Disclaimer: Nuramago is not mine and never will be.
Warning: blood, violence, hints of yaoincest, foul language, AU, mistypes and grammar problems…
A/N: Yaaah, sorry for making you wait for this update. Ehehe, got too caught up writing Nura's Golden Days… Anyway, I don't want to make you wait any longer. Please do and read~ XDD
Chapter 11: All is Fair in Love and War
Somewhere in Kyoto—
In a top floor of a tall building belonging to a certain big corporation in Japan, a senior high school girl was looking out of the window to the city bellow. Her skin was so fair and pale like porcelain, her hair straight and long, reaching the back of her thighs, the color of jet black matching her eye color and her clothes, or her sailor uniform, actually.
A cell phone was in her hand as it vibrated. She brought it up and answered it leisurely. "Hello," her voice was high, aloof, and cold to the hearing of other people. "Ah, Tama-chan," she smiled when she heard the voice from the phone. "No need to be so grumpy with me. I gave you what you want, right? A chance to bring that family down with your own hands…," she paused slightly as she heard 'Tama-chan' speak again. "No, I won't give you a direct help. But if you need reinforcement…," she stopped again and smirked. "I believe you and your 'friends' are strong enough to destroy them."
The girl then turned her back on the window and leaned on it. "No, why do you think I asked you to join forces in the first place?" she waited as her opponent answered that and she looked surprised. "I'm impressed… you're so smart as always," she laughed slightly.
"You can do whatever you want, Tamazuki. As long as Nura Gumi perishes…, I don't care if you want to conquer 'us' later on," she said again before saying good bye to Tamazuki and cut the connection. She then dropped the phone to the floor and stomped on it, cracking it apart. "Trash," she said coldly while caressed her soft hair to the back.
"I really don't like it when you use that foul language in front of me, Gitsu."
A man's low baritone voice was heard from the sofa direction in the middle of the room and the girl looked up at him and her face instantly changed into the 'I'm so in love with him that dying right now is totally worth it!' kind of expression. "Ah… I'm sorry, dear…. I'll remember to behave when you're around," she said shyly with dazed looking eyes.
She then approached the man on the sofa and sat beside him before sticking herself on him by hugging his arm and leaning so closely to him. The man turned out to be a young man probably in early until mid twenties with shoulder-length wavy red-soil colored hair and black eyes.
"Good if you understand. You're so similar to her. I can't imagine her speaking so crudely," he said while stroking her hair softly.
"Yes… Sei-sama," she said happily while closing her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder contently.
0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0
Rikuo stared at in front of his class, slightly dumbfounded when Gozumaru and Mezumaru introduced their selves in front of his classmates.
To think that they would become classmates…, it was beyond Rikuo's sense that Rikuou could pull strings to get those two to be in the same class as Rikuo.
"Gyuuki's influence aside, it's me, you know. Who do you think I am?"
Seriously, Rikuo could almost hear his half brother speaking with that super confident tone, a long nose and a smug expression on his face.
Mezumaru ended up wearing the girl's sailor uniform after all, after he had been praised by Rikuo for being 'cool' with cross-dressing. Moreover, Mezu looked confident and damn good in it too. The boys in his class were totally into him, judging from the sparkling eyes they showed when they looked at him, without knowing that he was a boy, of course.
Gozumaru, on the other hand, looked more aloof and bored, but somehow, that didn't lessen his cool exterior, being totally ones of his appeals as well. The girls absolutely swooned and squealed when they saw him.
Great. The new students were attracting so much attention just with their looks in the first day of their school. Rikuo laughed slowly at that thought, slightly amused by the irony because they were supposed to be undercover to protect Rikuo from any danger secretly.
Gozumaru seemed noticing Rikuo's stare at him and looked at him straightly in his eyes with unreadable expression. Rikuo smiled at him ruefully and it seemed his close friends noticed the look. They exchanged glances at each other before focusing once more to the new students.
"So, names are Yuuki Gozumaru," Gozumaru said evenly.
"And Mezumaru!" Mezumaru followed in spirit.
"Mezumaru? That's very masculine name, don't you think?" one of the student asked with a puzzled expression.
"Of course it is. I'm a boy," Mezumaru grinned and the entire class' faces, except Rikuo and Gozumaru's of course, fell at the fact.
"WHAT!" was their utterly shocked reaction.
"No way! He's prettier than me!" some of the girls protested hard in denial and flabbergasted looks.
"Then why do you wear a girl's clothes!" the boys shouted in scandalized expressions.
"Isn't it okay? Looks good on me, right?" Mezumaru winked seductively and everyone instantly blushed at the provocative look he gave them, both boys and girls.
"Just now… he looked so cute and very sexy at the same time…!" some even murmured out loud unintentionally.
Gozumaru immediately snorted at that and Rikuo tried to hold down his own laughter.
"Ri-, Rikuo-kun?" Kana and Yura looked at the glasses wearer chocolate haired boy with a funny looks and Rikuo's sweat dropped for him being caught almost laughing at the hilarious view.
Crap.
Rikuo laughed nervously as he tried to find reasonable explanation. "I think… those new guys are interesting," he said finally, still chuckling lightly.
"You think so?" Kana tilted her head curiously. "He's wearing girl's clothes. Isn't it weird?"
"It is," Yura agreed with her, nodding.
"Eh, I'm sure they… I meant he has reasonable explanation," Rikuo said again, focusing his attention back to Gozumaru and Mezumaru once again.
"Alright now, boys, girls!" the teacher intervened the commotion while clapping her hand twice loudly and everyone hurriedly quieted down. "Now, Mezumaru, why do you wear the girl's uniform?" she looked at Mezumaru with disturbed expression as well.
"To make an impact," Gozumaru answered for him. "It's always hard to be new students in unfamiliar place. We want to make friends quickly. If we have an impression, they'll remember us easily and the news spread like wildfire in school."
Reasonable. As expected from Gozumaru, the young boss of Gyuuki Gumi, for his quick thinking—Rikuo smiled proudly from his seat. At least Gozumaru was a smart logical boy. He could count on him.
"Just for today, sensei!" Mezumaru chimed in. "I'll wear normal uniform tomorrow!" he continued with a naughty grin that was pretty cute and the teacher caved seeing his lovely feature.
