It seemed that Kiyotsugu still had some manners left because, soon after being introduced to Rikuo's dad, he excused himself, saying that he had to go home, and everyone else soon followed after; all of them sense how much Rikuo wanted to catch up with his dad.

The moment the door had swung closed behind the group of Rikuo's friends, all the youkai immediately came out of their hiding spots and began partying; probably resuming what they had been doing earlier.

Tsurara woke up not long after, and her first plan of action was to attach herself to Rihan, tears spilling from her eyes.

Laughing, Rihan just pet her head, saying, "Come on, Tsurara, dear, no need to cry like that."

Stepping back, Tsurara wiped her tears away and smiled shakily up at him and laughed. "Gomen, Rihan-sama, but I've just missed you so much."

Laughing, the man said in a teasing voice, "Hasn't everyone? Anyways, if my son sees you clinging to me like that, it might make him jealous."

Tsurara's face heated up into a blush at the thought and Rihan just continued laughing.

Then, when there was no yell of 'oyaji', he looked around in surprise. "Where did he go, anyway?"

"Nani?" asked Tsurara, looking around in panic. "Rikuo-sama?" she asked in a panicky voice. When there was no reply, she said in an even louder voice, "Rikuo-sama?"

Suddenly, an obviously drunk Kurotabou came up and threw an arm around the yuki-onna, giggling hysterically. "D-don't worry about R-Rikuo-sama," he said, the words slurring together a little. "He's probably out in the backyard." And with that, he moved away towards Aotabou.

"Backyard?" said Rihan in confusion.

Kubinashi, who was close by, said, "Hai, Rikuo-sama went to the backyard. He said he had some things to think about."

Smiling, Rihan said, "Thanks Kubinashi," and headed outside to find his son.

When he stepped out into the quietness of the backyard, the first thing he noticed was Rikuo, sitting in the weeping sakura tree and staring at the moon.

Rihan was surprised when he saw the expression on his son's face; it was the expression of a true leader.

When had his son grown up?

Looking at the Rikuo in front of him, Rihan had mixed feelings. He was so proud of Rikuo, for becoming the great young man Rihan knew he was, and yet, he was upset, because no thirteen year old should have that kind of expression on his face.

Taking a step forward, Rihan watched as Rikuo turned his head to look at him, and suddenly, a smile had replaced his previous expression.

"Hey otou-san," he said. "What's up?"

Conjuring up a smile, Rihan asked in a teasing voice, "Why are you out here, all alone? Don't you want to celebrate the return of your wonderful father?"

Laughing, Rikuo said in a light voice, "It's a little too loud in there for my liking; not to mention the fact that I'm underage and everyone that sees me inevitably tries to stick a cup of sake in my hand." He paused for a second, looking thoughtful. "So, what are you doing out here?"

Walking forward, Rihan climbed into the tree and found a seat facing his son. Shrugging, he said, "I came to find you." There was a moment of companionable silence, then Rihan began talking again. "Rikuo . . . I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" asked Rikuo, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "What for?" he asked.

There was a pause as Rihan tried to his feelings into words. Bringing one knee up to his chest, he wrapped his arm around his leg and placed his chin on his knee. Shrugging again, he said, "For everything. For making you and everyone else to think I was dead; for making it so that you had to shoulder all of my responsibilities . . . and for robbing you of a normal childhood."

There was a short silence before Rikuo responded. "You have nothing to be sorry for," he said. "Like you said earlier, it was the only way to defeat the Hundred Tales clan. If you hadn't done what you did, we all would have been defeated. Anyways, I don't mind taking on the responsibilities of the young head. Sure, at first I was against it, but when I finally accepted my position, I found out that it wasn't half bad. It helped me meet so many new friends and become closer to certain members of the clan."

Rihan looked up into his son's forgiving eyes, and found himself wondering, once again, when he'd grown up. Rikuo probably didn't know it, but what he'd just said had lifted a great weight off his chest. Smiling a little, he said, "Thanks. . ."

"No problem," said Rikuo, smiling. Then suddenly, his eyes widened a little, and a smirk appeared on his face.

"Rikuo?" asked Rihan, starting to panic a little.

Waving his worries aside, Rikuo said in a lazy voice, "Did you know, father, that I've been mistaken for grandpa before?"

"Nani?" asked Rihan, confused as to why his son was bringing that up now. "What are you-?" he began, but cut himself off when he saw the change taking place in front of him.

Rihan watched, with wide eyes, as Rikuo's body grew by a few centimetres; his face grew a little longer, and his eyes changed from chocolate brown to wine red. Rikuo's hair grew longer, and the colour drained out of it, leaving it a silvery colour, and suddenly, Rihan was staring at a younger version of his father.

Night Rikuo smirked at his father's open-mouthed expression and said, "What's wrong, oyaji? Cat got your tongue?"

Rihan was quiet for a second. "Ri…kuo?" he asked, as if he wasn't sure. "Is that you?"

"Hai," said his newly changed son in a bored voice.

"What . . . what happened to you?" asked the hanyou.

Rikuo shrugged and said, "This is what happens when my youkai blood takes over. This is my night form."

Rihan just nodded at the explanation; now that he thought about it, it was quite obvious, actually. Rihan himself had a youkai form and a human form, so it would make sense for his son to have one too, but. . .

"Why do you look more like the old man than me?" asked Rihan with a pout.

Blinking in surprise, Rikuo stared at his father as if he'd lost his mind. After a moment, the young head broke into laughter. "You're so weird, oyaji."

Rihan smirked at the comment. "Of course I am. You certainly didn't get your weirdness from your mother."

SkyGem: And that's that! What did you guys think? Did you like it? Please do leave a review and tell me what you thought!

Oh, and to all you guys who requested for me to make this a multi-chapter, gomenasai. You see, this fic was originally supposed to be a two-shot, and due to a few certain details, it would be impossible to make this into a longer fic (not to mention that the first chapter is, imo, way too all over the place). But! There is no need to worry! I shall post a new multi-chapter version of this fic in a few weeks. A few of the things will be different, and there will be much greater detail in how Rihan actually survived and why he took this long to let everyone know that he was alive; not to mention that it will (hopefully) have a proper plot. So look forward to it, ne?