Disclaimer: I don't even own a *candy bar* let alone Fushigi Yuugi.

A/N: Here's chapter one! Finally, we meet some reincarnations and get to have some fun at people's expenses, but hey, that's what fanfiction is about, ne? Well, some of the time anyway. So let's go!
Translation Note: The title of this chapter, "yoku ni yume" means "often in dream". My Japanese dictionary dialogue equivilant of "often in dreams" but I can't figure out how to do plurals, so..




CHAPTER ONE
YOKU NI YUME

Shinzou Itamu wasn't a problem child. He never had been, and probably never would be (except when he was put up to it by Kiraku, but that's another story). So he was extremely surprised when, in the middle of his Physics class, he was called to the principal's office.

"Shinzou Itamu, am I correct?" The aged principal asked, her smile obviously faked as she looked upon a friend of her most frequent visitor, Tozoku Kiraku. Itamu nodded.

"Hai, Isu-sensei." He said dutifully, trying not to start laughing like he knew Kiraku would have, were he there to hear that. Kiraku probably would've said something like, "no, the man on the moon." Actually, Itamu was kind of glad that Kiraku wasn't there. He got in more trouble when he was around both authority figures and Kiraku at the same time.

"Good. I want you to show our new student around the school. Shinzou Itamu, I'd like you to meet Hohoemi Karui, our new student, who has come here from Kyoto, Japan." The principal, Ms. Isu, introduced, gesturing to a young man whom Itamu hadn't noticed before.

Where Itamu was tall, with shoulder-length brown hair and amber eyes, Hohoemi Karui was short and thin, with long, dark-violet hair, and rosy-violet eyes. He was also probably younger than him.

Karui's eyes lit up when he looked at Itamu, and he smiled, bowing to him. "Konnichiwa.. yoi e ni deau anata."
The new boy looked nervous, and Itamu smiled reassuringly.

"Good to meet you, too." Itamu said, bowing back. He felt odd. Usually he didn't feel too comfortable around new people or strangers, but what was odd was that with Karui, he felt completely at ease. He supposed it would have frightened him if he stopped to think about it, but he didn't. At least, not now.

They exited the principal's office together, only to be greeted by Itamu's friend, Tozoku Kiraku, in the hallway.

"Hey Itamu!" He said, giving him a nod and a smile, then turning to Karui. "Who the fuck's this?"

"K-konnichiwa," Karui said, smiling a little. "Watashi wa Hohoemi Karui."

"Oookay.." Said the non-Japanese-speaking Kiraku. "Do ya speak English?"

"Hai.. uhh.. yes." Karui replied, still a bit nervous. "I'm sorry.. my name is Karui Hohoemi."

"Yeah. I'm Kiraku Tozoku." Kiraku said with a grin. "Whatcha doin' out here, Itamu? It's class time, ain't it?"

"It is. In which case I wonder why *you're* out here.." Itamu teased, smiling. Kiraku mock-glared at him. "You're skipping math again? You'll fail if you keep it up, you know."

"You think I fuckin' *care*?" Kiraku asked. "'Sides, it's more fun seein' you skippin than going to class."

"I'm not skipping. I was asked to show Karui around the school. He's new." The brown-haired youth explained, "and that's what I should be doing."

"I'll go with you!" Kiraku said. "That way I'll have an excuse to be out of class, and I won't get fuckin' caught!"

"Umm.. yeah." Itamu smiled reassuringly at Karui, as if to say, don't worry, he's harmless. Karui just stared at Kiraku for a few more seconds before averting his gaze to the signs next to the classrooms, which bore the teachers' names and the room numbers. He blinked as he came face-to-face with one of the teachers, a tall brown-haired man in his mid-twenties, known as Isha-san.

"Tozoku, Shinzou, I didn't expect to find you two out here." Isha Yoi joked, his pale blue-violet eyes smiling even when he didn't. "Ah, and who is this?"

"Oh, yeah. Isha-san, this is Hohoemi Karui. Karui, this is Isha-san, the school's doctor." Itamu introduced with a little smile.

"Yes, I'm also the one who catches people who skip class, as well." Yoi said, giving Kiraku The Look (tm) as he spoke. "But I'm usually pretty lenient. I'm not too old to have forgotten my high school. As for college... I think you'll find that *those* years are in my very, *very* selective memory."

Karui laughed nervously. "It's nice to meet you," He said in his thinly accented English.

"The pleasure is mine, I assure you," Yoi replied with a smile. "But now I have to go.. there are worse people to catch skipping than *you*, Kiraku."

"What? There're worse people in this school than me? Fuckin' WHERE?" Kiraku asked, smiling. Yoi grinned and walked away.

"So... where is my locker?" Karui asked tentatively, "it's number two-twelve."

"Right by ours," Itamu said, wondering whether this was a coincidence or something more.. he dismissed the thought almost immediately. He didn't believe in fate. "Mine is two-fourteen, and Kiraku's is two-thirteen."

"Man, that's fuckin' *weird*." Kiraku said, "I thought someone said that locker was cursed or somethin'."

