SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME

Chapter 1B: Rihan and Wakana

Disclaimer: Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine. Also, the last name of Wakana is just a fictional name that was added for the purpose of the story. There are also some original characters created for the purpose of the story.

Please read and review. Thank you!

"Hurry, look there's a human in the guest room!"

What the?...Who's voice was that? Wakana thought to herself, squinting her eyes a little bit from the sunlight rays.

"Where? Where?!"

Another one? This time there was a different voice.

"She looks so normal."

Who looks normal?! Wakana thought.

"Normal defines a human idiot!"

Oh, they were referring to me… Wakana continued.

"But Yohime-sama doesn't look normal…"

Who is Yohime?! Wakana retorted, "Even her name sounds princess-y"

"Like duh!? The Supreme Commander isn't normal either?!"

Supreme Commander?! Time-warp much!

"Oh, you're dead!"

Wakana moved ever so slightly at the voices that she could barely make out. There was a soft sounds of that resembled small footsteps. She thought that it probably belonged to a little kid, but there were too many sounds, she figured that it was probably impossible to have that many kids in the area. The voices were a tad bit too squeaky also to resemble that of a kid.

"See, see! Doesn't she look really normal…" a squeaky sounding tone remarked, the voice sounded so near her face that it felt like she was being observed in a very close position.

"Hihihihi…" a soft laughing sound appeared, sounding like it was teasing her.

Very, very much disturbed with the voices, she immediately jolted up from her position surprising the supposedly "kids" in the area. She immediately looked to her side to see where the annoying voices came from, and much to her surprise, no child was in the area.

Her mouth was left open wide in shock as she saw several unexpected figures in front of her. There was this white "thing", looking relatively similar to a slug that's standing up. Its mouth is curled into a shape of a number three. It's eyes were presumably like dots in a paper, but just observing that, it's probably looking at her.

Beside that "thing" was another unknown creature. This one really looked like a demon. Its skin is red, eyes bulging, teeth or rather fangs exposed, and a balding top head. She can pretty much assume that this one belonged to an "oni-class" of demons, though she doesn't really have any particular name to call it.

Another one is a demon with one eye. Similar to the mythological character Cyclops, it appeared like it was staring, excuse the pun, at her. It's wearing a traditional Japanese clothing with the straw hat. The annoying thing about this creature is that it left its tongue hanging permanently in its face.

And of course lastly, it's this weird figure of natto with feet. Overall, this is a pretty normal good morning for Wakana.

NOT!

"The HUMAN IS AWAKE!" The oni shouted as if calling for help. Wakana's eyes widened a little bit but made sure that she didn't really expose her surprise that much. But well, she honestly can't hide her annoyance.

"I have a name." She snorted. Her eyes following the shouting oni as it raced around the room pretending to be in a panic attack.

"AAAAHHH, the human speaks!" The Cyclops followed suit in screams, running around the room in a frantic frenzy.

"Look out big eye, you might hit the wall." She muttered under her breath sarcastically giving a warning towards the running demon.

As if on cue, the demon hit the wall. Wakana looked directly at the four creatures in front of her. A "normal" human, specifically woman, would have screamed her fear out of her lungs after seeing these little thugs. But since, she's anything but normal, and maybe, a little less feminine than the usual stereotype, she simply stared at them. Surprising herself to say the least, she was acting pretty brave. But, nonetheless, the three creatures with the exception of the Cyclops lying down on the ground, the three stared at her bravely.

The natto-look alike took a step to the front, showing his bravery to the rest of his comrades. The stare game started between the two of them.

"Grrrr….." Natto growled as if trying to intimidate Wakana.

Wakana drew a little closer towards the demon. And muttered under her breath…

"You…" She whispered. The natto drew a little closer as if curious as to what she was to say.

Human, what will you say?

Natto looked like he was ready to challenge, until she spoke.

"You stink."

