A/N: Here the promised Itaku x Reika scene! Also to AnimeLover423, I updated fast because I'm on a vacation~ I don't have much thing to do at home, so I let my fingers do the magic XD
Warnings: Genderswitch.
Disclaimer: I do not own Nurarihyon no Mago and the characters, but the OC belongs to me. ಠ_ಠ
Summary: Thanks to everyone who work their asses out to make the ship lands safely, they arrive at Kyoto unharmed. Later, Reika meets the person that her grandfather mentioned to her in the previous chapter.
"What about this 'Genius seal' you mentioned?" An angry Kyoto Police practically yelling to the 27th head of the Keikain family.
"Genius? Who're you talking about? Me perhaps?"
"What? Who's that guy?" the Kyoto Governor asks to the other Keikain onmyouji.
The previous leader chuckles slightly from this question.
"I'm Hidemoto~ " He replies with a cheeky tone.
"What are you talking about? Hidemoto's over here, isn't here?" The Kyoto Governor questions the previous leader once again – he's absolutely confused from the chat they're having right now.
"Well obviously... I'm Hidemoto the 13th" the cunning previous leader smiles once again, revealing himself.
Everyone was muttering to each other. Of course to them, they barely have any idea about him, but to the Keikain family – his return was bizarre. Hidemoto Keikain the 13th was a famous onmyouji who recently got summoned by Yura's Hagun. Despite his sly personality, he really is a clever yet cunning man.
"Ah~ First let me say~ the last seal at Nijou Castle will fall!" (A/N: :D Hidemoto's current expression.) He explains cheerfully – which leads to another major confusion by the sons of Keikain.
"Seriously, that fox lady sure is strong~~ and all her underlings gathered under that ambition... They're all major players too, you know~"
"You can't be serious..." the Kyoto Governor replies, disbelieving Hidemoto's explanation.
"Besides, there's no way humans could ever win against those thousand-year-old, big deal youkai~" He added again, waving his hand in an up and down motion.
"We should just let them have that old castle!" He laughs harder as he said this.
Here, people from the governments not to mention the sons of Keikain doubt themselves. They thinks that Hidemoto is just taking this matters lightly, even though he really is not.
"However, there, they'll be on the defensive." Hidemoto finally breaks from his sly act, getting more serious now.
"It was the same 400 years ago... Hagoromo Kitsune will be trying to give birth at the Nijou Castle."
Slowly, the sons of Keikain manage to grasp his major idea. They look to each other and grins as if they could see the future – where they manage to beat the old fox.
"In order to beat them, we need two things... The first is the Hagun, and that means – Yura-chan!" As he said this, everyone shifted their looks on the young onmyouji girl.
"Everyone take care of this kid, okay~? " Hidemoto adds with a flirty tone.
"Then, the other thing we need is the spirit blade which can cut through youkai! We've got to send out a high-speed messenger to Edo right away! To see Nurarihyon!"
"That sword... is the one called 'Nenekirimaru', correct?" Ryuuji cuts the previous head's words.
"Oh my, what's this..? There's actually someone here who's done their homework!" Hidemoto replies happily.
"Right now, the sword is in the hands... of the Granddaughter of Nurarihyon." Ryuuji explains.
Hidemoto stares at the shorter onmyouji, disbelieved from what he just said.
"Did you say… 'His' granddaughter …?"
XXXXX
Because of the attack earlier in previous chapter, they barely made themselves out alive from the ship. Who would ever think of a troop of youkai attacking their ship when the foe's commander is still there. The result is their ship getting a major damage and it's about to descends.
But thanks to Kubinashi, Itaku, Shoei and Reira, they manage to make the ship land safely. Reika breathes in a relieved sigh once they're on the water, but seriously; if it wasn't because of the river, they might also been dead by now.
Itaku climbs up to the deck, noticing the young mistress on her butt, thanks to the impact, she feels wobbly to even stand up. He walks towards her and pokes the young heiress's cheek softly, gesturing for her to take his hand. She looks at his hand curiously, but she took it without asking anything.
Itaku smiles to himself. He has always enjoys her warmth.
The young heiress in the other hand couldn't see his act of kindness was out of his interest towards her. She has always thought that the other is acting weirdly, but somehow she feels funny in the inside.
"Kyoto looks very bad." She says.
Somewhere along the line, Hidemoto the 13th has found the Nura Clan. This was due to information given by one of the Keikain son who informed that there was a large ship which crashed at the river not long ago.
After some explanation later, the onmyouji brought the clan into the Keikain household. He's providing them protection overnight, before heading to the first spiral seal mentioned by Hakuzoku in the next day.
Of course, Hidemoto's action aren't pleasing some of the sons of Keikain, but knowing the 13th's reputation – he might have some kind of plan in his head. (A/N: even though he currently doesn't.)
