Here's the first chapter you guy! I want to give a big shout to my Beta Tsukuyomu and friend for helping with this story, and I hope you'll enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Nurarihyon no Mago and the characters in this story belong to their respectful owner.

Prologue

It was a lovely spring day in the town of Ukiyoe with every tree blooming to its greatest beauty. The petals fell slowly and softly from their high limbs creating the illusion of pink and white rain.

The people within Ukiyoe went on with their day-to-day lives; the few that lived in one particular neighborhood spent their days going past the Nura manor. The manor had always been there in the same spot; the neighbors' great-grandparents could still recall the presence of the strange manor from their childhood memories.

No one really knew what went on inside the manor, nor did they really care about it, although rumors among the young children would say that the Nura house was filled with monsters, while others stated that the Yakuza inhabited the estate. Still, the people would soon accept that there would be no definitive answer to what lay behind the stone gates that enclosed the old Nura estate and would continue on with their daily routines, completely unaware that both the rumors whispered to each other in their youth were in fact true.

Within the stone enclosure was housed the infamous Nura Clan, the clan that had legions of youkai serving their leader, Nurarihyon.

Inside the parlor room of the manor, two gentlemen sat in front of each other, drinking tea with the shoji doors open, inviting the nice breeze that the day was offering.

The smaller man was dressed in a brown robe over a dark green kimono. He appeared advanced in age, as wrinkles marred his once handsome face and his gourd-shaped head was bare of any hair except for a small ponytail at the tip of his elongated skull.

The man facing him was three–if not four–times his size, clad in a light blue kosode and green hakama. His face was hidden behind a Noh mask of a feminine nature with long, black hair framing it.

The smaller man was the Nura Clan's Supreme Commander, Nurarihyon and the other was one of his closest companions, Hihi the leader of the Kantou Great Ape Alliance, or simply the Hihi Clan.

Both men were enjoying their own company as they snacked on kofuku manju and sipped sweet green tea. It had been some time since the two leaders had chatted with each other on matters that did not involve business.

"My wife is with child." Hihi stated with joy as he poured tea into the Supreme Commander's cup.

Nurarihyon's face lit up like a candle at his friend's news, "Really, Kayama's pregnant?" Hihi nodded to his friend as he placed the kettle aside.

"So how far along is she?" Nurarihyon inquired as he reached for a manju.

"She's about thirty-eight weeks along." The Supreme Commander nearly choked on his snack upon his comrade's revelation, then after coughing up the piece that was lodged in his throat, he stared at Hihi with a mixture of shock, confusion, and slight annoyance.

Nurarihyon soon recomposed himself and picked up his cup, "So your wife is about to give birth to YOUR CHILD, the heir of the Hihi Clan." He paused for a moment to sip his tea and then continued "And you didn't tell me about it?"

"Kayama didn't want the attention from the other clans; you know she's rather uncomfortable being in the spotlight." Hihi calmly explained to his old friend as Nurarihyon's face eased up.

"Still..." Nurarihyon pulled his favorite kiseru pipe and tobacco pouch out of his sleeve, "You could have told me." He placed the kiseru in between his lips and began to inhale.

"Actually, you were at the top of the list of people she did not want to tell." Hihi answered with a little chuckle, causing his friend to abruptly halt his inhaling.

Nurarihyon's eyes became as big as saucers while he held his breath then quickly expelled the smoke from his mouth in a small gray cloud.

Seeing the Nura leader's distress, the giant raised his hand from his lap in an effort to calm him, "Kayama means you no disrespect, it's just-"

"No, no." Nurarihyon interrupted by moving his head from side to side, "I respect your wife's need for privacy." He then took another drag from his kiseru with his face still retaining its irritated expression for a few minutes longer.

Nurarihyon let out a huge grin to the soon-to-be father, "All and all, I'm happy for you and your wife, I wish her a safe and easy delivery."

Hihi slightly bowed his head in gratitude and thanked him. The Supreme Commander leaned back and tilted his head a little to his left to see out the open shoji door.

