Disclaimer: I don't own it.
***
Love Resurrected, Destiny Unfulfilled
Chapter Four: Operation Dinner
By: omni82
***
Dinner was a disaster.
There was no other way to describe it. Maybe I should have expected my reincarnated comrades to object to my Evil-Miaka hypothesis. I suppose I did, but the degree but the level of sheer disbelief that met my theory was of incredible earthshaking magnitudes.
As Nuriko, Tasuki, and Hotohori ranted and raved, Shoka leaned over to my side.
"There was no better way to tell it?" She hissed. I shrugged my shoulders apologetically and tried to regret my hasty words. So maybe bursting out 'Miaka's evil! She killed Chichiri! I spoke to Suzaku and he's not that nutty!' wasn't such a wise idea. It definitely didn't go over too well with my friends.
"Miaka's not evil," Nuriko sputtered for the tenth time. "You're crazy, Mitsukake. Absolutely nuts. Suzaku must have scrambled your brains."
Tasuki and Hotohori echoed the sentiment, the former more colorfully than the latter.
I suppressed my grin as well as I was able as they began to formulate ways to cure me of my sudden 'insanity.' I stopped them with a lifted hand as they speculated on the possibility of my nuttiness passing through my genes to Chiriko.
"Look, everyone, I didn't come to this conclusion with no facts to back it up." Swiftly yet thoroughly, I described my meeting with Suzaku in the park and the story that Miaka had told Shoka. It was enough to quiet them into an introspective mindset.
"Miaka…is a little different than I remembered." Nuriko finally conceded. Immediately, he was on the receiving end of two deadly glares from Tasuki and Hotohori. Uncomfortable with the position of 'traitor', Nuriko looked to me for help.
"I need some information," I covered smoothly. "When did you all start remembering about your past lives? Before or after meeting Miaka?"
"I don't see how that matters now," Hotohori replied dubiously. "But since you seem to be making a point, three years ago, I met Nuriko at a café where he was working. Up until then, I didn't remember anything."
"Neither did I," the beautiful man chimed in.
"One day, Nuriko tripped and fell…"
"Right into Hotohori's arms!" He and Shoka shared the bright, secret smile the girls did when they knew something others didn't.
"Yes well, this event precipitated the resurgence of some memories particularly of predicaments similar to those of the fall that Nuriko would stage to get my attention. I won't stay all my memories came flooding back after that but as the time progressed, we recalled more and more of who we were until, together, we had the whole picture." Hotohori finished smoothly and patted Nuriko's hand. Ah-ha. There was an angle I had missed. Okay, I got Nuriko and Hotohori but what about Tasuki?
"I don't remember everything," Tasuki informed me before I could ask. "I didn't have anyone to bang to get my ducks in a row. I just had really strong feelings about people and stuff. Sometimes I had dreams and shit about being a Suzaku seishi but that was it."
"And you believed just because of a few feelings and dreams?" I questioned gently.
"Chichiri was convincing," He replied sadly. "I met him in high school. He had all his memories and powers and shit. I dunno what but he knew somethin' about Suzaku." Tasuki bite his lip like the small pain would somehow hold back the anguish he felt and the tears that wanted so desperately to be shed.
"I remember Chichiri." I had to struggle to come up with a face to match the name but the feeling of recognition spread throughout me. "Quiet, wise, and older than us?" I ventured.
"Sounds like he's remembering himself," Nuriko joked.
"Me? Wise?" I asked. This startled me. I never pictured myself as particularly Yoda-like.
"You always knew what to say when we were hurting," Tasuki murmured. He glanced over at Nuriko then at the floor. "You comforted the grieving and the dying alike."
"Well, I couldn't have been much help. You're all still grieving for what we lost back in the book."
They looked startled.
"Mitsukake, I know who I am and I know who you are. I'm sad because we've lost Chichiri but we're still the Suzaku seishi. Nothing about that has changed." Nuriko explained carefully, casting hesitant glances at Tasuki's openly agonized face.
"The Suzaku seishi? Is that what we really are?" I wondered aloud. "It seems to me that even when we were them, we were not."
"What the fuck are you talkin' about?" Tasuki exploded, glad to expunge the swirling emotions inside him. Let him be angry. Better that he let it out than keep it in.
But making Tasuki deal with his grief wasn't my only objective tonight. I had to convince my brothers to think about what I was saying. They were so caught up in their Miaka fantasy that they were blinded to the truth.
"The Suzaku seishi…why did they exist?" I queried cautiously.
"To protect the priestess and the nation of Konan." Hotohori replied haughtily. His tone implied his contempt for the question and made me understand I wasn't quite forgiven for the crack to his jaw yesterday.
"And what does the priestess do?"
"She summons the beast god and makes three wishes." Nuriko obediently parroted.
I realized that I was taking the wrong approach.
"Look, um, we get our power from Suzaku, right? And the priestess can only do what Suzaku lets her. He chooses her and grooms her for the role of priestess through hardships. We serve Suzaku by serving the priestess but it is Suzaku who ultimately deserves our loyalty, correct?"
