Hello Everyone and Anyone Reading FEUDAL ERA!
Hey guys sorry for not updating in so long, it's been crazy in my life lately. I swear there is a TV pitching team of gods that love to mess with my life and every week they come up with something to make me miserable.
I promise to update soon this time.
Anyway please enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: Dude if I owned anything in this fanic and made money than I could pay for a new car and to go through university.
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Chapter 4: The Takahashi House
"Are we almost there?" Shippo asked from the passenger seat, his head pressed against the glass of the window.
"Does it look like we're there? Would I be still driving if we were there?" Sango questioned back, rolling her eyes exasperated. Honestly the annoying question had, almost cliché-like, been asked several times in the last half an hour. Surprisingly, Rin was fairly quiet in the back seat, most likely listening to her beloved mp3 player or asleep.
"Maybe" Shippo answered in his own smart ass way, "I'm bored San" he complained.
"Then do something to entertain yourself" she suggested a little curtly, turning on the radio, "Without making annoying sounds to bug me"
Shippo huffed and leaned his chair back, narrowly missing Rin's leg, to stare at the felt covering inside of the car. He would have played with his DS if it didn't already die or listened to his music if it wasn't packed away. Now that he had nothing to concrete on, he felt extremely restless.
"There's Kyoko up ahead", Sango announced a few moments later excitedly, just as anxious to stretch her legs as her brother was. The reaction to her announcement was instantaneous from the two teens. Rin and Shippo eagerly stared out the windshield, but seemed to deflate at the small looking town. It looked even smaller than Onchi and that was barely classified as a city.
"Ok, so yeah, it's not a big town, but it's nice and it has some places to shop and hangout on and it even has a Shrine" Sango explained, a little nervously when she saw the identical unimpressed expressions of the others.
"Since when are we super religious?" Shippo inquired sarcastically.
"Let's just give Kyoko a try, ok. The house is nice and cheap enough that we can save some money for other things" the young woman reasoned, turning down Sakura St.
'At least I didn't get lost this time' she inwardly sighed in relief.
"Yeah ok Sango" the other two agreed non-committal.
"Geeze, thanks for the enthusiasm you guys" said Sango as they got out to unload some of their stuff.
They didn't have much baggage so unpacking the back seat and truck was easy. The rest of their belonging wouldn't arrive until the day tomorrow, so they had only brought what they would need for two days. The house echoed as the family of three trekked inside.
Since Rin and Shippo had never seen the house before, they just stood and looked around the furnished living room. Sango picked up the blue cooler and went straight to the kitchen.
"There is four rooms upstairs. You can choose which one you want before we go grocery shopping" the eldest Tayjia offered from the other room.
Carrying their bags up the stairs, the two inspected the rooms. These two were furnished as well, although very basically. One room even had a bookcase which made Rin believe that it was destined to be hers.
"Maybe this won't be so bad" Rin stated happily, throwing her back pack onto the bare bed, looking around dreamily. This was a lot bigger than the room she had in the apartment and Sango had even said that they were allowed to paint the walls if they wanted.
"You aren't that hard to please, are you Rin?" Shippo raised a brow at his sister.
"Not really" she answered, unzipping her bag to begin organizing.
"Wow" he snorted, leaving the room to claim his own 'territory'. The master bedroom he decided to let Sango have. Even though he wasn't thrilled to live in a small town, he wasn't mad at his guardian. She was only trying to care for them and he could tell that being in Kyoko didn't really seem like the place she wanted to be either.
Now Shippo was down to two choices which didn't really matter to him. So he just wandered into the one closet to him. He didn't even bother to inspect the area as he up ended his own bag on the bed. Clothes tumbled out, with his mp3 and other objects he had stuffed inside.
"Shippo, did you hear anything strange a few minutes ago?" Rin asked a little timidly from his doorway. Shippo gave her a no-why-are-you-hearing-voices look that answered her question easily.
"I thought I heard drums" she clarified, fidgeting slightly.
"Probably just a neighbor" shrugged the Kitsune, "Come on, it's not like drums aren't that uncommon, Rin"
"I know that! But it sounded like it was coming from my room" she finished, looking over her shoulder and down the hall.
"What do you want me to do? Check it out?"
She nodded embarrassedly.
"How old are you again?"
