So I've been away for awhile. . .^^;;; In my defense, my semester consisted of biology, chemistry, physics, and calculus. It was rough going.
With that being said, I wasn't totally inactive in the writing business during that time; I'll try my best to put in a few more chapters before the next semester starts kicking my ass again. If I can manage to keep up with my school and this I will attempt it, but I make no promises.
Also, I would like to address a few comments that I've gotten; you'll notice that I stuck with the spelling of 'Seiryu', 'Kuto', 'Konan', 'Suzaku', etc. A few people have said that the spelling should be different. My answer is: I'm simply too lazy to fix the spelling in the earlier chapters so for consistencies sake I'm just going to keep spelling it wrong. ^^;;; Sorry about that. I apologize for it and any other grammatical mistakes that any of you notice/ come across while reading. I do my best to catch them, but as you could probably guess by my school schedule up there, I am not an English major.
Now, without any further delay, here's the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi ( if you haven't figured that out already ha ha!) Rin Izaya, however, is mine! Don't steal her!~~~~~~~~~~~
" How's Tamahome?" Nakago prompted as he and Izaya sat down for an evening meal together a few days later. Stiff, Izaya slowly put her chopsticks down. When she raised her head, she was glaring angry.
" Unconscious." she said through her teeth. " STILL." then, muttering, she lowered her head and picked up her chopsticks again. As she cursed, the general simply sat and watched her until she looked up again. Then, he refocused his attention onto his food.
" I said it would take awhile for him to recover." he pointed out, earning a groan from Izaya as she dropped herself down to the floor.
" You didn't say it would be for DAYS!" she moaned, arms and legs kicking at the open air. " It's been three days at least! There's only so much a girl can do in and around the palace and market place!" Nakago didn't roll his eyes, but he was sorely tempted to. Swinging herself back upright, Izaya reached out with her chopsticks in an attempt to grab meat. Raising his eyes, the general gave his priestess a reproachful glare. Sighing, she rolled her eyes, grudgingly taking some vegetables from another plate entirely right afterwards. Satisfied, Nakago turned his attention back to his own meal.
" You were losing interest in him anyways, weren't you?" he asked, eying her carefully for a second. Izaya shrugged.
" A little." she admitted. " I thought he'd be a little more intelligent then his girlfriend; my expectations must be too high. As much as I like winning ethical and philosophical debates, the point is moot if the one I'm debating with doesn't realize how much of an idiot he is." sighing, she shook her head, nibbling on a small piece of vegetable. " The tragic truth is that idiots travel in packs." Taking a drink of the tea that had been served, Nakago watched Izaya closely for a few moments long. Then, he placed an elbow on the table, resting his head against his hand and giving a small smirk.
" Would you like to join my game?" he inquired, and instantly, Izaya froze. There were a few moments where Izaya remained that way, a bit of meat clenched between her chopsticks caught half way between her plate and her mouth. Nakago's smirk grew a bit wider as she seemed to regain her composure only after giving herself a shake. Instead of eating the meat, she set it down, a light in her eyes as she met Nakago's gaze, a smile parting her face.
" That depends," she said, placing her chopsticks on the table and putting both her elbows on the table, lacing her fingers together, " just what is it that you want to me to do for this game of yours?" Nakago didn't miss a beat. Digging into one of the packs at his sides, he pulled out a small packet. Pushing it towards Izaya, the general blinked, seeing the priestess girl eye the object and physically drawing herself away from it when came too close. " Do you know what this is?" he prompted her, the girl glancing up and catching his eyes with her own.
" Not- exactly-" she said slowly, reaching out and tapping her finger against the top of the packet. This seemed to convince her of its safety to a large extent, because she drew it closer, letting it drop from the edge of the table into the palm of her hand. " Where I come from this is the kind of thing you find drugs in; coke, ex, that kind of thing." If she noticed the frown that formed on Nakago's lips she didn't show it, going on to say. " If I had to guess I'd say this is opium?" It was a few seconds before the general seemed to have collected himself well enough to shake his head.
As he explained to her what it was and what it did, Izaya took it in with half shut and wandering eyes. Somewhere in the middle of it, she yawned, picked up her chopsticks, and started eating again. " So this is a drug that lets you take control of someone's mind?" she asked, casually once he'd gotten through his explanation. Exasperated, Nakago rubbed his temples and repeated himself.
