Tears of the Dragon - Chapter 1

Sitting on her knees, the strange book by the title of Shijin Tenchisho lay on the floor in front of Hongou Yui, as she pleaded with her best friend, Yuuki Miaka to try harder to come back to their world. She reminded her friend that they were going to take the citywide exams together and go to high school together. She went on and said that it just wasn't the same without her dear childhood friend around.

Once her pleas reach through, tears of joy sprung to her eyes as she sensed the red light of Suzaku that would return Miaka to her. However, something rather bizarre happened. Instead of a red light, a strange, brilliant blue light emitted from the book. Stunned, she didn't know what to do, as it engulfed her, taking her into the world of the four gods. She closed her eyes, as she braced her body against the encasing blue light that transported her to a strange world. She lay unconscious on the grounds, in a back alley; of what later she would learn was Kutou-koku, the land of the east, protected by the guardian god Seiryuu.

Blinking away the blurry vision from her cyan blue eyes, Yui sat up. 'What? What is this place? What was that light that surrounded me?' She wondered, as she climbed to her feet, tentatively looking around.

Frightened, Yui stared around her. At the moment, she was alone. She didn't know whether to be thankful or afraid. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

Gathering her courage, she stepped out of the small alcove she had appeared in. She realized that if this was the world inside the book, than her friend Miaka could very well still be here. Frantic, she began to comb the streets, crying out for her friend.

"Miaka! Miaka! Where are you...Miaka!" Stumbling down a side street, Yui continued her search for her friend.

The path she took led her into the slummier part of the city of Kutou. Still, she found no sign of Miaka or any living soul. Wrapping her arms around herself, for it was starting to get cold, Yui continued her search.

She gave a sad smile. She was starting to get hungry. 'That is more like Miaka then me...' Shaking her head, she turned a corner. She blinked. Ahead of her, was a small group of young men. 'Maybe if I ask them, they might know where she is...' Making her decision, Yui slowly walked toward the group.

The leader of the group chuckled when he noticed the approaching and very oddly dressed shorthaired young lass. He leered, as he made a comment to his comrade, "hey, hey, check out the girl. She's cute."

His comrade replied, "oddly dressed, but very cute. Hey miss, why don't you come and play with us, we're very nice."

The group laughed. The two that made their commentaries took off in Yui's direction.

Yui started at the voices coming towards her. She watched as two of the young men came towards her in a rush. Suddenly, she felt frightened. Very frightened. 'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...' She backed away, preparing to flee.

"Don't run, we only wanna play," The first leered, cat-called. He had a lead ahead of his friend, who was helping in the pursuit of the skimpily dressed Yui, at least by this world's standards. Needless to say, they personally didn't care, less layers of clothes to tear through in order to get what they wanted.

The two finally managed to grab her by the arms and stopped her from running any further.

Yui struggled frantically in the arms of her two assailants. "Stop! Let me go! I need to find my friend! Please!" Yui tried to get away once more, but the two boys had a firm hold on her. "Miaka! Miaka! Help me! Miaka! Where are you?! MIAKA!!"

One bigger of the two young men pinned Yui, as the other one launched a physical, sexual assault-like attack against the helpless young woman.

Her screams seemed to echo through the alleys unheard, until just the sound of flesh being slashed out and blood spurting came to life, as a mysterious shadowed figured lurked just nearby, holding out an arm, with a weapon he was commanding with his mind telekinetically. He was silhouetted against the backdrop of the scene, as he brutally finished off her attackers, before coming over, still partially shaded by the darkness of the alleyway, holding out a hand for her to take.

"Ojousan," he began, he spoke softly. He wanted to earn her trust so that she didn't need to be afraid of him. "Daijoubu desu ka?"

Still shivering from the almost rape, Yui stared up at this strange figure. The sun beat down on them, obscuring his features. His voice, however, had a kindness to it. Shakily, she reached out and placed her hand in his. "Hai. I...I'm fine. Arigatou!"

Standing up, Yui brushed the dirt from her uniform. She then looked up. She could see him a lot better now that the sun was no longer in her eyes.

