SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME

Chapter 5: The god, the demon lord, and the human

Disclaimer: Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine. Also, the last name of Wakana is just a fictional name that was added for the purpose of the story. There are also some original characters created for the purpose of the story.

Please read and review, keeps me motivated to write. Thank you! To those who are continuously reviewing my story, thank you very much. I apologize for not being able to upload for quite some time.

Author's note: The story is slightly different than usual. However, I will not move away so much. The overall plan is to end up in the same story. About the onmyoji characters, wait and see. Admittedly some characters may be out of their usual personas.

Note for the chapter: This full Chapter 5 focuses on the battle scenes. Hopefully it does not get too mature in content. I'll try my best to describe it without much gore and less painful. Hope you continue to support this story.

5A: The Decisive First Step

"Rihan." The Supreme Commander regarded his son as he prepared to head towards the dark mountain ranges near the edge of the city where they last sensed the aura of the maniacal half-god. The second commander sat by the entrance of the household. He sat rather anxiously with an air of edginess; his right leg perched up with his right arm leaning coolly. He was staring at the demons clambering to prepare to go to battle.

But his gaze went past the demons or whatever they are doing. His contemplation went through them, not at them. His face more serious than usual, both his golden orbs staring into empty space. To be honest, he did listen to the advice that his father gave him when they were on the rooftop of the school. He did understand the pride that he needed to protect as the second heir of the Nura clan. He also understood that he still has that chance to save her. She's still alive anyway.

But…

It was not enough to shove away the thoughts that are now flooding his head. Memories are flashing back It was mix of his past and the present. Memories of him holding that letter that Yamabuki left before she vanished as if she never came. Yamabuki was and is still very important to him. A part of him still feels the pain of being left behind. He bitterly thought that it was selfish of Yamabuki to leave. He was more than willing to take the curse with him, set aside the need for an heir, and simply spend his life with her. But she left.

Yes, he understood, but the more he did, the more it hurt. Years have gone by wherein various emotions flooded his heart and mind. One moment, he could feel the pain, get depressed, feel the need to be alone, and then another he'd get mad, frustrated, and ultimately feels the guilt.

Guilty?

For what you say?

For not being there, when she needed him the most.

For not being able to embrace her tight when she attempted to leave.

For not being able to hold onto her, when she needed to be comforted.

For not telling her, that she was more than enough.

And now, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this time, is a replay of what he had done. Wakana was not his wife, at least not yet. But he knew by now that she was very valuable to him. The first day they met, drove him to be more curious about her. She was a fighter, different than the regular humans. She was not afraid of him, yes, there were days he felt that she was thoroughly annoyed and disturbed with his behavior, but nonetheless, she was refreshing. The next days proved to be interesting and a welcome break in his regular routine. Then the day they kissed, was the day of realizations.

Wakana is now his most important person.

She is his treasure.

He might not have told her, but what he realized was his only truth right now.

Of course, there's no comparing Yamabuki and Wakana, it would simply be disrespectful to both of them, right now, they are equally valuable, equally a part of his life, and will forever be a part of his heart and soul. And with this realization and Wakana's kidnapping is that lingering feeling of pain and hurt. His anger was not really directed towards that crazy demi-god, it was more towards him.

He didn't understand why he could not even protect her.

Rihan placed a hand on his hair as if to straighten invisible tangles. He looked towards the group of demons who still continued to struggle to get everything ready. It's not as if they're fighting, but really, he can't blame them for getting excited, this was a battle that they have not had since a long time.

Rihan did the most human thing he could do right now…

Sigh.

Nurarihyon heard his son sigh, and in a rather hopeless tone, if sighs did have tones. The past days, the supreme commander was busy doing something else. He was trying to rake his memory as to when he saw this girl. The woman that Rihan bought home was terribly familiar. The way she spoke, the way she moved, her eyes, her hair, her scent, everything about her was terribly familiar.

But to be honest, and don't blame his age for it, for the life he still had, he could not remember. How in the world could he have met a young woman? She's not really famous or someone who you'd see in the magazine.

Okay, she may not be as regular looking, but she's not really some incredible celebrity with dyed hair like the ones he sees on billboards and television sets when he passes by the mall, invisible to the naked eye of course. But, Wakana does have a very strong appeal. It's like when he met Yohime, she has a striking brightness around her, the type that demons like them get attracted to.

Nurarihyon raked his memory but unfortunately nothing would come up. His thoughts were disrupted when he saw his son stand up from, dust his black kimono with green stripes and straightened his back.

He saw that Rihan held onto Nenekirimaru. From this distance, the Supreme Commander could feel the anger seething from his son. He could not blame him. He was really angry for what happened. He felt utterly helpless with this battle. Even though they already talked about this when he arrived at the rooftop, he knew that Rihan could not help but feel desperate for what happened between him and this god.

He could already see and feel what was running through his son's head. The supreme commander knew that he still felt the pain of losing his first wife. He was left behind, and honestly, there's no worse feeling. The death of the supreme commander's wife, Yohime, was a very painful experience.

In truth, Nurarihyon was a tad bit glad that Rihan found a demon woman to be his partner before. Yohime was human with the beauty of a goddess—but a human nonetheless. Being human is not bad; nothing about is to be wary about, except for the fact that they die to soon. Yohime's death, not even her age, was the worst he could experience. That was that feeling that he understood—the feeling of hopelessness, desperation, and anger of being left behind.

Yamabuki might not have died in front of Rihan, but she was able to kill Rihan's heart the day she left. But, Nurarihyon almost audibly sighed, a hundred years is a long time to spend for moving on right?

Talk about loyalty…

Nurarihyon shook his head.

Kubinashi was preparing as well. He was gathering the demons of the Hyakki Yako and giving them some final reminders. Some of the weaker demons were reminded of their roles in the parade.

"You understand right?" Kubinashi chided.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm not as headless as you think I am. Oops, sorry mindless." Natto laughed and he could have sworn that Kubinashi suddenly had the urge to strangle the stinky demon.

"What did you say stink?" Kubinashi growled pulling his string as if to threaten the smaller demon.

"Wanna fight string-boy?" Natto growled back doing his best to intimidate the seasoned fighter.

Kubinashi and Natto were growling at each other when Kurotabo passed by. He almost stepped on Natto but decided to bump on Kubinashi's head instead. Kubinashi held onto his head and looked up to Kurotabo.

"Oi, watch it!" Kubinashi said. "You almost kicked my head."

"Oh, almost?!" Kurotabo sneered. "I was aiming to kick it. Damn."

"Maa, maa, let's get started everyone. Make sure you already have your acts together. This is not a drill!" Kejoro reminded interrupting Kubinashi and Kurotabo. She stood in the middle as if to cut the friction from getting even worse. "Make sure all of you have your own stuff, we don't want anyone to be a burden to Rihan-sama."

"Yeah! We're ready!" Cyclops shouted on the other end of the room. Jumping up and down with excitement, he almost bumped onto the small oni.

"We've been craving for a day like this. A true battle." Kurotabo grunted, excited with the real battle. "I feel my blood boiling with excitement."

"Make sure you're not as rusty as your swords." Kubinashi teased, eyes narrowing with slits towards the monk assassin.

"Say it again and I'll make you body-less next time." Kurotabo challenged pointing his favorite staff towards Kubinashi.

Rihan stood up from his position, which basically startled most of the demons. They took their positions in the parade and watched as the second took steps forward towards the lead region. He did not even regard his father who was simply standing near the entrance of the house. He simply placed the sword's dull end and leaned it on his shoulder and muttered.

"I'll be on my way." Stating as if to no one, but everyone knew he was talking to his father.

Nurarihyon nodded. He watched as the second's Hyakki Yako started to get covered with fog, which totally covers their presence. The big battalion simply vanished in the middle of road as they set off to rescue Wakana.

He totally understood where his son was coming from but before Rihan left the house, he spoke one more time, only this time, as if reminding himself as well.

"Make sure, you know, what you're fighting for."

He eyed the direction where they are headed with the determination not looking back and then proceeded to go back in the Nura home.

Nurarihyon is honestly worried for his son, there's no denying that. He's also rather worried for that demi-god. With his son glaring, growling, seething with anger, and the other words in the book of fury, he's bound to see his face sweeping the dirt on the ground. But still, at the same time, he felt that fighting a god is not that easy. This was one of those times wherein he felt that the results may sway anyway. He raced and paced around the room deliberating if he should meddle in the fight. He already fought with the raw level of the demi-god years back. He could still remember that moment. Even though he just awakened as a god, he was already really skilled and powerful.

He continued to walk around the common hall, back and forth, back and forth. Until his musings was interrupted by the rather curious but immensely intrigued Gyuki.

"If you're that worried, why don't you go with him?" Gyuki inquired.

The supreme commander looked towards Gyuki.

"Because, if I do, he'd get mad." Nurarihyon replied. He looked exasperated. "But at the same time, as a father, I can't bear to lose my son in this battle."

"Really, you'd think the second would lose that easily. A little confidence would help." Gyuki replied, acting a little friendly since they're the only ones in the area.

"I can't help it." The supreme commander retaliated.

"And here you were acting all cool a while ago." Gyuki sighed. He stood up and imitated the commander. "Make sure, you know what you're fighting for."

Nurarihyon stopped in his tracks and turned towards the annoying friend of his. Gyuki almost, really just almost, laughed his head off with the Supreme Commander's reaction, but because he's Gyuki, he resulted to simply coughing and settling back to his sitting position.

"Did you just imitate me?!" Nurarihyon glowered towards Gyuki.

Gyuki feigned being deaf.

The Hyakki Yako travelled in a rather quick pace towards the mountain ranges near where Gyuki usually stays. They knew that they have to urgently proceed to where Wakana was being held hostage. Kejoro, Kubinashi, and Kurotabo sat behind the second looking at his back.

Kejoro whispered to the two companions as they travelled. "Psst, don't you think his shoulders are a little too stiff?"

"Whose shoulders?" Kubinashi asked.

"Definitely not yours." Kurotabo muttered, sneering slightly, almost laughing at his own comment.

But Kejoro could not help but cough out a little giggle. Kubinashi stared at the girl and Kejoro simply lifted her hands in surrender.

"Sorry, sorry. But it was just funny…"

"Which part of that was funny?" Kubinashi asked looking very annoyed.

"The fact that we can't offer you a gentle neck massage." Kurotabo replied, on the roll with his insults. "Stiff neck?"

Kubinashi heard something break and it was no physical entity. His patience suddenly broke as he lounged himself towards Kurotabo. Drawing his string he immediately wrapped it around the neck of Kurotabo.

"Let me give you a stiff neck, dark monk." Kubinashi growled.

"Stop it stop it, we can't be wasting precious energy here." Kejoro tried to interrupt, but to be honest, she also found the comments of Kurotabo quite witty today, and also, seeing a very pissed of Kubinashi, was an icing on the cake.

But as all parties, a party-pooper should be present. They heard Rihan clear his throat as if to warn and reprimand them at the same time for being noisy. Kubinashi looked at the direction of Rihan who still sat in front of them. Kubinashi reluctantly removed the string wrapped on the neck of Kurotabo, and the dark monk hid his partially unconcealed weapons.

Today was not a day to be free-spirited.

RIhan was pretty strong in making sure he got his message across.

Kubinashi thought to himself that he felt happier seeing Rihan like this. It's been years since he last saw him this concerned towards someone else. Also in this situation, he was not just concerned, Rihan was being protective and territorial. Somehow, he's being very affected by the situation. Of course, it's not impossible to identify the reason why.

Wakana-sama is his most important treasure right now.

Kubinashi muttered to himself. As the right-hand man of the second, it's his responsibility to protect his treasure. From this day forth, he took it upon himself to make sure that he would give everything Wakana would need, should need, and could need. He would make sure that the short life that a human can spend would be safe and happy together with the second commander.

He made a personal oath that he would do everything to make sure that Wakana and Rihan remain happy and most importantly safe from any harm.

But right now, saving Wakana is top priority.

To be continued

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