Chapter 35

When the bright light was gone, I found myself back in my own classroom. To the right of me, I heard Sakura's voice groaning with pain and I quickly turned to look at him. Sakura wasn't injured that badly, but he did have few bruises on his face. I quickly held him as I asked with panic, "Sakura? You okay? Sakura!"

I soon heard Hotohori's voice from behind me mutter painfully, "Ichimutsu. Don't leave me." When I turned around sharply, I saw Hotohori lying on the ground, curled up, and he had a painful look upon his face.

Quickly taking out Sakura's cellphone, I dialed the number of one of his friends that he had in high school. Lightly putting Sakura back down on the ground and placing a hand over Hotohori's cheek, I muttered, "C'mon! Answer the phone, Daisuke-san! I need to call up Brenta soon! Pick up your phone already!"

After a few rings, I heard a farmiliar male voice say on the other side of the phone faintly cry out, "I'll be right with you, sir!" Then, on the phone, I heard him ask, "What do you want, Sakura? You know today's one of the busiest days of the week! I need to help out with the customers, or I'm gonna get fired!"

I hurriedly said, "I'm sorry to call you up, Daisuke-san, but this is Ichimutsu, Sakura's twin sister! I need to ask for a favor!"

"Ichimutsu!" Daisuke cried out with surprise. "Now that's unsuspected! What is it?"

"Is it alright if I sent Brenta over to the store you work at? Sakura and one of our friends are knocked out pretty bad and I need some help getting these two back to Sakura's and my place," I explained.

Daisuke qickly cried out, "Sure! I'll have two motocycles ready by the time he arrives so he and I will be able to pick you guys up! Try to have Sakura awake by then! Where are you right now?"

"At the middle school that Sakura and I attend," I quickly replied. "And thanks so much, Daisuke-san! Appreciate it!" Soon, I called up Brenta and when he answered, I quickly said, "Brenta? It's Ichimtusu Hasakuwa. I need to ask for a favor."

"What?" Brenta seemed rather slightly annoyed. "I need to get all my homeworks done or I'm screwed for by my teacher! I'm already covering for Sakura about him gone missing while Harin's been covering for you!"

I told him in a hurry, "Well, it's kinda about that. Sakura and I are now in the middle school. My classroom, actually, and we have someone else with us. A friend, lets just say. I need you to go down to the motorcycle shop that Daisuke-san works at, and he'll have a motorcycle for you ready to go. You two have to come down to school to help me get Sakura and our friend back to Sakura's and my place."

I suddenly heard him slamming his book shut as he cried out, "I'll be there as soon as possible! I need to knock some sense into that guy as well, any way!"

As I hung up the phone, I looked over to Sakura and leaned towards him. Shaking him by his shoulder, I said, "Sakura! Sakura, wake up!"

Sakura opened his slightly, but he didn't seem as though he couldn't focus well. Trying to look at me, I heard him mutter, "Where are we?"

"We're back in our own world. Our school, to be exact," I told him. "I called up Brenta and Daisuke-san. They'll be arriving in a few minutes with motorcycles to pick us up." Looking back at Hotohori, I quickly added, "And Hotohori somehow actually came with us, too."

Sakura pushed himself up weakly to look at Hotohori, muttering, "This can't be a good sign."

As Sakura did his best to get on his feet, I asked him, "You going to be alright?"

Nodding, he told me, "We should worry more about Hotohori. And also hope that Santona is safe back at her home by now."

Sakura helped me pick up Hotohori before we went outside to wait for Brenta and Daisuke. When they arrived in matter of minutes, Brenta asked us, "You two alright? And who's the guy with you two?"

As Daisuke quickly put Hotohori in the small side-car that he had on his motorcycle, I told Brenta, "That was the friend I mentioned on the phone." I quickly Sakura by his arm to help him stand on his feet. "Is it alright if we just got these two back to Sakura's and my place?"

Daisuke nodded, telling me, "You can ride with Brenta. The way that boy drives, I'm kinda worried about the trouble I'm gonna get into by the time I bring the motorcycle back to the store." Turning to Sakura, he said, "As for you, you're riding with me, man. You look like you're gonna collapse and safer with me when riding." As we got on the motorcycles, Daisuke said, "And you two are at least lucky your dad went out for a business trip for several days."

"But he's sure doing a good job keep calling me and Hanna up to see if he could talk to either of you," Brenta added.

As Brenta held onto me as I drove besides Daisuke, I told him, "Sorry that we've been putting pressure on you two about this. I never thought dad would try to stick his nose in like this."

