Seiko was creepy. Really creepy. She was old and blind, her eyes were nothing but pasty orbs, how the hell could she see them?
"Your technique is off, you're putting all of your weight in your left leg," the old woman croaked, staring directly at him.
"How the crap does she know that? She's giving me the creeps," Kohana whispered, echoing his thoughts.
Ronuku honestly had no idea.
"She's right you know," Kaida called out, "Try to balance your weight a little more."
"Seiko-sama is wise. You should feel honored that she has offered you guidance." Naoe added. The two of them sat on a dais sipping tea as they watched their two pupils spar in the sandy practice arena.
Look at those two, Ronuku growled inwardly, Stuffing their faces while we bust our asses out here!
"Now. Balance yourself, and try attacking again," Seiko ordered in that scratchy voice of hers, stamping her cane in the dirt. Inhaling, Ronuku focused on his balance, before raising his sword and leaping at Kohana. Her own blade shot up and she leapt to meet him in the air. Their swords sang as they clashed, and both landed pressing their weapons against each other.
"Too slow. Try again."
Ronuku growled out loud this time, noting Kohana's frustrated snort. They'd been at this for almost two weeks now, kata practice every morning and sparring every afternoon, directed by a blind old woman while Naoe and Kaida simply sat and watched.
This is stupid! She's supposed to teach us about our powers! We already know we can't fight Naraku like this, we're wasting time!
Not for the first time Sango's face flashed across his mind and he longed to be back with his pregnant wife.
"Look Seiko, you-" he was interrupted by a warning cough and a stern look from his mentor. Ronuku resisted the urge to deck the samurai, "Seiko-sama, this is great and all, but Naoe and Kaida already nag at us about our bad form, shouldn't you be showing us how to use our power?"
Kaida and Naoe glared at him. Kohana's eyebrows shot up, but she didn't disagree.
"Tsuneo-sama and Hisae-sama were the most skilled fighters in our village," Seiko said, matter-of-fact.
She talks about them as if she knew them personally. Just how old is this hag?!
"Well we're not," Kohana pointed out, "Lady Kaida and Naoe took us away to train because we struggled to win every fight, we were a liability to our friends. If we wait here until we're the 'best' again, they'll all be dead."
If she thought they were rude, Seiko never showed it. Hobbling on her cane, the blind woman approached the two pupils.
"You've mentioned that you've seen your powers before. It only appears when you are in a sword fight, does it not?"
"Well yeah, I can't really use Hell's Flash if I'm not fighting!" Didn't this woman know anything?
Kohana mumbled something about 'stupid attack names'.
Whatever. She's the lame one.
"You managed to access your powers because you've reconnected with a skill from your previous life. I believe that if you hone that skill, you will begin to see more of your latent power."
"We've been at this for two weeks, and we haven't seen any sign of it!" Ronuku snapped. He ignored the incoming glare.
"Yeah, no offense, but Kaida and Naoe can fight, probably better than us," Kohana said, "Why do we have to do this?"
Seiko was quiet. For a moment Ronuku thought that she hadn't heard Kohana, but suddenly she raised a crooked wrinkled finger and gestured for her to approach.
"Come. Let me see you."
Kohana shot Ronuku a confused look. He shrugged. She's the one who asked, not him. Kohana walked forward until she stood right in front of the Seiko. The old woman's crooked hand shot forward, resting atop Kohana's left breast.
"Ah, your heart beats strong, wild and unafraid. Your soul is old…it's only been a few hundred years since your death, but your soul has seen over a thousand since then."
Kohana again gave Ronuku a look.
Oh yeah, how do we explain time travel to this old bat?
Kaida's glare demanded silence.
"You are not in the world of your birth," Seiko continued, "But your heart beats strongly for something…I see someone. White hair…gold eyes, there's a mark of the moon on his forehead. He's powerful, and arrogant."
"That'd be her Lord Fluff." Kohana glared at him.
"Ah. You love him. But, what….Oh! He's a youkai!" Seiko smiled softly, "Hisae-sama, you haven't changed a bit."
"He's my husband, Sesshomaru" Kohana answered quietly.
"There's someone else. He looks like your husband, but smaller. And a little girl…"
"Our son, Futeki, and Rin."
"And…hmm," Seiko paused. She then nodded and then stepped away. The crooked finger shot out and gestured towards Ronuku, "Now you."
Me? Ronuku stared at Seiko. She was so creepy, he didn't want her inside of his head! The rest shot him a look that dared him to refuse, and he grumbled and stepped forward. Seiko put her hand atop his left breast and hummed.
"You as well are not of this world. You wish for strength, yet you already have so much…ah. There is a beautiful woman, heavy with child."
"My wife…Sango." Ronuku was surprised at how his voice shook. He felt a pang of longing as he thought of the strong woman that he missed.
"An expecting father, you worry for her, and for the child…and there are others…I have seen them in her heart as well," She gestured towards Kohana and then stepped back. "The two of you, your hearts not only beat for your own spouses and kin, but for each other's loved ones as well."
Ronuku stared at Kohana. She was worried about Sango as well?
"And not only them," Seiko continued, "But the same group of people as well. A miko, a monk, a hanyou who wears the fur of the fire rat, a young slayer…"
"Those are our friends," Ronuku said.
"They're all in a lot of danger," Kohana added. Seiko hummed and fiddled with her cane, a moment later she stepped back and revealed characters she had drawn in the sand.
'Kazoku'. Family.
"Hisae-sama and Tsuneo-sama's hearts beat in unison for the sake of this village. This is where they were born, but here lived their kin and the people that raised them." Seiko gestured to Kaida and Naoe, "While it is true that those two are reincarnations of the sacred siblings, their hearts do not beat in unison. Her's is filled with worry for her husband's fief in the manner of a loyal wife, while his beats for the duty of a samurai to be good to his master."
"But you," Seiko looked as though her blind eyes were staring directly at them, "Your hearts beat for the same people, you share the same worries as parents, and the same feelings of closeness towards your friends. Your hearts beat in unison, the two of you are truly family, and that is why you can harness the power of our sacred siblings."
Kohana was silent. Ronuku stared at her, his bushy eyebrows together in thought.
Him, siblings with this bossy cow?! Since day one, when she'd unjustly kicked him on his way home from school they'd been at constant odds with each other. Sure, they had each other's backs in a fight, and they'd been travelling together for four years now but…Kohana as his sister?!
A distant memory suddenly crossed his mind; on their first days in the past, when he'd first met Sango, the slayer had mistaken Ronuku and Kohana's constant bickering as proof that they were related. He smirked, and almost chuckled a bit at the irony.
"Huh," Ronuku remarked, "I guess Sango had it figured out all along."