Nurarihyon calmly picked up his bowl of rice from the table placed in front of him. He was alone eating his breakfast at the common room. He could actually sense that everyone in the house was scrambling in curiosity regarding their human guest, well, everyone except Gyuki who stood near the door.

He picked up a piece of his grilled fish and then ate it. He opened one eye towards Gyuki who seemed to be oblivious to his stare.

"Gyuki." The demon looked back at the Supreme Commander upon hearing his name. "What do you think?"

Gyuki crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on a sturdier post. "I think it's a little too early to tell."

He looked at the area where screams were coming from. From what he could fathom, the screams were not coming from the girl, it was coming from those small demons. He could rather imagine that they were trying to intimidate the human guest.

He heard the Supreme Commander snicker. Looking back at the commander with his one visible eye, he saw their clan leader smile.

"Wanna bet, Gyuki? Thirty bottles of Sake."

Gyuki smirked.

"How about fifty?"

Nurarihyon grinned widely.

"You're on."

Kejoro stood there in front of the door. She was debating inside if she should open the door or just stand there and wait for the ruckus to be over. From what she could make of the story, it seems that natto was just totally insulted. The defensive natto smell was seeping out of the closed room.

"She probably told him, he stinks." Kejoro thought.

She shook her and took in tons of air.

Here goes…

Kejoro opened the door and the odor of long withstanding natto came gushing like a tornado. She shook her head wildly trying to rid of the scent, which surely will stick to her clothes after this. She muttered to herself about how bad this smells but didn't even try to say it out loud. She looked around and saw her objective sitting in the corner holding to her face the blanket that covered her a while ago.

"I MAY STINK BUT I'M STILL A DEMON!" Natto kept on repeating acting like a baby on a wild tantrum. He kept on repeating it over and over again, while jumping up and down spilling bits and pieces of natto from its head.

Kejoro grabbed the little demon at the back of its hakama while covering her face.

"Yes, yes, little one. You are a demon. Now, get out of here before I make you into tofu." Kejoro's eyes glistened as she threatened the little thing. Natto shivered and screamed running out of the room claiming that he saw an old hag.

"baaah, old hag in the room!" Natto teased which earned a popping vein from Kejoro's head. She made a mental note to take care of that thing tonight.

The three other demons followed suit. After a few moments, the four demons vanished in the area. From a far, she could see Kubinashi slightly reprimanding the naughty little thugs reminding them that the human is a guest of the Second Heir. Kejoro sighed. She turned towards the silent Wakana who sat at the corner of the room with a blanket on her face. The longhaired woman smiled and looked at their guest.

Their guest was staring at her in a very peculiar manner. It appeared as if she was being scrutinized from head to toe. Well, it's not something surprising. But was she a curious human. From the way she was looking, she already took every visible detail in. Kejoro chose to ignore it.

"Sorry for that. Are you okay?" Kejoro asked motioning towards the girl, who doesn't seem frightened at the least.

Wakana removed the blanket slowly and looked at the woman in front of her. She asked directly, "Demon or Human?"

"Formerly human, currently demon." Kejoro answered quickly. To her surprise, Wakana just nodded. "Well, honestly, that's a very surprising answer from a human. I bought you your clothes last night. This was washed already."

Wakana was sent back to the present. Events of last night flooded into her brain. It went so fast that it gave her a headache. She winced upon remembering each event and also her unknown assailant, which was basically the end of the memory. She looked around, checking for dangerous beings, but to her surprise, there was none. She looked at the woman in front of her who just observed her.

"Thank you." Wakana smiled taking the clothes neatly laid down in front of her.

"No problem. Dress up so that you can have something to eat. We prepared a meal for you at the common room." Kejoro stood up dusting herself a little. "I'll wait outside."

Wakana nodded. She stood up as well while looking at the woman's departing form. "Uhm…"

"It's Kejoro."

"Nice to meet you, Kejoro-san. I'm Wakana." Wakana smiled warmly. "Thank you for taking care of me."

