It turned out that Miaka had, among other minor injuries, a minor concussion and Houjun had unfortunately acquired a dagger in his leg.
Once both were in bed and being cared for by Paifu's doctor and a local healer-Priest, the healthier duo adjourned to a nearby room and Doukun began to pelt the elder with various questions and comments about his side of the trip and all the events that took place.
"Hold on for just a second, Dou-kun! Since when did you suddenly become the Keeper of Traumatic Events?" Kishuku asked, causing Doukun to smile lopsidedly.
"Well if you must know, Saihitei-san did ask that I remember everything for when we meet again. He said that one day the people of Konan may want to know all that happened to the Chosen Suzaku no Shichiseishi during their time of greatest victory. And seeing as how I have an exceptional memory and easy access to writing implements, His Majesty kindly requested I take up that position of, uh, 'Keeper of Traumatic Events', as you so put it."
Kishuku raised his eyebrow in disbelief. "You mean to tell me Sai-san's having you write a book on this? Why?!"
"Why not?"
"I mean... it's not like people want to read about us! ...do they?"
This time Doukun actually let out a laugh. "Maybe, maybe not. But I do admit, it promises to be a fascinating story. I imagine many would pay to read or hear it." And he watched with an amused expression as visions of ryou began to dance around Kishuku's head. Doukun allowed his fellow Seishi to wallow in the thought of piles of okane before bringing him back on topic.
Kishuku told him everything that happened. He was very reluctant to speak about the more grisly scenes, but Doukun reassured him that what he had to say wouldn't damage the young man for life. No, the incident with Chie and the arrow did that well enough, he thought briefly before returning his attention to the other Seishi. Within an hour, he had committed the entire episode to memory and the floor was open for discussion. By then, Toshi and Chie had joined them with their own questions, though Shonin had opted to be with her bondmate.
'How did you know she was the Miko?' Chie hooted.
"I didn't," Kishuku said honestly. "I just heard shouting and my instincts kicked up to check on the problem. It wasn't until I heard her name that I knew she was our Miko."
'Yuuki means "courage," and doesn't Miaka mean "beautiful red?”' Toshi put forth and Chie agreed. 'Pretty strong evidence in her favor.'
'It's a shame about her village though,' the owl sighed. 'I hope we can help her cope with the forced separation and the painful hand she's been dealt.' By the look on Kishuku's face, Doukun could tell that he had already decided to take that burden upon himself. Then he remembered something.
"What happens when the Suzaku no Miko wakes up in an unfamiliar room? How is she going to take to that, especially if no one is around?"
All four looked at each other somewhat blankly before Toshi said, 'I take it one of us has to go upstairs, then.'
Kishuku bolted up the stairs to the recovery room before either of the ketsu could move, which was a pretty spectacular feat unto itself. Doukun blinked a few times before turning to Chie and asking, "In a hurry?"
She yawned, then clicked her beak and hopped onto Doukun's shoulder and upper arm. He lazily got to his feet and, with Toshi padding alongside them, they left the gathering hall to join the others. Inside the small room on two adjacent beds, both invalids were blissfully asleep thanks to the sleeping drug that helped ease their pain (even though Houjun had refused to drink it at first but got it forced down his throat anyway). Miaka was still colored bruise-blue and her head was cleanly wrapped up, but she didn't seem to look much worse for all the wear she went through. None of the ketsu mentioned a sudden drop in her health or ki, so she appeared well on the road to recuperation. Houjun hadn't suffered quite as much as his Miko, but an assassin's blade to the posterior left thigh was hardly a fun experience. He was lying on his side facing Miaka, since the blade had hit him from behind and they didn’t want to put any pressure on the wound. Because of all this, he wasn't going to be doing much more than hobbling for the next few days, even with Seishi healing capabilities.
'He'll just grab his shakujou and use it as a crutch,' Shonin nipped gently at Doukun's thoughts. 'We've lived through worse; my beloved won't let a little cut stop him from calling Suzaku down.'
'Ah yes, I knew I kept forgetting something important about our afternoon jaunt,' the boy grinned cheekily. Luckily Shonin was lying under her bondmate’s arm and not anywhere near Doukun or he'd have need for a doctor himself. However... he couldn't help but stare at Houjun now. On the Priest's face Doukun could see a set of thick scars running from as high as his eyebrow to the bridge of his nose where his left eye should be. Apparently his mask (something that Doukun had previously been unaware the Priest wore) had fallen off during the frantic ride to Paifu, and it was only now that they could see his real features. Doukun knew those weren't recent wounds and his insatiable curiosity nearly demanded he ask the ketsu what had happened to their friend. Still, he knew that Shonin wouldn't tell him unless Houjun had said it was all right for her to do so; more out of respect for her Seishi's business rather than her being bound by his words.
