Kurushii na Kokoro

by Dennou Writer

Ienaga Kana is the arranged fiancée of Nura Rikuo, who feels that his relationship with one of his most trusted servants might be blocking the way to her happiness. RikuTsura and T for safety. Geez, I suck.

10. Cooperativity

Sighing deeply with a small smile across her lips, Kana rested her head on one hand, elbowing her little table as she watched her sound-asleep childhood companion beside her. With her hands almost forming fists, the inky-haired Keikain leader breathed softly through her mouth, resembling a little baby. In such position, one would never be able to take her for what she really was, for she seemed completely off-guard and defenseless.

Much like how she had been not long before.

While preparing her futon, ready to take a nap after coming back from the Nura onsen, Kana had found herself trying to figure out where Yura's mind could be as she had stopped unfolding the one that had been given to her, staring down at it with a blank expression. Seeing how her mind had seemed to be far away and thinking that temporarily sharing rooms could have not been a very good idea, the chocolate-haired one had asked her friend if she wanted a room of her own, and the reaction she had received from her had been rather interesting. As if waking up from a dream, Yura had shot her once-lowered head up instantly, looking at her hostess as if she had just taken notice of her presence. Her huge brown eyes had been shining as they widened slightly, as well as her cheeks heated with a perfectly visible shade of pink, while she had tried to assure her she was just fine with things as they were.

Much to her dismay, Kana hadn't bought it.

Something had been different with the long-haired archer ever since morning – she had been caught spacing out quite a few times by her temporary roommate while they watched the doujou practice. And, as she had decided to join said practice, the one left behind couldn't help but wonder if her intentions had been to pour what seemed to be some sort of frustration onto her physical efforts.

Although Kana had decided not to bother her about that matter back then, she had been a little worried about her after that. That was why she had thought it could have been the right time to go further into the subject as she had asked more questions. But with all of them being messily dismissed with many more hints of odd behavior from the other heiress, Kana had been left with only one conclusion about it all.

"Could it be... you're having love troubles, Yura-chan?" she had asked while trying to hold back a giggle, watching her friend's jaw drop and words fail, as if she had just been caught red-handed.

And, indeed, she had.

Two days before, Kana wouldn't have even imagined the two of them had so much in common, despite being so different. To her, Keikain Yura, the tomboyish and headstrong Onmyouji who always let her often-brute actions speak for her, would never have really had enough interest in a love-life to actually worry about a man's feelings towards her. But, as the Ienaga heiress had listened to her explanations of why she had been acting so distant and exasperatedly that day, she was able to figure how wrong she was.

Apparently, the night before, Yura's orange-haired indirect kin, Keikain Mamiru, had taken the liberty to steal her first kiss. Not waiting for any justifications whatsoever for his actions, she hadn't wasted a second and ran away out of pure embarrassment, avoiding contact with him since. Such thing had been very hard, for they lived in the same house, but she had managed it, as she knew his daily schedule very well.

However, in that meantime, Yura had inevitably found herself over-thinking her relationship with and feelings towards him. Soon, she had reached a point in which she was unable to get rid of him, even though she hadn't yet directly faced him. Unable to understand herself and the state she was in, she had been struggling very hard to organize the mess her head was becoming. And maybe that was the reason why she had been so appalled when her friend did her the favor to solve the mystery for her.

She was in love.

As expected, after that revelation, Kana had watched her go through many emotional stages as both of them talked for a long time. First, there was the most obvious of all: denial, followed by a quick hint of depression and fear. But then, finally, the acceptance had to come.

And, together with that, insecurity.

One more thing Kana had never thought that could happen was ever being able to gain the opportunity of having such a feminine talk with someone like Yura in her life. But, after the latter had at last acknowledged her feelings, she had started showing signs of worry about what to do next, and that had made many questions start sprouting in her mind, such as what the young man from the branch family could feel towards her and what his intentions when he stole her first kiss could have been. Since she had been unable to answer them, all Kana could do was give her friend a few motivational words.

"Yura-chan, you see... I can't really speak for your Onii-san, but... I can give you an advice, from my own experience. I think you shouldn't worry about what he may feel towards you. At least, not for now. It might drag you down, because Yura-chan can only find that out by talking to him. That's why, Yura-chan... I think that all you can do for now is to be honest with your feelings." were the only words of wisdom she had been able to come up with. But they had had the opposite effect.

After all, Kana had basically told her to confess to him.

It had been after Yura had started babbled things along the lines of it being too soon, with her ears blowing out steam from flushing red, that the Ienaga heiress had tried to rephrase her thoughts better, "C-Calm down, Yura-chan! I'm not telling you to just throw yourself at him like that! W-What I mean is that... I think you should think less about his feelings and more about yours. And, if... if you really like him as much as it looks, I think you should tell him how you feel. It doesn't need to be now – you're the only one who can tell when it will be the right time. But, if I were you, Yura-chan... I'd make up my mind soon. Mamiru-san has now finished his training and will be receiving an official position now, right? He might end up having to find a wife soon, too. With his appearance and merit, it wouldn't take long at all. You shouldn't take too long thinking about it, if you don't want to lose him."

Surprisingly, they had come to an agreement at those words. With a nod, Yura had promised to follow her advice and would try to take things as easy as possible – after all, sooner or later, she would end up having to face him. And, since the last thing she wanted was for them to grow distance with her awkwardness, she had decided to put up a strong front while giving her feelings some thought. That was the time she had been finally able to fall asleep.

Back from her memories, the smile spread wider across Kana's face as she averted her attention from her friend to a fancy envelope on her little table. Dreamily, she stared down at it for a while as she brought the candle beside her to be able to read in the darkness caused by the rain. Her face suddenly becoming serene as her eyes watered, she held back the childish cries within her throat, so that Yura's slumber wouldn't be interrupted, while gently rubbing the name of the sender of the letter inside the envelope with her thumb.

"Ienaga Kanako".

Before leaving England, Kana's dearest mother had given to her a six-page letter as one of her good-bye gifts – and, to both of them, that gift was the most special of all. In said letter, Kanako had poured all of her feelings for her beloved daughter, making use of endless resources to encourage her to face the many difficulties that she would have to as she had parted to her new home. With three pages written in English and three in Japanese, and a few teardrops here and there, Kanako had made sure her only child would never forget about her origins and her objective in life, as she clearly stated in her perfect handwriting she knew her little girl was capable of finding happiness wherever she was.

Kana had been miraculously able to keep the letter intact since she had received it, and no one but her mother and herself knew about its existence – it was something for just the two of them to share. Within time, she had read it over and over, especially during her trip back to Japan, and it had never failed to raise her hopes, self-esteem and confidence. That was why she found herself in need to read it again.

After all, it was about time she followed her own advice.

~o0o~

"Dammit, those guys..." Itaku muttered to himself with hands forming fists while he walked aimlessly through the Nura mansion's dark corridors, as he deemed anywhere to be a better place than the room he had been given, not bothering to hide his frustration from the young brunette passing by him.

His comrades were really good people, – there was no doubt about that – but spending too much time with them could be a real pain sometimes. He was the type that would get easily annoyed when made fun of, and they knew that very well, yet their lame jokes and suggestive comments about him and their pink-haired Kumi member had followed him around ever since lunch time. Needless to say it had come to the point where he couldn't handle it anymore, so he had left the room he had been sharing with his male Toono companions to get a break – thankfully, they hadn't come after him.

Sighing, he wondered if the same applied to the female side. Probably not, since at least they knew when to stop. He also believed it would be too dull to try to tease someone who would always go along with everything and never lose her temper or elegancy. Certainly, someone like her could be exactly what he needed to balance his own hot-blooded personality.

His future woman.

"Ara, Itaku." as he had been keeping his head down all the time, Itaku hadn't noticed another young woman coming from the opposing direction, until he heard his name being called at the end of the corridor. As if on cue, Reira had been coming back from the kitchen at the very same time he had been thinking of her, approaching him with her usual gentle smile.

A little surprised, he was about to greet her as he raised his head, until he was able to register the sight before him. Breaking into run at her direction, he completely forgot about the rest of the house as he asked loudly, "Reira! What's wrong?! Why do you look like a doll?!"

Backing off a little from the shock of the sudden question, the amber-eyed woman soon recovered as she placed her index finger in front of her smiling lips, as if warning him to keep it down. Sweat-dropping, he nodded as he apologized lowly, allowing her to give her answer, "I don't understand your question at all, Itaku. The only thing that's different in me right now is that I have my hair down."

"Huh?" blinking as he examined his fiancée's figure more carefully, Itaku couldn't help but blush slightly, realizing he had never seen her without her Chinese-styled buns and small braids. Mentally cursing the remembrance of a life-size geisha ningyou in her with her long hair completely loose, he felt like face-palming at the stupid things he had just said as he stuttered, "O-Oh... I wasn't used... to this hairdo... i-it's good."

"Thank you~" she merely giggled. "By the way, Setsura-san and Tsurara-chan aren't back yet. Since Setsura-san must be drinking with Kejourou-san and Tsurara-chan must be with Rikuo, there's probably no one at Tsurara-chan's room right now." She made a little pause, as if for suspense – something rather characteristic of her. "Perhaps you can come with me and make me company for a while."

The brunet had taken a while to register the last sentence he had heard. And when he did, his almost-invisible blush started going across his whole face as he blurted out, "Th... this kind of thing...! O-Only after w-we get m...!"

"Hm?" Reira could only tilt her head a little with a confused expression, making her fiancé take notice he was just getting ahead of himself again as he trailed off, before embarrassing himself even more.

"N-N-Nothing! Forget it!"

"So... that was a 'no', right?" regaining her calm smile, she easily dismissed his previous words, earning a nod from him. "Well, then..." on the tips of her toes, she gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek when he had his head turned elsewhere, catching him completely undefended and making his blush return at full power. "I'll see you later~"

And with that, she walked away silently, her smile still intact, leaving the Kusari-gama wielder frozen in place.

~o0o~

She was in deep trouble.

As Natsumi made her way to her and her best friend's shared room, she spared a few seconds to give a questioning glance at the dark brown-haired young man who was passing by her with a troubled face and muttering something to himself, before immersing herself in her thoughts again.

Her dreams had finally been fulfilled – she had the man she loved all to herself. Yet it seemed the hardships regarding that matter were far from being over. On the contrary: with the kiss the two of them had shared, said hardships had only just begun.

The difference in age between him and herself was nothing to worry much about. On the other hand, even after taking so long to act on their feelings for each other, everything between them was now happening a little too quickly – so much that it startled both of them. With their unsaid confessions and their kiss, they had realized how they barely knew anything about each other's current selves – after all, they had spent quite a lot of time apart. Publicizing their relationship could also be a real problem for obvious reasons, as well as the fact they had no plans for the future whatsoever. In short, they needed more time to develop their interactions and for people to get used to the idea of seeing the two of them together, not as old acquaintances, but as a couple.

