Guess what? Today Chapter Forty-One is being updated early. Know why? It's Fushigi Yuugi Byakko Bouken's ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! –Celebrates-
Chapter Forty-One
"Oh, Priestess!" a husky, low but still feminine voice said as her feet loudly trampled across the bridge to the palace in Daini Toshi. She was leaning forward and dashing at a formidable speed, arm tugging at her side while the other gripping tightly to a large, heavy iron axe that laid on her back. Her breathing was very heavy, but even the extra weight didn't faze her.
As she stepped off the bridge she nearly slid on the muddy ground before the tall palace. Parts of broken wood were spread all over a soggy, wet earth. There were many men, those who looked like servants picking them up and putting them in large piles, but it still looked a mess.
The only female he saw along with them was a beauty with wavy, violet hair so long it nearly reached her knees and crimson, sharp eyes. Unlike the others who were dressed in simple white robes she was wearing a dark satin red blouse and chinos lined with gold. Danko's face turned a slight red when she saw her. 'She's so cute!'
Nashie glanced up from picking up the wood with the servants to see a young blonde lady with dark skin and a thin anatomy staring at her with admiration in her eyes. She dropped with she was carrying and approached her, her arms crossed and leaning particularly on one leg when she was before the girl.
"Are you Princess Nashie?" Danko asked, and the royal nodded. Danko grinned. "I heard you were pretty, but I never imagined you were so drop-dead gorgeous!"
"Then you have a bad imagination," Nashie retorted, bringing a frown to the younger of the two. "What is your name, and why are you here?"
'Right to the point,' Danko thought, still impressed. The woman before her seemed just as strong minded as herself, which was nice, but in her heart she still adored the shy personality of Suzuno. "The Priestess left to go here from my home; I was hoping that she'd still be here. I need to speak with her about something important."
There was a silence between them as the two exchanged stares, Danko waiting for a reply from the woman before her. Sighing, Nashie turned around and waved a hand, walking back to the wood piles. "She left hours ago. Too bad."
"What!" she gritted her teeth and kicked the ground, almost causing her to slip again. She dropped the axe on her back and it felt to the ground with a 'splish!',dirtyingher legs with mud from the soil. She wasn't angry with the Princess for being so rude about her question, but rather she was angry with herself. She traveled far, and she just couldn't make it in time. 'I finally remembered who Rua is and I'm too late.'
"They went to Hashi," Nashie continued as she began to pick up wood again. She spoke while she worked. "They met Toroki of the Byakko Seven and he wanted to go to his home in Kutou. He's the missing nephew of Commander Shuri."
"Commander Shuri's nephew is Toroki?" Danko said more to herself, her eyes growing large. A Kutou-born child becoming a Warrior for Byakko . . . It was amazing! Another thought struck her as she remembered why they came. "Then they have met Rua!"
"Rua?" Nashie inquired. "Is that his real name?"
"Yeah . . ." Danko clenched her fists as she spoke more, a heat of anger rising in her when she thought about what she was saying. "If Rua is Toroki . . . this is bad news. They could be falling into a trap! Rua is causing all of those attacks on everyone. I'm sure of it."
Without another word Danko twisted her body around to pick up her giant axe, turning toward the bridge again to run in the direction of Hashi. She had to get there, no matter what. The fact that Rua was Toroki was shocking enough, but surely they'll come into trouble if he tries to attack them. He'll catch them when they're off guard. 'I can't let that happen to Suzuno!'
"Wait a moment!" Danko stopped as she heard the Princess shout and looked over her shoulder, still preparing to run. "If you're going to go after them, I want you to do something for me."
"I can't believe it . . ." The girl with glasses said as she flipped through the book. She, along with the other three girls that attended Jounan with Suzuno, Puriti and Kumoi were crouched in a small corner in the school bathroom, all surrounding The Universe of the Four Gods.
"Don't open it!" A blonde haired girl said, jerking the book out of her friends' hands and snapping it shut. She held up a finger as if to scold her. "You know what happened to Kumoi and Puriti; do you want to get sucked up in there too!"
"She right," the third girl, one with short, red hair and dotted freckles on her face said. She nodded and glanced at the cover of the book. "We have to be careful no matter what, girls. That thing is dangerous, no matter how you put it."
The fourth girl, one with very curly, raven black hair and pale glowing skin shook her head. She pouted. "I don't think anyone is in the book. That's stupid. Someone must have used a smoke bomb, or something weird like that!"
"Yeah, right!" The other three girls retorted, making the black haired her lean back at the loud noise. She put an index finger to her mouth, as if to say 'Shhh!'. The blonde was the only one who spoke after that, but in more of a whisper so as not to get caught by wandering teachers. "There's no question about it: those two are in the book."
"Well, there's only one way to find out." The girl with glasses took back the book in her arms, laying it on her lap. She held it with both of her hands, then she glanced up at everyone else as if waiting for their approval. When no one protested as her fingers slipped under the cover, she gulped and opened the book. She flipped to the middle and her wide became wide. "Whoa . . .!"
