"Ok Andy! That's enough for today!" Andy Won wiped the sweat from his forehead and stepped out of the recording room and headed out to the parking lot.
"Andy!" the model grimaced as his current girlfriend, Crystal, ran over to him...loaded with shopping bags of course. "How was the shoot today?" she asked more out of wanting to know how much money he had made then actual concern.
"Fine, Crissy." he said opening the car door for her. The ride home was especially trying for Andy because Crystal was going on and on (in an annoying high pitched voice) about all the stuff she had bought today (with his money). Andy had a feeling that this relationship wasn't going to last much longer. He was right. He broke up with her that night.
Andy tossed his car keys on the table and pressed the play button on his answering machine as he got undressed.
BEEP. Hey Andy. It's me, Nick. Call me back...AND I MEAN IT THIS TIME!!!!
BEEP. ANDY!!!! I MEAN IT!!!
BEEP. ANDY!!! Do you WANT me to get angry!?!?!? Come OOOON!!! I rented a movie and I don't want to watch it by myseeeelf!!!
The 18 year old model grinned as he heard his friend's message on his machine. He and Nick had been friends ever since high school....where they were both teased for there rather feminine looks. In fact it had been Nick who had introduced him to his agent in the first place. He sighed. Ever since his career had picked up he hadn't had much time for his friends...most of all Nick.
He sat down on one of the couches and dialed 1 on is speed dial.
RING. RING.
"Hello?"
"Hey Nick."
"ANDY!!!" Andy held the phone away from his ear while Nick yelled at him for not calling him back.
"Sorry..."
"It's Ok! So are you coming over tonight?"
"Yeah. What are we watching?"
"Duh duh duh duh..FUSHIGI YUUGI!!!!"
Andy groaned at the prospect of having to watch another of Nick's weird Anime tapes. Last time Nick had made him sit through something called "Ranma 1/2" and he thought that it was one of the most insipid things he had ever watched. A guy turning into a girl!?!?
Nick had been going on for weeks about this "Fushigi Yuugi" thing and was now forcing Andy to have the "Experience".
"Oh. I broke up with Crystal."
"Good. I never liked her."
"You don't like any of my girlfriends."
"That's because you spend more time with THEM then you do with ME."
"Hey, I'll tell you what. If you fall into Jusenkyo and turn into a girl I'll be more then happy to."
"Why Andy! I do believe you have made an Anime related joke!"
Andy groaned. "I'm gonna get changed and come over, ok?"
"Alright! Bye!"
"Bye"
Andy sighed and tossed his remaining clothes on the floor and proceeded to his shower.
"HEY! I HAVE SURGE!!!!" Nick pulled Andy into his small apartment before Andy even had a chance to knock. Andy did not like it when Nick had Surge. Nick was scary when he had Surge. Andy usually couldn't get home when Nick had Surge. "And now that you're here we can watch lots of Fushigi Yuugi...LOTS AND LOTS OF FUSHIGI YUUGI!!!!"
"Oh. I am so thrilled."
"Sarcasm suits you well Andy, dear."
Nick skipped--literally--over to the VCR and popped in a tape (out of the many he had stacked up on the VCR)."Okay! Now be quiet! It's starting!"
Andy watched the opening sequence and groaned. It was another one of those Shoujo things. There seemed to be more androgynous guys in this one then he cared to watch. Despite that though by the end of the first tape he had a look on his face which barely resembled interest.
Nick smiled to himself as he snuck a peek at Andy. It was the third tape and Andy seemed hooked. "So who's your favorite character?"
"Miaka." Andy answered his eyes not leaving the screen. Nick thought he would say that.
"Uh huh. But I like Tamahome."
"Tamahome!? Are you nuts, man??"
Nick looked surprised. "I'm only joking! Hotohori all the way for me!"
"That's better. Now Shut up. I'm trying to watch this."
"Come to think of it you do look kinda like Hotohori."
"I do not look like a cartoon character."
