Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction / Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Shinomegami ❯ Getting On Nuriko's Good Side ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

It has been three days since Yuuki Miaka had adopted Yuu Yetou, nicknamed Usagi by her, as an older sister. Three days ever since Miaka had landed into the Universe of the Four Gods, and since Hotohori had declared her the Suzaku no Miko. Three days since Miaka had found three of her Suzaku seishi; Tamahome, Hotohori, and Nuriko. And she wanted to go home.

Today, Miaka was found walking down the hall rather solemnly, tears glimmering in her bright brown eyes. Usagi trailed behind her rather slowly, or in other words, cautiously.

"Usagi-niichan…How do u feel about Nuriko?" Miaka spoke up, sighing as she dropped her regular pace for Usagi to catch up.

"Nuriko…would be Lady Kourin's seishi name?"

"Yes, it is. I want to get along with Nuriko…but she won't cooperate with me. She just brushes me aside…while running after Tamahome", Miaka couldn't help adding bitterly, shaking her head.

Usagi smiled a little, as if to encourage Miaka or to sympathize her. In reality, she was smiling in amusement. "Suzaku no Miko, I - "

"Oh, Usagi-niichan! Call me Miaka; forget about the Suzaku no Miko title. You are my older sister now, ne?" Miaka interrupted Usagi, smiling brightly as she gestured for Usagi to continue.

"Alright then, but at least allow me to call you Lady Miaka, as I call Lady Kourin", Usagi suggested.

Miaka nodded, feeling satisfied that at least she got half the deal. "Okay, Lady Miaka it is. Now, what were you saying again?"

"I was just saying that Lady Kourin is not really that bad a person. She does often act rather rashly, but she is good person and she has a kind soul. It might be hard to see at first, since you and her seem to be on bad terms, but you'll see, Lady Miaka. You'll see, trust me", Usagi advised.

"Arigatou, Usagi-niichan. I feel ever so much better", Miaka said, smiling and skipping on ahead.

'You're welcome, Miaka-chan', Usagi thought, and she walked after the cheerful girl with a smile on her beautiful face.

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Miaka sighed. She was in the small temple like building out in the gardens. She needed to be alone for a moment. She respected what Usagi had said...But it was hard to believe. She tried to like Nuriko. She really did. But Nuriko just wouldn't cooperate. How could you be friends with someone if the other person won't even make an effort to get along with you?

Leaning over the concrete railing, she gazed at the sunset. She saw a bird fly into the sky and she stared longingly. She hated feeling so down and worried. She was used to being cheerful and not having to worry about much.

Tears began to gather in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them. No, she wouldn't cry. She had to be strong. But...there were still four more Suzaku Shichiseishi to find, and she didn't know where to start at all.

Suddenly, she heard something and whirled around. She sweatdropped.

Tamahome was worming his way up the steps, wrapped up like a mummy with white cloth. But Miaka couldn't help but notice that the fabfic was rich silk.

"What're you waiting for? Get me out of this...this coccoon!" Tamahome complained, wriggling around.

"Ha-hai!" Miaka shook herself out of her reverie and bent down. Quickly untying the fabric, she let Tamahome untangle himself as she stood up.

"Man, it took me forever to get away from that woman! What a bitch..." Tamahome muttered, but unfortunately, Miaka heard him.

She turned to him with amazed eyes. "I thought you loved her...And she sure loves you..." Miaka couldn't help but say the last line sarcastically.

Grinning cheerfully, he glanced at Miaka briefly. "What, jealous?" he teased.

"Of course not!" Miaka shrieked, crossing her arms and turning away defiantly. "But Nuriko is beautiful and pretty...I thought you really liked her, like she did you!"

Tamahome turned thoughtful. "She is beautiful...But she has no shame whatsoever! She just throws herself onto anyone she meets! She's a slut", Tamahome added just for extra measure.

Miaka widened her eyes at Tamahome's description of Nuriko. "You know...if you two are my shichiseishi, you really shouldn't go insulting each other..." she mumbled, shaking her head in disappointment. How was she to get on Nuriko's good side when Tamahome hated her (him) so much?

"Che, if you can get her to stop stalking me like a maniac, then maybe we can work something out", Tamahome shrugged.

Miaka frowned. For some reason, she really disliked the way Tamahome just spoke of Nuriko that way. Even if Miaka didn't like Nuriko, Nuriko was still - supposedly - a friend to be reckoned for.

