The sun shone down that day... the book I held in my hand was getting hard to read with the way the leaves cast their shadows across the paper. My head tilted back against the trunk of the tree I sat near, my eyes gazing up into the canopy of trees above. Perhaps it wasn't quite that thick of a gathering, but in the city, even a few trees were considered a lot. In this place... if you sat just right, faced a certain direction... it was like the city didn't exist. The only sounds were the birds cavorting in the branches nearby, the soft rustle of the wind through the trees...

"RYAN!!! I know you're here somewhere!"

And best friends who have the worst possible timing.

Sighing softly, I lowered my gaze, trying to ascertain what direction he was in. If I was lucky, I might have a bit of time to myself yet. As the tousled brown hair and mischievous green eyes peered out from behind one of the bushes, however, I realized that luck wasn't shining on me *that* brightly today. "Konnichiwa, Alan-kun." I rattled off the greeting without even thinking and pushed myself to stand, closing the book and setting it into my backpack. I never even saw the expression of confusion on his face, although I heard the faint sigh that came from him.

"Christ, Ry... do you *have* to study all the time? I don't speak Japanese and you know it." Walking over to me, he shoved his hands into the pockets of the worn denim jeans and clicked his tongue in disapproval. "You've only been in that language class a few months, yet I think you're starting to speak English less and less."

I shrugged, grinning as I looked up to him. "So sue me, I like it better. It's far more interesting and just sounds better than English." That much was the truth. I'd been entranced by the language ever since I'd first been introduced to anime a few years previous, and the single-minded drive to be able to watch and understand *without* subtitles was half of what drove me to learn. That, and the fact that no matter how I tried, I could never shake the feeling that I was seriously out of place here. The teasing never ended around my friends about my fascination with Japan and my 'anime hair'. No matter how the wind blew or what I was doing, it always went back to just the way it was... shaggy bangs falling to either side of my forehead and the typical braid that kept the long waves out of my way. It had originally been a very dark auburn, but someone mentioned to me once that if I stood just right in the sun, it looked nearly violet. I simply figured, why not? That night I coloured my hair, giving it a tint of deep violet. That was nearly five months ago... and for some reason that no one could quite understand (namely myself), it never grew out. It was easy enough to pass off that I'd continued to colour it. Not like anyone would believe me anyway.

Alan only shook his head, laughing to himself as I slung my backpack over one shoulder and turned to look at him. "I figured you'd be here, my sister asked me to come and find you." He smirked then, watching me with bemusement as my eyebrows threatened to merge with my hairline. "You're the only other person she knows who's as gung-ho about anime as she is and she just got her hands on a DVD set that she's been wanting for a while. She thought you might want to come and watch it." The look in his eyes made me narrow my gaze. That wasn't all there was to it, and he damned well knew better. "Besides," he continued. "I think she likes you."

That was it. I rolled my eyes, trying to be as polite as I could, but this bout of puppy-love that Sarah seemed to have for me was getting ridiculous. "For the love of the gods, Alan, she's only fifteen! I'm going to be turning 19 in the spring, do you *really* think this is such a good idea?"

He backed up a step, holding up his hands in a symbolic gesture of 'I give'. "Hey now. I didn't say it was a good idea, and she'll probably get over it once she starts making friends in high school. But for now, she thinks you're the only one she can talk to, and if I didn't trust you NOT to do anything, I wouldn't even bring it up."

"Of course I wouldn't do anything!" I shouted back at him, stunned that he would even *think* such a thing. "Ye gods, man, what kind of pervert do you think I am??"

"Easy, Ry... Like I said, I know better. But you like anime, she does too, and what's the harm? Besides, she's roped me into watching it as well and this way you two can discuss it between yourselves instead of her getting frustrated because I don't understand half of it. You're my defense on this one, man."

"Alright, alright." I chuckled, shaking my head as I moved towards him. "What time should I be over, then? I have to stop by my place and drop off a few things."

"Make it around 9 tomorrow morning. Apparently there's a LOT of this one, she says it'll pretty much be an all day thing."

I nodded, smiling to him. "That's good, then. The weekend starts tomorrow and I don't think I could pay much attention after the day I had. I'll see you then, Aniki." I started to walk away and could barely contain the laughter as I pictured his confused face and could literally see in my mind's eye his reaction. 'Here it comes,' I thought to myself. 'The stunned expression, the few moments of serious thought, the slow turn, and then...'

"What the hell does THAT mean??"

Waving one hand over my shoulder, I couldn't stop from laughing aloud. "Go look it up! Or ask your sister." I didn't turn around, just kept walking in the vague direction of home. I never really made a conscious effort to go anywhere, my feet usually knew the way on their own, giving me time to think.

