Fushigi Yuugi - The Next Generation: Part 4

Disclaimer: I still don't own Fushigi Yuugi. Correction, I don't own the original characters and the objects, but I do own the new characters.

Author's Note: Pretty slow going, isn't it? I thought that it would be fun to make the seishi not represent the group they are suppose to, i.e., Hoshi is a Seiryuu and Seijitsu is a Suzaku. It makes for more interesting reading and writing. I get to have fun with the casting. There are still spoilers from TV series.

Mariko was filled with a lot of doubt. She was in her room on her bed. Mariko was wearing a tank top and some boxer shorts. She heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," said Mariko softly. Hoshi walked in and closed the door behind him. He sat on her bed. He was dressed in his pajama bottoms and a cotton tee shirt. Hoshi looked at her.

"What are you staring at Hoshi?" Mariko asked annoyed.

"At you. You didn't seem to be very happy to be a Miko," said her older brother. Everyone always said that he looked like their father. Mariko wasn't too sure, but she had seen the pictures. Keisuke kept lots of picture of their parents in the house. Mariko didn't have a picture of their parents in her room, unlike Hoshi.

"I don't want to talk about it. If you are here to talk me into it, then leave right now," said Mariko turning away from him.

"My. I thought I was the older sibling here. Because it sounds like you're giving orders," teased Hoshi. Mariko pulled a blanket over her head. Hoshi pulled it off her. "I think it's wonderful that you qualify to be a Miko." He was eyeing her funny.

"What's so wonderful about it? I could be devoured by a god," exclaimed Mariko.

"Yes. But, it didn't happen to three of the mikos. I think it's wonderful that you're still a virgin. Not that I was worried," said Hoshi.

Mariko blushes and throws a pillow at Hoshi. He catches it. He has a smirk on his face.

"You are a very pretty girl. It was sort of a surprise. But, all things considered, it can't be such a bad job. Our father is from that world. If the book didn't exist, then we wouldn't. I feel like I have a sense of duty to that world, even though only half of me is from it. So, should you," said Hoshi seriously.

"I don't know about this Hoshi. It all seem so foreign to me. I keep thinking that if I wake up, then none of this has happened," said Mariko.

"You don't remember Mother and Father. I do. I remember a little bit, but those are the memories that have the most value to me. I remember riding on Father's shoulders. I remember asking Mother if I could hold you when you were just born. I want to do this, Mariko. I want to do the same things that our parents did. I want to do it, so that I feel closer to them. That's why I want to do this," said Hoshi in a reverent voice.

Mariko looked at Hoshi. He was always an articulate speaker. He was a protective older brother. Mariko loved her life. The only memories she always had just Aunt Yui, Uncle Tetsuya, and Uncle Keisuke. She didn't know anything else. She didn't want to. She had other things. Her grades. She didn't have many friends, but she had her gambling ring. The problems she thought were the biggest problems were now the smallest. For example, she wanted to expand her business into scalping tickets to concerts and sporting events.

Hoshi got up to leave. He looked at his baby sister. He smiled.

"Just keep an open mind, Mariko. Don't rush into judgment," said Hoshi.

"Well, you shouldn't do the same, Hoshi," answered back Mariko.

As he closed the door, "If you decide to do this, I promise to protect you. Like I always have." She smiled and finally was able to sleep.

* * *

Keisuke gave invitations to Sei to give to the other seishi and mikos to come to the Kajiwara house. Every one of them were so happy to get a private invitation from Yuki Keisuke the author.

'I get to tell everyone that I know Yuki Keisuke. He's Mariko's uncle. I'll tell him about her. He's probably the only one who can stop her gambling ring,' thought Miwa as she rang the doorbell. Hoshi opened the door. Miwa's brown eyes opened wide.

"Hi," greeted Miwa. She was at a loss of words. The man standing in front of her was the finest guy she had ever seen.

"Hi. What do you want?" asked Hoshi as he leaned against the doorway. She held up the invitation. She was still speechless. This guy looked like a god. He looked at the invitation and allowed her to go inside.