"Please, Ship? It really freaked me out" begged the girl, unfairly using the 'puppy pout'
Shippo groaned. As much as he teased and argued with Rin he could never resist his baby sister's pleading or use of his nickname. Without replying he walked over to the room, Rin following behind. She waited on her bed while Shippo opened each of her dresser drawers and closet.
Nothing.
"Like I said, probably a really loud neighbor"
"Maybe, you're right. Sorry" she apologized looking ashamed. Taking pity on her, he gave Rin a one armed hug.
"It's ok to get freaked out when you're getting used to a new place" he said in a soft tone, effectively comforting Rin. She hugged him, nodding.
"Thanks Ship" she mumbled.
"You troublemakers ready to go yet?" Sango shouted from downstairs.
"Yeah" Shippo yelled back, nudging Rin to get off the bed. "Don't worry about hearing drums, sis. Just close that window and you won't hear anything"
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For the rest of the day, Rin had completely forgotten about anything weird happening in her bedroom at home. Sango had been right about the people of Kyoko, most of them seemed quite pleasant and she had already made friends with the owner of the bookstore. They stopped to check out the local schools and to get a pizza for supper, since they were too exhausted to cook despite all the groceries Sango had purchased.
However, the moment she was about to turn off the light she froze like a deer caught in headlights.
*DumDum DumDum*
Before Rin knew it, she was outside Sango's room. She knocked softly as she opened the door. In the dim room, Rin could make out the outlined shadow of Sango sitting up.
"Rin?" Sango asked groggily, squinting at the light shining in the hallway, "Whazztz a matter?"
"Is it ok if I slept in here tonight, San?"
Instead of answering vocally. Sango shifted over to make room for her little sister, who climbed on gratefully. It was silent with a few small snores coming from Sango as she slowly drifted back to sleep. Still, Rin couldn't quite fall asleep.
"San?"
"Hmmm?"
"What do you do when you're scared of something, but you don't know what it is?"
"Face my fears. Think of someone you want to protect and do it" Sango replied mumbling something about spiders.
"Face my fears" Rin repeated to herself.
'Tomorrow, I'm going to find who or what is making that noise' she thought with a strong sense of determination. No longer feeling anxious Rin happily snuggled closer to her sister.
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The next day it rained, or to put it more accurately, it was pouring. Water dripped from the eavesdrops and the window were spotted with droplets. Shippo traced the lines of liquid that trailed down the outside of the glass, with a single clawed fingertip. Rin was upstairs in her room and Sango was busy talking to her cell phone, since the phone line wasn't connected yet. A heavily red inked newspaper was on the table open to the classifieds.
"Yes, I just moved to town and I am currently looking for employment... Oh you're done hiring? Ok... ok... Thank you... bye" she hung up, "Ahhhhh! You would think that at least someone would be hiring, but nooooo"
She angrily picked up the pen and viciously crossed out the meat market advertisement.
"I'm done! I need to break before I toss my phone out the window" she declared, sitting beside Shippo, arms crossed. It should be a crime to have such a good resume and not be able to use it, Sango concluded to herself rubbing her temples.
"No luck?" Shippo inquired much to Sango's irritation. She knew how much of a smart aleck her brother was when he was bored.
"What was your first clue?" she glared.
"Jeeze, sorry for asking"
"Hey, Sango?" called Rin, hallway down the stairs.
"What Rin?"
"Do we have an attic?"
Sango thought for a moment. When Hojo had shown her the house, he had told her that there was a closet door that lead up to an attic in the linen closet beside the bathroom.
"Yeah, why?"
"Can we go see what's up there?" she questioned, sounding excited.
"Ummm" Sango looked over at Shippo, who shrugged, "One minute"
The stairs leading up to topmost floor of the house were dusty and creaked in protest as the three siblings climbed up, Sango was the first to reach the top and she immediately searched for a light switch which thankfully worked.
Piles of cardboard boxes filled the vast room, along with some old furniture. A few square windows lined the wooden walls, bathing the middle of the floor in pale light.
"What's all this?" the youngest girl wondered aloud, peering into the closest box which was filled with faded shirts covered in a layer of dust.
"Junk left behind" Shippo stated, reading the writing on another box.
