EDIT: Apparently this thing isn't coming out right in people's emails, so I'm just gonna repost the entire chapter.
After 109842786 years I updataaaate~~~~~
The story doesn't flow as smoothly as I wanted it to, but hey, 2000 word chapter. ididenough/slapped
Enjoy!
It had been a week since Shizue had left the main house, and things weren't exactly going smooth in the Nura Gumi.
For some odd, inexplicable reason, the youkai of the main house seemed to have lost their usually energeticness; building repairs weren't going as smooth, and the youkai didn't seem to mingle as well as before. Fistfights and arguments became more and more common amongst the youkai. Also, none of the youkai were celebrating about Seimei's defeat. Of course, since the Third was still recovering, the party mood had decreased significantly, but it was rare to see the Nura Gumi to be so down.
Rihan on the other hand, had been out for the entire week. He had fainted right after Shizue left, and his condition kept worsening. Kishi had treated and wrapped the wound right after Rihan fell, but the wound wasn't completely healed; the poison wasn't completely gone either. Shizue's medicine had run out by the fourth day, and Rihan's fear kept deteriorating due to the poison. It had deteriorated up to the point where Rihan had reverted back to his human form.
Zen couldn't really help the situation. He didn't have any experience handling fear poison, and he didn't recognize any of the herbs used in the medicine Shizue provided. Nevertheless, Zen did everything he could to try and stop the poison from spreading. However, nothing seemed to work effectively against it.
"It's a miracle the poison didn't reach the heart yet." Zen had commented the other day while checking up on the Second. Nurarihyon, sitting on the other side of Rihan's futon, said nothing. He knew that it was because Rihan was using every last bit of his fear to guard his heart. It was a natural reflex, but it didn't help the poison problem. As much as Nurarihyon hated to admit it, they needed Shizue now. She was the only one that they knew so far that had a clear concept of how to cure whatever was happening to Rihan. Nurarihyon suspected Kishi knew what the solution to the problem was, too, but when he asked her on the first day she had simply smiled and said, "Sorry Nura-chan, but I'm not allowed to tell you." She hadn't been at the main house since. Nurarihyon sighed in exasperation. The one time he wanted-needed Shizue to be here she decides to not show up. Just great. The shoji door slid open, and two figures walked in.
"How's Otou-san doing?" Rikuo asked, one arm slung across Kappa's shoulders for support. Rikuo seemed to be the only one in the clan that seemed to be improving. He started breathing from the second day (like Shizue predicted) and his recovery was going smoothly, unlike his father. Rikuo was able to eat solid foods, and he had started walking again. Of course, his appetite was far too little to be considered healthy, and he needed someone to support him whenever he wanted to walk, but it was a big improvement for someone who just came back from the dead. Since Rikuo didn't want to burden the same person over and over again, the youkai took turns supporting Rikuo. As of that moment, Kappa was that youkai.
"Same as always. A little bit worse, though." Zen replied, earning a hmm from Rikuo. Rikuo slid his arm off Kappa's shoulder and gently sat down on the ground.
"I don't think Otou-san's condition can afford to be even worse." Rikuo commented, looking at his father. His skin was as pale and thin as paper. At least he was breathing alright.
"That's true. Grr… Where are those stupid women when you need them?!" Nurarihyon yelled. A millisecond later, a book embedded itself into the back of his head.
"Oh~~I'm sorry. My hand must have slipped~~~" Kishi said as she walked into the room, as if nothing had happened. She not-so-gently plucked the book off Nurarihyon's head.
Kishi had adopted a more modern outfit this time. She was wearing a white and blue striped tank top, a blue vest over it, and skinny jeans. Over her shoulder was a brown messenger bag.
"Kishi-san! Why're you here?" Rikuo asked while helping his grandfather up.
"To check up on you and Rihan. I was actually supposed to come three days ago but I forgot~~~" Kishi smiled. The Nura members sweatdropped. Three days ago….that was when Rihan's medicine ran out.
