Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Suzaku no Saiai ❯ Chapter 10

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

Suzaku no Saiai
Part X 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 recent college grad with a secretarial job!. 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. This is the end finally after a long, long time of desperately trying to find an end to this strange piece. I'll add a short epilogue in the next few days, but for all intents and purposes Suzaku no Saiai has ended. A few less strings were tied up than I'd planned at the first, but I suppose life just works like that sometimes, right? I also cut the Japanese from this last part because I wasn't in the mood to have to write up another glossary.^^; Thanks to all of you who've followed this from the beginning, and I'm sorry it took so long.
Hotohori held Kourin in a possessive embrace while varied emotions swept across her pale face. The kanji for "star" pulsed on her neck, a sure sign of her emotional upheaval, and Nuriko turned away blindly. Pain burned through him with icy fingers. Couldn't Kourin see what she was doing to them all?
"I see you've made your decision, Kourin," he spat bitterly. "I wondered how long you would be able to keep up your resolve to stay away from the emperor!"
The slamming door broke a barrier inside the girl, and she increased her struggles. "Nuriko, you have it wrong; things aren't what they seem!" With superhuman strength she pushed Hotohori away and slapped him fiercely. "Don't ever try that again," she threatened, "or you won't live to regret it!"
The imperial seishi looked back at her in surprise. "Kourin? Have you truly killed all your feelings for me so easily?" Childish fear and uncertainty clouded his face, and the girl saw the myriad insecurities Hotohori held inside.
Her anger softened, and she squeezed the young man's shoulder companionably. "I care for you very much, but, no, I don't think I ever loved you in a romantic sense. I was in love with my image of you as someone safe and how you fit into my purpose here…"
"So you love Nuriko then?" Hotohori asked weakly. "His reaction seems to have hurt you very deeply… I'm terribly sorry to be the cause of your tears once again."
The girl shook her head as she moved towards her door. Her eyes glowed like amber stars, and she breathed deeply. " I…I don't know why Nuriko's rejection hurts so much," Kourin said slowly, "but I do know that I have to find him and try to make things right again. I'm so tired of people getting hurt because of me."
Nuriko curled into a ball in his bedroom, clutching his chest. " I wish I could drink and forget, but I'd just end up looking for her…at least she has the sense not to come in here." He buried his face against one of the chair cushions and begged the tears to fall, but his eyes remained stubbornly dry and painful.
"Ryuuen? Ryuuen? I know you're in there because I already checked everywhere else!" Kourin called, opening the door.
The young man lifted his head eagerly, and, for a brief second, his heart leapt. The image of Kourin in Hotohori's arms flashed through his mind yet again, and he snarled bitterly, " Just go back to Hotohori and leave me in peace! I'm sick of your games!"
She moved towards him and lifted her gaze to meet his. "So am I…" she whispered sadly, kneeling on the floor next to ì¥Á7 ð¿ ]4 bjbjUU ">7|7|]0ÿÿÿÿÿÿl¬¬¬¬¬&n ot;¬ˆ(((( think that though I realize that I wouldn't have met any of you, and I know that I can't go back to who I was: alone, afraid and against the world. I needed to feel again to make me whole."
The girl fell silent and pressed her wet face into Nuriko's legs, and the young man's anger evaporated. "I just can't stay upset with her," he thought in frustration. Reluctantly he pushed her away, but her tearstained face beckoned him closer. Against his better judgment Nuriko leaned forward and gently licked the tears from her face. Kourin started at the first touch of his tongue, then relaxed under the meticulous care. He prolonged the treatment as long as he dared, but, finally, every tear was gone. Resignedly, he pulled Kourin to her feet and pushed her towards the door. " Go back to bed, Kourin," the young man ordered softly. " We can discuss the matter further in the morning." She nodded wearily and slipped out letting the door click shut. Nuriko yawned and turned back to his bed. It had been a long night already.
Kourin came towards him across the small clearing in front of the Chou family home with a welcoming smile on her face. "I missed you," she said shyly, looking down. "I thought you'd left for good this time…"
Emboldened by the girl's meek demeanor Nuriko clasped her hands tightly. " Would that have made you sad, Kourin-chan?" he asked hopefully, half expecting a sharp rebuke for the familiar nickname.
To his surprise Kourin blushed and looked down again. "Yes," she finally admitted, lifting her gaze to his shirt collar, "because I'm very fond of you…" She turned redder and started to flee, but the young seishi caught her arm.
