Chapter 2
"Ow! My head hurts," Leena said as she woke up. She held her head, and she still felt dizzy from her knocking by Hotohori. When she looked up, she looked around and saw how authentic the room she's in looks like. She saw old-fashioned furniture, doors, and her pillow is so ancient too. Just as she was figuring out what really is going on, she saw the door slowly opening. Leena suddenly hid under her blanket, but she was sneaking a look at the person coming in. It was Nuriko. He was carrying a tray with a steaming teapot and a cup. Leena whispered to herself, "Oh my gosh… is her violet hair for real? Or did she just dye it?" Nuriko looked at her, smiled, but headed for the table in front of her and put down the tray. He turned to Leena, grinned then said, "Hey, don't worry. You don't have to hide anymore; I'm your friend! Besides, I'm not the one who tried to kill you! I'm Nuriko." He extended his hand. Leena slowly grabbed it then shook it. She smiled and then introduced herself, "My- my name i-i-is L-leena. I- I-I'm glad t-t-to meet you, M-ms. Nu-nuriko!" With this, Nuriko's smile grew bigger, then his grip tightened and shook Leena's hand a little bit out of control. "Ahh… ouch?!?", Leena exclaimed, although she was laughing hardly. "Oh, I'm sorry! It's just that… I'm actually happy you addressed me as Ms. Nuriko! Respect is hard to gain at this point, for me." She looked really puzzled, so Nuriko continued, "You see, I'm really a guy you know. But don't call me Mr. Nuriko or something. You can just call me, well, Nuriko." "You're kidding, right?" Leena asked but Nuriko shook his head. Her jaws must've fallen to the floor in amazement, "Wow! Then you must be not the most handsome, but the most beautiful man I've ever seen! I really mean it; I think you're more attractive than I am!" Nuriko blushed really hard, but he tried to hide it. He said, "Hey! Stop the flattering business, but I want to thank you for that." Leena smiled and said in reply, "No problem. Anytime!" The two were like bestfriends in no time.
After they finished laughing and everything, they paused for a long while. Then, Leena began talking again, "Hey, I wanted to ask you this a while ago, but we got really caught up with your sexuality issue! So, who's that man who tried to kill me a while ago, and what's his deal? Why is he so, so… mad?" Nuriko's face became a bit serious, then he said, "That man, is not an ordinary man. He's the emperor of this country, Konan. Telling his business with you will take hours!" "I don't mind listening to you for hours! I know it would be… What?!? He's the emperor!?!" she shrieked, then suddenly, a super-deformed Leena was weeping by the corner, "How the heck did I get involved in this?" "Hey, it's okay! I'm sure Master Hotohori would not try to get your head anymore. He's very kind, and attractive, and nice, and sweet, and kind, and understanding and open-minded, and…." Leena interrupted and said, "Nuriko?" "Wha?" "You're babbling." Nuriko flushed, then he continued, "Sorry about that. Anyway, he was just concerned about Miaka, the girl you saw inside the room when you got there. Things are bad between Kutou and Konan nowadays, so we should really stay alert, and protect Miaka from them."
Leena became more puzzled than ever. She asked, "Oh, okay. So that girl is Ms. Miaka. Why, is she the empress or something? What's Kutou?" Nuriko let out a big sigh then said, "You're close, but not quite; although Master Hotohori is very much interested with Miaka. You, my dear, are hopeless!", he laughed, "Anyway, it's like this:
"China is composed of four countries, located at the North, South, East, and West. Konan is the southern country. Kutou is the Western country. Ever since, there was war between Konan and Kutou.
To our belief, it was said that every country is protected by their respective guardian gods: Suzaku, the red phoenix; Seiryuu, the blue dragon; Genbu, the black turtle; and Byakko, the white tiger. Suzaku is the god of this country, and Seiryuu is the god of the West. Each god will come to life when they have been summoned by a miko, with the help of her seven seishis. They would grant not only the wishes of their miko, but also bring safety to the country. Byakko and Genbu had been summoned already while the two others are waiting. The case is that Konan and Kutou are racing on it. It was hard to summon these gods because the maiden that they choose only belongs from the other world. We have to wait for a while before they come. Fortunately, Miaka came. She was chosen to be the Suzaku no Miko. On the other hand, her best friend, Yui, was chosen to be the Seiryuu no Miko. This makes everything harder to do because both think that they might hurt each other, until one day when the wound was deepened by Nakago, the general of Kutou and most powerful of the Seiryuu star warriors.
