As the other Sei of Suzaku prepare for their new journey in their own ways, Nuriko accompanies Chichiri to her home village to see her family before the perilous quest. Despite the great distance, Chichiri’s magic makes the journey swift, but such speed is not enough to escape hidden truths, and rumor posesses speed-magic all its own.

Episode Twenty-seven:

Authors’ Note: In Chichiri’s narration and her hometown, “no da”s are ubiquitous, and have been removed for the sake of brevity and tidiness. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

*

“Chichiri, this is incredible!” Nuriko laughed as the landscape flew by in a blur. “I still can’t believe how fast we’re moving!”

“Another traveller taught me this spell no da,” Chichiri answered over the wind of their travel. “I don’t use it very much because I don’t get to meet anyone walking like this, but nothing beats it when you’re in a hurry no da. A day and a half to my village, a full day there, and a day and a half back, and we’ll still return in plenty of time for the Star Watching Festival no da.”

“A day and a half to Sairou’s border,” Nuriko repeated in amazement.

“And most of the half day is normal walking no da.”

“It’s still incredible. What village are you from, exactly? Is it big enough to have a name?”

“Hai, I’m from Zashiyo no da.”

“Zashiyo?! As in the Witch of Zashiyo?”

“There is no Witch of Zashiyo no da,” Chichiri informed her.

“But that Zashiyo?”

Chichiri sighed. “Yes, that Zashiyo no da.”

“Well, even if she doesn’t exist, you’ve got to tell me all the stories.”

“I don’t like the stories no da.”

“Come on, it’s just good clean fun. Tales to scare children into behaving, right?” Nuriko chuckled. “Whenever my brothers and I started fighting, my mother would tell us that if we didn’t start behaving, she’d invite the child-witch of Zashiyo over to play and she’d hex us.”

“That’s a horrible thing to say no da!”

“Yeah, but it was just one of those things parents said. We talked about it and we decided that the child-witch wouldn’t really hurt us. In the stories she only killed evil people, like the bandits she fed to wolves and the ones she turned into glass. I guess no harm done if there is no such person. You do have to wonder where the stories started, then; we still hear them. People say she wanders the Universe of the Four Gods now, and every once in a while a story will even get to the capital that she’s destroyed a bandit gang somewhere.”

“My mother used to say ‘Rumor is the swiftest of demons’ no da,” Chichiri answered softly. “Can we talk about something else no da?”

“But it really makes me curious,” Nuriko argued. “Being from Zashiyo, you’d know, but if there’s no Witch, then there is something. Those bandits we hear about... troops will return from those areas and the bandits really are gone. Usually they’ll try to take credit for it, but there’s hardly any arrests, or even bodies. The’re just completely wiped out.”

“They’re not dead no da.”

Nuriko turned to look at Chichiri, and would have stopped short if the travelling magic had not pushed her legs on. The eyes of her mask were scrunched into sharp, flat lines, and it was sliding out of place on her face. “What?”

“I said they’re not dead no da,” Chichiri squeaked, her voice tight. “I swear they’re not no da! I never meant to hurt anyone no da!”

“You never...?” Nuriko’s hand slowly reached her mouth. “Tasuki. That’s why Tasuki hates you. You’re the Witch of Zashiyo.”

Chichiri nodded.

“Chichiri, I’m so sorry. I never thought... I mean, if I’d known...”

“Nai, nai, it’s not your fault no da. It’s mine no da. I should have told you; I should have told all of you the truth right away no da.”

Tears leaked out the sides of Chichiri’s mask. Nuriko glanced at the angle of the sun. There was still an hour of clear daylight left, and at this speed, who knew how far they could go in that time? But that mask wouldn’t last another hour. “Chichiri, let’s set camp.”

*

Nakago followed the long, blue carpet down the length of the throne room and knelt, helmet in hand, before the Emperor. “You summoned me, your Majesty?”

