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All characters involved in this fanfic with spoilers are the property of Watase Yuu sensei. Please give Virgo-chan comments on how you feel about it and tell her. For any prove read error, tell me. Translation for the Japaneses sentences are in brakets [].
Part 5a: Indecision 1
by Virgo-chan
Miaka and Yui exchanged uneasy glances. First off, Nuriko (now called Kenshin) was pacing up and down Taiyo's front room; secondly, Taiyo herself received a visit from Byakko Seikun as the other two girls did with their own Animal Gods; and third, Hikari and Makoto - dead ringers for Chiriko and Miboshi, respectively - were sitting on the sofa. And get this, the two Seishi that killed each other are best friends in this life. But the worst part of all was the fact that none of the three retained any memories of the Shijin Tenchisho. The dilemma was to either let them go on with their peaceful lives, though going through very strong feeling of déjà vu with every familiar face or tell them about their previous lives and take the risk or putting the former Seishis' sanity, their questioning of the girls' sanity or even their friendships with each other on the line.
It was a tough decision, and we all know how Miaka handles those tough decisions. That's right - she ate the cookies and called up Keisuke, Tetsuya and Tamahome while Yui and Taiyo were left to ponder it out. Now everyone sat in an uneasy silence. But thankfully that ever so kind and friendly Umiiro was there to keep the conversation alive. Strained, but alive nonetheless.
"Oi, Miaka," Yui called, coming up from the hallway, "don't you think it's kinda weird?"
"Eh? Nani, Yui-chan?"
The blonde leaned against the wall, starring blankly at the ceiling. "Well, that all the Seishis are being called up - conveniently living in Tokyo, and that you and me and my cousin are three of the four Mikos. Don't you think it's hitting a little close to home?"
The other blinked, obviously not getting it. "Nani yo[What's up?], Yui-chan?"
Sighing..."I mean, what happened to Genbu no Miko?"
"What are you talking about? She's been dead for nearly a hundred years or more."
"Exactly! And the Byakko no Miko died just last year!"
"But now Taiyo-chan is the new Byakko no Miko."
Yui nodded slowly, moving her hand in a slow circle. "And that means that if Byakko Seikun can get himself a new Miko for what ever weird purpose..."
"...Then... Genbu Seikun can too?"
"Precisely! You're not as stupid as one might think, Miaka!"
Of course, this is Miaka we're talking about here; she took that as a compliment. "Yatta![Yes!]" Suddenly she stopped. "Matte...[Wait..] so then who's the next Genbu no Miko?" Yui tripped.
"Hey... and I thought you were actually following me on this..." The taller girl took her friend by the shoulders. "Okay, you and I are best friends, ne?"
"Hai."
"And we are Seiryuu and Suzaku no Mikos, ne?"
"Hai."
"Then my cousin, who is also one of our closest friends, is Byakko no Miko, ne?"
"N"[meaning a yes]
"And all three of us have a very close friend, and her name is Umiiro."
The two stood in silence, just starring at each other. After a lengthy silence, Miaka finally opened her mouth. "You mean that you think the new Genbu no Miko might be Umiiro-chan?"
"Hai!"
"So what should we do? Tell her?"
"Iie, I think the best thing to do is to stay with her, see if I'm right on this. Do you think you can do that, Miaka?"
The brunette nodded. "Hai, but why don't you?"
"I need to look out for my cousin."
"Doshite?[Why]"
"Because, even though she talks big, she can be easily shaken up. Besides, if I stay with her, maybe I can help her find some of her Seishi. This's what the two of us should be doing as well."
"Eh? Ah, hai!" Miaka nodded.
It was late into the night Miaka's brother and the others finally arrived. She and Yui filled them in on what happened, telling them to keep an eye out for any of the other Seishi. That's when Tetsuya realized that the plan had a major flaw.
