Healer

A Mitsukake Fanfic

Contains Mitsukake spoilers up to OAV 2-5/Manga 17, Fushigi Yuugi spoilers up to episode 20/Volume 4.

The young man urged his horse faster along the trail. He recalled the hasty message given to him from the messenger.

"Mitsukake-san! The fever is running wild! We need your healing power or the whole village will die!"

He had nodded to the young boy. He had saddled up his horse and was ready to ride to the distant village.

"Juan-kun!"

He had paused. Only one person called him by his given name, not his Suzaku no Shichi Seishi name. "Shouka?"

"Juan...hurry back. I fear I, too, am ill."

"Ill? With...the fever?"

She had laid her hand gently on his shoulder. "I will be patient. This village needs your help more than I. But...hurry home."

He had kissed her gently on her forehead. "I will."

Shouka had squeezed his hand. "Wo ai ni."

He could still fear the gentle pressure of her hand on his shoulder. The village he was riding to was isolated, and it would take another day before he would reach it. His mind was occupied with Shouka.

She'll be okay, he reassured himself. Souen had many healers who were experienced in dealing with the mysterious fever that had plagued the villages. Shouka was in good hands.

If only he could have spared a few hours! But he knew that if he healed Shouka immediately, he would not have enough power to help the people in the distant village. Shouka would be all right. Shouka would survive. She had to. He would return as fast as he could and make sure she was doing well.

His horse thundered down the trail towards a village far in the distance.

Mitsukake wiped his brow. He was weary after the long trip and another long day of healing. He nodded to the family and looked at the little boy who was clinging to his mother's hand. The mother gently pushed her son toward the healer.

The healer felt the boy's forehead. It was hot with the fever, as he had expected. He paused a moment to let his powers rebuild and then held his hand over the boy's head. A red symbol glowed from the palm of his hand as he reached for Suzaku's power and used it to destroy the fever.

It was over in several minutes. The young boy looked up at him through wide eyes. "Arigatou," he mumbled, then hurried back to the security of his parents.

"Domo arigatou gozaimashta," said the young couple, bowing to Mitsukake. They took the boy's hands and quickly walked back to their home.

Mitsukake squinted his eyes and looked around the center square. "Is that it?" he asked the local healer, who was keeping track of the healer villagers.

"Ah, yes, that is all," he replied. "We must thank you for your help. My village was worried because we are so isolated from everyone else. We are grateful that news traveled so quickly and to such a skilled healer as you. But then, you are a Suzaku no Shichi Seishi."

"Yes...I am...If that is all, I wish to return to Souen."

"Of course. The medicines you have given me will allow me to take care of any future cases. Again, the village thanks you for your efforts."

Tired as he was, Mitsukake set out that afternoon. Home, to where Shouka was.

Two days later, he returned to his home village. He reigned in his tired horse at the village gates and waved to the guard.

"Mitsukake-san! How is the village you went to help?"

"They are doing better. They now have the medicines to combat the fever and the healer knows what to do if they become sick."

"Ah, that is good to hear!"

Mitsukake nodded and hurried into the village. He tethered the horse to the post by his house and hurried to find Shouka.

"Mitsukake-sama! Mitsukake-sama!" A young woman, one of the apprentice healers, ran up to him. "Hurry! Shouka-san is-"

"Shouka?" gasped Mitsukake. "Where is she?"

"In the infirmary! Hurry, she is very ill..."

They ran to the public building that was serving as the hospital. The young woman led the healer to a back room.

"Shouka!"

She was lying peacefully on the bed, as if asleep. Mitsukake rushed to her side and grabbed her hand. "Shouka? Shouka! Wake up!"

Her hand was cold.

"I'm sorry," said the other healer quietly. "Shouka passed away an hour ago."

Shouka was dead? Shouka was dead. Shouka couldn't be dead! Shouka was alive several days ago. She told him to hurry back. She said she would be patient and wait for his return. But Shouka was dead, gone forever. He would never hear her laughter again, never see the smile on her face. She would never call him "Juan". She would never hug him again, never kiss him again, never again say, 'wo ai ni'. Shouka was dead.

Mitsukake was in shock. Surely it was a mistake. He could feel her squeezing his hand when Shouka told him, 'I love you'. She was strong, the healers were knowledgeable, the fever had not yet started its course... how could she be dead? Why didn't the healers do anything?

The other healer cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm afraid the fever was much fiercer in Shouka. Before any of us could do anything, she had lost her vision and her mobility. We did our best, but even the strongest medicines could not cure her."

The careful barriers Mitsukake had set up were crumbling. A rush of profound sadness washed over him like a flood.

Flood.

The flood had killed his family. Juan did not know how to go on living. But he had met Shouka. Together, they rediscovered happiness. Together, they were able to cope with the loss of everyone else dear to them. Together, they had survived.

But Shouka was gone.

"Mitsukake-san..."

He ran out of the building.

Mitsukake established a small home in the outskirts of a nearby town, Choukou. He had severed all contacts, and everybody in Choukou knew him as Myou Juan. Mitsukake had died with Shouka. It was because he was also Mitsukake that Shouka had died. If he had not been called to the other village, Shouka would still be alive. He had the power to heal anyone, but he did not have the power to bring the dead back to life.

What good was his power? He could not save the single person he loved the most.

The people of Choukou had little contact with him. He stayed in the outskirts, only coming into town during market days to purchase food or other supplies. He had a reputation for being a recalcitrant hermit, and he did nothing to dissuade the idea.

He spent his days remembering Shouka.

"Ai shiteru," said Shouka.

"Juan-kun," smiled Shouka.

"Tasukete, Juan!" cried Shouka.

"Wo ai ni, Juan," whispered Shouka.

He renounced his Shichi Seishi name. He would no longer be Mitsukake. He would no longer heal.

He would no longer care.

It was a chilly autumn evening as Juan shouldered the sack of rice to take home. He paid the farmer and started back to his home.

He would need to buy a blanket, next time. Perhaps two. The weather was turning colder, and soon winter would arrive.

He stopped for a moment to adjust the load.

"Nyao..." said a tiny voice beside him.

He looked down.

Curled up into a little ball was a white cat. He was scrawny and bruised, shivering in the cool weather. Upon closer inspection, Juan noticed the cat's front leg bent at an odd angle. A broken bone, most likely.

"Nyao..." said the cat, looking up at him.

He knew the cat would not survive long. The cat might not even last out the cold night.

Something in Juan changed. "You poor cat," he said softly, reaching out and petting him on the head. "Why don't I take you home and fix that leg of yours?"

"Purrrrr..." the cat said, closing his eyes.

Juan debated how to carry the cat without dropping his rice. Eventually, he gently set the cat on top of the sack and held the sack in front of him. Pleased, he hurried back to his home.

"Purrrr..."

Juan blinked awake, feeling a strange weight on his chest. He looked up directly into the gaze of the cat he had rescued the day before.

The cat yawned but didn't move from his place on top of Juan.

"Well, ohayo to you, too." Healing the cat would be easy. He would splint the bone and make a small cast for it if necessary, and feed him nourishing foods to help him regain weight.

"Nyao."

For the first time in many months, Juan got up and went about his morning business without thinking of Shouka. He was too busy mixing up the right food for the cat and bandaging the cat's wounds.

He was happy. It took him a moment to realize this, wrapped up in brushing the cat's fur. He had not felt happy since Shouka's death.

"Arigatou, neko-chan," he told the cat. He didn't know which of them was the healer: Juan, for rescuing the cat, or the cat, for rescuing Juan from misery and despair.

"Nyao!" said the cat.

Perhaps it was both of them.