Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ People are Never Who They Appear to Be A Hanyou Story ❯ The Takashi Clan ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Fire Ninja Takashi
Neko-youkai now leaves his pack to find out a little more about his ningen side. Will he be able to coop? Well, it would be anymore story he just left, right?

Anime/Manga: Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Fantasy / Supernatural | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.28.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 6.9K | Visits: 153 | Status: Work In Progress

“Talking” `Thought”
Chapter 5
The Takashi Clan
For six more years he always had the image of the woman and how he was drawn to her. He thought about being the only one in the pack without a mate as he relaxed to go to sleep every night. One day, a very familiar but long forgotten scent filled the air and he had to stop to smell it. Mine stopped and watched him smell the evidence of ningens. She knew this day would come and went over to him and said, “You once belonged to that world, the world where that scent comes from.”
“Mother?” he asked looking at her.
“We never knew what clan Saigo Made was, but that name and a part of you belongs to that world.”
“You mean my ningen side . . .”
“Yes, but I don't know if they'll accept you. Ningens don't look well at hanyous that goes for most youkais too.”
“Mother . . .”
“Neko-chan, if you wish to see the ningen then you can but . . . be careful.”
“I will mother.”
They rubbed up against each other's necks before Neko-youkai followed the scent. Two days later he came upon a valley with strange structures and ningens. He stood on a hill outside the range of ningen eyes watching them when a sudden movement behind him made him jump right into a strange metal trap. He cried out as it closed tightly on his left ankle. He tried to bolt but felt pain as the trap on his ankle tightened and ripped his skin. He heard something trying to soothe him with a strange familiar tongue and was suddenly pinned down by a hand. It felt a lot different than his own hand but then e felt leather slide and was tied around his neck. He felt the part of the trap that was holding it down break.
Neko-youkai tried to bolt, but the leather around his neck pulled at him tightly. He pulled at the leather with all his might, even though he was ningen and had a hurt ankle, as the ningen pulled him towards the strange structures. He saw ningens that were identical to his ningen form but were standing upright and saw them stare at him in curiosity. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the female ningens start to reach out to touch his hair. He spun towards her growling and snapping his teeth shut close to her hand.
She cried out and pulled away as the ningen holding the leather pulled him away. He bared his teeth daring anyone of the ningens to try what the last did. The ningen pulled him into one of the structures and tied him to one of the corners' inside of the structures before going into another part of the structure. Neko-youkai tested the leather and found he couldn't break it unless he had his powers. He turned his attention the strange object embedded in his ankle. He tried digging his fingers into his flesh to pull it out but that just caused him more pain.
The ningen, male for the ningen had no rounded chest, came back and quickly placed something soft under Neko-youkai's nose before he even had a chance to move. He felt a strange tingly numbness all over his body; he distantly saw the man start examining his ankle. He watched as the man take out a weapon like his wakizashithat he held with him for who knows how long but rarely used it and felt it be pushed under the thing on his ankle breaking it. The man worked fast in taking the thing away and dressing the wound. He put some sort of powder over the wound before covering it with clothes.
He heard a woman come in and suddenly he could understand some parts their language as she asked, “Eishi-sensei, one of the villagers said that you have the wolf boy, the one that the hunters said they saw tracks of.”
“Yes, he's right here. Be careful though he's just about to come back to himself,” the man told her.
“Why is that?” as she came over.
She wore an old kimonothat had seen better days and her waist long hair was worn down. Her eyes were a royal blue with flasks of ember and her hair was the color of fire burnt out but was still burning on wood. He noticed that unlike him and the pack she and the other ningen's hands and feet weren't like his and the packs'. Her feet were flat against the ground and her hands could extend easier than he could his own.
“He got his ankle caught in one of the hunters' traps and he tried to bite one of the women,” as he went to put his supplies away.
“She got too close didn't she?” She kneeled a few feet away from him; just enough for his comfort, and looked closer at him. She gasped, “Gods!”
“What? What is it?” he asked scared that something else might be wrong with Neko-youkai as he turned to her.
“I remember a man that looked like him! You know when I told you when I was in the forest, coming back from a mission?”
“Yeah . . .”
“I didn't tell anyone this but the man I saw was a hanyou with the pack when I drove off that youkai. This could the hanyou that the youkai was holding him against a branch but I can't be sure because it was so dark,” as she turned to face him.
