Michi ni Mayou-the story of the Genbu no seishi. As with the story I'm writing about the Byakko, my friend and I made up the missing members of the Genbu...my only problem is we didn't have a storyline to accompany the characters, but this was quickly ameliorated, and I came up with a rough plot which only become more complicated as I go along and figure it out for myself.
One warning; while I do not write lemons (there's enough horrible ones out there anyway) some of my stories do contain bits of homosexuality. Nothing graphic, nothing tasteless, and nothing that interferes greatly with the plot...but if you're one of those people that REALLY gets offended by the idea, please don't read. I don't want flames from homophobics ^_^.
Byakkokokie@aol.com
Prologue (In the forest of Hokkan)
"A thousand other boys could never reach you. How could I have been the one? I saw the world swim beneath you, and scatter like ice from the spoon that was your world..."-John Rzeznik
"When are mommy and daddy coming back?" The eight year old lifted his eyes to look up at his big sister, and even amidst her sadness May was taken aback by the striking color of their pink irises. She ran the back of her hand over her cheeks to wipe away the streaks of tears and tried her best not to sniffle as she spoke. She had to be strong, for her brother's sake.
"I don't k-know Thanh...it's been a week. I'm sure they'll be back soon...it's been over a week already..." Already? One could hardly count these seven days of hell as short...each day stretched onward and drove that nail all the deeper into May's heart. Had it -only- been seven days since she had woke up to an empty house, with the only other inhabitants sleeping next to her, oblivious? It had all seemed like a dream, more a nightmare, in which she waded through the haze in bewilderment, her feet shackled to the spot and preventing her from moving forward. She would have never thought her parents would leave like they did...of course they had always -joked- about it, but those had just been jokes, right?
Apparently not. They had taken off with just about every belonging that could be uprooted from its spot, and left her, Thanh, and their little brother Jen alone in the shack they had called home. Since she was eleven, May was probably the only one old enough who's mind was developed enough to register what had just happened. She had been able to fool herself for the first two days, saying they were just out at town, but in the depths of her heart she had always know what had really happened. Still, for her brothers she kept herself together, even when Thanh's innocent daily question ground against her like broken glass.
"Okay...I hope they bring a toy for Jen..." Thanh turned away and plodded, like young children do, over to the basket where his infant brother lay. A thin stream of drool leaked from the corner of the deformed child's mouth, his mother had called the baby Beelzebub because he was so...malformed, but Thanh had always thought he was beautiful. They called Jen dumb, and a hassle, but there was an intelligence that lurked behind that mask, in those eyes that matched Thanh's in color, and they likewise, while sharing the same eyes, shared the same mop of sandy brown hair. Thanh knew mommy and daddy loved Jen though, because they treated Thanh in much the same way, called him dumb and ugly...but they loved him. Because parents are supposed to love their children.
Thanh was too young to know any different.
May picked herself up from the rotting wooden crate she had seated herself on and nodded, saying almost mechanically. "I'm sure they will, Thanh."
It wasn't as though May still had the hope of searching the town for any signs of her parents; she had done that on the fourth day. Against the protests and wails of her siblings, who were afraid she would disappear to, she went into town and asked around...but it was as if their parents had disappeared into thin air. It was on that day that she had come to terms and admitted to herself aloud that they were long gone. That would mean she would have to be the mom for her brothers, but when she tried to get a job to pay for food...all the shopkeepers threw her out, saying the only jobs available to children was that of an apprentice, and that was only offered to boys, never girls.
May's feet carried her to the mirror suspended crookedly at the opposite end of the room, though she couldn't remember wanting to go there. She stood and stared long and hard at her reflection, her dirty face, and stroked the luxurious locks of blue that reached down to her back. She was proud of her hair, it was the only thing daddy had ever complimented her on, and so she prided herself on it. She hated the track her mind was following at the moment, but for the sake of her brothers, she knew what had to be done...
"Thanh...go get me a knife."