“I most certainly did!” the Emperor said. “Where is the Seiryuu no Miko!?”

“We have located her, your Majesty,” Nakago said. “Our operatives are on their way to bring her back here, even as we speak.”

“They’d better be. Now answer me! Where is she!?”

“For reasons of security, I cannot tell you.”

The Emperor gave a snort of laughter. “You’re worried that telling your Emperor will create a security breach!?”

“Walls have ears, your Majesty,” Nakago said. “My duty as a Sei of Seiryuu is greater than my duty as your Shogun. Even if you order me, I will not risk my Miko’s safety by speaking her whereabouts. She will be returned here without fail, and very soon.”

The few cabinet members gathered around whispered amongst themselves as the Emperor glowered at Nakago for a long moment. “Pray that she will be,” he growled. “You are dismissed.”

With a bow, Nakago turned and marched out of the throne room. As if he didn’t have enough on his mind without keeping the Emperor placated...

*

Nuriko looked across the fire at Chichiri. A half-eaten fish lay in a leaf-wrapping on the ground at the monk’s feet as she silently stared at her mask in her hands. “Chichiri?” Nuriko asked at last.

“I’m not really sure where to start no da,” Chichiri answered softly.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“Yes, I think I do no da.” Chichiri looked up at the stars, her bangs falling across her right eye like a curtain. “I’m not sure which came first, the stories or my powers; as long as I can remember, they were both part of my life no da....”

*

From the day of my brother’s and my birth, our village seemed safe from all harm. There’s a small amount of gold in the mountains nearby, and so neighboring villages were often attacked and burned by raiders, but ours was never touched, not once. And even as a little girl, I could do some tricks with my powers: disappear for a moment, talk to animals, and things like that. Eventually, stories grew that I protected our village with the power that came from the character on my cheek.

Because it was believed I protected the village, I was always treated with respect by everyone, but my brother, Houjan, wasn’t. We were almost always together, and other children teased him about it; they called him a ‘girl’ and said we were twin sisters. I guess it seems like a little thing now, but to a six-year-old, being teased like that was unbearable. So one day, when I wanted to pick flowers, he refused to come and instead went to play ball with some other boys. I was stubborn, and went to pick them anyway, with another girl I sometimes played with.

That was the day the bandits decided to challenge the stories...

*

“Hoshiko-sama, aren’t these pretty?” Ishi asked, holding up some small purple flowers.

“Ooh, yes!” Hoshiko answered, brushing her short periwinkle bangs out of her eyes as she wove some of the flowers she had picked into a crown. She further processed what her playmate had said, and frowned. “You don’t have to call me ‘-sama’.”

“My parents would get mad at me if I didn’t,” Ishi apologized, weaving her own crown and putting it on her head. “They say I have to be respectful to you.”

“Fine, but I’m making us even then, Ishi-sama.”

Ishi blushed. “You shouldn’t call me that, either.”

“Well, I’m going to, so nyah,” Hoshiko said, snatching a flower from Ishi’s collection and darting off.

“Hey, Hoshiko-sama, give it back!” Ishi protested, jokingly.

“Catch me, Ishi-sama!” Hoshiko challenged.

“I can’t run as fast! Hoshiko-sama!”

“Catch me, catch me, catch me!”

“I have a better idea!” Ishi said, picking up the rest of Hoshiko’s flowers from where she had dropped them. “You catch me!”

“Hey!” Hoshiko protested, turning and running after the other girl.

Ishi laughed and took off, knowing Hoshiko could run faster but enjoying the chase anyway. She turned to shout at Hoshiko, and ran into something soft and giving, like another person. She stopped and looked up, expecting to see one of the adults from the village, and instead found herself staring into the face of a man she had never seen before.

“Playing princesses, ‘Ishi-sama’, ‘Hoshiko-sama’?” the man asked, taking her arm.

“I, um...” she tried to pull away from him, but he held her too strongly.

