Fushigi Yuugi (sorta): Through the Looking Glass
by Kati d'Esprit and Half-Esper Laura
Based on Fushigi Yuugi by Watase Yuu
Yui traveled into the enemy empire of Kutou, risking herself for the sake of her friend Miaka. However, Yui did not realize how Miaka had suffered in the Universe of the Four Gods, and her trust and friendship slipped from Yui's grasp. The conflict between Seiryuu and Suzaku has begun, and the Sei of Suzaku have narrowly escaped the first battle in that war.
But to understand what happened in that moment, Yui must know what passed before.
Episode 11:
Asking Why
"Hey, let's have a bet on which one of us gets a cute boyfriend first!"
Yui smiled knowingly. "If we're going to bet on that, I've already won."
"Stop teasing me, Yui!" Miaka pouted, holding her schoolbag behind her back as they walked through the halls after class. "Hey, I have an idea! Let's take turns! That's what good friends would do, right?"
Yui blinked a few times, then rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Well..." As uncomfortable as that thought was, it did seem like it would be only fair. It would be selfish to refuse something like that, wouldn't it? "All right, I guess..."
"But I get to go this time, because you always take all the turns," Miaka added.
Yui wasn't sure what Miaka meant by that, but would rather let Miaka have her way than fight with her friend. "Okay..."
"So I get all the turns this time."
"Now wait a minute...!"
"You got all the turns before!" Miaka argued.
"Miaka, what do you mean...?"
"Of course she gets all the turns." Yui found herself sitting on the back of a motorcycle seat and turned to see Hiromasa sitting in front of her with his helmet on. "She's my sister."
"But that isn't fair!" Miaka whined. "Since she got all the turns before, I should get them all now, right?"
Hiro raised the visor of the helmet and scratched his temple. "Well, I guess that sounds fair..."
"Onii-chan!" Yui protested.
"If you didn't want this to happen, you shouldn't have been so selfish before," Miaka said, taking Yui's hand and pulling her to a stand, then sitting on the motorcycle in her place.
"That doesn't mean I've lost all the turns forever, does it? That isn't fair either!" Yui maintained.
"Where do you want to go?" Hiro asked Miaka, ignoring his sister.
"The library," Miaka said. Hiro revved the motorcycle.
The library... Yui thought. That must mean she's after... "Wait!"
"Come on Yui, you had your turn," Miaka said, with an innocent sincerity as frightening as any malice. Before Yui could protest again, the motorcycle took off down the street, leaving her behind.
"No!" Yui called. I'm the Suzaku no Miko. I'm not going to give that up, fair or not... Yui took off running after the motorcycle, in a Tokyo suddenly plunged into midnight, not even a streetlight to break the darkness. The constellations of Suzaku's Seishi danced in the sky above her, urging her on faster, reminding her of everything "all the turns" hadn't achieved. She ran on and on through the darkened city until her legs and her heart ached and she thought she would do anything not to have to be here doing this...
She squeezed her eyes shut as she ran and tripped, sprawling over a staircase. As she picked herself up to go on running, she recognized it-the stairs of the National Library! Scrambling to her feet, she darted in the door and up the steps to the Confidential Documents Reference room, covering ten steps in an agonizingly slow bound, like an astronaut on the moon. Her fingers were clumsy as she clutched the doorknob, and she yanked brutally until the door flew open, dumping her across the tiled floor. But this wasn't the floor of the library; it was the great hall of Konan! She looked up and gasped. Instead of Hotohori, the emperor of Kutou was sitting on the throne, with a wicked laugh in his eyes. Nakago stood on one side of him, and Miaka clung to Tamahome on the other. "This isn't what I meant!" Yui cried. "I didn't mean you could do this!!"
"You got to do what you wanted with your turn," Miaka said. "It isn't fair if I don't, too."
"I'm sorry it has to be this way, but it does," Nakago agreed.
"Tamahome?" Yui pleaded.