Obediently, her brother stopped playing with a giggling Jen and disappeared into a nearby room, reappearing a moment later with a knife shaped out of animal bone. He carried it cautiously in both hands, fearing he would cut himself, and surrendered it to his sister. "Be careful May-chan, it's -sharp-"
May nodded and turned away from the mirror, sucking in a gigantic breath of air. She wouldn't wimp out, not for her brothers, not for her family...the only people that would care for her. She picked up a clump of hair and held it level from her head, hearing Thanh gasp as she sawed the knife against it and shredded the strands of hair. "May! What are you doing?"
She refused to answer, couldn't bring herself to speak as she bit down on her lips and continued the taxing process, taxing on her more mentally than physically. Finally she looked down and saw the pools of hair collecting at her feet, she dropped the knife in shock. What had she -done-?
Squeezing her eyes shut, May turned back to face the mirror and slowly, cautiously, pried her eyelids open. A boy stared back at her in the dusty reflection of the mirror, a scruffy little boy with a bad haircut...but a boy nonetheless. May couldn't help it...she broke down and cried. The rich girls had always laughed at her when they spotted her in town, but she had always known that they were just jealous because of her hair...their insults didn't affect in the least, she had something her daddy was proud of, and she bet the other girls didn't have -that-. Now she didn't even -look- like a girl...
As if reading her mind, Thanh cautiously tiptoed over to her and began to pet May's short shag of hair, gnawing on his lower lip as he worried about her sister.
"It's okay May...it's okay. You're still a girl...see? The symbol on your shoulder says 'woman'...one day a boy will be happy for you to be his wife. You'll see May...you'll see..."
Chapter One (Tokyo, Japan)
"How do you document real life, when real life's getting more like fiction each day. Headlines, Breadlines blow my mind...and now this deadline 'eviction or pay'"-RENT
"Now...the Pythagorean theorem is actually rather easily easy to remember...A squared plus B squared equals C squared...thus, to find the missing length, C, of this right triangle...we square the lengths of the other two sides and add them together..."
Takiko clinched her fist around her pencil and tried her best to concentrate, but it was near impossible when every few minutes she felt the wet 'pat' of a spit ball hit the back of her head, followed by quiet snickers. Leave it to Kreuz-san to place her in the front, a direct target for all of the kids in the class who hated the reclusive girl, which was damn near all of them. Finally she turned around and glared at them, but their only response was to burst into fits of giggles, their laughter only doused when the teacher told them to hush if they didn't want to spend their after-school hours clapping erasers.
When the bell finally rang, Takiko felt a wave of relief wash over her, and she returned her notebook and pencil to their home in the black satchel and strung it on her shoulder. She could hear whispers all around her as she walked down the halls and headed for the exit, rumors spread like wildfire in Yotsubadai, since she had moved here she had been subjected to the children's taunts...she made them nervous because she wasn't like them, and her father was said to be some eccentric archeologist who spent his nights robbing graves. She had even heard one rumor that said her father brought back dead flesh for them to eat at supper...
Even at high school kids were immature.
"Takiko! Hi!"
Takiko swept her long raven hair back over her shoulder as she turned to see perhaps the only decent person in the entire school jogging up to her. Suzuno finally caught up with her and gave her a winded smile, which Takiko returned, somewhat cautiously. Suzuno was the daughter of her father's best friend, but Takiko was still somewhat cautious...it was hard to trust people when she had been stabbed in the back so many times. They resumed walking, though slower than Takiko's original pace, and rounded the corner as Suzuno spoke.
"I'm glad I got to see you! You know how you and your dad are supposed to come to dinner tomorrow night?"
Takiko gave an absent nod, her eyes zoning in on a pair of gawking kids from school who were more than likely wondering why someone as popular and pretty as Suzuno was hanging out with the school weirdo. She reached up and pulled a thin veil of black hair across her face, shying away from the comments. Suzuno was either unmindful of the comments or trying to be as gracious about them as possible.
"Well...my cousin Riquel is coming, and...well, he's a really cool guy. I told him about you and he's excited about meeting you...so I kind of...sort of...set up a date for you two. Is that okay?...he's really cute!" She added the last part hastily, not knowing whether or not looks were an issue. Takiko felt her jaw almost drop open, but she kept herself from exclaiming...a -date-? What could Suzuno have told him that would possibly convince him that he should take a chance with her?
