As the achievement of her goals draws near, Yui decides to make the Universe of the Four Gods her home and remain with her friends and her beloved. She and her Seishi travel to Tamahome’s village, hoping that Mitsukake’s power can heal Tamahome’s father.

Episode Nineteen:

“I think Tamahome’s house is right along this stream, so we should see it any time now,” Yui said, looking across the river at the cottages growing denser on the other side.

“Man, this place is deserted,” Tasuki said, looking at the dark, abandoned windows.

“I imagine a lot of people have fled because of the war,” Nuriko remarked.

“It’s freakin’ creepy around here. You sure this Tamahome guy’s family didn’t split like everyone else?”

“I’m sure,” Yui said. “I don’t think his father could travel.”

Tasuki muttered something that could conceivably be sympathy and fell silent. Yui couldn’t help but agree with his earlier comment. The village did seem rather creepy. Before it had been poor, but active, a little nervous because of the war perhaps. Now, it seemed darker, somehow. It must be because so many people had left.

It was a relief when Tamahome’s house came into view. His youngest brother and sister were playing in the dirt yard; the little girl with brown buns looked up from their little house of pebbles and sticks. “Onee-chan!” she cried, getting up and running down the path.

“Hi, Yuiren,” Yui said as the girl took hold of her leg.

“Is my Onii-chan here?” she asked, looking around eagerly.

“Uh...” Yui hesitated. “He couldn’t come this time. He wanted me to tell you he loves you and he’s sorry he couldn’t come.”

Yuiren whined. “But I miss him! Where is he?”

“Well, he wanted to come, but he had to take care of some business in the capital. He’s still looking out for you. Now, can we see your father?”

“I dunno, he’s really sick. Gyokuran said Shunkei and me had to stay out of the way.”

Yui took Mitsukake’s hand. “This is Yuiren and Shunkei, Tamahome’s brother and sister,” she explained, then turned to them. “This is Mitsukake, one of Suzaku’s Seishi, and a healer. I think he can help.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Mitsukake said, bending down slightly and offering his hand.

Yuiren stared up at him. “Wow, you’re big!”

“So I’m told,” he said with a smile.

“Can you really help our daddy?” Shunkei asked, standing and brushing himself off.

“I might. I certainly hope so, if you’ll take me to him.”

“OK!” Shunkei said, taking his hand, pulling him toward the door and pushing it open.

The tiny house was dark inside, lit only by the cooking fire and the diffuse sunlight through the paper in the windows.

“I’m sorry, guys, lunch’ll be a while yet,” Gyokuran said without looking up from her father’s bedside.

“Our Onee-chan the Suzaku no Miko came with a doctor,” Yuiren said, taking Mitsukake’s free hand and pulling him over to the bed. Tama-chan meowed from his shoulder as he stooped over to let the little girl lead him.

Hotohori followed Yui into the tiny house as if in a trance. The boards of the door and walls were bare and worn, and the breeze whistled in gaps in them. The floor was only dirt, and worn rags of cloth and rough wooden dishes lay on it, or on boards or boxes.

“Hotohori-sama?” Nuriko queried.

“I had no idea people lived in such conditions...” he said under his breath. He remembered Tamahome always wanting money, how excited he could get about just a few coins rescued from the floor. Of all things, he was suddenly intensely aware of his clothes. Even dressed casually, he did his best to wear something fashionable, but now he felt guilty. He was probably wearing more money than these people saw in a year, possibly one piece alone. The shirt that brushed against his skin was silk, and deep purple, an expensive color.

There was a tug on the hem of his tunic, and he looked down into Yuiren’s big brown eyes. “Miss, are you my Onii-chan’s wife?”

“Ah? No, no, I’m a man.”

“But you’re so pretty.”

“Ha, I told you!” Tasuki gloated. BONK! “Ow! Nuriko!”

Hotohori knelt and took Yuiren in his arms. “Thank you! Even a child in such circumstances, having such honesty and integrity!”

“He’s been sick for a few months,” Gyokuran explained to Mitsukake, “but he suddenly got worse a few hours ago. Chuei’d already left for the fields, and all the doctors around here are gone anyway. I don’t know what to do.”

