Here is part 6 of Starlit Reflections. I would like to
apologise, in advance, for the fight scene; I rewrote
it three times and I *still* don't think I got it.
Comments, criticism and helpful hints will be very,
VERY welcome!
Please enjoy!
Raye
=====
raye_j@yahoo.com
http://members.xoom.com/Raye01
Everyone is a philosopher.
Some people just get paid.
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Starlit Reflections
by Raye Johnsen
raye_j@yahoo.com
******
Fushigi Yuugi is copyright Watase Yuu, Flower Comics, Studio
Perriot, Pioneer Entertainment and Viz Communications. I have no
rights and make no claim to any. Please send all C&C to
raye_j@yahoo.com, but I warn you, any flames will be placed in
the brazier in Suzakuseikun's temple.
******
Chapter Six: Swords and Secrets
Beginnings are tricky things. Where did it all begin? Where
does it end? And where do I get a catch-up guide?
Most times, people don't get answers. Which explains, among
other things, religion and paleontology. But this is fanfiction,
where one may reasonably expect to find, if not chapter one, then
at least a synopsis. And so:
What Has Gone Before...
Quite a lot, actually.
We met Nuriko and Hotohori and discovered that, far from
being perfect strangers, the two were best friends, and had been
ever since Nuriko was discovered to be a Suzaku no Shishiseishi
two years earlier. Unbeknownst to Hotohori (but beknownst to us)
Nuriko is not the young man appearances indicate, but a girl.
Under her true name of Houki, she and her twin sister Kourin are
members of the Royal Harem. Two lives to juggle results in a lot
of headaches, not to mention a more than passing acquaintance
with all the shortcuts in the Palace and a skill at the quick
change that an actor would kill for. The headaches can only
increase when you offer a short-term solution to a friend's
marriage woes...
When Yuuki Miaka, the Suzaku no Miko, appears, bringing with
her another Shishiseishi named Tamahome, all seems to be going
well. Friendships begin to be formed, between Court Princess and
Shishiseishi and Miko. Unfortunately, no sooner were the bonds
created than they were stressed, when Miaka caught a cold that
developed into a serious illness. Thinking on what to do to help,
Hotohori hit upon the idea of taking her to see Taiitsukun, the
Mother of the Gods, for help.
At the same time, a squadron of soldiers was dispatched from
Koutou, with orders to interfere with the Suzaku no Miko.
After a hard day's riding (well, hard for Tamahome and
Miaka, who weren't used to riding), the party camped for the
night near a hot spring. Nuriko, who felt a romance between
Tamahome and Miaka was starting, decided to help it along by
putting them both in the hot spring at the same time. It did
work, after a fashion - Miaka declared her feelings for Tamahome
- but Tamahome did not return them and told Miaka so. Nuriko fell
into the spring while Miaka was still in it, inadvertently
revealing her gender to the Miko. Miaka, euphoric from recent
events (and, possibly, the hot spring's fumes), agreed to keep
the secret and returned to the camp while Nuriko remained in the
spring.
Hotohori, who was himself interested in Miaka and thus
unimpressed with Nuriko's attempt to manipulate events, decided
to confront her. Tamahome, realising (finally) that he too had
been manipulated, decided to accompany him. Unfortunately, Nuriko
had no warning of this and had decided to bathe unclothed, so
when the two youths arrived at the spring, they discovered
Nuriko's secret for themselves.
Both retreated to the camp in an advanced state of
confusion. They were followed by Nuriko after a short interval.
All four members of the party were in an unsettled frame of
mind at this point. Miaka was unsure of her health and her
feelings. Tamahome was tired, upset, and had just been offered
a maiden's heart which he didn't know what to do with. Nuriko was
completely unsettled, in her friendships and her future, while
Hotohori was feeling a mixture of hope, betrayal, disappointment
and anger.
This was probably not the best time for the squad from
Koutou to finally arrive...
Now Read On.
******
Captain Youji of the Fifteenth Squad (Detached) of the Third
Koutouan Army was not a bad person. He was fond of his parents
and siblings, enjoyed music and dancing, gave small change to
beggars whenever he had any to spare, and was not unduly cruel
to his subordinates.
He wasn't happy that night as he followed the small group
he'd been given orders to harry. Ordinarily it would've been one
of the trackers following the target, but Lord Tomo had been
insistent; only one basic squad without any extra personnel.