"What is it?" the other three asked, leaning in. They all gasped as they saw words appear right before them, telling a story currently as if someone were writing them down in that very book at that very moment. They watched as the girl who held it read.
" . . . The Priestess frowned as Toroki clung to her clothes, giving her the same puppy dog face she just couldn't resist. With some unwillingness to her voice she asked Lanva to give him the bread the young boy wanted, at which he replied with a pout of his own, 'Suzuno! He didn't pay for it! Why should I give it to him?'"
"Suzuno!" the blonde said, surprise in her tone. "That's the girl Kumoi hates, right? That one we poured milk all over?"
"I still say that was a mean trick," the red haired girl muttered, crossing her arms. The blonde stuck out her tongue in retaliation. She did the same.
"So . . ." the young lady closed the book, pushing her glasses higher up the bridge of her nose. "We definitely know that if Suzuno can be in the book and it's writing all by itself that this thing has magical powers. So more than likely Kumoi and Puriti are in the book too."
"What should we do?" the black haired girl asked. Everyone shrugged and there was a pause of thought, then she smiled as something came to mind. "I've got it! Remember that gorgeous guy in the black car that was with Puriti? You know, the car she got out of this morning when we were waiting for her?"
"Oh yeah!" The red haired girl said. There was a pause. "What about it?"
"Well, maybe he might know something. We can all call our moms and say we'll be home late or something, then we can wait for that guys' car to come up."
"I sure hope that's not Puriti's dad or something," the girl with glasses muttered. She blushed and giggled, putting her hands to her cheeks as if swooning. "He was dreamy!"
"All agreed?" the black haired girl said, holding out her hand in the center. The other three clapped their hands on top as well, stacking into a sort of tower. Their faces grew cutely determined as they nodded and readied for their plan. "All together now!"
"Kuromero!" the black haired girl shouted.
"Niiro!" said the blonde.
"Kiiro!" the red haired lass called.
"Aoi!" the girl with glasses finally said.
Together they smirked as their confidence built. "Let's start!"
Takao stepped out of his black car, looking around and noticing that his was only one of few cars in the parking lot. He was glad that he didn't have to run into a funeral that day, or at least not too many people weeping. It always made himself feel a little weak when he saw such things.
He was in an open ground cemetery, a large, wide, grass and flower-filled field with tombstones scattered about in a rowed manner. There was a sidewalk to step on so as not to make a messy dirt path and a thin, silver gate surrounded the graveyard.
He walked in and past several rows, glancing down at the names he came across every once in a while. He slowed his rather quick and anxious stride when one grave in particular caught his eyes, turned, and continued to pace down that row. He stopped when he met two particular stones right next to each other.
"Takiko . . ." he said in a small voice, reading the words out loud to himself. He glanced at the next one. "Einosuke Okuda . . ."
As he bent down on his knees he reached out a hand and ran his fingers through the young girls' name, tracing the cold, marble letters. He felt a pressure rise in his stomach and he narrowed his eyes, a little wetness rushing to them. He looked down at the sidewalk he was staring down, wiping his face with his other hand and trying to stop himself from shaking. 'Please . . . don't let Suzuno and I turn out like this . . . I'm so sorry, Takiko . . .'
X x x x x
So yes, I'm very excited because I've never kept so strongly attatched to a story. I feel it's barely begun, and yet I've written over 200 pages, 41 chapters within a year. I feel extremely proud and dedicated! And most of all, I want to thank my reviewers throughout this entire thing:
Big mega-hugs to everyone- Thank you so muuuuuuuch! You're all what keep me going!
Kaeru Soyokaze- XD I'm glad you think so! I'm going to have so much fun with the relationship between Lanva and Toroki, which is new because I've never had seriously conflicting characters since Subaru and Lanva before they went all lovey-dovey. :D Yeay!
Queen of the Paperclips- lol, yes! I can't wait to reveal it either, but I've gotta say it's a long, long ways off. If you thought it took forever to reveal the fourth warriors then . . . goodness, it'll probably be over a full year again before he gets revealed. Or maybe not. XD lol! I do have a special scene prepared for it though- I'm excited too:D
RabidMantisGirl- O.o Oh goodness. Toroki reminds you of this girl at your school? Lol! That's too funny! I hope you'll grow to like him as the story progresses, though you never know. Toroki is one of my current favorite characters, though I love Amefuri to bits and pieces. XD It's funny how I'm forty-one chapters into this and I still feel I haven't pinned down his personality! I guess that's why he's so dynamic. But then again, everyone loves him! So it's fun! –Dances- XD
Suzuno Oosugi- Ack! XD It's gonna be a while before Puriti and Kumoi come into the story again, but I do know when they're going to be going on. And I hope to be able to put more into both Takao and Suzuno's past in the story, because it's supposed to really reflect why the both are the way they are today. Yes! I'll try my hardest not to make it too far away, though I can't make any promises.
LiL-pUnK-pNaY27- Yup, updating right now! I'm very happy you like this story. :D Is there anything in particular you like about it?