Rising- Chapter 6- Quiet Before the Storm

It was tranquil and there was nought a sound save for the light tinkling of a bell chime swaying in a soft breeze. No voices or shuffling feet interrupted the silence. In unison, two figures raised their hands and drank their cup of tea, exhaling in appreciation for the hot drink. One was a light brown haired boy, his irregular locks tied in a low tail. The other was a dark-haired neko youkai with a white bandanna. A large white bandage was plastered onto his cheek and his sleeves were push halfway back, revealing more bandages wrapped around his arm.

"Today is a nice day, isn't it?" Rikuo asked his partner, eyes closed. He had a gentle smile, body completely relaxed. "The sun is bright. It's not too hot or cold. Quiet." There was a chink of fine china as he set the teacup down. "It's perfect. Don't you agree, Saburo-kun?" The youkai made a noise in his throat.

"That it is, Kou-kun." They sighed and, again, drank their tea in unison. Off to the side, a pair of neko youkai shivered and glanced nervously at the peaceful duo. The one with glasses leaned close to her friend to whisper.

"Is that really Saburo-san and Kou-san? They seem so... nice to each other. Not like the rumors." Her companion nodded with wide eyes, clutching his platter close to his chest.

"Oh the rumors are right. I've had to stay behind overtime to clean up the mess they made last time Kou-san was here." He grimaced at the memory. "It was awful." Eyes shining with curiosity, the female leaned closer, ignoring her friend's blush.

"Eh? Really? What was it like? Is it true they broke forty-seven dishes and a table?"

"Don't forget the two chairs," the other grimly reminded. "Those were smashed so terribly they couldn't be fixed."

"Then..." the youkai with glasses was confused. "Why are they, you know, so nice to each other today?" There was a careless shrug in response.

"I don't know and don't really care, as long as I don't have to clean up next time." There was a low hum in acquisence.

"True."

The corner of Rikuo's mouth twitched, his keen ears catching every word of the conversation that just transpired. Eyes still closed, his head turned to face Saburo. The youkai cringed in anticipation, ears flattening against his skull.

"Ne, Saburo-kun..." the boy asked teasingly, starting out slow. "The weather is nice today, don't you think?" Forcing a pleasant tone into his voice, he nodded and smiled convincingly.

"Yes, the weather is nice today, Rikuo-kun." Then, his fingers spasmed as he resisted the urge to crush the tea cup in his hands. The tips of his claws scraped against the white surface. The taste of bitter, unsweetened tea filled sense of taste and he almost gagged. With extreme self-control, he carefully set the china down and forced a smile on his lips.

"Saburo-kun... it's nice today, isn't it?"

"Yes, Kou-kun... Yes, it is."

And the cycle started once again.

After the errand Tsubaki had sent him on, picking up some clothing from the tailor's shop, Rikuo decided to stop by and visit his most favorite neko youkai. The errand had been a small one, so it had only taken a few minutes to do. The boy checked the position of the sun, shading his eyes with a hand. There was still a good day of the day left, just after lunch, but not quite dinner yet. The traffic at the Bakenekoya would be relatively slow at this point. Humming a tune, he passed through an alleyway, the familiar feeling of walking through a ward sweeping over him.

The First District, to humans, was just a regular place, full of restaurants, businesses, and the like. To them, there was nothing abnormal about it. To the youkai, however, this was the heart of Ukiyoe, a youkai hub and marketplace. Protected against unsuspecting people, the wards in front of the entrance were the strongest in the area, even surpassing those of the Nura clan district, repelling all that were ignorant of their youkai neighbors.

There was the merry jingle of a bell and Rikuo was greeted warmly by a neko youkai. He smiled as he stepped over the threshold, scanning the place for a certain someone.

"Ah, Saburo-kun!" he exclaimed, bounding over. He was feeling mischievous. "How have you been?"

"It was great, at least before you came in here," Saburo sniffed, gathering empty plates and cups onto his waiter platter. "Why are you even here?" The boy laughed and helped with the clean up.

