DISCLAIMER:
DISCLAIMER II: This is the third or fourth time I've forgotten it. I'm such a ditz. But if you have to be told after all this time that I don't own Fushigi Yugi, then you're even more of a ditz than me.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Remember what I said about romantic tension, that's my only warning for this chapter. Well, that and language ^^ Gesshin! You foul-mouth!
I'm gonna try and do a sort of "mailing list" while I'm gone to let people know when I update stories - and if updates are even possible at all. If you wanna know when this story (or Market) is updated, just leave me your name and e-mail address somewhere, in a review or an e-mail or whatever, and tell me what story/stories you'd like to know about.
OK, Answer the Questions session!
Um, I guess you could say yes and no to the "my first fanfic" question. I started writing/posting another fanfic under a different name and in a completely different category last year, but it never really got off the ground - exactly four chapters in seven months. SHORT chapters, too. That one's been abandoned since last July, almost a full year. This is the first FY fic I ever started writing, although I didn't start posting it 'til January, so I was able to go back and reread it all and rewrite parts of it, using lessons learned on other stories. And I wrote before this, just not fanfics. (One of my mythology teacher's favorite things to do was give us a stereotypical myth-plot, like a Flood Myth, and have us come up with an all-new myth using that plot. We did Quest Myths, Flood Myths, Destruction Myths, Creation Myths, and more - it was pretty fun!) Hope that answers your question Mercury Angel!
It wasn't physically hard to get in, but it was nerve-wracking and competitive on a completely different level than athletics (I've been through both, that two-month wait was soooo much worse than any sports event I ever entered). It's not college, but it takes place at a college, and a lot of people say it's the closest thing you could ever get to college while not being in it. I'm starting to get nervous and excited, I really don't know what to expect down there!
I'm gonna try to keep the updates going while I'm down there, and I have recently found out that you have basically half the afternoon and the entire evening to do as you wish, so unless something unusual pops up I should be able to get to a computer. It all hinges on if the floppies I bought and the computers that are down there are compatible with ff.n. If I can do ff.n uploads I'm gonna try and update my site as well. Oh yeah, I need to take my table layout code down there as well... Thanks Lib-chan, you're the BEST!
SilverDragoness, I'm worrying over just which page you'd take out of Nuriko's book... Don't hurt me, please! ^^ Chibigreenwizardmon glad you liked the twist, hopefully you'll like what's coming up in the next few chapters as well! Stormlight, here's more, are you happy? ^_^ qkslvr, that is reaaaaaaally cool. Sorry, I have this fascination with languages ~grins~ Especially ones people don't think of a whole lot. And knowing slang in those languages is the best! cory, you rock. Seriously. Thanks for coming back and telling me I'm still doing good!
Kryssa, you realize the thing didn't put your name in? But fear not! I recognized your closing line and did a little detective work! ^_^ I am inordinately pleased with myself about that for some reason... I bet you're right about the Mary Sue thing. I never wrote one (intentionally, this one probably comes the closest to a Mary Sue of anything I've put out), but it's verrrrrrrrrry widely known that I am bizarre and strange etc, and several other people do write them. I admit some of them aren't bad, some are even very good, but a lot are fomulaic. Sigh. I really don't know what's gonna happen with these two at the end - although at the place I am now most of the characters like to give them a hard time ^_^ But that's just my teasing nature poking through, I can't help it. But thanks for saying it's believable, that makes me feel so much better! More at ease is probably the correct phrase. And I'm gonna let people wonder about how things end up with Ashitare at the climax - I know, but I'm not telling ~Evil Grin~
~sighs~ Mikka-chan, I love you, I really do, but I really don't know what's going on or if there's going to be shounen ai, and I'm not writing in anything that doesn't fit with the flow of my story. I know a lot of people like Nuri/Hori (I do too if it's written well, such as Ryu-chan's and Mouse's stories) but in the good stories it always flows with everything else. I'm not gonna change the entire tone to pair them together if it doesn't fit. I'm writing off the top of my head here, so I can't say whether Nuri-chan still like Hotohori or not because I haven't figured that out. ~hugs Mikka-chan hard~ I'm sorry for sounding really annoying and irritating and non-listening and I don't want to hurt your feelings in any way. It's just... that's the way it's gotta be for this story. But I CAN promise that I don't put any intentionally-romantic scenes in - a lot of it's teasing the two involved ~coughcoughscenewithGesshininthischaptercough~ or feelings that come out of extreme situations. Nothing else. In fact, most of it IS teasing... ~grins~
Progress update! This one's coming easily to me now! I finished chapter 22 and have already gotten a big chunk of 23 out of the way! Sha-WIIIIIING!
