Author’s Note
: Pretty, pretty, Beautiful Hotohori! (*giggles in time with “Too Sexy”
Hotohori-sama’s themesong*) Oh man I’m going to have so much fun with the
Fushigi Yuugi characters!
Elvira Licuanan
*****
“No.”
“Oh C’’mon
Jericah!” they wheedled, “It’s just a little shopping trip!”
“Nothing
that would have Yvonne and
“Oh c’mon,
you don’t have to hang around with them you know.” Said Meg.
“No way,
never and no. In that order.” Jericah shook her head and crossed her arms. She
looked immovable.
“We promise
to keep you away from them…!” said Andrea
“I heard that
there would be nice candles there,” said Yuuki, trying to get to the pyromaniac
side of her older friend. “Various candles and incense on sale!”
Jericah
actually looked interested. She seemed to mull it over and Yuuki started her
victory dance.
“No.” said
Jeri suddenly, causing Yuuki to fall flat on her face. She glared back up to
the inconstant youth from her prone position on the floor.
“Jeri” said
Erika in an even voice, “It would look odd if you won’t come. Besides” she
looked closer at her friend. “What would you do for the whole day while we’re
out?”
“Sleep, eat,
drink, make merry” said Jericah. “Though not necessarily all at the same time.”
“Oh
Jericah-niisan!” whined Yuuki. “c’mon, will ya?
Puh-leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze?”
“…” Jericah
sweatdropped at her friend.
“Puh-leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze?” followed Meg.
“…!” the
sweatdrop grew larger as she turned to look at Meg.
“Puh-leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze?”
was Andrea’s contribution.
“…!!” was
the only thing that Jericah could say to *that*.
The three of
them looked at each other and then said,
“Puh-leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze
Jericah-sama!”
“…?!?” was
Jericah’s reaction.
She turned
to look at each of them; the three of them looked glassy eyed and had little sparkles
shimmering about. Erika was behind them, fighting a dangerously loud giggle.
“*sigh*
Okay.” Said Jericah finally.
*****
“You’re here!” waved Syl excitedly from bottom
of the stairs.
Anne and De smiled
back at them and looked definitely ready to go shopping. Yvonne looked and
raised her eyebrow at the fact that Jeri looked like a sullen guy.
Erika waved
back and ran down to chatter excitedly with Yuuki, Meg, De, Anne and Syl. Jeri
and Andrea, however, took their time walking down the stairs. They turned a
look at each other and sighed.
“C’mon!”
called Syl.
*****
They had to take a bus to get
there, surprisingly.
“I thought
we were just going to a nearby place or something, “ muttered a queasy-looking
Jeri.
“Some of the
best bazaars are held in that town,” said Syl excitedly, looking like a 6-year
old on a trip to the candy store. “We have just gotta go there!”
“Their
bazaars hold just about everything possible!” exclaimed Syl as she looked over
a brochure.
“Everything?
Like what?” asked Jeri, : And why am I the only one who doesn’t know about
it…?:
“Really hard
to find books” contributed Anne with a dreamy smile.
“Wonderful
works of Literature not found anywhere else.” Said De, equally dreamy.
“Books on
the basics of occult.” Murmured Erika from her nearby seat.
“Anime stuff
direct from
“
“Marvelous
examples of Angel figurines” said Syl with a sunshiny smile.
Jeri
sweatdropped. “Whatever”
*****
Jericah
flipped a strangely shaped candle about. It was shimmering in it’s own unlit
light with a multitude of colors that had originally caught her attention. She
looked back at the fawning shopkeeper, an odd collection of forced smiles,
greedy rubbing of hands and antique Chinese clothing.
“From where
did you say this Candle was made?” she asked, pointing at the merchandise.
He bowed
deeply again and said, “Oh! It comes from the Ancient of all Ancient Chinese
ruling houses, the ruling of Seishuku Heika-sama.” He bowed again, “This candle
was made by his chief Wife Heika-sama Houki during the war which separated the
two. It is a magical candle infused with the wishes and hopes of a lost and
lonely empress, yearning for her beloved emperor, and father to her son.”
Jericah
nodded, not really listening that hard. She had been wont to study history,
Japanese and Chinese History mostly, and she could not remember any ruling
house that had a “Seishuku” as their emperor. She decided that the story that
this fool was spouting was made up to impress customers. But still, the candle
was beautiful enough, royally made or not, and Jeri was interested.
“How much?”
she said.
He quoted
his price with a shrug of his shoulders. Jeri whistled.
“I don’t
think so.” She said, putting it down. She made motions to leave, and suddenly
the shopkeeper quoted a price perfectly half of the original thing he said.
Before turning around, Jeri smiled to herself. The shopkeeper did just like she
knew he would.
As she paid
the man, Jeri shrugged to herself. The price she paid was twice the price of the
candle, she knew, but it was better then quad that number.
With a
bright smile, she bowed again to the shopkeeper and walked out of the shop with
her purchase in hand and a smile in her heart.
*****
Andrea
looked around the corner. A few shoppers milled about, but all in all the side
street looked empty. She heaved a sigh and walked out into the open.
