Disclaimer: I do not own Nurarihyon no Mago.
A/N: This is just something I typed up for my English class. A short story. Nothing much. This manga was on my mind and I couldn't think of anything else during the time. Meh.
Warning: AU-ish, OOC, and OCs I believe since I've only read no more than 30 chapters of the manga. I need to continue reading it... sigh.
The Youkai That Were Once Tranquil
For centuries, there have been youkai creeping around. Youkai are usually known as evil-doers or crazed creatures or man-eating monsters along with many other things, but a certain group of youkai were different. They have never been disturbed, living peacefully together in one of Japan's many forests. They didn't thrive to overrule each other enough to murder them; they got along and let the others be. Their serene forest didn't last as long as they thought and wanted it to because it was basically getting destroyed by humans.
The party of humans was led by a man who was considered intelligent, strong, and courageous by many. They believed it was true no matter how cliché it sounded. How wrong were they?
He was the leader of a powerful clan which stood strong for decades until it, sadly, practically went extinct because of a disease that was spread throughout his home while he was away dealing with business. It left him completely devastated even though people thought he was very lucky to have miraculously avoid it.
He thought it was very odd for such thing to occur: being gone for a certain amount of time which was known to many while his family was suffering from a disease that broke out out of nowhere then disappearing as quickly as it appeared. It must have been a clan that rivaled his that had done it; they currently must be happy. The man knew he had lost everything the moment he found out what had happened. He was a family man, not caring about the land or wealth as most leaders do, so he decided to start a new life.
The people who followed him believed they were being guided to a wonderful future so they decided to take the opportunity of being directed by the man. Right from the moment the mythical creatures saw him order a group of men to chop down the trees of their home, they loathed him even though he looked familiar for some reason.
One day, the youkai communicated among each other in any way possible (from one youkai to another, directly, etc.) and all agreed to destroy the important things in the leader's life.
The people managed to cut down at least half of the forest down and build their little homes for their families during the first couple of months since they arrived. They were living happily together and didn't regret the decision of following the man along with obeying his orders. A perfect life is what they thought they received was thanks to him. They had no clue whatsoever on how to repay the amazing man since he didn't seem interested in anything. Although, something they had noticed of the man is that, time to time, he'd just stare at the forest.
As they were continuing their lives, the forest the youkai shared together was minimizing into a limited space. What the humans were doing just had to be stopped so they eventually destroyed the crops that were being grown as food for the people to eat, burned down the homes while the people slept inside them, and killed their babies to stop them from growing and populating their society with any more humans. All of that would occur when the people's defenses were down: during the night.
After one more home being burned down in chunks and ashes, they went back safely into the forest. The youkai were very happy at what they had accomplished in such a short period of time but, that is, until they heard something.
"Don't you believe you have caused enough trouble for the man?"
They looked around, trying to find the source of the familiar male voice.
"Show yourself!" yelled a Kappa.
"He goes out of his way, trying to find a way to help out the people he has been leading and this is what it has ended down to? Not only was he doing that but also trying to make something out of his miserable life, clearly."
A very large Oni growled at the mysterious voice. "Don't be a coward! Show yourself!"
"He will not be back until right after dawn. Try to solve your differences; restore back what you have destroyed just a few minutes ago – his home."
Although it's said that Tengu are easily fooled by everyone, they knew for sure that whoever was telling them this, they were being serious.
They used the wings they have to fly over the village and saw the mass destruction that was caused by everyone. They were ashamed and felt very guilty at what they had done. After a moment or two, they decided to go back and describe everything they saw from one detail to another. Every youkai felt as bad as the Tengu, maybe even worse. They thought about it and realization hit them hard.
How would the humans know if such things as youkai even existed in this exact forest? What they had did can't ever be undone so they started to sob. They had destroyed crops, homes, and so many lives. There was only one life they didn't destroy completely and that was the life of the leader. It was his life they had first planned to destroy since the beginning yet, they involved others. As they thought about what the voice said, they decided to rebuild his home.
They all headed over to where the most recent home was destroyed and did their own little things to form one huge accomplishment.
The Kappa, which are said to play pranks in their own troublesome ways, helped around by picking up sticks and such.
The animals that have some certain magical qualities were cleaning the surroundings of where the home was to be built.
The Oni used their humongous arms to carry very large pieces of things that could be used for whatever makes up a home, keeping it sturdy and such.
Tsukumogami would go and pour in fresh water into their empty Kameosa for the man to drink later on whenever he would be thirsty.
Everyone was cooperating; the more each and every one got something done, the faster everything would be finished. They were doing the best they could do to make up for every horrible thing they did. It was the least they could do.
After a few hours later, the man came back seeing something unexpected. He saw a makeshift home instead of seeing the original one that was there in a condition of being all torn up and destroyed. As he walked up to the home and saw rocks on the ground, he noticed they spelled something out. He read:
ごめん。
"Sorry," he had read. He understood that they were apologizing for demolishing everything and everyone. He just wondered what had made them change their minds after what they have done until now.
He turned to the forest and said, "I heard rumors from many that, there were kind youkai in a forest that has been seen by those who believe they are real. Those who believe are at least able to sense them."
He sighed.
"My grandfather used to tell me a story about those youkai when I was young so I truly believed in them. He said he had seen them, once, when he was just a young boy wandering around after being scolded by my great-grandfather. He said they had soothed him and told him that everything would be alright. After he told his father what had happened, he was forbidden to go to the forest so he never went back again."
Now the youkai knew the reason why the man looked so familiar. They had tended his grandfather when he was a young boy! Oh, exactly how long ago was that?
"Before he passed on, his dying wish was to go back to the forest but he was too frail to do so. And so, I decided to search for the forest for him and myself after my family was..." he stopped, not wanting to continue the sentence.
"People believed I was great and heard about me traveling so they decided to join. I let them do as they wanted. I started to sense things around this area so this is where I stopped. The people eventually needed a home; I couldn't just leave them out here to survive, so I had to order them to cut down the trees. I too, apologize for what I have done... From the look of things, I hope we can stay in good terms."
The youkai just stood at their spots and smiled after listening to the man and watched as he entered his new home. As soon as he entered, the house broke down and the youkai gained horrifying expressions. Chuckles echoed the place.
If you looked up at the tall trees and maybe even squint a little, you could see Nurarihyon, the leader of the youkai, smirk. Maybe what people say is true, youkai are evil-doers no matter what they do. They couldn't have expected that to stay up, did they?