home,' ne Yumiko?" Rando smirked.

"Shut up!" She was bound with his energy web, frustratingly unbreakable. He was levitating her with his spirit energy towards a large house.

No neighboring homes bordered it within sight- the Sato Family liked their privacy. The only other building in sight was the dojo off to the side; a thick forest encased the rest of the surroundings.

"Feeling down?"

"Shut the hell up!"

"Now, now." He wagged his finger at her. "Don't get yourself all riled up. You wouldn't want to get me angry."

"What's the best you can do- have Ryoto come at me?" she snarled. "What, were you sending him to spy on me? If it was to kill me, then that was a waste of time."

"Oh, but he's dead, so he won't annoy either me or you." He smirked. "I killed him just before I found you. Convenient." He calmly kicked the door open, still leading her. Blood was splashed on the walls, old and rusty-brown, irremovable and permanently staining it.

"You…"

"I'm a killer Yumiko, a demon. Like most of your friends. Touya, Jin, Hiei, Yusuke, Kurama-"

"They don't kill in cold blood!"

He laughed, sincerely amused. "Them? They're Reikai Tantai and Shinobi- their job is to kill. They've killed over thousands of demons altogether."

"Shut it."

"Can't accept the truth? You didn't believe that the others were killed by me before- why should you trust reality now?"

"I made a mistake! Deal, okay!"

"How do you know you're not making one now?"

"…" She glared. "They're my friends. I won't abandon them because they've killed."

"That brave act won't do you much good now." He kicked open another door. This one was clean of blood and untouched.

The Revealing Site.

"You should know this room very well Yumiko. After all, your closer family members took you here so often- I suppose they hoped that your power would reveal itself suddenly."

"…" 'He's right.'

-(Memory)-

"Enter," called out a powerful voice. The trio entered the room, standing in a line before the leader.

"Sato Mi." The woman bowed, bright red-orange hair sweeping across her face.

"Sato Katashi." The man copied his wife's actions, lowering himself to her level.

"Sato Yumiko." The leader treated her with an air disdain, as did her father and mother. She stood out from the rest of the Sato Clan, with dark green hair contrasting sharply with their vivid red shade. She had forgotten to bow as well, and did so with her mother's promptings.

"State your business." The Sato leader motioned for them to straighten, them obeying.

"Hikaru-sama, it is time for Yumiko's weekly tests," input Mi.

"Yes, yes. How could I have forgotten?" A cruel smile played over his lips. "I do believe Yumiko-chan comes here the most out of her generation." Yumiko just kept looking at the ground silently.

Hikaru pulled out a mirror, motioning the girl to come closer. She obeyed, though hesitatingly; he held it in front of the child. She obediently looked into it, eyes wide open. No contents were shown in the mirror, only a plain reflection of a plain girl.

"No reaction." Katashi frowned at the elder's words.

"Perhaps the Revealing Fire might…?"

"Perhaps Katashi, but your daughter is showing no signs of power." Both of the parents stiffened instantly, taking the comment as a horrible insult, which it was (at least, in the Sato Clan it was).

Mi pulled her offspring closer to her. "Listen to me 'Miko-chan, if you're hiding anything from us-"

"Kaasan, I'm not! I never would do something like-"

"'Miko, you have to tell us- we need to know whether you do or don't-"

"I'm not hiding anything!"

"Now, now- Katashi, Mi, Yumiko, let's settle this out calmly." Hikaru smiled spitefully. "Perhaps Yumiko will develop her powers later on. Our dear Naoko-kun, former leader of our Clan, developed her powers at the age of ten, four years later than most of the Sato children do."

"So I will give Yumiko three more years (1). When she turns eleven years of age, this dilemma must be acted upon immediately. Until then, we will just wait and leave Yumiko's abilities to develop on their own."

"If she has none…?" Mi didn't even dare finish her question.

"The rest of the Sato Clan will decide." He smirked. "That is my decision for now."

Katashi bowed. "We thank your for your wise choice and benevolence Hikaru-sama." Mi and Yumiko also bowed, all three exiting the room.

Later that night, Yumiko had heard her parents talking. "She has to develop something sooner or later. We just need to speed the process up."

"How?" Mi was hysterically sobbing. "We can't! She'll shame us! Embarrass of in front of the whole family!"

"Calm down, calm down. We'll think of something…"

-(End Memory)-

'You never did,' she thought bitterly. 'Did you?'

"And to think none of the Shinobi- or even that fox of yours- ever told you!" Rando smirked.

"He's not mine," she said dully.

He ignored that comment. "Do you even have a clue?"

"No. Otherwise I would have tried to use it on you."

"Tsk, Tsk." He wagged his finger at her again. "Misbehaving, misbehaving."

"Up yours."

He continued with a ferocious grin. "Luckily, I don't have to do the lengthy, risky, and particularly painful process on you that's normally used for transferring powers."

"What, steal another technique?"

"Indeed. From the man who I hunted for so many years. Sato Hiroshi himself. The ability to combine energies."

"You finally found him, and without my help too. I should be so proud of you."

"Ah, impertinence of the young. But yes, I actually did. Annoying how those Shinobi and that other Sato kept protecting you. So I went for the easy bait. Sato Katashi- I traced his blood to Hiroshi."

"What did you steal from my dear old man?" she asked wryly. "Just want to know."

"Sealing energies. Make things a little more permanent."

"I'm elated."

"Yes, so, when I traced Hiroshi, I managed to find you from him."

"…"

"Are you just awed at my intelligence?"

"Inspired. But… what'd you do to Takeo?"

"I gained teleportation- what do you think? I killed him."

