Application for Adstringendum
Name: Nikki
Livejournal: diaryxchan
Contact: AIM; diaryxchan | MSN; kittycat97@nc.rr.com | Skype; diaryxchan | Plurk; diaryxchan | email; diaryxchan@gmail.com
Other Characters Played: Sango [InuYasha]
Are you 18 or over? Nope!
Canon: Fushigi Yuugi
Character: Yui Hongo
Timeline: Just after her run-in with Tamahome in Touran, the capital of Hokkan, during the race to get the Genbu Shinzaho.
Personality: Yui is a smart girl; she’s often considered a genius and used as an idol by her fellow classmates, academically and logically, which has admittedly gone to her head, though she rarely expresses her arrogance with anyone outside of those close to her. She is mature but for when her fury makes her pedantic, and has a very black-and-white sense of right and wrong, which may be why she struggles so often with internal conflict throughout the series. Otherwise, Yui is generally a normal fifteen-year-old girl, laid-back, friendly, outgoing, and playful, with a sarcastic, teasing, bordering-on-cruel sense of humor. Though Yui is confident and bold, probably precipitated by her black-and-white perception, she is also impulsive and lonely; as the mature one she’s often stuck taking care of her few friends (she is often perceived as more an idol than an actual person to those who know her) and longs to be taken care of.
This vulnerability is the opening to Yui’s inner self, the softer side reserved for those she truly cares about. Passionate, she never does anything halfway; emotional, she sometimes lets her vivid feelings cloud her normally calm and clear and logical mind. In her rare moments of vulnerability or more frequent but less permeable bouts of emotion, she leaves herself wide open and can often be an easy target for manipulation or further pain. She is practical and initially fiercely loyal, and it doesn’t take anything special to earn her trust-especially if you’re kind to her or help her in a moment of vulnerability-but upon betrayal or wrongdoing that becomes personal, she will not hesitate to strike back for vengeance (remember that black-and-white morality? It goes right along with a strong sense of what she sees to be justice). She is exceptionally talented at prolonging and holding tightly to grudges, often as the last, desperate means of connection she has with a person, since she is often too proud to turn back and apologize.
Yui has a tendency to drown in self-pity and when sad, may stay that way for days on end; she is also spectacularly good at prolonging denial. Her strong emotions make it easy for her to become infatuated and she is hit hard when rejected. Generally speaking, after a fight or disagreement that has been resolved, Yui’s relationships become stronger and healthier… she learns from her mistakes and expects others to as well. Possessing a tender soft spot for the weak, the damned, the helpless, and the broken, Yui tries to treat them how she needs to be treated in her moments of weakness: comforting, caring, maternal. However, as a proud and lonely but still independent figure, she may become suffocated if faced with clinginess.
Passionate as she is, as well as athletic as she is, Yui is often very physical and alongside this, very bold and impulsive. This extends to all ends of her emotional spectrum, from affection to anger, and she’d just as soon slap someone who’s angered her as kiss someone she has feelings for. She feels everything twice as vividly as anyone else, especially jealousy, which often rears its ugly green head and is a monster that Yui is always fighting against (as well as pride and wrath). Resourceful and determined, she is capable of doing anything that needs to be done to reach a goal. She often exhibits tremendous willpower-most famously shown when the sheer force of her will brought Miaka back from the book world in which she was trapped-but where she chooses to direct this willpower varies from good to bad for many reasons, often selfish. Yui is a realist, which unfortunately tends to border on pessimism (even jokingly) and often interferes with her ability to hope or forgive.
Yui has an uncanny ability to separate personal things from business things; with serious things, she is practical, stoic, and calm and cool, but with personal things, she is genuine and is not afraid to express her opinions or do what she feels she needs to. Yui’s heart and mind are often at war, which is a common affliction for those who are smart but emotional. She thinks deeply and philosophically, often with the help of her first loves; music and books-particularly mysteries.
Background: Yui was born October 26th, 1977, in Tokyo, as an only child to two normal, loving parents-lawyers, of course. She was spoiled and pampered as a child, always did well in school and athletics, pushed enthusiastically by her mother and father to become successful and not too hard-pressed to meet their standards. She met Miaka Yuuki in nursery school and they had been the best of friends since.
Yui’s live was ultimately uneventful up until her senior year of junior high; well, uneventful compared to what would happen in her future. She was always at the top of her class, excelled in sports too, and had so much attention from boys that she finally got fed up and decided to cut her hair short to get them to bug off. (Didn’t really work all that well, unfortunately.) She was pretty much a role model for the student body, and in the future (both according to her plan and in actuality) she would run for school-sanctioned positions of importance such as student council vice president. Still, Yui was lonely, did not have all that many friends, and felt more like a statue or an idol than a person when at school; the only person who really treated her as a person and not “that overachiever” was Miaka. She had always been a little jealous of Miaka’s natural charm-the silent quality that seemed to endear her to anyone, no matter what-and also, her inherent goodness, an almost saint-like quirk that very few achieve.
