Sins of Blairwood-26

~The Search Final~

Erma was mad, she wanted so badly, to be of use to Senshi, but she couldn't even protect him, when he needed her most. She just grabbed the Perfect Cube, and he sent her away with Mitsu and Momo, all so they wouldn't get in his way. To top it off, she'd just flew into a forest to get some peace and quiet, before she ran into a man eating tree filled with skeletons.

"Ugh, this is so infuriating. I could have helped him, but Senshi just sent us away, he's always acting like the hero. An' we're still searching for her Aunt Rin, probably doesn't help that any clues we had, are probably useless at this point." Erma exclaimed, before something mooed.

Looking down, Erma saw a little cow like creature with the face of a human, completely terrified of her, as she was unconsciously using her powers to make boulders and roots float.

"This is so annoying." She sighed, dropping the boulders and root, with the little creature running away.

Splash-splash.

Erma stopped and turned to the direction the sound came from. She waited for a second, before the sound came again. It sounded like someone was skipping stones on water. Heading for the source of this sound, Erma climbed over the roots of the man eating tree and found a river on the other side. The sound of the splashing drew her attention to the left a ways, and she found Rin just sitting there, using her tail to throw and skip the rocks.

Erma was hesitant about just heading for Rin, and snapped her fingers, when she had an idea, before vanishing into the shadows. Appearing some ways behind Rin, Erma began skulking her way towards her Aunt, trying to be as sneaky as possible, but had failed from the beginning.

"So it's you." Rin said, letting Erma know she was aware of the girls presence. "Where's your little friend?"

Erma remained silent, as she just looked a little upset.

"I didn't figure it'd be you." Rin continued. "I'd figured it'd be your mother, or my other sisters, or my brother. I'd even half expected my mother to show up. If only I can get so lucky."

Erma stayed silent as Rin kept talking, carefully stepping up closer to her, and being careful not to step on her tail.

"So everyone's looking for me huh?" Rin asked. "What, are they worried about me?"

"They are."

Rin and Erma turned around, to see Ban standing there, hands in his pockets.

"Human." Rin hissed.

"Former human, actually." Ban said. "I'm an immortal now, and Senshi's grandfather."

"What are you doing here?" Rin asked.

"Senshi got hurt real bad. An' Erma couldn't take it apparently, so she ran off in a random direction." Ban explained, with Rin looking to Erma in shock. "They got attacked in the middle of searching for you. Mitsu and Momo as well."

"Are they…"

"They're fine." Ban said. "Senshi sent the three of them away before any actual fighting could happen. Everyone's worried about where you are."

"Yeah, well they shouldn't be worried about me." Rin said, turning back to face the river, and throwing another stone. "I don't expect them to though. They usually don't care enough to check up with me these days, so why start now? It's not like how it was back then, when we were younger."

"That's what happens with family sometimes." Ban said, stepping up next to the river. "Family tends to part ways, and lose contact with one another. But just because that happens, doesn't mean they don't still care about you."

"Back then, when we were all together, we seemed more free, we played, and we were happy." Rin stated. "We were an actual family, that was… until father didn't want us like that."

"Let me guess, he wanted you to be stronger, feared, and to be his definition of yokai?" Ban asked.

"Lucky guess." Rin stated.

"More like educated guess." Ban said. "My Captain, Meliodas, he had practically the same upbringing. His father was the King of Demons in old Britannia, and he wanted Meliodas to be the perfect soldier. But he was brought up, to be the Demon Kings next vessel. An' it actually succeeded for a short spell."

"Well, while that might not have happened, my siblings and I did become the Yokai our father wanted us to be." Rin stated. "We became everything he wanted us to be. Pillaging villages, haunting every neck of the woods. We did it all. But not Emiko, she wanted her own life. So she took it. An' I always envied her, we all did when she left, because she had the courage and strength to defy our father and stand up to him as she took hold of her own destiny, carved our her own path in life. Even if that life, ended her up with the one thing in this world I truly despise and loath with all my might. I hate humans, and they hate me. I have the scars to remind me of that hate."

