Hey, guys! Your VERY LATE lame writer will be opening this chapter with another previous warning and kindly asks you to read it all, just like the last one.
This here will be another long chapter with a depressive-yet-determined Kana, who will receive more character development. But, unlike the last chapter and the one before that, this one will be made for giving a big push to both her and Tsurara together instead of separately. However, most of it will be on Kana's POV, therefore, I'm warning yet again that you can jump those parts in case you find them boring, since they are not that essential. I'm surprised with the amount of people that had decided to read Kana's big-push chapter even with the warning, though. And I'm even more surprised with the amount of people that reviewed to me saying that they were starting to like/respect/understand Kana's character and situation in this story and preferred this Kana over the original one. But since that doesn't apply to everyone, I'm placing this warning again for those who don't like to read Kana's monologues: you can find KuroNatsu by the middle of this chapter, and though the majority of it is full of RikuTsura implications, the pairing only actually has a moment at the last part again.
Okay, now that you've been properly warned, on with the chapter!
~o0o~
Nature surely was something impressive.
The warm day that had started out with a brightly sunny morning had gradually become unpredictably dark and unsteady as noontime approached. The gathered clouds soon broke into a mixture of violent wind, deafening roars and raging showering. Mercilessly, Toukyou was immersed in a wrathful downpour that didn't show any signs of stopping anytime soon, despite having begun with nothing but innocent drizzling. Yet thankfully, the three young nobles that had been invited to spend some time in the Nura main house that day had been able to arrive safely, before the heavy rain had crashed down. And, although the way back would be a completely different story, the last thing the heirs wanted at the moment was to be as impolite and anti-climactic as to stick with the thought of returning home when they had barely arrived.
Welcomed as warmly as they had been the evening before, the three guests were led by their hosts to the Nura doujou, which was conveniently annexed to the mansion, so that there would be no need to worry about rainy days like those. While the invited trio and the Ienaga heiress made themselves at home and familiarized with the spacious room, the raven-haired head aide made her entrance to welcome them herself, but left as quickly as she had come to fetch them some snacks. Bowing a little as she closed the large double shouji of the doujou, she missed the sad look on the face of the spiky-haired blond heir as he watched her turn her back to him. A little desolated, he was only brought back by the characteristic laugher of one of his oldest friends – one that was impossible to mistake as it echoed through one's head.
"Wonderful~! This place is just wonderful, Nura-kun!" Kiyotsugu enthusiastically opened his arms at the empty space with shining eyes, not minding the high volume of his voice, "Ah~! It's so big! And it has this nice air!"
"'Air'?" Rikuo asked with a drop of sweat on his cheek and sore ears, wondering if his friend was using a figurative speech, since there was no air circulating in the room.
"Yes~! This obscure atmosphere~! It almost feels like a Youkai household~!" the long-haired young man answered rather cheerfully, his honesty dangerously ambiguous.
"Uh... I'm glad you liked it this much... I think." the Wakagashira rubbed the back of his neck, aware that his old companion's words were meant as a compliment, – considering it they were coming from a supernatural fanatic such as him – but still feeling awkward about his choice of words. However, it was not like he could deny that, on that day in particular, the doujou really did have an unusual gloomy aspect. That was probably due to the rain, since thanks to that, the sunlight coming from the screen of the protected windows wasn't quite enough to illuminate the whole place. In contrast, the dim light made the many sorts of weaponry that were carefully kept in the doujou quite outstanding, giving the shining blades a more dangerous look. In short, the doujou was lacking its usual warm feeling, but it somewhat felt more exciting that way.
"Kiyotsugu-kun... is in high spirits today..." Jirou whispered to no one in particular with a tomboyish smile, watching his friend wander around aimlessly while displaying his exaggerated awe and contemplating the fact said eccentric young man would probably never change.
"'Today too', right?" upon being able to hear him, the future Nura wife giggled discreetly.
"Y-Yes!" suddenly stiff, the blond stammered. "T-T-T-That's right, I-Ienaga-san!"
Her smile vanishing for a second, Kana blinked a few times at his rather odd reply, quirking an eyebrow as she asked, "Shima-kun, are you okay...?"
"I am! T-There's nothing for you to worry about, Ienaga-san!" lame and nervously, the soccer addict lied in an almost defensive manner.
It was needless to say the chocolate-haired young woman's suspicions towards him had only been raised by his attempts, but minding her own business, she opted for not going further into the subject. Still, very subtly, she let him know that, as a hostess and a friend, she could try to be of help if he needed it as she gently smiled, "If you say so... but if there's anything making you uneasy, please let me know."
"O-Okay..." yet again, Jirou lied with a knot forming in his throat, glad he was finally out of sight of her caring eyes as she turned around. As much as he wasn't fond of lies, even because he was aware of how much of a horrible liar he was, there was no way he could help it in that case.
After all, it was not like he could tell her that she was the reason of his unease.
Ever since the little "incident" with Kana in her drunken state, a lot of things seemed to have been unexplainably changing in him, and he was nowhere pleased with that fact. After all, his whole life, he had thought the very essence of his taste for women could only be personified by the image of a young Yamato Nadeshiko, hence his fixation for a certain Nura servant. Yet, for some reason unknown to him, he now found himself strangely attracted by the short-haired English beauty, whom he had never really paid much attention to before.
Invading his life like nothing else, the chocolate-haired arranged bride was literally everywhere. And now that the two of them were that close again, he was able to see in her what he had never thought he even had the ability to, like the shine in her sympathetic eyes or the graciousness of her smile. He observed it all with impressive depth, startled with the fact he had never taken note of such things before, not even in the times when his attention was set on his first love. Before he knew it, everything in the heiress had suddenly started feeling new to him, even though he had known her for quite long, as if he was looking at her for the first time in his life.
But why was that happening, and only now of all times? He couldn't help but struggle over and over to be able to answer that question. And the only answer he deemed as the closest to being right was that he had merely become very intrigued by her after her actions towards him and her words about her fiancé the previous night. Anyone else in his shoes could be reacting the same way. But if that was really so, should it be normal that she seemed to be taking the place of the one he believed to have affections towards? After all, the more Kana occupied his mind, the less space there was for the indigo-eyed Nura aide. While the image of the Ienaga daughter was engraved deeper and deeper within him, the one of the white maiden slowly disappeared, as the more he absorbed one's features and characteristics, the harder it was to remember the other's.
He was insecure.
That was the only feeling he could possibly use to describe his state in all his confusion, and he didn't enjoy any of it. He also wasn't the slightest bits thrilled by the fact there seemed to be no cure for his sudden fanaticism for his friend. And all of that because of an accidental moment that was never supposed to have happened? The more he thought of how incredibly shallow he was, the more frustrated he became with himself, the idea of becoming involved with a to-be-wed woman of his giving him the creepiest of the chills. He was an ingenuous boy, but not to that point. There was no way he was allowing himself to do anything stupid or compromising to that point – if it ever crossed his mind, that is. And, to be able to prevent possible conflicts that could come from his actions towards the half-European lady, since they had been oddly hard to control, he had come to the decision of restraining himself around her. That way, everyone could be in peace until he could calm down his temporary obsession – curse his lack of a better term – with her and his mind was back to being occupied with one person alone.
His precious "Oikawa-san".
"So, Kiyotsugu..." snapped out of his thoughts by a deep masculine voice echoing through, Jirou raised his head abruptly, finally aware of how much he had been spacing out. "I take it the place is good enough..."
"'Good enough'?! The place is perfect, Nura-kun!" the wavy-haired young man blurted out with nearly flailing arms, "You were totally right! Training really can become a much more enjoyable experience amongst friends! Ah~! My poor heart can't take the anxiety anymore! Let's begin, hurry! Hurry~!"
"Then come. I'll show you the stock." with a smirk, Rikuo couldn't help but glance briefly at his arranged wife, the feeling of satisfaction of a fulfilled duty clear in his ruby eyes. And, as he averted them to the blond behind her, he missed her reddening cheeks and the small smile of gratitude that formed on her lips.
Her future husband having invited the group for a friendly practice without her consent didn't seem so bad anymore, Kana concluded. Rather, she was now very glad he had done such thing just for the sake of granting her more time with her oh-so-missed old companions, but was nevertheless still worried about his condition. Despite having been reassured by him himself he wouldn't hurt himself any more, for his friends were most likely nowhere near his level of sword skill, she couldn't help but consider every possibility of that perfect day being ruined in a second, much like the previous ones that she had intended to be just as flawless. In any case, she decided, she would meddle and stop him if necessary.
"You're coming too, right, Shima?" Rikuo asked, looking behind his shoulder.
Stiffening, Jirou walked forward rather clumsily, almost chocking with air as he passed by the Nura bride and was unintentionally able to catch her scent, "Y-Yes!"
"What about you, Yura?"
"Like I said...!" with a glare, the long-haired brunette was about to raise her voice, until she seemed to have realized something, – most likely the bad sonority of the room – and dropped it down before throwing her eyes elsewhere, away from the burgundy stare in her direction. "Just stop treating me so familiarly, Youkai!"
"Alright, alright." waving carefreely, Rikuo dismissed her. "I was just asking if you'd want to join us since you do have enough experience. You are the Keikain's Nijuuhachidaime after all, right?"
"Guh...?!" fidgeting slightly, Yura was caught by surprise by the purposeful emphasis on the white-haired one's words, and couldn't help but wonder how he could be aware of something only her family was supposed to. "H-How did you...?"
"'Nijuuha'...?" Kana muttered her betrothed's last words to herself until the realization hit her. With slightly widened eyes, she immediately turned around to face her blushing friend, "Eh?! Yura-chan, you...?"
"Ah, I had heard about that in my household, too! So it's really true~!" Kiyotsugu grinned with a hand under his chin. "Congratulations, Keikain-kun!"
"Uooh~! Amazing, Keikain-san~!" literally sparkling in admiration, Jirou clapped his hands together, as if closing a non-existent book.
"News spread around pretty quickly, huh?" with an arched silver brow, Rikuo could only watch Yura's embarrassment in amusement. "By the way, you'll be officially receiving your title a little bit after me, won't you?"
"T-That doesn't concern you." she spat, still looking elsewhere, as if anything seemed better than facing the Wakagashira's penetrating gaze and teasing smirk. Yet after remembering her manners, she regretted her actions and could only blush more at her blunt impoliteness, "But yes... for all you just said. S-So?"
"Are you in?"