" This is no ordinary drug; it's an astral poison." he fought back a deep sigh. " Anyone who consumes it will have their memories dulled and their character altered. Such as turning Tamahome against his companions." Scowling, Izaya gave a dismissive wave of her hand.
" So it's a mind control drug." she echoed her earlier words, not waiting for Nakago's answer before letting out a whistle. " Damn! And I thought drugs in my world were bad." Wrinkling her nose, she got up on her knees, stuffing the little packet into the front pocket of her jeans. Patting it with a hand, she settled back down to eat. " I've got one condition for participating in your game, Na-ka-go." when she said his name slowly, the general froze. Raising his head, he narrowed his eyes, observing her carefully as she took a bite of rice.
" I already gave you the drug." he said in return, not entirely sure what she was getting at.
" Yes, but if you want me to use it on Tamahome you'll let me come explore your room a little later tonight." she retorted, matter-of-fact in tone. Instantly, a snort got out of Nakago, disbelieving. When Izaya kept eating with an even expression on her face, it became painfully clear what she was trying to imply.
" You're serious." he stated and Izaya's downward angled head made her upward facing eyes and little smile look almost devilish in nature. She nodded her head slowly, then lowered her gaze as she spoke.
" Unless you want me to mix the drug in with your food instead of Tama-chan's." she put in, setting down her chopsticks. Propping an elbow on the table, she set her chin in her hand and grinned at him, too sweet. " Or maybe I could just split it in half; the effects might not be as strong, but it would still work well enough for my needs. After all," she eyed him carefully with those steel colored eyes, " I'm pretty persuasive even with people that aren't drugged into a stupor." There was a pause after that, one where they had a staring contest.
" You're still mad about me not mentioning his escape plan to you." he reasoned and Izaya let out a snarky laugh.
" Like offering me a chance to join your game wasn't an attempt to buy me out of my resentment?" she sniffed. " Tough; it's the game and the room that'll win me over. Both, not one or the other." Nakago rolled his eyes.
" Haven't you learned your lesson about going into the rooms of strange men late at night?" he prompted.
" Hey, I'm around you at least an hour or two everyday; that's hardly a stranger in my book." she answered, pointing her index finger at him. Lowering her hands back down, she picked up her chopsticks and focused on her plate. " Besides, you're not like that." Another snort got out of the general.
" You don't know that."
" True," she agreed, smiling brightly this time, " but call it my 'woman's intuition' to think that you would not take advantage of me in such a way." She nodded her head, as though affirming the fact for truth, the Seiryu priestess went right back to eating. It was only after several seconds of staring that Nakago joined her, though the two were silent for the rest of the meal.~~
It was late that evening that the general finished his work. After what had happened at dinner, he had taken it upon himself to have some of his guards standing watch over his room. Knowing Izaya well enough by this point to realize that she wouldn't have bothered asking about his room unless she was hell bent on getting into it, the precaution seemed less about paranoia and more about preventing a potential disaster in the making; at least in his own mind. When he'd told the two guards they had both given him unnerved expressions and exchanged a glance, that was until the general had hit them both with an even glare. They had sharpened up and gone to work after that. Nakago was going to relieve them of duty for the night before getting some rest himself.
He soon wished he hadn't done any of this.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for the missing guards until he was only a few feet from the room. It was at that point that the sound of something shattering to pieces had stopped him in his tracks. There was a brief moment of pause then, one where the general considered just turning back around pretending as though he hadn't heard anything. However, not more then a few seconds later the thudding of something heavy falling over had jolted him into motion. Closing the space in seconds, he whipped open the door.
The entire room had been trashed. Tables turned over and chairs flat on their backs, it was lucky that his bookshelf had been attached to the wall; otherwise it would have been on the floor like everything else. Though, that said nothing about the contents of said bookshelf. All of his books, scrolls, even just spare paper, had been scattered about his room, bent and angled in whatever way that they had landed when they had been knocked out of place.
Izaya, along with the two guards that he had instructed to keep her out of his room earlier, were there as well; the apparent cause of the destruction.
Standing at three different corners of the room, all of their eyes were focused upward. They were panting. Clinging to the highest book shelf on his wall was the bird that Nakago kept, feathers fluffed up and wings raised as though it were warding off some predator. It let out a squawk and folded its wings against its side, arching its neck back to prune a few of its feathers.
