Story 1:

Last Chapter:

100 Years Later…

Here he stood in the middle of the proud and beautiful garden of the Nura clan's compound. His wide black wings folded neatly behind his back, his torso strangely light from the absence of his armor, his black eyes scanning the garden for any signs of living beings. Kuroumaru, now older and matured, is on a mission.

Today is counted as a rest day for all the youkais. The time of wars has long ago passed and buried behind happiness and peace. Everyone enjoyed the new found peace very much, and the Nura clan, as the one who had long ago defeated Hagoromo Kitsune, becomes the new leader for all the youkais in the world. Her will is further secured with the bestowment of her new title as 'Denka', meaning 'Highness', by all the ayakashi around the world. The Nurarihyon had issued an order that nobody is to wear their custom uniform or armories for one full day, which is today. And so, wearing his black yukata, Kuroumaru once again scanned the garden before starting to go around the bushes nearest to him.

"Young Master! Young Master! Where are you!" called out Kuroumaru, now the head of the Karasu Tengu clan. His straw-sandals seemed to be the only sound against grainy sand as he made his way back to the main house, where the bushes and flowers and trees are bountiful.

He felt something pulled at his now long hair, which he kept neatly in a ponytail tied back by a red ribbon and looked behind him.

Of course, it's the mischievous young master of the Nura clan.

"I've found you, young master," said Kuroumaru playfully, trying his hardest to grin playfully but only managed to flash a row of pearly white teeth. Kuroumaru is precise and perfect in everything, but lacked a little when it came to the displaying emotions part. That triggered another giggle from the little boy and he pulled at Kuroumaru's hair harder, almost yanking them off by the roots of his hair.

"Ouch!" Kuroumaru cried out in pain. "Young Master! It hurts! Young Master!"

As long as the years had gone by, the young son of Nura Aya still hasn't reach a matured age. From what Ren the physician from the Yakushi clan said, the child between a half-blooded mother belonging to the Nurarihyon family and a full-blooded hunter of a father is a case that he has never seen before, and had never heard before in all his years as the head of the Yakushi clan. Aya's and the hunter's son may be slow in maturing and growing, but he is undeniably strong and smart for his age. Although at times he had proven to be an extremely difficult case for all the close bodyguards of Aya, as they are practically his caretakers, the boy had the brains of a genius.

And also terribly obedient to his mother.

"Kyouya," said a soft voice from behind the two struggling figure at the front porch. The boy's eyes and ears immediately perked up at the sound of the gentle voice, recognizing it immediately. As soon as the figure had stepped out of the shadow, the boy immediately flung Kuroumaru's ponytail away and lunged right into the open arms of a beautiful woman with dark midnight hair and eyes just as dazzling as her hair.

"Mother!" called out the boy cheerfully, named as Kyouya by her mother. Wrapping his arms tightly around the middle of the beautiful woman, Kyouya once again called his mother affectionately, "Mother!"

The woman is wearing a long flowing junihitoe robes the color of black silk, her midnight blue hair flowing freely behind her back. Her long bangs were held back with a single silver hairpin shaped in a flying phoenix encrusted with fiery rubies, standing out starkly against her dark hair. She looked to be around her middle 20-ies, if not, younger still.

"Aya-denka, (Your highness)," said Kuroumaru, his head bowed down a little as a sign of respect for the woman. The woman merely smiled at the Karasu Tengu clan's head and patted her son's strangely light brown hair.

Kneeling down, Aya held her son's small body and hold his face, an action that she would always use to make him pay attention to her as what she is going to say afterwards are almost always an advice that she obviously wanted him to follow.

"Kyouya," Aya started softly, making sure that she has his son's whole attention. When her son stared up at her solemnly, Aya continued. "You can't pull other's hair like that. It's very rude and disrespectful. Say sorry to Uncle Kuro."

Kyouya nodded once. Turning towards Kuroumaru, Kyouya ran up towards him and pulled the front of his yukata a little, catching his attention.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Kuro," apologized Kyouya earnestly, where Kuroumaru then patted the boy's head and whispered an, "It's okay," to him.

Smiling widely, Kyouya went back to his mother and hugged her tightly, taking in a deep breath of her uniquely unique motherly perfume.

Nura Kyouya, the 12th Nurarihyon's son, is almost 100 years old. In these 100 years, Aya had worked hard for everyone's future by taking over youkai's land and ruled them, molding the youkai world into her wish. Often, when a coven or a land overrun with youkais unwilling to be taken under the ruling wings of the Nura clan, they are exterminated without further ado. Thankfully, her son understood her mother's intentions, and thus remained with her for so long.

