Hey thanks for the great reviews guys! It made me go, "AHHHHHHH! I need to update more on this story!" So I have my mocha Starbucks thingies and a certain urge to write. (I got the urgeeeeeeeee to type!) ^_^. I'm ready to go!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yugi.
Warnings: Angst, stuff, um…hmmm…
Somewhere Out There
Chapter Five
Miaka looked was staring at the scroll as if it were some foreign object. She still seemed beside herself with surprise that had just been picked. To tell the truth, so was I. I had figured that since I had touched Miaka, it could never be her because if Suzaku was real then he would know what had happened.
But there she was with the scroll.
"Yui…" Miaka looked up at her friend. Yui suddenly turned and fled from the room. Several of the miko-in-training were looking at Miaka with contempt. I turned and ran past lots of people, having to hitch up my skirts to run properly. I was sure I heard Saihitei call after me.
I found the stairs and it was only a short trip before I was on the ground level, running past the miko-in-training and right to Miaka.
"Hey, what do you have that weird face on for?" I asked her, almost out of breath. "You're the Suzaku no Miko."
"But I'm not supposed to be the Suzaku no Miko." Miaka bit her lip. "Yui is and now I feel awful…"
I was the one who felt awful. I still hadn't told Miaka the truth because I was afraid. Then something else happened that no was expecting.
The clasp that they said had never been open came undone and the scroll opened. Miaka's jaw was dropped and looked less like a responsible Suzaku no Miko and more like a deer in the headlights.
"I-I…" She trailed off and then tried to close it. "I didn't know! I didn't know it would do that! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
The attendants of the Miko came rushing over and several of the miko in training were now standing there in awe at Miaka.
"The sacred writings…" I heard one of them breathe. "They're being revealed for the first time!"
"Could it be that Miaka is the greatest Suzaku no Miko there ever was? Has Suzaku especially touched her?" One of the other girls murmured.
"What does it say? Somebody read it!" Someone called for it. I looked to my side and saw that Saihitei had arrived next to me without noticing. The miko-in-training gave him a wide berth although some were looking at him with great interest.
"The Miko should read it!" Someone else suggested.
"Oh…um…" Miaka's brow furrowed as she looked at the ancient kanji. "Hmmm…this is a little confusing."
"What does it say?" Saihitei asked. Miaka jumped, not having realized that he was there.
"Emperor Saihitei!" Her wide hazel eyes went as big as they could be. "O-of course." Miaka went studying the characters as best she could. "It says that when the kingdom of Konan is in its darkest hour, a Miko will be chosen and so will seven seishi that will be given Suzaku's power."
"Seven seishi?" The miko in training were all giving each other bewildered faces, as if one of them knew the answer to this.
"That's what it says." Miaka nodded as she puzzled over the ancient characters. "It says that this dark hour will come and the first sign…" She hesitated. "Is the scroll opening."
"Who are these seven seishi?" Saihitei inquired.
"Um…they're the seven constellations." Miaka squinted in concentration. "Tamahome, Chiriko, Chichiri, Tasuki, Mitsukake, Hotohori, and Nuriko."
As soon as I heard that last name, I got the strangest feeling in my chest. I don't know what it was but there was some odd warm feeling. I looked over at Saihitei who was looking at me with an expression I knew mirrored my own.
Did Saihitei also feel something?
It's like I know that name…like maybe I've heard it before somewhere.
"We have to find these seishi at once!" Someone called out and there was so much rushing around that I forgot to ask Saihitei anything before I myself was rushed off to my own rooms. Apparently plans were being made to find the seishi as quick as possible.
Some ancient scroll with prophetic contents. What are the odds?
You travel to a different world. Don't even start about odds.
Oh. Hmm, forgot about that.
When I got back to my rooms, Houki was there, rather excited to see me. First she wanted to know all about what had happened because already the servants and maids were already telling each other, so the news was traveling pretty fast that something out of the ordinary happened.
Houki seemed pretty interested in the parts that involved Saihitei but I wasn't sure she heard the rest. I wasn't sure what was going on outside my room and I had no idea whether I was supposed to wait there or not.
"Lady Kourin?" A voice asked from outside.
"Yes?" I stood up.
"The emperor requests your presence in his chambers." The male voice told me.
"Well, duty calls." I joked for Houki and then left to follow some guy to Saihitei's room. The warm evening air passed over my face and I watched fireflies flitting from place to place.
The doors to Saihitei's chambers opened and inside looked like a war council. Saihitei was sitting at the head of his table with Miaka, flanked before several miko-in-training were sitting at his left. Advisors weren't actually seated at the table but standing all around.
Saihitei looked up and saw me and gestured towards his right side. The advisors looked a bit peeved by this as I sat down on his right side, crossing my legs.
"Kourin, you remember the prophecy that Miaka read out loud at the ceremony just now, do you not?" Saihitei asked me.
"Unless you think I suffer from short-term memory loss." I quirked an eyebrow.
"We think you might be one of the seven seishi." Saihitei told me. "After all, you do appear in our world as if by some holy power."
"It says the seishi will be marked by Suzaku." Miaka glanced down at the scroll. "And if you are, that'll be a big help, 'cause then I'll only have to find six more. And then we can save the kingdom."
