Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Fushigi Yuugi: Daydream's Embrace ❯ Episode 19: Hidden Emotions ( Chapter 19 )

Episode 19
Hidden Emotions
By: Nyan Nyan and Mrs. Tasuki

On the gold and red-painted horizon, Katherine glimpsed a small town filled with quaint timber cottages. Her mind instantly flew back to a month ago when she was at Tamahome's village, realizing the two looked identical. She turned her head around and called to her friend, "Hey Christina!" She almost started to chuckle, seeing that her friend and Tasuki were sharing a horse and joking amongst themselves.

"Yeah?" Christina replied, snapping her head up and looking to her friend on the horse ahead of her.

Completely forgetting about Tamahome's township, Katherine asked with a sly smile, "Enjoying yourself?"

Christina put on a truly confused look, not even understanding what her friend meant. "Yeah...what about yourself?" she asked innocently.

Katherine looked up at Hotohori, who was now controlling the horse they were riding. He gazed down at her and smiled slightly, causing chills to run up Katherine's spine. She turned back to Christina with a devious smile on her face. "Very much so," she whispered in low voice.

"Hey, you guys, isn't that Tamahome's village?" Nuriko asked, noticing the small cottages approaching them. "Wow, it's been awhile!" he cheerfully continued, not even waiting for a response.

"Who's Tamahome?" Tasuki asked Mitsukake, who was riding beside him on Katherine's old horse. The doctor, who was not a man of many words, only shrugged in response.

"Tama's another sei," Christina answered simply, "He's in Kutou, taking a...personal vacation."

*

Chuei ran through the village as fast as he could. The small houses passed by him swiftly as he focused on one destination. A burning sensation in his lungs occurred with every breath, but he couldn't let that stop him. Picking up his pace, he saw the small office loom ahead of him. One of the doctor's helpers was sitting out front, knitting while humming a gentle song. "Wh...Where's the doctor?" Chuei asked, gasping for air, once he was within hearing distance.

"He's not here. He had to go to the local market to pick up some medicine, but he will be back by this evening. Is there something I can help you with?" the assistant asked politely, oblivious to the crisis Chuei was currently facing.

"My father-" he started, but was quickly interrupted by someone calling him.

"Yo, Chuei!" Katherine called, noticing he was distressed and gasping for air as if he had been running. She jumped off the horse and ran towards him to see if he was okay. Hotohori followed behind her in a slow trot, wondering what the commotion was about. The priestess knelt down on one knee in front of the boy, so she could look directly at his face. "Is it your father?" she whispered.

Chuei swiftly nodded, catching his breath. "He's in terrible pain, and the doctor isn't here!" he continued, tears forming in his eyes.

"Don't worry! Mitsukake can heal him," Christina chimed in, hopping off her horse and walking towards him.

Running towards Tamahome's house, Katherine cheered excitedly, "Yeah! C'mon Mits! Let's go!"

*

Gyokuran closely watched over her father, praying that Chuei found the doctor quickly. Hearing the door open behind her, she whipped around with a hopeful glisten in her eyes. Her jaw slightly dropped as she looked up at the tall man standing behind her older brother and the two priestesses. His firm stance and broad shoulders sent shivers down Gyokuran's spine. She abruptly snapped out of her state of awe and quickly bowed, trying to make up for lost time. "Hello priestesses...sir," she greeted in a meek voice. The tall sei responded with a slight nod of the head.

Grabbing Mitsukake's arm, Katherine nervously declared, "C'mon Mits, he's over here." She led him to Tamahome's father, who was gasping for air and in a great deal of pain. Mitsukake kneeled down beside the small cot. He placed his left hand over the ailing man and closed his eyes. Green bubbles began to flow out of his hand towards Tamahome's father while the character for `grief' shined brilliantly.

Chuei and his three siblings gathered around their father to find his breathing becoming steadier as his face relaxed. They let out a sigh of relief to see their father's eyes slowly open for the first time in days. "F-Father?" Gyokuran stammered in disbelief.

"He'll be all right now. I was able to cure him," Mitsukake informed, slowly rising to his feet.

