Something went totally weird with , or my own personal ditziness may have struck again. Either way, all my chapters were in a very odd order, or missing, or whatever. So I deleted it all, and put it all back up.

Please read and review! I work really hard on this, so I want to know how I can make it better.

No, I don't own Fushigi Yuugi (just my original characters Miyoko, Hamatsu, and Saissa). Happy reading and happy New Year!

"You and your 'studying'," Hamatsu grumbled.

"Oh, shut up," Miyoko replied, trying hard to open the locked door to the Restricted Section of the library. "This exam is worth one third of our semester grade! The books in here will probably really help. . . if we can get it open. . . If only there was a key around here somewhere. . ." She dropped to her knees and stuck her hand underneath the door. "I guess Saissa's not here yet. . . she needs to study too. . . I'm worried about her. That gang has been after her lately. . ."

"Uh, Miyo. . . What are you doing?"

Miyoko stood and showed her the key. "I'm smarter than I look," Miyoko said firmly. Hamatsu snickered, and Miyo hit her on the back of the head.

"Ow. . ."

Miyoko could not find a light switch, but the afternoon light was sufficient. Hamatsu ran around the room, picking random books up and tossing them on the floor. "They're all dusty. . ." she said.

"I hope you're keeping those books in order," Miyoko said absently, picking up and flipping through a book. She put it back down again. "Hey, Ha-chan. Look at this book! Where are you?"

Hamatsu poked her head around a bookcase. "What's so interesting about. . . MIYO!!!"

Miyoko was being sucked into the book! Hamatsu raced to help, but it was too late. The book fell, closed, to the ground, and Miyoko was gone.

When Miyoko woke up, she definitely wasn't in Tokyo anymore. She sat up, a little dazed. She was in a field, in the country! 'But the National Library isn't anywhere near the country!' she thought. 'Wait-where's Hamatsu?!'

"Hey!" a gruff voice barked. Miyoko looked up to see a scowling old man in front of her. "This is private property! What are you doing on it?"

"Uh. . . I really don't know, sir. Could you point me to the nearest city?" Miyoko asked.

"I knew it! You're a spy, from Kutou!" the man declared. "Your strange clothes are definitely not of this country.

Miyoko looked at him. The clothing he wore might've been worn in feudal China, while she was wearing her school uniform. "N-no! I'm not a spy! You've got it all wrong!"

Out of the cart he was pushing, the man brought out an ax. "This is what Kutou gets!!" he yelled, taking a swing at her. She yelped and jumped out of the way. The man tried again-and Miyoko jumped over him!

"Ha!" she said triumphantly. "I always told them I'm a ninja!" She turned, and realized she could not escape the ax's path this time. She closed her eyes, waiting to die.

The ax didn't hit! Someone had pushed the man to the ground. "That's not very nice! You should be more careful with this thing!" the young man said. He had one foot on the man's chest, and he took the ax form him. Spying a tree nearby, he lodged the ax in it.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" the other man demanded. He tried to get the ax from the tree, but it was stuck in too much.

"Bye bye now!" the young man said, grabbing Miyoko's arm and dragging her away.

"Wha. . . Who are you? Where am I?" she asked.

"I'm Kishuku Sou, but you can call me Tamahome. Most people do."

"Okay then, Tamahome. Thank you for saving me!" she said cheerfully.

"Sure, sure. Look, do you have money to pay me, or not?" he asked impatiently.

"Huh? Money?"

Tamahome sighed and began to walk away. "Whatever. Never mind."

Miyoko scrambled to find money in her backpack, but even after a few minutes she couldn't find any. She looked up, and saw that Tamahome really had gone. She scowled, and walked in the direction she had seen him walking on. Eventually, she got to a road, and continued walking.

"Need a ride?" a farmer offered. He had a cart full of hay with him. The horses stomped, ready to go.

"Really?" she said, smiling. "Yes, thank you!"

"Go ahead, get in," he said. She got in the back of the cart, and they started to go. "Hey mister, where is this headed to, anyway?"

"The capital of Konan," he replied. "It's not too far."

