Prologue II: Collegiate Life
Miaka carefully placed the last rice ball into the bento and smiled as she packaged it up.
"That looks really yummy."
The girl grinned as she glanced over her shoulder at her boyfriend. Taka smiled at Miaka, pressing a kiss on her neck before reaching to grab a leftover rice ball.
"Do you like it?"
Taka grinned as he stared into the dessert themed bento, with rice balls shaped into a slice of chocolate cake along with grilled tamagoyaki shaped into a banana split with three large scoops of ice cream.
"I love it," he answered, reaching to snag another rice ball.
Chewing on the snack, Taka watched as Miaka packed up the lunch before coming to sit down next to him. Smiling, the young man threw his arm around the girl. It seemed strange, but homely activities like this had him dreaming about the day they would get married. He had of course known that Miaka planned on continuing her education through high school, but Taka had been surprised when his girlfriend had decided to enter college. He had always assumed that they would get married as soon as possible and had been a little put out with his girlfriend's decision.
Now though, he was proud of the girl and her determination. It reminded him every day that Miaka wasn't any ordinary girl, she was a fearless miko and no one could control her.
The door slammed open, breaking his reverie. Rather than being irritated at the interruption, Taka stood up with a smile to greet the girl that had just run in.
"Ah, Taka! Hi!" Yui greeted as she ran past him into her room.
The girl quickly changed out of her workout clothes and into a sweater and jeans. She glanced at the clock and groaned. She was going to be late for sure.
Running out of her room, she headed for the kitchenette, where Miaka stood with a thermos, tamagoyaki, and a wrapped lunch.
"Is that for me? Miaka, you're the best!" she squealed in a rush as she grabbed the food and then ran over to her shoes, tugging them on.
Miaka laughed as her best friend began to devour the sweet omelet.
"Slow down Yui!" she warned with a grin. "I don't want you to have to explain to Pr. Yoshida why you missed his lecture again!"
Yui shot her a chagrined smile as she hurriedly swallowed.
"Don't remind me!" she answered with a shudder, remembering the previous horrific experience with the dour elder man.
Taka walked over to the girls, dressed in his jacket and shoes.
"Relax Yui. I'll give you a ride," he promised with a warm smile.
The girl looked up at him in surprise.
"Are you sure?" she asked worriedly.
"Trust me," he admonished. "I can easily drop you off and then go onto class."
Yui smiled gratefully.
"Thanks Taka."
"Don't worry about it," he said with a grin. "Anyway, you can hang out in the gymnasium after your classes and that way I can give you a ride back."
Yui gave the young man an exasperated look.
"Taka!"
"No arguing!" he commanded with a finger in front of her lips. "There is absolutely no reason for you to spend almost an hour walking when I can easily give a ride back, especially with all your books."
Yui blushed but nodded. It had been perhaps the hardest part of recovery for her, making a relationship with Taka. But to her surprise, the young man had been just as determined to create something. So they had started out slow in the beginning, while she was in high school with Miaka and worked up from there. It had been difficult at times for sure, but Yui's dedication and Taka's persistence had overcome the challenges and they now shared a friendship that sometimes seemed more like a 'big brother-little sister' relationship.
Standing, she grabbed her bag and waited as Taka kissed Miaka before nodding at her. Waving to Miaka, Yui ran to the stairs at the end of the hall.
Yui sighed as Pr. Yoshida finally finished his lecture and began to pack up his briefcase. While she enjoyed her classes, this class was very difficult for Yui to sit through due to the length. A hour and half of being lectured on feudal Japanese court systems was a bit more than even the studious girl could handle.
Grabbing her bag, the girl left the lecture hall and headed to the gymnasium as she had promised Taka she would.
"Miss Hongo!"
Yui turned in surprise to face another student. The other girl, a bit taller than Yui, smiled and bowed, holding out a sheaf of notes.
"Here are your notes. Thank you for letting me borrow them!" the girl cried, bowing again.
Yui smiled. "No problem, Miss Kondo. See you in next class!"
The girl bowed again and waved as she turned away. Yui laughed and carefully placed the notes into her bag. As she was pulling her hand out, her mobile started ringing.
Flipping it open, she answered.
"Yui?"
"Hi Tetsuya," she greeted warmly.
"Hey, I'm sorry about this, but I have to cancel our date for tomorrow."
Yui raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh?"
Tetsuya laughed weakly over the line.
"I know. I do this too often, but I swear I'll make it up to you!"
Yui laughed. "It's alright. I'll just get some extra studying done."
"Ai, you really know how to make a guy feel guilty!" he moaned.
"That's what you get for canceling three times in one month!" she teased back.
He chuckled and apologized again before hanging up.
Shaking her head, Yui dropped the mobile back into her bag and continued on her way.
Tetsuya had asked Yui out almost immediately after the whole ordeal in the Book. Yui had said no at first, unwilling to attach herself to anyone and also, because she wanted to avoid Miaka; and dating Miaka's older brother's best friend was not the way to do so.
But the young man didn't back down. He would hang outside Yui's house every morning and walk with her to school. He'd wait outside for her after school and even accompany her to cram school. After quite a bit of cajoling, Yui finally relented and agreed to a date.
