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' past and why they had hoped to leave it behind.
~*~Review Response~*~
~Gobe - Me, crazy about Fushigi Yuugi? That's not very accurate…no, wait, scratch that. That defines me. And don't worry. I don't just stop fics on the middle. I will get to the end. I just hope you do.
~Vanessa-chan - I'm guilty as charged. Looking back, Kano is so much more like Tasuki than Kouji. Oh well, whatcha gonna do?
~Cortney - I'd love to see your stuff once you get it up. Just tell me, kay?
~Jamie - How's your finger? Older siblings can be such a pain. My brother put a wind up car in my hair once and my mom had to cut it out. I'll probably never forgive him for it. BTW, since Kimiko is like you, what do you want her to look like? I haven't done a description of her yet, so I'll leave it up to you. You can put it in the review or e-mail me.
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Akane watched Kano intently. 'I guess Kano has a good reason for not particularly liking women. I think I'll have to apologize to him now for that 'not being held enough' think I said to him before. How was I supposed to know it was true?'
Kano stood head and shoulders above his mother. He looked down at her. "Mother…"
"Kano…you've grown into a fine young man…" She was about to embrace him when he pushed her hands away.
"No thanks to you…" He murmured.
She was obviously taken aback. "Kano, how can you say that to me?"
"Because I heard every word my father just said to you. You know, for so long I thought Dad kept me away from you out of spite or something…now I know. He did it for the best. You don't give a damn about me."
"Kano, I do care! That's why I'm back!"
"You came back to get rid of me!" Akane heard his voice waver.
"I'm not getting rid of you! You should be married by now!" She sounded hurt.
Kouji suddenly stepped up. "Bandits don't marry. Get away from my son."
"He's as much mine as he is yours!"
"No! He stopped being your son when you told me to leave him in the woods for dead! I told you I'd leave the bandits and marry you if you had a child by me. But no, you didn't want a child and apparently you didn't want me either…"
"That's not true! How could I explain to my family what happened?"
"There are things called other villages, Kanako." Kano stared hard at her.
"Kano! You will address me as 'Mother'!"
"No, I won't! You can't tell me what to do! You walked out of my life and you can't walk back. I don't have a mother…I never did…" His lower lip trembled.
"But I want to be in your life again…I know I was wrong…let me try to make it right…"
"No…"
"Please…give me a second chance…"
"You've had hundreds of chances over the past 15 years…" Kouji's voice was low and menacing. "You could have come back here. You were always welcome to come and see him."
"And what excuse would I use to come up here?"
"I don't know…but if you had cared about Kano, you would have figured something out."
Kanako clenched her fists. "Please, Kano…can't you just meet this girl?"
"No…I can't." He stopped his lip from trembling. "I'm not getting married, to anyone."
"What should I tell the girl's family?" She was trying to put Kano on a guilt trip.
"Tell them you found out I died some time ago. Because it seems to me, that's the way you would have preferred me…"
Akane felt like crying for Kano. She didn't know his life had been so bad. Having such a dysfunctional family wasn't something she dealt with. Her family was in one piece.
"Kano…that's not true…I just couldn't take a child back with me…"
"You told me that when he was born. Why do you think I offered to let you live here? You didn't have to take him back…I offered you every solution I could find. You…you had your one track mind. You said we both would have been better off without him around."
"And you refused to do that Kouji. Looking back, I'm glad you did. I made such bad decisions then…I want to fix it."
"Marrying me off isn't the way to do it, Kanako…"
"Why won't you consider it?" She pleaded with him.
Something struck Kano that would get Kanako incredibly mad. "Because marriage is overrated. I'm happier with my mistress."
Akane's eyes widened. 'What's he talking about? He doesn't have a mistress…does he?' For some reason, the thought of Kano with a mistress made her feel funny.
"You have a mistress?" Kanako looked appalled. Kouji hid his confusion.
"Yes. Had her for awhile too." He smirked. 'Akane's gonna kill me for this, but I'll apologize to her later…' "Akane, can you come here for a minute?" He looked off in her direction.
Akane's eyes widened for a moment. She began to walk towards them when it hit her. 'He's just doing this to piss her off…hmm…I can do that…' "You wanted something, Kano?"
"You…you're his mistress?" Kanako gaped.
