Reversed Reality
Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yugi or any of it's characters although I wouldn't mind owning Tamahome...
Summary: What if Tamahome were the one who lived in our time? What if he were the one who opened the Universe of the Four Gods? And what if Miaka were a celestial warrior destined to protect him?
I hadn't seen any fics doing this story from this angle so I decided to give it a shot, so tell me what you think... R&R.
Chapter One
"Wow! I don't believe it! Look at all this money just lying around!" Tamahome's eyes grew wide as he took in the piles of cold coins that littered the floor.
"Huh? What the hell?" The boy desperately grabbed at the coins that were quickly fading away.
"Gimme back my coins!" He shouted, his hands clenched into fists.
"Uhh, Tamahome, that was the teacher…" Tamahome looked down to see his teacher flat on the floor. He looked up at the desk clutched in his hands and laughed nervously setting the desk back down and slumping back into it.
"Whoops. It, uh, it was a dream."
"Wow, I got in a lot of trouble for that one."
"Well, did you think you wouldn't? We have exams coming and you're off daydreaming in class."
Tamahome looked over at his friend, Yui. They had been friends ever since they were little, and they still were. People always said they'd make a great couple but Tamahome always laughed it off; he could never imagine thinking of Yui as anything more than a friend, his best friend at that.
He glanced over at the girl. "Yeah, that's true. He let's grab something to eat." Tamahome dragged Yui into the McDonalds that on the corner of the street.
"Hey look! There's Take and Konan, let's go sit with them."
Yui and Tamahome walked over to their friends and sat down, "Hey guys, what's up?" Yui said casually.
They were greeted with a warm, 'hey'. "So what high school are you trying to get into?" Konan asked.
Tamahome pointed to a group of four; three guys and a girl. "See that uniform? That's the high school I want to get into."
"But that's the Jonan High School uniform! There like the top school in the city!" Take said astonished.
"Yeah, and your G.P.A. doesn't exactly come in at top quality for that school." Konan added.
Tamahome made a mock sad face. "I could too get into Jonan, if I wanted to. Oh, by the way; Yui, I need to borrow your notes from the part of today's lesson that I slept through."
Everyone pulled an anime fall. "If you keep sleeping through class then how do expect top even make it through the rest of our school now, let alone get into a school like Jonan?" Yui asked the boy.
Tamahome ignored his friends comment and quickly got up, "Okay, I gotta go to cram school, I'll se you guys later!" he yelled as she dashed out to door.
"So that was an interesting dream you had in class today. What could have possible made you hit out teacher upside the head with a desk?" Yui asked as she flipped through the pages of a book in library.
Tamahome shook his head, "Don't ask. I've been up late studying for the exams lately."
Yui sighed and shook her head, "Yeah, well you better take it easy or you'll end up killing our teacher next time. Tamahome just grinned widely and turned back to the book, accidentally knocking his pen off the table.
"Damn it." he sighed as he got up to go retrieve the pen that had rolled down the isle behind him.
Picking it up he glanced over at the sign on the door at the end between the two shelves of books.
Do Not Enter. Restricted Private Library were the words scrawled across the sign.
"Tamahome come on, let's go. Cram school's gonna start soon-hey, what's this room?" Yui said as she came up behind him.
As they walked into the room a loud rumble caused the ground to shake, the events earning a small "eeee!" from the two friends.
"What the hell was that? An earthquake?" Tamahome said as he glanced warily around the small restricted room.
A sudden 'thwump' caught his attention, and he turned around to see a book fallen off the shelf.
"These look like the valuable books in the library…we could make a fortune off these!" Tamahome said excited darting back and forth and looking at all the different books.
"Hey, Tamahome, come check this out." Tamahome walked over to Yui.
"The Universe of the Four Gods? What is this?
Tamahome looked at the page and steadily read the translated words, "Herein contains the tale of a young man and his quest to gather the seven constellations of Suzaku together. And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the story's end, the spell contained within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the hero, and grant you your wish. For indeed the moment this page is turned , the story will become reality."
Tamahome stopped reading and looked over to Yui who was crouched beside him looking at the book as well. "So, if you read this book, your wish will come true? Hell yea I'll read it." the boy said with a grin.
