Hey guys, back with another chapter! I don't have much to say other than I've got summer holidays while I'm writing this which might give you an idea of how far in advanced I'm writing this. Anyway, let's get going
Thanks a lot for the review Joemoe175!
Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or Nurarihyon no Mago
Enter, Rikuo Nura!
The bus stopped by a middle school, which didn't really surprise them as much as people would think. Since this was a new town with different learning stuff, going to a middle school wasn't too bad. Besides, it wasn't like the students were going to introduce them to the town, but more help them if they needed it. Which they would most likely not. Jess, Marie and Johannes went together, seeing how the two had questions only she could answer. They had been here for around 10 minutes and Jess still refused to tell them what happened in detail.
"Come on, why not? What could possibly happen from telling us what happened?" Marie asked, almost like she was a spoiled child who wanted candy but wouldn't get it.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you would try and pick a fight with you-know-who and get killed by doing so. Sorry, but I'm not telling you anything," she answered, not wanting to mention Sesshomaru's name here in the open. She noticed a vain pop on her forehead. Johannes sweated a bit himself, but he was on the opposite side of her, Jess in the middle. Which he was thankful for.
"You make me sound like some kind of short tempered moron who can't control her anger," she said, not happy in the least. Jess looked at the sky before answering her, like thinking about what she just said.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," she finally said, Marie losing it when she did. Johannes quickly went behind her and stopped her before she could start tearing her to pieces. Jess just kept looking at the sky, hearing chattering behind them.
"Alright, Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol! Let's go find some Demons!" someone yelled, catching her attention Marie was still yelling at her and Johannes was too busy trying to cool her down. She noticed 7 kids from the middle school walking around, some of them looking rather bored.
The kid who had been talking had black hair, which was very messy around his face and looked wavy at the back. He wore a white shirt which are usually worn by students as a part of their school uniform, and a pair of black pants.
"Geez Kiyotsugu, try talking a bit louder, I don't think people heard you," the blonde haired girl said. First thing that any guy would notice was how big her chest was seeing how she was just a middle school student. She was wearing her school uniform, which consists of a blue skirt, cream colored jumper with blue sailor like hanging from the back, much like Kagome's uniform.
"Well, excuse me for wanting to find these Demons before they all come out at night time. Unless you want to deal with all of them later," he said, all of them shaking their heads. Jess narrowed her eyes at the one with the glasses, sensing something odd about him.
"Demon? In our era? I thought Demons only appeared in the era InuYasha and they come from," Marie whispered, Johannes nodding.
"Well, something's up. Why don't we go ask them?" he suggested, Marie hitting him in the back of the head. "Ouch!"
"You moron! We can't just flat out ask them! That'll be suspicious! Right, Jess?" Marie said, looking towards Jess for support from her. But her friend was already gone and was walking towards the group.
"What were you saying about Demons?" she asked very bluntly, all of them turning to face her. "I overheard you, no surprise there I guess, so what are you talking about?" she explained briefly, the brown haired one panicking.
"Oh, i-it's n-nothing, really!" he said, laughing nervously at the end. Jess took the time to study him a bit more. His hair was multi colored when she looked closer. Light brown on the top half, dark brown on the bottom half. Hm, interesting. Never seen that before. She thought, looking a bit more at him.
His eyes were brown, which was a good thing Marie wasn't here right now because most girls are suckers for boys with browns eyes. He was wearing glasses, but it didn't seem like he needed it. Jess thought his eyes were clear, nut dull enough to be needing glasses. He wore his school uniform, black jacket and black pants, but instead of the white shirt that his friend had on, he had a red sweater underneath the jacket.
"Really? What's your name, kid?" she asked in the end, the boy calming slightly down.
"Rikuo Nura. And these are my friends from school-"
"The Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol! And we are looking for Demons, thank you very much for asking. Have you seen any around these parts?" he got really interrupted by Kiyotsugu, who had too much energy for his own good according to Jess.