"Jeez, okay, I'll allow it just for today. Now, do you want to add something to your introduction?" she asked then with an exasperated smile while shaking her head at her new student's antics.
"No," Gozumaru said uncaringly and a bead of sweat rolled down the teacher and his new classmates' faces.
So much for giving an impression…
"Let's be friends, everyone!" Mezumaru cheered with a wide grin to his new friends. The class murmured their 'yeees' in unison at that and the teacher told both Gozu and Mezu to sit at the back just a couple of seats behind Rikuo.
When they passed Rikuo's seat, Gozumaru stopped in front of the young boss of Nura Gumi while Mezumaru didn't bother and just went to his appointed desk.
Rikuo looked up at him with raised eyebrows before smiling. "Welcome to our school," he said friendlily and Gozumaru blinked at that.
"Nice to meet you," Gozumaru also smiled small and the class went unusually silent at the slightly suspicious exchange between Rikuo and the new student.
"What was that?" Even the usually clueless Kiyotsugu seemed picking up the strange vibe and he looked confused. Natsumi and Saori looked at each other for a moment before they giggled silently. Jirou stared at Gozumaru curiously, while Kana and Yura were sweating slightly, seemingly knowing what it was about.
Rikuo just continued smiling, oblivious at what the dark-bluish haired boy was up to, as Gozumaru only nodded a little before he continued his walk to his own seat.
At lunch time, Gozumaru and Mezumaru were quickly surrounded by the curious classmates of why they transferred so soon after the freshmen entrance or where they lived right now or did they have email address or some things in those lines.
Their loud voices seemed irritating Gozumaru because a tick was visible on his head while Mezumaru was happily answering the questions, of course, miss-directing their personal and sensitive information like where they actually lived because it would blow their cover, their connection to Nura Gumi and so on. "So noisy…, it's not your damn busi—!" he almost snapped as Mezu covered his mouth quickly. Gozu made a protesting sound for being stopped so rudely like that.
"Your last name is the same. You're brothers?" one of the girls asked.
"Yep! We're twins!" Mezu said confidently.
"As I thought! That's why you have the same eye and hair color!" the other girls squealed. "Though you're not really similar… fraternal twins?"
Mezu nodded again. "We're adopted together, so 'Yuuki' isn't our actual last name. It's our foster families'," he clarified. The class then went silent again at the answer for a moment before someone broke it with another different subject.
"Ah… actually, you should cut your hair, you know. Our school doesn't have strict rules, but hair that long will be an inconvenience when you're studying, right?" the class leader pointed out.
"Eeh? But I like my hair long," Mezumaru whined slightly. "With long hair, I can pull out a lot of appearances nicely," he pouted cutely and everyone fawned at him with hearts in their eyes.
"He's totally cute~!" the girls giggled and squealed at him and some of the boys even commented that they wouldn't mind even if he cross-dressed to school every day because he totally nailed the sailor uniform.
Gozumaru snorted again lightly behind Mezumaru's offending palm.
Rikuo looked at Gozu and Mezu who were surrounded by their classmates amusedly. They interacted okay with everyone even though Gozumaru looked a little irritated. But since Mezumaru was there to stop him if he was about to lose it, Rikuo wasn't really worried about that.
"Nura-kun! It's time for lunch! Let's go to the rooftop as usual!" Kiyotsugu said loudly from his spot because it was far from him right then.
"Yeah!" Rikuo lifted his thumb as a sign of agreement.
Rikuo opened his bag to take out his lunch, and then, as usual, he and his friends would go to the roof to have lunch as well as to have meeting about their club activity for that day. He had heard that Kiyotsugu had found some haunted spots from the supernatural website he invented. They probably were about to talk about them later.
Rikuo was about to get out of the class when Gozumaru seemed noticing him leaving. Gozumaru stood up and walked to his direction despite the other students' call. Mezu also looked at their direction as Gozumaru grabbed one of Rikuo's arms slowly.
Rikuo turned to look at Gozumaru with raised eyebrows. The other club members also stopped to look at them.
"What's wrong, Gozumaru-kun?" Rikuo questioned.
"Um… your name…," Gozumaru seemed taking their 'first meeting' scenario too seriously. Rikuo was a little confused by the look he received from the taller boy.
"Nura Rikuo," Rikuo decided to play along then. After all, their school friends did need to be shown that they had just met and they had no relationship whatsoever before.
"Rikuo, huh…? Nice name," Gozumaru smiled affectionately at him and Rikuo frowned, getting even more confused.
What in the world was Gozumaru up to?
Rikuo heard Mezumaru snicker from his spot and mentioned something like, "Gozu is fast as always," with a very amused expression.
Fast…? At what? What is that supposed to mean?—Rikuo was puzzled by that, and not just him, apparently, because the others also looked at Mezumaru like he was an alien from Mars.
"Um… I want to eat lunch now… if you don't mind?" Rikuo slowly pried Gozumaru's hand from his arm and Gozumaru relented by saying 'sorry'. "It's okay," Rikuo smiled at him and was about to go when Gozumaru grabbed him again.
Rikuo turned at him again, a question mark on his head.
"I need to speak with you for a moment if you don't mind?" Gozumaru asked again with a look that told Rikuo that it was important and he needed to hear what he wanted to say.
"Okay…, I'll just tell my friends over there to go first…," Rikuo said while turning his body, but he was surprised seeing Yura and Kana were already there. "Um…," he blinked once.
"Rikuo-kun, what took you so long?" Kana asked while slipping her hands on his arm and hugged it, smiling sweetly at him.
"Yeah, Rikuo-kun. We're waiting for ya," Yura also smiled and did the same to his other arm which was still in Gozumaru's clutch and she deliberately ignored it, so Gozu had to let Rikuo's arm go to make room for her.
Gozumaru also blinked at that.
"Err… but, Gozumaru-kun wants to talk to me…," Rikuo got even more mystified by all of this. He didn't understand why the girls looked so adamant for him to hurry and go with them.
"It's lunch time, we should eat first," Kana said, still with her sweet smile.
"Yeah, ya don't mind we eating first before ya talk to Rikuo-kun, right, Yuuki-kun?" Yura then looked at Gozumaru meaningfully.
