Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Another Chance to Find You ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer For All Chapters: Fushigi Yuugi, which I am borrowing for the story, belongs to Yu Watase, as well as a few companies who hold rights to the show (now don't I sound smart?).

Before I start... any help with Hikou or Kouran and their characteristics is asked for. I may know a lot about FY, and have a lot of resources, but those two are often brushed over, due to the fact they make such a small difference in the series. So, if you can help...

And the special help award with the names and features of Kouran and others goes to one of my bestest friends, Izumi (aka Montyzuma)!!!! Thankies muchly!

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"Kaityln!!! Wait for me!!!" The girl he had called out to was running ahead of him, her long hair streaming behind her like a streamer in the wind. Her pink shorts and purple shirt were muddy from playing in the playground they were in currently, and her feet were bare, like his and their friend Henry's feet. Henry was ahead of them, currently climbing the tree the three had dubbed, "the big tree." Kai- as her two friends called her when they weren't acting serious- was running to the tree, but had stopped, waiting for her just barely older friend.

"Cedric! Come on!" He ran to her, his wispy blue bangs falling in his eyes. When he finally caught up to Kai, she reached out her to his, and they held hands as they ran together to join Henry, who was yelling at them to hurry up and climb the tree with him.

When they got to the tree, Kai started to climb it, but soon lost her grip on the scratchy bark on the tree. She cried out as she tried to regain her balance, but it didn't work, and she fell down to the ground. She was low enough so she wouldn't break a bone, but high enough for her to actually really hurt something. And she would have, if Cedric wasn't there.

When he heard her yell, he looked over, and it was as if all of time had stopped. He ran forward, almost hoping to catch her, but he knew that he was too far to catch her in time. But if he didn't catch her, the same branch that helped her reach the branch that she started to climb up on would betray her, and certainly hurt her back. Painfully.

Meanwhile, up in the tree, all Henry could do was panic. He had seen the branch Kai was balancing her foot in crack, and before he could push out words of warning to her, the branch broke partially from the tree, and she had fallen off the tree, unable to grab the bark to hold onto. All Henry could do was wish Cedric could get Kai before she was hurt. Badly.

Before Kai hit the ground, she felt herself almost... floating, maybe? She was falling slower, but how? All she knew about magic was that magicians could only perform tricks like this, and all she saw before she fell was Henry in the tree, and Cedric, now running to her, preparing to catch her while his gaze burned a whole into his heart. Her arms, which had opened long ago, reached for Cedric, as she cried out to him, pleading with him to catch her.

Which he did.

Wrapping her arms around him, she clung to him tightly, terrified. "Cedric... Ce- Cedric... Wha... What hap- happened?" Calming her down was now the first thing on his list, her stuttering revealing how terrified she was.

"Kai... Kai, calm down. Don't worry, I have you. I promise I won't let you get hurt. I won't let you go." As she calmed down, he set her down slowly, unlike the other times when he had her in his arms, and he refused to put the little girl down gently. As she sat down on the ground, she kept her arms around Cedric, refusing to let her go.

"You ok Kai?" The two looked up to Henry, who was quickly climbing down the tree, nervous to see how his friend was. Cedric called up to him, telling him that Kai was scared, and Henry climbed down faster, worried for his life long friend.

"Cedric... thank you."

"No problem."

"But do you promise that you'll always make sure I'm ok?" He nodded, smiling at her, and she persisted with her question again.

"Kaityln... don't worry. You'll be fine as long as I'm around. You won't get hurt anywhere near me. I promise." She stared at him, eyes full of tears.

"You promise."

"I promise." She smiled, and her grip around his neck tightened as she drew him into a much bigger hug. Finally, when she pulled away, she quickly pecked his cheek, much to his surprise.

"Mama always said it's nice to kiss people you like." An explanation glossed over, as Henry had finished climbing down the Big Tree, concerned for Kai. But, for the two on the ground, the moments spent together were perfect... Unless something else better would happen...

Unless...

