Disclaimer: Yes, Yu Watase still owns Fushigi Yuugi. I do not. Mmk.

            Ari: Hey everyone. ^_^;; Well, it's been a while. I've been kind of… stuck, you might say. Stuck and busy. But look! A new chapter! *grins* I very much doubt that there will be this much of a space between this chapter and the next; one of the problems with this chapter is it was kind of a last minute "we should put this in earlier" kind of thing but it wasn't really planned out. I have probably the next two or three chapters pretty well planned out, with new ideas all the time, so hopefully I'll be able to pick up the pace. So, with that said… on with the story!

            Modern Miko: Chapter Five

          Stepping out into the humid Visalia parking lot wasn't exactly a cool breeze compared to the dry desert of the other world, but Travis was convinced that he much preferred the former to the latter. He was relieved by the familiar sight of automobiles and asphalt, and not a boar-toting bandit to be found.

            As he cross the parking lot, he tried to recall the exact time that Mirai had agreed to meet them. Having calculated approximately how long he had been in the book, it somehow seemed doubtful that she still waited there, but he had to try. 5:30, was it? 6? It was likely long past that, now. He could only hope that she had been very patient.

            When he reached the shaded sidewalk in front of the theater, a wave of disappointment and anxiety washed over him. No one was there. She was supposed to meet them there, supposed to be standing there outside, but she wasn't. Travis sighed. It seemed that one again his suspicions were correct, and luck was not on his side.

            It was only after he had spent a few more minutes anxiously searching the theater and the surrounding area, that he found himself sitting on the parking lot's curb, overwhelmed by the impossibility of it all. A million thoughts were jumbled in his head, everything that had happened to him since he had walked into that bookstore, tumbled into that other world's desert through a Japanese book—and then…and then…

            Travis began to laugh. His shoulders shook as he tightened his grip on the book's spine, feeling the reality of it, but still not wanting to believe it. He was still laughing several minutes later, when an insistent tap on his shoulder caused him to fall backwards with a jolt and nearly let the book slip from his hand. Recovering, he tilted his head back until he could see who it was that had been trying to get his attention. It was then that he really did let the book fall, but he snatched it up before he scrambled to his feet.

            "Mirai! What are you doing here?" he sputtered in disbelief.

            "Nice to see you too, Travis."

            "Oh! No, I mean… yeah, but… what time is it?" He gestured to her watch. She blinked a few times, but lifted her wrist to read the time.

            "It's 5 P.M., Trav. Don't you ever wear a watch?" She lifted an eyebrow.

            "Well…that is… sometimes, but—5?!" he fairly exploded. The expression on Mirai's face was half-way between amusement and concern—for his mental state, most likely. He didn't exactly blame her, and she hadn't even heard the story yet.

            "Yeah. 5 o' clock," she said slowly and deliberately. "As in twenty minutes since I talked to you guys on the phone about meeting me here?"

            "No, but you see, that's impossible!" Travis insisted. "I was in the book…desert…floaty place for at least—"

            In the next instant Mirai had closed the distance between them, standing directly in front of him with a neutral expression on her face. He blinked, and she placed her hand on his forehead. After a moment, she stepped back and crossed her arms.

            "The heat is not getting to me, Mirai. I live here, remember?" Travis said. Mirai slowly nodded, but didn't seem entirely sure. Travis sighed, then remembered the book.

            "Look, I don't know how an hour turned into only ten or twenty minutes—"

            "Huh?"

            "Nevermind. Somehow it just figures…anyway, this book…" Travis thrust it towards her. "This book has just made our lives…rather complicated."

            Travis then explained as best he could the events of the afternoon, leaving out only the details of his ordeal with the in-between place. Mirai listened intently, glancing between him and the book, apparently not sure what to think. He knew he must be babbling, but he felt a sense of urgency even as he realized she had to know what had happened to her friends. Finally, he finished, briefly summarizing his trip back and getting the book out of the store, etc. Taking a deep breath, he watched Mirai expectantly.

            "Well?"

            Mirai thought for a moment before answering.

            "Yume won't be happy without her rings."

            "Without her… I get done telling you that your friends have been sucked into some Asian fairy tale and that's all you have to say?"

            "Well, what am I supposed to say?" Mirai hissed. "My brain is having a hard time processing this, you know. Maybe you're used to it…"

            "I'm not," said Trav. "I just pretend to be. But hey, can you or can you not read the book?"

            Mirai eyed it like it was a viper about to strike.

            "Do you think that would be safe?" she asked.

            "I'll hold the book. Or maybe we can set it down somewhere, and no one will have to touch it. Don't know if it would help, but we don't really have a choice."

            "I know," she said quietly. "I can probably read it; hopefully that way we can find out what is happening with Ari and Yume, right?"

            Travis shrugged. He had no idea what was actually written in the book; for all he knew, it could be some gibberish incantation that wouldn't make sense in any language.

