Author's Note: Lately, I've been hooked up with Nurarihyon and I came to love Tsurara so I decided to come up with a story about her. This is set in an alternative Universe though.

The plot of this story is based on beliefs from my place. Every place has its own traditions and beliefs and mine is no exception. Up until now, I still can't say I am in full denial of the unexplained things happening in my place nor am I in full acceptance of it. I took details as it comes, choosing to stay in the middle. Anyway, one time we were having a little chat – me and my cousin and for some reason, we ended up talking about the unusual stuff in our place – about souls of the living ending up married to the unseen, about the spirits guarding the nature and everything else. And from that, I suddenly had an idea – why not use it as a device in creating another TsuraraxRikou story? Some events may sound so impossible but they did happen. It's up to the readers to formulate their own conclusion with this. I'm only posting this story for the purpose of honing my writing skills and I am by no means trying to force you to believe with the events that will be mentioned.

Title: Whisked Away

Summary: A spirit of the water always wanted to get her but Tsurara has the devil's luck.

Disclaimer: The characters mentioned hereafter are not my property. I do not profit from this story and I simply want to just enjoy writing and telling stories.

Seles Town

1997

Past

A young girl, aged seven years old was happily playing with her friend in the river. Around her are other kids who are playing as well, each with their own companion. Tsurara could remember it well – how it happened so fast she was not sure it even truly occurred.

They were making their way towards the dry land – Maki, Torii and her – but when Tsurara turned to Maki – she was gone. Just gone. She blinked and turned to Yura who looked puzzled as well. "Uh, Maki?" they called their friend's name but no one answered.

Being kids, they knew nothing about the doings of nature itself. In Seles, people feared the water. While it is true that it helps people in their survival, it is still without a doubt the most dangerous part of nature. Tsurara and Tori don't know that – naïve as they were. And so they only believed that Maki was playing pranks on them. Until one elderly approached them. "Where is your friend?" he asked skeptically.

"She's playing tricks on us again," Tori complained while reaching for her clothes. "We were getting out from the water when suddenly she's not there."

Tsurara wondered why the elderly man looked horrified and held their hands. "Where?" he asked.

"Just over here," it was Tsurara who answered and pointed at the shallow part of the river. But of course, that is only the part of the river where children are allowed to go into. The old man walked towards that part of the water and frowned, panic evident in his eyes as he started calling out to their companions. Tsurara and Tori were ushered home.

Maki was one of her friends. She was her neighbor too and so the night of that same day, she looked through her window and wondered why she could hear someone crying on Maki's house. Moving away from her spot, she sought her mother who was busy bringing some stuffs to their neighbor.

"Mom? Why are there so many people over Maki's place?" she asked with curiosity. Her mother's eyes were red, as though she just came from crying.

Setsura moved over to her daughter and hugged her tight. "Your friend's gone."

Tsurara could only blink. "Gone? You mean she went somewhere else? That's unfair. Torii will throw a feat," she stomped her foot, not clearly understanding what her mother said. But what does a seven year-old know about death anyway? Only when they grow older do they finally understand what going away means.

Setsura released her daughter. "Go to your room now. It's really sad but Maki will never come back - " at that moment, Setsura's voice cracked. "S-She died."

Present

The beautiful woman suddenly opened her eyes and looked around as sweat trickled her brow. It had been twenty years ago since Maki's death but even until now, Tsurara could never forget it. She should have moved on but Maki's ghost had always plagued her and Tori. But Tori can never see. While Tsurara would sometimes catch a glimpse of their friend. When she mentioned this to her mother, she looked at her and told her she got her grandmother's gift of clairvoyance and that because of that, she can see things which normal people could not. Her mother called it a gift, Tsurara called it a curse.

She was fifteen years old then when she first saw Maki. She came home late from their field trip. It was too dark as she made her way towards their house when she saw a girl passed by so quickly. She ignored what she saw but it once again passed by, this time, casting her a glance and Tsurara was so sure it was Maki she saw.

The following day, she suffered from high fever and was forced to be absent from school. After taking her to the hospital, a day later, the doctors panicked when she was suddenly on the verge of death. No one could explain why she would die from only fever. Slipping through delirious state, she told her mother she saw Maki.

Immediately, her mother understood, being a descendant from a family of shamans. Without wasting any more time, she asked the help of the Eldest. It was Tori who told her what happened since Tsurara could barely remember what happened next.

According to the Eldest, Maki missed her and made her presence known. She was trying to call for her to play. It was vague at first but Tsurara remembered – she wasn't sure if it was a dream or not. But she remembered Maki calling her.

"Come on Tsurara, let's go play. It's lonely here," she said as she motioned her hand on the vast space with nothing but whiteness.

"Eh?"

Maki smiled at her sadly. "It's been so long since we last played together. It's also been so long since you visited me, you know."

