Tenshi: (throws confetti in air) I UPDATED! HOORAY! (spins in circles) Love and hugs to all my readers- (does chibi dance of happiness) -Even if the hits are as low as 107! Anyways, the only Fushigi Yuugi twist you'll see is the twins getting sucked into the book. Rest is all mine! MINE I SAY, JUST LIKE MY GATORADE! (glares at picture of a guy in album of blackmail photos) YES, RYAN, I STILL HOLD THE GRUDGE AGAINST YOU FOR DRINKING MY GATORADE!
♥MY THANKS TO♥
Heka (For encouraging me to post my story)
Crimson Rayne (For support and being my beta)
My Reviewers (For being my motivation)
Disclaimer: I don't own DN Angel, Yukiru Sugisaki does! If I did… (deadpanned voice) I'd make Risa jump off a cliff. And if there are music lyrics then I don't own those either! (Fushigi Yuugi: Yuu Watase (NOT ME!))
Warning: Language, bad tempers, my perspective of Riku and Risa lives, not for Risa fans (If you do not encourage the rivalry between the twins and want them to be holly jolly sisters then find another fanfic!), OOC-ness
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Lyrics (If I add any)
Summary: AU Riku receives an aged book and the twins' lives have a huge twist as they are drawn into the tale. Now she must adapt to this alien realm while trying to keep up a facade. Lying to the handsome young Lord is much harder than she anticipated! DARIKU
Act II- Which Twin Is which, Sacred Maiden or Conceited Sister? Riku Lies to Dark!
A vibrant red handprint throbbed on Dark Mousy's face as he sat, cross-legged, on his chair in his study. A flustered copper-red head and a blushing (and maybe drooling?) brunette were sitting in front of him. One was trying to drink her tea calmly, but the white knuckled grip she had on the porcelain handle of the cup and the fact that she was glaring at it, told him anything but, while the other just seemed to stare at him… unnervingly.
He could practically feel the anger and embarrassment from one, while the other was just… well; she seemed to have excused herself to La-La Land. Dark cleared his throat, at which the twins gave him their undivided attention.
"So," his smooth voice flowed, "let me introduce myself. I am Dark Mousy, Lord of the Southern Lands, Kokuyoku. (A/n: I couldn't think of a better name! T.T) And May I have the honor of knowing the names of such lovely maidens as you two?" He smiled charmingly, staring mostly at Riku. Risa giggled flirtatiously, while Riku had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes.
'Gag me' ran through Riku's head, inwardly frowning in disgust. While, 'I think I'm going to faint!' sailed through Risa's head.
Riku cleared her throat, "My name is Riku Harada." She took a sip of tea to indicate that she didn't want to tell anymore about herself than stated.
Risa's cheeks were pink while her lips grinned from ear-to-ear, and hearts were apparent in her eyes, "My name is Risa Harada, younger sister of Riku Harada by five minutes, sweet sixteen and single, born April 20, 1990, blood type AB, Sign: horse, I'm a Taurus, my best feature is my neck, and I'm the most popular girl at my school!"
While she gasped for breath, Dark sweat dropped while Riku glared at her twin as she set her cup down, "Good job Risa, why don't you tell him everything about me too?" Sarcasm clearly rang in her voice.
The young lord raised a single brow and smirked, "That would be interesting"
Riku's eyes widened as Risa took in a deep breath, "No!"
"Her name is Riku Harada, older sister of me –Risa Harada- by five minutes, sixteen, born April 19, 1990, blood type O, Sign: horse, and she's an Aries." She finished.
The older twin slapped her forehead and groaned. She shifted her gaze to Dark and quickly looked away in anger as her body tensed irritably at his knowing smug grin. She sighed and poured more tea into her cup as Dark spoke, "Well thank you for that… detailed introductions of the both of you." Risa giggled. "But I'm afraid that most of that information will be of no use," her face faulted, "I'm sorry… Risa… was it?" Said girl vigorously nodded her head, "I just needed your names, but thank you for being so comfortable with me."
