Part Seven: School is not barbaric

Disclaimer: (sigh) I don't own Fushigi Yugi.. yet

A/N: Ok, more new (and old) characters now. Hope ya like it, I do! Also, not to offend anyone, but this goes kinda deep into the area of High School Cliques. Yes, that's right I stereotype some characters. Don't hate me, it was vital to the plot (trust me) and also, I am in high school and I understand a lot about this whole thing. (I am living it after all) and in case you are wondering.I am a nerd/tomboy/loser dating a punk/poet.screw stereotypes! (And one of my best friends is a verrrrrrrry preppy ballerina!)



The next day was Sunday, and the kids persuaded Taka to drive them to the mall (in the van). Jielain put up a bit of a fuss when she saw the start moving, but Taka did an excellent job of explaining things in the world to her. "A mechanical horse" was the term he used. They agreed to spend a few hours there, because they had to be home in time for dinner. Keisuke, Tetsuya and Yui would be over to meet Jielain, who was the object of much curiosity.

"Tasuki got laid?" Yui had asked Miaka when she visited yesterday.

"No, much worse, Tasuki got married." Both of them pondered over that and discussed the strange happenings of the universe of the four gods.

"Maybe this is Suzaku's way of telling me how my friends have been." She said. Yui nodded. "I often wonder about them myself, ever since the OAV, it's been very uneventful. I guess this was just a matter of time in happening."

At the mall, the twins took great care in choosing some presentable clothes for their new friend. Miaka had insisted that they take her with them to school tomorrow, and that they buy her some clothes, their treat.

Chuei and Chiharu argued continuously about what was appropriate for the bandit to wear, before deciding on some blue jeans with some different tops, a cute knee length dress of dark blue stretch material, and a pair of sneakers. Jielain was so in awe she forgot to fight with Chiharu about the dress and found herself whisked into so many stores there was no time to be picky.

Jielain was worn out by the time Taka drove up to pick them up. But still, there was no time to be tired as they hurried home for supper with Yui and Tetsuya.

"I'm glad we got you some presentable clothes. Too bad we didn't have more time, or we could get you some nice sandals too." Chiharu said, pondering.

"You have to let me do your hair tomorrow, ok?" Jielain frowned.

"Why?" she asked. Personally, she liked having her hair in a ponytail, to keep it out of the way. The only reason she kept it long was because her mother always had long hair, and it made her feel a little closer.

"Because it's so pretty! Why do you hide it in a ponytail anyway? It isn't not-cute, but it could be cuter." She made an example of her own hair by tying it up quickly in a bun then letting it down.

Jielain grumbled. "Bandit's don't care how they look. I'm not trying to impress anyone." Chiharu sighed. Obviously it would take some work to persuade Jielain to let her feminine side out. The girl didn't see it, but if her love radar was anything to rely on, she would soon. As if on cue, the van stopped in the driveway and Chuei opened to door for Jielain, giving her a hand down. Chiharu grinned.

Thankfully for everyone, Yui helped Miaka with dinner, so most of it was still there when Taka and the kids got back. Jielain found herself answering question after question about Boshin, Houki, her dad, the palace, Kouji, Chichiri, Taiitsukun, Lai-lai, and herself. Some of it was embarrassing, like when Miaka asked if she and Boshin were an item. Jielain spit out the food in her mouth with surprise.

"Priestess, Boshin and I are friends, grudgingly. He has a girlfriend at that, an' I'd never ever 'date' him. He's a real brat." Miaka pondered that.

"Is he cute?" she asked. Jielain blushed.

"I dunno. I never checked." She stared into her plate, ignoring the fact that Taka, and Yui were trying hard not to laugh. Miaka noticed, and apologized for embarrassing her. "I just wanted to know if he was anything like his father is all."

"Unless his father was a self absorbed day dreamer, I doubt it." Then the adults did laugh, quite to the discomfort of the kids.

"Mom," Chiharu asked. "What we really need to talk about is why Jielain came here." As if to make her point she pointed to herself and her brother. "Are we some kind of freaks? And what about Kourin?" Taka blinked.

"Kourin? As in that girl who was here?" he asked. Chuei nodded, and Miaka jumped up.

"I knew it! That was the name of Nuriko's little sister!" Everyone stared, then Taka and her pondered. "She had purple hair, and a beauty mark and she sounded like Nuriko." Yui nodded.

"Miaka, do you think maybe if it is Nuriko's sister, that's why you freaked out after hearing him, I mean her, on the phone?"

"YEAH!" Miaka yelled, jumping up and knocking over her plate. Luckily, it was empty. Taka tipped it back right ways for his wife.

"Priestess, Chichiri sad that the warriors may be Close relatives or even the warriors themselves. That girl could be a warrior." She glared seriously around the table.

Keisuke, who had been quiet most of the meal, decided to put in his 3 cents.