It wasn't too long before they were practically in the middle of the city. It bustled with activity, people selling stuff, people buying stuff. Restaurants were packed with people, and Miyoko remembered that she was hungry. Suddenly, she saw Tamahome walk by.

"Thanks for the ride!" she said, jumping off the cart and walking after Tamahome. "Tamahome! Wait!" she called, but he didn't hear her. "And I just found some money, too. . ." she said. Her attention quickly turned to the food being sold along the streets. She bought some food, and tried to pay the man.

"Hey! What's this?" the man asked, angrily pointing to the money.

Miyoko stuffed her face with food. "Well, it's money!"

"Guards!" the man yelled. Miyoko gulped and ran.

"This is so weird!" she said. She accidentally ran into a boy. "Oops, sorry. . . Hey! Tamahome!"

"Huh? What are YOU doing here?" he asked.

"Actually, I'm running away from people who didn't accept my money. . ."

"So you do have money!"

"Well. . ." She showed her change to Tamahome.

"What kinda money is that? Well, I can see why they're after you."

"Tamahome, please help me!"

"Why me?" he asked. "Why should I help you?"

"Well, you saved me before! You're the only person I know here. . . and I only know your name! I fell into a book, and now I'm here. . . Hey, what's that?"

"The Emperor's procession," Tamahome replied. "Man, I'd sure like to have a jewel from His Majesty's crown. . ." he hinted.

"Then I'll get one so I can pay you!" Miyoko decided. "It won't be hard for a ninja." She ran alongside the procession. The place where the Emperor was riding was curtained, so she couldn't see inside, but she ran after him anyway. "Sir, would you mind if I had an ornament off your crown? I'd really like to pay someone back for helping me with something. Sir? Emperor? Hey! Are you listening?!" She tried to grab at the curtain, but a piece of the cloth tore off, and she was left holding that. Some of the guards in procession stopped and went towards her.

"How dare you disrespect His Majesty like that!" one of them scolded. "You will die for this!"

"Uh. . . But. . . I think you misunderstood. I was just-"

Tamahome grabbed Miyoko's arm and dragged her away. The guards quickly lost them in the crowd.

"Gee, sorry about that," Miyoko said. "There is obviously no respect for ninjas around here."

"I'll help you," Tamahome decided suddenly.

"You will?!" she cried. "Thank you! I still don't have any money, though. . ."

He kissed her forehead. "That can be payment!" he said cheerfully. "Now come on."

"And so, the two of them must be put to death!" the Emperor's adviser declared.

"She was dressed in foreign clothing?" Emperor Seishuku repeated. "She might be the Priestess of Suzaku!"

"But sire," one of the advisers attempted. A guard coming up and saluting interrupted him.

"Your Majesty, we have found the girl and the boy you requested."

"I didn't even get to finish all of my food earlier," Miyoko grumbled form her jail cell. "Maybe I have. . . Gum! Woot!"

"What's that?!" the guard said.

"Just bubblegum," she replied, blowing a bubble. The popping noise startled the guard, and he ran off, dropping his keys on the way. "Um. . . okay. . ." Miyoko said.

Suddenly someone unlocked the door. She looked up to see Tamahome. "We don't have all day," he said.

"Yay! Oh, here! You can have this, if you want," she said, offering the rest of the pack of gum to Tamahome.

"Wow!" he said, impressed. "What's this stuff? Foreign food? This is awesome! I can get lots of money for this!"

"You really like money, don't you?" she said, shaking her head. They walked around for a while, and tried to find an exit.

"This way!" a guard called. The two of them ducked into an empty room, waiting for the guards to pass.

"Hey, what's that statue?" she asked Tamahome, referring to the giant statue of a bird in front of them.

"That's Suzaku. Everybody knows that."

"I think I read about Suzaku. . . Right before I got sucked into the book, I did see something. . ."

"It's one of the Four Gods," Tamahome continued. "Seiryuu, Suzaku, Byakko, and Genbu. Suzaku is our god. Each of the three other empires has its own god to worship. But at the moment, it's just important that we get out of here. . . Miyoko, where did you go?" Tamahome asked, looking around. She had disappeared!

"What kind of crazy book am I reading?!" Hamatsu asked, shaking her head.