Love Hurts 5 Ways (OUTDATED STORY) Chapter 22: Hearts of Purity, Because I Care, a Fushigi Yuugi + Ouran High School Host Club Crossover fanfic

ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.

All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D

-Aloe

PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!

"How the hell can you be a—a guy?" My mind was spinning in so many different directions and speeds that I couldn't even process everything that was going on.

Nuriko sat there with a rather smug smile on her—his—face, looking at us as if we were his sources for entertainment. "Do, I really need to teach you genetics? Come on, Aki. We all know that you're smarter than that."

I shook my head in disbelief. "No, I don't believe it. You have to be a woman."

"You're right." Miaka and I just stared at him as he explained himself. "I should be a woman, but unfortunately, I was cursed with the wrong body."

Miaka, who was desperately trying to cover up her body with the towel, gave Nuriko a look that showed how suspicious she was to the whole thing. "How the heck is this even possible? This whole time, you've been acting, talking, and dressing like a woman—you even said that you were in love with Hotohori!"

Giggling, Nuriko told us, "You silly girl, I still love His Highness—whether I'm a man or a woman. You see, sex doesn't matter when it comes to people who love each other."

While rubbing my temples, I processed his words. "I think it matters when the significant other is expecting completely different body parts…" Giving me a look that could kill, he put his arm around my neck and brought my head under his arm, uncomfortably and quickly rubbing his other fist on my head. "Hey! Stop it!" My body struggled to get out of his grip. Damn super-human strength.

"Listen here, Little Girl," Dammit, did we really go back to that nickname? "I have the heart of a woman and I believe that His Highness will love me for that—as well as my other fantastic personality traits."

Rolling my eyes, I said, "When you start showing them, give me a call." Nuriko's reaction was to tighten his grip on my head.

"Anyway…Until our wedding night, I don't really think that it's all that necessary to tell him!"

Miaka remained in her place, still clenching onto her towel, as she chimed in with a still rather cynical look. "You can't keep that kind of secret Nuriko—especially towards the one you love."

"Well—I," He fished for words to try and explain himself further. Thinking of an idea, he immediately stopped rubbing my head and pointed to me instead. "Aki kept her powers a secret from us—wasn't that wrong of her?"

Seizing the opportunity, I squeezed my head from his grasp and sat back up with a rather flushed face due to all the blood rushing to my head. "Sorry to disappoint you, but keeping ones abilities a secret isn't nearly as significant as keeping your gender a secret. Face it Nuriko, you're in hot water right now."

Part of me really didn't want to trust Nuriko after all this. I mean, he had never been one of my favorite people—but he didn't come off as the type to keep something like that. This reasoning of mine wasn't all that far-fetched. You got to admit, the whole idea of a guy cross-dressing as a woman seemed wrong. For all I knew, he could have been lying about the whole "being in love with Hotohori" thing and was actually a huge pervert who just wanted to get close to all of the girls in the emperor's harem. But the more I thought about it, my slight dislike of him didn't take away from the fact that he actually seemed like a rather decent-ish person. After all, back at Ouran, one of my best friends was a cross-dresser and she had to do it because of a debt. So who knows? Maybe Nuriko had to do this for some personal reason that we didn't know about. And although eccentric, his feelings for Hotohori seemed sincere. I wasn't planning on settling on just one idea for the moment—at least not until I investigated him a bit more. He could be a weirdo, or a sex-crazed pervert! Either way, I'm keeping my eye on him.

Plus I had to admit it—I did keep my powers a secret and I had to be thankful that no one accused me of being untrustworthy. Guess I had to keep tabs on myself before I go doing it to other people.

Shuffling so that he would face the both of us, Nuriko's eyes went beg and pouty right as they seemed to sparkle. "Please you guys," He clapped his hands together and pleaded, "keep my secret. I really think that if His Highness gets to know the real me, he won't be able to tell the difference between a real woman and myself. I truly do have the heart of a woman and believe that that counts for a lot. So…please?"

Miaka, being the nice person that she was, automatically broke down and smiled at him sympathetically. "If it really means that much to you…then I promise to keep your secret."

With a sigh of relief, Nuriko perked up and went over to hug Miaka—who seemed slightly uncomfortable hugging a guy while she was one towel away from being naked—though she may have been thinking that he was probably harmless since he was gay. For his sake…he better be. "Thank-you Miaka! I always knew that you were a sweet, considerate girl." He looked back at me in a glare. "Too bad I can't say the same for that one."

"'That one', huh?" Glaring, I gave a rueful grin. "That's an awfully mean thing to call someone who knows your big secret. I wonder what Hotohori will think…"

"I'm sorry!" He shouted at once. "I'm sorry. Just…please…don't tell anyone Aki."

Thinking about his request, I assessed the situation. Let's see…I could have some fun with this. He'd have to do anything I say—no matter what it was! I'd have Nuriko practically tied around my finger. But…

"We saw everything. How do you think we recorded this?..."

"You know, this has become our favorite movie."

"Yeah, we loved it so much, that we made about a hundred copies!"

"We were planning on uploading it to every video showing website on the net."

"What do you guys want? A magic show?"

"What we really want is some entertainment. Next to Haruhi, you're the next interesting thing to happen to us."

"If you do, we won't tell anyone your secret."

"Now we've got our own personal witch!"

"I'm not your personal anything!"

"You are now."

I grimaced. Honestly, I loved Kaoru and Hikaru, but their blackmail drove me absolutely insane—it made me feel used and that I wanted to murder them in the most violent way possible. Those two are awesome and all, but I'd had to have fallen pretty damn low to resort to their antics.

