Disclaimer- I don't own FY.
Chapter Nine- A Sign of Good Things to Come
Yui groaned softly as she woke. Her head was throbbing slightly as she slid out of the bed. Looking into the mirror, Yui wasn't too surprised to see that she didn't look like the most gorgeous person in the universe. Taking off her suit-jacket and brushing her hair back, Yui decided to visit the balconies. Stepping out of the room, she closed the door slowly to make no noise. As she walked, Yui noticed how the palace seemed to generate warmth. Even though it was night, the air was only a soft cool instead of the chilly air of Kutou that she was used to. Sighing, she hopped onto a railing and sat upon it to look at the view of the palace grounds. Suddenly, she felt someone behind her, and two hands rested over hers.
"Shh. Chill." Yui sighed at the voice. She then scowled.
"You scared the crap out of me, jerk!" He chuckled softly, allowing warm caresses of air to brush her cheeks. Yui then leaned back into his chest. "How long have I been sleeping this time?"
"Only a few hours."
"So now that they know why we're here, what do we do?" Nakago stared down at Yui for a second.
"I'm not sure." Yui sighed. "What we must do is still unclear. Whether we have to summon Seiryuu again has not been told."
"I don't know, Nakago. I'm starting to think that Taiitsukun knew all along that we will have summon Seiryuu." Nakago sighed.
"Are you sure that's what you want to do?"
"Kind of. It's just that how are we going to summon Seiryuu. Don't you need all the seishi or all the shinzahos?"
"Probably."
"Well, then we're kind of stuck cause frankly, one-you lost two of the shinzahos, and two- we don't even know where Miaka and my shinzahos are!"
"True, but I'm sure we can find Suzaku no Miko's shinzahos here."
"Okay, you might have a point there, but what about mine?"
"That's actually for you to figure out. It will take a lot of introspective thought."
"Well that sure takes the fun out of everything." Nakago laughed at the sarcasm in Yui's voice.
"You say that as if you wish not to think about yourself." Yui didn't say anything for a while causing the blonde to think that he might have said something to bring back bad memories. But before he could say anything, Yui spoke up.
"Well, let's just say that there are some things that I'd rather not relive."
"Is your past painful, Yui?" Yui wasn't surprised at the directness of his question. She expected it.
"In some ways, yes. I suppose I might as well tell you, but one thing. Don't get all piteous and sappy on me. 'K?" Nakago smiled softly.
"Go ahead." Yui sighed, and stared out at the stars. She traced over the constellations of Seiryuu before speaking.
"Contrary to popular belief, I haven't lived in Tokyo all my life. I used to live in Osaka before. It was a grand, yet traditional style house by a lake. It was my ojiisan's house. I lived there ever since I was born, really. However, my parents didn't live there. They weren't even my legal guardians. My ojiisan was the one who had custody over me. Since my parents were on the verge of getting a divorce, my ojiisan's deemed them unworthy and incompetent to take care of a child." Nakago raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Incompetent?" Yui laughed slightly.
"Yeah, I know. It sounds like you." He laughed slightly. "You know, I never noticed the absence of my parents. To most people this may sound weird, but I didn't know them, so I really didn't care about them. They didn't exist to me. Nothing really did expect my ojiisan. I remember I always had a governess taking care of me. She was like a full time babysitter, and also someone that could help me with my schoolwork. So frankly, I didn't need parents. I had the perfect life style." She paused then, taking in a deep breath before continuing. "And that's also where I met Miaka. Her family would come to Osaka ever summer, and they stayed in the house next ours. We became friends pretty easily. Then when I was eleven, I came home from school, like I did everyday. But it wasn't the same. It'd never be the same. The house was dead silent. My governess showed up then, and dragged me into the kitchen. She kept trying to tell me something, but she was hysterical. So I ran to my ojiisan's room to ask him." She bit her lip then. "That was the stupidest thing I've ever done. My ojiisan lay there, over his bed. There was blood everywhere. I really don't remember what happened. I just remember someone just dragging me out of the room by my arm." Nakago then rested his chin on her head, her head curving perfectly into his throat. "So then, I became an orphan. I was about to be sent to an orphanage, but somehow my parents got over their differences, and resaid their vows just so they could take custody of me. And that moved me to Tokyo." Nakago pressed his cheek against her temple in a comforting notion.