Yui cocked an eyebrow, "You're actually buys this b.s. Yeah right and-"
Yui words were cut off as everything began to shake. Yui instantly latched onto Tamahome as they ducked down to avoid the books that seemed to be raining down on the them from the shelves, almost as soon as it had started, it stopped and everything was still again.
Tamahome warily lifted his head, "Yui it looks like it's over. We're fine now."
"Good because that was really-" Yui stopped short. "Um, where are we?" she said almost in a scared voice.
Looking around Tamahome could see that they definitely weren't in the library anymore. In fact it didn't even look like they were in Japan anymore.
Deep set into the horizon, jagged rows of mountains could be seen jutting up from the earth, and all around them, instead of grass and sidewalks, was dirt compacted into makeshift paths. A few barren trees sprinkled the landscape.
Tamahome was jarred out of his thoughts as Yui hit him upside the head, "Did that hurt?"
He glowered at her, "Yes, of course it did!" he yelled, hitting her in return and sending her sprawling onto her back.. He rubbed his head, "Well, if this is a dream then it definitely hurts."
"Gods, where are we?" Yui said, getting frustrated at the lack of knowing where they were.
"Yui, I have no idea. But we sure as hell aren't anywhere I've ever seen before…" Tamahome trailed off as he brought a hand to his forehead to shield the sun as he looked around.
Yui shrill scream made him fling around only to have a dagger positioned right at his jugular. "Yui!"
The men surrounding the girl didn't look to appealing. The seemed to be older, about in their forties and their intentions didn't seem to be the best as they flipped Yui over. "This one's a real jewel," one of the men laughed. "That she is. She'll fetch a great price" The other answered in return.
As dire as the situation was, Tamahome couldn't help but be fascinated by the clothing these men had chosen to adorn. "Uh, nice clothes. Are you guys dancers or something?"
The leader narrowed his eyes at the boy, "You little shit. We're slavers."
"Tamahome! You could help me you know!" Yui screamed over the shoulder of her captor.
"Oh right." Tamahome said nervously as he remembered their situation.
With all the distraction, Tamahome had no trouble shoving the dagger at his neck aside and body slamming the man holding Yui. "Yui! Run!" The man immediately dropped the girl but Tamahome's luck was a little worse for now he had not a dagger, but a very large knife pressed tightly into his throat. "Do you want to die, brat?" the man threatened pressing the blade tighter.
Tamahome waited for the blow of the knife but it didn't come. He opened one eyes as saw a figure with a cloak covering it's face grabbing the man's arm, "Stop it," the figure said in a deathly calm voice.
The man struggled against the grip, "Mind yer own buisne--" his words were cut off as the figure twisted the man's arm into an unnatural position behind his back, getting a reward of snapping bones.
He dropped the man's arm and let him go. "You broke my arm!" the man shouted angrily as his men dragged him away. "C'mon, boss, let's just get outta here."
The figure turned back to Tamahome and Yui. "Are you alright?" The friends nodded lightly.
Tamahome gazed up at the stranger. All he could see were two eyes and the person's forehead. Wait. What's that on his forehead? It's some kind of character….
"Th-thank's so much." Yui managed to stutter out.
"No problem." The figure reached up towards the piece of cloth wrapped around his head and pulled it down to reveal--
"You're a girl!" Tamahome said astonished.
The girl grinned down. "That I am. Before you ask, it's hard to earn respect as a fighter when you're a girl. That's I why I wear this," she said indicating to the cloak wrapped around her form. "Be more careful, by the way. Later," and before either Yui or Tamahome could protest the girl ran off.
"Weird…" Yui said looking after the girl's retreating figure.
Once again another strange rumbling caused the pair panic. Yui gripped Tamahome tightly as the 'earthquake' intensified. "Aieeeeeee!" Yui screamed as everything around them began to fade.
With a hard 'thwump' Tamahome felt his body hit a hard floor. He opened his eyes to see that he was in the library.
"Hey! We're back in the library!" Yui called to him from a few feet away.
"Did we get kicked out?" Looking at the clock Tamahome paled at the time, "Oh great, now I'm gonna miss cram school!"
"Who's in here!" a loud voice called out as the door was flung open. "Get out now! The sign says Do Not Enter! Can't you read!"
