Prank, An Other Version
The Kiyojuji Investigation squad has just arrived at Rikuo's house, when Kiyotsugu, the leader of said squad, exclaimed that it would be time to do some yokai hunting. Right after he finished his sentence, the shoji doors opened and Kejoro brought them their dinner. Their plans were overthrown and everyone decided that they would be starting with the (desired) yokai hunt early the next morning.
Kana, Maki, Torii, Tsurara, since she is disguised as Oikawa Tsurara right now, and Yoshi were talking among themselves about girl stuff, how Kiyotsugu liked to call it.
"... and then she actually confessed to him," Maki ended her story about a classmate who brought up her courage and talked to her crush.
"Izuka-san really did that?" Kana asked her friend in confirmation. Maki nodded.
"Yes, and you know what? They're a couple now. It seemed that he, too, had a crush on her, but was to afraid of getting rejected."
The girls listened to this extra information in awe.
"Good for her, right?!" Yoshi stated with a gentle smile on her face.
"Yeah." Torii agreed with her with the same expresion.
"Now to an other rumor I've heard... ," Maki said enthusiasticaly. Everyone turned towards her in anticipation.
"You know about those stupid guys who always do that 'hottest/cutest girl ranking' every month?"
Everyone nodded except Yoshi who didn't know that something existed in their school.
"There is something like that in our school?" She asked astonished.
"Yeah, and you know what?"
Everyone was looking at Maki with questioning eyes as to say 'Just spit it out.'
"Apparently, Yoshi's ranked first, followed by one of our senpais," she said with a wide grin on her face.
Silence.
It took them some time to comprehend the words Maki just said to them.
"You mean... ," Yoshi started but couldn't finish, since Maki interrupted her.
"Yeah, seems like you're the new inofficial queen of our school."
Yoshi turned her face down and faced the floor with a troubled expression. Kana who seemed to have noticed her friends turmoil, spoke up.
"Don't worry, Yoshi-san. It's just something some boys came up with to pass their time with. You don't have to take it seriously."
"Yea, trust Kana-chan, she knows what she's talking about. She was ranked first a few times and didn't have any trouble with random boys stalking her," Torii exclaimed.
After the girls didn't have any more issuse to discuss, they prepared themselves for bed. Tsurara stood up and reached for the shoji doors.
"What's wrong, Oikawa-san?" Torii asked her fellow clubmate.
Flinching at the question directed at her, she searched her brain for a reasonable answer.
"Ehm... you see... the thing is... I... I have forgotten that I had to pick up some stuff for my mother she needs tomorrow. So I thought I should go get them before the shops close at 11 pm," she said.
"I see. I would help you but I'm just too tired to do anything," Maki told her.
"Don't worry, I'll be alright." And with these words she opened the sliding doors, stepped out and closed them behind her. Her footsteps which were slowly fading, could be heard from inside.
Not soon after Tsurara left, everyone settled for sleep. The girls were hurrled together as were the boys. Rikuo had left after wishing everyone a good night. Soon they all were asleep and unaware of the shadow that had approached the room they were staying in.
It was Nurarihyon, Rikuo's grandfather and Lord of Pandemonium, known for his affection towards pranking humans.
'This will please my grandson, without a doubt,' he thought with a proud grin.
'Besides, I really want to know if he's doing with the girls,' he added.
He used his fear to cover his presence and slid open the shoji doors. He stepped into the room and searched for a good place to hide the incense bowl with the mixture he got from the young Yakushi Zen.
When he found one, he put the bowl down, lit the leaves of the mixture and left the room.
The smoke spread inside the room and took its effect on the humans inside.
Kiyotsugu was even more in love with yokai than he already is, Shima felt the strong desire to confess to his Oikawa-san, Kana felt more drawn towards a certain double-haired yokai. Only Maki and Torii were unaffected since love and friendship aren't the same.
The last of the humans who slept inside, felt her heart beat faster when she thought about a chocolate brown haired boy with glasses that added to his charms. He wore the school uniform of her new school. Beside the image of this student, appeared a young attractive man with white-black hair defying gravity in traditonal clothing. His face bore a smirk that let her cheeks go ablaze.
Soon the smoke ceased and everything seemed to be as nothing had happened.
The next morning, the effect of Nurarihyon's prank could be seen. It's unnecessary to say that he had his fun.
Kiyotsugu urged everyone to follow the tour through Rikuo's house, even though they had already been here several times. Shima's face had a pinkish hue all the time and each time Tsurara turned around to check on the weird feeling of being watched, he turned his head away and blushed more. Kana was in her own little world, thinking about the mysterious man that had helped her during her thirteenth birthday and even celebrated with her. You could clearly see on her face that she wasn't mentaly present.
