Disclaimer: The characters of Fushigi Yuugi belong to Yuu Watase. But any new characters belong to me. ^_^
Might be a little bit weird at first 'cause of the switching back and forth… ^_^;; Please leave a review!!
Chapter 13: Illusion"You can do that?!" Nuriko shrieked. Rinrin nodded.
"But it takes a lot of energy. I don't know how long I can make it last." Rinrin paused, thinking of anything else to add as a caution. "You must be very careful not to act out of place, else Tomo will be able to find you." Nuriko 'hmmph'ed.
"I'd like to meet this guy and see just who the hell he thinks he is…trapping Youjin in an illusion like that!" she muttered, gritting her teeth. Rinrin smiled.
"Now is not the time to fight them, Nuriko," she pointed out. "You'll all have your chance to fight, but that time is not now."
"Fine," Nuriko said, sulking a bit. "I don't care how dangerous this is, just do it. We have to help Youjin."
"You shouldn't make such a decision yourself," Rinrin pointed out. "What about the others?" The other seishi looked at each other.
"Aw, shit. Count me in," Tasuki muttered after a few moments of silence. "What the hell, ya know? Why not? We can't go on without the damn kid anyways, and I won't have anyone to pick on. 'Sides, I wanna get back at that Tomo bastard for everything he did."
"Well, Tasuki's right about one thing, no da," Chichiri said. "We can't keep going without Youjin, so we don't exactly have much of a choice, no da."
"If you're all sure…" Rinrin looked at them sadly. "There is one more thing I must warn you of, though."
"What is it?" Chiriko asked.
"While you are in the illusion, you will be left defenseless. If your real bodies are attacked, you will not survive."
Silence.
That changed everything.
"Do you still want to…?"
"We have no other choice," Hotohori whispered. Nuriko quickly agreed, as did the others. Tasuki looked at Rinrin.
"Okay then, what do we have to do?"
~*~
Youjin walked slowly home from school, pondering the day's events. How had he forgotten that Nisou was in his classes…? She even sat with him at lunch every day!
"Are you sure you're okay?" Nisou asked, looking at him. "You've been acting a little strangely since yesterday." His other friends had commented on his behavior as well.
"I think so," he muttered. "I don't know any more…something doesn't feel right." Nisou frowned.
"Doesn't feel right? What do you mean? Are you sick?"
"No, it's not that…I just…nothing." He gave her a reassuring smile. She slowly inched closer to him until she could rest her head on his shoulder.
"I'm a little sleepy…mind if I use your shoulder as a pillow?"
"Kind of hard to do when you're walking, isn't it?" Nisou smiled.
"You're right, let's sit down somewhere." They eventually found an old stone wall that was low enough on the ground to comfortably sit on. Nisou leaned on Youjin and closed her eyes a bit. Youjin, in turn, put an arm around her.
They sat quietly for a few moments. Youjin thought silently…did he want to ask her? What if she rejected him? But watching her smiling so peacefully, he couldn't imagine anything going wrong. He cleared his throat.
"Nisou…" he whispered.
"Hmm?" Nisou asked sleepily.
"Hey, listen…uh," he paused, cheeks flaming red. "Jeez, I'm not good at this stuff. Well, um…there's something I wanted to ask you…"
"Ask me?" Nisou asked, seeming a bit eager to hear what it was.
"Yeah. Well, you know…I like you, Nisou. I really do. And…um. Would you…will you go out with me? Please?" His whole face turned crimson…crimson, the color of the phoenix. No, no, the color of Nisou's hair…
Nisou giggled shyly, her cheeks tinged slightly red. She didn't answer for a few moments. Youjin held his breath, fearing rejection.
"Youjin…" she began. He felt it coming.
'No, let's just be friends. I like you, but not that way. I like someone else. It would be too weird…"
"Of course I will." He felt his heart stop beating for a moment.
"W-what?" he asked.
"I said yes. Silly, why wouldn't I?" She smiled. Youjin smiled a little, still blushing. He then adjusted himself to hold Nisou in a loving embrace.
"Thank you, Nisou," he whispered.
"For what?" she asked, slightly muffled by his shirt.
