Back to ze past

Hotaru turned away. "Could you send my children back here?"

Takeo laughed
"We should go hunting sometime! It'll be fun!"

Hikaru nodded
"Of course,"
she gathered up Momiji and called the others to get moving

........................

he smiled but it didn't reach his eyes
"Sure thing! Goodbye Hotaru-san, I wish you and your children all the best!"

Smirking slightly Saiyu clipped his weapon back onto his belt, "You can run Mentaro but you can't hide!!" he yelled with a huge grin on his face as he took off after the other.

---

Shifting awkwardly in his sleep Zetsubou whimpered as forgotten memories once again lashed at his subconcious.

Mentaro stopped running when he came to a spring. Insted of swimming, or drinking he simply sat by it.
He looked into its reflective surface.

---

Jackie rolled his eyes as the shifting began. He was getting uncomfortable.

Sadaharu stretched as he awoke, rolling slightly and curling up once more in the blankets, closing his eyes again. Then he sat bolt upright and glanced around for Yuki.

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"Wai~!" Taro picked up his pace so as to walk beside Mori. "Want to go hunting, Mori-puu?" Mori strode on ahead, evidently having learned to tune out Taro's voice. "I'm talking to you, Mori-kitty-"
"Shut it. Hunting isn't a pressing issue" Mori said with a scowl, prodding the side of his head, he could feel a headache coming on.

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Rin knocked hesitantly on Elizabeth's door. They knew each other, but hadn't really spoken. She teased her fingers through her hair and shifted her feet.

Yuki opened the hut doors and stepped in, a pile of wood in his arms. He dropped it by the fire place and sent a smile back to Sadaharu. "Morning sunshine."

----

Elizabeth wipped her hands on her skirts. She looked down at her once danty fingers and gave a small sigh. They would never be the same.

She answered the door but was too busy shouting at her daughter to notice the person on the othr side.

Rin waited for a moment of silence between the mother and child before speaking up. "Sorry for intruding... Mori and Taro went to look for a demon. Last night, said he'd be back soon." She said, coal lined eyes worried. "Suppose they'll be back in a day or so, just letting you know."

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"Rhun, didn't i ask yoyu to clean this mess up?" Shade asked, crouching to peer under the sheet draped over the table. "Well?"
"It's not a mess," He spread his arms emphetically. "It's a fort!"
"And a table, and it's covered in your toys!"
"It's not a table either" He said, narrowing his eyes. "Not until we have breakfast."
"We can't do that until it's cleaned up."
"Can."
"Rhun!"
"Can!"

------

Sadaharu grinned. 'Morning. What are you doing? Shouldn't you be taking it easy for a while?"

Elizabeth smiled and went to speak to Rin before she turned back around. "Rhun! CLean up, do as your father says!"
She smiled to Rin. "Thank you, would you like to." She kicked one of Evelyns dolls out of the way. "Join us for breakfast?"

----

Yuki gave a shy smile and looked to the pile of wood. He ran a hand through his hair and panted. "I got some fire wood."

----

Luke sighed and leant back in his chair. He needed more customers, people seemed to not need this drug as much.

"Hey! Get in here!"

"But mothe-"
"Don't make-"
"Okay, okay. I'll clean up." Rhun sighed dramatically and bundled the majority of his toys into the sheet before hauling it off to his room. Shade rose an eyebrow and shook his head as his miserable son left the room and tried to turn the living room back into just that, instead of an extension of the kid's toybox.

"I'd love to." Rin said with a pleased smile. "If it's not too much of a hassle..." She glanced past Elizabeth to where Shade was booting soft toys to the far side of the room.

--------

Etsuko bounded into his room and shot him a grin. "Luke! What do you want?" She asked, walking over to him.

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"You didn't have to go and do that!" Sadaharu said dispairingly, sitting up and then hastily getting dressed. "Give yourself a chance to get used to moving around again." He pulled his hair out from under his shirt and shook it out of the way. "How do you feel?" He asked, looking Yuki up.