But I think I'll know soon enough. I'll just try and be patient.
Deciding against further baiting the fox, he knelt down beside Miaka's cot, across from Toshi and a somewhat anxious Kishuku, and asked Chie if she would mind perching elsewhere for the time--she agreed and flew up to take a nap in an upper rafter.
"Are you all right, Kishuku-san?"
"-kun, Doukun, you can call me Kishuku-kun," he reminded the other. "Though if you start calling me Ki-ku I may be forced to feed you to the squirrels." The Chiriko Seishi smiled and made a mental note to ask Toshi about that later. "But yeah, I'm all right." Both of them were silent for a few minutes; Doukun was thinking of the approximate time it would take for the duo to become mobile again when his thoughts were broken by an uncertain voice. "Hey, Doukun?"
"Yes?"
"Has... I mean, have you ever thought of who the Miko might be? I mean, before we found her, what did you think of her as?"
An odd question... Doukun thought but answered, "I'm not quite sure I understand you. Do you mean, did I have a mental representation of whom the Suzaku no Miko would be?" At Kishuku's nod, he continued. "I suppose I thought of her as a mother-figure; Ishida-san is a good example," he said, referring to the Celestial Suzaku no Miko.
"But you never in a million years would have thought she'd have been a girl only a couple years older than you." It was a statement, an affirmation of unspoken truth.
"I'm not sure I comprehend your meaning, Kishuku-kun. Why do you ask these questions?"
Kishuku gently brushed Miaka's forehead, pushing loose strands of bronze hair behind her ear. "I'm not really sure. Maybe because now that she's really here..." he turned soulful eyes to Doukun, trying to make the boy see. "You never thought she could be just like you--she has to be more than us to be able to hold in Suzaku's power. But now that I see this girl lying here, one who's so young and can really be hurt... I feel disappointed. I can't even describe it, but it's as if I was expecting a treasure of gold and ended up with broken glass." He looked away. "And I hate myself for it, for thinking so low of Suzaku's Chosen Miko. And I keep telling myself that I'm just... just... God, what's wrong with me?!" Kishuku nearly cried out. Toshi rubbed his Seishi's chest with his head, trying to offer comfort that Kishuku wasn't ready to accept.
Oh Kishuku-san... Doukun bit his lip, now grasping those words with painful clarity. His mind spun with a thousand intelligent comments he could make, but finally decided that the best thing he could do was speak with feeling rather than logic. "You're not at fault, Kishuku-kun," he spoke gently. "Do not think that because you had previous beliefs about who the Miko would be that you're doing Miaka-sama an injustice. I have to admit... I didn't believe you and Shun'u told me you were two of the Chosen Seishi. It didn't fit into the mental picture I held of whom these great heroes could be. I know I certainly don't match any storybook hero...
"But that's what makes our story so amazing. We're everyone and anyone. We're not vague ideals; we're not untouchable beings--we're real live people. And that's why the people cheered so hard for us as we rode out of the city, because in some way they're fighting and living through us. The Chosen Chiriko Seishi could have been anyone, and it's the same for the rest of the Chosen Seishi and the Miko. Maybe at first they were disappointed, but I will tell you true that they would rather have a normal Seishi they can talk to rather than a cold, unfeeling statue of perfection they have to admire from a distance." Doukun hesitated, then asked, "Did that help?"
Kishuku sighed. "I think so, at least a little. Maybe I just gotta come to terms with it on my own." Doukun nodded both in agreement and in finality. This wasn't a problem that banked on how much knowledge he could impart; this was a matter of conscience and heart, and no one but Kishuku could change those feelings.
Segueing away from the awkward subject, Kishuku asked how much longer the duo would be out of it. Judging from what the doctor had said before, Doukun guessed that they might be up in an hour due to Seishi healing--Houjun might even be up sooner than that and Miaka-sama was more than likely to follow after him. They talked for a little bit longer just to keep the silence from growing too uncomfortable, to keep what lay unspoken beneath the cover of words.
Doukun and Toshi told Kishuku about the rather uneventful watch they pulled, which quickly became more than exciting when Houjun had 'called to Shonin about the approaching dangers. The rest was easily pieced together; the group moved down the path to find the Seishi duo, found them, and saved their collective behinds when they ran in to help.
"Which I am eternally grateful for, no da," Houjun's weak voice came up from behind. Doukun spun around and saw the blue-haired man was awake, his remaining eye warm and rosewood-brown as he gazed at them.
