Chapter 22: Jade And Yuki
After everything had gone down with Ryukotsusei, Jade and Yuki returned to the wolf demon lands and for the past week and a half Yuki had been living amongst the Wolf demons.
The two of them hadn't spoken much during their trip back to Jade's home. Jade knew how Yuki was when he had a lot on his mind so he did his best to cheer him up but Jade wasn't any good at it. Jade had spent most of his life without many close friends and he didn't know where to start when it came to trying to cheer Yuki up. He wasn't Moroha or even Towa and he wasn't able to lift Yuki's spirits the way that the two of them would have.
After a while Jade just let a comfortable silence creep between the two of them until they reached the wolf demon caves that Jade called home. Jade may not be good at bringing up Yuki's spirits but he was his friend and he was going to make sure that he knew that he had a place with him.
"One of the first things that my father taught me was to never turn my back on my brothers in the wolf demon tribe. Yuki in my eyes you and my other friends are just as important to me as my brothers in the wolf demon tribe. You can always count on having a place here with me as my friend." Jade told him sincerely.
"Jade." Yuki smiled sad at him.
"I appreciate the thought but I remember your father talking about the most bloody event in your tribe's history the last time that I was here. It was all thanks to my father so I may be cast out even here. You don't have to feel obligated to keep me near."
"Your father was responsible, not you. I'll just talk to my father and this will all be fine." Jade reassured Yuki.
"Jade, I appreciate the thought but if Moroha's parents want nothing to do with me I doubt that your father will feel any differently." Yuki said seriously.
"You're too in your head about this. Since the moment that we met you have done nothing but be a loyal friend to those that you care about. My father values loyalty and honor above all else even if your past hasn't been clean. You have always been good to me and my father will understand why I've come to see you as a brother." Jade told him adamantly.
Yuki took a deep breath as he silently decided that he would just go along with Jade for now. After having a taste of what it's like to be with people who truly valued him he didn't want to go back to being alone especially because if he was alone now after everything that had happened it would mean that everything that Rain had told him was true. Yuki shook the thought from his head.
"Alright Jade, I'd rather not have to be alone anymore but if your father would rather I go then I'll do what is asked of me." Yuki said somberly.
"Good now chin up buddy, let's get you in the cave to get some rest and we can eat some food too. I'm sure that there's some left somewhere." Jade said while giving Yuki a pat on the back.
The two entered the wolf demon caves and were greeted by a few curious faces.
"Welcome home Jade." A wolf demon said.
"Just the two of you this time?" Another asked and Jade nodded as he worked his way through the cave to where he lived.
"You can stay with me and my parents." Jade told Yuki and soon enough they were at the cave where Jade lived.
The two walked into Jade's home and Ayame met them almost immediately as soon as they stepped foot into their cave.
"You're back!" Ayame exclaimed before quickly pulling her son into her arms and he did his best not winch in pain from her tight embrace as she squeezed his injuries.
Ayame pulled back sharply. "What happened to you!" She asked her son not even a second later as she noticed that her son was trying to pretend like he wasn't wounded.
"Uhhh." Jade scratched the back of his head.
"We got into a fight."
Ayame punched his shoulder.
"Ow! Mom!" Jade said, reeling from the pain.
"Stop acting coy." She scolded her son.
"Come on, both of you let me look at your wounds."
"That won't be necessary, I'm fine I'll heal on my own." Yuki said.
"Absolutely not, you look way worse off than Jade. You're bloodied up and parts of your skin are discolored. I'm the queen around here and what I say goes, understand." Ayame told Yuki seriously and he didn't dare to question her.
"I Understand ma'am." Yuki nodded.
"Where's dad?" Jade asked.
"He went out hunting with Ginta and Hakkau. He should be back any minute now. He'll be happy to see you. It's going to be nice having both of my boys back home again. How long should I expect to have you home honey?" Ayame asked.
"I'm not sure. We all kind of had to split up after this last fight." Jade said.
"Is everyone else okay?" Ayame asked as she got out some of their healing herbs and salve.
Jade nodded. "We all made it out alive. Can you please treat Yuki first, he's hurt way worse than I am." Jade asked.
"That's really not necessary. Jade can go first. I'm fine really." Yuki said.
"Listen, you were willing to die for us today and I hated every second of that, the least that you could do is let me be the second to be healed this time." Jade told his friend.
"You almost died?" Ayame gasped. "Where are your other friends? Why aren't you all together anymore?"
"Moroha's parents made them leave, Towa and Moroha were out cold and Yuki and I decided that we'd rather be here. Is it okay if Yuki stays here with us? A wolf demon never turns his back on his brothers right?" Jade said.
"Jade." Ayame sighed as she looked at her son with concern. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine mom can you please just help my friend?" Jade asked.
Ayame nodded. "He can stay for as long as he wants." Ayame said before turning to Yuki.
"Come on, follow me to Jade's room, I'll heal you there and tell you a little more about this place." She told Yuki.
Yuki nodded and followed along silently.
"So that kids' as good to you as one of your wolf brothers now?" Koga asked once Yuki and Ayame had left the room.
Before Jade had left he spent most of his days wandering alone or being his shadow. Koga wondered what changed while Jade was away for him to feel so strongly for someone outside of their tribe.
