Masaka: You're kidding! I don't believe it! and other such exclamations of disbelief.
Sugoi: Awesome (not like, "radical, dude", but truly awe-some, incredible, extraordinary, stronger than amazing or what have you)
Daijoubu: it's okay; or, if used as a question, "is it/are you okay?"

"Hey, Miaka!" Yui said sharply. Miaka snapped out of her reverie to see her best friend staring at her sternly. Yui's face softened. "Sorry, but I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes. Class is over. We have to go home now."

"Oh, no! Shinboku-sempai!" Miaka gasped as she tried desperately to gather her things as quickly as possible.

"Miaka? What are you talking about?"

"Shinboku-sempai asked me to meet him after school, to continue our conversation from lunch," Miaka answered as the two girls went to their lockers and picked up their shoes.

"Oh, so I assume it went well, then."

"He remembers, Yui-chan!" Miaka said, turning to Yui with excitement. "He remembers some things about being a seishi! He dreamt things that he couldn't have known otherwise."

"That's wonderful, Miaka," Yui smiled. "Of course, you know what this means."

"Yui-chan?"

"If Nuriko has been reincarnated, then Tamahome..."

Miaka's eyes widened as she completed the thought. Tamahome could be somewhere nearby, as well! She would have to mention this to her brother later. He and Tetsuya were already looking into the phenomenon of the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho with the Ancient History Club they had founded on campus. They would love the added mystery and challenge of finding reincarnated seishi.

"You'll really have to tell me all the details later," Yui said as she and Miaka parted for the evening. Miaka rushed up the stairs to the roof. As she opened the door that led outside, she practically collided with Hidori who had simultaneously opened the door from the other side.

"Oh! Yuuki-san! I was afraid you weren't going to come. I'm really glad you made it," Hidori said with a smile.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Miaka apologized. She held out Hidori's handkerchief. "Here. I couldn't return this to you earlier. Thank you."

Hidori shook his head in protest. "No, you hang on to it. It's okay. I don't need it for the time being anyway." He paused shyly, unsure of where to begin. "I'd like you to tell me more about this past that we had..."

There, on the roof, Miaka tried to briefly explain the events of the book world to Hidori. She told him of the legend of Suzaku no Miko and the seven seishi, of which he had been one.

"Nuriko," he murmured, deep in thought. "Suzaku seishi. And I had super-human strength...that's how I could move the boulder..."

She told him of Nakago, and how he had manipulated her best friend into turning against her. She told him of her relationship with Tamahome, and their love for one another. Finally, she told him of the final battle between Suzaku and Seiryuu, and how Tamahome had succeeded in killing Nakago with the other seishi's help. Of the things she neglected to mention, the fact that the story took place in a book was one of them. She also spared Hidori of the story of Kourin's death and Nuriko's subsequent reaction.

"So, if you and I have managed to be reborn, Tamahome must surely be out there somewhere too, right?" Hidori said pensively. Miaka nodded, ignoring for now the fact that Hidori was misled about her own status.

"Yes. My brother and his friend are members of the Ancient History Club at their university, and I'm going to ask them about this right away. They'll be so interested in trying to track Tamahome down."

"And I'll help. Whatever you need me to do, I'll volunteer," Hidori said decisively.

Miaka couldn't believe her good fortune. Here Nuriko had practically fallen into her lap, and, in the same fashion as his previous self, was determined to help her find happiness with Tamahome. "Arigatou, Shinboku-sempai," she said softly, her eyes once again filling with tears.

"Now, now," Hidori said, smiling, in the same conspiratorial voice Miaka had heard Nuriko use on more than one occasion. "I think we've been through enough that you can call me by my first name, ne? Call me Hidori, please."

Miaka beamed at Hidori. "Hai. And please call me Miaka."

"Masaka! Nuriko has been reborn and is a student at your high school?!" Keisuke shouted at the other end of the pay phone from which Miaka had called him.

