Ok, ok. This is a Fushigi Yuugi fanfic, but I have used Ayashi no Ceres in it as well. For those who don't know, Ayashi no Ceres is a series done by Yuu Watase (just like Fushigi Yuugi!). I went by the manga version of Ayashi no Ceres, with the sequel (the Ayashi no Ceres novels). So, this takes place after Miku and Aki were born. After, the three C-project eggs grow up. Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention… there are spoilers to what happened during the Ayashi no Ceres Novels… oh well. And the timeline has changed to the following: The beginning of Fushigi Yuugi has been moved up pass the Ayashi no Ceres Manga series and Novels. So, the Ayashi no Ceres timeline has moved back also. Everyone is still the same age, just when things occurred are different. Well, I hope you like it… I really haven't written much before… oh and I don't own anything, except for the Karen character.
Ayashi no Yuugi: Chapter 1
"It's out there, somewhere. I can feel it!"
A girl looked out into the ocean from the beach shore. She was just sitting there, with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head resting on her knees. She had dark, red hair that was wavy and put up into two buns. She had tanned skin. Her purple eyes stared off into the sea. Her eyes were heavy and she sighed. "I know it's out there. Something that was mine…?" she murmured to herself.
Just then someone in a white lab coat walked up to her. "It's beautiful, ne Karen-chan?"
"Papa?" Karen looked up and smiled at her father. Then, she turned back to the ocean. "Yes, it is beautiful. I love to look at the sea." She turned back to look at her father. "What's Mama up to?" she asked, not really interested.
"Oh, she is making something in the kitchen… I guess," He said not really sure if he was correct. "We should be eating dinner not too late," he added reassuringly.
She had lived all of her life on this island. All alone accept for her parents. She hadn't really been out in the real world and she knew why. She was told that she was different from most people, just like her mother. Even though Karen was physically sixteen years old, she had only been around for four years. Her mother, she had learned later on, was only about eight years old herself, even though she looked barely in her early twenties. There were others like her. Like Chidori or Miori. Those were her mother's, Shiori's, sisters. Both were married and happy. Karen knew that Chidori had married a man named Yuuhi. Karen knew how much Chidori loved Yuuhi. In fact, she knew a lot about Chidori and Miori. Like Miori, Chidori, and Shiori, Karen was a surviving egg from the C-project. She was different from her mother, Miori, Chidori, and probably any of the other C-project eggs. Unlike just being a clone, a copy, of a Tennyo, Karen was a clone from many of the Tennyo in the C-project. So, in a sense, many of the Tennyo were mothers of Karen. Just like Chidori and Miori, Karen had memories of the deceased Chidori and Miori. But since Karen was part of possibly many Tennyo of the C-project, her personality wasn't a copy of anyone's. Karen was her own person, which relieved her mother and father very much.
"Alec darling!" Karen's mother called from the house door. "Karen-chan! Dinner will be ready soon!" Shiori yelled.
"Alright!" Alec called back. "Well, I guess we should go help your mother…" he smiled at Karen.
"Yup!" she beamed. Karen got up and dusted the sand off of her before proceeding into the house.
Later on that night…
"Karen." Shiori called her daughter. Shiori was sitting next to Alec on the couch.
Karen walked into the room. "Yes, what is it?" Karen went and sat on the floor in front of her parents, smiling at them.
"Your mother and I have noticed that you have been restless lately and well…" Alec started not knowing how to approach the subject.
"What your father is trying to get at was that we know that something is bothering you. I know that it must be hard, with all of those memories of the others. Of Chidori's death… and Miori's. And, you were born with Tennyo powers, which is very unfortunate." Shiori added. "And because you have Tennyo powers, that means…" she was cut off by Karen.
"That means that I probably won't live that long without a hagoromo…" she murmured, without much thought to it.
"Karen, we are concerned that this might be emotionally affecting you…" he continued. "But, you shouldn't think too much of it, because you may be different from the other Tennyo. You have been able to use some of your Tennyo abilities since you were a toddler, without having to transform into a Tennyo form. And the fact that you are part of many Tennyo it is possible that the side affect of not having a hagoromo might have been canceled out…" he said, trying to be positive.
"Karen, please do not worry so much and if you want to talk…" Shiori started.
