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updated 6.2000

Fushigi Yuugi is copyrighted to Watase Yuu, Bandai, Tokyo Television, Flower Comics, and others. No infringement is intended!

Note here people...
OK, before i begin this chapter, i just wanna talk about a few things...
Nakago--emperor o.O? Tomo o.O? Keep in mind, this is not the seiryuu seishis of the past, these are thier uh 'new forms', there's a lot more surprises coming so...stick around and see what they've become!! (I'm in no way trying to throw out the Seiryuu seishis created by Watase Yuu-sama. I loved her characters...with their rich personalities and the way they interacted with each other...it's just that all of them have gone up to heaven, let's say they were to be reincarnated, I had to make up new lives and so 'new' characters. Of course, they'll never be as great as the ones created by Watase Yuu-sama, but well, I've created them for the purpose of my story...) If fact, you'll see some resemblances to their past selves. Oooh dealing with reincarnation makes my head hurt! Well, i'll try to explain everthing the best i can...i'll try not to be too confusing...but please just keep an open mind...and all things will be revealed in due time...)

REVISION ALERT: Nakago has blond hair--imagine the previous Nakago, only younger. Now, let's just hope that i remember i made this corrections! ^-^

Oh yeah, there might be a little reference to what happens in the mini-albums here...

Chapter 6: Blue Dream

"Nooo!" Kamei screamed as the spear bore down on her.

Just when she thought she was a gonner, she heard the sound of metal against sword. Namame had gotten in front of her, deflecting the blue spear. With a sharp crack, Hatsui's whip wrapped around the assailant's arm and flung him across the street and into the side of a house. Urumiya helped her to her feet and watched cautiously the movements of the other two.

The attacker shook himself free of the rubble from the crumpled wall of the house and stepped into the light again.

His helmet covered most of his hair, but a few wisps of his golden bronze bangs hung into his face. As for the rest of his face, his mouth and nose was covered by a blue mask of cloth. What chilled Kamei to the core of her bones were the pair of cold, emotionless eyes, and the blue glowing character on his left temple.

"Amiboshi!" Hatsui gritted out.

"Amiboshi...?" That was the constellation of Seiryuu with the kanji meaning 'neck'.

Their assassin looked about ready to strike again, but suddenly, he stopped and looked as if he was listening to someone.

"Amiboshi!" Hatsui charged, "You have a lot to pay for!"

This time though, Amiboshi jumped out of the way of Hatsui's whip.

"Kuso!" Hatsui attacked again, "Stand and fight like a man!"

Amiboshi back flipped on to the roof of a house.

"I'm sorry I cannot play with you more," his faintly familiar cool voice said, "Maybe some other time."

With that, he disappeared. Kamei felt shivers run up her spine when she had heard his voice. It triggered her memory and she felt as if she had heard that voice somewhere before...

"Damn! He got away!" Hatsui ran his fist into the snow-covered earth.

"We'll get him next time," Namame said in the coldest voice Kamei had ever heard from him.

"He doesn't deserve to live another second!" Hatsui continued raging.

Kamei had never met Hatsui's anger before, and this side of him scared her.

"Sooner or later, he will pay for his crime," Urumiya was deadly calm, his mouth drawn in a grim line.

"What did he do...?" Kamei questioned in a small voice.

"He was the assassin that killed Emperor Kouryuu," Namame met Kamei's eyes with his, and she almost jumped.

Normally, Namame concealed his feelings. Now though, his pain, grief, anger, and hatred showed in his eyes as plain as day.

Realizing that he was scaring the Miko, Namame looked away.

For a long while, nobody moved, and the only sound was the forlorn wind blowing through the lifeless village. Kamei twitched her nose a little bit, feeling a sneeze coming on, but she didn't want to draw attention to herself.

The tiny 'achoo' brought back everybody's attention, and all three men looked at her. Kamei kept her head down, not wanting to meet any of their eyes. The three men looked at each other and mutually agreed to put vengence off until next time.

"All right," Hatsui got up and went to the horses. "We better get out of here and let the dead rest... Kamei?" he extended a hand to her after he got on the horse. Kamei took his hand a little too hesitantly and he frowned a little. When she was still tense after a while, Hatsui thought that perhaps their Miko had seen a side of them they didn't want her to see.