"Are you serious?" Nuriko asked, trying to keep the desperation and eagerness out of his voice. "Kourin, I love you…I have for as long as I can remember…"
Somehow she was in his arms, and they kissed passionately, wrapping around each other. They fell to the ground, and he rolled her beneath him. She received his touch eagerly and returned each caress with her unique fire. In the final instant before he possessed her, Nuriko breathed huskily, "Now, Kourin-chan, you are my wife!"
Suddenly Kourin's soft warmth was gone, and she was in a handsome, winged man's embrace. His eyes met Nuriko's, and his words chilled the passion-heated air. "Do not forget that Kourin will be my bride, regardless of your feelings for one another," Suzaku threatened softly. He flapped his wings, and he and Kourin soared off into a cloudy, grey sky.
"Was I dream walking or only dreaming?" Nuriko worried. "Did I just imagine Kourin saying she loved me because I want to hear it? But she came here last night, and she cried in my arms, which has to imply that she trusts me at least a little." He stared up at the ceiling, and then closed his eyes, allowing the erotic scenes flow through his head. Heat rushed through his blood, and the young man's hands clenched the sheets in frustration. "Damn it! I don't know what men are supposed to do about these sorts of feelings!" Nuriko complained. "Being a woman during my formative, impressionable years is really becoming a problem!"
He dragged himself to the breakfast table, noticing that Kourin seemed nearly as tired as he felt. "Didn't you sleep well?" the young man asked inanely. "You look like you had nightmares after you headed back to bed."
The blonde girl ruffled her hair tiredly. "For once I had no dreams at all," she lied glibly. She didn't want to discuss her disturbing encounter with Suzaku because it would only provoke another argument. "Please pass the toast and marmalade. Oh, and I could use another cup of coffee."
"Oh really…" Nuriko said, looking into his teacup in disappointment.
"Is something wrong?" Kourin asked curiously, looking up from spreading jam on her toast. "You're acting as if I was supposed to meet someone in the dream world."
"No, it's nothing," the young man replied quickly. "I just thought I saw you in a dream last night, and I wasn't sure if it was just me or not."
"You mean you thought you might have been dream walking?" Kourin raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize you'd bothered to keep that up. Why would you see me accidentally though? You generally have to be thinking about someone to find them in the dream world that easily." Her face flushed a beautiful crimson as the implication of her words hit her. "I…I didn't mean it quite the way it came out…After last night's events, well, I was probably on your mind a bit."
The young man looked up from his cup of tea with a riveting gaze and fixed it on the young woman. "You're always on my mind in some way," he murmured, wondering where his boldness had come from.
The girl's heart clenched painfully at her companion's soft words. "You really are in love with me, aren't you?" she asked sadly. She wanted to run away, but Nuriko's eyes pinned her to the chair. "That's been the source of our…everyone's pain all along: love. If you love the person meant for you, life becomes wondrous and beautiful, but if it's the wrong person you both suffer."
Nuriko clenched his hands into fists and strode towards the trembling girl. "Who decides if someone is the wrong person, Kourin?" he demanded. "You? The other person? The gods? Or maybe it's just like a roll of the dice: some days you're lucky and others you aren't? If a little pain keeps you from getting what you really want then you give up too easily!" He crushed her to his chest forcefully and buried his face in her hair. "You're the one I want, Kourin, and thought I've said it before I'll say it a million more times until you understand. My life has been a living hell since you returned it to me, but I wouldn't go back and change a thing. You've changed me and filled something inside that I never realized was empty, but it hasn't been pleasurable. Anything worth having in life requires hard work though because if you get something too easily you cease to value it!"
Kourin shoved away from him, eyes glittering with both anger and tears. "I guess I'm just not as strong as you are then, Nuriko!" she snapped. "I'm ready for my pain to stop because my heart can't bear any more!"
The purple-haired man reached towards her yearningly, and naked desire tinged with something more pure shone in his face. "My darling Kourin," he said with tender passion, "let me help relieve you from your suffering."
Sparkles danced in front of her eyes like golden fireflies, and the world began to sway dizzily. "This can't be happening again," Kourin thought blurrily. "What about Miaka and the other Suzaku seishi?" she stammered as strong arms offered their support. Her limbs felt like jelly, and she had a horrid feeling that she'd overextended her forces. "I don't feel well…"
Nuriko held the dizzy girl against his chest, fearing that his rash words had caused the sudden fainting spell. He carefully placed Kourin on the bed and anxiously chafed her wrists.
