To continue walking
Summary: AU, post Hundred Tales Clan arc. Harem. It takes place shortly after Rikuo successfully stops Sanmoto but due to the aftermath of the battle, begins to think about the future of the Nura clan.
Disclaimer: I do not own NNM.
Italicized-Flashback.
Warning: Gore and Dark themes.
Rikuo gave a sigh as shifted uncomfortably in his bed. The white haired teen would have preferred spending the night, staring at the moon by his favorite cherry blossom tree but that wasn't possible. At least not while Aotabo was standing outside his room as a guard and Kubinashi was standing outside, guarding his window. The two of them not even bothering to conceal their presence there, as they stood close enough to the paper doors or windows for their silhouette to show faintly through the moonlight.
This was how Rikuo had been spending most of his time lately. He was usually trapped or as the other members called it 'quarantined' to his room ever since his battle with Sanmoto in order to 'heal' better. It was true that the battle had been quite severe and had dragged on for a whole night, causing a lot of damage in the surrounding area, which luckily was at a mountain top, far away from human civilization. But still it doesn't change the fact that the newly revived Sanmoto gave him quite a few injuries.
They were mostly cuts and bruises and usually Rikuo wouldn't worry about them much, like any other yokai he possessed incredible healing abilities. So, wounds like those would usually heal completely in a day or two. But the problem was the technique that Sanmoto used against him before he managed to run his blade over the rather large man's heart. The young leader sighed again as he recalled the events from the battle.
On a mountaintop, two figures clashed their blades against each other and continued to stay in a deadlock before the two finally pulled away from each other. The larger of the two figures doing a powerful jump away from his opponent while the other figure elegantly leapt backwards. Rikuo panted as the long battle began taking its toll on him before looking at his smirking opponent and fixing him with a glare.
"Hihihi, just give it up Nura Rikuo, there is no way you any your pathetic Hyakki can beat my undefeatable Hundred Tales." The man said before raising his sword and jumping high in the air before swinging it downwards on the white haired third. Rikuo merely sidestepped the attack that caused a large crack in the ground before using their distance- or lack of it to his advantage as he quickly slashed the man in the chest before he could lift his sword from the ground.
Sanmoto gave a grunt, mostly because of discomfort than actual pain. Once his sword was free from the ground he swung it sideways in effort to try to cut the youth in half. Rikuo quickly dodged this by lithely jumping, landing softly on his opponents large blade much to the man's annoyance. He quickly raised his sword again, but Rikuo was faster doing another leap that brought him up to the man's head. He slashed again but this time managed to cause real damage as he slashed one of Sanmoto's eyes.
The man gave an inhumane howl of pain as he dropped his sword and it fell to the ground with a large clunk. The enraged man then used one of his hands to swat the boy away. Unfortunately, the hand took Rikuo by surprise and he wasn't able to do anything as he was flung a few meters away from the man that was now clutching his bleeding eye. Rikuo was greeted by hard packed dirt and rock; he gave a groan in pain before willing his body to rise.
He rose slowly, using the sword that he had been clutching in his hand to steady himself. The white haired youth then looked up when he heard the feral growling coming from his opponent. "Nura Rikuo, how dare you!" Sanmono screamed in rage as he continued to cover his injured eye with his right hand. "You're just like your father the sneaky bastard he was, but unlike before I'm not going to lose. You. Are." He grounded out the last part before he began to reach in the sleeve of his kimono.
He pulled out what looked to be a brush that was as big as Rikuo's sword, and then what happened took him by surprise. He raised the brush and took a deep breath, suddenly his sword that had been lying on the ground started to disintegrate and turn into black particles that were slowly rising to the tip of the brush. Rikuo watched as Sanmoto began waving the brush around and realize much to his horror the blank particles were being used as ink and that Sanmoto was not waving the brush around but drawing.
He drew a big circle before drawing three lines going through the circle. Rikuo only had a moment to react before the drawing glowed for a moment and three black things were fired at him. He dodged the first two shots but barely managed to dodge the third one, causing one of sleeves to get burnt. "That attack just now, it was just like what you drew. "Rikuo began as he kept his eye on the brush; the black particles were now swirling in a small vortex by its tip.