Still, they were willing to make everything work. Slowly but surely, they would resolve those matters, meeting in secret every day during their breaks, until they felt safe enough with each other to take responsibility for their semi-formed relationship in front of everyone else. With their hopes already high, they inwardly prayed everyone would accept them as they were.

Especially her overprotective best friend.

Although the idea of hiding something so important from the one whom she had never kept any secrets from didn't please her at all, Natsumi had no choice if she wanted everything to work out smoothly. After all, she was sure Saori would be the first to object to her relationship with her first love, not only because his world was totally different from hers, but also because of the suspicious events of the previous night regarding the two of them.

As she stopped in front of her room, taking a deep breath, the only thing that gave Natsumi some confidence to go on with the plan was that she was pretty certain her friendship would be strong enough to resist the outcomes of the risks she was taking. She and Saori had a very strong bond that had lasted for many years, achieving an unbreakable level. She knew her friend wouldn't leave her, no matter how many arguments and misunderstandings they could have regarding that situation.

"M-Maki~" forcing her usual cheerful tone and smile, the raven-haired girl slid the shouji doors open, trying to pretend to act normally and praying for the blonde not to start attacking her with questions so soon. "I'm back~"

"Oh... hey..." as the slow answer she received was nowhere what she was expecting, Natsumi stepped in and closed the doors silently.

She walked to her futon, examining her friend's face carefully, looking for any signs of illness as her voice seemed a little too weak. Finding nothing, she took a seat, watching her co-worker absent-mindedly play with her golden hair.

Although nothing was out of place, something still seemed off. The normally active and talkative young woman would usually either scold her for arriving late after they were done with their daily duties or start a conversation about anything that concerned her. Lately, her favorite subjects had been their mistress's marriage, as well as her relationship with her future husband, and the incident between Natsumi and her number one hero. But, that time, she seemed so strangely quiet the atmosphere felt almost eerie. And, as Natsumi was no longer able to take it, she broke the disturbing silence between them, "What's wrong?"

"Hm? What are you talking about?" finally averting her attention from whatever her thoughts had been so occupied with, Saori asked lowly. "There's absolutely nothing wrong. On the contrary, everything is simply perfect~"

"Eh...? M... Maki...?" the feline-faced maid could only stare back in utter confusion, now more than convinced something was indeed very wrong.

Could it be that Saori was keeping a secret from her, too?

"I-I'm... going to sleep, okay?" the blonde suddenly declared, seeming to realize what she had just said.

"Already?!"

"W-Well, we have no duties right now, so why not? Everyone else is sleeping, so it should be fine!" the pecan-eyed one hurriedly spread her white blankets as she laid down, covering herself completely, almost as if she was just hiding from her. "Come on, you take a nap too! Aren't you tired?"

"A-Alright..." was the only reply Natsumi could give.

While lying down and covering herself as well, she obviously took longer than she generally would to actually fall asleep, due to both her curiosity towards her friend's weird behavior and to the fact her encounter with her beloved was still fresh in her mind. And, as ironic as it could be, what bothered her about Saori's actions was not the fact she was refraining to reveal something probably important to her most trustful companion, – since Natsumi herself was doing the same – but the fact she couldn't even ask her anything about it. After all, coming up with questions could only make Saori shoot them back at her, which would put her plan in a spot. Still, her current position could be advantageous exactly because of that, since she could be the one to shoot Saori's questions back at her if she asked any.

The two were tied for the time being.

~o0o~

"It was all... because of Kana-sama." again and again, the Nura mansion's top aide's serious voice was replayed within Yura's mind as she wandered through the dark corridors of the Nura mansion in her search for its future mistress's place. An hour earlier, when she was heading to the place where she was currently coming from, she had been able to meet the sapphire-eyed servant and made use of the perfect opportunity to ask her what she had been meaning to ever since lunch time about the change of attitude towards her.

And the answer she had received couldn't have surprised her more.

In the years the two of them had known each other, for whatever reason, Tsurara and Yura had never gotten along that well – most likely, the Keikain heiress's aggressiveness towards the current Nura head was the biggest motive behind it. That was why Yura couldn't not have been shocked when the aide admitted her gentleness during lunchtime were meant as an act of gratitude towards her, for she couldn't stand having to owe her anything. And, when Yura asked what exactly she had been owing her for, she was yet again caught off-guard.

For helping Rikuo.

That morning, when making her way to the kitchen together with Yukari to give her the delicious honey lemons, the young servant had asked what had happened while she had left the doujou to fetch the two heiresses their cha and sweets. As she listened to the little girl, it had only taken Tsurara a matter of seconds to understand why Yura would suggest Kiyotsugu to spare Rikuo of their group practice other than giving the forsaken Jirou a hand. After all, she had been suspecting the Onmyouji had noticed Rikuo's condition ever since the Harumatsuri, for it had been after she had elbowed his wounded torso that she had started restraining herself around him.

Perhaps the Wakagashira himself had also noticed the meaning of Yura's actions, since her title as a part of nobility had never been an impediment for her offensiveness towards him. And, although that possibility was highly embarrassing, Yura had decided to leave it aside as the head aide proceeded to speak. However, when she gave the second reason of her change of attitude towards her, neither her nor the archer were able to contain their blush.

Although the current Nura bride had already invited all of her old friends to her up-coming wedding, the only one who hadn't yet given a confirmation of her presence for the ceremony was Yura herself. Tsurara was well-aware of that, and, even though the two of them had not yet established a very healthy relationship, she was sure the gullible girl would be missed by her master if she didn't come, given how he valued his friendships so dearly. That was why the best Tsurara thought she could do was to convince – or rather persuade – her to come. And it had taken her a lot of goodwill to admit she had actually planned many other ways to please the Keikain leader, but, since she had been found out, there would be no point in doing them. Still, thanks to her efforts, she had received what she had been fighting for – once she was done with her demonstration of sincerity, Yura had willfully assured her presence on the wedding day.

The conversation could have perfectly ended right there. But Yura's curiosity had not, as she had yet again questioned the underling – that time, about the reason why Rikuo's body was in such condition. And it was then that she had heard the hesitantly-stated sentence that had been ringing to her ears until the time being. Following it, came the explanation about what had happened to the Sandaime on the unfortunate night he had earned his wounds and a request of the heiress's silence about what she had been told.

Yura had only been able to give a nod in response, impressed with the Nura-gumi's concealment about the situation. Since it all had happened in a public area, – a red-light street, no less – by the time being, the entire city should have been aware of it, and yet it was the first time she was listening to such story. Still, even with all that secrecy, she doubted that the Kumi members who had recently arrived at the Nura house hadn't yet noticed their head's situation, as she had told Kana before. Yet, unlike her fellow heiress, the aide had seemed to already know about that. And if she did, most likely, her superior did, too. With that realization, Yura's resentment had surpassed her amazement by far.

"Ienaga-san... I had no idea..." she muttered to herself with a sympathetic frown as she kept walking, forgetting for a moment about her search for the room she was sharing. "It must be really hard for h... eh?" she trailed off as she slowly raised her head from staring at the wooden floor, her dark brown eyes soon caught a rather comic scene. Covering her mouth to prevent an unladylike laughter from escaping her lips, Yura stopped in the middle of her tracks to watch a helpless duo crossing the next corridor.

So that had been how things had turned out from the events of earlier, she concluded.

As soon as it had become nighttime and the rain had calmed down, the ever-so-lively Nura-gumi members had come out of their rooms with the idea of throwing a party for the guests of the household, including the three noble friends of the Sandaime and his wife-to-be. The excuse given had been that everybody wanted to welcome the rest of the Kumi and their leader's friends in a less formal and more social way than how they had done in the morning – more like how they had welcomed the Ienaga heiress as she returned to Japan. But despite that being a good reason, their real intentions were as clear as day. After all, partying had always been almost like routine for that carefree household ever since it had been founded. And, although it tended to go overbroad, that evening, everything had been going fairly well – so much that even the Keikain heiress, who had never been all that smitten to that place and its residents, had felt comfortable enough to participate the reunion yet again.

But, as expected, it was all too good to be true.

Sooner or later, things would certainly have become either stupidly destructive or just extremely pathetic. Yura had been quite aware of that from the beginning, and that was why she had prepared herself to flee at the smallest signs of either of those. Surprisingly enough, none of them had happened that time. Rather, it had been a blending of both.

Yura had already been suspecting it would all go the wrong way by the moment Kana had assured her that her fiancé was perfectly able to handle alcoholic drinks as Karasu Tengu served him some Sake. Refusing to accept that absurd fact, the Keikain archer had watched him discreetly as he downed the first cup. As he showed to be completely normal, she had almost let her guard down, until Karasu Tengu served him again. That time, it hadn't been the same Sake, and the name written on its label – which Yura wondered how no one but her had noticed – seemed to already be enough to make anyone think twice before even buying the bottle.

"Ayakashi-goroshi".

Why such thing was even at that mansion's stock was a question Yura had never been able to answer as she missed her chance stop the white-haired heir. As she watched him drink every last bit of his second cup, she had decided it was too late and started seeking for her chocolate-haired friend, who had left her side. And, while she crossed the room and passed by the loud and messy drunken crowd gathered in it, she had been too busy looking around to take notice of Rikuo leaving through the shouji doors of the outermost corridors.

At least, not until the whole place fell into a sudden and awkward silence.

Halfway to the other side of the room, Yura had followed everyone's shocked stares to the open shouji while slowly turning around, already expecting the worst. And, although what she had found was not exactly what she had in mind, it indeed had been an odd sight. Right before everybody's eyes, Rikuo had been legitimately attempting to seduce one of his underlings – a beautiful woman with long wavy hair and notable assets – as he held her hand and gave her an uncharacteristic smirk. Whatever he had said to her had her clearly embarrassed, and, for some reason, Rikuo's cheeks were just as red as hers.

As the noise of the room had finally returned, the Kumi members and guests had started asking themselves what could have just crossed the Sandaime's mind for him to just go on hitting on a married woman while his bride was nowhere to be found. And, while said woman tried to figure out what could be wrong with her superior, Karasu Tengu had at last seen what kind of Sake bottle he had served, which had been stolen from him by the Wakagashira.

And it was then things had started getting ugly.

"Wh-What is thiiis?!" the black man's eyes looked like they were about to jump off his head as he was able to read the drink's label. "T-This venom! What's it doing here?!" he asked no one in particular as he ran over to the young man whose cheek color already matched the one of his eyes. Sadly, the little man was too late – as soon as he was about to snatch back the Ayakashi-goroshi, Rikuo dodged him with a simple movement, and swiftly moved to on to another victim.

Ironically, that ended up being one of Karasu Tengu's children.

The Sanbagarasu, his three older ones, seemed to have had enough of the party – even though it had merely started – and were taking their leave to proceed with their usual night-patrolling duty. Walking a little ahead of her brothers, the eldest daughter had been approached by the young Soudaishou as he held her in a half-embrace, one of his hands offering her a cup of the incredibly strong Sake he had just drunk.