"Houjun-san!" he cried out, delighted to see him awake and unable to stop from giving the elder man a hug. "I'm glad you're all right." Houjun returned it as Kishuku got up and joined them. "Right, Kishu-kun?"
"You scared the bloody demon out of me, Priest, falling over like that," Kishuku growled down.
"I doubt that," Houjun retorted. "You've got more demon in you than I could possibly hope to exorcise in a lifetime, no da." But his eye was shining with mirth and the two Seishi embraced quickly, unable to deny the relief of seeing each other alive and (relatively) healthy.
'Doing well, Houjun?' Toshi asked politely.
"As well as to be expected, no da," he said. "But enough about me; how is the Miko?"
"She is still asleep, but she doesn't look to be in any sort of pain," Doukun told him. "Kishu-kun and I were discussing the possibility of her mental state being rather unstable when she awakes." Houjun nodded, encouraging him to continue the explanation. "From what we know, her village was ravaged and she, along with her brother, were chased into the forest. There she was knocked unconscious, her brother was injured, and a trio of cloaked men was about to kill them when Kishuku jumped in and saved them. But now that she is here and away from her family--"
"--Then she may very well take our rescue effort to be a kidnapping one, no da," Houjun sighed, stroking Shonin's fur as he thought aloud. "Which would be a bit problematic..."
'Oh you think?' the vixen added wryly. 'Why don't you let us ketsu try talking to her?'
"What makes you think the ketsu would be any better at handling this situation?" Kishuku questioned, then at the looks of the two carnivores hastily added, "Not that you wouldn't do a good job, but if she won't be all that comforted to see some unfamiliar humans, then what makes you think she'll take the sight of a leopard, a fox, and an owl staring at her any better?"
'He's got a point,' Chie yawned, having awoken from her brief nap. 'Dou-kun, which do you think would be better to do for her?'
Falling back to his Seishi talent, Doukun went through all the different possibilities and combinations of actions they could do before settling on one specific course to follow. "Kishu-kun, why don't you stay beside Houjun-san and I'll wait at Miaka-sama's bedside? Because I'm younger she won't see me as a threat, whereas you may be perceived as one even if that is not your intent. I would also suggest that Toshi stays a distance from her, if only because he too looks somewhat intimidating."
'Me? Intimidating? You must be joking!' the leopard grumbled indignantly, but still stalked to Houjun's side and away from Miaka's possible line of vision.
Doukun couldn't suppress a slight smile as he continued. "It may also be prudent for us to expect that she will want to escape after coming to consciousness. If necessary, the ketsu could 'speak with her or, if she does become hysterical, convince her to sleep again until we can get a doctor to care for her. Houjun-san, do you know anything else we can do?"
The Priest did have something small to add. "When she awakens, is it possible for one of the ketsu to call a doctor into the room, no da? Not only to check her vital signs and other symptoms of injury, but also to be here if she indeed does become hysterical, no da."
'We can do that,' Toshi said. 'But what do we tell her when she's sufficiently calmed? "Hi, we just took you from your family and now you're going to help us save Konan as the Chosen Suzaku no Miko even though I’m sure you have unimaginable mental and physical trauma to deal with right now." I doubt it would go over well.'
That elicited a chuckle from all those present. See? We do have a sense of humor, even in such a serious moment, Doukun thought lightly. "Perhaps we'll try wording it differently, no da," Houjun grinned. "Maybe not quite as blunt as that, but I think we can get the point across well enough, no da."
'That's hardly my worry right now--we just have to make sure she actually wakes up. So if it's all the same to you I'm going to fetch a doctor right now,' Shonin said, sauntering over to the doorway. 'Both you and the miko-sama are going to need one soon. I'll be back in a bit!' And she disappeared through the open screen.
"How long have I been sleeping, no da?" her bondmate asked.
"Oh... a few hours," Kishuku shrugged. "I'm surprised you're not still feeling the drugs or the pain."
A dry look spread over Houjun's face. "I didn't say I wasn't--I just wanted to know how long I had to heal, no da."
"From what the doctor said, you should be ready to walk within a few days," Doukun piped in helpfully, standing up and taking his place next to Miaka-sama's bed. "I don't know about riding, though. I may have hurt you more than helped when I got you into the saddle."
"It was either help me ride or leave me behind. I'm quite thankful you chose the former, no da."
Doukun smiled to himself as he looked over the miko. She was still asleep but he could see her face start to twitch and move as consciousness returned to her mistreated form. "I think she may be waking up," he said, trying to hide his growing excitement without jolting her awake. The other males craned their necks to see what was happening, hope and curiosity coloring their ki.
