Disclaimers: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi.
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Narrator's POV
Iname and Takiko stared at the woman. "Well? It's not nice to keep a old woman waiting. Answer my question," she said after a while, tapping her bare foot impatiently.
"W-w-who are you?" Takiko asked, bewildered. "A-and how did you appear like that?"
"Answer my question first," the woman retorted. She was grinning now at the looks on their faces.
"Takiko, Iname, dinners ready!" A voice from inside the cave said. Tomite walked out, saw the woman, and stopped suddenly.
"Who are you?!" He asked.
"*sigh* Why dose everyone keep asking me that question?" The old woman asked before turning to Tomite. "You should respect your elders, Chamka Tan. Or would you prefer Tomite of the Genbu Seishi." Tomite froze.
"H-how...." he managed to stutter out. The old woman simply laughed.
"Tomite! What's taking you so long?" Called Hatsui. When there was no answer he walked out. Just like Tomite, he stopped suddenly when he saw the old woman. "Um... Hikitsu..." He called. "I think that you'd better come see this." A sigh was heard from inside the cave and Hikitsu appeared at it's mouth. Unlike the others, he showed no signs of surprise, but he most certainly was.
"Ah, yes. And here's Shi-Hsiu. Or should I say, Hatsui. And, of course, we can't forget Chen Entato. But I'm sure that he's more used to being called Hikitsu now."
"I am. And might I be so rude to ask, who are you? You seem to know all of us quite well, but none of us know you," Hikitsu replied, as calm as ever. But instead of answering him, the old woman just laughed again.
"Before I tell you who I am, Dugureng Zaan, or maybe I should say Iname, over here," She pointed a bony old finger at Iname. "must answer my question. Who is Yind?"
"Um... Well... Yind was..." Iname didn't quite know where to begin. Takiko sympathized.
"Why don't we all go back into the cave and eat. Then we can talk," she said looking around. Iname nodded quickly, but the others where a little more reluctant. However, soon they were all sitting by the fire eating. Takiko had even insisted that they give the old woman some food, but nobody could figure out why. The entire meal Tomite kept an annoyingly close watch on the woman and a protective arm around Takiko.
Soon, they where all finished and they turned to Iname to hear who Yind was. A few on the seishi had also been wondering who she was and were very eager to find out. Iname too a deep breath and began.
"As you know, back in Kutou, there weren't many people who liked me because I was one of the Genbu Seishi. The first person to ever accept me was Kuro. We became quick friends. For years, he was the only friend I had. I thought that it would never change. But it did. You see... That was before Kuro and I met her. One day, a family moved into the house next to mine. We watched as the family moved in. And that's when we first saw her. The most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Yind. She had long black hair that was always pulled back in a simple braid. Simple, but beautiful. And she had beautiful pale skin that was as white as the snow and a long graceful neck. She always wore simple dresses that would have looked plain on most girls, but on her, they looked elegant. And her eyes... They were perhaps the most beautiful thing about her. She had these big hazel eyes that were framed by long eyelashes."
"At first, Yind didn't know that I was one of the Genbu Seishi. She became part of our group. And, slowly, both Kuro and I fell in love with her. But she loved Kuro, not me. So I kept my feelings inside of me, and did not let them show. I couldn't. I was too afraid.
"It was about a year after we met her when she found out that I was one of the Genbu Seishi. I thought that she would hate me after that. But.... She didn't. She accepted me, just like Kuro did. And so, for her, and for Kuro, the only two people who ever accepted her, I abandoned my feelings for her. And she and Kuro where happy together. They married, and were going to have a son. But... I suppose that things weren't to be.
"It happened just a few months before I came here. Bandits attacked our village. Yind..." Iname sniffed at the horrible memory, but continued. "Yind was raped, then murdered." He closed his eyes, fighting tears. " There was nothing Kuro and I could do but watch. I can still remember her screams..." He stopped, unable to go on. The others were silent. Finally, Takiko stood and went to him. Once there, she knelt by him and hugged him slowly.
"It's okay, Iname. You don't have to fight it. You can cry, if you want to. It's better than holding it all in. We all understand," she whispered to the distraught seishi. And so he did. And as the other seishi and old woman watched, the roles where switched for a few moments, and the protector became the protected.
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Umiyame's POV
The boys story touched me, as did the Miko comforting him. For a long time, I'd had my doubts about going with them. Now, I knew that I would whether I wanted to or not. Drat my over sensitive heart. I don't know how long it took for the boy to stop crying and for everyone to go back to calmly sitting by the fire, but after it did, I knew what they where going to ask me. Still, I didn't just come out and tell them. I waited for them to ask me.
"So... Now it's your turn, grandma," Tomite said in respectful voice with just a hint of sarcasm. But only a hint. I decided that I could look over it. After all, he would know his mistake soon enough.
"My turn for what?" I asked in all innocence, flashing as sweet of a smile that I could get on my old withered face. Of course, that probably didn't look very sweet. Oh well.
"You know very well what I mean, you old hag." Old hag?! I was old. I'd admit to that. But I was no hag. "Iname answered your question about Yind. Now you have to tell us who the hell you are!" The young fool was getting angry.
"Mind your tongue!" I snapped at him. "A youngster should respect his elders."
"And a grandma should act old!" He retorted. He was better than I though he was. Oh well. It was no matter. I simply smirked at him.
"Oh come now. I'm not that old."
"Whatever," he shot back. I think that he had completely forgotten that the other seishi were there. Stupid boy.
"Um... If you two are finished... Can you tell us who you are now?" Said Hikitsu slowly. My grin widened. They would be so surprised when they found out who I was. I couldn't wait to see Tomite's face when he found out.
Tomite, on the other hand, was blushing deeply from embarrassment. "S-so... Who are you?" He asked.
"Who do you think I am?" I asked in return. I love answering questions with questions. It confused people.
"I... I think that you're some useless old lady." Old I was. But I was most certainly not useless. And so... It got started again. Finally, the miko got Tomite to calm down. She seemed to have quite a bit of power over him. But she didn't seem like the type of person to rule over her seishi. The moment that she had shared with the seishi Iname was fresh in my mind. And so, Hikitsu asked me again who I was. And this time, I decided to stop playing with them. It was getting tiring. I stood, picking up my staff. The polished wood felt good in my hand as I leaned on it.
"I am Umiyame of the Genbu Seishi." My voice rang throughout the cave and echoed long after the words were out of my mouth. I felt the green symbol, Wei, that translated to Danger or Roof, in the center of my forehead come to life and the cave was lit by a bright green light that reached to every corner in a way that the fire could not. "And just so you know... Your in my house, right now..."
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~End of Chapter 23~
Yup! The old woman was Umiyame. Now all that they have to do is go back to the capital and summon Genbu! This story is almost done. YAY! I know that I must sound like a broken record because I've said this so many times, but thank you to everyone who has stuck with this from the beginning. It means a lot to me. Anyway, please review. More coming soon.
