Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Celestial Renaisannce ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two

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"I think I do… a little. Cry all you want… I'll hold you until you're finished."

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Despite the blue sweatband that wrapped around her head, glistening drops of moisture still ran down into her eyes and hung annoyingly off the tip of her nose. The muscles in her legs and arms ached, her head was abuzz with the beginnings of a migraine and her breath was beginning to come short; but despite all of this she kept running as if demon possessed; she just couldn't stop.

That house was a nightmare, her mother was more annoying than ever, neither of them could find a job, their money reserves were beginning to run low, and to top everything off her nightmares had returned! That morning, at about three, she had woken, drenched, in sweat for the third night in a row, and it had just been too much. She had gotten up quietly, slipped into her favorite jogging pants, a loose, gray t-shirt that she had long cut the sleeves off of, and a pair of highly worn running shoes and left. From the moment the front door had closed she had been running, not even bothering to check the direction.

Now, an hour later, she was thoroughly lost, though it was a small town, but really didn't care. All she could think about were those children…

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"This is my revenge! This is for my aniki!"
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Shunkaku closed her eyes, whimpering a little and attempting to block out the noise inside her head. She stumbled then, and stopped, her legs screaming all the more for that. Some part of her remembered her track lessons, though, and she began to jog, opening her tear-blurred eyes so that she wouldn't take a fall. Slowly she slowed her pace to a walk when she reached a tiny park at the edge of town.

Shu'nu Kou skipped out of the tall, double-family house, closing the door softly behind him and scooping up his basketball from the front steps. Most people that knew him never would have believed he'd be up this early for any reason, the sun wasn't even out yet, but the thought of his game kept him from sleeping in. In three weeks school began, and he'd have to keep up with the basketball team if he was going to finish college. Truthfully, of course, he'd prefer to be working full time right now, but this whole college thing was so important to his mother that he couldn't just say "no." That was the thing about him: no matter how tough or stubborn he could be, one sad look from his mother and he'd just crumble. Thankfully he hadn't met anyone else who could do that, and so his reputation was saved. Now if only he could manage to barely pass his classes-- that was the way to insure his future! Not too high of grades, but not so low that they withdrew the scholarship. Anything else and he was ruined.

The red head grinned to himself as he walked along, bouncing the ball on the concrete sidewalk, That's it, Genrou! A perfect plan!

By the time that he reached the park it was nearly four thirty, and he was ready to "get his game on" as the phrase went. The court was small, and was the only public one in town. The cement was a bit cracked at the corners, and there wasn't a net of any sort on the hoop, but it was good enough for the local players. For the last summer, Genrou had spent most of his time there when he wasn't working. Of course, he had always been that way, but now it was no longer-just-for fun, now it was necessary.

He had run through a few plays with some imaginary opponents before he noticed her-the lone, young girl that was sitting in a swing not too far away. A blonde, he could tell by the pale colour of her hair in the false-dawn light, and muscular, for a girl. She was sitting with her legs dangling to the ground, the toes of her sneakers scraping the sand and she moved slightly with the wind. Her hands clung loosely to the support chains of her seat, a few inches above the height of her hung head.

Something inside him sparked at the sight of her, but faded away in a second. Whatever it was or had been, it didn't bother him. What did bother him was the fact that this was his time, the only time that he was alone here and had full use of the court. In fact, just about the only time he had to be alone. And while it was a little childish, yes, and he knew he had no right claiming a public place as his territory, it still rankled him that anyone would be there at this hour. Her sadness didn't really seem to bother him at all as he began to stride towards her, to find out why, exactly, she was here.

However, when she finally looked up, startled by his "sudden" appearance, he noticed the tears that still lingered at the corners of her pale blue eyes and all irritation vanished. In its place was a queer sort of awkwardness, and embarrassment on both parts.

Shunkaku quickly turned away from him, wiping away the drops with as much haste.

"S-sorry," Genrou, as his friends called him, stumbled.

