SR: Well, here I am. I'm done moving, there is still unpacking to do,
the computer is up and running. I spent two happy weeks in scenic New
Mexico visiting my family, but now that I'm in my new house, I'm suffering
from a somewhat delayed depression. It's not the really serious kind where
you need pills and junk, I'm just feeling pretty down. I'm now about 3,000
miles away from most anything I can remember after the age of 5. I was
thinking of discontinuing my fics for a while, but it would make me feel
even worse if I disappointed my reviewers. So, I'll press on. I'll get
better eventually, it'll just take a day or two, I hope. * brightens up*
Anyway, this chappie is dedicated to the friends I unfortunately had to leave behind. Boorei, Sugoi, Kawaii-Sama, Hoshi, Amiboshi-chan, minna, I think of you guys a lot and miss you very much.
Once again no bleeping. I think I'll just stick to plain swearing out loud. Yup. Also, once again, Tenchi Muyo and Fushigi Yuugi do not belong to me. If they did I would have bought Fanfiction.net by now.
One more thing: I fixed my atrocious spelling. In all of my chapters. Good for me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 6: Thoughts and Return
Ryoko already recognized the chi before it came within sight. She knew that cold, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, as well as the aching feeling in her chest. It was unmistakable. She tensed, and her cat- like eyes narrowed.
"Ryoko?"
Ryoko did not have time to answer Miaka before Tenkou stepped into view. He was smirking once more, chuckling softly.
"Well, well. It seems I won't ever be able to fool you, Ryoko."
Ryoko felt her wound burn fiercely, but her anger burned more severely. She said nothing, only glaring venomously at the Book's equivalent of Satan. The wound in her chest throbbed worse, and she winced. The burn was intense, she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, trying to fight of the pain. She slumped to her knees, clutching the wound.
"Oh, tsk tsk. Ryoko, it seems you've given yourself a cut, haven't you?"
"Ryoko!" Miaka ran to the space pirate, kneeling at her side. "Ryoko, are you alright?"
Ryoko clutched tighter at the gash, her head bent.
"Miaka. Get.... get out of here now."
"W-what do you mean? I can't just leave you here! You're...." Miaka was unable to finish her sentence as a bright pink blast came at them, which Ryoko used almost all her strength to form a shield against.
She slumped again. This time.....
"Ryoko, you're- you're bleeding! Your wound got reopened!"
"Miaka.... please get out of here now. Tasuki would never forgive me if anything happened to you......"
"And Tasuki would never forgive ME if anything happened to you! Please, Ryoko!"
The bleeding was getting increasingly worse, it was staining Ryoko's clothes a terrible dark color. ************************************************************************
Chichiri looked up. He did not like the feel of Ryoko's chi. The dark chi right next to it worried him anymore. He frowned and looked south. He did not like this. H did not like this at all. He took off his mask, which he had placed back on moments before, to see the horizon better. In the far distance, birds were disturbed out of their trees, followed by a slight pink glimmer. But this was about a mile and a half away. Ryoko had run very far.
Taka tensed as he saw the monk frown.
"Chichiri! What is it? Is Miaka in trouble? Is she alright?!"
"Miaka's fine at the moment. Ryoko is protecting her. But," he glanced at Tasuki, who was sitting holding a piece of cloth from Ryoko's dress and looking out at the forest, his sadness replaced with concern, and continued in a whisper, "but she's not doing so well."
"Can we help her?
" I'm afraid we can't. There is a barrier around the area the two are in. Only one blast has been fired. What is Tenkou doing?"
************************************************************************
"Now, Ryoko, please don't be stubborn. I just want to talk to you."
"Talk to me my ass!
"Now now! Such language! I really do want tot talk to you. How about it, Ryoko? From one demon to another?"
Ryoko answered with a very rude hand gesture. She looked indecisive for a moment, but then......
"What is it?"
"There you go. Now then I should like that we could talk in... private."
Tenkou's eyes darted to Miaka, who was instantly gone.
"Miaka!"
"Now now! She's just gone to join all your little friends. Now, I am curious, Ryoko, exactly..... Why are you still here?"
"What?"
"I am curious as to why you have stayed in this world so long and have not tried at all to get back. Why?"
"That's none of your business."
"Touchy. Well, I guess things best be left alone. But you see, now I think it would be best if you went back where you came from."
"And who are you to decide that?!" Ryoko was fighting with all the control she had not to slice off the demon's limbs one by one.
"Because, Ryoko, that silly ordeal with the Gem has not ended."
