Chapter Two:

Mm…I have an ill feeling towards this story. Something negative will come from this, most likely? :[ Unfortunately my predictions don't disappoint their impending outcomes.

In the early hours of the morning, Akiye bolted from her comfortable position in bed and looked towards the window, alert.

Wha…? What was that? The sound repeated itself once more before the night became silent. It made her uneasy and vulnerable the more she tried to figure out what the noise was. She wanted to get up and look outside, but was afraid that whatever had made that noise was close by.

Making up her mind, she slipped from her bed and headed towards the door being as quiet as possible. She hadn't done this in years, she thought to herself. Tip-toeing her way down the hall to her right she came to the first closed door before opening it half-way; peeking in. All she saw were shadows and a lump in a bed to her left. She opened the door enough to where she was able to slip in and closed the door behind her.

"Ai." She whispered her twin's name before she got closer. She tried again but her sister was dead to the world in her rest. She shuffled over before climbing into the bed and poking Ai's arm.

"Ai?" She poked a bit harder. "Aaiii." Jab, jab. That worked; Ai snapped her eyes open and gave her sister a curious and annoyed look.

She yawned before rubbing her eyes and glancing at her pink alarm clock. "It's nearly one in the morning, Aki." She gave a drowsy glare at being woken up, "You should be sleeping."

Aki bit her lip before responding, "I know that, but I couldn't sleep; something woke me up." She frowned.

"Like what?" She yawned again.
"Like a really creepy howling noise. You didn't hear it?" It was hard to believe, considering how the noise was still ringing in her ears. It scared her how a sound would spook her so and not leave her alone. That'd never happened before.

"No, I didn't." Ai said. She looked at her windows. "Are your windows open?"

Akiye thought over it. She may have left one open.

"Maybe."

"Well there's your answer; mine are closed. You must have heard it because there was an opening into your room." She pushed herself into a comfortable sitting position, fully awake now.

Aki stared at the posters on her sister's walls, pondering over the noise she'd heard. She still had goose bumps and her heart was still buzzing, but…it made her feel something else, but she couldn't conclude on what.

"Hey," Ai said, fixing a determined look on, "So what's been on your mind lately anyway? You just haven't been yourself."

Akiye frowned, tearing her eyes from the posters to meet that of her twin's.

"I don't know," She started, "It's hard to explain."

"Just try." Her sister said, "And if you start feeling unsure and stop, I'll do my best and help you figure the rest out, 'kay?" She made it sound like it was a difficult math problem Akiye needed help with. She wished this feeling was as simple as an equation. At least there were books to help with that sort of thing.

"Just…" She fidgeted, clasping and unclasping her hands, "I don't know…do you…do you ever feel like you're not…" She stopped, feeling like a dumb child. She felt her body temperature rise in time with her embarrassment. She sighed.

Ai raised her eyebrows and gestured her head forward, making the sign for her sister to continue.

"Do you ever feel like...like you're missing a piece of you…?"

Ai blinked, "What do you mean?" She was totally confused now. Her twin was strange, yes. But this was the weirdest question she'd ever asked.

Aki bit her bottom lip and set her eyes back on the wall. "Like…missing a part of you? Half full. A yearning for something more...I don't know, really…the right words to use and all that..."

Ai nodded some. She could understand what she meant, but she couldn't grasp the why of it. What was there for her to yearn for, to miss?

Akiye sighed again. She hadn't had much time to really think on the matter. And when she did, she never thought quite hard enough; something always blocked her from getting to that answer she needed.

They both sat in silence, thinking the same thing over; trying to find an answer.

"I just want to run." Ai looked up, surprised with the comment from Aki.

"Run? Like, runaway? If you mean just plain old running, then go outside tomorrow, we have parks for a reason." Ai said. And here I thought being a big sister would mean helping Akiye out with first loves, serious relationships and schooling; not psychology.

Aki let out a frustrated breath, mainly from her inability to put her feelings into words; understandable and quick to the point words. She hated beating around the bush.

She groaned; shifting her position from squatting, to wrapping her arms around her legs and leaning her chin on the top of her knees. Her foot twitched a careless rhythm on Ai's purple quilt.