As I have said earlier, the gods can only be summoned with the presence of the miko and her seven seishis. Miaka and Yui are in search of their star warriors. Currently, Miaka has found four: Tamahome, Emperor Hotohori, Chichiri, and myself. We do not know what the progress of the other side is or what they're planning, but I'm sure it's not good.
Nuriko paused for a while as he breathed in deeply before proceeding with her story. Leena, who was already lying down on her belly, feet raised, shoulders on the bed, and her chin lying on her hands; seems to be getting more and more interested. She was so excited to know what happened next, so she asked, "So, what about Mr. Emperor's deal anyway? You haven't mentioned that yet." "I am getting there right about now. It's like this. Tamahome loves Miaka. Miaka loves Tamahome. But Yui loves Tamahome too. So Yui threatened Miaka that if Tamahome doesn't go to Kutou, then she'll keep sending people to kill Miaka. Miaka didn't want this to happen, but Tamahome secretly went there and said that he would come back as soon as we find the three more seishis. Now here's what you've been wanting to know: While Tamahome is away, the emperor is taking advantage of the chance to prove that he is a better man than Tamahome. He does so many things like protecting her, talking to her every minute, and so forth.",
Nuriko sighed after saying these things. He looked at Leena. She was staring at mere space, and Nuriko realized that she was into deep-thinking. He asked her, "Leena, what's on your mind? Where you boggled by my explanation?" As she blinked, tears fell from her eyes. She looked straight at Nuriko and said, "I was just, kind of wondering… where do you think Cera is? I mean, she could be anywhere." Nuriko suddenly had this confused expression on his face, "I'm sorry to tell you this, Leena, but I do not know what you are talking about." "I'm sorry, Nuriko. I haven't told you my story yet: Cera Sparrel and I are the best of friends, and we were together for a History paper about ancient China. So we went to the library and found this really old book, and then suddenly there was this light surrounding Cera!" Nuriko gasped, "Light?" "Yeah, and then a red light surrounded me, and then the next thing I know is that I was in Ms. Miaka's room! How the heck am I suppose to explain such phenomenon!?!" Nuriko tried to calm Leena down. She was getting all panicky. "Do you know where she could possibly be?" "I don't know. She can be anywhere in the country.." Leena froze and became pale. She got hysterical, "Oh no! What if she's in trouble? What if the other star warriors try to harm her or something? It's all my fault!" Nuriko pulled Leena into his arms and tried to comfort her, "Relax, Leena. I'm sure she's just fine. I assume that somehow, anyone who would find her has a heart and would not anything bad to happen to her. Trust her. We'll get your friend someday." She smiled and hugged Nuriko tightly, "Thank you very much."
While they were having this "lovely" pose, the door burst open and two shadows emerged.
Miaka stepped forward, smiled, and asked, "Are you two a couple already? How fast!" Nuriko and Leena both shook their heads, hands, and they kept saying No's! Just then, the second shadow approached. It was Hotohori. That instance when the light had revealed his face, Leena got shocked and bowed down before Hotohori. She stammered, "Oh great Mr. Emperor of Konan, I seek for your forgiveness for the actions I had executed some hours ago! I am truly sorry for giving you the shock or something." She was saying things like she's crazy, so Miaka and Nuriko just burst out laughing! But Hotohori had this cute face of shock, confusion, and intrigue. After about fifteen minutes of Leena's sorry ritual, she stopped but was still bowing down on the floor. Hotohori kneeled in front of her. He lifted up her chin, smiled at her and said, "Apology accepted. But I believe that I was supposed to be the one asking for your forgiveness. Would you forgive me, miss? "Leena. Leena Aames," she replied. "So, would you forgive me, Leena?" "Of- of course! I'm sorry too, Mr. Emperor." Hotohori laughed when Leena called him Mr. Emperor. Of course, he doesn't know that it was Leena's nickname for him since she had known of it. He stared at Leena's blue-green eyes. Leena started to blush as she realized the distance between her face and his and Hotohori's gaze on her. Hotohori, on the other hand, also realized that the distances between their faces were so close, that he was actually gawking at Leena, and that she was blushing. Both of them looked away in an instant, and Hotohori took back his hand. He said, "Gomen." Leena, though somewhat embarrassed, said, "It's okay. I'm sorry too."
