Title: Sweet Love (5)
Author: Yih
Written: April 2001
Dedication: Terri Lee Kelly, Lavender, -, Chibi-Claudia, Kuja no Miko, hikaru shidou, Iona, Usagi Tsukino, and Rymsie.
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Disclaimer: All rights are Yu Watase.
Part 5: Love Gone Awry
"Are you enjoying the food?" asked Hotohori politely while he watched Miaka wolfing down the sumptuous food he had brought to her a few minutes earlier.
Miaka grinned at him, her mouth stuffed with so much food that she couldn't respond in words how much she was delighted by the delicious food. She put the last bite of meat into her mouth and sighed with pleasure. That had been a magnificently prepared meal, although she wouldn't have expected less for something made for an Emperor! She wiped her mouth with the silk napkin and flashed him a happy smile. "That was great, Hotohori! This has to be the best meal I've had in a LONG time!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.
"I'm glad you liked it," he murmured with voice filled with infectious warmth.
Miaka settled down in a relaxing position to watch Hotohori
finish his dinner with an earnest fascination by his elegant manners. He's so beautiful, she thought. He's the most beautiful person I've ever
seen inside and out. He's so sweet,
polite, kind, gentle--there aren't enough words to describe him! Most of all, he makes my heart beat so
frantically when I'm near him. And I
can't believe how I ate like a pig in front of him, though I was really hungry
at the time. I bet he's hungry too, but
he didn't eat like--like me! He must be
beat, she thought worriedly when she felt that he was tenser than he had
been before. I mean he just saved my
life!
She's so beautiful just sitting there in the
moonlight. The glow shimmers off her
with an unnatural light; it must be because she's the Priestess of Suzaku. She's so special and--and how could I even
think that I'm worthy of her? I'm only
an Emperor because my father was the Emperor. But she was selected out of the many other worlds out there to come to
be the Priestess of our God Suzaku. And
what I feel for her is the only truth in my life.
But if I feel like this because he saved me, Miaka
thought sadly, he must feel the same way about Nuriko. She saved him so easily! She didn't even break into a sweat. If I could have saved both of us I would
have, but I'm a weakling and I'm not even half as pretty as Nuriko. She's gorgeous and I'm forever stuck in this
childish mode! I'm hopelessly short,
and Nuriko is the perfectly average height! She makes herself looked so regal when she was tending to Hotohori! I couldn't have done that even if I hadn't
been injured. I can't seem to do
anything right!
She's so beautiful to look at, he thought, staring at
her with adoring eyes, that it hurts me.
"Do you think my looks are more childish, girlish, or womanish?" asked Miaka out of the blue.
Hotohori choked a little on his food when he heard the question. Miaka mistaked it instead for a laugh and cried out, "don't laugh! I'm trying to be serious."
He nodded and apologized, "the question was just surprising. I'm sorry."
"Will you give me an honest answer?"
"I think you're beautiful, Miaka," he murmured hoarsely.
"Really?!" she exclaimed, pleased by his response.
"Yes."
"Do you have anyone you're interested in?" she asked just as suddenly.
"Yes, I do," he replied honestly.
Miaka suddenly began to feel strangely light and slightly angered. Who was the girl that had Hotohori's affections? She wanted to know! She knew whoever it was she wasn't going to like the girl very much! She wanted to be the one that Hotohori loved; she wanted to be the one that held Hotohori's affections! But she wasn't, and she knew it. She wasn't the sort of girl an Emperor fell in love with, especially an Emperor who was as gentle and as beautiful as Hotohori was.
"Ever since I was a child," Hotohori began to speak to break up the silence, "I've had my thoughts and my dreams occupied by one woman, one girl. And I've felt that I've fallen in love with her. But she wasn't real when I dreamt of her or thought of her. But then I saw her for the first time."
He must be in love with Nuriko, she thought dismally.
"She began to take up even more of my imagination. She has become my life. I wouldn't dream of living without her again. I couldn't live without her. I don't want to live without her, actually," his voice was full of happiness as he said this. He smiled a devastate any number of girls. "I knew I was supposed to be with her for my entire life…"
I hate her, Miaka thought with a sudden anger. She doesn't know much I envy her. She's so lucky to have his love and
devotion!
"But what has made me so miserable," his voice dropped to a sad pitch and his smile left his face, "is that I don't know if she loves me," he glanced at her with a meaningful look. "I just want to know how she feels about me."
How can that girl not love Hotohori back? Miaka
thought with outrage. He's so kind,
and he's so utterly sweet! How can a
girl not love him with her whole heart? I wish that he'd stop looking at me like the way he's looking at me
right now. It makes me almost believe
that its me that he's talking about. And that would be utterly foolish! It can't be me because I know that I'm not that divine girl he's in love
with. But--but…
I do love him.
She gasped aloud as her thought closed coherently on the 'I love him' part.
"What's wrong, Miaka?" he asked, his voice still sorrowful.
She glanced at him with eyes full of surprise and worry that he'd be able to see that she loved him when he loved someone else. Then she ran, she didn't want to confront him now. She didn't need to confront him now and have her tell him that it really wasn't her that he loved. She still wanted to cling to the fact that she still didn't know the name of the girl he loved. She could still have a shred of hope especially since…
She loved him.
"Miaka?" Tamahome queried as she didn't stop from her headlong flight to avoid bumping up hard against his side. "Miaka!"
He turned back to the direction that Miaka had come from and narrowed his eyes as he saw Hotohori trailing behind Miaka's empowered run. He moved into Hotohori's path and warned him, "I don't care if you are the Emperor, if you hurt her you'll pay!"
"Let me pass," Hotohori commanded urgently, his eyes following Miaka's retreating figure with painful sadness.
"No."
Author's Note: Awww…. Still no one seems to know where to find a GOOD place to find Fushigi Yuugi manga reviews. I really need them though. (sighs) I guess that will mean I'll have to do some digging, which means I may have to make this biweekly to get the necessary parts in. But I'll really try to keep this weekly! The next part should still come out next week sometime early next week, Monday or Tuesday! Thanks for reading! And thank you very much for reviewing!
P.S. If you'd like me to respond to the review (i.e. email you), just say so in the review ^_~.
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