“There is a doctor here now,” Mitsukake said in his low, soothing voice. “I assure you, I will do everything I can.”

“We don’t have much to pay you right now...”

“I’m not concerned with such things,” he replied, sitting down beside the bed.

“Well, I... um...” she said, moving aside in obvious confusion. “Is there anything you can do for him?”

“Most likely there is.”

“Mitsukake is a Sei of Suzaku,” Yui told Gyokuran. “He has the power to heal.”

“Like Chichiri-san?”

“Even better.”

Mitsukake had removed the strip of cloth from his hand and held the now-bare palm a few inches above his patient’s slack, yellow-pale face. A few seconds passed, and a soft red light fell over the sick man, slowly growing in intensity, dancing in the folds of his skin in sparks like fireflies. Gyokuran gasped as the yellow cast fell from his skin and the blood returned to his face.

“Daddy?” Yuiren questioned, sneaking around her sister’s side. Her father slowly opened his eyes, once again bright, and looked at her.

“Yuiren,” he said, his voice steady, and pulled her close in a hug.

The next moment, all the children were laughing and hugging him. “Daddy, you’re strong again!” “Like a bear!”

“Thank you,” Yui said, gently squeezing Mitsukake’s arm.

“Geez, Big Guy, what the hell are you?” Tasuki blurted out. “A healer, or a flamin’ exorcist!?”

“Tasuki!” Yui scolded.

“No, it’s natural that you should wonder,” Mitsukake said, rubbing his temple. “It was years before I came to understand it myself. It seems my power of Suzaku is to absorb evil energy into myself, including those powers of pain, illness, and injury. That’s why it allows me both to heal, and to destroy the demon. But, I can only deal with so much of that evil energy at one time. Now, for example, I’ll have to rest before I can use my power anymore.”

He felt small arms squeezing around his knee. “Thank you for fixing our daddy,” Yuiren said.

“I don’t know how we can ever repay you,” her father agreed, pushing himself up.

“Don’t worry, I’m just happy to be of service again. Destroying evil is nothing; creating happiness is the great miracle,” Mitsukake said, patting Yuiren’s shoulder.

The father looked at the three children clustered around him. “Where is Chuei?”

“He’s already out in the fields,” Gyokuran answered.

“Ooh, can we surprise him?” Yuiren begged, hopping up and down excitedly. “Please, please, please!?”

The father laughed and ruffled her hair. “All right, we can surprise your brother.”

“Yay!” she cheered, climbing up on his lap and hugging him.

He hugged her back, then looked at Yui and the Seishi. “We don’t have much, but what we have is yours. Please, we would be honored if you would stay the night with us.”

“We don’t want to impose,” Yui said.

“There’s nowhere else to go for miles around,” Gyokuran argued.

“Ah, I’m not walkin’ that far,” Tasuki griped, dropping himself into one of the rough wooden chairs.

“Tasuki!” Yui scolded.

“It would be good to have a bit of rest from our journey. Still, we shouldn’t impose on our hosts’ generosity too much,” Mitsukake said, trying to smooth over the argument as usual.

“Please, I insist,” the father agreed.

“See, ya don’t wanna insult the guy, do ya?” Tasuki asked.

“I was going to accept, I was just taking time to be polite,” Yui said pointedly.

*

Chuei wiped sweat from his forehead, balancing a battered hoe on his shoulder. The more he fought the land, trying to get the crops to grow, the more it fought back, trying to reduce them to dust. More than once he thought of just giving up, but he couldn’t do that. Kishuku had gone to the capital to earn money, and Gyokuran did her best to hold the whole household together. He couldn’t let them down, no matter how hard the work was.

He glanced up and noticed his youngest sister by the fence gate, hopping excitedly from foot to foot. “Yuiren, what’s happening?”

“Chuei, Chuei, hurry!” she shouted, running up and tugging on his shirt. “It’s Daddy!”

“Dad?” The hoe fell from his hand; almost by themselves his legs began to pump, pulling his shirt from his sister’s grasp.

“Dad!” he shouted, slamming open the front door.