"Does that mean that brush can turn anything you draw into reality?" He continued as he raised his sword slightly in case of any incoming attacks. "Hihihi, that's right. This brush is known as 'Yami no Kyofu', this brush's special ability is that it can turn existence into ink that will let me turn anything I draw into reality. I hadn't planned on using this, but now after what you did to me I can't let you have a death without showing you the real meaning of fear." He said, before he began laughing maniacally.
"Oh, let me show you something nice." He said before he put the brush to his bleeding eye, he then began to move the brush and in an instant his eye was completely restored. "Hihihi, I can also do things like these. So, Nura Rikuo what are you going to do? There is no way you can beat me now. If you damage me, I can just heal myself. Your only choice is to take me out with one shot, but we both know that you have no move that powerful in your arsenal or you would have used it long ago."
"You could use Matoi, like your father did in our battle, in order to avoid my brush. " He said before using his free hand to gesture around them. "But, unfortunately there is no one here except us." Rikuo didn't have to look around to know that was true. He then began to think of his options, the brush wasn't something he had expected. He thought the sword was bad enough. The sword Sanmoto had been using prior was one of the man's creations.
He could use Meikyo Shisui, but it wouldn't probably hold. Kyoka Suigetsu was a likely option to use. Sanmoto had been defeated easily by a Matoi in the past, so he probably didn't know all of the tricks a Nurarihyon had under its sleeves. But that would mean he had to get close to the man, he didn't really want to do that unless it was absolutely necessary with that brush there, it would only take a small mistake or a slight miscalculation to have his existence taken to be turned to ink.
He unconsciously gripped his sword a bit tighter before deciding that the best choice of action really was to use Matoi, one shot from a distance… Unfortunately all of his subordinates were currently by the base of the mountain having an all out war with Sanmoto's subordinates or unnatural creations. He froze as he thought about that, it couldn't be… "You put all those yokai on the base of the mountain on purpose." Rikuo said while his eyes widened slightly as he looked at the large man.
"Hihihi, of course. After my battle with your father I've learned my lesson. Do you want to know the real reason your father won?" He said, but as did his hand began moving at inhumane speed and before Rikuo knew it projectiles were being shot at him again. He cursed softly before beginning to move quickly. But when he dodged the last few, he never noticed the shadow that had been approaching. Then just as he moved away to avoid the last projectile he suddenly felt something hit his side.
"The only reason your father was able to win was because Kurotabo, who was there in our battle betrayed me." The man said as he stared at the white haired youth on the ground by his feet, a new sword in one hand and pointed at the detested Nura clan's third leader. "Hihihi, doesn't this bring back memories? In my battle with your father, I had my creatures attack him from all sides. He never saw me approaching as he decimated them." Sanmoto said, laughing all the while.
But then his laughing ceased and a sneer made its way to his face. "Yes, your father had been able to decimate all my creations except one: Kurotabo. He had been merely flung to the side by the back of your father's blade." Rikuo picked up the loathing as he heard Sanmoto speak and put the pieces together. He gave a small smirk as he stared at the seething man. "So, Kurotabo betrayed you and performed a Matoi with my father. They defeated you and that's the reason you were split in pieces."
Rikuo smirk grew as he saw Sanmoto clench his sword tighter. "Nura Rikuo!" He screamed as he began to bring the sword down to end the youth's life. The weapon had been brought down but instead of a fountain of blood like he expected- there was nothing. The boy was no longer on the ground, his weapon met nothing. Before he could even react to what had just happened a figure appeared at his side, from out of nowhere.
Sanmoto began to swing his blade, but it was too late. The figure moved faster, with one swing he managed to cleave Sanmoto's arm off. The arm fell with a thud and Sanmoto gave out a mutilated scream, before he fell to one knee as he clutched the base of his arm. He immediately remembered his brush and realized he could fix his arm with the power of the Yami no Kyofu. He then began to search for his severed arm, but to his surprise, confusion and frustration- the brush wasn't in that hand.
At least not anymore, nor was it anywhere near the arm as he frantically began to search for his brush. "Looking for this?" A voice called out from behind and sure enough there was the white haired youth, Sanmoto's black brush in his hands. Sanmoto's eyes widened as he began sputtering in anger. "Y-You- how d-did-" He was cut off by Rikuo who began to wave Yami no Kyofu around. "Tsk, tsk, you shouldn't leave such valuable things lying around or others will take them. Did no one teach you that?"
