Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ I'll Be There ❯ Chapter 4

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter Four

Genrou and Kouji were jolted awake when one of the other bandits
bolted into the room.

"Leaders! Come quick! There's a girl that just appeared out of a red
light inside the compound!" the bandit spat quickly.

"WHAT? WHERE?!" Genrou shouted anxiously as he leapt to his feet.

"This way!" the bandit said and bolted back down the hall. Genrou
followed hot on his heels.

"Shit!" Kouji cursed as he got out of bed and ran to catch up with
Genrou.

A minute later Genrou and the bandit arrived outside where a group of
bandits stood in a huddle.

"Outta the fuck'n way!" Genrou hissed hotly as he roughly shoved
people aside. The group instantly backed away to reveal Miaka laying
on the ground unconscious. Genrou gasped and was instantly at the
girl's side as Kouji trotted out of the main building.

"Miaka! Wake up! Miaka! Speak to me! Say something! Please! Miaka!"
Genrou spat quickly as he gently took his Miko into his arms. He could
tell instantly that she had been crying cause her cheeks were wet and
her eyes were puffy. The instant Kouji saw Genrou fretting over the
girl, he knew that is was her absence that had been the cause of
Genrou's depression and hoped to Suzaku that her presence here now
would cure his friend of the heart ache that had been slowly killing
him over the year that he'd been back with the band.

"Okay! Everybody outta my way!" Genrou yelled as he plucked Miaka up
into his arms and carried her back into the main building. Kouji
quietly stepped aside as Genrou walked past.

"Folks, the main building is off limits till further notice. Go get
your pals and get out of here. You have some trading to do in Souun!"
Kouji ordered loudly then walked inside as everyone went running off
to obey orders.

Inside, Genrou carried Miaka to his room and gently set her down on
his bed. After quickly lighting a few lanterns, he returned to her
side and pushed stray strands of hair out of her face. "Miaka..." he
whispered softly with worried eyes. He started to ask what had
happened to her but suddenly, he froze at a thought.

Kouji entered the room and set down a pan of cool water and a cloth.
"Here. I thought... What? What's the matter Genrou? You look like
you've seen a ghost," he said to his friend with a look of confusion.
Genrou blinked and swallowed.

"That's cause I think I have," he answered.

"Spill," Kouji prompted. Genrou looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I... think I know why she's here. Last night... I had a dream... It
was different from all the rest. I woke up in a bed of sakura blossoms
and a strange figure appeared. IT WAS TAKA!" Genrou blurted.

"Taka... as in Tamahome? One of the other seishi?" Kouji inquired.

"Yeah! He... He said to me that although we've had our differences, I
was a best friend to him. Then he said..." Genrou furrowed his brow
with a odd look of pain and sorrow in his eyes. "He said `Take care of
her.'" Genrou blinked at Kouji with a look of horror on his face.

"What? You... think he died??" Kouji said going wide eyed. Genrou
squeezed his eyes shut and shuttered.

"Yeah. Why the hell else would he give her to me and tell ME to take
care of her?" Genrou answered. "Besides... after that, he told me to
tell her that he's always around even though she can't see him."

"Wow.." Kouji sighed sadly. "That's... awful. I'm sorry."

"Yeah. So am I," Genrou said with visible tears as he sat down,
pulling his legs up tight to him and wrapping his arms around them.

After a few minutes, Yui returned to the precinct.

"What happened, Yui? Where's Miaka?" Keisuke asked the instant he saw
her.

"She uh... went to visit Suzaku and Konan," Yui answered.

"She what?" Keisuke said.

"Well... she's still got two seishi there as well as friends in the
palace, right? She should be fine. Suzaku always knows what he's doing
with her," Tetsuya said calmly. Keisuke and Yui both sighed.

"Yeah. I suppose you're right," Keisuke answered quietly as the police
officer blinked at all of them wondering what the hell they were
talking about.

"So... what about..." he started.

"Miaka went to visit some friends. She'll be fine. We'll take care of
this stuff," Keisuke said to the officer. Yui and Tetsuya nodded.

"Okay. Whatever you say," the officer said with a sigh.

After their conversation had ended, Kouji left the room to do some
chores leaving Genrou alone with Miaka. Genrou carefully wiped her
feverish face with the cool wet cloth then sat and watched her as she
slept.

Two hours later, Kouji poked his head in the room to check up on the
two servants of Suzaku. Miaka was still out in Genrou's bed and Genrou
had since fallen asleep in a chair beside the bed. Kouji sighed and
shook his head with a soft smile. "Genrou, you might actually become a
REAL man yet," he whispered softly with a chuckle as he turned and
walked away, shutting the door behind him.

A minute or so later, Miaka stirred in the bed and opened her eyes.
She blinked her vision into focus and looked around. Her brow furrowed
when she found she was in a strange place, then she caught sight of
Tasuki snoring softly in a chair beside the bed in which she lay.
`Leikaku! I'm at Mt. Leikaku!' she thought to herself with
astonishment.

Then, as she looked at Tasuki again, her mind reminded her of Taka and
she sighed sadly as tears welled up in her eyes again. She squeezed
her eyes shut and turned over, burying her face in the pillow as sobs
overtook her once more.

Tasuki awoke at the sound of her tears and his breath caught in his
chest beneath a lump in his throat as he saw his beloved Miaka crying
into the pillow. He slowly got up and sat on the edge of the bed then
wrapped his arms around her.

"Shhhhh... Miaka..." he whispered into her ear as he hugged her tight.
Miaka jolted at first from his touch but then slowly turned around to
face him.

"Ta.. Taski... I've got... some bad news," Miaka said. He nodded and
waited for her to go on.

"T-Taka...he..." Miaka tried her hardest to say the words her friend
and seishi needed to hear. "He was... killed in a car accident," she
finally blurted out and hugged Tasuki, crying into his chest. Tasuki
gasped slightly then sighed and held onto her as his own tears spilt
from his eyes.

"I know," he answered. "He... came to me in a dream. He wants you to
be happy. He said he will always be here with you, even though you
can't see him," Tasuki said, trying his hardest to keep his own
emotions together. Miaka blinked and looked up at him in shock.

"You... you SAW him? In a DREAM? He told you??" she asked frantically.

"Yes. He did. At the time, I hadn't a clue what the hell he was
talking about. He just said that and walked off," he answered. Miaka
furrowed her brow as she thought about it. "Miaka..." Tasuki continued
as he looked at her. She looked back at him. "He... he's okay. He's
not hurt anymore. He's at peace. He's happy. He want's you to be happy
too," Tasuki told her with a soft comforting voice. Miaka looked at
him as she registered his words in her mind. She sighed and buried her
face in his chest again.

"But... it's just... so unfair! After all we went through... all we
fought... And for what? For him to be taken from me anyway?" Miaka
said with a muffled voice as she melted in his embrace. Tasuki sighed.

"Life.. is never fair," he said with a sigh as he thought about his
own life and troubles.

Tasuki sat there holding her tight as her tears flowed then slowly
began to die down.