A/N: Okay, I couldn't help making a one-shot sequel! So, I will be making this a trilogy one-shot!! The first one showed Kousuke and Ryoko handling four kids in their childhood. This one shall show them taking care of a group of teenagers, and finally, the last one shall show the kids in their adult years. Please read and enjoy!!
--+--
The Leading Life of Ordinary
Stage 2
Intelligence May Be Handed Down, But Can Curses?
It was a hot summer afternoon that day. It was so hot that no one was outside. The only exception was a tall, slightly burly teenage boy. He lay on his side on the wet grass, the water sprinkled blades tickling his face and slowly soaking his short, brown hair. Beside him was a thick encyclopedia and a pair of glasses.
Haruko Asazuki continued to snooze on the lawn of the house he grew up in. He snored lightly as two tall, skinny girls towered over him. One of them blew into a paper bag. She continued to grip the inflated bag as she placed it on the ground near Haruko's head. With a devilish grin passing over both girls' faces, the other girl raised her foot and slammed it onto the paper bag.
The sound was like a firing cannon at close range. Haruko jumped up immediately, shoving his glasses onto his face. He yelled out in surprise, "Mother fu – "
"Do you kiss mom with that mouth?" The twins asked.
Haruko glared at the mischievous faces of his twin sisters, Aneko and Aiko. The twins were fraternal twins – the only difference was their eyes. Both girls had such light red hair, it almost looked pink. Aneko had her father's green eyes while her twin had her mother's brown. The girls were tall, but were half a head shorter than Haruko.
"What do you want?" Haruko asked coolly.
"What? Is this how you greet your adorable twin sisters?" Both girls asked. Their devilish grins disappeared and were replaced with looks of innocence.
"We didn't see you last night when mom and dad picked you up from the airport!" Aneko replied.
"Yeah! And we just came home from track practice to find you here!!" Aiko added.
Both girls wrapped their arms around their oldest brother and hugged him tightly. "No wonder both of you reek. Now get off my 'adorable twin sisters'." He brushed them off. "Really, what do you want?" He repeated.
"We just wanted to know if you wanted a drink."
"Or two."
Both girls held up two identical glasses with cloudy water. Haruko groaned. His sisters were playing the "Guess which glass contains sugar" game. It was the same game played by Rio Takeuchi and Ayumu Narumi twenty-four years ago.
Thirteen years ago, when Haruko was seven and the twins were five, their parents Kousuke and Ryoko told them the story of Ayumu Narumi. Auntie Rio had filled them in with the dangerous games and murders whenever she was back in Osaka for a visit. (Rio made frequent visits, whether she was invited or not.)
The three of them (and later four) found the story of the Blade Children to be very interesting, but no one was more fascinated with the story than the twins. They took the story to heart. They tried very hard to recreate each game ever played and each clever murder performed.
The twins had secretly learned from their Auntie Rio how to devise small bombs and catch people off guard with the innocent act. They would steal all kitchen knives and Haruko's dartboard to perfect the skill of throwing knives like the infamous Kanone Hilbert. They attempted to use amazing logic, master the notes of the piano, and cook the most delicious food ever. They failed miserably with all three.
While Aneko and Aiko were smart, their brains were nowhere in comparison to Haruko's. Haruko learned quickly from reading books (mostly encyclopedias) and could recall hundreds of facts at the top of his head. With cooking, the twins could only make tasteless stews – everything else they burned. The girls also had a hard time understanding the musical notes for playing the piano.