By the time we arrived at Sakura's and my place, Daisuke put Hotohori on his back while Brenta put Sakura on his. I quickly opened the front door and let Brenta and Daisuke in as Daisuke asked me, "Is there a guest room in the house?"

Nodding, I told him, "There's one next to my room. Up the stairs, make a right and it's the second door to your left." As Daisuke nodded and brought Hotohori upstairs, I asked Brenta, "You know where Sakura's room is, right?"

Nodding, he replied, "Been sneaking into his room every now and then while you two were gone. The left turn, first door onto my right, right?" When I nodded, Brenta cried out, "See? I still know my way around your house!" As Brenta went upstairs to put Sakura in his room, the phone started to ring and I quickly went to answer it.

Picking up the phone, I answered, "Hasakuwa residence. Ichimutsu Hasakuwa speaking."

"Ichimutsu! Finally I managed to get hold of you!" I heard my father's voice say on the other side of the line. "Have you seen your brother in school past two days?"

"Uh, yeah! Of course I've seen him, dad!" I replied sheepishly. "If he skipped his class, you know I'd beat him up!"

Sighing, dad told me, "I'll be home by tomorrow evening from my business trip in Hong Kong. Can you and your brother look after yourselves until then?"

"Yeah, dad," I replied. "And if Sakura steps out of line, you know I'm here to get him back on track. Don't worry about us. Just have fun while you can on your business trip."

"Good night, sweetheart," dad replied. "I love you. Tell Sakura I said have a good night as well, honey?"

Smiling, I replied, "I will, dad. Have a good sleep! Love you, dad!"

Just as I hung up the phone, Brenta asked, "Was that your dad on the phone?" When I nodded, Brenta leaned against the wall to face me, telling me with a chuckle a small smile, "You know your dad means good for you and Sakura, right? I mean, he has been a single father ever since what happened when you and Sakura were only four year olds."

Shaking my head slightly, I quietly said, "I know. Which is the only reason why I even took up martial arts. To forget about her, and learn how to protect dad, Sakura and myself from harm that anyone tries to cause us physically."

Suddenly, Brenta seemed slightly nervous as he asked, "Ichimutsu? If you don't mind me asking, but are you and that friend of yours, are you two, um, dating or something?"

I nodded as I told him, "Yeah. He and I actually plan on getting married some day, to tell the truth." Quickly picking up the phone, I dialed Harin's phone number and waited a few moments for her to pick up.

Harin's voice replied, "Hello? This is the Wang residence. Harin Wang, the daughter of the family, speaking."

"Harin, it's me," I quickly said. "Look, I just got back from that place and Sakura came back with me. Is it alright if you came over immediately? I need to talk to you ASAP. It's about the Universe of the Four Gods. There's something that I need to talk to you about that happened while Sakura and I were away."

"Ichimutsu!" Harin seemed rather surprised. "Sure! I'll be right over! I'll bring the book with me as well."

I hurriedly said, "Great. Make sure you call up the librarian, Yui Hongo, and ask her to come as well? Also, her friend Miaka and her husband Taka. I need to talk to both of them. I think they might be able to tell me a few things that I might not know fully."

"Will do," Harin replied. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

When Harin hung up the phone from her side first, I quickly put down the phone before hurrying upstairs to the guest room. Just staring at Hotohori lying in the bed as Daisuke studied his armor after taking it off from Hotohori, Daisuke asked me, "Is this some sort of ancient Chinese clothings?"

Nodding, I told him, "Yeah. It's kind of hard to explain about those armors." Looking down at myself, I added, "Let alone this set of armor that I borrowed from him."

Sighing, Daisuke put down the clothings and stood up. Turning to me, he said, "I did a little check up on him and he should be fine. You're lucky I worked in the hospital for awhile as my part time job in middle school. Look after your brother, and make sure you call me up when this guy wakes up. I need to check up on him while he's conscious as well." As he walked out of the room, I heard him mutter, "Thank god the doctors had me work right by their sides with unconscious and conscious people that were only injured in minor ways."

Completely forgetting about Brenta being in the house, I went over to Sakura's room as soon as Daisuke left. When Sakura looked up at me, I asked him, "Are you sure you're alright?"

Sakura just smiled and nodded, telling me, "Don't worry. I just have sprained leg. Daisuke gave me a quick check up and told me my leg should be fine by tomorrow."

"It better get better before dad comes back tomorrow night, Sakura," I growled. "I don't want to take the blame for you getting hurt. And dad called a few minutes ago, saying that he's going to be at Hong Kong for tonight and coming back tomorrow."

Sakura looked back up at the ceiling as he sighed, "Don't worry. I'll find an excuse if he returns before I get completely healed up." Grinning slyly at me, he asked, "But don't you have someone to tend to? After all, he did come all this way just out of his love for you."

