I don't own Nura no Mago
(Narrative)
Steam filtered out of the bathroom as the shoji doors slid open. Kuro welcomed the bite of the cold, feeling the goose bumps rising on her exposed flesh. She quickly walked to her room, hoping no one would see her as she was. She was only in a towel, having forgotten a change of clothes in her haste to leave the confines of her room. Water trailed down her legs, forming footprints on the wooden floors. Her hair was sticking the back of her neck but not from sweat this time, which she was greatful for. She looked ahead, her gaze shifting back and forth from left to right as she tuned in her hearing for any suspicious sounds. The brunette was close to her room, only 20 something feet when a dark figure emerged from the shadows, eyes shining a bright yellow. Kuro stopped, guilt immediately squeezing her heart as she stared at the blue haired yuki-onna in front of her.
"I noticed you didn't take any extra clothes with you when you went to the bath so I thought I would bring you some. Apparently I was too late with it though." Kuro saw the bundle of clothes laying in Tsurara's grasp. The brunette wanted to laugh at the ice maiden's choice, guessing the girl knew her favorite pair of pajamas. It was grey pants with hot pink polka dots and a black tank top.
"Thanks." Kuro mumbled as she grabbed the clothing, hoping to get by Tsurara and into her room without any more words being exchanged.
Of course luck wasn't on her side as the yuki-onna opened her mouth and said, "Wait".
Kuro cursed whoever it was that seemed to hold a grudge over her, turning ever so slightly in Tsurara's direction. She waited patiently for the girl to speak again, knowing that if she spoke first her words would come out broken and pained. She didn't like feeling like this, her chest hurting and the need to apologize strong. It was something she wasn't used to and never wanted to get to know better.
"I know you feel badly about what happened and I just wanted to let you know I forgive you." Tsurara said, a small smile on her face.
The yuki-onna really did forgive the brunette, knowing it wasn't her fault for what happened. It was all due to whatever was haunting her at night. She's had her fair share of nightmares and they make you so paranoid you can't tell what's reality or not sometimes. Kuro may not understand this, but Tsurara was determined to show her it was alright.
"How?" Came the whispered question.
"Because I know you didn't mean it. You were having a nightmare and whatever it was made you scared and felt the need to defend yourself. So please believe me when I say I forgive you." The smile never left the yuki-onna's face; it only grew bigger and showed her true kindness.
"I believe you, but I don't accept your forgiveness. You shouldn't easily say that to someone you barely know, especially so soon after what I did to you." Her grey eyes hardened, showing anger that seemed never ending in the brunette girl.
"But it doesn't matter that I only met you not too long ago. I trust you and the fact that you are sorry for something you didn't mean to do." Tsurara was practically pleading with Kuro now, wanting to let the girl know how she felt.
"You shouldn't be able to trust me that much." Kuro deadpanned.
"People think yokai shouldn't be real." The yuki-onna countered. The brunette had to admit she was right on that.
"Do you really feel that way?" Her voice was quiet, fragile. She felt like she couldn't forgive herself for what's she's done, like she broke a promise to someone that she wouldn't let something like that happen.
"Yes." Kuro saw and heard no lie as Tsurara said this, something about her making the brunette able to believe her. She sighed in resignation, knowing she lost this battle.
There was a small silence between the two, which Kuro quickly broke. "I better get dressed before someone walls by. Besides I'm freezing my ass of here." Kuro walked into her room, turning around to give a small nod to Tsurara to let her know things will be ok. The ice maiden left silently, while Kuro quickly got ready for bed. All she wanted to do was fall asleep and wake up like always. Alone. That didn't seem possible as she tossed and turn for a while, finally giving up and throwing the covers off of her to leave her dark room. She hoped some fresh air would help her restlessness.
The night sky was clear, the stars shining as bright as the moon was, which was half covered in darkness. Rikuo was standing by the small pond, waiting patiently for a certain brunette. He was still brimming with anger and wanted to have a little chat with the girl about why his yuki-onna had bruises covering her neck.
When did she become yours?
Rikuo was forced to shove that thought away as he heard shuffling behind him. He turned, knowing that it was the exact person he was standing around waiting for. She walked out of the shadows, a look of utter confusion and distress on her features. The blood had drained from her face and as she walked closer, Rikuo could see she had been chewing away at her bottom lip. His anger started to fade a little into worry, but he decided he would reprimand the girl and inquire about what was wrong at the same time.
"Kuro." The brunette looked up in surprise, not noticing there was someone there. She saw Rikuo and the guilt in her increased when she saw the hardened look on his face. She took tentative steps towards him, knowing she was going to be yelled at and most likely hated.
"Yes?" Her voice came out whispered, broken.
"You know what I'm going to say, right?" Kuro have a small nod, signaling Rikuo to go on. "What happened? Why did you attack Tsurara like that?"
Kuro swallowed the lump that seemed to lodge itself in her throat permanently as she replied. "I don't really know what happened. She woke me up in the middle of my nightmare and I thought I was still dreaming so I..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish.
"What kind of a nightmare makes you so unaware of your surroundings? I know you of all people always have your guard up and for something like this to happen means that your nightmare is something serious." Rikuo's voice became gentler and the worry became stronger for the girl.