She had been
almost running away from Syl’s constant prodding. She lost the older woman in
the midst of some angel figurines and had finally found a place to hide.
Looking
around the shops, she realized that the reason why not many people went to this
part of the bazaar was that all the things sold here were antiques, mostly high
priced. Andrea just shrugged to herself and settled for looking at the wares
from afar.
A familiar
looking figure strode out of a nearby tent.
Long dark hair and the same dark blue shirt…”Jericah!”
The older
girl turned at the mention of her name and waved at Andrea. “OI, what are you
doing here?”
Andrea
shrugged, “Sorta running away.”
Jeri laughed
and said, “Oh I know what you mean.” She lifted up the plastic bag she was
holding, “I’ve been shopping, you?”
“Wandering.”
Said Andrea with an idle shrug. They resumed walking and she added, “Don’t go
much for shopping you know”
“Yeah.”
Nodded Jericah.
They
wandered around aimlessly for a while.
*****
“Saa…” said Yuuki as she closed the deal with
the shop’s proprietor. “Ikiru ne?”
The
shopkeeper quoted a price. Yuuki shrugged. It was pretty hefty but this Original
Seiyuu signed album was worth it. She just tossed the money over to the counter
and made out with her purchase.
True to her
word, Meg was still outside scooping out every possible male in a 5-mile
radius. Yuuki just shook her head and
beckoned. “Oi, Meg, let’s go!”
“Why are you
in a hurry?” she asked as they retraced their steps.
“We promised
Ms. Paladin that we’d be at the Chinese restaurant come
“Fine,
whatever.” Shrugged Meg. She tossed her hair to the side, (To the delight of
some male passerby) and said, “I *am* getting hungry after all.”
“Wow,” mused
Yuuki cynically, “She remembered being hungry despite being bombarded with
males.”
Meg stuck
her tongue out and said in a petulant voice, “Heh, guys aren’t the only things
in my mind you know.”
“Really?”
Yuuki raised her eyebrow at that. “Oh yeah, it’s filled with boys, men and
gentlemen.”
“Precisely,
“ retorted Meg as the Chinese Restaurant grew closer.
*****
“Is this the restaurant?”
“Yep, this
is the one that Ms. Paladin pointed out to us, yeah.” Murmured Jericah. She
pointed to some figures within the restaurant and said, “Look, Erika is already
in there with Ms. Genkai and Ms. Dexter.”
“And Ms.
Sorales and Mr. Gentian.” Added Andrea
Jericah
shrugged, “Whatever.”
The two
pushed open the glass door and stood a while in the entrance, getting used to the
cool breeze of the aircon. What a difference from the hot air outside, they
both thought.
Erika was
waving them over and Andrea waved back. Jericah smiled and pulled Andrea
forward as they looked the place over.
It was
western style Chinese restaurant. Western style, chairs etc, bnt the smell of
distinctly Chinese food wafted into the air, whetting both of the girls’
appetite. They had been walking since that morning and they barely had
breakfast. Their stomach soon reminded them of this fact, grumbling almost
audibly.
Sitting
down, (With Jericah trying to be the farthest from
Later on,
when Yuuki and Meg arrived they grew a bit noiser and a bit worried.
“Ne,” was
Jeri’s exclamation, “Doko wa Paladin-sensei desu ka?”
“Eh?” went
Yvonne from the other end of the table. “What in the world did you say.”
Before Jeri
could retort, Erika forestalled disaster by answering, “She’s asking where Ms.
Paladin is, in Nippongo.”
“Then why
didn’t she just say so?” sniffed Yvonne.
Jericah
clenched and unclenched her fists under the table in an effort to control
herself. It was a losing battle as she soon stood up and excused herself to go
to the bathroom.
Andrea and
Erika shared a look but before they could react, Syl finally arrived. “I’m so
sorry for being late.” She apologized profusely. “I got so interested in the
angel figurines that I forgot the time. “ she took a look around and said, “Oh,
where is Jericah?”
Erika and
Andrea shared another look and said, “Ne…she’s in the ladies room.”
“Well…”
thought Syl for a while. “Let’s order for her okay?”
“Yeah,” said
Meg, “She’ll eat anything”
“Except chopsuey.”
Added Yuuki, the rest of the friends nodded.
“Why not?”
asked De, genuinely curious.
“She hates
vegetables.” Answered her friends in chorus.
De and Anne
could only laugh in response.
*****
After
sufficiently recovering in the ladies room and settling down to ea, Jericah
finally forgot how mad she was and decided to make the most of this outing.
She loved
the food she was eating, (although she didn’t have *any* idea what she was
eating. But still, it didn’t have vegetables so it passed by her standards.)
fighting over a pair of shomai with chopsticks, she turned to look at Anne and said, “did you get to buy anything?”
Anne nodded
brightly and said, “Yeah, there was this really great set of work figurines
that I saw and they were spectacular. I brought several, see?” she pointed
towards the plastic that was on the table. “I just had to get them.”
Jericah had
won the shomai fight with Yuuki and was munching happily on the shomai. Anne
smiled a bit at this and turned to Syl asking, “What about you Syl, what about
those Angel figurines of yours?”
