Prologue
The sparkling blue river cut through the forests of Konan, having no inquisition unto itself. It traveled down mountains, through towns and villages, often times noticed and put to work. Sometimes reduced to nothing but a trickling stream, but at times a force powerful enough to knock a building over. It gave drink to those who thirst, and danger to those in its turbulent rapids. Who would have thought that such a simple thing, such a necessity of nature, had the power to bestow and take life?
It connected, combined, and gave itself unto strange waters. Fulfilling its endless destiny of becoming one with others, and again being alone on its own marked trail in the world. A cruel, cold destiny, some people might think. To always find others, be with them, become friends with them, and maybe even love them, but to have no choice but to leave them with no guarantee of meeting again. But, despite all this, the river brings with it little scrapes of 'knowledge' of what it had learned, lived, and went through. Be it painful or happy scraps, it is something that will always be carried in the depths of its being.....
Such is the destiny of a single entity in this mysterious world. Such is the path 'he' will enter, a path 'he' will go through, and such is the path that 'he' will overcome. Such is the fate of 'he' who lives in the town of Shouryuu. The town of "The Rising Dragon".
*~*~*~*~*
Hitori Ja Nai (You're Not Alone)
Episode 1:
Tomodachi
"YOU GIVE IT BACK NOW!!!!"
The young boy with hair that about matched the color of the clear blue sky that day, ran as fast as he could, his face covered with exhaustion, but strewn clearly with amusement. His amber eyes sparkled with excitement as he looked down at the shirt and the long piece of cloth he held in his hands. Giggling uncontrollably he hid behind an old, overturned cart he spotted a few feet to his right. He put a hand to his mouth to muffle his laughter and noticed his hard panting. You're being a bad boy, he thought to himself. I know, I know. He agreed silently, But it WAS Hikou's own fault. I had no other choice but to do something. He did push me into the mud! He dusted his filthy clothes subconsciously while he thought this and grinned. Well, he didn't mean it! his conscience told him. Yeah, yeah. But I still didn't like it......Yes you did, contradicted the little voice in his head. He replayed the scene in his head as his grin spread broadly across his face. Hikou and he were walking down the street when the clumsy Hikou tripped over something on the road--no big surprise--bringing down Houjun with him as he hit the floor. It was all well and good for Hikou, he didn't have a speck of dirt on him. But Houjun was practically drenched from head to toe from a large mud puddle next to Hikou. Hikou had burst out laughing just then, and that's when Houjun quickly stripped off Hikou's shirt and the ribbon that held up his pants, and ran away with them in amazing speed.
"I KNOW YOU'RE HERE SO GIMME BACK MY THINGS NOW!!!" a voice screeched, interrupting his thoughts. Houjun cautiously peered out from behind the cart and saw a very embarrassed Hikou standing only a couple feet away from him. Hikou was blushing furiously, his hands struggling to hold up his pants.
If I stay here, he'll be sure to find me...thought Houjun, but if I run he'll see me and go after me. Houjun sat behind the cart pondering over his thoughts as Hikou drew closer and closer to his hiding spot. The forest! I'll run there! Even if he follows me, he'll never be able to find me in the woods! Houjun scrambled to his feet and started sprinting off quickly, only allowing a half-glance at Hikou who was alarmingly right next to the cart.
"There you are! Gimmebackmystuff!" Hikou screamed at Houjun when he popped out from behind the cart. Hikou sighed silently, brought up his pants, adjusted his grip on them better, and ran after Houjun grudgingly. He's fast, thought Hikou as he struggled to catch up to Houjun. His surroundings had quickly blurred and his eyes focused on his best friend, who was running very fast, practically setting record time. Hikou didn't even notice himself entering the woods.
Houjun looked back and was a bit surprised when he saw that Hikou was catching up and sprinted faster although he felt as if his lungs would burst at any second. Their laughter chorused through the forest, united with the gentle chirps of the birds, the rustle of the grass, and the rushing sound of the river.