"You can always come and talk to us. We love you. Even though you may not be our child biologically, you are still our precious daughter." Alec finished, squeezing Shiori hand, lovingly.
"I know it's out there…" Karen thought to herself. Karen got up from the floor and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm alright. I'm tired, so I'm going to go to bed. Good night." She said to her parents and went to her bedroom. 'Where am I? It's so warm… Just like, just like…' Karen thought. She was floating. It was dark all around her, except for a bright light in front of her. 'What is that? That light?' Karen squinted, trying to focus on the object that was emitting the light. It was a round object. It was… "A Hagoromo!" she shouted, surprised. Tears formed in her eyes. Tears of happiness. "My Hagoromo!" she cried as she jumped towards it, arms opened, ready to accept it. Before she could reach the hagoromo, it disappeared. "What?' Karen whirled around, looking for the hagoromo. Then a book appeared in front of her. "What is this?" she grabbed the book and read the cover. " Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho? Strange… It feels like my hagoromo. It's faint, but it feels just like it." Just as she finished her last sentence, the book began to glow. It became brighter and brighter before Karen realized what happened. "Na.." Karen didn't even finish what she was going to say.Karen woke up in a cold sweat. She had a dream. She turned and glanced at her clock on the table by her bed. "It's 4:00 am!" she thought, dismayed. Karen quickly scanned her bedroom and listened for any signs of anyone else being awake. She sighed. "Everyone is asleep," she thought to herself. "That book… what was that? Why did I sense the hagoromo near by when that book was the only thing around?" She pondered this for a couple of seconds. Then it dawned on her. "Maybe, maybe the book has some information about where I can find a hagoromo! Maybe it will give me some clues to go on!" she thought, excitedly. Her smiled soon faded. "But where could I find that book? Is it the books presence that I have been feeling, out across the sea?" Karen sat up in her bed and swung her legs over the edge. She arose from her bed and started to pack her backpack with some clothes, batteries, some electronic parts (she loved to fiddle with and make gadgets, just like her Daddy (^.^) !), her disk player, and some other items. She went and took a quick shower, knowing that her parents probably wouldn't wake up. After she got out of the shower she put on her teal Capri and a yellow top. Her top was a sleeveless turtleneck. And she put on her red, converse sneakers. Finally, she put her hair up into two buns, one on each side of her head, and left some side strands to fall naturally along the sides of her face. Karen turned to her dresser and grabbed all of her money, from within the top drawer. Karen stuffed all of her money into her pant pockets, grabbed her bag, and headed out of her room, not even looking back.
Karen headed out of the house, onto the beach, and into the boat that was used for travel. She was too preoccupied to even notice that someone was watching her.
"Where do you think you are going young lady?" a stern voice asked.
"Ma…Mama?!" Karen shrieked. "What are you doing awake?"
"I should be asking you the same thing… but I already know. I know what your intentions are." Shiori said, telepathically. "I did the same thing when I was around your age…"
"Then you know that I have to do this! You know that I have to go do this alone."
"I know, but just don't make the wrong mistakes as I did. Be careful!" Shiori looked at her daughter with watery eyes.
"Mama!" Karen cried and gave her mother a hug. "Thank you."
Shiori took Karen's hand and placed something in it. Karen went to examine what it was. It was a golden necklace, a simple chain with a round charm hanging from it. The charm was made of gold also and it was about two or three centimeters in diameter. On it was the symbol of the Tennyo (if you ever seen a picture of the symbol, it pops up everywhere in Ayashi no Ceres, usually when Ceres uses her powers).
"This is…" Karen looked at the symbol on the necklace, in surprise.
"That is the symbol of Tennyo. Think of it as a talisman." Shiori smiled. She leaned closer towards her daughter and whispered into her ear, "It will keep you safe and it might help you find what you are looking for."
Karen gave her mother one last hug and boarded the boat. She turned back towards her mother then back to the sea. "What will you tell Papa?"
"Don't worry. I'll figure out something. Just don't be gone too long," Shiori answered.
"Alright." Karen turned the motor of the boat on. "Good bye." Karen said happily and proceeded to drive the boat away from the island towards Tokyo (au. what a surprise!).
Karen rode the boat into the shore by Tokyo. She got out and grabbed her bag. She looked one last time, back where her island was and started to follow the invisible trail, not knowing where she was going.
