Shouldering the Night

As Rikuo's thirteenth birthday approaches, he decides to tell his friends the truth about his blood and his responsibilities.

"Rikuo, how much longer do you intend to waste your time at that human school?" the Supreme Commander complained. He stared angrily at his grandson, who was sitting across from him in the Nura Clan's main meeting room. "Your thirteenth birthday is in a matter of days and you must take full responsibility of the Clan at that time. Do you really think you can go to school and run the Clan at the same time?"

"Grandpa…" Rikuo murmured. He looked down at his knees for a moment, deep in thought. "I know, Grandpa," he said at last. "I've thought about this too. I said I would take up responsibility as the Third, and I plan on keeping that promise. But if I quit school, my friends would be worried and come to the house looking for answers."

The Supreme Commander closed his eyes, his anger fading. "True, that may become an issue. But that is a problem you will have to resolve yourself." He rose to his feet and began to shuffle towards the door. "I have no experience in that sort of thing."

"Grandpa, wait!" Rikuo shouted, but the Supreme Commander had already shut the sliding door. Rikuo stared at his knees again. "What do I do?" he thought to himself.

He found Yuki-Onna in the kitchen with his mom. "Yuki-Onna, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Master," she replied, following him out to the porch. They sat facing the seemingly ever-blooming sakura tree and he explained the situation to her. "You're their friend too," Rikuo said. "What do you think I should do?"

"Well," Yuki-Onna decided after thinking for a minute. "I do agree with the Supreme Commander that you should put all your efforts toward the Nura Clan when you become of age."

"But what about my friends?" Rikuo exclaimed.

"You could tell them the truth," said a gruff voice beside them. They looked up quickly to see Aotabo leaning on one of the wooden porch columns. His face was solemn.

"The truth?" Rikuo repeated. "But—"

"If those kids are really your friends, Master, they'll accept you as you are," Aotabo continued, cracking a smile. "And if I remember correctly, at least a few of them have been waiting to meet you in your night form anyway."

Rikuo stared out at the sakura tree for a moment, his gaze intense. At last, he got to his feet and started to walk away. "I need to think about this. Excuse me."

A few hours later, Yuki-Onna, Aotabo, Kurotabo, Kubinashi, Kejoro, and other smaller yokai had gathered around the entrance to Rikuo's bedroom, awaiting his return. The weaker yokai could not stay quiet for long and had to shush each other constantly. Kejoro leaned over to Kurotabo. "Master has been in there a long time," she whispered, hiding her mouth with her fan.

"Indeed, but this is a tough decision for him," Kurotabo replied. As he finished his sentence, the sliding doors opened and Rikuo finally appeared. His face was serious and his eyes determined. The aura of his presence was not unlike that of his night form. He looked over the small crowd of yokai that had gathered around the door.

"Okay," he declared. "I'll tell them."

The next day was Saturday. Rikuo called his friends and asked them to a sleepover at his house, under the ruse that spending the night in a 'haunted' house would be a good activity for the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol. That evening, he gathered Kana, Kiyotsugu, Shima, Natsumi, and Saori in one of the expansive rooms in the house. The setting sun could be seen through the open door through the branches of the sakura tree. A warm breeze came in through the door, bringing with it a few cherry blossoms, which gracefully fell to the wooden floor. Rikuo sat with his back to the door, which cast his face in shadow until he lit the paper lantern hanging from the ceiling. He was dressed in his traditional blue and black robes.

Yuki-Onna, transformed into her human form, waited nervously behind one of the inner doors to the room, peaking through a tiny crack in the door. "I wonder how Kana will react to Master's confession," she thought. "It's obvious that she is in love with Master's night form. Will that change once she knows the whole truth?"

"Rikuo," Saori said, breaking the silence. "It's so unlike you to ask us to come to your house."

"Yeah," Natsumi agreed, twirling her dark hair. "Usually it's Kiyotsugu who 'invites' us for you."

"Hey! You have to admit that Rikuo's house is perfect for our club meetings!" Kiyotsugu countered.

"I guess," Saori grumbled, looking around the room. "Seems even creepier tonight."

Rikuo glanced behind him. The sunset was moments away. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. With the worst of his nerves gone, he opened them again and gave his friends a determined look.

"Actually guys, I called you here to tell you something." He looked down at the floor in front of him. "I won't be coming to school anymore."

"What?" Natsumi and Saori screamed together. Kiyotsugu and Shima stared at Rikuo with extreme looks of confusion.

"But why, Rikuo?" Kana asked sadly. She was gripping her jean skirt tightly. Rikuo couldn't meet her gaze and just looked off to the side. "Rikuo!" she yelled, angry tears starting to well up in her eyes.

After a moment, he spoke again. "Do you guys remember when we were in elementary school and I kept insisting that yokai were nice and that my grandpa was one?"

"Yeah!" Kiyotsugu exclaimed, his momentary stupor gone. "I remember that! I kept taunting you for that bit that yokai were good, which I totally apologize for, by the way."

"Well, what if I told you that all of it was still true?" Rikuo continued, giving them all a level gaze.

"What are you saying, Rikuo?" Kana asked quietly.

"The truth is, I'm not all human. I'm one-quarter yokai on my dad's side and my grandpa is Nurarihyon, the Supreme Commander of yokai." He subconsciously puffed out his chest a bit with pride.

