Alright, so this is the next chapter. There will be a lot more about Izaya herself and about where in the Fushigi Yuugi story line that this is at in this one, so I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: The only character I own is my OC, Izaya.
Without any more delay, here's the next chapter.~~~~~
It was some time before Nakago actually intended to introduce her to the Emperor of Kuto. Part of this was due to her physical condition. Despite her supposed, verbal admission to fitness, her body itself said otherwise. She was somewhere between lean and gaunt, her features holding lines that could often be seen in homeless men in the bad side of the capital. Not only that, but a few days after awakening from her unconscious state she became ill with a fever. Several doctor visits later the military captain had been made aware of two or three deficiency types and a cold that were bogging down her physical being along with her simple, blatant malnutrition as one expert put it. Given medicine, vitamin tables, and a suggested diet to put her back at proper health, it was some time before she actually started showing the signs of getting better.
The other half of the reason that Nakago held back at introducing her to the Emperor was for something a little more. . .well, unfix-able might be the right way to put it. He hadn't realized when first speaking to Izaya just how deep her lack there of politeness ran. That all changed two days later, finding her huddled amongst some of his soldiers exchanging vulgar jokes and miming slapstick comedy. As much as his soldiers enjoyed hearing the strange young girl out cuss one of their greenhorns, it rather made the idea of presenting her to the Emperor for a proper introduction something rather daunting to say the least.
Still, she would need to meet with him at some point and preferably soon, because word of her presence had been spreading like wild fire. First the soldiers, followed shortly there after by the cleaning staff and the cooks thanks to her necessary dietary changes. Izaya herself didn't make hiding her presence an altogether easy task either. True, the majority of the time she was eating or sleeping, but when she wasn't doing these she was wandering around. At first she simply meandered around the barracks, finding soldiers that were off duty to talk to and pass the time with. Oddly enough, the men greatly enjoyed her company once they got passed the initial fear of her lashing out like she had back in the alleyway.
Hiding her wouldn't have been such a problem if she'd stuck to this. However, it wasn't long after that that she began pushing the boundaries, going to the kitchen to ask for snacks from the cooks when she was feeling hungry and following around cleaning girls to talk with them as they worked. Of course the next step was simply wandering around by herself, which she was doing by the end of the first month. How Nakago had managed to keep her from being discovered by the entirety of the rest of the Palace was something of a mystery to all those who considered it after the fact.
During that time, Nakago had also picked up on a few of her . . .habits of sorts. The first and perhaps most bizarre of them had come as a complete shock during the middle of the third week of hiding her. Having found Izaya missing from her room yet again, the regular low key search for her had begun like always. Not finding her with any of his soldiers, Nakago made a stop at the kitchen next, finding that it was a typical spot for her to go if none of his men were up for entertaining her for a few hours. It was almost like a routine and when he'd asked the kitchen staff, they had admitted that she was with them. Taking him to her, they'd all been surprised to find her curled up like a cat, sleeping contently on top of several bags of rice.
From then on, Izaya was found in a multitude of odd places and positions, sleeping the day away in most cases. These included the armory,
any of the handful of soldier practice grounds within the palace walls, the guard towers along the palace walls themselves, the floor of her room, the floor of empty guest rooms, the storage room for the kitchen, but her absolute favorite stop to fall asleep was the Temple of Seiryu. In almost every new place she could be found sleeping in she could also be found sleeping in a different position. Curling up on sacks of rice, upright, hand on her chin with sharpened spears beside her, sprawled out flat on her back in the grass, arms over her head on her stomach, cheek resting against the floor. It had turned into a game of sorts for the soldiers to show off the newest Izaya sleep position of choice just as the regular searches had turned into something more like games of hide-and-seek with the girl. This was only one of many of the odd behaviors that Rin Izaya exhibited.
