The Sibling Trinity.

[Rin Onigata]

It had been two weeks since Shiori's one woman show to rescue Yuri from the clutches of those...individuals who kidnapped her. For two weeks Rin has been doing her very best not to step on the toes of her family and extended family considering how fragile everyone is toward her being around. It wasn't without reason. She was responsible for a lot of heartache. She felt her reasons were justified but she would never be able to get anyone else to see that. The fact remained that she was still waiting for Yuri but she was so focused on being near Shiori, who was still sleeping it off, made it a little difficult to clear the air.

In fact if it wasn't for her oldest nemesis in Azumina, she wouldn't be here now. Rin's sister Shukumei wanted nothing to do with her. Ryouji however despite being ridiculously over protective of Yuri, would attempt to make small talk with her. It was just hard for her to deal with in a sense. She's caused him so much grief but yet he still does his best to not completely alienate her. He hasn't forgiven her but the fact that they could talk made her...happy. She did her very best to shelter him from being the son of Setsuro or at least his clone but, he turned out well and she could never truly repay Ayame for taking them in.

She sighed as she looked to the ceiling. The work that Kisuke put in to this place was something to behold. It was just like being outside and big enough and deep enough underground to where they could train uninterrupted if they wanted to. She crossed her legs slightly as she layed down, attempting to get comfortable on a formation of flat rocks. She closed her eyes and continued to wait patiently for Yuri that was at least until Ryouji showed up to keep her company. She kept her eyes closed.

"You don't have to force yourself to speak to me Ryouji. I know you feel strongly about my being here. I've already given your granddaughter and the rest of your uncertain family that I'm not here to cause problems. I'm just waiting for Yuri to seek me out."

Ryouji sat down on the rock near her and didn't say a word. He was aware of her position...he just didn't want her to be alone. Despite him not wanting to admit it out loud. He owed her for attempting to keep Shiori in check. It bothered him. This was his eldest sister. The Original product of their father or at least the man they were cloned from and he hardly knows anything about her.

"I am not forcing myself to be here Rin, I am here because I choose to be."

She opened her eyes...but only slightly. She then glanced in her little brother's direction. He was conflicted above all else, she could hear it in the way he was speaking and even his demeanor. She sighed and sat up and re-positioned herself and sat down next to him. In secret Rin wanted this for as long as she could remember, to be reunited with her family. They were everything to her though there was nothing she could do to prove that. She didn't think saying it would help either.

They had to be prepared, more than anything she wanted them to leave and never look back. But with what became of Jin, she was certain that their father was coming after them. If he becomes completely whole again...if he regained them. With all of their experiences and strength. He would have the strength to destroy everything. She couldn't allow him to get his hands on either of them. Ryouji is important to everyone here and if he were to get taken...the amount of grief would be unfathomable. Old man Shiryo...she wouldn't know what it was like to have someone care, truly about her well being. She hated him for that...he was the closest thing she's ever had to a real father. She shook her head. She had to remember to punch him to make herself feel better about thinking of him in that light.

Even though they didn't speak they just sat in each others company. Even Shukumei joined them. It was awkward but this was the most amount of time that they've spent amongst each other and it was quite civil.

[Yuri Nakayama]

Yuri had woken up not to long ago, rubbing her eyes as they slowly began to adjust to the light of the room. She could tell that she wasn't alone and quickly shot up and turned towards Saya, ready to unsheathe her Zanpakuto that was returned to her until she realized who it was. Although she was home, Yuri couldn't help to be on guard. During her past experience with that... horrid place, she has now grown a very strong dislike of being surprised. Saya did get up to hug her grammie and Yuri slowly returned the embrace before gently pushing her away. It was nothing against her, but the Shinigami was in no mood for hugging. Ever since Rin decided to show up again,it was eating Yuri up on the inside. Not only does she show up at the possible time but she had to add in her two cents worth on helping Shiori calm down? It was making her blood boil. After getting some information from her 'granddaughter', the woman decided it was finally time to pay her a visit and finally rid the world of her existence once and for all.

