Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Shi Jin no Miko ❯ Amnesia ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yugi. I wish. I do however own Kumiko! ^_^ Mischa belongs to my friend Paris-rose, just so you know. Ok, that pretty much sums it up. Have fun, keep reading! (And don't forget to review)

Key/Legend:

Italics-Thoughts

Bold AND Italics- Flashbacks

Shi Jin no Miko

Chapter 6: Amnesia

Time soon came that the group had to leave the small village. Though Kumiko was reluctant to leave Rinlai's hospitality, she knew as well as anyone else that they needed to continue on. Miaka needed her senshi needed to make their way to Hokkan as to possess a tool to summon Suzaku, while Mischa needed to find her senshi there. Once they reached the Kyoto temple, Kumiko would separate from them. Even though she knew this day would come, it would be quite a while before it happened.

"This is boring," Mischa complained, sick of traveling for the day. "Then listen to your CD player," Miaka suggested. Mischa rolled her eyes. "It ran out of batteries awhile ago." "Do you want to use mine?" Kumiko asked, stopping her horse. "You mean you'd let me?" Mischa asked. Kumiko nodded brightly. "Of course. I'm a little sick of listening to it anyway. I've only got one CD." She got of to look through her bags. "Hmm…I know it's in here somewhere," She commented.

A sudden sound of hooves reached their ears. Everyone turned to see a group of people rushing towards them rapidly. One man reached his arm out and grasped Kumiko firmly by the arm, lifting her up onto the back of his horse. The group reacted a second to late, and within that second, Kumiko had been captured. "What the hell?" Mischa said, whipping around to see that the band of riders were shrinking in the distance. "Guys! HELP!" Kumiko yelled back. But it was no use. Nobody could hear her. The man that had captured her smiled at her, his decayed teeth making her slightly queasy.

"No use tryin'. They won't save ya now," he clicked his heels and his horse went faster. They had amazingly gotten particularly far away from them in such a short while. He still had a tight grip on her arm, and escaping wasn't an option. Unless… Kumiko frantically thought of was to escape. A sudden idea came to mind. "Take this!" She yelled, sending a jolt of energy towards the man. He moved at the last second, and the blast hit his horse. The horse whinnied and bucked backwards, sending Kumiko flying.

She landed to the ground with a thump. Her body ached, and her head started to spin. She slowly, and unwillingly slipped into darkness.

"Who were those riders?" Miaka asked frantically worrying about Kumiko's capture. Tasuki clenched his fists. "Bandits. Most definitely enemies of my clan. Just wanting revenge," he muttered. "I'm going on ahead. We have to find Kumiko." With that he urged his horse forward to find her. "And to think, I just wanted to listen to music. When I cause trouble, it's catastrophic." Mischa said.

Within ten minutes, a dark figure could be seen on the mountain trail ahead. Tasuki squinted, unable to make out its shape. He got of his horse and slowly approached it. He was soon in view, and could tell it was a person sprawled out. "Kumiko," He whispered as he urgently ran towards her. She had a fairly large bump on her forehead, and her arm was at an odd position behind her back. He picked up her limp body and sprawled her on his horse. Minutes later, the others arrived. "You found her, then?" Tamahome asked. Tasuki nodded. "We need to find a town. Or at least someplace to stay until she's better." "What are her injuries?" Mitsukake asked, stepping forward to look at the unconscious Kumiko.

Tasuki shrugged. Mitsukake checked her over and concluded, "Her arm is fractured, if not broken. She probably has a concussion as well. I'll be able to heal her arm easily, it's her head I'm worried about." "I agree with Tasuki, we should find shelter," said Miaka. Unable to find a village anywhere near by, the group set up a small camp in the sheltered woods, away from the trail. It was a small setting, but large enough for them all to be comfortable.