Jade could tell that his father had returned home a little before he had spoken just now because he had caught his scent first.
"I knew you were near, father." Jade said and Koga looked Jade over. His clothes were torn and he was covered in blood. His son had many visible injuries all over his body too.
"I hope the other guy looks worse." Koga jested.
"The other guy is dead." Jade said.
"That's my boy." Koga said proudly and Jade's face changed.
"It wasn't me, it was Moroha's father who finished off the reanimated corpse that housed the soul of a powerful demon." Jade sighed.
"So you met the stray dog himself huh? He's not too impressive." Koga said nonchalantly.
"No, her father was insanely strong! I couldn't believe that he was only a half demon just like Towa and Setsuna. And he was even stronger than both of them! Without him we all might have died." Jade told his father.
"Damn it." Koga clenched his fist. "He's got some nerve to be saving my son like that. I hope that I never see him again or he'll insist that I say thanks and I'll have no choice but to do so." Koga huffed.
"Wow, Moroha was right, the two of you wouldn't be on good terms with each other." Jade said with a small smile as he recalled that talk with his friends.
"Moroha's father is a cocky bastard but her mother is a different story." Koga told his son.
"Her mother is powerful too!" Jade told his father as well.
"Kagome was with him? What am I saying? Of course she was, she's always with him, how was she? I bet she still looks just as beautiful." Koga smiled.
"Yes Moroha's mother looks a lot like her." Jade said.
Koga still smiled. "So did you do what I told you to do and get her to fall for you?"
"No father, she and I are still just friends. Her parents made the four of them go home with them so Yuki and I came back here."
"I see." Koga said.
"And why did they choose to do that?" Jade's father asked him.
"Because Moroha left home without telling them that she was traveling with the son of Naraku." Jade said seriously.
"So they didn't know huh?" Koga answered seriously as his expression changed.
"Wait, dad did you know?" Jade asked, noticing how his father's demeanor had changed.
"He smells almost exactly the same as he did except he doesn't reek with the slightest scent of human blood." Koga said.
"Father, Yuki is as good to me as any of my wolf brothers. The actions of his father are not his own. Today when we were all fighting and we thought that there was no possibility that we were going to win, Yuki didn't hesitate to put his life on the line for us. Yuki is my brother in my chosen pack. I know that he would never harm myself or anyone in our tribe and I want to let him stay with us, please dad." Jade asked and Koga was quiet for a long moment.
The moment that he first saw that kid he knew who he was. Koga would have killed him immediately if he had known nothing but all he had seen was a boy with white hair who was surrounded by the children of people that he used to know and that same boy had fought alongside his own son now.
He had originally let his son go with Kagome's daughter because he knew that Inuyasha and Kagome wouldn't have let their daughter travel around with someone who was dangerous but they were both unaware of what she was doing.
Maybe Moroha takes more after her dad than he had initially thought. Koga thought to himself.
"Dad, I take my role as this tribe's next leader and protector very seriously and if I thought that for even a minute that Yuki was dangerous I would never have brought him back here. I put my life on it, that he is safe to have near." Jade said.
And Koga sighed. "Jade I let you travel with Kagome's daughter because I trust her parents and now they've decided that they don't want that kid anywhere near them"
"But dad—." Jade started but was cut off by Koga.
"I let you go because of them but I also know who you are and who I raised you to be. If you say that Yuki is safe after traveling with him for so long then I believe you son. You know that we don't typically allow for many outsiders to be on our lands but since he's your chosen brother what can I say? What kind of father would I be if I let you turn your back on a brother of your pack? "
"From this day forward Yuki is one of us." Koga said as he gave his permission for Yuki stay with the eastern wolf demons.
"Thank you great leader." Jade bowed his head in thanks to his father.
"Thank you dad will suffice." Koga said. "Now let's get you healed up. I've never seen you looking so awful. I'll take you out to train as soon as you heal up more. We can't let this happen again."
Jade nodded with a smile. "I may look awful but it's like you said the other guy does look worse."
XXXX
The wolf demons accepted Yuki easily enough. Jade's dad Koga said that he didn't mind if Yuki stayed here with them and Jade was happy to have Yuki around. Jade didn't have close friends here in the wolf demon tribe he had people that he liked enough or would pass time with sometimes but no one really was close to him in the way that he had become with his friends during their travels.
Jade and Yuki were both happy to be have a friend but even so Yuki didn't know if he'd truly be able to fit in with the wolf demon tribe as an outsider.
The next day both Jade and Yuki woke up sleepily after everything that they had been through. Jade had woken up before his friend and was about to go and do his morning training alone, just as he had always done before when he was living at home.
Jade figured that he and Yuki would both just pass their time together doing everything that Jade was used to doing before but Ayame quickly scolded her son once he had woken up after she asked him what his plans for the day were.
Ayame told Jade that he needed to be a better host and make sure that Yuki felt like he was welcome here. Not just assume that he would be fine doing whatever Jade wanted to do.
Jade listened to his mothers advice and gave Yuki a grand tour of the eastern wolf demon lands once he had woken up since it had been a long time since that had come back to the wolf demon lands.