Ryoko's eyes shot open.
"WHAT?"
"Did you really think you could live here forever? You're not meant to be here. Even the Priestesses of the Gods are only allowed to live here for a short time. Did you really think you were an exception? Yes, Ryoko, the Gem was only the beginning of the fun. I knew the Gem could be released if you were to somehow overcome it. In fact, I was expecting it. I improved the Gem of Jurai more than you think. When it released itself from you, it left everything ten times more powerful in you. By the time the Gem hit the ground, it was useless. All of its contents, Ryoko, are in YOU."
Ryoko gasped.
" So it is that I think it I not a good idea to stay here much longer. Those feelings you've kept bottled up this past week are slowly fueling the Gem's powers. Will you stay here, and endanger your dear Suzaku no Shichi seishi? Endanger," Tenkou smirked coldly, " your dear Tasuki?"
"You...!"
Ryoko forced back tears of horror. / This can't be happening...../
"Now, Ryoko, what will you do? The Gem is only in effect in this world." Tenkou smiled cruelly. "Even the Devil cannot do everything."
"And just how do you think I'm to get back to my world? Now that this gem of yours is inside of me, I won't be able to see Mount Taikyoku. You can get me back. You'll just do it for a price."
"Very good, Ryoko. You're not the waste product I thought you were."
Tenkou was beginning to remind Ryoko very much of her "dear" guardian, Kagato.
"Now then, I can get you back, for one thing."
"What?" she snarled.
"If you tell me, what is it that drove you to stay here."
The rude hand gesture was flashed again. Tenkou chuckled.
"Very well. I guess I won't be able to get it out of you. Very well." The Devil raised his long-nailed hand, and a red light began to form around Ryoko's body.
/ So I'm going..... it's for the best. I can't hurt them anymore. Goodbye, Tasuki..... Goodbye..../
And then she was gone. ************************************************************************
"Miaka! What's wrong?" Taka questioned as he held a teary Miaka in his arms.
"She's... gone.. Ryoko is gone forever."
All the seishi looked at their miko is shock. Hotohori sighed. "So he has left. Poor girl."
Tasuki simply stared at Miaka in slight disbelief. His usual lopsided grin was replaced with a grim line. He turned around, and no one stopped him. He walked away, staring at the ground, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hair as he bowed his head. He continued to walk. The other seishi knew he would be back soon, and chose not to stop him at all. When Tasuki stopped four miles away, he was crying silently. He slammed his fist into a nearby boulder. "Dammit, Ryoko...." ************************************************************************
"RYOKO! MY BABY!!!" screamed a very happy and relieved Washuu when Ryoko came to the door of the Masaki residence. She had been in the Book for an hour and a half, but had been away from the Masaki house for over a month.
"Get off Washuu, I can't breathe, and I'm not your baby," she said as she struggled to get the Adult form of the small genius off her neck. Rhyo- ohki ran up, meowing, and hopped onto her available shoulder and nuzzled her cheek in greeting. Ryoko smiled.
"Have you been good, Rhyo-ohki?" She was answered with a kawaii "meow" and laughed. She was greeted also by a genki Sasami and a very teary looking Mihoshi. Kiyone smiled and waved. Ayeka stuck up her nose and stalked off, muttering something about missing the peace and quiet. Ryoko shrugged and turned to Sasami and said, "I hope I didn't worry you too much."
"We thought you had gone on a space raid during the first week, but afterwards we got worried. We tried to call Tenchi to ask him if he'd seen you, but he never returned our calls."
Ryoko stiffened slightly at the mention of the boy's name. "What's the matter, Ryoko?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing!" Ryoko forced a smile. "So what's for dinner? I've been living of junk food and I'm starved!" Cheers answered her as they all headed towards the table.
That night, with a stomach fuller than it had been for the last 40 days, Ryoko layed on her balcony with a bottle of Jim Beam. She had kept her happy exterior up all night, but now that she was alone it was very hard to no think about Miaka and the others. The Jim Beam helped a bit. She sighed and rolled over. / It's for the best/ she told herself, / I don't want to hurt Tasuki more than I already have./
Tasuki was thinking about her as well. Comforted by the same method, (a large bottle of sake), he thought / She had a good reason to go. I just don't know what it is..... Dammit, Ryoko........./
The two fell asleep, still thinking thoughts about the other. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SR: GOMEN NASAI GOMEN NASAI GOMEN NASAI MINNA-SAN!!!!!!!!!!! I ended up updating about a month later than I said I would! If it means anything, I had good reasons to delay!
