Sorry, sorry-*breaks off into singing Sorry Sorry by Super Junior*-Ahem, about, um, another boring chapter :( I also tried to focus more on description rather than having a mostly dialogue driven story. Blahh, I need to stop giving you guys boring chapters x.x

I'm sure you have all noticed by now (hopefully) but if you haven't, I'll say it here; I changed the rating of the story from Teen to Mature –NOT because there will be any "woohoos" starting from this chapter, but because the violence and gore levels have stepped up a bit because after reading YYH and Yoshihiro Togashi-sensei's other work, HunterxHunter, I've come to realize they're actually very violent and very gory so I wanted to follow his work a bit more… which certainly does include, indulging a bit more on Kurama's merciless past…

"Go away!" I screamed at her in my mind, unable to use my mouth anymore. I had lost all control over my own body. "I don't care who you are or what you want, but you have no right to do this!"

She ignored me, pulling up my hair with my hands into a ponytail. I watched her in the mirror, rummaging through the new makeup my father kept buying for my mother each year with the hope she would come home and not have old, stale makeup waiting for her.

"How curious, this new era has such different makeup," she applied some lipstick onto my lips. "Your memories are quite useful—they kept me from going into shock of all your new strange machinery. Horse-drawn carriages have been replaced by your cars. I cannot recognize the Japan I knew, let alone a single street. Even the kanji is different. Appearing in a city, however, is much more interesting and useful than appearing in that small little town."* She paused for a moment, staring at my face in the mirror before there being a strange twisted look of fright. Quickly, she pulled my hair out of its ponytail and arranged it into a different style but I could feel a strange, terror-gripped bubble swell in my chest.

Then I ignored her and shut myself away in my memories as I let her defile the presents my father had carefully chosen for mother. I recalled to the time before we moved away from the house that was packed away on the same street as Shuuichi's. Every morning, I would hurriedly eat the breakfast my mother had set up in the dining room, forcing down the rice and side dishes with a little bowl of warm soup. Right after I finished, I ran back upstairs to my room to hastily twist out of my pajamas and into my elementary school uniform. When I thundered down the stairs, Shuuichi would be waiting at the front door holding the bright yellow hat* that was a part of the uniform, in his hands. Often times I would trip and fall onto my hands but adamantly ignored the pain so as to hurry and slip on my shoes.

"You don't have to hurry, Kanna," Shuuichi would remind me. He also wore the same cap for we attended the same elementary school. In this particular memory, he was twelve years old while I was ten. After jumping onto my feet and pulling on my backpack, he pushed the hat over my head. I grabbed his hand and we left the house, "Ittekimasu*!"

We walked off together soon joining in with a larger group of other kids from our neighborhood that attended the same school. We formed a group of bobbing yellow hats worn by elementary children age's six to twelve*. It was a relatively short walk to me in the present time, but when I was a child it was a long and tiring journey. Other children would point out "dangers" of how a dinosaur or an oni* was going to pop out in the dark alleys. The older children held the youngest of hands when crossing the street or sometimes stopped a certain boy, Yukito Yamamoto, from wandering off and following the first little animal that popped up in his line-of-sight. Yukito was an interesting boy who was in the grade between Shuuichi and me. He had an affinity to animals and would unknowingly try to touch them whenever he came across one—completely forgetting his surroundings which would result in haphazardly crossing the street before the cars stopped.

The rest of the school day went normally until the final lesson of the day. I sat in a class with other fourth years at low wooden tables. For some, their legs were folded beneath them while others sat in other, more comfortable, positions. We all held calligraphy brushes and practiced writing hiragana and hundreds upon hundreds of Chinese characters.

"Kanna-chan, my hand is cramping!" whined my classmate who sat next to me.

I tearfully squirmed around, "Mine is too!"

"A-i-u-e-o, ka-ki-ku-ke-ko, sa-shi-su-se-so, ta-chi-tsu—*" the repetitive phonetic sounds from my mouth was cut short when the door rattled opened loudly. The students looked up to see the principal wearing a grim look on his face. He stared at me for a few moments.