"I have to go", she mumbled, and started towards the steps. Suddenly, she tripped on basically nothing and fell. A cry of pain erupted from her throat as her wound on her thigh she got yesterday reopened. Blood began seeping through the bandages.

"Itai!" she wailed, as she clutched her thigh.

Tamahome sighed. He went over and picked up Miaka and let her lean against the railing as he busied himself to her wound. He lifted her skirt scandaslously high and concentrated on unwrapping the bandages.

"Wh-what are you going?" Miaka stammered as she turned a bright red.

"I hav to change your bandages. Hold still and try not to cry in pain, okay?" Tamahome asked as he fixed the white pieces of cloth.

"Ha-hai", Miaka answered, with a small nodd, then secretly smiled as she gazed upon Tamahome.

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Usagi smiled. They looked so sweet like this. She sighed, then turned to lean against one of the poles that held the structure up. 'It's weird...I'm a Shinomegami, supposedly the most deadly ever...I tend to attack and destroy without a second thought...Who knew from my outward appearance that I search for answers to human love?'

She reached up and undid her loops, letting her ponytails fall to her knees like it did without being held up. Absentmindedly, she ran a hand through her hair. She smiled at the softness. Her hair was one thing she praised about herself. It wasn't her power, it was something she had kept almost sacred to her. If anyone touched her hair, they die. As simple as that.

Usagi turned around to glance at Miaka and Tamahome, gave them a secret smile, and scurried off, ready to return to her duties. They should be setting out soon enough and she had to prepare.

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Hours later......

Nuriko heard her coming before she actually arrived. Hurrying to the balcony, he held a small earring in his hand and a worried expression came across his face. Finally, his target arrived.

With a worried expression carefully in place, he began his act. He heard the expected, "Nuriko, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, Miaka, I seemed to have lost my earring! And this earring is so ever precious to me, because, you see, it is a family heirloom. Oh, what ever shall I do?" Nuriko said sorrowfully, sighing.

Miaka couldn't bare to see anyone so sad and worried. "Don't worry! I'll go look for it for you! Where did you lose it?"

"Oh, how kind of you! I lost it near the ponds surrounding the bridge in the gardens. You'll see it right away; it's a bright emerald. But do be careful, there are some pretty deep waters there. Thank you again!" Nuriko called after Miaka as Miaka nodded, before running off with a wave.

'Good luck Miaka…You'll need it', Nuriko snickered and headed back inside, silently gloating over his victory with the Miko.

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Miaka glanced from side to side on the path, looking for something glimmering under the moonlight. "Oh, where could that earring have gone?" she thought in annoyance, as she picked up her pace. Finally, she noticed a wooden bridge just over a small pond.

"Maybe Nuriko's earring fell over the bridge!" Miaka said to herself and she ran under the bridge, ducking her head as she stood at the edge of the pond, peering inside. Suddenly, she heard talking.

"Your Majesty, don't you think it is time for you to pick an empress?"

'Your Majesty…That means Hotohori is just above me!' Unable to block her curiosity, Miaka continued to eavesdrop. Besides, she always had an excuse at hand if they caught her.

"There's only one girl I want", Hotohori's response was a quiet whisper.

Suddenly, Miaka realized that Hotohori was about to see her, so she just gave herself a mental shrug and popped up, a bright smile on her face.

"Miaka! What are you doing here so late?" Hotohori's voice quivered with concern, but even Miaka could see the delight in his hazel eyes from seeing her. She wasn't that awful a dunce to not know that the emperor fancied her. But she definitely wasn't arrogant about it. She just accepted it and placed it at another time to deal with.

"I'm here to find Nuriko's earring! I'm trying to get on her good side, so I agreed to look for her it. I know it'll be hard to find it now, but sooner the better, or else a tiny animal might pick it up and choke itself or something. I wouldn't want that to happen, and Nuriko is much too important to go digging around the garden just for an earring", Miaka chirped cheerfully.

"But you are important as well. How can she treat you like a servant? I can talk to her and make her act at least civil towards you - "

"Uh uh, Hotohori!" Miaka held up a finger to stop his words. Hotohori stared at her in surprise.

"You can't make someone like you. No one has that sort of control. Besides, I'd rather get Nuriko to like me by myself. I wouldn't want someone to force her", Miaka explained. "Anyway, I'd better go before it gets even darker. See you later, Hotohori!"