"You had your chance and you pushed me away, Yui." Miaka squeezed him affectionately.
Yui just sat, stunned. If Konan's been conquered, then... "Hotohori!" she cried, jumping up. "Where is he!?" The others just watched with detached curiosity as she dashed around the room, desperately searching. Without really going anywhere, she found herself running through the labyrinthine hallways of the palace in the dark of night. Suddenly, as if cast out from the mouth of a monster, she nearly fell onto the walkway over the gardens, which loomed black and blue and silver in the moonlight. A strong storm-wind buffeted against her, and she ducked into the nearest door.
Inside the room, even the sound of the wind died away, and it was unearthly quiet. Yui looked around and saw a canopied bed, a mirrored dresser... This is Hotohori's room. If I wait, he'll come back here eventually... She sat down on the edge of the bed, and felt someone move behind her without warning, but it didn't feel sudden. Without seeing anything, she knew it was Hotohori as he put his arms around her. She started to relax into his arms, a safe haven from this nightmare, but as she touched his hands, she recoiled. They were ice cold. His breath softly tickled her left ear. "Why did you let this happen, Yui?"
"I..." She fumbled for an explanation. "It was Miaka's turn and I thought it would be fair..."
"Fair...!?" he echoed, with crushing horror and disappointment.
In that moment, Yui wanted to die. There was nothing she could say that would make it right; even getting away from Hotohori would be another horror, not an escape...
Just when she thought her heart would be crushed by the burden, that dark world was ripped away with a relief so sudden it was almost painful. She found herself sitting in a soft bed with white silk sheets, with beautiful warm sunlight streaming in like a tangible expression of her immense relief. It was only a dream...!
Then, she realized she was wearing nothing except her slip. A moment later she realized there was someone else beside her. With a sharp cry, she pulled the covers tight around her.
"Ugh, not so loud," Tamahome groaned, rubbing his eyes against the light.
"What are you doing here!?" Yui demanded, scooting as far away from him as possible.
"What am I doing here? What am I doing where?" he asked, looking around at the room for a moment. He paused, the picked up the edge of the sheet and peeked under it, discovering his shirt and coat were gone. "Where're the rest of my clothes?" He paused, then glanced at Yui. "More importantly, where are the rest of your clothes?"
Yui felt the heat of blood rushing to her face in embarrassment and irritation. "Why you...! Don't you start blaming me for this!" She picked up a pillow as threateningly as a pillow can be picked up.
"Now wait a minute!" Tamahome protested.
"Well, well, I see you've recovered," came a familiar, wizened voice. Tamahome and Yui looked up to find Taiitsukun floating in the middle of the room, surrounded by a few Nyan Nyans. "We're on Mt. Taikyoku?" Yui questioned.
Taiitsukun nodded. "It was quite a surprise when Chichiri brought you on this unexpected visit---"
"Long time no see," a Nyan Nyan interrupted, jumping up and waving excitedly.
"---but I find she often surprises me. Since your injuries were serious, I---"
"We fixed, we fixed!" another Nyan Nyan shouted.
"Cure! Cure!" another shouted.
"Heal! Heal!"
"Quiet!" Taiitsukun shouted. The Nyan Nyans fell silent for a moment, before erupting into chants again.
"Um, can we have our clothes back now?" Yui asked over the din.
"I get, I get!" A Nyan Nyan shouted, dashing out of the room. It barreled back in a moment later, trailing Yui and Tamahome's clothes like a flag, and took a flying leap onto Tamahome's stomach.
"Oof!" he grunted as it bounced onto the mattress instead. "They're heavier than they look."
"Here, here, put it on!" it said, excitedly trying to put both of Yui's arms and one of its own into her shirt sleeve.
"I can get it myself," she said. She extricated the Nyan Nyan with some diffuculty and set it on the floor, then pulled the clothes under the covers with her for some privacy.
