Rising- Chapter 1- Ukiyoe

"Erm... let's see," a young boy muttered, peering at the letter in his hands. The sender's handwriting was so tiny and cramped it was hard for him to decipher. "Is that a four or a nine?" Stumped, he tilted his head back with a sigh to the sky, relishing in the cool breeze that was blowing his way. He returned the letter to the layers of his jacket, giving up for the moment, and inhaled the sweet morning breeze. "I think I'll rest for a while."

Moving to the side of the sun-beaten road, he settled down underneath the shade of a tree and set his conical hat and packages off to the side. He briefly checked his watch. He still had some time to spare before his next appointment. With a yawn, he settled back onto his rucksack and closed his eyes. However, he was not asleep yet. Tapping his foot to a rhythm only he could hear, the boy hummed under his breath, waiting and waiting.

The afternoon's temperature only rose as the sun traveled over the sky and the breeze blew over the grass, creating a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere. Unable to deny the call, the boy's eyes flickered a final time before his breathing evened and his body relax. He was asleep.

The road to Ukiyoe was not the most common road, the place being a small and quiet town, but it was not the most uncommon either. Humans and youkai alike tread on the path, by foot, carriage, or modern vehicle. Eventually, a traveler would come across the slumber boy and wake him up.

"Ne..." a finger poked his cheek. "Hello? Is someone there?" There was a shaking at the shoulders. "Hello!" No response was given. The little girl pouted, tired of being ignored, and jumped on the boy's legs. "Hey! Wake up!" she shouted, bouncing on his knees. "I'm talking to you!" She almost let out a shriek of surprise when a brown eye suddenly opened, pinning her down. Her movements froze. The gaze softened.

"Hello," the boy said politely. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"No," the child said, crossing her arms and turning away, recovered from the temporary shock. "My mama and papa were just wondering if you were trying to get into Ukiyoe. They say we can take you over. Though," she added in an undertone, "I don't think they should be so nice to you anymore." The well-rested boy raised in eyebrow in question.

"Can you show me where your parents are?" She pointed at the road to their right and a couple waved at them, motioning them over. "Alright then, let's go see." The boy moved to stand, but couldn't. "Could you let me up?"

"No," the girl stubbornly said, the edges of her mouth turning down. "You were mean to me." The corners of the boy's eyes crinkled as he chuckled. He tapped her on the nose, causing her to go cross-eyed.

"If you frown like that all the time, you'll stay stuck like that forever," he said. "And it would be a pity if such a pretty face was ruined like that." The girl grumbled at the flattery, not relenting.

"Not pretty," she said, giving him an unappeased look. She leaned towards his face and the boy felt slightly uneasy at the lack of distance between them and backed into the tree. A finger poked his cheek. "You're the one that's pretty," the girl said. He sputtered in protest, but a voice called from the road.

"Akane-chan!" a woman shouted towards them. "Come and bring your friend over!" The girl's, Akane's, head swiveled to the side.

"He's not my friend!" Taking this momentary distraction, the boy threw his legs up. With a cry, Akane flew into the air and was caught, much to her chagrin, by a grinning boy. She noticed what position she was in and beat her fists against his arms. "Hey! Put me down! I don't want to marry you!"

"That's okay," laughed the boy, making his way to the waiting parents. "I don't want to marry you either." The girl's eyes narrowed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked suspiciously.

"Just how it is," was the reply as she was lowered to the ground. They were ushered into the car. "You're cute, but definitely not my type." He gave her a teasing, quizzical look. "How old are you anyways? Eight? Ten?"

"I'm eleven!" Akane's cheeks puffed out at the suggestion of being younger than she really was. She pointed a finger at him and exclaimed, "Eleven years old! E-le-ven! Remember it!"

"Okay, okay," the boy yielded, raising his hands in a peace gesture. "I get it. You're eleven, and your name is Akane...?"

"Torii. Torii Akane!" she piped up proudly. "We're going to visit Natsumi-nee-chan in Ukiyoe. Who are you?"

Nura Rikuo

"Hmm... My name is Richiki Kou, Akane-chan. I'm pleased to meet you," he offered a hand to the girl. "As for why I'm going to Ukiyoe, I'm playing at the O-sake... restaurant tonight."

