When Fuuko Mysteriously Plays
Chapter 3
The Test of Taiitsukun
"Mmmphfff", Tamahome, who was sleeping facing his left side, turned to his right still half-asleep. Supposedly, Fuuko was sleeping to his right side. Tamahome's eyes were half-open when he turned, but it widened when he saw that Fuuko was not there. "Fuuko!!!" he sat up. "Tamahome, will you keep quiet. Someone's sleeping here", Nuriko said, who woke up because of Tamahome's loud shout. "But, Fuuko... Fuuko's gone", Tamahome said. "What???" Nuriko and Hotohori woke up fully after hearing Tamahome. "Fuuko's not here, see?" Tamahome said. They all stood up. "We have to look for her then", Hotohori said. "Hai", Nuriko and Tamahome replied. They all packed up and left to look for Fuuko.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Genrou asked as he walked with Fuuko. "We're on our way to Mt. Taikyoku to go see someone named Taiitsukun so, I could go back to my world", Fuuko answered. "Your world?" asked Genrou. "Hai, my world. I'm not from here, I came from another world and that's why I became the Suzaku no Miko, get it?" Fuuko answered. "Hai, so, you're the Suzaku no Miko? Why ya going back your world? I bet you haven't even called out Suzaku", he asked. "Ok, you better listen carefully 'cause I've told this story a million times. I came to this world with my friend, Yanagi. I promised Recca, Yanagi's Personal umm... ninja that I'd make sure she's safe. When we got here, she disappeared again and I don't know if she went back to my world or... somewhere else. Anyway, I feel responsible for her and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to her. So, I'm going back to my world to find out if she went back and if she's ok", Fuuko answered. "Since you're the Suzaku no Miko, and you haven't called out Suzaku yet, will you come back after you find out your friend's safe to summon Suzaku?" Fuuko smiled a little at his question. "I've been thinkin' about that, ya know. Actually, I think I might be going back. My life has been totally boring for the past few months. I've been looking for some kind of adventure and I find out I can be the Suzaku no Miko who will have 7 Suzaku slaves and can get 3 wishes by summoning Suzaku. I know this isn't a game and it might even be dangerous, but so what? I like danger. It's definitely a lot better than nothing. I know I sound weird but, heheh, whatever", Fuuko said. She gave Genrou a smile. "I think I see what you mean. Gee, I never thought there would be a girl who would think and talk that way. It's so... so... weird. Ya sure you're a woman?" Genrou said, grinning, revealing his *totally cute* fangs. Fuuko beats him up. "Of course I'm a woman. I'm an ordinary cute high school girl"; Fuuko said, with her usual proud, feminine pose. His fangs remind me of Kaoru. I always thought those fangs were cute. I can see it now. When I get back I'd see them again. Kaoru would probably give me one of his famous fanged grins. Domon would probably try and give me one of his bear hugs. Recca would just say "I'm glad your ok, Fuuko. So, what happened?" Yanagi would just smile at me and Mi-chan, I don't think fridge boy will even care or maybe he'd just lecture me about being a baka and getting into trouble and almost getting Yanagi involved. "You ok?" Genrou snapped Fuuko out of her thoughts. "Huh?" Fuuko asked. "You've been quiet all of a sudden. "I was thinking about something. Hey, why are you walking with me like this anyway?" Fuuko asked. "Huh? I don't know", he answered. "This is it", Fuuko said. "So, where are your friends?" Genrou asked. "I dunno, they were here a while ago", she answered. "Ya sure?" he asked. "Totally sure. They probably saw I was gone and went looking for me. I knew this was a bad idea. I better go find them", Fuuko said. "Fine, I'm going with you. I can't let the Suzaku no Miko run around the forest all by herself", Genrou said. "Fine, come if you want", Fuuko said. They both started walking away.
"I'm tired", Fuuko said, breathing heavily and sat down leaning on a tree. "Let's take a break", she added. Genrou walked to her. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped as soon as he saw someone coming. "Fuuko, there you are, we've been looking all over for you", Nuriko had appeared behind Fuuko. Fuuko stood up and turned around as soon as she heard her voice. "What the hell happened? Where did you go?" Tamahome also appeared behind Nuriko with Hotohori close behind. "I was just taking a walk and you were gone when I went back", Fuuko explained. "You shouldn't walk around in the forest by yourself Fuuko", Hotohori looked really disappointed as he said this. "Gomen... I was just-", Fuuko started to explain some more until Nuriko started talking again. "And who is this guy? We've been going around the forest, worrying about you and you're out here mingling with men". "What did you just say?" Fuuko started to lose her patience. She hated it when people falsely accuse her like that. She was really pissed off, angry even at Nuriko's words. She was about to voice out her anger until she realized something. There was something different about Nuriko, no, about all 3 of them. About Tamahome, Hotohori, and Nuriko. She felt something strange about them, just like what she felt when she saw the mirror. It was the exact same feeling and the feeling of the other person who was there when she was about to go in the mirror besides Genrou. The mirror then appeared in front of her. Instead of the food, she saw a big mountain inside. "Let's go inside the mirror now. It will lead us to Mt. Taikyoku", Hotohori said. Fuuko stepped forward to the mirror. She reached out her hand to touch the mirror. It didn't feel like mirror at all. It was like water. She felt a chill and she pulled her hand away as she stepped backward. Genrou had just been standing there watching Fuuko. He also sensed something bad about them and the mirror. He knew he had to stay there and make sure nothing happens to Fuuko. He can't leave a girl all by herself in the middle of a forest and with these guys. He knew this was trouble. 