"Or were you to busy telling stories to pay attention when someone was teaching you?" He taunted, which successfully got a rise out of Sanmoto. "You brat!" He shouted, as he struggled to his feet and charged him with his sword. Metal clashed and Sanmoto began using all his strength in pushing his sword against Rikuo's. Rikuo let him pushed and in an instant sidestepped the attack and pointed Yami no Kyofu at Sanmoto.
The effect was instantaneous, his existence began to turn into black particles like the sword from earlier and realizing his mistake, Sanmoto jumped back as to avoid the brush's power. But the damage was done, his sword, his right eye and his right side had more or less been turned to ink. As Sanmoto once again fell on one knee, the remaining black particles that were still in the air all flowed to the brush before making a vortex around the tip of the brush.
"I knew it." Rikuo said, looking at the more or less halved man. "You have no sword skills what so ever, the only reason you were so skilled earlier was probably because of your sword. You probably gave it a story that would make whoever wielded it gain incredible swordsmanship skills. Am I right?" When all he got was silence and a glare as his answer, he continued. "You made that sword to cover for what you lack, you might be larger but a more skilled swordsman could defeat you easily."
"You have too many openings; those are the reasons why you used the projectiles. If it went down to it you couldn't come close on your own. Your only mistake was getting rid of your original sword and using it as ink for Yami no Kyofu. I probably would have lost if you hadn't. I instantly noticed how your sword swings became rough in comparison to your polished moves from earlier. I was able to piece everything together and picked up your weakness. This brush can't turn your stories to reality, only drawings. "
If it was possible Sanmoto's glare intensified as he grounded out. "So you decided to taunt me in order to get my brush." He said, as he realized truth. Rikuo gave a smirk. "I knew that you were a spoiled brat. I figured that all I needed was to make you mad and you would come at me in with your sword, instead of the brush. While you were in a fit of rage, I used my fear to activate Meikyo Shisui. I originally wasn't going to use it, but from the moment I heard the loathing in your voice, I knew it would be enough."
"You came from a rich family and never had to suffer much hardship, I knew you wouldn't be able to stand my taunts. In the end you were just a spoiled brat that turned to a petty man." Sanmoto gnashed his teeth together so hard, even Rikuo heard it from where he was. "S-Shut up! You should just die! Everyone should just die! I don't need anyone all I need is my stories!" He shouted as his remaining eye gleamed with insanity.
"That is why your hundred tales clan can never defeat the Nura clan." Rikuo said as he raised his sword to what would probably be the last strike. "Hhihihi! Hihihihi! Hihihihi! You can never defeat me! I will end the Nura clan!" That was when from the inside of his kimono he got a scroll, Rikuo took one look at it and began to grip his sword a bit more tightly with his eyes never leaving it, even as Sanmoto began speaking. "You know, I've recently made a new story but I haven't let it out yet."
"It's the story of Beniawai, the cursed sword that eats its wielder's soul, but in return the sword will bring death and destruction to everything else." Without as much as a warning, the large man opened the scroll and a gruesome picture of a sword in the middle of a mountain of corpses came into view. "Beniawai, take my soul now and destroy Nura Rikuo and the Nura Clan! Hihihi! Hihihi! Hihihi!" He shouted, before he began laughing maniacally.
The picture in the scroll gave a faint dark glow before tendrils of black began coming out from the drawing and to Sanmoto. The instant the tendrils made contact, his skin began turning deep purple and his right side was restored. His body then began morphing into some kind of twisted creature that should not be in this world. When the transformation ended, Sanmoto ended up losing all traces of his semi-humanity. His eyes were glowing crimson red and his entire left arm was turned into a weapon.
"Beniawai." Rikuo thought, looking at the crimson colored blade. "Nura Rikuo…" An eerily hollow voice that was probably Sanmoto, Beniawai or whatever the semi-human was now called, called out to him. "Nura Rikuo!" The same voice called out again, but this time his name was bellowed. The crimson eyes flashing before he began moving at him in an incredible speed before slashing the crimson blade at Rikuo. Rikuo managed to dodge but after the first swing, Sanmoto began an onslaught of attacks.
Each was getting harder to dodge which caused Rikuo to decide to gain some distance and was about to when Sanmoto smirked, as if expecting this and changed directions mid-swing, hitting Rikuo square in the chest with the blunt side of his sword. Rikuo was sent flying backwards, his back hitting the surrounding mountain walls of their battlefield. Rikuo stood, slowly and winced in pain before raising his sword again. As he looked at his opponent, he began checking for openings and found none.