And then there was Yoshi. She seemed to be troubled by something and Rikuo who had noticed her quietness, was worried about it. From time to time, he glanced at her but he always saw her face facing the floor as to avoid looking at him.
'What's wrong with Yoshi-chan? She seems to be concerned about something,' Rikuo thought worried.
This continued until they reached the main hall, where Kiyotsugu wanted to start their investigation. He divided his squad members into groups of two. He was going with Shima, while Torii and Maki built another group. Then there were Kana and Tsurara and at last, Yoshi and Rikuo.
"Well then everyone, lets start with our beloved yokai hunting!" He shouted ethusiastically, his fist raised.
Soon afterwards they split up and 'searched' for yokai's. Well, 'searched' would be the wrong term for Torii and Maki, they went back to the room they slept in and chatted about some gossip in school. Even Kana and Tsurara were occupied with other things like trying to find out what the other was to Rikuo/the young master. Shima was sulking,because he wasn't in the same group as his beloved Oikawa-san. Only Kiyotsugu was really trying to find yokai's.
And Rikuo and Yoshi?
Well, basically, Rikuo walked ahead and tried to start a conversation with Yoshi.
"So, Yoshi-chan did you sleep well?" He asked her.
"Uh-hum," was the answer he got.
"Ehm... were would you like to start searching?" He tried again.
"Ehm..."
Rikuo's worry grew with each question that was answered in this way, until he couldn't take it anymore and stopped, spun around to face her.
Yoshi, however, didn't notice his stop and just walked on, until she collided with his chest. Startled she backed away from him.
"Are you alright, Yoshi-chan? You seem to be concerned about something since this morning," he stated.
"Ehm... hai*. Eto..." Yoshi didn't look him in the face the whole time she tried to form a real sentence. Feeling two hands on each shoulder she glanced upwards into Rikuo's eyes which were on the same level as hers, since he lowered his head to face her.
"If something is troubling you, you can always tell me... and the others," he told her.
"Eto... Rikuo-kun, do you... have someone you like?" She asked him shyly.
Rikuo, trying hard not to blush, but failing, was surprised by her question.
"Why do you ask?" He asked her back, equally shy as she did.
"Well, I... I..." Yoshi took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.
'Should I really tell him? What if he doesn't like me back? Or what if he already has someone he likes? Don't think about it, Yoshi. Just tell him. If he really likes someone else, he'll say so and even if you won't regret to have told him your feelings,' she tried to convince herself.
After a few more moments of silence between them, Yoshi finally came to a conclusion.
She rose her face up and looked Rikuo straight in the eyes.
"Rikuo-kun, I've got something important to tell you," she started while her heart speed up. Rikuo in turn looked curious at her and waited for her to continue.
"I... I... Aishiteru**, Rikuo."
...
...
...
Silence.
...
...
...
"What... ?" Rikuo asked more than surprised.
"I said, I love you," Yoshi repeated, blushing furiously.
"Yoshi... boku***..." But he couldn't continue, since the others were coming back from their 'search'. Before Rikuo could answer Yoshi, Kiyotsugu had already approached them and asked them if their search was successful, since his' and the other's weren't.
Yoshi shook her head and apologized.
The day was over quiet fast and sometime during their stay, Nurarihyon used an other incense bowl with the mixture to reverse the affect of the first. This went unnoticed by everyone.
Rikuo was at the gates and saw his friends off. The last to go was Yoshi whom he still hadn't answered.
"I'll see you in school, Rikuo-kun," she said, ready to go, when something grabbed her wrist and stopped her from going.
She turned around and saw Rikuo holding onto her wrist.
"Yoshi, I still have to give you an answer," he said, a faint pinkish hue covered his face.
She looked at him and waited, just like he did earlier that day.
"You know, when you asked me if I had someone I liked?" Yoshi nodded.
"Well, actually, I've got one," he said.
Yoshi's eyes saddened and she was about to open her mouth to say that she understood, when she felt something warm and soft on her lips. Her eyes wide opened, she didn't understand what happened. When her brain finally caught up to what was happening, her eyes closed slowly. By the time they were fully closed, she also felt warm in her chest.
When they parted, Rikuo spoke the four words that Yoshi had hoped to hear when she had confessed to him earlier, though she didn't understand why she did. *chough*Nurarihyon*chough*
"I love you, too."
*hai means yes
** aishiteru means I love you
*** boku is used when young boys refer to themself, I thought that it's more fitting for day-rikuo to use 'boku' instead of 'ore' which is used for mature boys