The women began screaming, running in every direction. Kyoko ran as well, trying to get out of the way of the falling debris. In the chaos, she thought she heard someone call her name. Then she stopped dead.
A huge piece of rubble was hurtling towards Midori.
The concubine's eyes were wide in terror, staring at the bolder as it rushed to her. She was rooted to the spot, unable to budge as her certain death shot towards her.
Kyoko didn't think, she just reacted. She bent down, then pushed, hard, from where she stood, using pulse magic through her feet to propel herself forward. She felt a jolt of pain but ignored it, her eyes concentrated on Midori.
Kyoko collided with the women, wrapping her arms around her as the momentum from her push sent them flying forward. The stone crashed into the ground right where they were standing just moments before.
They skidded across the ground, Kyoko's shoulder digging into dirt.
"Are you alright?" gasped Kyoko, disentangling herself from Midori. The girl didn't answer. Her face was completely white, her mouth opening and closing silently. Kyoko placed a hand against her face. It felt cold. She was going into shock.
"Midori!"
Her name jerked the girl form her daze, and she stared up at Kyoko as if just seeing her for the first time.
"What." Midori said, disoriented. "What just happened?"
"I pushed us out of the way." said Kyoko, forcing her voice to be calm, even if she felt anything but that. Her heart was hammering hard against her chest. "You're going into shock. But you're going to be fine. Just don't get up yet and let me know if anything hurts."
The women only blinked, but Kyoko took that as a good sign.
"Kyoko!"
Hikaru run over, skidding to a halt and quickly kneeling down. He dropped his spear, taking her by the shoulders. She flinched, only now noticing the scrapes she'd gotten skidding on the rocky ground. His hands were trembling, eyes scanning her for injury.
"You shot away from me so quickly. What happened? Are you hurt?"
"I'm f-fine." said Kyoko. Then another voice a called towards them
"Midori!"
A women wearing a blue necklace ran over to where they were. She collapsed beside Midori, tears streaming down her face.
"She's not hurt." said Kyoko, trying to calm the girl down, even as Hikaru was still trying to assess her wellbeing. She shook him off and kept talking to the other women. "She's just shaken from the trauma. Can you help me find something to elevate her legs and keep her warm?"
"Ye-yeah" said the women. She grabbed the shall that was draped around her arms and started working on covering up Midori's legs. Kyoko assisted, making sure she was taken care of then stood up.
"Can you look after Midori?" said Kyoko to Hikaru.
"Where are you going?" he said, looking lost. "I'm supposed to look after you."
"Help me by helping her." said Kyoko, "I'm going to see if anyone else was hurt."
Before he could answer, she sprinted off. A haze of sand hung in the air, settling over the remnants from the blast. The once clean field was now littered with concrete pieces of all sizes. Most of them were small, but there were a few the size of the one that had almost hit Midori. Luckily no one had been crushed by those. Most of the women were in clusters near the edges of the debris field. She spotted a larger group of women, several huddling around a single person who appeared to be kneeling on the ground. Kyoko began making her way toward the group, inwardly praying that the person wasn't hurt to badly. As she got closer, she saw it was Yumi, her head bowed and a hand across her chest.
"Excuse me." said Kyoko, pushing her way through the women. She quickly knelt down before the concubine. Yumi's breaths were coming in quick deep gasps, her face twisted in discomfort. Was she having an asthma attack? No. Just hyperventilation.
"Yumi." said Kyoko sternly, getting the woman's attention focused on her. "You're breathing too fast. I need to you cup your hands against your mouth like this." Kyoko demonstrated it on herself.
With shaking hands, Yumi cupped her hands together and brought them over her mouth and nose.
"Yes just like that." said Kyoko calmly. "Now, I want you to try to slow your breaths. Calm your heart. That's it. It's ok, you're going to be fine." She continued coaching Yumi, encouraging her and assuring her that everything was going to be fine. Gradually, Yumi's breaths slowed.
As she assisted Yumi, Kyoko could see guards moving across the field from the corner of her eye. They walked thought the rubble, helping the women and assessing their needs. Three of the guards approached their group.
"Is anyone hurt?" One asked. Some of the women managed to say they were ok. Others were crying and couldn't answer. Kyoko realized the guard had directed the question mostly towards her.
