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Hotohori:
"Hotohori-sama...we're ready to go." I knew it had been coming, of course. Akane was taking Nuriko, Tamahome, and Miaka to find the rest of the Seishi. I wanted to go along with them more than I could put into words. But I had a country to run. There is no prison quite like a crown.
"Hotohori--pleas turn around and come here....There's something rather important to tell you before we go." Akane sounded almost amused. But then, I was puttering around the office, looking for that scroll. It had to look a little silly.
I turned--"What?" And then I stopped.
They were all there. Akane, her long blue-black hair braided back again, in borrowed Konan clothes--violet and blue, loose leggings and a long travelling coat. Tamahome, all in black with his hair falling in his face. Miaka, in that short skirt she still insisted on wearing and washing every day. And Nuriko--in pink, and yet--
"Nuriko?"
A trace of pink touched her cheeks then, too. Her? Him! It was supposed to stay a secret," she--he--said softly. "But it's turning out to be inconvenient." He didn't look too happy about it, either. "I suppose I would have had to tell you eventually that--I'm a man."
I looked sharply at Akane. Hadn't she said--? She must have somehow misunderstood. All I said was, "I see."
There was a moment of very awkward silence. I cleared my throat and held up the scroll I'd been trying to find. "I think you should take this with you. To help you find the other four Seishi," I explained.
"Shijin Tenchi Sho...." Akane breathed as I handed it to her, realisation dawning in her eyes. "Arigatou."
I tried not to let her whispered thanks affect me. It was hard. "Taittsu-kun gave it to the first Emperor," I explained. "But I'm sure I should give it to you...you're the Suzaku no Miko."
Miaka leaned over Akane's shoulder to see closer as she unrolled it briefly. "What's it say? I can't read it."
"It's in Chinese," Akane told her dryly as the scroll vanished into her sleeve. "I think we're ready then," she sighed. She touched my face, briefly, silently, and turned to walk away. The others followed her.
When they were gone, I hurried to the garden. From one hill, I could watch them until they were miles away, no larger than crawling specks on the landscape.
*********************************
Akane:
The Konan empire is probably one of the most beautiful places in any world. The sky was vibrant, and woods were rich, and the air smelled like pine and wildflowers. The four of us were walking two by two--Nuriko had been as good as his word and eased up on Miaka, and now seemed to be entertaining himself with contriving to find ways for her and Tamahome to be alone. I don't know if Miaka knew what to make of the change, but she was definitely a lot happier.
Besides, it was becoming obvious that Tamahome was returning her affections. I don't know what they saw in each other, but I could hardly begrudge them.
"You look tired, Miaka," Nuriko called solicitously, skipping to catch up to them. "You know what you need? A soak in a mineral spring. And I know just where there is one!"
"A soak?" Tamahome repeated incredulously. "Nuriko, we're out here looking for warriors, in case you forgot? It's not a beauty spa."
Nuriko stuck his tongue out at Tamahome. "Hmph. Just like a man. She's tired. We're all tired." That was not entirely true, but he turned to look pleadingly at me as he added, "Right, Akane?"
I defy the gods themselves to refuse Nuriko anything when he has that look on his face. And Miaka did look tired...and hopeful, too. So I sighed and grinned. "I am a bit...and what can it hurt? Go have a soak, Miaka. Tamahome, can you keep an eye on her? We'll catch up to you."
Miaka and Nuriko bestowed upon me twin looks of unparalleled gratitude. Tamahome grumbled, but he followed Miaka when she ran off into the woods in the direction Nuriko pointed.
"We are not," Nuriko said wickedly as they vanished out of earshot, "going to catch up to them." He flopped onto the ground, settling himself cross-legged and digging into his pack for something to eat. "We're going to stay right here."
I rolled my eyes, but joined him. "You're awful. How is it that gay men are always so meddlesome, hm? And why don't we get to soak in a mineral spring too?"
"Because we're giving them privacy," Nuriko explained patiently, ignoring my first question completely. "Unless you want to see them get all gushy? Because we both know it's going to happen eventually. He loves her, he just doesn't see it."
"That's the other thing you all do," I continued. "You assume everybody's in love and just not admitting it to themselves."
