I thought it was odd that the kid would inform the Young Master of all these human things. Felt a little like betrayal, at least to me. What if a youkai did that for the onmyouji? It would've been crazy back then! All's well that ends well, I guess. - Aotabo

4 years ago, Ukiyoe

"Rikuo-kun pulled out, Kiyotsugu-kun," the teacher informs him. It's been a couple of days since the incident, and Kiyo needed to apologize to Nura, explain that he knows better now. "His family didn't give us any specific reason, other than the fact that he's receiving private tutoring at home."

Baffled, Kiyo lost no time on tracking Nura. He had wanted to ask Kana, but the girl had hardly said a word since her return, and Kiyo didn't want to agitate her any further. Thankfully enough, Shima knew where Nura lived. With a thank-you and a wave. Kiyo departed.

Something had stirred in his heart at the sight of the magnificent wooden gates. They were (still are) an intimidating construction despite the subdue and traditional architecture of the whole property. Later on, Kiyo would know it to be a youkai thing. Their essence sipped into the structure and gave it an aura of power inanimate objects shouldn't possess. Even humans that were not spiritually aware had enough common sense to shy away from the things they weren't meant to mess with. Kiyo clearly had been born without that fundamental part because not even his unease kept him from ringing the doorbell.

He would be by those same gates many more times and be thrown away each. Sometimes it'd be a sweet blue-haired girl (Ah, you see, Master Rikuo is like super busy! But I'll let him know you stopped by.), others it was a blonde-haired man (You can't come in, leave.), others it was a stunning woman with brown hair (Ara, a friend of the Young Master, you say? I'm sorry, boy, but we cannot let anyone in).

They weren't the only ones; monks, children, and at one point, even an old man. They all came to open the door, but they never let him in. Almost all of them referred to Rikuo as "Young Master" or "Lord Rikuo." Was Nura's family wealthy? Kiyo had wondered.

Though his actual meeting with the boy he had searched for had been another thing entirely. Unpredictable to a fault, though, why had Kiyo expected any less when dealing with ayakashi? Kiyo hadn't found Rikuo Nura. Rikuo Nura had found him.

Kiyo had gotten out of school late that Wednesday. He had been by Nura's house again the day before, but the blonde-haired man (who had grown progressively more irritated with his visits) had told him that Rikuo wasn't in. Kiyo knew most of the times that the excuses the servants (were they servants?) gave were lies. How busy could an eleven-year-old be? But he could do nothing but keep trying.

It had been almost a year since the incident with the bus, and things had finally died down. Kiyo's father still insisted on sending him to school via private driver instead of taking the bus. As long as the chauffeur allowed for the small deviation to visit the Nura Manor every other time, Kiyo can't care less.

The girls weren't as jumpy, and even Kana had snapped out of the zombie stage she'd gone into. She still denied the whole affair, and the only time she acknowledged the accident, she used the little breath she had before a panic attack to curse the youkai that saved them to hell and back.

She had become insecure and clingy, scaring easily, and been under the wheater often. Kiyo feels terrible for her. He really does, but Kana had become insufferable since that day. Spoiled by the teacher's left and right, and hanging onto Maki and Torii as if her life depended on it.

There was also the fact that, since Kiyo doesn't hate all youkai for the sin of existing, Kana hated him on principle. Whatever.

Thinking of his fellow classmate only serves to sour his mood. Kana will eventually realize the error in her ways. Kiyo trying to tell her she is wrong only ends with Kana crying and him being punished by the teacher, which isn't cool.

He shakes his head to get rid of those thoughts, thinking about going over to Shima's today. They had a test tomorrow, and Shima was so much better in Math than Kiyo was. All those numbers, if there were multiplication tables on hand, why the heck should he have to memorize them? School is so stupid.

Those had been his thoughts when suddenly he felt it.

A chill worthy of the netherworld creeps along his skin, and Kiyo becomes achingly aware of another presence next to him. The market is full of people, and his impromptu companion was hardly the first to pass by Kiyo or walk with him that day, but somehow, Kiyo knows this is something else.