She then decided to venture downward into the training area to where the triplets were waiting. Why... Why were they sitting there with her? Why weren't they attacking or.. something? They know very well what Rin has done to both their and her own family and now they decide to be pleasant?! Now that she was turned to face them, she started off at a slow pace, focusing on the thoughts that were running through her mind. Once happy memories that only causes pain.. She took away her husband, harmed her extended family countless times, used Luna to torment her, but most of all... Took her best friend away. Rin causes nothing but pain and sorrow. There was no way Yuri was going to let her cause any more torment. Every part of her wanted to tear her limb from limb, but instead of usually giving into that anger, Yuri kept it in check. Finally, she stopped in front of the triplets with Shiva standing up. Even before she could say anything, Yuri clinched her hand into a fist, soon attempting to strike her with all of her might. To her surprise, it did land on her and crashed into the ground. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to do much more than that. Yuri's body was literally shaking since she was forcing it to not take a step forward.

"Be thankful that's all I'm going to do to you. I want to kill you... Make you suffer for everything you have done and make it as every bit as painful as you have done to us. Even if that thought were to come to fruition, what good would it do? Nothing I could ever do to you would take away the damage you have caused. However, I will warn you. The next time I see you, be it alone or with anyone else, I will kill you and that is no empty threat."

It was a bit out of character for her to talk with such malice, but with Rin involved, she would have no compassion or sympathy for her whatsoever.

[Rin Onigata]

After being decked and sent to the ground. She sat up and eventually stood up before settling on the rock again in between her brother and sister. Now that Yuri got that out of the way, she could begin to speak of the reason why she's truly here and stayed around for as long as she has. It was rather refreshing to see her acting a bit more like her old self, rather than this spooked midget.

"You pack a wallop for such a short person. Your anger and threats of revenge are of no concern to me. You have a much bigger problem, far bigger than me. Setsuro Onigata has absorbed Jin and is now well on his way to coming after the rest of us. I don't need to explain to you what kind of power he would get from the rest of us. With the experiences and the strength we all have separately. If Setsuro manages to get the three of us; the pain that I've put you through would be far more unimaginable. I took your husband, Setsuro is going to take Ryouji and Shukumei from you. He will take your nieces and daughters. He's going to destroy everything you love and more."

Jumping from the rock she stood before Yuri. Rin was never really out to hurt her but there had to be a focus for her, someone she could truly hate and train to defeat. Now it was no longer Rin who she needed to hate, she needed to train to defeat the one who taught her everything she knows and all of the feelings that she harbors for him, the love, the respect and admiration. All of those were now going to be weapons used against her.

"The face of the one you need to grow to hate, is sitting right there on that rock."

Ryouji glanced up and pointed to himself? Naturally he was a little shocked that Rin would say something like that but Ryouji is the spitting image of Setsuro. Shiryo eluded to this when he first came across Ryouji. He wasn't lying.

"Ryouji is the face you must grow to hate, and the one who you must focus to defeat. You've grown to rely on him so much over the years, he's taken you in, he's helped you grow to be a strong warrior, he's helped you raise your children. He's been more of a father to you then Shiryo ever and thats precisely how Setsuro will kill you when it's all said and done. Your feelings are your weakness and yet your greatest strength. You also have a niece who loves you more than anything else she has in this world. It has to be you; but there remains one problem. Your father won't let you get near Setsuro."

It was almost as humorous as it was serious. After that grand speech, Rin's plans to train Yuri would be halted by Yuri's own father.

[Shiori Onigata]

At last! After sleeping for a grand total of three weeks. Shiori sat up, stretching and yawning. She opened her eyes to see that she was in one of the spare rooms in the candy shop place. She glanced around only to see that Yuriko was sleeping on the floor next to her. She giggled before poking her younger sister gently causing her to stir a bit and fan off the poke by waving her arms. Shiori poked her again and called to her. The young one opened her eyes and stared up at Shiori who waved at her. IN her excitement Yuriko immediately tackled Shiori to the ground, being well overjoyed that her sister finally woke up from her super long nap. Shiori giggled and stood up. She quickly threw Yuriko over her shoulder and left the room wanting to find where everyone was hiding...and some food.

