Just Another Day
Chapter 1
………………………………………….
Silence reigned in the early hours of the morning, only broken on occasion by the trill of a cricket or the rustle of leave being blown about by the autumn wind. The sacred fire of the Sakura no Makiba Jinja, located in the quiet outskirts of Kyoto, flickered in the hearth of the shrine deep within the inner sanctum. The light casting shadows on the form of a young woman, deep within a meditative trance. Feathered coal colored hair fell to
her shoulders, framing her face and dancing in the light of the fire. Honey colored eyes stared into the fire, as if searching for something. Brow creased in concentration as small hands folded from one seal to another. "Taiyou tsuki koudo ten hi tei mizu iwa hoshi," her child like voice chanted over and over again. "Onegai, Kami-Sama… show me what it meant" she prayed as images of the dream that had woken her flashed through her mind.
Darkness… Eyes the color of blood… A mother, clutching her new born child to her breast in tears, praying for someone to save her baby… A brilliant flash of light… Floating through space… A cloth and metal headband… A forest… The twelve animals of the zodiac… A blonde kitsune… A soft kiss… Fire everywhere… People lying dead in the streets… Blood red eyes…
As she concentrated, a shape began to form in the flames before her. Slowly a leaf began to form. It was an odd shape and looked more like some kind of symbol than a piece of foliage. Just as suddenly as it had appeared, it disappeared, leaving the young woman to ponder the significance behind such a symbol. She did not have long to dwell on this, however, as another shape began to take form in the sacred flame. "Yin-yang…?" The girl said softly as she recognized it almost immediately. "Yin-yang… symbolizes the balance between light and dark, good and evil, in every person. With out balance
there is chaos. Two halves of one whole," she thought aloud. "Makes more sense than a leaf."
"Hoshiko!" The sound of her name being called broke the girlfrom her musings. "Hoshiko, breakfast!" Her OkaaChan's voice rang out again.
"Hai, OkaaChan! I'll be right there!" She called back. Standing and straightening her robes, she made her way towards the door of the shrine. Pausing at the door, Hoshiko turned to take one last look at the fire. "Why can't I shake this feeling of dread?" She asked herself as she left to have breakfast with her family.
"Moshi Moshi, Uchiwa Noraneko desu. Leave a message after the beep." The young woman's answering machine picked up as she had refused to answer the phone, choosing instead to role over and bury her head under her pillow. Her hopes for remaining in dream land were quickly dashed however as the high pitched voice of her best friend rang through out the room from the small box attached to her phone. "Oh for Kami-Sama's sake! Don't tell me you're still in bed?! It's 12 in the afternoon already! Common! Pick up the phone.
I KNOW you're there. Common! Heeeeeeere neko neko neko!" With a groan that sound distinctly like, "Damn it, Hoshi," the young woman rolled so that she was sitting up in bed and reached for the phone. Brushing her long chestnut hair over her shoulder, she placed the receiver against her ear. "Nani?" She asked sharply. "Konichiwa Neko-Chan!" Came the overly cheerful response. "Awaino Hoshiko, one of these days I am going to kill you." The very annoyed, now awake, brunette dead panned. All she received in response was the sound of the other girl giggling. Despite her annoyance, the other girl couldn't help but grin at her friend's antics. How anyone could be so naturally cheerful was beyond her.
With a soft chuckle, Noraneko got down to business. "What ya want Hoshi?" She asked, stifling a yawn. "Nothing," the other girl chirped. "You just asked me to call and make sure you were up by noon. Remember?" Frowning in thought for a moment, the brunette answered. "I did, didn't I?" When she was met with nothing but silence from the other end, she waited a minute then spoke.
"Hoshi?"
"…hai?"
"You just walked into something, didn't you?"
"… hai."
Chuckling, Noraneko stood and, cradling the receiver in the crook of her
neck, proceeded to stretch in a fashion that greatly resembled her namesake. "Well, I'm up." She droned. "Good. I've got to go, promised Jiji I'd help him out this afternoon. Ja ne!" The sound of a soft click signaled the end of the conversation. Setting the receiver back in place, Noraneko went about getting ready for the day. Quickly dressing, she then pulled a grey leather bound book from her shelf and flipped it open to a previously marked page. "Tonight's the night," the majo whispered to her self.
