Echoes of Destiny : Chapter One : Meeting

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters, they belong to Watase Yuu and several other people. This is just fanfiction.

Notes: Will contain spoilers, yaoi, and violence. But I think this chapter is pretty safe for now. I know the pairings aren’t canon, (well, except for M&T), they’re not intended to be.

*thoughts*

Saihitei glanced up as he heard the all too familiar cursing coming from his roommate. He sighed and returned to the paper he was writing as the redhead came storming into the room. "Don’t start with me, Tasuki. You know the rules," he replied.

The redhead muttered something unintelligible and collapsed onto the couch. "I know, I know. But how was I to know that he’d be bringing HER over here tonight. You know I hate women."

"All too well," the former emperor replied. He sighed slightly and closed his books. "Look, Shun’u. You can get upset all you want, but you have to face the facts. Kaen is a part of our lives and has been for many years. It’s not her fault you didn’t remember who she was."

"Like you did? Please, you were as surprised as I was when he called her Soi at the wedding," Shun’u replied. He was about to say something else when there was a knock at the door. Grumbling to himself, the redhead stood and moved to open it. "All I have to say is, I’m not telling Miaka."

As soon as the door opened, a small boy with light blue hair ran to Shun’u and hugged him. "Konnichi wa no da, Tasuki-chan!"

Shun’u pried the boy off and glared slightly at the brunette standing on the other side of the door. "I hate it when he does this," he replied, picking up the boy. He carried him over to the couch and dropped him. "Hello, Chichiri. Could you please act your age tonight? Miaka’s kids don’t need to see you like that."

"Daaa." The small boy vanished into the baseball cap he was wearing and reappeared next to the brunette. "I was just trying to have a little fun, Tasuki-kun no da." He grabbed the woman’s hand and led her inside. "Besides, I know you hate it when I do that ... no da."

Kaen chuckled slightly and smiled at the two young men in the apartment. "Konnichi wa, minna. Looks like it was Shun’u’s turn to clean," she replied, glancing at the clothes and school books strewn all over the couch, floor, ceiling fan (the clothes, not the books). She chuckled again as she noticed the second desk, absolutely spotless.

"It’s not that funny, Soi," the redhead replied. He made a face at her before grabbing an armful of clothes and carrying them out of the room.

Saihitei rolled his eyes and stood to welcome his guests. "I don’t know what ever possessed me to agree to share an apartment with him," he replied.

"They got married, remember," Shun’u replied from the other room.

The former emperor motioned for the others to be quiet and threw the nearest object through the doorway. Unfortunately for the redhead, it happened to be his favorite hiking boots. "Itai!"

Saihitei grinned and motioned for the guests to sit down. "So, how is married life?"

"Great no da," the brunette replied. After a moment, she started laughing. "See, Houjun, I told you it was contagious."

The blue haired man smiled and put his arm around her. "Like she said, great no da. But there is one thing I’ll miss about being single," he replied. At the look from his wife, he grinned and motioned toward the, now closed, bedroom door. "Picking on Tasuki."

Several, very loud curses later, a very wet Shun’u walked out of his bedroom. "Chichiri, how many times do I have to tell you, I HATE WATER!!"

The three friends started laughing as someone started knocking on the door. Saihitei walked over and looked through the peephole. A quick motion of his hands told the others that it was one of the people they had been waiting on. He opened the door and smiled at the older brunette on the other side. "Sukunami-san, welcome. I’m so glad you could join us," he replied.

Sukunami Miaka sighed slightly at the formal tone from her son’s friend, but smiled and walked inside. "Thank you. I have to admit, I was a little surprised when I got your invitation. What is this all about?"

Saihitei glanced at the others and then back at his former Miko and smiled. "You will see, Sukunami-san. Did the rest of your family not come with you?"

"My husband is parking the car. The children said they would be a little late, they had something to take care of."

"Oh, that reminds me, I have to take care of something as well," Kaen replied, standing. She smiled at Miaka and bowed slightly. "It was a pleasure seeing you again, Sukunami-san. I will not be gone long." With that, she winked at her husband and left the apartment.

Shun’u watched her go and then looked at his roommate. "That was ... strange. Where is she off to in such a hurry?"

Houjun smiled secretively and glanced at Miaka. "She just had to take care of something, that’s all," he replied. He stood and welcomed the older woman as her husband came in through the door Kaen had left open.

"Looks like I’m in the right place," he replied. He smiled at his son’s friends and moved closer to his wife. "Though I was hoping the kids would get here first."

Saihitei nodded and motioned for them to sit. "I’m sure they will be here soon," he replied. "But for now, Shun’u, don’t you think you should go change?"

Shun’u grumbled as he left the room, completely missing the look his friends shared behind his back.

Kaen smiled at the two teenagers standing in front of the bakery window. "Ok, your parents are there already and they don’t suspect a thing. I hope you two have finally decided," she replied.

"I have made my choice," the older of the two replied. She looked at her brother and made a face. "Kouji can’t decide on anything. Not even on what color he wants his hair to be."

The younger sibling rolled his eyes and looked at the brunette. "Yui wants to get that ridiculous pink cake. Dad would freak if we got pink," he replied. "Besides, it’s not even an anniversary cake."

