𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"Well... Medically, you seem okay. You're definitely a real person" My mother states after silently checking over the tired looking Stilinski boy.

"Okay, so I'm real- but am I the real me?" Stiles questions.

My mom turns her head to look at me and he follows her gaze, looking at me for the first time since I entered the room. I open my mouth to blurt out a reassurance but I stop myself as my brother enters the room, causing us all to look at him.

"Is she here?" Stiles asks the boy.

"Yeah..." Scott nods, looking unsure of himself.

"Okay, let's do this" Stiles counters.

My twin looks from Stiles to my mother and then to me, the both of us sharing a worried expression that Stiles seems to notice as he looks between us.

"Guys, we have to do this" Stiles stresses.

"Fine" I huff out, dragging myself onto my feet "Let's go"

Scott helps his best friend get up off of the bed and I lead the way downstairs. I find Noshiko Yukimura stood in the middle of my living room and I narrow my eyes at her, immediately stepping in front of my mom, Scott and Stiles to keep them behind me.

"Do you recognize me?" Noshiko speaks up, looking directly at Stiles who nods slightly.

"Stop!" Kira shouts, running to her mother's side.

"It's okay. I'm the one who asked her to come" Stiles assures the younger kitsune, gently pushing past me.

"You're the one who's going to get stabbed with swords" Kira argues, looking at her mother "Mom, don't do this to him"

"It's already done" Noshiko replies.

Two of the Oni appear from the darkness, one of them standing in front of Stiles and the other behind him. My eyes flash bright pink as my anxiety spikes and Scott grabs my hand, keeping me grounded.

The Oni in front of Stiles grabs the side of his face and the boy twitches in pain before collapsing onto the ground. As the dark figures disappear into smoke, I race towards Stiles and drop to my knees.

"Look behind his ear" Noshiko orders as my mother, Kira and Scott rush towards us.

I place Stiles' head onto my lap and Scott checks behind the boy's ear, finding exactly what we all wanted to see.

"It worked" Scott states.

"So, I'm actually me?" Stiles chokes out, pushing himself to sit up.

"More you than the Nogitsune" Noshiko says simply.

"Can the Oni find him?" Stiles questions.

"Tomorrow night. It's too close to dawn now" The Yukimura woman answers.

"Can they kill him?" He then asks.

"Depends on how strong he is" She counters.

"What about Lydia? Why would he take her?" Scott queries in confusion.

"He would only take her for an advantage" Noshiko explains.

"Do you mean her power?" I speak up curiously and the woman nods.

"The power of a Banshee" She declares.

❦ ❦ ❦

While Scott and Stiles head to the Sheriffs station, I decide to swing by the high school to make sure the twins are doing okay and end up getting a ride to the station from Allison.

The car comes to a slow stop and I turn my head to look at her, only to find her already looking at me.

"Thanks for the ride, Alli" I breathe out and she shrugs with a half smile.

"It was on the way" She plays it off and I notice a small gash on her jaw when she tilts her head to the side a little "Are you okay?"

"You're hurt" I point out, reaching forward to gently trace the cut and she reaches up, softly taking a hold of my wrist.

"Nat, your eyes..." Allison drawls off in awe.

I turn my head to look at the small rearview mirror and two glowing pink irises stare back at me so I blink harshly, shaking my head slightly. When I peel my eyes open the pink fades back to my usual chocolate brown.

"I'm sorry" I mumble out in embarrassment, pulling my hand out of her hold and she frowns "I'm still getting a hang of the control part. When people are hurt that I..."

"People you love?" The Argent girl asks me and I tear my eyes from the mirror to look at her, the glimpse of hope in her eyes makes me smile.

"People that I care about" I nod and her lips tug up at one side "It makes me angry, and anger is a hard emotion to control"

"I guess I have my father to thank for that" I add jokingly.

"Probably, yeah" Allison chuckles.

"Anyways, thanks again for the ride. See you later, Alli" I smile gratefully, reaching over and pressing a quick peck to the girl's rosy cheek before hopping out of the car.