Sighing, I frowned and looked away. "Okay, I'll keep your stupid secret…" Before he could leap with joy, I added, "But, you have to tell both Tamahome and Hotohori soon. I know that you think deceiving him would be better for your relationship, but have you ever considered that he would feel betrayed?" Losing his pep, he looked down as he thought about what I had said. "You can continue playing this game for a while, but you'll have to tell him—if you don't, I will." I liked Hotohori—I thought he was a really nice guy who didn't deserve to have one of his friends keep something so big from him—especially when it involved him. Besides that, I felt kind of bad that Nuriko was in such denial about who he was. It was okay to be gay, but he shouldn't have to hide himself and pretend.

Getting slightly annoyed, he stared at me with those big pink eyes of his. "Fine. I'll tell him eventually." Feeling slightly guilty that I may have killed his buzz, he immediately proved me wrong when his face beamed victoriously. "It shouldn't matter anyway! My character is sure to attract him no matter what gender I am! I just hope that he falls in love with my woman side."

Letting out a groan, I thought to myself, that confidence of his astounds me.

Getting back to camp seemed to go pretty smoothly. Miaka and I tried our best to keep up Nuriko's charade—avoided saying anything that would tip Tama and Hotohori off. I had an especially difficult time saying "she" instead of "he". It came so easy to me before—I was used to it. Yet, now that I knew his true gender, my mind was concentrated on the fact that he was indeed a guy—and I just didn't feel right calling him a girl.

And that was another thing: HOW THE HELL COULD'NT I HAVE KNOWN THAT HE WAS A DUDE? Back at Ouran, I knew that Haruhi was a girl. She had curves—once again, faint, but still there, a girly face, and her voice was, for the most part, feminine. But Nuriko…he also had a feminine face and he sounded like a woman. That was when something hit me: his clothes. Yeah, he dressed like a woman, but his royal gowns were all flashy and loose enough that no one would have been suspicious to the fact that he didn't have a woman's chest. Even Haruhi was flat, but she wasn't boy flat. It was also believable that he looked like a woman because of his physique. Let's just say that Nuriko wasn't the most muscular, or buff guy in the world.

Jeez, I just felt so stupid for not catching on faster. Then again…he has fooled a lot of people. Kind of made me wonder how he had gotten away with it all this time. He had been a part of Hotohori's harem for who knows how long—he must have been pretty sneaky and elusive to not cause any kind of suspicion.

I kind of had to give him credit for being so crafty.

So, the night went by—we all slept, talked, all the fun stuff.

The next day, we all got up with the high hopes of finding the supposed mythical Mt. Taikyoku. Compared to when we first began this little trip, the atmosphere was way more bearable. Of course, things were still a bit iffy when it came to comfortableness especially with the fact that Hotohori does love Miaka and Tamahome was indeed jealous—whether we wanted to admit it or not. Even if it wasn't awkwardness between Miaka and Tama—even though there was just a little—there was definitely some tension going on between the two guys—which would be more on Tama's part because it didn't really seem that Hotohori gave a damn about what the guy thought. While all this was happening, Miaka was still involved in a seemingly one-sided love with Tamahome, whom she just met, while Nuriko, who's situation is more complicated than it should be, is trying to make Hotohori his. Wow. I had never been involved with this much relationship drama my whole life. The messed up part of it all was that I was still new to the world while this was all going on, and I was supposed to be there for my happily ever after, not watch from the sidelines as everyone else works for theirs. I didn't want to seem selfish, but was it so much to ask to at least have my story move along?

As we gathered our things up before we continued on, Hotohori went up to Miaka with a concerned face.

"Miaka, are you feeling better today?" Nodding cheerfully, she told him that she was. Hearing her words, he smiled. "I'm glad. But just to be safe, and although it saddens me, we must still get you back to your world so that we can make sure that your health is at its best. If you were to fall sick again, I just don't know what I'd do." Taking a glance at Nuriko and Tamahome, I noticed how they were both listening in warily to their conversation.

"Thank you for worrying about me so much—knowing how much you guys care alone makes me so happy!"

"I would just like you to know," He took her hand in his causing her to blush a little while Tama glared, "that I will always be here to protect you…and to love you." Bringing her hand closer to his heart, he continued on. "I truly wish that I had the power it took to heal you of your home-sickness—I wish that soon you won't have those worries as you make Konan your home—as you live in the palace with me…" A bit blatant and cheesy…but he says it in such a desirable way…I shook my head feverishly as my face heated up. What the heck am I getting all worked up for? Not only is he directing the words towards Miaka, but Nuriko would kill me if I even thought of such a thing. Damn hormones.

Just as all Hell seemed like it would break lose because of Tama and Nuriko, a thick fog materialized out of nowhere and quickly covered the whole area. It actually seemed quite odd that a natural phenomenon like that could happen without any kind of warning. So instantly—and feel free to think that I was being paranoid—the red flag in my mind went up.

"Does anyone else get a bad feeling from this?" Nuriko asked as he verbally reflected my thoughts.

"This is quite peculiar," Hotohori stroked his chin. "The weather patterns aren't usually this odd." Seeing how Miaka could sense that something was wrong, he put his arm around her shoulders and brought her close.

Even though most of us knew that something bad was about to go down, Tamahome discarded all of that the moment he saw Hotohori seize a chance at Miaka. "Will you be serious at least once Miaka?"

"What do you mean?" She turned to him in concern. He's jealous at Hotohori yet he's yelling at Miaka…boy he's a dumbass when it comes to these things.

"Even when things seem bad, you let that guy put his hands all over you. Can't you at least learn to tell him when to back off?"

She started to become angry herself. "How the heck can you even say that? He's just being a good friend!"