Hotohori and Leena stood up at once. Leena had her head down, and Hotohori was looking everywhere but not at Leena. Finally, he had the courage to say something, "Um, Leena? If you need anything, you can ask my servants or me. I shall leave you now." Miaka smiled and waved goodbye to Nuriko and Leena. But Leena whispered something that anyone hardly heard. Hotohori heard her. He looked back and asked Leena, "What is it? You want anything?" Leena looked up and again, tears were streaking her face. She asked, "Um, Mr. Emperor? Would you help me find my best friend, Cera?" As the emperor saw the girl's watery eyes and dirty cheeks, he felt as if he wanted to cry as well. The problem is, Hotohori doesn't know what Leena is talking about. Hotohori stepped closer to Leena and put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Leena, but…" Nuriko did not let the emperor finish his statement, for he already knew what he was going to ask. He told the emperor the same story as what Leena told him. "Her friend may be anywhere in this country. But wouldn't you suppose that her friend is in Kutou? They may not be Suzaku no Miko nor Seiryuu no Miko, but their fate can be similar to as what happened to Miaka and Yui." Miaka ran to Hotohori and kept on pulling his sleeve. She said, "Hotohori! We have to find her friend right away! We don't know what Nakago would do to her!" Then, Miaka went to Leena and held both of Leena's hands. Miaka's eyes began to water as she stared at Leena, "Leena, we'll do our best to look for Cera. I don't want the same thing that happened to me and Yui, to happen to the both of you," Miaka then hugged Leena. In return, she whispered a "Thank You" to Miaka.
Nuriko got all emotional too and started to cry. He cuddled himself in Hotohori's arms… (talk about perversion). Leena and Miaka laughed at Nuriko, and Hotohori started to run around the room to get Nuriko away from him. "Thank you very much," Leena said with a smile. Nuriko, Hotohori and Miaka smiled and told Leena that they would be leaving now so she could get some rest. As they left the room, Leena went to sleep again, and she dreamt about Cera.
"Ow! My head hurts," Leena said as she woke up. She held her head, and she still felt dizzy from her knocking by Hotohori. When she looked up, she looked around and saw how authentic the room she's in looks like. She saw old-fashioned furniture, doors, and her pillow is so ancient too. Just as she was figuring out what really is going on, she saw the door slowly opening. Leena suddenly hid under her blanket, but she was sneaking a look at the person coming in. It was Nuriko. He was carrying a tray with a steaming teapot and a cup. Leena whispered to herself, "Oh my gosh… is her violet hair for real? Or did she just dye it?" Nuriko looked at her, smiled, but headed for the table in front of her and put down the tray. He turned to Leena, grinned then said, "Hey, don't worry. You don't have to hide anymore; I'm your friend! Besides, I'm not the one who tried to kill you! I'm Nuriko." He extended his hand. Leena slowly grabbed it then shook it. She smiled and then introduced herself, "My- my name i-i-is L-leena. I- I-I'm glad t-t-to meet you, M-ms. Nu-nuriko!" With this, Nuriko's smile grew bigger, then his grip tightened and shook Leena's hand a little bit out of control. "Ahh… ouch?!?", Leena exclaimed, although she was laughing hardly. "Oh, I'm sorry! It's just that… I'm actually happy you addressed me as Ms. Nuriko! Respect is hard to gain at this point, for me." She looked really puzzled, so Nuriko continued, "You see, I'm really a guy you know. But don't call me Mr. Nuriko or something. You can just call me, well, Nuriko." "You're kidding, right?" Leena asked but Nuriko shook his head. Her jaws must've fallen to the floor in amazement, "Wow! Then you must be not the most handsome, but the most beautiful man I've ever seen! I really mean it; I think you're more attractive than I am!" Nuriko blushed really hard, but he tried to hide it. He said, "Hey! Stop the flattering business, but I want to thank you for that." Leena smiled and said in reply, "No problem. Anytime!" The two were like bestfriends in no time.
