This was unusual. She thought to herself as she glanced from the large old fashioned wooden gate down to the little slip of paper that she had been given two days ago when she had been hired by her new boss.

Rikuo Nura.

The name itself, while not odd given their location, did however seem just a little bit vaguely familiar to her. Though she had been trying over and over again to really figure out why.

Jumping slightly as the large wooden door to the gate slowly opened on squeaky hinges, she did a quick mental check of everything from her appearance to whether or not she had actually managed to break the lease on her former home to the contents she had packed inside of her duffle bag.

"Miss?" A masculine voice called out to her as several people appeared in the doorway.

Blinking her violet colored eyes at the group, she scanned one person and then another from under her long, dark bangs. The person whom had spoke to her was a man wearing ancient looking monk robes complete with long jet black hair and a large straw hat and a staff with rings on it.

Just a little bit to the side of him was a young man who appeared to be in his twenties with sandy blond hair and brown eyes, wearing a light blue robe over a pale green yakata with a either a dark blue or black scarf around his neck.

Next to him stood a young man with short silver hair wearing a sky blue, red, and gold yakata. And beside him- Was by far one of the most stunningly handsome man that she had ever seen before. He was tall, slightly muscular (if his pecs and abs were anything to go by) and had what appeared to be mid back length hair that was two different colors that would have looked terrible on another person, but looked quite good on him and was pulled back into a neat ponytail at the back of his head.

And though he was half hidden by shadows, his crimson eyes were not only noticeable, but stared at her with a peculiar intensity as he spoke.

"Are you Saya Wakamuri?"

She didn't recall replying.

Much less nodding her head in response to his question, but one moment she was out on the street and the next the man's hand shot out and snagged her wrist in a shockingly gentle grip as he chuckled and pulled her through the door and into the yard as a startled yelp escaped her lips.

Once inside of the spacious yard, inside of the massive fence and gate, the man abruptly released her wrist causing her to stagger a little bit before coming to a stop just an inch or so from him as he brought up one of his hands and gripped her chin and tipped her head back a bit on her neck so that he could see her features more clearly.

"Well, well- The woman who recommended you certainly didn't disappoint. You are quite lovely..." The man said as he stared at her from beneath hooded, vivid crimson of his eyes as he gave her a slow once over. Taking in her waist length black hair and how it was carefully styled in a long thick braid, her smooth ivory skin, soft pink lips, long slender neck, petite build and curves of her breasts- partially hidden underneath her cream colored long sleeved shirt, and her long slender legs encased in denim before muttering, "The only question now is if you are competent enough to reside in this house and do the task assigned to you."

Reaching up, Saya non too subtly smacked the man's hand away from her and shot him a glare as she said lightly. "Isn't it rude to say such things to someone who's come to help you?"

The man blinked at her for a second before chuckling again.

"You're right. Forgive me for being rude. I heard that you lived on the other side of town-"

"I did. But since you asked for a live in nurse, I had to break the lease for my apartment. I'm sorry about the two day wait, but it takes time to put things in order and pack."

The man gave her a calculating look for a moment before seeming to notice the duffle bag that she was carrying. And then pointed to it and asked, "Is that everything you own?"

"Wha- Oh you mean this. No, no, it's not everything I own. Just clothing and the bare essentials. I have at least a week or so worth of clothing, and figured that I could pick up some more stuff after I evaluate the condition of the patient. After all things like this sometimes take months or even years."

"Months? Years?" The man said as he got a strangely sad look on his face and quickly averted his gaze.

"Oh... I-I'm sorry. You weren't aware of that, were you? I thought for sure that after Mr. Nura had spoken with my supervisor that he would have known and told the rest of you. " Saya said as she mentally kicked herself for being so dumb as to say something like that out loud.

It made her seem insensitive.

"No. It's fine. Follow me, there are a few things that I must speak with you about before you settle in for the night," The man said in a much more gentle tone than before. "Have you eaten?"

"Huh? Oh no. I heard that Mr. Nura needed me here as soon as possible so I-" Saya started to say that she hasn't eaten more than a little bit of rice since the day her supervisor had contacted her about this job but the man cut her off.

"Very well, on of my people will bring you something to eat. And perhaps some coco too to help warm you up since you aren't wearing a jacket right now. And while you're eating, I'll tell you as much as I can about what is expected of you while your here."

"O-Okay." Saya said as she started forward as one of the other men that had been standing just behind her watching and listening to them, reached out and carefully took her duffle from her shoulder before she could so much as protest, saying in a mischievous tone.

"What kind of man would I be if I let a little lady like you carry such a heavy burden?" As he passed her and disappeared somewhere into the house as she was led up the porch steps and along the long hall to a room where the crimson eyed man pulled open a sliding door with painted shoji screens with a pond and a bunch of red lotus flowers on it.

