Tadaima, minna-san! FINALLY, I'M DONE WITH THOSE STUPID REPORTS!!!! pant, pant Okay, I feel better now. Hopefully, this is the chapter you have been waiting for. Just what is Chiriko? Well, this is what I thought when I made a discovery some eight years ago. I mean, I was 13 then!!…Yes, I'm stalling. I love suspense!
Now, the disclaimer. I own nothing! I especially don't own Chiriko. Okay, I'd love to own the little sweetheart, but my survival rate of just me against Chiriko crazed fan girls doesn't look all that good, I'd hate to be dismembered, so…
Chapter 7, Himitsu
Voices…I hear voices. Do I know who owns them? No, no I…wait, yes. But, who are they? What happened? Why can't I…Itte! Okay, I won't open my eyes then. My head hurts. That's a good sign. You can't feel pain if you're dead, right? I think they noticed that I tried to move, they stopped talking.
"Chiriko-chan…daijoubu?"
Soft voice, like butterfly wings. I see the picture of a woman with purple hair…eto~…okay, man with purple hair…Nuriko-san? It's so hard to even think. Why am I so cold? I smell the fire, but I just so cold! I've never been this cold! Especially my back. It feels like I'm lying on rock.
"Chiriko-chan, the others will be hear soon. Just hold on."
Brownish-redhead. Miaka-san?
"Miaka, we've got to get that fire hotter. He's running a fever."
"What about Tamahome?"
"He's still out of it, too."
Silence. My head drifts back to my bed. Cold rock? The coolness seeps through my skin to my bones. What happened? Why will they not say?
"What…what should we do about Chiriko-chan's…difference?"
"You mean about his hands, feet and back? Well, you're the Miko. If you think he's life-threatening, then tell him to leave, however…"
"He's just a kid! He's been nothing but sweet to everyone! Even if he is different, how can you suggest…"
"Ne, ne, Miaka-chan. I don't want you to send him away, either! I just thought that… I don't know what I was thinking but, still… Why didn't he tell us, before?"
"He must have his reasons…"
What are they talking about? They're going too fast! I'm different? My difference…hands, feet…and back…
"Chikushou!"
"Chiriko! Lay back down, you have a nasty fever and…"
"You…you took off my garments?!"
"They were wet, and you were getting sick! And not all of them! We left your pants…"
I sway dizzyingly. They know…they know my secret! They…they…why is the floor rising?
I'm swaying back and forth…is my mother rocking me back and forth? But, she hasn't done this since I was six…Besides, this isn't gentle swaying.
"Chiriko-can, okite onegai." (Wake up, please)
"Nuriko-san…" I look up, he's …holding me? Doukun, today has not been one of your most intelligent ones. I sneak a look at my feet, my characters still there, so…he's holding me, and now rocking me softly like a mother or older sister. All I can do is blush and stare at my feet. I haven't had this kind of childish affection since…wait; my feet are bare, again. Again? A fire…in a cave? An argument…I gasp as suddenly I remember that Nuriko-san and Miaka-san saw…
"You saw…"
"…hai…"
Just great…So everyone else knows…this just isn't my day…
"Why didn't you tell us?"
I snap my head up towards his face in surprise.
"I didn't want you to be scared, but I also have to keep this a secret…"
"Why?"
"Because it means my life and at the most, the life of my family."
"Demo…"
"So, now all of you know why I wear that cloak. What do you wish to do with me?"
"Not everyone. Only me and Miaka-chan. We redressed you before Tama-chan woke up."
"But, why?"
Nuriko-san laughs and kisses my forehead. I decided to file this memory away as one of my strangest. Yes, I was given a motherly kiss by a gay cross-dresser, while he held and rocked me in his arms and told me without words that everything I had been told by my father to be life threatening was really trivial and the worst thing I should fear was being squeezed to death in what was supposed to be a comforting hug…
"Nuriko…san, I can't…breathe!"
"Ah, gomen, gomen, Chiriko-chan! Atashi, shitsurei wa yo!"
"Iie, only compassionate."
"So, ano~, why do you have…"
"Both you and Miaka-san deserve an explanation at the least, seeing how you discovered my secret. Could you bring her here, first?"
"Hai, hai."
