Title: Historic Travels

Author: Cheza-chan

Rating: PG-13

Summary: As most Priestesses who travel into the Shi Jin Tenchi Sho, Amai Ritsuko has a similar set of troubling issues and a few new ones of her own. Will her upbeat attitude give her the strength she needs to succeed in her perilous journey? And can she tame the hearts of the Seiryuu Shichiseishi?

Disclaimer: I would never lay claim to any of Yuu Watase-san's work, but if I could… I'd let Miaka and Tamahome die a thousand times over and don't bring them back alive in the end. (laughs evilly)

A/N: No reviews first chapter? Not surprised, but I'm not really bothered. Like I said, Fushigi Yuugi is like… a lost art, a lost language. This time, I can honestly say, I'm doing this for myself. I know at least… twenty people have glanced at the first chapter—the hits section of the Stats page told me so. Knowing that, makes me happy. (giant smile)

Chapter One – New World

"Descend to us now from heaven!"

Ritsuko's hazel eyes flew open and she gave a shrill scream as she fell from her perch. She rubbed her lower back, rolling over, and dragged herself to her feet. Ritsuko snatched up her empty food tray and hobbled into the kitchen then upstairs. School beckoned. She grabbed her jacket and the book from the backseat, jogged out of the parking lot, and ran into the building, ready to tackle the world. "Shi-nn-ji-kun!"

The sandy-haired figure froze in the middle of the crowded hallway, a shiver running up and down his spine. He turned stiffly and felt his face grow hot with every bounce of his running PE teacher's chest. Everyone's attention was captured. Ritsuko wrapped an arm around the boy and Mayo, who was, coincidentally, walking with him.

The girl's eyes widened and she snatched the book from Ritsuko's hand. She ignored the woman's protesting yells and ran down the hall. A sharp right was made and, as forbidden as it was, a student entered the teacher's lounge. "Coach!"

Keisuke choked on his coffee and sprang to his feet at the sight of what his student held. He smiled nervously at his fellow teachers occupying the room and hurried to Mayo, grabbing her by the shoulder and leading her out. He closed the door behind them both. "Where—"

"I thought it disappeared," Mayo hissed, holding the Shi Jin Tenchi Sho at arms' length.

"Where—"

"What kind of book is this?"

"Where… Where did you get it?" Keisuke finally forced out.

They fell silent as a few students shot them questioning glances as they walked by and Mayo squeezed her eyes shut as she answered softly. "Amai-sensei."

"Ritsuko?" Keisuke shouted, back pedaling several feet. 'That means…' His cheeks colored deeply and he shook his head.

"Somebody called me?" Ritsuko popped up between them, a smile on her face. She squinted at the book Mayo held close and laughed, "That was yours? I found it by my car yesterday afternoon. Hold onto it tightly." She squeezed Keisuke's shoulder and disappeared by him into the teacher's lounge.

"We should burn it," Mayo rushed out.

"Worth a try."

The saying "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again" didn't apply in this case. The book was lost before they left the school and wound up with Ritsuko as she prepared for her favorite class. She was sitting atop the diving board as students began filing into the indoor pool. She waved, her finger between the cover and the first page of the book. "We're practicing our high dives today," Ritsuko shouted down. "But first, warm-up laps!"

She turned the page and glanced at the Chinese characters written on the leaf. "Huh. Mayo's not the only one who can read this…" Her hazel eyes widened at the small light growing outward from the spine of the book and she dropped it onto the wooden plank.

"Sensei?"

"Amai-sensei!"

'Ritsuko-san…' Yamada scrambled up the ladder but the diving board was empty, save for the lone red cover book sitting at its edge. He sat, straddling the board, and scooted out to the object.

"Go get someone!"

"Yuki-sensei. Find him."

He ignored the voices and lightly touched the book. Yamada slid the book close and turned toward the first page.

Ritsuko bit down on the sleeve of her jacket, silencing her loud whimpering, as she hid deep in the darkest corner of the alley she'd suddenly appeared in. She was being chased and had finally gotten away from the strangely dressed men. Her chest rose and fell wildly with every frightened breath she took. 'Where's the pool? Where the hell am I? What the hell happened?' Terrified, Ritsuko ran from behind the wall of an ancient Chinese building and stumbled along the back dirt road. "Shinji-kun… Keisuke-kun!"

With the sun setting, she lost her footing and cried out as she fell. "Mayo-chan…" She gasped at the body weight trapping her on the ground and strained her head to see. The two men leered down at her and she felt the hands roaming over her half-naked frame. Adorned only in the school's blue one-piece bathing suit and its blue and white jacket, the woman struggled, unable to find her voice to scream.

"Ritsu-chan, I'm sorry."

Her eyes widened and Ritsuko no longer felt the hands; the scenery, even, had changed.

A shadowed figure stood before her, his features unrecognizable. "I love you, but… it's not going to work out. We had a few good years…"

She was given a second chance and she wouldn't cry this time. "Bastard," Ritsuko snarled. The figure in the darkness raised his head in time to be elbowed in the face but it was Ritsuko's attacker who yelled, grabbing his bleeding nose. The second man received his hit in the stomach.

Ritsuko scrambled to her feet, parts of her bathing suit torn, and glared at them both. "Sagara took advantage of me once…" She raised her fisted hands offensively and fell into a fighting stance. "Hell if I'm going to let that happen again."

"Crazy bitch!"

"Say that again!" Ritsuko yelled, charing forward. She drew her right arm back and buried it deep into the first man's gut. She spun as he fell and kneed the second in the groin; he was instantly downed. Not waiting for a rematch, she took off. The young woman squeezed her way through two walls that were a tight fit and burst out the other side into a large crowd. Ritsuko gaped at the kimono-clad figures, suddenly feeling naked. "I'm not in Tokyo… anymore!"

