AN: As always, my readers are so amazing. I've been so unsure about the last couple of chapters, but you guys just keep buoying me up with all your thoughtful and loving responses. So thank you! Now…I won't keep you waiting in suspense any longer.
Prompt: Girl's Night
Chapter 3: Sibling Rivalry
The moment is a masterpiece;
The weight of indecision's in the air,
Standing there,
The symbol and the sum of all that's me.
It's just a travesty—
Towering,
Blocking out the light and blinding me.
I want to see.
— Kansas, "The Wall," verse 4
"Today, we'll start with helping you guys understand your demonic auras. Is there anyone who doesn't know what a demonic aura is?" Setsuna's camp counselor asked around the Training Ring. A few hands went up. Setsuna wasn't altogether surprised. She too might not have understood what a demonic aura was had she not had the opportunity to grow up with her uncle, who taught her what he could in their urban environment. Many of these younger half-demons wouldn't have been so lucky.
"Okay, a quick recap then. Your demonic aura is what gives you supernatural abilities—what many humans would call magic or powers. I'm not talking about enhanced strength or senses—although your aura can certainly heighten those. I'm talking about a physical force that can intimidate and/or be wielded against an opponent. So, part of our training for this camp is going to help learning how to use and master our auras."
Ai raised her hand. "Counselor, if we're supposed to be living peacefully with humans, won't that be counterproductive? You've made our auras sound like weapons."
"Good point. And certainly, that is how demons have always used them. Don't forget—we need to live peacefully with demons too, but instinctually, they respond best to strength. The more developed your aura, the more powerful and respected you will be in demon society.
"At the same time though, since most of us are not living in demon society, we feel it is important for you all to understand how to properly wield your auras, since it can be dangerous if your powers grow out of control and you don't understand how to stop them. Can anyone guess as to when such a situation might happen?"
"Oh, me, me!" the Northerner with the red cape—Cape Girl, Setsuna mentally dubbed her—exclaimed, raising her hand high. The counselor nodded to her. "When your life's in danger, your demon blood will take over to try to save you, and trust me when I say you can go berserk if your body can't handle it. Like, my demon blood is so powerful, when it takes over, I last about a minute tops, and then I pass out for hours, and I can't remember anything that happened in that minute I lose it."
The counselor's eyes widened in shock. "That's…precisely what I'm talking about, although I'm sorry to hear that you've been put in that situation before."
"Eh, it happens," the girl shrugged, like it was no big deal she had just admitted a major weakness in front of an entire group of half-demons.
"Wait, so do this mean you're going to be putting us in life-or-death situations?" a boy with ram's horns squeaked.
"No, Shion. We're just going to start practicing how to release our energy in a focused manner. Normally, demons use weapons as a way to channel their powers, although many are also able to release them as attacks straight from their fingertips." The counselor walked over to a rack holding an assortment of equipment. "Now, the government officials wouldn't allow us to use anything sharp, for safety purposes, but we have various substitutes, such as wooden kendo swords, fighting sticks, blunted arrows, and more for you to choose from. We've set up targets on the other end of the ring for you to aim at. Now, watch closely."
The counselor picked up a staff, took up a fighting stance, then whipped the staff around so it point straight out, casting a bolt of lightning at one of the targets. It struck with a crack of thunder, leaving a smoking hole in the center.
The campers burst into oohs and aahs with spots of applause.
Setsuna was not altogether impressed. Every summer, Uncle Inuyasha took her camping for an extended weekend deep in the woods of the backcountry. He had demonstrated to her at an early age just what he could do with a sword. He absolutely leveled the trees, and she was sure he could bring down a whole mountain if he wasn't holding himself back.
He had worked with her to develop her own demonic energy, using only a short knife as a conduit (after all, humans did not make swords anymore, other than for decorative purposes, and those were expensive). She already knew her aura took the form of green sparrows. When she was young, she had started out with only two, but over the years, she had grown them to five. Maybe since she would be training much more intensely during camp and not just once or twice over successive summers, she could hit her next goal of seven.
"Alright, come down and pick a weapon. If you've never manifested your aura before, go over to Counselor Kanade. She'll help you learn how to draw on your power. For those of you who have some experience, come down and line up in front of the targets. The only time you may shoot is when I say, 'Fire at will.' Understood?" The heads of campers bobbed up and down. "Alright. If you guys have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."
Setsuna went down and looked over the selection of "weapons." All of them had a much longer reach than the short knife she was used to working with. She decided on a kendo sword, because it was the closest to what she knew.
"Wow, I haven't used a wooden sword since I was a kid," Cape Girl remarked, picking one up. She tested its weight. "This is so ridiculously light compared to my Kurikaramaru."
"You have a sword?" Asagi asked.
Cape Girl grinned. "Sure do! But like the counselor said, they wouldn't let us bring our weapons over the border, so we had to leave them at home, which sucks. I was hoping to get some good sparring matches in here."
Setsuna frowned. That's a lot of tough talk. I wonder if she can actually back it up. In Setsuna's experience, most people who boasted to her about having prowess in, well, anything, usually paled in comparison to her.
The hardships of being a prodigy: no one ever measured up to your standards.
"W-What do you think I should choose?" Rion suddenly asked from right beside Setsuna.
Setsuna was surprised. Given that Cape Girl seemed so well-versed in fighting, she had assumed all the Northerners would be. "Choose whatever you want."
"Just grab a sword, Rion," Cape Girl suggested. "This way, when you go back home, you can finally have your dad teach you some stuff."
"Maybe you're right," Rion answered, grabbing a sword and scampering off to Counselor Kanade to join the group that hadn't practiced releasing their auras yet.