"Sa~~~sami~!" he called groggily, using the same charming smirk and seductive tone as with the first woman he had been with. "Are you already going...? It's too early... let's drink together~!"

"Sandaime?!" blushing madly, the young woman spoke uncharacteristically loudly as her commander threw himself at her, his back against her chest. Instinctively, she had her hands up to help him stay on his feet as he started sliding down, but couldn't bring herself to touch him as she asked, "W-W-What are you doing?!"

"This can't be... Sasami has...!" seeing the scene from inside the house, Karasu Tengu could only watch Rikuo come back in for the next first female on sight.

"What's going on there?" one of the Kumi members asked, recognizing the bottle of Sake, which the Sandaime was putting inside his yukata. "Ah, that is–"

"This drink sure is dangerous!" another one worriedly mused. "If it keeps up like that, Rikuo-sama will...!"

"Ara, you're still drinking around, everyone~?" opening the room's fusuma with a smile, a short-haired woman stepped in, not taking notice of the situation. "Should I bring you guys some foo...?" she trailed off slowly as her son approached her with his pink face and weird expression. Her first reaction was to ask him if he was ill, but he was quicker than her as he skillfully pulled off some hairpins holding back her dark brown bangs, which had been meant to match her light lilac kimono and orange haori.

"As expected of the woman chosen by Oyaji, you're so pretty..." the Nura heir openly declared, caressing the top of her head. "But you look even prettier with your hair down."

"Ri... Rikuo, you...?" Wakana sweat-dropped, her confusion making it impossible for any more words to come out.

"Wha-?! Even Wakana-sama!?" a servant shouted as Rikuo approached someone else.

"Geez..." Hitotsume could only glare at the scene as he sipped his own Sake cup. "The Sandaime is acting like a playboy, just like the Shoudaime when he was young."

"Well, I heard the Nidaime was a playboy as well..." Tamazuki sighed, petting his little dog. "I guess this was bound to happen sooner or later..."

"The Nidaime and the Shoudaime must have had a pretty fun life!" someone laughed from behind the two of them.

"Hm? Dassai, you were here too?" Tamazuki turned around, looking at the third party as if he had just noticed his presence.

"Yup! I like this kind of stuff!" he grinned carefreely, drinking an entire Sake bottle in a matter of seconds.

"I didn't know you were this cute without that thing on your head." meanwhile, just as he had left his mother, the Wakagashira eyed an adorable raven-haired one in pigtails, who was blushing shyly at his comment and stare. "Just stay like that forever..."

"Ri... Rikuo~~~~!" was the only response he received for the flattery, "Like this... we'll get in trouble..."

"I get it now! He's just going off seducing all the ladies as an aftereffect of getting drunk! Even Mezumaru!" Gozumaru was the one to translate the situation to everybody, nearly earning a laugh from Yura, who had thankfully been able to avoid the seemingly perverted Nura head. "Oi, hey! You idiot!" he uselessly attempted to call back his assistant, who wouldn't even budge.

As Rikuo left the feminine-looking boy to go for another woman, Yura almost felt bad for how close to a girl's said boy's appearance was. And, although he didn't seem to regret having taken off the horse skull he usually wore on top of his head to hide his face, she was sure he would be made fun off in the future for that. Maybe even Rikuo, too.

"O-O~i." Nuregarasu, who had been peacefully appreciating her own cup of Sake, could only stare in confusion at the one taking the liberty to lie on her lap with lowered eyelids, "Rikuo-sama?"

"Hahaha, isn't this just fine?" he dismissively said with a goofy smile as he nuzzled himself into her.

"Even my wife!" as Karasu Tengu reached them, he soon took his leave to wrap an arm around a Bakeneko-gumi young girl, who was busy serving Sake.

"Hy-Hyah~!" the blonde Bakenekoya worker instantly blushed and flinched at his touch. "Rikuo-sama, you~"

"Even my subordinate!" Ryouta Neko hissed, which made Rikuo's arm automatically withdraw as he left the kanban-musume and threw himself on the lap of the nearest woman around – coincidentally, the first one he had approached ever since the symptoms of the strong Sake had started.

Kejourou.

Surprisingly enough, now that she had understood her master's situation, she seemed to have decided to welcome him as she offered nothing but a giggle at his perverted actions, "Rikuo-sama, where are you touching~?"

"Cut it ou~~~~t!" with a vein popping on his face, Kubinashi tapped the floor hardly as he glared his wife, not being able to see her blush and malicious laugh as she turned her head elsewhere. Directing the glare at his superior, he shouted, "This has gone too far already, Rikuo-sama!"

"Yes, that's right!" Kurotabou nodded. "Rikuo-sama, come back to your senses!"

"It's about time you leave the ladies alone, Waka!" Aotabou followed.

Finally getting up, the first-time drunken young man smirked at his subordinates as he spoke in a way he never had before, which yet again had everyone's eyes wide open at him, "Yer too lou~d, guys! I bet yer just jealous!" He then raised his hand, challenging the three men to advance on him with his index and middle fingers, "If yer not likin' it, just try to steal the ladies from me! Fuu~"

"W-What did you say~~~?!" Kurotabou and Aotabou asked in unison, sweat-dropping simultaneously.

"You guys too, if you wanna!" Rikuo extended the challenge to the elder ones.

"Huh?" Gyuuki raised a brow at him.

"Ya stinkin' old men... it's yer fault the main house smells o' fretfulness!" was the blunt response.

"Haa!?" Hitotsume snapped, his expression harshly demanding redeeming and respect.

Yet it seemed the current Soudaishou ignored him as he yelled loudly enough for all the people in the room to hear, "Come at me, all of ya!"

"Alright, this ends right here!" Karasu Tengu yelled back on top of his lungs, "EVERYONE, ON THE SANDAIME!"

At the command, no one had thought twice, for they all knew what the best thing to do was. And so, the Kumi members in the room that were the nearest to Rikuo instantly jumped onto him to hold him down, before he did anything reckless. But that only served for all of them to get swept away by the young commander's mercilessness as he sent every one of them literally flying with a single movement, not minding to cause them injuries.

"What?!" Kubinashi, who had started pulling his weapon from within his clothes upon realizing how risky the situation was becoming, could not comprehend what had just happened before him.

"That is...!" Aotabou trailed off as he saw what was in his master's right hand.

"He was carrying a sword with him?!" Itaku instinctively reached out for his Kusari-gama.

"Is this person sane at all?!" Natsumi asked, her face holding nothing but terror at the idea of her mistress marrying such a man.

"Of course he isn't!" Saori stated the obvious, her expression mirroring her friend's.

"Where the hell is the Shoudaime in these kinds of situations!?" Dohiko asked as he found no signs of the only person who could beat some sense into his drunken grandson. And, together with the question, the fusuma were opened yet again, revealing two young women, who were carrying trays containing what seemed to be many different sorts of finger-food. The two had five trays – three for one and two for the other – all of them piled up one after the other in their arms.

"Everyone, we've brought this~" one of them cheerfully announced. "Whoa, careful there, Kana-sama!" she said to the one beside her, who was visibly having problems with her balance for not being used to the additional weight.

"I-I'm fine, Oikawa-san." Kana dismissed her, refusing to give up on such a simple task and doing her best not to embarrass herself in front of everyone.

"I-Ienaga-san...!" the Onmyouji girl gasped. So the kitchen was where Kana had left off to. If Yura had known it, she would have already taken her leave long ago as well, although she had to admit everything she had just seen was worth it.

"This is not a very good timing, Ienaga-kun, Oikawa-kun!" as soon as he was able to see the ladies standing outside, Kiyotsugu gestured for them to leave from the other side of the room, knowing they were probably unable to hear him with all the noise around them.

"What?" the Nura bride blinked a few times. And, as she tried to enter the room and see what was going on, someone immediately stuck their head outside, causing her to fall back and almost drop her trays' contents as she screamed, "KYAH!"

"Yu-Yuki Onna~~~! Get away!" Gozumaru desperately demanded, his eyes bloodshot. As soon as he noticed the other female, he started yelling at her confused form as well, only scaring her more, "The women must get away~~~!"

"Eh...?" Tsurara could only sweat-drop in confusion at the brunet's odd behavior, only being able to understand something very wrong – at least, more wrong than the usual – was going on inside.

"Guhah!" the rowdy young man yelped as he was hardly hit from behind on the head and sent straight to the floor.

"Rikuo-kun?!" a no longer fearful, yet still utterly confused Kana took a step back at the sight of her arranged husband, who had been the one to throw Gozumaru to her feet as if it was nothing.

"Yo, Kana-chan." Rikuo gave his fiancée the same smirk as he had given the other women he had been attempting to seduce, earning a furious blush from her (even though she knew something was very strange), for she had never thought she would ever be able to receive said look from him. He then turned to face his head aide, his face drastically changing in a matter of seconds – although he was still smirking, the expression he wore as he spoke to her could be likened to the one of a rapist as he adjusted his sword on his shoulder, "Ou, Tsurara. You came at a good time. Help me out here. Now."

"Ri... Rikuo-sama...?"

"Give everything to me." he ordered, his voice sounding deeper than normal.

Hearing that, Tsurara was simply unable to react for a moment, and all she could do was to quietly force a smile as beads of sweat formed all over her face.

"Please wait, Sandaimeee!" from the other side of the fusuma, the other Kumi members' voices could be heard as they all marched in his direction.

"Hu... hum..." the aide stammered, trying to find ways of politely refusing her master's offer.

"Come on, hurry up!" all of a sudden, the Wakagashira started raising his tone, as if meaning to intimidate her. "I'm tellin' ya to submit to me!" he reached out a hand at her, his now darkened eyes making his actions and words seem even more suggestively obscene than they already were.

"Hiii!" the poor servant shrieked, deciding to throw the politeness to the airs as she attempted to do as Gozumaru had said, her cheeks growing hot. "Y-You're drunk, aren't you, Rikuo-sama?! There's no way I'd do anything like this!" she claimed, leaving the trays on the floor and taking her leave as fast as she could. That, however, seemed to have been interpreted only one way by Rikuo – if she wasn't willing to do as he said, he would force her to. And that was exactly what he did as he grabbed her scarf and brought her to his arms, treating her almost exactly like a caveman would.

"W-Wait, Rikuo-kuuun~!" Kana, who was busy helping out an unconscious Gozumaru, as he seemed to have been hit in a very sensitive area of his head, could only shout at her flushing-red future husband, but was completely ignored.

"Uooh, this is getting good! It's getting good!" from inside the room, Nattou-Kozou cheered.

"Do it! Do it!" Ko-Oni imitated him.

"Awah~~~!" trying to free herself, Tsurara cried as her master walked back into the room while holding her firmly. "So aggressive...!"

"This is bad! He's serious!" Kubinashi shouted as he opened the fusuma that led to the garden, "Hey, you lot! Ruuun!"

"Let's flee outsideee!" upon seeing the only way to escape being freed, someone yelled, and so most of the people in the room made their way out in panic, their steps on the tatami sounding like the ones of a herd of elephants.