Tasuki: .... As in, acting like a homicidal maniac on the Go-carts at the nearby Put-Put.
SR: Hehehe... ^_^;; Well, when you're still about two years from your Drivers License you tend to get hooked! ^_^ Ja ne, minna-san! Chappie 7 to be up sooner than this one!
Anyway, this chappie is dedicated to the friends I unfortunately had to leave behind. Boorei, Sugoi, Kawaii-Sama, Hoshi, Amiboshi-chan, minna, I think of you guys a lot and miss you very much.
Once again no bleeping. I think I'll just stick to plain swearing out loud. Yup. Also, once again, Tenchi Muyo and Fushigi Yuugi do not belong to me. If they did I would have bought Fanfiction.net by now.
One more thing: I fixed my atrocious spelling. In all of my chapters. Good for me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 6: Thoughts and Return
Ryoko already recognized the chi before it came within sight. She knew that cold, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, as well as the aching feeling in her chest. It was unmistakable. She tensed, and her cat- like eyes narrowed.
"Ryoko?"
Ryoko did not have time to answer Miaka before Tenkou stepped into view. He was smirking once more, chuckling softly.
"Well, well. It seems I won't ever be able to fool you, Ryoko."
Ryoko felt her wound burn fiercely, but her anger burned more severely. She said nothing, only glaring venomously at the Book's equivalent of Satan. The wound in her chest throbbed worse, and she winced. The burn was intense, she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, trying to fight of the pain. She slumped to her knees, clutching the wound.
"Oh, tsk tsk. Ryoko, it seems you've given yourself a cut, haven't you?"
"Ryoko!" Miaka ran to the space pirate, kneeling at her side. "Ryoko, are you alright?"
Ryoko clutched tighter at the gash, her head bent.
"Miaka. Get.... get out of here now."
"W-what do you mean? I can't just leave you here! You're...." Miaka was unable to finish her sentence as a bright pink blast came at them, which Ryoko used almost all her strength to form a shield against.
She slumped again. This time.....
"Ryoko, you're- you're bleeding! Your wound got reopened!"
"Miaka.... please get out of here now. Tasuki would never forgive me if anything happened to you......"
"And Tasuki would never forgive ME if anything happened to you! Please, Ryoko!"
The bleeding was getting increasingly worse, it was staining Ryoko's clothes a terrible dark color. ************************************************************************
Chichiri looked up. He did not like the feel of Ryoko's chi. The dark chi right next to it worried him anymore. He frowned and looked south. He did not like this. H did not like this at all. He took off his mask, which he had placed back on moments before, to see the horizon better. In the far distance, birds were disturbed out of their trees, followed by a slight pink glimmer. But this was about a mile and a half away. Ryoko had run very far.
Taka tensed as he saw the monk frown.
"Chichiri! What is it? Is Miaka in trouble? Is she alright?!"
"Miaka's fine at the moment. Ryoko is protecting her. But," he glanced at Tasuki, who was sitting holding a piece of cloth from Ryoko's dress and looking out at the forest, his sadness replaced with concern, and continued in a whisper, "but she's not doing so well."
"Can we help her?
" I'm afraid we can't. There is a barrier around the area the two are in. Only one blast has been fired. What is Tenkou doing?"
************************************************************************
"Now, Ryoko, please don't be stubborn. I just want to talk to you."
"Talk to me my ass!
"Now now! Such language! I really do want tot talk to you. How about it, Ryoko? From one demon to another?"
Ryoko answered with a very rude hand gesture. She looked indecisive for a moment, but then......
"What is it?"
"There you go. Now then I should like that we could talk in... private."
Tenkou's eyes darted to Miaka, who was instantly gone.
"Miaka!"
"Now now! She's just gone to join all your little friends. Now, I am curious, Ryoko, exactly..... Why are you still here?"
"What?"
"I am curious as to why you have stayed in this world so long and have not tried at all to get back. Why?"
"That's none of your business."
"Touchy. Well, I guess things best be left alone. But you see, now I think it would be best if you went back where you came from."
"And who are you to decide that?!" Ryoko was fighting with all the control she had not to slice off the demon's limbs one by one.
"Because, Ryoko, that silly ordeal with the Gem has not ended."
Ryoko's eyes shot open.
"WHAT?"
"Did you really think you could live here forever? You're not meant to be here. Even the Priestesses of the Gods are only allowed to live here for a short time. Did you really think you were an exception? Yes, Ryoko, the Gem was only the beginning of the fun. I knew the Gem could be released if you were to somehow overcome it. In fact, I was expecting it. I improved the Gem of Jurai more than you think. When it released itself from you, it left everything ten times more powerful in you. By the time the Gem hit the ground, it was useless. All of its contents, Ryoko, are in YOU."