Hesitantly, his view drifts around, causing him to brush close to a passerby, but eventually, his coal-colored eyes meet crimson red. A devious smirk is sent his way as the young youkai who had saved Kiyo strolls next to him, in a very public market, in sunlight without a care in the world. It's like they've formed a bubble frozen out of reality; no one else seems to see him. Kiyo stops dead in his tracks, but a sharp glance and a 'Keep walking, Kiyotsugu' from the new arrival set him into motion.

"Walk towards the park." And so Kiyotsugu does. What else is he supposed to do? Kiyo doesn't want to admit it to himself, but he is scared. Despite not looking much older than himself, the boy next to him was a mighty creature capable of commanding a hundred youkai. Not precisely someone on the lists of people Kiyo wants to cross.

His heart beats furiously at his throat, Kana's fear echoes inside it. Kiyo doesn't want her to be right, but he can do little for the world. His body reacts to the presence of the unnatural.

The pair walks towards the more secluded section of the park of downtown Ukiyoe. Kiyo is still caught up in between paralyzing fear and building excitement. He is reminded of waking up to wrecked darkness. Ever since that day, Kiyo waited for this moment; part of his plan had been to become a demon investigator to thank his savior for what'd he'd done. This is so much more convenient. A million questions bloom in his mind, the most important, though, how does the youkai know him?

Finally, they arrive at a small patch of the garden hidden by lush trees, Summer making itself heard. The young ayakashi steps away and faces Kiyo, his red eyes scrutinizing. Kiyo lives the surreal experience of having the hair on his nape stand on end. The silence stretches for a long time, and finally, the youkai speaks.

"You don't seem overly worried," he notes, "Being alone with me." Kiyo stands confused for a moment.

"Should I be? I mean, you saved my life," Kiyo smiles hesitantly, too many things to be said hiding in his mouth. "I still haven't been able to thank you for that; if you and your friends hadn't arrived at the cave in, the other kids and I would've been done for." Kiyo's eyes darkened minutely; it really had been an awful day. He meets youkai eyes head-on before bowing. "So, thank you for that."

"You're thanking a youkai?" the young ayakashi questions, disbelief evident in his voice and a rueful smirk on his face. Kiyo hesitates, but the tone of the question betrays that it is not meant to be answered. Finally, Kiyo only settles for nodding, though the other boy hardly pays attention. He smirks at Kiyo lightly, and he doesn't feel any less dangerous but appears.. softer, somehow. Kiyo's not sure what happened, but he's glad.

"It is my job to exterminate arrogant vermin like that," the youkai dismisses, "Regardless, I hope to ask you for a favor, Kiyotsugu."

"If there's a way I can repay my debt to you, I will. Anything you... " Kiyo drifts off, just who did he owned an obligation to? The other catches on to his doubt, mildly embarrassed for not asking his name before, and real amusement lights up his expression. It's one that promises mischief.

"I am the Third Heir of the Yakuza Clan of the Nura, Nura Rikuo."

Well, in all of Kiyo's wild theories, his classmate himself being a youkai had apparently never come up.

Present time, Ukiyoe

This is hardly the first time Kiyotsugu finds himself waiting in one of the many rooms of the Nura Mansion. Like most of the other places Kiyo has been allowed into, it is painfully bare but clean. Not an iota of dust on any of its surfaces. Next to him is a low wooden table with a pot of tea in beautiful china and a plate of Mitarashi Dango. Kiyo had yet to take a bite of the food.

A woman with really long hair (really long hair) had brought it in mere minutes before, it isn't the first time that Kiyo sees her, but he still doesn't know her name. He hasn't exactly made friends with the members of the Mansion, not by a lack of trying, mind you. Typically, Kiyo wouldn't have spared a passing thought to the unnatural length the woman sported. Though, knowing in whose house he is in led him to stare at the woman warily despite being rude.

