Author Notes: This is a work of fiction, written by Appaku and Alicia (alithealigator). Fushigi Yuugi belongs to Yuu Watase.
"A trap?" Miaka's jaw dropped. "They wouldn't do such a thing! They're only children!"
"I don't know," Nuriko added. "The old man did seem a little too welcome to us, for strangers just barging in."
"Did you already tell them you're the Priestess of Suzaku?" asked Chichiri. "If you did, then that might explain that no da. But if they're from Kutou, I think they would probably be more nervous to host the priestess from an enemy country."
"Which makes it all the more likely that this is a set-up," Tasuki pitched his opinion in. Actually, joining in with the idea that it was a trap was just a good cover up for him not wanting to be there because Yuiren thought he was scary.
"That's possible," she frowned. "But I just don't think they would do something like this! And this might explain why Tamahome is in the army- he just wanted to make money and take care of his family!"
"The children may have made him sound that noble," said Hotohori, "but they might have been put up to that."
"I don't think we can really find out about anything from the children," said Chichiri, "but talking to Mr. Sho would probably be a good idea."
That evening, Chuuei caught a large fish to share between the entire family and their guests. As they sat down to eat, a loud 'meow' interrupted them.
"Tamaneko?" Miaka gasped as she saw the cat poke out of Mitsukake's shirt and paw at his master's food. The priestess didn't notice the surprised look on Mr. Sho's face when she said this name, as he mistook it for another one.
The warrior looked down to his pet just as surprised as Miaka was. "How long have you been there, Tama?"
"You didn't even notice, Juan?" Kaika stared.
Mitsukake held him up by the scruff of his neck and faced the feline. "I thought you were going to stay home and take care of Shouka for us." Tamaneko only meowed in response.
"I guess he just wanted an adventure, too!" Miaka smiled and reached over to pet him. Another meow.
"An adventure?" Yuiren perked up. "Are you on an adventure, Big Sis?"
Miaka nodded. "Yeah, kind of." The three younger children cheered and got closer to her as they asked her questions about what kinds of adventures she had.
"I want to go on an adventure, too!" squealed Shunkei, and his sisters nodded together that they wanted to as well, but Chuuei quieted them. Miaka noticed he had been acting very shy towards herself and her warriors.
"So, you're on an adventure, are you, Miaka?" Mr. Sho asked from his bed. "I'd love to hear about it after the children go to bed tonight." They whined, insisting to hear something, too.
"Hotohori and Chichiri are travelers, so they might have stories to tell you," Miaka turned back to them. They looked between the two men, paused at Chichiri, then flocked to Hotohori's side to ask them to tell them stories.
"Don't feel too bad," Tasuki whispered to Chichiri, who sighed and fingered his mask.
Hotohori didn't feel that he had many stories, as he had only searched for the priestess for about a year before meeting her. In that time, nothing terribly remarkable had happened, but perhaps he could think of a story he had heard at some point. "Would you be interested in listening, too, Chuuei?"
"No thank you," he smiled. "I have to do dishes."
"It's alright to listen to what the traveler has to say," Mr. Sho told her. "I can wash the dishes for you tonight."
"But with guests there's that much more to do, Dad," the boy smiled weakly, asking with his eyes for the man to stay in bed. "I can handle it."
It was no use arguing, so after dinner, Hotohori and Nuriko stayed in one room with the children to tell stories while Miaka and Chichiri stayed with Mr. Sho. Chuuei had taken their mismatched dishes out to the river to wash more than he could inside, so everything was fairly quiet when Mr. Sho spoke. "Miaka, have you met my son before?"
"I think so," she said, very seriously. "He's in the Kutou army, right?"
"And he has a red character on his forehead sometimes," he said as he gestured to his own forehead. "Nevermind, you probably wouldn't see that. He usually keeps a sash around his head now to cover it up."
"Is that because it's dangerous for anyone to see it here in Kutou?" asked Chichiri.
"I think it's more because he's embarrassed," he laughed softly, then coughed a bit. "The legends about the priestesses are common knowledge, for the most part, but not everyone is aware of anything about the warriors. Usually when people see the character on my son's forehead, they tease him, but don't think much of it."
"Then you know what it means?" Miaka asked.
"Yes. It means my son is a Suzaku warrior, destined to protect Konan."
Miaka and Chichiri were somewhat relieved to hear him say this so calmly, but seeing as they were Kutou natives it probably wasn't such a good thing for Mr. Sho. "Does that make you upset, sir?"
