I'm really sorry about the long wait! I was taking summer courses for chemistry and it was tough!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hozuki no Reitetsu. I only own Umeko.

If you critique be civil! I will not tolerate flames towards my person!

Chapter 6: Hakutaku's Lament part 2

Momotaro stood in worried confusion as he watched the back of his employer vanish into the crowd of apparitions. Out of all the reactions he expected from the celestial beast, that hadn't been any of them. He turned around to find the two women at the bench standing and chattering animatedly. Well, the demoness was at least. Kagurazaka seemed to nod at the right times adding her own input. Neither of them had noticed him or Hakutaku so he supposed that was a relief in a sense. Less of a commotion and Momotaro himself was still somewhat nervous about approaching the human woman.

Still though... Hakutaku-sama looked like he saw a ghost. The ex-samurai thought as he moved away from the scene. I wonder what caused him to react like that. As Momotaro crossed the bridge back to the pharmacy, he was surprised to find that most of the rabbits who worked with him and Hakutaku were sitting outside facing the door.

"Eh? What's going on?" He asked confusion clear on his face. One of the rabbits, Xinwei, nodded towards the entrance where a sign was placed.

The Pharmacy is closed.

We are sorry for any inconvenience!

"Hakutaku-sama?" Momotaro called out. There was no response.

What in the name of heaven was going on?

Umeko smiled slightly to herself. It had taken a few months but the efforts between her and Akane bore fruition. They'd finally managed to find a group assistants that could keep up with Akane both in terms of her work ethic and her erratic tendencies. One of them chose to work part time as an assistant as they were an apprentice to a shop in Shugo while the rest were in fact art majors looking for work.

"The final draft came out excellent. I'm glad that this worked out for her." Umeko mumbled to herself. As she headed back to the firm. The final draft wasn't due for another week but the brunette wanted to inform her employer of Akane's progress. She was glad for the demoness.

Walking into the building, she greeted the receptionist and entered the elevator heading up to Twen Ch'ang's office. As she passed a few offices, some of her fellow editors glanced at her distastefully though she ignored them easily enough. Some of them were still hung up on her being human while others sneered at the fact that she was a mangaka's editor. They didn't matter. Besides, she'd heard that some of the books that were passed by them flopped badly. They had no room to talk.

*Knock, knock*

"Twen Ch'ang-sama? May I come in?" She asked holding the draft to her chest.

There seemed to be someone else inside for she heard polite laughter and talking. "Come in." Her employer's voice piped up faintly from the other side. Umeko gingerly opened the door to reveal Twen Ch'ang sitting at his desk. Sitting across from him was a young demoness dressed in a yellow kimono decorated with peaches.

"Ah, Miss Kagurazaka what can I do for you?" He asked.

Umeko bowed before handing him the envelope with the draft. "I'm pleased to announce that Akane-san and her team have finished the final draft ahead of schedule." There was a small smile on her face. "They're handling the load quite well with the way she works and so far there have been no problems."

Twen Ch'ang grinned. "Excellent!" He motioned towards the demoness sitting in the chair observing her curiously. "I'd like to introduce you to Peach Maki. She is a rising idol in Jigoku and she's just agreed to become a sponsor for us."

Umeko gave her a curt bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She spoke respectfully.

"S-same here!" The demoness stammered surprised. "I-I mean the pleasure's all mine!" She quickly got up and bowed. Twen-Ch'ang could be heard trying to hold back a snicker. The rising star was easily nervous and apparently just as easy to rile up due to a reporter from a tabloid magazine constantly following her around.

"Twen-Ch'ang-sama I'll be taking my leave then." Umeko bowed and nodded to the demoness. "It was a pleasure to meet you... I'm terribly sorry do you prefer to be called Peach Maki or Maki-san?" She asked cocking her head to the side.

"Oh um... you can just call me Maki-san Kagurazaka-san!" The demoness once again stammered.

"Umeko nodded. "Then please feel free to call me Umeko-san." With that the human took her leave. Peach Maki let out a heavy sigh.