Kumiko didn't stir from her sleep, and soon the sun was setting. Tasuki had tried to put her in a comfortable position while Mitsukake healed her, and from that point on, he sat waiting for her to move. "Tasuki, you shouldn't stay up all night. If you need somebody to watch her, I'll gladly do it," Miaka said. Tasuki smiled slightly and replied, "Thank you Miaka. I'll go in a minute." He turned back towards Kumiko's uneasy face. Please wake up Kumiko…he thought hopefully. We can't just carry you around like this. Please be okay…

Suddenly, Kumiko moved slightly and made a groan of discomfort. She rolled on her side, her head moving back and forth effortlessly. She gradually opened her eyes, seeing Tasuki's relieved face. "Good, your awake," He said, his nerves calmed. "Where…am I?" She mumbled groggily. "Oh, you're safe don't worry. We made camp after leaving Rinlai's." Her vision was blurry, so she blinked in hopes to make it clearer.

"Who am I?" She said suddenly, as if the thought had just occurred to her. Tasuki stared at her in amazement. "You…don't remember?" He asked. She shook her head. "You're Kumiko, the priestess of four gods. You live in Kyoto," He told her, feeling quite odd. "Oh." She said sounding like an idiot. "You don't remember me either, do you?" He asked, the still unable to believe any of it. She shook her head slightly. "I'm afraid not."

Miaka came back over, excited. "Kumiko, you're awake!" She gleamed. "One problem Miaka; she doesn't remember anything." "What's two plus two?" Miaka asked her. Kumiko blinked. "Four." "Where' s Trinidad and Tobago?" "Above Guiana, Suriname and French Guyana," She answered. "Looks like she's fine to me." "Ask her who you are," Tasuki pointed out. "Kumiko, who am I?" Miaka asked pointlessly.

Kumiko shrugged. "I don't know. I've never met you before." Miaka's eyes widened. "You're right. Do you think she has amnesia?" She asked Tasuki. "Who knows," He said shrugging. "Go ask Mitsukake." Mitsukake asked her various questions, then turned to Miaka and Tasuki. "She doesn't seem to remember anything memory wise. But when it comes to knowledge, she's fine. Somehow, probably when she hit her head, she damaged her memories. So, the question is now is it permanent damage or short term."

"Is there anyway to get her to remember?" Mischa asked. Mitsukake shrugged. "Depends. If it's short term, such as amnesia, then yes. Little things from her past can trigger memories to come back. But if she suffered any brain damage, then I'm afraid those long term memories would have been destroyed." Kumiko sat, distressed. Who were these people? Obviously they cared about her; otherwise they wouldn't spend so much time worrying. But she didn't even know who she was….

"So what should we do, introduce ourselves all over again?" Tasuki asked. "It could help. I' d think that it'd especially help if Miaka tried to relay fun memories to her," Mitsukake said. "This seems almost pointless, no da. These efforts could be for nothing if she suffered brain damage!" Chichiri exclaimed. Mischa punched his shoulder. "Shut it. I'm going to try to help her the best I can, and you should to," She warned.

"Kumiko, my name's Miaka. We met in grade school, remember? You moved to Japan from America and you didn't know Japanese. Is this sounding familiar?" Miaka said, gripping Kumiko's hand tightly. Kumiko shook her head. "I'm afraid not," She answered. "Tasuki go ahead and introduce yourself," Miaka pushed him towards Kumiko. "Kumiko, please try and remember. What's my name?" He asked. "Tasuki." She said blankly. He looked at her in astonishment. "I just heard her say it," Kumiko admitted. Miaka sighed. For a moment she thought she had it.

So, for the next half hour, the group tried to get Kumiko to remember by spouting off memories in hopes to trigger anything. But it was to no avail, no memories returned to her. "I'm beginning to fear that my brain's suffered damage," Kumiko said, disheartened. "Maybe all you need is a good night's rest," Miaka said, smiling. She tried her best to look cheerful, but this worried her. What will happen if she never remembers me? What of her past? Will she ever go home again? And what of her Duties as the Priestess of Four Gods? The questions resounded in Miaka's head, but she did her best to shake them off. She had to help Kumiko the best she could.

Kumiko lay down looking at the stars. Despite the help of all these strangers, she remembered nothing. In a way, she felt as if she was having Déjà vu. Everyone looked familiar, yet she couldn't trace how she knew them. Closing her eyes, she tried to trace back a memory, of any sort. But all she saw was dreams, brought forth by her tired mind.

When the first rays of the sun reached Kumiko's eyes, she sprung up immediately. Her memories of the day before were blurry, in fact everything was! She began to panic, hoping to remember where she was. Then it sank in; she was with a strange group of people and her past was unfamiliar. "My name is…Kumiko," she said softly to herself. Strangely, it sounded natural.

