DISCLAIMER: Might've noticed that I forgot to put a disclaimer on the last chapter. Well, awhile ago, I said that any blank disclaimers should be taken as "Me no own". Any full disclaimers should be, as well. And this one's full!
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Why does my equipment always go screwy? ~moans~ Not fifteen minutes after I posted that REALLY wacked-out note, I do another test run in Word and the freakin' thing's back to normal!!!!!!!!! Made me not-too-happy. I decided not to take the note down though, because I still wasn't sure if I was gonna be able to get to this before the weekend was out because of ACTs and essays and Crime and Punishment and the like. Well, guess I was; actually, I'm ignoring CaP for awhile so I can finish this.
~grins~ Wow, you all are amazing! I can't believe I got threatened for that! And all the concern about Risako! My god, it's amazing, especially for an OC! ~is stunned and amused~ It makes my day, actually.
Keimei - congrats! You have good intuition ~grins~ Especially with Suezo. Things probably aren't quite the way you expected with him, but still, good job! I get into the explanation a bit in here, hope it makes sense.
Kryssa - same as usual, watch your mail. And I realized that the bold/italics thing happened when I went back to check and make sure the upload went through . I put in the corrected version within five minutes, but obviously ff.n didn't immediately pick it up --;;;; Ahh well. Just happened because I didn't have time to go back and check the HTML over. I know better now.
Skittles, PUT THAT THING AWAY! ~pulls out one of her array of computer-bashing things, ready to defend herself~ And I ain't that good! But thanks for liking the chapter!
~runs from yanagi_shuku~
Elwing, I've got a question for ya... but I'll just write you at some point (when I get the chance --;;;;). Actually, I don't seem to do Hotohori-as-a-peripheral-character so well, so I'm never quite comfortable when I write Suezo. I've gotta get in his head, as happened in last chapter. But I guess I'm doing something right. ~grins~ You can have glomping rights on him, if you want. I think someone (~coughcoughKriscough~) already claimed 'Chiri... for everything. Although maaaaaaaaaaaybe I should pull a certain CS author in here to aggrivate her... ~grins~
CLAMP... you've actually stumbled onto a touchy situation. Stay tuned.
Umm, Chibigreen... armadillo? I'm lost ^^;;
Stormlight, you know I'm evil ~grins~ Why should this be any different? And there's more Suezo and Hotohori in this chapter. Hope that makes you happy ~grins~
Draconsis, that's what I'm saying! Unfortunately I can't figure out any way to get them in! It's fairly unbelievable that they'd hang around with Reijirou and his group, after all, so it's haaaaard. But I have an idea.
Lib-Chan, I dare because I care! Heheh. Hope your nails aren't as short as mine - which are so short, people look at them and go "Doesn't that hurt?" (And I am perfectly serious about that). And yeah, I'm over the writer's "mountain", but now I have no tiiiiiiiiiiiiiime! ~wails~
Hotaru Tomoe, thank you! ~hugs~ I hope you still like this!
Exie, you're as bad as I am! ~laughs helpessly~ Yeah, I wanna write that thing, to clear up some questions and get a detailed Seiryu summoning in, but as with everything else... Time. Time's my enemy. I need more hours in the day - and a father who'll listen to me.
Yep Flying heart, the look on Risako's face when she sees the "quadruplets" is amusing ~grins~ I think I'd be doing the same thing in her shoes - no, wait, I'd go over to them and start poking them, trying to find differences that way ~laughs~ I think I'd be throttled by twin fangirls for that, though.
And Kuruwa, I've actually had this chapter finished for awhile. It's just we're only getting to posting it now! ~grins brightly~ Have fun!
There was one moment of silence as everyone looked at each other, Chiaki's scream still echoing dully around the room. Then, led by Gesshin, who'd been nearest to the door, a wave of running feet pounded in the direction of the outer rooms-
"HOLD IT!" Soi jumped in front of all of them, her arms held out and sparking blue that definitely looked threatening. The group stopped suddenly, watching her warily and expecting to be electrocuted at any second. "Everyone's scared, but you all can't go! Think of the explanations that'll come after seeing ten or so random people pouring out the door!"
As much as anyone wanted to deny it, she was right. It was next to impossible for Chiaki and the others out there to ignore a sudden flood of humanity from a room they presumed to be mostly unoccupied. But they wanted to know what was going on!
Then, just next to Soi, a slightly smaller figure flickered into view, a panicked expression on his face. "It's Risako-san!" Amiboshi gulped, plainly scared for her. "She passed out! On the floor! With no cause!"