" DON'T MOVE!" the priestess hollered when one of the two men started to shift forward, both guards freezing and sending side long glances at Izaya in the way that Nakago recognized. They were waiting for her instruction on what to do. None of them had noticed that the general had appeared; which was probably what prompted the next turn of events.
" WHAT IN THE-?!" he began to shout, three human heads and one bird head twisting his way.
" NAKAGO!" Izaya interrupted, jumping over one of the fallen tables in order to get to him, arching her neck to get a look at the bird. The animal was already on the move, spreading its wings and leaning forward against the book case. " SHUT THE DOOR!" Grabbing him by his scarf, the priestess yanked the general out of the way, all but throwing him to the floor. She slammed the door shut just after the bird took off from its perch.
With its escape route blocked, the white feathered creature swerved away, Izaya rushing after it. Reaching the overturned table a second time, she stepped up onto it, using it like a spring board. Leaping into the air with both hand outstretched and mere inches away from the animal's sides, she caught it. She pulled the bird to her chest as she toppled to the floor, hitting hard into a set of books and rolling several feet before coming to a stop.
Then, there was a stillness. The two guards exchanged a quick glance before the priestess girl raised a hand. " GOT IT!" she exclaimed, only sitting up when she had both of her hands around the bird, holding down its folded wings. The tension in the soldier's shoulders eased away and they smiled. Izaya situated the animal in her one arm and waved the two guards over to where she was. Grinning, she slapping them each once, none too gently, on the back. " Nice work, guys. Thanks."
" Good catch." one of them said and they laughed.
" Yeah," when Nakago's voice entered into the air all three of them stiffened and what laughter was still coming out of them became strained, strangled, " a VERY good catch."
That they received the scolding of a life time afterward shouldn't have surprised any of them. When asked to explain themselves, the general was further outraged; Izaya had, somehow, convinced both men that Nakago had given her permission to come in to his room. Even though he had told both men the complete opposite before sending them. From there everything had spiraled downward. The Seiryu priestess had unlatched the bird's cage, the guards had insisted she put the creature back, the bird had flown away, and the rest of the time had been spent on recapturing it. Izaya had scolded his guards for not keeping their focus on the bird and so any destruction that had followed had been ignored.
" Oh, don't make such a fuss, Nakago," the priestess sniffed, completely interrupting the general's verbal lashing of the three of them, " we'll clean everything up. It's not as though we broke anything. Jeez."
Glaring, the blonde leered at her the way he did his soldiers during training. She didn't meet his eyes, lips formed into a poute as she looked at the far wall of the room. Closing the gap between the two of them with a single, long stride, the general put himself squarely in front of her. Izaya faced forward when he did this and he pointed at her, stern faced as he said. " I'll deal with you later." There was a brief pause then, one where the priestess girl stared steadily into the general's face.
Then, a little smirk tugged at her lips. Taking a half step forward, she had the two of them chest to chest, rounded breasts touching the blonde man's armor. The one hand she didn't have around the bird she placed on her hip.
" I look forward to it." she answered him, so close that Nakago felt her breath warm against his face as she said these soft words. Puckering up as though to kiss him, she snickered as she stepped back without her mouth touching his.
When she turned her head didn't move with her, twisted so that as she started to walk away she was grinning over her shoulder at the general. She finally looked away when she passed by the two guards, both of whom were slack jawed and wide eyed. " Come on guys. Let's clean up."
They did the clean up just like she said that they would. But somehow, as he leaned against the window sill and over saw their work, the general couldn't help feeling irritable. What should have been work looked more like play with Izaya at the reins. Ordering his two soldiers around, she had them separate papers and books in alternating piles along the outside wall of the room. At first it didn't seem like such a game; until they a short time into their pick up. Once they'd begun to clear a small portion of floor space, the Seiryu priestess began jumping from open space to open space to get across the room. The soldiers offered to take books and pages for her, but she refused, purposefully going from one side of the room to the other. She refused anything that the men attempted to hand to her, but she would sometimes snatch what they were carrying when they weren't expecting it.
As more floor space opened up, they weren't even attempting to help one another do the work. In fact, they were constantly stealing from each other, running away in order to place what they had taken into the designated piles themselves. The more that got sorted into piles, the more competitive it became. They searched under and over anything that they could, moving tables and chairs back into place in order to search for papers and books that they may have missed.
