Suzaku no Saiai


Part IV

Nuriko awoke the next morning with a splitting headache and discovered himself
gently holding Kourin's hand. "What am I doing here?" he mused quietly.
"Chikusho, my head is killing me!" Slowly, the events of the past night began to
filter into his fog-filled brain: their terrible fight over his sister, his excessive
drinking and complaining to his companions at the bar about Kourin, Kourin
slapping him and generally making a scene. However, for the life of him, Nuriko
couldn't remember how he had ended up at the side of the bed cradling Kourin's
hand.
Once again the young man marvelled at how sweet and innocent the girl looked
while sleeping. All the harsh lines were smoothed away, and she almost seemed
to smile. Suddenly, the dark lashes flipped up, and Kourin's slightly husky voice
asked, "Nuriko?! You're really still here?! Didn't you get the hint last night?"
"What do you mean?" Nuriko asked in surprise. "I thought I apologized for the
whole mess last night...or was that just a dream?"
Kourin's eyebrows raised in disbelief. "You really don't remember, do you?" she
sighed heavily.
"Remember what?" the young man retorted, growing a bit irritated.
"You aren't capable of remembering what your dreamself does, are you?" the girl
asked. She shook her head violently. "Of course, you can't," she scolded herself.
"You've never been taught how to. Besides if you had you'd know exactly what
I'm talking about."
"You don't have to act like I'm crippled or something because I can't do your
fancy magic tricks!" Nuriko snapped, wounded. However,despite his frustration,
he did not pull his hand away.
Kourin sat up with an upset expression on her face. "Ryuuen, I didn't mean it like
that!" she said with tears in her voice. "Dreamself remembrance is part of the chi
development techniques in my world. It was thoughtless of me to think that you'd
know what I was talking about." Her dark eyes teared up, and she looked down
with frustration and self-deprecation written in every line of her body.
Nuriko covered their entwined hands with his free one. "Don't cry," he urged
softly. "We managed to hurt each other once again, didn't we?" He squeezed her
hand and deftly pulled her other hand into the pile. "No matter how many times
you stomp on my feelings or ideas," or my heart he added silently, "I won't leave
you. I've sworn to protect you and until this adventure is over, you are mine to
care for and cherish boku no,...iie,ore no okusan." Nuriko lifted the girl's hands to
his lips and kissed them reverently.
Kourin looked up with a smile that was like a ray of sunlight piercing through the
clouds. "You do remember what we discussed," she said with delight. She pulled
her hands from his and clapped them like a child.
Nuriko felt bereft without the physical contact, but he grinned mischievously. "I'm
not entirely an amateur, ojousama," he teased. "However, since you are so
skilled, you must allow me to learn from you."
Kourin's smile grew wider, and her eyes sparkled with joy. Nuriko's clowning
brought happiness to her heart, which had too often been burdened with
bitterness and sorrow. She leaned back against the headboard and let her inner
happiness bubble up to her lips.
The husky, throaty sound jolted Nuriko from his personal reverie. Kourin's head
was thrown back exposing her soft throat, and her hair was like a golden-brown
halo. The nightshirt had a little to reveal pale diamond of skin and hinted at the
curves underneath. He swallowed and began to breath deeply. Those stranges
sensations again! Looking at women never had aroused him before, but now...
He knew the right thing for him to do was to look away, but the young seishi
couldn't tear his eyes from the innocently erotic scene. The girl seemed infused
with a golden glow, and, for a moment, Nuriko could have sworn that she had a
pair of golden wings.
Abruptly, Kourin's laughter stopped. "In all seriousness, Nuriko, I could probably
teach you. As a Suzaku seishi you already have some chi abilities; I just need to
show you how to maximize them."
"Nani?" Nuriko looked around as though he'd just woken up. "Did I miss
something important?"
"Baka," Kourin said with a smile, "I said I'd teach you, unless, you weren't serious
about learning."
