To Rekishichizu: ahahaha Rikuo's death and how he died will be revealed after the Hyakku Monogatari arc! ^^ I've tried to keep it a secret but I've also laid out a couple hints here and there so if any of you guys can guess what it is, feel free to comment ;))) hopefully I haven't made it too obvious yet hahhahah *sweats
To stargazer06: Ah, Kuro and Rikuo were very close in the past, so of course he's going to be close to the young master in this lifetime as well! ^^ Of course, we aren't *quite* sure of what Rikuo thinks of their relationship himself (mwahahaha author secrets), but that will be answered hopefully by the end of this story :D
To Rychan6: HAHAHAHA don't we all want to see Rikun get pranked by his bro? XDDD Unfortunately the story will be taking a slightly more serious tone, but we'll see if I can squeeze in a prank here and there :3
Two hours later, after everyone finished dinner and preparations, Rihan and his hyakki took off into the night skies. Rikun, in his youkai form, was sitting next to him on one of their flying servants, while Rikuo sat on top of Suzuki, gliding next to them.
"Now that I think about it, this is the first time Rikun-sama and Rikuo-sama have ever participated in the Second's hyakki, right?" Kubinashi spoke up from his position behind Rihan.
"Yeah."
"Mhmm." Rikun and Rikuo said simultaneously.
Wait, it's your first time too, Rikuo? Suzuki flapped her wings slightly. I thought you were once the Young Master of this clan? Many youkai shifted uncomfortably in their seats.
"Nah, I was always busy training and stuff back then." Rikuo lied smoothly. "Besides, it's not like we take the hyakki out that often so," Rikuo shrugged. "Plus, I would often stay behind to help Okaa-san with the dishes and other chores."
O-oh. I see, so that's why. Suzuki nodded her head slightly. An awkward silence fell over the night parade.
Rikun looked at the uncomfortable youkai and felt anger rising within him again. It was quite obvious from their reactions that the reason Rikuo had never participated in a hyakki wasn't because he was too busy; it was because he wasn't welcome. Rikun felt an eyebrow twitch.
Things are gonna change around here when I take over, just you wait. Rikun vowed to himself.
The hyakki continued to slowly glide over the city.
"So how's Kohaku and Sensei doing?" Rikuo finally asked to break the silence. Suzuki gave a couple flaps of her wings
Same old, same old. He's still working for that son of a bitch. Suzuki said as she flapped her wings in irritation.
"Ahahaha…..So they're still traveling together after so many years? Are they still in Japan?"
No, I've heard from Kohaku that they've been overseas multiple times now. Suzuki tilted her head, trying to remember what her friend once told her. Uh….I think he said he's gone to China multiple times I think...And Mongolia was it? Either way, I'm pretty sure they've already gone to most of Asia, including Russia. Rikun gave a low whistle.
"That's a lot of countries, dude." Rikun commented. Japan was already big enough for him; he never even thought about going overseas even for sightseeing. Rikuo smiled fondly.
"Yeah, Sensei was never one to be bound to one place for long, and wherever Sensei went so did Kohaku. I'd say they were inseparable, but in reality it's Kohaku sticking so close to Sensei, Sensei couldn't get rid of him even if they tried." Rikuo chuckled. "I was kinda the same back then I suppose…"
"Oh? Is your teacher really that amazing?" Kubinashi asked.
"Uh, weeeeell…" Rikuo scratched his head sheepishly. "I wouldn't say Sensei's the best person to hang out with-" Suzuki ducked her head and snorted.
Understatement of the century, ha!
"But the traveling with Sensei is definitely a whole new experience. I'd do it again if given the chance." Rikuo paused. "I mean the traveling part, not the whole 'left the Nura Gumi part.' If I could travel with Sensei again without leaving the clan I'd definitely be down. With the condition of no training and longer breaks." Rikuo shuddered. "God knows I've been through Sensei's training more than enough times."
"Was it really that bad? I thought you stuck with the guy for 80 years? How bad could it be?" Rikun questioned. Rikuo gave a long sigh.
"Sensei's a thrill-seeker. A total adrenaline junkie. The most adrenaline junkie of all junkies by today's standards." Rikuo explained as if his explanation made any sense at all.
"...And that's bad because…?" Rikuo sighed, dejectedly. However, his eyes shone with a hidden mirth.