Neko-youkai ignored what the man was saying and crawled forward placing his head onto her lap as much as leather would allow him to. He didn't know what it was about her he just felt like he knew her for along time and that made him feel safe. He knew she was surprised by his actions but she just placed her hand on his head and gently stroked his head. She came closer so he wasn't stretched so far. To their surprise he began to purr as she started to hum a lullaby. When she had to leave he whined loudly for her to stay but her sad glance at him telling him she had to. So he curled in the corner, ignoring his hungry, waited for her to return.
The next morning he was up as soon as the sun was up for he had heard her voice yelling at some other ningens. He went to the window next to his corner and howled for her. There was quietness as he waited for her to respond. He howled again and this time the man in the house with him came out groggily. He came over to him and started to unhooked the leather from the wall. Neko-youkai suddenly snapped the leather and bolted out of the house without the surprised man in search of the woman with hair of fire. As he came to the east side of the village he saw a lot of children. They were doing some sort of training with odd sharp objects that almost hit him as he ran in front of them.
He suddenly heard the man that held him yell, “Somebody, catch him!”
He sensed and saw several adult and teen-looking ningen come towards him. Neko-youkai waited until the last moment to jump out of the center of them and landed on the top of a long wooden log that the children were practicing on. They ran into each other while several were able to jump back. Now he was out of reach of them and sat there comfortably, like a dog. He looked at the kids as they gathered around the log and stared at him in wonder. He sniffed and listened to the kids as he thought back to his past where he had learned this language the ningens used.
“Look at that!” he heard a girl, “He's acting just like a dog!”
“Looks more like a wolf,” said a boy, “See the way he's holding his chest and tail and ears. Only wolves do that and by the way he's doing it he definitely wasn't the pack leader.”
“He must be the one who made the tracks that the hunters saw!” said another boy, “Wow! A real live hanyou . . .”
Neko-youkai lifted up his foot and scratched his right ear. He heard the kids laugh and gasp at his action but he didn't care for he was looking for the woman with hair of fire. `Let them wonder about me, I just want to find the woman with hair of fire,' he thought.
He heard an unnatural gust of wind, turned in time to see one of the ningens flying through the air on a strange creature, and started to reach out his hand to grab the remaining leather around his neck. He bared his teeth and growled loudly at the man, unafraid, but the man couldn't stop or wasn't afraid of him. He stood awkwardly on his hind feet as extended his right hand claws. He jumped slightly to the left and tore what he thought was the skin of the creature. The man couldn't control the thing and jumped out of it as it crashed onto the ground.
Neko-youkai dug his claws into the wood and just hung there for awhile. He pulled himself back up when the ningens started to get too close for his own comfort. His nose caught the scent of the woman with hair of fire before his eyes did and he started to look around for her. Then he heard her call out, “What's going on?”
He looked in the direction the voice came from and saw her coming towards the crowd as she held a child on one of her hips'. He howled to her and saw she looked up at him, startled with her mouth opened. Just then there was weight on the leather on his neck and it was just enough to start to throw him backwards. He grabbed at the leather on his throat as he tried to pull back but his body was drawn backwards because of the weight.
“No! Stop!” he heard the woman with hair of fire yell.
It was too late he lost his balance and fell backwards. He saw the ground come rushing at him and he put his hands above his head. As soon as he felt the ground under his hands he pushed off and did flips. Unfortunately he was use to his old surrounding and on the forth flip he rammed his head into a tree. His body, still having momentum, went half-way up into the air before it stopped and landed on his back with a heavy thud.
He laid there stunned until he heard the ningens' footstep running towards him. He began to growl at them as he tried to get up but his body wouldn't respond. He heard the woman with hair of fire yell at them, “No! Stay away from him!”
Neko-youkai heard them stop at her command as she ran to his side. He looked for her and relaxed as she came into his peripheral vision. He saw a little girl holding onto her sleeve as the woman knelt down beside him. He suddenly felt warmth touch his nerves as the woman held her palm above his chest and soon he was able to move. He looked at the little girl at the woman's side and knew that there was something wrong her. She was blind and it was obvious that the rest of the ningens didn't know.
The woman followed his gazed and said with a smile, “This is my littlest sister, Minako-san.”