"All right, get out of the way Soi," Reijirou said determinedly. She was his friend; he wasn't staying back there any longer. "I'm going through."
"An' me too." Gesshin nodded at Reijirou, and the two of them brushed past the Seiryu seishi and practically flew out the door, taking the mess in the office in two leaps each, then bursting through the curtain and nearly falling over the counter. As it was Reijirou did hit the corner, hard; it buried itself into his stomach, making him double over it and gasp for the breath that had been driven out of his lungs. Gesshin scrambled around him and raced into the open. Reijirou saw him drop to his knees next to Risako, who lay face down on the floor, her hair scattered messily around her head. He quickly peeled himself off the counter and clambered over it, not wanting to waste time going around, and let himself fall next to Gesshin. Both boys were panting, wide-eyed, and staring.
It just didn't seem real somehow, that she'd be lying there for no reason, with no sign of life. Reijirou quickly reached out and turned her over easily, trying to be careful. Even her face was pale as marble. The only indication she was alive was the slight rise and fall of her chest, but that was vastly reduced.
Chiaki, Hajime, Katai, and Shirai were all grouped on her other side, with Suboshi standing behind them, all of them watching her just as anxiously as Gesshin and Reijirou. "She…" Hajime began, shocked almost to silence. "She just… just fell… she was walking, and she just fell…"
There was a pop from the side, and Suboshi jumped back in surprise; Mitsukake had just appeared at Risako's head. He took in the situation at a glance, remaining surprisingly calm, or at least no trace of surprise or panic passing over his face. He calmly put his left hand on Risako's forehead and closed his eyes, and the green light that was visible only to some began to filter through his fingers. The light quickly faded and he opened his eyes, a slight smile spreading over his face. "She'll be all right."
Reijirou managed to restrain a huge sigh of relief and Gesshin ducked his head to hide his grateful grin; Katai and Shirai both recovered from their start from when he'd appeared and grinned as well. Chiaki and Hajime remained staring at the prone girl, unaware of any of it, but Suboshi spoke up. "Can you fix her?"
Mitsukake nodded and again closed his eyes. Once more the green light dazzled them, but it lasted for much longer this time. It was almost, Reijirou thought to himself, as if he was doing it slowly to prevent any awkward question from Reijirou's siblings. Risako's breathing slowly became deeper, the color crept back into her face, one of her fingers twitched. Chiaki, who was holding that hand, gave a joyful shout at the twitch, and instantly everyone began to look more optimistic. Then her entire arm moved, though slowly, sliding itself out of Chiaki's grip. And, at last, her eyelids slowly rose, revealing her brown irises. She sat up, slowly, using her arms as leverage, looking around at them all. "What… hap…pened?"
"I don't know… I just heard this thud and then I turned around and you were on the floor…" Chiaki said mutely, still fairly stunned with the suddenness of it all. "You should go to the hospital."
"No, no," Risako said, shaking her head as if to clear it. She looked around, moving carefully, managing to keep her reaction to seeing Mitsukake studying her hidden. "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's… it's happened before. Don't worry…"
"Better take her outside, she needs fresh air," Mitsukake instructed Reijirou quietly as Suboshi disappeared.
Reijirou nodded imperceptibly and stood, taking a firm grip on both Risako's hands and pulling her to her feet as well. Everyone else rose as he did. "I'm taking you outside. Don't argue," he added sharply when Risako opened her mouth to protest. "It's way too stuffy in here."
"Oh all right," she agreed reluctantly, making a face reminiscent of Naora. With Gesshin and Mitsukake following, Reijirou guided Risako out of the door, keeping a close eye on her in case she collapsed again. It was all they needed now.
Gesshin gave the others one of his best fanged glares to keep them inside, then quickly shut the door, accidentally pushing it half through Mitsukake, whose eyes widened at having a solid piece of wood go through him unexpectedly. "All right, what'n th' hell was that about?" The ever-eloquent seventeen-year-old asked, turning the fanged glare on Risako. "Does that shit really happen t' ya a lot?"
"No! It's never happened before!" Risako protested loudly. Reijirou was very grateful the bookstore was in a very infrequently visited area. There were still only a few cars up and down the street, parked next to the curbs, and the loudest sound besides their voices was the far-off freeway. "I've never just fainted! That scares me you know!" She yelled, almost panicked. "What if something's wrong with me?!"