Nuriko and I sighed. Couldn't these two do this another time?

"Good friend?" Tamahome gave a short, bitter laugh. "He's just using this opportunity to get close to you—he's been doing that this whole time! It's nothing less for a moron like you to fall for such an obvious pick-up."

"M-moron?" You could hear her voice crack a bit as tears started to form. "You, Tamahome…are a huge jerk!" At that, she released herself from the emperor and ran through the dense cloud, unable to be seen once she went even a short distance.

Slapping my forehead, I slid my hand all the way down my face in frustration. I just couldn't understand why it kept going around in circles with those two. Not only were they starting to become irritating with the whole back and forth crap, but they weren't being honest with each other. Having Hotohori and Nuriko splashed in didn't make any of this any easier as well.

Facing Tamahome, Hotohori went stern. "Tamahome, do you lack all sensitivity? You shouldn't dare ever speak to Miaka like that." When he saw that Tama wouldn't respond, he kept going. "If you have a problem, take it out with me, not her."

I cleared my throat to make the both of them hear. "I know you're drama is real important at this moment, but if you two haven't noticed, MIAKA HAS RUN AWAY!" Choosing not to wait for their answers, I turned, levitated myself into the air and flew in her direction.

After about ten minutes of flying around, I landed for a second to think. Something's up here. If Miaka had just been running in this direction, then I should have caught up to her a long time ago. Observing the surrounding area, I realized that absolutely none of the fog had lifted—in fact it may have even gotten worse. Coming up with an idea, I focused on the power of Wind. My plan was to blow the fog away since it didn't seem to cooperate in any other way. Feeling a significant spiral of Wind covering me, I released it into a burst of air that had shot out in all directions. To my incredible dislike and curiosity, nothing happened…at all. If this had been a normal cloud, it would have dispersed in no time. All of this proved my point further of how we were in danger—in a territory were our visual senses wouldn't be of much help. What was worse, Miaka stupidly went off to who knows where because she had a stupid fight with the idiot Tamahome. The universe must have been laughing at me at that moment.

Suddenly, my body felt an unpleasant, familiar chill. Eyes growing wide, I frantically looked around for the worse. I hadn't encountered legit Shadow Maidens in a while, but I knew that it was inevitable especially after Taiitsukun warning me. Things in this world were definitely more intense and getting ambushed by those girls who were Shadow Kissed (I decided to call them Shadow Kissed because they weren't actually Shadow Maidens, but real, solid girls who had been possessed by darkness) proved it. Those shadow creatures of every kind were really getting creative—but they didn't disappoint in showing up at the worst times.

Knowing that I couldn't easily avoid them, I decided to follow my senses and go towards them—hoping that with the small amount of light I could produce would defeat them.

When I reached the spot where the feeling was the strongest, I stood in anticipation waiting for them to attack. I was just hoping that Miaka and the others wouldn't get caught up in the cross-fire again—after all, this wasn't their fight.

Right when I thought that I would be attacked, the threatening feeling went away all together. Confused, I continued to keep myself ready for anything. What happened? Are they gone? In the middle of my thoughts, something reached around my waist and tightened itself.

"What the?" When I looked down, I realized that it was a vine from the huge tree I was under. Just as I prepared myself to break free, several more vines swooped down and wrapped themselves around my whole body, making sure that I couldn't easily physically escape. Feeling the vines moderately tug on me, my whole body lifted was lifted from the ground, straight up into the tree, out of sight from all those on the ground. Struggling, I shouted out, "Get me out! What the hell kind of tree is even capable of this? I demand that you let me go!" One of the vines decided to shut me up by covering my mouth. Oh, so you're a wise guy, huh? As my temper rose, I felt that the stupid tree needed to be nuked…to a crisp. Summoning Fire to me, something interrupted my concentration. A huge red flower bud suddenly bloomed and beautiful, sparkling pollen came floating out. With the substance covering me, a faint voice went through my head.

Close your eyes Akimoto Tsubaki. I growled. It was Taiitsukun. Feel the pollen at it consumes you…You will close your eyes and not awaken until my command…

All of a sudden, my eyelids became heavy, forcing me to slowly shut them as my body went weak. Damn that old woman! What is she up to? Trying to muffle through the vine covering my mouth, my voice soon drifted off, right as my whole body shut down.

"What happened? Where am I?" Looking around all I could see was darkness as my body floated in an endless space. "Come on, Aki, you have to focus. What was I just doing?" As my memory clicked on, I shouted, "Oh, crap!" Frantically trying to find any sign of people, my head was spinning. "Miaka…thick fog…tree….Taiitsukun! How the heck did I get here? Last thing I knew, I fell asleep in some tree." A thought suddenly hit me. "Is my journey in this world already over? No, it's impossible. I mean…Taiitsukun isn't even here. Speaking of her…why the hell did she hypnotize me anyway? Can she even here me in here?" Attempting to move, I realized that I was somehow cursed to stay floating in this one spot. I groaned. "Well, the whole 'trying to find my way out of here' plan is completely down the toilet…" Sighing, I tried to think of something else. "Okay, what else can I try?" Focusing on my energy, I brought my hands in front of me. "Saisu!" Then there was nothing. No-thing. "What the hell? My magic doesn't even work here?" Throwing my hands up in defeat, I brought my legs up and crossed them in a somewhat comfortable mid-air sitting position. Resting my elbow on my knee with my head leaning on my palm, I blew a stream of air from my mouth in frustration causing my bangs to fly up for a second.

"Okay, so I'm in trouble here. I'm not gonna try calling out for help 'cause they probably won't hear me anyway…"

Suddenly, I could hear voices echoing from under me—and they all sounded familiar.