As she went about gathering the supplies she would need, she reread the spell for what must have been the hundredth time. Moving what little furniture she had in her small studio apartment up against the walls, she proceeded to draw a large circle in the center of the room out of chalk. She then placed 4 candles, each at a different point, along the chalk line of the circle. "Black, Genbuu to the north… white, Byakuu to the west… blue, Seiryuu to the east… red, Suzaku to the south" she said to herself as she placed each candle in position. Emptying an economy sized canister of iodized salt into a pile in the center of the circle, she stepped back to check over her work. "Now all that's left is to wait until dusk," she thought to herself. She would spend the rest of the day going over the spell and making sure she had absolutely everything she might need. First, however, she needed to stop by the bank. Then grab something to eat.
Grabbing her purse, she made her way towards the door of her apartment, careful to keep to the edge of the room lest she make a mess of her hard work. Noraneko paused as she passed her bedside table. Turning towards it, she picked up a simple wooden picture frame and stared at the picture residing within its confines for a few minutes. Then with a small smile she slipped the picture from the frame and in between the cover of her spell book with a few others. "Just in case," she said as she set the frame back down and walked out the door.
Hoshiko was exhausted. If she ever got her hands on who ever it was that was performing poorly cast lust spells, she was going to personally wring their neck. Poorly cast lust spells meant lust youkai, and Hoshiko had begun to develop a burning hatred for lust demons. Sealing eight of them in the three weeks would do that to a miko. Stretching, she winced slightly and rested her hand on the tender area on her hip where she had been flung into a wall. Yeah… she really hated lust youkai. When they couldn't seduce her, they tried to kill her. Hoshiko wasn't too fond of that part. She wasn't about to complain though, Jiji and OtouChan had had more than their own fair share of things to deal with. They only sent her out alone on the easy cases. Being born into a family of shrine keepers did have its draw backs, but if truth be told, she wouldn't change it for the world.
Looking up, Hoshiko realized that she has reached her destination. Having been to Noraneko's so many times, she had just gone on auto pilot without realizing it. Entering the building she made her way up the three flights of stairs to her friend's. Kami-Sama… if there was one thing she hated more than lust youkai it was stairs. That probably had to do with that fact that, being only five foot tall, she had rather short legs and most stair cases were made for people of normal heights. Finally reaching Noraneko's apartment she composed herself them knocked. When there was no answer she tried again. "She must have gone out. No big, I'll just wait for her inside." Hoshiko thought as she fished the spare key out of her small tote bag.
Opening the door, Hoshiko stepped inside only to have the hairon the back on her next stand on end. The sheer force of the magical aura surging throughout the room practically knocked the wind out of her the moment she stepped through the door. It was then she spotted Noraneko in the center of a spell circle. When Noraneko saw Hoshiko, her eyes widened. A look somewhere between shock and horror came to rest on her face. Hoshiko didn't have time to react as the instant their eyes met, the magical power suddenly surged. Hoshiko doubled over, feeling as though she had been punched in the gut. Spots danced before her eyes, a flash a white light and she felt as though she were floating. Then there was nothing.
…………………………………………………………
Author's Notes:
Sakura no Makiba Jinja: Valley of the Cherry Blossom Temple
Miko: Preistess
Taiyou tsuki koudo ten hi tei mizu iwa hoshi: Sun moon earth sky fire air water rock star. This is actually the chant Hino Rei (SailorMars) uses when she is mediating in the anime. Being a HUGE SailorMoon fan… I couldn't help myself.
Onegai: Please
Kami: Japanese spirit gods worshiped in the Shinto religion
Hai: Yes
OkaaChan: Mom, less polite
Moshi Moshi: Traditional Japanese phone greeting.
Neko: Cat… Hoshiko is using as a play on Noraneko's name as Noraneko means "Alley Cat".
Konichiwa: Good afternoon
Ja ne: Bye or see you later
Majo: Witch
Genbuu, Byakuu, Seiryuu, and Suzaku: Four ancient animal gods… Genbuu the black turtle mates with a snake who guards the north, Byakuu the white tiger who guards the west, Seiryuu the blue dragon who guards the east, and Suzaku the red phoenix who guards the south. Yes, Fushigi Yuugi fans, these are real gods who were really worshipped. Cool, hu?!
Youkai: demon
Jiji: Gran'pa
OtouChan: Dad, less polite
Hope Everyone has enjoyed Chapter 1. Please R & R!