Following the River
Disclaimer: I do not own nurarihyon no mago or any of its characters
The kappa's dark brown scanned the yard of the Nura clan's main house. The area was bustling with many yokai in preparation for master Rikuo's birthday. He would be turning 14 tomorrow and as a result, the whole Nura clan was preparing for the celebration. Everyone except for one yokai, a kappa yokai. The kappa sat in his pond watching every busy yokai run by. Kappa was not told to do anything for the celebration so therefore he would not contribute unless asked to. Rikuo's birthday was on the 23rd of September, which also happened to fall in one of the two months were yokai would begin their search for a mate.
Many yokai can be lucky enough to find their mate during this time period whereas some do not find their mate at all throughout their entire life. In order to find your mate you must be willing to search a bit. If you get close to your future mate then you suddenly experience an uncontrollable feeling of longing, which leads you to your mate. Once you have found your mate, in order for both to become mates for life it must be sealed with a kiss.
Kappa had never been very interested in finding his soul mate nor did he ever understand the importance. Why search for something that you may never find? The kappa's attention was brought to two female yokai chatting with each other next to his pond.
"Oooooh I hope I find my mate this year" the mouse-like yokai spoke musingly.
"Yeah~ oh I hope he's handsome!" said the other fox yokai. Both girls began to giggle from the thought of having a mate. Kappa exhaled loudly. That was how it always was when mating season came around. Many female yokai would daydream and fantasize about having a handsome mate while male yokai would be on the lookout for their mate-to-be. The water yokai slowly closed his eyes, shielding them from the sight before him.
"Something wrong Kappa?" said a familiar voice. Kappa opened his eyes, revealing a young human boy standing in front of the small pond. His chocolate brown orbs had a look of concern from the kappa's action. "Yes I'm alright master Rikuo, thank you for your concern." Kappa replied. Rikuo's expression of worry quickly turned to a bright smile out of relief.
"Well that's good." The human boy chimed. He took a seat on the soft green grass in front of the pond. "Everyone seems so busy with the preparation for tomorrow; they're all putting so much time and effort into this." Said Rikuo as his brown eyes glanced around at each yokai passing by.
"Of course they would, it is your birthday tomorrow after all."
"Yeah, I guess so." The boy's eyes now focused on the reflection in the crystal clear water in the pond. "Not to mention many of them are worrying about mating season too." Rikuo opened his mouth to continue to speak but he was interrupted by a female voice calling out his name.
"Rikuooooo! Rikuo, can you come here for a moment?!"
"Oh, uh, coming mom!" Rikuo called back. He stood up from where he once sat, giving one last smile to the Kappa before turning on his heel and making his way to his mother. Kappa watched as his master took his leave. It was nice for Kappa to get a chance to talk to Rikuo every once in a while since he was normally too busy with school work or focusing on being the head of the Nura clan. Kappa was now left alone with nothing to do and no-one to talk to. The raven haired yokai let another sigh escape his mouth. 'How boring' Kappa thought to himself. With that, the water yokai disappeared under the clear, blue water of the pond.
Kappa swam down to a small crack in the rocks beneath the water. The crack was small but large enough for yokai around his size to fit through. Kappa squeezed through the opening to be greeted by a dark underground waterway. The waterway lead straight to the Kappa's favourite river that he enjoyed drifting in. The river always managed to send Kappa to different location each time. The yokai proceeded down the dark, cold waterway until he saw a small amount of light peeking through yet another small opening. Kappa swam up to the warm rays of daylight. He managed to squeeze himself through the opening. The kappa was now surrounded by the cool, refreshing water of the river. Kappa closed his dark eyes as he listened intently to the relaxing sound of the moving water.
This was one reason why Kappa loved being under water so much, the sound was so soothing to him, like the sound of a mother's voice as she sings softly to her child. Kappa continued to listen to the calming sound of the water until he drifted off into a deep sleep.
Kappa lazily pried his eyes open, blinking a few times to bring his cloudy vision back into focus. He opened his move wide to let in a large yawn as he stretched his scaly arms up into the air. The yokai's dark brown eyes swept the surface of the area as he studied his surroundings. He was sitting on the shore of the river that he was drifting in. Kappa turned his head around to study the scenery behind him. The boy's large eyes widened with a spark of amazement. There was a huge, rich green field with neatly cut grass. In the middle of the field stood a large beautiful, red bricked house with white decorative trim on the tall windows. On the second floor there was a highly detailed balcony overlooking the rich grass field.
The bottom of the house was surrounded by a large variety of colourful flowers that added a strong yet nice accent to the lot. The house was fairly large and looked to be big enough to hold a family of at least six members. On either side of the home were large groups of evergreen trees instead of other houses. Kappa marveled at the divine beauty of the house. Kappa was immediately snapped out of his daze to the sudden sound of something rustling through the tall grass in a small portion of the field. The boy whirled his head in the direction that the sound was coming from. After a few short moments of glaring at the tall grass, a human girl emerged from the small prairie. The girl seemed to be the same age as Kappa (or at least the age he appeared to be). She had short navy blue hair that stretched down to her collar bone complimented with bright golden eyes. She wore a black, loose T-shirt beneath a gray and blue striped long sleeve shirt with black skinny jeans and dark brown combat boots.
Kappa admired the girl's beauty. Her pale skin made it look like she had not gotten a spot of sunlight all her life. The expression of curiosity and wonder intrigued the demon greatly. He found her to be quite cute for a human. When the girl's golden eyes locked onto the Kappa's chocolate orbs, it felt as if his heart skipped a beat. Soon the yokai found himself lost in her hypnotising golden pools. They had a strange intensity to them but at the same time her eyes were soft and welcoming. Suddenly Kappa felt a strange pull on his heart, something he had never experienced before. What was this feeling? The "emotion" was impossible to explain as he felt longing. As if he had just found something that he had been forever looking for. Whatever this indescribable feeling was, it made the Kappa feel drawn to this strange human girl.
(Author's note: Well that's the first chapter. Please tell me what you thought and how I am doing so far )