finally an update...! I've got a bit of the next chapter written out already so uh, look forward to that I guess? anyway in this chapter we get introduced to a new side-but-not-really-a-side plot involving a spy and Gagoze so enjoy! ^^
"Did something happen between you and Gagoze?" Rikuo turned at the sound of Rikun's voice to find his brother, still in his school uniform, staring at the retreating green-skinned youkai. Rikuo shrugged, hmming.
"Who knows? Although he is being rather...hostile towards me today." Rikuo said, looking after Gagoze's retreating form. Gagoze had suddenly come up to him, eyes blazing and claws sharpened. Gagoze had yelled out for Rikuo and then proceeded to stare him down, as if willing Rikuo to burst into flames right in front of his eyes. Unfortunately, Gagoze's Fear had no control over flames and Rikuo simply stood in the hallway, giving Gagoze the blankest stare he could manage. The smaller youkai in the hall had looked between the two of them, and stopped whatever activities they had been doing, intimidated by the aura emanating off of the upper echelon.
Ultimately, Gagoze did and said nothing else, merely humphing loudly and stalking off as quickly as he had come, his footsteps loud and echoing in the hallway.
"Why does he hate you so much? Did you prank him while I wasn't around, because if that's the case I totally want in the next time you do it." Rikuo chuckled at Rikun's words.
"No, nothing like that. If I had pranked him no doubt he'd hate me even more…" Rikun frowned. What vendetta does Gagoze have against his brother? Was it really just because Rikuo was too human, too weak compared to youkai? Something seems...off about the whole thing in Rikun's opinion.
"You seem awfully relaxed for someone who just got stared down by an upper echelon." Rikun noted. Rikuo didn't even seem fazed at Gagoze's hostility. In fact, Rikun would even go so far as to say his brother was amused by Gagoze's reaction. Rikuo crossed his arms as he hmmed again.
"Well, Gagoze is more bark than bite at this point. And he and his Gagoze clan has changed much since back then." Rikun raised an eyebrow. Sure, Rikun also had to learn some basic history about the Nura Clan, but what he learned was all general knowledge. Stuff like how these clans came to be under the Nura Clan, and when they had officially joined. Specific things and minor changes over the years weren't really necessary to be taught in the first place.
"How so?" Rikuo smirked.
"Did you know? Gagoze's territory right now isn't even a tenth of his original territory back in Edo." Rikun raised an eyebrow. Wait, that wasn't a minor change anymore. Why wasn't he taught about this?
"The same goes for Kyuuso too. His territory has also shrunken considerably since I left back in the Edo period." Rikuo smirked, seeming to enjoy his comrades' misfortune over the years. "It's less than a fifth of what he used to control, although I suppose Kyuuso never really controlled much in the first place."
"How come their territories shrunk so much and yet the old man hasn't done anything about it yet?" Rikuo shrugged at his brother.
"I don't know. But I did a quick check and it seems the parts of their territories that they lost were actually given to other nearby youkai clans. I don't know why, though."
"It was a gradual thing." Rikuo and Rikun turned to face their father as Rihan approached his two sons. "Both made some critical mistakes as the years went by, and then there were times where their land was targeted and they lost, so ultimately the other upper echelons and I decided to split their territory so it wouldn't be such a big burden on those two, seeing as how they weren't exactly the most capable at managing such a large piece of land at the time." Rihan shrugged. "Like I said though, it was a gradual thing and eventually, before anyone knew it, their territory had shrunken to their states now. Gagoze and Kyuuso are still quite unhappy with how things worked out, but it's been a lot more stable in those regions ever since we split off parts of their territories."
"I see." Rikun said, nodding along with Rikuo. Rikuo shrugged.
"Well, it's really too bad about what happened to them, but I can't quite say I feel sorry for them." Rihan chuckled at Rikuo's statement.
"You really don't like those two, don't you?" Rihan laughed lightly. Rikuo scratched his cheek sheepishly.
"Well...It's no secret that they hate me, and the feeling's pretty mutual at this point." Rikuo laughed awkwardly. Rikun snorted. He wasn't exactly the biggest fan of those two either.
"Oh, by the way, Rikuo," Rihan started. Rikuo blinked. "I think Kejoro was asking after you in the kitchen?" Rikuo gasped, bringing both hands up to his mouth.
"Aaaaah! I forgot I promised I was going to help in the kitchen tonight!" Rikuo exclaimed. Rikun raised an eyebrow at that. Rikuo, cooking? Rikuo gave the two Nurarihyon a quick wave. "I'll be in the kitchen if you guys need me, bye!" He said as he rushed down the hallway to help prepare dinner. Rikun and Rihan watched as Rikuo powerwalked away.
"I didn't know Rikuo cooked." Rikun said finally. "No, wait. He's technically a young master still, why is he cooking?" Rihan shrugged.
"Apparently his master threw most of the cooking duties to him while they were traveling. According to Rikuo, his first attempt was a total disaster and he nearly set fire to an entire forest, but he learned eventually. He actually helped with lunch today." Rihan said. "Since apparently he's pretty decent at it, Kejoro and the others asked him to help out with dinner today again and he agreed, so." Rikun scratched the back of his head.
"Geez, now he's making all the rest of us Nurarihyons all look bad. I sure hope no one else expects me to cook, or god forbid, you to cook."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, you brat?"
"Just that if you cooked you'd probably burn down the house. Or give everyone food poisoning." Rikun snickered as he headed to his room. Rihan rolled his eyes.
"Like you'd do any better. Even Rikuo nearly burnt an entire forest; you'd probably burn the entire main house and the neighbors' houses to ashes."
"Yeah, I probably would." Rikun admitted. He shrugged. "Like I said, I really hope no one expects me to cook, or we'd all end up in disaster." Rihan laughed lightly.
"You got something you need to say to me, old man?" Rikun asked as he entered his room and put down his bag. Rihan had followed him all the way to his room, so something was definitely up.
"Eh, not really. What, I can't talk to my son after he comes back from school?" Rihan said nonchalantly, waving his fingers. Rikun didn't miss the finger movements. Meeting tonight. With the aides. 3 o'clock?
"No, because it'll make me think someone drugged you while you were asleep." Rikun retorted back. "Since when did you care about...Algebra 1?" Rikun said as he pulled out his homework and made a face at it. Rikun waved his own fingers as he delicately dropped the awful textbooks onto his desk. 4 o'clock. "Eulch, I hate math. How come you never had to learn this while I'm forced to?"