The paranoid, and perhaps wiser, part of her brain was demanding that she come up with an excuse to escape from coming tomorrow...but the idea intrigued her. Takiko had never been on a date, boys never acted interested when they were around her. Even if she -would- end up only disappointing Suzuno's cousin, she couldn't resist finding out what it would feel like to be treated special. So she managed a meek "okay".
"Really?" Suzuno gave her a dazzling grin, and for a stride there was an extra bounce in her step "That's great. So...do you want to stop and get some ice-cream or something or do you have to get home to study?" The spontaneous idea was spurred by the fact that they were nearing Ruby's Ice-cream parlor, inspired entirely by 50's Britain. Takiko debated it for a moment, but then shook her head.
"I have to get home...my dad wants me to call him and I need to clean the house up before he gets off work..."
"Oh? Okay...well I'll see you tomorrow then, right?"
Takiko nodded and Suzuno smiled, waving before turning to follow the cross walk to the opposite block. She really was nice...Takiko thought with a soft smile of her own; maybe she would finally have a real friend. She guessed she'd have to ask Suzuno tomorrow if she could call her her friend, maybe Suzuno was just being nice.
"Easter? Where are you?" Takiko cooed as she dropped her satchel at the entrance to the apartment she and her father shared. She whistled for her Persian kitty but it appeared that Easter was just being stubborn, so a minute later she gave up and wandered to the kitchen.
A note from her father lay on the kitchen table, and she read through it once before pulling out a rag and cleaning fluid. "Takiko. Have to work late so here's money to order out pizza. Call Oosugi-san if you get scared about being alone. Please clean the study. Love you sweetheart, Dad." Her father never did manage to write more than fragmented sentences in his notes, a true representation of his character. Not that he -couldn't- write, but he was always so hasty to get things done. Takiko's dad told her he felt guilty about her having to clean so much, but really he was so rushed that Takiko preferred that she just go ahead and do it. Besides, focusing on one thing, like cleaning, helped her think.
She fumbled with the house keys and found the one that unlocked the study, for some strange reason her father always locked up that room. Even if he would forget to lock up the front door, he wouldn't forget to lock the study. But who could blame him? Those four walls held in priceless valuables, his lifetime's work, essays...papers about artifacts and civilizations that dated back -thousands- of years. If Takiko stayed in there for a -year- she wouldn't learn all the knowledge that was present there to learn.
It was dark and musty, there was only one lamp perched on her father's desk and no overhead light. She clicked on the little green lightly and sprayed cleaning liquid on her rag, and began to gently wipe it across her desk to rid it of the collecting dust. Cleaning made her remember how spotless her mom used to keep her old home...when she lived in France with the divorced woman. Takiko had barely known her father at the time; though he called often he could rarely take off the time to visit. But when her mother met her untimely death in a car accident...Takiko was shipped off to Japan to start a new life with her father.
He was remorseful from the start, apologizing over and over again about making her move, but she knew he couldn't help it. Her father did every possible thing to try and make Takiko feel at home, feel welcome...and while she still felt out of place and ostracized, she loved her father for trying. He wasn't at all the distant, cold man Takiko's mother had spoken of. Busy, yes, but not cold.
Accidentally, in the middle of her scrubbing the old oak desk clean, she bumped a book off the table. It looked as though it had been open, like her father had been studying it, and Takiko hoped she hadn't messed up any work of her father's. She dropped the rag and bent down, hoisting the book into her lap and searching for some kind of marker that would have held her father's place.
An odd tingle ran down her spine as Takiko ran her finger down the binding of the book and cracked it open, almost as if holding it was exhilarating. It was written in Chinese, and Takiko's was pretty rusty, but she managed to struggle through the first few lines. It was almost like a...a spell. "Herein contains the tale of a young lady and her quest...to gather the seven constellations of Genbu together. And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the story's end, the spell contained within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the heroine, and grant you your wish. For indeed the moment the page is turned, the story will become...reality."
Unthinking, and in a stupor brought on by her bewilderment, Takiko read the words aloud, and then, carefully...turned the page. An odd feeling, a dizziness, enveloped her, made her feel like she was spinning. She tried to pull away from the book but it felt almost as if some force was pulling her into it. Takiko tried to scream but her breath was stolen, and all she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and curl up, floating...spinning through an endless abyss.
