"I told you already, Kino. Of course I'm going to your master's wedding." with a gentle smile, Kejourou was dismissed by the older woman in front of her. "Also, tell Gizoku-san that I've managed to get Kichijirou and Seisuke to go with me."

At the good news regarding the two men she hadn't heard of in very long, the emerald-eyed one couldn't contain her joy, "Really?! Thank you very much, Shiragiku-onee-san! Kubinashi will be very happy with this!"

"My, you seem very excited." still smiling, Shiragiku carefully filled up the brown-haired woman's cup of Sake for the fourth time.

"More like 'very nervous'. The wedding day is near... Wakana-san wants everything to be perfect." Kejourou frowned slightly, taking her cup and finishing the sweet drink in a single gulp. As she did so, Shiragiku couldn't help but notice her friend's manners seemed to have changed within time, and her elegant aura was almost completely gone, replaced by a more carefree yet still appealing one. She didn't expect less of a Yakuza woman, though.

"Maa, it's her son's marriage, after all." with her glassy grayish eyes glittering, the black-haired one filled the cup yet again, "By the way, I see you still call me 'Onee-san', even though you are not even working here anymore."

"Does that matter? You know you'll always be my Onee-san, anyways~!" the younger female winked with a smile, purposely using a country accent. After so many years, said accent now felt foreign in her mouth, even though it was part of her origins, for she had dropped it and adopted the formal way of talking of the capital, much like the Oiran whom she was drinking with. That had happened in the times when she was on her way to also becoming an Oiran herself to be able to pay her debts to the brothel she was currently visiting – Akizukiya.

How long had it been since she had left that place? About twenty years? Seeing how nearly nothing had changed in the surface made it almost impossible for Kejourou to believe it had been so long. However, every time she secretly visited her old Oiran friend, she would be reminded of it all – and this time was no exception.

Yoshiwara had never been a very entertaining place during day – after all, its domain was the night. As soon as the Sun disappeared, every evening, the entire street would be enveloped in a beautiful commotion. It would never fail to impress whoever came to visit it, no matter how many times the visitors had already been there. The sound of the Geisha playing the likes of shamisen and koto, patrons clapping their hands while dancing to the players' tunes, the lovely voices of the Oiran mixed with the carefree laugher of drunken guests – it was all simply glamorous.

In the midst of that scenery was Akizukiya, one of the most famous brothels in town. Ironically, it was not as famous as its highest-ranked Oiran – no one other than the enchanting Shiragiku, who was still very beautiful in the current days, despite her age. And, serving her in almost everything was her Kamuro – Kejourou herself, when she was still just eight years old.

It was also at about that age that Kejourou had met the man of her life. Had she not been playing by herself with a sandbag by the brothel's backdoors at the very moment he had appeared, she would have most likely never experienced falling in love at first sight with anyone her entire life. After all, hardly anyone would be as striking and stunning as the teenage blond whose life she had saved when he was being chased by the police as she took him to her mistress Oiran's changing room. By doing so, what she had intended was nothing but to hide him in a safe place until the danger was no longer nearby, and whatever was the crime he had committed didn't concern her. All she wanted was to help him, so that he could live, and she did not regret her decision the slightest bits – not even when she had literally watched said man and another woman fall in love with each other as soon as they locked stares for the first time.

It all had happened very quickly and she was yet very young, but she had been able to see quite clearly that, the moment she had taken him to the changing room, the same thing that had happened to her when she first looked at him him happened to him and the beauty that had been quietly smoking a pipe inside – the owner of the room herself, Shiragiku. It was all too ironic – to have the man she had fallen in love at first sight with to fall in love at first sight with someone else right after. However, due to the age gap between her and the man she had instantly developed those feelings for, Kejourou had decided to bear with it, as he seemed to be too far from her reach.

Shiragiku had let him stay in her changing room until he could leave safely, but not before finding out what sin he had committed. He himself had confessed he had stolen money from a rich and corrupt rice merchant and distributed said money for the poor, and so the two women had been able to tell he was what people would call a "chivalrous thief". For that reason, he had earned a nickname from them, and started being referred to as "Gizoku-san" every time he came by, as he kept coming to visit after that for the following five years.

His visits had never been periodic, as he was not always able to find free time to come, but, occasionally, he would find a way to go back to Akizukiya. Things had reached a point in which he became famous there – given his unique appearance – but, no matter what, he would never ask for or accept offers of any woman that wasn't Shiragiku. Kejourou herself had become aware of his routine within a few days – he would come to her mistress's room and regain the calm in his heart after spending some time with her. Eventually, he would meet Kejourou on his way out, as she would always take the opportunity to be able to at least look at him, even though it was never her who he came to visit.

After all, she had no way of knowing for how long she would have kept having those opportunities.

Gizoku-san had a dangerous life. As a thief, he was in constant danger of being caught and beheaded for his crimes by the policemen, as he was a sinner, regardless of his actions being for the sake of justice. And, as his popularity grew, together with the number of corrupt nobles that were after him, the threats to his life increased. Not only his, but the ones of the other two men he worked with – Seisuke, a feminine-looking ex-performer who would make use of his voice to fool either pursuers or victims, and Kichijirou, a tall and quiet carpenter, who was pretty knowledgeable of traps and how to disable them, making it easy for them to accomplish their robberies. Those two and their blond leader, who was well-known for his skills with string manipulation, were a feared and much wanted criminal trio. And, although they were at peace for the path they had chosen, since it was for a good cause, the two females watching their work in secret, Kejourou and Shiragiku, simply couldn't be. That was not only because of the pain of watching their loved one risk his life at every second of it, but also because he had always been extremely close to being beheaded for his violations, and because the possibility of becoming involved with the troubles around him had always been really high back then. However, sadly, all they had been able to do was to pray none of those happened.

Much to their horror, all of their nightmares had become true in a single night.

One of the merchants the trio had stolen money from, Hagiya Ribei, together with a skillful strategist whose name was unknown until the present time, had tried everything in order to make the youngsters pay for the damage they had caused to his wealth. The two had even gone as far as sending someone to follow Gizoku-san around as soon as they had discovered his identity to find out about the people he held dear. And, as soon as they had gotten to know about Shiragiku's existence, they hadn't wasted time to come to her and threaten her family in exchange of cooperation for the capture of the leader of the trio – the man she loved.

As he had been able to escape from them every time they got trail of him, no matter how close they had been of catching him, the two businessmen had no better plan than using the thief leader's beloved as a bait to attract and distract him enough for him to be arrested and executed at once. And since Shiragiku had no choice, she had given them a positive answer, only to regret it with all her might later. She had gone as far as trying to seduce him while pretending to be drunk, while her Kamuro was supposed to report to the merchant and his co-worker when would be the right time to act, but had ended up breaking down in tears. In the end, she herself had come up with a plan to guarantee her loved one's getaway.

Since the two men had to start suspecting of the Kamuro taking too long to report to them sooner or later, Shiragiku had sent both Gizoku-san and Kejourou to the room where the sleeping items were kept at – surely one of the first places to be looked over in pursue for the blond thief, once the two men lost patience and started looking for him themselves. She had also told them to be intimate with each other in case they were ever found, pretending to be a young Oiran with a customer.

They had done as they were told and it had worked surprisingly well. As Kejourou forced the man she loved to have his first kiss with her, Shiragiku had been left alone to deal with the two men who were threatening her parents and younger brother, by her own insistence. As a result, she was taken to their domain by force, and all that was left in her place was a note, telling Gizoku-san he had three days to come for her.

As worried as she was about Shiragiku, Kejourou's first reaction had been to try stopping him from doing anything that reckless, for it was clearly exactly what Ribei wanted. However, there seemed to be no other way to save her. And so, the blond thief had found himself using the deadline given to him perfecting the best technique he had created with his strings in order to be able to save the woman of his affections: Ayatori – Jyakou Yaiba. And his hurried training had been doing fairly well, as he would come out at night and pick fights with whoever seemed like a good opponent. But, in that process, he had ended up crossing ways with someone that would later change his life forever.

Nura-gumi's Nidaime, Nura Rihan.

If Kejourou hadn't seen it all with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed the scene that had ensued after the first meeting of the two men. But the outcome had caused a terrible pang in her chest as Gizoku-san had been easily defeated, while his opponent hadn't earned a single scratch. Behind him, his Kumi had been about to watch him slay away the string-manipulating man's life as he was deemed to be too dangerous, but it had never happened, thanks to Kejourou throwing herself in the way. Enveloping him in a tight embrace and not noticing how the blond had managed to blush in that situation, she had offered her life in exchange of his. However, as the Kumi and its commander turned their backs to them, the only response they had received from him was engraved in their minds until the present time.

"To give your life for someone else's sake... true strength is what this woman just showed. Your strength, string guy... is just a bluff."

Kichijirou and Seisuke had been able to find their leader shortly after that. The two had turned out to be looking for him as soon as they had heard the news about Shiragiku's kidnapping, while their leader was running away from them for the sake of not endangering their lives with his own problem, taking the burden all by himself. However, his comrades were just too loyal, as they had been able to make a deal with Akizukiya's owner, who would pay a huge amount of money for the local authorities to acquit all of their crimes if they could bring Shiragiku to him safe and sound. The deal was benefiting for both Akizukiya and the trio, as the brothel would lose much more money if they didn't have Shiragiku back and the young thieves could be spared of death, as their identities had already been discovered. In order words, Shiragiku's rescue had been decided to be their last job together.

And they had failed.

The three had never thought their enemies would be so well-prepared. Even with their nearly professional fighting skills, Kichijirou, Seisuke and Gizoku-san had had a hard time dealing with the guards of the wealthy Hagiya residence, where Hagiya Ribei and his cooperator had been waiting for them. However, once Gizoku-san had used his perfected string technique, they seemed to be on their way to winning, until Ribei pulled off his last card and threatening to kill Shiragiku in the spot if they didn't surrender.

