She was a romantic hero in a story, a prince to rescue a princess, her princess, sword covered in blood from the slain enemy, her ki radiating with nearly visible strength and power.

When the bandits attacked us, I could only get one, but suddenly she was there and had saved Miaka from a sword aimed at her heart. And all I could do, after deciding Miaka was all right, was gaze at her. She was amazing.

Tamahome had left, going to Kutou to save the villages. I'm sure Hotohori-sama felt very guilty. Miaka was very upset, of course, but she was doing the best she could to hide it from me so that I wouldn't worry. So for her, in an effort to get Tamahome back, we were searching for the rest of the seishi. I had been wondering how Hotohori-sama would be dealing with being alone at the palace, worrying, but then suddenly she was there.

She told us Chichiri had taken her place at the palace so that she could protect Miaka in Tamahome's place. And together we continued on the road towards Mouth Leikaku, praying that Taiitsu-kun's mirror was leading us in the right direction with the "yama" kanji.

At the base of the mountain, we stopped and tethered the horses, letting them rest and graze for a bit. It seemed clear to me that I was not wanted, so I made a quick apology and an excuse to leave, and I disappeared from their vision into the woods. I sat down slowly behind a tree, able to hear what they were saying and knowing they could not see me.

Despite her denial of feelings for Miaka, Hotohori-sama had not even had to ask to ask me to do what she wanted- Miaka switched horses, riding with the emperor instead of me. It was all right. I understood. She loved Miaka, so of course she would want to spend time with her. It was like me. I loved Hotohori-sama and I wanted to spend time with her, but I would not interfere. If she wanted me to help Miaka fall in love with her, I would do that too. Like she had said, it's hard to be discouraged when the one you love is happy.

I leaned back against the tree, the bark scraping my back.

The maids and other princesses had been astonished and disapproving when they had seen me exit my room in men's clothes, and only Yumi had had the courage to ask me why I was wearing them. I told her that one pretty girl was bad enough to travel with, so we didn't need two girls to cause trouble. Yumi gave me a shy laugh and told me that I made a very handsome man. I just smiled and said nothing.

They were being so quiet. I had heard a few gentle murmurs from Hotohori-sama and Miaka's shy replies, but it had been a few moments since I had heard anything. Curiosity was itchy my mind, and, after a few moments, I succumbed to it. I peeked my head around the tree.

My eyes widened. She... she was kissing her... Hotohori-sama was... she... My throat tightened and I hurriedly looked away. I swallowed repeatedly, trying to not to get upset. Hotohori-sama could do whatever she wanted. She was the emperor and she loved Miaka. I was just some foolish admirer who loved her. I was nothing.

I vaguely heard Miaka's protests and Hotohori-sama's questions to her, not really penetrating my thoughts.

Not romantically, she had said. There was someone else she cared for. I pulled my knees tightly to my chest, hugging them close. Had she lied to me? She had kissed Miaka. And yet, I did not have the right to complain. Miaka would make Hotohori-sama happy and I would... I would... find something to do. I would leave the palace, of course, and maybe I could stay with my brother for a while... I was sure I would be fine. I would survive.

"Miaka!!" I heard Hotohori-sama yell, and there was real panic in her voice. I jerked my head around the tree, thrown out of my thoughts, and stumbled to my feet. I saw them fall onto the ground, the emperor protecting the miko despite the threat to her own life. Without thinking, I started running toward them. "Hotohori-sama! Miaka!"

I think I remember seeing movement off to the side at the time, but in the state I was in, I didn't react to it quickly enough. I cried out and everything dazzled into black as I was hit from behind.
 
 

Consciousness crept slowly into my brain, bringing with it the knowledge of a soft, cold, pulsating pain. I was lying on a floor, my wrists tied behind my back with a thick grating rope. I tried to move my feet and found them bound much the same way as my wrists. Opening my eyes slightly, I allowed a moment for them to adjust to the brightly flickering candlelight. I was being shaken, I realized, as the world about me began to solidify, and not overly gently. "Hotohori!"

"Miaka!" I jerked my head around to glance at her. Nuriko was there as well. Both he and Miaka were tied much the same as I was and both looked equally confused.

"Hotohori! You're hurt!" Miaka chirped quietly, her voice filled with worry, concern.

Hurt? Ah, yes. My arm was bleeding. That would account for the dull throbbing pain I was feeling. Trying to force a smile and remain upright despite my stiff body, I opened my mouth to try to reassure her that I was fine. Before the words could leave my lips, the door opened and a rough looking group of slightly dirty, very drunk men stepped in. My head still ached from my recent bout with unconsciousness. Everything was blurry, and I felt as though I were trying to swim through turbulent churning water.

