Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi. Never did, never will. Also, lyrics were taken from animelyrics.com (contributed by Takayama Miyuki) and I own nothing!
Love's Sacrifice
By AnimeAngel
Chapter One: Reunion
----------
She sighed, closing the door behind her after yet another long day. She was exhausted, as she was every day - she awaited the blissful slumber that waited for her. However, she knew that she had only so much time to sleep. A new day would dawn soon, and more work would be need to be done.
She was 18-years-old now...4 months earlier, her life had taken an unexpected turn of events that no one would have ever imagined, although not as shocking as her destiny as Suzaku no miko. It had seemed so easy...all she had done was sign up for a contest that might give her extra credit in school. It was to her utter shock when she realized what she had signed up for - an idol contest! And somehow, after finally getting her act together and pouring her soul into it...she won! She became an idol representing her school, and had impressed people enough to even land a job, singing and modeling. Needless to say, all her friends and family had supported her, and so had her boyfriend...though it would be lying to say that they weren't shocked.
Changing into her sleepwear, she climbed onto her bed. And within seconds of her head reaching the pillow, Yuuki Miaka fell asleep.
----------
Elsewhere, in a place that resembled Ancient China, 4 dead spirits were waiting in a place above all others.
"Hey Taiitsukun, when are we going to be reborn?" complained the voice of a purple haired young man. He was sitting on a rock, staring up at the sky. Next to him were the rest of the Suzaku Seishi, the 3 others who had died. Died to protect their miko, and their world.
"Not yet...it is not the time yet..." Taiitsukun said simply. She had given them the same answer for a long time, with no explanations of any sort.
"Not time yet...you've told us that for so long!" Nuriko continued to complain. He was floating upside down, twirling in the air, oblivious to Taiitsukun's growing anger. "How come we can't be reincarnated yet?"
"An evil is interfering..." she said.
"Is there anything we can do?" Hotohori asked. "Is Konan going to face more danger?" His voice had a tone of worry, as he feared for his country and people.
"I'm not sure...the one thing I do know is-" She could never finish her sentence because suddenly, the seishi were surrounded by a black force and in an instant gone.
Taiitsukun stared at the spot where the 4 had been, and she felt that not only were they gone, but so were the 2 living seishi - Tasuki and Chichiri.
They're no longer in this world... "...the one thing I do know is that this will be perhaps the worst hardship you have to face."
----------
"Miaka...Miaka, wake up..." Taka looked down at his girlfriend, and tried to hold back a chuckle. She was a deep sleeper, and it was sometimes almost impossible to wake her. "Miaka..."
"Ehh...one more second, Nuriko..." she mumbled. At this, a pang with through Taka, remembering his purple-haired friend. In the past, Nuriko and Miaka had often shared rooms, and being that, it was his duty usually to wake her. But now...it's mine. He prodded her one more time, and to his relief, his girlfriend got up and stifled a yawn.
"Hmm? ...Ohayoo gozaimasu, Taka," she greeted as she got up and left the room. Taka knew exactly what she was doing, and he followed.
The two had been living together for about half a year. They lived in a beautiful, spacious apartment that was right next to one that Yui and Tetsuya shared, and on the other side was one Keisuke rented.
They walked to another part of the large apartment, where there were several rooms closed. She opened the biggest and the one at the back and entered. In the room, there was a giant monument of Suzaku, and there were red candles burning everywhere. Every morning, she went there to say a prayer. Afterwards, she would go to each one of the 7 rooms around it. Those rooms were individual shrines dedicated to each Seishi.
Taka couldn't help but smile at his girlfriend's behavior. She truly has a big heart, he thought. Every day, coming here to pray by waking up early... He followed her to every room, also praying for his fellow seishi and friends. Both of them missed the others a great deal, and their gratitude and appreciation was eternal for them, as the seishi had tried their hardest to not only save the world, but to finally let Miaka and Taka be together at last.
"Taka?" Miaka said, as they came out the last room. "I'm hungry, let's go!" She then pulled on his arm and dragged him out the room. Taka sweatdropped and chuckled helplessly.
After eating breakfast, they went through their daily schedule. After eating breakfast, Miaka and Taka both attended college for half the day, then Miaka spent the rest of the day in the music studio while Taka was still in school. It had been the same ever since Miaka decided to try out the life as an idol.
That night, at 7:00 PM, Miaka waited for Taka to pick her up as usual. She refused to have any special treatment, she wanted her life as normal as possible. So, she rarely went around in a limosine and often just waited for Taka. Her agent had at first argued that it was dangerous, and she should have a bodyguard, but after Taka beating up every single bodyguard they had in mind, it was known that Miaka was indeed safe with just him.