"But now everything's okay?" Yui sighed and curled deeper into his arms, drawing warmth from his body.
"Well, until the whole Kutou incident. Then, I really didn't want to stay in Tokyo. You understand what I mean by that right?"
"Yes."
"Well, you see. I told everyone that I was going to Osaka for the summer, and if I wasn't back by the time school starts, they'd know my answer."
"What happened?"
"I couldn't take it. The pain of being in Osaka was too much. It was just horrible. The breakdown I suffered put me in the hospital due to exhaustion, overstressed, fever, hunger, everything. So I kind of got forced back to Tokyo." Nakago just sighed into her hair, his presence comforting enough. "But frankly, it was better for me to be in Tokyo. I was able to really just get over everything by throwing myself into everything. I started dancing again." Nakago raised an eyebrow.
"You dance?"
"Yup. I've been dancing for now about 15 years. Plus, I joined track and the swim team."
"Athletic. That's good." Yui scoffed.
"Yeah for running away from palace guards?" Nakago chuckled. "But anyway, I think after everything, it wasn't too bad was it?" Nakago smiled.
"No." Yui smiled and leaned into him, pulling her knees into her chest. It felt so good to just talk, and not have anyone criticize her or say that it wasn't her fault.
"So what about you? Most Japanese people don't have naturally blonde hair."
"Looks who's talking." Yui then blushed slightly.
"Oh, heh. I kind of forgot about that." Nakago just smiled.
"Well to tell the truth, I'm from Paris."
"Viva la France, yeh?"
"Yeah. I'm not exactly fond of speaking French, such a hard language. But anyway, I lived in the darker part of Paris with my mother and father. I've always been an only child, don't know why really. So, my mother worked as a chef/waitress at a local cafe. And my dad... Frankly, I really didn't know. Well, everything was great, you know. It was like the perfect family home. Not too many fights or anything, but it's wasn't like a Barbie doll atmosphere. It was nice."
"Sounds like your childhood was pretty happy."
"Yeah. Well, as they say 'enjoy it while you can'. And I really hope I did. When I was 11, my mother fell sick, and soon died of some hereditary disease, leaving my father and I. My father after that started drinking a lot. He became a full-blown alcoholic. It was disgusting. And then, he became abusive. Physically. He'd use me as an outlet for anger, pain, whatever. Sometimes he'd just beat me for the hell of it." Yui's eyes widened and her grip on Nakago's hands became tighter. "Frankly, I couldn't go to school like that, so one of my neighbors, Cheri I think her name was, would help me cover up the bruises. I don't know how she knew, but it was a great help, because, frankly, I'm not to keen on buying make-up. So I got used to it over the years, but then one day, I don't know what happened. I was about 15 at the time. I'm not sure if something happened or I did anything, but he just started going crazy on me. I barely remember it. All I remember was lying in the street, and I could hear the sound of cop cars. I woke up a week later in the hospital. I then found out that my father wasn't even my biological father. I was the son of Tsukiniyo Akira, and as soon as I was discharged, I was thrown on a plane to Japan." Yui didn't say anything. She tried to stare up at the man, but she couldn't read his expression. "Due to my injuries, I spent about my first few weeks in Japan at home. But that was good. It allowed me to work on my Japanese. I guess I could adjust since my name was Japanese, and my mother had taught me some of the language. But I really had to work hard on getting rid of my accent." Nakago then noticed that the blonde was frowning. He softly nudged her head with his chin. "You shouldn't frown. You look much cuter when you're smiling." Yui glared at him, but he could see the tint in her cheeks and the glow in her eyes. "Anyway, that's right about when I started receiving my memories. And the worst part about it was that it was right around high school entrance exams."
"Ouch," Yui replied, sympathetically.