One warning; while I do not write lemons (there's enough horrible ones out there anyway) some of my stories do contain bits of homosexuality. Nothing graphic, nothing tasteless, and nothing that interferes greatly with the plot...but if you're one of those people that REALLY gets offended by the idea, please don't read. I don't want flames from homophobics ^_^.
Byakkokokie@aol.com
Prologue (In the forest of Hokkan)
"A thousand other boys could never reach you. How could I have been the one? I saw the world swim beneath you, and scatter like ice from the spoon that was your world..."-John Rzeznik
"When are mommy and daddy coming back?" The eight year old lifted his eyes to look up at his big sister, and even amidst her sadness May was taken aback by the striking color of their pink irises. She ran the back of her hand over her cheeks to wipe away the streaks of tears and tried her best not to sniffle as she spoke. She had to be strong, for her brother's sake.
"I don't k-know Thanh...it's been a week. I'm sure they'll be back soon...it's been over a week already..." Already? One could hardly count these seven days of hell as short...each day stretched onward and drove that nail all the deeper into May's heart. Had it -only- been seven days since she had woke up to an empty house, with the only other inhabitants sleeping next to her, oblivious? It had all seemed like a dream, more a nightmare, in which she waded through the haze in bewilderment, her feet shackled to the spot and preventing her from moving forward. She would have never thought her parents would leave like they did...of course they had always -joked- about it, but those had just been jokes, right?
Apparently not. They had taken off with just about every belonging that could be uprooted from its spot, and left her, Thanh, and their little brother Jen alone in the shack they had called home. Since she was eleven, May was probably the only one old enough who's mind was developed enough to register what had just happened. She had been able to fool herself for the first two days, saying they were just out at town, but in the depths of her heart she had always know what had really happened. Still, for her brothers she kept herself together, even when Thanh's innocent daily question ground against her like broken glass.
"Okay...I hope they bring a toy for Jen..." Thanh turned away and plodded, like young children do, over to the basket where his infant brother lay. A thin stream of drool leaked from the corner of the deformed child's mouth, his mother had called the baby Beelzebub because he was so...malformed, but Thanh had always thought he was beautiful. They called Jen dumb, and a hassle, but there was an intelligence that lurked behind that mask, in those eyes that matched Thanh's in color, and they likewise, while sharing the same eyes, shared the same mop of sandy brown hair. Thanh knew mommy and daddy loved Jen though, because they treated Thanh in much the same way, called him dumb and ugly...but they loved him. Because parents are supposed to love their children.
Thanh was too young to know any different.
May picked herself up from the rotting wooden crate she had seated herself on and nodded, saying almost mechanically. "I'm sure they will, Thanh."
It wasn't as though May still had the hope of searching the town for any signs of her parents; she had done that on the fourth day. Against the protests and wails of her siblings, who were afraid she would disappear to, she went into town and asked around...but it was as if their parents had disappeared into thin air. It was on that day that she had come to terms and admitted to herself aloud that they were long gone. That would mean she would have to be the mom for her brothers, but when she tried to get a job to pay for food...all the shopkeepers threw her out, saying the only jobs available to children was that of an apprentice, and that was only offered to boys, never girls.
May's feet carried her to the mirror suspended crookedly at the opposite end of the room, though she couldn't remember wanting to go there. She stood and stared long and hard at her reflection, her dirty face, and stroked the luxurious locks of blue that reached down to her back. She was proud of her hair, it was the only thing daddy had ever complimented her on, and so she prided herself on it. She hated the track her mind was following at the moment, but for the sake of her brothers, she knew what had to be done...
"Thanh...go get me a knife."
Obediently, her brother stopped playing with a giggling Jen and disappeared into a nearby room, reappearing a moment later with a knife shaped out of animal bone. He carried it cautiously in both hands, fearing he would cut himself, and surrendered it to his sister. "Be careful May-chan, it's -sharp-"
May nodded and turned away from the mirror, sucking in a gigantic breath of air. She wouldn't wimp out, not for her brothers, not for her family...the only people that would care for her. She picked up a clump of hair and held it level from her head, hearing Thanh gasp as she sawed the knife against it and shredded the strands of hair. "May! What are you doing?"