Nuriko blushed a little. He'd just been trying to cheer her up, but...if he could
travel through dreams... "I'd like that a lot, Kourin. It will certainly make travelling
more interesting."
"Good," the girl said brightly, hopping out of the bed. "We'll start today."
Nuriko puzzled over the situation as Kourin ran off to get dressed. She confused
him so much! She seemed to have completely forgiven him, but why? And she
still wanted to get rid of him as her protector. Had his dreamself apologized or
was she going to ignore the fight to concentrate on her second objective, getting
rid of him for good?
"Anou..., Kourin," Nuriko called out suddenly.
"Nani, Ryuuen?" she answered. "I am dressing right now."
"I just wanted to know why you aren't mad at me," the young man said lamely. "I
behaved so badly last night."
Kourin walked around the edge of the changing screen in the red dress he had
chosen for her. She came towards him and put her hands on his shoulders,
forcing him to face her. "Nuriko, you saved me from being trapped in a
nightmarish dreamworld. For that I can forgive anything and forget much."
"Kourin, ari...arigatou," he stuttered nervously and clumsily embraced her. To the
young man's delight she snuggled a little closer into his warmth and trustingly put
her head on his shoulder. The girl's breath feathered over his skin bringing a
return of the disturbing feelings.
"Ryuuen," she said contentedly, "I'm so glad that you're my friend. I don't know
what I'd do without you."
Nuriko felt his blood run strangely cold. "Yes, friends," he said flatly. Why was he
so disappointed? He desperately struggled to regain his ocomposure. "When did
I become Ryuuen, Kourin? Yesterday it was Nuriko this and Nuriko that, when it
wasn't 'you bastard' and other choice epithets."
"If you don't like it, I can stop," Kourin said hastily,"but since you are my
husband...at least until we reach Konan."
"No, no, don't worry about it," Nuriko said quickly. "It sounds good when you say
it." The girl looked at him quizzically. "I mean I like the sound of my name on your
lips...I mean it's all right if you call me Ryuuen."
Kourin pulled away from him and turned towards the window. "Nuriko, there is
something we need to clarify," she said softly. "I'm not interested in you
romantically. I need your protection, and you would be a valuable friend, but
there's already someone I'm meant to be with."
"What makes you think I'm interested in you?" Nuriko blustered. "You're annoying
and a harpy, and you swear like a bandit..."
"Please don't try to lie to yourself," Kourin said quietly. "Somehow when I saved
your life and freed Kourin, I replaced her in your heart. I can't explain it, but now
you think that you love me."
"Who is he?" the young man blurted out impulsively. "How can you have found
someone so quickly?"
"You're one to talk," the girl pointed out. "We've known each other for less than
twenty four hours, and your mind's already decided that I'm the woman of your
dreams."
"Just tell me who he is!" Nuriko begged. "Is it Tasuki or Chichiri or maybe
Mitsukake? You two seemed awfully chummy yesterday."
"No, it's none of them," Kourin answered quietly. "In fact we've never met in
person, but I think I know why Suzaku wants me to go to Konan. I'm to be with
him, at least for now."
Nuriko's eyes widened, and his face paled. "Masaka! Kourin, you don't mean
Hotohori, do you?"
She turned to face him with a carefully expressionless face. "By this sign on my
neck," the sign began to glow, "I have been marked as being tied to him, perhaps
for eternity."
"You've never even met!" Nuriko protested. "How can you be in love with
someone you've only seen in your dreams?"
"My dreams don't lie," the girl whispered softly, "and besides I never said I loved
him. I am drawn to him like a moth to a flame, but is that love? Besides,
NURIKO, do you really know what love is? I am the first woman you have ever
'loved' that you thought you could have, and now you're an expert! Maybe you
don't have any feelings for me at all beyond an intense gratitude for saving your
life!"
