Disclaimer: I don't own the original FY characters; I own Kei, Taki, Lily, Jason, their kids and any other person who isn't a FY character.
Thoughts
Memories
Summary: The book was supposed to be sealed forever, never to trouble the real world again. But when the child of a seishi and descendant of a miko finds it 20 years later, there's no telling what could happen. When 17-year-old Akane finds the book, she understands what her parents tried to teach her through out her life. When she meets the son of her father's best friend, old ideals clash with modern thinking and sparks will fly. She and her cousins will learn about their parents' and why they had hoped to leave it behind.
~*~Review Response~*~
~Cortney - Sequel better than the original? I dunno 'bout that, but thanks for the encouragement.
~Jamie - I see you wandered into my little corner of FF.net. Glad you like it. You want Hiroshi? Hmmm…well, given the idea, something may come out of that. Only reason he's a nerd is cause he thinks about school on vacations.
~Stariko - Thanks for reading! Just hafta wait to see what happens with Akane and Kano…then again, it's not that hard to see that's where it's going.
~Goku-chan - Nice to see you again. Hope the sequel is to your liking.
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Akane's POV
Why's Kano so mean to me? It's not my fault Kouji made him share his horse with me. I offered to walk! He's so immature even though he seems older than me.
I was silent unless spoken to on the ride up the stronghold thing-y. Gen-chan trotted near us. My head was in the clouds as we rode. I like it here. It's pretty. It's rare to find a forest this big at home.
Kano glanced back at me. "What are you staring at?"
"The forest…" I hardly paid any attention to him. I liked the forest better.
"Why?" He sounded annoyed.
"No reason…just looking…"
"Idiot…" He mumbled. Why's he so mean?!?! What did I do to him?
"Why do you hate me?" I rested my chin on his shoulder.
"I do not hate you…"
"Yes, you do. You're so mean to me. You hate women or somethin'?" He pulled his shoulder away from me.
"I said I don't hate you. I don't hate women either."
"Were you not held enough as a child? You are so angry…be happy, Kano!" I jokingly hugged him. I heard Kouji laugh.
"Stop!" He yelled at me. Did I strike a nerve? "I'm not angry!"
"Seem angry enough to me…" I scooted back in the saddle. Funny, I didn't think teen angst would be prevalent here.
"Would you just shut up, bitch?!?!" Bitch? He called me a bitch? Oh, he has not seen a bitch yet.
"I'm a bitch, huh?" I put my hands on his back. "I'll show you a bitch…" I shoved him, hard. He went flying off. He landed on his back in the dust of the road. A number of the other bandits laughed with Kouji. Kano fumed at me.
"Why the hell did you do that?" He stood up.
"That was for calling me a bitch, Captain Jackass." I leaned forward in the saddle and held my face inches from his.
Kano stared at Kouji. "Dad! Can we get rid of her?"
"You are such a whinny brat, Kano! Do you run to your dad for everything?"
"I am not whining, Wonder Bitch!" Kano grabbed me a yanked me off the horse. I fell on my butt. "That's for the jackass remark."
I stood up angrily. "You'll get a lot more if you don't stop being so mean!"
"Like what?" He looked down at me. "What's the little girl gonna do to me?"
Little? He called me little! That stupid jackass is in for it now! "I'll show you!" I tackled him hard. We both went crashing to the ground.
He flipped me over his head. I hung on for dear life. We were suddenly sliding down a hill, still gripping each other. We took numerous swings at each other while tumbling over each other down the hill. I know I got him in the face, he hit me a few times too.
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Narrator's POV
'Leave it to Genrou to call his daughter a warrior…' Kouji sighed as the two teens went flying down the steep hill. He stopped his horse and got off.
Akane and Kano stopped tumbling near the back of another river. Akane was straddling Kano's waist and holding his arms at the side of his head. "Yield?"
"Never!" Kano angrily tore his arms free and threw Akane into the river. She landed with a splash and a scream.
'She's not half bad…I'll have to give her a little more credit…' He stood up and brushed off his shirt. He soon noticed she wasn't coming up. "Akane?" He walked closer to the water's edge. "Akane?" He bent down trying to see through the water.
Akane stayed low in the water. 'That jackass! I can't say it enough…' She saw him get close to the water. She smirked and darted up to the surface and reached out.
"Holy shit!" Kano couldn't back up fast enough. Akane grabbed his shoulders, took a deep breath and dragged him into the water with her.
Beneath the surface, they continued to grapple. Akane tried to swing at his face, but only ended up pushing his head to the side. Kano kicked off the bank wall and pinned her against the opposite side. They glared at each other in the crystal water. There wasn't much she could do accept wait for him to run out of air and let her go. She didn't have to wait that long though. A pair of hands reached into the water and hauled them both up.
Kouji frowned as he watched the two teens gasp for air while lying on the bank. "You know…I'm a little old to be a baby sitter for you two…"
Simultaneously they point at each other. "He/She started it! No, you did! Shut up, jackass!!/bitch!!"
Kouji forced them farther apart. "Both of you shut up. You're wasting daylight." He waited for them to stand.
