The Thorns Of A Rose (A Fushigi Yuugi Fanfiction) [ON HIATUS]

Chapter 12: "Only You... What About Me?"

"Having learned that Lady Miaka was the priestess of Suzaku, the emperor of Kutou ordered her captured, but Tamahome, with the help of Lady Miya disguised as someone named Aiko, intervened and saved her.

Lady Yui, believing that the Lady Miaka had only returned to this world for Tamahome and not to rescue her, decided at last to become the priestess of Seiryuu, and lock Lady Miaka inside the shrine, but once again, she was rescued...

...and so, Lady Miaka and Lady Yui were separated once more."

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Miya sat as she tried to focus on meditating in the room she used to stay in when she was training in Mt. Taikyoku. However, her mind couldn't stop drifting off to the past events that occurred, especially with their best friend's strange behavior. Now, the only thing that she could think about is a question: What happened to her that fueled her to act like that?

Sighing in frustration, Miya finally stopped her attempt at meditating and just laid on the bed for a moment, focusing on that question. Of course, she knows that Yui was probably manipulated. By whom? Most likely by Nakago. But what happened to Yui that Nakago managed to manipulate her against her best friend since kindergarten?

These formulations kept repeating itself in Miya's mind, yet all of it leads nowhere.

Getting off the bed, Miya sighed once more and lazily put on her uniform before leaving the room to go talk with the others. Upon her arrival where Taiitsukun is usually at, she saw that they are already in the middle of a discussion, with Miaka getting close and staring down intently at Taiitsukun. "I see you've been working on your dramatic close-ups," the latter stared back and told her. Miaka was quick to realize her action as she embarrassingly went back to her original position.
(A/N: Yes Miaka (and everyone else), please practice social distancing. Stay safe always!)

Meanwhile, Taiitsukun finally sensed Miya's presence, as she turned to look at her direction. The others quickly followed her line of sight. "Done meditating?" Taiitsukun casually asked. Miya shook her head in response. "I couldn't focus a bit."

"Ehh?!" Miaka blurted in confusion. "Mi-nee, how come you're here?" She immediately interrogated. "Yeah, where's that girl Aiko?" Tamahome inquired after her, seeing that the girl is nowhere to be seen.

"Calm down folks!" Miya rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, before looking at her twin. "Answering your question, to see if you're still alive," Miya replied sarcastically before turning to look at Tamahome. "Answering your question, she already returned to our world, with the promise of keeping this world a secret. It seems that she'll only appear at the most... 'critical' moment," Miya explained, carefully selecting her words. "A... Are the both of you disappointed to see me instead of her...?" She mumbled, pretending as sad as she can to tease them.

"M-Mi-nee, it's not like that!" Miaka swiftly responded, followed by Tamahome. "Yeah, totally not like that! I just didn't manage to thank her properly for helping us."

Miya let out a satisfied hum and said nothing anymore. She eventually sat beside Miaka and let Taiitsukun speak of the previous matter again.

"Your twin talked about returning to Kutou to find out what happened to your friend," Taiitsukun summarized for Miya, before returning her gaze back to Miaka. "But, I have a much better way of finding your answers than by simply returning to Kutou."

"A better way?" Miaka questioned curiously. "Just follow me," Taiitsukun gestured, as she led them to a room with a huge mirror. "Wow! That's the biggest mirror I've ever seen!" Miaka spoke as she admired the mirror. Meanwhile, Miya crossed her arms and shifted her eyes at Taiitsukun. "How come I've never seen this during my stay?"