It was 3:00 am when Andy and Nick decided to call it quits for the night. They had stopped on the tape just before The Suzaku Shichiseishi were about to call Suzaku. Andy hated to admit it but he really couldn't wait until next Saturday where he and Nick had decided to meet at his own house to watch Fushigi Yuugi on his big screen.
"Come to think of it you do look kinda like Hotohori...."
What Nick had said to him re-entered his mind on the drive home. It was true that Andy was rather feminine looking--although not to the point of total androgeny that Konan's emperor was--and they had the same hair (almost. The colors were a little off) , the same eyes, and even....
Andy shook his head. He was NOT going to entertain Nick's weird fantasy that he was an anime character. Not even for a minute. He sighed as he thought of Nick's last anime obsession. "Tenkuu no Escaflowne". It had been so hard getting all of the blonde dye out when Nick wanted to see if Andy had looked like Allen Schezar. He never had been able to get his hair back to it's original color.
Nick sighed as he flopped back onto his couch. Subtle hints weren't obviously going to work with Andy. He rewound his tapes and closed his eyes. Nick wanted Andy to remember so much. Unconciously his hand drifted up to his chest--where the character "Willow" was glowing faintly.
The phone was ringing. Nick looked at it trying to decide on what to do. He opted for picking it up.
"Hello?"
"NICK!!!"
"Cathy!!" Nick smiled remembering that his cousin was coming down for the weekend.
"Hey. Still coming?"
"Yeah. Do I get to meet your friend???"
"Um hum."
"Ah, the famous Andy who I hear SOOOO much about."
"You'll like him. Trust me."
"Uh huh sure I will. Hey, I gotta go pack, k?"
"K."
"See you tomorrow then!"
"Bye. Love you."
"Love you too. See ya!"
Nick hung up and surveyed his apartment. It was clean....except for the boxers thrown over the couch, the trash piling up in the kitchen, the anime tapes strewn about the room. He sighed as he tried to put the house into some semblance of neatness before his cousin came over.
"Nick?" Nick turned around when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He smiled when he saw that it was his cousin.
"Cathy!" he pulled her into a nearly bonecrushing hug and grabbed her suitcases. For such a slim and effeminate man he was certainly strong. "C'mon! Andy's limo is out front."
"Limo? Boy am I special."
"Yeah. He took time off of work just for this." he winked at her as they exited the airport.
"You must be Cathy." a smooth tenor greeted her as a man stepped out of the limo. He had on a pair of Raybans and a black pair of pants with a grey t-shirt that (that read in small black letters "too sexy") "I'm Andy. Andy Won."
"Cathy Lai." he took her hand and kissed it causing her to blush. Nick rolled his eyes as the chaffeur took the suitcases from his and put them in the truck
"If you're done SHAMLESSLY FLIRTING with MY cousin can we go!?"
"Of course." Andy smiled at Cathy before signaling for his chaffeur to go. Cathy couldn't quite place it but she could have sworn that she had seen Andy somewhere before.
Andy dropped Nick and Cathy back off at Nick's apartment and took off shortly after saying that he had to get back to work.
"Hmmmm. So what do you think?"
"Nice eyes. Cute body. I like him."
Nick raised an eyebrow and looked back at Cathy. "I meant about my apartment, but let's return to that later." Cathy blushed and suddenly found the ceiling very interesting. "do da dooo...oh would you look at that 'Oh My Goddess poster'. " Nick hovered over her with wide eyes. "YOU LIKE ANDY!!! YOU LIKE ANDY!!!!"
"I DO NOT!!!!"
"YES YOU DOOOOO!!!!!"
"I do not!!"
"Ok. You don't."
"Thank you."
"You really like my Oh my Goddess poster, though?"
Cathy gave Nick an odd look.
"Wanna do something fun?" he asked suddenly producing a key from his pocket.
"Turn to the left. Now the Right. Pouty, baby. Give me pouty!!"
Andy followed the vague directions given to him by the camera man until he announced the shoot was done and Andy could go home.