"Because Algebra hadn't been discovered back in the Edo period," Rihan laughed, pulling out his pipe. "Kids these days sure have it rough; I could barely sit through geography and back then there was only the map of Japan available. We didn't really care about the geography of other countries, heh." Rihan laughed, remembering how small the world had been back then.
"Why wasn't I born back then?" Rikun lamented, throwing his arms up. "I'd have less homework, for sure."
"I wouldn't know about that. Rikuo still had homework back then, although he was rather enthusiastic about it at the time." Rikun made a face of horror at the thought of being excited about homework. Rihan laughed at his reaction.
"That's just how your brother is; he's always craving for new knowledge. He'd make a pretty good tactician at least; maybe I should have the board take a vote on that, hmm?" Rihan suggested. Rikun thought about it. It'd be a good idea, he thought. After all, tacticians don't really need to be on the battlefield, and Rikuo would be able to contribute to the hyakki without people looking down on him all the time. Rikun nodded.
"Yeah, I think it'd suit him," Rikun replied. Rihan nodded once.
"I'll make the suggestion to the old man and Karasu Tengu later then." Rihan said as he turned around. "Well, I won't be taking up any more of your time now. Good luck with your Algebra or whatever it is." Rihan snickered as he left the doorway to Rikun's room.
Rikun groaned in response, turning back to his big pile of homework.
"What's going on?" Were Rikun's first words as soon as he entered the small, secret meeting room. Rikun blinked at the extra guest.
"Why are you here, Gagoze?" Rikun questioned flatly, not even bothering to hide his dissatisfaction at the old youkai. He surveyed the room. Besides the green oily-looking youkai, Nurarihyon, Rihan, Gyuuki, and Kubinashi were present. Rikun would have brought along his own most trusted aide, but they had never formally named who was Rikun's most trusted aide. (Rikun would choose Tsurara, probably, given that Kurotabou seemed to be taken by Rikuo.)
"I am the one who requested for this meeting, Young Master, or did you not know about it?" Gagoze sneered.
"Yeah? Well blame the old man, he didn't tell me about that."
"Figuring out what the meeting is about should be your own responsibility, Third Heir." Rikun glared at Gagoze. Nurarihyon cleared his throat before his grandson and one of the upper echelons could start a fight.
"All right, you two. Stop arguing so we can get on with the meeting. Gagoze, you said you needed to meet with us in private. Why?" Nurarihyon and the rest gazed at Gagoze expectantly.
Gagoze...fidgeted? Rikun narrowed his eyes at the green youkai's reaction.
"Someone…" Gagoze finally started. "...broke into my mansion last night."
"...Why didn't you notify the clan or Karasu Tengu then?" Kubinashi asked after a moment of silence. Rihan and Nurarihyon glanced at each other.
Gyuuki folded his arms into his sleeves, his expression serious. "You said it happened last night. Why didn't you mention this in the morning at least?"
"Because I fear that the one who broke into my mansion is someone from the Nura Gumi." Rikun, Rihan, and Nurarihyon shared a glance. Was this how the spy was getting their information? Gyuuki's ever-present frown deepened.
"Do you have a basis for your suspicion?" Gyuuki asked, his voice calm and serious. Gagoze nodded.
"I have reason to believe that whoever this thief was knew exactly what it was they were looking for. They targeted very specific documents within my study. Nothing else of interest, money or valuables, were stolen."
"What documents?" Rihan asked this time. Gagoze pursed his lips, which made him look pretty constipated in Rikun's opinion. "What kinds of documents did they steal." Gagoze fidgeted again. Rikun frowned. Gagoze sure is acting weird. Since when did he ever act so nervous in front of the old geezers?
"Private...documents." Gagoze finally managed to say, his voice strained. "Private letters and documents that I had exchanged with some of the other upper echelons years past." Rihan leaned back on his heels, crossing his arms. Rikun raised an eyebrow. That was...suspiciously vague.
"What were they about then?" Nurarihyon asked, staring at one of his oldest comrades. "We can't exactly narrow down the suspects if you're going to give such vague answers, Gagoze." Gagoze sighed.
"Some of them were private letters I had exchanged with various upper echelons, detailing old plans of attack and such. Some of them were actually letters with orders from you two, Supreme Commanders." Gagoze's voice became more and more steady as he talked, as if he were only just realizing something himself. "The only thing that was in common with all the documents that were stolen was that they were all papers from 400 years ago."
"400 years ago?" Rikun questioned out loud. The rest of the youkai looked at each other. Why would someone need documents from 400 years ago? Why not take the recent documents? What's more, who in the world would even know that Gagoze had papers from 400 years ago just lying around in his mansion anyway?
Gagoze nodded, and his tone became lighter, as if he were excited somehow. "Yes, and I already have a suspect in mind."
"...Who?" Gyuuki asked when everyone else refused to speak up, still thinking about the odd robbery.
"Rikuo-sama." The air in the room immediately tensed, until it was almost choking.
"...And the basis for your argument?" Rihan asked softly, his voice dark as his eye seemed to glow with anger. Gagoze remained unflinched.
"I cannot think of anyone else in the clan who would have interest in documents from 400 years ago."
"And Rikuo would?" Rikun retorted immediately, his tone vehement. He backed down when Nurarihyon held up a hand, motioning for him to back off. Rikun sat back down on his heels with a humph.
"Think about it. Rikuo-sama died nearly 300 years ago; he would have gaps in his memory of the history that's happened since his death." Gagoze started to reason. "And Rikuo-sama is in charge of maintaining parts of our treasury and documents, which would give him access to some of the classified documents, no?"
"...I've already restricted Rikuo's access to certain documents." Rihan replied darkly. Gagoze didn't seem to mind the contradiction to his argument.
"Oh, Rihan-sama did? My bad, then." Gagoze said easily. "But Rikuo-sama was once the Third Heir for a number of years, was he not? He would have a more intimate understanding of where the Nura Gumi would store such documents." The room was quiet at Gagoze's words, although the air remained stifling.
"And besides, the thief seemed to have a pretty good understanding of my mansion's layout. Other than Karasu Tengu's group, no one else in the clan shares as much of a burden with the paperwork as Rikuo-sama. I know for a fact that the main house contains all the blueprints of our buildings, considering most of them needed to be rebuilt for modern times." Gagoze's implication was clear; he suspected Rikuo used the blueprints to sneak into Gagoze's study and steal some private, high level classified documents.