The scene that met his eyes was almost surreal in its normalcy. Gyokuran was sitting on the bed beside his father, with Shunkei playing on the floor, just like happy times. His father looked up from talking with Mitsukake. “Chuei! Welcome home.”

“The nice big man made him better,” Shunkei said as Yuiren squeezed by Chuei and went to hug Mitsukake’s knee. He smiled and patted her back.

Chuei stood, staring blankly for a moment, then darted forward and hugged his father. “Dad, you’re all right!”

“Yes, yes, thanks to the Suzaku no Miko and the great healer here,” he replied, returning the embrace.

“They’ll be staying with us tonight,” Gyokuran added.

Yuiren transferred herself from Mitsukake’s knee to her father’s. “Daddy, Daddy, you were asleep a long time, but everybody worked real hard and I cleaned and washed things and helped Gyokuran cook like a big girl!”

“That’s good, Yuiren. I’m proud of you,” he said, lifting her onto his lap. “How long was I... ‘asleep’?”

“About a week,” Gyokuran said.

He nodded, slowly. “Is there any news on the coup in the capital?”

“The what!?” Hotohori cried, jerking Yui’s arm as he leapt to his feet.

“The last I heard, a garrison of soldiers that had been stationed at the Kutou border was marching towards the capital. The rumors were that they intended to overthrow the Emperor.”

“What!?” Hotohori looked about frantically at the father and his older children. “Has there been any word since that!?”

“I caught something when the neighbor’s relatives came to help them move,” Gyokuran said, excitedly. “They said Suzaku himself appeared to stop it and support the Emperor!”

Hotohori’s jaw dropped, and he seemed to search for words. “Chi... chi...”

“Oh, thank Suzaku!” her father cried.

“For what?” Chuei asked, resting his cheek on his fist.

“Chuei!!”

“Why should we care? The Emperor’s never done anything for us!”

“Chuei!” his father scolded. “Loyal citizens of Konan shouldn’t say such things! One can’t expect the Emperor of this entire country to think about the troubles of every small farm.” Hotohori half-fell back into his seat as the man sighed and continued. “When I was growing up, our Emperor thought nothing of forcing families like ours to put up soldiers in our homes on demand, letting them have food when we might have worked all day just to feed ourselves. I hope you never live under a real tyrant. No, it’s enough that the emperor sees we can go about our business in peace.”

“He’s not even doing that! He just sits back in his palace in the lap of luxury while Kutou’s soldiers could come over that ridge at any moment.”

“Hey, you okay?” Tasuki asked, nudging Hotohori with his elbow.

“The border is as well-fortified as possible,” Hotohori said slowly as Yui blushed and squeezed his hand.

“Ha!” Chuei snapped. “That’s why everyone who could afford to moved away from here.”

“Chuei, you’ve said quite enough,” his father said. “This should have been a happy occasion in this house, and your disrespectful talk is distressing our guests.”

“Fine. I’m sorry,” Chuei grudgingly apologized.

“Why don’t you go and catch some fish so I can fix dinner?” Gyokuran suggested, trying to smooth it over like the lady of the house. “I’m sure our guests have come a long way to help and they’d like to eat and get some sleep.”

*

Something gently tugged on the edge of Yui’s consciousness, tickling her awake. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Wistful notes floated to her ears, barely within the threshold of hearing. It reminded her of nights at home, just a few years ago, when Hiro was facing his college entrance exams and stayed up to all hours, studying to Mozart or Vivaldi in the next room, and she couldn’t go to sleep until she identified the piece.

“Yui?” Nuriko questioned as the girl sat up in bed. “Something wrong?”

She cocked her head, listening. “There’s a... flute. Can’t you hear it?”

“I don’t hear anything. You were probably dreaming; go back to sleep.” Nuriko closed her eyes, then opened one when she didn’t hear Yui lay back down. “Yui? You’re not going to run off on me again, are you?”

“No, I’ll tell you if I go anywhere,” she said, then fell silent, listening intently. She could almost call it the wind she heard, but the wind had no melody, knew nothing so sweet and sad, longing and beckoning like a human voice. “But I’m sure I hear a flute...” She rose slowly, and Hotohori began to wake and shuffle out of the coarse blanket on the floor beside her as she slipped her shoes on and took the few steps to the door.