As he gets up to leave, I decided to tell them everything, but what of the others? Both Chichiri-san and Tasuki-san have been the best friends that I never had, Mitsukake-san might be all right with this, but I have gotten the feeling that he doesn't like it when people withhold information about themselves. Hotohori-san will probably take it as a sign of good fortune while Tamahome-san will probably hate me because it id obvious that I like his sister…
Gyokuran…what will she think? I definitely have to tell her. If I want to even think of having a loving relationship between a girl and myself, Gishi always told me I must be honest. Of course, then she glares at my older brother, in which I sigh sympathetically. He knows one too many barmaids…
Get back to the matter at hand, Doukun! Nuriko-san will soon be back with Miaka-san. Maybe I should just ask them? Besides, even though I try not to pry too much into my friends' past memories, I do believe that everyone is already suspicious. I try not to jump too high as Nuriko-san knocks on my door.
"Chiriko-chan?"
"Come in, please."
"You wanted to see both of us?"
"Hai, Miaka-san. Please sit down. I'm just trying to decide where to start. At my beginning, or one that happened a long time ago."
"I think the long time ago is best."
"All right, Nuriko-san. Just please leave any questions you have till I'm finished, futari-onna."
That got a smirk out of Nuriko-san.
"A long time ago, just after Tai'itsu-kun created this world, She created Her four sons in this order: Gembu, Byakko, Seiryuu and Suzaku. They were to represent the four emotions that would rule humans. Gembu is dark emotions, such as pessimistic and depression. Byakko is light emotions, such as happiness and kindness. Seiryuu is rage, such as anger, fear or hate while Suzaku is love, with its gentleness and it jealousy. With the help of the Nyan-nyans, the four brothers and goddess reproduced to create the lower beings on the rung of life: the human race.
"We're the product of the Gods and Nyan-nyans! Scary!"
"Shush, Nuriko!"
Humans were to pray to their fathers for either protection from what they represented or to ask for help in achieving these emotions. For the first five hundred years, everything was as it should be and the humans feared no death, for they were children of the Gods. This is why old tales speak of people reaching as old as five hundred years. However, there came a man who solely prayed to both to his father, Byakko and his uncle Seiryuu. In time, he stopped praying to his father and focused on his uncle. He hated the long life, of never growing old, and of having to follow Tai'itsu-kun's orders when it became clear to him that to do so only dulled his life, as if he was a cow. He believed that because he was given a soul, that he was the son of a God, he should not be reduced to such a fate. So, he gathered men and women from all over the land to campaign with him against Tai'itsu-kun. This man was a good speaker and won the support of most of the people. When the campaign was ready, he prayed to both Byakko and to Seiryuu to be on his side and help them. Thus, he was surprise to find his father and uncles very mad at him. The war that occurred was terrible and in the end only the Gods' loyal followers and the instigator were left. The man started to yell at the Gods, asking how they could do that to their own children! The Gods' answer was that their children were trying to usurp the superiors and that they were breaking their own world's creator, Tai'itsu-kun's, laws. The man was further enraged! He yelled at the Gods' loyal followers to open their eyes to their own slavery. But, the people looked at the man with hatred and loathing. The man turned back to his father and swore an oath to Him that he would be back and that the next time; they would not be able to stop him. When he left, Tai'itsu-kun appeared and told the people to go to their homes and sleep. When they wake in the morning, they would no longer be able to live forever, seeing how so many of their brothers and sisters wasted the precious gift. When the people were gone She laid new laws upon the brother as well, and it became decided that the land should be split into four kingdoms, with each God being in control of one kingdom only. Gembu, being the oldest, got the largest country, then Byakko, the Seiryuu and at last, Suzaku. In each country, the oldest son of each God would become the 'ruler' and that he would marry his oldest female cousin in the lands. Thus was the start of the kingdoms that we know now."
"Demo, I thought that Hotohori was the fourth ruler of Konan-koku?"
"Miaka-chan! He said no questions!"
"He is, Miaka-san. Hotohori-san is the fourth ruler of his dynasty."
"Oh."