Karen walked and walked, until she ended up at the entrance of… the National Library (au. Again, wow whatta surprise O.o). "The book must be in there!" Karen walked into the library and looked around. "So many books," she murmured out loud.
Karen walked over to a drink machine and bought a couple cans of juice with her spare change and put them into her backpack. "I might be thirsty later on and have no where to get a drink." She looked to her left. A set of stairs leaded up to another part of the library that seemed to be restricted.
"I can feel it! Stronger than before. Maybe those stairs lead to where the book is!" Karen glanced around, hoping that no one was watching and hurried up the stairs. She came across a room with the sign saying, 'Important Documents Reference Room'. "Hmf, it's probably restricted to the general public. Hehehe, well, I guess that I am the exception today…" she giggled and she opened the door and slipped in.
Karen gazed at the shelves of old, dusty books. "I guess that these books haven't been used in a while…" She walked over to a bookcase and started to read the spines of the books, searching for the book from her dreams. "Where is that Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho book?!" Karen murmured.
After searching for about an hour, she decided to start reading some books that could possibly be related to the book that she was looking for and or anything on Tennyo. "That's strange… I can feel that the book is here, but I can't pinpoint its exact spot!" Karen thought, frustrated about the entire situation. She was now sitting on the floor, leaning against a bookshelf that was a couple of shelves away from the door. Karen closed the book, not finding anything of interest, and put her hands together in prayer form. "Oh Kami! Give me some ethereal sign! Anything!" she shouted out loud.
Just she heard footsteps coming closer towards the door. "Oh shit! I'm busted!" Karen pressed her body up against the shelf and peered through the bookcase. She heard a girls voice from outside.
"A girl?"
The door handle slowly turned and door creaked open. Karen looked through the opening of one of the bookshelves of the bookcase that she was hiding from behind. She saw a girl who was no older than fifteen. The girl had on a brown school uniform. Her brown hair was put up in buns like Karen's. The girl stood in the doorway, looking into the dark room (it's not true about dim light being bad for reading, well at least for Karen. She's a Tennyo, remember?).
"Miaka?" came another girls voice from behind the girl.
"Wah!" the brown haired girl yelped and whirled around to look at a girl who was dressed in the same uniform, with short blonde hair.
"What are you doing in here?" the blond-haired girl asked.
"Is this my 'ethereal' sign!?" Karen thought, perturbed. She shrugged her shoulders. "It's better than nothing…" she thought to herself. Karen realized that she had been holding her breath for a long time and let out a deep sigh, in need of oxygen.
"Who's there?" called out the girl with blonde hair.
Karen tried to stay silent, but accidentally cause many of the books on the shelves to topple out onto herself.
The two girls ran over and gave a surprised look.
"Wha..?" the girl named Miaka started.
Karen gave a meek smile and lifted her hand in greeting. "Yo, how are you guys doing? Nice to meet you." She said through her teeth, a little embarrassed of her not so stealth actions.
The two other girls looked at her for a moment and then at each other with wide eyes.
There was an uncomfortable silence before Karen piped up again. "Say," she started with a serious tone. "What are you two doing up here? Don't you know that this area isn't for common girls like us?" she said jokingly in an authoritative voice.
All three girls started to laugh.
"I guess we're lucky, huh? I that Miaka and myself were in trouble for sure. You must have thought the same thing about us, ne?" the blonde said giggling. "By the way, my name is Hongo Yui," Yui said as she introduced her self.
"And I'm Yuuki Miaka!" shouted Miaka, happily. "Wow, she is pretty!"
Karen stood up from the pile of book and dusted herself off. "My name is Karen. Howell Karen." She said smiling.
Both Miaka and Yui looked at her oddly.
"Ha-wo-ru? Are you American?" Miaka asked, slightly confused.
"My father was born in Scotland. But, he did move to America. My mother is Japanese
though..." Karen answered, trailing off.
"Is Karen a Japanese name?" Yui asked, interested.
"Nope, it's Japanese, but it is also an English name too." Karen giggled, baffled by their interest in her name. "So, what brings you guys here?"
Before Yui could say anything, Miaka jumped in front of her and started her explanation. "There I was, getting a drink from the juice machine and I saw a big red bird!" Miaka said enthusiastically, spreading her arms out as if measuring the size of the bird.