"Playing?" the girl asked, confused. "What do you play at a restaurant? They're boring." Rikuo laughed and she gave him a look. "Really! All the adults do is talk and talk and talk for hours. The kids have nothing to do..." Akane mumbled the last part.

"Well, this is sort of different from what you're used to then. You see, I play an instrument at the restaurant so people aren'tbored. Music makes people happy." Akane smiled brightly at this and unexpectedly hugged his arm.

"I want to go to the O-sake restaurant and hear you play," she said. "Then I won't be bored, right?" At this, Rikuo laughed nervously. He had told a little lie earlier. The O-Sake restaurant wasn't exactly a restaurant, per se. It was more of a bar, with alcohol and drinks; not a place for any young girl, eleven or no.

"How about you talk this over with your parents?" he said delicately. "It's up to them, okay?" Akane nodded. Overhearing their conversation, the girl's mother turned around to face the two.

"What instrument do you play, Richiki-kun? Do you travel alone?" Rikuo inwardly smiled at the questions. The mother was trying to see through him.

"I play the shamisen," he motioned towards the bundle on his lap with a polite expression that revealed nothing. "And yes, I do travel alone. It's not that bad though. I get to see lots of different things from all over the prefectures."

"And how old are you? Do you have any family?"

"I am sixteen years old, Torii-san, and I have no family left in this world," Rikuo answered easily, lying with ease. In reality, he was only thirteen, but from past experience, he knew telling humans that was... unpleasant to put it lightly. He could pass for sixteen, barely, with the youkai blood in his veins and a little extra help. Nodding to himself, he turned his attention outward.

Akane's mother's face was full of horror, her motherly instincts overtaking her suspicion at the thought of a child, in her perspective, traveling across the prefecture all by himself and working, unprotected by an adult.

"You poor child," she gasped. "Isn't it dangerous? Most children your age are safe in school, and yet you're out here working!" Rikuo easily shrugged, used to such comments. He took a moment to arrange his bags and bundle so they were more comfortably situated on his lap.

"I've been living like this for two years now and find it much more interesting compared to staying inside a building all day. It lets me make a living and spices up things."

"But..."

"Ne, ne, what are some the 'interesting' things you've seen?" Akane interrupted the showdown between her mother and Rikuo. She bounced up and down on the car seat with an eager look.

"Well," the boy started with a smile. "Did you know in the Kyoto area there's..." He never got to finish his statement when Akane's father announced they had arrived in the town. "That was fast," he whistled. "I would still be walking on the road by now." The girl gave him a glance of disbelief.

"Did you really just say that?"

"Say what?" Rikuo asked with a clueless look, teasing the girl. "How unbelievably pretty you are today?" The girl's cheeks flushed in her embarrassment and clapped her hands over the red spots. "Look, you're blushing."

"No I'm not!" she protested. "It's-It's just very warm today! I'm hot, that's all."

"Okay, I believe you," the boy agreed, his tone stating the complete opposite, as he stepped out of the car. He nodded toward the girl's parents respectfully in thanks. "I'm grateful for the lift. Thank you." The father laughed boisterously and ruffled him on the head, messing up his brown locks.

"No problem. If you ever have any problem, ask for the Torii household. We'll help you anytime!" His wife gave him a nudge with an irritated expression and Rikuo could see who Akane took after.

"My dear husband, remember that we are guests of your sister and not the hosts. Don't invite people over if you don't have permission to." The man only smiled, facing Rikuo.

"Don't worry," he reassured. "My sister won't mind at all. Just ask around if there's any trouble, alright? The Torii household is pretty well known in this area. Don't hesitate to drop by within the next week." He dropped a hand on his daughter's head affectionately. "I don't think little Akane-chan will protest if you do."

"Dad," the girl whined, placing her small hands on his large one. "I'm a big girl now. Eleven years old. I'm not ten anymore." Her father mussed up her hair.

"You just turned eleven two days ago, so I'm still allowed to call you little, squirt!"

"Dad..." Akane pouted, but it was obvious she didn't mind the names much and was only playing along. Rikuo's eyebrows lifted at this new information.