Except for Izaya, who made it a point after a certain length of time to simply wait for the other two to find something before doing what she called a "hit and run"; snatching what they'd discovered and rushing away with it. When only a forth of the papers and books were left, she made things even more violent, tackling one of the guards to the ground and scrambling to pick up the book and get to her feet at the same time. From then on it was all out war, the three of them going at each other without mercy.
So when all but one paper had been sorted into its proper place, the three of them were sprinting and dodging around each other, shouting like children. Izaya and the one guard plotting against the second, cornering him behind Nakago's desk. He looked side to side, trying to decide who had a better chance of overpowering. However, in that moment, the Seiryu priestess took the chance, leaping ontop of the desk and stealing the page away with a quick move.
" Traitor!" her former partner called as she ran and leaped off the desk. Hitting the ground she stumbled, rolling up onto her feet and continuing across the room at a run. She managed to drop the paper into it's proper place before either one of them caught up to her.
That didn't stop either of them from throwing themselves at her when they got close enough to. Laughing, they had proceeded to wrestle until the general had drawn their attention by clearing his throat. Both men had jumped upright, staring at their feet, abashed by their behavior most likely. The Seiryu priestess had stayed on the floor, grinning at up at Nakago, the corner of her lips stretching a bit higher up then the other.
" Alright," she said, getting up, dusting off the back of her jeans then the front of them before straightening up, " back to work, gentlemen." waving her hand at them, directing them each to a wall and getting everything in order.
Sending one to deal with putting all of the papers in their proper place, Izaya had convinced the second one to let her stand on his shoulders. With a pile of books beside the big man, he handed up one after another, allowing the priestess to put them into place on the shelf. That was, until the upper three shelves had been filled. Then she had simply hopped off the soldier's shoulders and waved for him to continue. Crossing the room, she spared a glance at the second man, whom was deep into fixing the pages. Then, her gray eyes shifted onto the Kuto general, baring her teeth in a wide grin that she aimed half at the floor and half at the blonde man. With his arms crossed, he turned his attention else where, focusing his eyes beyond the window sill. Hearing her giggle after that point just added to the fire already raging within him.
The priestess' path veered off momentarily, and the change in direction caught the general's attention. Her new path stirred her toward the bird cage. She had placed the feathered creature inside while she was helping clean the room, but she had apparently decided it was time to let the animal out again. For the moment the general sat back, eying her carefully, ready to give Izaya hell if she turned his lounge into pig pen for a second time. He stood by, watching as she slipped her hand inside the bars. She didn't grab at the creature, simply laying her hand out her palm facing upward. Then the priestess was still.
As she waited, Nakago was struck by the irony. Compared to before, the way she waited for the bird to move first seemed out of place. It was a startling difference. Though, this didn't surprise him near as much as what happened only a short time after. The bird had been pecking and biting at her fingers for only a short time. Then it simply hopped right into her hand; no fussing, no fluttering or loud squawking, not even the lightest sound of protest. One jump into the palm of her hand and the creature settled down as though it were sitting in its home made nest. Though its plummage overwhelmed her fingers, the smile that parted Izaya's face then was warm, genuine.
" There's a good boy," she murmured to it, slowly backing up, drawing her hand out of the cage, taking the bird with her, " easy now; it's okay. I won't let you hit your head." true to her word, she managed to avoid hitting the outer rimes of the open door to the cage. " There we go." she continued to talk to it, bring it to eye level with herself. The creature made a low chirp and the priestess girl grinned. " Would you like to sit on my shoulder? View's better there, you know?" she offered and as though to agree with her, the animal stepped out of her hand, shifting until it's white feathered cheek was almost always touching Izaya's cheek. Lifting a hand, she stroked at the bird's chest with the back of her index finger, turning and walking toward the general once again.
When she caught his eyes in the midst of pampering over the creature, Nakago had been quick to look away, annoyed all over again with her.
" Awe! You're mad at me." she commented as she came up beside him, only able to get one eye onto the blonde man thanks to her little companion. The priestess stiffened as the feathered creature walked across the back of her neck in order to situate itself on her opposite shoulder, the one that wasn't as close to the general. Izaya, of course, took the opportunity to laugh about this, once again shifting her index finger through the front feathers. " Fickle little thing, isn't he? Drama boy right here." she jerked her head at the animal. It began nipping and pecking at the silver that covered her ears, but if it bothered her to any large degree it didn't show in the dark haired girl's face. Leaning against the window sill, she gazed out into the garden, humming lightly. They were quiet for a time, but it didn't last long.