"It was nothing, really." She kept her head down, avoiding Rikuo's eyes. She didn't want him to see the emotions that were battling each other within her. She cursed herself for letting herself get so weak, for letting her walls fall down so easily and let herself feel these things. She hated it and wanted it all gone, to be once again an emotionless, empty shell.
"Tell me." It was a demand, with a small hint of a plead. It took Kuro by surprise and she blinked up at him, her eyes showing a slight gleam.
"I can't." Her words were once again whispered, but she kept her head up this time.
"Yes you can. You can rely on me, you know." A thoughtful look passed through Kuro and a bitter smile rose up on her lips.
"You say that now." Rikuo was about to say something to that, but was stopped by Kuro shaking her head. "I can't tell you what was so horrible about my dream because I don't even remember it."
Rikuo didn't believe the girl when she said this, thinking she was just trying to get out of this situation. He continued to stare into her grey eyes, watching as they swirled with emotion, and saw that she really was serious. It was one more thing she couldn't remember and that tore at her along with the rest of her problems. Rikuo saw this and he wanted to change it, he wanted to help her. He sighed, not knowing how to continue from here.
"Just promise me you won't do something like that again." He said to the breaking brunette.
"I swear I won't." There was conviction in her eyes this time, dominating every other emotion.
"Good." There was silence between them, both unsure of what to say.
"Well its late and I'm tired so I think I'll go to bed." Rikuo nodded and watched as Kuro walked away, the shadows engulfing her retreating figure.
He turned back to face the pond, lifting his head to stare at the half moon. Everything was peaceful and calm, but the young heir knew that things weren't going to stay this way forever. The attacks were frequent and difficult to avoid. There was also the fact that they had to figure out who wants Kuro and why, and there was no clue as to how to answer that.
"Waka?" Rikuo blinked; surprised he didn't hear anyone coming up to him. He turned his head to the right, knowing who was there by the sound of her voice. Tsurara stood there, looking curiously up at her master, wondering why he was out here so late at night.
"What are you doing?" Tsurara asked.
Rikuo gazed into her beautiful eyes, trying hard to ignore the scarf covering the bruises around her neck. They had already started to heal and would soon be gone, but Rikuo didn't like the thought of them staining her porcelain skin.
"I'm enjoying the calm and quiet of the night. What are you doing?" The young heir answered.
"I was finishing up some chores. Why are you out here so late, and when it's cold too?" The yuki-onna placed her small hands on her hips, a stern look crossing her face.
"Didn't I already answer that question?" Rikuo smirked, wondering how they ended up going in circles like this.
"Hmm. I guess I'll leave it at that before you start making fun of me. Anyways did you see Kuro?" Tsurara dropped her hands, not noticing the hard look that appeared in Rikuo's eyes. She may have justified her reason for injuring Tsurara, but the ice maiden was not getting anywhere near Kuro while she was sleeping.
"She's in her room. There's no need to check up on her so wait until tomorrow to say whatever it is you need to say." Rikuo ordered Tsurara, his tone leaving no room for discussion.
The yuki-onna's gaze softened as she said, "she didn't mean to do what she did and you know that. She was terrified from whatever she saw in her dream and she thought she was still in it. I don't know what she was experiencing but it must have been terrible if she had her guard down so don't be mad at her."
"I'm not mad anymore; I just don't want something like this to happen again. Besides Kuro doesn't want to see anyone right now." Rikuo knew the brunette didn't say those exact words but he could tell she just wanted to be alone.
"I wanted to make sure she was ok. I also wanted to ask her if she wanted to talk about the dream she had." It was surprising how Tsurara could keep such a big heart and be kind towards someone who hurt her not too long ago. It was something Rikuo loved about his aid.
"She doesn't remember what she dreamt about." There was some silence after that, both thinking about how the girl with the mysterious past seemed to have one serious memory problem.
"I wish we could hurry up and figure this mess out already." Tsurara mumbled to herself, but the words drifted to the young man in front of her so he heard her.
"I would like that too, especially since one enemy after the other keeps appearing. I don't want anyone getting hurt and yet it seems like that's all that has been happening." Crimson eyes drifted back to the scarf hiding the yellowing on the yuki-onna's pale neck. He really didn't hate Kuro anymore, although he may be a tad bit annoyed, but he understood that she didn't mean it.
"I'm fine." Rikuo's eyes shifted back to Tsurara's own after hearing her words, seeing the honesty in them.
"Promise me something, will you?" A small breeze blew in then, causing Sakura petals to dance in the wind. A stray one left its partner, joining itself to Tsurara's hair. Rikuo plucked it from the dark blue strands and stared at it, admiring its beauty. "Promise me you'll continue to stay by my side and fight with me, but also keep yourself safe. I know how much it means to you to be standing next to me but I don't want you getting hurt. I wouldn't know what to do if something bad were to happen to you." Rikuo lifted his head up to look into yellow eyes; a slight glimmer was added to them. She blinked quickly, trying so hard not to let the tears fall. She blushed lightly, happy that her master, the one she loved, cared so much about her.
"I promise." Rikuo smiled, a similar one showing up on Tsurara's face as she swore to him. They continued to stare into each other's eyes, getting lost in their own little world.
"We should be getting to bed now. It really is getting late and there's school tomorrow." The young heir reluctantly broke the serenity filling him. Tsurara just nodded her approval and they made their way to their own rooms, the smile never leaving their lips.