"That's not going to work," Jin Feng smiled. "I knocked her out, Nuriko dear, because I needed to talk with you."
"I thought you were buried in Kourin's mind!" the young man exclaimed nervously.
The phoenix woman shrugged. "I finally figured out that I could emerge when she fell asleep or was otherwise unconscious, so I used what little magical ability she left me to make her faint. It wasn't too hard since Kourin's already worn down." She flamboyantly perched herself on the bed frame and stroked her human counterpart's hair tenderly. "She looks so sweet when she's asleep like this!"
"What did you need to talk with me about?" Nuriko demanded brusquely. "I don't like seeing Kourin weakened like this, and there's a good chance that your actions are making her sicker."
The golden haired woman grinned and rocked back and forth on the headboard. "I just wanted to point out that you're a complete idiot for thinking Kourin still harbors feelings for the emperor. Who has she always come running to for protection, even though she pushes him away five seconds later?"
Nuriko tried not to gape foolishly, but images of all the times Kourin had come running to him for comfort, support, or simply a good fight overwhelmed him. "I don't agree," the young man finally managed, shaking his head. "The only times she's remotely warm towards me are when things are entirely platonic or I've forced myself on her…in which case I face a good tongue lashing afterwards." He sighed heavily. "Sometimes I think Kourin's deliberately testing me to see how for she can go before I give in to temptation. No matter how good we're getting along though I always manage to make her angry again though, and knowing that Suzaku's just watching and waiting for Miaka to summon him doesn't help things either."
"She's afraid of herself," Jin Feng said enigmatically. "If she allows herself to really love someone again, she may lose herself and her freedom, or at least that's what she believes. Just wait for her to come to you…things must be done on Kourin's terms or she'll constantly be running away."
"You're forgetting one large factor," the seishi replied dully. "Suzaku wants her, and he isn't going to hand her over to anyone."
The phoenix woman's eyes turned an eerie, feral gold. "Kourin will take care of matters once she has discovered what she really wants. She is my descendant after all."
Nuriko blinked in surprise at the pride in Jin Feng's voice. "These crazy women will be the death of me," he sighed in resignation.
When Kourin finally awoke several hours later Nuriko had disappeared. Houki sat beside the bed in his place, and she smiled down at the other girl, overflowing with happiness and contentment. "How do you feel?" she asked kindly. "Nuriko-sama didn't explain what happened; he merely requested that I stay with you while he went off to gather his thoughts."
The golden-haired girl blinked and rubbed her eyes. "I honestly don't remember, Houki," she sighed in frustration. "I wish I would stop blacking out like this! I feel like someone else is using my body to further their own purposes…" Her voice trailed off as she noted the glow around her friend. "Did something good happen?" she asked mischievously, forgetting Hotohori's unexpected confession in the early morning.
The purple-haired girl's eyes shone, and positive energy filled the air between them. "Hotohori-sama proposed to me and said he wanted me to become his empress!"
Kourin gently clasped her friend's hands and smiled. "I hope you will be very happy together, and I know you will be a magnificent empress, far better than I ever could have been…"
Houki caught the slight bitterness and blushed. "I'm so sorry! I didn't even think…" Suddenly her tone became more serious. "Kourin, I'm going to offer some unsolicited advice, but I'd like to ask you to please hear me out to the end. Nuriko-sama clearly adores you, and, well…Hotohori-sama and I saw the kiss you two shared last night." She reddened again at her confession, and then resolutely cleared her throat. "Something exists between you two, even if it's only mutual attraction, and if you open your heart a little it could blossom into love. Don't deny yourself companionship because of one mistake from your past!"
"But I'm so afraid…" Kourin whispered, ashamed to admit her weakness, and wondering how the other girl had drawn it from her. "I could fall in love with someone like Nuriko far too easily, but I'm frightened of losing myself again!"
Houki patted her shoulder sympathetically. "Real love isn't a chain that denies your individuality. It should be a union of two spirits that have become something more together than they were separately."
Kourin's eyes teared up, and she clung to the other woman's hand. "Is that something you always knew or did you learn it because of Hotohori?" she smiled bravely.