"Miko-sama," he spoke gravely, "Emperor Kouryuu was important to each of us. He was not only our emperor, he was our friend. That bastard that killed him...I can never forgive him for that! I'm sorry, but, just thinking about it makes my blood boil..." Hatsui trailed off as his anger took over again.

"I understand..." Kamei replied softly, "I can never pretend to comprehend your grief, pain, or hatred, but I don't blame you for having these feelings..." She looked at them as best as she could and tried to give an encouraging smile, "You don't have to appologize at all. Like Namame once told me...we're only human..."

"What would you like to drink?" the inn's waitress asked the travel-weary group.

"Strong ale all around," Hatsui told her.

She came back a second later and set down cups of what looked like water.

Kamei, being tired and thirsty, didn't give it a thought before she swallowed the whole thing in a gulp.

The other three men were still sullen and didn't see her do that, but they found out soon enough when they heard her choking cough.

"You drank all that at once!?" Hatsui patted her back as she nodded between coughs. "We can't take our eyes off of you for even one second, can we?" He kidded.

After a while, Kamei finally got herself under control.

"I feel like my throat's burning," she complained.

"That's why they call it 'fire water'," Namame told her, raising the cup a little and then drank.

"Keeps you warm during the North's long winter nights," Urumiya added.

"Hey, Urumiya, remember that time we were fighting Kutou, and you got wounded?" Hatsui asked trying to lighten the mood.

"The arrow in the shoulder?" Urumiya asked, "How could I forget? In the midst of all my pain, you, Namame, and Kouryuu were still talking about how if I had been taller, I would have been hit in the heart."

"We were only trying to take your mind off of the pain," Namame said with a corner of his lips twitching.

"Well, this thing," Hatsui raised the cup of ale, "Save you, ya know?"

"How's that?" Urumiya asked.

"Well, ya drank so much," Hatsui gulped his share down and ordered for more, "You passed out and we were able to get the arrow out of ya without any trouble!"

Urumiya laughed bitterly, "Yeah, I guess it did save me didn't it?"

"Namame, that sword you have," Hatsui pointed suddenly, "I've been meaning to ask about it... Isn't that Kouryuu's?"

"Empress Seika gave it to me," Namame told him, "Said he wanted me to have it..."

"I guess he would, you were his best friend," Hatsui went on, still drinking, and ordering for more.

"All of us were," Namame said softly.

Hatsui was on his seventh drink, and Kamei looked at him worriedly, "Hatsui, are you drinking too much?" she asked softly.

Hatsui smiled at her, "No Miko-sama, a little drink won't do me any harm." Taking the eighth cup into his hands, he gazed into it, "Kamei, I wish you had know Kouryuu-sama, he was..." Hatsui looked around at the other two, "The best of all of us..."

She looked at Hatsui as he downed his eighth glass. How strong was the alchohol in these drinks?

Hatsui took up his ninth one, but Urumiya held his arm. "That's enough Hatsui, that's enough..."

Hatsui sighed resignedly, "Yeah...it's been what? Five months, six months since his death...it's enough...time to move on...he'll live in our hearts, huh?"

"We all need a rest," Namame stated and stood up, "Miko-sama, I'll walk you to your room."

"Huh?" Kamei looked up, "Oh, thank you." She glanced at Hatsui's as she went by, he looked very drunk.

"It's all right..." Urumiya assured her, "I'll take care of him."

"Good morning," Hatsui greeted cheerfully when Kamei came down the next morning.

He was back to his old self and Kamei was glad that his spirit was restored.

Urumiya and Namame where back to normal as well, and soon, they were on the road again.

Yesterday's encounter with the dead village had shook Kamei to the depth of her soul. She couldn't get a good rest at all, tossing and turning throughout the night. When she did manage to drift off, she dreamed that arms shot out of the ground and grabbed onto her, begging her to give them life... The head she had stumbled over kept demanding why she didn't save 'it' and she always awoke as Amiboshi slammed his sword through the skull.

But, she didn't want to taint the good mood of the company and didn't say anything.

"When are we going to get to Mount Shinjin?" Kamei asked.

"We still have to go through two villages before we get there, I think," Urumiya replied.

I wonder what's happening in the real world...? Kamei thought I wonder if Toka is all right?

"Amiboshi?" Miaka said unbelievably, "He wouldn't do such a horrible thing!"