"You okay with this, Rikuo?!" on his way to the exit, a drunken Zen asked loudly.

"What about this mansion?!" Shouei asked, unable to use his own swordsman skills to stop his childhood friend, for he was also under the effect of alcohol.

"To hell with all of it!" was the absurd reply he received from the Nura head.

"Oooh, so that's how it's gonna be, huh?!" Awashima unsheathed her sword, and so did her brother. "You want to tear the house apart?! Over our dead bodies!"

"I don't wanna be blamed for this later, but if that's how you want it... come at us, Rikuo!" Itaku called, putting up his fighting stance.

"Heh! I'll show ya what'cha wanna, then!" Rikuo said, his expression back to normal. Still, for some reason, his pacing had started slowing down halfway through the room. His grip on his aide also hinted to have weakened as she was almost able to break free. "An' don'cha even think of runnin'... away...!" he warned, his voice apparently faltering as he had to take a deep breath to continue speaking. "Let's... do this... n... o... w..." finally, his energies seemed to have been drained away as the influence of the Ayakashi-goroshi on him was most likely on its limit. Although it looked like the timing had all been too quick for a drink that had such a strong effect, it was just as understandable as it was relieving for everyone else, since the Wakagashira had drank nothing but a single cup.

"Ri-Rikuo-sama?!" Tsurara panicked a little upon watching her master let go of her and slowly fall onto the tatami head-first.

"Hey, Rikuo!" Yukari frowned down at him, her hands on her small hips. "Don't tell me you've made this entire ruckus for nothing?!"

"Damn, I was getting fired up..." Amanojyaku sighed, putting back his weapon.

"Speak for yourself!" Amezou exasperatedly wacked him across his blond head.

"Rikuo-sama!" cursing herself for being too late to catch him, Tsurara kneeled down next to the Nura head, shaking his back slightly. "Rikuo-samaaa!"

"Ugh..." he moaned, not bothering to move.

"Ah, he's actually awake!" the raven-haired servant sighed in a short-lived sign of calm. "Rikuo-sama, can you hear me? How are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I..." he slowly began, still not getting his face out of the hole he had dug into the floor as he fell. "I..."

"Yes?!" she urged, her hands forming fists against her chest.

"...wanna throw up."

Yura hadn't stayed to see how things would have turned out. Rather, she had been one of the first people to walk away at the Wakagashira's last statement, no longer caring about taking her fellow heiress with her – after all, her betrothed had most likely needed her help back then. Or, at least, that was what Yura had thought, before finding out the one who had stuck with him as every bit of the venomous Sake came out of his body and took him to his room had been his trustful aide. Successfully able to contain her laughter, the Keikain leader watched Tsurara support her superior as they slowly made their way. A small, lop-sided smile appeared on the archer's lips as she was able to forget about her grief towards Kana for a moment.

By the looks of it, that household would never change.

~o0o~

"We're here, Rikuo-sama!" Tsurara announced rather gleefully as she slid the shouji doors open. "Now, you just lie there and wait for me! I'll go fetch you some water and see if Zen-sama is sober enough to give you some medicine! Maybe I should call Wakana-san or Kana-sama as well!" she carefully led him to his futon and waited for him to seat to take her leave. But, with the little strength agility he still had, Rikuo was able to take her hand and pull her to him, forcing her to sit by his side.

"Hm-hm. I'm okay now." he said, almost like a whisper, as one of his muscular arms sneaked around her thin waist.

"Eh?" she blinked a few times at him, her cheeks heating up slightly. "You... don't feel sick anymore?"

"My head hurts, but it's fine. Just... stay here." he requested softly, while wrapping his other arm around her and forcing her to hold his shoulders as she tried to back him off without hurting him – yet it seemed that, even in such state, his physical strength could still surpass hers. "That alone should be enough." he added, bringing his face closer to hers, though having no intentions of stealing a kiss that time. Rather, he planned to do the same thing as the night of the Harumatsuri – since he didn't want to ruin her addicting taste, just holding her for some time would do, since her flowery scent and warmth were the best he medicine could have. Still, he knew that just asking for it wouldn't be enough to convince her.

That was why he was giving her that look again.

The hypnotizing scarlet-colored stare she couldn't differ between the one of a lonely puppy and a hungry wolf was back. And it was the same as always – bearing both longing and a hint of malicious selfishness, making it clear he was up to no good. Said look would usually be able to make her insides instantly melt, but she was able to resist it that time as she sighed, "Waka... still remembers what we talked about earlier, right?"

Already understanding where their conversation was going, he grimaced for a second, before looking away. It was not like he could forget any of the times she had turned him down. But the one she referred to had been particularly harsh, since she had told him face-to-face that she preferred to stay alone for the rest of her life than to be a burden to him as a response to the proposal he had made earlier. She had probably meant the whole issue with the Ienaga family would have only become more complicated if she had succumbed to his reckless decision of canceling his wedding, when it was already so close. He wasn't surprised with her straight-forward reply, though, for he knew very well there were no limits to what her loyalty towards him was capable of leading her to do.

After all, she had already even tried to commit suicide for the sake of not dragging him down.

It had happened two summers before – she had been captured by an extremely strong fiend after falling unconscious during a battle and used as a bait to attract her commander to the opposing Kumi's forces. The whole thing had been partly Rikuo's fault, as he hadn't been strong enough to defeat his enemy and ended up almost losing three of his comrades, his aide included. And, after waking up in unknown territory and finding out her master was coming for her, her decision had been to use her Naginata, which had also been taken with her, to cut her own throat. It was an understandable thinking, since she had no ways of defeating the foe all by herself and making her master go through the immense danger of trying to rescue her made her unworthy as his follower. Given her importance to him, there was also a good chance that her death could burst up his wrath and thirst for victory.

He had thankfully set his foot in before she could do so, but the experience had been rather traumatizing, as he had come just in time to see her pointing her blade to her neck. He was glad she had hesitated a little – or else, he would have arrived just in time to see her last moments. Nevertheless, the scene had stuck to his mind until the present time, and he could still picture it perfectly, as well as every negative feeling of back then. Still, he would sometimes laugh at the irony of the situation – he had gone there to save her from a powerful enemy, but had ended up having to save her from herself, too.

For someone like her, who would give up her own life for the sake of not becoming a burden to him, giving up her love for the same reason was probably nothing. But he simply couldn't follow the same dynamic, no matter how hard he tried. With that in mind, he directed his eyes at her again as he bluntly stated, "I do. And I don't care."

"Wha–?!"

"Wanting to have a future with me or not, as long as you still have feelings for me, I'm not gonna give up. Just you being willing to hand me over to someone else isn't enough for making me stop wanting you." In order to keep his cool pose despite his embarrassing honesty, he buried his face into her shoulder. "It only makes me want you more instead."

"H-How does that even make sense?!" she blushed madly as she tried to brush him off.

"You're making too much noise, you know? If this keeps up, someone will hear us." he warned, rather nonchalantly.

Although he did have a point, she wasn't pleased with how he had pretended not to hear her as she huffed. "R... Rikuo-sama... what did I tell you about being more caref–" she began, but was soon interrupted by a knock on the wooden part of the shouji doors.

"Ri... kuo-kun?" a familiar voice, which the other two recognized as Kana's, called from the outside. "Are you there?"

"He is!" Tsurara confirmed as she was able to free herself to open the doors. "Coming, Ojou!"

"Thank you, Oikawa-san." the chocolate-haired girl giggled slightly. "May I come in?"

"What are you saying? Of course you can!" before Rikuo could say anything, Tsurara made way for the heiress into the room she was supposed to move into in the not-so-far future.

"'Scuse me, then." Kana humbly said as she stepped inside. "Sorry for takin so long, Rikuo-kun. I had some things to take care of, but Wakana-san has already taken charge in my place." she bowed her head slightly in an apologetical gesture. And, although Rikuo thought she didn't really have to do it, since he wasn't really expecting her to come, – more like he had hoped she wouldn't have come – he was aware she was merely trying to do her best in her wife-to-be duties. "But she can't do it all by herself, so she wants Oikawa-san to assist her." she added, turning her head to the head aide.

"Ah, m-me?"

"Yes. She's waiting for you at the kitchen." The young noblewoman gave a reassuring smile, "I can take care of Rikuo-kun for now. Thank you very much for the help, Oikawa-san."

"I-It was nothing!" the raven-haired one laughed nervously, exiting the room and closing the shouji quickly. "I'll be leaving, then!"

"Oh, and, please call Zen-san on the way." Kana requested, before the servant could close them completely.

"Understood!" Tsurara nodded as she was able to return the smile.

After the underling walked away, a couple of seconds of silence followed, which was broken by the Ienaga daughter as she sat next to her future husband, "So, Rikuo-kun, how are you feeling?"

"More or less..." he answered, rather sheepishly, as he scratched the back of his head.

"Still with nausea?" she tilted her head a little, looking for signs of illness in his face. Deep down, she regretted not having been of assistance to him when he had needed, and was pretty ashamed of having to admit to herself that had been because she was quite a bit grossed out by the idea of having to watch him vomit, and her British culture only made her feel worse.

"In health and sickness", they say?

"Nope." he shook his head.

"Does it hurt anywhere?" adjusting her head to its previous position, she was relieved to see he seemed to be fine enough, the way his body always recovered so quickly never ceasing to amaze her.

"My head hurts a bit. But just a bit. Relax."

"I see..." she lowered her head, her smile slowly fading. "Hey, Rikuo-kun..."

"Yeah?"

"Can we... have a talk?" she asked shyly, refusing to look at him in the eyes as she blushed slightly. "But... not right now, since you're like that. We can do it tomorrow."

"Hm-hm. I'm totally alright. It was only one cup. And I've already put everything out, anyways..." he muttered the last part to himself as he dismissed her with a wave and his usual smile. "So... what's it you wanna talk about?"

Again, there was a moment of awkward silence between the two.

"Kana-chan...?" he asked lowly as he tried to meet her eyes, although it was useless, since they were hid in the shadows of her brown bangs.

"I..." she began lowly, but made a pause to take a deep breath.

Just from that, Rikuo could already tell she was pretty nervous, which meant whatever conversation she wanted to have would be a serious one. But he didn't have any idea of how serious it was, until she raised her head to look at him, her blush gone. With his burgundy eyes widening a little, Rikuo could almost see a completely different person before him in the skin of his childhood friend. The look she bore was a completely different one from what he had ever seen in her before – it was serious and stern, yet clearly full of emotion. That made many possibilities of what she could be about to say cross his mind, most of them having to do with her confessing her obvious feelings for him, which he had already been aware of for quite a while. Still, as numerous as those possibilities were, none of them matched the real thing.

"I saw you."

The moment the words reached his ears, his eyes widened even more as his heart nearly stopped. And, as it recovered from the shock, his body started to tremble slightly, until it was on par with the rhythm of his heartbeats again. As beads of sweat started forming around his face, he understood that what he was experiencing was something he hadn't for quite long.

Nervousness.

