Fushigi Yuugi - The Next Generation: Part 6

Disclaimer: I don't Fushigi Yuugi. Yuu Watase does. I do own a lot of the characters.

Author's Note: Continuing forward. Pretty soon I'll be changing to the different mikos. This is their story too. It's only fair. Once again, I am taking from the TV series, and a little from the OVAs. Some of the names came out of a Japanese dictionary, so no flames for mistakes. I spent a lot of time thinking up names for these people. You try casting over twenty people, and we'll talk.

Mariko's body was limp in Boushin's arms. She was pale, and her breathing was swallow. The council was at an uproar.

"Your Majesty! You were almost killed," said the Vice Minister.

"Are you all right, your Highness?" asked the Prime Minister.

Boushin couldn't believe it. He was fine, but the girl in his arms was dying.

"GUARDS! GET THE GUARDS IN HERE NOW! FIND THE ASSASSIN!" ordered Boushin. He turned and looked at his council. He was disgusted at the lack of care they had for others.

"All of you. Get out. Leave. Get the royal physicians in here, right now," Boushin said in a dangerously cold voice.

The council filed out to the room. Boushin realized that she would stop breathing if he didn't do something. He didn't lay her down the floor. He knew that the arrow wasn't all the way through. To pull it out the way it came would only cause more damage.

'The only thing I can do is to push it forward. Break off the tip. Then, slide the rest of the arrow out the way it came,' thought Boushin. He didn't want to cause her more pain, but he had no choice otherwise she was a goner.

Boushin placed her legs on the floor. He used his right hand to support her upper back. Boushin braced himself. Then, he used his left hand, and pushed the arrow through.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" shrieked Mariko in pain. Her eyes were wide open. There was a trickled of blood came out of the right side of her mouth. Her breathing was even swallow. Boushin looked into her hazel almost golden colored eyes. He hated the pain he saw in them. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he broke off the tip. His hands were bloody. He pulled the rest of the arrow out of her back. He cut himself on the arrow's sharp tip, but he was able to withstand the pain.

Mariko started to shake from the loss of blood. Her breathing was slowing. Her eyes were wide open she was looking into a pair of dark hazel almost green ones. He laid her down on the floor of the throne room. Mariko kept her eyes focused on him.

Boushin chanted a spell. With his palm, he used the same magic that Mitsukake had to heal the wound on her body. Boushin waved his hand over her eyes, and she slowly shut them. She was now sedated under his spell. Boushin noticed that his wrist was glowing with a kanji. He also notice that the girl was wearing strange clothes underneath the wrap she had around her. Boushin stripped off his top robe, and wrapped it around her. The doctors finally made it into the throne room.

"Let me check her, your Highness," asked the first doctor gently.

He looked at her wound. It was gone, but tender. He prodded it gently, but notice that she flinched when he did. He stopped when he received a sharp look from the Emperor.

Boushin looked at the doctors. They were surprised. They knew about the Emperor's powerful magic, but they didn't expect this. Boushin carried the girl off to the one of the chambers.

When Boushin got there, he called for female servants to take off her clothes, and find some suitable ones for her to wear. He watched as they laid her on the bed without any clothes except for her underwear. They even took off a strange looking contraption that was wrapped around her breast. He noticed a strange device on her left wrist that had blinking symbols on it. He took note of the bracelets she wore on her either wrist. The servant tucked her into bed, and bowed towards the Emperor. They left the room in silence.

Boushin got up from the chair he was sitting at, and walked over to her bedside. He touched the dark brown, rich chestnut hair that was over her face. He cleared her hair away from her face to look at her. Her face was peaceful. Her breathing was leveled.

"Who are you? Why did you save me? You obviously aren't from here. You are some kind of foreigner. Where are you from? I guess I have to wait until you wake up to ask you," said Boushin. He got up and left the room. He placed guards outside the room for her safety.

'I wanted the meeting to be cut short. But, not like this,' thought Boushin. Walked back to the throne room. He saw that the blood on the marble floor was being cleaned up. What was he going to do for the person who saved him? Boushin went back to his chambers. He was happy that none of his servants were there to help him change clothes.

Boushin took off all of his outer robes. All he had on was the bottom shirt and pants. He had removed his shoes. He took the tie out of his hair. He ran his fingers through part of his hair. Boushin looked exactly like his father. The only thing that was really his mother's was his hair. He kept it long like his father did. It was only the middle of the day, and Boushin was already tired. He decided to relax himself by writing out the new incantation he had come up with during the last few meeting into his spell book. Before that he washed his hands because his hands were still bloody, and healed the cut on his hand. He was actually ambidextrous. Since, his left hand was sore from the cut, he was comfortably using his right hand.