"This is the new Amiboshi, I guess," Yui said, "But what I can't believe is that Nakago is an emperor and Tomo seems to have control over him!"

"Why are they so different?" Miaka asked, "When the Suzaku seishis were reborn, they weren't so different..."

Yui shrugged, "Who knows the will of the gods? Rebirth is a tricky business I guess..."

"I think we should look for Toka," Miaka said.

"Who's Toka?" Yui asked.

"Kamei's brother," Miaka told her.

"Do you know what he looks like?" Yui asked.

Miaka stopped suddenly and looked back at Yui, "No..."

"Baka," Yui laughed, "You're still the same..."

"Hmph," Miaka pretended to be mad.

"Come on," Yui pushed Miaka ahead of her, "We'll hack into the police station computers," Yui winked.

"You know how to do that?" Miaka asked, "Sugoi!"

"The many talents of Yui-sama," Yui grinned.

"Ne, Yui-chan," Miaka suddenly wondered, "Since the Suzaku shichi seishi were reborn into the real world, do you think the others have been too?"

"Hmm," Yui thought for a sec or two, "I don't know..." Then, she smiled mischievously, "But if we need to go searching, we can always tap into Tetsuya's bank account!"

The palace garden of Kutou was filled with beautiful plants and songbirds. Spring came to the Eastern country earlier than the rest. Just looking back a few years, this very garden had been barren. Only a few years ago, Kutou had been in such a bad shape that even the palace had suffered. Still recent in the people's minds, the civil wars had torn the country apart. That was until the current emperor's father rose to the top... He had been a moral and wise leader. Some say though, that his honor was the very thing that had killed him in the end. After winning, he allowed his enemies to live. His enemies didn't care for his benevolence and killed him instead. In his very throne room, he fell under a poisoned arrow through the heart, collapsing in a pool of blood in front of Nakago's eyes...

Nakago stared absent-mindedly at the sake in his dish. The sunlight shimmered across the surface as he moved his hand a little. Kutou palace boasted some of the best sake in the land, yet it tasted bitter on his tongue.

Tomo suddenly appeared without a whisper of sound, casting a shadow over him.

"How's everything going?" Nakago asked.

Tomo replied, "According to m-our plan Nakago-sama."

"Good," Nakago raised up his dish and the young woman with red hair standing next to him replenished it.

The young woman's hair was gathered high on her head into a long braid.

Anybody, who had known the past Seiryuu seishis by sight, would have recognized the similarity between this young lady and the only female in the group...

"Soi," Nakago called to the girl.

"Yes, Nakago-sama?" Soi looked up.

"Amiboshi has come back," he said, "Go attend to him."

Soi bowed her head and did as she was told. She didn't really care for Amiboshi or anybody else for that matter. She only lived to serve Nakago and whatever he wished of her, she would do with no complaint. She didn't really understand this...why she devoted her life to him.

It must have been foreordained...

The first time she had seen Nakago was when the country was still at war. Being the daughter of a warlord, she had been trained since birth for battle. Nakago's father had allied with her father. Her father had taken her with him to one of the meetings...

The sun was setting on the horizon, tainting Kutou's blue armors with a purplish glow.

Two riders separated themselves from the mass and rode toward the army of the warlord. Two riders separted from the side of the warlord as well and the four riders met in the middle. While the Emperor of East Kutou and the warlord conversed, Soi watched the young prince.

His face was fair. His blond hair indicated that he had Hin blood in him. His ice blue eyes remained cold even against the fiery light of sunset. Soi schooled her face to reveal no emotions, but inside, she felt her heart melting. She knew, form this moment on, she would never leave his side. No matter what, from this moment on she would forever serve him until she died. This was as it should be, as it seemed to have been long ago...

And so she had remained with him, through the war, where her own father had died, through his father's assassination, and through his rise to the throne. It felt as if there wasn't even a time when she had not been by his side.

"Amiboshi," she entered the room just as he set his spear down and took off the scarf around his mouth and nose, "How was hunting?"

Amiboshi shrugged, "I would have prefered it if I didn't have to have this thing around my face. What good would it do for my victims if they aren't even given the priveledge to see the face of their death? I still don't understand why Tomo insists on it."

Soi wondered what Amiboshi was like before Tomo got to him. From what she has heard, Tomo had toyed with his soul. But, then again, what truth was there in gossips? Not that Tomo wouldn't have been able to do such a thing. That man could do anything he set his mind to...

