I don't know if Teruhiko has given birth to Joshua and his baby yet in canon, but based upon timeframes I think he should either be ready to pop or have already given birth. For this story, their baby is a girl.

2.2

Everyone around him was screaming, but Kunimasa didn't care. Makio was gagging and frantically swatting at his arms, but he didn't care. The only thing that mattered to him in that moment was choking the life out of his birth-mother. All that mattered that stopping the poisonous viper once and for all.

Die. DIE. I WANT YOU TO DIE!

"Kunimasa!"

It was Shinobu's shout that shocked Kunimasa back into awareness, but as he lifted his head he felt a strike on the right side of his head. Suddenly his body froze as though it had turned to stone and he fell backwards, crashing to the floor violently still frozen in position with his arms stretched out.

Makio collapsed to the floor, her face red as she coughed and gagged while cradling her throat with both hands. Karen helped her stand up. "Do as I say next time and go to your room!" she said harshly.

"W-What is wrong with you?!" Makio exclaimed, looking down at Kunimasa with wide eyes. "Y-You put your hands on your mother, Kunimasa!"

"Do you need a reminder of everything you did to him?" Shinobu asked bluntly, folding his arms over his chest. Even though he had paralyzed Kunimasa, he was giving Makio a hard look.

"I'm taking you to your room," Karen told Makio harshly, pulling her along. Karen looked down at Kunimasa. "You also go to your room as well, Kunimasa. You'll need your rest, because tomorrow is going to be even worse than today."

"What did I do wrong?!" Makio protested loudly. She sounded like a whining teenage girl and not a grown woman. "I-I was just being honest about him! H-He tried to kill me before, you know!"

"BEFORE OR AFTER YOU TRIED TO HAVE YOUR THUGS RAPE HIM?!" Karen hollered, and bodily dragged her out of the kitchen.

Kunimasa knew that she had been referring to a prior ordeal and not tonight, but hearing Karen say that in light of everything filled his body with pain once more. He choked, and his vision swam. Shinobu knelt beside him, his expression neutral but his eyes filled with pain. "I apologize for that," he said. He gently tapped the side of Kunimasa's side, and his body unceremoniously relaxed against the floor. "But I can't allow you to kill that woman, no matter what she has said and done. The trouble her death would bring would be too much for this family to handle."

Kunimasa slowly sat up, his breathing unsteady. He glanced to his right, and his throat clenched when he saw Norio's limp hand resting on the counter. He quickly looked away.

"Why?"

Hidekuni's voice, and the contempt and anguish in it, startled Kunimasa. He slowly turned around, and Shinobu slowly stood up. Hidekuni was standing behind Kunimasa, his hands clenched into fists at his sides and tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Brother," Hidekuni spat, as though the word had been a curse word. "Tell me right now; why did you fight me for Norio?"

Kunimasa stared at him in stunned silence. "You knew how I felt," Hidekuni hissed through clenched teeth. "You knew that I loved him. But you kept him from me, and fought me for him. You made him choose between us, and for whatever reason he chose you over me. But in the end…" Hidekuni ducked his head. "In the end…you threw him away. Like he was garbage. You threw him away, and you took off his blind. You let him fall victim to predators. You let him be open to rape! And…And you let him be open to murder."

Hidekuni's head shot up. "NORIO WOULDN'T HAVE DIED IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU!" he screamed. "WHY DID YOU FIGHT ME FOR HIM IF YOU NEVER WANTED HIM?!" Then he turned and ran out of the kitchen, slamming the door shut behind him.

Kunimasa sat there stunned, staring at the closed door. "Hidekuni didn't mean that," Shinobu said quietly.

Yes…he did. But Kunimasa couldn't find the voice to say that.

"We are all…in a bad way right now," Shinobu said. "Do as Mother says, Kunimasa. Go to bed and rest."

Kunimasa choked on a harsh laugh. "H…How can I possibly sleep right now?!" he whispered incredulously, finding his voice.

"I don't know the answer to that," Shinobu said. "But she was right; tomorrow is going to be worse than today, because we have to contact Norio's parents and tell them that he…" he let his voice trail off.

Kunimasa slowly stood up and turned to Norio. He obviously had not moved. He reached for Norio again, but retracted his hand. "…Fine," he said after a moment. "I'll…go."

"Leave Norio to leave," Shinobu said quietly. "We'll get him cleaned up before his family gets here. We obviously don't want them to see him like…" he gestured to the body.

Kunimasa shook his head and turned away from Norio. If he stared at his body a moment longer, he was afraid he would start screaming. Or sobbing. Or both. He said nothing more to Shinobu and stumbled out of the room.

Shinobu shook his head and looked at Norio. He reached out and brushed the bangs out of Norio's face. "I don't know what happened to you," he said softly. "But I want to know, so we can make those responsible pay for this."

There was still sobbing throughout the house. Kunimasa could hear it through his walls.

He laid on his back in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Concentrating with all of his might to keep mind blank.

But he couldn't. Every time he closed his eyes, Kunimasa saw Norio's dead expression, or Yonekuni's anguished, tear-streaked face. And every few seconds he heard Hidekuni's recriminations rattling in his ears.

