Me: Hello~! This is my first Nurarihyon fic, so please, be kind! Now, my I introduce my, ahem, lovely assistants! First up. GIN!
Gin: Yo! I'm the funny one!
Me: *throws knives at him*
Gin: GYAH!
Me: He's comic relief. Next, Yuna!
Yuna: Hello. *bows*
Me: She's the sarcastic commentary. Last, Yuno!
Yuno: Hey!
Me: The smart person.
Yuno: *sweatdrops* Hey now...
Me: Yuno! Disclaimer!
Yuno: Right. Hikari-san does not own Nurarihyon No Mago, nor anything else of another person or people. If she did, she wouldn't be here. Also, all credit goes to original authors and makers if Hikari-san uses something from another fic, although such things will only be used if permission is granted first. Hikari-san is also not the owner of most of the various songs and/or poems and/or things that come into the story. She only owns her ideas. If you believe Hikari-san has plagiarized, please let us know so that she may rectify that. Please note that this is the only time Hikari-san will disclaim, and this disclaim shall count for the entirety of the story. WARNING!May contain BL, Yuri, character death, incest, angst, violence, suicide, cursing, bashing, OOCness, Mary-Sues, slow updates, sucky writing, songs, references to non-Nurarihyon stuff, and crack. You've been warned.
Me: Thank you, Yuno. That was well done!
Yuno: :D
Yuna: Suck up.
Yuno: Hey!
Gin: Haha~! Suck up!
Yuna: *punches Gin*
Gin: Oof-!
Yuna: Don't copy me, idiot.
Me: *sweatdrops* Anyway, ON WITH THE SHOW!
He has failed.
He has failed his Hyakki Yakkou.
He has failed his family, his friends, and the world.
He, Nura Rikuo, Sandaime of the Nura-gumi, is a failure.
He could not defeat Abe no Seimei; could not stop this mad man from 'cleansing the world.'
'Sorry, everyone…' He has no more strength, his body battered and broken; being held up by only what little left there was of his dignity and Nenekirimaru. He gives one last defiant glare at the man who deemed himself Kami, even as the so-called Kami formed a large ball of corrosive youki over his head.
Not even deigning to raise a finger, Abe no Seimei stares back.
"Die."
The ball falls toward Rikuo.
Yet he does not close his eyes. He will meet his fate face forward. That way, at least, he would be able to meet others in the next world with his head held high and say that he had tried.
But fate had other plans.
"RIKUO-SAMA!" "RIKUO!" "NURA!" "SANDAIME!"
"OOOOOOOH!"
He can't believe what he is seeing. It couldn't be possible.
But it was.
His Hyakki Yakkou, the youkai that allied with Nura-gumi, and the onmyojou were all stopping the swirling mass of doom, with their own bodies.
He stares in awe…And then in horror.
"What are you all doing!?" he shouts, his eyes wide.
They would kill themselves like this!
"Rikuo-sama!" Tsurara struggled out, parts of her body gone from earlier attacks. "Rikuo-sama! I have always watched you!" she shouted, righting herself with her ice. "I have watched you struggle with yourself, with your duties to the gumi and your friends! I have watched you grow from a small boy to this great man whom I do not hesitate to follow to my death! So please! Watch and believe in me! Believe in us! We shall protect you!" She announced, even as her ice melted as fast as she froze it.
'Tsurara...' Rikuo's eyes became pained.
"WAKA! Me too! I shall use this body of mine as your shield!"
'No! Ao, your body can't take much more!'
"HAH! Don't get ahead of yourself! It is I who shall protect Rikuo-sama, Ao!"
'Kuro, you have no weapons left! They've all shattered!'
"You guys think you can Rikuo-sama like that!? Stand down and let someone more experienced do it!"
'You can't, Kubinashi! You've lost an arm already!'
"Ara, ara~! Don't forget little ole me~! A woman can take better care of a man than other men anyway!"
'Kejero..! Not you too!'
"We, the Karasu Tengu, shall protect the leader of Nura-gumi with our lives, as is our duty!"
'Don't do it!'
"Rikuo, you so owe everyone from Toono saki, you got that!?"
'Y-you guys too!?'
"Hmph. Don't take this the wrong way. I just don't want to owe for anything. I'll defeat your Hyakki one day, Nura!"
'Even you, Tamazuki..?
"Gyahaha! Can't wait for the party after this! It'll be totally wild!"
'You drunken idiot!'
"Youkai! We'll handle this!"
