~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(This chapter is dedicated to evening-twilight!!! Hooray for you!!! So, I think we have one more reviewer to go. Then this dedication thing is done..)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 15: Explanations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chichiri:
I yawned. Meditating after I woke up didn't help calm me down at all. Instead, I could feel my senses become duller and actually dozing off every now and then. I got up from my 'yoga-like' sitting position. I took a deep breath of fresh evening air. "Chichiri?" I turned around.
"Hikari? What's wrong?" I asked when I saw the serious look on her face.
"Anou.... I was wondering if you could.... I mean, can I accompany you? Or are you busy right now?" Hikari asked shyly.
I nodded. "Right now would be fine. Why don't we sit at one of the garden shelters for a while?"
"Hai". I began leading the way to the nearest shelter in the garden. The shelter was a small sheltered place that had a two benches. It was meant for bird watching and for anyone to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Hikari sat on one of the benches.
"You don't mind do you?" I asked as I took the seat beside her. She shook her head.
"Chichiri? I was wondering if you could answer this question for me.... From what I heard from the others, you always wore your mask. You know the one with narrow eyes and a big smile? By why did you stop wearing it? I know I said it was silly but I didn't mean that you should take off your mask. I was just a stranger whom you just met. Why take me so seriously? I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings at that time. It just came out of my mouth....." I placed a finger on her lips to stop her from rambling off. I looked at her, her face filled with worry and a guilt.
"Hikari, I don't blame you for anything. Taking off the mask had nothing to do with whatever you said. It was just that when I first wore it, I swore to myself that if someone didn't like it, I would immediately take it off and just show the true me. You don't have to blame yourself. It was my decision. I was merely keeping my promise. Strangers? We're not strangers now are we?" I answered.
Hikari blinked in surprise. She removed my finger from her lips before continuing again. "Oh, I see. And there's one more tiny thing.... Anou.... You don't mind me asking do you?"
"Go on".
"I met Nuriko on my way to my room this afternoon. Since I'm pretty new here.... I decided to ask Nuriko to tell me more about you guys. Nuriko had nothing but good things to say of you.... But he did mention something..... He said something about you no longer saying....." Hikari hesitated before continuing. "No da?" She asked confused.
I chuckled. "Nani? Did I get it wrong? What's so funny?" Hikari tried recalling again what Nuriko had told her previously.
"Nothing. No da?" I burst out laughing again. "You see, when I was training with Taiit-sikun, her little helpers called Nyans wanted me to say something funny to match my funny looking mask. So the phrase 'na no da' was invented. It soon became a habit but after I took off the mask, I simply stopped using it. Wouldn't it be strange for a grown up man saying such ridiculous things? But sometimes I catch myself using it. Old habits die hard, I guess da," I answered cheerfully.
"You just said it!" Hikari insisted.
"Oh, I did? Sorry no da!!!" I replied in a high pitched voice.
We both burst out laughing.
I took a deep breath to calm myself down and to stop laughing. "Hikari," I said in a much more serious tone this time, "I think it's my turn to ask you something. Why, did you save me from Nakago and risk your life for a stranger, someone whom you just met?"
Hikari stopped laughing and frowned a little when I asked her this. "Simple," she finally answered. "Because I was destined to".
Destined to? Destiny..... If she wasn't the oracle, would she have done the same? Or would she have selfishly save herself instead? But then again, it was because of destiny that I met her..... Destiny....... One word could mean so much, change so much.......
"Chichiri?" I snapped out of my daydream.
"Oh. Sorry. Anyway, I've got something else to ask you," I gently grabbed her wrists, exposing her two bandaged hands. "What happened? I believe you didn't tell me the reason yet. And don't tell me you fell. But it's amazing that you can hide such a thing from us all this while. I believe, that you attained the injury when you were helping Amiboshi with the 'spies' in the garden. I don't believe that. After all, if there was a spy, I would have sensed it and you would have some common sense to call for help, wouldn't you?" I said firmly.
Hikari bit her lower lip. "Anou.... It's just a scratch. Besides, Amiboshi, Tasuki and you know about it so it can't be secret, can it? It's just....."
Hikari:
I bit my lower lip. How was I going to answer his question? "Anou.... It's just a scratch. Besides, Amiboshi, Tasuki and you know about it so it can't be secret, can it? It's just....."
