!
YellowWomanontheBrink is back with another chapter!
Anyway, before I start my normal rambling, I have to thank someone.
Thanks to Saperia, for being my regular reviewer! She's amazing, and I also enjoy her story, Falling Back. Check it out!
Anyways, I had this story halfway typed up, but the rare occasion that I had internet, I wanted to post up my next chapter before it got too long between updates. This one isn't RihanxLittleRikuo, but WakanaxLittleRikuo.
Because I was going through fanfiction, and I notice there are ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, no stories with Rikuo's relationship with his mother! So, this chapter will mostly feature Little Rikuo and my other short (really long) story. Why? Because, up there with Day Rikuo, Rihan, and Wakana he's my favorite character to write about. ;)
Proceed, my wonderful readers!
#13
Title: At home
Features: Rikuo (age 3) and Wakana
Rikuo shot up from bed, hair mussed. He flung his sheets off, running through the house, the unfortunately empty house. It was silent, all of the yokai out on patrol or just out of the house, to wherever they went to when they left. He slumped against the wall.
How am I ever going to convince otou-san to let me go out with him if I can't even stay up?
The young boy sighed and sunk lower. He had been pestering his father to let him out of the house at night, but Rihan had always gotten his serious look and said 'no' immediately. Not even the face had worked yet.
As if he'd had to the chance to try it yet. Most of the time, before the really late night even began, he was out of it and placed in bed. This was the first time he had gotten up in the middle of the night though.
He got up and idly wandered through the large house, avoiding the dark empty places, especially the courtyard. Rikuo sighed and peered through a window in one of the rooms at the tiny sliver of moon. He stuck his head out the window and felt th cool breeze wash over his small face.
From the left, around the curvature of the house, he could hear slight scuffling sounds from the gardens.
He ran outside through a small panel he had discovered and crept to the edge of the lavish garden, creepy in the nearly non-existent light. There, he spotted someone he had never given a particular thought of at night… he assumed she simply went to bed like he did.
"Okaa-san?"
Wakana turned around from the tiny sprout she had been fingering.
"Oh! Rikuo, what are you still doing up?"
He figured she was going to send him back to bed.
"I couldn't sleep."
To his surprise, she smiled a little. She motioned to the ground she kneeled on.
"Come on! Sit with your mother."
He eagerly ran over, wanting to see what had his mother so captivated, and was more than a little disappointed to find a flower.
"Isn't this exciting?"
Rikuo nodded dully, and Wakana laughed. "It's okay. You know, I never really showed much interest in flowers before I met your father."
He perked his ears up. It was rare he ever had a chance to just sit down and have a talk with his mother—so many others required her attention.
"Why?" he asked quizzically.
She shrugged. "I knew they were beautiful, and I loved them for that. But Rihan adored beautiful things, and I met him, I gave him the ones I had picked, roots and all. I was going to plant them a box in my room. I lived in a small apartment, and they didn't have gardens like this one. I would love to bring the flowers from beautiful places to my box and watch them grow,and then they'd die."
Rikuo furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why'd you give them away then? Otou-san already had this garden."
Wakana cocked an eyebrow and grinned wider. "You should have seen his face just then. He looked like you do when you make your sad face."
"like this?" Rikuo turned his eyes down and hung his head down, frown spread wide.
"Yes! Exactly like that!"
Rikuo crawled over his mother to sit in her lap and buried his face in her breasts.
"What happened next?"
Wakana looked up, as if thinking. "Well, I don't know what he'll say if I tell you…"
"Tell me!" Rikuo was practically beaming. He rarely heard much of his parent's history before they married. The wish to go on patrol had almost entirely fled the three-year-old's mind as he laid his head on her chest and listened to her tell stories of her and Rihan and fabulous adventures. Slowly, but surely, the sun crept into the air, and Wakana sat at the base of the sakura tree, picking stray petals from the double-toned hair of her son.