"There nothing wrong with you," Mitsukake broke in, effectively drawing all three's attention to him. Both he and Murai were normally very stoic yet friendly persons. Now he was starting to look threatening and irritated. His eyes narrowed at Risako, as if she were a specimen he was studying, and she gulped, suddenly feeling about five. "Or there shouldn't be. That shouldn't have happened."
"Then why did it?" Reijirou asked, getting irritated as well.
"I'm not sure. There's no explanation for it, but I when I examined her, her level of ki was much too low to keep her awake. It wasn't life threatening." He had to raise his deep voice over the protests, curses, and exclamations all of them were releasing. "But it wasn't enough to keep her conscious. This shouldn't have happened. It all vanished very fast, and I can't tell why."
"You're joking, aren't you?" Risako asked, feeling slightly sick.
He gave her a cross look. "When I'm joking, you'll know it."
"Af'er all, this's Mits we're talkin' to here," Gesshin drawled sarcastically, just the slightest bit annoyed. "He never jokes."
"I tackled Tasuki, I can tackle you. Shut it." Mitsukake looked at Risako seriously. "If that ever happens to you again, I want you to tell me. You're a healthy person. We need to sort this out." Risako nodded feebly, still looking worried and feeling sick. Mitsukake smiled at her. "I don't think it will happen again; we just need to be sure. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a feeling everyone's clambering for answers." He disappeared, presumably to the storeroom.
Gesshin awkwardly put an arm around Risako's shoulders, sort of hugging her sideways, with a very odd expression on his face, since he did that sort of thing rarely (if ever). "C'mon, Risako. It'll be a'right. Ya heard Mits, he said ye'll be fine."
"Are you trying to convince her or yourself?" Reijirou asked, slightly amused, his sense of humor coming back as he began to relax.
Gesshin quickly tore his arm off Risako's shoulders and charged Reijirou with no notice, giving the older boy no time to flee before he tackled him to the sidewalk. Reijirou let out a strangled yelp as he landed flat on his back, banging the back of his head on the concrete as his breath was forced out of his lungs yet again. But he was used to this (he had to be, after knowing Gesshin six years) and he recovered quickly, punching back and trying to shove him off in revenge. Risako just stood out of the way, shaking her head, as the two of them expressed their deepest feelings by cussing each other out at the top of their lungs and trying to kill each other at the same time.
The door opened again, the little jingling bell tied with a piece of string to the inside handle giving off a discordant note to the shouting, and Chiaki peered out, no doubt drawn by the noise. She took in the situation at a glance and looked at Risako. "Not again."
"I would think you'd be used to it."
"I am, doesn't mean I don't get annoyed." Chiaki stepped out, carefully walked around the edge of the double-homicide-in-progress, and stared Risako directly in the face. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Risako nodded at the slightly shorter girl, thankful for the concern but also wishing she could get away and find out how the summoning had gone. "Yeah… it's exasperating, but it's nothing new," she casually lied through her teeth. She didn't like it, but it was for Chiaki's own benefit, after all. "It's happened twice; it doesn't last long, and I'm fine afterwards. And the doctor said there's nothing wrong with me," she hastily added as she saw the purple-haired girl start to open her mouth again. The doctor really had said that, after all… just not the doctor Chiaki was thinking of. Well, Risako would trust Mitsukake on things like this more than anyone, including Murai.
"Ifyou're sure…" Chiaki continued to eye her closely, and Risako started to get nervous. Had she been able to see right through the story? But after a couple of moments Chiaki once again averted her hazel eyes to the brawl, and Risako sighed in relief. "Yeah, they're like this all the time," Chiaki commented, mistaking the sigh for one of exasperation. The older girl grinned wickedly. "Watch this." And before Risako could stop her, Chiaki had dived into the middle of the fight herself.
Risako barely had time to get concerned for her safety (although she was sure the new Kourin could look out for herself) when the brawling stopped, and two figures lay sprawled on the concrete. They were no longer directing their vocal exclamations at each other, but rather at the petite figure that was standing straight up, one foot planted firmly on Reijirou's stomach and the other on Gesshin's, grinning evilly enough to give the redhead a run for his money.
"GODDAMNIT YA FUCKIN' CRAZY CHICK, GETTOFFA ME!"
"Say please!"
"Chiaki, just do it!"
"You didn't say pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase, Reijjie-chan!"
"Damnit, don't call me that!"
Chiaki glanced back over her shoulder at Risako, still grinning and somehow maintaining both her balance and her control over the guys easily. "Males."
