Seiryuu Den
Chapter Six: Seduction Objection
The Emperor of Kutou received an alarming message from the village where all the bodies had washed up in less than two days. The search for the Emperor's younger sister led to nothing. There was still no word about Princess Hoseki, and now the news from the fishing village held higher priority for the people of Kutou. Emperor Feng had to attend to the situation, so he summoned the Seiryuu seishi for an audience.
"There is word of an unknown attack in Kutou. A fishing village has pulled over fifty bodies out of the water. It looks like another village was killed and the bodies were dumped into the water," said Emperor Feng.
"Were there children?" asked Mori.
"Yes. Babies, mothers, fathers, and elders," said Emperor Feng in a grave voice.
The Seiryuu seishi looked paler and sicker from the news. Omai, Kai, and Kaga were sitting behind Iwa and Mori.
"Should we alert Ryu-san of the situation?" asked Kai.
"We could investigate this situation ourselves," suggested Iwa. The Emperor looked like he was thinking about it for a moment and nodded.
"Very well. Go and find out what's happen and send word back as soon as possible. And we should wait for Ryu-san to arrive and tell him the news," said Emperor Feng.
The Seiryuu seishi were dismissed to go and find out what happened in the fishing village, but they left with foreboding and coldness. Iwa led them in place of Ryu to the village.
* * *
Hoshi was trying to avoid spending time with Ivan by doing all the work he could possibly do without him quickly, so that when they met, he could simply just hand everything over to him. He came over to Ivan's house because they agreed to meet. With apprehension, Hoshi knocked on the door only to find Larissa Chambers in a bath robe drying her hair to greet him at the door.
"Hello. Is Ivan here?" asked Hoshi immediately. He kept his eyes on her face and not on any other part of her body.
"Um…no. Were you supposed to meet here today?" asked Larissa with a look of wonderment on her face. Actually, she really was a good actress. The plan was to have Hoshi come over without anyone else in the house. She was prepared to do anything with Hoshi. Also, he was a handsome man and worth of her attentions. And she also know that he was more worthy of her attentions than his father was.
"Yes," said Hoshi in an annoyed voice. "I have to go. There's nothing for me here. I'll see you around."
"No, why don't you join me for some tea? It would be awful for you come all this way for nothing," said Larissa.
He thought about it. She gave him a smile on her luscious lips. It was borderline seductive. And the white terry cloth robe slipped down one of her shoulders slightly, revealing her perfect ivory skin. "I don't think so," he insisted as he turned and walked away from her. Larissa had a stunned look on her face, but quickly recovered.
"What are you doing that makes you rush so much? Are all Japanese men like this?" asked Larissa.
"No," answered Hoshi. "I have lots of other things to attend to. Please tell Ivan not to waste my time anymore by calling me here without showing up." He said it in an assertive, but polite voice. Larissa was taken aback again at his boldness.
"And your robe is slipping," he added as he went back to his car. She felt suddenly shy and quickly pulled it back up and went into the house.
After slamming the door shut behind her, she swore under her breath. As she pulled her bath robe tighter around her. Larissa assumed it would be easy to seduce Hoshi into bed with her. She couldn't displease Ivan by not following his orders. However, Larissa still had her pride. She didn't want to overtly throw herself at Hoshi.
* * *
Tetsuya was glad to be home from the hospital just like the rest of his family, but Yui wanted to do some investigating about the attack. She wasn't happy with the report. The marks on her husband's body looked larger than fists.
"I'm going to go out today and to do some work, Soki. And I'm taking your brother with me. I need you to stay here and attend to your father," said Yui.
"Okay, Mom," said Soki with a quick nod.
Sei wondered why his mother was taking him. She was the editor of a magazine, not one of the reporters. He knew that she used to be an investigative reporter, but that was before she decided to marry his father and have a family. However, it also gave him a chance to do some investigative reporting with her and probably take some great pictures. Soki didn't look very happy about being left behind, but he also knew that his mother needed him to be with his dad.
Yui went into the master bedroom where Tetsuya was reading some books in his pajamas. "Don't strain yourself," she said softly as she kissed him on the lips.
"I would tell you the same thing, but where are you going?" asked Tetsuya.
"I have to go. The magazine needs me, and Sei is coming with me," answered Yui. She disliked the thought of lying to her husband, but she really had no choice, and she didn't want to cause him further worry.
"All right. Be careful," said Tetsuya as if he knew that she was going out to do something dangerous, but he really didn't know anything. He relaxed back into his reading before Yui left. Sei was doing the driving as he wondered what was happening. "What are we doing, Mom?" he asked.
"We're going to find out what's happening in your school. Are there any strange things happening in school, Sei?" asked Yui.
"No, nothing really. It's just another boring school year. You know new students and stuff like that," answered Sei.
"New students? Have you met any of them?" asked Yui.
"Oh, yeah. My new friend, Bryan, but he's pretty cool. He's American, and his Japanese is pretty good. He speaks Japanese as well as Ryu speaks English," said Sei.
Yui didn't think about it that much, and she trusted her son's judgment, so she didn't question him further on Bryan. Perhaps, she should have.