He was impressed that just three words could affect him so much, since what his old companion had said could be interpreted many ways. Still, that was also the heart of the problem – if his suspicious about the meaning of those words were correct, he was doomed. And, despite his anxiety and urge to run away from what could be coming in his direction, he was about to ask what she had meant with that simple phrase. But it seemed that, that time, it was his turn to be interrupted by a knock on the door as he was left with his mouth agape.

"Rikuo, you around?" a masculine laughing voice came from a tall shadow on the screen of the shouji doors. "It's Zen!"

"C... Come in." Rikuo answered as he was able to find his voice after a couple of seconds, still able to see Kana's still stare, despite having his eyes somewhere else.

"Yo, Rikuo. And... Ojou, too." upon sliding the shouji open, Zen grinned at the two, unable to sense the heavy atmosphere, thanks to his drunken state. "Here's the medicine you need. I was already bringing it when Yuki Onna came to me. Drink it all up and you'll feel better. And sorry for the wait! I'm a bit of a mess right now, you see..."

"That's no problem." Kana said dismissively, without directly looking at the Yakuzen healer. "Thank you."

"Well, then, call me again if ya need me~!" the purple-haired young man waved between hiccups, before closing the shouji and leaving as quickly as he had come.

"Well, Rikuo-kun?" once she was sure no one was nearby, the heiress pressed on slightly. "I'm waiting for your explanation."

"And I'm waiting for yours, Kana-chan." the Wakagashira retorted. "What did you mean by... that?"

With her hands clutching her kimono a little, the brunette sighed, "Today afternoon... I... I had been wanting to talk to you, Rikuo-kun. But it was a completely different conversation from this one of now. But I wanted it to be just as secret, so I came to your room when I thought you'd be all by yourself, and..." Her blush returning all at once, she could no longer afford to keep looking at her betrothed as she closed her eyes, "the door was a little bit open."

As Rikuo took less than a second to understand what she was trying to say, his eyes widened slightly again as he felt his cheeks heat up slightly, but couldn't care less about it. Kana, on the other hand, couldn't not notice it, as it was the first time she had ever seen him blush – rather, the first one she acknowledged, for she had always deemed such thing to be impossible to happen.

It just had to be because of something regarding that girl, she decided.

"Rikuo-kun and Oikawa-san have... a very deep relationship. I knew this from the start. I only didn't know how deep." She took another breath – that time, both to keep the memory of the scene she had saw the moment she was about to open the shouji doors and to help her continue her statement, "But, after that, I wanted to find it out. That's why I went to Oikawa-san today and asked her about it."

He blinked as his dilated eyes started to sting a little, "Huh? S-So she already... But why her before me?"

Surprised with the white-haired one's reaction, Kana had to struggle not to giggle for a second. "I think that's very obvious: we're both girls, so I knew she could open herself with me more easily. And she really did." she answered simply, her serious atmosphere back in a second as she recalled what had happened later that afternoon.

It had taken her a long while, but she was finally able to recompose herself.

It was at times like those that Kana would just wish to disappear from the world for some time and just stay somewhere no one would be able to find her. Thankfully, something similar had happened that day as she found refuge in the mansion's storage room, where she was both able to spend as much time as she wanted pouring out all of her sadness off her tightened chest and find something to dry her wet face afterwards. Still, oddly enough, she had been unable to cry. No matter how much sorrow and disappointment she felt and no matter how many things she needed to pour away from her heart, she did not feel any need to do so through shedding tears.

She had indeed found it strange when Rikuo had come to her the day before in hopes she could do him a rather odd favor. Knowing she had some experience with dyeing, he had asked her to change the deep navy blue of his haori into an equally deep shade of brilliant red, adding that he wanted to keep a spot with the former color. But said spot had been meant to be very discrete, for it would look weird if it was exposed, as if it was a stain. From that, she had thought any spot of the inner part of the haori would have been just fine, but she soon found out it wouldn't, as he specifically asked her to make it the spot that was the closest to his heart. He hadn't explained to her the reason why he was making such unusual request, but she hadn't bothered to question him about it. She was just too happy that he was counting on her once in his life and asking her to do something wife-like to care.

But now, she believed she had an idea of what that reason was, as she sat in front of her undeclared and victorious love rival. As she hadn't wasted time to come to Tsurara's room to have a talk with her, the only thing that separated them was a small table, on which the aide had offered to serve anything, but had been brushed off as she had been merely requested to sit.

Her cheerful face had changed quite quickly into the complete opposite as the Ienaga heiress had revealed the reason why she was there, but a small smile had soon approached it as she looked away. Whether it was a smile of embarrassment or wryness, Kana couldn't tell, but all she cared about at the moment was listening to her explanations. And, although she was asking for them pretty calmly, she was willing to demand them if she needed to. After all, her fiancé could perfectly have the liberty to hide everything from her, but the same did not apply to a servant – that is, if she hadn't yet received orders from her master not to tell anyone about anything.

Much to Kana's luck, she hadn't.

"So..." Tsurara hesitantly began, finally able to look at the bride in the eyes with a visible shade of pink on her cheeks, "where should I start from, I wonder?"

"From the start, of course." Kana stated the obvious, although Tsurara knew very well her words had a deeper meaning. "Also... I hope you don't mind it... in case I end up crying a little bit."

That was what she had said back then. However, she had again been unable to let a single teardrop fall, for there were none, whatsoever. And she was certain it would be the same with her fiancé, which gave her courage to continue, "I already know everything. But only from Oikawa-san's side. Right now, I'm willing to hear it from Rikuo-kun's. I thought that, if I went to Oikawa-san first and learned everything from her, Rikuo-kun wouldn't have any reasons to hide anything. You have all the right do that if you want, though... but... if you could, it would lift a huge weight from my shoulders to hear the truth. So, please, Rikuo-kun..." She pleaded, her serious mask being replaced by her true self – a hopeful frown with her head lowered as her huge chocolate eyes stared up at him, "be honest with me."

As soon as her expression changed, Rikuo was able to realize something – there was no way he could refuse her request. Unlike what she had said, he actually thought she did have the right to know the truth. In truth, he had always thought she had that right, and every single time he did anything to his aide, something would bug him from the back of his mind.

The fact that, one day, he would have to tell her everything, whether she asked for it or not.

He hadn't expected said day to come so suddenly, and he really should have prepared himself better for it, but there was no more turning back now. He was also a little disappointed with himself for not being scrupulous enough to be the one to come to her and tell her about it all by his own initiative, instead of waiting for things to become like that. But he did have an idea of how to do things from then on, since he had spent quite a lot of time mentally rehearsing what he would tell her in this particular occasion.

As he had formerly decided, he would go from the simple to the complex parts. First things first, the most predicable – he and his aide had fallen in love with each other about two years before. And, about one year before, he had at last found the will and confessed to her. And that had been when the serious issues had really started. And while Rikuo talked about that fateful night, he tried his best to neglect his blush, and was thankfully successful at that as he watched Kana's reactions upon hearing the whole thing – of course, with the compromising details being omitted.

Then, he jumped from that event to his fourteenth birthday, with only a brief explanation of what had happened in the meantime between the two. Again, not giving details, he talked about how he had started advancing on his aide pretty seriously from back then on, but would most of the times be rejected by her, until the time being. That was one thing Kana was visibly stunned at, even though she had already heard the same thing from the aide, which had made him feel like leaving the room at once as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

By the end of the explanation, Kana had thought about asking why he didn't just break their engagement early, so that she wouldn't have had the trouble of wasting her time to come to Japan, but dismissed it as the answer was too evident. If he had done so, he would have had to face endless problems with the Ienaga family, as they would break their ties with the Nura-gumi. Besides, by the time he had started taking his relationship with his aide to a new level, she had already parted from Britain to come to him, so the best thing was to wait for her to arrive there first. But the thing was that he hadn't taken any measures to end their union until then.

And she wasn't letting him do it just yet.

"T-Thank you... Rikuo-kun." Kana finally said as her betrothed sighed deeply, after finishing the most embarrassing speech of his life. "But, I have... one more question."

"What is it?" Rikuo asked, in one of his rare moments of hesitation.

"Can you tell me what..." She shyly laced her own hands together as her eyes avoided his for a second, her cheeks still pink from everything she had heard, "was it that made you fall for Oikawa-san?"

"Geh?!" almost jumping off his futon, the Wakagashira backed up, accidentally letting a bit of red taint his face one more time.

"Y-Y-You don't have to answer!" Kana immediately added, her hands flailing and her voice faltering, "I-I just... really wanted to know."

That very question was the point in which her conversation with Tsurara had differed from the current one. She hadn't needed to ask Tsurara about it, since she knew the answer to it very well herself. After all, the only defect she could ever find in the young man standing before her was that he could be too arrogant and reckless at times. Other than that, all she could see were the good aspects about him. And maybe the best of those aspects, excluding his unique and striking handsomeness, was how his magnificent personality was made of extremes, as if his characteristics were all made to be complemented.

He was blunt, straight-forward, impatient, and short-tempered, but, at the same time, he was kind, caring and (as she could now see for herself) surprisingly shy. His confidence and charisma were inspirational, and would usually lead many to join him. His insistence and determination were unyielding, as he would always try his best to be able to outdo his limits. His broad mind and cleverness made it easy for him to manipulate others, guiding them into his beliefs and reasoning. While normally cool and controlled, he could perfectly exhibit zero mercy to those who would go against him. Although there was usually a huge gap between his physical strength and the hardships he had gone through in the past, thanks to his overwhelming talent for leadership and unbreakable will, he may have struggled over and over, but had been able to overcome his obstacles with the many allies, friends and underlings he had gathered. And, in the end, he, the pillar of their union, who shouldered the responsibility mantle of the weight of his hundred followers' lives, had been able to do the impossible – to cut through fate and achieve the glory he now held in his hands.

That was him, Nura Rikuo.

Just him being such a great person would already be enough reason for anyone to be curious about who in the world would have been able to capture his heart and how. After all, although his aide had many aspects that could have made him fall for her, Kana did not have any idea of what were the ones that had done so. And she felt a strange need to cease that doubt. Her suspicion was that the main reason behind her odd urge to find out about such thing was that, even though she had been trying her best to be a good enough future wife, what really seemed to be happening all that time was that she was trying to imitate the raven-haired maiden all along. She wanted to know where exactly she had failed at that no matter what – most likely due to frustration. And, even though she was almost sure she already knew the answer to her own question, she couldn't help but want to confirm it.

Sadly, that didn't depend on her alone.

Rikuo could only stare at his childhood friend for a while after she asked the second question. On the contrary of what she thought, he was not, in any moment, attempting to formulate an answer to it. Rather, he was pondering over the fact he didn't actually have the answer to it. While he did so, it was inevitable for him to wonder what was it in his most-trusted servant that had caught him first.

Maybe it had been her appearance. Until the present time, he would still sometimes ask himself how time could flow so quickly. She had grown up with him and they had spent almost every single day of their lives together, but even so, before he knew it, she had turned into a very beautiful young woman, like a caterpillar coming out of its cocoon.

