Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yugi or theEnergizer Bunny. However I do own my character Vikki.
Summary: Life for Taka and Miaka is pretty ordinary, but when Keisuke's friend finds the lost book, they find themselves on the other side of the adventure. Why does she have such a strong connection to the story? Which one of them is she supposed to save?
Chapter 1: Hello there, Coach.
Vikki sat under the shade of a large tree waiting for her next door neighbor's daughter to finish softball practice. Vikki had graduated high school almost a year ago and was currently in major need of a real job, not to mention, in desperate need of money. If she didn't make enough money by this November, she could kiss her first semester of college goodbye. This tragedy led to her to current employment position, babysitting the sweet lonely child of a nasty wicked family.
Parisse, pronounced as Paris, was not a normal child. For one, why couldn't her mother just leave the spelling of her name as P-A-R-I-S? Second, she could be the sweetest thing in the whole world until she wanted something, that's when all hell broke loose. Third, Vikki couldn't stand Parisse's sister Tulvonda. They say a child can experience emotional trauma when children pick on them at school, which in turn, can mold the child into the person they become. Every time Vikki thought of that life lesson, Tulvonda's face appeared in her mind. Could you imagine going through elementary school with a name like Tulvonda? It's quite obvious that people like Mrs. Lefebvre shouldn't have children, or at least shouldn't be given the privilege of naming them. Going through life with the name Tulvonda is just plain cruel, but so freakin' hysterical.
"She's over there, Coach!" Vikki saw Parisse half dragging, who Vikki assumed to be, her worn-out coach. She had to admit, he was not an unattractive man. He had inviting brown eyes, short dark blondish hair, and a soft smile graced his lips. He appeared to be just as exhausted as she was after taking care of Parisse. "Vikki, Coach wanted me to introduce you to him." Vikki glanced at him. His cheeks were slightly flushed with embarrassment. He kind of reminded her of an awkward high school boy, the way he self-consciously looked away from her. She smiled thoughtfully, finding his reaction humorous.
"It's nice to meet you, Coach. I guess I don't have to introduce myself." Vikki watched curiously as the man hesitantly seated himself down next to her. He turned to her, sticking his hand out to shake hers.
"Please, call me Keisuke." She saw his confidence flare up as he looked in her eyes and kept her gaze. His hand held hers in a gentle handshake, one that unnervingly seemed to never end. She started to feel a little uncomfortable, like she was a butterfly being dissected and observed. She smoothly pulled her hand away, hoping not to have hurt Keisuke's feelings.
"Keisuke, when's our next game?" Keisuke finally tore his gaze away from the beautiful woman to the small girl observing him, he quirked his eyebrow in amusement at hearing Parisse calling him by his first name.
"It's next Saturday. Parisse, you still have to call me Coach. Only the adults can call me Keisuke." Parisse pouted, Keisuke turned his attentions to Vikki once more. She had shoulder length golden-brown hair, her eyes were a deep shade of chestnut, and her plump rosy lips called to him. Her skin was slightly flushed from being in the heat all morning, but he could tell she had a naturally rosy glow. "Are you coming to the game on Saturday?" Keisuke hoped he didn't sound too eager, but the urge to see her again overwhelmed him. He'd seen her over the last couple of months, bringing Parisse to her practices and games, but didn't have the nerve to approach her until today.
"Yeah, I think so. I'm almost positive I'm coming with Mrs. Lefebvre and Tulvonda." Vikki said, patting Parisse on the head affectionately. "I guess its good they're coming. I mean, when was the last time you saw them here?" She felt bad for Parisse, her parents and sister never really spent any time with her. She was a handful, an incredibly big handful, but it was only because she wanted attention.
"You're right. I actually don't even remember meeting Mr. or Mrs. Lefebvre, I didn't even know Parisse had a sister." Keisuke stated, his fingers stroking his chin pensively. Parisse, bored listening to the adults, ran off to play with a few of her friends from the softball team.