When her grand adventure started, Yui was fifteen years old and was on her way home from school with Miaka and a couple of girlfriends. She had to return a history book to the National Library, so Yui and Miaka got off of the subway early to run the errand. As Yui returned the book, Miaka wandered off to the juice machine (typical, the glutton!) and as she dropped a quarter, saw the image if a red phoenix. Without waiting for Yui, Miaka wandered into the restricted section of the library on ancient Chinese history.
Yui found her later, leafing through an old, yellowed book written entirely in Chinese. Yui, who had incidentally taken Chinese classes, began to read from the book. The story inside was written so that the reader would become the heroine-literally. Miaka and Yui were sucked into the book, titled “The Universe of the Four Gods,” and transported to ancient China.
As Miaka began to obsess over food (again, typical) a couple of slave traders came by the girls and captured Yui. Miaka tried to save her friend, but was unsuccessful. Luckily, a blue-haired boy with a glowing red Chinese character on his forehead made it just in time to save the day. The boy, later identified as Tamahome, went his own way after discovering that the middle school girls had no money to pay him with.
Miaka began digging in her pockets for some gratuity and Yui was suddenly transported out of the book in the same burst of red light that had brought her there. Helpless to save Miaka, who was still trapped in the book, Yui began reading as Miaka found Tamahome again and was brought to the royal palace of Konan, the southern territory of China and one of the four divisions ruled by the four gods. She read on from outside as Miaka was identified as the Priestess of Suzaku, chosen to summon the phoenix beast god to save the country and receive three wishes, and Tamahome one of her seven celestial warriors, as well as Hotohori, the emperor, and Nuriko, a cross dresser who had been in the palace’s harem. Miaka also fell in love with Tamahome-as did Yui. Yui and Miaka were connected throughout time and space because of their school uniforms, whose identicality allowed Yui to communicate with Miaka on occasion and inflicted the same wounds and conditions on Yui that were inflicted on Miaka in the book.
As Yui read on and on, Miaka fell ill in the book, exhausted by the stress and homesickness that being in the Universe of the Four Gods had brought upon her. Hotohori, Tamahome, and Nuriko set out with Miaka to send her home with help from the creator of the world, a powerful old woman called Taiitsukun. Yui was able to speak with Miaka while the brunette was trying to return and pull her over to the other side… but unfortunately, she and Yui switched places, leaving Yui stranded in the book. When Miaka exited the Universe of the Four Gods, she changed out of her school uniform and broke the ties between she and Yui.
Miaka was only outside of the book for a few days, but inside the story, three months passed. Miaka was not reading the book as Yui had, nor was she wearing the school uniform that Yui was, so no matter how many times Yui tried to reach Miaka on the other side or call out for help, it was impossible. Yui, unaware of the circumstance, began to think Miaka had forgotten her. After all, on Yui’s first day in the book-dropped into Kutou, the rival country of Konan-she was assaulted by several ruffians and believed herself to be raped. In reality, her attackers were killed by Nakago, celestial warrior of the Priestess of Seiryuu, and she awoke in the Kutou palace. Yui was tormented and immediately tried to kill herself by slitting her wrists, but her life was saved by the healers. Every day as she lay in bed recovering, she cried and wept for Miaka, wondering why. Nakago, who was at her side daily, did nothing to dispel her notions of the horrible attack. What Nakago did do was start manipulating Yui, using her vulnerability and her trust in him, having protected her, to turn her against Miaka and make her agree to become the Priestess of Seiryuu-Miaka’s enemy by duty.
At first, Yui did not believe Nakago’s tales of Miaka’s betrayal: how she supposedly did not give a damn about Yui and forgot all about her. Miaka came back to the Universe of the Four Gods eventually, and when she heard about Kutou coming across their Priestess of Seiryuu-a girl from another world-she knew it had to be Yui. Miaka, followed by Tamahome and Chichiri, another newfound celestial warrior, journeyed to Kutou’s capital. Miaka posed as the Priestess of Seiryuu to get into the palace, and was there reunited with Yui. Unfortunately, Konan’s copy of the Universe of the Four Gods fell out of Miaka’s bag, revealing her as the fake priestess and sealing her fate. She and Yui ran as Miaka told of how much she’d missed Yui and how she had been searching for her. Yui and Miaka meet up with Tamahome and hide in a storage room, and Yui, reassured of Miaka’s loyalty, went to Nakago to take back Suzaku’s Universe of the Four Gods. But while Yui spoke with Nakago, he planted seeds of doubt in her mind. He told Yui that Miaka did not come back for her; that Miaka had only come back to this world for Tamahome, and to claim her wishes as Suzaku’s priestess, and only stopped by to claim Yui out of obligation-and eliminating the competition.
Yui tried to shake off the doubts, but as she was returning to Miaka and Tamahome, she overheard them speaking. Miaka told Tamahome that she had come back for him, and then indulged in a passionate kiss with him. Yui then felt that Nakago had been right; both because her trust in Miaka had weakened over the months, and because Miaka was busy kissing the boy Yui had fallen in love with from afar.
