Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei

Shout-outs:

kagehime: I'm glad you liked it. And thanks for the condolences.

AnimeAngelRin: I don't think it's too odd to have Hisoka and Kurikara be your favorite characters. My favorite characters in Rurouni Kenshin are Saitou and Tsubame—the former an ex-Shinsengumi master swordsman who believes in destroying evil wherever he finds it, and the latter a ten-year-old waitress as innocent and helpless as a newborn lamb.

laustic: Thank you much for the compliments, and also for reading/commenting my lj. Muraki's owner's guide has been posted, and the YnM Jukebox has been updated, too.

ShinigamixGirl: Does Nagare hate his son? (Evil Knowledgeable Grin) Keep reading…

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: That's odd; your review wasn't e-mailed to me. Huh, probably because you didn't sign in.

In case you haven't noticed, I have a love of shipping and minor characters. Put them together, and…well. I'm actually very fond of the ship name I made up for Maria/Kijin: the JS Thunderous Voice (and actually, Maria gets to play a small part next chapter, as we transition to Hong Kong when Yoshiro's plot gets started). You should see my shipping lists for everything else, like Ragtime. I don't know anyone else who can ship Mother with Father, Tateh, and Sarah (and if you don't know what Ragtime is, you are a deprived person and need to go buy the soundtrack toot suite).

Aacire: Thanks, darling. (Hug)

jennamarie: Just thinking about what I'm trying to do with Nagare makes my insides knot up with nervousness. This is totally uncharted territory for me. I can only hope that y'all like how this all turns out concerning what happens between Hisoka and Nagare. Especially since I'm stopping this storyline with Filial Piety. I'm out of ideas. (But then I can start working on the side-stories and prologues! Yay!)

I'm really glad that you mentioned how Tsuzuki taught Hisoka something besides hate, because I recently discovered this song which is that statement all over: "This Is to Mother You" by Sinead O'Connor, and amazingly, it doesn't have a creepy incest vibe. Some lyrics: "For when you need me I will do/What your own mother didn't do/Which is/To mother you/All the pain that you have known/All the violence in your soul/All the wrong things you have done/I will take from you when I come/All mistakes made in distress/All your unhappiness/I will take away with my kiss, yes/I will give you tenderness … I'm here to mother you/To comfort you/And get you through/Through when your nights are lonely/Through when your dreams are only blue/This is to mother you."

Did I seriously write that it was a parasite? (Bashes head against wall) NOTE TO ALL READERS: By "parasite" I meant "insect". What is up with me lately? Please just excuse it as pre-graduation stress.

Masami-chan: Thanks, hon.

Bearing Good News, Bearing Bad

"Hey, Ru-chan."

Rui looked up, her face already set in a silent glare once she heard who was talking to her. "What do you want, Kasane?"

"You to take a muscle relaxant," Kasane replied breezily, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "You look constipated."

"You think you're witty, don't you?"

"Actually, yes. Byakko often comments to the affirmative on that point."

"I'm not interested in hearing about your love life."

"You know, for the very hateful way you've been acting towards me, it's still very telling that you're waiting for me."

"I'm waiting for my husband," Rui snapped, turning away.

"Well, he won't be along for a few minutes; I left before everyone else."

"Did you bring your monster boyfriend with you?"

"Byakko decided to stay in Gensoukai," Kasane said through gritted teeth. "There's damage control to take care of."

"Oh, so you met with Kushinada-youkai?"

"No. We met with a particularly nasty bear."

Rui stood up with a snort.

"Oh, calm down," Kasane said, grabbing her sister's wrist and pulling her back down into her chair. "Don't get all pissy on me. You walked into that one."

"If you don't mind, I'd rather just find my husband and get out of here."

"Good luck with that. Kushinada-youkai isn't dead."

"What?"

"We got her minion, but she escaped."

"Well, you're brilliant, aren't you?" Rui snorted contemptuously.

"Your husband was fighting, too," Kasane shot back. "And you might be interested in knowing of a little heroism on his part."

"Excuse me?"

"Not only did Nagare fight alongside us, he managed to rescue a child member of that Shikigami race you're so terrified of," Kasane said. "And furthermore, he went out of his way to do it."

"My husband is a good enough man to look past that abnormality."

"Or maybe he never gave a shit in the first place," Kasane retorted. "He's arrogant, and has severely misplaced priorities, but a racist he isn't. The only one who ever cared about this "abnormality" is you, Rui, because you're scared of yourself."

