Act I
humans and school and Rikuo
"Dad, why does everyone think yokai are bad?"
"Hmm?"
"At school. Kiyostugu-kun said yokai are evil. And scary." Rikuo's mechanical movements halted on a down-swing. "And that they don't exist."
Comfortably lounging in the tree Rihan wondered if sending his Hyakkiyako off to his son's school was within the acceptable field of actions a parent was allowed to take on their child's behalf. He pictured proposing the idea to his lovely wife and had his answers. The difficult way it was, then.
"So?"
Rikuo completely dropped the stance and turned to face his father. "They were laughing at me – when I told them about you! And grandpa! And Kubinashi! Yukionna! And everyone!" The brown eyes of his mother were wet.
Rihan reconsidered the Hyakkiyakkou option. It wasn't like the children would be harmed. Just some harmless fun, nothing serious. Children could deal with it. Going by the dark aura in his peripheral vision his son's most devoted caretakers clearly shared their Commander's train of thought, stealthily watching as they were.
A grin curled Rihan's lips. But no. He couldn't. Well. He couldn't.
"The kids who were laughing, are they your friends?"
Rikuo sniffed and tried to subtly wipe his eyes. "Some."
"So why don't you invite them over. Everyone would love to meet them. Teach them about yokai." He paused, and winked.
A mischievous grin broke out on Rikuo's round face. But it dimmed quickly. "I already tried. They didn't want to come."
Oh? "Mmmmm. Then I don't see what the problem is."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, your friends were laughing at you because they don't believe in yokai. You offered to teach them the truth. If they don't want that, then that's their fault." Rihan let a leg dangle from the branch. "They don't know any better. But you know the truth. About the old man and me and the others. That means you are right, Rikuo." Rihan smiled warmly down, one eye shut. "This is important for the Sandaime too. If you are right, then don't let obstacles matter. Even if those obstacles are laughing classmates."
Rikuo's eyebrows pulled together, teeth nibbling his lip as the tried to understand. It was adorable. "It doesn't matter if they make fun of me. Because I'm right."
"That's right. And if it comes up again someday they will all know that you have always told them so and respect you for it."
The eyes of Rihan's son lit up in understanding. "Respect is like Fear, so they'll be like my Hyakkiyako."
Er, well. Not exactly like that. And that might be a bit problematic with humans. "Yeah. If you want them to, that is."
Rikuo screwed up his little face. "...maybe not all. Kana-chan is scared. But she said she wanted to come over!"
Rihan grinned. "There you go."
"I can show her the Hyakkiyako then! And we can play. It'll be fun!" At the thought of fun, Rikuo turned his face towards the sinking sun. "Can we go out tonight, dad?"
Leaning forward, Rihan smirked down at his son. "Maybe. But potential Thirds are only allowed to come along if they finished all their homework and all their exercises before."
Rikuo gasped, and quickly picked up his sword. Eyes gleaming, he continued the kata right where he left it with renewed energy. He'd be finished by the time sun was down.
Rihan's lips twitched.
Adorable.
Watching his son swing the wooden sword got boring after a while, so Rihan went strolling and looking for his wife to get a reward for active parenting. On the way, Kubinashi, Kurotabo, Aotabo, Yukionna, Kejoro and Natto Kozo all gave him thumps up.
Even the busybodies thought it was a job well done, apparently.
Kiyotsugu stuck out his tongue.
Rikuo stuck out his.
"Rikuo-kun," Kana-chan tugged at his sleeves. "Let's go. Leave him."
With tilt of his head that was calculated to irritate, Rikuo turned away from the taller boy and was rewarded by a yell of frustration. He grinned.
"Really, Rikuo-kun. Why do you always fight with Kiyotsugu-kun?" Kana-chan scolded, eyebrows pulled together as she led him to the far banks of the bus. "It's always the same. Don't you get tired of it?"