Despite this, Yui began to go back to Konan with the two lovebirds, her arm linked with Miaka’s. Nakago’s words echoed in her mind and finally, she decided that he was right. She told Miaka that she wanted to show her something and led the brunette into the Temple of Seiryuu-where no celestial warrior or priestess of Suzaku could fight. Miaka was immediately paralyzed, and a hurt but mislead Yui explained her intentions for revenge: that Miaka had betrayed her, and that she would never let her have Tamahome now. Just then, Chichiri and Tamahome busted into the temple and saved Miaka, not knowing of Yui’s own betrayal. Tamahome begged her to come with them, to be saved, but Yui did not go. That was the moment that solidified her enmity with Miaka, and with the Suzaku Seven.
Just after Miaka and the others went home, Nakago made a proposal to Yui: to make her happy, he could bring Tamahome to Kutou. Yui readily agreed. So word was sent to Konan, after Kutou attacked its borders, saying that if Tamahome was delivered, there would be no more advancement. Much to Yui’s delight, Tamahome did show up and she was free to spend time with him in her palace at her leisure. She cared for and pampered Tamahome like a lovesick puppy, because that was exactly what she was. Unfortunately, Tamahome’s constant thoughts and concern for Miaka, whom he loved, broke Yui’s heart. Miaka was meanwhile on a quest to gather the rest of the Suzaku celestial warriors, because Tamahome had told her that he would return upon their gathering, and was struck blind. Nakago learned of this and told Yui and Tamahome. After Nakago left, Tamahome expressed concern for Miaka and it was the last straw. Yui snapped. She proclaimed her love for Tamahome and kissed him; tried to get him to forget about Miaka; but it was to no avail. Humiliated, Yui retreated, and Tamahome tried to escape to go to Miaka that night. He was caught by Nakago and beaten mercilessly as Yui watched in horror, unable to stop him.
Yui nursed Tamahome back to health, but even then he expressed concern for Miaka. Frustrated that he would still love Miaka after all he had suffered for her, Yui again tried to seduce Tamahome, to no avail. She ran to Nakago with her plight. Nakago, however, had a solution. He gave Yui a pill called Kodoku, a powerful poison that would change Tamahome’s memories and personality, but Yui was hesitant to put it in his food as required. Yui later overheard him planning in secret to escape with Miaka via Chichiri’s spell, because the all of the Suzaku Seven-the Shichisei-had been gathered. Heartbroken, Yui ran to Nakago again and told him of her inability to poison Tamahome. The boy in question heard, alongside the mention of Yui becoming the Priestess of Seiryuu of her own free will. A few hours later as Yui bathed, he confronted her about it and she confirmed the truth. Tamahome said he wouldn’t forgive Yui, even if he could sympathize with her rape, and it was then that Yui finally took action. Tamahome was paralyzed by special incense, and Yui rose from the bath, draped in a robe, and delivered the Kodoku poison to Tamahome with a kiss.
After that, Tamahome changed into a different person. He seemed to have forsaken Miaka, and it looked like he cared only for Yui. Yui, however, was not sure that she was pleased with this change. He wasn’t the same Tamahome that she had fallen in love with-but as she often did, she kept her doubts to herself. When Miaka came to meet Tamahome as planned, all he did was injure her and drive the Suzaku warriors who escorted her away. Eventually, Nakago sent Tamahome on a mission to Konan to kill Miaka and Hotohori. To Yui’s dismay, all he did was manage to break free of the Kodoku spell-leaving him back to his old self, but hating her. He returned to the Kutou palace under the guise of still being mind-controlled, stole back Suzaku’s copy of The Universe of the Four Gods, and told Yui that he could sympathize with her rape-but he could never forgive her actions.
Stricken, Yui took her anger out on Nakago, whose plotting had made Tamahome turn even further away from her. She lay in bed for days, lovesick, miserable, and full of doubt. After she’d been bed-ridden for many days, Nakago came to her and reassured her that the Suzaku Shichisei would not be as lucky as she thought; that he had thrown a wrench in their plans, despite them having seemingly gathered the seven warriors. Yui was then introduced to Suboshi, one of her own Shichisei, whose twin, Amiboshi, was currently posing as Suzaku’s warrior, Chiriko. Unfortunately for the Seiryuu group, Amiboshi in his plans to disrupt the Suzakus was foiled and he was killed in an overflowing river. Suboshi heard the news and grieved violently, and Yui, ever soft-hearted for the weak and the damned, comforted him gently. This initial show of care preceded a crush of Suboshi’s on Yui.
