Author's Note:

Onis and mothers and brothers - oh my!

Thank you as always to my readers. I hope that you enjoy this chapter! Your reviews, thoughts and comments are always appreciated.

~ImpracticalOni

Chapter 66 – Sharing the Pain

[I] - Mothers & Brothers

It was fortunate for Harada that Chiharu let Kimigiku know that the Shinsengumi captain was not the source of Sen-hime's distress. In fact, the moment's hesitation caused by Chiharu's mental—and forceful—"Not him!" had ensured that Kimigiku correctly identified Harada as the person in the most shock of everyone present. Moreover, the shinobi had no difficulty in realizing and sympathizing with what had caused both Harada's and Sen-hime's distress.

Chiharu's mental-magical construct still stood, very-near lifelike, in the center of the room. The golden eyes, just a bit lighter than Harada's, seemed to mock Kimigiku for being so easily alarmed.

"What is the meaning of this, Chiharu?" the shinobi demanded. "We all know—" But Kimigiku had to stop, because she realized that she was wrong. She was the only one—other than Chiharu—who knew what Suzuka-gozen looked like. It was annoying that she hadn't been able to think past her own unhappiness at having to retell the story of Shizuka-hime's unhappy marriage and untimely death.

The shinobi drew a deep breath. "Gomenasai, Sen-hime, Harada-san. You didn't know—"

"You mean that you knew that she was my mother?! What the hell?!" Harada turned flashing amber eyes on Kimigiku; as she shifted automatically to a defensive position, she could see the colour lightening ominously toward gold.

"Your—no! Of course I didn't know that!" Kimigiku's response was immediate, and plainly the truth. Then it was the black-haired woman's turn to recoil a little in shock. "Wait—chotto matte!—your mother?! That's not even possible!"

"That's enough!" Chiharu's firm voice resounded mentally as well as loudly to all those in the room. "I see that I was right, and that we need to talk. In fact, there are really two things to talk about. First, the fact that Harada-san may be the direct descendant—that is, the son—of a woman who was among the most powerful Oni of all time, one thousand years ago. Second, the fact that Kazama Kenshin—who I love dearly—may not be my brother."

Kimigiku looked more upset and unsure of what to say, than Sen or Chiharu had ever seen her. Her quick steps as she strode over to the window to look blindly into the garden were slightly unsteady, and Sen, recovering from the first of her appalled stupor, watched her with concern. Harada-san was still staring at the illusion. Chiharu decided that the image wasn't helping, and dismissed it, which made the red-head look quickly at her.

"Her hair isn't as red as I remember, but it feels like her as much as it looks like her." The tall man's eyes were no longer on the verge of Oni-golden, but they were definitely wary and his lanky, muscled frame was clearly tense. "You… have a story to tell us I think, Chiharu-sama?"

Sen-hime had stood as well. She had composed her features, and only innate ability and long personal knowledge allowed Chiharu to see that Sen-hime was still very worried and unhappy. Before anything else could happen, however, a deep, familiar voice politely requested admittance.

"Oh for the gods' sake, Amagiri, you should be in bed!" snapped Kimigiku, who had turned away from the window.

"If I could manage over fifty miles in the pouring rain with fresh wounds, then the length of one hallway after three hours of rest is hardly a problem," replied the big Oni dryly. He moved with care, and none of his usual grace, but he took a place at the low table without discernable trouble. "Besides, my injuries are no longer bleeding. Yukimura-sama was able to help me a good deal when she and Kimigiku-san first assisted me, and even some of the silver damage seems to have reversed itself slightly now."

"The arm hurts," murmured Harada, surprising almost all of the Oni into looking at him. Chiharu was staring in dismay at Amagiri; his arm was hidden in a sling under a coat, but the scars that were visible on face and neck were enough to tell her what weapon had been used.

Amagiri, maybe because of his dealings with Saitō, seemed to recover the most quickly.

"If you can tell that much," the Oni said calmly, "then you know that I am well enough to join you."

"For a while," agreed Harada, his voice still unusually quiet. "But I know that Saitō would not like it."

"Well, we'll know soon enough if you're right," Amagiri said, his expression resigned.