"Um… I guess…." Gozumaru also looked puzzled, but he seemed catching up when Yura said 'wonderful'.
Then the girls pulled Rikuo to go with them, leaving Gozumaru and the rest of the class who were murmuring how odd the spectacle was.
0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0
Tamazuki was holding some papers from his class. The works that his classmates had to submit to the teacher, actually. He couldn't believe that he was picked as a one of class representatives just after he moved in. Well, the class could see that he was a leader type, but to make him work like this for them… who the hell they think he was?
Tamazuki wasn't amused. Sure, the class leader thing was a good position to gain information, but the work wasn't easy. Of course, he had recruited some people who were totally smitten by him to work like his hands and legs. It would be easier if Inukami was around, but he was too unstable to go as a normal student. Inukami's badass attitude as a delinquent would be more fitting for him.
Anyway, it seemed his plan was working okay this past week. After Inukami dealt with Muchi… well, he didn't go overboard like Tamazuki had expected, but the poor narcissist was still quite terrorized he didn't even have time for his hair anymore. The silent movement his other subordinates were doing was meticulous as well. Nura Gumi wouldn't even notice what happened. By the time they did, it would be too late to reverse the damage.
Tamazuki smirked as he put the papers on the teacher's desk. "When they realize… their power will be reduced to nothing at all."
"You speak something, Tamazusa-kun?" the teacher looked at him in puzzled look.
"No, just speaking to myself, sensei." Tamazuki smiled confidently at him and the teacher nodded swiftly.
"Thank you for bringing these here," he said.
"You're welcome, sensei," Tamazuki bowed slightly before he turned to go. "And I already know something about our Rikuo-kun," he smirked again as he took out his cell phone and looked at the picture of the glasses wearer, short, chocolate haired boy. "Who knows that his innocent appearance hides something so big…?"
Tamazuki pushed a next button and now he saw the picture of Rikuo holding hands with a taller man with long flowing sliver-dark hair. "I haven't known what kind of relationship he has with Nura Rikuou, Sandaime of the Nura Gumi Alliance… but he must be important… for the big boss to show that kind of expression towards him…."
Tamazuki's smirk widened. "Could this kid be your Achilles' heel, Nura Rikuou?"
0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0
"You heard? Another merchandise shop was closed yesterday," Saori complained as she bit down her chocolate cake.
"I heard! They closed Senba-sama's store!" Natsumi cried in protest. "Even though his store was small, it was always providing high school students like us with high quality ornaments with cute design! And moreover, the cost wasn't that hard on our allowance too! I totally LOVE that shop! I can't believe they closed it!"
"What happened these days, I wonder…? The cake shop 'Antique' near my house also went bankrupt so abruptly. Even though the cake was awesomely good and there were a lot of customers every day… to get closed so suddenly like that is weird," Kana also sighed long, holding her cheek in troubled look.
Rikuo, Kiyotsugu and Jirou looked at the three girls, rather puzzled, while Yura was concentrating on her meat bread.
"What is it with the merchandise stores and cake shops?" Kiyotsugu asked then, while biting one of his french-fries.
"You don't know?" the three girls shrieked in unison, looking scandalized.
"Wait a second, Kiyotsugu! Don't tell me you don't know them! They're popular stores and shops! They're like… what people from the outside come here for! It's unreasonable to close them! If they're closed one by one… people from the outside won't come here anymore! They're like the identity of our town!" Saori said with a disbelieving look.
Closing shops and stores…?—Rikuo thought something was definitely strange as well. The rapid incidence was too coincident.
"Maybe the owner got swindled or something?" Jirou offered helpfully.
"That is a possibility… but for some unfathomable reasons, the police can't do anything about it," Natsumi said with a sad look.
"Natsumi-chan, you're close with Senba-sama, right?" Kana looked at the dark haired girl solemnly.
"Yes… Senba-sama is so sad that he has to lose his business…," Natsumi looked down on her laps, looking down.
"Wait, wait, why are you girls calling this person with '-sama' anyway?" Kiyotsugu looked confused.
"Because he's the god of beauty~!" Natsumi sighed and looked up with dazzled expression.
"He's awesome at making cute and elegant ornaments…!" Saori followed while sighing dreamily too.
"And he makes every girl that stops by his shop happy beyond belief with his creation~," Kana completed before the three of them squealed excitedly.
Kiyotsugu, Jirou and Rikuo's sweat dropped from the back of their heads. Yura, for some reasons, was still concentrating on her own bread before she seemed deciding to just eat the damn thing.
"I just hope he's okay," Kana and Saori lamented again as they sighed one more time.
"Senba-sama said he had someone who could help him. Let's believe his words. I don't think he wants to give up just yet," Natsumi said with a belief in her eyes.
Rikuo smiled at her friends as they smiled as well seeing Natsumi's certainty.
0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0
Zen was reading a newspaper with serious and curious expression. He couldn't believe what he was reading. The numbers of big corporation's branches that went bankrupt this past week were too high in Tokyo and Nagoya. Some small original stores in Ukiyoe also died out without having a chance to go big.
It was weird. It wasn't like the competition was great in the areas. Anyway, for some unfathomable reasons, those corporations were the corporation he and his dad had a connection with. So were the small stores and shops. Yakushi family infested for them as well. Their business and those infestations were the things that kept Yakushi's Group running and prospering.
If Yakushi Group kept losing them one by one… it could affect their economical balance. Right now, the damage was still fixable, but if this went for too long… it was possible that Yakushi Group income could be in danger.
Truthfully, Zen wasn't into management, but he need to consult this to someone. He had to move fast before the corporation his grandpa and father had built their whole lives got destroyed.
0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0
Back to the class, Gozumaru stopped Rikuo from going outside the classroom when he was about to help the class representatives bring their homework to the teacher lounge.
Rikuo looked up at Gozumaru's face in inquiring expression. "What's wrong?" he asked slowly.
"Can I still speak to you?" Gozumaru asked back, glancing over Rikuo's shoulder to make sure that Rikuo's friends were watching and aware of what was happening between the two.
"Sure; why don't we talk while walking to the teacher's office?" Rikuo offered.