“Let her go!” Hoshiko shouted, stopping where she stood. Several other men emerged from the woods behind them, large men in gaudy but tattered clothes, carrying weapons. Hoshiko could feel energy radiating from them, unlike any she had felt before. Evil energy, and it frightened her.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” the man said. “We’re looking for someone, a little girl like you who lives here. We heard about a girl who uses magic to protect your village, and we want to meet her.”

Ishi opened her mouth to speak, but Hoshiko shouted first. “Why?”

“Just curious. We want to know if it’s true.”

Hoshiko felt a tingling run through her, and quickly covered her cheek with her hand before they could see the character. Pictures appeared in her eyes, visions from these men’s minds of them attacking the village, burning things, hurting people... The village had grown rich in the six years they’d had Hoshiko’s protection, and they’d heard about it. They wanted to steal that wealth, but they feared the child that protected it, so they... they were going to stop her from protecting it, somehow, when they found her.

“It’s her,” one of the bandits gasped as the glowing character on Hoshiko’s cheek became too bright, and the red light spilled out between her fingers. “She’s the Witch!”

“Ishi, run!” Hoshiko shouted, holding two fingers in front of her face. Her character flashed brightly, and a burst of wind exploded from her hand, throwing the unsuspecting men backward. Ishi jerked out of the thief’s grip and darted away, running back toward the village.

“Hurry!” Hoshiko shouted, grabbing Ishi’s hand as she ran past and joining her. She moved faster, pulling Ishi along.

“I can’t run as fast,” Ishi panted, looking over her shoulder as the men quickly regrouped and started after them. “They’ll catch us.”

“No they won’t,” Hoshiko argued, shoving her forward. “Hurry to the village and get help! I’ll make sure they don’t catch you.”

“Hoshiko, you’re the one they’re after!”

“But do they really want to catch me?” Hoshiko asked mischievously. “Go!”

She shoved Ishi forward again, then stopped, turned towards the men, raised a hand over her head and shouted “Hakuujinraihou!”. A barrier of lightning bolts rained down, blocking the men and stunning several of them. She held it as long as possible, planning her next move, then dropped her hand and ran.

“Crap, the village had to see that,” the head bandit said, dashing after her again. “They’ll know she’s in trouble and come running. We’ll have to make it quick.”

Hoshiko reached out to the animals around her. Yes, there they were, the pack of wolves that lived in the area. “Friends, help me!” she shouted as the men began to catch up.

“No one can hear you, kid!” one warned, diving to grab her. She barely twisted out of the way, and instead he caught a faceful of sod. A moment later, as though in answer to the bandit’s remark, the pack of wolves howled and charged out of the forest, close behind the men. Several curses rang out as they caught the slower members of the group.

“Gotcha,” another thief shouted, grabbing Hoshiko about the waist and throwing her to the ground.

She held her hands out in front of her and screamed “Lekka Shinen!” An explosion of flames ripped from her hands, throwing the man off of her, screaming. She quickly scrambled up, but another grabbed her.

“Get her hands! Don’t let her use her powers!”

“Someone try to get those damn wolves off! And hand me a knife!” Another man held her hands over her head while the one who had caught her the second time knelt on her legs to keep her down. “Sorry about this, kiddo,” he said, taking her chin and turning her head so her right cheek was on top as a third man handed him a knife. “But we can’t let you keep us from the booty, and if we just took you, you’re so powerful that we couldn’t keep you. So we’ll just have to take your powers instead.”

Her character, they were going to cut off her character! “Let me go!” she screamed, trying to escape from his grasp. She could feel the power welling up in her, trying to break out. There was a way to use it even trapped like this, she could tell, but she didn’t know how without her hands to focus it. It was worse than not having the power at all

“Yeah, sure, just as soon as we’re done.” She saw the blade glint in the sunlight, then felt a burning pain in her cheek. Blood flowed into her mouth, a lot of blood. She tried to scream, but couldn’t open her throat without coughing on the blood. He brought the knife up for a moment, and then down for a second cut, and the burning shot through her again. Then she heard several sharp barks, and a wolf slammed into the man with the knife as he brought it up another time, knocking him off of her. A second jumped on the man holding her hands, freeing her, and she forced herself to roll over and crawl into the tall grass of the fields.