After reassuring Hajime that Risako really was all right and giving both he and Chiaki time to get reabsorbed into their reading, Reijirou, Gesshin, Risako, Katai, and Shirai all crept, one by one (or two, in the twins' cases), back through the trashed office and into the storeroom. Amiboshi, Suboshi, and Mitsukake by then had had ample time to explain the situation to the others, but Risako was still pounced upon by Miaka, Yui, and Morin, each of whom felt her forehead and fussed over her until Risako had to break away by force. Thankfully that action proved to the three of them that yes, she was feeling perfectly fine, or Nuriko's strength might have been needed again.
Once everyone had calmed down sufficiently, events picked up where they'd left off. Hotohori and Suezo had had, as Nuriko and Reijirou before them, a semi-emergency to deal with immediately after the summoning, and semi-emergencies seemed to promote an unusual level of familiarity. They were perfectly fine with each other. It showed in the way they sat comfortably next to each other on a dusty crate, conversing quietly, unconsciously assuming each other's posture - these two were more alike than perhaps any pair before them, from the length of their hair to the color of their eyes to the tones of their voices. They also had the same aura of unassuming power, of being completely in control of themselves and events around them. Really the biggest difference was that Suezo was more relaxed and informal than Hotohori, but no one could fault the former emperor for that: it was natural to him and suited him to a stitch, just as Suezo's more laid-back attitude was right for him.
"So, what happens now?" Suezo asked casually, brushing his long hair out of his eyes.
Surprisingly, it was Kadiri who spoke up. "I don't know about everyone else, but I want to know what you meant when you said that you knew why you didn't belong, or whatever the exact quote is." Her blunt attitude easily made her the most intimidating female in the room, but it also reminded them of something they'd forgotten in Suezo's barrage of enthusiastic questions about the book and the world in it immediately after he'd been informed of what he'd been. "Did you really know about all this?"
Hotohori turned his politely puzzled glance to his modern counterpart. "You knew about Konan before this?"
"Not exactly… I wouldn't say I 'knew' anything, I just had this… this idea. This feeling." Suezo shrugged uncomfortably, not exactly sure how to present this so he didn't sound like a crackpot lunatic. Although if he hadn't had that feeling, he would have thought all of them were crazy earlier… "I've had it for as long as I can remember, even when I was a little kid. I'd just look around, and something would seem wrong. With the world, I mean. Then as I got older, I realize it wasn't anything wrong, just different. And that it wasn't the world that was different, it was me." He shrugged again, not sure he was doing a good job of explaining. "It wasn't anything bad-different, just different. And it wasn't all that big. I just got this feeling from myself, and occasionally from another person I'd meet as well - but no one else seemed aware of it, even the people with the same feeling."
"Hey, maybe it's a form of the déjà vu we're all getting," Hokusai spoke up, looking thoughtful. "Just in a stronger form. It probably had to happen to at least one person."
"Now you know why he's a writer," Morin teased from next to her husband. "Always coming up with explanations for everything."
"But still, he might be right." Keisuke stood and began pacing casually, thinking out loud, fingering his chin and staring at the ceiling. "Reijirou, you said you got déjà vu when you met Taka and Miaka, and that was before Nuriko came." Reijirou only nodded, not wanting to break the older man's train of thought. "And everyone else has said the same thing since then." He was answered with a chorus of "yeah"s and "right"s and one "get on with it already" until Yui silenced her own husband by digging her elbow into his ribs. "Can anyone remember when they first met others? Did any of you feel déjà vu then?"
There was a long silence while everyone sifted through their memories, searching for their first encounters with any of them.
"Yeah…" Katai said after awhile. "When I first met Reijirou-san a couple of years ago, it felt like I'd seen him before somewhere."
"And I remember Taka coming into the store once, and all I could think of was 'Did I know this guy at school or something?'" Kadiri added.
Hokusai nodded. "And when I saw Miaka and Yui, even though it was only a few days ago… I just thought it was hearing so much about them from Morin-chan." The other women hid smiles as he wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders.
"And of course when I met Miaka years ago, as Taka and not Tamahome… I got railroaded then." Taka's eyes were misted over as he looked into the past. "That was déjà vu if I've ever had it."
Keisuke nodded, grinning. "There we are. Even in this world everyone from the other shares a connection - perfect plot for a book, Hokusai." There was a slight round of laughter from the others.
