Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Returning Evil ❯ Rising Grief ( Chapter 2 )

Well, well, well, what do ya know? Here I am on my second chapter. I want to give a thanx to any people who have reviewed my fic. For those who haven't-Please try to! Enjoy!

Love, Leela

CHAPTER 2

Miaka sat glumly at the kitchen table while Yui rummaged around in the cabinets looking for a pan to cook some eggs in. Miaka had been in a bad mood all morning due to what had happened the night before. She was sad and scared. She had gone nuts earlier when Tetsuya had scared her by coming out of the bathroom just as she was going in. She had told him to go back to bed so that he wouldn't cause any trouble, and he had listened to her.

"What's wrong with you Miaka?" Asked Yui as she stirred up the eggs with the spatula Tetsuya had thrown, "You've been like this all morning."

Miaka hated to lie to Yui, but she wouldn't be able to tell her the truth either. She didn't know why she shouldn't tell them that Taka had been sensing evil. She guessed it was just because she didn't want a whole bunch of chaos. "Nothing." She said to Yui with a forced smile. "I guess I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, you know?"

Yui looked at her strangely. "Okay. If you say so…but I've never seen you act like this before…" She trailed off and went back to preparing the eggs. "Miaka, can you hand me that box of pancake mix?" She asked. Miaka got up and dragged herself to the counter. She got the box and thrust it under Yui's nose. Yui shook her head and Tsk-tsked but didn't bring up anything to set Miaka off again. "Um…" Yui began, unsure of what to say. "I wonder when the guys are going to get up?"

Miaka began to think. What if Taka doesn't get up? I know I shouldn't think like this, but I'm just so scared of losing him. We seem to have our lives put in jeopardy every five seconds.

Miaka tore from the kitchen and into the bathroom. She slammed the door and pushed in the little lock on the brass doorknob.

She looked in the mirror to see a pale, brown haired, hazel-eyed girl of sixteen staring back at her with worry. She reached out to touch the mirror. So did the reflection. A tear slid down her face like so many other times. The reflection began to cry, too.

There was a banging on the bathroom door and Yui's voice was heard from the other side, coursing through the thin wooden door. "Miaka! Open up right now! I know something's wrong, open up the damn door, NOW!" She pounded on the door with her fist and Miaka jumped.

"No, Yui. Nothing's wrong!" She tried to sound happy, but with all of the shake in her voice, she was just giving herself away.

"Open up, RIGHT NOW, MIAKA!"

"No, Yui!"

"Miaka! I'm gonna count to three!"

"Yui! I have to go to the bathroom!"

"One!"

"Yui, no, please!"

"Two!"

"Just go away! I need to be alone!"

"Er…Two and a half!"

"No!"

"Two and three quarters!"

Miaka jumped up and unlocked the door-but not before she had wiped all of the tears away from her face. She hurried past Yui and went into her own room. She could hear Yui calling for her, but she didn't care. She didn't want all of this trouble. She locked her bedroom door and turned to find Taka standing and looking out the window again.

"Taka!" She cried. There was something about seeing him standing there that made Miaka happy. It was a relief to see him alive.

Taka smiled his warm, genuine smile and hugged Miaka. Neither one of them spoke for a moment. There was no need for words-they could understand each other with their very hearts.

Miaka felt some more tears sliding down her face. Why do I have to cry at a time like this? She thought, getting very angry with herself. She loved Taka so much. What would she do if she lost him? She turned her head to look out the window, too. There wasn't any snow falling today. Instead, the sun was shining but the window was still a bit frosted up in some places.

"Taka?" Miaka said in a calm, clear voice.

"Yes?" He said, pulling her closer to him.

"I-I'm really scared, Taka. You know, about what's happening and all." Miaka found herself not being able to put into words exactly how she felt. "I mean…um…I've just got this really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I just don't want you to…to…" She grew silent. She couldn't bring herself to say the word `die'. Not while she was sitting right there with him, enjoying how warm and happy she felt. She always got this feeling when she was with Taka. He was the only person who made her completely happy.

Taka pushed her away by her shoulders a little bit so that he could look deep into her eyes. "Miaka, I don't want you to worry about me. I'm still here, aren't I? And that's all that matters to me. I'm going to be fine, and so are you…you'll see." Having said that, Miaka felt a little bit more comfortable, but not much more. She wanted to have that same ability to be confident about bad situations. But then again, Taka could have just been lying to make her feel better.

For another small period of time, they sat quietly, just staring out the frosted window and enjoying each others company.

There was a rapping on the bedroom door. "Hey, yo man! Come on! Breakfast is ready!" It was Keisuke's voice.

