Hi everyone! sorry for the late chapter. I've been really busy, and well... i got really lazy as well, but here... I'm going to finish this story no matter what!
"How dare you loiter around my territory." his voice was cold. The slit mouthed woman gasped as she recognized Rikuo's form and jumped back a few feet away. He eyed the woman with narrowed eyes. She wasn't that dangerous, but she was extremely fast so it would be a problem if she would be able to make it past him.
"Aotaba, get them out of here." Rikuo ordered as he rushed towards the kuchisake-onna with Nenekimaru.
"Right!"Aotabo grabbed Yura who was holding Rihan tightly. He then took off to bring them somewhere clashing of blades were soon heard as Rikuo and the other yokai battled.
Yura, who had been frozen a while back snapped out of her shock as she realized Aotabo was carrying her away. Aotabo stopped running for a while and gently placed them both down at a tree a kilometer away from the fight. Rihan felt his mothers body tense and he looked up at her with a worried face.
"Mom?" he asked softly. Aotabo knelt in front of them.
"Are you two okay? Stay here..." Aotabo froze as he saw Yura's face clearly.
"Y-Yura-sama?" he said slowly. He blinked a few more times, making sure that his eyes weren't playing games with him.
Yura looked panicked. She suddenly stood up and turned to leave. Aotabo quickly stood and took a hold of her shoulder.
"Wait! Yura-sama, it really is you! Where have you been all this time, the young master-" Aotabo stopped talking as Yura looked back at him with a desperate look.
"Mom? What's wrong?" a small voice made Aotabo look down at the child Yura was holding. He blinked once again. The child looked a lot like Rikuo had when he was a child. The hair style and face really looked like Rikuo's when he was small. The wheels in his head started turning. His eyes widened even more as he processed the information and he unconsciously let go of her and stepped back a bit.
"Please excuse me." Yura managed to let out before running off. "Ha? Wait!" Aotabo made a move to go after her but stopped as a loud piercing scream of a woman was hear. He looked back from the direction he had come from.
"Ah, Rikuo-sama must have won, eh!? Wait, Yura-sama!" he turned but Yura and the child were no where to be seen. He looked around and muttered a few string of curses under his breath. He then rushed off to go back to Rikuo.
Yura kept on running, making sure no one would be able to sense her spirit energy.
'This is bad... he saw me... he'll surely tell Rikuo, I need to leave...'
"Why the rush, Yura-chan?" Yura frowned as Hidemoto appeared beside her, keeping up with her.
"Gramps!" Rihan looked startled at the sudden appearance of Hidemoto.
"Don't just appear as you wish, hurry up and return." Yura hissed. Hidemoto merely chuckled.
"Now, now Yura-chan, control your temper, he really looked cool a while back, ne?" Hidemoto said in a teasing tone.
"The man who stopped that evil yokai?" Rihan said as he looked at Hidemoto who beamed at him.
"Yes, that my dear, was the lord of the Pandomenium, Nura Rikuo." Hidemoto said and Yura stopped running as she gave Hidemoto a glare.
"Really? That was the Nura clan's leader? Yeah, he was really, really cool!" Rihan said in an excited voice which made Yura look at him.
"He's a friend of your mother too. They both go way baaacckkkk!" Hidemoto said which earned him another glare from Yura.
Rihan looked at Yura with confused eyes. "Mom knows him? But I've never heard anything about him from mom." he said in awe.
Yura froze and looked torn as Hidemoto placed a hand on her head.
"You should tell him the truth." he said with a gentle smile and winked before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Rikuo sighed as he sheathed Nenekimaru.
"Good job Rikuo-sama!" Tsurara cheered as she neared him, followed by Kurutabo. Rikuo just smirked as he looked at the two.
"Rikuo-sama!" the three turned to see Aotabo coming towards them.
"Ao, were you able to bring that mother-child pair to safety?" Kurutabo asked as Aotabo halted in front of them.
"Yes. Wait, no, ah! I mean yes, but, well..." the three looked at him with raised brows.
"Calm down, which is it? Did you bring them to safety or not?" Rikuo asked.
"I did! But they got away!" Aotabo said exasperatedly.
"Got away? What do you mean?" Tsurara asked, looked at all of them seriously.
"That woman was Yura-sama." he said and Tsurara and Kurutabo frowned. Rikuo's face became blank.
"What are you talking about? Yura-sama has been missing for over five years. If she was going to come back, I doubt that she wouldn't come here first." Kurutabo said.
"That's right, are you sure you're alright?" Tsurara asked. Aotabo looked at them both with a growl.
"It was her! I'm sure of it! And... there was something... or rather... someone with her... that child..." Aotabo frowned. He looked at Rikuo who noticed it.
"Rikuo-sama, I have something I want to ask you..." he said in a serious tone.
"Mom, are you okay? You don't look so well..." Rihan said worriedly as his mother sat him on the bed. It had been really quiet as they had walked back to the hotel they were staying at.
