SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME
Prologue: Cherry Blossoms
Disclaimer: Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine.
(In this story, Wakana's last name is a creation of the author. It is not meant to overlap the original plot of Nurarihyon no Mago.)
Her brown eyes wide in shock as she watched everything in her sight get swallowed in a sea of flames. Red, hot, fire covering every area within her sight, her small frail body trembled in fear, shivered despite the heat of emanating in their so-called home. The house was burning. Fragments of wood falling from the ceiling, wood planks rising from the floor, ashes swirling about in the entire sea of flames. But it was not because of the fire that she felt scared, no that was not it, it was the body over hers, that didn't move. Limp arms wrapped loosely over her small frame, light auburn hair covering half of her face, and warm red blood, oozing from a fresh sword wound enveloping half of her body. The body clothed in a white summer dress, now covered with red blood.
A few steps away, is a man standing in front of her. His hands trembling as he stood bravely trying to protect everything in his back. He held a gun pointed in front of him, wobbly but sternly warning the proposed assailant to not get near. His face drenched in sweat, his clothes covered with a mix of water and blood, his skin pale as snow.
He suddenly looked back and smiled. He mouthed some words towards the little girl. The girl on the other hand, tried her best to make out the statement. Until shock enveloped her, seeing a tall unidentifiable figure, draw a long blade and struck the man in front of her. Blood gushed out from the freshly cut wound, her eyes widened in fear…
I'm next…
Was the thought that came to her mind. But her body refused to move. She could not get the body covering her to move away. She could not muster enough strength to move her arms and inch even just a little away from the assailant. The figure moved steadily, slowly towards her, her throat hoarse, her breath ragged, her pupils dilated, there was no better way to describe her feelings except for these words…
I'm afraid…
I'm going to die…
Help me…
Then everything faded.
Everything became dark.
"Okay everyone, remember to read Chapter 3 of the History of Japan Folklore. We will be having an examination tomorrow." The history professor reminded the class as the bell rang for dismissal.
Students started packing their things. Some obedient enough to place their books inside their bags, others decided to leave them in school and proceed to plan for their group outing either to the arcade or to the karaoke bar. Some students rushed out to the room to proceed to club sessions. But noticeably, a girl seemed to be the center of attention of a few people in class. She was always the bright girl, literally and figuratively. Her smile is very bright that it attracted everyone to her.
"Neh, neh, Wakana-chan, let's go out and eat!" A blonde girl, with the name of Amina pulled her hand as if to drag her out of the room.
"Ehhh, Amina-chan, Wakana-chan promised to teach me today about Algebra!" Kimiko, a short brown haired, athletic looking student pouted towards the other girl, "Right, Waka-chan?"
Wakana Koizumi smiled towards the two girls. She tucked a strand of her hair to her right ear and raised her two hands waving towards the two girls.
"I'm sorry Amina-chan, Kimiko-chan, I have to go home a little early today." Her remark earned subsequent complaints from the two girls. She carried her small bag, slightly giving an apologetic bow and proceeded to get out of the classroom.
Wakana bumped into a couple of classmates who gave her a warm farewell. She smiled back and as she took out her outdoor shoes from her locker. She bid some other classmates a nice goodbye and proceeded on her way.
The truth of the matter was that, she really was in a hurry. But it's not as if she was really going somewhere. The problem is that she was just hurrying out of school because of that thing that has been bothering her the entire day—the shadow that seems to be everywhere she looks. She looked back a little bit and saw that the shadow is still following her.
Tsk… she snorted to herself thinking that it has been pretty annoying that "something" has been following her since she left home this morning. "This is getting annoying. Wonder what this needs…"
It's nothing new really. That was a prevailing thought in her mind as she walked a little faster, hoping she would lose that shadow. Ever since she was seven years old, she could already see these things. At first, she was afraid. She shared to her friends and to her teachers, and to other people who she thought would understand. But unfortunately, no one did. In fact, she was shunned by those people. She could still remember the names that they used to call her. She was called…
Lunatic.
Crazy.
Attention-grabber.
Loner.
Idiot.
