"Close Encounters"

Note: In this story, the premise is that Kourin was the one who was supposed to be Suzaku Shichiseishi Nuriko. However, due to some weird last-minute change with destiny (are last- minute changes with destiny possible?), the "Yanagi" moji moved over to Ryuuen when Kourin was around nine years old, a few months before this "took place". Now, on with the story.

I could clearly remember that little encounter that day. It was another beautiful day in Konan, otherwise known as Suzaku Country. My brother Ryuuen and I started running through the streets, our chores done for the day. We were so glad we were not the firstborn, because our big brother Rukou had to stay at the shop to learn the business. Heads turned as the shopkeepers noticed us, the two younger Chou kids. Some were waving at us, some were waving their fists at us. I guess I can't say we've been total angels.

We reached a wall of the Imperial Palace and we climbed up on a tree right next to it. We often sat up in that tree to look down on the Palace's garden. Today, there was a kid around our age with his hair up in one of those funny-looking buns practicing the sword. His sword looked like it was a too big for him, but he was handling it very well. It wasn't just his swordsmanship that I noticed, it was his good looks, too. Even from up in my perch on the tree with my brother, I was able to see that he was BEAUTIFUL. I went forward on a branch for a closer look.

"Gee, Kourin, he's pretty good with the sword, huh?" my brother asked me .

"Yup," I said as I watched his beautiful brown hair fall out of the bun, lock by lock.

"I mean, the sword's bigger than him, but he swings it around better than those show-off guards in the marketplace."

I simply nodded my head in agreement. I already had this weird faraway look in my eyes.

"Nee, Kourin, I thought you said you hate guys."

"What?" I suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Well, yesterday you swore off men after that girl with the Kansai accent and a bunch of mini-logs under her arm teased her fanged, orange-haired little brother about getting the two of you engaged."

"Ugh, well, I swore off Kansai mountain guys but not guys like him, he's totally different," I said as I gestured to the boy with the sword, whose hair was all down at this point. It was gracefully moving---no, flowing with him. Unfortunately, the dramatic sweep of my arm upset our balance up in the tree and my brother and I ended up crashing down some bushes.

"Itai!" we both shouted in pain.

"Who goes there?" swordboy asked as he walked over to where we fell.

"Please don't hurt us," I pleaded as I stepped forward.

"Children like me? What are you two doing here?" he asked as he helped us fully step out of the bushes. He was a true gentleman indeed.

"We were just climbing trees when we fell. Sorry, uh, we didn't mean to disturb you or anything. We'll go now," my brother nervously said as he started dragging me away by the collar. Of course, with my brother's herculean strength, I nearly ended up flying.

"Wait! I want to talk to you!" swordboy yelled out after us. "I..I have never really talked or played with anyone my age before."

"What? You mean in a big place like this you don't have anyone to play with?" my nii-sama (big brother) asked. Swordboy just nodded.

"Ano.. our chores are done and we have the afternoon to play outside. Would you like us to spend the afternoon with you?" I hesitantly asked although my heart was basically screaming "Take me! I would gladly be with you."

"That... that would be very nice of you. What games do you like to play?"

"I dunno. How about tag?" nii-sama asked.

"Ano... that might be a little difficult considering his footwear," I whispered to my brother. He looked down on swordboy's feet and started laughing like a drunk Mt. Leikaku bandit chief.

"You've got ducky feet! You've got ducky feet! Quack! Quack! You've got ducky feet!"

"You are being rude!"

"Ano.. nii-sama, I don't think it's a good idea to insult a guy with a sword..."

"Silence!" swordboy said as he swung his sword to point it at my brother's neck. Nii-sama grabbed the sword daintily by his fingertips and twisted the end of the sword. "Impossible..." swordboy trailed off.

"What's that thing on your neck?" nii-sama asked as he let go of the sword. Something was glowing red on swordboy's neck.

"It is my moji, hoshi, the symbol of a star. It means I am one of the Suzaku Shichiseishi."

"Well whaddaya know, " nii-sama said as he partially opened his shirt. " I have one too, yanagi, the symbol for willow. Does that make me a seishi too?"

"Amazing.." swordboy whispered. "I mean, yes, it does mean that you are one of the Suzaku Shichiseishi. "

"Hey, that's not fair, I used to have that symbol on the same place but after my ninth birthday, it showed up less often, getting weaker and weaker during those few times it showed up. It was as if it was moving on to Ryuuen..." I started to rant, but I just trailed off.

"Well, that is rather strange," swordboy said. My brother put his arm around my shoulders and tried to cheer me up.

"The moji's supposed to mean you've got this special talent, right? You're extremely good with the sword and nii-sama's gotten much stronger since that thing showed up on him. If I lost my moji even though I don't really remember having any special power, does that mean I'm gonna die?"