He made note of her unique appearance. He shrugged it off. "Come, let's get out of here, it'll be safer out in the busy streets, ojousan." He took her hand within his and led the way out into the more busy streets of the Kutou capital. He then stopped once they were on the outskirts of the crowd. He turned to her. "You're definitely not from around here, I can tell just by your dress."

Yui blinked, as they were suddenly engulfed with people. She watched in awe as people went from stall to stall, purchasing, trading and what not. She turned to her saviour.

He was about her height, but strong built. He had piercing blue-grey eyes and sandy blonde hair. She smiled. "Hai. I'm not from here. I'm just looking for my friend, Miaka."

The young man blinked in surprise. "No, that name doesn't ring a bell, gomen ne, ojousan." He shrugged his shoulders in a demonstrative helpless gesture.

"That's okay! Oh...I'm being so rude. Especially after helping me! I'm Hongou Yui." Yui stuck out her hand to the young man.

He nodded. "It's okay." Smiling, he placed his hand in hers. "Bu Shunkaku, at your service, Yui-san."

Yui shook his hand warmly. "I'm very please to meet you, Shunkaku. Uhhhh...can you do me a favour? Can you tell me where I am?"

"Where...and without sarcasm right?!" Shunkaku joked dryly. "Because I could tell you that you're in the market place."

Yui rolled her eyes. "Yes, without sarcasm please. I'm aware were in a market place!"

"Hai, hai!!" Shunkaku laughed at her response. "Okay, the imperial capital of Kutou-koku, Tsu-juken, in the prefecture of Hainen."

"Oh." Yui blinked. She looked around. She had NO idea where that was. She thought long and hard, but couldn't come up with a match to that name. 'If I'm in the book, which would suggest I am, since that blue light surrounded me like the red light did before, then I may be in the book again.' Turning to Shunkaku, she asked a question. "Do you know anything about Suzaku? Or Konan?"

Shunkaku made a face at the mention of "Konan" and "Suzaku". He sighed and reluctantly explained their significance to her. "Konan-koku is the country in the south quadrant with Suzaku-seikun as its protector. Suzaku's a large phoenix, from what I've heard, I'm not entirely sure." He then went on to explain Kutou's part. "Like Konan, Kutou has the same type of legend, only we're of the eastern quadrant with Seiryuu-seikun as the ruling god. His avatar is a dragon creature."

Yui listened attentively. She nodded absently. "So...you don't like them then?"

Shunkaku tried not to laugh. "Hai, that's true. Konan is Kutou-koku's bitter enemy. There have been rumours of the appearance of Suzaku No Miko in Konan-koku, now here in Kutou-koku the search for Seiryuu No Miko's begun." He mused. "It seems odd that two Miko's would be appearing at the same time, when the previous ones appeared two hundred and a hundred years prior."

Yui stared, open-mouthed. "Suzaku no Miko? Seiryuu no Miko?" She thought back to the book. While Miaka had journeyed through this strange world, she had been reading her exploits. It had called her Suzaku no Miko. 'Does that mean...I'm Seiryuu no Miko?'

"Uh...Shunkaku? Where is this...Seiryuu no Miko now?"

"We don't know, but I can tell you, she's a girl from another world."

He studied her appearance for a moment. 'She's quite oddly dressed. She's definitely not from around here. Is it possible that Yui-san is Seiryuu No Miko? I remember Aniki telling me that the Seishi are drawn to the Miko, is it possible that's what happened when I saved her from those hentai-minded thugs?!'

'A girl from another world?' Yui thought to herself. She definitely fit the bill. 'But...do I want that? I just want to find Miaka and go home!'

Shaking her head, she temporarily pushed the thoughts away. "Shunkaku? Is...is there somewhere we can get something to eat? I haven't eaten all day and I'm a little hungry."

"Sure! No problem!! I'm extremely hungry myself! Shit! I didn't get enough to eat earlier!" He complained, smiling. He took her hand. "Come, I know a nice place where to get a good feed."

Yui smiled at his eagerness. "All right. Let's go."

