Chapter 11

Every now and then, I felt sharp pain on my skin but I ignored it and endured the sharp pain as I continued on with the training. Once my training session was over, my teacher put a hand around my shoulder as he said, "I kept this for a surprise, but since I already told your father before you came, I guess this is the best time to surprise you. I've signed you up for a martial arts competition."

Laughing weakly, I said, "No thank you! I'm not a student here any more! If you have forgotten, I come here only to stay in my tip-top shape!"

My teacher cried out rather happily, "More the reason for you to participate! You're the one who could represent our town!"

Sighing, I asked, "Where is this competition being held and when?"

As several black belts started walking in, he said, "Here, today and in a few minutes." He grinned from ear to ear when I stared at him, shocked, and he gave me a thump on the back as he cried out, "Good luck, Hasukawa! Way to take one for the town!"

Nearly half an hour had passed and several matches were over, and it was finally my turn. Just before I went on to fight my challenger, my dad ran up to me and handed me something that was wrapped, saying, "Sakura asked me to give you this before he left for his soccer practice. I don't know what it is, though. He had wrapped it before giving it to me." When my dad went back to his seat, I quickly unwrapped it and found The Universe of the Four Gods book inside.

I quickly put the book in my shirt and got ready to fight my round. For an hour, the fight has been going on, and the fight was still not even close to ending. Suddenly, I felt a huge pain on my back as I felt a big cut and blood streaming down. Falling onto my knees, I screamed with pain and my back was soon drenched with blood and clutched my hands into tight fists. Time out was called for and several people held onto my arms as my teacher took my martial arts shirt off and rolled up only the back side of my tank top. He called to the judges, "Push back her challenge until later! Her back has a huge cut that wasn't there before and we'll need to bandage her up before she can continue!" The judges rolled their eyes as they went on with the next challenge.

I had won the town first place, and by the time the competition was over, it was about ten at night. I heard Sakura's voice gasp, "I don't know where Ichimutsu is! For all I know, she's back in our own world, Akiko."

I went up to my room and stared at The Universe of the Four Gods until three in the morning before going to bed. Three hours of sleep was all I had, but when I woke at six, I left my dad a note, apologizing for 'having to leave early for school', and asked him to give Harin a pair of my martial arts clothes and The Universe of the Four Gods book. I soon went back inside the book with the straw hat and several clothes, and landed on someone like I had the last time I had come.

Quickly getting of the person, I cried out, "Sorry! Didn't mean to land on you!"

The person I landed on threw their arms around me and held me tight. I heard Hotohori's voice whisper into my ear, "I missed you so much, Ichimutsu! It's been three months! I'm so glad you came back!"

When Hotohori took a step back, I couldn't stop smiling as I said, "It's good to be back, Hotohori." Looking around, I realized that I was in his bedroom, which slightly gave me uneasy feeling in my stomach. I shook my head as I asked, "Hotohori? Where's Tamahome? I need to ask him to help me out with something."

"About a month after you left for your world, Tamahome left the palace to help others," Hotohori answered. "Nuriko is still here if you need her-. Well, his help. He should be in his room right now."

I ran out of his room as I called over my shoulder, "Thanks, Hotohori!" I made a quick stop at my room and dropped off my bag of clothes before heading towards Nuriko's room. I swung open the door as I cried, "Nuriko! Let's go for a ride on horses! I need to find Tamahome!"

Nuriko sarcastically said, "Nice to see you too, Ichimutsu. I've been good while you were gone."

I snorted as I asked, "You coming or not?" Nuriko got up and we got two horses so we could ride separately.

As we galloped through the woods, Nuriko told me, "Ever since you left for your world, Tamahome has been so out of it. He seems to be falling for you, Ichimutsu."

I quickly lit a torch when we stopped for a short moment as I told him, "I don't know. He said so himself that he has no interest. Only thing he's interested in is money." As Nuriko and I had our horses walking, the lights went off due a strange wind and my belt had fallen off. The horses became startled and mine had thrown me off. I quickly felt around the ground for my belt, crying out, "NO! That's one of my ways of keeping contact with Harin!"