"A… bird?" Karen repeated. It was obvious that she was a little skeptical about the girl's story.
"A bird?" laughed Yui.
"Uh-huh. I heard the sound of its wings flapping." Miaka added.
"Why would a bird be in a place like this?" Yui countered.
Just then a book fell out of the shelf behind the girls and all them jumped, surprised by the sudden event. All three of the girls walked over to the book and sat down on the floor.
Yui picked the book up off the ground and read the name of the book out loud. "The Book f Four Gods' Sky and Earth…"
Karen eyes lit up and she snatched the book out of Yui's hands. "Wha! This is it! The Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho!" Karen cried out.
"Were you looking for this book?" Miaka asked Karen, smiling at her.
"Yes. There's something that I want and this book might be a clue as to the whereabouts of the thing that I want." Karen murmured.
"What is it?" Miaka said, referring to the book.
"It's an ancient Chinese novel," said, answering Miaka's question.
"Chinese novel?" Miaka repeated, still confused.
"That's right!" Karen said.
"Thus the girl of the legend opened the door of another world." Yui read, slowly reading from the book.
"Incredible! Yui-chan, you're able to read ancient Chinese!" Miaka said, praising her friend. Miaka turned the page and looked down at the picture on it. It was of a phoenix-like bird. Miaka gasped. "This is the one I saw!" she exclaimed.
"Let me see that." Karen said looking at the book and started to read the book out loud, continuing where Yui left off. "This is a story about a girl who got the Seven Seishi of Suzaku. She obtained omnipotent powers and made her wishes come true." Karen said and continued to read. "The story, itself, is an incantation. Those who finish reading it shall receive the power. As soon as this page is turned, the story will become the truth and begin." Karen looked up from the book. "What the hell is this? This sounds like a fairytale of some sort! And 'incantation' and 'the story will become truth and begin? I don't like the sound of this!' Karen thought, frantically.
Miaka and Yui look up at Karen and then at each other.
"What does that mean?" Yui asked.
"Yui-chan, how should I know?" Miaka said, with a hint of distress in her voice.
As Miaka finished her sentence the book began to glow red and all three girls let out a scream. Miaka, Yui, and Karen were engulfed in the red light of the book. Then, a bird made of red light appeared. All three girls were lying on the ground.
Karen was the first to wake up. She sat up, suddenly, and looked around. She then turned to Miaka and Yui and noticed that they still were passed out. Karen used her index finger and started to poke both of the girls, attempting to wake them up.
"Pisst! Hey! Hey! Yo baka-tachi! Moshi moshi! Wake up!" she shouted, after trying to wake them for about ten minutes.
Yui sat up first. "What happened?" Yui asked, frightened.
Miaka then sat up, wincing a little. "Yui-chan, are you ok?" Miaka asked, concerned.
"Kora! What about me?" Karen asked, incredulously, crossing her arms over her chest in obvious disapproval.
Miaka looked up to see a slightly perturbed Karen and giggled. "Gomen, Karen-chan. I forgot you were here…"
"I guess so…" Karen muttered.
Both Miaka and Yui stood up and surveyed the land with Karen.
"What is this place?" Yui said, to no one in general.
Miaka clutched onto Yui's uniform. "Yui…" she wailed.
Yui suddenly hit both Karen and Miaka on their heads with her two elbows. "Did that hurt?" she asked.
"THAT HURT PLENTY!" Miaka screamed, as she gave Yui an uppercut punch.
"Uh-uh-uhh-ittai!" Yui grumbled.
Karen tilted her head and looked apathetic. "It didn't hurt that much…" she said trailing off.
Miaka looked at Karen, surprised by her remark.
"Yui moaned, in pain. "To much pain to be a dream," she concluded.
"Whether it is a dream or not…" Miaka started, with her hands balled up into fists. "…There's no double burgers," she said furiously. And then added, "…and no nut and raison topped ice cream!" she finished.
"Is that the only thing that you are worried about?!" Yui shouted and then gasped.
And arm clamped over Yui's mouth and pulled her away.
Karen whirled around and gaped at what she saw.
