Chapter Two
Disclaimer:
Nurarihyon no Mago © Shiibashi Hiroshi - I do not own the characters (wish I did though, lol)
All the watching youkai turned and fixed their eyes on Rikuo, waiting for his reaction. Dimly conscious of their stares, Rikuo struggled to compose his thoughts. He felt like breaking down and crying… but he knew he couldn't, not here. He'd only just managed to get these youkai to respect him - falling to pieces in front of them could undo it all in a second. Abruptly, Rikuo turned on his heel and roughly shoved his way out of the crowd, biting his lip in an attempt to control his feelings.
xxxxxx
Nurarihyon sighed as he watched Rikuo leave. 'He hoped for too much…' he thought, feeling sorry for putting his grandson through that ordeal. Rikuo was still a child, though, and would want to believe his father had returned. Hopefully now he would see that there was no way this man was his father.
Nurarihyon surveyed Rihan with distaste, and went through the possibilities. True, he had been able to recite the poem word for word… but then again, youkai existed that could extort memories. Those types of youkai couldn't shape-shift, but if he was part of a clan… Yes, that had to be it; the shapeshifter was acting as part of a team, and therefore this whole business must be part of a rival clan's attempt to… what? Everyone knew that Rihan was dead, and the impostor didn't even seem to have a cover story to explain his presence. Was he acting as a distraction so his clan could attack? Nurarihyon shook his head. It was no good to speculate idly. If he kept the imitation Rihan captive, he could get the full story from him, find out who was behind this, and dispose of them all.
Rihan, meanwhile, was thinking quickly to himself. What was going on? Why were they being so inconsiderate? They knew what had happened a week ago, and had all been understanding when he left… so now that he'd come back, why did they start questioning him about her and even say that she'd died? Didn't they understand how much that hurt! He'd barely been able to stop himself from crying! And now they were continuing to badger him with their suspicions and questions. He couldn't care less about all this impostor bullshit or the random kid who he'd been asked to recognize a while ago. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? He'd only come back here because the Sakura tree was the one place where he could really concentrate - but now he had to put up with all this instead!
"Kubinashi, Kurotabou!" Nurarihyon commanded, jerking Rihan out of his thoughts. The two youkai snapped to attention. "Take this man and guard him. I will continue to question him later."
"Yes, Nurarihyon-sama," the two youkai said in unison. Kurotabou grabbed Rihan's right arm roughly and Kubinashi his left.
Rihan stared at them. Up until now he'd been willing to patiently go along with their suspicions and questions until he figured out what was going on. But he wasn't going to put up with this. This was his house and those were his subordinates, and this old man was definitely not going to be allowed to do as he pleased. "Alright, somebody tell me right now who that old man is and why he's being allowed to order everyone around," he commanded, stepping forward to glare at Nurarihyon and dragging Kurotabou and Kubinashi with him.
When no-one answered, Rihan became more frustrated. "Why isn't anyone answering?" he demanded, as he looked around only to be greeted with hostile stares.
Kurotabou and Kubinashi tightened their grips on Rihan and wrenched him back to his previous position. "Because a prisoner isn't allowed to demand answers," Kurotabou replied icily. Rihan lost his temper. His nerves were already stretched to breaking point from the jarring reminders about his wife, and now this cold rebuttal from one of his closest subordinates was the last straw. "A prisoner? What the hell! You should be listening to me, not this old bastard!" Rihan yelled, jerking both arms from his subordinates and stepping in front of them.
The crowd of youkai gasped in horror at his words. "How dare you insult the Supreme Commander like that!" many of them shouted, infuriated. Others began assaulting Rihan with insults, and some even flared their fear. Kubinashi and Kurotabou glared murderously at Rihan, but stayed still. It was up to Nurarihyon to deal with this impostor.
Nurarihyon banged his pipe against an incense holder, making a loud ringing noise. The flood of insults died down immediately as everyone turned towards him. He looked Rihan in the eyes and said coolly, "Shouting at people isn't going to earn you any respect."
Rihan looked away and clenched his fists, suddenly all too aware that he'd made a fool of himself. He tried to calm down as his two subordinates seized his arms again and led him off.
"The rest of you," Nurarihyon addressed the remaining youkai, "go back to your normal duties. I will deal with this impostor myself."Chattering eagerly amongst themselves, the youkai slowly dissipated back into the main house and resumed their work.
xxxxxx
Rikuo ran into his room, slammed the sliding door shut then slid down it. His thoughts were racing.
Why didn't his father recognize him? He'd been dreaming for this moment to come for such a long time and then….and then his father didn't remember! What had he done? Had Rihan thrown him aside? Did he think him worthless? Rikuo tried hard to stop the tears accumulating in his eyes from falling. The new information mixed with his old fears to create a frightening possibility: Maybe, maybe Rihan had really wanted a son from that woman. Back when he was little, on that night, he had paid attention, despite what everyone thought. He recalled how Rihan had looked at the little girl, the face he'd made when he recited the exact words he had today. Today he'd looked the same way, perhaps even more pained. And he'd remembered her, only her. Neither his grandfather nor him had received any recognition. Perhaps Rihan didn't really want him. He was just there to take over the clan when the time came, and nothing else.
This time Rikuo couldn't stop his tears from falling. He grasped his knees and cried.
xxxxxx
Several hours passed. Rikuo didn't move.
His tears had dried up by now and he felt a little better. He was going through some old memories of his father. In the earliest ones he was always being held closely, protectively. The love he felt radiating from the person holding him soothed him. Yes - his father had loved him…but did he still love him now? How could he forget him if he had loved him? Rikuo continued along his memories to stop himself from thinking. When he learned how to walk, he was always running around and causing trouble. His father was more distant now but he occasionally still held him. Rikuo loved the early memories the most. He skipped the memories of that night completely.
Eventually, while he was dejectedly going through today's encounter, he reached a point he hadn't paid much attention to before: "…Yes, I know it may look like Rihan, but appearances can be deceiving,"
Rikuo gasped. He clung to the idea his grandfather's voice had given him like a drowning man. Suddenly everything didn't seem as bad: His dad hadn't forgotten him nor thrown him aside, the man today was an impostor! Yes, his real father would never say anything like that! His dad had cared for him!
Then Rikuo remembered how easily he had fallen into the shapeshifter's trap. He frowned. His grandfather had been right… he was too naive. A child. Rikuo clenched his fists. He was the Third Heir to the Nura clan, and he couldn't afford to make such big mistakes. He would make sure to learn from this and never be fooled again.
As for the impostor, he'd do all he could to help his grandfather get some answers out of him.
Author's notes: OH MY GOD! This chapter was an absolute PAIN to write! :C And it wasn't even the whole chapter that was difficult - just the middle scene with Rihan in it. ARGH. Allen and I must have revised that scene like, a billion times!
Well angry ranting aside, thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! :D It felt awesome to get reviews and it made us really motivated XD
And by the way, it'd be great if you could vote in our poll: Would you like to see shounen-ai in this fanfic? The link is on my profile page c:
