"I can't accept this!"
All of them faced the man who said that. The atmosphere in the room turned tensed upon seeing the man's enraged face. But why would he feel enraged?
"And what is it that you can't accept, Nishimoto-san?" Lord Shoutaro asked sternly that increased the tension in that room.
"How could you let this demon thief be with Riya like this? He's not even worthy to be with her in every way. I can't accept this at all. It's me who should be with Riya, not him," Nishimoto said.
Yusuke was about to stand up and give him a good punch on the face but Keiko stopped him. Same goes to Kuwabara and Hiei but Yukina and Yumi stopped them respectively. However, it was the girl's mistakes. Before they knew it, Nishimoto materialized a double sword made out of spirit energy and charged towards the surprised Kurama.
The red head was about to take out his weapon when he noticed that Nishimoto suddenly stopped moving. It was similar to a person petrified by ice or turned to a statue.
But how? Kurama asked to himself as he faced Nishimoto in that position. The man's weapons were raised and was about to strike him down. But then...
"I guess you're forgetting something important, idiot," a voice of a young boy sarcastically and icily said that made him look behind Nishimoto. "You're inside the Miyuzaki territory so your actions towards our guests will decide your fate."
Much to the gang's surprise, they saw Riya's nephew and Haruna's son Satoshi standing behind Nishimoto. To be specific, he was standing on shadow of the perpetrator.
So he's a shadow manipulator? He's fast, too. I guess those are his skills, Kurama thought as he looked at the boy. Satoshi faced him with a smile in return and bowed.
"I'm sorry if something like this happened, Kurama-niisama. Some of our guests here didn't seem to practice manners when it comes to properly treating our important guests," Satoshi said as he raised his head to face Kurama.
"Do you really think you can stop me with this this, boy?" Nishimoto retorted. "You have no idea what I can do for the wedding not to happen anymore. Of course, you'll never have a wedding when you don't have the bride, right?"
Their eyes widened upon hearing that. At the same time, they've felt an extremely familiar power signature near the area.
"You don't mean..."
"Riya-senpai's in danger," Yukari uttered which, of course, forced her to let go of the white ball she was holding onto. Though that alone surprised everyone.
Well... almost everyone.
Kurama could only grit his teeth and clench his fist as he faced Nishimoto, now looking at him with a sadistic sneer on that devil's face. One wrong move and Riya would be hurt.
"That's why Riya didn't choose you because you're an idiot and a worthless jerk!" Yumi suddenly blurted out. "Do you really think you and your low-level minions could touch, let alone approach the princess that easy? Think again, moron!"
What the Fire Wielder said caused confusion to some of them, while the family all looked... calm? How come?
"What did you say? I meant what I said! I'll kill Riya so that no wedding will happen!" Nishimoto insisted despite being petrified.
But Yumi only showed a confident smile after she scoffed. "If your men can get closer than 50 meters to her, that is..."
"You seem to have something in mind, Yumi," Hiei commented that only made Yumi sigh.
"Let's just say I know something like this will happen. Of course, I know Riya will do what she could to follow Kurama here since she's worried about what Shoutaro-sama could possibly up to. Our clan lord can be terrifying when it comes to family conferences and he once admitted that himself. You sensed it, right? Riya's power signature that's just near the area." The gang nodded as a response. "She used the portal that was linked directly to the one inside a sacred cave near here. But only Riya could utilize that portal to its fullest capability. Anyway, back to the topic. Riya's already inside the Miyuzaki's territory."
"Then what do you mean by what you said earlier?" Soujiro asked in spite of the confusion and tension inside that room.
"It only means I'm not worried about Riya's safety. Our mistress can take them all down easily, I'm sure of it. But it will only happen if Mari isn't around."
"Mari? Riya's personal maid? What does she have anything to do with this?" Yusuke inquired.
Yumi sighed once more as her face turned serious before answering the Spirit Detective's question. "Mari isn't just Riya's personal maid and confidant. To be honest, her real duty is just like the wielders' duty to our mistress. She's Riya's personal bodyguard, as well."
"What did you say? Are you serious?" Yusuke asked in surprise. The others were surprised, as well. The Fire Wielder answered with a nod. "But how did something like that happen?"