To her surprise, they had gone to an old arcade and spent the evening trying to beat each other at SNS and Sega Master games. They had finished the evening with Fish Ice Cream Wafers, one of Yui's favorites.
Since then, the two had been steady in their dating, even though Yui was too shy to commit to anything more than a few stolen kisses. But she was comfortable with that and glad that Tetsuya understood and never pushed for more.
After all, she had learned from the Book that true love isn't just physical affection.
"Come on guys!" Yui looked up as Taka's teammate missed the pass for the third time.
Taka, standing on the sidelines, was shaking his head as their coach started ranting at the other young man. With a laugh, Taka came over to the girl and sat down by her.
"We're going to have to make the Coach sit out soon or else his blood pressure is going to spike," he joked.
"That's not funny," the girl admonished with a grin.
Taka grinned back at her.
"So trying to finish all your homework before your big date tomorrow?" he asked lightly.
Yui rolled her eyes.
"Is there anything that Miaka doesn't tell you?" she asked sarcastically as the young man chuckled. "Well, no for your information. Tetsuya had something come up, so he called earlier and canceled. Guess I'll just have to make do with Pr. Yoshida's fifty page treatise on why feudal systems served us so well."
Taka frowned.
"That's not funny, Yui. I can't believe he canceled again."
Yui laughed.
"It's not that big of a deal, Taka."
The young man glowered.
"Yes it is," he bit out darkly.
Yui lost her joking smile and stared at her self-appointed big brother carefully.
"Why don't you like Tetsuya, Taka?"
Taka jumped at the question.
"I never said…" he began.
"You've never had to," the girl cut in dryly.
Taka sighed and pressed his face into his hands. He took in a deep breath and reached over, grabbing one of Yui's hand into his own. Yui watched him quietly as he fiddled with her fingers, thinking over his thoughts. Though it was a small gesture, it had always filled her with warmth at how tactile of a person Taka was. He was perfect for Miaka in that way, constantly open and never touch shy.
"It's not that I don't like Tetsuya," he finally began. "Okay, that was a lie," he amended with a laugh.
"I don't like him. I've never felt right around him. I don't like how he hounded you after the book. He should've respected your feelings and let you be. I don't like how he leaves you out on a string, waiting for him constantly. I also don't like that he isolates you. He doesn't like sharing you."
Yui frowned lightly at the young man.
"But what if he wasn't so relentless? Would it have been better for me to close myself off completely? How do we know if perhaps his pushing wasn't just another thing that helped me get better? And what guy likes sharing his girlfriend, Taka?"
Taka gave her an affronted look.
"Don't make that face at me!" she scolded. "You and Miaka are different. You know your love is the stuff of legends. You've never dreamt about anyone else. But Tetsuya is a regular guy. He's never been touched by a god or seen miracles happen. It's okay for him to be a bit insecure."
Taka sighed as he listened to Yui's argument. He twirled his fingers around hers, before squeezing her hand.
"I still don't like him. You may not believe me, but I don't think he's the one for you, Yui. A girl who is chosen as a Miko is not just any girl. She's special in ways that I can't even begin to explain. A regular guy isn't capable of being what she needs. Even I, as a former seishi, am constantly amazed by Miaka and by you; by your strength and your courage. You're amazing girls and you deserve only a man who can support you in every way. You need a man that's willing to see you not only as the greatest treasure he's been ever given, but also as his equal."
"And you don't think Tetsuya can do that?" she asked.
"I don't and I don't want you to set your heart on him. I know he's been good to you so far, but Yui, there's more than him out there. Don't settle for regular, Yui. I want you to have the best there is," Taka finished as he stood up.
Yui smiled at him as he kissed her on the forehead before rejoining the other members of his team on the gymnasium floor.
Maybe Taka was right. But as far as Yui knew, Tetsuya was a great boyfriend to her and so far, she had no reason to want anything else. After all, she had been the chosen miko of the god of war. What does a war god know about love?
Notes on the text:
Tamagoyaki is a sweet omelet that's made in layers and has rice vinegar, sugar, or soy sauce added to it. It's a common ingredient in bento (boxed lunch) because it can shaped easily for the theme of the bento.
Fish Ice Cream Wafer is an ice cream treat surrounded in a wafer that's shaped as a fish. It isn't fish flavored on the inside however. It's vanilla with an adzuki bean paste on the inside. You can find them in many Japanese markets all over the world now.
(A/N): I know. You're probably wondering why there are two prologues.
It's because I felt like Yui's nightmares and her relationship with Miaka needed to be heavily emphasized, so I wrote that all together. It was important for me to tackle that first, because their relationship was the basis of the manga to begin with. For that reason, I almost felt like that wasn't a prologue, but a prequel. This prologue is more of an actual prologue because it starts to set the stage of the story from now on. Both girls are in college. You meet Taka and a bit of Tetsuya, and the exposition is set.
Now I just have to write the rest of the story!
Let me know what you think!
Fushigi Yuugi belongs to Yuu Watase and Shogakukan Inc.