"Kanna Shikusa, could you step out here for a moment please?" he called and I gently set my brush down, careful of the ink to keep it from getting on anything. I ran out into the hall where I almost fell by stumbling over my slippers.

"Careful, now," he raised a hand. "Kanna, your mother was just admitted into the hospital after a fire broke out in your home. Your father requested for Shuuichi to take you to the hospital, so go gather your things and meet him at the front door."

I nodded frantically before running to gather my backpack and then back out into the hallways, not bothering to put away my things. I saw Shuuichi standing at the door with my shoes already placed out of my locker. Quickly, I kicked off my school slippers to put on my shoes while pulling my hat forcefully onto my head. Shuuichi took my slippers and put them into my locker calmly. "It'll be alright, Kanna."

I grabbed his hand and he led me out of the school grounds and to a bus stop where we waited to be taken to a different stop where we went into the subway. From the subway, we returned to ground level where we took a bus that finally led to the hospital. My father was waiting for us with his face blanched white and his shoulders shrugged over. Sweat glistened on his face and the corners of his lips were pulled down from the weights of worry. When he saw Shuuichi and me, he promptly straightened out his posture and wiped away at his sweat. After several hours, my mother was finally released from surgery. Most of the lights in the hospital were now turned off or dimmed down. My father hurried to talk with the doctor but before I entered the room, Shuuichi's mother, Shiori appeared to pick him up. Afterwards, I was momentarily left alone where I rapidly ran to my mother's room.

However, before I went through her door, I saw a man standing in the dark shadows of the hallway several feet away. He stood straight and tall, staring down at me with bright blue eyes that could be clearly seen in the dark. He wore a scowl, and his neutral gaze turned into a glare. I shrunk away, stepping closer to my mother's closed door while trying to grasp ahold of the handle but panic had already risen inside my chest and kept me from having proper hand-eye coordination.

"She should have died," he hissed and I fell down to the ground, leaning against the door with my legs folded against me. He muttered more words that I could not recall before he turned and disappeared, seemingly disappearing into the shadows. After taking a few deep breaths, I finally entered my mother's room while trying to calm my trembling.

"Mama?" I called. She lied still on the bed with only her chest moving up and down.

"There weren't as many burns as we expected, nor were they very severe. They were, on the most part, only first degree burns as the fire department and neighbors were able to reach her swiftly, and she was also in a safer area of the home," the voice of the doctor could be heard through the door behind me. "But even though they are not serious, the burns cover most of her body and she has been put under a medically induced coma and given pain relievers intravenously. There are a few second degree burns found around her legs but are superficial."

"So she'll be fine?" came my father's worried voice.

"Yes, we will awaken her in a few days but besides the burns, she'll be fine. The current risks are minimal." Unfortunately, when she had awoken, she was found to be blind but with no known causes as staring into a fire could only cause temporary blindness.

Suddenly, against my will, I was pulled out of my memories and I saw my own face in the mirror twisted into a seething glower.

"That bastard," my voice screeched. "How dare he!" She hit the mirror in anger and the glass shattered out into a spider web design. She kept hitting the mirror over and over and I watched pieces dance off and cut through my hand. Pain snaked up my arm but I couldn't react externally or stop her from beating the mirror. Blood dripped from my hand and I expected it to close like at the hospital but it did no such thing. The red liquid kept escaping, splashing onto the makeup and mahogany dresser and glass shards that littered the top of it. Curiosity and fear flickered in the back of my mind and I rummaged through my memories. I knew that it was something in my memories that sparked her sudden fit of rage.

And immediately, I focused on the man standing in the dark hallway with the bright blue eyes. I felt a strike of pain pierce through my head and I doubled over—no, it was my body's captor that did so—falling to the ground on my knees. Standing there with a glare and bright blue eyes that glowed in the darkness…standing there with longer hair and in a more traditional attire of a kimono, two images of the man overlapped but the eyes were the same. In one memory, in my memory, he wore a scowl while the one that belonged to my imprisoner had him standing with an amused grin. Then her memory completely took over and I saw him with wide, surprised eyes; his mouth partly open in a strained gasp. Two pale hands hold a knife to his gut; blood seeped through his clothing and unto the pale hands, painting them red before he collapses onto the ground.