"Hey munchkin, where is everyone?"

Yuriko shrugged as she hung from Shiori's shoulder. She didn't know, she was napping quite a bit while waiting for Shiori to wake up and to make sure that she wasn't to injured so she totally took care of her and healed her up and stuff.

"Well...if I had to guess...Una is probably with big sister Megumi, Ami is probably with Emi, Mama is with Hinata, I think Auntie Hina is visiting with Ryoko aand little Hitomi. Saya and Aysa are around here somewhere, probably running Future Shi and Emi insane. Daddy and Auntie Mei are in the basement place and I think Auntie Yu-yu is down there with them. Auntie Rin is down there too! You know I don't understand why everyone hates her, she's nice! while I was attending to your injuries, she stayed and talked with me for a long while and calmed me down because I was super upset that you got hurt you know!"

Shiori's expression didn't change, she didn't want to alert her sibling to anything but she was very uncomfortable with Rin speaking to her younger siblings about anything. She lowered Yuriko from her shoulder and put her on her own feet. She smiled and fixed Yuriko's hair.

"Thank you for taking care of me and my injuries. You're the best little sister ever!"

It was at that moment Asuna showed up and tackled Shiori from behind having taken offense to Yuriko being called the best little sister! She always believed she was the best! Yuriko chuckled and joined in on the pile on Shiori club before she sat up and chuckled.

"Okay you're both the best little sisters I could ever ask for, is that better?"

Asuna nodded before hugging Shiori, she was happy that they agreed on both being considered the best little sisters and they truly considered her to be the best big sister ever. Well her and Shi, and Ami too to an extent even big sister Emi was good. They were all awesome big sisters.

"Now you two go find something fun to do. I'm going to go find Auntie Yuri and daddy and Rin...okay?!"

The two sisters nodded and ran off. Yuriko was most likely going to read some book and Asuna was sure to go and pester their adopted sister Emi. Shiori headed for the basement and found her father and and Aunts all together in one place! Which was convenient, it meant she didn't have to run around for six hours trying to find them. Immediately upon setting her sight on her most favorite Aunt in the history of Aunts, Shiori rushed to Yuri and lifted her from the ground and hugged her and didn't let go!

At first it was kind of adorable but when Shiori didn't put her down after the first minute or two, her father protested that she release Yuri, to which she ignored and continued to hug her Auntie.

[Megumi Nakayama]

Megumi was listening closely as to what the siblings and her mother of this Era were saying. Luckily for her, there was a large enough boulder for her to hide behind but to be on the safe side, she hid herself with her Shikai. Never hurts to be thorough. She was surprised to know that Ryouji, Shukumei, and even Rin, had a father not to even mention that they used to be just one person. It was a bit too much to take in, but in a way, it made everything that happened in her timeline make perfect sense. The reason that everyone was killed was because in his own twisted way, Jin didn't want his siblings to become a part of their father again. Everyone else that had died merely got in his way to prevent that. Of course, it didn't make it right for him to do such a horrible thing. It just made her hate him even more and despise herself even more for not being strong enough to protect everyone. She could relate to Saya and her desire to become stronger than what she is. However, such a drive was dangerous in its own right. It causes the person to be disillusioned.. They begin to think that such a thing can become a reality until it gets proven that there was no hope to begin with. It was an ideal that was burned into her very being each and every time she tried to get revenge. With that being established, Megumi can understand Rin's concerns of Yuri's emotions and attachments to her family. It would only serve to cause her more pain when they try to stop what seems to be an inevitable fate.

