Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden, sadly.
Takiko sat by the river, her misty eyes staring straight ahead across the lake gleaming under the moonlight. A petal dropped from a tree overhead, floated around mid-air before it landed on the surface of the water.
A gentle wind blew against her cheek, ruffling her hair in the process. Wind…Rimudo. Indeed, he was just like the wind, such an unpredictable character…impossible to hold on to.
Takiko sighed, feeling the sense of dread within her increase as time passed. Somehow, she knew, she would have to tell him how she felt about their relationship and what they should do from then onwards.
You are a girl from another world. A world different from Rimudo's. How do you expect to live with him forever? What about the people in your own world, people who were waiting for you just as well…
Stop it. Takiko willed the voice in her head to stop talking even though she perfectly understood that whatever it was, it was speaking the truth. The cruel truth of their love.
Someone was walking up from behind her. "Hey. What are you doing here?"
"Huh?" Takiko spun around and stared at the familiar figure of Rimudo. He knelt down beside her, still gazing into her eyes while she continued to speak. "Nothing much, just looking at the water."
That sounded so stupid! Takiko thought and for a moment felt like digging a hole in the ground to hide her face in.
Rimudo suppressed a desire to laugh aloud but rather chose to sit down beside Takiko. "Oh, okay. By the way Tomite and the rest are taking a break at the other side of the river so…yeah, in case you couldn't find them…"
If only he could stop staring at me like that, maybe it would be easier to say something else…Takiko's fingers grabbed at the edge of her dress and began to tug at it nervously.
"Um, Rimudo…there is something I need you to…to know, because um…lo-look, I don't really, well, know how to say it but…"
Rimudo was eyeing Takiko suspiciously now and Takiko found it even more difficult to break the news. She paused, trying to adjust her sentiments towards the man in front of her but…admit it, it's impossible. Her inner voice suggested. You are completely mesmerized by him.
Shut up. She willed herself again, this time with greater determination.
"We shouldn't even think of being together."
There, I've said it. But somehow, Takiko felt even more miserable than ever and her gaze went back to somewhere distant across the river. Like her future, it was bleak and uncertain.
"Why?"
"Why? That is really the simplest question you have ever asked me throughout this whole journey. Why, because I'm from another world and you're from this world! Face it, you are going to be the emperor one day and I'll just go back to being a student and a daughter in Japan. You ought to have a better love life and I think the only reason why you kissed me then was…was because I was probably the only girl around and you just, well, had to love me! You deserve better because I know that in the end we will probably just have to break up and leave each other, so what's the point of being romantic now!" Takiko got up so quickly she nearly tripped over her own feet and was now looking down at Rimudo, who remained seated and quiet as always. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes now and she bit her lips to hold them back. Crying was not going to help, she told herself, the tears would just make this whole situation worse.
"I-I'll go and find everyone else. Yeah." Takiko murmured, but it sounded more of an answer meant for her own ears only. She looked up at the moonlight above her to try and blink away the tears before Rimudo found out, before her own heart overrode her rationality. She was just about to walk away when he finally said something.
"Do you really feel that way?"
Takiko was taken aback by the sudden question but tried to remain calm all the same. She would end all their dreams and fantasies once and for all…so the hurt would not be as great. "Well…I'm sure, yeah! I mean, yes we had kissed each other before and said a whole load of stuff to each other, like how important you were to me and vice versa…but now I think about it, I just feel that I was being stupid to think of you as more than a seishi."
Rimudo leapt to his feet and grabbed Takiko's hand before she had time to react. "No, you just don't want us to get hurt in the end, isn't it? That is the truth, Takiko, not what you just said!"
"Stop it! It's just another lie you are using to deceive yourself! You deserve better, Rimudo, really." Takiko looked at the ground, refusing to let Rimudo see her tear-stained face now that the tears were all over.
"Takiko!"
"NO! Give it up, it won't last! What is the point of falling so hard and in the end getting dumped by the people you love again? I've been through it so many times, and all I can say is that it is really hurtful so why-" And Takiko felt Rimudo's lips over hers as he forcefully kissed her. Takiko's eyes widened, she tried to pull away but he simply was not planning to let go so quickly because the more she struggled, the more she understood that it was futile.
It was not until minutes later when Rimudo decided to let go and Takiko broke free instantly. "Taki-"
"I'm sorry, really sorry…" Takiko began, trembling involuntarily. "It's for the good of us both."
She turned swiftly so that her back was faced to the man she so deperately loved, yet could not be with. Rimudo's face filled every of her thoughts, his every action, his every word…She felt her feet move as if on autopilot beneath her, leading her further away from the very pain tugging at her heart now. Takiko knew her destiny and understood what it meant by fulfilling it. There was no way they were going to be allowed together, he lived in a book, she lived to read the book! She did not belong here. Her home was Japan, not Hokkan…not Hokkan…not Hokkan…
Sure it would hurt now, but after a while Rimudo would have a new love, a new life, new everything and Takiko Okuda would simply be a memory in his mind. Beautiful, but just a memory. Nothing more that that.
"Takiko, I want to marry you!"
Takiko stopped in her tracks. What? Yes, he had told her he loved her before, but, was he actually proposing to her now? She looked behind only to see Rimudo's face illuminated under the moonlight, his stone features as usual and he simply stood there, waiting. Only through his eyes could she detect his passion and love for her, the desire for her to agree.
"I-I…" I want to! Yes, I do! I do! The voice within Takiko was yelling the answer, but…but if she agreed they would just end up being more upset when the time to part came…
Listen to your heart.
Huh? Takiko looked around, where did that voice come from? Her feet shuffled uneasily around and accidentally knocked against something on the ground. She squinted to see what it was, only to catch a glimpse of Namame running off in the dark. Namame…actually communicated with her! She looked up again at Rimudo, now moving so close to her she could actually attempt to even try and count the strands of hair which had fallen across his face. "I…"
He said nothing, always so cold but always there to protect her as well. He was there when she cried, there when she laughed, there when she was in a sticky situation which she could not get out off…to fight off her enemies, hand in hand, to protect and guard her, to be the first man she had ever kissed in her entire life so far…
"I can't promise you anything glorious now, but I will always be there for you to help you, listen to you, talk to you, or simply stand there behind you…" He was saying but stopped when Takiko gently tipped her toes to reach Rimudo's cheek.
She kissed him. Perhaps that was the only answer she would ever be able to give to such a question, because it was the only answer she had to it.
Listen to your heart.
"Rimudo, I do."