"It was something I always wanted to believe, but until Hotohori asked me to marry him I feared that I only deluded myself," Houki replied softly. "Only when I found love could I truly believe in all my hopes and dreams." Her face shone with the soft misty glow of someone who loves unselfishly and knows him or herself cherished in returned, and Kourin turned away. The inside of her mouth tasted of ashes, and she mentally berated herself for envying her friend's joy.
"I'm so jealous it's eating me inside!" she realized in surprise. "It's not that I want Hotohori for myself…I want to experience that type of happiness, to know that I'm the most important person for someone…"
"You could have that if you gave Ryuuen a little more encouragement," an inner voice whispered slyly.
Kourin quelched the disconcerting Jin Feng-like voice and asked haltingly, "When will the wedding be held?" She twisted her hands nervously in her lap, not certain of whether or not she really wanted to hear the answer.
The purple-haired girl shrugged unconcernedly. "The ceremony itself will take place in only a few weeks, but the celebrations for all of Konan, which are the most important part, will take several months to prepare."
"You're getting married before the festivities announcing the new empress?" the blonde queried incredulously. "Isn't that a little odd?"
Houki blushed and looked into her lap. "It's not usual," she admitted, "but the Emperor's advisors wish to have an heir to the throne as quickly as possible particularly because of the uneasy situation with Kutou."
"Don't you feel a little cheated though?" Kourin demanded. "You're not going to be the same as the previous empresses."
The other woman laughed. "Actually, I feel lucky that I don't have to wait several months to become Hotohori-sama's wife. I've waited for so long already…" She rose gracefully and put a hand on her companion's shoulder. "Thank you for all you've done for me. Things would never have come this far without your intervention, Kourin."
"I didn't do anything!" the blonde stammered. "I merely showed Hotohori that there was someone close to him who loved him with all her heart and was the perfect choice for an empress."
Houki shook her head. "Without your recommendation he never would have noticed me because I simply don't stand out among all the beauties in the harem, and, well, he never came to see us." She hugged her friend tightly. "I understand what you gave up for me, and I can only hope that I get the chance to repay you someday."
"I don't need anything from you because you're my friend," Kourin choked out past the lump in her throat. "It's been so long since I've had anyone close to me like this."
"I'll always be here for you," the other woman said warmly. "Empress or not I won't forget those I care for." She looked over her shoulder at the sun outside. "Unfortunately, I'd better get going before someone tries to find me for fittings or something equally exciting." Houki wrinkled up her face. "I'll be glad when all the formalities are over, so I can just get used to being empress."
"I don't think it'll be much different afterwards," Kourin warned teasingly, "except that it'll be day to day things."
"You're probably right," Houki shrugged, "but I'll survive as long as Hotohori's by my side. I'll see you later."
Kourin sunk back into the pillows as her friend glided out the door and sighed. "I wish I could trust in someone that much…"
"Well?" Jin Feng's voice prodded again. "Will you talk to Nuriko or not? You can have everything Houki does if you're willing to be honest with yourself, you know!"
Kourin breathed deeply and felt the air press against her diaphragm. "I'll talk to him after the wedding activities are finally over," she promised solemnly. "That gives me several months to prepare myself and eliminates the concerns about me wanting to return to Hotohori's side."
The internal voice snickered. "Other issues will arise then, like the possibility of a rebound relationship, but as you wish! I'll be holding you to your words!"
Houki glowed radiantly in her red wedding garments as Hotohori led her forward for her official presentation as Konan's new empress. His eyes softened as she set her jaw resolutely and stepped forward, and he pressed her hand in support. "I'm here with you," Hotohori whispered. "Just see how they love you."
Kourin sighed in delight as she saw her friend's triumph among the surrounding crowd. "She's a magnificent lady, isn't she?" she asked Nuriko happily. "She's already charmed the people of Konan, and it's only her first appearance."
Nuriko leaned back against the wall nonchalantly and studied her. "You could have done the same," he finally muttered.
The young woman stared back in astonishment. "Are you finally admitting that I'm not just some spoiled child with dreams of grandeur?" She heard her heart pounding in her ears and trembled. The months had sped by so quickly, and she knew that Jin Feng was waiting for her to keep the promise they'd made before the imperial marriage. "Doesn't it matter that I never really wanted to be empress? If I had truly loved Hotohori I would have been willing to stand by his side regardless of the duties it entailed, wouldn't I?"
"I never thought you were a child, Kourin," the young seishi countered, "and I'm no longer foolish enough to presume to understand your feelings. You seemed infatuated enough at the time!"
