"I'm not kidding Hoshi, it really happened!" Keisuke insisted to the
giggling girl in front of him. She only laughed harder, pressing one
hand to her mouth as if to stifle it. Keisuke sighed in exasperation and
slouched down into his seat, frowning.
Hoshi began to calm, her laughing coming in short spells, and she wiped a
tear from her eye. "I'm sorry Keisuke...." she began, breathless from laughing,
"..but that is the biggest load of CRAP that I've ever heard in my entire life.
I mean, come on, the college newspaper may deal with weird stuff like that,
but do you honestly expect me to publish such an outlandish story like that?
You, Tetsuya, Taka and whomever else is in that paranormal club of yours
would be the laughingstock of the entire campus, not to mention your sister
and her friend, along with our paper just for publishing it." She took a swig
from the glass of water sitting in front of her. "Now, if you had the book,
or some sort of proof that they were actually in this...what did you say it was a
gain?"
"Universe of the Four Gods." Keisuke reminded her sullenly.
"Right, Universe of the Four Gods, then maybe...only maybe would I consider
publishing the story." She finished, leaning back in her seat. Keisuke sighed
again.
"I told you, the book was sealed away after Yui became the priestess of
Genbu, then the scroll that the book had been translated from was destroyed.
There isn't any proof other than what we can tell you." He said. Hoshi lifted an
eyebrow at him.
"Then why publish it? It's a dead story." She said flatly. Keisuke clutched at
his head and let out a frustrated noise. The bell at the front of the cafe jangled
loudly as more customers entered, but Keisuke remained in the booth with Hoshi,
in his frustrated pose.
To top off his humiliation, the first thing he heard was the piercing laughs of
Miaka as she guffawed at something one of her companions said. Keisuke raised
his head slowly, a sick expression on his face. Hoshi tilted her head.
"What's wrong, you look like you're going to be sick." She stated, feeling his
forehead with the back of her hand. She felt her own forehead thoughtfully.
"Hmm..nope, no fever...is this just because I laughed at you?" He instantly
snapped out of his dark world and glared at her grinning face.
"Keisuke! Your break is over! Go wait on your sister before Taka gets out of the
back room!" the manager yelled from the kitchen. Keisuke's world crumbled, and
Hoshi began to giggle again.
"Your sister is here? Should I ask her if she's seen any more birds flapping in
libraries now or later?" she began to laugh again, harder than ever.
"Yeah, yeah, that's right, just keep on laughing." He grumbled as he pushed himself
out of the booth and towards Miaka's table. Good work Keisuke, he thought bitterly,
make the very girl you have to impress to make it big in college laugh by making an
idiot of yourself. That'll get you far in the social scale.
Yui's worry had been just. Rain felt like her ear was going to hop off and run for
cover any moment now. Not that it was entirely a bad thing. She'd had more fun that
afternoon than any other day she could recall. Miaka and Yui were nicer than what
she had first expected, and for this she was glad. She didn't know if her self-esteem
could take a whole year of curious silence.
Miaka had been full of questions about America(between spouts of what her favorite
food was, and how great Taka was),and Rain had tried to answer every one before she
found something else to talk enthusiastically about.
Miaka's attention was currently turned on Yui at the time Keisuke came over to their
table and set glasses of water down on it. Keisuke stared in what appeared to be
disbelief at Rain, who blinked and stared back.
Guess it runs in the family. She thought.
"Oh! Keisuke, I'd like you to meet Raini-Chan!" Miaka said, grinning widely.
"Rain." Yui corrected before Keisuke could utter Miaka's new nickname for her.
Miaka went into instant glare and attempted to bore a hole in Yui's head with her
eyes.
"I like Raini-Chan!" she growled comically. Yui calmly took a sip of water, ignoring her.
"Konnichi-wa." Rain said softly, smiling shyly at Keisuke. He smiled back and offered
her his hand, which she shook lightly. He then shook himself out of whatever dazed
state he'd put himself in.
"So, what are you guys having?" he asked, pulling out a notepad from his apron.
"TAKA!" Miaka squealed. Keisuke's face blanked out, one hand poised over the
notepad.
Miaka jumped out of her chair, knocking it over, and ran over to Taka, hugging him
tightly around the waist. He stumbled slightly, knocked off-balance by her burst of
emotion, and then hugged her back. She took his arm and guided him over to their table.