Tears of joy forming in his eyes, Chuei looked down at his father, grateful to see him healthy once again. "Thank you so much! I don't know what we can do to repay..." he started, but was soon cut short by the healer letting off a soft moan.

"Mits?!" Katherine exclaimed, watching the doctor grab on to the bed for support. "Are you okay?"

Gently rubbing his forehead, Mitsukake caught his balance before answering. "I just need some rest..." he started, letting out a faint sigh. "I use my own strength to heal. I can only do it once a day."

Chuei gently tapped the doctor's shoulder, hoping grab his attention. Holding out a small pile of coins, he remorsefully said, "Mister, it's all the money we have."

With a kind smile on his face, Mitsukake slowly lifted his hand in opposition. "I don't want it. Fish would help your father; use the money to buy some for him-" he informed, but was interrupted by his white cat letting off a soft purr. "And for this one too," he continued with lightly patting the white cat on the head.

"Yes, sir!" Chuei excitedly exclaimed while running out the door.

"Mister, may I please see your kitty?"

Mitsukake looked down to see where the little voice was coming from and found a small boy with dirty blond hair looking up at him. A slight smile spread on the doctor's face as the child's eyes grew with eagerness. "Of course, he likes to be scratched behind the ears," Mitsukake answered tenderly, picking up his cat and placing him on the floor next to the boy.

"What's his name?" the boy wondered as cautiously approached the cat.

Kneeling down, Mitsukake replied, "His name is Tama."

"Neat! My name is Shunkei, Tama," the boy greeted while scratching Tama's ear, to the response of happy purring.

Observing the meager surroundings, Hotohori gradually observed the small house. "This is Tamahome's home?" he asked in pure shock. "I didn't think families living such simple, dirty, unbelievably poor lives really existed. An emperor should rule that his subjects can be saved from this terrible life!" he vowed while clenching his hand.

Yuiren looked up in awe at a tall woman with long brown hair. She seemed about the same age as her older brother, Tamahome. Yuiren grabbed the woman's attention by lightly tugging on her pants. The woman looked down, revealing her gentle golden eyes. Kneeling down, the lady asked, "What is it, child?"

"Are you my big brother's wife, Miss?" Yuiren meekly asked.

"I am a man," Hotohori calmly stated.

Taking a step back in shock, Yuiren exclaimed, "But, you're so pretty!"

"Even though you're poor, you're a good, truthful child!" the sei affirmed in pure delight while hugging the child tightly.

Katherine, who was watching the whole scene, let out a long content sigh and whispered "God, I love you," while slightly shaking her head, despite the groans and sighs of everyone else.

Hotohori slowly let go of Tamahome's younger sister and stood up. "I heard that," he said with a slight smile while walking towards Katherine. He lightly grabbed her waist and they swayed back and forth.

"Yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?" Katherine playfully asked while tapping him on the nose.

"I'm going-"Hotohori whispered while moving his lips closer to hers.

Katherine saw slight movement out of the corner. Out of curiosity, she let her eyes roll in that direction to find a large gray rat with beady red eyes looking at her. "AHHH!!! It's a rat!" she screamed, jumping into Hotohori's arms.

Christina looked at the rat and then at Katherine in Hotohori's arms. Clutching her stomach and leaning upon Nuriko for support, she said in between her laughter, "You're so pathetic!"

"Hey! It's not my fault I have a phobia against rats!" Katherine shouted defensively.

"Uh...Katherine...the mouse ran away," Nuriko stated, realizing that Katherine was still in Hotohori's arms.

Katherine looked at where the mouse once was and looked back at Hotohori. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she replied with a sigh, "Yeah, but I'm kinda enjoying this." Raising one eyebrow, Hotohori looked down at her while Nuriko stared at the priestess coldly. Katherine suddenly remembered Nuriko's rash temper and quickly jumped out of the emperor's arms. She quickly sidestepped behind Hotohori and said with a frightened voice, "Please don't break me in half!"

Humbly tapping Christina's shoulder, Gyokuran asked, "Lady Priestess, where's our big brother?"