"He's supposed to be dead—supposed to be dead, dead, dead," my voice muttered over and over while my hands gripped the carpeted ground, staining the white with dark red sins. Unexpectedly, the pain worsened and I suddenly found myself alone. My body had been returned and the voice that had temporarily gained control was now quiet and seemingly gone. I trembled and sat in the dark room, not knowing what to do—dumbstruck over the man with the hollow blue eyes.

Shuuichi's POV

I felt the flare of energy again—the one that tried to consume Kanna at the hospital. It was the sharp, unstable ki* that was all too familiar to myself now that I had started to recall a past I had cast aside before. It hit me softly in waves, pulsating like a heartbeat. It was much duller compared to the sharpness it was earlier.

As I made my way towards the energy, I recalled the last time I had seen the woman before her eyes had turned red—the ancestor of the Shikusa family who was slain in violent anger. It was the last time we were to cross paths before the assassin made me her personal target. There was little light, only available from the moon and the strings of lanterns that were hung on the houses.

And I admit, it was my own fault that I had become the Assassin's target.

I was the reason why that she had sought out the power of youkai that I, myself, had gained several decades before.

I was the reason why Kanna—or at least the doll—and her family were suffering.

Hana's POV –moments before her death-

Lying in the hospital bed that I had become so accustomed to because of my illness, I stared hard at the teenager in front of me. Even though I could not actually see her, I knew how she was. Kanna held my hand in a panic state, worried over my wellbeing. I wanted to tell her how much I loved her even if she weren't my daughter, but I kept silent because I knew that the child did not know the truth. It had become years since I last felt uncomfortable over the fact but as long as the child did know the truth herself, I was easily able to play make-believe.

I was scared, that our play of "house" would break apart if I brought anything of the past up—and I knew Mamori felt the same. She mumbled nonsense, brought on by her state of panic.

I love you, Kanna.

I love you, even though you are not my blood daughter.

Child, did you know that you had a secret name that I gave you? If you ask Mamori, then he will tell you.

I love you, Aiko*.

Thank you, for having given me the chance to raise Kanna.

Shuuichi's POV

Kuronue and I had returned to Ningenkai, finding a way through the kekkai barrier again. We had done so several times before, always eluding the spirit detectives sent after us.

We laid our eyes on a foreign item kept "safely" in a monk's temple. The assassin was assigned to target the head monk of the same temple. I broke through the weak barriers and puzzles that were set up to allow Kurounue retrieve our reward. The wind picked up and carried the smell of blood to my nose. Straightaway, I raised my awareness and stretched out my ki* so as to sense for any immediate threats.

"Kurama," Kurounue called out in the darkness, his wings twitching.

I nodded in acknowledgment. Kuronue then slipped out towards one direction while I went the opposite. The assassin stood on the rooftop and our eyes met for a brief moment; hers still black at that time. I saw the glistening of blood as it dripped from the heavy sack in her hand and its thin cloth conformed to what it held, drawing the outlines of the monk's face. She then turned away, jumping from the roof to take the head to her patron.

The air passed along the faint tapping of feet to my ears and I quickly jumped into the shadows. For a brief moment, I watched as monks stumbled in shock and panic they took notice of the assassination and thievery. I was amused only slightly as I had seen such actions many times before. When they moved away from where I hid, I took my chance to leave and meet up with Kurounue. As I traveled through the night, a peculiar energy caught my interest. I immediately switched paths and arrived at a small, fenced in house where I saw a single man moving through its hallways. He paused at an open door and looked directly towards me, taking me by surprise. The human man gave a faint smile before sliding the door closed and returning to his previous task of carrying a boiling pot to an inner room. I entered the home and followed him to the inner room where he sat with tea set up to his side on a small serving table while he slowly carved at a wooden doll.