Rikun didn't believe it one bit.
"Did you see the thief?" Nurarihyon suddenly asked. "If they were documents from 400 years ago that went missing, isn't there the possibility of them being stolen long ago, and not recently?" Gagoze nodded and brought out a small device. A smartphone. Rikun almost forgot all the upper echelons had one, considering they never used them.
Gagoze fiddled around with the screen with his too-large hands and too-long fingernails, almost fumbling and dropping the phone multiple times. Finally, he seemed to find whatever it was he was looking for and tapped on the screen triumphantly. He set the phone down in the middle of their small circle, letting the video on it play.
The small screen showed a dark corridor of a typical Japanese house, and the image was tinted green. A night vision camera then. Rikun stared at the screen intently.
At first, there was nothing. The corridor remained dark and empty.
A flash of white, and a figure seemed to drop down from the ceiling.
"They came in through the air ducts." Gagoze explained when more than one of them turned to him for an explanation. Rikun nodded. A lot of the buildings and houses owned by Nura Gumi members had been rebuilt and revamped once newer technology came along. However, many of the upper echelons still preferred the old style Japanese looking houses, and so when they were rebuilt the houses still looked like a traditional house, but we're now wired with things like electricity, water pipes, and air ducts. Rikun went back to staring at the screen.
The figure landed in a crouch. The figure wore a white women's kimono with a black obi, her kimono worn right over left.* On her hands were black gloves, and by her waist was a long, black sheath. The figure stood up soundlessly and patted off some non-existent dust. She turned her head slowly, seeming to survey the area. Rikun couldn't see the figure's face; it was hidden behind a completely blank mask. The mask didn't even have eye holes on it. How the fuck is she even seeing anything? Rikun wanted to ask. The strange female had white hair, with several streaks of what looked like black in between. One couldn't really tell colors from a green-tinted night vision image after all. Her hair was done in a large, loose braid that extended to her waist. Several bangs surrounded her mask.
It was kind of hard to tell with the angle of the video, but the woman looked fairly tall. Rikun tilted his head, staring at the figure. The woman looked around a couple more times, and ventured deeper into Gagoze's mansion.
"She, or whatever they are," Gagoze started. "We met briefly, in my study." Rikun looked up from the phone. It seemed as if the video ended there; the figure disappeared and all that was left was the corridor, empty once again.
"I managed to catch them going through some of my files. They didn't seem too surprised to see me, though."
"And you let them escape?" Nurarihyon raised an eyebrow.
"Although it shames me to admit it...Whoever it is is skilled." Gagoze managed to grit out. "Flipped out of the window with nary a sound nor a wind before I could react. I sent out my subordinates after them, and I, of course, gave chase too. Somehow, they managed to lose us on the streets of Tokyo." Gagoze huffed angrily. "To think, someone wearing pure white, running around the streets, and they still managed to evade me." Gagoze spat, obviously unhappy.
"Was anyone else around? Surely someone from the Karasu Tengu clan would have noticed someone like that running around last night?" Rikun suggested. Gagoze shook his head.
"I have already contacted Karasu Tengu in private. Whoever the thief was must also be aware of the Karasu Tengu clan's patrol patterns; they managed to disappear right as Karasu's subordinates were changing shifts. There was no one else around who could have seen them."
Damn, this guy was skilled. Which begs the question…
"Why now?" Rikun suddenly asked. The room looked at him as he stared down at the tatami mat, thinking. He crossed his arms. "Why now, of all times, and why you?" Rikun asked again.
"Surely, if they were this skilled they could have gone for any other clan in Tokyo? And why did they slip up?" Rikun questioned, looking at the others for suggestions. Kubinashi frowned.
"What do you mean by 'why did they slip up,' Rikun-sama?"
"I mean," Rikun stressed. "This guy can even slip away from Karasu Tengu and his group right? They even managed to sneak into your mansion undetected," Rikun said as he glanced at Gagoze. "It's as you said, Gagoze, this guy is skilled. Which then makes me wonder how they could slip up and be caught in your study, if they could even get information on patrol times and building blueprints without being caught."
"And what were their motives? What would be of interest in Gagoze's place that the guy couldn't find anywhere else?" Rikun questioned.
"That would require us to assume Gagoze's mansion was specifically targeted." Rihan replied. "It could also be a coincidence, that the only blueprints they could get their hands on were Gagoze's."
"But they targeted specific documents in Gagoze's study, right?" Rihan hummed at Rikun's words, his lips pressed into a straight line.
"...At least we can rule out that the thief was Rikuo-sama?" Kubinashi suggested after minutes of silence. The room turned to look at him. "After all, with how skilled you described the thief to be, I highly doubt Rikuo-sama's skills can compete with theirs." Rikun nodded. He thought so too. "And the figure in the video doesn't look like Rikuo-sama physically, at least."
"And yet we know very little of Rikuo-sama's life outside the Nura Gumi, no?" Gagoze countered. "What's to say he doesn't have his own 'contacts?' I agree that Rikuo-sama probably wouldn't have the skills to pull something like that off, but he could relay information such as blueprint plans and Karasu Tengu's patrol times to a third party anytime he wanted, given the freedom he now has around the house." The air tensed again, and Rihan actually balled one of his hands into a fist, gripping his kimono. Rikun glanced at his fist worriedly.
"...What are you suggesting?" Rihan said darkly. Gagoze humphed, not at all scared anymore.
"Perhaps we should increase the number of 'guards' around Rikuo-sama for the time being." Gagoze said, his tone condescending. Although it was a reasonable suggestion, Gagoze's real meaning was clear. Keep Rikuo under strict surveillance. "And restrict his access to most documents. After all, Rikuo-sama was never named as an official secretary for the clan, and many of his paperwork duties can easily be picked up by Rikun-sama, since Rikun-sama is the Third Heir after all." Gagoze chuckled lowly. "I can even volunteer some of my men to keep an eye on Rikuo-sama, heheh…." Rikun glared at the green youkai, his own Fear flaring up. Who did Gagoze think he was? Did he really think he could just order the rest of them around like that?
"...We'll consider it." Nurarihyon spoke. Everyone else looked at him. Nurarihyon's face was serious, his eyes also glowing a faint golden light. "Gagoze." Nurarihyon called out, his voice toneless. Gagoze bowed his head and held a hand over his heart.
