Pretend I'm There
A/N: This is the sequel to Yume no Unmei..and you probably won't get it unless you read it first! n.n; Fifteen years after the end of YnU, Shouraisei is trekking across Japan...and well you'll have to read to find out what happens. n.n
Shouraisei looks exactly like his father except for his has short, more boy-length hair. Mmm...*-* -drools thinking about Inuyasha with short hair-
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Chichiue - Father
Gomen - Sorry
Hahaue - Mother
Inu - Dog
Kami - God
Nan desu ka? - What is it?
Nani - What
Neko - Cat
Obachan - Aunt
Oi - Hey
Ojichan - Uncle
Oneesama - Elder Sister
Oni - Monster/Demon
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Prologue
My Name is Shouraisei
My name is Shouraisei. My mother and father are the Queen and King. My sister is the heir. My grandparents were all dead long before I was born. My only uncle died heroically in battle way before even my sister was born. I had three sort-of aunts and uncle; Sango, Yamaneko, and Miroku. Sango and Yamaneko were servants and Miroku's father was..still is in his old age..the royal advisor. And then there's me. The prince. I'm not going to be King. Oneesama will be Queen when Hahue and Chichiue pass away. I'll just be...there.
I got everything from my father. My golden eyes. My thick, silvery hair, although I wear mine shorter than Chichiue ever did. I even have his ears. canine ears on the top of my head. Yamaneko likes to tease me about them. I guess she did the same to Chichiue a long time ago.
But now...I don't know what's going on anymore. The palace is boring. Just politics and stuff like that. Hahaue and Chichiue giving each other googoo-eyes when they think no one is looking. Maybe I just don't understand love yet. Maybe that's why it seems so silly. They told us, Oneesama and I, about the war, when Chichiue was always away and how he missed Oneesama's birth and returned from the war just as I was being born. Maybe it's special for them because they beat the odds.
But I don't know. I don't get it.
So I left. Not too long ago. A couple months. I drop in and to say hello every once in a while, if I'm near the palace. I just wander all over the place. I won't go to Gokuraku. There's nothing but civil war and death there. So I avoid it. No desire to go there anyways.
Shouraisei sat down on a grassy hill and stared up into the starlit sky. This was what his world had become. Life under the stars and sun, never settling in one place for very long. It was rather lonely, although he would never admit it to anyone, not his father, mother, sister, no one.
"I'm brave," the eighteen year-old quarter-demon breathed. "I'm alone. And I'm brave. This is all I ever needed, all I ever wanted. I'm at peace. Hn?"
A spot of twinkling air caught his eye. It was a random spot in midair that was shimmering and shining in a curious manner. Shouraisei stood up and walked over to it, gazing at it in his curiosity. His head was tilted to one side, one ear stuck straight up in the air and the other flopped over to the side.
"Nan desu ka?" He reached a tentative finger to touch it.
The instant his finger made contact with the shimmering light space, a blinding light engulfed him and caused him to fall back. "Nani?!"
An invisible force shoved him forward and he fell into the blank space. The last thing he saw a faded face a darkened catgirl with blonde hair, green eyes twinkling with unshed tears, and a sad, disappointed expression.
~~~
Shouraisei woke up with an odd sensation of something poking him in the nose.
"Is it alive?"
Shouraisei slowly opened one eye. A pair of too-big green eyes met his.
"Ohh, it is alive!" the green-eyed girl said happily, clapping her hands together.
Shouraisei blinked, staring at her hands for a long moment. "..."
"Nani?" She said, looking curiously at him.
"You're...orange," he stated simply, staring in wonderment.
"You noticed?"
"Why..may I ask...are you orange?"
"Why are you tan?"
"Because I've been out in the sun for months on end," Shouraisei said smartly, giving her an annoyed look. He was not liking this girl much.
"I'm orange because I'm a cat," the girl said. "And I like to call in tawny, thank you very much."
"Tawny, orange, it's all the same," Shouraisei muttered. "Can you get off?" He looked further peeved by the fact the catgirl was sitting, rather comfortably, on his chest.
"Ah..gomen gomen!" she said, hopping off, blushing and sweatdropping. After an embarrassed pause, "What's your name? I'm Chiisana."
"Shouraisei...Prince of Ikun," he answered, full of pride. Maybe if she knows I'm a prince, she'll show a little more respect.
"What's Ikun?"
So much for that idea..
"Ikun is where I'm from. That's where I was before I got knocked out. Where are we?"
"The Wood of No Return," she said seriously.
"You're joking."
"I'm not," she said stubbornly. "There's a myth here that angels come down here every new moon and spread blessings and curses to those deserving. And, it's also said if the worlds..I guess there's more than just ours..were in danger, they'd send a hero to save everyone."
"So why's it called The Wood of No Return?"
"Oh, I just said that to scare you," Chiisana said sweetly. Shouraisei facefaulted. "It's really called Tenshi Forest, you can guess why. Unless dogs are really as dumb as they look."
"O-Oi!" Shouraisei yelped angrily. "What's this about dogs being dumb?!"
"Well...they are," said Chiisana. "But at least they have cute ears." She grabbed ahold of one of Shouraisei's ears that were a smaller version of her own too-big ears.
Shouraisei yelped in surprised and wrenched Chiisana's surprisingly strong fingers from his ears. "You're not the subtle type, are you?"
"No way," Chiisana said, folding her arms across her chest and sticking her tongue out at him. "Where's the fun in that? I'd never be able to meet anybody if I just kept quiet."
"You really ought to learn your place, you know," Shouraisei grumped in annoyance, rubbing his sore ears.
"Oh?" Chiisana said, expression changing, face lined with an unspoken challenge. "You're one to talk. Popping out of no where into our sacred forest. Kami help us if you're Jujutsu's saviour."
"Jujutsu?"
"Jujutsu is the name of our country."
"You remind me of someone," Shouraisei said wistfully, thinking of the palace.
"Who would that be?" Chiisana said curiously.
"Yamaneko," Shouraisei answered without thinking. Chiisana leaned in closer to hear an explanation, so he had no choice but to continue. "My Obachan. She was really just a serving maid, but she helped raise Oneesama and I, along with Sango-Obachan and Miroku-Onjichan."
"Do you miss them?" Chiisana asked quietly.
Shouraisei blinked in surprise. "Y-Yes..Of course I miss them. I miss my parents and Oneesama. Why wouldn't I? I only left the palace because life there was boring, not because I hated the people in it."
"I wish I could say the same," Chiisana said, turning away.
"Hn? Chiisana-san..?"
She looked back at him and put on a smiling mask. "Drop the '-san.' We're friends now, aren't we?" Shouraisei blinked in response. "The sun's going to set soon. I wouldn't get caught dead in this forest after the sun has set."
"Why's that?"
"That's why they call in the Forest of No Return."
"I thought you were kidding." Shouraisei furrowed his brow.
Chiisana flushed pink with embarrassment. "Well..It's not really..But still. Oni come out at night, and they aren't friendly at all."
Shouraisei stood up and patted her on the head. "Get your lies straight, next time," he said with a friendly smile at her scowling face for petting her. She swatted at his hand.
"Cocky inu don't make it far in this world," she taunted playfully.
"Curiosity killed the neko," he taunted right back.
They burst out laughing at the same time. For the first time, I don't feel so alone anymore, Shouraisei said to himself as he and Chiisana walked down the dirt path before them.