Merry Christmas Everyone! Love Mockingbird.

  ~~~~

    Chapter 8

Life in the modern era wasn't going so smoothly for Keitaro though.

Yukio had broken his quiet spell two weeks after the incident in Principal Yasukawa's office. The people who had regarded him with wariness before now only looked at him with expressions of fear and hate. People were suspicious of him, and skirted him in the hallways. Even Ami, the neko-youkai who was in Grade 12 began to worry that her cover might be blown. She was posing as a foreign exchange student with her bright red hair and brilliant green eyes. Her tail and pointed ears were hidden with a semi-permanent concealment spell that her parents had gotten a black miko to cast upon her.

"You've got to resolve this Higurashi!" she had shouted at him, when he had agreed to meet her on the roof of the school, "Trust a dog to screw things up,"

"Hey, let's not get into that, it was Nishimura who started all of this," replied Keitaro calmly.

"No, You did," she hissed, "You started it when you threatened to kill him,"

"I didn't threaten to kill him! I said I was capable of it!"

"Who cares what you said dog, he took it the wrong way and now you've given away everything! He could destroy what little we have left!"

"I never had anything! I lost my parents in the Sengoku Jidai and I was raised here! By my mother's human family, I never had any chances to conceal myself or even know how youkai society works or if there even still was one!"

"It doesn't matter! You started it! And now you must fix it before we lose everything we've worked for!"

"What, do you really expect me to have taken all of the shit he put me through lying down?!"

Ami didn't have anything to say to that, with a huff and a hiss, she turned and walked away.

"Keh," he snorted, when she was out of earshot, "Stupid cat,"

   ~~~

Keitaro was quite sure that if it hadn't been for Mariko resolutely sticking by his side and being able to escape to the feudal era, he'd have been driven crazy. Yukio's patented superior looking expression had returned to his face and his old swagger had returned. He held the student body under his sway once more.

Mariko began to feel the effects of the rumors as well. Friends that she had had in different classes and her variety of extracurricular activities began to treat her differently and shy away from her until one day, Keitaro found her crying on one of the benches in the school courtyard.

"They've kicked me off the basketball team, the debate team and Akira, along with pretty much the rest of the English club said they don't want me coming to meetings anymore," she sobbed into Keitaro's shoulder. Keitaro was ready to bet that the members of the English club had said other things too. It took a lot for Mariko to cry. Awkwardly, Keitaro tried to comfort her, but he really didn't know what to say. It was his fault that all of this had started and she was starting to take the brunt of it.

"I'm sorry Mariko," he whispered.

Pulling back, she met his gaze.