"And a word of advice for you," Shunkaku began. "Stay with me, if people see a girl like you alone...let just say, well, they've got things in mind I'd rather not think about."

Putting aside his morbid slanted advice, he balanced his weapon on his free index finger as the two walked. 'Oh yea, my strength's definitely improving! Man! I loved the way I took out those two bastards, just the blink of an eye! I'm a little better than I thought! Excellent!'

Yui nodded vigorously. She wrapped her arm around Shunkaku's. "I'll stay near. I promise. I have no desire to go through that again."

He nodded. He was quite amazed to find that she had strapped herself on to him so fast. He didn't think much of it, although he would confess that he did find her to be rather attractive, despite the oddities of her appearance. He didn't mind having her body a little close to his, it was rather unique, a different sensation, it had a warming affect on him. He blushed slightly.

'Damn, I just met her and I'm already attracted to her. Well, she is really cute and polite, though she possess quite a bizarre appearance.' He mused.

With his free hand he continued to play with his strange weapon. 'My ryuuseisui. I know I'm still rather new with it, but I've improved since I got it a couple of years ago. It'll be a while before I'm as strong as Aniki is with his flute.'

Yui looked sideways, finally noticing Shunkaku's weapon. "Shunkaku...what's that thing?" She pointed to his weapon.

"Oh this?!" He replied. "A ryuuseisui, my weapon!"

"Your....weapon? What does it do?" She asked.

Shunkaku blinked. "Uh...what does it do...well, interesting question, right now, it's just used to defend myself and others against the evil that lurks around. Yes, this is the same weapon that took out those bastards."

"Oh." Yui looked at his weapon once again. It was certainly a strange thing. "Its...uhm...interesting."

"Interesting?! It's cool!" Shunkaku exclaimed, taking out part of a nearby wall as part of a demonstration. "See?!"

Yui watched with wide eyes as Shunkaku took out an entire wall with his weapon. "Uh...Shunkaku? Did somebody need that wall?"

"B'eh, probably, don't know for sure," Shunkaku casually shrugged, as his loyal ryuuseisui returned to his side.

Yui was about to retort, when she looked in front of her. She blinked. There was a boy right in front of her. In his hand, he clutched a flute. She looked from him to Shunkaku. Then back again.

The boy, glaring at Shunkaku, shook his head. "Shun! How many times have I told you not to destroy public property?! Someone could have needed that wall!"

Shunkaku laughed uneasily. "...eto...Aniki...I err...guess..." He looked slightly nervous. He knew it was never a good idea to try and argue with his brother when he was a little more than angry.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Oi. One of these days, you're going to get into trouble, and I won't be there to bail you out!" He finally turned, noticing the girl on his brother's arm. His eyebrow flew up into his hairline. "Forgive me, ojousan. I didn't want to seem rude to you. But Shunkaku can be a bit thoughtless sometimes." He eyed his brother hard. "We'll talk about this later, otouto."

Yui hid a smirk. 'This must be his brother...twins huh? I've never met twins before...' "Its okay. I'm Hongou Yui. Shunkaku was just helping me."

"Really? I'm glad to hear that. By the way, I'm Bu Koutoku. It's a pleasure to met you, Yui-san." He bowed at the waist to her.

Yui blushed. He was so charming! "Likewise, Koutoku-san."

Shunkaku turned to his brother, after having replaced his offending play toy back on his belt. "Ne, Aniki, Yui-san and I were headed to a local teahouse for a bite to eat, wanna come?"

Koutoku sighed. "Are you /still/ hungry?! Okay. Sure. Let's go."

Yui smirked. This was so cute. "Hai. I would love to have you come as well. I've never met twins before."

The place Shunkaku had mentioned earlier to Yui, wasn't that far from where the group had converged into a group of three from a pair. A local merchant proprietor who also ran another bar/tavern in the back alley operated said teahouse. This was more of a family operated business. It attracted more of the decent mind, common folk who were just looking for a nice meal. It was a clean place, no drunkards around, just normal people looking for a meal, as they went about their daily way of life.

Sitting at a table, the group of three waited till there was a menu brought to them.