"There's no Nichome Obraan!" Miaka continued, not noticing what was happening. Miaka whirled around with her eyes shut and said, "What do I do, Yui-chan, Karen-chan?" she wailed. She opened her eyes when she didn't get a response from the two girls. "Yu…?" Miaka opened her eyes and gasped. "Yui-chan!" Miaka shouted.
Yui was being held by a thug-type-character. There were other men with the thug and they didn't look too friendly.
"Miaka… these don't look like good characters…" Karen said, warning Miaka of the obvious.
"Miaka! Karen!" Yui gasped, struggling against the man holding her.
"This one's good." Said one of the other men. "If we sell her, She'll bring good money." He added and started to laugh with the other men.
"What are they?" Miaka thought to herself. "Are you old men members of a Chinese dancing team?" Miaka asked, confused and not realizing the gravity of the situation.
"Moron!" the man shouted. "We traffic girls!" he said smiling.
"You bastards better let Yui that girl go!" Karen growled. She then smirked and started to add, "Or I'll have to do…" But she was interrupted by a loud cry as Miaka rammed into the man holding Yui.
Miaka was able to knock down the man and Yui out of his grasp.
"Umm… Well, I guess that worked…" Karen said, amazed by Miaka's action.
Miaka lifted her head from the ground and yelled. "Run for it!"
A man in green pulled out a sword and raised it above his head. "If you aren't nice…"
Before he could finish what he was going to say, he had a foot in his face.
"Like I was saying, I'll have to kick your asses!" Karen shouted, as she kicked the man in the face, sending him flying past a younger man that had just appeared.
The man had nearly been hit by the flying by man, but had moved out of the way in time. He was surprised for a second but then grabbed the nearest thug and twisted the thug's arm behind his back. Then, the young man lifted his head. "Quit." he said calmly.
The men lost interest of the three girls and surrounded the young man. "You son of a bitch!" another one of the men shouted. Then, all of the men launched themselves at their new enemy.
Karen watched the fight, a little pissed that she was so easily dismissed. "Hmf! It's probably because they think that a girl cannot pose a threat to any of them, even when I sent that one bastard flying!" Karen thought, glaring at the all out brawl that was taking place.
Miaka and Yui held each other, next to the irked Karen, watching the fight.
"Who is this?" Miaka thought to herself. "On his forehead there's a character!"
The men all fell, except for the young one.
"Ow my arm!" one writhed in pain, grasping his arm. He got up.
"Let's get outta here!" they all cried, and fled from the scene.
The young man watched the others run off. He then turned around to face the three girls. "Ladies," he said smiling. "Alright?" he asked.
Miaka and Yui both stood there, smiling adoringly at their hero, while Karen just glared at the man.
"Thank you very much!" Yui said, gratefully.
He bent down to Miaka and Yui's eyelevel, since the two were now sitting and outreached his hand. "Money is a better way to show your appreciation," the man said, smiling.
"Huh?" Miaka uttered, confused.
"Don't tell me," he started.
"That we have to pay you?!" Karen bellowed with fire in her eyes.
"Ladies don't you know that money dominates the world," he continued, ignoring Karen's outburst.
"You helped us on your own!" Yui shouted, anger appearing on her face as she got up to follow the man who turned to leave.
Karen turned to look at Miaka who was still sitting and now searching through her pockets. Karen's attention was again averted back to Yui and the man.
"I have a little money." Miaka searched her pockets. "I must have some money…"
As Miaka was preoccupied, searching for money, Yui was chasing after the man. And Karen was just watching.
"Hey wait! Where are we?" Yui was chasing after the man and then she froze in her tracks. A red light formed under Yui, on the ground. "…The same red light." Yui whirled around to look at Karen and Miaka. "Miaka!" she yelled, her voice distorting as the red light engulfed her.
"What the…" Karen was shocked.
The red light disappeared and Yui was gone.
Miaka pulled out a bill. "Tada!" Miaka looked for the man and noticed that he was gone. "Here it is…" Miaka said, trailing off. She looked around. "Yui-chan?" Miaka was confused.
"Didn't you see what just happened?!" Karen cried, as she frantically pointed at the spot where Yui disappeared.
"Huh?"
"Yui disappeared! She was there and then there was that red light again! She vanished!" Karen shouted.
"Hey where did you go? Yui-chaaaaaaan!" Miaka called out, trying to reach her friend.