"We're fine here." said Kyoko. "Yumi was just breathing too fast. I helped her calm down."
The guard nodded. "And your shoulder ma'am?"
"Fine." Kyoko repeated.
"Alright. Then could everyone make their way to this side of the field, We're going to take care of everyone that was hurt." He pointed to the side where Kyoko could already see guards ushering some of the women.
The group started making their way to where where the guard had pointed, their voices higher and more breathless then usual as they erupted into conversation.
"Oh my gosh I thought I was going to die."
"I almost got crushed by that boulder did you see?"
"I've never been so scared in my life."
Kyoko studied Yumi, whose head was still down. Her breathing had slowed to normal but her arms were trembling.
"Actually." said Kyoko to one of the guards. "Could I have you escort Yumi? I don't think she should be left alone."
The guard nodded, and helped Yumi to her feet. The woman's gaze met Kyoko's for a second before she turned her head and allowed the guard to escort her away. In that split second, Kyoko could see reflected in her eyes just how terrified Yumi had been.
Kyoko sighed. It was a good thing she had been here. Both Yumi and Midori might have been in serious trouble had they not received quick aid. She should probably see if there was anyone else that needed immediate medical attention.
Kyoko placed her foot on the group to push herself up.
Hot pain shot through her foot. She collapsed, clenching hers eyes shut against the pain.
"Miss. Are you sure you're alright?" A guard asked. But Kyoko didn't answer. She was too busy pounding her fist against the ground to stop from screaming.
"I think she hurt her foot." said a deep voice. Kyoko recognized it. Why was he here? The next second, the world spun and she was lifted off the ground.
Wha?!
Kuon, the crown prince, was carrying her in his arms, princess style no less! Only a month ago she would have killed to be held in this position by a certain idiot, but now she was far from pleased.
"Let me down." said Kyoko, squirming in his hold and extremely self-conscious. She could see a few of the women staring at her in envy. What was he doing here anyway? "I can walk just fine by myself. I need to see if anyone else was hurt."
"Let the guards take care of it." said Kuon, taking her towards the side of the field. "All the general guards are trained in emergency first aid."
"Then let me down." she said. "I can walk by myself."
"You're obviously not fine." said Kuon. "So just put up with this for a little longer"
There's no way in heck I'm going to do that. She thought in panic. She could practically feel the jealousy from the other women as they watched her be carried towards a bench. She kept squirming, trying to get away.
"If you keep moving you're going to fall." he said. When she didn't listen, he sighed. Then shifted her weight in her arms and threw her over his shoulder.
"Wha-whaa- whaat are you doing!" she said, her face turning red. Her upper body was now higher than his face, her arms pressed against his back to keep her upright. His own arms were wound tight around the back of her legs to keep her steady.
"You wouldn't stay still." he said, his voice calm. "So this was easier."
"You could have just dropped me, that would have been easiest." She huffed
"Fine. If that's what you wish."
Without warning he swung her from his shoulder and set her down. They had reached the side where a long bench stood.
"Stay."
She scowled at him. Did he think she was a dog?
"Yukihito, make sure she doesn't run off, and see to her injuries." As Kuon spoke, Kyoko noticed his councilor, who was staring at Kuon. She noticed a couple others were giving Kuon weird looks as well.
"R-right." said Yukihito, coming out of his shock.
"I'll go check to see how the others are doing." said Kuon. He walked off, leaving both Kyoko and Yukihito. The man seemed taken aback, while Kyoko felt annoyed. She was NOT a dog.
"Well that was..." said Yukihito, "Unexpected."
"He really does like messing with me." said Kyoko, folding her arms in a huff. There was no need to throw me over his shoulder like that.
"Is that so?" said Yukihito, but he sounded distracted, so Kyoko didn't answer him. A guard came over and handed Yukihito a bandage to wrap Kyoko's foot, and shoulder. It was the only thing they had at the moment. Yukihito started wrapping her shoulder. She could have done it herself, but then he would have seen her hands were still shaking.
"So.." said Kyoko. "Why are you two here? I thought you had a full schedule today." She knew this because of Ruriko's stalking. She really didn't have any interest in the prince's daily life.
