Author's Note: Sorry for the late chapter release! For some reason I get sick like...every two weeks but this time it was like for an entire month ._. Not only that but I lost my microsoft words so that brought down my morale and its the last month before school, it's entirely hectic XP
Now, enjoy this long-awaited chapter! :D
"Why do you need to go to Kyoto for? Why don't you take care of them yourself?" Tsurara asked him furiously.
"Well you see…if these Youkai can operate in the daytime, then I can't be there to save everyone. Not only that but I'm simply showing Rio more about the world of Youkai. I don't need to be relied on all the time. The Hyakki Yako needs a replacement leader when I'm doing things like this." Rikuo told her.
"I don't really get it…but…I want to come along!" Tsurara insisted.
"Eh? Why?" Rikuo raised an eyebrow.
"Because…I wanna see exactly how you are trying to help Rio by hiring Yura! Also because he needs to appreciate life without us, and we need some romantic time together~! Fufufu~" Tsurara answered him.
"Romantic time? This is a business trip! No time for that! Now let's pack up and quickly head for Kyoto." Rikuo scolded her.
Rio slowly rose up from his futon and slid open his door. The sun was shining brightly and it blinded him.
Wait…mom didn't wake me up? That's strange… Rio thought to him, as he walked out of his room, covering his eyes from the sun. "Oi…mum?"
"Ah, Tsurara and the third aren't here right now." Kubinashi told him, and spun string around his fingers. "Lunch is made by Kejoro today."
"Oh, thanks." Rio smiled at him. No more frozen foods…literally frozen…hooray! Only my Youkai form loved that garbage.
Rio roamed his house until he made his way to the kitchen, there Kejoro was simply washing dishes.
"Hey! You made lunch for me? I heard from Kubinashi." Rio greeted her.
"Yup!" She smiled at him. "A nice sandwich." She handed it to him.
"Looks pretty good…n-no veggies right?" Rio eyed her. "Actually I'll check."
Rio opened the sandwich and saw a glob of hair tucked inside. He quickly closed it and handed it back.
"What the hell is this shit? If it's not frozen food, it's a bunch of hair in my food? Forget it! I won't eat until dinner today!" Rio yelled at her and stormed out of the house and headed for school. Whatever, I'll just steal some off Misaki or Toru.
The weather was all cloudy and looked like it was going to rain, slowly Tsurara and Rikuo felt small drops of water falling from the sky.
"We're here~!" Tsurara hugged Rikuo in triumph.
"Yeah, and it only took us like…3 days." Rikuo sounded surprised.
They stood in front of the Keikain house and just stared.
"Um…I think we should knock on the door." Rikuo suggested.
"Y-y-yeah b-but" Tsurara slowly turned to him, chunks of ice formed at her arms. "I'm scared."
Rikuo just cupped his mouth with his right hand and laughed. "Clearly." He rang the doorbell.
"Run!" Tsurara ordered him.
"W-what?" Rikuo called back.
"Doorbell ditch! It's a human prank! Run!" Tsurara began fleeing.
Rikuo looked left and right and then chased after her. Just what are we doing?… He nervously scratched his head.
Tsurara continued to run at full sprint, but her robe was slowing her down. People jumped out of the front door bushes and surrounded Tsurara.
"You, stop." The person ordered Rikuo.
The person looked very young, and wore a black onmyouji robe. The two other people were also wearing a black robe.
"Just what is a human like you…" He stared at Rikuo. "Casually hanging out with a woman like her? She's a Youkai you know~" He said quite slyly.
The boy's hair was black, his eyes dark brown and he held a card with a charm attached to it, up to Tsurara's neck as if treating the card like a knife. Rikuo ran to save Tsurara and the boy removed the card from her neck and prepared himself for Rikuo.
"And just what is a human like you?" He threw a card at Rikuo. "Doing defending a Youkai?
Rikuo dodged the card by moving his head. Is he trying to kill me? I can't do anything I'm not in my night form! But Tsurara…!
"Hey, you…person, she's a Yuki-Onna you know~ Have you, a human…fallen for this Youkai?" The boy glared at Rikuo and then threw one more card.
Tsurara blushed red from hearing those words, even though they were already married, it made her heart skip a beat.
Rikuo smirked and opened his mouth, "Yeah, I have. Because-…"
There was a quick flash from a tree and suddenly a figure was standing behind the boy and held his arms up. "Because if you had better instincts, you'd know that this man, Rikuo Nura…is also a Youkai, a Nurarihyon. You failed this simple mission, Kiyoshi and you tried hurting someone who you thought was human. That's dangerous. Now take remove your two clones."
"R-Ryuuji Keikain!" Rikuo gasped at the sight.
"Yura's older brother?" Tsurara seemed shocked as well.
"Yeah, that's me." He let go of Kiyoshi. "Well what brings you two here, going all the way out here to visit Kyoto?" Ryuuji asked them.
"Well…" Rikuo took a moment to think about that.
"Ah…I was wondering who rang the bell on the door. I was quite annoyed to find out they RAN AWAY!" Yura yelled at both Tsurara and Rikuo.
"It was her." Rikuo pointed at Tsurara.