"Hn, and he's volunteered to help us find Tamahome if he's been reborn as well," Miaka added cheerfully, sharing a smile with Hidori, who stood next to her.

"Well, hold on, Tetsuya and I�ll pick you two up right away! Later!"

"So, how long have you lived here in Tokyo? You mentioned that you were new here," Miaka asked Hidori as the two waited for Keisuke to show up.

"I've been here for two years, actually. I was born and raised in Yokohama, though."

"Have you got any brothers or sisters?"

"No, it's just me and my mom and dad, though they're divorced. I live with my mom right now. And my grandmother lives with us, too."

I see, Miaka thought. So Kourin's not in this world with Nuriko.

When Keisuke and Tetsuya finally arrived, they leaped out of the car and immediately swarmed Hidori, examining him with awe.

"Ahhh, Miaka, kawaii! He looks great, so pretty, even as a boy!" Keisuke gushed as he looked down at the bewildered high-school senior.

"Mi-Miaka? What on earth is he talking about?" Hidori asked, squirming uncomfortably under Keisuke's gaze.

Miaka grabbed Keisuke's ear and yanked him down to her level to speak. "Onii-chan," she growled sternly into his ear, "I haven't told Hidori everything yet! He doesn't know he used to cross-dress. Don't embarrass him!"

"He even talks like a man this time around. Amazing," Keisuke whispered back. "I'd never believe it if I didn't see it right before me."

"Ah, Hidori-kun," Tetsuya interjected smoothly, leading the boy to his car. "I apologize for my friend's behavior. We're just a little excited to meet the re-incarnation of a friend of Miaka's. We have some familiarity of the legend, and we're anxious to find out what you know."

A little later, inside the Ancient History Club's headquarters, Keisuke was the first to speak. "Hidori-kun, have you ever heard of the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho?"

Hidori frowned as he thought. "No, it doesn't sound familiar. Should it?"

Keisuke exchanged glances with Miaka, hoping for her permission to tell Hidori the truth about the situation. When she acquiesced, he continued to speak. "Well, what you've been told about past lives is true for the most part, but it's not the whole story." He then took a deep breath and attempted to explain the magical book that had swallowed his sister up and made her its heroine six months earlier, watching Hidori's face carefully for a reaction. For the most part Hidori listened quietly, his face showing no expression except for the occasional arched eyebrow.

"Sugoi," Hidori finally breathed, astonished, when Keisuke had finished. He exhaled as though he had been holding his breath throughout the story. "This, this....legend you're telling me -- it's something else!" Hidori shook his head in disbelief. "It's not like me to believe such a crazy story, this isn't practical, yet how could I have dreamed what you describe if it weren't true?" He glanced in turn at the others assembled there. "But if I was just a character in a book, two-dimensional, fictional...how is that I'm here? Why have I been reborn?"

Tetsuya decided to field the question. He'd been mulling over that very mystery since Keisuke had come to him with the news that Nuriko had been discovered. "The truth is, we're not sure, Hidori-kun." He levelled a meaningful gaze at Hidori. "Maybe it's part of your duty here to find out yourself."

Hidori returned Tetsuya's gaze intensely before bursting into an uncharacteristically feminine giggle. "That's the most pathetic cop-out I've heard in a long while!"

Tetsuya joined in on the laughter while Keisuke and Miaka exchanged a glance and smiled in the light of the moment.

For the next hour Keisuke and Tetsuya grilled Hidori on virtually every detail of his life, from his birthdate, birthplace and astrological sign to his blood type, family tree two generations back, distinguishing characteristics, and prominent events in his memory. Hidori handled all of the poking and prodding good-naturedly, although both he and Miaka blushed when he was asked to open his shirt so that the two university students could examine his chest for a seishi character.

"So, all the information you gathered from me will help you in locating the other seishi if they have been reborn?" Hidori asked as he rebuttoned his shirt and Keisuke finished scribbling down their findings. No trace of seishi character or abilities, Keisuke noted in the margin.