Evelyn sat, her arms folded across her chest as she glared at her father.

Elizabeth smiled and moved out of the way so Rin could enter. "Would be none at all. Just... Ignore the mess."

----

"What do you think about getting your brother addicted again?" Luke asked, rocking on his chair. "We was good busniess. Without him, its odd."

----

"How am I meant to get used to walking around, if I don't walk around?" Yuki asked, before swooping in and kissing the boy lightly. "So I'll walk around."

"Could if you wanted me to, justt have to drug him." She examined her nails and beamed. "Which reminds me, my father and a vampire are out looking for me. They're going the wrong way" She added with a smirk. "So the village is open for pickings."

--------

Rin smiled good naturedly and moved inside with Elizabeth, waving a hand at Evelyn. Shade greeted her absently, trying to get Rhun to drop the sulky expression he now bore. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "No attitude and I'll let you put it back up later." Rhun grinned and sat down at the table.
"Okay! What's for breakfast, I'm hungry." He said happily.

---------

Sadaharu smiled softly. "You win. Just go easy."

"Brilliant." Luke grinned and leant back. "I'm sure those humans arnt happy with their lives. This could prove well. You've just proved why I put up with you."

---

Elizabeth ruffled her sons hair and kissed his cheek. "Nothing grand." She said, walking into the kitchen.

Evelyn sat at the table and smiledto Rin. "Morning, how are you feeling? You look worried. mum tells me never to worry. Worrying created Age lines, which I hear also tell stories. Do you like to tell Stories? I like telling stories, and hearing stories.Did you know that story tellers sometimes come through here? We swap stories. They help me with mine. Rhun likes my stories, but Mum says I talk to much, but I don't think I do. I think I talk just enough, do you think I talk just enough? Of course you do, because every thought has a reason and every reason should be said allowed..." She continued like this.

----

Yuki rolled his eyes. "Your not my mother, stop worring. Just smile and go with the flow."

Rin laughed lightly and took a seat, not willing to interrupt the flow of well thought out childhood sense. Rhun started talking to her too, throwing in a few words here and there when his sister paused for breath between each paragraph. She'd honestly never heard a little girl talk this much! But at least there was a kind of sense to the chat.

"Oh, I brought these." She said and walked into the kitchen after excusing herself from Evelyn. She offered Elizabeth a basket of fruit and a bottle of sake. "We've harvested too much fruit, can't preserve all of it, it'll just go bad with this much." She smiled.

-----

Etsuko glowed with happiness. "Thank you Luke!" She said. ""Will you be coming down, or just sending some others? It is just a small village, not very rich at all."

-----

"Gotcha. With the flow." Sadaharu said with a grin, tossing an apple in his hands before biting into it.

Yuki smiled and let a silence reign over them for a few minutes. "Theres something I want to show you." He whispered, taking hold of his young lovers arm and pulling him gently outside.

----

Luke took a deep sigh before a light bulb went off. "You'll go."

----

Elizabeth smiled and thanked Rin. "I'll keep this bottle safe for Mori shall I?"

---

Evelyn took a deep breath and turned her attention to Rhun. "You should wash your face every so often. Thats why the girls don't like you, even though I heard that Kit does. But she's annoying and no-one likes to play with her. But I like her, she's nice. Do you like her? She likes you. She also enjoys apples. I hope apples are served with breakfast, its been awhile since we've had apples. Or a nice juicy bit of meat. Taro-daddy promised me some meat but he's not home so maybe an Apple will be good. Did you know Apples grow on trees, while water melons rest on the ground? Their both fruits and they grow in different ways. Does that mean that there are more than one kind of human, even though the ones we know of are all born in one way. Like maybe some are born like my kittens. It seems painful. I think I'd like to get married and have babies, but mum said I had to be careful who I marry. Do you want to Marry Rhun? Of course you don't, you like your dolls too much. That reminds me, I broke the captain of your army, he was marring littl Marion and he took a fall off the table. Your other soilders weren't happy."