Speaking of the devil, Tomo appeared and Soi left them.

"Why did you call me back?" Amiboshi asked, "I had them in the palm of my hands."

"They are no threat," Tomo said simply.

"When am I to attack?," was the statement, but there was no emotion behind the words.

"Soon," Tomo replied.

"Yes," Amiboshi said mechanically, "Then I will kill Genbu no Miko."

Tomo's cold laughter rang in Amiboshi's mind. He heard emotion in that laughter but could find none within himself to match

"I wonder if Tomo still laughs like he used to," Miaka murmured and then shuddered, remembering all too clear Tomo's cackle. Well, this Tomo doesn't seem to be wearing any face paints...

"I'm almost in," Yui told her.

"I'll keep reading," Miaka said.

Amiboshi awoke from a fitful sleep. When he awoke, however, he didn't remember what he had dreamt. This had never happened before, before he saw the Miko, but that couldn't be... Before, his sleep was dreamless. Now, he knew he had a dream but couldn't remember...

He didn't really remember anything at all...

Tomo had found him, wandering on the roads, and took him to the palace, saying that he was a Seiryuu seishi.

The first time he woke up in the palace, he had his first memory: He was here to serve Seiryuu and Tomo.

Nakago was the emperor and Amiboshi respected him, but with Tomo, it was different...

Absently, he picked up a flute and began playing.

He didn't even know he could play until he had found this lying in the snow after he had done with a village. For some reason, he had picked it up and kept it with him.

Now he played a song that naturally came from his fingers...

He played for a long time, he thought, under the peaceful night of the full moon. The wind gently carried his melody throughout the sleeping city. That night, all was calm, all was right.

"Aniki..." Suboshi whispered into the darkness of his room in the Kutou palace.

The word felt right on his tongue whenever he thought of Amiboshi, although Suboshi never knew him until he came here. It seemed just like yesterday...

Suboshi walked into the dim throne room, a little apprehensive. He had heard things about the emperor that made him ill at ease.

He had been working on his parent's estates when he had heard a voice whisper to him. It had told him to look down on his left shoulder and there, he had seen the symbol for 'horn' glowing blue. The voice told him to come to Kutou and offer to serve Seiryuu because he was a Seiryuu seishi.

The lamplight was the only thing in that dim throne room and he could see a young man sitting in the throne and four other people standing to the side.

Even before the young emperor spoke, Suboshi's eyes had been drawn away, and inadvertently, he stared at the young man with golden brown hair.

The young man's face was almost a split image of himself and the same colored golden brown eyes stared back at him.

At that moment, Suboshi felt as if his soul was filled, completed.

When he was around ten years old, out of nowhere, he had suddenly started crying and felt as if a part of him died... Now, that part seemed to be restored...

Not long after that first meeting, he came upon Amiboshi, sitting on the fencing that lined the hallways, crying.

"Why are you sad?" Suboshi had asked.

"I can't stop the water from coming out of my eyes," Amiboshi said, a little annoyed and confused, "They have been like this since I came back from assassinating Hokkan's emperor..."

"Do you feel remorse?" Suboshi questioned gently. Hadn't he felt remorse, sometime long ago...?

"What's remorse?" Amiboshi asked him.

"It's all right Aniki," he had only realized he used the term after he said it, but the other didn't seem to react to that...

"Aniki..." Amiboshi repeated slowly.

That was perhaps five months ago. Suboshi talked to Amiboshi occasionally, but there was no real response from the other. Sighing, Suboshi drifted to sleep, listening to the calming music of the flute... Everything was right with the world...for now...

"Spring's coming," Hatsui said from behind Kamei.

"How can you tell?" she asked him.

"Oh, you just know, I guess," he smiled at her.

Kamei looked away, but was faintly aware that he still gazed at her.

"Where did the others run off to?" Kamei asked him.

Namame and Urumiya had left them alone again...

Hatsui shrugged and began dragging off the saddlebags, setting up camp.

She dreaded night now. That's when she had to sleep. She didn't want to sleep, for she dreamed. The dreams were always horrifying and they left her drained, as if she had not slept at all.

Kamei sat down wearily with a sigh by the fire.

Someone gripped her shoulder and she looked up to see Hatsui looking down at her worriedly.

"What?" Kamei asked.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Yeah..." she replied.