"This isn't good, I need to think of something and fast." Rikuo thought to himself before he lightly gripped the Yami no Kyofu and began wielding the brush. In simple stroke, sharp metal projectiles began to shoot at him. But Sanmoto merely stood there and smirked as they approached, then once they made contact with him sparks flew before the projectiles flew of harmlessly against his skin. "Hihihi, did you really think that would work? My skin is as hard as a diamond now." Sanmoto began.
"Now, Nura Rikuo I will show you what a real attack is." He then raised his blade which began to glow before calling out. "Ultimate Attack: Chouraku Kusa." He then swung the sword and from it came a wave that was pulsating with intent to kill and malice. The wave was too fast and Rikuo was unable to dodge. A huge explosion took place and the flying dust began to veil what was going on at the other side. But Sanmoto already knew that behind were the remains of the white haired youth.
"Hihihi! Hihihi! Hihihi! I killed him! I killed Nura Rikuo!" He shouted as he began laughing like a lunatic. "Now, all I have to do now is to wait for your Hyakki to crumble before I can head to your town and completely destroy anything and everything that is the Nura clan. But I've got to say, I never expected that I'd have to use Yami no Kyofu and Beniawai on you. Even your father never faced up with Yami no Kyofu, so you should feel honored Nura Rikuo. Too bad you're already dead and can't hear me! Hihihi!"
"This is why you can never defeat me." A voice said and in an instant Rikuo was in front of him and before he could back away, he felt his eyes widen as Rikuo's sword pierced through his skin and reached his heart. Sanmoto could feel the blade come out from his back and felt his kness buckle as he fell to the ground. He simply lied there as he felt death begin to approach him. "How?" He asked weakly as he looked at Rikuo, who was just standing there.
"When you fired your last attack, I couldn't dodge so I took a gamble. I decided to use Yami no Kyofu to turn your attack into ink. When that worked all I had to do was use Meikyo Shusui to move to your weak spot. These were easy to do since you basically released all your fear, when you thought you won." Rikuo answered as he glanced at his right arm that was now sleeveless because it had been burnt away from the attack and was bleeding due to many lacerations that was on his arm.
He grimaced before ripping his other sleeve in order to use it as a makeshift bandage for the cuts. "But how?" Sanmoto asked again as he looked at the puddle of blood that was forming around him, then at the smaller puddle of blood by Rikuo from his wounds. Rikuo shrugged as wrapped the cloth around his arm before he tied it tightly to secure it. "Like I said, you released all your fear. It was probably because of that and my spirit blade that I managed to defeat you."
When he just continued to stare at Rikuo, the youth sighed. "Your skin might be as hard as diamond, but my sword is a Spirit Blade. It was made to cut yokai, anything that has demonic energy and things that don't belong to this world." There was silence afterwards and Rikuo merely watched as the light began to fade out of the man's eyes. "Why?" Sanmoto asked, his voice not louder than a whisper and Rikuo almost missed it.
"While you make subordinates to serve and protect you, I make them for the bonds. While you fight for yourself and your entertainment, I fight for my clan and its pride. The burdens we carry are too different. You let your Hyakki walk before you, while I'm the one leading my Hyakki. It's because of these differences that differs our strength as clan leaders." He said before looking at the face down body of Sanmoto. After a brief moment, he left with the sword and brush in tow to where his subordinates are.
Once they got home, the first think that happened was that his wounds were treated before he went to bed. He ended up sleeping for a whole day and ended up skipping school again. But as soon as he woke five in the afternoon the next day, he was forced to change clothes and to go to the dining room, where the preparations for a celebration over their victory were prepared. He took a seat at the head of the table, and began to relax and have fun.
At least that was what he did until he went to take a bath. To say that he was surprised when he saw the lacerations still there when he undid the bandages first was an understatement. It wasn't really the fact that the lacerations were still there, more on the fact that they turned into black lesions and his arm itself didn't look too good. He had difficulty lifting it, but he had thought that it was because of the tight wrapping his arm was in. His arm had a weird smell of decay and it was a bit grey-ish in color.