"Seiji sent us a message to come." said Yukihito. "Apparently he wanted the prince here to approve switching the opening act to someone else. We were just outside the entrance when we heard an explosion." He finished wrapping the bandage around her shoulder. Then he placed his hand on top of it. To her surprise, his hand glowed softly and she felt a tingling in her shoulder
"Did you just use healing magic?" said Kyoko. Healing magic of any kind was specific to light magic only. Did that mean Yashiro could use light magic?
He nodded. "I'm not terribly good at healing." he said. "You should still have someone else look at it as soon as we get back to the palace, but that should take the sting out of it and speed up the overall healing process. "
It was true. Her shoulder already felt much better.
"Do you know what happened exactly?" Yukihito asked, starting to wrap her ankle.
"I'm afraid not." said Kyoko. "But I have a suspicion." The magic had come from the top of the raised stands, and there was only one person she could think of with such erratic magic.
Speaking of which, the group that had been on that platform finally made it down. Almost everyone was here now, some tending to small cuts and bruises. Hikaru had come back, but he'd been directed to stay by Midori. He gave Kyoko a quick nod, a signal to her that Midori was fine, before returning to his duties.
Aya come over at that moment, fluffy hair bobbing up and down as she hurried to Kyoko.
"Are you alright?" she said
"Just a twisted ankle and a few scratches." said Kyoko "Did you get hurt at all?"
"No" said Aya sitting down beside Kyoko. "That was reeealy scary. I was sure I was going to die. Where did you go? I thought you were next to me."
"I was... distracted." said Kyoko, her eyes trailing back to the group of dancers everyone. She could see Yumi and Midori. Both looked fine, if a bit shaken.
Seiji was talking to one of the guards to get a report on how everyone was doing. They were only ten paces away and Kyoko could overhear their conversation.
"We were lucky." the guard was saying. His gray and red uniform was more decorated then the others. The gold insignia on his upper arm indicated that he was the captain over the other general guards. "Only a few bumps and bruises. The worst injury was a twisted ankle. We did have one go into shock and another hyperventilate, but both women received immediate attention before any harm could be done. I sent for a physician just in case anything else pops up."
"Well that's good." said Seiji, running his hand through his hair. "Now we just have to figure out how to tell the king that his Colosseum is missing a chunk of its stands."
"I wouldn't worry about it." said Kuon, who had arrived accompanying the last women back. Everyone was here now. "It can be fixed before the festival. I don't think any of the supporting pillars were hit, which prevented any large scale damage from occurring"
Kyoko zoned out from their conversation. Now that all the adrenalin was leaving her system, she felt incredibly tired. Her leg muscles felt like someone had wrung them out tight before slapping them back onto her bones. Probably an after effect of using her pulse magic so suddenly and powerfully without preparation. She vaguely remembered feeling pain when pushing off. That was probably when she twisted her ankle. All Kyoko wanted to do was go back home lay in bed.
She blinked in surprise. Did she just call the palace home? Since when had she started feeling that way about the place?
"There!" Said Yukihito, finishing the wrap on her ankle. "Now, healing a tendon is harder, so you'll definitely want this to get looked at when you get back to the castle." Kyoko nodded as her ankle tingled just as her shoulder had.
A rise in volume brought her attention back to the group talking near her. Ruriko had joined the discussion, and she was being very loud in her defense.
"It's not my fault." she was saying in a huff. "The sun got in my eyes, and then this oaf over here distracted me. I would have been fine if people weren't bothering me."
"Duchess." said Kuon, a colder version of the gentlemanly smile on his face. "I'm sorry but we can't allow you to do the opening ceremony if there is a chance in this happening again. We will have to contact your home and have someone else do it"
"How could you take his side?" said Ruriko, hurt by his words. "It's not my fault everyone is so incompetent. They won't give me a proper staff and everyone is putting so much pressure on me."
Almost everyone in the vicinity was watching the argument by now. Some were muttering to their neighbors while other just looked disgusted with the women. Kyoko was one of those, but she actually had the guts to say something out loud.
"Are you an idiot?"
Everyone's head turned aghast, even Kuon was surprised by the blunt question. Several women gaped at Kyoko, horrified at the lack of respect she had for the Duchess. It was social and political suicide to pick a fight with someone of such a high standing.
Seiji looked especially worried. He stepped forward to say something to stop it from getting out of hand. They all knew how explosive Ruriko was, but Kuon stopped him with an arm.