The young man strode across the room and grabbed her by the shoulders. His
face was white with the strain of containing his emotions, and his violet eyes had
darkened to a deep, rich purple. "Maybe I don't know what love is, Kourin! Maybe
I'm inexperienced with life, but I know one thing. I can never touch and hold you
the way my confusing, burning emotions tell me to! I must be a man and hold
back!"
"Maybe restraint isn't the best thing in love," the girl retorted, "though in your case
it's probably misguided lust!"
"Baka!" Nuriko spat angrily. "I would never forgive myself if I took something from
you that was not offered to me freely! Everytime I've made you cry, it feels like a
part of my heart has died, and I live only for the sunshine of your smile. That
warmth and light is the only thing I'm living for now. Kourin, I think that hontou ni
aishiteru!"
"You couldn't touch me anyway," the girl said coyly. She hooked a finger under
his collar and pulled. "Remember our deal. You touch me in anyway I don't like,
and I drain all the chi from you body." She stopped and cocked her head, and a
look of panic crossed her face. "Someone's at the door!" she whispered
anxiously.
"Probably wanted to see if any bodies needed to be hauled away," Nuriko said
dryly.
Kourin fluttered her hands nervously, and she began to hyperventilate. "We can't
let them know that I'm not really your wife!" she gasped. "It would cause a terrible
scandal!"
"Shh, calm down, little one," Nuriko said soothingly like he were calming a small
child. "I'll take care of everything. Will you do what I tell you without questions or
recriminations later?" Kourin nodded her head slowly. "Good, it'll be all right."
Nuriko wrapped the trembling girl in his embrace, and she snuggled against his
chest for comfort. He waited for her shivering to subside before slipping one arm
around her waist and capturing her head with the other. "Gomen nasai, Kourin,
for taking advantage of the situation," he thought, and he covered her lips with
his. She jerked back in surprise, but his strong hold kept her captured. He
hungrily tasted her mouth and her lips open to accept his questing tongue. He
allowed his hands to begin to roam a little, and Nuriko was surprised at how long
he was able to masquerade as a woman with all of the anatomical differences. A
jolt of pleasure flooded his body when suddenly Kourin's arms wound around his
neck, and her hands entwined in his hair. Her spicy taste was intoxicating, and
Nuriko found himself gravitating towards the large bed. Kourin was soft
underneath him, and he began to press fevered kisses along her throat.
Suddenly, the mark for star burst into flame. The sight transfixed him, and Nuriko
rapidly pulled away. He moved to the edge of the bed and buried his face in his
hands.
"Gomen, Kourin," Nuriko choked out despairingly. "I used the situation to take
advantage of you." He waited for her to attack him and ruin the last shreds of his
dignity. Instead, Kourin hugged him from behind and gently laid her head on his
back.
"Doushite, Nuriko?" she asked. "You only did what I asked." She turned his head
so their eyes met. "You protected me, and even if your methods were not the
most orthodox, arigatou, Ryuuen."
"But...but you just finished telling me that you were destined to be with Hotohori,"
Nuriko stammered in confusion. "You refused me, and I still took advantage of
your need for protection."
The fair haired girl looked at him gravely and gently took his face in her hands.
"It's been a long time since a man has made me feel that I really am a woman,"
she said softly. Nuriko stiffened as she chastely kissed his forehead, cheeks,
and, finally, his lips. She made a slight gesture with her hands and spoke in a
regal, imposing voice. "I, the last daughter of the golden phoenix, call upon the
four elements and the four cardinal directions to give this man the strength of
body and will to protect us both from the darkness to come." Nuriko almost had to
shield his eyes from the intense golden aura flaming around the girl's body, and,
once again, he thought he saw golden wings before the light winked out.
"What was that?" Nuriko gasped awestruck. "What kind of power to you carry
within you?"
"I don't know," the girl replied shaking. "I've never done that before."
From his view in the heavens Suzaku smiled. "So at last she has awakened.
Perhaps it's finally my turn."