"How do they look like?" she asked, Rikuo butting in.
"It's nothing really. We're really sorry to bother you. My friend is a bit obsessed with finding Demons, though he's never seen one," he apologized, bowing.
"Hm, being obsessed with things can actually be bad," she started, two of the girls rubbing it in his face. "but with something as Demons, you can never be too careful. Some are good, while some are bad. Better chose who to trust very carefully," she ended, walking off before they could ask her what she meant.
"Which means we shall continue on our search!" he announced, everyone sighing. Rikuo stared after Jess for a while when she joined up with her two friends.
"Something wrong, Rikuo?" a girl with brown hair which went slightly down her back asked, Rikuo shaking his head. Her eyes were yellowish and brown, khaki to put it more simple. And she wore the same uniform as the blond girl, who Kiyotsugu called Saori.
"No, it's nothing Kana. That girl...seemed a bit off, that's all," he reassured her, giving a soft smile at the end. She smiled back and nodded, another girl walking up.
Her hair was rather...odd to say the least. It was mixed with black down the ends until around the middle, where it would be a small mix of white and blue. There were two lines going horizontally in a wave like matter on the top of her head which were also black. She wore the same uniform, but had a white scarf tied around her neck and her eyes were blue.
"Maybe we should get home soon. It's getting evening already. Those people came here later than they thought, so they'll be walking around some more," she said, Rikuo and Kana nodding.
"Yeah, you're right Tsurara," Kana said, all 8 of them walking their separate ways. Except for Tsurara and Rikuo, who walked around the same path.
"That girl, was she really a Human? Or is she a Demon?" he asked, Tsurara shaking her head.
"I couldn't tell, but there's defiantly something fishy about her and her information about us. I'd say we keep our guard up until we know more," she said, Rikuo nodding as they kept walking.
Jess had been able to get away from Johannes and Marie, getting annoyed by all their questions. And she had a strange feeling something was a tad bit off. She had to be extra careful, since Sesshomaru still had her sword and she hadn't fully recovered yet. She had felt the presence of a Demon not too long ago, and was trying to figure out where it disappeared to. She wandered most of the town, aimless and no clue where she was going. But knew it had something to do with what does kids said earlier.
"That one boy, Rikuo Nura, he didn't seem normal. Not in the least. Something about him seemed very familiar. Almost like a Half-Breed, but weaker presences," she thought to herself, walking through the streets. It had already gotten pretty late, seeing how Marie wanted to drag her over the entire town. But, she was able to slip away.
"I'm telling you not to go near that thing. Who knows where it leads to?" she heard a very familiar voice said, from somewhere in the forest. She just stood there for a few minutes, trying to wrap her head around what she was hearing. IN the end, she shook her head so she wouldn't start checking.
"No way, how would he get here unless he's following Kagome. And if another school was coming, we would've known about it. I'm just hearing things…I hope," she told herself, but soon heard other voices which proved her wrong.
"Oh come on, InuYasha, it's not like we're trying to go and get ourselves killed you know," another familiar voice said, Jess sighing as she followed the sound.
"Really? Because going someplace we know nothing about is one way you CAN get yourselves killed! I don't care if you think you heard Sesshomaru's doll, we're not going through it!" the first voice yelled, Jess stopping at the middle of the woods. It looked like there was a crack in the air or something, and the voices came from the other side. What in the hell is going on here? I don't remember this being in their era, or sensing it here for that matter. She thought getting closer.
"Sit boy!" the second voice yelled after she took one step forward, making her stop in her tracks as a loud boom was heard. Poor Half-Breed, I actually feel sorry for him. Seeing how Sesshomaru is nicer to me than she is to him. She sighed, taking two steps back before leaping into the crack and landed smoothly on the ground in front of a group of people and a man with dog ears face down in the ground.