"Scars aren't anything to be ashamed of, you know?" Ban asked. "They're badges of honor, showing you survived, and you are strong."

"Thing is, I've used them as reminders for so long, I don't even know why anymore." Rin stated.

"The world isn't the same as when you got those scars." Ban said. "Humans these days actually want to see Yokai, and even form bonds of friendship or love with them."

"I'd ask if you were pulling my leg, but I know Emiko's relationship with Sam, and their offspring are living proof of that." Rin stated. "So about your Captain, when his father took over his body; what'd you do about it to free him?"

"I kicked the Demon Kings ass, and forced him out of the Captain's body that's what I did." Ban smirked. "An' I'd lost my immortality at that point, so I was risking it all, on one final gambit. But it paid off in the end, as I freed him, and even brought back the woman I love."

"Is that right?" Rin asked.

"What are you thinking about now?" Ban asked.

"Had I chosen a different life, had I chosen another path, defiant to my father, ran away like Emiko had, would things be any different from now?" Rin questioned.

"I certainly believe they would be." Ban said.

"Maybe I would have rediscovered that happiness I lost, so long ago." Rin said. "Maybe I'd have a family again, one of my own, just like the one Emiko has now."

Ban just smiled softly, before patting Erma on the back, encouraging her forward. The little Oreo girl didn't need to be told twice, as she ran up and hugged Rin, taking the snake girl by surprise, as the child was feeling bad for her Aunt, and wanted her to be okay.

Rin looked down, and saw the reflection of her and Erma in the water, before the image was distorted, and rippled with tears falling into the river. She'd actually forgotten Erma was there, but that didn't seem to matter at the moment, as she looked down to the child hugging her.

"You father, and your little friend, Senshi was his name? They seem like good people, very kind." Rin said. "Your father seems to love you and your mother very dearly. I could see it in his eyes, I can see it in you. I guess I'm… just not used to that."

"Well, if you're up for it, Sam's still willing to give you a chance." Ban stated.

"It's going to be dark soon, we should head back now. Otherwise they're gonna start worrying about this little one." Rin said, curling around Erma before slithering her way back to the mansion.

"You're not just talking out your butt, to get away from us, right?" Ban asked.

"I mean it." Rin stated. "It gets pretty dangerous out here at night."

~Mansion~

"Oh Senshi, my poor baby." Elaine said, flying around the air in worry.

"I'm sure Senshi's fine now Elaine." Emiko said.

"Ban said Senshi lost his immortality, thanks to those ruffians Ben used to run with. They're responsible for nearly killing him for good." Elaine stated as they entered the elevator.

"Sixth floor mistress?" The elevator demon asked.

"Make it quick." Fumiko said.

"Anything about Rin?" Ena asked.

"I went to the last street corner, nothing." Yori stated, as Emiko sighed.

"This leaves me, no choice." Fumiko said. "I'll send some servants out on a search party for her. We can head inside and rest in the meantime. It'll also give Ena the chance to check on Senshi."

"What?" Ena asked.

"Don't give me that. I know how much you're worrying about him." Fumiko said. "You care deeply for the child. Any children actually."

"I'm surprised she hasn't had any kids herself yet." Emiko said. "So she's taking all her frustrations about that, out on Senshi."

"Okay fine, yes I do like taking care of him, like he were my own." Ena said.

As the elevator doors opened, the girls left, revealing Ben with a bowl of cold water in his arms.

"Hey, welcome back." Ben said. "Any luck?"

"Afraid not, where's your Grandfather?" Elaine asked.

"He's out there with Erma." Ben said. "She had a bit of a melt down when she saw how bad Senshi had been hurt before Grandpa Ban healed him, and in an emotional state of distress ran off. Grandpa ran after her, to make sure she stayed safe."

"I have to thank Ban when I see him next." Emiko sighed. "How's Senshi doing?"

Ban looked to Emiko, before motioning with his head to follow him. All the girls seemed worried about that, and followed Ben to the room Senshi and Erma were staying in. Senshi opened the door, and came into the room, finding Senshi lying in his futon, his face flushed with a fever, and his skin broken out in a sweat.

