Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ The Girl Who Didn't Believe ❯ Official Dinner ( Chapter 20 )

The Girl Who Didn't Believe

Hi, everyone!! As usual I have nothing much to say other than to give Nuriko no mikos a big thank you for helping me beta-edit all my chapters. Thank you for being able to return my edited draft to me in a matter of two days no matter how suddenly I decide to send in my draft to you. Arrigato gozaimasu!! ^^

And one more thing, I LOVE GENBU KAIDEN!! Long live Yuu Watase!! Genbu Kaiden rox!! I love Genbu shichi seishi Iruki/Rimudo!! *drool* For those who do not know, Genbu Kaiden is the new manga that Yuu Watase had wrote. It is the story of the Genbu priestess, Takiko and her seven seishis. It rox!! Mail me if you want any information about this, okay? ^^ I will be glad to help. (And readers, please do not abuse this chapter for the above paragraph. I am not advertising. I am just sharing whatever new information that I have found regarding Fushigi Yuugi with you guys, kay? Thanks.)

Okay, onward with the story!!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the FY characters. They belong to Yuu Watase. I do own Kitten and Sable though.

`…' = thoughts

//…// = telepathic conversation

########## = at another place

^^^^^^^^^^ = recall

********** = dream sequence

@@@@@@@@@@ = mirror projection

That's all, minna-san!! Enjoy!!

Chapter 20-Official Dinner

The foursome was literally at the doorstep of the imperial palace. The elegant carriage that had brought them here had already left and the group, together with an assorted number of guests was patiently waiting to be escorted in by the couriers.

Well, most of the four.

Tasuki, as expected, was severely pissed off at the slow way that the servants were moving. He loudly proclaimed to everyone within hearing distance about how the servants of the Konan imperial palace were more efficient than the ones here.

Seeing that nine-tenth of the guests constituted of Kutou nobility, the tiny group were subjected to many a dirty look until an exasperated Chichiri whacked his staff on the bandit's head to shut him up.

Of course, that did not work too well as the redhead, already on a short fuse, started yelling out all kinds of vulgarities.

Chichiri gave up then, choosing to massage his aching temples instead.

The Kutou aristocrats weren't exactly pleased about Tasuki's behavior either.

Sable swore that the moment Tasuki started cursing, the surrounding temperature dropped to below zero degrees centigrade.

At last it was Tasuki's "kirei" who came to the rescue.

The blue-haired girl glided over to the group of Kutou aristocracy and asked prettily for them to forgive her koi. The men were dazzled, much to Tasuki's infuriation. He wanted to storm over to confront those lechers but Chichiri and Sable halted him.

"Iie, no da. Don't make things worse, no da. Let's see what happens next, no da."

Sable agreed.

"Hai."

The redhead glared at his friends.

"Anyway," Chichiri added quickly. " You were the one who started this problem, no da. Don't make it even bigger, no da. This is Kutou land, not Konan. Just try to remember to use your brains before you speak next time, no da. For now, let Kitten settle this, no da."

Tasuki gave no replies but he also made no more attempts to go to Kitten's side and thus Chichiri released him.

Kitten's work was actually relatively simple.

The men forgot entirely about Tasuki because of her charms whereas the women forgave the redhead in a huge hurry so that Kitten would actually leave quickly and quit flirting with their men. However, Kitten did stay a little longer than needed to build repoire in case of any further run-ins that Tasuki might make with these Kutou upper crusts. She left at last, much to the relief of the ladies and the avid disappointment of the lords.

The girl was striding back to the trio with evident satisfaction of a job well done when he appeared.

"The chief advisor for the Kutou-koku, Kamui-sama."

Everyone turned at the courier's announcement to see Kamui, who was standing at the top of a flight of stairs that leads to the interior of the imperial palace.

Sable and Kitten gasped. They had never seen the man in court attire before.

Kamui was dressed in unrelieved black that accentuated his blonde perfection. The outfit drew attention to his tall form, slickly muscled build and graceful limbs. His only adornment was a long, delicate gold chain that hung slightly past his mid-chest. A sapphire medallion with a snarling dragon engraved on it hung from the chain.

The man exuded elegance and power.

