Ah, yes! More time to write!!!!!!!! Oh, I'm so happy!!!!! No more blasted finals!!!!!! Right now, I'm just relaxing with some Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, getting ready to write another fun chapter! I don't really have anything else to say, other than: 1. Great new pics you sent me, Amy! I'm trying my best to get everything up and running now… 2. Kyra, beware Amy coming after you for stealing her Chichiri. Even though she said that she could get use to Suboshi… 3. Otaku Pitcher, you want to have your own Seishi, huh? I guess that it's only fair, given the fact that you have reviewed every time. Tell you what, send me another name that I can call you by (Can be Japanese sounding, if that what you like) and what Seishi you want to be with, and I'll see what I can do, Verci? However, if that Seishi has already been taken, than don't expect him. Although, personally, I have something better in mind for you…. :o) You might get a hint, with Amy in this chapter…
Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi, Watase-Sensei does. If I did, I wouldn't have to worry about student loans! But tell ya what; I do own this bright shiny 2001-penny! Oh, and about 1,658 yen. But, where am I going to use that? :o)
The Girl of Danger
So, the card game took up the rest of the night. Of course, I shouldn't be surprise on who won. My Okaa. We had five omnipotent beings, one half omnipotent being and a full blooded mortal, and the mortal happens to win. Every single hand. I do believe that we all had fun, though. I could also see that my relatives can be rather vindictive towards each other when they receive a draw four card. The only break we had in the game, was when Byakko-ji asked why we weren't playing strip Uno. In this case, all three of the brothers tackled him and the action continued until Tai'itsu-kun flashed them. Afterwards, for the next hour, only Okaa, Obaa and myself played until the rest woke up from their daze. However, the family fun was not to last forever.
I woke up, when I heard someone moving about. I cracked my eyes open, noticing Amy-san, still in her silver dress, placing a silver cloak with the bottom foot being sky blue, like her dress, and walking out the door. Though I had woken up, I didn't feel enough strength left in me to tell her "be careful" in a loud enough voice. Also, Soi-san wasn't helping. With her behind me, it felt as if it was my mother, comforting me and giving me her warmth. I began to snuggle back into slumber, when I felt Soi-san awaken.
"Um…Ohayo…"
"Ohayo, Soi-san"
She looks at me and maybe for the first time, realizing just how much energy that I have lost. I cannot afford a confrontation with Nakago-san, nor can I afford any more times of starvation. Of course, quite suddenly, I realize there is something much more pressing in my mind.
"Ano~ Soi-san… I…I have to go to the bathroom…"
She looks at me with a funny expression for about half a minute before I prompt:
"Um…I have to go NOW!"
"Okay, okay! Suboshi…SUBOSHI!"
"Wha…what? Is it breakfast, yet?"
"No, not yet. However, Chiriko needs to go to the bathroom, right now."
"Okay, give me five more minutes, Aniki."
"One, Chiriko won't last five minutes and two, I'm not your Aniki!"
With this, she throws her headrest at Suboshi-san's head. That had to hurt.
"Ittette! Soi, Why'd ya do that?!"
The look on Soi-san's face makes me feel as if I was back with my fellow Seishi. In fact this almost reminds me of similar confrontations between Nuriko-san and Tasuki-san.
"Chiriko. Bathroom. NOW!"
"All right! Sheesh!"
Suboshi-san walks over and picks me up.
"Not hurting you, am I?"
"No."
He must have notice that I was biting my lip. I just couldn't help it. My poor body has been through much. Within record time, Suboshi-san races to the outhouse. I nearly rip off my own fundoshi (Loan cloth, or ancient underware, take your pick) before I finally relieve my bladder. Meanwhile, Suboshi-san seems to look at my tattered clothing. The outfit that was destroyed happened to be one of my favorites. I sigh as I retie my fundoshi. It is then that I realize that with all my spare clothing in the care of Chichiri-san, I not only have nothing to change into, but I also don't have proper clothing for the extreme cold of Hokkan-koku. Suboshi-san picks me back up, and as we enter the room, we see the Humphries family talking to Soi-san. Amy-san's mother turns towards us, with a smile, and tells Suboshi-san and I that breakfast will be in a couple of minutes. She then takes a good look at me. Her eyes light up like that of Nuriko-san about to go on a shopping trip. Suzakusei-kun help me. With the same expression, she promised to see what she could do about my clothing problem. Soi-san had changed out of her armor, and was now wearing a silk dress. The outer dress was of a pale green, with a boarder of pale blue. Within the boarder was a zigzagging design made with regular and dark blue thread. The zigzags formed a diamond pattern. The under dress, with it's sleeves, was white with a blue dragon winding its way, seemingly, around her body. The dragon's head ended at her left sleeve.