"Kaa-san?" Rikuo had asked her as sky turned a pale pink-blue. "Why weren't you asleep?"
"I've always stayed up all night. I don't want Rihan to come to a silent house, I'll wait for him every night as long as I live."
He yawned and repositioned himself.
"I'll wait every night with you too, Kaa-san. I don't want you to be alone in the house, by yourself. It must be lonely."
He dozed off, brown eyes slowly drifting closed.
That was the last thing Rikuo had told her as he fell asleep. Wakana had then migrated to Rihan's favorite tree, waiting patiently and fingering her only son's hair.
Quiet as the breeze, Wakana felt Rihan at her shoulder.
"Hi, Rihan," she said, not looking up.
The quiet was quickly broken as a mass of yokai arrived in the house, breaking the serenity that had lay across the house.
"Let's take him to bed, hmm?" Rihan questioned as he helped Wakana up, legs stiff from hours of sitting in the same position. They turned and headed into the house, another long day beginning for Wakana and a long rest for Rikuo.
Every night, until Rihan died and then some, Rikuo stayed up all night with his mother, listening to her stories or just sitting in silence with his mother.
Every night, she still stays up, and waits for her son.
And that is that :P ISPIRATION! Must've been on something, because she was so nice to me, I've got about three more short stories. Hope you enjoyed the bit of RikuoxWakana. Wait, I'm going to write one more RxW. Here it is!
#14
Title: I'm going to come up with one later.
Features: Rikuo (age 6) and Wakana
"Kejouro-san!"
Wakana's serious voice rang through the kitchen with commandeer.
"For today, I leave this house in your command. I cannot miss this day. It's practically the only thing that's gotten Rikuo's spirits up since…" she took a breath, "Rihan's death. I've prepared everything, so everyone, please act a little normal. I want to drop him off personally. It's not right to let a kindergartener* walk to school by himself. (A/N: okay, I don't know the schooling levels in Japan, and I can't research because hello? No internet? Yeah. Just go along with it.)
Everyone quieted down when Rikuo ran in the kitchen, lazily dragging his knapsack.
"Kaa-san," he whined, "it's so early."
"It's eight o'clock Rikuo, and school begins at eight thirty. You spend too much time with the youkai." She replied briskly. She watched him pull uncomfortably at his collar of his uniform, and she knelt and loosened it.
Perhaps I shouldn't have dressed him in traditional clothes the entire time.
Even when he went out, Rikuo had always dressed traditionally.
"Kaa-san, are you sure I'm okay?"
Wakana looked over her son as he fidgeted and shuffled on his feet.
"You look perfect… except…." She stood straight and shouted down at her son playfully, "Stand up straight! Head up! There! Now you're absolutely handsome!"
Rikuo smiled nervously at his exuberant mother.
"Let us go! Tsurara-chan, please help Kejouro-san clean up. I'll be right back."
She held her hand out for her son to hold, and headed out the door with Rikuo in tow.
Wakana watched as her son slowly grew more confident and began running ahead of her, down the main street, towards where his school was. She could see other children dragging their parents and grandparents—or in some cases, being dragged, all in one convergence. She could see teenagers chatting and reconciliating with friends. She broke into a jog, hiking up her long kimono to catch up with the tiny double-toned head of hair, just barely visible in the crowds of children.
When she finally caught up with him and got a firm grasp on his hand, she found him already chatting up a shy girl mostly hiding behind her mother.
Wakana tiredly offered her hand to the smartly dressed woman.
"Nura Wakana."
"Ienaga Ageha"
The doors opened and Wakana watched as Rikuo practically leapt up, grabbing Ienaga's daughter, dragging her inside with shouts of "Bye, Kaa-san! Come on, Kana-chan!" and Kana's single shriek of "B-bye okaa-san!"
Wakana smiled widely as the two disappeared into the rush of small bodies.