"Not only that, can Mari-san really protect Riya-chan?" Botan asked worriedly.
"Don't worry about anything, Botan-chan. Mari-san can do that... without fail," Haruna answered the grim reaper's question.
"You seem to be confident about this. To think Yumi wouldn't feel threatened for Riya's safety," Hiei said as he looked as Yumi and Haruna simultaneously.
Both women showed confident and calm smiles on their faces as Yumi and Haruna looked at each other. Haruna was the one who spoke.
"This family had been training humans born with strong spirit energy and even demons to serve them. Of course, not all of the demons we trained remained serving this family. Some chose to stay with us while the others chose their own paths ー either to serve at the Spirit World or return to the Demon World. But Mari-san was different."
"How so?" Kurama asked, speaking for the first.
"Mari-san had been serving this clan ever since its founding 800 years ago. Though she looked like someone who's about 20 years old, her real age was never fully disclosed to any of us. But we do know a few things about her. For one, she's just like you, Kurama."
"Just like me?"
Haruna nodded. "She's a ruthless fighter in her lifetime. In fact, she's a demon fox just like you."
Of course, that came as a surprise to most of them, especially to Kurama.
"You mean, she could be older than Yoko Kurama?" Ayako asked, still in a state of disbelief.
"Probably. We're not really sure. Another thing about Mari-san is that her agility, intelligence, speed and skills made her an efficient member of the family's security group. I'm only ranked second when it comes to identifying the strongest warriors ever trained by the family. Yumi-chan was ranked third," Haruna added as she faced the surprised team and wielders.
And with that, a realization all struck them at the same time.
"Don't tell me... Mari-san is ー"
But Ren was abruptly stopped with a nod from Ritsuko. "That's right. Mari-san is the strongest ー not to mention the deadliest ー warrior that the Miyuzaki family has ever trained."
"That's why you don't have to worry about Riya. She'll be safe since Mari-san's also with her," Yumi answered.
"You really trust her, huh?" Kurama commented, almost in a whisper that the others still managed to hear.
Lord Shoutaro smiled. "Our family have trusted Mari ever since. She could have a reason or two to destroy that trust but she never did anything to do so. She had been serving this family for so long and I can definitely entrust my granddaughter's safety to her. Her skills as a fighter are priceless."
Those words were enough to ease Kurama's worries and made him heave a heavy sigh of relief. "I guess I could be calm with all that, since you trust Mari-san that much."
"Okay. One problem's been dealt with. What about this one?" Botan pointed out as he looked at the still petrified Nishimoto.
Yumi sighed as she stood up and went to the door before opening it. "As for that, I'll let the twins deal with it."
"The twins?" Yusuke and Kuwabara uttered in unison.
But before anyone could say anything, they heard one of the twins, Misako, spoke as she put her hand in front of her. "Satoshi, be sure to evade as soon as I fire it, okay?"
"No need to tell me that, Misako-neesan," Satoshi replied.
And in a flash, Nishimoto was sent flying backwards as the others felt a strong gust of wind blew fast. The double spirit swords that Nishimoto held were thrown away and embedded themselves beside the man who was definitely freaked out at the moment. Not only Nishimoto but also the other guys in that room, as well.
"Consider this as a warning, you bunch of idiots. Mess with anyone in our family like that again and you'll never be able to get out of here in one piece," Sachiko spoke firmly and icily, which was enough to scare the aforementioned people. With that warning said, Nishimoto and the other guys who were Riya's previous suitors started running for their lives.
Satoshi went back to his seat. Yumi couldn't stiffle her laughter but she still tried. Even the others struggled to contain their laughter for those people's cowardice. Lord Shoutaro then faced Kurama's parents.
"Shiori, Kazuya, I'm sorry for that trouble. I guess what you have witnessed a while back has scared you. I did't realize that those people would cause such a commotion and in my house, at that."
Kazuya first spoke. "Ritsuko-san told me about your family the day Shuichi-kun told us about his true identity. To be honest, Katsuo told me the same truth years before he died. So I guess I could say that I accepted it as it was. Don't worry. Besides, knowing all these made me even more determined to manage the company that Katsuo had entrusted to me. This has made me admire Katsuo even more. His desire to give what was best for his family ー it made me realize a lot of things. And I'm thankful for that. Shuichi-kun might not be my biological son but he's still a son to me. And I couldn't be more glad now that you allowed him to marry your granddaughter Riya-chan. I'm sure they'll be happy."