"Ummm...he is helping us stop the war in Kutou," Christina answered promptly, not wanting to tell them the whole story, but as she watched her eyes grow in fear for the safety of her big brother, she knew she could have found a better answer. "But don't worry he'll be just fine, and he's coming back soon," the priestess quickly added, pleased to see her let out a small sigh of relief.

Chuei appeared in the doorway with his blue hair tied back in a ponytail, much like Tamahome's. "Sir, I brought the fish," he said, holding a woven basket. "I'll clean it and cook it now."

"Dude, look! It's a mini Tamahome!" Katherine exclaimed with a wide smile while pointing to him.

Christina let out a long sigh and looked down at the floor. "I kinda miss Tama..." she replied somberly, hanging her head.

"Me too..." Katherine mumbled, slightly slouching. She then looked suspiciously at Christina, realizing that this was extremely out of character for them. "Who saw that coming?!" she asked in amazement.

"Yeah...it's really weird..." Christina agreed, biting her bottom lip.

"With his hair in a pony tail, he does bear a striking resemblance to his brother," Hotohori noted, observing the change of hairstyle.

Nuriko walked over to the fire and started boiling a pot of water. Noticing that Chuei was damp, he guessed, "You caught the fish at the river? What about Tamahome's money?"

Cleaning the fish, Chuei glanced over at Nuriko incredulously, "Oh, no, I couldn't waste it! I have to be really careful in how I use it."

A sigh escaped from Nuriko's lips, "You've got your brother's money sense too."

*

Trying to get through another night of insomnia, Katherine rolled around in her bed. She slowly stood up, deciding that sleep was a pleasure she would not experience that night. A breath of fresh air could be the cure to her restlessness. She stepped outside, making sure that there were no bats around, and stretched her arms, letting out a long sigh into the cold night air. She spotted a lone figure, sitting on a large boulder, silhouetted against the pale moonlight that shone down through the trees. Katherine crept towards the shape, her bare feet brushing against the already-forming dew on the blades of soft grass.

"Christina?" Katherine quietly asked the figure, who neither turned nor jumped at the sudden noise. "Christina, is that you?" Katherine she asked again as she dared to step closer. The silhouette slowly turned its head and Katherine breathed a sigh of relief.

Christina looked back at Katherine, wondering why her friend had interrupted her thoughts. She turned back around, resuming her former position of staring up at the sky. Katherine walked next to her and sat down. "What are you doing out here by yourself?" she asked.

"Thinking," Christina simply answered. She had been outside for about half an hour, trying to get some time to herself. She was capable of being a serious person, but she hid her personality behind the façade of a comic. She had the feeling that she could only be truly serious when she was alone. She despised telling anyone how she really felt about any occasion, and found it easier to keep whatever it was to herself. She took a deep breath of the cool night air and tilted her head back to the sky, where the stars glimmered brightly.

"Thinking about what?" Katherine curiously inquired.

"Everything," she sighed in the same, empty voice. She buried her head in her hands and took a deep, trembling breath, not sure whether or not to tell Katherine about what was bothering her. "How we're screwing everything up. How nothing's going right. How everyone seems to be looking up to us, and how we...how I am still trying to convince myself that this is just a big joke, and that nothing is real and that I'll wake up tomorrow and be in my bed at home. How Tamahome is in Kutou and we don't even know if he's alright. How Miaka is probably lonely in the palace, because the only people there are from Kutou, and we don't even know what Nakago is doing to her."

Christina sighed again, and sadly looked at her friend. "Katherine, an entire country is depending on us. And I don't know what to do. If we try to change anything, what if worse things happen? This isn't a game, and nothing's simple. And what if anyone finds out that we know everything? What'll happen then? We can't play God, and I'm sick of trying."

