Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi.
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Narrator's POV
Uruki watched Takiko sleep in the bedroll next to her. 'How can she sleep so soundly?' She wondered. She couldn't sleep. Her head hurt too much. She'd had an awful headache since they had left Mt. Taikyoku three days before. She supposed that it was just a side affect of the poison so she hadn't said anything to the others. Finally she gave up on any sleep that night and decided to go out of the tent to get some fresh air. She roughly pulled of her blankets and stepped out, letting the flap close behind her. Once outside, her headache stopped hurting so much, much to her relief. She looks around and saw two figures looking out at the stars and talking near by. The smaller one was leaning against a tree. 'That must be Tomite. I think it's his turn to keep watch.' she thought, 'But who's the other?'
"Tomite?" She called out softly. He didn't seem to hear. She slowly walked forward and could soon see that one of the figures was indeed Tomite. She couldn't see who the other one was, though, because his face was hidden by shadow. She tapped Tomite on the shoulder and he spun around, a look of complete surprise on his face. She laughed and sat down beside him peering into the shadow to see who was there. All she saw was a bit of white hair, but that was enough to tell her who it was.
"Hello Hikitsu. Couldn't sleep?" She asked the figure. She could have sworn that she saw him smile at that, but couldn't be sure.
"You too, Uruki?" She smiled at him.
"I just needed some fresh air," she replied. Tomite looked from one to the other and smiled. 'They would make a great couple,' he thought. 'She may be exactly what Hikitsu needs. Hmm...'
"Have you seen anything interesting, Tomite? If I remember correctly, it's your turn to be keeping watch, not chatting with Hikitsu, here." At this all three of them laughed. Tomite was just glad that she had no idea of what they had been "chatting" about...
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Hikitsu's POV
I watched Uruki joke with Tomite. She looked as if she was doing fine. That relieved me. I had been worried about her. It was what Tomite and I had been talking about. I hadn't been sure if she would be okay if we continued to go at the pace that we were going at. But I was also afraid that if we went any slower, the capital would be attacked and over run. If that happened then all hope would be lost. She looked very pretty, with the moonlight reflecting of her eyes and her hair shining. I quickly shook that thought out of my head. I didn't want to think about anyone like that. It wasn't that I had anything against her... It was just that it would feel like betraying Sora's memory if I fell in love with another girl after she had died to save me... After she had given up everything for me...
Thoughts of Sora flew threw my head. But suddenly, her face was replaced by another's. Uruki's... I shook her head out of my head again. I couldn't think of another Seishi like this. I just couldn't! It didn't feel right. And I still didn't want to betray Sora's memory. I still loved Sora. Even though she was dead. I still had feelings for her. If I did fall in love with Uruki, would she just be a replacement for Sora? Was I just trying to find someone who was like her and could take her place in my hart? No. That couldn't be it. No one could ever replace Sora. But if I was... Could I live knowing that the only reason that I loved Uruki... Was because she was replacing someone else? Could I live feeling like a traitor to both of them? And what if she died? What if I lost someone special to me again? My thoughts where interrupted by a big yawn. I looked up and saw that it was Uruki.
"I'm going to go back to bed, now. Yawn Nice talking to you, boys," She said, and yawned again.
"Yea. Me too. Good night, Tomite. Good night, Uruki," I agreed and stood up.
"G'night," Tomite said to the both of us as we headed back to our separate tents and walked inside. I laid down in my cold bedroll and soon drifted off into a restless sleep...
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Takiko's POV
I woke up after a good night sleep only to find that everyone else was already up! I hurriedly dressed and walked outside the tent that Uruki and I shared.
"Morning everyone," I said.
"Morning!" Uruki replied cheerfully. I smiled at her and sat down to eat in between her and Tomite to have breakfast. We had decided to go back to the capital to inform the emperor of our progress and gather more provisions. Once there, Tomite had said that we may also be able to see how much the Kutou army had moved and get an estimate of how much time we had left to gather the other Seishi and summon Genbu. I was still worried that we would run into that strange man again. He had said that he was one of the Seiryu seishi. What if they had a Miko and where gathering their seishi as well? No... That couldn't be. The Miko had to come from another world. Didn't she?