Risa smiled cheerfully while Riku just sipped her tea, letting her muscles relax while efficiently ignoring the young man. "Why would you want to know just our names?" Curiosity shined in the honey orbs of Risa.
Dark sighed and learned back on his chair, "Because there was something that was supposed to happen this year…"
"What was supposed to happen?" Risa asked and Riku also couldn't be helped but be drawn in to the conversation.
The young lord of Kokuyoku stood up and searched through a shelf in the far right corner of the room until he came across a scroll. He carefully pulled it out and walked back to the table. Riku pushed the tea tray away as he set the scroll down. The paper seemed aged with its dusty cream-colored parchment and was tied closed with a fine metallic red silk chord with a gold coin to each side.
Dark gingerly undid the knot and slowly opened the aged scroll to reveal foreign writing branching to another. The twins leaned forward involuntarily to inspect the parchment. Risa was confused beyond belief, but Riku raised a single brow, "It's… a family tree?" a questioning glint in her eyes.
The man's eyes widened before his raised a brow echoing Riku's behavior. "You can't even read it can you?"
Riku nodded her head, and his mouth split into a small grin, "Then how can you tell?"
The young woman pointed to the top characters linked to each other, she slid her finger down the single branch and carefully observed the symbols, "These two have the same characters," as she continued down she noticed that they all had the same last characters, sometimes also having the same first, "They all have the same last character, probably is the last name, meaning all born into the family were male." Her fingers painted to the last name, which linked to a blank and tapped it, "That's your name Lord Mousy."
Dark clapped his hands and smiled in appreciation, "Bravo! Only an hour or two here and you can already tell a little of what's what."
Riku blushed and adverted her eyes away shyly with a small hidden smile. Risa glanced at Dark to her sister and felt a small pang of… jealousy? No! She shook her head, her hair flying everywhere. This was her sister! She couldn't be jealous; she was the cuter and more popular one after all!
"Risa, are you okay?" Riku's concerned voice brought the girl back to reality. Risa nodded her head and assured her with a smile, but her sister's brow furrowed, "All right… But only if you're sure…"
Dark cleared his throat, trying to politely interrupt. "Before we had that nice presentation," Riku looked away, "I was going to explain the story of the 'Sacred Maiden'-"
"Sacred Maiden?" Riku hastily cut in. Dark nodded his head, clearly not expecting the young girl's outburst.
"Riku," Risa looked confused, "What's the story of the 'Sacred Maiden'?"
"The 'Sacred Maiden' is a story of a young woman who bore many weights on her shoulders. Her family looks her down upon, because her sibling is supposedly 'perfect'. She is overshadowed by her sibling and no one notices her, but unbeknownst to her a young man watched her every move…" Riku trailed off after that.
"Well… What happened next, Riku?" Risa looked at her sister, neither one seeing the light that entered Dark's eyes.
"Umm…" Riku blushed, "I didn't go much farther after that…" She laughed nervously.
"-Wed"
"Huh?" Both twins turned their heads in confusion at Dark.
"The Sacred Maiden fell in love with the young man, she found out that he was the ruler of the lands. The two were wed and the 'perfect' sibling of hers served under her as her personal servant."
Riku smiled, "That's good, she finally got what she deserved. A wonderful life at the end!" She sighed, "I wish I could have finished that fable."
Dark nodded, "Yes, but it's not just a simple fairy tale."
"It's not?" The innocence in her question made him smile. Dark stood up and casually strolled towards her until he stood directly in front of her; he kneeled so that his eyes captured hers in a powerful hold, causing her to squirm lightly in discomfort.