"I feel like I'm missing something; something that makes me up to be me. A full me. I think there's just something out there that I need to get or find or meet, whatever it is I have to do, I don't know, but I need it desperately!" She couldn't stand holding it in anymore. She hated 'something's'; 'something's' were things Unknown, which you couldn't quite label yet.

Ai frowned, staring at her twin as she tried her best to keep from snapping before she crawled forward and wrapped her arms around Aki and pushed her against her front; cradling her twin to her body regardless that they were the same height. Resting her chin on her sister's shoulder, she felt Akiye shake at keeping her emotions in check. Aki could be wily, but was normally pretty docile, but lately something had caused her to have a personality switch and a half.

"You know it is okay to cry; every once in a while." She said, "You keep your emotions so closed in, so you should expect freak outs like this…" She petted Aki's hair as she rocked slightly; trying her best to do the same methods their mother did when they were upset.

"I hate crying." Her twin's muffled voice responded. "My face gets all itchy and red and don't get me started on the waterfall my nose becomes when that happens." She pushed away from Ai, shifting her position to a more comfortable one but made no move to leave the embrace.

Ai laughed a little at her sister's comment; stubborn till the end, even with her close to balling her eyes out.

"But really," Ai said, "On how you're feeling. It's pretty confusing, but maybe we should talk with 'kaa-san about it. She'd probably know what to do to help." She fingered a piece of her twin's black hair.

"As long as it doesn't involve me being instituted, I'm all for it." She sister cracked, before she obviously started to doze off, Ai not far behind her.

"…hey."

"Yeah?" Ai asked.

"Sorry 'bout today, yeah know, for hitting you…" Aki was drawling her words out, sleep trying to keep a hold of her.

Ai yawned, "It's okay. Just don't be in a hurry to start a fight every time I grab you; got it?" She slid back into her pillows, Aki going with her.

"…and for slapping you..."

"It's okay." Her head was feeling fuzzy.

"…and for biting you…"

"Aki, I get the point."

"…and for--" Her words went muffled as Ai slapped a pillow over Akiye's face to shut her up.

"Oyasumi."

--

Dawn came with the sun blinding through the windows of the Master bedroom, regardless of the drapes covering them.

Ayame opened her eyes, glaring as she moved her hand up and hitting the 'Snooze' button on her alarm clock before she had the energy to turn it off properly. Thankfully it was Sunday, so she didn't have to wake the girls up.

She rolled to her left side, shifting her form as she stepped onto the cool wood flooring and headed out of the room to check on them none the less.

She made her way to Ai's room, skipping over Akiye's room when she noticed her youngest's door was cracked open and her scent was heaviest in the eldest's. Peeking in she grinned at the joined lump in Ai's bed, Ai's arm thrown carelessly over her twin's face which had a pillow over it (She couldn't quite figure out why. How could she breathe?). Pleased to see the girls had made-up without having to force them to; she headed for the Master bathroom, intent on a shower before she did anything else.

Besides, she had to look presentable for the confrontation she needed to make for today.

--

Ai was the first to wake up as she glanced at the clock, noticing it to be half past nine. She yawned as she tried to stretch but realized she couldn't and look down.

Aki was still asleep and clinging to her sister; a pillow over her face. Ai forgot to take it off after her sister finally quit rambling in her sleepiness. She picked up a corner and peeked under, glad to hear her twin still breathing even with the heavy cotton over her mouth but wrinkled her nose at the smell of Aki's morning breath. Ew.

She yawned again as she shimmied her way slowly out from under her sister trying to keep her from waking up, and slipping on to the floor of her room. Getting on two feet she tip-toed her way to the bathroom she and Akiye shared. Her sister's breath made her consider her own more closely, and had her wanting to brush her teeth desperately.

--

There was a specific code to confronting people. You had to have the decency to come clean and well groomed; showing your vanity and arrogance against them. Yet you had to have the right air of 'I could be doing something important, then speaking to the likes of you' with the equal amount of confidence (Not cockiness), to which Ayame believed as she thought to herself as she rummaged in her closet for a set of casual clothing before pulling out a thin shirt and decent skirt. She never had been a pants type of girl.

She didn't bother with any accessories, they weren't needed. She grabbed a pair of flats and headed down stairs, hearing the water running in her girls' bathroom. She made her way into the entrance of the house, coming to a small table with a phone and notepad laid. She grabbed the pen that rested next to the pad, writing a quick note, before she slipped her flats on and went out the door.

