Heritage

By: erish d'salmon luver

Author's Ramble: I hope this fandom is not dead yet… It's been years since NuraMago ended, and my muse in this fandom ran away somewhere, but now that I bought new laptop and read some NuraMago fanfic, my muse has coming back! With more love for Yura-tan, of course~~ This fanfic is kinda like sequel of my other fanfic Mamiru - Mamoru, you could say. You don't have to read MamiMamo to understand this one, though you might get to know the background of this story better if you read MamiMamo first. Just… get ready to read some tragedy if you decide to read MamiMamo (oopss spoiler :P )

Disclaimer: NuraMago isn't mine. Otherwise I already get Shouei as my bodyguard during day time and body pillow during night time.

XXX

Chapter 01: Death

It wasn't every day when Shouei went for patrolling in his area that he found something interesting.

Today was unlike every other day.

Last night he went to Main House for a meeting with the Council and Sandaime. Apparently their kind-of-or-maybe-not ally, the Keikain Clan, had reported to the Third Head that their next in line for succession of 28th Head, Keikain Yura, had gone missing with her fellow onmyouji, Keikain Mamiru. They were supposed to pursue and seal an unknown ayakashi who made ruckus in Kyoto and now fled around Senga Falls, which located at Yamanashi prefecture, the headquarters of Kanto Great Ape Alliance. Thus, the Sandaime assigned Shouei as its leader to go look for a clue about the missing onmyoujis.

And today, as soon as he arrived back home from the meeting, the youkai in his territory reported that they sensed a huge youki just south to Senga Falls. They tried to investigates the source by themselves, but as they approached the area there was a kekkai surrounded the place and they couldn't walk further.

Without wasting anymore time, the tall boy lead a small party to check on the place. As he approached the location, he saw some youkai were standing around a golden light spiritual wall. As soon as they spotted their leader, they gave him a quick report of the situation.

"How long has the kekkai been here?"

"It was already four hours, my Lord. We felt the strange youki at dawn and as we tracked the source, we found this kekkai. We assumed that the owner of that youki must be inside the kekkai."

Shouei stared at the golden wall of light in awe. Could it be the Keikain were the one who built this kekkai to seal that unknown ayakashi?

His thought was cut short as he noticed the kekkai began to dissolve. At the same time rain began to pour down. Shouei marched forward and the others followed, ready for a battle if he should face one. As he neared the waterfall, he could hear the thumping sound of the water… and the faint sound of cries.

There, just at the clearing near the waterfall, laid a black clad man on the ground, with a smaller girl on top of his chest. Shouei could make out the sobbing sounds from the female. Her body was shaking, but he could guess it wasn't from the cold.

"Mamiru-kun…"

The ape youkai leader halted and gave the signal for the others to stop. He took a look of the surrounding area; trees cut down in half, pieces of what supposed to be ayakashi's body, a big arrow struck on the ground… and the lying figures of the Keikain onmyoujis. The girl appeared to cover her eyes with her hand as she laid the back of her head on the chest of her fallen comrade, letting the rain washed all the grime from her tired face.

There was a battle here, and it was not without casualties.

"Stupid Mamiru…"

Shouei decided it was time to made his appearance known. He walked closer to the girl and noticed that the ground around the pair was drenched in blood. He could tell what was happened here: the young man tried to protect the girl from danger but lost his life instead. He figured it wouldn't be easy to report this back to Rikuo.

He sighed. The rain became harder; the white robe –stained with red blood— of the onmyouji girl was getting more and more soaked and if he didn't move her away from here, soon she would be the one become the cold body.

"Hey, are you alright?"

XXX

Yura uncovered her eyes, her brown orbs shifted to see a tall —enormous— stranger with multicolored hair. Her unfocused gaze was filled with confusion as she tried to recall this person. Wait… she knew him. He was one of the youkai who came with Nura Rikuo as they fought the last battle with Abe no Seimei. What was his name again…

"My name is Shouei, leader of Kanto Great Ape Alliance, part of Nura Gumi" he introduced himself, as if he knew her unspoken question. She couldn't really say anything except for a simple, "Ah."

She didn't make any move to be away from the cold body of Mamiru; not even as the big guy kneeled beside her. Nothing really mattered anymore for her… the ayakashi was dead, she was exhausted and Mamiru… poor Mamiru-kun is—

"Eh? Why…"

Another rivulets of fresh tears fell from her lids. She thought she already shed all of her tears; why she still cried like this? And in front of strangers, nonetheless…

Yura closed her eyes again. She heard a rustling sound, and then she felt a foreign fabric on her body. She opened her teary eyes to see the youkai had taken off his red haori and covered her with it. Due to his size, the haori acted more like a giant blanket on her petite body. She didn't say nor do anything as this Shouei guy put the haori on her, yet she started to protest and squirm away as the young man tried to pick her up.