"How about I show you exactly how thrilling my life was at the time?" Rikuo asked as he stood up, tucking his glasses into the safe folds of his kimono. Rikun blinked.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Rikuo flashed him a brief smirk.
"By thrill-seeking, I mean something along the lines of this." He said as winked at Rikun.
"O...Kay?" Before Rikun and the other would react, Rikuo took a flying leap off of Suzuki's back.
"!" Rikuo flipped gracefully through the air until he was plummeting in a perfect swan dive position.
"Rikuo-sama!" The youkai screamed as they watched their young master dive down. Rikuo flipped around so that he was facing the sky.
"Suzuki!" He yelled, the wind whipping around him violently. Suzuki chirped and flew downwards towards her friend. Her body glowed and shrunk as she flew towards Rikuo.
"RIKUO-SAMA!" The youkai screamed even louder. What was Suzuki doing?! She can't possibly carry the young master in that form! Rihan sat up straight, looking down with a serious expression on his face. He waved his hand.
"Karasu Tengu!" He commanded. Karasu Tengu and his three children immediately responded and flew towards their Young Master.
Rikuo fell down, down, letting the wind whip and flow around him. He watched as the trees below him grew closer and closer, and closed his eyes, savouring the moment. Finally, he opened his eyes, a smile on his face.
"Suzuki." He called out.
Rikun and the rest of the hyakki watched on with worry etched on their faces. Karasu Tengu and the Sanbagarasu should be fast enough….But that didn't mean they didn't worry.
And then something incredible happened.
Right before Karasu Tengu and Kuromaru could grab onto his clothing, Rikuo stopped falling.
Wings spread out behind Rikuo, catching the air underneath it and lifting Rikuo up from his downward momentum. The edge of Rikuo's kimono slipped past Karasu Tengu's and Kuromaru's outstretched hands as Rikuo was suddenly suspended above them by Suzuki's wings.
Rikun gaped. From his position, it looked as if Rikuo suddenly sprouted wings, wings large enough to support him. The wings were a beautiful brown and blue, its feathers spread out wide to catch as much upward drift as possible.
Karasu Tengu and the Sanbagarasu stopped dropping downwards too, now staring at Rikuo who was gliding above them with his new wings.
What the fuck?! Was the general consensus of the entire hyakki. Rikuo-sama grew wings?
But no, upon further inspection, they could see a small, brownish and bluish blob on the back of Rikuo's kimono, and the wings seemed to be attached to that blob.
Was that...Suzuki?
Rikuo laughed and whooped. "Faster, Suzuki!" He cheered. His friend chirped from behind him, where she was gripping onto the back of Rikuo's kimono. The two shot forward with incredible speed.
The hyakki watched as Rikuo and Suzuki weaved through the tops of the trees, performing complicated aerial maneuvers as they avoided the branches with a speed and precision Rikun had never seen before. Rikun watched as his brother and Suzuki momentarily separated to dodge a particularly large branch before Suzuki swooped down and caught Rikuo in one swift motion. Their momentum never changed.
Rikuo tilted his body upwards, letting Suzuki propel them both out of the treetops and into the open sky. He spun his body in a spiral as they gained more and more speed climbing upwards. Suzuki spread her wings then, bringing them both to a momentary stop amongst the clouds.
The city twinkled below them, a myriad of yellow and orange lights dancing in the distance. Rikuo smiled and let himself fall backwards.
Rikun watched as his brother spread out his arms and did a backwards flip, falling backwards. Rikuo fell for several meters before straightening himself out and zigzagged through the air with swift, precise movements.
His brother and his friend moved in perfect synchrony, placing the utmost trust in each other. Several times Rikuo would roll sideways lazily and Suzuki would let go of her friend. Rikuo would fall for several meters before Suzuki would grab onto his outstretched wrist, pulling Rikuo up by his wrist as Rikuo swung from his previous momentum.
Suzuki would then fly both of them upwards, gaining speed, before throwing Rikuo slightly and immediately latching onto his back before taking off again.
The two of them swung back and started flying towards the Nura Gumi.
"Woo-hoo! You go, Rikuo-sama!"
"That was so cool, Rikuo-sama!" The youkai cheered as Rikuo and Suzuki steadily made their flight back.
"...Uh. Aren't they going a little…" One youkai commented, trailing off at the end. Rikuo...didn't look like he was slowing down. At all.
"TAKE COVER!" Someone yelled as they ran around trying to avoid the incoming Young Master. Rikun scrambled to get up before his brother crashed into him and sent them both to an early grave.