My heeled boots crush gravel under them as I head towards the station but I get a feeling in my gut that someone is following me, Derek's voice in my head screaming at me to trust my gut.

Listening to his voice, I spin around and grab the person stood behind me by the arms, roughly slamming their back against the nearest brick wall.

Every single ounce of anger drains from my body when I see Allison Argent's brown eyes staring back at me and I let go of her, taking a step back in horror.

"I am so sorry, Allison" I mutter out but she shakes her head.

"It's my fault. I scared you. I'm sorry" She apologises, grabbing my hands and pulling me back towards her.

"Why did you follow me?" I question in confusion, taking a deep breath.

"You forgot something" She tells me and I frown because I know that I didn't "This"

Before I can question her, the dark haired girl's lips collide with mine and I gasp in surprise, my hand moving to her face. She pulls away from me ever so slowly and we stare at each other, both of us seeming surprised that she kissed me.

"Natalia? Allison?" A very familiar voice calls out, causing Allison and I to both take a step away from each other.

"Hi, Scotty" I grin at my brother, hoping he didn't see anything as I turn to Allison "I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Yeah. See you, Nat" She smiles, nodding and heading back to her car as I walk to my brother.

"You have pink lipgloss around your lips" My brother states as I walk past him while he holds the door open for me and I tense up, looking back at him.

"Scott, I'm sorry. She kissed me and-" I start to ramble but he just chuckles, shaking his head.

"I'm not mad. Allison and I aren't together, she can kiss who she likes. I'm with Kira now" My brother assures me and relief sets in, although I still feel guilty "You gonna finally stop stringing my buddy along now?"

"I am not stringing Stiles along" I groan as my brother grins, throwing his arm around me.

"Natalia Mae McCall, you are a liar. Stiles' knees go weak whenever you enter a room and his heart beats like a thousand miles per second" Scott jokes as we walk towards the Sheriff's office.

"Shut up, Scott" I huff, slapping his shoulder.

Scott and I head into the office, the Sheriff and Stiles glancing at us as I close the door behind us.

"We got an APB out on Lydia's car. Every unit on the road is looking for her" Sheriff informs us.

"Isn't there anything else that we could do?" Scott asks.

"At this hour? No, not really" Sheriff answers.

"There has to be something" I counter with a deep frown.

"He took her for a reason, Dad. Look, if we can figure out the 'why', then we'll figure out the 'where'" Stiles tells his father.

"Okay...What would a Nogitsune need with a Banshee?" Sheriff questions curiously.

"I don't know, Lydia's pretty good at finding dead bodies. Maybe he needs to find a body?" Stiles suggests.

"Maybe he's using her as leverage" I counter.

"Scott, you know more about this than all of us" Sheriff looks to my brother.

"Me?" Scott looks at the man in confusion.

"You said you heard the whole story from Noshiko?" Sheriff points out.

"Kira's mom?" I question.

"Yeah, but that happened during World War II, like seventy years ago" Scott replies.

"Wait- what did you say?" Stiles frowns.

"Noshiko told me about the internment camp-" Scott begins.

"No, before that. You said 'the whole story...'" Stiles interject.

"Yeah...What is it?" Scott questions.

"There's a girl at Eichen House. Her name's Meredith. I think she might be able to help" Stiles reveals.

Sheriff straight away tasks Deputy Parrish with calling Eichen house and I flop down on the sofa in the room, waiting for a reply. It's not long at all before the door opens again and the deputy is stood at the door.

"Sheriff? Meredith Walker" Parrish speaks up.

"She's still there?" Sheriff questions.

"Yeah, but they moved her to the closed unit" Parrish informs us.

"Why?" Scott asks.

"They said 'behavioural issues'" Parrish answers him.

"Behavioural issues?" I hum in curiosity.

"What issues?" Stiles frowns in confusion.

"She wouldn't stop screaming" Parrish declares.