Introduction and Disclaimer
I began writing this a long time ago - before I wrote Shichikon Den, in fact, though when the idea for Shichikon Den hit me I got distracted in a way my brain has a habit of doing (unforgivably!).
This story is set in the three months that Miaka is back in her own world. Of course, for Miaka, it's a matter of hours. But don't you wonder what might have happened back in the ShijinTenchishou in her absence?
A few caveats. Firstly, obviously, I don't own Fushigi Yuugi. Watase Yuu does. That's a pretty big one. And some of the characters in this story may be co-copyrighted to Nishizaki Megumi since she wrote the Gaiden novels.
Secondly - Tasuki's family appear in this story. Now, anyone who's read Shichikon Den will know that I write Aidou as the eldest sister, although her age is never given. I used her simply because she's the sister most people are aware of, having appeared in both Genrouden and the manga. In fact, as far as I can tell none of the other sisters were even given names or age positions until 2005, so I think artistic license is allowed on this point, right...? (Well, even if it isn't, it's tough ).
In official canon, Aidou is the sister next to Tasuki in age - which in honesty I'd suspected she was anyway, since she was still at home and not married off yet. But for fanfic continuity purposes, I'm going to continue to write her as the eldest Kou child. Because I like Aidou. And I like her being the bossiest of the tribe :) (And her Kanji is easier to write and remember.) (I'm also aware that in Shichikon Den I accidentally lost a sister because for some reason I was convinced Tasuki was the youngest of five not the youngest of six. My bad. Whoops. That error is corrected in this story.).
Tasuki's sisters are Eimin, Rin'an, Fuyou, Manka and Aidou. I'm not going to attempt to write about all of them, but given the fact that I've made Aidou the eldest in my writing, you can shuffle the others all down the line one space. Rin'an and Manka are probably going to be the only other sisters to appear in this story in any case. What's happened to Eimin and Fuyou I don't know...I just really don't like their names :P
On the same point, Tasuki's family's opinion on the stellar mark is never really shown - aside from thanking Miaka and co for taking care of him in the manga, they don't get enough air-time to really have an obvious point of view. So I've worked on the same basic premise as I did in Shichikon Den - it will become clear as the story goes on what I mean. :)
Thirdly: This story brings in several of the Seishi even though Miaka has only met three of them at this point. For this reason, there may be slight conflicts with the Gaiden although I've done my best not to. Chichiri's cuts pretty close to his entrance to the story, but you can assume that what I've written slots in between sections in the last chapter of Shouryuu Den. I think the bulk of the story may focus on Tasuki, however, and his "journey" to find a cure for Hakurou (former bandit leader)'s fever. I don't know yet whether Mitsukake or Chiriko will feature as the last Seishi "found". They may have cameos, but they may not. I guess we'll see...
Fourthly: Whatever he is wearing, Nuriko is referred to as 'he' throughout this story. He also may use the name Kourin, but he is still 'he'. Even though I believe he's spiritually 'she', for this story, that works better :) Equally, though Chichiri decides to live as Chichiri at the end of Shouryuu Den, because he hasn't yet met up with the other Seishi I'm referencing him as Hou Jun. Equally Tasuki is referenced as Genrou for the same reason.
Fifthly - since I've plotted this on the same timeline as Shichikon Den and the Shinzahou Chronicles to save my own confusion, I may have cameo roles for a couple of characters which are referenced in Hikari's adventures. I dont know yet if it will or won't happen, but I think it's likely that the members of the Kaiga family may have a very brief role to play in my writing. I also wanted to write Nakago since I gasp never have done yet...which meant that going to Kutou was a certainty .
Finally : This is only a "what might have happened" story. There are a lot of things that could've gone on while Miaka was back home...this is just one possible interpretation. It also can't possibly catalogue everything over three months so, for a variety of reasons, the emphasis has fallen mostly on Chichiri and Tasuki. Remember I'm a Nuriko fan before you brand me ;) It just worked out that way!!
Ok, with all that boring rubbish said - on with the show :)
三ヶ月伝： 天命が生まれた時
Sankagetsu Den: Tenmei Ga Umareta Toki
Synopsis
Miaka has gone back to her own world and back in Kounan-koku things are becoming more and more complicated. Trade from the East is all but cut off as Hotohori faces the very real possibility of war on the horizon. Tamahome realises that his feelings for Miaka are greater than he had realised, but he is torn between waiting for her return and the responsibility he has to help his family. As for Nuriko, with his true gender now common knowledge, he knows that he has a battle of his own to face.