“Dammit, where’d she go? Someone catch her!”

She concentrated, listening as the words trickled into her mind, and then spoke softly. She felt the tingling she had used before to play practical jokes, and knew she was invisible. Forcing herself to stay calm, she pressed the hem of her kimono against her bleeding cheek and tried to keep as still as possible. The spell would only last a short time, but while it did, she couldn’t move and thereby show them where she was.

She heard other voices, those she recognized. Men from her village. She breathed a sigh of relief as the bandits, already weakened by lightning, flame, and wolves, struggled only briefly with the villagers before retreating back into the woods.

“Hoshiko-chan!”

That was her father’s voice. She let the invisibility spell fade and tried to stand up, but toppled back to the ground face down, her wounded cheek bleeding into the dirt. The world was spinning around her. “Papa,” she called weakly. There was a rustle in the grass, and her father’s strong, gentle arms encircled her and lifted her up.

“Hoshiko!” he gasped as he lifted her right cheek into view. She sighed and leaned against him, and suddenly felt very, very tired. She barely noticed as he started running towards the doctor’s house.

*

The doctor did his best to fix the damage the bandits had caused, but the cuts in my cheek were very bad, and despite his efforts, they became infected. For weeks I was bedridden, sick and feverish. My brother was by my side every moment, and the entire village was afraid I would die. I don’t know if the bandits heard that I had, or that I would, or if they just thought they could get away with if for some reason or other, but one night they burned the fishing boats on the river, and in the confusion as the adults went to fight the fires, they ransacked the village.

*

“Hoshiko-chan!” Houjan shouted, kneeling by her bedroll and shaking her. She groaned slightly, barely opening her eyes. “Hoshiko-chan, we have to get out of here! There are bandits in the village, and mama and papa aren’t here! They went to fight the fire!”

Hoshiko did not respond, and he wrapped her arm over his shoulder, trying to pull her to her feet. Then the door slammed open and three men rushed in.

“What have we here?” one of the bandits asked, grabbing Houjan’s arm.

“Let me go!” he shouted, trying to twist away.

“Well, well, look at this,” another said, kneeling by Hoshiko. “Looks like the Witch is still alive.”

“Leave her alone!”

“Hey, I bet we could get a good price if we sold her,” the third said. “Little girl with a lot of magic, I bet some warlord would love to get a weapon like that.”

“What if she doesn’t have her magic anymore?” the second asked.

“She’s still an oddity, with that character,” the first answered, ignoring Houjan’s protests. “I’m sure we could find someone who’d pay for her, some ‘collector’.” The other men chuckled.

“Leave my sister alone!” Houjan shouted as the second man began to pick Hoshiko up. He kicked the one holding him hard in the shin.

“Why you little,” the man growled, pulling out a knife.

Hoshiko’s eyes suddenly popped open. “Don’t touch my brother,” she said, the character glowing under the bandages covering her cheek. In an instant, the man who wasn’t holding either child burst into flames. With a horrific scream, he ran from the small house before collapsing in the street.

“Kyoshi, what do we do!?” the man holding Hoshiko said to his surviving companion, trying to get a grip on the girl as she deliberately sat up and turned in his arms.

“Hold her!” Kyoshi ordered, getting a better hold on Houjan and putting the knife against his throat. “You want your brother safe, little girl, you better just behave yourself.”

The other man put his hand around Hoshiko’s waist in an effort to get a better grip on her, and she grabbed his wrist. There was a sickening series of crunches as her grip crushed his bones, and he dropped her, only to burst into flames himself.