With one of their own dead, Yui and the Seiryuu Shichisei had no choice but to look into another method of summoning their beast god, Seiryuu, who would grant the priestess three wishes, just as Suzaku would. They ended up finding the same method as the Suzakus, and it became a race to see who could get the Shinzaho-an artifact leftover from the Priestess of Genbu, the northern lands-and summon their respective beast god the quickest. Yui and her Seven-now Six-went to Genbu, while one of their warriors, a lightning conductor called Soi, was sent to the canal to delay the Suzakus (and ultimately failing). Both the Seiryuu and the Suzaku champions went to Genbu’s capital, Touran, to find out more about the mysterious Shinzaho and where it was. The Suzakus-mainly Tamahome-gathered this information first, and Yui ran into Tamahome while wandering alone through Touran. While there, she told him in so many words that she wasn’t interested in him anymore (and it was true, sort of-she was in the process of getting over him) and that Miaka could have him, both of them probably because he was just a character in the book, which she told him as well.
In turn, Tamahome warned Yui that she would regret summoning Seiryuu. Yui knew that, and thought it herself, but in her own words… it was too late to turn back, even if she wanted to. Yui had been doubting her feud with Miaka the entire time, having to fight very hard to try and hate her, now especially, but her stubbornness, her initial pain and need to blame someone (the initial victim of this blame being Miaka, directed by Nakago), and her belief that she was too far in now to turn back kept her plowing forward heedlessly.
At the same time, Ashitare, another of Yui’s Shichisei, followed Nuriko on the Suzakus’ lead towards the Shinzaho. After a brutal battle, both of the warriors were killed, leaving Yui with five celestial warriors left and Miaka with six, though Hotohori wasn’t with them at the moment, evening out the practical score to five. Unaware of this development, Yui, who had ditched the suffocating Suboshi in the city of Touran earlier, was found by him and they found an inn for the night.
Yui promptly woke up in Adstringendum, completely bewildered and having no idea how she got there.
Abilities/Additional Notes: When Yui agreed to be the Priestess of Seiryuu, she gained the protection of the dragon god and the miko powers to go with it. While these powers do not normally show themselves, we observe from Miaka that they kick in when the priestess is in dire need-most especially when none of the priestess’ Shichisei are present to save her. The protecting power is manifested with a blue light, and is very versatile, providing anything from a holy barrier to a powerful burst of life force. Otherwise, she possesses no other skills a normal human wouldn’t have, and her control of the miko power is spotty at best. Her talents include intelligence and picking things up with ease, resourcefulness, and athletics (particularly agility and running). She has basic first aid and CPR skills, as well as a decent cooking and basic domestic repertoire.
Sample Journal Post: [The feed flicks on to reveal a narrow, pale face with gray eyes, framed by short, messy, ashy blonde hair. Expression carefully stoic, her eyes are contrastingly fervent, intrigued, a little disoriented and afraid-almost… wild.
She seems to be examining the device with some interest, if not outright shock, murmuring to herself.] This is a very advanced model of mobile phone, isn’t it?
[And then, noticing the recording light, but still not really that surprised:] Ne, I must have turned it on.
Since this has to be sending to someone-somehow-I’d like to know exactly where-or what-this place is.
Usually when I get dropped into another world, I have some idea of how I got there.
Sample RP: Yui was wandering.
Not that this was particularly out of the ordinary-and maybe even less so in a place like Adstringendum, with so much to figure out and plan and explore and get used to-but it wasn’t really for any of those things that she walked, leisurely, aimlessly, and not really all that concerned. She was in a district that had many homes that looked lived-in, and she was sure that a place so inhabited, even in this ruinous hellhole of a city, was probably as safe as she could get.
Yui would feel much better if Nakago were here; he would know just what to do. He always did. Then again, one didn’t get to be an entire country’s top strategist without some kind of genius. He was one of the few people that Yui could look to as an equal, he respected her and she him, and even if he wasn’t the best person, he had been there for her when she needed it most-unlike a certain former best friend.
Miaka. As they always tended to do when she had too much free time on her hands and space to think, Yui’s thoughts jumped to the smiling face of the perky brunette, her stomach twisting and tightening painfully as her chest grew achy with unease. She couldn’t quite place the feeling: it was similar to hatred, but not quite. No matter how hard Yui tried, no matter how many times she’d yell from the rooftops that she hated Miaka, she could never quite nail the emotion. Her emotions had always had a way of doing their own will with no thoughts to the consequences, and the stoic mask she would like to have in place was still in development.
Yui sighed. “It’s so hard to hate her,” she murmured to herself, slowing to a stop, leaning against a building and hugging her arms tight around her. A dark, smooth scar caught her eye and she studied the slits on her wrists, long since healed, thoughtfully. “I waited for her,” Yui mused, “for three months. I cried for her and called her name, waited for her to open that book and come save me like I saved her… but she never did. She came back to get Tamahome and that was all she ever cared about, wasn’t it?”
Right. Nakago had said as much, and Miaka had affirmed it in her own words-without the courage to say it to the blonde’s face, of course-it was a simply, stinging fact that the betrayal was as real as these scars on her wrists. And Yui had said that. As long as I have these scars, I’ll never forgive you!
And it was true: Yui hadn’t forgiven Miaka. Now…
If only she could bring herself to hate her.