"Of course he's right," said a cool voice from the doorway. The Third Division Captain closed the door behind him and took a seat beside Amagiri.

Saitō looked perfectly composed and not in the least as though he'd been pulled from his bed, and his bride, by yet another crisis. His hair was neatly tied over his right shoulder as usual and his swords—both of them—were in his white sash. On the other hand, even Harada noticed that he was much less keyed up than he had been before. Under different circumstances, the spearman might even have mentioned how relaxed he seemed…

The indigo-haired man looked around at the others.

"Chizuru will not be joining us," he said simply, without explanation. "If she is needed then I will fetch her. She said that I should come down but that there was no immediate threat."

Harada just nodded. It felt awkward to have so many people there to witness his bizarre and frankly disorienting discovery, but what could he do? He felt a certain sympathy for how Saitō had been feeling the last few days. Finally, the red-head sat down slowly, still trying to process what he'd seen and how it changed some of his basic assumptions about himself.

"According to the image that Chiharu-sama has just shown Sen and me," Harada told the newcomers, "the woman who claims to be Suzuka-hime, the first Princess of the Oni and the apparent instigator of a number of recent events—one thousand years after her supposed death—is my mother. Since I always thought that my mother was human, and that she died ten years ago, I'm a little… confused."

Saitō and Amagiri-san both registered surprise, which made Harada feel a little better. Kimigiku still stood by the window, her eyes on Sen-hime and her arms crossed. Harada, suddenly conscious that Sen-hime was also still standing, gently spoke into her mind. He hoped he wasn't overheard.

Hime-chan. Shall we see if we can face this one together? Harada was half-expecting her to recoil, for some reason, but instead he sensed a great deal of relief from her as she sat down.

Chiharu-sama finally joined them at the table, choosing a seat beside her cousin so that she didn't have her back to the frowning shinobi. When nobody said anything, she repeated the words that Suzuka-hime had spoken to her concerning helping out Sen-hime with her son.

"I suppose… seen in that light… it clarifies some things," Sen said slowly. Addressing primarily Saitō and Harada she went on: "I can't always tell precisely what family an Oni is from, but I usually have some idea. It's clearly some kind of hereditary memory, because I identified Saitō with the Sakurai even though I had never met any. And Hijikata-san, if I had to guess, has the blood of the North in him, even beyond that borne by the Yukishima. In fact, based on the strong physical resemblance, I would guess that his blood is almost entirely Yukishima, but perhaps influenced by the blood-right—the clan leadership—of the main line, which was thought extinct."

She saw that everyone present was taking in her words and thinking about the unbelievable coincidence of Shiranui Toshio-sama having sons from several of the key Lost Clans. Sen could tell that they were all reaching (or had already reached) the same conclusion: knowingly or not, Shiranui-sama had likely been directed by Suzuka-hime. She cleared her throat.

"The point is that I've been confused about Harada-san's background. He's part-Oni, clearly, but his overall aura isn't quite the same."

Chiharu, who had been listening intently, turned to her cousin.

"When I met Suzuka-hime, it seemed strange to me that she appeared to be and had the aura of an Oni—but not quite the same as anyone I had ever met. It's possible that there are differences now, after over a thousand years."

"So I'm kind of a throw-back?" Harada asked, appearing to be more amused than indignant. "You're saying that demons a thousand years ago are different than today?"

The three Oni at the table looked thoughtful. Chiharu was the first to speak:

"Well, Oni are much more likely to change, in some ways, than humans, because belief affects everything. It would take a wrenching shift, but it would not be impossible. I've had some time to think about this. The Suzuka-hime that I saw had small horns—three of them, Osen-chan—and gold-ish eyes. She implied that it was her true human form. She also told me that female demons were surprisingly weak now. I wonder if demons began to look more like humans and adopt human customs after her time?"

Sen, the historian of the family, looked intrigued.

"Well, it was not long after she finally got control over the North, East and West Duchies that the Northern Clans were destroyed by invading barbarians. In fact, according to our history, the Northern Clans were almost as reluctant to serve Suzuka-hime and cooperate as a race as the Western Clans. However, they were in desperate need of food and uninjured warriors. The Western Clans, at the command of Suzuka-hime, sent the food and a contingent of warriors. However, the Lord of the Western Clans, spiteful at finally having to bow to an overlord—and a female at that—sent the weaker of his fighting clans to the assistance of the northerners. All of those who went from the Omori Clan died along with the northerners during the battles that raged for several years across the Isle of Ezo. Eventually, there was one death too many, or one birth too few, and the Omori died out. It's been about five hundred years that the Omori existed as a separate clan."

