Author's note: Hi minna-san!
Gomen nasai that I didn't post this chapter up faster, I was at a friend's
house. Anyway Im glad that so many of you gave me reviews ^_^ Arigato. One girl
reviewed the story and asked if Rei was a tomboy, then why does she cry so
much? To admit, that's kinda like saying the stereotype that boys don't cry.
Well don't worry, I wasn't offended or anything but let me answer your
question. Yes Rei is a tomboy, but she also can be feminine. Just imagine how a
girl would act in such a situation. I mean if you were about to be raped,
wouldn't you start to cry? And if such a big dramatic change was taking place
inside of you that you had no control over wouldn't you start to cry? And when
Rei accepted the title of Suzaku no Tennyo and started to cry, those weren't
tears of sadness but of anger. Yes Rei is supposed to be me and Im not afraid
to show anyone my tears. Anyway, I don't know why I made her cry when she
thought about her family actually. Gomen I was writing the chapter at 3 in the
morning ^^() *Hears otousan call from the kitchen that he's making dinner and
sighs* Rei's a girl and shows boyish emotions at times and at other times, can
be feminine. But as the story progresses, you'll see the more tomboyish side of
her at certain times. But anyway thanks for the review, it helps me improve her
character ^_^ Don't worry, I've stopped rambling and just to let everyone know,
those were just the opening chapters of the story and the real action and
darkness of the story starts from this chapter on. Thanks for reading and keep
those reviews commin'! (And in this chapter Im going to explain more of the
Suzaku no Tennyo gig)
Chapter 3- So much for first impressions…
Thunder boomed outside of the temple. The priest
set Tasuki and Rei up in a small room for the night. Rei and Tasuki set up the
futons that were given to them "So..." Rei began. Tasuki sat on the futon,
waiting for her to continue. "Why didn't you tell me you were a Seishi or
whatever?" she finished. Tasuki rested his chin in the palm of his hand and
grinned, allowing a perfect fang to show "You never asked" he replied. Rei
casted him a fake smile, while thinking 'How arrogant...' Rei laid
herself down on the futon and stared up at the ceiling. Pictures of beautiful
angels were painted on the ceiling, leaving Rei in awe. The paintings were so
detailed and intricate. She noticed they were all women. Rei's eyes began to
get heavy and she slowly started to close them. "Tennyo..." she said to herself
sleepily. Rei closed her eyes and fell asleep. Maids walked in and set down a
plate of good food on the small table in front of the two futons. As they
exited, Tasuki quickly crawled over and looked at the mouth-watering morsels.
He smiled and picked up the chopsticks in front of him. Right when he was about
stick a piece of fish in his mouth, Tasuki said "Oi, Rei-chan! Dinner's here!"
He popped the piece of fish into his mouth, chewed it quickly and then
swallowed it. When he didn't hear Rei respond, Tasuki looked up from his plate
and turned around. He saw Rei fast asleep on the futon. Tasuki smiled, stood up
and walked over to her and kneeled down beside her. As he looked at her, a
blanket of pity covered his heart 'Poor kid...this whole Tennyo thing must be
so weird to her...oh well, Im here to protect her now' When a cold gust of
wind blew in from under the door, it caused Rei to shiver. Tasuki sighed and
placed a blanket over her tired body. Before he walked back to finish dinner,
Tasuki placed a hand on Rei's cheek and gently caressed it with his thumb
"You'll be ok, kid" he said. After a few moments, Tasuki took his hand away and
went to finish his dinner and go to bed.
***************************
The next morning was beautiful, birds were
chirping and the rain from the night before dripped off of the temple roof.