“Let my brother go,” she said.

“I’ll kill him, I will,” Kyoshi warned, dragging the boy out of the house. Hoshiko followed deliberately, the red light from her obscured character beginning to surround her entire body.

“Let my brother go.”

“Now look, just calm down and no one’ll get hurt,” Kyoshi said, dragging his captive down a street. They walked past a house that was being ransacked, and the thieves inside suddenly screamed and ran out before exploding in plumes of fire.

“Let my brother go.”

Kyoshi continued walking backwards, watching in horror as every bandit they passed exploded in fire. His mind spun. He had a tiger by the tail; how could he let go without being eaten?

The villagers who had remained behind instead of fighting the fires, mostly children and the elderly, cautiously peeked from doorways and windows as they found their enemies being eliminated one by one. Still Kyoshi dragged Houjan across the village at knife-point. Only when he reached the far end did he realize he was alone. Every other member of his band had either retreated, or more likely been killed by the Child-Witch’s flames. Overhead, a storm was gathering, sharp branches of lightning etched across it as it marched towards the village, coming to a stop directly over him.

Then, somehow, a cool stream of logic flowed into his brain, overcoming the fear that consumed him. Forget selling, we could keep the kid. This much power, it won’t matter that we lost so many people today. She could do more than a thousand bandits!

“Let my brother go.”

“Look, kid, I’ll make you a deal,” Kyoshi offered. “A fair trade. You come with me, no fight, and I’ll let your brother go. That’s fair, ain’t it?”

They say that when someone is struck by lightning, they never hear the thunder. Kyoshi heard it, though, the sound of a thousand cannons shot off at once as the electricity ripped through him. He froze, illuminated by the strike against the charcoal sky, for a long moment before finally falling.

Not looking at the body, Hoshiko walked over to where her brother had been thrown clear. “Jan-chan, are you all right?” she asked.

He picked himself up as the storm broke overhead, and it began raining. His arms were bruised from where he had been held and where he had fallen, and his neck scratched where the knife had rubbed, but all in all he felt surprisingly good for what he had just gone through. “I’m fine, Hoshiko-chan.”

“Good, I’m glad,” she said. Then she fell to her knees, wavered for a moment, and toppled backwards into the mud.

*

“When I awoke several days later, and realized what I had done, I was horrified no da,” Chichiri continued, looking at the mask in her hands. “Whether it was right or wrong, each of those men had been killed with barely more than a thought no da. The flames were so intense, it turned the sand under their feet into glass; even to this day, the villagers say it’s bad luck to step on one of them, and of course every time I went walking through the village, they were there to remind me no da... It terrified me so much that I had done such a thing so easily that I didn’t purposely use my powers again until I left home when I was 18 no da.

“The village, though, was overjoyed that I had protected them, and wanted to assure that I could continue to do so, so they hired a bodyguard for me and I was no longer allowed to go anywhere without an escort no da. Eventually, after both of my parents had died, I just stopped going outside no da. My brother started working our family’s fishing boat, and I would probably still be there, except that when we were 18, Houjan fell in love no da. He couldn’t afford to support both his sister and a new family—since he was too proud and stubborn to use the gifts the villagers gave me for housekeeping—and I couldn’t bear the thought of him sacrificing even more of his happiness for my sake. So, one night when he and my bodyguard were asleep, I snuck away no da. Eventually I wandered to Mount Taikyoku, where Taiitsukun told me about the nature of my power and took me as her apprentice, and I’ve been Chichiri ever since no da.”

Nuriko sat silently for several moments. “Chichiri, it wasn’t your fault,” she said at last.

“Then whose fault was it, Nuriko-chan no da? I know I was only a child, and feverish, and not truly aware of what I was doing, but that doesn’t change the fact that all those men are dead because of me no da. That’s something I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life no da.” She looked at her mask, gently tracing the edge with her fingers. “I think forgetting it might be an even greater wrong no da.”