"Give me a minute, and I'll let you have the room to yourself to change," Tamahome said, shrugging on his shirt, then picking up his coat and shoes and heading for the door. "I'd like to have a little talk with Chichiri anyway."
"Be kind to my student, Tamahome," Taiitsukun warned as he walked out. "She too is hurt in ways the Nyan Nyans can't fix." Taiitsukun paused, then glanced back at the Nyan Nyans before pointing to the door. "Out of here, you little monsters!"
"Bye bye! We'll be back! Ba-bye!" they chanted, stampeding out of the room. There was a sharp cry and a WHUMP as they apparently crashed into Tamahome in the hall.
With a sigh, Taiitsukun nodded to Yui. "I'll leave you to dress, Suzaku no Miko," she said, floating out of the room.
Yui waited until the door closed behind her, then sat up in bed for a long moment. She began to sort out her clothes, giving undue concentration to the act of getting dressed for fear of thinking beyond it.
*******
"Looks like you've caught something there."
Chichiri glanced up at the sparkling pond in front of her and noticed the string in the water bobbing with resistance, then shrugged. "There's no hook; it'll be fine no da."
"Kinda defeats the purpose then, doesn't it?" Tamahome asked, taking a seat on a rock beside her.
"It's... good meditation no da."
"So, you're the old bag's apprentice, huh?"
"I studied here for a few years, between visions and quests no da."
"I knew you were a monk, but I never would have figured you were that high ranked."
"I'm not no da. I'm little more than a foolish acolyte no da."
Tamahome opened his mouth to speak, then glanced down and saw Chichiri's face lying on the bank. It took him an eerie moment to remember it was her mask. "You took your mask off?" he asked, reaching down and picking it up.
"Sometimes, it doesn't stay on very well no da," she answered softly. He glanced over at her; he'd only seen her without it for a moment or two before, not enough for a close look. Her face wasn't much different beneath it---her chin a little narrower, her nose slightly longer and more pointed---but what he couldn't help but notice were her eyes, deep and brown and sparkling with energy, like the palace's finest tea in a golden cup.
"Chichiri," he started.
She turned away from him, looking out across the lake. "It's all right to yell at me, no matter what Taiitsukun says no da. I know I deserve it no da."
"And you can bet I was gonna, if I'd found you an hour ago. I keep going over what happened in my head." Tamahome leaned towards her. "I didn't realize it at first. When you told me what was going on, you said the Seiryuu no Miko, not Nakago, would have Yui killed if we didn't save her." Chichiri nodded slightly. "What happened in there? Why would Yui's friend want her dead?"
"I don't know no da."
"But you knew it was happening; you said she did."
"My visions are rarely complete, and they fade quickly once finished no da. I... I still remember feeling her emotions, but they're... they're a net I can't untangle, all contradicting each other no da. She felt it had to be done, but at the same time she regretted it, but also looked forward to it, but... It just... makes no sense to me no da."
"You and me both. You're sure it wasn't Nakago's idea?"
"I'm almost certain he was following orders no da. Perhaps it was his Emperor's idea; I've never met the man, but from what I've heard, he is the sort no da." She sighed and pulled her knees up to her chin. "But it's still a poor excuse, for both him and me no da. Just because he's a soldier doesn't mean he should follow such a cruel order no da. And I knew he was Kutou's shogun, so I shouldn't have trusted him with something so important no da."
"Everyone wants to think the best of their friends, I guess. It's not your fault he turned on you."
"I wouldn't judge Nakago so harshly," came Taiitsukun's raspy voice. "What would you do for your Miko, Tamahome?"
Tamahome turned around, then yelped and jumped back as he found himself nose to nose with Taiitsukun's wrinkled visage. "I wouldn't try to kill an innocent girl," he protested a moment later when he recovered.
"Unless you thought she was something more, or perhaps something less." She floated past them. "Yui is in my main chambers if you wish to join her."