Hidemoto provides them with a big, spacious place for the youkai to sleep in for a night, letting them recover from the long ride from Tokyo to Kyoto. Apparently at first, some of the Nura Clan youkai hesitated since it's an onmyouji's house but Reika put her trust into Hidemoto because Nurarihyon did mentioned his name to her. The other reason was Yura.
By night, the young heiress walks up to the second floor, an empty room which has a corridor facing towards the big sakura tree, resembling the one they had back at home. The young heiress smiles gently at the view, she then sit at the same spot where Nurarihyon used to sit when he came to eat at the onmyouji's house. The sakura looks gentle, fragrant yet ephemeral. Reminding her to the story that her grandfather used to tell her when she was little, the story about her grandmother – Princess Yo.
"Reika-chan, do you like this room?"
The young heiress turns around to face the taller figure as he slides the screen door open. She nods in reply, lifting up the red sake cup which was provided there to her mouth level, sipping it.
"Hidemoto, wants some drink?" She offers the onmyouji.
Hidemoto, with a cunning smile, accepts the offering. He sits across her in the corridor, holding up an empty cup of sake, gesturing for her to pour it for him.
Of course, the yakuza heiress pours some sake, filling the small cup on his hand and watches the onmyouji drink.
"You know, you really resemble that guy right now, Nurarihyon. Time passed surprisingly fast when you're dead huh~~ I've never thought that he would have a grandchild already by now." Hidemoto laughs upon saying this, lifting his knee so he could rest his hand on it.
"Ah, Akagappa said that too." She replies shortly, her eyes shifts from the onmyouji to the ephemeral sakura tree.
The young heiress watches as one of the petals fall in her sake cup. She smiles – sipping a drink from her cup once again.
"The old man told me to meet you when I got here. I've never thought that you will come to me yourself." She adds, gesturing so the onmyouji would pour sake into her cup.
The young heiress glances at the sake which slowly filling her cup.
"What kind of relationship that grandpa used to have with Keikain back then?" She asks out of curiosity.
The onmyouji who's wearing a white onmyouji cloth that resembles Hagun snickers at her question. He never thought that the pretty granddaughter of his favourite youkai would be so interested in her grandfather's past.
"Well, Nurarihyon is an odd youkai. He's actually the only one that came to eat... at the house of an onmyouji." He replies while a comical sweat drops fall from his head.
"What about my grandmother?" She asks again.
Hidemoto's eyes widen slightly, out of amusement, but the young heiress couldn't see his reaction since she's pretty much into watching the sakura outside the corridor.
"Princess Yo, she's... pretty. Just like you, Reika-chan~" He answers in his usual flirty tone.
The young heiress chuckles in reply. She might take it as a compliment too.
Hidemoto glances to his side as the screen door slides open once again, revealing the kamaitachi in front of the door. The onmyouji stands up, smiling slyly to the kamaitachi before exiting the room without saying anything.
The kamaitachi watches at the onmyouji walks out – now he's debating either he should go in, or not. In the other hand, the young heiress seems to not noticing that the 13th had walk away from the seat, since she seems to be deep in her thought.
"What are you thinking about, Reika?" the kamaitachi asks as he walks into the room, breaking the silence.
Reika jolts in surprise, looking for the onmyouji that just left the room, just to find out that he's waving at her from the first floor. She could hear the kamaitachi sigh, but she chooses to ignore it, and continue sipping on her sake while leaning her back on the wooden wall.
"I was thinking that... am I fit to be the supreme commander?" She replies, half asking for the kamaitachi's opinion – but he's not saying anything but staring straight into her eyes.
"Why're you staring like that?" She asks with a hint of surprise in her tone, before putting her sake cup down and crawls into the room from the corridor.
She lands on her side as she reached at the middle of the room, closing her eyes while drifting into her thoughts once again. Those who exchanged sakazuki with her had a great trust and expectation towards the young heiress. If she fails, she would most probably bring everyone down.
Just then that she feels something warm hovering her. The kamaitachi holds his sickle on her throat level –
"Aren't I always telling you never to disperse your fear?" he warns, just like the first time they had stepped out from Tono Village.
The young heiress gasps slightly in surprise, but she just lays silent afterwards, staring into the mahogany optics of the kamaitachi. Eventually, the male sets his sickle away, but he's pushing his own weight on her, locking his own pair of lips with the other's soft lips.
The young heiress was caught off guard – Itaku seems to be getting the best of her. Apparently the young heiress was too surprised to react, so she's currently not replying the kiss yet.
"I told you, you always get yourself in trouble. Now, you got yourself with a trouble named Itaku." he said as he pulls back, staring into the beautiful female underneath him.
The kamaitachi has no intention of doing bad thing to the Nurarihyon's heiress, but he seems to be losing it whenever he sees her. Even now he's holding back a lot. He pushes his sickle away from their side, as it would be in the way – he thinks. He grasps the heiress's hand, lacing his own fingers with her, kissing her once again.