There was a slight accusation there and Tsurara bowed her head in guilt. "I'm sorry Maki. I've been busy the past days. Tori too."

"And that is why you have to come with me," she urged, extending her hand for Tsurara to take. She hesitated a bit before her hand moved to reach her when someone interrupted. It was a face she does not recognize but she was giving Tsurara a stern look.

"Go back Tsurara."

"Wha -?" she asked and looked around to find Maki gone. She turned to the elder woman who interrupted but she was gone as well.

That's when she heard voices calling for her. Tori said that, Setsura asked the help of Lady Kyo who performed a ritual in the sacred place, on top of the mountain.

"My grandma berated me for eavesdropping but I can't help it," Tori said as she sat beside her bed. "Lady Kyo said that Maki wanted you to go with her."

She nodded. "I remember. It was like a dream. But someone stopped me. Why do you think so?" she asked and shifted from her seat. Lady Kyo happened to be one of the dying breed of shamans that has the ability to search for the lost souls of the living.

This time, Tori's face was serious as she stared at her. "Tsurara, you were dying. Heck, the doctors can't even explain why such a simple fever could kill. But you know this town – there are things which even science could not explain."

Tsurara's eyes widened in shock. "You mean if I went with her..." she trailed off and shuddered at the thought that she almost died. Tori nodded.

"Yes. I heard that it was your grandmother who stopped you." Tori looked outside. "Some things are really scary huh? This place is full of scary things."

"Tori..."

"I'll be going away after graduation. I don't want to stay here."

She knew why. The two of them almost died – almost drowned actually in the small improvised pool that men made for people to bath into. She remembred Tori almost drowning and when she tried to help, it seemed as though she was being sucked into an abyss, down below the shallow water. That's when someone came and helped them.

She remembered him to be a boy with brown hair. Perhaps he was just around the same age as them. It was his hand that pulled them both from the water and told them never to set foot on the place again. He told them that it was that time of the year – when it felt the need to consume. It was then that they realized that every year, someone would always vanish from the water. When their classmates inquired what happened to the both of them, they related everything but they were given the weird look.

"What are you two talking about?" Yura asked and motioned at the water. "We thought you were just playing together. There seemed to be nothing wrong a while ago. Ain't that right guys?" he asked the others and they nodded in agreement.

Tori and Tsurara shared a look before the latter was compelled to speak even more. "There was a boy – about our age, he helped us. Didn't you see him around?"

Shima shook his head and knelt beside the two ladies who only realized that they were out of the water already. "There was no one else except us and no one from here helped you if what you say truly happened. Must be your imagination."

Tsurara found it impossible but she kept her mouth shut. It was for that reason that the two of them never liked to go to the river anymore. And for some reason, Tsurara found out that she's quite a disaster when it comes to water. During college, they went for a night swimming in the pool but she almost drowned even though she was on the shallow part. When asked, she didn't say anything about it fearing that they will treat her differently if they learned about it. There was also one time when she tried saving a kid from drowning and she almost ended up dead.

When her mother learned about it, she advised her never to go to pools, to rivers or even to the beach because she seemed to have a bad luck with water. Knowing her mother was a firm believer, she complied.

Her mind was brought to present when she felt herself bumped into a warm chest. She blinked and looked up to see a handsome guy with – she frowned at his weird hairdo – black and white hair? "Uh, sorry," she mumbled and took a step back. That was when she noticed he wasn't alone. Beside him stood a beautiful woman with shoulder-length brown hair.

He gave her just a small nod before he turned to his companion. "Let us go, Kana."

Tsurara watched them go, wondering who the guy is and what's his business in Seles. "Tsurara!"

The loud scream made her turn her attention to another beautiful woman with black hair, making her way towards her with a happy expression. "Yura!"

The two friends shared a big hug before Yura pulled away and studied her. "My god, it's been long since we last saw each other. You've become more beautiful than the last time."

The taller girl chuckled as she picked her bag up. "Glad you came to pick me up," she mumbled. They walked towards the waiting car. Tsurara left Seles when she was twenty, when her mother died. But no matter how much she denied it, she still felt tied to her hometown and so seven years later, she decided to actually agree to Yura's invitation. Next month is her brother's wedding and had requested Yura to call her friends.

A small smile tugged at her lips. Yura's brother is really nice to Yura's friends. And in their young minds before, he was their big brother. Tori felt a brotherly attachment to him as well and Maki too. It took a lot of effort for Yura to contact Tsurara since she left no contact to them when she finished college and worked abroad.

"Too bad Tori can't make it," Yura mumbled.

"You managed to get a hold of her?" she asked in surprise. If she had not known any better, she would guess Tori declined the offer because she hated coming back to their town. But from her last communication with her friend, Tori was really held-up with her works. She barely had time to rest. Being an auditor of such a big audit firm sure took much of Tori's time.

