Fushigi Yuugi:
Life As It Is
Every being within the vicinity of the palace grand hall was frozen in place due to shock and incomprehension. No one knew how to address the situation, especially the Emperor. He slowly dropped his gaze to the girl who was 'glomping' him and looked extremely uneasy. No one else dared to make a motion until they heard a scream.
"ARG! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Arashi gained everyone's focus with her confidence and anger to break the silence, "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS! IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!" And the blonde exited the palace in one strong leap, heading to who knows where.
"Arashi…" Mikomi attempted to call out to her, but knew it was futile. Dropping her hand, she made a small moaning sound. She wanted to, in her own way, scold Arashi for shouting like that, especially in the presence of the Emperor. But she was the only one who could voice three out of the five elementals, and their two friends', thoughts. Koa obviously had gone blank and the Emperor with his Envoy had no clue what was going on. But the two other celestial warriors of the scene along with Water and Wood all wanted to freak out in the same manor.
Once again, Enzeru's actions back lashed onto the village and destroyed Koa's efforts.
Chichiri and Tasuki looked at each other and realized it was all up to them now. With one glance at Koa, Tasuki cleared his throat loudly and grumbled, "Enzeru, what the hell are you doing?"
"I'm just saying hello to the Emperor of Konan. We are using his land, after all."
"Enzeru!" Jem shouted, suddenly finding her voice. She made a fist and looked like a cross between fear and anger.
"You are? Then how come I have never heard of your people? I've never seen anyone bear markings such as yours." Hotohori inquired toward their tattoos of a dewdrop, a flame, a twister, a rose and a leaf.
"Oh, that's because—"
"Miss Enzeru, please!" Chichiri was on the borderline of his happy-go-lucky tone and his serious one, which made him remember he left his mask back at Koa's place.
"What? I think he has a right to know, don't you Koa? I mean, we are using his land to survive."
"Survive against what?" Hotohori wondered.
"First tell me your name, handsome." Enzeru used her seductress tone again.
"I am Emperor Seihei, or Hotohori of the Suzaku se—six."
"I'm Enzeru Faita-Kaji of the Elemental family. Over there, we have Jem Faita-Mizu, Mikomi Faita-Ki, the one who ran out was Arashi Faita-Kaze and last but not least, the one who was the key to bringing us all together, Koa Faita-Chi. Say hi, guys!" she had said all of that with such happiness, you could tell she didn't feel guilty at all.
Tasuki and Chichiri gasped and regarded how Koa still refused to move from the spot they had found her in when they first arrived.
"Your Majesty," Chichiri piped up in the voice he normally used when he was without his mask, "If you would please take a seat, Tasuki and I would like to explain the situation to you, y'know."
"The situation?" Hotohori became slightly alarmed.
"It's nothing too serious, y'know. We would just like it if you heard what was going on from us and not from her, y'know." Chichiri held no anger or spite in his voice, but it was hinted in his eyes.
"Very well, I shall listen to your tale. But first…um, Miss Faita-Kaji, was it?"
"Please, call me Enzeru."
"E-Enzeru, would you mind releasing me?"
"Yeah, I would actually." She smiled at him like a cute little kitten. He laughed shakily.
"Enzeru, let him go." Jem stated with a slight whine.
"No." was her flat statement.
"Enzeru…" Chichiri let his sentence hang in the air with a warning. Enzeru made a face, but finally let go.
"Good, now Emperor, please take a seat and--"
"—Chichiri and I will tell you the story, Emperor." Jem took a step forward.
"Huh? But I'm the one who found the village first!" Tasuki shouted, then felt Chichiri's hand on his shoulder.
"Jem's right; I think you should get Miss Koa home, maybe take Miss Mikomi with you, y'know. She doesn't seem to be handling this well and might go into shock if we don't do something soon, y'know?"
Tasuki tossed his gaze over to the Earth Elemental and felt sympathy strike his heart. Nodding without looking at the monk, Tasuki walked over to Koa very slowly.
"Now," Jem began, "Where should we begin?"
"Let's start with when Tasuki came to your village, y'know." Chichiri suggested.
"Good idea…."
"Koa?" Tasuki whispered to the woman in front of him. She still refused to budge. He lifted his hand to grab onto her shoulder, but decided against it, not wanting to scare her. Then, he came up with an idea.
