AUTHORS NOTE:

The stuff from part 1 still applies to this part. This is my first try at fanfiction ever, so I'm a little worried about OOCness. Of course, this is a reincarnation fic, and because they have lived different lives this time around, they won't be exactly the same. For those who for some reason haven't read part 1 (why you'd do that, I don't know), or don't remember, Nuriko and Tasuki are brothers in this story, twins.

A note on Hotohori's name in this fic... All I know about his real name is Saihitei. Does he have a last name?? Unfortunately that really doesn't work with what I'm doing, considering this takes place in modern day US (no specific part of the US, but it will probably end up being much like central Wisconsin, cause that's what I know best). So, I've altered his name just a little, just as I changed Tasuki's last name to work with the fact that he and Nuriko are brothers. For this fic he is Sai Hitei.

The title is still very much subject to change…and still has no basis in the story yet, though it will eventually. And, I love feedback! I crave feedback. I don't necessarily need it to write…but I have found that, like anime, it is addictive. That, and it makes me feel like people are actually reading my story!! So…feedback GOOOOOOOOOD! Especially feedback about how I'm doing the characters...

DISCLAIMER:

Nuriko/Ryuuen, Tasuki/Genrou/Shun'u, Kouji, and Hotohori/Saihitei don't belong to me. Fushigi Yuugi doesn't belong to me. Eventually, once everyone else shows up, they won't belong to me either. I'm just borrowing them and playing with them (and giving Nuriko what he wants…Hotohori!) Suing me would do no good, because after paying $450 for books this semester I was practically broke, and the rest of it I spent at Cog-con on Fushigi Yuugi manga, a Seiryuu wall scroll, anime music, and pocky.

Himitsu on the other hand is mine, ALL MINE!!!!! I haven't let anyone take him yet…and I'm not about to either. The person in the trench coat is mine too, so that person's off limits too. All others so far are just random characters, and if you take them I won't be too angry, but if you can't come up with your own random characters that's pretty sad...

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chapter 2: my dream guy

The day went as is usually did, boring like school always was, but fun because I usually had at least one of my few good friends in each class. The only class I didn't have a friend in was history, but Genrou was in there, and he was better than someone who hated me. That class was taught by Himitsu too, and that didn't hurt.

Of course, Genrou didn't look too pleased to see me in the class. He was more than a little embarrassed by just being known as my brother. And I think he was even more embarrassed then, after being away, than he had been before. At least before the majority of the people at school weren't sure if I was a guy or a girl. Now I admitted to being a guy, and that seemed to embarrass Genrou more than before.

"What is it with you?" he asked me when I entered the room for history and he noticed me. "Are ya followin' me or something?"

"Maybe Mom told me to keep an eye on you," I joked, and he turned red with anger, actually believing me. "No, honest! I'm not following you. I just happened to get put in the same class as you. Anyway, this is the only class we've had together all day!"

Seeing as it was seventh hour by then, and almost the end of the day with only one class left after that, I didn't think it should seem like I was following him. I'd seen him once between homeroom and then, and that was during lunch. Besides that he'd been nowhere in my day, and not just because he could have been skipping class.

"And that's one too many…" he grumbled, and I thwapped him in the back of the head.

"Baka!" I exclaimed. "It's just one class. You'll survive."

He muttered something evil sounding before putting as much distance between me and him as he could. I ignored it, deciding that provoking him more would probably end up getting me in trouble, even though I really wanted to go sit next to him just to bother him. Instead I sat where I was, waiting for class to start so I could get it over with.

-

I didn't see Genrou after school, not that I expected to. He was probably off spending time with Kouji and his other friends. He was a big boy, he knew how to get home on his own, and he wouldn't want me around anyway. Not that I was sure I would want to be involved in whatever he was doing anyway. I wasn't quite sure of what he did with his friends, but it was probably something I wouldn't like.

I looked for my friends after school. I was bored, and I wanted to do something with them. But I couldn't find anyone, because they all had cars, and had disappeared as soon as the bell had rang. They probably hadn't meant to leave me out. It was probably just that they forgot about me for some reason. After all, we forgot others in the group every now and then. Of course, that didn't make me feel any better at being abandoned.

"Meanies…" I muttered, before going to find something else to do instead of walking home already.