Nuriko reached for Chichiri’s arm as she began to put the mask back on. “Please, leave it off for a little while.”

Chichiri squirmed under her grasp. “Anou... I’d rather wear it no da.”

“Maybe that’s part of the problem. You’ve had a sad life, and I understand wanting to hide it, but... Somewhere behind that smiling mask, you’ve buried your true self. I’m really happy to have gotten to see a bit of it now, like this, but look at what it took to bring it out. I’m afraid if you keep hiding it, you might lose it completely.”

“That’s silly no da.” Chichiri rolled her eyes, and tried to pull her arm away again. “You sound like my brother no da.”

“Maybe he has a point. When you have it on, you act cheerful and happy, even childish. When you take it off, you’re sombre, downright grave. So which is the real you? I think it’s something in between, something you’ve never let the rest of us see, something you hide behind both the mask and the scars.”

“Nuriko, please let go no da.”

“If you don’t have something you’re hiding, why are you so desperate to put it back on?”

Chichiri jumped, and let go of the mask as she gaped at Nuriko. A moment later, fire flared in her eyes, and her character flashed as she twisted out of Nuriko’s grasp. “How can you even ask me that no da? The mask has nothing to do with the feelings I hide; it’s the face I hide that matters no da. Can you even imagine what it’s like to look like this no da? Everywhere I went before I wore it, men would talk, women would gasp, little children would point and ask “What’s wrong with that woman?” no da. At best, I was treated like, like some sort of whore; at worst, like I was a thief or ruffian myself no da. All because of how I look no da! At least when I wear the mask, people see me for what I am, not how ugly I am no da yo!”

“Chichiri,” Nuriko started, taking her shoulders.

She looked away. “Please let go of me no da.”

“Chichiri, you aren’t ugly.”

“You shouldn’t lie just to make me feel better no da.”

“I’m not lying.” Nuriko gently took her chin and turned her face to look at her. “You are a very pretty woman. When you look in a mirror, you only see the scars, but they’re really quite minor. And you have so many other beautiful traits: that lovely long hair, in such a unique color; an adorable straight nose; a nice chin; good, high cheekbones.” She touched each part in turn while talking, finally cupping her hand around Chichiri’s cheek. “And the most beautiful brown eyes I have ever seen.” They stared at each other for a moment, and Nuriko found herself drawn closer and closer to those brown eyes, until at last she was obliged to close her own against their heart-pulling depth and intensity, their faces so close together...

Chichiri blinked for a moment, then quite literally shrank out of her grasp. “Nuriko, you’re horrible no da!” she laughed, returning to normal size beside Nuriko and playfully slapping her shoulder. “You should be ashamed of yourself, teasing me like that no da!”

Nuriko blinked for a moment, and only then did she realize what she was doing. “Chichiri, I... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean...”

Chichiri picked up her mask and put it on. “It’s all right no da,” she assured Nuriko, chuckling. “I know you were only kidding no da. Besides, it was nice of you to try to make me think a handsome man would want to kiss me no da.”

“I, um... I’m glad I made you feel better.”

“You did no da. But, we’ve got an early morning tomorrow, so we better get to sleep now no da. Good night no da!”

“Good night, Chichiri,” Nuriko said as Chichiri fairly leaped into her bedroll. Nuriko rolled herself into her own, tucked her arm under her head, and looked up at the stars above them. Suzaku’s constellations glimmered above them: Hotohori, Nuriko, Tamahome, Chichiri... Chichiri, the masked monk. It had just seemed so natural; Chichiri was so upset, so convinved that she was hideous. So maybe the scars weren’t as minor as Nuriko had claimed, but still, they were nothing compared to the rest of her. She was such a sweet woman, so concerned about others, and she really was pretty otherwise. She shouldn’t have to feel like she had to wear a mask to be loved. Nuriko took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. I wonder who told her she was ugly...