'Koa,' he saw her jump slightly when he called to her mind. He waited for her to acknowledge his presence before continuing, 'do you wanna go outside or something? Maybe you should go home and get some rest.'
'N-No…' was all she said, she gave no reason why.
'Koa, I don't think you're doing too well right now. You should get out of here, it's obviously really bothering you.'
'No…i-if Enzeru thinks this is best, then so be it. I can put up with…I mean I can understand what she wants. It's alright. I…'
'Koa, don't try to force yourself.'
"I'm NOT!" she whipped around to face him, looking utterly distressed and trying to appear angered by him. He saw right through her, but it didn't terminate his shock. Then, Koa hissed and held onto her chest. It was obvious she had lied and was now receiving the Blood Oath's affect.
"Koa, I'm taking you outside right now," He refused to shout like she had and continued to remain calm, even though he was worried, "I don't want to hear another word about it! Besides, we need to find Arashi. Mikomi, will you be okay here or do you want to come with us?"
"Um…I, uh, want to help find Arashi, but…um, I think she might be…around here…but I'm just guessing!"
"Sure Mikomi, you look around the grounds. Just tell all the guards you see that you're a friend of Tasuki and they'll let you through with no problems, okay? I'm just gonna take Koa back to the village. Be sure to meet up with Jem when she's done talking to the Emperor, okay? She'll take you home."
"Okay!" she smiled so childishly, as if she was obeying an older sibling. Then she quickly jogged off out the door and was out of sight.
Tasuki smiled at her as she skipped away, then returned his attention to the girl's 'mother'. She, too, was smiling while watching Mikomi depart from the grand hall. He read her eyes so perfectly then, and felt as if her feelings became apart of him. She tried to uphold an exterior of happiness to see the wood elemental so carefree, but underneath, there was a thick layer of fear. Obviously, she was scared to think what Hotohori would do to there family, that was understandable. What Tasuki couldn't understand was why he did not see resentment in her eyes.
Before, he could clearly remember her fuming about Enzeru's previous actions, and now, after pulling off the biggest and most troublesome stunt of all, she didn't seem angry in the slightest. Not sure how he was supposed to interpret that, he gently grasped her hand, which brought her back to reality, and led her out the door.
!!
"Ugh, that damned-to-hell fiery pain in the ASS!" Arashi hollered to the sky, causing the birds in the air to flock around her in concern. One brave little bird landed on her shoulder and whistled to her.
"Well, as you can guess Enzeru's back!...She just walked into the Konan palace and hugged the life out of the Emperor!...I know! And Koa was there!...Yes way. It's like Enzeru doesn't care about Koa at all, even though Koa's doing her best to impress her and trying to be her friend. It bugs me so much how blind she is!...Oh I know, but—huh?" Arashi then heard the sound of quick 'tap-tap's coming closer. Not quite sure what it was, she scanned the air for a hiding spot, then jumped up into the closest tree.
She listened intently as the sound became louder and louder, as much as a 'tap-tap' noise could. Her eyes glowered, trying to tighten her line of view. Her pupils shrunk down to the size of a bird's, trying to locate her target. Someone, probably one of the guards or her sisters, was after her. If it was a sister, she'd come down after a small fight. If it was a guard, she'd come down immediately…then kick his sorry ass for freaking her out like that!
But oh no, 'twas not a guard nor sister who was making the unusual noise.
"MEOW!"
"Ahh! …Ugh, you…dumb cat! What the hell was that for?!" she asked as she let the bird fly off so she could tend to the furry troublemaker. Lifting one leg to rest her foot on the bark, Arashi resisted the urge to both pet and strangle Mr. Kitty, "What do you want?"
"Meow?" The kitty known as Tama tilted his head, sounding confused.
"Why did you come up here to--"
"TAMA!"
"AHH!" Arashi squealed in fright as jumped. Due to the size of the branch compared to her bottom and body in general, her balance lost to gravity and she fell backwards out of the tree. She attempted to turn her body midair, so as to land on her feet, but something caught her no more then a moment after she started her descent. And it was not comfortable, it felt more like a million sharp pricks jabbing her side.