There was a brief silence after Sen finished, and then Saito stepped in.

"Sen-hime, I am afraid that I don't follow your reasoning. How does this affect the current situation and what about Harada's mother? Do you believe that she could be your own many-times-over ancestor?"

Sen waved her hands a little, and although he was still reeling, Harada couldn't help but admire her bright eyes.

"You see, Saitō-san, the loss of the Northern Clans over the course of such a relatively short time, together with the ultimate loss of one of the Western Clans, might very well have led the Oni adopt the secrecy necessary to pull back from humans and at the same time led to us becoming more like humans in order to better preserve anonymity. That would explain how the clans as a whole seem to have turned away from female warriors and female rulers. Not that the Western Clans were ever known for giving their womenfolk much power or freedom…"

Chiharu frowned at her cousin.

"And yet the Western clans haven't done so badly, Osen-chan."

Sen suddenly realized that she had two guests at her table who might not appreciate her words.

"Sumimasen, Haru-chan, Amagiri. The truth is that Suzuka-hime's approach to ruling the clans—and in her day I expect it was a more stringent rule—probably showed her bias toward her own people and the Yukimura and other Eastern Clans. The ties between Lady Suzuka and the Yukimura were quite strong, which is why she left two of her three personal weapons to the Yukimura when she died."

Saitō, who ordinarily would have found the last comment more than a little interesting, pursued his original point with something like grim determination.

"Do you think that these possible societal changes among the Oni would account for a noticeable change in the Oni as a race between now and a thousand years ago? If so, then Suzuka-hime may be Harada's mother, which is what we are trying to ascertain."

Caught up short by Saitō's uncompromising tone, Sen flushed a little. But she could hardly blame the man for being impatient, under the circumstances.

"You know," said Harada, after giving Sen a reassuring smile, "it's a little freaky, but one thing does stand out for me."

"Agreed," murmured Kimigiku. "Why would Suzuka-gozen bother to have a son? Meaning no offence, Harada-san, but if she is your mother and she did spend the time with you then it meant that she was drawing energy from Shizuka-hime. And of course, the princess had to wait to bear her own child, which meant enduring the attentions of her husband."

"I think it's because she wanted her son to look after Osen-chan," said Chiharu firmly. "Perhaps he can shield her from some of the effects of having Suzuka-hime drawing on her life-force."

Sen looked flushed, but she didn't say anything. Harada said:

"I was thinking more that it's strange how everything happened around… Suzuka-hime. And why she would still be alive, in some way, after a thousand years. She is clearly trying to revive the old bloodlines. But why? Anyway, now that I've thought about it a little, I understand why my mother disappeared when I was fifteen and why I didn't see her again: my time with her, if you like, was borrowed time from Sen-hime's mother. In fact, the last few years that I was home I didn't see my mother very much—I suppose it's because she was keeping an eye on you, Hime-chan."

Chiharu seemed disconcerted by the pet name that Harada had given Osen-chan, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she turned to Saito and Amagiri.

"Saitō-san, you must be wondering what was so urgent."

"Aa," agreed Saitō flatly. With all due respect to Harada's potentially bizarre parentage—and it might indeed be bizarre—there was nothing that seemed to require his personal intervention.

Amagiri shot a look at Chiharu but the girl—young woman, he reminded himself again—looked back at him quite steadily. He raised his hand, remembering at the last moment not to move his right arm.

"Let me explain it to Sen-hime and Saitō. And Harada-san."

Harada briefly toyed with offering to leave but decided against it. Just in case it really was his mother—his mother!—who was the legendary demon princess behind all the strangeness, he didn't want to miss anything. Also, Osen-chan looked like she could use some support. He was trying very hard not to think of her as his many-many-times great-niece. That was just… odd. Setting the thought aside, he focussed on the girl beside him. She was sad, probably over her mother's death two years ago as much as anything. And maybe if Suzuka-hime had spent less time with her son, then her descendant would have had more time with her mother. It was a disturbing thought.