"Far from it, my dear Riku," Riku eyes dilated in curiosity as he took her small right hand in his large one, "It is reality. Every generation in my family has been male, and every one of them married the Sacred Maiden of their time. So you see you two were brought here for a reason, one of you is the Sacred Maiden, the woman I am destined to be with for all eternity," the flashback of Riku in the patch of carnations and daisies under an orange tree brought a smile to his face, "While the other…" the flashback of Risa in foxgloves, next to mock oranges, under a Judas tree wanted to make him scowl, but he didn't show it, "Is the cruel sibling. But…" His free hand cupped her soft cheek as it tinted red. His eyes lightened to crimson as he languidly, learned forward, "I think you are my Sacred Maiden."
His soft lips were dangerously close to hers that she could feel his warm breath tingle her lips. Her heart pounded heavily against her bosom and tightly clamped her eyes closed in nervousness. Dark lowered his head, so torturously slow, and his eyes fluttered closed. Their lips were only a few breaths apart when he dipped his head to capture her lips-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The two children gasped and shot up in their beds, "Did he kiss her?" the little girl asked.
The father chuckled deep in his throat which vibrated throughout his body and to his wife who also joined his laughter, "You two know what happens next," came his baritone voice, "Now let your mother finish."
The two children nodded and lay back down.
The mother took a deep breath and continued the story.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-When Risa intercepted and put her hand on Dark's shoulder, reminding him that she was there. He really wanted to groan in frustration, but suppressed it. He leaned back and Riku felt the warmth from his hand leave before she fluttered her eyes open, only to see he had stood up and was back near his chair.
Riku released a shaky breath, "Umm… Lord Mousy?"
"Please, call me Dark" he stated, eyes darkening to amethyst once again.
"Okay… Lord Dark… May I please go into the…" She searched her mind for the right name, "town, this is a bit much to handle and I need to let it all sink in…"
"Of course, Riku" He smiled warmly.
"May I go with her as well?" Risa asked him while using her signature puppy eyes.
Dark felt alarms going off in his head but shook them off as he plastered a fake smile onto his face, "Of course you may Rita-"
"Risa" both twins interjected.
"My bad… 'Risa' yes, you may." The sisters stood up, bowed, and left the room; leaving Dark to his thoughts about the two of them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The two sisters walked through the town, gaining unwanted (for Riku it was) attention. Murmurs about how they looked alike and about their odd clothing… well Riku's clothes anyways. Women wrinkled their noses at Riku but gaped in awe at Risa.
It was when they reached a large, shallow, pond with a small waterfall on the right, that Risa spoke, "Hey Riku?"
Riku, who currently had her pants rolled up to mid thigh and had her toned calves swishing in the cool water, glanced up from the water lily she was gently stroking. "Yes?"
Risa took a seat under a tamarisk tree next a large bundle of yellow hyacinth on a single sturdy stem. She plucked one of the flowers from it and twirled the beautiful flower in her fingers, "What do you think of Lord Dark?"
"Lord Dark?" Riku stared at her sister and Risa in return nodded as if affirming what she just said. Riku slowly turned her head back to the immaculate looking white lily in thought. "I think… he is a kind lord." Risa wrinkled her nose but stayed silent to allow her sister to continue, "He is hospitable and I think he loves his people very much and that they love him-"
"Not like that!" Her twin yelled angrily. Risa fumed as she glared at the yellow flower. Did her sister think of her as a fool! She clearly saw that Dark was about to kiss her sister if she hadn't interrupted. She could not let him soil his lips with her twin's tainted ones while he could have her pure ones.
"What do you mean?" The innocence in Riku's tone added the angry fire in Riku's blazing eyes.
"What I mean is, do you like him?"
"Well, yeah I guess, I mean he's really nice, although a little perverted…" a flashback of Dark coming into her room made a vein pop from her temple, "Scratch that very perverted, he would seem like a good friend… To someone other than me" she muttered the last part under her breath.
Risa crushed the delicate flower in her hand and stood up, "Idiot big sister!" Riku's head snapped to meet hers. Her eyes raging like white fire, she felt some of her anger melt into fear but she held her head up high. "I meant if you liked him!"
Riku blushed a bit as she remembered the first kiss and the almost second one, she quickly whisked her head to look at the waterfall a few yards in front of the lily, "Of course I don't! I hardly know anything about him, save for the things I've said!"
