Yui’s duty as Suzaku no Miko is now much different than before she returned to her own world. Though she was joyously reunited with her Seishi, the quest to Summon Suzaku has become an urgent mission that people will suffer and die to achieve or destroy, and Yui began to realize the weight of everyone’s hopes resting on her shoulders.
In all of this, she could find no clues as to what may have befallen her friend Miaka in the Universe of the Four Gods, until an assassin from Kutou uttered these words:
Seiryuu no Miko.

Episode Nine:

Hiromasa’s hands still hadn’t stopped shaking after Yui’s last near-assassination in the Universe of the Four Gods. What’ll happen if Yui dies in this stupid book? Would she really be...? Geez, if she keeps having close calls like that, it’s gonna give me a heart attack...

“‘Chichiri, the wandering monk, used her power again to cure Tamahome’s sister of her sickness.’”

*

“Thank you! You’re a nice lady!” Yuiren said, hugging Chichiri’s knee. “Are you my onii-chan’s wife?”

“No, I’m sorry, I’m not, Yuiren-chan no da,” Chichiri answered, sitting in a nearby chair. “I’ve just met him no da.”

“Oh. Well, do you like him?”

Yui couldn’t help but be amazed by just how expressive Chichiri’s mask could be as she answered “No daaaa....”

“Geez, is that girl just trying to marry me off?” Tamahome muttered, though smiling.

“So, let me see,” Nuriko said as the diffuse red glow of Chichiri’s Sei character showing through her mask faded into a more natural blush. “You paralyzed everyone with your singing, used magic on that assassin by the stream, the way you cut those ribbons apart was no ordinary swordplay, and now you cured Yuiren’s fever just like that,” she listed, with a snap of her fingers. “Just what is this power of yours, anyway?”

“Everyone’s no da.”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean, ‘everyone’s’?” Yui questioned.

“Everyone’s no da. I share in the powers of all the Seishi, of all the gods no da. I can use all their gifts no da.”

“All 28?” Nuriko asked in disbelief.

Chichiri nodded and picked up the table with one hand as though it were a sheet of paper. “That’s yours, isn’t it, Nuriko-chan no da?”

“Wow.” Nuriko turned to Yui with a wide smile. “I think this quest just got a whole lot easier!”

“Not necessarily no da,” Chichiri argued, shaking her head.

“Hmm?”

“There is a price for my gifts no da. My tie to others’ powers is rarely strong, and the cost in energy is often high no da. I’m only a single person, with a single chi; it’s easy to become exhausted no da. If the assassins were to return now, for instance, I don’t know how much help I would be no da.”

“‘The weakest and the strongest’,” Yui murmured.

“Da?”

“Your clues in ‘The Universe of the Four Gods’ said ‘the weakest and the strongest’. Strongest because you have the powers of all the other Seishi, but weakest because you can’t use them as well, right?”

“Hai no da.” Chichiri said, nodding. “The Suzaku no Miko is very smart no da, ne?”

“Isn’t she? We’re lucky to have such an amazing Miko,” Tamahome said, putting one arm around Yui’s shoulders and squeezing slightly.

Yui blushed. “Um, Chichiri, you can call me ‘Yui’ if you like.”

“All right, Yui-chan no da.”

“Um, Chichiri,” Tamahome said, letting go of Yui nervously. “I was wondering, with the way you healed Yuiren, if you could, um, maybe help my dad?”

“I don’t have enough energy left now, but let me see him and I’ll tell you if my gift will be strong enough when I’ve rested no da,” Chichiri said, pushing herself up. Tamahome guided her over to his father’s bed.

“Dad, this is Chichiri. She’s going to try to help you,” he said as she knelt at the man’s bedside and took his hand. He nodded slightly as her character starting glowing under the mask again, the red light flowing down her arm to his hand.

“How long has he been sick no da?”she asked softly as the red light seeped through his body.

“A while now, several months.”

“I was afraid of that no da,” she murmured as the light faded. She let go of the father’s hand and sat down on the floor, turning to face Tamahome and the others. “It’s too old and strong; it’s beyond my abilities no da.”