"Don't be sorry Keitaro… You can't help who you are, It's their fault that they don't see that… you're nothing like what they say, and no matter what they say, I'll always be your friend," She said firmly, with a hand on his shoulder.

  ~~~~~

"HIIIYAAAA!"

Sachi ducked under the kumo youkai's gnashing mandibles and spun his naginata, taking off one of the spider's rear legs. The spider stumbled, screaming and raging. Keitaro bounded around the side of it, using his katana to remove two more of the overgrown arachnid's jointed legs.

They had encountered the spider youkai's web when returning from an extermination mission. It was late in the day when the spider had nearly taken off Masuhiro's head and only Keitaro's hanyou reflexes had saved him, pushing the startled young man into the spider's own web, effectively rendering him untouchable by the spider. It also made Masuhiro unable to fight, which put a strain on Miroku, Sachi and Keitaro, who were all used to working in a team of four to bring down demons.

"SACHI!!! LOOK OUT!" bellowed Miroku, as the Spider's stinger whistled towards the thirteen-year-old boy. Keitaro threw himself towards the young taijiya, but it was to late. The stinger caught the boy in the arm.

"Arrrrrrrrghhh!!!" he screamed as the poison of the spider flowed into his body, beginning to dissolve it from the inside out. Dropping to his knees, Sachi managed to dislodge himself from the stinger, but the poison was beginning to do its work. The young taijiya passed out within seconds. 

Keitaro and Miroku redoubled their attacks, but no avail. The Spider had made its kill and was going to defend it.

"Sachi! Be strong! Sachi…!" cried Miroku, his eyes tearing up as he threw ofuda after ofuda.

Then Keitaro felt it; the telltale smell/power signature of another holy presence. 

"DIE DEMON!"   

"Incoming!" screamed Keitaro, throwing himself away.

The brilliant, beautiful purple light of a miko's arrow arced into the clearing, Keitaro barely managing to get out of the line of fire in time. Glancing over his shoulder he saw the arrow pierce the spider's abdomen. Within seconds, it disintegrated.

"Sachi! Sachi!" cried Miroku, running to where his son lay crumpled on the ground. Masuhiro watched from his spot on the web, his face sheet white.

Keitaro glanced towards where the arrow had come from and saw a figure silhouetted against the sunset, holding a bow. Her hair was long and flowing in the breeze and she was dressed in white kimono and red hakama. Slowly she began to approach and Keitaro's ears flattened in his confusion. The miko approaching them smelled almost exactly like his mother, except… she had the death smell. She did not have a beating heart.

The miko strode past him, ignoring him completely. Her face looked as though it was made of porcelain and the expression was calm. Keitaro watched as she approached Miroku, who was kneeling over Sachi's body, attempting to purify the poison. Miroku felt the shadow fall over him and turned, his mouth falling open.

"Move aside Monk," said the miko and Miroku hastened to get out of the way. The miko knelt beside Sachi, placed a hand on his chest, and began to murmur prayers.

Keitaro took the opportunity to take a deep sniff of her and recoiled when he realized that she smelled not of flesh and blood, but of clay. Who was this person? She was alive, and a miko… Keitaro watched as she purified the youkai's poison within Sachi's body, but she was dead, her soul not quite in tune with the world.

"He will be weak," said the miko calmly, "but he will live,"

"Thank you Kikyou…" breathed Miroku, picking up his son.

Kikyou? I recognize that name…My mother was her reincarnation…wasn't she? Wondered Keitaro, watching her curiously. Kikyou was now staring at Miroku.

"You are the houshi that accompanied my re-incarnation and the half-demon Inuyasha, were you not?" she asked, giving him a look. What is that expression…?Disgust…?

Miroku nodded.

"I am Miroku," he answered, miming a bow, being unable to do a full one with Sachi in his arms.

"Here, let me carry him," said Keitaro, stepping forward and carefully took the young Taijiya boy from his father.

"Thank you Keitaro,"

Suddenly, Kikyou's hand shot out and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him around to face her. Kikyou's brown eyes narrowed as she scrutinized him, studying his face and ears. Her face suddenly contorted with rage, and Keitaro shrunk back as far as he could. Kikyou's hand was like an iron vice on his shoulder and Keitaro winced as a flicker of unchecked purifying energy escaped from her hand.

"You," spat Kikyou, her eyes filled with hate, "You are his… his…son…I see Inuyasha in your face and I see the face of my re-incarnation, the wretched girl! "

It suddenly dawned on Keitaro as a few more crackles of Kikyou's energy zapped him, causing him to grit his teeth to prevent himself from yelping.

She didn't know about me… She didn't know that Okaa and Otou married…She's not mad at me…She's mad at them.

"I knew that Inuyasha and the girl were dead, for my soul is whole once more, but I never thought that she would stoop to that level… She…" Kikyou was too choked up with rage to speak properly and was reduced to muttering several oaths.

"Please don't talk about my mother like that," replied Keitaro softly, shrugging off her hand, which had seemed to go limp.

 ~~~

INUYASHA!!!! Raged Kikyou inwardly How could you do this to me?! You chose the girl Kagome… you lie with her, that righteous bitch, producing another hanyou, you bastard and then you die, leaving me behind, stuck here in this world between life and death. You promised me!

You promised me…

The hanyou boy shifted his shoulder, causing her hand to fall to her side. She suddenly realized he was speaking.

"-I don't know what was going on between you, Okaa and Otou… I wasn't even around then, but don't you think its time you let go? You aren't the only one who wishes Otou was still here," said the boy, his gold eyes lacking the hardened and veiled edge that had always seemed to be lurking in Inuyasha's gaze.