"Where's Miaka?" Shouted Hotohori.

A girl giggled. "Whatever do you mean, my love? I am Miaka" It did sound like her. "Isn't my returning your love what you always wanted?" That statement didn't sound like Miaka.

Some sounds of fighting could be heard as the void I was in violently shook around me for a second. "What was that?"

"Tamahome! Are you alright?" I heard Nuriko yell out.

"Y-yeah. I just can't bring myself to fight her—she looks so much like Miaka."

"Don't be fooled Tamahome, this woman, no matter how much she resembles her, will never be our Miaka. But she does know where she is."

The fake-Miaka laughed. "Face it you idiots, I am the new and improved Miaka. I'm all that you'll ever need. Forget the weak, spineless, disgraceful girl that you knew before, because I'm what you've got."

"My Miaka would never say anything like that! Who the hell are you?" I tried going toward the voice. "Dammit! You got lucky bitch!"

More violent sounds followed until there was another stand-still. "This is almost too easy! And you call yourself men! Even if my mirror didn't take your powers, you probably still couldn't defeat me. So just accept me already!"

Tamahome spoke. "Damn. Where's Aki? She would probably be a real big help right now."

"She went after Miaka. There's always a chance that she got caught by whatever took Miaka."

"I'm right here!" I shouted. "You guys, I'm still here!" Processing what they said, I continued, "How can you guys even think that I would be defeated that easily?"

"Oh, yes, my darling fake-big-sister. I do wonder where she's at. I'm sure she'll be happy to know that I've finally chosen my lover."

"Well, yeah, in a sense that would satisfy me," I groaned in disgust. "But the way she says it just sounds wrong..."

Suddenly, I heard fake-Miaka's voice stutter. "Wha—what—what's…g-going on?" She began to gasp a lot. "What has that girl done?"

After a few moments, the sound of either a mirror or glass being shattered could be heard. "What could that have been?"

"Miaka!" Tama and Hotohori yelled out in horror.

"What happened?"

"Oh, Suzaku, she's bleeding!"

"What's she holding in her hand?"

Nuriko answered. "It looks like a piece of glass. She must have stabbed herself in the heart to make that other Miaka go away!"

My blood seemed to go cold. "…What? She stabbed herself in the…heart? She's…bleeding? Feeling warm tears unexpectedly trail down my cheeks, my voice wouldn't work properly. "No…no…she can't be…no…no…Miaka…no!"

"She's not breathing. We have to stop the blood!"

A few sounds of ripping came before Tamahome spoke. "Nuriko, what are you doing?"

"Look, I'm a woman on the inside, so I don't get bothered by woman's anatomy. If you have a problem, then look away. But I have to tend to this wound."

"Come on Miaka, wake up—you can't leave us! Please!"

"Miaka, no! You can't be dead! You better not die out on me, you idiot! You're too cheery to die—you still have your whole life ahead of you! Why would you do something so stupid?" My crying persisted as my voice got quieter. "I wasn't there to protect you…I'm so sorry…I'm sorry…" For so many years, that girl had relied on me for leadership and protection. For so many years, I'd been able to keep her out of harm's way. Stepping into this world had put her in so much danger…and I couldn't be there all the time for her. This…this was the reason why I didn't even want her there. She didn't belong, and she couldn't properly defend herself. She did this to protect us—thinking that killing herself was the only way. "No…I'm not ready to lose someone else important to me!"

What I didn't expect was to hear a loud thump! as my body felt an extremely uncomfortable and painful sensation.

"Wait a second…is that Aki?"

"Why won't she wake up?"

"Is she crying?"

"Aki!" Feeling the world around me shake, the pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together. After falling into that trance in the tree, I just stayed there—I never left. The place I was presently in…must have been somewhere in my psyche as my body lay there unconscious. That was why I could still hear everything—the whole fight was going on under me and at the time, my friends didn't even know that I was there. Somehow, the vines had let go of me and I must have fallen out of the tree. That would definitely explain the pain I was feeling.

"C'mon Aki, wake up! We can't be losing you and Miaka!"

"She's not even budging…"

"You idiots get away from me, go help Miaka!" I shouted at them even though I was pretty sure that they couldn't hear. "I said help Miaka dammit!"

A faint coughing could be heard.

"Miaka?" Tamahome gasped. "Miaka!"

"Tama…home…" She said weakly.

"Thank Suzaku…we thought we lost you…" Hotohori sounded like he was about to cry.

"She still needs medical attention, and fast!"

"Where's…Aki-nee-chan?" She asked weakly.

"Miaka you dummy…just worry about yourself…" I couldn't help but laugh a bit in relief as the access tears ran down.

"She's next to you Miaka…but…"

"But what?"

"She won't wake up…"

She gasped. "Onee-chan!" Giving out a small cry of pain, Nuriko calmed her down.

"Don't move Miaka, you could make even more blood come out." He sighed. "We don't know what's wrong with Aki, but she's breathing quite normally."

"Besides that…she's a strong girl, so whatever has taken her, she can get out," Tamahome added.

"Damn straight I can!"

"Okay, I think that we're done here." Taiitsukun's voice emerged out of nowhere.

The others didn't speak for a few seconds. "Who're you?"

"I'm the one you've been searching for. I am Taiitsukun."

A few seconds later, all four of them gasped in surprise. "All the fog is gone!"

"It doesn't even seem like we're in the same woods anymore."

"That's because you're not." She coughed to clear her throat. "You have all just gone through a test of mine. I wanted to see how you would react to the situation and if you were all genuinely pure of heart. The outcome was a bit unexpected, but you passed." She paused. "This…is Mount Taikyoku."