Sighing, Nuriko rolled out of bed and slipped her own shoes on, then went to the door and listened. “I still don’t hear anything.”

“It’s very faint. You have to listen hard for it.”

“Stick a sock in it, will ya?” Tasuki griped, rolling over and pulling the makeshift pillow of his rolled-up coat over his head.

“Shh,” Yui pressed her ear to the door for a moment, then opened it a crack and peeked out. She quietly slipped through and went out into the yard, hugging herself against the evening chill. The distant strains of music sounded even more haunting now, echoing over the abandoned village.

“Just the wind in the walls, ne?” Nuriko asked, watching her from the doorway.

“No, I can still hear it...” Suddenly, the next note was cut off by a raw shriek, a sonic version of the streak across a page when the author was struck with terror in the midst of their work.

Yui took a step back, and froze fast, her vision flooded with black shapes, the breeze chopped apart around her. The first stab of pain struck just behind the base of her neck, like a vampire. Instinctively, she screamed, and her hand darted to the furred body there, met with the revulsion of touching a worm or a demon, was assailed by the beating of leathery wings.

“Yui!!” Almost instantly Nuriko was on top of her, pushing her down, swatting a legion of bats away with such force that their bones audibly snapped across her knuckles.

“YUI!!” Hotohori answered her scream and ran out, throwing the blanket aside. The gravel of the yard bit into his bare feet as he dashed to Yui and dropped to his knees on top of her, wrapping her tightly in the shield of his body. The tickle of his hair spilling away from his neck gave way to the buffeting of their wings and the lancing pain of their teeth.

“What’s going on!?” one of the children cried.

“Stay here and don’t open this door for anything!” Tasuki ordered, slamming the cottage door behind him and raising the tessen. “Nuriko, get down! LEKKA SHINEN!!”

Nuriko flattened herself to the ground as the wave of flame swept over her, catching the bats up in it and washing away their ashes. Despite himself, Hotohori cried out as the flames burning off his assailants scorched his back.

“Tasuki, don’t!” Yui screamed, feeling Hotohori tense in pain around her.

“Shit!” Tasuki swore as a second, seemingly even larger wave of bats closed in the fire’s wake.

An instant later, a sharp note cut through the air like a spear. The bats erupted in chaos as the music grew louder, sharper, tearing through them like a volley of arrows.

“What in the world...?” Nuriko started, cautiously glancing up as the creatures fell one by one, helplessly flapping on the ground.

A larger motion caught her eye, and she looked up. A sliver of moon glinted off a bar of metal, illuminating a dark frame of trees around a thin silhouette, limping towards them. Someone playing a flute!

The haunting strains of music seemed to weave magically through the cacophony of screeches, binding them together into a pattern, order, however disconcerting. The web of music rippled around a new sound, a cry not animal, but human, and Nuriko and Tasuki looked up to see a black-cloaked figure perched on a tree limb, clutching his head with one hand and clinging to the tree trunk for support.

As the musician came closer, the notes grew shrill and rapid, more intense, swirling around them, just safely above their heads, but the man in the tree obviously felt their effect. With a cry of pain, he tumbled to the ground.

The flutist leaned against a tree for support, lowering his instrument. The faint moonlight revealed him to be a boy in his early teens, with shaggy hair that hung in his face. His clothes hung in tatters on his slight body, blood oozing from bite wounds and dried around older cuts and bruises.

He groaned and fell forward, and Nuriko darted forward to catch him.

“Be careful,” he said weakly, leaning against her as she eased him to the ground. “He’ll only be knocked out for a few minutes.”

“Tasuki, grab him!” Nuriko shouted as the black cloaked man groaned.

Tasuki dashed forward, but the man rolled to his knees and dissolved into a black mist, leaving Tasuki’s hand to close on thin air. “What have you people gotten me into!? I’m getting sick of all this freaky crap!”

“Are you okay?” Nuriko asked the boy.

He nodded, then turned his head towards Yui and Hotohori. “The Miko... Is she all right?”

“I’m fine,” Yui said as Hotohori let her up. “Hotohori?”

