...

In the darkness of her room Y/n lie still in her bed, sleeping. Alan had found out about her recent insomniac tendancies and didn't want her to repeat that now that Stiles has been taken over again, so he had her take some sleeping pills. They barely worked against her, but they made her drowsy enough to drift into a light sleep. She stirred in her sleep when she felt the brush of someone's kiss against her cheek and neck. She sighed and relaxed a bit into the touch, his familiar lips giving her half asleep mind a sense of content. She quickly woke up though when his hand brushed the bit of exposed skin on her side, and she realized it didn't feel the same. It was too cold, too empty, to be from him. She jumped up, now wide awake, and stared at the figure sitting on the edge of her bed, the smiling face she loved so much. But the smile wasn't as warm. It didn't bring her comfort like it should.

Her eyes shifted and they blazed with anger. "What the hell are you doing in my house?" She growled out.

"What? I can't visit my girlfriend?" The tone of his voice sounded so much like him, but there was an undertone that was foreign. She had to keep reminding herself that the thing wearing his face was not Stiles.

"I'm not your girlfriend."

"That hurts, my majo." (Witch) He frowned and put a hand over his heart in mock pain.

"Stop saying that. Stop saying my. I'm not yours."

"As long as I'm in this body, you'll always be mine."

"Then let me help you get out." She lunged for him, managing to pin him underneath her on the bed, one hand on his throat and the other raised and covered in fire. He smiled at the situation, looking between her angered expression and the purple tinted fire in her hand.

"You don't want to do that."

"Why not?"

"Because whatever you do to me, you do to him."

This got the reaction he wanted. She faltered and the fire died. In her moment of surprise he flipped their postion, pinning her under him and holding her wrists in his hands. She grunted as she tried to pull her hands free but all he did was hold tighter, tight enough to leave a bruise. She stopped struggling and glared at his smirking figure above her. "This is a great view."

"Fuck off." She spat in anger. She was furious, but like he said, she couldn't do anything to him without hurting Stiles as well.

"I like that about you. That fire in your eyes."

"Just shut up and get to your point. There's a reason you're here or else you wouldn't have come."

"I told you I'd come for you one day and that you'd follow me. This is that day."

"Why would I go anywhere with you?"

"Because the oni will come for me again. Tomorrow night, and the next, and every night after that until they catch me. And you know what happens then, don't you?" Her lips pressed into a thin line, already knowing what he's going to say next. "They'll kill me, and your precious Stiles too. I know you don't want that." She's silent but he can see in her eyes how devestated she would be. The little witch has fallen too in love with the boy for her own good.

"I can't fight the oni off by myself." She pointed out after a moment. "Maybe a few, but I can only do so much against them."

"Don't worry, my majo." He leaned down to nuzzle her neck and the side of her face. The action made her skin crawl, but she didn't make any effort to move. She was relieved that the moment was short and he pulled away to look at her again. "I have a plan."

She doubted any of his plans would end well for anyone. "What do you need me for?"

"I need you to do everything I say, when I say it, how I say it, with no questions."

"And if I don't?"

"Use your imagination." The implications of that alone was enough to make her stomach twist. "Do we have an understanding?" She grit her teeth. She didn't want to do this, but if it's to protect Stiles, she'll do anything. She nodded and he smiled. "Good. That's very good. Now, let's test it, shall we? I want you to kiss me."

She blinked at him for a moment. "What?" That was the last thing she expected him to ask of her. "Are you joking?"

"No questions." He reminded. She clenched her jaw once again, hating this fox with everything she had. He smirked down at her, knowing she wouldn't initiate the action, so he did it himself. He ducked down to crash his lips with hers. She squeezed her eyes shut, disgusted with the kiss, disgusted that no matter how much she told herself this wasn't Stiles she wished it was. He kissed her harshly and bit her lip. She gasped from the sudden pain and he used that to his advantage. He knew she would do anything for Stiles, but his plans needed her to be unshakingly obedient, and there was only one way to do that.

A fly crawled it's way from his mouth to hers.

