Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ The Girl Who Didn't Believe ❯ Byakko's Challenge ( Chapter 33 )

The Girl Who Didn't Believe

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

A little translation here…

Sayonara---Good bye

Shi ne----die

Aa----yeah

Masaka----it cannot be

Shibo no kusuri----Medicine of death. (A/N: The phrasing of the words is correct, I think. I made it up myself, so if there is anything wrong with it, please tell me. Domo!!)

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

Chapter 33-Byakko's Challenge

"Go away."

Sable paled at Chichiri's words. Had she thought wrongly after all?

"Sable!!" Chichiri's voice was sharp now, and very, very harsh. "Get away from me. NOW!!"

Driven by the seishi's pointed words, Sable stumbled a few steps away from the man.

"Go…" his voice softened, and he seemed to be involved in an internal struggle.

"Chichiri?" Something was wrong. "Chichiri, daijoubu ka?"

Agonized hazel eyes met confused, and slightly hurt forest green ones.

"Gomen ne, Sable." Chichiri gave a pained smile. "But I need you to get…away from me now. Go…and get help."

Understanding dawned.

`Is Chichiri…under some kind of spell influence?'

Moved by urgency, the brunette turned tail and fled out of the inn in search of Tasuki and Kitten for help. She was about to reach the entrance when a huge ki-ball came towards her from behind, barely missing her by a hair's breath. However, Sable had not escaped unscathed as the atomic force of the blast had thrown her backwards into a brick wall, rendering the girl half unconscious.

That was when the chaos started.

Panicked patrons scrambled over each other in attempts to exit the building as fast as possible. Within moments, the first level of the inn cleared of people, leaving only a still-dazed Sable propped up against the wall.

"What…happened?"

Sable opened her eyes and saw only blurred images. Gradually her eyesight cleared and the first thing that she saw was Chichiri. The Suzaku seishi did not look like he did earlier; hurt and in pain. In fact, he was perfectly normal, and was standing only a few meters away from her. The brunette was relieved that the man was not injured by whatever had happened earlier.

"Daijoubu ka, Chichiri?"

There was no reply from the man, and Sable was even more confused.

"Chichiri?"

In response, the blue-haired seishi moved nearer to the stunned brunette and bent down to her eye level. Sable watched surprised as Chichiri roughly pulled off his mask, tearing it in the process, and tossed it behind him. The girl's eyes followed the path of the discarded mask and watched as it landed nearby.

"What's wrong, Chichiri?"

Again there was no reply whatsoever and it was then that Sable lifted her eyes to meet his and…

Forest-green eyes narrowed in bewilderment before they widened in fear. Sable gasped and tried to shrink into herself, away from Chichiri.

Chichiri's iris was not hazel in color anymore. It is now an ominous blood-red, and at the moment, that scarlet eye was filled with malevolent intent.

`This is not Chichiri,' her instincts warned wildly. `Whoever this person is, he is not Chichiri!!'

But a part of Sable was not convinced. The part that had fallen in love with Chichiri so very deeply was not convinced at all.

"What happened to you?" The brunette asked the silent, watchful figure in front of her but to no avail. At last, Sable could not take it anymore; the malicious look that the seishi was giving her was scaring her badly. "Chichiri say something!! Onegai!!"

At that frightened remark, Chichiri reacted. He raised a hand towards Sable, and the crimson eye softened until he looked unbearably tender. Caught unaware by the sudden change in temperament, Sable relaxed.

"Chichiri?" The brunette asked tentatively, as if trying to confirm that this is the real Chichiri, and that what she had seen earlier was but a figment of her imagination.

"Hai, daijoubu." Chichiri said at last, and it was pitched low, unlike his normal speech pattern. "Gomen ne, Sable."

This time, the brunette knew for real. She frantically applied all her strength and pushed the seishi away from her and scrambled crazily to her feet. The girl was about to take off when a hand shot out and held on to her ankle, making her fall down painfully to the ground again.