"Just what?"
"Betsune. I'm.... If I told you the truth, would you scold me?" I looked timidly into his eye.
"Go right ahead. From the very beginning".
I told about my special foresight ability. I had to confess about sneaking out in the wee early hours of the morning with Amiboshi. Pretty soon, the hold conversation became a confessing session. Chichiri didn't help one bit. He kept frowning or raising his eyebrow every now and then.
"And so, that's it," I finished.
"Sou ka?"
"Honto!!!" I protested.
"You haven't explained how or why Tasuki knew about your injury," Chichiri said seriously.
Crap.
I sighed. "Well, it goes on like this....."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chichiri:
I listened to every single thing she said. I made sure she didn't miss out on any detail at all.
"Tasuki did what?!" I exclaimed.
"Tasuki... He just thought that Amiboshi was trying to.... Get fresh with me.... Amiboshi just fell on me, that's all. Just a mistake," Hikari said, blushing slightly.
"Sou ka?"
Tasuki..... Dense and blunt as usual.
"Anou..... Isn't it dinner time already? We better go before Miaka finishes up everything!!!" Hikari got up and hurriedly left.
"Matte! Don't try to.... Never mind...." I sighed again before heading to the dining room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The large demonic wolf sniffed the air. Ah, the fresh scent of....
Blood.
Pure, innocent blood. It grinned. Time for some fun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Narrator:
"Itai!!!" complaint little Kohana, dropping her favourite doll. She had carelessly tripped over a rock while walking in the forest. Together with her older sister, they were collecting some wild sweet potato for breakfast tomorrow.
"Kohana! Daijoubu ka?" Her older sister asked worriedly as she approached the little tyke.
Kohana watched as the cut on her knee began to bleed. "Itai!" She burst into tears. "Onee-chan...."
Her sister sighed. "C'mon, don't cry Kohana. It's a tiny cut. We'll get otou-san to see to your injuries later okay? C'mon, stand up now.... That's right gently...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wolf crept closer to the two girls, crouching down low. How long had it been since his last feast? Days? Months? Years? That's right.... Five hundred years ago..... How he longed to taste human flesh again. Sweet blood trickling down his throat. His claws dig deeper and deeper into the soft flesh, blood everywhere..... Moving into position, the werewolf pounced on his prey.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two young girls, fussing over the small injury didn't notice that something was lurking behind the nearby bushes. Neither did they hear the soft and low growl that came from the two headed werewolf.........
Until it was too late.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miaka:
I barely had any appetite to eat tonight's dinner. Usually, I would be chomping down the food, finishing a single dish in mere seconds. But now, I just chewed my rice slowly.
"Has anyone seen Yukiko?" Hotohori asked suddenly.
Everyone began looking around. It seemed that, everyone were so distracted by previous events that no one bothered about anything else.
Yukiko......
I jolted out of my seat. "Gomen nasai!!! I forgot to tell you that....."
"That?" Nuriko asked.
"Yukiko...... She got kidnapped...... By one of the monsters that got away......."
Everyone looked shocked. They stopped eating, chopsticks left hanging in the air.
"I suppose, the problem is worse that I thought. The Seiryuu seishis are serious about the entire thing. I don't think calling for an emergency meeting now would be wrong, would it?" Hotohori asked calmly.
Everyone nodded their head in agreement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mitsukake:
"Boku wa Suzaku shichi seishi Chiriko," the young brunette introduced himself timidly.
"I think I've seen you before....." Hotohori leaned forward for a closer look. "Ah, that's right! You're the clever young boy who took the Civil Service examinations, aren't you? The youngest to take it, in fact.... How old are you again?" Hotohori asked delightfully.
"Thirteen, heika-sama," Chiriko answered, blushing slightly.
"Sugoi! You're so clever!!! By any chance, can you take my examinations for me?" Miaka asked excitedly.
"That depends, miko-sama...."
Hotohori cleared his throat. "Please, let's get on with important stuff. Firstly, Miaka, you're sure that Yukiko has been captured?" Hotohori rubbed his temples.
Miaka nodded grimly. "I'm sorry....."