Just like Rihan said…he's so excited. And charismatic…
And that is also that! That just flitted through my head, and I decided to write it. Did I menton I adore writing about Little Rikuo? Because the next story is about him too ;) And just a note, I actually have no idea what Kana's mother's name is. I just read a chapter of Papillion: Hana to Chou and I decided to call her Ageha.
#15
Title: Yeah, same message as before. I'm not good with titles. =(
Features: Rikuo (aged when Rihan brought Gitsune, not sure if that's 3 or 4), and Hagoromo Gitsune/Kitsune/ Yamabuki Otome I have absolutely not frickin' idea what that lady's name is! She will be referred to as Kitsune here, and if I'm wrong, please correct!
It started out as another day for Rikuo when a large commotion started inside the room where Rihan held his meetings with the clan heads. Rikuo had decided not to attend.
"This is outrageous!"
"You cannot expect us to shelter her here!"
Rikuo ran inside and leaned close to the door to eavesdrop.
"Think about this rationally, Rihan."
"She almost killed your mother! And your father!"
He squinted through a small gap in the screen, and saw several outraged people on their feet, shouting at his father, who sat perfectly composed, as usual.
"I'm certain about it, and my decision is final."
Even his grandfather looked uneasy, and –was that a tinge of anger.
"You better know what you're doing, Rihan, or else this will come back and stab youi the back."
"Listen," Rihan said, with his hands up, "Let's not discuss this in front of her. "
Loud grumbling throughout the group of old yokai, and they dismissed for a moment. Rikuo started when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see his mother, who signaled shh…
He stepped back as she walked confidently in with a smile and tea. And she walked out with Rihan, who was trying to coax something out from behind him. When his efforts proved futile, he sighed.
"Rikuo, come on, there's someone I want you to meet."
Rikuo ran into the nearest empty room, waiting for father to come after him.
"Come on, Kitsune-chan," Rihan mumbled calmingly.
And much to Rikuo's surprise, a girl stepped out from behind him.
"Oh wow!" he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her out from behind his father. "You're pretty!" He smiled at her, and she gave a small smile back.
"Rikuo, this is Kitsune-san, Kitsune-san, my son, Rikuo."
She waved tentatively.
"Hi!"
Rikuo was so excited. Even though she was obviously a yokai, she was someone approximately his own age, if a little older. Even if she was quiet, she listened, if there was any evidence in the tears shining in her dark eyes, though none ran down her face.
He pulled her close. "Don't mind those guys," he whispered. "some of them are really mean, and they don't like me either."
Rihan smiled at his whispering son and left the room, prepping himself to deal with the certain angry retaliation of some.
.
. Three months later
.
"So," Rikuo said to Kitsune, "I will show you how to get out of trouble, if you do get in any."
Kitsune nodded silently.
"First thing, and the hardest thing to do, is pull off the face. You're really quiet, so look really meek and timid and timid and like you're gonna die and stuff."
Rikuo looked over Kitsune as she rocked back and forth on her feet, looking on and twiddling her thumbs, and whispered a perfectly soft, please?
"That's awesome! Okay, let's find Kurotabou and try it out. And then we'll try and get Kubinashi-san to see if he'll let you come to the market with us this time."
Rikuo peered around the corner of the hallway where Kitsune was Kurotabou for a shovel: the one thing Rikuo and Kitsune were officially forbidden from having after Rikuo had helped her get back at the Clan leaders. He noticed how all the yokai of the house were uncomfortable around her—as if they expected her to grow 30 heads or something. Whenever Rikuo questioned them about it, they'd say nothing and resume what they were doing as if he had not questioned them at all. Kitsune herself had no idea of the reason for the Nura Clan's hostility towards her.
Rikuo shook off his thoughts when he saw Kitsune run towards him, grin wide on her face.
"I got it! Do you think that Kubinashi would let me go with you?"
"Definitely."
They ran out into the garden with Rikuo leading and Kitsune following. Kurotabou watched the pair disappearint the back of the bushes where Rikuo often his when he didn't want to be found, i.e., when he was thinking up devious plots that would end up in absolute embarrassment for him.