Kejoro smiled. She didn't know why but she felt a nice tingly feeling towards this woman in front of her. She can see paranormal entities which is relatively a special trait, but to her, she believes that her special trait is not just that, its her ability to quickly adapt.

"Anytime, Wakana-sama." She replied slowly closing the door.

A few steps to the right stood Kubinashi. His eyes were focused towards the door then back to Kejoro. The woman who he knew since his human life smiled towards him.

"She seems to be a pretty interesting woman." Kejoro remarked.

"Seems that way." Kubinashi nodded. "If not, then the second wouldn't have paid attention."

"I have to agree, he was indeed stalking her." Kejoro shrugged. "I think this is the reason for his late night escapades."

Kubinashi silently took in the remark. Honestly, it has been a while since the second took interest in another woman after yamabuki otome. Honestly, he really wished for her to move on. He wished that he met a woman who would once again put a smile towards Rihan-sama's face.

Whoever she may be, he wished for only one thing for the Second heir.

He wished for him to be happy again.

Rihan sat at the porch quietly taking in the morning breeze. He has been out the entire night with his night parade after taking the girl home. It was a pretty weird set of events. He barely knew her. He was just observing her for the past days and now she's in his home. Normally, this would not have happened. Bringing a woman home is like telling your parents that you're getting married. But then, hopefully this is an exception. She's a normal human, and by lineage, he's only allowed to marry a human if they have skills as great as his mother's.

His right knee was perched up as he leaned on it slightly. He closed his eyes a little bit as if to relax only to feel a nagging aura observing him from a close distance. He slowly moved up and saw the figure of the woman he was just thinking about.

"You." She uttered, adding with much venom in her voice.

Rihan smiked. "Yeah, me. How's sleeping in someone's home?!"

He almost laughed at her reaction. It was priceless. Her mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish. Her eyes widened at his sudden remark, which for the record he didn't really think of. She took a step back not knowing what to say to his crude statement. All the while blushing profusely at his relatively provocative statement.

"I…I…" Wakana took a while to digest the statement.

What the hell is wrong with this guy?!

Argh…

Annoying!

She stomped her feet and then raised an eyebrow towards the man sitting cockily in front of her. "For the record, its YOU (pointing at him) who kidnapped me!"

"Whoa, easy there, I may be a demon, but I'm no criminal. Kidnapping has never been my style." Rihan shook his head.

"Oh, and then so why am I in a foreign place like these with those annoying creatures going around me making me stink like an old piece of natto?" She retorted.

Rihan almost laughed. So Natto already gave her his personalized greeting. He quickly caught himself not to laugh out loud. He closed one eye and looked at her. He stood up gracefully and tuck his hands inside his hakama.

"You know, instead of you accusing me, why don't you just thank me. After all, I did rescue you." Rihan leaned forward looking at her straight in the eye. "Remember?"

Wakana dug through her foggy memory. She was thinking about the favorable events last night about an unknown savior, unfortunately she could not remember. The only thing that would be remotely similar to his declaration is that he would be the guy who knocked her out of oblivion after the entire incident.

She crossed her arms as if challenging him. "Based on my really foggy memory thanks to someone who knocked me out, I don't remember."

Rihan's eyes widened at her retort. Well, point taken, he did knock her out, "You don't really remember?"

Of course she did. Who won't? Wakana thought to herself. The memory of the blood, the broken bodies, dead demons, dead people, it was so clear that to be honest, she wished that she just forgot. But then again, she was never one to trust easily. She also was never one who would make herself vulnerable to people she didn't know, let alone someone who knocked her out last night. She shook her head slightly and looked at him.

"No I don't. So if you're the one who knocked me out last night, I give you my thanks." She said sarcastically. "Whatever happened to me last night is but a figment of forgotten past."

Rihan honestly didn't want to believe her.

"You really don't remember?" He asked disbelievingly.

She shook her head again.

Persistent demon. Wakana thought. "I already said I don't right, or is your hearing affected by your arrogance?"