He shook his head. "I'm very proud of him. Actually, when my wife was alive and we were talking about starting a family, we had wanted to immigrate to Konan. Kutou has been having problems with civil war for quite some time, after all. But we didn't have the money to go there. When we found out our young boy was a Suzaku warrior, it was almost as if we got part of that wish to come true."
"Part of it?"
"That meant that someday at least one of our children would have a chance to live in a more peaceful country. It's unfortunate," his tone fell, "that he's in the army now instead."
"We did invite him to leave," said Miaka. "Actually, we were here to try and invite him again."
"I hope this time he decides to go with you," Mr. Sho said, "though it's a little more complicated than that now. Thank you for coming, Lady Priestess. I do wish you good luck in getting him to join you."
"Thank you-- wait! I didn't tell you I was the Priestess of Suzaku."
He laughed a little. "It was easy enough to figure out. Besides, Kishuku has already told me about you."
"He has?" she beamed. Tamahome thought of me enough to tell his father? "What did he say? When?"
"He's allowed to come visit us from the palace once a week," he explained. "When he was here last, he told me what had happened since the last visit." Mr. Sho thought back to his most recent discussion with his son.
"This girl," he had said, "She was wearing foreign clothing and had big buns in her hair. She just came out of no where and started calling me 'Tamahome' and telling me to go to Konan with her. She said she was the Priestess of Suzaku!"
"Suzaku, you said?"
"Yeah… exactly what I don't want to get involved in. She kept asking- even when Nakago was around! And then Yui, the Priestess of Seiryuu came, and the other girl left. It turns out Yui and Miaka- the Suzaku girl- were friends… then Nakago sent me to Konan to get the Universe of the Four Gods scroll from Miaka. I didn't know that he meant to kill her, though!"
"Slow down, Kishuku! Has she been killed?"
"No… no, she was fine."
"That's good," Mr. Sho had sighed in relief. "So you went to Konan? What was that place like?"
Tamahome had looked at his father suspiciously. "You sound really worried about that priestess."
"Of course I am," he replied. "She's the girl you're destined to protect. That mark on your forehead has meant that all along."
"That's the kind of nonsense she was saying, too, Dad! You mean you knew something about this?"
"Kishuku. You are Tamahome of the Suzaku seven warriors, after all."
Tamahome was remembering that same conversation at the same time from his room in the palace. He ruffled his hair and groaned. Why didn't he tell me any of this before? Some warning before that girl showed up would have been nice.
An image of Miaka flashed through his mind, asking him to protect her, and join the other warriors-- "Not again!" he shouted to chase the image away. I wish she'd stop cropping up in my mind!
Another Miaka image. This time, she was smiling instead of pleading. "Tamahome," she said. "Come on, Tamahome!"
Buzz off, he mentally responded. I have no choice but to stay here and be Kishuku, a Kutou soldier.
Nakago's voice echoed in his mind from when he accused Kishuku of trying to leave the army. Then Yui's voice came to mind from when she accidentally called him his celestial name. What, are they all suggesting I take off and join the Suzaku warriors? No way!
Behind the mental image of Miaka he couldn't chase away, there appeared his family. He smiled weakly as he thought of them. No way at all.
Miaka was still continuing her conversation with Mr. Sho. "So he really doesn't like the army, huh?"
"Not one bit. He complains about it whenever the younger children aren't listening," he said. "He especially dislikes his general, Nakago."
"That's understandable," Miaka shared a nervous sweatbead with Chichiri. "Why won't he leave, then?"
Little did any of them know that Chuuei had been sitting under the window and listening all this time. I can answer that, he thought. It because we'll all get killed! The army knows about us and why Big Brother is there to support us. They probably know he's a Suzaku warrior, too, and that's why they don't let him go very far! If he ever tried to leave, they would find us.
They would find us and they would kill us. That's why Big Brother won't leave the army!
"And he mentioned Yui, too?" Miaka continued. "Did it sound like she was doing well?"
"Hmm… it didn't sound like he was having any problems with her," Mr. Sho thought back. "So you are friends with her, then?"
"Yes," Miaka said and fiddled with her skirt. "She's a very dear friend to me."
"It sounded like she had a pretty good idea what was going on when she got here no da," Chichiri commented. "Just like you did."
"Yui couldn't possibly--" she shook her head. Then again, how much of an idea does Yui have? She doesn't know all those horrible things that happened to her before, right? Why would she have come back if she did?
And she's been spending all this time with Tamahome. Could she have fallen in love with him again? I need to know what's going on with Yui! Maybe if I can just summon Suzaku before she summons Seiryuu I can just send her back. Well… that didn't work very well before.
"You okay, Miaka?" asked Chichiri. "Your face is getting a little pale."
