Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Suzaku no Saiai ❯ Chapter 8

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

By: Kourika

Suzaku no Saiai

Part VIII

Standard disclaimer: Fushigi Yuugi is copyrighted by Watase Yuu, Shogakukan, TV Tokyo,

Movic,and Studio Pierrot, and maybe some other people, if I forgot anyone.^^; Anyway,

please don't sue me. I'm just a poor college student. Kourin and Jin Feng were created by

me, but I'm not responsible for their actions in this fanfic. I can't control them

anymore! If you think you might be more successful controlling them, feel free to borrow

them. Just drop me a line at jscaife@austin.rr.com to let me know.

Nuriko drew away from Kourin guiltily and sweatdropped. "For Suzaku's sake, Jin

Feng! I thought you'd left for the day. Haven't you caused enough trouble yet?"

The phoenix woman ignored him and hopped off the vanity to saunter over to Kourin's

side. She patted the girl's head and smiled pityingly. "That trick of your's with the

Emperor was good, Kourin, very good, but you can't beat me." She turned and

walked to the center of the room. "You'll end up with who I want, you know," she

said pointedly. "I can manipulate you from inside your mind."

Kourin wrinkled up her face like a disgruntled four year old and scowled. "Why

don't you go back into my head and leave me alone?!" she demanded. "I've made it

quite clear that I'm not interested in being Suzaku's consort!"

"Now, now," Jin Feng tsked, "you said that you'd merge with

me."

"I said I'd consider it!" Kourin interrupted sharply.

"Why are you being so harsh with your lover then?" Jin Feng pointed out.

"Don't even try to tell me that you don't want him to be more hurt in the end or hurt

by Suzaku or something stupid like that! The truth, Kourin, is that you don't love him at

all! You've managed to convince yourself that Hotohori is the perfect man for you,b ut

you're already tiring of him. Look into your heart and see the truth!"

Kourin turned red with anger. "How dare you come and treat me so terribly!"

she cried. "Jin Feng, I hate you! Anta ga daikirai, daikirai!" She took a deep

breath and looked her immortal counterpart square in the eye. "Jin Feng, I banish you

to the furthest corners of my mind. You may not stray from there until the day I call on

you to merge, IF that ever comes."

The phoenix woman stared at her in shock. "I'm impressed, little one. You

shouldn't have figured that out yet," she said before winking out like a candle.

"She told you the truth," Nuriko stated flatly. "You know who you

are."

The girl dropped her gaze and studied her hands. "Yes," she stated simply.

She looked back up with a cold, hard gaze. "How did you know, Nuriko?"

"Remember when I began acting so cooly towards you on our journey here?" he

asked. The girl nodded slowly. "I saw Taiitsukun in my dreams, and she directed me to

Jin Feng. Between the two of them they made it extremely clear that I had to leave you

alone and live only to protect you because you were more than human. That is why I knew:

to keep from jeopardizing your damn divine purpose!"

"I don't like it any more than you do," Kourin said weakly, "but at

least you don't have to give up being who you are to become the consort of a god."

"No, I just have to give up you!" Nuriko exploded. "I've already

lost three people that I cared for, and now I'm supposed to step aside and say,

"Sure, take her too, Suzaku. Really, it's not big deal?!"

"Listen, Ryuuen," the girl said calmly, "your chi is still a little

messed up because most of it is mine. The natural affinity between my chi in both our

bodies has created some sort of physical attraction between us, but we're NOT in

love."

"Why aren't you angry yet?" Nuriko asked suspiciously. "Where'd the real

Kourin go?"

The girl shot him a dirty look and leaned back against the pillows. "I simply

don't have the energy to argue with you right now," she sighed. "Anger drains a

lot of chi you know. Besides you don't listen when I yell, so maybe rational argument will

work better."

"I just think that Jin Feng played a good trick on us both, and the real Kourin is

trapped somewhere," the purple haired seishi sighed. "If it weren't for the bond

between us, I'd be out of here right now."

"What bond between us?" Kourin asked curiously.

"Oh, she didn't tell you about that?" Nuriko asked, getting angry again.

"We're bonded because I'm your protector. We can't separate more than about 250 yards

to make sure I can't leave you because I tire of your childish whims!"

The girl snapped her fingers. "That's it, Nuriko! That's why you think you're in

love with me!"

"How do you figure that?" Nuriko asked drily. "Your logic fails

me."

"Tamahome is in love with Miaka, right? And Taiitsukun implied that Genbu no

Miko's and Byakko no Miko's protectors fell in love with them," the girl explained

animatedly. "In order to be willing to give his life for the woman he is protecting

he must love the woman he serves!"

Nuriko facefaulted from shock. "You really are determined to prove that my

feelings for you are less than genuine, aren't you?" he grinned wryly. "That has

got to be the strangest one you've come up with yet!"

