Yay! Another oneshot for Nurarihyon no Mago, which is one of the most underrated manga that I've read - the anime is nice and all but does it no justice. If you've seen the anime but haven't read the manga yet then I suggest you pick up a copy when you have the time. This time I'm focusing on Yura, my second favorite female character in this series (Kana is number one, if that wasn't obvious enough). Oh, would you look at that - another crappy title!
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Seals and Secrets.
Disclaimer: I do not own Nurarihyon no Mago, this perfection belongs to Hiroshi Shiibashi
Yura Keikain was one of the most promising future heads of the Keikain family, a prodigy if you will. She was well known in the onmyouji business for her ability to maintain multiple shikigami in battle, a useful skill when going up against strong opponents like the Lord of Darkness. However, as she looked down at the boy in front of her begging on his knees, she couldn't help but wish Kana had never mentioned it to Kiyotsugu. "Please, Keikain-san! We wanna see your shikigami too!"
"Absolutely not! Summoning shikigami for reasons other than training or battle is a waste of their energy and mine!"
This was the third time since Rikuo had excused himself from the room that Kiyotsugu had made the request, and the third time that she had flat out refused. Kiyotsugu had scheduled another meeting for the Kiyojouji Paranormal Investigation Squad at Rikuo's house, since it was "the perfect haunted house" despite the group never actually seeing a youkai in the household for themselves. Even the young onmyouji herself had believed it to contain youkai, remembering how embarrassed she felt apologizing to Rikuo for insulting his home like that - it just had that sort of atmosphere. Yura silently prayed that Rikuo would hurry back and they could resume their card game.
"Aww. Don't be like that! What about one of those onmyouji uho(1) things?"
"Hell no!" Maki chimed in, her glare effectively silencing the over excited youkai fanatic. "It takes way too much energy to learn those things!" Besides her Tori nodded her head in agreement as she sipped the tea Nura's older sister had brought them. Tsurara had disappeared with the older girl, claiming to go and help out with chores and preparing dinner, further convincing Yura that she and Rikuo were secretly dating.
"How about you show us one of your youkai seals?"
Kana's suggestion hung in the air for a little while as Yura weighed the ups and downs of placing a seal on the room they were in. Such a trivial thing would be easily accomplished, not to mention that it was good practice should they need a quick shelter from youkai in the future. Glancing back down at Kiyotsugu giving her puppy eyes, Yura sighed in defeat.
"Fine. I'll put a seal around this room, but that's it!"
Yura reluctantly took out her small purse and dug her hand through the stash of receipts for a few moments until she found the required slip of paper. Gesturing for her friends to move away from the open doorway, Yura held up the ofuda(2) in front of her, steadying her feet before the well-rehearsed chant eased its way out from her lips. As she spoke, the small piece of paper levitated so that it hovered above her hands. Once the chant was complete, Yura made a two fingered motion towards the top of the doorway, the seal immediately placing itself directly above the passageway. After ensuring the seal was securely in place, Yura lowered her fingers and turned around to face her awed classmates.
"There. Happy? As long as the seal is in place, youkai can't enter this room, but humans have no problem entering or exiting as they please." Yura crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes on Kiyotsugu. The boy in question had been studying the ofuda on the doorway in wonder until feeling her hardened gaze on him. Kiyotsugu hesitantly turned towards Yura, gulping at her irritated expression.
"U-Um, thank you Keikain-san! W-We're really lucky to have an onmyouji like you in our group!" Kiyotsugu's nervous laughter did nothing to ease her annoyance.
"Putting up seals and summoning shikigami is not a joke! What if I need to use one of these ofuda to protect you guys from a youkai and I don't have any because you wanted to see Tanrou or Bukyoku?" Kiyotsugu and the others flinched at this realization, each of them unconsciously looking at the ground in shame. Yura noticed this and instantly her gaze softened as she dropped her arms to her sides. She wasn't mad at her friends' curiosity in her onmyouji work at all - she just wanted them to understand that youkai were dangerous and she needed to make sure she could protect them at any moment. "Well, at least we know Nura-kun will be safe from youkai attacks in this room," she joked, hoping to lift the tension she had unintentionally created.
Kiyotsugu cracked a smile, and the other members soon followed with grins of their own as Yura looked at each of them. The air felt infinitely lighter than it was a few seconds ago.