His statement was met with silence. Kana stared at Rikuo, turning his words over in her head. "But isn't that him? Rikuo can't be—"

"Ha! Nice try, Rikuo!" Kiyotsugu laughed. "But there's no way you're the ultra awesome yokai leader that I've been admiring since grade school! You don't look remotely like him! Where's your proof?"

"You want proof, eh?" he teased, a sudden dark glimmer in his eye. At that moment, the sun finally sank below the horizon, making the room darker and the shadows deeper. A strong breeze blew into the room, causing the fire in the paper lantern to flicker. More and more cherry blossoms floated into the room and danced through the air, almost like magic. In stunned silence, they watched Rikuo change. His eyes began to glow like two coals from the fires of hell. His hair extended, reaching out from the back of the head, and also changed colors. The top was now as white as snow and the bottom was darker than the shadows. He grew taller and his shoulder became wider. He sat before them a different person, a satisfied smile on his new face. He took off his glasses and placed them on the floor in front of him.

"No way…It's true…" Shima murmured, stunned.

Kana's head was spinning. "Rikuo is him? But…how…and why didn't…"

Suddenly, with a triumphant cry, Kiyotsugu rushed at Rikuo, a goofy smile on his face. "At last, I've found you, oh—" Instead of grabbing him by the hands like he had planned, Kiyotsugu fell through Rikuo as if he were smoke. Surprised, he tumbled out the open door and fell off the porch with a crash. Rikuo solidified his smoky form, smiling at his friends' stunned faces.

"Hey, Kiyotsugu! You okay?" Rikuo called behind him.

"I'm…just fine…" he called back, a happy, flighty tone in his voice.

"Rikuo, is that really you?" Saori asked, her eyes wide with awe.

"Yes," Rikuo replied, his face becoming more serious. "When night falls, my yokai blood is awakened and I take this form. However, because I am only one-fourth yokai, I can only be a yokai for one-fourth of the day."

"Leave it to the super leader of yokai to hide himself from us for so long!" Kiyotsugu exclaimed as he ran back into the room. He knelt before Rikuo, his face shining with joy. "Not even Yura could break your magnificent disguise!"

"Oh, she already knows," Rikuo explained, smirking. Kiyotsugu's face faltered a tiny bit. "She being the clever onmyoji that she is, she was suspicious of me and this house right from the start."

"So this house is haunted by yokai!" Natsumi concluded.

"Indeed," Rikuo confirmed, smirking. "That reminds me. 'Tsurara,' you can come in now."

"Yes, L-lord Rikuo," Yuki-Onna responded, immediately opening the inner door and walking nervously to his right-hand side. Rikuo's friends stared confusedly as she settled on her knees beside him.

"Tsurara is here…" Shima murmured happily.

"It's alright," Rikuo comforted, sensing her nervous state. He curled his lips in a smile. "Go ahead."

"Yes, Master," she responded, bowing her head slightly.

"Master…?" Kana whispered.

"I'm sorry if I frighten you!" Yuki-Onna apologized, bowing her head to her friends and closing her eyes tightly. Kana was about to say something back, but suddenly, Yuki-Onna disappeared behind a veil of bright white light. Small spheres of light escaped from the whole and danced around it for a moment before the light faded. Yuki-Onna reappeared, now dressed in her luminescent snow-white robes. Her eyes, which had been blue before, were now their normal shade of golden yellow. She covered the lower half of her face with one of her long sleeves and blushed profusely as everyone stared at her, dumbfounded. Shima in particular seemed extremely distressed.

"The girl you knew as Tsurara Oikawa is actually a yokai named Yuki-Onna. She is my personal attendant and also one of my guardians during the day when I am human." Rikuo explained.

"I hope we can remain friends," Yuki-Onna said, finally lowering her sleeve. "I greatly enjoyed the time I spent with—"

"Yuki-Onna! A snow woman!" Kiyotsugu exclaimed. He took hold of her hands covered by her sleeves and began to shake them up and down forcibly. "This is fantastic! I get to meet one up close!"

"Kiyotsugu…" Rikuo warned, giving him a piercing stare.

"I…yes, uh…I'm sorry," Kiyotsugu apologized, quickly backing away from Yuki-Onna and returning to his place in the circle. Saomi and Natsumi giggled behind their hands.

"Rikuo is so much cooler like this than Kiyotsugu!" Saomi laughed.

"Kana," Rikuo said, looking at her kindly. "You seem very quiet."

"It-it's just so much to take in, R-Rikuo," she replied. Her blush deepened.

"I understand, but I'm telling you this for a reason," Rikuo said. "I won't be coming to school anymore because very soon I will be too busy, even during the day. My thirteenth birthday is in less than a week and in the yokai world, that is the age when a yokai becomes an adult. But not only will I become of age as a yokai, but I will also take over the position as Supreme Commander of the Nura Clan on that day." He paused as his friends were struck with awe again.

"After that," he continued. "I will become extremely busy rebuilding the Clan to its former glory. There is also a very important war coming soon, and I must be prepared for it."

"But what about us?" Natsumi complained, putting on a pouting face.

"You are still my friends, no matter what the Clan might think of it, so you may visit as often as you can. However, there will be no more club meetings in my house."

"Aw…" Kiyotsugu sighed.

Well, that was it for chapter 1! I'm Tari Sirfalas btw. I put that there cause I know people never read the top introductions. I know I don't. The rating might go up to T if I decide to do some of the stuff I've been planning. Let me know what you think, and if you like it, fav it and add it to your subscription list! Thanks!