He grinned impishly. "Are you trying to tell me he's not?"
Well that was futile, and we both knew it. I was just as sure as Nuriko that Tamahome had feelings for Miaka and, like any self-respecting seventeen-year-old boy, was ignoring it obsessively. Once Nuriko had stopped trying to steal him away, he'd returned to looking after Miaka and keeping her entertained. He took her walking in the city, sat for hours listening to her talk, and expressed amasement over all the junk from our world she had stuffed into her school bag and brought with her. Not that I didn't envy her some of that junk. I hadn't even had a chance to bring my purse.
"You know," Nuriko said, now that I had surrendered him the victory, "you have pretty hair." His head tilted, appraising my long and rather tangled braid. "You should let me plait it for you. I can keep it from coming undone so much."
Now that's a change of subject. "Tamahome's right," I said dryly. "You are determined to make this a beauty spa, aren't you?"
He hrmphed, already moving around behind me to run his fingers through my plait and let the hair fall free. "We're not going anywhere until we've given them time to talk anyway," he countered. "You may as well let me...ew, Akane, you've got treesap all over the end...don't you watch where you're walking?"
I sat still and resigned myself; not that it was an unpleasant experience. "Apparently not."
Unbraiding my hair seemed to keep Nuriko entertained for a while. I can't really say that I minded; it was a nice sensation, if a bit out of place while I was on a quest in the middle of the woods to have someone combing out my hair. It was distracting enough for both of us that it came as a complete surprise when arrows started flying out of the trees at us.
"Eeeeeeeeai!!" Nuriko screamed and tumbled out of the way as I rolled behind a tree.
"What the--?"
There is little that exceptional strength can do against flying arrows, so we just dodged, ducking under branches and behind stumps in our attempts to avoid being hit.
"Who's attacking? Nuriko, can you see them?"
"No!" he called back. "I can only see--AKANE!!!"
His calling my name was the only warning I had. One hand grabbed me around the chest, another covered my mouth, and I found myself being pulled back into the forest, away from the arrows and further away from my friends.
********************************
It was instinct as much as anything. I bit down fiercely on the hand over my mouth. Abruptly, it let go, and I fell to the ground with an uncomfortable thud.
"Ow!" said an unfamiliar but not unfriendly voice, sounding sulky. "Was it really necessary to bite that hard, Suzaku no Miko no da? It hurt!"
I sat up, brushed myself off, and finally got a look at the person the voice and hands belonged to. He wore a monk's kasa and a straw cone hat, and prayer beads dangled around his neck. His blue hair brazenly defied gravity and stuck straight up in the air, and he pouted as he sucked at his hand.
"I was just trying to rescue you from the Kutou soldiers no da," he grumbled.
"How was I supposed to know that?" I still wasn't sure what to make of this odd fellow, or the situation. "People were shooting at me, then someone grabbed me...it's easy to misunderstand."
He considered. Finally he smiled sunnily and nodded. "That's true no da. But you had best be careful, Suzaku no Miko no da!" he reprimanded, waggling a finger at me. As if I hadn't been careful up to this point? Well, I suppose not. "Kutou is advancing, and there are enemies looking for you no da!"
He flipped his cone hat onto his head, and disappeared. I gaped. "Where--?"
There was no answer. I suppose I shouldn't have expected one. But I did hear the voices of my friends calling my name from the woods.
"I'm here!" I started back toward them. Nuriko came running toward me as soon as they were in sight.
"You're all right! What happened? I saw them grab you, and then you were gone!"
"Yes, I'm all right." I surveyed the clearing--Tamahome had apparently been performing again, because there were dead bodies everywhere, and all of them looked vaguely foreign. "I just met the oddest person...but then he vanished. He was apparently trying to help."
They all just looked at me. I'm not sure they believed me. Finally Tamahome sighed. "We came running when we heard the noise...but maybe we really should take this quest a bit more seriously from now on?" He looked pointedly at Nuriko, who had the grace to look sheepish.
"Good," Tamahome continued. "Then I know there's a village close by. We can spend the night there. Let's get moving." He slipped his arm around Miaka's waist and led her away. Nuriko gave me a self-satisfied look.
