Me: All righty! I'm back.
Yuki Onna: You didn't keep your pinky promise. It's been way over a month.
Me: …I don't own Nurarihyon no Mago.
Yuki Onna: That's right. Ignore the question.
Rikuo walked into a disaster area, and he knew it as soon as he opened the door.
"Well, well, well," Kazeshima said, an ever broadening smile on his face. Rikuo wondered how he could simply ignore the destruction that had used to be a guest area/relaxation room. The floors were torn up, the ceiling smashed down. Rubble was everywhere, and even Nura's sandals couldn't help the discomfort that it caused. The only thing about the room that was intact was the paper door Rikuo had entered from and closed behind him. "Sorry about the mess, but I kinda went on a rampage after you cut my hair. I mean, the scissors and bucket were nothing. But my hair? Do you know how hard it is to make it look evil enough to impress you opponent?" Kazeshima started hyperventilating.
Rikuo tried not to smile so obviously. Kazeshima somehow managed to calm himself and then continued his gloat. "It was easy to not mess up that door. After all, I couldn't have that omnyoji girl coming after me without you here." Rikuo pretended to look at his watch. "Am I boring you?" Kazeshima asked in what could be described as a screech.
Shrugging, Rikuo said, "I could care less about your little plan at this point. See, that omnyoji out there told me I had five minutes to reason with you, but if you want to waste that time gloating, I'll be more than happy to listen. However, be aware that it is my duty to rid my house of such a nuisance as a rogue yokai, so I myself will give you thirty seconds to tell me who you work for and why." Rikuo already knew half of that answer, but he had to hear it for himself, just to be sure.
What, you don't trust me? His Night Form bugged in. Rikuo mentally scoffed.
Not today, I don't.
Actually, Night Rikuo said rather pointedly, it's tomorrow today. Midnight passed awhile ago.
Rikuo could barely contain himself. Less than eight hours of this torture. Then Kazeshima rushed in at him. Oh, joy! Rikuo thought dismally, getting ready to block the attack.
Rikuo was thrown against the wall. He'd somehow managed to block Kazeshima's charge, but the force had pushed him five feet backwards. He couldn't believe the pain that shot up his back, but he ignored it, just as he'd been ignoring the thousands of other injuries he'd received that day.
"You want to know who I work for?" Kazeshima whispered, his face inches from Rikuo's. "I'll tell you, since it's my job to destroy you anyway."
Rikuo gulped. Reaching slowly downward, he grabbed the hilt of his sword. He didn't know why he hadn't drawn it sooner, but, for now, he needed its comfort more than anything.
"A yokai called Hitotsume and a few of his followers hired me and my rat friend for the day. Unfortunately, you destroyed my rat friend." Kazeshima shrugged. "More money for me. And more glory. Imagine, a mercenary destroying the Third Heir of the Nura Clan. I'll go down in the history books for this." Kazeshima held his head back and laughed. Rikuo drew his blade, and, with a warrior scream, took a swipe at Kazeshima. The air above Kazeshima thickened, and Rikuo found it hard to bring down his sword, but he pushed through. Kazeshima's laughing increased. "Go on, try to hit me."
Gritting his teeth, Rikuo pushed down hard, his sword breaking through the wind barrier and hitting Kazeshima across the chest. The wind yokai screamed. He couldn't believe it.
Rikuo sidestepped and ran to the other end of the room, putting some distance between him and Kazeshima. The air around him cackled, and he had barely caught his breath before a huge bolt of electricity seemed to engulf him. It took every ounce of energy he had to not scream aloud. He couldn't risk Yura hearing him. When the energy dissipated, Rikuo fell to his knees, his sword barely in his grip.
"You didn't bychance forget the fact that I control wind, did you?" Kazeshima cackled, slowly moving toward the wounded Rikuo. The Third Heir, using his sword to hold his weight, slowly got up. "Oh, so he's not done yet? How long do you think you'll last? One more minute? One second? Either way, you're just a human. You won't be able to defeat me in this form. It's actually quite pathetic."
Rikuo glared, but inside, he wondered if Kazeshima. Was his bet with his Night Form worth possibly dying for? What was the point? If he were in his yokai form, Kazeshima would be like a fly against the wall, and Rikuo would be the fly swatter. He wouldn't have to deal with this pain, either.
"No," Rikuo said out loud. "No, I won't let you win!" All of the sudden, every cut, every bruise, every sore muscle disappeared. It was just him and Kazeshima, and a space of air between the two. Moving faster than the wind, Rikuo closed the gap between him and Kazeshima. In a blaze of fury, he stabbed at Kazeshima, each blow causing the yokai to scream. He heard the air around him sizzle, but he didn't feel that wave of electricity that was coursing through his body. His mind was somewhere else. "You're through, Kazeshima!" Rikuo exclaimed. One final stab, and Kazeshima disappeared into a pink purification cloud. He had been defeated. He'd never come after Rikuo again.