She waited in the lobby of the building for 15 minutes, and get a little worried since Taka was never late, she decided to walk to the corner of the street to wait for him. "Ja ne minna!" she called while pushing the door open. It was a beautiful night, the stars were clear and shining. She loved nights like these - she and Taka would often go out and look at them when they had nothing else to do and they'd talk about the past.
Where can he be...? Miaka wondered. She looked around her, seeing there were no coming cars. There was no people either, there hardly were any as there were no shops in that area. The studio was a large building but the no people gave a lot of privacy.
*Ring* *Ring*
"Moshi moshi?" Miaka said, picking up her cell phone. "Oh, Taka! ...Hai...hai...oh...I see. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine! Good luck on your exam! See you at home!" Shivering slightly at the cold, she was about to call a cab when she remembered she left her purse in the studio.
"Baka," she whispered, shaking her head while heading back. She didn't notice however, that as she was turning, a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed her into the shadows.
"NAN-" Her scream was muffled as a strong hang was clamped over her mouth and she was carried in the dark to a secluded alleyway. Frozen with fright, she was pushed against the wall. Daring to open one eye slowly, she saw the outline of a large, muscular looking man and even in the dark, she could tell he had a nasty expression on his face.
"Let's see what I've got here...if I'm not mistaken...could I have caught a celebrity tonight?" Looking closer at her, his smile widened. "You're that new singing brat, aren't you? The one who's got everyone talking...if I also recall, you have a nice boyfriend too. I wonder how he'd react knowing his girl was touched by another..."
She struggled, trying to pull away, but the man was about 3 times her weight. Whimpering, her eyes tightly shut, she had only one thought. HELP ME...ANYONE!!
With her eyes closed, she never noticed the red beam of light that struck down next to him. She only felt the vibrations, the shaking of the Earth, and stayed conscious only long enough to hear her captor yell in fright and the call of another yelling her name...a voice she heard only in her dreams.
But it couldn't be...she thought as she fell to the ground, slipping into the darkness.
----------
What happened...? Miaka opened her eyes and when her vision cleared, she realized her surroundings. She looked at her clock, and said that it said 9:00 PM. I'm in my room! But... Memories of what happened before she lost conscious flooded into her mind as she jumped out of bed and ran out of the room to the living room, nearly tripping and falling flat on her face. She heard voices in the living room and was relieved to hear that it was none other her brother, Taka, Tetsuya, and Yui. She entered the room.
"Miaka, daijoubu!?" Yui said, running up to Miaka.
"Hai...gomen nasai, Yui-chan...you seem worried. Demo..." She bit her lip in worry and after a few seconds, asked, "How did I get back home? Last thing I remember was these guys trying to...to..."
Yui hugged her friend. "Everything's alright. You were saved just in time, just like I was."
Miaka closed her eyes and sighed in relief. "Really? Who saved me? I owe them my gratitude!"
"You sure do! Took us forever to find out what to do...your world is sure confusing!"
Miaka's eyes snapped opened and she was almost positive her heart stopped for a second. That voice...do I dare look up? Pulling away from Yui slowly, she for the first time since she entered the room looked towards her couch. She saw Taka, Keisuke, Tetsuya, and...
"NURIKO!? MINNA!?" She screamed and ran to the couch and pounced and gave a hug to every single seishi. She was crying and laughing, amazed to see all 6 of the other seishi assembled on her couch, looking well but confused and amazed at their surroundings. Nuriko...Hotohori...Chichiri...Chiriko...Mitsukake...Tasuki...
Nuriko patted Miaka's head. "Daijoubu Miaka?" he asked.
Miaka nodded her head, tears pouring down her face. "Demo...how? Are you guys reincarnated...? But Chichiri and Tasuki, what happened to you? You look like you did when I first met you! And Nuriko, you guys...you look the same as you did last time I saw you...But you're solid, you're alive!"
"..." Hesitantly, Chichiri answered. "We're not sure either, no da. Last thing I remember was being surrounded by a dark light, no da."
"So does that mean it wasn't Suzaku's doing? ...That would mean there's something out there...right?" Keisuke asked.
"How do we *#$(#*$& know? Least we got in there in time to save Miaka," Tasuki said, shrugging.
"So what happened after I fell unconscious?" Miaka asked, curious about how she managed to get home.
"Well, after I beat up whoever was holding you," Nuriko said, "We decided that it was best to wait in the dark since we had no idea where we were...we waited for you to regain consciousness...as that never happened, we managed to notice Taka yelling your name and looking all worried. He was shocked but he told us to go into that carriage thing and took us here. And we met your brother and your other friends."
"Oh..." Silence filled the room, everyone in deep thought. Miaka held an expression of worry and was about to comment on something when...
*Rumble* All eyes in the room focused on the miko, who blushed furiously and put a hand behind her head. She laughed nervously, and they all sweatdropped.