Finally, the day came to introduce her to the Emperor. That particular day Nakago was assigned to boarder patrol in the early morning. He planned to introduce Izaya later that evening, preferably after the Emperor was finished with his meal and was enjoying a bit of leisure before bed. However, during his patrol Nakago had picked up a young girl. According to the men guarding the boarder she had claimed that she was the Priestess of Seiryu. Judging by her clothes, Nakago had taken a guess as to whom she was and quickly had her escorted to the palace. Once there, he had presented her to the Emperor immediately, then finally having Izaya brought out into the open as well.
A perfect plan, some would call it.
Upon the sight of the other girl, Izaya's gray eyes had grown wide, her attention snagged as she observed the other girl carefully for a few moments. " Those clothes. . .are you-?"
" So it's true!" the other girl exclaimed instantly walking up to Izaya and extending her hands in greeting, dropping the bag that she'd had slung over her shoulder to the ground as she approached with a smile on her face. " There was another girl from my world here." Izaya gave the other girl a blank stare in return, as though the other girl had spoken at her in a foreign language. " My name's Miaka Yuki." Still looking a little baffled, Izaya extended her hand and shook it with one of Miaka's hands.
" Rin Izaya." she murmured back with a warm smile on her lips. Miaka, still smiling widely at Izaya, nodded her head.
" Please to meet you, Rin-" was what Miaka began to say.
" Izaya." blinking, Miaka gave a befuddled look at Izaya for this curt interruption. A few seconds later, her facial features having gained a tighter appearance to them, the gray eyed girl repeated. " Call me Izaya." Then, stiffly, she released Miaka's hand, Miaka seeming confused, but didn't question Izaya further on the subject. In the meantime, the rest of those around to witness the introduction of the two supposed Priestesses of Seiryu were murmuring amongst themselves.
" But then. . . which one is the Priestess of Seiryu?" they fretted until Nakago answered the question for them, finding the Suzaku's Shi Jin Tenchi Sho. The commotion that followed was what one might expect. As the guards encroached on the two girls, Miaka drew closer to Izaya, gazing around and holding to the front of the other girl's thin white shirt. Izaya, meanwhile, was simply looking back at the guards. She'd seen them for the past few months, knew them as they knew her, perhaps giving her a feeling of security.
Either way, they were interrupted by another guard reporting to Nakago about a disturbance at the palace entrance, an opportunity that Miaka took advantage of. Shoving the nearest guards out of the way, she forced her way free, running down the halls while dragging Izaya along by the arm. When they had finally stopped moving, hiding in one of the side rooms, Miaka gave a sigh of relief and smiled at Izaya.
" That was a close one, wasn't it Ri-" Miaka's voice cut off when Izaya sent a glare at her. " -Izaya." Frowning still, Izaya ran a hand through the short stocks of black hair on her head giving a sigh.
" Yeah, um, why exactly did you come here?" she inquired, voice holding an almost disinterested tone as she faced Miaka. Miaka blinked at her, seeming befuddled yet again and Izaya rolled her eyes.
" I came to rescue you." the other girl answered and Izaya crossed her arms, raising a brow and giving Miaka a long stare for a few moments.
" Rescue-me?" she echoed back the words slowly, as though not sure she'd quite heard right. Smiling, Miaka nodded in answer.
" Yeah, these people are trying to force you into becoming the Priestess of Seiryu, aren't they?" she inquired and Izaya nodded her head once in response. " And you've also heard about the war that they're trying to start with Konan and everything, right?" Once more, Izaya nodded, arms still crossed, looking anything but convinced at that point. Miaka's cheeks puffed up and she waved her arms around as she went on. " Well, doesn't all that sound really bad to you? Lots of people could get hurt!" Placing a finger to her chin, Izaya raised her head and gazed at the ceiling.
" Yeah, I guess they could." she agreed, finally nodding her head. " That's no good; we need to find a way out of here then." Miaka gave a smile, nodding her head as Izaya finally inched a bit further into hiding. The short haired girl glanced out around the side of the curtain, looking down the hallway one direction and then the other.