Kikyou stared at the boy, almost a man and wondered where his wisdom had come from.

"Kikyou-sama, Are you listening to me?" asked Keitaro quietly.

"I don't listen to the spawn of demons and I will never listen to anyone who carries the blood of Inuyasha in their veins!" screamed Kikyou, pushing him away with a blast of power.

  ~~~~~

"ARRRGGGHHH!!" screamed Keitaro, stumbling backwards, barely managing to keep his footing as the energy swept over him. He struggled to keep from dropping Sachi as his body felt like it was being burned and dunked in cold water at the same time and then Keitaro realized what was happening. It was absorbing into him, the purifying energy was seeping into all his pores… Is this the end…?

Wait-a-minute… My skin is no longer burning…!

Keitaro felt his eyes widen as the last of the energy faded away. The burns and blisters that had been developing on his arms and face faded away. A new sensation invaded him, joining with his youkai senses and the aura of his youki, but not mixing with it. Instead of just his youki sensing Miroku's and Kikyou's presences as smell-energy signatures, he could also see the holy auras that surrounded them as a faint purple glow, Kikyou's being far brighter and stronger than Miroku's.

Masuhiro and Sachi he could see as orange figures in his mind's eye, while the trees were various shades of dark green and blue. A small squirrel was a light yellow-green colour.

What the hell is going on? Thought Keitaro, shaking his head, half-trying to rid his mind of the new awareness. He had never felt anything like it… it was as if a completely new side of him had been awakened by Kikyou's blast. He lowered Sachi to the ground, and stood up again, staring at his clawed hands.

Around them, a faint purple glow was starting to develop, mixing with the yellow aura of his youki, which was already present.

"Impossible!" gasped Miroku, dropping his staff, "A holy aura is developing around you Keitaro!"

"Whaaaaatttt??" cried Keitaro, looking like he had been struck full in the face with something of about the same weight as Hiraikotsu, "How the hell does that work!? I'm a hanyou! I should be damn well burning myself to death!" 

Keitaro stared at his hands, mesmerized by the swirling aura. It was then that he noticed that his youki and the new purple aura were not merging as one, but creating a swirling, marbled pattern. He glanced at Kikyou, but the undead miko seemed rooted to the spot, staring at him blankly, her expression was uncharacteristically stupid looking. Her jaw was hanging open and she held her bow loosely at her side.

"Erhm…. What's going on?" said Masuhiro in a quiet voice.

Keitaro shook himself out of his reverie and went to go free the boy from his sticky prison.

"Hold still," he said, his hand flashing out and making short work of the web's silk, his claws glinting in the rapidly fading sunlight. Masuhiro landed on the ground and started trying to peel off the strands of silk that were still stubbornly fastened to his Taijiya armor. Keitaro helped him with them also, hooking his claws into the strands and yanking them off.

Masuhiro grimaced as the sticky stands ripped off patches of arm hair.

"Damned spiders… I hate them," he remarked once Keitaro had finished. Keitaro nodded fervently in agreement and went over to pick up Sachi once more while the elder Taijiya boy went to pry his weapon, a shinobi zue; (a long staff that when twisted turned into a spear that Masuhiro could throw like a javelin with a devastating accuracy) from the spider's web. Kikyou stared at Keitaro, her dark eyed gaze was starting to unnerve him. The sun sank below the horizon and the shadows of the group lengthened.

"Kikyou, you may return to the village with us if you wish," suggested Miroku, in an effort to break the icy silence. 

"No," said Kikyou, then she turned and walked away.

They silently watched her go.

When she had disappeared into the trees, Miroku cleared his throat.

"We will travel in the dark, we must reach the village," he said firmly. Both Keitaro and Masuhiro nodded in agreement.

"Yes Miroku,"

"Yes, Chichi-ue,"

   `~~~~~~~

Keitaro estimated that it was just after midnight when they reached the village. He had gone ahead, carrying Sachi most of the way while Masuhiro and Miroku hiked behind him. He sprinted across the rice fields that were illuminated by the moonlight and blew into the village, skidding to a stop outside Keiko's hut at the base of the stairs.