"Hey- wait a minute RikUOOOO!" Rikun yelled.
Rikuo sped towards them, seemingly uncaring of the imminent danger. Inches away from crashing, he suddenly pulled up, his body now pulled straight up from his perpendicular flying position. Suzuki's wings spread out at the same time, acting as brakes, and Rikuo came to a full stop in front of his family. The force from Rikuo's abrupt stop blasted strong winds straight into Rikun's and the hyakki's faces.
"Woohoo! It's been a while since I've done that," Rikuo breathed, his hair wild and frizzy from his high speed adventure earlier. He shifted his body a bit and Suzuki took them both upwards a tiny bit before letting go of Rikuo's kimono. She swooped down and transformed into her larger form. Rikuo landed on her back in a crouching position. "Honestly I wasn't sure if I could still pull that off but hell yeah, I still can!" Rikuo cheered as he pumped his fist. His other hand went to ruffle the feathers on top of Suzuki's head, who chirped in victory too.
"What. The fuck, Rikuo." Rikun managed to say, watching his brother act all carefree as if he didn't just almost slam into Rikun at close to 100km per hour. Rikuo laughed.
"I told you I'd show you how exciting my life had been outside, didn't I?" Rikuo slapped his back none-too lightly. "Just imagine flying like that almost everyday and that'd only be a fraction of the shit we would do all the time HAHAHAHA!" Rikuo laughed out loud, the adrenaline not yet worn off, obviously.
"You mean that wasn't it?" Rikun couldn't help but ask incredulously, rubbing his back.
Rikuo snickered. "Oh yeah, most definitely. Also Kohaku and I were way closer so we could perform even more precise maneuvers than I can with Suzuki here." He said as he patted her neck. Suzuki grumbled.
"Rikuo-sama, if I may ask, how exactly does your teamwork work?" Karasu Tengu asked. Rikuo turned to the crow youkai.
"From the angle Suzuki-san here grabbed onto your kimono, ah, it looked as if Suzuki would have parts of her vision blocked, if not most of it. Is there a specific angle you position yourself to reduce this problem?" Rikuo smirked.
"Why the sudden interest, hm? You wanna try it out with our own clan members?" Rikuo asked, folding his arms with a knowing smile on his face.
"Well, it did seem quite useful to be honest, Rikuo-sama." Karasu Tengu nodded his head.
"Hmm, indeed. If we could train some of our flying units to pair up with other youkai it could be very useful for getting people around quicker." Rihan hummed, finally speaking up. "I am also very curious in how you two managed to build up this much trust in each other." Rikuo laughed lightly.
"I mean, I flew with Kohaku almost every day, and Suzuki's one of Kohaku's best friends so," Rikuo shrugged. "Kohaku vouched for me, Suzuki then wanted to try the flight thing with me too and we would practice around their village whenever we stopped by. It's not so hard really, and we did visit quite a number of times within 80 years." Rikuo said. He turned towards Karasu Tengu.
"Oh by the way, about your other question, Karasu Tengu? The answer is no, I don't particularly angle my body in a certain position because Suzuki can't see where we're flying when we do that." Rikuo answered, as if that were completely normal. "Suzuki and Kohaku are completely blind when they fly with me like that."
The entire hyakki gaped and gasped at their Young Master's words.
"What the fuck, Rikuo?" Rikun voiced everyone else's concerns. Rihan was also staring at his first son with skeptical, worried eyes.
"Yeah, I angle my body slightly in the direction I want to go and Suzuki and Kohaku feel my movements and move accordingly. I can also give them some input for speed, like 'faster' or 'slow down' but generally they control the speed at which I fly at." Rikuo continued. "I control direction and make sure we don't crash, and Suzuki and Kohaku control the speed at which they know we're both able to react quick enough at. Takes quite a bit of practice at the beginning but once you get used to it it's pretty easy."
"Sounds….hard." Rihan spoke, as Rikun was still gaping, his mouth opening and closing like a fish's. "Are you sure this only took a few practices?" Rikuo scratched his head.
"Uhh, well I guess I did practice everyday and for most of the day whenever we did… I guess I also learned it so fast out of necessity? Sensei flew to a lot of places so I had to have Kohaku take me around whenever Sensei needed to fly somewhere which was like, at least three to four days a week?" Rikuo shrugged. "When you fly so much you just pick it up eventually, I guess." Rikun nodded.