Tamahome sighed heavily. “Dad, I’m sorry...”

“Don’t apologize, Kishuku. I know you’re doing your best.”

“But, if Chichiri can heal with her power, that means there’s another Sei somewhere who has that ability even more strongly. Maybe they’re one of ours,” Yui said uncertainly. “It may not be very likely, but we can hope so.”

“There’s always the chance,” Nuriko offered.

“Thanks for trying, anyway, Chichiri,” Tamahome said, and extended his hand to help her up. She didn’t move. “Chichiri?” He paused for a moment, then crouched and waved his hand in front of her face. “I think she’s asleep.”

“How can you tell?” Nuriko asked, noting the ever-closed “laughing” eyes of the mask.

This power really does take a lot out of her, Yui thought. “Perhaps we should put her to bed...”

“That’s a good idea,” Nuriko agreed, standing and gently picking Chichiri up. “Is there somewhere she can sleep for the night?”

“Here,” Chuei said, directing her to the bed Yuiren had been occupying awhile before. “We can sleep on the floor.”

“Thanks,” Nuriko said, carefully laying Chichiri down and tucking a blanket up over her. She stirred slightly, but did not awaken.

Tamahome and his family started talking again, but it was nothing Yui had to pay attention to. The excitement of the moment was over and she finally had some time to think. The Seiryuu no Miko, another girl from another world... If that book is the only doorway between the worlds, surely no one but Miaka and I has touched it in this much time. She’d be the only other girl from our world to be found. If Konan’s enemies find her, and force her to be the Seiryuu no Miko... I have to protect Konan, but I don’t want to end up fighting my friend. I have to stop it somehow...

Yui looked around at her Seishi. She didn’t think they would like the idea, but she couldn’t run off and do such a thing alone. Just hours ago she had been thinking how important it was to look after herself as Suzaku no Miko. She couldn’t very well wait for Chichiri to wake up, but... “Excuse me,” she said at the next lull in conversation. “Tamahome? Nuriko?” They both looked up at her. “Could I talk to you about something, outside?”

“Um, sure,” Tamahome said as he and Nuriko stood and followed her out the door, shutting it behind them.

Yui opened her mouth, but Tamahome held up his hand to stop her and opened the door again, spilling his oldest brother and sister to the ground. “Chuei. Gyokuran.”

“Aww,” they whined, picking themselves up and going back inside.

Yui forced a smile before continuing. “As I was going to say, this is going to sound really crazy of me, but...

“I think we should go to Kutou.”

“What?” the Seishi shouted.

Yui felt like a scolded child, but she couldn’t give up. “You remember my friend Miaka? The one I kept asking about when I first got here? I think she’s the only other girl from my world who might be here. If they find her, she’ll have to become the Seiryuu no Miko, and I can’t just abandon her.”

“Yui, I understand that, but... But you can’t go!” Tamahome protested.

“Yui, I know you’re worried about your friend,” Nuriko said softly, taking her shoulders. “But if there are assassins in Konan, think what it would be like in Kutou. You wouldn’t make it a kilometer away from the border.”

“Maybe... maybe they wouldn’t expect us to be in Kutou,” Yui argued weakly. “And think of it this way. If Kutou finds their Miko and summons Seiryuu, it’ll be a disaster, but Miaka and I are friends. If I can find her first, we can keep that from happening.”

“If you live that long,” Nuriko argued gently. “You don’t even know if she’s in Kutou.”

“I just barely met Miaka, but she doesn’t seem like the kind of girl who would do something like that,” Tamahome agreed. “And if you hurry and summon Suzaku, you can use his powers to protect her too.”

“I don’t know,” Yui said. “I don’t think Miaka would have known that Kutou was Konan’s enemy. She’s a trusting, big-hearted girl. She could be tricked into something...”

“Yui, I’m sorry, but it’s just not safe,” Nuriko said gently. “We can’t go.”

“Why don’t we just go to bed?” Tamahome agreed. “Maybe in the morning you’ll see why this is such a bad idea.”