"Anyway, Rihan-chan doesn't seem to be in a really good condition, is he~?" Kishi pouted. "Hnn… I can heal the poison this time since Nee-chan allowed me… But at this rate Rihan's gonna be out for at least three months."
"Three months?! Can't you speed up the process?" Nurarihyon half-yelled, half-ordered. Kishi held a hand up.
"Alright, jeez. I wasn't done talking Nura-chan~~"
"Quit stalling." Kishi sighed.
"Yes, I can speed up the process. It's actually why Nee-chan sent me here."
"So about how long will the Second be out then? I mean, after you speed up the process." Zen piped up. "A couple weeks? A month?" Zen asked. Kishi simply put her hands on her hips and gave a smug look.
"He. Don't underestimate me." She said as she held up a finger.
"One second." She declared as she smirked. The Nura members looked at each other. One second was... impossible, wasn't it? They watched as Kishi kneeled next to Rihan's futon. She held up her finger, and the Nura members watched as some green energy-like thingy concentrated at the tip of it. Kishi tapped the finger to Rihan's forehead, and the energy surged into him. Rihan groaned as he opened his eyes.
"Ugh… I feel terrible." Rihan commented as he sat up, wincing when he moved his left shoulder. The Nura members were shocked.
"Hmm? What're you guys doing here?" He asked as he realized that he was surrounded by people.
"Wha-But that-wha-how-" Zen couldn't form a coherent sentence,which was understandable. That's some incredible healing power Kishi's got… The rest of the people thought, sweatdropping as they did.
"Rihan-chan~~ Mind turning around~? I need to treat your wounds." Kishi stated as she pulled out medicinal supplies from her bag.
"Hm? Uh, sure, I guess." Rihan said as he slipped off the shoulder of his nemaki. Kishi carefully unwrapped the bandages on his shoulder, and started apply new ones on.
"Rihan-chan. I suggest not looking at your shoulder. It's in...uh...pretty bad shape." Kishi said apologetically.
"Don't remind me. I have yet to have any sort of feeling in that arm." Rihan facepalmed. He looked up at Nurarihyon and Rikuo.
"By the way, anything important happen while I was out?"
"Not-not really, I suppose…." Rikuo stammered.
"Building repairs could go smoother, but it's not that big of a problem," Nurarihyon stated. "Other than that, everything has been quite peaceful so far."
"...fu...fufufu…" Kishi covered her hand over her mouth; a useless attempt to hide her giggles.
"What's so funny?" Zen inquired.
"Ahaha..! I just never expected Nurarihyon to use the word 'peaceful' at a time like this. Pfft-ahahaha!" Kishi laughed out loud. The Nura members looked at one another. There haven't been any enemy attacks while the clan was recovering.
"Uh, exactly how is it not peaceful?" Kishi waved the comment off, still giggling.
"Maa, maa. You guys wouldn't believe me even if I told you the truth," Kishi shrugged, returning to Rihan's bandages.
"O-kay! All done!" Kishi exclaimed, slapping Rihan's shoulder. Rihan doubled over in pain.
"Seriously, you'd think it would be common sense not to hit an injured person right on the wound." Rihan mumbled.
"It's not that big of a deal, so just forget about it already~~~" Kishi smiled as she waved her hand. "By the way, Nee-chan told me to give you and Rikuo something…" Kishi reached into her bag.
"...Eh? Now where did I put it?" Kishi reached farther into her bag. When she still couldn't find what she was looking for, she slung the bag off her shoulder and dumped it upside-down.
A waterfall of items fell out of the bag: books, gum, candy, pens, pencils, jewelry, bottles with some kind of weird green-looking liquid, empty bottles, earphones, cellphones (note the plural), money, etc. Apparently whatever Kishi was looking for wasn't in the pile, so she shook the bag. A full sized stapler tumbled out. Kishi shook it again and nothing came out.
"Are? I was so sure I put it in the bag…"
"Check your back pockets." Rihan suggested. And that's exactly what Kishi did. She pulled out a another phone, a wad of receipts, some loose change, and another wallet.
