Hojo-kun Visits the Sengoku Jidai - Prologue
Written by Kylara
Japanese-English Vocabulary, because Aino-san made me feel guilty, is at the end. :D Thanks to her for reminding me. This is one of those brainless fluff fics I do every once in awhile so that I don't drown in angst. It's summer break, damn it, and I'm going to well make use of it. That is, when I'm not sleeping… At any rate, I wrote some of this fanfic after a hiatus of some month and a half, so my style of writing has changed. Again. ^_~ Believe it or not, the thought pattern that goes through this fic is actually how I act every single day. Be glad – very glad - that you do not know me in Real Life. If you do, have my pity. Although it won't do you any good. ::chuckles::
This fanfic is actually an IY-Kagome romance – partly. After all, the romance delves from the man himself, HOJO! … whose last/first name I have to make up since he doesn't seem to have one. o.O I usually write very canon fanfics, but – heck – not much is known about Hojo anyway, other than that he's extremely dense. (Which is why I sympathize with him.) Think of this as an extremely extreme Hojo. If he's slightly weird in the manga, he's really weird in this fanfic. Anyway, I never do caricatures of characters unless it's a comedy fic, so that's my excuse. :Þ So there, serenitynendymion!
BIG, VERY BIG, VERY VERY BIG, thanks to Queen, who was gracious enough to beta read this fanfic and offer compliments, laughing, and criticism.
Standard Disclaimers Apply
~
Hojo sighed. The trials and tribulations were wearing dearly on him. For starters, his dog was sick, the poor little dear. Then, his hamster had eaten her last brood (the poor little darlings). Then, his mother's car had broken down, leaving Hojo to be the one to push it (his poor little mother!). And, adding insult to injury, he had only gotten a ninety-one on his last math test! How could he ever be worthy of Higurashi at that rate?
Ah, yes. Higurashi Kagome, the beautiful goddess of his school – and, pitiably, so ill, so often! Wait, no, he corrected himself quickly: not pitiably, for one doesn't pity goddesses. But, nevertheless, it seemed that once she recovered from one sickness, she'd fall ill again! The horror of it overwhelmed him at times. What if she died? Some of the diseases she had gotten were just too horrible for words! Oh, gods, the suffering she must go through, each and every time! Whatever she must have done in her past life to deserve such things could not be this horrible.
Although the rheumatism was, he admitted, a bit weird. While researching therapies for the illnesses Higurashi had (to buy presents for her, naturally – he was running out of ideas), it said that one – rheumatism, for instance - was generally in adults of a more "mature" age. But, of course, there was a good explanation, he had concluded long ago.
Higurashi was a very mature person!
So smart… so intelligent… so pretty… so grown up for her age… so determined to smile for him, even through her pain… yes, it was all the true sign of maturity, hence the rheumatism that had cursed her blessed fifteen-year-old bones.
She was his every dream! Braver than Momotaro, more beautiful than Kaguya! The possessor of a siren's voice! Oh, indeed, his beloved was perfection incarnate!
"Mama, it's okay!" he heard, in a distant corner of his mind. "I have enough food! I'm late already, and Inuyasha's going to just barge here and pick me up if I don't go! Itekimasu!"
What was that? Hojo thought with a start. Was that the sound of the thus-mentioned voice? But she had contracted beriberi just yesterday…
Hojo smiled through his happy tears. Yes, miracles did happen. Higurashi was better!
And, completely ignoring (or, more likely, forgetting) what she had said ten seconds past, he gazed up at her beautiful form. It was rare that he was allowed to see her when she was ill – usually her grandfather accosted him before he had gone halfway up the steps. She was now crossing the jinja, he noted briefly, her school uniform fluttering beautifully, elegantly around her, even while lugging that impossibly large yellow pack. He began to wave, but Kagome, obviously unable to see him due to the strain of the pack, slipped through the doors of the well house, sliding them shut behind her with a pretty little slam.
His hand dropping down disappointedly, he wondered if she was going somewhere… to the hospital? Through the well house, of course.
He contemplated life for a moment.
Then, he had an epiphany.