Away from Mamiru.

"Please, let me be! I don't want to leave Mamiru-kun!" she shouted as she tried to push him away. Shouei looked a bit surprised at first, but he recovered quickly and gripped her shoulder firmly.

"Hey," he sounded (or tried to be) gentle as someone as his size. This caught Yura off of guard and she stopped struggling. "Please calm down. I just want to get you away from the rain. And don't worry about him. My subordinates will bring his body with us, so later on you could give him a proper burial."

His tone was court and his words were honest; for some people he would be considered rude but then she saw it. She saw worry on his eyes and was ashamed of herself. He was just trying to help her, yet she made it difficult for him to do so. It was not a proper behavior for one supposed to be the successor of Keikain Clan.

"I'm sorry, I was…" she stopped. She didn't want to say she was afraid. What she should be afraid of anyway? Afraid that she would be separated from Mamiru? But he was dead already. Afraid that these youkai would dispose his body? This guy said they were part of Nura Clan, so they were supposed to be allies. They wouldn't do things that would break the (delicate) trust between the youkai and onmyouji clan.

This time she didn't resist as Shouei picked her up bridal style. The boy gave her a small yet soft smile. She stiffened; instead of smiling back to him she just pulled the haori closer to her body and hid her face on his chest. She could hear him heaved another long sigh.

'I'm sorry, but… I just feel too tired… for everything…' was her last thought before she closed her eyes again and let the sleep overtook her.

XXX

Shouei stared at the tiny burden in his arms. Well, she wasn't actually a burden, given how small and light she was. He frowned a little bit as she just snuggled closer and then fell asleep, just like that. Like she didn't have any care in the world.

Anyway, now that he already found the missing Keikain onmyoujis (one was already dead though), all that he needed to do was to report to Rikuo and wait for the Keikain representatives to collect their member(s). He proceeded to bring the slumbering girl to his house. As soon as he arrived, he asked some female youkai to help her to change into dry clothes and lay her on the futon in one of his guestroom. She had woken up during the changing, but as soon as her body hit the futon she was fast asleep again.

The boy cast one last glance to his temporary charge before he went to call his Master. As he delivered the news about what could possibly be happened to the young Keikain heiress and ensured her safety, he could hear the sigh of relief from the other side. He smiled to himself; the Third Head truly cared about his friend.

XXX

Yura slowly opened her eyes as the sun ray hit her face from the window. Her brows furrowed as her eyes stared at the foreign ceiling. 'This wasn't my room… what the heck happ—oh yeah…'

Flashes of lightning. Bloods. Cold hand.

This time, she didn't shed any tears. She couldn't. Her tears were dried up already. Mamiru –her Mamiru-kun— was no more. He took his oath to protect her until his last breath. Instead of sadness, she felt guilty now. Her mind had drifted back to the past; she pictured the younger Mamiru and herself, played together, in a happier times. She was much smaller and easily getting afraid of anything, such as failure and getting hurt.

If only she wasn't such a scaredy-cat when she was little, there was no need for her and Mamiru to make a promise: for Mamiru to always protect Yura, forever.

Now their forever from that childish promise already reached the end.

"I'm sorry, Mamiru-kun… I was so stupid and weak back then… You were always the strong one, the one who always protect me from any danger, yet I pushed your feeling aside and strove myself to be stronger, leaving you behind… and see how it ended now…"

Suddenly the shoji door opened to reveal none other than Shouei. His eyes opened wider ever so slightly as he realized that she was already awake, but then he put on a small smile and walked inside the room and then sat beside her futon. Yura sat herself up and stared at her host.

"Good morning," he greeted, "How are you feeling? Did you have a good rest?"

She nodded, "Yes. I feel better now. Thank you for taking care of me. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"You don't have to. All allies of Nura Rikuo is my allies too."

And then there was a pregnant, awkward silence. The two of them weren't close to begin with, even though the were both allies of Nura. The Great Ape youkai wasn't really talkative with strangers, and Yura was not in the mood for pleasantries. She cast a glance on the quiet guy next to her; his dual-colored short hair, his keen eyes (actually he was quite good looking despite his half covered face, Yura thought)… and his towering figure was quite putting her off at first, because he was even taller and bigger than Mamiru, and Mamiru was the tallest and the biggest guy she had ever known.