"Don't sputter nonsense, Youkai." with a light cough, Yura was able to regain her composure. "I'm only here because Ienaga-san requested. Without me, she'd be pretty lonely here."
"I see... though just the three of us would be pretty off-turning." Rikuo sighed, forgetting about the condition of his body for a second.
"I agree, Nura-kun." Kiyotsugu nodded, his eyes closed and his arms crossed. "I believe the three of us could make a thrilling practice, but if there could be more people, my humble heart would be filled with happiness~!"
"Then how about letting us join?" another party asked, their rough yet young voice echoing through the place.
Turning around at the source of the question, the young nobles, with the exception of Rikuo, couldn't help but wonder who was the one standing by the slightly open double shouji doors of the doujou with his arms folded across his muscular chest and an unreadable expression. But by the red and black bandana on his head, Kana was able to recognize him as one of the companions of one of the many guests she had been introduced to earlier that morning. If she remembered it clearly, Rikuo had referred to him as...
"Ah!" she gasped inaudibly, a smile reaching her lips. "Ita... ku-san..." she spoke out loud, a little hesitantly, suddenly feeling a little silly for having drawn the attention of the people in the room to herself – especially of the brunet by the door, who had directed his penetrating brown stare at her, "right...?"
With a mute nod of confirmation, the spiky-haired one didn't seem the slightest bits impressed with the fact she had been able to recall who he was, despite the fact their previous meeting had been quite brief. That alone was enough to make Kana inwardly curse herself for ever thinking of it as a big deal, the brunet's still eyes not making things easier. Since he had been looking exactly the same when they had first met by the gates of the mansion, she assumed that was his usual expression, but not even that conclusion or the fact she had been able to face worse looks could make her feel comfortable about it in any way. Truth be told, she was simply not the type of person that could easily deal with such things. However, she was willing to at least pretend she was, since that would be part of her life as a yakuza leader's wife.
"You're not alone, are you?" Rikuo asked, the question causing a smile to replace the previous serious expression of the young man by the doors.
As if waiting for the opportunity, Itaku merely slid his right foot onto the floor, making the shouji door beside him back up and reveal the group that was behind it. Said group was also recognized by the current Nura bride, by the characteristics of each of its members that she had deemed to be more outstanding. The blond twins, the blunt little girl and the green-haired and the ape-faced older men – all of them were members of the Oushuu Toono Ikka, standing by the entrance with identical expressions and carrying what seemed to be sheathed weapons.
"What are you guys doing here?" the Wakagashira's smirked at the sight before him.
"It's not like there's much for us to do right now." the only blonde female in the room answered, "It's either hanging around the city, helping with the housework, or... training."
"And, naturally, as people of the training grounds of Toono... I guess our choice would be pretty obvious." her brother added. "Reira is helping with the housework, though."
"I see." As if expecting their answers, Rikuo directed the decision to his childhood companions, "Maa, since the doujou was reserved for you guys today, what do you think?"
"I-I-I'm not sure I–" Jirou was the first to speak, very lowly and tripping onto his words as his chin trembled frantically, before being interrupted by his wavy-haired friend.
"PERFECT!"
"Kiyotsugu-kun?!" wide-eyed, the soccer addict found himself sweating a little, despite the coldness provided by the rain outside.
"Now our need for more people will be supplied!" with a quick movement, Kiyotsugu opened his once crossed arms, as if to show how welcome he wanted the group standing outside to feel. "You're right on time, Nura-kun's underlings!"
"Eh? 'Underlings'...?" the older man with paintings on his face, which Kana was able to remember as "Dohiko", raised a brow at the last word.
"Ou...? That's what you've been telling them about us, Rikuo?" Itaku asked, his smile growing and his eyes narrowing the slightest bits, the fact he treated the Sandaime so informally not going unnoticed by the young heirs and heiresses.
"Rather, he has never told us anything about you at all." Yura answered before the Nura head could, saving him from embarrassing himself without even knowing.
"Is that so...?" the green-haired, golden-eyed man chuckled. "Hm, well... I guess we can't really blame him for that. Our first meeting with him was quite a bit–"
"These guys" Rikuo cut him off a little too loudly, a hardly apparent hint of red on his cheeks as some not-very-far-away memories awakened within him.
His first time in Toono hadn't been all that enjoyable for many reasons. About two years before, after having his first ugly fight with his grandfather, both of them had finally come to understand how he was yet too weak to be a leader, and so he had been sent there for training without his own consent. And, as someone already experienced with the way of Toono, – given it he had founded his Kumi there – Nurarihyon had taken the right measures, albeit rather forceful ones, as he knocked his grandson unconscious during their argument and requested some old friends to take advantage of the boy's lack of resistance. The next thing he had known, Rikuo was lying on the hidden training grounds, disoriented and in pain, muttering his aide's name to himself as he woke up.
It was needless to say finding a pair of strangers dressed as Namahage instead was the least he had been expecting.
No one had waited for him to recover – as soon as he was on his feet, thousands of chores had been given to him, as well as the people from there would sometimes pick sword fights with him, mostly just for fun. With no experience whatsoever in housework and not used to facing random matches, he had had a very hard time in the first days, and that had made of him the Toono folk's favorite target for pranks during his whole stay. And, considering he was quite the prankster himself when little, the situation couldn't be more ironic.
But, surprisingly, it had been in that place's messy way he was able to make allies.
He had struggled quite a lot in the little time he had spent there, and had even tried to run away at some point, upon remembering Tsurara's cheerful smile as he miserably failed in washing clothes. Still, at the end of the day, everything had been worth it. Despite all the hardships, he had been able to earn many unforgettable experiences while becoming much stronger.
And, obviously, he would only let others know about the last part.
Once he had everyone's attention to him, he continued, allowing himself to make the introductions as a way to escape from what could be coming in his direction, "are part of an independent group from Toono. They are with us, but not as my underlings. Rather, they are just the same as you people. My..." He paused for a second, a small smile forming on his lips, "friends."
In a spur of the moment, the foreign group, except for Itaku, bowed their heads a little to the noble youngsters. The gentle gesture only took a matter of seconds to be returned. And, soon enough, the silence of the room was broken by the ever-so-obnoxious Kiyotsugu, with his enthusiasm seeming to have been burst even more, "Then that's even better! Come! You are more than welcome here! Nura-kun's friends shall be our friends as well!"
"Hehe~! We'll be humbly intruding then~!" the little brunette with a bun on top of her head, whom Kana couldn't quite remember the name, giggled slightly. Her innocent laughter, however, was not enough to erase from the heiress's mind the recent and shocking witnessing of her wicked tongue and blunt attitude.
"W-W-Wait, a minute..." Jirou asked, pointing at the sheathed sword being carried by the older blond passing by him, his face growing a little bluish, "Y-You guys... are carrying real weaponry, aren't you? Don't t-tell me... you'll be training with those?!"
"Hm?" the taller man looked down at the Katana in his hands, seeming to find nothing unusual with it. Rather nonchalantly, he asked, "Yeah, why?"
"It's not like we actually can use wooden weapons, anyways." bearing a seemingly purposefully dark look, Itaku brought both of his hands to his back, swiftly pulling a Kusari-gama from the holder he carried around with him, the perfectly tuned blades causing Jirou to start shaking slightly. "We would end up destroying all of them if we tried."
"Oho~?! So you are that strong? Wonderful~! That's just wonderful~!" Kiyotsugu mused loudly with a broad grin, Itaku's actions and words seeming to have the opposing effect on him. "But, if that's the case, shouldn't we use real weapons too, Nura-kun!?"
"Hm? You sure?" Rikuo asked indifferently, not aware that the frightened Jirou behind him wished to protest, since said boy seemed to be unable to use his own voice.
"Why, how else would we be able to practice together with them?" Kiyotsugu deadpanned for a second, asking the obvious. "Besides, Shima-kun and I are perfectly able to wield real blades by now! I'm sure we can keep up with them if we try!"
"If you say so..."
As soon as the white-haired one's rather carefree sentence was caught in her ears, Kana stopped in the middle of her way to the back of the doujou, the place she and Yura had chosen to watch the practice while making each other company. With a hint of worry, she couldn't help but turn around to take a look at the scene behind her, already fearing the worst.
If the Toono people were really as strong as they seemed, Rikuo would stand no chance against them in his state, and so his façade would probably be over right then and there. That would mean he would either have to find an excuse to escape from them or tell them the truth about his condition so that they would take easy on him. Afraid of the humiliation of being labeled as the one at fault for his injuries by even more people than she was already being, and knowing how prideful her fiancé was, the heiress wished firmly that he neither would find himself choosing one of those two options nor he would go for a third one – to overestimate himself, leading another "perfect" day to a painful, early end.
Thankfully enough, the odds soon turned out to be in her favor again as Yura allowed herself to meddle a little, "I think... Shima-kun is not feeling quite comfortable with that idea. Since you're the host here, Nura-kun, why don't you stick to assisting him with the wooden weapons?"
"Eh?" Kiyotsugu stopped in mid-way to the storage room, flipping some strands of his long black hair. "But Shima-kun, you said you do so fine in your daily practice... besides, you and Nura-kun would end up being excluded from the training like this!"
"Not really. It's not like everyone is gonna fight everyone. We don't have space for that sort of practice or money to fix all it could break if we decided to do it either way." Rikuo crossed his arms with a light laugh, seeming to have recalled more old memories. "So we'll be making couples or trios."
"Hm, you do have a point... and if Shima-kun is not up to it, there's no reason to force him..." Kiyotsugu scratched his chin, "but what about you, Nura-kun?"
"I don't really mind wielding a Bokken." was the plain answer Rikuo smartly chose to give, instead of showing how disappointing it could be to only be able to have Jirou as his training partner. He, however, was aware from the start that he would be limited to taking it easy with his body the way it was, so it didn't take long for him to conform himself with the situation.
"Yeah. Real or fake, the weapon doesn't matter, as long as it can be used to its max!" the muscular blond twin smiled. "Rikuo knows that better than anyone, right?"
The ruby-eyed young man could only glare at the question, avoiding answering it by taking his still trembling friend to the stock of wooden and sample weapons. He, however, was not able to avoid remembering yet again another moment of his first time in Toono, in which he was never given a real weapon. Instead, all he had to use was a simple wooden stick he had found in the forest surrounding the the village, which he had named "Takimaru". Sweat-dropping at the many challenges he had had to face together with that one rotting piece of tree, Rikuo couldn't help but inwardly swear as he walked away from his laughing Toono friends. Nevertheless, he was glad the seemingly oblivious young nobles in the room weren't showing signs to have understood the comment or what could be so funny at all.