The wolves and wolf demons roamed their cave side homes and the lavish forests that surrounded their cave's doubled as both their territory and their hunting grounds.
Jade gave Yuki a more detailed tour from where the wolves all ate together to where they would hang out and spar together and then where the leaders would have important meetings before Jade would take them to where they all would hunt together.
"One day I'll be at the head of all of the tribe meetings and it will be my place to decide what's good for everyone. I'm thinking of promoting less hostility toward outsiders since you all ended up being fine. Less hostility but we'll still be very selective about whom we trust." Jade told Yuki as he gave him a tour of where the wolf demon leaders from different tribes would meet up every three months.
"Most outsiders are dangerous you should keep things as they are." Yuki said.
"You want me to boot you out that badly?" Jade teased.
"I'm not as dangerous anymore but others who wish to come around shouldn't treated lightly on your lands." Yuki said.
Jade smiled. "We'll when I take over how about you help to council me when I need it."
"That will be years from now." Yuki said.
"I know, my father won't step aside until I've proven myself and he's still got many more years before it will be my turn." Jade said proudly.
"Do you think that you found what you were looking for during our travels?" Yuki asked Jade
"I definitely got stronger that's for sure but I also saw what it looks like for someone other than my father to be a real leader and I learned how to rely on others more. I think that I'll be able to help my tribe a lot better now in the future for sure thanks to our travels, but I'm not quite finished yet when it comes to getting stronger." Jade smiled.
"I'm happy for you my friend, even I can tell that you've come a long way since that other wolf made you fight with Towa all of those days ago." Yuki half smiled as he remembered Jade storming in to protect the other wolves that had picked a fight.
"Don't remind me." Jade sighed heavily. "Let me take you to where we hunt, there might be a hunting party out right now and we can join in. You're going to love it here." Jade told Yuki before he took him out to the wolf demon hunting grounds.
From the way that Jade's father spoke to how Jade talked about the future it seemed like the wolf demons were really willing to let Yuki stay. Maybe he could be happy here. Yuki thought.
Jade hadn't even known Yuki for as long as Moroha and the others had and he already saw Yuki as a brother of his tribe and all five of Yuki's friends were extremely dear to his heart that's why he had been willing to die for them. He'd rather die than lose even one of them. Maybe he could be happy here. Yuki thought again as his fingers grazed Moroha's red bow that he had picked up and was now in his pocket.
"I thought that you had run away for good." A voice echoed through the air cutting through Yuki's thoughts and making Jade pause when the boys were about halfway to the wolf demon hunting grounds.
The two boys turned their heads just in time to catch Gin launching himself fast at Jade who quickly moved out of his reach as Gin's punch sank into the trunk of a tree behind Jade.
Gin looked just as Yuki had remembered him with his long dark hair that looked similar to both Jade and Koga and Gin was tan like them as well. Yuki did however notice a few new battle scars that Gin had now on his right arm and near what he could see on some of Gin's chest.
"Well you haven't gotten any slower, have you gotten any weaker while traveling with those outsiders?" Gin asked as he pulled his hand from the trunk of the tree.
Gin was going to show Jade that he didn't need to leave the eastern wolf lands to beat him and then he was going to take Jade's place as heir.
"Damn Gin, can't I just have one full day to myself before we start this up again." Jade groaned.
"Sure if you want to give up on becoming the next tribe leader." Gin smirked.
Jade sighed and Gin came at him again punching at him straight on and Jade dodged him before going to block his next blow but it was a fake out and Gin kicked Jade hard in his stomach making his heels slide back in the dirt in the aftermath of Gin's attack.
"Do you want me stop this guy?" Yuki asked Jade nonchalantly.
"Nah, he's harmless." Jade told his friend.
"Huh, I'm harmless? Weren't you the one who ran away from me? You sure were gone for a long time, show me if that amounted to nothing. If it did then the spot as the next leader is as good as mine." Gin smirked.
"Fine, if you've missed these daily beatings so badly, who am I to hold back." Jade smiled before rushing at Gin.
The other wolf demon boy went to hit Jade with another one of his powerful punches. Just as Jade neared him, Jade side stepped Gin and grabbed his wrist parrying him to the left but Gin counterd him with a kick to his side but Jade held strong grabbing Gin fast and flipping Gin over his head.
Gin landed on his back and though Gin was down on the ground he was not done with this fight yet.
Gin jumped up and the two wolf demons smiled at each other ready to continue their match.
"You're faster than you were, Glad to see that you haven't gotten soft either in my absence." Jade said. "But I've just gotten so much better that it might be unfair now," Jade added.
"It sounds to me like your ego's grown way more than your muscles." Gin said before running at Jade again.
Gin slid into a kick.
Jade blocked it and then attacked Gin again with what looked like was going to be a heavy handed strike but it was another fake out, this time Jade sidestepped Gin and brought him to his knees.
"Looks like I win again." Jade smiled.
"Whatever." Gin said, standing up fast and dusting himself off. Two wolves ran up to Gin now and he pet the dogs on the head.
"Just you two wait, I'll win the next time." Gin told them.
"You did a lot better than usual." Al told Gin he and Lian had arrived half way through the fight and were now standing next to Yuki.