Yui sighed. She already knew why it was such a bad idea, but she also knew why she had to do it. It was like arguing with Hiromasa back home...

“It has been a long day,” Nuriko agreed. “Maybe some sleep would help.”

Yui let Nuriko and Tamahome take her back inside. She hadn’t slept well the last night, and had had a busy day, but despite that, there was no way she could sleep.

Tamahome got her a matt on the floor and a threadbare blanket, and she lay down and pretended to sleep while they all talked a bit longer. The floor was hard, and worrying for Miaka made her restless, but she was afraid to move a muscle and risk her pretended sleep being found out. I know it isn’t safe, but I can’t just abandon my best friend. She’s the reason I came back. She’s the important thing, isn’t she? She’s a person from the real world I come from, not a character in a book... Yui didn’t actually believe that Tamahome or Hotohori or even the men who’d been killed back on the road were just characters in a book. In her heart, she knew it was a lie, but she told herself that. She wouldn’t have any peace until she knew Miaka was safe. On some level, she even knew herself that she was just rationalizing the foolish thing she was planning to do.

The very foolish thing. Every time she had found herself alone in this world, she had ended up in danger, saved by one of her Seishi. To purposely leave them behind was inviting doom, but... It’s better this way, she said to herself. Sei of Suzaku in Kutou would draw attention anyway. Maybe they won’t recognize just me. And, the very thought that she was risking her life made her more certain in a way. If it’s going to be like that, I don’t want them getting hurt for me...

Little by little, the voices stopped, the lamps went out, and the sounds of people moving about faded. Everyone seemed to be asleep. Even yet, Yui lay still for a long time, watching the shadows shift as the moon moved across the sky. What would she do if someone woke up and caught her leaving? Eventually, she realized that didn’t matter. All she could do was try, but she had to do that. She pushed the blanket aside and picked up her bag, very slowly and carefully, then pushed the door open, and left the house.

A thought struck her and she paused. She knew it was risking being caught, but she stopped just outside the fence, got out her pen and notebook, and wrote a short note by the light of the now-setting moon.

I have to go to Kutou and help Miaka. I’m sorry, and I promise to take care of myself. Please use the clues in the memo pad, and look for the other Seishi while I’m gone.

See you soon.
~Yui

Looking around for a way to leave it quietly in a conspicuous place, she picked up a rock, and left the note and the memo pad under it just in front of the door.

What Yui didn’t know—had no way of knowing—was that under the mask, one of Chichiri’s eyes was open, watching her every move as she gathered her things and snuck away. Sighing slightly, the monk quietly rose, put on her her hat, grasped her staff by the rings so they wouldn’t jingle and threw her cape over her shoulder. It swirled about her, growing tighter and tighter until it collapsed into a tiny dot, and vanished.

*

“That’s it, she’s nuts,” Hiromasa muttered. “My sister is absolutely nuts.” I guess I should look on the bright side. It’s not just me she won’t listen to, so I shouldn’t take it personally. He attempted a wry smile with precious little success.

“‘The Suzaku no Miko walked all that night toward the border of Kutou, not knowing that she was under the watchful eye of her Sei, Chichiri. Nuriko awoke the next morning to find that both the girl and the monk had vanished.’”

*

“Tamahome, wake up!” Nuriko shouted, shaking him. “Wake up!”

“Mmm? What is it?” he asked sleepily.

“Yui’s gone!”

“WHAT?”

“She’s gone! Chichiri’s gone too. You don’t think they went to Kutou, do you?”

“Surely she wouldn’t,” Tamahome said, nonetheless throwing his blanket aside and jumping to his feet.

“She was pretty stubborn about the idea yesterday,” Nuriko said. “Man, I should’ve been watching for this. I’m the guard, I should’ve woken up, at least.”

“Well, I know she was worried about her friend, but she’s a smart girl,” Tamahome said, pushing the cottage door open, “She’s probably out in the yard or—”

The door clunked against something, and he slipped out and saw a rock left in front of it, weighing down Yui’s memo pad and a sheet of paper with curiously regular lines drawn on it. He picked them up.