Someone sniffed just then, and Setsuna turned back to find Cape Girl leaning over well into her personal space. Setsuna recoiled. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Eh? Sorry, it's just…I thought I caught a bit of a familiar scent, but now that I think about it, it doesn't make sense why you'd smell that way, so don't mind me!"
Setsuna took her at her word and ignored her, getting into one of the shorter lines so she'd be able to practice sooner. As those ahead of her unleashed their attacks, she noted whose didn't even reach the targets, whose overshot, and whose managed to land. There weren't many of the lattermost. It pleased her to note that she could probably be one of the top performers in this activity. If she didn't start out the best in whatever she did, she usually quickly made it there, so being anything less gnawed at her like an un-scratchable itch.
When it came Setsuna's turn, she gripped the sword in one hand, like she often did with her knife, but the balance felt completely off. She decided to go for a two-handed stance, although she wasn't sure if she was doing it correctly.
"Ready. Aim. Fire at will!" the counselor shouted.
With a yell, Setsuna raised her sword and slashed vertically towards the target. "Scourge of Swallows!"
Five, green swallows erupted from her blade and attacked the target like throwing darts, creating a perfect pentagon of holes inside the red circles that hugged the central yellow targets.
"That was awesome, Setsuna!" Fuuta called out from a few rows down.
"Yeah, not bad!" Cape Girl remarked from the next line over, holding up her hand for a high-five.
Setsuna raised her hand automatically to return the high-five but then turned it into a gesture to sweep her ponytail off her shoulder. Inwardly, though, she preened. "I've had some practice."
She returned to the back of the line, answering questions as the other campers around sought her advice while they waited for their turns. Setsuna happily gave it.
Then, Cape Girl's turn came up.
"Ready. Aim. Fire at will!"
"Crimson Dragon Wave!" Cape Girl shouted, slashing diagonally at the target. A vortex of swirling red and orange energy the width of a person coalesced into a dragon's head and body, roaring out of her sword and slamming into the target, obliterating it.
"Whoops. And here it was so puny, I didn't think it'd actually destroy anything this time," Cape Girl laughed, scratching the back of her head. While the rest of the ring erupted into cheers and applause, Setsuna did a double-take, because Cape Girl's actions had reminded her of someone just then, but she couldn't place it.
As Cape Girl returned to the back of the line, all the campers who had just been asking Setsuna questions turned to Cape Girl for tips. Setsuna knew she shouldn't feel jealous, but she did.
"Hey, Counselor, can I get a new weapon? I want to challenge myself a little," Cape Girl said.
"Certainly. Any of you who want to switch weapons, feel free. Find what feels most natural."
Cape Girl skipped to the selection and looked over it before finally selecting a bow and some blunted arrows. "I've never had a chance to do archery before. Let's give it a try!"
When her first arrow missed the target completely and lacked any sort of aura, Setsuna smirked to herself. So Miss All-That isn't so all-that after all.
"Hmm, that's weird. I thought I could channel my demonic energy the same way, but it just wasn't working," she said as she came to the back of the line. "Maybe I just need to learn how to shoot first."
Later, Setsuna switched to using a staff, which actually felt much better in her hands.
Their training session ended not long after, and the Sunflower Cabin ended up at the ropes course next with a different group. The all-white Northerner—Ghost Girl, Setsuna decided—was in this one. Setsuna noticed now that there appeared to be only one Northerner per cabin.
"Greetings, Towa! I have not seen you since yesterday!" Rion exclaimed, running over to Ghost Girl to give her a hug.
"Rion! How are you doing? Are you settling in alright?" Towa asked, bouncing the redhead from side to side. Rion nodded happily against her shoulder. "Good. 'Cause I promised your dad I'd look out for you, but it's hard when we're separated all the time!"
Setsuna watched the two of them chatting, her heart hurting a little. She hadn't realized she had already grown to think of Rion as her camp buddy, accompanying her during all activities. Once again now, she didn't have anyone to chat with as she waited in line.
"The purpose of the ropes course is to test your strength and agility abilities. For those of you living among humans, you may have noticed you have superior abilities; for those of you living among demons, you may have noticed you have lesser strengths. Here, we are going to enhance them regardless," Counselor Jinenji explained.
"Your goal by the end of camp is to complete this whole course in under two minutes. Today, we will record your initial trial runs. Because we have a lot of you to get through, we will let the next person start once the previous disappears behind that tree," he said, pointing to a spot Setsuna couldn't see from her vantage point. Then again, Counselor Jinenji towered over everyone and could likely see above the platform blocking their view.
"Now, if you catch up to the person ahead of you, that's fine, but your next test would be to see how you can get ahead. Unlike human ropes courses, we will not be attaching you to cables to keep you suspended. Part of agility training means that if you fall off, you catch or right yourself before hitting the ground. Of course, I am a licensed doctor, and we do have the clinic on-site if anyone gets seriously injured, but as half-demons, you've probably noticed by now that you have some pretty extraordinary healing abilities."
"Not as good as a demon's though," one camper piped up. "I heard they can re-grow limbs. Is that true?"
"I think it depends on the demon," Counselor Jinenji answered.
"It depends on the body part too," Towa added. "For instance, I've never had to re-grow a limb—nor do I want to put that to the test—but when my teeth get knocked out, they grow back in a day. It's not pleasant, but it's nice to know I don't have to worry about going toothless for the rest of my life." She smiled brightly, as if to show off her re-grown teeth.
Life in danger, teeth knocked out. What do these half-demons live through on the other side of the border? Setsuna wondered. Not that half-demons in the South were immune from danger. Especially in the cities, they were prone to being attacked as part of hate crimes. That was part of the reason her uncle had made sure she knew how to defend herself from an early age. She was lucky to have never been in a dangerous situation to date, but these Northerners made it sound like such violence was a common occurrence. And maybe it was. There were rumors that as soon as the ceasefire began with the human lands, the demons turned on each other.