Meanwhile, finally seated, Kana proceeded to smoothen her yukata while giving her nearby companion a warm smile, "Yura-chan."
"Yes?"
"Thank you." she said softly, without really thinking.
"Eh? For what?"
"Ah...!" her eyes widening slightly, Kana remembered the Keikain heiress wasn't aware of the many injuries the Wakagashira had received some nights before. And, without knowing what to say, she tried to come up with an excuse for what she had just said, but her friend spoke before she could.
"Is it because I helped Nura-kun?"
"Huh...? Wh...? Y-You knew...?!" alarmed, the chocolate-haired young woman could no longer bear her smile, as it was replaced by clear apprehension. If Yura was aware of what she had been thanked for, she had certainly already found out about Rikuo's healing wounds. And if so, how could she have done it? Could someone have told her? If that was so, depending on who it had been, it could mean the secret she had wanted to keep from the rest of society had already leaked.
"Ienaga-san... did you know that spatial vision is an essential requirement for a warrior?"
"E-Eh?" Kana sweat-dropped in confusion, almost thinking her question was being avoided, until she remembered Yura, much like Rikuo, had been merely a Touchu candidate in training not so long ago. Right now that she was about to be officially declared the next Keikain leader, she could perfectly be considered a warrior, just like Rikuo himself had been before the country found peace. With that in mind, Kana was finally able to answer, though quite hesitantly, "N-No, I didn't..."
"Hm, I thought as much..."
"Say, Yura-chan... w-what gave Rikuo-kun away? Do you think that Shima-kun or Kiyotsugu-kun may have noticed? And what about the Toono Ikka?" non-stop, Kana bombarded her friend with questions while leaning closer to her, before the look she received made her realize what she was doing. "Ah... I-I'm sorry..."
"N-No, it's okay..." Yura sputtered, slightly amazed with how tense the hazel-eyed one had become. "Well... what I think that gave Nura-kun away was his walking. I also think I felt his abdominal injuries when I elbowed him the other night. I'm sorry, if I had known about it, I wouldn't have..."
"Oh, no, no." with a wave, Kana was able to find the will to smile reassuringly again. "He's alright."
"Is that so?" the other brunette sighed in relief. "As for Shima-kun and Kiyotsugu-kun... I don't think their observation skills are very good yet. They probably haven't noticed it. But, those Toono fellows... they are a different story. I think..." she paused for a moment, her face growing a little melancholic, "they are trying to mask it, so that Nura-kun won't feel bad for not being able to train with them."
"R... Really...?" Kana stammered, a knot forming in her throat.
"Ienaga-san..." Yura continued lowly, as if trying to make a more careful approach, "That wound in his torso... is not the only one Nura-kun has, is it?"
"Eh? N-No... it isn't." the short-haired girl answered uneasily, not liking where the conversation was going as her heart started to race a bit faster than it should.
"You don't need to answer this, but... if I may ask..." it was Yura's turn to discreetly lean closer, looking straight into Kana's fearful hazel orbs, "do Nura-kun's wounds... have anything to do with y–"
"Excuse me~! Sorry for making you wait~!" All the heads in the room turned around at another incoming person by the entrance of the doujou – no one other than the mansion's top aide, holding a tray with two cups of kukicha and sweet treats for the two seated ladies, "Ah, everyone...!"
"Ah! Yuki Onna, it's been a while!" the first to greet was the busty Toono woman, giving a two-finger salute with a rather tomboyish grin. "You joining us~?"
"What are you saying, Awashima? I'm on duty right now!" she said with a small frown while crossing the room, before kneeling in front of the two young women and serving them their respective shares with a smile. "Here you go~"
"Ah, t-thank you." Kana stuttered, already mentally planning how to change the subject of her conversation with Yura as soon as she tried to retake it. Her debt had risen as she had been helped by the azure-eyed young servant one more time that day, even though said servant was unaware of it that time.
"Hey, Yuki Onna." a childish voice called from behind.
In response, Tsurara forced a smile as she turned around, pretending not to care about the way people were referring to her, "W-What is it, Yukari?"
"Are those... honey lemons?"
"Oh, why..." she followed the direction where the younger one was pointing at with her eyes until she reached the sweets she had just served together with the cha. "Yes. I've made those with Reira-san earlier. There's more in the kitchen, if you want some."
Immediately, a cheeky smile formed on the little girl's lips, "Lucky~!"
"Eh, you're already leaving, Yukari?" one of her comrades asked. "We haven't even done anything yet!"
"Sorry, guys~" she dismissively said while giving a goodbye wave, despite her expression clearly showing she wasn't sorry at all. "Maybe another time~"
Watching Yukari hurrying to join hands with the older raven-haired female and close the shouji doors behind her, Kana couldn't not notice the change of attitude of the Toono Ikka's youngest member. Whether she was actually smitten of Tsurara for some reason or was just treating her nicely so that she could get her hands on the rather mouth-watering sweets, the arranged wife couldn't tell. But the sudden softening of the little one's talking and the obvious glee she displayed as she walked on the tip of her toes to the exit sure was surprising. That had automatically made Kana start wondering if the raven-haired maiden was good with children, but her thoughts were soon interrupted by an irritatingly loud voice, which she was still trying to re-familiarize with.
"Well, then," Kiyotsugu gracefully unleashed the Katana he had chosen to practice with, "shall we get started?!"
~o0o~
From his own experience in life, Kurotabou had used to be the sort of man that strongly believed people would always learn with their mistakes. Unfortunately, he now acknowledged his need to quit following said belief, for he had become an exception of it himself. After all, from the events of the past days, no matter how many times he made wrong decisions and how many embarrassing situations they led him to, it seemed he was doomed to keep on with such routine as long as there was a certain maid living under the same roof as him.
It had taken him a while, but he had been able to realize he was never able to resist touching her. It had taken him a little more to realize the reason why as well. And it had also taken him even more to realize what he needed to do to settle things up. On the other hand, it had not taken him all that long to find courage to do so, and that was what he was about to do that day.
Until he found himself committing that very mistake once again.
They were supposed to meet, he was supposed to tell her everything he had been hoping to, and she was supposed to give him an answer – as simple as it could seem, it was already a complicated enough task. And all he did was to make it even worse when, in his never-ending foolishness, he allowed himself to extend his hand to feel the warmth of her sleeping face. On one knee, away from anyone's eyes, he gently caressed raven-haired maid, who was sound asleep in the place the two had agreed to meet at earlier that morning. Most likely, she had succumbed to the tire of a long morning of work and let it take her over as she waited for him, given the position she was in – seated, with one of her sides leaning against the shouji doors that led to the garden and her arms folded, sandwiching them between her head and her knees.
It had been a while since he had touched anything that smooth, the feeling of her skin against his calming him as it contrasted with his calloused fingers. In a matter of seconds, all of his worries, nervousness and anxiety were gone as his mind seemed to have gone blank for a moment, only focusing on the girl next to him as a smile formed on his lips.
Ironically, it had also been in a matter of seconds that the tables flipped.
Back to his senses and pulling himself together, all he could do was curse himself as every single negative emotion that had been following him the way there came back with full force. Seeing where things were going, he immediately withdrew with the promise not to forgive himself if he made everything go wrong yet again.
But he was too late.
"Ku... Kurotabou-san...?!" the Souhei nearly choked with air upon hearing the girl whispering his name to herself and watching her awake from her sound slumber with her feline eyes wide open. For a moment, he thanked the fact it was raining so heavily, for the darkness provided by the wooden protectors of the shouji doors was probably covering his deep blush. On the other hand, it was also a reminder of how suspicious his actions towards the maid seemed, as it always happened. The only difference of that situation in particular and the others was that he was completely cornered. That time, she wasn't going unconscious. That time, no one was around to meddle. That time, she was in condition for not letting him get away if he tried.
That time, he was on his own.
"W... What just...?" and it was there – the question he had feared she was going to ask was barely making its way past her dry throat.
In an act of despair, he started projecting an answer, but his thoughts were too disorganized for giving a proper one due to being caught defenseless, causing him to blabber instead of actually talk. And, while he mentally cursed how pathetic he was being and the fact he couldn't suddenly stop from where he had started, the excuses given by him ended up coming out as a nonsense mess. It was quite frustrating and self-disappointing to him how weak and cowardly he was being, as he was definitely not willing to believe the simple act of expressing himself could be beyond him.
To his surprise, the way he was making a fool of himself seemed to have had the opposing effect on the young maid.
Soon after he had started his senseless sputtering, the confusion and startle began fading from her face, as well as her arms, which were defensively positioned up her chest, slowly went down and her posture became visibly more relaxed. Listening to him carefully and adjusting herself into a proper sitting position, her facial expression had also started changing, and at some point, it could be likened to a mother listening to her small child as a warm smile approached her lips. Eventually, she even started giggling a little, and that was the sign he needed as confirmation for a conclusion he had already mentally taken.
That was going nowhere.
Together with that, a realization hit him. Defeating enemy Kumi members, wielding high-level weaponry, surpassing physical limits – looking back to the past, those accomplishments had always been considerably easy for him in comparison with the simple act of telling a woman how he felt, for he would never hesitate or bow before his fears in those situations. But when doing all of that, he was mostly not alone. As a proud member of Sandaime Nura Rikuo's Hyakki Yakou, he would stick to his comrades and, together, they would follow their leader through the path to the glory they had reached not long before.
Now that he stopped to think about it, aside from taking care of weaklings, he had never really achieved any victories by himself. With that in mind, he could take another conclusion: it was a good thing he was on his own. After all, that was the only way he would overcome everything that had been troubling him. And, following said conclusion, he was able to take notice of something else.
His voice started dying as he sighed, his failed attempts to explain himself being left aside as the heat in his cheeks seemed to have lessened a little. "Haa... I'm just... no good with words, am I?" he asked no one in particular in low voice, which the young woman in front of him couldn't hear, due to the sound of rain.
"S-Sorry?" she asked with a hand over her earlobe, but automatically tried to back away when he raised both hands in her direction, though she wasn't able to escape the grip he placed on her tiny arms.
"Natsumi-san," he softly pleaded, although he was aware he had no right to, his blood flushing up to his face yet again, "please forgive me for this."
