I don't own the manga/anime/light novel Mondaijitachi ga Isekai kara Kuru sou desu yo?

The Problem Children looked at Jackrabbit in disbelief. Asuka was the first to speak up, "How can you remember Izayoi and not us?"

"Izayoi," she said the name again. She looked over to the blond boy. "That's you, right? I've got all these names in my head, but it's hard to match faces. My memories seem to be scattered right now."

Izayoi felt his heart sink a little when he realized that she had only guessed at his name, but he didn't let it show. He nodded in response, wary of the girl.

"Well, that's a relief," she sighed. She then turned to Jin and squeaked with glee. "Jin! You've grown so well!"

Jin smiled at the Jackrabbit. In the past six years, Jin had grown to be taller than all three of the girls and almost as tall as Izayoi. Jin also put on some extra muscle. He was no longer the little kid who they'd first met. He was almost a man. He spoke as he held out a hand for her, "I guess I have. It's been a long time since I've seen you as just yourself. Are you here to stay?"

Jackrabbit raised an eyebrow at the outstretched hand. She ignored it and pulled the young man in for a bear hug. Jin was shocked when he felt a few tears soak part of his cloak. "I'm sorry. I made you grow up too fast."

Jin's eyes widened in shock, but he returned the hug. He rubbed the blue-haired girl's head. "You did what you had to do."

The boy quickly backed away from the hug when he heard Izayoi cough loudly. Jackrabbit looked surprised by the part. She didn't think the blond boy had much significance to her. "I think you still owe us a proper explanation."

The silly, care-free look fell from her face, replaced with a distant expression. "Weren't you ever curious as to why a Moon Rabbit, one of the Little Garden's aristocrats would waste her time with a no-name community?"

No. From the moment Izayoi met her, he knew Black Rabbit was someone who cheered for the underdog. He never questioned what her motive or reason could be. He had imagined her stumbling across the sad community and rushing to aid them at first sight, but never had he questioned she had ever taken to the community out of anything but her own kindness. "The question has come up before."

"This was the only place that would take the monstrous Jackrabbit," she replied bitterly. "Moon Rabbits are born one every hundred years, but every now and then, there are twins. These twins are born with equal power, but not as equal people. The younger of the twins is born with a pair of antlers and is ostracized as a freak by the entirety of the world. As a matter of fact, there is a bounty put on their head as soon as the twins turn five."

"Why five? Why not just kill them to begin with?" Izayoi asked.

Jackrabbit gave him a look that could break a normal person. Her eyes were soulless, tired, and dead all at the same time. They were in no way the same dazzling gems that lit up his life. "What's the fun in that? An infant can't run, can't be hunted like a wild animal. Besides, not enough meat on their bones for even one person until then."

Jackrabbit didn't even react to the shocked expressions of the problem children. Jin only clenched his fists. He had heard this story many times before. She continued, "I was raised apart from my twin sister and parents. They sent me to the summer home, where I was given every thing I wanted. I was always well-fed and praised. I grew up believing that I was even loved by the staff they kept there to watch over me. I was only a child after all. It wasn't until the day they took me before my parents did I even begin to know their true purpose.

"I was brought before them and found myself delighted to finally see my parents. I even ran to hug my mother. She was utterly disgusted of course. Demanded that my father bring her my pelt immediately as soon as she tossed me off. Quite the touching reunion, don't you think?"

Izayoi said nothing. He could only stare blankly at her. His blank stare continued even when her outer mood seemed to revert to the Black Rabbit they knew, but the optimism didn't reach those cold eyes of hers. She jumped up and stretched as she spoke "Wow, I had no idea I could be so emo. Hey, where's Leticia? I feel up for some sparring."

Before the Problem Children could ask anymore questions, there was yet another addition to this reunion/meeting. An out of breath Leticia appeared before them. She looked at the Jackrabbit in awe, "Jackrabbit-sama...? How is this possible?"

"Ah ha! Leticia," she smiled, "Just the vampire I wanted to see. How does a sparring match sound to you?"

Leticia returned to her taller form, tears welling in the former demon lord's eyes. "Jackrabbit-sama..."

Jackrabbit gave her an amused look. She stood, striking a confident pose with a hand on her hip. "Are you gonna stand there and gawk, or am I gonna get a well deserved hug?"

The tears ran rampant down the vampire's face, but nonetheless, she flew into Jackrabbit's arms. Leticia sobbed, "I thought I would never see the real you again!"

Jackrabbit returned the hug, "I had hoped that you wouldn't have to see this form again. I had hoped I could protect the No Names just a while longer, but it seems I have brought folly upon us again."

Leticia's head snapped up, "Jackrabbit-sama, you cannot blame yourself for this! We have more help now! Your sacrifice over these years have not been in vain."

Jackrabbit gave the vampire a genuine smile, ruffling the hair on Leticia's head. "Thank you, Leticia. Your words have much relieved me."