Yura smiled at him sadly. "I'm fine Rihan, but, what about you? You didn't get hurt, did you?" Yura knelt in front of him. Rihan smiled at her reassuringly.
"I'm okay, because mom protected me!" he said confidently. Yura smiled warmly at him.
"And Nura-sama as well! He was really cool. But, I didn't get to see his face!" the young boy added suddenly. Yura's smile disappeared and she looked at Rihan sadly.
"Mom?" Rihan reached out to touch Yura's face. Yura smiled another sad smile as she felt his small hands touch her face.
"Rihan, remember... you used to ask who your father was, all the time?" she suddenly asked. Rihan nodded.
"Uh-huh. You said he was a really good person. Uncle Zen said so as well, and that he's a quarter yokai..." Rihan said and blinked at her.
"Rihan, remember, I love you so much... and I'm sure, your father would have loved you as well... if he knew about you." Rihan looked at Yura with wide eyes.
Rikuo sat at his usual perch on the huge tree as he looked at the bright round moon. He was holding a small cup of sake which was still untouched.
"Yo, Rikuo, you seem to be in deep thought." Rikuo tore his gaze away from the moon as he looked down to find a grinning Zen who was looking at him.
"Zen..." he muttered.
"Well, what's bothering you? I heard that you were able to finish that yokai off a while back, so what's with the sour mood." Zen asked.
"Aotabo claimed that he saw Yura." Rikuo said coolly as he jumped down, and still managing not to spill any of the sake. Zen froze.
"Really? And?" Zen asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice. Rikuo shrugged.
"He must have been imagining it. Yura would never come back here..." Rikuo said in a hard voice.
"What makes you think that?" Zen raised a brow at him.
Rikuo snickered. "And why not?" he ran a hand through his hair. "Yura suddenly disappeared after our divorce. Then I find out from Ryuuji that she had resigned from her position as the head of the Keikain clan. No one couldn't find her. You know how I tried to search for her." he said in a tired voice.
Zen nodded. Yes, he knew how Rikuo had reacted when they were informed of Yura's resignation. He started to search for her, through every area in Kyoto, Ukiyoe town and other places she might have gone to, even though Akifusa had assured them that she was alright.
"There was no trust between us." Zen looked back at Rikuo who had thrown the sake away and leaned on the tree.
"Rikuo..."
"She suddenly left like that... I'm sure she was going through something... before she suggested the divorce... I knew... but, I foolishly agreed to her request. And she suddenly disappears without a letter, or even a good bye! Was it so bad that I was partly a yokai, and still am that she would never tell me her problems? I trusted her with my problems... I told them her... but... not once has she said anything to me... she didn't trust me enough." Rikuo smiled painfully as he covered a his eyes with a hand.
"Rikuo, that's not true..." Zen frowned. He didn't like to see Rikuo in such pain. 'Or maybe it is?'
"Then Aotabo asked me something... he asked me if I had gotten Yura pregnant?" Rikuo chuckled. Zen's eyes widened.
"I told him, I didn't know. Yura never told me anything... but I don't think she was..." Rikuo muttered. Zen took a deep breath and looked at Rikuo seriously.
"Rikuo... Aotabo wasn't seeing things..." Zen suddenly said. Rikuo looked up at him and raised a brow.
"What are you saying?" Rikuo glared at him. Zen winced.
"Rikuo... I'm sorry... All these years... I knew where she was." Zen said and looked straight at his eyes. Rikuo's eyes widened and he stood up straight as he grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes at him.
"Look, I know you're angry..." Zen started as Rikuo walked towards him dangerously.
"But, if Yura-sama really was spotted by Aotabo, then she must have seen him too right?" Rikuo held him by the collar of his robes roughly.
"I have a lot of explaining to do, but so little time to do so." Rikuo held on his shook him a bit.
"You hid this from me!? You knew and didn't tell me? Why would you do that?" Rikuo asked, his voice showed anger, confusion and hurt.
"I can explain Rikuo, everything- urk!" Rikuo dropped Zen on the ground.
"What? Are you going to explain as to why Aotabo would ask if I managed to get Yura pregnant as well?" Rikuo muttered darkly. This earned a laughing fit from Zen. Rikuo narrowed his eyes at him.
"Rikuo... hah." Zen managed to stop and grin again. "You have no idea how clueless you are. And the answer to Aotabo's question... yes." Zen said cheekily as Rikuo's eyes widened.
"I'd love to explain everything to you from the start, but... I'm sure, it would be better if you heard it from Yura-sama herself." Zen said as he stood.
"So, shall we go see her Rikuo?" Zen winked at him playfully.
I'm so sorry for the really late update... but, I'll try to update soon... Thank you for reading and thanks to those who mentioned my mistakes. I'll try my best to avoid those mistakes. Reviews are welcome!