"I guess I just have it stronger then," Suezo continued as the laughter died down. "'Cause when I met Chiaki I could tell immediately she was one of them. Or of we, to get away from the science fiction clichés." Everyone except the seishi burst into laughter again, trying to explain it to poor Nuriko, Tasuki, Mitsukake, Soi, Amiboshi, Suboshi, and Hotohori at the same time. Chichiri actually got the joke; Hokusai seemed to be instructing him in a lot of modern literature and pop culture. In the end they just left the explanation to the monk while they got their laughter out of the way. Suezo grinned along with the rest of them, but picked up again pretty quickly, unknowingly displaying his talent for capturing audiences. "I always try to talk with others like me - sorry, us. We just started talking in class, and it ended up…"
"Yeah, we know," Nuriko broke in, grinning.
"So what really does happen now?" Amiboshi spoke up, his blue eyes slightly overwhelmed.
"We let you three get used to modern society, that's what," Tetsuya answered, "and let Hokusai and Morin get to their dinner."
"Eeeeeeek!" Morin squeaked. Then she did a very convincing imitation of Nuriko as she sprinted for the back door, pulling her husband along behind her easily, leaving him to wave at the slightly stunned gathering they were leaving.
"Reijirou! Over here!"
"Neeeee, Reijirou! I'm open!"
"Here! HERE! SHOOT IT HERE!"
Reijirou easily dodged the flying body that was hurling at him, hooked the ball with his heel and kicked it back, quickly spinning and blasting it at Juzo. His friend was about ten feet behind him, with a much clearer shot at the goal. Juzo didn't waste any time: not even bothering to stop the ball, he simply ran up to it and blasted it into the goal, past Isamu, who dived worthlessly to stop it. Their team whooped and cheered as he brought them another goal closer to their opponents.
"Nice shot, Juzo!" Reijirou called as he ran past, back to the other end of the field, as the ball once again was put back in play.
"That wasn't a bad pass, either!" Juzo grinned back at him, looking eternally impish. "You've been practicing!"
"Yeah, I have." As Juzo was one of Reijirou's oldest friends (they'd known each other since third grade), he knew that the one sport Reijirou usually sucked majorly at was soccer. He could run, he could kick a ball, but he couldn't seem to do both at the same time. He kept playing in their group's games, hoping to improve and not really minding if everyone laughed at him, just as long as they had fun. But he was privately determined to be good at it some day, so he kept practicing, going to the small park near his house and just dribbling the ball for awhile. It was working - sort of.
"Now all we gotta do is get you to do that on the run," Juzo teased as they backtracked to their end of the field as their team recovered the ball.
"Ne, it's not my fault my feet wanna trip over it."
"DUCK!"
Reijirou wasn't stupid; he hit the ground as fast as possible. Juzo, who happened to be the best soccer player he knew, had decided to be mister sports-magazine and leap up in the air to slam the ball in for another goal. If Reijirou was still standing, he'd've gotten blasted in the forehead. Again Isamu dived and again it was worthless; the ball rolled off the very tips of his fingers and easily found the back of the net. More cheering and friendly insults flew across the field as Reijirou picked himself up.
"All right, break!" Orinosuke yelled as Isamu picked the ball out of the net, grumbling. "Ten minutes all right?" Voices were again raised in shouts of agreement as the guys stumbled, weary but happily, off the field to their duffel bags tossed to the sides.
I am so glad we've got time off, Reijirou said to himself. Everyone needs a day to relax. He collapsed next to his bag and dug out his water bottle, opening the top with his teeth and gulping the liquid.
It had been a fairly eventful week. Although they had been unable to find a suitable time to either talk to Daisuke or summon Chiriko, Team Seishi, as Hokusai had jokingly referred to their strange little group at one point (he regretted it a lot when the name stuck), had had their hands full dealing with the other seishi. Suezo had stolen the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho translation from Murai and was pouring over it at every opportunity, even in classes, and Hotohori seemed just as curious about the modern world. He was basically the equivalent of five Nurikos. And Amiboshi and Suboshi had discovered the joys of modern-day pranking, mostly owing to the fact that their reincarnations were a pair of young teenage boys, as they were themselves. The four of them threw the Aizawa household into confusion as a matter of routine now.
It was, in fact, the 'boshi quadruplets (another term Hokusai had coined) who instituted the need for free time. They just didn't understand about school, and Katai and Shirai had gotten in some serious trouble because of their seishi counterparts the second day after they were called. So the seishi had been spending the days in small groups and pairs, tagging along with only one, or possibly two, of the modern reincarnations and seeing the world from different viewpoints. The people who actually lived in this world were understandably reluctant to have seishi randomly popping up all over the place, so a schedule had been established to almost everyone's satisfaction. Reijirou had only been followed twice so far, but he knew he couldn't take much of it. Controlling Nuriko alone had been bad enough; attempting to keep Nuriko, Tasuki, and Soi contained took more energy than he'd ever had, let alone used.