"So you have Boshin, you, Chiharu, Chuei, and possibly Kourin. That would be five, and you need two more. You really should get to it. Are you taking Jielain to school? I bet the next warrior will be there, I mean, all of you are school age."

"That's right uncle Keisuke, 'Cousin' Jielain will be at school with us tomorrow." Chuei said. Keisuke nodded at his nephew. Thank goodness the boy didn't take after his mother, if he did, they would all be in for a bit of trouble.

"Jielain, did Chichiri say if you needed a priestess for the ceremony?" Tetsuya asked. She shook her head.

"No, he didn't. I wonder if he thought it was obvious."

"I'll be your priestess!!!" Miaka said, yelling again. Taka bonked her on the head.

"Stupid! You're not even a virgin!" The kids all blushed, but Miaka just sighed and cuddled against Taka. "So? It was worth it." Keisuke pretended to barf, and Yui took her turn bopping Miaka. "Enough of that! Back to the real problem!"

Chuei cleared his throat. "Well, I guess we need to find a priestess too. Will any old girl do?"

"I doubt it." Taka said, "I mean, Yui and Miaka were both chosen by their respective beast gods. I think Suzaku will lead you to her."

"What if Seriyuu wants some warriors too? Some of the Seriyuu seven died in this world, so do you think they'll bother us?" Everyone glared at Keisuke for being smart.

"You like adding problems don't you?" Tetsuya asked. Keisuke rubbed his head.

"Just thought I'd warn everyone." They sighed and finished dinner, except Miaka who was already done. "Miaka, you'd think our mother didn't teach us anything." Keisuke muttered at her, guarding his plate.

The next morning, Chiharu and Jielain got into another fight over whether she should wear a boy's school uniform, girls, or her bandit clothes to school. Chuei avoided them until they were about to burn the house down, then he told Jielain to wear the girls' uniform, but she could wear her tessen and bandit jewelry. Jielain complied and wore her white blouse under one of Chiharu's extra uniforms. It was similar to a Furinkan high school uniform, but navy.

Chiharu face-faulted when she saw her. "No! You can't wear those boots! Wear the sneakers we got you, borrow some of my socks. And you have to wear a slip because I can see right through that cotton skirt. Oh, you're wearing boxers huh? Don't you have any panties? Look, their poofing the skirt out!"

Jielain went into Chiharu's room. "I don't care what you think!" she said. Chiharu rolled her eyes. "Do you care what Chuei thinks?" she took Jielain's blush for a yes.

"So what if I do?" she asked. Chiharu sighed.

"Please let me help you dress appropriately in this world?"

"Why do you care if I do good or bad here?" Jielain narrowed her eyes at the pretty blonde. "I thought you hated me." Chiharu sighed again.

"No, I don't hate you- but I do have a reason for helping you. My brother is a nice guy. I want him to be happy. I think someone like you is just what he needs." Jielain could only stare.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes. Now get undressed and we'll start over."

Twenty minutes later, Jielain accompanied the twins to the bus stop outfitted like an almost normal person. If it weren't for the tessen strapped to her back and the weird jewelry, it was impossible to tell she was from another world. Chiharu even told her how to walk so that the skirt, which was a little to short for the tall red head, didn't show anything Jielain didn't want to. Of course, the slip and regular underwear helped, but Jielain was beginning to appreciate Chiharu's efforts. When the bus came, she was starting to feel more confident than she had any other time in this world.

Unfortunately, it was a short-lived confidence, because as soon as she sat down on the bus she became irritated by the kid in the seat ahead of her. Chuei sat next to her and Chiharu across from them, but the boy kept looking over the top and asking her stupid questions. Finally, she punched him in the nose, knocking him out. The bus became very still. "That chick just knocked out Shin!"

"Who is that girl?"

"I never saw her before. Weird looking though." Jielain flushed and sat low in her seat. Chuei leaned over and grinned at her.

Chiharu was not amused. "You dolt! Don't draw attention! You're suspicious anyway! We don't need any trouble." Jielain glared, but accepted the advice. Chiharu had explained that violence was out of the question at school, and that cussing was forbidden in classrooms, and that there were a million other rules that Chuei would tell her as they went. She had to remember that she was their cousin Jielain Suriname from china, staying with them while her father is ill. She may have to return at any time, and she wasn't used to school.

That kid deserved it though, she thought, glaring at the rest of the world. It wasn't her fault.

When they got off the bus at the high school, Jielain noticed a change in Chiharu. She addressed them one last time, sharply, and walked away. Chuei and Jielain walked the other way. "What's with her?" Jielain asked. Chuei looked embarrassed for a minute before answering.

"We don't hang out together at school. She's a prep and I'm kinda nerdy. I was a jock, cause of baseball, but the other guys were being jerks so I left. I hang out with Mako and Yuki. Sometimes Kourin too."