"What are you doing your highness?" he said.
"Let's just see how it plays out." said Kuon, "We can step in if it's too much."
Seiji studied him for a moment. He must have found what he was looking for, because he nodded and stepped back as Ruriko turned to face Kyoko.
Kuon was interested to see how Kyoko handled this situation. He had been wondering exactly why Takarada had assigned Kyoko to follow Ruriko. According to the Duke, Kyoko had won over the hearts of the staff members in the clinic. Even with Takarada's recommendation, it probably hadn't been an easy feat because of her gender. Actually, the recommendation might have made it worse. But apparently she had breezed through it so well it had impressed the man.
"She has a way of getting along with people that were especially cantankerous," Or so that president had said.
He remembered the conversation with her earlier in the week where she had lamented at the fact that she wasn't good at getting along with people. It was ironic that she had praised him for the very thing Takarada had attributed to Kyoko. And she had straightened Kuon out when he had been especially difficult.
Talent aside, Ruriko hated anyone close to him, and being a concubine definitely qualified as that. But yet Takarada had insisted, and nothing had happened. Until now.
Let's see what you've got, Kyoko Mogami. Thought Kuon.
Kyoko's voice had been loud enough to carry to the group, so she knew they heard her. Ruriko turned to Kyoko, surprise evident on her face. She obviously had never been called an idiot before. The group around them tensed, some giving Kyoko incredulous looks.
"What did you say?" said Ruriko, anger replacing surprise.
Kyoko really shouldn't have said anything, nor should she continue. It wasn't her place, but the mixture of exhaustion and strained nerves sent her over the edge.
"I asked if you were an idiot?" said Kyoko, ignoring Aya, who was tugging on her sleeve in an attempt to stop her from talking. She looked scared. "I mean, it's obvious to me why you can't do the opening ceremony and I didn't even receive a proper education."
"Which is why you should just shut up and let the professionals take care of this." said Ruriko. "No one asked for your opinion."
Kyoko stood up, favoring her right leg to prevent any pressure from being put on the left. She shouldn't stand on it, but she needed to make a point and sitting down just wouldn't cut it. "Well I think being a professional must be over rated." said Kyoko "Judging on your berserk magic."
"How insolent" said Ruriko, striding forward. She planted herself in front of Kyoko, hands on hips. Kyoko matched her glare, neither women backing down. "Has no one taught you how to respect your superiors? Your behavior is deplorable and reflects badly on the prince. If you bow down right now I may forgive you of your slip."
Kyoko just raised an eyebrow.
How... in the world, could anyone be so thick! Here she was, fooling no one with her "I was distracted" act, and yet she had the guts to think she deserved respect after all her temper tantrums.
The duchess took Kyoko's silence as a sign of defeat and grinned. "There's no need to be embarrassed." said Ruriko, "I know you haven't been in the presence of many great people such as me, but let me assure you, it's not that big of a deal. So come one now. Bow down. Everyone is waiting."
"Do you think this is a game?" said Kyoko, her voice low. "Or are you really too stupid to understand what's going on here?" It was safe to say that the last thing on Kyoko's mind was to listen to Ruriko's request. She would kiss Sho before ever bowing to this girl... actually, maybe not.
Ruriko's anger flared up again. "You-" she started, but Kyoko didn't let her finish.
"You almost killed someone!" Kyoko roared, making Ruriko and several people jump. Kyoko had unleashed her full anger by now, the little grudges out to play with their new master's toy. They surrounded Ruriko, causing the women to become paralyzed in shock and fear. "As in dead. Gone. Can't come back to life. Do you think The prince would want someone like you, a loose cannon just waiting to blow up, on that stage? You think I'm a disgrace to him?"
Kyoko gestured around the stands, her voice cutting into the duchess who was shying away from Kyoko's rage. "This event is not a beauty pageant created to stroke your vain ego. Do you not realize how it will look if you end up killing half of the coliseum with your berserk magic!? Not only will it reflect badly on your family and city, but on the whole kingdom! And especially on the prince. If you have one bone of common sense in your body, you would quit and never touch a staff again."
"I'm the only one who can do it!" said Ruriko, finally recovered enough to fight back. "I have to do it."