Sable winced painfully; the bruises from the blast earlier had been jolted by her fall, but still, the girl forced herself to sit up and quit acting hysterical. This was not the time for hysteria. She forced herself to think logically, to act for her life. She started backing away from the now-advancing man.

"Who are you?!! You are not Chichiri; the Chichiri that I know does not speak like that!!" Sable demanded, allowing anger to override her fears. "You were the one who had thrown the ki-ball, right? What did you do with Chichiri?!!"

Even as she was asking the question, Sable was calling for help.

//Kit, Tasuki, anyone?!! Something is wrong!! Please, come back to the inn, Chichiri is…//

Sable felt herself being backed up against a wall again. She gave an unconscious whimper as Chichiri approached her and lifted his hand towards her.

"As I said before, gomen ne, Sable." The man's voice was loving and Sable flinched away, but it was too late. Chichiri's hand closed over her throat, and all at once, the tender look in the scarlet orb changed into one of blood lust.

"Chichiri…please don't do this…" The emerald eyes were pleading but the man paid no heed.

"Sayonara, Sable."

The man applied a crushing pressure to her throat, and Sable felt pain; it was as if he was trying to break her neck. The brunette struggled forcefully but it was futile. Slowly, the edges around her vision started to blur and Sable felt herself turning blue. Just like that, she lost control of her consciousness. Just as she surrendered to the dark abyss, the last thing that she heard was his beloved voice.

"Shi ne."

##########

In the Kutou imperial palace…

"Kamui-sama, daijoubu ka?"

The blonde advisor of snapped out of his thoughts and turned to his secretary.

"Aa…daijoubu."

`Strange,' Kamui thought as he started looking through and signing paperwork. `My blood had been thrumming tonight, restless. Seiryu must be up to something again.'

When the dragon god had bestowed some of his powers to Kamui, the bond between liege lord and vessel had been established. As a result, Kamui can literally feel some of Seiryu's emotions, which is agitation, in this case.

//Kit, Tasuki, anyone?!! Something is wrong!! Please, come back to the inn, Chichiri is…//

Kamui jolted.

`I swear that I just heard a plea, and it sounded just like Sable, which is impossible, unless…masaka, is she in trouble? Is that why Seiryu is feeling so restless? And if I can feel Seiryu's agitation, then the Celestial Guardians would most probably be feeling it too.'

Worried, the blonde dismissed his secretary and prepared to head back to his house, where the immortals would most likely to appear if something was really wrong.

##########

Somewhere in the streets of Sairo…

"Sou ka. So that was the reason why you wanted us out of there." Tasuki gave a mischievous grin. "You astound me with your deviousness. I never knew that you had it in you. Chichiri is not going to know what hit him until it is too late."

Kitten elbowed her koi playfully.

"Urusai. Of course I have to be the scheming one. If I left everything to be planned by a dense person like you, we would never get anything done!! Sweet kami, you did not even now that Sable and Chichiri had feelings for each other until we were about to leave for Kutou!!"

The redhead flushed.

"I don't notice lovey dovey stuff like that, okay? I don't even like it."

The blue-haired girl smirked.

"Oh yeah? And here I was thinking that it was just you being dense as usual. Then what about this?" Kitten jumped up and tried to grab hold of the medallion that Tasuki was wearing. The one that Kitten had gave to him in Kutou. Tasuki sidestepped her attempt easily, being the seishi of speed and all.

"If you don't do lovey dovey stuff, then you ought to return that to me!!" The girl yelled playfully, making another halfhearted attempt to take the medallion.

This time, the seishi stood still, and allowed Kitten to grab hold of the necklace. Just as she was about to slip it off him, he grabbed her and held her tightly to him, much to the girl's embarrassment.

"Tasuki no baka!! Lemme go!! For kami sake, we are in the middle of the street here!! We are blocking the way, and now, everybody is looking!!"

"They are looking because you are making so much noise, onna."