And he only had eyes for Sable.

Sable felt herself turning bright red as everyone turned to look at the girl who had captured their lord's attention so. She turned even redder when Kamui descended from the stairs and started to make his way towards the group.

The foursome also noticed that practically everyone in the courtyard bowed whenever he strode past. Kamui acknowledged the homage paid to him with a slight nod.

Eventually, he stopped before the small group.

The silence was deafening.

Everyone was curious as to what the chief advisor would do next.

They were shocked when the second most powerful man in Kutou bowed before the equally stunned group.

"Konbanwa, minna."

The group hurriedly bowed back.

"Konbanwa, Kamui." They chorused.

Pleasantries done, he turned towards Sable and took in her gorgeous assemble.

"You look exceptionally beautiful today, my lady."

"Arri…arrigato, Kamui, for…for the compliment and also for the flowers." The brunette stammered.

The man's eyes darkened with amusement.

He held out his hand to the girl.

"Come."

Sable looked at Tasuki, Kitten and Chichiri.

"Demo what about them?"

"They will follow us, of course."

Thus assured, Sable took Kamui's offered hand, albeit a little hesitantly.

As they passed the crowds who opened respectfully for the group to pass, Sable saw more than several envious stares from the women. Quickly, she averted her eyes from them and stared straight ahead.

`I don't want to be the envy of women just because of the fact that I am beside Kamui…but what can I do? I don't want to hurt Kamui…from what I heard from him, being the highest-ranking court official must have been a terribly lonely post.'

Kamui's eyes flickered over to the girl.

He could feel her keen discomfort and wondered what was bothering her.

Tasuki was grumbling behind the pair.

"What was all that grand appearance for? Now all of us are the center of attention…And what was that medallion for? And the dragon engraving too…that is so cheesy…dammit, I hate formal dinners." He fidgeted slightly.

Chichiri frowned.

"The medallion is a symbol of power, Tasuki, no da. It was a gift from the Kutou emperor himself. The bearer of this pendant would have the power of the emperor. Only two people have it, I think. That is Kamui and the empress of Kutou."

Tasuki was confused.

"I don't understand, Chiri. What did you mean by `the power of the emperor'?"

Kitten rolled her eyes.

"Tasuki, sometimes I wonder if you are being deliberately dense. What Chichiri meant was that with the medallion, Kamui have the ordering power equivalent of that of an emperor. With the exception of the emperor himself, nobody can gainsay Kamui's commands. In other words," Kitten summarized. "Kamui can be considered as the second-most powerful man in Kutou."

"Kitten is right, no da." The seishi confirmed.

The redhead's amber eyes widened with understanding.

`Finally,' Kitten thought with exasperation.

"Honto desuka?" the redhead exclaimed before turning to Chichiri. "Oi, Chiri, I think that you are going to have a furious fight with Kamui over who gets Sable." Tasuki frowned before brightening again. "Demo never mind, I will help you!!"

"Daaaaaa?" The man turned red. "Tasuki, what did I tell you about thinking before you speak, no da?"

Kitten nodded.

"Hai, I agree. It is well past time for Tasuki to learn to think before he speaks."

Before anyone could reply to that, Kitten took Chichiri's staff and whacked Tasuki upside the head.

"ONNA!!"

##########

In the realm of the gods…

Genbu and Byakko were relaxing and drinking warmed wine in Genbu's frigid terrain.

"Say Genbu, have you seen Seiryu or Suzaku lately? I haven't."

Genbu took a sip of his wine before replying.

"Iie, I haven't seen hide nor hair of either one of them too. Kind of makes you wonder what happened to them, ne?"

The dashing white-haired man grinned.

"Yeah, ever since Suzaku popped Seiryu one, I am surprised that their truce still stood."

Genbu had to laugh at that memory. The facial reaction of the normally unruffled dragon god when he was about to be punched was priceless.

"Why don't we see what they are doing now?" Byakko suggested after the laughter died off.

Genbu agreed and both gods pulled out a mirror out of mid-air.

"Mirror!! Show me Suzaku!!"

"Mirror!! Show me Seiryu!!"

Genbu and Byakko set the mirrors beside each other and settled down to watch.