'Onmyojou!?'
Rikuo watched, eyes bright with emotion. 'Everyone..!'
He watched, even though it was painful. It hurt to see them fall so slowly, one by one. He had to do something before they all died! He had to—!
The cruel voice of Abe no Seimei cut through the air like a knife. "Futile."
And the youki fell upon them all, crushing.
Rikuo felt like the air had been sucked right out of him. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The youki dispersed, revealing the broken figures that it had crushed under its might.
Rikuo found himself moving, dashing towards the wreckage of bodies and blood, falling to his knees to the first being he reached.
"Tsurara!" She wasn't moving. Her pale skin, once so beautiful and pale, was now marred with open wounds and smeared with dirt and blood. Her hair, once glossy and straight, was now just as tattered as her ruined clothes. He held her close to himself, feeling tears come up at the damage he saw on his older sister figure, who helped raise him as a child. "Tsurara..!"
A weak voice called out. "R-ri…ku…o…sama…"
Snapping his head toward the voice, he saw that Tsurara had opened her eyes. She struggled to get up.
"Tsurara! No! Stay down, your too injured!" He ordered. She reluctantly obeyed, but nevertheless, she spoke.
"Ri…kuo…sama…I must…ask…something…of you…" He looked at her intently
"What is it?"
"Please…take…my soul…" His eyes widen.
"What?
"Take…my soul…With it…you will…gain…more…strength…" Rikuo shook his head vehemently.
"Tsurara, I can't do that! You'll die!"
"And…I am…not…now..?" Tsurara dryly laughed.
"You're not-!"
"I am…Rikuo…sama…I know…I am…So please…do not…let me die…like this…I wish…to be with you…always…So take…my soul…"And as she said so, the light in her eyes faded, and her body lost its color and fell away into snow, as all Yuki-Onna did when they passed. Left in her place, on top of the snow, was a single, small brightly glowing orb of light, no bigger than the palm of his hand; her soul.
Staring at it, feeling numb, Rikuo picked it up.
He stared, and with a heart-wrenching cry, held it close to himself. Then he gasped, sounding as if he were in pain, as Tsurara's soul sunk into his chest.
He stared at the spot where it entered him, feeling peculiar all of a sudden. What was that he just-!
"Such a weak soul."
Rikuo whirled around to the one who spoke, eyes narrowed in rage and demeanor furious.
Abe no Seimei sat upon his throne looking at him with boredom written over all over his face.
Rikuo wasn't sure what he would have if he had reacted to the Nue. But he would never know, as a glowing light caught his eye. Turning around, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Everyone who had been crushed by the youki ball was disappearing in some form or another, and in their places were glowing spheres of light. They were different in intensity, size, and color. But they were all the same.
They were all souls.
The souls of hundreds.
And they were all heading straight for him.
'Wait, what-!'
He couldn't breathe.
With every soul that entered him, he felt their feelings. He knew of their dreams, their nightmares, their likes, their dislikes, their successes, their failures, their lives, their memories. He felt and saw it all. He felt himself change as they entered him, felt himself grow stronger, gain new abilities and knowledge.
It was exhilarating.
"Oh? Seems that you may now be something more than just a minor nuisance." The Nue stated, looking at Rikuo with a bit more interest than before.
It was hard not to, with the change that had been brought about.
Rikuo now looked older, more like an adult of 25 than that of a 17 year old. His face gained markings similar to that of his grandfather, but of which were longer, reaching down to the end of his jawline. His eyes, which had been a fierce red of freshly spilt blood, were now the penetrating silver of that of a drawn sword. But the greatest change was to his aura.
It was visible.
All around him swirled a misty, silvery cloud made up of what looked to be hundreds of individual sakura blossoms, dancing in the wind around his figure to some unknown, beautiful music.
Rikuo stared at it, amazed by its brilliance and by the feeling of camaraderie that came from it.
Then, suddenly, he realized.
They were his Hyakki.
They were his allies; it was their souls that swirled about him in such a mesmerizing manner.
Holding out a hand, a single petal fell into it.
He felt it, this person's soul.
This person was..!
Me: BWAHAHA! YES! FEEL THE ALMIGHTY WRATH OF THE CLIFFY!
Gin: O_O
Yuna: Holy crap she's gone insane.
Gin: I thought she was already crazy.
Yuna: Fine. More insane.
Yuno: Hikari-san! You have to end the chapter!
Me: Oh! Right. Well then. SEE YA LATER PEEPS! xD
