SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME

Chapter 4C: Redefining the Beginning

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, keeps me motivated to write. Thank you!

Author's note: The story is slightly different than usual. However, I will not move away so much. The overall plan is to end up in the same story. About the onmyoji characters, wait and see. Admittedly some characters may be out of their usual personas.

Note for the chapter: Okay, just a little bit more. I promise to finish this by at least September, haha hopefully. Please review kindly and hope you like the next parts of the story. This chapter is also a flashback to the first scene in the prologue. It's Wakana-centric and we hope that this would explain a few parts of the story.

It was burning. The house was burning. Fire enveloped almost everything in the house. The crawling fire is slowly eating the curtains and the sofa. Paintings around the room are sliced and have sword cuts. The vase and other antiques are broken into pieces, as water seeped out with the flowers carelessly lying on the ground.

A burst of fire caused a tiny but loud explosion. Window glasses explode due to the heat inside the room. The wind gushed inside only acting as a catalyst to strengthen the fire. Her brown eyes look in shock as the sea of flames covered every single area in front of her.

The she sat there in the middle looking around the burning room. The room was steadily being filled with smoke. Then her attention focuses on the body lying down in front of her. Eyes wide in shock as she made out the female figure drenched in blood that covered her simple white summer dress, she touched the auburn hair covering her face. She muttered softly…

"Mom…"

Her mother's eyes were blank, her lips blue, her pale skin tainted with several gashes from sword swings. The scanned the body quickly and saw the big sword wound at her back—the cause of the blood spilled on the floor. She trembled in fear recognizing her mother's dead body. She looked up and saw another figure looming above her.

His face was drenched in sweat, his clothes covered in a mix of water and blood. He held a gun pointed towards an assailant, trying his best to be brave, and to protect. He wore a simple dark blue button down shirt, paired with dark slacks. His hands were trembling in fear but the more you look at it, he seemed more desperate than afraid.

"Don't come near." He shouted making Wakana focus more on the person in front of her, while her other hand embraced the body in front of her.

"Too late." A dark, deadly tone hissed in reply. "You have committed the greatest violation against our clan."

"We have done nothing." The man retorted.

"No. You have desecrated our clan. You humans desire everything, but sacrifice nothing." The dark deadly tone spat in annoyance. "You humans are nothing!"

"We cannot sacrifice this one. She's special." The man responded in utter helplessness..

"All the more we want her! I want her!" The assailant shouted drawing his black sword out from its sheath. Screams of pain accompanied the unsheathing of the sword as if dozens, no, hundreds of souls were taken by this katana.

Wakana tried her best to see the person this man is talking to but the fire was making it difficult for her to see. She winced trying to focus, but to no avail. She looked up again, almost in time to see the man protecting her look back to her small frame. Her eyes widened when she saw him mouth something.

"Wakana-chan, I'm sorry." He said softly. "Run. Look for them. They will help you."

Wakana's eyes widened, tears started to well in her eyes and slowly fall down her cheeks. She looked at the saddened man's eyes and she knew who he was. His tall, lean frame, with a gentle expression, an expression she was so used to seeing. This man was her father. His hand never let go of the gun in front of him. He turned back to the assailant and started shooting, but of course to no avail.

Words won't come out from Wakana's mouth as she watched in horror the scene that played in front of her. A long black blade oozing with purple evil miasma suddenly struck her father. Blood gushed out from the freshly cut wound and the body fell down, lifeless.

"Fa-father…" Wakana muttered, her body shaking. She trembled in shock and fear. She looked up only to see a familiar face.

His face was pale and his eyes were green. His fiery red hair made brighter because of his pale almost porcelain skin. His eyes focused on the dead body on the ground and then to her. She immediately held tightly on the body that was leaning on her as if trying to wake her up. She knew it would be to no avail but she still needed someone. Someone to take her from this place. Someone who would help her, who would save her.

Someone…

Someone, please…

Help me…

Surprise enveloped her body when the assailant launched himself towards her cupping her chin with his index finger and his thumb slowly caressing her lips. The man stared at her and his lips slowly curved into a treacherous smile.

"No one's coming…" He said. "No one will help you…"

Tears started to flow down her face. Afraid for her life, afraid of this person in front of her, extremely sad for the loss of family, and extreme helplessness, she could do nothing right now. She could not even mutter a single word.