The bandits began taking Miaka away and it was as though whatever had been clouding and fogging my mind disappeared. I was ready to stand and fight, and beside me, I'm sure Nuriko was ready for the same thing. But Miaka smiled that cheerful smile and shook her head. Her green eyes shone clear with determination. She would find the other seishi. She would be fine. I watched her go and glanced to Nuriko, hoping to draw some reassurance from him, but even that was cut short as the bandits undid our ropes. I raised and eyebrow and glanced around at the whole group. They wanted us to serve them. They thought we were women. Unsure whether to laugh or cry, I simply stared. Had they simply assumed because of my beauty? Had they figured it out? Were they just that drunk? I prayed that they were drunk, that that was the only reason, and I resigned myself to playing along, to buy Miaka the time she needed. It truly was not difficult to play the part of a girl. I managed to pour the steaming tea without too much of a mishap and sit amongst them, all the while wondering if they truly knew my secret. Obviously someone had carried Nuriko, Miaka, and myself here. I had bound my chest for the journey; could they still have seen? I glanced from time to time at Nuriko, almost, but not quite frightened.

Then it happened. One of them began hitting on me. "Lady, you have such a nice big beautiful body." I could hear the alcohol in his voice, the slurred words that seemed to be such an effort for him to form.

I forced a laugh, something akin to panic clutching at my chest. "Oh, many people say that! But Nuriko-chan has much better proportions..." I cast a nervous, apologetic glance at Nuriko. I'm fairly sure, by the sudden chill that passed down my spine, that he glared at me.

"She's not my type..." the bandit said, and I could smell his breath, reeking of sake.

"Nuriko!" I hissed, nearly fleeing to the relative safety of his side.

I clung close to Nuriko after that, nervous, jumpy, and needing some sort of support. This I drew from Nuriko. He smiled at each of the drunken men easily, serving them with the grace and poise he so often demonstrated. Only the dangerous spark in his deep violet eyes betrayed the act he was putting on.

It happened only minutes later, though it seemed forever. The men's conversation came on and on in unending, relentless, drunken droning. I was eyeing the pile of our weapons and belongings that the mountain thieves had stacked in the corner. Suddenly a snatch of conversation caught my ear. They were speaking about the man Miaka had been taken to. My eyes widened as they spoke, darkening in anger, fearing for her safety.

"Nuriko," I said softly.

"Hai,” he answered quickly, nodding his head, understanding immediately what I meant. In a quick, accurate blur, the men were caught between a table and the wall with Nuriko standing in front of them, brushing off his hands in silent triumph. We gathered our things as quickly as we could. I felt strangely better with the handle of my sword resting comfortingly in my left hand.

"Are you, by chance, men?" a far from sober prone form asked.

"So you finally noticed," I answered, sighing slightly. Something tugged at my leg and I glanced down to see the drunk man who had been attempting to hit on me earlier.

"I don't care if you are a man!" his voice piped up.

"Nuriko," I called, my voice nervous, tight, annoyed. Moments passed, the twitching form of my assailant lay some yards off to our side. Nuriko and I stood by the door, waiting in complete silence, each of us barely breathing. Our moment came not long after, when one other bandit, the one who had taken Miaka, stepped through the door. Sword to his throat, he seemed more than happy to comply to our wishes. We followed him to the room he indicated, the room where he had said Miaka would be.

I fumbled with the door, but it was locked. I raised my sword, blade gleaming in the flickering torchlight as I lifted it above my head. I was ready to strike the door as the wall suddenly collapsed, or rather, as Nuriko made the wall collapse. I rushed into the room, to Miaka. Holding her trembling form close against my side, I held the man who would have hurt her at the edge of my sword. I wanted to kill him, but I left the blade just touching his throat despite the trembling of my hand.

So intent were we in what we were doing that none of saw the other figure enter, nor noticed him until Miaka screamed. I whirled away from the pathetic little slug and towards the new threat. The man was tall, with flame red hair that fell in disarray about shifty eyes that mirrored the firelight. He held Miaka over his shoulder as he spoke in a cocky voice and turned to leave with Miaka.

"No! Wait!" I called, springing forward, ready to go after him, but he simply smirked, fanned a few strips of paper in his hand and tossed them into the air. "Ginjitsu Shinzarou!"

Wolves appeared from nowhere, snarling and biting at the air and charging towards us.