Both of them were as Yuki remembered as well. Al with his short lighter brown hair and freckles and Lian with his light brown hair but more tanned skin and also now he had a small scar on his left cheek.
"Maybe you can fight the outsider next since you still can't beat Jade." Lian told his friend.
"I'll pass." Yuki told them.
"Why? You intimidated after seeing how strong Gin's gotten?" Lian taunted.
"That's understandable, I'd be afraid of me too." Gin said with confidence.
"No it's not that." Was all that Yuki said.
It would be disrespectful to hurt them since he was a guest here. Yuki thought.
"Cut it out you two, Yuki's going to be staying with us for a while so please treat him like he's a part of our tribe. In my eyes he's just as important to me as anyone else in this tribe is, so please show him some respect." Jade said.
"This outsider? Jade you can't just go around saying that to every outsider you meet. How naive of our "future leader." Is that silver haired girl here too?" Gin asked cautiously.
"Why? Afraid that she might humiliate you in battle again?" Jade teased.
"I was not humiliated." Gin rolled his eyes. "I was just curious, that's all."
"Towa and the others won't be joining us." Jade said somberly.
"But my father said it himself that Yuki is a welcome guest here for as long as he wants to stay. I'd behave if I were you Gin." Jade said.
"Okay, okay, I was just asking that's all." Gin said and Al laughed.
"Gin's been training really hard to beat you and then he was going to fight the half demon girl that beat you both up if he would have won today." Al said.
"She's got a name guys, it's Towa and I wouldn't hold my breath Gin, especially when I'm still no match for her yet and she's only gotten stronger since the last time you've seen her. A lot stronger." Jade added.
Yuki chuckled.
"Is something funny, outsider?" Gin asked as he tried to be intimidating but his intimidation act was falling flat on Yuki.
"Gin." Jade scolded.
"Yuki." Gin corrected himself with a roll of his eyes as he used Yuki's name.
"Don't mind my laughter I didn't mean anything by it, everyone should have dreams, even a hopeless dream is something I guess." Yuki smiled.
"I'm going to kill him!" Gin clenched his fist.
Jade then got between the two. "That's enough Gin, Yuki's not so good at telling jokes so just run along and I'll fight you again tomorrow okay?" Jade told him as he led the way and Yuki followed behind his friend only walking a few paces behind.
"Don't tell me what to do, You're not our leader yet!" Gin said angrily to Jade.
"Understood Gin, no telling you what to do." Jade said.
"Whatever. I didn't need to leave to become strong and next time I'll show you." Gin said before he turned from the two of them and went his separate ways with Al and Lian.
Jade finished showing Yuki everything else there was to know about being a wolf demon after that encounter.
Yuki just didn't know anything about them yet and that's why he didn't feel like he fit just yet. Jade thought before he continued what he had been saying before Gin had interrupted them.
"First off everyone in our tribe are like brothers and sisters to each other even if you don't know everyone us wolf demons are loyal to no end. Second, never be afraid to show your strength especially while hunting. Third, the quickest way to become one of us is by hunting with everyone, it's the fastest way to gain respect and I know that it would be easy for you because you're so strong." Jade told Yuki.
It sounded simple enough but it wasn't nearly as easy. The ways of the wolf demon tribe did not come naturally to Yuki. He could accept others and believe that he was now a part of the wolf demon tribe too but when it came to hunting with the wolves and wolf demons he just wasn't good at doing things with a whole new group of people and it showed.
Yuki also rarely showed off during these hunting expeditions so he wasn't all that well respected either. Even though the wolf demons had welcomed him Yuki still felt as though he could never really fit in with them because he wasn't truly a wolf demon and he felt out of place even if he didn't want to be. This sharply reminded him that he had only ever felt in place once in his entire life but there was no going back to them or the way that things were so he needed to suppress those thoughts.
Being with the wolf demons was better than being alone and Yuki was very grateful to Jade for bringing him here.
The only thing that Yuki did like about being with the wolf demons hands down was that Jade was with him and he never made it seem like any of Yuki's failings as a wolf demon were that serious. Jade was a good friend through and through and it had been over a week now since they had split from their friends.
"Do you miss those four?" Jade asked as he and Yuki were going to train together one day. He didn't need to clarify who those four were.
"Inuyasha made it clear that I'm not welcome to come anywhere near them ever again. You've met who I was raised by. This is probably for the best." Yuki looked down.
He tried not to think about them on most days because he knew that they would never see eachother again but it was hard to starve off those memories when Moroha's red bow never left his pockets and the soft touch of the fabric to his fingers reminded him that everything had been real.
"Yuki you're seriously starting to piss me off with that crap. Trying to sacrifice yourself that day and now not even acknowledging that you miss everyone. What gives?" Jade asked annoyed.
Jade hadn't brought it up immediately back then when it had all happened because he didn't want to put salt on the wound but Yuki needed to know that what he had done wasn't okay.
Yuki sighed. "Jade of course I miss them, friends as good as they were shouldn't even exist. I'm sorry that you didn't like my choices back there but if it's me or all of you then I'd gladly give my life if that means that the people who chose to care about me get to continue living. If I can't use my body as a shield to repay what I owe then what use am I?"