"What's your name?" asked Hoshi.

"Kinomoto Miwa. What's your name?" asked Miwa.

"Sukunami Hoshi."

'God, she doesn't seem that bright. Whomever her seishi is, I pity him,' thought Hoshi.

Hoshi lead Miwa to the living room. The room was semi dark. Miwa thought it was rather strange. She suddenly realized that Hoshi had the same name as Mariko.

"Are you Mariko's older brother?" asked Miwa looking at Hoshi amazed. Hoshi nodded and smiled.

"Do you know my sister? Are you a friend of hers?" asked Hoshi. He knew that his sister didn't have many friends. Actually, he never meet any of her friends.

"You could say that," said Miwa in a soft voice. 'God, he is so fine,' thought Miwa.

The doorbell rang again. Tei and Yoshi came in together. They noticed that Sei and Hoshi were looking at them.

"Hello, my name is Sasaki Yoshi, and this is Asaiya Tei," Yoshi introduced them both.

"Hi, my name is Sukunami Hoshi. And you probably already know Sei," greeted Hoshi in a friendly manner.

"I never thought that I would meet Yuki Keisuke. I know that it's so hard for the press to get an interview with him," said Yoshi excitedly.

"Let's all wait in the living room," instructed Sei. He and Hoshi had doubts as to whether or not any of these people would agree to this. Hoshi had the most doubts because his own sister was unsure about all this.

Yoko arrived second to last. She was amazed at all the cute guys at one location, and since the only guy she will enough was Tei, she latched on to him. Tei had a worried look on his face. As did Hoshi and Sei. There was the finally ring at the doorbell. Sei answered the door.

"Hi, I'm Okano Amai," said Amai in her sweet voice as she did a slight bow to Sei.

"Hi, I'm Sei. Come right in," greeted Sei as he led her to the living room.

Everyone was now gathered at one place. Keisuke, Tetsuya, and Yui entered the room. All the guests had a look of amazement. This time Yui was carrying the book, and she placed on the center of the coffee table. All the guests had perplexed looks on their faces.

"The book on the table is called the Shin Jin Ten Chi Sho, the Universe of the Four Gods," said Keisuke.

"Is that why we're here?" asked Yoshi as he looked at the book on the table.

"Only the males in this room can touch that book, the girls will be able to when the time is right," said Yui.

"We are waiting for the messenger to come. The book told us that you all are needed for an important task," intoned Tetsuya cautiously. Hoshi, Sei, Mariko, and Soki were told to say nothing to the guests until the messenger came. If they did there would be a real possibility that all the guests would leave without hearing them out.

The book on the table started glow red. Everyone in the room looked startled. Yoko and Tei were sitting on the sofa close to the coffee table, and they practically leaped of the sofa when the glowing started.

Miwa and Amai tried to make it to the door.

Taiitsukun was now in the room.

"HALT! GET BACK HERE! NOW!" ordered the bull dog-faced lady.

Miwa and Amai froze at the door. Yoshi was now touching the book. Tei and Yoko are on the floor. They are superdeformed and have swirls in their eyes.

"All of girls have been chosen as the new Mikos for the four gods. Virgin priestesses who will summon the gods," said Taiitsukun.

"What?!" said Amai, Miwa, and Yoko in unison.

"This is insane. What are we doing here? Who is the is Woman?" exclaimed Tei.

"I AM TAIITSUKUN! YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME! ALL OF YOU!" shouted Taiitsukun.

Everyone in the room is now superdeformed even Keisuke, Tetsuya, and Yui.

"You will go into the world inside the book. Each of you girls will represent a god, but you must agree to come. You four young men are the first seishi to the mikos. You have been endowed with special powers as gifts from the gods you represent," said Taiitsukun.

Yui knew about Taiitsukun's other identity, and she was about to speak up, but Taiitsukun gave her a look. Yui thought it was probably a better idea that she remain quiet.