The girl stared at him wide-eyed and opened her mouth to say she'd been serious.

Instead she left herself laugh along with her companion, and for the first time since

they'd met, Nuriko and Kourin were in perfect communion.

After the exciting events of Kourin's first few weeks in hte palace, things returned to

normal, or as normal as they could be with Nuriko and Kourin. Kourin's recovery lagged;

she was far weaker than even the physician had suspected, and the news that she could not

love Hotohori freely weighed heavily on her heart. Secretly Nuriko worried about her

because although the girl outwardly projected cheerfulness, he could sense the depression

inside.

"Kourin, would you like to go outside today?" the purple haired young man

asked. "You're finally strong enough to handle the short journey."

"Besides," he added to himself, "you're wasting away in here, and I've

never seen someone so pale."

"Ryuuen, that's very sweet of you, but I'm fine," the girl replied from her

chair by the window.

Nuriko steeled himself to ask the cruel question that had been plaguing his mind. He

had to goad her into action and prevent her from accepting a lifelong illness.

"You're avoiding Hotohori," he accused. "You think that if you hide in

here, clinging to your illness as an excuse, you'll never have to deal with the issue,

don't you?!"

He scanned her face eagerly, hoping for some sign of the girl's former spark and vigor,

but she merely smiled, "You're imagining things, Ryuuen. You know as well as I that

any relationship between the emperor and I ended shortly after our arrival."

Nuriko stalked across the room and shook her sharply. "What sort of lies have you

made yourself believe, Kourin?! You're not even really Kourin anymore; only a shell of

that bright, dazzling girl is left! Not even Suzaku, your destined consort, would want you

in this state!"

At Suzaku's name the familiar golden fire flashed in Kourin's eyes, which had been

vacant for many weeks. "Leave Suzaku out of this, Nuriko!" she spat. "He

has only ruined my life! What do you want to here? That I still love Hotohori? I do. Have

I been avoiding him? Yes! Do I want to deal with the issue of my bond to Suzaku? Of course

not!"

She stood alone and shoved the young man away, and a golden aura crackled around her.

"You seem to think that I'm too weak to face my destiny, Nuriko!" Her eyes met

his challengingly, and the words, "I'll show you," lay unspoken between them.

Kourin tried to stride the few steps to the door, but she stumbled, uneasy on her own

feet. Nuriko rushed to her side to offer some support. "Be careful," he

cautioned gently. "You've been bedridden for the last few weeks and haven't fully

regained your strength."

The girl clenched her jaw and pushed him away. "I can do it myself!" she

insisted stubbornly and nearly fell as she tried to take another step forward.

Nuriko caught her again, and his face darkened. "Damn it, Kourin!" the young

man exploded. "Why won't you accept my help when it's clear you need it?!"

"I don't need anyone's help!" the girl snarled. "Stop babying me,

Nuriko!"

Something in the young seishi finally snapped. He pushed Kourin to the ground and

looked down at her in contempt. "Maybe Taiitsukun was right," Nuriko said

coldly. "You are still a child; an adult would be able to accept help

when it was needed." He forced himself to turn on his heel and walk away.

"Nuriko, come back!" Kourin pleaded. "Nuriko, please! Ryuuen!"

The young man ignored the feelings of guilt and protectiveness in his heart and kept on

walking. "Gomen, Kourin, but this is for your own good..."

Suddenly, he stopped. "Kuso! That stupid bond'll keep me from getting too far

away!" As he spoke a faint pulse of pain echoed along the psychic tie. Reluctantly,

Nuriko turned around and shook his fist at the sky. "Damn you, Jin Feng!" the

young seishi swore harshly. "I can't help her grow up if I can't teach her this

lesson!"

"You called?" the phoenix woman's melodious voice came from his left.

Nuriko jumped and turned to face the sound. "I thought Kourin banished you!"

"She did," the golden woman smiled, "but during her illness she blocked

her own power away thus disolving any spells she had set. Onna no baka! I just didn't feel

a need to return before."

"Release this stupid bond right now then!" the young man demanded rudely.

"Oh, so you're actually going to try to teach her a lesson?" Jin Feng raised

an eyebrow. "The bond's been gone since the last time I activated it." She shook

her head as Nuriko opened his mouth to protest. "I just wanted to show you that you

can't just leave her because she gets on your nerves. You made an oath to be Kourin's

protector, Nuriko, and you cannot dissolve it that easily."

"But why did you make me do all those things?" the young seishi asked,

flushing. A vivid memory of being forced to kiss Kourin under Hotohori's watchful gaze

arose, and he turned even redder.

