SailorStar9: This is Chapter 4 of this fic. (Sighs) Remember, boys and girls, reviews are an author's subsistence.
Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny and the pairings.
Chapter 4: Tokusa's Return
"Damn..." Tokusa muttered, awakening to a ceiling she knew all too well. "Guess I'm back again." she sighed.
"Don't strain yourself." Hakkai warned, entering with a washbowl and a towel.
"You..." Tokusa tried to get up, before falling back on the bed as a flash of pain erupted from her back.
"You hurt your back pretty bad." Hakkai supplied.
"Understatement." Tokusa muttered, causing the mild-mannered demon to chuckle nervously.
"Those wounds on your body," Hakkai started. "They weren't made recently, were they?"
Tokusa stiffened, her mind going back on one of the harshest 'disciplinary' sessions she underwent in Hyakugan Maoh's dungeons.
Flashback
A much younger Tokusa grunted as the fiery nine-o-the-wisp whip lashed on her bare body for the umpteenth time.
"You witch!" Seta, her current executioner snapped, flogging the teenage female "This is what you get for failing Hyakugan-sama!"
"Seta." Hyakugan Maoh raised a hand, signaling for the demon to back down.
Seta bowed and exited.
"You are my weapon, Jinchūriki." the demon lord tilted Tokusa's head up with his fingers. "You are my pet; a dog on a leash for me to pull and direct whenever I wish to fight for me. You will do well in remembering that. Consider this your first and only warning. Do not fail me again." with the threat leaving his lips, he strutted off.
Thank Kami for small miracles. Tokusa mused; she had been on a mission to kill Sanzo and steal his Scripture when Goku intervened, knocking her out with his weapon. Having spotted the obedience seal Hyakugan had placed on the back of her head, the pre-teen had informed his companion who then removed the said seal and allowing the Hana no Tama's powers to kick in. When Tokusa awoke, Sanzo had explained what he had done. With her obedience seal gone, Tokusa jumped at the chance when Sanzo offered her a place in his small entourage.
"A bit lost in thought?" Hakkai offered.
"Sorry, just remember some things." Tokusa waved his concern aside.
"You need to get your strength back." Hakkai advised, handing her a bowl of soup.
Hakkai was standing mutely at the back as he watched Tokusa pay her respects to her late parents.
"Even in death," the Jinchūriki turned demon rested a hand on the headstone of her father. "They are separated. This town continues to take and take. It just isn't fair. " she whispered. "Koharu-sama," she snarled in disdain, sensing the aged village Council elder approaching. "To what reason do we owe this displeasure?"
"We require your presence in the council room. Now." the village elder replied.
"I am not at the beck and call of this council." Tokusa shot back.
"You don't have a choice!." the old woman glared and handed Hakkai the summons letter.
"It's a summons from the council." Hakkai stated, reading the letter. "It says you are to come immediately and alone." and frowned when he saw his companion's smirk.
"What? You didn't think I'd listen to them, did you?" Tokusa raised a brow. "You're coming with me."
"But Tokusa…it clearly states…"
"That I'm to come alone, yada yada yada. I'm not part of the village anymore so I ain't doing jack squat they tell me to do. We have a meeting to attend."
The council all looked up when the doors to their chamber were thrown open and two people walked in. They were quite a sight.
Hakkai was in his usual green shirt and trousers, complete with the sash over his chest.
But it was the blue-haired female that intrigued them.
Tokusa stood in her battle suit, her now waist-long hair tied up on the top of her head in a tight bun and the expression of pure disdain on her face told them all they needed to know.
Perhaps they had made a mistake in calling her here. But it was too late for regrets.
"The floor is yours, Homura." Koharu looked at her fellow council member. "I hope you know what you're doing."
Homura frowned and stood up, leaning against his cane. "Thank you, Koharu. Uzuno Tokusa . You were to come here alone."
"If this council would like to continue to have an audience with me, then it had best damn well watch its mouth!" Tokusa snapped. "I don't want to be here in the first place so say what you have to say and be done with it!"
"Alright everyone, thank you for coming. We are here to decide whether or not you will allow Tokusa to take up the name Mizuno and take the seat for that clan on this council. Last time you voted nay. What say you all this time?"
Homura stood and addressed the his fellow council member. "Have you come across any new evidence to support the claims that one Uzuno Tokusa is indeed the daughter of Mizuno Takeshi and Uzuno Saeko?"
Koharu shook her head. "No. we haven't found any new evidence. Now what say you?"
The vote went around and it came up nay again. Koharu sighed and hung her head. This sealed the deal.
"Very well. Uzuno Tokusa may never take the name Mizuno then and the properties shall be sold off. This is the final decision of this council and may not be overturned. I shall now allow Tokusa to take the floor as he has something of interest to tell you all. Tokusa?"
She nodded her head and walked to the front of the room. Taking a rather large scroll from her back, she bit her thumb and swiped it over the length of the scroll, dumping out several more on the floor. Bending her knee, she picked up one and passed it to the council member closest to her. "These are the family scrolls of Mizuno Takeshi and Uzuno Saeko. As they are family scrolls, they cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of any untrustworthy people either in or out of the village. I have brought them all here to destroy them in front of the council, that they may never be used for ill."
All the council members blanched at that and began to call out.
Homura raised his hand, calling for silence. "Whence did you come by these scrolls, girl? These were locked away in the Mizuno household, protected by several blood seals and traps. Only one who was of the Mizuno bloodline could…" The old man's eyes grew large, large enough to bug out of his head. He lifted his gaze and locked eyes with Tokusa, who had a grim look on her face. "You…you really are…"
Before he could finish, Tokusa had raised her hand and started speaking again. "No, I am not. That was the supreme decision of this council. There are no Mizunos in the village anymore. Therefore, these scrolls must be destroyed and any evidence that could be used against the village must be destroyed also."
Everyone stood up and began shouting that she couldn't leave, she was the last Mizunos. It was foolish, she thought, that they would say this after a supreme decision. It couldn't be taken back. Besides, her mind had been made up. Summoning her power over plants, she shredded all the scrolls via a whirlwind of sakura petals, amidst a chorus of howls of anger. She felt a slight pinch in her heart as she destroyed her father's work, but took solace in the fact that only the originals were lost. Her parents' work would live on through her. She turned to the council member who clung to the tiny scroll and held out her hand. She scowled when the man jerked back, cradling the scroll as if it were precious.
"You come in here and destroy our mightiest leader's work and expect me to give up the last thing we may have of him? I don't care if you are his daughter, I won't…"
He never finished what he was about to say because Hakkai had leapt over the table and slammed him against the wall. His glass eye glinting, he snatched the scroll from the man and tossed it to the plant wielder in the middle of the room.
"Never say I'm his daughter." Tokusa snarled, destroying the scroll. "You idiots all denied me that right and I shall never forget it. The only reason I've returned is to investigate the surges of demonic energy, nothing more, nothing less. And if we are done beating about the bush, we're leaving." with that, she exited the council room with Hakkai in tow.
SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.