"…aren't you happy to see me? Wakana-chan?" The man whispered with venom.

Wakana's eyes widened in realization.

"Sa-sakuya…"

She looked up and saw him lift the black sword. He menaced looking at her with sheer madness. He looked at the sword and then back to the girl. He smirked. He could hear her heartbeat. He could feel her fear. He could also feel her anger and sadness. These are the emotions that feed the Maken. He licked the sword even with blood covering it. He swung the sword to the point that its tip was pointing directly to Wakana's throat.

"It's your family Wakana. They were evil." Sakuya muttered. "They were taking you away from me…"

Wakana weakly looked at him, trying to look at his eyes. His green orbs shimmered in the fire. He didn't look like he was questioning her, nor did he look like he would back down, he was simply stating a fact. He sounded maniacal but he was dead serious with what he was saying.

Albeit, she was really confused, she did not dare to speak. She did not understand what he was referring to. She could feel his anger slowly welling up as he tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword. She swallowed hard waiting for him to continue, hoping that this time, there would be people who would come to save her.

"You were supposed to be mine. You were born to be mine." Sakuya looked at her.

Wakana still did not understand. She continued to pray and pray harder for someone to come to save her. He seems to be able to listen to her thoughts so she did not bother to conceal it. She prayed to any god to all the gods for them to save her.

Then the man suddenly grabbed her shoulders making her wince in pain.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE MINE!" Sakuya shouted. "MINE! MINE! MINE!"

Then suddenly, he was thrown off to the other side of the room. A figure stood in front of her, wearing a kimono, sword in his hand. He wore a simple black kimono topped with a red coat. The white wolf figure shaped his shoulders. His light hair with black highlights underneath it defied the gravity and he seemed to not care about the fire at all.

He turned to look at her with a gentle smile.

"I am your answered prayer."

Wakana groaned, she felt like her neck has been in that position for the longest time and right now the muscles surrounding it are pretty stiff. She lifted her head with much pain and started to open her eyes. She was in the arms of a tall man with white and black anti-gravity hair. He looked down at her with a smile.

"You're awake." He grinned at her. He paused and slowly settled her down.

She started to squirm, seemingly uncomfortable to having a stranger carry her small frame. She was not screaming, but she was thrashing around trying to get off. Her savior simply adjusted himself, as if he was not really having a hard time with the thrashing child. She was very small, thin, and weak. Even though she tried to punch, or kick him, it did not hurt one tiny bit.

"Let me go! Let go! Let me go!" She whimpered. "Let me go, let go!"

"Easy little lady." He assured. "I'm not an enemy…"

"No! No! Let me go! Mama! Papa!" She pleaded. Her voice breaking and trembling. "Mama….Papa… help me…"

Her savior analyzed her small frame. There were wounds and cuts all over her body. Her head had a small wound, her dress was covered with blood, her auburn hair disheveled, her cheeks bruised from what seemingly was a result of being thrown to the ground. Such a pitiful little girl…

He decided to grant her wish. He knelt down and slowly lowered her to the ground. She stopped thrashing and immediately jumped out of his arms. She tried her best to stand up even with wobbly legs. When she tried to balance herself, she was surprised to see that her dress was filled with a lot of blood. Her eyes widened in fear, her body quivered as if a bucket full of ice water was poured over her. She looked ahead and saw her burning home. Her eyes started to get hazy, tears started to flow down her cheeks, she fell down her knees as the memories flooded to her brain.

"Mama…" She muttered weakly. "…Papa…"

Nurarihyon the first looked towards the direction of the burning house. His eyes squinted as he remembered how the battle took place as she lost consciousness due to the fire and the shock.

Nurarihyon stood in the middle of the burning room, setting the young unconscious little lady behind him. He stood firmly in a protective stance. Unknown to everyone, this house was the home of a good friend of his—a good human friend. He now lay in front of him in a bloody heap after being sliced almost into half.

This man became his friend when they met around 10 years ago. He was then travelling alone after doing his rounds. He was looking for a real nice place to eat (and run of course), when he bumped into Koizumi Seijuro. This man immediately knew that he was not human. Seijuro was a writer and producer of shows and books about demons and the paranormal by day, but he's also an exorcist by night. He worked in Kyoto before to exterminate demons and learned the basics from the great lineage of Abe no Seimei.