When they lined up, Setsuna ended up two people ahead of Towa and Rion. She could still catch the drift of their conversation while she waited her turn, though she did not bother to butt in.
When her turn came, Counselor Jinenji handed her a stopwatch. "Wear this and start the timer when I say go. It's up to you to stop it at the end." After she slipped it on, the giant looked over at the course, watching for something Setsuna couldn't see.
"Go."
She first clambered up a netted rope until she reached a wooden platform. A rope bridge with no supports connected the platform to another one across the river that circled around a tree. But the planks of the bridge were spaced wider apart than usual, so Setsuna had to watch her footing as she ran across. The bridge bounced and swayed, testing her balance and threatening to pitch her into the sluggish river if she wasn't careful. She made it to the tree platform and raced around, finding on the other side that wooden pegs had been skewered into the tree to serve as footholds. Shion, who had been just ahead of her in line, was currently trying to crawl his way up, arms shaking like a newborn lamb.
He was in the way.
Setsuna looked up and noticed a branch within jumping distance. She leapt up and grabbed onto it, her weight shaking off several leaves.
Shion bleated and looked up, startled at seeing her above him.
"Move your hand," Setsuna commanded, swinging herself off the branch. He barely had time to pull back and latch onto the trunk of the tree before she landed where his hand had been and continued sprinting up the pegs. She had raced her uncle through the treetops before, so this part was cake.
She then reached a new platform below the canopy. A rope swayed about two meters away from her in the trees, halfway between this platform and the next. She waited just a couple seconds, timing it until the rope swung back in her direction, and then she leapt, catching it near the top.
But because she had caught it so high, she didn't swing in nearly as far an arc as she wanted, so she had no choice but to loosen her grip and drop down a bit. The split-second she slid down the rope sent butterflies winging through her stomach and up to her throat, but after a couple swings, she got the arc she needed and let go, sailing through the air and landing on the opposite platform. She circled a quarter of the way around the tree to find the same sort of setup, except that this time, there were two hanging ropes separating her and the next platform.
Having learned her lesson the first time, she didn't jump quite so high for the first rope, clutching onto its lower half. She didn't hesitate in letting go and reaching for the next one. But then a gust of wind pushed it just out of reach of her left hand, and her heart jolted with panic, sending her right arm shooting out to grab the rope. But because she hadn't been expecting to use that arm, she lost her momentum and wrenched her arm in her socket as she dropped. She winced, biting through the pain as she got one more swing in before leaping onto the platform. She rubbed her right shoulder as she walked around to see what the next test was.
Please don't make me swing again, she thought.
Well, she didn't have to swing, but her arms were still going to hurt. A rope hung right off the edge, and she peered over the drop, finding the next platform several meters right below her. It was far enough that she wasn't sure she could safely land without breaking the little platform screwed into the tree. She grabbed onto the rope with her hands and knees and started shimming down, not wanting to risk rope burn while sliding.
When she was about halfway down, the rope above her swayed, and she looked up, her mouth gaping open in shock.
No way.
White hakama and brown boots took up her field of vision. Towa.
How can she possibly be that fast? She was two people behind me in line!
"Hey, you're not stuck, are you?" Towa asked.
"No, why?" Setsuna grunted, shimmying down more.
"Sorry—you were just moving kind of slow, so I wanted to check. I had to help the goat kid get off those tree pegs. Aren't goats super nimble? You'd think he'd have no problem with that part."
But Setsuna's brain had stopped processing Towa's words.
Slow? She was being slow?
And Towa had still caught up with her after helping Shion move? Just who was this girl?
Before Setsuna knew it, Towa was practically on top of her. "Sorry, but I've gotta bounce. Hold on so you don't fall off."
"Wha—?"
Towa leapt off the rope then and plummeted the rest of the way to the platform. Since they had already come down so far, it only shuddered under her feet before she took off again. Setsuna shook her head to snap herself out of her shock.
If Towa could do it, she could do it.
She let go of the rope and dropped the remaining distance, feeling terrifyingly weightless for just a second before she slammed into the platform, jarring her knees. Then she ran.
Towa would assuredly beat her time, but she'd be damned if she let the girl beat her to the finish line. She refused to become one of the line of people Towa overtook in this race.
But to her surprise, Towa had stopped at the next rope test: a strange-looking setup where two ropes crossed in an X directly over a third rope Setsuna assumed they were to walk on.
"How are we even supposed to cross this without falling?" Towa asked.
Setsuna didn't care. This was her chance to get ahead.
She pushed in front of Towa and grabbed onto the top left of the X and shuffled sideways across the rope. This isn't so hard.
But it became increasingly harder as the rope sloped down further than her center of gravity was willing to let her go, and she had to both crouch and keep her balance as she neared the center, where the ropes crossed. If I can make it past that, I should be home free.
But then the rope beneath her bounced, and she froze, wobbling and stretching the top rope out in front of her to keep her balance. She looked over in frustration to find that Towa had gotten on behind her, and every step caused Setsuna to sway.
"Hey, are you trying to tip me over?" Setsuna barked.
"Of course not, but it is a race, isn't it?" Towa asked.
Setsuna agreed, but she couldn't move very quickly in the center section of the rope bridge. One false placement of her hand or foot, and she would tip over.
She lowered herself, grabbing the X and carefully moving herself onto the second half of the bridge—
And then one of the ropes marking the X pushed out in front of her—the result of Towa trying to catch her balance behind her—and Setsuna tipped over face-first.
"No!" Towa screamed.
Setsuna's stopwatch almost slid off her head, so she grabbed it, but that only left her with one hand to keep tight hold of the bottom rope of the X as she waited for her body to stop swinging.
"Are you okay?" Towa asked.