“What’s that?” Nuriko said, coming out of the house behind him.

“Oh, crap!” Tamahome shouted, tossing the note and pad aside and dashing down the path. That was all the information Nuriko needed, and she started after him.

“Come on, she couldn’t have gotten far, she didn’t even take a horse,” Tamahome muttered, dashing as quickly as he could down the road through town and into the woods. He paused at a clearing and shouted “YUI!”

“Save your breath,” Nuriko snapped, dashing slighly ahead of him. “If she wanted us to find her, she wouldn’t have run off like that.”

“You won’t catch Yui-chan before she reaches the border no da.”

Nuriko screeched to a halt, and Tamahome almost slammed into her from behind. Chichiri was sitting on a large rock to the left of the path, her left elbow on one knee while her right leg dangled over the edge.

“Chichiri!” Nuriko started.

“I thought you should know so you don’t wear yourselves out unneccessarily no da. You won’t catch Yui-chan before she reaches the border no da.”

“If you were close enough to know that, why didn’t you stop her!?” Tamahome cut in.

Chichiri raised a finger and cocked her head. “Yui-chan must go to Kutou to learn the truth no da.”

“The truth about what!?”

“I don’t know no da.”

“You WHAT!?!?”

“I don’t know no da. I wish I did, but the dream didn’t tell me no da.”

“The dream didn’t...?” Nuriko started, blinking.

“Didn’t tell me no da.”

“And ‘the dream’ was supposed to tell you...?”

“Apparently not, or it would have no da.” She looked at the confused looks on their faces, and smiled. “My dreams are often prophetic no da.”

“‘Often’?”

“Look, if we can’t catch Yui before the border, what are we gonna do!?” Tamahome shouted. “She’s not gonna last five minutes over there!”

“It’ll be all right no da. I find destiny attends to itself, with a little help now and then no da.” With that, Chichiri’s silouhette went dark, as though she were falling into shadow, and she vanished.

“What the--” Tamahome started. “Why that--!”

“She’s an... interesting Sei, that’s for certain,” Nuriko muttered.

“Oh, very interesting,” he growled.

“She just said we wouldn’t catch Yui before the border. Maybe we can catch her at the border,” Nuriko suggested.

“Hey, that’s right!” Tamahome realized. “Let’s go.”

“One of us needs to go back to the capital and tell the Emperor what’s going on, in case something happens. You do that; I’ll go after Yui.”

“No way! Look, whatever happens with Yui, I’m going to be there! I lost her for three months, I am NOT losing her again!”

Nuriko opened her mouth, then growled slightly. “Fine, we don’t have time to argue, and I know how stubborn you are. Get going; I’ll report to the Emperor.” With that, she ‘lightly’ smacked him on the back to send him on his way.

*

Yui hadn’t slept well in the past two nights. Her legs ached with fatigue, but she had to keep plodding on. If she stopped, her Seishi might catch her. It seemed odd to be afraid of being caught by them.

Especially since, although Yui didn’t realize it, there were far worse people to be caught by in the forest.

Perfect, a roughly dressed man thought, watching her walk by. A woman alone, nicely dressed, traveling.... She was bound to be an easy target. He started around the tree, only to feel a hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t want to do that no da.”

He whipped around, on guard, then stopped. The person he was looking at was a smiling monk; and, he realized a moment later, a woman. “Who do you think you are?” he laughed. “Just keep moving; I’d hate to beat up a woman of religion.”

“I would hate for you to try no da,” Chichiri agreed, reaching for her chin. He blinked with amazement as she removed her “face”, then brushed back her long bangs. Underneath, she looked almost exactly the same, except for an L-shaped scar marring her face.

She looked at him, and a red character appeared on her cheek. “Have you ever heard of Zashiyo no da?”

“UWAUGH!” The brigand hit the ground, fairly flinging himself away from her, and tried to shuffle backward to his feet. She put two fingers to her lips and whispered, and suddenly his body refused to move. He screamed in terror again.