"You'd better catch up, or I'll throw your pants in the river!" Houjun called out jokingly.
"You better not! You're mean!" Hikou stuck out his tongue and closed his eyes in suit at Houjun although he knew he was just kidding.
*S
P
L
A
S
H
!*
"Hmm? What was that?" Houjun said, turning around sharply. He scanned the area, Hikou was not in site. "Hey Hikou! Hey! Where ar~~re you!" Houjun walked a few feet forward and suddenly heard a strange thrashing sound.
"Heeeeellppp!! I'm gonna drown! Heeelp!" Hikou was submerged in the river, trying to stay afloat. Houjun made his way over to Hikou and smirked slyly. Houjun burst out laughing and tossed Hikou's clothes to the struggling figure. "What are you doing!! My clothes can't help me right now!!!! I'm gonna die! I don't wanna diee!!"
"The same all the time....Hey Hikou, did you try standing up?" Houjun said as he grinned.
"What are you saying?! Of cour--" Hikou eyes bulged out as he stood about knee deep in the water. "I knew that!" he said as he wound the sash around his waist and slipped on his wet shirt. "I was just pretending so you can give me back my stuff!"
"Uh-huh," Houjun said sarcastically, nodding his head slowly.
"But I did! See how smart I am? You even gave me back my clothes!"
"Yea, I know, I believe you."
"BUT I DID!!"
"Hai, shinjiteru."
"Grrr...your mean." Hikou growled, making his out of the river bank.
"In what way? I said I believed you." Houjun put his hands behind his head and whistled as he strolled off.
Hikou pursed his lips together in the same manner and tried to whistle, but not to much avail. "Show off," he muttered under his breath.
"I heard that," Houjun said giving Houjun a joking glare. He walked back to Hikou and linked their arms together. "Come on. Let's go back before the grown-ups notice." Hikou agreed and dragged Houjun with him as he leaped forward.
*CRASH*
"Eh...gomen," Hikou said apologetically.
Houjun, squashed between his ditzy friend and the soft, light colored, ground managed a frustrated and muffled reply. "Will you ever learn?!"
Hikou sweatdropped, and rolled off Houjun. Houjun jumped to his feet and brushed himself off.
"What do you keep tripping on?" Houjun asked, "That's the third time today, and that's a lot. Even for you." He crossed his arms across his chest and scowled at Hikou.
Hikou retreated a bit as Houjun slowly charged at him. Houjun's hands were spread out in front of him, palms forward, bunched up as if he meant to strangle Hikou. Fortunately, Hikou stumbled unexpectedly, and crashed to the floor once again. Houjun put his hands to his side and grinned.
"You're so clumsy," Houjun commented helping Hikou up. Hikou grinned up at Houjun, as a painful moan escaped his lips.
"Are you okay?" Houjun asked. He furrowed his brow in concern and quickly started checking Hikou for injuries.
"...that wasn't me." Hikou said. He grew stiff and his eyes darted around the area. Houjun stopped and looked around too. "There! Do you here that?"
Houjun listened carefully, and heard a soft, shallow breathing noise followed by a small moan. "Yea, where is it coming from?"
"I don't know." Hikou answered. They stuck their ears out and listened carefully in the direction on the sound. It seemed to be very close to them, but at the same time all around them. The more they listened, the closer it seemed to get and the moaning became as steady as the moving ground below them.
Moving ground?!! they both thought at the same time. The boys jump started and ran to a large boulder a few feet away.
"What was that?" inquired Hikou.
"Dunno." Houjun responded after a slight pause, "Lemme check." He peered around the edge of the boulder and gave a startled gasp. "Hikou-chan! My gosh, I think you killed him!"
"Eh! Nani yo?!" burst out Hikou in outrage, "Who, huh? What are you talking about?! Whatever it is, it's your fault too!"
Houjun remained silent, his gaze focused on the object they had run from.