Voices from outside, as well as Tasuki's loud snoring had awoken Rei, who was
now very grumpy. 'Gods, first the fuckin' classical music and now the bandit
who snores as if he was a semi. Geeze' Rei stood up and rolled up the
futon. Today she was gonna get some answers. Before she left the room, she
threw a pillow at Tasuki to wake him up. Hell, if she couldn't sleep because of
his loud snoring, he wasn't going to sleep at all. Tasuki had awoken with
enough curses to power my house for a month. He looked at Rei "What the hell is
your problem?! I was havin' a fuckin' bad ass dream about sake and raids!" Rei
sweatdroped "Well, I wouldn't have woke you up, your highness, but Im afraid
your SNORING caused a 7.0 on the rector scale and people were startin' to
complain!" Tasuki looked at her, arching an eyebrow "What the fuck is a rector
scale?!" he asked. Rei opened her mouth to answer him, but instead sighed in
anger and said "Shut the hell up" Tasuki sighed, rolled over and cursed himself
to sleep. Rei sighed and walked out of the room, slamming the door loud enough
to wake Tasuki up. When profanities were heard from outside of the door, Rei
smirked in satisfaction. As she walked around the temple, she stopped in front
of a beautiful gold statue. It was the same bird that was in the Universe of
the Four Gods book. That's when Rei confirmed that she was trapped inside of
the book. Her thoughts were disturbed when she heard the priest from the night before
say "That's the Suzaku no Tennyo! Right over there!" Rei turned around and saw
the priest standing there with a beautiful young woman with long, shiny brown
hair and hazel coloured eyes by his side. Rei said nothing. The woman
approached her "I just got the news this morning and I came down here to meet
you..." Rei decided to show a LITTLE respect at least and she casted a small
smile at the woman, still not saying anything. "What's your name, Tennyo-sama?"
the woman asked. Rei looked at the statue "My name is Rei Mikage" The woman
smiled "My name is Seishuku Saihitei or better known as Suzaku Seishi Hotohori,
the emperor of Konan" Rei's head snapped back to Hotohori "You're a man?!" she
said loudly. Hotohori nodded. Rei almost fell over, but then realized this was
the person she wanted to talk too. "Ok...Heika-sama, I have a question for you"
Rei said, crossing her arms over her chest. Hotohori smiled "Ok" "Why the hell
was I chosen of all people to be this 'Suzaku no Tennyo'? I mean I don't have
any powers or anything and I just don't understand any of this" Hotohori smiled
and led Rei outside to the steps. They both sat down. "Well, Rei-sama, you have
tremendous power within yourself, you just have to be taught how to use it when
it chooses to awaken itself" Rei listened carefully. Hotohori smiled at her
interest "Rei-sama, the reason you were chosen to come here is because you have
a Celestial Maiden, a Tennyo, residing inside of you at this very moment" Rei's
eyes widened "What?! How'd it get there?!" "Well, from what I read in the
legend, Suzaku sent a Tennyo to another world to produce an heir to save this
country. So in other words, this Tennyo...is your foremother" Rei looked at the
stairs "My foremother...but from how long ago?" Hotohori watched as a few
priests walked past "I believe by about 150 years or so. This Tennyo passed its
soul to the daughters of your family. And then she would awaken when Suzaku
decided it was time, using the girl's body as her own. So when your mother gave
birth to you, the Tennyo was passed down to you and Suzaku felt the time has
come so he called you here" Rei sighed and wrapped her arms around her legs,
drawing them a little closer to her chest "So in other words, my life is a
lie...Im just living for the sake that I MIGHT be needed to save another
world?" Hotohori sighed softly "No, Rei-sama, your life is not a lie. You're
you and you always WILL be you" Rei closed her eyes and brushed some hair to
the back of her ear "So as this Suzaku no Tennyo...what is my job here? I heard
you got a Miko...isn't that enough?" Hotohori smiled at Rei "A Tennyo's job is
to watch over the Seishi and the Miko. But unlike the Miko, your job isn't
finished until you die. You are to help the Miko summon the beast god, Suzaku
and your job is also to fight the Kutou empire as well as the Seiryuu Seishi
and the Seiryuu no Miko" Rei sighed again "Why is it so important for me to
fight and or kill these Seiryuu dudes? I mean what if I don't?" "Well...if you
don't, It just makes your job of summoning the beast god even harder. So you
don't really need to kill the Seiryuu Seishi, but its kind of important if you
want to protect the people and things you love. Kutou is a country of war and
the Seiryuu Seishi will go to the extreme limits to destroy our happiness and
hopes" All of a sudden a thought came to Rei's mind "Hotohori, is there a
Seiryuu no Tennyo?" Hotohori looked at Rei, his facial expression serious "Im
not sure, there could be. But if there is, you should try to stop her as soon
as possible, she would be a real threat to the Miko and knowing the way the
Kutou emperor thinks, he would try to manipulate her" Rei rested her chin on
her knees "Damn..." Hotohori stood up "Rei-sama, if you don't want to do this,
you don't have to" "Nah, Im cool with it, its just such a big change for me"
Rei said. Hotohori nodded "I understand, you'll get used to it though. If you
need someone to talk to, you can always come to see me. I also understand that
you found a Seishi, well done. It makes your job and the Miko's job a lot
easier for now. Now you only have to find 3 more Seishi" Rei looked up at
Hotohori and smiled "Arigato for you help, Hotohori. It makes things a whole
lot clearer to me and actually Tasuki-chan found me. So anyway, I guess we'll
be coming up to meet the rest of the Seishi a little later, ne?" Hotohori
nodded "Yes that is correct. I'll have your rooms prepared at once" Rei stood
up and bowed "Arigato" Hotohori smiled and walked off. Rei sat back down and
hugged her legs to her chest and rested her chin upon her knees once again.