Livejournal: diaryxchan
Contact: AIM; diaryxchan | MSN; kittycat97@nc.rr.com | Skype; diaryxchan | Plurk; diaryxchan | email; diaryxchan@gmail.com
Other Characters Played: Sango [InuYasha]
Are you 18 or over? Nope!
Canon: Fushigi Yuugi
Character: Yui Hongo
Timeline: Just after her run-in with Tamahome in Touran, the capital of Hokkan, during the race to get the Genbu Shinzaho.
Personality: Yui is a smart girl; she’s often considered a genius and used as an idol by her fellow classmates, academically and logically, which has admittedly gone to her head, though she rarely expresses her arrogance with anyone outside of those close to her. She is mature but for when her fury makes her pedantic, and has a very black-and-white sense of right and wrong, which may be why she struggles so often with internal conflict throughout the series. Otherwise, Yui is generally a normal fifteen-year-old girl, laid-back, friendly, outgoing, and playful, with a sarcastic, teasing, bordering-on-cruel sense of humor. Though Yui is confident and bold, probably precipitated by her black-and-white perception, she is also impulsive and lonely; as the mature one she’s often stuck taking care of her few friends (she is often perceived as more an idol than an actual person to those who know her) and longs to be taken care of.
This vulnerability is the opening to Yui’s inner self, the softer side reserved for those she truly cares about. Passionate, she never does anything halfway; emotional, she sometimes lets her vivid feelings cloud her normally calm and clear and logical mind. In her rare moments of vulnerability or more frequent but less permeable bouts of emotion, she leaves herself wide open and can often be an easy target for manipulation or further pain. She is practical and initially fiercely loyal, and it doesn’t take anything special to earn her trust-especially if you’re kind to her or help her in a moment of vulnerability-but upon betrayal or wrongdoing that becomes personal, she will not hesitate to strike back for vengeance (remember that black-and-white morality? It goes right along with a strong sense of what she sees to be justice). She is exceptionally talented at prolonging and holding tightly to grudges, often as the last, desperate means of connection she has with a person, since she is often too proud to turn back and apologize.
Yui has a tendency to drown in self-pity and when sad, may stay that way for days on end; she is also spectacularly good at prolonging denial. Her strong emotions make it easy for her to become infatuated and she is hit hard when rejected. Generally speaking, after a fight or disagreement that has been resolved, Yui’s relationships become stronger and healthier… she learns from her mistakes and expects others to as well. Possessing a tender soft spot for the weak, the damned, the helpless, and the broken, Yui tries to treat them how she needs to be treated in her moments of weakness: comforting, caring, maternal. However, as a proud and lonely but still independent figure, she may become suffocated if faced with clinginess.
Passionate as she is, as well as athletic as she is, Yui is often very physical and alongside this, very bold and impulsive. This extends to all ends of her emotional spectrum, from affection to anger, and she’d just as soon slap someone who’s angered her as kiss someone she has feelings for. She feels everything twice as vividly as anyone else, especially jealousy, which often rears its ugly green head and is a monster that Yui is always fighting against (as well as pride and wrath). Resourceful and determined, she is capable of doing anything that needs to be done to reach a goal. She often exhibits tremendous willpower-most famously shown when the sheer force of her will brought Miaka back from the book world in which she was trapped-but where she chooses to direct this willpower varies from good to bad for many reasons, often selfish. Yui is a realist, which unfortunately tends to border on pessimism (even jokingly) and often interferes with her ability to hope or forgive.
Yui has an uncanny ability to separate personal things from business things; with serious things, she is practical, stoic, and calm and cool, but with personal things, she is genuine and is not afraid to express her opinions or do what she feels she needs to. Yui’s heart and mind are often at war, which is a common affliction for those who are smart but emotional. She thinks deeply and philosophically, often with the help of her first loves; music and books-particularly mysteries.
Background: Yui was born October 26th, 1977, in Tokyo, as an only child to two normal, loving parents-lawyers, of course. She was spoiled and pampered as a child, always did well in school and athletics, pushed enthusiastically by her mother and father to become successful and not too hard-pressed to meet their standards. She met Miaka Yuuki in nursery school and they had been the best of friends since.
Yui’s live was ultimately uneventful up until her senior year of junior high; well, uneventful compared to what would happen in her future. She was always at the top of her class, excelled in sports too, and had so much attention from boys that she finally got fed up and decided to cut her hair short to get them to bug off. (Didn’t really work all that well, unfortunately.) She was pretty much a role model for the student body, and in the future (both according to her plan and in actuality) she would run for school-sanctioned positions of importance such as student council vice president. Still, Yui was lonely, did not have all that many friends, and felt more like a statue or an idol than a person when at school; the only person who really treated her as a person and not “that overachiever” was Miaka. She had always been a little jealous of Miaka’s natural charm-the silent quality that seemed to endear her to anyone, no matter what-and also, her inherent goodness, an almost saint-like quirk that very few achieve.