Turning to Koutoku, Shunkaku asked, "ne, Aniki, you know more about Seiryuu-den no Shijin Tenchisho, right?! Dakedo, Yui-san was asking about the Suzaku one, and I couldn't remember if the two were similar or not."

Koutoku nodded. "Hai. The Shijin Tenchisho that we have is quite similar to that of Suzaku's. They both mention a Miko from another world and Seven Seishi."

Yui listened attentively. "Really? What does it say about the Seiryuu no Miko?"

Koutoku shrugged. He took a sip of tea. "Just that she's from another world and the seven seishi will be drawn to her. That once she has them all gathered, the seishi and the miko would call the god. I don't know that much more. The Emperor would be the one to ask. He has the actually Shijin Tenchisho in his possession."

Placing his cup down, Shunkaku kept his eyes on Yui for a minute, but he would dart them around on occasion just so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable. He felt a strange feeling in his stomach being around her. It wasn't anything pertaining to lust, it was more of an instinctive gut to be around her, to protect her as one of her Seishi. 'It's got to be my imagination got haywire because it's so damned hot out today, but I feel like Yui-san's the destined Seiryuu No Miko. I can't explain why, but I just feel that way, I wonder if Aniki does...'

He eyed his brother.

Koutoku noticed his brother's look. He had a feeling he knew what his brother was thinking. 'She certainly fits the qualifications. She's not from around here that's for certain. Her clothes scream foreigner. Could she be the Miko?' Smiling at Yui, he lowered his left arm. Pulling up his armband, he made a few scratches on his arm.

'Shun-chan...where did you find her?'

Feeling the familiar twitch in his arm, Shunkaku discretely pulled back his own arm cover to see what his brother didn't want to say out loud for Yui to hear. Nodding, he returned, 'Found her in the back alleys being attacked by thugs.'

'What was she doing?'

'Don't know. Wandering.'

Koutoku sighed. 'Didn't you ask her?!'

Shunkaku shrugged. 'I didn't want to press the issue, reasons.'

Koutoku nodded. 'All right. That makes sense. I'm proud of you, otouto. Your thinking for once.'

Shunkaku rolled his eyes, as he didn't scratched in a response. He instead silently fumed mildly to himself. 'Like I don't think otherwise. Che! So nice to know what he thinks of me! Shit.'

He sighed and sipped the last of his tea. He turned his sights back to the attractive foreign girl, Yui. He didn't say anything at first. He thought to himself quietly, 'I don't see any harm in mentioning that she might possibly be the Seiryuu No Miko of Kutou no den.' He cleared his throat. "Ne, Yui-san," he began. "You remember when I mentioned earlier that Kutou still didn't have its Miko when you asked..."

"Yea," Yui replied, sipping from her tea, as she awaited his response.

"Well, for some reason, I feel that you might be Seiryuu No Miko."

Yui turned around and stared at Shunkaku. "You're kidding, right?"

Koutoku shook his head. "He's right, Yui-san. You do fit the circumstances for the arrival of the Miko." He gestured to his brother. "And Shun and I are both Seiryuu Seishi. That very well could be why he found you when he did. The bond between Seishi and Miko is reportedly very strong."

"It's true. That's what my suspicion was after I saved you, Yui-san." Shunkaku added. He felt a slight redness creeping up the back of his neck. He didn't want her to think it was solely because of that. He then continued in the same subject area. "We should head to the imperial court some time..."

Koutoku nodded. "Hai. Its time we introduced ourselves to his Majesty anyway."

"So, you think me being a Seishi will stop my ass from being fried with the local guards?!" Shunkaku queried, with a short nervous laugh.

Koutoku placed his head in his hands in despair. "Why me? Why?" He looked up in misery. "Can't you stay out of trouble for FIVE MINUTES??!!!"

Yui snickered. This was priceless!

"Uh..." Shunkaku scratched the back of his head anxiously. He grinned, his nervousness showing through and very evident. "Uh, well, I think more than five minutes is what I do and besides, I'm not in *that* much trouble."

Koutoku eyed his brother with a pointed glare.