"You can't blame me for that. Look at our parents."

"Look at me."

Rui did the exact opposite.

"You're lucky you're my sister, Rui," Kasane said with disgust, standing up. "In a lot of ways."

She turned on her heel and walked away, not waiting for an answer that did not come.

"This is gonna suck," Hisoka said, staring up at Kokakuro's sign, swatting an insect away from his face.

"I hate this," Tsuzuki said, biting his lip. "I haven't had to do this in a while, but it's just as awful as actually telling the person that they're dead."

"Then let's just get this over with," Hisoka said in a rush. "And then we'll just go to Hong Kong and see Yoshiro."

"Should we leave him with Tsubaki?"

"Yeah. No way in Hell I'm bringing my little brother back here until that bitch is dead. What is with this bug?" He swiped a hand through the air, effectively pushing the insect away from his face.

A maid answered the door, one who recognized their faces, and bade them follow her towards Oriya's room. She left them silently, seemingly able to sense what kind of tidings they bore.

"Uh-oh," Oriya muttered matter-of-factly, looking up and catching sight of the two. "Normally when you two show up, something's happened. Usually bad."

"We're not going to break that pattern, unfortunately," Hisoka answered.

"Is Kira dead?" Oriya asked bluntly, face betraying no emotion.

"Y…es," Tsuzuki replied, taken aback.

"I had a feeling that would happen one day," Oriya continued plainly. "She was always such a stupid, reckless woman…I bet she died nobly sacrificing herself, right?"

"Yes," Hisoka took over, not as adept in showing his shock as Tsuzuki. "The second-in-command is dead because of her."

"I need better friends. Not one of them has had the decency to say good-bye to me before they up and kick the bucket."

"Oriya?" Tsuzuki put forward cautiously.

"It's actually really damn annoying after awhile. I thought we Japanese were supposed to be famous for our politeness."

"Oriya!"

"What? It's not like I'm having an entirely inappropriate reaction to the death of my last friend or anything."

Silence.

"You are at least here on her request, right?"

"She did ask us to give you her good-byes," Hisoka said, voice low.

"Better than the other two. Well, Ukyo didn't have much choice…"

Tsuzuki flinched at the memories surrounding Muraki's death. He glanced over at Hisoka, who had paled slightly.

"What are you going to do now?" Tsuzuki asked delicately.

"Who knows? Dismantle the life I built with that woman for the past six years, I guess. Where's Kushinada?" Oriya asked abruptly.

"In Meifu. She…didn't want to come."

"How is she?"

"We don't really know. She walked away after refusing to come."

"She probably feels responsible."

"What?"

"It's her evil split-personality causing all this." Oriya rose from the floor and went for the window, his back turned to Hisoka and Tsuzuki. He unlatched and then opened the window, leaning outside into the evening air. He swayed, back and forth, halfway out the window and back into the room.

"Oriya?"

"Do you mind? I'm grieving." He turned around, almost collapsing back against the wall. "And you probably have somewhere to be. You neglected any mention of taking out the first-in-command."

"No…she escaped," Hisoka said.

"Then you'd better get going and destroy her before she kills someone else."

Ripping an inter-dimensional hole hadn't been easy, though Kushinada observed it was easier to create one between Meifu and Gensoukai than Hell and Gensoukai, especially for an artificial demon such as herself. Hiding out in Meifu was easy, as well. Simply pick a spot away from the Ministry building, and no one was the wiser.

She glanced up, feeling the small presence of her Shikome. She held out her finger for the small insect. As it perched on her finger her skin rippled and then came up to absorb her creation back into her body. She waited out the few seconds it took for the Shikome to be absorbed in her bloodstream.

"Huh…he didn't exist six years ago," she muttered to herself.

She turned, facing west, eyes narrowed. Once again she pulled up her sleeve and formed a sphere of energy, though larger this time. She tossed it away, palm up. The ball landed on the ground and began to take shape. As the light faded away, in its place stood a Shikome bearing strong reminiscence to Akuko.

She frowned at it, sending her orders into the creature's mind. It nodded its acceptance of the orders, then turned westward, reciting the basic facts in his mind.

Hong Kong. Tsubaki. Yoshiro.

Again, I am not too happy with it. It's not "wailing and gnashing of teeth" awful, but certainly not my best. Hopefully I can end this bad streak. My muses have too much PTO…