Disclaimer: Still don't own Fushigi Yuugi! Never will.
Author's Notes: WOO HOO! I'm actually getting reviews! *does the happy dance* Thanks to all of you who take your time to review! This chapter has a bit of action, and some background on Kira.
"You shouldn't have drank so much," the thief, formerly known as Kage, who was now seemingly Yuki's top drinking buddy/competition, grumbled.
"I did shee you trying to shhtop me!" Yuki poked Kage in the cheek, which proved how drunk she was because she was aiming for his chest. "Plush, I could let you out drink me!" Yuki hiccupped, and would have fallen over if Kage weren't already lugging her back towards the inn.
The sun had set nearly an hour before they had started back from Amefuri's hideout, it was getting cooler outside and the streets were nearly clear of all traffic. Kira was walking in front of Kage and Yuki, mainly because Yuki wasn't really walking but being dragged down the street. They had been walking back for around twenty minutes now and they were almost back to the Inn.
"How mush farther?" Yuki whined, and hiccupped.
"Only a little bit, the Inn's right around that corner," Kira said as she pointed to the street-corner about five feet in front of them. Yuki started mumbling incoherent things, Kage tried to ignore her, which was rather hard considering she was leaning on him, and Kira sighed and stared up at the night sky.
Kira looked up at the clouds and the rising moon, but something moving along one of the rooftops caught her eye. Kira stopped walking, and stared at the dark roof. A shadow ran along the roof, and jumped down onto a windowsill. Kira couldn't make out exactly what it was but it turned and stared directly at her with a pair of reflective gold eyes. It jumped down from the ledge, bounded off down a dark alley and didn't reappear.
"Shouldn't we keep going?" Kage tapped Kira on the shoulder, and snapped her back to reality.
"Uh, yeah right!" Kira smiled, and kept walking down the street.
The three walked down the street and turned the corner, as they approached the inn they heard yelling and saw a man tumble out the door. Kira and Kage rushed towards the door, dragging Yuki behind. Kira was about to push through the door when someone opened it from inside and kicked her flat on her back.
"Get back here you!" A gruff voice yelled from inside. The voice was cut off with a loud thud. The sound of many people fighting inside came through the door before it snapped shut.
Kage stopped and stared at Kira who was lying flat on the ground, and in reasonable discomfort as a child maneuvered around her and attempted to use her as a shield. A large man burst through the door, only a second later and came to an abrupt halt as he spotted the child. He looked like he was about to pounce on Kira when the door was pushed open again, and an arm grabbed the fellow by the back of his shirt.
"It is not polite to scare small children," A familiar voice spoke strongly and pulled the man back in.
"Ka-ashuuki?" Yuki slurred as she hung off of Kage. Kage looked rather puzzled as he watched the large man disappear through the doors and the small child cling to Kira for dear life.
"Tatara?" Kira tried to twist around to see his face, but he kept moving around in order to keep behind her. "What in the world is going on?"
"There's that kid! He broke my statue!" A few men filed out of the building, and the sounds of fighting inside increased. Kira blinked, and Tatara ducked down behind her again. The group of men circled around Kira and Tatara with angry scowls on their faces.
"Hey! Tha's not nice!" Kira looked over to her left and saw Kage with an expression that could only be described as confused and frightened with a hint of shock. Yuki was standing in a most intimidating stance, and had her costume's whip out and uncoiled. "You boysh better play nishe now!" Yuki hiccupped, and held up the whip in two hands. She pulled it taught for a moment and it snapped (not snapped in two,) rather loudly.
"Oh no," Kira backed up towards the wall with a look of sheer horror on her face. "This is just like the time she got drunk at the Drama Department's Christmas party!" Kira covered Tatara's eyes, and backed further towards the wall. The angry men yelled something at Yuki, in Chinese, and ignored her threat.
"Oh I shee how it is!" A twisted smile spread across her face and she cracked the whip on the road. "Naught boysh need shome dish-s-pline!" Yuki cackled, and Kira tried not to watch the carnage. There were screams, some in frequencies that only dogs could hear, there was terror, there was pleading, and Yuki was enjoying herself immensely.
"Madam Mihori, might I request you stop?" Kagasuki was standing the doorway and motioning to the fleeing men who made up the majority of the group and the single man she was now whipping into submission.
"Oh, shure, whatever you shay! You darling, darling boy." Yuki slurred, and stopped her cackling, she was still quite drunk but the beating she had given the gang had sobered her up just a tad. She stumbled forward, and stopped a few inches from Kagasuki. "Sho, are we going to drink shomethin or not?"