"Hm! Lemme see, move." Hikou climber over Houjun and looked over the boulder as well.
"Hey, watch my leg."
"Sorry, I just wanted to--" Hikou cut off his sentence as he came within view of the present object of interest. A young boy, probably only a few years younger than themselves, was sprawled face-first into the ground. His shirt was torn in several places. and blood was gushing out of one of his shoulders staining his lavender hair that was let down freely in a tangled mass. The boy's pale face contracted painfully at each breath, and he let out a soft moan. Hikou turned his eyes away and looked at Houjun whose gaze was still fixed on the injured boy.
"Did we do that?" he whispered softly to Houjun. He fiddled with his hands as fear settled in his heart.
"Iie, I don't think so." Houjun took his gaze away from the injured boy, his placid face unreadable. "Hikou-chan, let's go and see if we can help."
"Alright." Hikou agreed hesitantly.
Houjun approached the boy and checked him over carefully. "He's soaked and he's losing blood fast," Houjun observed. Hikou hid behind him and poked the injured boy with a long twig.
"What are you doing?!" Houjun asked Hikou, gently slapping him in the back of the head.
"Checking. Just checking," Hikou answered. "What if he's like a monster in disguise or something...or even worse! What if he's like some kind of person with the power to turn into anything they want, and when we touch him, we'll die or something!"
Houjun stared at Hikou in utter amazement, paused, and smacked him hard on the back, sending him flying onto the injured boy. "Hehe...Well, you're not dead." Houjun commented laughing.
Hikou scowled up at Hikou and got up hastily. "Come on, I thought we were going to help him," he said changing the subject, his voice full of anger but with a trace of relief. Houjun just smiled and rechecked the injured boy.
"Here, help me take off his shirt," Houjun concluded after a short analysis.
"Huh? Why?...echii!"
"He'll catch cold--he's soaked, baka!!"
"Ohhh..." Hikou paused and started blankly at Houjun.
"Well come on, don't just stare. Help me!" Houjun commanded to the spaced out Hikou. Hikou eventually came to his senses and helped Houjun, who was already undoing the boy's shirt.
"I hope you're not scared of the sight of blood." Houjun added as an afterthought. He removed the boy's shirt and handed it to Hikou. Hikou turned pale and wrung the shirt in his hands.
"This is bad," Houjun commented.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Hikou glanced over to the injured boy and turned a shade paler. A wound, barely distinguishable from his un-damaged skin because the blood had created a pool of red blood in that one section, started from his shoulder blade and down a few inches. The wound was clean cut and narrow in width, but very deep.
"He's losing blood, we've got to stop it before it's all gone," Houjun said gravely, answering Hikou's question.
"How do we that?"
"Apply pressure to the wound."
"Huh?"
"Give me your shirt."
"No way! I'm not going to let you touch my clothes ever again!"
"Come on. I'm not joking, we need to do something, and fast."
Hikou removed his shirt which was still a bit wet from their little river adventure.
"Alright. Thanks." Houjun said taking it from Hikou. Houjun pressed it onto the wound and Hikou's shirt slowly absorbed the blood.
"It's surprising." Houjun said after awhile.
"What?"
"He only has one injury..."
"Yeah, so."
"Did you notice that his shirt is full or rips and practically covered in blood?"
"Hai....and?"
"He only has one wound. And even though it's a really bad one, it shouldn't be enough to fill the whole shirt with blood. Not to mention some of his pants too." Houjun observed. He paused and looked up at Hikou. His face was still beheld a confused look. "He would be already dead by now if it was only his blood."
"So what you are trying to say is...." Hikou's face filled with realization and he dropped the injured boy's shirt. "Ohh."
"Yea, that's right." Houjun said, "It's someone else's blood on that shirt also. Probably not only one person too, by the looks of it." Houjun remarked, officially concluding the matter.
"Where'd you learn all this?"