Out of love, Shiragiku had obviously no intentions of being a burden to Gizoku-san as she made it clear she did not have any regrets in dying for his sake, but it was all useless. And things hadn't become any better as someone else had gotten involved in the mess. Being held captive by one of the entrance guards, the thirteen-year-old Kino had to apologize a hundred times for her recklessness. Gizoku-san had silently berated her back then, but had nevertheless been touched by her dedication as she risked her life for him.

However, Kejourou had proved she also had no intentions of being a burden to the trio of thieves as she was handed to Hagiya Ribei's co-worker. As the unnamed partner-in-crime held her firmly, she had used a knife, which she had stolen before running away from the brothel and hidden within her clothes, and immediately freed herself as she cut right through the man's stomach. Once he had let go of her and fallen to the ground, she had successfully taken the next step without even thinking and tackled the weapon in the astonished Ribei's hand, knocking it out far away from him. Defenseless, he had no longer been able to hold Shiragiku as she took her opening, and so, the trio had been back to action again.

Needless to say they had been successful, as Ribei and his partner (who hadn't received a lethal wound) were handed to the authorities in the trio's place, since their deal had been honored once Shiragiku had returned with Kejourou to Akizukiya. Of course, as a part of said deal, the trio was disbanded, and never again they had committed crimes, be it alone or together. However, their friendship was thankfully the same as back then until the time being. And, once the three had started following their own paths, each of them chose a different one. Kichijirou had opted for making his part-time job as a carpenter what he would do for a living from then on, while Seisuke had done the same with performing by going back to the stages. As for Gizoku-san, since he possessed no knowledge or skills for normal jobs, and neither had he wanted to keep on living a normal life after having committed so many sins, he had gone for the most unexpected choice.

To join the Nura-gumi.

Meanwhile, within the years, Kejourou had only become more beautiful and prominent – so much that she had been able to reach the highest ranks of Akizukiya and become an Oiran very early, already rivaling Shiragiku when she was merely nineteen years old. That hadn't gone unnoticed by the man of her affections – every time he had come to visit, he would be able to see the sharp, outstanding beauty she had turned into. With that, dangerous feelings had flourished even more within him. And, although he had done all he could to fight them off, things had reached a point where he simply couldn't help it.

The reasons why he had tried to neglect his maturing love for her were understandable. First of all, there was a huge age gap between the two of them. But, as she became an adult herself, that had stopped being a problem. Still, Gizoku-san's feelings for Shiragiku could not be taken lightly, as they were the second and most important reason. But in the end, he was well-aware that Shiragiku's love for him wasn't either, as she would gladly hand him over to someone else if they would make him happy. And that process had turned out to be easier as his feelings for Kejourou started outshining the ones for his first love. After all, other than a beauty, Kejourou was also a wonderfully good-hearted and selfless woman, and that had been pretty clear as she had saved and protected him numerous times. She, too, had always been the one to affect him the most – whenever he came to see Shiragiku, despite her being the one that was able to make him regain his calm, it was always the little wavy-haired girl at the doors the one who would go as far as making him laugh and smile, regardless of his bleak life. Not to mention that her own feelings for him were pure, and he had been able to tell as much as they had established a relationship of friendship and mutualism.

And said relationship hadn't taken that long to reach a new level.

As she was one of the few prostitutes who were able to pay off her debts, Kejourou hadn't thought twice before joining the Nura-gumi as well – obviously, in hopes to meet her dearest Gizoku-san. And it had been there that their relationship had developed into something else. About three years later, it had also been there that the two of them had married in secret. But even after doing so, Kejourou still had to take some time to get used to dropping her husband's nickname and become used to solely calling him by his real one.

"Kubinashi".

"Kino?" Shiragiku's voice of silver bells called with a hint of worry.

"Y-Yeah?" back from her memories, Kejourou stammered a little, taking notice of how much she had been spacing out – something that wasn't characteristic of her, especially in the presence of an old friend. "I'm sorry, I got a little carried away..." she apologized lamely, looking down.

"Should I... let you drink from the bottle?" the Oiran hesitantly asked. "And don't worry; there are more of these over there."

"You know me too well, Onee-san!" cheering up in an instant, Kejourou accepted the offer. However, the smiley mask she had put on in the outside would not last much the more she drank, and she would then finally be able to open herself properly about what had been bothering her for a while. Said subject was the real reason of her secret visit to the Oiran, and she hoped the wise woman would be able to make her forget her unease, at least a little bit, since it was just a matter of time for the routine of the Nura household to change completely.

After all, their Wakagashira's wedding was just a mere week away.

~o0o~

"Thank you very much for the hard work, Shinzaemon-san." bowing a little, Wakana smiled cheerfully at the elder in front of her.

"That's nothing! It's my pleasure to serve the Nura-gumi." said elder returned the kindness, patting the shoulder of the younger man beside him in the process. "Mine and my son's, that is."

The mother could only giggle at the sight as it made her recall the times when she and her late husband were not yet married. To her entertainment, the Nidaime used to spend a lot of their time together telling her many wonderful stories passed down to him about the remarkable events of Nura-gumi's first generation back then. And one of them involved the two men in front of her.

Now-a-days, the old Tamiya Shinzaemon, who was about the age of Wakana's father-in-law, was a successful seller. Most of his merchandise included decoration goods, which had been bought by the Nura-gumi for the wedding of the Sandaime. In contrast, Shinzaemon's younger days had been filled with tragedies and deaths.

After losing his wife due to inadequate care after labor, he had found himself dangerously close to becoming depressed while having to raise his only son on his own. As he had drowned himself in alcohol because of the shock of losing the woman he loved and for the lack of interest in other addicting dangers – such as gambling and other women –, he had left his baby in the care of an aging maid. And such irresponsibility with his son and himself had been what caused him to also lose his job. But he had been able to find help where he had never thought he would, as his kouhai from his days of trainee in the local doujou offered him their goodwill. Nakayama, Sanzaki and Oda proved themselves to be the best group of friends Shinzaemon ever had as they had visited him many times and given him all the encouragement possible, together with some scolding, and occasionally trying to convince high officials to give him his job back. Moved by such pure friendship, Shinzaemon had found the will to slowly recover from his trauma until, finally, a chance to retrieve his life had come.

Toku Seizo, the second in command of the province, had once called him for a possible job opportunity. According to him, Shinzaemon was the right man for said job, due to his unmatched sword skills, which were very famous at the Hanada Doujou, the place where he used to train Guishui-ryuu at. Promptly attending to the call, Shinzaemon had his hopes ruined once he found out what the job was about. After being given an assassination order with the promise of good cash for the dirty work, the name of the victim he had received was of no one other than the commander of the province himself, and the only reason given for taking away his life was treason.

Not alienated from the world around him, even in the state he had been, Shinzaemon was quite aware of the rumors of the commander being a traitor, filling his pockets at the cost of controlling the inexperienced province leaders from the shadows and often taking part in bribery. But, despite that, Shinzaemon had been easily able to see the real intentions behind Toku Seizo's justifications – after all, he was an obviously ambitious man, and, if the commander died, he would be the one to take the command of the province. Because of that, the guilt of having to take someone's life hadn't been the only thing that had troubled Shinzaemon back then – if he had accepted the job, not only would he be an unforgivable sinner, but also would be contributing to more political corruption in his province. Not to mention that, in the times he had been addicted to alcohol, he had seriously damaged his body, which made it impossible for him to recover as quickly as the deadline given to him to do the job allowed him to.

Still, even with the endless reasons not to accept the order, Shinzaemon had had no choice. As he had been told about the interest of the second in command to kill the first, he had put his life on the line. In short, if he had declined the task, he would have certainly been disposed of – that was the silent threat Toku Seizo had given him by inviting him to his own home and revealing such a huge secret firsthand, and thus, forcing him to carry the burden. With his baby son at home, Shinzaemon had not been able to afford dying like that – and so, he had hesitantly awaited the day of his mission, regretting every second of it.

Much to Shinzaemon's relief, his swordsmanship hadn't been needed at all, and the hands that used to hold his precious son had not been stained. Before the deadline had reached its limit, news had spread around the city that the first had died suddenly. By the looks of it, he had been hiding a serious illness from everyone – that was what Toku Seizo had commented as he invited Shinzaemon to his domain once again, as if celebrating the trouble they had been saved. In that occasion, Shinzaemon had kept his mouth shut not to say something he shouldn't to the newest first commander. And it seemed that was how Toku Seizo had wanted him to remain as he had ordered other swordsmen of his to silence him for good on his way home.

Cursing the situation, Shinzaemon had understood Toku Seizo never intended to let him leave. As he wasn't part of his men, Shinzaemon couldn't be trusted fully by him, and he obviously would have never been able to rest with the imminent danger of being reported to authorities. Other than that, there had also been the possibility of Shinzaemon blackmailing him, as he had finally grasped the power he had yearned so much for. In other words, there had been no safe place in that province for Shinzaemon anymore. That was why, after having defeated the attackers with fair difficulty, Shinzaemon had returned home to fire his maid and run away with his son.

Half-a-year passed after that night, and, while Shinzaemon and Genosuke had settled to live in a longhouse at Ukiyoe, they had not been able to leave the province, so they had not yet completely escaped from Toku Seizo's hands. That had become as clear as water as Shinzaemon was attacked yet again – that time, by an old acquaintance of his, Katakiri Denshirou. Said man had trained with him at the same doujou, who he had an unfinished business with. In their younger days, the two were said to be equally matched, and so their fellow trainees had asked for the two of them to have an actual match, so that their powers could be officially measured. After losing by a matter of bad luck, Denshirou had left the doujou and traveled around the country to improve his skills.

It all had seemed more like destiny playing tricks on both of them as Denshirou, of all people, had become one of Toku Seizo's assassins in that meantime and been assigned to kill Shinzaemon. Denshirou, however, still seemed to have a little bit of honor left as he had requested a one-on-one fair duel to settle their business at once, with planned time and location. Shinzaemon had then found himself yet again having to agree with a deadly deal, which was possibly going to be the death of him.

