AUTHOR'SNOTES: This is my first try in writing a Houki x Hotohori fanfiction. I just finished reading Suzaku Hi Den and was so inspired by the plot of the light novel. Though it was supposed to highlight Hotohori, the story actually focused on Houki more. Anyways, I hope Houki xHotohori fans will like what this story.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi or Suzaku Hi Den.
PS: The story will be set on Miaka's time, several years after the Eikoden wraps up. I infused elements of a drama cd here where the name of Hotohori's present day reincarnation is Andy Won. Probably, based on the reviews, I'll check if I will make this a multi-chapter fic or not
SERENDIPITYby Danielle Winters
It was a cold winter morning in Tokyo, Japan. The school bell rang to signal the end of another day. Himeno, Natsuki, a middle-school History and Literature teacher, was busy computing the grades of her students when her fellow instructor sat down at the desk in front of her. Natsuki noticed that her colleague was irritated over something.
"Ishikawa-san is everything alright?" She asked. Worry was evident in her voice.
"I caught my students fuzzing over a teen magazine during class. In all honesty Himeno-san, students these days focus on the wrong things!" Ishikawa, Michiko said. "Instead of reading books and preparing for their entrance exams for senior high school, they fuzz over teen magazines and pop idols."
"It's just a fad Michiko-san." Natsuki consoled. "Besides, we were just like them when we were in their age. It will pass and these students of yours will eventually realize what are the important things that they need to focus."
"I wish my homeroom students are as responsible as yours." Michiko said while letting out a deep sigh.
"My students are no different than yours." Natsuki said with a smile.
Michiko opened the magazine that she confiscated from her students and browsed through the glossy pages. Natsuki continued computing the grades of her students. She saw another pile of papers on desk and sighed. She still had some recommendation letters to fill-out as well for her students who were applying for entrance exams in various senior high school institutions in the city.
"No wonder my students pay attention in this magazine instead of listening to my chemistry equations!" Michiko exclaimed. Natsuki looked at her with amusement.
"What's so interesting in that magazine Michiko-san that they chose that over your lesson?" Natsuki teased.
"Apparently, the magazine features a full length article about the latest pop idol from China, Andy Won. The guy is coming here in Japan to do a concert. He'll be singing his songs in Japanese." Michiko looked at Natsuki with a huge grin on her face.
"Hey, let's watch his concert! You know I'm a big fan of Andy Won." Michiko said. Natsuki just smiled and politely turned down the invitation.
"You know I have no interest in such Michiko-san" She added.
"Oh come on Natsuki-san! Loosen up a bit!" Ishikawa pleaded.
Andy Won was inside his limousine as he watched the people on the streets. At times, he envied how normal people could just walk freely on the streets without any worries of having someone taking a picture of them. "Don't tell me that this is de ja vu." He said to himself. Having been made aware of his past life as an emperor and one of the Suzaku Sichiseishi by Keisuke and Tetsuya had made him realize that his present life had some parallels with his past life.
"We are nearing the Sukunami Residence." His driver said. Andy was whisked away from his own thoughts.
"Make sure that you wear your disguise Andy. I can't let my precious talent be mobbed by his fans." His manager, who was sitting beside him, said.
"Of course. I will be careful when I leave this car. You can just come back for me before midnight." Andy said to his manager.
"Can't I pick you up before that?" His manager asked.
"No. We will be having a get-together with some of our friends from a foreign land as well. I wouldn't want to spoil our fun by leaving too early." Andy answered.
"Surely, they'll understand. You are a celebrity."
"One of my friends is the star player and goal keeper of a Brazilian soccer team while the other is a boy genius. Both of them will be leaving after midnight. I'm being considerate for them who are also famous people like me but will be staying much later than I am."