"You haven't changed at all," Nuriko said, shaking her head.
Miaka got up and headed for the kitchen. "Well...I'm sure you all might be rather tired...should I fix something to eat?"
"Err..." The seishi looked at each other frantically, remembering Miaka's last attempt to make food. However, Keisuke did not looked concerned and said, "Hai, that'd be good."
"Uhh...Taka, are you sure this is wise, no da? If I'm correct, last time Miaka-chan cooked, it was...different, no da..." Chichiri said. Taka laughed.
"Daijoubu, she's gotten better...much better compared to before. She had to learn."
"Ohh...by the way, Taka-san..." Chiriko looked around. "This world of yours is quite fascinating...do you think you could explain what some of these things are?"
"Yeah, like what the hell is this?" Tasuki walked over to the television.
Chiriko followed. "It appears to be some sort of box," he observed, crouching down and touching it. "Sugoi..." He accidentally pushed the "On" button and both were shocked at what followed.
"WAH! Look at all the people in the box!" Nuriko exclaimed. All the seishi crowded around the "box" and were in awe of the images. "Ne Taka, how did these people get inside?"
Taka sweatdropped. Turning to Keisuke, he asked, "Did I seem this awed when I first saw the tv?"
Keisuke shrugged. "We had more things to worry about...when you saw the television, we were both attempting to escape Miaka's cooking."
After 15 minutes of attempts to explain that there were no people trapped within the tiny box, Miaka re-entered the room. "Food's ready!" she called.
Leading them into the kitchen, all eyes widened. "Miaka...You cooked this by yourself?" Hotohori asked. There was a large feast of sandwiches, pasta, soup, and other foods all neatly displayed on a table.
Miaka chuckled sheepishly. "Is it a little too much...?"
"It's okay...besides Miaka, you can eat all this by yourself...ne?" Nuriko asked, laughing. Miaka made no reply as she gestured for them all to eat.
"Itadakimasu!" she said and they all began eating. Suprisingly, the food was quite good. The 6 seishi looked towards their miko and expected to see her stuffing her mouth. What they saw made them even more shocked than seeing the television.
"Miaka, are ya okay!?" Tasuki exclaimed. The sight of Miaka eating nothing but a small sandwich.
"Mitsukake, should you check if she has a fever?" Hotohori asked.
"Are you feeling ill Miaka-chan?" Chichiri asked. Miaka looked at them all as though they were crazy.
"What do you think is wrong with them?" Yui whispered to Tetsuya. Tetsuya smiled.
"They last saw Miaka when she was still...herself..."
"I'm fine!" Miaka said, laughing at her seishi's expressions. "I just...changed a lot, that's all." Suddenly, the phone rang. "Excuse me for a moment." She got up and picked up the kitchen phone. "Moshi moshi?"
Chiriko was about to ask what the telephone was but Keisuke hushed him. He seemed very into who was calling Miaka.
"Kenji-san! Hai...hai...nani!? Honto ne!? That's bad...Demo I have some...d-demo! ...*sigh* Hai...arigato, ja ne." Miaka hung up and slumped back in her seat.
"What happened Miaka-chan?" Taka asked. "What did Kuroki-san say?"
"I have to come down to the studio now...retake pictures to be given out tomorrow at the concert. Apparantly, an accident occured and the film is ruined..." She leaned against the wall and sighed. "I'm so tired...I want to go to sleep..." Then realizing the silence of her friends, she gave a big grin and said, "Gomen nasai minna! I have to down to this place and get some pictures taken...I doubt you want to come so..."
"Iie! We want to come, ne minna?" Nuriko said.
"Hai, I'm curious to learn more about this world of yours!" Chiriko added. Miaka smiled and patted Chiriko on the head. "Later, I'll show you some books about this world...okay?"
"Hai!"
"I'll run ahead and start the car," Keisuke said, grabbing some keys. "Hurry Miaka."
"I know. Follow me," Miaka said as she ran out to the hallway and started putting on her shoes.
"Demo Miaka-chan...shouldn't they change their clothes? I mean, after all...their clothes aren't exactly normal in our world," Tetsyua asked. It was true; they were all still dressed in their clothes from the other world. They would definitely attract some stares and they were going to a photo shoot after all.
"Hai, hai! Taka, let them borrow some of your clothes! Pick an outfit out for each of them! Hurry, please!" Miaka said in a panicky voice.
Taka led all the seishi to his room and threw clothes at them. He managed to even find something small that was only slightly large from Chiriko, an outfit he had from his childhood. Luckily, it only took them 5 minutes to change. Unfortunately, it took 10 minutes for them to figure out how certain clothes were to be worn.
"We're...done..." Taka said, sweatdropping. This is going to be a long trip...and we're just going to the studio!