Nuriko, who was sitting beside her, tried comforting her. "There, there... It's all right, Miaka...."
Hotohori turned to face Chichiri and Hikari. "Is it possible, that both of you can create a barrier around the entire palace? I want to prevent such incidents from happening again".
"Perhaps, if both of us join our powers. But my best suggestion is that we all train ourselves to be even better than before. The Seiryuu seishis are very strong...." Chichiri answered.
Hotohori nodded his head in agreement.
"And we need to ask Taiit-sikun regarding the summoning of Suzaku too," added Chichiri.
"That old hag again?!" Tasuki exclaimed sourly. Everyone turned to give him a glare that could kill a monster in mere seconds. Tasuki opened his mouth to shoot back at everyone but closed it instead. He slouched in his seat and sulked like a little boy.
"Fine. Meeting dismissed. Oh yes, before that, I will allow a week of rest for everyone before we launch any attacks or plan anything," Hotohori leaned back against his chair.
Everyone lighten up at the phrase 'a week of rest'. Tasuki, as usual, was the first to go out of the meeting room.
After everyone left the room, Hotohori approached me asking, "By any chance Mitsukake, do you have any painkillers for headaches?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Narrator:
Meanwhile, at the Kutou place.......
"Well, what's your latest information?" Nakago asked coldly.
Yukiko looked at him in the eye. "Very little. You took me back too soon to gather any real information. But I have to say the Suzaku seishis are certainly dumb," Yukiko smiled slyly.
Nakago raised an eyebrow.
"The Seiryuu scroll, destroyed? Ha, don't they know only you have access to it?"
Even Nakago could help but to laugh at this comment.
"This is certainly going to be interesting....."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note:
Konnichiwaa minna!!!!!! Anyway, I have to appologise for not being able to chat with some of you again. School started.... * groans * And so, I'm sooooo busy.... Especially since I've been nominated again.... Some stupid student leader thing. AGAIN. Wah, so many duties.........
Fine, I admit, I was hoping that you guys could forget this part.... Man.....
I DON'T own Fushigi Yuugi.
There? Happy?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List of Japanese words :
Onee-chan - Older sister
Sugoi - Cool
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(This chapter is dedicated to evening-twilight!!! Hooray for you!!! So, I think we have one more reviewer to go. Then this dedication thing is done..)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 15: Explanations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chichiri:
I yawned. Meditating after I woke up didn't help calm me down at all. Instead, I could feel my senses become duller and actually dozing off every now and then. I got up from my 'yoga-like' sitting position. I took a deep breath of fresh evening air. "Chichiri?" I turned around.
"Hikari? What's wrong?" I asked when I saw the serious look on her face.
"Anou.... I was wondering if you could.... I mean, can I accompany you? Or are you busy right now?" Hikari asked shyly.
I nodded. "Right now would be fine. Why don't we sit at one of the garden shelters for a while?"
"Hai". I began leading the way to the nearest shelter in the garden. The shelter was a small sheltered place that had a two benches. It was meant for bird watching and for anyone to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Hikari sat on one of the benches.
"You don't mind do you?" I asked as I took the seat beside her. She shook her head.
"Chichiri? I was wondering if you could answer this question for me.... From what I heard from the others, you always wore your mask. You know the one with narrow eyes and a big smile? By why did you stop wearing it? I know I said it was silly but I didn't mean that you should take off your mask. I was just a stranger whom you just met. Why take me so seriously? I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings at that time. It just came out of my mouth....." I placed a finger on her lips to stop her from rambling off. I looked at her, her face filled with worry and a guilt.
"Hikari, I don't blame you for anything. Taking off the mask had nothing to do with whatever you said. It was just that when I first wore it, I swore to myself that if someone didn't like it, I would immediately take it off and just show the true me. You don't have to blame yourself. It was my decision. I was merely keeping my promise. Strangers? We're not strangers now are we?" I answered.
Hikari blinked in surprise. She removed my finger from her lips before continuing again. "Oh, I see. And there's one more tiny thing.... Anou.... You don't mind me asking do you?"
"Go on".
"I met Nuriko on my way to my room this afternoon. Since I'm pretty new here.... I decided to ask Nuriko to tell me more about you guys. Nuriko had nothing but good things to say of you.... But he did mention something..... He said something about you no longer saying....." Hikari hesitated before continuing. "No da?" She asked confused.