"good morning, sleepy head!" Miaka said cheerfully, handing her a plateful of food. "Good morning," she said almost shyly, taking the plate. Her insides burned with hunger, and she quickly demolished the food. "Did you sleep well?" She asked. Kumiko shrugged. "I guess." "Can you remember my name?" She asked. Kumiko nodded. "Miaka. But I'm afraid I don't remember ever meeting you before; other than yesterday."

Miaka nodded. "I understand. But I promise, I'll try to help as hard as I can to help get your memory back." Kumiko smiled. "Thank you," She bowed her head slightly. "Feelin' better?" Tasuki sat down next to her. She shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Tasuki." She said softly. He gave a small smile. "Well at least you're getting names right." "Rote rehearsal helps things stay in your long term memory," She said honestly. The two were silent. "What was I like…before I lost my memory?" She asked, turning her head towards him, her hazel eyes filled with unknown emotions.

Tasuki thought for a moment, realizing he could take advantage of the situation. "Well," he said thoughtfully, "You were always nice to everyone, but you liked to have fun as well. You liked to play practical jokes, be loud and do whatever the hell you pleased." Kumiko blinked. "Really?" He nodded. "Yup." "Did I have a serious side?" She asked him. "Nope. Never ever. You were always having fun." "Oh. Okay!" Kumiko smiled brightly. Tasuki grinned. This was going to be fun.

The rest of the morning consisted of Tasuki and Kumiko running around being obnoxious. Mischa didn't appreciate it one bit. "TASUKI!!! What did you DO to her?!" She yelled. "I didn't DO anything. She's just having more fun," he insisted. "Hiding everything in trees where nobody can get them isn't FUN." Mischa pointed out. "Sure it is," Tasuki grinned as he ran off. "I swear Miaka, if he wasn't one of your senshi, I'd kill him right here and now." She looked over at him and clenched her fists. "And I wouldn't BURY him either!" She said darkly.

"Kumiko, come here a second!" Miaka called. "Yea?" She said, running up out of breath. "Listen up. Tasuki is a liar and a jerk. He wasn't telling you the truth. That's not the way you act," Mischa said firmly, glaring in Tasuki's general direction. "Kumiko, I've known you since grade school, and that's definitely not how you act. It's true that you like to have fun, but you also have a serious side. You fight for what you believe in and you're nice to everyone who's nice to you," Miaka said softly.

"Is that the truth?" Kumiko asked, confused. Miaka nodded. "It is." "Oh. I apologize for my behavior." She said looking down. Suddenly, she took off running away from them. "Uh oh. Not good," Mischa said. But instead of going far, she just scrambled up a tree. Things could be seen falling out of it onto the ground. A few minutes later, she climbed down and went up another tree and did the same thing. Within fifteen minutes she had gone up each tree and retrieved all that had been put up there.

"She's acting pretty strangely," Nuriko admitted. "But you can't expect her to do otherwise after losing her memory," said Chiriko, as he looking on attentively. "Do you think it's permanent, Mitsukake?" Nuriko asked him. "Judging on this, probably not. She has great recollection, and she has memories of yesterday. She just has to get back the ones of her past." Kumiko ran passed them, her uniform slightly torn and her knee scraped.

"Ok, I got everything down from the trees." Kumiko said, almost sounding as she did before. "Where's Tasuki?" She asked looking around. She spotted him and took off before Mischa could open her mouth. "Does she know she didn't have to do that?" Miaka asked. "Miaka, we need all that stuff. That's why they're called SUPPLIES," Mischa remarked. Miaka shook her head and replied, "No, I meant tear her skirt and scrape her knee." Mischa shrugged. "I dunno. She's just trying to please us. She wants to be the way she was, and she'd probably do anything. If we told her she used to run around screaming profanities all the time, she'd probably do it, just to get our approval."

"Tasuki!!!" He stopped and turned around. "Oh, Kumiko there you ar-" He stopped when he saw the look of disappointment on her face. "What's wrong?" he asked. "You lied to me. You lied about the way I act," She said, furrowing her eyebrows. "Oh. Yea, well it was worth a try," He answered, chuckling slightly. Her expression changed to one of discomfort. "But why? Why did you?" He suddenly realized how badly he had hurt her feelings. "Nuthin' against ya Kumiko, I just wanted to see what would happen. Honestly, I didn't know it would hurt you." She looked down at her feet.