"Come on everyone!" Miaka shouted. She led them down the stairs to the garage, deciding it was best not to scare them with the elevator for the time being. It was quite fortunate that being that Miaka was a singer, she had a limosine. So, they all fit inside the car and Keisuke sped off.
"Wow! This is some #$&@*(# carriage Miaka! " Tasuki exclaimed.
"It's not a carriage Tasuki-san...it's a car..." Tetsuya said, sweatdropping.
"Sugoi, no da! What are all those things out there, no da?" Chichiri asked, his eyes widening at the sight of the tall buildings.
"They're buildings Chichiri...really, really big buildings..." Taka said, smiling at the sight of his friends being in shock of things that he had also once been in awe of. "I guess you didn't really see anything when I picked you guys up in the dark."
"We're here!" Keisuke said.
"Good!" Miaka said. Opening the door, she made sure everyone was out and led them into a beautiful building. They kept going until they entered a small, plain room with a few sofas and chairs. "Kenji-san? Are you here?" Miaka called.
"Hai! Konbanwa Miaka-chan!" A tall, brown-haired man of the age of 35 entered the room. "And who are all these people?" he asked, glancing at the seishi. "I know they usually come," he said, meaning Taka, Yui, Tetsuya, and Keisuke, "But they're some new faces. Oh well, introductions later, into wardrobe Miaka-chan!"
"Minna, I'll be back in a few minutes!" Miaka shouted as she dragged away by Kenji.
"Who was that man?" Hotohori asked, looking around the room.
"That's Miaka's agent, Kuroki Kenji...err...he helps handle her job..." Taka explained, hoping they would understand.
"What is Miaka-chan doing if she has a job? Does it have anything to do with those exams she always studied for?" Nuriko asked, remembering the many times he would hear Miaka reciting her studies outloud in the middle of the night.
"She's a singer and model basically..." Keisuke said. "A model is someone who poses for pictures, by the way."
"...So what was the point of all that studying?" Tasuki asked. Tetsuya sighed.
"We didn't know that she was going to end up as a singer...she's only started this a month ago."
"Really..."
"I'm back!" Miaka called. She was wearing a light pink flowered dress and had her hair tied up in a single bun. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, we were just talking about how you ended up as a singer," Taka said, smiling at his girlfriend. She blushed and looked through the window to the recording area. It all stills seems unbelievable...but then again, it's more reaslitic than becoming the Suzaku no miko and saving another world!
"Yuuki-san! Let's start the shoot! Come this way, you know the procedure!"
"Hai!" Miaka smiled and ran over to where the photographer was waiting. For half an hour, she posed and smiled for the camera as Tetsuya, Keisuke, and Taka attempted to explain things to the seishi. Yui and Chiriko were having an intellectual conversation and comparing the aspects in their different worlds. (AN: An intellectual convo...hehe, of course it'd be with the 2 geniuses ^^;;)
"That's enough for now, we only needed a few. Arigato gozaimasu minna! Oyasumi!"
"Ja ne minna-san!" Miaka called as she started to run out of the room. However, Kenji caught her arm.
"Matte, Miaka-chan."
"Hai?" Miaka asked, looking concerned and nervous for a moment.
"I need to speak to you for a moment..." He led her to a corner and they were having what seemed to be a serious conversation. Keisuke, Taka, Tetsuya, and Yui resumed their talking and watched the 2 speaking. Miaka looked a little stressed out and she was frowning while speaking. After 5 minutes, she left and after calling, "Ja ne!" she joined the others.
"Daijoubu Miaka-chan?" Chichiri asked. She nodded.
"Hai, hai, daijoubu..." She said, her voice slightly bitter. Shaking her head, she smiled. "Gomen nasai if you were bored."
"Miaka, do you think we could hear you sing one day?" Hotohori asked, smiling.
"You'll hear me sing...tomorrow afternoon, I'm singing at my second concert..." Miaka walked over to a chair and sat down, putting her head in her hands. "I'm so nervous...performing in front of so many people...I'm not used to that yet..." She shook slightly and then looked up. "Tomorrow morning, we'll all go have some fun...since we have no idea why you're all here, might as well enjoy ourselves for the time being...ne? I managed to battle against Kenji-san and the latest time I can arrive at the concert is at noon. Now..." She got up and yawned. "Let's go home...I'm tired...and I want to show you your shrines!" She exclaimed and acting like the genki girl they first met, she ran out, shouting, "Hurry, hurry!"
"...Shrines?" Mitsukake asked Taka. Taka just smiled in reply.
"You'll see."
----------
The ride back was filled with laughter and talking amongst old friends. Tetsuya and Keisuke had plently of questions for the seishi, and comments as well. So many that Miaka and Yui had to refrain from gagging them.
"Oniichan...limit your questions, will you!?" Miaka asked, annoyed. "You'll going to give everyone a headache."