"So...Im a Tennyo? And I thought they were just fairy tale characters...Heheh.
How funny this all is. I came here to save a country and kill the enemy
Seishi...why did it have to be me? Hotohori sounds like he has confidence in
me...funny, he's the only one" Rei said to herself harshly. "He's not the only
one..." Rei gasped, looked up and saw a shirtless Tasuki, leaning one arm on
the post next to Rei and looking down at her, with a fond smile on his face.
"Huh?" Rei said in confusion. "How long have you been standin' there?!" she
asked, somewhat angry. "Rei, ya shouldn't be so hard on yourself ya know...I
mean quit bringin' yourself down. Its not healthy. You're the Suzaku no Tennyo,
so what? Just fuck the rest, bite your lip and give it all you fuckin' got!
You'll beat 'em. I know it..." Rei couldn't stay mad at Tasuki and sighed
"Arigato" she said. Tasuki cracked his back "Sure, anytime"
***************************
An hour later, Rei and Tasuki were taken
to meet the Suzaku no Miko and the rest of the Seishi, who were told ahead of
time about Tasuki and Rei's arrival. The sun was blazing hot, like it always
was. A teal haired young man walked up to the duo and smiled. His gray eyes
sparkled with curiosity and he picked up Rei's hand and shook it gently "It's a
pleasure to meet you, Tennyo-sama. Im Suzaku Seishi Tamahome" Rei felt her
cheeks colour. When she heard Tasuki mutter something under his breath behind
her, Rei turned towards him quickly 'What the?! Is he jealous or
somethin'?!' Rei turned back to Tamahome "Nice to meetcha too. My name is
Rei Mikage. But just call me Rei. And this is Suzaku Seishi Tasuki" she said,
pointing to Tasuki, who in return narrowed his eyes slightly at Tamahome.
Tamahome waved at Tasuki and then looked at Rei "Well, how about I give ya a
tour of the palace?" Rei smiled "Sure that'd be great!" Tamahome's familiar 'I
want money' grin began to show "But its gonna cost ya!" One of Rei's eyes began
to twitch "Nani?" Tamahome put his hands on the back of his head "Yup! Money
makes the world go round!" Tasuki was fuming and he lunged for Tamahome, but
was held back by Rei "Whoa, Tasuki, chill man! We'll just walk around
ourselves!" Tasuki calmed himself, not to hurt Rei. Tamahome smirked "So,
Tasuki, wanna settle this in the courtyard later on?" Tasuki smirked back
"Sure, anytime's good for me!" Rei slapped her forehead "Oi! No one's gonna
fight! And if you BOYS don't knock it off, I'll slap the hell outta both of
ya!" Rei said firmly. Tasuki and Tamahome both swallowed hard, gave each other
a cold look and went off in their separate directions. Tasuki crossed his arms
over his chest and said nothing. Rei rolled her eyes at him and sighed. The
palace was beautiful. The trees covered in red blossoms gave the koi ponds a
perfect touch. Rei stared at them for a while "Ahhh, they're so beautiful!" she
exclaimed. Tasuki looked at the ponds and arched an eyebrow "What's so
beautiful about a stupid pond with trees around it?" he asked densely. Rei
looked at him, sweatdropped and sighed "Why do I even bother?!" she said to
herself more than she did to Tasuki. "Rei-chan...?" said a familiar
high-pitched voice. Rei recognized the voice and slowly turned around. In front
of Rei stood the odango wearing, brown haired, green-eyed Miaka. "Mi--Miaka?"
Tears welded up in Miaka's eyes and she ran to Rei, holding her arms straight
out. Miaka embraced Rei tightly and cried on her shoulder "I was so worried
about you!!" she cried. Rei sighed, closed her eyes and patted Miaka's back to
comfort her. Miaka wiped her eyes and sniffled "Have you seen Yui-chan, Rei?"
she asked. Rei blinked in confusion "No...I thought she was with you" Miaka
gasped "She's not with me! I haven't heard from Yui for a while now, and Im really
starting to worry!" Rei sighed "We'll figure out where Yui is but anyway, your
this Suzaku no Miko that I've heard so much about?" Miaka nodded "Yeah, why?"