*

“Hoshiko-sama!”

Even with her eyes covered by the mask, Nuriko knew Chichiri was rolling them as she turned around and waved to the woman rushing across her yard toward them with a blanket in her arms. How many people had called that out to greet her as they walked by? Enough that Nuriko was barely noticing the characteristic “no da” that everyone in Zashiyo seemed to use.

“Hello, Ishi-chan!”

“Hoshiko-sama, it’s so good to see you! Who is this with you?”

“This is Nuriko-chan, another Sei of Suzaku. Nuriko-chan, this is Ishi-chan, the one I told you about last night.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Nuriko said with a bow.

“No, please, it’s an honor,” Ishi said with a blush. “Hoshiko-sama, I heard there was trouble at the ceremony to summon Suzaku, and now all the Seishi have to go to Hokkan; is that true?”

“It’s not as bad as the rumors say,” Chichiri assured her.

“But it is true, then, isn’t it?”

“More or less. But don’t worry. We’re going to take care of it, and besides, Zashiyo’s too close to Sairou to be worth Kutou’s trouble.”

“I certainly hope you’re right, Hoshiko-sama. Your brother’s going to be so worried about you while you’re gone.”

Chichiri couldn’t help but laugh. “Jan-chan’s always worried about me.”

“Yes, but he’s going to be even worse until you get back, so you had better be careful. Oh, and I wanted to give you this.” Ishi held out the blanket she was carrying. “After all, Hokkan’s very cold, you know.”

Nuriko looked around as they were talking, and saw a bald patch in the grass and a slight curl of smoke a little way off the path. With a step or two toward it, she could see that it was in fact a puddle of dingy glass, with a few cracks through it and a bit of incense burning on it to placate the bandit’s ghost.

“Ishi-chan, that’s all right,” Chichiri continued. “I’ve got plenty of blankets.”

“You can never have too many. Please, take it.”

Chichiri grudgingly accepted it, and stuffed it into her hat as Ishi excused herself and returned to her home. “I know Hokkan is cold, but I really don’t think we’re going to need 57 blankets and 13 coats,” she joked to Nuriko.

“How did this news beat us here?” Nuriko asked in disbelief. “We only got here so fast with magic!”

“I told you, rumor is the swiftest of demons. At this rate, Houjan will be in absolute hysterics by the time we get to his house.”

“He worries about you that much, huh?”

“More, I think. Even though we’re twins, we live in very different worlds, and he’s never understood mine. It frightens him.”

“Aunt Hoshiko!” a young boy’s voice shouted.

“Taro-chan!” Chichiri answered, kneeling and scooping up the four-year-old who came running down the street to greet her.

“Aunt Hoshiko, I missed you!” He gave her a big hug, then turned to Nuriko. “Are you my new uncle?”

Nuriko blinked. “Um...”

Chichiri sighed. “I wondered how long it would be before those rumors started. No, Taro-chan, Nuriko-chan is just a friend of mine. Nuriko-chan, this is my nephew, Taro-chan.”

“Ah, I was hoping I had a new uncle,” Taro pouted briefly. “Aunt Hoshiko, did you bring me a gift?”

Chichiri laughed. “Already thinking of your new toy, I see.”

“I said I missed you first.”

“Here, you find it,” Chichiri said, putting her hat on his head and lifting him onto her shoulders.

Taro took the hat off and searched intently within it for a moment. “That’s no fair! No one can get anything out of here except you!”

“Then you’ll have to be patient, won’t you?”

Taro stuck his tongue out. A few moments later, they came within sight of a small house, where a woman with long black hair in a bun and an abdomen swollen with pregnancy was waiting in the doorway. The woman waved, and Taro climbed off of Chichiri’s shoulders.

“Mommy, mommy, guess what!” Taro shouted, running to her while trying to hold Chichiri’s hat on his head. “Keiko was wrong! That man isn’t my new uncle.”