Meanwhile, Taiitsukun's protege, the monk from the north has finished his training and, with Suzaku no Miko absent from the ShijinTenchishou he decides to put his spiritual powers to the test in an attempt to do what he can to protect his country. And in the village shadowed by the wolf's peak Reikaku-zan, dark-clad figures have appeared asking all kinds of difficult questions. For the young bandit Genrou, his desire to help his Kashira's fever is waylaid by a need to protect his family from harm - but will he ever accept his destiny as Tasuki?
Prologue: Reikaku-zan
It was a clear, crisp night, and the moon was already high in the sky as an owl hooted mournfully, spreading its wings as it launched itself in search of prey. In the security of the darkness, colonies of bats awoke from their slumbers in mountain caves, calling to one another in their strange, secret language as they flitted from perch to perch.
In the silence, a lone figure made his way carefully down the mountain path, hands in pockets as he cast a pensive glance up at the sky overhead.
"The boss reckons you can find your way anywhere by knowin' the tracks and the sky, and tonight's as good a night as any for it." He mused to himself, one eye peeled for trouble or company as he leapt neatly down over an uneven pile of rocks in his way. "So I guess we'll see, won't we? Findin' a cure for some simple fever has to be easy, right? There are doctors even in my village who might be able to help. I'll be gone a matter of a day or two, that's all – and when the boss is recovered, everything will go back to normal on Reikaku-zan. Everything."
He frowned, an uncharacteristically pensive look flitting across his young face as he reached the unspoken boundary between the bandits' mountain track and the roadway down to the villages below. Though he made light of it, even he, with all his youth and inexperience had known that his leader's ailment was more than a simple fever.
"And I ain't gonna sit around like a fool waitin' for him to die of it, when there's somethin' I can be doin' about it." He muttered, resolution in his eyes. "With my speed, it won't be more than a brief trip out, and I don't know why they were all makin' such a fuss. I told them already – Genrou ain't leaving Reikaku-zan, not ever. This is just an errand, that's all. I'll be right back – all they gotta do is hold on and wait for me. That's all. I ain't gonna let them down. Especially considerin'…what the Kashira said."
Memory of the conversation drifted through his thoughts and he smiled, his expression becoming wolfish in the pale moonlight.
"I'll be the next kashira, but that ain't gonna be yet." He decided. "Right now, I'm gonna fix up the old one and get things back flowin' on the mountain. It's all been too mixed up…but as soon as I find a cure, everythin' will get back to normal."
The night held no fear for him, for he was no stranger to the forests and hills in darkness. Barely seventeen years old, he had ingratiated himself with the mountain bandits of Reikaku-zan a year and a bit before, and had determinedly progressed in both training and resolution to be the best bandit a man could ever be. They had become his family, and everything important to him, and though he wouldn't say it face to face, the leader whose life he sought to preserve had become more like both a father and an older brother to him in the time he had been on the mountainside.
"So they'll just have to hang on in there, and I'll be right back." He said firmly, leaping down over a trickle of a stream as he landed on the bank opposite. "By dawn I'll be in Souun, and then I can find some food and ask about cures. I might even be back by this time tomorrow – surely there must be someone who knows what to do for a man burnin' up a fever."
He scrambled down the last of the rocks and dips, pausing for a moment to cast a glance out across the landscape of Kounan's west country, lit up as it was by the light of a near-full moon. This was the best place, he knew, to see the land over which Reikaku-zan had always claimed sway, and as he looked to the East he was aware of the dark shadow of Kaou-zan casting it's gloom over the furthermost corners of the ground. The rivalry between bandit peaks had always been strong, and absently Genrou hoped that the unscrupulous rival gang would not choose to invade his mountain home whilst Hakurou was so incapacitated by illness.
"It ain't like him." At length Genrou voiced the fear that had nagged away at him since the first moment he had realised Hakurou was unwell. "To be weak…to be like that. So I gotta save him. I gotta find a way – whatever that way is. There must be someone in this damn country who can help, an' I ain't goin' to give up till I find them. Even if it's not in Souun, I'll track them down. Some doctor, some healer, some herbal expert will know a cure. There has to be one, after all. All sicknesses have cures – right? This is just one of those things…an' I'll make sure it's all fixed up all right."
