1Fushigi Yuugi: The Legend of Golden Ky-Lin

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Iwaki- Japan, Present

The dying sun shone its feeble rays on a lone figure sitting in a room. A boy was hurrying to finish his homework, his books, notebooks, and pens all scattered messily over his desk. The stereo blared loudly in the background, belting out some popular American music. While nodding his head absentmindedly to "Beverly Hills" by a group called Weezer, he heard a shout from outside in the hallway. The boy turned off his music and stuck his head out his door.

"Did someone call me?" He muttered to himself and suddenly yelled in surprise when something cold and sticky struck his forehead. "Why, you–" "Gotcha!" A little boy nearly doubled over in peals of laughter and then scampered away quickly. The patter-patter of small feet could be heard moving down the stairs. Glaring after his little brother, Kyuusei felt his forehead and groaned in disgust when he discovered that he had a blob of green Silly Putty stuck to his forehead. Grumbling furiously, he rushed to his bathroom to wash the mess off his face.

When he arrived downstairs to tell his mother about the prank Ikkoku played on him, he found his mother in the kitchen, preparing dinner. He glanced toward the dining room and he noticed two extra settings. His stomach tightened as he vaguely realized who might be arriving soon. Swallowing his nervousness, he innocently asked, "Mom, do we have someone coming over for dinner?"

"Oh, it's you, Kyuusei! I was just about to call you down," Yasashii smiled as she looked at her son, tucking her hair behind her ears. Kyuusei studied his mother. Even though he thought his mother was already quite pretty with a willowy figure, long ebony hair, and almond-shaped eyes, there was something more to her this evening. He noticed that her face was glowing with excitement. A smile constantly lingered on her lips. Oh Gods, she was even wearing some make-up. Kyuusei now knew who was coming. He was coming.

He poked at his food while glaring at the man seated in front of him, Ogawa Takahashi, talking animatedly to Yasashii about one of his patients. It has been two years since his mother and Mr. Takahashi started, er, seeing each other. Kyu vaguely remembered his mother saying awhile ago that they were fellow colleagues while in college and medical school. He really didn't care whatever Mr. Takahashi was. He just wished his mom wouldn't be so smitten with him.

Mr. Takahashi was currently living in Tokyo with his little daughter, Hisou. Kyuusei glanced at the girl sitting next to his brother. He saw that she was calmly eating her dinner while his brother –he noticed with growing embarrassment– was wolfing down alarmingly large chunks of food. That kid had an unbelievable appetite. Hisou noticed his staring and looked up, startled. Kyuusei grinned and she smiled back. As much as Kyuusei disliked Mr. Takahashi, he did like Hisou. While Ikokku was loud and mischievous, Hisou was quiet and well-behaved. Ikokku liked her too, even though he teased her whenever she came visiting with her father.

Kyuusei was abruptly shaken from his thoughts by a loud laughter. His brother was entertaining Mr. Takahashi and mother with one of his ridiculous jokes. "Ah ha ha! Sea cucumber! Anemones Ah hah..." Mr. Takahashi chuckled, petting Ikokku gently on the head. Kyuusei coughed. Mr. Takahashi seldom came to eat; he instead took Kyu's mother out on dates to fantastic, expensive places. Kyuusei tried to be polite to him, but it was darn near impossible. Seeing Mr. Takahashi at ease did no good to his fraying nerves. It was too painful. One more hour and he would not bear it. There must be a reason why he's here today, and I don't like it at all.

Yasashii was smiling along with Ogawa at Ikkoku's jokes when she noticed her elder son's expression. He looked a little uncomfortable, she could tell. He was obviously irritated at seeing Mr. Takahashi here, and Yasashii had a good reason why. She knew she ignored Kyuusei's discomfort all along, hoping that it would disappear with time. Now she knew that it never did, and probably never will. Once or twice, Kyuusei shot scathing looks at the man seated in front of him. She cringed with growing distress and laughed perhaps too loudly. I hope tonight's dinner isn't a bad idea. She was no longer sure about going through with the plan. But Ogawa...she must go on. What can I do to make Kyuusei like Mr. Takahashi?

Ogawa felt a gentle nudge. Reaching to the left under the pretense of grabbing the soy sauce bottle, he glanced at Yasashii, seeing her nod slightly. He understood. Yasashii was doing a brave thing tonight, for sure. He knew that he probably didn't have the guts to do what she was about to do...

Hisou heard a dry cough. Swinging her long curtain of dark-brown hair back, she looked up. She noticed Ms. Satou's pale visage right away. She looked nervous, as if words were waiting to struggle free out of her mouth. I hope it was okay for me and Daddy to come over for dinner today. I know it's unusual, we rarely visit the Satous. Just as she was about to ask Ms. Satou if everything was alright, Ms. Satou found the strength to speak.

"Kyuusei, Iko-kun, you must be wondering why Mr. Takahashi joined us for dinner tonight. And I won't keep you curious any longer...You see, Mother has been very sad and lonely since, well you know...but the point is, I think it's time to move on... I know your father would want me to... I've been spending a lot of time with Mr. Takahashi here...and well, we decided it'd be wonderful if we marry. That way, you can have a new father and Hisou has a new mother."

Silence.

Kyuusei sputtered and tried to speak, "I cannot believe you! What about–!" But his angry words were drowned out by Ikkoku's happy yelp, "Yay, I like Mr. Takahashi! So are we going to live together here? Is Hisou gonna come to school with me? Are we having a fancy party?" "Well, actually, Mr. Takahashi will be helping us move to Tokyo to live with him and Hisou. And I don't think we'll be having a big rendezvous, a small ceremony perhaps..." Mrs. Satou spoke slowly. Kyuusei groaned. "Mom, please tell me we're not leaving Iwaki! This is my home," he argued with her. "Kyu, please! You'll love Tokyo. It's a good place for you. You'll easily make friends, the schools are great, and oh, please Kyuusei, you'd need this as much as I do!" His mother pleaded, reaching out to grasp his hand. Kyuusei was about to make up some spiteful remark, but the sorrow in his mother's eye made him falter. He just couldn't do it. His eyes blurring, he stood up and asked to be excused and ran to his room. Slowly closing the door and locking it, he sat on his bed. Could he live in Tokyo? What did a small town-boy knew anything about big metropolises? Why was he letting Mr. Takahashi win his mother?

The encroaching night wrapped the boy in gloom.