The Most Mysterious of Plays
Chapter Four: Meetings and Greetings
"Ow!"
"Oi, stop that no da!"
"I can't help it. Ow, Yui, that hurts…"
"Oh! Tamahome! I'm so sorry!"
To Yui's chagrin, Chichiri's magical articles seemed to have a sense of humor. Instead of allowing Yui and Miaka to appear within the palace first, it had held them back until Tamahome and Chichiri had joined them in that space between matter. Then it had spat them out all at once, in a tangled ball of waving arms and legs and yanked hair. It didn't help that they had landed in a courtyard of some sort, where the ground was slightly damp from recent rain.
Chichiri had landed first, followed by Miaka, then Yui, and finally Tamahome. Chichiri was attempting to shove Miaka off, for she was digging her elbow into his side to get herself to freedom. Yui's foot was firmly wedged between the first two, but she was sandwiched quite firmly between Miaka and Tamahome.
Yui found a moment to feel relief that she wasn't facing upward, towards Tamahome. Her face was already hotter than she'd ever felt it before. She knew her skirt must have ridden up during the short fall following their appearance. And she'd just proven how graceful she was by elbowing him roughly when she'd tried to escape from this mess.
"Well, wonderful job once again, Chichiri," Tamahome said wryly.
"Oi! I can't help it no da! The kesa has a mind of its own!"
"Great. Possessed capes and flying straw hats just make my day," Yui muttered. Tamahome chuckled softly above her.
Then, he gave a yell of surprise, and Yui found herself relieved of one problem involved in freeing herself. She looked about wildly when she heard a loud thud, signaling that Tamahome had landed on the ground nearby. Then, she squeaked in surprise as someone lifted her out of the pile by her waist.
"Oh, stop that," a voice said cheerfully. "As comfortable as I'm sure you were, Chichiri looks like he needs a breather!"
Yui stopped struggling, and found herself standing beside the former pile a moment later. She turned curiously to see who had handled her so casually, and blinked as the person went to drag Miaka off of the monk.
"Hey, Miaka! You little two-timer! Aren't you with Tamahome?"
"Nuriko! Stop that! I can't help it if Chichiri messes up on his magic!"
"I didn't mess up! It just happens!" the monk said indignantly from his position on the ground.
The person who was now carelessly dragging Miaka about appeared to be a woman, though she didn't seem to be dressed in the usual female garb in this world. Yui's eyes widened, and she felt a surge of jealousy at the woman's gorgeous violet locks. Oddly enough, her hair looked like it was washed every day- just like at home- when the young woman knew all too well that people here considered washing to be an annual event, not a daily one.
How do the people here manage to be so beautiful, and manage not to smell to high heaven when they worry less about hygiene than we do?
"Yui, are you hurt?"
The voice was spoken softly, behind one shoulder. Yui gave a little yip and turned to see that Tamahome was smiling at her faintly. "Uh… no, no," she stammered. "I'm all right."
"Good. Nuriko can be a bit… careless." He chuckled ruefully, rubbing at a bump on the back of his head.
"Oh! Are you okay?" she asked, worried.
"I'm fine," he assured her. "I'm more worried about Miaka."
"Eh?"
She turned to see that the woman- Nuriko- was busy putting Miaka into a full nelson, shouting something about being left behind. Miaka was trying to reply, but she apparently couldn't breathe thanks to the position she was in.
Chichiri, who had only recently sat up, now stood and brushed the dirt off of the seat of his leggings. "And Nuriko calls me weird," he muttered.
"Who is Nuriko?" Yui asked, confused.
"A Seishi, just like us no da," Chichiri said.
"Wow, really?" I didn't know that women were allowed to become warriors in this day and age… maybe the similarities between here and ancient China aren't as rampant as I thought…
"Nuriko. Release our priestess," a voice said, amused. "We can't have her return safely only to die by her own Seishi's hand."