"That will be great," Gozumaru smiled small. "Oh, and let me help you with that," he then offered to bring the homework for him.
"It's okay. It's not that heavy," Rikuo declined politely.
"I want to help you," Gozumaru looked at Rikuo's eyes gently and Rikuo blinked several times in a slight confusion.
"Gozumaru…, your acting is too much," the glasses wearer boy then whispered slightly as he let Gozumaru's hands took half of his load.
"You think so?" Gozumaru smirked meaningfully as he noticed Rikuo's friends, the girls especially, were staring at Gozumaru and Rikuo with worried and bewildered looks.
"What are you up to?" Rikuo asked again, face looking more confused at the moment, and there was a little hint of suspicion in his tone.
"Trust me. This will be very hilarious, and it will kill two birds with a stone," Gozumaru grinned mischievously while Rikuo was throwing a curious glance at him when they went out of the class.
So… just like Gozumaru's prediction, the two girls followed them out, keeping their distance though. It was enough for Gozu to feel their eyes on his back. He was still grinning when they arrived in front of teacher's office.
When Gozu was about to open the door, someone beat him to it from the inside. Instinctively, Gozumaru stretched his arm in front of Rikuo, stopping the boy from moving further forward to avoid collision.
Someone came out from the room and Rikuo seemed recognizing the taller boy while Gozumaru was silent as their eyes all met.
"Ah, Rikuo-kun," the dark haired boy with amber eyes and pale skin greeted Rikuo immediately in recognition as he saw the glasses wearer chocolate haired one.
"Oh, Tamazusa-san," Rikuo nodded as a response to the greeting as well.
"What a coincidence, we meet in front of the teacher lounge again," the boy Rikuo had called Tamazusa then smiled coolly at Rikuo.
"Yeah, how quirky," Rikuo laughed slightly.
Just then Gozumaru narrowed his eyes, looking carefully at this fake young man. Looking at every aspect, his smile was a total bullshit. Gozumaru wasn't an expert in reading people through facial expression, but even he could see that this pale taller guy was cunning.
Moreover… his face was familiar. Gozumaru felt like he had ever seen that boy somewhere before, but he couldn't point his finger where.
While the young boss of Gyuuki Gumi was mulling over and trying to remember where he could have seen this Tamazusa guy, the boy in question seemed noticing his presence.
"Oh… I'm sorry for being rude. Hello there, friend of Rikuo-kun?" Tamazusa then turned his attention to Gozumaru and the dark-blue haired boy couldn't help feeling alarmed.
"Yeah, Yuuki Gozumaru," Gozumaru said while extending his hand for a handshake. He might feel something if he touched him, maybe… hidden intention or some short.
"Tamazusa," the taller boy shook his hand and Gozumaru felt it. The coldness. Perspiration on the palm as a result of the bluffing.
This guy was indeed not the guy he said he was.
Gozumaru smirked slightly. "May I know your last name?" he asked then, making the taller boy raise his eyebrows. "I feel like we've met before, somewhere. Maybe if you mention your last name, I'll remember more clearly," he explained.
"Will you?" Tamazusa asked with more smile on his face, as if he was challenging.
Rikuo seemed realizing that something was going on between the two with the hostile aura around them, and decided to stop them before one of them started throwing punch or worse.
"Excuse me, Tamazusa-san. I really have to submit these works to the teacher now," Rikuo said with a smile as he grabbed one of Gozumaru's arms and started to pull him to come inside. "Besides, the bell almost rang," he continued.
"Oh, you're right. Well then, I should go back to my class as well. See you later, Rikuo-kun," Tamazusa smiled back at him and he waved before he turned and walked away.
"Oi," Gozumaru called Rikuo while narrowing his eyes. "What was that?" he demanded in annoyance.
Rikuo huffed slightly. "Don't be childish, Gozumaru. I won't let you start any fight at school. Let alone, in your first day to boot," he said before he greeted the teacher in a smile again and put the works on his desk.
Gozumaru was waiting until Rikuo finished talking to the teacher before he spoke again. "You can't be serious, right? That guy is a weasel. Just look at his face," he protested.
"I can see what I can see, Gozumaru. But it doesn't mean we can just act hostile towards every person we don't like," Rikuo said with a rueful smile. "Come on. Don't think too much about him. He is just a senior," the chocolate haired boy then held Gozumaru's hand and pulled him out of the teacher's office.
Gozumaru noticed that the girls were still following them when they were out of the office. He intended to continue his little prank when he saw that. "Hey," he pulled Rikuo's hand so as to stop the glasses wearer boy and Rikuo turned at him with questioning face. "Let's go somewhere we can talk in private," and then he proceeded to change direction and then ran while pulling the bewildered looking Rikuo.
"Wait a—, Gozumaru-kuuuun!" Rikuo shouted in surprise at his sudden act.
0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0
"Jeez… what are you doing, Gozumaru?" Rikuo was panting as they stopped just behind the school building.
"Trust me. This will be awesome," Gozumaru was smiling and there was that glint of mischief in his eyes. Rikuo thought like he was seeing Rikuou then.
What was it with the guys in Yakuza world and their pranks?
Rikuo sighed after he was pacing his breaths. "Okay… what's wrong?" he couldn't stand it anymore. He had to know what Gozumaru was planning out.
Gozumaru was still smirking and he stood so closely to Rikuo. It made Rikuo a little bit uncomfortable. "Gozu…?" Rikuo looked up at him because he didn't answer him, and to Rikuo's utter disbelief, the dark-blue haired boy closed their gap in a gentle hug.
WHAT!
Rikuo almost pushed the boy away but he was rendered speechless when Gozumaru said "I love you" in a voice that was a LOT louder than it was supposed to.
Rikuo could only widen his eyes, jaw hanging open in silent shock.
"I love you," Gozumaru repeated his words and Rikuo was snapped back from his shock and grabbed Gozumaru's arms hard.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rikuo hissed at Gozumaru, very alarmed with this sudden turn of events so he struggled to free himself.
"Relax," Gozumaru then whispered, probably trying to calm him down. "This is good, you know. This way I have an excuse to stay close to you all the time without rising suspicion," he explained slowly making Rikuo hear his reasons first before he threw a fit. "Moreover… the girls are here to witness this."