Katherine sat down next to her friend and stared down at the grass. She never knew her friend to be so solemn. Christina was the one she had always counted on to cheer her up if something went wrong. Katherine always had the tendency to obsess over everything; in her mind she always wanted to plan everything out, down to the last detail. She took a minute to look at Christina's point of view, by now everyone expected her to be the entertainer. Maybe that was why she wanted to bring Christina to Konan in the first place. She wanted someone with an optimistic attitude to help her through everything. Deep down, Katherine knew that the whole time Christina was hiding something; she now regretted not taking the time to figure out what it was. While nervously playing with her hands, Katherine asked, "So, you've been thinking about this too? Why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't wanna bother anyone..." stated her friend with a simple shrug of her shoulders.

Concerned, Katherine looked up at Christina, trying to find the logic behind her secrecy. "But didn't it ever cross your mind that I may be worried about the same thing?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Umm..." Christina awkwardly trailed off trying to change the subject of conversation, "How about we play with the Game Boys I brought?"

Looking at her friend incredulously, Katherine remained motionless Christina ran into the cottage and grabbed her little black backpack. She ran happily back towards the gray rock with the backpack swinging from elbow.

Christina quickly pulled out a lime green and a purple Game Boy. Her brother had gotten a new Game Boy Advance a few months earlier, and had totally forgotten about his old ones. Christina stretched herself across a rock and attempted to beat the current record at The Legend of Zelda while Katherine, who was leaning against a tree, was trying to win Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Christina paused her game and turned on her watch light so she could see the time. "It's ten twenty-eight," she randomly said, informing her friend of the time, then returned to her Game Boy. A sudden noise of rustling grass caused Katherine to look up, wondering who was approaching at this late hour. Most of the town had already gone to sleep as soon as the sun had set.

Tasuki looked at Katherine and Christina in bewilderment, wondering why the girls were still up so late in the evening. "Hey," he greeted.

"Yo," greeted Katherine, causing Christina to look up at the unexpected disruption. Christina saluted Tasuki with two fingers, and then looked back down at her videogame.

"Why are you up?" Katherine asked curiously.

"As if I'd go t' bed as soon as th' sun set," he answered smugly. "What about you two?" he asked.

"As if I'd go to sleep before midnight," Christina smiled as Katherine nodded in agreement.

Katherine glanced back and forth between Tasuki and her friend, and then feigned a rather dramatic and flashy yawn. "Wow, it's getting kinda late," Katherine lied as she checked a nonexistent watch on her wrist. Christina looked at her friend in surprise, trying to figure what she was thinking. It was only a moment ago that Katherine was agreeing that she wouldn't go to bed before twelve o'clock. Katherine flipped the switch to her videogame and turned it off, shoving it into Christina's hands with a raised eyebrow. She skipped off to the house, throwing a last glance at the two right before she walked inside.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Christina quickly mumbled, wondering why Katherine would leave her alone. She just knew she was going to do something stupid and make herself look like an idiot, or a tomboy. She couldn't even remember all the times where she had ended up being `one of the guys' because of her boyish ways.

Pointing at the two Game Boys that Christina was holding, Tasuki asked, "So what're ya doin'?"

"Oh...just playing a video game," she answered, trying to be nonchalant. "Do you wanna try?"

"I guess," he answered as he walked over and sat down beside her.

"Okay," she said as she grabbed the Game Boy Katherine had been using. She flipped the switch on, causing the game to beep and the main screen to appear. He leaned over her shoulder to see what was going on, and Christina could feel herself involuntarily tense up. She was always really nervous around guys she remotely liked more than friends. When she was at home, it was so easy to say how she and Tasuki would be perfect for each other, but now that she was in Konan, and he was sitting right next to her, she didn't know what to think. He didn't even like girls. She knew that they would probably end up being just friends, but she couldn't help but wonder. "Better than nothing," she thought, cursing herself for how many times she had said that phrase before.

"Umm...well, I guess I'll have to start a game for you," she chattered as a little screen popped up, prompting her to enter a name. She flipped on the light above the display, illuminating the screen and played with the arrow keys until 'TASUKI' appeared in the miniature box. "Okay..." she started to explain as she started at the first level. "You press these arrows to move," she demonstrated as she flipped the two of the buttons, making Michelangelo walk across the display. "And you press this one to bash people with your little stick thing. The weapons are different when you change players, but it's the same thing really," she continued as she beat up the evil ninjas. "And..." she tried to remember if she forgot anything. "Oh! Can't forget, this button here is how you jump, like over bad guys and cars...and trashcans. And if you push different combos of buttons you get different moves and stuff."