"Hard day, baby?" Andy smiled at Heather, his brand spankin-new girlfriend.
"Yeah." he smiled as she massaged his shoulders kissing him softly on the cheek. "You really know how to make guy feel special....."
She grinned slyly at him. "I can make a guy feel a LOT more then that."
"Oh really?"
"Shall I show you?"
"Please don't! We have impressionable young people here!!" Cathy hid her face and Andy suddenly regreted giving Nick a key to his apartment. Heather frowned as she saw Nick. She reeeeally didn't like him. The way he clung onto Andy like a leech. (not to mention the fact she was real jealous that he would make a better looking girl then her)
"Andy. If you do not remember we have an appointment together." He held up a bag obviously full of anime tapes. Andy sighed. He hated to ditch Heather like this but he had been neglecting Nick as of late....
"Sorry, Heather...I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah. " she got up and left, although not before sneering "have fun with your BOYFRIEND"
"Um. Ok. Akward situtation. smile. nod. back away slowly." Cathy said as she recalled her friend's advice in situations like this.
Andy looked back at Nick who was oblivious to what he had just interrupted and was pulling out his tapes and stacking them on the TV. On the down side Heather was mad at him. On the plus side he could watch more Fushigi Yuugi. He plopped onto the couch next to Cathy while Nick sat on his other side.
a few hours later...
"Ah!!! Oh no!!!" Cathy hid her eyes as Ashitare lunged for Nuriko. The lithe seishi dodged and jumped and..
A sense of foreboding filled Andy before he even saw what Ashitare did. Unconciously a tear slid down his cheek and the look on his face suggested that he was reliving some bad memory. Thankfully neither Nick or Cathy noticed before he could wipe it away. Imagine...him...Andy Won...crying over a cartoon.
"I HATE this episode." Nick muttered. Andy looked back at him...then at Nuriko...then at Nick...
"Hey. Did you know that you look kinda like Nuriko....."
"Well that was cold." Nick was secretly jumping for joy on the inside. Andy's hand went up to his neck which he could feel heating up and Nick's hand went to his chest. 'Willow' was glowing brightly on Nick and 'Star' was glowing brightly on Andy.
"Nuriko....." Andy whispered
"Hotohori...."
"You both are nuts." Cathy broke the trance and they both looked back at her.
"Umm..Cathy....can you see this mark?" Nick pulled aside part of his shirt to reveal....nothing.
"WHAT!?!?" Nick looked down to where his symbol was just glowing moments before. He none to gently grabbed Andy to see his neck. Nothing was there as well.
"Don't DO that!! You'll leave a mark!!"
"Yep. Yer both nuts." Cathy said nodding her head sagely. "Look. As much as I would LOOOOVE for Hotohori and Nuriko to be real...." she trailed off looking at Nick and Andy who were currently grabbing and hitting at eachother. "Although...." she said looking closely at the two men "You two reeaally look like Hotohori and Nuriko...."
Just then the phone rang and Nick hopped up off the couch to answer it leaving Andy and Cathy alone on the couch.
"I swear your cousin is insane...." Andy sighed massaging his temple with one of his fingers.
"Yeah....he's a bit out there. But I still love him."
"I do too." Andy suddenly sat up and ran into the kitchen realizing what he just did. "NICK!!! WHO is on the PHONE!?!?!?"
"No one at all." he said innocently as he hung up the phone. Elsewhere Heather sat fuming in her car holding her car phone in one hand.
"So what do you guys wanna do??" Andy asked as they all sat on the couch..the need to watch Fushig Yuugi no longer apparent.
"How about...." Nick looked around "TWISTER!!!"
Andy brightened up visibly. "I LOVE that game!!"
Cathy looked at the two men seeing that it would be absolutely futile to argue. "Fine."
"I CALL SPINNER!!!!" Nick (in his overly-genki way) dove for the spin board as if he had some sort of opposition.