"Keiko!" he called, knocking on the edge of the doorframe. Moments later, she appeared, fully dressed, but otherwise looking as though she had just been roused from a deep sleep. Her eyes widened and she gasped when she saw Sachi, pale and seemingly dead.

As soon as Keitaro had settled Sachi down on the futon, he ran to wake Sango, telling her the story as they both strode back to Keiko's hut, he concluded his explanation with "Miroku and Sachi are an hour behind me, I'm going to go get some medicine from my time, Okay?"

Sango nodded and disappeared into Keiko's hut and Keitaro turned around and made for the well. He reached it in record time and vaulted the edge, plunging down into the netherworld of the slip. When he materialized, he sprung out of the well and threw open the shoji, sprinting across the shrine grounds to the house.

"Mama!" he cried, as he pushed open the shoji, "Do you know where I can find any anti-venom's?!"

It was then that the smelled the strange scent slapped his nostrils. There was a youkai in the house, in the kitchen from the smell of it. 

"I'm in the kitchen Keitaro!" called Mama-baachan cheerfully, "What is it that you need?"

Keitaro ran down the hallway and skidded into the kitchen, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline when he saw the slim, red-haired man sitting at the table with Mama-baachan, drinking tea. Both seemingly oblivious to the late hour.

"Back so soon Keitaro? What has you in such a rush?" asked Mama-baachan. The man just stared at him, as though he had just seen a ghost. Poking out the back of his jeans, was a fluffy tail. Keitaro could feel the traces of the spells over his tail and ears.  

"Who are you?" demanded Keitaro, glaring at the youkai.

 "Oh, Keitaro, This is Shane Kits, an exchange student from America, he was asking so many questions about the shrine that I invited him in for tea," answered Mama-baachan, "Shane, this is my grandson Keitaro,"

Keitaro didn't bow when Mama-baachan looked at him expectantly, and she frowned and glanced towards pointedly to where the frying pan was sitting on the counter then back at him. He was going to have to duck it later.

"He's not an exchange student Mama-baachan," replied Keitaro, "It's a front, he's a youkai, a kitsune, I think,"

"What?!" yelped Mama, aghast. She whirled around to face the man that sat at her kitchen table.

"What sort of black miko did you hire for your concealment spells?" demanded Keitaro, glaring at the red-haired man balefully. The man's green eyes met his evenly.

"A miko who lives in Kyoto does them for a small fee," he replied quietly, "They last a year, I'm surprised you don't have one Keitaro, It's the only way the few of us youkai and hanyous left survive in the era,"

"Who are you?"

"The name's Shippou, I've grown a bit, but I'm still that annoying little Kitsune that your parents rescued from the Thunder Brothers five hundred and sixty odd years ago," replied the youkai, smiling slightly. Keitaro's mouth fell open and Mama's eyes grew round. 

"Shippou?!" gasped Mama-baachan, "The little fox boy that Kagome would always bring crayons and candy for?"

Shippou laughed.

"The very same, except I'm not exactly little any more," he replied, grinning, "You've been going through the well?"

Keitaro nodded.

"Excellent, for how long, may I ask?"

"A few weeks," answered Keitaro, raising an eyebrow. Shippou nodded contemplatively, as though comparing the information to something in his memory and smiled. 

"What is it that you needed anyways Keitaro?" asked Mama-baachan curiously, standing up to put the small teacups in the sink. They clinked and clattered and she turned on the faucet to rinse them out with.

"Anti-venom for Sachi, He got stung by a kumo youkai that we were exterminating… the venom got purified, but it's still there, causing damage,"

"I suppose one of the hospitals would have some, but I don't know any doctor's who would give anti-venom to someone your age Keitaro," replied Mama-baachan cautiously.

"Which hospitals?" demanded Keitaro, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Tokyo University Hospital has some," contributed Shippou, "I know someone who had to be treated there for a spider bite,"

"Arigatou Shippou," called Keitaro over his shoulder, already halfway to the door.

"Keitaro! Wait!" cried Mama-baachan, but he was already gone, the shoji slamming shut behind him. She shook her head, smiled slightly and sighed. "That boy, just like his father, nothing can stop him once he's set his mind to something," she remarked fondly. Shippou nodded in agreement.

"Don't I know it," he replied, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, "Don't I know it," 