"Hi." Akane smiled sweetly and waved while wrapping her other arm around Kano's neck. "So you're Kano's mom. Sweet of you to come visit him."
"Kano…you'd choose a mistress over marriage?"
"Yeah…that's about the gist of it…" His arms snaked around her waist.
"Fine. I see I can't change your mind…"
"You just figured that out now? Wow, you're a little slow…" Akane giggled.
"Oh!" Kanako clenched her fists and turned away from them. "It was a mistake to come up here."
"Yep." The three said at the same time. Akane and Kano held onto each other until Kanako was a safe distance away. He was first to let go.
"I…uh…sorry, Akane…I didn't mean to…"
She shook her head. "No. Don't be sorry. I'm glad I could help, even if it was as posing as your whore." She lowered her head. "Besides, I'm the one who should be sorry."
"For what?" He was confused.
"For what I said to you on the way up here. I didn't know about…that…"
"Huh? You mean about me not being held as a child?" She nodded. "How could you have known?"
"I dunno…I just shouldn't have…"
"Look, forget it…it was kinda funny…" He shrugged.
"You don't seem all that affected by this…" She looked at him curiously.
"Well, what am I supposed to do?" He just shrugged again.
"I dunno…forget I said anything about it…" She headed back for the main building. "I'm going to take a nap." 'Me thinks I shouldn't stick around for now.' She hurried off leaving Kano and Kouji near the gate.
"Did she really not want me?" Kano stared off in the direction his mother went.
"I don't know…she's just…"
"Did you love her?"
"Very much. I think I still do in some ways…I just wish she felt the same." He stood next to his son.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks…I never knew why I never had a mother…now I guess it's better that I didn't know…you did what was best."
"Did I? I always wondered what you'd do if you ever found out…"
"Like you said Dad, 'Shit happens and there ain't nothing you can do about it. You just gotta work through it.' It'll all work out…" The young bandit turned to his father.
"We hope so at least…" The two bandits turned away from the gates and headed back up to the main building.
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"WHAT?!!?!?!!" Kei screamed at Taki. "HOW COULD IT OPEN AGAIN??!!??!?!?!??"
Tasuki pulled Kei back. "Stop screaming…she doesn't know…"
The kids sat in the living room listening to their aunt screamed at the top of her lungs at everyone else. Hiroshi and Toshiro sat on the floor playing chess.
"Check. So what do you think is gonna happen?"
Hiroshi stared at his pieces. "How'd you do that?" He moved his king. "I dunno. I'm not even sure I believe what's going on."
"Check. Everything is possible. Probability is another story." Toshiro played with Hiroshi's queen.
"Hiroshi, why don't you give up? He beat you." Naoko was sitting on the couch with a bottle of Ramune. "I think they've all gone nuts personally."
"Don't be mean, sis." Nyoko moved one of Hiroshi's pieces. "He can still win and our parents aren't nuts. Wouldn't it be cool if there really was a place like Konan? Chinese bandits and royalty? I could get used to it."
Toru rolled his eyes. "Oh, you naïve fool…Hiroshi can't win and Konan isn't real."
Toshiro made another move. "Both are possible at the moment. Akane believed and now she's gone. Hiroshi saw the light, right?"
"Yeah…I did. I know I wasn't hallucinating…" He moved a pawn. "Check."
"Go Hiroshi!" Nyoko giggled.
Toru looked over the pieces. "Well, I'll be damned. If Hiroshi can beat Toshiro, I'll believe in Konan."
Toshiro hid his sudden panic and moved out of check. "Let's just say for a moment, Konan exists. A) How do we get in there? B) How do we get Akane out?"
Naoko stared into her bottle after finishing. "We should leave that up to our moms and dads. They're the one's that understand it."
"She's right. We're just kids. We don't get it." Hiroshi moved again. "Check. Damn, I'm getting better."
"Or I'm slipping." Toshiro drummed his fingers against the floor. "I think Akane can come back on her own. She's smart and capable. We shouldn't worry." He moved again.
"Can't you gimme some credit here?" Hiroshi looked up at his younger cousin. "I'm getting better at this. Especially considering I'm playing against you. Check."
Naoko sighed. "Why does this conversation keep going from a game to Akane and back again? We should really talk about one or the other."