"Are you alright Maki-san?" Twen-Ch'ang asked smiling slightly.

The demoness nodded. "I'm sorry about that. I'm not used to anyone being so formal! She gave me quite the surprise. Although... I didn't know humans could find work in Tengyoku." She noted.

The Chinese god nodded overlooking the draft the human dropped off. "It's exceedingly rare, but sometimes we do get the occasional human who would rather work than go to paradise. Miss Kagurazaka is such an example. I am glad she chose to find a job though. She is an excellent editor." He turned his attention back to her.

"Now then. Let's discuss how you'll be sponsoring our company shall we?" At his business smile, Peach Maki gulped a bit.

Back at the pharmacy, Momotaro paced back and forth at the storefront, the rabbits watching him begin to wear the ground down. Hakutaku refused to answer the door and the samurai could hear commotion inside. Lots of stumbling and sounds of ceramic clinking against each other.

"Hakutaku-sama!" He tried again knocking on the door. "Please open the door! Whatever is going on with you I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out!" He yelled trying to get the celestial being's attention to no avail. He jumped however when he heard crashing on the other side.

"DAMMIT! FUCK!" Hakutaku could be heard yelling on the other side.

"That's it..." Momotaro muttered to himself backing up a few feet. Once he was a good distance away, the samurai turned apprentice charged towards the door effectively splintering the wood and breaking the frame down. Momotaro sighed in relief, glad that he had decided to wear tabi socks with his sandals or else he would have risked cutting himself with the mess of splinters and glass shards on the floor.

Speaking of messes... He grimaced taking a look around the shop. The interior was a wreck. Tables were turned over as if in a fit of rage. The remains of ceramic bowls and pots scattered across the floor along with numerous books. The heavy scent of sake in the air caused Momotaro to scrunch his nose. "What happened here?" He wondered outloud. "Hakutaku-sama?" He called out trying to locate the pharmacist.

"Please go away Tao-Taro..." He finally heard a voice mumble from behind the counter. The samurai walked over, mindful of the shards on the floor and found his teacher slumped against the shelves, a jug of sake in one hand. The deity looked up and Momotaro felt his heart sink. Hakutaku's face was red and puffy. His eyes were bloodshot and...

His master had been crying.

"Hakutaku-sama?" He called out softly and with care. Momotaro had been apprenticing under the beast for months, saw him get dumped and beaten by countless women... He'd never seen him like this though. "What happened?"

Glassy grey eyes stared at him sorrowfully. "When you entered heaven... Did you ever wonder what happened to the ones you left behind Tao-Taro?"

Momotaro blinked in surprise at the question. My parents were already old when they found me... and well... Shiro, Lurio, and Kakisuke died a few years before I did... I didn't necessarily leave anyone behind... Maybe a few people who I called friends later on but... "No I don't think I ever did... My parents died before I did and have been living in paradise for quite sometime. In fact, I think they entered reincarnation not too long ago. Shiro, Lurio and Kakisuke died some time before I did and they waited for me to cross when it was my time."

"...I see..." Hakutaku murmured and took a long swig from the sake jug.

Momotaro sighed. "Hakutaku-sama… What is this about? You suddenly ran off like you saw a ghost." He wanted to snort to himself at the irony of his sentence.

"I did in a sense..." The deity spoke softly and touched the red cord hanging from his ear. "It crossed with her..."

Momotaro raised a brow. Wait a minute... he started acting strangely when I mentioned Kagurazaka-san wore a similar cord on her ear..." His eyes widened and he turned to face the deity once more. "Hakutaku-sama, do you know Kagurazaka-san?"

Hakutaku merely stared back down at his sake. "That cord was supposed to be a birthday present for her you know..." He gave the samurai a somber smile. "I remember the first time I met her. I thought she was this strange little brat with a love for books. Then... she became my best friend."