"Mr. Ryan, would you please pay attention?" The stern voice of his teacher bounced Cedric back onto Earth from where ever he was, most likely in his own little world. Even when he was young, Cedric swore to his parents that he wasn't... well, Cedric. He was someone else, named something that started with both an 'H' and a 'C'. He never caught the names, but he knew that people depended on him, especially when his name started with a 'C'. He looked similar, he knew that much, but the one thing that differentiated himself from this 'fantasy' self that everyone had called it, was a scar upon his right eyes that had completely shut the eye from ever opening or seeing again.

Kai and Henry were the only ones who believed him, except for a few minor things. Both had said that he was right, but questioned where the scar came from, as well as the name that started with the 'C'. The so called 'images' they had bonded them together at an early age, and they would spend hours together, playing out the images one had seen, and the other two linking with other small things they thought made sense. And, surprising to everyone who viewed their games, the three agreed on all their small links.

"Now that Mr. Ryan has decided to rejoin us, we may now continue filling in the rest of the test. Now, flip to the first page, where..." Letting his teacher drift off inside his mind, he absentmindedly filled in the sheet that Mrs. Tanner was talking about, not caring if he was ahead or behind. He knew what they were going to be test on next, so if he heard the bell, he's flip to the math section.

He stared at the already completed page as the rest of the class continued to work on their addresses for both their homes and schools. Double-checking that his name and other small things were bubbled in correctly, he lightly muttered the letters and numbers under his breath.

"R-Y-A-N... C-E-D-R-I-C... H... 1- 5... 1- 0- 5... C- H- E..." His address was perfect, he went over it twice before. Not worth checking again.

He glanced around the classroom, looking at his classmates. Most he had been in school with his entire life, from pre-school and up. Some were new, which wasn't odd, considering how there was both a growth in the towns lately, and how another pretty large school had closed only last year. So, a few new students had entered into Cedric's small class, and his small class of 40-some kids grew to almost 100- a semi big jump. He- mostly- welcomed the change, enjoying the chance to meet new, fresh faces. On the other hand...

However, the downside was the fact that with more people coming into the school, the more people there would be to date- and he was already taken. Ok, so he wasn't taken, per se. He had- ever since third grade- brushed aside anyone who liked him enough to ask him out. Except for one person, but she hadn't asked him out yet. He doubted she would, seeing as she refused to say who her all time crush was in front of her oldest and best friends (himself and Henry), and Kai had blushed every time the two asked her the smallest question about anything that had to do with love. However, he had noticed with her other friends (aka, the girls she hung out with when she wasn't with him and Henry), that she was more open with her love life with the girls. Many times, when he and Henry were with some other friends of theirs, he saw the group Kai often hung out with giggling and staring at them, only to look away when they looked, like most girls their age did when they had an innocent crush on someone.

Cedric looked over at the girl clouding his thoughts, who currently was with the rest of her class, filling in the school information needed for the standardized test they had to take for "preparation for your SATs or ACTs." Whatever. Currently, Kai's light purple hair was spilled over her desk, the curls covering her paper from anyone who wanted to look. Her light green eyes jumped over her paper, looking from place as she filled in the small, ridiculous bubbles. The gray school sweatshirt hid the curves that had blossomed as she grew older, and Cedric knew for a fact that she was wearing her favorite shirt, the one that he and Henry had bought her last summer for her birthday (with her sisters help, of course!). Her jeans clung to her shapely, muscular legs; polished from swimming all summer from the time she was three... The same year she had met Cedric.

"Ok class, the bell is going to ring for the math section in a few seconds. No more talking as of... now." Which no one did until the bell rang. No one ever spoke a word when Mrs. Tanner said for the class to be silent. Everyone respected her with everything they had, due to the fact that they were all scared of her seemingly non-existent ways of punishment. She may have been kind on their first day of school, but there was a look in her eyes... One that told them not to step out of line, or they would suffer the consequences. Cedric was lucky that she had only told him to wake up.

Finally, when the bell rang, the entire class of sophomores practically ran out of the class, gracious that the exam was over. Cedric and Kai were the last ones to leave their homeroom, like always. Ever since they were in the third grade, they were closer than ever. No one knew why they became so close then, not even Henry, the one they always hung out with together. They just seemed to click. No one minded that much. In fact, everyone they met always said something along the lines of how Cedric and Kaityln always made the cutest couple, and they always wondered why they were never together.

