Chapter Six
A Lost Little Girl
"Genrou, what's going on?" Kouji busting one of the doors open, and stood its place. "I heard yelling coming from this room. What's going on!"
I watched as Mima's body trembled, her bottom lip quivering.
"Who… are you!" Mima demanded, again.
"Genrou, what's going on?" Kouji asked me, again.
But I just ignored him, still examining Mima. "Mima?" I held out my hand to her.
She violently slapped it away. "I'm not this 'Mima'! And I'm going to ask again… WHO ARE YOU!"
I gulped.
"Genrou, come with me," Kouji demanded. As he said, I got up from the chair and followed him out in the hall.
We hid behind the other door that still stood. Neither of us looked into the other's face.
"She… she doesn't remember anything," I told him, my voice shaky. My hands were in tight fists, and my body was trembling.
"Not a thing?" Kouji asked. His voice was shaky, too.
"She doesn't remember me, she doesn't remember who she is, and she doesn't remember where she is…" I replied, finally looking up at Kouji.
At the same time, he looked at me. His face was stained with tears, and his tanned skin was a shade of red. He was infuriated, and frustrated.
"Damn it…" Kouji cursed. "Damn it all to Hell…"
-
~*:|: "Mima" :|:*~
I looked around the room, very lost, and very confused.
'Who were those men…?' I thought, wrapping my arms around myself. 'And why were they calling me… "Mima?" What an ugly name.'
The man with red hair, looking about nineteen years old, came back into the room, followed by another with similar hair, but blue. He looked about twenty-one years old. The blue haired boy sat in front of me, the other standing next to him, their eyebrows furrowed. I examined them, as they examined me.
The one sitting down was handsome, but not exactly 'hot.' His hair was wild, but gave him the bad boy, 'tough guy' look. He had dark, green eyes that held the strong, thug gaze. But along his left cheek ran a scar, which looked as if it was painful getting. He was well built, wearing a white shirt, which was open in the front, revealing a broad chest and six pack, with tan pants and black boots.
He was the first to speak. "Mima?"
I just stared blankly at him.
He sighed, "You don't remember a thing, do you?"
"I will only answer your questions if you answer mine," I said, quietly. I was trying to put on a tough look, but I was really scared and nervous.
"Okay, so what are your questions?" the one standing up asked. I looked at him, and was surprised at such a fierce looking guy! He had red hair that was as wild as the other one's, giving him the same look. His amber colored eyes were giving me this soft look that made me uncomfortable, like he was in love with me, or whatnot. His mouth was also slightly open, revealing wolf-like fangs, which gave me chills running up and down my spine. He was tall, standing at about 6'1", and built as well as the other guy. He was very, very attractive.
But, none the less, it looked like as if they were crying. It also looked like they were somehow in love with me.
I cleared my throat. "Who are you people?" I asked, trying to sound as if I was okay with everything, unlike before when I woke up to see a man staring down at me who was holding my hand.
"We are Mt. Reikaku bandits," the one sitting down answered. "I'm Kouji, and this is Genrou."
"Ban…dits…?" I repeated, scared shitless. 'I'm in a stronghold, with bandits?!'
"Yeah, pretty much," the man named Genrou said. "Bandits, the tough guys! Who is mean, nasty, horrible, hormone raging-! OW! What did you do that for!?" The other guy, Kouji, had elbowed mindless Genrou in the side before he could finish.
"You think shit like that is going to comfort her and feel at home, moron!" Kouji scolded.
"Sorry, but it's the truth!" Genrou insisted, rubbing where Kouji had hit him.
Bash! Bomp! Boom!
Kouji had struck Genrou again, three times.
"I-itai!" Genrou cried. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
I couldn't help but laugh. But when Kouji mentioned 'home,' a wave of emptiness swept over me. My eyes lowered to where I could only see the bedsheets on the bed, which were tossed and turned.
"Home…?" I whispered, sadly.
"That's right," I heard Genrou whisper to Kouji. "Since she lost her memory, she doesn't remember where she's from either."
"I lost my memory…?" I stared at them as if they were crazy.
~*:|: Kouji :|:*~
"But that's imposible!" she finally snapped out of her trance. "I didn't lose my memory! No!"
"Then what is your name?" I asked, challenging her.
"…" she replied.
"Where are you from?" I tried again.
"…"
"What do you look like?" I watched her as she pressed up against the wall, surprised by question. She was certainly taken aback.
"I… don't know. I really don't know," she whispered, staring at her hands. "I don't even know what I look like…"
Genrou sat down next to her, and laid a hand on her shoulder. "I could tell you the story of what happened two ears ago, if you'd like. I'll only tell you that because that's when we met you, and that's all I know."
She nodded, solemnly.
"Wait a minute, Genrou," I said. "I need to speak to you about something." I got up and lead him back into the hallway. We faced each other.