She refused to answer, couldn't bring herself to speak as she bit down on her lips and continued the taxing process, taxing on her more mentally than physically. Finally she looked down and saw the pools of hair collecting at her feet, she dropped the knife in shock. What had she -done-?
Squeezing her eyes shut, May turned back to face the mirror and slowly, cautiously, pried her eyelids open. A boy stared back at her in the dusty reflection of the mirror, a scruffy little boy with a bad haircut...but a boy nonetheless. May couldn't help it...she broke down and cried. The rich girls had always laughed at her when they spotted her in town, but she had always known that they were just jealous because of her hair...their insults didn't affect in the least, she had something her daddy was proud of, and she bet the other girls didn't have -that-. Now she didn't even -look- like a girl...
As if reading her mind, Thanh cautiously tiptoed over to her and began to pet May's short shag of hair, gnawing on his lower lip as he worried about her sister.
"It's okay May...it's okay. You're still a girl...see? The symbol on your shoulder says 'woman'...one day a boy will be happy for you to be his wife. You'll see May...you'll see..."
Chapter One (Tokyo, Japan)
"How do you document real life, when real life's getting more like fiction each day. Headlines, Breadlines blow my mind...and now this deadline 'eviction or pay'"-RENT
"Now...the Pythagorean theorem is actually rather easily easy to remember...A squared plus B squared equals C squared...thus, to find the missing length, C, of this right triangle...we square the lengths of the other two sides and add them together..."
Takiko clinched her fist around her pencil and tried her best to concentrate, but it was near impossible when every few minutes she felt the wet 'pat' of a spit ball hit the back of her head, followed by quiet snickers. Leave it to Kreuz-san to place her in the front, a direct target for all of the kids in the class who hated the reclusive girl, which was damn near all of them. Finally she turned around and glared at them, but their only response was to burst into fits of giggles, their laughter only doused when the teacher told them to hush if they didn't want to spend their after-school hours clapping erasers.
When the bell finally rang, Takiko felt a wave of relief wash over her, and she returned her notebook and pencil to their home in the black satchel and strung it on her shoulder. She could hear whispers all around her as she walked down the halls and headed for the exit, rumors spread like wildfire in Yotsubadai, since she had moved here she had been subjected to the children's taunts...she made them nervous because she wasn't like them, and her father was said to be some eccentric archeologist who spent his nights robbing graves. She had even heard one rumor that said her father brought back dead flesh for them to eat at supper...
Even at high school kids were immature.
"Takiko! Hi!"
Takiko swept her long raven hair back over her shoulder as she turned to see perhaps the only decent person in the entire school jogging up to her. Suzuno finally caught up with her and gave her a winded smile, which Takiko returned, somewhat cautiously. Suzuno was the daughter of her father's best friend, but Takiko was still somewhat cautious...it was hard to trust people when she had been stabbed in the back so many times. They resumed walking, though slower than Takiko's original pace, and rounded the corner as Suzuno spoke.
"I'm glad I got to see you! You know how you and your dad are supposed to come to dinner tomorrow night?"
Takiko gave an absent nod, her eyes zoning in on a pair of gawking kids from school who were more than likely wondering why someone as popular and pretty as Suzuno was hanging out with the school weirdo. She reached up and pulled a thin veil of black hair across her face, shying away from the comments. Suzuno was either unmindful of the comments or trying to be as gracious about them as possible.
"Well...my cousin Riquel is coming, and...well, he's a really cool guy. I told him about you and he's excited about meeting you...so I kind of...sort of...set up a date for you two. Is that okay?...he's really cute!" She added the last part hastily, not knowing whether or not looks were an issue. Takiko felt her jaw almost drop open, but she kept herself from exclaiming...a -date-? What could Suzuno have told him that would possibly convince him that he should take a chance with her?
