The School of Rock

in

Fushigi Yuugi.

'Yo, Katie!' The dark haired girl ran to catch up with her friend, stopping with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. 'I need to go to the library... wanna come?'

Katie put her hands on her hips, her expression of disbelief saying it all. '"Library"? Why would I want to go to the library?'

'I-'

'No, Summer, please enlighten me,' Katie continued sarcastically. 'Why the hell would I want to go to a library?' She stopped when she saw Summer watching her with amusement.

'That's funny, I thought sarcasm was my thing,' the younger girl said quietly, standing up and folding her arms. 'Apparently not.'

'Look, quit trying to be clever and just tell me why you think I'd wanna go to the library,' Katie snapped, losing patience. Summer raised her eyebrows.

'Oh, I don't know. Porn? No-' she said quickly, catching sight of the look on the older girl's face, 'not porn, I'm kidding. It's a joke - hey, remember those things? Only you haven't made one in so long-'

'Shut up, Tink.'

'Fine,' Summer muttered. 'There's cartoons. And, um... other stuff. And I need to study. And I hate studying on my own. I mean, how are we going to get into Jonan High School if we don't revise?'

'I'm not planning on going to Jonan,' Katie answered casually. 'That's where all the smart kids go. I'm going to Yotsubadai High School instead.'

'What?' Summer looked shocked and Katie laughed. 'No, Katie, no, you're not! You're coming to Jonan with me! You are! You'll be wasted at Yotsubadai!'

'We both know I'm not clever enough to go to Jonan,' Katie began, but Summer cut her off.

'No, no, no! You are clever enough, you just don't work! If you get your act together and actually do your work - look, I know you can get in to Jonan. Seriously. All you have to do is come to the library with me. Easy!'

'I don't-'

'No buts!' Summer grabbed her friend's arm and dragged her off to the library. No matter what Katie said, there was no way Summer was going to try for Jonan on her own.

Summer and Katie were junior high school students who, like every other Japanese student, must pass a difficult test to enter the school of their choice. The better reputation the school has, the harder the exam would be. Jonan was the top school, and Yotsubadai one of the average ones. In some respects Summer and Katie had it easy, because they moved from America and so did not have to work as hard at learning English as others. On the other hand, Japanese was even harder.

They made their way to the library, Katie complaining all the way, and once they were inside Summer seated herself at the nearest table, chewing on her pencil and studying her books while Katie contented herself with a copy of Eerie Queerie. Predictably, her attention span soon ran short, and she was soon doing tricks with her pencil.

Of course, her attention span wavered yet again, and the pencil dropped to the floor. 'Dammit,' Katie hissed, crawling after it as it rolled through a door marked 'Do Not Enter', with 'Restricted Private Library' engraved in tiny letters on an equally tiny plaque high above it.

'Summer, after school classes will be starting soon!' Summer called, running after her friend but slowing to a stop as she entered the room. 'What's this?' An earthquake shook but it was only minor, and neither of the two girls noticed. A book fell to the floor and Katie opened it as Summer looked through the other books. 'Some of these are pretty rare...'

'Hey, look at this, Tink,' Katie called, getting the other girl's attention. '"The Universe of the Four Gods" - what the hell? It looks like a Japanese translation of a Chinese legend...'

Herein lies the tale of a young lady and her quest to gather the Seven Constellations of Suzaku together. And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the story's end, the spell contained within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the heroine and grant you your wish.

'So if you read it the wish comes true?' Summer asked in shock, eyes wide. Katie rolled her eyes, choosing to be the cynic for once.

'Don't tell me you believe this b-'

'Like whoa, sign me up!' Summer interrupted, not letting Katie finish. 'I mean, how awe-'

Another earthquake shook the room, and the two girls clutched hold of each other, sincerely terrified. They'd never had an earthquake before in England, and this was all entirely new to them. Finally it stopped and Summer opened her eyes, letting go of her friend.

'Katie, I think it's over,' she stated, leaning back, and Katie opened her eyes, too.

'I think - Summer ... where are we?' Summer narrowed her eyes, taking in the situation. She seemed to come to a decision and firmly hit Katie over the head.

'Does this hurt?'

Katie winced, rubbing her head. 'Of course it hurts!'

'Oh, good,' Summer replied casually. 'Then if we're in a dream, it's a dream that hurts.' Katie didn't reply and Summer turned around. 'Katie!' she screamed, seeing her friend roughly grabbed by some men.

'She's a jewel,' one of them winked. 'We'll make a killing off her!'

'Summer,' Katie growled. 'You could help.'

Summer smiled brightly. 'Oh, yeah! I mean, I know you can take care of yourself - jeez, you've proved it to me enough times - but I think you're a little tied up right now, literally!' She saw the expression on Katie's face and grinned. 'Sorry. You know I tend to ramble and, hey-' another thought occurred to her '- who are you guys?'

'We're slavers,' one of the traders stated, and Summer frowned.

'No one slaves my friends! Rawrr!' She threw herself at one of them, beating his chest with her fists, and Katie sighed, knowing that Summer wasn't taking this seriously. Suddenly Summer hit one of them with a good uppercut and Katie slipped and twisted her ankle. 'Go, Katie! Run!'

'I can't!' Katie yelled, one hand on her ankle, but Summer couldn't hear - she was too busy fighting for her life.

Suddenly a new voice shouted 'Stop it!' and a blond haired young man stood in front of them. He swiftly broke one of the traders' arms, and Summer smiled at him.

'Let's get out of here,' Katie insisted, but Summer was in a daydream.

The boy turned to them, noticing where Summer had been viciously scratched and hit. 'Are you all right?' he asked, concerned. 'You're bleeding.'

'That guy's got something on his forehead,' whispered Katie, and Summer nodded.

'Look,' said the guy briskly, 'let's skip the thanks - I'll take the money.'

'We don't have any money,' Summer pointed out.

'Yeah, we spent it all at the CD store,' Katie agreed, noticing the shocked look on the young man's face.

'What? You're broke? Don't you ladies know that money makes the world go round? I'm not giving out free rides here! Later!' The guy hurried off, and Summer and Katie exchanged puzzled looks.

'He's weird,' Summer said cheerfully, and Katie agreed. Then -

'Summer! Holy macaroni, it's another earthquake!'

And before the two girls knew it, they were back where they started.

To be continued...