--

Akiye was having another one of her indescribable dreams again as she twisted and turned in Ai's bed, her body temperature rising causing her to overheat.

There was a buzz of life amongst the camp of 30 or so men, all clad in armors and fur of different colors, wrapped around their waists and arms. It was dark, with only the large campfire they had going keeping it from being completely black; a shiver went down her spine as she subconsciously knew they needed no light to see; only it was of necessity to keep warm in the bite of the night.

Along the mens' sides were wolves with their eyes aglow from the yellow flames, making her think they were more then mere wolves you'd see in a forest.

While a dream, she could clearly smell the stench of Sake, but she couldn't identify the second smell…it made her senses stir at it, awakening something deep.

And in all her nervousness and confusion…she wanted to be there. She wanted to feel that thrill of the Hunt, the Chase.

She twitched, feeling what she'd been trying to find for weeks, an answer.

This. Whoever these men were, what they did (For how she knew what they do, she didn't know), what they were. She knew that this is what she was looking for; her other half.

--

Ai came back into her bedroom, body and hair wrapped in towels, and looked over to see Aki growling in her sleep. She stared for a good minute before getting over the freak factor and went over to shake her awake.

--

Aki shivered as she felt the atmosphere change from relaxed to tense, ready for an attack. She glanced around; looking for what they felt was in the area.

There was a cracking as trees were ripped out of something's way and a guttural cry was heard in the crushed foliage's direction. Soon the strange men were shouting out to each other, speaking of how and when to attack.

The thing let out another loud cry before Akiye realized it was closing in behind her.

She ran towards the men, hoping to take cover behind them, but as she looked back again she saw something large and black falling over her (The creature's foot, she guessed?); she wouldn't make it without being crushed.

She was going to die, wasn't she?

She looked forward and tried her best to move quicker.

She heard the loud 'swoosh' objects made when they were moving at a high velocity. Aki kept her eyes trained ahead, opening her mouth to scream as she felt the air around the thing coming closer, hitting her back before the actual creature did.

Before she hit the ground, she caught a glancing of two glowing blue orbs.

How strange…they reminded her…

--

"Akiye, wake up! Hello, Earth to Aki!" Ai shaked her sister fully, trying to get her up and had been having no luck until Akiye bolted up, slamming their heads together on accident.

Ai fell backwards, grasping her (For the second time) hurting head, tears clinging to her eyes from the pain.

Akiye was sitting up with her eyes dilated and her breathing uneven.

It took a second before Ai stopped moaning over her aching forehead, and looked at her sister. Aki's complexion was pale compared to her tanned skin, and her voice sounded raspy and dry from her heavy panting. Something spooked her pretty bad, she figured.

Ai winced, picking herself up and crawled back into her bed that Aki still occupied. She came up to her twin, and patted the side of Akiye's face, who was still staring dazedly in front of her.

"Bad dream?" She patted again, hoping to knock her sister out of her daze but not as intensely as she had waking up.

Aki focused her eyes, and land them on her twin's face. Ai blinked back.

"Blue." She said it in a pouting way, confused. Ai was just as confused as her now.

"Blue?" What did a color have to do with a bad dream?

Aki nodded off and slid against the pillows. Ai crawled after her.

"What do you mean by blue?" Aki blinked a few times, staring at the ceiling.

"Blue." Akiye said it in the way she did when she believed the person speaking to her was asking the stupidest question in the world, making Ai want to rip her hair out.

"Fine." She huffed and went to change out of her towel for a clean set of clothes.

Aki blinked at her sister's retreating form before slowly getting up and stumbling from the bed; heading for the kitchen.

--

It was still humid out where Ayame was walking to, already close to Noon. She figured the girls were up or in the process of getting up; or so she hoped.

She needed to get home by three if she wanted to keep them from thinking she wasn't out shopping for a friend's wedding. Which she wasn't, but they didn't need to know that.

She had been planning to talk with her 'Visitor' and his friends about their need to get deeper into her business. They were becoming too curious; too close to her girls. She didn't like it.

She knew where they resided, unfortunately, so it took her no time to get to a large building that resembled a rusty warehouse. She didn't understand how they could call this place 'Home'. She looked up at one of the barred windows, frowning as she made her way up the unpaved surrounding to the garage door to the left.