"Impossible..." I heard Nuriko's astonished whisper as I slashed through one of the advancing menaces with my sword. The wolf vanished, leaving nothing but a torn paper that fluttered to my feet like a wounded bird. Paper?! It was impossible, but it was happening. My thoughts were not allowed to collect any further than that. From behind us, the little slug shrieked in his horrible screechy voice.

"Rekka shinen!" I glanced back at his words only to see fire erupt from a fan held in the grubby hands of the evil little man. It kept growing, expanding and covering the entire room, almost as though hell had been let loose upon the earth. I fled for a window, Nuriko disappearing from my view.
 
 

“Nuriko! Are you all right?”

"Hm, Hotohori-sama, you certainly got out of there quickly," I said lightly as I peered around the door, making sure it was safe for me to continue. When I decided I no longer had an immediate threat of death, I started walking toward her, checking around for any other danger.

She blinked at me, her eyes peeking over the edge of the stonework. "I was going after Miaka!"

"Hai, hai," I agreed as I hopped over the wall toward where Miaka had been taken.

"I was!!" she protested. I gave her a quick little smile over my shoulder. She was glancing around worriedly. "Did you see where they took her?"

I randomly chose a path through the forest. "I didn't. Did you?"

Her voice sounded rather sheepish. "The fire blocked my view."

I laughed quietly, worried about Miaka, but somehow sure she was all right. "Come on. We'll find her." I glanced around. "Perhaps we should look around while we're here."

She came up beside me and nodded. "Hai." Her voice darkened after as moment. "Nuriko... we have to find her... if he touches her..." The threat in her voice was almost tangible.

I gave her a quick glance. "We will. Don't worry. And we'll know if anything happens to her. It will be fine."

She was looking around, her eyes searching out the dimness, but she managed to glance at me and give me a quick smile and a nod. She was, however, looking away as she spoke. "Nuriko... I want to apologize for hiding behind you with the bandits."

I laughed, turning my eyes to her from the deepness of the forest. "It all worked out, ne, Hotohori-sama?" I gave her an evil grin. "Besides, he was rather good-looking."

Her expression at first was an equal mixture of a grin and a glare, but it melted after a moment into just a smile, the sweet one she gave so frequently to Miaka that I loved so much. "In any case, thank you."

We wandered a bit more, my mind and heart conflicting. It was so nice to be out here with her, to see her smile at me like that, but I knew we would have to find Miaka. And there was also the kiss... "Ne, Hotohori-sama..."

She glanced up at me, her dark eyes still trying to scan the impenetrable forest. "Hai?"

I deliberately kept my eyes away, a little nervous to bring up the subject. I kept my voice quiet as well, holding branches out of Hotohori-sama's way as we moved through the forest. "I thought you were only going to protect Miaka in Tamahome's place..."

I could tell she knew immediately what I was talking about. Her eyes flashed at me, but not with anger, as I had expected. Her voice was sad and retrospective. "Hai..." It was soft, amazingly quiet. "It was a mistake. I know that." She sighed as well, a brief, gentle wind, barely audible, across a field of grass.

I left my voice at the same level, left my eyes looking away. "I just... don't want you to get hurt." I turned my eyes to her, trying to gauge her reaction to this.

She gave me a sort of smile, looking a bit surprised, but her smile quickly faded. "I won't... I... after I did that... nothing. The only thing I felt was sorry for doing that to her. I don't understand. I still care for her, but I kissed her and there was nothing there." She dropped her eyes away from me, looking as if she felt that she had failed herself, her dreams, and went silent.

My voice was as soft and gentle as I could make it. "Nothing at all? You don't love her?"

She glanced up at me briefly. "She's a wonderful person. She's Suzaku no miko, my miko, and I'll protect her as best I can, but... no. No, I don't." She sighed again.

I left my eyes on her. "You'll be all right?" I asked after a minute. I then stopped walking, intent on studying her a moment longer with greater ease.

She nearly crashed into me, but pulled up just short. She glanced down at me and took a step backwards. I had never felt so small in my life. "Of course I'll be fine."

Who was I to presume on her feelings? Feeling something I couldn't quite put a name to, sort of like disappointment in myself, I watched her a minute longer, searching for signs of some way I could help her. If she needed it. Or wanted it. "Good." I turned away and continued down the path. I wouldn't show her my pain and worry. She didn't need me. "She has to be around here somewhere. How far could they have gone?" I blinked as something registered and turned again, double-checking what I had seen. "Hotohori-sama... you're still bleeding."

She looked down at her right arm where the material of her shirt had become wet and sticky with the blood that was still issuing from her wound. "Oh... I am."