"You don't not exist for the sole purpose to be of use to someone and especially not to us. That's not how friendship works. Your life is not just something that you should be casually willing to giveup. You're not our tool for sacrifice as soon as things get tough and the others feel the same way that I do." Jade scolded.
"It was all that I could do at the time." Yuki said short.
"I don't care, Setsuna was shaking when she tried to get Hisui and I to accept your decision." Jade told him seriously. Jade looked pained just remembering that part of things and he paused before continuing. "Just don't do that again. Okay?"
"Okay." Yuki repeated.
"I mean it, Moroha wouldn't have been all that happy about that either. Just imagine how she would have felt if you actually did die that day." Jade told him.
Yuki recalled Moroha on that day and how he had made it so that they would never see eachother again especially after now because he had kissed her.
"I can't imagine that she would have been happy." Yuki said solemnly.
Yuki recalled how Moroha's face was flushed and how her brown eyes had looked at him wide as she tried to find the right words after he kissed her.
What was she doing right now? He wondered, surely she was awake after using the red rainbow pearl. Was she happy to see him gone since he had kissed her? He wondered. Was she mad at him? Yuki sighed.
It didn't really matter since they would never see eachother again anyway. Yuki thought somberly.
Yuki hadn't planned on living to reap the consequences of his actions. The only reason he had taken that poison was because he knew that it was their last chance after everyone had been beaten, but Somehow knowing how it felt to kiss Moroha was worse than having never kissed her at all because no matter what he couldn't forget it, he couldn't forget her. Yuki wouldn't change a thing about what happened that day even if he would never see his friends again.
He couldn't help the small but sad smile that forced its way onto his face for barely half a second as he remembered Moroha.
"I once told Moroha that being with her was like a dream that I knew couldn't last forever." Yuki told Jade. "Despite knowing that dreams don't last forever, the void of their absence only continues to grow more and more." Yuki said truthfully.
"I miss Towa and Moroha's wild teasings at any chance they got, it was different being on the opposite end of things and I miss Setsuna's calming presence that somehow could cause you to be calm too even when things got heavy. And of course Hisui too the three of us guys had grown quite close didn't we?" Jade smiled sad.
"That's just who they are. All of them they're just genuinely good. So good that they'd chase someone who was trying to be their enemy all across Japan because they had decided that we were friends." Yuki said.
"Man, if only Towa had been awake that day maybe she would have come with us." Jade whined.
"I don't think that she would have come with us." Yuki said.
"She might have." Jade told Yuki again. "If you ever told her this I'd kill you on your next night of weakness but I really miss Towa the most. I would have loved to have spent some more time with her, especially training together. She's a really smart fighter, you know." Jade smiled.
"Threatening to kill me? What a friendly thing to say." Yuki rolled his eyes.
"Who would have guessed that the two of you would become such good friends." Yuki told him, they had fought each other on the very first day that they met.
"I know, I hope that the two of us meet again some day. How about the two of us spar the way that her and I would. That will help to take our minds off the four of them." Jade said.
"I never spared with my friends the way that you did, that wouldn't help me." Yuki said.
"I call bull. You fought Moroha before pushing her down a well." Jade accused.
"Things were different then." Yuki said.
"Just do this for me, I did let you stay here after all." Jade told him.
"Which is why I shouldn't repay your kindness by beating you up." Yuki said flat.
"No offense will be taken." Jade huffed as he got annoyed with his friend before turning to him and taking up a fighting stance as their eyes met.
Jade lunged at Yuki and he summoned his barrier blocking Jade's path right before he could hit him.
Jade bounced back from the impact.
"What the hell?" Jade said before punching at the barrier a few more times and releasing a deep breath.
"Fine we don't need to fight." Jade sighed.
Yuki put his barrier down just as Gin jumped at the two of them and crumbled the earth beneath their with a powerful punch.
Jade responded by punching Gin hard in his Jaw and Gin went flying.
"Wow, that's a new record." Al said.
"Shut up, I'm just tired and I haven't eaten much today." Gin said.
"Sure." Jade rolled his eyes not feeling the need to gloat today.
"Hey Jade, do you and Yuki want to come to the hot springs with us?" Lian asked.
"Lian what the hell are you doing inviting those two?!" Gin scolded.
"We're already halfway there, so I just figured that it'd be a nice thing to do." Lian said.
"Sure we'll come." Jade told them.
They've never invited him to go anywhere with them before, maybe they had missed him while he was away and the hot springs didn't sound too bad. Jade thought.
At home making friends like he had with Yuki and the others hadn't come as easily to him. When others looked at him, even the kids his age all they ever saw was the son of the great leader who had restored their tribe and not Jade as an individual. People respected him but they didn't feel at ease with him. Jade didn't feel like anyone really liked him until he met Towa and the others so he hadn't had any close friends until he had met them. Aside from Gin, if he could even call him that but Gin was really just his rival.
"Just great." Gin stated in response to Jade saying that he and Yuki would join them.
"Maybe you'll be able to beat me after, if you recover enough after bathing." Jade said.
"I could do a rematch right now. If I wanted to." Gin huffed.
"Yes I can tell." Jade smirked and Gin stormed off to the front of the group.
"So Jade, do you think that you got stronger thanks to traveling with those outsiders?" Al asked.