“It isn’t bad,” he said.

“Good,” the boy said, leaning against Nuriko and letting his eyes close.

Nuriko slipped her other arm under his knees to pick him up, then stopped as a scrap of his shirt fell away. “Yui, look.”

On his side, blood red against his pale skin, was a character: “Stretching.”

“The last Sei... Chiriko!” Yui gasped, then her face fell. “He’s hurt, we’ve got to get him in the house!” I haven’t found all seven of them just to lose someone now!

*

Chiriko groaned and opened his eyes to find Mitsukake sitting at his bedside.

“Feeling better?” Mitsukake asked.

Chiriko nodded and pushed himself up. “Is everyone all right?”

“Fine. Our Miko actually carries some amazing medicines from her world,” Mitsukake replied, laying his hand on a overturned bucket among a box of Band-Aids^TM, a bottle of peroxide, a tube of burn cream, rolls of gauze and cloth tape... “Small bites, minor burns... But what happened to you? Your injuries were worst of all.”

He leaned back, idly fingering the loose red tunic---Hotohori’s---that he found over his own tattered clothes. “My home village was attacked by soldiers; I don’t know if anyone else escaped.”

“I am sorry,” Mitsukake said soothingly. “But we’re very happy to have you with us. You’re the last Sei of Suzaku to be found. Soon, all this war will be over.”

“Really? Everyone else has been found?” he asked excitedly, sitting up again.

“Yes, although two of us aren’t present at the moment.”

“Can we get them? How soon can we summon Suzaku?”

“Hey, slow down, kid,” Tasuki laughed. “One thing at a time, eh?”

“I’m sorry, I...” Chiriko rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I just want this war over as soon as possible. I hate war.”

“We all do,” Nuriko said. She was already dressed. “As soon as everyone’s awake, we’ll be heading for the capital. I’ve got everything packed, just about.” She picked the medical supplies off the bucket one by one and tucked them in Yui’s bag.

“As soon as everyone’s awake...” Chiriko repeated. He looked over at where Hotohori and Yui were still dozing. “It’s so sudden... I don’t even know your names...”

Mitsukake chuckled. “I know how you feel. I just went through the ‘tutorial’ myself.”

Nuriko quickly introduced the present Seishi. “And then there’s Tamahome, who’s busy right now.” She glanced around at the family. “And, of course, Chichiri, who’s still in the capital.”

“OK, I’ve heard all about Tamahome,” Tasuki jumped in, “but what’s this Chichiri guy like?”

“For one, she’s a woman.”

“Ooh, she cute?”

Nuriko shrugged. “By your standards, Mitsukake is cute.”

Mitsukake blushed fiercely, a drop of sweat appearing on his brow.

“No, he ain’t,” Tasuki growled back. Mitsukake sighed in relief. “Come on, spill it. What’s she like?”

“She’s... she’s Chichiri.” Tasuki glared at Nuriko for a moment. “She’s a weird little monk who wears a magic mask, and there’s no other way to describe her ‘cause she’s just too strange, okay?”

“...A mask?” Tasuki asked, suddenly more serious.

“Yeah, a mask.” Nuriko glanced at him. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s nothin’, I’m fine,” he said with a fanged laugh.

“Sure you are.” Nuriko glanced at Chiriko and briefly whirled a finger around her ear, getting a short chuckle.

“Are you two fighting again?” Yui asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

“‘Again’...?” Chiriko asked.

“Alas, it seems these two are always like this,” Mitsukake said, as Yui noticed the slant of the light and started gently nudging Hotohori awake.

“He starts it,” Nuriko insisted, tying up the luggage.

“Suzaku no Miko-sama,” Gyokuran said, coming up to Yui as she put on the brown vest and jacket of her school uniform and holding out a memo pad. “We found this after you left the last time. Is it yours?”

“Oh, yes!” Yui took it and flipped through it. “Thank you. This is where I’d written down the hints from ‘The Universe of the Four Gods’.” She glanced at Hotohori when she mentioned the scroll she’d lost, but he didn’t seem to react. “Tasuki, for you it says ‘Fire Bandit Mountain,’ and for Chiriko...” she flipped a few pages, then stayed silent as she put on her kimono, with a skeptical look on her face. “‘Wisdom beyond ages’...?”

