2 Broken shells

Waking up, slipping back into the throes of unconsciousness, rolling around restlessly, fumbling with someone's arm laid across his neck, then giving up when the arm didn't move, etc. This was the continuous state of being that had the rousing Soul curling into himself. 

When at last, the Soul woke up in his newborn vessel, a symphony of silence accompanied by chirping crickets greeted him in a traditional Japanese room complete with Shoji and dancing candlelight in the corner. The infant's wide eyes sleepily glanced to the side and caught sight of another presence sleeping beside him. 

As this was an infant, complex thoughts hadn't yet run through his mind except for simple thoughts stemming from what he wanted. So when a pang of hunger announced itself with an odd growl, the infant frowned slightly in discomfort. The resounding cry joined by another pierced through the sliding doors, the long winding halls of the compound and bypassed Kuromiya Yumeyo's headsets which were currently set at full blast. The girl glanced at the room that was all the way down the hall and down at her thick prep book. 

She sighed. Babies sucked the life out of whoever had them… and whoever had to take care of them. Yumeyo leaned back and scooted her rolling chair to the kitchenette. It was usually at this time, 2:30am, that the babies woke up and started bawling their eyes out. Seriously. It was only the fifth day in this rotation and she felt like her already prominent eyebags grew eyebags of their own. 

"Okidoki.. early morning snack coming right up!" Warm bottles in hand, the blonde rolled her chair backwards down the hall. Although she was able to vibe with her music, she could still hear the demonic cries behind the Shoji. 

When she stopped the rolling desk chair, it lurched dangerously and she tipped forwards- and didn't fall. A warm orange glow emanated from beneath her skin and caused her to float mid-fall. Oh boy, that was too close. If I spilled any of this stuff anywhere in the Compound, I would have my behind handed to me! Yumeyo slid the doors to the side and let the bottles float to her wards who had stilled upon her entrance. 

Yup. They only wanted food. "Hey little guys, shut up and drink up now, will you?" She sweetly smiled and allowed the babies to float up to their bottles, watching these wiggly little people struggle their way to their food made her laugh maniacally inside. 

                                                    Four Years Later

A child with a pearly white skin tone, bright orange eyes, and bluish-white fluffy hair stood in front of a mirror. He blinked but his reflection hadn't followed suit, but instead stuck out its tongue. 

"Retsuuu… Let's go already, I bet they already have the cake out!" The reflection just smirked and spun around, whipping his long braid at his brother with a soft smack. "Hey, I think that they can wait for another minute longer. Besides, Iyori, when it's your birthday, you should be able to call at least some of the shots!" 

Iyori snickered and grabbed his own braid to get payback. Swoosh! Outside the room one could hear boisterous laughter and thwacking sounds. The two boys had gotten so caught up in their braid fight that they lost track of time. The only saving grace in this situation was that the pair were aware of their surroundings and hadn't wrecked the entire room. 

Retsu and Iyori were wrestling on the floor when the door violently slid open, and with it, a malevolent aura surrounding a hunched over figure that stomped over to the frozen pair. "You two were supposed to be on the fourth floor six minutes ago! And don't look at me like that. I'm immune to that already, you should try that on the elders- see how you fare." 

A stern, punky teen crouched down and carefully pulled the boys up by the back of their haori, making sure not to mess up their already wrinkled kimono. With the passage of four years, Yumeyo grew taller, maturing a little in the looks department. Her short blonde hair was now styled in a faux hawk with black tips that ended with a long braid. Along with this, toned muscles shaped her six foot lanky form that was clothed with a respectable maroon and sky blue hakama ensemble. 

During the past five years, Yumeyo had graduated highschool and became one of the twins' primary caretakers. Even with her entrance into the University of Tokyo, she hadn't stopped raising these growing hellions that she considered her own brothers. 

"We were just playing around Yu-ane!" The blonde's coal black eyes softened. She actually came down the hall because she knew what they were up to and wanted to make sure they didn't get into any unnecessary trouble on their special day. In reality, the party hadn't even started. Guests were only now arriving, and the twin's presence in the room hadn't been sought out just yet. 

Before leaving the room, the twins straightened themselves up and made sure that nothing had fallen victim to their tussle. Their soft footsteps on the tatami and cedar wood floors heralded their entrance to the celebrations. Normally everyone would walk with no sound from their footsteps, but since there were guests within the family home, it's only common courtesy to announce your presence to the untrained so as to not embarrass them. The twin's surrogate sister glanced back at them then tapped on the pair of ornately carved oak doors with a pattern and the entrance opened revealing groups of people milling about a large reception room. Without hesitance, the three stepped forth and joined the throng. 