Youji made a face as he moved unobtrusively through the
dark, dewy and above all sharp-spiny underbrush. He would've
preferred to be in his bed at the barracks of the Palace, taking
his turn at guard duty and thinking about the daughter of the
Third Court Baker, who he had been courting. Remembering her
smile, and her pretty ankles, he almost missed the group's choice
of camping spot.
He surveyed the area as the purple-haired boy began to
gather firewood, chivvying the brown-haired youth into fetching
water. It was a good one; clear and open, with stands of young
trees around the edges, almost as a wall; only three exits that
weren't that big, and easy to guard. Jump in, pound these kids
until they couldn't move for three days, and then leave. They'd
be home by sunset tomorrow.
Youji slipped away, beginning to plan. It would take a
couple of hours to set up their own camp, and brief the nine men.
He'd have to order the men to punch, not stab, and maim, not
kill. Lord Tomo had been very insistent on that. He'd also order
the girl remain untouched. Rapes were messy, and he wanted as
little mess as possible. They'd wait two hours - give the target
time to settle and fall asleep - and then strike. Those kids
would never know what hit them.
********
Nuriko stood at the edge of the firelight. His - no, *her*,
Hotohori reminded himself - hair was unbound. Her clothes were
obviously pulled on; he could see her figure - her *feminine*
figure -
A thousand little clues rushed inside his memory. Nuriko's
almost panicked refusal of the Imperial bed-tutors when Hotohori
had offered their services. Nuriko's absolute insistence, even
when invited, to never enter Hotohori's bedchamber. Nuriko
refusing to swim, even on the hottest days. Nuriko referring to
- herself (and it had been *herself*, Hotohori realized) in
feminine language, pulling up and correcting *herself* into
formal usage. The way Nuriko never used casual male speech,
always speaking casual *female* speech, so it appeared she was
a polite *boy*...
And finally, the memories of the last few days:
"Tell them you'll only marry Kourin's sister Houki..."
"Houki exists, but you can't marry her, no-one can..."
Hotohori looked across the fire at the girl he had thought
was his friend, and finally put it all together.
"Chou Houki, I presume?"
Her eyes twinkled - how *could* they? This wasn't a joke!
His friend was gone - and her lips twitched, the way they did
when he - *she* - was suppressing a smile.
"Yes. I am Chou Houki, and I'm very pleased to meet you."
/What the *hell* is SO DAMN FUNNY?!/ Hotohori fumed.
Miaka gazed at Nuriko owlishly. This confrontation wasn't
what she'd expected. She'd just been so happy that she'd actually
managed to tell a guy how she felt without destroying any chance
of anything between them, and she'd just let the whole 'Nuriko
is a girl' thing slide. It had simply happened too fast. A good
gossip the next day about it, maybe tell the boys about it the
day after; she could handle that. Handling *this*... could
anyone?
Tamahome glared. That... that... *girl*! She'd planned his
encounter in the spring (he'd been naked! Naked! And she'd been
*watching*! The pervert!) and she'd pushed him to Miaka... had
she thrown that stick in, too?
Nuriko, for her part, was suppressing hysterical laughter.
It was just so ironic. She'd often imagined telling Hotohori...
/Somehow the notion that I'd be standing in the middle of
a cold forest in the middle of the night, dripping wet, high on
sulfur fumes when I did has never occurred to me before./
But she couldn't laugh, because if she did, all too soon the
laughter would become hysterical tears. She'd promised herself
she would never cry in front of others. Never.
Hotohori dropped his eyes and looked away. Nuriko felt the
ground lurch beneath her. He couldn't even bear to look at her.
"I am Chou Houki," she repeated.
That's when the Koutouan squad, with a great yell, attacked.
*****
Hotohori looked away from Nuriko - no, from Houki. Nuriko
had been his friend.
"I am Chou Houki," she repeated. Hotohori pretended not to
hear the half-desperate edge to her voice. So, she was hurting
too? Good!
A sudden yell behind him of "BANZAIII!!!" was a warning. He
twisted to see a group of soldiers attacking.
Hotohori ran to the saddlebags - fortunately, beside Miaka.