"Ano... How did the Genbu and Byakko Shichiseishi look like?" As the other four stopped and looked at the tall, dark-haired man. He just shrugged at their looks, light from a street lamp reflecting off his ever-present ray-bands. "I was just saying, I mean, Keisuke and I have only seen Tatara, but that was once when he died. And you two only saw him, Subaru and Tokaki, and only two of the Genbu Shichiseishi. We don't know how the others look like!"
A moth buzzed lazily around the fives' heads, dancing to and fro under the light. Not a single soul moved one muscle.
"You know..." Keisuke said at length. "We never even got to see any of the other Seishi, either. I mean, we saw Suboshi, but he's already found, and Chichiri and Tasuki, but they're not dead yet. And Taka is forgetting everything about the Shijin TenchiSho anyway. How are we going to find them? You guys are the only ones who know what they look like!"
The two girls were silent. Suddenly Miaka snapped her fingers. "I just remembered! When I went back into the book, I took my camera with me so I could remember everyone!" Briefly she dug into her pockets and pulled out her wallet. Inside the first flap was a slightly worn picture. In it was the Suzaku group, all seven Seishi, before they sent out the boat to find the two Shinzahos. "Those are my Seishi, see?" She pointed out the two recently discovered Suzaku Seishi. "That's Nuriko; as you can see, we already found him - he was Kenshin, remember? And Chiriko is right there. That's Tasuki and Chichiri, if you've forgotten, and Tamahome, now known as Taka."
Taka startled. How did I suddenly get into this?
"...So the only ones left are Hotohori," she pointed the handsome young emperor, "and Mitsukake," then tapped the chest of the gentle-eyed healer. Miaka then looked thoughtful. "I wonder if Tama-neko will come back, too."
They then looked expectantly to Yui, she scratched her head and laughed, somewhat embarrassed.
"Ah... well, you see, I wasn't really all that close to any of my Seishi. In fact the only ones I really got to know all that well, or feel relatively comfortable around was Suboshi and Nakago." She then tilted her head back, conjuring up the images of her deceased Seishi. "Well, I never really got a good look at Tomo without his Kabuki make-up on, so I'm not so sure on how he'll look now. Ashitare was actually half-man half-wolf. His ability was to shift into a wolf's form. I know he has black hair and yellowish eyes, but other than that I can safely say was fur. Soi had long red hair and eyes, very tall and pretty. Nakago was your stereotypical gaigakujin[foreigner], but his hair was as long as Hotohori's. Too bad you can't see it in that picture, ne, Miaka? Then you already know Suboshi. Amiboshi is his twin brother and I believe he's still alive. And then that other kid, Makoto, was my last Seishi, Miboshi."
Her beau shook his head. "Mou, what's with all these 'boshi's?" The others shrugged.
"Hey, I didn't pick them, those were their seishis' names." Yui then placed her hands upon her hips. "You know, maybe it would be easier if I just attempted to draw them out for you, ne? I stress the word attempt, got that? Don't expect them to turn out Da Vinci's, okay?"
With that said, the five teens pilled into two separate cars and sped off into the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In the book, boy, Tasuki was cursing enough to make an Irish man cringe. He would have torn down a few houses in his rampage if he hadn't worked so friggin' hard to rebuild them out of their previous ruin. That Amiboshi or Kaiku or whatever the hell he called himself just wouldn't listen to them. The other four cautiously peeked around the edge of the doorway to view Tasuki attempting to restrain himself from throwing his tessen at something.
"Ne... Chichiri-san?" Ryo asked quietly.
"Hai, no da?"
"You're the consoling type, ne?"
"Doshite, no da? What are you getting at, Ryo-kun no da?"
The blue haired monk suddenly found himself shoved into the room - alone - with a furious pyro-maniac. He sweatdropped and made a mental note to the chi that blasted a certain trio. Chichiri watched as Tasuki marched around the room, swearing and making lewd gestures every once in a while. Finally, when the other seishi stopped to catch his breath - a full thirty four minutes later - Chichiri thought it was then the best time to jump in - mainly because when Tasuki starts yelling, he could drown out the sounds of an avalanche.