"What?" Rikuo widened his eyes even more, more shocked.
"I believe one of them is Keikain Yura, right? This way, she won't dig too deeply about you despite her interest," Gozumaru reasoned further.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Rikuo asked, slightly confused of why Gozumaru brought up Yura in this matter.
"You're kidding right? Don't tell me you don't realize it. She definitely has mind on you," Gozumaru loosened his hug slightly and stepped back before he gazed at Rikuo's eyes wickedly. "Oh damn, you really have no idea, do you?" he asked then.
"No, that's… she's a new student too, you know. And I happened to be the first person who talked to her. She just… feels closer to me. That's all," Rikuo explained, still holding Gozumaru's arms.
"Maybe, but I know what I see, Rikuo. She and that Kana girl are concerned and jealous when I try to get close to you. Surprisingly, you're a lady killer too," Gozumaru snickered. "Their women's instinct is right. I might steal you away from them even if it's just for appearance," he continued.
"I'm not a lady killer," Rikuo blushed at that. "So… you want to appear as my boyfriend in school?" He looked at Gozumaru while frowning slightly. "Why does it have to be boyfriend and not just regular friend? You can join our club as my friend," he bargained.
"Not good enough," Gozumaru stated. "They also need excuse on how protective I will be to you," Gozumaru stroke Rikuo's long bang away from in front of his eyes and forehead. "They won't protest the way suddenly I take you away if there's sudden danger," he smiled then. "It's not half bad, this idea. That way, I can protect your friends too from harm if we're under attack as well," he convinced Rikuo with this, obviously, because if he could protect his friends from the harm that could happen to Rikuo, he would take the offer whatever the price was.
"You're sly… using my friends to buy me," Rikuo chuckled, totally amused.
"Well, I studied well, didn't I?" Gozumaru smirked confidently.
"Okay… but Rikuou can't know about this," Rikuo said, giving his condition.
"I want to ask why, but I have a feeling the reason will be too difficult for me to understand," Gozumaru's sweat dropped from his cheek. Rikuo huffed out a laugh as he had an idea of why Gozumaru set that kind of nervous face.
Rikuou showed his possessive trait towards Rikuo in front of Gozumaru, and he wasn't subtle at all with his PDA. Rikuo guessed that Gozumaru had his suspicion towards Rikuou and Rikuo's relationship, but he seemed not wanting to know about that beyond what he already suspected.
"Okay, so… we're boyfriends," Rikuo agreed then.
"Awesome," Gozumaru smirked again.
"So… what now?" Rikuo asked again.
"Let see…," Gozumaru was silent, probably thinking about something because he looked somber and had his hand on his chin for a minute or two before he seemed like noticing something over Rikuo's shoulder. Gozumaru smirked again and Rikuo felt a bad feeling about that.
"What is it?" Rikuo asked warily.
"I got an idea of how to spread the news about our 'relationship' without having to tell them directly and just let them draw their own conclusion," Gozumaru said again, looking totally confident. "Do you trust me?" he asked then.
"Well, I do with my life. I'm just not so sure about my 'name'…," Rikuo sighed in defeat. It would cost him embarrassment; obviously, because he was about to come out that he was 'gay'. Great.
"Come on. It's just for a cover. Remember there's still the threat of Shikoku," Gozu convinced him again.
Rikuo rolled his eyes at him. "Fine, what should I do?"
Gozumaru leaned his face closer. "I'm going to kiss you."
Rikuo smiled sweetly and then stepped on his toe, making Gozumaru wince. "Not gonna happen."
"You're really uncooperative for being a boyfriend," Gozumaru said with trembling body, holding down the urge to yelp in pain apparently. It seemed Rikuo had hurt his toe okay. Good.
"Not even Rikuou can make me do something I don't want to do. Try something else," Rikuo grinned at Gozumaru and the taller boy sighed.
"Fine, then just pretend that you let me kiss you," Gozumaru said with an annoyed huff.
"Okay, that's better. Should I close my eyes and tilt my face a little?" Rikuo asked again.
"That will be helpful," Gozumaru positioned his face again and leaned closely. Rikuo closed his eyes and tilted his head up when he felt Gozumaru's finger guided his chin. He could feel Gozumaru's soft breath, but just that.
Moments later, Rikuo could feel Gozumaru step back again, so he opened his eyes. "Done?" he asked, looking at Gozumaru questioningly.
"Done," Gozumaru smiled. "It will be more convincing if you hug me," he smirked again.
"Don't push it, Gozumaru," Rikuo punched him on his arm lightly. "Let's go back to class. I'm sure we're already late," he grabbed Gozumaru's hand and pulled him to go back to where they were supposed to.
Unnoticed by Rikuo, but totally noticed by Gozumaru, a student had witnessed all of that, though without knowing exactly what was actually going on….
0oo—Rikuou x Rikuo—oo0
When Rikuo and Gozumaru came back to class, everyone turned to their direction in strange look, but no one had said anything.
Short time later, Kana and Yura followed their entrance to the classroom. Their expressions were unreadable at first, but when Rikuo met their gaze, those two jerked in surprise before they averted their eyes with blushing faces.
Huh?—Rikuo couldn't help feeling weird. Those two had never done that to him before. It was like… they were embarrassed about something?
Then Rikuo remembered about Gozumaru's explanation and his face heated slightly as he realized what was wrong. They probably saw the little charade Gozumaru and Rikuo had pulled behind the school building earlier. They saw their 'pretending' kiss. That must have been a shock to them…. Well, Rikuo should act normally since he wasn't supposed to know that they knew.
Was this what Gozumaru was talking about earlier? But even Rikuo doubted that either Kana or Yura would gossip about it. After all it would intrude Rikuo's privacy and he trusted those girls enough not to spread the rumors.
Surprisingly, the one that approached Rikuo about that matter was… Keikain Yura, just after the end of the school bell rang. "Rikuo-kun, can I have a moment with ya?" she asked when he was tidying his book up.
"Sure," Rikuo smiled at her, appearing oblivious of what she was about to say.
"Um… I saw ya… with Yuuki-kun… at noon…," Yura said hesitantly with blushing face and as much as Rikuo wanted to, he couldn't feign a blushing face to counter hers, even though he should be blushing right them. So, instead, he looked down on his feet, pretending to appear that he was embarrassed.