Rikuo huffed, but couldn't help a smirk at the back of Kiyostugu's head. "It's annoying what he says about yokai. I just can't help it."
Kana-chan frowned suspiciously as they sat down. "So you aren't doing it for fun?"
Rikuo's backpack muttered something along the lines of Rikuo being far too much like the Commander in a tone of resignation. Kana-chan's suspicion deepened.
"...Er…."
When Kiyostugu wasn't all irritating and arrogant and stopped mentioning 'his faultless research' every other word, he was almost fun to play with. Fight with. Rikuo may have made a hobby of poking at him. May.
Now it was Kana-chan's turn to huff. "Really, Rikuo-kun. If it weren't for the yokai at your house, I wouldn't believe in them either. My mom and dad thought we played a game about yokai at your house when I told them." She gave him a hesitant look. "Your yokai were scary at first too. Maybe Kiyostugu and everyone is just scared so they don't want to believe in yokai."
"But I offered to show them. Like I showed you." Rikuo crossed his arms. "So it's their fault."
Kana-chan nodded. "I trust you, so I wasn't that scared. But the others don't know you."
Rikuo opened his mouth to argue just when the bus shook. Kana-chan squeaked and held on the nearest object. One of her hands clutched Rikuo, the other latched on to the back of the next row of seats.
When the bus shook even stronger, her grip turned white and she screamed together with the other children.
There was a great rumbling sound, and all of a sudden it was dark. The bus screeched to a halt.
The bag pressed to Rikuo's chest squirmed. He released it and Natto Kozo poked his head out. "Just what happened Rikuo-sama?" The little demon gasped as he got a look around and out the window. "Are you hurt?"
The bus' emergency lights were offering still some light as well as those of the tunnel. "I'm fine," he said. "Kana-chan, are you alright?" He reached out to touch her and felt her trembling. The grip she had on his arm was so tight, it almost hurt. "You can let go now, it's over. Kana-chan?"
Kana-chan didn't seem to hear him, so Rikuo patted her head. She blinked rapidly, tears springing to her eyes, perfectly visibly to him even in the almost darkness.
A sharp stab of anger prodded in Rikuo's gut. Stupid tunnel. And stupid bus. They made Kana-chan cry.
He smiled reassuringly. "It's fine, Kana-chan. We're okay."
Kana-chan looked at him, and Rikuo was reminded of her words from before. She trusted him more than she had feared yokai.
Rikuo pushed his backpack into her hands. "Can you look after Natto Kozo for me? I'll look around."
Natto Kozo started to protest, but Rikuo sent him a look. The little yokai's eyes widened in understanding and promptly started on his assigned mission. "Hey, Kana-chan, can you help me out of this, it's getting stuffy -"
For the first time, Rikuo took in the rest of the situation. His were classmates crying and some were panicking and some were hurt. Maki-san was taking care of Toori-san. Passing by the rows of seats, Rikuo checked to see what happened to the driver.
"Ermmm, excuse me, Mr. Driver?" He shook the bent-over body by the shoulders. The driver fell to the side, slumping. His head -
Rikuo quickly tore his eyes away, feeling sick and his knees weak. The Mr. Driver who took him to school every morning and waited because he knew Rikuo was sometimes late -
"Oi, Nura-kun." A cylinder of light was pointed at him, stabbing his eyes. "How is Mr. Driver?"
"Kiyostugu-kun." Rikuo stepped in his way before the other boy could take a look. "I don't think Mr. Driver can help us. You should better leave him alone."
Kiyotsugu sniffed. "A shame. You heard that everyone," he said to the others, who he had apparently organized while Rikuo stared at a corpse. "We got to climb out here by ourselves. Does anyone else have a flash-light? No one? Then one'll have to be enough." Kiyotsugu turned back to Rikuo. "Oi, Nura-kun, open the door."
Rikuo almost told him to do it himself, but it wasn't really the time for a fight or to insist that he couldn't tell Rikuo what to do (or to believe, as was the usual pattern). Besides…
One push later and the door was broken out of its hinges. Rikuo jumped out first and looked around. "It's safe outside!" He called back. "You can come out."