Once he saw the state his arm was in, he decided to forgo the bath for now, wrapped his arm in clean towels by the bathroom, not wanting to have to go to his room just to wrap it in bandages, and went to look for his grandfather. Once he found him, he showed his arm to the ex-supreme commander, who became slightly pale at the sight. It wasn't long before he was sent to his room after his grandfather had him wrap the wound again properly with bandages.
After that the next events were him being issued a temporary quarantine by his grandfather. Then there were the doctors, that his grandfather summoned and their treatment that had little to no effect. This went on until he noticed how his arm was slowly becoming worse, it was becoming harder to move, the lesions getting a bit bigger with the scent of decay getting stronger and the parts of his arm that were free of lesions were getting dark grey in color.
When he confided this to his grandfather, the first leader of the Nura clan's eyes widened before telling him to go to his room and not to worry about anything. That was three days ago and it has already been a week since Rikuo was first put in quarantine. Meaning he's missed a lot of stuff at school, by being stuck here, not to mention any and all attempts to train are forbidden as long as his arm wasn't in top condition.
He wasn't allowed to go out, but that didn't stop him from sneaking out but unfortunately he was caught by Yuki-ona, who began to scold him about how he should stay in his room while the ex-supreme commander found a cure for him. He did go back, but the next time he tried to sneak out, he found that his grandfather ordered someone to guard him at all times. So there was nothing to do except to lie around in his bed, read a book, eat and sleep.
But whenever his grandfather went to visit him, he would just tell him to wait a little longer because he called a 'specialist'. So, that has been how things have been in his life- more or less a routine now. Until he noticed how he couldn't even lift his arm anymore, which got him frustrated. What kind of leader was he if he was letting something like his condition drag him down? Here he was, lying in his bed when he should be trying to get stronger for the battle with Seimei in a year.
Seimei, that made him start thinking. The man was an absolute monster, most attacks wouldn't even faze him and he was way stronger than Tsuchigumo and Hagoromo Kitsune combined. He shouldn't be here, he should be doing grueling training and focusing on making the Nura clan stronger instead. He was about to use his power as the third head to leave his room when he heard something. It sounded like an explosion, but then it was followed the sound of water falling.
On instinct, he grabbed his sword, opened the door and ran past Aotabo, who had been too surprised over the sounds to remember he shouldn't have let Rikuo pass. Rikuo ran over to where he saw a lot of yokai were gathering around something and went to get a closer look at things. Once he got to the front of the crowd, what he saw surprised him. There by the pond, was a carriage. It was a horse drawn carriage to be more exact, the one you'd expect from a couple hundred years ago.
But even Rikuo thought that the carriage looked normal compared to the other things that were in his line of vision. First were the horses, they weren't exactly normal. They were black horses and looked normal enough till you noticed that they had hooves that look back to front. But even weirder was the driver of the carriage. He was wearing old European clothes, complete with hat and his body was of a man but his head was of a dog's.
Rikuo had never seen or heard about yokai like them, but judging from the driver's clothes maybe they weren't yokai. But maybe they were western ayakashi like the ones he heard about from Kiyotsugu. Rikuo paused, that wouldn't make sense. Why would western ayakashi go here for? Deciding he'd get the answer faster if he asked them directly, he began to walk towards the carriage. On the way, placing his weapon by his obi. He originally planned to ask the driver but then he realized that it might be better to check if there was anyone in the carriage.
The driver seemed to be too preoccupied in trying to calm the horses to notice the crowd or Rikuo, so if ever it was his job to stop Rikuo or anyone from coming close to the carriage then he wasn't doing it. Rikuo reached the carriage and after a brief pause brought his hand to the handle and was about to open it, but was surprised when he suddenly felt force and motion through his arm. On instinct he let go and leapt away from the carriage and landed in front of the crowd again.
He, like everyone else were surprised to see a rather tall black haired teen wearing a navy blue butler uniform come out from the carriage. The teen himself had a slender frame, was fair skinned, and had red eyes. Once the teen came out he outstretched his hand to the open door and in an instant a smaller hand took it and that was when the second passenger exited the carriage. The second passenger was a female and was wearing a black suit.
She had Sienna colored hair with bits of bronze and copper colored locks, framing her face. She looked to be around Rikuo's age, had fair colored skin and had russet colored eyes. Once she got out, she released the teen's hand and moved to the side. Another hand then took the teen's still outstretched one and the new hand was even paler than the hands of the other two passengers. When the third passenger did show herself, the effect was instantaneous.