Meanwhile, back at the library, Yui was searching, frantically, for Miaka and Karen. "Miaka, Miaka? Karen, Miaka!" Yui called. Miaka and Karen weren't anywhere to be seen. She walked up to the opened book and looked down at it. She bent down and started to read the book again, like before. "The girl tried to help her friend from the kidnappers, then the other girl attacked a man to save the other two. But, then, a man, with the mark of the orge on his forehead, appeared." Yui gasped. "That was!" "How?! This isn't a dream!" Yui flipped a couple pages and started to continue. "The girls tried to find the man. They went to a city by cart."
Miaka and Karen sat on the back of a cart carrying straw. Luckily, Karen still had her backpack. Both Miaka and Karen had their hands behind their heads in support. Everyone that they passed stared at them.
"It's unbecoming to stare." Karen was irked by all of the attention that she was getting.
"That guy was good looking, but he kidnapped Yui-chan!" "I won't forgive him!" Miaka yelled.
Karen rolled her eyes. "Do you still think that he kidnapped Yui? I already told you what happened." Karen glared at Miaka and Miaka's only response was to pout. "I tried…." Karen sighed.
"But where are we?"
Karen thought for a moment. "Well the atmosphere does seem like ancient China…"
"Like in the book?"
"Exactly like the Book! Miaka, do you remember what I read aloud, when we first opened the book?"
"I remember the picture of the bird and …"
"And…?"
"Umm…" Miaka scrunched her face up, tying to think. "I forgot."
A sweat drop appeared on Karen's head. "You're kidding?! Well, the book said something about it being and incantation and the story becoming truth."
"That means…"
"That means we are inside the book!"
"Ahahaha! Don't be silly Karen-chan!" Miaka said giggling.
"Well, maybe not just a book. Maybe the book was a doorway into this world…."
"Huh!" Miaka gasped, interrupting Karen. Miaka was looking at what appeared to be an ancient Chinese city (that wasn't so ancient). "Su…SUGOOIII! It's like a movie set!" she cried. "I'm impressed."
"Wow, we arrived in a city before we knew it, huh?" Karen gave Miaka a friendly jab.
"Right!" Miaka chirped.
Miaka and Karen looked into the city, at all of the people walking around. As they were looking, they say someone familiar.
"Ah! There he is! I found him!" Miaka was preparing to jump out of the cart, when Karen grabbed her.
"Oi, Miaka, I don't think that he knows where Yui is… like I said before." She looked at Miaka and was startled, because Miaka looked as if she was going to cry. "Oh shit! She's gonna cry!" She thought for a second and then smiled. "Let's go after him."
"Yay!" Miaka and Karen jumped off the cart. "Thank you, grandpa!" Miaka called as they jumped off the cart.
The two girls ran down the steps, into the city. Once they got down into the city, they were having trouble getting through the crowds.
"Wow! Everyone is full of life!" Miaka was excited, to say the least.
Karen just stood by Miaka, looking around at the scenery and smiled.
"Whoops, we lost him," said Miaka. There was a pause and then a low growl. "I haven't eaten dinner," Miaka moaned.
While Karen stood there and looked, Miaka had found a stand full of steaming dumplings. Miaka drooled as she walked up to the stand.
"Hey, hey customer. It's not nice to drool." The owner was tapping Miaka on the head with a stick."
As Miaka paid she started to ask the owner some questions. "Have you seen a handsome man… with an orge character on his head?"
"An orge character on his forehead… no I haven't." He then pointed to himself and smiled. "The handsome guy is right here." The man laughed and looked down at the money that Miaka had given him. "HEY, WHAT KIND OF MONEY IS THIS?!" he roared at Miaka as she escaped.
Karen heard the man yelling and saw Miaka running. Karen raced after Miaka and quickly caught up with her. "What did you do?!"
"I just paid the man and he got mad!"
"You paid with yen?!"
"So?"
"You're hopeless…"
Miaka walked along, while Miaka asked people if they had seen the man with the orge character on his head. No one knew of the man… Miaka and Karen sat on some boxes and rested.
"I'm tired."
"Miaka, maybe we should rest."
"Misses."
Miaka and Karen turned around to see a man dressed in Chinese clothing.
"Would you like me to show you two around the city of Konan."?
"This is Konan?" Karen was surprised. She turned to look at Miaka.