"My sword!" he demanded, pulling at the bags. Luckily, the sword
Lord Yukino had given him was in the first bundle he reached for,
and he swung around into a defensive stance just in time to parry
the strike of the fastest runner in the squad. A slash to the
attacker's forearm and he lurched back, attempting to stem the
flow of blood from his artery. Hotohori grinned savagely -
whatever else happened, he was still the best swordsman in Konan.
Tamahome sprang up into an attack stance, striking the first
man who attacked him with a fluid movement that looked like
nothing so much as a dancer's stretch.
And Nuriko -
Hotohori lost his focus and simply stared as he saw two
soldiers literally flying across the clearing, to crash into a
slim willow sapling a good metre above its base. The men slumped
to the ground. The tree swayed and, with a soft <creeeak> and
then a sharp <crack!>, broke off at the point of impact.
"AAAHH! You *broke* the *tree*!"
- was fighting in her own, inimitable style. If you could
call it that. Hotohori didn't, but he did notice certain
stylistic details, such as the way Nuriko picked up a third
soldier and used him as a quarterstaff on another opponent.
Tamahome, meanwhile, had violently, gracefully and very very
*quickly* managed to cause a further three soldiers to take
involuntary naps. The footwork looked familiar but, combined with
the graceful hand movements, weren't anything Hotohori
recognised. It was as if Tamahome were dancing, and it was almost
an accident that a vulnerable part of his opponent's anatomy was
just where his hand or foot was supposed to be.
Watching the other two proved to be a mistake, as the tenth
soldier had been taking advantage his momentary distraction,
sneaking up behind him.
"LORD HOTOHORI!!" Nuriko suddenly yelled, and leapt at him.
Instinctively Hotohori stepped aside, and the knife aimed at his
back plunged into the sod at his feet.
Nuriko's body impacted with the captain's, knocking a second
dagger from his hand, gaining a shallow cut on her forearm. The
two rolled over the grass, towards where the horses had been
tethered.
The animals had been almost unnoticed over the course of the
night. Clumped close together in a stand of long grass beside a
tiny brook, the four horses had remained well away from the
humans and their strange antics. Now, smelling blood and seeing
two humans advancing, the horses were startled. The two mares
moved behind Tamahome's gelding, while Hotohori's stallion rose
up onto his hocks, preparing to rear and attack the threat to his
mares.
The Koutouan captain, seeing this, gripped Nuriko's upper
arms harder and tried to keep rolling. Nuriko, for her part,
tried desperately to stop.
Hotohori ran to catch up, and, taking careful aim, dropped
his sword pommel-first onto the captain's head. The man's eyes
rolled up and he passed out. The unconscious man's grip loosened
and Nuriko was finally able to break free.
She sat up gingerly, flexing her left hand. The blood from
her cut left forearm flowed faster, but she was able to move her
hand easily; the injury was not serious.
"Are you all right?"
Nuriko looked up at Hotohori, and then further on to
Tamahome, who had asked the question, and Miaka, who had remained
behind Hotohori and out of the fight.
"I'll be fine," she answered, smiling. Hotohori silently
extended his hand, and Nuriko took the proffered help, standing
up.
Miaka shivered. Looking around the clearing, which was
somewhat over-full of unconscious men, she asked, "Do we have to
stay here?" Her voice was thin and very young-sounding.
"No, of course not," Tamahome replied. "We can go back to
the road and ride to the next town, find an inn with some empty
rooms?" This last was directed at the other two.
"We will," Hotohori promised grimly, "if I have to empty
them myself."
******
Fortunately for the reputation of the inn they arrived at
twenty minutes later, Hotohori didn't have to make good on his
threat. It had two double rooms available, with breakfast the
next morning as part of the room's rate. The four swiftly took
them.
"Also, a tankard of the house's bitter ale is available free
from the taproom for each person hiring a room," the innkeeper
informed them as Hotohori paid.
"The taproom is open?" Nuriko asked. After all, so much had
happened, it was rather late...
"It's only been an hour since full dusk," the innkeeper
replied, surprised. "We're serving dinner too, if you'd like. Six
copper ryu per meal. It's roast pork in honey with steamed
vegetables tonight."
"Thank you," Hotohori replied, having finished counting his
change and tucking away his moneypouch. Herding a suddenly-
starving Miko and two Shishiseishi up the stairs, he steered the
group into the closer of the two rooms they'd taken for the
evening.
