Heritage

By: erish d'salmon luver

Author's Ramble: As usual, my muse went overboard and made this supposed-to-be-one shot longer than I intended to. So yeah, the end of first chapter wasn't actually quite the end, I was just teasing you guys~ I decided to cut this fanfic into multi chapters otherwise it would be too long to be one-shot.

P.S. Sorry if I make Yura seemed overly sensitive and weak character at most time this story. I wanted to make a character development from a guilty-ridden girl to be a stronger and more confident woman. I like strong Yura, but Yura with her flaws and darkness seemed more real.

P.S.S. I put hints of another couple… well, not much of hints, as I revealed them at the end..

Disclaimer: NuraMago is not mine yada yada yada… if it's ever be mine, I only wanted to put Yura on spotlight every time.

XXX

Chapter 02: Haven

Yura watched her surrounding; Senga Falls sure looked beautiful in summer, but she didn't come here to appreciate the beauty. She walked farther to the south and Shouei followed her faithfully, if only to ensure her safety. It was only two of them; the young youkai leader had told his subordinates not to come along with them, for this was a private moment for the her. She gave him small smile of gratitude for his concern.

The girl knew she had imposed the big youkai so much. She just suddenly appeared on his doorstep, with small luggage of what little she had, elucidated that she had left her clan and would like to stay here for unknown period of time. The reason? So that she could stay nearer to the place where she had last seen him.

The young man just shrugged his shoulder, took her luggage with him and showed her the room she would be occupied.

She was glad that Shouei didn't say anything or pry further. She was, for sure, tired of answering the same questions over and over again.

"How could you?"

"Have you not thinking about the clan at all?"

"When will you be back?"

"Did the boy really mean so much for you?"

"You're just running away."

The words Ryuuji said had been in her mind, deeper than any other words the clan elders or her cousins had spoken to her.

What's wrong with running away? At least I'm not trying to kill myself off!

With that thoughts, Yura steeled her heart and packed her stuff. The next night fall she took the train and left Kyoto.

XXX

Shouei watched the small girl knelt in front of one particular spot on the ground. The color of the dirt was darker than the rest, even after many passing days. It was the same spot that the black clad warrior of Keikain had fallen, in order to protect the young heiress. Or maybe this Mamiru did it to protect the woman whom he loved, as Shouei speculated so. Otherwise how could this man could be so selfless and throw away his life so easily?

"Shouei-kun, I'm done here," a soft voice broke his train of thought. He stared at the young woman before him; eyes red and glistened from unshed tears, yet her voice didn't tremble a bit. He had expected her to break down again, just like that night when she cried against him. He knew he shouldn't, yet he kind of liked the way her small figure clung to him like her life depended on him. The feel of being needed, even for just a pillar of support after losing the one you love; he would like to experience it once more. Just like how he felt needed by Nura Clan –by Nura Rikuo—to be his pillar of support for defeating enemies who threatening the safety of Nura Gumi.

He thought a little bit about her circumstances. She already let him see her in her sad state of grieving, maybe it was fair of him to let her know about the people that he'd lost; the reason that strive him to revitalize his clan and return it to its glory, just like back in the day of his late father's leadership. With that in his mind, he offered her his hand, a small smile on his face.

"Well, if you don't mind, would you like to accompany me as well?"

She was hesitant a little bit, but at the end took his much larger hand and let him lead her away to a more secluded area. The greens and the trees were thicker, yet as they kept walking for quite a while they reached a clearing on the edge of a cliff. A giant stone with talisman stood tall on it; it looked like a monument. But as she took a look closer, Shouei could see realization dawned upon her.

It was a grave.

"Who—"

"My father," he cut her question, "along with the most powerful members of Hihi Clan. They were murdered years ago."

"…By who?"

"Muchi, from Shikoku."

She snapped her head to look directly at him, her eyes widen and mouth agape. "I fought with them not long after I transferred to Ukiyo-e when I was younger," she confessed, "He was targeting Nura-jii-chan and I tried to protect him, but at the end he escaped…"

She drew a long breath and released a heavy sigh, her eyes were misty.

