Disclaimers: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi.
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Narrator's POV
Namame, at home with his parents, sat up so hard that he hit his head against the low ceiling.
Iname, in Kutou where he hoped to make peace with his family, fell off his horse.
Hatsui, shopping in the capital, dropped his bags.
Umiyame, somewhere out in the middle of nowhere doing who-knows-what, stopped hitting the straw dummy abruptly.
Uruki, at home with her grandfather, dropped the glasses filled with drinks for the costumers at her grandfather's inn.
Hikitsu, on Mt. Black, stopped talking and stared at Tomite.
Tomite, also on Mt. Black, screamed in agony and grief.
Each of them had felt it. It had been almost a month since Takiko had left in the book world, but all of them had felt their miko's life force ebb from existence.
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"Dad?"
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It... It can't be....She... She can't be dead.... I... She just can't be...
She was... So young... Hikitsu murmured.
Indeed, all of them were thinking similar thoughts.
Uruki sat down in a chair. Is everything okay, Bai-Ling? Her grandfather asked. She rarely dropped things and those glasses had made quite a mess that she hadn't even moved to clean up. People were staring at her too.
Uruki paid no attention to them. Takiko's words were ringing in her head.
I'm going. There's nothing that any of you can do to stop me. I don't belong in the world. Now... once I'm gone, I want to to take this to a mountain. It's called Mt. Black. There, you will find someone waiting for you. You must give it to him.
She had never done that. She had forgotten all about it. She got up, rushing out of the inn and to the house that she and her grandfather shared. She rushed up to her room and began searching for the necklace that Takiko had given her that day.
How could I be so careless?! I have to find it. Takiko asked me to bring it to Mt. Black, wherever that is.'
Finally she found it, hidden on a shelf right above her bed, where she had tossed it after returning from the capital. She ran back to the inn as fast as she could.
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"I don't know. What's a Genbu no Miko?"
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Grandfather! I have to go on a trip!
But... But Bai-Ling... This is so sudden.
Grandfather... Takiko is... Takiko is dead... I... I have to go somewhere.
But how do you know?
There's no time to explain. I have to go!
Well... Very well. I'll help you pack. Quickly, the old man told one of the serving boys to watch the inn and left with Uruki. They packed a few saddle bags and Uruki was off in the sunset, spurring th horse on as fast as the poor animal could go.
As he watched her ride off, Uruki's grandfather couldn't help but wonder where she was going. He had this strange sinking feeling in his gut the she would not be returning this time...
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"Well, at least I'm better than you! Say, Uruki, you're a good cook. Will you cook for us on our trip?"
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Uruki's POV
I rode for three days and three nights before I finally reached Mt. Black. I stood in front of the huge doors leading into the cave nervously. What was in there? Takiko said that someone would be waiting for me, but who? And what if I had waited to long and they had left?
Slowly, I pushed open the doors. I will never forget what I saw.
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"W-w-who are you? A-and how did you appear like that?"
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There was Tomite and Hikitsu, floating a few inches off the ground playing... Cards? I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes. Yes they were really there. But how could that be? They were dead!
And more importantly, why would a bunch of dead guys be playing cards?
Go fish... Muttered Hikitsu in a bored voice. However, Tomite had already spotted me.
Um... Hikitsu... He said, pointing. We... Um.... Have company...
Hikitsu turned and for a second surprise flitted across his face. I'm sure that my mouth was agape and that my eyes were bulging out of their sockets, but I didn't care.
T-T-T-Tom-m-mite......? H-H-H-Hik-kitsu.....? I stammered. I-It can-n't be.....
Uruki? What are you doing here? Asked Tomite. I barely heard him. I was walking slowly up to Hikitsu.
You... You c-can't be real. I whispered. I watched you die.... I noticed Tomite leave the area out of the corner of my eye, deciding to give up some privacy, and was immensely grateful.
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The four palaces of the heavens
The four corners of the earth
In the name of sacred law, faith, and virtue,
I summon thee, Genbu, Guardian of the North.
I beseech you to appear on earth
From the palaces of heaven
For the sake of those here who adore you
And await your presence.
Come to us!
And with your mighty power
Destroy all that is evil which threatens us...
Save us, and grant us our wishes!
Be sent to us now, from the heavens above!
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I was almost there when I started to run. I wanted to just run straight into his arms, to smell his familar smell, to feel his clothing rubbing against my cheek, everything. I wanted to know that he was real.
No... I had to know!
But all my hopes were dashed. Instead of running into his arms, I ran through them, a shiver of cold going through my body. I fell to my knees on the cold stone floor and just stared at it. I wouldn't cry. I wouldn't.
He said, and for once I could hear the sadness in his voice. I said nothing. I... I'm sorry...
What are you? I asked, almost choking.
A ghost. Or... A spirt, really.
But why are you here?! I asked, feeling frustrated. Not at him. Not really. At myself. At the world. At everything. Everything except him. Never him.
Taiitsukun asked us to come back as spirts to protect something called a shinzaho. A shinzaho is a item that absorbs some of a gods power during the summoning. Two of these things are enough to summon any god. Eventually, Takiko's will be of use to some other miko. However, we do not know how long that will be. Therefore, because we are already dead, Taiisukun asked us to stay here and guard it for however long we may have to.
Oh....... Well then... I suppose that you'll be needing this.... I said as I pulled the necklace out of my pocket. I held it out to him.
Um... Uruki... I don't think that I can hold it. You will have to put it on the altar.
"Just come with me.
He led me to pair of doors that were even bigger than the ones leading into the cave. I looked up at them in awe. He closed his eyes, and they opened...
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"You don't know how long I've waited for you to say that. I... I love you too. So much. Maybe... not for as long as you've loved me, but... For a while now.
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"You're a Genbu Seishi?
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"Oh, Tomite.... It's so painful... Help me, Tomite... Help me...
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"Tomite! Tomite! He's alive.......! He is alive, right? Please tell me that he's alive!
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"I... I want to say goodbye to you all. And thank you. For everything.
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"No, Uruki-san. You needed me. Hokkan needed me. You don't need me anymore. Once I'm gone, you can go home. You can all go home.
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"I'm going. There's nothing that any of you can do to stop me. I don't belong in the world. Now, once I'm gone, I want you to take this to a mountain. It's called Mt. Black. There, you will find someone waiting for you. You must give it to him.
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No... Not as the miko. Just... Just Takiko. That's all I want you to remember me as.
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But they are to me. I... They're my friends. All of them. I know that they're just characters in a book to you, Father, but they're more than that to me. They all have feelings. They each have their own past and have gone through hardships. They all have or have had families who they love very much. They cry and bleed, even fall in love. Each one of them has risked their life for me before and I would do the same for them. Maybe they don't exist in this world. Maybe they're just characters on paper to you. Maybe you don't feel that they're really real; that they really exist. But they exist to me. To me they're all human. They're all my friends.
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Father, I... I love Tomite. And Hikitsu too, just not in the same way. I love them all. I love them as friends. Now, I will never see any of them again. The only way for me to see any of them is to die. Father, I want to die. I want to see them again. And... And it hurts, Father. It just hurts so much. So... So please....
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"To... mi... te...
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~End of Chapter 47~
This is Takiko's tribute chapter. I'm sorry that there are so many quotes (more than there were for Tomite and Hikitsu), but there were so many good ones that I wanted to put in here. Unfortunantly, most of them are from the later chapters. Sorry! I didn't mean for it to be like that!
Anyway, more coming soon! Please review!
Thank you to Eluene who told me that somehow the formating on this chapter got messed up. As you can see, I've reposted it. Lets hope that it doesn't happen again!
