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Fushigi Yuugi is copyright Yuu Watase, Flower Comics, Studio
Perriot, Viz Communications and Pioneer Entertainment. This
fanfic is for entertainment purposes only. There is no profit
being made here (if there was, Tamahome would undoubtedly get it
all). All comments and criticism is welcome at raye_j@yahoo.com;
flames will either be redheaded, cute and shout "REKKA SHINEN!"
or ignored.
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Chapter Two: Phoenix Rising
Nuriko stood at the door of Hotohori's rooms and knocked,
suppressing a yawn.
I have got to hear what he was doing today. Three
Shishiseishi and the Miko are here - I bet the Council had a
fit.
"Come in."
Nuriko moved into - green. Green swatches of brocade hung
against green lengths of cloth. Green jade jewellery competed
with emerald against the light. Hotohori looked up from a
leaf-green ensemble, laid out on a divan.
"Do you think it'll suit me?" he asked anxiously.
Nuriko blinked. Hotohori had always been very fond of his
own reflection, but - "Anything looks good on you,
Hotohori-sama," she replied absently, her mind attempting to work
out exactly why a wardrobe change seemed to be in order.
"How was Miaka?" Hotohori paused, almost imperceptibly, and
then continued, as if there had never been a break, "and
Tamahome?"
Oh, dear. Every time she had teased him about the harem
and being a bachelor, Hotohori had blushed and maintained that he
was waiting for Suzaku No Miko to love. It appeared that he had
not been joking.
Nuriko frowned. Whether either of them had been aware of it
or not, she couldn't tell, but Miaka-sama and Tamahome-san had
gravitated towards each other all evening. Whenever Miaka-sama
had moved, Tamahome had glanced up, as if to ensure he knew
exactly where she was; Miaka-sama had kept Tamahome-san in her
view at all times. A romance was sprouting there. If
Hotohori-sama wished to court Miaka-sama, things could get messy.
"Miaka-sama and Tamahome-san seemed well, when I left them.
The chamberlain and I arranged for them to be placed in the
ambassadors' quarters, and they seemed quite comfortably settling
in," Nuriko replied, buying herself a little time. Should she
tell Hotohori-sama what she'd seen? Probably. But then, what girl
could resist Hotohori-sama? Half the harem was head-over-ears
for him.
Kourin isn't in love with him, Nuriko reminded herself,
taking a deep breath, and continued, "It's really quite charming,
the way those two are."
Hotohori paused in the middle of matching jade bracelets.
"Oh?" he asked, voice carefully blank. "What do you mean?"
"If I don't miss my guess entirely, I'd say the First
Shishiseishi and Suzaku No Miko are falling in love! The way they
keep looking at each other when the other isn't looking, the way
they keep each other in sight - it's terribly sweet." She
injected a wry note into her voice as she continued, "If it
weren't for that, I'd try my own luck, but Miaka-sama's mind
appears to be made up!"
"Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure." Seeing the way Hotohori's face had blanked,
she tried to leaven the bitter pill a little. "I can't be
certain, though."
Hotohori laid the jewel down. "But I would look good in
this."
Nuriko smiled. "Yes, but I'd put you in a cream undertunic
with that over-robe. I wouldn't try to match green with green on
green - although greens are easier than reds."
"You would look good in it, too."
Nuriko laughed. "No, thank you, Hotohori-sama. Blue is my
colour." Her voice was shaded with history - as if she'd said it
so many times that it was more a fact than the colour of the sky.
Hotohori had been turning away, but he turned back at
Nuriko's words. "You do tend to wear blue a great deal - may I
ask why?"
She chuckled. "When we were small, Kourin and I were even
more similar than we are now. Also, Kourin tended to wear boys'
clothes a lot. So Mother laid down a law - I had to wear at least
one garment at all times that was blue or purple, and Kourin
could never wear anything in either of those colours. It's just
become a habit. I don't mind - I do look very good in those
shades."
Hotohori smiled at his friend. "If my mother laid such a
command on me, I'd probably break it."
"Oh, we did! It was fun to pretend to be Kourin every once
in a while. But we grew up." Her voice had lowered as she said
that last sentence.
His eyebrow twitched at the tone of her voice. "My
star-brother, why do you sound so sad?"
