Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi nor do I own its characters. I am merely borrowing it for this story. It belongs to its creator, Yuu Watase and to those people who bought the rights for it. But I do own Michelle and Ayashi.
Summary: The famous band Scarlet Phoenix is back in Japan from its tour around Europe. The four band members are forced to study in Jonan High while preparing for their next tours and concerts. They bump with two high school girls who, coincidentally, also studies in the same school. Love, friendship and forgotten memories unfold as they get to know each other as well as other people.
Scarlet Phoenix
Chapter 8: Meet Soi-sensei
"Choose where you'd like to seat," Michelle said as she went towards a seat in the middle of the room.
"I hate you, you know that?" Ayashi ground out as she went towards an empty seat on Michelle's left.
"Why thank you, ma chérie. I'm glad to let you know that the feeling is mutual," Michelle chirped.
"If I didn't love you so much I would've…" Ayashi muttered under her breath.
"What!? You mean you're a lesbian!?" Tasuki shouted as his eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
"Urusai bakero!" Ayashi yelled, throwing a book from her bag to his head.
"Ehehe…Tasuki-san, you don't need to tell the whole world about her secret!" Michelle scolded mockingly.
"You too! Zip it!" Ayashi hissed.
"Zip what?" Michelle asked, feigning innocence.
"Your mouth!"
"Uhh…gomen…it doesn't have any zipper in it…" Michelle said, grinning mischievously.
"Ugh! It was a figure of speech!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, and stop pretending that you don't know. You're not stupid and you know it!"
"Really???"
"Stop that!"
"Stop what?"
"If you don't stop, I swear I'll go and tell---" Ayashi threatened.
Michelle's eyes grew wide when she heard Ayashi's threat. "I'll stop! I'll behave! Just don't tell…"
"Huh? Why? What's wrong Hanamoto-san?" Tamahome asked.
Michelle looked away, her bangs covering her eyes, she answered him. "Nothing…it's nothing…"
"Michelle…I'm sorry…I promise I won't tell…" Ayashi apologized, her expression sober.
"It's…fine…" Michelle said quietly. "I think I'll go to the washroom…"
"I'll accompany you…" Ayashi offered.
Michelle shook her head and said, "No…you have to stay with them…it'll cause a really big trouble if we let them stay here on their own."
"Are you sure…?"
"Yeah…don't worry…I'll be fine…"
"Umm…Hanamoto-san? Can I go with you? I also need to go to the washroom…" Tamahome said, scratching the back of his head.
"Huh? Sure…I guess.." Michelle said, turning towards the door.
"Come on," She said over her shoulder.
Tamahome nodded his head and followed her out of the room. They walked down the hallway in silence. Tamahome glanced at her occasionally while she merely kept her gaze fixed between where they were going and the floor. Tamahome cleared his throat and was about to break the silence when Michelle suddenly spoke up.
"We're here. I'll wait for you here in case I finish first. Wait for me when you're done."
Tamahome glanced at the two doors before thanking her and entering the male's washroom. Michelle followed suit, entering the pink door that was for the females.
---Inside the female's washroom---
Michelle glanced at the empty cubicles before leaning against the wall. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it. She kept doing that for several minutes before going to the sink and opening the faucet. She bent down and splashed some water on her face. She straightened and stared at her reflection on the mirror. Her face was paler than usual. Sighing wearily, she took a small medicine box from her skirt's pocket and opened it gingerly. Her eyes scanned its contents before settling on a tiny transparent capsule.
'I wonder…how long…' she thought but she shook her head vehemently. She took the capsule and swallowed it.
'No…I won't think about that…I'll be strong…I won't give up…I'll never give up!' she thought as a determined expression graced her face.
She strode towards the door and went outside, her chin held up high.
---Inside the male's washroom---
Tamahome went towards the sink and washed his hands. As he was drying his hands with hand dryer, his thoughts wandered.
'Michelle…Michelle Hanamoto…even that name sounds vaguely familiar…Mi-chan…where…? Where have I heard that name before…?'
---Flashback---
Laughter could be heard as the background portrayed a beautiful, lush field. The sky was clear with birds occasionally flying across it.
A young Tamahome could be seen laughing as he ran across the field. His smile was warm and happy and it grew as he neared the middle of the field. He waved his hands as he called out the name of the person sitting on the grass. Hearing his voice, the one sitting on the grass looked up and smiled at him brightly.
A bright light was covering that person's face and soon, the whole scene was enveloped with light.
---End of Flashback---
'Huh? Who was I calling? Why couldn't I see that person's face? Who was that? I can't…remember…' Tamahome thought, a confused expression can be seen on his face.
He shook his head and shrugged. "No use trying to remember…I better go now…Michelle might be waiting outside…"
That said, he went out of the washroom.
---Outside the washrooms---
Tamahome found Michelle leaning against an open window. A cool breeze was blowing against her face, her hair moving in rhythm with the wind. Hearing the washroom's door open, she whirled around to see if it was Tamahome. A few strands of her hair were still moving across her face as a warm smile graced her lips.
"Are you finished?" Her soft voice asked, breaking Tamahome's trance.
"Huh?" He asked, dumbfounded.
"I said are you done? Do you want to go back now?" She repeated.
"Oh…" He said, blushing in embarrassment. "Yeah…I'm done…"
"Alright then. Let's go."