"Personally I think you've had enough," Kira stood up, and tried to snap Kage out of his current state of shock.
"Aaaw you're no fun." Yuki snickered and waved her hand limply at Kira.
"I do believe I agree," Kagasuki backed up a step only to realize that Yuki was now firmly latched onto him.
"Not to mention, you all need to meet Boss tomorrow to head out after that monster," Kage finally regained his composure, and spoke up as he began to walk back towards the hideout.
"Boss?" Tatara looked up at Kira, and blinked.
"Just a man who's going to help us save the town," Kira smiled, and Yuki gurgled something unintelligible into Kagasuki's arm. Tatara nodded, and held out his arm in a rather gentlemanly gesture, one that he obviously learned from Kagasuki during their brief time together. Kira laughed, took his arm, made a small curtsy motion, and they both walked into the inn with Kagasuki dragging Yuki in after them.
The set of them retired back into Kira and Yuki's room and laid down to rest until the morning. The moon rose high in the sky, and bathed the world in a cool dim light. The clouds passed slowly over the sky, and grew dark with rain, the crickets quieted as a light mist of rain began to fall from the sky onto the dry desert ground. A cold breeze blew through the town, and the rain began to gently hit the windows of the inn.
Yuki laid halfway hanging off the bed, sleeping so deeply that even an army couldn't have woken her up. Tatara was curled up on the second bed of the room next to the lightly snoring Kagasuki. Kira slept next to Yuki, but her sleep was far from peaceful. In her mind she remembered things that she hadn't thought of for a very long time.
Kira dreamt she was walking along the road by her school, still clad in the Kurare costume, with her sword out. As she walked down the road the scenery changed from the city to a set of dark woods, and then her dream seemed to change. The colors became less bright, less vibrant, the sounds drifted far away, like echoes, and that's when she saw it.
The dirt path she was walking through the forest on became speckled with stones, the number of stones increased until it was paved with them. The trees became scarcer, the birds began to chirp, the sky was a brilliant blue green, and down at the very end of the road there was a house. Her house.
The walls were plastered over with stones to make it look quaint, the door was a deep green color, the windows had matching shutters, and the front had an unruly garden filled with wildflowers and some vegetables. It was just as she had remembered it. She stopped and took a long look at the house, until something bumped into her from behind. She turned and saw the little girl that had ran into her. The girl had short platinum blond hair, and was wearing a pair of denim overalls with a pink flower on the front pocket.
"Don't just stand in the road like that! Mama will be mad!" The little girl stood up, and laughed. She began running again, towards the house, and stopped in front of the door. She kicked off her muddy pink shoes, and pushed the door open with both her hands. She skipped into the house without shutting the door and Kira started to walk slowly towards the house.
"Kira, what have I told you about leaving the door open! And you are tracking mud all over my floors!" Kira froze as she heard the voice of a woman come from inside the house. The woman had a tender voice, and laughed as she scolded. "Take those cookies outside and wipe your feet next time!"
"Yes Mama!" The little girl came skipping out the door carrying cookies in her hands, and laughed as she sat down on the sidewalk outside her house to eat.
Kira stood there for a moment more and began to walk to the house, slowly at first, but she sped up into nearly a dead run as she neared the door. She pushed past it and ran around the corner. Her fabric wrapped feet made no sound against the hard wood floors. She ran down the main hall, dropping her sword, and everything she was carrying.
"Mama!" She yelled and a thin stream of tears began to run down her cheeks. She stumbled and nearly fell as she turned the corner. She could hear her mother singing as she baked in the kitchen, Kira burst through the doors to the kitchen with a wide smile across her face.
Her eyes widened, and she came to an abrupt halt. She felt a sharp pain as she was knocked to the floor, she tried desperately to back up but her feet only slid on the smooth wood floors. She looked up once more, her mother was nowhere to be seen, and towering over her was the monk from before, Chichiri. He drew back his staff, and swung down at her.
Kira awoke with a start, had her sword been laying close enough to her she would have, no doubt, drawn it an sliced the first thing that moved. She was drenched with a cold sweat, and her head was throbbing. Kira looked around and saw the others sleeping away. She took a glance out the window; it couldn't be more than two in the morning. Kira took a deep breath and swung her feet out of bed, she grabbed a set of clothes out of the bag Jaki had packed and slipped them on.
Kira sighed, and decided to go down to the common room for something strong to drink, or at the very least, some time to herself. She walked barefoot down the hall, some of the boards creaking under her feet. She came down the stairs and rather slowly, and walked into the common room.