"What? I can't stop by and visit my favorite neko?" The youkai frowned, blushing at the words, and smartly took a cup from Rikuo.

"No, you can't," he replied, hefting the platter stacked high with fine china and balancing it neatly on his hand. Not to be deterred, the shamisen player trailed behind, careful not to bump into the other.

"Why not? Do you hate me so much?"

"Hate?" Saburo repeated with an eyebrow quirk. "Yes," he said sarcastically. "I hate you from the bottom of my heart and wish you would just die."

"Really?"

"No," the youkai rolled his eyes. "I don't hate you, it's more like..." A cup from the side flew in front of him suddenly and, caught off guard, he stumbled forward as dishes and cups clattered with a horrible sound, teetering off the large platter.

"Saburo-kun!"

Saburo felt a force pull him back by the back of his yukata, but the weight of all the china in his hands was too great and Rikuo ended up also toppling to the ground. The neko youkai braced himself for impact, but it never came.

"Are you alright, Saburo-kun?" His eyes, somehow they closed, snapped open at the very near voice. The other cheerily smiled at him, pieces of glass falling from his hair. The boy lifted himself up and shook his head before standing straight. Speechless, the neko dumbly accepted the offered hand and got up. "Saburo-kun?" Realizing he hadn't answered the question, Saburo nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." The brown-haired boy laughed, relief shining from his eyes.

"That's good. I was worried for a moment. Sorry." He rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly, but winced and brought his hand back. It was covered in red. At the sight of blood, Saburo's thoughts went into overdrive and he panicked. Grabbing the boy's arm, he pulled him in a direction.

"We have to get you to a healer!" but Rikuo was unmoving, shaking his head.

"Nah, I'm fine." He dismissed any protests and patted his head to prove it, but his face spasmed at the touch and the neko youkai's eyes narrowed.

"Come on," he snapped. "Obviously, you're lying." Rikuo opened his mouth to protest, but Saburo pinned him down with a dark glower and growled. "Shut up." The injured boy followed quite docilely after that. He was pushed down onto a seat as the youkai looked for something to clean the blood off with.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Saburo grumbled. "Making me do this." His words were sharp and distasteful, but his motions were gentle on the boy's head. Rikuo cheekily grinned.

"Well, it's not like I made you do this," he drawled. "You're the one who insisted on dragging me here." He hissed in pain when there was a particular dab harder than the others. "Ow! Aren't you supposed to be nice to me? I'm injured!" The neko youkai, ironically, barked a laugh.

"I thought you were made of tougher stuff than this. Take it like a man!"

"But Sa-bu-ro-kun..." Rikuo whined, looking up at the irate youkai. "I'm not a man."

"Are you suggesting that you're a girl?" Saburo looked doubtful. The boy shook his head, but received a light rap on his head for it. "Stop moving!" Rikuo looked abashed, but still pushed forward.

"Sorry. But Saburo-kun! I'm not even sixteen yet! I'm only thirteen!" This surprised the neko youkai and his motions paused for a moment.

"What?" The boy's eyes widened and he bit the inside of his cheek. Shit. Quickly, he started to laugh, but it rang false even in his own ears.

"Silly! Did you think I was really thirteen?" he snorted, rolling his eyes. "I'm actually sixteen." Saburo relaxed and took the blood-stained rag away.

"Oh, then that makes a bit more sense. Now, where did I put those bandages?" The latter sentence was direction more towards himself, but Rikuo overheard it.

"Nah, it's fine. I'm already healed." He tapped his head and this time, there was no negative reaction from him. "I'm a fast healer." The youkai shrugged and closed the drawer he had opened. Then, the boy glanced at his watch and he groaned.

"Oh no, it's already five o'clock! I'm never going to make it!" This captured the neko youkai's interest. His ears swiveled towards Rikuo.

"What? Were you supposed to meet with your girlfriend or something?"

"No!" Rikuo gave the other a mild glare, rising from his seat. "Some of us actually have lives. I actually wanted to go see a play, but," he checked the time again. "It starts in five minutes and it usually takes me ten minutes to get to the theater." Saburo thought for a moment.