He was pretty strong, but at the same time, he also very much understood. He understood demons better than any exorcist. He did not simply eliminate demons indiscriminately; rather he tried to check their motives and intentions. And for almost 10 years, they have had a regular habit of having a drink together. He married a woman of great strength. She was no ordinary woman because she was gifted with the ability to see the future.

This ability of hers allowed her to take a glimpse of the future, even just a tiny bit. Although she was extremely careful not to divulge this secret, she uses it at times to detect if her family is in danger. It was also her way to introduce herself to him. She kept this a secret to everyone except for his husband and Nurarihyon. Although this family is a human family, he felt comfortable with them. They offered him food when he was looking for something unique to eat.

This was sometimes his escape from duties as the Lord of the Pandemonium. Unfortunately due to some immediate responsibilities, he was unable to visit them for years. Then yesterday happened. Seijuro sent a letter dated around a month ago stating some very important content. Written there was a simple request. It was a request to visit them at this specific time, around 8:00 PM. He was a little curious with the human's request, but he knew he could not turn this down.

On the way there he sensed a very strong demonic but at the same time heavenly aura. He rushed to the venue only to see his friend and his friend's wife in a bloody heap, a room burning, a crazed lunatic laughing like there was no tomorrow, and a young girl shocked out of her wits. When he arrived a loud thump came in as the young girl lost consciousness.

Nurarihyon was relatively thankful for that so she would not see the battle that would commence. He looked at the assailant with narrowed eyes.

"Who are you." It was a statement, not a question. He felt his blood boil at the loss of his friend and confidante. He received no answer.

"Who are you." He repeated, sounding a little more firm and stronger this time.

The madman looked at him with narrowed eyes as well with his hand loosely holding the sword smoldering with purple miasma. He smirked and looked straight towards Nurarihyon.

"I am your worst nightmare."

He lounged and directed an attack towards Nurarihyon. Their swords met and he was pushed outside of the house. He was very powerful, young and a little more dynamic in terms of his swordsmanship. This produced a pretty good advantage for the Lord of the Pandemonium. Years of battle have given him the experience to deal with lunatics such as this one.

Swords clashed almost like lighting. The sound of steel reverberated in the empty garden near the house. The dark clouds swirled on top of them as if anticipating the finishing blow. As their swords meet and clashed the thunder roared in anticipation. Lighting struck the nearby area as if adding to the thrill of a battle.

Sakuya jumped a step back with his sword pointing towards Nurarihyon. "You're good old man."

"Old man you say. You're 100 million years too early to challenge me." Nurarihyon retorted. He felt a little insulted with the boy's remark.

"Heh, listen well Nurarihyon of the Nura Clan, I am Tsuchiya Sakuya of the Kagatsuchi lineage. You are nothing to me Lord of the Pandemonium. I am a god!"

Nurarihyon hid his surprise. He was fighting a god? How in the world did his friends get associated with this kind of person? Thankfully, the god wanted to answer.

"Your so-called friends went to us to wish for a child. They were desperate enough to ask for a blessing from the gods." Sakuya muttered. "Well, we granted it. My father gave them the chance to have a child."

That young lady? Nurarihyon thought.

"Yes that young lady." Sakuya agreed. Again Nurarihyon stopped himself from neither commenting nor reacting to the fact that he seems to have the ability to read his mind. "However, of course nothing comes free."

Sakuya walked around as if circling his prey. His sword resting on his shoulder, lifting it up and down as if playing with it. He looked up to the darkening sky and the swirled dark clouds above the house of the Koizumis. Fortunately, their house is located in a distant place away from the city.

"The condition was, at the age of 7, they will give her back to us." Sakuya smirked. "As my beloved wife to be. So I came this afternoon to retrieve my prize."

Sakuya stopped and then pointed his sword towards Nurarihyon.

"But, they didn't want to." Sakuya sneered. "I can't believe that these mere humans would turn their back to the promise they made to us. I have been watching her since she was born. I have been waiting for her to mature, to blossom into a fine woman. I have been waiting for her! And this is what they do?! These wretched humans?!"