Rei closed her eyes, slightly in anger "Well, Im the Suzaku no Tennyo. Hotohori
said that you knew I was coming here" Miaka nodded "Yes, he told me all about
the legend" Miaka looked over at the flaming haired bandit by Rei's side "Who's
that?" Tasuki crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his amber eyes "Im
Tasuki, what's it to you?!" Rei glared at him. Her eyes were silently stating
the message "Shut the hell up! Be nice!" Tasuki kept his mouth shut. Rei smiled
at Miaka "Oi, don't worry about him. He's a hot-head" Miaka nodded and decided
to keep her distance from Rei's bodyguard for a while. Miaka opened her mouth
to say something but instead a loud "TAMA-KINS!!" was heard from the end of the
hall. Rei noticed anger start to cloud Miaka's eyes. Rei saw a young, beautiful
purple haired woman at the end of the hall with Tamahome wrapped up in a long
cloth, being dragged around as if he was some kind of toy. Miaka glared and
clenched her fists in SD and shouted "NURIKO!!! LEAVE TAMAHOME ALONE!!!" Nuriko
glared at Miaka "Why aren't you working!? And didn't I tell you that whenever I
was with Tamahome, I didn't want to be disturbed?!" Nuriko walked quickly up to
Miaka, dragging Tamahome behind her who was SD and bumping his head on the
cement repeatedly against his will. Rei sweatdropped and Tasuki had a very
amused look on his face. When Nuriko got up in Miaka's face, Rei noticed that
Miaka seemed kinda scared of Nuriko. Nuriko pointed to the other end of the
hall "The floors in my room needs scrubbing! Get on it!" Miaka nodded
hesitantly and walked off. Rei watched Miaka walk off slowly and then snapped
her head back to Nuriko "What's your problem!? Miaka's the Suzaku no Miko, not
your fuckin' slave!" Tamahome's eyes widened at Rei courage to take on Nuriko.
Nuriko smiled cunningly at Rei "You must be the Suzaku no Tennyo, right? Well
Miaka OFFERED to be my slave, so why refuse? You should hold your tongue in
front of a WOMAN, little girl!" Rei's eyes widened in anger. Nuriko looked at
Tasuki and walked up to him "Hmmm...your handsome! Wanna be my pet?!" Rei's
anger started to fume when Nuriko moved her face closer to Tasuki who was
starting to blush. This was all Rei could stand. She patted Nuriko on the
shoulder. Nuriko sighed heavily and turned around "WHA--?!" Nuriko was cut off
when Rei punched her in the eye, causing her to fall back. Rei walked up to
Tasuki and punched him in the stomach "YOU JERK!!" she shouted. Tasuki
sweatdropped and doubled over in pain as Nuriko was screaming "MY FACE!!"
Tasuki noticed as Rei ran past him, a sparkle fell from her narrowed brown
eyes. "REI, WAIT!" Tasuki shouted, but to no avail as Rei continued to run as
fast as she could.
***************************
The sun was starting to set, painting the
sky a mixture between a bright orange and a light pink. Rei stood on a small
pavilion, thinking about what she had done earlier. She stared at her fist 'Why
did I do that? Was I jealous of Nuriko or something? I mean...I didn't need to
go that overboard...And I even punched Tasuki in the stomach...Man I must be
losin' it..." Rei looked at her reflection in the calm koi pond in front of
the pavilion. "Im such an idiot...being so wiled up over a guy" Rei couldn't
stand it anymore and she fell to her knees "Oh face it, Rei Mikage! You love
Tasuki! Just fuckin' admit it!!" she cursed herself. Rei sighed and stood up slowly,
sticking her hands in her pocket. Rei's thoughts were put on pause when she
felt something in her pocket. She pulled out the object that revealed itself to
be Rei's wallet. Rei slowly opened it, the Velcro made a loud ripping sound.