While she was searching, Miaka observed her. She noticed right away that Izaya was actually around her brother's age, or maybe a year or two younger; 20 years old. Seeing the many piercings that the older girl had on her ears, Miaka's eyes drifted down, and were drawn to a bit of black ink that showed around the bottom of Izaya's t-shirt. Grabbing onto Izaya's arm, she pulled up on the short sleeve, revealing the face of the dragon. It glared up at Miaka, the Suzaku priestess taking a step back. When she raised her head, she found the older girl glaring down at her.
" Can I help you?" Izaya cleared her throat, frowning, her brows arched downward. Taking another step back, Miaka waved her hands back and forth in front of herself, flustered.
" Excuse me! I didn't mean to intrude, but," lowering her eyes she pointed at the tattoo, prompting, " they didn't-?"
" I got this guy long before I came to this world." Izaya cut her off half way, baring her teeth in a wolfish grin as she patted the face of the dragon on her arm and added. " Pretty cool, isn't he? The rest of his body runs along my back, see?" As she began to yank her shirt up to try and show Miaka however, the younger girl quickly stopped her, face turning pink.
" Izaya, we don't have time for this! We need to find a way out of here!" she insisted. In response, Izaya gave a scowl, placing a hand on her hip and glaring at Miaka all the more.
" Then how do you propose that we get out of here?" was the question she offered in retort, shrugging her shoulders as she glanced over her shoulder out into the hallway. " The guards that are running around out there aren't push overs you know; they're well trained, I know it for a fact. We're not going to be able to fight our way out of here." Nodding, Miaka frowned, crossing her arms. She turned her head to one side, then to the other. Raising an index finger, she opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again. Frowning all the more, she placed a hand on her chin, raised an index finger again, the slumped completely.
" No idea." she answered, dismal, her downward stare preventing her from seeing Izaya roll her eyes.
Instead, she gave a sigh, running a hand through her short black grabbed Miaka by the arm and began dragging her down the hall at a run. " Well, we won't get anywhere standing around here; come on! I think this way leads towards one of the back doors out of here."
From there, Izaya began to lead the way out, slipping from one room and hiding stop to the next. Whenever a guard came close, Izaya waved a hand at Miaka, placing a finger to her lip to keep the other girl from speaking until the danger of discovery had passed. Around each corner that they turned, she would peak out around it first, checking for anyone first and foremost before speaking out into the open. More then once she gave Miaka a set of instructions about how to follow, warning the Suzaku priestess about creaky floor boards as they went.
" You're really good at this, Izaya." Miaka commented at one point, finally being given the signal to speak once more from the older girl. Turning, Izaya gave a dry smile back at her younger counter part, silent for a moment. Then, she focused forwards once again, it was only once she'd taken a good look around that she finally gave an answer.
" You have no idea." this answer was met with a blank stare from Miaka. However, Izaya didn't say anything more, instead shoving Miaka back into hiding, pressing her back against the standing decoration as several more guards moved past. Blinking, Miaka peaked out around the side of their hiding space.
" More guards." she murmured, Izaya shushing as she yanked the younger girl back into hiding again.
" Do you want to get caught?" hissing, Izaya shook her head, carefully glancing out around the standing painting herself. The guards had passed, but Izaya still gave a sigh, placing a hand over her heart. " At this rate we're not even going to make it outside, let alone out of the palace grounds-"
" AHHH!" Miaka's suddenly exclamation caused Izaya to jump. Body tensed, she turned to give a long stare at the other girl. " I forgot the Shi Jin Tenchi Sho! There are the clues for the other three constellations! I have to get it back from that guy!" Then, before Izaya could stop her, Miaka stepped out into the open, right as another guard was making his way down the hallway. He glanced over, spotting Miaka just as Izaya snatched her by the arm.
" Idiot! Get back here-!"
" You two-!" the guard's shout was cut off abruptly as he was sent crashing to the floor. Behind where the guard had just been, was a young man, dripping wet, both of his hands rolled into fists and held aloft.
" Ta-Tamahome!" said by Miaka, Izaya blinked, frowning at the young girl. This didn't last long as Miaka quickly hide behind Izaya, scrunching up, looking as though she would've liked nothing more then to evaporate into the air around them.