The two separated, large smiles still plastered on their faces. Jackrabbit turned her attention to Jin, "Darling, be a dear, and tell the others that I expect to be welcomed properly by all my little ones tonight at dinner. Also, I don't mind if you keep the study, but if I don't assign it, I don't want you working for the next few days. Leticia and these other players will re-familerize me and assure that I am up to speed."

Asuka frowned, "Who are you to be giving orders to Jin like that? Or us for that matter?"

Jackrabbit's eyes lost their warmth once again, holding mild annoyance for the former lady. She opened her mouth to say something rude, but Jin cut in, "In most respects, I've only been acting as a stand-in for Jackrabbit. If anything, she's the true leader of the No Names, and she was in role until she made the decision to fuse with Black Rabbit a few weeks before she bought you all here. And I have no hesitations about handing the reins back to her."

"That's not good enough," Asuka protested. "Do you really expect us to just fall in line with this stranger?"

"Stranger, am I?" Jackrabbit narrowed her eyes, but wore a deceitful smile. "Well, I suppose that is what I may seem like to someone like you who doesn't realize how ignorant she is."

Asuka's eyes widened in rage, "How dare you -"

"No," Jackrabbit said in a booming voice, "How dare you. This has been my home long before your arrival, and it will continue to have a spot for me long after you leave."

"And what about Black Rabbit?" Yo looked up with furrowed brow. "This place probably won't feel like home to anyone but you without her."

"You're wrong," Leticia stated simply. "Everyone in this community, except for you three, have been well aware of Jackrabbit-sama's sacrifice. When she fused with Black Rabbit, she gave up her very identity to make sure people stopped targeting the No Names. The Black Rabbit that you know, was as much of a stranger to us as you were. And every moment that she existed, was another moment that reminded us of the death of a true friend."

Izayoi muttered, "You make our Black Rabbit sound like she was some cursed object."

Jackrabbit observed the boy closely, "I understand you cared for your Black Rabbit, but you need to know that she isn't here anymore. In fact, she may never come back."

"Impossible," Asuka said in a shrill voice.

"It's very possible," Jackrabbit gritted her teeth. "The fusion is only possible if done willingly. And Black Rabbit would only willingly fuse with me if I beat her in a duel, if I proved her to her that I was better than her. The first time we fused, it was a result of the game she lost to me. She agreed only because she was overconfident in her abilities and never dreamed that I would have been so much more powerful than her. She let me make the conditions so grand because of that. She'd be foolish to make the same mistake twice."

"But Black Rabbit has all of the memories of the last six years, surely she must feel some of those same-"

"Do you honestly think Black Rabbit gives a damn about anyone here?!" Jackrabbit snapped, her hair turning. "The Black Rabbit you know is not a part of me or my so-called sister! Fusion doesn't create a combination or a bond of the people who fuse. It creates a brand new entity, a new sentient being capable of their own thought and feelings. The Black Rabbit you knew was someone that I used for the sake of the No Names. That wasn't us."

"You're definitely not her," Izayoi said calmly, "she could never use someone for her own profit."

Before anyone could blink, Jackrabbit had Izayoi by the throat and against the nearest tree. There was angry tears burning in her ruby eyes. "You don't think I didn't understand the magnitude of what I was doing?! Do you have any idea what it was like, making the decision to abandon who I am. To be joined with someone who swore to destroy me? I didn't do it so I could profit. I did it so the No Names could be safe from one more enemy. And don't you think I knew how that Black Rabbit felt, finding out she was being used, that at any moment she would be torn apart, cease to exist?"

"Wait a minute," Yo pleaded, pulling at the tightening fist on Izayoi's neck, "didn't you just say Black Rabbit had her own feelings and thoughts? So how would you know what she was feeling?"

Jackrabbit's eyes calmed down. Her bottom lip began to tremble. "Usually, a fusion is never aware of the two beings that came together to create them as their consciousness disappears. However, if something happens to make that fusion unstable, it is possible for at least one of the two original beings to reawaken. I don't what set her off, but I know when I made contact, Black Rabbit was crying. Something major had set her off, and she could never calm down enough to completely suppress me before my sister also regained herself. After that, the only thing I could do was help use the power I was getting from her disappearing to keep my sister buried. The poor girl was so scared, and yet, she was so brave, putting up the front she did."

When Jackrabbit finally released Izayoi, he wasted no time going back to questioning, "What do you mean front? How long have you and your sister been messing around in my bunny's head? How long has she been hiding this from us? What triggered it?"

"I wish I knew what made her so unstable," Jackrabbit muttered. "She would never tell me what broke her like that, and it was like she took the memory of it with her. I don't even have a glimpse of what was happening before her cries woke me up. It's been about five months since then. Do you any of you have any idea what was going on with her around that time?"

All eyes fell on Izayoi, whose eyes were wide with shock. Five months ago, Black Rabbit had been kidnapped by someone who wanted to challenge a less than willing Izayoi. Five months ago, Izayoi had literally broken two thirds of the kidnapper's bones for what that man had done to Black Rabbit. Five months ago, they thought the presence of her friends had healed those wounds. Five months ago, they were wrong.

Did you miss me?

D