"Okay....." Andy looked at Cathy with a 'Oh my god I think he's lost it' look.
"C'mon! Take of you shoes and let's go before I make you play Strip Twister or something!!!" With that threat he spread out the mat and sat on the couch with the spinner.
Cathy and Andy stood on opposite sides of the Twister mat sizing eachother up. Andy had the whole height advantage going for him....but Cathy was sure she could beat him.
"Left hand BLUE!!!" They both reached over as soon as Nick called out the command. Cathy ended up under Andy.
"Right foot YELLOW!!" Andy slipped and fell on top of Cathy.
"Owowowowowowow!!!andywillyoupleasegetoffofme!?!?!!?"
"Sorry!!" he said sheepishly and moved...only to fall over again. Nick chuckled.
"Ok, I see you're falling head over heels for my cousin!"
"Haha. Remind me to laugh later." Andy said dryly straightening out his clothes.
"We'd better get home." Nick said yawning. "See ya Andy."
"Bye Andy!"
"FINE!! DON'T stay around to help clean."
"Ok! We won't!" Nick grabbed Cathy by the hand and they slammed the door leaving Andy in a pile of Twister, Couch cushions, and a....FY TAPE!?!?!? He looked at the cover...it was called: The Eighth Warriors. Nick must have left it here. For lack of anything else to do he sat on the couch and popped the tape in the VCR. How odd. The opening sequence was different. A silver haired girl was staring down at and a black haired girl (who looked like Cathy) from a wall. Then it panned out into a view of Konan-koku.
The Episode was called: Suzaku Hachiseishi, Tsuki
Andy watched entranced. The "Hachiseishi" was apparently quite powerful.
The phone rang and Andy stopped the tape walking into the kitchen to grab it.
"Hello?"
"Hi!" Andy cringed. He didn't think Heather would call so soon.
"Hi...Heather."
"Look! I just wanted you to know that I forgive you and you can pick me up at 4:00 tomorrow!"
"Ok."
"Oh, and Andy. I don't want you hanging out with that 'Nick' guy anymore. I don't think he's good for you."
"Um..Excuse me. But Nick is my best friend!"
Heather practically exploded. "IT'S EITHER HIM OR ME ANDY WON!!!"
"Well Nick and I are going to be somewhere at 4:00 so I suggest you arrange for another ride." Andy hung up the phone and dug around his cabinets for some asprin. Life was becoming increasingly difficult. He turned on the radio and tuned in to his favorite station and popped a few asprin into his mouth.
I never thought I'd die alone
I laughed the loudest who'd have known
I traced the cord back to the wall
No wonder it was never plugged in at all
I took my time
I hurried up
The choice was mine
I didn't think enough
I'm to depressed
to go on
You'll be sorry
when I'm gone
He smiled as he listened to Blink 182's "Adam's Song". Morbidly he began to think who WOULD miss him when he was gone. Nick would. Andy frowned. That was it. He really didn't have any REAL friends besides Nick. Lowering his head onto the counter he fell into a troubled sleep.
Andy was aware to someone poking at him.
"GoawayIneedmysleep." he muttered swatting at the insitent poking. It got worse. Andy suddenly was concious enough to realize that he was supposed to be alone in the apartment.
"Hey." Nick said when Andy opened his eyes "It's 12:00 pm"
"Noon? It is tomorrow already!?!?"
"Yeah. You're boss called me to say that you had a shoot and hour ago."
"Shit."
"I told him you were sick." Nick smiled "and that you were all bloated and hideous!!"
"You didn't.." Andy groaned
"I did."
Andy frowned remembering his thoughts before he went to sleep and lowered his head back on the counter. "I'm depressed Nick."
"Why?"
"I have no friends."
Nick looked at Andy like he was nuts. "What do you mean you have no friends!?!?!!?"
"I don't. Except you that is."
"What about Mr. Marcino?"
"He's my boss. He sees me as a way of making money. He's not my friend."
"What about....um....oh shit."
"See?"