"You freakin' old bitch! How dare you put my friends and me through all this! If I had the power, I would have taken you down a loooong time ago!" This was low. And I mean really low. I just couldn't believe that Taiitsukun would risk Miaka's life just for some dumb test. Yeah, the woman was strict and her methods for things were definitely questionable, but this…this was too far! She could mess with me all she wanted, but just because she was The Supreme Ruler of the Universe or whatever didn't give her the right to do this to my friend!

About two minutes of talking went by before anything significant happened.

"Nyan-Nyan!" Taiitsukun ordered.

After an odd poof! sound, the voice of what seemed like a little girl came up. "Yes, Milady?"

"Heal their wounds."

"As you wish!" Nyan-Nyan said cheerfully.

A few more minutes of me cursing out Taiitsukun in every way possible (God, I hate being unconscious), and someone finally spoke up.

"What about Aki-nee-chan? She still isn't awake!"

Taiitsukun groaned. "Oh yes…her. Well, I suppose I should…" In the snap of a finger, my eyes instantly opened as my upper body shot up. Finally, I could see everything: the huge, unfamiliar, brightly colored and lit room, Tamahome and Hotohori looked pretty beaten up, but otherwise okay, Nuriko didn't seem to have gotten hurt at all, and there was Miaka, who had on make-shift bandages around her chest where a huge spot of blood stained the cloth. Not thinking about anything else, I went immediately to her side.

"Miaka! Oh my God, are you okay?"

She smiled cheerfully at me. "I'm a little sore…but I'm glad that you're awake. I was worried about you—"

"You idiot! I heard everything that was going on. How could you do something so stupid!" She had a sad look on her face as I yelled at her. Softening up, I wrapped my arms around her. "For so long, you've been the only family I had—I never accepted it, but it's true. If I lost you," Thoughts of Kajou instantly flashed in my head causing my heart to squeeze. "…just take my advice for once and think about your actions before you do things…"

She probably knew that I was thinking of my big sister as I spoke to her because she gave me a sympathetic look while returning the hug. "Don't worry, Onee-chan, I'll always be your little sister and I don't plan on doing anything to ruin our family."

I chuckled. "Yeah, you say that now. After all…you're still a dummy…and a spaz."

Puffing her cheeks, she said, "You're mean…"

Feeling that the others were looking at us, I couldn't help but blush.

But all feelings of embarrassment left me the moment the situation became clear again. Immediately standing up, I faced Taiitsukun and accusingly pointed at her. "Why the hell would you do something like this? Miaka almost died!"

"Lower that tone of yours, child. Even though I don't have to explain myself to you, I will say that I didn't expect Miaka here to be so risky as to be willing to take her own life to save her friends." She gave me a look. "It was her decision, so don't be mad at me."

"If you were over-looking the whole damn thing, then why didn't you stop her oh Ultimate Ruler of the Universe? And when did you plan on telling me about that—" All of a sudden, the old woman stoke me in the back of the head with a toy hammer like she had done before.

"I already told you before to not raise your voice at me. My methods are my own so don't question them." I looked up at her while hunched over, grabbing the back of my head which was in pain. She continued. "I managed to get you this far with my ways haven't I, Akimoto? I would never have allowed young Miaka to die. Look around you…" As I noticed my surroundings, I saw how each of the others were being completely healed (absolutely no wounds!) by a bunch of little girls—who looked no more than seven or eight years old—with sea-foam green hair in two buns, like Miaka, but with a braid streaming down from each one. They had big purple eyes and wore red and pink Chinese-style royal robes and pants with red flats. All of them looking identical to one another, they floated around my friends making sure that they were all taken care of. "I'm making sure that the damage from my experiment is being cleaned up. Speaking of which…" She faced the Nyan-Nyan that seemed to be finished healing Hotohori. "Nyan-Nyan, come and heal Akimoto's wound." My wound? Oh yeah…those Shadow-Kissed girls slashed me…

Sitting completely down, one of the girls floated over and then sat next to me as my bandages quickly fell off to reveal my still fresh wound. She smiled one of the cutest smiles ever! "Hi! I'm Nyan-Nyan! I hope we can be friends!"

Staring at her—'cause she was soooo cute!—I nodded. "Yeah, I hope so too." It's just like with Momiji and Mitsukuni...Damn my weakness for all things cute and adorable!

Putting both her hands about three inches from my wound, a warm light emitted from them as that part of my body started to tingle pleasantly.

As she worked on healing, I faced Taiitsukun again. "I still don't agree with what you did, but why did you put me to sleep?"

She grunted. "I knew you would interfere with the test—you were the only problem really—so I had no choice but to put you out of commission."

My eyebrow cocked up. "If you just wanted me out of the way for your little plan, then why didn't you immediately wake me back up when you revealed yourself?"

Turning around, she spoke without hesitation. "Because I realized how peaceful it was without your sassy mouth and complaints." Umm…sassy? Feeling offended, I was about to say something before she faced Miaka and said, "I know why you have come to me and I am able to get you back to your world." Miaka's face showed a sign of relief before Taiitsukun added, "But you're not strong enough from all the blood loss. If you're going to go through with this, then someone will have to give you some of their blood."

Hearing those words, I instantly spoke. "I'll volunteer if it's for the sake of Miaka getting back to our world safely—"

"No."

"Wait—what? Why?"

"You can't afford to be weakened and lose half your power even if it is temporarily." She gave me a sharp look. "You as well as I know that you need every ounce of your strength." Losing my hype, I thought, damn…she's right…

"I'll do it."

"Yes, me as well." Both Tamahome and Hotohori stepped up after hearing about my unique ordeal. It was good to know that I could count on them, especially when it came to Miaka.