They became rather sour when Eyes Rutherford, the proclaimed "Savior of the Music World" and family friend of Kousuke and Ryoko said that Jiro showed great potential for the piano. When Jiro was six, Eyes arrived in Japan for several concerts. The Asazuki family was given backstage passes. As they took a tour behind the stage, Jiro wandered off only to find himself on the stage with a gorgeous ebony piano in the middle. He sat down and fingered the ivory keys absently. Eyes went on the stage to warm up and found his friend's youngest son making up small pieces with the sounds. The savior of music sat beside the young boy and taught him a little about playing the delicate instrument. Jiro was reunited with his family later, and Eyes explained about Jiro's potential as a musician. This caused Kousuke and Ryoko to get him a piano instructor and his own piano. This might also explain why Aneko and Aiko often scared Jiro with kitty plushies, trying to dress him up as a girl, and using him as a guinea pig for experiments.
Kousuke and Ryoko did not truly realize the seriousness of the twins' recreations until they pulled off their most dangerous restoration. Both girls attended separate schools because their parents did not want to keep them together all the time. Even though Aneko and Aiko had two other brothers, they couldn't really shut themselves off from the world and create, "their world" and "everything outside of their world."
The worst of the twins' recreations was the Chinese Magical Square bomb originally fashioned by Rio. Kousuke's boss, Kiyotaka Narumi had to go to both schools to disarm the bombs. It was later found out that the bombs were not as powerful as the one engineered twenty-four years ago. They would only blow up a room at the least. Mister and Missus Asazuki threw a very furious fit over this particular incident. The girls just did not have the same spark and talent that Rio had herself.
Haruko could easily see through the twins' devilish antics. The only one that was afraid of both girls was the youngest Asazuki child. As a child, his sisters often tortured Jiro. He feared kitty plushies after hearing the story about Rio blowing herself up with a small bomb concealed inside a kitty doll. Aneko and Aiko threatened Jiro with one whenever he refused to allow his sisters to put make-up on him. Luckily, Haruko always came to his rescue.
"So, which shall you choose?" Aneko asked.
"Neither, you devilish brats." Haruko said without hesitation. "You have been pulling this same game on Jiro and me for the past thirteen years. I have had to put up with your nonsense for seventeen! I know you damn games, so stop pulling them on me!"
"You're such a bore, Haruko!" Aneko replied.
"Yeah! We have no one else to play with except for Jiro!" Aiko added.
"And mom barred us from playing anymore cruel tricks and games on him." Aneko replied.
"It's no fun around here anymore!" Both girls proclaimed. They took the glasses in their hands and dumped it all over their oldest brother.
"Serves both of you right. Mom always did have both of you on a short leash ever since the bomb incident at your schools." Haruko said with a laugh. He
"Mom and dad have kept a close eye on us to make sure we didn't do anything to Jiro when you went away to college." Aneko said slowly.
"They are right to." The oldest child pointed out. "I was the only one who protected him." The front door opened and a boy who was less than a head taller than the twins walked out. He looked a little lanky, but his shoulders were constantly slouched as if he was trying to minimize himself from view. His head was down, his shaggy brown hair covering his emerald green eyes. "Oh, speak of the Devil."
"Hi Jiro!!" The twins cried as loud as they could.
Jiro jumped up as if he had just sat down on a tack. He looked at the twins quickly with a look of fear before scooping up a black cat that was sleeping on the porch. Jiro then ran inside the house and slammed the door shut.
"He's always so jumpy whenever one of us yells out his name…" Aiko replied.
"Duh. Of course he would." Haruko answered sourly.
"Shut up, Haruko." Aneko ordered.
Aiko then smiled slyly at her brother and asked, "Oh, by the way, Haruko… I heard from mom and dad that you have a girlfriend now. Who is the unlucky girl?"
Haruko glowered at her.
Aneko also put on the same smile. "Yeah, who is she?"
"What is her name?"
"And address?"
"When will we meet her?"
"How did you convince her to go out with you?"
"Yeah! You're such a dork, it is hard to believe that ANYONE would agree to go out with you!"
Haruko snatched his encyclopedia from the grass and got up. He began stalking towards the front door. When he opened the door, he found Jiro playing his piano and his mom cooking inside the kitchen. "Mom, stop telling those two devils about my business!" He yelled into the kitchen as he ran upstairs.