She didn't answer at first, and then turned back to him. Though her eyes no longer held tears, they still seemed sad… did he detect a touch of annoyance, though? Shunkaku opened her mouth to tell the bothersome male off, but stopped abruptly. There was something familiar about the redhead. Something… she couldn't quite put her name on.

He was tall, that was for sure, with flaming, wild red and orange hair that seemed almost alive. Other than that she couldn't see much of his face, what with the streetlamp being behind him, but she got the impression that he was tanned. He wore a baggy "Ozzy" T-shirt with Levi jeans that weren't too tight, and had lots of rips and stains on them. On his feet were some equally ripped and scuffed Nike sneakers. Nothing too unique about him, except… he had come up with all the look of being big and bad, but now looked as uncomfortable as a wet hen.

"Did I interrupt you?" She finally asked, moving her eyes to the basketball he held and back to his face.

"N-no.. You just… looked fuckin' down and shit…" Shu'nu scratched his neck.

"Oh… hey, do you need a partner?" Shunkaku asked hopefully.

Shu'nu shrugged, "Whatever." He threw the ball lightly to her as she stood up, "Just don't get all teary on me. Just because you're a girl doesn't mean I'm gonna go easy on ya."

"Whatever," She mocked, grinning devilishly as she stood up. Suddenly all her troubles seemed miles away, of course, with how long she had run they really were.

And for the next few hours, they were the only two people in the world; them, the ball, the pavement and the hoop. There were no scoreboards, no onlookers, just the crickets to keep them company and they had the best of times. In between bouts, they shared random, good-natured banter- even if Shu'nu's tended to be rather colourful. By the time that true dawn came, the two were spent and could be found lounging at the edge of the court, watching the sky change colour.

"So… my name's Shunkaku Hongo, you?"

Shu'nu turned his head to look at the blonde beside him. Since it had gotten lighter outside, he had begun to notice the strange beauty she had-he noticed it a bit more than he should, probably. Shunkaku sported short cropped, light blonde hair with bangs that fell over her right eye naturally, unless she did something to pull it back again. Her skin was lightly tanned, she had explained that she was in track, though, so that was only natural, and she was a born basketball player. In truth, it was a wonder that she hadn't made the team, even though she was quite short, compared to the rest of the players. Telltale of her athletic ability was the fact that she was slightly more muscular than he normally liked on a girl, but it looked good with her for some reason. But if you asked him, her most attractive feature would have to have been her lips. Just looking at them you could tell they were soft, kissably so. The way they were shaped, the smooth, graceful way they formed words. In a matter of hours he had found himself so moved to kiss them he was disgusted with himself.

Women are nothing but trouble he kept reminding himself besides, you just fuckin' met her, Genrou! What the hell are you thinking!

"Hey!"

Shu'nu snapped out of his reverie to find the girl sitting up and staring down at him, "You got a name or what?" Her good mood seemed to have returned from that moment of irritation, and when she cocked her head to the left in a questioning manner, her bangs fell to hide the left eye instead of the right. The whole air of cuteness was almost sickening, but for some reason he liked it.

"Shu'nu. Shu'nu Kou, but most people just call me Genrou," He replied, sitting up and stretching.

"Genrou?" She giggled. Damn it! Giggling? What the hell is wrong with you?! She screamed at herself, but that didn't stop her mouth from doing as it pleased, "That's unusal."

"Fuckin' Japanese. My grand-dad called me that," Genrou grinned, "You should know that though. Your name's Japanese too."

"Yeah, yeah." Suddenly Shunkaku sat up strait and fumbled for her watch before she realized she wasn't wearing it. "Shit!"

"Geez, what's your fuckin' problem?"

"You wouldn't know the time, would you?"

"Yeah…" He consulted his watch for a moment, before continuing, "About six. Wh-?" but she was already gone. "Women. Fuckin' rude."

~~~~~~ END CH. 2