Disclaimer: Fushigi Yuugi and its characters belong to Yuu Watase and associates. I'm not Yuu Watase, and I'm not one of her associates. I think you can do the math.
Author's Note: Heh…I had nothing better to do, so I spent all this morning typing up this chapter. ^-^;; Arigatou to those who've reviewed so far. Reviews make Teresa and me HAPPY! ^-^ 3 ::hands out cookies and party hats to small batch of reviewers:: Teee, even one review makes meh happy. Silly meh. =P
Jurie: Ooh, wouldja couldja? I'd like that, arigatou! =^-^=
Yes, there is FLUFF in this chapter! Whee! The angst'll come later…hell, the main angst-causing person ain't even here yet. ^-^;; ((Well…sorta…umm, I won't say any more. o.O)) So be patient, all you fellow angst lovers! ^.~
Chapter Two: A Visitor
None of them saw it coming; perhaps the least suspecting was Tamahome himself. Most surprising, the ki blast was so strong that no one had time to react—in an instant, the silver-white energy had engulfed the first seishi, ripping, tearing him limb from limb…what remained was so unrecognizable that Mitsukake could do nothing to restore the body. The group could only stand numb, disbelieving…horrified. Only Chichiri noticed the presence of another; but it was gone before they could do anything.
It hadn't even given him a chance to scream…
* * *
The rays of the bright morning sun shone in through the window of the emperor's chambers, filling the room with light. Miaka slowly opened her eyes, then groaned, holding a hand over them to block out the sun. Not recognizing her surroundings at first, she blinked and looked around, finally noticing the warmth of Hotohori's sleeping figure beside her.
That's right…I came here last night…'cause I was lonely…I guess he stayed with me…
She smiled gently, noting the peaceful expression on his face.
I really do feel better when he's around…
Hotohori stirred, taking in a deep breath as he woke up; then, feeling Miaka right next to him, he smiled slightly to himself—his eyes closed, content just to be there with her. Noticing the intake of breath and the smile, Miaka spoke, but quietly, so if he was asleep she wouldn't wake him.
"Hotohori? Are you awake?"
He opened his eyes, finding himself looking directly into Miaka's. "Ohayo, Miaka…" he murmured—almost disbelieving that they were in this situation, but secretly glad.
I wonder if Miaka is okay now…she doesn't think that she's beautiful; I'll have to make her see differently…I'll have to make her see herself the way I see her.
Miaka noticed the thoughtful expression on his face, and, curious, she decided to ask.
"Ne, Hotohori…what are you thinking about?"
Hotohori smiled, shaking his head slightly. "I'll tell you about it later…" he said quietly. "It's not important." He looked into her eyes, suddenly realizing how close their faces were…
I never noticed before…I always thought her eyes were brown. Instead, they have specks of green in them…brown and green, like the forests…wild, free…
He continued gazing into her eyes, entranced. Miaka noticed this, and was immediately caught by his intent, yet gentle gaze. Unable to control herself, she shut her eyes and closed the space between them, bringing her lips to his. Hotohori was briefly startled by this; then, slowly, he closed his eyes and returned her kiss. Miaka's hair shimmered in the morning sunlight, and he ran his fingers through the auburn strands, their texture like soft silk. After a long, silent moment, Miaka pulled away, almost disbelieving what she had just done.
Demo…it felt…
A cool morning breeze blew in from the window, causing her thoughts to be cut short. Shivering, she pulled the covers further over her and laid her head on Hotohori's chest. He in turn closed his eyes, absentmindedly stroking her hair, letting its soft curls twine in his fingers. She shut her eyes as well, letting out a sigh of contentment. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, and she spoke quietly, not sure how to put it into words.
"A…anou…Hotohori…is it okay if…if I sleep here, from now on? I'll understand if you say no, it's just…" She trailed off, uncertain of what to say. I feel safer when I'm with him…it's not as lonely…
"Of course you can stay, Miaka…" Hotohori paused, then continued, more quietly, "I'd miss you if you weren't here…"
Opening her eyes again, Miaka smiled slightly. "Arigatou…you have no idea how much that means to me…" she murmured. Reluctantly, she sat up, yawning. "Well…I don't really want to get up, but sleeping all day isn't an option…" Getting out of the bed, she stretched, not in any kind of rush. Hotohori watched her move around the room a bit before getting up himself, stretching, his robe falling slightly off his upper body to reveal strong shoulders and back. Unconsciously, Miaka stopped to watch him, and having never seen the young emperor like that before, she blushed. Without realizing it, she spoke her thoughts out loud.
"He's…perfect…"
Hearing her, Hotohori turned mid-stretch to look at Miaka, surprised, blushing slightly at the unintended compliment. She may think that…but does she know herself?