* * *

Sei was back to the spot where he was supposed to meet Mariko. She wasn't there. He wondered where she was. He had a bad feeling.

'I have to find her. Some thing could have happened. She said that she was at the Imperial palace,' thought Sei as he moved away from the spot he had to wait at.

This was a strange world to Sei. Every thing was old fashioned. This was sort of like ancient China, but not. He asked someone where to find the Imperial palace. He took off running there.

'Mariko, I hope you're all right,' thought Sei as he ran.

* * *

Tasuki was called in after the attempt on Boushin's life. He was very concerned. After he went to Miaka's world for the final fight against Nakago, he made a promise to the spirit of Hotohori that he would watch over Boushin. He was very proud of Boushin. Boushin had grown up to be a good man. Tasuki and Chichiri felt as if they had raised him.

Tasuki was very worried about Boushin. He and Chichiri waited for Boushin to come out of his chambers and meet with them in one of the many dens in the palace.

Boushin came rushing in. It was obvious that he wasn't dress properly. He was wearing only one outer robe, and his long hair was loose without a tie.

"Sensei Chichiri. Lord Tasuki. What are you doing here?" asked Boushin respectfully as he bowed to them. These men's opinions mattered the most. He hated disappointing them more than anyone.

"What do you friggin' think? You were almost killed," said Tasuki. He was about to say more, but Chichiri stepped in.

"Calm down- no da. He looks fine- no da. I don't think anything happened to him. What happened? According to the reports, someone saved you- no da," said Chichiri evenly.

"Who saved you? Where are they now?" asked Tasuki.

"She's in one of the chambers," answered Boushin.

"Wait. She- no da?" questioned Chichiri.

"Yes. I am pretty sure she's a girl," said Boushin.

"You haven't said what happened yet, your Majesty," said Tasuki. He always called Boushin by his titles. Boushin preferred to be called by his first name by these men, but only Chichiri did as he asked.

"I was at the council meeting. Then, the girl came into the throne room all of a sudden. Before I knew what happened, she pushed me out of the way, and an arrow went into her body. I was able to heal her using Mitsukake's techniques. She should be all right, but there something strange about her," said Boushin.

"What?!" asked Tasuki.

"She was wearing some very strange clothes. Well, they had to be removed because of the blood, but I'll have someone bring them in for you to look at. She was wearing some things on her wrists," reported Boushin evenly.

"That is strange- no da," said Chichiri. He and Tasuki were looking at each other. They had a very weird feeling about all this. This all seem familiar somehow. Boushin thought about telling them about the kanji on his right wrist, but kept silent.

'I can't possible be a seishi. My father was one. I am not my father,' thought Boushin.

"I'll go look at the clothes- no da," said Chichiri.

"Show me where she is, your Majesty," requested Tasuki.

Boushin lead the way to the chamber. He ordered the guards to go away.

"Let me see her alone," said Tasuki.

"All right, Lord Tasuki," said Boushin as he went to go see what Chichiri was up to.

Tasuki went into the room quietly. She looked about his daughter's age. There was something strangely familiar about this girl, but he couldn't place her. The blankets were up to her neck. He saw one of her wrist peeking out of the blankets. Tasuki gently picked up her delicate wrist. He closely examined the bracelet. His mouth opened wide in surprise.

'This is Nuriko's bracelet. At least one of them,' thought Tasuki. He picked up the other wrist carefully to confirm his suspicions. His eyes widened and his mouth was agape. 'This is a 'watch' a time keeping piece,' thought Tasuki remembering Miaka explaining what a watch was.

'This is a girl from another world,' thought Tasuki. He couldn't be sure, but it was a good bet. He looked at her. She started to move a little bit. Tasuki decided to leave the room. He had to talk to Chichiri about this.

* * *

Sei couldn't get inside the palace. There were guards everywhere. He heard that there was an attempt on the Emperor's life. They had caught the man, but they were still on alert. Sei knew that the Emperor's father was also a seishi.

'I could talk to him. Maybe, it was a better idea if we came straight to the palace in the first place. We could have gotten some help. He is the son of a seishi. He could help us. What am I saying? We don't even know him. Just because his father was a seishi doesn't mean he'll want to help us,' thought Sei.

He tried to look for a way to get inside. But, he couldn't find a way.

'How am I supposed to get inside? I don't even have my powers. Or rather, I don't know how to use them. How could I come to this world, so unprepared? I don't even have any sort of weapons on me' thought Sei as he tried to keep from cursing out loud. He decided that there had to be another way than going through the front doors. So, he went around.

* * *

Tasuki rushed back to where Chichiri and Boushin were. Chichiri saw that Tasuki wanted to talk to him privately. Chichiri looked at the clothes. 'This is strange-no da. They don't look normal- no da. They look foreign-no da,' thought Chichiri.