He slunk back into the house, robes billowing behind him, praying that he wasn't on the receiving end.
A few hours later, absolutely confident, Rikuo and Kitsune snuck up behind Kubinashi, who held a big basket of clean folded clothes.
"Kubinashi-san," Rikuo began, "Can Kitsune-chan come with us to the market tomorrow?"
"We've been over this before. You already know my answer."
Rikuo noticed how hard Kubinashi was focusing on not looking at Rikuo. He did a subtle motion with his hands and Kitsune ran in front of the neckless yokai.
"Please? I'll be good."
Kubinashi broke.
"Fine…"
*At the market*
"Come on Kitsune-chan! This stall is cool!"
"Wait Rikuo-kun! I can't go that fast!"
Rikuo raced through the crowd, gripping the young yokai's hand, showing her the spun glass creations and making stupid faces through the glass, warping the image. She giggled, and he soon dragged her with hi to other stalls, and she followed with more and more exuberance, until they stopped at a flower stall.
"Brought a friend, huh?" the stall lady's young assistant said grin. "You gonna marry her?" she asked and made kissy faces at the two.
"Ew! Kitsune-chan here is like my sister!"
The stall assistant smiled and gave each of them a single bloom.
"Bye!" Rikuo called as he and Kitsune ran off to different stalls, Kubinashi shouting for them in the distance.
Rikuo ended the trip by bringing her to one of his favorite places—the candy shop.
"They have a ton of stuff here," he explained as they entered. "These are my favorite."
Kitsune wandered the small store.
"Rikuo-kun, what are these?" she said, motioning towards a row of brightly wrapped round things.
"I don't know, I actually never tried them." he peered around, then quickly unwrapped one and stuck it in his mouth, spitting it out immediately.
"These are disgusting."
The two separated, sneaking tastes of random snacks, until Kubinashi found them.
After convincing him to splurge on a bunch of sweets, they headed home in the afternoon sunlight, Kitsune grinning and trading candy with Rikuo, who was smiling brightly.
Kubinashi couldn't stop himself from smiling. Despite the fact the young yokai rarely spoke, nonetheless laughed, it was a nice sight to see. Rikuo rarely laughed as much as he did now, unless Rihan was playing with him.
*At home*
"Tou-san! Taste this one!"
Rihan popped the little jelly bean in his mouth, if only to appease his eager son, and screwed up his face at the sourness. Kitsune and Rikuo burst out laughing.
"Kitsune-chan made the same face!"
"So did you!"
"Yeah, but you were the one that said that he wouldn't!"
Rihan cocked and eyebrow as the two argued.
"Yeah, well I said that okaa-san wouldn't make that face, and she didn't!"
Rihan had to calm the two down, as they continued shouting.
"here, Tou-san, you can have the rest of these!"
Rikuo chasesd the giggling Kitsune out into the garden, where they disappeared into the bushes..
Rikuo had finally calmed down enough to ask Kitsune a question that had occurred to him randomly before theey'd left for the market.
"Hey, Kitsune-chan, where'd you come from?"
She sobered up as well and looked down to the ground.
"I don't know. But sometimes...It's like there's something there I've forgotten, and then there's another voice..."
Rikuo looked seriously at his friend.
"That's weird."
"Yeah..."
Guess what? That's the end of that story! And guess what else? This is the 50th page! Cookies for everyone who stuck with this story this far! :DDDDDDD New readers gets marshmallows!
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And this is the 51st! I'll stop now. :
#16
Title: Who's sleeping in my bed?
Features: You guessed it—Rihan and little Rikuo!
A/N: You know we've all done this ;)
Rikuo cautiously crept through the house—which was eerily silent as a black sky overhead illuminated nothing.
He tripped over his feet and landed hard on his chin in the darkness. He bit back a wail and took off running, sliding open the door to his parent's room.