"Oh yeah, she has a sister all right. Tulvonda is one of the most stuck-up, hormone-ruled, hostile teenage girls you will ever meet." Vikki glanced over at Keisuke, his eyes wide with shock or dread, she couldn't really tell. "You won't be giving me that look when you meet her." She laughed, the tension between them now a thing of the past.
"Why exactly are you babysitting in the middle of the day, don't you have school?" He wanted to take back his question the minute her gaze shifted from his face to the grass. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you, you just look so young and I thought you'd be in school." Any trace of interest or amusement had left her features, she now sat by the tree in silence. Keisuke now felt like smacking his head against it repeatedly, he could be so stupid sometimes.
"It's not that I don't want to go to school, it's that I need the money to go to school." She replied, shifting her position on the soft grass to shake off the feeling of melodrama from her sob story.
"Your parents aren't helping you pay for college?" He could tell she wasn't the type of girl who liked sympathy, so he tried asking the question as professionally as he could.
"It's not that, I'm a pretty determined person. My dad doesn't really help out a lot with the bills and my mother has like a billion other economic responsibilities. Don't get me wrong, I know my mom adores me, but I want to help her, not cause her more stress." Vikki blushed, trying to hide her face. She couldn't believe she had just spilt her guts to a complete stranger. He continued to stare at her, not saying anything about her change in color or how her story made him feel, and she was grateful for that. "It's starting to get pretty dark, so I'm going to take Parisse back home. It was nice talking to you, Coach." Vikki got up, brushing the dirt off her jeans, and headed towards the little girl still playing. 'How does she still have so much energy after so many hours of running?' She thought to herself laughing.
"Its Keisuke," The man still sitting under the large tree said grinning.
"What?" Vikki asked, she grabbed an unwilling Parisse and started helping her clean the loose dirt from her face and uniform.
"Don't call me Coach, call me Keisuke." He said, approaching Parisse and Vikki. "Keep up the good work, sport. See ya Saturday, Vikki." Keisuke patted Parisse's head, messing up her ponytail much to her annoyance, and winked at Vikki before continuing his walk towards the field.
"I think he likes you." Parisse stated, fixing her ponytail with an irritated expression on her face.
"I think you're right." Vikki licked her lips nervously, Keisuke seemed like a really nice guy, but she didn't think she felt the connection as strongly as he did.
"What are you going to do now?" Parisse asked "innocently", her eyes filled with curiosity and shrewdness.
"I'm going to take you to your house and then I'm going home so I can go to sleep to regenerate my energy from spending the day with you, my little Energizer Bunny." Parisse rolled her eyes, Vikki was not about to tell a five year old girl who she babysat what she planned to do with her love life, not that she really had much of a love life to begin with. Besides, she had only known Keisuke for one afternoon and she wasn't even sure she felt interested to begin with.
"Parisse, why are you so filthy?" Tulvonda grabbed her sister shoulder forcefully, blocking her sister's attempt to give her a hug. Parisse disheartened from being rejected, refrained from touching her sister again, and turned around to give Vikki a hug instead.
"Ew you smell, make sure you scrub really well behind your ears when you're in the tub. Do us all a favor and shower right now. I think I might be able to smell you from my house." They both giggled, Vikki let go of Parisse and watched her speedily run inside to clean up.
"That will be all, Vikki." Tulvonda tossed a small envelope at Vikki's feet and shut the door coldly in her face.
'Did that tramp just dismiss me? Who does she think she is? I'm a freaking babysitter not a maid, especially not her maid.' Vikki took a deep breath, Tulvonda always tried to put her down. 'One day I'm going to yank that princess off her high horse and let her roll with the punches. See how tough she is without Mommy and Daddy backing her up.' She kicked the Lefebvre's garbage can in frustration, that girl was just so… infuriating.
Thanks everyone!!! I HOPE YOU LIKE IT! Please remember to review so I know whether or not to continue with my story. Thank you!