"Taka, this is Raini-Chan. Raini-Chan, this is Taka, my boyfriend." Miaka said proudly.
"Rain." Both Yui and Keisuke corrected. Miaka puffed out her cheeks in a glare at
both of them. Rain smiled nervously at Taka and greeted him with another quiet
"Konnichi-wa".
"Taka, Keisuke, if they're not ready yet, go wait on someone else!" the manager
shouted from the kitchen. Taka smiled sheepishly and patted Miaka on the head.
"Gotta go. I'll catch up with you guys later." He said, walking to another table.
Miaka stared after him, twinkling stars surrounding her, and hearts in her eyes.
Yui cleared her throat, and took another sip of water, snapping Miaka out of her
ogling session. She latched onto her brother's arm and grinned slyly at him.
"Hey Keisuke, Raini-Chan is single...." she implied, nudging him in the ribs. Keisuke
lowered his eyelids and glanced down at her, lifting an eyebrow. Rain's cheeks went
pink instantly, and she stared at the table.
"Nice try Miaka, now sit down an order or all of the stores will be closed before
we get out of here." Yui said, glancing at a menu. Miaka deflated, and took her seat
again. She perked up a moment later.
"Oh man, am I starved!" she exclaimed, looking over another menu.
"So what else is new?" Keisuke said, bored, still holding his pen over the notepad.
He didn't have to look to know that Hoshi had been watching them the entire time,
most likely taking notes on a napkin. She was a true reporter, through and through.
He'd never live this one down.
------------------------------------------------------------
Chichiri looked out the window of the inn he and Tasuki had taken refuge in from
the storm. He felt sick inside, and he couldn't explain why. There was an evil aura
surrounding the entire country, it seemed. Maybe even the entire world.
"Hey, check it out! I can balance a sake bottle on my finger!" Tasuki shouted from
his corner in the inn. The entire place was already loud, filled with drunken travelers
who had fled there for the same reason. There were a few shouts of drunken approval
from the buddies Tasuki had found to drink with, then the crash of the very bottle
dropping and breaking. Tasuki cursed loudly a minute later, then demanded a new bottle.
Chichiri sighed at his traveling companion, and removed his mask. The lightning illuminated
the jagged scar that ran across his face and sealed his mangled eye shut. He had tried to
contact Taits-Kun many times that day, but had received no answer from them. Something
was happening....he just hoped it was a storm, and nothing more.
---------------------------------------------------
"Hey Raini-Chan, where'd you find an old piece of junk like this?" Miaka wrinkled her
nose at the crumbling book and inspected it. Rain looked in from the kitchen and widened
her eyes.
"Oh, be careful with that! It's been falling apart since I found it!" she exclaimed,
taking a step forward. Taka smoothly snatched it from her fingers and placed it on
the low table in front of the couch.
"It's not polite to go through other people's book bags Miaka." Yui shouted from the
kitchen. Rain had taken up her offer on teaching her how to make a bento. Yui had
honestly felt pity for the poor girl after prying the days discomfort out of her.
Taka stared at the crumbling book thoughtfully. He'd felt a strange pricking feeling
in his fingers when he touched it, and it was bothering him. He couldn't understand
why, it was just some blank, dying book.
Rain had shyly invited Miaka, Yui, Taka and Keisuke over, Tetsuya inviting himself
along because he didn't trust Keisuke alone with his Yui for any amount of time
(although they remained the best of friends otherwise).
After the cooking lesson, everyone sat around and chatted with each other, everyone
curious as Miaka had been about America. Rain tried to tell as much as she could
about the good things, leaving off the fact that most of what she saw in America
was the negative aspects of it. She'd lived on the streets a majority of her life,
but there was no way she'd let her new friends know that.
She couldn't. She was afraid they'd treat her differently if they knew.
That night, Rain was plagued with nightmares. She kept seeing a burning world,
crumbling to ashes. Children mourned over the dead bodies of their parents whom
had tried to protect them. She, in her dream, laid next to the dying body of a small
girl, trying to comfort her.
A hand began to stroke her face from behind, in the same manner of comfort that
she was trying to use on the child. Rain turned her head and saw a pair of empty
eyes bearing into hers...as if they were trying to steal her soul for their owner.
She whimpered in fright, unable to move, knowing that he was the murderer of the
child.
Knowing that she too, would die soon as well.
Outside of her nightmare, the book on the table began to glow, ever so softly,
with a white light.