Setsuna didn't answer, concentrating on not falling to the ground. That would be humiliating. She swung herself up—causing Towa to yelp as the rope bridge bobbed beneath her feet—and crossed her legs over the rope. She would scoot down a ways before trying to get back up at a point where she would have better balance.
But it took her time to scoot, and meanwhile, Towa successfully navigated past the X. Setsuna gritted her teeth. I could have done that too if she hadn't made me lose my balance.
"Hey, do you need a hand?" Towa asked as her boots shuffled closer to Setsuna's hand.
"Stop trying to help me!" Setsuna snapped, overflowing frustration causing her to grab Towa's ankle and pull her off the rope. Towa screamed as she fell over and caught the bottom rope with both hands.
"Hey, why would you do that? I'm just trying to be nice!"
"Don't. You're just making me angry," Setsuna growled, finally feeling steady enough to uncross her legs and hook them both over the rope. She used the bottom rope of the X to pull herself up into a sitting position and then grabbed onto the top part of the X as she carefully stood back up to get her balance.
"You're so mean!" Towa huffed, climbing forward on the rope like a monkey.
Setsuna didn't care. She made it to the opposite platform.
"Hey, aren't you going to help me up? You yanked me off!" Towa called from behind her.
Setsuna ignored her and crossed around the platform to find that the ropes course ended with a zipline down to the ground. She grabbed the handle waiting for her at the top and pulled up her legs, enjoying the breeze against her face before she hit the ground right next to her camp counselor.
"Time," her counselor said, and Setsuna quickly hit her stopwatch, having forgotten all about it.
"Seven minutes and twenty seconds." Seven minutes? And I was one of the fast ones! How are we supposed to get this down to two minutes?
Then Towa slid down the zipline.
"Time," the counselor said.
Towa fumbled with her stopwatch and then turned it around to show the counselor. Was she unable to read numbers?
Wait…if they live in the equivalent of the feudal era, they wouldn't use Arabic numerals, would they?
"Four fifty-seven. Great work! That's the best time yet."
"It would have been better if someone hadn't sabotaged me," Towa grumbled, shooting Setsuna an angry pout. Setsuna was suddenly reminded of when her mother got upset, and she felt a little bad.
But not much, because four minutes and fifty-seven seconds was already a ridiculous time to have on the initial run, so Towa deserved every extra second. But Setsuna would still beat her one day. She walked off without another word.
The third night of camp, Moroha collapsed on a couch in the Rec Room after dinner. "Oh man, I'm exhausted."
"Same," Towa groaned, laying on the other side of the couch and propping her feet up on her cousin. Moroha wasn't allowed to complain about it. She had done it to Towa a million times. And since she ran around barefoot, her feet always stank. "Who knew camp would be so much like training? Papa will be so happy to know that."
"Yeah, no kidding."
"Speaking of Papas…have you made up your mind about meeting your dad?" Towa asked.
"Like I've even had a chance to see him! The guy completely vanished the first day. I had to look at the schedule to find out his cabins were at all-day 'Wilderness Survival Skills Training.' Then today, we were pushed around from one activity to the next, and I only saw him once in passing and once in the dining hall. And I wasn't about to go introduce myself there. I want it to be kinda private, you know?"
"Then why don't you go to the counselor's cabin and ask for him? Let's go right now."
"Hn," Moroha grunted noncommittally. "I can't move right now."
"Moroha, you're stalling."
"So what if I am?"
"Stop wasting time, and let's go," Towa groaned, pushing herself to her feet. Everything ached. She grabbed Moroha's wrist and heaved her out of the Rec Room.
"Towa, wait, I'm not ready. I don't know what to say!" Moroha pleaded.
Despite Moroha's protests, Towa dragged her down the road along the sluggish river toward the counselors' cabin.
Just then, laughter pierced the air, and the two looked over to find a group sitting together by the river bank. Though light highlighted them from the center of the circle, it wasn't bright enough to be a fire.
"You look like you just stuck your finger in an electrical socket!" one girl laughed, pointing at a boy whose hair was standing all on end.
"Okay, my turn!" another announced. "Fuuta, truth or dare?"
Moroha wrenched her hand out of Towa's grip and skipped over to the group. "Heeeey guys, whatcha doing?" Towa rolled her eyes and groaned. Of course Moroha latched onto the first distraction to run away from her worries.
"Playing truth or dare. Wanna join?"
"Sure! How do you play?" Moroha asked, sitting down in the ring around the campfire like she had known these people for years. Towa had always envied that ability of Moroha's. Even as a quarter-demon, she still managed to insinuate herself into any group she pleased. Towa, meanwhile, had always struggled with fitting in.
"It's pretty simple," a boy Towa recognized as Fuuta said. "When it's your turn, you ask someone truth or dare. If they say truth, you ask them a question. If they say dare, you give them a challenge."
"Okay, sounds promising," Moroha said, stroking her chin. She sat up straight and waved at Towa. "Hey Towa, come here and join us!"
Resigned, Towa walked over to the group and sat down next to Moroha. The light appeared to be coming from yet another human gadget laying in the grass in front of her. Ah, right. A flashlight, I think.
Then she looked up right into the scowl of that girl.
The one who had pulled her off the ropes course yesterday.
Mean Girl.
Towa returned her glare.
"Okay, Fuuta, truth or dare."
"Truth."
"Out of the girls here, who do you think is the cutest?"
"Oooo," the rest of the Southerners intoned.
Fuuta went beat red. "Umm…you're all equally pretty, okay? So I'm just gonna close my eyes and point to someone!"
"Hey, that's cheating!" a girl with webbed ears—Ai?—said.
"He said you're all pretty—all you asked for was the truth!" the boy whose electrified hair was starting to resume a normal shape said.
Though Fuuta closed his eyes, Towa noticed his finger unerringly pointed at Mean Girl.