“Midori-chan!” Chichiri squealed, rushing forward to hug the woman. “Look at you! I thought you might be pregnant. What are you, seven months along?”

Midori laughed. “Are you really guessing, or did you know before you came?”

“Hoshiko-chan!”

“Jan-chan!” Chichiri shouted, darting across the yard as a man of her height, with similar hair, walked up carrying a bundle of nets. She hugged him, picking him up and swinging him around.

“Hoshiko!” He took her shoulders and held her at arms’ length. “I assume that is my sister under that mask?”

She sighed and took off the mask. “Why does everyone hate my mask?” she asked rhetorically. “It’s a good mask no da. I like my mask no da.”

“I like it too,” Taro said, jumping up and taking from her hand, then trying it on.

“I just prefer to look you in the eye, Onee-chan,” Houjan answered. He looked past her at Nuriko. “So, Hoshiko, this is your...?”

“My friend, Nuriko-chan,” Chichiri answered. “Not my husband, or my fiancé, or even my boyfriend. Sorry to disappoint you.”

“I’m not disappointed,” he said, holding a hand out to Nuriko.

“Yes you are,” Chichiri teased, mussing his hair.

*

Hiro flipped a few pages, hoping against hope to be able to skip forward, but as always, the book refused. In a normal story, he could appreciate the time spent “characterizing” Chichiri and Nuriko, but with Yui back in Konan, and Miaka still there, hidden in Konan palace, there was no way for these domestic scenes to overcome the torturous suspense.

“‘Nuriko and Chichiri spent the day in Chichiri’s brother’s house, and the masked monk filled the time mostly with tales of her travels, which her nephew was eager to hear, both the new adventures and his old favorite tales. That evening, the boy’s mother prepared a delicious dinner, and afterward everyone praised the food and sat down together.’”

*

“It looks like it’s time for Taro to go to bed,” Midori whispered, pointing to her son. He had crawled into Chichiri’s lap and lay snuggled against her, hugging the stuffed toy she had given him and sleeping peacefully. “It’s getting a bit late for me, too, and I imagine Nuriko would like some sleep after his long journey.”

“That would be nice, thank you,” Nuriko agreed.

“I’ll be in in a little while,” Houjan said. “I have some broken nets to fix.”

“I’ll help you,” Chichiri volunteered.

“Oh, you don’t need to do that.”

“I know I don’t need to, so stop telling me,” Chichiri teased, ruffling his hair. Midori put Taro to bed, then showed Nuriko into an adjoining room and spread some blankets for her.

“I suppose I should wait up for Chichiri,” Nuriko remarked as she lay down.

“It won’t do you any good,” Midori warned, setting down the lantern and blowing it out, then preparing for bed and lying down. “Houjan may act as though it were a casual thing, but he really saves all of his broken nets for when Hoshiko comes to visit. They’ll stay up until two or three in the morning repairing them, and using it as an excuse to talk.”

“Houjan really does worry about her a lot, doesn’t he?”

“Yes. He knows that she’s more than powerful enough to defend herself, and that her wanderings were predestined, but he still feels like he’s failed her somehow by not supporting her.” Midori turned over and added. “I think it’s best this way, though. When she lived in the village, she was always alone and sad, and normally stayed in the house away from everyone but Houjan. Now just the threat of her return at any time continues to protect the village in her absence, and she certainly seems happier when she visits.”

Yes, she seems that way, Nuriko thought, staring up at the ceiling above her. She closed her eyes, and listened to the soft series of “no da”s floating back from the other room until it lulled her to sleep.

*

To Be Continued...

*

PREVIEW

The night of the Star-Watching festival is meant as a time for the Sei of Suzaku to rest from the cares of their quest, and to let their happiness strengthen the hopes of Konan’s people. However, with Miaka and Amiboshi still in Konan palace, Suzaku’s moment of rest allows an opportunity for Seiryuu to strike.

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