Unable to find any more arguments to counter Andy's points, his manager fell silent and just let out a deep sigh. Seeing the apartment complex where Sukunami Taka and his wife, Sukunami Miaka (nee Yuuki), Andy tied his long, silky hair and tugged it under his baseball cap. He wore his oversized shades. A few seconds later, the limousine parked a few feet away the apartment complex's entrance. Andy went out of the vehicle and started walking towards the complex. It was nearly winter so the weather was cold. He was glad he had a scarf aroundhis neck that he also used to cover a portion of his face.
"Ja ne Himeno-san!" A colleague of hers said upon leaving the faculty room.
"Thank you for your hardwork Midori-sensei!" She said back as she bowed her head to her senior colleague.
The school year will end very soon and many of her students had been asking for her fill-out recommendation forms for their application for the schools they have decided to apply for senior high school. Some of her students, especially the athletes and intelligent students were offered scholarships from various institutions which made her proud of them. "Well the rest must work hard or else they'll get nothing…" She said to herself.
"Natsuki-san, Michiko-san…" A gentle voice called out from the entrance of the faculty room.
"Taka-san!" Michiko and Natsuki happily greeted him.
"Are you guys ready to leave? I hope you have not forgotten that today is the first birthday of my daughter." Taka said to them as he walked towards his desk.
"Of course not!" Michiko said with a grin on her face. "In fact, Natsuki-san and I have finished wrapping our present for little Hikari and we prepared a special treat for Miaka-san."
"Thank you very much then. I told Miaka that the two of you will be coming and will be going there with me. She is very excited to see the both of you, especially Natsuki-san."
"Eh?" Natsuki exclaimed. "I'm quite embarrassed the first time she met me." She added.
"Why were you embarrassed?" Michiko asked.
"You see, Natsuki-san resembles someone my wife and I knew." Taka said while smiling. "My wife said that she resembled a fine young woman that we met when we travelled in a foreign land a few years ago."
"I was dressed so plainly that day because it was during a sports festival here in our school when I met Miaka-san for the first time." Natsuki added.
"No wonder Taka-san' wife is very fond of you." Michiko said.
"Well ladies if you're ready, let's leave. I don't want to be late to the party of my own daughter." Taka teased his two lady friends.
"They had not changed one bit" Andy thought to himself. Jo (Nuriko's reincarnation) was goofing of with Tasuki and Chichiri (both came from the alternate world from a dimensional way in "Genbu's" Cave, actually the cave where Takiko Okuda was supposedly murdered by her own father), Duke Prio (Chiriko's reincarnation) was chatting with Pedro (Mitsukake's reincarnation). He was sitting on the couch watching his friends when MIaka approached him.
"You're off to your own world again Hotohori…I mean Andy." Miaka said thoughtfully.
"When around you guys, Hotohori is fine. I was just thinking how little changed between us even though some of us have been reincarnated already. The way we interact with each other is still very much the same." Andy answered.
"I guess it's probably because of your memories of your past lives." Miaka said back. "I'm just thankful that all of you guys are here and are sharing with our happiness."
"By the way, where is Taka? Don't tell me he's late in his own daughter's party?" Andy inquired.
"He's actually on his way here. He brought with him two of his closest colleagues from the school. I actually asked them to drop by the grocery because I ran out of disposable cups." Miaka said apologetically.
"Hey no need to be apologetic. I was just surprised that he isn't here yet. Keisuke-san, Tetsuya-san and Yui-san are already here and yet he's not yet here."
As if on cue, the door opened and Taka entered with his colleagues. At the same time, Hikari just woke up and started crying which made Miaka and Yui rush over to the nursery to get the child.
"Tadaima! Oh everyone's here!" Taka said cheerfully.
"Thank you for inviting us!" Michiko said courteously.
"Pardon our intrusion." Natsuki said politely.
"Ah Michiko-san, Natsuki-chan! I'm so glad the two of you came!" Miaka said excitedly as she welcome her husband and guests while carrying Hikari.
"Oh here's our little angel!" Taka took the baby from Miaka and walked towards his other friends while Miaka attended to Michiko and Natsuki. She pulled the two inside the living room.