"Madame Belle!" A collective voice amongst most of the older yokai present chorused. Now, Rikuo was confused as he got a good look at the third passenger. It was a woman; she looked to be in her early fifties but was still quite beautiful. She had with ivory colored hair tied neatly in a bun and ultramarine colored eyes. She was wearing a European emerald green dress, that looked like it was from a movie on the queens in the 1730's or something, because that was what the woman looked like- a queen.
Her posture was perfect and her movements were nothing but elegant. As her feet touched the ground, he noticed how her presence easily affected everyone there. The younger yokai just openly looked at her, while the older ones seemed to be at a loss for words, others slack jawed but kept their eyes on her. There was a silence in the air that took the place of chatter and murmurs about the carriage, and it was broken by a truly unexpected source.
"El! What on Earth took you so long to get here?" A voice said, making everyone even Rikuo look back to see the form of the original supreme commander standing there. The other yokai quickly moved to the sides as to make way for him. Once a path was cleared out to the carriage was opened, Nurarihyon began making his way towards the carriage. As he passed Rikuo, he used his hand to grab Rikuo by his good arm and began to drag him to the group that was still by the carriage.
"Gramps, what are you doing? Let go." Rikuo said as he tried to yank his hand away, but to no avail. The old man's grip was like steel, and pretty soon Rikuo gave up altogether and let himself be dragged. They stopped right in front of the woman who was recognized as 'Madam Belle." The woman's eyes seemed to light up, and a small smile graced her lips when she saw him. But before he could ask her why she seemed so happy to see him, his grandfather spoke first.
"What took you? What on Earth could be so important as to take you four days to get here?" His grandfather shouted, flailing both his hands even with Rikuo's arm in one of them, so Rikuo ended up semi-flailing. The woman known as Madame Belle looked at the flailing Rikuo a bit worriedly, before bringing her attention to the flailing old man. "You do realize it takes around three days for any of your letters to reach me, right?" She answered calmly.
"Hmmph! That shouldn't matter! Aren't you supposed to be one of the most prominent members of the western society? So, you should have gotten the letter and went here sooner!" The old man said as he stopped flailing and crossed his arms before he looked away from the woman with a huff. Most yokai that were present sweatdropped over their commander's childishness. "First of all, it doesn't matter if I'm a prominent member or not all letters from the east will arrive in three days."
The woman then turned to look at Rikuo. "Besides, I'm here now so does it matter." She said calmly, making Nurarihyon mutter something under his breath that Rikuo didn't catch. Then he realized something. "Are you the specialist gramps was talking about?" He asked, looking at the woman. The woman looked confused before she sent an amused look at Nurarihyon. His grandfather looked sheepish before addressing him.
"Oh yeah, she is." His grandfather said before releasing his arm and giving a small cough to get everyone present's attention. "A lot of you already know El, but also a lot of you joined recently and haven't met her yet. So, I'll introduce you." He said as he gestured to the woman." Everyone this is Bellatrix Irmina Aera Felicie Tempus, also known as Madame Belle." He then gestured to her companions.
"As you all can see she with her companions are all western ayakashi. But no need to be alarmed, I called them here for the Third's sake. Oh, yeah before I forget. She's also Rikuo's godmother." The commander said, adding the last part of the introduction as an afterthought. There was silence, before it broke with excited buzz. Rikuo's eyes widened as he looked at Madame Belle then to his grandfather. The two of them seem to be having a wordless conversation.
One of Madame Belle's elegant eyebrows raised and a skeptical look appeared in her eyes before it shifted to a slightly sarcastic look that conveyed her thoughts- 'Very subtle.' While his grandfather just huffed with a look in his eyes saying- 'I'd like to see you do better.' Before they continued with their wordless argument Rikuo decided to step in. "I'm sorry to interrupt you two, but why was I not informed?" He asked, trying to stay calm.
"Informed of what?" His grandfather asked. "I don't know, how about that the specialist you were talking about was my godmother? Or the fact that I even had a godmother?"Rikuo answered, sarcasm in his voice. Madame Belle used a hand to cover her mouth as she gave a small laugh. "I was asked to be your godmother by your father. By tradition, I was originally going to meet you during the summer of your thirteenth year. But I have no idea as to why you never knew about me."