" Miaka!" the boy was tall compared to Izaya, whom was already about two inches taller then Miaka. His dark hair clung to his neck and face, damp from the rain that had been coming down outside for a little while by that time. Frowning slightly, Izaya linked her gray eyes with the gray eyes of the boy before her. His blue clothes were held to his body by a bright red belt around his waist, dark pants and flat shoes finishing off his wardrobe. Placing a hand on her hip, a smirked pulled across Izaya's lips as she gazed at him steadily. " Ah." after a second he blinked, then seemed to take notice of Izaya's unwavering stare. Shifting from one foot to the other, he reached up and scratched the back of his wet head. " Um, hello?"
" Hi," Izaya greeted back in return, abruptly side stepping, putting Miaka straight in front of Tamahome, " I'm guessing you're a friend of her's, right?" Blinking, he looked from Miaka to Izaya, nodding his head slowly after a second. " Then you take her. She's so hopeless that I can't take babysitting her for any longer." Scowling, Miaka crossed her arms, glaring at Izaya. However, the older girl was already sweeping past the two of them, back into the hallway.
" Hey, wait, where are you going?" the boy inquired, and Izaya glanced at him over her shoulder.
" To get your Shi Jin Tenchi Sho from Nakago." she sniffed, jerking a thumb as Miaka. " Your little priestess came here to 'rescue' me and ended up losing the thing to the Kuto military general. Since they all think I'm the priestess of Seiryu, the guards won't hurt me, and Nakago won't deny me the Shi Jin Tenchi Sho if I ask for it, so there's nothing to worry about." Turning, she walked out into the hallway at her leisure, waving her hand in the air as she went. " I'll be back in a little bit." Then, she left them there, as simply as that.~~
She found Nakago fairly quickly. A cluster of soldiers stood around him and he was organizing the men into different search parties. Several of the men around shouted and pointed as she approached, eventually leading Nakago to follow their index fingers to where she was. A smirk played across her lips as she swaggered up to the collection of men. Placing a hand on her hip, she popped it to the side, gazing steadily up into Nakago's eyes.
" Hey." she said, Nakago holding her eyes as evenly as she held his. His mouth was drawn into a tight line, making his expression seem angry. If this was truly how he felt at the time remained to be seen. When he spoke his tone was level, difficult to read.
" Where have you been?" he insisted, a short pause following his words. During that time, Izaya's eyes moved up and down Nakago's form, taking inventor of him or so it seemed. After a second, she hummed, turning her head to the right while switching her hips, popping the left to the side, but keeping her hand on her right one. Then, finally she shrugged.
" No where in particular. Just around, like usual." was her answer for him. The smirk on her face widened when the lines on the military man's face deepened. " Anyways, you have the copy of the Shi Jin Tenchi Sho that that girl from earlier brought with her right?" Laying out a hand, palm facing upward, between the two of them, she finished. " Can I have it? It's kind of important, you know?"
For a second, the stern expression on Nakago's face remained. Then, suddenly, his face took a different turn; except for his arching brows, his facial features relaxed. Leaning forwards, he lowered himself so that their eyes could be on an equal level, a smirk of his own coming to his lips.
" Just what is it that you're up to, Miss Izaya?" he inquired, raising a brow at her. Forcing her still upward facing hand between the two of them, Izaya simply smiled all the more, miming his action with her own brow.
" Izaya," she insisted, " just Izaya." Scowling, Nakago took the Suzaku priestess' copy of Shi Jin Tenchi Sho out from a pack on his belt. As he pressed it into the palm of Izaya's hand, he placed his other hand against the pillar, hall pinning her skinny, small frame against it due to his broader, bulkier form. " Nothing that you'd be interested in, I'm sure; just a little game." she answered, chipper fingers curling around the scroll as she slowly slipped it out of his grasp. As the scroll fell from Nakago's hand, he grabbed her by the chin, jerking her head upward, holding her face close; too close.