"It was just Akane-chan's birthday?" He grinned. "That's great. I'll come by with a birthday gift sometime." He glanced down at his watch and his posture became agitated. "Oh no! It's almost five!" He gave the family an apologetic look. "Sorry, but I have to go. There's someone I need to meet up with." The woman shooed him off gently with a slight smile, though he could still see she was a bit uneasy around him.

"O-sake, right?" Rikuo nodded and she tilted her head to the right. "It's just in that direction. Go down around five blocks, turn left and walk for two. It should be the third building or so to your left. It should have a bright orange and green sign." The boy flashed her a grateful smile. He was worried he wouldn't be able to find the bar in time for the meeting.

"Thank you, Torii-san." he shouted over his shoulder. "If you ever pass by, I'll pay for a drink."

"I'll hold you to that!" Rikuo laughed in response.

And he was off to O-sake's.

Rikuo looked at himself critically in the mirror, wondering if anyone would recognize him from his past, younger self. He still had his brown hair and brown eyes. Well, he put blue contacts in to change the latter and his hair was considerably longer four years ago.

So, maybe they wouldn't recognize him. Also, with this appearance, he was a sixteen year old entertainer, not a thirteen year old child. Natural make-up helped too. He used to be embarrassed when he started using the beauty products, but now he was used to it and applied concealer with a practiced air. Truthfully, he didn't find make-up really appealing and it did cause some irritation on his skin on some hot days, but it did have its uses, like making him seem older than he really was.

There was a knock at the door.

"Richiki-san, you're on in fifteen minutes," a voice came through the door and he recognized it to be one of the stage employees of the bar.

"Thank you, Yako-san," he yelled back. "I'll be out in five minutes." An affirmative noise came from the other side and Rikuo grinned. He really liked the people here. They were nice and polite, but not to the extreme. A loud banging rattled through the room and his grin grew. And then, there was that person.

"Kou, what's taking you so damn long!" a string of curses followed this statement and Rikuo couldn't help but laugh. It was the owner of the entire bar himself, Tazuka Andy. Andy was of half-Japanese and half-American descent and shocked everyone who saw with his platinum blond dyed hair. They had yet somewhere in the Chubu prefecture and had dinner together, non-alcoholic of course. Rikuo owed the man a favor from another time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have even stepped a toe into this town.

"I'm coming," he shouted almost in a sing-song fashion, slipping into a new pair of clothes more suited to the stage in record time. To his luck, he opened the door just as the man was about to bellow another few sentences laced with profanity. "Excuse me," he quipped. "You've dialed the wrong number. Please try again soon in the next century or so."

"Dammit Kou, I thought you turned into a woman for a moment, taking so long in there." Andy crossed his arms and gave the boy a stern look. "You done with your prissing and primping?"

"Yep!" Rikuo beamed at the man who was at least two heads taller than him. "You done with your terrorising and shouting yet?"

"Yeah," Andy said gruffly, steering the boy down the hall with gentle but firm hold by the shoulder. "You have five minutes. Your stuff is over there." He pointed a thumb to the left. "Be ready for the call." Rikuo nodded, heading towards the small stack of things.

Carefully taking the top bundle, he unwrapped and separated the cloth from the box. He took the instrument from its protective case of velvet and silk and ran a hand down the wooden neck, checking for any imperfections and finding none. He fiddled with the three strings to make sure they were taunt and tuned at the right intervals. The clack of the plectrum sounded reassuring as he plucked a few strings with it. There were no strange echos. Good.

"Alright Kou, get your ass on the stage," the blond man bellowed. The boy was sure the entire establishment could hear him and his suspicious were confirmed when there was a sudden decrease in volume. Mentally, he sent a sarcastic thanks to Andy for the extra attention he was going to get as he slid a protective piece of fabric over his fingers.

Rikuo let out a huge breath before stepping on stage. His shoes softly clacked against the wooden ground. It was deathly quiet and the audiences gazes stared right into him. He moved fluidly across the stage and sat down in the chair there. A light adjustment to the microphone's position and he was finally ready.

His eyes gained a sharp look.

Showtime.

How is it? I really liked the anime and manga, I decided to post this up. Any comments?

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Shini