BAM.
Reijirou tried to duck as pieces of old concrete both large and small went flying everywhere, but Nuriko held him upright. ~ Baka. ~ Nuriko was amused by the instinctive reaction. ~You're punching away from yourself. That's where everything will fly to. ~
Remind me again why we're doing this, Reijirou sighed, rubbing the knuckles of his right hand. They were scraped and bleeding from the hour of punching down crumbling walls he'd just endured. His left hand wasn't fairing much better. He cast a glance out the window a few feet away at the setting sun. They were on the sixth floor of a closed office building two blocks away from Gesshin's apartment. Reijirou had not wanted to come to the area again, but it was the only place he knew of that fit Nuriko's requirements: private, easy to get to, and no one would care about things being destroyed. The city was planning on tearing the building down soon, and vandals with spray paint had already been at the place several times. He severely doubted anyone would care about a few missing walls.
He felt Nuriko sigh inside him. ~ Look, I know you don't like this, but we've got to toughen you up. You're strong, and together we're stronger, but you're not used to the type of fighting we'll be going through. ~
Yeah, I know, but why concrete? He'd taught Nuriko another new word. It hurts!
~ That's the point! You'll get calluses a lot quicker on this rough stuff. Then you won't bleed or hurt. ~ He broke off abruptly and Reijirou's body wheeled to face the entrance. ~ They're coming. ~
At last. All right, out. Nuriko separated himself from Reijirou and exited his "twin's" body, his pale-and-dark purple outfit standing out starkly against the mid-tone gray concrete walls. "Hey, Nuriko."
"Hai?"
"How do you do that? Know when they're coming like that."
Nuriko grinned. "Seishi trait."
No hope for learning that trick, then.
A thud that sounded suspiciously like a body hitting the steel stairs outside the room, followed by a string of muffled profanities, drew Reijirou's attention to the door Nuriko's turn had made him face. Gesshin came through the empty frame, rubbing his shoulder and cursing under his breath, followed by a widely smirking Tasuki. "Better watch it there pal, ye're gonna take yer head off if ye're not careful."
"Shut up," Gesshin growled. Reijirou and Nuriko grinned. The two redheads were getting along much better.
The day before Reijirou had arrived in Dr. Seo's office to find him and Mitsukake reading the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho (for the third time). The doctor and healer helped Reijirou, Nuriko, and Miaka revive Gesshin, then Reijirou/Nuriko had literally held him down while they forced the truth on him. Reijirou had grinned when his prediction had come true: Gesshin had sworn, denied, flailed, yelled, along with various other things, and had been shocked into silence when Nuriko had appeared. Risako had rushed in then, saying she'd never have time to do her research, to which Reijirou had countered at least it wasn't happening during classes. The six of them had taken the opportunity presented by Gesshin's silence and performed what had to be the most haphazard calling ceremony they ever would. Reijirou had been wrong: Gesshin hadn't tried to run out of the room screaming, but only because he'd been petrified with fear (Risako conceded him the point). Nuriko and a much more subdued Mitsukake had an enthusiastic reunion with Tasuki, who was as ghostly pale as the other two. Miaka hadn't been in as bad shape as even after Mitsukake's summoning and promptly glomped onto the bandit, hugging him tightly as she had Nuriko. It seemed Reijirou was the only one to notice Risako subtly brace herself against the wall with her hands, looking worn and slightly pale. But in all the excitement of trying to get Gesshin to actually look at Tasuki, then trying to catch him when he'd bolted from the room, he didn't get a chance to ask her what was wrong.
Tasuki turned his smirk to Reijirou. "Why'd ya have t' go and make th' new me so un'daptable t' change?"
Reijirou grinned back; he got along with Tasuki as he got along with Gesshin. "I didn't do it, he's been like that since we met."
"No I have NOT!"
"Yes you have."