"Sorry, Dad…"
"Sorry, Sir…" Both soaked teens stared at the ground.
"Okay…let's go…" He made Akane walk on one side and Kano on the other.
The other bandit laughed at Kano for getting into such a long fight with a girl. He said nothing and went back to his horse. He pulled two blankets out of a saddlebag and handed one to Akane. "Here…" He muttered.
"Thanks…" Akane wrung out her hair and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. 'I think the trip just got longer…'
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Hiroshi still stared at the book on the grass. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. "I've gone insane…heh…yeah…that's it. Or maybe Akane's just playing a trick on me 'cause I called her short…" He ran his hands through his hair. "I think I need Mom and Dad's help…"
"Hiroshi? Where'd Akane go?" The girl for the library suddenly appeared around the tree. "Did she come out here?"
"Kimiko? Uh…hi…Akane's…she, uh…" 'She fell into a book? Yeah…right…' "She had a phone call from her mom and left…"
"She left the book…was it an emergency?" Kimiko asked with wide eyes.
"No…no…no emergency…she just had to hurry…and I…uh…wanted to look at the book a little more so she let me keep it…"
"Oh, okay…" Kimiko smiled and checked her watch. "I gotta go. I'll see you soon though?"
"Ye…yeah…sure…" Hiroshi did his best to hide a slight blush. "See ya later…" He waved a little as she left him alone again. 'Damn…when did I forget how to talk to Kimiko? I've known her a while now…we've gone to school together for 3 years…Akane's only friends with her because I had to work with Kimiko on a school project…now I go all stupid when I see her…what's the matter with me?' His attention suddenly snapped back to the book. "Shit…" He found a stick and pushed it closed. Carefully, he picked it up and took off running.
He paid no attention to anyone he passed and ran all the way to his house. Out of breath, he swung open the door. "MOM!! DAD!! Are you here?!?!" He was completely exhausted.
Taki came running in. "Hiroshi, what's wrong? Why are you so pale?" She looked worried and made him sit down.
"I ran here from the library…"
Two violet haired girls came in the living room. "What are you yelling about Hiroshi?" They spoke together.
"Naoko, Nyoko, don't do that…" Taki scolded them.
"Sorry, Aunt Taki." Naoko shrugged.
"What were you about to say, Hiroshi?"
"Well…Akane and I were at the library, like you told us to be…" He put the book on the table. "And Kimiko gave this to Akane 'cause she asked for it…"
Taki's eyes widened. "No…"
"I don't know what happened, but the book was blank, then when Akane touched it, it glowed and sucked her in…"
Nyoko looked up at him. "Did you fall on your head on the way here?"
"Nyoko, don't be mean…" Jason appeared in the doorway.
"Sorry, Daddy…"
"Hiroshi, are you sure?" Taki sat next to her son.
"Uh-huh. She was gone. What happened?"
"She's going to see the Universe of the Four Gods…"
"But I thought you said it could be visited…"
"I guess I was wrong…Kei and Tasuki won't be happy about this one…" Taki stared at the book. It brought back a lot of memories, maybe too many…
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Lily and Taki sat up slowly after lying in the grass for a time. They had just come into the book for the first time…
Taki slowly pulled away from Hotohori while crying after kissing him for the first time…
She slowly walked down a flight of stairs, to see Jason, Kei and Tasuki talking in the kitchen. Kei wore the necklace Tasuki gave her and Tasuki held a large bag of ice on his shoulder…
She screamed as she saw Kei push Tasuki out of the way of an incoming arrow and get hit with it. She broke down in tears when Kei fell limp into Tasuki's arms…
Taki looked back at Hotohori one more time before walking through the portal back to the real world.
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"Mom…are you okay? You looked lost…"
"No…I'm fine, Hiroshi…just thinking of ways to tell Kei and Tasuki that their child is in the book…" She frowned and traced her finger on the cover, wondering what to do when Kei and Tasuki came over.
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Kouji opened one of the doors in the bandit strong hold. "This was your dad's room, Akane."
She slowly walked in. She felt calm in her father's room. She couldn't believe he was a bandit leader.
"You want anything else?"
"No…I'm good…" She absent-mindedly waved off the older bandit and his son who was standing nearby.
Kouji closed the door. He turned to his son. "What's wrong with you?"
"What'd I do?"
"What'd you do? You got into a fight with Akane. She's my best friend's daughter."
"So? She's just another girl. From another world or not, I really don't care. I won't treat her any differently than I treat any other girl who crosses my path." Kano frowned and crossed his arms.
"You're really asking for it." Kouji frowned.
"And? I don't care!" Kano turned from his father. "She'll eventually leave out world anyway. She doesn't belong here." He stormed off down the hall.
Kouji blinked a few times. "She doesn't belong? Well…he has a point…" Kouji walked out of the main strong hold building and down to the gates. When he reached the gates, a woman about his age was standing there.
"Kouji…where's Kano?"
"Kanako…" He looked her over. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to see our son." She stood strong.
Kouji and Kanako stood in silence at the gates.