I chuckled. "Nani? Did I get it wrong? What's so funny?" Hikari tried recalling again what Nuriko had told her previously.
"Nothing. No da?" I burst out laughing again. "You see, when I was training with Taiit-sikun, her little helpers called Nyans wanted me to say something funny to match my funny looking mask. So the phrase 'na no da' was invented. It soon became a habit but after I took off the mask, I simply stopped using it. Wouldn't it be strange for a grown up man saying such ridiculous things? But sometimes I catch myself using it. Old habits die hard, I guess da," I answered cheerfully.
"You just said it!" Hikari insisted.
"Oh, I did? Sorry no da!!!" I replied in a high pitched voice.
We both burst out laughing.
I took a deep breath to calm myself down and to stop laughing. "Hikari," I said in a much more serious tone this time, "I think it's my turn to ask you something. Why, did you save me from Nakago and risk your life for a stranger, someone whom you just met?"
Hikari stopped laughing and frowned a little when I asked her this. "Simple," she finally answered. "Because I was destined to".
Destined to? Destiny..... If she wasn't the oracle, would she have done the same? Or would she have selfishly save herself instead? But then again, it was because of destiny that I met her..... Destiny....... One word could mean so much, change so much.......
"Chichiri?" I snapped out of my daydream.
"Oh. Sorry. Anyway, I've got something else to ask you," I gently grabbed her wrists, exposing her two bandaged hands. "What happened? I believe you didn't tell me the reason yet. And don't tell me you fell. But it's amazing that you can hide such a thing from us all this while. I believe, that you attained the injury when you were helping Amiboshi with the 'spies' in the garden. I don't believe that. After all, if there was a spy, I would have sensed it and you would have some common sense to call for help, wouldn't you?" I said firmly.
Hikari bit her lower lip. "Anou.... It's just a scratch. Besides, Amiboshi, Tasuki and you know about it so it can't be secret, can it? It's just....."
Hikari:
I bit my lower lip. How was I going to answer his question? "Anou.... It's just a scratch. Besides, Amiboshi, Tasuki and you know about it so it can't be secret, can it? It's just....."
"Just what?"
"Betsune. I'm.... If I told you the truth, would you scold me?" I looked timidly into his eye.
"Go right ahead. From the very beginning".
I told about my special foresight ability. I had to confess about sneaking out in the wee early hours of the morning with Amiboshi. Pretty soon, the hold conversation became a confessing session. Chichiri didn't help one bit. He kept frowning or raising his eyebrow every now and then.
"And so, that's it," I finished.
"Sou ka?"
"Honto!!!" I protested.
"You haven't explained how or why Tasuki knew about your injury," Chichiri said seriously.
Crap.
I sighed. "Well, it goes on like this....."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chichiri:
I listened to every single thing she said. I made sure she didn't miss out on any detail at all.
"Tasuki did what?!" I exclaimed.
"Tasuki... He just thought that Amiboshi was trying to.... Get fresh with me.... Amiboshi just fell on me, that's all. Just a mistake," Hikari said, blushing slightly.
"Sou ka?"
Tasuki..... Dense and blunt as usual.
"Anou..... Isn't it dinner time already? We better go before Miaka finishes up everything!!!" Hikari got up and hurriedly left.
"Matte! Don't try to.... Never mind...." I sighed again before heading to the dining room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The large demonic wolf sniffed the air. Ah, the fresh scent of....
Blood.
Pure, innocent blood. It grinned. Time for some fun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Narrator:
"Itai!!!" complaint little Kohana, dropping her favourite doll. She had carelessly tripped over a rock while walking in the forest. Together with her older sister, they were collecting some wild sweet potato for breakfast tomorrow.
"Kohana! Daijoubu ka?" Her older sister asked worriedly as she approached the little tyke.
Kohana watched as the cut on her knee began to bleed. "Itai!" She burst into tears. "Onee-chan...."