It's not that Megumi hates the people that have taken her in. IT's just hard for her to feel attachment to them. They were the same people she knew and yet they were not. Maybe she was thinking too much into it. They've done a lot for her and even her youngest sister has attached herself to her as if she, herself, was some kind of role model. A small smile had formed from thinking of the little one. She was more than likely reading into things too much. She was away from everything that had gone wrong. She was away from that desolate world where there was nothing left. Perhaps now... Now she can let her guard down and try to be more social. Then, a thought occurred to her. Where was Asuna? The little one would often follow her around, claiming that she was a horrible ninja that couldn't hide. That in and of itself was confusing, but maybe they shared a connection similar to the Ryouji and Megumi of this era.It was a feeling she thought she no longer had the capability in feeling.

Soon, Shiori came into the mix of things and was essentially holding Yuri as if she was some kind of toddler. Does she... really love Yuri that much to treat her in such a way? Sometimes the display of emotions from other people confuses her.

[Azumi Onigata]

[This is a combined post of sorts and will feature bits from Asuna and Azumi and will feature Double Future Megumi!]


So...big sister Megumi was down hiding behind a rock no doubt spying again or at least attempting to spy. The only problem was, she was the most awful ninja ever! She couldn't hide to save her life. No matter where she went, Asuna always found her. There was nowhere she could hide that Asuna wouldn't find her big sister. So here they were, again like every other instance in which Emi was attempting to be a Ninja with Emi hiding behind something and Asuna hanging out above her head in some fashion to prove that she was the best ninja ever. The best part that usually spawned from this little game was that Emi never notices her until she says something. She's always so deep in thought or something.

"Aren't ninjas supposed to be aware of their surroundings. I've been here with you the whole time and you didn't even notice me!"

Asuna watched as her adopted big sister glanced up to her and noticed she was there to which she gave a subtle wave and smiled before placing her elbows on the rock and rested her head in her hands while fluttering her feet slowly. She couldn't tell if it was surprise or happiness or even disbelief that once again Asuna found her yet again. She just had to ask, she needed to understand it!

"How exactly do you keep finding me? I've been using my Shikai to hide my reiatsu and my physical self, and yet once again here you are like you always are."

Asuna lowered her arms and rested them on the rock and smiled. It wasn't hard! She was always easy to find because she makes it so easy to find her. She didn't get a lot of practice in the hiding department when she was younger obviously. So now Asuna was going to take it upon herself to teach her big sister Emi the ways of the Asuna Ninja art...of not being so obvious.

"You make it so easy, I'm always going to find you because you're a horrible nin...waaah!"

Before she could finish calling her a horrible ninja Emi pulled Asuna from the top of the rock to keep her from being discovered which caused her to shriek a bit. Emi peered over the rock slowly to make sure no one saw them and continued to watch how Shiori was hugging on to her mother from this era. Asuna sprung up and even went as to push Emi's head down so that she could see whatever it was that she was paying so much attention to. Emi pulled her down again.

"The idea of spying is to be inconspicuous little one."

Asuna pointed at Emi, taking offense to her being called little. She wasn't little, she was ten years old! Asuna huffed and folded her arms and rested against the rock next to her big sister.

"The idea of spying is to not be a horrible nin...mmmphphphp!"

Again before she could finish calling her a horrible ninja, Emi immediately covered Asuna's mouth so that she wouldn't have to hear her say it. She hears it enough! On top of that she didn't want to be discovered so suddenly. Asuna pushed Emi's hand away and stood next to her and spied with her for once and remained quiet. Both of them however were unaware of a third presence behind that rock. One who was watching the both of them spy.

"She always finds you, because she has marked you Megumi...It's a Kusanagi thing."

Upon hearing that voice, Asuna didn't need to turn around to see who it was. Her immediate reaction was to cling to her big sister Emi and so she did exactly that because she knew that Emi would protect her. Upon being clinged to, Emi glanced down and saw Asuna hiding her face. Asuna then demanded that Emi flee to escape the tyranny of her mother.

"Emi! Flee, protect me from from mama! She has even better ninja skills than me!"

When Megumi didn't get up and start running, Asuna decided that it was every ninja and horrible ninja for themselves and attempted to flee to escape her mother. Azumi grabbed her daughter's belt to keep her from going anywhere, but in Asuna's need to 'ninja vanish' she didn't realize it and was only running in place. Eventually Asuna stopped because she was tired and just stood there with her head hung low.