To the young heiress, the feeling now is pretty much awkward. She has never kissed anyone or got kissed before, and this would be the first time that a guy managed to get on top of her – but she doesn't hate it either.
Upon feeling the warm fingers lacing with her own, she squeezes the other's hand slightly, now daring herself by replying the kiss that Itaku plants on her once virgin lips.
The kamaitachi pulls back in surprise – did the princess just responds to his kiss? His eyes widen slightly from it while his cheeks turn into faint tint of red. But being Itaku, he tries to hide his embarrassment and fights back with staring at the female once again.
Reika could feel that there's a switch inside her flips on, which makes her ridiculously happy and embarrassed that time.
Itaku's POV –
I was surprised that Reika actually replies to my kisses. I somehow found it hard to believe. I perk my head up slowly to look at her face's details, but what she does as reply?
She smiles at me – sweetly, like I would be the love of her life.
I give up.
I drop myself to her side, holding her close in my arms as I let the young heiress rests her head near my chest.
"Could you hear it...?" I muse to myself, but it was loud enough that the young heiress could hear me, since a soft gesture of nodding could be felt in my arms.
She could hear my heartbeat right now...
"Although I wouldn't exchange sakazuki with you, but I want to see you climb up to become the Master of Spirits" I said as I calm myself down.
I could feel Reika's warm embrace around my chest; it's almost as if – she's pressing her ears closer to my chest. A faint blush appears across my face as she did so, but I'm not going to stop her action since it's somewhat ... comfortable like this.
"Somehow, since that day you got tangled in my net, you're tangled in my heart too." I keep on talking, so the current situation wouldn't be too awkward for both of us.
I pull her closer into my embrace – I could feel that Reika is cuddling into my arms and then she goes silent and just listens to my heartbeat, breathe and voice. She's so docile, just like a borrowed cat.
"Stop talking Itaku – ... I somehow, like you too." the young heiress replies shortly after.
'Ah... I... I think I've passed the 'like' level. I think I've fell in love with this fool.'
End of POV –
He seriously couldn't forget the day they first met each other in Tono Village. Reika knows that she can't forget about it too. That funny time when she tried to run away from Tono and she stepped onto an illusion bridge. Luckily though, she was saved by the kamaitachi.
The couple closes their eyes in sync, keeping their warmth to each other as they drift into their sea of dream. Funny, they could fall asleep while thinking of the same thing. It's like, they're made for each other.
Behind the screen door, Awashima, Kejoro, Hidemoto, Yura, Kubinashi and Reira watches the newly couple's suspicious back whom already fell asleep nearly an hour ago, embracing each other – not noticing the others stalking them.
Awashima nearly scream out of surprise, but Kejoro and Reira managed to close the night form Awashima, so he wouldn't wake the couple up.
"Reika-chan and Itaku-chan might have some interesting children soon~" Hidemoto sings cheerfully as he walks away from the hallway.
XXXXX
"Wow! It's like the forest's entry!"
"So many gates~" Both Dohiko and Amezou said in awe.
By then, they already enters the entrance of the temple for the first spiral seal. It's the day, but apparently, because of the strong spiritual energy around here, Reika, Itaku and Awashima still doesn't transform to their day form.
Of course it's something good to Reika, and probably Itaku too, but Awashima... He just keep blabbering about how he couldn't get used to his girl body, but somehow he just has to bare with it.
"Hey Awashima, I always wonder this... Which toilet do you enter normally?" Zen asks.
"Eh? Of course the guy's toilet! I'm a man inside!" he points his thumb to where his heart supposed to be located. The other youkai sweat drops upon hearing this.
Awashima then turns around to one of the gate entrance, noticing something nearby, he approaches it. Reika in the other hand is just following Awashima from behind, since she's reacting out of curiosity.
"What's this? Omokaruishi?" Reika asks.
The young heiress perks her head up from his side while watching the youkai pick the stone.
"Whoa! That weigh like a ton! What the hell!" He yelps out of surprise.
Awashima turns around to look at the young heiress, asking, which team he should be in. That was when Kubinashi tells him that he's on the neckless youkai's team. The nymph youkai hums to himself while following the neckless youkai, but like always – his loud mouth could never be shut.
The young heiress took a glance to the Omokaruishi – she reaches out for it, but someone holds her hand so she couldn't touch it.
"Oh, Itaku!" She says in surprise.
"Lets go." He says, tugging the young heiress along with him, walking in a different path with Hidemoto, Mamiru and Ryuuji in their team.
"Hey, what's the deal with that stone over there?" Reika asks – probably the famous onmyouji would know something, since every pillars here were made out of spiritual energy, so something must be here.