One more chance – that was all he needed. Regardless of everything that had happened between them the past days and what he was still going to make her go through because of his selfishness, just one more time, he would appeal to the most tragic of the moves, so that he would be able to mark his first actually memorable solo achievement.
Love.
Everything was already a little familiar by the time he leaned into her. Catching the girl by surprise in his impulse when crashing his lips against hers could become a habit, if it depended on him. At least as long as he always had his eyes just as tightly closed, so that he wouldn't see her wide-open ones staring back in shock. And, as she also seemed to be reacting the exact same way as last time he had done such thing, he assumed she would stay motionless during the whole process until she either pushed him away or kissed him back.
He unconditionally feared which option she would pick.
Nevertheless, he also took her lack of resistance as a sign he could loosen his grip on her arms, and so he did. With his hands letting go of her for a moment, he didn't dare to break their connection as he started to move on his own. Before he himself was aware of it, he was already slowly trying to motivate her to go on with his rhythm. And as he slid one hand around her thin back and the other on her warming cheeks, he could have sworn his heart had stopped for a second.
She was responding.
Just as inexperienced as him, she uncertain and hesitantly tried her best to follow his lead, with her eyes also tightly shut not to face his most likely utterly surprised ones. Much to her dismay, he had stopped for a second, as if trying to process the reality before him, before continuing from where he had left as soon as she confirmed her decision by gripping his black yukata tightly with both of her shaking hands.
The temperature around them soon rose due to the closure of their extremely flushed faces and both were so incredibly nervous and anxious they were trembling from head to toes and with countless butterflies in their stomachs. But still, the two of them were filled with unexplainable happiness as they were able to resonate quite well with each other. And that was what provided them enough security to relax their eyelids, letting everything flow more naturally.
With his hand traveling from her cheek to the back of her neck, Kurotabou dared to pull her in even more and deepening the kiss, making it more possible for both to catch each other's tastes. While he could feel his chest warm up at the sweetness that invaded his mouth, he wondered if she would be able to bear the bitterness of many years of remorse of the lives he had taken or the sins he had committed – many wrongs of his that, one day, he would have to reveal to her. To his relief, just when he was considering the possibility of spearing her of the despicable flavor of his worthlessness, she seemed to welcome him well as they mixed together with a very pleasing result. Sadly, said result had not lasted as long as he would have wanted to, as they were forced to break apart from lack of air.
But even though the moment was over, its meaning was not.
It didn't take long at all for the two to catch their breaths, finding out their fatigue was actually from their nervousness and anxiety and not from the kiss itself, upon realizing their connection had not even lasted an entire minute. And, while the only sounds that could be heard was the one of raindrops violently hitting the wooden doors outside, all the two could do was fixatedly stare into each other's eyes, still holding onto one another.
Now knowing his blush was most likely perfectly visible, despite how the place was so dimly lit, Kurotabou was still able to muster some courage to move his hand from the girl's neck back to her burning cheek, caressing it gently. In that meantime, he mentally concluded that it could be the right time. All he needed to both justify himself and to reach his goal were three words, and while he mentally debated with himself the best way to say it, his chin started trembling, as if his mouth was warning him it was about to move on its own again, which would probably ruin everything. But he found no need to worry about it any more as soon as the younger one unexpectedly slammed herself into him. As she nuzzled her bright red face into his broad chest, her hands now clutching his yukata from the back, she was able to transmit to him a message.
Words weren't needed.
Blinking a few times before smiling softly, the Souhei wrapped both arms around the maid as well, letting his head rest on top of hers as she didn't seem to mind his long raven hair falling over. Able to perceive how his and her accelerated heartbeats were synchronized, for the first time in his life, Kurotabou could appreciate the feeling that nothing was missing, as if his life was complete. And, in fact, it was true – since the country was in the process of fast development and in times of peace, his services most likely wouldn't be as needed as before. All he had yet needed to do was to find a mate, but it seemed that wish had just been granted as well. And while he savored every bit of that, he remembered that he had not yet let the girl tell him what she had wanted to.
But he would soon find out that didn't matter.
~o0o~
Staying still had never been so difficult for the Ienaga family's only heiress.
As proper etiquette demanded, she had tried her best to keep her elegant posture intact, despite the time she had spend seated at the back of the Nura mansion's doujou. But no matter how much she policed herself to stay as lady-like as possible, her noble composure would always be ruined as she constantly caught herself gawking widely, staring fixatedly or fidgeting in anticipation during her stay there. Manners-wise, her behavior would have been condemned, hence her being very thankful no one seemed to have paid attention to her jumpiness. But considering the scene before her, her reactions were understandable.
The loud clashing of blades, the strong blows, the swift and flexible movements – it was all simply astonishing.
Kana had always been well-aware the Nura-gumi was very powerful, and had spent quite some time picturing in her mind the many hardships it had gone through on its way to splendor. But experiencing the real thing by herself was something completely different. She could now see how the most influent Kumi of Japan was actually far beyond her imagination, even because what she was witnessing at the moment was mere training. If she was already impressed with the clansmen's various breath-taking techniques when they were not being totally serious, she would probably never be able to understand their magnificence when overcoming the huge odds they had to face along the Kumi's mere three generations.
All of that made her wish she had been able to be there during said time, despite its many dangers.
Still, the fact the present members weren't at their fullest didn't make the scene less exciting in any way – and Kana was sure she wasn't the only one to think so. Within the few hours that had passed, she had been carefully paying attention to how the number of people in the doujou was increasing. Quite a lot of men and women, who had been attracted by the noise and hectic activity of the place, had decided to join the practice. A few others would stop by to simply contemplate it.
Not even the collected Keikain heiress could resist the temptation of allowing herself into the mesmerizing mess the room was becoming, apologizing to her friend for leaving her by herself. Kana, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind her absence as she encouraged her to go, since other ladies had been gathering near the place where she was sitting to watch the awesome spectacle. And, thanks to the kind company of two Bakeneko-gumi young women, Usami Yura and Shirohebi Rinko, her loneliness didn't last at all.
Her guilt, however, was another story.
While her eyes kept traveling through the mass of people the doujou was becoming, eventually, the heiress would be able to spot the only two young men who couldn't fully participate of the marvelous reunion. Limited to crossing fake blades with someone far below his level of skill, the figure current Nura heir would sometimes show up in the midst of the moving crowd at the center of the room. Sometimes, he would display a certain hint of amusement when laughing at the poor boy that tried to catch up to him, encouraging him to push himself as he dodged his blows with ease. But mostly, his eyes would be directed somewhere else, contemplating everyone's free and open movements – something that had been temporarily taken away from him in a very painful way.
The sight was highly unpleasant to the heiress, and though she was trying to hide it, she feared she wouldn't be able to take it much longer. That was why it was clearly relieving for her to see that, at some point, everyone's pace started slowing down to an end. It had taken a while, but little by little, more and more people started either exiting or just sitting somewhere, until everyone decided it was enough for the day. Soon, there wasn't a single person standing on the doujou's tatami as everyone settled down, most of them panting heavily.
It was only after that that Kana was able to sense how incredibly high the temperature in the room had become and how the stench of sweat had dominated it completely. Resisting the urge to hold her breath, she wondered how she had managed not to notice it before. Maybe it had been because she herself wasn't sweating – due to the amount of cosmetics she usually wore – and because she had been a little too distracted with everything going on in front of her to pay attention to it. Mentally cursing the fact the widows had to stay shut, the half-British lady tried her best to fight her illness as she continued to breathe almost normally.
As she looked around, she noted how no one, not even Yura, seemed to be bothered with the environment – since they were already used to it – and couldn't help but feel out of place. It seemed that it would take longer than she had thought for her to rid herself of the calm and quiet of the English domain and become used to the rough and loud Yakuza ambient. That simple fact was a stain on her bright hopes to become an exemplary wife, and she was glad she was able to get over it as soon as the double shouji doors of the large doujou were suddenly opened.
"Everyone~!" all the heads in the room turned at the source of the cheerful voice that echoed through the walls, finding a young woman in white standing by the entrance, her arms widely spread, making it obvious she had been the one to slide the doors. "Lunch time!" she announced loudly, which caused everyone to flinch slightly, as if finally perceiving how starving they were.
As the raven-haired young woman stepped aside, she made free way for a little troop of children to enter the place, each one with a tray containing a meal in hands. While making their way to every person in the room, they would hand the food to the first one in sight, then go back to where they had come from to fetch another tray, and take it to someone else. The process was repeated until they were sure all the people in the room were being properly fed. And, amongst them were the household's head bodyguard, her cousin – "Reira-san", if Kana remembered well – and the little Yukari. Holding their own trays, the three walked different ways through the room.
Unlike what the European young woman had thought that would happen, Tsurara passed by her commander without even sparing him a glance, letting a child nearby serve him as he stared at her back constantly. Meanwhile, Yukari made her path to her Toono comrades and took a seat with them on the tatami, giving a quick greeting before parting her hashi in two. Not so far from her, Reira allowed herself to sit beside the Kusari-gama wielder, whom Kana had earlier found out to have earned the title of "Kamaitachi", a name that suited his techniques rather well.
"Here you go." the amber-eyed lady said gently, handing the tray to him with a smile.
"Huh? Th-Thanks..." he responded, rather sheepishly, with a hint of pink on his sweaty cheeks, "but what about you?"
"Oh, I have already..." Reira began, but slowly trailed off as her eyes downed, her face becoming one of disapproval upon seeing his bruised and bleeding hands, "arara, Itaku... Careless as ever, I see." she commented with a sigh, her smile returning in a matter of seconds as she giggled, "Maa, it can't be helped! I will feed you instead~"
"Wh-What are you saying?!" with his blush deepening, Itaku flinched, almost dropping his meal. On the other hand, his companions seemed to find the sight highly entertaining as they joked amongst themselves while laughing together.
The Ienaga daughter, who was observing everything from a distance, distractedly wondered if the pink-haired female and the not-so-cool-anymore brunet could be a couple. Whether they were or not, by the looks of it, they were usual targets of those kinds of suggestive comments. The way things were going, the scene was a little harder to picture with herself and her future husband in their place, but she was still able to do so with a slight blush. Trying to prevent a silly smile from approaching her lips, she mentally decided to make the day something like that would happen with them come soon.
"Have at it, Kana-sama~" her mental image being interrupted by a cheerful voice she knew all too well, Kana looked upwards to find one of her future subordinates offering her a tray while some children served her old friends, who had come to sit nearby after practice.