"Oh, big surprise," a boy who looked like his twin brother said beside him. "You've only had a crush on her for—"
"Raita, shut up!" Fuuta yelled, slamming his hands over Raita's mouth. He glanced around in panic, looking at Mean Girl. "I don't, I swear!"
"Whatever. We'll find out the real truth next time the bottle lands on you. Okay, your turn," Ai said to Mean Girl.
Mean Girl gave the bottle a spin, and the narrow opening pointed at Moroha. Mean Girl looked over at her. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare," her ballsy cousin said.
Mean Girl thought about it for a second. Then she smirked. "Strip down to your underwear."
There were gasps around the ring of campers.
"Girl, you're brutal! There are boys here!" a girl with blue hair exclaimed.
"That's why it's a dare," Mean Girl replied.
Or so she thought.
"Okay," Moroha answered with a shrug, standing up. Without any hesitation, she dropped her cloak and pulled off her torn haori and cut hakama, leaving her in her short juban that ended just past her crotch.
Yeah, that was Moroha alright. Absolutely no shame.
"Damn, that was anit-climactic. We don't even get to see a bra or anything," Raita remarked, and both his brother as well as a couple girls reached over and smacked him.
"If that's it, can I put my clothes back on now?" Moroha asked. "'Cause it's gettin' kinda drafty, if you know what I mean."
"Wait…are you not wearing panties?" Ai asked in a scandalized whisper.
"What are panties?" Moroha answered as she pulled on her shortened hakama. The boys' mouths dropped open even as their eyes zoomed toward Moroha's hips.
Towa scowled, not liking how this game was going. "My turn." She grabbed the bottle and pointed it at Mean Girl. "Truth or dare."
Mean Girl scowled. "First of all, it's not your turn. Second of all, that's not how it works. You have to spin the bottle."
"What, so you can dish it out, but you can't take it?" Towa asked.
Mean Girl's frown deepened. "That's not—"
"Truth or dare?" Towa repeated. If she had pegged this girl correctly, she knew what she would answer.
Mean Girl sighed. "Fine. Dare."
Perfect.
"Go jump in the river."
Mean Girl's brow twitched in irritation, but she didn't look properly upset.
"Butt. Naked."
"Ooooh, and I thought you were brutal," the blue-haired camper said to Mean Girl, shoving her shoulder playfully.
Towa heard Mean Girl's teeth grinding. "Fine." She stood up and walked away.
"Hey, where are you going? Are you admitting defeat?" Towa asked.
Mean Girl stopped and glared over her shoulder. "Hardly. But since you didn't specify that I had to put on a strip show in front of you, I will jump into the river over there, off the dock, where it's obviously deep enough for me not to hit the bottom," she said, pointing to the empty dock where no other campers were.
They watched her silhouette with fascination as she padded over. The moon was only a sliver in the sky, so it was dark enough not to highlight her body as she undressed. Then her dark form streaked across the dock. Raita and Moroha both wolf-whistled, bursting into laughter at their accidental team-up, and everyone watched as Setsuna jumped into the river.
When Towa heard the splash, she stood up, satisfied.
"Hey, where are you going?" Moroha asked.
"I'm tired. Stay and play if you want."
But instead of heading straight for the cabin, she went to the dock.
Towa had tried to be nice. And she probably could have even forgiven Mean Girl for pulling her down on the ropes course. After all, all was fair in war.
But purposely trying to embarrass her cousin like that? Maybe Moroha didn't feel shame, but Towa certainly did. So now Mean Girl would know it too.
She leaned over and picked up Mean Girl's clothes.
A splash of water preceded Mean Girl's voice. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"Taking my trophy," Towa said. And then she ran.
The war had begun.
Truly though, the war ended before it even really began. The next day sparked more showing off and competition during activities, of course, but tipped canoes, small stones precisely targeted towards a certain brunette skull, and ridiculous bets neither participant could physically fulfill were also involved. Moroha, who could always be counted on to sniff out contention, joined in on the war without really knowing why she was fighting it.
As a result, Towa's mood only soured throughout the day as she and Mean Girl (she still hadn't found out her name, nor did she care, because she was hereby dubbed Mean Girl for eternity) traded attacks. Even after their daily activities were through, it did not improve. Tonight, after all, was the night of the new moon, when she would lose her powers.
Growing up the daughter of a general, Towa knew she needed to find a way to keep herself safe tonight after sundown, lest she be taken by surprise.
But apparently, she wasn't the only one who had had enough that day.
It was dinnertime, and Towa was trying to shovel food into her mouth as fast as she could so she could return to the relative safety of her cabin and stay there the rest of the night.
Moroha had discovered that forks and spoons—yet another Southern custom to adapt to—were not just useful for eating but for launching food at a certain half-demon.
A pea soared over and pelted Mean Girl on the shoulder. She brushed it off.
A carrot flipped its way into the center of Mean Girl's back, which earned Moroha a hard glare.
Finally, a spitball, which some of the boys had (unfortunately) taught Moroha how to make, landed right above Mean Girl's ponytail.
Mean Girl shot up from her seat just then with her plate of food. Towa thought she was going to drop off the plate at the dishwashing counter and leave, but instead, she walked around their bench and straight towards Moroha. Towa watched with concern out of the corner of her eye from Moroha's other side.
"Finished eating?" Moroha asked with a snarky grin. "I think you missed a couple vegetables."
"Are you a child, or did your parents never teach you not to play with your food?" Mean Girl asked.
Moroha's grin only widened. "Well, they're wolf-demons, you see, so they actually did teach me to play around with it. I mean, the chase is all part of the fun before going in for the kill."
"Wolf, hmm? Now it makes sense why you look so mangy."