@@@@@@@@@@

At the godly realm of Konan…

Suzaku was pacing about frantically in his domain. The phoenix god muttered to himself once in a while but kept his eyes glued to a mirror most of the time. Needless to say, the mirror portrayed the actions of the four people whom Suzaku was so anxious about. Suzaku was actually very satisfied as to the way that Kitten and Tasuki were progressing.

However, he was more than worried for Sable and Chichiri.

The blue-haired seishi seemed to have a lot of trouble forgetting his past love and now with that dratted Kamui around, things were not looking very good.

Suzaku frowned to himself.

"Damn Seiryu. Why must he thwart me all the time? This is so very frustrating…"

Suzauk quit pacing and with a huff, he sat back on an armed chair to observe the group better.

@@@@@@@@@@

Byakko and Genbu stared at each other.

"Well, nothing very interesting about that." Genbu said at last.

"Yeah, I agree." Byakko replied. "Suzie has been worried for his mortals ever since the quest began. Frankly, I wonder if it is perfectly healthy for a god to worry so much about his seishis."

Genbu's mouth twitched

"Byakko, have you perchance forgotten about a time when you yourself were anxiously trying to bring your two seishi, Tokaki and Subaru together? You were practically walking around, lost in your own little world, for a few months."

Byakko shook his head in chagrin.

"You just have to bring that up, don't you? Well, let's see what Seiryu is doing now."

The two gods focused on the other mirror as it begun to clear…

@@@@@@@@@@

At the godly realm of Kutou…

Seiryu was sporting a magnificent black eye and a furious scowl. His right eye was swollen shut and he was stomping around the place blindly and knocking painfully into things. Of course, that did not improve his mood at all, and the skies of Kutou grew darker.

The dragon god then reached out to pull some salves and healing herbs out of thin air. Wincing, he carefully applied them to his injury.

"This is the bloody reason why gods do not punch other gods." He muttered darkly. "Damn it, it is takes a mortal's time to heal a god-inflicted wound. Suzaku no baka. His time spent with those mortals of his must have made him more barbaric…"

The salves did made his wound feel much better though, and Seiryu, satisfied, decided to watch what the said mortals are doing right now.

"Mirror!! Show me what Sable, Tasuki, Kitten and Chichiri are doing right now!!"

The mirror fogged at first, then cleared.

"Sou ka…" Seiryu muttered. "They are at my imperial palace, huh? An official dinner…Kamui mine, I think that tonight will be the night for you to start using the power that I have gifted you, my loyal subject…"

The god said no more as he concentrated on the scene that was slowly unfolding before him.

@@@@@@@@@@

The two older gods were surprised, to say the least.

"Power?" They echoed to each other.

"Seiryu gave Kamui some magical power so as to foil Suzaku's plan?" Byakko shook his head. "Man, our brother is such a slimy lizard," he grinned then. "But damn if I don't love him for all the entertainment that he has kindly provided for us."

Genbu shook his head.

Being the oldest among all the four gods, he was the one who worried most for his younger brothers. He was always trying hard to be the peacemaker if possible (with the exception of the time when Kutou wanted to invade Hokkan).

He also knew that he should go and nag some sense into Seiryu and Suzaku.

However, for this time, he was willing to be lenient on the fact that all of the four gods had not been so united in their entertainment for a long, long time until this recent farce had brought them all together.

Before, Genbu had the distinct feeling that they were starting to behave more and more like colleagues than siblings. But now, it was starting to resemble the good old times, when all of them were still rowdy boys.

Because of that reason, Genbu chose to enjoy himself.

For once.

"Well," the tortoise god said. "Let the games begin!!"

Byakko grinned. He had a vague idea of what his eldest brother had been thinking earlier.

"I knew that you'd see it that way, Genbu."

##########

Sable was extremely uncomfortable to be the object of scrutiny for an entire group of people, which was what had happened for the past three hours. It seemed that practically everyone was curious about the girl that had Kamui by her side.

It was a nerve-wrecking experience, so as to say, as Sable barely managed to keep her food down. However, even when the brunette was a bundle of raw nerves inside, she forced herself to look calm and act graceful.