"The theater's the Bakufu theater, right?" The boy nodded hastily, a hopeful look entering his eyes. "There's a shortcut through the First District that can get you there in three minutes." A grin broke out from Rikuo's features and he earnestly grabbed the youkai by the shoulders.

"Really? So I won't be late?" The other sniffed and looked at him haughtily.

"That is, if I showed you the way." Rikuo's shoulders slumped and he sighed in disappointment. Saburo couldn't feel pity at the sad sight and heaved a heavy breath. "Fine," he beckoned with his hand with a mild glare. "I'll show you the way, since you saved me earlier. Just remember, I'm only helping me because of that. It's not I like you or anything."

"Of course!" Rikuo laughed. "Thank you, Saburo-kun!" The neko youkai turned his head away. His cheeks were tinged pink, the youkai not used to be praised so exuberantly.

"Whatever. Just hurry up or you're going to be late no matter what."

"Un!"

Whatever he had been thinking when he offered to help the young boy, Saburo couldn't remember. However, he did know that, at that moment, he wished there was a wall he could bash Kou's head into. Once they had reached the theater- in two and a half minutes since they ran- Kou had thanked him profusely, bought him a ticket, and ushered him into the building before he even knew it!

And that was how he came to be in his current predicament.

The theater was warm, murmurs rumbling in the giant space as people whispered in anticipation. Saburo turned to the inanely grinned boy at his side. He felt his eye starting to twitch at how annoying the younger was.

"Why am I here again?" he questioned.

"Because Saburo-kun is my very best friend!" The youkai only rolled his eyes and slunk even further down into his seat. He really didn't want to be even here.

"And what's this play called?"

"It's called... Ah..." Rikuo checked his program, worsening Saburo's mood.

"You don't even know what it's called and yet you dragged me here?"

"No!" the boy protested. "I just forgot. It's called DeathofaSalesman. It's a foreign play translated into Japanese." The title caused the youkai to raise an eyebrow at the strangeness of it.

"What kind of title is that?"

"Well," the boy's nose poked into the program, eyes squinting in the dim lighting as he tried to read what the summary was. "It's about a salesman. And he dies." Saburo snorted at the explanation.

"Thanks for stating the obvious," he said sarcastically. "It's not like the title didn't tell me anything." Rikuo flushed in embarrassment and thwacked the other over the head with the program. If fell into the youkai's lap.

"If you think you can do any better, then you try!" With a delicate huff, Saburo picked the small booklet and flipped it open to the right page.

"Alright," he said as he scanned the page. "So, the main character is named Willy. He has family problems with his sons. Both don't succeed in their endeavors for the future, frustrating the father. Then..." he thought for a moment. "I'm guess something happens and he dies." The boy rolled his eyes and grabbed the program back.

"That's exactly what I said!"

It was dark outside by the time the show was done. They walked back to the Bakenekoya together, passing by groups of lively youkai. Soon, they turned into a small road. It was a shortcut, the neko youkai claimed. The reason that they hadn't taken it earlier was because... ah... he had forgotten.

On a different matter, the play hadn't been as bad as Saburo had feared, but still, something had bothered him.

"I can't believe he killed himself just so his son could have money to start a business!" he exclaimed. "And then the son couldn't even do that!" His companion didn't respond to this and he looked over. Kou had a thoughtful expression on his face. "Kou-kun?" At the mention of his name, the boy's head shot up.

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. Biff, was it? The son's name?" Saburo nodded, but gave him a strange look.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked. Kou grinned in response and lightly nudged the other with a shoulder.

"What? Is the almighty Saburo-sama feeling worried for little ol' me?" the boy teased. "Nah, I was just thinking." The neko youkai laughed and nudged Kou back.

"Really? You can think? What were you thinking about?"

About how some people just want to be normal, without everyone else's expectations.

"About how Saburo seems to have liked the play, even with all the complaining." Saburo was about to give a witty retort, but a voice interrupted them.