Just then, the doorbell rang and I quickly said, "Harin and I talked on the phone not too long ago, and that should be her now. She said she'll be bringing Miaka Yuki, Taka and one of the librarians from the public library named Yuki Hongo, any way. I need to talk to those four before I look after Hotohori." I quickly turned to leave and when I bumped into Brenta, I laughed nervously, saying, "Sorry about that. Look over Sakura if you want to. You could come down and join in on the conversation any time if you feel like it, Brenta."

When I got downstairs and opened the door, Harin said, "They'll be here in about five minutes. I called up the librarian not too long ago and she said she'll bring her husband as well. As well as her friend's brother, since two of them got involved in some way when the librarian and her friend were Priestesses."

I headed for the kitchen as I asked, "Can you let them in when they come, then? I need to make Sakura dinner since he's in weak state right now. And I also need to make something for Hotohori if he wakes up later. Don't want to leave either of them hungry."

While I was cooking, Brenta came in and leaned on the counter as he asked me, "Is that Hotohori guy really the guy you're that deeply in love with? I mean, haven't you even looked in any other guys' ways?"

"Like who?" I asked as I continued to cook. "I never took interest in anything except for martial arts. It was always Sakura who was the big-shot from between him and me when growing up, any ways."

Brenta seemed slightly nervous as he said, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe at least some guy you know. Like me!" When I looked up at him with shock, he had look that said he was joking around, but his expression started to become serious as he told me, "Ichimutsu, haven't you even noticed the way I've been looking at you ever since we were little kids? Since the day Sakura and I became the closest friends? It was only starting middle school when practically all the guys in our school started to go crazy about you. I didn't know what I was thinking when we were little that I started to like you a lot, but now I look at you, I see a girl that I could actually fall deeply in love with. And I love the fact about you on how different you are towards your own family members. I mean, how many girls take charge like you do to stay strong for the entire family?"

Soon, the doorbell rang and I heard the door open. Harin's voice was heard saying something to someone or a group of people before she called, "Ichimutsu! They're here!"

"I'll be right out! I'm almost done making food for Sakura and Hotohori!" I called back. Turning to look at Brenta, I hissed, "Pull yourself together once we go out to talk to them, won't you? You're starting scare me with that speech alone!"

I quickly went out with tray of food as Yui asked me in a hurry, "Is Hotohori really here in our world?"

Before I could reply, there was a sound of loud crash from upstairs in the guest room. I quickly shoved the tray of food into Harin's hands and ran upstairs to see what happened. When I got into the guest room, Hotohori was scrambling up to his feet with look of startle. He looked up at me as I came running in and Hotohori cried out, "Ichimutsu! Where are we? The last thing I remember is being on the field! Ready to go into the war! And then the bright light! It surrounded you, Akiko and Sakura!"

I grabbed Hotohori's arms as I told him with a smile, "Hotohori! You're in my world! We're no longer in yours! We came to my world together!"

Taka and Miaka quickly grabbed my arms and pulled me out of the room. Making sure that we were out of hearing range, Taka told me, "Ichimutsu, he's not part of this world! He doesn't have a shadow!"

Staring at him blankly, I asked with shock, "What? What do you mean he doesn't have a shadow? That can't be true!"

Taka snapped, "Look down by my feet, Ichimutsu! Even I don't have a shadow! I don't even have a reflection in the mirror! I had to deal with this ever since I was reborn into this world! I didn't have either of these when I first came to this world and didn't have them after even being reborn into this world for Miaka wishing for me to be reborn into this world! How do you think Hotohori'll take it?"

Suddenly, Hotohori's voice said, "Even if I didn't have a shadow or a reflection, I'd be fine as long as I'm with Ichimutsu. I love her, and being with her is all that matters to me."

I saw look of uncertainty on Miaka's face, but she soon sighed as she told Taka, "Just let them be for now, then, Taka. Remember what we were like when I was her age."

Taka sighed as he muttered loud enough for only me to hear, "But keep this in mind, Ichimutsu. He'll have to go back to the book, eventually."

I looked at Hotohori and turned back to Taka, saying, "Sorry, but I can't say that I believe you on that one, Taka. I love him too much to believe it."

Miaka sighed as she told Taka softly, "Get my brother Kisuke for me, Taka? I think he'll be able to explain it better after having to have gotten involved when I was a middle school student. I mean, he was the one who noticed about your shadow before you realized about your reflection." When Taka quickly went downstairs, Miaka looked at me as she said, "Can we talk in your room, Miaka? Privately?" Nodding, I led her to my room and closed the door behind us before she said, "Ichimutsu, do you really want to be with Hotohori that badly? Do you love Hotohori that much?"