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Akane sat in the center of her father's bed. "Daddy was a bandit? How weird…" She opened a drawer to find her father's clothes.
She pulled out a pair of pants and a shirt. She stared at the clothes for a while, then changed into them.
She put on one of Tasuki's smaller coats as well. When she looked at herself in a mirror, she smiled. After pinning up her hair she looked like a young bandit.
She walked out of the room and went to find Kano or Kouji. She found Kano in the dinning room. "Kano?"
"What?" He turned to her. "Something not to your liking?" His voice was slightly bitter.
"No…no…everything's fine. Why would something be wrong?"
"Forget it…"
"I was just wondering if you could show me where the highest point in the stronghold is."
"Why?"
"Because I like being up high. I wanted some time to think about everything."
"Everything?"
"You know…being here…it's weird…I shouldn't be here. Uncle Hotohori told me the book couldn't be used to come here anymore. He said it was sealed…"
"Uncle…Hotohori?"
"Well, technically he's a 2nd cousin of mine or something. My mom and he are cousins."
"Damn…you got quite a bloodline…"
"What do you mean?"
"Hotohori is…was another Suzaku seishi and the emperor of Konan."
Akane's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "My uncle…was an emperor?"
Kano snickered at her. "I wish you could see the look on your face…Gods you look stupid."
She quickly regained her composure. "Great, that's one more thing to think about…"
"Come on. I'll show you to the roof." He still chuckled at her while they walked.
"Stop laughing at me!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
He led her up a tall ladder to an open roof. "Here's what I think is the highest point in the stronghold. Not a bad view really."
Akane walked across the roof. "It's perfect…" The wind blew stray strands of hair and her coat around.
"You know, you don't look half bad like that."
Akane shifted her gaze from the horizon to Kano. "Did you just say something nice to me?"
"Maybe. Don't get used to it." He crossed his arms.
"Oh well, once is better than never." She smiled at him.
"Yeah…anyway…how did you get here?"
"Well, let's see here…I was at the library with Hiroshi and a friend of mine showed me a completely blank book. So I was like 'Could have it?' and she was all like 'Sure, do what you want.' so I was like 'Cool, thanks.' Hiroshi and I left and he goes 'Lemme see it.' and I was like 'Okay.' so he looked at it and then I was like 'Gimme it back.' so he's like 'Sure, here.' That's when I saw writing in it, so I read it. And then he's like 'Akane, drop it.' and I'm like 'Why?' and then I say the pages fill up with writing so I screamed and threw it away." She took a quick breath. "That's when Gen-chan decided to sniff it and I was gonna try ta stop him and we both ended up near a river."
Kano blinked at her. "He 'goes'? You were 'like'? You talk really weird…"
Akane giggled nervously. "Sorry. That's how my friends and I talk all the time. I didn't mean to do that."
"Whatever…"
"You know, I really don't understand why you do that…"
"Do what?"
"Almost every time I ask you something, your response it 'whatever.' I'm sick of it already."
"Just habit, I guess…"
"Oh…" Something caught Akane's eye. "Hey, who's your dad talking to down there?"
"Where?" He looked over the side. Kouji and the woman were yelling at each other. "I dunno…" He tossed down a rope from the side and slid down to the ground.
"Can I come?"
"Whatever…" The young bandit looked up at her with a smirk.
Akane stuck her tongue out at him and slid down after him. She followed him into a covered area near the gates where Kouji was with the woman. They listened intently.
"Your son?!?! You want to see your son?" Kouji glared at her. "Let me tell you a few things about your son, Kanako! You don't have a son! You decided to abandon him!"
"I did not! I never abandoned Kano!"
"Yes you did! You never wanted him! You would have rather left him for dead in the forest when he was born!"
Akane looked at Kano. He looked completely frozen. She saw pain in his eyes. "Kano…"
"Shhh…" He silenced her.
"How could I take him back? I couldn't raise him by myself!"
"By…by yourself?!?! When did anyone say you had to that? You could have stayed here! You know that!" Kouji was furious with Kanako. "And after this long, what made you come here and call him your son again?"
Kanako readjusted her clothes. "I found the perfect wife for him. He's old enough now to marry, maybe even past due."
"Perfect? You don't even know him!"
"She's a good girl that I think will suit anyone."
"I don't believe you…you've been out of his life for more than 15 years and you finally decide to see him when you've found a way to still not have to have him hear you."
"I want what's best for him."
"Then you should have come back before…" Akane gasped when Kano walked out of the spot where they were.
"Kano?" Kanako looked up at him.
"Mother…" Kano's eyes narrowed. "Nice to know you care so much for my well being…" Akane noted the bitterness in him voice.
'Give it up for the dysfunctional family of the year…' Akane kept crouching in the hiding spot. 'Though I guess I was wrong about Kouji's parenting skills…bandits make good fathers…' She watched the daytime talk show-like scene unfolding before her. Kano's bitterness towards women suddenly made a lot more sense.
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How's that for dysfunctional family fun?
What's a bandit to do when faced with a mother who didn't want him?
Next chapter in a week or so, I hope.
~*~Shadow Hawk~*~
2/21/03