“Please stop screaming no da,” she said. He immediately tried to squelch his cries. “Now, that woman there is under my protection; if you have any friends on the road ahead, I suggest you tell them that no da. Am I understood no da?”

He tried to nod, but couldn’t. “Yeah, yeah!”

“Good, go do that no da,” she said, snapping her fingers. Instantly his muscles responded again, and he leapt to his feet, dashing away from her as fast as he could.

*

This was a bad idea, Yui thought. Her feet hurt, and she was hungry and thirsty. How did I get myself into this? I should have known better than to go off half-cocked. Maybe I should just turn around and go back and face the music...

Just then, she turned a corner in the road, opening up a view of a huge fortified wall--like the Great Wall of China--with a gate. That must be it! Kutou! Yui thought. In another moment, her enthusiasm faded. What am I thinking? That’s not the end of my journey; that’s just where it starts... Still, it was an important step. Picking herself up and doing her best not to look bedraggled, she walked up to the gate.

The two guards in the archway were talking, and the gate was wide open. Perhaps if I act as though I belong... Yui thought, pulling herself to her full height and starting through.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” one of them asked, moving towards her.

“Ah!” Yui started. Come on, think of an excuse, think of an excuse... But what excuse could a girl alone crossing from enemy territory have? I’ve been quiet too long, they’re not going to believe me now...

Chichiri peeked around a tree nearby. She’s not going to get through like this, she thought, raising two fingers to her face.

In front of Yui, the two soldiers suddenly straightened and froze.

“Wh- what the--?” one of the guards started. “I can’t move!”

Yui paused for only a moment. I’d better take this chance while I’ve got it, she thought, running through the gateway. She turned over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being pursued; the guards were still frozen. Just as she was turning around again, she ran into something: a horse, she realized, as it whinnied and sidestepped away. Oh, great, I’m already drawing attention to myself! she thought, starting back. “I’m sorry!”

“What is this?” a soft, deep voice asked. Yui froze as she looked up at the tall man riding the horse. He was wearing a helmet and most of his face was covered by a lavender scarf, but she could see his ice-blue eyes behind a fringe of blond hair.

Blond with blue eyes...? He couldn’t be from around here, and yet his armor made him look like a military officer.

“Shogun! Help us!” one of the guards called. “We-- we’ve been paralyzed and she slipped past!”

Shogun...? Yui’s legs almost collapsed beneath her. I’ve been in the country for forty-five seconds and I ran into the shogun. I’m going to die...

“Paralyzed?” the man asked. Suddenly, a laughing twinkle entered his eyes. “It’s just a simple binding spell,” he said, snapping his fingers. The men jerked forward as they were released, and the Shogun’s eyes fell on Yui. “And who might you be?”

“I... I’m...” Yui froze. His blue eyes had a sharp look about them, as if they could see through any lie she might tell. Maybe if I use a bit of the truth...

“Yui!”

Yui swallowed hard. She didn’t even have to turn around to recognize Tamahome’s voice as the soldiers ran to restrain him.

“Yui! Hey, let me go, I— Yui, come back here!”

I’ve got to come up with something quick! she thought desperately. If his character starts glowing... “I... I heard you were looking for a girl from another world here, and... when I mentioned it, that man started chasing me,” she said, hopefully not too haltingly. It was all true, in a roundabout kind of way...

“Oh?” the Shogun asked. “I can have him stopped here, easily enough. But why would he be chasing you?”

Yui floundered for a moment, confused. “Well, what I meant was, I am a girl from another world. I guess he wanted to keep me away from here.” A nervous laugh slipped out before she caught herself.

He leaned forward on his horse. “Really? A girl from another world?”

“I’m sorry about my friend no da!” Chichiri shouted, grabbing Tamahome and dragging him away from the soldiers. “Perhaps he’s had too much to drink no da.”

