And here's another chapter! I said it wouldn't take long! I blame school for the two week delay; actually I should probably be studying for my exams right about now. ^^;; Opps.
I don't own Fushigi yuugi but I do own Rin Izaya.
Now, enjoy the chapter!~~~~~~
It was probably a bad time to try and introduce Suboshi to Izaya. Then again, Nakago had his doubts that there was ever a good time to introduce Izaya to anyone.
What made this particularly bad was the fact that the Seiryu priestess was carrying around baijiu again. After seeing her with it in the torture chambers the first time, the general had tried to get her to tell him who she'd gotten it from. The initial jug had come from one of the men in the kitchen and Nakago had been sure to nip that in the bud; after having a short talk with the man in question there had been a promise made to not give her any more alcohol.
When he'd spotted her with another container of it, however, the kitchen employee in question had insisted that it hadn't been him. Every since the general had been trying to get the priestess to give up her source; something that she had stubbornly refused to say even to that very day. Going to the other usual suspects around the palace, none of them seemed to have any idea where she was getting it from either, which struck Nakago as both unusual and semi-disturbing. It seemed as though she were getting it at regular intervals and at increasingly large quantities. There was no way she was stealing it from just anyone; not without them noticing. Whomever her supplier was had to have a direct connect to the a baijiu brewer, and they were known for being a tightly knit group.
So how was it that she was getting the alcohol?
That being said, the one saving grace that Nakago had was the fact that Izaya didn't seem to be able to get drunk. He didn't know for sure, but judging by the many stories that his men were telling about their little binge sessions with her and the few times he'd caught her leaving a few of these little parties, the worst she ever seemed to get was a giggly tipsy. Not that it had any effect on her tongue; she'd argued with Nakago just as well with a hiccup in her voice as she had any other time they'd disagreed. In fact, she was perhaps even more straight forward and blunt tipsy then she was sober, something that the general wouldn't have thought possible without experiencing it first hand.
This last part was the reason why when he opened the door to Izaya's room with Suboshi at his heels, the blonde man had been horrified to find her sitting on the floor with a handful of his soldiers seated beside and opposite her.
They looked to be playing cards, three men with pipes between their teeth, two others with their pipes between their fingers. There were containers of alcohol all over the place, cups and saucers to pour them out into settled by knees, in front of the men, in their hands, at their mouths, the list went on. They, however, had at least had the decency to have cups. The Seiryu priestess had a hand resting against a baijiu container that was the size of a small child. It was seated beside her and the way she rested her hand on it made it seem as though she counted it as another person in the room rather then her alcohol of choice for the afternoon.
Yes, the afternoon; it had only been an hour since they had had lunch.
When she finally noticed the two of them standing in the door frame, Izaya smiled, raising an arm high over her head while pulling her container of baijiu closer to her side.
" Welcome, welcome!" when she greeted them the soldiers sitting in the circle with her glanced over. Those that weren't already drunk stiffened when they saw their general standing there and several tried to hide their drink cups from view. Shifting closer to the man on her right, keeping the baijiu container close to her side, the priestess patted the ground beside herself. " Come in! Pop a squat! We were just about to start another round of poker." Then she knocked off the cork of the container. She needed both arms to lift it up and drink from it. Judging by how far back her head tilted, Nakago had a feeling the jug was about half way gone; maybe more. Watching her, the pit of the blonde warrior's stomach dropped. Putting down the container, the priestess looked over again.
After a second, she frowned deeply, wrinkling her nose and narrowing her eyes. Putting a hand over her eyes, as though shielding them from the sun, her face scrunched up for a second. " Neh, neh, who's that with you, Nakago?" She wasn't drunk; when she hiccuped, though, it was all the general needed to know that the alcohol had kicked in.
" Lady Izaya," he said, not grinding his teeth but feeling sorely tempted to, " do you remember what we discussed during dinner last night?" frowning more deeply, the girl placed her finger to her chin, humming for several seconds. Then her eyes widened and she planted a fist into the palm of the opposite hand.