"What's a mangy cat and... human doing out here?" The word after the pause had been spat out, dripping with loathing. On instinct, Saburo slid in front of his friend protectively, acting as a shield between him and the origin of the voice.

"Who are you?" His eyes darted around, trying to catch a glimpse of the threat. "Come out!" There was a low chuckled that sent shivers down his spine. He tried to stop his body from trembling as a large figure came out of the shadows. He was distinctly humanoid, but Saburo knew who, or rather, what he was. Every neko youkai in these parts worth his salt knew the signs: reddish eyes, sharp facial features, tall and lanky bodies...

"Kyuso!" growled Saburo. "What are you doing here?" The rat youkai threw his head back, laughing uproariously.

"Foolish, poor, weak, little cat youkai. Look at him shaking!" Sneers and jeering started around them when more figures detached themselves from the shadows.

This only caused Saburo to tense even more and he shifted his body into a defensive pose. "Kou-kun, when I say so, I want you to run, alright?" The rat youkai overheard this and laughed once again. His eyes were narrowed in sadistic pleasure.

"Do you really think you can defeat all of us?" Saburo's mouth tightened in determination and he crouched even lower, prepared to spring forward..

"I will not allow you to harm a single hair on his head!"

It's been a while, hasn't it? I can't believe it. Thank you for Thanksgiving Breaks. Otherwise, this would've been delayed even more. Silly school. That's why, I decided to make this chapter more... interesting, to say. I wasn't going to introduce the Kyuso Clan just yet, maybe next chapter, but it seemed to fit, so... /shrugs/ What do you all think?

Oh yeah! And Death of a Salesman is a real play. I've just never watched it before, so, if anyone has seen it, please tell me if I got everything right.

Darkkami- I really hope you get this, because that'll mean you're still around. Sorry for the long wait. Zen'll make an appearance either next chapter, or the chapter after that. We'll see, ne? ^_~

fangirl1203- Thank you for your praise. So... Tada~! An update! I hope you enjoyed it. ^_^

Hitokiri Shinzui- Caramel is good, isn't it? Personally, though, I've been leaning towards Almond Joys recently. What's your favorite candy?

Flan-chan ufufu- O.O It's like Pokemon evolution, Neko-style! Yep! Kiyotsugu's last name is Kiyojuji. I had to keep checked the wikia for the spell 'cause I always forgot. Oh snap, I need to fix Rikuo's name. Thanks for the tip! She definitely doesn't know his real identity. Dun dun dunnn~! Same with Aotabo's hair color... It's white. . Mistakes everywhere! Especially since I spelled Nurarihyon wrong! /glares at hands/ Butterfingers... (I now check every single time I type Nurarihyon.) The HP series? That's a Sirius-ly awesome birthday present. (Not sure if you've read that far, but I couldn't resist. XD) Yay for writing! And, erm... Not yay for typhoons!

SecondtoNon- The flashback's just a hint of why Rikuo left. :P You don't get to find that out until later~! Here's an update and extra at long last! Sorry for the long wait! XD

Unita- Hmm... I put adventure, since Nurarihyon no Mago is a shounen manga/anime. I put humor because of Rikuo's teasing character and the funny moments I write (At least, I think they're funny. Like the candy scene. /snickers/) Oh look! I made an unintentional pun! (Small voice in head: Lameeee. Other voice: Shush you.) Well, I thought that since there is no conflict over Rikuo's eligibility to be the successor of Nurarihyon, then Hebidayu would still be content with stick with Zen. No explanation to the flashback this time, I'm afraid. As for gaining 'Fear' for Rikuo... I working on it! XD I've got a rough idea, but it's in a messy pencil sketchy state right now, so... check back on that? And actually, he's still thirteen. He only disguises himself with make-up to look sixteen. Thanks for the offer. ^_^

jouvena- I sort of understand what you mean by a small boat in the ocean. I'm glad you enjoyed the candy story scene. I hope you find the omake as funny! XD

sliverblueroses- Voila! An update! Sorry for taking so long. But, yep, everyone will find out. Everytually. Mwahaha. :D

Firehedgehog- Those are some very good ideas, but my lips are sealed! Imagination is good! It's what feeds us all! Bwahahahahahaha! Yeah... good thing there's no school tomorrow. XD

On a different note, enjoy the omake, since you all deserve it!