Yui turned over her shoulder and watched Chichiri pull Tamahome away, her hand covering his forehead in case his character appeared. She’s trying to help me get into Kutou? But why? Remembering she couldn’t afford to divide her attention, she turned back to the blond Shogun. “Yes, that’s right.”

The Shogun looked at her for a long moment, studying her, and Yui swallowed hard. He knows, she thought. He knows I’m the Suzaku no Miko, I’m sure of it.

“This is excellent,” he announced at last, then turned to the guards. “Let that man go, I’m sure he’ll be fine in the hands of his monk friend. The Emperor will be very pleased that you’ve found the Seiryuu no Miko. I’ll see that you’re both rewarded.”

Yui barely managed not to break up laughing with relief. He actually thinks I’m the Seiryuu no Miko. I can’t believe I actually fooled him... She wasn’t too relieved, though. It was true; she couldn’t believe she’d fooled him.

“Come,” the Shogun said, offering his hand to help Yui onto his horse. “I’ll take you to the Emperor myself.”

“Th... thank you!” she said, taking his hand and getting up on the horse behind him. She sat stiffly as the horse started moving. She’d ridden a horse with someone before, but for the first time it wasn’t someone she could hold onto.

I’m being taken to the Emperor of Kutou, she thought. ‘Straight into the dragon’s mouth’ as it were. Maybe this could be a good thing. If they think I’m the Seiryuu no Miko, they’ll stop looking for Miaka. And the Emperor... Maybe he wouldn’t be as difficult as she feared. She was ashamed to think such a thing, but if the situation were reversed and she were the Seiryuu no Miko trying to slip into Konan before their Miko had been found, Hotohori would probably have been easy to fool. He was so eager to believe in me... Her courage faltered for a moment. Am I ever going to see him again...?

“Is something the matter?” the shogun asked.

“No, nothing!” she said, startled.

*

“What in Suzaku’s name did you think you were doing, Chichiri!?” Tamahome snapped. “Do you want Yui to die!?!?”

“She isn’t going to die no da,” Chichiri soothed.

“No thanks to you! The Shogun of Kutou is taking the Suzaku no Miko to his Emperor! Oh, she is SO safe!!!”

“Nakago-chan won’t let her be hurt no da.”

Tamahome opened his mouth to shout at her again, then paused. “‘Nakago-chan’?”

“Nakago-chan the Shogun no da,” Chichiri answered with a quick nod.

“‘-Chan’? You just called the Shogun of Kutou ‘-chan’!?”

“He’s my dear friend no da,” Chichiri said as though it were the most normal thing in the world. “You’d like him; he’s a sweetie no da.”

“Are you just crazy, is that what it is!?”

The mask seemed to wink mischievously. “That’s what everyone tells me no da.”

Tamahome growled. “Look, you are GOING to let me go and help her. Got it!?”

“Of course, but not the way you intend no da. I have a better way no da.”

“I’m listening--briefly.”

“We can follow her magically, just as I have been since she left your home no da.” Chichiri turned to him, as though suddenly hit by a realization. “You didn’t think I’d left her unprotected all this time, did you no da?” she asked innocently.

“Well... uh...” He didn’t like finding himself unable to shout at her. “C’mon, think about how that had to look to me.”

Chichiri looked at him for a moment, then sighed and nodded, letting her bangs hide her face. “I know, and I understand no da. You think I’m only causing trouble and putting Yui-chan in danger, but I really am trying to do what’s best for her no da.”

“Look, I’m just trying to help Yui too, okay, so... at least we understand that about each other, I guess.”

“That we do no da.” She leaned toward his ear and whispered. “Look on the bright side; surely they don’t get any stranger than me no da.”

Tamahome sighed. That would be comforting, but I’m not sure if stranger than Chichiri is even possible.

*

“Nakago-sama!” a servant shouted, running up as the Shogun dismounted his horse and helped Yui down. “The Emperor has heard you’ve found the Seiryuu no Miko for certain. He wants to see you and the new candidate immediately.”

“It’s been a very long journey. I think she should rest first,” Nakago said, removing his helmet and releasing his long, layered blond hair.