Maybe it had been how having someone like her around wasn't very good for his ego. Although she was usually one of the first people to scold or lecture him whenever he did something wrong, she was also one of his best sources of motivation whenever she pointed out his qualities. That would almost always make him even cockier than he already was, but it would also make him feel like he was capable of doing anything, which had turned out to be true.

Maybe it had been her unwavering faith in him. Amongst every one of the Nura household, she was the one that believed in him the most, save his family. Such thing was clear as day and always proved in the battles they had fought, as well as her power of persuading people into believing in him as well, and it was quite a bit embarrassing for him to admit even to himself how happy that made him.

Maybe it had been her endearing loyalty and dedication. He had already lost count of how many times she had showed how big was her wish to be useful to him in anything, as she would never hesitate to be the first to support, avenge or save him. And most of those times would be note-worthy not only for the fact she would never give up, no matter how many serious injuries she earned, but the fact she would always do something remarkable in those situations. For example, being able to find improbable solutions to issues that seemed impossible to be solved or pretending to be at disadvantage and actually allowing herself to get beaten up by the enemy, so that she would be able to come with a surprise attack later on. That could also be the biggest reason why he would be on the verge of completely losing control every time something serious happened to her, since it would always involve protecting him.

Or maybe it had been the fact that, accompanied by all of those traits, that smile would always be by his side.

After a while of deep thinking, Rikuo was finally able to come up with a conclusion, which turned out to be another question – why would it have to be only one of her traits that had caught him first? After all, all of them be incorporated into one.

Her undying love.

Although he had always been a clueless guy, especially when it came to females and their feelings, he was quite sure she was the one who had fallen for him first. That was pretty much the main reason why she was who she was and had done what she had for his sake. Whenever he would stop to think about that mountain load of things, he would always feel there would be something missing, no matter how long the list was. And, normally, that would always lead him to think she had ended up doing too much.

So much that there was no way he couldn't have noticed, no matter how clueless he was.

"Sorry, Kana-chan..." now successfully able to prevent his blush from becoming visible, the Wakagashira finally gave his response. "I can't answer that one."

As if expecting the refusal, Kana could merely smile slightly as she sighed, "It's okay, Rikuo-kun. So... that's it."

"Y-Yeah... you know now."

"Indeed... and that feels much better than I had thought." at last, the heiress was able to give a full-fledged smile, which eased the white-haired one's nerves for a little. Still, the relief was short-lived as his eyes widened the slightest bits, a realization hitting him.

That was definitely not the reaction he was expecting from her.

At the same time that he had trained himself to reveal everything to her one day, he had also been trying his best to do anything in his power to comfort his friend when she broke down, which he had thought she most likely would have, sooner or later. After all, the whole purpose why she was there and her main goal in life had long been over, and finding that out certainly wouldn't be easy to anyone, especially to the sensitive and fragile girl he knew she was. But then, why was she so calm? How could she have any will to smile? Did it have to do with her earlier talk with Tsurara? Perhaps she had already vented everything she had wanted to with her? That could be it. Still, even if she had, she couldn't have recovered so quickly, which meant something was wrong – but what, exactly?

"Kana-chan...?" Rikuo called in a lowered voice, which the brunette had probably not heard as she continued to speak.

"I'm really glad you were able to open yourself with me, Rikuo-kun. It's almost as if you had complete trust in me. I appreciate that... very much." she slowly got on her feet, her smiling face staring down at his confused one. Due to how the room was so dimly lit, her usual cuteness had gained a rather gloomy aspect – courtesy of the shadows of her bangs.

After locking her eyes with his outstanding burgundy ones that seemed to shine in the darkness for another brief moment of silence, the heiress seemed to have felt the need to break the ice between them as she turned on her heels. "Well, then... I guess we no longer have anything to discuss. It's getting late, so..."

"H-Hold on, Kana-chan..." extending a hand, Rikuo, who couldn't move much due to the fact his body was still in its healing process, called out for his oldest friend, "that's all?"

"Eh? What do you mean?" as she turned back around, her questioning expression mirrored his.

"You'll be leaving just like that?" he shot her a skeptical gaze. "I just told you almost everything! Won't you even tell me what you and Tsurara talked about?"

"B... But... it was all pretty much the same as what we did, Rikuo-kun." she dismissively smiled with a drop of sweat breaking down her cheek. "The differences were minor."

"'Differences'? What differences?" he pressed on. "What did Tsurara say that I didn't?"

"H-Hum..." a little taken-aback by the Sandaime's insistence, Kana sputtered a little, "she said some things like... 'Please stay by Rikuo-sama's side'."

Upon hearing the answer, Rikuo couldn't help but blink a few times in silence, as if his brain refused to take in the information it had just received. As it did, he felt the need to seek for confirmation, inwardly praying it was all just a lie, "W... What...?"

"What do you mean by 'what', Rikuo-kun? It's all quite obvious, isn't it? Oikawa-san is willing to do her part in all of this." Kana stated firmly, her voice ringing into her arranged husband's ears. "And so am I."

"You..." still not able to take control over the situation, Rikuo swallowed dryly. "You mean..."

"Thank you very much for this talk, Rikuo-kun. I've now finally made up my mind." with the smile returning, Kana bowed slightly to her fiancé, as if her esteem and determination, which had been completely deteriorated earlier, had just been burst up. "I... will make this wedding work out without fail, no matter what."

"Wai...!" before Rikuo could even finish his sentence, the chocolate-haired young woman was gone as she slid the shouji doors open and closed swiftly, her shadow disappearing from the paper screen. He was left staring at the spot where she had previously been, only blinking again once her silhouette was no longer engraved in his retinas.

Realizing how much time he had wasted in that position, as if hoping for time to go back and for everything to go in a different way, he decided to just lie on his futon for good. Carefully, he nuzzled his right side on his comfortable sleeping place and pulled his thick blankets to cover his entire body. As soon as he was done isolating himself from any sort of outer noise, all he could hear were his own curses under his breath while squeezing his eyes tightly shut.

There were simply no words to describe in how many ways everything seemed to be suddenly going wrong in his life. As an image of an old memory started resurfacing in his mind, – the one of a young woman with raven hair, who had just come out of the same sort of place he was currently in, grabbing one of his arms with tears in her eyes and a look of determination – he smiled bitterly to himself.

"If that's... if that's Waka's final decision, you'd better not count with my cooperation! I shall oppose myself to it! No matter what, I will accomplish my job as Waka's head aide and bodyguard and make sure Waka is married to Ienaga Kana-sama by the promised time!"

"'Stay by Rikuo-sama's side', eh?" he repeated what his underling had supposedly told his arranged fiancée. "Sure sounds like something she'd say... that idiot." the last two words left his lips without his consent, and, as he heard them, he couldn't help but chuckle in self-pity.

After all, the only idiot was himself.

Now that their conversation was over, all he could do was to wonder what in the world had made him expect its results to be the exact opposite of what they had actually been. While training himself to be able to reveal everything to his oldest childhood friend one day, the image he had pictured in his head about what would have happened was completely different. Then again, he had been looking forward to being the one to come to Kana, not for her to be smart enough to go to Tsurara first and earn her support, so that she wouldn't have to give up on her betrothal.

Everything had just become even more difficult to him.

Tsurara had already been on her rival's side from the beginning, according to herself, and she knew that now. Of course that would only motivate her to keep going with her marriage plans and make her and her family's dream come true. And, as much as he was disappointed with how she had disregarded him in said plans, no one couldn't blame her for anything. It wasn't her who had started that mess – she was merely attempting to end it on her own way, which was probably the only one she deemed to be safe and correct. That was because she didn't yet know what Rikuo's solutions for their family issues would be, but the fact she hadn't given him any chance to show them to her proved that she didn't even want to let him do it. However, whether it was his or her way, there was no real right or wrong – they were both merely fighting with all their hearts for their happiness. He understood her, and, after the revealing long talk, he was pretty sure she also understood him. And, soon, their silent battle against each other would come to an end, for the day everything would be settled was very close by.

Their wedding day was right around the corner.

~o0o~

Keikain Yura was not a very lucky person – or, at least, that was what she herself had decided after she had finished having her breakfast with her noble friends.

That morning, the only traces of the storm of the day before were the huge amount of water accumulated from it and the grayish, cloudy skies. Since the streets were still pretty hard to pass through because of that, the young guests had been invited to stay over one more night. But it seemed only two of them would be staying as a young man arrived at the Nura residence on a horse, claiming he was there to pick one of them up.

As soon as the Sandaime and his fiancée had finished their meal with their dear friends, Natsumi had come to announce the arrival of "Yurai-chan" – that is, her own way of referring to Yura's "onii-chan". Upon hearing that, Yura hadn't wasted time to take her belongings and make her way to the entrance, where she had thought her huge liar of a brother was waiting for her. But the one in his stead was actually...

"M-Ma... Mami... ru-kun...?!" all the Keikain leader could do was to stammer at the sight of her orange-haired indirect kin standing by the main doors, his horse obediently waiting as it was tied to a nearby tree.

"Yura." he greeted her with his signature blank expression, adjusting his black cloak. "Ryuuji and Akifusa were worried that you couldn't come home yesterday. They told me to fetch you up."

"Ara, you're already leaving?" Kana's voice was heard from behind as she made her way to the entrance, bowing her head a little to the orange-eyed tall man and receiving a quick response from him. Turning to her blushing friend, she couldn't help but smile at how convenient the situation was. Following her, the rest of the nobles came to bid her goodbyes as well, including the current Nura head and his mother.

"Thank you for having come, Yura-chan!" Wakana said with her usual motherly smile, giving the girl a small sack of homemade treats, "Have a save trip!"

"T-Thank you very much, Nura-kun's Okaa-san!" not taking her shining eyes off the warm fresh sweets she had just received, Yura bowed rather deeply.

"Ah, hum... erm..." Behind everybody, Jirou shyly rubbed the back of his neck as he forced a smile, "U-Until next time, Keikain-san!"

"It was good while it lasted, Keikain-kun!" Kiyotsugu patted the girl's head continuously, unintentionally forcing her down a little, "But sadden not! We shall meet again at Ienaga-kun and Nura-kun's wedding!"

"Y-Ye-a-ah..." she attempted to speak, but the sound ended up coming out broken, due to Kiyotsugu rapidly moving her head up and down with his heavy hand.

"Oi, oi, Kiyotsugu... quit doing that." with lowered eyelids, Rikuo moved poor Yura away from the long-haired man and started patting her himself in a much lighter way. "What're you gonna do if you make her even smaller than she is now? Huh?"

"Yes, that's righ..." Nodding, Yura was about to agree with him until she processed his other statement, immediately pushing him away with her head, "Uwaah! You're horrible! Stop touching me already!"

"By the way, you'll be coming after all?" he asked, his expression showing he could have laughed if he had enough will.

"W-What's with that reaction?" her blush coming back, she frowned at him as she remembered what she had told Tsurara before. "Ienaga-san invited me, s-so..."