Soon Neko-youkai became part of the family and he began to feel at home with them. They made him his own Takashi hakama, loose fitting for his comfort. He learned all the families' names by their faces and voices as well as their abilities by watching them. He learned so many things from them like the families mother had died a year ago giving birth to Minako and Chikako, being the eldest, to it upon herself to raise her sister. Also that Minako was taking longer to walk than the other children, he knew why she couldn't walk for being blind makes one unsure about their surroundings.
They also learned many things about him like the fact that he needed vegetables or fruit every few months. They only found out because one of the villagers complained about him being in their vegetable garden. They told him that whenever he needed to eat the vegetables or fruit he just needed to go to the kitchen and their cook would give him some. He only agreed because it was Chikako was the one who told him; he'd rather liked hunting for his food even if that meant being chased by the villager.
He also grew very fond of the evening meals; it was probably because they reminded him of the pack meals. He still couldn't talk in their language but he better understood the words they spoke, thanks to Chikako (woman with hair of fire). They also tried to teach him how to walk on just his hind feet with the balls of his feet on the ground but that ended with him flat on his face so he continued to walk on all fours. He still practiced standing on his hind legs but still felt uncomfortable with it.
They also found out that he was civilized at one point and time in his life. Because when he was following Chikako around their home he found a calligraphy set sitting out in one of the rooms, all ready to be used. He felt bad because he couldn't tell them his name but he knew how to write and seeing the calligraphy set gave him an idea. Chikako was talking to one of her relatives when Neko-youkai sat down, like a dog, in front of set and took the brush awkwardly to begin to write down his name. He looked up just as Chikako stood in front of him and looked at him stunned and amazed.
He picked up the sheet of paper and held up to her as she placed Minako on the ground. Minako held onto the bottom half of her sisters' kimono as Chikako took the sheet with shaky hands. He began to write another as she began to read the calligraphy. She looked at him and asked, “You're name is Saigo Made . . .”
He shook his head and handed her the last calligraphy.
She looked at it and understood then asked, “Your family name is Saigo Made and your name is Neko-youkai.”
He nodded and smiled at her happily at finally having them learn his name. A week later, everyone started to smell something awful but it was only when Neko-youkai walked by them. Chikako convinced him to go into one of the families' hot springs with her relatives' children. He agreed, he followed the kids into the changing room, and saw them taking off their clothes. He tried to do the same thing but he couldn't reach the tie in the back and had to have one of the kids' help him out of his clothes.
He followed them through a door that lead outside and found it was the same type of water that he and the pack would sort of bathe in but it more of played in then bathing. It was obvious that they thought he wouldn't like the water but he just right jumped in. He was playing with one of the younger kids when he sensed something wasn't right. Suddenly one of the older and stronger adults grabbed him from behind, holding him under his arms, and locked his hands behind his neck.
He heard the man yell, “I got him! Hurry, get the washing supplies!”
The next thing Neko-youkai knew about four other man held and washed him down before he had the chance to realize what was happening. One started fiercely washing his hair while another started to rub something onto his body as the other three held his limps. By the time he got them off they had thoroughly cleaned him and he didn't like the way he smelled now. He growled angrily at them before he got out of the spring and shook off the water. Still naked he left the hot spring area and found a big dirt pile.
He heard Chikako run towards him as she yelled at him, “Neko-youkai-kun stop!” He ignored her as he lay down on his back and started to roll around in the dirt. He heard her cry, “No!”
Being very pleased at the way he smelled now, he shook off the excise dirt, and smiled at her as he wagged his tail. She looked like she was about to cry but then fell to the ground laughing. He didn't know what she was laughing at but he suddenly jumped to his feet as he turned to the forest and started growling at someone. Chikako sat up and looked to the forest as some of her relatives came running out as some tied their yukatas shut. Then a short figure stepped out of the shadows coming towards Neko-youkai.
Chikako got to her feet as she held onto to something inside the sleeves of her kimono and stood beside him. Neko-youkai remembered the man; he was the man who stole what he caught and the same man who had a tree fall onto his leg. He growled louder at the man as he came out and looked over him, Chikako, and then the others as they summoned their weapons.