Syl shook
her head, as if not able to believe it. “The ones shown here are magnificent!
The finest that I have ever seen.”
“Really?”
asked Yuuki, “They’re that good?”
Syl nodded
energetically, “would you guys like to see?”
Four pairs
of eagerly nodded heads, one faintly shaking one. (No prizes for who doesn’t
wanna go)
*****
They were
touring the store. Syl was basically poring over each figurine with a child-like
interest that the five bored teenagers found it hard to get mad at her. But
still, there were limits.
Meg and
Yuuki quickly split the scene by leaving for the washroom. Erika was coerced by
Anne to look for some books. All that was left with Syl was Jericah and Andrea.
Jeri was
soon showing signs of boredom.
Syl pointed
to a nearby figurine of St. Michael and Andrea leaned forward for a closer
look. She nodded, it was very good and as Syl was saying, it was pretty good
replica of St. Michael… wait, how would Syl know what St. Michael Looked like?
“I just do”
said Syl, answering her unspoken question.
Andrea could
only stare. Suddenly she felt *very* alone. Looking around, she realized that
Jericah had used the distraction to go to a nearby store. Andrea was alone with
Syl…
Andrea’s
mind raced at the thought. She never felt comfortable with Syl or any teacher
for that matter. But she lived this far because she had learned not to directly
confront them. Conserve energy, she
would always say.
Like an
angel of Mercy, Erika reappeared momentarily and she called out, clinging to
Erika’s arm like she was a life saver, “Erika, would you please buy me
some…er…coke? Yeah, coke.”
Erika gave
her an odd look, “I though you don’t drink softdrinks?”
Andrea clung
to her tighter, ignoring the odd look that Syl and other passers by were giving
her, “Yeah, but I want to Coke now.” An part of her told her that she was
acting like a brat but she didn’t care, she needed to be with someone else
other than a teacher! She looked up at Erika, hoping that the older girl would
get a clue.
She seemed
to get it and said, “Alright” she looked behind her and called, “Ms. Syl?
Wee’ll be going for Coke okay?”
Syl smiled back
and said, “Oh of course. Just be at the bus stop before six alright?”
“Yes ma’am”
They echoed.
“Thank you”
breathed Andrea once they were gone.
“Don’t sweat
it.” Smiled Erika
*****
Later on, on
the bus, the ten travelers jittered and jattered with the rather crazy driving
of the bus driver.
Yvonne and
Behind them
Anne and De compared the prices here and in the city, smiling a bit but after a
while they quieted down, they too succumbed to the lull of the early evening
ride.
Erika had
fallen asleep at her seat with Andrea playing a video game quietly beside her.
The younger girl was so focused on the game that she didn’t at least look
drowsy. Along their feet lay Erika’s bags of stuff that she had brought.
Meg and
Yuuki were soon to follow Erika’s example, after tiring of talking about hentai
things and giving each other green jokes. Yuuki was staring blankly out the
window, fiddling idly a pen in her hand. Meg was texting somebody on her
cellphone but was soon yawning and leaning on Yuuki’s shoulders.
It wasn’t so
sure if Syl was asleep. She had been resting for sometime now, and her eyes
were stapled shut. From time to time she would open her eyes and look around
but those were rare.
Jericah, for
her part kept quiet in her seat, neither sleepy nor totally awake to the world.
The earphones plugged into her ears could probably explain that. For Jericah,
the world was passing by her in the window while Weiss Kreuz, XJapan, South
Border, Parokya ni Edgar and her other favorite rock bands rocked her world, or
at least numbing her mind and auditory senses.
Right now XJapan’s “Forever Love” (The original, not the one that had
been kidnapped and mutilated beyond recognition) pumped into her ears, making
her feel particularly angsty.
The day
wasn’t a disaster really, despite what Andrea might think. She did get a few
nice things and got to spend some nice quality time with her favorite
teachers…well some of her her favorite teachers. Yvonne and
The song
winded down into it’s angsty close and Jericah let out a sigh as Weiss Kreuz
suddenly bombarded her ears with “It’s Too Late” pounding to smithereens the
dark thoughts that kept chasing each other down within her mind. Sighing, she
turned to look discreetly at Andrea who was playing the video game until now
with unwavering concentration.
She had
wondered vaguely why the younger girl was so adverse to the teacher, Syl in particular.
But knowing Andrea, there was probably a logical explanation for it. But, she
could at least talk to Anne or to De normally. Yvonne and
“No, no, no,
don’t cry!” the coda of the song burst in a Japanese accented English, a little
grating to her perfectionist English ears but she recognized a message
immediately. This was not a time to cry. This was the time to enjoy oneself and
try to ignore or leave behind the pain that you always carry with you.
She snuggled
closer into the chair and smiled as a new song started, fitting her mood as she
gazed discreetly at
“You give
love…a bad name!” screamed the lyrics.
“You got
that right.” She murmured.
***OWARI***
Oh gomen
gomen ne! I planned to put in the Fushigi Yuugi Characters along the way but I
was so angsty that I had totally forgotten! Gomen! I guess the only reference
in there is the candle that Jericah brought.
Again Gomen
ne!