Kamui who was seated beside Sable, had felt the tensed way in which she held herself and every single tremor she had made. As a result, his admiration of her grew tenfold.

Sable looked to her side then to see Kamui staring at her intently. She quickly looked straight again. Wetting her lips, she wondered.

`What is it about people and me today? Why is everyone staring at me? Is there something on my face?'

Kamui's mouth twitched.

"Iie, Sable, there is nothing wrong with you. People are just curious about your identity, that's all."

Sable stared at Kamui in shock.

"NANI!! How…how did you read my thoughts?"

Kamui looked surprised. Then he lowered those thickly lashed lids before Sable could try to attempt to read from them.

"You are mistaken, Sable," he said at last. "I think that you have unconsciously projected your thoughts to me, which is why I knew."

Sable was chagrined. She had just accused Kamui of reading her thoughts.

"Oh…gomen."

The man inclined his head in reply.

He watched the girl as she turned her attention back to her friends, who were all seating at her other side. From what he could see, the redhead was half drunk and the other two, the blue-haired Suzaku seishi and the blue-haired girl were trying their best to keep him out of trouble.

All in all, everything was going as per normal.

Kamui shut his eyes for a moment.

`That was a close shave. I have to be more careful next time.'

##########

This had not been a good day for Chichiri. In fact, the blue-haired seishi was feeling a little peeved.

`Why is it that I have to take care of a drunk Tasuki every single time we go out for dinner?' The man thought with slight annoyance. `Tasuki must really learn the ethics of drinking.'

The redhead attempted to climb on top of the food-laden table then.

Without even bothering to look, Chichiri reached out and whacked the man's head with his staff. Kitten stared with surprise as Tasuki sat back down again without even a peep of complain.

The girl was about to ask the seishi about how he managed to accomplish that when Tasuki turned to her.

"Kit," he slurred. "You know what?" He did not wait for her answer. "I realized that whenever I am drunk." He swayed alarmingly. "Things seems to drop on my head with accurate frequency. Can ya," he slumped on the table with a loud thump. The girl winced. "help me see why?"

Kitten stared at her koi, who was already dead to the world. She stared back at Chichiri, who was calmly sipping his sake without a care in the world.

Understanding dawned, and with it, laughter.

"Oh, Chichiri!!" Kitten giggled. The said man looked at the girl in amusement.

"Hai, no da."

"You do that to Tasuki all the time, ne?"

Chichiri feigned ignorance

"Do what, no da?"

Kitten laughed some more.

"You whack a drunk Tasuki over the head with your staff whenever he tries to do something stupid and then you tell him that things fell on his head when he wakes up the next morning. You do that all the time, huh?"

Chichiri shook his head.

"Hai, no da. I really have no choice, no da. I have to do something before Tasuki does what he wants to as I know that he is going to regret that the next morning, no da."

Kitten nodded.

"I agree. Although this is the first time I've seen him drunk," The girl confessed. "I do have an inkling that Tasuki would do the stupidest things whenever he is inebriated." The girl grinned wickedly. "Thus, I am just gonna tell him that he is right; things do fall on him when he is drunk."

Chichiri smiled and shook his head. He happened to turn to Sable then, and saw that the brunette was staring at him. Clear green eyes met beautiful hazel-brown ones and locked for a few seconds. Chichiri evidently came to his senses after that and he hurriedly looked away, unmindful of Sable's hurt expression.

However, Kitten did notice and she stared at Chichiri with mild reproach.

"Chichiri, why are you acting like that?"

Chichiri tried to pretend that he did not understand what Kitten was trying to say.

"Na…nani, no da?"

Kitten sent him a look of censure.

"Don't try to pretend, Chichiri. You know exactly what I am talking about. You do know that what you are doing now is hurting Sable?"

The said man reared back with surprise.

"Nani!!" Chichiri attempted to laugh it off, but the laugh came out a bitter one. "Is that so? I think that you are mistaken, Kitten. Sable does not look as if she is hurting." Chichiri looked at Sable, who was now talking to Kamui again. "Look at the two of them. They complement each other."

Kitten shook her head slightly.