"Hey!" Towa snapped, slamming her hands on the table, causing several campers and counselors to look their way. "It's not her fault she was raised by wolves!"
"I'm not sure how to take that…" Moroha mumbled.
"I don't care whether she was raised by wolves or dragons. I only care that she acts her age."
"Hey, it's all in good fun! What, are you not used to fun?" Moroha asked. Mean Girl glared, and Towa's cousin winced. "Yeah, question answered. I think you need to unwind a little before your head twists off." Moroha then glanced at her currently uneaten piece of cherry pie, and she grinned.
She swiped a finger through the red filling and then drew a facsimile of a smile from cheek to cheek on Mean Girl's stunned face.
"Learn to smile more, okay?"
Towa's mouth dropped open, and several of the nearby campers gasped.
Mean Girl blinked once, twice, then calmly set down her plate.
Like a viper, she reached out and grabbed Moroha's piece of pie, ramming it towards Moroha's face.
But with the agility of someone who had been expecting a counterattack, Moroha dodged, and Mean Girl's momentum caused her to smash the pie right into Towa's unsuspecting mug.
Towa sat stock still as cherry filling dripped off her pale features and onto white clothes, staining them the color of blood.
The sight of it triggered her usual warlike response.
She grabbed some mashed potatoes off her plate and flung them at Mean Girl's face. But this time, she dodged, and they landed on another camper.
"Food fight!" someone shouted, and then all hell broke loose, because by nature, half-demons were just that: half demon. If given the chance to fight, they would take it.
Suddenly, edible projectiles launched all across the dining hall, and the campers laughed and roared by turns as they pelted each other.
Towa still needed to land a shot on Mean Girl, so she grabbed some of the cherry pie on her lap and then yanked on Mean Girl's ponytail as the girl tried to flee.
"Not so fast!" Towa cried out, yanking her back by the hair and shoving the pie in her face. "How does that feel?"
Suddenly, they didn't need food to fight anymore.
Mean Girl growled and tackled Towa to the ground. They rolled between the benches, knocking into them and stray campers' legs as they pummeled each other and tore at their hair and clothing. Stray food landed on them and stuck to their backs as they rolled over it, but neither cared, their focus only on each other.
Even when a sharp whistle pierced the air and the flying food came to a stop, neither paid attention to it. In Towa's eyes, a fight only ended when the opponent was knocked out or dead.
Suddenly, Mean Girl was yanked off Towa, and Towa gasped when she found Counselor Inuyasha holding her up by the back of her shirt. His golden gaze bored into her with the same anger she had seen in her father's eyes before, and she trembled despite herself. Moroha spun around and put her back to her father, ducking her head and using an empty plate to shield her face.
Inuyasha barely gave Towa a second to sit up before he hauled her up by the front of her kimono. He looked around the room and bellowed.
"Free time is canceled tonight. None of you will leave this room until every inch and dish is spotless, you hear? As for you two," he said, rounding on Mean Girl and Towa, "you're coming with me."
"But she started—" Mean Girl began to say, gesturing at Moroha, but Towa knocked her hand away, not wanting to draw her uncle's eyes to his long-lost daughter just yet. This was not the right time for their reunion. Not when he was this pissed.
"I know what I saw," he said, dragging them bodily out of the dining hall. It wasn't until they were outside that he laid into them.
"Damn it, Setsuna, I thought we raised you better than that!"
"Uncle, it wasn't me. It was that caped crusader—"
"I don't want to hear your excuses. Regardless of who started the food fight, you two were the only ones on the floor, fighting like rabid mutts."
Setsuna? Uncle?
It felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over Towa's head as ice rushed through her veins.
Mean Girl was her sister?
No, it can't be.
"Look, if it had just been you two needing to work your issues out, I would have let you finish what you started, but you had to get the whole damn camp worked up into a frenzy, and now we're going to have to spend hours cleaning up after your mess."
Towa was barely listening. Her mind was still reeling with the information.
Mean Girl is my sister. I just beat up my baby sister!
She wanted to cry. How could she have done something so cruel?
Her mind was still so hyped up, another thought crossed it in a flash.
Does Uncle not know who I am? Can't he smell it? Moroha says I smell like Papa. She casually sniffed herself and then winced. Then again, I'm covered in so many foods, there's no telling what I smell like.
"So, you two are going to work out your shit, alright? You're going to go to your cabins, grab your essentials, and I'm locking you two in Solitary for the night. By the time I let you out tomorrow morning, you had better damn well be the best of friends, or I'm going to keep you in there all day, got it? And that's gonna get real old for both of us, because then I'm gonna have to deliver your meals like your jailer, and I ain't about to do that. Now get," he said, suddenly shoving them in the directions of their cabins along the main road. "And come right back here when you have your stuff."
Setsuna stormed off towards the Sunflower Cabin, but Towa only trudged in a daze.
My sister. I'm spending the night with my sister.
I have to tell her.
I can't tell her. She hates me.
What do I do?
Suddenly, Towa sympathized much better with Moroha's plight.
In minutes, the twins had returned to their uncle, and he marched them off towards a solitary cabin set apart from the core of the camp. Towa blushed in shame as they approached. The camp organizers had explained that the Solitary Cabin was meant to pacify anyone who grew unruly or seclude anyone who preferred to be alone during his or her transformation. Her father would be ashamed if he knew she and her sister were going to be its first occupants of the summer.
When they got inside, Towa looked around. There was only a single bed, but it was larger than the bunk beds—perhaps to accommodate any larger transformations.
Were they going to have to share a bed?
Normally, Towa would have loved the idea of snuggling up next to her sister to sleep, but not when they hated each other like this.
Well, not when Setsuna hated her. The moment Towa found out who she was, she had forgiven her.
Although she was still disappointed that her sister wasn't quite the kindhearted girl she had imagined her to be. Especially after living with their mother, whom their father had said had the biggest heart in the land.