Tamahome followed her back to the classroom meekly. They were only a few steps away from the classroom when he abruptly spoke.
"Umm…Hanamoto-san?"
"Hmm?"
"Uhh…do you mind if I call you Michelle-san instead of Hanamoto-san? I don't really feel comfortable with being formal and all…" He said, his eyes fixed on the floor.
Michelle stopped walking and half-turned to him. With a bright smile she answered him. "Sure. I don't mind at all. To be honest, I also dislike being too formal. You can call me Michelle or anything else that you fancy."
Tamahome looked up and smiled at her gratefully. "Thanks! By the way, you can call me Tamahome if you want."
"Sure! Well then, Tamahome-kun, we had better get back in there before they start a search party for us!" She said, her eyes dancing with mirth as they continued towards the door.
"Yeah…I wouldn't want Tasuki to go hysterical. That would cause such a ruckus!" Tamahome said, feigning concern.
Michelle grinned and said, "Yeah, he loves you so much that I bet he'll lead the search party!"
"You think? I thought he might just simply go alone to look for us and leave the search party."
"Aww…he's so sweet isn't he?"
"Yup! Sweeter than honey!"
"What do you think he'll say if he hears us talking about him like this?"
"Uhh…he'll keep yelling till he looses his voice?"
"Hmm…I thought so too." Michelle remarked as she opened the door.
"I'm glad the two of you finally decided to get back to class." A mild female voice remarked.
"Ehhh? Oh, Soi-sensei…uhh…ohayo?" Michelle greeted, as a huge sweat drop appeared on the back of her head.
"Ohayo," Soi answered curtly. "Please take a seat."
Tamahome followed Michelle across the classroom where the only seats available were the ones on Amiboshi's right in the front row. Tamahome sat on Michelle's right side as she sat beside Amiboshi.
Michelle glanced around the room, looking for Ayashi and the others. She saw Ayashi seated between Tasuki and Hotohori a few seats behind them. Suboshi was seated on Amiboshi's left side. A light tap on her back made her turn her head around. She hadn't noticed that Nuriko was seated right behind her. She gave him a friendly smile and turned back just in time as the teacher began to speak once again.
"Okay class, for those of you who do not know me, I am Soi-sensei and I shall be teaching you the subject Mathematics." Soi announced calmly. "Are there any questions?"
When none answered she continued to speak. "I heard that there are six new international students here in this class. Please stand up and introduce yourselves."
Tamahome, Hotohori, Tasuki, Nuriko, Amiboshi and Suboshi all stood up and went in front of the class. Tamahome took a step forward and began to introduce himself.
"Hi everyone!" The girls in the class screamed. "You all know me by the name Tamahome right?"
"Uh-huh," The girls nodded their heads as they began to drool.
"Well my real name is Sou Kishuku and I'm the lead singer of the band 'Scarlet Phoenix' and I'm 17 years old. Nice to meet all of you!" Tamahome finished, giving them a killer smile.
The girls swooned right then and there.
Tamahome took a step back and Hotohori introduced himself next. "Good day to you all. My real name is Seishuku Saihitei but you can all call me Hotohori. I'm the band's keyboardist and I'm also 17 years old. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."
"Hotohori-sama!!!" The girls squealed, their eyes turning into hearts.
Nuriko spoke up after him. "Hey guys! I'm Chou Ryuuen also known as Nuriko, the band's drummer and like Tamahome and Hotohori, I'm also 17 years old." He gave them a wink then he turned to Tasuki and nudged him. "You're next Tasuki!"
"Nuriko-chan is so hot!" The girls commented, nodding their heads.
"Hmph! I don't wanna," Tasuki replied stubbornly. Nuriko glared at him and he sweat dropped before sighing in defeat. "Alright, alright. The name's Kou Shun'u a.k.a. Tasuki, I'm the guitarist of the band and I'm 17 like the others."
"Aww! Tasuki-kun is so cool! Don't worry Tasuki-kun! We still love you!" The girls swore with their facial expression serious and determined.
Tamahome snickered at the forlorn expression on Tasuki's face while Hotohori coughed slightly and Nuriko merely grinned.
"Next!" Soi said impatiently, annoyed at the constant interruptions of the girls.
"Umm…my name is Bu Koutoku a.k.a. Amiboshi and this is my younger twin brother Bu Shunkaku a.k.a. Suboshi. We're from Scotland and we're both 16 years old." Amiboshi said, gesturing towards Suboshi.
"Aww…they're so kawaii!" The female population of the class chorused.
"All right then. Let's begin class," Soi announced firmly as a chorus of groans could be heard from the class.
Author's Notes:
Hi everyone! I updated yet again! What do you think of this chapter? I'd love to hear from all of you readers out there. I'll update again as soon as I can. Anyway, reviews, comments, criticisms, recommendations, suggestions for the songs to be used in the story and suggestions for the pairings, etc. are welcomed except for ill words. I don't take too kindly about it. Please leave a review! Anonymous readers can also review this story now; I fixed it up so please kindly review! Please? I would really, really appreciate it! Thanks in advance!Thanks to Fiction101 for the reviewing chapter 6 and 7 and thanks to Alyssa for reviewing chapter 7! Thank you very much!!! Constructive criticisms are also welcomed.