Kitten turned red and was about to protest when Tasuki bent down and shut her up with a kiss. Almost abruptly, the girl ceased her struggles and allowed herself to be absorbed in the kiss. Kitten closed her eyes and the world, the crowded street and its entire people ceased to exist. When the couple finally disengaged from each other, the girl was dazed and bemused.

"How's that for a loving gesture?" The redhead smirked.

Almost immediately, the girl popped out of her bubble of happiness and glared at her koi. She was about to open her mouth and say something to the gloating man when they heard it.

//Kit, Tasuki, anyone?!! Something is wrong!! Please, come back to the inn, Chichiri is…//

Both stiffened.

"Anou…did you hear it?" Tasuki asked uneasily.

Kitten nodded.

"Shimatta!! Something must have happened!! We have to return to the inn; Sab and Chichiri seemed to be in danger!!"

"Ikkou, Kit!!" Immediately, both of them turned and raced back to where they came from.

##########

Somewhere in the backwoods of Kutou…

"Ne Haiiro, did you feel it?"

The silver-haired elemental glanced at Aoi.

"Feel what? The tension?"

"Or the fact that Seiryu is coming to us right now?" Akai added.

Aoi smiled sheepishly. His question had just been answered by his two friends.

"Both, I suppose." The blue-haired water master glanced at the dour (on Haiiro) and glum (on Akai) faces of his companions. "Daijoubu. I don't think that Seiryu is going to make us do something to our friends now, will he?"

At that, Haiiro and Akai looked even more morose.

"What does he want us to do now?" Akai demanded, a little annoyed. "I hope that it is not too low and dirty."

"Knowing Seiryu, it will most probably be another ridiculous mission." Haiiro commented rather casually.

Aoi sweatdropped.

"Hey, I don't think that it will be that bad." The water master defended his god. "At least we can tell Kamui that the rumors about the rebellion have been successfully vanquished."

Akai perked up a little at that. The rebellion had in actuality not been a rumor, but a fact, and as a result, the elemental trio had spent the past few days kicking butts, much to the fire master's satisfaction. They had just flushed out the last of the rebellion party this afternoon and had handed them to the local magistrate after a sound fight when they first felt Seiryu's agitation. And now that they felt the ki of their god coming nearer and nearer towards them, the Celestial Guardians are preparing themselves to accept the new mission that Seiryu would most probably have ready for them.

"Damn and I was so looking forward to returning to Kamui's mansion for a good and long rest." Akai mumbled.

"If you want that long a rest, then I shall take you back to the heavenly realms, where you can meditate for the next five hundred years."

Akai jumped and the trio turned to see the dragon god right in front of them, resplendent in his usual armor.

"Seiryu-sama." The three intoned and bowed respectfully.

The god of Kutou nodded imperceptibly.

"Your friends are in grave danger, especially the brunette girl." Seiryu commented casually. "It would be of your choice to go and see what is going on."

The Celestial Guardians shot each other a look.

Why was Seiryu telling them that? Wasn't he against Suzaku's people?

"I do not find the need to explain my actions to the likes of you, but I am just looking out for my own."

"Your own?" Akai mouthed, confused.

"Kitten-san." Aoi reminded the auburn-haired man. "Kitten-san owes Seiryu-sama a favor."

Haiiro immediately began to mutter some words and sure enough, a mini tornado came up. With practiced ease, the trio mounted the whirlwind.

"I should also warn you that the enemy this time is from within." Seiryu remarked.

The Celestial Guardians stared at their master and nodded.

"We won't fail you." Aoi said. He added mentally. `Or our friends.'

With that, the Elementals set off for the capital of Sairo.

`This should be interesting,' the dragon thought idly as he prepared to ascent the heavens again. `Wonder how Suzaku is taking all the excitement?'

##########

In the realms of the gods…

"BYAKKO!! I AM SO GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THIS!! WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU TO DESERVE THIS?!!"