The man suddenly surrounded the two of them with black fire and thought he could simple separate them from the others with his fire. But Chikako wouldn't have any of that and she summoned her own fire. A dark red almost black fire around her and Neko-youkai in a safe cocoon. She expanded it as she spread her arms out and had it burst through the fire the man made around them.
Before she had a chance to even think about attacking the man Neko-youkai ran at him. Apparently the man hadn't noticed that Neko-youkai was naked by the surprised and disgusted look on his face and he disappeared leaving a very angry hanyou behind. It took a minute before the whole family realized this and then bursted out into laughter. The men put a yukata on Neko-youkai before Chikako led him back to the home and told him why they attacked him in the hot springs.
A week later, Chikako was trying to get Minako to walk to her but she just stood there unsure about where to go until Neko-youkai walked by, on all fours as he, himself, was trying to stand on two legs went. Minako felt his heavy footsteps through the boards of the floor and started to follow him. Chikako began to pray that her littlest sister wasn't blind as she watched her sister go after Neko-youkai.
Minako stopped when she felt nothing through the ground from the hanyou since he stopped as he tried to regain his balance until he landed heavily on his hands when lost his balance. She walked forward and mentally pictured Neko-youkai's body. She loosely grabbed onto his tail as she came in arms reach of it.
Neko-youkai quickly brought his head upright as he stopped when he felt something grab his tail. He turned his head to side and saw Minako cuddling it. He smiled as he turned to face her, sitting down he pulled her into his lap. She giggled as he rubbed his tail against her face. Suddenly he heard Chikako ask in a sad voice, “She's blind, isn't she?”
Neko-youkai looked up at her for a minute before he nodded his head solemnly and carefully pronounced his answer, “Y-yes, she is . . .”
“You knew she was that's why you stayed close by her when she was outside by herself while I trained with the children . . .” as tears fell down her cheeks.
He nodded again but this time didn't have an answer to give her.
“Why didn't I see it sooner?” she asked herself as held her face in her hands, “Without her eyes she won't be able to become a ninja.”
Neko-youkai carefully stood up as he carefully held Minako in one arm and walked over to Chikako. He set Minako by his leg as she held onto his tail and he embraced Chikako in a loving hug, a hug that made his head rest just below her chest (since he's still small). She kneeled down as she willingly welcomed the hug as she cried harder and he said the only words he could think of to comfort her, “You're doing your best li-like any sister o-or mother would.”
He felt quite proud of himself for completed a ningen sentence with minimum difficulties but right now he knew wasn't the time to take pride instead it was the time to give comfort. For he wanted to comfort the mate he found for himself, but he didn't dare to bring that issue up with her. Suddenly he felt his legs getting weak and he tried to tell her, “Chi-Chikako-san . . .”
“What is-Ahh!” she started to ask before she collapsed under his weight.
He gave her a pitiful look as he sat up to relieve her of his weight and the both of them laughed. Neko-youkai stopped when he felt a tug on his tail he looked behind and saw Minako wanted to be pulled, she loved it when he allowed her to be dragged throughout the house by his tail. Chikako got up and stood to the side to allow them to have their fun as she wiped away her tears.
  
Chikako had done someheat muscle changes with Neko-youkai so he could hold a brush and a katana better; he recently took a liking to the katana when he saw some to the boys practicing. What she would do was heat up his hands to relax the muscles around the bones, then gently as possible pulled the bones to the spots she wanted, and then cool the muscle down to tense them up again to keep the bone where she put. It hurt Neko-youkai badly but he could handle it, he would only shutter when she tensed the muscles.
Just after one of their sessions he turned away from her and looked towards the forest. At first she thought it was the man again but then he howled and ran towards the forest. He was half-way there when another figure met up him by tackling him and they rolled around on the ground. Chikako watched them unsure of whether or not they were playing or fighting. Neko-youkai laid on the ground underneath the woman and started talking to her in wolf.
The woman responded to him then got up when he moved his head towards Chikako. He ran over to Chikako, stood up on his hind legs, and took her hand as he slowly led her towards the woman. Now Chikako could tell that the woman was a wolf yasha, a very beautiful one for that matter, as they came closer. She looked at him questionably and somewhat jealous.
He pointed to her, then to himself, and said, “My mother.”
“Your . . . mother . . .” she looked from him to the wolf yasha confused.
“I may be able to explain,” the wolf yasha told her. “I'm Mine.”