"I do, we won many battles but also lived through a few close calls. I'm definitely not the same fighter as I was before I left." Jade said.
"Jade spent a lot of time training with Towa during our travels. He's leagues better than he was before." Yuki said.
"And what about you, new guy? I can't recall ever seeing you fight even during hunting trips you tend to lag behind. Is this how you always are? How exactly are you going to earn your place here?" Gin asked.
Yuki shrugged. "I'm very grateful to both Jade and his father for allowing me to stay here. If my presence were to become a burden to them then I'd happily go elsewhere."
"Good answer, you've yet to prove yourself to me so I'll be watching you outsider. Jade might think that he's next in line because he's Koga's son but it's going to be me." Gin said.
"Gin shut the hell up." Jade interrupted him. "We don't deal in proving things around here. A member of our tribe is a member of our tribe and that's that. If you're really so bent up about this then he can prove himself on the day that you can finally muster up the strength to beat me. Yuki is my chosen brother and my father acknowledges this so treat him with respect."
"He's still an outsider, he's not a wolf demon." Gin doubled down and Jade stepped to move on Yuki's behalf but Yuki stopped him.
"His opinion on me is irrelevant, no need to act on my behalf." Yuki told his friend.
"Whatever." Gin said just as they reached the hot springs.
The hot springs looked just as they did on the night that Yuki and Jade had been here with their friends.
The moon was placed high in the sky and the reflection looked beautiful as it hit the middle of the hot springs.
The stars shined brilliantly too and Yuki wished that he had his sketch book with him now so that he could jot it down. Moroha would have loved the stars tonight, Yuki thought.
"Yuki." Jade called and Yuki turned his head to him. He had been left behind while he was lost in thought.
"You coming?" Jade asked.
Yuki nodded.
"Stop gawking at the stars then, come on." Jade called.
Yuki followed his friend into the hot springs getting undressed before stepping in and looking up at the stars again before sinking into the water with a relaxed sigh.
He wondered if Moroha was looking up at these same stars. The sky seemed to never get old to her, it almost made him jealous of the way that she would gaze up at the stars so interested and focused. He wished that he could have even half of her attention like that.
"You thinking about how we missed out on peeping at the girls last time? I bet you wished that we did it back when we had the chance huh?" Jade asked.
"What!" Yuki's face turned red. "No, I wasn't. I wouldn't." He said.
"You had a chance at seeing those women in the hot spring?" Gin asked interested.
"How on earth did you let that slip by you?" Al asked.
"Hisui, the human demon slayer that travels with them, is Setsuna's lover. She's the half demon girl with the long dark hair. Hisui would have killed us both, believe me he's a lot more capable than you'd think." Jade smiled.
Yuki nodded. "I wouldn't have wanted to see them like that anyway. All three of them are breathtakingly beautiful but I wouldn't have wanted to see Moroha unless she wanted me to see her like that." Yuki said.
"Which one is Moroha the silver haired one? Sounds like he has a lover's feelings for her as well." Gin teased.
"She wears red, and as far as you're concerned you had better not eye her in just any particular way either." Yuki told him.
"That more than answers my question, but don't worry about it. That ship has long sailed with all of them after Jade lost to Silver." Gin said.
"Towa." Jade corrected Gin once again. "And might I add that you were the one that caused that whole fight in the first place." Jade said.
"What good is pointing fingers when it's already over. Let's talk about something else. Let's go on a hunt." Gin smiled.
"You're not telling them about what I think you are? Are you? " Lian asked and Gin nodded.
"There's a bear demon that nearly killed me two weeks ago. Let's go hunt for it." Gin said.
"Bears are more active at night and we'd have a better chance of catching it at this time." Al said.
"I'll pass." Jade told them.
"You scared?" Gin taunted.
"No I just don't think that it's a good idea tonight we should hunt when everyone else is out too. We hunt in packs for a reason." Jade told them.
"The 5 of us are good on our own. Come on Jade if we kill that bear I'll lay off your friend and accept him as one of us" Gin said.
"But I'm impartial to how you feel, I've got my own friends." Yuki said.
"Jade can only be considered as one friend." Lian Said.
"I'm aware." Yuki answered unamused.
"Come on Jade, do you honestly think that your father got to be leader by only following rules?" Gin asked.
Jade didn't feel like Yuki had anything to prove to them but maybe his friend could use this to feel closer to them and fit in more with the wolf demons.
"Fine." Jade sighed.
"Yuki, do you want to go hunt for this bear with them?" Jade asked.
Yuki shrugged. "Sure."
"Great." Gin smiled. "This bear has had it coming." Gin clenched his fist.
"Why don't you explain to us what exactly happened?" Jade told him.
"A few days ago, Al, Lian and I were out hunting. The three of us killed the biggest snake demons that we had ever seen and just as we went to get it a giant bear came over and kicked our asses before stealing our kill." Gin said.
"Well I understand why you'd be mad." Jade said.
"It's embarrassing to lose your kill like that." Gin said.
"I managed to rip a piece of the bear's fur that day so we can easily track it down. It's in my clothes." Gin told them.
"Then let's leave the hot springs and get to finding this demon I could use a good meal about now." Jade said before standing and Yuki and others followed.