"A-Ah... thank you, Oikawa-san..." back to reality but with her cheeks still heating up slightly, the chocolate-haired young lady accepted her lunch, noticing the smell of the room was changed from the stink of male juices to the welcoming one of recently-prepared food.
"You're back, Oikawa-san!" Jirou beamed brightly, his cheeky smile almost reaching his ears. "Thank you very much for the meal!"
"Y-You're welcome, Shima-sama..." sweat-dropping a little at the blond's ever so odd behavior towards her, Tsurara offered him a rather awkward smile.
"Heh...?! Th... This is...!" with a gasp from the Keikain heiress, her eyes widening a little as she looked down at her bowl of gohan, the heads of the other three young nobles and the servant turned at her.
"Tamago-kake gohan?" Kana asked, allowing herself to lean closer to her friend to take a look at whatever she could have been so shocked about, finding nothing but raw eggs. With her eyes going through the others' trays as well, she was able to figure it out, "Eh? Only Yura-chan has it..."
"Aaah, that's right!" Kiyotsugu snapped his fingers, "Keikain-kun, you used to love that, didn't you?!"
"I... still do." Yura said slowly, her eyes starting to become filled with joy, "Oikawa-san... You... remembered...?"
"Uwah~!" Jirou's rather thin brows shot up in admiration. "What a memory, Oikawa-san!"
"I-It wasn't my idea!" Tsurara lamely hid her act of kindness with a blush, throwing her eyes elsewhere. "It was Wakana-san's!"
"I see..." the unofficial Keikain leader pretended to play along with her act, but couldn't stop a small smile from approaching her lips, willing to find out the reason of the lie later.
"Tsurara-nee-san!" a childish feminine voice called from behind. The aide turned around on her sitting position, revealing a short-haired girl smiling contently at her. Still seated, she watched as the brunette bowed and reported cheerfully, "We are done!"
Looking around to confirm what she had been told, Tsurara smiled in satisfaction, "Good job, everyone! You're free to disperse!"
"Sharii~! Thank you very much!" with her smile growing, the younger one almost left without greeting the guests and the next Soudaishou's bride. Stopping in mid-step, she bowed to them as well, "Oh, and good afternoon!" Not waiting for a response, she politely yet hurriedly took her leave, together with the other children, "Please excuse us~!"
"Ah! Oryou-chan, don't run~!" Tsurara shouted, her hands forming a circle around her mouth, unable to reach the girl's ears over the noise in the room. Thankfully enough, the so-called "Oryou" was able to make it to the entrance without problems, successfully avoiding hitting people in the slim space available for her to pass through.
"Say, Oikawa-san," Kana began, watching the children's backs as they closed the doujou's doors, "those kids just now... I see them around often, but... it doesn't seem like they belong to anyone here. I mean, there are barely any women in this house too, so..." Upon listening to her own words and seeing the looks everyone was giving her, she backed up a little, her cheeks yet again pink from embarrassment as her hands flew to her mouth, "I-I'm sorry...! I'm being rude..."
"Hm-hm. Not really. It's just natural that what goes in the house is of the housewife's concern." with a light smile, Tsurara dismissively shook her head, making the heiress's blush become one of flattery. The smile, however, only lasted a matter of seconds before she answered the question, "Those children are not really related with anyone in this Kumi. At least not by blood. To tell the truth, most likely... none of their blood relatives are alive by now."
"E-Eh?!" Kana couldn't help but exclaim loudly at the last part, apologizing one more time as she tried to recompose herself.
"You were right, Ojou. Those children were not born in this mansion. They were taken in about a year ago." The underling continued, her melancholic look soon becoming a smile again as she added, "And became my Kumi, together with the Awarashi family."
"'Awarashi'...?" Kiyotsugu repeated to himself, as if trying to place a mental image to the name, gasping and blinking a few times once he was able to. "Eh?! Those guys from yesterday's Harumatsuri?"
"Correct!" Tsurara nodded proudly.
"So you have your own Kumi annexed to the Nura-gumi?" Yura asked for confirmation, receiving a second nod as answer.
"Wah~! That's amazing, Oikawa-san!" Jirou mused, eyes sparkling in admiration.
"I knew there was more than what met the eye to you, Oikawa-kun~! That's simply wonderful~!" Kiyotsugu followed.
"N-Not really..." the blunette sheepishly dismissed the compliments. "all of the higher-ups have their own Kumi, so..."
"What's its name, Oikawa-san?" the Nura bride asked, her interest visibly rising.
"Oh, that... It's the Tsurara-gumi~" the young servant giggled.
"Huh? Why not your family name...?" Yura raised a brow at her, tilting her head a little before it shot up. "Don't tell me... it was you who founded it?"
"More like... I was convinced to...?" the white maiden asked herself with a thoughtful frown and an awkward smile as she rubbed the back of her long hair.
"Uooh?!" Kiyotsugu's eyes widened, "That's even more wonderful!"
"As expected of Oikawa-san!" Jirou added, his hands forming fists and his cheeks reddening.
"T-Then," Kana interrupted, slightly annoyed at the young men's excitement, "those children are from that household?"
"Hm-hm." Tsurara merely shook her head. "They weren't taken in from the Awarashi family, but from the streets."
"Eh?!" her shoulders up, the chocolate-haired girl, together with the rest of her old companions, gestured to the servant, as if asking for her to continue. Seeing the general curiosity of the young nobles and how it was already too late to change the subject, she sighed, mentally looking for a way to explain the long story.
Ever since her master had started being accepted as the Nura-gumi's Sandaime, Shiwasu had become a very busy time of the year to her. As his arrangements had begun taking shape, some members of the upper echelons of the past generation had to retire. But at the same time, other members had been promoted, filling their seats in the Soukai. As one of the Wakagashira's bodyguards, she had obviously been no exception. However, the expectations for the ones that acquired such positions were high, one of them being having followers – in other words, their own Hyakki.
In order to help her acquire her Kumi quicker, Rikuo had taken advantage of the economic problems of the Awarashi family, which had been once entrusted to her mother in the past, to give his recently-proclaimed head aide an opportunity to succeed the legacy. And so, the Nishikigoi-gai, the Awarashi family's area, was entrusted to her. The only problem had been that the Awarashi themselves had yet to accept the idea. But knowing the rest of her comrades who had been promoted as well were doing their best to surpass their leader's expectations, she had accepted the task without any complaints, even though having her own subordinates had always been something beyond her dreams.
During the process, she had struggled, made mistakes, embarrassed herself... but more importantly, she had taken notice of certain things that she hardly would have been able to, had she stayed in her daily routine at the main house instead. Shielded by the Nura domain's tall gates, she had never spent enough time outside to see by herself how Toukyou was still far from becoming the ideal place her master's and the generations before his had dreamt with, but she had been given that opportunity at Nishikigoi. The process was going on slowly, as well as the economy was regaining its stability and public issues being resolved, but there were still many holes to be covered in the country's system.
One of them being the quality of life of the citizens.
Until she had noticed how many people lived in the streets, especially minors, she had never had any idea of how privileged her life in the Nura household was, hence it being during her stay with the Awarashi family that she had decided to help that scenario change faster – and, to her, there was no better way to do so other than taking people out of misery by offering them jobs. With the difficulties she had had dealing with the Awarashi family, the best way for her to gain their trust could be to seek for assistance. It was with that in mind that she had spent all the efforts possible in recruiting help, and, even though she had been able to earn it, it was nowhere near what she had been expecting.
After all, she had only had success with gathering children.
She should have had perceived it at first that the promise of a better future in exchange of handwork would not be very convincing to grown-ups, much less coming from a single girl in an apron. Still, with all the adorably determined faces of the little ones whose hopes she had raised and an important task to complete, she couldn't have afforded to give up there. And so, she yet again had attempted to be accepted by the ones she had been entrusted with, that time, with her small army of young people.
Surprisingly enough, the result had been much better than she had expected.
After so much of her insistence, the Awarashi family had seemed to give up sending her off. As she and her group had succeeded the first errand they had been given rather well, she had been able to receive more and more jobs to accomplish, until she and her little recently-proclaimed subordinates had been able to get along with the stubborn Awarashi members. Still, it had seemed things were going too smoothly to be true, especially in a city that was still in the process of reformulation.
Even though the times were of peace, security problems had still seemed to apply to Toukyou, much like every other city. And, even though those were not nearly as frequent as before, certain areas were simply more dangerous than others – and Nishikigoi-gai was one of them. Just when Tsurara had thought no more obstacles would stand on her way, she found herself having to deal with a vandal group of robbers. Acting in broad daylight, they had turned the pacific market the Awarashi family worked at, the Garakuta, into a mass of panic. But of course, as the head bodyguard of Kantou region's rightful ruler, there was no way she would have let things go their way.
After all, that was the area she had been entrusted with.
One of the most shocking events of that day had been that not only her recruited children, but also the family that had been neglecting her help from the start, had mobilized themselves in her favor. And, together with them, she had been able to get rid of the thieves, pretending everything had been nothing but an entertaining public play, so that the victims would have been able to get back their stolen belongings and no more ruckuses would have been made – not to mention the number of costumers wouldn't have diminished.
In the end, everything was resolved.
Not only the Awarashi members had acknowledged her hard work and respectable lack of hesitation to face an enemy for their sake, but had also joined the children in pledging themselves to her. Much how like they had done with the first Nura heir and her mother, the Awarashi had put themselves under her command, while the children decided to create a new Kumi, naming it after their leader.
All in all, things had become a little confusing after the Awarashis' promise to follow her. She hadn't been there for very long, nor yet comprehended their habits or been able to understand how they exchanged Sakazuki. But, somehow, it seemed they had accepted her pretty well, much like the children, as the transaction was made with a joyful Tejime.
She remembered wondering back then how everyone's faces – especially her master's – would be when she had finally arrived home. She had hoped to see the pride in his eyes, but had been sure he was going to be rather appalled with the children following her on her way inside, holding onto the hems and yuki of her white and blue furisode. Strangely enough, the expression he wore when he had welcomed her back had been a mixture of both.
Nevertheless, the Tsurara-gumi had been accepted and was living there ever since.
By the end of the explanation, the aide was smiling to herself at the many gleeful memories brought back to the surface of her mind. That, however, only lasted until she raised her head back at the heirs, not knowing how to respond to the looks they were all giving her as they remained motionless for a moment.
"W... What is this...?" after a little while of silence amongst them, Jirou was the first to speak, although only to himself and in a rather low voice that was barely audible in the current sonority of the room. "Isn't it a fine story...?"