"Well, you'll always have me. I'll be your friend even if you get old, fat, and ugly!!"
Andy looked at Nick like he had said something forbidden.
"Which of course WON'T happen!!!" Nick said cheerfully giving Andy a hug.
"I am FAR to handsome!"
"Uh huh...."
Andy looked at Nick smiling. "Thank you."
"Uh...I hate to break up our really gay moment but I told Cathy we'd take her out for ice-cream."
"WE!?!?"
"You're my friend. So yes. WE!!!" Andy grumbled something about a catch and grabbed his car keys.
"Oh, and Andy....TAKE A SHOWER AND GET CHANGED!!!!"
"AHHHHH!!!" Andy looked in the mirror and screamed berating himself on the way to his room for his appearence.
Andy stood in the shower and let the cool water run over him as he mulled over the dream in his mind. He had known that girl. Tsuki. The name kept repeating itself in his mind.
He toweled off and met Nick in the kitchen.
"We going or what?"
Nick looked Andy over and grinned. "Now THERE'S the Andy I know!"
The two walked out to Nick's car and drove to Nick's apartment to pick up Cathy who was now probably bored out of her mind.
That, as they soon found out, was EXACTLY the case and they soon found out the danger of Cathy's boredom.
"HOW did she talk us into this again?" Nick asked Andy as they wandered around the mall following Cathy.
"I dunno. She's your cousin."
Nick looked at his watch. "Oooh! Sale at Macy's now!" he looked back at Cathy. "I know she wouldn't want to go though..." he looked up imploringly at Andy and the older man had no other choice but to sigh and say "Alright..." Nick smiled and ran out of sight for the sale on what Andy seriously HOPED to be men's wear as he remembered Nick's little crossdressing stint back in high school. He ran to catch up with Cathy.
"Hmmmm? Where'd Nick go?"
"Macy's."
"Sale?"
"Yep."
The two walked in companiable silence until they came to the desired destination. SUNCOASTS VIDEO STORE.......
Nick wasn't back by the time they got out of Suncoast. (Cathy bought FIVE new FY tapes on Andy's request)
"Huh. Wonder what's taking him so long...."
"You know Nick at a sale..." Andy and Cathy sighed and sat on one of the benches.
"Ex-ca-use Me!!" Nick pushed past a group of guys in order to get to his friend and cousin who were currently stuck waiting for him on a bench.
"Oh. So NICE of you to FINALLY show up!!"
"So--rry~~~" he flipped his braid back. "But look at these cutecuteCUTE shoes I got!!"
Cathy's eyebrow twitched. Andy's eyebrow twitched. They both looked like they were about to have a heartattack.
"You are..."
"So queer..."
As they made there way to the parking lot Andy hung back deep in thought. Something was tugging at the back of his mind.
"--LOOK OUT!!!"
Cathy's warning came to late and Andy felt two tons of metal slam into his side.
"Oh shit!" the driver came out of the car to see the now unconcious young man lying in front of his car. "You okay!?!?"
"I-I think you killed him, man." the passenger said stepping out of the car. She looked like she was about to faint.
Nick had now come up and was kneeling next to Andy checking for a pulse. A small stream of blood made it's way down his head.
"Is he breathing!?" Cathy asked anxiously. She turned to the driver of the offending car. "Call an ambulance!!" the man nodded numbly and pulled out his cell phone.
"There's a pulse..." Nick tunred to Cathy "But--But it's very weak!" his eyes were starting to tear up. "We gotta get him to a doctor..."
Andy was floating in a very dark place. "Where am I?" he asked the void. He got no answer seeing as no one else was there but him. Gradually it lightened and hazy images appeared in front of him. As they came into focus he saw that they were mirrors. Seven of them in fact.
Walking up to the first one Andy saw, instead of his own reflection, was the image of a young teal haired man. He recognized him instantly as Tamahome.
"Oh god. What kind of weird dream is this?" He walked over to the next one and saw a man with wild red hair.