"Yes, Nurarihyon-sama?" Gods, Rikun wanted to puke at the fake submissiveness.
"While you are on the board of executive members, you are not of the authority to order the mandatory surveillance of anyone in this clan." Nurarihyon wasted no words reprimanding Gagoze. "You may be an upper echelon, but even upper echelons have boundaries they cannot touch." Nurarihyon turned and focused those gold eyes of his on Gagoze. "Am I clear?" Gagoze gulped. Although Nurarihyon didn't release any of his Fear, his aura, his tone, was threatening enough.
"Y-Yes, Nurarihyon-sama." Nurarihyon waved his hand.
"If that's the case then you may all leave. The two of us Heads and Rikun have our own things to discuss." A chorus of "Yes, Nurarihyon-sama" sounded throughout the small room. Gyuuki, Kubinashi, and finally, Gagoze exited the room, leaving the three Nurarihyons to their privacy.
Rikun grabbed the spare bottle of sake next to him and immediately poured himself a cup.
"Damn that Gagoze, who does he think he is?" Rikun hissed. Rihan sighed loudly, closing his eyes and massaging his temples. He reached for the bottle of sake himself with his other hand. Nurarihyon pulled out his pipe and leaned back, starting to smoke.
"And yet, his words do make some sense, I suppose." Nurarihyon finally said, obviously unhappy.
"Please tell me you're not with him on this." Rikun practically groaned. Rihan stayed suspiciously silent, simply closing his eyes and exhaling loudly. Rikun looked at his father carefully. He needed to be careful with his next words; he didn't exactly want Rihan to feel even worse.
"So…" Rikun started. "What's the plan now?"
"...How's your training with the Toono instructor?" Rihan finally spoke. Rikun blinked at the topic jump.
"We're making progress. Slowly." Rikun winced. "It's not going as smooth as I want it to, but the extra practice is always good I guess. I think I've finally managed to do that 'offensive' Fear technique Itaku is trying to teach me." Rikun said. Three training sessions ago, Rikun had finally managed to attach his Fear onto his blade without disintegrating it. It still needed a lot of work, but Rikun was on track to be able to use a more "Offensive" Hyoui than before, which would greatly increase the strength of his attacks. Rikun still disintegrated his sword within the first 10 minutes of him letting his Fear overflow onto his sword, but at least he knew how to do it now. "Oh, and the kenjutsu practices with Rikuo is paying off too. Itaku even commented on it earlier." The two older Nurarihyons hmmed in unison.
"Progress is progress. At least you have something secret up your sleeve that you can use against those Hyaku Monogatari bastards when the time comes now." Nurarihyon said. Rihan fell silent again.
Seeing as his son wouldn't be able to make a decision, Nurarihyon sighed and spoke up.
"We'll restrict Rikuo's access to more documents. Technically, he's been doing your paperwork all this time, anyway." Rikun blinked at Nurarihyon's words.
"What?"
"What the old man is saying is that Rikuo's been handling a lot of the paperwork that comes with being the Third Heir." Rihan said, looking at Rikun. "We didn't really mind, since Rikuo's been doing that ever since he was named Third Heir back in the Edo period, and he's a pretty good secretary, but technically you should be doing it yourself, Rikun." Rihan sighed. "We also thought that maybe we could name Rikuo the official secretary one day and just have him handle paperwork around the house, since he's done a pretty good job at it so far."
"But now with this whole fiasco…" Rikun trailed off. He tugged at his hair in frustration. "Ugh, why is everything so complicated? Is it so wrong to want to trust a brother? A brother that finally returned to the family after centuries?" Rikun complained.
"Unfortunately, with possibly two wars ahead of us, things are going to become more complicated and difficult for us now. The spy problem Rikuo told us about earlier isn't helping either, and we still don't have a lead for that." Nurarihyon sighed.
"Speaking of which, do you guys think this thief is that spy?" Rihan and Nurarihyon shook their heads.
"Doesn't make sense if they were. They aimed for old documents, according to Gagoze. Rikuo told us the spy made it possible for the Nue and Hyaku Monogatari clan to match our movements in Kyoto nearly four months ago and the incident nine years ago. It wouldn't make sense for them to suddenly start aiming for old info." Rihan reasoned, Nurarihyon nodding in agreement. "There is the possibility of the two being related in some way, perhaps even the thief working with our enemies, but I think it's pretty clear right now that our thief and our spy are two different people."
"There is, however, the possibility of Gagoze lying about which documents were stolen," Nurarihyon interjected. "You two felt it too, right? He's hiding something." Rihan and Rikun nodded.
Rikun had a headache. So now they had two clans after them, a spy problem, and a thief problem. Great. Just fucking great.
"So are we increasing surveillance on Rikuo then?" Rikun finally sighed in resignation. Nurarihyon shrugged.
"Most likely. Gagoze would throw a hissy fit if we didn't." Rikun scowled. Man, he's starting to really hate that green youkai. Gagoze was never this bad with Rikun himself, but seeing him look down on Rikuo like that… Rikun could begin to understand his brother's decision to flee just a bit more. Judging from the fist Rihan clenched again, his opinion of Gagoze had also fallen quite considerably.
"But," Nurarihyon started again. "No one said we had to keep Rikuo under the exact type of surveillance Gagoze suggested." Nurarihyon smirked. Rikun blinked, and grinned himself.
"We'll probably increase your guards too, Rikun, to avoid suspicion from Rikuo. Your brother is still sharper than he looks, after all. He'd probably pick up on the weird treatment quickly if we increased his guards but not anyone elses'." Rikun nodded. He didn't mind. Mostly. It wasn't like he had the luxury to run away from his bodyguards now of all times anyway, with the whole clan preparing for an upcoming war.
"As for Rikuo, we'll just give him a couple helpers around the house. He's helping in the kitchen now, right? As long as he's within the main house, he'll always be 'under surveillance,' technically. Heh." Nurarihyon snickered. "If he ever needs to go out on any shopping errands like he does now, we'll just assign more helpers to help out." Rikun grinned. Malicious compliance it is. Even Rihan cracked a smile.
"Well, now that our plan is complete, we should be heading back to our rooms too." Nurarihyon suggested as he stood up himself. Rikun yawned as he stood up.