Fortunately Kadiri had rearranged the schedules at the store to give them both light work hours until this mess was over, so he had more free time than he would have otherwise. And when Juzo had called, wanting to know if he was up for a pick-up game after Taka's class (Juzo wasn't in the class, but he knew Reijirou was) he was able to accept with a clear conscience.
Reijirou sprawled on the grass, the water bottle resting against his forehead in an attempt to cool himself off, watching the clouds scoot across the early April sky. In only days the cherry trees that were scattered around the park would burst into bloom, and just days after that they'd gently fall to their quiet deaths.
Even that solitary thought made him slightly queasy; he'd managed to forget most of the pain of his encounter with Ashitare/Akihiko in the ensuing chaos, but it was always brought back by even the smallest reference to death. It wasn't large, mostly just a twitch of the corner of his mouth, a slight movement of his shoulder, and a shadow passing over his face only for a brief second. But to those of them who knew him well, it was immediately apparent. They remained respectfully quiet whenever it happened though, choosing not to cause him more pain by reliving it.
In order to wrench his mind away from those morbid and depressing thoughts, he concentrated on figuring out what Nuriko might be doing right then. He was spending that particular day with Hotohori - which was another topic that made Reijirou slightly uncomfortable. Sure, he wasn't like that… or was he? Was Nuriko really like that? If Nuriko was, could he be?
He groaned and stuffed his duffel bag under his head to act as a pillow, unable to change the course of his thoughts again. He's always thought he was a very tolerant person - it didn't matter to him what you did, as long as you didn't hurt anyone or break any major moral rules. But now that the question wasn't just about someone else, but was, in essence, about him… He was finding it a little difficult to be so pragmatic.
Nuriko, as usual, had been able to sense the discomfort that had appeared in Reijirou when he had found out just who Nuriko was tagging along with that day: Hotohori and Suezo. And despite Reijirou's best sidesteps and evasions, Nuriko had eventually forced him to sit down so they could get everything out.
"All right, what's bothering you?"
"Nothing's bothering me Nuriko, for the seventy billionth time!"
Nuriko gave him an exasperated look, then sighed and shook his head. "You can't lie to me, you know. Just tell me already."
"I can very well lie to you."
"But I won't believe it."
Reijirou growled in his throat, but didn't respond other than that. A silence descended, as it had so often before with the two of them, but this time it wasn't anywhere near as companionable or comfortable as it had been before. Nuriko just watched him, but Reijirou couldn't bring himself to meet his counterpart's brown eyes, and just stared at his feet and the floor. The uncomfortable silence extended. It seemed almost an eternity later, but it could only have been a minute or two, before Nuriko seemed to give up and stood from his place on the bed, getting ready to vanish.
"I'm not-" Reijirou spoke up, startling even himself; he'd intended to leave it completely alone and hope it worked itself out.
"You're not what?" Nuriko asked, sitting down again. His "body" still left no indention in the mattress or blankets. It was slightly creepy.
"I'm not…" Reijirou couldn't find the words to express it on that track, so he switched topics. "How… How do you feel about Hotohori?"
Nuriko blinked in confusion, but quickly realized what Reijirou was having problems with. In truth, he was surprised it hadn't come up earlier - it had, but not since Hotohori had been called, which was the time frame that mattered. "What do you think I feel about him?"
"I don't know!" Reijirou sighed, feeling drained. "If I did, we wouldn't be sitting here now, would we?"
"No, we wouldn't." Nuriko watched the new him for another couple of moments, trying to figure out just how to put this. He didn't want to scare Reijirou, or freak him out, but being blunt was probably the best option. "I'm going to start talking, and you're just going to listen, all right? If you have any questions you can ask me when I'm done, but I don't want to be interrupted in the middle of something."
"All right, let's get on with it," Reijirou replied, mentally bracing himself.
Nuriko remained silent for another moment, organizing his thoughts. Then he opened his mouth and the words just came pouring out. "I don't know either, to tell you the truth. I did love him, I really did, but when I died… I was separated from him, miles away, and I'd just started changing again… I never did get to find out what would have happened between us if we'd seen each other again, if we'd just be friends, or something more. And I've spent time with him before, when we were searching for Taka's memory globes, but somehow this topic never seemed to come up." He smiled ironically, and slightly bitterly. "We're definitely friends. We kind of have to be, after all we've been through. But I was - and still am - really good at hiding my emotions. Maybe I even hid them from myself… I guess we'll never know now."