"You two are aware of the consequences I have mentioned—am I correct?" The old woman warned. The two men nodded.

Miaka called out in protest. "I don't want you guys to become weaker just because of me. It's not worth it!"

Hotohori assured her. "My dear priestess, it is only temporary. But more important than that, if it helps with your health and well-being, then I would be willing to give my life for you."

"Stop being worried about us all the time and care about yourself for once." Tamahome winked. "It's okay, trust me!"

Miaka blushed as Taiitsukun chimed in. "Well, we need to work quickly—time is of the essence." With the wave of her hand, the three of them were lifted up into separate floating orbs. Blood seemed to be transferring in tiny strands from Tama and Hotohori over to Miaka.

As the transfusion took place, I noticed Nuriko and decided to go sit over by him. Him…yup, still sounded weird.

When I sat down, he asked, "So, how are you doing?"

I shrugged. "Well, considering all the events that took place in less than twenty-four hours, I'd say that I'm actually pretty good. I mean, I haven't gone insane yet…so that must be something." I faced him. "How are you? I didn't even see Miaka when she was all messed up like that."

He cringed. "There was so much blood…I-I thought that she would die."

"But you were there to help. I still heard everything that was going on. You really helped with stopping her from losing blood. I really appreciate that." I smiled. "That girl…although she's clingy, a crybaby, and a ditz, she is still like a little sister to me. So thanks a lot for doing your best to save her."

Noticing him blush a little, he looked away. "Don't thank me. I only did it because Miaka would be even more annoying if she weren't around. Not only that," Returning to his devious smile, added, "I'd have even a less chance with His Highness if he were sitting around mourning all day for her. If she stays alive, then he's happy. And. All. Mine." Rolling my eyes, I thought, well I see that nothing's changed. Just as I was about to say something, he told me, "I'm sorry."

I gave him a puzzled look. "What?"

"I'm sorry…for that day I called you useless, hopeless, worthless, and powerless. You can do, and have done a lot—I may even go so far as to say that," He patted my head, "you may belong here after all."

Nuriko…Refusing to lower my guards, I said, "What's this? Nuriko is actually apologizing to me? I wonder if this means that Hell has frozen over…"

"Oh will you shut up? I'm trying to be sincere. Sheesh! You and that damn mouth." He cleared his throat. "I know that I'm the one that made your dark ring or whatever stronger." My face fell. "It happened that same day I called you those things. It probably had something to do with that awful, awful feeling Tama and I had after I made you mad." He sighed. "I have significantly more class than to lose my cool like that, so I really do wish to apologize. You're going to suffer more because of me…"

Waving my hands in front of his face, I talked frantically. "Damn Nuriko, you're bumming me out with all of this. You're not usually so easy to break—it's kind of disappointing. And about my dark ring, it's no big, really! I've had this thing nearly my whole life and it used to be even stronger. I could take it then and I can take it now. If I have anything to blame, it's my temper." And over-sensitivity. I hit him on the back. "So, come on, perk up!"

After blinking a few times, he beamed. "You know…you're alright Aki! However…" He grinned deviously. "You'll never be quite the lady I am. I mean, I outrank you completely!"

Giving him a sly look, I asked, "Oh really?"

"Yup! You're a complete lost case when it comes to being lady-like. I mean, you're etiquette and poise isn't all that great and your looks are dull at the very best—"

Making that fireball appear in my hand again, I said, "You're pushing it Nuriko."

He laughed before putting arm down and extinguishing the fire. "You didn't let me finish! Since you're pretty much a lost cause, I've decided to keep my promise to you."

"What promise?"

"Don't you remember? I promised you last night that I would get you a man! I'll make it a special project of mine." As I gave him a skeptical look, he added, "Well, you can't exactly say that I have a bad taste in men, can you?" Well, he's got me there…He beamed. "So, it's decided! I, Nuriko, will get you, Akimoto, a man, to have and to hold for as long as you two shall live!" I haven't even met this so called 'man of mine' and Nuriko's already planning our wedding!

I sighed. "Who would've thought that a boy like you would be so eccentric?" Wait…did I say "boy"? After realizing what I had just said out loud, I looked up to Tama and Hotohori who seemed unfazed. Huh?

Nuriko must have noticed my bewilderment because he told me, "They already know Aki—you don't have to keep it a secret anymore."

"What? When did this happen?"

"During that whole mirror-Miaka fiasco, the bitch spilled the beans right in His Highness and Tama's faces. There was no turning back after that. So now, I have to rethink my whole plan on getting married to High Highness!"

I sat there, aback, at the information. "That's not fair! I wanted to see that!" He gave me a nasty look. "Hey, don't judge—I have an odd sense of entertainment sometimes, okay? And I really wanted to be there!" I got quieter as I pouted. "I kind of wanted to be the one to tell them…"

Nuriko's look didn't change. "You're a twisted girl."

Returning the look, I countered, "And you're one twisted dude. And together, we pretty much make a Twizzler."

"A-a what?"

I sighed, "Never mind."

When the whole blood transfer thing was done, the three Celestial Warriors sat in a circle around Miaka. Apparently, these were the positions they had to be in in order for Miaka to get back home. I had no choice but to stand off to the side since I wasn't a warrior or priestess of Suzaku.

Miaka faced me. "Onee-chan, aren't you coming back with me?"

Taking a glance over at Taiitsukun, I replied with a sad smile. "No, I'm sorry Miaka, but I'm staying here. I have a few things that I need to…take care of." With her gone for a while, I could finally go out searching for any sign of the Shadow Maidens—and now Shadow-Kissed—making sure that they don't cause hurt and misery to innocent people. Hopefully, I would also get a chance on finding my prince. Who knows?