I got some leery looks from that statement. No one wanted to say anything, to make any move toward confirming our worst fears about our priestess. But after a few oppressive minutes, Tasuki surprisingly spoke up.
"He's right. Chichiri would be the first one ta say he's right. We're the Suzaku Seven, not the Miaka Seven. I love Miaka as much as anyone but…I ain't spiritual but maybe Mits is right an' we should listen to what Suzaku's got ta say." The last bit rushed out of the young man and made him stare, red-faced, down at his tea cup.
"We aren't being disloyal to Miaka by listening to Suzaku," I pressed. "She is the Priestess of Suzaku. She should want us to get to know our god better."
"Unless she was evil, is that it?" Hotohori questioned sarcastically. He threw down his napkin and rose to his feet in one swift motion. "I cannot stand here and listen to you abuse Miaka's character. We know her. She is our rescuer. We spent months fighting at her side! Are you willing to throw that all away, Mitsukake, all because you feel jealous of us? You say you felt like an outsider? Well, then maybe you shouldn't have acted like one. No one ever stopped you from becoming fully one of us. Or were you afraid that you couldn't measure up?"
I lumbered to my feet, not nearly as graceful as the ex-emperor and for once not caring. "You should be glad I never truly became one of you. I'm apparently the only one who can look at this objectively. Foolish love has made you blind, Saihitei, and it'll be your death."
There was absolute silence as Hotohori and I stared each other down. This was the first time I had ever stood up against him, the first time I ever really stood solidly against any of them. This was my trial by fire and it wasn't just my life on the line…
Whatever he saw in my eyes was enough to appease Hotohori if only slightly. "Then I choose love. I cannot live with doubt, Mitsukake. If you can, I pity you." Turning on his heel, Hotohori walked out of the apartment.
The rest of my guests looked ready to sink into the floor. "I apologize for the outburst." I said to them insincerely but it had no effect. Nuriko stood and gave me a small smile.
"I'm sorry on Hotohori's behalf," the petite man told me. "He just needs to cool down. I'll talk to him about it."
Tasuki and I watched Nuriko hurry out before looking back at each other. "Shit, man" the man said to me with a hint of admiration, "you sure know how to throw a party."
I laughed and after a moment so did he. Settling back down at the table, I motioned for Shoka to bring us something stronger to drink. Tasuki's eyes lit up. As I poured him his first glass, the younger man looked at me earnestly.
"Tell me what you think…"
TBC
***
Love Resurrected, Destiny Unfulfilled
Chapter Four: Operation Dinner
By: omni82
***
Dinner was a disaster.
There was no other way to describe it. Maybe I should have expected my reincarnated comrades to object to my Evil-Miaka hypothesis. I suppose I did, but the degree but the level of sheer disbelief that met my theory was of incredible earthshaking magnitudes.
As Nuriko, Tasuki, and Hotohori ranted and raved, Shoka leaned over to my side.
"There was no better way to tell it?" She hissed. I shrugged my shoulders apologetically and tried to regret my hasty words. So maybe bursting out 'Miaka's evil! She killed Chichiri! I spoke to Suzaku and he's not that nutty!' wasn't such a wise idea. It definitely didn't go over too well with my friends.
"Miaka's not evil," Nuriko sputtered for the tenth time. "You're crazy, Mitsukake. Absolutely nuts. Suzaku must have scrambled your brains."
Tasuki and Hotohori echoed the sentiment, the former more colorfully than the latter.
I suppressed my grin as well as I was able as they began to formulate ways to cure me of my sudden 'insanity.' I stopped them with a lifted hand as they speculated on the possibility of my nuttiness passing through my genes to Chiriko.
"Look, everyone, I didn't come to this conclusion with no facts to back it up." Swiftly yet thoroughly, I described my meeting with Suzaku in the park and the story that Miaka had told Shoka. It was enough to quiet them into an introspective mindset.
"Miaka…is a little different than I remembered." Nuriko finally conceded. Immediately, he was on the receiving end of two deadly glares from Tasuki and Hotohori. Uncomfortable with the position of 'traitor', Nuriko looked to me for help.
"I need some information," I covered smoothly. "When did you all start remembering about your past lives? Before or after meeting Miaka?"
"I don't see how that matters now," Hotohori replied dubiously. "But since you seem to be making a point, three years ago, I met Nuriko at a café where he was working. Up until then, I didn't remember anything."
"Neither did I," the beautiful man chimed in.
"One day, Nuriko tripped and fell…"
"Right into Hotohori's arms!" He and Shoka shared the bright, secret smile the girls did when they knew something others didn't.
"Yes well, this event precipitated the resurgence of some memories particularly of predicaments similar to those of the fall that Nuriko would stage to get my attention. I won't stay all my memories came flooding back after that but as the time progressed, we recalled more and more of who we were until, together, we had the whole picture." Hotohori finished smoothly and patted Nuriko's hand. Ah-ha. There was an angle I had missed. Okay, I got Nuriko and Hotohori but what about Tasuki?