Gesshin suddenly grinned evilly. "Better watch it or I'll tell 'em what ya were like as a kid – Reijie-chan."
Reijirou's eyes widened in disbelief, then he quickly grabbed the taller boy by the shirt collar and clouted him across the head. "SHUT UP!"
But the damage had been done. Reijirou heard Nuriko snickering in the background and quickly looked at him. The seishi wore their shared mischievous expression yet again, making him dread what would happen. "Reijie-chan? Hmm…" He deliberately looked up at Reijirou, smiling innocently. "This could have some interesting possibilities."
Reijirou groaned. "Can't you keep your big mouth shut Gesshin?!"
"Why? Ya embarrassed?" His fangs showed nicely as he smirked. "'fraid a certain… person's gonna find out? Well, Reijie-chan?"
"Stop saying that already!"
"Who's this certain person ye're talkin' 'bout?" Tasuki inquired, picking up on potential blackmail material. "'ave I met 'em already?"
"Stop stop stop stop stop!"
Gesshin ignored him. "Yeah, she was there yesterday, ya r'member her."
Tasuki's eyes widened frighteningly. "MIAKA?!"
"Suzaku, I HOPE not!" Nuriko piped up. "She's had too many guys after her in the past as it is, we don't need another one doing that!"
"Ferget Miaka, it's not her already baka." Gesshin aimed a friendly punch at Tasuki, which the bandit ducked with a grin. "Think back. I know ya were bein' assaulted by Nuriko-"
"Hey!"
"-but do ya r'member th' other girl? Th' one with long red hair?"
"Shut up already, Fangy."
"Oh yeah, th' one who ran off somewhere right af'er. Wha's the name… Risako."
"Yeah, her. Well, Reijie-chan over there-" Nuriko had to grab Reijirou, who was red as a tomato, to keep him from attacking Gesshin "-wants t' go after her. And she wants t' go after Reijie-chan, don't ask me why she wants t' do that though. And they're both too damn chicken t' admit it." Gesshin grinned proudly as Nuriko tried to wrestle the furiously protesting Reijirou to the floor, not succeeding all that well.
Tasuki's face lit up in understanding. "I get it! So she's shy and he's jus' a wimp."
"That's 'bout it."
"What's wrong with him? He fuckin' stupid 'r somethin'? What I saw looked pretty damn good."
"And she's smart and she's in great shape. Reijie-chan's got his head on the wron' fuckin' way."
"Hell, acourse!" Tasuki grinned evilly, exactly like Gesshin had just minutes before, and elbowed his counterpart in the side. "Na, ya know what?"
"What?"
"I kinda envy ol' Reijie-chan over there. She looked like a girl ya could have fun with, if ya know what I mean."
"Especially when ya got the place t' yerselves and no one there t' catch ya!"
"My point 'xactly!"
BAM.
Two new Tasuki/Gesshin-sized holes appeared in the concrete wall Reijirou/Nuriko had been systematically destroying earlier, precise as if they had been removed with cookie-cutters. Reijirou and Nuriko slowly lowered their raised fists, glaring hard enough to put a few more holes through the wall with their eyes alone.
Muffled groans assured them that at least one of their victims (the one that needed to be) was alive as Reijirou stuck his head through Gesshin's hole and Nuriko through Tasuki's, assessing the damage. They didn't seem much the worse for wear; both of them had looked a lot worse in the past at some point. So the boys abandoned them in their new room.
"See? You're doing better already," Nuriko commented after a moment, when both of the victims could be heard moving around next door.
"Get me mad enough and it's not hard," Reijirou replied, smacking his fist into his left palm.
"Hmm, might wanna keep those two around then… nonononowaitwait! You don't want to hit me!"
"So why're we here? I jus' got off work, I gotta get home soon." Gesshin was holding a Coldpak to his head, just over the spot where a very large bump could be seen swelling. Reijirou, his knuckles bandaged, thought Dr. Seo had had incredible foresight when he had provided a portable first aid kit. "Mitsuyo's gonna be home soon, I gotta make dinner."
"You're getting incredibly repetitive. Maybe all that smacking around finally did something to your brain." Reijirou paused, then smirked. "Wait, you didn't have one in the first place."