"I just realized, ever since I was kid, I was more a burden than a help… When I tried to protect people, most of the time I failed, and ended up getting saved, again and again and again… at the end I lost the people that I loved, the one I wanted to protect… My ojii-chan, even Mamiru-kun…"

She cast a low gaze onto the ground, her voice rose slightly, "I'm so useless! Just because I'm Hagun summoner it doesn't mean I suddenly know how to lead a clan! Look at the mess I am now! Because I'd lost the man that I loved, I threw away my responsibility and dumped it on my brother! I couldn't defend myself from youkai attack, and someone's always being hurt because of me!"

She was crying again. Shouei couldn't stand to see all the hurt and pain that washed over the girl, so he held her shoulders firmly in his large hands and glared at her, effectively cutting her short and she stared back at him. How many times now he saw her brown eyes redden from over-crying in a short time he'd met her?

"You are not useless, Yura-sama," he tried to keep his voice as gentle as possible, "From what I've heard from Supreme Commander, he was grateful you were there to protect him. He saw what a big talent you were, a gem among the other great Onmyouji, even in your young age. And even though I never really knew about this Mamiru person, or your grandfather, I'm sure they thought the same. You are a jewel worth protecting, and you've done your best already to protect the people around you."

She looked like she wanted to protest, but Shouei cut her off. He wanted her to know that she shouldn't think so low of herself.

"I know we are not close, but from what I've seen since our younger battle days, you always put other people's safety first in mind, without regard of your own safety. You managed to defeat enemies that even my clan couldn't stand up to. You, who were still just a little girl barely past her teen. So there was no way to think that you are useless, Yura-sama."

He let go of her small shoulders, his hand hung limply on his sides. "I know it's really late to say this, but I want to express my gratitude to you for standing up against Muchi. Even if you failed to finish the leader, I heard from Nurarihyon-sama that you've defeated all his subordinates. I felt like you had helped me to take revenge on what they'd done to my clan, especially to my father."

Shouei knelt down in front of the smaller girl, his head bowed in respect.

"I thank you with all my heart. You said that you're indebted to me, but in fact I'm the one who indebted to you, Yura-sama."

He stood up and stared at her again. She was still crying, but there was a faint smile made its way through her lips. She looked like a heavy burden had just been lifted from her shoulders; the same small shoulders he just held before. He could still feel the warmth from the contact.

He approached her, and she needed to raise her head again for she barely reached his hips (he totally dwarfed her). Her tiny frame shook ever so slightly, and this time he leaned his body forward to keep her at eye level as his hand reached out to brush out her tears. She startled a little bit, but finally closed her eyes and relaxed to his touch.

'Too trusting, too much trusting to a stranger like me,' he thought. From what Rikuo had told him, this girl usually acted brash and too stubborn for her own good. They always bickered whenever they've met. Rikuo always called her "tsundere" and she would lashed out to the Third Head. She always acted opposite of what she actually felt inside her heart. Yet this girl, who stood before him right now, bared her feelings to a stranger whom she just got closer with; a youkai, even!

He withdrew his hand from her face and he swore that she leaned closer, as if seeking the lost warmth of his fingers. Her swollen lips pouted a little bit and Shouei felt his heart skipped a beat as her half-lidded eyes stared at him through thick eyelashes. He reached out to her again, this time to cup her small face gently, as if granting her wish for comfort. She smiled and covered the back of his hand with both of her hands (and they were still smaller than one of his hand).

"Thank you for your kind words, Shouei-kun. Thank you for cheering me up and trying to lift up my spirit. I felt like I chose the right place and right companion to heal the wound in my heart."

XXX

Yura noted the changing color of the leaves hung on the tree surrounding the forest. She was walking down the path to Senga Falls; a routine she faithfully done once every month. She always came at the same date to commemorate the death of Mamiru. She didn't want him to be forgotten from her memory. Before she knew it, it was already one and a half year since she left Keikain Clan and stayed at Shouei's territory. She never failed to pay her respect to the man she'd loved (or more likely downing in her misery, as Ryuuji once said to her when he visited her).

Every once in a while her brother would show up and gave her update of the clan's situation in Kyoto. Out of her big, big family, only Ryuuji had the privilege of knowing where she lived now. And out of her small circle of friends, only Nura Rikuo knew about her whereabouts, but that was inevitable since the place she stayed in now belonged to one of his group.