Rikuo gasped for air, all the pain coming back. Before he lost consciousness, he whispered, "You lose…Night Form."
Then he fell to the floor.
…
"Yura!" Tsurara shrilled. Clearing her throat, she said again, "Yura! I didn't know you were still here!"
Yura glanced at Tsurura momentarily. "I did not know you were still here, either, Tsurara. Do you always spend this long in Nura's house?"
Tsurara blushed. "Do you?" she asked timidly. Yura didn't comment.
Behind Tsurara stood Gyuki, Zen, Daruma, and Shoei. All of them were dressed in jeans and a shirt, and any yokai traits were hidden. Yura paid little attention to them. Instead, she checked her watch for the nth time. "Nura has one more minute to come out of that room," she muttered to herself.
"Why, what's in that room?" Tsurara asked.
"Nothing that you should worry about. You and…the rest of the household," Yura motioned toward the other four people standing silently behind Tsurara, "should find a safe place to stay for the night. If I have a problem, I'll search you out.
In Tsurara's mind, that translated as, "If I find out that Nura is a yokai, you guys are next."
"If I may," Daruma stepped forward before Tsurara could think of anything to say, "you look exhausted. It's past midnight. Perhaps you should come into the main house and rest there for the night. I'm sure Rikuo will come out to see you in the morning."
Yura's watch beeped. "Time's up," she said. Turning to Daruma, she bowed. "Although the hospitality is appreciated, I will have to decline. However, I must impose and enter that room. Please forgive me. I am sure that Nura will understand."
Somehow, Tsurara and the rest doubted that. As Yura took a step forward, Gyuki said, "You think he is a yokai, don't you?"
Everyone froze.
"Say that was true. Say that Rikuo Nura was a master of the night, an antagonist of humans. Why would he go to a human school, have human friends, come out during the day, and always be looking out for you? Are those the characteristics of any yokai that you know of?"
Yura shook her head. "However, his behavior is suspicious, he always carries a sword with him in a quite obvious seam in his school uniform, and he is always running off before yokai appear. I must investigate."
"I do that too!" Tsurara blurted. "Does that make me a yokai?"
"Perhaps." Yura headed toward the door, not looking behind her.
"You know better than anyone that Ukiyoe Town is a dangerous place. The Nura family has a lot of money. Rikuo is probably just protecting himself-"
But Yura had already opened the door.
…
Hitotsume looked down at the unconscious Rikuo. He'd entered the room through a back corridor, fully expectant to see a giddy Kazeshima asking for his extra fifty percent. Instead, he saw no Kazeshima and an unconscious human Third Heir.
He huffed. Figures. Looking to his left, then to his right, he made sure that he was in fact alone. The others from the meeting had disappeared, probably looking for more tea.
"A yokai's job is a yokai's job," he grunted, stepping forward. "I'm gonna have to finish this one off myself. I tried to save the pathetic Third Heir, but that mercenary got to him first. The least I could do was avenge his death."
Suddenly, Rikuo stirred. Blinking, he turned to see Hitotsume. Rikuo's eyes were glazed, still dazed from the deep darkness of the subconscious. It was now or never for Hitotsume.
"So sorry," he said, then put his foot on Rikuo's back. The Third Heir grunted, trying to push back. "See, if you were a yokai, this would be nothing." Rikuo mumbled something, but Hitotsume didn't hear it. "Come again?"
"I said, 'If you were a human, you'd know that this would never work." With a heavy grunt, Rikuo swiped upward with his sword, cutting Hitotsume's leg up to his knee.
"Aaaaack!" Hitotsume yelped, jumping on one foot.
Rikuo slowly sat up, then stared defiantly up at Hitotsume. "Now-"
But before he could say anything else, Yura stepped into the room. She gasped. "Get away from Nura!" she yelled, taking out two shimigami strips and letting them fly toward Hitotsume. The yokai flinched.
Before they could reach Hitotsume, though, Rikuo cut them in half with his sword. "What are you doing?" Yura asked, appalled.
"This yokai was lost. He was asking for directions to Fiji when I accidentally swiped him with my sword. He's harmless," Rikuo answered. "And if he ever tries something like this again, more than his foot will get cut. In the meantime, I think he should be going."
"But Nura!"
"The Nura house in an old building, Yura," Rikuo explained, his eyes trained on the retreating Hitotsume. "We get many yokai from time to time, and we handle them peacefully. If we don't, then who knows what would happen to the house!" Yura stared at Rikuo thoughtfully. No wonder he was always so nervous about others coming to his house. "And if any unwanted, mean yokai come, well, the Nura Clan always has a great many precautions set up. Just in case."
Me: Next chapter...Epilogue! In the meantime, vote on the poll in my profile. The results will be up in the next chapter.
Yuki Onna: Vote for me and Rikuo!
Me: Until next time, this has been the Final Battle!