Nyoko looked at her sister. "Because…both situations require forward thinking and a certain amount of skill."
"Couldn't have said it better myself." Toshiro scanned the board over and over again. He eventually made a move.
"Me neither." Hiroshi moved again. He smirked.
"What?" Toshiro began looking over the board. "Oh no…"
"Check and mate, my dear little cousin."
Nyoko looked over the board. "Hiroshi won and Toru believes in Konan! Today is a great day!" She giggled.
"I lost…boy, I am slipping…" Toshiro sighed as he looked at the final state of the board.
"Jeez, can't someone give me some credit? I did okay." Hiroshi looked at all his cousins.
"Sure you did, let's go check on our parents." Toru was already headed for the door.
They all gathered around the doorway and peeked in. Tasuki was forcing Kei to sit down and keep her temper.
"I don't get it…that seal wasn't meant to be broken…how could it…" Kei looked at her husband and friends.
"Who knows, no da? The fact of the matter is that we have to find a way to get Akane out of there. We can look into the broken seal later, no da…"
The adults stood in silence. Kei opened it to the front page. It was the same as last time. "Hiroshi, can you come here?" Kei turned to him.
"Uh sure…" He came in.
"What did Akane read that made the book glow?"
"Um…something like 'It all comes full circle' or back to the beginning or something like that. I don't remember. The pages were blank until she started flipping through it…"
"Did anyone see her go through?"
"Not that I know of. Kimiko came after Akane was gone, but I don't think anyone else was around."
"Full circle…" Hotohori thought for a moment. "Kei, can you find where Akane is?"
"I can try." She started flipping though the pages. "Here…she's up at Mt. Reikaku with Kouji and…and his son…Kouji has a son?" She read a bit more. "Kouji has a son Akane doesn't get along with…" One of the pictures in the book was the two teens fighting while rolling down the hill.
Nyoko and Naoko came in and stood with Nuriko and Jason. "Mommy, Daddy, is Akane gonna be okay?" Nyoko hung onto Nuriko's skirt.
"I think so. She's as capable as her mom and her mom survived just fine…" Nuriko tried to reassure her daughter.
Kei gave Nuriko a wry smile. All the adults knew Kei hadn't exactly been okay in the book, but they didn't see any need to scare the kids.
Hiroshi sighed. "Mom, can I go take a walk? I wanna do a little thinking…"
"Sure. It's not like we have a plan now. Don't be too long though."
"Sure." He left the house and went down the sidewalk. His hair blew about in the wind. His stomach wouldn't stop twisting. He was worried about Akane. He wanted to help her, but what could he do? He didn't exactly have any special talents. He was patient and kind. That was what he'd been told. That was what he believed.
"Hiroshi, hi!" Kimiko appeared from around a corner. "I'm running into you so much."
"Hey, Kimiko…yeah…" He managed a weak smile.
"Something wrong? You're not your usual happy self."
"If I told you what was wrong, you'd stop, turn around and walk away."
"Is it really serious?" She looked concerned.
"It depends on whether you believed the situation or not…"
"Can you at least tell me and let me judge then?"
"I dunno, you'll probably think I'm nuts."
"You? Nuts? Me think that? Hiroshi, just tell me and I'll be the judge, okay?"
"Ah…okay…" He ran his hands through his hair. "It goes something like this…"
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Akane sank deep into the bath she was in. She blew slow bubbles in the warm water. 'I wonder if anyone's watching me…I suppose I wouldn't doubt it, but since I am their old boss's daughter…maybe they wouldn't…ah well, who cares? Not me! Or do I? Eh, I dunno…guess not…' She sank beneath the surface of the water.
Kano silently watched from a slightly open spot. He accidentally saw her getting in and couldn't stop watching. 'She'll kill me if she finds out I watched her…the longer I stay here, the more of a chance she'll see me…why am I watching her anyway? She's not really that cute…' Her head and shoulders came back up out of the water. She turned from him and stood up more in the water so it only came to her waist. She grabbed something and went back to her previous position. 'Damn…she isn't cute…she's hot! Gah! Damn hormones…' He tore himself from his watching stop to come face to face with his father.
"Having fun, Kano?" He smirked.