"I know that I could at least do a better job them you." said Kyoko.
Ruriko scoffed. "It has to be someone from our city." said Ruriko. "And besides, you're a peasant. It's not allowed."
"My home town is Nembu." said Kyoko. "It's a relatively small town that is included in your father's realm, and I'm a concubine to the prince. So technically I fulfill every restriction to the position."
"There's no way." said Ruriko. "You can't do it."
"What?" said Kyoko, and she gave a smirk, imitating Sho's haughty way of looking down on people. The look always riled Kyoko up. "Are you too scared that I'll do better then you? That an unattractive peasant girl, such as myself, can outperform you?"
The Duchess bristled at the comment, like Kyoko knew she would.
"Fine." said Ruriko, folding her arms. "Let the plain girl make a fool of herself. If she can do a better job, then I'll gladly step down."
The duchess realized her mistake a second later. Kyoko smiled wickedly, relishing in the success of her taunting, her demons dancing gleefully around her. She leaned in close.
"I'll make you regret your words Duchess." said Kyoko. "So just stand back and watch as I show you how true magic is done."
Kyoko stood at the head of the platform, leaning heavily on a crutch the physician had brought. After a quick exam, the man had reluctantly allowed Kyoko to perform the light show. Kyoko's demons whispering threats into his ears might have helped a little with that fact. The poor man had looked very pale by the time he had left.
"Kyoko." said Kuon, standing beside her. His voice calm but firm. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?"
Kyoko turned to stare determinedly at him. "Please don't stop me your highness." she said. "I'm not going to back down, no matter what you say."
"Of that I have no doubt." he said with an amused look. "Just make sure to stop if you can't continue." Kyoko nodded, inwardly promising herself that she wouldn't stop no matter what. It was well past time for someone to stand up to Ruriko and show her that she couldn't get everything in life if she made enough noise.
Seiji came up to her a moment later, holding out the staff Ruiko had been using, but Kyoko waved it away.
"I don't know how to use it." said Kyoko. "Don't want to cause another explosion. I'll be fine on my own." The staff was enchanted to boost the user's magical energy and would have helped her immensely. But it was just as likely she would end up blowing up the stadium as Ruriko had. Besides, she didn't need it.
"Alright then Kyoko." said Seiji, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "I'll leave this to you." He had been quick to allow her to try out for the part and Kyoko was determined to show him what she had.
The two men left Kyoko alone on the platform above the stadium. She set down her crutch, then closed her eyes.
Kyoko took a deep breath, then shifted her weight evenly between her feet. Her ankle immediately flared up, shooting pulses of pain to her brain. Kyoko blocked it out, concentrating on the magic within her own essence. She lifted her hands and pressed them together. It was an action that she used to create the image of a flow within her. Like the joining of her hands, the magic circled through her in a constant unbroken stream.
Then, she opened her eyes.
Kuon watched from the sidelines, a little separated from the other spectators. Everyone had come up to watch Kyoko performance, not wanting to miss any of the drama. Kuon watched Kyoko with a mixture of both concern and interest as she stood in the center of the balcony. Was she going to be alright? Then he saw her close her eyes, pressing her hands together as if in prayer.
He smiled.
This girl... she's good.
He could feel it. The flow of magic circulating within her as she prepared to use it. The performance hadn't even started and yet she had already displayed more control of her magic then many professionals he knew, certainly better the Ruriko.
Her eyes opened and she stretched out her hands.
An explosion of gold and white light rushed out from her palms. Those watching gasped in surprised. Obviously they hadn't expected Kyoko actually knew how to use arcane magic. The shimmering lights swept around the circumference of the stadium before swirling in the center where it spread out to form the image of the sun, a symbol of their kingdom. She held the image for ten seconds, the shimmering lights still moving in their wide circle while maintaining the image of the sun. Then the lights faded, becoming misty, re-tracing their course back around the stadium before converging and compressing into a small ball of light that hovered high above the center of the stadium. The ball pulsed for a few seconds, as if it had a life of its own, pushing against invisible restraints. Then it burst free.
Thousands of gleaming lights fell, like pieces of the sky dancing as they descended towards the stands. Kuon could almost imagine the children, reaching up to grab at the specks of light as they disappeared in their hands. The group watching alongside him "oohed" and "awed" at the display.
