Summary: Rikuo comes home one day to find out that his father isn't really dead like he once thought. How is this possible? Read on to find out! A bit of family fluff included. Please r&r.

SkyGem: Okay, so I was supposed to be writing a Tsurara pregnancy fic, but I have some writer's block on that for some odd reason . . . so I decided to write this! Ahaha, I just adore Rihan XD.

Disclaimer: I don't own NuraMago.

"So now, we will all be heading over to Nura-kun's house!" Kiyotsugu said, concluding the Kiyo Cross squad's daily after school meeting.

"Oi! Don't you think you should ask Rikuo-kun about that first?" asked Torii, both hands on her hips.

"It's fine," said Rikuo, who didn't have the heart to disagree.

"Are you sure?" asked Kana worriedly. "We would hate to be a bother."

"I'm sure!" said Rikuo, smiling brightly. "I would love for you guys to come to my home!"

"See?" said Kiyotsugu. "Rikuo-kun is absolutely fine with it!"

As Kiyotsugu squad marched out with the others following him, Rikuo called after them, saying, "I'll be there in a second!"

Pulling out his cell phone, he quickly dialled his home phone number but, oddly enough, no one picked up. Even after waiting for a while, there was still no answer, so Rikuo just put his phone away and ran after the others.

When he caught up to them, Ao was already there, so Rikuo whispered into his ear, "Can you go on ahead and tell everyone at the mansion that my friends are coming over?"

"Right away, Rikuo-sama," he said, and ran off ahead.

To his friend's questioning looks, Rikuo said, "Oh, Kurata-kun just remembered something he had to do. He'll meet us at my house."

There were nods of understanding, and everyone else turned back to their previous conversations. As he walked along, Rikuo couldn't help but wonder if something had happened. Whenever he phoned home, it was always picked up on the first or second ring; it was odd for no one to answer.

"Is there something wrong, Rikuo-sama?" Tsurara asked her master worriedly, he seemed disturbed.

Smiling back at his aide and secret crush, Rikuo said, "Nandemonai."

Kana, who had been listening in on the conversation dropped back a little. "Did something happen?" she asked.

Even though Rikuo was happy that he had such caring friends, it sometimes felt like he was being smothered, especially when Kana and Tsurara had one of their little tiffs. For some reason, they seemed to be rivals, but rivals for what, Rikuo had no idea. "Nandemonai," repeated the young youkai lord.

By now, the group of eight had arrived at the Nura Clan main house, and the others dropped back a little so Rikuo could open the gate.

As they all stepped inside, Rikuo began to have a strange feeling. It was too quiet; even if everyone knew that the humans were coming over, this was a different kind of quiet than usual. It was almost an excited quiet . . . if that were possible.

Walking up to the front door, Rikuo slid it open and looked cautiously down the halls to see if anyone was in sight. He let out a breath of relief when he saw no one in sight and moved aside for his friends to enter.

Leading everyone to the living room, Rikuo kept on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary, but they fortunately made it to the room without any mischief.

They had all just settled down and Kiyotsugu was about to start one of his lectures when the door to the room was slid open and everyone turned their attention to the man who was standing there.

Rikuo and Tsurara stared at the man with wide eyes while the others looked at him confusedly.

"Ne, Nura-kun, who's he?" asked Kiyotsugu, looking over at his friend, who looked as if he'd just seen a ghost.

The man's eyes roved over everyone, then finally settled on Rikuo. He smiled at the young master and tilted his head to the side. "You've grown so much; I almost didn't recognise you, Rikuo."

Rikuo just stared at him, unmoving; he didn't at all believe what he was seeing in front of him, and frankly, neither did Tsurara.

Frustrated that the brunette hadn't answered, the man pouted childishly. "It's the first time we see each other in like seven years, and I don't get a hug?"

When Rikuo still didn't answer, the man's face fell.

"Are you mad at me? I wouldn't blame you if you were," he said, continuing their one-sided conversation. "I'm sorry for making you think I was dead, but it was necessary so that we could beat Gorouzaemon."

Kiyotsugu looked over at his friend to ask again who this man was, but he was rendered speechless. Why? Because Rikuo's face was streaked with tears.

Before Kiyotsugu or any of the others could ask what was wrong, Rikuo stood up and threw himself at the man, letting out a strangled, "Otou-san."

Suddenly, there was a gasp from Kana, who finally realised that the man who was standing before them was 'Rihan-jiisan,' who used to visit with Rikuo when he was smaller and who had supposedly died seven years ago.

The other members of the Kiyo Cross squad just stared with wide eyes; they'd heard that Rikuo's father had died, so why was he here and apparently in complete health?

Rihan, meanwhile, just stared in surprise at his son for a second, then a gentle smile softened his features and he wrapped his arms around the young boy, who was still crying.

Kissing Rikuo on the forehead like he used to when he was younger, Rihan murmured words of comfort to his son. Both were happy to be in each others' presence, and were reluctant to end the embrace.

Finally, though, Rikuo pulled away a little and Rihan reluctantly let him go.

Wiping his eyes, Rikuo smiled up at the hanyou and asked, "How did you survive? I'm sure I saw you . . . you know."

Leaning in to whisper into his ear, Rihan said, "I had one of our subordinates make a doll."

Rikuo stared at him in awe. "We have someone who can do that?" he asked.

"Of course!" said Rihan proudly. "We're the great Nura Clan. There's no way we wouldn't have someone that important!"

Rikuo was about to say more when Maki interrupted them. "Um, Rikuo-kun?"

Rikuo turned back to them, and his expression said that he'd completely forgotten they were there. "Ah, gomen," he said. "Umm, guys, this is my otou-san. Oyaji, these are my friends from school."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said the teens politely.

Smiling widely, Rihan looked the girls up and down. Turning to his son, he said, "Hm, not bad, if I may say so myself. This one with the short hair is pretty cute."

Rihan patted her hair as he said that, as if she were a child.

Holding in a chuckle, Rikuo said, "That's Keikain Yura-chan."

Immediately, Rihan jumped back as if something had shocked him. "What's a Keikain doing here?" he asked.

This time, Rikuo couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips. "Don't worry, she's a friend."

Still looking wary, Rihan finally noticed Tsurara, who had fainted a while back.

Bending down, he said, "Yare, yare, if it isn't Setsura's daughter. She's grown up quite pretty. I'm guessing she's my future daughter-in-law?"

"Oyaji!" shouted Rikuo, his face red as a tomato. In the past years, he'd forgotten how embarrassing his dad could be sometimes . . . but he wouldn't trade it for the world.

SkyGem: Ahaha, so, what did you guys think? Didja like it? It seems kinda unfinished, ne? I've decided to make this a two-shot! And the second chapter will (hopefully) be posted tomorrow . . . along with that Tsurara pregnancy fic I was supposed to be working on.