"Do you forgive me?" He asked her. She looked up, the look of discomfort still upon her face. "I don't know what I'd do at a time like this," She answered truthfully. "You'd accept my apology," he answered. "Would I? Honestly?" She asked. He nodded. "Yup. Now what do you say we have real fun?" She blinked. "Without causing trouble?" She asked. He nodded. "Ok." She smiled brightly, and for a few seconds, he saw the old Kumiko that he knew. He grabbed her hand and led her off.

"Well, looks like they're not going to fight," Mischa said, almost dejectedly. "Don't sound so disappointed about it. It's a good thing, no da." Chichiri popped up behind her and Miaka, much to Mischa's surprise. "Don't do that!" She exclaimed, clutching her heart, where it beat quickly due to the surprise. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you, no da." "It's best this way. She'll be more stressed if they're fighting," Tamahome said. Mischa disagreed, "Not necessarily. Mitsukake said that little things could trigger her to remember. That just might do it." Chichiri shrugged. "It could, but I wouldn't count on it, no da."

"So what exactly is FUN without causing trouble?" Kumiko asked. Tasuki shrugged. "I dunno. You're idea of fun is probably way different than mine." "I don't remember what fun is," She admitted. "Oh," he said quietly. "Well what do you do pleasurable that doesn't involve getting in trouble," She asked. Tasuki thought about his sake jug. "Well…" he began, but then broke off. A sudden thought hit him.

"Do you remember how to swim?" he asked. She nodded, wondering why he would ask. "Duh. Why?" He shrugged. "Because, there was one time when you went swimming in a river. You seemed…happy when you were swimming, that's all." "Oh, that's a good idea. `Cept there's no river." He nodded in agreement. "Y'know, we really should be concentrating on getting your memory back. We could try to make it fun," He said, but then muttered, "Though I don't see how." "I guess," She said.

"What I know so far is that I'm Kumiko Inoai and I live in Kyoto. I come from a different world, and I'm the Priestess of Four Gods and whatever. My best friends are Miaka and a girl named Yui, who is a bad guy or something, Mischa's her cousin, you're Tasuki, the emperor's Hotohori, the guy with the funny cat face is Chichiri, the one who looks like a girl is Nuriko, the doctor's Mitsukake, Tamahome has Oni on his forehead, and Chiriko is the little kid." "You've forgotten something," He pointed out. "Oh, and Tama-Neko is Mitsukake's cat," She added.

"Well you remember that much. Do you remember how old you are?" He asked. She shrugged. "I dunno, guessing on everything else I'm probably middle teens," She said, feeling stupid. "16. Don't you remember your birthday party?" She shook her head in answer to his question. "Remind me." "Well, everybody was there. We were in a small village and you were having a bad day. You and I weren't getting along all that well that day. You ended up being totally surprised when you came back inside and everyone was waiting for you. You thought that everyone forgot."

"Oh." They were silent. "Tasuki, how'd I meet you?" He winced at the memory. "It wasn't to pleasant, sure you wanna hear?" She nodded vigorously. He sighed and said, "Well, I bumped into you and we sorta just…ended up swearing at each other but that's a little off the subject," He said hastily. She blinked. "No it isn't." "Whatever." She tried hard, but couldn't remember a thing.

It was frustrating and she soon found tears welling up in her eyes. I hate this! I don't remember anything. Not my family, not my friends, not anything. I don't even know my own birthday! Why is this so screwed up?! She thought hopelessly. The tears slowly dripped down her face, as she tried to recall even the smallest thing. "This is so impossible," She said. Tasuki put his hand on her shoulder and brought her closer slightly. "Don't worry. I'm going to make sure you remember," he said positively. She could feel her face flush slightly. Why did he care so much?

She looked up at him and suddenly felt a strange feeling of déjà vu. Somehow, looking into his warm golden eyes seemed familiar. She dried her eyes and sniffed. "You're right. I'm going to try the best I can to remember." With that she stood up from the ground where they had been sitting and marched back to where everyone else was. He grinned. That's the way, c'mon Kumiko, I know you can do this. I know you can remember! He thought, standing up and following her.