His gaze fell briefly on the shadowy cluster of houses that made up his own village, and a wry smile touched his lips. His sisters would be horrified, he knew, if they realised that their younger brother was standing over them, staring down on the place of his birth. Yet despite that, he had no inclination to return there. His childhood surrounded by the mischievous, domineering and demanding women of the Kou family had taught him very quickly that girls were nothing but trouble, and as a result, he was resolved to have nothing more to do with any of them – blood kin or not.
But where should he begin his search? Deep in his heart he knew that Hakurou's illness was not like normal illness, and that it was unlikely the few physicians Souun had to offer would know anything about the Kashira's odd symptoms. But if not there, then where? That was the key question.
Genrou sighed, dropping down onto the soft grass as he leant back on his hands, gazing up at the stars that glittered brightly over his head. Kounan was not a big country, in relation to its neighbours, but at that moment it seemed immense to the young bandit as he tried to work out his best course of action. As he did so, the twinkling constellations caught his eye, and he pursed his lips, a faint flicker of resentment stirring within him as he remembered what else Hakurou had said.
"Leave the mountain and follow Suzaku, huh?" He murmured. "Like hell. I'm Genrou of Reikaku-zan an' that's where I'm goin' to stay. I don't belong with any Miko or any divine God's will. I'm goin' to hold the tessen an' be Hakurou-kashira's successor one day. I ain't got time to run around after some stupid other-world girl an' her whims."
He frowned, his gaze going absently to the morass of stars that made up the constellation Tasuki. Despite his feigned disinterest, he had learnt at a young age which stars were which and, although he claimed to use that knowledge now only as tools in night travel navigation, he knew that there was some greater connection between him and them that he could not put into words. If he was truly honest with himself, he knew that the biggest reason he had left Reikaku-zan in search of a cure was to prove once and for all who he truly was. Not just to his Kashira, but most of all to himself.
As he sat there, ignoring the faint calls of the hunting night birds as they scoured the land for prey, he felt a faint buzzing sensation begin to spread across his arm and he cursed, glancing down at his offending limb as he registered the reason for the sudden sensation. In the blackness of the night, the blood red glow of the character 'tsubasa' against his sun-tanned skin seemed twice as vivid as usual, and he bit his lip, clamping his left hand over it as he sought to conceal it from view. Crimson light flooded out around the edges of his fingers, however, and at length he gave up, flopping back on the grass as he spread his arms out around him.
It had got stronger, lately.
When it had first appeared, it had been indistinct and intermittent, and his family had always excused it to neighbours as a birthmark or a rash. Now, however, it was beyond all doubt the mark of a Celestial Warrior, and despite himself, Genrou could almost hear his mother's words ringing in his ears.
"What the hell use are you as Suzaku's sacrifice if you can't weed crops properly or cut wood for the fire when we need it?"
The woman's sharp, mountain-tinged tones flooded his brain and he groaned, closing his eyes.
"Suzaku's sacrifice." He murmured. "Shit. At this rate I'm gonna have'ta cover that arm up permanently, else it won't jus' be Ma bleatin' about it. All of Reikaku-zan – no, all of friggin' Kounan – if this is such a big deal, I'm gonna have to go to some lengths to hide it. After all, I don't want to be Suzaku's anything. An' if people saw it, like hell they'd leave me alone."
He opened his eyes once more, gazing resentfully up at the gathered constellations. Their brightness seemed to mock him somehow, he reflected ruefully, and it was adding insult to injury that the most dazzling of all of them was the constellation under which he had been born.
"But right now, Hakurou-kashira's more important than any divine bird or whatever." He decided, fumbling in the folds of his shirt for the abused scrap of cloth he had once called a handkerchief. Pulling himself into a sitting position, he eyed the ragged fabric for a moment, then carefully he began to rip it into shreds, clamping it between his fanged teeth as he yanked the tattered threads apart. Then, piece by piece he knotted the strips together, and, not without misgivings, he began to bind the cloth around his right forearm, carefully obscuring the character from view.
For a moment the light seemed to blaze even through the aging fabric, then, slowly, it began to fade.
"Tomorrow I'll do something about it properly." He reflected, getting carefully to his feet as he flexed and tightened his fist a few times. "It feels all right, but it won't last an' I can't run the risk of anyone seein' it. Life's complicated enough without my gettin' wound up with some foreign wench an' a giant bird of prey…an' I ain't gonna let anything get in the way of my helpin' the Kashira get well!"