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! ^_^
Note: Ok, I've made a few changes to this chapter to clear a few things up. It should make better sense now… or not. *lol* If you've read this chapter already, please re-read and tell me if the modifications have helped. Thank you! ^_^
**********
Chapter 2 – The Red Light
"Ah! Hi, Harumi-chan!" A whitish blond-haired girl hugged Harumi at the door. "Come in, Tsuya is already here." She had thick, straight, shoulder-length hair with dyed purple strands and yellowish brown eyes.
"Thanks, Itsuko." Harumi answered as she stepped in the door, which Itsuko was closing behind her. She followed her friend into the living room where she greeted a slightly shorter, wavy, brown haired girl with green eyes.
"Hey, Haru-chan!" The girl radiated.
"Hi, Tsuya. How are you?" Harumi replied.
"Good, good." The girl was constantly genki. "Wow! You look wonderful!"
"Oh! Thanks, Tsu-chan!" Harumi found it impossible to keep her usual depressive mood around her. "So do you!" The day seemed suddenly brighter.
"So," Itsuko began, sitting on the couch next to Tsuya, "what shall we do today? I don't think anyone is in the mood for staying home and ordering pizza again." She giggled, remembering the disaster they had caused in Harumi's living room last time they had done that watching a rented horror movie.
Itsuko raised her arm just in time to stop an airborne pillow from hitting her face. "Hey!" She laughed. "That's not fair! I wasn't the one who spilled everything!" She eyed Tsuya accusingly, who in turn blushed and slumped down in the couch as if hiding herself.
"Yea but it was your idea, bitch!" Another pillow flew from Harumi's hand and soon all three girls were engaged in a pillow-fight, laughter floating loudly from the room.
"Girls?" A tall, blond woman of about forty poked her head through the door.
Their hands stopped in mid-air and all three started fiddling with their thumbs innocently.
Itsuko cleared her throat. "Yes, mom?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to see if you girls were ok. I'm leaving in a few minutes." She smiled at the two girls sitting across from her daughter. "Hello, Harumi. Hello, Tsuya."
"Hi, Mrs. Adachi!" Both replied in unison.
The woman smiled and turned to Itsuko. "I left some money on your desk in case you decide to go out." She looked at her watch. "I should be going. Good-bye girls!"
"Bye!" All three answered as the woman left, a sigh of relief echoing through the room moments later.
Tsuya jumped up on her feet suddenly with a loud, "Oh! I know! I have an idea." She smiled. Her two friends looked up at her expectantly. "Let's go to the mall! Itsuko, your mother left you some money, right? And Harumi and me just got our allowances yesterday. We could go buy all that stuff we saw last week." She said proudly.
After a few 'wow's and 'cool's among other congratulate noises directed at Tsuya, the girls picked up their things and left, headed for the bus stop.
"Which bus do we get again?" Harumi asked, thoughtful.
"The 175, dimwit." Itsuko retorted.
"No, that's the one that goes to the Southern Mall. We saw those things in the Northern one. We should get the 512." Tsuya pointed out.
"Oh." Itsuko mumbled a bit sheepishly. Harumi was laughing openly. "Shut up! You didn't know it either, so screw you!" Itsuko pushed her playfully.
"Hey!" Harumi protested between giggles. "That's mean!" She pushed her friend back.
"Hey, hey. Look out. Here it comes." Tsuya pointed out as they approached the bus stop. "Come on, it only comes every fifteen minutes!" As she waved for the bus, she got nudged by the two fighting. "Hey!" She giggled as she gave both of them a big push.
The bus stopped and the three got up inside, still laughing. After paying, they spotted two benches, one behind the other, and sat. Tsuya took the front seat, and sat side-ways so she could talk to the other two who sat behind her. She smiled contended as she looked out the window across from her while the other two talked about which universities they had applied for. She didn't join the conversation as she was a year younger and had only begun to think about what she might do, let alone which university.
"Wow! How pretty!" She pointed out the window for her friends to look. "Doesn't the sky look nice today?" Harumi and Itsuko turned their attention in the direction the girl had pointed.
"Wow, that is pretty." Itsuko agreed and all three girls smiled. After a moment, Harumi frowned.
Wait. That's odd. The sky isn't supposed to be turning that color, especially so early. Kind of reminds me of my… Her train of thought was cut short as realization struck her. Oh my God, it's just like my dream!
"What is it, Harumi? You look like you've seen a freakin' ghost." Itsuko inquired. Tsuya giggled at the comment.
"Huh? Oh, nothing." Harumi waved off her thoughts. "Just thinking about something." She smiled as to divert her friends' attention. "Hey, look. We're almost there." She said, pointing at the approaching mall.
~~~
Tasuki and Chichiri sat in a triangle with the statue of Suzaku, concentrated in prayer. Close friends and relatives of the lost Seishi were seated behind them and they too were concentrated in prayer, in unison with the surviving Seishi. The memorial ceremony was half-way through at this point, and they were attempting to summon the lost Seishis' spirits.
As everyone in the room concentrated on the memory of their lost loved ones, the statue of Suzaku started glowing red, as was custom with such summoning rituals. However, it was getting brighter and brighter by the minute – too bright, even – and the sky outside, although the people in the main hall could not see, was getting darker and darker. Eyes closed, the Seishi only noticed when the glow was almost taking over the room.
"Chichiri! Open your eyes!" Tasuki yelled worriedly after the red resonance to his eyelids had broken his concentration and made him curious enough to open them. "The statue of Suzaku!" The purple haired monk jumped up from his meditating position and looked around the room at the confused guests.
"Leave the main hall!" Chichiri called to them. "Tasuki, brace yourself! I think something may have gone wrong. Either that, or Suzaku has different plans for this ceremony!" The guests fled through the main doors across the hall and the guards on the other side closed them as soon as all of them were out. The red light was almost blinding and the Seishi could no longer see or hear each other. "Tasuki!" was the last thing that left the monk's mouth before everything went blank and they lost their consciousness.
~~~
The girls were chattering and giggling away in the open courtyard of the mall, eating junk food, as they heard a loud murmur of gasps and confused comments start to rise from the people around them. They looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces as their vision somehow started to turn dark. They looked up at the sky and saw that the purple in sky sky which they had noticed earlier, had intensified and turned almost black.
"What the hell is going on!?" Itsuko yelled over the other voices in the courtyard. Tsuya had grabbed both of them and was hugging them tightly, trying to avoid looking up at the sky. All Harumi could do was stare in amazement and fear.
Oh my God, this was in that fucking dream! She thought. Out of the darkness, a red light shone brightly full blast, screams of fear arising from every direction, and was suddenly gone. The sky had returned to normal. Harumi blinked and looked around in disbelief. Nothing changed. "Tsuya? Itsuko? Are you alright?" She asked her two friends worriedly. They raised their faces and nodded blankly, them too starting to look around unbelievingly. Tsuya is in tears, poor thing. She hugged her friend tightly. "It's ok, honey. It's over."
**********
Oooo! ^^ Excitement, excitement! What was it that Harumi had really seen in her dream? What is with that damned red light? If you got questions, and you want answers, please R&R! Then wait for the next chapter! Mwahahaha! XD *lol*
Eek, I sound like one of those cheesy Mexican Soap Operas, or, better yet, one of those televised shopping commercials. (No offense intended, of course!)
Anyway! How do you people like my story up to now? ^_^ Please don't forget to R&R, I really appreciate it! Thank you! See you people next chapter!