I ash Taka hi
The box seemed as if it had suffered water damage, but whatever it contained probably wasn't very important. Sango moved about the attic. She cracked a small smile as she passed open boxes that had brands and logos she recognized from her own teen years in the nineties.
"Check this out, a VCR" Shippo exclaimed, "How the heck did people live without DVDs?"
"What the heck is this?" asked Rin from the other side of the attic, as she held up a cassette tape.
"The grandpa of the CD, hon. You need a stereo with a cassette player" Sango piped up.
"Didn't dad have a bunch of these?"
"Yeah, mum had some too. She liked David Bowie the most" nodded Sango.
"Who?" both Shippo and Rin asked.
"Never mind" waved off the oldest Tayjia.
*Ring...Ring...*
That's gotta be the door bell. I'll be back in a sec" announced Sango leaving quickly to answer the front door. Rin turned back to the box she was inspecting and lifted the objects out until she reached the bottom. Her small hand came in contact with something else that was inside. She pulled out a small flat bar with engraved writing. Rin's brown eyes widened in awe when she recognized some of the ancient characters. Being the history buff that she was, this was a very appreciated find.
Feudal Era read the markings.
Curiosity overriding any other possible emotion forced the young teen to search for a way to open the container. Discovering the thatch helped Rin to open the lid. It was some kind of board game.
"Ship, wanna play a game?" she inquired, reading the instructions inside.
"What game?"
"Feudal Era"
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"Hello, may I help you?" Sango greeted, opening the front door. A tall man dressed in a police officer uniform stood outside, smiling pleasantly. He was very handsome Sango noticed with a small blush. Black hair that was possibly shoulder length was tied back in a dragon-tail and deep violet brown eyes that prompted a smile from the young woman.
"Oh no. I just came to welcome you to the town of Kyoko. I'm officer Miroku Houshi" he said, holding out his hand, while tripping on the door step. Sango, stunned looked down at where Miroku's hand ended up. Right on the left side of her chest. Neither adult moved for a split second, until Sango slapped his hand away.
"Please forgive me, my lady. It was an accident" the officer apologized, although Sango guessed that it wasn't an 'accident'. However, he was a part of the police and it might not be a good idea to be on foul terms with him.
"May I ask you something officer?"
"Of course"
"Is it normal for you to personally greet new citizens? Or is there another reason for you being here?" the woman questioned brushing some stray hair from her ponytail out of the way.
The smile on Miroku's face dimmed slightly and his eyes softened, which concerned Sango slightly.
"Actually no, but I wanted to see who moved to this particular house. My friend Inuyasha used to live here before he mysteriously disappeared and another one of my friends had a traumatic experience that same night. I don't know what happened, no one does but her. So the old Takahashi house has been labeled a wonderment. I guess you could say that I was curious about seeing who had the courage to move here" he explained.
'Good looks and brains can't co-exist can they?' Sango mentally sighed.
Mysterious disappearance?
Surrrrreeeeee. He most likely ran away. Maybe it was some unspoken rule for every small time town to have a creepy house that everyone tried to stay away from.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but if you will excuse me, I have to get back inside. My younger brother and sister need my help" she practically lied, wanting to bid this officer farewell.
"Alright, that's fine. Good day, Miss..."
"Tayjia" she answered waving good-bye as she closed the door, shutting him outside.
"I love when they play hard to get" Miroku chuckled, making his way through the rain to the blue and white vehicle.
Sango peered through the window to make sure Miroku left, before heading stairs. Irritated with the stray hair that once again fell in front of her eyes, Sango made a detour to the bathroom to brush her chestnut hair back into a high ponytail.
"I can't wait till the rest of my stuff get s here. I miss my straighter" she moaned dramatically.
Sango found Shippo and Rin sitting cross-legged on a crinkled ring, around what looked like a game. Rin glanced up and smiled at her sister, chocolate brown eyes sparkling with happiness.
"Want to play Sango? We haven't started yet"
Sango's eye crinkled as she returned a wide grin, but her nose scrunched up at the idea of sitting on a grimy floor. The two teens' were dusty and smeared dirt clung to their socks, making Sango wince. She wasn't looking forward to doing laundry.
"Only if we go downstairs and you troublemakers change" she requested sternly, hinting heavily that they should do what she asked right away. Rin and Shippo exchanged sheepish looks and picked up the pieces.
