The Universe of the Gods - The Tale of Byakko

Shira Hime : Hi ! This is chappie no. 1 !!! Hope you guys like it ! Yooouuuu feeeeel cooompelleeed tooooo cliiiiiiick thaaaat laaaaveeeendeeeer buuuuttooooon aaaaand leeeaaaave a reeeevieeeew.*tries to hypnotize readers* Byakko : This sure isn't working. You can't hypnotize for nuts ! Shira Hime : *bops him on the head* You shut up. Byakko : I WON'T ! Nyah, nyah, nyah. Shira Hime : *sweatdrop* What kind of a god is this ? Anyway, on to the story. Byakko : You forgot the disclaimer. Shira Hime : Oh, thanks. Listen up. Fushigi Yuugi DOES NOT belong to me. It belongs to Watase Yu. Full stop. I'm going to attempt not to rave about Watase Yu. Byakko : I bet she won't last out. Shira Hime : Watase Yu is the one of the BEST manga artists !!! I love her manga series, like Ayashi no Ceres, Alice 19th, Epotransu Mai, Appare Jipangu, etc. THEY ARE SO GREAT ! Byakko : See what I mean ? Anyway, let's stop all this chatting and GET ON WITH THE STORY.

Chapter 1

The girl opened her eyes. " NANI ?" She was standing in what looked like a busy village. Except that all the people were dressed strangely to her, though the fashions did seem slightly familiar.

"Ah !" A little lightbulb went off in her head. Chinese clothes ! She had taken Chinese Culture Appreciation lessons as an elective in school. So she was in China ?

The girl wandered around, looking at the gaily decorated stalls and listening to the chattering of the people. " Strange.it's like they are talking Japanese, but with a strange accent." However, her unusual uniform attracted attention. Men, women and children pointed simultaneously, " STRANGER !" The girl sweatdropped.

A boy was looking strangely at her. " It looks like she comes from another world.Could it be true ?" At that moment, a yellow sign seemed to flare on his forehead. Gritting his teeth, he fought through the crowd, wanting to see the girl.

" It's Tatara." " Hi, Tatara." " Did you see that funny-looking foreigner ?" " She ain't furrign, Tatara, ya don't lissen to this stoopid guy here." Voices surrounded Tatara as he made his way towards the girl. Tatara was well-known in the village, because everyone in this village knew about the Constellations of Byakko and the Byakko no Miko. Tatara himself was a Byakko no Seishi, with the ability to control vines or plants.

" Greetings. I'm Tatara." He greeted the girl. Even being out of breath, Tatara never failed to be polite. The girl turned around, startled. Her eyes took him in. Long black hair and slanted catlike amber eyes, Tatara was one of the most popular boys among the village girls. " I'm Suzuno." She said, as Tatara sized her up too. She had long brown hair tied into two long braids and large green eyes.

" Did you come from another world ?" He asked her tersely. " I suppose so. Yep, I guess so. This isn't Japan, is it ? Is this a movie set in Tokyo ?" Tatara was puzzled. " Uh, no, you are not in Tookya or Joopen."

" You must be the Byakko no Miko, the one I have been waiting for my whole life."

***

Suzuno was brought to Tatara's home. His parents died not too long ago from a mysterious disease, so he, his grandparents, and his siblings lived together in a modest little house near the centre of the village. " Hello, I'm home." He called out as he stepped into the house. " Brother !" His siblings came running. Tatara had three siblings : Two older sisters and a younger brother. " Who's that ?" They stared at Suzuno, taking in her school uniform.

" The Byakko no Miko." He said proudly. At those words, they all squealed in excitement. " WOW ! What an honour, to be visited by the Byakko no Miko !" The girls glomped Suzuno, who was more than a little startled.

An old woman bustled out, another old man following her. " The Byakko no Miko, you say ? Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Ayako, Tatara, go and give her the guest room and get her some clothes. She'll attract too much attention in her costume. Mieko, Aki, follow me. I need you to help me come cook a feast for the Byakko no Miko !"

Ayako and Tatara led Suzuno to a room. It was furnished with a wooden bed, a table, two chairs, a dressing table, and a chest of drawers and sparsely decorated with a tapestry on a wall and a rug on the stone floor. Suzuno felt drawn to the tapestry and she went to look at it. She inhaled sharply. It showed her dressed in ceremonial robes with a white tiger seeming to plunge into her, although the tapestry showed no blood or gore.

Did this meant that she was to die ? Suzuno was sure that a white tiger plunging into her body meant that she was to die from injuries inflicted by this white tiger. " This tapestry, Suzuno," Tatara explained, " shows the Byakko no Miko merging with Byakko, the White Tiger." She sighed in relief. Thank god that she wasn't going to die. If not, it'll be all to tragic if she died in a book without her family members around her.

Her family members.Suzuno thought of her father, who was always working, year in, year out. Sure, he celebrated her birthday and other special occasions, but it wasn't enough. What happened to quality time with me ? She thought sadly. How she wished that her Daddy would come back to her.

" Uh.Suzuno ?" Ayako waved a hand in front of Suzuno's face, " You went off in your own little world, just now. Tatara's gone to help Grandma, and I gotta get you clothes. What do you think of this ? I think it'll look perfect on you. Hope it's comfortable enough." She held up a lavender robe that had little violet butterflies embroidered on it.

" It's beautiful." Suzuno said, taking it and feeling the material. Wow.silk. But then, this was China, or something like China, wasn't it ? Ayako left, and she changed into the robe. So this was an alternate world in a book, no less. Suzuno prided herself on being a logical person, but somehow going into an alternate world through a book didn't make sense. She didn't believe in magic. Magic to her was magicians grabbing bunny rabbits out of big top hats like those that she had watched on television. Magic to her was stupid and really lame card tricks that her friend Akiko liked to do. Magic was.she didn't know, like some cheap trick. This was all probably a really fanciful dream. When she woke up, she'll be back in Japan.

At least that what Suzuno thought. Immediately, she pinched herself really hard. " Ow ! That hurt." She said through gritted teeth. Suzuno didn't like to show weaknesses, it was too easy that way for someone to hurt you where it hurt the most.

" SUZUNO ! DINNER !" Mieko or Ayako hollered. Suzuno immediately ran down. Hey, even if it was a dream, she felt she should enjoy herself in good company before waking up. Her mouth watered as she saw the number of dishes on the large dining table and the smells wafting from them made her drool. Everyone took their places at the table, and dinner started. They chatted and ate hungrily. Suzuno sat quietly, eating rice with her chopsticks silently. " Here, Suzuno !" Mieko, who was next to her, picked up a piece of fried chicken with her chopsticks and put it into Suzuno's bowl. " Thanks," Suzuno said, surprised, " Why did you do that ?"

Mieko replied, " We do that all the time here. It's a common practice, and shows your care for the person you give food to. You mean you don't do that in uh.Joopen ?" " No, we certainly don't." Suzuno answered.

Suddenly, their happy dinner was interrupted back something or somebody bursting into the door.