"Come in and make yourself comfortable while I get someone to fetch you some food and coco." The crimson eyed man said gently as she stared at the shoji screen and tried to place just how old it was until she felt a large hand give her a light nudge forward and almost staggered and fell into the crimson eyed man's chest before catching herself and turning to look at who had nudged her only to find empty space behind her.

What the hell? She wondered before slowly entering the room and beginning to turn to close the door when the crimson eyed man said, "Don't bother. Your food should be here shortly and the person carrying it won't be able to open the door. Besides I have a few more people who will be joining us for this discussion and I want them to feel welcome."

"O-Oh. Alright then." Saya said, unsure of what exactly else she should say to the guy as she slowly walked over to the cushion left vacant across from where the man was sitting and slowly sat down on it and folded her hands in her lap.

"You seem uneasy." The crimson eyed man said out of the blue almost causing Saya to jump in her seat as her wide violet eyes locked with his.

"Sorry. I-I'm always a little jumpy in new places."

"Hnn, I see." The man said as he picked up a thin looking old fashioned pipe and used a match to light it and took a slow drag before exhaling the smoke and asking, "To get us started on our talk a little bit, how about some background info? What got you started as a live-in caretaker?"

"Well, my parents died when I was very young and the only family that I had left was my grandparents who were both in their fifties when they got custody of me. My grandfather used to work in the lower ranks of a yakuza family when he was young. And my grandmother was a trained nurse. On top of that they were a very traditional couple. So when I was living with them, my grandfather had my grandmother train me in traditional pursuits as well as some more practical ones. Like cooking, cleaning, and of course- first aid and advanced medical care."

The crimson eyed man tilted his head to the side ever so slightly as he stared at her with unblinking eyes for a moment before setting his pipe aside and saying, "They sound interesting."

"They were. Both of them passed away before I turned eighteen," There was a slight flicker of something akin to sadness in the man's eyes but it was quickly masked as she went on to say. "They both died in their sleep on the same night. They were both eighty one."

The man's lips quirked a little bit at the corners. "Sounds like you had an interesting childhood."

"I suppose so," Saya replied as a buxom young woman with long wavy hair suddenly entered the room carrying a tray with a steaming porcelain cup and several dishes on it and bowed to the crimson eyed man before raising to her full height and walking over to where Saya was seated and placed the tray on the floor directly in front of her.

"Here you go, Miss. Enjoy." The young woman said in a friendly manner as Saya looked over what had been brought for her to eat.

It was a decent spread as far as she was concerned, and had more restaurant-like appeal than anything traditionally made. The main dish was shrimp tempora, and mussels complete with stir fried vegetables and some seasoned rice. Finished off with side salad and dipping sauces and dressing on the side.

All in all it was rather nice.

A tad bit extravagant, in her opinion, but nice nevertheless.

"You don't have to hold yourself back, go ahead and dig in." The man said before tacking on. "Kejoro may not seem like it but her cooking is excellent."

Saya opened her mouth to say something but abruptly closed it again when the men from before, plus about twenty other people suddenly all appeared and began to file through the door and take their seats on the cushions littering the floor of the room.

It was then that the door to the room was finally shut and everyone fell silent.

"Is everyone here?" The crimson eyed man asked.

There was a chorus of Yes, and Here's from all over the place as the man nodded his head and said.

"To begin with, the young lady before me is Saya Wakamuri. She is the live-in caretaker that has been sent to us to take care of my grandfather since he can no longer take care of himself as he currently is." The man said as he allowed everyone to talk among themselves for a second in a whispering tone before falling silent again so that he could speak again, "I have already gotten some background on Miss Wakamuri and have decided to tell her the truth, the real truth of our situation."

Again there was some muttering and whispering among the group as one young man with spiky dark hair and gold/red colored eyes leaned forward a little bit in his seat and asked, "Is it wise to do that Rikuo? She might get scared. You know how-" He paused for a second to cast a calculating glance her way before saying almost tentatively, "Outsiders are."

The crimson eyed man- Rikou turned his head ever so slightly to glare at the guy for a moment before the other let out a tired sigh and put his hands up in surrender.

"Moving on- Miss Wakamuri, I'm afraid that the real situation within the household is...shaky at best. Especially where bringing in an...outsider is concerned. However we really seem to have no choice. My grandfather Nurarihyon, is extremely old. Almost eight hundred and thirty years old to be exact." Saya's eyes widened and she began to ask how that was possible but Rikou held up a hand to signal her to keep silent a few moments longer, making her close her mouth again as she waited for a possible explanation.

Any explanation really.

"You see, this household is a home and sanctuary for yokai. Yokai like my grandfather." Rikuo said bluntly, not bothering to sugar coat things or beat around the bush any and waited for Saya's reaction. Half expecting a scream, or fainting spell or- and this was possibly the weirdest scenario- a dine and dash as far away from his home as possible.

But when Saya just stared at him wide eyed for a moment and then gave him a funny little smile.

He felt an odd sense of dread settle in the pit of his stomach and began to wonder just why he was feeling that way.