With no one to take care of his son in case he died, Shinzaemon had become desperate to the point he had decided to bet on his luck and leave him to the care of anyone who would be worthy of raising him, even if that was a complete stranger. Still, it wouldn't be anyone who would accept such request, and Shinzaemon hadn't been desperate to the point of insanity, as he would never entrust his son to whoever appeared in front of him. He had to choose someone – choose carefully. That was why he had come up with the following strategy: he would go to the broad-walk market of the district he lived at, the most crowded place in town, and observe the costumers that passed by, with his son in his arms, until he found someone apparently capable of accepting and taking care of the child in his stead.

Much to his luck, the time had come, as he had placed his baby in someone's wooden cart with nothing but a cloth wrapped around him and a note with his name written on it. The man whose cart Genosuke had been put in had been, by far, the best Shinzaemon could ever find. After all, he not only looked young and strong, but his clothes showed he had money, and, as he pushed his cart with one hand, he gently carried a baby with the other, who was his own ten-month-old son. While said man absent-mindedly bought vegetables, he hadn't taken notice of the baby's presence, which had been relieving to Shinzaemon as he painfully watched him leave, with the thought of letting his son have a future as his only consolation after saying his goodbyes to the only family he had left.

And so, without even knowing, he had left Genosuke to the hands of the founder of Nura-gumi himself, Nurarihyon.

Back to the Nura mansion had been where the Soudaishou had found out about the baby in his cart. His subordinates couldn't be more confused with the newcomer, which had inevitably caused rumors to spread around the house, including the baby being an illegitimate child of their leader with his closest female subordinate, Oikawa Setsura. Needless to say, such thing had left him and his wife extremely upset as he attempted to explain everything, demanding an investigation about where the foreign baby belonged, and soon the Nura-gumi discovered Shinzaemon's whereabouts. Meanwhile, Setsura had put herself in charge of taking care of the baby, as someone had to. Paying Shinzaemon a visit, Nurarihyon had demanded for answers and understood the situation, leaving with the promise to take care of Genosuke if his father died, as it would be merely a matter of one more mouth to feed to him.

On the promised day, Shinzaemon had honored his deal, as he knew running away would be useless. But as he was in disadvantage, Denshirou had been the one to break the rules he himself had set up as he called a small group of Samurai that had been hiding in the surroundings of their desert battlefield to end Shinzaemon's life at once. Yet much like the match the two had had when young, luck wasn't at Denshirou's side that time either, as Shinzaemon received the helping hand of the Soudaishou, who had been watching the fight from the shadows, too. And, once Nurarihyon had done the favor of getting rid of the Samurai group without killing them, Shinzaemon and Denshirou had been able to resume their duel.

In the end, the winner had been Shinzaemon again, as Denshirou lost the match and his life.

Once it was all over, Shinzaemon had been sure he wouldn't be safe for very long. He had rid himself of one of Toku Seizo's men, but the first in command had proved himself to have endless means of having his way. Still, one more push from the goddess of luck seemed to have given him another chance as his most loyal friends, Nakayama, Sanzaki and Oda, had come to him shortly after his fight. The three Samurai, who had started working at the local province office, hadn't passed unnoticed by the sharp investigation of Shinzaemon's whereabouts, made by Karasu Tengu. It had also been Karasu Tengu that had told them about Shinzaemon's situation and guided them to the place of his match with Katakiri Denshirou. There, the trio had delivered a very important message.

After taking command of the province, Toku Seizo's days of glory hadn't lasted long. The man had many more enemies than he believed, and, once the ones that resisted him banded together, all of his support was destroyed. Not being able to take the pressure and the irony of his world falling apart even though he was on the very top of the social pyramid, he had stepped down and committed Seppuku, while his family had been jailed. However, since such thing had happened shortly after his Samurai were sent to take away Shinzaemon's life, Toku Seizo's men had still not been aware their services were no longer needed, hence Denshirou and his group still trying to have a duel with him. But with the leader of the Samurai group eliminated, the remaining ones would be forced to return to their master and report their mission's failure, finding out about his suicide in the process, which meant Shinzaemon and Genosuke's lives had been freed of danger.

With that, Shinzaemon had requested to have his son back, as it was safe for him to return to his former home. Obviously, Nurarihyon had conceived him back his very flesh and blood, but not before requesting him something as well – to let the woman that had done the big favor of taking care of Genosuke, even without any obligation, to hold him one last time as a farewell. The usually cold and seductive Setsura's rare tsundere side had come out back then, as she didn't want to be too attached to Genosuke before having to see him leave, but had nevertheless succumbed to the need of saying her goodbyes to the adorable baby.

As he went back to his hometown with his child, Shinzaemon had no longer wanted to work as a Samurai, due to how many hardships he had to face in said occupation. Fearing he could put his and his son's lives on the line again, he had decided to go for something else, and an opportunity had soon come. With his well-built body, regardless of his age, Shinzaemon had been able to earn a job at his town's most famous store, which was specialized in decoration, in charge of carrying the heavier merchandise. His boss had passed away as well as the store was passed down to him, since he had proved himself to be worthy of taking care of it with the years that had passed.

And so, there he was – delivering the ordered goods for the wedding of the grandson of the man he owed so much. Together with his grown up son, the two had gone through the trouble of traveling back to Ukiyoe to deliver everything themselves, grasping onto the opportunity of being able to meet the Nura-gumi and its good-willed Soudaishou again. And, to save them trouble, the Nura-gumi's current leader had been kind enough to send one of his strongest allies as bodyguard for them in their tiring journey.

"It must've been troublesome for you guys to come this far, though." Nurarihyon casually said while smoking his favorite pipe, which he had long before stolen from his late wife's diseased father. "What about the inn you're staying at? Is it good enough?"

"Yes! Thank you very much for recommending the place." Shinzaemon nodded. "Although I fear the room given to your man is a little too small for him..."

"Surely he can hang on for a bit longer. If not, he can just come here and stay with us."

"Thank you again, Nurarihyon-sama." bowing again, together with his son, Shinzaemon smiled. "O-Oh, and... your son, he was the same age as Genosuke, right? We've heard stories about him and your grandson. Being able to meet him as well would be a pleasure."

"Haa... it's a pity, but you missed your chance." Nurarihyon lowered his head a little, ignoring the solemn look of his daughter-in-law. "My son is no longer with us. Neither is my wife."

"Ah... my deepest apologies, Nurarihyon-sama." Shinzaemon bowed again, his face quickly dropping.

"It's fine, it's fine. We've moved on." with his light words, the Soudaishou's smile returned, although not as lively as before, "So... why don't you guys stay a few more days in Ukiyoe?"

"Eh? I-Is that really okay?" Genosuke stuttered a little.

"Not sure it is okay for you, but... it's been long. We may never have this chance again."

"That's true... but..." Shinzaemon awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"And we'll pay for the additional days you'll stay here." a feminine voice, which certainly didn't belong to Wakana, said from behind.

"Exac—huh?!" about to nod, Nurarihyon turned around at the source of the voice, finding his oldest female subordinate calmly walking in his direction. "Ho-Hold on there, Setsura! What are you saying?!"

"Hmph! I see you were about to turn your back to them as soon as they started talking about money." Setsura said coldly, her eyelids low. "You're the same as ever, Nurarihyon. I bet you still go around stealing food from your neighbors."

"Wha...?! Yu... Yuki Onna!" embarrassed, Nurarihyon attempted to come up with a response of the same level, but couldn't deny the truth. Although the aging man with a long head was usually solidary, that didn't seem to apply to anything money-related, as he had the despicable habit of stealing from others so that he wouldn't have any alterations in his own pocket. He would even go as far as secretly entering people's houses to eat their meals. When younger, his preference was for invading other noble households, and it had been doing so that he had coincidentally first met his wife and one of his most loyal friends, Keikain Hidemoto the thirteenth. Now-a-days, with the Keikain household allied to the Nura household, the camaraderie seemed to have been kept through the generations by the heirs of the respective families.

"It's settled, then! We'll be paying for it!" Setsura announced merrily, her expression doing a 180-degree flip.

"Wai...! Just who gave you the right to–" Nurarihyon tried to protest, but was interrupted.

"By the way, Geno, if you're coming to honor Rikuo-chan's wedding with your presence, I want to be able to do the same with yours."

"E-Eh?" Genosuke blinked a few times, blushing slightly from being treated so familiarly all of a sudden by someone he hadn't met (or remembered) in many years.

"You're gonna ignore me now?!" Nurarihyon asked, his voice becoming louder as he childishly raised his arms and stomped onto the rocky ground.

"It's fair trading, isn't it?" Setsura crossed her arms, not sparring Nurarihyon a single glance.

"Bu-But, you see, Setsura... san..." the younger one scratched his head with a shy smile. "I'm already married. Riku is taking care of our baby back at home, and–"

"What?!"

"It's not my child, though. She had it with her abusive ex-husband." Genosuke explained, the red stains still not gone from his cheeks, "We do plan on giving him a little sibling when he's bigger, though. We'll be sure to inform you about this one."

After a brief moment of silence, Setsura sighed, a smile approaching her lips, "Hm... good."

Satisfied with how much of a good man the child she had taken care of had become, she reminded herself that the only thing left to make her life perfect was her daughter fulfilling her oldest wish. However, it seemed her unwilling child was going to turn her down, for the wedding of her superior was too close for such thing. At that point, Setsura had even tried blackmailing her daughter, threatening to take one of the Tsurara-gumi children back to Han'you Village with her if she didn't accomplish the task.

"Hey, guys." yet again, a voice said from behind, indicating someone else was coming. That time, it was the current Nura head himself.

"Ara, you're finally up!" Wakana's cheerful voice made the atmosphere lighter.

"Sorry for the wait." Rikuo smiled slightly, his voice unusually weak, "You must be Shinzaemon... and Genosuke."

"Correct." Shinzaemon returned the smile, bowing for the hundredth time. "I'm very glad I at least got the chance to meet the Sandaime."

"Thanks." Rikuo bowed his head a little as well, "Same here with you guys."

"So, let's get on with business." Shinzaemon nodded at his son, who handed him a few sheets of paper and a feather pen taken from out of his yukata. "Since it's going to be your wedding, you must be aware you're the one who has to be responsible for its decoration and that either you or your fiancée have to sign the paperwork... right?"