Christina paused the game and turned her head up and looked at Tasuki skeptically, knowing that she wasn't very good at explaining things. "Do you get it?"

"Yeah, but what's th' point of it?" he asked, not seeing what the big deal was. He couldn't believe that Christina and Katherine had been outside for hours pushing buttons. Their world must be a really weird place if this was a way to pass time.

"Well...the point is...umm..." she faltered, having no clue what to say. She'd never really contemplated the meaning of a video game before. "I guess the point is to have something to do when you're bored....and to improve your hand-eye-coordination," she added jokingly. She handed him the game and pushed the pause button again. She watched him randomly press buttons for a few minutes until he seemed to get a feel for it. Christina reached behind her for her own Game-Boy and resumed her game.

Tapping the screen at Michelangelo, he asked, "What're these things anyways?"

"Oh, they're Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

"Wait...what? Turtles?"

"Yeah...turtles. And they can use their little pole-fighty-things and the little twirly-mabobs," she explained, moving her hands around in a failed attempt to depict the weapons.

Amused by her lack of weapon knowledge, he laughed, "Ya mean a bo staff an' nunchuckus?"

"Sure," she sighed. "I knew that."

"Mm-hmm," he skeptically replied, rolling his eyes. Then, a loud series of bleeps were emitted from the Game Boy Tasuki was fiddling with. "What just happened?" he asked confusedly. Christina touched the side of his Game Boy, tilting it into the light so she could see the screen.

Almost apologetically, she answered simply, "Umm...you died."

"I died?" he questioned skeptically.

"Yup. For a guy who knows everything about weapons and all, you really suck at video games," she smiled jokingly. "I'd be scared to see what you'd do with a gun!" Tasuki grinned, his fangs momentarily catching the moonlight, wondering what a gun was.

Looking down at the display, he asked, "What's it doin' now?"

"Oh, you get another life," she explained.

"So I get t' be reincarnated too?" he wondered.

She started to answer, but was interrupted by a loud, beeping tune from her own videogame that surprised her so much that she jumped and yelled, "Aakk!"

"What?" he asked, startled by Christina's strange outburst.

She hadn't paused her videogame while she had been talking to Tasuki, and her character had been shot by an arrow. "I died," she sighed angrily. It had taken her so long to get to that level; and she hadn't saved her game.

"Is that th' sound turtles make when they die?" he asked.

Christina looked at him skeptically, wondering if he was truly serious, before answering, "Only when they get slaughtered by twirly-mabobs." A frigid breeze whistled through the cold night air, biting up Christina's bare arms and raising goose bumps on her skin. "It's brrr out here!" she remarked, rubbing her arms in a futile attempt to warm herself.

"What?" Tasuki asked as he turned his head, confused at her quick change of subjects and strange statement.

"You know...brrr? Cold...?" she continued, wondering how anyone could not make the connection between the two words.

"Oh..." he nodded, fully understanding the concept, "Do people in yer world really say that? 'Cuz that's weird."

"You can't judge me, Carrot top," Christina shot back heatedly, her hands resting on her hips. She smiled winningly, sure that he wouldn't find an appropriate response for her cunning observation. Tilting her head, she smiled happily; sure that she was the victor in the particular battle of insults.

"Yeah...." he slowly mumbled, trying to think of a quick comeback, "Well, what's with all those dots?"

"What dots?" Christina asked confusedly.

"The ones on yer face!" he laughed, pointing a finger right between her eyes.

Her hands on her face in search of the aforementioned dots, she wondered, "My freckles?"

"Yeah, those. What are they?"

"Those would be my freckles! I'm Irish!" she rebutted heatedly; she had always been slightly touchy about her freckles. There was a long pause, as Christina had nothing else to say and Tasuki obviously, and with good reason, did not know what 'Irish' was. "So...yeah..." Christina mumbled. "It's still kinda cold..." She stared at him pointedly; too lazy to stand up herself and hoping he would get the picture. She fluttered her eyelashes jokingly as a last act of desperation.