He felt the fabric of the skirt. It was obviously made out of silk. The shirt was caked with blood, but it was made out of cotton. Tasuki and he recognized the bra. They looked at each other. Just then, a messenger dressed in the uniform of a Kutou messenger came in. He needed to speak with the Emperor. So, Boushin left the room.

"I saw the girl," said Tasuki quietly. He didn't want anyone to overhear them.

"Miaka had some clothes like theses. Not the same kind, but almost the same," said Chichiri in a normal voice.

"She has Nuriko's bracelets and a watch," said Tasuki.

"But, Miaka took the bracelets into her world. She keep them, no da," said Chichiri.

"I think she's a girl from another world. Just like Miaka was," said Tasuki.

Boushin walked back into the room. He was now holding a scroll. The messenger from Kutou bowed low to Emperor, and Boushin dismissed him.

"This is a scroll from Emperor Feng Entai of Kutou. He has some very interesting news. There is a new Seiryuu no Miko," announced Boushin waiting for a reaction.

"What the friggin' HELL?!" shouted Tasuki.

"No-da. It can't be. All the gods were already summoned. Suzaku was the last one to be summoned. Besides, Seiryuu was sealed by our Miko-da" said Chichiri. He knew that Boushin knew the history as well as they did. When he was younger, he would constantly ask about it. He knew Tasuki and Chichiri's versions of events by heart.

"The scroll from the Emperor of Kutou says that the world as we know it is crumbling. The seal on Seiryuu was broken as a result. The Seiryuu no Miko and her first seishi showed up right away in their castle. They proved their powers. Here is the list of everyone who has come here: Soohoo Yoko and Yogensha, Genbu; Okano Amai and Inochi, Byakko; Kinomoto Miwa and Ryu, Seiryuu; and for our kingdom: Sukunami Mariko and Seijitsu," Boushin read the list out loud.

"Wait. If they just arrived at their respective kingdom, then how is it possible for them to already have seishi?" asked Tasuki.

"The scroll says that they were brought here with the first seishi, so that time wouldn't be wasted. And so that the Mikos would already have protection upon arrival. I also realized that the reason for all the natural disasters is the result of our world crumbling. The Mikos must assemble all twenty-eight seishi. They must summon all the gods at once to save all of us," said Boushin. This was worse than he thought. He rolled up the scroll.

"That girl in the chamber must be the new Suzaku no Miko," said Tasuki.

* * *

Mariko woke up finally. She felt the fine linen under her fingertips. Her eyes were blurry. Then, she could see clearly. Mariko sat up. She realized that she wasn't wearing anything on top when she felt a drift on her breast. Mariko gasped and pulled some blankets over her breast.

'What happened? What am I doing here? How did I get here?' thought Mariko as she tried to shake off the cobwebs. She felt a slight pain on her side. Suddenly, it all came back. The arrow entering her back below her ribs on her right side. She didn't remember much else. Mariko remember staring into a pair of beautiful hazel eyes. She felt a palm almost touching her, but not quite. She felt a strange tingle on her wound, then the pain was gone. She remember a hand swiping over her eyes, and her succumbing to slumber.

'Why am I only in my underwear in this bed? Oh my God! What if something happened that I don't remember? The same thing happened to Aunt Yui. I have to get out of here!' thought Mariko as she panicked. There was a silk robe laid out for her on one of the tables in the room. She put it on and quickly got out of the room. She slammed the door behind her and took off running. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew that she had to get away.

* * *

"So, you think that girl is the new Suzaku no Miko-da?" asked Chichiri.

"That's what I am sayin'" answered Tasuki.

Boushin was listening to them go back and forth. 'There are new seishi. I am one of them,' thought Boushin. He was letting the idea sink into his head. Then, he spotted a figure running down one of the corridors that was visible.

"There she goes!" shouted Boushin. Chichiri and Tasuki stopped.

"She must have woken up- no da!" exclaimed Chichiri.

"Go after her!" shouted Tasuki. But, Boushin was way ahead of them. He was already running after Mariko. They followed behind him.

Mariko saw that three men were chasing her. She looked behind and ran even faster. She didn't like this one bit. She soon realized that she was on a high second floor. She ran up to a window. Mariko was pretty fast and since she had a sort of a head start they would have to catch up with her.

Sei spotted her from the window. There was still enough light because it was only up to sundown.

"Mariko!" shouted Sei.

"Sei!" shouted Mariko.

They were catching up to her. She had to jump and hope that Sei could catch her from where he was.

'I trust him,' thought Mariko as she shut her eyes and took a flying leap out of the window.

Sei didn't expect her to do that. He ran forward as quickly as possible and jumped.

'Suzaku, if you can hear me, please activate my powers now,' prayed Sei to himself.

