~An American Miko~
Chapter Six
Knowing Friend, Gentle Companion
It had been a week since the wedding and the whole country was singing about the coming of a possible heir. Myst was almost overwhelmed by all the presents she was getting.
"Empress! Empress!"
Myst stopped and turned as one of her handmaidens hurried up to her.
The girl was out of breath when she finally caught up. "Empress, you shouldn't be going anywhere alone. It's not proper."
Myst smirked but looked kindly at the young woman. "For one, I am empress am I not? I may go where I wish, when I wish. For another, since when have propriety and I ever been nodding acquaintances? You and everyone else will stay here. If his majesty asks my whereabouts, you may tell him that I am bathing in the seishi's bathhouse." She added silently to herself, 'I have a hunch about something and my hunches are usually never wrong.'
The woman was taken aback but obeyed the empresses orders and bowed to her. "Yes your highness."
Myst nodded and continued walking to the bathhouse. She stepped into the luxurious marble structure, which was built around a natural hotspring silently. This hotspring was only to be used by the seishi and the miko and since there was a light splashing from inside she knew her hunch was right.
Myst disrobed and stepped into the pleasantly warm, clear water. When she was waist deep the purple-haired beauty that was already there in deeper water whirled around and ducked to the chin in the water.
Myst couldn't help but smile. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I didn't think anyone would be here." The last part was a lie, but one she told with ease for it was not one that would hurt.
Nuriko sputtered. "E. empress. I'm sorry. I. I can leave and give you privacy. Just, could you turn around? I'm a little shy."
Myst smiled and swam past him so that she was in deeper water, almost having to tread and her back was to him. She heard the telltale splashing sounds of a body quickly getting out of the water and spoke up without turning around. "By the way, you have a beautiful body Ryuen." She turned then to see him standing ankle-deep in water with his stiff back to her.
Nuriko's quiet voice floated over his shoulder. "How. how did you know?"
Myst stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his arms and chest, giving him a hug to try and soothe him. She spoke softly into his ear and with all the kindness and caring that she could. "Suzaku showed me in a vision. I knew the first time I met you at the wedding." She urged him to turn around and he did so. She smiled at the fact that she was so much taller than he was.
Myst placed her left hand on his shoulder and brushed the damp hair out of his face with her right hand. She looked into his eyes with her heart open in hers as she spoke. "You never have to feel the need to hide anything from me. Do not worry. I will not tell anyone your secret. It is yours to tell. All I ask is that when we are alone, that you be open with me. I care about you and I would like you to consider us friends as I already do."
Nuriko blushed and nodded. 'She's so different from anyone I've ever met. She knew about me all this time and never gave me away or sneered at me. Maybe. maybe." Her voice broke through his thoughts.
Myst gently pulled him back into the water as she spoke. "Well, this pool is just for us and I think Hotohori is busy for a while, so why don't I was your back and give you a back rub and you can relax."
Nuriko smiled a true smile and nodded. There was just something about her that made it so easy to trust her. "Shouldn't I be giving you the back rub your majesty?"
Myst shook her head. "No, I enjoy giving back rubs and you look like you need one. I don't mind. It'll give us a chance to talk and get to know each other."
So it was that they were standing in deep water with their backs to the door and Myst giving Nuriko a shoulder massage when Hotohori came in, in a bathrobe. He looked at the backs of his wife and fellow seishi and smiled. "Am I interrupting?"
The two in the water gave little startled cries and whirled as one, Nuriko ducking again and shielding himself with the water and his arms, and Myst shielding him.
Hotohori smiled apologetically. "My apologies. I didn't mean to startle you ladies."
The two heaved a sigh of relief that he hadn't seen that Nuriko was really a man, then slightly tensed up again disrobed and dropped into the water.
Nuriko in a near panic grabbed onto Myst's upper arms and pressed himself against her back to use her as a kind of shield. He peeked over her shoulder and whispered so only she could hear. "What do I do? What if he sees me?"
Hotohori saw Nuriko hiding and swam over. "Nuriko? What is wrong?"
Nuriko ducked down further and Myst spoke for him. "She's shy of her body Hotohori. Could you turn your back while she gets out?"
