Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ In Dreams ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 12 )

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

Disclaimer: I own no Fushigi Yuugi Chararcters, Places or Ideas.

Tarakai tried to catch her breath after speaking to the young man that looked like Su-chan. She heard shuffling at the main entrance to then tent and turned to see said koibito come in, "Oh, here he is, you can just ask him now!" She said excitedly. She was glad that she was able to help him. Any one who looked that much like Su-chan had to be nice. Tarakai tilted her head in confusion when she saw Su-chan look at her new acquaintance in... fear? But why fear? She turned back to look at him. He looked harmless enough to her.

"What is it, koi? This young man that looks so much like you just wanted to know if there was a servant named... Jen-ni-fer here. We weren't doing anything if that's what you were thinking." She grinned, still a little confused and turned back to the young man. She saw that he had dark blue, almost violet eyes. As he stared at her koibito she could see the color in his eyes darken and almost roiled with.. something. She wasn't sure what it was, but he looked terribly unhappy. "Su-chan, you didn't lose this Jennifer, did you?" He looked at her in shock that she took as him realizing his terrible secret. She instantly felt horrible for the young man in front of her.

"Oh, that's so terrible! He did lose her! She was your koibito, wasn't she?" Tarakai asked as she hopped up from her chair and threw her arms around him. He kept one hand on the table and put one around her shoulders lightly. Her face saddened as she could almost feel the poor young man's anguish. She patted his back lightly. "I'm sure that's she's still around here somewhere, there really isn't much space to lose her in around here." The young man spoke softly into her shoulder and she knew from his voice that he was on the edge of tears.

"Yes... She was my koibito, but I think that finding her will take more than just a little looking. Thank you...?" He looked at her questioningly for her name when he pulled back.

"Oh, how silly of me. I am Tarakai." She blushed at having forgotten something so obvious. Her face was still stained a light red when she looked up into his sad face.

"Thank you Tarakai. Why don't you go now, ne? I need to talk to Suboshi alone for a little while. Why don't you go ask Soi if she can help you plait your hair, that would look nice." Tarakai's eyes brightened at his suggestion. She had never thought of plaiting her hair. That was a wonderful idea. She turned back to Su-chan for approval. When he nodded, she squealed with delight and left the tent, barely remembering to bow to the young man before leaving.



Suboshi couldn't move as he watched the intercourse between his brother and Tarakai. It was heart breaking because he now knew what Tarakai's real name was... Jennifer. He nodded for her to leave to find Soi and turned his head to watch her leave the tent. He reluctantly turned back to his twin. Amiboshi sat in the chair that Tarakai had previously sat, the very picture of dejection. His head was tilted down in sadness and agony and his arms sat limply in his lap. "What happened to her, Shun? Why doesn't she remember me? Why does... Why does she love you?" His aniki's words were quiet and sad and full of unshed tears.

"Nakago gave her a Kodoku, like he gave to Tamahome when you were still pretending to be Chiriko. He said that this one, however, was new and stronger and that she was much better this way and that... That she'd never break out of it." He looked away. He couldn't stand the sight of his brother's agony. "I put the band on her because Nakago thought that I desired her and I thought it would be safer to not disillusion him in that." He swallowed hard, "She has progressively become less and less like herself, since Nakago gave her the poison. I don't know what to do. I felt you coming, so I went out to meet you, so that you wouldn't have to see her like that... I never thought that you'd go around the back way." He turned back to him, "I am so sorry. There was nothing else that I could do!"

He went to kneel in front of Amiboshi, so that his brother could see his face, "You have to believe me, I never meant for this to happen! Trust me!" He looked up shocked as his brother jerked away from the table to stand near the back entrance to the tent. He could now see tears streaming down his brother's reddened face, but his cold even tone surprised him more than anything else.

"Trust you? A murderer? Someone who killed little children in cold blood? Why should I trust you? Blood only runs so thick, Suboshi. There is no longer anything between us, but the bonds of being Seiryu Seishi. I never want to feel you within my mind again!" The words pierced his heart and his knees went weak. Had he been standing, he would have fallen, he was sure. If the truth of his aniki's words hadn't been enough to bring him down, it was the emotionless tone with which he made each correct accusation. Koutoku was always the emotional one. Granted, he was also always the strong one, but the emotion had always been there, underlying and easy for him to notice. But this... This blankness was almost worse than when he had thought his brother dead.

He looked at his brother with pleading eyes. Pleading to be forgiven and believed. "Don't say that... Don't do this. Please! I was drugged, I swear, Nakago even admitted to doing it on purpose. When Tarakai wakes up she'll tell you. Please, believe me! I never would have done it if I thought that I had a choice." He would have gone on, but Amiboshi cut him off, the cold voice colder if that were possible.

"You say all of this and yet you still call her Tarakai. You still contribute to her madness. Drugged? You expect me to believe a shallow lie like that." Suboshi stood up then, his own anger coming to the fore over his need to make amends with his brother. If he didn't want to believe him that was one thing, but to say his words were lies...

"I call her Tarakai because I never knew her by any other name! When Nakago and I collected her from that inn he gave her that name saying that he didn't care what it really was because it would be unacceptable no matter what it turned out to be. And yes, I was drugged, but even if I hadn't been what I did was only to be expected. I thought you were dead. I needed repayment for your own murder. I couldn't let that bastard dishonor you by strutting around as if he were Emperor." Suboshi heard a tutting sound and turned around to face Tarakai in horror.

"As if that'll work Suboshi. Obviously Ami-chan over there is pulling a you and being thick headed and not listening to anything anyone says. Just give up on him. If he doesn't want to believe you, then just let it go. It's his loss because you are telling the truth." Tarakai snorted in disgust at the two brothers and then fainted. Amiboshi broke the spell that had fallen over the two of them and ran to Tarakai, picking her up gently in his arms and cradling her head. Suboshi blinked a few times before walking over to them.