* * *
"And you mean he just left? Why didn't you stop him?" asked Ivan in an irritated voice. Larissa looked up at him with sad eyes. She knew that she disobeyed his orders, but he didn't know that Hoshi would be so diffcult.
"I tried, but he was too annoyed at you to even look at me," said Larissa softly. She didn't think it was her fault that the plan didn't work, but she said nothing.
"Everything is going as planned, we cannot afforded to have him get suspicious so soon," said Ivan with a smile coming to his lips, he added, "I want him to see what will happened when it's too late to do anything about it."
Larissa looked up at his cold blue eyes and shuddered at his words. Sometimes Ivan could be so cold. "I think I shouldn't work too fast on him. I think I should be his friend first," said Larissa. Hoshi was a gentleman, and he knew better than to screw around with someone else's girlfriend.
"That might work. It might get easier to lure him into bed with you," agreed Ivan. He liked the idea because then Hoshi would be further humiliated by her. Not only would she steal his chi, but he would also look like a fool for trusting her.
Larissa sighed in relief as he walked off to go to their bedroom. She immediately forgot what they were talking about and followed him.
* * *
Kutou
"I wonder what happened to all the people who were here," said Hoseki with a soft whisper. She and Miwa were sitting outside in the garden of the large house that they were staying in and having tea. It would have looked like two court ladies having tea, if it wasn't for the fact that they were prisoners.
"I don't know. They were all gone when I was brought here. I have a bad feeling about Ishida," said Miwa, the last word she said with such distaste as if she were spitting it out.
"You don't supposed he killed them all," said Hoseki in a fearful voice.
"I don't know. Probably. I wouldn't put it passed him. I can feel his energy. It almost feels like Kaga, but only colder. And he's evil and vile," said Miwa harshly.
Hoseki never thought that Miwa could hold any hatred for anyone. She was always annoyed by her rival from school, the Suzaku no Miko, formally Sukunami Mariko. She was the younger sister of Ryu, and the Empress of Konan. Her husband, Emperor Boushin, was one her seishi. Despite the rivalry between Miwa and Mariko, they never really hated each other. Miwa was out to catch Mariko doing bad things, and Mariko was out to make Miwa look foolish.
"I'm scared," said Hoseki guilty. Why did I just say that? What kind of Seiryuu seishi am I? How can I be scared? I'm supposed to be the one who protects the Miko, and so far she's been protecting me, she thought.
"It's all right. We'll be fine. They'll come and get us soon. Besides, I don't want him to know that we're afraid. That's just what he wants," said Miwa as she reached out and covered Hoseki's hand to reassure her. "I think he's feeding off of it."
* * *
Iwa never thought he would ever see such devastation in his lifetime. He remembered hearing stories from his father about the last dynasty and the last Seiryuu seishi. His father had seen what Nakago had done to that Emperor. The way he destroyed his body to the point that there was nothing left, not even dust.
What was waiting for the Seiryuu seishi was nothing they could have prepared themselves for. There were graves with women weeping for the unknown strangers that washed up upon their shores. Kai walked up to one of the village elders and introduces themselves. The village elder regarded them with reverence, but sadness as well, "We hoped to be meeting you under better circumstances, but we have much sadness. Our village is contaminated. Seiryuu must be angry with us."
"Do not think that. We are here as his representatives," said Iwa with a bow to the elder.
"Is there any evidence that shows where these people are from?" asked Kaga. The elder nodded, and two young men brought a wooden box with some clothes in it.
"We presumed that these clothes belonged to an elder. We found it in the water, but we didn't know who wore them before. We would have put it on the body. A lot of the bodies were naked when they washed up, and the clothes are still being pulled up from the water," answered the elder.
Kaga opened the box and pulled out the clothes. They were dry, but were stained with blood. Blood from the body of the owner as his body was bashed against rocks along the river. He pulled them out and showed them to the others. Their eyes widened with recognition, which made Kaga wonder.
"Those clothes…" whispered Iwa as he took them from Kaga. "They're from that village that a Seiryuu cult was and where the scrolls were found. The clothes. I'll never forget. They were the clothes of those people who condemned us to death for the crimes of the other Seiryuu," explained Iwa to Kaga.
"Oh, I wasn't with you yet," said Kaga.
"These people came from that village. What in Heaven's name happened?" asked Kai. They all looked pale and sick again.
"We should get everyone together. We have to find Hoseki. We must summon Seiryuu," said Omoi.
"First, we have to do further investigation," said Mori firmly and reasonably.
"Some of us should go to the village to see what happened there," said Iwa. He was in charge while Ryu was gone. Surely, he could handle this problem without calling him in.
"I will go," volunteered Mori.
"We still have to do some things here, so we'll split into teams," said Iwa. "Kaga and I will stay here, while the three of you go and investigate the village."
"What about Hoseki?" asked Kai.
"All right, I can go to the village on my own with Okami," said Mori. "Kai and Omoi should go and look for Hoseki-hime."