"Kourin! Stop saying things like that!" nii-sama yelled. "I swear, you're different. At least she doesn't claim to be able to talk to animals anymore. She used to do that. The freakiest was when a bunch of alleycats showed up to scratch the living daylights out of some burglars that broke into our house. By the way, this is my younger sister Kourin. My seishi name is Nuriko. What's yours?"

"I will be known as Suzaku Shichiseishi Hotohori. I usually go by another name."

"Nice to meet you. Anyway, we were all talking about playing a game, right?" How 'bout we play seishis and miko?" nii-sama suggested.

"How would we play that?" I asked.

"Well, the seishi are supposed to protect the miko, right?" nii-sama started to explain.

"We will just pretend you are the miko and we are the seishi protecting you while you look for the other seishi," Hotohori continued.

"I think that's a great idea!" I was more than willing to be the miko. Even if it was just for child's play during one afternoon. I couldn't imagine anyone who wouldn't.

"Okay. Let's pretend we're at that bandit-infested Mt. Leikaku. There's a bunch of big boulders up ahead, so I'll go and check them to make sure no bandits are hiding under them!" nii-sama said as he ran to the big rocks around the garden. He started lifting them up and looking under them, as if bandits would be hiding there.

"Aren't you going to follow him as back-up?" I asked Hotohori.

"No, I think your brother is a bit eager to show off his strength. I do not want to rain on his parade," Hotohori answered.

"Yeah, I think that if it was a female seishi that got that power, she wouldn't flaunt it like that. But hey, my brother's not going to be acting like a girl anytime soon, right?" I turned to look at Hotohori. He just had this weird faraway look in his eyes, but he was still looking at me in this different way. It was weird, but I liked it.

"Hotohori?"

"Yes?"

"I think you're beautiful."

"Thank you. I know. A lot of people tell me that. However..."

"What?"

"I am lonely most of the time."

"I'm sorry to hear that. It must be difficult."

" Somehow, I believed that the miko would be the only one to be able to end my sadness."

"Really?" I didn't know what to say. I could feel myself blush.

"Will you be my empress?"

"Hey, don't you think we're a little too young for that stuff?" nii-sama piped up. How in the world could two kids be so wrapped up in each other? We didn't even notice that my brother was done turning over the mini-boulders in the garden.

"Saihitei-sama!" We heard some men yell out.

"Quick, get out of here before they see you!" Hotohori hurriedly told us. We didn't know why, we just obeyed him. My brother started climbing over the wall again and I followed him. "When could I see you again?" he asked with pleading eye as he touched my arm.

"If we see you playing here in the garden tomorrow, we'll drop in again." I answered as I took his hand. Our hands were clasped tightly for a second, then gradually slipped away as I climbed higher.

"That was some adventure, huh, Kourin," nii-sama asked me once we were out of the garden and back on the city streets.

"Yeah," I answered weakly. I still felt weird.

"Oh, Kourin, snap out of it! I promise tomorrow we'll try to go back."

"Okay."

"Jeez, you're still spaced out! Come on, I'll race you. Last one to the store's a rotten niku manju!" nii-sama sang out as he ran off. I happily followed. I thought I lost him in a crowd when we were near the store. Eventually, I saw his purple hair across the road.

"Nii-sama!" I called out as I ran forward to him. Unfortunately, I didn't see the speeding horse-driven cart heading my way.

More notes: Kourin's supposed-to-be seishi ability is the ability to communicate with animals. Why that? Well, If that was the case, it could have just been dismissed as some childish phase Kourin was going through. (Insert what-if sitch):

*Tama-neko jumps over to Kourin's shoulder while the Suzaku Shichiseishi are walking around Eiyou*

Tama-neko: Kourin-chan, I think Mitsukake-kun finds that girl over there at the niku manju stand rather cute.

Kourin (mentally to Tama-neko): Oh yeah? Why?

Tama-neko: He keeps looking over there. His head nearly knocked me off his shoulder once. And besides, I could sense higher frequency bandwaves.

Kourin(out loud): What the heck are higher frequency bandwaves?!

*the rest of the seishi look at her, puzzled*

Kourin: Oops.

If they were still kids:

Nuriko: I wonder what I'm getting for my birthday?

Kourin: Let me find out! (looks at a bird on the windowsill, who flies away and comes back after a few minutes) Remember that ball you wanted yesterday at that stall around the corner?

Nuriko: Yeah.

Kourin: Mama and Papa just bought it for you.

Nuriko (raises eyebrows): How would you know?

Kourin: A little birdie told me.

Does it feel weird to write fics that have myself in it? Yes.