104Set concurrently with the events of prompt #30 in this collection.
Day 31: Ripe [666 words, LOL IT'S HALLOWEEN]
Hiruko waited, and Hiruko watched.
He watched from afar, of course. He had his ways of seeing into places others could not glimpse. Dreams, for one, afforded him looks into the very souls of his chosen few. His transplants. His Not-Quites. He could walk seen or unseen through their sleeping heads, taking stock of their moods and mindsets as easily as one checks the forecast, and use that knowledge to further his many, hidden goals.
He could also look upon them more directly, if he chose to. And he did chose to, the day his chosen Not-Quite-Keiko met with Not-Quite-Kagome and Not-Quite-Minato at a coffee shop to talk.
Hiruko had been slightly unsettled when the two of his selected souls encountered one another. He had been likewise unsettled when Minato tracked them down, turning a duo into trio… but in the end, he had graciously allowed them to remain friends. They drew strength from one another, and that strength would give them the courage to carry onward.
It would also prove their undoing, if he read the signs correctly. And he very rarely read them wrongly, if he did say so himself.
It was with humor that he gave a snort when Not-Quite-Keiko met inquiries about her novel (the one she dreamed of so very often) with a frank dismissal. She would not publish it because Keiko would not have published it, let alone have written it. Publishing her novel might tempt fate, she claimed. But it was ironic that she thought something so minor would accomplish something so major, especially in the presence of two souls who bore so much more potential than she did.
Much of Hiruko's success hinged upon Not-Quite-Keiko. More still rode upon her friends. He wondered what Keiko would feel if she knew she was, for lack of a better word, a test case. Hiruko had no intention of finding out. Something told him the results of that revelation would be… counterproductive.
But letting her continue on as-is rode counter to his ambitions, too.
Hiruko hadn't brought her out of death to just… exist, and Not-Quite-Keiko, for all her supposed bravery, had stayed largely on the path assigned to her. She made small forays off of it, to be sure, but she never strayed far. She played the part of Keiko with specificity. She was a good girl that way.
Good, and infuriating.
Ironic, that specificity. His reasons for choosing her hadn't been particularly defined. He chose her because of convenience, and because certain aspects of her life complemented his goals. Any other girl that possessed these qualities would have done just as well—but Hiruko wondered if, perhaps, he should have exerted more care when making his choice. If he were to be honest with himself, she had been something of a disappointment thus far, barely daring to breathe out of turn for fear of causing ripples.
And that just wouldn't do.
The girl was ripe for a little push in the right direction, it seemed. Perhaps he had been too hands-off for too long. Perhaps it was time he stepped in, impacted her directly. After all, it was imperative she break both form and the rules—not that she understood why he wanted so badly for her to forge her own path. Not that she could understand, even if he told her all that he planned.
He was alone in his ambitions. Not like his Not-Quites, who had found each other against all odds and against his best intentions. Now that they had found each other, there was no way they could understand him… and that meant he could not count on them to do as he wished without proper incentive.
Incentive. A push. A gentle nudge in the right direction.
That was what Not-Quite-Keiko (and her friends, in time) would someday soon require. So Hiruko waited, and Hiruko watched—and when the time came, he resolved to push her off the path whether she liked it or not.
WHAT THE WHAT, IT'S HIRUKO.
Almost chickened out posting this, but couldn't resist. Halloween seems a good time to dive into the perspective of the most mysterious member of Lucky Child's cast. And reader cestlavie guessed this chapter might be from his POV, so this one's for them. They also reviewed this entire fic, so basically this collection is for them, too. XD Thank you so much for your support! You're amazing.
And, of course, thanks go out to everyone who read this story over this course of October. Meant a lot to have your support and comments to read. Proud I kept this consistent and updated daily without working ahead, and it's because of you that I was able to. Thanks go out to all of these amazing people: cestlavie, YourHomeGirlJen, read a rainbow, EasilyAmused93, Kaiya Azure, SweetFoxGirl13, Kimimakku, disenchanted lover, tammywammy9, tequilamockinbur, marshmallow96, What Would Valery Do, IronDBZ, le-maru, LadyEllesmere, Ouca, SilverKitsune, anony, Riverling, riceberri, Convoluted Compassion, and lots of guests!
It was a fun month. Want to make this an annual thing, so on that note… see you in 2020 for the next Inktober challenge. Till we meet again, whether it's there or with LC (which I hope to get back to updating this month!).