"Yeah..."

At the positive response, Shinzaemon stepped closer, showing the paper sheets to Rikuo and pointing at a blank space with his index finger, "If you would... right here..."

"I see you really found yourself a good job." Nurarihyon commented as Shinzaemon gave Rikuo the pen, holding onto the sheets as he signed them.

"All thanks to you people." as he averted his attention, Shinzaemon's smile grew, "I wonder when we'll be able to repay you for what you did for us... I said we could have done all this for free, but..."

"But it's too much damage to your pockets, so we... well, I refused it." Rikuo finished the statement for him.

"What?!" at the news, Nurarihyon almost dropped the pipe as he glared his grandson, "How come no one told me about this?! Do you think money grows in trees, Baka-Mago?!"

"Okay, done." doing the very same as Setsura, Rikuo pretended his grandfather wasn't there.

Once he finished signing the paperwork, Genosuke made his way outside and seemed to be gesturing for someone to come in. Rikuo's suspicions of who he could be calling were confirmed as a huge fiery-haired man came in, carrying some of the heaviest decoration goods on one of his shoulders as if they were made of air. By the looks of it, he was willingly helping the seller and his son emptying their carriage as he asked, "So, where do we put all of the stuff?"

"Yo, Tsuchigumo." the name of the tall, muscular redhead escaped Rikuo's lips as he greeted.

About a year before, said man had become one of Rikuo's irreplaceable comrades, although not part of his Kumi. But even so, it was still hard for Rikuo to believe Tsuchigumo had actually attended to his request of accompanying Shinzaemon and Genosuke on their way to Ukiyoe and helping them putting their merchandise in the right places. After all, not only it didn't suit his personality, but was also a scene that Rikuo never imagined he would see, for the two of them had been enemies in the not-so-distant past. In fact, Tsuchigumo had nearly been the death of Rikuo when the two clashed for the first time. Fighting without any weapon, comrade or armor whatsoever, the ridiculously strong redhead had completely ignored the standstill of Rikuo's subordinates around him, doing nothing but to pummel the young commander. As their blades didn't seem to reach Tsuchigumo at all, Rikuo's Hyakki Yakou had only been able to curse their powerlessness and watch. Such moment was known as "the prolonged torment of the Sandaime" – definitely the most humiliating one of Nura-gumi's 50 years of history. However, in the present days, their relationship was the extreme opposite of back then.

"Ou? 'Been a while, Kozou." Tsuchigumo greeted back. "And I'm itching to get the payment for this little job. Ya have my Sake there?"

"Uh? Ah. Yea–" upon trailing off, Rikuo's expression, which had been a forced one ever since Shinzaemon had mentioned his wedding, became a blending of surprise and pain as he was caught off-guard by his rather energetic grandfather, who had jumped their 29 centimeters of difference in height and thrown the burning ashes of his pipe onto his white head. "Uooooh?!"

"You'd better be prepared to have your punishment now, Rikuo~!" Nurarihyon declared, jumping his way back into his house.

"Damn you, Jijii~~~~!" anger suddenly filling him as an embarrassed shade of pink tainted his face, Rikuo no longer minded his manners as he chased after the small old man. "What difference does the money make if you just go around dining and running away?!"

"Haa... He really hasn't changed a bit." Setsura face-palmed, turning to Wakana, "It seems the rest is up to you."

"Yes." Wakana nodded with a giggle, gesturing for the men to follow her, "This way." As she walked inside, she couldn't help but keep grinning to herself at Nurarihyon's somewhat successful attempts, as she had known exactly what his intentions were, hence her not stopping him.

The Nura-gumi had been preparing the mansion for the wedding for five days now. As the wedding day was closer and closer, Rikuo would look more and more upset. It seemed that each and every second was a slow torture to him, and his family, friends and subordinates, who were unable to do anything, could only painfully watch his enthusiasm vanishing and his character changing. And what didn't make anything better was his personal aide's absence.

It had already been almost three days since Tsurara had left the mansion without telling him. His shock when he simply woke up to find out she had gone to spend the remaining time for her master's wedding with her future mistress had lasted for the entire day. As the two girls had seemed to have become dangerously good friends out of the blue, on the morning after the night of Rikuo's revealing talk with his arranged fiancée, he had only received the notice that she, her two maids and Tsurara were on a short trip to the neighbor town to fetch her expensive wedding clothes from his mother, three hours after they had left. At first, he was extremely confused about why Tsurara would leave without his permission, but once Wakana told him she hadn't been given the address or the name of the place they were going to, everything was clear.

They were running away from him.

Now that Kana knew everything, she was most likely doing all she could to make him and his closest servant have as less interaction as possible – and the worst part was that Tsurara was cooperating with all of it. Staying so long at another town's unspecified place to do something as simple as picking up clothes was already too suspicious, but Kana having to take three people with her for such was an obvious attempt to leave no traces of where she could be. Clearly, the risk of him going after her to bring his aide back was a severe threat, and the move had been a clever one. Worried and uneasy, Rikuo had been left with nothing but the cruel fact he could no longer try to explain himself to her. With that, he had no choice but to pull off his last card as he anxiously spent the three last days for their return.

And, before he knew it, the promised day had come.

~o0o~

Rikuo simply couldn't recognize himself in the mirror for a moment, as his image seemed more imposing and mature than it generally would with his black formal gi, grey hakama and a nearly black blue haori that embodied the Nura emblem on its back. The outfit seemed to suit him better than his usual simple clothes and made him look like a real adult, despite still being a teenager, since it complemented well his advanced physic.

He turned around to examine how he looked from the back, and, the second his eyes met the mirror again, he spotted a figure from behind his shoulder. At said figure, his eyes grew wider than they had ever before and his body began to treble slightly after his heart violently skipped a beat. Slowly, his head turned around to face the one who was supposedly in the room with him, almost choking with air as his suspicions were confirmed.

Was he feeling pressured to that point?

There he was, standing right in front of Rikuo with the same manner-less posture and smile he had a second before his life was taken away by a disease he had found out about far too late to treat properly. His clothes were the same ones of the last time he had been seen walking on this world with – a green, black-striped yukata over a brown juban and black pants with a simple piece of fabric hanging loose on one of his shoulders. His spiky-yet-wavy raven hair was tied in the same messy excuse for a ponytail as always and his geta made a slightly annoying but heartwarmingly familiar sound as he stepped a little closer.

With one of his amber eyes closed, he looked at the white-haired Wakagashira up and down, which made his smile grow into a grin as he spoke, his voice bearing the same carefree tone he used to have before being silenced forever, "Hooo... time sure does fly... you remind me a lot of my Oyaji in his early days now, Rikuo."

Repeatedly, the appalled fourteen-year-old's mouth opened and closed in his state of pure shock, his eyes starting to feel dry from staying open for so long. He then closed them and scratched his eyelids slightly to get rid of the irritation and of what most likely was a perfectly-reproduced illusion of the man standing before him.

Maybe he was going mad, maybe it was his own conscience seeking for someone's support in that difficult situation, or maybe it could even be an actual ghost. But, most likely, that was just a side-effect of the lack of sleep he had been going through ever since the talk with Kana. His subconscious, which was longing for too many things at the same time for its own good, was playing tricks on him, he decided. And he was expecting as much, since it wasn't the first time he found himself in poor emotional health, and certainly wouldn't be the last one.

Still, what he wasn't expecting was that he would come to the point of having hallucinations about his father.

The white-haired one opened his eyes again and frowned – no use, that person was still there, and his reaction to his presence didn't seem to please him as he quirked a brow, his grin still intact, "Ho~i, quit that face, Rikuo~!" he said playfully, one of his hands reaching out in his son's direction to give him the same pat on the head he used to, when the young man was just a little boy, "Aren't you at least a little happy that I've came to your wedding?"

And it was then that Rikuo felt like he had traveled back through time. That touch, as impossible as it seemed, felt almost exactly the same as when he hadn't yet officially earned the title of Sandaime. The only differences were that the rough demonstration of affection no longer hurt and that his father's hand didn't perfectly fit the size of his head anymore. But that wasn't what caught Rikuo's attention about it at all. What did so was the welcoming warmth of that simple gesture, which only left him with one thing in mind.

As reality-defying as it could be, that was definitely real.

Again, he found himself constantly opening and closing his mouth, but this time, he managed to sputter, "O... O... Oya...!"

"Rikuo~!" Wakana's cheerful voice was heard from the other side of the shouji doors, "Are you ready? It's time to go!"

Blinking a few times, as if snapping out of a hypnosis section, Rikuo averted his eyes to the doors, "C... Coming!" He then turned back to the brunet, who gave him a curt nod, then headed outside his room, where Wakana was waiting for him with a smile that seemed a little brighter than it should.

"Good luck." she wished whole-heartedly, already sensing he was a little tense.

"Thanks..." he muttered embarrassedly. "H... How is she...?"

"Hm?" Wakana titled her head in doubt, but soon took in what he meant. "Oh, you mean... the bride~?" she asked in a slightly teasing tone. "She's nervous... but..." back to her normal way of talking, her smile became the usual youthful and sincere one, "she looks happy. And beautiful, too."

"Is that so...?" with his head drooping down a little, the Wakagashira frowned slightly.

"Rikuo." at the call, the heir immediately turned around to give one last look to his father's smiling face, which was now serene and motivating as he came out of the room. For a second, Rikuo had thought his mother was also able to see her husband standing right beside her, but she didn't seem to have a clue about it. "I..." the amber-eyed one continued, but corrected himself as he put an arm over his smiling wife's shoulders, "we know you can do this. Go."

It had taken a while for the ruby-eyed one to clearly understand the meaning of what he had been told. And, as he did, he knew he shouldn't give a response out loud, or else, there was no telling of what his mother would think. All he could give in response was a smile that looked almost like a copy of the Nidaime's before turning his back at them, which was more than enough for his message to be understood, even without him saying the words he had in mind.

"Leave it to me, Oyaji!"

He then opened the shouji doors of the outermost corridors, stepping out and leaving with a hand over his face to cover his eyes from the sun's orange lights. "I'm heading out!" he directed that one statement at both of his parents, not turning around to let them see the determined smirk on his face.