"But do you still feel that way about him?" Reijirou couldn't help himself; the question just fell through his lips.
Nuriko simply answered it, instead of chewing him out. "I always will, sort of. The whole 'first love' thing coming in again. But entirely?… I just don't know. I don't know how he feels either, and that'll play a big part… He's a wonderful person, no one can deny it. But if I feel anything more than strong friendship… I guess we'll find out." He smiled again, almost wistfully. "You've gotta remember it's a novel concept for me to have friends in the first place.
"Now, let's see why you asked that question," he continued before Reijirou could jump in. "I think I know why. I'm fairly sure I don't have that much of an influence over you. You're your own person, as you've proved several times over. So just as this is my decision, you have your own to make. Just take the choice that will make you happy, and that's all you can do. That, and hope."
Despite Nuriko's certainty that Reijirou was himself, and not merely the same person in a different time period, he was finding it slightly hard to believe. He liked seeing girls. But what if he was supposed to like guys? Would that mean his entire social life so far had been a lie?
Something heavy landed on his stomach and he sat up swiftly, his water bottle flying as he shoved Juzo's duffel bag off him. His tall friend was standing over him, grinning and blocking the sun with his body. "Wake up baka, I've tried to get your attention four times now. Day's too nice to be wrapped in thought."
Reijirou mock-growled and threw the duffel bag into Juzo's face, knocking him over in return. "Fair's fair."
"Yeah yeah yeah. Here." Juzo unzipped the bag and pulled out a small box, wrapped in the comics section from the paper, and a photograph. "Sorry I missed your birthday, but I'm only a month late this time. Hope this makes up for it."
Reijirou took the picture first and stared at it long and hard. It was of him and Juzo, when they were about in fourth or fifth grade, dressed in little baseball uniforms complete with caps, grinning like Cheshire cats. Juzo's right arm was over Reijirou's shoulders, and Reijirou's left arm was over Juzo's. Reijirou held a child-sized bat over his free shoulder, and Juzo's other hand was gripping a dirty baseball, proudly displaying it to the camera. It was incredibly familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.
"It's from when our team won the city championship back in fourth grade. See? There's your father." Juzo pointed to the upper right corner of the photo, and sure enough, there was Enomoto-san. Or his legs, which were all were visible of him, as he'd literally been jumping up and down like a maniac after that game. "Go on, open the box. It won't kill you."
Reijirou quickly shredded the newspaper, ignoring the cheap ink that came off on his fingers, and threw the trash in the general direction of his own bag. The box was simple and off-white, with no marks on it anywhere; he didn't spend much time inspecting it, but pried open the flimsy cardboard lid. A ball rolled onto his palm: the same ball that the Juzo in the photo was holding. "What the…?"
"Figure I've had that thing 'bout long enough. We both won it that day, it's your turn to keep the ball. Why'd you stop playing?" Juzo looked at him inquisitively, which was a foreign emotion to his face if Reijirou'd ever seen one.
"Track was better for me." Experimentally Reijirou tossed the ball in the air, fairly high. He easily caught it when it came down again. "More opportunity, and some other things."
"Yeah, easier practice schedule and you didn't have to deal with the tyrant. Still, you shoulda kept up, you'd be one of the best."
Reijirou threw the ball again. "I like where I am now."
As the ball came down with a smack in his palm, he noticed a figure walking along the path next to the field, nose buried in a book. A very familiar book, as a matter of fact…
He was up and sprinting across the soccer field before he knew what he was doing, closing in on the long dark red hair at fast speeds. "Why do you have that here?!" he hissed a bit breathlessly when he was close enough.
The Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho translation went flying. "GAH! Reijirou!" Risako caught the book in a semi-dive, glaring at him. "Don't DO that to me!"
"But why do you have that?!"
"I'm reading it, dolt."
"Hey, what's going on?" Unnoticed by either of them, Juzo had followed Reijirou on his unorthodox sprint, wondering what the hell was happening. He had the definite feeling that he was missing out on a big part of his friend's life.
Risako quickly hid the book behind her back as Reijirou played cover-up. "Oh, nothing, just saw Risako here and came to say hi… Risako, this is Juzo, Juzo, this is Risako."
"We've met. Weren't we in biology together?" Juzo inquired, switching his attention to the girl.