"Ne, Tasuki-kun no da..."
The amber-eyed bandit turned eyes in a flat death stare. "What...?" He asked deeply from the back of his throat.
"Ano..." Chichiri swallowed hard. "Nani yo, Tasuki-kun... no da...?" He said meekly, trying to hide behind his shakujo.
Tasuki took in one large, deep breath, looking as if he was going to go into another one of his ranting fits. Instead he slowly let it out and plopped heavily on one of the cushions lining on floor. "I don't understand it. That Amiboshi kid knows that he isn't part of this village, that he's not that parents' son. Why doesn't he want to know his true past?"
At that calm and collected - not to mention observant - statement, the monk began to think that maybe body snatchers have indeed came to their world. That is until Tasuki lifted his head to speak again.
"And because that crummy little prick don't want it back, we'll never get to the other world!"
Chichiri sweatdropped as the SD Tasuki ran around the room, waving his tessen about and shouting out some more colorful language.
"Ano, Tasuki-kun no da."
He made no indication that he heard the monk. So once again Chichiri brought his deadly shakujo into play. Ah yes, Tasuki had so much fun that he nearly passed out. And poor Mr. Shakujo now had two Tasuki-shaped dents in it.
"Ittai![It hurts!] Ittai, ittai, ittai!" He complained rubbing the sore bump that suddenly grew out of his crop of red hair. "What was that for, Chichiri?"
"Tasuki-kun, listen to me no da. There're some things you haven't considered, no da." The monk placed his strong hands on Tasuki's shoulders, seating the both of them on a couple cushions. "He must think that since he doesn't remember his past, or since no one would or could tell him what happened, he must believe that he did something horrible, no da. And that's not too far from the truth, no da. Besides you were pacing up and down around him, glaring and snarling at the poor boy, no da. Of course he'd feel a little intimidated, no da."
The bandit still looked a little angry, but confusion also filled his eyes. "So... What should we do? Leave him alone?"
"Iie, Tasuki-kun no da. If we do that it'll take too long to get to Miaka-sama's world. Let me talk to him alone, no da. If that doesn't work, than we'll let him sleep on it, no da; or maybe he'll change his mind before we leave, no da."
Tasuki didn't look very convinced, but it was the only plan that they had. Besides, it was a nice comfortable little town, even if it wasn't much. "Mou iin da[It's already OK.]," he said at length. "He has it until we finish rebuilding the town, after that we're gone, ne?"
"Hai, Tasuki-kun no da. We'll leave then."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Umiiro arrived home pretty late in the afternoon. She couldn't help but feel a little confused at all the new 'friends' Taiyo-chan, Miaka-chan and Yui-chan suddenly had. Oh, she didn't feel left out, just that it confused her how her three friends knew so many people, yet they didn't know a thing about each other.
It had already been two days after Yui called her and Miaka to Taiyo's house. Miaka then suddenly seemed to grow interested in everything Umiiro did. But today Miaka decided to eat out with her brother and Inazuke while she went to the debate team meeting. Afterwards Umiiro had to pick up some groceries, do some home aerobics, shower. Now she was sitting at her well-polished mahogany study desk, working diligently on her homework.
Opposite her desk was a large air conditioner that blew a gentle, cool breeze over her bare neck. Her feathery hair, normally down around her shoulders, was held in a braided bun. A silken forest green robe covered her lithe figure as a couple of missed water droplets ran down the curves of her body.
The mixture of light classical music and lulling of the A/C made her feel a little tired, the humidity made the room so warm and her computer chair was so comfortable and soft...
A loud roaring noise filled the room with thunder. It was hard to tell what woke Umiiro up, the deafening noise or the sudden blasting of ice cold air or - maybe the fact that she was now sitting on a block of hard snow.