"It shouldn't take Amy-chan that long to find out which inn the Suzaku Shichiseishi. She'll probably be back after we finish our breakfast."
"Soi-san, Suboshi-san, arigatou. If there is ever anything that I can do to repay the kindness that you have shown me, please don't hesitate to ask."
Suboshi-san looks down at me.
"Don't worry about that right now. We're still not out of the woods yet. Nakago has probably pulled Ashitare off his search for the Suzaku no Miko and he could be hunting for us right now. Think about it later, when you're back with your fellow seishi."
Humphries-san, Amy-san's mother, comes back into the room and informs us that breakfast is ready. We enter the room and take the seats that she has appointed to us. Soi-san has me seat next to her and she continues to feed me as if I was a baby. However, this time, I don't think I mind. I have never seen eating utensils such as these. I listen as Soi-san points to the prong utensil and tells Suboshi-san that it is called a gafl (Welsh for fork) and that the scoop-like llwy (spoon) was used for the porage. The only utensil I recognized was the cyllel (knife, but I have never seen one used for eating. After an interesting, yet delicious breakfast of eggs, porage and pig, Humphries-san picks me up and tells Soi-san to follow her. A bit frightened at the idea that I am about to be dressed like a doll, I look back at Suboshi-san with wide apprehensive eyes. All Suboshi-san can do is sigh and shake his head sympathetically. Soi-san looks over her shoulder at him and smiles.
"Don't worry, Suboshi…you're next!"
"NANI!!!"
"Well, you stand out in those clothes! We want to blend in as well as possible! Now, go get washed up while we dress Chiriko, ne?"
They take me to the next room, where they have several bolts of silk waiting. They ask me to strip down to my fundoshi. This is when they find out something that I have known for a while. Living body + exertion + torture - any water= one incredibly smelly body. Yet again, I curse my hyper sense of smell. They spend the next hour bathing me, while looking at my skin tone and deciding what colors I would look best in. All the while, I fell like blushing. No woman, other than my mother and my nursemaid, has ever seen me naked. And even then, the last time that they did, I was three. Although, Soi-san and Humphries-san seem not to notice, for they are too busy playing dress-up. The immediately decided against dark colors, for my skin is too fair. It only takes fifteen minutes, and soon, the two women have made an entire outfit, including a new fundoshi thank Tai'itsu-kun. I take a look in the mirror that is offered to me, and find myself looking quite handsome in a white tunic whose sleeves go only half way down my upper arm, with a jade green collar. The undershirt is a medium maroon color that is large enough to allow my wings to hide close to my body, without jarring my injuries. Near my hips, a blue sash holds my green kesa in place. Instead of slippers, I am wearing the jade green boots in the style that is most favored in this cold environment. They also decided to do something about my hair. Amazingly, my hair tie was still in place. When Humphries-san pulled out the not, both she and Soi-san were amazed to see the hair from my ponytail stick up. The try several attempt of water and a hairbrush to smooth it down, but my hair stubbornly refuses to do so. Finally, the decided to give up, and twist my hair into a bun. Humphries-san covers the bun in a jade green cloth, while Soi-san uses a long white cord to tie the cloth into place. I take the time to notice that while the clothing is lightweight, it is also so very warm. Also, I seem to like the fact that my clothing, given the small amount of time they had to create it, is very subtitle and lack much of the fancy decorations that other people adorn on the personage. However, my time of admiring is cut short. I can barely hear Soi-san telling Suboshi-san that it is his turn, when I experience a feeling that I have not felt since I have come into contact with the Seiryuu Shichiseishi. I receive one of my "visions."
