Disclaimer: The characters of Fushigi Yuugi belong to Yuu Watase. But any new characters belong to me. ^_^
THIS IS THE END!!!
…of the illusion, that is. ^_~ Scared ya for a minute, didn't I? This one's a bit longer than the rest. Read, enjoy, and review please! XD
Chapter 15: Lose YourselfNisou caught up with Youjin on their way to school the next morning. They were relatively quiet, reflecting the overall mood of the bright morning.
That is, until their new friends came along.
Youjin first noticed them when they were still small dots on the horizon. The flame-haired boy known as Tasuki was shouting his name.
"Hey, Youjin! Couldja fuckin' wait for us?!" Youjin hung his head in defeat.
"So much for calm and quiet," Nisou muttered. She glared at the four newcomers and turned to Youjin. "You have a little time to talk to your friends," she said, adding an oddly bitter tone to the last word. "I have to get to school early to finish my science project. I'll see you in class!" She took off running.
"What's wrong with her?" Nuriko asked upon their arrival.
"I think we fuckin' scared her off!" Tasuki laughed.
"She had to get to school early," Youjin explained.
"Oh, I see." Nuriko frowned; something was definitely wrong with that girl.
~*~
"This is getting out of control," Yui muttered. "Completely out of control." Miaka sat quietly, hands clasped, her chin resting on them. She didn't reply.
"So that girl you're reading about isn't my daughter?" Kouko asked.
"She's part of the illusion," Yui explained.
"I- I think I understand that. But then, where is Nisou?"
"I think we're about to find out…"
~*~
So tired…so much pain. Loneliness. Darkness.
Silence…that was the worst of it. She could stand the pain; it reminded her that she was still alive. But in the silence, doubts and fears entered her mind. And they were slowly driving her insane.
Soi had been toying with her for hours…now, she had left to go to Nakago's chamber. Nisou smiled grimly; even in death she would visit him. She still loved him. She had gone on about her love for him as she struck Nisou with lightning.
Nisou couldn't decide which was worse: the lightning, or Soi's constant declarations of her love for Nakago.
~*~
Youjin awoke in a cold sweat; where was he? There was a dungeon…lightning…screaming. But now it was gone, replaced by the fluorescent lights of second period. And Nisou…she had been in so much pain…
It had been a dream, one induced by the boring lectures of his ancient history teacher. He glanced at the board to learn what their lesson was about – ancient China. Boring. He put his head back on his desk and went back to sleep.
Several mountains dotted the otherwise flat landscape. The air was dry and clear; free of pollutants and chemicals. Everything was quiet and peaceful.
Youjin stood beside Nisou, staring at a large mountain before them. Buildings littered its surface, half-hidden behind rocks or trees.
"What's this place?" Nisou asked, mystified by the landscape before her."Beats me," Youjin replied. "But I was on my way over there to get some answers." He pointed at the mountain.
"It looks like ancient china!" Nisou gasped.
Something jerked him awake just then. It was Tasuki, who had Ancient History in third period. The older boy had an amused look on his face. Youjin groggily looked up at him.
"I thought I'd let you know – you're gonna be late for your next class," Tasuki said. Youjin looked around. The whole class, a class of strangers, was looking at him. "The bell rang ten minutes ago."
"Crap," Youjin whispered, biting his tongue to hold back the flood of curse words that ached to escape his mouth. He hastily gathered his books and ran from the room. "Those dreams," he thought. "What were they about? And why did they seem so real? The sights, sounds…even the feelings. What's going on…?"
~*~
About mid-morning, rain began to fall heavily, pouring down the windows and tapping softly on the roof.
Nuriko and Hotohori walked to lunch together.
"I didn't know it could rain inside an illusion," Nuriko muttered, looking around. She frowned as she moved her books from one hand to the other.
"Anything's possible, I suppose," Hotohori replied.
They sat with Youjin again. Strangely, when they got there, Nisou was nowhere to be found…nor was Chiriko.
"Hey kid, where's your girlfriend?" Tasuki asked, only half-teasing. Youjin shrugged.
"She's still working," he muttered, poking at his 'food' with his fork.
"On that fucking science project?! What the hell's wrong with her?"
"Chiriko's helping her." Tasuki nearly choked on his food. He, Nuriko, and Hotohori traded startled, wide-eyed looks.
"Where are they? D'you know? We're, ah, supposed to keep an eye on Chiriko," Nuriko said.
"I guess they're in the science lab," Youjin explained. He watched them leave, thankful to have some time to think.
"Fuck, this is bad," Tasuki cursed. "The girl is bad news."
"She's not the Nisou that we know, that's for sure," Nuriko added.
"But, well, who is she then?" Hotohori wondered. Suddenly, a name popped into his head. "Could it be Tomo?!"
"Wouldn't be beyond the fuckin' queer," Tasuki muttered. They ran down the hallway, looking for the lab, and they heard a crash.
"What was that?!" Nuriko shouted.
"It sounded like breaking glass," Hotohori said. Then, a scream. They looked at each other.
"Chiriko!"
~*~
Nisou held part of a broken glass tray in her hand. Chiriko stood opposite of her, sporting a long gash on his cheek.
"Chiriko!" Nuriko shouted, then glared at Nisou. "Who are you?"
"And what the hell is your problem?!" Tasuki stormed into the room. Nisou laughed. It wasn't the light, airy laugh that they had all heard a thousand times before in Konan, however. Somehow, even though it was the same voice laughing and the same face smiling, she seemed…
Darker.
Her face began to change; her body contorted. Her whole form melted together and began to glow, and she shook. A form began to grow out of the shaking, glowing mass. And soon, the features of this person were unmistakable.