"I'm hungry!" Miaka whined as the door shut behind them.
"I'm tired and I've been scared and they're serving dinner! It's
delicious! I can *smell* it! *Pleeease*?"
"We already *had* dinner," Nuriko snapped, fiddling with her
makeshift bandage. "I *cooked* it. I didn't think it was *that*
bad."
"It was fine, Nuriko," Tamahome soothed. "It's just that
we've all been running around since, so now we're hungry again."
"So my miso and boiled vegetables isn't so crash-hot. It's
not like any of you refused it! Or threw up! Or-"
"Dinner was delicious, Nuriko," Hotohori cut her off. "Now
let me see that arm. And then we'll go down to the taproom and
see about those free tankards. I, for one, would appreciate a
drink."
******
It turned out that, while they all could appreciate a drink,
nobody wanted to appreciate more than one. Nuriko thought
longingly of the crisp apple cider served in Court, while
Hotohori fondly recalled his private wine cellar. Miaka decided
that even Calpis Sweat tasted better than *that*, while Tamahome
sipped and decided that alcohol was highly overrated. They all
sat, nursing their tankards, wondering if they would have to
finish the things or if it was acceptable to leave them on the
table.
The inn's dinner (which they all ate, though Tamahome and
Hotohori did so with sidelong looks at Nuriko, who picked at
hers) was not bad. Miaka had four helpings.
Finally, after even Miaka declared herself full, Hotohori
paid the bill. It was a sleepy and well-fed foursome who walked
up the stairs.
Nuriko and Miaka were about to walk past the room Tamahome
and Hotohori had taken, when Tamahome snagged Nuriko's elbow.
"Before we all go to bed, I want to know why you let us think you
were a boy."
Miaka stopped and blinked. "Yes, you promised to explain
before."
"Now's a good time," Hotohori agreed.
Nuriko sighed. "All right," she said. "I *did* promise."
******
The twin beds in the inn's room were comfortable to sit on.
Nuriko sat down on one, ignoring the bolster, facing the other
three occupants of the room.
/How to begin?/ she wondered. /I'll have to tell them about
Elder Brother, I guess.../
"We're *waiting*," Hotohori's voice broke into her reverie.
She jumped.
"Sorry," she muttered. "It's just such a tawdry little
story."
"Tell us anyway," Tamahome told her.
"All right. It starts with my parents. They had an arranged
marriage, and they didn't like each other."
"That isn't so unusual," Hotohori commented. "Most people in
arranged marriages aren't happy about it."
"But most try to find some common ground, or at least to get
along. My parents didn't. They'd chosen to marry for the wedding
settlements, so they couldn't kill each other, but if they
could've, they would've. Mother didn't like men very much in
general -"
/Do I mention her concubine? No, I think I've stirred up
enough trouble this evening. Mother's choices aren't mine./
"- and Father preferred the company of another lady, a
widow, in our town. That's how it went for several years. Then
the lady Father liked found out she was going to have a baby."
/And oh the gossip that stirred up!/
"Father distanced himself from her when she told him. She
was wealthy enough to remain unmarried, and so she had her baby,
a son she named Rokou."
Tamahome blinked. "The boy you introduced to me as your
brother!" he suddenly said.
Nuriko flashed him a smile. "Yes, that's who he is. Anyway,
Father didn't acknowledge him, because his mother hadn't been
spending time with just him. Elder Brother's mother is very
beautiful and she has a lot of suitors. Anyway, while she was
expecting Rokou, Father decided to pay attention to Mother.
Shortly after Elder Brother was born, she told him she was going
to have a baby too. Father was very proud and told everybody his
wife was finally going to give him a son. He strutted about the
entire time, until the night my sister was born. Father was
terribly disappointed until the midwife told him that Mother was
having twins and the second was yet to come. He promptly ran down
to the local inn and drank, loudly and in great quantities, to
the health of his newborn daughter and *son*."
Nuriko sighed. "Three days later he came home with a roaring
hangover, having just registered our birth at the local
government chambers, to be told he had twin *daughters*. He
refused to believe it, and then he told Mother I'd been
registered as a boy, I'd just have to be raised as a boy. He
bought the midwife's silence, bought Mother's cooperation, and
that was that. Legally, I am Chou Ryuuen and nobody except my
family knows that Ryuuen isn't a boy. Except you."