When her grand adventure started, Yui was fifteen years old and was on her way home from school with Miaka and a couple of girlfriends. She had to return a history book to the National Library, so Yui and Miaka got off of the subway early to run the errand. As Yui returned the book, Miaka wandered off to the juice machine (typical, the glutton!) and as she dropped a quarter, saw the image if a red phoenix. Without waiting for Yui, Miaka wandered into the restricted section of the library on ancient Chinese history.
Yui found her later, leafing through an old, yellowed book written entirely in Chinese. Yui, who had incidentally taken Chinese classes, began to read from the book. The story inside was written so that the reader would become the heroine-literally. Miaka and Yui were sucked into the book, titled “The Universe of the Four Gods,” and transported to ancient China.
As Miaka began to obsess over food (again, typical) a couple of slave traders came by the girls and captured Yui. Miaka tried to save her friend, but was unsuccessful. Luckily, a blue-haired boy with a glowing red Chinese character on his forehead made it just in time to save the day. The boy, later identified as Tamahome, went his own way after discovering that the middle school girls had no money to pay him with.
Miaka began digging in her pockets for some gratuity and Yui was suddenly transported out of the book in the same burst of red light that had brought her there. Helpless to save Miaka, who was still trapped in the book, Yui began reading as Miaka found Tamahome again and was brought to the royal palace of Konan, the southern territory of China and one of the four divisions ruled by the four gods. She read on from outside as Miaka was identified as the Priestess of Suzaku, chosen to summon the phoenix beast god to save the country and receive three wishes, and Tamahome one of her seven celestial warriors, as well as Hotohori, the emperor, and Nuriko, a cross dresser who had been in the palace’s harem. Miaka also fell in love with Tamahome-as did Yui. Yui and Miaka were connected throughout time and space because of their school uniforms, whose identicality allowed Yui to communicate with Miaka on occasion and inflicted the same wounds and conditions on Yui that were inflicted on Miaka in the book.
As Yui read on and on, Miaka fell ill in the book, exhausted by the stress and homesickness that being in the Universe of the Four Gods had brought upon her. Hotohori, Tamahome, and Nuriko set out with Miaka to send her home with help from the creator of the world, a powerful old woman called Taiitsukun. Yui was able to speak with Miaka while the brunette was trying to return and pull her over to the other side… but unfortunately, she and Yui switched places, leaving Yui stranded in the book. When Miaka exited the Universe of the Four Gods, she changed out of her school uniform and broke the ties between she and Yui.
Miaka was only outside of the book for a few days, but inside the story, three months passed. Miaka was not reading the book as Yui had, nor was she wearing the school uniform that Yui was, so no matter how many times Yui tried to reach Miaka on the other side or call out for help, it was impossible. Yui, unaware of the circumstance, began to think Miaka had forgotten her. After all, on Yui’s first day in the book-dropped into Kutou, the rival country of Konan-she was assaulted by several ruffians and believed herself to be raped. In reality, her attackers were killed by Nakago, celestial warrior of the Priestess of Seiryuu, and she awoke in the Kutou palace. Yui was tormented and immediately tried to kill herself by slitting her wrists, but her life was saved by the healers. Every day as she lay in bed recovering, she cried and wept for Miaka, wondering why. Nakago, who was at her side daily, did nothing to dispel her notions of the horrible attack. What Nakago did do was start manipulating Yui, using her vulnerability and her trust in him, having protected her, to turn her against Miaka and make her agree to become the Priestess of Seiryuu-Miaka’s enemy by duty.
At first, Yui did not believe Nakago’s tales of Miaka’s betrayal: how she supposedly did not give a damn about Yui and forgot all about her. Miaka came back to the Universe of the Four Gods eventually, and when she heard about Kutou coming across their Priestess of Seiryuu-a girl from another world-she knew it had to be Yui. Miaka, followed by Tamahome and Chichiri, another newfound celestial warrior, journeyed to Kutou’s capital. Miaka posed as the Priestess of Seiryuu to get into the palace, and was there reunited with Yui. Unfortunately, Konan’s copy of the Universe of the Four Gods fell out of Miaka’s bag, revealing her as the fake priestess and sealing her fate. She and Yui ran as Miaka told of how much she’d missed Yui and how she had been searching for her. Yui and Miaka meet up with Tamahome and hide in a storage room, and Yui, reassured of Miaka’s loyalty, went to Nakago to take back Suzaku’s Universe of the Four Gods. But while Yui spoke with Nakago, he planted seeds of doubt in her mind. He told Yui that Miaka did not come back for her; that Miaka had only come back to this world for Tamahome, and to claim her wishes as Suzaku’s priestess, and only stopped by to claim Yui out of obligation-and eliminating the competition.
Yui tried to shake off the doubts, but as she was returning to Miaka and Tamahome, she overheard them speaking. Miaka told Tamahome that she had come back for him, and then indulged in a passionate kiss with him. Yui then felt that Nakago had been right; both because her trust in Miaka had weakened over the months, and because Miaka was busy kissing the boy Yui had fallen in love with from afar.