"Tetsuya-san, I think Miaka's right," Yui said, sweatdropping at the enthustastic questions her boyfriend was throwing. He smiled sheepishly and nodded.
Nuriko looked from Yui to Tetsuya. "Are you guys a couple...?" he asked slyly.
"Ehh..h-hai..." Tetsuya said, blushing and putting his arm around Yui. Then, after a moment, he said in a serious voice, "But neither of us will forget Suboshi's loyalty and love for Yui...since he did save her..."
"How did you know?" Hotohori asked Nuriko. He smiled.
"Intuition!"
"Yeah, women's intuition..." Tasuki said, snickering. He received a slap on the head from Nuriko and went flying to the other side of the car.
When they arrived back at the apartment, Miaka decided to show the seishi to their rooms.
"Here...are the shrines." She led to them the shrine with Suzaku in it. The seishi were speechless.
"This looks like...the Suzaku shrine in Konan! But...how?"
"Almost right after Miaka signed her contract and got a large paycheck, she went out and started making the shrines...she had been planning to do them before she signed on, but with the money, she could make them even better," Taka said, grinning. "Every morning we come here and pray..."
"Now..." Miaka walked over to where the 6 doors were.
"Those doors have our name on them...look, there's my name!" Tasuki said. Miaka nodded.
"I wanted to make individual shrines for you...slowly, they began having other items added as well. I ordered copies of the items you all used...but then, once in a while, I'd see something and think that it reminded me of one of you...so I started buying thigngs and putting them into the rooms. It may sound strange," Miaka said, laughing at her stupidity, "But I had a tiny hope that I'd see you all again. I hoped this would show that we never forgot about you."
Nuriko was the first one to recover from his shock and he went over and hugged Miaka. "Arigato Miaka."
Miaka sniffed and wiped a tear. "Please, look inside...I hope you don't mind staying in them."
They all went inside the rooms and a few seconds later, shouts of happiness and awe were heard.
"Wow, books from this world!"
"These appear to be medicine from this world..."
"What a fantastic mirror! I can see myself from all sides!"
"Hey, there are some dresses here!? And...what's this big thing in the corner?"
"It's a punching bag Nuriko!" Miaka shouted.
"A punching bag! Let's see..." *bang* "Hey, it's harder than wood."
Miaka snickered. Good thing I had it made out of steel...it can hardly be called a punching bag...punching block would be a better name...
"Amazing, no da! Look at all these fishing rods, no da! How are they all different, no da!?"
Taka laughed. "I'll show you one of these days, Chichiri."
"Oi Miaka, this is an interestin room...eh, what's in here?" *opens door* "NANI!?" *splash*
"What happened!?" Miaka asked, running into Tasuki's room. The others looked in as well and they found an amusing sight.
Tasuki was soaking wet, with a bucket on his head. "How did you have this ready...?" he grumbled.
Taka whistled innocently. Thank goodness he didn't notice me leaving for a second while they were all changing.
"TAKA! IT'S YOUR #$*&*(# FAULT, ISN'T IT!?"
Miaka giggled and laughed. "Yep...everyone's together again!"
That night, many yells could be heard from the apartment as there was a large reunion party in Taka and Miaka's apartment. Or as Nuriko referred it as...
"YAY! SLEEPOVER PARTY!"
----------
*Beep* *Beep*
Miaka groaned and rolled over in her bed, pulling her pillow over her head.
*Beep* *Beep*
"Ugh..hai, hai..." she mumbled sleepily, hitting the alarm clock. The clock read 7:30 AM and as usual, Taka woke up early for his 7 AM jog. Suddenly, Miaka remembered the previous night's events.
"Right! Everyone's here!" she exclaimed, quickly changing into a t-shirt and pair of shorts and she ran into the living room. She was surprised to find most of the seishi excluding Tasuki awake. She even saw that her brother was there as well.
"Minna! Ohayoo gozaimasu!" Miaka greeted cheerfully, as she plopped down on the couch between Nuriko and Hotohori. She noticed them all laughing and looking at a small book Keisuke was holding. "What are you looking at?" She peered over and turned red. "Oniichan!"
Keisuke had brought over a stack of photo albums that he thought the seishi would enjoy. There were some pictures every so often that were adorable but rather embarassing shots of chibi Miaka doing some sort of silly stunt.
Nuriko laughed. "You were a cute baby, Miaka."
"Yeah, one wonders what happened when she grew up," Keisuke joked. That was however, followed by a swift kick by Miaka.
"Baka..." She grumbled. Her eyes widened when she saw the pictures on the next page they were looking at. "Hey..that's the pictures from the competition!"
All the pictures of the page featured Miaka wearing a red tank top and jeans while singing. She was shocked - she didn't even know that anyone took pictures.