A hand snagged her wrist and began pulling, but this time, a woman was the culprit. Her lengthy purple hair whipped around her as she continued leading Ritsuko away from the stares and whispers. "Get on," she ordered as a horse-drawn cart passed them. Ritsuko jumped into the soft straw and glanced at the woman beside her. "Haku Kaen," she said, introducing herself. "We'll ride as close as possible to my place. I'll get you a change of clothes."

"Thanks," Ritsuko mumbled, poking at the holes in her suit. She raised her dirt-stained face, a weak smile tugging at her lips. "Where am I?"

Keisuke sat with Mayo and Yamada—the boy refused to let go of the book—in the empty gymnasium bleachers. "That's bull," the boy whispered, her fingers tightening around the old book. "There's no way what you said is possible. How can she be in a book?"

"It's true," Mayo snapped, glaring at his bowed head. "There have been so many before her."

"I don't think the legend will ever end," the basketball coach sighed as he closed his eyes. "But Amai's twenty… and for her to be taken, she must still be a…" He glanced at the students through one eye. It wasn't his place to say.

"A virgin?" Yamada asked, staring at the man from beneath his bangs.

"Yeah!" Keisuke laughed loudly, his voice echoing.

"What was she wearing before she vanished?" the girl suddenly asked. She'd been contemplating it for a while and was almost to the floor after running down the steps.

"The school bathing suit and jacket," Yamada deadpanned.

Keisuke eyes the boy and sighed, leaning back so his back was against the benches behind him. Student-teacher relationships were prohibited. "Yamada-kun, what you feel for Amai-sensei—"

"I respect sensei," Yamada said, feigning a smile. "She's an amazing person and I admire her courage and strength."

"I can agree with you there," Keisuke chuckled. Amai Ritsuko was an original, never to be duplicated and never to be forgotten. The pair waited in silence for Mayo's return.

The ringing of the boy's cell phone broke the stillness. He reached for it with his free hand and raised it to his ear, speaking. "Moshi moshi. Ah. Onii-chan." His voice turned sullen. "I'm not sure when I'm coming home. The swim team… They… Un, okay. Ja ne." He hung up just as Mayo came back, preventing Keisuke from subtly prying into the business of the call.

'Why was today's generation filled with so much angst?' He'd thought Shinji Yamada lived in a regular household where siblings looked out for each other—like himself and Miaka—but the older brother was apparently an alpha dog that never backed down. He shifted his gaze to the girl running up the bleachers to them.

Mayo was wearing the outfit Yamada had described and now held out her hand for the book. Reluctantly, he handed it over. She spread the book open in her lap and spoke as she concentrated hard.

§§§

—sei!

Ritsuko froze, glancing around. Her arms were held high in the removal of the jacket.

Sensei! Can you hear me?

"Mayo-chan?" she said brokenly, looking around. Kaen had left her the room so she could change out of her clothes. New ones lay on the lavishly decorated bed and Ritsuko chose not to use the room divider to change behind.

Sensei, I can barely hear you. Are you still wearing your swimsuit?

"I was changing. This lady found me and brought me somewhere… after I almost got raped."

Raped?

Ritsuko-sensei! A new voice.

"Shinji-kun." Ritsuko dropped her arms and fell onto the bed, bouncing. "Don't worry about it. I fought them off. Where are you guys anyway?" She twirled a finger in her hair, relaxing as though really on the phone.

It's more like… where you are. Keisuke now spoke. You are— promise not to freak out but do you remember the book you thought belonged to Sakaki? Well, you're in it. He laughed.

Ritsuko laughed also then shot to her feet. "What the hell are you talking about?" she shouted. "How can a person be transported into a book? I probably fell into the pool and drowned. Why didn't anyone save me?"

Calm down, sensei, Mayo said. It happened to me also. This is the "way" I talked about a few days ago.

"Well—" Ritsuko bit her tongue, halting her speech, and smiled sheepishly at the woman peeking into the room.

"Ritsuko-sama, you haven't changed." Kaen closed the door behind her and walked to the other woman. The protests meant little to her and she tugged off the strange garments. The link was cut when the bathing suit fell to the floor. Ritsuko scooped it up before Kaen could and set it aside. "The owner wishes to see you," Kaen said as she stepped back to inspect her work. She smiled.

"What about you?" Ritsuko asked hesitantly.

"I have business to attend to," Kaen stated. She opened the door and pointed to the left. "Straight down and make another left down the hall there. Introduce yourself outside the door and wait."

"O…okay." Ritsuko unconsciously fingered the satin-like material of the intricately designed dress she wore. 'Where… The book?' She laughed again, shaking her head, and followed the young woman's directions. She was bid to enter moments after stating her name and her eyes widened at the woman lounging around and atop of the smirking man on the futon.

"Ritsuko, you said?" he drawled, sitting up. His kimono slid down his shoulder, exposing his chest and Ritsuko nodded vehemently. "If Kaen recommends you… You must be good."

"Good at…?"

"Pleasuring a man," he laughed, wrapping an arm around the woman nearest him. "She said they were fighting over you in the streets. And I thought, why not make them pay to do it?"

Ritsuko frowned. "Sorry, but I'm not interested in that kind of work." She gave a quick bow then turned and walked out. 'Thank you for the clothes…' Ritsuko returned to the room where her suit and jacket were. 'But the hospitality's not so great. Bye, Kaen-san.' And walked out of the dimly lit brothel into the sunlight. "Even if I am in a book, I'll find my own way." And with that, she set off into the unknown world.