He nodded. "I must apologize again. I didn't think." He swam behind them and took the same position that Myst had as she and Nuriko worked on getting out of the water swiftly.
Myst ran up ahead of Nuriko while he stayed ducked in the water, and grabbed the soft robe he had left there. She held it up for him to dash into from the water.
Nuriko did just that and she wrapped it and her arms around him.
This time Nuriko hugged her back and whispered to her, "Thank you."
Myst read the deeper meaning that he put into those two simple words. He meant to thank her for everything. Her secrecy, her help, and most of all her acceptance and her love for the real him.
Myst smiled and hugged him tighter. "Any time my friend. Any time night or day that you need me, no matter what the reason and no matter how small or large, I will be here for you." She noticed the single tear that slipped from his eye and gently kissed it from his cheek. She let him go and watched him leave silently, but obviously a heavy weight had been lift from him.
Myst turned back to look at her husband in the water. He had swum a little further forward and now had to tread water in the warm depths. She smirked mischievously when she noticed that his back was still to her. She examined the marble ledge that bordered the huge pool of water and nodded with satisfaction.
Myst crept silently along the ledge until she was just behind him and to the side, just out of his peripheral vision and to his right. She leaped into the air and bellowed something as she tucked herself into a ball.
"CANNONBALL!"
Hotohori turned just in time to get a wave of water in the face. He shook the water off and then looked around. He turned around again and noticed the pair of twinkling eyes just barely poking out of the water. He smiled and tweaked her sides, not in a playful mood. "Oh, you."
Myst squeaked and tried to swim away from him as they began a half tickle, half wrestling match.
The laughter of the two could be heard echoing and stretching far outside.
**********
Laughter burst forth from the room again as Nuriko and Myst laughed during one of their many visits. Over the past month since that day in the bath, Nuriko and Myst had been together nearly every day for most of the day, excluding of course, Myst duties as empress.
Nuriko had just this day, opened up enough to tell Myst about his little sister Kourin and why he crossdressed.
Myst never let on that she already knew. This was obviously something that he needed to tell. She was honored that he trusted her so much. It was also obvious that he hadn't had a true friend to share trust with and to show the real him with since he was ten.
Nuriko had always had something to hide. But with her, he was free to be truly open and speak his whole mind and heart. It was a relief.
Their eyes were still red and puffy from crying about his past. She had gratefully held him the whole time. The mood had finally lightened after some time of crying with his comment that he knew Kourin would have loved her. They started talking about other things again and soon were back to laughing.
The two were sitting on Nuriko bed in his room with Myst in the middle of saying something when she suddenly clutched her head and doubled over.
Nuriko nearly panicked as he grabbed a hold of her shoulders. "Myst! Mistyc! Are you all right?! What's wrong?"
Myst suddenly stopped shaking, sat up and looked into her friend's worried eyes. She spoke softly almost as if she was in a daze or a trance. "Yes Nuriko. I'm fine." She brought her hand up and showed him the sparkling red feather that she held in her hand.
Nuriko gasped and stared at the feather with wide eyes.
Myst went on in that same foggy voice. "Suzaku spoke to me again. We must go. Soon. Today or tomorrow perhaps." She closed her hand when the feather disappeared and stood up.
Nuriko stood up as well and put his hand on her shoulder. "Um, Myst? What are you talking about? Go where?"
The touch seemed to snap her out of the daze. She smiled at him and kissed his forehead. She answered cheerfully. "To go see Tamahome of course, silly." With that she walked out of the room leaving Nuriko gaping.
"Huh?"
Myst poked her head back into the room. "Are you coming? We have to go talk to Hotohori."
Nuriko closed his mouth, nodded, and followed.
**********
A.N.: Sorry if this chapter seems a little choppy. I was just typing it out for the first time on a laptop. Kinda neat really, it's an old laptop, but it's a laptop none the less. So I like it!!! Well, It's also really late so I might just go to bed now. Once again, thank you for reading and I hope you're enjoying my story no da!!! Well, The next chapter has already been started so it will be out really soon. Enjoy and be sure to give me lots of feedback no da!!!!!!!!!!