Yui's breath caught in her throat at the sound of that voice- so rich, so deep- and turned to see who was addressing the new Seishi.
She thought she might faint as Nuriko hurried to obey the order.
The voice belonged to the most beautiful man she'd ever seen.
Granted, most of the men I'm used to seeing are pimple-ridden teenagers, but still…!
His hair was even lovelier than Nuriko's; dark and long, straight and thick. Just looking at it made her fingers itch to run through those wonderful locks. Though it seemed the norm around here, his figure was impeccable, though it was a tad broader about the shoulders than both Tamahome's and Nuriko's. His face reminded her of a model; clear skin, long eyelashes, eyes that one could drown in…
She realized she was staring just as blatantly as when she'd seen Chichiri's scar, and averted her gaze with a blush.
That wonderful voice laughed softly.
"Have no fear of embarrassment, my dear. I realize my beauty is overwhelming; you are permitted to stare as you please."
Yui felt that she would much rather prefer it if she could sink into the ground and die.
Chichiri saved her by placing a hand on her shoulder, looking up at the beautiful man. "Your Majesty, this is Miaka's friend," he said. "The rescue mission was successful."
"We are glad, Chichiri. It is a relief to have Our Priestess back, but it is a pleasure to house a friend of hers as well."
"Her name's Yui! Yui, say hi! This is Hotohori!" Miaka said. She grabbed Yui by the arm and began to drag her towards the man.
"Miaka, no! Stop it!" she hissed, trying to free herself. But before she could continue her protest, she found herself eye-to-eye with the man.
"So." The man's eyes narrowed. "You are the rumored Priestess of Seiryuu?"
Despite her embarrassment, Yui felt her hands clench into fists and her face pull into a frown of its own. "I'm no priestess," she said coldly. "Seiryuu can go do he-knows-what to himself for all I care. I want nothing to do with Kutou."
The man studied her for a moment. Then he said, "We shall see. Well. I suppose you all would like to rest. I'll arrange for a small meeting shortly."
"Will there be refreshments?" Miaka asked, smiling.
The man's eyes softened in amusement. "Of course, Miaka. I've had the cooks busy for the past few days on the simple off-chance that you would return soon. There is plenty of food to go around."
"Yes! Let's go, Tamahome! Yui!" Taking an arm of each person named, Miaka began to happily trot towards the nearest door. Yui could hear Chichiri and the two others make their way after them.
Which was odd, really. Yui had distinctly heard Chichiri address the man- Hotohori? - as his Majesty. Shouldn't an Emperor go first?
She felt a hand on her other shoulder, and looked back to see Hotohori regarding her solemnly. "Walk with me, if you please," he said simply, and dropped back again.
Yui hesitated, pulling a confused Miaka to a stop- apparently, her friend hadn't noticed her Emperor. "What is it, Yui?" she asked. "Is everything okay?"
"Uh, yeah. Don't worry about it," she asked, gently working to free her arm from Miaka's grip.
Then she felt herself bodily picked up, and shrieked in surprise.
"When Hotohori-sama says walk with him, you walk with him!" Nuriko announced from below her.
"Nuriko! Put her down!" Miaka demanded.
"Meh," was Nuriko's reply. However, the woman obediently put Yui down and hurried ahead with the others.
Yui looked to Chichiri for an explanation- he seemed to be the most sane in this lot- but all he did was give her a small smile and continue walking.
Slowly, she turned to meet the gaze of the Emperor of Konan.
For a moment neither of them moved. Then, Hotohori offered her his arm. Yui blinked in surprise, almost recoiling from his touch. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she took it, her fingers only very lightly touching the undoubtedly expensive fabric that made up his clothing.
"You realize who I am," he said.
She nodded. "The Emperor of Konan," she murmured.
He smiled faintly. "Well, that's a start. Miaka thought I was a woman at first."
Yui blinked. "Someone's going to have to tell me what Miaka's been up to while she's been here," she said.