As I walked out of the school, I noticed a guy standing on the other side of the patio outside of the commons. I noticed him because he looked odd, which was all because of how he was dressed. It was late summer, and he was wearing a trench coat and a hat. I didn't see how he wasn't roasting in it, but he was standing there, in the nice, hot, end of summer heat wearing a heavy coat and looking mysterious.

He kinda reminded me of the typical image of a school terrorist. You know, the ones who bomb schools and do shootings. I didn't really think he was one of them though. It wasn't fair to judge people by how they looked. He was probably just waiting for someone, and for some reason didn't want to be recognized.

I realized I was probably right about him waiting for someone when I saw someone approach him. After looking closely I realized it was Himitsu, and the two of them walked off together, talking about something. I shrugged, and decided to try and forget about it. If a mysterious looking guy (or girl, it could have been a girl) in a trench coat wanted to talk to Himitsu it was his own business. Of course, that didn't mean I couldn't be curious.

By then I'd realized that I really didn't have anything to do since my friends were all gone already. Well, nothing to do besides start walking home. So that is just what I did, after deciding that I had nothing better to do than taking the long way home.

The long way was a very scenic and pretty route home, even if it took a good ten or fifteen minutes longer most days. I preferred it because it was pretty, and because it took me through the park near my house, which was the prettiest part of the whole walk. Of course, it was prettier in the springtime, when the flowers were blooming, than it was in late summer. But it was still pretty.

That day I lingered in the park, sitting on a bench while I stared at the trees around me. It felt peaceful there, especially at that moment when there were no other people in the park, a rare thing in the middle of the city. I was just leaning back on the bench and staring at the sky when I heard a voice that sounded familiar coming from beside me a little bit, even though I couldn't place where I'd heard it before.

"Hello," that familiar voice, a deep, beautiful man's voice, said to me, and I sat up, turning to face the speaker.

It was the man from my dreams. I could never forget his face, ever, and the guy standing in front of me was definitely him. He was about the same age as me, somewhere between sixteen and twenty-something, though I was inclined to say twenty-something, just because of the sheer maturity of his face. His face had a regal look to it, one that only a mature person would have. I guessed he was still in high school though, because he was wearing the uniform of the nearby private school, a very expensive school that only the richest kids ended up going to.

He was tall and slightly muscular, completely masculine while still being beautiful beyond belief. He had chocolate brown hair, grown to his waist and held in a kind of loose tail with the tie somewhere in the middle of the length of his hair. His eyes, I noticed as I tried not to stare at them, were a deep, rich amber color, somewhere between yellow and brown, but much more than that. They were, quite simply, the most wonderful eyes I had ever seen.

He was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. I'd realized that in my dreams, the first time I'd seen him there. But there was something about seeing him in real life that was just…more. I just sat there for a moment, completely unable to speak, before I realized that I was staring like an idiot, and that he would probably think just that if I continued.

"Uh…hi," I said lamely, feeling really awkward just talking to him. My mind was busy wondering why he was talking to me, but it didn't have to wait long, because that was the next thing that came out of his mouth.

"It's not every day that I find a woman as beautiful as I am," he said matter-of-factly. I wondered exactly where he was going with that statement, because he obviously couldn't be talking about me.

"That's true," I said, because it was true. I didn't think I'd ever seen a woman as beautiful as him.

"Anyway," he continued. "I told my friends that if I ever did find a woman as beautiful as I, that I would ask her out on a date. I was not sure that day would come. But it has, and so I will keep my word. Would you care to go out sometime, perhaps for dinner and a movie?"

I inwardly winced, because it he had mistaken me for a girl. It wasn't that I wasn't used to being mistaken for a girl. After all, I did dress like a girl, and until a year before I had claimed to be one. But since I had stopped being Kourin there hadn't been anywhere near as many people who thought I was female as there had been before that. But he thought I was female.

I wanted to correct him. I had sworn after I stopped being Kourin that I wouldn't let people keep thinking I was female any more. Everyone who did mistake me for a girl was quickly told otherwise. But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to correct him. I opened my mouth to say it, but the words just wouldn't come out.

"M-me?" I asked instead, my voice almost squeaking, and sounding much more feminine than it usually did. I could feel my face growing warm in a blush. "You think I'm as beautiful as you?"

"Of course," he said. "Do you see any other beautiful women around here?"