Nuriko shrugged. "When we grow up, we have to embrace our
destinies. And we are the Suzaku No Shishiseishi, aren't we?"
"You make too much of that. Just because the designation
holds the character of 'death' means nothing."
She shrugged, standing and walking across the room. "I don't
know, Hotohori-sama. After all, are we not the Seven Star
Gentlemen of Suzaku?" The door <clicked> shut behind her.
Hotohori stared at the door. What on earth did he mean,
'Gentlemen'?
**********
Tamahome lay back on the soft bed.
What the hell am I going to do? he thought. I have
got
to get a job somehow - they're depending on me! Remembering
Chuei's face as he had waved goodbye that morning, a commingling
of determination and despair, Tamahome's own jaw firmed.
Damn that landowner! If he hadn't dammed the stream to
give himself a swimming pool, the farm would be keeping us all in
wealth! I wouldn't have had to take all those jobs, those slavers
would never have dared approach me, and I wouldn't've had to go
looking for work here in the capital.
He hated slaves. The ones owned by the three families in the
village rich enough to keep them had truly wretched lives. They
either had to work till they collapsed of thirst and hunger in
the fields, or they had to care for the homes of those rich men -
and serve their bodily appetites too.
As if I would ever sell Yuiren or Gyokuran into that.
Tamahome rolled over. Maybe, if I talk to that Nuriko
guy... he didn't seem too bad. But Nuriko was as changeable
as a
girl and as unpredictable. Imperious with soldiers, businesslike
and take-charge around officials, deferentially irreverent to the
Emperor - how did he dare? - big-eyed and charming to
the
cooks as he cadged them a late lunch - it was almost as if there
was a host of little Nurikos inside him, and each and every
situation called a new one forth.
Besides, he knew what Nuriko would likely say: "If you need
money, ask Hotohori-sama."
How can I ask the Emperor for an allowance?!
There was a soft snuffly sound from next door, and Tamahome
decided to go see what was happening there. At least with Miaka
he knew where he stood. She was a nice, naive kid who thought he
was a hero. It was really kind of nice.
Miaka was asleep, but she wasn't resting. Rolling around in
the big bed, she was calling out in her sleep. As he stood there,
Tamahome was struck anew by how little she was.
How can someone so young and innocent handle being Suzaku
No Miko? he thought. He sat down on the edge of the bed and
watched her mobile face, changing in the soft moonlight as she
experienced the emotions of her dreams. Laughter chased amazement
as it fled before curiosity and was in turn pursued by
bewilderment. Tamahome instinctively reached a hand out towards
her.
At that point, she rolled close and grabbed it. "Elder
brother?" she whispered softly, her sleep-voice full of fear and
bewilderment. "Elder brother?"
He felt a pang as he felt her cling to him, a basalt
outcropping in her dream-maelstrom. "I'm not your brother," he
whispered to the troubled girl. "I'm not..."
**********
Miaka felt the images shift within the dream. Strange winds blew
about her. She ran down a corridor in school, only to find
herself bursting out into the courtyard where she'd met Hotohori.
Various people were standing around the ground; Hotohori
wore silken robes and a strange square hat, while on the other
side of the courtyard Tamahome stood woodenly, wearing full
armour embossed with red phoenixes. Miaka stepped toward
Tamahome, looking around. Close to Hotohori stood Nuriko, as
stiff as a store mannequin, wearing an Empress' robes.
"Hotohori? Nuriko?" she asked, experimentally. The two were
as statues, for all the results she received.
"Tamahome?" she tried again, with as much response.
Looking beyond them, she saw, a few metres from Tamahome, a
flame-haired man dressed garishly in a teal and purple coat that
would have been incredibly ugly on anybody else but made him look
rakishly handsome. Carrying along the line was a small figure
with a tied-up tuft of pinkish hair. Between he and Nuriko stood
another figure, this of a tall man in a simple homespun garment
and a melancholy expression. And past Nuriko and Hotohori stood a
man with only one eye and a cloak that swirled with all the
patterns of the stars...
Miaka stepped more quickly towards the Tamahome-statue.
Then, beyond him, she saw two other figures, standing at the gate
of the courtyard. They stood with their backs towards her, but
she still recognised them.