Tamahome waited until she had moved out of earshot, then shuddered. "Man, she's creepy."
"You get used to her no da," Chichiri said, taking her mask from him and putting it on. "Eventually no da."
*******
Yui glanced quickly at the staring crowd of mirrors clustered at the edges of the room, then sighed and looked at the floor. Although she knew all she might see was herself, there seemed to be something critical and accusing in their gaze.
Why would Miaka do that? What could have happened to her? Yui wondered. In her mind, she knew that Miaka had been alone in this world for three months, but it still seemed impossible. To her, it was less than a week ago that she and Miaka had been riding together to cram school on the train, talking and laughing... Why didn't I know...? Why didn't I even see anything about it in the book?
"Deep in thought, Suzaku no Miko?"
Yui started and looked up to see Taiitsukun hovering over her. "A lot happened before we arrived," she said.
"What is it that concerns you?"
Yui slowly opened her mouth, then paused as Chichiri and Tamahome entered the room. "Nothing particular, really..."
"You shouldn't lie; it's unbecoming of a Miko," Taiitsukun chided. "And foolish to think you can hide your emotions from your Seishi."
Chichiri gently touched Yui's shoulder. "You're wondering why your friend acted in such a way no da, ne?"
"I left Miaka here for three months," Yui said softly, stepping out of Chichiri's grasp. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that she's bitter, but... to me, it was such a short time... Miaka isn't the sort to act like that. She's usually sweet, and too flighty to hold a grudge." She sighed, fighting to hold back her tears. "It's like something happened and took away the best friend I knew... I wish I could have been there for her..."
Taiitsukun raised the wrinkle that took the place of her eyebrow. "That's odd. You had the link with your friend that you used to return to your world. Even if she was drawn here, that link should have remained."
"That link...?" Yui said. A moment passed before she remembered. Our school uniforms... She covered her mouth with a gasp of realization. "I took it off! While I was in my world, I took the uniform off! That's why I couldn't feel it when Miaka needed me... Oh, how could I have done something so stupid!?"
"Now, Yui, it's not your fault," Tamahome said, putting his arm around her. "You couldn't have known she was here."
"But I did know! I should have realized it earlier..."
"But you didn't. There's no sense in saying such things now," Taiitsukun said with a wave of her hand. "Now, Suzaku no Miko, you must think of what you're going to do from here on. The Seiryuu no Miko makes your quest all the more urgent and difficult. You need to be strong now, more than ever."
"Miaka is my best friend! I can't just say 'oh, that's too bad' and move on!" Yui retorted, the tears coming to her eyes. "I have to know what happened! I can't just give up on her!"
"Taiitsukun-sensei," Chichiri started slowly, "if Yui-chan needs to know the truth about her friend, can't you show it to her no da?"
"Simple enough, but don't blame me for what you might see." Taiitsukun floated over to the largest of the mirrors, which looked out from the head of the room amid parting curtains.
"Sometimes the truth can be very harsh no da," Chichiri warned gently, patting Yui's shoulder.
Yui took a deep breath. "I have to know."
"This mirror reflects everything that happens in this world," Taiitsukun explained. "If so commanded, it can reflect any place and time. Very useful; that way I don't have to bother with remembering every little thing." She turned to the mirror and commanded: "Three months ago. The girl, Miaka's, situation."
The mirror rippled once, like water under a dragonfly, then cleared to show dirty streets among small, run down city buildings.
"That looks like the backstreets in Konan's capital," Yui said.
"No, this is Kutou," Taiitsukun told her.
Yui held her breath in apprehension. I may as well relax. There's no telling how long I'll be watching before anything happens... Probably it didn't even happen all at once...
Miaka came into view, slightly scuffed from her fall, and looked around in confusion. "Yui?" she questioned softly.
Yui bit her lip. It wouldn't do any good to answer now...
"Yui?" Miaka called. Nothing. "I guess Yui got back, and now I'm in the book. Hey, maybe that means I get to be the Suzaku no Miko now. Tamahome?" she called. "Hotohori? Nuriko?"