A blue haired man with a smiling face.
A tall, gentle, man.
In the fifth one he saw a young boy.
As he came to the sixth mirror the reflection of Nick stared back at him. In the seventh mirror he shouldn't have been surprised at what he saw. His own reflection stared back at him. Although it couldn't have been him, for this man was wearing a long elaborate robe, and his hair was pulled up inside an odd looking hat. There was no mistaking the features, though. On impulse he reached out and touched it. A bright red light surrounded his body and faded into a soft red glow around him. As if his legs were moving on their own accord
he walked into the mirror.
"Heika!!" Andy turned around to see a man coming up to him in a rush, his face pale. Andy didn't see anyone else in the corridor so he assumed the man was talking to him.
"Yes?" Andy had assumed correctly
"The girl and the young man have escaped!"
Andy had no idea what he was talking about.
"We believe that she may be Suzaku no miko." he continued. Andy tuned him out when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. He was wearing the same outfit as the man in the mirror. An odd sensation filled him and he found that he could barely remember what had just happened. It was as if a blanket had just been thrown over him. He was finding it harder and harder to recall people's faces.
"Nick...." he murmered in a daze as the man's face flashed through his mind. Then it left. It was like an unobtainable dream now.
"Heika? Are you alright?"
Emperor Saihitei Seishuku straightened himself and checked in the mirror one more time. "I am alright. I shall take care of the young woman and her friend." he smiled at his advisor and walked away to his chambers. It was as if Andy Won had never existed at all.
Nick looked pleadingly at the doctor. Hoping for some good news.
"He's alive."
Nick sighed with relief.
"But he seems to be in some sort of coma. We're not sure when, or if, he'll wake up."
"Can we see him?" Nick asked with Cathy behind him. The doctor nodded. "Maybe you can bring him back."
Cathy listened to the steady sound of the heart monitor as Nick kneeled by Andy's side talking to him. "Please Andy.....Wake up. For me. Please!!"
"Hotohori?" Emperor Saihitei, Suzaku Seishi Hotohori, smiled at the black haired girl and motioned her over. Tsuki ran up to Konan's emperor and looked towards where he was.
"Who's she?"
"Suzaku no miko...." he said in reverence.
"I see..." Tsuki said a bit jealous.
A month later.....(In Konan Time)
Hotohori lie in his bed staring up at the canopy. Miaka loved Tamahome. He had hoped that Suzaku no miko would end his loneliness. Miaka loved Tamahome. Not him. It surprised him though that he felt no bitterness towards his fellow seishi. "I wish...." he closed his eyes. A strange sensation filled him. It was warm and pleasant at first....then it felt like tiny bolts of electricity were going through him. When he opened his eyes Nuriko was staring down at him with unshed tears in his eyes.
"N-Nuriko?" Hotohori asked. Why was he dressed in such odd clothes??? "Tsuki? You're here too???" he looked at Cathy.
"Andy! You're alright!" Nuriko hugged him tightly nearly cutting off his circulation.
"Nuriko! I c--can't breathe!!" Nick released Andy and looked at him.
"Andy...what did you call me?"
"Nuriko."
"What's your name?" Nick asked carefully.
"Hotohori. Nuriko, what's wrong with you?" Nick and Cathy exchanged glances.
"Why am I dressed like this!? Why are you dressed like that!????" Hotohori looked around. "Where's Miaka??"
Nick was torn. He didn't know whether or not to be happy or afraid. Unlike him (In which Nuriko and Nick were one), it didn't seem like Hotohori co-existed with Andy.
So that was it.
Suzaku wanted them back.
Cathy's eyes widened as "Star" and "Willow" began to glow on Andy and Nick. The world seemed to spin and all she could focus on was the glowing character for "moon" on her arm in red kanji.
The light filled the room and as it faded there was nothing left but the sound of a heart monitor going dead. Three of Suzaku's children had returned to him....and the rest were soon to follow.
The End!
:P ok, sux majorly but oh WELL!