~o0o~

The Nura mansion's ceremony hall looked smaller than usual that evening. As Rikuo faced the room from the left side of a very artistic gamen placed in front of the entrance's double doors, he assumed that was because of the large amount of people gathering in there, but also because of the exaggerated decorations. Not that they weren't necessary – after all, they gave the space a beautiful atmosphere, complemented by the dim lights of the candles framing the narrow walkway to the bride-groom seats, making the wavering shadows of the guests on the dark walls provide a mysterious aspect. The place had the same Yakuza look as ever, but this time, it also seemed rather like the scenery of a fantasy novel, which was quite interesting and amusing.

The Sandaime then slowly began walking through the long carpet that extended itself to a raised area with the seats he and Kana were supposed to be on. There, the one who had been supervising the preparations for the wedding, Karasu Tengu, was patiently waiting as he sat before the two seats, right in front of an expensive-looking takasago no okina that was hanging on an insert in the wall. Beside the takasago, on the wall, were three paintings. The pictures had black and white ribbons cutting diagonally across the top two corners, while the frames they were placed in were completely black, signifying the three on each of them no longer lived. Upon looking at them, Rikuo was able to identify his father and grandmother at their young days. However, the third painting was a little foreign to him, as he had never met the woman on it. Still, he was able to recognize her as his father's diseased first wife, as her twin sister was present at the event.

As Rikuo's clothes' soft sounds became a little louder the more he moved forward, he tried to concentrate in only one thing – walking one step at a time. But the thing was that, in this very event, even breathing had become a challenge. He had spent uncountable nights thinking and debating with himself about how difficult this decisive afternoon would be for him, but he had no idea that the real thing would be so much harder. He had barely made it halfway through the hall, and his palms and neck were already cold-sweating slightly. And, as much as he hated to admit it, even inwardly, it seemed he was having a taste of what it was like to be truly nervous yet again. His overwhelming desire to be somewhere else – with someone else – was bringing back too many thoughts and feelings all at once. It was almost impossible to even keep his head up, and what wasn't making anything better was how the stares from everyone were unintentionally tearing him apart little by little.

They all knew.

It could be a secret that the Nura-gumi's Wakagashira already had someone else in his heart, but it was definitely obvious to everyone that all of what he was doing regarding Ienaga Kana was against his will. That was why he was trying his best to keep his eyes on the seat he was supposed to be at instead of looking around to meet their gazes. Because, behind most of his subordinates and attendees' admiring and respecting eyes, there was pure and sole pity. He was sure that, once he looked directly at their resentment, the weight on his back would only feel heavier, and he wouldn't be able to go on. Still, he was also aware wouldn't be able to stay the whole ceremony without looking at anyone, so he decided to take the risk and only do so after he was seated.

At last arriving at his destination, still trying to pass on his usually calm and diligent image, Rikuo took his respective seat on Karasu Tengu's left side. Once he did so, he finally found enough will to turn around and scan the area with his burgundy eyes. And he soon figured out that, thanks to the darkness of the place, he wasn't able to see almost anyone quite well, only the people that were sitting next to the walkway, who were illuminated by the candles' flames. He soon found out the only line of seats he was actually able to see everybody was the front one, and such fact was somewhat relieving.

On the right side, the one who sat the closest to the candles was his grandfather, so needless to say he was the one Rikuo could see the best. Nurarihyon's eyes were somber with the shadows of his brows, but had a compassionate and apologetic yellowish glow in them, as if he wanted to apologize, like he had done many times before. His grandson really wished to give him a sign of dismissal, but he couldn't afford to lose his composure at the time.

Beside Nurarihyon sat Gyuuki, Daruma, Hitotsume, Hihi, Shouei, Zen – all of them giving him their usual serious and firm looks, but out of those, only Zen and Shouei held supporting and encouraging hints. Mentally, Rikuo was thanking them, hoping they could understand his gratitude with the look on his face, until his eyes drifted to the one who was sitting at the less illuminated part of the line. Because of Setsura's position, she was the most shadowed one of the line, but her dull eyes were outstanding quite a bit, and, in the brief moment her bloody red pools locked with his, he couldn't help but think she seemed to be either anxious or simply glaring him. Shivering, he hoped it was anything but the second option, as the woman surely lived up for her nickname.

On the left side, the one sitting next to the candles was his mother. Her look almost didn't differ anything from Zen's or Shouei's, only that hers was much softer and she actually had a smile on her face, as if meaning to tell him by eye contact the same thing his father had earlier. Beside her were sitting Natsumi and Saori, giving him sympathetic and anxious smiles, which he already expected from them – after all, they seemed to be the kind of women that would enjoy these sorts of events, not to mention that day in particular was the main reason why the two were brought there from the other country. Next to Saori, he could see Kiyotsugu giving him exited thumbs-up, which he also inwardly (and awkwardly) thanked for. Then, there was Yura, with her three brothers, Keikain Koreto, Shuuji and Ryuuji, her grandfather, Keikain Hidemoto the twenty-seventh, her cousins, Keikain Masatsugu, Pato and Akifusa, and the latter's wife, Keikain Momoishi, sitting on the line of seats behind her. One of the members of the Keikain household who was very close to her, Keikain Mamiru, was missing, due to the lack of knowledge about how to behave in these sorts of events. Beside her was Jirou, who seemed even more nervous than the groom himself, but also seemed to be looking forward for whatever was coming next, just like everyone.

And, after him, there she was.

Sitting at the darkest corner of the line, just like Setsura, her posture was the usual respectful one. With her head down, she had her hands neatly folded on her lap, clutching her houmongi slightly. Her kimono and haori were almost impossible to be seen in the darkness of the position she was. But he was sure that, like anything else she wore, she would look amazing in it, once he could see it from a clearer perspective. Her raven bangs were covering her eyes, but he could notice she was pressing her lips tightly together, and summing that with the way she was kneading her maemigoro, he was sure that she was the most uneasy person of the room. It was nothing that could be considered strange, though – after all that happened between the two of them, the least thing he expected her to be feeling at the moment was calm.

"Rikuo-sama." Karasu Tengu called lowly, enough for only the Sandaime to hear, as if asking for permission to go on. With a discreet nod as response, Rikuo closed his eyes shut tightly at the tiny man's next words, "May the bride come in."

The heir could perfectly picture everyone turning around to the direction of the gamen again as he heard the sounds of their moving bodies, but it was only after the mixed whispers and gasps of surprise and admiration that he decided to look at the scene himself.

And it was certainly something unexpected.

Standing in front of the very detailed Sakura that was painted on the old gamen in sumi-e style, accompanied by the Kokehime Jinja's representative – Kokehime herself, who had been called to give the wedding her personal blessings – was standing the fourth Nura bride in all her glory. Holding her by the hand, the smiley Kokehime wore her hair in its usual cute hairdo – one that pretty much resembled Hihi's, parted in the middle and held with two pink ribbons – and her make-up very light. The kimono she had chosen was one of those which anyone could give some dozens of millions of ien in market value just by looking. Still, no matter how gorgeous she looked, everyone, even she herself, only had eyes for the most important female of the day.

With the perfect posture of a noblewoman, she walked smooth and calmly through the carpet of the narrow walkway to the direction of her seat, as if she was being slowly blown by non-existent wind. Her elegant air was stunning, as well as her bridal get-up, consisted in a purely white kimono with a matching uchikake over it. Said uchikake was apparently heavy, beautifully brocaded with silver and powder blue stamps of very well-elaborated snowflakes and saxifrages, and long enough to trail along the floor. As it trailed down, it hid the bride's high zouri and how they made it difficult for her to walk normally, despite her being able to walk more classily than ever with them. And the bridal clothes, together with the white wataboshi, seemed to be drawing all of the faint lights of the place to the young woman's figure, which made her look like she was shining in the midst of the darkness of the hall. It was almost like–

"So this is where you were." as a memory was automatically assimilated in Rikuo's subconscious, a familiar voice was replayed in his ears and a flashback was momentarily registered before his eyes – the one of a moonless night, a helping hand and a warm smile.

Snapping back to reality in a split second, the Wakagashira quickly drew his head back to face the floor, backing away everything that had resurfaced in his mind to the depths of it. As much as the girl had surpassed herself and as much as she reminded him of the unforgettable time when he was able to find his way back home thanks to his caring aide, he had long decided he would compare his arranged fiancée with her no more, for it would only bring him negativity in many ways.

Finally reaching her seat, the one in white sat down with a single and gentle movement. Kokehime, letting go of her hand, took her own seat right beside Karasu Tengu. It was then that the groom decided to examine his woman better. Her skin looked a bit paler than usual, which he deducted that was because of her make-up – still, no matter how much make-up she had on, it wasn't enough to completely cover her pink blush. And since she most likely wasn't wearing any tsu-no-kakushi, her wataboshi was covering her face more than it should, so he couldn't see her eyes, but he was deeply thankful for that. Because, upon seeing her smile, he could perceive she was exactly how his mother had described: a bit nervous yet very happy. If he was to go on with that, he probably wouldn't be able to afford to look at her eyes directly, or else, he was sure it would be more than heartbreaking.

After all, what he would do next would most likely make all the happiness disappear from her face.

"Now then," Karasu Tengu cleared his throat to silence everyone, "let's start th–"

"Hold on." as the Sandaime interrupted with a raising tone, he earned confused looks and murmurs from everyone behind him, but didn't mind them.

"Rikuo-sama..." Kokehime quizzically tilted her head, "do you wish to say something before we begin the ceremony?"

"Yeah..." Rikuo raised his head, his eyes bearing a determined look again. That was the definitive sign he was now back to his confident self, using all of his will to stay steady within each word as his blood started to run hotter and faster through his veins, "something really important."

"Do you hear that, everyone?" Karasu Tengu asked the silent audience, "Rikuo-sama wishes to make a speech first."

As soon as no sound was being heard anymore, Rikuo took one last deep breath to prepare himself.