"You look weary," he said.

Kamei sighed and didn't reply.

"Have you been sleeping well?" he asked her.

Kamei fidgted, she didn't want to tell him she was having nightmares over Amiboshi and that dead village...

"I'm ok..." she replied after a while.

"Kamei," he sat down next to her and turned her toward him, "If there's anything wrong, you should tell me."

"There's nothing wrong," she said, lying to his face.

He smiled tightly and went to finish with the rest of the things.

Kamei awoke, shuddering, tears running out of her eyes.

This was starting to get really annoying... It was more than minor annoyance though. With each passing day, each sleepless night, Kamei felt her grip on reality slipping...

Not wanting to go back to sleep again, she wrapped a fur cloak around herself and walked away from the sleeping men.

She had seen a place where there was a beautiful view of the surroundings not too far back.

Looking over the edge, there was nothing below but jagged rocks. Sucking in a breath, she backed away from the edge and sat down, looking ahead.

The full moon was high in the star glittered sky, casting an eerie glow on the white rolling hills below.

From nowhere, she heard the sound of a flute and looked around, but couldn't see anything.

A hand came down upon her shoulder and she jumped.

"Don't do that!" Kamei yelled at Namame.

"Gomen," Namame said, "I didn't mean to scare you." He sat down next to her, "Pretty view," he said softly, "I saw you leaving the camp and thought that maybe I should keep an eye on you..."

"I'm not brave enough to jump over a cliff," Kamei told him jokingly.

"I was talking about Amiboshi," Namame said and saw her flinch at the name. "You're not getting much sleep lately." She said nothing. "Are you having trouble sleeping?" Again nothing. This was too much for him, he prefered to leave reading people to Urumiya, but it seemed like the Miko needed someone to talk to. Namame felt a tug at his heart. He didn't want to see her so sad.

"I'm too old to be scared of nightmares..." she whispered.

"What do you dream?" he asked.

"They call to me, they want me to help them, they ask why I didn't help them, why they died, and then there's always Amiboshi with that head..." she murmured, shuddering.

"You shouldn't have kept it all to yourself," Namame told her.

"I feel so helpless... Am I really strong enough to do all of this?" she asked him.

"You have a good heart," he whispered, "That's all that counts."

"Arigatou," she whispered and looked up at him, smiling, "For listening."

Namame looked at her young face. On impulse, he hugged her tightly, "You don't have to be so brave," he whispered.

Kamei was shocked, she would have expected this from Hatsui or even Urumiya, but not the indifferent Namame.

He let go, suddenly realizing what he did and stared at the other almost fearfully. Usually, he was able to control his actions.

Kamei stared at Namame as well and could not look away from the eyes that seemed to draw her in.

Time seemed to stop as they gazed at each other, spellbound by the moonlit night...

"Oo, they're about to kiss," Miaka said.

"Miaka," Yui scolded, a little amused.

Miaka giggled.

Namame was leaning towards her and Kamei held her breath.

Just then, a twig snapped somewhere near them and their trance shattered into a million pieces.

Startled, they both whirled around to see Hatsui staring at them. Their faces burning, Namame and Kamei stood up and apart, pretending to be intently dusting themselves off.

Hatsui stood regarding them with his arms crossed and Kamei did her best to avoid looking at him.

"Now this is interesting..." he said, his voice revealing no emotion.

"Yes, very interesting indeed," another cold voice echoed. Namame and Hatsui snapped to attention, looking about them for the owner of the voice.

It couldn't be...

Hatsui stood beside Namame now, "Damn, I don't have my weapon with me."

"Get behind me Miko-sama," Namame told Kamei and she obeyed.

From the shadows of the trees came a figure dressed in blue armor, he had no masks on this time...

"Amiboshi!" Hatsui spat the name out.

"Uh oh," Miaka murmured.

"Hey, Miaka," Yui pulled her sleeve, "I found Okuda Kamei's picture, I'm downloading Toka's picture right now."

Amiboshi strode towards them. He stepped into a spot of light and the moon shined fully on his face...

"Toka has kinda blondish brown hair," Yui commented.

The picture was now fully downloaded.

"Uso!" Miaka cried and in her shock dropped the book.

"That's..."

Kamei gasped when she saw his face...

"Amiboshi!" Miaka and Yui both cried in unison.

"Toka!" Kamei cried in disbelief.