Sadaharu followed him, curiosity lighting his eyes. "What, Yuki?"

-------

"Oh..." Her face fell and then brightened once more. "I see, you want me to go because you know I'll be able to do it!" She smiled. "I'll prove myself again!" She jumped up. "Do I have to go now?

-------

"You broke Shion?!" His face reddened. "Mummy! Evelyn broke Shion!" He said angrily and hopped up. "She's not meant to play with my dolls!" He said indignantly, rushing off to find the broken toy.

Rin blinked in amazement at the sheer amount of words that poured from the girl's mouth. "A-Ah, oh, no. It was meant for you and Shade, but if you don't drink it I suppose he could have it. He is rather attached to the stuff isn't he?" She asked with a smile.

"You'll have to wait." Yuki smiled softly and stood behind the boy, covering his eyes. "Its a surprise."

----

"Got anything else to do?" Luke muttered, leaning forward to look through his papers.

---

"Or rather to the girl who serves him the stuff." Elizabeth smiled, placing the basketof fruit on the table, and the bottle of Sake infront of shade.

Evelyn sat up straight. "Did not! He's lying!" She ran after her brother.

Elizabeth chose to ignore them.

Takeo hooked his arm around Mori's neck and poked him in the cheek
"For you maybe not, but the rest of us need to eat every now and again"

"Get off me." Mori said gruffly, looking rather unimpressed and shrugging away from the Kitsune. "My mind isn't controlled by my stomach, and he's self-explanatory." He said, jabbing his thumb at Taro.

------

"Come on, you're killing me!" Sadaharu laughed, touching a hand to Yuki's arm. "What is it?"

------

"No, if it's important to you I'll go now." She said sincerely.

------

Shade grinned as he noticed the bottle. "Ah, I'm not opposed to this stuff." He said with a nod of thanks to Rin. The corner of Rin's mouthh lifted in a small smile. "Sometimes getting his attention is difficult, the sake is certainly a bargaining point."

"Much like this one." Elizabeth smiled, wrapping her arms around Shades neck as she stood behind him. She slid down and hugged him. "I had to get him to come with me half way around the world just to get him to admit he loved me."

----

"Here it is." Yuki smiled softly and let hishands drop from Sadaharus eyes. He moved infront.
"I found this place when I was finding wood."

The sun lit up a place hidden by trees. A small river flowed through the scene. The grass was green and seemed to almost kissanything it touched. The tree's stood perfectly and had small buds of flowers.

----

Luke nodded. "Then go."

"Yes but if you hadn't drunk for a month you will inevitably feel the effects,
Well, if your not coming than I shall leave you behind."
he turned to Taro
"hungry?"

Taro's eyes widened for a fraction of a second and he looked quickly to mori and then back. "Well, not really. I don't think that hunting would change that very much.." He smiled. "If you catch my drift."

Mori just grunted and kept walking, eyes darting around the trees.

--------

"I'm impressed!" Rin said with a shake of her head. "Sounds like quite the story."
"I won't try to defend myself here." Shade stated with a smile, setting down the sake and giving Elizabeth a quick kiss.

--------

Sadaharu took a step forwards, a soft smile dancing over his face. "It's beautiful." He said and timidly reached his arms around Yuki to embrace him.

Takeo rolled his eyes
"Its not meat I'm after. Its blood, we're fine on the food-food front."

"It is." Elizabeth smiled and pulled back from Shade, though her hands rested on his shoulders. "But any tale of love, is quite a tale indeed."

----

Yuki wrapped his arm around Sadaharus waist. "Just wanted to show you."

Kaoru sent Sadaku and Kenji home and started packing
he'd made up his mind
they'd leave before the week was up,
find somewhere else to settle or go back to The Kitsune territory...

Naoki looked around the corner shyly, biting his thumb. "Daddy..."