In Retsu's mind, this whole birthday affair was a little overrated. He just didn't want so many people he could care less about coming to meet him when he could just have fun with Iyori, Yu-ane, Ichie-chan, Kei and Osamu the weapon master. On the other hand Iyori thought this was one of the best things about birthdays. After all, the presents would surely multiply since there were so many people attending his birthday celebrations, right? The scheming boy mentally rubbed his hands together. 

As the twins passed guests and clan members alike with Yumeyo now walking sedately behind them, they received greetings and congratulations but all those people received from the pair was a polite nod. This was until they caught the hawk-like stare of a man standing in the corner of the room. The man was dressed in some sort of black veiled straw hat and black striped yukata, but the most distinctive feature were the curved sickles slung around his hips.

"Brother! Look, it's Osamu-san!" Iyori's bright eyes shone excitedly, "Can we go say hi Yu-ane?" 

"No, you can talk to him after you greet the Kuromiya and Takanashi clan council." The blonde steered the boys to the opposite end of the room where a long table with many elders sat watching the proceedings as they drank tea and sake.  

The three bowed in respect then straightened up after a moment and the twins stepped forth, speaking in unison.

"Greetings highly esteemed elders!"

"Good evening young ones. Iyori, Retsu. The past year was the last year of your childhood, so this night marks the end of it. By tomorrow, your trials will begin and you will be watched by not only our own clan, but our sister clan, the Takanashi. You should know this very well."

 Elder Anzan folded her hands in billowing sleeves and nodded her head in satisfaction. Said boys she had just addressed listened intently, without fidgeting like many of their age group counterparts would. 

Good. She thought. 

Upon the event of their birth, the eyes and ears of the hidden world were primed for any news of the twins. The significance of their existence while not entirely understood by the twins, was great and tumultuous as they were the sons of the previous Kagemori Clan Head but with the same birth order. 

Within the council she had a seat in, opinions concerning the future contested clan head were divided. Gyo Shin, the current stand-in Clan Head, might have said that only one of the boys could be chosen for the role. However the fact that she seemed to be spending ample time and attention to their half-blood sister, Ichiemon, looked quite suspicious to say the least.

Some children of the clan were never seen by the outside world and it wasn't always because they were introverts. Elder Anzan smiled darkly. These kinds of thoughts tainted her views of children of the new spring. 

Retsu felt like he could feel the old woman's aura ooze in the air like threatening snakes, and he felt intrigued but didn't question it. His family was always like this at random times. "Yes, we understand, Jōchō-san." This seemed to break the odd atmosphere and the other elders blinked. 

"Ah, Retsu-kun, have you and Iyori-kun sensed anything changing within yourselves? Any semblance of your Quirks emerging?" To the far left of the table, the speaker, a kindly looking man who was in his early fifties patiently chewed on some dango. 

"Oh no, we haven't really gone through any changes Jōchō-san. However, according to our tutor, if one doesn't activate their powers at birth, they usually awaken them somewhere around their fourth year of life." The elder nodded in understanding and leaned back leisurely. 

At the twins back, Yumeyo's hands that were folded behind her back twitched. This exchange made her feel slightly uneasy. More recently, the importance on quirks within the family had been stressed more often. Yes, power is everything in the grand scheme of things, but can everyone just shut up about quirks for once and eat cake in peace?

One of the elders at Elder Anzan's side shifted on their cushion and looked pointedly at the subjects of their attention. This was Elder Jakushitsu, who was somewhat a grandmother to many of the clan's children who were without living parents. 

"Young ones, thank you for greeting these old people on this day. Keep your heads up, stay vigilant, and make sure the clan knows who you are. Remember this: be strong and do not stand still. You may leave now." With straight faces, the trio bowed for a moment then gracefully took their leave. 

In Retsu's humble opinion, the party felt like a rehearsed play that was puppeteered by someone who knew what a party was but had never gone to one. The only reason why he even noticed this was in part of dreams that felt like they were mixed with memories dappled throughout the content. It confused him but he just accepted it. 

"Heya guys, get over here already. I saved the best seats!" A girl four years older than they hopped out of her place at a cushioned floor seat and dragged them to their own seats. Her hair was black with an orange tint in the light and was styled in one long braid that reached her waist with a polka-dotted bandanna tying the rest of her hair back. She wore a purple floral kimono and had stunning grey eyes that contrasted with her healthily tanned skin. 