"Cut it out you two, even Tasuki's behaving better than you." Nuriko sighed. "And you know why you're here. That call earlier today." Reijirou and Nuriko had come back from Reijirou's English class, making a brief stop for some food, and found a hurried message from Gesshin on the machine. "It wasn't very specific."
Gesshin grimaced. "I didn' have time t' leave a better one, and I figgered if yer dad heard it, ye'd be grounded or sent t' a shrink. He showed up at th' restaurant t'day."
He… Reijirou shuddered. "Ashitare." It wasn't a question.
Tasuki nodded grimly. "I watched him in that place, an' followed him a bit after. All th' time in there 'e was watchin' Gesshin, keepin' track of him like he was huntin' him or somethin'."
"Can ya maybe leave out th' phrase 'huntin' him'? Gives me th' creeps." Gesshin also shuddered. "I wasn' his waiter, thank god, but he looked jus' like ya said he would – really big, scar, everythin'. I could feel his eyes... eye on me all th' time. Freaky."
"What did he do after he left the restaurant?" Nuriko managed to keep his voice steady, though even he was somewhat scared. "Where did he go? What way did he turn?"
"He turned left, so he musta gone north. At least fer a little." Tasuki sighed and slumped against the wall. "I didn' follow him long enough fer him t' make a turn, I wanted t' keep an eye on Gesshin in case he had others doin' some 'f his fuckin' dirty work."
"Man, wouldja stop talkin' like that?! I'm gonna get freakin' paranoid!" Gesshin said.
"North…" Reijirou closed his eyes, trying to picture what all lay in that area. It was mostly the places where the high school and college kids hung out, lots of cheap coffee places, bargain clothing stores, and… He inhaled sharply as his eyes flew open. "Come on. Right now." He stood and began sprinting out of the room and down the stairs, trailing two confused but grim seishi and one person who was slowly beginning to understand.
"HER?!"
Nuriko grabbed Tasuki from behind and clamped a hand over his mouth, restraining the flailing arms with his free one. Reijirou glared back at him briefly, pausing as he opened the door to the music store. "Yeah, her. The one you killed. The one who will BE killed if we don't do something about it."
"Lay off her man, she's act'ally kinda coo," Gesshin added, determined to set his demented clone straight. "She went through some messed-up shit in yer world, ya can' deny that. But here she's just a reg'lar person."
"And she's my friend." Reijirou glanced once more through the window, hoping Kadiri hadn't seen him and Gesshin apparently talking to thin air, but fortunately she was busy ringing up a customer. "For the last time, come on." He pushed open the door the rest of the way, causing the large poster taped to it to flutter in the breeze, and tried to act completely normal as he walked in. "Hey, Kadiri!"
"Reijirou!" She looked surprised to see him, but finished with her customer before sprinting over to them and throwing her arms around his shoulders in relief. "You're okay! The way you looked last time had me worried, and you know I don't do that often!"
Reijirou grinned and hugged her back quickly. "I know, I know. So what's been going on around here?"
"Not much. Oh, Gesshin's here too, hi there." They grinned at each other. They had met more than once before, and the results were typically… interesting. Kadiri was pretty much the only female Reijirou knew who, when she was in the mood, would match Gesshin's language with her own, even fouler version. Their contests could be spectator events. "Shunji's been in this damn twist since you got hurt, muttering about stuff like 'employee compensation' and 'tax deductions'. I let him deal with it. We hired that new guy that applied, but he hasn't started working yet. Oh, and the latest shipment's come in, wanna see it?"
"Always!"
"Can I come too?"
Kadiri glanced at Gesshin's comical fake pathetic-looking expression and grinned. "I guess, just don't try to take anything, all hell'll break loose on ya." Reijirou and Nuriko swallowed laughter over his protests that he couldn't believe he would ever take anything, although in this case it was probably true, as she was also the woman he feared the most of all he knew. The boys and Nuriko, dragging the still-protesting Tasuki, followed Kadiri to the back stock room.
Reijirou grinned widely at all the nice cardboard boxes that waited to be unpacked, fresh music to be tried out. In some ways he loved music almost as much as running, and while he couldn't play worth grass he was a pretty decent singer. He could practically feel his latest paycheck waiting to rip into some of those boxes, but reminded himself that now he needed a new jacket more. Someone cleared their throat and he looked back to find Nuriko, who had finally been able to let Tasuki go, staring at him seriously. He reluctantly dragged his mind back to the present and borrowed Nuriko's expression to look at Kadiri. "Actually, this is a good place to talk."