" A game?"
" Yep," as she answered, instead of backing up against the pillar, to be as far from Nakago as she could possibly get, Izaya instead leaned forwards, " and a show." Moving her arm back and stuffing the scroll into the back pocket of her jeans, at the same time her opposite hand reached out. Laying her hand against the general's cheek, the two were even closer still then they had been before, the soldiers all around them waiting silently, breath baited. " It's an adventure of sorts; I'm not quite sure how it's going to end." Then, she gave Nakago's cheek a firm smack, jerking her chin free of his hand.~~
Returning to Miaka and Tamahome, Izaya appeared just as the two had locked lips in a kiss. She stopped, grinning as she leaned against the door frame, humming a little tune to herself. As the kiss stretched on for several moments Izaya cleared her throat loudly, the two of them leaping apart as their heads swiveled in Izaya's direction. Both of their faces were red and the older girl threw her head back and laughed, shaking her head.
" You two want me to wait out in the hallway for another minute or two while you finish up here? Or are you all done and ready to leave? Cause now would be a good time for it; the guards have taken off for the time being." with that she glanced around the hallway once more while her two younger companions got up, both stiff as boards and possibly more red then they had been when first being discovered by Izaya.
" No! We're fine!" Miaka insisted, walking up to Izaya so straight that her knees and elbows didn't bend.
" Y-Yeah." Tamahome agreed, following after Miaka, moving in exactly the same way. Shaking her head, Izaya rolled her eyes spinning around and beginning to lead the way at a jog.
" Hey, relax. Next time I'll remember to knock first." she said with a laugh, speaking over her shoulder as she continued to lead them along. " Anyways, right now is our chance to get out of here. I overheard some of the orders given out to the soldiers while I was getting the Shi Jin Tenchi Sho; it sounds like the search has spread out of the palace itself to the grounds and areas around it." A gasp escaped both of them.
" Really?" Miaka asked, hopeful and Izaya nodded, humming to affirm the fact all the more.
" Don't get too excited," Tamahome warned Miaka, " that still leaves us no way out of here."
" That's right," Izaya agreed, " but I think I know a place where we can be safe until all of this blows over. We'll have to make our way back out again, of course," waving her hand, she finished, " but there should be less guards around then. With cover of night added to it, we should be able to slip out of the palace and palace grounds easy. At least compared to this." Rounding a corner quickly, Izaya finally came to a stop some ways down the hallway, in front of a pair of large steel doors. Miaka, having been hard at her heels, actually slammed into Izaya from behind, causing the older girl to stumble inot the door itself. Not far behind Miaka, Tamahome physically threw himself to the ground to keep from hitting into Miaka.
" Are you okay, Tamahome?" instantly Miaka knelt down beside him. Placing a hand on her hip, Izaya shook her head, sighing as she turned to push open the doors in front of them.
" You two are really hopeless." she stated, flatly, taking Miaka by the arm and beginning to pull her into the room beyond it. Miaka struggled, but Izaya sniffed, saying. " Come on, now. Tamahome is a big boy, he can get up all by himself. Let's get into hiding already." Reluctant, Miaka followed Izaya's orders, glancing around the room as they entered it. The concern was quickly replaced by curiosity as she stepped further into the room, ahead of Izaya.
" Wow, it's dark." she commented, noting seeing Izaya roll her eyes as she moved to shut the door, leaving Tamahome outside of it. He was the one who noticed the smirk that pulled at Izaya's lips, but as he opened his mouth to say something, the door shut in front of him. In the meantime, Miaka had let out a shriek, latching onto Izaya as she stared at the dragon within the room. Frustrated, Izaya began to pry Miaka off of her body. " It is just a statue of a dragon, you don't have to scream."
" You're the one who's screaming!" Izaya snapped, finally managing to loosen Miaka's grasp on her enough to throw the other girl off of herself to the floor. Turning, Miaka blinked up at Izaya. At the moment the other girl was running a hand through her short hair turning away from Miaka and moving to stand beside the statue. " God, you're annoying! How people put up with the likes of you, I will never know." Smirking, Izaya reached out a hand, placing it on top of the head of the dragon statue, stroking the front of the sturdy creature's head as though it were the snout of a live horse. Humming in befuddlement, Miaka moved to pick herself up from the floor.