"Front." Rihan said without looking. Kishi checked her front pockets and came up with a bunch of other useless items. Nurarihyon and the others watched on as Kishi pulled out other useless items seemingly out of nowhere. Where does she even keep all the stuff?
Rihan, who had suddenly gained an interest in his fingernails, kept giving Kishi suggestions as to where to look without actually looking at Kishi.
"And in three, two, one…" Rihan mumbled.
"Found it!" Kishi exclaimed, holding up a tiny box. "Now, what was in here again…?" Everybody except Rihan sweatdropped.
"Otou-san. You seem pretty used to this." Rikuo commented.
"Hmm~? Oh, Kishi does this every time. It usually takes her 30 minutes just to give me something."
"What was in here…? Candy? Medicine?" Kishi mumbled to herself, turning the box around. She twisted it up and down, as if trying to see what was inside it.
"...Why don't you just open it?" Kappa suggested.
"That's a good idea..." Kishi widened her eyes in realization, causing multiple facepalms in the room. She opened the tiny box to find two black pills of some sort and a note.
I know you're going to forget, so I'll just write this here idiot sister:
FEAR PILLS.
"Oh right~~~~ Now I remember what these were for~~~~" Kishi handed one pill to Rihan, and one pill to Rikuo.
"These are pills that are 90% fear." Kishi smiled, as if everyone in the room knew what they were for.
"And these are for?"
"What~~? You mean you don't know?" Kishi sighed. "Fine, I'll explain.
"I'm human, so I'm only capable of helping Rikuo-chan and Rihan-chan recover their human side. See how Rihan-chan is still in his human form?" Now that she mentioned it, Rihan was indeed still in his human form.
"Anyway, I can't help their youkai side since I can only give off, well, human fear." Kishi shrugged.
"Human fear?" Rikuo inquired.
"Un! Humans can use fear too, you know. It's composition is a bit different than youkai fear though. How do I explain this…
"Unn….Just think of yin and yang. Youkai fear is yin, or dark, and human fear is yang, light. It's how onmyouji are able to use onmyoujutsu. Humans are also able to use a bit of yin fear and vice versa though, since there has to be a bit of a balance.
"Anyway, the pills are for you guys since it'll help your yin fear recover faster~~"
"Oh, uh, thanks then. I guess." Rihan said while looking at the pill suspiciously. Was this really safe to eat?
"If you're going to thank someone, thank Nee-chan. She's the one who made the pills." Kishi smiled. At that moment, one of her many cellphones buzzed.
"Ah, look at the time! I should be going." Kishi looked at her phone and stood up. As she walked past Rikuo, she brushed her hand across his shoulder. Rikuo could immediately feel the energy rush into him. He could feel his body heal as he gained energyIt was a little disorientating though.
"Later~! Oh, and if you need anything just call me!" Kishi exclaimed as she walked out and closed the shoji doors. The Nura members just sat there looking at one another.
"Otou-san, do you have her number?"
"Nope."
"...So how was it?"
"Hnn...It's deteriorated quite drastically." Kishi stated as she jumped onto the branch where Shizue stood.
"Who would've thought just one item would constitute for the entire clan's fear?" Kishi scoffed. "Maa. They're still so naive and clueless."
"How so?" Shizue asked.
"Nurarihyon claimed that it was 'peaceful.' And everyone else seemed to think it was peaceful too."
"..."
"Haa… If you weren't here the clan would've already fallen. You sure have it tough Nee-chan." Kishi sat down on the branch and looked up at Shizue.
"Tch. That's true. And they have absolutely no gratitude for everything I do." Shizue sighed.
"Hmph. Maybe it's about time I break their spirits…."
Merp. I should be updating more. This story is finally getting to where I want it to though. :P
Nurarihyon's and Shizue's backstory will come up in the later chapters. And he does have a legit reason for hating her. And her sister.
Should I make a manga strip of the last scene? Please give me some suggestions! :)