"Talk? About what?" She grabbed one of the chairs scattered around the clear area of the floor and pulled it over to her, straddling it backwards and folding her arms over the back. "What's going on?"
Reijirou grabbed two chairs and pushed one to Gesshin, who sat with a thud, the two seishi watching from behind him. Reijirou grimaced as he took his seat. They couldn't tell her everything, not until they had found Yui, who had seemed to disappear. But she could definitely be on guard. "We have something to ask you, something pretty serious."
"What?"
"There's a guy – really big, probably seven feet tall, longish blue-gray hair, x-shaped scar over one eye, and way too many muscles. Have you seen him?"
She glanced down at the floor, her brow furrowed in thought. "I don't think so…"
"Are you sure? Try to think hard…"
"Wait… did he look kind of wild? Feral, maybe?"
"Yes." Reijirou grew even grimmer. "Then you've seen him?"
She nodded, wine colored-hair bouncing. "I guess I pushed it out of my mind, that guy was a fuckin' creep. Yesterday he came in and asked for some obscure CD I've never heard of, which was really strange. I thought I knew nearly everyone in the music business. He seemed kinda pissed that we didn't have it, if it even exists, and when I tried to give him the name of another store he could look he stalked out." She made a face. "Not a customer I was sorry to lose. What about him?"
"You might find this kind of hard to believe…" Reijirou drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. "He's the one that did this to me."
Kadiri's chair crashed to the ground as she jumped to her feet, a look of complete shock and anger on her face. "WHAT?!"
Gesshin nodded unhappily. "He did it. Damn bastard snuck up on him af'er he dropped me off at my place and nearly killed him. Then earlier t'day he came t' my new job and watched me. He didn' do anythin', jus' sat there, ordered, and stared at me the entire time he was there." He shuddered minutely. "Freaky. And then when he left, Ta- t' go somewhere, he came up t' this area."
"Is this fuckin' freak stalking us or something?!"
"Looks like it. And… he's already killed someone," Reijirou added quietly.
Kadiri paled several shades, her arms falling limply to her sides. "W-What did you just say?"
"He's killed already. Have you heard about Lowle Adam?" Reijirou kept a close eye on her, ready to grab her if the news overwhelmed her.
She swallowed minutely and nodded. "The college student they found yesterday… they said he was attacked… as was another Seinan student… It was you, wasn't it?" She only waited for Reijirou to nod before continuing. "But you got away and they didn't release your name. And… he didn't. Oh god. Oh god…" Reijirou and Gesshin both jumped forward as she began to sink slowly to the floor. Gesshin, being closer, caught her before she hit, and Reijirou quickly righted her chair. Gesshin made her sit, and they watched her anxiously while she tried to recover from the shock.
"Ya broke it too fast, man," Gesshin muttered under his breath.
"She's gotta know, how else could I tell her? Kadiri? You okay now?"
"You come here and tell me this fucking mental case wants to attack us or kill us and you expect me to be okay?!" Her voice was very forceful, and Reijirou grinned slightly. She'd be all right. "Good god, how do you expect me to take it?"
He smirked. "More along the lines of throwing your chair at me and saying 'You're fucking kidding!' but this might be better."
"I can still do that."
"I wanna ticket!"
Reijirou clouted Gesshin over the head. "Shut up idiot. Really Kadiri, be careful, all right? We don't want you to get hurt."
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself. But thanks for telling me." She glanced up at the large digital clock that hung above the door to the storeroom and sighed. "I better get back to work, Shunji's gonna kill me if he knows I walked away from the desk for that long." She stood up and brushed off her jeans, shaking her head to make her hair fall back in place. "Don't you two get into any of those boxes, or I'll have your hides." She winked and walked toward the door.
"Kadiri, hey, wait!" A flash of red burst past Reijirou to grab Kadiri's arm. "Look, promise us ya won' go anywhere alone. Tha's how he goes after people, when they don' got anyone else aroun' t' stop him." Gesshin looked about as serious as Reijirou had ever seen him, and he didn't let go of her when she tried to pull out of his grip. "Promise or I'm gonna start followin' ya everywhere t' make sure he doesn' go af'er ya."