Nobody said anything for a very long moment.
"I'm sorry," Miaka said, breaking the silence.
"Why?"
"It must've been awful."
"Not really," Nuriko said thoughtfully. "Ever since I was
about twelve or so, I've thought that it was Suzakuseikun's plan,
really."
Hotohori frowned. "A divine plan?"
"Well, yes. I mean, the shishiseishi are supposed to be men,
right? So, if a shishiseishi was born a girl, then how can she be
a shishiseishi? Unless she's raised to *be* a man... I decided it
was Suzakuseikun's way of ensuring I be allowed to carry out my
destiny. It was that or become hopelessly cynical."
Tamahome yawned suddenly.
"Any other questions?" Nuriko asked. "Because there isn't
anything else to add, really, and I for one need some sleep."
The other three shook their heads. Bidding each other
goodnight, the two girls left the room quietly.
Undressing and slipping into their own beds, neither Nuriko
nor Miaka said anything to each other. When both were under their
respective covers, Miaka reached over and blew out the lamp.
"Nuriko?" Miaka's voice whispered in the warm darkness.
"Yes, Miaka?"
"I really am sorry, you know."
"I know. So am I. Don't tell *them*."
"I won't. Goodnight."
Listening to her Miko's breathing, it was a long time before
Nuriko fell asleep.
******
Author's Notes:
1) Hot springs are often found around volcanoes and other
geothermal vents in the Earth's crust. Japan is a chain of
volcanic islands, which is why hot springs are so common there.
Another phenomenon associated with geothermal vents is natural
gas emissions, which will affect those who breathe them in
various ways; some are hallucinogenic, some are psychosis-
inducing, while some are euphoric. Several 'legendary healing
springs' are hot springs that have a vent of naturally-euphoric
gas within the spring or nearby.
2) Imperial bed-tutors - historically, Emperors of China were
given specialist instruction in all areas they were expected to
be competent in - scholarship, war, and, of course, the arts of
love. Watase-sensei did say that Hotohori was inexperienced in
this area, but I have chosen to differ. It's just not logical
that he would not have been offered the instruction.
3) As a student of Tai Chi Chu'an, I can inform you that both
Tamahome and Hotohori fight using a modified form of it -
Tamahome uses the unarmed form, while Hotohori uses the sword
form. When a skilled master performs the forms, Tai Chi Chu'an
looks like an athletic and very graceful dance. Tamahome's style
is both familiar and unfamiliar to Hotohori because, while it is
still Tai Chi Chu'an, not only are there major differences
between the sword form and the unarmed form, both Shishiseishi
have modified their fighting forms to accomodate their
Shishiseishi abilities.
4) Okay, now my twin rant, or, So Why Are Kourin And Houki Twins,
Anyway?:
Twins, especially twins raised together, will develop a
"dominant/submissive" relationship toward each other. This is not
to say one will completely rule the other, but rather that, when
a decision affecting both twins is made, the "dominant" twin will
make it and the "submissive" twin will comply.
"Dominance" and "submission" within the twins cannot be
determined by any outside factor. Sometimes a younger twin is the
dominant; sometimes a female twin is dominant over her male twin.
Usually the more outgoing of the two is the dominant but this is
not always so. Who is dominant within the twins can only be
determined by the twins themselves. Outside observers can only
observe who is the dominant, not why.
In the original version of Fushigi Yuugi, Nuriko's
assumption of Kourin's identity was excessively unusual and gave
serious cause to doubt his mental state, because he was a single
birth. In cases of twins, this condition, where one twin dies and
in grief the other assumes the dead twin's identity, is uncommon
but not unusual. When it happens, it is usually a dominant twin,
and in response to a belief that s/he is responsible for or could
have prevented the death of the other. It can and has been
treated successfully.
However, when I first encountered Nuriko and his grief, it
was in the TV series, where Kourin's age is not stated. Thus,
while seeing Nuriko exhibit classic grieving-twin behaviour, I
thought that Ryuuen and Kourin had been twins. Although this
assumption was later corrected, the notion remained in the back
of my head.
So, even though in 'Starlit Reflection' Kourin lives, she
and Houki are still twins. I like them that way.