"Very well. If we don't find Hoseki-hime soon, we have no choice, but to summon Ryu-san here. Be careful all of you," said Iwa. They all nodded and went their separated ways. Little did any of them know that this would be the last time they would ever see Mori.
* * *
Hoshi was in the dojo again teaching a class. Larissa came into dojo and saw him teaching the class. He looked like his father, but he was different from him. His martial arts was more elegant than his father's and his temper was cooler. He was more sophisticated than his father and mother. If one could get passed the fact that he looked like Tamahome, they would find it hard to believe that he was Miaka and Tamahome's son.
She watched him until he was done. And kept quiet when he came out of the dojo with his hair slightly damp from the dojo's showers. She waited outside to watch him and then talk to him, but she noticed him stop short, and he said in English, "If you wanted to talk to me Miss Chambers, you should do so directly without any pretext."
She stopped short. Larissa wasn't used to being dumbfounded twice in one day by the same person, unless one counted Ivan. "Um..yes. Would you like to have dinner with me?" asked Larissa.
Hoshi looked at her and after a moment, he nodded, "Sure." They walked to a nearby restaurant. He opened the door for her and slide her chair for her when they sat down. She thought that his mother taught him excellent manners.
"It's not common these days for me to have a man pull out my chair for me," said Larissa with a smile.
"Doesn't your boyfriend do it for you?" asked Hoshi with a tone of surprise. There was no hint of resentment or jealously in his voice.
"You know how it is. When you date someone long enough you get so comfortable that you stop doing the things you used to attract their attention in the first place. I don't mind," said Larissa.
"I've never dated anyone long enough. So, I really don't know what you're talking about," said Hoshi.
"Your mother taught you excellent manners," complimented Larissa.
"My aunt taught me my manners," corrected Hoshi. There was something in his tone that told her that he really didn't want to talk about it further.
"My mum and dad back home in England run a small theater group that goes all over Europe. My brothers are playing rugby on one of the teams in England, and my sisters help with my parents," said Larissa.
"So, you come from a family of actors?" asked Hoshi.
"Yes, I'm the only one who's in Asia. I came here as a model, but I decided to act," said Larissa. "What about you?"
"I'm going to graduate with a Masters in English. And I'm going to teach English after doing some traveling. Probably to America. I plan to get my PhD overseas," said Hoshi.
"That's interesting, but I was asking about your family," said Larissa. He looked a little surprised and uncomfortable.
"I still live with my uncle, Yuuki Keisuki. He's a novelist. And I have a younger sister, Mariko, but she's leaving out of the country with her husband. So, I have a brother-in-law. I also have two godparents and their two sons are like my younger brothers," said Hoshi. He had to be very careful about telling her about Mariko and Odaydaka. What was he supposed to say? "My father came from a book that my mother met him in. And now my sister lives there and is married to the Emperor." That sounded insane in Hoshi's mind. Larissa noticed that he still made no mention of his parents, but he didn't have to. She knew from the way he talked about everyone else that they were long dead. Sympathy washed over her along with homesickness. She hadn't written home or called her family back home.
The family that her last incarnation was born into was an awful family that sold her to a brothel when she a child. Nakago rescued her and told her destiny as a Seiryuu seishi. However, this time around Seiryuu had given her a wonderful loving family. They raised her to go for her dreams, and they supported her. Larissa didn't tell them about Ivan or about her past. Who would believe her other than someone who's seen it for themselves? She was also a little ashamed. What would her father think about living with a man who had no intention of marrying her? Larissa still had a mission. It was part of her destiny.
"I would like to get to know you better, Hoshi. I'm not very comfortable with other people. I don't speak Japanese very well. It's different on the set. I can rehearse it until I get it right or the director will do however many takes it takes. I don't have many friends. I'm here until my contract is up and until Ivan is done with school here," said Larissa.
"I see. You need someone who speaks English to be your friend. I guess it's hard if you can't completely understand others," said Hoshi.
"Um…I sound completely stupid," said Larissa with a slight blush.
"No, I understand. It's hard to make friends with people even if you can understand and respond to what they're saying," said Hoshi.
"A meeting of minds matters more," said Larissa.
"I couldn't have said it better," said Hoshi as he smiled a real smile. It was the first one in days.
~*~ClareBear's Omake~*~
Miaka: Um…
Nuriko: That was an interesting chapter. I'm worried about Miwa and Hoseki.
Tamahome: I'm more worried about my son. It shouldn't take that long through Larissa and Ivan.
Chiriko: Isn't Mori going over the village?
Mitsuke: I hope that she keeps herself safe. There's no telling what could happen.
Hotohori: She can handle herself. And she should rescue both Miwa and Hoseki soon.
Miaka: That's something to be grateful for.
AN: I would like to thank neko-chan for reviewing the last part. I plan to finish this story before the quarter lets up. I've been kind of slow, but that was because last quarter was more busy than I thought it would be. ^_~
Disclaimer: Fushigi Yuugi belongs to Yui Watase. I own the new and original characters and this story. And it depends on how may think I own the new characters…well…we'll see if the lawyers come after me. ^_~