Fushigi Yuugi is copyrighted to Watase Yuu, Bandai, Tokyo Television, Flower Comics, and others. No infringement is intended!
Word List: Okaasan=mother, onechan=sisiter
Prologue: A New Beginning
This is the story of a girl, who having gathered the shichi seishis of Genbu,gained omnipotent powers, and was granted her every wish. The story itself is an incantation... Those who finish reading it will gain the power... As soon as the book is opened, the story will become the truth and begin...
"O-ku-da." Kamei replied, enunciating every syllable, exasperated. It should have been more than obvious that her last name on the paper clearly said 'Okuda'.
The ancient desk clerk had asked her that question a million times. Her Japanese History teacher had suddenly got it into her head to assign a family history project. Kamei was supposed to find a relative of hers from around 70 years ago to write about.
Okuda Kamei was starting her first year in Kaien High School, the school of her dreams. After a year of intense study and preparation, she had passed the high school entrance exam. Now, however, since she was in high school, her grades were more important than ever. There was competition everywhere and friends often turned into rivals. Kamei personally didn't have friends that she could call 'close'. She had a lot of friends, but all of them knew her superficially. To them, she was one of the best students in class and a nice trustworthy person. Whenever they needed help on something, they went to her, but nobody seemed to realize that she didn't approach any of them unless they came to her first. Kamei unconsciously built a wall around herself so that although they liked her, they knew nothing about her inner personality.
"What was the name again?" the clerk at the Genealogy Archives of Tokyo asked for the millionth time.
"O-ku-da," Kamei told him, a little weary now. She couldn't blame the old man for having nobody to replace him.
"Ah, here it is," he told her, handing her a yellowed piece of paper. It smelled of mildew and seemed about ready to fall apart in her hands.
"That's it?" she asked, staring at the single piece of aged document, "Okaasan told me that we had a big family."
"Says here...Okuda Family 1924," the clerk handed it to her.
Kamei sighed and stored the delicate thing in a protective cover. Looks like this is not going to be easy...
In her room that night, she used a magnifying glass to read the deteriorating evidence of her ancestors. After an hour of pouring over the document, she rubbed her eyes. The only information the document proclaimed was that in 1924, the Okuda family only boasted of three live people. There was a man by the name of Okuda Einosuke. He was a scholar that had lived in China for a while. He had a daughter named Takiko. His wife, whose name Kamei couldn't make out, died giving birth to his only daughter. He also had a younger brother, Okuda Nokuro, who was Kamei's great-grandfather. The bottom of the page proclaimed that both Okuda Einosuke and Takiko died that year, but their cause of death was undetermined. An address was listed as well; she remembered this address as the same one her mother had mentioned. The house is in Shizukushi, a town of Nayama. It was a small piece of land in an old secluded village that no one ever went to. From the information she had, it seemed like she needed to take a visit there if she wanted a good grade on this project.
"Onechan," her brother poked his head in her room, "Supper," he said shortly.
"All right," she said, "I'm coming."
Her brother Toka, was only a year younger than she was. He was now preparing for his high school entrance exam. Her mother, of course, expected her to help her brother.
"Itadakimasu," she said according tradition and began to eat. "Okaasan," she said between mouthfuls, "Tomorrow I need to go to that ancient property of ours that you told me about. I researched a little today and I found out that the old place was where my great-grandfather used to live."
"Are you going to go alone?" her mother said worriedly.
"I'm sixteen now," she said, smiling, "I think I can handle a little train ride."
"I don't know," her mother wavered.
"Well, it's for school. I have to go," Kamei said in a decisive tone, "I would prefer not to go to that creepy old place, but I have to."
"All right," Mrs. Okuda said, "Just be careful."
"Hey, how come she gets to go places?" Toka asked.
"You have to study, remember?" she told him.
"I've been studying for the past five months! I haven't seen the sun forever! Look at my skin! It's colorless!" he protested.
"The high school exam is tough, especially if you want to get in a good school like your sister's," Mrs. Okuda told him.
"Maybe I don't want to go to the school she's going to," Toka muttered.
"Toka! High school is very important!" Mrs. Okuda reprimanded.
"Yeah Toka, listen to okaasan," Kamei told him.
"I don't need advise from you Kame," Toka stuck his tongue out at her.
"Don't be immature Toka," she frowned at him, "And don't you ever call me that again." 'Kame' was a name kids used to tease her with. It was derived from the first two syllables of her name and meant "turtle". It was only childish teasings, but still, she felt a little sensitive about it.
Toka opened his mouth to say something, but then stopped himself and remained silent.
Kamei looked at him. This was the easiest argument she'd ever had with him. Had he finally matured, or was he plotting some scheme in that wicked little head of his? She shrugged, not concerning herself over the subject, and turned her mind to her Japanese History teacher.
That lady always managed to do something to make Kamei's life complicated. Last time, it was a project to find old Japanese artifacts. The lady seemed to not like Kamei either because she always picked on her in class or scrutinized her work more than necessary.
"Real life is never easy," she muttered.
"Did you say something honey?" Mrs. Okuda asked.
"Huh? Oh nothing," she replied.