Ryoko gasped.
" So it is that I think it I not a good idea to stay here much longer. Those feelings you've kept bottled up this past week are slowly fueling the Gem's powers. Will you stay here, and endanger your dear Suzaku no Shichi seishi? Endanger," Tenkou smirked coldly, " your dear Tasuki?"
"You...!"
Ryoko forced back tears of horror. / This can't be happening...../
"Now, Ryoko, what will you do? The Gem is only in effect in this world." Tenkou smiled cruelly. "Even the Devil cannot do everything."
"And just how do you think I'm to get back to my world? Now that this gem of yours is inside of me, I won't be able to see Mount Taikyoku. You can get me back. You'll just do it for a price."
"Very good, Ryoko. You're not the waste product I thought you were."
Tenkou was beginning to remind Ryoko very much of her "dear" guardian, Kagato.
"Now then, I can get you back, for one thing."
"What?" she snarled.
"If you tell me, what is it that drove you to stay here."
The rude hand gesture was flashed again. Tenkou chuckled.
"Very well. I guess I won't be able to get it out of you. Very well." The Devil raised his long-nailed hand, and a red light began to form around Ryoko's body.
/ So I'm going..... it's for the best. I can't hurt them anymore. Goodbye, Tasuki..... Goodbye..../
And then she was gone. ************************************************************************
"Miaka! What's wrong?" Taka questioned as he held a teary Miaka in his arms.
"She's... gone.. Ryoko is gone forever."
All the seishi looked at their miko is shock. Hotohori sighed. "So he has left. Poor girl."
Tasuki simply stared at Miaka in slight disbelief. His usual lopsided grin was replaced with a grim line. He turned around, and no one stopped him. He walked away, staring at the ground, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hair as he bowed his head. He continued to walk. The other seishi knew he would be back soon, and chose not to stop him at all. When Tasuki stopped four miles away, he was crying silently. He slammed his fist into a nearby boulder. "Dammit, Ryoko...." ************************************************************************
"RYOKO! MY BABY!!!" screamed a very happy and relieved Washuu when Ryoko came to the door of the Masaki residence. She had been in the Book for an hour and a half, but had been away from the Masaki house for over a month.
"Get off Washuu, I can't breathe, and I'm not your baby," she said as she struggled to get the Adult form of the small genius off her neck. Rhyo- ohki ran up, meowing, and hopped onto her available shoulder and nuzzled her cheek in greeting. Ryoko smiled.
"Have you been good, Rhyo-ohki?" She was answered with a kawaii "meow" and laughed. She was greeted also by a genki Sasami and a very teary looking Mihoshi. Kiyone smiled and waved. Ayeka stuck up her nose and stalked off, muttering something about missing the peace and quiet. Ryoko shrugged and turned to Sasami and said, "I hope I didn't worry you too much."
"We thought you had gone on a space raid during the first week, but afterwards we got worried. We tried to call Tenchi to ask him if he'd seen you, but he never returned our calls."
Ryoko stiffened slightly at the mention of the boy's name. "What's the matter, Ryoko?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing!" Ryoko forced a smile. "So what's for dinner? I've been living of junk food and I'm starved!" Cheers answered her as they all headed towards the table.
That night, with a stomach fuller than it had been for the last 40 days, Ryoko layed on her balcony with a bottle of Jim Beam. She had kept her happy exterior up all night, but now that she was alone it was very hard to no think about Miaka and the others. The Jim Beam helped a bit. She sighed and rolled over. / It's for the best/ she told herself, / I don't want to hurt Tasuki more than I already have./
Tasuki was thinking about her as well. Comforted by the same method, (a large bottle of sake), he thought / She had a good reason to go. I just don't know what it is..... Dammit, Ryoko........./
The two fell asleep, still thinking thoughts about the other. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SR: GOMEN NASAI GOMEN NASAI GOMEN NASAI MINNA-SAN!!!!!!!!!!! I ended up updating about a month later than I said I would! If it means anything, I had good reasons to delay!
Tasuki: .... As in, acting like a homicidal maniac on the Go-carts at the nearby Put-Put.
SR: Hehehe... ^_^;; Well, when you're still about two years from your Drivers License you tend to get hooked! ^_^ Ja ne, minna-san! Chappie 7 to be up sooner than this one!