Not as Useless

I don't own Fushigi Yuugi or any of the characters (though I wish I could keep a lil SD Chichiri in my pocket). The only thing that is mine is the idea of this fanfiction... I'm a broke lil otaku, no da!

It's rated PG-13 for later chapters and Tasuki swearing... though I might have to bump it up... I'll get back to you on that one...

I wrote this story because I love Chiriko. He's not my favorite character but he's one of them. (You will proabaly see in this chapter who my favorite is!) I wanted to show Chiriko as more of a teenager because he is 13. He still is a bit of a kid but I always picture him slightly older than he lets on...

Chapter one: Annoyance

The rainy season was finally over. For the first time in a few weeks, the sun shined through the parting grey clouds and brought color back to Konan. Miaka, the Suzaku no Miko, wasted no time getting out in the sun. While she was aimlessly running around, Hotohori, the emperor of Konan, was overseeing some of his servants setting up a target about 100 yards away.

Stretching his arms while he walked, Tasuki sauntered over to his fellow Seishi member, "Hey, Hotohori! Whatcha doin'?"

"I thought after being inside for so long we could use a bit of sport. Can you fire a bow?"

"Hell yea I can!" Tasuki grinned from ear to ear, "I'm not that bad of a sword fighter myself, ne? Maybe we should square off sometime!"

"That would be interesting, I'm sure..."

"Is this for everyone to join?" a cheerful voice piped up behind them. Nuriko, who had asked the question, bounded over to them, closely followed by Chichiri, Tamahome, and Mitsukake. After a few minutes, Tamahome, Nuriko, Tasuki, and Hotohori had set up and had under way an archery tournament. Mitsukake and Chichiri sat off to the side to be the cheerleaders and medical aid.

...

Inside the palace was Chiriko, the youngest and smallest member of the Suzaku Seishi, still in the library where he spent most of his time. It's not that he didn't enjoy being with his new found friends or being in the sun. He liked them, but his gift of extreme knowledge often left him exiled from the rest.

'That's not it,' he mused sitting back in his chair stretching, 'I can hold a perfectly good conversation with Chichiri, Mitsukake, or even Tasuki. They just... annoy me... Well I guess annoy is the best word to use even though they don't mean to.' Sighing, he glanced back down at the book he had been studying the last several hours. It was about using your own chi to do things such as magic. Chiriko had questioned Chichiri about how to use magic, but the monk only said he was far too young to learn anything of that matter. That was about two weeks ago at the height of the monsoon season and since then, the boy had rarely been seen outside of the library. His friends had given up a long time ago on coaxing him out. Though in that short amount of time, Chiriko taught himself how to project his own chi and sense other's. 'Pretty good for a "kid" when it took three years for Chichiri to learn his powers,' he smirked closing the book, 'won't he be surprised?'

Glancing over, Chiriko saw the sunshine tracing through the dust clouded windows and heard faint voices. Quickly running over, he saw everyone outside laughing at Tasuki and Tamahome fighting over something. Wait a minute... was that? It was! In Tasuki's hands was a bow and he had a small quiver strapped to his back where his tessen would normally be. A smile crept across Chiriko's face as he turned on his heels and sprinted out of the library. 'I better change into proper clothing before going out,' he thought stopping by his room.

...

"Tasuki-chan! Are you trying to kill me, no da!?" Chichiri cried pulling out an arrow that narrowly missed him and struck his kesa.

"Didn't see ya there buddy!" the red head cried back with his traditional fang tooth grin as he notched another arrow.

"Yeah right, no da," muttered the monk mending his robe back with his magic.

Chuckling quietly, Mitsukake watched the ex-bandit prepare to fire, "You know he did that on purpose."

"Yes, I know, no da. But that's what I get for accidentally turning him blue."

"Was it really an accident?"

"Da!"

"I didn't think so either..." Mitsukake smiled as Tasuki fired his shot. It hit the target only about two inches below the bull's-eye. He was the closest out of the four.

"His form is a bit sloppy," a voice was heard from behind them, "but he's not that bad."

"Ah, Chiriko-chan," Chichiri smiled up at the boy from his seat on the ground, "You decided to join us. I was wondering where you were, no da. Nice outfit." Dubbed in scarlet leggings and a dark green jerkin, Chiriko was carefully pulling on a pair of soft leather gloves.

Nodding, the boy started making his way towards the tournament before Mitsukake reached out and grabbed his arm, "Where do you think you're going?"

"To join in with the others."

"Don't you think you're a bit too young for that?" But before Chiriko could answer, Miaka bounced over to them crying, "Is anyone else hungry?"

"You're always hungry, Miaka!" Nuriko sighed patting her on the head, "but I guess it is about dinner time."

"Yea! Let's eat!" the Miko cheered latching onto Tamahome's arm and pulled him towards the palace.

As everyone followed more slowly, Hotohori ruffled Tasuki's hair, "I guess that makes you the winner."

"Hell yea! What do I get?"