After a few moments, Miaka realized that she was staring him, and turned away quickly, blushing an even deeper red. "A, anou…g-gomen, I…" she stuttered, fumbling for an explanation.
Hotohori ignored her attempted apology, glancing next to him at a mirror propped against the wall, its golden frame catching the sunlight. Confirming in his mind the conversation they'd had the previous night, he spoke. "Miaka, come over here…"
"Eh? Ah—hai…" Miaka walked across the room and stood next to him, wondering why he asked her to go over there. Hotohori moved so that he was behind her, positioning the two of them so that they were in front of the mirror.
"Now…tell me what you see in the mirror…look hard…"
Miaka was confused by the odd request, but looked all the same. "I see myself, and you behind me."
Hotohori smiled gently, speaking softly. "Look harder…who do you see?"
Miaka frowned slightly, looking her reflection up and down. Does he really want me to do that? I haven't been the most optimistic person lately when it comes to stuff like this… Still looking at her reflection, she spoke.
"I see…a 15-year-old schoolgirl, who's always relying on people…who's clumsy, and not very smart…" Mumbling by this point, she added, "…and who has an awkward figure, to top it off…"
"Do you want to know what I see?" Hotohori asked, still standing behind her.
Still unsure of what he was doing, Miaka glanced questioningly at his reflection before nodding slightly. "Nani?" she replied, quietly.
"I see a wonderful person, inside and out, who's always caring…someone who looks up to everyone else, so she feels diminished herself…I see a person who's spirit is too big for her body, so it breaks away of its bindings, flying free. I see a beautiful woman with the biggest heart in the world…I see you…I love you, Miaka…" When he had finished, Hotohori embraced her from behind, the two of them still facing the mirror.
Miaka absorbed everything he was saying in silence, then drew in her breath, tears forming in her eyes. Closing them, she rested against him, feeling the warmth of his embrace for the second time that morning. After a moment, she opened her eyes again, looking at both of their reflections in the mirror. She reached out her hand to touch it, its glass surface cool and flat against her palm.
"That's the first time…anyone's ever said anything like that…"
She closed her eyes again, withdrawing her hand.
"You…really see me that way…" She spoke it as half a question and half a statement, almost not believing everything he'd said.
Whatever I was expecting, it wasn't that…how does he do this to me? Iie, that should stay a secret…there are some feelings that I don't want to know the "why" of…
Hotohori continued to embrace her, his chin resting on the top of her head. "Sometimes you have to look harder at something to see what's really there…to look beyond the outside, and realize what a wonderful person you are…It takes time, but I'm sure someday you'll know how much I love you…" He paused, then spoke quietly, to himself, "…because of who you are…and how you treat me…"
Miaka leaned against him, allowing his body to support hers; laying her head on his chest where the robe had fallen open, she listened to his heart—then placed her hand over her own. "They beat…simultaneously…did you notice that?" Hotohori only pulled her closer to him, so he could feel her heart beating as well. With each passing moment, Miaka was losing herself more to his gentle embrace…
Hotohori…this feeling…I've ignored it for so long…but now…
Miaka took Hotohori's hand in hers, entwining her fingers in his.
…now…I can finally say it…
"Aishiteru…"
She looked up at him; her eyes were filled with emotion that had never been there before, but matched the intensity of his. Looking down into her eyes, Hotohori was enveloped in the whirl of emotion that was causing her to glow—and found he couldn't break his gaze. Letting his emotions slide, he leaned down and kissed her, barely believing what was happening. Miaka closed her eyes and returned his kiss, all thoughts of everything else gone from her mind; deepening it slightly, emotions continued to radiate from her as they had a moment before. Finally, she broke the kiss, keeping her eyes closed a few seconds after, as if savoring the moment a little longer. Reluctantly, she opened them again.
"I…don't really want to go, but…the others are probably up by now, so we should see them…"
Hotohori nodded, slightly dazed, but overjoyed that his feelings were finally being returned. "Hai, you're right…shall we go, then?"
* * *
"Ohayo gozaimasu, minna! Did you all sleep well?"
Miaka and Hotohori had just entered the dining hall; Miaka was back to her usual chipper self ((A/N: Of course! There's food! ^_~)), but the sight that greeted them showed that the other seishi weren't. Chichiri, Tasuki, and Nuriko were there, and the two latter seishi looked like they'd had a rather rough night. ((A/N yet again: Heh, that wasn't a yaoi reference…although it could be…::evil grin:: Must consult Teresa! =] Ohhh, I love yaoi… ::giggles:: )) Tasuki looked up at them, dark circles under his eyes.
