A/N I forgot to say last time that this is a sort of AU! Sorry. They already have Chichiri, Mitsukake, and "Chiriko" (and you know who I mean), but they're back at the palace and it's basically TWT (Timeline? What timeline?) Sorry for any confusion!

"Miaka," Hotohori said gently, approaching the crying girl. "Miaka. Calm down. Tell us what happened."

Taking a shaky breath, trying to control herself, the miko pulled away from Nuriko slightly and turned to face Hotohori. "We were on our way back," she wept. "Tamahome was teasing me because I stole a wonton from Gyokuran's bowl…and everything was normal, but all of a sudden there were big men all around us, and…he told me to run. He stayed to fight them and sent me off on the horse. I didn't want to go, but he hit the horse, hard, and I couldn't stop it running. When I looked back, they had…they had…" Nuriko squeezed her shoulders as she bit her lip. "They had beaten him to the ground, and he wasn't moving…"

"Nuriko," said Hotohori firmly. The purple-haired seishi looked up from comforting Miaka, and saw the emperor's face was hard…but his eyes were sad, for some reason, and he didn't think it had anything to do with Tamahome. "Nuriko. Take Miaka to her room. Tasuki, come with me." He started to move toward the door.

"Hotohori-sama?" Nuriko asked, confused, as Miaka clung to him.

Hotohori turned, focusing on Miaka. "We'll find him, Miaka," he said softly. "I promise. We'll bring him back to you."

Despite the protests of the advisors lining the room, the young emperor strode again toward the door, the red headed bandit at his side. Nuriko's heart swelled at his beloved's kindness: even though Miaka had openly admitted her exclusive love for Tamahome, Hotohori still wanted to save him, for Miaka's sake. But something caught in his throat as he watched his friends leave, and he realized he couldn't let Hotohori go off into danger without him. Looking down at Miaka, though, he knew he couldn't just leave her in the middle of the empty throne room, either; torn, nearly in tears himself, he pulled the girl close to his chest as she sniffled.

He couldn't go. Hotohori-sama had told him to stay with Miaka, and he had to listen to Hotohori-sama…

"What's going on, no da?"

Nuriko's head shot up, and he saw Chichiri hurrying into the room. Maybe luck was on his side, after all! He wrapped his arm around Miaka's shoulder and steered her in Chichiri's direction, meeting the monk halfway across the room. "Tamahome's in trouble," the crossdresser explained urgently. "Hotohori and Tasuki went to look for him. Chichiri, will you…will you take Miaka to her room, please? I'm going to go after them."

Chichiri caught Miaka as Nuriko gently pushed her into his arms, eying the other man. "Do you need me to go, too, no da?"

Hastily, Nuriko shook his head. "No. I just…" Just what? He was in love with Hotohori, and couldn't bear for the man to be in danger without him there to protect him? How pathetic was that? Hotohori could clearly take care of himself, and yet…

Luckily for him, though, Chichiri didn't wait for a full answer. He nodded slowly. "All right, Nuriko," he said. "You go help them, no da. I'll take care of Miaka. But if you're not back in a few hours, I'm going to come after you."

Nuriko smiled gratefully. "Thank you. It shouldn't be a big deal. Thank you so much, Chichiri." And with that, he bolted after the other two.

He caught up with Tasuki and Hotohori as they were mounting their horses, and without saying anything, hoisted himself up onto one of his own, a mud brown mare with a golden mane. Feeling the others' eyes on him, he glanced over at Tasuki, then at Hotohori, and smiled.

"Where's Miaka?" Hotohori asked somewhat urgently, pulling his own stallion around to the exit.

"She's with Chichiri. She's safe," Nuriko replied, not offering any further explanation to his presence. But Hotohori's eyes softened somewhat, and he nodded in understanding, then trotted his horse outside, followed by Tasuki. As he passed Nuriko, the bandit made a dramatic loving face, batting his eyelashes and holding his hand to his cheek in a parody of his purple haired friend. Nuriko recognized the teasing for what it was and pretended to scowl.

He knew Hotohori-sama hadn't truly understood why he was coming along instead of staying with Miaka. The emperor probably thought he was doing it out of worry for Tamahome, or out of love for Miaka, as Hotohori himself was doing. In a way, Nuriko was glad Hotohori didn't know the real reason. Tamahome and Miaka played a part in it, of course, but if something happened to Hotohori-sama without Nuriko there to help him, the small seishi would never be able to forgive himself.

Gathering up the reins, colored red for the Imperial Livery of Konan, he followed Tasuki out into the fading light of dusk.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N Too short again! I probably should have waited until this part was written and put it with the first chapter. If you can call it a chapter. So I can only promise that the next ones will be longer.

Thanks to all who reviewed! Merigold, bea-chan, and Ryuen, you are my first reviewers ever, so I'm very very grateful to all of you. J