Hello.   Been a while, ne?
I promised I wouldn�t write anymore Ep 33 fics� and this isn�t.   But if you�re a Nuriko fan looking for something different, this is for you.
It diverges from episode six.   Tired of Nuriko angst?  This isn�t it.  Spoilers for all of the seishi- including the Seiryuu.  Give it a chance!   I want to know what you think�
Quicksilver

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Broken Willow
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
standard disclaimers
Author�s Note: This is for Nuriko fans... especially those who loved him from the very beginning and my darling new aniki, Suzaku no Seishi- my �Nuriko as a bad ass� story, if you please.   Feedback, or else I won�t publish anymore FY! ^_~.

Prelude:

    "Angry, Nuriko? Why? I mean, it's ridiculous- your attraction to Hotohori. You're a man."
    With those words, his world was turned upside down.  He looked over at Hotohori and saw shock and loathing in the beautiful Emperor�s eyes.   His lips trembled as the words tripped unheeded from his tongue, confirming Miaka�s bitchy announcement.  "You're so mean! You told them my secret!"   He picked up his skirts and darted into the woods, tears streaming down his cheeks.
    He ran as far as he could, then further still.   Finally he collapsed beside a stream, his lungs burning.  Looking into the water, he almost screamed in frustration.   He had been working so hard for the last year to make Hotohori love him, and it had all undone by her.  The stupid Suzaku no miko.
    His reflection stared back at him, and all he could see was how perfect he appeared- exactly the way he pictured Kourin would have looked had she lived to be eighteen.   He stared deeply into the stream, and for the first time since his sister had died, pondered if he was doing the right thing.    He�d hurt so many people by his deception- his parents, his brother, the other princesses, and now Hotohori.   And now, looking into the water, he wondered who he was.   There was no Ryuuen.
    He tried to supress the sense of betrayal he felt at Miaka�s cruel words, but was unable to.   For a while, he had felt that they might actually become friends.   He remembered her standing in his doorway, holding out a pale stone as a gesture of her goodwill.
Shattered again.   By now he should expect life to be cruel.   In a fit of anger, he slammed his fist into the reflection that gazed back at him, causing the cool surface of the water to shatter, leaving behind only distorting ripples.
    �Atashi no baka!� he yelled, then suddenly the tears halted.   Atashi? he wondered.   I am Kourin, but now that they know, I can�t be her anymore.    One more thing to curse Miaka for.  �Boku... Ore...� he whispered, trying to readjust to the masculine identifiers.
    He wiped the remnants of his makeup off on his sleeve, and braided his hair away from his face.   Damn her.   If it wasn�t for her, he could still be in the court, content in his role.  The moment she has made her announcement, he felt Kourin slip away from him.   She had done the unforgivable and taken his sister, his beloved sister, away.
    He would get even with her, he swore.   She had taken the things that were most precious- Hotohori and his identity as Kourin- away from him, so now all he had left was the fragile hope of vengeance.
    The water had settled enough for him to see the bitter expression on his face.   Suddenly the only thing he wanted to do was to get out of his dress and into something else.   He couldn�t do much as a female.  His lips curled upwards in an evil smile as he thought of the possibilities- after all, who knew what kind of trouble a rogue Suzaku no Seishi could make?

END PROLOGUE




Quicksilver
Lady of the Labyrinth: http://www.homestead.com/quicksilverslabyrinth
Fyfic no Miko: http://fyfic.homestead.com/files/fyfic.html
Renaissance no Senkakusha: http://fyepic.homestead.com
"I'm a history book you never could write; poetry in paralisis, too deep to recite."

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