As she said the last part, her gaze went to Nurarihyon. When the ex-supreme commander noticed a look of slight anger and annoyance coming to her eyes, he began to panic slightly. An angry Madame Belle was not something he wanted to deal with, so he tried to shift her attention to Rikuo. "Well, I guess it must have slipped my mind." When he saw their disbelieving looks, he quickly continued. "But I would have mentioned her to you sooner or later. I mean it's almost your thirteenth summer after all."
He saw her move her gaze to Rikuo and inwardly let out a sigh of relief. "Yes, but it is rather unfortunate that we have to meet under these circumstances." She said as she looked at Rikuo's heavily bandaged arm. Nurarihyon caught her look and used both hands to grab the other two's arms and began leading them to the carriage. "Gramps, what are you doing?" Nurarihyon merely smirked. "Simple it's called getting you two to move, so El can see if she'll be able to save your arm."
Before Rikuo could ask him what he meant by that, he heard the whispers of the other yokai present and got distracted. As he looked around it was clear that no one had any idea of what was happening, judging from the confused looks on their faces. As he looked forward, he noticed that the other two passengers were no longer there, standing by the carriage. He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt his grandfather release his hold on him. T
hey were currently in front of the carriage and Rikuo instantly noticed something off. He could see nothing past the doorway of the carriage and the shadow it cast."Weird it's almost like the shadows are concealing whatever it is inside."Rikuo thought before he felt a hand on his back. Just as he was beginning to turn around to look who it was, he felt the hand push, well more of shove him forward.
Rikuo fell forward and was met with polished wood flooring. He groaned softly as he opened his eyes and lifted his head to see amused russet recognized her as the other female passenger, and before he could say anything, she silenced him by extending her hand out to him. He took it and she began to pull him up. Once he was already standing, he released her hand mumbling a thanks to her before he began looking around.
The sights that greeted him were dark colored wooden interior walls, red plush cushion seating and red velvet curtains. He was in the carriage, he realized. But soon frowned, that didn't make on earth did he managed not to stumble over the step by the door? Or miss the feeling of himself crossing the threshold? Those two were mysteries, he didn't have the answer to. But when he turned around with the full intent of leaving, he was surprised by what he saw.
It seemed that his eyes were playing tricks on him, because where the exit should be was a large shadow with an opening in the middle. Outlining the opening was a some kind of weird green colored smoke and through the opening he could see the scene outside the carriage. His most trusted subordinates making their way to the carriage but being stopped with a look by his grandfather.
Madame Belle gave a small sigh, before she gracefully climbed inside the carriage. Once she got in, she gave him a sympathetic smile before she went over and sat on the comfortable looking cushion seat next to the sienna colored haired girl. He then turned his attention back to the scene. He saw his grandfather shouting at his subordinates to stop and to stay where they were before he turned to look back at the carriage.
He was surprised when Gyukki suddenly came up with a bundle of cloth in his hands. He then passed the bundle to his grandfather who took it without a word. He then watched as his grandfather entered the carriage, in one smooth motion. The others outside began to follow, but was stopped by Gyukki who stood in front of the entrance of the carriage.
"Rikuo." His grandfather called, which made the youth turn his attention to his grandfather by the doorway. His grandfather then smirked, before throwing the bundle in his hands at Rikuo. Rikuo caught it easily, but that was when he remembered the weird situation he was currently in. "Gramps, just what is going on?" He asked, only to see his grandfather was no longer there.
"Rikuo." The youth's head shot up as he quickly moved away to the side by instinct, only to see that his grandfather was currently occupying a spot on the cushion seats. His grandfather gave him a small fond smile, before it turned bittersweet, then sympathetic like the one Madame Belle gave him a little while ago. Then the ex-supreme commander gave a sigh before looking at Rikuo again, this time his face completely serious.
"Rikuo, go over to the west. There is nothing here for you right now in the east, what you truly seek is in the west. Rest at ease, I'll take care of things while you're gone." He said, making the boy temporarily lose the ability to speak his protests or think coherently as the words began to be taken in by his mind. "Like I am! I'm not going anywhere gramps! I got the Nura clan to take care of!" He growled and Nurarihyon just looked straight at him with a look that was both calm and crucial.
