Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Moroha was making her way back to Kaede’s village, having just completed a bounty, she was hungry and tired. Last she checked (which was a couple days ago), Setsuna and Towa were on their own mission, but they are most likely back with Kaede by now. A smile crept on her face at the thought of the twins, a couple months back they had celebrated her 17th birthday. Towa had taken them to her world, and had dinner with the Higurashi’s. Her favorite birthday gift would be from Grandpa, he had given her some petrified demon remains, to which the family cringed at. But she accepted it with glee, she could definitely sell this for a good amount of money.
When they got back, some members of the Wolf tribe had been waiting for her to deliver her gift. The chief had made sure to give or do something for her birthday every year, mainly because that’s what her mother would want, according to him of course. The celebration was always a warm welcome to her life, as she had not held her date of birth to any importance growing up. She never saw the point to it, but it made the people around her happy. The only people that did celebrate it were the Demon Wolf tribe, back when she lived with them, and the twins, alongside Towa's adoptive family.
‘What’s the Wolf Tribe up to?’ Her thoughts shifted to the people that raised her for eight years.
It had been a couple weeks since she visited them. Kouga was always happy to see her, he had taken the paternal role in her life, and even if he didn’t always show it, she knew he had a soft spot for her. She had even come close to calling him ‘Dad’ a few times. He made sure she grew up knowing the adventures her parents had in their youth, who they were and how they were like. It was something she was grateful for. Ayame also took a maternal role growing up, she always made sure Moroha had her necessities. She would be there to talk about any troubles she might have had. Of course, they couldn’t always be there, they were the tribe leaders, they got busy. Nonetheless they were close, well, up until Yawaragi was assigned to train her. Fortunately, she had patched things up with the tribe after Yawaragi’s death. Moroha had done a lot of growing since then. Even Kaeade would admit that she has matured over the last three years. She had grown to become more patient and understanding. Having moved on from her parents, she found herself being at peace with not knowing them in person. There wasn’t a day that passed where she wasn’t happy with those around her. Her thoughts were interrupted by the growling of her stomach.
“Man, hopefully Towa has some of those noodle cup things. Maybe Old Lady Kaede has something for me.” The village was now in sight.
Humming to herself, she spotted a peculiar scent, it was familiar yet, foreign. If that made any sense. She grew more cautious with every step she took closer to Kaede’s house. Towa and Setsuna step out of Kaede’s house, eyes frantically looking for her.
“Hey Towa! Ya got any a’ that cup noodle stuff in yer bag?” Towa was on alert, she was nervous. And although Setsuna still conceals her emotions from her face, it was easy to tell that she was just as nervous and deep in thought.
“Oh! Uh, maybe you should wait a bit, I can make you some out here if you want?” Moroha narrowed her eyes at Towa’s sheepish smile, something was definitely off.
“Are you ok?”
“Well, you see, um” Setsuna spoke up before her sister could finish.
“Kaede is speaking to some acquaintances at the moment, we should respect their privacy and wait out here.”
“Hmmm…” She studied the twins closely, eyes shifting between them.
“Alright,” Moroha put her hands up in surrender, “, I trust you.”
They found a spacious clearing close to a river, the twins sat in silence with ramen cups in their hands, so deep in thought that their food was long forgotten. Moroha practically inhaled her noodles. She finished off what was left of her cup when Towa decided to break the silence.
“How did the bounty go? Any trouble?”
“Pfft, as if, got his head right here!” Moroha proudly lifted the demon head she had carried back with her. Placing it back down to her side she continued with Towa.
“What about you, how was your bounty?”
“Oh, it was a false alarm, turns out it was just a couple of animals eating the crops, no curses or demons. So we came back early.” Moroha nodded and put down her empty cup.
“What a bummer, I know I’d be upset that I wouldn’t get paid, well, at least the villagers weren’t in any real danger after all. What did you end up doing though?”
“We hunted a good portion of them down and gave them to the villagers for food.”
“Nice..” A short period of quiet emerged. The tension lessened
“Are ya gonna eat that?” She pointed to Setsuna’s cup, to which she shook her head in silence and handed it to her. Moroha scarfed down her second serving of noodles. While she ate, the twins shared a look between them. Wondering if they should fill her in on the new arrivals, not knowing if it’s their place or not to tell her. Would it be better if she found out herself? Or should they tell her ahead of time? How would she react? Happy that they’re back? Mad that they weren’t there? No, she has long come to terms that their absence was not their fault. Sure, Moroha had matured a lot but this was heavy news. She wouldn’t blame her if she had an extreme reaction. Towa set her eyes on Moroha, her decision made.
“Listen, Moroha, we have something to tell you,” Moroha made a noise in response, to which Towa continued, all while Setsuna gave her sister a hard stare.
“The people that Kaede is talking to, they-”
“Towa,” Setsuna interrupted her, “this is a private matter, we should not make these types of decisions.”
“But she needs to know! Don’t you think we’d want her to tell us if the roles were reversed.” Setsuna opens her mouth, ready to make a counter argument.
“Hey, you can’t talk about me while standing in front of me. What are you two hiding from me?” She had her arms crossed, her voice only leveled to that of the twins.
“Nothing.” Setsuna reassured, “we will no longer speak of this matter.” Her eyes set on Towa for that last part.
A long pause developed, Towa stared down, clearly not happy with her sister’s decision. Setsuna sat in silence, her eyes closed as if to avoid the eyes of others. Moroha kept on switching between the two of them. A minute or so passed before she gave a sigh and stood up.
“Well, if you won’t tell me. I’ll go to Kaede myself.” Both sisters quickly shot up from their seats.
“Wait-”
“Think this through Moroha.”
“You guys have never hidden things from me. What is going on? Seriously.” Her voice was calm. It was clear that whatever was wrong, it was enough to shake the both of them. She didn’t want to push them, but this subject clearly involved her.
“Let’s go back,” said Towa, her eyes looking into Moroha, “so you can see for yourself.”