After they finished laughing and everything, they paused for a long while. Then, Leena began talking again, "Hey, I wanted to ask you this a while ago, but we got really caught up with your sexuality issue! So, who's that man who tried to kill me a while ago, and what's his deal? Why is he so, so… mad?" Nuriko's face became a bit serious, then he said, "That man, is not an ordinary man. He's the emperor of this country, Konan. Telling his business with you will take hours!" "I don't mind listening to you for hours! I know it would be… What?!? He's the emperor!?!" she shrieked, then suddenly, a super-deformed Leena was weeping by the corner, "How the heck did I get involved in this?" "Hey, it's okay! I'm sure Master Hotohori would not try to get your head anymore. He's very kind, and attractive, and nice, and sweet, and kind, and understanding and open-minded, and…." Leena interrupted and said, "Nuriko?" "Wha?" "You're babbling." Nuriko flushed, then he continued, "Sorry about that. Anyway, he was just concerned about Miaka, the girl you saw inside the room when you got there. Things are bad between Kutou and Konan nowadays, so we should really stay alert, and protect Miaka from them."
Leena became more puzzled than ever. She asked, "Oh, okay. So that girl is Ms. Miaka. Why, is she the empress or something? What's Kutou?" Nuriko let out a big sigh then said, "You're close, but not quite; although Master Hotohori is very much interested with Miaka. You, my dear, are hopeless!", he laughed, "Anyway, it's like this:
"China is composed of four countries, located at the North, South, East, and West. Konan is the southern country. Kutou is the Western country. Ever since, there was war between Konan and Kutou.
To our belief, it was said that every country is protected by their respective guardian gods: Suzaku, the red phoenix; Seiryuu, the blue dragon; Genbu, the black turtle; and Byakko, the white tiger. Suzaku is the god of this country, and Seiryuu is the god of the West. Each god will come to life when they have been summoned by a miko, with the help of her seven seishis. They would grant not only the wishes of their miko, but also bring safety to the country. Byakko and Genbu had been summoned already while the two others are waiting. The case is that Konan and Kutou are racing on it. It was hard to summon these gods because the maiden that they choose only belongs from the other world. We have to wait for a while before they come. Fortunately, Miaka came. She was chosen to be the Suzaku no Miko. On the other hand, her best friend, Yui, was chosen to be the Seiryuu no Miko. This makes everything harder to do because both think that they might hurt each other, until one day when the wound was deepened by Nakago, the general of Kutou and most powerful of the Seiryuu star warriors.
As I have said earlier, the gods can only be summoned with the presence of the miko and her seven seishis. Miaka and Yui are in search of their star warriors. Currently, Miaka has found four: Tamahome, Emperor Hotohori, Chichiri, and myself. We do not know what the progress of the other side is or what they're planning, but I'm sure it's not good.
Nuriko paused for a while as he breathed in deeply before proceeding with her story. Leena, who was already lying down on her belly, feet raised, shoulders on the bed, and her chin lying on her hands; seems to be getting more and more interested. She was so excited to know what happened next, so she asked, "So, what about Mr. Emperor's deal anyway? You haven't mentioned that yet." "I am getting there right about now. It's like this. Tamahome loves Miaka. Miaka loves Tamahome. But Yui loves Tamahome too. So Yui threatened Miaka that if Tamahome doesn't go to Kutou, then she'll keep sending people to kill Miaka. Miaka didn't want this to happen, but Tamahome secretly went there and said that he would come back as soon as we find the three more seishis. Now here's what you've been wanting to know: While Tamahome is away, the emperor is taking advantage of the chance to prove that he is a better man than Tamahome. He does so many things like protecting her, talking to her every minute, and so forth.",
Nuriko sighed after saying these things. He looked at Leena. She was staring at mere space, and Nuriko realized that she was into deep-thinking. He asked her, "Leena, what's on your mind? Where you boggled by my explanation?" As she blinked, tears fell from her eyes. She looked straight at Nuriko and said, "I was just, kind of wondering… where do you think Cera is? I mean, she could be anywhere." Nuriko suddenly had this confused expression on his face, "I'm sorry to tell you this, Leena, but I do not know what you are talking about." "I'm sorry, Nuriko. I haven't told you my story yet: Cera Sparrel and I are the best of friends, and we were together for a History paper about ancient China. So we went to the library and found this really old book, and then suddenly there was this light surrounding Cera!" Nuriko gasped, "Light?" "Yeah, and then a red light surrounded me, and then the next thing I know is that I was in Ms. Miaka's room! How the heck am I suppose to explain such phenomenon!?!" Nuriko tried to calm Leena down. She was getting all panicky. "Do you know where she could possibly be?" "I don't know. She can be anywhere in the country.." Leena froze and became pale. She got hysterical, "Oh no! What if she's in trouble? What if the other star warriors try to harm her or something? It's all my fault!" Nuriko pulled Leena into his arms and tried to comfort her, "Relax, Leena. I'm sure she's just fine. I assume that somehow, anyone who would find her has a heart and would not anything bad to happen to her. Trust her. We'll get your friend someday." She smiled and hugged Nuriko tightly, "Thank you very much."