"Haruko?!" Ryoko said with confusion. She ceased what she was doing and went towards the staircase where she found her two daughters run upstairs.
"Haruko! You haven't told us anything about her yet!" Aiko egged.
"Come ON!! What's the scoop?" Aneko asked persistently.
Haruko's answer was just the loud slam of his bedroom door.
"Haruko!!" The twins whined together. "If you don't open the door and tell us, we'll blow it down with a bomb!!"
"If you girls do that, then I will be sure to glue your legs together – that way, you can hop all the way to the finish line in your next track meet." Ryoko threatened seriously as she climbed the stairs.
"Mom, you know that was just an empty threat!" Aneko explained hastily.
"And mine wasn't. You know, I've heard your father make so many empty threats as all of you were growing up. You must have learned that from him." The older woman replied grimly. "Yaiba Mizushiro proved that intelligence can be handed down. I believe that I just proved that the use of empty threats can run through the generations, too. Now, curses? That's another story."
Ryoko waved her hand in a dismissive manner and walked back down the stairs and into the kitchen. She resumed cooking dinner, listening to her youngest son play the piano as well as the sounds upstairs. She observed how she only heard Aiko's door close and not Aneko's. She could faintly hear Haruko throwing darts at the wall, most likely (and preferably), at the dartboard. Ryoko could tell that her son was throwing them in the most furious manner. And Aneko was…
"Mom, what did you mean by the thing you said about curses?" Aneko asked from behind her mom.
Ryoko turned around to look at her oldest daughter and sighed. "Kiyotaka wants Haruko to go through the same thing that your father and I go through every year on our birthdays." She explained.
"You mean he has to go away just in case he goes insane?" She girl asked. "His twentieth birthday is in two days!"
"Yep." Ryoko said coldly. "I really do not enjoy the fact that my sons and daughters may bear the curse of the Blade Children. I find it absolutely repulsive." She concluded harshly.
"There is nothing we can do about it. Kiyotaka has always been cautious ever since all the remaining Blade Children became of age. This is nothing new." A deep voice replied. Kousuke Asazuki entered the kitchen to kiss his wife and daughter hello.
"Oh, Kousuke. I didn't hear your car pull into the driveway." Ryoko commented.
"With Jiro playing that piano of his, of course you wouldn't." He said casually. "Ah, are you making that wonderful stew of yours?"
Ryoko ignored her husband's comment on dinner and continued on with the serious conversation. "Will they test our grandchildren as well? Will they test all of our future generations for the Devil's blood that may or may not exist? Will they even if Kiyotaka has passed on?" she asked stubbornly.
"Ryoko, I know you don't approve sending Haruko away for his birthday, but we can't do anything about it!" Kousuke explained.
"You didn't try to talk him out of it? What about Madoka? Can't she appeal to her husband on this?" Ryoko questioned. It was more than clear that her temper was rising – fast. She was always so touchy when it came to the matters of her kids getting mixed in with the terrible fate of the accursed Blade Children.
(Aneko found this as a good time to sneak away.)
"Ryoko, calm down. I did appeal to Kiyotaka, but you know how he is!" Kousuke defended. "He is as stubborn as a jackass!"
Kousuke's wife punched him. "Don't call your boss a jackass."
"I know that his decisions aren't always the best one, but what can you expect? Kiyotaka is no God. That is just a title in the eyes of the people. He's just as human as we are!"
Kousuke opened the pot on the stove and tried to eat some of the contents inside. As his hand was just reaching inside, Ryoko grabbed his arm and twisted it. "Don't." she replied firmly.
Kousuke retracted his arm dejectedly.
"Look, all I am saying, is that Kiyotaka is trying to play it safe. When Haruko is at the headquarters, they will run a few harmless tests on him –"
Ryoko scoffed.
"—and he will be back in a week."