It was like a switch flipped inside her. She relaxed in his hold and started kissing him with as much force as he was using. He loosened his grip and let her slide her arms out only to sling them around his neck to pull him closer. Her legs moved to hook around one of his own and his hip to bring him flush against her. Hands roamed and groped, feeling and proding wherever he pleased. Things would have gone much further than a heated makeout if the rising sun didn't catch their eyes from the window. They were panting as they pulled apart and looked towards the first signs of blue sky. She looked back up at him and smiled. "So, where to first?" He smirked down at her. He liked having her like this. If all went well, it would stay like that.

...

Ken Yukimura was in his classroom, standing over his desk and looking down at some papers, when something caught his attention. A fly buzzed around his head and landed on his desk. He took the hardbacked World History book on his desk and slowly moved it to slam down onto the fly, crushing it. "Coming in on a Saturday?" A voice called. He looked up to see Y/n sitting in one of the desks, her feet propped up on the tabletop. He hadn't seen her come in, didn't even hear her. "Impressive."

"That's dedication." Void agreed as he walked into the room. Now Ken was on guard, knowing what he is and figuring Y/n was now under his influence. "Where's she hiding them?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." Ken denied. Y/n chuckled.

Void goes to the little bookshelf. "Her little knives." He pulls a book off of the shelf and lets it falls to the ground. "Daggers." He clarifies, glancing back at the man and pulling off another book.

"He knows what they are~." Y/n calls in a sing-song tone, a smirk plastered on her face.

Void pulls a green book out, giving it a mock interested look and flipping through the pages. "Physical representations of her tails." He quickly shows his disinterest and lets it fall. "However the hell that works." He turns to face Ken.

"Maybe you'd like to do some reading on it." Ken replies. "I can direct you to the section on Japanese myth in the library."

"No. No, I'd like to talk to you." He walks down the aisle of desks, fingers of one hand tapping against the tabletops, trailing over Y/n's legs as he passes her. "The older the tail, the stronger the oni. Am I right? I know there's one left. I know it's the strongest." He stops by Ken's desk, now only a few feet away from him.

"Unfortunately, I don't know what you're referring to."

Void sighs, almost disappointed. "You'll talk." He glances behind him. "Y/n." Ken's eyes flick to the desk where the girl was perched just a moment ago. A hand grips the back of his neck and a force he couldn't fight against forced him to his knees. He manages to look back just enough to see Y/n's cold, glowing eyes staring down at him. Void lifts the book Ken had used earlier, and the fly buzzed in the air again, completely unharmed. Y/n reached out and the bug landed on the back of her hand. She twirled her hand around until it moved to the tips of her fingers and she moved them to Ken's mouth, forcing the fly into his throat. He started to choke, sputtering on the foreign object in his throat. Void smirked. "They always talk."

...

Scott had been talking to Kira in his room, showing her the photo and sword Malia had given him. The photo shows a young woman and a young military medic who was smiling down at her. The girl in the photo looks exactly like Kira, but it was taken in the 1940's. Kira thinks it must be her grandmother. Scott tells her that Malia and Stiles found the photo and sword in a wall in Eichen House. To Scott it sounds like all of this leads back to Kira's family. Just then Kira gets a worrying message. Something is happening to her dad. Her and Scott rush to the school and find Noshiko kneeling on the ground next to Ken who is struggling to breathe.

"Kira, did you bring it?" Noshiko quickly asks.

Kira falls to her knees next to her parents and hands her mother a tube. "You going to tell me what it is?"

Noshiko takes the top off and pours a piece of the contents into her hand. "Reishi."

"You're not seriously giving Dad magic mushrooms?" Noshiko gives her a look and puts the mushroom into Ken's mouth. He readily eats it and a moment later coughs heavily into a napkin. When he's able to finally breathe he pulls the napkin away to reveal a clump of black sludge.

"Are you okay?" Noshiko asks as she and Kira help him up. He sits heavily on his desk, catching his breath, but he nods.

"Stiles did this?" Scott asks.

"And the witch."

Scott looked at her with wide eyes. "Y/n? Are you sure?" Ken nods and Scott frowns. "That doesn't make sense. Y/n wouldn't do something like this."

"It appears she's under his control now. They wanted the last kaiken." She showed the teens said object, a black dagger. "I've kept this near me ever since your friend disappeared. I'll have to keep it closer now that the girl is with him."

"Mom, you need to talk to us, about everything." Kira says.