Chuckling, Miaka touched the page. "I never thought that would change my life...for the second time." Getting up, she said, "I guess I better go make breakfast."
"Don't worry, we have breakfast covered!"
"Yui-chan!" Miaka said, surprised. She didn't notice her and Tetsuya in the kitchen cooking. Yui smiled.
"I thought that considering, you should spend more time with the seishi. We'll do the cooking for today."
"Arigato Yui-chan, Tetsuya-san!" Miaka said happily. "We have to plan what we're going to do for 4 hours before I have to get ready for tonight's preformance. What do you think, oniichan?"
Keisuke thought it over for a second, then said, "Let's take them somewhere fun, but not outrageous...we don't need 6 people having heart attacks..."
"How about the park for today? We don't have that much time, and we can have a nice picnic?" Miaka suggested. Keisuke nodded his agreement.
"Good idea. All that's left is to eat after Taka's returned."
"Miaka-chan, no da, is that you?" Chichiri asked, pointing to a picture. Miaka looked at it and smiled.
"Hai...that's me on my first concert." The picture was of a beaming Miaka, laughing onstage while catching a bouquet of flowers. "Taka bought me some flowers and threw them to me after I finished."
"I'm glad to see that you and Tama, iie, Taka have been living very happy lives," Hotohori said, smiling at Miaka.
She blushed, remembering how much he had helped the two, despite the fact that he loved her himself. How they all tried to see the two were together in the end...
I have another chance, she thought happily. To make it up to them...to make them as happy as possible while they're here! She smiled, a look of determination on her face.
"Breakfast's ready!" Yui called.
Miaka laughed. "Yay!" Jumping up, she skipped towards the kitchen until she tripped and fell flat on her face.
"M-Miaka..." Taka had just arrived home, and opening the door he was shocked to see his girlfriend on the floor. "Daijoubu?"
Miaka groaned in reply and Nuriko laughed. "No matter how much you may have changed in certain things...Miaka will always be Miaka...a klutz!"
They all started laughing as Taka helped Miaka up and they all settled in the kitchen.
"We just made a simple breakfast but dig in," Yui said.
"And after this it's off to the park!" Miaka chimed in, happily. She couldn't help but start buildling a large pile of food. I know I promised Kenji-san I'd try a diet but still...
*Ring* *Ring*
Sweatdropping and annoyed, Miaka got up, starting to grumble something about disconnecting phones. Picking it up, she said, "Moshi moshi, Yuuki residence. ...Kenji-san, I thought it was you. Yes, I know...at 12, hai hai...hai! ...No...I'm not eating a pile of food...fine...ja..." Once again grumbling, this time about pyshic agents, she sat back down and pushed her plate away.
"Still dieting?" Yui asked. "But why? You're one of those...ehh..strange people who can eat a lot...a lot without gaining a pound."
"Just eat and don't tell the guy," Keisuke said.
Miaka shrugged and leaned back in her chair. "Nah...I'm not that hungry anyway..." she said, as her stomach let out another loud rumble. She blushed.
"Not hungry no da...?" Chichiri asked. Next to him, Nuriko raised an eyebrow while the others were looking on in curiousity and shock.
"So what if I don't eat?" Miaka asked. "I ate enough in the past year to last me for the next 10!" she laughed. Then, noticing the shock turning to worry once again on her seishis' faces, she smiled and said, "Daijoubu..." while taking a little muffin that was on the table.
After 18 minutes of eating, they all finished up and as Keisuke, Taka, and Tetsuya helped pick clothes for the seishi, Miaka and Yui were having a conversation near the door while putting on their jackets.
"Ne...Miaka...why do you let Kuroki-san make you do all of this? I still don't understand why you don't just simply quit if you hate this so much?"
Miaka sighed and paused in putting on her shoe. "I told you Yui-chan...I don't hate singing."
"Demo...you always seem so annoyed when you have to go to the studio...and you seem scared of Kuroki-san."
"Kuroki-san doesn't scare me...it's just, I owe him so much for giving me this opportunity. And I get stressed out because I'm not to use to such a hectic schedule. But that's not important right now...ne?" She smiled at Yui. "Right now, I feel so lucky...all my friends are with me. If I could stay this way, even with tons of problems as a singer, I wouldn't care...I'd be content with all of you with me."
Yui couldn't help but give a big smile and hug her friend. "They're right...no matter what, you'll never change...you still have such a big heart that makes you such a baka."
"Yui-chan..."
"Are you two ready?" Keisuke asked, walking into the room. He looked tired. "At least today, there wasn't as many questions while giving them their clothes."
Taka and Tetsuya also walked in a few seconds later carrying a bunch of stuff for their trip to the park, followed by the seishi. They looked slightly uncomfortable in the unfamiliar clothes, and Miaka giggled as they were walking to the elevator.