Suzaku must have heard his prayer or Sei was able to access it from his sheer will because he powers finally activated.

Sei felt some things come out of his back. They were a pair of red-burgundy wings coming out of his back in a glorious explosion of feathers. Sei was able to use them instinctively.

In a moment, he was able to catch Mariko in his arms.

Tasuki's mouth was wide open. Chichiri looked at him. Boushin gestured for them to get to the stairs and get down to that courtyard by using a teleportation spell.

When they got there, they saw Sei still carrying Mariko in his arms. His wings were still present. They had a very impressive wingspan. The kanji on his head was glowing bright red. He had fierce, protective look on his face. Mariko looked somewhat frightened. Sei put her down on the ground. She was able to stand.

"No one touches my Miko," said Sei in cold threatening tone. Mariko was behind him. He held up his right arm to his side, and his wings covered her from their view.

"There's no reason to be like that. We didn't hurt her. Why would I do that? She saved my life," said Boushin as he carefully stepped forward. Sei widened his wings even more. Mariko was holding on to one of them to feel the feathers.

"You are the Emperor of Konan?" asked Sei.

"Yes. I am also one of you," said Boushin. He slide the right sleeve of his outer robe and shirt to reveal his kanji. Boushin willed his to glow. Sei looked at his kanji. He lowered his wings, and they disappeared back into his back. He still stood in front of Mariko.

"Odayaka" said Sei out loud as he read Boushin's kanji.

"Yes," said Boushin, "Seijitsu."

"Well, now that we know were dealing with some friends, perhaps we should invite them in- no da?" suggest Chichiri.

Sei nodded, and took Mariko's hand. Her hair obscured her face. They went into one of the dens of the palace.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Seijitsu. I am the first seishi of the new set of Suzaku seishi. This is the new Suzaku no Miko, Sukunami Mariko," said Sei with a smile on his face.

"My name is Tasuki. Actually, that's my kanji," said Tasuki as he held up his right arm to show his forearm with the glowing red symbol on it.

"I am Chichiri- no da," said Chichiri as he showed his right knee. His kanji was also glowing brightly.

"You were part of the original Suzaku Seven," said Sei with awe in his voice. Mariko's eyes slightly widened. 'That means my mom was their miko,' thought Mariko. But, she kept silent. She felt cold. Boushin noticed. Since, this was his miko, he decided to remedy the problem.

"Get another outer robe for the Suzaku no Miko," ordered Boushin. "Also, get another shirt for Seijitsu from my chambers." Boushin thought that they were about the same size.

She looked up at him. He smiled at her. Sei suddenly realized that his shirt was completely ripped up. His wing burst out of it, and his chest along with his abs were bare. Sei didn't typically like to go bare-chested. He had a tinge of pink on his face. His modesty had caught up with him.

"At least you are wearing pants, Sei. I have almost nothing under this robe," said Mariko out loud as if she was reading his mind. She pulled the robe closer together.

Tasuki started to laugh at this exchanged. Yet, there was something familiar about the two of them. He looked at the boy, but still couldn't place him. The girl was too familiar, but not enough.

"Why did you ran- no da? Didn't you know you were safe here- no da?" asked Chichiri.

"If you woke up in a strange place in nothing but your underwear. Then, three men are chasing after you, wouldn't you take off?" answered Mariko somewhat defensively.

"Oh-da!" exclaimed Chichiri. Now, he understood why she ran.

"And you. You knew that you had the kanji on your wrist and you said nothing," said Tasuki scolding the Emperor.

Boushin was now in superdeformed form. This annoyed Tasuki even more.

"I was going to tell you both eventually. And I did," said Boushin with a smile on his face. He was looking rather coy.

"Will you friggin' stop that?! You are acting like him!" shouted Tasuki as he pointed at Chichiri.

"Oh. Sorry," said Boushin who went back to normal.

"That's better!" shouted Tasuki as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Thank you for saving my life," said Boushin solemnly as he looked Mariko in the eye.

"Thanks for saving me afterwards. Now we're even," answered Mariko with a slight blush of modesty on her cheeks.

~*ClareBear's Omake*~

Hotohori: You thought you had a problem with Keisuke? Look who I entrusted my son's well
being to.

Tamahome: At least, Tasuki would have figured it out if he had a gambling ring. Chichiri taught him well. You must be very proud.

Hotohori: Your daughter saved my son's life. All in all our children were raised by good people. Questionable people, but good people none the less. Besides, Boushin refuses to get married. I don't know what's wrong with him.

Nuriko: He may look like you, but he doesn't act or think like you, Hotohori.

Miaka: That's right! He never looks at a mirror!

Hotohori (with question marks around him): What is wrong with Boushin? My child should know how beautiful he is. He takes after me! What are Tasuki and Chichiri doing to him?