'Women are always in trouble' he thought. There was a reason, but he felt it wasn't time yet for Fuuko to know. Fuuko grinned, "I know you're not who you seem to be. You all look like Tamahome, Nuriko and Hotohori, but I know your not them", she said. "Huh? What are you talking about, we are who we are", said Tamahome. "I know this may sound stupid, but I know what I'm talking about", Fuuko answered. "This is a trap, isn't it. I'm not really sure what kind, but I know it's a trap", Fuuko added. They all heard a really wicked, creepy laugh. "Very impressive Suzaku no Miko. I didn't think you'd be able to sense that this is a trap. You must be wondering what's going on. It's a test, you see. To see if you're truly worthy of being Suzaku no Miko", they heard a voice say. Nuriko, Hotohori, and Tamahome had transformed into three hideous monsters. They kinda looked like 'True Ogre' from Tekken 3. "Fight us, Suzaku no Miko. Prove yourself worthy to be Miko by defeating us", one of the monsters said. They all looked alike that you tell which one was the fake Seishi from a while ago. The same monster flew towards Fuuko. Fuuko stepped to her side to dodge the monster's attack. The monster saw Fuuko step aside, but it was too late stop or change directions to avoid the tree. It tried to fly to the side of the tree, but the tree had hit the monster's side. Fuuko immediately took out her darts and ran towards the other two as she threw them. The monsters seemed to be quick enough to avoid them. They also ran to Fuuko. One had reached Fuuko and tried to hit her. Fuuko ducked, turned around and used her elbow to hit the monster on its stomach. The monster then grasped its stomach in pain. Fuuko ran to the other one. It held a sword, which made her guess it was the fake Hotohori. It held the sword above its head and tried to attack Fuuko with it. Fuuko saw this and jumped up to dodge it and landed behind it. She stepped back until she felt something behind her. She turned around to see a tree standing there. She looked back to see all three monsters walking to her. She was cornered; there was a monster at each side, which blocked way. There was no escape. If only she has Fuujin, she would've been able to do something. She didn't give up though. She ran towards the one in front and tried to kick it, but it had been able to dodge and punched her hard on her stomach. The force of it drove her back to the tree. She hit her back on the tree as she crashed and fell on the ground while holding her stomach.
"The Suzaku no Miko was hit on her stomach by one of the monsters", Yanagi read. She then felt pain on her stomach like something had just hit it. It made her head bow down a little as she held her stomach. They all heard her make a choking sound and then whined a little doing everything to keep herself from screaming in the library. Her eyes became a little teary because of the pain. "Hime!" Recca had noticed Yanagi. "Yanagi-neechan, are you ok?" Kaoru asked, his green eyes full of concern. Kaoru and Domon stood up and walked over to her. "Yanagi, what is it?" Domon asked, but instead of answering, Yanagi just whined some more. She felt more pain but not on her stomach. She felt something hit her on her face and at the same time scratched her skin that left a little wound. She felt it sting which made the tears flow down her cheeks. "Princess, what happened to your cheeks?" Recca asked as he saw the scratch and touched it. Yanagi whined again. "Recca-niichan, don't do that you're hurting her", Kaoru said. Tokiya stood up and took the book. "As she fell on the ground, all three monsters started to walk to her still on all sides. There was no way out. The monster in front gave her a punch on her face. The monster's skin was so rough, it had also scratched her skin and left a little wound", Tokiya read. "Hey, Mikagami, aren't you even worried about Yanagi?" Domon said. "Of course I'm worried. That's why I'm checking out if what's happening in the book has something to do with what's happening to Yanagi", Tokiya replied. "That's right, Fuuko had just been hurt. Maybe that's why Yanagi-neechan is also feeling pain", Kaoru said. "Exactly, there must be some kind of connection between Yanagi and Fuuko. That's why Yanagi goes through what Fuuko does", Tokiya said. "We're lucky no one else was able to notice us. It might not be a good idea to read this here where there are a lot of people. We should do this somewhere else more private", he added. "Let's read it at home then"; said the dark-haired flame caster, as he stood up. "Ok", Yanagi also stood up. She was feeling better. They hid the book and went out of the library.
The one on the side tried to hit her again, but they heard one of the monsters scream because of pain. They all looked to its direction and saw Genrou kick it out of the way. The other one was too shocked to dodge Genrou's hit. The other one looked at Genrou, preparing to defend itself from him. Fuuko then stood up and hit it. She sees it didn't stop them so, she jumps up in the air, took out her darts and threw it at the two monsters, which were still trying to stand up. The other had already stood up, fighting Genrou. It was always the best angle to throw them. She landed behind them and at the same time they got hit by the darts, which still didn't stop them.
"Hotohori-sama, did you hear that?" Nuriko asked the emperor. "Yes, It came from over there. I have a feeling that it's Fuuko", Hotohori answered. They all head over there as fast as they could. "Man, what are those things?" Tamahome asked, as he saw the monsters. One was fighting with Fuuko, while the other one was taking out the darts from its body one by one, which looked really gross. "Whatever they are, I don't think they're here to be friends with us", Nuriko said pointing at Fuuko. She ran towards the one who was taking out the darts and hit him on his back so hard that she made it fall down unconscious. Hotohori closed his eyes and sent his ki somehow with the sword. There was red light that caught the attention of the other two monsters. They ran towards him, but the sword sent out some kind of power that stopped them and made them fall too. The three monsters suddenly disappeared. "Fukui, what the hell have you gotten yourself into?" Tamahome asked. "They're the ones-" Fuuko stopped as they heard the voice again. "Very good. So you've defeated those three. You're very interesting Suzaku no Miko. You've passed the test. I'll be waiting for you", the voice said. "Genrou, where's Genrou?" Fuuko asked. The flame-haired man was nowhere to be found. "Who's Genrou?" Nuriko asked. "Uh... never mind. Let's go now", Fuuko said.