" Izaya, what are you-?" her voice cut off abruptly as she froze half way off the floor. Turning, Izaya watched as Miaka's body began to shake, her knees buckling, causing her to drop back down to the ground once again. Frowning, Izaya turned her head to the side, expression lost for a moment. Then, suddenly, she raised an index finger, turning to Miaka once more.
" Ah, that right! Did I forget to mention that this is the Seiryu Temple?" she inquired, sighing and shrugging her shoulders, nonchalant as she turned her attention back to the statue. " How could I be so dumb? I should've known that bringing the Priestess of Suzaku here would weaken her power, as well as make it impossible for her warriors to actually enter the room in the first place. My, what a fool I am!" Giggling, she reached out with her other hand, letting her fingers run along the the long, curled neck of the dragon statue's body, seeming to ignore Miaka for the time being. Unable to move, Miaka could only look up at Izaya, eyes wide.
" Is-this a joke?" she inquired slowly. Promptly, Izaya threw her head back and laughed. Finally turning to face Miaka completely, she sneered at the younger girl.
" Oh yes, this is most definitely a joke." was the response that she gave, striding over to where Miaka was slumped on the floor. Bending at the waist, Izaya was just barely above eye level with Miaka, both her hands on her hips. Stretching out a hand, she held out her index finger and poked it in the center of Miaka's forehead. " And the joke is most certainly on you, Mi-a-ka~!"
" What-?" as Miaka was about to speak on, however, Izaya laughed some more, rolling her eyes. Bending her knees, Izaya crouched in front of Miaka, finally at exact eye level with her. Both Izaya's wrists rested on her knees and she turned her head to the side, the angle of her next to her face askew in a way that appeared more then unnatural.
" You're not a very smart girl, are you?" she sniffed, shaking her head. One of her hands bent back, digging into the back of her jeans. " Figures. Just my fucking luck." It was then that she finally pulled out her knife, the blade of it flipping forwards and gleaming in the low light of the temple. Gawking, Miaka flinched as Izaya moved the blade forwards, placing it against the side of the younger girl's cheek. " Did you like my little act, Miaka? I make a pretty convincing older sister figure don't I?" Sneering, Izaya grinned all the wider, moving the knife from Miaka's throat and standing up to full height. Miaka stared, dumbstruck.
" So, you lied to me?" she exclaimed and Izaya clapped her hands, holding the knife with a pair of her fingers as she did so.
" Hey! You figured it out! Good for you!" Izaya insisted, turning and walking several paces away from Miaka. She shrugged her shoulders yet again. " A little late, though, since now you've got no way to get out of here alive, but I digress. Good job all the same." Nodding several times, she crossed her arms, knife still in hand. " Nakago!" From out of the shadows, the blond military man stepped out into the open.
" Yes, Lady Izaya?" he prompted as Izaya walked up to him, pouting and pointing her switchblade in his direction.
" Didn't I just tell you to just call me Izaya?" were the words that fell out of her mouth. Getting no answer to these words, she shut her eyes and shook her head. " I give up. In any case," folding the blade back against the handle with a distinct clicking sound, Izaya moved to stand beside Nakago, patting him on the back hard as she went on, " I believe I promised you a part in my game," waving towards Miaka, she added," please, feel free to play with her as you see fit. I'll gladly stand by and watch in the meantime." Then she took a step away until her back leaned against the wall, crossing her arms and propping one of her feet against the wall, smiling as Nakago made his way towards Miaka.~~~~~
Bum bum bum! There's the end. Little bit longer then the last chapter but definitely more exciting, right? Hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter will be on the way shortly. Until then, please read and review! REVIEW PLEASE! I appreciate feed back (please don't rip me limb from limb though! I beg of you!)