"I don't remember everything," Tasuki informed me before I could ask. "I didn't have anyone to bang to get my ducks in a row. I just had really strong feelings about people and stuff. Sometimes I had dreams and shit about being a Suzaku seishi but that was it."
"And you believed just because of a few feelings and dreams?" I questioned gently.
"Chichiri was convincing," He replied sadly. "I met him in high school. He had all his memories and powers and shit. I dunno what but he knew somethin' about Suzaku." Tasuki bite his lip like the small pain would somehow hold back the anguish he felt and the tears that wanted so desperately to be shed.
"I remember Chichiri." I had to struggle to come up with a face to match the name but the feeling of recognition spread throughout me. "Quiet, wise, and older than us?" I ventured.
"Sounds like he's remembering himself," Nuriko joked.
"Me? Wise?" I asked. This startled me. I never pictured myself as particularly Yoda-like.
"You always knew what to say when we were hurting," Tasuki murmured. He glanced over at Nuriko then at the floor. "You comforted the grieving and the dying alike."
"Well, I couldn't have been much help. You're all still grieving for what we lost back in the book."
They looked startled.
"Mitsukake, I know who I am and I know who you are. I'm sad because we've lost Chichiri but we're still the Suzaku seishi. Nothing about that has changed." Nuriko explained carefully, casting hesitant glances at Tasuki's openly agonized face.
"The Suzaku seishi? Is that what we really are?" I wondered aloud. "It seems to me that even when we were them, we were not."
"What the fuck are you talkin' about?" Tasuki exploded, glad to expunge the swirling emotions inside him. Let him be angry. Better that he let it out than keep it in.
But making Tasuki deal with his grief wasn't my only objective tonight. I had to convince my brothers to think about what I was saying. They were so caught up in their Miaka fantasy that they were blinded to the truth.
"The Suzaku seishi…why did they exist?" I queried cautiously.
"To protect the priestess and the nation of Konan." Hotohori replied haughtily. His tone implied his contempt for the question and made me understand I wasn't quite forgiven for the crack to his jaw yesterday.
"And what does the priestess do?"
"She summons the beast god and makes three wishes." Nuriko obediently parroted.
I realized that I was taking the wrong approach.
"Look, um, we get our power from Suzaku, right? And the priestess can only do what Suzaku lets her. He chooses her and grooms her for the role of priestess through hardships. We serve Suzaku by serving the priestess but it is Suzaku who ultimately deserves our loyalty, correct?"
I got some leery looks from that statement. No one wanted to say anything, to make any move toward confirming our worst fears about our priestess. But after a few oppressive minutes, Tasuki surprisingly spoke up.
"He's right. Chichiri would be the first one ta say he's right. We're the Suzaku Seven, not the Miaka Seven. I love Miaka as much as anyone but…I ain't spiritual but maybe Mits is right an' we should listen to what Suzaku's got ta say." The last bit rushed out of the young man and made him stare, red-faced, down at his tea cup.
"We aren't being disloyal to Miaka by listening to Suzaku," I pressed. "She is the Priestess of Suzaku. She should want us to get to know our god better."
"Unless she was evil, is that it?" Hotohori questioned sarcastically. He threw down his napkin and rose to his feet in one swift motion. "I cannot stand here and listen to you abuse Miaka's character. We know her. She is our rescuer. We spent months fighting at her side! Are you willing to throw that all away, Mitsukake, all because you feel jealous of us? You say you felt like an outsider? Well, then maybe you shouldn't have acted like one. No one ever stopped you from becoming fully one of us. Or were you afraid that you couldn't measure up?"
I lumbered to my feet, not nearly as graceful as the ex-emperor and for once not caring. "You should be glad I never truly became one of you. I'm apparently the only one who can look at this objectively. Foolish love has made you blind, Saihitei, and it'll be your death."
There was absolute silence as Hotohori and I stared each other down. This was the first time I had ever stood up against him, the first time I ever really stood solidly against any of them. This was my trial by fire and it wasn't just my life on the line…
Whatever he saw in my eyes was enough to appease Hotohori if only slightly. "Then I choose love. I cannot live with doubt, Mitsukake. If you can, I pity you." Turning on his heel, Hotohori walked out of the apartment.
The rest of my guests looked ready to sink into the floor. "I apologize for the outburst." I said to them insincerely but it had no effect. Nuriko stood and gave me a small smile.
"I'm sorry on Hotohori's behalf," the petite man told me. "He just needs to cool down. I'll talk to him about it."
Tasuki and I watched Nuriko hurry out before looking back at each other. "Shit, man" the man said to me with a hint of admiration, "you sure know how to throw a party."
I laughed and after a moment so did he. Settling back down at the table, I motioned for Shoka to bring us something stronger to drink. Tasuki's eyes lit up. As I poured him his first glass, the younger man looked at me earnestly.
"Tell me what you think…"
TBC