[Megumi Nakayama]

The way that Azumi appeared out of nowhere was quite... Scary but amazing in a way. She could only blink when Asuna was more or less running in place until she grew tired of running. How long was Azumi standing there? If it had been anyone else, they would have had an opening on both her and Asuna. Perhaps that was her punishment for even thinking that it would have been okay to relax. There were no traces of her previous soft look, regaining her usual serious and apathetic look. MArking, she said? So her hunch of her and Asuna sharing a similar bond of sorts like Emi and Ryouji wasn't too far off track. So if the trait is hereditary, then that must explain why Azumi herself was able to see her. It only stands to reason that her other children would have the same ability. She would have to keep that in mind. She then snapped out of her thoughts, her gaze now returning to her adopted mother. It was still strange to refer to that. Part of her felt so un-at-ease because of that fact. While her mind understands the fact that she wasn't trying to replace her mother, her heart seemed to refuse the notion. Because of that conflicting feeling, it was really hard for her to be on good terms with her and Ryouji. She then began to speak as she brushed her long hair over her.

"I see. That makes sense. The Kusanagi's have a quite fearsome ability, it appears."


With that, Megumi folded her arms and her head soon rested against rock to listen to what could be said. Even so, her mind wandered off once more as she was piecing together. Something to her just didn't feel right even if she couldn't back it up. Why was their father showing up now? Why didn't he do it sooner when there were many opportunities to do so in the past? There must be a reason why... A reason that none of them have no clue to what it could be. Sure, they know that him absorbing the siblings is a part of his plan, but what exactly is this plan? Also, why wasn't Yuri's father going to let her get near Setsuro? They wouldn't have known of his existence if it wasn't for him. Could the two be plotting together? That was going to be something that she would find out on her own. Once again, her gaze returned to Azumi as she spoke once more.

"If you'll excuse me, I have something I need to do. I think I've gotten all the information I need from the three siblings."

Before she would leave, she would turn to Asuna who still had her head down low as if she was afraid she was going to be punished. She then went down to her level, slowly lifting her chin up so she could talk to her.

"I'm counting on you to be the best ninja you can be so don't be sad, alright?"

[Azumi Onigata]

Upon being told to be the best ninja she could possibly be, she smiled and gave her big sister a hug. She didn't want to be the best ninja, Asuna was quite happy being a better ninja that Emi was and that's all that really mattered to her. She wondered where it was that she had to go. Hopefully it wasn't to her room because that would be a terrible place to go! Asuna would just follow her in there.

"Well whatever it is you have to do, make sure you are careful. If you get hurt. I'm going to be upset with you!"

Azumi smiled upon hearing Asuna say what she said. It was nice that Megumi had someone that she could interact with now. Before it would be rare to see her outside of physically see her out of her room. Its not to say that she didn't leave from time to time, but they didn't have Asuna to point out where she was constantly. Which was a good thing in itself. Azumi honestly hated the fact that this Megumi was so withdrawn and prefered her solitude over all is.

In the end everyone had their own way of doing things. Doesn't mean that Azumi herself had to like it. She took Asuna by the hand and the two left Megumi to her own devices. She wanted to give Asuna a stern talking to about the wrongness of spying and constantly telling Megumi that she's a bad ninja she was, but Megumi didn't seem to mind it too much. Then again even if she did tell Asuna not to say it or even to quit spying. She'd still do it anyway.

"Now sweetie, I know you're worried that I'm going to ground you or something. I know you love Megumi, but do you think that maybe you remind her that she is a 'bad' ninja a little too much? We don't know if she dislikes it or not."

Asuna never considered that she may be hurting Megumi's feelings, she never says anything but what if her mom was right and it was hurtful!

"I will stop telling her so much mommy, I promise! Now can I go. I want to see what 'Riko is doing!"

Azumi nodded and let her run off. Azumi smiled and went off to find her favorite niece to see what it was that she was up to. Usually she was always with her but for this particular instance, she wasn't!