~Celesta Hellewise Harman
It had been a week since the wedding and the whole country was singing about the coming of a possible heir. Myst was almost overwhelmed by all the presents she was getting.
"Empress! Empress!"
Myst stopped and turned as one of her handmaidens hurried up to her.
The girl was out of breath when she finally caught up. "Empress, you shouldn't be going anywhere alone. It's not proper."
Myst smirked but looked kindly at the young woman. "For one, I am empress am I not? I may go where I wish, when I wish. For another, since when have propriety and I ever been nodding acquaintances? You and everyone else will stay here. If his majesty asks my whereabouts, you may tell him that I am bathing in the seishi's bathhouse." She added silently to herself, 'I have a hunch about something and my hunches are usually never wrong.'
The woman was taken aback but obeyed the empresses orders and bowed to her. "Yes your highness."
Myst nodded and continued walking to the bathhouse. She stepped into the luxurious marble structure, which was built around a natural hotspring silently. This hotspring was only to be used by the seishi and the miko and since there was a light splashing from inside she knew her hunch was right.
Myst disrobed and stepped into the pleasantly warm, clear water. When she was waist deep the purple-haired beauty that was already there in deeper water whirled around and ducked to the chin in the water.
Myst couldn't help but smile. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I didn't think anyone would be here." The last part was a lie, but one she told with ease for it was not one that would hurt.
Nuriko sputtered. "E. empress. I'm sorry. I. I can leave and give you privacy. Just, could you turn around? I'm a little shy."
Myst smiled and swam past him so that she was in deeper water, almost having to tread and her back was to him. She heard the telltale splashing sounds of a body quickly getting out of the water and spoke up without turning around. "By the way, you have a beautiful body Ryuen." She turned then to see him standing ankle-deep in water with his stiff back to her.
Nuriko's quiet voice floated over his shoulder. "How. how did you know?"
Myst stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his arms and chest, giving him a hug to try and soothe him. She spoke softly into his ear and with all the kindness and caring that she could. "Suzaku showed me in a vision. I knew the first time I met you at the wedding." She urged him to turn around and he did so. She smiled at the fact that she was so much taller than he was.
Myst placed her left hand on his shoulder and brushed the damp hair out of his face with her right hand. She looked into his eyes with her heart open in hers as she spoke. "You never have to feel the need to hide anything from me. Do not worry. I will not tell anyone your secret. It is yours to tell. All I ask is that when we are alone, that you be open with me. I care about you and I would like you to consider us friends as I already do."
Nuriko blushed and nodded. 'She's so different from anyone I've ever met. She knew about me all this time and never gave me away or sneered at me. Maybe. maybe." Her voice broke through his thoughts.
Myst gently pulled him back into the water as she spoke. "Well, this pool is just for us and I think Hotohori is busy for a while, so why don't I was your back and give you a back rub and you can relax."
Nuriko smiled a true smile and nodded. There was just something about her that made it so easy to trust her. "Shouldn't I be giving you the back rub your majesty?"
Myst shook her head. "No, I enjoy giving back rubs and you look like you need one. I don't mind. It'll give us a chance to talk and get to know each other."
So it was that they were standing in deep water with their backs to the door and Myst giving Nuriko a shoulder massage when Hotohori came in, in a bathrobe. He looked at the backs of his wife and fellow seishi and smiled. "Am I interrupting?"
The two in the water gave little startled cries and whirled as one, Nuriko ducking again and shielding himself with the water and his arms, and Myst shielding him.
Hotohori smiled apologetically. "My apologies. I didn't mean to startle you ladies."
The two heaved a sigh of relief that he hadn't seen that Nuriko was really a man, then slightly tensed up again disrobed and dropped into the water.
Nuriko in a near panic grabbed onto Myst's upper arms and pressed himself against her back to use her as a kind of shield. He peeked over her shoulder and whispered so only she could hear. "What do I do? What if he sees me?"
Hotohori saw Nuriko hiding and swam over. "Nuriko? What is wrong?"
Nuriko ducked down further and Myst spoke for him. "She's shy of her body Hotohori. Could you turn your back while she gets out?"