"Mum! Elder brother!" she yelled, sprinting over to them.
They didn't move.
"Mum?"
The figure of her mother was as stiff and unmoving as the
other figures.
"Elder brother?" Miaka asked, pulling on his sleeve.
The image of Yuuki Keisuke reacted as the image of Tamahome
had - which is to say, it didn't.
"Elder brother?"
The Keisuke-statue suddenly moved, taking her hand gently,
and Miaka felt her heart fill wildly with hope. He bent toward
her, his face full of pained sympathy. "I'm not your brother," he
whispered sadly. "I'm not..."
Miaka gripped his hand desperately, the clenching of her
muscles suddenly jerking her into conciousness. She found herself
facing Tamahome.
"I'm not your brother," he was whispering to her. "I'm
not... but I'll be your brother while you're here."
She flung her arms around his neck, giving vent to the tears
and releasing all the pent-up stress of the day. Tamahome held
her as she cried, giving her a steady shoulder to weep against.
************
Nuriko quietly shut the door of her official rooms, slumping
against the doors.
She waited, counted to a hundred, and flung open the doors,
to reveal an empty corridor.
She deflated and shut them quietly. She'd been positive
there would be at least one servant there, to 'accidentally'
overhear something.
Paranoid? Quite possibly; but she hadn't survived being a
girl in a man's role without learning the value of precautions.
Looking around the rooms, she felt achingly homesick for her
rooms in the harem. Although she slept here at least twice a
week, in order to keep up the fiction that she 'lived' here, she
had never bothered to turn the quiet, well-kept suite into the
warm, welcoming haven she'd built Houki's rooms into.
She placed one hand gently on the frame of the tapestry
she'd hung near the door.
Since I came here, I've thought Ryuuen was the temporary
identity, only to be until I became Nuriko; then Ryuuen would
gracefully retire and I would be able to be Houki for always.
Letting her shoulders slump, she walked over to the
comfortable divan, loosening her sash, and all-but-fell onto it.
Hotohori-sama is going to pursue Miaka-sama, and he is
going to be disappointed, she thought sadly. It left a bitter
taste in her mouth, but there wasn't anything she could do.
I hate watching him go charging into something stupid, but
I really can't do anything except warn him. She sighed. Nobody
says this about being the ruler's trusted friend. They say
it's
wonderful how Nuriko is the Emperor's friend, how loyal he is,
and not a word about how it feels to be patted on the head and
told to run along.
Nuriko closed her eyes. I'll get up in a minute to go to
bed... in a minute...
***********
Nuriko was in a foul mood the next morning. (Sleeping all night
on a divan so you get a crick in your neck and being woken by
gossiping maids rushing past your room before dawn will do that
to you.)
So she wasn't in the most sympathetic of moods the next
morning when Hotohori 'dropped in' to breakfast with Miaka and
Tamahome.
At least I didn't bother to manufacture up an excuse,
she thought grimly, peeling a pomegranate as she lurked behind
the flower arrangement on the table.
"I'm going into the city, later," Tamahome said, interupting
the eating-noises the four were making.
"You are? Good! I'll go with you," Nuriko immediately
declared. No way am I staying behind to play chaperone for
Hotohori-sama. This courtship of his isn't getting any sign of
approval from me.
Hotohori glared across the lotus at his best friend. Does
Nuriko think that his danger is less because Suzaku No Miko is
here?
"You will?" Tamahome was obviously startled.
"I've got some things to do. It's my sister's birthday
soon." And mine, so I'd better get her a 'selection' to give to
me. I don't want another set of girl's Court-robes!
"Oh." Tamahome fell silent. He has a sister - maybe I can
tell him about how I've got to earn enough that they don't take
Yuiren and Gyokuran away.
Nuriko looked at the younger seishi. Hmm. That sparked
something. I think he and I should have a talk when we're in the
city today.
********************
Author's Notes:
1. I am using the anime version of the names of Tamahome's
sisters. I know they're different in Chinese and I know that the
Chinese version is the more accurate; but I like the Japanese
pronunciation better, so I'm using it instead. The spelling is
from the Tomodachi fansubs.
2. Yes, the dream sequence is different in the canon. It will be
relevant in future chapters!