"You know, you're quite big, even for youkai in human disguise…"

Oh shit. She didn't just blurt that out, didn't she?

Shouei snapped from his reverie and eyed the girl with curious gaze. Yep, she just said that and he heard it. Yura pulled the blanket to cover her head in a weak attempt to hide her blush. Or maybe hoped that the ground underneath her just opened and swallowed her, right here, right now. She waited for the youkai to snarl in anger and kick her out from his house for being impolite guest, but the next thing that happened just confuse her.

She heard him let out a guttural low noise. At first she thought it was a growl, but then the boy let out a hearty laugh. It was the kind of laugh of someone who just heard a really good joke and that person just guffawed for the next minutes or so.

"Haha —you— hahaha— you just realized that by now?"

And he continued laughing.

Yura waited until his laughter quieted down before she dared to ask, "What so funny about that?"

Shouei wiped out some tears from his eyes. He still snickered every now and then, but at least he wasn't laughing anymore.

"Sorry 'bout that. It wasn't that your question is funny, but how long it takes you to realized that I'm way bigger than your average human size. Usually the first thing people notice about me was my abnormal size, compared to your average human height. Well, given your condition when we met I understand that this simple fact was amiss from your great onmyouji sight."

Yura puffed her cheeks, "Excuse me for not noticing… In case you didn't realize, I was grieving when you found me."

The laughter died down immediately.

"….Sorry about that."

"It's alright. I was also in the shock before, I even refused your aid. I apologize for my lack of manner."

Another silence ensued between them, yet it was less awkward and more amiable. Yura never thought, despite his rough and yankee-like appearance, this youkai was actually quite gentle and polite. He had good manners and easy to laugh also. It seemed that Nura Rikuo was blessed of having good subordinates aside from their rowdy and brute behaviors.

Shouei decided to break the silence this time, "Well, umm… actually the reason why I came here was to inform you that I contacted Rikuo-sama already, and it seemed he'd relayed my message to your family. Just this morning we received news that some representative from Keikain will come here to retreive you and the other's body."

She just stared blankly at him for a minute before she broke the eye contact and muttered, "Ah, I see… When they will arrive here?"

"Tomorrow night, if nothing stall their journey. They wanted to finish all the funeral preparation first before coming to pick you up."

If was nearly impossible for her face to became paler, but it did.

Why did everything have to remind her that Mamiru had already gone? She only wanted to remember the happier days when Mamiru was still alive; well, as alive as his robotic self could be, but alive nonetheless. She didn't want to remember that rainy day, when she held the bleeding and broken body of Mamiru, his eyes losing the light faster than the pitter-patter of rain fell on their face.

It seemed that Shouei noticed the change of mood at the mention of her dead companion. He looked like he wanted to say something, but hesitant to say it out loud. Yura frowned; she didn't like to be left in the dark. "Do you want to say something?" she said, her tone challenged him. The young man startled a little bit, but quickly gained his composure.

"Did you… like this guy?" he asked her with soft voice, almost a whisper. Now it was her turn to get startled. Did she like Mamiru? How come this youkai reached that conclusion?

"No… I didn't…" she whispered. Shouhei needed to lean closer and strained his ear a little bit in order to hear her better.

"No, I didn't," her voice became clearer now, "I didn't just like him. I loved him, ever since we were little. I loved him with all my life, with all my heart! When we were little he was like a brother to me, yet as we grew up and seeing how Mamiru-kun always protected me, even cast aside his humanity just for the sake of protecting me, I came to love him as a man. That's why—"

No, her voice shouldn't crack right now. She needed to let it out; to let out her hidden feeling of the orange-haired boy, though too late as it was, but she needed to confess this feeling!

"I loved him. That's why I couldn't forgive myself to be the reason of his death. He died to protect me. Even when he supposed not to feel anything because of his curse, he cried at the last moment of his life. I always hurt his feeling, whether I realized it or not, yet he always kept his oath to always protect me. Now he paid dearly with his life, for this worthless human being! I—"

She stiffened as one big hand caressed her face softly and a thumb brushed away the tears that escaped her eyes. She though it was impossible to shed another tears, yet here she was crying again. And the caress was so gentle that it broke through her walls and she cried harder. Without thinking she collapsed on the bigger boy and cried on his chest, her hands clutched the front of his shirts tightly that her knuckles went white.

"I-I'm so sorry… Mamiru-kun…"

XXX

The next day, Shouei stood in front of his village's gate to bid farewell to the groups of Keikain onmyoujis. It wasn't for the sake of politeness to the allies; mostly, he was there just for the young Keikain heiress' sake.