Just as I grabbed my belt when I found it lying close by, I felt a blade of a sword right by my hand and I heard a familiar male voice snapping, "Who are you and why are you here? Answer my questions now or die in my hands!"

Shooting up with a startle, I cried out, "Nuriko! Help? I thought you were supposed to be one of my seven celestial warriors, man!"

Tamahome came into the light as he asked with surprise, "Ichimutsu? Is that you?" Freezing, I turned to look at Tamahome slowly as my martial arts shirt hung loosely on my shoulders, revealing my tank top. Tamahome threw his arms around me as he said, "I never thought you'd come back." Stepping back and holding onto my shoulders, he asked excitedly, "When did you get here? When you did you come back?"

"Not too long ago," I replied with a smile. "Did you seriously think I was going to abandon you guys forever?"

Tamahome took me and Nuriko back to a small building that he was staying at with his little gang and went into what looked more like a kitchen than a dining room. Sitting down, Tamahome asked, "Feeling better, Ichimutsu?"

I nodded as I said, "Yeah. I got to see my dad again, but the only thing is that my twin brother had disappeared. I'm guessing he somehow came to this world when I went over to his and mine."

I suddenly heard Mitsuru's voice grumble, "Here's drink for you and your two guests."

I looked back and forth between Mitsuru and Tamahome for a moment or two with shock before asking, "Tamahome? Why's he here?"

"He claims that he's Mitsuru Ikeda, the president of his school," Tamahome explained rather nervously. "Since there's no proof, we're using him to get us drinks."

Covering my eyes, I said, "First off, President Ikeda, take off that apron. You look foolish with it on. And be glad I won't be telling anyone if we ever get back to our world." Turning to Tamahome, I said, "And second off, Tamahome, are you coming back with me and Nuriko to the emperor's palace? We do need you back with us if I need to summon Suzaku. I mean, seriously! Four more warriors to find! How hard can that be if we look hard?"

Mitsuru looked shocked as he looked as he wanted to say something. Tamahome told me, "I'll go back with you guys. That's a promise. I just haven't been able to focus and be myself ever since you left. When his majesty offered that I should go out off on my own until you came back to our world, that's what I did."

I took the straw hat off from around my neck and placed it on the table, and Nuriko asked, "You still have that hat? Explanation of any sort? We are interested in knowing why you're carrying around the hat, Ichimutsu." When I looked at Tamahome, he nodded in agreement to Nuriko.

I sighed as I said, "I have my reasons for carrying this hat around. I promised someone that I would until he decides the time is right for both him and me." When Nuriko and Tamahome gave me a suspicious look, I cried out, "What? Even I don't know who he is! He says he's going to be there when I run into big trouble, which is the only reason why I trust him in the first place! He saved my life once already, any way!"

Mitsuru cried out while pointing at Tamahome, "Wait! You know this guy?"

Looking up at him, I shrugged, saying, "Yeah. He's one of my warriors. My warriors, including Tamahome, all live to protect me in order for me to summon up their god for them. One of the main reasons I'm going through this little hardship for them is because I promised the emperor of the country of the god that I'm a priestess for that I would accept the position as a Priestess of Suzaku and summon the god." Getting up and stretching, I told Tamahome and Nuriko, "I'm ready to go back to Hotohori's palace. Either I ditch you guys here and have you guys catch up later, or we all leave together now. What will it be?"

"Like I'm going to leave you unguarded," Tamahome said as he got up himself.

Quickly grabbing the straw hat, I thought for awhile before I said, "Actually, I changed my mind. Tamahome, do you have the map of the Seiryu country by any chance? I have some business to take care of there."

Nuriko laughed as he said, "You're not going there and neither are we, Ichimutsu!"

"Well, I'm going whether you two like it or not! And neither of you are coming into the country with me!" I told Nuriko. I walked over to the counter and stared out the window. Banging on the top of the counter hard, I yelled, "I lost my brother, damn it! He came into this world and switched places with me somehow! Because of me, he's in the country of the Seiryu god!" Several tear drops rolled down my face as I turned to face Tamahome and Nuriko, saying, "Let me go into that country by myself and save my brother. I'll have the hat of the guy who saved me. I told him I'd keep the hat with me just incase I ran into trouble. I have to save my twin brother! I HAVE TO SAVE SAKURA! HE'S MY ONLY BROTHER, DAMN IT!" Tamahome walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly. Crying into his chest, I whispered, "He's all I ever had ever since our mom abandoned us and dad. Please, Tamahome. Please understand at the very least and let me go rescue my brother alone."