"He's not doing so good." Ben sighed, kneeling down next to Senshi's futon, and putting the bucket next to him, before putting his hand over the water. "Ice-Ice: Minuit Glaciers!" He said, as several small glaciers formed in the water, before he took the cloth and dipped it in the water. "His body relied on his immortality to keep him from getting sick, but with that gone, he's got an immune system weaker then a newborn kittens."

"Oh dear, we need to do something." Elaine said, coming to Senshi's side. "He's so frail."

"He'll be fine with some rest. But we need to feed him plenty of foods with protein and immune boosters." Ben stated.

"I think Kenji knows some recipes for that." Ena said, leaving to find Kenji.

"He's still under Senshi's spell. I don't know how to break it." Ben called to her.

"Well it's a good thing you've all got a master chef here."

Ben turned to the door to see Ban was there, having parted the crowd of siblings, with Erma, and Rin at his side.

"Tell me what you need cooked." Ban said, as Erma ran to Senshi's side.

~Bar~

"An' before we knew it, there was Erma at the door, with Ban and Rin." Emiko said, her voice coming in through the phone. "But yeah, she seems to be doing better. Seems we've got a lot more catching up to do, than we thought."

"That's great." Sam said.

"What was that?" Emiko asked.

"I said that's great." Sam repeated.

"You doing okay Hun?"

"Oh yeah, we're doing just fine."

"Where are you?"

"Kentaro had us stop at a bar to get some answers, while we were looking for her, and we haven't exactly left yet. It was a big shock when Mitsu, Momo, and Erma just appeared out of nowhere." Sam said.

"He sent them to a bar?" Emiko inquired.

"I think he just sent them to wherever Ben was supposed to be." Sam stated.

"Well, stopping at a bar does sound like my brother." Emiko said. "Be sure he doesn't have too much fun tonight. That usually leads him into a lot of trouble. An' Fumiko says not to forget about, her Haru, either."

"I'll be sure to bring them home in one piece." Sam said, watching with slight amusement as Haru added cucumber slices to the dish the cook was making. "But considering how polite everyone's been to us, I don't think that's gonna be a problem."

"Good, because they're gonna be joining us on our little walk down town tomorrow." Emiko stated. "In fact, everyone is."

"Great to hear." Sam smiled. "So how's Senshi doing?"

"His fever's finally broken, thanks to the efforts of Ban, Ena, Elaine, and Ben." Emiko said. "Erma's refused to leave his side, and has made herself useful by changing the cloth on his forehead. I restricted her from actually making contact with him, so she's relying on her ghostly telekinesis to do the work."

"Sounds like something she'd do." Sam said. "You think he's gonna be okay for the parade tomorrow?"

"I honestly don't know." Emiko said. "If he's not, then Ban and Elaine said they'd stay behind to watch over him."

"He won't be alone at least." Sam stated.

"An' get this, apparently because the ones who beat Senshi up were once part of his old crew, Ben gave Senshi his favorite Devil Fruit, ability." Emiko said.

"Really? Isn't that…"

"Yeah, it is that one. We're gonna be in for a long adventure as he learns to control it."

"Probably expensive too." Sam laughed.

"All right, I should probably let you go." Emiko stated. "Love you."

"Love you too." Sam smiled before hanging up.

No sooner then he hung up, did he get grabbed by a Yokai from behind.

*Alright, writer boy. Get back over here with us.* The Yokai said, pulling Sam back to the table Kentaro is at.

"Hey there he is." Kentaro smiled. "So, how's everything going?"

"Well, Rin's back home, and all the kids are safe and sound." Sam said.

"That's good." Kentaro smiled. "What about Senshi? Did he get in trouble for beating those thugs to a pulp?"

"Actually… Senshi's not doing so well."

Kentaro stopped as he was about to raise his drink, before looking at Sam.

"What's going on?" Kentaro asked.

"It's a long, painful story." Sam sighed. "How much time you got?"