"Sounds like somebody's lost."
The viewpoint of the mirror rotated in front of Miaka as she turned over her shoulder to look at a rough-looking man who had emerged from an adjoining alley.
Miaka drew herself up and did her best to look and sound important. "It's very important that I get to the Imperial palace," she said.
"Whoa, she's real lost," said one of another few men who came out to join the first. "I wonder if those funny clothes are the latest court fashion?"
"Looks awfully funny for a concubine."
"Haven't you heard? The Emperor likes the exotic ones."
"I heard the Emperor likes them all," another man answered with a laugh.
Miaka took a step back in embarrassment and fear. It didn't look like these guys were going to give her directions...
The first man smirked, taking a step towards her. "Don't worry, honey. We'll take you right where you need to go."
She stepped back from him nervously, then turned and ran. With a shout, the men pursued her, easily closing the distance. "HELP!!" Miaka screamed. Yui held her breath as one of them caught her arm and yanked her around, then punched her, sending her sprawling across the ground. In an instant, the men were on her like wolves. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!"
Yui squeezed her eyes shut, but still she heard Miaka's screaming, "YUIIIIIIIII!!!" And then the ugly SHHRIP! of her uniform being torn---
"Stop it!" Yui shouted. "I don't want to see anymore!"
Taiitsukun snapped her fingers, and the mirror went blank.
*******
Hiro set the book aside and held his head in his hands. No way... There's no way those two would have made up something like that... He remembered Yui wanting to go to the library that evening, and remembered telling her to stay away from the book. It was silly; there was no way he could have known Yui's story was true, but... Maybe if I'd taken her right then... Oh, geez, what am I gonna say to Keisuke!?
He looked over at the book lying on the floor, looking as innocent as any other. He didn't think he wanted to read any more. But what else could he do? If he walked away now and went home, to class, to sleep... There was no way he could function knowing what had just happened there, wondering what would happen next... With a sigh, he picked the book up and started reading again. "'When the Suzaku no Miko saw what had happened to her friend, she wept, and her Sei Chichiri comforted her...'"
*******
Chichiri gently hugged Yui, who pressed her face into the soft cloth of the monk's shirt. "Yui-chan, it isn't your fault no da."
"It is," Yui sobbed. "I didn't have to go back to my world. I could have stayed here, and then this never would have happened..."
"You went back trying to help Miaka, remember?" Tamahome said softly, moving forward and stroking Yui's hair. "You couldn't have known this would happen."
"I know you regret what happened to your friend," Taiitsukun said, "but this doesn't change what you have to do. The other Seishi still need to be gathered."
Yui couldn't even imagine the next moment, not even to leaving this room. She certainly couldn't imagine gathering the rest of her Seishi and summoning Suzaku. "I... I don't even know where to start..."
Taiitsukun sighed hotly. "Didn't Emperor Hotohori tell you? I gave each empire its 'Universe of the Four Gods' for a reason."
"Well, yes," Yui said. "In fact, he..." She reached for her bag to get 'The Universe of the Four Gods'... But her bag was gone. "Oh, no... Where's my bag!? I know I had it when we left that room with Miaka..."
Yui suddenly stopped short. It was just slung loosely over one shoulder when she and Miaka went into Seiryuu's shrine. When Nakago... It must have fallen off. "I think it's in Kutou..." she said numbly. "How could I do something so stupid?! I should have known better than take Suzaku's 'Universe of the Four Gods' to Kutou. I should have known better than to go to Kutou at all!" Desperate, she felt through her pockets. "I don't even know where my notepad with the clues is! What am I going to do now? Hotohori trusted me with the scroll; how can I tell him I lost it in the Shrine of Seiryuu!?"
"Between you and Hotohori, I don't think it'll be a problem," Taiitsukun said, rolling her eyes with a hot sigh.