"Hey everyone I would to introduce some of our friends here. This is Ishikawa Michiko and Himeo Natsuki, Taka's colleagues from where he is teaching right now."
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you!" Michiko said happily
"It's an honor to meet all of you." Natsuki said gently.
Everyone froze upon seeing Natsuki. Natsuki froze as well upon seeing Jo. She felt like she was staring at herself on the mirror. They actually looked the same, saved that Jo had a beauty mark under his left eye and that he is actually a guy. Tetsuya was just smiling triumphantly and Keisuke just shook his head. The eerie silence was broken when Michiko notice Andy Won, who was also staring at Natsuki.
"Oh my gosh, you're friends with Andy Won?" She exclaimed at Miaka.
"Uhm, well yes…he has been our friend for the longest time." Miaka said.
"We could easily be mistaken as twins!" Jo said to Natsuki to break the awkwardness between them.
"I agree with you on that." Natsuki politely replied.
"My name is Jo. I believe you are Natsuki?"
"Ye…yess." She said shyly.
"Well I'll borrow your friend first because we have a lot to talk about." Jo said to Michiko as she whisked away Natsuki and pulled her towards Andy.
Andy was very surprised to see Natsuki.. Aside from the fact that she resembled Jo, a part of him kept on nagging at him that he had met Natsuki before. Probably in his past life. He quickly searched his mind to find answers as he saw Jo pulling Natsuki towards him.
"Boushin…Houki…Houki…" He said to himself and then he looked at Natsuki and Jo who was nearing him.
"Houki…" He breathed as memories of his past life came flooding his mind. Unlike Jo, Duke and Pedro who recovered all of their memories of their past lives quickly, his came back slowly and there were bits and pieces of it that he still could not remember. The memories that flooded his mind was about to overwhelm him and it did not go unnoticed by Taka. Taka approached him and gave him a tap on the shoulder. Andy looked at him and he saw a smile on his friend's face while the child was just looking at him with innocence.
"Andy, what do you think? The two of us can pass as twins right?" Jo said as he and Natsuki stood before him. Andy calmed and composed himself.
"Yes, I was surprised myself by your resemblance with each other." Andy answered. Miaka and Michiko approached them.
"I guess you are the friend Miaka-san told me before." Natsuki said shyly.
"Oh no no no!" Jo exclaimed. "We do have a friend who resembled me as well but she's living in a foreign land." Jo explained.
"Are you a cross-dresser?" Michiko asked Jo which irritated him. Natsuki calmed Jo and apologized on behalf of Michiko.
"Any way, I'll introduce you to the others!" Jo said as she pulled Natsuki again towards the direction of Chichiri, Tasuki, Pedro and Duke. Andy was about to protest but they have gone off already. Miaka smiled knowingly at Andy and instead introduced Michiko to him. Michiko acted like a teenage fan girl in front of Andy which brought feats of laughter to Taka who knew that Michiko has a crush on him.
As usual, Jo was being a chatter box. She introduced his new found friend and "twin" to Chichiri, Tasuki, Duke and Pedro. Natsuki was embarrassed with the attention she got but nonetheless, she felt…felt very comfortable around these people. It was as if she met them somewhere before. She was especially very comfortable around Jo to the point that she didn't mind being dragged and introduced to his friends.
"Unlike you, she's more reserved and polite." Said Tasuki who dared cut-off Jo in the middle of his monologue.
"What did you say?" Jo asked. Irritation was evident in her voice.
"Maa, maa, let's cut it down or else we might frighten Hikari-chan with our loud voices no-da." Chichiri but-in.
"Natsuki-san, since you are a colleague of Taka, you must be a teacher as well?" Duke inquired.
"Well yes. In fact I teach Literature and History to third year junior high school students." Natsuki answered.
"That's a perfect combination if I may say for many of our literatures were driven from our histories." Duke commented.
"I couldn't agree more." Natsuki said while smiling at Duke.
"I'm very fond of Ancient Chinese Literature and Mythology. How about you Natsuki-san?" Duke inquired.