Name it, you have it. She was not that much of an idiot to continue sharing these things. People will only think that she really is loony especially since they cannot see what she does.
That's right. She sees things, from demons, dead people, ghosts, or any other paranormal being. Some of them really scary, some of them pretty harmless, like this shadow following her. It's just following her. Though she couldn't see a face, she could see the figure, it looks human, but a little small. She thought back the day before if she happened to have thrown something to a shrine or stepped on someone else's gravestone, but she couldn't think of anything.
She sighed in resignation seeing that the shadow was nowhere near leaving her. She stopped in her tracks. The shadow stopped as well. She stomped her feet crossing her arms towards the shadow.
"Okay, ENOUGH! What do you want?!" She shouted. She purposefully led the shadow to a vacant field. Checking her line of sight, seeing that no one was around, she took this opportunity to confront the "shadow".
The shadow seemed to have been taken aback, though there was no facial expression. It shook its head and took one step back. Wakana figuring that it was not really such a harmful entity, she sat down in the field fronting the river and tapped the area beside her as if asking the "shadow" to take a seat. Well, the shadow seemed to be very obedient, it really did take a seat.
"Alright. Since we're now in speaking terms, I think it would be best if you show your true self to me." Wakana looked towards the shadow. She saw a couple walk by looking at her oddly. Can't blame them, to normal people, she looks like she was just talking to herself.
The shadow obeyed her. From an empty space, a figure of a small child appeared. It was a ghost. Wakana smiled towards the little boy. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a blue shirt. His hair was light brown and his eyes were as bright as the spring grass.
"Are you lost? Why have you been following me since this morning?" She asked kindly. "I didn't step on your grave or something, did I?"
The ghost shook his head.
"Then what is it? I can't really do anything like exorcize you or something, so…" She stopped as the ghost pointed towards the direction of the river. She looked towards the river's direction and said. "I can't swim little boy…sorry…"
The ghost smiled, "Nee-chan, that's where I died…".
Her eyes widened. "Oh." It was the only thing she could say. She looked around trying to find something that would be relevant to the little boy. "What happened to you?"
The little boy shared his story towards Wakana. It took a while until the story ended. It was almost night time. The little boy's figure shined brighter as the sun set. He became more visible when the moon appeared in the sky. Although he looks translucent, there was something about him that appeared ethereal.
"I see…" Wakana commented after hearing the story. "But, like I said a while ago, I can't really do any kind of exorcism. I can see you, hear you, but that's it…"
"It's okay Nee-chan. All I wanted was someone to listen to my story." The little ghost stood up. "It has been a while since I died. I've been here for a while, but no one took a second look at me. Until you passed by two days ago…"
Wakana tried to remember. Two days ago?
Oh yeah…
She remembered. She passed by this place with Amina and Kumiko after they dropped by their friend in the hospital. They were vising Sousuke, a classmate of theirs who fractured his bone after playing soccer.
"That was when I saw you. You were looking towards me nee-chan. For years, all I wanted was to simply meet someone who would look at me. Look for me. When I saw you, I was happy. I decided to follow you since then." The little ghost looked down, shy with his declaration.
She smiled towards him. One thing about her ability is that she can also detect if an entity is pretty harmful. This one seems to be pretty safe to deal with. She stood up and dusted her skirt and looked at the little boy.
"I'm Wakana Koizumi. You are?"
"My name is Shino…"
"Shino," Wakana knelt in front of the little boy. "I can't really stay with you for a long time, and you can't really follow me either."
The little boy nodded. He knew what she was trying to say.
"All I can do in the next few days would be to visit you. I promise that I will." Wakana took out her pinky finger towards Shino. The little boy's eyes widened in surprise and quickly took out his small pinky finger tying it towards hers. His expectant eyes looked towards her direction…
"Promise? You promise nee-chan that you will visit me?" Shino's eyes brightened with the proposal.
Wakana smiled. "I promise."
Nura Rihan sat in the Nura household's porch. His relaxed posture was nowhere near the conflict that has been in his heart for a few hundred years already. He looked towards the field of Yamabuki flowers, reminiscing the past. The bright yellow flowers danced with the wind. It looked as graceful as his former wife.