"Well, you know I'd never blame you," Tamahome said comfortingly, patting Yui's shoulder.
"I don't suppose losing 'The Universe of the Four Gods' was your fault," Taiitsukun continued. "Your past friendship with the Seiryuu no Miko gave you reason to trust her, so it's understandable that you were deceived. I suppose I can help you with that."
Yui wiped her eyes and looked up as Taiitsukun produced a hand mirror from her robes and handed it to her. It was small and round, and its back was of red lacquer, with inlaid yellow shell in the pattern of an elaborate bow. "Watch this mirror, and it will let you know when you are near your Seishi."
Yui looked at the mirror for a long moment, and saw two small, red kanji characters, 'Ogre' and 'Well,' reflected in the edges of its face. "Thank you, but..." She looked at the floor to avoid looking at Taiitsukun or her Seishi. "I... I don't think I can do this anymore."
"Of course you can, Yui," Tamahome said, lifting her chin. "I believe in you."
She turned her head away from his hand. "I'm sorry. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but that doesn't make it all better. I can't fight my best friend." She took a deep breath. It was so hard to say this, to disappoint them, to give up, but she saw nothing else she could do. "I'm sorry I'm letting everyone down, but... I know you all think of me as the Suzaku no Miko, some kind of heaven-sent savior or something, but I'm really just a schoolgirl. When I said I'd be the Suzaku no Miko, I never thought it would be like this. I... It's too hard...."
"Yui-chan---" Chichiri started.
"You two, out!" Taiitsukun ordered, cutting her off.
"Da?" Chichiri questioned as Tamahome demanded "What?!"
"Out!" Taiitsukun ordered again.
Chichiri sighed, then leaned towards Yui. "There's more to you than you give yourself credit for, Yui-chan no da," she said before turning towards the door. Tamahome gave Yui one more affectionate squeeze, then followed.
Yui just stood there until she heard the door close behind her Seishi. "You may as well send me back again," she said sadly, avoiding Taiitsukun's eyes. "I suppose I'm no good here anymore."
"Do you think after all this, you can simply take the easy route out and leave?" Taiitsukun snapped.
"What else am I supposed to do!?" Yui demanded, with tears on her cheeks. "Miaka is my best friend! If someone has to save Konan from her, I'm the worst person to do it! It would be better if I just went back and Suzaku chose another Miko..."
"It doesn't work that way, no matter how much you want it to. Suzaku has already chosen you. There can be no other Suzaku no Miko. It may not be easy, but you're the only one who can protect Konan."
"What about Miaka?"
"No matter what those men did to her, they didn't force her to betray you. Miaka has made her own choices. I saw the way you fought for your Seishi when I tested you. For you, that wasn't so long ago. Have you changed so much since then that you would sacrifice them and their homeland for your friend's desires?"
"But..." Yui started. A lump grew in her throat, threatening to silence her, but if she were going to say this, Taiitsukun would be the person to say it to... "But this is a book. Miaka's a real person, from the real world, like me. Isn't that more important?"
"You little fool!" Taiitsukun snapped with such force that Yui took a step back. "Is this world any less real because it is unfamiliar to you? Is the suffering of the people here somehow less significant because you don't know them? This world is as real as any other, the people in it just as human. Your Seishi---and everyone else in this world---bleed just as do the people in your world. They love and hate and feel just as deeply. You say you love Hotohori, and he is from this world. Is he not 'real'?"
Yui covered her face again, sobbing. "That isn't what I mean," she said. "But how I got here..."
"I know how you got here. Didn't I tell you the book is a doorway between worlds? Here, the 'Universes' of the Four Gods tell of each one's Miko. When she appears, she is 'the person from the book.' Who's to say one side of that door is more real than the other?"
Taiitsukun's tone softened somewhat. "Besides, I know you don't believe in your heart that this world isn't real. I know you don't want to fight the Seiryuu no Miko, but deceiving yourself and turning your back on Konan isn't going to make it any easier for you."