"Oikawa-san..." with her eyes narrowing a little, Yura's lips were parted in the slightest as she muttered the girl's name in her thoughts.
"Everyone?" with a drop of sweat on one of her cheeks, Tsurara attempted to understand what was going on, until she was caught by surprise by Kiyotsugu's hands over hers. "Hahi?!"
"Uwaaaah~!" Shedding man tears, the wavy-haired young man completely invaded the servant's personal space by bringing her hands near his chest, his face leaning so close to her she could feel water drops falling onto her lap, "So moved! I'm so moved by you, Oikawa-kun!"
"Eh? W-What?"
"She deserves a toast!" freeing one of her hands, Kiyotsugu announced as he grabbed his cup of mecha.
"W-Wait, you're going a little too far!" finally back to herself, Yura snapped as she raised an open palm at him.
While watching the little commotion and not minding the looks some people were giving them, Kana was the only one that still found herself unable to move. Quietly observing the other four, she could perceive her earlier mental question had been indirectly answered – Tsurara really did get along well with children. Probably to the point she could be considered already experienced enough to become a good mother, despite her age.
Now that the Nura bride had thought about it, how was it that she herself got along with kids? She had never really interacted with a little one enough to be able to tell if she could successfully have her way with them. Giving her beloved fiancé a healthy and prominent next heir was certainly in her plans for the future, but although she was aware that becoming a perfect family nowhere easy, she could never really imagine herself going through the difficulties of parenthood, only overcoming them, as well as she had never really thought about how she could have a good relationship with her child or children.
Pursing her lips slightly, she reluctantly concluded she was still far behind her undeclared rival.
Her way to becoming an exemplary wife was still long, not only in that matter, but also in the housework. Just when she had thought she had finally started understanding her future routine, she was once again reminded she was still quite the spoiled young lady when her meal was taken to her. In all her distraction while watching the morning practice, she hadn't even perceived how much time had passed since it had started, neither had she thought of leaving for a single moment to check how things were going around the house or if she was needed to anything, nor she thought she would have had the idea of taking everyone's lunch to them.
A very interesting idea, she had to admit.
Analyzing it a little more, she was able to understand the essence of Tsurara's intentions better. By taking everyone's lunch to them, she had avoided having the foul smell of sweat infesting the house, for some people surely wouldn't be able to wait until they could bathe properly so that they could head to the dining hall. She had also been quick and smart enough to bring as much help as she could, so that no one would have been left hungry for too long. And when everyone was done, they could take all the time they wanted bathing later.
There had been no real need for her to have bothered with that, though. The way from the doujou to the dining hall was not connected to the one to the kitchen, where she spent most of her time, so the stench wouldn't have affected her. It had also probably taken her a lot of time to prepare the trays for everyone and organize the children to deliver them, which she could have perfectly speared herself of.
But she had done so anyway.
Cooking, sweeping, washing – those kinds of usual chores were part of the Ienaga daughter's private classes with her future mother-in-law, while she was still in the process of becoming her successor. At first, she had thought she was doing well within time, although really slowly, being it her skills in said matters was almost zero by the time she had left her old home. Yet how would she do regarding other basic acquirements for being not only a good housewife and mother, but also a good woman, such as altruism? The fact she had never really thought about it already gave her a hint of what the answer could be.
A rather disturbing one.
Continuing to watch the comic scene in front of her, the heiress took notice of how she couldn't bring herself to even force a little smile. Although she couldn't neglect the moment was a funny one and wished to be able to enjoy it, it seemed that she was simply unable to, due to the many inner conflicts being awakened within her. Yet again, she was putting herself down – a despising habit she had picked ever since she had arrived at the Nura house.
But yet again, she was mentally telling herself not to do so.
There were still many factors against her – she still had too much to learn in too little time. After all, she was not yet expected to become as experienced as the current Nura mistress, but only when she was at an actual age of reason. However, she hoped with all her heart that she would be able to reach one of her biggest objectives in life in time for her wedding, for what she wished the most was to not to have to rely on anyone's – much less the head aide's – assistance in her everyday affairs after she was married, as her future husband had decided.
And she wouldn't rest until that dream came true.
"W-W-Well, everyone... I must get going!" laughing nervously, the young servant unknowingly cut off her master's fiancée's trail of thoughts as she was finally able to break from the obnoxious young man's grip, not wasting a second before getting on her feet. "I had promised Wakana-san and Kejourou not to take too long here, s-so... excuse me!"
"Wait~! Oikawa-san~~~!" Jirou called after her as she took her leave with a hand in the air, but was ignored as she pretended not to hear him over all the noise in the room.
"Ienaga-san?" not minding the blond's pathetically failed attempts to get the white beauty's attention, Yura called her friend discreetly, who seemed to be staring into empty air.
"Eh?" blinking, the chocolate-haired beauty turned her head to face her, as if she had just come out of a trance.
"Are you okay?" the long-haired one asked with a worried frown.
"O-Of course I am!" Kana smiled back embarrassedly, her white lie being a little too obvious to her liking as she took her bowl of gohan and hashi from her tray. "Now, shall we begin eating?"
Just as the last word reached her ears, the long-haired brunette's cheeks reddened slightly as her eyes gained a certain glow while she nodded rather enthusiastically, "Yes!"
As the two started ahead of their companions, who didn't take long at all to do the same, the hazel-eyed heiress continued to silently watch the back of her subordinate-to-be as she made her way out. Amongst her friends, hers was the only mood that didn't seem to change as they started a conversation, which she could barely pay mind to while splitting her attention at the servant and her lunch. And, much like the last time that had happened, she succeeded in pretending to be interested in whatever the subject was, never losing Tsurara of sight. To her, it was rather intriguing how there were still quite a few things she hadn't yet taken notice of within that household, one of them being how the aide was always so well-treated by everyone.
Especially young males.
Back in Britain, due to the popularity of the alliances her family had with other powerful ones, Kana and her parents would often find themselves visiting other people's mansions or attending to social parties ever since they had arrived there. And, even though pretty much everyone they knew was already aware of her engagement, rarely any males her age would restrain themselves around her as she was always hiding behind her flowery fan. With those rather awkward experiences, she had become rather sharply perceptive with the behavior of the opposite sex regarding that matter, hence her being able to tell for sure quite a few men were attracted to her husband-to-be's most trusted servant.
Maybe it was also because Kana had already become used to that sort of attention when still in England, though it was an unwanted one, and because of the serious matters regarding her arranged man's relationship with the young bodyguard, that the fact the young men of the Nura house were more smitten of her undeclared love rival than herself irritated her. It was something uncalled for and irrational for many reasons, she admitted, but she couldn't help it.
The ugly darkness of jealousy was sprouting within her yet again.
She watched as the sapphire-eyed girl carefully walked up to the exit, sometimes stopping to receive the gratitude of the people she had done a great favor to. Trying to avoid hitting anyone with the limited movements her kimono allowed her, she had almost clumsily tripped over her own clothes, but was helped right away by a tall young man with a blush on his usually pale cheeks. And here and there, there were small groups of males that would call her for whatever reason, the younger ones bearing the look Kana knew so well.
And, unnoticed by her, the Wakagashira was no exception.
While being surrounded by a fair number of young women of the many Kumi of the guests hosted at his home, Rikuo pretended to pay attention to whatever they were talking – rather squealing – about to him, having luckily chosen to take a seat away from his bride's field of vision without even being aware of it. As he either just randomly nodded or shook his head whenever he was asked anything, his burgundy eyes were focused on one direction alone as he silently observed his aide on her way out. Trying to hide his frown and twisting lips from the females all over him, who didn't deserve to have a taste of his disgust and loneliness, he sipped his sake as slowly as he could, his grip on the cup tightening every time he would spot the one of his affections giving her attention to someone else.
She was doing it again.
Perhaps that time it wasn't her intention, but yet again, she was mercilessly crushing his heart. While pondering about why she hadn't come to serve him herself, he hoped she would at least see that he was there now, rather than seeming to pretend he didn't exist – or, at least, that was how he had felt when watching her pass by him without even giving him a look. But as she finally crossed the room and waved goodbye to everyone before closing the doors, he decided resentfully to forget about it.
"Oi, Rikuo!" Zen, who had joined the people watching the practice quite some time before, called the Sandaime over the many voices echoing through the room. "Quit spacing out! Your food will get cold!"
"Hm? Oh, yeah." back from his deep thoughts as he was still staring at the closed shouji doors of the doujou, as if asking for the white beauty to open them again, Rikuo looked down at his tray, finding out his meal was almost becoming cold. With the hashi offered by a pigtailed member of the Bakeneko-gumi, he muttered to himself, "Itadakimasu..."
~o0o~
It was overwhelming.
A busy and eventful morning followed by a delicious meal and a relaxing warm bath, together with the darkish and cold atmosphere provided by the storm outside and the tranquilizing sound of heavy rain, hardly anyone would be able to stay active – the white-haired Wakagashira was no exception. As he walked through the shadowed innermost corridors with low eyelids, he couldn't wait to be able to join the rest of his usually lively household and collapse onto his fluffy futon. That was all he had in mind, before he slid the shouji doors of his room open, finding a very pleasant surprise.
"Ah, Rikuo-sama. You're finally here." he was welcomed with the warm and ever-so-cheerful smile of his head aid, who seemed to have been waiting for his arrival while allowing herself to read one of his books. But upon seeing the towel on his shoulder and how wet his hair was, her expression became one of utter surprise with a hint of worry, "Eh? Are? You... have taken a bath? W-What about...?"
"My body is fine. I got Zen's permission first." immediately understanding what she was about to ask, he explained simply, making his way inside after closing the doors. "It was kinda painful... but I actually feel better now."
"I see... that's a relief." Tsurara sighed, figuring out why her master had taken so long to come to his place. For having to hide his injuries from everyone else, he would have had to wait for everyone to bathe first. And, after such a long training, the everyone would most likely want to take much longer than usual to come out of the mansion's inner onsen. "If that's the case, Waka won't need this anymore, right?"
As he carefully sat next to her and followed her eyes with his, Rikuo was able to spot a wooden bowl filled with water and a soaked fabric half-floating in it. Remembering he had been needing help to bathe due to his wounds and feeling bad for making her waste her time coming all the way there to wait for him, he sheepishly answered, "N-No... I guess not."