Nuriko and Kourin left the inn as quickly as they had arrived the evening before
despite Nuriko's fuzziness from too much alcohol. The young man was still
shocked by his companion's mysterious nature, a nature that Kourin herself did
not know or understand.
He looked back at the girl quietly seated behind him. "She looks so, well,
normal," Nuriko thought, "but she's the 'last daughter of the golden phoenix',
whatever that means."
"Oh, Kourin," he exclaimed suddenly, "you promised to teach me that dream
remembrance thing. Can we start now?"
She raised her eyebrows. "You really want me to teach you?" the girl asked
incredulously. "I was sure that you were just fooling around."
He made a face of mock distress. "You really think that poorly of me, Kourin-
chan? I'm crushed."
"Dreamwalking isn't easy," Kourin said seriously, judiciously ignoring the 'chan'.
"It takes a lot of practice, and no two people follow exactly the same path."
"How on earth do you think you can teach me then?!" Nuriko demanded. "You
DID say that you'd teach me!"
She gave him a disgusted look. "I didn't say that I couldn't teach you, baka! I just
said that no two people dreamwalk exactly the same way!" Kourin took a deep
breath before continuing. "I'm not really teaching you dreamwalking because I
don't want to risk you wandering into someone else's dream and getting trapped.
You'll be learning dream remembrance and dream manipulating for right now.
Tonight before you go to sleep envision yourself travelling down a path towards a
distant castle. Everything else: landscape, companions, whether or not you reach
the castle, will be up to you. Let your vision shape itself, but use your mind to
guide your actions. Eventually you will be able to guide others' actions as well."
"That doesn't sound too hard," Nuriko said puzzled.
Kourin smiled enigmatically. "Just try holding onto your vision and keeping your
spirit alert as your body falls asleep."
That night they camped in a secluded glade on the side of the road. As Nuriko
helped her dismount Kourin gave him a wicked grin. "I sure hope that you can
cook because I can't do anything that's not microwaveable or instant."
"What's 'microwaveable'and 'instant'?" Nuriko asked quizzically. To his
bewilderment the girl just laughed in his face and began to walk away.
"That proves it," she giggled. "You are definitely cooking. What can I do to help?"
After dinner the two sat contentedly together under the darkening sky. Somehow
Kourin had managed to care for the horse and set up the campsite while Nuriko
had prepared the food, so now they were perched on one of the two bedrolls. As
the stars began to come out Nuriko began naming the constellations for his
attentive companion.
"See, Kourin, that one there is Tasuki, and over there is Chiriko," he said
learnedly.
"Do all of you have constellations?" she asked fascinated. At her companion's
nod she sighed happily. "So I only have to look at the night sky, and you all will
be with me." She pointed eagerly at a group of appearing stars and tugged at his
sleeve. "Ryuuen, who's that?"
The young man studied the sky, and his brow wrinkled in frustration. "I've never
seen that constellation before," he said puzzled,"but when I was a child, my
father told me that there were four constellations that hardly ever appear. They
almost never appear at the same time, and they are usually the portent of some
sort of upheaval."
"Which one could this be?" Kourin asked wonderingly. "What were they called?"
"The were named according to their position in the sky," Nuriko explained, "so in
the north is the green tortoise, the west is the bengal tiger, the east the white
dragon, and in the south is the golden phoenix. I think this one is the golden
phoenix, but, look, Kourin! It's in the center of all of the Suzaku seishi's stars."
"They're trying to protect her," the girl said reverently. "They have to keep her
safe until Suzaku comes to take her back to the heavens."
"Baka," Nuriko said tenderly, ruffling her hair. "Stars don't have any gender."
"Those four: green tortoise, Bengal tiger, white dragon, and golden phoenix, have
a physical form just like the seishi's stars," the girl insisted, "and they must be
women."
"How can you know that?" Nuriko asked. "You didn't even know what
constellation it was!"
"The stars spoke to me," Kourin answered in her eerie, regal voice. "My sisters
are there calling for me to join them. L