"Infatuated?" the girl repeated dully. "Is that all it seemed to you? I had been brought through time and space to a strange world, and the only thing I really wanted was to return home! I thought that my connection with Hotohori might provide a key, give me a reason for being here…if I was infatuated it was with my own need to feel important!"
Nuriko looked down in embarrassment. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I don't really want to pick a fight. It's just become second nature for the two of us. Also, I can't help feeling that your whole experience here revolves around Hotohori, and the rest of us are merely cameo appearances."
"That's not true!" Kourin protested. "I'd been alone for so long, and I finally saw how it was to have real friends! You seishi care for each other and your miko without using that affection against one another, and Houki loved me for just being me! I envied all of you…and then I learned what it could be like to truly fall in love…"
The young man shrugged. "Miaka and Tamahome have a tendency to make the people around them go all gooey inside. I think it's because they're so honest and open about their feelings for each other."
Jin Feng mentally kicked her mortal counterpart. "There's your chance! If you manage to mess this up, I'm going to make you more miserable than you'd imagine possible, Kourin!"
"Fine, fine!" the other girl snarled back mentally. "I know that I have to tell him soon…or my heart will break from longing."
"I'm sorry for being so pushy," the phoenix woman apologized unexpectedly. "I just can stand to see you so unhappy…"
"I know, and I don't want you to be sad either," Kourin whispered. "That's why I have to keep my promise to you."
The golden haired girl smiled and touched Nuriko's arm gently. "Yes, they do, but I finally fell in love myself, too," she admitted softly. She looked up through her long eyelashes and, for the very first time, lowered all her barriers. It no longer matter if she were hurt because she had discovered during the past few months that loving someone meant being truthful with herself and opening her soul. Before she lost her nerve Kourin darted forward to press her lips to Nuriko's. "I love you…" The girl blushed and pulled away, running off into the crowd.
The purple-haired seishi leaned back against the wall, eyes glazing over. "What just happened?" he asked himself fuzzily. He rubbed one hand across his eyes wearily and massaged his forehead. "If I didn't know better I'd think that Kourin was trying to say that she's fallen in love with me, but that's impossible. Why would her feelings have changed after all this time?" Jin Feng's earlier words suddenly rang in his head, and a goofy grin plastered itself across his face. "Maybe I can let myself hope after all…"
Kourin pushed her way through the crowd, desperately trying to reach the back entrance to the Konan palace. She finally reached the small gate and slipped inside, briefly pausing to catch her breath. "It's amazing how many people turned out for Houki's official presentation!" she murmured softly. "They must really love their emperor to express such interest in his new bride." She brushed a few tears from her cheeks. "I know now that I love Nuriko though, and Houki will become the empress that Konan needs." The girl blushed at expressing her feelings so openly, and then darted across the empty courtyard. "I need to take care of something before the others return though or it will be too late."
The girl quietly entered her room and sighed in relief. No one had noticed her sudden return, so she wouldn't have to deal with awkward questions. She searched through her trunk until she found Taiitsukun's mirror carefully wrapped in the clothing she'd arrived in so long ago. Kourin pressed the outfit to her face and inhaled deeply. Thousands of memories associated with the worn jeans and faded T-shirt washed through her, and tears came to her eyes, but she forced herself to replace them in the box. "Even if I didn't care for him," the girl whispered softly, "I don't think I could go back now. My roots here have become stronger than anything pulling me home again…"
Kourin set the creator's mirror on the floor and briefly studied her reflection. The same brown eyes as always stared back at her, and although her hair had grown out during her time in Konan it remained the same dishwater blonde as the day she'd arrived. The girl laughed at herself ruefully and ran a hand over her head. "I'm not any different on the outside despite all the changes to who I am inside…" She reached deep into herself and let power fill her, something she'd missed since her illness. Fixing an image of Taiitsukun in her mind, Kourin placed one hand on the mirror's cool surface and let the energy go…
"What do you want this time, girl?" the creator asked brusquely. "I don't have time to run personal counseling sessions."
Kourin shook her head sharply. "I need you to help me speak with Suzaku."
Taiitsukun blinked and cocked her head, examining the girl from her side. "What makes you think that I can do that?" she finally pressed. "I'm hardly infallible, you know, and only a miko can act as an intercessor for the animal gods and humans."