Kiyotsugu shouldered past and waved the flash-light around. "It seems so."
One after another, Rikuo's classmates climbed out of the bus. There were some missing, but Rikuo had passed their seats a little earlier and was glad that none of them could see as well as he could, not unless they had a light -
His eyes cut to Kiyostugu. He was deathly pale, green even, and his hands were shaking. Oh.
Kana-chan came out last, eyes darting around fearfully. Natto Kozo was sitting in the hood of her hoodie and chatting at her, about how soft her hair was, about how many landslides he had already been buried under, about how they would definitely be found soon, because everyone was going to come search for the Young Master.
"How?" Cried Kana-chan, wiping at her eyes. "You're here with us. How is anyone going to know something happened? None of our phones are working."
Rikuo took her hand and smiled. "Don't worry, Kana-chan. My dad probably already knows – I saw crows outside. They'll have told him." That was a lie. Rikuo hadn't seen crows, which now that he thought about it…
"Crows?" Kana-chan's tears slowed. Natto Kozo gave Rikuo signs to continue talking.
Rikuo nodded enthusiastically. "They listen to the Karasu Tengu Clan. We'll be fi-"
A scream cut him off.
Kiyotsugu's flash-light slid over rows and rows of robed figures. Rows and rows.
Natto Kozo sucked in a breath. "Gagoze-sama?"
The others whimpered and Kiyotsugu's light trembled so hard it only added to the confusion until it dropped from his hands and rolled to the side.
Rikuo stared at the demon, who stared right back at him.
Kana-chan squeezed his hand. "Are they Rikuo-kun's? Are we saved?" The hope in her voice was fragile but believing.
The only yokai around were those of the Gagoze Alliance.
"Why is Gagoze-sama here? He is not part of Rikuo-sama's guards. Where is Rihan-sama? How did they get in here?" Natto Kozo rambled quietly, climbing out of Kana-chan's hood to see better from her shoulder.
Gagoze had yet to take his eyes of Rikuo and the twist of his features was anything but benevolent. Fear was thick in the air. Rikuo met his eyes, head on, hard. The demon did not lower his eyes, gave no sign of respect whatsoever in the presence of his young Lord.
"Rikuo-kun?" Kana-chan questioned. She, like everyone else was transfixed on the yokai visible in the circle of the flash-light, not Gagoze himself.
"Natto Kozo, you stay here," he ordered just as Kiyotsugu managed to gather enough words to question if the people came to save them. Voice softer, he said to Kana-chan, "it's going to be scary, so close your eyes, Kana-chan."
Letting go of her hand, Rikuo left the group of children and jumped over pieces of rubble, crossing the tunnel until he stood near toe to toe with Gagoze and his followers, hidden by the darkness. The demon had twice his height.
"I'll give you one chance to explain, Gagoze," Rikuo said coldly. "This had better not be what it looks like."
The sound Gagoze made was like teeth clicking and grinding as a mouth too small for them tried to move. It echoed eerily in the air, transmitted by the Fear. Gagoze looked down, red eyes bright with murderous intent.
"Kill the Master."
The first yokai to attack him speared itself on his tanto. Rikuo tossed the body at the next one. In the resulting tumble he used them as stepping stones for a jump and slipped away into the darkness.
Anger churned in Rikuo's gut, but not quite as hot as the blood boiling under his skin. It was the first time he experienced his change like this, with this particular taste. But then, this was the first time Rikuo was in a fight.
"Where is the Master!" Gogaze screamed. "Find him! Bring me his corpse!"
Fool.
"I'm right here, Gogaze," Rikuo announced, the tip of his short sword digging into Gogaze's back, who stiffened. Through the robes, into the flesh. A drop of blood tickled down the blade, black in the darkness.