Fuck...fuck! Why the fuck did this happen?! What the fuck was he doing in the city at this time of night?!

...why the fuck did I remove his blind?

Kunimasa's eyes snapped open and he quickly snatched up his phone. He checked his texts and found the offending message that had filled him with rage when he had received it. "The kitty you threw away is disrupting my serenity. Why am I stuck dealing with YOUR mess, Madarame?!"

And he wrote the text in English, too. As if I don't know English!

Kunimasa's upper lip rose in a snarl, and his soul appearance started radiating off his body as he clicked to call the number back.

It took Kunimasa three tries of calling before the line was picked up, and he heard the growl of a grizzly bear. "MADARAME."

"McBear," Kunimasa snarled in return.

"Why are you calling me at this hour?!"

"You sent me a text saying you had Norio at your apartment," Kunimasa snapped. "What the fuck was he doing wandering the city by himself at this time of night?!"

"I gave him a reality check," McBear retorted. "He didn't like what I had to say, and his lack of control over his soul appearance was deemed a threat against my husband, my child, and myself by my bodyguards."

"So you threw him out." It wasn't a question.

"No. I told him he could leave if he didn't like what I had to say to him. I was MORE than generous to welcome him into my home after you got rid of him. I had to deal with him crying ALL THE DAMN TIME, and deal with him screaming at Teruhiko and me just because I DARE show my husband any form of affection. He was creating a hostile and unpleasant home life for my family, and I put up with it because Teruhiko wanted to help him. HE chose to leave, Madarame."

"And you let an unclaimed Return to Ancestry leave in the middle of the night," Kunimasa snapped.

McBear let out an incredulous laugh on the other line. "How the fuck is what I did any different or worse than what YOU did to him?! Look," McBear said when Kunimasa started to snap back. "I'm already in enough trouble with Teruhiko over this mess. I don't need shit from the person who caused this mess!"

The rage surged inside of Kunimasa quickly. His breathing grew harsh and heavy and he closed his eyes. He could sense that McBear was about to hang up, so he said, "Have fun telling Kumakashi."

"Eh?" McBear asked. "Tell Teruhiko what?! What are you talking about, Madarame?!"

"Norio was murdered tonight," Kunimasa said flatly. Then he ended the call and blocked McBear's number.

He fell backwards onto his bed, squeezing his eyes shut. But when he did he saw Norio's dead expression and his eyes snapped back up. "Fuck!"

Sobs ruptured from his throat and Kunimasa covered his mouth. But he couldn't stop the noises hiccuping out of his mouth, or the tears that spilled down his cheeks. He brought his knees to his chest and began rocking back and forth. Emotions that he thought he could control were raging inside of him. The pain that throbbed inside of was worse than any other pain he had ever felt in his life. He couldn't breathe. He thought he would throw up.

Noririn...Noririn...oh God Noririn, what the fuck have I done?!

He had wanted Norio to be happy and to live in peace. But instead...instead he had killed Norio.

It took Kunimasa an hour to get his emotions under control and compose himself. When he finally did, he was no longer a mess of emotions. No...only one emotion radiated from his body, and he was drowning in it.

Rage. The white-hot rage of a jaguar.

Kunimasa lifted his cell phone and dialed a different number. This person picked up on the second ring. "I have a job for you," he said in a cold, dead tone.

The mood at the Madarame house was no better the following morning. The restaurant was closed because everyone was grieving, and because they were preparing for the inevitable storm that was coming.

Karen's face was frozen in her usual scowl and she was dressed in her usual kimono as she looked over Norio's body. Shinobu and other staff had taken the time to wash him and dress him in a white kimono. Despite having been dead for several hours, Norio's body was still in fresh condition and did not have the odor of a a corpse. His cheeks almost had a rosy hue to them. He looked like he was sleeping, which unsettled Karen greatly.

At least his parents will see him in this state and not the state he was in last night.

"You did a fine job Shinobu, thank you," she said quietly.

"Don't tell Kunimasa this, I found an anomaly about Norio," Shinobu said.

"An anomaly?"

"The bullet hole," Shinobu clarified. "It seemed...small, when we cleaned it. Smaller than what I had perceived it to be."

Karen glanced at Norio. "Should we examine him again?"

"I would prefer not to do it again," Shinobu said quietly.

"I understand." Karen turned to leave. "I'll...call his parents now. Please keep everyone from my room in the meantime."

"Of course."

Karen left first. Shinobu left a few moments later. Before he left the kitchen he turned and looked at Norio one last time. "...Sayonara, Noririn."

Then he closed the door, leaving Norio alone in the kitchen.

"Get me out of here!" Makio huffed as she climbed into the car of the waiting car. Her neck was still sore underneath her scarf and she rubbed at it irritably. "I can't believe Kunimasa did that to me! He really—"

The car door abruptly opened, and Makio cried out when Kunimasa quickly climbed inside. "Drive," he called up to the driver.

Makio huddled against the opposite door. "K...Kunimasa?"

"I have business I need to attend to," Kunimasa responded without looking at her. His tone was as cold as death.