Risako studied him for a second, unsure. "Yeah, I think we were… and don't you play soccer?"
"You do too, if I remember right."
Reijirou looked at Risako in surprise. "You play soccer? You never told me."
"You never asked," she replied smugly.
Juzo grinned. "Honestly bud, I'm surprised you didn't know. She was all over the place in high school."
"What, you can't expect me to pay attention to everything," Reijirou grumbled.
"Hey, Risako-san, wanna play?"
Risako, no doubt about it, was good.
Reijirou's group played a slightly unorthodox form of the game (tackling people was always encouraged), but her smaller size kept her from falling into the traps a lot of the guys had, and allowed her to weave through large groups without losing the ball. She was, comparably, as good as Juzo. Reijirou could only stand on the sidelines (Juzo had unquestioningly given Risako Reijirou's spot on their team) and watch, jaw slack, as she and Juzo came from behind and massacred the other team. Isamu and their friends on the opposition were scurrying everywhere like ants, but could do nothing against the sudden onslaught they were faced with.
When the game was over everyone swarmed around Risako, asking when she'd showed up and demanding that she come back for the next match. At least six voices pre-claimed her for their team.
"I'm not making any promises," Risako yelled above the noise. "I've got work to do. But I'll see if I can."
They had to be content with that. It was getting late, so the group began to break up, its members yelling good-byes to each other as they slowly separated and headed in the direction of wherever they were having dinner.
Reijirou was finally able to reach Risako once the throng had dispersed a little. "You're good!"
"It took awhile to get that way, lemme tell you." Risako grabbed Reijirou's towel and swiped it over her face, still trying to catch her breath. "You off duty today?"
"Yeah, Nuriko's with Hotohori."
"I wish Suezo luck then. I had Chichiri and the twins yesterday, and thank god Chiri can keep his head through all this, that's all I can say." Even though she wasn't a seishi, Risako had also volunteered to be a guide and lighten the burdens on the others. "Ne, wanna come to my place for dinner? My parents would love to see you again. I think we're having gyoza tonight."
Reijirou shrugged. "Sure, I guess. Sounds better than warmed-over leftovers, which is probably all we've got."
"Well you don't have to sound so enthusiastic," she teased.
Reijirou rolled his eyes and gathered the rest of his things, stuffing them into his bag as they started walking in the direction of the Daishis' apartment. "You sure they won't mind me turning up like this?" He gestured to his gym-like attire and his sweaty hair. "I look like a mess."
"Yeah, for once." She grinned. "They won't care, Dad might even lend you clothes. If you can fit into them."
They ambled along, chatting easily about nothing much, the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho translation held tightly under Risako's arm. It wasn't far to the apartment, but it took them awhile to get around in the afternoon pedestrian traffic.
Risako was obviously annoyed by the speed they were making. "Come on," she said, grabbing Reijirou's arm and pulling him behind her into a clean-looking alley. "It's a quick shortcut, we'll be home much faster." Reijirou didn't like the thought of alley traveling, but he kept his mouth shut when he saw they were well kept and there was no one around. And they were making much better time than on the main street. He still kept half an eye out for trouble, though.As it turned out, a full eye might have been better.
Risako was just assuring him that it was only about three blocks to her building when she gave a yelp of surprise and fell back to smash against the plaster exterior of the building they were walking next to. For a split second Reijirou thought she had simply tripped out of negligence, but her sudden river of curses and - especially - the hand gripping her upper arm punishingly told a completely different story.
"You won't get away this time."
AUTHOR'S NOTES II: Okay, to clear up Reijirou's logic...
Reijirou: "I'm Nuriko. Nuriko is me. Nuriko was definitely gay at one point [his phrasing, not mine, I am of the "Nuriko loves based on personal worth, not gender" school of thought]. Nuriko might still be gay. If he is gay, then since he is me, am I gay too? Should I like guys or girls? Have I been lying to myself this whole time? Should I be doing what I'm not and not what I am? Should I even be thinking about this? GAH! I'm so confused!"
Hope that made it a little clearer ^_^
Celebrate! I finished 25! Actually, I finished it on Monday, but still. And I know what I wanna do for 26. And I finally know where Market's going. The only problem is finding the time to do pleasure-writing. Sigh... Don't be too surprised to find me falling behind. The College Crush is full on me, and the only way I'm able to keep posting now is because I have all these pre-written chapters. But I won't forget about you guys, I promise! You mean so much to me! ~hugs all~ Thank you so much for sticking with me through everything!