"Oh, that? You might not want to touch that – Omokaruishi. It's said that, if you thought the stone is much heavier than it would be, misfortune will befall you." Hidemoto explains, while leading the way.
"H-hey, you don't mean... Something going to happen on Awashima right?" Reika asks once again.
"It's all depends on the person~" the onmyouji hums slyly.
XXXXX
"Eh, we meet at the same end huh?" the cunning onmyouji smiles, which irked the neckless youkai very much.
If they were going to separate and meet at the same place, they should have walked together at the first place. Hidemoto didn't say anything in reply, but only his sly smiles – seems like he knew this from the beginning.
Ah wait, he's the sealer 400 years ago, of course he would knew it.
Kubinashi facepalms himself, shaking his head slightly to get rid of the slight headache. Somehow along the line, Awashima appears out of the blue with his clothing seems ripped at some places. Shoulder, stomach, legs. He even bleeds.
"Awashima?" the young heiress blinks in surprise, so does the other, but the onmyouji himself.
So it seems that Awashima was spirited away by the ayakashi mentioned by Hidemoto earlier. Their glance shift from Awashima to the youkai resembling a buddhist statue behind him. Of course it's surprising, it totally freaks out some of the Nura Clan's youkai.
"Hmm~ It seems you're stronger than the ayakashi who became a 'stopper' for the 'path of the outer shell'. You've got a good underling there, haven't you?" Hidemoto praises Awashima while grinning towards Reika.
"Ayakashi, you made your nest in the outer pathway.. Now once again, become the cornerstone for the seal which casts ayakashi out from the capital" Ryuuji mutters.
"Look at that!" Kurotabo gasps in surprise.
A huge pillar appears in the sky, slamming on top of the buddhist statue youkai. That must be hurt.
"Hey Hidemoto! What's the deal! You told us to come earlier, but you're late yourself!" yells a very familiar voice from up above.
One by one surprises appears in front of their eyes. They then shifts their glances to look up. What they could see is a shikigami resembling a flying ox cart, Gisha. There, what they could see is a girl who's jerking her head out from the window, getting annoyed by the onmyouji's act. Apparently, what makes her more pissy is when Tsurara, the Yuki Onna pushes her to the side, looking at the young heiress with a cheerful grin and waves.
"Reika-sama~!"
"Stop butting in!" Yura said while having her face in chibi form, while a vein pops under her eyes. She slaps the onmyouji seals on Tsurara's face, but of course, it doesn't affect Tsurara one bit.
"How could you do that meanie! This is our long-awaited reunion! That was inhuman! You can't be human!" Tsurara replies while pushing the onmyouji girl to the side.
"Shut up! I don't want to be told that by a youkai!" Yura yells back, with her usual thick Kansai-ben.
"Oi, what's going on up there?" the young heiress asks as she tucks her hands into her sleeve – She barely grasp whatever argument happening between the youkai and the onmyouji girl.
"Just disappear! I'll end you!" Yura yells again.
Hidemoto made a triangular shaped mouth, comically, while his expression is cheerful as ever.
"Ah, you said disappear~" He said.
Apparently, that's the word used to bring back Gisha into a shikigami paper, but since the two girls are unaware of it, they fell from high above. Luckily for them, two warriors of their life saved their ass from crushing on impact from falling.
"Hoi, Reika~" Awashima whispers loudly. His hand gesturing so the young heiress would come to him, and she did.
"I guess, that's the girl you wanted to save?" he whispers.
"The super hot friend of yours?"
"Hey come on, introduce to us~" Dohiko and Amezou adds while grinning widely.
Reika blinks and stares at the other three youkai, then she shakes her head and turns to look to her side.
"Nope, she's over there." the young heiress points directly at Yura, who's in the arms of her onmyouji brother; Ryuuji.
Yura is pretty much fixated in the young heiress that she forgot that her brother is the one that saved her life just now. Ryuuji's eyes twitches from being ignored – he chooses the easiest way to make his little sister to notice him by throwing Yura to the back, making her lands on her butt.
"You're heavy" Ryuuji says while clicking his tongue in annoyance.
"You don't have to throw me, asshole brother!" Yura protests as she stands up.
"You've gotten yourself a pretty dirty mouth recently!" Ryuuji yells back to the younger onmyouji sibling of him.
"Hn~ These are some interesting kids~" Hidemoto hums to himself, putting up the usual smile he always has on his face.
(A/N: My mother and little sister always said that I got happy from a little thing. Am I a person who's easily satisfied? Somehow I felt that it's not a good thing at all
Kisses are rated T right? IT'S NOT M RIGHT? o_o
Anyways, thanks for reading so far! I'm trying hard to make the story interesting. I have no idea why it's hard to restrain myself from typing 4,000 words. If I could do this well in writing essay back then, my teacher would die happy. But Alas, I graduated already haha~)