            "Well…as they say, there's only one way to find out."

            *******

            "Yeah, hey Aunt Becki, there's been a slight change of plans. No… no, everyone's fine." Travis winced as he said this into Mirai's cell phone. Last he had seen Yume and Ari, they hadn't been hurt, anyway. "We're just going to stay in town a while longer. Go to dinner after the movie…"

            "And ice cream!" Mirai chimed in, leaning over Trav's shoulder to speak into the phone. Travis looked back at her and raised an eyebrow, but Mirai just nodded vigorously and mouthed 'play along'. He shrugged.

            "Yeah. Ice cream, too. Mmhmm. Well, the movie's about to start, gotta go. Okay. Bye." Travis turned the phone off and handed it back to Mirai. He hadn't exactly lied; the movie was about to start. They just… wouldn't actually be watching it.  Time was something that Travis wasn't sure they had much of—after that last trip, he wasn't even so sure anymore exactly what it meant.

            Once Mirai had put her cell phone in her bag, she started to walk towards the theater entrance. Travis started to follow, but only for a few paces before he abruptly stopped.

            "Wait… where are you going? Did you miss the part of the plan where we don't actually go see a movie?"

            Mirai stopped as well, turning to face him and smiling patiently.

            "Of course, I heard that part. But at the same time, we have to keep up appearances. Your aunt is right across the parking lot at the craft store. What if she happened to look out and saw us—walking away from the theater?"

            Travis pondered this for a moment.

            "Ahh. Clever," he finally said.

            "Thank ya."

            Once they had entered the main area of the theater, they found a bench and sat down. Travis noted that there were surprisingly few people there for this time of day; he would have figured it would be filled with those looking to escape into an air-conditioned environment.

            "You know, Trav," Mirai said from beside him. "We could always read the book here. There aren't very many people."

            "Don't do that."

            "Huh?"

            "Say what I'm thinking before I get a chance to say it myself."

            "Oh. I'm sorry." Mirai smirked. Travis looked at her accusingly, and then they both started laughing. I'm glad Mirai is here, Travis thought. It makes me feel a whole lot calmer with crazy things like this going on. His eyes fell on the book, and he shivered involuntarily. To open that again…

            "Well, maybe not right here," he finally said. "We should probably find another part of the theater, in case it gets busier later on." Mirai nodded in agreement.

            "We should go soon, then," she said, rising from the bench. "No time to waste."

            That's for sure…

            *******

            They finally settled on an empty corridor that didn't eve seem to have a purpose; almost as if there was supposed to be another theater room at the end of it, but the architects had forgotten to actually build it. The opposite side of the corridor had several theater doors opening off of it, but the side Mirai and Trav had chosen only had a few small supply closets—a few lungfuls of stale, dusty air had quickly deterred them from using one of those as their reading area.

            The book set on the floor between them, the two sat staring at it for a few minutes.

            "Do you want me to open it?" Mirai said quietly.

            "No." Travis said firmly. "I'll do it." He half-expected the book to burn him or do something else to cause him more pain as his fingertips touched the cover, but it only felt like a normal book, if quiet old. Sneaky little thing… He grabbed the edge, took a deep breath, and jerked it open.

            There was no title page, no summary of the story—even knowing no Japanese, Travis could tell that much. The page it fell open to was simple, innocent enough. One side held several long strips of Japanese characters, the other a sketchy, black ink rendering of what, apparently, was currently going on in the story. No swirling colors, just ink and paper. Travis was relieved, but suspicious. Mirai stared at the paper, wide-eyed as the truth slowly was sinking in.

            "Can you…" Trav began to ask, but Mirai had already begun.

            " 'The girl lay still' " Mirai read quietly. " 'She shivered in the dark, not knowing who had captured her.' "

            "What?" Travis growled.

            "Shh. 'She remembered being surrounded, remembered Tamahome's escape.' "

            "Who?"

            " 'She remembered everything going black, but did not remember her arms being tied behind her back, did not remember being locked away in this dark, cold shack.' "

            " 'Said the Cat in the Hat.' "

            Mirai sighed. "It didn't rhyme in Japanese. Now, are you going to let me read or not?"

            "Okay, okay…"

            " ' But dawn was breaking, the camp was stirring, and she feared any questions she might have were about to be answered…' "

            *******

            Ari: Okay, that's all for now! ^_^ But before I go, have to give a shout-out to the *real* Travis! (Yeah, that's really him on the review page. Or at least, as far as I know…o_O)  He's reading the story now, and, fortunately, he likes it! *waves* Heeey, hope you like this chapter, it's from your POV... again. ^_~ Don't get too used to it, though… for the next few chapters Mirai and Travis will have short bits of them reacting to things they read about in the story, won't have parts as long as this for a while. Or maybe they will… you just never know. Read and find out, I always say. *grins* Hope you enjoy, everyone! (Hopes that she still has readers… ^_^;;)