"Thank you again for sheltering me and for your hospitality during my stay, Leader of Kanto Great Ape Alliance. If there is a way to repay you back, please do not hesitate to tell me. I'm indebted to you, and I'll gladly help you in any way I can," she said politely, her head bowed low to show her gratitude. When she looked up again, her eyes were hard and dull and her lips was set in thin line; nothing resembled the broken girl who cried herself onto the chest of the youkai whom she (supposed to) despised.

Somehow, he preferred to see her brown eyes glistened with unshed tears and her lips swollen from crying hard for hours. To see the fragile woman she truly was rather than this display of a headstrong future Head of clan.

"I told you already, you don't have too. As long as you are ally of Nura Gumi, I'll help you anytime," he waved his hand nonchalantly. As young as he was now, he didn't like diplomacy. Screw formality; his emotion sometimes even got the better hold of him and exploded to the elder councils when Nura Clan held their echelons meeting every now and then. He admired the girl in front of him a little bit, for she could show some respect and manner when diplomacy was concerned.

He shoved his hands inside the pocket of his pants. He stared at the tiny young woman in front of him. He might not acknowledge it, but the short time of her stay brought some refreshing air to his life. He always spent his time trying to rebuild his village after Muchi Clan destroyed this place (and killed his father) that he didn't really have to just sit down and relax. Yesterday was the first time he did something without anything to do about rebuilding the glory of his Clan or helping Rikuo to fight some invincible enemies.

"I think… I'm gonna miss your company, Onmyouji Girl," he said, his voice was barely above whisper that only she could hear. He could feel a smile formed on his lips as he said those words.

She smiled lightly back at him, her gazed soften if just for the slightest.

"Don't worry," she said back to him, "I'll be back sooner than you could imagine."

With that she turned her back and walked away; the rest of Keikain followed her steps. Shouei kept watching the small groups until they vanished beyond the horizon line.

"I'll keep your words, then," he spoke to no one in particular.

XXX

"What do you say, Yura?"

Yura closed her eyes, ignoring the jab her older brother sent to her direction. She'd prepared herself for this; she knew her family would opposed her decision. Nothing ever mattered to her anymore; not ever since his death. She couldn't live her life like how she used to. Everything felt so foreign for her, and she knew that she was breaking down inside. And as unbelievable as it would be, she still cared of her clan. She couldn't let her clan, her family, to be brought down with her. That was why she thought hard about it and reached this decision, and nothing could stop her to take it.

"You've heard me, Ryuuji-nii. I want to relinquish my title as the successor of 28th head, if only temporarily."

Ryuuji balled his fist. "How could you," he spat is words through gritted teeth, "decide just like that? You've worked hard to get closer to that title, to take that position, you even got Hagun in your hand, and yet you cast everything aside so easily, just because Mamiru is dead?! Didn't you care about your clan at all, Yura?!"

When she opened her eyes, fire blasted inside those usually warm brown orbs, her words contained poison rivaled those of Ryuuji's.

"I do care about our clan, Ryuuji! That's why I couldn't drag it down with me! And I said it's temporarily! At least let me gather myself up and when I'm not this pathetic walking mess of guilt I'll be back to reclaim my title!"

She was breathing hard now; her hands were shaking from the sudden outburst of anger, yet as she spoke again her tone was deceptively soft and low, "I couldn't lead in my current state right now, Ryuuji. My mind is a wreck right now and I couldn't care less of what will happen to the clan if I should pursue to be the Head. That's why I decided this. I know you are more than a capable leader than me, Ryuuji, even without Hagun at your disposal."

She continued, "I won't leave the clan just like that. If you ever need my service, I'll answer to your summon immediately. I just… want to clear my head. To cope with his d-death."

"You're just running away."

"I don't deny that, Ryuuji. I'm a coward who can only run away from my responsibility. But—"

She sighed. Everything felt so tiring.

"After all, I'm just a human girl, right?"

XXX

The young leader of Kanto Great Ape Alliance couldn't hold his surprise from the sight that awaited him on one sunny day, three weeks after the Keikain onmyouji group set their feet on his ground to pick up their leader and their fallen comrade. Just now, stood before him was none other than the heiress of Keikain Clan herself (ex-heiress, she said) in all of her glory of yellow sundress and white wide-brimmed hat.

"I told you I'll be back sooner than you could imagined," she said, a small smile graced her face.

He couldn't help but smile back.

XXX

A/R: To continue, or not to continue? ;)