"Thought I heard you, seems like it wasn't my imagination," Jess said as she got up, looking at Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara.
"Jess! You're OK! We've been so worried about you!" Kagome cried, almost jumping on her. But Jess moved before she could reach her and she had to try and get her balance back.
"I don't see why. I don't remember asking you to worry about me. I can take care of myself and make sure Sesshomaru doesn't get hurt or killed," she said, closing her eyes as Kagome turned to face her.
"Not keeping yourself alive, though. You almost got killed 7 days ago, isn't that right?" InuYasha said as he got up from the mud, getting a cold eye from Jess.
"Why don't you just stay in the mud, Half-Breed. I don't need you to shot off your mouth about things you don't know," she scolded as he got up.
"Maybe, but I know your scent and the blood that runs through your veins. And I smelled a h\whole lot of it on that day," he pointed out, Jess not saying a word.
"In any case, we're glad you're OK. We were worried Sesshomaru had lost use for you and just left you for-" Sango hit Miroku in the stomach with her elbow before he could finish that sentence.
"That's enough out of you. Anyway, where does that opening lead to? InuYasha thought he smelled Demons on the other side, as well as something Kagome called machines," she asked as Miroku tried to get this breath back.
"Yeah, and since you and Kagome comes from the same time, and you just came from there, we thought you might know something about it," Shippo added, Kirara giving a soft mew to agree with him. Jess thought for a bit, wondering if she should tell them anything to begin with. Might as well, Sesshomaru hasn't told me not to say anything to them after the fight. Besides, what harm could they do to him since I'm going to tell him as soon as possible as well. She thought, breathing out slowly as she started explaining.
After about 5 minutes of her telling them what she knew, Myoga, the traveling and cowardly flea who knew just about everything, appeared on InuYasha's shoulder.
"It would seem her story has some connection to the old tales of a great Demon named Nurarihyon. He lead the Night parade with a 100 Demons following at his command. No one really knows where he is now or where is children disappeared to so they could continue the heir," he explained, Jess thinking for a second. Rikuo…Nura. Does the last name have anything to do with this Nyrarihyon? If so, then I was right, he's no ordinary kid .I might wanna figure more out before I draw a conclusion. And I should go and tell Sesshomaru right now. She thought, getting up and leaving before anyone could say a word.
"I'm guessing she wanted to tell Sesshomaru right away about this. Who knows, maybe he knew this place was here and sent Jess to investigate," Kagome said, sounding a bit worried.
"No, I would've smelled before then. She came from there without any orders, probably for school or something. By the way, didn't you mention a test or something?" InuYasha reminded her, making her sweat a bit as she remembered.
Jess kept jumping through the branches, completely forgetting the pain in her stomach until she pushed herself too hard and the pain made her fall to the ground with a big thump. She tried getting up again, her gut pounding from the pain.
"Damn it all, why does this have to happen now?" she asked, getting back on her feet. Only to start falling to the ground again and losing consciousness. She felt something soft and warm hit her face, her breathing getting heavier by the second.
"I told you to go back and rest, and you come back after a day? You don't like resting I see," a familiar voice said, her eyes opening a bit. Her body was too heavy for her to be as shocked as she was, seeing how the pain started going through her entire body.
"Sesshomaru," she said, her voice weak and trembling a bit. Her breathing wasn't calming down either, and Sesshomaru had no clue what he was supposed to do. He noticed blood going through her t-shirt, realizing her wound had re-opened while she was jumping. He growled slightly, hearing footsteps and the smell of Demon coming towards him. He looked towards his right, seeing a young man with blond hair standing by the tree.
He looked like a ordinary human, except for the fact that he didn't have a neck attached to his head. When he looked closer, the end of his hair was black. His eyes were amber, and he was wearing a black scarf. And it looked like he had been wearing it for some time. He wore a traditional male kimono, which wasn't too surprising. It was olive-green and he had a blue-green jacket over it. He also noticed red strings attached to it in some places.