Tasuki sighed irately, feeling somewhat like a servant, "Fine, I'll go get some blankets." He then stood up and began to walk back towards Tamahome's home for the quilts he quested for. Christina stretched out, her eyes wandering around the scenery in the midst of her boredom. The cool wind floated through the leaves of the trees that bordered the dark forest, rustling the branches.

Christina crossed her arms behind her head and leaned back on the cool, green grass, staring up into the indigo skies. A strange red light caught her off-guard, causing Christina to look into the gnarled branches of a dead-looking tree. As she focused her gaze, tiny scarlet orbs appeared, shining like a collection of Christmas tree lights. She sat back up, and strained her eyes to see where the red lights were coming from. Just as if she had flipped a light switch, what seemed like thousands of the crimson lights emerged, and, in the light of the red spheres, she realized that the tree was full of bats.

She gasped quietly, and slowly stood up, trying not to make a sudden movement and frighten the animals. Grabbing her bag, she slowly began to tiptoe across the grass, heading away from the tree of beasts. Halfway there, a shrill, shrieking noise sounded behind her, and a mass fluttering of tiny wings beating to escape the perch on the tree followed. The bevy of bats soared towards her quickly. She dropped her bag with a scream, and, realizing that she couldn't lead them towards the house for fear of hurting Tamahome's family, ran towards the forest that bordered Tamahome's house.

*

"Whatcha up to?" Katherine whispered, noticing Tasuki tiptoeing past her, a large bundle of blankets in his arms.

Thinking that everyone was asleep, Tasuki automatically jump and spun around in response. Seeing Tasuki's unusual response, Katherine let out a soft laugh and waved innocently. "I thought ya went t' sleep!" the startled sei greeted in a loud whisper.

"I couldn't fall asleep," Katherine responded with a shrug of her shoulders, "And anyways, what happened with you and Christina?" she curiously inquired. She was secretly hoping that her friend would find the special bond with Tasuki that she had found with Hotohori.

"I'm just gettin' some blan-" Tasuki started before being cut off by Christina's scream. Katherine quickly stood up from where she was sitting, knowing that her friend was in dire need of help. Tasuki grabbed his tessen, which was sticking out a heap of clothes on the table, ran to the wooden door, and threw it open to look around the yard in search of Christina.

Katherine suddenly felt the warmth of hands placed on her shoulders. She spun her head around to find Hotohori standing behind her. "What happened?" he questioned, worriedly staring up at the door Tasuki had left ajar. Before Katherine could answer, another scream rang through the air. Hotohori grabbed his sword, which was leaning on the wall, and ran out the door.

Katherine was about to follow but she abruptly felt a strong hand grab her wrist, preventing her to do so. She looked around again to find Nuriko and Mitsukake, who were woken up by the screams, standing next to her. Failing to struggle out of Nuriko's grip, Katherine exclaimed, "C'mon! She's in trouble!"

Tightening his grip, Nuriko replied, "The last thing we need is another priestess in danger."

"But...but...but-" Katherine stuttered, looking up at Nuriko innocently. Noticing that Nuriko just narrowed his eye, Katherine knew all she could do is wait.

*

Tasuki ran out into the yard, with Hotohori right behind him, looking around in hope of finding Christina, but there was not a single clue of where she had gotten to. The rock where they had been sitting was empty, as was the rest of the yard.

"Tasuki!" Hotohori shouted, pointing at a small black bag at the foot of the forest that surrounded the village. Hotohori picked up the purse, showing it to his fellow sei. They both knew the bag belonged to Christina. Tasuki nodded as they set out into the darkened wood. He looked around on the dirt and leaf covered ground for any footprints or tell-tale signs of Christina's whereabouts.

"Eww, eww, eww!" came a shriek further into the forest. Tasuki quickly turned and headed into the darkest part of the wood, towards where he had heard Christina's screams.

