Phoenix Ashes
A Fushigi Yuugi story by otaku-no-miko
Length: I was shooting for under 20, but now probably 20-30 chapters
Pairings: None yet...
Rating: T overall; G for this chapter. I controlled my potty mouth! Only two swears!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi; all rights belong to Yuu Watase and her associates.
Author's Notes: (July 1 2013)
Okay, this interlude chapter was difficult. It's important to the entire theme of the story and tying everything together, and I don't want to mess up. Hopefully my last chapter helped clarify this timeline thing a little more.
I also edited the previous chapters to add in placeholders. I'm hoping these placeholders help to keep things a little straighter!
Oh! And since MercuryMoon asked a couple of OTHER awesome questions...
~ The book is in Chinese because in the first episode of the series, Miaka makes a comment something to the effect of "wow, how cool Yui! You can read Ancient Chinese!", and I believe it was explained that Keisuke could read it because he majored in Ancient Chinese History in college. I'm adding in here my own idea that Miaka and co. learned to (somewhat) read Ancient Chinese after the events of the main series.
~ I tried to answer the second part of this question with my previous chapter. As to the first...keeping the Chinese/Japanese straight is/was an issue for me, as an American author, writing an English-language fanfiction about a Japanese anime/manga based on a Chinese myth ^_^' Please forgive me!
~From what I noticed when I lived in Japan, "san" was a term generally saved either for people you didn't know well, or for older people. Or for Americans to use liberally for every single Japanese person they met :P
~ I liked the name Phoenix Ashes for the symbolism. The name also acts as an anvil-sized hint as to where the ending of this story will be, by the way. Shouka's necklace will have some significance, but it's not magical or anything unfortunately, I'm not that clever. Mostly it's purpose is exactly what it seems to be – that is, a memento for Chosei.
Alright, so now we're checking back in with Future-Yui and her daughter, and seeing how the story has progressed in her life. Don't worry, there'll only be a couple of these "check in" chapters!
Interlude 1
::Modern Day Tokyo, 2011::
...Yui considered herself very, very composed under pressure. Nothing the world could throw at her would make her bat an eye.
Except raising a ten year old.
Said ten year old was staring dully out the car window, dirty blonde hair mussed and falling out of it's neat braid. In the glass she could see the slight swelling of her daughter's lip and her cut cheek, the blood not yet coagulated.
"What could have possibly possessed you to get in a fight, Yuri?"
Silence. Yuri had perfected a teenager's sullen pout at the age of eight and these days she seemed to live with the expression 24/7. Unfortunately for her, Yui had been a sullen ten year old once herself. She pulled the car over, the gentle bump of her tires leaving pavement startling Yuri to look at her mother with dread.
Yui held her daughter's gaze, eyes cool, and remained silent herself. The soft drumming of rain on the car's roof and their breathing was finally broken by the younger Kajiwara sighing heavily, crossing her arms and looking away.
"You don't understand. They all tease me, every day." Eyes hard, Yuri glared past her mother and out the driver's window, as if she could see her classmates outside the vehicle. "I'm not Japanese, I'm a four-eyes, I'm a goody-goody..."
Yui had to fight to keep the smile off her face. Insults really hadn't changed much since she was small. Her mother had been Swedish by birth, which had given Yui her unusual coloration and build, and she'd been hated for it throughout her years of schooling. (It was actually mutual misery through teasing that had bonded her and Miaka – Miaka had been rather chubby for a lot of their childhood.) She'd heard a lot of the same cruel remarks Yuri was getting now.
"Yuri, you know what they say about teasing?"
The preteen sniffled a little. "What?"
"People tease us and hurt us because they covet what they don't have. Your classmates are envious of you."
Yuri snorted.
"Right, because everybody wants to look like Yuri the freak." She muttered self-conciously, looking out the window again.
"I think 'Yuri the freak' is cute." Yui told her daughter firmly, smoothing Yuri's hair gently. "And what about Calder? He seems to think you're cute too..."
Calder was a new student to Yuri's class, a quiet eleven-year-old from Scotland with light brown hair, honey colored eyes, and a soft stutter. Yuri looked appalled that her mother had even said anything.
"Yeah, because that would make things soooo much better, kaa-san. 'Hey look, the two foreign freaks are dating'!"
Yui shook her head wryly. She had forgotten the number one rule of raising a preteen: the mother is never right.
She switched tactics as she pulled back onto the highway, glancing sideways at her pouting daughter.
"You know, Yuri-chan, your kaa-san used to get teased a lot too. But some of those people turned out to be my very best friends."
Yuri was quiet now. Yui continued.