A little while later, Sango, Shippo and Rin crowded around the island kitchen counter with a few bowls of assorted chips and salted peanuts, setting up the game. Shippo dumped the playing pieces on the marble designed surface as Sango laid out the thick papered board. As soon as the board touched the counter, three pieces; a staff, a sword and a bow, zipped over to random spaces like they were magnetized. Shippo stared down in surprise and Sango lifted a corner of the paper up to peer underneath.
"Ok that's weird" observed Sango, eyebrows furrowed.
"What is?" asked Rin, tearing her eyes from the instructions, "Hey, don't pick my piece! That's bad luck"
"We didn't, the game... must have" Shippo replied in confusion.
"Must be an older game with some left over demonic energy" offered Sango in consideration.
Rin nodded, accepting that thought. After all, at one point, before technology become a major factor in both human and demon society, demonic energy and maybe a little holy magic powered most things.
"Stupid game has demonic energy, but I don't" the Kitsune grumbled childishly. Sango tried to remove the sword from the fourth space to the start, but found that it didn't budge.
"Guess we'll have to play around them. Ok, well at least there's three other pieces" Sango half shrugged. The remaining wooden objects consisted of a spinning top, a boomerang and a flower. Cinnamon brown orbs narrowed, meeting emerald green.
"Boomerang! Called it!"
"Boomerang! Called it!"
Two pairs of hands fought over the claimed piece, Shippo being mindful of his claws.
Rin rolled her eyes at the immature display before her, 'And they're suppose to be my role models'
"Shippo, if you don't let go, I'll take away your mp3 and DS" Sango threatened, gritting her teeth.
"I'm not bowing down to your terrorist demands!" Shippo exclaimed making a mental note to hide said possessions. Sango gave one final tug and fell to the floor, taking Shippo with her. The boomerang piece was clutched tightly in her hand and she held it triumphantly, pushing her brother off of her. Knowing that Sango had won fair and square, he gave up and picked the other less girly piece left, the spinning top.
"And Rin's the flower. So what do we do Oh Reader of the Instructions" joked Sango now in a cheerful mood. It didn't take Rin long to explain the directions and objectives of the game, they seemed fairly easy.
"How about we go from youngest to oldest?" Rin suggested which was agreed by the others. That was how they always played much to Sango's annoyance.
Cupping the dice, Rin gave them a good shake and let them slide from her palms.
A five and a two.
Sango passed the pink jewel over and Rin eagerly awaited for the award or punishment.
"Wolves can be evil brutes and those of a demonic nature can be even more savage... Ummmm ok so are the rewards like fun facts?" she asked no one in particular.
Grrrrrrrr
The rumble of a deep-throated growl resonated in the clean kitchen.
"Shippo? W-w-was that you?" she stammered, a cold wave of unexpected fear rolled over her. Shippo shook his head, his eyes wide as dinner plates as he stared over her head.
Slowly she turned around and there crouched in the doorway were canines bigger than any domestic dog she had ever seen. Their coats were a blackish brown and the course fur was mangy. Paws as large as frying pans were tipped with claws longer than Shippo's, their razor sharp fangs yellowed. Several pairs of beady eyes peered back at the humans and Kitsune, hungrily and cruel.
"What the fuc-"
"Quiet Shippo. Don't make any sudden movements" warned Sango, inching her hand over to grab something that would fend off the wolves. Her trembling limb enclosed on the handle of a cleaver from the knife rack.
'I don't know what's going on, but I have to protect Rin and Shippo' Sango's eyes roamed around the room. Maybe she could scare them, but what if that provoked the wolves more? She needed to get her siblings some place safe first.
"Guys, I want you to get into the pantry, now" she ordered.
"But San"
"Just do it"
Thanks to all the training she had received in sports and martial arts, Sango leapt over the counter, swinging the cleaver in a wide arch which momentarily startled the canines. Shippo had to shove the petrified thirteen year old to the pantry and stood guard at the door in case Sango needed access to the safe room.
"Wolves... wolves... just like what that jewel said" cried Rin hysterically as she heard the snarls and grunts of the animals attacking her sister.
It was too much of a bizarre coincidence to be unrelated.
Feudal Era was obviously not an ordinary board game.
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