Ienaga Kana was a wonderful friend. Ever since his childhood, in his group of young noble companions, she was definitely the one he had always had the best relationship with, regardless of their arranged marriage. Despite everything they were expected to do in the future, the two of them had always been able to have a good friendship, without any awkwardness whatsoever. And, even with all the years of distance, she had continued to be one of his best and closest friends. But that was all he could see her as – a friend. And, as much as he would never want to hurt her, one day, he knew this time would have to come.

The one when he would end their engagement.

He had planned it in many ways, and doing it on his wedding day was one of them. But that had always been the last choice, for it was the most tragic and morally reprehensible in all senses possible. Still, he had known it would be the most likely option. After all, he had already failed the other ways to apply ways of breaking his engagement before.

One of the reasons why he hadn't taken long to understand Kana's plan of running away from him until their wedding day was that his aide had done something similar in the past. He had once made the mistake of revealing he wished to cease his engagement for the sake of being with her. But he had soon found out that getting rid of his commitment with another woman was no guarantee that his aide would finally give in to him as her response had been to leave to her mother's place for some time, with the excuse of paying her a visit. However, as Setsura hadn't yet settled at a definitive home back at that time, no one had been able to say where exactly Tsurara was. Since she hadn't given a specific date to come back or asked for permission to go, that had been enough to leave her master in a state of impatience and anxiety for three days straight.

Still, he had to admit making her pay for it had been worth it.

Although he was sure Tsurara's move had been mere bluffing, for she wouldn't dare to leave his side forever, he didn't even want to think about the possibility of losing her. That was why he had nearly lost the courage to end his arranged marriage, and had ended up letting Kana find out about his and his aide's affair in the process of trying to gather his will again. But said will had come back for good after she had his aide backstabbed him and left, and it had become even stronger once he saw the figure of his father again. As Rihan gave him his reassuring words, Rikuo had known what he had meant by "we know you can do this" – that his parents knew he could take responsibility for his decisions. That was exactly what he was about to do. After all, he only had two paths to follow – either grasp onto his happiness as firmly as he could or just let it slip away. And now, with everyone watching, there was no way Tsurara would oppose to him once he picked up the first option.

He was hers, she was his – from now on, he was willing to make everyone acknowledge that.

"I can't do this." Rikuo finally broke the silence of the room, only adding up to the heaviness of the air.

As expected, at his unclear statement, everyone showed perplexing unease as the sounds of moving bodies and mixed voices were back. However, the suspecting whispers and looks of everyone no longer affected him, as he elected to ignore them for the time being, only showing them his back. Giving them attention would only drive him down, and that was the last thing he needed at such crucial moment.

"Uh... ehm... ca-calm down, everyone!" Karasu Tengu nervously called. "I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding! R-Right, Rikuo-sama?"

"No. There's no misunderstanding here, Karasu Tengu. I don't want to go on with this any further." the Sandaime confirmed everyone's suspicions, his look stern and somewhat fierce.

More manifestation from behind him ensued, causing him to close his eyes. While keeping his ground, mentally reassuring himself he could make it all be worth it in the end, he stayed composed to face the inevitable and worst of all – his bride's reaction.

"Ara, ara... it seems the groom is a little confused." the slightly acute voice of the one sitting beside the Sandaime spoke softly, which he responded by turning his head at. When he did so, in a matter of seconds, the demands for answers from the disoriented people around him seemed to have become mere background, no matter how loud they were. The only thing he was actually able to pay attention to was the young woman in white. Leaning a little closer to him, she seemed to be examining his facial expression and looking for signs of illness in it as she whispered with a discreet hand over her mouth, "Is everything alright?"

Barely able to hear the question in the midst of so many others, Rikuo found himself finally able to fully see her face under her wataboshi. With his ruby eyes gradually widening at the sight, only one thing came to his mind about what was happening before him.

That it wasn't possible.

Staring straight into the seemingly concerned look he was receiving, the Wakagashira remembered his conclusions of earlier in his room about his mental state, now even more convinced that he was right. He had been supposedly talking to his dead father not so long before, so it shouldn't be off-limits that he was now imagining someone else in his bride's place, with everything being just the work of his tired mind. Yet, despite convincing himself of all that, his body didn't seem to follow his thoughts as it acted on its own, as if willing to confirm the truth by itself. And, without his notice, his hands rose to hold each side of the wataboshi, with nothing but a blink as reaction from its owner.

The rest of the people in the room seemed much more surprised than himself with his sudden and strange actions as they gradually settled down again. While able to do nothing but watch, soon enough, they found themselves mirroring the Sandaime's expression of awe as they finally understood the reason why he was doing such thing.

Noiselessly, the wataboshi instantly fell down the young woman's head with a simple push from the Sandaime's hands, with the one that had been wearing it not lifting a finger to retrieve it or questioning his actions. Together with the wataboshi, the young woman's hair cascaded almost dormantly down her shoulders once her fragile hairdo was undone smoothly, as if moving in slow motion.

And then nothing made sense anymore.

Sitting on the bride seat, wearing the bride clothes and doing the bride role was no one other than the Nura mansion's top aide. Now with nothing on her head, Rikuo could see how she didn't seem much different from her everyday self, with the exception of the expensive wedding clothes and very light make-up meant to emphasize her delicate features. Yet the only conclusion he could come up with upon looking at her was that he had never seen her looking so beautiful before. As if overleaping the meaning of her own name and the saxifrages with snowflakes of her uchikake, her appearance could be described as something like a flower made of snow – like a real Yuki Onna.

The only problem in such poetic sight was that it was not supposed to be there in first place.

Feigning innocence, all she could do was to smile awkwardly as she kept blushing, "I will take that as a 'no'."

By then, Rikuo could feel it. As the room remained completely silent after the servant's sentence, the people around them combining their astonishment with the air in their lungs, he knew it was going to be just a matter of seconds before the fuss started again. And, as expected, everybody's voices seemed to burst out at the same time, suddenly filling the hall with overwhelming noise.

"NEE-SAN!?" the usually calm and introverted Shouei was the first to shout.

"Wh..." Setsura pinched herself, her eyes becoming the size of plates at her daughter's figure, "Is this a dream...?"

"What in the world are you doing there, Yuki Onna?!" Kejourou followed, almost getting up from her seat.

"More importantly, where the hell is the real bride?!" Aotabou demanded loudly, punching the wooden floor.

"Ugh, I knew coming to the Nura house was a bad idea... Yura, you'll pay for bringing us into this mess later!" the ever-so-sadistic Ryuuji declared.

"Wha–?!" the indignant Keikain heiress backed off, knowing whatever she said would be of no help.

"What's the meaning of this, Tsurara-nee-sama!?" one of the Tsurara-gumi members asked.

"Everyone, everyone! Calm down, okay?! I can perfectly answer your questions, but it has to be one at a time!" seeming to already know what to do, Tsurara attempted to ease the crowd before her, successfully managing to get the place to be almost quiet one more time.

Once she had more space to speak, she was about to conceive the audience the right to make their questions, until she felt her master's hand on her head, pulling her to face his dark look and scary forced smirk, "Do allow me to be the first, then... what the hell is going on here?"

Sweat-dropping as she remembered the face he had made the time he had asked her to entrust herself to him while drunken, Tsurara found herself trying to find the words to answer the question as her chin trembled slightly, until a feminine voice spoke from a dark corner, "I guess that's what we'd call 'role-switching', Rikuo-kun."

As everyone immediately recognized the voice, all the heads turned to face its source – a rising figure, who had been quietly watching everything from the shadows.

Ienaga Kana.

Once she was on her feet, Rikuo was able to see the orange kimono and the blue-and-white haori she was wearing were the ones he himself had bought her, shortly before getting involved in a serious accident with a certain horse. Taking off the long raven wig she had been wearing all that time, she tried to pass a secure impression as her shoulder-length brown hair fell loose out of it. However, while staring straight into her hazel eyes, Rikuo could perfectly see she was extremely nervous. Rather, now that he thought about it, that was the same thing she had done the night they had had their revealing talk, mentally face-palming for not having been able to see such thing before. And, as the two of them stayed like that for a while, some heads also turned at him as well, until finally, she did the last thing he would expect her to do in that situation.

She simply smiled.

Just like that, with the gesture of sympathy that contradicted what he had believed that was the "her" of the past week, a miracle seemed to have happened at that very hall – the only thing that had been on his way had turned out to be on his favor. However, as happy and eager as he suddenly felt at that, his confusion overcame everything as all he could do was stay with wide eyes and jaw agape for a while, before snapping for good.

"Wh... What the... K-Kana-chan, you...?" his deep voice echoed through the place, gradually rising. "W-What is this?! I don't even–"

"D-Don't give me that scary look, Rikuo-kun!" the brunette interrupted him, seeming to have forgotten to keep her pose and being her true self – not the noble young heiress or the failing excuse for a housewife, just Kana. For some reason, seeing her speak like a normal person in her rare moments of being just her and nothing else was a relief for Rikuo (and nostalgic to his other childhood companions), until she yet again came up with the unexpected, "I'll make it clear beforehand that this wasn't my idea!"

"Huh?" the white-haired one blinked a few times before registering what he had just heard. He then turned his head at his aide, together with everybody else, as voices erupted again, his being the first, "H... HAA?! Then... TSU-TSURARA?!"

"SO THIS IS YOUR FAULT, YUKI ONNA?!" Aotabou yet again yelled while punching the floor.

"I don't get anything anymore..." Yura said to herself, her face blank.

"Yu... kin... ko..." still as a rock, Gozumaru was left staring at the young woman in white until he started being continuously poked by his assistant. "QUIT THAT, YOU CHILDISH IDIOT!"

"Aw~" Mezumaru giggled, "Couldn't leave my buddy sulking there after all~"

"W... WHO'S SULKING?!" Gozumaru raised his tone, his face showing genuine confusion despite his crush on the aide being quite clear to everybody else.

"She takes after me in the end, ufufu..." Setsura said to herself, although some people close to her were able to hear it.

Hihi, in all recklessness possible, decided to move closer to her and tease with a giggle, "Yeah, but the difference is that you failed miserabl—oof?!"