The room was lit with a few lanterns and on the far side of the room there was a fireplace. Surprisingly the room wasn't deserted at this hour. The innkeeper was chatting away with one of the five men sitting at the bar, there was a table of men playing poker, and a couple sitting by the fire arguing, apparently the woman wanted to smoke but the man was trying to talk her out of it.
Kira walked over to the bar, and sat down on a stool. She was a good distance from the men and the bartender, but that was all right. She was at the far end of the bar and could feel the cold air from outside leaking in. Kira looked down at the bar, and sighed. The door opened, and the sounds of rain filled the room with a flood of cool air from outside. Kira shivered for a moment, but didn't really mind too much.
"What can I get you?" The Innkeeper leaned over the bar and smiled at Kira.
"Something warm, maybe not too strong." Kira sighed, and stared off into space. The Innkeeper went back to his conversation with the other men while he made Kira a drink. He was stopped as the bell on the far end of the bar rang.
"What can I help you with, Sir?" The Innkeeper walked past Kira to help the man at the registry.
"I'd like a room. It is rather late, no da."
Kira would have jumped, but she didn't even recognize the voice. She was far too tired and too distracted with the memory of her mother. The Innkeeper registered the man, and he came to sit down at the bar. Kira sighed as she received her drink, and stared down at it.
"A little early for a drink, no da?" Kira downed the drink in response, and sighed.
"You shouldn't drink that so fast, its not good for you." The Innkeeper smiled at her, and she smiled back. Kira stood up, and sullenly walked back to the room to get some extra sleep.
"What a night," The Innkeeper sighed, and took her glass away. Chichiri looked at him. "So what'll you be havin' then?"
"Nothing. But have you seen a man with a strange sword, about this tall," Chichiri made a motion with his hand, " wearing what looks like a suit of bandages and a face-mask?"
"Yeah, he was in here. Reserved a room I think." The Innkeeper scratched his head and thought back to earlier the day before. "Strangest thing was his name. Kira! What kind of name for a swordsman is that after all!" The Innkeeper talked to Chichiri for a long while, and Chichiri decided he'd better not stay the night. Instead he started traveling towards the south part of town to get the jump on 'the assassin.'
Author's Notes (Part 2): Well, in the next chapter we'll have the 'Monster' that's attacking the southern area of town, a few surprises, and some more Senshi. .Personally I'm not sure how this chapter. 'Turned out'. I would appreciate any comments- reality checks- or anything else. ^^;;
(Please Read & Review!~)
Author's Notes: WOO HOO! I'm actually getting reviews! *does the happy dance* Thanks to all of you who take your time to review! This chapter has a bit of action, and some background on Kira.
"You shouldn't have drank so much," the thief, formerly known as Kage, who was now seemingly Yuki's top drinking buddy/competition, grumbled.
"I did shee you trying to shhtop me!" Yuki poked Kage in the cheek, which proved how drunk she was because she was aiming for his chest. "Plush, I could let you out drink me!" Yuki hiccupped, and would have fallen over if Kage weren't already lugging her back towards the inn.
The sun had set nearly an hour before they had started back from Amefuri's hideout, it was getting cooler outside and the streets were nearly clear of all traffic. Kira was walking in front of Kage and Yuki, mainly because Yuki wasn't really walking but being dragged down the street. They had been walking back for around twenty minutes now and they were almost back to the Inn.
"How mush farther?" Yuki whined, and hiccupped.
"Only a little bit, the Inn's right around that corner," Kira said as she pointed to the street-corner about five feet in front of them. Yuki started mumbling incoherent things, Kage tried to ignore her, which was rather hard considering she was leaning on him, and Kira sighed and stared up at the night sky.
Kira looked up at the clouds and the rising moon, but something moving along one of the rooftops caught her eye. Kira stopped walking, and stared at the dark roof. A shadow ran along the roof, and jumped down onto a windowsill. Kira couldn't make out exactly what it was but it turned and stared directly at her with a pair of reflective gold eyes. It jumped down from the ledge, bounded off down a dark alley and didn't reappear.
"Shouldn't we keep going?" Kage tapped Kira on the shoulder, and snapped her back to reality.
"Uh, yeah right!" Kira smiled, and kept walking down the street.
The three walked down the street and turned the corner, as they approached the inn they heard yelling and saw a man tumble out the door. Kira and Kage rushed towards the door, dragging Yuki behind. Kira was about to push through the door when someone opened it from inside and kicked her flat on her back.
"Get back here you!" A gruff voice yelled from inside. The voice was cut off with a loud thud. The sound of many people fighting inside came through the door before it snapped shut.