Shunkaku relented. "Fine, so I'm a brat. Sure, I stole some loser's money pouch a couple of days ago but he probably stole it from someone else." He shrugged helplessly.

"SHUNKAKU!!!"

"What?!"

Koutoku buried his face in his hands and sobbed.

Yui looked on in amusement. This was great!

"There, there, Aniki," Shunkaku said, patting his brother on the shoulder. "It wasn't as bad as when I killed those three traffickers, sure I could have just tortured them slightly till they ran, but the blood spillage was far more satisfying."

This only made Koutoku sob more.

Yui couldn't help herself any longer. She burst out laughing.

Koutoku looked up and glared at her. "You have no idea what it's like having a bloodthirsty twin! Its hell! Seiryuu save me!"

"I-I guess not." Yui sighed. 'But I do know what it's like to have parents around who are always busy with work and hardly ever around to help me, it's like I'm living by myself with monetary support all the time without the effort.' She thought sadly.

Shunkaku tilted his head. "Ne, Yui-san, doushitanda? You seem awfully quiet suddenly, what's wrong?" His voice was concern-filled, as he placed a hand on hers. His cobalt blue eyes gazed seriously into her cyan blue ones. "You can tell me...or not, if you don't feel comfortable with it."

Koutoku nodded. He also placed a comforting hand on Yui's. "Only if you feel up to it."

Yui nodded. "Hai...its just...my parents never really cared about me. I was always home alone. I've never...really had anyone except Miaka who cared about me."

Shunkaku took his free hand, placing it on her cheek, brushing back loose strands of her short blond hair. "We understand, Yui-san." He didn't say any more, as he remembered how painful it was when he and his brother lost their parents.

Yui blinked. She looked deep into Shunkaku's deep blue-grey eyes. She felt herself getting lost in them. Smiling, she placed her hand over his. "Thank you."

Koutoku watched silently. He said nothing. It was obvious to him, his brother was growing attached to her. 'Is it because she may be the Miko? Or another reason?' He wished he knew.

Thankful to see the first signs of the server, Shunkaku intently pointed to five items on the menu for his order. At hearing this, Koutoku massively sweat-dropped, trying to deny with his life that he was related to this bottomless pit for a stomach. The server didn't say anything, as he wrote down the items.

Turning to Yui, the server waited for her order placement. Gazing over the menu, she gave a silent prayer of thanks that she was able to read Kanji. "Uh, well..."

'This must be Chinese style food okay...so, I'll order something with just vegetables, since you never know with the meat.'

"I'll have a vegetable stir-fry. Arigatou."

Koutoku ignored his brother. He wasn't related to him. No way in hell! He nodded to the server and indicated his choice.

The server nodded. He left to place the order with the kitchen.

Sitting back, but subtly placing an arm around Yui's waist, since she was close to him, Shunkaku coolly inquired, directing his question at his brother. "Ne, Aniki, how do we get past the guards at the imperial court gates?! Security there's tight as hell."

'Man, is Yui-san cute! I really hope she's single...well, it looks like it.' He blushed slightly at his thoughts and opinions.

Koutoku shrugged. "Shouldn't be a problem. We'll just tell them were Seishi to see the Emperor."

"Will it work?" Yui asked. Unconsciously, she leaned closer to Shunkaku. 'He is sooooo dreamy! I hope he likes me...'

"If Aniki thinks so, perhaps." Shunkaku nodded confidently, feeling confidence in his brother's words. He also made note that Yui seemed to be just a little closer to him than before. This didn't bother him one bit.

'Well, I guess that answers my question! She's definitely available. I'm surprised that someone as cute and adorable as she is, isn't yet nabbed by some other guy, not that it bothers me or anything.'

He discovered that her form seemed to fit very nicely against his. 'Man is this great!' He sighed dreamily. 'She's really nice...I'd love to get to know her better.'

Koutoku hid a smile behind his hand. This was priceless! His brother was infatuated with a girl! 'Its about damn time!'

He looked up when the food arrived. He once again sweat-dropped at the amount of food his brother had ordered. 'Che! Doesn't he ever stop eating?!'