*

The bats descended upon Christina, a merciless cloud of biting, scratching, shrieking monsters. She vainly slapped them away from her face and arms, letting out little howls of pain every time they bit her with their tiny, sharp fangs. "I HATE bats!" she yelled furiously, cursing herself for having done the exact same thing that Miaka had done in the series as she unsuccessfully attempted to swat the bats away like the were insects.

Another thought struck her mind, more frightening than even the bats that pursued her; Amiboshi was somewhere in the forest. As if trying to distract her, the bats swarmed closer around her. "Eww, eww, eww!" she cringed, disgusted more at the touch of the furry bodies and leathery wings than the sharp little teeth.

"Get down!" a familiar voice shouted. Christina immediately obeyed; quickly dropping onto the dry, hard ground as Tasuki appeared, brandishing his tessen like a sword. "Lekka Shinen!" he yelled, and summoned forth a wall of flames that instantly incinerated the surrounding bats in an instant.

He looked around lest any of the beasts had escaped his flames, and, in but a few seconds, the remaining bats had regrouped and began attacking Christina again. It was as though none of the creatures had been destroyed to begin with. "Fine! How `bout another one?!" he shouted, "Lekka Shinen!" As more of the bats were destroyed, Hotohori appeared, his sword flashing and slashing in swift, fluid motions. "They just keep comin'!" Tasuki marveled frustratingly.

Hotohori, beaten by the onslaught of bats, knelt down to shield Christina from the creatures. The warm blasts of air rippled through his hair as Tasuki continued to ineffectively char the bats.

A sudden sound, so quiet and light that it was hard to hear, swelled through the air. Maddening notes were struck, piercing and high one moment then low and sonorous the next. Both Hotohori and Tasuki looked around in surprise as the bats flew around confusedly, as though abruptly blinded. The creatures flew around in a mass of chaos, into trees and one another, before feebly falling to the ground.

Christina shrunk back into Hotohori's arms, as though attempting to hide herself from the flute music altogether. She felt bad for the bats, even though they had just been attacking her. The animals were now helpless and blind, completely defenseless; but there were bigger problems to think about.

A short cry sounded from somewhere amongst the treetops, up in the canopy of the forest. In an instant, a man clad in all black fell out of the tree, lifeless. Christina looked away from the man, who was clearly a Kutou agent. His eyes were rolled around until they pointed at the back of his head, revealing only the whites, and on his face was an expression of nothing less than utter pain.

The crunching of leaves easily caught Tasuki, Hotohori, and Christina's attention. They all looked over at a clearing near the center of the forest to see a dirty-blond haired teenage boy hobbling out into view, a simple wooden flute clutched in his fist. He looked up exhaustingly, looking as though he was using the very last of his strength merely to stand upright. Christina's eyes grew wide at the sight of Amiboshi.

To Be Continued...

~*~

Fushigi Akugi

Sung to the tune of "Joe", mentioned in Episode 18.

*By the way, Joan HATED the ending to the third verse...so how `bout this is just a lil secret between our readers and us? `kay? `kay.*

Hi, my name is Joan. I have a blasted little sister and I'm stuck in Fushigi Akugi. One day, Diana said to me, `Joan. Are you busy?' I said, `No'. `Then turn this page with your right hand'.

Hi, my name's Diana. I'm the Tetsuya of this fic, and I love Nuri-chan exceedingly. One day, Nuriko came to me, I said, `Nuriko, will you turn straight for me?' He said, `No'.

Hi, my name is Joan. I'm a fan of Suboshi and I love his `Ryu Sei Sui'. One day, Suboshi said to me, `Joan. Are you busy?' I said, `No'. `Will you have a threesome with Amiboshi and me?'

Hi, my name's Diana. I'm the beta and I thought that in-between was one word. One day, the authors said to me, `WE PROVED YOU WRONG!' I said, `I hate the word milieu'.

Hi, we are the authors. We go by Nyan Nyan and Mrs. Tasuki. One day, we got whipped cream and Dr P. With sugar, we were high sufficiently, And wrote this Fushigi Akugi.