"May I help you?" he asked in a calm voice, not looking away from his task. I looked up at the source of the energy; a doll, of which that sat upon a small shrine-like stand at the back of the room. Several other dolls—all incomplete—sat around this lone, completed doll. They were all the man's making, I could only assume, as I watched him carefully form the nose of the one in his hands. All of the dolls were carved in a western style and wore western clothing. I gave no response and the man glanced to my feet. "You are stepping on the cloth corner of a tatami mat; you will encounter bad luck."*

I scoffed, "Humans and their fears of superstitions; I find it funny—I do not fear of this bad luck for it does not exist. My luck has been abundant as I create it for myself."*

He stopped momentarily and stared up at me, his lips curved at the ends in an odd smile. "The bad luck will not necessarily befall you, youko," he paused. "Nor will you encounter it only a single time." The darkness of the room started to overwhelm my senses and the light from the single candle in the corner seemed to dull. My ears twitched trying to make sense of the sudden appearance and mix of energies inside the room—and the man was the source. "You are not welcome to the doll."

"It's interesting," immediately after the words finished resonating in the air between us, I threw my hand forward to tear through the man as he stood to defend his possession. He pulled out a katana that was hidden under the shrine, pushing the blade towards my gut. I used my right hand to grab the blade to keep it from entering my gut. We stood like so for several moments, waiting for the other to falter—I gripped the blade away from my gut while my other hand also fought against another blade. The human held up a small knife to keep my hand from fully reaching around his neck but my fingers were still able to reach his throat where my nails dug into his skin and muscles. The blood from my fingers allowed the katana to slowly slip forward, closer to my gut. He was abnormally fast and had taken me by surprise.

"It seems that I lose," the man spoke out in a wavering, gritty voice that was laced with pain. Then the strength from his arms fell away, allowing me to push my fingers into his neck. The blood pushed out into the open air after I brought my hand back to my side. The katana and knife fell to the ground with their wielder. His body fell into the serving table, causing the teapot to knock over and spill onto him. I could hear a sizzle as the water seeped through his kimono and burn his skin. I shook my hands of the excess blood and grabbed the doll. I turned to leave but a woman stood at the door before me with her eyes wide open in shock.

It was the assassin who I had encountered several times in the past but her western mask was off—the strange, white one with red markings. Under it, was a young woman with large black eyes and pale skin with a red glow on her cheeks, either due to being a part of her natural complexion or because she had run here. She looked down at the slain man whose eyes were also wide open, rolled back and staring at the ceiling.

I saw the gleam of her blade in the corner of my eye before I heard her move or notice that she had pulled it out of its sheathe. She swung the katana as fast and hard as she could but I was no longer in the mood to deal with any more conflict. Quickly, I dodged her swings and sprinted out of the home. A scream of rage erupted from the usually mute assassin—was he her family? Her lover?

I dashed easily ahead but I stopped and faced her, waiting for them to challenge me. The assassin was significantly slower as she was only human. I dodged every one of her attacks with a mocking smile. In a show of power and strength—to shove before the large gap that existed between us—I slipped behind her and cut the muscles behind her knees with my nails. She cried out in pain and collapsed onto the roof but used her hand to keep herself from fully lying down. I used my rose whip to grab the blade and toss it several yards from us onto another rooftop. She glared at me and pulled out a small hand-knife from under her obi, but I swiped and tossed it aside as well. I then kneeled before her and grabbed her neck, making a point by digging my nails into her skin. The human woman who I had just seen earlier in the night, behead and get away with the murder was now powerless and struggling against me.

"Too slow and too weak," I spoke in a hoarse, low whisper. "Ah? Are you crying now?" I chuckled. "I know that you understand that your tears are for your weak self, for your lack of strength and ability—not for that human man. If you want to kill me, I suggest you find a way to get stronger. You humans are nothing in the eyes of youkai." I squeezed her neck harder, making her struggle to breathe.

I briefly returned to the present, withdrawing from my memories as I arrived to Kanna's home. Inside, the house was dark and untouched and I could smell the distinct scent of blood. Calmly, I sprinted up the stairs to Mamori and Hana's room where the source of the energy and blood was. Kanna sat on the ground, surrounded by broken glass from the vanity mirror. Her hands and forearms had cuts from the shards and were bleeding profusely. She looked up at me with eyes full of confusion and terror and twisted around towards me. Her whole frame painted a picture of a lost child that had sat down, no longer knowing of what to do or go next.