While they were having this "lovely" pose, the door burst open and two shadows emerged.
Miaka stepped forward, smiled, and asked, "Are you two a couple already? How fast!" Nuriko and Leena both shook their heads, hands, and they kept saying No's! Just then, the second shadow approached. It was Hotohori. That instance when the light had revealed his face, Leena got shocked and bowed down before Hotohori. She stammered, "Oh great Mr. Emperor of Konan, I seek for your forgiveness for the actions I had executed some hours ago! I am truly sorry for giving you the shock or something." She was saying things like she's crazy, so Miaka and Nuriko just burst out laughing! But Hotohori had this cute face of shock, confusion, and intrigue. After about fifteen minutes of Leena's sorry ritual, she stopped but was still bowing down on the floor. Hotohori kneeled in front of her. He lifted up her chin, smiled at her and said, "Apology accepted. But I believe that I was supposed to be the one asking for your forgiveness. Would you forgive me, miss? "Leena. Leena Aames," she replied. "So, would you forgive me, Leena?" "Of- of course! I'm sorry too, Mr. Emperor." Hotohori laughed when Leena called him Mr. Emperor. Of course, he doesn't know that it was Leena's nickname for him since she had known of it. He stared at Leena's blue-green eyes. Leena started to blush as she realized the distance between her face and his and Hotohori's gaze on her. Hotohori, on the other hand, also realized that the distances between their faces were so close, that he was actually gawking at Leena, and that she was blushing. Both of them looked away in an instant, and Hotohori took back his hand. He said, "Gomen." Leena, though somewhat embarrassed, said, "It's okay. I'm sorry too."
Hotohori and Leena stood up at once. Leena had her head down, and Hotohori was looking everywhere but not at Leena. Finally, he had the courage to say something, "Um, Leena? If you need anything, you can ask my servants or me. I shall leave you now." Miaka smiled and waved goodbye to Nuriko and Leena. But Leena whispered something that anyone hardly heard. Hotohori heard her. He looked back and asked Leena, "What is it? You want anything?" Leena looked up and again, tears were streaking her face. She asked, "Um, Mr. Emperor? Would you help me find my best friend, Cera?" As the emperor saw the girl's watery eyes and dirty cheeks, he felt as if he wanted to cry as well. The problem is, Hotohori doesn't know what Leena is talking about. Hotohori stepped closer to Leena and put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Leena, but…" Nuriko did not let the emperor finish his statement, for he already knew what he was going to ask. He told the emperor the same story as what Leena told him. "Her friend may be anywhere in this country. But wouldn't you suppose that her friend is in Kutou? They may not be Suzaku no Miko nor Seiryuu no Miko, but their fate can be similar to as what happened to Miaka and Yui." Miaka ran to Hotohori and kept on pulling his sleeve. She said, "Hotohori! We have to find her friend right away! We don't know what Nakago would do to her!" Then, Miaka went to Leena and held both of Leena's hands. Miaka's eyes began to water as she stared at Leena, "Leena, we'll do our best to look for Cera. I don't want the same thing that happened to me and Yui, to happen to the both of you," Miaka then hugged Leena. In return, she whispered a "Thank You" to Miaka.
Nuriko got all emotional too and started to cry. He cuddled himself in Hotohori's arms… (talk about perversion). Leena and Miaka laughed at Nuriko, and Hotohori started to run around the room to get Nuriko away from him. "Thank you very much," Leena said with a smile. Nuriko, Hotohori and Miaka smiled and told Leena that they would be leaving now so she could get some rest. As they left the room, Leena went to sleep again, and she dreamt about Cera.