He nodded. "I must apologize again. I didn't think." He swam behind them and took the same position that Myst had as she and Nuriko worked on getting out of the water swiftly.
Myst ran up ahead of Nuriko while he stayed ducked in the water, and grabbed the soft robe he had left there. She held it up for him to dash into from the water.
Nuriko did just that and she wrapped it and her arms around him.
This time Nuriko hugged her back and whispered to her, "Thank you."
Myst read the deeper meaning that he put into those two simple words. He meant to thank her for everything. Her secrecy, her help, and most of all her acceptance and her love for the real him.
Myst smiled and hugged him tighter. "Any time my friend. Any time night or day that you need me, no matter what the reason and no matter how small or large, I will be here for you." She noticed the single tear that slipped from his eye and gently kissed it from his cheek. She let him go and watched him leave silently, but obviously a heavy weight had been lift from him.
Myst turned back to look at her husband in the water. He had swum a little further forward and now had to tread water in the warm depths. She smirked mischievously when she noticed that his back was still to her. She examined the marble ledge that bordered the huge pool of water and nodded with satisfaction.
Myst crept silently along the ledge until she was just behind him and to the side, just out of his peripheral vision and to his right. She leaped into the air and bellowed something as she tucked herself into a ball.
"CANNONBALL!"
Hotohori turned just in time to get a wave of water in the face. He shook the water off and then looked around. He turned around again and noticed the pair of twinkling eyes just barely poking out of the water. He smiled and tweaked her sides, not in a playful mood. "Oh, you."
Myst squeaked and tried to swim away from him as they began a half tickle, half wrestling match.
The laughter of the two could be heard echoing and stretching far outside.
**********
Laughter burst forth from the room again as Nuriko and Myst laughed during one of their many visits. Over the past month since that day in the bath, Nuriko and Myst had been together nearly every day for most of the day, excluding of course, Myst duties as empress.
Nuriko had just this day, opened up enough to tell Myst about his little sister Kourin and why he crossdressed.
Myst never let on that she already knew. This was obviously something that he needed to tell. She was honored that he trusted her so much. It was also obvious that he hadn't had a true friend to share trust with and to show the real him with since he was ten.
Nuriko had always had something to hide. But with her, he was free to be truly open and speak his whole mind and heart. It was a relief.
Their eyes were still red and puffy from crying about his past. She had gratefully held him the whole time. The mood had finally lightened after some time of crying with his comment that he knew Kourin would have loved her. They started talking about other things again and soon were back to laughing.
The two were sitting on Nuriko bed in his room with Myst in the middle of saying something when she suddenly clutched her head and doubled over.
Nuriko nearly panicked as he grabbed a hold of her shoulders. "Myst! Mistyc! Are you all right?! What's wrong?"
Myst suddenly stopped shaking, sat up and looked into her friend's worried eyes. She spoke softly almost as if she was in a daze or a trance. "Yes Nuriko. I'm fine." She brought her hand up and showed him the sparkling red feather that she held in her hand.
Nuriko gasped and stared at the feather with wide eyes.
Myst went on in that same foggy voice. "Suzaku spoke to me again. We must go. Soon. Today or tomorrow perhaps." She closed her hand when the feather disappeared and stood up.
Nuriko stood up as well and put his hand on her shoulder. "Um, Myst? What are you talking about? Go where?"
The touch seemed to snap her out of the daze. She smiled at him and kissed his forehead. She answered cheerfully. "To go see Tamahome of course, silly." With that she walked out of the room leaving Nuriko gaping.
"Huh?"
Myst poked her head back into the room. "Are you coming? We have to go talk to Hotohori."
Nuriko closed his mouth, nodded, and followed.
**********
A.N.: Sorry if this chapter seems a little choppy. I was just typing it out for the first time on a laptop. Kinda neat really, it's an old laptop, but it's a laptop none the less. So I like it!!! Well, It's also really late so I might just go to bed now. Once again, thank you for reading and I hope you're enjoying my story no da!!! Well, The next chapter has already been started so it will be out really soon. Enjoy and be sure to give me lots of feedback no da!!!!!!!!!!
~Celesta Hellewise Harman