"How did you get that burn on your back Yuki?" Gin asked him.
"It's a birthmark." Was all that Yuki had said.
Jade remembered when he had first asked Yuki that question before, when they had bathed together. Jade thought that someone had intentionally hurt Yuki at first because of how perfect and center the spider shape was.
Yuki had said that it was the only thing that his father had left him and that it was a birthmark. Yuki said so in a cold tone that night and Hisui had seemed uninterested so Jade hadn't pressed him farther but this time when Yuki answered the question he didn't seem as upset so Jade hoped that he had less on his mind regarding his mark now.
The guy's all got dressed and Gin passed around the Fur that he had snatched off of the bear demon to each of the wolf demons and then he had a few of their wolves smell the fur so that they could track down the bear.
The hunt didn't take long as the 5 of them moved about the forest with purpose. The lingering scent of the bear was still fresh and all of them except for Yuki had a pretty strong sense of smell. They soon came face to face with the bear that they were hunting down.
The beast was in the middle of eating its latest prey and roared ferociously the moment that it saw the wolf demons.
The bear ran towards them and they all scattered except for Jade and Yuki.
The bear swung it's claws at them heavy as Yuki summoned his barrier. The purple aura surrounded them and the bear continued to claw at Yuki's forces but to no avail.
Gin ran to attack the bear demon from behind with his spear while it was distracted by Yuki and Jade but the bear was too fast for him and it was angry too, as it turned fast and batted Gin to the ground with one of its strong paws.
Al went to help Gin who had just been swatted and the bear now turned its focus on the two of them and it went for the kill this time going to sink its powerful teeth into Gin.
Lian shot multiple arrows at the bear but this didn't slow it down as it raged onward.
Jade's powerful thunder attack hit the bear in a flash of light that sent it flying before it landed back on its feet and used a powerful attack of its own with a wave of its claws the giant bear demon sent demonic energy reinforced earth their way and Gin didn't know if Jade would be able to counter this but Jade just looked as calm and collected as ever. Gin didn't even notice that Yuki had pulled out his twin blades at this point.
With one slash Yuki had cut straight through the bear's attack and the crumbling earth fell on either side of Jade and Yuki.
Then with another swing of his swords Yuki's own purple energy waves flew from his weapons and ended the demon bear right there.
Yuki turned to Jade next as the dust settled.
"Are you all alright?" Yuki asked his friend.
"Yuki!" Al and Lian called before rushing to him.
"You are so cool!" Al said.
"We had no idea you were this strong! Creating barriers is so cool!" Lian said with stars in his eyes.
Al nodded. "And then the way that you countered the bears attacks! I would have never guessed with how you usually lags behind during our hunting trips." Al said.
"My friend is cooler than yours." Jade teased Gin.
"Shut up." Gin said.
"A deal is a deal." Jade told him.
"I know." Gin sighed before walking over to Yuki.
"Yuki I apologize, you are a true brother to me and everyone else as our great leader Koga has stated. You have nothing to prove to me." Gin said.
"I appreciate it Gin." Yuki told him.
"Now that that's out of the way, let's haul this demon back to the caves for a feast." Gin smiled.
XXXX
The five boys had returned home with one of the biggest kills that the eastern tribe had seen all year. Koga was incredibly proud of his son and his friends and Ayame was happy to see that it looked like her son had shed some of his lone wolf tendencies that he had had before he left.
The tribe celebrated their kill and enjoyed a feast that night. Even though Yuki was the star of the hour and was receiving much praise he was still trying to remain in the background just like he had been doing. It was just really hard to do that when Jade, Gin, Al, and Lian kept doing their best to make him the center of attention every chance that they got. Boasting about how good Yuki had been in those moments and how strong he actually was.
They told over and over again about how Yuki had made the finishing blow and now Yuki couldn't escape being questioned by the other wolf demons as they all congratulated him and praised him for making such a big kill today.
The feast was fun and Yuki had enjoyed himself but as his fingers brushed across the soft red fabric in his pocket again and again and he couldn't help the fact that his friends were still on his mind. Moroha was always on his mind.
After so long Yuki managed to slip his way out of the party and he decided to go on a walk around the wolf demon territories to calm his mind.
Even though he had defeated the bear Yuki couldn't bring himself to fully enjoy this moment as much as he should have because the others weren't here.
Moroha wasn't here.
He looked up at the stars again for what felt like the hundredth time that night.
Had they never been put into that position with Ryukotsusei he would have never kissed Moroha. He would have lived by her side for as long as she would let him and he would have never said a word of his feelings or ever made a move because he loved her even if she would never love him back. She didn't need to return his feelings because being near her would have always been enough for him.
Only when he thought that he was going to die did he think that he would regret it if she never knew just how deeply he cared about her. That's why he told her and he kissed her because he thought that he was going to die and he didn't want to die not knowing what it was like to kiss her just once.
Who knew that confessing like that and then being separated like this would hurt so much.
Yuki thought as he looked at her red bow now as he held in his hands while he sat by the cliff side of the eastern wolf demon territories.
Will this feeling ever become normal? Yuki wondered as he closed his eyes and he breathed in the cool, night air.
Being out of place was never so bad until he knew what it was like to belong somewhere and to be in place with people who cared.