Chikako looked at her startled and remembered not all youkais were like Neko-youkai.
The woman sat on the ground, non-traditional style, one arm on upraised knee her other leg lying on the ground in front of her as her other arm held her upright behind her. She looked towards the village and said, “I found him, he was so weak, I couldn't help but take him in. My mate was very angry at me for taking him in but it seemed to be the best for the pack.” She stopped to watch Neko-youkai start chasing after a bug, “He's grown so much since then.”
“He defiantly has become part of my family,” Chikako told her.
“He had always truly belonged to ningens; he didn't really quite fit in with the pack. I must get going, but you have met `The Shadow'.”
“The Shadow?” Chikako looked at her questionably as she stood up.
“The man in black or what the pack calls: `The Shadow'.”
“Him, yes we have.”
“Be careful around him he's more dangerous than anyone I have ever felt.”
“I will thank you.”
The woman called to Neko-youkai, he came to her, and hugged her. She said to him in wolf again, “Would you like to stay here or would you like to come back with me?”
Neko-youkai looked from her to Chikako and couldn't decide. He felt like he owed the pack but he also owed and he wanted to stay with the Takashi Clan. He finally told her, “I owe so much to the pack and I owe a lot to this clan . . . and I found my . . . mate.”
She looked at him for a moment and finally said, “You owe nothing to the pack, I'm glad you found yourself a mate.” She hugged him again, “Have you told her?”
“No, I don't know how to go about it, besides she's becoming a priestess. Priestess's aren't supposed to marry.”
“You still have a chance if she's becoming a priestess, she may change her mind if you tell her.”
“Thank you mother,” as he hugged her one last time.
His mother turned to Chikako and said, “I'm glad to have met you. I hope you take good care of my son.”
Neko-youkai grinned at the double meaning of her words as Chikako nodded. They watched his mother leave into the forest before they headed back to their home. The next day, Eishi took Neko-youkai to a gravesite and he could barely stand the reiki in the area.
Eishi stopped in front of a grave at the end of the gravesite and said, “There use to be town here before ours' and it went up in flames. The only things left of the village are these unmarked graves. This grave has always had this katana in it since before we came. I've been coming to this grave because this katana is now giving off massive energy waves and it started whenever you pasted by here . . .”
Neko-youkai looked at the katana, he never noticed before because it felt so familiar, but it was calling to him. He reached out and grabbed the hilt and was overwhelmed with power. He snatched his hand away and looked at the wakizashi at his waist. It was adding too much energy to the katana's power and he decided what to do. He took off the wakizashi knelt down before the grave and said, “Spirit, I wish to take the katana in your grave in exchange for my wakizashi.”
He placed his wakizashi on the grave and then took the katana. They both felt the reiki decrease as if some of what was keeping the spirits there had lifted. They both knew that he could now train with the family. The next morning he soon found out there were other teachers besides Eishi and all of them were his siblings. There was his brother, Keiji, taught the ninja lessons, their sister Etsuko, who was blind, taught Southern Preying Mantis style, and Tara, taught Kung Fu. Then there was their brother, Mamoru, taught Hung Gar, their sister, Sorano, taught Ba Gua, and their sister, Haya, taught Ku Tai Chi.
Neko-youkai learned some ninjutsu from them along with the samurai lessons though he naturally knew how to wield a katana he didn't need to take that many lessons from Eishi. He also became very foliate in the ningen language that he could speak without stuttering. He soon learned about ice walking at the time of winter one year and learned never to trust the younger members of the clan. They loved to trick him all the time and he always somehow fell for it.
He soon found out that same winter that he had a rival for Chikako's heart by a young man in the village, Yuma, and he wasn't very fond of him. But he ignored him by turning his attention into teaching Minako how to walk. Once she learned she would hold onto his tail to follow him; he also taught her how to meditate to become one with the earth when she was about four. He and Chikako noticed that she was a lot mellower than the other children her age.
Wakizashi it means short sword its' propose is for a samurai to commit suicide if captured by their enemy. This sword is always kept with a samurai when a katana can't be. This and the katana are paired together are called Daisho.
Kimono is a tradition Japanese woman's dress.
In Japan they have many gods not like the Christian belief.
Yukata is a light summer kimono worn by everyone.