Umiiro quickly stood, wrapping her arms around her body, trying to keep warm. What just happened? Where did my room go? Where on earth am I? She looked around her, trying to peer through the curtain of snow, searching for any signs of life in the sub-zero temperature.
She began to grow numb. The skin under her fingernails turning into a light shade of blue. As what she saw began to grow black around her, Umiiro knew that she would most likely die of hypothermia before someone found her. However fate has a way of beating the odds when it really wants to.
A warm body wrapped his long, muscular arms around her shoulders, a cloak draped about the two. Startled, Umiiro looked up at her savior. A pair of piercing, glacier blue eyes smiled at her, inlaid in a rough, darkly weathered face.
"Oi, you should know better than to be hanging around here by yourself. Especially dressed like that, wakai josei[young maiden]." His voice was warm as he flashed her a heart-melting smile. Immediately Umiiro could feel herself blushed. Good-natured he said, "Well, you must be feeling better already. Since you've got some color back to your cheeks."
Flushing even deeper, she gently rested her head against his well-toned chest, feeling his warmth and heart beating almost hypnotically.
Then the scene changed once more. Umiiro was now in a large and spacious room, well furnished and laid in a soft, warm down bed. All she could do was sit upright and gape in awe. Take the fanciest, best crafted and intricately designed Post-French Revolutionary castle you can think of and replace all the gold with pure jade and silver with what looked like carved-from-ice-statues, only they didn't melt.
Opposite her was a large, full-sized mirror that reflected her image in its silver surface. But there was one problem, the person looking back at her wasn't Nami Umiiro, but some girl with her black hair pulled back in a long ponytail and dressed in a grayish-blue kimono[Japanese style of traditional clothes]. She was engulfed among the same copper colored silken bed sheets and sat upon the same king-sized bed as Umiiro did, but the person in the mirror and the person looking into it weren't the same. The girl moved when she moved jumped when she jumped and moved her mouth in perfect synch when Umiiro spoke.
A knock came from the large doors on one side of the mirror. After a moment of silence, it opened a bit, allowing a head to pop in. It was that guy again, same blue eyes, dark face and black hair. However now that silly hat was off his head. "Hey!" He said with a smile. "Welcome back to the land of the living!" He sat next to her in her bed. "I take it you missed me, right?" He chided.
"Ano...?" Umiiro blushed slightly. "Can I ask you something?"
"Hai."
"Namae wa, mada shiranin desu kedo...[I don't know your name...]"
"Ore wa Tomite.[I'm Tomite]"
"Tomite?"
He chuckled deep in his throat. "Actually that's not my real name, but everyone calls me that. Kimi wa?[You?]"
"Ah, Takiko desu.[I'm takiko.]" Umiiro blinked. What had she just called herself? Why did she give someone else's name instead of her own? He just smiled easily at her, totally oblivious to her confusion.
"Come on, Wakai josei[young maiden], the emperor is waiting."
"Emperor? What would he want with someone like me?"
Tomite just smiled gently as he took Umiiro by the arm. "Don't worry. You'll find out."
Then, without warning, something was tearing her apart. It was pulling her this way and that, like each tendon and tissue in her body were stretched apart, every nerve pulled to its very limit and still being pulled out. Her cry was lost in a flaring green light and drowned out by the rapid flipping of ancient pages.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It seems like dreams have become a major factor in this chapter (Virgo now is contemplating on changing the title of this chapter.... nah...). But anyway, you'll find out what I mean later. Meanwhile, back to the story.
A week went by in the Shijin Tenchisho; the group was still trying to rebuild the village. It was making some very impressive progress. With Chichiri - and the Nyan-Nyans that suddenly popped up - healing the people, Hanako helping the farmers to sew their fields and the guys directing and taking part in the labor work, everything was going smoothly.
However, from Taiitsukun's perception, it wasn't so great. The guardians stopped their advances for the mean time, but were still a dangerous threat to everyone in the town. It seemed that the four gods were preoccupied with something else to attacking the remaining three Seishi. Or should she say two?