Black kanji appeared on it once more....reading "The Universe of the Four Gods."
giggling girl in front of him. She only laughed harder, pressing one
hand to her mouth as if to stifle it. Keisuke sighed in exasperation and
slouched down into his seat, frowning.
Hoshi began to calm, her laughing coming in short spells, and she wiped a
tear from her eye. "I'm sorry Keisuke...." she began, breathless from laughing,
"..but that is the biggest load of CRAP that I've ever heard in my entire life.
I mean, come on, the college newspaper may deal with weird stuff like that,
but do you honestly expect me to publish such an outlandish story like that?
You, Tetsuya, Taka and whomever else is in that paranormal club of yours
would be the laughingstock of the entire campus, not to mention your sister
and her friend, along with our paper just for publishing it." She took a swig
from the glass of water sitting in front of her. "Now, if you had the book,
or some sort of proof that they were actually in this...what did you say it was a
gain?"
"Universe of the Four Gods." Keisuke reminded her sullenly.
"Right, Universe of the Four Gods, then maybe...only maybe would I consider
publishing the story." She finished, leaning back in her seat. Keisuke sighed
again.
"I told you, the book was sealed away after Yui became the priestess of
Genbu, then the scroll that the book had been translated from was destroyed.
There isn't any proof other than what we can tell you." He said. Hoshi lifted an
eyebrow at him.
"Then why publish it? It's a dead story." She said flatly. Keisuke clutched at
his head and let out a frustrated noise. The bell at the front of the cafe jangled
loudly as more customers entered, but Keisuke remained in the booth with Hoshi,
in his frustrated pose.
To top off his humiliation, the first thing he heard was the piercing laughs of
Miaka as she guffawed at something one of her companions said. Keisuke raised
his head slowly, a sick expression on his face. Hoshi tilted her head.
"What's wrong, you look like you're going to be sick." She stated, feeling his
forehead with the back of her hand. She felt her own forehead thoughtfully.
"Hmm..nope, no fever...is this just because I laughed at you?" He instantly
snapped out of his dark world and glared at her grinning face.
"Keisuke! Your break is over! Go wait on your sister before Taka gets out of the
back room!" the manager yelled from the kitchen. Keisuke's world crumbled, and
Hoshi began to giggle again.
"Your sister is here? Should I ask her if she's seen any more birds flapping in
libraries now or later?" she began to laugh again, harder than ever.
"Yeah, yeah, that's right, just keep on laughing." He grumbled as he pushed himself
out of the booth and towards Miaka's table. Good work Keisuke, he thought bitterly,
make the very girl you have to impress to make it big in college laugh by making an
idiot of yourself. That'll get you far in the social scale.
Yui's worry had been just. Rain felt like her ear was going to hop off and run for
cover any moment now. Not that it was entirely a bad thing. She'd had more fun that
afternoon than any other day she could recall. Miaka and Yui were nicer than what
she had first expected, and for this she was glad. She didn't know if her self-esteem
could take a whole year of curious silence.
Miaka had been full of questions about America(between spouts of what her favorite
food was, and how great Taka was),and Rain had tried to answer every one before she
found something else to talk enthusiastically about.
Miaka's attention was currently turned on Yui at the time Keisuke came over to their
table and set glasses of water down on it. Keisuke stared in what appeared to be
disbelief at Rain, who blinked and stared back.
Guess it runs in the family. She thought.
"Oh! Keisuke, I'd like you to meet Raini-Chan!" Miaka said, grinning widely.
"Rain." Yui corrected before Keisuke could utter Miaka's new nickname for her.
Miaka went into instant glare and attempted to bore a hole in Yui's head with her
eyes.
"I like Raini-Chan!" she growled comically. Yui calmly took a sip of water, ignoring her.
"Konnichi-wa." Rain said softly, smiling shyly at Keisuke. He smiled back and offered
her his hand, which she shook lightly. He then shook himself out of whatever dazed
state he'd put himself in.
"So, what are you guys having?" he asked, pulling out a notepad from his apron.
"TAKA!" Miaka squealed. Keisuke's face blanked out, one hand poised over the
notepad.
Miaka jumped out of her chair, knocking it over, and ran over to Taka, hugging him
tightly around the waist. He stumbled slightly, knocked off-balance by her burst of
emotion, and then hugged her back. She took his arm and guided him over to their table.
"Taka, this is Raini-Chan. Raini-Chan, this is Taka, my boyfriend." Miaka said proudly.