"My, my, we both like the same genre. In fact, my undergraduate paper is about the mythical book of the four gods." Natsuki answered. The others stopped to listen to the exchange of knowledge between Duke and Natsuki.
Meanwhile, Andy was with Michiko, Tetsuya and Keisuke. Miaka and Yui went to the kitchen to finish the preparations for their dinner while Taka went to the nursery to change Hikari's clothes.
"Ah Michiko-san, it seem that your colleague, Natsuki-san has been our friend's new BFF." Tetsuya said. Keisuke knew that his friend has been dropping hints about the past life relationship of Houki and Nuriko.
"It seems like that. Natsuki-san is very reserve and polite for her own good. I will not be surprised if she becomes a spinster." Michiko commented.
"Spinster. Surely you jest?" Keisuke was quite surprised with what Michiko said. "She appears to be an attractive and decent young woman. Surely, she goes out on dates."
"She's actually popular to our male colleagues to our male students as well. She isn't interested in dating and prefers to read books. Actually, our male colleagues, are quite envious of Taka because he's the only male she talks to most of the time. With others, she would just greet them or have short conversations with them. Michiko shared.
"Well there is nothing wrong with reading books." Andy said. "I like reading books as well." Andy added. Michiko made a mental note of that.
"Oh, actually, I read a few books and magazines…Natsuki's types are quite boring…she likes ancient literature and mythology." Michiko said which earned her an odd look from Keisuke and Tetsuya.
"Those are my interests as well." Andy said in a matter of fact tone which caused embarrassment to Michiko.
"Crash and burn." Tetsuya whispered to Keisuke.
"Well, I heard a few of those from Natsuki actually. She would often talk about her undergraduate thesis which was about the book of the four gods." Michiko said to overcome her embarrassment.
"Really? I'm an avid researcher of the book of the four gods!" Tetsuya said excitedly. "I should go talk to her and perhaps I can gather new information from her research paper." Tetsuya left the group and excitedly approach Natsuki who was having a very intellectual discussion about mythology with Duke.
"I apologize for that. Tetsuya is really a nutcase when it comes to the book of four gods. His obsession is beyond cure I must say." Keisuke sighed.
"It's alright." Michiko said. "Ne Andy-san, are you currently dating someone?" Michiko asked. Keisuke was taken aback by the straightforwardness of Michiko but it didn't seem to bother Andy.
"I'm not seeing anyone." Andy simply answered. "I want to listen to what Natsuki-san has to say about the book of the four gods. I'll be joining Tetsuya-san there. I hope you don't mind Michiko-san, Keisuke-san." Andy said as he made a swift exit much to the disappointment of Michiko.
Duke and Natsuki had been engrossed with their conversation to the point that they didn't notice that Tetsuya had stood beside them while Andy was fast approaching them. Tasuki and Jo resumed their antics while Chichiri and Pedro join Taka who had just came out from the nursery with Hikari, dressed in her 1st birthday outfit.
"Do you believe that the book is mystical? Duke asked Natsuki.
"Well there is an old saying that to see is to believe so regarding your question, there should be some kind of proof to truly acknowledge the book's reputation of being mystical." Natsuki answered.
"A mark of a true researcher; however, you must have encountered the story of Okuda Takiko in your research." Tetsuya said which surprised Duke and Natsuki.
"Yes. I did encounter the story of Okuda Takiko who, as urban legend states, was sucked in the book and became the first priestess. Upon her return, since her father knew that she would be devoured by the sacred beast, she had been killed by her own father." Natsuki recounted. Tetsuya was nodding at the accuracy of Natsuki's recount. "In fact, I visited the location where urban legends say Okuda-san lived and I met with I believe a relative of her who recounted the story for me as well. There's still room for more study as I said to truly proved what the legends say." Natsuki added.
"Natsuki-san, have you read the book of the four gods?" Andy asked. Again, Duke and Natsuki were surprised to him there.
"Well I must admit I have not seen the book myself. A source of mine informed me that the book is placed in the restricted session of the public library but when I went there, there was no book called book of the four gods." Natsuki answered.