Said tiger god winced, and almost immediately, his older brother moved away from him. Genbu wanted to be a safe distance away when Suzaku came screeching down on Byakko, which is to be soon.

Almost as if on cue, Suzaku stormed into sight and headed straight for his second brother.

"How could you feed Chichiri with shibo no kusuri?!!"

"Suzaku," Byakko started. "I believe that I can do what I please with them, seeing that they are all in my territory and such."

"Demo…"

"Wasn't that the deal that we made, Suzaku?"

Suzaku was looking downright miserable. His brother had neatly boxed him into a corner and they both knew it.

"Don't assume that since I am one of the elder god means that I will help your people in their challenge. After all, it is because of Genbu and I that Taitsukun had set this test."

"Demo you used shibo no kusuri!! It is not fair!! They will die!!" Suzaku impassioned.

"All is fair in love and war, aniki. Just as I thought, you are not taking this sudden turn of events well."

(A/N: Sorry for this interruption. You know what? When I was typing the sentence above, `All is fair in love and war', I was suddenly struck by irony. You see, Suzaku is the god of love right? And Seiryu is the god of war. How ironic that they were to fight each other in the real FY series. But love always triumphs in stories like these, and Suzaku won. So why is it that they say that all is fair in love and war? In the end, love always wins. The saying should be changed to, `make love, not war', ne? But then, if you watched the movie Troy, it is because of love that a war is started…Arrrrgh!! All these sayings are driving me batty. >.< Heheh, but then, these are just all my weird ramblings. Gomen ne!! Okay, onward with the story!!)

Suzaku turned to see an amused Seiryu, who had just returned to the heavenly realms. He ignored the dragon and turned to Byakko instead, looking at the elder god with pleading eyes and hoping that the tiger would get his daughter to rescind the challenge.

Byakko merely raised a slender hand in a command to get Suzaku to stop his beseeching.

"It is of no use, Suzaku. No matter what you do, I won't give in. It is high time that you learn that not everything will go your way." The god of Sairo softened his tone then. "You have to understand that I need to be assured that these two couples would share a love strong enough to transcend time and space. I want to see for myself that the girls are worthy enough to stay in the Universe of the Four Gods, and if using shibo no kusuri is the only way for me to see that their love beats even that of my miko and seishi, Suzuno and Tatara, then I have no complains. Do you understand?"

Suzaku wanted to yell at his brother and tell him, "Hell no!! I don't understand!!", but he understood all too well. He is, after all, the god of love.

Suzaku nodded curtly at his white-haired brother.

Byakko wanted to know if Sable and Kitten would love his seishi deeply enough for them to transcend even death, just like the Byakko no miko and seishi. The phoenix only hopes that they won't have to really die to find THAT out. It would sort of defeat the purpose of bringing them into the Universe of the Four Gods in the first place.

"Suzie has finally calmed down some, I see." Seiryu commented.

Genbu approached the trio hesitantly.

"In that case, can we watch what is happening in the mortal realm now?"

Suzaku nodded and Seiryu did the honors. The dragon conjured up a super-sized mirror and the mirror's surface rippled before revealing the events that are rapidly unfolding in the mortal domain of Sairo.

As one, the four gods settled on the couches around the mirror and focused their attention onto the mirror.

##########

Back to the streets of Sairo…

Kitten and Tasuki were fighting desperately to move against the crowds. The blue-haired girl kept her hold on the seishi tightly, as if afraid to lose him.

"Did you hear what the people were saying, Tasuki?!" Kitten yelled above the roar of the crowd.

The redhead nodded slightly.

"Apparently, there was an explosion in the inn we were staying. Everyone is rushing to leave the vicinity."

"What could have caused it, I wonder?"

Tasuki shrugged.

"Might be a challenge from Byakko. Yes, here we are!!" The pair skidded around a corner and saw the inn. The street in front of it was already empty, and it took on a haunted appearance. The couple rushed into the inn.