"Yeah. Then, by some weird miracle, I got into Jonan." Yui stared.
"You went to Jonan?" He nodded. "Wow." Yui then closed her eyes, and just allowed the warmth of his body, and the cool breeze to lull her to sleep. She then cracked open one eye. "You shouldn't stand in the shadows, Boushin-san." Nakago raised an eyebrow as the young emperor blushed slightly, and joined them at the balcony edge.
"Good evening Heika-sama." Boushin nodded his head to the blonde's greeting.
"Shouldn't we be saying night instead of evening?" Nakago smiled slightly.
"So what brings you away from your chambers, Boushin-san?" The young brunette man smiled softly.
"I just wanted to get away from all the advisors, and things. It seems as if all they want for me to do is get married." Yui and Nakago nodded their heads in comprehension.
"May I ask you age?" Nakago questioned.
"Of course. I am 23 years of age. May I ask yours?" he questioned the blonde man.
"I am 25. Not too much older than yourself." Boushin nodded.
"Wow. I feel small. I'm only 18." Yui sniffled, teasing the two men. Nakago glared, pinching her side sharply, causing her to yelp. "That hurt!" She rubbed her side, her lips in a full-blown pout. Both men chuckled softly at the girl's antics.
"So what really going on in our worlds?" Yui stared out.
"We're not too sure, Boushin-san. All we can tell now is that Taiitsukun wants us to summon Seiryuu. And for that, we may require your assistance." Boushin nodded. "But we can leave all that stuff for tomorrow morning." Boushin smiled at the blonde as she yawned slightly. Her blue orbs closed slightly, serenity ever present on her face. Boushin sighed. She was much different that the stories he had heard. Maybe something had changed her from how the people their world remembered her. The blonde man then easily picked her up, cradling her into his arms, against his chest. She didn't open her eyes or even struggle against him. A soft protest was easily muffled in her throat, as sleep began to over take her small body. Nakago sighed. She was way too irresponsible. He then looked up at the emperor.
"I bid you good night, Heika-sama." The young man nodded, allowing Nakago to walk away. Nakago relaxed a bit as he walked into the girl's room. He easily set her down on the bed, which caused another protest, but he ignored it. He then pulled the covers over her body, allowing her to sink into the warmth of bed, falling an even deeper sleep. He then walked in his own room, and finally decided to sleep.
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"Wow, I didn't Yui's past was so bad," Taka remarked softly. Miaka had been quiet the whole time, not saying a single word.
"But what about Nakago?" No one said a word.
"I guess he's seen his share of bad things as well," Miaka finally managed to say.
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"Hey!" The brunette woman looked up to see her friends staring at her expectantly.
"Sorry. I guess I must've spaced out." Ken narrowed his eyes slightly.
"What did you feel?" The girl's eyes widened. "Save it. I know for a fact that you're the most sensitive to others out of all of us. What did you feel?" She looked down, twisting her hands into her lap.
"Sadness. Pain. Loneliness. It felt horrid. I just wanted to stop the pain, in any way I could." A warm, calloused hand warm around hers, warming her flesh. She looked up into amber pools, finding strength in them. "I want to help this person," she whispered softly.
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Nakago frowned slightly as he felt light hit his closed eyes. It was bright. Too bright. Sighing, he opened his eyes to see a white lotus flower falling towards of him. He got up, the blanket falling off of his shoulders, as the flower floated into his palm. He stared at it. For some reason, the small lotus seemed to comfort him. He knew it was a sign of good things to come.
(A/N): Okay, now this has got to be the weirdest and most disturbing chapter I've written so far. --;; But anyway, the past thing wasn't to get pity, but to create a sense of compassion and understanding between the two. Plus, the whole flower popped out of nowhere. But I hope you like it!! Also, the thing about speaking French is just a line in the story!!! It has no other meaning to it!!! So leave one!!
To Ryven 64 -- Well, well. Nice to see some appreciation. Especially after the fact that everyone just missed chapter six........ -.- Anyway, yes. Fun chapter, nay? Glad you liked!
Leave one please!
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