"Like what?"

I hesitated. "W-well…it's complicated. Maybe I'll tell you when you get back. Just make sure that you get better, okay?" Giving her a wink, I said, "Make sure to say hi to Yui and Keisuke for me, okay?" She nodded.

"We will all be awaiting for your return Miaka. So get back home and come back safely," Hotohori told her.

"Take all the time you need though!" Nuriko purred. Him and his hidden agenda.

Miaka laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah…I'll do that…"

She looked over at Tamahome who was giving her a supportive, yet weak smile. "I hope you make it back soon. Things will be…quiet without you…"

I chuckled. "That's nice Tama, just forget that I'm standing right here. You know, the other girl from another world?" There was a chance, though, that I wouldn't be around due to my own agenda.

He shot me a distasteful look for ruining his moment with Miaka. "Oh yeah…how could I possibly forget?"

As I stuck my tongue out at him, Taiitsukun seemed to have become impatient. "Okay, now that all the good-byes are out of the way, I will ask that you all concentrate to the best of your abilities. With only three Suzaku warriors, this is going to be rather difficult."

"Well…I could help," I offered.

"No."

"Come on!"

"You don't possess the powers of Suzaku so you are really of no use in this specific ritual. Just sit back and be patient." She focused back on them. "They will just have to focus an extra amount. Miaka, I will need you to think about your home and all the things you're returning to. Your determination will be a huge boost in power." Just as the four of them began to pray, Miaka seemed to be struggling—body shaking and tears forming in her eyes, it was almost like something was preventing her from doing her part. When I began to figure that she may need my help, a small hint of bright red light appeared.

The more I looked at the girl, the more I was noticing how she was whispering something. I couldn't quite read her lips or decipher what she was saying until her volume increased with just one word: "Yui!" In the blink of an eye, Miaka was gone in a flash of a bright scarlet light.

See ya later…little sis.

Okay everyone, that was chapter 22—I hoped you liked it. Please review!

Thanx again for all the support from all of you—I REALLY appreciate it =)

Well…C ya next chap—

Aki: What a second!

Miaka: Onee-chan, you can't just come in at the end of the chap—

Aki: This whole time, I've been waiting to see Hotohori and Tama's reaction to Nuriko being a man. But no, I was hypnotized at the time. I feel totally jacked!

Miaka: I'm sorry that you weren't there, but you can't just interrupt like this…

Aki: Yes I can! I have a right as the main protagonist!

*Miaka hides something behind her back*

Aki: Miaka…what do you have there?

Miaka: N-nothing…

*Aki points in a random direction to get Miaka to look there. Going around her back, Aki takes the object the girl was hiding*

Aki: Is this…an iPad?

Miaka: W-well…

*she sweat-drops*

Miaka: Can you give that back to me please?

*Aki ignores her and turns the device on, flipping through apps*

Miaka: You really shouldn't go searching through that—

Aki: *gasps* You have the missing clip from today's episode?

*Aki glares at Miaka*

Aki: You've had this the whole time and didn't show me?

Miaka: I couldn't show you! The director said not to, and not only that—

*Nuriko walks in*

Nuriko: Hey guys, what cha' doin'?

Miaka: N-nothing!

Aki: Miaka had the missing clip for when your true gender was revealed to the other two.

*Nuriko paled and laughed nervously*

Nuriko: That's not necessary for you to see. Really, it's not all that important…

Aki: Yes it is! Besides, the audience wants to see it too!

*Tamahome comes out of nowhere and puts his chin on Aki's shoulders, looking at the iPad*

Tamahome: *holding in a laugh* Oh yeah, that was quite the experience. It's too bad that you and the audience didn't get to see it Aki.

*Aki glares at him*

Aki: Well, I plan on changing that! All I need to do is press play!

*Miaka disappears for a second and comes back with Hotohori on her arm*

Miaka: Hotohori, tell her that the director will get mad if she shows it!

Hotohori: *thinking* Actually, I believe that it would be more generous to the people if we showed it. And I honestly don't think that the director would mind…

*getting nervous, Miaka bounces around the room*

Miaka: No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Aki: Giga La Seoshi!

*a mostly transparent green Seoshi appeared around Miaka, trapping her inside*

Aki: Hey, Miaka, if you are opposed to me watching this, then just say something!

*Miaka bangs on the Seoshi walls and yells, but no sounds come out*

Aki: *chuckles deviously* Well then, I guess she's okay with it!

Tamahome: Don't you think that people will be a bit confused if we start from there?

Aki: *pondering* Yeah, you're right…

*she faces the audience after pressing a few things on the iPad*

Aki: Okay, I'm going to show a slideshow of a few things that happened just a few minutes before the clip.

*shows picture of Miaka running away from Tamahome*

Aki: After she ran away, Miaka found something she just couldn't resist,

*shows picture of Miaka's eyes glowing hungrily and happily in front of a bunch of food*

Aki: A dinner table filled with all of her favorite foods—which would be everything that's edible that could be prepared using a blender, oven, toaster, or stove. She ran towards the food not realizing that she had run straight through some magic mirror.

*shows a picture of Miaka starting at herself*

Aki: Out of nowhere, a meaner mirror-double of Miaka comes out of nowhere and tells the real Miaka to stay and eat while she takes her place.

*shows a picture of mirror Miaka in the outside world as real Miaka bangs from the inside of the mirror*

Aki: Mirror Miaka gets out and traps real Miaka saying that she could live her life better than she can—which would include marrying Hotohori.

*she presses some more buttons on the iPad*

Aki: Well, I'd say that everyone is caught up.