Uncle Inuyasha pointed to something on the wall that Towa now recognized as a speaker. "If you absolutely have an emergency, use this intercom to contact the counselor's cabin. Otherwise, I don't want to hear a peep out of you two until the morning. This night's already going to be shit—don't make it any worse."
And with that, he shut the door and locked it from the outside.
"I'm going to shower first," Setsuna announced, making for the bathroom.
"O-Ok—" The door slammed shut, cutting off Towa's words.
She didn't want to sit down and dirty any of the furniture, so she paced around awkwardly as Setsuna showered. She watched the sky darken out the window and reached up to touch her hair. Still short. She hated that she couldn't see the horizon from here. She had no idea when the sun would set and take her powers.
Did that mean Setsuna would lose her powers too tonight?
Towa wrangled with herself for the next several minutes over what to do. Should she tell her sister the truth now or not?
Setsuna came out, her long hair wrapped in a towel on her head. Towa would have laughed at the image had her twin not glared at her just then, making her swallow it.
"Don't talk to me, and I won't talk to you, and we'll both get through this night in one piece. Got it?"
Towa couldn't bring herself to agree, so she just grabbed her sleeping yukata and went to take a shower.
Setsuna ran her brush through her hair, using it as a means of meditation. Having the shower cleanse her body of filth had helped to calm her down, but she was still upset over everything that had transpired.
She hated disappointing her family. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen her uncle so livid with her.
And it was all stupid Cape Girl's fault.
Just then, the lock jiggled, and Setsuna turned to face the door. Had her uncle returned? The fact that she could not smell who it was meant the sun must have set.
The lock clicked, and as if Setsuna's thoughts had summoned her, Cape Girl walked in.
Setsuna glared. "What are you doing here?"
"Breaking in," Cape Girl answered. She too had already showered.
"Aren't you supposed to be cleaning the dining hall?"
"Ehh, cleaning's not really my thing, so I snuck out. Pretty easy to do when everyone's occupied like that."
"But you started that whole mess! The least you can do is clean it up."
"Obviously, Counselor Inuyasha didn't think so, because he didn't drag me off like a misbehaved pup."
Setsuna growled.
Just then, the door to the bathroom cracked open. "Is that you, Moroha?" Towa asked in a meek voice.
Moroha?
Setsuna blinked in astonishment. Could it be? Moroha as in…her cousin, Moroha?
"Yeah! I came to cheer you up, because goodness knows with the scowling wonder over there, you're just going to be even moodier than you usually are on new moon nights."
New moon nights?
Setsuna's eyes fixed on the doorway as Towa crept out, toweling off her short hair.
Or rather…slightly longer hair.
Shoulder-length black hair, in fact.
Her red eyes had gone brown too. And when she met Setsuna's gaze, Setsuna saw her mother standing before her.
What the…?
Moroha whistled. "Whoa, that's kinda freaky there. You two look like you could pass for identical twins or something now."
"Not possible," Setsuna grumbled, resuming combing her hair. Rather, what did seem possible was that her long-lost cousin was standing less than a meter from her, and she didn't know how to bring that up.
"Yeah, I know that, but I'm just sayin'," Moroha answered.
Towa twisted the towel in her hands. "Actually…you're kind of right, Moroha."
Both Moroha and Setsuna turned to face her. "What do you mean?" her cousin asked.
Towa looked up and met Setsuna's eyes directly—brown to brown now that they were both human.
"Setsuna…I'm your twin sister."
"Impossible," Setsuna refuted again. Her mother would never keep something that important from her. Not to mention, her uncle couldn't possibly keep such a big secret for so long. He could barely keep Aunt Kagome's birthday gifts a surprise. Setsuna put down her comb and grabbed Mokomoko, rubbing the soft fur between her fingers in rising anxiety.
"I knew you'd say that, so I brought this as proof," Towa said, going to the pile of things she had brought for the night and pulling out a photo album.
Wait, a photo album? Why would someone from the demon lands have something like that?
"Setsuna…do you know who your father is?" Towa asked as she held the open book against her chest.
"I do."
"You'd better. You've got part of him right there," Moroha said, staring straight at Mokomoko. She pushed off the wall and invaded Setsuna's space once again, sniffing Mokomoko. "Yeah, that's Uncle Sessh alright. His scent's been covered by yours over the years, but there's still a hint of it there.
"Uncle Sessh…?"
Towa spoke up. "Our father. Sesshoumaru of the Dog Demon Clan…right?"
Setsuna's mouth fell open.
Towa turned around the photo album.
And there it was. The photo Setsuna had kept in her scrapbook all these years of her father holding her—except there was more. There was her mother holding….
"You?" Setsuna asked, pointing at the white-haired baby in her mother's arms. Towa nodded. "Then that means…."
Towa nodded. "I told you: we're twins. I'm the older one, in case you were wondering—but you don't have to show me deference or anything! I just thought you'd want to know."
Setsuna didn't know what to say.
No, wait. She did.
"Why didn't Mother tell me?" she asked, feeling the prickle of tears behind her eyes.
"Papa told her not to. He thought it would only hurt us if we knew and we couldn't see each other. But they only separated us because Papa didn't want Mama to raise us both alone, so he took me because I stand out less among demons."
Still, to not say anything to her for fourteen years?
Towa sat down on the edge of the bed and grabbed Setsuna's hand. She flinched, but her mind was too numb to pull away. "I know you're still in shock, and believe me, I'm really nervous too, but we're here now and we're together, and I want to get to know you more than anything. So please, can we let bygones be bygones and start over?"
Setsuna was at a loss for words.
Moroha supplied some.
"So…you're saying I had another cousin all this time, and you didn't tell me, Towa?" Moroha's pinched brows twitched between happiness and betrayal.