Satisfied of Riku's answer, Risa sat back down and leaned against the tree. She picked another flower from the hyacinth bundle and began to pull the petals, deflowering the poor flora, "Then… will you do me a favor?"
"Huh?" Riku looked up to her sister with curious eyes, "What do you want me to do?"
Risa smirked to herself; but unbeknownst to her or anyone else, someone watching them smirked with her.
'All according to plan…'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was when the twins returned that Dark suspected something. Risa had a yellow hyacinth in her hair, 'Jealousy' he shifted his gaze to Riku and instantly noticed something. There was nothing wrong with her, sure she seemed like the girl he met just an hour ago but… Dark narrowed his eyes, her aura felt as if it was… uncomfortable, hiding something… 'What exactly happened when they left?' was the question running through his head.
The two reoccupied the seats that they vacated earlier. There was a long silence, wore it not for Risa's humming, until Riku finally spoke, "So when's dinner? I'm starved!" she plastered a fake grin on her face.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As dinner was eaten, Risa was chatting with Dark. Or, at least trying to, he just seemed to nod his head and smile.
Riku ate her food slowly as she began to think, 'What am I going to do?'
(((((FLASHBACK)))))
"What do you want me to do?"
"I need you tell Lord Dark that I am the Sacred Maiden!" Risa stated in an almost desperate manner.
Riku seemed shocked by this, "What!" She swung her calves out of the water.
"You heard me"
"But, Risa, Lord Dark is very sharp, I highly doubt he'll think it's you. The Sacred Maiden is a wise and talented young woman who is gifted in the fine arts. She is a kind young woman who would generously, and gladly donate her money to charity if she had any. She has no attachments to material possessions whatsoever, and hates to deceive people."
Risa frowned at the description "So you're saying I'm not kind and am deceiving?" She plucked the last petal in an irritated manner.
"No nothing like that! It's just that… How do you even sure that either of us is the Sacred Maiden, the woman blessed with incredible power and virtue? It could all just be a giant fluke!"
She threw the leftover flower onto the green grass and plucked another. She lay down in the grass, crushing the torn flower, "Even if it is, Riku, I think that I… love… Lord Dark… more than anyone I ever have before!" She rolled onto her stomach and stared at her sister with pleading eyes, "Riku I'm begging you, please do this for me!" False tears burned at the corners of Risa's eyes.
Riku sighed, that was when she knew she won. "Fine… I'll do it, but if he finds out the truth-"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll take the blame yadda, yadda, yadda" Riku frowned, but it went unnoticed as Risa placed the flower in her hair. She stood up and dusted off her dress, "Come on Riku! Let's go, I can't wait 'til you tell him!" she giggled before she began to skip back to the castle.
Riku sighed as she rolled her pant legs down and followed Risa, wondering how she would trick the sharp Lord of Kokuyoku.
(((((END FLASHBACK)))))
As dinner was finished Riku asked if she could see Dark in his study.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dark and Riku sat uncomfortably in the silence of the study, save for the ticking of the large grandfather clock next to the shelf where the scroll was. Riku cleared her throat and Dark looked up abruptly, "Umm… So…"
"What did you want to talk about Riku?"
"Huh?" a few second ticked by then Riku finally remembered, "Oh yes, I wanted to talk about you thinking that I'm the Sacred Maiden."
"Yes?" Dark leaned forward in his chair.
"Umm… well… I don't think I'm the Sacred Maiden."
The young lord felt his face fall. "What?"
"Yes, well… I was… thinking about it, and I've done nothing but hurt you ever since the incident in my bedroom."
Dark hid his smile at the memory of her acting paranoid, it really was cute, "So?"
"And when I woke up this afternoon I slapped you! I'm far too cruel to be the Sacred Maiden."
Riku heard his boots click dully against the cement ground and he, very ungracefully, plopped himself down right next to her, taking her right hand in his like he did earlier. "Now, my dearest Riku, don't say that. It's only been a few hours since you met me. You were just reacting like any normal girl would." He lifted her hand and placed a soft kiss against the back of it.