"She remembered... She was back. Even if just for that little bit. She's still in there... Just far away." He turned his face up so that Suboshi could see that he was crying again, or still. He patted his brother on the shoulder and gave him a weak half grin. "I'm sorry, Shun. I was just so upset over Jennifer." He saw his brother look back down at her. "I think that we can start trying to make her remember now, but we need to be careful about it, so Nakago doesn't catch wind." Suboshi just grinned fully and nodded.

"Are you sure that I should have done that?" Tomo asked Soi as they peeked into the tent where the twins were hovering over the still form of the girl. Soi put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes at her old enemy. It was surprising how quickly they had become...allies after they had both realized Nakago's evil and given up on loving him.

"You know those two. They are so stubborn that they would have fought about it until Amiboshi left and then there would be no chance of the poor girl ever coming to her senses." Soi looked at Tarakai sadly, "She needs to be treated like her real self to return to it." Tomo looked over at her doubtfully and she just scowled down at him.

"All that in consideration, I think it was rather rude to pry into her old memories like that." Soi slapped him lightly.

"Baka. If it hadn't been from the old memories, Amiboshi would have never believed it. Besides, since when have you cared about being rude or otherwise?" Soi glared down at him and Tomo didn't say anything else, to her satisfaction. They may have become allies, but that didn't make them friends. She looked back at the three and recalled the scene that they had just witnessed, "But, this does make things interesting. We will have to see how this progresses. Something tells me that this situation could easily come crashing down around everyone's heads." Tomo nodded and they both snuck back away from the tent opening.

"Time to finish the performance." Tomo said to her once they were far enough away. She just gave him another glare before walking back to the tent, openly this time. She really wanted to help the poor girl. She was being used in a way similar to that that Soi herself had been used: against her will and with a mind not her own. She was offended at the very prospect and so she acted accordingly. She threw the opening aside and stalked in, feigning to look around.

"Where is that girl? She said she was coming in here to retrieve a hair clasp." She mock searched some more before noticing the trio. She raised an eyebrow at Amiboshi, "I see you've finally decided to join us once again." She sniffed imperiously, "Can I have the girl back now, if you're done fondling her, in her passed out state." Both of the boys blushed and turned away backing up.

"Yes, you can take her, Soi." One of them said, blushing a little redder than the other. She wasn't sure who it was, having not gotten a good look at what either of them was wearing when she had been spying on her little plan. She shook her head theatrically and unceremoniously hauled the girl up and carried her back to their tent. Soi sighed and shook her head, those two were impossible. She laid the girl down on her stomach and began to braid her hair. She had asked to have it "plaited," but Soi thought that that word was stupid and would never use it. "Plaiting" was for stuck up girls like the Priestess who had to have different words for the same thing.

She snorted and split the braid. She really hated Mistress Yui, even if she had given up on Nakago, the girl still annoyed her. Any woman with half of a brain would know for sure whether they had been raped or not and yet that girl had eaten all of the lies that Nakago had fed her. It was rather sickening actually. And the way that she hung on his every word. Soi was proud that she had at least continued to think for herself after falling for Nakago. Once the girl's hair was knotted up sufficiently, she turned her over and began to shake her awake.

Tara kai woke up to someone shaking her. She opened her eyes and saw Soi looking down at her. She was a little confused and her head was fuzzy, so she looked around herself, sitting up and trying to find out what had happened. Her mind was muddled and she was remembering impossible things and places and voice speaking words that made no sense. She shook herself and saw that she was in her tent. She reached up and felt her hair. She smiled as she felt the tight plaits that Soi had done. She write her falling asleep off as being too comfortable while getting her hair plaited. She liked the way it felt.

She looked back over at Soi. "Thank you very much. Is there a mirror, where I can look?" Soi gave her form of a grin and then went out of Tarakai's vision. When she returned, she held a large shiny mirror and Tarakai blinked, for one second wondering where the glass was before remembering that mirrors didn't have any glass. As she looked at her wonderful looking hair she wondered why she had ever thought that mirrors were made of glass. If they were made of glass, then you would see right through them, and that was if you got a clear piece. "It looks wonderful, thank you." She turned around and laid the mirror down.

"So, who was the young man that Su-chan was talking to. He looked enough like him to be a twin." Soi gave Tarakai, what she thought to be a mothering smile. It confused her a bit, but she didn't comment because she wanted an answer to her question.

"That was Amiboshi, he is Suboshi's twin and another Seiryu Seishi."

"If he's a Seiryu Seishi why hasn't he been here with us until now?" Tarakai tilted her head, she always did so when she didn't understand something.

"Nakago doesn't like him very much, so he has been out watching the Suzaku Seishi." Tarakai nodded in understanding. After Soi put her brush away and left the tent, Tarakai stood there thinking her words over... Something seemed wrong with them. Her mind flashed back to when she was looking over Nakago's battle plans. In none of them was Seishi Amiboshi mentioned. She rubbed her head in confusion, but tossed the thought out her mind, putting her own brush and things away. She would ask him about it when he returned with Mistress Yui. In the meantime, she could go and show off her hair.

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"So ? Were you all disappointed that you finally ran into a cliff hanger on the last chapter? Oh, well. It had to happen sooner or later. Thanks to: Aiko6 (who didn't review, but helped me edit the chapter) and Noodle8 and Lirael1 for reviewing. If I ever forget to mention you in the thanks, just yell at me in your next review, I won't mind. Oh! If anyone was wondering, I make each chapter at least 15kb large, so that's how big they are at their smallest."
-Tk.DuVeraun