Rihan raised a fine brow. Well, well, this woman was a fighter. Not one to back down from a fight. He shrugged. With his extra sensitive hearing, he felt that she was rather hungry.

"Well, since you put it that way, I believe you." He nodded. "And thanks to my lacking hearing capacity, I fairly understand that you're starving."

Wakana blushed. She heard her stomach grumble in hunger.

"Follow me." He smirked seeing her blush again for the second time. He smiled slightly walking ahead of her and noticing that she followed without another remark.

Hehe…

She's interesting.

Rihan thought.

Nurarihyon sensed the coming presence. Gyuki was there sitting beside him eating his fill for breakfast. They glanced at each other looking unaffected by the presence. He continued to eat when the door slid open.

"Old man." Rihan remarked in a relatively cool manner.

Brat. Acting like someone cool…Nurarihyon thought. However, he was not one to burst his bubble. For him two people can play that role. Of course the next best thing to do, to look cool is to simply grunt his acknowledgement.

"Hn." The Supreme Commander muttered as he observed Rihan take a seat beside him in the common hall-a few steps away is the young lady.

She is wearing her school uniform. Her brown hair neatly combed, with slight waves at the end. Her light brown eyes keenly observing and taking the situation into perspective, in just one glance, the commander knew that she's pretty smart. She gave a polite bow before taking her seat towards the left of Rihan. Gyuki on the other hand simply gave a nod and continued to eat.

"My old man." Rihan motioned towards Nurarihyon. "This is Gyuki."

"Nice to meet you. I am Wakana." Wakana bowed politely.

Smoothly, Kejoro placed the tray of food in front of Wakana. She was looking down slightly not wanting to look at the two other men inside the room. She didn't know why, but there was a stifling air inside the room. Without proper introductions, she already understood that she was probably in the presence of someone who's nothing short to a mafia boss.

Such…

Intense…

Demonic presence…

Wakana thought to herself. She almost didn't know if she was in a safe place. She could just wish that she wouldn't be served for breakfast. She was caught off guard when the older of the two demons spoke. If she remembered it right, she was this rude guy's old man.

"Eat. Don't worry, we're good people." Nurarihyon assured her. Without asking, he could already detect the anxiety.

She saw her nod a little taking the bowl of rice in her hand and proceeded to take in small bites of food as if trying to be certain that there's no poison in her food.

Nurarihyon smiled.

Perfect.

Rihan simply ate silently. He gave occasional glances towards their visitor but other than that nothing more. He was still observing her. She simply sat there, not really intimidated by the presence of the two seniors of the Nura clan and proceeded to eat. Well true enough, she appeared anxious but she didn't really show it that much. She simply ate, rather quickly.

"You're obviously hungry." Rihan commented looking at the empty bowl of rice.

She glared at him ever so slightly at his comment.

"Seconds?" Rihan teased.

Blushing for the third time, she shook her head slightly and looked the other way. She noticed from the far corner the figure of the little natto creature making some sort of funny dance as if trying to provoke her.

Her eyes narrowed in slits as if to warn the natto to get away or to get hurt. She heard a soft thud on her tray and looked at it. She saw her bowl filled with rice, a new piece of fish, and a refilled bowl of miso soup. She saw the older man holding a spoon.

"Here, eat more." Nurarihyon smiled gently. Rihan was slightly surprised at his father's gesture but decided not to make any other remark.

Gyuki remained silent. Eating his breakfast….

She simply nodded. "Thank you very much."

The Supreme Commander smiled.

Perfect.

After breakfast, Wakana stood in front of the garden of the household. She was surprised as to how many yamabuki flowers are at full bloom. The yellow petals danced with the wind, some of them blowing towards her. To her, this is perhaps the most comforting place inside the unknown household. Despite the cold spring wind, she felt that this area emitted a soft warmth that enveloped her soul.

Such warmth…

"Yo." A smooth sultry deep voice took her out of her trance.