"I'm certain she will be more than happy to inform you. But back to my earlier statement, Priestess-"
"I'm not a priestess, your Majesty," she said, interrupting him.
"You may not wish it, but if you are able to enter the book then you are a priestess. And Seiryuu has claimed you as his."
"How can you tell that-"
"It's simple. When you entered the book, what sort of light did you see?"
"Uh, blue."
"There you have it. Each god has his own colors that he 'claims', and uses to mark his chosen. Blue is the color that Seiryuu most commonly chooses."
"But I don't want to be their priestess," she said.
"As glad as I am to hear that, I must inform you of my plans regarding you."
Yui frowned.
"Miaka trusts you. And the others appear to trust you, but I have no proof of your trustworthiness. I'm afraid you will have to sit out at our meeting, unless we summon you. Furthermore, you will be accompanied by two guards whenever you leave your rooms that I will assign, unless you are in the company of a Seishi or Miaka. You will not be permitted to leave the palace grounds under any circumstances. Nor will you be permitted access to the shrines- I will have Chichiri set up a ward against anyone who is not a chosen of Suzaku. Is this understood?"
It was astounding, really, how much these words hurt Yui. She felt as though someone had smacked her sharply across the face. But then, she thought with a hint of bitterness, what did I expect? Not everyone's going to be happy to see me. I'm lucky they haven't bound and gagged me yet. Miaka, you're so naïve to think they'd accept me so easily…
"So I'm a prisoner," Yui said aloud. "Is that it?"
"The word fits as well as any other I could give you, so… Yes, unfortunately. Until We have a better idea of how you fit into all of this, We must do this."
Yui's eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. "We?" she questioned.
"We, the Emperor. Understand this, Yui, friend of Miaka."
To her surprise, his broad shoulders seemed to sag slightly, as though something heavy had just dropped across his back. His eyes closed, giving off an impression of great exhaustion. Even his hair seemed suddenly a bit too limp.
"I do this not because I cannot trust you. I do this because the Emperor should not trust you, because the country should not trust you. Whether you wish it or not, Seiryuu has claimed you. And sooner or later, his chosen will come to return you to where their god is strongest. Now I must protect our beloved Priestess and our enemy's Priestess."
Yui sighed. "I… I understand. Just please, don't separate Miaka and I while we're here. It's been so long, and I need someone to talk to before she heads out again…"
"Yuuuuuuuuuuuuiiiiiiii!"
GLOMP!
"AAAAAH!"
Yui soon found herself thoroughly glomped by Miaka, whose mouth was still filled with food. As the blonde attempted to free herself from her friend's grasp, Miaka began to talk through her food:
"Yui-chan, wha're you shtill heah?"
The Emperor of Konan, Hotohori, laughed softly. Both girls turned to look up at him as he offered a hand to each.
"Separate you? My dear, I would have to lock up Miaka to do that, and even then I doubt it would last!" he said to Yui.
Miaka looked puzzled as she accepted the help. Yui, on the other hand, gave him a faint smile as she was pulled up.
"Then I think, your Majesty, that I can live with your conditions for a while."
"I am grateful for your understanding. But please, call me Hotohori. For the Emperor's job is done today- now, it is the Seishi who must be on duty."
And Hotohori gave Yui a smile that left her feeling as though she were staring at a god, not a mere Emperor.
With another soft laugh at her expression, Hotohori turned to Miaka. "So is there any more food available?"
"Yeah. I just wanted to see why you were taking so long. And Nuriko…"
"Oh dear. What now?"
"Well, Nuriko and Tamahome are at it again."
Hotohori sighed. "I hope they don't destroy a vase like the last time. Perhaps we should hasten our steps to avoid that fate."
"Yes, let's! Come on, Yui!"
And Yui, grateful that she wasn't going to be locked away from Miaka, eagerly followed suit.
End Chapter Four.