"Uh, sorry…" They said in unison as they slunk out of the forbidden room and out of the library.
"Ok. There are only two months left until you must take your entrance exams. This is where it gets harder and harder. You will have to work for this, so in the end will you be laughing or crying? The choice is up to you…"
Tamahome drifted off into his thoughts as his cram teacher rambled on. That was almost to wild to be a dream. Everything seemed so real. Maybe I' just seeing things cause of my lack of sleep. Not.
Smack.
Tamahome winced at looked up to his teacher who had hit him to get his attention. "Not only are you late, but on top of that you decided to drift off into dream land too? Hoe do you possible expect to get into Jonan acting like this? You have to be in the top 75th percentile or you won't even get a second chance. You must realize that only 30 percent of the student who apply are admitted."
Tamahome rolled his eyes as the teacher walked away….always the same speech.
Tamahome sat at his desk in his room. Dinner tonight was horrible. How am I ever going to tell Mom that Yotsubadai is where I really want to go? She has her hopes set on me getting into Jonan. 'You'll do it for me right?' Gods, she always gets me with that line.
Tamahome put his head down on his hands, heaving a sigh. That girl, from my dream. It was weird but she had the character for 'demon' written on her forehead in kanji, I wonder why. She was actually really pretty…
"Hey Tamahome! Let's go to the library again after school. I can't get that book off my mind, I think we should go look at it at least once more." Tamahome looked over at Yui from his desk as the final bell of the day rang.
"Wish I could, but I really gotta do well on this test so I'm going to the extra cram school tonight." If only Mom hadn't made such a big deal about getting in last night then I could tell her I wanna go to Yotsubadai.
Tamahome walked down the street looking at the people he passed. Sighing heavily he looked at all the couples that were out despite the cold temperatures. Pulling his coat tighter he continued to make his way back to his house. Damn, I'm so tired, I could hardly pay attention in cram school.
Tamahome opened the door, welcoming the blast of heat that hit his face, "I'm home." he called out to whoever was there.
"Tamahome! Where have you been? I've been worrying about you!" Tamahome stopped and watched as his mother came hurrying from the kitchen.
He opened his mouth to respond but was cut off, "You're off seeing a girl aren't you?"
"No I-" He began to protest but was cut off again.
"Why would do this? With your exams coming up too! Did you even go to cram school tonight?
"Mom just let me--"
"No. You listen to me. There is no way you'll ever get into Jonan at this rate. What will the neighbors say? Think about my reputation--"
"Damnit! I don't want to go Jonan! You're the one that wants me to, you. I'm tired of doing this because you want it!" Tamahome yelled back but was cut off by a sudden force hitting his face. He'd been slapped.
He hung his head, "I can't deal with this right now…" he said, turning and dashing down the hallway.
"Tamahome!" He could hear his mother calling after him but he kept going.
"I'm home!" Keisuke called out as he walked in the front door. Slam. Tamahome knocked Keisuke out of the way and walked out the front door, slamming it behind him.
"Tamahome!" His mother called reaching the door as it slammed in her face.
God, no matter what I want, I keep on studying. I did it for you, to make you happy, now look where it's go me.
Tamahome stopped running. How'd I end up at the library? Tamahome walked in quietly. No one's here…I wonder if Yui ever ended up coming today…
Tamahome looked up and found himself opening the door to the restricted section. Paying no mind to the sign he opened the door and walked inside to see the Universe of the Four Gods lying right where he and Yui had left it the other day.
The book's still open…I might as well read some more of it. Getting away from Mom for a bit will do me some good…..So, let's see. If I read this book to the end then I getta wish, hmm. Yeah right. But what the hell, why not? I really do wish my problems would go away though, that I wouldn't have to concern myself so much with the stupid exams…
Tamahome looked down to begin reading but what was written caught his eye. "A strong young woman who bore the character for demon on her forehead saved the…" He kept reading. What the hell? How is everything that happened in my dream written right here!
Suddenly a large flash of light began radiating from the book and Tamahome felt a breeze stir up from no where. "Wh-what?" he stuttered out as he shielded his eyes from the bright light.
The book, now laying on the floor with no Tamahome in sight, suddenly produced more print.
"And thus, the young man of legends opened the door to another world, and likewise began out tale."