"In fact, for a while I even thought one of my friends hated me because he was so mean to me. It turned out he didn't though; he actually liked me a lot."
"This is the 'wari story again, isn't it." Yuri tried to sound bored, but the undercurrent of interest was there. In response, Yui flashed her a grin.
"Maybe. Would you like to hear how we became friends?"
Yuri thought a moment before shaking her head yes.
"Well, when your kaa-san first met Tasuki-kun, she didn't like him one bit, and the feeling was mutual..."
::Bandit Stronghold, Reikaku-zan::
Yui muttered a dark stream of words as she stalked around the corner, following the giggles. She hated onigokku. Hated it.
Tasuki, however, was much more vocal in his distaste, poking his head out from a storage room and groaning loudly to find only Yui, not the wayward child they'd been searching for.
"Where'n the ever-lovin' hell did th' kid go?"
"Beats me." She answered exasperatedly. "Weren't you the one watching him, anyway?"
Tasuki glared at her, the expression somewhat childish on his angular face. "Runt said he wanted ta play a game...I fig'red th' little guy meant go or a card game...'n I didn't think he 'n Mitsu' would both bust out..."
The reply was only half to her, and mostly in grumbled undertones.
"Well, at least there aren't many hiding places here, right?" Yui responded dryly, rolling her eyes. Tasuki's jaw set.
"Hey, don't be blamin' th' fucking architecture on me. Let's find 'Chiri, mebbe he had better luck."
Chosei could barely contain his laugh, the joyous sound coming out as more of a muffled snort. They hadn't found him! He'd been sure when Tasuki had poked his head into the room he'd be seen, but the bandit leader had seemed more interested in arguing with Yui than checking the corners of the room, and had missed the twelve-year-old's shadow in the corner.
He shared a glance with Temujin, the four-year-old hidden within a sack of grain. Well, he corrected, he was looking where he thought Temu was – the little boy was completely invisible, he only knew where he was because he'd watched the other boy hide. He shifted slightly, his shadow bouncing along the wall. Unnoticed by the teenager was the other, taller shadow merging with his own...
"So this is where you hid na no da."
Chichiri's good eye smiled down at the teenager, who pouted at being found out.
"Don't tell Yui-san, Chichiri, please. She'll make me stay in bed again, and I feel tons better!"
"She's just worried about you no da." The mage pointed out gently. The twelve-year-old's frown softened, but only slightly.
"Five more minutes?"
Chichiri smiled down at the mussed boy. "Five more minutes na no da."
Besides, the bonding time will be good for Yui-san and Tasuki-kun no da.
"This is all your fault you know."
Tasuki barked out a laugh. "Oh really? If t'weren't fer you, Miko-san, we wouldn't have runts 'n my hideout."
Yui's eyes flashed. "You're right. I definitely chose to be sucked into this gods-forsaken book again."
"Upset 'cause yer precious shogun ain't here?"
The blonde whirled, poking Tasuki hard in the chest; Tasuki took a startled half-step back, hand reflexively on his tessen.
"Don't you dare bring him up." The words were growled, low and dangerous. "Unlike Miaka, I never wanted to come back to this place. You know nothing about my time here or about me."
She stalked around a corner, nearly bowling Chichiri over in her haste to leave. He blinked, looking from the disappearing young woman back to the bandit before sighing heavily.
"What'd you say no da?"
"Nothin'! I dunno, 'Chiri, women 'r crazy!"
The mage leveled his gaze on the younger man, brow quirked upwards. Tasuki held the gaze defiantly for a beat, then lowered amber eyes, scoffing.
"I jus' mentioned one-a her seishi..."
Chichiri placed a hand on Tasuki's shoulder. "And...?"
"An' she went nuts! You saw!"
The eyebrow remained raised, and Chichiri fell silent again.
"...ya really gotta stop doin' that, 'Chiri." Tasuki gestured down the hall Yui had gone down. "I guess bringin' Nakago up wasn't th' smartest thing ever...how was I s'posed ta know she'd be so touchy 'bout it?"
Chichiri didn't respond; there was an undercurrent of amusement hiding in the warm mahoghany.
"Tch! You 'n yer monk tricks...fine, guess I can 'pologize 'r somethin'." Tasuki added the last part with a dark glare to his older companion, who finally smiled innocently.
"Wha-at no da? It's no good if I tell you what to do!"
"Yer insufferable, yanno that?"
"Hai na no da!"
The water rippled with each leaf Yui dropped in, her reflection distorting and waving. Water normally gave her peace, but it wasn't working right now. All she could see was that nightmare, the swirling water, the screaming children...one of them with Nakago's face.