The lack of the familiar shadows in his room as he lay awake freaked him out, and the harsh cold wind pounding on the window did nothing to ease him. Cold had crept up through his warm blankets and mat and made him shiver with—he was ashamed to admit it—fear.
"Otou-san? Okaa-san?" he whispered into the even darker darkness.
Nothing in reply but soft even breathing, and a slight movement as one of the two rearranged themselves.
"Mmmmm..." Rikuo muttered nervously as the chill of the wood floors sank itself comfortably between his toes, making them feel liken small blocks of ice.
Sighing, he let himself into the room and crawled silently inbetween his mother and father, listening to them mutter sleepily as they got comfortable around him.
"Rikuo... what are you doing here?" Rihan murmured groggily as he pulled his son and wife closer so neither fell of the mat.
"It was cold..."
"Well, you just make your self comfortable," Rihan said, quickly falling back to sleep.
Rikuo closed his eyes as he let his parents warmth sink into him, his mothers bosom pressed gently on his back, his face buried in Rihan's chest as sleep overcame him.
Yeah, I know, short, but this was inspired by something my little brother did. He came into my room all quiet and was like, "(Insert name here) it's cold in my room." And it was dark...
And I'm now going to conclude my other 'short' story', so I could get over it.
#17
Title: Conclusion of short story #7, which cont. to 8, which cont. to 12, which is finished in 17
Features: Just look back will you? You can'tve possibly forgotten.
A/N: Very short. Just goes to show you how much of a rush I was in when I uploaded the previous chapters. I forgot to copy paste this, and I didn't realize until I had already uploaded the document…
At first he hesitated.
Every strike he made was slowed to something that wouldn't hurt anything as he swung his sword at familiar faces and people that he was greeted by at least once every normal day. Every time he raised his sword and summoned his fear, it quickly fell away as a rugged man with his eyes rolling up in his head, clearly not in control of himself, he simply dodged whatever came flying at him.
I need to stop this…this isn't real…, he thought shaking sweaty hair out of his face.
He still couldn't bring himself to attack, that is, until he felt a flash of pain spread widely across his back and something warm and wet soak his clothes.
Rikuo turned, face contorted with anger, only to see nothing behind him and a sliver of fear creep on him.
He cursed out loud as he leapt back, head over heels as a shady figure appeared before him, just barely missing. Rikuo activated his own fear and vanished, watching the others below him confusion as their target vanished from their sight. They began to crowd around on the last spot he had been, shikigami inspecting the air and zoning in on him. Hje quickly cut them down and watched them disintegrate as he landed lightly on his feet outside of the crowd, slashing open one person's back as a thought occurred in his head.
If this isn't real, this must be her fear…
He watched as the figure dissolved in black tendrils of power, only to reform as a monster that turned on him as Rikuo faded into sight.
By then it was too late.
He tore through the crowd of people, trying to see his way through the black mist they dissapitated into once they were struck. He kept his head down, making sure not to look at faces, even though he knew they weren't real. He began to tire as he felt the strength leave him… he couldn't use his powers in the day continuously for long…
It's like they keep coming back…
He vanished and slipped out from the middle of the convergence to observe, and true to his thought, the mist was reforming quicker than they had been cut. It seemed that the 'mindless fighting' way wasn't going to work He looked around and to the left, he noticed the girl you who had caused all of this was sitting boredly to the side.
Perhaps… he thought
Perhaps if I cut her down, they'll all vanish, and I'll go back.
He changed his course of action and crept quickly on her, only to find a bright blade pressed against his own. He instantly recognized it.
"Nenekirimaru," he breathed out.
If he hadn't been fast enough, he'd have no head at the moment was the second thing he realized.
Nurarihyon came into existence before his eyes, faces pressed close as they pushed swords against each other, wide brown eyes narrowed at smaller gold ones.
They pushed apart from each other, and the mute Nurarihyon went to stand by his creator, who giggled girlishly.