"OWW-AH! What the HELL?!" she hollered as she jumped down onto her feet and rubbed her side energetically. After quickly glancing at the 'injury', she glared upwards to see what had attacked her so unexpectedly. But to her surprise, it was not a 'what', but a 'who'.
"Oh, I apologize Miss. Are you--"
"What on Earth is WRONG with YOU?" she shouted at him angrily.
Confused and stunned, the tall man said nothing for a while, then arched one of his two brows, "I beg your pardon?"
"You need to warn people when you're underneath them while they're in a tree. And, hey, if they're falling, trying catching them WITH YOU ARMS! NOT YOUR SHARP PINEAPPLE HAIR!" Arashi bellowed right in his face and stomped off angrily, planning to exit the place she had labelled the 'vortex to hell' and go home.
A frozen Mitsukake could only watch, "…What's a pineapple?"
With Mikomi…
Walking around the halls made her feel so special. She had never been to a palace before; it made her feel like an honoured guest just to wander freely. To think people like Chichiri or Tasuki got to live in such a place made her feel a small spark of envy inside. The style of design could give her reason enough to sit at the front steps and stare at the building all day. It was so interesting to see a world other then their own, a bigger, and more prosperous world. It was truly a sight to behold.
She skipped up and down the pathways around the structure cheerfully, gasping at every new figure she laid eyes on. The arches in doorways, the enormous pillars, and tiles on the roof were beyond fascinating to Mikomi's small heart. As she stepped back to gawk at the statue she caught from the corner of her eye, her foot made a small splash behind her. She squeaked in fear, twirled around and tossed her head from side to side. It wasn't until her foot became colder that the idea to look down dawned on her. As she dropped her stare, she found that she has stepped into a koi pond on the property. Smiling, she could see the strange technicolor fish slithering through the water. 'I wonder if Jem can feel these little guys sometimes?...Ew.' She giggled at the thought.
Tucking her hands under her knees, she knelt down at the pond's side and watched with awe-stricken eyes. Inhaling gently, she giggled to herself yet again as she pondered all that had happened in the last two days. Though Koa was hurting, she couldn't say she was too displeased with informing the Konan Emperor of their presence. She wouldn't turn around and suddenly thank her Fire sister, but she was in such a blissful state, she couldn't find the energy to be angry at that point in time.
Suddenly, it came to her attention that other animals were flocking to her. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of squirrels sitting at her side. It seemed as though this Palace was a paradise through her eyes.
Taking a moment to scan her surroundings, she made sure no human was within hearing distance. Once she was sure, she whistled a small tune and turned to the small crowd of forest friends. "Who wants to hear a song?" She asked while she brought her knees to her chest. Taking comfort in the animals' chirping, Mikomi piped up and sang the lullaby Koa had created for her,
"Breezes and thunder
Snowstorms and
rain
Life in our circle,
Links in a chain
Fire to scorn
you
Ice that will freeze
Sunrise to Nightfall
Light glisten
on leaves
The Earth turns
Life goes on
From sadness to
sorrow
Listen to my so—"
The birds nearby suddenly scattered. Jumping up, Mikomi instantly was on guard. While her eyes wandered over the space, she heard a cry of pain to her left. As she turned to look, she laid eyes on a small boy sprawled out a patch of grass, with a small scrape on his knee. Instinctively, she ran over to him and pulled out her antidote powder. Dabbing her fingers against the green powder, she reached out to cleanse the wound. Half way to her destination, the boy opened her eyes and she froze. 'Wait…h-he heard me sing…m-my sister's song?'
In seconds, she was gone.
With Tasuki & Koa…
She walked so shakily, he continued to flinch at each step she took. Her eyes looked lifeless, and with her mind so clustered, even with her usual barrier down, he couldn't comprehend what was troubling her the most. The strong urge to growl arose within him, as he felt useless next to a female again. Shaking his head, he warded away any thoughts about Miaka, and turned to face Koa, ready to attempt to make her smile. Facing her, he opened his mouth to speak, but lowered his upper lip at the sight of her expression. Koa looked to be frightened, and had halted her steps. He was so close to asking her what was wrong, until he heard to voices.
"Koa! It's been a while!"
"Hey Koa, fancy meeting you here."
Koa gasped, "…Sei'ki…and Hyou?"
'Great. More crazy 'family members' to bother us?' was all Tasuki could think.