Then he gave a sigh as he stood up and in an instant was at the doorway of the carriage. Without as much looking back, he began to descend the step and to the ground. As soon as his feet made contact with the grass of the garden, Rikuo watched as the door suddenly closed on its own. On instinct, Rikuo ran over to the now closed door and futilely tried to open it.
But the door was stuck no amount of pushing or pulling could get it to open. Through the window, he saw his grandfather smirk. "It's no use Rikuo, once those doors close they won't open till you reach your destination." He said, as he began to laugh like a child that managed to get away from pulling a major prank on a grown up he dislikes.
Rikuo's eyes widened and all the other eastern ayakashi, aside from Gyukki began to panic from the old man's proclamation. Some began to shout, while others began to ran in panic. Rikuo began to frantically bang the window, in order to get out. But to no avail, the glass was still in one piece. Amongst all the panic and confusion, no one notice Nurarihyon nod to the driver, who nodded back before pulling on the reins lightly.
The horses whined as they felt the small tug and began to move around. When they felt another tug, they knew what to do. They jumped slightly and stood on their hind legs for a couple of seconds before they began to move. They started with a slow trot, but gradually brought up the speed. But much to most of the eastern ayakashi's horror the direction the horses were moving towards was towards one of the walls that surrounded the main house.
Several ayakashi began to head toward the horses that were moving in a fast pace, while others began shouting at the driver to stop the horses. The ayakashi of the east, that had been approaching were suddenly stopped by Gyukki, Mokugyo Daruma and Karasu Tengu and if anything the shouts didn't seem to faze the driver, or maybe he didn't hear them, but either way he made no motion to stop the horses and actually tried to make them go faster by using the reins to give a signal.
They along with most the east ayakashi watched in horror as the wall got closer, to the point of there being almost no distance between the two forces. When the distance was only one gallop away, did the impossible happen. The horses began to rise slightly and then they began to walk on air. The others on the ground mostly became slack jawed over the sight of the horses flight.
The horses continued to trot around the area before stopping directly three stories above the Nura main house. Rikuo could feel his eyes widened as he stared at the sight in front of him. The Nura clan's main house from a bird's eye view and all the yokai that were gathered there at the garden, no larger than an ant. "Rikuo dear, I'm sure that the sight might be something to look at but you should sit down before the real ride begins." Madame Belle, who had been quiet previously, warned.
Rikuo numbly followed his new found godmother's orders and sat on the available spot next to the black haired teen. Not a moment too soon, the carriage began to experience some kind of carriage turbulence and one good look outside the widow showed Rikuo that they were quickly climbing in an alarming pace. The carriage began to rock and it began to feel like a rollercoaster ride as they began to climb even higher.
It stopped when they were probably at least a hundred stories high and as Rikuo stared at the small figure, that was the Nura main house he felt a pit of dread in his stomach. "No way, right?" He thought, before he felt a hand on one of his. He looked to the front and saw it was Madame Belle, who gave him a reassuring look before lightly squeezing his hand. "Don't worry, it won't be long now. Just bear with this for a little while longer."
Rikuo nodded but didn't dare look out the window after that, and like Madame Belle had said it wasn't long before the horses began their very fast descend. The feeling wasn't really unpleasant to Rikuo, not really. It was more of knowing that you were free falling from a carriage with no idea how you could survive that was troubling him. But that wasn't to say that the turbulence didn't bother him. He faintly wondered why they haven't fallen out of their seats yet, but choose not to dwell on it.
As he looked at his other companions, he noticed that the teen looked a bit troubled over the turbulence while the other two ladies seemed calm, but the slight frown on their faces showing their discomfort. Rikuo found that he was immensely thankful that Madame Belle kept her hand on him, feeling of it as kind of an anchor that without it he would have probably been unable to stay calm at all. But one accidental glance at the window showed that the was ground picking up fast.
But Rikuo found that he couldn't tear his eyes away from the glass as they were probably only five stories away. Rikuo saw the familiar figure of his grandfather when they only had about one story distance from the ground. He felt himself go numb before using all of his will power to voice one last thing to him. "Gramps, I swear I'll get you back for this!" He was able to say before both horses and the entire carriage crashed into the pond. The others waited, but nothing and no one resurfaced.
Translation
Yami no Kyofu- Darkness' Terror.
Chouraku Kusa- Withering grass.
Beniawai-Crimson light.
Obi- A sash for a Kimono.
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