Hotohori: Akimoto, don't you think that people will be asking how you know all that since you were sleeping at the time?

Aki: *shaking her head* I read the script, so I know what happened. I just wanna see it. So, without further delay…

*Pressing the "Play" button, the missing clip from the episode is played*

Miaka wrapped her arms around the emperor's neck in an uncharacteristic fashion causing everyone to just stare—in Nuriko's case, glare fiercely.

"Miaka…what are you—" Hotohori didn't know what to make of the sight. The woman that he had been waiting for so long was finally in his arms, willing to be his. But he knew that something wasn't right—the Miaka he knew just wasn't this bold. Part of it seemed like a dream come true, but the other part seemed both wrong and suspicious.

"It's okay Hotohori." Miaka told him. "I'm all yours now…You won't get any more resistance or hesitation from me…" She looked out of the corner of her eye tauntingly towards Tamahome whose face seemed to show deep hurt. This Miaka knew that she had both stabbed him in the back, and straight through the heart…and she didn't care. What she wasn't aware of was that Tama was also suspicious of this new Miaka that emerged. If he knew anything of the girl, he knew that she was extremely considerate of people's feelings. So even if she did have these feelings for Hotohori, she wouldn't be so boldly expressing it in front of him and Nuriko—who was in love with the emperor.

The purple-haired warrior—who was too blinded by jealousy to even notice the change in the priestess—couldn't hold it in any longer. "Miaka! How dare you do this! You said that you would stand aside and let me be with him. You, lying skank!"

Miaka glared at her friend. "I'm a 'skank' huh? Well at least that nickname is appropriate to my gender. You wouldn't really know about that since you can't quite decide how to make up your mind on that subject, can you Nu-ri-ko?" She sang out the syllables.

Puzzled, Tamahome asked, "What do you mean 'she can't make up her mind'?" Nuriko's eyes were now blazing in anger as Miaka looked extremely smug.

"Oh yeah, that's right, you guys don't know about it yet. Well let me inform you about our good friend Nuriko—"

"Miaka! Don't!" Nuriko panicked.

She ignored the plea's. "Nuriko is actually a man." Hotohori and Tamahome gasped as random lighting came into Nuriko's background as if he were in a nightmare. "You can even check if you want."

He stood there, motionless, with wide eyes looking at everyone.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Tama spoke up first. "You know, now that I think about it, Nuriko never did have chest." He started to crack up as he pointed at Hotohori. "And he's been in love with you this whole time! Why the hell would you let a man into your harem? What kind of weirdo emperor are you?"

Hotohori, who looked like he was getting over minor shock as well, coughed. "I assure you that I didn't know."

"Don't you think that your people should have checked for something like that?"

Sighing, the emperor noted, "He may have been a part of my harem, but he kissed you." While he grinned in triumph, Tamahome paled. Facing the inevitable, he faced the still-frozen Nuriko. "While I don't like that I have been deceived, you are—" Screaming in embarrassment, Nuriko bolted in one direction straight into the thickness of the fog before Hotohori could even finish his sentence. The two remaining men stared off in his direction while Miaka continued to hold on to the emperor with indifference to Nuriko's breakdown. "I was going to tell him that he's still part of the Suzaku Seven and that we need him. He's also a good friend to us all, so I don't really see any point in people getting upset."

Miaka grinned. "You're right: there is no point in being upset over such a stupid thing. Now that that cross-dresser is out of the picture, I have you all to myself…"

*Mirror Miaka acts even more suspiciously ending up almost kissing Hotohori. The two guys had no choice but to accuse the woman of being a fake…* *end clip*

Aki: Okay, now I'm caught up! *satisfied* Was that so bad Miaka?

*Aki looks at Miaka while she notices Nuriko crouched in what was Tamaki's emo corner*

Aki: What? Oh yeah!

*she snaps her fingers and the Seoshi disappears, causing Miaka to fall to the ground from leaning on it*

Miaka: Onee-chan! I can't believe you did that! I really need that iPad back now!

*she grabs the iPad out of Aki's hand*

Aki: Why you so beefed about it?

Miaka: Because I'm late!

Aki: Late for what—

Yui:*angry tone* Miaka!

*Miaka shudders as she turns around to see her best friend standing there with a pissed off face*

Miaka: Oh…Yui! I was just—

Yui: I've been waiting for my iPad for an hour now! There I was standing in the parking lot, in the hot sun, and you never came!

*Aki thinks: Oops*

Aki: Umm Yui? You haven't even made an appearance yet. I'm sure that the director wouldn't like any sneak-peaks.

Yui: I'm sorry Senpai, but I had to get in here and get this!

*she grabbed the iPad from Miaka*

Yui: I have important stuff on here that I really need! You got distracted, didn't you? Started looking at some food recipes?

Miaka: No! That's not—

Yui: You smelled food and went after it completely forgetting that I was even out there, didn't you? Jeez Miaka, you can be such a spaz!

*Miaka looks at Aki, who looks away, whistling. The three guys around her pretend to be doing their own things*

Miaka: Yui, I—

*Yui grabs Miaka by her ear, dragging her away*

Yui: Now, I'm late! You're gonna have to come with me to the library now.

*Miaka flailed around*

Miaka: No! Not the library! It's soooo boring there! Onee-chan! Tamahome! Nuriko! Hotohori! Help me! I don't like the library! We can't eat much in there!

*When they left, the three guys gave Aki a look. She shrugged*

Aki: I'll by her some cake and a few pastries. She'll forget this thing even happened.

*she looks at the audience and waves*

Aki: Hope you all enjoyed that! See you next chapter!

-Aloe

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!