  ~~~~~~~~

     An hour later, Keitaro was bounding away from Tokyo university hospital, a vial of anti-venom and a syringe in hand. Stealing them had been difficult and he had nearly been caught by nurse on duty, avoiding detection by smelling her approaching and slipping in between a set of shelves and the wall, thanking the Gods that he could make his movements completely inaudible to human ears.

He crossed through the well, gently touching down on the Sengoku Jidai side. With a leap and a bound, he was already on his way to the village.

Reaching it, he could smell that Miroku and Masuhiro had arrived minutes before he had. He pushed his way into Keiko's hut, handing the miko the antidote and syringe in its sterile packaging. Keiko stared the apparatus with confusion, but Sango, recognizing it for what it was, took it from her, opened it, carefully read the directions on the bottle, filled the syringe and injected her son with the anti-venom.

"Four more doses and he should be better," she said quietly.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Sachi was still weak from the venom two weeks later. He lay on his futon in his family's hut, pale and shaking with fever, barely able to keep down the medicines that both Keitaro and Mariko brought for him.

It was during those two weeks that Keitaro received a stark reminder that there still was at least four jewel shards to be found. He knew where two of them were; embedded in Kouga's legs, but the other two had been in the hands of Naraku's puppets. Kanna apparently had dissolved when Naraku had been brought down to his knees and killed by Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, His soul purified out of existence by the combined efforts of Kagome and Kikyou.

The two remaining shards that Naraku had possessed had vanished and the group had not had time to search them out, for Sango had already been five months pregnant with Rika at the time of the final battle. Instead, the Inu-tachi had settled down to some semblance of domestic bliss.

A week after Sachi's poisoning, rumors arrived from the West that a rogue, un-slayable leopard demon was destroying villages that were about 30 ri from their village. They set out the day after the rumor arrived, Masuhiro and Miroku riding on Kirara and Keitaro carrying Mariko, who had just received two tessen; which were folding fans with blades made of the bones of dead youkai instead of metal, from Sango. She was still nowhere near as skilled as the three men, but she could hold her own against a small youkai and often saw things that the others missed when in battle. In short, she was better than nothing.

It took three days to journey to the most easternly of the devastated villages. It was the first time that Mariko and Keitaro had missed more than a day of school for something on the feudal era. Keitaro could smell the cremation pyres from three miles away and by the time they had reached the village at about five thirty in the afternoon, the smell of burning flesh made Keitaro's head swim and his eyes water.