"Sen-hime." Amagiri's voice intruded on Harada's musings—and apparently Sen's as well. "I'm sorry to burden you further, but Chiharu-sama wants me to be frank."

"Of course, Amagiri. Please go on."

With one last glance at Kimigiku, Amagiri decided to be as plain as possible.

"Many years ago, I was in love with Kimigiku's sister. We could not marry, because her mother, Yukishima-sama, wanted Chikame to marry Kazama Chikage-sama once he was of age. Our relationship was discovered when Chikame became pregnant. In an effort to hide the truth and to ensure that we did not see each other again, our son was given to Kazama Chikage-sama's parents to raise as their own and I was required to promise to serve Kazama Chikage-sama. To the best of my knowledge, Chikame has not seen Kenshin since he was weaned just a few weeks after his birth. Yukishima-sama, Kimigiku-san's mother, may still be willing to threaten Kenshin in order to keep Chikame obedient; I don't know. Also, since Kazama Chikage-sama now knows that Chiharu-sama and Kichirō-sama are here, he may very well speak with his mother. His mother may tell him the same story that she told Chiharu-sama. In which case, Kazama-sama will find out that Kenshin is my son and not his brother."

The reaction from those who did not know the story—Saito, Harada, and Sen—was much as Kimigiku and Amagiri had guessed it would be. Saitō seemed to go very still, as he considered the potential threat to somebody who was now his responsibility, as well as the existence of a child that might himself be considered a responsibility. Harada and Sen were both shocked by the cruelty of separating the child from his parents. They were also digesting just how far Kazama Chikage's father and Kimigiku's mother had been willing to go in order to protect a potential pureblood marriage. It gave Harada, in particular, insight on how important the marriage to Yukimura Chizuru would have been to Kazama Chikage, as well as to Amagiri Kyūju and his unknown lover.

"How old is the child?" asked Saitō, still considering alternatives.

"Ten." Amagiri's voice was more clipped than usual.

"You helped Saitō even with this hanging over you?" asked Harada, a look of admiration in his eyes. "But… how could they do that? No—never mind, politics is like that. The Imperial Court's no better."

"This isn't the Imperial Court," snapped Sen, back ramrod straight and her eyes flashing. "This is completely intolerable! Why didn't I hear of this, Kimigiku? I only knew of the arrangement to separate Amagiri and Chikame-sama. Nobody mentioned a child, but you knew and Mother must have known!"

"You were fourteen. Your mother had just died. There was already so much to tell you… Pick a reason. I would have told you eventually, I promise you. Probably sooner rather than later."

"Your pardon, Sen-hime," said Saitō calmly, "but I need to ask Amagiri some questions. And Kimigiku-san if I may."

Chiharu, who was quite relieved to find the reactions of those present more in line with her own than her mother's had been, was surprised when Osen-chan just nodded politely. She wished that she had time to get to know Saitō-sama and Harada-san—and perhaps one or two of the others—better before she had to return home. They were surprisingly interesting for humans. No, not humans. She truly could not think of Saitō-sama as a human; he was too clearly an Oni and a strong one at that. Her brother was reasonable to be cautious of that man, in her opinion. And Harada-san, with his strange ancestry and unusual aura, not to mention his manifest abilities even without passing a single Trial—he was not quite human either. So it wasn't surprising that she would be interested in their associates.

The daughter of the Kazama sat and listened with interest while a man of her own age, with barely a week's knowledge of Oni-kind but a ki to at least challenge some of the best, sat and skillfully extracted information from two reluctant and close-mouthed rather older Oni. It didn't dawn on her immediately, although it should have, that neither he, nor Amagiri, asked her to leave their council. In retrospect, that was both reassuring and made her question where her own loyalties lay.

[II] Brothers & Oni

Shiranui Kyō got his drink and his lunch and then went looking for Kazama. Normally, he would have gone looking out in the woods, but the rain was persistent and Kazama wasn't one to get himself soaked for no good reason. As he expected, his cousin was in his room, sitting in the window and glaring out at army encampment a short distance away. He was fortunate that the house had broad eaves to keep off the rain.