Tamahome soothed my head as he called, "Guys! Get the map to the Seiryu country!" Several minutes later, the map of the Seiryu country was brought into the room and Tamahome pointed to center of the country as he told me, "That's where the main library is located. Half way between the library and the entrance, there's the emperor's palace." He pointed more southern to the library and circled the area, saying, "If it's your brother that you're looking for, he'll most likely be held prisoner there, where the palace is located." He looked down at me as he asked, "You sure you'll be alright, Ichimutsu? I'm kinda worried that you'll get harmed."

Straightening up, I quietly said, "I'll be fine. I promise." Looking up at him and smiling, I said, "I came back to this world, didn't I, Tamahome? I can never imagine leaving you, Tamahome and Nuriko behind here without keeping my promise until the end."

As I put on a hat, Tamahome quickly handed fancy clothes as he told me, "Before you go off, put this dress on. His majesty asked me to give this to you if I saw you when you come back to this world. This dress should help you blend in this world better and help you keep the attractions away when you go into that country of Seiryu."

Mitsuru walked out the room as he told me, "You could use the room they're letting me stay in to change, Ichimutsu." As I followed Mitsuru, he asked, "How can you deal with that guy? I mean, that Tamahome ain't that nice."

"He's a sweet guy," I told him. "You just need to get to know him. That's all. Although he might still try to get money out of some people for protecting them, but once you get to know him, it's worth it."

Once we got to Mitsuru's room, I quickly got inside and changed as Mitsuru called to me from outside, "I'm not sure. I mean, how sure are you that's he's not going to beat you up while sleeping?"

"I'm the Priestess of Suzaku and he's one of the seven warriors of Suzaku," I replied. "What are the chances that he'll try to kill me when I'm supposed to summon Suzaku for his country?" Once I was done changing, Mitsuru and I went outside where Tamahome and Nuriko were waiting. I mounted the horse and tied the hat around my neck, and just before leaving, I said, "Go wait at the palace and take Mitsuru with you two. I'll be there as soon as I retrieve Sakura." With just that, I had galloped off. Once in the country of Seiryu a few minutes later, I headed straight for the palace.

Convincing the guards that I had to talk to the emperor of that country was pretty easy to do. After all, all I had to say was it was an emergency and only the emperor would be able to do anything about it. Once I was before the emperor, I saw that he was uglier than I had expected. He was almost all nude, although he still had a robe on, and he had black hair and brown eyes. His voice was slightly on the deep side as he asked, "What is it that is troubling you?"

"I've been trying to find someone who came into this world with weird clothes on. I have heard that he looks similar to me and had white clothes on with black belt," I quickly told the emperor, half truth and half lies. "The last I have head was that you were keeping him here as your prisoner, sire."

"Yes, I am," the emperor said with suspicious look on his face. "What is it about this boy that you're so interested?"

Thinking quickly, I told him, "That actually might be my long lost twin brother, sire. He must have somehow gained those clothes from elsewhere." The emperor snapped his fingers and the guards brought out Sakura, who was half naked and all beat up, scarred on his upper half of the body.

He looked up weakly at me as he gasped, "Ichimutsu! Get out of here! GET OUT RIGHT NOW!"

When the guards dropped him, I ran over to Sakura and hugged him tightly, saying, "I'm not leaving you behind, Sakura. We already lost mom. What will dad say if I go back and say that you died just because I left you behind?"

We heard the popular girl from our school, Akiko, screech, "Kill that girl! Kill her right now! She's the damn Priestess of Suzaku!"

Just as the guards started to attack me and Sakura, the blue haired guy came out of the hat and quickly made a portal. He yelled, "Get in the portal! Now! It'll lead us straight to his majesty's palace!" Without hesitation, I helped Sakura up to his feet and quickly climbed through the portal.