"For being here," he told you. "Just…thank you."
A couple walked by, hand in hand. The young lady had long violet hair, bound in a braid. The gentleman she held onto had chestnut hair and amber eyes. They noticed Youjin and Nisou, and began mumbling to each other.
"There they are."
~*~
"Why the hell did we all get split up like that, huh?!" Tasuki cursed. Chichiri sighed and looked around.
"Interesting place, no da," he muttered. "But I think I like our world more."
"I'm fucking with you there! Where the hell are all the trees?! Everything's fucking packed in here!"
"I wonder if anyone else has found anything, no da?" Suddenly, Chichiri heard a voice.
"We've found him!"
"Who is it, Chichiri?"
"It's Nuriko, no da. Looks like she and Hotohori have found Youjin, no da."
"Then what the hell are we waiting for?! Let's go get him back!"
"Chichiri, tell Tasuki to wait a little while. We still don't know how to get him out of this." Chichiri saw a mental picture of Youjin holding Nisou, and immediately understood.
"Tasuki, don't be so hasty, no da."
"Youjin and Nisou may never find that happiness outside of this illusion," he thought. "It would be cruel not to let him enjoy it for a little while."
~*~
Youjin noticed the young couple staring at him and let go of Nisou.
"What's wrong?" Nisou asked. Youjin jerked his head a little towards the couple, who began to walk again as if nothing was wrong. Youjin frowned. What the hell were they staring at, anyways?
Why did they look so familiar…?
~*~
"Trapped in an illusion," Yui muttered.
"Youjin…" Miaka whispered.
"And what's happened to Nisou? Where is she?" Kouko demanded.
"We don't know," Yui explained. "The book hasn't said anything about her."
"Can't you ask the book? Will it tell you?"
"No," Yui said, shaking her head. "The book seems to have a mind of its own…it records what it wants the reader to see. I don't think it wants us to know what happens to Nisou quite yet."
"Yui, what's happening now? Is Youjin alright?" Miaka asked.
"Youjin frowned and stood up, about to follow the young couple, when the phantom girl grabbed his arm… Miaka, he might be in trouble."
"I hope the others can help him…" Miaka sighed, staring at the book, and at the Chinese characters that she could just faintly understand. "I wish there was something I could do to help…"
~*~
"Nisou, we should be getting home. I have homework to do, and your mother might start worrying about you…" The young girl sighed and nodded.
"You're right. But I'll see you tomorrow, right?" Youjin laughed.
"Of course!"
They went their separate ways.
Youjin arrived home a few minutes later. His mother was home already…but his father, apparently, had not come home yet.
"Hi, mom," he said quietly, trying uselessly to hide the big smile on his face.
"What're you so happy about?" Miaka asked, smiling also. Something was up…she gasped. "Did you ask her…?" Youjin nodded.
"It was a lot easier than I thought," he told her. Miaka then ordered him to tell her, in detail, the events of the afternoon.
Of course, he left out the part about the oddly familiar young couple that had been staring at them…
~*~
"So this is their world," Hotohori muttered. "It's…" He couldn't quite think of a word for it.
"It's loud," Nuriko muttered. "And smelly, and small and crowded. I think I like Konan better."
"Me too, no da. But we can't get sidetracked…Youjin needs our help, no da," Chichiri agreed.
"So we find the fuckin' kid and get the hell outta here, no problem. Right?" Tasuki asked.
"It's not that simple," Chiriko told him. "Youjin doesn't remember any of us in his current state. We don't know what might happen if he wakes up in this state."
"He may not remember any of us?" Mitsukake suggested. Chiriko nodded.
"So what the fuck are we supposed to do?!" Tasuki shouted.
"We have to make him remember us."
"And how do we do that, Chiriko?" Hotohori asked.
"I don't know."
"Hey, I have an idea, no da." Chichiri said. "Tasuki, Nuriko, and Hotohori could get into Youjin's school, no da. And Chiriko, you could too, probably. I mean, you're smart enough, no da."
"What about you and Mitsukake, though?" Nuriko asked.
"Well I…I don't know, no da." He frowned underneath his mask and sighed. "Maybe it's best just to figure that out as we go along, no da."