Scott pulls out the old photo and hands it to Noshiko. She looks at it in shock and takes it from him. "Where did you get this?"

"Is it Grandma?"

"No. It's me."

"If that's you, then you'd have to be like 90 years old." Scott points out.

"Closer to 900."

"Okay, sure. Why not?" Kira is obviously caught off guard with this new knowledge. She looks to her dad next. "Dad, how old are you?"

"43. But I've been told I look mid-30's."

Kira takes a second to soak in the information before she remembers the sword in her hands and offers it to her mother. Noshiko takes it from her and moves to the desk. She pulls on the handle, revealing a broken blade, and tips the sheath over to let the rest of the pieces pour out. "The blade was shattered the last time it was used." She says.

"When was that?" Kira asks.

"1943. Against a nogitsune."

"All this, it's all happened before, hasn't it?" Scott realizes.

"Yes."

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Ken says.

"Where did it come from?" Kira wondered.

Noshiko looked at her. "It was an internment camp during World War II. In Oak Creek. Not too far from here."

Scott and Kira looked at each other before looking at Ken and Scott spoke up. "Hold on. You told Allison and Isaac that there was no internment camp at Oak Creek."

"Allison's family has a certain history of violence. I didn't know if she could be trusted. There was a camp, yes. But all the records were erased."

"They covered it up." Noshiko added.

Ken reached into one of his desk drawers and pulled a black notebook from inside, various pieces of paper sticking out of the sides. "When I was a grad student, my passion project, actually more like an obsession, was trying to dig up the truth on Oak Creek." He laid out a few photos and then looked up at Noshiko. "It's how I met your mother, Kira."

Kira looked down and picked up a picture of a severly burned patient. "So, where did the nogitsune come from?" She asked her mother.

"Isn't it obvious yet? It came from me."

Noshiko had a skill for sneaking supplies off of the delivery trucks to the camp. She took food, minor supplies, a bottle or two of asprin, and even a baseball for little Michio. Rinko, Noshiko's friend, divies out the stolen goods to the other Japanese-Americans being held at Oak Creek. She warns everyone to stay quiet or else the MP's would hear them. Rinko chastises Noshiko about the baseball, asking if she managed to steal any firecrackers as well, or maybe even machine guns. Noshiko can tell that Satomi, an older woman, doesn't approve of what she's doing. Satomi says she takes too frequently and too much. Noshiko asks if she should give some back, then sits a bottle of asprin next to Satomi's game of Go. She tells the woman she knows she gets migraines at least once a month. Satomi pushes the bottle back and claims that she prefers to suffer. Satomi knows what Noshiko thinks of her, that she's weak because she follows the rules. She claims Noshiko thinks rules are for the obedience of fools and cowards. She says the young fox always knows the rules so she can break them, while the older, wiser animal learns the exceptions to the rules. Rinko steps in and tells them that all they have to do is stay quiet. Unfortunatley that quiet is short lived as Michio accidentaly throws the ball too hard and it goes through one of the windows. The people rush to hide their things in various places, keeping them out of sight of the approaching MP's. Corporal Rhys, the medic, holds up the ball asking if someone lost it. Merrick, another soldier, says supplies were stolen from the truck the night before, he wondered if anyone knew anything. He then went to Rinko, unneccasarily feeling around her waist for anything. Rhys calls the man, but Merrick claims he's just doing his patriotic duty. Hayes, the other soldier, started to look under some pillows. Rhys stops them both and tells them he wants the window fixed and that there will be an inspection in the morning. Hayes questions that they wouldn't look right then, but Rhys repeats it will be in the morning. He says it's a relocation center, not a prison. Merrick chuckles, telling him he could call it a summer camp if it made him feel better. On their way out Rhys smiles at Michio and tosses the ball back to him. Satomi says a quote in Japanese to Noshiko, repeating it in English. You reap what you sow.

Noshiko starts to sort out the pieces to the sword. "Kira, I need your help on this. There isn't much time. And this is something that needs to be done in the daylight."

"Not until you tell us everything." Kira denies.

Ken looks to his wife. "Tell them, Noshiko. Tell them what they need to know."

Noshiko looks at Scott and then Kira. "Wolves and foxes tend not to get along. Not just in fables and stories."