" That's right! You were going to introduce me to one of the other Seiryu warriors today!" the hand that had been a fist whipped out and she pointed at Suboshi. " That must be you! Come on, come on, join us!" getting up she grabbed onto the young boy's arm, attempting to drag the warrior into the room. " There's no better way to get to know someone then through a good, friendly game of cards-!" Jerking his hand free of the girl's grasp, Suboshi stepped away from Izaya. He glared at her, expression somewhere between completely disgusted and severely disappointed. If the Seiryu priestess had even the faintest hint of his disfavor of her, it didn't show in her face. A lucid smile parted her face and she gave a hiccup.
Planting a hand on her hip, she angled her head and cocked a brow, eying the young warrior the way cats did cornered mice. " Neh, neh, boys! We've got ourselves a chicken here!" those that weren't sober enough to be self aware hooted or clucked; Izaya being the ring leader of it all, flapping her arms and clucking until all but the two Seiryu warriors were laughing.
Crossing his arms, Suboshi sneered. " You're drunk." he stated and the only female in the room let her head fall back as she laughed.
" I'm not drunk," she replied, turning to look at the soldiers on her floor, she pointed, " Dazhong, Shenron, and Daluo, they are most definitely drunk; Haixiang is probably in a close forth to them." flicking her wrist, she turned back to Suboshi and Nakago. After a hiccup, she said. " Aside from Chunwei, I'm probably the most sober person in the room at this point, neh?" turning her eyes onto Chenwei, a light haired man with a lean build, she grinned when he lifted a tea cup in her direction and nodded his head. Her hand found her hip again and she refocused on the young warrior. " But, hey, it's not like you would know about grown up stuff like this; you're still just a kid." shrugging, she sighed and headed back for her spot on the floor among the soldiers. The boy's brows twitched.
" Kid?!" he huffed, grinding his teeth. With her legs crossed, Izaya bore her teeth in a grin, putting her arm around her baijui jug again.
" Just- a- kid~" she snickered, then she waved at the soldiers in the circle. " Come on, deal 'em out, deal 'em out. If any of you boys manage to beat me this round I'll strip off my top." there were collective groans from the men as Chunwei began passing out the cards.
" You say that every round, Izaya." the one to the right of priestess stated.
" You're such a tease." Haixiang's voice slurred and his finger swung in a slow circle that didn't stop and the priestess girl scowled.
" I am not a tease; you pricks all just suck at cards." glancing at Haixiang, the dark haired girl bore her teeth in a wolfish smile as she added. " Besides, you're so sloshed you won't remember even if I do end up stripping." that earned laughter from the men.
" Hell no! No way I'd forget something like that, no matter how drunk I was." Haixiang insisted, pointing at the girl, and she rolled her eyes as more laughter hit the air.
" Yeah, yeah," she drawled, bouncing in place, " come on, let's fuckin' play!" they picked up the cards that they'd been dealt.
" If she didn't have such a good poker face we would already know what the rest of that damn tattoo looks like." one man whispered to the man beside him.
" Where the hell does a girl learn to become such a card shark?" the second nodded in agreement.
There were a few moments where as the poker game started the two Seiryu warriors were both still standing in the room. Several of the less drunk soldiers sent uneasy glances over at the pair standing by the door frame, but the rest and Izaya, however, didn't acknowledge the two beyond that point. Nakago was perfectly content with leaving things at that; it was too bad that Suboshi had other plans.
After clearing his throat several times without getting the priestess' attention, he finally snapped. " Hey!"
Blinking, the dark haired girl raised her eyes onto the two of them. " Oh, are you still here?" waving a hand at them, she refocused on her cards. " You can go ahead and go; I don't give two shits about anything that doesn't involve booze, cards, and tokens right now. I'm in one of those moods, you know." the last words were aimed at the general and he knew it. The blonde man was sorely tempted to roll his eyes; he should have known, of course.