"What is it, Kouji?" Genrou asked.
"Should we tell her about… you know?" I asked, nervously.
"Huh? What?" Genrou was obviously, completely clueless.
"Baka!" I smacked him, but answered him in a low voice, barely above a whisper, "About us loving her."
Genrou looked hurt, but nonetheless, he understood. He walked back into the room, and I followed.
~*:|: Mima :|:*~
I looked up and saw Genrou and Koji, except they switched spots; Genrou sitting, Kouji standing. My eyes went back to the lock of hair I was twirling around my fingers. My hair was purple, black, gold, silver. I thought that this 'Mima' was weird for making her hair those colors.
"Are you going to tell me?" I asked, still twirling my hair. "I would like to know about this Mima person." I looked up to see that Genrou and Kouji were startled.
But when Genrou got his cool and collected self back, he answered, "Mm, yeah." He looked over at Kouji.
Kouji cleared his throat and started the story…
"I found you in the forest at the foot of the mountain. It was raining, and you were unconscious, running a high fever. I carried you all the way back to my room, taking care of you for a couple of days.
"Oh, and back then, you looked much younger. Starting from the top of your hair, it went to yellow, orange, and red, and your eyes were a darker green. You didn't have that character that's on you…" he pointed at my left cheek. "Well, anyway, when you finally woke up, we had some conversation about you, a book called the 'Shijin Tenchi Sho,' and Suzaku no Miko…"
|+| Flashback |+|
"Good evening. Who's there? Why, it's just Koji the magnificent! Oh, Koji! You're welcome. Please come in. Thank you." I walked over to the door and unlocked it. Koji came in with my backpack in his right hand, the other in a tight fist. I looked up at his face, seeing a rather serious expression on him.
"Koji? Is there something wrong?" I took my backpack from him. He was biting down on his lower lip, and it was rather obvious that something was troubling him. "Koji...?"
"Huh?" He stared down at me. "Oh, uh... nothing's the matter." He loosed his grip and he started walking to the bed, and I followed. We both sat down on it.
"Whose room is this?" I asked, playing around with my skirt.
"Mine." Koji was silent for about five minutes while I was fiddling around with my skirt.
I couldn't take much more of this. "Damnit, I know something's the matter with you. Spill!" I demanded an answer.
A surprised expression appeared on his face. "It's just about my buddy, Genrou."
"What about him?"
"Well... it's just that... he disappeared a while back. And while I was getting your stuff, I heard some talk about him."
"What were they saying?"
"That he was coming back to Mt. Reikaku. Just before he left, he told me he was going to search for his goal. I didn't know what he meant by that, but before I could ask he just took off."
"He sounds like a mysterious guy."
"Pretty much, he is. Then I heard about Eiken, the leader of this joint."
"Eiken?"
"Yeah. Genrou is the rightful leader of this place, but Eiken took over while he was gone. Eiken knows he is, and if Eiken finds Genrou around this place, I heard he's going to kill him..." he was silent some more, but then he chuckled and he looked at me. "You never really told me your name. What is it?"
I stood up. "Mima."
"Mima... that's a lovely name for a girl like you." He looked me up and down. "Say, where you from?"
"Tokyo, Japan."
"Where's that?"
I raised an eyebrow, putting my hands on my hips. "You DON'T know where Tokyo, Japan is?"
"No..." He began to back away because of the way I barked at him.
"It's almost the world's most famous place on Earth!" But then again, I thought about that for awhile. The place I am at have no street lights, no signs of electricity, their light is from a candle, and the way they dress look ancient. Plus, the air seems a lot more fresher than it is in my world.
...My world?
"Well, babe, you're not in Tokyo or whatever anymore. You're in China," Koji said at ease.
But surely, I wasn't.
How could I be in China? Was I bonked in the head and was suddenly transported to a section in China that still lived the way they did a billion years ago? And at that moment, I remembered the library. Those two girls named Yui and Miaka. That book... "Oh my God..."
"Nani ka?" Koji asked, curious by my shocked expression.
"Oh my God..." I repeated. "The book... Oh my God I might be in the book..."
"What are you talking about, Mima? What book?" he got up and set his hands on my shoulders. "Mima?"
"The 'Shi Jin Tenchi Sho...'"
"The what?!"
"The 'Shi Jin Tenchi Sho'! Yui and Miaka! Suzaku no Miko...
"Koji! Have you ever heard of Suzaku no Miko?" I grabbed onto his arms, desperation in my eyes.
"Yeah. She's the Maiden to summon the southern god, Suzaku."
The words from the book filled my head: 'This is a story of a girl who gathered the Seven Guardians of Suzaku. The story itself is an incantation. As soon as the page is turned, the story will become the truth and begin.'
|+| Flashback |+|