"Wow," she said, impressed, "I didn't think you were bright enough to realize what would happen. I thought you would fight until you were insane." she smiled. "Just like all the others."
Rikuo narrowed his eyes.
"If I defeat you, I'll return?"
She touched her lip thoughtfully.
"Perhaps…"
Rikuo raised his sword defiantly.
"So be it."
He rushed at the girl, only to feel his blades stopped by the familiar feel of another pushing against him, overpowering him and sending him slamming hard into the dusty ground. Nurarihyon moved like a zombie, though quick and powerful, it was as if the movements were unused for long periods of time. The pattern was stiff and predictable, and Rikuo discovered he could easily avoid the strikes.
Almost without noticing it, he had pressed himself up against the house wall and could feel himself slipping slowly downward as his human self was easily overpowered and thrown to the side.
He cursed as he prodded his bodies for injuries as small pieces of wood and brick rained down upon him. Rikuo cocked his eyes to the left and saw the girl yokai staring curiously at the whole spectacle like it was amusing as he rolled to the side to avoid being sliced in half. He swung upward rather ungracefully, praying he would make a hit and was pleased to find the black smoke disperse as he made contact. Apparently this yokai didn't have entire control over the fear; only the bare minimum, and he took this in stride as he forced his slightly injured self up and ran towards where the girl was, clutching her neck tightly in his grasp.
Breathing hard, he looked his captive up and down, whereas she just stared limply.
"If I were to kill you now…" he murmured to himself.
She merely shrugged. "I don't know. You're the first to defeat my fear. Most die here first, wherever it is they are taken… and always at daybreak, when my fear is broken."
He snarled at her, and raised his sword…
And in the distance, saw the sky turn pink as the sun set in the false past he had been taken to, and grew overwhelmingly dizzy.
When his mind stopped its spinning and he collapsed to his knees in his Night form, he could see the sun set, turning the pavement red as the night awoke. Just out of the corner of his eye he could see the limp form of the yokai that had imprisoned him in her fear. He walked over to her and looked down.
"Leave," he said, and watched as the yokai girl glared and vanished into a red mist that disappeared into the red sky.
Yeah, yeah anticlimactic, I don't care. I suck at endings.
Blah. It's winter break ad I'm trapped in the house. I fear for myself.
Anyway, this is a long as hell chapter…
But I've done longer :)
I have to thank all the people who favorited this and put this story on alerts reviewed! Love you all!
Anyways, the next chapter will be that last in this installment of short stories. That doesn't mean I'll stop writing fanfiction for Nurarihyon no mago, it just means that this fanfic is getting too long and no one's going to sit through 80 chapters of my writing and long ass author rambling. So I'll be back, especially as soon as the scanlators for the manga fucking UPDATE! (Not that I'm pressuring them or anything—the scanlators that do it now do it very nicely and cleanly.)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
None of my favorite manga is being updated and I could cry!
Lucky for me, INSPRIRATION! Loves Christmas time and is therefore being generous with her ideas.
Because in addition to this, I just wrote 10 pages for my collection of original stories, this particular fanfic and started writing another one!
And I found a new obsession! Anyone here like D. Gray-man?
Things I have abandoned:
1) I tried writing a book fanfiction. I failed. Book fanfictions aren't really my thing.
2)I have officially given up hope for this book called Divergent. Something about it just puts me to sleep.
3) I have officially given up trying to warm my room. It's cold as hell here and I'm freezing my ass off writing this—the window is broken and 30 degree north winds are creeping into here.
That's all for now, enjoy the long ass chapter, and I'm sorry for constantly interrupting the stories with my mindless chatter. I have a problem.
Oh! And guess what? Just wondering what you people would like me to write (I'm very conscious of my audience) So don't feel shy to suggest stuff! ;)
YellowWomanontheBrink, out for tonight!
(Thanks for sitting through here if you actually read all this shit I just wrote :D)