Disclaimer: I wish I wish I am Yuu Watase Sensei, but…sighs…no I'm not…I've got over a thousand hits for this! So happy is me! But little reviews, woe is me! I like bring dramatic! Enjoy another chapter of One more time!
Song: Winner (Fushigi Yuugi song)
-
"Hey, Nakago?"
"Yes, Nuriko?"
Nuriko focused her rose-coloured eyes on the blond ex-general of Kutou, and was openly glaring. "Really now, I know I have all the strength and all, but is it too ridiculous to ask me to carry you all the way to the Source of the monsters? What if we are ambushed? I'm the one being tired here!"
"Like Tasuki said, it's unbelievable that the Seishi Nuriko could ever get tired. His strength alone could keep him going. And Nakago here," Nakago pointed at himself, "Needs a lot of rest to replenish his ki. Unless Soi is here…actually, Nuriko, you could do just alright…you can be Soi, really!"
"Nakago, I'm warning you…I might be your fiancée, but I am supposed to help Miaka, so…none of that kind of talk, please. And, Nuriko here is also Ko Reishun and Ko Reishun says she's tired, so there! Oh, and another remark like that, and I am throwing you down the tree!"
"No wonder people said that you are stubborn and dangerous."
"You are one of them," Nuriko replied lightly, leaping on the treetops. "Chichiri's another. You both are weird people; what's with the notion of taking over the world? You are like a miniature Tenkou! And what's with Chichiri's 'no da's? I like it and all, but he won't get a woman with that face and speech of his!"
"I am not, and I repeat, am NOT Tenkou. I have my reasons for wanting to take over the world. And Chichiri, well, I do not think he wants any women. It's a code of conduct monks got to follow. That's why he's odd."
"Nakago, Chichiri's that way even before I met him!"
"Well, perhaps he wants a woman who likes what his crush likes."
"Kouran…his ex? Well…Kouran liked him like that, with the mask and all? I don't think so…Okay, he's plain weird, and there no explanation for that. I'm just curious as to why everyone started liking Miaka and not Chichiri…or Mitsukake…or Chiriko…"
"That's because they already had girlfriends."
"I've got one too!" Nuriko blurted out, then turned red at the outburst. "I mean… she's more like an admirer…so it's rather one-sided…"
"Who was that lucky girl?"
"Bihou. Youngest daughter of a wealthy merchant in the capital of Konan. We are playmates from young, with both our fathers being merchants and all…she's infatuated with me, until Kourin died and I turned into somebody without a gender…"
"Oh."
Nuriko's eyes widened when she saw a partially decomposed hand protruding out of the tree leaves. "Nakago, gender and loves of the last lifetime could be thrown aside; we've got company."
"Fine, let me down. I shall find the source of this. You will stay here and fend them off. You can take on a lot more people than I."
"You said it!" With that, Nuriko dropped Nakago and he fell through the foliage of leaves down to the undergrowth. Nakago could just distinctly hear a muffled 'Sorry!' from the top of the tree.
"Nuriko, you've made my clothes dirty! My face too was in an indescribable state…never mind, now I'm acting like that emperor of Konan!" Nakago got up and saw claw prints all over the ground. "There's no one here…" he looked up.
"Oh…they are climbing all the way up to fight Nuriko…" he turned away from the amazing spectacle for a moment before pausing to think. "Wait a minute, why are they fighting only Nuriko?"
He shook his head. "Mission first. No distractions."
He disappeared into the forest, not stopping to cast a look at the woman at the treetops. A muffled cry was heard, but was carried off into the wind. Nakago did not hear it.
-
The bird are singing happily, some diving down for a drink at a nearby pond. There was a house near the pond. And its occupants, however, were not happy as the birds themselves. Soi gasped when Hotohori told her that the love of her past life was not in the safety of his house.
"You mean Nakago is in great danger? Tomo, let's pack up. We'll guard Nakago with our lives!" Soi said melodramatically. Tomo nodded seriously.