That was another big problem. Amiboshi, a.k.a. Kaiku, was still refusing to know about his past. Then again, not many people would want to remember being on of the main reasons why so many people died. However, in these circumstances, he didn't have the choice.
Calling upon her mighty powers, the large, silver-surfaced mirror in which Taiitsukun hovered in front of the rippled. At first it reflected herself, like the calm surface of a lake, gently bobbing by the light breeze. Then it flashed a bright blue, and in its depths she viewed the slumbering form of her target. Taiitsukun allowed a slight grin of triumph on her leathery lips. Closing her great, wizened eyes, the sage took a deep, collective breath and focused.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It wasn't cold, but still he trembled. The hall was clear, not a breath of a person, and no trace of any chi. Crystalline blue eyes traced the carvings on the huge door that loomed before him. He knew that if he was summoned here, he shouldn't be wasting anytime, but Suboshi tried everything possible to set this meeting off as long as possible without getting his chi blasted.
However, when Soi stood at the doorway to his and his aniki's room, he knew that it was now or never. As in never seeing another day again. After all, Nakago is not someone you want to piss off, no matter how much you dislike him.
It was hard trying to figure out why Seiryuu's Champion wanted to see him. Everyone knew that he wasn't even close to reaching his full potential with the ryuseisui. And the last time Nakago had anything to do with him was to tell aniki that there was a mission for him. After that... well... aniki had warned him to stay as far away from Nakago as possible. Kinda hard when you've been singled out.
-Well- he told himself -Maybe he just wants me to persuade aniki to take that mission.- Che, one could only hope.
Gathering his faltering courage, Suboshi rapped his knuckles against the smooth, cold wood. He paused, waiting for some answer or movement inside that large room. A second passed and a minute trickled away. Nothing.
Suboshi tried not to sigh with relief or at least sigh too loud. He turned to go and bumped into someone behind him.
He blinked several times. His own face was starring back at him from a cool, solid sea of royal blue. Looking up he clenched his teeth, blood suddenly running cold with fear. Nakago's emotionless eyes starred right through the younger boy.
It took a second for Suboshi to remember that he was facing a superior and tensely bowed, bending at the waist. "Y-you wanted to see me, Nakago-san?"
He could feel those icy eyes sizing up his slim figure and could almost see that calculating smile that curled at the ends as he studied the younger; lithe muscles tensed in the boy. A large hand clamped down on the twin's shoulder then traced the sharp lines down his arm. He shivered in fear.
"Ah yes, Suboshi, correct?"
"Hai."
He chuckled humorlessly. "Good. Come in."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Amiboshi scratched the back of his head. He had looked every where conceivable trying to find his brother, asking every person he came across. None of the gardeners saw him, or any of the other Seishi. When he queried Yui-sama, she just shrugged saying that they both looked too much alike for her to tell the difference before she went right back to studying.
The older twin leaned against one of the thick pillars, his chin cupped in a hand which was propped up by his other arm.
"Now...where could he-" He cut himself off as panic suddenly seized his breast. Choking from the sudden fear, Amiboshi stumbled to his knees.
His lanky arms wrapped tightly around his torso as he tried to keep himself from trembling. Eyes wide and starring, a small whimper passed from between his clenched teeth. A three-way struggle ripped through Amiboshi. The fear and sickening pleasure that passed through his and Suboshi unique connection and his own fight to regain control of his emotions.
The flutist couldn't understand it. Why would otouto-chan be in such a state? Who or what could cause him to panic like this? Then he understood.
Anger flooded his senses, blocking all the other emotions within him. "Nakago..." he growled in the back of his throat, disgusted that he would stoop to such a...a...a perverse low just to get Amiboshi to go on that god-forsaken mission of his.
Determination set in his deep blue eyes as he staggered to the hall, which held Nakago's door. Amiboshi swallowed hard when he heard his brother, the heated cries that pleaded an end, begging for him to stop.