"What's a prep?" she asked, following him to the bench where two guys were arguing about something. Jielain took those to be Mako and Yuki. One was short, with spiked black hair and the other was taller, green eyed with short brown hair and glasses.

"Dude! Whose the chick?" one of them asked. Chuei stepped back to introduce the bandit girl.

"Mako, Yuki, this is my cousin Jielain from China. You better be nice cause she can fight better than either of you." Jielain glared at the boys and sat down on the bench. Something wasn't right. Chuei sat beside the short boy, but met her glance at the same time. He felt it too. Jielain looked around into the crowd of people, but didn't see anything. It was more a presence than an actual feeling, and it made her uncomfortable.

"So Jielain, how'd you end up here with this guy? You look like one of Chiharu's friends." Jielain ignored Mako's question, concentrating on the presence.

"Chuei." She said, grabbing her tessen. "Something is over there." Chuei trusted her, and stood slowly. "Yeah, it's a.demon.getting ready to attack a girl.. with purple hair.Kourin!" Jielain spun around to face him, and smacked her hand on his forehead, flinching at the touch of his mark of Suzaku.

Mako and Yuki stared in disbelief. Chuei was always so sensible, that anything out of the ordinary was WAY out of the ordinary for him.

Chuei covered the symbol on his head with one hand and grabbed Jielain's arm with the other.

"This way!" he said. Jielain kept up easily, running beside him around the corner of a building. Nothing was there. The two kids stared at the empty alleyway, searching. Nothing. The feeling didn't go away. Chuei stopped short. "She's crying. The demon is right here! I see it!" Jielain held her tessen ready, but nothing happened. The silence was creepy. Finally, someone walked into the alley.

"Kourin?" Chuei asked, stepping forward. It was Kourin, and tears streamed down her face. "Oh," she said, wiping her eyes. She leaned back against the brick wall. "I didn't think anyone was here." Her short violet hair was down, and her school uniform was ripped at the bottom of the skirt.

"What's the matter?" Chuei asked softly. Just then, there was a movement in the shadows. "Watch out!" Jielain yelled, pushing them to the ground. The shadow then exploded into fury. "Rekka Shienen!" The shadow crept back at the fiery assault, but didn't disappear. Instead, it materialized into the shape of a boy. Shin.

"It's you." The bandit girl spat those words at the demon. The demon laughed.

"And you, from the other world." Chuei sat up and gasped.

"You're a warrior of Seri.wait.Aaauughhh!" He clutched his head and doubled over. Kourin cried out and grabbed a rock, hurling it at the boy. It struck him in the gut and knocked him off his feet.

"Whoa." Jielain said. Rocks didn't do that to a demon. Kourin wasn't a normal girl.

"Rekka Shienen!" she took advantage of the demon's weakness and hurled a fireball at it, hoping that a crispy demon was a dead demon. Unfortunately, the fire had no effect and Shin regained his balance quickly.

"You thought you could go into my mind did you?" he asked, advancing on the doubled over Chuei.

"NO!" Jielain yelled. Not Chuei, she would protect him like a fellow warrior should. Oh, if only Boshin were there he could slice up the stupid thing. Well he wasn't and she would have to make do. She circled around behind Shin to Kourin, who was trying to help Chuei up.

"Kourin, throw rocks at it. You're hurting him." Kourin picked up a brick from the ground where the wall was crumbling, and threw it at the monster.

"Oof! -Suzaku warriors! We will get you for this!" Shin dematerialized into a shadow, then disappeared.

"Did we kill it?" Kourin asked timidly. She looked like she was about to cry again. Jielain smiled grimly. "I doubt it. He'll be back, and I have a feeling he's just a minion." She kneeled beside Chuei and felt his forehead, then suddenly looked at Kourin.

"Kourin, please, pull your shirt down so I can see your chest." Kourin blushed deep crimson.

"What are you some kind of lesbian pervert?"

Jielain face-faulted and pulled her sleeve up to show her the mark of Suzaku burning on her forearm. "No! I need to see if you have the mark of Suzaku!"

Finally, the violet-eyed girl unbuttoned the top few buttons of her blouse and gasped when she saw a red mark shining there. "Oh." her eyes were wide with surprise, but at least she wasn't crying anymore. "You- you're that boy I saw Friday when I gave Chuei his book back."

"That's right, sep I ain't a guy. I just dress like that in my world."

She reached down and helped Chuei to his feet, supporting his weight with her arm. "Chuei and Chiharu are warriors of Suzaku also, and another boy named Boshin back in my world. We need two more and a priestess, then we go to my world for a ceremony to keep things in line between the worlds."

Kourin accepted that information without doubts. After fighting off a demon, anything could be true. Not to mention what her brother told her over the weekend.

The three made their way back to the main building for class, late already.