"All right, all right, damnit I promise! Now let go, you hurt!" Gesshin finally relaxed his grip and Kadiri yanked free. "You're almost as bad as Reijirou, you know that?" She glared mildly at him and stalked into the main store.
A string of cuss words from behind them heralded the end of Tasuki's silence. "… why'd we have to fuckin' tell her? She's the damned enemy!"
"Tasuki, we said it once, we won't say it again, but she's not the same person!" Nuriko glared at Tasuki, looking unusually dangerous. "Kadiri is a good person. Soi would have been a good person if her life had been better. So just shut the hell up about it!" CRACK. Tasuki sailed across the room as Gesshin and Reijirou shook their heads.
"Tell me man, am I really that bad?"
Reijirou grinned wickedly. "Worse, in some ways."
"Remind me t' see a psychoanalys' when all this is over."
"Will do."
Later that evening Reijirou was lying on his bed, trying to do his English work, when the phone rang. He ignored it, concentrating on memorizing the conjugations of English verbs, Nuriko peering interestedly over his shoulder. The rest of his family that were home ignored it as well, and it rang five times before he groaned and reached over to snag the portable out of the stand on the table next to his bed. "Damnit, can't they get it for once…" He hit the Talk button and contained a sigh as he brought it to his ear, pushing his shoulder up to hold it there and picking up his book again. "Enomoto residence," he sighed.
"Reijirou? Is that you?" Her voice sounded slightly panicked and she was breathing hard.
"Risako? What is it? Are you okay?" He closed the book and tossed it on the floor, sitting up and waving away Nuriko's questioning looks for the moment.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." She took a deep breath, held it for a second, then let it out slowly, calming herself. "But I just saw him."
"You what? Him? What happened?"
"I was at the movies… you know, the place near Seinan, and as I was leaving I felt these eyes watching me, and I just sort of casually glanced around and I saw him duck into an alley!" Despite her efforts, Risako's voice gradually grew louder and more panicked, rising sharply on the last few words. She was very, very upset.
"Whoa, calm down, where are you? Are you alone?"
"I'm in a phone booth about a block away from Seinan. Chomei-kun was with me, but he left before it happened."
"Chomei-kun?" Reijirou pushed back a sudden flash of envy. "Do you want me to come get you?"
"Could you? Please? I don't know what to do… I'm frightened."
Reijirou blinked at the phone, startled by both the words and the tone in which she said them – whispered, quivering. Risako, frightened? She was turning out to be as solid as a rock… Something else had to have happened. "Okay, stay right there, I'm coming."
"Thank you."
He hung up and pushed himself off the bed, vaulting over to his closet to find a jacket. Nuriko jumped out of his way, more than a bit confused. "What's going on?"
"She just saw Ashitare and she's scared out of her mind. Come on, we're going." He quickly shrugged the jacket on and grabbed the car keys, stuffing them in his pocket as he opened the door.
Nuriko wondered cynically how many times the two of them would be running down the stairs to the garage – he'd learned yet another new word – and jumping into the car before this was all over. He was almost beginning to wish he'd never been to Miaka's world, but mentally kicked himself for thinking along those lines – if he hadn't, Reijirou at least would also be dead. And probably several more of them, as well. He cast a quick glance at his modern counterpart once they were safely in the car. This time, there was something slightly different about him, a different look to his face. Nuriko could tell what it was; after all, he'd had enough experience with those emotions himself – worry, anger, and jealousy. He could only briefly wonder if Reijirou was fit to drive before the car peeled out, leaving visible tire tracks in the exit.
Reijirou might have broken Chiaki's speed record for the fastest trip to campus. Once they arrived at the main building he simply went down each street that passed it for a block, looking for the telephone booth Risako had mentioned. They got lucky with the third street – in the phone booth on the corner a dark shape with long hair was leaning against the glass, phone pressed to her ear as if she were making a call.
Reijirou pulled into a space on the curb and hurtled out of the car without bothering to open the door, raced to the booth and pounded on the glass with his fist. Inside, Risako jumped and whirled to face the noise. Relief broke over her face as she saw who it was. She jammed the phone back in the cradle, wrenched open the door, and practically fell out of the booth and onto Reijirou.
He caught her and pulled her back to her feet, trying to see if she was hurt. "Risako? Are you okay?"