"Nothing other than the satisfaction of beating us."

"WHAT THE HELL!? THAT IS THE WORSE PRIZE IN THE WOLRD! DAMMIT, YER JUST A CHEAP KING, HOTOHORI AND-" Tasuki was quickly silenced by Nuriko slamming him into the wall.

Just as they reached the palace, Chichiri noticed that they were missing someone. Turning, while telling the others not to wait for him, he headed back out into the garden. There he found Chiriko holding the bow in his hands, starring at it sadly. Was that also a touch of anger in his eyes as well? The boy looked up as he approached.

"Chiriko-chan," Chichiri smiled, but had a curious tone, "What are you doing? Aren't you hungry, no da?"

Chiriko just shrugged.

"What's wrong, no da?"

"I-I just wanted," he shook his head, "Nothing... It's not important."

"Yes it is, no da! What? You wanted to be in the tournament?"

The mini scholar nodded slowly, "My older brother taught me how to shoot a bow when I was seven. I won several awards for it, too."

"And you just wanted to show everyone what you could do, na no da?"

"Yes."

"Alright then," Chichiri nudged the boy in the direction of the target, "Show me what you can do."

Chiriko grinned wildly as he reached for the bow, but Chichiri didn't even see him notch the arrow before he heard it hit the target with a soft thunk! It had hit the bull's-eye only about five centimeters off.

"Great Holy Suzaku!" the blue haired Seishi whispered before glancing back at Chiriko. The teenager just simply beamed with delight as Chichiri continued, "You would have wiped Tasuki across the lawn, no da! But..." he took the bow from Chiriko, "you are a bit off. Now if you would have taken your time you would have probably got it perfect. Speed isn't everything, Chiriko, but neither is power." After glancing over to the target for a moment, Chichiri placed the bow on the ground, took his kesa off, slowly removed his mask from his face laying it on top of his robe, and finally picked the bow back up. Chiriko simply started at him in wonder. He had heard from Mitsukake that Chichiri wore a mask that covered a deep scar over his left eye, but during his time in the palace the little scholar had yet to see it.

When he realized that he was starring, the boy quickly turned his head away causing Chichiri to smile very gently at him. It was a genuine smile, not one of the ones that were forced upon his face from the mask, but the true Chichiri. This could only bring an admirable grin from Chiriko that was filled with honor towards his friend.

Picking up an arrow, the monk notched it and aimed very carefully. After a few seconds, he released it knowing before hand that it would hit perfectly. Turning back to Chiriko, Chichiri nodded towards the target, "You see if you take your time you'll get it right, no da. And you don't always have to prove yourself. I know that we don't treat you like an adult, but it's just because we all care for you, no da. We don't want to see anything happen to you."

Picking up the kesa and mask, Chiriko handed the robe to his friend, "I know," he then paused looking down at the mask before glancing back up into Chichiri's deep crimson eye, "Doesn't it bother you?"

"Does what bother me?"

"Living a lie everyday of your life... Every laugh, every smile, all of it a farce! Not being you and hiding behind some flattened clay laced with magic is no way to go about as a normal human being, Chichiri-san! If you think that fooling the others into believing you're happy is going to make things better, then you're wrong! It's only a form of running away..."

"Yes! Yes it is!" the older Seishi kneeled down, "I am running away... from many painful things of my past that I wish not to remember. I've done many horrible things in my time that I am very much ashamed of. Sometimes I think that even if any of you found out these things that you would all abandon me. And I'm going to let you in on my greatest fear, Chiriko-chan, and that is being alone... even if I leave to wonder in the wilderness I can only stay away from society for so long before my sanity flees. I have to be around people to keep myself sane. And that's why I hide, because if I lose you, Miaka, and the other Seishi then I will lose what's left of my life. You all are the only family I have now," Chichiri stood up again and held out his hand for his mask, "so may I please have what is mine... Please, Chiriko, because it's my last line of defense."

Shocked at the serious gleam in his eye and by the fact that his friend went so long without saying "no da", Chiriko slowly handed back the fake visage before lowing his eyes to the ground in shame.

"I'm sorry..." he barely whispered, "I-I didn't mean to make you so upset..."

Adjusting the mask back in its rightful place, Chichiri patted the boy's shoulder, "It's alright, no da. I didn't mean to snap a bit either. I'm also sorry... so," in a puff of smoke, the monk appeared in his SD form on Chiriko's head pointing towards the palace, "I say we go eat, no da!"

"Yes, let's go!"

The chibi Chichiri leapt off the teen's head and scampered across the yard until he reached the stairs. Poofing back to his normal size, Chichiri held out his hand to his young friend, which Chiriko took graciously, and the two of them headed towards the dining room.

"How did you learn to shoot like that, Chichiri-san? I thought you were a monk."

"I wasn't always a monk, no da!"

End of Chapter 1

In the next chapter, the Seriyuu Seishi show up! Well... some of them at least... MUHAHAHA! This shall be so much fun!! squeek Onwards and Upwards!