"Will… will it change your opinion about me if that's… true?" Rikuo asked back, trying to sound hesitant and afraid, and he thought he had pulled that out okay because Yura looked up at him and frantically tried to reassure him.
"No! No, no… of course not! I was just… um…." Yura looked at her feet nervously as well now, her face really red. "I was just… surprised, you know… because I…," she looked even more embarrassed at that point and Rikuo almost pitied her if it wasn't for his own situation. "I thought… I have a chance… with you…."
Rikuo widened his eyes in surprise at that. He couldn't believe it. Did she just confess to him? Like… seriously?
"She has mind on you, you know?"
Rikuo was speechless as he remembered Gozumaru's words earlier. This was totally unexpected even from Rikuo's point of view. It was just a week after Kana had confessed and now he had another girl do the same to him. What happened here? He wasn't supposed to be that popular among girls!
Yura seemed taking Rikuo's silence as a guilty conscience because she quickly smiled at him and reassured him again. "Ah, no worries, Rikuo-kun! That's my own fault for not noticing the sign! I meant… at first, I thought ya and Kana-chan were an item, but then ya surprised me by rejecting her, so I thought… I thought I could have a shot because Rikuo-kun, ye'r a nice person. And it's hard these days to get a very nice person like ya as a boyfriend…. I guess it's true… that the good ones are either taken or… ya know," she was babbling with a sheepish look and she was acting funny, but Rikuo couldn't really laugh at that, could he. He had broken another heart just in a week.
Bad, bad Riku~…
Rikuo could almost hear his half brother sing a song in his head, mockingly scolding him. Wasn't this supposed to be the other way around? He meant… Rikuou had a better shot with his look to lead on women and then break their hearts than Rikuo right?
Maybe it was because Rikuou didn't attend formal school. If he did…, Rikuo couldn't imagine how many women would have been rejected or dumped by Rikuou.
I guess there's a benefit that Rikuou stays inside Yakuza circle all this time. All the women there are tougher in handling his antics after all….
"Ri-… Rikuo-kun?"
Rikuo snapped back from his train of thought and faced Yura once again. She looked visibly concerned now.
"I-I'm sorry… I must have surprised ya with the sudden confession…," she looked guilty as well.
"No! No… please don't make that face!" Rikuo was frantic when he thought Yura was about to cry. "I-I'm happy with your feeling but…" He didn't know how to continue that line. Saying he liked Gozumaru now would be totally lying since he didn't, at least not that way. He already felt bad enough lying about the 'kissing', he didn't want to lie about something as important as answering a girl's confession.
"I know. Ya can't like girls…," Yura continued his answer in a defeated sigh and Rikuo honestly wanted to protest because that wasn't the reason! He liked girls, damn it! Just… not the way he loved Rikuou.
But in the end, he didn't correct her because… he didn't want to lie directly. Let her draw the conclusion. It was better that way.
"That's okay!" But then Yura stood up straight with sure and determined expression. "Having a gay friend is cool! I can brag to my brothers about it!"
Rikuo was glad she was an energetic girl. Yura was awesome.
"Besides, it's only a crush, not yet a love," Yura then grabbed Rikuo's hands and looked at him in his eyes, totally in full spirit. "I hope you'll be happy with Yuuki-kun!" she continued with fire in her eyes and Rikuo couldn't say anything to reply that encouragement before she released him and then ran outside the classroom.
"Ah… and the misunderstanding continues…," Rikuo shook his head at that, sighing in defeat while putting his books inside his bag and closed the lid.
"Rikuo," Gozumaru and Mezumaru called. They were already ready to go home and now standing beside Rikuo who immediately grabbed he bag and nodded.
"Let's go home," Rikuo said as they walked together out of the class.
They went home using the same road as usual. Luckily, today Rikuo didn't have club activities because Kiyotsugu said he wanted to check the authenticity of the haunted spots he had found in the internet before. So, Rikuo could go home early.
However, this journey to go back home wasn't as smooth as he had thought because unexpectedly, they ran into someone very dangerous even though they hadn't realized it yet.
Just up ahead was a crowd of mean looking people, probably gangster from other school since they looked like still in their teens. Moreover, those guys were wearing school uniform and they were surrounding someone. The boy who was surrounded… was from Rikuo's school apparently, because the gakuran and the emblem on his uniform belonged to Ukiyoe Private Senior High School.
"What is going on there?" Rikuo looked worried because those gangsters seemed smirking and the boy inside looked… smirking? Rikuo was puzzled at that. The chocolate haired boy inside the circle looked slightly banged up, but he was smirking?
"Leave it alone. They're just kids trying to toughen up another kid," Gozumaru said with carefree manner.
"He's from our school. We can't just let him be punched and kicked and stay silence," Rikuo huffed at the boy beside him. "Besides, this area is still in Nura Gumi control. Don't you think it will be bad for Nura Gumi name if we let something like that happen under our nose?" he rationalized.
Gozumaru froze up and Mezumaru sighed. "He's right, Gozumaru. If this happens in front of Gyuuki-sama, he will make sure that those kids know who's in charge on this area," Mezumaru said.
"Ah jeez…," Gozumaru scratched the back of his head, looking troubled. "Fine, fine, we just have to stop them, right? Let me do it," he said while walking approaching the crowd. Rikuo followed him in a smile.
Gozumaru wasn't that bad for a pretending boyfriend. Rikuo still couldn't believe he agreed to his idea. Well, if it was practical for them to create a cover then… he was fine with it. Though, Rikuou would be very mad if he knew about this. Ah, Gozumaru would only act as Rikuo's boyfriend in school anyway, or in front of his school friends, so the chance of Rikuo knowing about this little prank was close to zero.
"Oi, all of you!" Gozumaru shouted at those gangster guys and they turned at him with annoyed look.
"Aah?" and they set their scary faces to him.
Gozumaru snorted. "What the hell are you doing in Nu—mph!"
Rikuo cut his words by covering his mouth. "Shh! Don't use Nura Gumi name while you're wearing the school uniform!" he hissed near Gozumaru's ear.