"You're not a human though," the girl countered shrewdly, "and, from what I understand about my heritage, neither am I really. Besides if Suzaku can enter my dreams to speak with me, I should be able to reach him in return, right?"
The creator scowled into the mirror. "All right, all right! You've been thinking more recently than I've given you credit for, but I still don't know how you figured that one out!"
Kourin smiled. "Jin Feng explained some things to me during the time after Hotohori and Houki's engagement, and we realized that we both really want the same thing. She pointed out that you should have contact with all of the animal gods, since you're their creator."
"I feel like I'm running an answering or message service here," Taiitsukun muttered. "I'll get him for you. Just wait a second."
Suzaku's handsome face appeared in the mirror moments later, brow wrinkled. "Little one," he said bemused, "your summons puzzle me. Our agreement stated that we would meet again once my miko summoned me."
"I want to make a bargain with you," Kourin said nervously. "As you know I had been unable to make a decision about whether or not I wanted to merge with my ancestress and become your consort. If you allow me to pursue my happiness while I'm in this world and not harm those I care for, I will join you once Miaka has completed her duties as your miko." She bowed her head and meekly folded her hands, waiting for the god's judgment.
Suzaku's eyes widened slightly. "I never thought you would submit to your destiny," he admitted. "Why have you changed your mind?"
"I finally was honest with myself," Kourin smiled, "and I realized that I can't continue to change the fate of those around me because I refuse to accept my own…I am the one ordained to become Suzaku no Saiai, and there is no one else who can take my place, at least not in this generation."
The phoenix god gazed at her and reached through the glass to gently caress her face. "Pursue your happiness freely, little one. I'm glad you decided to come to me willingly, Jinny," he said quietly, "and I hope that you may come to care for me in time…"
The girl looked down again, and the soft smile vanished. "My heart can only belong to one man, my lord, but I will do my best to bring you happiness once I join you."
Suzaku vanished, and Taiitsukun reappeared, sighing heavily. "Girl, I'm beginning to wonder if this is the most foolish thing you've done yet. Enjoy your current happiness because you've just committed yourself to an eternity of tears."
Kourin shook her head. "At least I'll have known true happiness, if only for a little while," the girl whispered, unsuccessfully trying to hold back her tears. She remained still, staring at the mirror, until Nuriko finally returned from the festivities. Silent tears trickled down her cheeks, and her heart felt like a frozen lump in her chest. Taiitsukun's words had cut deeply because they were horribly true, but there was no other choice left besides resigning herself to fate, right?
"Kourin, are you all right?" the young seishi asked, reaching out to touch the girl's shoulder. She jumped nervously and then turned around to throw herself in his arms.
"You're not hurt!" she exclaimed in wonder, anxiously running her hands over his face and torso. "I was afraid that you wouldn't return even though Suzaku promised not to harm anyone…"
The young man's head spun, and he couldn't follow anything Kourin said. Today had just been too bizarre, and now his charge had lost her mind to boot…"We need to talk about this afternoon, Kourin," he said quietly.
The girl stopped her nervous chatter abruptly. "I'm sorry for running off that way," she said shyly looking at her feet. "I finally told you the truth about my feelings, what I'd been trying to fight all this time…"
She turned away, concealing the pain in her face. "I can't tell him there's an unknown time limit for any relationship between us," the girl thought miserably. "It's better that only I know…" Kourin chewed on her lower lip in frustration. "If I don't tell him now who knows how much time we'll miss together!" She threw herself back into his arms, attempting to hold back her tears.
"Is there anything I can do?" Nuriko stammered in shock. She'd thrown herself on him twice in one day, kissed him once, said she loved him, reaffirmed her confession, and now she was falling to pieces. "Kourin, Kourin!"
"I've fallen in love with you, Ryuuen," the girl mumbled into the seishi's shirt, "and all I can ask is that you love me in return despite all of the horrible things that I've done."
Nuriko felt the heat rush into his face, and he crushed Kourin to him, stroking her hair. "I think I've loved you since the first moment I saw you," he whispered softly, lifting her face for a tender kiss.
The girl could only return his kiss desperately, hoping time might stop before she would lose him again. She wound her fingers into her lover's thick hair and pressed her body against his. She was happy now though, and that would have to be enough. Return to the Stories page! Continue on to the Epilogue of Suzaku no Saiai. Thanks, everyone! Questions? Comments? © 2000 jscaife@austin.rr.com