"Then I should be taking my leave now." Tsurara said dismissively, without showing any signs of being bothered by her master's carefreeness as she turned around to face him fully. "If Waka needs anything, just call m..." She trailed off slowly, and, as soon as her eyes locked with his, they narrowed slightly, "wait... Waka, you're not planning to go to sleep like that, are you?"
"Hm? Any problem with that?" he asked with a confused frown.
"Many! Rikuo-sama's futon would be soaked! That's the last thing you need in a cold day!" she raised her voice a little as she stated the obvious, her face making him shrink back a little. "With that body, Rikuo-sama can't afford to become ill!"
"Aah, no..." he sweat-dropped, "I don't think I would get sick that easily, even with–"
"I'm not risking it!" she authoritatively placed her hands on her hips, before taking the towel from his shoulder. Taking the liberty to open one of the dressers of his small drawer, she took out a comb with her free hand and proceeded to sit behind him. "If Waka isn't willing to do it, just leave it to me."
"O-Okay..." he agreed lowly, letting her do as she pleased. "My bad..."
"What are you saying, Rikuo-sama? Isn't that what I'm here for?" she blushed slightly, missing the smile approaching her master's lips as well as failing to perceive she had just conceived him exactly what he had wanted.
To stay with him longer.
With a surprisingly motherly skill, she began her careful job, raising his desire to fall asleep right then and there as he closed his tired eyes. He was able to resist the urge to do so, though, not only because he could fall back onto her if he didn't, but also because of the obvious fact he would miss the comfortable experience if he was to lose his consciousness so quickly. As she used the towel with one hand and the comb with the other, she worked on his silver mane gently and repetitively, as if meaning to pet him instead. His body relaxing quicker than he had thought, he almost let himself slip onto the wooden floor as his muscular arms, which were supposed to support him as he leaned backwards to make her task easier, weakened considerably. However, as soon as the memories of the events of earlier that afternoon flashed through his mind, he stiffened instantly, reminded of her actions towards him back then.
After a while of pondering with the sound of the rain as background, he decided to break the calm of the room with his deep tenor voice, "Tsurara."
"Yes?"
"I thought I had made it clear I don't like it when you ignore me." he said, serious and bluntly, attempting to give her a rather cold look from behind his shoulder.
"He... heeeh?!" sweat-dropping, she let her jaw drop as a yelp escaped from her lips. Reminding herself everyone was probably asleep by that time, she lowered her tone as she stammered with wide eyes, "W-What?"
"Don't play fool." he demanded, although knowing she was genuinely confused. "You were doing the same thing as yesterday night at lunch time. Why?"
"N-No, I-I-I... I...!" she continued to sputter in her search for words, her hands up and flailing as a hardly visible shade of red formed on her face.
Turning around to face her helpless self, the heir did what he could to keep his cool and expressionless façade, even though his wounds burned from the urge of releasing the laughter he held within his chest. As cruel and perverted of him as it could be, he had to admit it – cornering her was surely amusing sometimes.
"I just... felt like Kana-sama had been too suspicious of us lately... because of what happened at the Matsuri. Rikuo-sama was really careless back then and... I let that happen." only able to speak normally after she avoided his penetrating burgundy gaze, she only stared at the floor, her tone and expression becoming serious as well, but with a little hint of embarrassment still remaining on her cheeks. "I don't think she should be underestimated like that. Women can tell those kinds of things, and Ojou is a very perceptive person. If she hadn't been sick... probably..."
"I see... I guess that was the smartest thing to do, then." he sighed, acknowledging everything that had been said as he returned to his previous position.
He sure had to be more cautious. There was no space for audacity anymore in his advances now that he understood his arranged fiancée seemed to be aware that something was going on between the two of them besides what their duty bound them to. But even so, he didn't have the slightest bits of regret towards what he had been making his trustful underling go through ever since his confession, the fact he knew she also didn't relieving him. And, as he allowed her to continue from where she had left off, he couldn't help but wonder about a question that had been residing in his mind without a concrete answer for some time, which had resurfaced by the raven-haired one's last statement.
If he really did have no choice but to marry his old friend by any misfortune, what would it be of his aide and himself?
He had been asking himself the same question over and over for very long every time he considered the possibility of not being able to share his life with the one he actually wanted to, which he hated to admit that was not far-fetched at all. And, as much as he could never really imagine himself and his oldest childhood friend as husband and wife, he would never actually dare to betray her if they were. After all, once married to her, he may not be expected to stay loyal to her, but the expectations would lie in something far more compromising – a fourth generation. And, as scrupulous and prideful as he was, he would never be able to even face himself in the mirror if he was to hurt his supposed future wife and child when they eventually found out about his possible affair, since it would be nearly impossible for them not to. There was no doubt he would end up hurting his aide in the process as well. Once found out, she would most likely lose her respect and merit within the Nura household, having to deal with being considered a promiscuous woman for the rest of her life. That would be far too immoral and dirty of him, and, even though his subordinates wouldn't dare to say it on his face, he knew what would happen on his back.
At the end of the day, he could only come to one answer to his question: he would most likely be forever doomed to pretend to be happy while raising the splitting image of himself and someone he couldn't think of as more than as a sister. In that meantime, all he would be able to do is to watch the woman of his affections either spending her life all by herself or pledging it to another man.
He couldn't decide which would be worst.
That was why he couldn't help it – every time a male was spotted acting too intimate of her, anger would instinctively awake within him, for it would always remind him a not-so-remote possibility of someone other than him taking his place in his aide's heart undeniably existed, regardless of her seemingly undying love for him. As much as he would feel much more at ease if people could only have one special person in a lifetime, he didn't wish her such everlasting loneliness, but on the other hand, he could not stand the disgusting idea of the woman of his affections giving her everything to whoever it could be, if it ever happened.
He despised such thoughts and yearned to get rid of them, not only because they infuriated him, but also for them not to interfere with his determination to have her despite all the odds not being on his favor and for her own sake. After all, if she did find someone else, he would have to respect her decision no matter what, but he wasn't sure of what could happen if the rage those thoughts caused him continued to grow. And since the last thing he would want was to ruin her happiness, he would still try to forget everything about that matter and concentrate on his goal. Yet it would all come back to him one time or another, and so he still couldn't negate what he was.
A selfish bastard.
With only the sound of rain as background, he continued to mentally debate with himself about the many chances of things not going as he wanted until the day of his marriage and cogitating the many scenarios that said chances could lead his life to – one more unbearable than the other. As his face started becoming dull within the passing minutes, he totally lost his notion of time in his thoughts, only regaining it when his servant released his long and spiky snow white hair with a smile of satisfaction.
"Done~!" she said cheerfully, raising to her feet and making her way to the drawer she had taken the comb from. Sitting on her knees again, she cleaned the wet object with her kimono's yuki before putting it back in place and putting the soaked towel in the water-filled bowl she had brought with her, "Alright, now it's for good~! I'll be leaving then, Wak–" she was about to take the bowl in her hands and make her way to the door as she turned around to bow her head to him when she was suddenly cut off by something warm sneaking around her back. Just as she realized what was happening, she was pulled back into something hard, and soon her back was covered with heat.
"You don't have to leave yet." he whispered lowly, filling her left ear with warmth and giving her the same feeling as of when he had ordered her not to answer poor Jirou's desperate calls the night before.
Feeling chills up her spine and cheeks stinging from the blood flushing in them, Tsurara was back to stammering uncontrollably, "W-What are you saying, Rikuo-sama? I-I have a lot of work to do! The r-rain is making everything difficult today, a-and—hiii?!" yet again being interrupted, the azure-eyed beauty yelped in surprise, both of her tiny hands soon covering her mouth as her blush deepened.
Whether it was just her that was lowering her guard around him in those situations for being too used to them or his hands were becoming more skilled out of habit, she couldn't decide, but it was definitely shocking how he had been able to catch her with so much ease she hadn't even felt it when he swiftly pulled off her scarf. Still not wanting to look at him directly, she had kept her eyes facing forward in her cluelessness, and that was all he had needed as an opening to be able to nuzzle his face into the base of her exposed neck. And, after allowing himself to inhale her sweet flowery scent, he proceeded to plant deep kisses all the way up her soft white skin, his grip on her waist growing tighter as she inevitably attempted to get away.
Able to send his previous disdainful thoughts away as he delighted himself with her presence, he was sure that as it wasn't the first time such things haunted his mind, it wouldn't be the last one. At least, not until the young woman in his arms was officially his forever. And that was the only possibility he wished to consider, for he was certain he would never be willing to give up on her.
If only he could keep her within his hold forever...
"Rikuo-sama... please..." finally, she started pleading, as she managed to free her arms from his loosened grip and use one of her hands to seal his itching lips.
Stopping as soon as her cold touch reached him, he raised his head expecting to find a puppy-like deep blue stare in his direction. Disappointed with the fact her head was still facing the shouji doors of the outermost corridors, he at last freed his servant, knowing it would make her turn around with a questioning look. As soon as she did so, he didn't waste a second to take the hand that was about to let go of him as well, intertwining his hard fingers with her smooth thin ones. Meanwhile, his other hand traveled its way to the back of her inky hair, bringing her forehead to his as she was caught in his hypnotizing ruby eyes. With her cheeks as red as tomatoes, she flinched slightly upon realizing in what position they were
The same as her master's fourteenth birthday.
Already aware of what was probably coming next, she was about to try struggling off again, before understanding that what he wished was to stay something face-to-face. Reluctantly, she allowed him to do so, promising herself to avoid him at any signs of suspicious movements.
"Tsurara..." he began slowly, his eyes lowering down to her pinkish lips for a little as he caressed them with his thumb. "there's still time. Like I said many times before, your heart and your body..." he paused for a moment, his penetrating blood red gaze back to her cautious yet equally passionate azure one. "entrust everything to me."
He should really stop doing things like that. It was becoming more and more usual of him, making questions and requests when his desire to claim her lips in his was actually bigger than receiving a response. Whatever she was about to say when she opened her mouth a little while still not lowering her gaze was secondary as he closed the small gap between them with a simple movement, while she was a little too slow to escape. Soft sweetness invading his tongue, he closed his eyes slowly, ignoring everything else, especially the disturbing heat in his cheeks. And, in all his distraction, he still failed to take notice of something.
By the time he had entered the room, he hadn't closed the shouji doors completely.
~o0o~
I... AM... ALIVE!