She walked up and knocked on it. It took a few minutes before there was a growling noise and a person kicking at the ground muttering something she couldn't quite hear. She did hear the person on the other side take in a deep breath, though, and the door opened up, revealing a tall blonde man in a pair of ripped jeans, the growling now whines as three large brown wolves were circled around him.

He grinned at her, "Hey, Ayame."

The wolves tried to get close enough to sniff her, but Ayame glared at him before storming past; the man stared where she had been, blinking.

"…okay then."

"Where's Koga?" She growled out. She was walking harshly around the place, looking. She stopped before a fleet of metal stairs, then turned on her heel and caught the blonde's eye.

"Well?" She asked.

The blonde glared, not liking to be pushed around by a female.

"He isn't here."

"Well where is he then?" She returned the glare ten times fold.

"Out. Listen, bitch, Koga isn't here to tell me otherwise, but I'm not telling you jack."

Her eyes flashed at the comment, "I'm no dog." She growled out.

"Yeah, well the way you're living in the 'Domesticated Paradise' as such, you are." He snarled.

She bit back her snarky comment (And her indignant anger), and addressed her business.

"Since he isn't here then, I have a message for you to give back to him. I want him to keep his men the hell away from my home, family, and to stay out of my life all together. Got it?" She stomped past him again, but was stopped by the man's hand wrapped around her arm.

"I'll tell him, but I make no promise that he'll go with it. We stick together, Ayame, no matter how much you keep pushing away your Heritage." With that, he pushed her arm out of his hand and walked away.

Ayame just stared at him, before she noticed the other scarcely placed males up top leaning on the railings that made the barrier of the stairway on the second floor, looking down at the scene she was making.

She left quietly, refusing to give into the man's bait and made her way home.

--

Akiye was rummaging through the cupboards, three strips of Nori in her mouth, left over rice from her untouched dinner, and was currently looking for the bottle of soy sauce. You'd think a tall bottle like it would be easy to find, she thought as she sighed.

After checking the third shelf again, she finally found the glass bottle and put her right foot pointed down while her one hand cradled the soy sauce and container of rice to her chest and the other limb was resting on the counter, balancing herself before she jumped off.

Unfortunately, when she was about to fly off, the kitchen servant from last night walked in.

"Miss?" He said while staring wide eyed at her. She blinked before really looking at herself; taking in her being in her pajamas still, with her mouth full of dried seaweed, right arm full of ingredients, and her bare feet on the clean counters. Not the best image she wanted to give the new guy.

"Uh, yeah?" He looked at her once more before shaking his head.

"Nothing; but really, if you needed to reach something I could have gotten it for you."

She grinned around the Nori, "Yeah, but you weren't around yet," She hopped off the counter, "And I figured you were sleeping, so I didn't want to wake you up. No biggie." She set the bottle and container down on another counter before pulling out the slices of Nori out of her mouth (Which were now soggy on one half, she noted).

The servant sighed before he walked over to where she was, grabbing a plate out and setting it before her.

"Thanks." Aki said, moving the plate closer, "So what's your name? I think 'kaa-san told me but I don't remember it." She spoke up as she went to get chopsticks from a drawer. The servant watched her, before responding.

"Hansuke."

"Cool. Hans." She said as she turned, the servant reaching for the rice and soy sauce, intending to make the girl's breakfast. Before he could make it he got his hand slapped away. He stared in shock at the offended limb and looked up at the offender. Akiye waved her chopsticks in the air and set them down within grabbing reach.

"I'm capable of making my own breakfast." She closed her eyes and gave a joking grin. "No worries this early, 'kay?"

Hansuke sighed again, and gave Aki an amused smile.

"Just this once I suppose."

Aki nodded, pleased that she had won, and went to work on making her meal.

Hallo.

I wrote this up last night on the laptop while babysitting for a new family; after I was able to pry the eldest off my shoe, the middle from trying to convince me she slept in the closet and sometimes the metal toy shopping cart and the youngest that it was okay to go to bed without his Pirate Book (I was worried he'd poke an eye out sleeping with it and its hard edges), was able to finish working on chapter two.

Please review!

~A'n'S