Yura glanced at her silent companion beside her. Shouei, even as he claimed that he was busy trying to rebuild his clan, always manage to find a space in what little free time he had to accompany her on her pilgrimage. His towering figure brought some comfort to her, as if he reminded her of a shadow of another big figure that always stood beside her. When she closed her eyes, she could pretend that the man in red haori was another person in black robe and his multicolored hair was orange instead. She shook her head as soon as the thought crossed her mind; it was rude of her to compare this gentle beast to a dead man.

Somehow, Shouei had a keen understanding of her need. When she first settled down in his house, he ordered his subordinates to treat her with respect; the same way they would treat the Third Heir of Nura Gumi. He always escorted her whenever she went outside his house, no matter how busy he was. He even built a small cabin nearby the spot where Mamiru had fallen, which served as temporary shelter in rainy season or a small retreat place when she wanted to be alone. He always knew whenever she wanted solitude or when she wanted some company. When she woke up screaming from the frequent nightmare of the last moment of Mamiru, he always rushed to her side to calm her down.

The first time she got her nightmare in this place, he sat beside her with panic colored his face. As he reached out to hold her hands, she shot out of confine of her blanket and tackled him. Before he knew it, her small figure already crouched on his abdomen and her fists clutched his sleeping yukata like her life was depending on it. She trembled so hard; yet even with all the shivering she still could feel the big youkai slowly and hesitantly warped his arms around her tiny body and pulled her into awkward embrace. She knew she shouldn't, but she felt his big arms washed away the tension and terror her nightmare brought and gave her comfort. Something that she couldn't even achieved in the domain on her own clan, but she found it at the place and with the person she least expected to.

'Maybe because his big figure reminded me so much with Mamiru-kun, and his hands are always feel so gentle just like Mamiru-kun…' she silently thought.

Oh. Bad Yura. She compared Shouei with Mamiru, again.

XXX

"Your hair is getting longer," he noted. They were on the way back to the village after her "pilgrimage", as she'd like to call it. Shouei reached out to take some silky strands of hair of the Onmyouji before him. Her hair was almost reaching her waist now; she never cut it even once since her arrival at his place. He smiled softly as he released the hair and let it fall back to its place. "It suited you," he added.

He grinned triumphantly as he caught sight of pink tints on her pale cheeks. She muttered a quiet "thank you" as she turned away and continued walking. The ape youkai suddenly felt a bit mischievous; he wanted to tease the young woman in front of him and tested how far he could push her button.

"But you know," he started, "When you grow out your hair like this, somehow you resembled Tsurara- nee-san."

Yura stopped walking.

"Oh?" she turned her head slowly, her demeanor changed drastically. "So what you mean to say is that I try to make myself look like that Yuki Onna?"

He smirked as she took the bait successfully. "Well, you've said it yourself. I only just realized it myself that your long hair looks like hers, only the shades are different. Were you trying to catch someone else's attention by growing out your hair like Tsurara-nee-san?"

"Why you— of course not! Are implying that I try to catch Nura-kun's attention by trying to be more like Yuki Onna?!"

"Oh, did you just admit that you like Rikuo-sama? You do know that he had officially courting Tsurara nee-san, right?" he snickered. This woman was really fun to tease. No wonder Rikuo loved to mock and argue with her every time they've met.

"I DID NOT! I never feel that way to that stupid Head of yours! I just wanted to grow out my hair, that's all!" she fumed. Shouei couldn't hold back his laughter anymore. She looked so adorable when she was angry with her cheeks puffed like a hamster. Her eyes were fiery and her skin flushed; she would look menacing if not because of her dwarf-sized body compared to him. She looked like a tiny barking Chihuahua that Shouei couldn't help but swept her off to his arms and pressed his cheeks against hers.

"Sorry, Yura-sama, you're just too fun to tease!" he said between laugh, "And you're just the cutest thing when you tried to look scary with that tiny body of yours!"

Yura tried to push him away with her small hands but to avail; he wasn't even budging at all. She puffed an air of annoyance before settling herself in his embrace.

"Well, sorry for being small," she hissed, her arms crossed over her breasts, "But you were really going too far, Shouei-kun, talking about my feeling like that! I might never really like that Yuki Onna, but I still respect her. Of course I won't go meddling between those two lovebirds! And actually…"

This time she was the one who smirked. He suddenly got a bad feeling of this.

"I heard from the other youkai in your house, that actually the leader of Kanto Great Ape Alliance is quite smitten with Yuki Onna."