Miaka jumped across the pond easily, stepping on the rocks along the way, waved, and skipped off.

Leaving Hotohori with her words. "You can't make someone like you…" he repeated slowly, and contemplated the meaning of it.

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After that little conversation with Hotohori, Miaka continued her search. She was now standing in the middle of a field of weeds that grew to her waist. She could feel the mud squish under her shoes.

But still, she pulled on, pulling back weeds to see if there was a glimmering green to be seen.

Suddenly, she took a step forward and slipped, plunging into freezing cold water. It turned out she had walked right into a small lake that could clearly be seen on the other side, but since the weeds completely covered her line of vision of the ground and where she was stepping on, she fell trap to the lake.

She sank, deeper and deeper. Air bubbles flowed from her mouth as she tried to scream but couldn't. Suddenly, she found that she couldn't move. The seaweeds were now tied tightly to her limbs and prevented her from resurfacing.

'Tamahome! Help me!' she thought desperately as she kicked at the seaweeds, frustration clearly shining in her brown eyes. She was slowly running out of air.

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Tamahome hurried down the hall from Miaka's room, his mind full of thoughts. He had just felt a spark of worry that had ignited inside of him and he felt someone crying out for his help. After that, he was now trying to find Miaka. He was definitely concerned after not seeing her in her room. Normally, she would be sleeping by this hour of the night. He just wanted to watch her sleep peacefully; just to be sure she was alright.

He had no idea why he was acting like it was his duty to protect her. Probably because she didn't have enough people to do that and the other seishi seemed much too busy to do their duty. He wasn't about to blame Hotohori, he was the emperor after all, and had the country's responsibility on his shoulders. No, Tamahome felt more inclined to blame Nuriko. She was too busy chasing after him then look after Miaka. Just thinking about her made him scowl with anger and frustration.

Someone was coming down the hall going the opposite direction from him, but he was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice and by the time he did, it was too late. They crashed into each other. Tamahome's strong built and years of training kept him up but the person who had crashed into him was sent tumbling to the floor.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Tamahome snapped out of his reverie and helped the woman up, who was wincing a bit in pain. She straightened out her dress and glanced at Tamahome. Her bright eyes seemingly glared at him, but he wondered why she would dare glare at a seeming guest of the palace. She was, judging from her cloths, just a maid.

He felt a bit nervous under her watchful gaze, as if she was seeing right through him into his soul. Suddenly, with a start, he recognized who she was. He wanted to smack himself for not knowing. With her unusual hair and eye colour, it seemed impossible not to recognize her.

"You're that girl that was with Nuriko this morning!"

The woman nodded, not a trace of a smile on her serious expression. "My name is Yuu Yetou, but Lady Miaka calls me Usagi. You may call me that as well, if you want", the woman introduced herself.

" 'Usagi…'? Shouldn't you refer to Miaka as Suzaku no Miko?" Tamahome asked with genuine curiosity.

"Lady Miaka told me to refer to her in a more informal way then Suzaku no Miko. She insisted by her name, but it's a matter of our position that I had to add the Lady in front of her name. If you don't mind me asking, sir, who are you?" Usagi asked, her sapphire eyes almost blank.

"I'm Tamahome, one of the Suzaku seishi. Do you know where Miaka is?" Tamahome asked quickly, as Usagi seemed pretty close to the girl.

Usagi turned puzzled. "I thought I saw her head out to the gardens from Lady Kourin's room. It was rather dark, though. But I do know that she headed to Lady Kourin's room. I can't be sure she headed out - "

Tamahome didn't even hear the end of Usagi's sentence. At the mere thought of Miaka in that witch's room was enough to send him running past the maid and straight down the hall, turning the corner.

"Wait! Tamahome!" Usagi shouted and grumbling under her breath, took off after the panicked seishi.

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Nuriko felt like laughing. Such idiocy in that girl. Who would believe an earring could fall off when she still had the backing? Just how stupid was that supposed 'Miko' anyway?

"Imagine, her going after an earring at the dead of night. She is so dumb! Couldn't she tell I was lying? Like I would be so nice as her to trust her to find one of my most 'precious' possessions! Really, she should be wet and shivering or probably drowned right about now!" Nuriko gave a high-pitched laughter.

"Is that true?" a voice asked sternly from the doorway.