"It's best that you stay away from that book because you might get sucked in it" Tetsuya warned.
"Thank you for the warning but I don't believe such stories. I like researching about the book of the four gods for purely academic purposes. Beyond that, there's much left to be desired." Natsuki said in an amused tone. "Now that you mentioned it, I came across a blog site in the internet that mentions that the book has been opened several years ago and two junior high school students were sucked in it. The blog has been discontinued. I'm actually searching for the author of that blog for I believe I will get valuable information."
"But I thought you're done with your research. It was your undergraduate thesis right?" Tetsuya inquired again.
"She's actually pursuing her graduate degree in literature." Duke answered for Natsuki.
"I'm actually writing my Graduate Thesis Paper. It is a continuation of my research during my undergraduate years." Natsuki added.
"Since you are continuing with your research right now, you must be familiar with the celestial warriors?" Andy asked.
"Why of course, I know all 28 of them." Natsuki answered cheerfully. "I know even their constellations and I can actually pin point them in the sky."
"If I may ask, what group of celestial warriors are you most fond of and who is your favorite warrior?" Tetsuya prodded.
"Well all of them are quite interesting and loyal to their priestesses but I must say I am fond of the Suzaku warriors and I find Hotohori the most interesting." Natsuki said.
"Hotohori eh?" Tetsuya said knowingly while Duke was smiling from ear to ear. Andy was at a loss for words.
"But as legend states, these warriors are reborn so they must have inhabited various bodies and have lived various lives as well." Natsuki added. "Based in one of my research, these warriors have various reincarnations so I assume the original book of the four gods contains a more accurate description of the warriors compared to one of the research article I encountered." Natsuki explained.
"How did this article described the warriors?" Duke asked.
"Well for example, the article said that the warrior, Hotohori, was an emperor. If you are a destined warrior, I think it is absurd for a warrior to be born in the nobility for he or she will be unable to perform his duties and responsibilities to his or her priestess." Natsuki explained. "But I will be honest, the article's description made me like this warrior compared to the others."
"What made you like him then?" Andy asked.
"Well for one, he is very loyal to his priestess. Probably, the fact that he wanted to be seen beyond his crown is what made me like him the most. He does not want superficial acceptance, he truly wanted to be accepted for who he really is, as a normal human being." Natsuki said. "I'm sorry, I'm really a hopeless romantic. We have veered away from our intellectual argument Duke-san."
"I don't mind Natsuki-san." Duke smiled at her. "This has been an invigorating conversation if I may say."
"Yes indeed. You gave me a fresh perspective on how I can further my thesis paper." Natsuki added.
"If you need my help, I'd be happy to lend you my research finding as well." Tetsuya offered which Natsuki happily accepted. Andy was quite embarrassed for he was not able to offer anything.
"Thank you for joining our conversation as well Won-san. I hope we did not bore you." Natsuki apologized to him.
"Not at all! I'm interested in the book of the four gods as well since it is quite a popular legend in our country." Andy said. This gave him an idea on what he can offer Natsuki. "If you need to go to China for your research, I'd be happy to offer you a room in my house and tour your around as well."
"Oh thank you but I wouldn't want to impose. We just met today and you have offered me something that should only be offered to someone you really know most especially in your status." Natsuki politely said.
"Nonsense! Taka and Miaka's friends are my friends as well." Andy said.
"Guys dinner is ready!" Miaka called out. Andy was about to offer his hand to Natsuki when Jo came and dragged Natsuki away from him.
"Talk about serendipity…heika-sama" Duke said.
"I will not call it as such. I think Tetsuya-san has something to do with this and he had Miaka and Taka in his plans." Andy said with a serene smile gracing his handsome face.
"There will be plenty of time to get to know her." Duke added.
"Yes, I agree." Andy watched Natsuki as Jo was talking animatedly with her. "Besides, we're starting over with our new life, wooing her will prove to be a challenge." And added.
THE END