Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi or its characters. I own only the O.C.'s (Harumi, Itsuko, Tsuya and any others which may appear in the future) and this story. Hope you enjoy reading! ^_^

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Chapter 1 – Strange Dreams

Harumi's light blue eyes burst open instantaneously in fright.

Brightness. Her room.

She sat up quickly, drawing in a rugged breath, with small beads of sweat trailing down her forehead. She wiped them off and sat staring at her two hands lying in her lap. What happened? She thought.

My dream. That guy, he… Again. This was not the first time she had dreamed this.

She looked around the room. Everything seemed to be in order. Better yet, out of order, as usual.

Her room was a mess. Clothes lying around on the floor, her wardrobe still open from the night before, stuff spilling out from it. Her bag, pillows, everything joined her clothes on the floor. And on the desk, piles and piles of papers, books, and all sorts of junk. Her computer was turned off, at least.

Harumi jumped at the sound of her cell phone ringing.

Oh god, that was on all night. She reached over to her bedside table and picked it up. The monitor read 'Itsuko'.

"Hello?" She answered. "Hey. I'm good, you? Erm, I'm at home, why?" She glanced over at the clock. It read '10am'. "Oh, ok. Yea, sure, I'll be there. Just give me a few minutes to get ready. I know, I know. Don't worry, I won't be late. Ok. Bye." She switched off the phone and set it back down.

God damn it, woman. Calling me at this hour in the morning. Her mind trailed back to her dream. What was it again? She strained her memory. Oh, right. She shivered from the thoughts that came to her mind and shook them off.

She stepped out of bed to her wardrobe and quickly picked out clothes to wear, pausing momentarily to straighten her tangled, curly black hair, before going off into the bathroom for a quick shower.

~~~

There was a polite rap on the door followed by Kouji's modified voice, "What is your business? I am here to see our gang leader, Mr. Genrou. Who are you? I am Genrou's best friend, Kouji. Ah yes, please come in! Thank you very much!"

Before his best friend could step in the door, Genrou was already up and dressed. "Hey, Kouji. What is it?" he asked.

"Ah, you asked me to wake you up for the ceremony today, Genrou!" He said giving Genrou a big hug. "But I guess ya managed to wake up this time, eh?"

Genrou chuckled. "Yea, I couldn't sleep fer some reason. It's gunna be a long day today. Quite somethin' with the memorial ceremony an' all. Guess I'm just a bit nervous."

"Right." Kouji replied, a bit uncertain. "No more of those weird dreams, eh?"

"Uh, no. Not really." Genrou bluffed a reassuring smile. He didn't want to get his friend worried over all of that again.

Kouji sighed and put an arm around Genrou's shoulder. "Listen, I know it must be hard fer ya missin' yer dead friends an' all… but it's just a ceremony. Don't let it get to ya, ok?"

Genrou tried grinning it off, none very successfully, fangs glimmering in the light. "Ah, I'll be alright Kouji." With a pat on the back, he picked up his things and left for the Imperial Palace, placing Kouji in charge for his absence.

I wonder how Chichiri is coping. He thought once he was well under way. It was strange that so many of his companions had died and the two of them were the ones to survive, looking back on it. He still wished he could have done something.

Looking around himself, Genrou noted how beautiful the view was. The trees were thick and seemed to stretch on for miles, with the odd mountain jutting up midst the green, and the sky.

Now, that is strange. He thought. The sky was gently turning from blue to lightly purplish the nearer he got to the city, which was just in view over the horizon. Maybe I should pick up speed. Got a strange feelin' 'bout this. And with that, he dug in his heels.

The road ahead was relatively easy, and Genrou, the Warrior of Suzaku best known as Tasuki, found himself at the Palace gates after a few hours of hard travel.

The guards bowed to him and let him through the gates without questioning. He nodded his greeting to them and followed into the stables where another guard took his horse for him and put it in his usual stall.

As he walked into the Palace main hall, where the ceremony was to take place, he felt butterflies in his stomach. Everything was ready. It even seemed like the statue of Suzaku at the end of the hall had been polished for the occasion.

It feels like so long. He thought as his eyes screened the room. They fell upon the figure of a purple haired man holding a staff.

"Chichiri!" He called as he approached the man. "How have you been?"

"Tasuki! I've been fine, no da. You?" The two men shaked hands.

"Ah, good, good. I see everything is ready for the ceremony."

"Yes, indeed. Have you seen the sky today, Tasuki?" Chichiri inquired worriedly.

"Yea, I have, actually. What d'you think it is?"

"I don't know, no da. Perhaps a sign from Suzaku, but you never know. I suggest we go on with the ceremony anyway."

"Right." Tasuki gave it a weak grin. He certainly hoped it wasn't anything serious. One way or another, they would go on with the ceremony. "Ah, Chichiri."

"No da?"

"One last thing. Have you been… uh, having any… weird dreams lately?"

Chichiri stared at him for a moment before bowing his face and removing his mask. The man eyed him seriously. "You have been having them too, I see. Well, there is nothing we can do about them now. Meet me after the ceremony and we shall talk." He put on his mask again. "Go get yourself ready, no da?"

Tasuki nodded, just a bit disconcerted by his friend's sudden seriousness. "Sure" He grinned, and both men left for their last preparations before joining in the main hall again for the ceremony's initiation.

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Oooo! ^^ ehehe … So, what do you think of the introduction of my story? Promising? Absolute crap? Please R&R!

Oh, and I almost forgot! Just so you people know, this story is set shortly after the end of the series. A few modifications have been made to the story, so the situation is as follows:

All Seishi are dead except for Tasuki and Chichiri.

Tasuki went back to his bandit camp, Chichiri went off to live somewhere *lol* dunno where quite just yet.

They are now back for a ceremony in memory of the dead Seishi.

Miaka is back in her own world doing I don't know what.

Harumi, Itsuko and Tsuya are three friends living in the real world (ie: Miaka's world) and are as of yet unaware of the other world the Seishi live in but they will be my main characters. Harumi especially.

Hehe ^^ very useful I am, right? Well, it's cause I haven't exactly decided and sorted out all the details yet. They will come with time and I hope you are patient. Thank you! ^_^

Ps: don't forget to R&R!