She and the shogun had definitely not parted on the best terms. Although at the end, she had learned of his sad childhood and the trauma he'd survived, a secret part of Yui could not forgive him for manipulating her as he had. It was that anger that had led her to defy his wishes and unseal Suzaku, instead of granting his final wish.
But...it was odd, to be in this world without him. Konan, Kutou...her memory of this place was colored through the hazy memory of his eyes. He had in a strange way defined her teen years, and Yui had found herself more than once searching for his unyielding gaze as a familiar sight in this unfamiliar land.
Tasuki had no right to bring him up like that, she thought bitterly, tossing a rock this time.
" 'Ey there, Miko-san."
Speak of the devil. Tasuki's bright red mane joined her reflection, and Yui sniffed.
"Do you need something, Tasuki-san?" Yui tried to keep her voice cool and level, unaffected, but couldn't control the childish impulse to pout. Tasuki seemed to silently fume before speaking again.
"...look, ah, I ain't good at this 'pologizin' stuff, Miko-san. Jus'...ya ain't Miaka, yanno? 'N I know ya had it rough here before, an' I know you 'n Miaka are friends again but...'s all gonna take some gettin' used to. 'Chiri seems to trust ya, though, so...I will too."
::Past Tokyo::
Miaka breathed a sigh of relief, trading the small leather book for a glass of water. Tasuki, her harebrained, most ardent protector, had never seemed to forgive Yui the way the other seishi did. He was so stubbornly loyal to the safety of her heart, he'd refused to believe Miaka could let Yui back in after the horrible events of their first adventure. While his understanding of her heartache - and of Miaka's capacity for forgiveness - had risen by the time Hikari was born, Miaka still wasn't sure her fifth seishi had ever truly absolved Yui of her guilt.
Well, hopefully Tasuki-kun will learn to love Yui-chan the way I do, Miaka thought to herself with a smile. Yui deserves someone to take care of her the way he has always taken care of me.
She made to hand the book to Taka...and noticed her husband was sound asleep, curled up on the arm of the futon. None of their little group had gotten much sleep last night - he must have been exhausted. With a fond smile, she re-opened the book, finding the newest page and beginning the slow process of translation to herself.
"The Lady Yui met with her strange young ward, ready to reveal his destiny as the Celestial Warrior Ashitare..."
::Reikaku-zan::
It had taken another two hours and ten more bandits to find the wayward Temujin, who growled and snarled as he was wrested from his hiding place like a wild animal. The little boy looked much more human with his wounds almost healed; long, dark curls hid his bright brown eyes, and when he growled, sharpened canines (not unlike Tasuki's fangs) could be seen.
Now, though, Yui was seated calmly across from her angry new seishi, watching silently over a cup of tea as the young boy yowled and searched for an unblocked exit. After a few fruitless minutes, he turned back to her, chocolate colored eyes pleading.
"I's wanna go home home. Where am I?"
So he can speak, Yui mused to herself. She offered the boy a smile.
"I'm not sure. What city do you live in?"
The little boy gave her a Look, distrusting of her smile. Smiles meant flashing, snarling teeth and pain. At least, they did with the wolves.
"...Touran. I live in Touran-ran. Where are we?"
The last sentence came out more as a whine, the young boy stamping his foot plaintively.
Oh dear. Yui glanced at Chichiri. who had quietly entered a few moments ago, for an answer.
"Touran is in Hokkan no da."
"What? Isn't Hokkan...on the complete opposite side of this world?"
Chichiri shrugged a shoulder. "Somewhat na no da. It's a long journey."
Ashitare mewled then, bringing the attention of the two adults back to him. "Where am I? Home is far away?!"
Chichiri and Yui shared a glance. This time Chichiri was the one to respond to the small child, placing a hand on his shoulder. The young boy snarled low in his throat, surprised by the friendly touch, but said nothing.
"It's okay. We can take you home." Chichiri's voice had shifted back into what Yui was calling his "counselor" tone - the same soft, deep baritone that had calmed her when she'd first arrived in this world. "But it might take a while, and it might be a little bit scary no da. Can you be brave and patient for us?"
Temujin didn't respond, and at first Yui didn't think he had understood Chichiri's words. Finally the little boy yawned.
"If home is far away then Temujin will be brave. But we leave after nap-nap."
Yui chuckled.
"Okay."
Tasuki frowned, pushing back the detailed area map in front of him.
"There's nothin' doin', 'Chiri. Th' main route to Eiyou was flooded out a few months ago an' still hasn't been repaired."
Chichiri twisted the map around, looking at it critically. "What about doubling back to Choukou, no da?"
"Adds 't least a moon ta travel time." The bandit scoffed. "Why 'xactly don't ya wan' ta transport us all again?"