Yui lowered her eyes silently, unsure how to respond.
"Child, do you still not realize how important you are?" Taiitsukun asked softly.
"I just don't understand how I'm supposed to do so much," Yui said. "I've seen the powers the Seishi have, and it's amazing, but... Where I come from, I'm just a normal girl. I don't have any power..."
"Yes, you do. Even now, life for the people of Konan is better because of you."
"But how?" Yui asked with a sniffle. "I haven't done anything for them..."
"Haven't you?"
Suddenly the room vanished around her, and Yui found herself hovering high in the air, with a city spread out below her. Looking around, she could see nearby the red roof of the palace of Konan, surrounded by the gardens, and the outer wall with its tall gates. She felt herself lowering, and looked down to find herself descending on the streets flowing into the marketplace.
"I heard Kutou's army is moving towards the border again," a man shopping at a kiosk said.
"I think everything will be OK," the merchant answered. "We have the Suzaku no Miko."
"Right," someone else agreed. "When she summons the god, Konan will be protected forever. As long as we have her, things will be all right."
"But what if she doesn't summon the god?"
"What do you mean, what if she doesn't? Of course she will. They say she's really smart, I'm sure she'll succeed."
"Wouldn't that be nice?" another customer said. "I was finally starting to do well for myself here, but I don't want to stay if there's going to be a war..."
"It's not just a rumor," the merchant said, with several people mumbling agreement. "She's even been seen in the marketplace a few times."
"You can tell she's from another world," someone said. "She has short, pale hair and strange clothes, and I bought this thing that was hers and it writes with no ink!" He pulled out the pen Tamahome had sold, and the people around him watched with awe as he doodled on a scrap of paper with it.
"If you don't believe it, just ask at the palace. It's no secret; they'll tell you."
"See?" Taiitsukun's voice asked Yui. "Already you've given them hope, which can be a potent force in a time of need."
Yui felt her vantage point move again, carrying her toward the palace, and the peak of the palace wall brushed dizzyingly close under her feet. She was lowered again, gently, and came to rest in the gardens, inside the lake's pagoda. There, Hotohori was sitting and looking out over the water, with a distant look in his eyes.
"Hotohori-sama," Nuriko said, walking up with a tray of food on her arm. "Please, you have to eat something. You've been without food or sleep for almost three days now."
"I know, I should look to my health for the sake of my country if nothing else, but when I think about Yui, I can't eat. If I close my eyes to sleep, all I see is what might be happening to her that I should be there to protect her from. I can't rest until I know she's safe."
"I'm certain she is. Tamahome should have caught up to her by now, and the new Sei, Chichiri, might even have been with her," Nuriko assured him. "They're probably on their way here to pick me up again as we speak."
"But there's a chance they aren't," Hotohori said. Yui knew that he and Nuriko couldn't see or hear her, but she touched his hand. Just then, he raised his eyes, and for a moment they seemed to look directly into hers, as if in some way, he saw her for a moment before looking past her, searching.
I forgot about all of this, Yui thought, looking into his eyes. They seemed so full and endless... To think she had asked to leave this world, to never see these eyes again, or Tamahome's, Nuriko's, Chichiri's... It hurt so much, I only saw the darkness and the friend I'd lost, and I forgot that I still wasn't alone. How could I abandon these people? My friends? The one I love?
"Are you convinced yet, Suzaku no Miko? Are you ready to continue your quest, or do you still want to go back to your world and leave all this behind?"
Even as Hotohori's image faded back into Taiitsukun's room of mirrors, in part it was still him she was talking to as she said, "I'll do my best."
To Be Continued...
PREVIEW
Yui is reunited with all her Seishi in Konan, but even her safe homecoming is complicated by divisions that arise among them. Forces both within and without are working to pull them apart at the moment when they most need to stand together.
NEXT TIME:
Reunion and Separation