Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi.
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Narrator's POV
It was somewhere around noon when Takiko, Tomite, and Hikitsu reached the top of the mountain. Tomite and Takiko where on the same horse, but Hikitsu had his own. Hikitsu had acted as their guide because he knew the mountain like the back of his hand. He said that he knew it well because he had explored it as a child.
"Near the bottom of the mountain is a fairly small village. We can rest and get more provisions there," said Hikitsu as they looked down into what seemed to be endless rock and dirt. Takiko and Tomite traded a wondering look. The night before, Hikitsu had said that he had grown up in a tribe at the bottom of the mountain. They had to wonder if the village that he was talking about could be the same one. Hikitsu saw the look and immediately guessed what it was about.
"No. It's not my tribe. My tribe was destroyed, remember," he told them before they had a chance to ask.
"Oh, yeah! That's right," Takiko exclaimed as she remembered what Hikitsu had told them the night before. "It was destroyed by a rival tribe and that's when Sora..." Her voice trailed off when she saw the look on Hikitsu's face. She looked down, not able to face the anguish in his eyes.
"It's okay. The past is the past. No matter how much you wish you could, you can't change it. Besides, Sora would have wanted me to live my life and be happy," Hikitsu said when he saw that he'd upset her. He smiled a slow, sad smile. Takiko looked up at him and smiled back, but Tomite frowned. He wasn't so sure that Hikitsu was as fine as he seemed.
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Tomite's POV
It was a couple more hours before we reached the village. Takiko chattered happily about her friends, family, and world almost the entire way. Hikitsu and I mostly just smiled and nodded. She wouldn't even let us get a word in! Not to mention the fact that we didn't understand most of what she said. Finally, when we were near the village, she leaned against my back and fell fast asleep. I know that I, at least, was relieved. Hikitsu, as usual, showed no emotion. Well... At least we could talk now that she wasn't talking. We whispered, so we wouldn't wake the miko, the remaining half hour until we reached a small village that Hikitsu said was our destination.
Once we were in the village, Hikitsu found a nice, but still fairly cheep, inn. He then got two rooms, one for Takiko and one for Hikitsu and I to share, while I groomed the horses and made sure that they where settled into their stalls. Then, we both helped a still groggy Takiko to her room. I guess that all the talking that she did must have worn her out because as soon as we got into the room, she immediately fell onto the bed and went back to sleep. We tossed a coin and Hikitsu lost, so he had to take of her shoes, but nether of us knew what to do about the rest of her clothes. In the end, we just pulled the blankets up over her and went into our room, which was across the hall.
As soon as he was done unpacking his saddlebag, Hikitsu got up to leave our room. I asked him where he was going, but he didn't answer me. I shrugged it off as the door swung shut behind him deciding that he didn't hear me. I didn't think that Hikitsu would purposely ignore me. Then I went back to unpacking my own things.
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Uruki's POV
"Hey! You! Waitress!" One of our many customers rudely yelled at me. I turned to face him. He was sitting near the back of the room with some friends. He also smelled like he hadn't bathed in a couple months.
"Yes? Is there something I can do for you sir?" I asked him in my sweetest voice that I reserved for idiots and people who where rude.
"Yea! Get me another sake! Right away! Hic" Great. The guy was drunk. Judging by the looks of him, he was really drunk. Just what I needed. I handed him a bottle of the sake that he wanted and turned to walk away from him and his friends. That is, until the idiot grabbed my ass.
"Get your fucking hand off my ass right now!" I yelled at him. A couple people turned to stare and the guy's friends cheered, but most of the people just ignored the commotion.
"Oh, come on girl. Yer cute. Ye want to share my bed t'night?" He replied as he let go of my butt.
"No way!" I cried and stalked off. Genbu, the world was full of perverts. I watched as my grandpa kicked the man and his friends out of the cafe part of the inn, that we just happened to own, telling them that he was drunk and to go back to his room. Then, he walked up to me, a worried look on his face.
"Are you okay Bai-Ling?" He asked me.
"I'm fine, Grandpa. He's just another perv. Besides, you know that I can take perfectly good care of myself."
"Yes, I suppose you're right. I really shouldn't worry so much." I smiled at him. I didn't want him to worry about me, although I knew that he always would. After my parents died, he had taken me in when no one else would. He had even given me a job at this inn that he owned. Because of the green symbol that appeared on my left shoulder, none of my other relatives had wanted me. They had all said that I was a monster, or possessed by an evil spirit. They had said that I would kill them all. Even that I had killed my parents! But not Grandpa. He had recognized the strange sine as one of the seven Genbu Seishi's symbols. From the time I was a little girl, he had told me strange and wonderful stories about the Genbu no Miko, her seven seishi, and the legend that she was supposed to for fill. He had told me how the Genbu no Miko would come from another world and using her divine powers, would save us all. He had also told me that I was one of the seven Genbu Seishi who would protect her, as well as help her summon Genbu, our sacred god. He had told me that a day would come when I would have to leave him and our village. That although I may never see him again, it would be worth it because I would be saving my entire country and thousands of people. That even though I was called Bai-Ling now, my fellow seishi and the miko would call me Uruki because that was my seishi name. I had always trusted and believed him. And I still wondered when that day would come and I would leave everything I had ever known.