With a start, Nuriko whirled around in surprise to see the angry expression of Tamahome and the bewildered expression of Usagi, who was standing right behind her. Both were staring at Nuriko with inexplicable looks of horror mended with their own reactions.

Tamahome stalked into the room, Usagi hurrying in after him. "IS THAT TRUE?" he demanded, glaring right into Nuriko's face.

Nuriko couldn't help but feel intimidated. He couldn't help stammering as he replied. "It's all her fault! I love the emperor, but his attention is always at her! What's so special about her anyway? She's just a little girl!"

"So, that's it?" a voice suddenly asked from the doorway. Tamahome and Usagi parted to reveal a shivering Miaka in the doorway. Her eyes were bright with pity and sadness.

Nuriko couldn't cover his shock as Miaka walked up to him, her brown eyes staring right up at his face. "You love Hotohori?"

"Yes, that's it! I love his Majesty, and you've taken him away from me!" Nuriko stared at Miaka who only smiled and lightly shook her head.

"Don't mock me!" Nuriko shouted and slapped her in the face.

Miaka's face snapped to the side, before turning back to face Nuriko. Miaka frowned, and slapped Nuriko right back.

His jaw dropped, Nuriko turned to stare at Miaka, who held a hand up with a hesitant smile on her face.

"You don't have to be jealous of me, Nuriko. Here, I couldn't find your earring, but I found this pretty stone. I know it can't replace your family heirloom, but it is pretty, don't you think?" Miaka smiled hopefully at Nuriko.

Nuriko stared at her with watery eyes, before turning around and bursting into sobs. Miaka smiled and patted his shoulder. "I'll put ni a good word for you to Hotohori, ne?"

Nuriko turned, and smiled. "Really? You'll do that?"

Miaka nodded, smiling. "No problem. Leave it all to me!"

"Oh, thank you!"

Miaka turned to Tamahome and Usagi and gave them a thumbs up.

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"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that Nuriko really loves you, and her love is the reason why we haven't been on good terms with each other", Miaka explained to Hotohori in his room.

"Thank you for telling me, Miaka", Hotohori said absentmindedly as he stood up.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Miaka asked in curiosity.

"Miaka…There is only one girl I love. And that's you", Hotohori said quietly, nearing Miaka.

Blinking, Miaka backed away and Hotohori cornered her onto the bed. "I love you, Miaka", he whispered quietly as his face neared hers.

Miaka's breath quickened as she stared wide-eyed at Hotohori's bright brown eyes. Suddenly, he kissed her! She widened her eyes as she stared at him.

But suddenly, he narrowed his eyes and grabbed his sword. With a swing, he had sliced the wall open and revealed Tamahome and Nuriko staring in shock into the room, with their ears practically attached to the space that use to be a wall.

Suddenly, both started whistling casually and tried to walk away.

"Excuse me, but did you know eavesdropping on the emperor is a federal offense?" Hotohori asked sternly, glaring at them.

"Uh yeah, of course, we'll be off now!" both, with a burst of speed, ran off.

"You can sleep in here, Miaka, I'll see to it that you are not bothered", he said before bowing and walking out of the room.

Miaka breathed a sigh of relief, placing her right hand on her chest to calm her heart down. 'Just what was that all about? It felt…wrong. I do like Hotohori, but perhaps not in that way', Miaka though to herself. Sighing, she fell back onto the bed to think deeply of this situation.

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End of Part 2

Yuu Yetou (or Yuut Yeh Tou) is the name the Chinese dubbed version use for Usagi from Sailor Moon. For future reference, these are the chinese names I'll be using for the Shinomegami:

**...** is the anime the character is in.

Yuu Yetou = Serenity (Tsukino Usagi)
**Sailor Moon**

Ying Fa = Mistress (Kinomoto Sakura)
**Card Captor Sakura**
Okay, this name was made up. I have never watched the Chinese version of CCS and since Ying Fa also means cherry blossoms, it fits really well.

Mou Dan = Deity (Botan)
**Yu Yu Hakusho**
This is the Chinese name for Botan. And if you don't know the pronounciation, it's (mow-dahn).

Haichoi Li = Psyche (Kanzaki Hitomi)
**Escaflowne**
This is also made up. Never watched and never will watch the Chinese version of Escaflowne. I'm not sure if there is such a thing. Haichoi Li just sort of sounds like Hitomi, though I'm not sure. I'll have to think of a way for Miaka to rename her to Hitomi...