The alarm clock was a startling presence in the morning, the sharp tones piercing the silence that was normally my bedroom. Rolling over, I reached for it to swat at the snooze, and nearly found myself on the floor, tangled in the sheets as if they were shackles. Batting at the nightstand, somehow I managed to find the clock and the repeating alarm finally fell silent. Only then did I get a good look at myself and brought a hand to my forehead, trying to shake the haze of sleep from my vision. My skin gleamed in the hint of morning rays that fell through the blinds, a thin sheen of sweat covering me. Was it a nightmare? My breathing was ragged, and even though I couldn't see my face, I could feel that my expression was one of fear. What had I been dreaming about?

Ten minutes later, after finally disengaging myself from the knots of my sheets, I staggered into the bathroom, beginning to run water for the shower I desperately needed. Glancing into the mirror, I nearly didn't recognize the haggard face that gazed back at me. "Ye gods, Ry..." I muttered to myself. "You look like hell." Within a few moments, my boxers lay in a heap on the ground and the steaming water was coursing over me, washing away the traces of whatever had caused such a reaction in me while I slept. By the time I emerged from my home in a plain pair of black jeans and a grey t-shirt, the nightmare was all but forgotten about, if that's what it truly was. The idea of relaxing for the day and doing nothing but watching an anime I'd never seen was definately becoming more and more appealing.

"Ryan!! Ohayo gozaimasu!"

As Alan turned to close the door behind me, he smirked, seeing his sister flinging herself across the room towards me, the twin braids of her mahogany hair flying out behind her. I was teaching her Japanese at her request, and apparently she didn't get to practice anytime except when I was around. "Ohayo, Imouto-chan! Ogenki desu ka?" I put my pack down on the floor and dropped to one knee, pulling out the 'TV munchies' that I had picked up on the way over. It was customary for the two (this time, three) of us to get anonymous chips, dips, candy and drinks and basically just camp out on the couch to watch anime. I looked up, seeing Sarah's confusion as she tried to find the words in her mind. "It means 'How are you?'," I said, smiling to her.

"Oh! Okay..." Her face lit up and then she brought a finger to her chin, looking up towards the ceiling. "Wait... don't tell me." I couldn't help but smile as I settled back a bit, watching her. Alan had given up on us and had already disappeared into the kitchen to grab the drinks. Finally, her blue eyes widened and she grinned at me. "Genki desu!"

I grinned, nodding to her as I stood, making my way towards the couch and my usual 'perch'. That's what they called the corner of the sectional couch where I usually sat on the back, my feet dangling over the edge of the cushions. "Very good! You're remembering a lot more."

"Yeah... but I still get stuck sometimes." Her shoulders slumped faintly as she made her way to her corner of the couch and flopped into it, curling her legs beneath her. I blinked, watching her and tilting my head to the side.

"Sarah, it's a hard language. I've been taking the course a few months now, and I get stuck all the time. Dont' worry about it, it'll start getting better." She only nodded as if half hearing my words, and there was an uncomfortable silence there until Alan came back in balancing three large glasses of iced tea.

"Okay! I've got tea, tea, and tea. Who wants what?" I couldn't help but chuckle, reaching up and snagging one of the glasses as he handed the other to Sarah. Within a few minutes, we were all situated and Sarah rose from the couch to put in the DVD. I tried to sit up a bit to see the cover, but it wasn't anything I recognized.

"Alright... you've got me. What is it?" I must have looked positively stupid, trying to crane my neck to catch sight of the box. All I could see was red and gold, possibly lettering, but it was too far away.

She turned, chuckling and tossing the box to me for a better look. "It's called Fushigi Yugi, I'd heard a lot of good things about it. Saw an episode playing at the video store so picked these up. Spent all of my birthday money."

I heard the muttered tone from her brother beside me. "And all of her money saved as well."

I lifted a brow, looking down at the box and opening it. Four DVD's in this set, the first one missing, as she'd already taken it. I picked up the booklet from within, flipping through it quickly and looking through the episode summaries. "Well... hope it was worth it, Sarah... we'll find out."

By the time the fourth DVD finished, 26 episodes had passed and I was sitting, still enraptured and more than a little bit stunned of what I had seen. It had started out slow, and at first I didn't think I'd care for it. But by the end of the second episode, I was entranced. None of us really talked through it... I was too intent on the storyline, Sarah was muddling through the subtitles and trying to pick out words and phrases that she knew, and Alan was giving running commentary that got him smacked upside the head with a pillow more than once. It was moving to me... and I found myself going over parts of it in my mind, even as Sarah noticed that it was already 3 in the afternoon.

"Hey Ry..." I looked up to Alan, who had the evillest smirk on his face that I'd ever seen. "You know... you bear a *striking* resemblance to Nuriko." I felt my face flush, and I'm not certain whether it was from the snide implication of his voice, or the fact that I'd been thinking the same thing.

"And just what the hell is THAT supposed to mean?" I stammered, looking at him with widened eyes.

He laughed, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back with that smug look of his. "I dunno... I think you'd look good dressed as a girl."

He never saw the pillow coming. I'm so glad he closes his eyes when he laughs. I yawned then, stretching faintly and curling up once more. "So... do we have enough time to watch the rest, or will it be too late?" I blinked then, seeing Sarah staring at me quizzically and looking through the booklet that came with the DVD set. "Nani?"