He had heard the stories of his father and mother's encounter, and thought that his father must be a very powerful hunter to begin with to be able to seduce his mother. According to his mother, his father is very beautiful, and that he, Kyouya, had his hair and lips. Often, Kyouya would catch his mother staring at him for a while, a faraway look on her face. Kuroumaru told him that she is merely thinking about his father, the Medicine Seller.

"I would like to visit the town today. Please arrange for a transport for me and Kyouya, Kuroumaru," said Aya softly, stroking her son's hair lovingly with a smile on her face. Upon hearing Kuroumaru's given task, Kyouya's eyes immediately lit up and smiled up widely to his mother. Kyouya, the young son of Nura Aya, as everybody knows, loves noisy places.

"Understood, Aya-denka," said Kuroumaru with a bow. "I will arrange for the transport and escort your highness and the young master personally."

Aya nodded once in response. "Very well," said Aya. "You are excused then."

As Kyouya watched Kuroumaru gave another low bow of respect, Aya's young son turned around quickly and pulled on his mother's robes as soon as Kuroumaru left the two of them in the quiet garden.

"Mother, mother, mother!" Kyouya chanted while bouncing in place. Smiling at the boy's antics, Aya crouched down and raised both of her elegantly shaped eyebrows, "What is it, Kyouya?"

As soon as he has his mother's attention, Kyouya immediately spits out all he has in mind. "Mother! Mother! Are we really going to town! Can I buy sweets! Can I play? Can I go look around? Can I?"

Laughing richly, Aya gave Kyouya a hug and said, "Of course you can, my son. Just bear in mind to behave and be polite."

Satisfied, Kyouya thanked his mother and breathe in deeply. His mother's motherly perfume is truly unique. She smelled so wonderful that for a moment, Kyouya thought of a way to bottle up that wonderful perfume and preserve it forever.

Kuroumaru knocked three times upon the wooden door of the carriage he had personally escorted. "Denka," he called upon the person resided within the carriage. "We've arrived at the town, just as you have ordered."

"Very well," Aya said from within the carriage. Upon hearing her response, Kuroumaru opened the wooden door and extended a hand for the beautiful lady sitting within with her son. Accepting his hand, Aya came down from the carriage gracefully and, while waiting for her son to come down from the carriage, Aya took the time to look around the town.

"The town prospered well, didn't it, Kuroumaru?" said Aya proudly, taking a deep breath and loving the smell of fresh market.

Bowing slightly, Kuroumaru answered, "Yes it did, Aya-denka. Since the opening of this town last month and the extra road made just 2 weeks ago, the amount of travelers and traders had grown at an exceptional rate."

Aya merely smiled at Kuroumaru's comment. Aside from being her advisor, Kuroumaru's head is brilliant and full of ideas, making the previously small ayakashi town prospered into near nation size. Aya thought that it was rather wise for the old Tengu head to finally pass his throne to his son earlier than scheduled, saying something about travelling and scouting for possible lands to take over.

Ayakashis from all around the world had gathered here for trading goods and businesses, and since Aya is the very first ayakashi to open a land and be the ruler of that particular land, the other ayakashis from the far side of the world, too, followed her idea and opened a new land for all ayakashi to gather together and stopped mingling with the humans. She even have the privilege of being crowned as the Head of all ayakashi in the world, being the first ever to govern a land and being the first ever to made that land prosper into a nation. Although there are a fair few of ayakashis left in the human world, they had vowed to never harm a human being, and Aya allowed them to stay. All in all, Aya had kept her promise and become the leader of all ayakashi, like her ancestors have strived to be in the past.

Everyone smiled and bowed slightly to the Nurarihyon, and continued with their business, bustling around and shouting items on sale. Aya loved the busy atmosphere. She liked it when commoners in town do not bow to her that much like she is treated in her own palace. Somehow, in a way or two, it made her felt rather normal and common and not a royalty all the time.

"Mother," her son called, breaking her away from her small thought. She turned towards her son.

"Mother," her son called again. "May I buy some sweets?"

Aya smiled widely. Even after so many years, her son's habit and love for sweets still haven't faded, just like her. One hand smoothing his light-colored hair, Aya nodded an approval.

Face lighting up happily, Kyouya quickly dragged Kuroumaru to a stall selling a varieties of sweets. Aya smiled again.