I felt my heart twist. She had been so concerned with Miaka's welfare that she hadn't bothered at all about her own. My eyes, I'm sure, held much worry. "We have to bandage it-" My sentence was cut off by a shout and someone barreling into me.

"Trespassers!" yelled a rather drunk bandit, his alcoholic breath spilling into my face. I shoved him off me and got up, readying myself. He stumbled to his feet as well.

She drew her sword to the right of me, ready to defend herself and fight for her miko, despite the handicap of having to use her left hand, but I called out to stop her. "Hotohori-sama, stay back!" I gave her a quick glance to make sure that she would listen to me, then jerked my eyes back to the bandit.

He was amazingly drunk. "Pretty trespassers too," he slurred.

That was it. He was flirting with Hotohori-sama. If anyone's, that was my job. I flew over to him and landed my fist into his stomach. He sailed backwards and crashed into a tree, hitting it with a satisfying thump.

I strolled over to him, not allowing myself any glances in Hotohori-sama's direction, afraid I would smirk too much, knelt beside him, and started tugging off his shirt.

I finally allowed myself to look at her, though disguised it as best I could. She blinked, the skirmish over a little too quickly for her to have joined in. Her eyes widened as I managed to get his shirt off. "Nuriko...?" I stifled a laugh. Did she think I was going to rape him?

I gave her a mischievous grin and walked toward her, tearing the shirt into strips, choosing the cleanest. I stopped in front of her, then looked up at her. "May I?"

Unhappy realization shone in her eyes, but then she looked down to her arm. Her feelings were obvious. She looked back to me and nodded, her displeasure with the situation apparent. "Hai."

I stepped closer and examined it, wincing inwardly. "Hold on... this might hurt." I started rolling up her sleeve. It was a crime to lie to the emperor, punishable by death. This was definitely going to hurt. The cloth had stuck to the wound and I was going to be pulling off what little blood had already clotted.

She winced visibly and clenched her teeth, shutting her eyes, waiting for me to get to the actual wound. She was not looking forward to the pain.

I pulled the sleeve over the wound and a stifled cry escaped from her lips. I flinched, but continued, knowing what I was doing was for the best. "Sorry," I said quietly, and I finished pulling it over her wound. I forced myself to remember that I had to do this, or it could become infected or worse. "You need to hold it up over your shoulder so I can bandage it."

She nodded at me, her eyes still tightly shut, and reached over with her good hand to hold the sleeve up for me. Her eyes cracked open for a moment to look at her injury.

I made a face at the still-open wound. "Well... it's not too bad, not too deep, but it doesn't look like fun." I pulled her arm away from her body a bit and started to wrap the first bandage.

When I glanced up at her again, her eyes were off in the woods again, but she looked down at me as I tied off the last knot. "Arigatou." Had she been looking for Miaka again? I had nearly forgotten about her in my concern for Hotohori-sama. I felt like a fool. My devotion to the miko had to come first.

I reached over and touched her bandaged hand, feeling the temperature. "Good, it's not cold. Can you move your fingers?"

Within my hand, her fingers slowly clenched into a loose fist and then released. "Hai. I can."

I blinked as I realized I was holding her hand. I almost jerked it away, but forced myself to be a little more discreet about my embarrassment, though my face, I could feel, was pink. I gave her a hurried smile to cover it. "So, off to find Miaka, right?"

She gave me a questioning look, obviously having seen my expression, but then gave me a smile back and a quick nod. "Let's go."

I glanced away, hearing a noise, grateful for the interruption. That noise was familiar. It sounded very much like Miaka. "Hotohori-sama!" I said, my voice low.

Her eyes followed mine and she nodded silently, having heard the sound as well as I had. She tightened her bandaged arm's hand around the hilt of her sword, gesturing to me with the other. I understood.

I stalked over to the bushes from where one of the voices was emanating, then glanced back at her. It would be best if we struck at the same time.

She circled around the other way, almost disappearing into the forest, her movements soundless, cat-like, to where the other voice was. She looked up at me and barely nodded, her lips mouthing, "Now."

I struck, grabbing the blue-haired bandit, shaking him, trying not to hurt him if Miaka wasn't here, but just to stun him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hotohori-sama raise her sword, stopping barely away from Genrou's, the red-haired bandit, exposed throat, tangling a few beads of his necklace over the blade. "Where's Miaka, you bastard?" Her voice was dark, ominous.

I blinked as I heard Miaka calling out our names and stopped shaking the bandit. "Miaka?"
 
 
 

Go to the next part.

Return to Tokyo Tower.