"I didn't know that," Miaka murmured. "Ah, he must be girl hunting! I've never had a boyfriend before and now that I'm grown enough for men to start looking at me… I have to play hard to get!" Miaka turned away and smirked. "Actually, I'm looking for someone."
Karen just sat there with an odd look on her face. "What the hell is Miaka thinking? Getting giddy all of a sudden, then acting like that. That baka." Karen smiled.
"A person with the mark on his forehead?" the man questioned.
"Huh, do you know him?" Miaka asked, excited.
"He's a friend of mine." The man smiled.
"Really?"
"I'll arrange for you to meet him."
"Sure!"
"Wait a minute." Karen grabbed Miaka's arm and whispered in her ear, "Miaka, I don't think that this man is telling the truth… we shouldn't go with him."
"What are you talking about?" Miaka looked at Karen. "Sure he does!"
"We are not going."
"But…"
"No!" Karen said, firmly.
Miaka pouted and then brightened up. "Maybe, if…" Miaka stopped and gasped, as she looked past Karen.
"What?" Karen asked, concerned.
"Your backpack! It's open and something just fell out!" Miaka pointed to Karen's bag.
"What?! Honki desu ka?!" Karen whirled around and took off her backpack to inspect it.
"Now's my chance!" Miaka grabbed the man's arms and they ran off as Karen's back was turned.
"Miaka, I don't think that there is anything missing… Hey! Miaka! My bag wasn't open!" Karen turned around to find no one. "Mi…a…ka?" Karen looked around and then turned red with anger. "Kuso!"
Miaka walked along with the man into the empty, off- roads. "Excuse me…" Miaka paused. "Where is your friend?" Miaka asked innocently.
The man turned his head and gave an evil grin. "He's right here."
"Oooh, this girl has an odd appearance," sad a man, coming out of an abandoned building.
Miaka's eyes widened as some more men came out to greet them.
"Remember, I get her clothes to sell," said the man that had brought Miaka.
"Is it true that foreign women taste different?"
"Did you deceive me?" Miaka was horrified. She started to slowly step back, away from the men.
A man lifted up her skirt. "It was your fault for following him," said the fat man.
The men surrounded Miaka, backing her into the wall.
"This is ancient China and these men are street toughs," Miaka thought to herself. Miaka's face then brightened up. "So no matter what I do, it won't affect my school record!" Miaka grinned. "That's fine by me!" Miaka threw her jacket off.
All the men looked at Miaka, startled.
"OOUU OH OH!" Miaka bellowed. "See these injection scars?" Miaka lifted the sleeve of her left arm and showed off her scars. "They'll see your bad deeds!" she continued. "Although the sun forgives you, Yuuki Miaka won't! In the name of the sky, I'll punish you! With a deadly attack I saw on a satellite pro wrestling show…" Miaka put her foot against the wall to help propel. "ATTACK!" she cried as she started to use wrestling moves on the men.
"I've never seen this type of kempo before!" a man cried.
After Miaka tossed the last man, she stood up and smiled. "I did it." Miaka cried out as she fell to the ground. Someone had pulled her down by her ankle.
"Don't think that you can make a fool out of me," growled the man that had led Miaka to this place. He grabbed Miaka's wrists and held her down. As he did that, the other men where getting up.
"No! Noooooo!" Miaka cried. Miaka screwed her eyes shut. "Somebody help me!"
The man over Miaka was suddenly startled when someone threw a pebble to hit the back of his head. The men turned there head and looked up, on the roof of the building behind them.
The shadowed outline of a man was up on the roof. He was tossing up and down another pebble in his hand. It was the man that Miaka was looking for. "For one female? Four guys?" he said, glaring at them. He tossed up the pebble one last time and then snatched it out of the air, holding it in his bald up fist. He became angrier. "What real man needs to do that?" As he said that, the symbol on his forehead started to glow red.
"The girl was in danger. Then… the young man with the mark of the orge appeared. He punished the street thugs." Yui read out. Yui was still in the room, reading the book.
"Miaka, Miaka! Where are you?" Karen yelled, as she ran through the back streets, trying to find Miaka. "Where are you? Miaka?" she called. "Che, that girl!" Karen continued to look for Miaka.
Ooh! What will happen? Stay tuned!