She shrugged faintly, slanting her gaze to her brother before looking back to me. Her remark wasn't meant to get a rise out of me, it was more along the lines of curiosity. "He's right you know... you *do* bear a resemblance to him." She kept her eyes on one page of the book after that, lifting a brow. "You even have the same birthday!"

I groaned, bringing my hands to my eyes. "Don't you start that too."

"I'm serious! You look like him, you have the same reactions at times... even your names are similar!"

At that, I blinked, shaking my head. "No way. At the beginning she... HE said his name was Kourin."

She lifted the book, showing it to me. "Maybe... but here, it says that his name is Cho Ryuuen."

"Gimme that." I snatched the book from her hand, looking at it as my eyes widened. "Cho Ryuuen..." I whispered, shaking my head faintly. This was just too unreal.

"You even have the same purple eyes... and the birthmark under your left eye."

This was starting to scare me. I didn't know why, but it was all just too much to think about. How on earth could so much be similar? I think Sarah saw my discomfort then, and stopped her brother from retorting when she stood up to start the second half of the story. "Let's just watch the rest..." I nodded, agreeing with her as I put the booklet down with a trembling hand and prepared to lose myself in the story once again.

As I walked home that night, I was numb. Darkness had fallen quite some time ago, and both Sarah and Alan had wanted me to just stay there. She had known there was something wrong, and even Alan, as thick as he is, saw that something wasn't quite right. How could I explain it? How could an anime... a STORY... hit me so deeply? The second half was even worse on me than the first... I was reduced to silent tears several times, and even though Sarah did the same, I normally didn't get that emotional over these things.

"They were reborn afterward... what if you are Nuriko reborn?"

"It's an anime, Sarah... a cartoon... nothing more."

But the coincidences... that many?? Watching it, I knew what would happen almost before it actually occurred. It was frightening. I'd never even HEARD of this anime before today, how could that be?

The door slammed behind me, echoing in the empty apartment, but I never even heard it. I dropped my bag in the hall and staggered off to my bedroom, falling onto my back on the bed and staring at the ceiling. How could this be? Was it just a string of similarities, or was it something more? 'Chikuso...' I thought to myself. 'It's a movie. An anime, nothing more. Why are you getting yourself so worked up?' Grumbling faintly, I pulled myself out of bed long enough to take a shower. I'd taken one that morning, but after today, I just needed it to relax. By the time I got out and slid on a pair of boxers, I was nearly ready to fall over. I didn't even brush out my hair or re-braid it before collapsing into bed. Some nearly awake portion of my mind intoned that I'd have a rat's nest to comb through in the morning, but I didn't care.

It was a dream... I knew it was a dream...

I stood in the snow, hands upon the largest boulder I'd seen in my life... Then something sent a chill up my spine. It happened the same as I remembered seeing earlier that day. Only now, instead of seeing it on the screen and feeling as though ready to jump in to assist... I was alone, and the view was from my own eyes as the wolf-creature Ashitare bore down on me.

Pain... I'd never felt pain before in my dreams, why now?? My motions were as I remembered. I went through each gesture out of instinct, leaping over the creature in an attempt to get behind it. Then, the world exploded around me as a nearly blinding pain tore through my chest, extending to every part of my body. I would have screamed if I could... the pain was unbearable, I couldn't breathe... My gaze drifted down, saw the claws protruding through my chest.

This can't be happening... oh gods, this can't be!!

In my waking moment, the scream that remained unuttered in the dream came forth, shattering the nighttime stillness. My eyes were wide in terror, one hand grasping at the left side of my chest, half expecting to find it sticky with blood. My blood... crimson... what the...

My eyes blinked, realizing that the room was aglow with a deep red light. A light that was coming from me! I tossed the covers aside quickly and ran to the mirror, stumbling several times as my legs shook beyond my control. My hands came down hard against the wooden top of the dresser, wild eyes focusing on the mirror before me. My hair was tangled, falling over my shoulders as I leaned forward, not wanting to see, but unable to stop.

Oh gods, it's true...

There, reflected in the mirror was the source of the crimson glow... a single character emblazoned on my chest, just below the left collarbone. It seemed to pulse, each beat resounding in my ears with the hammering of my heart. "Yanagi..." I whispered, barely audible even to myself.

Willow.

I shook my head violently, as if to clear it. "This can't be..." But there it was. The proof was before my own eyes. The story was true... all of it. The Suzaku Seishi, the Seiryuu, they were all REAL. I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply in some attempt to calm myself. My fingers tightened against the dresser top, scraping against the wood as I stood straight once more, looking into the mirror. "It's true." I whispered, realizing that every time I had thought I didn't belong, every time I had felt out of place, perhaps this was the reason?

"Ryan Chance..." My name slid off my tongue easily, although not as easily as my next words. "Cho Ryuuen." I smileed faintly then... perhaps for the first time in quite some time.

Welcome back, Nuriko...

To Hotohori