"Don't expect me to be up until at least noon tomorrow. It's Saturday and I want to sleep in." Rikun yawned again, making Rihan and Nurarihyon chuckle. "Night, old geezers. Someone as young as me still needs his beauty sleep after all." Rikun snickered as the two older Nurarihyon scoffed and snorted.
"It's almost 4 in the morning, you're not gonna get much of a 'beauty sleep' as you call it." Rihan retorted. Rikun stuck out his tongue at him. Nurarihyon laughed.
"All right, you two brats, get back to sleep now."
Rikun grunted as Rikuo's foot connected with the side of his arm, nearly knocking him off balance. Rikun stumbled, but remained standing.
"Yield!" Rikun yelled before his brother's fist could connect with his face yet again. Rikuo stopped his fist mere inches away from Rikun. He pulled back and Rikun immediately fell to his knees, panting. Rikuo wasn't even breaking a sweat. Rikun wiped some saliva off from the corner of his mouth. "Do we have to train in human form?" He breathed incredulously, feeling the fatigue and exhaustion creeping into his bones. Who knew his human form was so weak?
"Well, we don't want a repeat of what happened at Tooryanse, do we?" Rikuo shrugged, offering Rikun his water bottle. Rikun scowled before taking the bottle and taking a few slow sips from it. The battle at Tooryanse had really cemented the fact at just how weak his human form was, and while that didn't really matter for most battles, Rikun couldn't always count on having his youkai side to back him up. Had Rikuo not been there with him during Tooryanse he probably would have died. As a result, Rihan had discussed the matter with him and his brother and it was decided that Rikuo would give Rikun some tips with hand-to-hand combat in case something similar ever happened to Rikun again.
Except Rikuo was a mean teacher. With how close Rikun came to death at Tooryanse's world, gone was the strict but kind mentor Rikuo was previously; now, his brother pushed him even further than before, forcing Rikun to his utmost limits. We don't have time, Rikun. Rikuo had said during one of their first hand-to-hand combat training sessions. If you want to get stronger faster, then I'll have to go harder on you. Rikun could see the argument, but that didn't mean it didn't fucking hurt when he fought against Rikuo. Rikun winced and looked at the bruises quickly forming on his arm.
"Keep this up and people'll start thinking I'm being abused at home." Rikun commented drily, standing up wobbly. Rikuo gave an apologetic wince.
"Sorry," his brother quickly apologized. "Though I'd still imagine my punches hurt less than Ao's." Rikun shuddered at the thought of facing Aotabou in hand-to-hand combat. He would be pulverized into meat slush.
"Please, no." Rikun begged as he jumped lightly on his feet, getting his blood circulating again. He held up his fists and faced Rikuo. "Okay, I'm ready." He called out. Rikuo nodded and raised his own hands. Rikun calculated, and shot forward.
"You're still too reliant on blocking." Rikuo said once the practice match was over. Rikun was sprawled out on his back, panting as he faced the ceiling. "You're smaller in your human form so you can't tank as many hits as your youkai form would be able to. You might be able to block my attacks in youkai form, but in your human form you'll have to switch tactics unless you prefer to be pummeled to death." Rikun exhaled harshly.
"I know, I know," Rikun groned, rubbing his hands down his sweaty face. "It just happens, you know? Reflex and all that." Rikuo nodded, sitting down next to Rikun.
"Since you're also much shorter in human form, I would suggest relying less on punches and more on kicks." Rikuo added. "You don't exactly have the range you would need if you only throw punches." Rikun nodded tiredly. Rikuo was right; Rikun couldn't even reach Rikuo half the time without throwing the rest of his body at his brother.
"And I should 'use my opponent's force against them,' correct?" Rikun finished for Rikuo, who nodded sheepishly.
"I know it's hard, Rikun, but with your human form you simply can't afford to be so aggressive as you normally are in your youkai form. You don't have Fear to back you up either." Rikuo explained. Rikuo huffed tiredly. This training was a lot harder than he thought it'd be. He was too out of touch with his human body.
"Was your teacher as hard on you as you are on me?" Rikun asked after staring at the ceiling for a bit. Rikuo was pretty tight-lipped about his time on the road, never sharing any stories unless prompted, and the stories that he did share never included much detail.
"Are you kidding me? Sensei was at least a hundred times worse with me than I am with you." Rikuo snorted incredulously. "Be glad I've suffered enough under him that I would never want to inflict that someone else."
"Wait, was he really that bad?" Rikun asked as he sat up. "I thought you liked your teacher?" Rikuo snorted.
"He's a good teacher alright, in the sense that I learned a lot from him. I never said I liked his teaching methods." Rikuo rolled his eyes. "Honestly half the time it was more like, I had to learn how to do certain things or die trying." Rikun raised an eyebrow at that. He grabbed the water bottle next to him and took a sip.
"Like?"
"Like did you know I learned how to rock climb because Sensei threw me off a cliff three times before I finally started to become somewhat decent at it?" Rikun spat out his water.
"What?!"
"Oh yeah," Rikuo nodded serenely. "Nothing like a life-or-death situation to make you learn fast, eh?" Rikun gaped at his brother, his mouth opening and closing like a dying fish. The sound he made also sounded like a dying fish.
"Excuse me?!" Rikun yelled when he finally found his voice back. "What, he just threw you off the cliff without any safety measures-"
"Kohaku would catch me if I ever dropped too far." Rikuo corrected. He shrugged. "Didn't make it any less terrifying, though," he said, sounding far too nonchalant to be talking about something like this. Rikun gaped a couple more times, before patting his brother on the back lightly.
"You've been through a lot, haven't you? I feel so sorry for you." Rikun shook his head in pity. Rikuo barked out a laugh.
"Hahahaha! That's just how Sensei's training goes!" Rikuo laughed. "I've been hesitant on sharing my adventures with you guys because I just know Kubinashi is gonna go on a witch hunt for Sensei if I ever told you guys all the shit I went through with Sensei." Rikuo snickered. "You'll have to forgive me if I'm not too keen on sharing the details of Sensei's, ah, training." Rikun put his hands up in defeat.
"You're right; now I don't want to know anymore." He said flatly, to which Rikuo laughed at. Rikuo patted the dust off of himself as he stood up. He offered a hand to Rikun.
"Come on, I think dinner's almost ready." Rikun grabbed his hand as his brother pulled him up.
"By the way," Rikun said as he too, patted the dust off of himself. Rikuo cocked his head in questioning. "I'm totally telling Kubinashi what you just told me."