By that time I had almost convinced myself that I was either dreaming, or that someone was playing some sick joke on me. I had pretty much ruled out dreaming though, because I was fairly sure that my dream wouldn't have him mistaking me for a girl. After all, he had never done so before in my dreams. In my dreams he always knew, and it didn't seem to matter to him.

But I didn't think it could be a sick joke either. No one knew about my dreams, and about him. So why would they know to have him do this? But that would leave it being real, and I was almost sure it wasn't that. It was too good to be true, and too unbelievable to be true.

"Uh…" I said, feeling like an idiot, because I couldn't quite force out the words. I wanted to tell him I was male, that he was wrong, but I just couldn't do it. I knew I should, and I knew my conscience wasn't going to let me go until I did, but I just couldn't.

"So?" he asked again. I steeled myself, preparing to tell him that he was mistaken and then face the consequences. But I made the mistake of looking into his eyes, and with that one glance I lost all of my nerve.

"That would be wonderful," I said, looking down at the ground, my face probably red as a beet by that point.

"Perfect!" he said, and I looked up to see him smiling. "When would be good for you? Perhaps tomorrow evening, at seven?"

"That sounds good," I said quietly.

My mind was screaming at me that I was horrid, not telling him that I wasn't a woman. I was not going to be able to forgive myself for deceiving him like that. But another part of me just didn't care. I was going on a date with him, and that was the most important part.

"Good," he said. "I will meet you here tomorrow, at seven. Until then."

He started to walk away. I sat there for a moment, not quite believing what had just happened. Then I realized that I didn't even know his name.

"Wait!" I called out, and he turned back to look at me questioningly. "You didn't tell me your name…" I finished, feeling a little stupid, even though I knew it wasn't a dumb thing to do.

"Oh," he said. "My name is Sai Hitei. Might I ask yours?"

I hesitated for a moment. I couldn't tell him my name was Ryuuen. It sounded too male, even if it was a strange name for where we were. It would probably ruin everything, and even though I knew I should tell him I was male I didn't want to. So I decided to do something I hadn't done in almost a year.

"Kourin," I said. "My name is Kourin Chou."

"Well then Kourin," he said. "I shall see you tomorrow."

And then he really did walk off. I sat there again, still not quite understanding what had just happened. I had really met the guy from my dreams…and he had asked me on a date! It seemed almost unreal.

I sat on that bench for another ten minutes before finally shaking the last of the disbelief off and getting up. Putting on my backpack, I headed back home, feeling much happier than I had in a long time, though still a little guilty at not telling Sai that I was really a guy.

Mom was waiting for me when I got back. She knew better than to expect me right away, because I did have a life. But she also knew that sometimes I didn't do things after school and instead headed home right away. So she was there when I came back to the house, almost bouncing with happiness and excitement.

"You look happy," she said, and I smiled at her.

"I am!" I exclaimed, though I didn't tell her any more than that. All I said was that I had a good day at school. Since that wasn't too far from the truth I didn't feel very bad for lying to her.

-

Genrou didn't get home until right before dinner. We didn't even expect him back for that, but he showed up anyway. He gave me odd looks all night long, especially after I started calling him "Gen-chan." The first time was just because I was that happy, but after he got kinda pissed off at that one I decided to do it just to annoy him. It worked.

"So," he asked later that night, while I was getting reading for bed. "What'cha really so excited about? I don't buy that shit about a good day at school."

"Nothing…" I said, shrugging, but he didn't buy it.

"Yer actin' like a girl in love," he commented absently, without really realizing what he had just said. I could tell the moment when he did realize it though, because his head snapped around to stare at me intensely.

"That it?" he asked me. "Are ya in love?"

"I have a date tomorrow…" I said, climbing into bed. "But that's all, honest!"

"So are ya finally learning to be a guy?" he asked me. I would have gone over to hit him, but I was too comfortable in bed to bother getting up.

"I am a guy!" I exclaimed, thought much less emphatically than I usually did. I was tired, and I wanted to sleep. I didn't want to argue with Genrou.

"Guys don't wear dresses," he muttered, but I ignored him.

"Good night, Gen-chan," I said, flipping off the light switch beside me and settling down to sleep. He grumbled at being called Gen-chan again, but he didn't do anything about it and went to sleep as well.