Miaka sighed, not ready to leave and be around the others. "Ok, we'll be right there." She gave Taka a quick hug and then opened up the bedroom door and walked out into the hallway, her hand locked with his.

Miaka wasn't quite sure what she was going to say to Yui later on, but she knew that Yui would confront her as soon as the opportunity to be alone came along.

As they entered the kitchen, the delicious smell of eggs, bacon, and pancakes greeted them. Yui had laid out five plates with all of the silverware sat neatly next to them. Then there were the cups of orange juice that were sitting by the plates, too.

Miaka sat down, very eager to eat. She immediately gobbled up every scrap of food that was on her plate before the others had even begun.

Keisuke looked at her with disgust. "Geez Miaka, think you can eat any faster? Lordy…"

Miaka just glared at him and beamed at Yui as she got up and got Miaka some more food. "Thanks Yui." She said, eating that in about a second also.

Taka ate his food with a thoughtful look on his upon his face. Miaka wondered what he was thinking, but she didn't ask him. He didn't speak to anybody, including her, throughout the whole meal.

Tetsuya and Keisuke talked about sports while Yui and Miaka listened, bored. Taka just ate his food and looked around the house.

Yui got up and stood very slowly. "Miaka," She said, "Come with me for a second. There's something I need to talk to you about."

Miaka flinched. Oh, boy, She thought to herself, Here it comes. Yui led her to the balcony, which wasn't nearly as cold as it had been the night before. Yui pointed to one of the forest green chairs which rest on the balcony. Miaka sat down in it and Yui did the same to the chair next to Miaka.

Miaka looked down, ashamed that she was going to have to lie to Yui, again. But she really didn't want to start any trouble or cause them to worry.

"Yui, I know what you're going to ask me." Said Miaka as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

Yui nodded her head. "Well then, why don't you just spare me the trouble of asking and just tell me."

Miaka tried to think quickly of a good excuse but none came to her. "Um, she said, still searching.

"Yes?"

"Well, you see, Taka got sick, and I-"

"Oh, Miaka, you're so silly."

"I just got worried about him, that's all. It's just that we're in danger so often, I just don't want to lose him." Miaka had said something that was almost close to the truth, but she hadn't said too much.

Yui smiled, shook her head, and stood up. "Oh, Miaka, you could've told me that!" She smiled again and hugged Miaka. "He's going to be fine!"

Miaka smiled weakly and went back inside. Taka was sitting down on one of the couches, listening to the guys and their endless blabbing. She took one look at his smiling face and then tore into her bedroom.

She flung herself onto the bed and grabbed her wedding ring off of her finger. Together Forever… She thought with a heavy heart. But what if we're not together forever? Taka could die in five minutes for all I know! She began to weep uncontrollably. She heard her bedroom door open, but she didn't care who heard her. She felt a pair of warm, strong hands lift her by grabbing her shoulders.

"Miaka, stop this now."

She turned, knowing who she would see. "Oh, Taka! Taka, please don't leave me!"

Taka stroked her head and shushed her. "Miaka, I'm right here. Everything is okay!"

"But it's not okay! Why are we always put in danger?! I'm just so scared of losing you, Taka!"

Taka suddenly pushed his mouth onto hers, kissing her like he never had before. He broke off for a moment to speak. "I love you, Miaka, and I'm not going to let anything get me. I swore I would protect you, didn't I?" He pushed his lips onto hers again, rubbing his hands up and down her back.

Miaka broke off this time, to utter one word, "Taka…"

"Miaka, please, trust me, nothing is going to happen to either one of us."

Miaka hugged him close, trying to take in what he was saying.

Taka suddenly grew very tense and a hand went up to his forehead. "Miaka…" He grunted. "Go and get the others…tell them what's happening."

"Taka…"

"Go!"

Miaka hurried to get Yui and the guys while Taka sat grabbing his forehead in a crouching position.

"Yui! Keisuke! Tetsuya! Hurry! It's Taka, come on!" Miaka cried.

They all hurried to see Taka in extreme pain, gasping and yelling every now and then.

Miaka hurried to his side and touched his back but backed up as Taka shouted at her to stay away. "NOOOOOOOOO!" Taka cried as the red light coming off of him grew brighter. "It's too intense!" He shouted. "Stay away!" He cried out as the light grew still brighter.

Miaka and Yui looked around desperatley for something to help Taka, but didn't have any luck in finding anything.

Then all at once, the red light that was bursting off of him turned black and Taka collapsed.

MWAAAHHAAAAHAAA! A cliffhanger! I hope that you people that like suspense will find this pretty cool. Find out what happens in chapter 3!