“That’s weird,” Chiriko said, slowly getting up, then glancing over her shoulder at it. He squinted in confusion at the Japanese characters she had written, then shrugged. “Maybe it’s metaphorical. The elders in my village always said music carried a wisdom words couldn’t. What’s it say for Mitsukake?”

“I never got around to translating that one,” Yui admitted. With a smile, she jotted stars by the remaining Seishi’s names and reached into her robe to stuff the memo pad in her pocket. “I guess I don’t need to now; saves me some work,” she added with a wink, then turned to Tamahome’s family. “Thank you all so much for your hospitality.”

“Not at all,” his father replied. “Next time you see my eldest son, just let him know we’re thinking of him and I’d appreciate a visit now that I’m feeling better.”

“I’ll do that,” Yui replied. She nudged Hotohori again and sat with the straps of her share of the luggage slack on her shoulder as he started moving to get up.

“Daddy, can we keep the cute kitty?” Shunkei asked, petting Tama-chan on the floor.

“Shunkei, he isn’t ours.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Mitsukake said, “but I think he’s grown rather attached to me.”

“Meowrrr,” Tama-chan yowled at Mitsukake, sounding a little maligned.

“Suzaku no Miko Onee-chan, please don’t go!” Yuiren begged, grabbing hold of Yui’s knee with both hands.

“Yuiren, I have to,” Yui argued, gently trying to untangle her leg.

Yuiren only held on tighter. “But I don’t want you to leave!”

“Honey, let the Suzaku no Miko go,” her father said, moving to take her.

“No no no!” she shouted, threatening to burst into tears. “I want my Onee-chan!!”

Chiriko watched, for a moment, then picked up his flute and brought it to his lips. The haunting notes drifted like smoke around the small room, first sharp and yearning, gradually sliding into a slow, dreamy melody. Yuiren yawned, then leaned her cheek on Yui’s knee.

“She’s asleep,” her father said in surprise, picking her up as Chiriko lowered his flute again.

Chiriko lowered his flute and smiled. “Don’t worry, she’ll wake up soon and be just fine.”

“What kinda freak are you, messing with a little kid’s head?” Tasuki snapped, bopping Chiriko upside the head.

“Ow!”

“They coulda gotten her off.”

“I was just trying to help!”

“Tasuki, don’t hit the kid!” Nuriko snapped, whacking him.

“Ow! Dammit, woman!”

“Woman?” Chiriko questioned, rubbing the back of his head.

She grabbed Tasuki’s wrist and twisted. “And so help me, if you call me that when we get back to the capital, I’ll rip your arm off and feed it to you.” She pointed to Chiriko and added. “And don’t you even start with it.”

“I won’t!” he promised, putting his hands up defensively.

“I can pass along the explanation I heard,” Mitsukake whispered to him.

“You know, Nuriko,” Tasuki said, trying to retrieve his arm. “I love it when a chic flirts, but ya gotta stop throwin’ yourself at m--- ow ow OW!”

Hotohori sighed. “Perhaps we should save the ethical debate for later and leave before Chiriko’s intervention is wasted,” he suggested as he tied his belt on over his white shirt, with his white night-robe over it for a second layer. Yui decided she liked how he looked in all white.

“See, that’s your problem,” Tasuki said. “Speak Chinese, dangit! What the @#%^# did that mean?”

“It means it might be good to leave before she wakes up,” Gyokuran said. Her tone implied that in her expert opinion as hostess, their welcome had begun to wear thin.

Tasuki paused. “How old...?”

“Ten,” Gyokuran said.

Grumbling, Tasuki started to pull his coat on.

*

“‘The Suzaku no Miko took leave of her Sei Tamahome’s family, and with her Seishi she made the journey to the capital, where Chichiri anxiously awaited them,’” Hiro read. An hour ago, he would’ve been excited to see Yui’s quest come that much closer to an end, but now that she had decided to make the Universe of the Four Gods her home, he was full of apprehension. Soon he’d know if he would ever see his sister again or not, and he was afraid of the answer...