Riku felt a lump in her throat as a shroud of guilt fell over her. He was being too sweet, too kind! How could she lie to this pervert? This… gentleman? 'But Risa loves Lord Dark! I have to do this. He'll eventually fall for her anyways…every guy falls for Risa…' the guilt turned into sorrow.
Dark noticed the sudden change in her aura, first uncomfortable; then guilt; and finally sorrow. What was going through that mind of hers? His grip tightened on her hand. Riku looked away, "I'm sorry Milord, but I'm not the Sacred Maiden. I'm the harsh sibling that is destined to be spat upon by women and looked down upon by men and to serve under my sister, the Sacred Maiden and your bride, Risa."
"You are to wed my younger twin, Lord Dark. I truly am very sorry for the mix up Milord, but Risa and I look so alike people tend to be confused easily." When Dark's hand went limp and he gave no response,
Swallowing heavily, Riku gently slipped her hand from his loose grip as if the slightest roughness would shatter his hand like glass.
She silently walked to the door and reached for the knob, "I think it would be best for me to distance myself from you, so from now on please address me as 'Harada'. I don't even deserve the 'Ms.', and I shall call you 'Lord Mousy' like I did this afternoon." Her voice was steady but on the inside she was shaking madly. Riku opened the door and didn't dare to turn around, "Good evening, … Lord Mousy."
As soon as she walked out the door, Dark felt something break inside of him. He didn't know why but he felt connected to her. Ever since he first laid his eyes on her, he loved her! Now he had to marry someone who looked just like her! He put his hand on his head and leaned on it, why were the gods so cruel!
Wasn't he a good ruler? He asked for no land and only fought as defense. Sure he flirted with a lot of women every now and then, but they just flocked to him! He didn't want to seem heartless and cold like another lord that he could name.
Dark leaned back and sighed. He ran his hand through his wild violet hair and stared at it in thought. Why did Riku lie to him? When he previously held her hand, he could feel a slight coarseness in her palms, indicating she did some kind of manual labor.
Was this a test? A mischievous glint glazed his amethyst eyes as his lips curled into a confident grin. 'A test?' Dark brought his hand up to eye level and intently gazed at it. 'If this is a test' He curled his hand into a tight fist, 'then I will pass it and prove that I am worthy!'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The mother smiled at her children's shocked faces, both mirroring the other perfectly.
"So even though she knew she was doing something against him, she still lied? All for her evil sister?" the light haired son asked.
She merely nodded, "Yup, she loved her sister that much!"
Her husband tightened his arm around her, "And he loved her more than that."
The amber-eyed woman leaned into her husband's arms, "That he did, but she didn't know…"
"Yeah, she thought he would fall for the mean sister too didn't she?" the pink haired daughter asked.
The dark haired father nodded, "Yes, but she didn't know that he was hooked on her and would do anything for her." The father suddenly laughed, "You two already know what happened, so how is this all so surprising?" His deep voice hung in the air.
"Because each time we hear it, it sounds even better! The plot is the same as other fairy tales, but there's a cool twist!" The son declared.
The mother nodded silently if it was a simple parable it wouldn't be satisfying at all. After all, what was a fascinating story if there weren't any twists and turns?
And so the plot thickens…
TBC
Tenshi: You all hate me for the almost kiss don't you guys?
Dark: So very much so!
Riku: Eh, not really…
Kage: But I bet the readers are!
Tenshi/Riku/Dark: So true…
Tenshi: I'm screwed! I'm gonna get flamed for it! TT
Riku: (pats Tenshi's Back) Don't worry about it, as long as you and your betas think it's good then it is!
Kage: Yeah!
Tenshi: hopeful Really?
Dark: NO!
Riku: (punches Dark)
Kage: (gives Dark icepack)
Tenshi: Please R&R and don't kill me for the almost kiss! (ducks under desk)