Nodding painfully, I replied, "Why wouldn't I want to be with him? I love Hotohori so much. And he's the only guy I felt this way about. Even Sakura could tell you that I never fall in love. But Hotohori's different for me, ma'am. I really want to be with him for rest of my life."

A brown haired with hazel eyed guy walked in as he asked, "Miaka? Something wrong?"

She and I looked up as Miaka asked, "Kisuke? Remember when Taka used to be Tamahome and first came into our world from the book?" When the guy named Kisuke nodded with look of slight suspicion, Miaka told him, "Hotohori came out this time." She shot up and quickly grabbed him by his arm, snapping, "And I'm not having you meet him! You almost got me and Tamahome separated the last time this happened, Kisuke! I don't need you to try and ruin another relationship!" Kisuke made a face as Miaka sat back down in a chair, snapping, "It may have been years, but I still can read you like a book. You are my brother, after all!" She turned to look back at me, saying, "Ichimutsu, this is my brother, Kisuke. He was the one who stayed over in this world and informed everything to me if something was important while I was over in the book as a Priestess."

Kisuke cried out, "Hold up! Hotohori? You mean the emperor one? How on earth did he manage to come into this world?"

"How the hell did Taka manage to come into this world when I was a middle school student and was the Priestess of Suzaku?" Miaka shot back. When Kisuke didn't seem to know how to reply, Miaka told him, "Kisuke, this girl is Ichimutsu. She's actually the new Priestess of Suzaku. She's repeating the history that I've gone through in the book."

Kisuke turned to look at me with grim look as he asked me, "Have you made any wishes at all? Or even been able to summon Suzaku, kid?"

Shaking my head, I told him, "My friend from years ago, now my enemy since entering middle school, already summoned Seiryu and she already wished for Suzaku to be sealed up, as well as wishing for me, my brother, Santona and herself back into this world."

"Oh, no," Miaka horrifically said. "You guys are locked out of the book. All except your old friend and Hotohori. He still has a chance of going back, but no way back out." When she saw that I started to look worried, she quickly told me, "Don't worry. I'll have Yui talk to your friend. She was a Priestess of Seiryu herself and she almost got devoured by Seiryu because all three of her wishes came true. If she haven't wished for Suzaku to be released again, Yui wouldn't be here due to my wish and demand of having her back."

"You mean, I still have a chance to summon Suzaku?" I asked hopefully.

Miaka and Kisuke both nodded, but Kisuke quickly reminded me, "But remember. We'll first need to have that old friend of yours see it from the point of view of the ones from the Suzaku side."

Sakura came into my room as he asked, "What's going on? What's with all the random people we don't even know coming in?"

"You may not know Miaka and Taka, but I do," I snapped. "Now get out! You already got hurt enough when we were about to go into the war before we came out of the book!"

"Wait!" Miaka and Kisuke cried out in unison. "He's involved as well?"

As Sakura and I nodded slowly, we asked, "Why?"

"There's one more target, then," Miaka muttered. "This isn't looking too good."

Kisuke quickly asked, "You want me to talk to Tetsuya and see if he's willing to let me borrow his motorcycle just incase?"

I quickly snapped, "No!" Looking at Sakura, I slyly smiled as I said, "Sakura has a connection to getting mortorcycles. Such a useful kid from time to time for having friends in high school that works at a motorcycle shop."

Sakura grunted, "Fine. I'll call up Daisuke tomorrow morning before leaving for school."

"Anything else?" I snapped.

"And I'll wake you up at proper time this time to give you good amount of time to get changed and ready for school!" Sakura cried. "Sheesh! Don't need to get harsh as soon as we're back in our world!"

Smiling, I asked, "Do you think I'd be this harsh if you actually woke me up at the right times to give me time to at least eat breakfast? Now go back to your room and rest, won't you? You're still pretty weak and shaken up."

When Sakura went back to his room, Miaka got up, saying, "Kisuke, Yui, Taka and I should get going. We'll have a talk with your friend Akiko, but mostly, it'll be Yui doing the talking with her. Make sure you have a motorcycle around so you could make a quick escape if you need to."

I sat in my room, lost in my own toughts, as Brenta and Harin came in, asking, "You okay? What happened? What did they say?"

I shook my head, muttering, "Don't worry. It was just about Akiko." Looking back up at them, I smiled, saying, "Go on back home, you two. I don't want to get yelled at just because Sakura and I have the entire house to ourselves while our dad is off on a business trip somewhere in China."