"Yamabuki Otome…"
Yamabuki Otome was his former wife. They have parted ways for years now, but the memory is still as clear as crystal. Those were the days wherein he felt that life really had meaning. When she stood beside him as he led his own hundred demon parade, everything he did had meaning. For Rihan, everything made sense.
He has been engrossed in his thoughts not noticing the presence of his father behind him. He was suddenly drawn out of his memories when he felt a strong hit on his head. He looked up and saw his father, the Supreme Commander of the Nura Clan, Nurarihyon.
"Yo, Rihan. It seems that you're having a moment there…" Nurarihyon sat beside his son and gave him a nudge. "Not good son, you shouldn't get too lost in your own thoughts you might not go back."
"Haha, very funny dad." Rihan snorted. "I'm too old for that kind of remark."
Nurarihyon knew why he was so lost in thoughts. Even though it has been years, centuries in fact, since the incident, Rihan has barely moved on from her. When she left, it was as if a very big portion of him was gone. He continued his legacy as the Second heir, but that was it. His smile was no longer as happy as it could be. His eyes were no longer as proud as it used to be. Even the rest of the Hundred Demons felt the lack of desire, and the lonesome aura of the commander.
"Rihan…" Nurarihyon was supposed to begin one of his lectures when Rihan stood up.
"I'll go on a walk, old man." Rihan jumped up and then vanished.
Nurarihyon watched his son vanish in the thin air.
Wakana took a detour before going home. She wanted to make sure that she was not being followed by any other demons, ghosts, or whatever paranormal figure. It was specifically tiring to watch them. Today, she saw a few other entities aside from the little boy. Crossing the street there was an Ubume. Ubumes are spirits of a woman who died in childbirth. She was sitting in front of the stoplight with a bunch of white robes in her arms. Though empty, it seemed to form a figure of a small baby.
Near the hospital that was on the way home, there was a spirit standing in the front door. It was a Te-no-me, a spirit of a blind man with his eyes in his hands. Truly, she didn't have any desire getting into places prone to spirits specifically at night. But then again, like what she found out long ago, if you can see them, they CAN see you.
She stopped in the park near her home. Sighing as she sat in the swing, she looked at her watch and read 8:00 PM. It was that long since she left school. It meant that it took that long to have that conversation with Shino. She sighed and looked at the direction towards her house. From the park, she can already see it. Lights were turned meaning her aunt and uncle are home.
For as long as she could remember, she has been living with her aunt and uncle. She took out from her bag a small notebook. She opened it and started to write. For her, the only thing she could rely on was this notebook. Her diary, her partner, her savior from being driven to lunacy. Seeing unknown things is not really that easy. There were days wherein she questioned why her. There were days wherein she would just hide in her room afraid to see more things. There were days wherein she felt really lonely because no one understood her situation, until she talked to her aunt. Her aunt told her…
"Wakana-chan, I know there are things that you can't tell us. Why don't you write it down instead? Too much pent up emotions will be hard to bear…" Her aunt said as she placed her hand on top of her head.
Since then, she started writing all of those experiences in her diary. It helped her, but it didn't really remove every feeling. Though things became more bearable, it was still a gift that she thought was questionable. While writing, she was surprised when a cherry blossom petal dropped in the notebook. She took it into her hands, her dark brown hair as the spring wind danced about.
"Spring…" she murmured. Suddenly, the wind blew harder. Cherry blossom petals swirling around her. She closed her eyes, covering them if ever some dust suddenly goes to her eyes.
Noticing that the wind has already died down a little, she slowly opened her eyes. It was at that moment, where she saw a figure, clad in a dark green kimono, black hair looking sharp but at the same time swirling with the wind, land gracefully as if coming down from the cherry blossom tree. His eyes were focused on the ground as if not noticing her presence in the area.
Surprised with his sudden appearance, she suddenly stood up dropping her notebook in the process. As the notebook fell in the ground, it was at that moment that as if time stood still. Golden eyes met hazel brown…
Rihan saw Wakana, and Wakana saw Rihan for the first time.
To be continued…
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