"Don't you dare-" Rikun laughed as he danced away from Rikuo's grasp, changing to his youkai form swiftly. "Rikun!" Rikuo hissed in annoyance. Kubinashi was a handful to deal with whenever he got overprotective and Rikuo did not want to have to explain the whole ordeal with one of his father's most trusted (and overprotective) men.
"Too late!" Rikun laughed as the shadows surrounded him, allowing him to slip away. "Gotta catch me if you can!" He laughed as he ran down the hall.
"Rikun! You-Get back here!" Rikuo yelled as he gave chase. Oh Gods, he could already hear Kubinashi's reaction to the news. Rikuo was thankful that the Nura Clan actually cared for him so much, but that didn't mean he wanted them to go hunt down his mentor! Even if his mentor had questionable training ethics! (And besides, he knew his mentor would never actually put him in a situation where he would possibly die, not that Kubinashi and the rest knew that.) "Rikun!"
"Natsumi still isn't here?" Maki grumbled during their afternoon youkai club activities. She tapped her foot anxiously. Where was her friend? The last time Maki had heard from her was almost five days ago. "Maybe I should drop by her house later? She's not picking up her phone either…" Rikun frowned at his friend's words. Maki picked up her school bag. "Anyway I'll be going home now. Have fun, you guys!"
"But we just got a new urban legend come in today!" Kiyotsugu cried out. Maki waved a lazy hand towards him.
"Not interested, sorry. And aren't you the least bit worried about Torii?!" She asked incredulously. Was some stupid urban legend more important than a friend?
"I'm inclined to agree with Maki this time." Rikun commented, Kana and Shima looking at each other worriedly as well. Neither of them really had regular contact with Torii outside of school, but with how nervous Maki was...perhaps something really did happen to their friend?
"Of course I'm worried about her!" Kiyotsugu spluttered, trying to defend himself from the onslaught of judgemental stares from his friends. "We're friends, after all!" He waved his arms. "But this particular legend originated pretty close by, so I thought it'd be better if we all heard about it, you know? Just in case we happen to run into it." Rikun raised an eyebrow. A legend that sprouted near here? That can't be good.
"Anyway, the urban legend goes like this-"
"Any news so far?" Rikun asked as soon as he strolled in through the main gates, Tsurara in tow. Aotabo, who took a day off from school today, shook his head.
"We couldn't find her even after combing through the town." Aotabo reported. "And we've done pretty much everything we can do with the guys on land," He said as he turned to the cat youkai beside him.
"Same here," reported Ryota Neko. "I've even asked the regulars that frequent our shop, but none have seen her. Although, we of the Bakeneko clan do have a lot of cat-eyed people within our ranks."
"I see. Kappa?" Rikun stopped by the pond in the backyard. A white plate slowly emerged from the water.
"Nope, nothing." Kappa replied lazily. "No one's drowned recently, so no worries about that." Rikun nodded in slight relief.
"Still can't find her?" Rihan asked his son from the porch. Rikun had requested the rest of the clan to scour and search for one of his human friends, Torii Natsumi, that morning. Rihan had given the ok and the clan spread out throughout the town, searching for the Third Heir's missing friend.
"She's been missing for almost a week and a half now, where could she be?" Rikun muttered to himself, thinking. "Maki and everyone else have been getting anxious. It's not like Torii-san to be missing for so long, although there was this one time where she ran away from home for two days when she was younger."
"You think she ran away from home, perhaps?" Rihan suggested. Rikun shook his head.
"Not likely. Maki said she hasn't had any arguments with her family recently and even if she did run away, she would at least let Maki know. Those two are close friends after all." Rikun crossed his arms. A gust of wind and several black feathers floated to the ground.
"Young Master," A large crow youkai landed in front of Rikun.
"Kuroumaru! Did you find anything?" Kuroumaru shook his head.
"I'm sorry. We widened our search area, but we have yet to find her."
"Oi, oi, oi." Zen's voice floated into the backyard as he stepped out of a nearby room. "Even Karasu Tengu's network can't find her?" Rihan and Rikun both frowned. Something was wrong.
"What about Rikuo? Has he heard anything?" Rikun asked. He had asked his brother if he could try to find information on Torii a couple days back. Rikuo had accepted his request and ventured out into the city nearly daily since Rikun first brought it up, but to no avail. He looked around the yard, trying to spot that familiar mop of brown hair. "Where is he, by the way?"
"Out shopping for groceries with Kubinashi and the others." Rihan answered. "But from what I've heard from him I don't think he's found anything either."
"We can't find her on land nor in the water…" Kejoro trailed off, thinking. Rikun crossed his arms as he thought hard.
"Wait." He suddenly said, Kiyotsugu's words from that club meeting days ago suddenly rushing into his head. "If we can't find her on land or in water, then that means….She's underground!"
"Young Master, you don't think?" Tsurara piped up. Rikun nodded his head, already grabbing his haori and dropping his bag.
"Probably. That rumor has been spreading like wildfire ever since Torii disappeared." Rikun whipped out his phone, checking the time on it.
"Yuki-Onna? What's going on?" Aotabou asked.
"There's been a recent urban legend spreading all around Rikun-sama's school ever since Torii-san disappeared." Tsurara explained.
The story of the Ghost at the Subway Station. Legend has it that a young girl was discarded into a coin locker at an abandoned train station. The baby died without anyone ever finding out, and without anyone realizing, the baby continued to grow even after its death. Because of that, there have been recent sightings of a young ghost girl. The ghost girl that grew up in the abandoned station. And she's there, waiting for someone to find "her."
Rumors have it that she always appears on the fourth carriage on the Ukiyoe line, at exactly 4:44PM. But beware if you see her, for if you are bewitched by her, she will take you to that abandoned station…
...and you will be killed.
"It's 4:23 right now…" Rikun said as he looked at his phone. He gripped his haori. "Everyone listen up!" The yard turned to look at him.
"We're going to go after that Ghost Girl of the Subway, everyone who I exchanged sakazuki with and everyone who wants to help come with me!" Rikun ordered, already turning.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
"...Shit!" Kejoro exclaimed suddenly. "We've gotta hurry!" She yelled.
"What's wrong, Kejoro?" Rihan asked.
"Rikuo-sama left around an hour ago, but they're probably on the train back right about now!" Rikun widened his eyes. He frantically reached for his phone, jabbing his finger on Rikuo's number.