"You're late," Kazama told him, without looking around.

"Actually, I got here earlier in the day, but every instinct told me to keep out of the way for a while."

He got no response, and began to think that things had gone even farther wrong than he'd realized. Then he became annoyed.

"Seriously, Kazama, I didn't Fast Travel but I didn't just amble along, either."

Shiranui had to take a quick step back as Kazama suddenly dropped down from his perch and closed the distance between them.

"You didn't return as fast as you should have, either."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You could have returned as soon as you knew about Yukimura Chizuru—and yes, you could have come more quickly. My guess is that you were buying Amagiri time."

The indigo-haired Oni almost flinched at the combination of anger and hurt in his cousin's voice when he referred to Amagiri. Damn! Either I've missed something or Chikage's gone further around the twist than I expected.

"Care to tell me what's happened?"

Kazama gave him a distinctly unfriendly glare.

"Oh no. You first, Shiranui."

Shiranui shrugged elegantly. He stepped away from Kazama and leaned his shoulders against the wall, unknowingly echoing Harada's favourite position when he needed to be alert but wanted to look relaxed.

"Trying to see what I leave out so that you'll know whose side I'm on? I'm not sure I want to play that game, cousin. I went back to Kyoto in the first place to help you out—and yes, because I was curious about Sen calling for help from anyone, let alone in the middle of the night—but I didn't need to. I returned from Kyoto because I was fed up with what was going on there. Take it or leave it, but remember that I don't answer to you."

The look on Kazama's face was enough to make the taller man glad he'd put a little more space between them. Ah well, you couldn't let Kazama push you too far or he'd assume you'd be obedient forever. His father had been far worse, though.

"Talk." Kazama's voice was hard, and backed by Mind magic this time. Suddenly things were not so simple.

"Are… you… mad?" asked Shiranui, suddenly sweating from the strain of keeping the strongest coercive mind of the generation—or maybe of anyone alive right now—out of his head. "I am not your enemy. Although you seem to want me as one."

Suddenly the pressure was gone. The taller Oni, furious at Kazama's unprovoked attack, walked to the door.

"Shiranui. Just… tell me. Please."

It was the closest thing he was going to get to an apology and he knew it. For a moment he hesitated, still totally pissed off. Then he shook his head, the anger draining off him—mostly. It had to be very bad for the other man to lose his cool as badly as that. The blond man, head of his clan since his teens, tended to hold himself to very high standards.

"Okay. Since when do you start throwing magic around, anyway? Either way, I am not going to be your punching bag just because you're in bad mood."

Kazama laughed mirthlessly. He hooked a careless thumb at the sheathed sword against the wall.

"I assure you that I have taken all the sanctioned vengeance that I am allowed."

Shiranui focussed and then flinched. The sheath somehow masked the sword's aura reasonably well, although not completely. He'd heard the stories, but never seen it used. The inference was clear, however.

"You used that on Amagiri? On Kyūju-san?"

"Just… tell me what you know."

Shocked out of any pretence of indifference, Shiranui just nodded.

"Well, at the time I left, I knew that the girl was Yukimura Chizuru, although I didn't get to see her much. The part that was weighing on my mind was that three—not one, mind you, but three—of the Shinsengumi leaders seem to be my half-brothers. You know what I think of my dear father, so I was surprised that I could still think worse of him. But anyway. I think that the captain with hair like mine—Saitō—is in love with the girl. And there's a good chance she feels the same way about him, gods' know why, since I've met him and he seems inept, with people if not swords. Saitō still had the Trial of Soul and the Trial of Mind to get through, though. I don't know exactly why Amagiri has taken the kid under his, shall we say, elder brotherly wing, but he has. Originally I think it was interest—I hate to admit it, but the guy's strong for a part-Oni and even feels more Oni than usual—and there was also Osen-chan's involvement… but at the end, I don't know, it seemed more personal. Maybe because he got Saitō through the Trial of Body?"

Shiranui took a breath at this point. He's been trying to read Kazama as he spoke, but the other man was silent and completely impassive now, although listening intently. Shiranui hooked his hands into his belt. Kazama probably wouldn't care as much about the next part, but he himself did—and really didn't want to talk about it.