She glared. "Bitch."

"Say that after this little binding."

"How is this not going to be painful?"

"Oh, it is. For you, indefinitely. Just not as long or as risky for me."

-(Tantai)-

Koenma had sent them through a portal to the northern part of Hokkaido. It was around late June now, but the temperature was just above eighty degrees F, them being in the northernmost part of Japan. Tokyo was much worse now.

"The estate is about a dozen acres. The Sato Clan had placed wards on their lands, so we can't set up a portal in there. You will end up on the border- their house is about in the center of it all," Koenma had said previously.

So here they were now, searching for the house in which Rando and Yumiko supposedly were.

"Did anyone find anything yet?"

"Stop whining fool."

"Agh! Get away Shorty! Stop trying to kill me with that sword!"

"So much for stealth…"

WHAM

"OI! Wind Master found something!" The others quickly found Yusuke cracking up over his friend.

"Ow…" A dazed Jin had just run into a wall after being pushed through some thick brush by someone. (Of course, it was Yusuke fooling around.) With a sigh, Touya pulled him up.

Kurama traced a hand over the wooden wall. "Dojo walls…" He looked up. "The entrance should be on the other side of this wall."

"Hn."

One moment they were in verdant leafy shadows, the next they were standing in the sunlight, the sun dipping in the west. Trying the doors, they found them unlocked- slightly ajar even. Kurama cautiously pushed the door open, the others following him when they saw no sign of movement.

The smell was putrid, burning their nostrils, and causing Kuwabara to look sick. A body lay on the other side opposite them, a rope encircling its neck and hanging from the wall. Infected cuts and rotting skin tissue were some of the disfigurations.

"The decomposition of the body sped up- the heat of the summer, and with no ventilation… such a rotting stench," commented the fox quietly as he stepped up closer, wrinkling his nose.

Touya followed his actions, recognizing the cadaver, looked away.

"Her brother," he murmured. "Hiroshi." The body became encased in ice, and the room became less sweltering- his last respects to him. 'Devoted to the sword, died by the sword.'

-(Memory)-

"'Git out of here ya filthy human!" Touya looked up at the first sign of commotion. He was the only sober one among the group of five- the rest had had too much alcohol in their system for that night.

"As long as I pay, you shouldn't care, should you?" a cold voice answered. The ice demon examined the human as closely as he could with out being too conspicuous. He was tall and lanky, his height about a foot over Touya's. He had covered his body in dark colored clothing- a cloak cascaded down, but the hood was not up, showing floppy fiery red-orange hair.

"I don't care what you pay, ya not stayin' in my bar!"

"A human?" A reptilian head perked up, his companion's as well. "They don't come here often."

"Meh, he should just get out before he gets hurt," the other snarled.

"Shut up you low class demon," he drawled out, showing obvious boredom. "I don't take orders from lesser individuals."

"Filthy human scum!" The two went back to their drinks with a glare.

"Such biased comments."

"GET OUT OF MY BAR!" The bartender swung a glass bottle at his head, aim accurate.

SMASH

"Picked the wrong ningen to kick out." His olive eyes flashed. "If you're going to throw a bottle, don't miss." The bottle lay cut cleanly in two, liquid spilling out of its remnants.

Taking his katana he slashed at the bartender, decapitating him in less than a second.

The pair of reptilians rose, as well as all the rest. "Get him!"

"No ningen can insult us more by slaying one of our kind!" Various more demons (who weren't unconscious and still had some sense in them) leapt at the flaming redhead. With a several more swings that were hard to follow, they all lay dead around him. Blood mixed with the scattered alcoholic drinks.

"Good swordsmanship." Touya waited for his response.

He didn't bother turning. "Trying to suck up to me? You won't end up any better than the rest."

"Would a flatterer know that you used the Ryu no Hoshi (2) technique?"

"Who are you?" He had turned now, interested.

"Touya, of the Shinobi."

"Ah." So he had heard of them, like many others. "Ninjas."

"A Sato? The red hair gave it away."

"Yes." He thrust his chest out proudly. "Hiroshi."

"Then I know your sister."

The look got frostier perceptibly. "I have no sibling."

"Ah. Do you know of a Uingu Yumiko?"

"Maybe. Why do you want to know?" he snapped.

"How do you know the Ryu no Hoshi technique?"

Hiroshi laughed. "You're one of the demons hard to come by. You don't attack humans outright, and you recognize the Ryu no Hoshi technique. "

"I know it myself."

"Then maybe one day we can battle- see who has mastered it."

"Maybe."

"So." They clasped hands gently, in a somewhat friendly way. "Until then." Hiroshi disappeared out the door, leaving Touya to wait for his friends to wake.

-(End Memory)-

Touya turned. "Rando has done enough to this family." He began to walk to the exit. "There's nothing here. Yumiko is most likely at the main part of the house."

"What's with him?" whispered Yusuke to Jin as the group proceeded.

"Leaving the body here goes against Touya's code of honor, (3)" Jin whispered back. "And besides, Touya met him before…"

"Hn."

"Come on you guys! We got to hurry! Yumiko could be dead by the time you finish talking!"

"Shut up Kuwabara! Stop worrying so much!"

: End Chapter

(1) Yumiko is seven then.

(2) I think Ryu no Hoshi means 'Star-Dragon'

(3) Like Hiei and Seiryu- Seiryu dishonored his teammate and it went against his honor code.

Oh yeah, Revealing Site- little pun on words (sight vs. site), and it's meant to reveal any Sato person's technique so that they could properly develop it. No reaction for Yumiko- seemingly she has no power.

14thShrineMaiden: yes- finally done. Review