It didn't even ring. "We're sorry, but the number you called is not available-" Damn it, the stations all had terrible reception! Rikun cursed as even Rihan stood up now.
"We're heading to the train station, now! Let's go, you lot!" Rikun ordered, rushing out the door, youkai in tow. "I'm counting on you guys!"
"Thanks for coming out with us, Natto." Rikuo smiled at the entourage of small youkai that had accompanied them while they went grocery shopping.
"Although it was kind of hard to explain why we had extra natto that wasn't being sold at the market," Kubinashi laughed lightly, Kurotabou nodding in agreement. Rikuo laughed awkwardly as Natto pouted, and buried himself deeper into the plastic bag Rikuo was holding. The train moved through the tunnel steadily.
"Hmm?" Rikuo hummed as he saw someone familiar in front of him. "Maki-san?"
"To...Torii…?" The black clothed girl looked up.
Maki stood there, looking at her friend. "What...are you doing?"
"You...can see me?" The girl laughed.
"...What the heck are you saying?" Maki deadpanned. She grabbed the girl's arm. "Do you know how worried we all were?!" She scolded her friend. "Well, it's good to see that you're alright though." She sighed, trying to pull her friend up. "Come on! We're going back!"
"Maki-san?" A hand tapped her shoulder. Maki turned around at the familiar voice.
"Oh, Rikuo-nii-san!" Maki smiled at Rikuo, who smiled and waved. Kubinashi and Kurotabou watched over their Young Master from a little ways away. Rikuo took notice of the other girl.
"Torii...san?" Rikuo asked. What was she doing here?
"You both...can see me?" The girl giggled, her eyes wide and crazy. Rikuo took an involuntary step back.
"Rikuo-sama?" Natto whispered from the grocery bag Rikuo was carrying.
This...isn't Torii.
"Maki-san-" Rikuo tried, reaching out to grab Maki's shoulders. This is bad, I can't let Maki fall to this youkai.
"Come on!" Maki said, unaware of the danger she was in. She tugged harder on Torii's hand. "We're going back!" Torii remained seated on the ground.
"Fufu, I'm not going~" She said in a singsong voice. "After all, I've just found you two, you know?"
"Maki-san, that's not-" Rikuo tried again, pulling at Maki's shoulder.
"Someone who can see me…"
"That was-!" Rikun threw himself forward and pressed himself against the train window, earning himself a lot of weird stares from the other passengers. Rikun didn't care. "Maki?! And Rikuo?!"
"Y-Young Master, Torii-san was also on the train going in the opposite direction!" Tsurara reported, looking out the train a couple windows down. Rikun shook his head.
"No, that wasn't Torii." Rikun said. He was sure of it. It looked like Torii, but the way the girl felt was…
Trees? Rikun thought. Branches seemed to stretch out from the tunnel, engulfing the train next to them.
The train disappeared.
Rikun slammed open the window and jumped out without a second thought.
"Young Master Rikuo!" Kurotabou and Kubinashi yelled into the echoing tunnel. Rikuo had disappeared, along with that blonde friend of Rikun's right under their eyes. They had felt an unfamiliar Fear rising all of a sudden, and then…
The two youkai threw down their grocery bags to the small youkai and jumped off the train. The train disappeared as soon as they jumped off, leaving the tunnel in front of them empty.
"Kubinashi! Kuro!" They turned towards the sound of Rikun.
"R-Rikun-sama!" They exclaimed. Rikun ran up to them, Tsurara quickly following behind.
"Where's Rikuo?" Rikun demanded hastily. The two youkai shook their heads.
"There was a girl-"
"I know! She's the 'Ghost Girl of the Subway Station,' an urban legend that popped up recently!" Rikun cursed. He shifted into his youkai form with ease. "Rikuo will be fine for now; he's good when it comes to facing off against area-of-effect type youkai." Rikun pursed his lips, not knowing whether he was trying to convince his subordinates or himself. The three bodyguards nodded tersely, swallowing their nervousness. "Follow the tunnel; that train has to be going somewhere. Find them!" Rikun commanded, already running forward.
"Yes, sir!"
"Wh-What the heck are with these coin lockers?!" Maki exclaimed. "How many are-"
"Fufu, I've never had two guests in here at once, ahahaha! What shall I do~?" Maki and Rikuo turned to the girl in black, who perched herself on top of the lockers. She clapped her hands.
"I know! Since you saw me first, you get to play with me first!" She pointed at Maki. She pointed at Rikuo next. "Sorry, but I'll play with you later, ok? Can you please stand over there until we're done~? Thank you~" Hands burst out from in between the roots, their bodies pushing themselves out of the ground. The zombies made a makeshift wall in front of Rikuo, and pushed him backwards.
"Hey, what's the big idea?!" Maki yelled, watching Rikuo be pushed out. Rikuo himself stayed silent, surveying his surroundings with a critical eye. Natto poked his head outside the bag, shivering. This was really bad… Rikuo bit his lips as a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead. He tried to think.
"If you want to get out of here, then find the missing 'me!'" The fake Torii exclaimed, clapping her hands again. "The time limit is 44 seconds. Ready, set, go~~~!" Maki spluttered.
"44 seconds, are you shitting me-"
"If you don't," The girl laughed. "You'll die." She smiled, baring her white teeth.
Maki gaped. She grit her teeth and tugged at her pocket knife.
"Fine, all I have to do is find 'you,' right?" She yelled, flipping the blade open. "What a coincidence, I came here to find 'you' anyway. Let's do this!" She declared, pointing her small knife at the fake Torii. "Don't underestimate me!" The black clothed girl smiled.
"I wonder about that. 10 seconds have passed already, fufu."
"Torii! Answer me, you're in here, right?!" Maki yelled as she hacked her way through the damn roots.
"Oooh, you're not even close!"
"Shut up, you fake Torii!" Maki grit her teeth. Damn it, where are you Natsumi?
Rikuo watched from afar, silent. Natto nudged the Young Master's arm.
"Wh-What do we do, Young Master Rikuo?" He asked in trepidation. Rikuo clenched the bag more tightly. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Natto blinked. "Young Master Rikuo?"
"Don't talk to me right now, Natto." Rikuo commanded seriously, eyes still closed. "Let me concentrate…" Rikuo inhaled deeply, and exhaled. Natto watched as Rikuo took several deep breaths. What are you planning, Young Master Rikuo?