With a cry that no human was thought able to make, Amiboshi threw himself at the door, pounding on it with his fists. "I'll do it!" He shouted. "I'll do it! Leave Otouto-chan alone! I'll do it!" Tears began to pour down his cheeks when there was no sign of conformation. Amiboshi slid down the door, still banging on it, weakly. "God damn you... I'll do it..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Amiboshi looked at his brother's shivering form. He wouldn't talk about what Nakago had done to him, but he had already known. And it tore at his heart, made him want to just hold his brother and cry. From the very moment his otouto-chan fell from the shogun's doorway, Amiboshi only wanted to comfort him. But he couldn't.
When the first time he touched Suboshi's shoulders, the younger cringed away, shying away from even his brother's gentle hand. And now, in a few more hours, Amiboshi would be off, trying to fake his way into the Suzaku ranks as their seventh and final Seishi.
He reached out to brush back his brother's bangs, but pulled back when creases showed upon Suboshi's brow. He clenched his fist in anger. -Otouto-chan, gomen ne... I swear, the minute we call Seiryuu Seikun, we are going to leave this place. And I will never let anyone hurt you the same way that bastard Nakago did, ever again.-
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
With a short cry, Kaiku shot up in bed, shivering. It was that dream... it wasn't the same one he had for day after day, but it held the same people. What did it mean? Who were those people? And why did that one boy, the one that seemed so close to him, have the same face as him?
He shook his, already the dream slipping away from his conscious mind. He wiped the sweat from off his brow and the back of his neck. Coming to a decision, Kaiku pulled on a pair of farming pants and field boots, going into the cold night to find Chichiri.
-Perhaps- he thought hopefully. -Chichiri-san will be able to tell me what these dreams mean. And maybe then I'll be able to have one decent night's sleep...-
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The world swam back in to view; sounds of people and liquid filled her ears as steam flicked a strong, heated aroma to her nostrils.
"Oi, oi!" A smooth, gentle voice chided. "Careful or you're gonna burn the stew!"
That snapped Umiiro back in to reality. She looked around as her brother plucked the near over-boiling beef stew from the burner.
"Nani...?" She asked faintly, still unsure about where she was.
Her cousin looked at her curiously, a dark eyebrow perfectly arched as his impossibly green eyes moved over her face.
Slowly Umiiro turned her gaze to him. "Who... who are you...?"
That caused him to laugh. Thin locks of deep chocolate bangs fell lightly over his brow, lit in a fiery golden hue from the setting sun that shone through the kitchen window. "That's a good one, Umi-chan." He chuckled from behind his mask. Even though the winter sickness had passed months ago, her niisan still kept the cloth over his mouth. He told everyone it was because he had a sickness that was spread by his coughing on things.
However, his family knew different. When he was adopted into the family some eight years ago, they were told that a month before, he was attacked by the older bullies for being a, as the director said, smart-ass. Then he was aptly dubbed Kogatana after that incident.
However, his good humor stopped abruptly when Umiiro reached back and undid the string that held the mask in place. He stood there, stunned, as she reached up and gently traced the pale scar from across the bridge of his nose, down the edge of his lip and to the point of his chin. Kogatana's eyes widened. Something in the back of his brain clicked together.
Umiiro shivered lightly as the memories flooded back in to her. "Yari-niisan..." whispered the girl, "you're alive..." Tears of happiness welled in her eyes. "You're alive..."
The world flashed in her eyes as the emotions suddenly overwhelmed her.
The dark walls of the earth, collapsing around her. The strong hands that gripped hers, never letting go and urging her on. The angry cries of creatures that should never have been seen by humans as they gave chase. The dropping of the land bridge in front of them.
A voice called for her in the darkness of her mind. "Umi-chan! Umi-chan!" A pair of strong hands grabbed her shoulders, turning her around to face him.