Shouka was the daughter of the local landlord of the village of
Chouko. She had long, light-brown hair which she usually wore with
two locks looped above her temples and bangs, and the rest of it loose
down her back. Her eyes were blye, and she was quiet, reserved, well-
behaved, all that a good dutiful daughter could be expected to be,
until she was about twelve, when she ran into the son of the local
carpentry-master,
Myou
Juan. It was love at first sight for both of them, although
neither one realized the other had even "noticed" them that way. Both
thought the other regarded tham simply as a friend, but such a
friendship, even just as friendship, was frowned upon by her father,
since to most of the villiage, Juan was simply a middle son of an
admittedly skilled artisan, "Nothing special." her father always
admonished her, "He barely even talks." Even so, he was her one
rebellion, and Shouka always held Juan in her heart, and when the
villagers discovered that young Juan was actually the Suzaku
Shichiseishi Mitsukake, her father bacame more willing to look at
allowing them to become closer friends.
(For more information on Juan and Shouka's love, read
A Silent Courtship)
Beyond here be spoilers BEWARE!!
S
S
As for what we know of Shouka through Fushigi Yuugi, we know that by
the time Mitsukake was 21, they were at least engaged, and probably
also lovers (although that is subject to much speculation). It can
certainly be said that they loved eachother deeply, and Shouka worked
alongside Mitsukake, travelling to nearby villages with him and
helping him as a nurse. She died about a year before Suzaku no Miko
arrived on the scene. She caught a terrible illness while Mitsukake
was away in a distant village, and although she tried to hang on until
he got back, she died just before he was able to arrive and save her.
Mitsukake went into deep mourning, refusing to tend to the needs of
his body beyond the most basic of necessities for survival. He also
refused to have anything to do with other people. Because of this, he
never knew that in the village, Shouka was still alive, or so it
seemed to everyone else. The disease which had seemed to kill her
raged through the village, and to the villagers, Shouka was a miracle-
worker, able to bring the dead back to life with a single touch of her
lips. It was later discovered, though, that in fact, the disease had
been spread by Shouka herself, after her dying body was posessed by
the deamon which caused the disease. The only reason that the deamon
had been able to invade her body was that, in a desperate dying wish
to hold on just long enough to see her love again, Shouka had allowed
the deamon the use of her flesh. In return, she would be able to see
her darling Juan again. When she was finally brought to her senses by
Miaka and realized what she had done, she begged Mitsukake to grant
her release through his power, and was finally laid truly to rest,
having seen her beloved one last time.
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