"Well, after all, my dad is a doctor, and one of the best in all of Konan. He teaches me this kind of stuff all the time." A moment of silence passes between them, the injured boy's shallow breathing the only sound of human life.
"Good. I think the blood stopped," Houjun said breaking the silence. Hikou looked relieved and his face returned to it's regular color. "Can I borrow your sash?" Houjun asked his hand outstretched.
"But what will keep up me pants? Why don't you take off your sash?"
"Because I'm not wearing the kind of clothes that needs one."
"Fine." Hikou said giving in. He reluctantly gave Hikou his sash without another word. Houjun set to work be bandaging up the wound.
"That will have to do for now. Let's try to bring him back to Shouryuu now." Houjun said walking to the river and rinsing the blood away from his hands, and Hikou's shirt. Hikou went over to the injured boy and got a hold of his legs.
"Okay, but I'm holding his legs," he declared with a smirk as Houjun came back.
"Alright, sure." Houjun said in a rushed voice, "Let's try to hurry, so we can get home before night time."
"Yosh! I don't want to be stuck in this woods tonight." Hikou agreed sullenly. Houjun grabbed the injured boy under the arms and the two boys hoisted him up and walked toward the village.
*~*~*~*~*
Houjun and Hikou had been walking for quite a while with the injured boy slung between them, and Shouryuu was still not in sight. The silence dulled their senses, and was only broken by a few side comments like, "oops", "sorry", and "baka". The sun was already low over the horizon and boys were getting panicked, generally speeding up their process and waiting tediously for it's conclusion.
"I think we're lost," Houjun stated abruptly in despair, stopping their procession. Hikou, in shock, as well as in exhaustion, lagged in strength and acuteness and stumbled painfully and fell. Houjun started to make an action of concern, but Hikou waved him off.
"No, it's alright. I'm fine," He assured Houjun happily. "Lemme just stand up." Hikou put a hand to the ground to help himself up, but a gasp of pain seized his mouth and betrayed his words as he reached a full standing position. He again collapsed to the floor and immediately grabbed his ankle. Houjun laid the injured boy on the floor and rushed over to Hikou.
"Let me see that." Houjun insisted, worry filling his face.
"No, I'm alright! Really, Houjun-chan!" Hikou lied bluntly to Houjun taking his hands off his hands off his ankle momentarily to make a gesture of assurance. Before Hikou had the chance to re-cover his injury, Houjun grabbed his hands and examined Hikou's ankle. It was red and swollen, and appeared to be badly sprained.
"Hikou, you can't walk with this." Houjun said solemnly, "You'll just make it worse." Hikou was about to make a come back, but bit his lip, knowing what Houjun was saying was true.
"But what will we do?" asked Hikou practically, "We have to get that boy back to the village, and we can't just stay here in the woods forever."
"I know...you're right." agreed Houjun, "I don't know what to do." Another moment of silence settled over them, then Hikou's voice cut through it on a serious tone.
"Go then," Hikou decided.
"What?" Houjun stated in disbelief.
"I said go," Hikou said with a sigh, "Leave the boy with me, and go back to Shouryuu and find help. As fast you can, of course."
"But I can't just--"
"No, don't even try. I made up my mind, and I won't change it. Never...You said I couldn't even walk anyways," Hikou paused and continued as Houjun looked at him in terror, "You have already helped that boy by bandaging him up and everything, while I just stood there and was really scared."
"That doesn't matter. I'm use to that kind of thing!" Houjun remarked angrily in despair, "Remember, my tou-san's a doctor! So I already knew that stuff!"
"At least you were useful. I mean, the whole day, I was just doing everything wrong. I couldn't do anything at all! Nothing...except trouble you more." Hikou hung his head down in absolute surrender, "Look at me now. I suck. I got hurt just when we needed it," he continued sarcastically.
"Don't say that." Houjun said frowning, "You've been plenty of help today!"
"Uh-huh, yeah, like when?" Hikou asked suspiciously.