The sound of footsteps coming near caused Yuki to open his eyes and he stared forward with blank expression and his mouth agape.
He had to be extremely tired after tonight's fight because he was seeing things.
There was no way that his friends were right here in front of him.
His eyes met Moroha's and his fist held her red bow tighter.
"Why are you looking at us like that? You shouldn't be suprised." Moroha smiled.
"Yeah when have we never not come to get you. Where's Jade? Let's get going." Towa said.
"Towa it's late, we should probably stay here for the night and leave in the morning." Hisui said.
"Makes no difference to me I'm going to find Jade." Towa said as she rushed off immediately.
"You ought to not look so surprised." Setsuna told Yuki.
"Even you?" Yuki asked her suprised.
"I had to be cautious with you in the beginning but you're one of us Yuki of course we'd all come back for you. You risked your life for us and you're our friend." Setsuna told him.
Moroha punched Yuki hard in the face and he clenched his cheek in response to the pain. Unconsciously using the hand that was holding her bow to cup his face.
"If you do something like that again you don't even want to know what I'll do to you." Moroha told him seriously.
And Yuki started to cry. He didn't mean to, the tears just started to fall from his eyes and he remained silent as he looked down trying not to look at his friends as tears fell from his eyes.
"Did I hit you that hard!?" Moroha asked shocked and concerned. Yuki shook his head.
"I'm just really happy." He smiled now as he stopped trying to hide his tears. "I'm so happy that you're alive." Yuki said honestly as he wiped his face and willed his tears to stop.
"We'll stay that way too, just don't go trying to sacrifice yourself again." Setsuna told him stern as she took Hisui's hand and pulled him along to go and find Towa and Jade.
"Seriously Yuki, you don't owe us your life. I would have never forgiven you had you have actually died that day." Moroha told him seriously.
"I thought that it was the only way and then your parents showed up. What are you all doing here? They can't have allowed you to come back here. Not when I'm here." Yuki said as he moved his hand from his face as they both stood in silence as their eyes met each other's with sincerity.
"Even if you think that it's the only way, don't do that again I mean it." Moroha said again and Yuki nodded.
Moroha sighed in response. "My parents gave their permission after I got better. I just told them about who you really are and they reconsidered. I told you that everything would be okay. I just needed to talk to them." She said.
"That makes me really happy." Yuki smiled and they both noticed that it was just the two of them now.
Neither of them knew what to say now that they were alone and Moroha still wasn't sure about how she felt.
"You found my bow." She said, noticing that Yuki was holding it in his hands.
"I picked it up after you all had left. You we already too far gone when I picked it up so I just held onto it for you." Yuki lied.
"Here." He handed it to her. He had no use for it now that she was here.
"Thank you, this red bow means a lot to me, you know." She smiled.
"I remember." He told her.
"Yuki…" she started as she struggled to find the right words and he shook his head before taking her by surprise and folding her into a hug. A hug that she happily returned.
"I missed you, Moroha more than you know. I missed you every second of every day and it's not fair that you met me one day under a tree and now have forced me to be this drawn to you wherever I am." He told her and she blushed just as he pulled away from their hug.
"Can we go back to the way that things were?" Yuki asked.
"You kissed me in the middle of a fight and said that you loved me." Moroha stated.
"That's because I do love you." Yuki said seriously and Moroha felt her heart stop.
"How do you even know something like that?" Moroha asked and Yuki shrugged.
"Don't just shrug, you can't say that you love me and then act like you don't know." She said, annoyed.
"When I'm with you, everything that worries me calms. I don't know when it happened. When I became yours but I do know that I adore you. I adore you in every way that someone can adore another. I adore how you look when we all vote and I tie break to do what you want. I adore when you're so focused on the stars that you look as though this is your first time seeing them. I adore when you do things for no reason other than that you wanted to on a whim. I adore you when you get drunk and want me to carry you on my back wherever you go." He smiled and she blushed. "I adore how you care so deeply for your friends and we all care so deeply for you too. Moroha I'm yours even if you're not mine." Yuki said.
"Yuki, I—."
"I'm not telling you this because I want you to be with me. I'd love nothing more than that but I know who you are. I know that you would never want something like that. I adore you with all of my heart and I respect your choices. I would never want to force things between us to change, nothing needs to change." Yuki said again as he kept his eyes on hers. "Our friendship is already more than enough so let's just go back to normal. If we can and I'm sorry again for kissing you like that it wasn't right." Yuki told her.
Moroha didn't know what to say she liked Yuki. She liked him a lot as her friend but did she love him? She let the silence hang between them for a while as she thought about what to say next and Yuki waited patiently for her answer.
"Yuki I'm sorry I don't know anything about love or any kind of matters of the heart. The only experience that I have in love is with Shinji and his unwanted courtship. Shinji's attention always felt suffocating but yours is different. Whenever I'm with you I feel free and I feel heard." She told him.
"Then that's already enough. We don't have to talk about this anymore come on. Let me show you the giant bear demon that Jade and I killed today. Or what's left of it at the feast." Yuki smiled and Moroha went with him silently into the wolf demon caves.
A.N: Thank you for reading. The next chapter will be up next Saturday or Sunday. Thanks again and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.