"I guess I should also mention that Harada—another captain who may or may not be related to me—is definitely part-Oni and definitely getting stronger. I have no idea what will happen with him, though. Even Her Highness seems to be a bit at a loss about where Harada fits in."

"Yellow eyes, red hair?" Kazama interrupted.

"Yes. You've seen him?"

"Briefly. Go on."

"Well, the only other thing to mention, really, is that there seems to be a very powerful Oni with coercion and mental skills maybe on your level running around loose."

"What?!"

Shiranui was nonplussed. He would have sworn that Amagiri would brief Kazama on that as quickly as possible. So Amagiri had been punished—presumably for teaching Oni lore to Saitō and helping him to acquire skills, not to mention for prioritizing Saitō above returning to Kazama immediately with any news of Yukimura Chizuru—but he hadn't mentioned the Oni spy?

"Um… yeah. They're all worried—Sen, Kimigiku and Amagiri—that the guy, whoever he is, is trying to cause mayhem between the Shinsengumi and the Oni. Or something."

He clearly had Kazama's full attention now.

"Well, at one point I went out for some sake—you know, I was bored and pissed off with my father etcetera, etcetera… And apparently I decided to check out some of the other Shinsengumi and I accidently kidnapped their shinobi. Another half-brother—I have a collection now, remember. For some reason I brought the kid back to Sen's place, and they weren't too happy about the whole thing (neither was I, in case you're interested). Anyway, Amagiri suspected a problem, because he's just that kind of a guy, and they took my head apart. Supposedly I had a neat little bit of coercive Mind magic helping me along the whole time. I left pretty soon after that because, like I said, I was pretty fed up with the circus. Osen-chan's okay, but Kimigiku gets annoying after a while. And… well, believe it or not I thought I should bring you the news."

Shiranui stopped there. He was starting to feel uncomfortable about everything. Plus, this was the kind of mess he really hated. Creating problems was one thing. Being mixed up in this kind of crap was different. And what the hell had Kazama done to Amagiri? He was beginning to realize that the answer to that actually mattered to him.

As perceptive as usual (even though he could also be as dumb as a stump when it came to dealing with people on a personal level), Kazama smiled thinly. Actually, calling it a smile was an insult to smiles.

"He's not dead. At least, he wasn't the last time I saw him. I'm expecting an update shortly, though. While we wait, why don't I tell you just how much you managed to miss while you were fretting over Shiranui-sama's follies?"

Ignoring Shiranui Kyō's irritable comment in response to this, Kazama took up his seat on the window again and gave his cousin a run-down of just how things had gone after his—Shiranui's—departure from Kyoto, and where things stood now.

[III] - Mothers, Brothers & Oni

Once Kimigiku-san and Amagiri had answered all the questions that Saitō could come up with, the current head—and only member—of the Sakurai sat in silence for several minutes. It had not escaped his attention that Sen-hime and Harada were sitting with their fingers curled together on the floor between them, which for some reason pleased him, nor had he missed Chiharu-sama's realization that by staying for this discussion she might have implicitly become part of a group of which her brother would not approve.

It was strange that everyone was looking to him for a decision on what was to be done concerning Amagiri's child. He could only assume that it was the Oni magic—perhaps the blood ritual that had confirmed him as the head of a non-existent Oni clan—that allowed him to feel more comfortable in such a role than he had expected.

"Kenshin is currently with the woman he believes to be his mother," Saitō summarized at last. "To bring him here by force would frighten him. On the other hand, to come here to visit Sen-hime and a new cousin, in the company of Chiharu-sama, would not alarm him. The difficulty with such a plan is that it may provoke Kazama Chikage beyond reason, which is not a sensible course of action at this time. Amagiri and Chiharu-sama are united in the view that Kazama Chikage is very unlikely to injure an innocent child that he cares about. There is also risk of harm—or threat of harm—to the child from his maternal grandmother, Yukishima-sama."

Saitō looked around at the others, but there was no disagreement.

"In my opinion, the threat we are least able to assess at this time is the one from Yukishima-sama. We should consider what actions we can take in the immediate future to examine and if necessary eliminate that threat."

[END]

A/Note: Lots and lots going on...