Before the lights could completely disappear, Kyoko changed the flow of her hands, now trailing soft blue lights from her fingertips, and this time, Kuon stopped watching the lights to watch her. She was almost glowing with energy, and not the magical kind. There was a certain air around her that the brilliant smile on her face couldn't convey by itself.
Kyoko was enjoying this with all her heart.
Hands and arms moved in a constant flowing motion. Her every sway and flick of her wrist was purposeful, creating a graceful dance between her and her magic. To Kuon, it looked just as captivating as the display she was creating. Maybe even more so.
He returned his attention to the light show Kyoko was creating. The images were much smaller now. Fine lines of yellow and orange danced around the stadium, horses and falcons performing a story he had missed. Kyoko continued to move her fingers with delicate movements, her magic more centered on being detailed than huge.
The choreography from the original piece Seiji had created started out big to immediately seize the attention of the stands. It was then followed by smaller images before another large one to top everything off. Was that what she was doing? The original choreography before Seiji had been forced to change it past recognition?
Apparently it was, because she used both her hands for the next trick, her face now pinched in effort. A large phoenix appeared, made out of blazing fire and smoke. It swirled in the air, sucking up the light around it as it soared up and up, high above the stadium. The phoenix spread its wings wide, Kyoko's own arms expanding outwards as well. A yellow ball of fire accompanied it and Kuon smiled at image of the phoenix intertwined with the sun.
The symbol of their kingdom: The sun and the phoenix. It was a perfect ending.
Kuon frowned. Why was Kyoko still holding the image? It was time to let if fade away.
"Kyoko" said Seiji, walking to her. "That's the end of the show. You can let the image go now."
"...there" said Kyoko.
"What was that?" said Seiji
The whole group was staring at her now, and Kuon could see her face. It was completely white, eyes unfocused.
"Please stop Kyoko." pleaded Seiji. He had noticed her pallor as well. "You don't look well."
"The prince." she said, her voice barely audible, "Hasn't stood up to greet the guests. Can't let go of the image... till he's there."
Sieji stared at her for a moment before snapping his head around to Kuon.
"Quick your highness." said Seiji motioning to Kuon. "Go stand next to Kyoko."
Kuon knew what he was getting at and quickly moved towards the head of the balcony. Only then did she slowly lower her arms, the image fading away.
Then she faltered.
Kuon only just caught her as she collapsed.
Thanks for reading!
Weird note. So I decided to take out the cultural aspect of name calling in Japanese and use the more American style of calling people by their first names, but I am having the hardest time using people's first names. It's so ingrained into me that for Japanese names, you call them by the family name, that I'm having problems on what the characters should call each other. And I'm Americana! It's hopeless. Lol.
Questions from you guys!
The PrinceLady : "I wonder if the harem somehow is supposed to represent the acting school group? "
-You are spot one! From the beginning I have been using them as the base for the harem, though I didn't directly take any of the girls from the group. Glad someone picked up on that.
N. : "Are you planing on taking bits from the manga and doing a kyoko/ruriko stand off for that role on the show? "
-I think this chapter answers your question. XD But for the future, I do plan (and have) taken bits and parts from the manga's story lines and inserted them into my story. Thank you for your support! I do supper appreciate comments. I shall do my best to keep my end of the bargain and continue to update once a week. Yay.
Claraowl: "Are Aya and Chieko based off of the two close friends from the Kurara audition? "
-Nope. They are completely made up characters. I don't like the idea of putting people form the original SB in the harem so all the concubines are made up. Though if you ask if I used characters from other stories as inspiration, that would be true. Thank you for the grammar comment. I shall try harder to watch out for mistakes.
Once again, thank you guys for your compliments and reading/fav/reviewing! Even saying "Hey, I'm reading this." is nice to read. I feel like I can't thank you guys enough. XD
BTW. Happy (late) Easter!
-Blushweaver
(Just so I can complain. This weekend I had three (online) Tests, three worksheet assignments, one project to finish, one project to start, one reflection journal and two quizzes. All due by Monday (today). Plus a special family thing this weekend that took up 8 hours on Saturday and Sunday. Oh! And A super important chapter 10 for my followers in FF... yeah. I'm beat! Yay for complaining. I feel better. Now to sleep.)