"You think that she is not hurting just because the two of them look good together? If you would remember, Chichiri, it was YOU who pushed her to Kamui. What was she supposed to think? It was obvious that you wanted her to be with Kamui."

Chichiri forced a nonchalant shrug.

"Isn't this good then? At least I am making her forget about her infatuation for me. You know that my love is bound to Kouran."

`Are you sure, Chichiri?' His heart whispered. `Then why are you so…anguished when you see Sable and Kamui together?'

Chichiri smothered the voice.

Kitten was really, really incredulous now. She had seen the emotions reflected in Chichiri's eye just moments ago.

`The man is fighting against his own heart!! Chichiri is really having a serious case of denial.'

"Chichiri," Kitten attempted again. "You are mistaken about one thing. Sable is not infatuated with you. She..."

`No…' Chichiri thought. `Please, not that.'

"...is..."

`No, Kitten. Don't say it. Don't give me anymore false-'

"...in love with you." The girl finished.

`-hope.'

Chichiri looked as if he was struck hard on the face.

"Iie…" he said hoarsely, his normal high-pitched tone gone. "Iie, it cannot be. Sable doesn't love me. You are mistaken. I cannot believe you."

Kitten did not know what to say next. She had already told Chichiri what she could and the rest was up to him to accept. However, it seemed that Chichiri was still not willing to believe in Sable's love for him.

Kitten sighed.

"I have already told you what I know, the rest is entirely up to you. Whether or not you choose to believe what I said, it is none of my business. However, I do hope that you will at least consider what I said."

Chichiri nodded.

##########

Hours of keeping a polite smile pasted to her face had taken its toll on Sable, and as a result, she was feeling quite fatigued.

"You are tired."

Sable smiled weakly at Kamui.

"It is all right, really."

Kamui gave no reply but merely gestured to a servant who immediately made his way to the man.

"Hai, Kamui-sama."

Kamui stood up and made a protesting Sable do the same thing too.

"Bring us to a spare room, please. The lady is feeling a little worn out."

"Hai, Kamui-sama. Please follow me."

Kamui nudged Sable along.

"What…what about them?" The brunette pointed to her friends.

"Don't worry. I will tell them about your whereabouts when I come back."

"Sou ka." Sable fought a yawn. "Arrigato, Kamui."

The man nodded his head.

Sable soon found herself walking along a lighted corridor with Kamui and the servant. They reached the requested room in no time.

The servant pushed open the doors and allowed Kamui and Sable to enter before closing it again.

The room was large and comfy. And surprisingly intimate.

Sable felt herself turning bright red.

Dear Suzaku, she was alone in a room with a man!!

Kamui observed Sable's comical expressions with amusement.

"Don't worry, Sable. I do not think that you have the energy for anything THAT strenuous tonight."

Sable turned even redder and Kamui smiled.

"So, get into the bed and rest. I will come back to wake you up when it is time to go."

"Hai."

Sable climbed meekly into the bed and burrowed under the fluffy blankets.

"Arrigato, Kamui."

Kamui's mouth twitched.

"Iie. I should be the one thanking you. It is every man's wish to send a beauty to bed, ne?"

Sable was sure that if she turned any redder, she'd explode.

"Kamui!!"

"Oyasumi, Sable."

Kamui left the room.

Sable closed her eyes, but she could not sleep. Not yet.

`Now what?' She thought. `Kamui is so good to me, yet my heart is not won over.'

`But then,' a voice deep in her heart whispered. `How can your heart be touched when you have already given it to someone else?'

Sable did not know what to do.

"I do not want to hurt Kamui, because I do love him…"

`As a brother.' The voice whispered again.

"Yes, as a brother, a friend." Sable was feeling more and more drowsy by the second.

"I hope that that is enough."

Hiya, minna-san!! So, how was this chapter!! I think that it was a little boring; but I really have to write the dinner scene. Gomen for boring you peeps to sleep!! ^^

Nothing to write, except for readers who are really, really, FREE now, to help me read my new fic, Dear Kouran. It is a one-shot, and as it is my first time writing it, I'd like some feedback and constructive reviews!! Thanks!! ^^

Other than that, nothing more except to please, PLEASE, review!! Ja!!