"What so funny Miaka-san?" Chiriko asked. She supressed another giggle and explained.
"I'm just not used to all of you wearing the clothes of this world...it's kind of funny..." Her voice trailing off, she pressed the button for the elevator and two seconds later, the doors opened. "Minna, come inside."
"What the hell's the idea of shoving us all in this tiny room?" Tasuki grumbled, annoyed as the 11 people squished into the elevator.
"This is going to take us to the bottom floor, where we'll go inside," Yui explained.
"How's this room going to take us anywhere?" Hotohori asked, curious. He did not need to ask though as suddenly, the elevator being to move down. The feeling of going down in the elevator was strange to the seishi and they began to comment.
"What the HELL?!"
"This feels weird..." Nuriko looked at Miaka. "This means we're moving?"
"Yeah..." she said, staring at the yelling Tasuki. They've all fought against monsters, tried to summon a god, and died...yet they're amazed of an elevator and all the other...seemingly more normal things of this world.
After a bunch of chaos in the elevator, Miaka was eternally grateful when the doors finally opened and they all managed to get out of the building in one piece. Once again getting into the car, they sped off to the nearest park which was only a 3 minute ride. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day out so they had no fears about bad weather.
When they arrived at the park, Keisuke was relieved to notice there was not many people around. Just in case something happens... he thought, thinking that either they would be attacked or there would be fighting in the group amongst certain people.
"It's probably not as nice as the gardens in Konan," Tetsuya said, opening the door. "But it's still really beautiful. Oi, Keisuke! Help me with this thing, will you?" In the trunk of the car was a picnic basket, some balls, and other little things to do.
"...Jump rope? You brought jump rope?" Keisuke said, sweatdropping as he picked up a small rope. Tetsuya shrugged.
"You never know."
"Jump rope!" Miaka exclaimed happily when she got out the car, and after taking it, began jumping around the car.
"Miaka no da, be careful so you don't trip no da," Chichiri said, watching the miko laughing like a little kid as she amused herself.
"Miaka! Stop that for a second and pick a spot," said Yui.
"Hai! Do you need help with the stuff?" she responded, momentarily stopping her jumping.
"Not at all! I've got it just fine!" Nuriko answered, carrying all of the stuff for them in a one big pile.
The rest of the morning was quite fun. The seishi learned how to play football and soccer, and they all managed to play without much injury. There was the occassional yelling and fighting, but it was generally a normal morning. They finished up with a quick picnic, and sped off to where Miaka would preform at one of her biggest concerts yet.
----------
"MIAKA! MIAKA!"
Miaka was paced around the room, she was extremely nervous. It is so ironic that I became a singer...me, the girl whom many thought was untalented in the arts...and not only that but my friends are with me again... She stopped and stared outside a window at the stars. Demo...happy times aren't going to last...I know it...something bad is heading our way...
"Yuuki-san? It's time!" One of the assisstants entered her room. Miaka smiled nervously.
"H-Hai."
Meanwhile, in the first row, the 7 seishi and co. were awaiting for the preformance of their friend.
"Wow...a lot of people are cheering for Miaka," Hotohori commented. "And there are so many people here!"
"I wonder how Miaka-san's singing is...I'm sure it'll be a wonderful preformance!" Chiriko said.
"Yeah...but Miaka-chan's really nervous...although she already had a few concertc, those were small compared to this one and not as important...if she wants to make it as a real singer, she has to do good in this," Tetsuya said.
"But doesn't Miaka want to be a singer? That's why she's singer?" Nuriko asked.
"She's still deciding...this is like a trail for her..." Yui explained. "But still...she can't just relaxed because she might not take this as a professional career. She has a reputation to make and no one wants a bad one."
"Yeah, and she's afraid of people throwing stuff at her while she's on stage," Keisuke said, jokingly.
"Well, if anyone does that, I could always whip out my-" He never got to finish because suddenly, the screams intensified as Kenji walked onto the stage.
"Konbanwa minna-chan!" He called and the screaming continued. "Now, I'm not going to say anything tonight and just go straight to the show. Here she is...Yuuki Miaka!"
"They shout so loud, no da!" Chichiri said, wincing slightly.
"Yeah...welcome to a concert," Taka said, laughing. "Don't worry, it quiets down a bit."
"Will we be able to hear Miaka?" Mitsukake asked. Taka nodded in reply, and as if on cue, Miaka entered the stage. There was a giant screen behind her, and her face was displayed for all to see.
"Wah! Two Miaka's!" Tasuki exclaimed, and Taka attempted to explain to his friend about video cameras and screens.
Though it may not have been evident to most people, her friends could tell that she was quiet nervous - her face was a little paler than usually and her legs shook a little bit as she walked. When she arrived at the microphone, she took a deep breath and smiled.