"Shuu-nii," she called out to me. Her voice was saturated with panic and it was that that had me reel back on my heels at a complete loss. "Save me."

I returned to my memory of the assassin who was an ancestor within the Shikusa bloodline.

I remembered clearly as to what happened next after squeezing her throat.

The assassin arched away from me and her mouth gasped open in pain as I tore my fingers into her black eyes.

Japanese Culture and Language Notes:

*"Even the kanji is different." – what I mean here is that, a lot of words have changed in meaning or have double meanings in the modern time (or double meanings used in the past are lost or no longer used) and also the font is different; it's not just traditional brush calligraphy, there's blocky computerized or other stylized version of any language in today's world for different companies and clubs and things like that.

*bright yellow hat – in Japan, preschools, kindergartens and elementary schools have a brightly colored hat as part of the uniform because most, if not all, children walk to school and to keep them from being run over, they wear bright hats so they're easily seen walking around the neighborhood. And on the note of walking, unlike in America (I don't know about other readers in other countries but FF stats say most of you readers are from the US) there are no school buses that pick up students. You either have to walk the whole way, ride the bus, ride the subway, or a mix of them. Only spoiled rich kids that attend the pompous rich kids private schools get a car ride to school.

*"Ittekimasu" – there is no direct translation to English but it's basically what one says when you leave the house… the closest translation would be something like "I'll be back". If you really want a direct-direct translation, it's "I am leaving and will be back". lolz

*ages six to twelve – school system in Japan goes like this (in comparison to the American school system): Elementary are grades 1-6, Junior High/Middle are grades 7-9, and Senior High/High school are grades 10 – 12. However, in Japan it's counted as Elementary 1-6, Junior High 1-3, Senior High 1-3 which is why in manga and anime they go "Oh, I'm a third year!" or "I'm in class 2-B" which stands for year 2, class B. So in Japanese language, one introduces themselves mentioning if they're in elementary, middle, or high before saying their year; for example, "Watashi wa koukou ni-nensei desu" is "I am a 2nd year in high school" – koukou is high school, and ni-nensei is 2nd year student.

*Oni – refers to "trolls" or "ogres" but more commonly in English is translated into "demon" just as "yokai" is translated into demon – HOWEVER, it is actually wrong and is used since the modern use for demon is more commonly used to mean a "monster" or something like that. In actuality, an "oni" or "yokai" are formed of the unknown and are actually mythical beasts or monsters… so if translators seriously wanted to translate it, it would be "monster" rather than "demon" but the proper use of the words transferred over to the English language could actually stay as "yokai" and "oni" as there are no actual translatable words available. And on that note, I don't use "demon" as a translation word for "yokai" and "oni" since a "demon" is of Biblical origins and means for the… well, demons or the Devil himself. The word for "demon" or "devil" of Biblical origins in Japanese is actually the word "akuma". (which is presently famous in use by a certain famous –and sexy- butler in all black who always says, "Watashi wa akuma de shitsuji desu kara")

*"A-i-u-e-o, ka-ki-ku-ke-ko, sa-shi-su-se-so, ta-chi-tsu…" said by Kanna, are the basic phonetic sounds of the Japanese language that are represented by hiragana. As she is drawing/writing each character, she says them out loud. As you can see, there is a repetition of basic sound which is "Ah-ee-ooh-eh-o" and then goes on to the rest of the alphabet which is 46 in total.

*Aiko – Japanese name, meaning "Love Child"… which in English sounds completely NOT how I want it to lololololololol….

*ki – one's life energy

*"You are stepping on the cloth corner of a tatami mat; you will encounter bad luck." – Japanese superstition- I have NO idea as to how or where it originated

*"…My luck has been great as I create it for myself…" - *starts singing* "Luck be a lady~ tonight~~" yes I totally asterisked this because I wanted to tell everyone that I like Frank Sinatra music ;)

okay, i've given up on doing the "thank yous" for every each one of you because it takes a long time, and I'm sure everyone's been waiting for this chapter :3

btw tho, please don't just leave a review as "i like it" or "i didn't like it" - those aren't reviews, those are comments-they make me feel great, but leave me hanging as a "well, WHY?" so please at least state why you like or dont like it :)