"Hey! Be mature!" Tsurara stuck her tongue out at him.
"Doesn't matter! Now continue on Rikuo. I'm interested to hear why you are here." Yura nudged him.
"Well…I want to know something first." Rikuo told the onmyoujis.
"Typical Youkai…" Kiyoshi scoffed and received a light punch from Ryuuji.
"Who is that kid?" Rikuo pointed as Kiyoshi.
"Kiyoshi?" Yura wondered and then he nodded at her. "Kiyoshi Keikain, he's our youngest Onmyouji that can actually do missions and not training. 12 years old, no parents, currently being mentored by Ryuuji and strangely looks like him."
Kiyoshi kept nodded his head proudly at everything she said.
"He specializes in assassinating Youkai, using cards that have charms on them for effectiveness. His onmyouji is someone who creates a clone or illusion of himself, it works as intimidation but does no damage to you. As for his personality, he despises Youkai and has annoying jokes. However one good point is that, he's very determined and hard working." Yura finished.
"You know…you could have stopped the '12 years old' part." Rikuo awkwardly scratched his head and turned away from her.
"Then tell me sooner! Wasted my breath!" Yura shouted at him.
"Well now they know my identity!" Kiyoshi glared at them. "Sorry for almost killing both of you, I had no idea…she was friends with Youkai."
"Anyway…I'll tell you the reason we're here." Rikuo headed for the Keikain house's front door. "I like it better in here!"
"Why did he just barge into my home?" Yura sounded a bit annoyed.
Heh…manners Rikuo! I know Nurarihyon is a Youkai that sneaks into other peoples homes but don't do that for an Onmyouji's house! Tsurara felt a bit nervous.
"So, the reason I'm here is…to run away from my son and teach him responsibility." Rikuo said bluntly.
"That's it?" Tsurara yelled at him. "He might be dying or something!"
"Uhhhhhh 5 days…food…5 days…of Misaki's and Toru's amazing lunches! Woo! Go away frozen lunches! Rio cheered happily.
"Actually…it's because my son, Rio has just entered the Youkai world…and I feel like he needs to know more. So I kinda saw this kid, on Kiyotsugi's show…he looked about the same age as Rio and he actually is his age. So I'm asking Kiyoshi…if maybe he'd like to become friends with Rio, or possibly even a rival?" Rikuo wondered.
"Who would become friends with a damn Youkai?" Kiyoshi stood up angrily.
"Kiyoshi!" Yura screamed at him.
Rikuo smiled at him. "There's been a recent case. The Youkai report that Kiyotsugi told everyone on T.V was true, surprisingly, and those Youkai attacked Rio's classmates. Now Kiyoshi…aren't those Youkai…the worse type of Youkai that you MUST get rid of?"
Kiyoshi seemed to be shaking his hands.
"Not only that, but there are many Youkai in our town that just roam around causing harm to civilians for fun. Now my Hyakki Yako can get rid of them, but there's so many, and we don't want to have a name like the Hyakki Yako that kills any Youkai who get on their turf. So if you come in, your name can install fear in Youkai." Rikuo kept trying to persuade Kiyoshi.
"Oi, Rikuo…you don't mean that do you?" Tsurara whispered in his ear.
"No…it's just to tempt him into visiting Ukiyoe town." Rikuo whispered back.
"I…I…" Kiyoshi couldn't respond to any of this.
"Kiyoshi, you're going." Ryuuji told him. "You look tempted to go. However I can already tell, Rikuo doesn't want you to kill mercilessly. He was just trying to make you follow him."
"Ryuuji! Don't just say something like that, and expect me to work for a Youkai!" Kiyoshi snarled at Ryuuji.
"I'm expecting you to work for a Youkai. It'll help you grow as a person, to realize…not all Youkai are that bad." Ryuuji eyed Rikuo. "Now when you go to Ukiyoe town, you are expected to follow Rikuo's commands."
"My commands? No no. Tsurara and I are staying right here!" Rikuo smiled at them.
"Really? Amazing!" Tsurara's eyes gleamed happily.
"Tsurara!" Rikuo held her tightly. "We're explore this entire town, like the tourist we are! And we're staying at Hotel Keikain for FREE!"
Yura shook a fist at him. "Who's staying here? And for free?"
"Wait…then who is Kiyoshi going to follow orders from?" Ryuuji asked them.
"He isn't going to follow orders from anyone, he's going to get rid of the problem occurring there. You should be able to sense if, the minute you step into Ukiyoe and while you're there. You should attend Ukiyoe Middle School. I warn you though don't hurt any of my clan members." Rikuo told him with all seriousness.
"Rikuo, he can't be trusted without supervision, so I'll go with him, but not interfere." Ryuuji responded to Rikuo.
"Alright." Rikuo nodded his head.
"This trip seems fun~!" Tsurara cheered.
"At least pay for staying here!" Yura begged.
"Fine, if Ryuuji-Sensei is going, I'm okay with that." Kiyoshi shrugged his shoulders.
Ryuuji stood up and commanded. "Alright then, pack up Kiyoshi…we're off to Ukiyoe Town!"
Possible Title for Next Chapter : Onmyouji in Ukiyoe Town