"But allies, however unlikely, should be welcomed. Especially in times of war." Noshiko gives Ken a look, giving Scott a leveled stare as she slams a piece of the katana on the desk.

In secret Noshiko had been romantically involved with Rhys. He tells her that he's worried, that she needs to ease up on the things she's been taking because people are starting to notice. Especially the medical supplies. Noshiko says if a few bottles of missing asprin is that bad she'll return them. Rhys offers to help in bringing things to everyone, claiming he could be pretty sly himself. After some playful banter the secret couple kiss.

"Okay, stop. Just stop." Kira cuts Noshiko off. "We don't want to hear your Casablanca story. We wanna know how to save Stiles."

"I'm trying to telling you." Noshiko claims.

"You're trying to stall." Scott acusses. "When the sun goes down, the oni are going to come after him again, aren't they?"

"Your friend's gone, Scott." Ken said.

"I don't think you know that for sure. You brought the oni. Can you call them off?"

"It's not his fault." Kira adds.

Noshiko looks at Scott. "Stiles may be your best friend. He might be like a brother to you. But he is nogitsune now. He is void."

"Can you call them off?" Scott repeats.

"When you hear the rest of the story, you won't want me to." The teens are quiet and she takes this to continue her story. "Rhys and I found ways to see each other. Sometimes at the barracks. Sometimes in the bunkers where they parked the military vehicles. He was being transfered to North Africa in a few weeks. I was teaching him some French."

Noshiko leaned against Rhys in the back of a vehicle while he read from a book, trying to read the French writing. He had trouble pronouncing something and she helped him with it, saying it was an 'ah' sound. With the tip he repeated what he was trying to say. Coup de foudre. She tells him that it was an idiom. The literal translation is 'bolt of lightning'. He smirked as he repeated another phrase. She remarks that she didn't remember teaching him that and he replies that it was self taught. She gives him a kiss like he had asked for when a car door caught their attention. They stayed low to where they could see outside of the bunkers. They watched the two soldiers and the doctor talk before the doctor gave them some money.

"We watched Merrick and Hayes talking with the camp doctor. They were whispering, talking quickly."

"Noshiko." Ken called, drawing attention to the blood dripping from the woman's hand where she had been gripping a piece of the blade too tightly.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Kira sounded alarmed as she reached out to help, only for Noshiko to pull away. She dropped the bloody piece and took the napkin Ken offered. She gave him a little smile and wiped the blood, showing Kira her uninjured palm. "How did you do that?"

"It's one of our talents. Something you'll learn, Kira. You should have noticed by now that you never get sick. Ever. You'll never experience something as simple as a common cold. Something as bad as the flu. Or something like pneumonia."

Young Michio had come down with the dreadful sickness. Rinko had also caught a cough but says that she's okay and it's not that bad. Rhys tells Noshiko that everyone is coming down with pneumonia and that they were all out of M&B, May and Baker Pharmaceuticals. It's a sulfadiazine that helped treat pneumonia. Noshiko remembered that she had seen those boxes on the delivery truck. Rhys said they had only gotten one box but she claimed it was three, saying that she took a lot of stuff but no M&B.

"Rhys checked his log. But we already knew what was happening. Dr. Liston was using Merrick and Hayes to sell the medicine on the black market."

Michio unfortunatly succumbed to the sickness and Noshiko thought she had to share what she knew. Everyone was angry to say the least. Rinko tried to keep the peace, saying all they had to do was go to the administration and issue a formal complaint. Michio's father is against the idea. He doesn't think going to them and telling them one of their doctors was stealing medication and selling it on the black market was going to do anything. Rinko insists that they'd have to listen. He thinks they will, then nod their heads with condescending smiles. They'll promise a new shipment is coming, any day now, while today his son is dead. Rinko tries to assure him saying she knew how he felt when she was hit with a coughing fit. He says he knows how she feels, that she feels sick, and promises to bury her next to Michio. Satomi speaks up from her little table, saying she thinks they wouldn't even get a condescending smile, that they won't listen to them. Why should they? Michio's father shoves a piece of fabric into a bottle of alcohol, making a Molotov Cocktail. He says he has a way to make them listen.

"I had realzied the mistake I made by speaking too soon. I wasn't helping anyone. I was inciting a riot."