"Miss! Miss!" I was knocked out of my thoughts by a customer's call for me. Oh well. At least he wasn't drunk. I walked over to him and his friend, who had been talking together.
"Yes?" I asked sweetly. "What might I do for you today, sir?"
"May my friend and I please have some refills for these drinks?" He indicated to two empty cups beside him and his friend.
"Of course. I'll be right back with them," I replied and hurried off to the kitchen to get the drinks. Soon I had them and I walked back out of the kitchen with the two drinks. I began to head towards the two men's table when POW! I ran straight into a tall man with long silver hair and an eye patch over his right eye...
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Hikitsu's POV
The girl sat in the floor where she had fallen after running into me. The red drinks that she had been holding were all over her front and the glasses that she had been holding lay by her feet. Lucky, they weren't broken. I reached down a hand and helped her to her feet.
"I-I'm sorry," she shuddered looking at her feet. She looked about Tomite's age. Somewhere around fifteen.
"It's okay. No harm done. But you'd better clean up," I replied looking at her now red clothes and handing her some napkins.
"Y-yes." She tapped another waitress on the shoulder as she began to dry herself off. "Make sure those two men over there get their drinks." She told the waitress as she pointed to one of the tables that two men were talking. The other girl nodded and headed towards the kitchen to get the drinks. The owner of the inn, an old man who looked like he was 70 or 80, walked towards us.
"Bai-Ling! Are you all right?" He asked concerned.
"Yes, I'm fine Grandpa," she replied. Then, the man turned to me.
"Please forgive my granddaughter, sir. She didn't mean any harm," He told me.
"It's okay." I repeated. The man turned back to the girl.
"Bai-Ling, you've better go clean up," He told her and she walked off. Then, turning his attention back to me, "Come. Let me buy you a drink and we can talk." Soon, we were talking over some very good drinks. The old man was quite interesting. When he told me how his granddaughter had come into his keeping, I had to feel sorry for the girl.
"Why didn't her other relatives want her?" Okay, that was rude. It was also prying into another person's private life, which I knew that I wouldn't like, and talking about someone behind their back, but it was the only thing that he hadn't told me.
"Well.. I doubt you'll believe me but..." With that he told me about the strange green symbol that appeared on the girls shoulder. "I'm not sure, but I think that she is the Genbu Seishi Uruki," he finished. I stared. So, we had finally found the third Genbu Seishi. But how could I tell this kind old man that we would have to take his only granddaughter away from him? Besides, he wasn't sure, and we needed to be positive.
"See! I knew you wouldn't believe me!" The man said and laughed. "Most people don't."
"No. I believe you. You see..." Great. How could I say it? I decided that it would be best to just go with the flat truth. "I am the Genbu Seishi, Hikitsu. My companions are the Genbu no Miko, Takiko, and another one of the Genbu Seishi, Tomite." Now it was the old man's turn to stare. Then, to my surprise, he laughed.
"Well then... I guess that I'll just have to meet your companions. Why don't you bring them to my room tomorrow morning and we can discuss things then." He was taking this quite well.
"Are you sure your okay with this, sir? She is your only granddaughter. You do realize that she'll have to come with us, right? She may even be killed." I asked him.
"Yes, I'm fine. I always knew that she'd have to leave me someday." For a moment he looked sad, but then he pushed it away with a smile and said, "I really should begetting back to work. I do have an inn to run, y'know. It was a pleasure to talk with you, Hikitsu. I'll see you tomorrow morning with your companions. Until then..." And with that he disappeared into the crowd walking towards the kitchen. I sat there for a while, finishing my drink and thinking over what I'd just learned. Then, I stood and walked back to the room I shared with Tomite. As I walked, I wondered if I would be able to wake up Takiko so that I could tell her the good news. I decided that it would be better to make Tomite wake her up if she was still asleep. After all, I'd had to take off her shoes. I chuckled to myself at the thought of how Tomite would probably wake her up, and opened the door to our room...
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End of chapter 7
Thank you, once again, to all my reviewers and to my editor. You've really helped me out. I can't thank you enough. But I still have only around 5 reviews! Please review! I need more. Does anyone even read these a/n's? Well anyway, more coming soon and don't forget to review!
--Hydra-star