"Is the priestess a very important person? I do think that these are great special effects" asked Miwa. She liked the idea of doing something important.

"Imagine going into another world? It's something out of Rayearth! I could be an anime or manga heroine like Sailor Moon or Pretty Girl Sammy," exclaimed Yoko happily. She was rubbing her hands together.

Everyone in the room was sweatdropped.

"I guess I could agree to do it, if you both are going to," said Amai in sweet indecisive voice.

"I always thought that I was destined to be a seishi. This is my path," said Yoshi solemnly. Hoshi and Sei smiled because they realized that most of the group already agreed to go to the Universe of the Four Gods.

"This whole is utter ridiculous. I don't believe it," said Tei as he stood next to one of Yui's houseplants. Suddenly, the plant burst out its pot. "AAAAAAAHHHH! I didn't do it!" shouted Tei.

Tei's symbol was glowing on his forehead. It was Inochi. Life.

"Yes. You did," said Sei. He was holding up a mirror that he kept with him just for these purposes. Tei looked into the mirror and saw his symbol. He started to rub his forehead. At this point, all the boys had their symbols glowing.

"Now, I shall tell you which of the gods you, young girls, represent. Soohoo Yoko, you are the Genbu no Miko of the Kingdom known as Hokkan. Your direction is the North. Okano Amai, you are the Byakko no Miko of the Kingdom known as Sairo. Your direction is the West. Sukunami Mariko, you are the Suzaku no Miko of the Kingdom known as Konan. Your direction is the South. And finally, Kinomoto Miwa, you are the Seiryuu no Miko of the Kingdom known as Kuto. Your direction is the East," announced Taiitsukun.

"Wait, that means…I'm not the my sister's seishi," said Hoshi in disbelief.

"DON'T NOT SPEAK FOOLISHLY, YOUNG MAN! YOU ARE TRULY YOUR FATHER'S SON! YOU DON'T THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK!" shouted Taiitsukun.

Hoshi falls over superdeformed.

Mariko just stood there. She didn't say if she was going to be a Miko. She looked at Tei who was having a conversation with Amai.

"I guess that makes me your seishi. I look forward to working with you," said Tei in a friendly tone.

"I do as well," answered Amai.

"Just be careful, Amai. This guy's got a gambling problem. Which I guarantee will become your problem," warned Miwa.

Tei gave her a sharp look. Miwa suddenly realized that Hoshi was her seishi. 'How lucky could I be?' thought Miwa as she looked at Hoshi. Hoshi had an exasperated look on his face.

"I don't believe it. Sei, I have to talk to you about Mariko," said Hoshi. He was ignoring Miwa for the most part.

"I know. I know. I promise to look after your sister," promised Sei.

"You'd better!" said Hoshi in cold threat.

Sei sweatdropped.

"Why are we doing this?" asked Mariko. Every person in the room swirled to look. Why were they doing this?

"You are very wise to ask, Suzaku no Miko. Because our world is crumbling. There are barriers opening between our two worlds. Soon, the book will not be the only portal between our worlds. Time has slowed down as well. The time axis is now almost identical to your world. However, when the world crumbles our people will perish. The only way to prevent this is summon all the four beast gods at once. Genbu is the mighty Tortoise hybrid with the Serpent. Byakko is the honorable Tiger. Suzaku is the celestial Phoenix. Seiryuu is the powerful Dragon. With their powers called the world will stop crumbling. Each god has a Shinzahou, a magical talisman that the previous Mikos left behind. These are needed to retrieve a new set of scrolls to summon the gods. They're more. You four men are only the first of seven for each of your groups. You will need six more for each group. These warriors can be identified by having symbols that glow the color of their god. These warriors should be in the countries that they represent. Genbu is a dark wood brown color. Byakko is bright white. Suzaku is red. Seiryuu is blue. You will be given one day in your time to make your finally decision to come to my world. The only way for the seishi to come to the world is to hold a part of their Miko as they open the book," said Taiitsukun.