Despite this, Yui began to go back to Konan with the two lovebirds, her arm linked with Miaka’s. Nakago’s words echoed in her mind and finally, she decided that he was right. She told Miaka that she wanted to show her something and led the brunette into the Temple of Seiryuu-where no celestial warrior or priestess of Suzaku could fight. Miaka was immediately paralyzed, and a hurt but mislead Yui explained her intentions for revenge: that Miaka had betrayed her, and that she would never let her have Tamahome now. Just then, Chichiri and Tamahome busted into the temple and saved Miaka, not knowing of Yui’s own betrayal. Tamahome begged her to come with them, to be saved, but Yui did not go. That was the moment that solidified her enmity with Miaka, and with the Suzaku Seven.
Just after Miaka and the others went home, Nakago made a proposal to Yui: to make her happy, he could bring Tamahome to Kutou. Yui readily agreed. So word was sent to Konan, after Kutou attacked its borders, saying that if Tamahome was delivered, there would be no more advancement. Much to Yui’s delight, Tamahome did show up and she was free to spend time with him in her palace at her leisure. She cared for and pampered Tamahome like a lovesick puppy, because that was exactly what she was. Unfortunately, Tamahome’s constant thoughts and concern for Miaka, whom he loved, broke Yui’s heart. Miaka was meanwhile on a quest to gather the rest of the Suzaku celestial warriors, because Tamahome had told her that he would return upon their gathering, and was struck blind. Nakago learned of this and told Yui and Tamahome. After Nakago left, Tamahome expressed concern for Miaka and it was the last straw. Yui snapped. She proclaimed her love for Tamahome and kissed him; tried to get him to forget about Miaka; but it was to no avail. Humiliated, Yui retreated, and Tamahome tried to escape to go to Miaka that night. He was caught by Nakago and beaten mercilessly as Yui watched in horror, unable to stop him.
Yui nursed Tamahome back to health, but even then he expressed concern for Miaka. Frustrated that he would still love Miaka after all he had suffered for her, Yui again tried to seduce Tamahome, to no avail. She ran to Nakago with her plight. Nakago, however, had a solution. He gave Yui a pill called Kodoku, a powerful poison that would change Tamahome’s memories and personality, but Yui was hesitant to put it in his food as required. Yui later overheard him planning in secret to escape with Miaka via Chichiri’s spell, because the all of the Suzaku Seven-the Shichisei-had been gathered. Heartbroken, Yui ran to Nakago again and told him of her inability to poison Tamahome. The boy in question heard, alongside the mention of Yui becoming the Priestess of Seiryuu of her own free will. A few hours later as Yui bathed, he confronted her about it and she confirmed the truth. Tamahome said he wouldn’t forgive Yui, even if he could sympathize with her rape, and it was then that Yui finally took action. Tamahome was paralyzed by special incense, and Yui rose from the bath, draped in a robe, and delivered the Kodoku poison to Tamahome with a kiss.
After that, Tamahome changed into a different person. He seemed to have forsaken Miaka, and it looked like he cared only for Yui. Yui, however, was not sure that she was pleased with this change. He wasn’t the same Tamahome that she had fallen in love with-but as she often did, she kept her doubts to herself. When Miaka came to meet Tamahome as planned, all he did was injure her and drive the Suzaku warriors who escorted her away. Eventually, Nakago sent Tamahome on a mission to Konan to kill Miaka and Hotohori. To Yui’s dismay, all he did was manage to break free of the Kodoku spell-leaving him back to his old self, but hating her. He returned to the Kutou palace under the guise of still being mind-controlled, stole back Suzaku’s copy of The Universe of the Four Gods, and told Yui that he could sympathize with her rape-but he could never forgive her actions.
Stricken, Yui took her anger out on Nakago, whose plotting had made Tamahome turn even further away from her. She lay in bed for days, lovesick, miserable, and full of doubt. After she’d been bed-ridden for many days, Nakago came to her and reassured her that the Suzaku Shichisei would not be as lucky as she thought; that he had thrown a wrench in their plans, despite them having seemingly gathered the seven warriors. Yui was then introduced to Suboshi, one of her own Shichisei, whose twin, Amiboshi, was currently posing as Suzaku’s warrior, Chiriko. Unfortunately for the Seiryuu group, Amiboshi in his plans to disrupt the Suzakus was foiled and he was killed in an overflowing river. Suboshi heard the news and grieved violently, and Yui, ever soft-hearted for the weak and the damned, comforted him gently. This initial show of care preceded a crush of Suboshi’s on Yui.