"Teleporting two, maybe three passengers is easy...but five? Over that distance?" Chichiri shook his head.
Yui re-entered the room at the tail end of their conversation. She had watched as Temujin fell asleep, to make sure her youngest seishi and newest travelling companion wasn't going to decide to play hide and seek again. Folding her legs under her torso, she glanced inquisitively at the map Tasuki and Chichiri were poring over, then pointed.
"Wait, didn't you transport Miaka and Tasuki-kun from here to Kutou when...I was here last time?"
Chichiri nodded slowly. "Yes no da..."
"Then why can't we do that?" Yui asked incredulously. Tasuki almost looked amused.
"See, 'Chiri, Miko-san here thinks it's a good idea. Guess it's worth a shot then, eh?"
The transportation hadn't been the hard part, Yui mused. The five of them had joined hands and Chichiri had instructed them to concentrate on Eiyou while he whispered soft incantations into the night air. With a final, sharp word (wait, was that French?!), the kesa flew high in the air, the ground it struck seeming to shimmer and dance. With a small pop, they stepped in one by one, and the world shifted uncomfortably sideways.
No, the transportation hadn't been the difficult part...but the landing had been brutal.
Yui had been lucky enough to fall on top of Tasuki, who's body broke her fall. Tasuki's fall, however, had been broken by a merchant's stall, fruit scattering and rolling around their feet. Chosei had crashed into a cart of citrus, which exploded mightily and showered the poor young boy in sticky fruit juices. Temujin was currently chasing one of the rolling apples, much to the amusement of the ever-growing crowd of onlookers.
And Chichiri was adjusting his kasa, careful to avoid the gaze of his companions as he stepped gingerly out of the doorway he'd appeared in.
The merchant - a short, stocky woman with a scar running along her cheek - marched up to the monk, poking his chest viciously.
"Now, listen here, Suzaku no Chichiri! This is the third time you've destroyed my stall! I've lost half my customers because people think they're likely to be flattened by a flying monk!"
"Daaa...I'm sorry, Rei-san..."
"You bet your magical flying butt you are!"
Yui poked Tasuki, the bandit pausing in his readjustment of his belt. "Does this happen often?"
Tasuki scoffed, waving a dismissing hand at the mage, who was now being dragged into a nearby building by the irate shopkeep. "Eh, 's nothin' ta worry 'bout, Miko-san. Rei-san'll give 'im an earful, 'Chiri'll repay 'er fer the damages, an' we'll be at th' palace by nightfall."
::Modern Day Tokyo::
Yui decided not to inform Tetsuya of their daughter's violent tendencies until after the young girl had been sent to her room to do homework. She reasoned that he would be less likely to dramatize the entire event on a full stomach.
She had underestimated her husband's affinity for overacting.
"Yui, hun, one fight can easily become two, then five, then getting kicked out of school..."
"Tetsuyaaaaaa." She soothed, working her thumbs into his shoulder; it had the intended effect, stopping the man from his involved rant and quieting him. "Yuri made a mistake. She's ten. I doubt she'll be getting into another fight any time soon."
They were quiet together for a moment, the only sound the distant tinny hum of the radio in Yuri's bedroom.
"Raising a kid is hard. Why did we sign up for this again?"
Yui's comforting shoulder rub stopped abruptly, and she flicked Tetsuya lightly behind one ear. "You're the one that wanted a child!"
"Was I drunk? Or temporarily insane? Is it too late to return her - OW, Yui, love, I'm joking!"
End Chapter 6
Finally done!
A couple notes:
- I hope Tasuki's accent isn't too troublesome. I'm trying to find a good balance with my dropped letters, so that it remains legible. My rough rule of thumb has been to read it aloud and drop letters where it feels right, but what works for me may not work for everyone!
- While I look back now and cringe at the writing that comprises of my original draft, I did have a few shining moments of brilliance. The line "don't blame the fucking architecture on me" is one of those moments.
- Am I the only one that feels like there should be a little speech bubble that says "Bandit Tasuki has joined your party!" after Tasuki's apology to Yui? Or do I play too many video games?
- The last scene in Tokyo was added hopefully as an "anchor", to bring us back full-circle and end the madness that is the Interlude scene. Please let me know if it was confusing!
(This Interlude thing is important to the Epilogue/Final Chapter, which I have had planned in my head since before this entire story was written)
Oh, and for the astute, there's a Doctor Who reference hiding in the end of this chapter. ;)
Anyway, I'd love your opinions on any of the aforementioned things, or on my timeline :) I'll keep trucking away on Chapter 7, and who knows, maybe this next chapter will take less than 6 months to complete! :P
As always, I remain
otaku