I just sighed and followed.
*******************************
The village Tamahome was talking about ended up being the one he grew up in, which excited Miaka. He looked a little embarrassed, though he tried to hide it, when he led us to the door of a run-down, ramshackle hut on a dusty street. He looked as though he was about to make a speech, or explain something to us, but the door flew open.
"Ani-chan!!" erupted in a gaggle of young voices as children poured out of the house. Not as many as it first seemed--there were really only four of them, but they made enough noise for fourteen. Of course they were adorable. They clung to Tamahome, dangling from his arms, hanging around his neck.
"I missed you all!" he declared. He glowed. My heart was softening into a small, malleable pile of mush at the scene, and I could see it was having the same effect on Miaka and Nuriko. Such suckers, all of us girls.
Tamahome, the smallest girl-child still cuddled in his arms, led us inside. His family lived in utter poverty, that much was clear, and it shed a little light on my first Seishi's obsession with reward. In fact, all the money I'd seen him collect in the past few weeks, he now handed over to an old man who lay sick on a bed against one wall.
"Father...I brought this to help. And a few friends--we're on a journey, we can't stay long." The child's eyes fell at that, but the old man nodded reassuringly. "Father...this is Akane, Suzaku no Miko...Nuriko, another Seishi...and this is Miaka...." Something in his eyes when he said her name told his father all he needed to know.
"Of course you can all stay here," he said warmly, though just speaking must have pained him. He looked so ill. "We would be honoured."
He spoke too soon. What he should have said was, "We don't want to be in danger, could you please leave?" But he didn't, and he wouldn't have been fast enough anyway, because that was the moment when, for the second time that day, we were attacked.
The door burst open. A man stood there, cloaked in black that covered half his face. His hand shot out, but instead of a weapon, he threw some sort of web that tangled around everyone's arms and legs and trapped us where we stood, as if he were the spider and we were merely his supper.
There was a lot of screaming, mostly from Miaka and the children. Nuriko and Tamahome were trying to break free, but the most even Nuriko could get free was a foot. The stuff that held us was sticky, a little stretchy, and far stronger than it looked.
"Astonishingly easy." The man in black sounded almost disappointed. "How simple then to kill the Suzaku no Miko and her warriors!" He stalked toward me--now he had a weapon; a sharp, gleaming curved sword. It could probably cut through the web. Of course, it could probably take off my head just as easily, and that seemed to be his intent.
Being helpless has never been one of my favourite situations. I don't like not being able to move. At this moment, the best I could come up with when my struggling proved futile was to pray. Suzaku...unless you want me to die and all of us to fail...help?
He raised his sword, and I could feel the rush of air as it sliced toward my head.
There was a sound like a bell, and the swordstroke stopped. All I could see at first was a staff, like one a priest would carry. The picture gradually became clearer--in front of me appeared the young man from the forest, gravity-defying blue hair and all. He raised his fingers to his face and the webbing vanished, dumping the lot of us to the ground.
The cloaked man swept out his hand, and shuriken came flying at us. "Incoming!" the new arrival called, twirling the staff, and the silver throwing stars fell harmlessly aside. One of them grazed his knee, and where the cloth of his pant leg fell away glowed the red symbol "Well"--a symbol of Suzaku.
Tamahome and Nuriko were free. The ogre symbol blazed to life on Tamahome's forehead, and he let loose on the assassin. Nuriko was almost as quick, catching the falling man before he hit the ground and twisting his arm back ruthlessly.
"We want some information out of you," he demanded, all playfulness vanished.
But the assassin only laughed. "You've already failed," he said raspily, his voice low. "Now that we have Seiryuu no Miko...." And while we puzzled over his words, he brought his hand to his mouth in one swift motion. There was no escape, and he knew it, but he would give us nothing, even in exchange for his life. Instead, he took his own. His eyes glazed over and finally closed, and he crumpled free of Nuriko's grasp and onto the floor.
It was Tamahome who spoke aloud what all of us were thinking. Bewildered, he repeated slowly-- "Seiryuu no Miko..?"
On to chapter 10
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