Kaen chuckled and motioned to the baker. "I’d like to pick-up the call-in order for Ri. And whatever these two decide to get," she replied. The baker nodded and started boxing up a large sheet cake as the siblings continued to argue over which cake to get. Kaen smiled slightly at them when she felt a very familiar presence behind her. She glanced at another counter and nearly jumped when she saw two young men with shaggy dark blond hair, wearing long black trench coats. She did jump when she saw the person standing in front of them. The young woman had long charcoal-gray hair, pulled into a high ponytail and was wearing a dark blue Chinese-style dress. As the young woman turned toward her, Kaen instinctively turned away.

"Kaen, are you okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost," Yui replied.

"I’m fine," Kaen replied. She glanced back over her shoulder, only to find that the trio had left the area. "I’m fine, I just ... I think I did see a ghost."

Kouji glanced in the direction Kaen was looking and shrugged. "Well, whatever it is, it’s gone now. Really, Kaen, you’re getting to be as bad as mom," he replied. Just then, the baker came out and handed them the cake Kaen had ordered and a large chocolate fudge cake. "We decided to get mom’s favorite. It seemed the simplest solution."

"I don’t think your mother would have minded the pink one, Kouji," Kaen replied. She shrugged off the earlier feelings she had had when she saw the twins and paid the baker. On their way out the door, the siblings started arguing again, wiping all thoughts of the dark girl from her mind.

"What were you so spooked of back there, Chuin?"

The gray haired girl shook her head slightly and glanced at the twin that had spoken. "Nothing. I just ... I just thought I saw someone I used to know," she replied. She glanced back in the direction they had come from, only to have the younger twin grab her arm lightly and direct her attention back to where they were heading.

"Heads up. Yenting and his guard dog have just spotted us," Shunkaku replied. He indicated the blonde standing at the other end of the aisle with a simple motion of his head. He let go of Chuin’s arm and dropped his gaze as cold blue eyes turned to face them.

Chuin nodded slightly when she saw him looking at her and handed the basket she was carrying to the green-haired woman beside the blonde. "They had everything you asked for. Sato-san said that the items you ordered will be in on Monday," she replied, keeping her eyes from his face.

The blonde smirked slightly and placed his arm around the dark girl’s shoulders. "Alright then. We just have to wait on Jason and Ryuuen and we’ll be ready to leave," he replied. He motioned for the twins to find the other members of their group and looked at Chuin. "Who were you looking at?"

Chuin tensed slightly, but didn’t look at him. "Just some girl that was at the bakery. There was something familiar about her, but I don’t know what it was," she replied. She expected the blonde to be upset and was surprised when he actually smiled.

"Of course you don’t, Chuin. I wouldn’t expect you to," Yenting replied. He smiled slightly and looked at the green-haired woman. "Take care of this, Eeyan. I’m going to see if we can find Chuin’s friend."

Eeyan nodded as she watched the two leave. After they were gone, she sighed slightly and relaxed. "Good thing for me, I remembered everything *before* he found me," she replied under her breath. She quickly regained her composure when she saw the twins returning with two other men. One was tall, with short brownish-gray hair, and the other, was shorter than her, with long purple hair pulled back into a braid. "Get everything?"

Ryuuen nodded and glanced around for a moment. "Where’s Chuin?"

"With him," Eeyan replied. Saying nothing else, she took the items from the purple-haired man and leading the others toward the front. She glanced back once, to see a sad look briefly pass over Ryuuen’s face before the mask they all seemed to wear dropped back into place. ‘I’m definitely glad I remember the truth. Nakago’s worse now than he ever was in Kutou.’

Houjun laughed as he saw the look on the older woman’s face. "I swear it’s true. Kaen and I got married last week. We didn’t tell anyone because neither of us wanted a big deal made out of it," he replied.

"How could we not make a big deal? One of our son’s best friends gets married to another of his friends and you don’t even invite us to the wedding?" Miaka replied, looking slightly annoyed. "Really, Houjun, I would have thought better of you. You could have at least told us you were engaged."

"He didn’t even tell us they were dating," Shun’u replied. He was now back in dry clothes and seated as far from the blue-haired man as possible. "As far as we knew, they spent most of their time in the library studying."

Saihitei chuckled slightly and glanced at Houjun. "Well, they were studying science, but I don’t think it was for class."

The blue haired man turned bright red and threw a pillow at the former emperor. "Saihitei!"

Miaka laughed and looked at her husband, who was sitting with the redhead playing checkers. She smiled at seeing him with their old friends and turned back to the argument between the former emperor and the monk. She laughed at seeing the two having a pillow fight in the middle of the living room. "Now this is what I miss about Konan," she replied quietly.

The two fighters grinned at each other and turned their attack on the older woman. "Tasuki-kun, grab a pillow and join the fight no da!"

The redhead grinned and grabbed the nearest pillow. "Do not worry, my Miko! I, Tasuki, warrior of Suzaku will protect you!" He threw the pillow, hitting the former emperor directly between the eyes. "Ha! Take that, you pompous twi--"

Houjun cheered as his pillow hit it’s mark and knocked the former bandit to the floor. "And the monk wins again no da!" He stopped cheering when he noticed the strange looks he was getting from the older members of the group. "Ah, I mean ..."

"How long have you known?" Taka asked as he stood and helped the former bandit to his feet.

Saihitei grinned slightly and stood. "Since Kouji turned eighteen," he replied. He brushed his hair out of his face and sighed slightly. "And I have to admit, I like being a regular person much better than being Emperor."

"So that means that Kaen is ..." Taka began, looking to the former monk.

Houjun nodded. "Kaen is Soi," he replied. "And as far as we know, she is the only Seiryuu Sichiseishi who has awakened."

"Don’t tell Yui," the others replied at the same time.