Yagami's Little Girl – Interlude #3: Of Maidens, Princes, and Destiny
Written By: RinoaDestiny
King of Fighters and Iori Yagami belong to SNK
He had the book Michiru loved to read open alongside a copy of the Kojiki that he'd taken from the Yagami estate's study when he left its gates for good. Having broken his rib fighting his rival a week ago, Iori was housebound unless he went to get food and more painkillers. He had a stash of them in his bedside drawer and plenty in the bathroom cabinet, just in case his body decided to pull a fast one on him.
He also stocked up on formula for Aoi, who was now almost three months old.
Time went fast.
He'd called and canceled his practices with the band, not bothering to explain how he hurt himself. Being a dumbass might suffice – Iori Yagami tripped and smashed his fucking chest into an unbreakable object (rib meet Kusanagi's elbow) – but he wasn't for giving details. Neither did Iori think it was dumb. He actually enjoyed it, despite the pain.
Despite Kyo being nice.
That still threw Iori but he supposed he was the first one to throw Kyo off.
After all, Kyo said he'd helped him, which still made Iori wonder what the fuck he did besides listen and talk to him. He would've fought him if the weather was clear. Iori knew that much. That, and if Kyo didn't look ready to murder someone with his bare hands.
It would've been a great fight.
But here he was, ribs taped up and bound with as many cloth bandages he could get his hands on and not cocoon himself. With nothing else to do, he went back to Michiru's book. When he took a closer look at the title, Iori guffawed.
No shit he was interested. There was a magatama involved, apparently. It was the first out of three books. When he began to read it, the vocabulary and liberal use of hiragana told him this was a book for older children. Having grown up on classical Japanese literature because of his tutors, Iori found it an easy read and devoured the first two chapters. Then, he stopped, left Aoi's room, grabbed his copy of the Kojiki from his room and began to compare the two.
The magatama came into play sooner than he'd thought. It was also blue.
Knowing his late wife's penchant for that color, Iori pondered if it started here. There was also the fact that Michiru named their daughter for that as well, basing it off one of the traditional Japanese colors. Childhood likes lingered and the book was taped, dog-eared, and the pages yellowed, showing all the signs of a well-loved possession.
Iori knew about well-loved possessions. He had his bass guitar and his jazz CDs.
Other than the fact that the girl in the book was young, headstrong, and stupidly love-struck by her warrior prince, Iori didn't mind the rest. It was decent, with a plot based on Japanese mythology – once he hit the warrior prince and princess, something clicked – and then he flung open the pages of his precious Kojiki and nodded as the names matched up.
The prince was based off Tsukuyomi.
The princess was definitely Amaterasu.
From what he read so far, both were assholes to the girl seeking her gallant prince. Iori snorted. Romances weren't his preferred reading but even he felt bad for the girl. She wasn't who she thought she was – neither this nor that – and of course she was confused. He understood that. Part of him bore the strain of Orochi (goddamn that fucker in his head) and part of him just wanted to be with his music, quiet, and as normal a life as possible. Naturally, the universe decided to fuck with him.
It was ironic the girl was a magatama wielder as well.
This was Michiru's favorite book by the looks of it.
Odd.
So the Amaterasu-based princess was a bitch and the Tsukuyomi-based prince was a horny bastard hiding behind fine manners. They also sniped at each other, sibling rivalry in full display. Iori didn't miss the parallels with him and Kyo, or perhaps he was reading too much into it. There was a passing thought from the girl about sun and moon and he almost rolled his eyes into the back of his head. So that would make Kyo the simpering spoiled little princess and him the thoughtless bastard?
Tsukuyomi was a hell of a shit-stirrer in the Celestial Plains.
He also represented either the bow or a crescent moon.
Eh, it fit.
He just didn't know how Kyo and Amaterasu worked. Then again, Kyo was a natural attention-seeker and people doted on him. Princess he wasn't but Iori could see his friends bending over backwards to help him.
That fit, he supposed.
But in terms of the actual Kojiki, Susanoo was a closer match for Kyo. The Kusanagi sword was Susanoo's victory prize after killing Orochi. True, he also pissed off Amaterasu and made her hide in a cave, thus dooming the world. Then the mirror came out and there was sunlight and warmth again.
That accounted for the Yata.
Kagura had the mirror. She was the one to draw Kyo in and then snagged him as the last of the Sacred Treasures. Iori wondered how that worked. The actual sacred treasures – the sword, the jewel, and the mirror – were in different shrines across Japan. Orochi, the wicked eight-headed serpent of lore, was slain by Susanoo.
So how? How did…
Iori flipped through the pages again, reciting from memory the story of Orochi.
Picked up Michiru's favorite novel and re-read certain sections. The girl was a reincarnation upon reincarnation in a never-ending cycle until her purpose was fulfilled.
Wait.
Did that mean that after the gods and goddesses and all the devils, ogres, and monsters passed from human memory into legend that the cycle began again? That Amaterasu channeled herself into the Kusanagi clan, that either Tsukuyomi or the magatama went down into the Yasakani clan and that the mirror also became a spiritual construct carried into the Yata clan? Which meant as real as those treasures looked – Iori had held his – that they were mere manifestations brought over along with their human vessels?
Which meant Orochi also reincarnated? But how did evil reincarnate?
Iori sat back, careful of the wrapping around his chest, fingers keeping the novel open. If he ran along this train of thought, then there had to be a way to end this cycle. At least long enough until they all passed and the divine got bored and decided to fuck with humanity again.
At least he'd be dead by then.
Hopefully, he wouldn't reincarnate into the next cycle to fight the fucker again.
He'd hate that and curse all the gods, blasphemy be damned.
To think that all this started with a book about a girl in love with an asshole prince, fascinated by the bitch princess, and had two destinies while carrying around a blue stone and having her friendly but precocious bird-loving sidekick.
Oh, and there was a voice she heard when she almost drowned herself.
What a cliffhanger.
Iori flipped the page into the next chapter. Perhaps it would give him more answers. He had a start now – something to work with.
Notes: Something short and sweet this time. Love writing these interlude chapters.
The book Iori's reading (Michiru's favorite novel) is Sorairo Magatama. It is known in the Western translation (both times it was translated and published in the U.S.) as Dragon Sword and Wind Child. The author is Noriko Ogiwara. The second translation realizes the first book is merely part of a series and thus calls it "Tales of Magatama: Dragon Sword and Wind Child". The second book has also been translated and released in the West, but won't come into play for the purposes of this story's plot.
I have a copy of this book when it was translated the second time, because it is my favorite Asian fantasy story from when I was a kid. I used to borrow it from the library and then have to pay extra fees because it was overdue. The fact that I still love it and it became the seed of this story says a lot.
The other piece of literature Iori has is the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), which is Japan's oldest written chronicle and contains everything from Japan's origin, the stories of the gods and goddesses, and then goes into the imperial families. My head-canon for Iori is that he grew up on his family's ancient estate; thus, he was taught in the classical manner with learned tutors. So he has a wide breadth of understanding and comprehension when it comes to classical Japanese literature. He just doesn't show it to people, usually. The Yagami clan might harshly train their heirs for the rivalry with the Kusanagi, but to be ignorant or stupid isn't part of the package.
My head-canon Iori is levels higher than Kyo on this aspect. He also is extraordinarily fond of Japanese mythology, probably due to how it ties into the complications of his family history and how it affects his life.