"Yeah, especially since Nura-kun lives in this youkai mansion!" Shima added playfully. The group quickly went back to peacefully sipping their tea while discussing the newest youkai of the week - the ningyo - when the sound of footsteps could be heard outside the open door.
"Hey guys, sorry I took so lo-OOMPH!"
Laughter sparked up again, but this time it was directed at something behind Yura. She spun around to find their missing group member sprawled on the floor in front of the open doorway. Rikuo sat on the ground, shaking his head to rid himself of the dizziness from his fall. Yura couldn't help but grin at her clumsy friend. The poor boy must have tripped over the kimono he always wore when he was at home.
Rikuo picked himself up from the floor and put one hand to his head. This time it didn't feel as if he had tripped like usual. It almost felt as if he had run into a brick wall. Shaking off the uneasy feeling, Rikou moved toward the doorway, keeping an eye on his feet and - BAM!
Yura blinked twice when she saw Rikuo slam backwards. The boy rubbed his forehead in pain, as if he had hit it against something hard, but the doorway remained empty. The laughter behind Yura had gone silent once they noticed Rikuo's second attempt to enter the room fail.
"Ouch! Man, that hurt!" Rikuo kept one hand on his forehead and held out the other ahead of himself like a blind man. Slowly, he stepped forward until his hand made contact with an invisible barrier that felt as solid as concrete. Lifting his other hand from his head, he placed both hands on the invisible wall that had appeared in the doorway.
"What the heck? What is this?"
Yura felt her skin grow cold when Rikuo placed his hand on an invisible wall, her gaze shifting to the ofuda on top of the doorway briefly before going back to Rikuo. The boy - if he really was human - looked completely at a loss for his inability to enter the room, testing the barrier by trying to push against it to no avail.
For the moment, Yura maintained the hope that she had cast the seal incorrectly and it was so that none could enter or leave, human or inhuman. She stepped towards Rikuo and reached for the barrier, praying that there would be some resistance that met her hand and it was all a misunderstanding.
Her hand cut through the air effortlessly.
"Huh? Keikain-san doesn't feel anything? What gives?!"
Rikuo looked to Yura for help but the onmyouji retracted her hand from him, taking a few steps back from him. He could feel her fear, but was confused as to why it was directed at him in his day form. Taking glance behind her Rikou realized that the rest of his classmates had equal expressions of disbelief and fear.
"W-What? W-Why are you guys looking at me like that?" They couldn't possibly know about him. Rikuo always took extra precautions to ensure that his servants stayed away from the group when they visited, besides Kejourou and Yuki Onna since they already met.
Something about his sentence seemed to snap Yura out of her fear. In a split second the fear in her face was replaced with a fierce glare full of hate, directed straight at him. Rikou instinctively took a step back as the onmyouji reached for her purse full of receipts.
"Um, w-what are you doing, Keikain-san?"
"I don't know who you are, but you better stop impersonating my friend, youkai!"
Rikou wanted to believe the whole thing was a joke, that it, until he spotted the burning hatred in Yura's gaze as she glared him down. The moment Yura called him youkai, his heart froze, fear slipping through his facade before Rikou pulled himself together.
"W-What are you talking about, Keikain-san? I'm human just like you-"
"Don't you dare lie to me!" Yura had an ofuda in her hand faster than he could blink, ready to moved at any sudden action. "What have you done with Nura-kun?"
Rikou allowed himself a brief moment of relief once he realized Yura's assumption had not exposed his identity. However, he couldn't let his guard down until he discovered what had given her such an idea.
"Keikain-san, it's really me! Why would you think that I'm a youkai?"
"I-I put up a seal in this room. Youkai can't enter, and just now you couldn't get in, could you?"
Realization dawned on Rikuo as he attempted to catch a glimpse of the seal in vain from outside. The wall he felt - it was the seal? Panic flooded him as he analyzed the situation. If he claimed to be a youkai impersonating himself, Yura would attack. If he proved to them he was himself, then his identity would be revealed and Yura… might attack. Rikuo internally debated between the two scenarios, neither one exactly ideal, before answering Yura after a long pause.
"Let me prove to you that I'm human! Ask me something only I would know!"
Yura tensed, her body screaming at her not to trust the youkai, that he was trying to deceive her, but the pleading look in Rikuo's eyes melted her resolve. She cursed herself for being so soft.
"Fine." Her voice was as hard as steel. "Kiyotsugu, you and the others come up with a question. You know Nura-kun better than I do."