*Flashback*

"Are you a magician or something?" He heard behind him. Hakutaku enjoyed coming down to earth when his boredom couldn't be satisfied in Tengyoku or Jigoku. Flirting with the ladies in the mundane world was always entertaining and if they didn't like his advances, well at least they couldn't beat him up like the spirits back home. He found a young girl sitting on a bench, watching him with curious coffee colored eyes. Upon closer inspection, he could see cobalt flecks in her irises. She was a small thing. Wavy locks of dark hair fell about her shoulders and her bangs tried to cover her eyes. He supposed she was a student at the school he was at when flirting with the female teachers.

Hakutaku blinked. He hadn't expected the little girl to speak to him. "...Come again?"

Coffee eyes stared blankly at him. "I said 'are you a magician or something?'" She repeated. "Every time I see you talking with the all the teachers who are girls they cling to you like leeches and they're not even fighting over you." She wrapped her arms around the thick book she was carrying. "I've read that when another woman gets too close to a man who's already been taken by another, they fight like a cat and a dog."

Hakutaku stared at her jaw slacking a bit. What the heck is this kid reading... His lips curled into an amused smile as he bent down to her level. "Well little Nuhai, let's just say I like talking to pretty girls." He winked at her.

"So you're just leading them on." She deadpanned and the smile quickly fell from the deity's face. When he didn't respond there was a smug gleam in her eyes.

"So I'm right?" She asked.

This little brat... He could feel his eye twitching as he gave her a forced smile. "Listen little one. I can't help it if I attract pretty ladies. Besides, I'm not leading them on. I'm simply giving them all of my love equally." Try to rebute that kid.

She simply gave him a deadpanned expression. "If making a harem is what you call sharing your love equally, then you'd better be ready to face a bunch of angry in-laws because I don't think their going to share your thinking."

This time he glared at her. "Where did you learn things like that? Don't your mom and dad make sure you don't read anything you're not supposed to? I just might have to tell them you're being a bad little girl." He smirked thinking he'd won this argument.

The child merely gave him a dry look. "I don't have a mom and I don't have a dad either. I live in an orphanage." She opened her book back up to where she left off. "As far as reading goes, I've read a few stories in the public library where the villain or the king has a harem of women. Manga show that stuff too though it's a lot more perverted in some cases."

Well... Now he just felt like a jerk. He sat on the bench with her looking at what she was reading. 'The complete works of Sherlock Holmes Translated'. "You're strange for a kid you know that?"

She shrugged. "I get that a lot." She put her book down and pulled a bento from her bag and began to eat. "You're harem's arriving." She motioned towards the group of women who smiled upon seeing him.

Hakutaku grinned and made his way towards them. "Until tomorrow Ero-san." He froze hearing her call him that.

*End of Flashback*

Momotaro deadpanned upon hearing their first meeting. "Really Hakutaku-sama… even on Earth?"

Hakutaku huffed out a laugh and took a swig of sake. "I ended up banned from there once the principal caught wind, but every time I did come she'd be waiting at that bench excited to talk about the new book she was reading or I'd tell her some stories about heaven."

Momotaro blinked unsurely. "Does that mean you told her you're a celestial beast?"

Said beast smirked. "Oh no. I underestimated her brainpower because she figured it out herself. Confronted me and everything. I thought about erasing her memory and leaving then and there but then she begged me to stay." His expression softened. "Turns out, I was her best friend too. Her only friend actually."

"What happened afterward?" The folk hero asked. The smile on Hakutaku's face faded and he stared down into the bottle once more.

"Heaven found out that she knew."

*Flashback*

"Do you have any idea what your presence around this child means?!" An envoy yelled, his face bright red. "She knows that Tengyoku and Jigoku for a fact exist Hakutaku! Humans are meant to be ignorant of our presence! We are meant to be tales of caution."

The beast frowned. "I did keep it a secret. She figured it out herself." He explained though in hindsight perhaps he should have backed off on telling her about so many myths. That had probably helped Umeko put two and two together in the process. "Frankly I don't see the big the deal about her knowing. It's not like anyone will believe a sixteen year old telling them she met a mythical beast. At most they'll think she has eighth grader syndrome."