Her sister sighed. "C'mon, don't cry Kohana. It's a tiny cut. We'll get otou-san to see to your injuries later okay? C'mon, stand up now.... That's right gently...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wolf crept closer to the two girls, crouching down low. How long had it been since his last feast? Days? Months? Years? That's right.... Five hundred years ago..... How he longed to taste human flesh again. Sweet blood trickling down his throat. His claws dig deeper and deeper into the soft flesh, blood everywhere..... Moving into position, the werewolf pounced on his prey.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two young girls, fussing over the small injury didn't notice that something was lurking behind the nearby bushes. Neither did they hear the soft and low growl that came from the two headed werewolf.........
Until it was too late.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miaka:
I barely had any appetite to eat tonight's dinner. Usually, I would be chomping down the food, finishing a single dish in mere seconds. But now, I just chewed my rice slowly.
"Has anyone seen Yukiko?" Hotohori asked suddenly.
Everyone began looking around. It seemed that, everyone were so distracted by previous events that no one bothered about anything else.
Yukiko......
I jolted out of my seat. "Gomen nasai!!! I forgot to tell you that....."
"That?" Nuriko asked.
"Yukiko...... She got kidnapped...... By one of the monsters that got away......."
Everyone looked shocked. They stopped eating, chopsticks left hanging in the air.
"I suppose, the problem is worse that I thought. The Seiryuu seishis are serious about the entire thing. I don't think calling for an emergency meeting now would be wrong, would it?" Hotohori asked calmly.
Everyone nodded their head in agreement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mitsukake:
"Boku wa Suzaku shichi seishi Chiriko," the young brunette introduced himself timidly.
"I think I've seen you before....." Hotohori leaned forward for a closer look. "Ah, that's right! You're the clever young boy who took the Civil Service examinations, aren't you? The youngest to take it, in fact.... How old are you again?" Hotohori asked delightfully.
"Thirteen, heika-sama," Chiriko answered, blushing slightly.
"Sugoi! You're so clever!!! By any chance, can you take my examinations for me?" Miaka asked excitedly.
"That depends, miko-sama...."
Hotohori cleared his throat. "Please, let's get on with important stuff. Firstly, Miaka, you're sure that Yukiko has been captured?" Hotohori rubbed his temples.
Miaka nodded grimly. "I'm sorry....."
Nuriko, who was sitting beside her, tried comforting her. "There, there... It's all right, Miaka...."
Hotohori turned to face Chichiri and Hikari. "Is it possible, that both of you can create a barrier around the entire palace? I want to prevent such incidents from happening again".
"Perhaps, if both of us join our powers. But my best suggestion is that we all train ourselves to be even better than before. The Seiryuu seishis are very strong...." Chichiri answered.
Hotohori nodded his head in agreement.
"And we need to ask Taiit-sikun regarding the summoning of Suzaku too," added Chichiri.
"That old hag again?!" Tasuki exclaimed sourly. Everyone turned to give him a glare that could kill a monster in mere seconds. Tasuki opened his mouth to shoot back at everyone but closed it instead. He slouched in his seat and sulked like a little boy.
"Fine. Meeting dismissed. Oh yes, before that, I will allow a week of rest for everyone before we launch any attacks or plan anything," Hotohori leaned back against his chair.
Everyone lighten up at the phrase 'a week of rest'. Tasuki, as usual, was the first to go out of the meeting room.
After everyone left the room, Hotohori approached me asking, "By any chance Mitsukake, do you have any painkillers for headaches?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Narrator:
Meanwhile, at the Kutou place.......
"Well, what's your latest information?" Nakago asked coldly.
Yukiko looked at him in the eye. "Very little. You took me back too soon to gather any real information. But I have to say the Suzaku seishis are certainly dumb," Yukiko smiled slyly.
Nakago raised an eyebrow.
"The Seiryuu scroll, destroyed? Ha, don't they know only you have access to it?"
Even Nakago could help but to laugh at this comment.
"This is certainly going to be interesting....."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note:
Konnichiwaa minna!!!!!! Anyway, I have to appologise for not being able to chat with some of you again. School started.... * groans * And so, I'm sooooo busy.... Especially since I've been nominated again.... Some stupid student leader thing. AGAIN. Wah, so many duties.........
Fine, I admit, I was hoping that you guys could forget this part.... Man.....
I DON'T own Fushigi Yuugi.
There? Happy?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List of Japanese words :
Onee-chan - Older sister
Sugoi - Cool
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~