Taiitsukun departed after that. Leaving Mariko with more questions than anyone.

"Wait! Don't go!" said Mariko. She had a feeling that the old woman knew her mother. She want to ask about Miaka.

"I think it's time that everyone goes home, and gets some rest. Come back here at this same time tomorrow," said Yui in comforting voice.

Tei said that he would walk Amai home so that he could talk to her more. Keisuke agreed to drive Miwa home. Yoko and Yoshi got a ride home from Tetsuya. Sei decided that he should talk to his mother. Soki was excitedly making plans of what to pack for Sei on his trip.

* * *

'I have to do this. Everyone agreed to do it. I really don't want to do this. I have no choice. I don't want to be the hold out. This is all so strange to me," thought Mariko as she sat down at the dinner table with her uncle and her brother.

"I didn't think that Taiitsukun would pair off you guys like that. But, it's something we have to accept. It is by the wisdom of the gods," said Keisuke.

"I still think that there's something wrong with that, Uncle Keisuke. But, I guess it's all right because Sei is her seishi. I would be much happier if I were your seishi, Mariko," said Hoshi.

"It's all right, Ryu," said Mariko with a smile. Hoshi smiled at her use of his seishi name.

"Come to my study after dinner, Mariko," said Keisuke.

They ate the rest of their meal in silence. Hoshi cleaned up afterwards, and Mariko and Keisuke were at his study.

Keisuke went to the safe behind a picture inside a wall. He turned the combination lock and opened the lock. He took out a black lacquered box with a Chinese design on it. He showed the box to Mariko.

"I've never seen that before, Uncle Keisuke," said Mariko. She admired the beautiful ebony box with cranes on it. Keisuke slide the top lid off the box.

There were a pair of beautiful bracelets. They were silver with one large ruby in each of them.

"These belonged to one of your mother's seishi. His name was Nuriko. I think it's appropriate that they are yours, now," said Keisuke.

Mariko touched them with her finger. She looked at her Uncle.

"Just put them on, " said Keisuke gently.

Mariko picked up the bracelets one at a time. She placed the first one on her left wrist, then the other on her right. Bracelets had a red aura for a moment, then it extinguished.

"They're beautiful. But, I know that the Universe of the Four Gods has a lot of magic involved in it. What do these bracelets do?" asked Mariko with her curiosity peaked.

"You will see when you get there," said Keisuke simply. He kissed the top of her forehead, and left the study.


* * *

Later that evening, Mariko was in her room. She held up her wrist and looked at the bracelets. The strange thing was she couldn't remove them after Uncle Keisuke left. She tried, but they remained locked in place. Mariko brought back down her wrists and let out a sigh.

"How did I get myself into this? Can I really do this? I don't want to do this. How will this effect my future? Mother and Father's lives changed after they met each other in the book. Hoshi is right. We wouldn't exist without that book. But, I didn't ask to be born,' mused Mariko.

Finally, sleep claimed her. It was a dreamless sleep.

* * *
Sei knew that his mother had the most misgivings about this whole thing. After, everyone left, he decided he wanted to talk to her. He found his mother in the living room after dinner. He walked up from behind her. It startled her.

"Oh. Sei," whispered Yui.

"I know that you have a problem with all this, " said Sei quietly.

"I knew that were always destined to be one of the Suzaku seishi. When you were a little baby, you already had the symbol. Every year after you were born, I got more and more worried that you would have to one day fulfill your destiny. It's finally happened," said Yui.

Sei kneeled down in front of his mother. She was sitting in an armchair. Sei looked into her blue eyes with his hazel eyes.

"I don't know what's going to happen, Mother. But, I would like to thank you for letting me make the decision on my own. I love you, Mom," said Sei without the shame most teenage boys had.

"You were named well, by Suzaku. He picked the character you represent. Loyalty," whispered Yui.

"I don't know what my powers are yet. Hoshi is some form of a really strong fighting skill, but he thinks there's more than that. Yoshi thinks his powers are to be able to see things, visions. Tei, well, you saw what he did to that plant of yours. What are my powers?" asked Sei.