Kage stopped and stared at Kira who was lying flat on the ground, and in reasonable discomfort as a child maneuvered around her and attempted to use her as a shield. A large man burst through the door, only a second later and came to an abrupt halt as he spotted the child. He looked like he was about to pounce on Kira when the door was pushed open again, and an arm grabbed the fellow by the back of his shirt.
"It is not polite to scare small children," A familiar voice spoke strongly and pulled the man back in.
"Ka-ashuuki?" Yuki slurred as she hung off of Kage. Kage looked rather puzzled as he watched the large man disappear through the doors and the small child cling to Kira for dear life.
"Tatara?" Kira tried to twist around to see his face, but he kept moving around in order to keep behind her. "What in the world is going on?"
"There's that kid! He broke my statue!" A few men filed out of the building, and the sounds of fighting inside increased. Kira blinked, and Tatara ducked down behind her again. The group of men circled around Kira and Tatara with angry scowls on their faces.
"Hey! Tha's not nice!" Kira looked over to her left and saw Kage with an expression that could only be described as confused and frightened with a hint of shock. Yuki was standing in a most intimidating stance, and had her costume's whip out and uncoiled. "You boysh better play nishe now!" Yuki hiccupped, and held up the whip in two hands. She pulled it taught for a moment and it snapped (not snapped in two,) rather loudly.
"Oh no," Kira backed up towards the wall with a look of sheer horror on her face. "This is just like the time she got drunk at the Drama Department's Christmas party!" Kira covered Tatara's eyes, and backed further towards the wall. The angry men yelled something at Yuki, in Chinese, and ignored her threat.
"Oh I shee how it is!" A twisted smile spread across her face and she cracked the whip on the road. "Naught boysh need shome dish-s-pline!" Yuki cackled, and Kira tried not to watch the carnage. There were screams, some in frequencies that only dogs could hear, there was terror, there was pleading, and Yuki was enjoying herself immensely.
"Madam Mihori, might I request you stop?" Kagasuki was standing the doorway and motioning to the fleeing men who made up the majority of the group and the single man she was now whipping into submission.
"Oh, shure, whatever you shay! You darling, darling boy." Yuki slurred, and stopped her cackling, she was still quite drunk but the beating she had given the gang had sobered her up just a tad. She stumbled forward, and stopped a few inches from Kagasuki. "Sho, are we going to drink shomethin or not?"
"Personally I think you've had enough," Kira stood up, and tried to snap Kage out of his current state of shock.
"Aaaw you're no fun." Yuki snickered and waved her hand limply at Kira.
"I do believe I agree," Kagasuki backed up a step only to realize that Yuki was now firmly latched onto him.
"Not to mention, you all need to meet Boss tomorrow to head out after that monster," Kage finally regained his composure, and spoke up as he began to walk back towards the hideout.
"Boss?" Tatara looked up at Kira, and blinked.
"Just a man who's going to help us save the town," Kira smiled, and Yuki gurgled something unintelligible into Kagasuki's arm. Tatara nodded, and held out his arm in a rather gentlemanly gesture, one that he obviously learned from Kagasuki during their brief time together. Kira laughed, took his arm, made a small curtsy motion, and they both walked into the inn with Kagasuki dragging Yuki in after them.
The set of them retired back into Kira and Yuki's room and laid down to rest until the morning. The moon rose high in the sky, and bathed the world in a cool dim light. The clouds passed slowly over the sky, and grew dark with rain, the crickets quieted as a light mist of rain began to fall from the sky onto the dry desert ground. A cold breeze blew through the town, and the rain began to gently hit the windows of the inn.
Yuki laid halfway hanging off the bed, sleeping so deeply that even an army couldn't have woken her up. Tatara was curled up on the second bed of the room next to the lightly snoring Kagasuki. Kira slept next to Yuki, but her sleep was far from peaceful. In her mind she remembered things that she hadn't thought of for a very long time.
Kira dreamt she was walking along the road by her school, still clad in the Kurare costume, with her sword out. As she walked down the road the scenery changed from the city to a set of dark woods, and then her dream seemed to change. The colors became less bright, less vibrant, the sounds drifted far away, like echoes, and that's when she saw it.
The dirt path she was walking through the forest on became speckled with stones, the number of stones increased until it was paved with them. The trees became scarcer, the birds began to chirp, the sky was a brilliant blue green, and down at the very end of the road there was a house. Her house.
The walls were plastered over with stones to make it look quaint, the door was a deep green color, the windows had matching shutters, and the front had an unruly garden filled with wildflowers and some vegetables. It was just as she had remembered it. She stopped and took a long look at the house, until something bumped into her from behind. She turned and saw the little girl that had ran into her. The girl had short platinum blond hair, and was wearing a pair of denim overalls with a pink flower on the front pocket.