Shunkaku took his chopsticks in hand, well actually in one hand and picked up the rice bowl in the other. Unlike his brother, he didn't eat at a normal human pace, he demolished the contents of the bowl quite quickly.

On the other hand, contrasting his style of eating, Yui in a delicate, lady-like fashion ate her food.

Koutoku kept his eyes on his meal. He knew from past experience that if he watched his brother eat, he'd rapidly grow nauseous.

Yui, unaware of this, raised her eyes from her bowl. She glanced at Shunkaku. Her mouth dropped open. She quickly closed it and began to sweat dropped profusely. She gestured to Shunkaku. "Is he always this hungry?!"

Koutoku shrugged, keeping his eyes on his bowl. "It's normal. He's always like this."

"Reminds me a lot of Miaka. She puts away food like there's no tomorrow." Yui replied with a short laugh, as she continued to slowly finish the first half of her dish, while Shunkaku meanwhile was on his third. She tried not to look in his direction while he ate. Eating with him, for her was comparably as bad as eating with Miaka.

Koutoku shook his head. "I don't think I'd want to meet this Miaka then. One food hog is enough for me, thank you."

"What's enough for you?" Shunkaku asked, looking up from his polished off plate/dish, which was his forth. Placing it down, he crossed the chopsticks over the plate, as an indication that he was done.

Yui could only shake her head in disbelief. 'I never thought there would be someone who ate as much as Miaka.' She answered for Koutoku, who was in the middle of chewing. "He was referring to one bottomless pit for a stomach is enough for him to deal with."

"Oh...I'm not that bad, am I?"

Koutoku swallowed. "No comment." He turned to Yui. "Do you have a place to stay for the night? It's a bit late to head to the palace tonight. We can head there in the morning if you'd like."

Yui swallowed. She shook her head. "No. You two are the first I've encountered here. I...I don't know anyone else."

"Stay with us. Use my bed, I'll share my brother's." Shunkaku volunteered before his brother could make the placement of any for of protests.

"Arigatou." Yui responded, still only now halfway through her dish.

Koutoku nodded. "All right then. We'll take you home with us. It's not the biggest place, but it's big enough for us, I think."

"It's just nice to know I at least have a place to rest for the night." Yui replied, placing down her chopsticks for a minute. 'I never realized how much there was on this plate.' She eyed Shunkaku. 'Maybe he'll want the last bit.'

"Ne, Yui-san, you going to finish that?!" Shunkaku asked, proving her hypothesis to be right.

"No, you can have it." She pushed the plate in his direction.

"Arigatou, Yui-san!" Shunkaku took her bowl and began to devour what was left in the bowl.

Koutoku groaned. 'Why me?! Why hast thou forsaken me, Seiryuu?!'

Shunkaku looked up at his brother. He didn't say anything, as he had a mouth full of food, but his expression was enough to ask what was wrong.

"Nothing. Forget it. Just devour your food, Shunkaku."

Scowling in response, he finished the remains of the dish and placed it back down. Sitting back, he made himself comfortable, placing his arm back down around Yui's waist, without saying anything, since he recalled he wouldn't encounter any objections from her. He just hoped that maybe she did like him and just wasn't being nice.

'It would be nice if she did, after all, I...shit...I already like her and I met her, how long ago?!'

Yui gave a small smile. She felt Shunkaku put his arm around her. She unconsciously leaned into him. She felt safe with him around.

Koutoku rolled his eyes. 'Geez...do I have to put up with these two all night?! Seiryuu help me!'

Shunkaku grinned in satisfaction. 'Hey, I could grow to like this! I have no objections at all! And I love the way she fits perfectly against my body...' He sighed in pure contentment. 'Though I like her...I'm almost afraid to admit it to her...I wonder if she feels the same way as me?' He found himself pondering.

After paying with the pouch of money he swiped from another thief, Shunkaku stood up, with Yui attached next to him.

Yui sighed. She was still a bit scared from not knowing where or why she was here. But she felt better with the twins near. Especially Shunkaku.

Koutoku stood. He beckoned to the two. "Come on, Yui-san. It's this way. It's not far from here."