"Miaka!" She turned at the sound of her voice. "What is it Kumiko?" She said brightly. "I want you to tell me about all the fun times we had together. And the bad times. I want you to tell me everything so I can remember," She said. "Alright. `Bout time." Miaka then went on and on, event after event of things that had occurred. Though she didn't fully recognize any of them, they sounded familiar.

Suddenly there was a commotion. The riders from before had returned looking for Kumiko. A sudden look of fear spread across Miaka's face, as she grasped Kumiko's hand and whispered, "Those are dangerous men. They want to capture you, hurry, we've gotta get away." "We can't get away. We have to fight them off," Tasuki said. "They're not leavin' until they get what they want." "Well, they'll have to be dead. Nobody's touching either priestess," Hotohori said, grabbing his sword from it's sheath.

He then reached for Kumiko's. "Kumiko, catch!" He exclaimed, tossing it to her. She caught it awkwardly and asked, "What do you want me to do?" "Fight!" He called. "But isn't killing wrong?" She turned to Tasuki, who reached for his tessin. "Not if they're trying to kill you," he said. The group of bandits where a hearty group, and where in bigger numbers than the rest of them. They charged quickly, yelling and hollering directions.

One launched at Kumiko. She swung out at him with her sword, and the movement seemed to go naturally. For some reason, it was as if she had done it before…. "REKKA SHIN'EN!!!" Tasuki hollered, launching an attack of hot flames on them. "Kumiko, watch it!" Miaka exclaimed, but it was too late. She was pinned to the ground, a man grinning as he grabbed her by the collar. "You caused us a bit o' trouble, young lady," He spat. Suddenly, a glimmer of gold caught his eye. "And what's this?" He reached for her neck and touched her necklace.

An unknown rage surged through Kumiko's body as she screamed, "DON'T TOUCH IT YOU THEIF!" She kicked hard, forcing him backwards. Memories came rushing back, as she clutched the necklace tightly in her fist. "My father gave this to me, and dirt like you should never come across its surface!" With that she seized her sword and swung it, cleanly decapitating the man.

Everyone was in silent shock. Her heart was pounding as the rage continued to surge. The rest of the bandits retreated, scared of what might happen. "Kumiko!" Miaka rushed up and hugged her. "You got your memory back!" She exclaimed happily. Kumiko smiled. "Yea, I did." Her head hurt from all the action. She dropped her blood covered sword on the ground and put her arms around her friend. "Thank you, Miaka," She said graciously. "That's what friends are for. I'd do it three times over if I had to."

"Uh, guys, what do you wanna do with him?" Mischa asked, pointing to the dead mans remains. "Well, I suppose we could give him a proper burial. After all, if he wouldn't have tried to take my necklace, I wouldn't have remembered how important it was," Kumiko said, returning her sword to its sheath. "Tasuki wasn't lying when he said you where a good swordsman. Tell me, where did you learn?" Hotohori asked, congratulating her. She shrugged. "I dunno. I didn't know how to use a sword when I got here. The movements are just sorta natural, Y'know?"

She grinned at the emperor, then turned around to look at Tasuki, who stood behind her. "And I couldn't have done it without you," She beamed. "What did I do?" He asked. "Are you kidding me? Without your encouragement, none of this would've happened. I can't thank you enough. If there' s anything I can do, anything at all-" She was cut off by Tasuki's mumbling. "What was that?" She asked. "Teach me how to swim." He said a little louder. She nodded. "Of course. I'd do anything to repay ya. That's pretty easy, we just gotta find time."

"Thanks," He muttered. "No. Thank you," She hugged him quickly, then turned back to Miaka. "I think we've spent enough time here. What do you say to leaving before any other enemy bandits show up to try kidnapping me, causing me to lose my memory and resulting in one of them being decapitated?" "Well, after that, I wouldn't mind leaving, no da," Chichiri said. Mischa nodded. " Yea. No offense Kumiko, that was frickin awesome, but a little gross." "Okay then. I say we leave." She smiled. "After we eat!" Miaka said. Mischa rolled her eyes. "Some things never change."