   ~~~

"RYUJI! RYUJI! NATSUKO! COME HERE! There are people coming from the West!" They heard the scream of a young boy from several yards away as they reached the outer perimeter of the decimated village. A small boy jumped out from behind a rock and dashed away. Keitaro caught a glimpse of a badly scarred face and arm before the thick black smoke obscured the boy as he set Mariko on the ground. Behind him, Miroku and Masuhiro dismounted from Kirara. Resisting the temptation to keel over retching, Keitaro sniffed the air and recoiled. The stench of burning flesh overwhelmed everything else. Keitaro could barely smell Mariko and she was standing a mere two feet away.

Mariko held a handkerchief over her nose and tried to blink back the tears welling up in her eyes, caused by both her horror at the devastated village and irritation from the smoke. Behind her, Masuhiro started coughing and Miroku wrinkled his nose, his mouth a grim slash on his sad face.

"HELLO?" bellowed Keitaro into the smoke, there was no verbal answer, but two figures quickly materialized out of the haze.

The scarred boy was pulling a ragged looking young woman with a sooty face and bloodstained purple yukata along. She was obviously pretty, but her face was fearful and exhausted, and her eyes resembled a raccoon's, with large purple rings around them from fatigue. In the hand that the boy was not pulling, a dagger was held by her side. Keitaro felt his eyes widen as he saw that the left side of the boy's face was divided by a long jagged scar that stretched from his hairline to just below his mouth. Another smaller scar marked where the boy's left ear had been and he could see traces of the injury on the boy's neck and on his left hand.

Mariko ran forward and took the girl's trembling hand from the boy, who despite the disfigurements that marred his looks, seemed to be in better shape than the elder girl. Leading her to a rock, Mariko sat the young woman down and offered her the contents of her water bottle, which the girl drank greedily. 

"My name is Fujita Mariko," said Mariko softly, "What's your name?"

"Natsuko," replied the girl with a hoarse whisper, "and that's Ichiro," she continued, nodding towards the boy. Then she caught sight of Miroku and her expression brightened ever so slightly.

"You're a monk? Can you please say a prayer for those who we are burning?"

Miroku nodded.

"Can't you just bury the villagers though?" he asked, frowning. The girl shook her head.

"There are only the three of us and we cannot keep the carrion crows away when they come at dusk… we decided that it is more honourable to be burned so that one lies in eternal sleep with the winds rather than be torn apart by hungry youkai," replied Natsuko quietly, "but you can at least bless their souls?"

"I will," said Miroku, "We will also help you in just about anyway you need it,"

Natsuko's eyes filled with tears.

"Thank you Houshi-sama, Ryuji, Ichiro and I are most grateful," she whispered, wiping her eyes with an unstained corner of her yukata sleeve. She stood.

"Come, I'll take you to where Ryuji is tending the fires," she contined, turning. Ichiro skipped after her, while the four of them followed, Miroku at the lead, and Keitaro bringing up the rear, one hand on the hilt of his sword while the other pinched his nose in an attempt to block out the stench. It helped a little.

All of them scrunched up their eyes as they approached the pyres. Out of the smoke, a broad figure appeared, his clothes coloured completely black from the smoke. Beyond him, they could see the gigantic flames of the cremation pyres. There were three of them, fed with wood from the village huts.

When the man appeared, Keitaro was surprised to see that Ryuji looked to be the same age as he was, but taller and stronger looking, though Keitaro knew he wasn't. Ryuji was as haggard looking as Natsuko was, and dirtier, his hands stained black and stubble growing haphazardly on his face. Unlike Natsuko, who seemed oblivious to him and Masuhiro, Ryuji's eyes riveted on his inu-ears the second he saw them.

 "Who are you?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing.

"Higurashi Keitaro," replied Keitaro, hoping the last name would make the guy back off. Considering commoners did not have last names in the Sengoku Jidai, when Mariko introduced herself with her full name out of habit, people immediately assumed her to be nobility of sort, with her fair skin and blue eyes. Keitaro had stopped using introducing himself has Higurashi Keitaro when they had encountered a daimyo who actually possessed the name Higurashi and had been quite slightly irked that a hanyou possessed his name.

Out of respect, Keitaro stopped using it, unless he wanted to put an extra edge into his reply when asked who he was. For the daimyo had otherwise been generous to them, letting them all spend the night in his compound during a storm and promised to shelter them whenever they needed it, in exchange for slaying or exorcising any demons that troubled his lands.

"Are you related to the hanyou Inuyasha?" asked Ryuji.

Keitaro nodded warily and to his surprise, Ryuji's soot-blackened face split into a grin.

"Are you his son?"

"Hai," replied Keitaro, feeling slightly bewildered and confused. The noxious smoke was starting to muddle up his reactions.