Kurama smiled at his stepfather's answer. Shiori then spoke next.
"Seeing all these made me know how much you love your family and how much you wanted to protect them. You might be different than an ordinary human. But you never let that difference create a barrier with the rest of the world. I'm not scared even after I've witnessed all that. I couldn't afford to. I'm too happy for Shuichi right now that I couldn't feel scared. Knowing that you entrusted Riya to him and you gave him your blessing, it was enough for me to be happy. My son had been through so much his whole life. If being with the woman he truly loved would make him happy, so be it. Let them be together. Seeing my son's happiness ー I couldn't ask for anything else as a mother."
"I'm glad to know all that," the clan lord said in relief and soon after, the meeting was adjourned.
xxxxxx
"I thought I'll never get here," Riya mumbled and then she took a deep breath before looking at the mansion where she knew the gang was. Well, she guessed she wouldn't be able to reach the mansion fast if it wasn't for Mari. Her confidant/personal maid/personal bodyguard did what she could to deal with the demons waiting for her at the sacred cave's portal. She knew Mari could do it.
Upon arriving at the mansion, the head butler told her that the meeting was already over. Without a word, she headed straight to conference room. Her body was aching to stop running, her mind was shouting the same thing. But she wouldn't do so. She had to make sure Kurama was alright. Not that she feared for the worst case scenario, but she couldn't help thinking that way. Her grandfather could be extremely scary when it comes to family conference.
Of course, she understood the reason why. Her grandfather just wanted to protect his family and make sure that everyone would be okay. He might not be saying anything but she knew clearly that he was still devastated upon losing her father and her brother. Lord Shoutaro cared for his family so much. The clan was the only precious treasure that Lord Shoutaro left in his life.
Her musings halted to a stop when she saw her family, the team and the wielders coming out of the conference room. She couldn't help but to breathe out a sigh of relief when she saw the happy expression on their faces.
I guess the meeting went well. Now I think I don't have to worry about anything, she thought with a smile.
She saw Kurama beamed a smile at her which confused her inwardly. She found it weird for Kurama to be that happy. I wonder what happened in there.
"Seems to me you know I'll be coming here, huh?" she commented as soon as she approached the red head.
"Yeah. You made me worry, too. By the way, did you encounter some demons when you came here?"
She frowned at the question. "Ah, you mean those demons who suddenly tried to attack me? Mari-san already dealt with them. And in a new time record, too. I guess her skills never get rusty no matter how old she is."
"I see." After that, Kurama suddenly pulled her into a tight hug.
She was surprised about that, but she didn't say anything. Whatever happened in that conference room, she might figure it out soon. The couple smiled at each other after that.
"Riya," Yusuke called out that caught her attention. "Now that you mentioned something about your maid's age, do you have any idea how old Mari-san is? We're all curious to know since Haruna-san said that Mari-san didn't disclose her true age to any of the family members."
"Wait a minute! What's this all of a sudden? What exactly did you discuss in that room?" Riya asked as she looked at her friends.
"Something about you that's really important and of course, some other stuffs, too," Haruna answered with a sly smile.
"About me?" Riya asked with a frown.
"Just answer Yusuke-kun's question," Yumi said.
She sighed exasperatingly and went quiet for a while. She was trying to remember something. "Mari-san once told me about her age. At first, I thought she was joking when she told me about it. But when I used my postcognitive ability and did a few researches, I realized that she was telling the truth. Mari-san's age is approximately 4,000 years old. So I guess that would make her older than Yoko Kurama."
"4,000 years old?" the team exclaimed in disbelief. Riya nodded and ignored the surprised looks on her friends' faces.
Kurama and Riya just laughed at their reactions and decided to leave them for a while to have some quality time as they explored the Miyuzaki estate ー which Kurama later realized as the home of the first Snow Rose that led Riya to him.
The home of his eternal love...
xxxxxx
This took a while for me to finish. Sorry. I got busy doing other things. Anyway, only two chapters left.
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