" So you're just going to keep ignoring us?!" Suboshi persisted.
" Yep." her answer was automatic; she didn't even spare the young warrior a glance.
" You-!" he stepped forward, hands clenched into fists.
" Little boys should know when to leave the adult folks alone." Izaya stated, using a bubbly voice that most reserved for speaking to babies, jerking her head at the dealer, Chunwei. Folding her cards, she placed them on the ground in front of herself and dragged the baijiu jug onto her lap. Her tone hadn't changed from the high pitched baby talk voice as she added. " Unless you plan on proving that you're a big boy by having a drink and playing cards?" giving a little pout, she pursed her lip and twisted side to side. It was obnoxiously childish; the way she always was when she was "in one of those moods".
In retrospect, Nakago realized he probably should've mentioned that to Suboshi before trying to introduce him to Izaya.
" Fine!" he snapped, moving to join them. As the corner of the Seiryu priestess' lip lifted into a smirk, she gave a snicker. The young warrior hadn't noticed it, apparently as he sat down beside the girl. Clapping her hands once, she shifted to the side.
" Excellent!" she insisted, waving at one of the men by the far wall of the room. " Pour him a drink! We'll let him jump in on the next round of the game!" then she spared the blonde man a glance and scowled. Getting up, she grabbed onto his shoulder, spinning him around and leading him out the door. " Nakago, you're making things really awkward here; you have work to do, don't you?" she pushed him out the door and twisting back around to look at her, the general crossed his arms.
" Lady Izaya-"
" Oh, don't be such a worry wort." she said, flicking her wrist. " We'll be gentle with him, I promise. He's the one who said he wanted to join us, anyways." he cocked his brow at her then, and she scowled. " Hey, hey, you can't blame me for this; I didn't force this one him in any way, shape or form. You have no right to look at me like that." There was a brief pause after that, then the general arched his neck, looking into the room again.
" Lady Izaya-" he began more slowly this time, but she cut him off again.
" They aren't doing anything wrong." she told him. " All of the soldiers in there are on their day off; I invited them to join me when I noticed them heading for the palace gates."
" Dazhong and Haixiang are supposed to be guarding you." the blonde man pointed out, and the priestess girl sniffed.
" I dismissed them and then invited them for a drink." was her answer. They were silent, holding eye contact. Then Izaya placed both hands on her hips. " Honestly, I thought you'd be grateful. With all of them here with me you don't have to deal with them or their annoying interruptions. You can get all your work finished up without me or any of them coming in to bother you. Hell, you don't even have to deal with the kid anymore either. You should be thanking me." Then there was another short silence.
" I'm going to regret this later, aren't I?" he commented, bland, face as stern and stoic as it had been from the beginning. The Seiryu priestess grinned.
" Probably, but doesn't it sound fuckin' delightful right now?" she insisted. The general gave a hum. Tilting his head downward for a second, he walked away. Izaya waved good bye as he left.~~
Needless to say, Suboshi had no kind words to describe the dark haired girl that was his priestess after that. She had, apparently, not only drank him into a stupor, but once he'd sobered up the following morning the young warrior had found the words "Rin Izaya's prision bitch." written across his chest and stomach. It had taken him five minutes to deciefer because he was so hung over. The room had been spinning when he woke up and his head had been pounding for the rest of that day.
When prompted about "being gentle" with Suboshi, Izaya had given Nakago a blank faced stare before saying. " I thought we were gentle with him. You should've seen how much more I threw back then he did. I can't help it if the kid's a push over." She hadn't seemed the least bit hung over the day after.
Several days went passed after that were the young Seiryu warrior visibly avoided his priestess, until one afternoon.
" Neh, neh, Nakago? What wrong? You seem troubled?" Izaya prompted, frowning at the general as he crossed the room to where she lay scrawled out on the floor, a book in hand. As he came to a stop in front of her, she rolled onto her side, setting the book down on the floor beside herself and shutting it carefully. Nakago was quiet for a few moments, his eyes cast downward and to the side, avoiding Izaya's gaze. She frowned more deeply. " Neh, something happened, didn't it?"