"I swear, I only just confirmed it on my last birthday," Towa said.
"Confirmed? So you had an inkling? For how long?"
Towa ducked her head. "Since I was four."
"Four! Towa, it's been a decade, and you never shared that with me? I thought we were closer than that!"
"Moroha, I didn't know what to think! Papa wouldn't say a word about Mama, and I found this album by accident, and I was too scared to talk to him about it until this whole thing about camp came up. Until the possibility arose that I might actually meet you, Setsuna, I just tried to pretend I hadn't found out. Because Papa was right—it was painful to know you were out there and that I wasn't able to see you," she said, turning to face her twin.
Setsuna looked back and forth between her newfound family, unsure what to do with either of them.
Then something else occurred to her. "Does Uncle know you're here?"
Towa and Moroha looked at each other. "Not yet. Moroha hasn't had to courage to go meet him," Towa explained.
"And can you blame me? Look how you've blindsided me and Setsuna here! How do you think he's going to react? It'll be hella awkward!"
"He'll be overjoyed," Setsuna answered quietly. "Both he and Aunt Kagome will. They hardly even dared hope you were alive."
Moroha traced her toe against the floor, suddenly shy. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. I've lived with them all my life, after all." Well, except for the first six months, when she apparently lived with a father, mother, and a twin sister.
She would have to tell these two that this camp was their birthplace. But maybe she would save that for later. Right now, they were all still processing.
"I wish I could see her," Moroha admitted. "Just…to know what she looks like."
Setsuna grabbed her no-longer-useless phone and turned it on. Then she scrolled through her photos and found a recent one of her and her aunt. "Here." She handed it to Moroha, and even Towa peeked over her shoulder.
"Moroha, she looks just like you!" Towa exclaimed.
"You think?"
"Yes!"
Setsuna agreed, although now that she knew who Moroha was, she saw Uncle Inuyasha's mannerisms all over her—even in some of her expressions.
Moroha looked back and forth between the two of them. "Can I stay with you guys tonight?"
They looked down at the single bed. "Are we all going to fit here?" Setsuna asked.
"Something tells me we're not going to get much sleep tonight anyway," Towa answered.
And it was true.
The next morning, after Towa's hair turned white again, they knew Inuyasha would be coming for them soon.
"Are you ready, Moroha? Now you have no choice but to tell him," Towa said.
Moroha's stomach tightened, and she suddenly felt the need to poop. Birds of Paradise, why did her stomach always twist itself in knots when she got nervous?
Her hands got all sweaty as they waited for her dad to come and unlock the door. Despite having stayed up basically all night, she felt wide awake. Her heart danced like Hakkaku when he was drunk.
She still didn't know what she was going to say to her dad. Or what to call him, for that matter.
All too soon, she smelled someone coming—still a stranger but with that hint of demon dog she associated with Uncle Sessh and Towa. And now Setsuna.
"You guys decent?" he asked from the other side of the door.
"Yeah, come in," Setsuna said.
"Hey…how come the door's unlocked?" he asked, opening it. Then someone—Towa probably—shoved Moroha towards the door and straight into her father's arms.
"Whoa, what the—? What are you doing in here? Only these two should be…." He paused, taking a couple sniffs, and froze. "…Who are you?" he asked, a wary sort of hope in his eyes.
Moroha bit her lip, unable to keep her tears from forming. She looked up. "Hey old man. Long time no see."
Her father's eyes widened in shock. "…Moroha?"
Her throat was so choked up, she couldn't speak. So she just nodded.
"It's really you? You're…alive?"
She nodded again.
And suddenly, he enveloped her in the tightest hug she had ever experienced. Lung-crushing, really. He had strength to rival a full demon.
"I can't believe the bastard did it. He found you. Wait, Sesshoumaru did find you, right?"
"C-Can't breathe," Moroha gasped, tapping his back. He pulled away immediately, and she saw tears mirrored in his eyes. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, along with her fears. "Yeah, Uncle Sessh found me."
"I can't believe it's you," Inuyasha said, all his cocksure attitude gone. He cupped her face and traced her brows and cheeks with his thumbs. "Damn, you look just like your mother."
"That's what Towa said. Setsuna showed me a picture," Moroha supplied.
"Towa?" Her dad looked up then and met his niece's red eyes. She smiled and waved shyly.
"Hi, Uncle Inuyasha. Um…I'm sorry about last night. But, like you wished…we're all best friends now."
Inuyasha shook his head. "I must be going nose-blind in my old age. How the heck didn't I smell you two?" Keeping his arm around Moroha's shoulders, he walked over and sniffed Towa, pulling back with something akin to a sneeze. "Yeah, you smell like him alright."
Towa's smile wavered. "Is that bad?"
"Nah. You wear it better than him. Come here, kiddo. Unless…you're not into hugs."
"Oh, but I am!" Towa exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him and smiling. He laughed. "So I guess you take after your mom and not your old man, huh?"
"That's what he says," Towa murmured as they pulled away.
Inuyasha looked back and forth between the two of them. "Damn. I still can't believe I didn't notice. I feel like shit."
"Don't feel bad, Uncle. To be fair, Moroha was trying to hide from you," Towa said, and Moroha's stomach dropped when her dad's face went stricken.
"Not because I didn't want to meet you! I just didn't expect to see you at orientation, and it was so sudden, I got spooked and…I just…didn't know what you'd think of me."
"I think you've grown up more beautiful than I ever could have imagined."
Moroha could hold the tears back no longer, and she wrapped her arms around her father at last.
AN: WHEW, that was quite a chapter, but I got it all out, and I hope you enjoyed it, because it's what you all were waiting for! …And now that that's done, I know you're waiting impatiently for the switch, haha. Stay tuned!