Kiyotsugu nodded vigorously before remembering the onmyouji had her back to them. "S-Sure, Keikain-san. Come here guys."
The five middle-schoolers huddled together behind the protection of Yura, each of them utterly confused at the whole ordeal, but if Yura sensed danger it was nothing good. Rikou brightened when Yura accepted his request, the hopeful grin on his face striking guilt into his friends that had actually believed he was a youkai for a second.
"S-So, what's something that only Nura-kun would know?" Kiyotsugu started off, his nerves getting the better of him as his voice shook.
"M-Maybe the name of this week's youkai?" Shima asked.
"But couldn't the youkai have figured out that from our conversation?" Silence filled the air after Kiyotsugu's remark.
"Oh! I got it!" Kana's soft voice had all their heads whipping around in her direction. The brunette stumbled back from the sudden reaction, squirming under their gazes.
"What? Tell us!"
"Do you remember what Rikuo-kun used to say when we were kids? Back when he was obsessed with youkai?"
"You mean back when Kiyotsugu did that project about youkai being legends?"
"Oh, the irony…"
"Only Nura-kun would say something so outrageous."
Kiyotsugu looked back and forth between everyone's faces, each person giving a slight nod of the head in agreement. Satisfied with their unanimous selection, Kiyotsugu stood up and walked towards Yura, stopping when he was standing slightly behind her left side. Without turning away from the possible threat Yura moved her head up and down slowly, signaling that Kiyotsugu ask the question.
"I-If y-you're really Nura-kun, then what did you say after my presentation on youkai legends when we were kids and you said youkai existed?"
Yura's mask of concentration broke momentarily when she heard the question. Rikuo was no better, his face going white at the memory of his idiotic younger self, mentally cursing himself. There was no way out of this one, especially with the look that Yura gave him after she heard the question. She hadn't been unaware of his strange behavior back then and Rikuo had wanted to keep it that way with the onmyouji.
"Uwa, you guys chose something this embarrassing... "
"What's your answer?" Yura demanded.
Rikuo sighed in defeat. "I used to say that… my grandfather was the Supreme Commander of the youkai."
Kiyotsugu and the others cheered once their friend's innocence was proven, seemingly forgetting about the incident with the doorway. Yura dropped her hand holding the ofuda but remained staring at Rikuo with wide eyes. Rikuo simply offered her a sheepish smile and a small wave, shuffling from foot to foot outside the doorway.
"So it really is Nura-kun!"
"Thank goodness! If it was a real youkai I would've died!"
"Me too! The seal must be messed up."
"But Keikain-san passed through it just fine."
"Maybe things just can't enter the room?"
Kiyotsugu exited the room without meeting any resistance and stood side by side with Rikuo before taking a cautious step into the room, expecting to hit the barrier like Rikuo had.
The cheering stopped when Kiyotsugu entered with ease.
"What the-? But how come…"
Kiyotsugu suddenly reached out and grabbed the hand Rikuo was waving with and yanked him forward. Kiyotsugu's hand passed the threshold but the moment Rikuo's body made contact with the barrier he was slammed into the invisible wall.
"Ouch! Not again…"
The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"N-No way…"
"T-This can't be real."
"Nura-kun… is a youkai?!"
"How?!"
Yura finally felt her voice come back, her eyes narrowing at the boy who stood awkwardly in the doorway. "Didn't you guys just hear him? He just said it. Right, Nura-kun?"
All eyes turned to Rikuo once more. The part-youkai boy let out a nervous laughter. scratching the back of his head. Kana was the first to put the pieces together.
"S-So, you mean your grandfather is really Nurarihyon?"
Rikuo stuttered for a few moments and attempted to avoid eye contact, which failed miserably. The boy finally gave up on excuses and sighed again before slowly nodding his head.
"So, this really wasn't how I wanted you guys to find out. I'm human, but I'm also a youkai - well sort of. But, um, before I start explaining, can you guys please take down this seal?"
The End
(1) uho: ceremony performed by a onmyouji as protection against youkai
(2) ofuda: A type of talisman or amulet issued by a Shinto shrine.
Thank you to everyone who reads this! I literally have tons of these little plot bunnies that I'm going through - these little 'what ifs' and what not - so I'll probably have more stories for you to read soon. I've also started working on an epilogue chapter for What Happens on the Bus Stays on the Bus so keep an eye out for that too. Once again, thanks for reading!
-HimuroMiharu102398 (^_^)