" Yes," he finally answered her, " there's some troubling news." Sighing, Izaya lowered her head.
" Oh boy," she sniffed, pushing herself up onto her feet, dusting off her pants, " what is it?" Nakago led the way through the palace, Izaya following not far behind him. She recognized the area he was leading her to. When she'd first started exploring the palace that time several months ago it had been one of the few areas that Nakago had given her permission to visit on a regular basis. It was a military training area, the rooms inside the palace connected to the grounds outside. He stopped in front of one door in particular and Izaya blinked. Looking up at him, she peaked around the half opened door. She recognized the lean framework of the young Seiryu warrior that Nakago had introduced her to. " What's wrong with him?" she prompted, gazing up at Nakago.
" Suboshi is mourning." he answered her, for once speaking softly, as though in enduring. " His brother, Amiboshi, is dead." Izaya's eyes grew wider and she turned her attention back to the boy knelt upon the ground inside the practice room.
" Dead?" were the words that slipped out of her lips and Nakago nodded slowly in return. " How? You said he was out doing something to stop those feather heads right? That back-up plan you've been telling me about or whatever."
" He was supposed to prevent the Suzaku warriors and priestess from summoning Suzaku. Amiboshi's aura has completely vanished, so-"
" The Suzaku constellations probably killed him." Izaya finished, nodding her head.
" I didn't think that they could beat someone like Amiboshi. . .calling Seiryu will be impossible now. . ." his voice drifted away from him, blue eyes narrowed and teeth grinding. Glancing up at him, Izaya looked him over carefully. Reaching out, she patted his arm, her hand gentle. It drew the blonde man's eyes onto her.
" Neh, neh, Nakago?" she spoke with a smile on her lips and an easy tone. AS though she had not just heard the grim news of one of her own warriors dying before she had even had the chance to speak with him. " There's more then one way to skin a cat." A frown formed on the general's face and though he kept glaring at her, one of his brows had risen up. " We'll find another way to summon Seiryu," she held his eyes, steady, but so long that Nakago looked away first, " but for now, I think someone needs a hug." Then with an easy wave of her hand at him, she pushed open the door.
Crossing the room, Izaya approached the grieving twin slowly, sliding her hands past each other before lacing her fingers, stopping a few feet away. It took him a few seconds to notice her. As he turned Suboshi had begun rubbing at his eyes and cheeks furiously, attempting to hide the tears that had been running down his face for some time it seemed. His dark eyes glared up at her from his knelt position.
" What do you want?!" he snapped at her. Simply standing there, Izaya's shoulders scrunched up, making her already small framework look all the tinier. A wry smile touched her lips and she crouched down beside him without speaking. He kept glaring at her, though the tears that he'd been trying to hold back were leaking free of his eyes, forcing him to wipe them away.
" For you to cry so much over him," she spoke with a little sigh, sitting down on the ground, " I'm jealous of your brother." Rolling his eyes, Suboshi snorted, looking away from Izaya.
" Don't mock me!" he scoffed. " You wouldn't understand how I feel!" She sat, just watching him for a time. Then, humming, Izaya nodded her head, bringing her knees to her chest. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she rested her cheek against her knee.
" You're right," She agreed gazing off at one of the walls beyond Suboshi as she went on, " I don't understand." there was a pause, one where Izaya raised her cheek from her knee. " That doesn't mean I can't be jealous of him, though." Turning, she smiled, finding Suboshi's teary eyes focused in on her. Catching his eyes, she held his gaze with her own, steady and calm. " You only cry like that for someone that you really cared about; really love. That's why I'm jealous." turning, she looked back over at the wall, touching her chin to her knees. " I hope that I'm at least half as lucky as he was, to have someone cry over me like that when I die." There was a short pause, one where Izaya was gazing off at nothing, absorbed in her own thoughts until a wretched sob made its way out of Suboshi. Blinking, she turned, finding him turned her direction completely, crying freely, hands clenched against his knees.