"You make it sound so simple." I shrugged. "I don't think I'm one of these seven seishi. I don't have any markings."
"We'd like to have some maids…check." Saihitei hesitated. It took me a little bit to figure out what he was saying.
But if maids check…
You wouldn't have this problem if you had just told the truth from the get go.
This is your own fault.
"I'm not of the seishi." I put in again. "It would just be a waste of time to check. Don't you think I would have seen something by now if I was one?"
"I guess she has a point." Miaka blinked her large eyes. "I hope we didn't bother you Lady Kourin."
"'s okay." I shrugged. "It's not like I was doing anything terribly important at the moment."
"I suppose the Suzaku no Miko would like to get to bed." Saihitei nodded towards Miaka. "We can discuss this further in the morning."
"Okay!" Miaka nodded her head, looking a lot younger and carefree then the very important Suzaku no Miko.
"We will retire then." The advisors bowed out after Miaka and the miko in training that were with her.
"Are you going to retire as well Kourin?" Saihitei turned towards me.
"Nah." I shook my head. "I'm not really tired."
"Shall we go for a walk then?" Saihitei asked me pleasantly. "I think the night air would definitely agree with me."
"Okay." I was about to get up when I saw that Saihitei was offering me a hand up. I blinked my large rose eyes at him. I took the hand and Saihitei had me on my feet in no time.
It was strange…and yet gentle…
We went outside, walking out into the grounds and along a well swept path. In front of us I saw sparkling from the moonlight. It was water. A river and a gazebo sitting along the riverside.
Heh, it's like some romantic getaway.
I glanced over at Saihitei and he had a content little smile on his face, as though he couldn't think of a single place he would rather be.
That's kind of weird.
Wait…a second…
Romantic gazebo on the river. Two people. By themselves.
Oh. No.
Now I didn't know what to do and so I began to grow nervous. Maybe Saihitei was thinking…who knows what he was thinking?! What if I was just being paranoid? But then, there was a lot of stuff to justify my paranoia.
He thinks you're a girl after all…
And you do look like Kourin…and Kourin was a very pretty girl…
I rubbed my hands together as we got to the gazebo. Saihitei sat down on a bench that was overlooking the river. His gaze focused on something across the river and his silvery-gray locks shining in the moonlight, his yellow eyes seemed so faraway and sad…
I wanted to know what he was thinking. I just stood there and stared at him for a few moments.
He's really…well, beautiful.
My eyes grew round. What was I thinking? I was a boy after all. Maybe I was getting into this whole being Kourin thing a little too much. But then, I guess, I've never really thought about stuff like that before. I had never really had crushes on girls but then I thought maybe I just hadn't met the right one. Plus, I didn't think of myself as very attractive and so it didn't bother me that much that I wasn't surrounded by girls.
I sat down next to him, wondering what I should do.
So I find him attractive. It's only natural, he's not bad-looking and he's kind and…well, I mean, I just need to be a mature individual right now.
Okay, big problem there Ryuuen.
Which is?
It doesn't matter if you like him because if Saihitei does like you, he likes the girl you. Not Ryuuen, Kourin.
"Sometimes during the rain season, this river swells and is very dangerous. But now it is calm." Saihitei smiled and turned towards me. "Sometimes when I think back really far I can remember someone telling me my mother was like this river. Tranquil but at times, an unstoppable force."
"I bet she was really cool." I leaned over the railing to see better. I looked over at Saihitei who was smiling at me.
"She was a good woman. She's up in the heavens now." Saihitei looked up. "Maybe she's watching right now." I looked up too. Maybe Kourin was up there somewhere.
"That's nice to think about." I closed my eyes, enjoying the slight wind blowing.
If Kourin was watching right now…what would she say?
"Perhaps you are really from the heavens yourself…" Saihitei murmured and I opened my eyes to see him staring at me in a sort of wonder. "Suzaku sent you to us, for what purpose I don't know…but I'm glad that he did."
My eyes were staring up at his and for a moment, the whole rest of the world melted away. I didn't hear the river lapping against the shores or the sounds of insects. I didn't hear the distant sounds of the palace. I couldn't see the stars and the moon. All that was there were Saihitei and his amber eyes.
What is it that he's seeing?
What can he hear?
Or is it all gone for him as well?
I opened my mouth to say something, maybe it was a question, I don't know. It didn't matter because at that exact moment, the whole world really did begin to fade. Saihitei seemed to snap out of his trance and grabbed my arm. But I faded away, and I was gone.
My eyes opened as rays of sunlight filtered into my room. I could still feel his hand on my arm.
Why had he reached out like that?
I stared at one of my hands. Maybe this life was a dream. I turned to see a picture of Kourin smiling and looking so happy.
Maybe this life was a nightmare. At that point, I wasn't really sure.
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Sorry the chapter isn't really long. ^_^. Next chapter, stuff will happen, I swear! I just keep getting caught up with focusing on the characters and then I realize I need to go forward with the plot. I guess I want you guys to get to know Ryuuen, at least get to know the Ryuuen I write. ^_^. Important stuff will happen next chapter. And Tamahome will come back for more then an honorable mention! Woo. Please review! And sorry it took so long to update.