"That's wonderful, Yura-chan!" Wakana beamed, "You know, you're free to bring your family, too, if you want!"

"O-Okay..."

"You can also keep my things and bring them back on the wedding day. It'll save you trouble." Kana pointed at the kimono and tabi her friend had borrowed from her during her stay, since her belongings had become sweaty after her training, not taking notice of the Wakagashira grimacing for a second at the word "wedding".

"Thank you." the Keikain heiress smiled slightly. "Well, then... I'll be leaving now."

"See ya soon, Yura." Rikuo crossed his muscular arms, a little annoyed that he couldn't bring himself to make a less serious face.

"We'll be waiting for you!" Kana giggled, before holding her friend's hands in hers and whispering with a slight blush and a look of encouragement, "And good luck! This will most certainly be a hard path to walk! You'll have many difficulties, but do your best! Yeah!"

"Eh...?! Y-Yes... thank you..." Yura whispered back, stammering a little. "By the way, Ienaga-san... I think you should look after Shima-kun and Nura-kun. They're a little bit... odd today."

"Oh? You think so?" the hazel-eyed put up an innocent act before giving off a reassuring look, "Alright. Leave it to me."

The dark brown-haired young woman ended the goodbyes right then and there as she got up on the horse that was supposed to take her back home, which Mamiru had done the favor of bringing to the end of the small staircase by the mansion's doors. As he sat behind her and nearly enveloped her with his arms to be able to hold onto the reins, her blush only deepened. That made it impossible for her to bring herself to look at her friends and the adult accompanying them as they waved and at her, while all she could do was to wave back with her eyes facing forward. And, as she heard the sound of the huge wooden gates of the Nura household being loudly closed, her heart skipped a beat. Upon seeing the deserted streets, she gulped as her hands started to sweat a little bit.

It was just the two of them for now.

~o0o~

"Yura... are you angry at me?"

"E-Excuse me...?!" at the sudden, stern question from the wavy-haired tall man behind her, the Keikain heiress's voice ended up coming out a little more high-pitched than usual.

As they were already half-way home and everything had been going fairly well, with no exchanged words or looks whatsoever, she had thought she would be able to get there without problems, despite how nervous she was in the presence of the handsome older one. However, the way he had broken the heavy silence between them begged to differ.

"You've been acting... weird lately." Mamiru explained, which made her want to return the statement at him, but dismissed it as it was actually usual for him to do weird things – kissing her without permission was the best example. That was also the biggest reason why she had spent quite a bit of time wondering if she had been the only one he had done such thing with.

"H-How so?"

"You're stuttering." he stated the obvious, earning a mental face-palm from the girl. "And you've been... avoiding me."

"T-That's..." she began, but made it clear she didn't know whatever to say next as she trailed off.

"Say..." slowly stopping the horse, Mamiru leaned a little bit closer to her, "is it because of that?"

"'That'...?" she absent-mindedly turned around as she forgot her nervousness for a second, her questioning look being replaced by one of utter surprise as some strands of fiery hair covered her vision. Something soft was touching her lips all too gently, and she had only taken a few seconds to be able to recognize it, despite not being able to see what it was.

Yet again, he was stealing a kiss from her.

It had also only taken a matter of seconds for her entire face and neck to become bright red. But, thankfully enough, the contact was quick that time as well. And, as it was broken by the older male, all Yura could do was to stare motionlessly up at him as he clarified, "That."

Unable to form a proper sentence, all Yura could do was to babble incoherently, "W-Wah... wah... wah...?!"

Automatically, in the midst of embarrassing herself, her mind had gone back to the conversation she had had with Kana the afternoon before and the advice she had given her – to be honest with her feelings. And, as suggested, she had spent quite a lot of time thinking about them that day, able to take a few conclusions – one of them coincidentally being the answer to Mamiru's question. Although what he had done to her gave her all the possible rights to be angry, the truth was that she simply couldn't be, no matter how much she tried. Rather, every time she would remember what had happened, she would only become happy and eager instead as her heart would race just as quickly as it currently was.

The problem was – how was she supposed to tell him that?

Knowing that staring any longer at the young ikemen's handsome face would only make her go redder and discourage her words to come out, Yura immediately turned away from him, her eyes facing forward again. Taking a deep breath, she went almost completely stiff as she mustered, "N... No... I'm not."

"You're not... angry?" he asked for confirmation, coming even closer.

All she could do in response was to shake her head. Upon realizing she had managed to answer him without making the situation any more awkward or giving him more information than she should, she was able to relax a little as she released a sigh. But, unconsciously, she found herself holding her breath again as a pair of muscular arms were wrapped around her slim, soon-to-be fifteen-year-old body.

"That's... relieving." before she could say anything, Mamiru whispered under his breath, tickling the girl's neck as he nuzzled his head on hers. "I thought you were avoiding me... because you hated me. I didn't... know what to do. I just... wanted to be able to see you again... as quick as possible."

"Huh...?" blinking a few times, the younger one instinctively placed her hands over his arms, but never thought about escaping from his embrace. Her heart racing quicker, she could only become more eager with a mixture of joy and curiosity, as if she was literally dying to know what he would say next.

"I lied... Yura. It's true everyone in the... household is worried about you, but... no one told me... to come here. I came... by myself." at the confession, Yura could only stay put as her eyes dilated slightly.

There was a reason why her inhuman brother, Ryuuji, had long nicknamed the young man behind her a "helpless baby" – ever since that day, Mamiru would never do anything that he had not been told to. In the last seven years, there had never been any exceptions of that; but now he was simply telling her he had not only deceived her, but everyone in the Keikain main house, in order to fulfill his own wish. And now that she could think better about it, that wasn't the first time he did something on his own – hugging her, returning her embrace and kissing her twice were also things he did without being told.

Could that mean... he was recovering?

Yura's chocolate eyes only widened more at her own mental question. And with it, another one surfaced in her mind – since she had never seen or been notified of any other situation in which he had displayed such odd behavior, could it be she was really the only one whom he acted like that around?

"Yura... you didn't give me... any chance to explain myself... before. Do you want to... know why I kissed you... that night?"

While she had been lost in assumptions, the brunette had only been brought back by the word "kissed". Jumping slightly, she could feel heat surrounding her face again as she started stammering, "Y-Yes..."

"It was a... spur of the moment." with the unexpectedly plain answer, Yura had almost turned around to give the one of her affections a confused look, but restrained herself as she was still unable to do so. Before she could say anything, he continued, as if already knowing what she would ask, "I wasn't able to control... myself once we were... alone together. I had wanted... to do that for some... time now."

As if her voice had been taken away from her again, she grabbed onto the young man's black cloak for dear life without even noticing, and couldn't help but ask herself when she had been that nervous before. The fact she couldn't answer it only made her more anxious, but all of the feelings that had built up inside her seemed to have been swept away for a second at the next sentence that reached her ears.

"I... love Yura."

And that was it – with that simple, broken three-worded phrase, Yura's heart was at a sudden state of ease for a brief moment, her swaying feelings seeming to have been tranquilized. It didn't take her much to understand what she was going through was a sense of realization as her body seemed lighter. However, it had taken her even less to feel the weight of her own unsaid reply pushing her down all over again. And, with that, she knew exactly what she had to do in response to the redhead's kindness.

It was now or never.

"I... I-I-I..." she mustered out, taking another deep breath as she held onto his cloak's sleeve even harder and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, "I... love you, too... M-Mamiru-kun."

As soon as she was able to complete her sentence, she could perfectly sense Mamiru's surprise due to their closure – which, given the events of the past few days, was at a pretty dangerous level. And as the only thing that could be heard was the wind that had been blowing the insistent clouds away ever since morning, the two of them stayed like that for a rather long while.

"W... what...?" Yura slowly asked herself, her inner world breaking down into a lightning tempest once she had registered the sentence that had escaped her lips. It was at that time that she completely lost it as she screamed as loud as never before within her mind, "WHAT DID I JUST SAAAAY~?!"

Suddenly being washed from head to toes with overwhelming regret, she found herself yet again blushing madly while stuttering some excuse to run away from what could be coming in her direction, as she had at last managed to break free from the embrace so that she could try facing Mamiru's shiny orange eyes, "Hu-Hum... l-listen, I–"

The moment they locked stares, the Keikain heiress could swear her heart had stopped. While the gentle breeze caressed her cheeks slightly, the first sunrays started breaking through the thick gray clouds covering the sky, forming a long shadow on the redhead's front as they could only reach his back. Such shadow made it quite a bit hard for her to see his expression, since he had his cloak's hood on, but she was still able to get a glimpse of the unusually soft look in his eyes.

And, together with it, the long-lost warmth of his curling lips.

By then, an image flashed before her eyes – the one of a certain orange-haired boy that had the most charming smile she had ever seen. A boy that she had known and been very close to for a long time. A boy that had suffered from a serious brain disease from injuries he had gotten in his head while protecting her. A boy that had been able to survive at the price of losing his memories and literally becoming a living machine. A boy that she owed so much to she wondered every day if she would ever be able to pay him back for exchanging his life for hers. A boy that she had never thought she would be able to meet ever again. A boy that had become a man.

A man whose charming smile was back.

With tears forming in the corners of her eyes, the dark brown-haired young woman could no longer tell apart her most distant dreams from the reality she was living, until that smile reached her forehead gently and reassuringly, "Shall we... go home, Yura?"

After staring at him in contemplation for a little more, Yura blinked her tears away with a smile, her Kyouto accent failing as she fought a few sobs from the knot that had formed in her throat, "Y... Yeah..."

Turning back forward as the horse began moving again, she was more than surprised to see the after-storm sky becoming clear, its beautiful blue reflected on the surface of the water that had washed the land the day before. In the midst of the peace she was experiencing, the calm and quiet of their illuminated path seemed to be a very good omen for their future. Now that everything was settled between the two of them, they would only have one obstacle to overcome.

How to explain things to her sadistic older brother.

"By the way, Mamiru-kun..." Yura requested rather awkwardly, her brother's frowning face popping into her head, "what happened here today... and what happened the other day at the Jinja... we'd better keep as a secret for now."

"Okay." he gave his same old reply. But, instead of having its usual frustrating effect on her, it had only made her smile grow wider.

After all, this time, she was sure he had understood the message.

~o0o~

TCHAN, TCHAN, TCHAN, TCHAAAAAN! Cliffy! And I bet you guys are back to hating Kana now. DX

Man, school sucks. I'm glad I've been able to update more quickly this time, though! But still not as quickly as I had planned! I'm gonna try to speed up even more to finish this story! By the way, guys... we're almost reaching the end! If everything goes as I planned, there's only one chapter left! Expect the unexpected! :D

Now, remarks!