"W-wait Ichie-chan, what about Yu-ane?" Said girl looked over her shoulder at the older girl's retreating back. "Meh, she'll be fine. Right now it's my turn to hang out with you guys. I've been so busy with training and school lately, that I haven't seen much of you two demons!" 

Being at the age of eight currently afforded Ichiemon some height advantage. Since she stood at four feet and one inch exactly, she was able to drape her arms over her brother's heads as she sat in between them earning complaints from Iyori. 

"Sooo, what did the elders tell you? Did you guys get scolded for poisoning the cook or wait. . . Did they find out who was behind the haunting of the backyard tool-shed?" Restu brushed his sister's hand off and rolled his eyes.

"They just gave us the whole make-us-proud speech, as if the fact that we aren't kids anymore isn't pressure enough. More like gloom and doom." The boy slumped over and grabbed a dumpling from a nearby platter and stuffed his face in resignation. 

Iyori scoffed and folded his arms. Pah! Why was Retsu always such a downer? 

"Ichie-chan, he's just whining 'cause he doesn't want to deal with more work. Honestly, Retsu, it really won't be that bad. I seriously don't understand why you want to stay a kid or do you just dread the day I beat you at something?"

The ravenette stretched her arms over head with a yawn. "Alright, seriously though. On my fourth birthday I didn't meet any elders, it was just me and my grandparents. I only overheard some weird stuff from other kids who were gossiping in a corner, so whatever the Elders told you two, doesn't matter. I say do whatever you want but keep growing in skill, cause if you don't, you know what happens to those who don't show up around the halls anymore."

"Wait, wait! What kind of weird stuff did you hear about?" Ichiemon waved his concerns away and changed the subject. "Eh. It doesn't really matter." Retsu sensed that she was trying to steer the conversation away from the subject and interjected. 

"Hey guys, guess what? Last night some guy called All Might just saved a whole bunch of people from some kind of disaster. Also, get this! He did it all by himself in one go!" Iyori and Ichiemon looked at Retsu in surprise but the latter shook her head in disbelief. "What? No way that actually happened, thats crazy!"

Before the icy blue haired boy could pull the video up on his holoscreen phone, the overhead lights dimmed, bringing the party's attention to the stage where a veiled woman with curving horns stood in the spotlight. "Good evening everyone, thank you all for coming here. Tonight, we shall witness the future of our clans in the form of the next generations! The events will take place after a brief break in between the announcements and tonight's meal."

The woman slightly bowed and fluidly walked off-stage as the lights brightened up again, this time with the arrival of white robed chefs carting out elaborately arranged dishes into the room. As the light of the moon shone upon the hidden clan compounds that surrounded the castle, the two clans ate longevity noodles, gyoza, seasoned fishes with rice and a whole host of food in harmony with each other. Smiles directed at one another and the occasional powerplay exerted between both sides accentuated the camaraderie between the people gathered there. 

At the table directly behind the three siblings, a woman clad in a fine silk kimono fitted for maternity wear, sat with picture perfect poise. Her beautiful magenta eyes seemed to pierce through those that were caught in her gaze and made one feel as if they were being preyed upon because one glance into them froze their thought processes for a few seconds. This woman who nursed a cup of darjeeling tea, fanned her moderately painted face while in deep thought. 

"Lady Byakuren. . .!" The familiar raspy voice of her most trusted maid that she regarded as her own sister faintly reached her ears and Lady Byakuren glanced slightly to the side with a slight smile. 

"Did the informant deliver?" Makoto nodded the affirmative, grimly remembering the details and the suspicious package that she'd scanned before accepting it. This plot her Lady had been cooking up since before the previous clan head's death was terribly dangerous but difficult to trace back to the source. It was almost foolproof and had begun reaching the endgame stages. 

Lady Byakuren looked back at the trio who sat with their backs facing her. Seeing Retsu smile softly to the side as he leaned into his older sister's shoulder as she and his twin laughed together only hardened her resolve. "Good. Tell me the details after this event and we can finally get this over with." She looked down at her swollen abdomen and caressed it with one clawed hand. 

When the back is turned and the prey knows not their enemy who stands before them, that is when victory boldly favors the snake. 

In the words of her adulterous husband, this was the path to success in whatever one does. She sniffed, laughing internally. Had her husband abided by his own teachings, he would have been alive today if it weren't for her. Magenta eyes glinted dangerously in the light that reflected off of the food platters.