"Un…sleep great…real great…yeah, yeah…" The redhead spoke in a slight slur, then slouched in his seat, turning back to his food, muttering. "Fuck…haven't 'ad sake in too long…need ta…be better 'bout that…"
Nuriko, meanwhile, had his violet eyes half shut, a glazed look on his face. Wincing at his miko's loud cheeriness, he massaged his temples with his forefingers, barely managing to croak out an answer. "Ohayo…Miaka…k'so…my poor head…" He opened his eyes wider to glance at her, quickly shutting them. "Too much light…nnnn…" The cross-dresser put his head down on the table, covering it with his arms to keep the light out. Miaka began to laugh at how ridiculous her two seishi looked, but managed to turn it into a cough halfway.
"Ahem…so…how'd you two get in this state?"
Tasuki groaned. "How the fuck'd I know?! I swear I didn' drink more'n two…well, maybe three…damnit! Nuriko-kuuuun…the room's spinnin'…" The mountain bandit held his head in his hands, groaning more. "Fuck…I have a headache…!! Can't think…shimatta…fuckin' HELL!"
Nuriko squeezed his eyes shut even tighter, fighting off a wave of nausea. "Shimatta…Tasuki…don't say anything like that…you're making me sick just thinking about anything spinning…" He attempted to pull his head even further out of the light, turning slightly green from moving.
Trying to constrain the urge to giggle, Miaka decided to change the conversation topic as best she could. "Ah, um…well, Chichiri, was your night any better?" As she spoke, she took a seat in an empty chair at the table, Hotohori sitting next to her.
The monk sighed. "Well, I was going to keep these guys in check, no da…but as soon as I turn my back, they've got sake and are already half drunk, no da. Tasuki I would've expected, but Nuriko with his superhuman strength…hopefully I'll never have to face that again, no da…"
His head still in his arms, Nuriko cut in. "Chichiri…stop…I've learned my lesson, I know that I'll never do anything like that again…" He groaned as another wave of nausea passed over him.
"Aw, hell…ya gotta admit it was fun…while we were drinkin', anyway…" Tasuki groaned again. "Not now, though…" He looked up at Miaka and Hotohori through half-closed eyelids. "Shit…you two look awake…how come y'can be so perky? Damnit…"
Hotohori blushed slightly at this comment, thinking out loud. "Perky?" After regaining his composure, he spoke again. "Well, I wasn't up the whole night getting drunk…I was…" He trailed off. Why did you just say that?! Now they're going to start to wonder what you were doing…demo, why is that so bad? You love Miaka, don't you? Why should you be ashamed of being with her? Mixed emotions battled in his head, his confusion clearly visible on his features.
Noticing him trail off, Miaka attempted to explain.
"Oh…I had a nightmare, so Hotohori comforted me…" She glanced at Tasuki and Nuriko again and shook her head, sighing. "Honestly…at least we weren't getting drunk our first night back from traveling…"
Tasuki looked up at her; he raised an eyebrow skeptically, then waved his hand dismissively, still speaking in a drunken slur. "Sure, sure…but at least I wasn' havin' a sleep-over the first night back…so ta speak…"
Hotohori blushed harder, and a blush crept onto Miaka's face as well; annoyed, she glared at the former bandit leader.
"Tasuki…if you weren't drunk, I'd hurt you for that…"
Before they could continue the conversation further, there was a knock at the door, and several of Hotohori's attendants walked into the room. One came forward slightly more than the others, and bowed.
"Heika…there is a visitor to see you in the throne room."
Hotohori was slightly startled by this news. Visitor? I wasn't expecting anyone…but I suppose that's life as an emperor for you… Dismissing the attendants, he replied, "I'll see to him as soon as we're ready." After they had left, he turned to the seishi and Miaka (two of whom had seemed to recover from their hangovers…).
"I think it's best if you come with me…I have little idea of who this person is…just come as a precaution."
* * *
The four seishi and Miaka had gathered in the throne room; the attendants waited for further instructions from Hotohori. The emperor nodded to them, gesturing to the door.
"Bring him in."
The attendants pulled back the doors, revealing a young man of no more than twenty years of age; his long, dark hair was pulled back loosely into a ponytail, and his head was bowed in what appeared to be respect for the emperor. After a few moments, he slowly raised his head, a few strands of his hair falling into his face; then, his mouth twitched into a sardonic half smile. He spoke in a smooth, deep voice, tinged with slight mockery and bitterness.
"It's been a while…Saihitei…"
End Chapter Two
((Author's Note: Hehe. Would you believe I typed up this whole thing while listening to Malice Mizer? Not exactly mood music, I can tell ya that…^-^;; Demo, demo…I love Gackt-sama. *.*))
Ohayo gozaimasu: good morning
Gomen: sorry
Hai: yes, okay
Arigatou: thank you
Nani: What?
Shimatta: damnit, shit
K'so: essentially same as above ^-^;;
Heika: Your Highness