" Neh, neh, Nakago?" Izaya prompted, the general not giving her the pleasure of seeing his face. Leaning over, she tried to meet his eyes but was denied. A giggle escaped her again and instead of focusing on Nakago, Izaya looked back out the window. She went right on talking as though he had answered her. " Have you ever heard the saying 'If you love me, let me go'?" There was a brief pause; then the blonde soldier spared the dark haired girl a glance. This time, she didn't even try to meet his eyes. Index finger half curled, she stroked the bird's chest gently without looking at it, the creature making a small "churring" sound from somewhere in the back of it's throat. " It's a real popular saying in my world. For parents, you know, letting there kids go out into the world on their own for the first time." she rolled her eyes, voice dralled with a blandent scorn. If she noticed Nakago's long stare at her in that moment, the young priestess didn't show it, taking the bird in both hands and holding it for a few seconds. " It's all supposed to be so heart warming and sad and all that good dramatic nonsense."
Taking a step back, she gave the bird one more fond stroke with her hand. Then she thrust the creature out the window. The animal didn't need an invitation, spreading its wings, it took to the skies, tweeting with delight as it went. Didn't show any signs of turning back, climbing higher and higher into the skies until it disappeared from sight. Turning to look at the dark haired girl, the general saw a smile spread across her face. Stepping forward, she placed her elbows on the window sill, leaning forward. Her eyelids were half shut, gray eyes dulled as though she were bored as she gazed at the spot where the bird had dissolved from view. As Nakago stared at her, she continued to not meet his eyes and talk.
" But, if you ask me, that's complete bull shit." were the words that came out of her mouth, body sunken down so that it seemed as though the majority of her weight was held by her forearms against the open sill. " What kind of idiot would let go of something that they care about so much? Name it as something they 'love' and let it get away without a fight, like air," she waved a hand out the window, letting it bounce at the wrist for a few seconds until it fell still on its own, " like its nothing. That stupid saying is just an excuse; a bit of half assed sugar coating to make parents feel better and to give kids a way of running away from their responsibilities and duties to the aging generation."
"Oh, I get it," she insisted, pointing a finger at the blonde general, " it's about letting the younger people find their way in the world. Letting them learn more about who they are and what they want to be and all that stuff, but," lowering her hand, her voice dropped in volume a few degrees, softening as she finished, " you know when I find something that I really love like that, I'm not going to ever let it go. No matter what anyone else says about it." A silence followed these words.
Watching her for a time, Nakago couldn't help noticing how steadily she gazed out at the world beyond the window sill. Eyes half shut, mouth drawn into a thin line, a breeze tossed what little of her hair it could get a hold on. At the very edges of her sleeve, he could make out a few of the black lines that made up the very tip of the nose on the dragon tattoo that lay underneath it. Even in the darkness, the silver hoops and cuffs on her ears shown between her thready hair. She was a small girl, but in that moment, she seemed anything but tiny.
" Hump," the general scoffed after a second, a corner of his lip twisting upward into a smirk, turning so that his back rested against a portion of the inner part of the sill, allowing him to face the Seiryu priestess, " you're as selfish as always." Glancing over, she blinked at him, blank faced. The confusion didn't stay on her features long, and she rocked forward and back as her lips parted, forming into a smirk of her own.
" Damn straight." she snapped back, lightly, standing up to full height. Facing him, she said. " I am sorry about the mess; if those guys hadn't scared your bird it wouldn't have happened." Nakago shut his eyes, mouth forming into a firm line.
" Pinning the blame on them won't get you out of your punishment." he stated, matter-of-fact.
" AHHH-!"~~~~~~~
Well, that's the end of this chapter. After the last chapter I kind of felt the need to show a little bit of a nicer side to Izaya or well, as nice as she can be I guess. As far as OCs that I've come up with, she's probably the one most "on the fence" morally. I really hope she's coming across as fun to read about as she has been to write about so far. ^^;;; Let me know what you think! Send a review! XD Enjoy the holidays everyone!