"Wha?!" She jumped a step back only to see Rihan looking at her with one eye closed. "My gosh, do you have a hobby of surprising people?!"

Rihan looked up. "Yeah, I think so."

"Sigh, really now. I don't understand you." Wakana shook her head.

"You just looked so deep in thought right there, looking like someone in daze. Nothing beats surprising someone staring into space like that." Rihan laughed. "You should have seen how your hair stood up from your head."

"And I am to blame for that?" Wakana unconsciously ran her hand towards her head, smoothing it. "Geez…"

The taller man simply smiled. Silence came about them. It was not the type of silence that was pretty awkward. It was simply a moment of solitude. Both of them comforted by the warmth of the garden and cooled by the spring breeze. Wakana looked up to him and said,

"I have to go back home."

Rihan looked at her. "You don't have a home to go back to."

So blunt. With that statement, how am I supposed to respond while feigning amnesia? Wakana thought. She debated within herself how she was supposed to respond before the guy continued his statement.

"You remember everything right?"

She looked up. He was looking at the garden, but at the same time, he sounded a little bit more serious than usual. She nodded in response. Rihan continued,

"Knowing that, why go back?"

She answered quickly, "They're family."

Her response was very honest and very quick that there was little doubt that she was lying. Rihan felt unconsciously confused with her answer. Honestly, it gave him a nice feeling that this woman knew the value of family. On the other hand, there was worry. He didn't want her to go back home since it was pretty dangerous. Knowing that demons may attack her anytime was not a very reassuring thought.

But correction to anyone assuming that he might have feelings for this woman, that was just a normal reaction of a knight saving a princess.

That's all.

He doesn't want his effort wasted.

Again, that's all.

"I have to go back. They're…still there. I have the responsibility to properly taking care of them as they have done to me." Wakana continued. "Call this gesture, an act of gratitude."

"Well, at least for the purpose of not wasting my effort in saving you, I'll go with you." Rihan looked at her.

Wakana stared at him. "You know you don't have any obligation to do so. Believe me, I can handle this."

"If you're having a hard time accepting my kindness, think of it as if you're my pet. I found my pet and it wants to go back to its home. I might as well send it back safely, right?" Rihan teased. "Not that you're my pet or something. It's just a simple explanation."

"Right. What a way to say it." Wakana's eyes narrowed into annoyed slits. "I thank you for saving me master."

She said it in such a dry manner that Rihan snorted in laughter. His laugh echoed in the area that they were standing in. Wakana looked up to him. His eyes closed, almost near tears. His mouth open in laughter, his white teeth glistening,

He's laughing… Wakana thought to herself

Rather…

In a rather…

Cute manner…

Wakana shook her head to remove those thoughts. She chided herself for that kind of thinking. This was her kidnapper, savior, joker, demon lord stalker, whatever. She's sounding really weird thinking of him as "cute". She was surprised when a big arm rested on her shoulder. Her eyes widened, seeing his face very near him. Both his eyes looked at her intently.

"My name is Rihan Nura." He said in a soft silky voice. "I don't believe we have been properly introduced since the first day we met."

She felt something on her throat. She swallowed hard at the nervousness that she's feeling. Of course, anyone who has a decent mind would feel a little nervous with his closeness. She bowed her head ever so slightly attempting the growing blush on her cheeks. She struggled out of his slight embrace. She took a few steps back trying to regain her composure. She was a hundred percent sure that he was smirking.

True enough, when she raised her head, he was. Not one to back down from that kind of behavior, she smirked back.

"I'm Wakana Koizumi." She extended her hand for a handshake. "Finally, a formal introduction between a human and a demon."

Rihan nodded. "Correction, from a human to a half-demon."

He extended his hand to meet hers. They looked at each other, golden eyes meeting soft brown. The wind fluttered towards them enveloping their handshake with soft petals of yamabuki.

They both smiled.

To be continued.

Please read and review.

Thank you!