Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi or any of its characters, however I do own Yukari and some other people you have never heard before.
Chapter 2: Fire in Ice
"Yukari-chan, you should go home its late already." A rough voice echoed through the quiet garage.
"Just a while longer and I'll be done! Hayashi could you get me the wench from the table please?" Yukari shouted in reply, and petted the black dog when it dropped the wench at her hand.
"Alright done! She's a real beauty right Hayashi?" Yukari asked as she stood up and admired her handiwork, Hayashi gave a bark as if to agree.
Just then a man around his thirties came into the room, he was wearing a plain white T-shirt with ripped jeans, and his body was well built from all those years of working at the garage. A smile formed on the man's lips when he saw Yukari's latest masterpiece- a shiny motorcycle that was ready to roam the street. It was a wonder how a 16 years old girl could transform a piece of scrape metal to the magnificent vehicle that now stood before him.
"I must say you really did a good job on this." The man ruffled Yukari's hair and grinned at his apprentice.
"Thank you Mitoa-kun." Yukari mused at her use of the suffix. Even though he was her teacher, Mitoa didn't want he to address as sensai, it made him sound old he said.
"Why don't you pack up a little, I'll go get you something to drink." Mitoa offered and left the room.
Yukari began to wipe her tools and replaced them on her waist pouch. After setting a bowl of water on the ground for Hayashi, Yukari unzipped the top part of her overall and tied the sleeves at her waist (something like Winry from Fullmetal Alchemist), revealing a loose tank top that only reach to above her belly button.
The teenager plodded down on a beanbag sofa at a corner of the room and picked up her skateboard and T-shirt. Just then a book that fell out from her belongings caught her attention.
"What's this, Universe of the Four Gods?" Curious, Yukari opened the book but before she could even make out any of the words on the first page, a beam of red light shot of the book and engulfed the girl in no time, she did not even had time to scream.
Mitoa just arrived in time to see his apprentice disappearing together with her dog and belongings, "What in the name of seven hells!" The man exclaimed and walked towards the glowing book on the floor with the cans still in his hands. The mechanic somewhat managed to calm his nerves and picked up the book.
"The girl woke up to find herself…" Mitoa sighed as he read aloud what was written on page. He began to settle himself on the beanbag and massaged his nose bridge, 'Yukari and Hayashi got sucked into a book! This isn't a dream, man I'm getting too old for these.' Mitoa thought and opened a can of beer hoping it would ready him for what's going to happen next.
Hayashi barked happily when he saw his owner waking up. Yukari sat up and wiped the dog's saliva off her face.
"Now where the hell am I?" Yukari asked while standing up, it took her a while to realize that they were in a cave.
The girl looked around, trying to find the way out but was interrupted by a bark from Hayashi.
"Hayashi get back here!" The girl sighed, now she had no choice but to follow Hayashi to god-knows-where.
"Don't run off like that!" Yukari was about to continue scolding her dog when a bright red fire in front of her caught her attention.
Yukari gasped when she took a closer look, the fire was encased in a block of ice. No it's not a fire, but instead a human with red hair that could be easily mistaken for fire especially in s cave this dark.
As if being possessed, the raven hair girl stepped towards the ice and placed both her palms on the cold surface. All of a sudden, the ice shattered and the imprisoned man fell on top of her.
"Oh my god, he's so heavy." Yukari groaned as she tried to push the man away but stopped when a something hit her head. She looked up to and the girl's horror it was practically raining rocks.
With a huff, the young mechanic managed to lift the unconscious man on her back with the uncanny strength that she had acquired from work, "Come on Hayashi, we've to get out of here." Yukari shouted and ran towards a direction that she hoped is the right one.
"Phew that was close." They had managed to escape before the cave collapsed she had never ran so fast before. Hayashi was spawned out beside her on the grass. Yukari groaned as she dropped her "baggage" on the ground and tried to follow Hayashi's example but found that something was obstructing her. Reaching behind her, Yukari pulled out her skateboard and T-shirt that was all this while, strapped to her back.
Yukari starred at the items in her hands, "How stupid can I get?" she scolded herself for not realizing that she had her skateboard, it would have made the running easier. After resting for a while, Yukari decided that they had to find shelter for the night.
"Hayashi come over here." The black puppy bounded over to her and lay his head on Yukari's lap earning him a scratch behind the ear.
"When do you think he'll wake up, I hope I didn't save a dead man." Both Yukari and Hayashi leaned over the red hair man. Sure enough he began to stir after Hayashi wetted his face and a few pokes by Yukari with a screwdriver.
"WHAT THE HELL! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU HENTAI!" The man was nearly knocked unconscious again when the screwdriver flew at his head.
"Here I was being concern about your health since I was the one who saved you, and there you are calling me a hentai!" Yukari continued to wave the screwdriver threateningly in front of his face.
"That's why I hate girls." The man squatted in a corner and painfully rubbed the bump on his head.
"Anyway, I'm Yukari." He watched as Yukari struck out a hand.
"Whatever, I'm Tasuki." The man now known as Tasuki slapped her hand and turned away from the strange girl.
However he wasn't getting away so easily, "Ne ne, could you tell me why you were frozen in ice?" As soon as that question was asked, Tasuki's eyes clouded over and memories from long ago began to resurface in his mind. Just then as Yukari was about to speak again when she noticed something glowing on Tasuki's forehead; the girl gingerly reached out and brushed his bangs away. Her eyes widened at the sight of a red symbol that looked like a bird and it was imprinted on his forehead.
"That bastard chicken, why didn't he let me die?" Yukari could see he was upset just from the shaking of his shoulders, she wanted to comfort Tasuki but what could she do, they barely knew each other.
Tasuki suddenly punched the tree in front of him, "WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE LEFT!" his cry echoed through the clearing, even Yukari started to feel the tears welling up in her eyes and to add to the effect Hayashi began howling as well.
"I guess I'll have to ask you next time. For now, lets get some rest" Yukari said softly after the crying died down to an occasional sob and leaned her back against a tree, swiftly falling asleep with Hayashi on her lap.
"Yeah, it doesn't look like I know what to do either." Tasuki muttered and laid down on the ground, soon falling into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning.
"Ohayo Tasuki-san!" Tasuki's eyes shot opened at the sudden screaming in his ear.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME DEAF!" Hayashi cowered behind his master who was busy shielding herself from the outburst.
"Ok ok, I'm sorry. So anyway, where're we going now?" Yukari apologized in order to calm the fuming man.
"Before that, I have a question. You're not from around here are you?" Tasuki asked while poking at Yukari's strange attire, which earned him a knock on the head with a spanner.
"Come to think of it, I kind of got sucked into a book." Yukari pointed out as if it was a normal thing.
"A book? Universe of the Four Gods?" Yukari railed back as the bandit's face suddenly appeared in front of hers.
"Yeah, I think so." By now Tasuki was already shaking the poor girl, it looked like her head is going to fall off any minute. Hayashi too sensed the excitement in Tasuki and ran around yelping at anything that moves.
However unknown to the group, someone was watching them, "Ohohoho, aren't they a cheerful bunch."
Character's profile:
Name: Yukari
Age: 16
Birthday: 17th September
Height: 167 cm
Weight: 49 kg
Hair color: raven/black
Eye color: gray
A/n: Alright how was that, I hope it's ok though I know things are still a bit confusing right now but they will be much clearer the next chapter. Anyway I'll bet that no one can guess who's the mysterious person who's watching the group. In addition I also added a brief profile for Yukari I won't say too much about her now in case I give too much away.
31.03.05
ade