"Who are you?" he quickly asked as the Demon walked closer.
"Not an enemy, my name is Kubinashi of the Nura Clan. If you want, we can take the girl to the Main House and treat her wound," he offered, Sesshomaru looking down at Jess. She wasn't going to get any better just lying and waiting for her wound to close again. It might get infected that way. He closed his eyes and nodded, standing up.
"Lord Sesshomaru! Where are you?" he heard Jaken call, both of them turning to see both him and Rin running towards them.
"When you didn't return as soon as you said, we thought something had happened to you. But it seems you're OK," Rin said, but lost trail of her words when she noticed Jess. "What happened to her? IS she going to be alright?" she asked in a very worried tone. Sesshomaru nodded, telling them both to stay here, only for to say the opposite right after.
"As long as they don't cause trouble for the Humans in the town we live in, they can come to. Better that then leaving them here while they just wait for you to come back from a place you've never been to," Sesshomaru thought for a second before nodding in agreement and the gang went. Black Fang was there too, but decided to just stay there and watch over things while Jess was unconscious.
Rikuo was walking through the halls of his house, meeting Tsurara in the garden.
"Ah, Young Master! Out walking again, are we?" she said, smiling brightly.
"Yeah, you seem to be enjoying yourself, Yuki Onna," he nodded, returning her smile. Yuki Onna was her real name, while Tsurara was the name she had while she was in the form of a human. In her true form, she wore a white kimono with really long sleeves, known as a furisode, and her eyes were amber.
"Young Master, Kubinashi went out a little while ago to check out that crack again. He thinks it leads to a different time in Japan from what he's figured out," another Demon in the water said, Rikuo nodding.
"Right, thanks for telling me Kappa. Tell me when he gets back so I can hear what he has to say," he told them both, the two bowing as he left.
Kappa had a large white plate on his head, making it look like a hat to protect him from rain, which was kind of ironic considering the name. Underneath, you could slightly see his black hair. His eyes were slit-like, and you couldn't see it now, but he usually has a ninja-like outfit on complete with tabi boots. His hands were webbed too, just like a fish.
"Isn't Young Master the best? He's always putting the safety of others before himself. The investigation was started because new Demons had appeared and killed Humans on the spot. He's always thinking about the safety of others!" Yuki-Ona said, almost sound like a girl in a fan club.
"True, but the Young Master also realizes the threat to the Household like this. The other Clans will think we're doing this," Kappa added, hearing footsteps coming towards them. They both looked over, expecting to see Kubinashi coming back. And they did, but their smiles went away when another Demon came into view with long, silver hair and a Human girl who was unconscious and bleeding. Yuki Onna recognized her, it was the girl from earlier who had heard them talking about Demons.
"What happened to her, and who exactly are you?" she asked, not trusting the new Demon.
"Relax, Yuki Onna. He's not an enemy…yet at least. He'll decide after he treat her. Help me get some medicine before the girl gets worse," he ordered kind of, Yuki Onna not wasting time and Kappa went under the water. Kubinashi lead the Demon to one of the rooms, a imp and a young human child following him.
"Why do you follow that Demon, young one?" Kappa asked, Rin stopping as he peeped out of the water.
"Lord Sesshomaru saved my life instead of leaving me for dead. I really admire him and he's always ready to protect me and Master Jaken. He may seem cold-hearted at times, but he's really caring. Which is why he came here to begin with, to help the girl in his arms," she explained, Jaken waiting for her.
"I see, then I guess I'll be seeing how caring he is while he's here. Because the wound the girl has is not an easy scar to heal. Both physically, and mentally. I can already tell," he said, making her confused.
"Rin, come along now! Lord Sesshomaru is waiting for us!" Jaken called after he stood there for 2 minutes. Rin nodded and ran off, saying good-bye to Kappa. He nodded and went back in the water without another thought.