Omake

"Hoh?" Rikuo's eyes grew wide when he saw something flutter in the shade of the cherry blossom tree. His grip on his spinning top tightened as he slowly inched closer and closer. Where was it... There! He gasped and dropped his toy, rushing towards the fallen bird. He crouched down to get a closer look.

It was a funny bird. He had never seen such a thing before. It was a dark purple, with red highlighting the tips of the feathers. Actually, the color red dominated at least a third of the avian's long tail feathers. There was also some V-shaped red feathers sticking out from its head, giving it a sharp look. He cocked his head to the side in curiosity. Its eyes were red too. All in all, it was a very beautiful bird.

The bird gave a short chirp and he smiled, letting the whole world see a gaping hole in his teeth. He whistled through the gap in response, causing the animal to squawk in surprise and jump back. That was when he noticed the wing dragging on its side.

"Oh no! You're hurt!" Worry swam in Rikuo's eyes as he thought of what to do. A lot of youkai were busy preparing for a youkai lord to come to the Nura clan's estate. That was also the reason why he was playing alone today. "Who can help you...?" he wondered. Then, he brightened up. "I know! Oji-san can help you! He knows how to do everything?" He looked around for any eavesdroppers before leaning forward, as if he was telling a secret. "Do you know why? It's because he's the Supreme Commander of the Nura Clan, Nurarihyon!" Rikuo looked extremely proud of his grandfather and pointed his thumb at his chest. "One day, I'll be the Third Supreme Commander when I'm old enough and succeed grandpa! Then, I'll be the best leader in the whole wide world!" The bird chirped again and he gasped. "On no! I'm sorry! I completely forgot!" Then, he scooped the feathered animal up and ran into the house, shouting.

"Oji-san! Oji-san! Where are you?" Natto Kozo ran by, a large box in his hands above his head. "Natto Kozo!" The small, but cheery youkai paused and turned around.

"Yes, Rikuo-sama?"

"Look!" The young boy showed the youkai the bird. "It's hurt!" Natto Kozo disguised a laugh with a sneeze.

"Why, that looks like an injured young bird. What are you going to do with it?" Rikuo gave him a strange look, as if the answer was obvious and to the boy, it was.

"Bring him to grandpa, of course!" he exclaimed. "He know everything." The youkai smiled, or at least his eye indicated so.

"I saw him walking to the front gates to greet Lord Yakushi. Perhaps you can catch him there?" Rikuo thanked the soybean youkai and ran to where his grandfather was.

"Oji-san! I need your help!" The old youkai turned around. His eyebrows rose when he saw was in his grandson's hands.

"Rikuo! Where did you find that bird?" The young body beamed a bright smile.

"He was under the sakura tree! But look!" He rose his hands to allow the other to see better. "His wing is hurt!" Very gently, the animal was transferred from a younger pair of hands to an older pair. Nurarihyon smiled and covered the bird's body with his hand. Rikuo watched with entranced eyes.

"Well, Rikuo. It seems your little friend has already healed himself." The old youkai removed his hand and the boy gasped in surprise as the bird cooed and fluttered its wings a bit. Then, it launched itself into the air and landed on his head. Rikuo's hands flew up, followed ts movements. His mouth was open, in an adorable and cute way only young children could.

His okaa-san had told him what an animal looked like when he had asked. Rikuo crossed his arms and closed his eyes. His forehead scrunched up as he intensely tried to remember her answer. She said they had big tail feathers. Check. Dark feathers? Check. Some red feathers? Check. Fluffy feathers? Rikuo raised a hand and patted the bird's body. Yep, they were soft. Big round body? Well... Not check.

His mind came up with one conclusion.

"... Baby turkey?"

Happy Thanksgiving! XD