"Don't just stand in the road like that! Mama will be mad!" The little girl stood up, and laughed. She began running again, towards the house, and stopped in front of the door. She kicked off her muddy pink shoes, and pushed the door open with both her hands. She skipped into the house without shutting the door and Kira started to walk slowly towards the house.
"Kira, what have I told you about leaving the door open! And you are tracking mud all over my floors!" Kira froze as she heard the voice of a woman come from inside the house. The woman had a tender voice, and laughed as she scolded. "Take those cookies outside and wipe your feet next time!"
"Yes Mama!" The little girl came skipping out the door carrying cookies in her hands, and laughed as she sat down on the sidewalk outside her house to eat.
Kira stood there for a moment more and began to walk to the house, slowly at first, but she sped up into nearly a dead run as she neared the door. She pushed past it and ran around the corner. Her fabric wrapped feet made no sound against the hard wood floors. She ran down the main hall, dropping her sword, and everything she was carrying.
"Mama!" She yelled and a thin stream of tears began to run down her cheeks. She stumbled and nearly fell as she turned the corner. She could hear her mother singing as she baked in the kitchen, Kira burst through the doors to the kitchen with a wide smile across her face.
Her eyes widened, and she came to an abrupt halt. She felt a sharp pain as she was knocked to the floor, she tried desperately to back up but her feet only slid on the smooth wood floors. She looked up once more, her mother was nowhere to be seen, and towering over her was the monk from before, Chichiri. He drew back his staff, and swung down at her.
Kira awoke with a start, had her sword been laying close enough to her she would have, no doubt, drawn it an sliced the first thing that moved. She was drenched with a cold sweat, and her head was throbbing. Kira looked around and saw the others sleeping away. She took a glance out the window; it couldn't be more than two in the morning. Kira took a deep breath and swung her feet out of bed, she grabbed a set of clothes out of the bag Jaki had packed and slipped them on.
Kira sighed, and decided to go down to the common room for something strong to drink, or at the very least, some time to herself. She walked barefoot down the hall, some of the boards creaking under her feet. She came down the stairs and rather slowly, and walked into the common room.
The room was lit with a few lanterns and on the far side of the room there was a fireplace. Surprisingly the room wasn't deserted at this hour. The innkeeper was chatting away with one of the five men sitting at the bar, there was a table of men playing poker, and a couple sitting by the fire arguing, apparently the woman wanted to smoke but the man was trying to talk her out of it.
Kira walked over to the bar, and sat down on a stool. She was a good distance from the men and the bartender, but that was all right. She was at the far end of the bar and could feel the cold air from outside leaking in. Kira looked down at the bar, and sighed. The door opened, and the sounds of rain filled the room with a flood of cool air from outside. Kira shivered for a moment, but didn't really mind too much.
"What can I get you?" The Innkeeper leaned over the bar and smiled at Kira.
"Something warm, maybe not too strong." Kira sighed, and stared off into space. The Innkeeper went back to his conversation with the other men while he made Kira a drink. He was stopped as the bell on the far end of the bar rang.
"What can I help you with, Sir?" The Innkeeper walked past Kira to help the man at the registry.
"I'd like a room. It is rather late, no da."
Kira would have jumped, but she didn't even recognize the voice. She was far too tired and too distracted with the memory of her mother. The Innkeeper registered the man, and he came to sit down at the bar. Kira sighed as she received her drink, and stared down at it.
"A little early for a drink, no da?" Kira downed the drink in response, and sighed.
"You shouldn't drink that so fast, its not good for you." The Innkeeper smiled at her, and she smiled back. Kira stood up, and sullenly walked back to the room to get some extra sleep.
"What a night," The Innkeeper sighed, and took her glass away. Chichiri looked at him. "So what'll you be havin' then?"
"Nothing. But have you seen a man with a strange sword, about this tall," Chichiri made a motion with his hand, " wearing what looks like a suit of bandages and a face-mask?"
"Yeah, he was in here. Reserved a room I think." The Innkeeper scratched his head and thought back to earlier the day before. "Strangest thing was his name. Kira! What kind of name for a swordsman is that after all!" The Innkeeper talked to Chichiri for a long while, and Chichiri decided he'd better not stay the night. Instead he started traveling towards the south part of town to get the jump on 'the assassin.'
Author's Notes (Part 2): Well, in the next chapter we'll have the 'Monster' that's attacking the southern area of town, a few surprises, and some more Senshi. .Personally I'm not sure how this chapter. 'Turned out'. I would appreciate any comments- reality checks- or anything else. ^^;;
(Please Read & Review!~)