"You will find out when you get there, son," said Yui.

Sei's forehead glowed with his red character. Yui touched his character as it glowed. Sei closed his eyes. His mother kissed him on his forehead.

"Guard your Miko well," instructed Yui sternly.

"Of course, I will. If Hoshi doesn't get me, you will," said Sei with a smile.

* * *

The next day every one came back to the Kajiwara House. It was the summer so that arrangements were made with their parents. Yui said that the girls would be working as interns at the magazine offices in Kyoto. Yoko's parents were ecstatic because they were kind of worried about Yoko's future. Actually, very worried. Miwa's parents didn't mind because she would be interning at one of the most popular magazines in Japan. Amai's father went on a business trip, so he allowed his daughter to go. Amai's mother didn't care, her parents were divorced. As far as her mother was concerned, Amai was her father's responsibility.

Tei and Yoshi's parents were informed that they would spend many weeks during the summer training with Hoshi. Since, Hoshi was a national champion, their parents didn't object. Everyone was dressed a certain way. The young men were dressed as instructed by Keisuke and Tetsuya. Yoshi was told to dress in something warm. Sei was told to dress in something light. Tei was told to dress in even lighter clothes with some sort of heavy jacket. Hoshi dressed semi warm and semi light.

Yui told the girls to dress the same way to match their seishi. They were also instructed to pack lightly. Sei told Soki to unpack most of the stuff he packed. Soki was sort of disappointed, but did as his older brother told him to. They were always told that all the boys were to be called by their seishi names when they arrived at their countries.

"I was once in the same place as you girls," said Yui as she picked up the book.

"Which god did you represent, Mrs. Kajiwara?" asked Miwa.

"Yours," answered Yui, "Mariko's mother, Miaka, was the Suzaku no Miko."

Mariko had no expression on her face. Yui handed the book to Yoko first.

"Well, here goes!" said Yoko. Yoshi placed his hand on Yoko's shoulder.

Yoko opened the book. There was a flash of light, and they were gone.

Yui picked up the book and handed to Amai. Amai looked at Tei, and he nodded.

Amai opened the book, and Tei took her hand. The same flash of light, and they too were gone.

Keisuke picked up the book and handed it to his niece. He kissed her cheek. Hoshi went over and did the same. Mariko looked at Sei with some uncertainty. She turned and looked at her Aunt Yui. Yui tried to give an encouraging smile, but failed.

Mariko took a deep breath, and Sei held on to her elbow. He took one last look at his father, mother, and brother.

"Bye, Sei! Bye, Mariko! Come back soon!" shouted Soki. His mother pulled him close, and then he was quiet.

Mariko opened the book, and the flash came. She and Sei were gone.

Tetsuya retrieved the book, and handed it to Miwa.

"Good luck to you, Miwa," said Yui softly.

Hoshi took Miwa's hand. She slightly blushed, but no one could see. Miwa took a deep breath, and opened the book. The finally flash of light came. The room now felt empty.

~*ClareBear's Omake*~

Chiriko: They finally got started. Thank Suzaku!

Tamahome: My daughter's a Miko!

Hotohori: Why are you so excited by that? Miaka was a Miko.

Tamahome (with large eyes and a bubbly dream background behind him): Don't you see! That means she's still a VIRGIN! I am so HAPPY!

Nuriko: She also has my bracelets. Well, every girl should be properly accessorized for any kind of adventure.

Tamahome is still in a happy daze.

Miaka: I can't believe Taiitsukun is tricking them again. I can't believe Hoshi is one of the Seiryuu Seven.

Tamahome: That's right. (background changes from happy to black lines of despair) My son. A Seiryuu.

Everyone groans.

Miaka (happily): Think of it this way, at least one of the children is on the right side.

Tamahome: But, not our son….

Miaka: But, Sei is Yui's son, and he's on our side.

Tamahome (turned around, with black lines of despair around him): I still don't like this.