Sighing, Izaya got up onto her knees, extending an arm so that she could wrap it around his broad shoulders. The other drew him in closer, moving over the front of them, embracing him in a way that made it seem as though she were trying to protect Suboshi. As though she were trying to shield him from the world itself.
" I'm sorry, Suboshi," she murmured, letting the side of her head tap against his, " go ahead and cry; maybe when you're done you can tell me a little bit about your brother, neh?" From there, Suboshi simply cried all the more, turning his head so that his face rested against Izaya's shoulder. She sighed again, rubbing her hand against his back, soothing. Her eyes drifted towards the door, catching hold of Nakago's from beyond the threshold of the room. Smile broadening a little bit, her brows twisted, making her look somewhere between sad and embarrassed. Then, she refocused her attention onto Suboshi, hearing Nakago's footsteps as he final made his leave.~~
The following day, Izaya saw Suboshi again.
" Ah, Suboshi!" she called, waving at him when she spotted him approaching from down the hallway. As she met him half way, she saw him stiffen. Not noticing his unease, Izaya patted him on the shoulder none too gently and gave a broad smile. " Good to see you again! Are you feeling any better?" Her warrior's face flushed and his eyes fell to his feet, skuffing part of his shoe into the floor before saying anything to her in return.
" Y-yes. I'm sorry about yesterday-" he grumbled but was cut off when Izaya smacked him in the back of the head. " Ow!"
" Don't apologize!" she scolded, waving her finger back and forth at him. Her voice gentled as she dropped her arm over his shoulder. Curling her arm gingerly around his neck, though not tightly enough to unsettle him, she gave him a little shake." There's nothing wrong with getting upset about something like that. If it had been me, I would've been flipping tables and balling my eyes out." Suboshi seemed stunned. Blinking and giving his head a shake, he eventually nodded before lowering his eyes back to the floor. " I'm glad you're doing better." In response, Suboshi's head dropped even lower still and one of his hands caught the back of his head and started running through his hair.
" Y-yes, thanks, ah, Nakago said I should take you to the Seiryu Shrine." the young warrior mentioned and Izaya blinked at him.
" Oh? Is that so?" she said, crossing her arms and placing a hand on her chin. There was a short pause where the Seiryu priestess looked at the ceiling. Snapping back to attention suddenly, though, she shrugged her shoulders. " Well, we shouldn't keep him waiting. Let's go see what dear ole Nakago is up to, neh?" though she spoke this like a question, Izaya had already grabbed Suboshi by the arm and was dragging him back towards the nicely repaired shrine.
By the time they reached the shrine's front doors, however, the blonde haired general was already slipping out, shutting the door carefully behind himself. He only noticed Izaya and Suboshi approaching when he raised his head.
Blinking at him for a second, the priestess grinned, waving a hand high over her head as they got closer.
" Neh, neh, Nakago!" she greeted him, eying him carefully as she and Suboshi came to a stop. Taking a half step in front of the young boy, she placed a hand on her hip, putting herself squarely in front of the big warrior. When she didn't say anything right away, the older man frowned, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms.
" Why are you looking at me like that?" he prompted her and his priestess gave a little hum, tilting her head from one side then to the other, moving her hips the same way as she did. The whole time her eyes never moved off of the general, though if this bothered him in the least it didn't show on his face.
" Well," she said, finally standing still, " I was just thinking how unusual it is for you to request my presence during the day like this." A single corner of her mouth tilted upward and she cocked the eyebrow on the same side of her face in an expression that the blonde man was getting to know too well. He gave a sigh under his breath before she even finished her next sentence. " A little eager for tonight, aren't you, airen?" The general placed his hand on his face, pinching the space between his eyes. Izaya was laughing, both hands on her hips while Suboshi's jaw hit the floor.