"…so scared… I was so scared." She was clutching his sleeves, crying into his shoulder. Whatever had happened must have been worse than he'd thought. He glanced over at Nuriko, now standing next to the car. The seishi shrugged and shook his head; he had no more idea than Reijirou about what had passed. "Scared…"
"Risako, what happened? You wouldn't get this upset over just seeing him…" He tried to keep his voice quiet and calm but had a slightly hard time doing that as he wanted to find whoever did this to her and hurt them severely.
She gulped and drew a shuddering breath. "After… after I saw… him go into the alley, these two guys came out. They… they were looking for me, I know, because…" She took another breath. "Because when they saw me they headed my way. I… I could see them, but they didn't know that, so I started walking away like normal, but they followed me. And I walked a little faster, and so did they. Then when we were away from people they started running and I stopped thinking and ran for my life, but they were too quick, and they caught me not far from here, and…" She sobbed, unable to continue speaking.
"Oh my god…" Reijirou stared down at her in shock. Now it wasn't just pain they would get. "I'll kill them. Are you…"
"They didn't… didn't do anything. A car came by and scared them off. But they…" She buried her face in his chest, shaking with her sobs. "I was so scared."
He reached up and tried to soothe her, gently stroking her hair. "It's all right, it won't happen, I promise. Those bastards'll get what they deserve." She continued crying, but less violently than she had been. She was also going limp; the evening had worn her out. "Come on, let's get you out of here." She nodded silently and let him steer her over to the car. Nuriko opened the door, watching her with great concern on his face. Reijirou ended up having to pick her up and put her in the car, as she wasn't in enough control at the moment to do it herself. The two boys exchanged quick, worried looks, then Nuriko hopped into the backseat and Reijirou went around and resumed his place behind the wheel. He started the engine, ignoring its loud protests, and set off in the direction of Risako's home.
They had barely gotten two blocks from the campus when she spoke up suddenly. "Stop the car."
"What?"
"I said… stop the car. I can't go home like this. I can't…" She didn't bother to wipe away the tears that were still flowing freely from her closed eyes. "I just can't."
"Risako…" Nuriko whispered from the backseat. A glance in the rearview showed Reijirou that the seishi's own cheeks were damp with tears, although he was trying to wipe them away. He glanced to the side at her still form, lit up only by the streetlights passing by overhead, and made a quick decision. He turned right at the next intersection, then continued for three blocks before pulling in to park by a meter. "Come on Risako, let's get out."
She finally opened her eyes to see the small park where they had first "met" Miaka, when Gesshin had tried to mug her. It looked almost exactly the same, but the cheerful sunlight was gone and the people that passed by were few and far between. The college nightlife lay on the other side of the campus, and most of the stores and restaurants had closed for the night. But even with the lonely feeling it seemed safe – only one person she knew, well, two really, and the comforting darkness all around… She pushed open her door and stood shakily on her feet, but at least she stood on her own. Reijirou circled the car to stand next to her and offered her his hand, which she gratefully accepted. He glanced at Nuriko, who shook his head and remained in the car. Reijirou nodded minutely, silently thanking him, then gently led Risako into the park.
They walked for awhile, not talking, simply moving together. She seemed to get a little bit stronger with every step, but still used him for support at times. He was glad to help and sickened that people would do something that would make a more stable person than he go off the deep end, and mentally swore revenge. But he kept the thoughts to himself.
On one of the paths they found a decorative bench that she sank down on, not letting him go. He sat next to her and put his arms around her shoulders, simply holding her and letting her cry.
AUTHOR'S NOTES II: I don't know, what gets into me in the early teen chapters? Why is it always now that my stories go depressing? Mehhhhhhhhhhhh, I wanna knooooooow.
For some reason the theory that Soi and the Suzaku people could actually be good friends makes sense to me, and made sense even before I began writing Kadiri. I don't know why, it just makes sense - maybe because she actually does help them in the series. And anyway, it's a new life! So why can't they be friends? ~cue up cheesy yet fun song that's at the end of Lethal Weapon 4~
And if you want to see just how much of a life I don't have, check out http://www.geocities.com/lai_nyan/rebirth.html - that's right, it's back on the web site, complete with mini-profiles to help you keep everyone straight! Ja!