Gozumaru mumbled in annoyance behind Rikuo's palm and nodded. Rikuo released him slowly then and Gozumaru once again glared at the party in front of him. "What the hell are you doing with a student from my school?" he pointed at them menacingly.
"What did you say, brat!" all of them yelled back at Gozumaru, looking pissed off.
"I asked what you were doing with the student from my school. Are you all deaf?" Gozumaru huffed at them.
"How dare you say something like that to us! You wanna go at it?" One of the guys started attack Gozumaru, but he dodged swiftly before extending his leg to trip the gangster boy's so he fell forward with the face hitting the ground first.
"Amateur," Gozumaru snorted again with underestimating manner.
"You bastard! Don't act too cocky!" everyone in the gang then started to lunge at Gozumaru as well, but he dodged all the attacks easily while leading those guys away from their 'victim', and then proceeded to play with them while Rikuo was approaching the boy that was surrounded earlier.
"Ah, hey…, you okay?" Rikuo asked the boy and reached to touch his arm, but before he could, his hand was slapped away by that boy.
"Don't touch me," the spiky-short haired boy narrowed his eyes at Rikuo with contempt in his expression.
"Eh…?" Rikuo was surprised at the hostile reaction.
"Doing something unnecessary like that… and it's just thirty seconds away from it…!" the boy's dark-reddish amber eyes bore deeply into Rikuo's and saw a lot of anger and hatred there.
What… this person…!—Rikuo stepped back from him and the boy followed his moment.
"Are you scared of me too, boy?" the reddish-amber eyed boy asked while licking his split bloodied lower lip.
"You're… you're hurt," Rikuo said slowly, but warily as well. This boy scared him a little bit. The hatred and anger there were intimidating him, but of course Rikuo didn't show that much. "The wound will get infected if it's not treated. Let's… let's go to the clinic," he continued, moving closer again and reaching at him again.
"I said… don't touch me," the wounded boy hissed at Rikuo dangerously. Just then Rikuo realized what it was. The boy was also scared of him. He was scared of being touched by something unfamiliar to him. Probably, that boy thought he would get hurt again.
Rikuo softened his expression and smiled small solemnly. "It's okay… I'm not going to hurt you," he said gently before he touched the boy's arm tenderly.
As soon as his hands made contact with the boy's bare skin, the boy seemed losing his strength and collapsed. Rikuo immediately caught him before he hit the ground. "Hold on," he said as he tried to support the boy's body. But, because he was a lot taller and slightly bigger than Rikuo, the glasses-wearer boy couldn't support him entirely and he slowly went down together with the boy to sit on the ground.
The boy was panting and he looked exhausted as well and Rikuo was worried if his wounds were a lot worse than it looked. "Hey, hey, you okay? Do you need ambulance?" he asked frantically.
"Ah…," the chocolate-red haired boy then looked up slightly at Rikuo and sighed. "No… just… let me rest for awhile. This always happens if he doesn't show up in three minutes after I take the beating…." He said, still pacing his breaths.
"What?" Rikuo didn't understand.
"It's nothing. I'm fine," the boy said again, refusing to explain what he had said earlier.
"No, you're not. You're wounded," Rikuo said.
"I said I'm fine!" He snapped looking angry, but Rikuo wasn't intimidated anymore once he knew the reason of the anger and the hatred. This boy seemed having anger issue and his demeanor could change so drastically depending on the situation.
He said 'thirty second away' just then, probably he was talking about 'thirty seconds away before his anger took control and he would be able to 'fight'.
This kind of person was the most difficult to deal with. Rikuo should just send this boy to the hospital. "I'm bringing you to the hospital," he said determinedly.
"What…? I said I'm fine!" the boy looked bewildered now, but Rikuo ignored him.
"Mezumaru! Come here and help me!" Rikuo called the boy in sailor uniform who was cheering for the fighting Gozumaru.
Mezumaru turned at Rikuo and then ran closer to him and then he seemed wanting to say something before he jerked up as seeing the boy who was in Rikuo's hold and shouted. "Rikuo! Get away from him!"
"Huh?" Rikuo looked up at Mezumaru, wondering. "What's wrong, Mezu—!" He widened his eyes in shock when his words got cut out by the sudden grab from behind. The boy's arm seized his neck hard and cut his air supply. "Wha—?"
The boy behind him chuckled and laughed. "Mo~ron," he said as he smirked behind Rikuo's ear. "For a member of Nura Gumi, aren't you too trusting, boy?" he asked with wicked tone.
"You bastard—! Let go of Rikuo!" Mezumaru shouted in panicky.
"What?" Gozumaru also seemed noticing the commotion and looked at Rikuo's direction after he subdued the last guy of his attacker. "What the hell—!" he saw that Rikuo was held hostage by the guy who was supposed to be the 'victim' and he ran to Mezumaru who was still yelling at the boy to let Rikuo go.
"Gozumaru!" Mezumaru called the dark-blue haired boy.
"What the hell is going on? Why is that guy holding Rikuo like—!" Gozumaru also widened his eyes as he saw the boy's face more clearly. "You—!" he went pale immediately.
"Ooh…, it seems those boys over there recognize me, huh?" the boy chuckled again, sounding amused.
"Who… who are…?" Rikuo didn't understand this. This guy here was different from the boy he had helped a moment ago. His act and personality as well…!
"Inukami Shiba! The most brutal delinquent, 'Mad Dog' from Shikoku!" Gozumaru shouted at the chocolate-red haired boy furiously.
Shikoku!—Rikuo widened his eyes even more as he heard that. This boy… Inukami Shiba is… from Shikoku!
"Well, well, I'm that popular, huh? No… you guys must be in some kind of gangster world to know about me," Inukami said while licking the blood on his lips. "No way… you're from Nura Gumi as well?" his tone sounded getting excited. "Then this boy… must be very important that you guys put two guards for him, huh?"
"You…! Let go of Rikuo, you asshole!" Gozumaru yelled at him in total rage. "You hurt a single hair of him… your head is mine!"
"Ooh, scary…," Inukami sniggered. "Then you can have this kid's head for your bravery," he licked Rikuo's ear and snapped out the folded knife he had in his hand near Rikuo's neck.
"Rikuo!" Mezumaru shouted worriedly at that.