Kiyo really likes youkai, he finds them fascinating, but he is painfully aware most youkais don't like him. Nonetheless, manners have been drilled into him from attending countless high-end parties and business meetings with his parents, so he bows his head and thanks her for the refreshments.

Kiyo wishes he could feel more relaxed. Every time he takes a visit to the Nura Household, an unearthly chill seems to settle on his spine that refuses leave. Kiyo could compare it to the feeling of being unknowingly watched, which makes no sense. Kiyo doesn't think he's being watched; he knows it. The smaller youkai aren't exactly inconspicuous.

Kiyo still remembers his first visit to the Mansion. It'd been a while ago, almost three years. He had been outside the gates many times but had always been rebuffed. He hadn't been close with Rikuo when he attended school, which had been the place of Kana Ienaga. But his harsh words the day of the bus incident, coupled with – what he knew now, and probably had known subconsciously then – Rikuo's subsequent actions in saving their lives, had dragged him to the haunted household many times.

His thoughts are broken with the arrival of the Young Master of the house himself; he is wearing a red yukata, feet covered by traditional socks. Even in such ordinary clothes, Rikuo Nura makes for an imposing figure. His red eyes settled on Kiyo with supernatural intensity, framed by white and black tresses. At his back, the blue-haired girl, Yuki Onna, is one of the few youkais Kiyo has spoken to. He only catches a glimpse of her as she slides shut the shoji door behind her master. Nura loses no time to sitting down opposite of Kiyo. His sword (which Kiyo notes never leaves his side) rests upon his knees. As he pulls his hand away, Kiyo doesn't miss a glimpse of a white bandage under the long sleeve, not when he had been looking for it.

"What is it, Kiyotsugu? I hardly think this haunted Mansion is your favorite place to visit." His smile is undoubtedly endearing, but the human knows better than to find it friendly. Kiyo is pretty sure the second statement is a question; the young heir probably doesn't put it above Kiyo to do something like drop by for a social calling. Now that he thinks about it, neither does Kiyo himself.

"There's a new girl in my class; she comes from Kyoto."

"Yes?"

"Her name is Yura Keikain," he expects for the revelation to drop, for some reaction from the Third Head of the Nura Clan at the implications of such a thing. Instead, Rikuo pulls out his pipe and calmly prepares the herbs. Silence reigns long enough that the youkai looks up at Kiyo as if confused about what happened to the rest of the story.

"Yes?" he questions once more.

"Rikuo," Kiyo mumbles, surprised, "you know... Keikain?"

"Do I know her?" he seems to frown, "I was once in Kyoto."

"She's from the Keikain of Kyoto, Rikuo," Kiyotsugu stresses, "from the legendary onmyouji family." A single eyebrow arches at Kiyo's explanation; Rikuo lights his pipe with the same careful movements. Once it's smoking, he switches hands, hiding his left arm inside his kimono. It looks natural enough, but once again, Kiyo is looking for the odd hand play.

"Onmyouji, huh? I didn't think I'd see the day," his body language is always steady, and he relaxes his shoulder while pondering the connotations of Kiyo's visits. It's an illusion, the human knows; Kiyo is very aware of the anger rippling under the surface. A reminder he keeps close to his heart that for all his tempered mannerism, little can stop Rikuo when he's angry. Kiyo has seen more than one being try.

"We don't have any, right?" he offers out loud, to which Rikuo shakes his head in agreement.

"Not for centuries, Kanto youkai run themselves."

"...Is this going to be a problem?" Kiyo thinks back on Keikain's shy introduction; she doesn't really scream venerated onmyouji by the way she stands.

"I don't think so," Rikuo replies, letting out a stream of bitter smoke. "Keep an eye on her; I wanna know what an onmyouji from Kyoto is doing all the way out here. Is she by herself?"

"I'll let you know," Kiyo should've waited a couple of days for more specific information, but he'd just been too surprised. He thinks about Kana and Keikain having lunch with the occult club but decides it's better to keep that little detail to himself. Rikuo... doesn't look too bad today.

I got a comment that we needed Rikuo in this story ASAP hahahah we'll see more of him soon :)