Suddenly, the air around Rikuo seemed to change. It was like… It was like Rikuo's presence disappeared. No, it was more like...his Fear had become one with the surroundings?
Rikuo stretched out his senses, focusing on the air around him. He focused on his breathing, sensing the way the air, the Fear around him moved, how it shifted. The Fear flowed into the roots, into the lockers. Rikuo's senses followed the Fear itself, feeling for…
He opened his eyes.
"Maki-san!" He yelled.
"Huh, what?!" Maki exclaimed, pausing in surprise.
"Not that way, the opposite wall!" Rikuo yelled. "Second row from the bottom!" He guided Maki.
"How do you even know that?!" Maki yelled, but still made her way to the opposite wall.
"Just trust me!" Rikuo yelled back. Natto stared up at Rikuo. How does Rikuo-sama know?
"Which locker?!"
"The one next to the giant root on your left. No, not that one, one more to the left!" Maki stabbed at the thick root blocking the locker door. Her pocket knife was too small, barely even making a dent in the thick bark.
"Aaaaagh, I can't cut the root with this thing!" Maki cried.
"15 seconds left~!"
"I told you to keep your mouth shut, you fake-ass imposter!"
"Maki-san, use this!" Rikuo said as he tossed his hidden tanto at Maki. Maki fumbled with the sheathed dagger, almost dropping it. She pulled the blade out, gaping.
"Why do you even have this?!" She practically shrieked. "But thanks, Rikuo-nii-san!" She hacked into the root with Rikuo's dagger. The blade was much bigger than her own pocket knife blade, cutting into the root with ease.
"It's open…!" Maki cried in relief. She glanced into the locker. "Torii!" She exclaimed, seeing her unconscious friend.
"Ma..ki…?" Torii stirred, the sudden light waking her up and forcing her to squint.
"Thank the gods-"
The roots shifted, pulling Torii away.
"Wh-What's going on?!" Torii screamed as the roots pulled her away. "Maki!"
"Huh- wait, what? Torii!" Maki reached for her friend, who slipped between her grasp. She glared at the fake Torii. "What's the meaning of this? I found her, didn't I?" She yelled. The girl in black put her hand up to her mouth.
"Ooh, unfortunately, since you cheated, I can't count that as a win."
"'Cheated?!' I'll show you cheating you little bitc-"
"Too bad, you were so close, too…" The girl jumped down.
"Maki-san, run!" Rikuo yelled, already trying to push his way through the wall of zombies.
"Sorry, but it looks like you too...will be sticking around to play with me for a while. Fufufu…" Lockers burst open Maki from all sides. Bodies, adult bodies, which were crammed into the tiny coin lockers slowly crawled out from the small openings. Their bones twisted in unnatural angles and blood dripped down their bodies from where their limbs were broken and torn through to fit into the small locker. Maki screamed as one grabbed onto her leg.
"No! Stay away..! AaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!" Maki screamed, the zombies grasping at her.
"M-Maki?!" Torii cried out. She tried moving her body, but the roots held her fast in place. She was stuck behind a closed locker again. "Maki! Saori!" She yelled. She heard her friend's screams. "Someone, please!" Torii cried.
"Someone, please save Maki!"
"!" Kurotabou turned abruptly.
"What's wrong, Kuro?" Rikun asked. They had chased after the train that disappeared, but they still hadn't found Rikuo and Maki, or that Ghost Girl. Kurotabou widened his eyes.
"I...felt someone. Calling out to me." Kurotabou said, staring down one of the infinite tunnels the trains ran through. Rikun widened his eyes. Kurotabou was a youkai that protected children. They say that if someone prays hard enough, they can call on Kurotabou to save them.
That has to be one of them! "Kuro!" Rikun yelled. Kurotabou nodded, leading the four of them in the direction of the call.
Rikuo supported the now-unconscious Maki against his left side, his left arm wrapped around her shoulders protectively. He pointed his sword with his right arm at the fake Torii youkai, whom he had just split in half with his blade.
"Aha? You want to play next?" She smiled. Her feet tapped lightly on the ground as her body seemed to rematerialize, much like the way a Nurarihyon's illusion can repair itself. "But you know, I won't disappear even if you cut me." She laughed. "You know the rules! If you want me to disappear, you'll have to find the lost 'me' within 44 seconds! Ready, go~!"
"Ri-Rikuo-sama, what do we do?" Natto clung onto Rikuo's shoulder for dear life. He was almost swung out of the bag he was hiding in when Rikuo suddenly rushed forward with incredible speed, cutting down the zombies in front of him with ease. But the zombies were already dead; they simply pieced themselves together again after being cut down. They had retreated for now, watching Rikuo with their blank, terrified expressions that they must have held as they died in this world. They were waiting for the "game" to be over. Natto nudged Rikuo.
"H-Hey, what if you used that thingy again?" Natto referred to the weird sensing technique Rikuo used earlier. Rikuo shook his head.
"You saw how the trees moved; there's no saying she can't move them again." Natto squeaked, terrified.
"Th-Then what do we do?!" He cried.
"Come on, hurry up! 10 seconds have passed already!" The girl encouraged from her perch. Rikuo glanced at her.
"All I have to do is find 'you,' right?" Rikuo asked, his tone dark and serious. He held his sword out to the side, changing his stance.
"Ah?" The girl tilted her head in questioning.
"Ri-Rikuo-sama…?" Natto asked.
Rikuo took a deep breath, gripping his sword tightly.
"There!" Kuro pointed at a hole in the wall. Rikun could see a multitude of vines and tree branches surrounding the hole, engulfing the area with roots and the scent of rotten leaves. The four of them rushed towards the opening. Rikun saw a flash of red.
"Rikuo!" He sighed in relief. His brother was wearing his red jacket again, his back facing Rikun. He looked unharmed. Rikuo was holding Maki in his left arm while his right arm held his sword out directly to his side. Rikuo bent his knees in a fighting stance, looking like he was going to face off against the youkai in front of him. "Rikuo, you're alri-"
"Demonic Style, Fourth Form Kodoku: Centipede Waltz"
hahahahahahaha i...honestly didn't want to end here but I've kept y'all waiting long enough lol
Anyway, something else is going on beneath the surface along with Sanmoto! Who is this mysterious woman? Is that woman the spy? Why did she show up now? Is it really connected to Rikuo like Gagoze speculated? That's for me to know and you guys to wait and find out (or try to guess in the comments hahaha)