Then something within the crowd caught her sight; the familiar colorful kimono, the paleness of the skin and the light colored hair. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat. Then she thought again, it was quite frequent these days that she saw him, and the next moment he'll dissipate into a flurry of cherry blossoms. She glanced around, and there it was, a cherry blossom tree in full bloom, sending a shower of pink petals whenever there is a gush of wind.

She theorized to herself that whenever there is a cherry blossom tree and petals showering down, there he'll be, and disappear when she tried to take a second glance. The only way to keep him still is to ignore him and only glance at him from sideways.

So it makes no difference this time. The man she loves that stands a distance away from him is just another one of her imaginations.

But then there is something not quite right about him this time. Although she believed him to be an imagination, he appeared to be moving forward and towards her, a constant smile on his face and not disappearing into a flurry of cherry blossoms even though she had been staring at him for the past few minutes. There was hope in her heart as it skipped faster and louder.

Then he stopped. Just a few steps away from her, and still standing there. Her expression began to falter, and her hope began to diminish when he suddenly said something she had never heard from any of her previous imaginations.

"Aya," he said, that cool, calm and silky voice of his brought back memories from the past. Aya thought that her heart had stopped beating when she heard his voice, loud and clear, and this time, she is certain, it's not an imagination.

"I'm home, Aya," said the Medicine Seller, a smile grazing his thin lips.

Repeating his name softly once again to assure her that this is not the dream she has every day when she is sleeping, she watched as the Medicine seller extended his hand and called her name once again, a respond to his name being called by her.

A tear escaped from her beautiful midnight blue eyes. Smiling in disbelief, Aya launched herself into the waiting arms of the beautiful man standing right in front of her, burying her face in his broad, warm chest.

"You came back…" she mumbled gratefully in his chest. The Medicine Seller smiled and wrapped his arms around her tighter.

Kissing the top of her head, the Medicine Seller mumbled back, "I'm here to stay…Sorry for the wait…"

Detaching herself from him, Aya looked at him properly, one hand caressing his smooth cheeks, admiring the father of her son.

"You're still the same," said Aya, a soft smile on her face, as if reminiscing the past, comparing the Medicine Seller from a 100 years ago with the Medicine Seller standing right in front of her at this moment. Stroking them further still, Aya continued, "You looked exactly like you were a hundred years ago…"

The Medicine Seller merely smiled affectionately, one hand patting her hand placed on his cheek. "You look as lovely as you were a hundred years ago too…just like I remembered. Except for your hair," said the Medicine Seller, holding a lock of her hair, admiring the smoothness. "They grew longer."

Chuckling lightly, Aya replied him, "Yours did too…" Fingering the mirror hanging from his neck, Aya said in a disbelief tone, "You still kept this with you…"

"It serves well as a reminder that I have someone waiting for my return somewhere in the world…" said the Medicine Seller, a smile on his face.

Both of them stared at each other, glad to be back into each other's arms. The Medicine Seller leaned in and planted a soft kiss on Aya's lips, holding her tightly in his arms.

"I love you…" both of them said in unison once they've broke apart, resting their foreheads against each other, thankful for the chance to be in each other's presence again.

The Medicine Seller detached himself from Aya and looked down when he felt someone tugged at his robes. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw just how identical this boy and his looks was, except for the color of his eyes, which is a deep shade of midnight blue.

"Mother," Kyouya said in a small tone, his eyes wide in recognization. From the looks of the man embracing his mother moments ago, he looked exactly like the reflection in his mirror whenever he looked into one, except for the color of their eyes. Kyouya's quick wit quickly summed up everything from the scenes unfolding in front of him as his heart pounded with realization; that this was the man that saved his mother and gave him life.

"Is he...?" started the Medicine Seller, a look of pure recognition and shock on his face.

Smiling, Aya offered a hand to her son, beckoning him to come to her. "Come, Kyouya, meet you father."

The End

Written On: 21st of November 2010

A/N: Finally, it's done! I love writing this story, since I love ancient stuff and mythical stuff, especially the Kusuriuri. Ah...such a beautiful man...
It's hard to write this story, and I realize that some of you might just think that the Kusuriuri is OOC, but...well...We've never seen him display any emotions or having a girlfriend in the anime or manga, right? So this whole thing I write is just a speculation, and yeah, OOC, but despite the flaws, I love it.

Thank you for reading and viewing and reviewing! I appreciate it a lot!

P.S: I might consider adding an 'extra' story in here, so it really depends on the reviews I got for this chappie!