Last to appear were the striking crimson and black streaks over a white painted face.
Tomo.
"I was fuckin' right!" Tasuki shouted mightily. Tomo cackled in that nasal, high-pitched way that he has.
"Maybe so, but you cannot defeat me now," he said. "I will keep Youjin in this illusion forever, and you can't do anything without him, remember?" He smirked. Tasuki frowned, looking at Hotohori and Nuriko.
"He's right," he said gravely. "We can't do anything."
Chiriko, meanwhile, was studying Tomo. There was something important that he recalled Miaka telling him…he just had to remember.
~*~
"Something I told him?" Miaka looked from Yui to the book and back again.
"Yeah," Yui said. "The book says that you told him something while you were in Sailo. He thinks it was important."
"Something important…" Suddenly, her mind wandered back to a time that was so long ago, when she was still young. When the memories were still fresh in her mind.
"I'm sure you think this is a huge bore," Miaka said to the young scholar. He shook his head, smiling.
"I'd like to know." Miaka eyed him curiously.
"Why? I mean, it's not that important. He's gone, isn't he?"
"Well, I plan to record everything that happens in our journey," Chiriko answered. "Maybe get it published. And since I wasn't there, I'd like to know what happened when you helped defeat Tomo."
"Really, I didn't do much," Miaka said, blushing a bit as the second-hand compliment. "Amiboshi is the one who broke Tomo's power over me. I just destroyed the projection thing in the illusion."
"How did you do that?" Chiriko had paper and ink ready for recording her statement.
"I took the pencil that he had given me and I stabbed him. You know that spot in his forehead?" She pointed at the same spot on her own head. "I stabbed him right there. It destroyed the projection and I was released."
"That must be it!" Miaka stood and grabbed the book from Yui.
"M-Miaka! What are you doing?!" Yui shouted.
"I have to contact Chiriko! He can do it…he can destroy Tomo's projection in the illusion!" She gripped the book with both hands and concentrated on finding Chiriko's life force. When she spotted it, she latched on tightly and relayed her message to him.
Chiriko looked up, feeling a presence invading his mind. It was strangely familiar…
"Chiriko!" He vaguely recognized the voice. It seemed older and quieter, not the same wailing girlish voice it once was. It had grown and changed, just as the girl who owned it had. "Please hear me, Chiriko! It's Miaka!"
"I know," he said quietly. "You sounded different for a minute."
"I- I've grown up," she answered. "But that isn't the point. I know how you can defeat Tomo's projection."
"Tell me," Chiriko said.
"The thing on his forehead. The circle." Chiriko looked at Tomo. His headdress was gone…there was a red circle on his forehead, made from the makeup he wore.
"I see it," he said.
"Hit him there with something sharp. Like glass, or a pencil, or something."
"I will."
"Thank you." Miaka breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled weakly. "And, Chiriko?"
"You want to add something?"
Miaka took a deep breath and said, "Don't lose to them. For the sake of my son and for everyone else…for Nisou, too. Please, don't lose." Chiriko smiled cheerfully. It was the smile she remembered from the last time she saw him. The same optimistic smile that he always had.
"We won't. I promise." She let go of his life force and the connection was broken.
"He'll do it," she said quietly, looking at Yui and Kouko.
"Does this mean that they'll get out of this and go rescue my daughter?"
"I hope so, Miss Kouko," Yui muttered. "I really do."
~*~
Chiriko looked around. There had to be something…
The shard of glass that Tomo had used to cut Chiriko was on the floor. He took a few quiet steps forward and grabbed it, careful not to make noise.
Nuriko noticed what he was doing and went to distract Tomo. She charged at him, knowing very well what would happen.
Realizing that he was about to be tackled, Tomo moved out of the way.
"You really are a foolish woman, you know," he said. "I assumed you would know that-" He was cut off as Chiriko, who had been standing on one of the lab's tables, ambushed him. He wrapped his small arm around Tomo's neck and raised the glass shard in his other hand. Blood trickled down from it; he had cut himself while holding it.
"Chiriko!" Tasuki yelled, genuinely concerned for his young friend.
Ignoring Tasuki's alarmed call, Chiriko thrust his arm forward, stabbing Tomo with the shard of glass. It cut Chiriko's hand as he thrust it into Tomo's forehead, shouting his frustration, trying to push the glass deeper.
Finally, Tomo screamed and exploded into nothingness. The science lab…the school…the people that had gathered in the hallway…they all faded out of sight. What was left was the rain-soaked forest that they had been sheltered from before Rinrin had put them inside the illusion.
"You did it!" Rinrin shouted happily, latching onto the nearest of them: Nuriko.
"We can't celebrate yet," Hotohori said quietly.
"Hotohori is right, no da," Chichiri added. "Youjin isn't awake yet, no da." Rinrin frowned and closed her eyes.
"I…feel you…" Youjin whispered while he slept. "I'm…I'm here." For a moment, the others thought he was waking up. But he gritted his teeth as if bearing a terrible pain, screamed, and returned to a silent state. Rinrin opened her eyes and studied the boy for a few moments.
"He shares a very strong bond with the Miko," she muttered at last. "In this state, he will not awaken until she is out of danger, and with us again."
"What the hell?! That's fuckin' crazy! Why the hell won't he?! What the hell did we go into that fucking spell for if we can't wake him up?! Isn't there something we can do?" Tasuki shouted, his face turning red from anger.
"There is one thing we can do," Rinrin told the hot-headed warrior. "But I don't know how it will upset him when he wakes up."
"I don't fucking care if he's upset! What can you do?!"
"I can sever his connection with the Miko."