"One more word..." she said lowly with a cold glare, her mouth behind her kimono's yuki as she held her comrade's cheeks to prevent him from talking with her other hand, her nails digging holes into his skin, "and this hall will be turned into your graveyard."

"O-Oyaji?!" Shouei, who had been silently concentrated on Tsurara's figure all the time, snapped back to offer some help to his father.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Yuki Onna!" Rinko shouted in the midst of many other voices. "Okay, I'm lying. I totally knew!"

Although she had her hand around her mouth, only two people – Usami Yura and Wakana – were able to hear her, due to being close to her. And, to show the feeling was mutual, Wakana turned at her with a cheeky smile, "How can I put it... it's because Tsurara-chan always goes after what she wants, right~? I'm sure that has made Rikuo really happy. Though he will probably never say that, ohoho~!"

"H... Her idea...?!" Gyuuki mused, in an unusual state of surprise.

"And the bride was cooperating..." Akagappa leaned closer to him and said back, following his reaction.

"T-That's not it, I..." Kana said hesitantly as she was able to hear them, making the people in the room turn their attention to her again out of the blue – something she had yet to get used to. "I am no longer the bride here. We will... explain everything."

"You'd better!" Hitotsume said rather harshly, facing Tsurara in his second statement, "And after you do, you'd also better be ready to take responsibility for what you're doing!"

"My, my... for now, let's just calm down. Although I can't say you're wrong or that you don't have the right to react like this, we must handle the situation more carefully." Hagoromo Gitsune said from behind him, her dark aura sending shivers on his back and managing to shut his mouth quicker than her words. "Besides, I am sure all of them are ready for that... including Rikuo." changing her attitude into a soothing one, she cast a motherly smile at the Wakagashira. "Right, Rikuo?"

As if snapping from a trance, Rikuo blinked a few times, then nodded firmly, remembering his father's words, "Y... Yeah..."

"Now, then..." Nurarihyon, who had been staring wide-eyed by the time Tsurara's façade had been revealed and laughing with himself until the present moment, began, his grandfather side returning, "since this was your idea..."

"Yes, I'll be the first to explain myself!" Tsurara immediately regained her composure as she replied normal and respectfully.

By then, Rikuo was able to see there were almost no hints of anxiety in her appearance or voice, unlike what he had noted in Kana. That alone was already a little shocking, given it had all been planned by her and most of the responsibility was on her shoulders. Perhaps, he concluded, she was the same as him. After all, the impression she gave off matched the one he did earlier.

That she had nothing to lose.

"But, before that, I'd like to say we are sorry for fooling everyone like this. You see, it was necessary! If I had revealed myself earlier, no one would have let me come inside in first place."

"Damn right we wouldn't!" Aotabou yelled indignantly, "What were you thinking, deceiving everyone like thi–"

"Ao, be quiet! That's exactly what she's about to tell us!" Kejourou interrupted harshly, earning a grunt and a weak "ei" from the black man as he sat down steadily again.

"Okay... so, like Ao said, I guess the main question here is – why are you doing this?" Rikuo was the one to translate everybody's thoughts as he looked directly at Tsurara for the first time after Kana spoke – which, for some reason, had felt like forever to him as the image of his aide in wedding clothes still seemed like a foreign sight. But the feeling didn't seem mutual, as it wasn't the first time he wore formal clothes. Still, he believed there was more than that for his servant to act with such neutrality around him, despite what she had just done, as he watched her blink a few times in apparent confusion.

"Eh, that? But... that is obvious, isn't it? Rikuo-sama said it just now – you can't go on with this anymore."

"Uh... th-that's true, but..." taken aback for a second at the simple answer, Rikuo had taken a little too late to understand what it would lead to. "Wh...? Ho... HOLD O–" in a quick moment of a blending of despair and embarrassment, the Sandaime was about to try changing the route of the situation, but was, much to his dismay, unable to do so.

"What are you saying, Yuki Onna?" Kappa spoke together with him, the question outstanding more as others followed.

"Y-You knew Rikuo-sama was going to cancel his engagement today?" Kurotabou stuttered.

"Impossible! Unless Rikuo-sama has told her before... but they haven't maintained contact for about a week now... this must have been a decision from long ago... and the bride was involved in this..." Kubinashi analyzed the possibilities out loud.

Panicking, Rikuo turned back to his aide, whispering with a hand over his mouth, "W... Wait there, Tsurara... you can't be possibly thinking about telling them that... that..."

"That Rikuo-sama has been unfaithful to his fiancée even before she arrived here?" Tsurara asked purposely loudly, a blush finally creping to her face as she tried her best to keep serious, "Yes, I can!"

"GAAAAH?!" redder than ever before, Rikuo let out a yell, unintentionally confirming his aide's words to be true. As he did so, Kokehime and Karasu Tengu involuntarily backed up with wide eyes and rosy cheeks. Meanwhile, the crowd before them attempted to digest the new information, their reactions seeming to worsen with each piece of it as they kept being revealed one after the other.

"Wh-What is... no way..." Kejourou muttered to herself, before starting screaming while grinning madly, obviously just as pleased as she was shocked, "RIKUO-SAMA AND YUKI ONNA, ALL THIS TIME...?! Serious... SERIOUSLY?!"

"A love affair?! And at such young age, too! What is the Sandaime thinking!?" Saburou Neko asked no one in particular as he turned to face his boss. Ryouta Neko, however, could do nothing but to stare and blush awkwardly.

"R... Rikuo-sama... Yuki Onna..." Kurotabou sputtered motionlessly, the image of the two cute children he had seen growing up together being cruelly scattered and replaced by the ugly truth in front of him.

"Hmph, he was a playboy after all." Tamazuki sighed with his eyes closed, calmly patting his brown-colored little pet.

"N... Nee-san and... Rikuo-sama..." Shouei, with his face gradually becoming purplish, stammered in a low voice. Zen, however was able to hear it, being ignored as he shook his childhood friend and asked if he was alright or needed any sort of medicine.

"I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS!" an Awarashi family member shouted, "TSURARA-NEE-SAMA WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING SO LEWD!"

Sorobanbou turned around on his seat to reply to the flushing-red man, "Well, she's Setsura's daughter, so you can never kno–"

"I dare you to repeat these words." a cold female voice cut in, successfully silencing the head of the Shounin Rengou-kai as its owner glared his back.

"H-H-H-Hey! Hey, everyone!" Tsurara raised her voice, her coolness gone as her face was finally tainted with the blush she had been neglecting for so long. "We're having a misunderstanding here! Please don't jump into conclusions!"

"Eh? What are you trying to say, Yuki Onna? So you and Waka weren't having an affair?"

Rikuo's only hint of relief was gone when his aide tried to regain her composure to be able to answer Nattou-Kozou's question, "W-Well... no, that's not what I meant... we were, but... what I wanted to say is that I was against it from the start!"

"Wah?!" his face still burning, the white-haired one let the words escape his lips without thinking, "Y-You're even pushing the fault onto me?!"

"But that was Rikuo-sama's fault, right?" Tsurara stated the obvious, failing to regain her composure completely, "I promised I would keep helping carry on with Rikuo-sama and Ienaga-san's engagement, but you came up with this! And it was always Rikuo-sama who would lock me in his room, pay me visits at night, and even–"

"ARRRGH! I GET IT, I GET IT! NO MOREEE!" to prevent his most-trusted underling from revealing any more compromising details about his dirty side, the Wakagashira covered her mouth with both hands. "W-Wait, did you just say... 'Ienaga-san'?!" his head shooting up, he had a moment of sudden curiosity in the midst of all his embarrassment. But said moment was short-lived as a shout from a blonde Bakeneko-gumi member followed his question.

"I knew it! Rikuo-sama is a purrvert~!"

"This is your leader...? He's very different from what you told us about, Kubinashi..." Seisuke commented discreetly, while the blond stringer could only laugh nervously in response.

"Shame on you, Sandaime!" one of the Tsurara-gumi members yelled, "Sharii~!"

"Nura-kun!" Kiyotsugu gasped. "A love affair with a servant! I never thought you'd be capable of doing something so immoral!"

"You're the one to talk." Saori muttered while blushing slightly, not expecting the brunet to hear her. "Well, at least you aren't yet engaged..."

"Are you okay, Gozumaru~?" Mezumaru teasingly asked his motionless partner.

"Mezumaru... gimme some Sake." was the serious answer, Gozumaru's face remaining blank as he didn't even look at the assistant.

"What?! H-How am I supposed to do that? Do you even see Sake anywhere?"

"Here you go, buddy. I have more, anyways." from behind the two, Dassai offered the brown-haired youngster a bottle of cheap Sake, which the latter accepted without turning around and muttered his weak thanks.

"Wait, he's underage too!" Mezumaru attempted to protest, just in time to see the alcohol go through Gozumaru's throat as he lifted the bottle without any fear or hesitation. "Wah!?"

"I SHALL EXORCISE YOU, NURA-KUN! AND YOU, TOO, OIKAWA TSURARA!" Yura got on her feet while pulling a talisman out of nowhere, the look in her eyes making it clear she was seriously about to take revenge for her fellow heiress, until two of her brothers held her back down.

"RIKUO-SAMA... TO OUR POOR TSURARA-NEE-SAN...!" another Awarashi family member sobbed loudly, "NOW HER INNOCENCE IS–"

"Be quiet, you lot!" with a vein popping on his bald head, Daruma shouted at the crowd.

"P-Please say something too, Rikuo-sama! I refuse to believe you've been doing something so immoral from behind everybody's backs when you already had the Ojou-sama over there!"

"Keep that to yourself, Ao." Kejourou crossed her arms with lowered eyelids, "You're the only one who actually thought this arranged marriage would ever work out."

"SAY WHAT?!" raising his voice, Aotabou turned to her, his face both skeptical and angry.

"Kino!" Shiragiku reprehended lowly, miraculously able to keep her delicacy while doing so, "You're making things worse!"

"Ohohoho~! Seems this only gets more and more interesting~!"

"Silence, Jijii!" Rikuo shouted at his grandfather, although the latter obviously had no intentions of keeping quiet at all.