He gaped and became flustered, almost dropped the onmyouji to the ground.

"Wh-who told you THAT?!"

The Onmyouji just rolled her eyes playfully and shrugged her shoulders. Damn woman.

He slowly lowered her to the ground, but he still held her close. He put himself down to look at her evenly on the eyes. "It was in the past, okay? And I wasn't smitten, as you put it that way. I just admired her strength and loyalty to Rikuo-sama. And it wasn't just me, okay? Gozumaru also liked her, and if I'm not mistaken, one of your human friend liked her too, right?"

She giggled softly, "Oh yeah, Shima-kun was also smitten by her… Poor him, when Nura-kun said that he was dating Yuki Onna officially… I never knew a boy could make such heartbroken expression like that."

"So, what about you?" he asked as he straightened himself up, "Any other guy you had a crush to? Or anyone ever smitten by you?"

She put her index finger on her lips, a frown marred her face. "Hmmm~ not anyone I ever heard of… Though I remember once I had a crush with Akifusa-nii-chan when I was little… And then there was Mamiru-kun…"

Shouei cringed inwardly. He felt like he wanted to smack himself, hard. Topic such as crushes and loves were still a sensitive issue with this woman, and he just asked about it casually. How could he be so insensitive about her feelings? She was getting better day by day, yes, but sometimes she still got the nightmare about that day and he hated to see her crying for hours because of that. Because of this Mamiru person.

Because of a dead person.

He kind of expected her to break down right now and then, so he was surprised to see her smiling fondly as she reminisced her lost love.

"Heh, I think the only person who ever got smitten by me was only Mamiru-kun. Who else could fall for tomboy and brash girl like me?"

"… your other cousins?"

She smacked his arm, which packed quiet strength considering her small frame.

"…Jerk. But I think I may intimidate them more than smitten them. I might not as scary as Ryuuji-nii-chan when I trained the young apprentices, but I heard rumor that my huge spiritual power and my shikigami arsenals were too much for them to handle."

"… No kidding. Even Rikuo-sama told me one time that he doesn't want to mess with you if you're consumed by anger. He still want to live a long life."

"Then tell him to cut out the tease and prank. I also want to keep my sanity but your dearest Third Head doesn't want to leave me alone."

"He's… just looking out for you. You know his Night side isn't as honest as his Day side. Underneath his arrogance and overconfidence, he cares deeply about his family, his friends, his Hyakki Yakou… and also you."

He took another handful of her long hair between his long fingers, and then brought it to his nose and he took a whiff of faint lavender scent. The smell was pleasant to his sensitive sense and he brought the strands of hair to his lips and kissed it gently.

"Teasing aside, I really meant what I said before, Yura-sama. The long hair really suits you and you look really pretty. I'm sure there are many people who got smitten by you, because you are worthy to be admired. You might be tomboy and brash, but you are strong and full of passion. Even I admire you, you know?"

She turned her head away with a quiet "hump", and Shouei caught another glimpse of blushing cheeks. He smiled to himself. The one and a half year she'd spent here had brought them two closer; to the point where they were comfortable with casual physical contact or baring their deepest worry and fear to each other. She let him see her during her depression and her weakest state, and in turn Shouei confided on her whenever he found obstacle of rebuilding his village or if he fought with the other youkai (mainly Rikuo and Zen). They enjoyed each other's company and seldom seen without each other.

Shouei leaned closer to swept her once again in bridal style. Though he enjoyed the slow pace she took, he was hungry and they were still a distance away from home. It wasn't that she was slow, but her paces was so much shorter than his that he felt they walked too slow, so most of the time when he lost patience he just picked her up and stode away. At the beginning she would always protest "Put me down, I can walk by myself" and all, but afterwards she just sighed and let him do whatever he wanted. The young youkai would cheered himself inwardly because he secretly loved the feel of her (almost nonexistent) weight in his arms and her warm body pressed against him. Her presence brought changes in his household and became significant in his mundane life, and for the first time in his short youkai life, he found something he wanted to protect outside of his clan and Nura Gumi.

XXX

A/R: More fluffs to come by next chapter! If you enjoyed this fanfic please leave some reviews! Any comments, points, and constructive criticisms are welcome~ Flame, however, will be used for my next BBQ party XD