"Chichiri, Sable!! Where are you?!!" It was then that Kitten saw the back of the blue-haired seishi. Chichiri was crouching against the wall. "Chichiri, there you are!! Is Sab hiding behind you?"

There was no reply, and Tasuki frowned.

"Oi, Chiri, daijoubu ka?"

"Shi ne."

Tasuki's eyebrows shot up and he stared at Kitten. Did Chichiri just say `die'? And where is Sable?

Immediately, Kitten approached Chichiri, and the sight before her horrified her beyond words.

"Chichiri!! What the hell are you doing?!! Let go of Sable!!" The blue-haired girl started to pry Chichiri's hands off Sable's neck. Tasuki was equally stunned.

Why is Chichiri doing this? Unless…

"Kit!! I don't think that he is Chichiri!! He must be an imposter!!"

Kitten was desperate. Her best friend was dying right before her eyes and there is no way for her to stop it. "I don't care who the hell he is!! Just get him off her!! Sable is not gong to be able take this for long!!"

Tasuki stared at his tessen. He could not use the holy fire as it would hurt Sable in the process, and his seishi power is speed. In other words, he is practically powerless…but Kitten on the other hand…

Struck by an idea, Tasuki yelled at his koi. "Kit!! Wish for the power of a bear, like you did the first time, see if it possible!!"

Luckily, the girl was not that hysterical and could see that Tasuki's suggestion made sense. Mustering up all her thoughts, Kitten transformed herself into a polar bear again. Once the transformation is complete, there was no difficulty in separating Chichiri from Sable.

//Is she okay?//

Kitten stared down at Sable, who is now safely ensconced in her furry arms. Without Chichiri to hinder her breathing, the unconscious girl was desperately gulping in deep breaths of air. Already, her color was turning for the better. Kitten could have cried in relief.

//Hai, Tasuki. I think that she will be okay. Thank kami that we got here in time.//

"Give her to me."

Tasuki and Kitten (who is still in the form of a bear) turned to stare at Chichiri. Tasuki swore softly when he noted the color of Chichiri's eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" The redhead stepped in front of the girls and took out his tessen. He sank into a defensive position. "What do you want with us, and what did you do to the real Chichiri?"

The red-eyed man before the trio gave a mirthless smile and held out his right hand towards them.

"Whatever are you talking about?" A huge, dark-red ki-ball, totally unlike the normal lighter hued ones that Chichiri uses, appeared from the man's extended hand.

"I AM Chichiri, and now, hand over Sable or I will kill all of you."

Cliffie!! Cliffie alert!! Lol. This is very fun. ^^ I love being an authoress. I can do what I want to my characters. *cough torture cough* Heheh…don't kill me, readers, for if you kill me off, I won't be able to continue my fic and poor Chichiri will be hanging around in this fic as the bad guy forever. You won't want that, do you? Lol.

And as for the confusion of the last chapter, you readers are right. Saki is the illegitimate child of Byakko. She is actually half mortal and half god. You guessed it, for in my fic, Byakko apparently went down to earth for some `fun'. Apparently he forgot about protection. ^^ And so, Saki is the end result. For some reason that I do not wish to disclose until in later chapters, Byakko actually treats his own daughter like a servant, no, actually not to that extent, but more like an employee. You can see that he actually values her not because of the fact that she is his own flesh and blood, but because of the fact that she has a 100% success rate in all her missions. And wait; don't hate poor ole Byakkie-poo first. At least wait until you hear his side of the story.

You guys know what? I went to a comic shop today and was flipping through book 18 (the last volume that is) of Fushigi Yuugi. There were pics of the four gods in human forms there, and with the exception of Genbu, who by the way looks like a perverted man with a lecherous-looking handlebar mustache, the other three are so very bishounen!! =^-^= I think that I am going to buy book 18 just for that alone. Lol.

Please pardon the spelling, tenses and grammatical errors that are in this chapter. Gomen nasai!!

Lastly, thanks to all my readers!! Please review!! Domo arrigatou.

Until next time, folks!!