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Miaka:
I knew exactly, suddenly who the Seiryuu no Miko was. I'd been distracted, confused--but now the pieces all fell into place and I knew. Why else would I be in this world, if I hadn't come with Yui?
That meant my best friend was here too. Of course it also meant she'd sent assassins after Akane, but that was surely just a misunderstanding somehow. Yui wasn't like that. Maybe--maybe she even knew I was here, and she was trying to get me back! She might think that Akane and Tamahome and the others had kidnapped me!
No matter what, I had to find her and straighten everything out. If I had Yui and Tamahome with me, I wouldn't complain about being stuck in this world ever again.
Tamahome's youngest sister, Yuiren, tugged on my arm. "Miaka-san?" she asked, her big eyes all serious, "are you my big brother's wife? My papa says he should be married now."
I blushed, probably very bright, given how warn my face suddenly was. "Iie--I'm not," I stammered. Not that I would have minded. Tamahome...this world was not nearly so miserable now that he was showing the same kind of interest in me that I had in him. All right, so I was a little young for marriage. I could still daydream, right?
Out of the corner of one eye I noticed that Tamahome was blushing too.
*************************
Nuriko:
"Does it matter?" I asked bluntly. "So Kutou's found their own Miko. Doesn't that just mean we should step up the search a bit?"
"Not...exactly," Akane muttered, looking troubled. Tamahome just watched her expectantly, but it was our newcomer, the blue-haired monk, who explained.
"The Miko has to be someone from Akane's world no da," he said. "Akane and Miaka are already here...."
Tamahome nodded. "That is a bit weird," he agreed.
Miaka spoke up suddenly. "I know who it is." She sounded nervous. "She's my best friend. We came here together, but--we got separated." She looked awkwardly at the floor. "She might be worried about me...I should at least go talk to her. I can ask her not to do this anymore."
That startled everyone but Akane, who just looked resigned.
"Really? You could?" New respect for Miaka was dawning in Tamahome's eyes. I had to admit I was glad to see her making a contribution to the group myself. "Well if you're going to Kutou, I'm going with you!" he declared. "Somebody has to make sure you're all right!"
Miaka turned pink and shuffled her feet. "All right...."
"I'll go too," Akane said. When we all looked sharply at her, she smiled sheepishly. "Well, what else would I do? We'll look for Seishi on the way. Nuriko? Could you ride back to Eiyo and tell Hotohori-sama about this...new development?"
I swallowed. I'm not sure what, if anything, Akane thought she could accomplish by sending me back to bear the news to my Emperor. Maybe it was only that she thought he should be kept informed, and he had never met Chichiri. But whatever it was, I wouldn't turn down the chance to be the centre of his attention even for a few moments. I nodded. "Hai."
And then I added, "Please...be careful."
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Akane:
The trip to Kutou was highly uneventful. Chichiri was friendly, but not as talkative as Nuriko, and I found I missed the conversation. I was so in the habit of giving Miaka and Tamahome their space that I spent a lot of time in silence, just thinking.
I did not much care for some of the thoughts. The Shijin Tenchi Sho was an enigma, written mostly in riddles that made perfect sense only after one understood what they referred to. I did not understand why it called Chichiri 'the monk with a mask', or Tamahome 'the little monster grown'. It said nothing about what would become of me or the other Seishi when Suzaku was finally called. It was, in short, completely unhelpful. Its only real use was that I was using it to attempt to teach Miaka to read the ancient Chinese dialect that it was written in. When Chichiri and I determined we could extract no more meaning from it for the time being, we let her take it to study.
So I was relieved to see the high stone gate of the Kutou border rising ahead of us at last.
"I hate to say this no da," Chichiri said, reluctant, "but I think Miaka should go in alone. If there are Seiryuu Seishi inside, they'll be able to sense that the rest of us are close by. She'll be in less danger if she goes by herself no da."
"That's ridiculous!" Tamahome protested. "We can't send her into a country full of enemies all alone!"
"They're our enemies, Tamahome no da," Chichiri reminded him. "Not Miaka's. She's already told us that her friend is there."
"He's right," Miaka said quietly. "I should go by myself to see Yui. I'll bring her back here, don't worry. I don't want the rest of you in danger. Especially because of me."
I had to agree, but I had a bad feeling about this. "Be careful," I told Miaka, but the silly girl just waved as she trotted off toward the gate.
We saw her stopped at the gate, and it looked for a moment like the guards weren't going to let her in. But just as Chichiri was raising his fingers to his face, the way he did when he was casting a spell, he appeared. His chi was strong. We could all feel it wash over us like a foul smell that we couldn't be rid of by holding our noses.
He was tall, blonde, and devastatingly handsome in his blue cloak and dragon armour, and he even looked kind as he pulled Miaka up behind him on his horse. We knew better. He was evil. And with Miaka in tow, he rode away.
Tamahome, Chichiri and I looked at each other.
"That doesn't look good," I began.
"Well that's a change no da," Chichiri said unhappily.
"I'm going after her," Tamahome said. Neither of us made protest this time, and he nodded. "Are you two coming or not?"
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Miaka:
I was quite a bit more scared than I was letting on. Even though I was sure Yui was there somewhere, I really didn't like the idea of wandering around any more strange cities alone. But I was tired of being a burden, tired of being someone Tamahome and Akane had to take time and effort away from their quest to look after. So I put on a brave face and went on my own.
At first, the guards weren't going to let me through. "Where's your passport?" they demanded roughly, and I tried to look innocent and lost.
"Do I need a passport?" I asked, trying to meander through without being obvious.
It didn't work. They held their spears in front of me so I couldn't pass. "Of course you need a passport!" one growled.
Then the other one squinted, looked closer at me, and elbowed his companion. "Are you sure?" he muttered under his breath. "The Shogun said to watch for anybody dressed strangely...and that skirt of hers is definately strange...."
I held my breath in hope. Maybe they had instructions from Yui to look for me! If she was really the Miko here...well, Akane had plenty of power back in Konan. Surely Yui would have the same status here.
And then he arrived. He rode up on horseback, those cold blue eyes glittering like ice crystals behind his helmet. "Well," he said. It was all he said, but the guards all but fell over themselves as they saluted.
"Shogun--Nakago-sama--"
"Enough." He silenced them with a word. "Who is this?"
"She--she wanted to come through the gate, sir, but--"
"Then by all means, let her. In fact, I shall take her to the palace to see the Seiryuu no Miko myself. Since I am certain that is what she has come for." He looked at me, and for some reason I felt a shiver up my spine. "Is it not?"
I nodded dumbly, and he reached down a hand to me. "Come, then," he commanded. This was what I wanted, wasn't it? He was going to take me to Yui. So why was I so terrified? I took his hand, and he pulled me up behind him. I wanted to look back through the gate, to see if Tamahome and the others were still there, but I didn't dare call attention to them. So I just looked straight ahead as we rode away.
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