"Now, time went on and the man went on scheming on how to create Tai'itsu-kun's and the Gods' downfall. Seeing how he wasn't one of the loyal followers, he used all of his might to shield himself from any of the attacks that the Gods might have for him. In doing so, he never lost his immortality or any of his powers, like the rest of the human race did. Two thousand years after the battle, the man attacked again. The man killed many people, but 28 brave people from the four countries came together under the leadership of the countries four princesses and defeated the man out of pure will and belief in their Gods. This impressed Tai'itsu-kun and so She decreed that these people will forever be remembered by throwing their souls to the heavens and having those souls called down only when trouble was beginning to occur. Their names are the known names for all of the seishis. As for the four princesses, She made them the head priestess of their protecting God and the seven warriors were given powers in which to protect her from any threat. These first Mikos destroyed evil throughout their four kingdoms. One God in particular, Gembu, fell in love with His priestess, for though He represented the darker emotions, it did not mean that He always felt them. He would come to His priestess at night in the Gembu temple and they would spend the night together. Eventually, she gave birth to a child. This child lived happily throughout most of her life. However, when Kutou-koku attacked Hokkan-koku, despite her powers, she laid on the battlefield, dying. She cried for her father to help her, but due to the death of so many others, He could not hear her. She was just about to die, when a stranger came to her and offered to restore her life if she would become one of his warriors. Scared, she accepted. This stranger was the banished immortal man. The two children of the Gods destroyed much of the land before Tai'itsu-kun, having enough of the banished man destroyed the girl and fought the man. Truthfully, at that time she could have destroyed him whenever she chose to, for she is the original creator. However, She stopped before the job was done and told the man that he would be given a status among the people, but he would never be a God himself. She told him that was now his lot in life and the last deal for his life that She was willing to make, for She believed that he had lived this long, so he should have learned by now. She called forth to the Gods and their people proclaiming him to be forever known as Tenkou, the ruler of Death. The deal was made that if a person was either evil or took his own life without a cause to do so, such as protecting a loved one, they would be given to Tenkou to rule. Other souls and the souls of the seishis would come to live with Her on Taikyoku-zan. Once the people had left, She proclaimed another rule to the Gods, but this one was placed on the Gods themselves. They were to never again create a life with a human being. By now humans were far from their fathers and that was how it should be."
I pause to get a drink of water. That was when questions began.
"What does this have to do with you Chiriko-chan?"
"How did you find all of this out?"
"Patience, minna-san. I'm getting to that part. This rule was kept for almost three thousand years. During this time, not having anything other than their own people to look after, the Gods grew bored. One God in particular, Seiryuu, loved to watch battle. This is why they are always fighting against other countries and amongst themselves. When the time drew near for a new Suzaku no Miko to appear, the Suzaku seishi were born. Unlike the Mikos of old, Tai'itsu-kun didn't trust her own people to be as pure, being still upset with the original Gembu no Miko. Within the three thousand years, whenever a Miko was needed, She would borrow a virgin girl from another world. That was one of the laws She had decreed. The Mikos must be virgins, even if they were supposed to be the closest to their God. However, Seiryuu didn't want His little brother's Miko to arrive. Seiryuu's people were getting close to obtaining more land for Him. So, He allowed His Seiryuu Shichiseishi to be reborn. However, He noticed that His seishi would barely be ready in time to defeat the Suzaku Shichiseishi, so to give Himself more leeway, He invaded His younger brother's land and managed to cause the last seishi to be born stillborn. Suzaku was enraged and put forth a plea of help to Tai'itsu-kun. He pleaded that His brother had killed His last seishi before it fully out of the womb and took it's first breath. That the rest of His seishi were already born and could not wait a hundred years for the last to be born as was standard procedures with souls. Tai'itsu-kun agreed to what Her youngest son stated and allowed Him to find the most perfect woman in His empire in which to hold the new child. Suzaku looked all over and then finally found her. She had been praying to Him for another child and to protect her husband as he left for war. Unfortunately, Seiryuu had gotten wind of Tai'itsu-kun's plan and killed the man himself. Tai'itsu-kun, seeing this happen, finally gave Suzaku permission to do something that had been outlawed for the three thousand years. He was allowed to reproduce the last seishi with the woman. However, He was not allowed to tell this to His brothers, for they would not understand and kill the child out right. He would visit the child only four times a year and groom the child for the up coming fight against the Seiryuu Shichiseishi."
I pause and look at my two friends.
"That's it? Demo, Chiriko-can, what about you? Where's your story?"
"It was there Miaka-san." I take off my cloak and spread my brown and red wings and stretch out my claws. "I'm Suzaku's child."
Well there you have it, minna-san! Chiriko's taisetsu na himitsu! I give ten points to whoever figured out his secret before this chapter! Also, I should hopefully have the next chapter up by the end of this week. Please review!
Ja ne!