Man, I'm quite worried about NuraMago fanfiction now that the second OVA and the English translations of the last chapter are out. Why are there so little readers/writers? This fandom will be reduced to zero soon~! ;A; Anyways, it's no use to bother you guys with that stuff. But let me just apologize for this veeery late chapter, because even though I warned you guys about the possible delay, not even I thought it'd take THIS long. I mean, man, three months! DX I guess I was too caught up with homework and charity translations I've been doing here and there, not to mention a bit of writer's block, hence the most delayed chapter I've updated for this story. Once I got the inspiration, I even started sacrificing sleep and free time to be able to finish this faster, but looks like it wasn't of much use after all... I'M SO VERY SORRY, GUYS! щ(ಥДಥщ)
On a brighter note, who else is anxious for Dark Pawn?! On an even brighter note, have you guys read the last Tankoubon Omake of Volume 25? If you haven't, do forgive me for spoiling the surprise, but I just need to share it: RIKUTSURA HAS OFFICIALLY BECOME CANON! YESSS! MY LIFE IS COMPLETE NOW!
Okay, I won't say any more than this so that you will be able to have the sweet taste of shipping victory when reading the last volume yourselves. But I can say this: I now feel like my story isn't that OOC anymore, because I've found out original Rikuo and Tsurara are certainly up to some sexual tension. My writing will has just been burst! Thank you very much, Shiibashi-sensei!
Now let's all cry together, fellow shippers.
And after crying, let's have some remarks! Please, read at least the first one~!
1) For all you guys who are confused about Edo suddenly becoming Toukyou: due to indecision about what ancient Japan period I should have set this story in (Edo, Taishou or Meiji), I had been using Edo Era, but someone convinced me Meiji Era was better, so now this story will be set in the first years of Meiji Era, and the user Citsimsan shall take all the responsibility for that. Ohohoho~!
2) Yet again, I embedded some voice drama and light novels lines and scenes in the story. I also mixed a bit of the first NuraMago seiyuu event in it. Speaking of this event, in case you guys never watched them, I've got links for them and for translations (made by myself in one of my charity tasks). So, if you want them, just PM me~!
3) I'm sorry I wasn't able to add a good enough ItaRei moment... I shall try to do my best to fill this pairing in at any opportunity, but I still can't promise anything. Dammit. DX
4) Yura is not Yura without her TKG. Nuff said. B-(
5) Sorry, guys, no umbrella scene! But no worries, I may have better plans for it later~!
6) Okay, I had already mentioned Rinko was in the story, for those who hadn't remembered/noticed that in the chapter of Kana's introduction, but yeah, I just had to imply Usami Yura's participation too! And I shall do the same with others! You know what they say, "the more, the merrier"~! XD By the way, about Rinko's surname, I took it after the youkai Shiro Hebi, since she's its descendant.
7) I'm very sorry for writing another terrible kissing scene and that the RikuTsura moment was so damn short... TT3TT
8) If anyone has gotten vibes of Kiyotsugu liking Tsurara or something... it's all just your impression. No, seriously.
9) Yes, the Tsukumogami are children in this story. I couldn't really think of them as anything else. ;P
10) The group of thieves I mentioned attacking Garakuta was the group of Tsukumogami in the manga.
Replies to my beautiful anons!
hungrydotfridge: so you are alive! Thank goodness! I wish I could have seen what you thought of the chapter before that one, though.
Thanks a lot!
It's only one page longer than the previous chapter. But the previous chapter has 1,200 or so more words. That's a big difference, lol. XD
No, no. With the Kitsune being a Nura ally and considering Rikuo a son to her, I doubt she didn't remove the curses of Nurarihyon and Hidemoto's bloodlines. She wouldn't private him from the right of choosing whoever he could love, be them human or youkai. Besides, like you said, it would be a waste of essential plot if the curse wasn't lifted, not to mention it would mean the manga had an incomplete ending.
Yeah... it's so sad we're left with so many questions unanswered.
Ohoho, yup~!
Ah, you want Shouei? I guess a lot of fangirls do, lol. He's so adorable~! X3
Tsurara is human in my story, remember?
I hope the dose of jealous Rikuo was enough in this chapter, hahaha.
eucliwoodscythe: did I take too long? I did, didn't I? DX
Thanks!
It was just a bit of ship tease, but the chapter itself was mostly Rikuo's thoughts about Tsurara, so there was quite a lot of RikuTsura in my opinion.
Glad you liked the tsun-tsun Gozu and the ShouTsura bits~!
No one is minding Kana in this chapter, lol.
You're welcome and thanks for reviewing! Hope I haven't taken too long with this one!
Miechan-ish: I know. Who said the contrary~?
That's good! It was exactly my intention!
kuro: oh, master/mistress of the great long reviews, the humble me salutes you~~~! XD
Lol, don't worry about being late, because you weren't exactly late this time. And thanks!
Nope. Even though my mom wanted to make me and my sister Christians, like the rest of her side of the family, we don't have any religion, just like our dad. By the way, mind me asking what's yours?
18,320 words for this one, actually.
Kyah, thank you!
Yeah, last time was pretty quick. It was surprisingly easy to write. I believe it was more like the power of creativity, lol.
I'm glad you liked it so much!
Yup, jealous Rikuo again!
You knew what about Gozu and Mezu?
Lol, "little" Shouei. XD
Exactly!
Eh? Hon, it's not because he calls Tsurara "nee-san" that he considers her a sister or she considers him a brother. He calls her that because he respects her higher position regarding the clan, since she's the head aide of the main house, as stated in the official character book (I believe he may be older than her, too). And he does have a crush on her in the manga. He blushes because of the simplest of things, like her calling him by his name. Lol, Gozu saw it and was like "what's with this dude?" with an annoyed face. XD
Lol, yus!
I think so too!
I see.
She does? I even thought I was exaggerating on the portraying of the "Tsurara-is-suffering-a-lot-but-she-decided-to-ove rcome-that" thingy. I believe I've wrote that quite a lot in my long paragraphs and monologues.
It was just a peck, actually. Of course it is fast. But why is it weird?
Yes! This story's Kana shall develop even more!
It's not just the first season, but especially the first season. She was being more Mary-Sue than she should have been in there. Junji-sensei, why~~~~?
No, I don't think he wanted us to hate her at all. In fact, in the manga, she barely ever appears, so I don't see why anyone would hate her there aside from the fact of not being smitten of weakling damsel-in-distresses. But in the anime, it wasn't his fault. It was Junji-sensei's for being such a goddamn Kana fanboy.
You mean, like Kuro and Natsumi's and Kejourou and Kubinashi's children? OMG, yesss! They would make wonderful babies~!
The magic of words~! Lol, no.
I did make a lot of them.
Yes~!
MI~SA~KI~! Lol, sorry, I just had to make another lame joke. But then again, how is that being lucky?
Yes, but usually, people make pairing names with the names that are most used to refer to the characters that compose it. For example, HitsuHina, for Toushirou and Momo's pairing.
Well, I only ship them because I think they look good together and the hair omake pretty much sealed the deal for me when Reira made Itaku blush over her looks. That's why I already have an idea of how things would be between them, so I don't think they would be hard to portray.
A good or a bad weird?
It might be surprising if I decide to make them arranged weds and if I can fit them in the story.
Hm, I see. Then... maybe you didn't know how to deal with the registration? I mean, you didn't complete it, right? If you did, did you enable e-mails from FanFiction and confirm your account?
If you didn't sign up, you didn't really join. You just visit it.
I see. I thought, from what you had said, that you didn't know that.
Yes. First and last, if I decide not to make one-shots or such.
Nah, I don't have the inspiration to write my other stories anymore. Being too much into RikuTsura pretty much made me forget about why I liked my SE pairings in first place. I loved SoMa and liked KiMa, but now, I'm totally indifferent about them. I think Soul and Maka are awesome as partners and characters, but even though their bond is really deep, pretty much all shokunin-weapons have similar relationships. Their feelings are quite obvious too, but they still lack quite a bit when it comes to ship tease.
I don't see why discipline is a bad thing... but then again, maybe your notion of discipline is different.
Oh, okay then. I'll believe you. I have a younger sister, so I understand.
They seem really fun, but not quite easy. Still, I'm sure you can manage them even though they're tiring.
Oh, thanks~!
Thanks again. But I'm not amazing, haha.
I used to update on a weekly basis before, remember? Then, I took a month to update two or three times, but I managed to update within weeks again in the previous chapter.
Nyaw, was it? Thaaaank you!
You're welcome!
Oh, you're the same age as my little sister, then.
I also have 17 subjects. Haha, tough life.
No need to apologize. At least you reviewed.
Again, I'm totally okay with your grammar. I can understand everything you write, so it's fine. But how is that like a disclaimer? I think you meant like an Author Note.
What sentence~~~? Don't be mean! I'm drying of curiosity!
Yay! *hugs*
OMG, you almost took me three pages to compose a reply this time! You're surpassing yourself! XD
anone: you're welcome!
Thanks a lot for that. This is the most popular RikuTsura fanfic, so I can believe what you say, haha.
Guest: thank you!
I did write "bump", though... o_o
I will, thank you!
pelovely67: I'm so sorry for not updating soon at all! ;A;
On a brighter note, thank you for reading and reviewing! I hope the wait was worth it!
anone: oh, you're reviewing again? Thanks! You didn't have to!
Yup. RikuTsura is too incredibly kawaii~!
Eh~! How flattering! How many times have you read this story, if you don't mind me asking?
I'm so sorry I didn't update soon (life got in the way – well, school)... but I hope this chapter has compensated for the wait!
divinecriticizr: hiya~! Thanks for reading and reviewing~!
Hehehe, thanks again! I've worked hard on this!
I know, right? It really is kind of random. But I think that's the best way to work the situations out, since the characters and the events of the story are one connected to the other, following a certain timeline. I guess that matches my writing abilities, because I'm way better with third person than others.
I have no idea of who that is or was (ignorant Brazilian), but they seem pretty skilled. Can you indicate me any of their works that you may find particularly good, pwease? :3
"Wall"? Kana-chan shall have a happy ending~! ;D
Once again, thank you~! *accepts cookies with joy*
Pretty much everyone talks about that too. It's always very flattering, hehehe~!
Anything wrong with the grammar? Please, feel free to point it out~!
Thanks again~! I look forward to more comments from you~!
Okay, I hope again I haven't forgotten to reply to anyone! Once more, I AM REALLY SORRY, GUYS! But please, do tell me what you thought of this chapter and stay with me until the end! Till next time!