With one of their own dead, Yui and the Seiryuu Shichisei had no choice but to look into another method of summoning their beast god, Seiryuu, who would grant the priestess three wishes, just as Suzaku would. They ended up finding the same method as the Suzakus, and it became a race to see who could get the Shinzaho-an artifact leftover from the Priestess of Genbu, the northern lands-and summon their respective beast god the quickest. Yui and her Seven-now Six-went to Genbu, while one of their warriors, a lightning conductor called Soi, was sent to the canal to delay the Suzakus (and ultimately failing). Both the Seiryuu and the Suzaku champions went to Genbu’s capital, Touran, to find out more about the mysterious Shinzaho and where it was. The Suzakus-mainly Tamahome-gathered this information first, and Yui ran into Tamahome while wandering alone through Touran. While there, she told him in so many words that she wasn’t interested in him anymore (and it was true, sort of-she was in the process of getting over him) and that Miaka could have him, both of them probably because he was just a character in the book, which she told him as well.
In turn, Tamahome warned Yui that she would regret summoning Seiryuu. Yui knew that, and thought it herself, but in her own words… it was too late to turn back, even if she wanted to. Yui had been doubting her feud with Miaka the entire time, having to fight very hard to try and hate her, now especially, but her stubbornness, her initial pain and need to blame someone (the initial victim of this blame being Miaka, directed by Nakago), and her belief that she was too far in now to turn back kept her plowing forward heedlessly.
At the same time, Ashitare, another of Yui’s Shichisei, followed Nuriko on the Suzakus’ lead towards the Shinzaho. After a brutal battle, both of the warriors were killed, leaving Yui with five celestial warriors left and Miaka with six, though Hotohori wasn’t with them at the moment, evening out the practical score to five. Unaware of this development, Yui, who had ditched the suffocating Suboshi in the city of Touran earlier, was found by him and they found an inn for the night.
Yui promptly woke up in Adstringendum, completely bewildered and having no idea how she got there.
Abilities/Additional Notes: When Yui agreed to be the Priestess of Seiryuu, she gained the protection of the dragon god and the miko powers to go with it. While these powers do not normally show themselves, we observe from Miaka that they kick in when the priestess is in dire need-most especially when none of the priestess’ Shichisei are present to save her. The protecting power is manifested with a blue light, and is very versatile, providing anything from a holy barrier to a powerful burst of life force. Otherwise, she possesses no other skills a normal human wouldn’t have, and her control of the miko power is spotty at best. Her talents include intelligence and picking things up with ease, resourcefulness, and athletics (particularly agility and running). She has basic first aid and CPR skills, as well as a decent cooking and basic domestic repertoire.
Sample Journal Post: [The feed flicks on to reveal a narrow, pale face with gray eyes, framed by short, messy, ashy blonde hair. Expression carefully stoic, her eyes are contrastingly fervent, intrigued, a little disoriented and afraid-almost… wild.
She seems to be examining the device with some interest, if not outright shock, murmuring to herself.] This is a very advanced model of mobile phone, isn’t it?
[And then, noticing the recording light, but still not really that surprised:] Ne, I must have turned it on.
Since this has to be sending to someone-somehow-I’d like to know exactly where-or what-this place is.
Usually when I get dropped into another world, I have some idea of how I got there.
Sample RP: Yui was wandering.
Not that this was particularly out of the ordinary-and maybe even less so in a place like Adstringendum, with so much to figure out and plan and explore and get used to-but it wasn’t really for any of those things that she walked, leisurely, aimlessly, and not really all that concerned. She was in a district that had many homes that looked lived-in, and she was sure that a place so inhabited, even in this ruinous hellhole of a city, was probably as safe as she could get.
Yui would feel much better if Nakago were here; he would know just what to do. He always did. Then again, one didn’t get to be an entire country’s top strategist without some kind of genius. He was one of the few people that Yui could look to as an equal, he respected her and she him, and even if he wasn’t the best person, he had been there for her when she needed it most-unlike a certain former best friend.
Miaka. As they always tended to do when she had too much free time on her hands and space to think, Yui’s thoughts jumped to the smiling face of the perky brunette, her stomach twisting and tightening painfully as her chest grew achy with unease. She couldn’t quite place the feeling: it was similar to hatred, but not quite. No matter how hard Yui tried, no matter how many times she’d yell from the rooftops that she hated Miaka, she could never quite nail the emotion. Her emotions had always had a way of doing their own will with no thoughts to the consequences, and the stoic mask she would like to have in place was still in development.
Yui sighed. “It’s so hard to hate her,” she murmured to herself, slowing to a stop, leaning against a building and hugging her arms tight around her. A dark, smooth scar caught her eye and she studied the slits on her wrists, long since healed, thoughtfully. “I waited for her,” Yui mused, “for three months. I cried for her and called her name, waited for her to open that book and come save me like I saved her… but she never did. She came back to get Tamahome and that was all she ever cared about, wasn’t it?”
Right. Nakago had said as much, and Miaka had affirmed it in her own words-without the courage to say it to the blonde’s face, of course-it was a simply, stinging fact that the betrayal was as real as these scars on her wrists. And Yui had said that. As long as I have these scars, I’ll never forgive you!
And it was true: Yui hadn’t forgiven Miaka. Now…
If only she could bring herself to hate her.