As Hayes, Merrick, and Dr. Liston try to leave the camp in a car the furious people gather around the vehicle despite officer warnings. Guns are raised and Rhys rushes out, ordering them to lower their weapons to protect the people. The crowd are relentless, demanding the doctor and banging on the car.

"I yelled for them to stop. But so many people were sick. And so many were dying. I'd never seen anger like that. It was a living, breathing thing."

Rhys forced his way to the side of the car, creating a barrier with his body to keep the people away. He sees Michio's father light the bottle and raise it, ready to throw it at the car. Rhys manages to catch the man's eye and shake his head, pleading with him not to do it. He listens, not able to bring himself to hurt someone who had helped them, who had been kind to Michio. On the other side of the car Merrick manages to climb out and draw his gun, ordering the people to get back. They do as told with the threat of being shot, making a semi circle around him. Only one person didn't stand down. Satomi stood up to him and he hit her with the butt of the gun, knocking her against the car. The mob decends on him again, his strike against Satomi adding fuel to the fire. Noshiko had run forward to check on the woman, but paused when she saw her clawed hands and glowing, yellow eyes. Satomi's eyes faded and she ran off.

"Now I knew why Satomi was always trying to keep quiet. Why she got migraines once a month, and why she was always at the game of Go. It kept her calm."

"She was bitten." Scott realized.

"Bitten werewolves have a harder time suppressing their anger. One unexpected flare-up and they could lose all control."

Satomi, half-shifted and angry, snatched the still flaming bottle from the man and threw it towards the car. It shattered at Rhys' feet and he was instantly engulfed in the fire. Noshiko screamed from the sidelines, unable to do anything. Rhys screamed as he tried in vain to put himself out.

...

Y/n looked up at the Stlinski home with a tilted head. "What are we doing here?" She wondered.

"Setting the bait." Void responded. She smirked before her eyes flashed, making them appear in Stiles' room. "I want you to stay out of sight. I want to keep you a surprise for now." He ordered.

She gave him a two-fingered salute before sitting in a chair under the camera, hiding in the blind spot. Void sat on the bed and waited. A minute later he saw the camera shift and he knew Noah was watching, so he waved. When no one was looking anymore he stood up and moved to the table where the chess set was on, putting sticky notes with names on pieces, setting Isaac's piece off of the board. He set them up so the king, Derek, was heavily guarded, yet one move away from checkmate. And for a little bit more fun he put Y/n's name on a purple sticky note, stuck it on the queen, and moved it to the other side of the board, isolated and cut off from the rest. Let them have fun figuring out what that meant.

Y/n stood behind him, hands trailing over his form as she looked over his shoulder. "Queen. I like the sound of that." She smirked, his expression mirroring hers as he turned and kissed her.

...

The mob moved to the soldiers, but they were quickly gunned down. Noshiko could only watch in shock before she too was hit with bullets. A lot of the mob fled, but many lie still on the ground.

Noshiko and Kira laid the pieces of the katana out in the shape it's supposed to be. Noshiko continued her story as the sun steadily went down. "The gunfire nearly killed me. I don't know how many bullets made their way into my body, but I fought every one of them. It left my body so weak, my heartbeat so slow it appeared as though I was dead. But even then I was still better off than Rhys. His screams could be heard through Eichen House, echoing through every hallway. He died in agony. The doctor, it seems, had also sold the morphine. Merrick and Hayes were given the task of getting rid of all the bodies, both American and Japanese-American. They were transferring Dr. Liston out as well, stationing him somewhere else. They were covering it up. The doctor, Merrick, Hayes, and all of the others. They were gonna get away with murder. By chance, I guess, Rhys' body had been put next to mine. I wanted the soldiers and the administration of the camp to be punished for their crime. But I knew the clock was ticking. I was going to lose my chance. They were going to burn me with the others. I couldn't fight back with my body weakened and still healing. I could barely move. I was going to die. With time slipping through my fingers, I knew I was making a terrible decision. But I could not die knowing they would get away. So I called out to our ancestors for kitsune-tsuki. Possesion by a fox spirit. For a powerful nogitsune, one that feeds off chaos, strife and pain, to take control of my weakened body, imbue it with power and use it as a weapon. But calling on a trickster spirit is a dangerous thing. They can have a very dark sense of humor. Because while the nogitsune did come to possess someone, it wasn't me."

