Me: Hey Rikuo!

Rikuo: Hi…

Me: Guess what?

Rikuo: What?

Me: Is what a guess?

Night Rikuo: Just get on with it. You're worse than a yokai invasion.

Me: Geez, someone's touchy today. Well, what I was trying to say is that I don't own you guys, or your show, Nurarihyon no Mago.

Night Rikuo: Everyone knows that.

Rikuo: It's true.

Yuki Onna: Shhh, the chapter's about to begin!

"Hey, guys, I'm really not that hungry! Why don't we just go for a short walk somewhere that's not…here?" Rikuo's voice cracked. He looked over to Tsurara for help, but she, at the same time, was trying to tell him something with her eyes. She was staring at his-

"Say, Rikuo, why do you have a sword?" Natsume asked. Tsurara slowly stepped into the shadows. Oh, how Rikuo wished to join her.

"Um, ah, I'm holding it for a…a friend!" Rikuo rubbed his head, trying to look innocent. "See, he's a real cosplayer. He wants to dress up as an onmyoji!" Rikuo pleaded Tsurara to help him, his eyes practically wider than his head.

"Yeah!" Tsurara said, stepping out of her corner, a huge smile on her face. "His name's Daisuke! Boy, does Daisuke love his cosplay or what!" Rikuo and Tsurara erupted with laughter, opening their eyes a crack to see if any of the members of the Kiyojuji patrol members were buying their story.

"Are you talking about Daisuke Kitatsuke from health class? I think I remember him. Boy, that kid was messed up." Everyone nodded. Rikuo and Tsurara shared a look. They had just made the guy, but apparently there was a cosplaying legend at Ukiyoe Middle School.

"Anyway, I think he's in the lunchroom," Rikuo said. His back was against the door. It was taking all of his strength not to let it fly open. "Why don't I go in and give him the sword. Hey, lunch is on me if you all can get to the play area before the bell rings."

"Come on, let's go!" Tsurara exclaimed, taking the hint. She started off, but Kana stayed behind. Tsurara let out an exasperated sigh. "We're leaving, Kana!" Tsurara started walking backward slowly.

However, Kana stayed behind, looking at Rikuo. This is the last thing I need, Rikuo thought, trying to appear calm as the door hit his back. "Are you sure you're okay, Rikuo?"

"Yeah, yeah, he's fine!" Tsurara raced over and grabbed Kana's arm. With an obviously fake smile, she said, "I don't want to pay for my lunch today, Kana. Besides, I have some interesting things to say about that Daisuke kid." Rikuo smiled greatfully. Tsurara smiled back, then raced away, the Kiyojuji Paranormal Investigation Squad trailing behind her. For middle schoolers, they certainly cared about their lunch money.

Rikuo sighed with relief. Gripping his sword, he braced himself, then let the doors fly open.

He was even more disgusted the second time.

Night Rikuo, I don't know how you did it, or when, or why, but you are just nasty, Rikuo started hacking away at the rats, trying not to think too much about what he was doing.

I'm a yokai, am I not? Aren't we renowned for a practical jokes?

I think we should talk about this later.

Suit yourself.

Rikuo was in the middle of the cafeteria now. Everywhere he looked, there was either a panicked student, a panicked teacher, a panicked rat, or a panicked insect, all trying to leave this room filled with…well panic. Rikuo thought fast. Most of the rats that were not panicking were all converging on him, meaning that he was the main target. The chaos in the lunchroom was just a diversion. No one was actually being harmed, except for Rikuo himself, who already had a few rat bites. He jumped up onto a table, still defending himself against the seeming endless horde of rats.

Rikuo sucked in a deep breath. Even though he was in his human form, he still had a few of his yokai powers. He and his night self were one, after all. The only difference was that in his day form, Rikuo's powers required a bit more energy. In his mind, he decided to consult his night form on a few of the details from their arrangement.

So, as long as I stay in this form, which I will, I'll have won the bet, right?

Riiiight, Night Rikuo replied, a little suspicious. As if he didn't already know what Rikuo was thinking.

But I can use whatever methods I want to, say, yokai powers, right?

I suppose. Whatever you do, you're still not winning this deal.

That's what you think.

With those finer points cleared up, Rikuo released his breath. He closed his eyes, clenched his arms, then let out a barrage of power, which took the form of invisible blades. They swept the cafeteria, scattering or completely obliterating the rats. Pretty soon, the cafeteria was still a mess, but it was a rat free mess.

Rikuo slumped to the floor, trying to catch his breath. Everything in the room was still. Fortunately, everybody seemed to be preoccupied with something else. Rikuo caught sight of one of the girls and followed her gaze up toward the ceiling.

This is officially the longest day of my entire life, Rikuo thought. On the ceiling, crawling around, was a huge rat yokai. Rikuo didn't even want to think about where that thing had been. He didn't even want to strategize. Those rat bites must have had some sort of poison in them, or at least some nasty bacteria, because Rikuo's vision was getting hazy. He slumped on the ground, the sword falling from his grasp. He was still conscious, but just barely.

And he was hungry. It was lunch time after all. But the only one eating was a single girl, just entering the lunch room after having visited the roof. She had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in her mouth. She was pretty lost in her thoughts. She could have sworn that she had felt an incredibly strong yokai aura on the roof, and that's where she and her friends usually ate lunch. But by the time she had shown up, there was nothing but a nasty breeze and a crater or two in the roof that hadn't been there the day before.

Grabbing another bite from her sandwich, she had felt another aura, this one smaller, but still very demonic. She gulped down the rest of her sandwich, stood in the doorway of the cafeteria, and looked up to see the yokai, crawling around like it was nobody's business. Little did it know that it was very much her business, as an onmyoji. She saw Rikuo on the ground. He must have been attacked.

"Yokai!" she screamed. "As a member of the Keikain clan, and an onmyoji with the ability to purify you, I, Yura Keikain, will destroy you. There is no choice in the matter, since you obviously are trying to harm the humans in this area." With expert dexterity, she took out her ofuda, these expired coupons to some mall that she never really cared about, and jumped onto a table for a better vantage point. "Prepare yourself, yokai!"

Meanwhile, Rikuo was resting on the ground. Boy, did you luck out. Might as well catch a few z's while you're doing nothing.

I won't be doing nothing, Rikuo replied, pulling a box out of his sleeve. He clicked it open slowly. His body couldn't tolerate any other movements. He reached in and pulled out-

Is that a bottle? Night Rikuo asked tauntingly.

Unashamedly, Rikuo replied, "Not just any bottle, Night form." With that, he lifted it to his lips and took a big gulp.

Night Rikuo: That's cheap.

Me: I know, tell me about it.

Rikuo: Hey! You do what you can in those situations.

Me: Anyway, thank you to all the readers, and, if you can, try to review!

Rikuo: Unless you don't want to see me get beat up.

Night Rikuo: Everyone likes a good fight, Rikuo. And yours, well, they always take the cake.

Me: True that.