"Rain." Both Yui and Keisuke corrected. Miaka puffed out her cheeks in a glare at
both of them. Rain smiled nervously at Taka and greeted him with another quiet
"Konnichi-wa".
"Taka, Keisuke, if they're not ready yet, go wait on someone else!" the manager
shouted from the kitchen. Taka smiled sheepishly and patted Miaka on the head.
"Gotta go. I'll catch up with you guys later." He said, walking to another table.
Miaka stared after him, twinkling stars surrounding her, and hearts in her eyes.
Yui cleared her throat, and took another sip of water, snapping Miaka out of her
ogling session. She latched onto her brother's arm and grinned slyly at him.
"Hey Keisuke, Raini-Chan is single...." she implied, nudging him in the ribs. Keisuke
lowered his eyelids and glanced down at her, lifting an eyebrow. Rain's cheeks went
pink instantly, and she stared at the table.
"Nice try Miaka, now sit down an order or all of the stores will be closed before
we get out of here." Yui said, glancing at a menu. Miaka deflated, and took her seat
again. She perked up a moment later.
"Oh man, am I starved!" she exclaimed, looking over another menu.
"So what else is new?" Keisuke said, bored, still holding his pen over the notepad.
He didn't have to look to know that Hoshi had been watching them the entire time,
most likely taking notes on a napkin. She was a true reporter, through and through.
He'd never live this one down.
------------------------------------------------------------
Chichiri looked out the window of the inn he and Tasuki had taken refuge in from
the storm. He felt sick inside, and he couldn't explain why. There was an evil aura
surrounding the entire country, it seemed. Maybe even the entire world.
"Hey, check it out! I can balance a sake bottle on my finger!" Tasuki shouted from
his corner in the inn. The entire place was already loud, filled with drunken travelers
who had fled there for the same reason. There were a few shouts of drunken approval
from the buddies Tasuki had found to drink with, then the crash of the very bottle
dropping and breaking. Tasuki cursed loudly a minute later, then demanded a new bottle.
Chichiri sighed at his traveling companion, and removed his mask. The lightning illuminated
the jagged scar that ran across his face and sealed his mangled eye shut. He had tried to
contact Taits-Kun many times that day, but had received no answer from them. Something
was happening....he just hoped it was a storm, and nothing more.
---------------------------------------------------
"Hey Raini-Chan, where'd you find an old piece of junk like this?" Miaka wrinkled her
nose at the crumbling book and inspected it. Rain looked in from the kitchen and widened
her eyes.
"Oh, be careful with that! It's been falling apart since I found it!" she exclaimed,
taking a step forward. Taka smoothly snatched it from her fingers and placed it on
the low table in front of the couch.
"It's not polite to go through other people's book bags Miaka." Yui shouted from the
kitchen. Rain had taken up her offer on teaching her how to make a bento. Yui had
honestly felt pity for the poor girl after prying the days discomfort out of her.
Taka stared at the crumbling book thoughtfully. He'd felt a strange pricking feeling
in his fingers when he touched it, and it was bothering him. He couldn't understand
why, it was just some blank, dying book.
Rain had shyly invited Miaka, Yui, Taka and Keisuke over, Tetsuya inviting himself
along because he didn't trust Keisuke alone with his Yui for any amount of time
(although they remained the best of friends otherwise).
After the cooking lesson, everyone sat around and chatted with each other, everyone
curious as Miaka had been about America. Rain tried to tell as much as she could
about the good things, leaving off the fact that most of what she saw in America
was the negative aspects of it. She'd lived on the streets a majority of her life,
but there was no way she'd let her new friends know that.
She couldn't. She was afraid they'd treat her differently if they knew.
That night, Rain was plagued with nightmares. She kept seeing a burning world,
crumbling to ashes. Children mourned over the dead bodies of their parents whom
had tried to protect them. She, in her dream, laid next to the dying body of a small
girl, trying to comfort her.
A hand began to stroke her face from behind, in the same manner of comfort that
she was trying to use on the child. Rain turned her head and saw a pair of empty
eyes bearing into hers...as if they were trying to steal her soul for their owner.
She whimpered in fright, unable to move, knowing that he was the murderer of the
child.
Knowing that she too, would die soon as well.
Outside of her nightmare, the book on the table began to glow, ever so softly,
with a white light.
Black kanji appeared on it once more....reading "The Universe of the Four Gods."