"I'd say about the same, changing only the name to Miaka. However, my miko and I had to stay hidden, so I cannot lead you there…" Hotohori explained. "Besides...I need some more time with her to know her reasons for coming back and all...I wanted to know if she had changed much..."
-
"SEE, HE WANTS TO BE NEAR HER AND…"
Crash! Bang!
"Tetsuya, I am seriously thinking of sending him to a mental hospital…" Keisuke whispered into the phone, hiding under a random table to avoid getting hurt. "Do you think it will be expensive?"
Tetsuya grinned from the other end of the phone. "You've got me there."
-
"I know! You bring me to Nakago, and leave Tomo here to protect the miko!"
Hotohori looked at Soi suspiciously, frowning. "Why should I?" he asked, brandishing his sword. The two former enemies glared at each other for a long time.
"Humph, so Soi, you shall go to Nakago and cuddle him first, while I stay here and protect the Suzaku's miko. What a fool. What makes you think I would agree to such an absurd request? Like Hotohori was thinking, I do not agree. I wold rather find Nakago myself than stay with this whimpering…"
"Tomo," Miaka sighed. "I am not as young as you think. Do you wonder why I left my world? I did it to save my daughter…but I did not think that…you all would remember even before I came…" she looked away and saw…
Soi and Tomo were holding pies and cakes in front of the sad Miaka. "Come on, you poor thing, you've got to stop worrying and start smiling you know…I know it's Tomo's fault, but you cannot really blame her, her looks were ugly from the start…" Soi cooed, spooning apple pie into Miaka's mouth. Hotohori sighed and sheathed his sword.
Splat!
"Your looks are not as beautiful as mine! I'm the best! And your red hair is enough to scare everyone away! You are lucky I have you, you hideous monster!"
"Damn you Tomo! You've got me dirty! You'll pay for this! You shall stay here! Hotohori, let's go!"
"I would appreciate it if you both would stop freaking out…" Hotohori began, before he was being jerked out of the house by Soi. Tomo shrugged.
"Fine, Soi, have it your own way! So Miaka, want something to eat? I'm trained as a cook and a student in Nakago's house!" Tomo said sweetly.
Miaka pouted. "This had better not be an illusion!"
-
His hand touched something small, cold, hard and shiny. Keisuke looked down. "Oh, so how did you roll out of the bottom of that table, huh?" he asked, before turning to look at Taka's destruction of Miaka's apartment. "Wait a minute…"
"I HAVE THE RING, THE RING, THE RING!" Keisuke shouted triumphantly. "What's with the echo of 'the ring'?" he asked, puzzled, silver ring in the middle of his palm. Taka did not seem to hear him.
"Taka, the ring!"
He received no answer. "Oh, well. I might as well keep it safe for him at the moment."
He put the ring on the safest place he could think of, and was engulfed in a bright red light. Taka stopped banging on the mirrors. "The light of Suzaku? Keisuke said something about a ring just now…oh dear…now I have to find another way to get in there…"
He picked up the phone Keisuke abandoned. "Tetsuya, update me."
"KEISUKE, WHERE ARE YOU?" came a distressed bellow.
Taka nearly dropped the phone in shock. "Are you trying to make me deaf, Tetsuya? Wait till I've got my hands on you…"
"Phew, Taka, you are alright…"
"What do you mean by that? I'm always fit and strong, physically…"
"…but not mentally or emotionally. Your brains could fit a molecule of hydrogen," Tetsuya replied bitterly.
"Look Tetsuya, if you are not updating me about the book, then I'm going to your house to take it by force!"
"You are welcome, Taka."
-
Oops, this time Miaka's concerned, beer-drinking brother had fallen into the book he had researched so much on. Where would he land? What would Soi and Hotohori see when they came to the site their friends were fighting in? How was Nuriko doing? What would Nakago see when he went to the Source of the demons? Last but not least, where's Chichiri, Tasuki, Ren and Miiru?