" A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-AIREN?!" he exclaimed, blushing so much that it stretched from ear to ear, the pink coloration even crossing the bridge of his nose. Stifling another sigh, Nakago raised his head.
" Please don't shout," he sniffed at the younger warrior, " someone will hear you." That seemed to snap Suboshi out of his shock, he shut his jaw and drew his shoulders up tall. The redness never left his face. Turning to his priestess, the general went on. " And don't tease the boy like that, Lady Izaya; unlike me, he'll actually believe what you tell him." When the female member of the group blinked and looked at him in utter befuddlement, Nakago replaced his hand on his face, this time rubbing his temples. In the mean time, the priestess girl was looking between her two celestial warriors. When her attention finally settled it was on the general again.
" Wait, you didn't warn him about me?" she inquired, blinking still, replacing a hand on her hip. " I thought you would've told him not to believe a damn thing that I say right away."
" He wouldn't have believed me until after meeting you." was the answer she got, though the blonde man never removed his hand from his face. The priestess scowled.
" Well, after you guys stopped in during my little drinking party the other day then." she snapped back.
" I did." he ground his teeth together as he spoke, twisting his head to glare at Suboshi as he added. " But apparently I didn't make that point clear enough to him." After two seconds of pause, Izaya gave a hum, then snapped her fingers.
" Damn!" she cursed in a low voice. " I just missed a golden opportunity!"
" Wait! So you two aren't. . .?" Suboshi's voice brought both the priestess' and the general's attention onto him. He didn't get the words out, looking at the two of them, blinking, the look in his eyes like that of a small child who'd just been denied the answer to a question he'd asked five times previously. Izaya and Nakago exchanged a glance.
Then, Izaya threw herself to the ground in a mass of hysterical laughter. Holding her sides, she rolled side to side, looking every bit the shameless child she was. Both men stood over her and watched, one confused, the other full blown angry. When she finally started to calm down, she sat up a little, only to lay back down on the floor.
" Ah- my sides hurt-!" she insisted, sputtering into giggles again, but attempting to sit up again. With her shoulders slumped and legs crossed, the girl turned a grin onto the blonde man. " I like this kid; he's going to be a lot of fun to have around." the general didn't respond to this in any way, still glaring at her. Suboshi's expression dropped so that his eyes were narrowed and his brow was twitching.
" Kid?" he muttered. Ignoring him, Izaya's smile shrank a few inches.
" So, what did you want to see me about at a place like this?" she asked, voice even though lightly tinted with curiosity. Those gray eyes caught onto the general's blue ones and as their stares held the tension in the man's face slowly eased away. His mouth tilted in a small smirk that made the priestess girl blink. Stepping around her, he stopped beside her.
" Skinning a cat." was the answer he gave then moved passed her, heading back down the hallway the two had just come from. There was a stunned silence then, one where both young people simply watched the general walk away.
" Huh?!" Suboshi's cry seemed to shake out whatever shock had set over Izaya, though the young celestial warrior didn't see the smile that spread across her face or the sparkle that entered her eyes. " Why are we skinning cats-?!" Laughing, the girl interrupted him, getting to her feet.
" Clever bastard!" she said to herself, Suboshi blinking, lost still. Running after the blonde man without any regard to her younger companion, Izaya called out. " NEH, NEH! I TOLD YOU THERE WERE OTHER WAYS OF SKINNING CATS! I TOLD YOU-!"
" Hey!" the young warrior rushed after them. " Why are we skinning cats?! WHY?!"~~~~~~~
Ta-da! Suboshi is finally on the scene! ( It took long enough, right?) Next up, they'll be making their way to Hokkan! Finally I can get Izaya out of that god damned castle! Random side note: Izaya tends to swear more when she's been drinking. Anyone notice that? lol. Anyways, read and review! Let me know what you think, how I could make it better, or just say hello! Until next time, wish me luck on my three exams this week!