Sesshomaru sat beside Jess, Kubinashi putting a wet cloth on her head.
"Once Yuki Onna comes back with the medicine, we'll have to leave the room so she can put it on properly," he warned him now, Sesshomaru not showing sign he heard him. He was just looking at his 'puppet' as her breathing was getting worse and worse. The door slid open, and Yuki Onna came in.
"The Lord of the Household wanted to see you, uh…" she started, Sesshomaru closing his eyes.
"Sesshomaru, and who is this Lord of yours?" he asked, Kubinashi answering for her.
"Lord Nurarihyon, I hope you've heard of him," he said, Sesshomaru giving one slow nod. He had, but didn't know too much about him. "I'll take you to him, you take care of the girl," he said, Yuki Onna nodded as they both got up and they left, closing the door. As they did, another two Demons came their way.
"Kurotabo and Kejoro, what brings you two here?" he asked, Sesshomaru looking at them both.
Kurotabo was tall, very tall in fact. His hair was a slight mix of blue and black, but it looked mostly black. He was dressed in a black monk robes, and a straw hat which was diamond shaped. Like Kubinashi, he was wearing a scarf, just white instead of black. He had an olive colored kesa, which are actually robes used by Buddhist monks and nuns, fastened by a ring around his robes.
Kejoro was a beautiful female Demon, with long flowing brown hair and brown eyes. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and covered half of her face. And the second thing anyone would notice, even if they didn't want to, was how big her chest was. Her
"We heard some girl had arrived with an unknown Demon. And I have to say, you're not too bad looking. I wasn't expecting you to be this handsome," Kejoro said, Sesshomaru not reacting. "I'll help Yuki Onna with the girl, you take them to see Master Nurarihyon," she said afterward, Kurotabo nodded as the three of them went towards an empty room with only an old man and a crow inside.
"Excuse us," they both said, opening the door and letting Sesshomaru in. He nodded at them, telling them to leave the two alone and they bowed before closing the door. Sesshomaru stood where he was, not bothering with sitting down.
The old man, who he guessed was Nurarihyon, was more or less what he expected. His head went kind of backwards from his face in the shape of a gourd. He wore a brown robe over a dark green kimono with traditional Japanese sandals. There wasn't too much to him honestly.
"Now, what's your name, and what business do you have here?" he asked, the crow flying to his side.
The crow was small, big surprise, and looked a lot like a sort of humanoid crow. His pupils were red, and on his forehead, he wore a dark red Tokin. He also wore a traditional crème colored robe, with prayer beads around his neck and tabi on his feet
"My name is Sesshomaru. That Demon, Kubinashi, lead me here in order to help a Human girl, is that so wrong?" he answered, Nurarihyon not satisfied with his answer.
"Why are you protecting a Human, you must have a reason for that," he said, Sesshomaru closing his eyes.
"Maybe if I knew a bit about what's going on, I might want to tell you," he said, Nurarihyon drinking from his tea. The crow, who was still there, looked very annoyed.
"How dare you speak that way to the Master of this Household? You've got some nerve!" he yelled, Sesshomaru not bothering with him. He was about to fly at him, when he got hit in the head by Jaken.
"You're the one who's got some nerve, showing such disrespect for Lord Sesshomaru!" he said, Rin staying outside of the room to not make things worse.
"Jaken," Sesshomaru said, Jaken quickly stopping.
"You as well, Karasu Tengu. There's no need to pick a fight. Now then, If I tell you what we know about the current situation, will you tell me a bit more about what's with the Human girl?" he asked, Sesshomaru nodding as he sat down, ready for a long explanation.
Wow, this turned out a lot longer than I thought it would. I just kept writing and writing and poof: almost 8 whole pages for me. And I don't have big letters either. Oh well, nice to get it done at least. Besides, since this took me ages to even get out, it's good to have long chapters in the beginning. Anyway, leave a review, and I'll see ya next chapter!