Cedric had a reason: it just felt... natural for him to be alone. Sure, he didn't want to be alone, but he just felt like he should be alone. He never knew why he felt this way, and he sure as hell didn't want to be alone during life. He knew exactly what he wanted to do, and who he wanted to spend it with. He just felt... weird when it was him and Kai alone. He was scared that he might lose her, which was why he never asked her out on a date. He didn't know why he felt like he was going to lose her, but he felt that way since the day she fell from the tree. As much as Kai insisted, he felt like someday the Earth would swallow her up, and he'd be left without anyone.

Kai always thought that Cedric was being slightly ridiculous when he got into his 'philosophical stage', as people called it. All he did was talk about how he thought he met her before, and how he knew that he was going to lose her someday, like he felt had happened before. She knew that he was sane, which was the opposite of most people's thoughts when he entered that stage, and all she could do was comfort him when he did start to think about how he was going to be alone someday, and tell him that she'd never let him go. Ever. It seemed to calm him down, slightly, and personally was glad that he accepted this promise of hers. Ever since they were little, she always had a special bond with Cedric, and knew that they would change the world- some way or another. And when they grew older, the changing the world bit turned into breaking the equilibrium set for them, and doing something unexpected, which she knew would happened, and had been reinforced every time he began to think like he was older than his fifteen years.

"Hey! Kai! Ced!" When the two had left the classroom, they heard their old friend call out to them, and they turned to him, waving and smiling. Unlike last year, they hadn't been in the same class, much to their disappointment. But, they had every class together besides homeroom, and always made a point of being together almost every other waking moment... Unless Kai decided that she felt like being with her girl friends for the day, which the two boys left her do graciously. When Kai felt like being with the girls, they always knew that with them, she was shy and blushed at every word, unlike her normal, sparkling personality.

"Hey man! How was the test?" The two boys greeted each other the same way they always did, and the three instantly burst into conversation about how the test was.

"Are we still going for pizza? If so, let's go now, cuz I'm starved!" Cedric nodded at his friend, but Kai shook her head slightly, turning away.

"Sorry, but I need to take care of something for Mom. Maybe some other time next week?"

"Kai, you know Henry isn't going to be here, right?"

"Eh, who cares? You two can do whatever you want next week without me. You think I care?"

"Yes." Cedric and Kai knew Henry well enough, and their response was simultaneous.

"Whatever. If you're not going, might as well you to your house Ced."

"Even though Mom's got all the kids?" A few years ago, Cedric's life as an only child was destroyed when his mother gave birth to twins, and every Wednesday, his mother had three other children at the house with her two sons, who were now almost four.

"Sure, why not?" From there, the three split up, Kai going out one door, while the boys went to their lockers, grabbing anything they would need for the next week off. Cedric, debating whether or not to take home his history textbook, stared at a picture Kai had given him a few weeks ago that he put into his locker to bug her, and he smiled. It was typical them, smiling, and goofing around. One of the reasons he kept it in his locker was the fact that he could never figure out what sort of emotion was in Kai's eyes when that picture was snapped. Sure, it was just the two of them acting the way they always did together, but when the picture was snapped, Kai's head was turned facing Cedric, and if you didn't look carefully enough, you missed the look in her eyes. Cedric couldn't figure it out, but he knew he had seen that look before, and whenever he tried to figure out where, he saw an older Kai, who's hair was carefully knotted on the top of her head, unlike the wash-and-go Kai he knew, and her outfit was something strange, and the pink fabric was something Cedric knew that Kai would never wear. But the look in the eyes that the strange Kai had was so familiar, yet he couldn't figure out where he saw that look.

"Yo, dude, let's go. Welsh won't care if you hand in your history essay late." Cedric snapped back into reality, and dropped the textbook back into the bottom half of his messy locker, and slammed it shut, leaving behind the picture that puzzled him, and left the school, more quiet than he was after the test was done.

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Well?...