Inside of her wallet, there were pictures of Rei's friends. Mostly of her and
Shiro together. As she flipped through the pictures, one of them caught her eye
and she stopped. It was a picture of a man holding Rei on his shoulder. He had
the same colour hair as Rei and blue eyes. "Oniichan..." Rei whispered. Her
hand slightly began to tremble. Rei's older brother was named Touya. One day,
while coming home from the store, Touya and Rei got into a car accident with a
drunk driver. The only reason Rei survived was because Touya shielded her body
with his and took most of the damage for her. Rei managed to escape with a
broken arm and scratches. Rei smiled at the picture warmly "Oh, oniichan...I
wish you were still here with me" Touya's death hit the Mikage family hard.
Especially his wife, Asuka. Rei didn't like her very much. Asuka tried to
commit suicide a couple of times, so she was stuck in a mental hospital. Rei
sighed and closed up her wallet. She stuck it back in her pocket and watched as
the sun set over the horizon, saying to herself a silent prayer for her
brother. All of a sudden a bright crimson aura started glowing around Rei's
body. Her hair started whipping out of control. Everything seemed as if it was
in slow motion. "REIII!!" she heard Tasuki scream. Rei slowly turned around and
saw the bandit Seishi running towards her, reaching an arm out to her. Rei
reached a hand out towards him. As Tasuki got closer, Rei noticed that tears
were beginning to surface in his eyes. Rei felt her body get lighter and
lighter. She looked at her hand and gasped when she could see right through it.
Tasuki dove towards Rei. Both of them gasped in unison when Tasuki dove right
through Rei and landed on his stomach behind her. But before Tasuki had a
chance to turn around, Rei already disappeared. Tasuki pounded the ground with
his fists, causing them to bleed "REI COME BAAAAACK!!" he screamed to the late
evening sky.
***************************
Rei opened her eyes slowly. Little bolts
of red electricity shot off of her body every once in a while. Rei sat up and
groaned. Her eyes widened quickly when she looked at her new surroundings. "Im
back in the library!" she said to herself. Rei gasped when she heard another
groan. She turned around and saw Miaka sitting up slowly. "Miaka?! How did we
get back!?" Miaka snapped her eyes open and looked around in a panic. "It
worked!" she said. Rei was confused "What worked?!" Miaka turned towards Rei
and sat across from her "Back in the book world, I was coming down with a real
high fever. Hotohori suggested that I should return to my world to recover. So
after getting all of the Seishi together and begging Nuriko to help until he
finally agreed--" Rei arched an eyebrow "Wait, whaddya mean 'He'? Nuriko
is a girl right?!" Miaka smiled brightly "Nope! After he came back to the room,
I just finished mopping the floor and I slipped on a puddle and I pulled on his
kimono and it fell below his shoulders and he didn't have any breasts!" Rei
sweatdropped and facefaulted. "Anyway," Miaka continued "All of the Seishi
concentrated their life forces on sending me back here...so here I am. I don't
know how you got here though. I've been waiting here for about 10 minutes. I
thought since Yui wasn't with me or you, she would be here" Rei sighed
"So...Maybe she's at home" Miaka nodded "Yeah, I guess I'll check there" Rei
nodded and stood up. "I better be headin' home there's school tomorrow and all"
Miaka nodded. Rei and Miaka both exited the library, exchanged phone numbers
and headed home.
***************************
The night settled in fast. As Rei walked
up to her apartment building, she looked up and noticed that the window to her
apartment was the only one that had no lights on. She was puzzled, Rei knew it
was Sunday because of the newspaper stand she passed and her parents never
worked on Sunday. Rei ran into the apartment building and ran up the flight of
stairs. When she got to her apartment, she grew worried when she saw the door
wide open. She stood in the doorway and reached a hand in to switch on the light
but as she tried to turn it on, it never worked. Rei slowly walked inside
"Okaasan? Otousan? Are you home?!" No answer. Rei looked in her parents'
bedroom, but found no one. She checked every room in the house...except for the
kitchen. Rei made her way into the kitchen slowly. After a few moments of
walking, she felt her feet slip from under her. She landed in a big puddle of
thick liquid. All of a sudden the lights turned on. Rei felt her heart stop,
she couldn't scream, she couldn't breathe. She looked at her hands and
realized...she landed in a giant puddle of blood. And on the walls, written in
blood, were the words "REI MIKAGE YOU WILL PAY!!"
Author's note: I left ya hangin' didn't I?! Anyway there's more in the next
chapter so stay tuned! Oh and Gomen nasai, Nuriko fans! Don't worry though,
that was the only time that Rei and Nuriko would fight with each other. R+R and
I'll love you for life! ^.~