"And you believed it?" Itamu asked, mildly amused but not really surprised. Any locker that stayed free for more than a year was considered "cursed" in this school.

"Fuckin' NO." Kiraku said defensively. "C'mon, let's just go."

And go they went. Upstairs, to the locker. They were surprised to find that someone had taped a note to locker number two-twelve. It was written on plain white printer-paper, and there was a drawing of a flaming bird on the front, and on it was his name.. "Hohoemi Karui".

Karui picked the note off of the locker and opened it, then read it aloud: "The fire that burns for eternity. The love that I felt.. the sadness I endured.. this is my legacy.. as Suzaku no seishi Nuriko.."

"What do you think it means?" Itamu asked hesitantly, his amber eyes grown wide at the words.

"I think.. I think I know.." Karui said in a deadpan, halting voice, awed and alarmed at the same time. "But how.. how did he find me?"

"How did who find you?" Kiraku asked before Itamu could shush him. He sounded intrigued.. a new expression on the flame-haired boy.

"Him.." Karui whispered, his tone never deviating from before. "It could only be... Chichiri.. he's the only one before who.. who remembered.. but how did he find me here? I thought.. thought I had escaped this.." A tear slid down the side of his face, past the small mole under his eye, to catch on his chin for a moment before falling to the ground at his feet. "I thought I had escaped the past.. but now you.. and him.. it's all going to fall apart, isn't it? This peace that I had gained.. is all going to go up in flames.. oh, Suzaku.."

"Karui.." Kiraku moved forward to put a hand on the crying boy's shoulder, but Karui fell to his knees before he could, tears streaming down his face as he found himself too weak to stand any longer. "Karui, who the fuck's 'Chichiri' and what the FUCK are you talkin' about?"

"Kiraku.." Itamu put his hand on the other boy's shoulder to calm him, then knelt before Karui. "Karui, can you tell us what's wrong?"

"No.." Karui replied. "I only know.. some things.. the whole story is something that.. only HE knows.."

"He? You mean 'Chichiri', right?" Kiraku asked, watching Karui with jade-green eyes.

"Yes.. Chichiri.." Karui replied, standing shakily. "I know his name but.. not his face. I know nothing.. except that I don't.. don't want this past.. that he's trying to give me.."

"A past?" Itamu questioned, his amber eyes widening. "Karui, you aren't making any sense.."

"I know, it doesn't make sense to you," Karui said, then paused. "Hell, it doesn't make sense to ME. Maybe none of us will ever understand. But this is important. To quote a song, 'this is dead or alive, there's no script.' That's how important this is."

"Karui.." Kiraku started, but the smaller boy cut him off.

"I'm not crazy." He said slowly. "I'm not crazy.. this is real. The dreams I had.. are all real, aren't they?"

Suddenly, Karui walked away, as though chasing the apparition of a dream, leaving Itamu and Kiraku behind him to wonder what was happening.

~*TBC...*~


Kagami no mukougawa
Shiranai ore ga tatteiru
Fukisusabu hageshii arashi no you ni

(At the other side of the mirror
Exists an unknown "me"
It's like a storm that blows intensely)

--"Dead or Alive ~ Toushin" from the Yu Yu Hakusho soundtrack.


A/N: Wow.. that's all I have to say. I didn't write that.. did I? I like their names! Do you know who everyone is by now? *lol* I'd tell, but I'd rather make you suffer. Obviously none of the above is Chichiri... ^^;;;

NAGGING QUESTIONS OF CHAPTER ONE

Why does Chichiri seem like a bad guy?
{I don't know.}

Why did I choose "Dead or Alive ~ Toushin" by Nozomu Sasaki (the voice of Yusuke on Yu Yu Hakusho) as the theme song for the first couple of chapters of this?
{'Cuz it's a cool song and it really fits.. you'll see.}

What is Karui's ISSUE?
{Yanno.. I'm not quite sure yet.}

Does Karui remember the past life or WHAT?
{Sorta??? Umm.. I'll get back to you on that..}

Who REALLY wrote that note? Was it Chichiri or what?
{I'm not telling. ;P It might not even have been Chichiri.. but who knows?}

WHY is Isha Yoi even in this chapter?
{Trust me.. we'll be seeing lots of him later.}

Who is the principal?
{Tai Yi-Jun. NO, just kidding. She's coming in LATER. The principal is random.}

Is Kiraku gonna be the badass?
{Yeah, but not as badass as Suboshi's reincarnation.. but we'll meet him later.}

Where am I going with this?
{That's for me to know and you to find out.}

Is this gonna end?
{Perhaaaaaapps...}




ISYAS AKUGI 1
-------------

Kiraku: Man, that's fuckin' WEIRD. I thought someone said that locker was cursed or somethin'..

*suddenly Peeves from Harry Potter flies out of the locker and attacks. Everyone runs except for Itamu*

Itamu: Hehehe. *holding a little projector in his hand*


ISYAS AKUGI 2
-------------

Karui: I'm not crazy..

Kiraku: YES YOU ARE!

*guys in white coats cart Karui off to the mental institution*


~*The REAL End of Chapter One*~