"Makes sense. Constant practice would make an expert out of anyone." Kubinashi said wisely.
"Except for Fear control apparently…" Rikuo muttered under his breath. It was obvious he was speaking to himself but those close enough could just barely make out his words.
Those who heard him tensed slightly. After all, they were youkai. They didn't know how to comfort people, and especially not humans.
Except Rikun.
Rikun slapped his brother's back none-too lightly back. Rikuo startled and turned to face his half-brother.
"Hey. None of that self-deprecating stuff now, you hear me Rikuo?" Rikun gazed straight into his brother's eyes. Rikuo fidgeted, surprised at Rikun's seriousness. He fumbled as he adjusted his glasses.
"Um-uh-...what?" Rikuo asked meekly, his brother's scarlet gaze unnerving him slightly. Rikun sighed.
"You're back now. You're my brother. I know things weren't great back then," Rikun started. The youkai behind him fidgeted, knowing exactly what the Third Heir was talking about. "But what's important is that you're back, and things are gonna change." Rikun finished. He poked Rikuo on the arm. "We're all trying to help you right now, so none of that self-loathing now, you hear? Or how else are you supposed to get better?"
Rikuo blinked at Rikun's words.
"Believe in yourself, bro. And besides, being strong at Fear isn't everything. You still whoop my ass at kenjutsu, as annoying as it is sometimes." Rikun made a face at his own words while some others laughed quietly behind him. Even Rihan was laughing behind his hand.
Rikuo blinked and chuckled.
"I suppose you're right, Rikun. I'll... I'll try my best. To not use such..depressing words. I guess." Rikuo scratched his head and sighed. "I suppose it's for the best, too. It's...about time, that I started to change this bad habit of mine." Rikuo admitted sheepishly. Rikun grinned at his brother.
"Now that's the spirit!" Rikun yelled as he slapped Rikuo's back again. Rikuo yelped.
"Ow, hey! Watch your strength, dude!" Rikuo complained, reaching behind to rub his tingling back. He sent a slight glare at his brother, who laughed in return.
"Hahahaha! Sorry Rikuo, my bad," Rikun snickered. He grabbed onto Rikuo's hand.
"Looks like we've arrived downtown." Rikun nodded his head forward. Rikuo looked down.
Indeed, they were now at one of the busiest parts of Tokyo. Although the moon had already risen high above their heads, this part of Tokyo was still awash in lights and activity, the humans bustling around below them making the most of the night. Rikun smirked at his father.
"Yo, old man! Think it's about time we also jumped down and enjoyed the night?" Rihan chuckled. He nodded towards the hyakki behind him.
"Well? What do you say, guys? Should we go join the humans and ah, enjoy the night as well?" Rihan asked his subordinates lazily. The hyakki behind him cheered loudly, their excitement almost tangible. Rihan nodded his head forward, towards the city.
"Go wild." Rihan said simply, taking out his pipe. His hyakki cheered and whooped as they descended into the city. Rihan himself was still perched on his own personal servant for nightly rides.
Rikun tugged at Rikuo's hand.
"Hey, hey! Let's go join too! I'll use Meikyo Shisui and cover for you. Now get your friend to fly us down. Can't have the rest have more fun than us, now can we?" Rikun tugged at Rikuo's arm excitedly, his youkai blood humming. Rikuo stared at him for a brief moment before laughing out loud. He turned to his friend.
"Well? You heard him, Suzuki. Let's go and have some fun, shall we?" Suzuki chirped happily and flapped her wings.
Thought you'd never ask! Grab on! She laughed as she plummeted downwards, taking the two Nurarihyon brothers with her. Rikun laughed as he gripped onto Suzuki's feathers. He looked over to see Rikuo also laughing with delight and excitement, his eyes squinted from laughter.
Rikun smiled to himself and let himself enjoy the rest of the night alongside his brother and friends.
Tooryanse~ Tooryanse~
Which way is this narrow pathway?
This is the narrow pathway of the Tenjin shrine
Going in is easy~
But returning will be scary-y-y-
Short chapter this time but there's gonna be a super long chapter coming up next! Tooryanse and a couple more world building stuff is gonna be in the next chapter so please look forward to it!
Also huuuuuuuuge thank you to everyone who is still following this story! ^ It's always hard finding the motivation to write for a pretty much dead fandom but I'm glad you guys are all here reading this fic ^^
Thank you for sticking around and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!