"No, rather... silence, everyone!" Karasu Tengu yelled as loudly as he could, but that was not enough to contain the clansmen and the guests.

"Great. Just great." the Sandaime sighed in frustration, holding the bridge of his nose. "What now?!"

"Eh?" Tsurara blinked a few times, "How would I know?"

"Everyone, please listen to me!" amidst the mess, Kana's voice could barely be heard as she pleaded helplessly. "Now it's my turn!" at the last statement, the people in the room was suddenly adverted their attention to her.

"Wah..." both master and servant sweat-dropped, "That was quick..."

"I... also want to have the chance to apologize and... explain myself. In fact... I must be the one that has more to say, and... eh? E-Eh?!" Kana continued to speak as loud as she could, until she finally took notice everybody was already in silence again and staring oddly at her.

"Ienaga Kana-sama... we are all ready to hear you." Karasu Tengu's nasal voice broke the silence after he cleared his throat again. "Please go on."

"Y... Yes..."

~o0o~

AAAND, WE'VE FINALLY COME TO THE LAST CHAPTER, EVERYONE! HERE'S THE BIGGEST CLIFF-HANGER OF ALL! FEELING TROLLED YET?! 8D

This must be the craziest fanfic chapter I've ever wrote! No, rather, the craziest thing I've ever wrote! And I must say I regret nothing, especially Kana and Tsurara's parts (though that doesn't even feel like it's Kana, lol. Inoue Orihime, maybe?)! Although next update is going to be even crazier! Now, if I may rant you guys a little bit, even though I'll be playing the idiot here and look like I'm going mental... I TOLD YOU! OHOHOHOHO~! I TOLD YOU GUYS YOU WERE GOING TO LOVE THIS KANA OF MINE! NYAHAHAHA! SHE AND TSURARA WERE THE MASTERMINDS BEHIND EVERYTHING! *kicks Abe no Ariyuki's butt and runs towards the sunset* oh, well, Tsurara was the mastermind and Kana (and other females) helped with the evil plan. You get it. XD

Okay, now, seriously. Was it good? Was it unpredictable? Was it more than you were expecting? I really hope so. If not, I should just quit being a writer, because I worked really hard and carefully on this special surprise for you. I've been planning it since second chapter and even started writing this chapter simultaneously with others ever since chapter five. So, if it's not good enough, you have my permission to kill me (before I do it myself). But if it was, I promise you even more surprises in the update, which is actually the story's epilogue. :3

Let's go on with the remarks! By the way, is anyone as excited as me to read NuraMago's spin-off? Though it's gonna be really short... 83

1) This chapter's progress was delayed due to a one-week family trip (that's why it took so long... sorry! D:) and was split in two parts, so the second part of it was left for the epilogue. That's why it's smaller than it should have been, though it is in the usual length. And, the original draft of this chapter had an even cliffier ending, so be thankful! XD

2) I noticed I missed my own story's one-year anniversary. And it was by just a little bit, too! I had published last chapter two days before it. Dang! DX

3) This may be useless and unnecessary, but I gotta say this was my favorite chapter so far! It was the most fun to write and was packed with everything I love in a fanfiction: scenes from the original story, more characters and backstories being shown, appearances of dead people, people that should be dead being alive, revelations left all for the last minute, party hard, pairings everywhere, major plot twists and lots of comedy! X3

4) Many light novel references on this chapter! I just love to do this! :D But I'll have to take a moment to comment about that:
I shall remind you guys again that everybody is human in this story (as some tend to forget), so I had to change quite a lot of stuff, such as Kubinashi dying and he and Kejourou becoming youkai. I also wanted a happy ending for them, so, yeah, Shiragiku, Seisuke and Kichijirou remained alive. The conclusion was also a bit forced because of that, but I hope it hasn't been THAT bad. ^_^'
I've changed the outcome of Shinzaemon and Genosuke's story a little bit for pure convenience. XD
I've blended a bit of the Youkai Grocery Trip with the Tales of Edo's Nura-gumi. Yeah, Riku with grown-up Geno felt weird to write about, but I kinda wanted to mention how Geno's and Shinzaemon's lives are better, and I hate using OCs while I love adding as many characters as I can, so... there. :P
Rikuo's marriage was a reference to Youhime and Nurarihyon's. Of course, I changed some stuff there too.
I also changed the reason why Nurarihyon steals and runs away after dining. Since he's human in that story, I obviously couldn't write that he does so because it's his youkai nature. :P Also, since Nurarihyon, Rihan and Rikuo are humans, with obviously human lifespans, I had to change Nura-gumi's 500 into 50 years of history.

5) More embedded scenes from Drama CDs and manga (if you have any questions about what scenes I used or what chapter/episode/omake they're from, ask away)! I'll never stop doing that, ohoho~! ;D

6) Lol, sorry about the pun with the Bakeneko girl. ^_^'

Replies for the anons!

tea lover (Guest): why, thank you very much! And you're free to point out all the typos you see, if you can! :D

I have dA and FictionPress accounts. ;3

I don't think I could make a horror story or any other story for NuraMago. But, if Shiibashi-sensei's new manga gets serialized and if I like it enough, I may write something for it. XD

Oh, I thought so! ^^

kuro: Kuro-saaan! :D Uh-oh, here goes one more two-page response. XD

HAPPY NEW MONTH TO YOU, TOO! 8D

No, you're not! I had posted it just 12 hours before your review came! ;D

*Pats your back* There, there. You've done well! D:

I totally understand ya! I'm still celebrating too! I just can't get over it! It's like I'm still dreaming with the day this would happen! I keep rereading the omake again and again! Cookies for Hiroshi-sensei! Hundreds of them! *O*

Kyaaaah! Thank you so much! */*

Thanks again! And:
No, Kana is still Kana. Well, MY Kana. And I know, right? Her original self could've been so much better!
Yes! ItaRei forever!
Mamiru shall do that!
Torii shall bear with it!
Ohohoho~!
You'll see what she was hiding (if you haven't yet, lol)!

Lol, you haven't yet read the Omakes of volume 25, have you? And so what if Rikuo was flirting around~? He was just drunk~! And he had been having an affair with Tsurara the whole time, too~! XD

Aww~! I'm glad to know that!

Yup! And I also love it!

That was exactly what I had been meaning to do! Glad you noticed it!

Nope, not wrong at all! Now that you read this chapter, you understand everything, right? :D

Change her mind?! That would've been no fun! And aren't you happy now that she didn't?! XD

Eh... looks like you've forgotten a bit of the story... I think you should read chapter 5 again. ^^'

Whoo! I'm so happy!

Yes, it's definitely easier like this. How could we have not thought about it earlier?! XD

1) You think?
Oh, then we still match!
Lol.

2) Yeah, kinda like that. I don't think it's THAT depressing, though. Shouei doesn't seem to mind it. And his feelings sure are cute, but... BUT RIKUTSURA! I JUST CAN'T! D8

3) I hope you were able to understand everything from this chapter!

4) Aw... I wish someone else liked them together as much as I do... I mean, a young soccer player and a young model! No one is ever gonna convince me this wouldn't work out well! And their seiyuu are the same as the ones of another pairing I love: Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia! Kaki and Aya! Just... gah! And they have so many more things in common, too! Both have unrequited love for the series' protagonists, both have low screen time, both are scaredy-cats... seriously! They so match! OAO
There's their outcome! Well, a part of it! How was it?!

5) Ohohoho, I'm doing it... thanks. =w=

6) That was the idea! But now you DO love her more, right?! Right?! 8D
It was actually Tsurara who pulled it... ehehehe! XD
Oh, I see... I guess she did, then. In my mind, she was always like that, though... :P

7) Wahahahahaha! XD

8) Yes! Yes, I know! ;A; Season two is a few months by... DX

9) Well, yes, Kana was his fiancée... are you okay? :3
I hope your head is alright... o_o

-Good luck next time! If you still can't do it, do you have any accounts in other sites? Facebook? Tumblr? DeviantART?! Anything! ;A;

-Okay!

-'cause we are sista... we stick together... Okay, I'll stop here. XD

-*hugs* XD

-What? X3

-So dramatic... do your best, kuro-san. :3

You're welcome, and thank you too! I hope it has been worth the wait again! XDDD

Whoa, this is from reading fanfiction?! 8D

Ahahaha, thanks! But you should inspire yourself in someone better than me. I'm not much of a good example... ^^'

Guest: oops~! XD

Guest (2): hey! I'm glad you enjoyed it! :D

OMG, you were the second one to guess exactly what I was going to do! I feel this chapter ended up being predicable... D:

It's not exactly her love that moves her on. Now you all know what really did. ;D

This was the last one, ahahaha. How was it? ^^

Lol, it seems everyone is hating on the hater now. XD

Are you apologizing to me? What for? O-O'

Guest (3): thank you very much! :D

Guest (4): OHOHOHO, GOT YA~! Feeling trolled yet? Lol, just kidding. ;D

Did you review twice? If you did, thanks for not hating my Kana! And, sorry, I don't agree with that. Considering the morals and traditions of the time my story is set in, the most appropriate for Kana would be if she followed with her wedding plans until the end, but she didn't. XP

Well, all's fair in love and war. Some would think letting him go would be the most appropriate, and others would think it would be trying to make him fall for her instead. There's not really a "right thing to do" when it comes to that matter. ^_^

Wait... do you hate her or not? o-o'

Oops, I already did it~! XD

And according to me, I should have left the last chapter with a huge cliffhanger and then solved almost everything in the last chapter! :D

Nadilicious: hey, hon! It's been a while! Please come by more times! I missed you! :D

Thank you very much! I'm glad to know that! Hope you have liked this one too!

Only ninth chapter? I wonder why...

I'M SO SORRY, HONEY! I'm a HitsuHina fan. D: But, even if I was HitsuMatsu, I can't take requests anymore. Sorry again. ;A;

Okay, I hope I haven't forgotten to reply to anyone, as always (if I have, don't be shy and tell me~)! And I guess that, with this chapter, we can all conclude the summary of this story is Rikuo going through hell to arrive in heaven at the very last moment. XD