It is bright out and I can see Amy-san leaving one of the vendor stalls, apparently very happy. I realize that she has figured out where the rest of the Suzaku Shichiseishi are staying. She seems to be heading for a particular inn, when a large shadow comes up behind her! I want to form a barrier, but my ki is too weak! Within a split second, the shadow turns into Ashitare-san. Claws extended, he about to land on Amy-san, when Kyra-san leaps out of a hiding place with a vary ornate sword. The battle lasts for a while, seeing how Ashitare-san is doing his best to stay out of the reach of the sword, while Kyra-san does her best, as well, to keep away form the claws. Amy-san, meanwhile, is keeping off to the side with the silver dagger in hand, looking for an opening. Finally, Kyra-san strikes a heavy blow into Ashitare-san's midsection, while he slashes her left arm. Amy-san takes this time to yell at Kyra-san to stand back, as she dashes to Ashitare's backside and plunges the dagger into the back of his neck. Suddenly, a bright light appears and I watch, stunned, as all the warmth is drained from Ashitare-san's body. He soon becomes a dead, clear crystal. I then look back at Amy-san and watch her pant, before another white light appears, traveling up towards the sky. Not long after, a small amount of powder snow comes down from the newly formed clouds, while Amy-san collapses to the ground. Kyra-san runs towards her and helps her back up. She takes Amy-san to the inn's door and…
"Oi, oi! Kid, wake up! What's wrong?!"
"N~ Su…Suboshi-san?"
"Sheesh, you had us worried! What happened?"
"I…every now and then, I get these visions. They allow me to see bits of the future, so that I can try and prevent a future disaster. Luckily, I didn't need to use any of my power this time. All in all, I'd say Kyra-san and Amy-san faired pretty well against Ashitare-san."
Soi-san and Suboshi-san look at me, shocked, by the information that I have just reported. Only Humphries-san seems to be unaffected, as I had already guessed that she would. From the moment I met Amy-san, I detected that something about her wasn't normal, and now I know why.
"However, she is now at the inn where my fellow Suzaku Shichiseishi are staying at and telling them of our whereabouts. They should be here shortly."
True to my word, within ten minutes, the rest of the seishi and our Miko arrive at the Humphries doorstep, and are welcomed inside. Suboshi-san is now in an outfit similar to mine, except his undershirt and boots are a deep blue color. Which, right now, match the color of his face as Tamahome-san tries to choke the life out of my poor rescuer. Fortunately, Nuriko-san is there in time to pull Tamahome-san off. Miaka-san is lightly hugging me and has the look on her face that proclaims that she's not going to let go of me for a while, so don't even try it. Chichiri-san decides to remind us all of our priorities.
"Minna, dame noda! Nakago probably knows where we all are now na noda! We need to leave now noda!"
Soi-san turns towards him and replies:
"Suboshi and I are going with you. We can't go back now; he'd kill us for deserting him and foiling his plans. Besides, you can never have too much help."
The rest of the seishi nod their heads in understanding. Right now, whatever problems we may have between one another need to be swept aside if we are to achieve our goal. I am not the lest bit surprised to hear Amy-san speak up.
"I'm going with you, too. Whether you know it or not, you still need me."
She then forms a sly smile upon her face, before she continues.
"Besides, besides Chiriko here, I'm the only other one who knows where the Shinzahou is and the trials you have to face in order to get it. And, unlike the restrictions that were placed upon Chiriko, I can tell you the answers you seek."
Everyone looks at her in shock, not only because she knows where the item is, but also in the case of Soi-san and Suboshi-san, because she knows of my restrictions, when they know that I have never told her. All in all, my sessions about her are true. Seeing how everyone else is speechless, I decided to take the initiative and thank her in the proper fashion, denoting her position.
"Thank you very much Amy-san, or should I say… Gembu Shichiseishi Urumiya-san."
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There it is! The next chapter! So Amy happens to be Urumiya, the Constellation of Danger. I should have the next chapter up in a couple of weeks, tops! Toddles!