"Konbanwa!" The screams continued, though it began to die down some more. Her voice was loud due to the microphone, and Taka and Keisuke attempted to explain that to the puzzled seishi as well. "Arigato for coming to my concert tonight! I hope you enjoy my preformance! First, I'll be singing a seemingly favorite song to some...I hope you like my song, Still!" she said as the music began. Then, she began to sing.
Still love you.
After the storm,
The blue sky will
Surely unfurl.
Broken heart.
And so, now
I go to face
T his sadness.
Falling in love
With the same person
Is too painful
A fate.
Which is most precious to you?
My heart questions me.
I can't compare love and friendship.
In me, they are one and the same:
A light that lives on.
Still love you.
I think that
Your anger
Is probably a scream for love.
Broken heart.
We're far apart now,
But we can both see
The stars in the night sky, right?
Laughing so hard,
I had to wipe away tears.
I can't make that blindingness
Go away.
Whatever happens, whenever,
Our friendship won't change.
Dreams and hopes are our strong allies.
Someday we'll be able to say,
"That happened too, didn't it?"
Which is most precious to you?
My heart questions me.
I can't compare love and friendship.
In me, they are one and the same:
A light that lives on.
Her voice sang so sweetly, and she began to forget all her worries, her fears. All she knew was that she had to sing and sing she would.
"Miaka-chan..." Yui smiled at her best friend, a sense of pride in her. She was so proud of her friend, how she managed to find success in something no one thought she would do good in.
*Flashback*
"Yui-chan! Look!" Miaka exclaimed, pointing at a poster. The two had been walking to get a snack at the restaurant where Taka worked, and Miaka had suddenly stopped to look at a poster.
"City-wide Talent Contest...what about it?" Yui asked, reading the poster.
"In class today," Miaka said, "Sensei said anyone who enters contest will get extra credit! That's because the other high schools already have lots of students entering, and it wouldn't look good if no one from our school didn't. I might need the extra credit so I'm thinking of joining."
"Umm...demo...what would you do?" Yui asked. Miaka smiled.
"I thought I'd try singing!"
*End Flashback*
Yui smiled. She remembered the look of shock on every teacher and student who heard that Miaka was not only entering, but singing as well. She had proved them all wrong, her singing was extraodinary. That's why she got this chance...
"Arigato!" Miaka shouted, her grin widening as tons of fans stood up and cheered. It widened even more when she saw her friends clapping and shouting for her as well.
"Next song will be..." During the concert, Miaka sang about a few songs, each one seemingly more extraodinary than the next and then, finally finished up with one last song.
Hiding my tears from our fate, I set out on a journey,
chasing after something found rather than something lost
and forgetting about you. I swore I'd treasure
this time you're reborn.
It should be tonight.
But I just felt like crying.
I'll make this the last.
I just loved you.
I'd been dreaming of that day.
Accidentally meeting in such a vast universe
A small, small love grew, until yesterday.
Walking in the midst of a desert, the footsteps of me alone
are too lonely. If I return now,
I'm sure I'll be on time...
But now, the birds
flap their wings,
merely flying off to tomorrow,
carrying a dream on the wind.
Their heart shaking, everyone is lost while walking.
The proof that painful feelings exist.
Now, I want to
run to a great love.
If our love that goes beyond the night and the stars
is true,
then one day we'll see each other again.
Her voice trailed off as the music faded as well. "...Thank you all for coming to my concert tonight! Good night!" She waved and ran off the stage, as Kenji came on and made the finishing comments.
"Come on," Keisuke said to the seishi. "Let's go see her, we're allowed." He brought them up the stage and being that he was a familiar face, no one questioned his prescence. He knocked on a door that said, "Dressing Room" and opened it. Miaka was inside, changed back into normal clothes.
"Congratulations, Miaka, that was great!" Yui said, giving her a hug. Miaka laughed as she received hugs from amongst her friends.
"That was a nice song at the end, no da," Chichiri said.
"Arigato. I was especially hoping that you'd like that one..."
"Sorry to interrupt, but we have to go now or else your mob of fans will kill us," Taka said, half jokingly, half serious.
"Hai." Putting on a jacket, Miaka ran outside with the others following.
----------
"It is the girl..." A dark figure was perched on the branch of a tree, and he watched as the miko and her companions ran out of the building into a car.
"Are you sure?" His companion asked, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
"Of course it is!" he snapped. "Are you blind? It is her..."
"...The girl who saved both worlds, the flames of love guiding her...the girl with the will to fight the fate she would've received as a consequence...Suzaku no miko, we found you at last..."
----------
AnimeAngel: I hope you liked it! Kinda rushed but...I plan on editing it later and making it better...but for now, this will do. Don't forget to review!