She gave her husband a glare of uncertainty. "Oh, all right." She said hesitantly. "But if something really does happen to Haruko, then you will be the biggest idiot to blame."
"Aw… I guess that makes you an idiot as well, darling. You are the only idiot who ever had the most unfortunate pleasure of falling in love and marrying this big idiot, and giving him four wonderful children." Kousuke said with a smug smile.
Ryoko's glare faltered slightly at her husband's sweet words. Oh, this is was one of the many reasons why she loved him so. She then restored her glare before kicking him in the shin. "Oh, shut up." She flustered.
Kousuke winced slightly at the kick, but did not cry out in pain. "You know, Ryoko, you have to stop kicking and punching me. We both are not as young as we once were." He pointed out.
And Ryoko countered softly, "Of course. But when we were young, we thought we would always remain young. It was the fate of the Blade Children."
--+--
"So, Haruko! You're turning twenty in two days! How do you feel?" Aiko asked later that night during dinner.
Haruko swallowed the food in his mouth before replying, "Old."
"Old?" Ryoko asked. "When your father and I were nearing that age, we thought it was the end of our lives!"
"It is understandable for you, mom." Jiro said quietly.
"Okay, I guess you're right. Bored would be a better word for it." He replied.
"How so?" Aneko asked.
"Turning twenty just means that I am still one year short of actually becoming legal!" He answered.
"Here, here!" Kousuke chimed in. His wife gave him a look that made him go, "I mean, uh –" He then cleared his throat and said nothing else.
"Don't forget to do what you have to do before your birthday." Ryoko reminded.
Haruko's previous smile faded slightly. "… Right."
"Oh, mom! Don't bum him out!" Aiko said.
"This has to be the most depressing birthday ever." Jiro concluded with a dour tone.
"Well said." Haruko agreed.
"Oh, you shouldn't be like that!" Kousuke replied. "When all of the Blade Children were about to turn twenty, we thought it was the end of the world."
Ryoko nodded with agreement. "Then Ayumu showed up at Kiyotaka's corporation were some of us were being held. It was the first and last time he was seen outside of his hospital room." She explained.
"He had to be escorted by five nurses." Kousuke added. "He really was sharp with them – He didn't need that much help."
"He yelled at the Blade Children for forgetting his words. He told them again, and all was calm once more." Ryoko smiled. "We all were still scared though, but his words put us to rest in a way."
The four kids sat quietly, listening intently.
"… Did he always have that effect on you?" Jiro asked.
"He did, after he started believing in himself. When Ayumu believed in himself, he took control of the situation. He was forceful and confident in his actions." Kousuke answered.
His smile became reassuring as he said, "Don't worry, Haruko. I am sure we do not have blood injected from a Devil. No one has become an insane killing machine yet. I am sure you will not either."
Haruko nodded with a weak smile. "I guess I better explain a few things to Amaya then…" He got up and left the kitchen.
The twins jumped up as well and ran after their older brother. "Oh! Is that the name of your girlfriend?" Aneko asked excitedly.
"What is her last name and social security number?" Aiko chimed in.
"Shut up!" Haruko yelled as he slammed his bedroom door shut.
Jiro slowly followed after them, possibly using this as an opportunity to sneak behind the twins.
Kousuke and Ryoko watched them go, hand in hand.
"I guess all we can do now is hope." Ryoko said softly.
Kousuke nodded slightly. He squeezed his wife's hand.
"And believe."
Thanks for reading again! So, we have part 2 of this trilogy one-shot! it will be released as soon as possible! I love the final chapter. Well, anyway, I just wanted to clear one more thing up. I am sure people will wonder what this means so I decided to clear it up. When Ryoko says this:
And Ryoko countered softly, "Of course. But when we were young, we thought we would always remain young. It was the fate of the Blade Children."
She actually is referring to the past. When the Blade Children were young, they thought they would always remain young because they were destined to die at a young age. Just wanted to clear that up! Thanks for reading again!