Merrick and Hayes laid Rhys' bandaged covered body next to Noshiko on the growing pile of bodies before they went back to the truck for the gasoline to burn them with. Merrick was telling riddles to Hayes, the latter being completely uninterested. When they turned around Rhys was standing, but he was no longer the corporal they knew. The nogitsune stalked his way to the men, Hayes firing bullets to put him down again, but the nogitsune kept advancing.

"What happened?" Scott asked.

"My body was beginning to heal. And I managed to pull myself up from the ground. But it was too late."

Noshiko pushed herself up onto her arm and could do nothing but watch as the nogitsune used Hayes' gun against him and then followed Merrick to the other side of the truck where he pulled the man's head from his body. She called out to Rhys, begging him to stop, but Rhys was no longer in control.

"What did it do?" Scott asked again.

"It brought chaos, strife and more pain than you can imagine."

Rinko had been running with a few others through the passages under Oak Creek, trying to get away, but every path was locked up. They were trapped with the monster advancing on them. Noshiko had gained enough strength to make her way back, but all she found were bodies littering the ground. She went back to her bed and retrieved her katana that she had stashed in the wiring under her matress.

"I had to find him. I had to stop him." Noshiko glances to the fast setting sun as she and Kira finish laying the pieces in the correct order. "Kira, hurry. Night is coming."

Noshiko tracked the nogitsune into the tunnels beneath Oak Creek, slicing her sword at him with a fierce determination. He kept dodging each strike and she followed up with another each time. She thrust her katana out, aiming for his middle. He caught her arms and held her in place. He roared in her face, but the sound turned from intimidation to pain as a shifted Satomi came up behind him and stabbed him with her claws. He released Noshiko and, with a nod from the older werewolf, she ran her katana through him. When she pulled it out the blade shattered, falling in pieces to the ground. The nogitsune collapsed to the ground and Noshiko got to her knees next to him, taking deep breaths from the battle. A fly crawled out from his lips and she caught it as it flew into the air. Rhys spoke again, one last time, before he was able to rest. Coup de foudre.

Noshiko put the final piece in place. "The literal translation is 'a bolt of lightning'. In French, it can also mean 'love at first sight'. But a bolt of lightning happens to be exactly what we need right now."

"For what?" Kira wondered.

"Excising the nogitsune from Rhys' body shattered the katana. But you can put it back together."

"Why don't you just do it yourself?"

"Because I'm not a thunder kitsune." Kira glanced down at the sword. "Do you trust me?"

"Trust me on this." Noshiko took Kira's hand and held it over the katana. Electricity pulsed through the pieces of the blade, slowly fusing them together until it formed a whole katana. Kira smiled, proud and amazed that she was able to do that. Noshiko looked proud as she smiled and picked the katana up. She then presented it to Kira, holding it out for the girl to take. "Go ahead. It's yours now."

"What if I don't want it?"

"You need it." She tossed it to Kira and she easily caught it, swung it, and held it like she had been doing it her whole life. "You see? It gives you balance. My power is yours now, Kira. If the oni can't stop Stiles, you have to. The same as I did." Noshiko glanced at Scott. "And maybe seek out a wolf to help you."

"You didn't tell us anything." Scott said.

"You want to save Stiles and get Y/n back? Kill him. That's the only way."

He looked to Ken. "You agree with this?"

"Sometimes, history does repeat itself, Scott."

"Only if you don't learn."

"But sometimes even then, fate conspires against you."

He shook his head. "Y/n says fate is also yours to make." Scott's phoned buzzed. He looked at it, seeing a message from Allison telling him to go to Derek's loft. "There's a way to save him. There has to be." Scott turned and left the classroom, Kira following a moment later.

"Kira." Noshiko called making her pause by the door. Noshiko grabbed the scabbard from the table and held it out for Kira. Kira took it and put the katana back into it's sheath before she followed Scott out of the school.

...

Noah walks up to Derek's loft and slides open the door. Void turns in the middle of the room to look at the man. Time for some fun. "Hi, Dad."

~~~
Published: 11/17/21
Edited: 4/12/22