*

Tamahome was still pondering the objects in his room, trying to think how any of them could be used in some escape plan that hovered just on the edge of forming. At this point, he was willing to give anything a chance. A vase. What can I do with a vase? If I threw it I could probably knock out one of the guards...

He started and looked up as he heard the door slide back without a knock. Miaka cautiously peeked in. “Are you still mad at me...?”

After a moment of consideration, he gave an easygoing shrug. “Nah. If you have the guys in black chain me up again, though, I may have to get a little annoyed.”

“I didn’t know that’s what they were going to do, really,” she said, slipping through the door. “I’ll tell you something you’ll really like, how’s that for a peace offering?”

“Fine, I guess. What happened?”

“Well,” she said, sitting down with the air of someone delivering the latest gossip, “Nakago told me that one of the Sei of Suzaku they found was a healer, and that they took him to your house and he healed your dad.”

“Really!?” Tamahome said, half-leaping to his feet. He didn’t dare believe it. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Absolutely!”

Tamahome broke into a smile, speechless with joy despite himself. Yui did it... She found the other Sei who could heal!

“Since your village is close to the border,” Miaka continued, “I might even be able to take you there for a visit, if you wanted.”

He looked up at her, smiling. To see his family again, his father healthy and strong... But he was only guardedly happy, worried about what kind of “visit” she might have in mind. Still, if he could get her to take him to Konan, it would be hard for them to pursue him. It was only a few days travel to the capital, where he’d be safe, and he could wait for Yui... But if he did that, if he ran away at that moment and left his family in Miaka’s hands...

“But you have to promise not to run away,” she said after a pause. “And show me your hands; you can’t cross your fingers.”

“What would that have to do with anything?”

“Well, if you cross your fingers when you promise, it means you don’t mean it.”

He nodded, still considering. He didn’t want to endanger his family by dragging whatever agents of Kutou would be involved to their doorstep. It might be a good chance to escape, but surely there would be a better chance later, one without such a high price. Surely if nothing else it would be better when Yui had found all the Seishi and they would help him get back, rather than him trying it alone... But how do I say no? If I tell her it sounds fishy, she’ll keep insisting it’s not until I agree, and then what will I tell her? “I can’t promise that,” he said at last.

“Why?” Miaka said, her thin eyebrows knit. “Why do you want to leave so much? Yui went off and got engaged; she broke your heart so she could be the empress, but I’m trying to be nice! I’m making sure you’re comfortable and everything. When I summon Seiryuu, I’ll even save one of the wishes just for you, and you can have anything you want! Why do you want to leave me for her? What can I do that I haven’t done!?” There were tears in her eyes.

He moved over closer to her and put his arm over her shoulder. “Miaka, it’s okay...”

“Why do you like Yui better than me?” she sobbed, leaning on his shoulder.

“It’s not that, I...” He let out a sigh; what could someone say to her at a time like this? “Look, Miaka, it’s not like this is personal. Even if I wanted to stay here, I’d have to go back sometime.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a Sei of Suzaku, and Yui is the Suzaku no Miko. I have a sacred duty to take care of her, so even if I want to stay with you, I have to think about that duty first. So, if I leave, it doesn’t mean I’m picking Yui instead of you and I’ll never be back; I’m just doing what I have to. Okay?”

“You have to? You can’t help it?” she asked, drying her eyes.

“No.”

She nodded. “Just... don’t leave yet, okay?”

“Okay,” he said, and held up his hands. “Promise.” She’s starting to open up. Maybe if I stay here and do things right, I can get through to her and she’ll let me go peacefully...

*

“I hope the others get back soon no da. If I don’t follow this dream soon, it’ll be too late no da,” Chichiri said, rubbing her temple and pushing away a lock of Hotohori’s brown hair. She fingered through a stack of paper on Hotohori’s desk. “Oh, Hotohori’s going to kill me no da. As soon as Suzaku’s been summoned, I’m going to be exiled, I know it no da. Ih....”

“Sire,” a servant called.

“Enter,” she answered in Hotohori’s voice, trying to keep an illusion of Imperial calm.

He walked in and bowed. “The Suzaku no Miko and her Seishi have returned, your Majesty.”