The morning wasn't too difficult, Jielain and Chuei explaining to each teacher the story, and pretending the office messed up her schedule so they could have all the same classes. No one made any more remarks about Jielain, but she got plenty of strange stares.

At lunch, Jielain and Chuei sat with Kourin to talk about the strange morning. Jielain was furious that Chiharu hadn't been there to help, and glared at her across the cafeteria.

"I guess my power is to tell the future, and yours is to fight and throw fire. But what about Kourin?" Chuei asked. He seemed to have fully recovered from the incident, but Jielain still kept a close watch on him.

"Super strength." She said quietly.

"Huh?" Jielain asked. She wondered about her mark of Suzaku. It hadn't appeared before today, even when she was fighting. Chichiri said that it would appear when her father was no longer a warrior, because Boshin's did. But what about Chuei and Chiharu? Tamahome was still alive and their marks glowed. Jielain shivered involuntarily, praying to Suzaku that her father was ok.

"My brother Ryuuen told me about the book." Jielain was shocked back into reality. "Did you say Ryuuen? He died a long time ago, as a celestial warrior of Suzaku. I was named Jielain Ryuuen Chou after him." Kourin shook her head.

"My brother isn't dead. I saw him yesterday. And he looked fine."

Chuei, who had been very quiet, spoke finally. "I think we need to meet your brother, but that's not what's bothering me. My power- its not to see the future, its some kind of telepathy. I saw into that demon's mind before he blocked me out." His gray eyes went cloudy for a minute then looked up fearfully. "He was under orders to kill all the Suzaku warriors, by the power of Seriyuu." Jielain gasped. "What does Seriyuu have to do with us? These bastards are gonna eat flames."

"Suzaku and Seriyuu have been ancient rivals. Whenever one of them is up to something, you can bet the other will try and get in the way." Kourin said factually.

Chuei and Jielain stared. "How do you know all this?" Jielain asked, trying not to sound intimidating. Kourin blushed anyway.

"My brother told me all about it. He really was a warrior. It seems it is my turn now." Chuei nodded in agreement.

"Lets not tell my sister any of this just yet. I have a bad feeling about her." Jielain fumed. Chiharu was totally ditching them! Even after she told Jielain she should get together with Chuei! What a fake.

"Excuse me." Jielain said, pulling her tessen off her back and stomping over to the table where Chiharu sat.

Chiharu turned around gracefully and smiled at the bandit. "Why hello Jielain, having a nice day?" the other kids at the table looked uncomfortable that a member of their group was talking to a strange looking girl.

"Ya double crossed us didn't you Chiharu?" Chiharu blinked.

"What do you mean, cousin?" Jielain took a deep breath and pulled Chiharu to her feet. "Come with me." Chiharu paused to explain to her friends that she had to take care of some family business then followed Jielain angrily.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" she said, pulling away from the bandit. They sat down next to Chuei and Kourin.

"I ain't accusing you, but you need to stay with us for now. This is serious business and lives are on the line."

"Jielain I thought we agreed not to tell her." Chuei said, sighing. "Tell me what?!" Chiharu was on the verge of exploding.

"Now, Chuei." It was a command the way Jielain said it, not an exclamation. He got the message. Closing his eyes, he tried to see like he had that morning. "She's taking the tessen.and beating Jielain over the head.now she's crying. inside. You didn't mean.what?" Chuei broke the connection when Chiharu stood up.

"Stop it!" she yelled. "I didn't know what you're talking about! The only reason that I don't hang out with you guys is because we aren't in the same click. Its nothing personal."

"Well if you're reputation means more to you than your duty as a celestial warrior, you are one lousy friend." Jielain said vehemently.

Kourin spoke up. "Chiharu, I stopped eating lunch with them because they told me I couldn't talk to Chuei any more." Kourin stared at Chiharu misty eyed. "I thought you would too when they kicked your own twin brother off the table. True friends are those you live and die for. I thought you knew."

"I do know, but I also know that there are no such things as friends like that. I learned that you be nice to who you have to and take what you want."

Jielain stood up. "I resent that you bitch! Yesterday I would have given my life for yours, and now you just say something like that? What about what you said this morning!? I thought you understood. I guess I was wrong." She sat down, still furious. A few hours ago that same girl told her she wanted the best for her brother and for her, and now. Chuei shook his head.

"Chiharu, I know you aren't a bad person. You're just confused. That's why I still act normal to you even when your friends are around. If you want, we'll forgive you."

Chuei's eyes mirrored his sister's, except for the coldness. It was hard to believe that two siblings could be so different. Then Jielain remembered the Seriyuu twin story. They cared deeply for each other, even thought they took two totally different paths. Chiharu was on the other side, but not unreachable yet.

"We'll see you at dinner." Jielain said finally. Chiharu left, but didn't go back to her prep table. No one noticed.