1) More characters and backstories being added! Yay, I was able to use someone from the pilots yet again! Cookies for you, Kanako~! XD

2) FINALLY, I'VE BEEN ABLE TO ADD A PROPER ITAREI MOMENT! From the Hair Omake, no less! It was then that I started shipping ItaRei, after all! And also the only way I could use such cute Omake for this story... damn, I wish I could have used it with the RikuTsura part as well, but it wouldn't have worked! DX

3) Ufufufufu... I wonder what Maki is hiding~! You're free to guess, everyone! ;3

4) The RikuTsura moment and Rikuo and Kana's talk feel very OOC to me and were very hard to write... I hope they have been good enough, though. Please comment about them, guys!

5) WHOO, NIGHT RIKUO SEDUCING THE LADIES AT THE PARTY! I've been wanting to write about that omake for very long, and I'm glad I've been able to add it to this story, although I had to make some adaptations!

6) Ya know what, guys?! Screw Edo and Toukyou! This is gonna be Ukiyoe, alright! Thank goodness I haven't yet made the changes in the whole story, 'cause I recently noticed something – the whole point of the story being in Edo was to emphasize that it was happening during Edo period. But since I'll be using Meiji, the first thing that had come to me was to transform Edo in Toukyou. Still, I could have perfectly made Edo Ukiyoe and just say it was going to change into Meiji in the author notes, so, sorry for the confusion, but forget about them. Ukiyoe is here to stay. And I'm still throwing the responsibility onto Citsimsan because... just because. :P

7) So~! Mamiru and Yura's love resolution was, much like everyone else's, pretty damn hard to write. It seems very OOC as well. But I'm glad I've managed to write about Mamiru returning to his normal self – he had never blended with a Shikigami in this story, so it's not a far-fetched idea here. But I wish that had happened in the manga too. DX

8) I myself loled at Kiyotsugu doing Dassai's role and Yura doing day Rikuo's.

9) Writing about angsty Rikuo really sucks sometimes. Just saying.

10) This was the longest chapter so far. Expect an even bigger one next!

Now... replies for the anons:

Psy: ohohoho, yes! I surprisingly sleep better now! XD

Thank you very much!

I hope they have been good!

You're welcome!

kuro: heeeeeey, Kuro-san! XDDD

YEAH, I KNOW, RIGHT?! WHOOO! CANON! WE WIN, BITCHES! IT'S RIKUTSURA FOREVER! 8D

It wasn't really a day after I had posted, just half of it. But even if it had been a day, why are you apologizing? You reviewed, so that's enough! :D

Ugh, mine also wasn't very good... DX

Thank you very much! I'm so glad it was good enough! ;A; *hugs*

Yes and yes! But wait, it's not "family with different religions". We have and don't have religion. Wait, what? XD

Hahaha, I've seen quite a few GozuMezu shippers out there, but I can't bring myself to like it. It's not even because I'm not fujoshi, because I do have a few yaoi pairings, but to me, they look and act like brothers. Besides, with Mezu's lack of feelings and Gozu's feelings for Tsurara, I see pretty much no appeal. Between GozuMezu and GozuYuki, I'd prefer GozuYuki, even though I don't like either. Sorry! DX

I had known too! Well, I suspected! XD And I kinda like and don't like. I like the cuteness and all, the tough guy being melted from the inside out by a girl and everything. Nyaw~! ^_^ But I don't like the unrequited thing... DX

Maa, I don't think it's all like that. Because, like I said, he doesn't really see her as a sister nor she seems to see him as her brother. And I think everyone knows about Tsu's feelings, him included. But I don't think that's enough to make him stop liking her – rather, it's reason to like her more, since her character developments resolve around her love. So, yeah. X3

By the way, his name is "Shouei", hon. Have you been watching too much K? XD

Yup! And I'm glad I've been able to pass the message! ^_^

I hope it has been as beautiful as you had imagined it! ;A;

Why does it bother you? DX And yeah, ShimaKana is still a pupa, whatever that is. XD

The butterfly shall open its wings soon! 8D

Yeah, and it's all true – he admitted in in an interview. I'm thinking about making a tumblr post ranting about how it's his fault we'll never be getting a third season. The bastard. )X

Haha, I also prefer my Kana much more! And you'll still like her better in the next chapters! ^3^

Wow, I'm so glad her character has affected you to that point! And they're not actresses, so let's call them "female leads", ne? ^_^

Tsurara isn't really changing... o_o'

Ah, I see! But what's "wkwkwkwk"? ^_^'

So you did watch a lot of K Project! XDDD And yes, I feel the same, of course! *A*

Ahahaha, me too! And I agree, ohohoho! :D

Yup! *_*

Hahaha, calm down! XD

Did you know that e-mails received from non-contacts are usually sent to the recycle bin? It's like a garbage folder that takes care of material you receive that seems suspicious. When I got my e-mail from them, it was there. If it's not there, you could have typed your e-mail wrong, so maybe you could try again! :)

Oh, but it's okay! I may write stories for Shiibashi-sensei's new one-shot if it becomes a series and if I like it! :D

And keep writing I shall! B-(

Yes! It's all totally the same! Do you feel the connection, kuro-saaan?! DX

I understand. I'm sooo like you! 0_0

Awww, we really are very alike! X3

Thanks! But... "fighting"? XD

Yeeeah! The most developed countries don't have that many subjects for everyone! Why~~~? DX

Kyaaaah, thank you soooo much! *_*

Lol. Okay, then. ^_^

*hugs* Me too! And thank you! :D

Two-page response again! I view that as good, 'kay? And, wow, what just happened to your writing? Your English suddenly seems a lot better! *o*

Anon-Person: sorry to disappoint ya, but it was really her! And she suffered even more. BUT, that suffering is necessary! Fight, Kana-chan! (;A;)9

Lol, they're not exactly "non-existent". You'll see, you'll see. XD

I agree. But then again, he didn't get a chance to interact with Gozu and Shouei when they were openly crushing on Tsurara, so we didn't get a chance to see it. I can only imagine how it would be. DX

It is, isn't it? And we got to see that a lot in the first chapters of the manga. Too bad it stopped after Kana's screen time diminished. We didn't even see her going through her character development. It was small, but she had it! D:

And they will! Again, you shall see it soon... 8D

Nah, that's totally okay! I love to interact with the readers, especially when they have ideas or questions to share, so they're always welcome! But I'm afraid I'm going to ask a few questions back as well... so, sorry too. -_-

Yeah, a little bit. Why? ^_^

Like I wrote on the past and some other chapters, Nura-gumi has already reached its glory. That implies the fight against Seimei has already passed, so it shall be limited to flashbacks only. ;3

Well, Tsurara accepted her completely, yet I don't think it was because she could heal Rikuo, but because she had become one of them. After all, those were Tsurara's words to Zen. And, if Rikuo had done Matoi with the Kitsune, that means he trusted her fully. She had also helped them defeat their greatest enemy, who was her son, and Tsurara was there when she stated the one she considered her child now was Rikuo, so Tsurara had no reason not to trust her. But what does that have to do with anything again? X3

Nope, it seems we never got a chance to see them interact other than that one. Pity. But it was a really good scene. I liked how Tsurara was the only person that defended her. And the Kitsune's surprised face is something really rare, so it was rather refreshing. I swear I could see the vibes of her starting to ship RikuTsura right then and there! /is shot

She did remove it. Why? '-'

Guest: Wow, thank you very much! And your English is not that bad! ;3

Guest (the one with the hate comments about Tsurara): Oh. My. Gosh. You are the anonymous reviewer that had been hating on Tsurara on this site lately, aren't you? Lol. XD

I had thought you were only reviewing to GozuYuki stories, since you seemed to hate the fact Gozumaru is in love with Tsurara – which totally ruined your GozuMezu mood – and was blaming it on her. But it looks like I was wrong. You're hating on all of the stories in this site that have Tsurara on focus, aren't you? Well, about time you found me!

Do you remember FlamesofDeath07? I was the one who wrote the response to your first review to her, since she asked my help with it. When I read that review of yours, I had wanted to give my own response to you as well, and I had imagined how it would be if you reviewed to me. To my surprise, this day has come. But, before you start reading the rest of this, I must warn you that, definitely, out of all the people you sent anon hate to about Tsurara, I am the worst of them. Don't blame it on me if there are any damages to your self-esteem or dignity in this response. I just can't ignore it when people mess around with my favorite girl. That is to say – you asked for it.

You got it right, genius. I am a Tsurara fan. And, no, I don't think she's important. Since she's the main female lead of NuraMago, I know she is, and so do you. Or, at least, I believe you have enough capability of being able to tell something this obvious, even though you are in denial about it. You can stop making a fool of yourself now.

As humans, we all have different views, opinions and tastes. So, no, I don't think everyone has to like Tsurara. You, on the other hand, seem to think everyone has to hate her. Sorry, my dear, but nearly the entire fandom loves her. Because, well, she's just that awesome.

Sure, she's a bird-brained useless bitch. She is the second most popular character of NuraMago because everyone that reads it must love bird-brained useless bitches. Gozumaru, too, must have fallen for her because his type is the bird-brained useless bitch one. Do you realize now that you're bashing a character that you love and a fandom you are involved with by bashing her? I guess you just burnt yourself. Take all the time you want applying cold water to your sore spots.

Sorry, but you either didn't read the latest chapters or are pretending to have forgotten a little detail – Tsurara and Kana are friends now. And, in the times that Tsurara didn't like Kana, Kana didn't like her either. Same goes for Yura – Tsurara may not like her much, but Yura doesn't like her much either. It's something mutual, not from Tsurara alone.

"Fictitious bitch who really worth for the love of other"? Since that sentence is grammatically wrong and utterly confusing, I don't even have to reply to it. You lose your point by default.

Yeah, of course. Everyone would be happy if she just got away, especially Gozumaru. I bet he would never miss following her around just to tease her and invade her personal space like he usually does.

Now that I've replied to your nonsense, here goes what I've really been wanting to tell you: I've already read one of your reviews saying exactly why you like to hate on Tsurara and her fans, and the only thing I can say is that I'm really sorry you're wasting your precious lifetime with this. Doing that may be pleasant to you, but I guess receiving responses like these and getting butt-hurt afterwards is not really what you want. So, instead of obsessing over things you dislike (yeah, you're pretty obsessed with our favorite Yuki Onna here), why don't you dedicate yourself to the ones you like? Go write a GozuMezu story or whatever other pairing you may like.

Then again, this is just an advice. If you want to follow it, good. If you don't, I wouldn't mind having to reply to you again. On the contrary of most fans, I never get annoyed at all when a character I love is attacked by others, since I always choose my favorites well, and, therefore, I'm always full of arguments in their defense. That's why I usually enjoy discussions about them, especially when the haters are like you – illogical and with baseless bias as the only thing they can possibly use, which I find simply pathetic. So, you may continue to amuse me further if you want. I won't be waiting for you, though. :P

Guest (the one with hate comments towards the anon with the hate comments): it's okay, bud. No need to waste your time with someone like that. They just don't have anything better to do than mock people for liking what they like. All we can do is to pity them. ;D

Okay, another long chapter ends here, guys! I hope it has been worth the wait! Please leave reviews~!