"Tomite?" I whispered, "Can I speak to you?" Maybe I should have asked Hikitsu. He knew more about this kind of stuff. But I didn't. Because I didn't want to hear that that was a good possibility and that we would have to watch out. I wanted to hear that it wouldn't happen and if it did that we would be fine. And I knew that Tomite would tell me that. Tomite nodded to me and quickly finished his meal. Then we cleaned up and sat down on some rocks away from the others.
"What is it?" He asked me.
"I'm worried," I said. "What if that strange man comes back? Last time he almost killed you and Uruki. What if next time we aren't so lucky? What if someone dies?" He was silent.
"Well..." He finally began, "I don't think that that's going to happen. And if it dose... Well... We do outnumber them. We can probably take him. Besides... Last time we didn't have Hikitsu. And Genbu is watching over us. Still... I'll mention it to Hikitsu. He knows more about this stuff than I do."
"Thank you," I whispered. He had said exactly what I had wanted him to say. I was beginning to realize why all the plaice girls had crushes on him. Maybe their taste in boys wasn't so bad after all. He was sweet, and kind, and gentle. Not to mention cute. I stood up and began to help Uruki fold up our tent with thoughts of Tomite running threw my head...
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Uruki's POV
Takiko stood up and came over to me after she had finished her little talk with Tomite to help me finish folding up our tent. Tomite also stood and walked over to Hikitsu. He pulled him aside and they began to talk in low voices. Great. I was the only one that was going to be left out of this little secret. I can't say that I was happy about that. I scowled and finished folding up the tent, half considering eavesdropping on there conversation. But they were finished before I had a chance. They began to fold up their tent with troubled looks on their faces.
After we where finished packing (Witch didn't take long) we all got on the horses and set off. This time I rode with Takiko and Hikitsu and Tomite road together.
"Will we have to go over that mountain again so we can get back to the capital?" Tomite asked Hikitsu.
"No. Taiitsukun showed me some other ways that we could take that are a bit less dangerous," he replied.
"Mountain? Do you mean the mountain by my village? You went up that mountain and survived?" I asked astonished. Takiko looked at me confused.
"Yes. Why?" She said. I starred at her.
"Because no one has ever gone over that mountain and survived. It's impossible," I told her. How could they have gone over that mountain? Where their powers really that strong? Tomite and Takiko stared at me as if they didn't already know that. Had no one told them? I just couldn't believe that. "Didn't anyone tell you?" I asked them. They simply silently shook their heads.
"We where able to do it because were Genbu Seishi," said Hikitsu, " And it isn't impossible, Uruki. In fact, a tribe lives up there. We met them." Now it was my turn to stare. People lived up there? But how could that be? The grownups in my town always told children stories about how horrible it was up there and bad things that could happen to you if you tried to climb it. Where they all just lying? Had all the people that I had trusted lied to me? Even my grandfather? It couldn't be. My grandfather would never lie to me. Never! But... I didn't think that Hikitsu would lie either. And the other two agreed with him... I didn't know what to do. I supposed that it was silly to be worrying about such a trivial thing. But it had upset me to know that either way, people that I had trusted had lied to me. I hated liars! I sighed and decided to stop thinking about it. After this was all over, I could just ask my grandfather. It wasn't that big of a deal anyway. I'd most likely forget about it by the next morning. And I still had to find out what Tomite and Hikitsu had been talking about that morning. Takiko most likely knew about it as well. I guessed that it was what she and Tomite had been talking about before she had come to help me with the tent. It didn't quite seem fair that everyone knew but me, and I was determined to find out...
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End of chapter 12
I'm sorry about all the changing POVs. I've been getting a lot of complaints about that. Sorry! There is a reason. I want to have the story explained in everyone's POV so that people can get a better idea of each person and how they think or react in different situations. That way they can get to know each character better. I'm really sorry if it's confusing. I've been trying not to change POVs so often. In this chapter there's only 4, but at the beginning of the story there where 6 or 7 per chapter. Once again, sorry. Try to live with me. Please.
Also, please review and tell me what you think of this chapter. I LOVE reviews! Thank you to everyone who has done so. More coming soon!