"Well..." Houjun paused to think and cut Hikou off just before he was about to comment, "If you hadn't laughed at me when I fell in the puddle of mud, we wouldn't be able to help that boy, who would probably be dead if we didn't come along. And you helped me carry him this far too!"
"Yea, but if I never laughed at you and I wasn't so clumsy, we wouldn't be stuck here right now." Hikou mentioned, backing up his theory.
"That wasn't your fault," Houjun said. Hikou looked up at Houjun puzzled. "Things like that happen to everyone all the time, ne? So, it's not your fault, it's just how things happen."
"Yea, than why does it always happen only to me?" Hikou inquired.
"Hey, I'm happy," Houjun commented gaily. Hikou's face revealed a spark of hope, and Houjun continued, "I mean, if it didn't happen to you, it would probably happen to me instead. No way I want to be known as the town ditz."
Hikou's eyes narrowed sharply and he punched Houjun hard on the shoulder. Houjun laughed and moved an arm's length away from Hikou. "Lemme see you reach me from there." Houjun challenged Hikou, both with a bright grin on their faces. "Ha! I knew you couldn--Hey! O--Ow!"
Hikou pelted Houjun with rocks, laughing hysterically and Houjun rebelled. A few minutes passes in that state of forgotten troubles and absolute bliss, until they finally both laid down on the ground in weariness, the bell of laughter leaving a trace of its resonance on their tongues.
"So I guess you won't be leaving." Hikou said returning to their original conversation.
"Nope, never." Houjun answered smiling up into the vast sky above them now dotted with stars. The boys lay there resting and taking it all in, when an idea popped into Hikou's mind.
"Hey! Why don't we build a fire!" Hikou explained excitingly, "Maybe one of the adults will see the smoke and they'll come save us!" Houjun stared at Hikou shocked.
"You're so smart!" Houjun said commending Hikou's efforts, and hastily sitting up in a sitting position. "Told you you'd help in some way!"
"YOSH!!" they said in unison. They both burst out laughing, and began looking for firewood. Within a matter of minutes they had a nice, well-controlled bonfire going and they sat in front of it with the injured boy laid out between them.
"Yup, this is the life," Houjun whispered happily. Hikou, who was only half-awake mumbled an agreement and ran into the arms of the dream fairy, his light snores filling up the silent forest. Houjun smiled at the sleeping form of his friend. My best friend. Forever, he thought. Nothing would ever change that, he was sure.
*OWARI* Episode 1: Tomodachi
Language Notes:
*hai, shinjiteru means yes, I believe you
*tomodachi means friend
*echii means pervert, but it's not as bad as the word hentai
*yosh is japanese for "Alright!", "Yea!!", etc.
*Nani means what
*baka means silly, stupid, idiot, etc.
*ne? means right?
*Owari means The End
Disclaimer:
Fushigi Yuugi and the characters Houjun and Hikou do not belong to me!! They belong to the almighty Watase Yuu-sama, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, Badau, TV Tokyo, Movic, Studio Pierrot, and other great people whom I have no idea exist. The U.S. rights are owned by Viz Communications and Pioneer.
The story itself is mine. So please do not take it without my permission first. If you would like to post this fic on your webpage or something, please e-mail me at OChichiriNoMikoO@aol.com. Arigatou gozaimashta!!
Author's Notes:
Wow! Kewl! Your actually reading this! ^_^ Jus' some notes for ya. Well, as you can tell, Chichiri's (Houjun's) personality is sorta different in this fic than from the FY charcter. That's only because Houjun is only a young in this stage and one can see in the Chichiri novel, "Shouryuu Den", that Houjun has a personality that a eventually grows into the present Chichiri. Yea, so I just wanted to clarify that. ^_^;; This is my first fic, so please bear with me. If you have any comments, compliments, or recommendations about my fic I would love to hear from you! Just send an e-mail to OChichiriNoMikoO@aol.com.