The paranoid, and perhaps wiser, part of her brain was demanding that she come up with an excuse to escape from coming tomorrow...but the idea intrigued her. Takiko had never been on a date, boys never acted interested when they were around her. Even if she -would- end up only disappointing Suzuno's cousin, she couldn't resist finding out what it would feel like to be treated special. So she managed a meek "okay".
"Really?" Suzuno gave her a dazzling grin, and for a stride there was an extra bounce in her step "That's great. So...do you want to stop and get some ice-cream or something or do you have to get home to study?" The spontaneous idea was spurred by the fact that they were nearing Ruby's Ice-cream parlor, inspired entirely by 50's Britain. Takiko debated it for a moment, but then shook her head.
"I have to get home...my dad wants me to call him and I need to clean the house up before he gets off work..."
"Oh? Okay...well I'll see you tomorrow then, right?"
Takiko nodded and Suzuno smiled, waving before turning to follow the cross walk to the opposite block. She really was nice...Takiko thought with a soft smile of her own; maybe she would finally have a real friend. She guessed she'd have to ask Suzuno tomorrow if she could call her her friend, maybe Suzuno was just being nice.
"Easter? Where are you?" Takiko cooed as she dropped her satchel at the entrance to the apartment she and her father shared. She whistled for her Persian kitty but it appeared that Easter was just being stubborn, so a minute later she gave up and wandered to the kitchen.
A note from her father lay on the kitchen table, and she read through it once before pulling out a rag and cleaning fluid. "Takiko. Have to work late so here's money to order out pizza. Call Oosugi-san if you get scared about being alone. Please clean the study. Love you sweetheart, Dad." Her father never did manage to write more than fragmented sentences in his notes, a true representation of his character. Not that he -couldn't- write, but he was always so hasty to get things done. Takiko's dad told her he felt guilty about her having to clean so much, but really he was so rushed that Takiko preferred that she just go ahead and do it. Besides, focusing on one thing, like cleaning, helped her think.
She fumbled with the house keys and found the one that unlocked the study, for some strange reason her father always locked up that room. Even if he would forget to lock up the front door, he wouldn't forget to lock the study. But who could blame him? Those four walls held in priceless valuables, his lifetime's work, essays...papers about artifacts and civilizations that dated back -thousands- of years. If Takiko stayed in there for a -year- she wouldn't learn all the knowledge that was present there to learn.
It was dark and musty, there was only one lamp perched on her father's desk and no overhead light. She clicked on the little green lightly and sprayed cleaning liquid on her rag, and began to gently wipe it across her desk to rid it of the collecting dust. Cleaning made her remember how spotless her mom used to keep her old home...when she lived in France with the divorced woman. Takiko had barely known her father at the time; though he called often he could rarely take off the time to visit. But when her mother met her untimely death in a car accident...Takiko was shipped off to Japan to start a new life with her father.
He was remorseful from the start, apologizing over and over again about making her move, but she knew he couldn't help it. Her father did every possible thing to try and make Takiko feel at home, feel welcome...and while she still felt out of place and ostracized, she loved her father for trying. He wasn't at all the distant, cold man Takiko's mother had spoken of. Busy, yes, but not cold.
Accidentally, in the middle of her scrubbing the old oak desk clean, she bumped a book off the table. It looked as though it had been open, like her father had been studying it, and Takiko hoped she hadn't messed up any work of her father's. She dropped the rag and bent down, hoisting the book into her lap and searching for some kind of marker that would have held her father's place.
An odd tingle ran down her spine as Takiko ran her finger down the binding of the book and cracked it open, almost as if holding it was exhilarating. It was written in Chinese, and Takiko's was pretty rusty, but she managed to struggle through the first few lines. It was almost like a...a spell. "Herein contains the tale of a young lady and her quest...to gather the seven constellations of Genbu together. And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the story's end, the spell contained within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the heroine, and grant you your wish. For indeed the moment the page is turned, the story will become...reality."
Unthinking, and in a stupor brought on by her bewilderment, Takiko read the words aloud, and then, carefully...turned the page. An odd feeling, a dizziness, enveloped her, made her feel like she was spinning. She tried to pull away from the book but it felt almost as if some force was pulling her into it. Takiko tried to scream but her breath was stolen, and all she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and curl up, floating...spinning through an endless abyss.