Yui looked at him for a moment. He was very handsome, but that wasn’t enough to allay her discomfort. Still, the way his hair hung in his eyes reminded her a bit of Hotohori. A twinge of regret tugged at her heart. What will he do if I never come back...?

“He insisted that you come to him as soon as you entered the palace,” the servant repeated.

Nakago let out just the slightest hint of a sigh. “As his Majesty wishes, then,” he said, resting his hand on Yui’s shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Yui stiffened a bit, but tried to stay calm. The Emperor is this excited to see me... this could be good... However, she knew it could also be very bad. Still, there was nothing she could do but follow.

Nakago guided Yui down a long hall, seeming all the longer for her dread. At the end of it was a huge pair of doors ornately carved with the image of a dragon, its horns gilded and its eyes made of two sapphires, glowing in the hall candlelight. Yui couldn’t help but feel them staring at her accusingly as Nakago paused and whispered to a servant beside the doors. Then he pushed them open; the dragon’s angry gaze split in half.

Inside was a throne room, decorated with sharp geometric designs in starkly contrasting colors, but predominantly blue. Sitting on the throne in the center of the room was a middle-aged man with a thin black beard and imperial robes in a style as severe as the palace decor. As Nakago led Yui to the foot of the steps before the Emperor of Kutou’s throne, his small, dark eyes narrowed with scrutiny. If people could be judged by appearances, she thought this Emperor was as far as he could be from Hotohori, who was always so gentle and concerned.

“She doesn’t look much like a Seiryuu no Miko to me,” he finally scoffed. “Her clothes are those of Konan.”

Yui jumped. Why didn’t I think of that!? “I... I got into trouble in Konan just before I came here,” she said, shrugging off her robe to reveal the brown school uniform underneath. She thought she saw a note of approval flit across the Shogun’s blue eyes.

“I see,” the emperor said, looking Yui up and down in a way she didn’t like at all. A smirk lit his face. “This is excellent! Now we won’t have anything to fear from the Suzaku no Miko, and Konan’s baby of an Emperor will cry and give it up to me!” he said with a laugh.

Yui averted her eyes and suppressed a scowl. If you were half the man Hotohori was, you wouldn’t talk like that... she thought hotly.

“So, Nakago,” the Emperor continued. “You believe this girl to be the Seiryuu no Miko, then.”

The Shogun paused. “Actually, no. I don’t.”

Yui felt her heart stop for a moment. She nearly fainted. I should have known I wasn’t fooling him. Now Tamahome and Chichiri are far away and there’s no way I can get out...

“I’m not certain which is the Seiryuu no Miko,” he continued. “I would need to spend time with both of them.”

Relief broke over Yui like a wave on a beach, then suddenly, the Shogun’s exact words registered in her mind. “Both of us? There’s another candidate!?”

“Yes,” Nakago answered, gesturing to the servants. They opened a side door, and a figure slowly, hesitantly stepped into the throne room.

“Miaka!” Yui shouted. Suddenly, every worry that had oppressed her a moment ago seemed unimportant. Letting her bag and the native robes fall from her arm, forgotten, she dashed across the throne room and threw her arms around her friend. “Miaka! I’ve finally found you! I was so worried...” Maybe Miaka didn’t have any power, like her Seishi, but for a moment, being together with her friend again made the danger seem unreal, made her feel invincible.

Miaka just stood there, shocked. “Yui-chan...?”

Yui heard a clink of armor and turned around to see Nakago bending down. In that moment, her heart froze. ‘The Universe of the Four Gods’--Suzaku’s ‘Universe of the Four Gods’--had fallen out of her bag, and he was reaching for it.

Time slowed to an unbearable crawl as he picked it up and unrolled it, then looked up at her. In his eyes, she could see without a doubt.

He knew exactly who she really was.

To Be Continued...

*

PREVIEW

Yui’s happiness at being reunited with Miaka turns to sorrow when Yui discovers how her friend has suffered in the Universe of the Four Gods. What could have been a joyous reunion and a holy alliance turns into the bitterest rivalry of all.

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