"You—!" Gozumaru couldn't move now since Rikuo could be killed.
"You… Inukami Shiba…," Rikuo spoke slowly while grabbing the arm that seized his neck and pulled it away, trying to loosening it. "Were you… were you the one hurting Hihi-jisan…?"
"Hihi?" Inukami sounded wondering. "Ah… that guy from Hihi Gumi, huh? Nope, that wasn't me," he said care freely.
"Liar! The knife in your hand is the exact same kind as the knifes which were found in the scene!" Mezumaru screamed.
"Of course it's the same kind. This belongs to Muchi. I just took one of them it after I kicked his ass for acting on his own and disobeying our boss direct order," he said in a huff.
"Muchi… you're saying that you beat the guy who hurt Hihi-jisan?" Rikuo asked again, surprise.
And he's still in high school too…! Beating the one who even Hihi-jisan couldn't beat…? How strong is this guy?—Rikuo couldn't help thinking.
"That's me," Inukami said. "And another direct order for me from my boss… is to apprehend you, Nura Rikuo-kun," he said, tightening his hold on Rikuo's neck.
"Ugh…!" Rikuo whimpered lowly in pain. "Who… who ordered you to… get me…?" he asked while bearing the pain.
"Idiot. If I tell you, then there's no point in us moving secretly to take your family down, is there?" Inukami huffed again in annoyance.
"You're planning… to take down Nura Gumi?" Rikuo knew his face was paling when he asked that question. The dread that Nura Gumi was after all in danger after a false sense of peaceful week was coming in full force.
"Who isn't?" Inukami said, smirking evilly.
"Oi," Gozumaru called Inukami and the chocolate-red haired boy looked at him. "If you're targeting our boss, you've got the wrong guy," he said seriously.
"I know that. This boy isn't Nura Rikuou," Inukami said, ruffling Rikuo's hair curtly with his free hand. "We've done our share of investigation to your family too, you know. Our boss is SMART after all. He might not be very powerful… but his intelligent is outstanding. Besides, he got me as his fangs. We're the perfect organization to control the black world of Japan…. You guys are in the way."
"Then why are you apprehending him if you know he isn't our boss?" Mezumaru followed suit to talk him into releasing Rikuo. "He's just a civilian! He has nothing to do with Nura Gumi!" he said, a bit worriedly.
"True… there's nothing proving him having a connection whatsoever with Nura Gumi, but…," Inukami then took something out from his pocket and brought it up forward to show the others. "Unfortunately… he seems very cozy with your boss," Inukami smirked, showing the picture on his cell phone screen.
Shit—! As I thought, going out on a date with Rikuou was a mistake! Damn, now they have something that can destroy my civilian life!—Rikuo was mad at his own stupidity. He knew dating his own half brother wouldn't be easy, but it concerned Nura Gumi's safety as well. Now, if these guys had Rikuo, Rikuou wouldn't be able to stay calm and think to counter their mocking.
Rikuo had to do something himself to create a distraction so that his connection with Nura Gumi could still be covered. He got to do something very bad after this… but he had decided that he could throw away everything to stay beside Rikuo.
Yes, Rikuo had decided, and he had to bear the consequence as well. Rikuo closed his eyes and loosened his grip from Inukami's arm, stopping his struggle.
"Huh, are you giving up, Nura Rikuo?" Inukami asked in underestimating tone.
"Are you guys all idiots?" Rikuo asked, showing his coldest look he could muster. "Just because we look close, doesn't mean he will get weak even if you have me. We've been trying to take each other down for our entire lives, you know… now you're blowing my cover," Rikuo said, glancing behind in annoyance.
"What?" Inukami blinked at that show.
"I said, I'm their enemy too, you moron! How hard do you think I have played a part to get close to Rikuou?" Rikuo said, setting his pissed off look. Now he glared at Gozumaru and Mezumaru who seemed catching what he was doing and quickly back him up.
"What did you say…?" Both looked shocked for real. That was good since it needed to sound and look realistic. They were really excellent for undercover work. They could act awesomely.
"You guys are an idiot for getting duped so easily, especially your boss. I want to see his face if the 'Rikuo' he knows all this time is just an 'act' I perform to get close to him," Rikuo smirked at Gozumaru and Mezumaru evilly, like a villain and Inukami was speechless.
"What?" a few seconds later, the sounded totally confused and his hold on Rikuo loosened slightly.
He falls for it!—Rikuo nodded and was about to free himself again when something unexpected happened.
"Let Rikuo-kun… GO!"
Someone shouted from aside, surprising both Rikuo and Inukami and a second later a kick flew connecting to Inukami's side jaw.
"Wha—!" Everyone widened their eyes in total shock as Rikuo was suddenly let loose and Inukami was sent flying two meters to his right side with that singe blow of kick.
"How dare ya use a weapon on an innocent and helpless boy! I, Keikain Yura, with the name of justice, will not forgive you!"
Rikuo, Gozumaru and Mezumaru dropped their jaws seeing the short-dark haired girl with dark eyes wearing the sailor uniform, standing so coolly in front of them and setting her fighting stance and serious angry expression to Inukami who was still on the ground.
"Y-Yura-san…?" Rikuo panicked knowing that the girl had just kicked the Mad Dog.
"Just now… she looks like…" Gozumaru's sweat dropped.
"Yeah… 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon'," Mezumaru finished, nodding in agreement with a bead of sweat on his face as well.
"Wait, you notice about that more than what we're going to deal with after this?" Rikuo turned his face at them and yelled in disbelief.
What's wrong with these people?—Rikuo could only shake his head in exasperation before he noticed Inukami begin standing again.
"Woman…!" Inukami spat out his blood and glared daggers at Yura who glared back heatedly at him.
"I'm going to be your opponent, Mad Dog from Shikoku!" she said while pointing at Inukami tensely….
End of Chapter 11
Tbc…
A/N: Hyaaah, sorry for the cliff-hanger. I guess Nura's Golden Days influence this story a bit, especially in the cliff-hanger ending situation ^^; Now, what do you think of this chapter. I know it's been awhile from my last update that I almost forgot how to continue this… ahaha. It might sound awkward at the beginning of this chapter, no? Well, I'll leave you with your own opinion. So… review, please?