"Yeah. Apparently, it's nearing April so their firm is busy with audits and stuff." She turned to Yura. "How was working abroad as a nurse?" she queried.

Tsurara managed a yawn. "Fine I think. I got to meet different kinds of patients. How are Kiyo and Shima by the way?"

At the question, Yura stopped and glanced at her, a faltered smile on her lips. "Shima had been acting weird lately."

"How is that so?"

Yura climbed her car, followed by Tsurara and she immediately started the engine. "He'd been into alcohol lately. He wouldn't let it go – he drinks every night. And the kind-hearted Shima turned into someone so moody especially at night."

"Oh."

Yura decided not to talk about Shima more than necessary. It might drive Tsurara away. "By the way, I heard Lady Kyo is expecting a guest today as well. When was the last time she sat on her doorstep with a very expectant look?" she mused.

The two ladies, including Tori were always fond of Lady Kyo – one of the remaining shamans. While most elderly women died already due to old age, Lady Kyo remained living, her husband even dying first. Yura heard some whispers before – that the 'otherwordly' had forgotten her.

"That's right. Can we visit her first? I bought something for her," she requested.

"Sure."

Tsurara felt a lump in her throat as she stared at the very old woman. She sat on a racking chair, just near the door. Old age had surely marred her beauty and now she just looked like an old woman, waiting for her time to go.

The old woman squinted her eyes before she smiled. "Ah, Setsura."

Tsurara walked towards her and gave the old woman a small kiss on the cheek. "It's Tsurara, Lady Kyo."

The old woman shook her head. "No, no. I see Setsura. Guess your mother continued watching out for you."

At that instant moment, Tsurara looked around but could not see anyone aside from Yura who was standing behind her with a confused look. Ah yes, Yura did not know that Tsurara can see the ghosts of those who died – of the wandering souls that could never rest. And that is why she called her ability a curse. It wouldn't let her sleep.

"You've grown, Tsurara," the old woman whispered to her.

"I sure did. I brought you something," she said, searching for the beautiful dress she specifically bought for the old woman. She's pretty sure, she would love it.

The old woman had a tearful look as she reached for the dress and gave a warm smile. "Thank you so much."

Tsurara straightened. "I'm glad you like it. After I fix my things, I'll come back later okay? Heard you had a guest. So I should come fix them some snack. It seems you can't move much."

The old woman nodded absent mindedly and mumbled her gratitude. Tsurara and Yura went back to the car. "Who cooks her food?" Tsurara asked with curiosity.

"I drop by from time to time to deliver her food. If it's not me, there are her neighbors. But I hate them – they only give her food out of pity. I tried to convince Lady Kyo to live with me but she refused and said that her husband always comes home."

Tsurara shuddered. Everyone in town knows that Lady Kyo's companions are spirits. That's why they always treated her cautiously. But Tsurara always saw the old woman as a grandmother figure and nothing more. It was only now that she realized that Lady Kyo is indeed a shaman. Just like her grandmother.

It took a few minutes before Yura parked outside the small house that was Tsurara's home for the past twenty years before she decided to leave town. It looked so old now. And eerie since no one lived there for seven years.

"I'm sorry, I haven't come here for a month to clean."

At that, she whipped her head on her friend's direction and gave her a surprised look. "You clean the house?"

"Yes. I don't see anything wrong with it. Even Lady Kyo said that it was kind of me – because the souls of your dead family always comes home." Yura gave her a speculative look, knowing that Tsurara always denied the fact that she came from a family with the same ability as Lady Kyo. But while Lady Kyo's abilities would extend to different areas, her family's specialty lies on healing those touched by the otherwordly and well, that ability to see.

Unfortunately for Setsura, she never inherited the ability. So when Tsurara almost died due to Maki's visit, she had to ask the others to help her daughter.

Tsurara half-expected to see her 'guests' when she entered the house but she could only feel the air suddenly turning chilly. Other than that, she felt nothing. She saw her friend shiver a little at the cold. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Don't mind me. I always feel the cold when I enter."

"I see," she knew that Yura believes in the 'unseen' and stuffs that go with it, that a water can eat someone and would just pop out the body of the person it had eaten. She blinked at that. Yes, just like Maki. Maki's body was found floating in the river in the next town, Bai. "Thanks for fetching me up, Yura."

Her friend chuckled. "Don't thank me. Tell you what, I'm going to have a sleepover here, that good with you?"

"Sure." She's glad Yura can actually read her unspoken thoughts.

"Okay, I'll be going over to the house to get a few things and talk with my brother. I'll be back tonight. Are you fine on your own?"

Tsurara laid the bag down on the chair and turned to her. "Yes. I'll be going back to see Lady Kyo."

Her friend nodded and left while Tsurara cleared her throat and started wandering around the house. Loneliness. She could feel their presence but for some reason, she could not see them. She sighed. "i'm home."