Rikuo's voice too travelled with his fear, and all yokai turned his his direction (stopping their harassment of his classmates – one of them dared to grip Kana-chan by the shoulders but her eyes were closed and she was brave) to be the first to deliver him to their leader.
Finding Rikuo where he was...well. They were frozen and Rikuo smirked darkly. "Let me guess." He pulled the sword back and leaned it against his shoulder. "You wanted to kill me, have it look like an accident and then become Sandaime yourself. Do you take me for stupid? Just 'cause I don't bother with rumors doesn't mean I don't hear them."
The tunnel rumbled, familiar Fear teased against the edges of his perception. Short moments later, the wall was broken through and the Nura Parade of a Hundred Demons spilled into the tunnel. An enraged and very motivated Night Parade, that is.
Rikuo's smirk widened as Gogaze watched his subordinates taken down some with lethal force, some without, all without trouble. "Such a shame. Doesn't look like your plot's succeeding," he mocked, which was the straw that broke the camel's back and Gogaze lunging at Rikuo with extended claws.
Unexpectedly, Rikuo found himself a bit disappointed when Kubinashi restrained the traitor and he had no reason to swing his sword.
By the time Nura Rihan came strolling in my-paced and casual, yokai were forced to their knees by their captors to the left and right and there was no conflict left whatsoever. "Well." Rikuo's father said, sword leaning against his shoulder the same way Rikuo's did, only his was still sheathed. "Here I was thinking it might be a coincidence the Gogaze Group wasn't around."
His golden eyes, one closed as always, drifted around lazily. "I also hoped I was just playing pick up. Doesn't look like I get my wish either, Gogaze." He tapped his sword against his shoulder. "Traitors are such a hassle. As this is an attempt on the life of the heir, the heir will be dealing with it," he spoke, voice of rarely heard authority. His gaze fell on Gogaze, restrained at Rikuo's feet. Narrowed. "Good work everyone."
After another glance around, he turned and strolled just as casually as he came away again. Rikuo didn't wait until he was out of sight before he picked up command where his old man had left it for him.
Yukionna laid a haori over his shoulders, murmuring "Young Master."
"I will not have yokai in our Clan that pray on the weakest, most defenceless of all and think themselves worthy of respect. Don't you have any pride?" He stared down at Gogaze, who though even unable to speak glared up at Rikuo with tangible hate. "Yokai like you are the most pathetic and least terrifying of all, in our World of Darkness."
Thick in the air, Fear swam and changed. Rikuo felt the clan's devotion to him strengthen.
"Make sure the Gogaze Clan is well restrained, then prepare them to be taken back to the main house. This issue will be dealt now, once and for all. Take what help you need." Kejoro and Kubinashi bowed and went to work.
To the smaller and most innocent looking yokai, he said, "ensure that the children can find the way out of here. Offer help, but otherwise keep your distance."
They too bowed with a "Young Master" falling from their lips before they started.
"Kurotabo, when we are done here, I want Kana-chan escorted home."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Daruma, oversee that traces of our involvement are limited."
"Understood." Daruma inclined his head, robed hands raised in front of his chest.
"The rest of you, pack up. We're leaving."
The Hyakkiyako went into motion. Yokai gathered and murmurs heightened. Fear became visible in the form of mist illuminated by ghostly lights. Hebi Nyoro came to Rikuo's side, waiting to be mounted.
Before he left, Rikuo let his eyes drift over his classmates. Kana-chan wasn't closing her eyes anymore and was instead chatting with some of the little ones, though she still held Natto Kozo in a death grip. It looked like Natto was going to come home later.
With Kana-chan as an example, the others stopped being entirely terrified of Rikuo's yokai and some even let their scratches be looked at, like Maki-san.
Kiyotsugu had at some point collapsed to his knees and had not yet gotten back up. He was staring in Rikuo's direction (or at nothing, it was difficult to tell) with an expression Rikuo had never seen on his face before.
"Let's go," said Rikuo.
TBC