"I'll surprise Higurashi!" he exclaimed brightly, stars and fireworks flashing around him. "She'll be in the well house, of course…" and, with all the stealth of a pregnant cow, snuck up to the well house. All this, of course, while ignoring why his beloved would be taking a shortcut to anywhere through the well house.
He slid open the doors just in time to see Kagome jump off of the wooden barrier around the well, straight into the deep, dark depths.
"Oh, no!" he yelled frantically, and then dashed to the side of the well, clasping its sides tightly. "Higurashi!" But his voice echoed off into the darkness, and Kagome was nowhere to be seen.
"She… she must've fallen down all the way down the well and gotten hurt…" Images of an unconscious, horribly injured and completely helpless Kagome (all, of course, while maintaining her elegance), suddenly swamped his mind. "I have to help her somehow!" he exclaimed, romantic fervor flooding his veins.
And so, in the brilliant manner of all males belonging to the species sapiens of the genus homo, Hojo threw himself, head first, right after her.
Never mind that if she had actually been prone and injured at the bottom of the well, he would have squashed her.
And never mind that he had no spiritual power, no Shikon no kakera, or even any youkai blood and-or powers.
Because he went straight through the well anyway.
~ prologue no owari
Author's Notes:
I wasn't bored when I wrote this, although one might think I was, considering the a) incredibly serious tone of this, b) the fantastic prose, and c) the incredibly original portrayal of Hojo in a light never before shone over him.
Yes, I'm being sarcastic.
This is going to be very simply pure humor & WAFF, between IY and Kagome, perhaps a side of Sango-Miroku (they're just too much fun to ignore – and if I did, I'd be a disgrace to the Sangomiroku list ^^) No TAFF. That's for my other three million fanfics. These chapters will also be pretty short, mainly because I am really tired of writing long fanfics right now, plus school's started, and I'm overburdened by work (and the recent developments in the IY manga are making continuing WIB very difficult). Uh, Tadaima is dying. .
Bear with me on my Hojo assumptions. I'm overdoing certain aspects of him, such as his naïve-ness, and his adoration of Kagome, but then where would the fun be otherwise?
And believe it or not, I have a real reason as to why he can go through the well.
Cultural References
Momotaro: Japanese folk-tale hero who was the size of a thumb (or was it peach? Don't remember :x). He ended up killing a dragon (while he was this short, mind you), and married the princess that was to be killed by it. He was yes, very brave. Although I've heard this story many times (I love folklore and mythology), where did I get the real inspiration for it? :D Who here has watched Flame of Recca? The Kuu battle! AHAHAHAHAHA.
Kaguya: Considering that the Sailor Moon S movie is the first place I heard this name, it's pretty pathetic that I didn't realize that when I mentioned it. As Queen reminded me, no, she's not the topless snow dancer from the movie. That's a cultural reference to another Japanese folk-tale, that of the beautiful girl, Kaguya-hime. She, was, er, from the moon. Very famous folk-tale, but depressing enough that it never became one of my favorites. She was chiefly known for being incredibly beautiful, intelligent, and not human. (She sent suitors on quests… one of those quests was to – guess what? Get the skin of a fire-rat!) The story is to Japan what Beauty & the Beast is to, say, the USA. (The actual fairy tale, not the Disney version, although there are quite enough versions of Kaguya to make the two easily comparable…) On that note, mangaproject is translating a series called Kaguya Hime… yes, based on that same legend… it gives me the chills…
Vocabulary
Shikon no Kakera – "Shikon" being the 'four souls' that you ought to know by now, and 'kakera' being 'shards'.
Itekimasu – what you traditionally say as you're leaving your house. Anyone still staying at home says, "Itadarashai," and when you come home, you say 'tadaima', and they say, "Okaeri [nasai]." Yeah, uh-huh. ^_^ A more thorough explanation is in my fanfic, "Tadaima." Hint, hint.
Hamsters do occasionally eat their babies. I do not know why. Let's not get into the details.
First rough draft completed April 2, 2002 [yah, took me awhile to post, huh]
REVIEW, PLEASE, OR I WILL EAT YOU. Okay, not really, but reviewing makes the world go round 3 chu!
Kylara@haneoka.net
http://haneoka.net/kyumi/
My fanfiction site with my friend, Yumi-chan! ^^ I have more stuff there, always, than on fanfiction.net…