"Oi Rihan!" he called out, "Did you hear that? Hihi is going to be a father! Isn't that great?"

Outside the parlor, a young man, the Second Heir, Nura Rihan, appearing to be either in his early or mid-twenties sat on the engawa with his legs dangling of the ledge. He wore a green stripedkinagashi with a brown inner kimono that hung rather loosely on his torso, his feet bare.

Despite the cheerfulness of the weather and the good-will of the people in the parlor, the air around the young man was dark and lifeless. The half-breed ayakashi was in human form, having no energy to transform into his youkai form during the day. He leaned most of his upper body on a wooden beam with a bottle half-filled with sake clutched in his hands. His black hair was disheveled and covered both his shoulders and his eyes.

Thinking that his son had not heard him, Nurarihyon called out to him again, "Oi! Rihan! Did you hear me?"

The father was only greeted with the sound of sake sloshing inside the bottle as his son drank from it. Nurarihyon's ire was beginning to rise at his son's silence.

"RIHAN!"

At the cry of his name, the young man lowered the sake bottle from his lips and slowly turned his head towards the two men in the parlor.

"What?" His tone lacked emotion and his gaze seemed to suck all the joy and lightheartedness from the inhabitants in the open room.

Nurarihyon's body became rigid with a budding aggravation as he repeated the news in a slow, matter-of-fact manner, "Hihi and Kayama-san are going to have their first child."

He paused for a second, "I believe congratulations are in order, don't you think?" It sounded more like a dare than a question, testing to see what his successor would do or say.

The lifeless man stared at them for a minute or two before speaking again, "Congratulations." There was no hint of joy or excitement in his voice; if anything, it had a tint of bitterness and self-loathing hidden in it. He turned his head back around and took another swig of sake.

Suddenly Nurarihyon rose from his spot, he strode from the parlor room to the engawa where Rihan was sitting and smacked the Second Heir on the back of his head. The impact of his father's hand made the sake go down the wrong path, causing Rihan to cough in order to expel the liquid from his airway. Rihan then raised his head to look at his father, two violet-gray eyes that were dull like stone bore into Nurarihyon's gaze.

Nurarihyon continued to stare at his heir with a look of anger, annoyance, and oddly enough, understanding. He, as well as the Nura clan, knew the cause of the young man's state.

It was about this time when Nura Rihan was given the news that his beloved wife, Yamabuki Otome, had passed away. Throughout the rest of the year, Rihan would act almost like he was before Otome's death, he would still give a smile to his underlings, laugh at parties that the Nura Clan would throw, and lead his Night Parade with a strong, commanding stance. He could easily hide his suffering until the anniversary of his spouse's passing, then his merry act would subside and his emotional resolve would weaken.

Rihan would isolate himself from the clan members so they could not see him in such a way, even if some of them were already aware of his misery. He would lock himself in his chambers or leave the Nura Manor without informing anyone.

When he did the latter, the whole manor–mostly his trusted attendant–would be thrown into a state of nervous frenzy; however, Nurarihyon would only tell them to calm themselves and leave his son be.

Nurarihyon knew how this cycle functioned because he had experienced the very same pain when his own wife had passed. After a few decades of periods of yearly grieving, he managed to wean himself from his desires for isolation and mourning, and began living his life again with a lighter heart.

But for one reason or another, Rihan had no such luck shaking off the annual habit that he had adopted from him. In fact, these "times of mourning" seemed to have steadily become worse and worse within the last few years. They were starting to become longer and he was beginning to drink more excessively.

Nurarihyon was pulled from his train of thought when Rihan slowly got up from his spot and lumbered toward the door that lead to the entrance of the manor. He stopped at the threshold to have one last look at his father.

"I'm going out..." Nurarihyon still held the same look of annoyance on his face. Rihan held his gaze for a moment before disappearing through the doorway, neither of the men saw the dark clouds of a rainstorm following the Second Heir.

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