Jin Feng hopped off her perch and shrugged. "I'll admit I was just playing with

you two, but, also, I could see you were suffering." She caressed the seishi's cheek

gently. "You have fallen in love with the mortal vessel, but I...in the thousands of

years that I've waited for Kourin, I never thought I could fall in love with a human

man..." She sighed softly. "If you wait about fifteen minutes you'll find Kourin

alone in the rose garden; she'll need you then." Jin Feng smiled at him, the same

blinding smile as her counterpart, and lowered her gaze. "I will never seek you out

again, but will wait for Kourin's call. I played with fire and was badly

burned...sayonara...Ryuuen."

Meanwhile, Kourin had convinced a young guard that there was absolutely nothing

improper in his carrying her to the imperial rose garden. The young soldier had carefully

placed her on a sunny bench and headed off with a message for his emperor, leaving her

alone. She looked up and smiled softly, reveling in the warm sun on her skin.

Hotohori's gaze widened when he saw her sitting in the pool of sunlight. Kourin was so

pale from her illness that for a moment she seemed to be the source of the light rather

than the sun. Smiling gently, the young emperor plucked a single, golden rose from a bush

and approached. "Kourin," he said quietly. "How I've missed you!"

The girl turned to face him, and the unselfish adoration in his face caught at her

heart. Would she be strong enough with him looking at her like that? "So you got my

message then?" she asked uncomfortably, looking down at her hands.

Hotohori smiled. "He said you had something important to tell me, Kourin. Dearest,

don't be afraid. One day you will become my empress, and I don't want there to be any

secrets between us." He embraced her, and Kourin's determination wavered.

"Actually, that's what I need to talk to you about, Hotohori," she whispered,

"my becoming your empress."

Her companion clenched his hands, heedless of the rose's thorns, and a dreadful

premonition came over him. "What is it, darling?" he choked out.

Kourin turned her face up towards his and firmly pushed Hotohori away. "I can't

marry you," she said clearly. "I thought I loved you enough to deal with all the

formalities of a public life, but..." , her voice broke a little, "I only

imagined myself in love with you, and I'd be so unhappy as Empress!"

Hotohori's face turned white, and the beautiful rose fell from his senseless

fingertips. For the second time in less than a year the woman he loved was pushing him

away. "Why, Kourin?" he cried. "Doushite? Is there someone else?!"

The girl shook her head firmly and tried to smile through her tears. "Since I came

here, I've only had eyes for you, Hotohori-sama, but my destiny seems to inevitably

part from yours. I have a favour to ask of you...let me be the one to choose your empress

from the princesses gathered here at the court. At least then you will have a part of me

with you always."

The young emperor struggled to hide the immense hurt caused by Kourin's words, and,

finally, rose stiffly. "Do as you like," he said coldly and walked away, leaving

his shattered heart behind.

Nuriko arrived at the garden's side entrance just in time to see Kourin clutch up a

gold rose from the ground and bury her face in her hands. "She actually screwed up

the courage to tell him," he thought sadly,"but it killed her to do it."

Wordlessly, he went to her side and held the girl as she wept bitterly.

"I really cared for him, Nuriko," Kourin sobbed. "I loved him more than

he'll ever know, but I had to send him away. I had to!"

"Shh, I know," the young man soothed. "Come on, Kourin-chan. Let's go

back and rest."

Half supporting, half carrying the weeping girl, Nuriko left the rose garden behind.

"I wonder if either of them will ever enjoy that spot again..."

Kourin pulled herself together surprisingly quickly, and by that afternoon she had set

out on her mission to find the perfect bride for Hotohori. She brushed off Nuriko's offer

of help and carefully crossed the palace to find the women's quarters. As she sat on a

delicate bench, resting, Kourin felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

"Someone's watching me," she thought nervously, "but why?" She caught

a flash of colour to her left and turned, but whoever had been there had disappeared. The

girl stood and continued walking, but the feeling of being observed remained. Suddenly,

there was another flash of colour, and Kourin restrained the urge to turn her head.

"If I pretend I don't notice, maybe my pursuer will become careless," she

mentally grinned.

She straightened her back and continued down the hallway. Sure enough a few minutes

later her pursuer popped out, this time a little closer. The game went on for several more

minutes until Kourin's mysterious observer made a dangerous miscalculation and came inches

too close. Before the other person could flit away again, Kourin reached out and grabbed

her tracker's arm.

"Who are you, and why are you following me?" she demanded. Then she took a

good look at her captive and promptly lost her temper. "Nuriko!! I told

you I could take care of myself, and I thought you stopped crossdressing!"

"But..." the captive tried to protest, but Kourin was already stomping down

the hall.

Glossary

Anata ga daikirai -- I really hate you

gomen -- I'm sorry

Kuso -- shit or mild cussing

sayonara -- Although it literally means 'goodbye', sayonara is mainly used in

situations where one wouldn't expect to see the other person for a long time.

doushite -- why

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Wai! Wai! Kourika-san finally got part NINE up!

© 1997 jscaife@austin.rr.com