"Yes," Tetsuya answered, pushing up his sunglasses. "We have to examine it more closely later, but there may be patterns in your life experience here that could be repeated with other seishi if they turn up later. In the meantime, though," he added, looking at his watch, "we'd better get you home."

As the foursome made their way out the door, Keisuke turned back to look the Ancient History Club's makeshift desk, cluttered with newspaper clippings and scattered notes jotted down in a rush. He sighed as he followed the others outside. We�ve found our Nuriko, he thought. Is anybody else here? How do we find them?

Miaka sighed to herself as she gathered up her things after lunch. She had been looking forward to seeing Hidori again, to share more of their experiences in the book world. But she hadn't been able to spot him at all this lunch period.

"I'm sure he'll come to talk with you about the book later," Yui had said after Miaka finished telling her what had happened the previous day. "It is an awful lot to handle, after all. Maybe he's just confused and needs time to think."

Disappointed, Miaka was about to join Yui in heading to the school when she felt someone's breath warm against her ear. "Meet me on the roof after school," Hidori whispered to Miaka, then sprinted off to join his friends before she could respond. Nonetheless, she smiled to herself before running ahead to catch up with Yui. He would talk with her after all. Things were looking good.

Today, on the roof, Miaka herself was early. She gazed out over the school grounds as she waited for Hidori to arrive, and went over in her mind what she planned to say to him.

"Konnichiwa, Miaka," Hidori greeted Miaka as he stepped out onto the roof.

Miaka gave a start and swung around to face him. "Hidori!" she gasped, all her carefully planned words fleeing from memory. Shimatta, she thought, cursing herself for becoming distracted.

"I wanted to apologize for not meeting with you at lunch," Hidori said as he strolled closer to meet Miaka. "I ate alone today, inside. I had some things I wanted to think about."

"Hidori, daijoubu?" Miaka asked, concerned.

Hidori grinned suddenly and waved his hand to indicate no troubles. "Oh, I'm fine! Don't get so serious on me! You were always taking me so seriously..." his voice trailed off as he realized he was referring to his past life. Miaka's breath caught in her throat as he looked away uncomfortably.

When Hidori faced Miaka again, his expression had become serious. He stepped closer to Miaka. "I...I had another dream last night," he said quietly. "About my past life."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." he turned to stand next to her and placed his back against the railing that enclosed the roof. "In the dream, we were in Tamahome's village, and his family had been killed. He went to bury them and you followed to see how he was. When you came back, you were crying, and I held you while you cried." Hidori looked up into the sky as he spoke.

Miaka nodded, overwhelmed as the grief over the deaths returned to her, as vivid as ever. She blinked to clear her tear-blurred vision, and swallowed past the lump that had gathered in her throat. "Yes, I remember."

"I wanted to cry too, but I didn't for your sake, because I wanted to be strong for you," Hidori continued, his voice barely audible. "And as I held you, it felt so out of place, but suddenly I wanted to be able to hold you like that forever." He tilted his head back and sighed softly before turning to look at Miaka again. He gazed intently at her for a long moment as she attempted not to blush without success. "Ah, Miaka.... I loved you, didn't I? In that life. I... fell in love with you."

End Part 2

Author's Notes: The concept of Nuriko beginning to fall for Miaka right around the time that Tamahome's family was killed was introduced to me in a fanfic by Cind-chan called Shattered Images, and I wholeheartedly agree with her analysis. So I used it. Hope she doesn't mind!

Oh, and I don't know anything about Yokohama, Hidori's birthplace. It was just near Tokyo on the map, is all *shrugs*

And now: Me no own Nuriko and Miaka and Yui and all fine Fushigi Yuugi characters. Me just like to play with them. Me not harm anyone and me not make any money from this. Please no sue me. Belong to Watase Yuu they do.
Shinboku Hidori, on the other hand, is my own creation, so if you want to use him for anything (like, why would you?), please ask me first, 'kay?