"Uh…Dad! I, uh…I wasn't doing anything!" Kano's face went bright red.
"Remind me to teach you how to lie sometime." Kouji snickered as he continued to walk past his son. "But in the mean time, don't spy on her. I mean it."
"Right…yeah…" Kano scratched his head and left the area.
Kouji shook his head. 'Ordinarily I wouldn't care if he spied on girls, but that Genrou's kid. I can't let him spy on her of all people.' He rubbed his eyes. 'Suzaku, what's she doing here? There weren't supposed to be any more from the other side…'
Akane giggled to herself. She heard the exchange between father and son. 'So, Kano likes watching me, does he? I'll make sure he gets an eye full next time…' She reluctantly climbed out of the bath and went to go dry off and change for the night. It had been a long day and she was exhausted. From coming to the mountain to her long fight with Kano to watching him and his family be their dysfunctional selves, it had been an interesting day.
She yawned plodded down the hall to her father's room. She was about to open the door when Kouji stopped her. "Sorry Akane, but you're not sleeping alone."
"What do you mean?" She looked at him.
"I'd rather not leave a young woman alone for an entire night in this place."
"Oh…so where do I sleep? I'm really tired."
"In Kano's room."
"Why his?" Akane didn't entirely despise the idea, but she didn't want to share a room with anyone.
"Because I know he won't go after you during the night." He ushered her down the hall to Kano's room. 'And I know he likes you.'
"Fine, fine…" She muttered.
Kano was standing in his closet area, getting some blankets out. Akane watched him fix a cot on the side of the room. "Hey." She walked towards him.
"Hey…" He began to get onto the cot.
"What are you doing?"
"Going to sleep. What does it look like?"
"Uh…aren't you gonna put on a shirt?"
"No…I always sleep like this…" He stared at her funny.
"Oh…um…are you sleeping over there?"
"Yeah…you can have to bed."
"No. It's you're room. I can't put you out." She pushed him away from the cot.
"It's fine. You take the bed." He pushed her towards the bed.
"NO! I'm not sleeping in your bed."
"Yes, you are!" He picked her up and tossed her on the bed.
"Hey! That was rude!" She rolled off the bed. "It's yours. I shouldn't take it."
Their argument continued for an hour. About half way through, Kouji had walked by and told them to shut up and got to sleep. That only led to more arguing. After shoving and throwing each other around for a time, they both lay exhausted on either side of the bed.
"Look, Kano…" She panted. "Why don't we both sleep on the bed? I think it's big enough…"
"Might as well…" He looked to his side at her. "Why didn't you suggest that before?"
"I dunno…" She rolled onto her side to look at him. "Didn't look at the bed."
"Idiot…" He muttered sleepily.
"Fuck you…" She poked him.
He smirked. "You know, I'm a little tired, but maybe later…"
Akane felt her face begin to burn. "Wha…what!?!?!?!? You pervert!"
"It was your suggestion." He laughed.
"Oh…you!!" She quickly turned away. "I can't believe I have to stay in here."
She jumped when she felt his arm around her. "Don't be mad, Akane. Just a joke…"
"Kano…" She looked over her shoulder at him. He was already asleep, or at least it looked like he was asleep. "Oyasumi…" She closed her eyes and fell asleep with her arm draped over his.
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Kanako walked down a long hallway, escorted by two Kutou soldiers. They led her to a large door and opened it for her. She walked in.
"My Lord…" Kanako bowed to him.
"There's no need for that…" He stood up to greet her. "Tell me, what did you find out?"
"Akane seems quite comfortable with the bandits."
"Really?" Reizo looked intrigued.
"Yes…she's quite close to Kano…supposedly his mistress, though it's all an act…" She frowned.
"Don't worry…things will all work out…" He smiled malevolently. "You'll see."
"I hope you're right, my Lord…"
"I told you, there's no need to call me lord. I am your son…"
She smiled. "Thank you, Reizo…it's nice to know one of my sons still sees me as his mother…"
"Of course, Mother…" The young Kutou general smiled again. His plan was working perfectly.
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Reizo and Kano, brothers? Oh my goodness…the dysfunctionalness continues…is that a word? Spell check certainly doesn't like it.
Read and Review please!
~*~Shadow Hawk~*~
2/24/03