"My father Taromaru was a great admirer of Inuyasha and his friends, they aided him when he was a boy," replied Ryuji in an earnest voice and a bow, "It is an honour to meet you,"     

"Taromaru, you say?" said Miroku pensively.

"Yes," answered Ryuji, "Did you know him?"

"I was there when Inuyasha defeated the False water God… By the way, is the Water Goddess still around?" he said with an odd gleam in his eye. Masuhiro perked up at the mention of her.

"Miroku!" erupted Mariko, "You're married!"

Miroku had the grace to look ashamed of himself.

"Old habits die hard," he replied with a weak grin. Mariko glared at him and the grin vanished. 

"No, the Water goddess left this area years ago when I was a small boy," replied Ryuji, frowning at the exchange. Both Miroku and Masuhiro slumped. Keitaro was tempted to snicker, but the smoke made him unwilling to open his mouth anymore. In the distance, within the fire, he could see the last few souls escaping from the burning bodies.

"Are you going to perform the rites, Houshi-sama?" cut in Natsuko with a desperate note in her voice.

"Ah yes," replied Miroku, his solemn expression appearing once more as he reached into his robes for a few sticks of incense.

Three hours later, The seven of them sat in one of the only huts that was still standing, eating rice and some wild rabbit that Keitaro had hunted with some reluctance. Half the roof was missing and the place reeked of charred flesh, but it was shelter from the chilly temperatures. The fires had burned down so that they were piles of smoking ashes, which scattered as the winds blew.

They all looked worse for the wear and soot blackened all their faces. Mariko felt extremely guilty for thinking about how her shirt had been ruined by all the work she had been doing. Natsuko had remained silent for most of the evening; her dark eyes were hollow and cold. She picked at her rice, barely eating. Ryuji tried to put up a good face by telling stories that Taromaru told him, but there was a distinct haunted look behind his eyes.     

Ichiro seemed strangely unbothered by the fact that his fellow villagers had been massacred. He told jokes and even laughed when Masuhiro had lost his footing on some stones. He was a tiny boy, painfully thin, with round light brown eyes and sunken cheeks. The top of his head was level with Keitaro's waist, but he seemed able to eat more than the hanyou could, and that was saying something.

"Ichiro… what happened to your face?" Keitaro asked quietly, and then winced as Mariko subtly reached up behind him and yanked mightily on his ponytail, scolding him without a word for a lack of tact on his part. Ichiro's face darkened at the mention of his scarring and Keitaro suddenly felt like an ass and his ears flattened against his skull.

The boy didn't say a word, but Natsuko spoke up for the first time in over an hour.

"Ichiro was attacked by a rat-youkai two years ago, we all were amazed that he survived," she whispered, setting down her bowl. Ichiro hung his head, for the first time appearing less than cheerful.

No more was said in the hut as they settled down to sleep, Keitaro vacating his preference for a roof over his head in favour of a large willow tree that grew at the edge of the former village's damaged rice fields.

The smell of burnt flesh was less nauseating there. 

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

   I have decided that At the beginning from Disney's Anastasia is the perfect theme song for Keitaro and Mariko.

For those of you who don't know it, it goes something like this (It's a duet):

We were strangers,

Starting out on a journey

Never dreaming of what we'd have to go through

Now here we are, and I'm suddenly standing,

At the beginning with you.

No one told me that I was going to find you

Unexpected, what you did to my heart

When I lost hope

You were there to remind me,

This is the start…

Chorus

And life is a road that I want to keep going

Love is a river that I want to keep flowing

Life is a road

Now and forever

A wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning

I'll be there when the storm is through

In the end, I want to be standing at the beginning with you…

We were strangers on a crazy adventure

Never dreaming of how our dreams would come true

Now here we stand, unafraid of the future

At the beginning with you

(Chorus)

Knew there was somebody, somewhere…

Who had been left in the dark (A/N: I'm not sure if this line is correct…)

Now I know my dream will live on

I've been waiting so long

Nothing is going to tear us apart.

(Chorus) x3

'At the beginning' belongs to Disney. Not mine!

It probably doesn't fit well now, because you all have only read about 7 chapters, but this song fits into how I'm making this story along with Keitaro's and Mariko's relationship evolve, except my plot won't be quite so happy/cheesy as the song is. The 'In the end, I want to be standing at the beginning with you' line is a very big key into the later plot of Learning my way. *smiles mysteriously*  ….. Man… I feel like JK Rowling… all these little secrets that I can't tell anyone…. It's driving me mad! Even my beta reader won't let me tell him anything… gyah….. *twitches*