“Ah, good. I’ll meet them in a moment; you may go.”

The servant bowed again; as soon as the door closed behind him, Chichiri pulled open a drawer and pulled out two scrolls, then took a deep breath to get up her courage and vanished with a soft “poof” of air.

*

“Wow,” Tasuki said, looking around. “I bet I could get a killer haul outta this place.” He quickly ducked a blow from Nuriko. “I said I could, not that I would! Sheesh!”

“Don’t even think about it too hard,” Nuriko growled.

“Spoil sport,” he grumbled. Turning back around, he found himself face to face with a pair of ‘laughing’ eyes and jumped back. “Agh!”

“Hi welcome back,” Chichiri said, racing around to give Yui and Nuriko quick hugs, then handing Hotohori one of the scrolls. “This is a list of all the things I did while you were gone and this other one is a very sincere written apology for all the things I did while you were gone and hi you must be the new seishi hi hi glad to meet you I’m Chichiri I’d like to stay to talk but a dream has been driving me nuts for two weeks now so I’ll be back as soon as I can bye no da!”

With that, she shoved the other scroll into Hotohori’s hand, quickly shook hands with the new Seishi and vanished with another “poof”.

The others just stared for a moment until at last, Tasuki broke the silence. “What the hell was that?!”

“That was Chichiri,” Nuriko answered.

Tasuki nodded slowly. “Chichiri. Oh... kay....”

“‘Sincere written apology’...?” Hotohori repeated skeptically, opening one of the scrolls.

“Say, why’d she give you those things anyway?” Tasuki asked, leaning over to peek at the scroll.

Just then a group of Imperial courtiers and guardsmen hurried down the steps of the palace to meet them, and suddenly came up short. “Your Majesty,” one said, looking past Tasuki to Hotohori, “how did you get out here so quickly?”

“I suppose the Emperor was more anxious to see the Miko than we realized,” another said, with reverent humor.

Tasuki followed their eyes to Hotohori’s suddenly-serious face. “‘Your Majesty’... ‘The Emperor’...!?!?”

“Yes, the Emperor,” Nuriko snapped, then stopped short. “Oops, I suppose we hadn’t told them about that.”

“No, you kind of neglected that,” Chiriko said, blushing fiercely as he nervously fingered the silk tunic Hotohori had lent him.

“Of course,” Hotohori said, in a commanding tone only Yui and Nuriko had heard him use before. He dodged around Tasuki and led the courtiers back through the gates, walking with a sure stride and holding Yui’s hand. “The Miko has returned with the last three Sei of Suzaku, and you will prepare a fitting welcome for them.”

“And you said he was a sissy,” Nuriko whispered to Tasuki, smugly.

“I did? Oh, crap I did...!”

“Tasuki-san?” Chiriko asked, laying a hand on his bent back. “Are you all right...?”

“No, I’m not all right! I called the Emperor a sissy! I told him he looked like a girl! Worse than that, I told him he looked like a HOT freakin’ girl!” Tasuki’s face suddenly went pale. “Great Suzaku, I hit on him! I hit on the Emperor!”

“About that,” Nuriko said, grabbing his arm warningly. “Chichiri was here in his place, so no one knows he was even gone. And they don’t need to know, got that?”

“Oh, really?” Tasuki asked, brightening. “How much do they not need to know he was even gone?”

“Well, I suppose you’d have to ask Hotohori-sama, but I imagine it’s worth not having you executed for hitting on the emperor and not getting 57 bones broken by me,” Nuriko answered, twisting his arm.

“OK, OK, sounds like a good deal to me! Can I have my arm back? If you want a keepsake of me, there are much easier--- AHHH!”

“Now, what did I warn you about once we got back to the capital?”

“I didn’t say a freakin’ thing about--- OWWW!”

Chiriko sighed and buried his face in his hands. There they go again...

*

To Be Continued...

*

PREVIEW

With the Seven Sei of Suzaku found, Yui turns her attention to rescuing Tamahome from Kutou and recovering Suzaku’s “Universe of the Four Gods.” However, she has no way of foreseeing that her most difficult struggle is still ahead.

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