Another envoy rubbed his head in dismay. "That's not the point. It's the fact that not only did she find out, but you've been keeping this a secret for six years from the heavenly council. A human knows about the mechanisms about Jigoku and Tengyoku. Do you realize that she could manipulate such information? That cannot go unpunished no matter your status Hakutaku."

Hakutaku was about to raise his hackles at the envoy for even daring to suggest that Umeko would do something like that. He was interrupted by a quieter voice. The envoy next to him stepped up to the heavenly council before them.

"If I may... The girl called Umeko Kagurazaka should not be punished. Upon studying her records and observing her, I've found no traces of conversation mentioning Tengyoku or Jigoku to other humans. Further investigations show that she is a loner. No friends or family to speak of." He explained giving his files to the council who began studying the documents inside.

"You are positive that she is not a threat?" One of them eyed him.

The envoy nodded. "Most certainly. It seems that the only one she has ever confided in... is Hakutaku-sama himself."

Anxiety bloomed inside the beast as they awaited the verdict of this trial. 'I'm not going to let them hurt Lizi-ko. They won't lay a finger on her.'

The head of the council took a deep breath and sighed. "We have reached a verdict. The human known as Umeko Kagurazaka will not be punished for her knowledge of Tengyoku and Jigoku."

Hakutaku sighed with relief.

"However, as punishment for the celestial beast of medicine... Hakutaku, you are prohibited from entering the mundane world for the next 1,000 years. You will also be the one to erase the memories of this child."

Hakutaku felt the blood in his body turn into ice. "W-what?" He stammered not believing what he was hearing.

"I am sorry Hakutaku but this is for the best. For both of you." With that the council adjourned the case.

The envoy who had adverted punishment for Umeko gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "I am truly sorry Hakutaku-sama. I will lead you to her home if you wish for one last goodbye." He handed him a tiny pouch. The celestial beast didn't need to open it to know it was filled with dream powder. It was ground from the seeds of a plant that grew only in certain parts of heaven and were used to erase memories, fading them until they felt like nothing more than the fragments of a dream.

*End of Flashback*

Momotaro gazed at him sadly. "So you had to erase her memories in the end?"

Hakutaku smiled bitterly. "No... I didn't. They think I did but... The selfish part of me... I couldn't bring myself to do that to her. I left her the present I meant to give to her for her birthday instead. I just couldn't do it Tao-taro. Sometimes I wonder if maybe it would have been for the best." He thought out loud. "It was never easy for her to make human friends. She was always too smart for them... Too talented." His frown marred his handsome features. "She must have been awfully lonely..."

The ex-samurai absorbed this information. "Hakutaku-sama… Are you afraid Kagurazaka-san is angry you?"

The beast huffed putting down the sake. "... Is it that obvious? I'm terrified. I've handled lots of rejections Tao-taro. I've been slapped, punched, and kicked more times than I can count." He placed his head in his hands. "The one thing I don't think I could ever handle... is Lizi-ko hating me. Anyone else is fine... but Lizi-ko… I wouldn't be able to take her hating me..."

"Maybe she won't hate you Haktaku-sama." Momotaro soothed as best as he could at the moment. He'd never been very good at comforting others. He'd always preferred to let his sword and skill do the talking.

Hakutaku sighed and closed the lid of the jug. "The optimistic part of me agrees with you but as much as I hate to say it, I'm with the pessimistic part." He stood surveying the shop and had the decency to wince. "I made worse of a mess than I thought..." He scratched his cheek sheepishly.

Momotaro sighed good-naturedly. "I'll go grab the brooms and dust pans, you start picking up what isn't sharp and put them back." As the two cleaned the room in silence, a thought occurred to Hakutaku.

"Wait a minute... It was Lizi-ko you tied up?" Momotaro nearly tripped and gaped at the celestial beast who couldn't decide if he was exasperated or amused.

"HAKUTAKU-SAMA!"

Author's Note: So I'm sorry this took me so long. Good news is I passed my summer classes. Since I'm starting school again I'll have to manage my time between studying and writing. I wanted this to be longer but what I had planned for this chapter didn't really fit so I decided to stop it here for now. Anyway please remember to review and be civil about it. See you all next chapter!