"Oh, I'm just kind of worried about her," she replied. "How long until Tamahome's next visit?"
"He was here yesterday, actually," he answered. "Which is why I was surprised to see you, especially so soon!"
"Then it'll still be a little while until he comes back?"
"At most, I'd say another five days. Is it alright with you to stay that long?"
Miaka made a face that disagreed, but Chichiri thought otherwise. "Like we said earlier, it would safer for us to meet Tamahome here rather than at the palace."
"Not to mention, I might be able to help you convince him to go with you," he offered. They concluded their conversation and Miaka quietly wandered into the other room to see how Hotohori's storytelling was going. The three children were all sprawled out, completely asleep.
Nuriko yawned as well, and gently put Gyokuran's head off his lap and onto the bed. "Sorry, dear, interesting storytelling just isn't your strong point."
Hotohori made a face at him. "When I was little, I always liked the story of the Priestess of Byakko and would stay up late to hear more."
"Maybe try the Priestess of Genbu next time."
"All asleep already, huh?" Miaka smiled and stroked Yuiren's cheek. She happily imagined Tamahome holding her like he used to. "We should all probably get some sleep, too. Mr. Sho said to have some of the kids share his bed, so do you want to help me move them out there?"
Miaka was about to head to door with Yuiren, but Hotohori put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. "Sshh. It sounds like someone else is having a discussion out there."
The three wakeful people put their ears to the door and listened. It was Mr. Sho and another child. "You know Big Brother can't go, Dad!"
"Chuuei, this is his celestial duty."
"I know that… and I wish he could go!" Chuuei argued. "But what will we do?"
"I can try working again…"
"You're sick! And no one has hired me for anything-"
"You tried to find work? When?"
Miaka and her warriors looked to each other as they listened, sharing a similar sinking feeling in their stomachs. Chuuei continued, "Besides, what's most important isn't how we'll make money, it'll be our safety. The army isn't going to just let Big Brother leave."
"We have to do what we can to help him, Chuuei. After all these years that he's helped take care of you, don't you want to help him now?"
"More than anything," he lowered his voice. "But even if I could take care of everyone and find somewhere else to live so they wouldn't find us, Big Brother would never consider it. He won't leave the army if we're in any danger. That's just how he is."
"Is that how it is?" Hotohori whispered.
"Kutou really isn't a safe place if the soldiers are all blackmailed into staying!" Miaka said with teary eyes as she looked down to sleeping Yuiren in her arms.
"You can't build an army with blackmail!" Nuriko corrected her and knocked her upside the head a bit. Outside, they heard Tasuki screaming various expletives in pain, but Nuriko continued. "Tamahome is a Suzaku warrior, so of course Nakago is taking extra precautions with him."
"If his family is his only reason for staying in Kutou, though, we'll have to do something to protect them," Hotohori mused. "Asking Emperor Rokou to send guards isn't a good idea, because that would prematurely move Konan soldiers onto Kutou territory."
"We don't want to start the war early," Miaka bit her lip.
"It's not really a problem," Nuriko shrugged.
"That's not a problem!?" Hotohori and Miaka questioned him. The prince stood up and pushed the door open, blatantly revealing that they were eavesdropping. Chuuei and Mr. Sho looked at him just as stunned as his priestess and lover did.
"Mr. Sho, if you want to help poor Tamahome out, would you mind moving your family to my place?"
"Your place!?" Hotohori and Miaka gaped to together.
"In Konan?" Mr. Sho's expression looked brighter. "Are you sure?"
"It's either that, or Tamahome stays in Kutou," he replied.
"Are you sure we wouldn't be bothering you?" Chuuei gulped. The thought of moving sounded great to him.
"There's more than enough room for you and your family," he knelt down in front of Chuuei to see him eye to eye. "You can stay there as long as you like."
"Really?" the boy's eyes wavered in excitement. "I would be so grateful. You wouldn't have to worry about feeding us or anything, I could go out and--"
"No, I really wouldn't have to worry about it," he agreed. "There's plenty of food to go around, too."
Chuuei swallowed a lump in his throat when he spoke to him, and his eyes started to glimmer with happy tears. He quickly wiped them away, saying, "Thank you so much." Nuriko smiled contently in response.
"Now, Chuuei!" Mr. Sho said. "Don't go deciding things like that on your own! Although," he bowed his head to Nuriko from his spot on the bed and coughed, then said, "we are truly grateful."
Hotohori and Miaka were pleasantly surprised. "It's nice to see him use his authority for something generous once in a while," Hotohori whispered to her.
She nodded and held Yuiren a little tighter. "Tamahome will be so happy."