Nurarihyon listened intently as he tried to block his mind and disable his ability to read minds. It is quite complicated but to an experienced fighter, this is nothing but child's play. He watched as he loomed like a vulture looking back and forth to Nurarihyon then to the house.

"You see, Mr. Pandemonium, I need her. She's special. Born as the gift from the gods, she's blessed with an ability that I need." Sakuya muttered suddenly a little more meekly and with 100% less shouting. "She can grant me my freedom."

"Freedom?" Nurarihyon questioned. "I am at awe with your request. As a demi-god, you seem to have the freedom to do anything you want."

"EXACTLY! I am a demi-god! But I am a cursed demi-god!" Sakuya shouted again. This time, his answer came with the force of a thunder and the support of the lightning. Nurarihyon almost thought that nature was providing the supporting sound effects and lighting for his rant. "I was cursed by my father, my very own father."

Nurarihyon was about to say something but was rudely interrupted.

"Why you say?" Sakuya glided, now almost 4 steps away from Nurarihyon himself.

"I suggest you stop reading minds." Nurarihyon sighed; he's turning to be an annoying man. "I'm losing my interest listening to your tirade."

Sakuya ignored his comment and continued. "Because I wanted power, I wanted more power and secured this."

He lifted the sword in his hand. He smiled looking very proud and mighty. The sword was overpowering. It was as if it was bleeding miasma and almost appeared as if it had a heartbeat. It was pulsating of power and at the same time, overflowing with the lust for even more power.

Maken is a dark, dark sword. Even to demons, they knew of this power and decided to avoid it. Nurarihyon himself kept his distance from this dreaded weapon. Known to manipulate its wielder to kill or be killed, known to have survived years of bloodshed and unending battles. It was an evil sword known to humans and demons alike, a true manipulator of wills.

Out of sheer curiosity, he looked towards Sakuya who was simply staring at the sword lovingly, if there was such an expression of sheer dementia.

"You mentioned curse…" Nurarihyon stated and Sakuya glared at the mention of the word. "What curse lies in your blood?"

Sakuya smirked. "The same curse that runs in yours."

Nurarihyon's eyes widened. It was the curse that the Hagoromo no Gitsune gave him, the curse of an ending lineage. This girl, born as the favor of the gods, has the ability to negate that? Is that why Seijuro wanted to meet with him?

Then he was suddenly interrupted from his thoughts when a lightning struck the house. Both fighters remembered the unconscious girl inside. Both rushed towards the house in frantic chase to save the girl. And with experience and more speed, Nurarihyon reached her first. Cloaking himself with his fear, he hid in the background.

Since Sakuya just reawakened his abilities a few months ago, he could barely sense the invisible enemy. He raced through the house screaming for the name of the girl. Nurarihyon didn't have time to listen to him as he raced out with the girl in his arms.

Jolted out of his thoughts, he was suddenly surrounded by a protective barrier. The barrier was lined with spells he was very familiar with—it was an onmyoji spell from the famous Keikain Family. Of course, to validate his assumption, he saw Hidemoto Keikain, the 27th head of the Keikain Family. The light bound Nurarihyon in his tracks and the remaining exorcists proceeded to take the move less young lady kneeling beside him.

"We're taking it from here, Nurarihyon." Hidemoto threatened. He watched carefully as the exorcists took the young lady away slowly, she was not moving; she was simply staring towards the direction of the house.

The exorcists chanted some sort of spell and it immediately knocked her out.

"What are you doing Keikain?" Nurarihyon inquired. His eyes focused on the head of the exorcist family.

"Don't worry about a thing demon, from this day forth, this is our business." Hidemoto replied.

And with a burst of light, the exorcists vanished. The ties that bound him also dissipated as he stared at the direction they left. He looked towards the house yet again and tried to sense if the maniac demi-god was still there. Well, least to say, he can still sense some blood lust from that direction. He purposefully left some of his powers inside as if to delude his enemy. He needed a diversion to make sure they reach a safe distance before he stops.

But, that child.

Nurarihyon sighed. That child for all intents and purposes was the answer to his curse as well. With her in his family, he can still continue the Nurarihyon lineage. But, from the very beginning, he was not the type to take advantage of these kinds of things. He has his own style.

"Che, I'll leave it to you…" Nurarihyon tucked his arms inside his kimono. "…destiny."

To be continued.

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