The Beginning, scene 11

[sakon76]

"So, did you ever see him again?" asked Kuwabara, blowing on his noodles. He'd arrived while Kurama was reminiscing.

"A few times, long after he was grown and already going by the name Seimei. He was so different I wouldn't have thought he was the same little boy except that he had my name inside him."

"What do you mean?" Yuusuke asked.

"Because he was of mixed blood, he grew up alienated from the humans around him. It often happens--I wouldn't be surprised if your halfling ancestor was the same, Yuusuke."

"They couldn't have been that alienated from society," Kuwabara pointed out. "They did both get married and have descendants, didn't they?"

"True," Kurama admitted. "I spent half a century thanking the higher gods and goddesses that Seimei met Hiromasa."

"Hiromasa?"

"Minamoto no Hiromasa."

"Hiromasa, Hiromasa." Kuwabara seemed to be cudgelling his brain. "Um. The flute player?"

Kurama nodded. "He became Seimei's friend and humanized Seimei a bit, which I certainly wasn't capable of doing."

"Was Hiromasa's playing really worth its reputation?" a soft new voice asked.

Kurama turned to see his descendant standing behind them. "I've never heard its equal, Subaru-san," he replied, gesturing at the empty seat next to his own.