Chapter 22

When I was done getting changed into the clothes that the workers brought to my room, Tasuki knocked on my door as he said, "Yo! We're ready to hit the town to get to the festival! You comin' or not?"

I quickly ran over to my desk and picked up the flowers that I asked for. Hurrying over to Tasuki, I smiled up at him, saying, "Let's go!"

Hotohori came with us and I felt slightly uneasy as we headed into the town. From somewhere off to our left, we heard an announcer cry out, "And our winner for the strength contest this year appears to be Rankayu once more, ladies and gentlemen!"

Sakura quickly leaned over to me as he whispered, "I'll have Nuriko quickly enter the strength contest. You go off to the bridge of the river on the right. Hurry!" Sakura quickly cried out, "Nuriko! You should enter the contest! I mean, no one's gonna challenge you after this!" As the group hurried over to the contest, I quickly ran off, as Sakura told me to, and stood over the river.

I was away from the group, and away from the crowds. In fact, even away from the festival, but not too far. I walked over to the railing of the bridge and threw the flowers into the river and muttered a quick prayer for Amiboshi, even though I knew that he was my enemy's warrior. Just as I started to open my eyes, a pair of hands slammed on the railing at both sides of me, leaving me trapped where I was. Turning around startled, I saw that it was only Hotohori as he demanded once more with pain, "Why? Give me an explanation on why we can't have a relationship!" I shut my eyes tightly and turned my head away, wishing Hotohori didn't have to ask me for the reason, but he yelled, "Ichimutsu! Tell me!"

"Because that was what I was ordered to do in order to summon Suzaku!" I screeched. "I can't love! I can't be in a relationship! I can't even be in a sexual contact with you! And I have to remain a virgin in order for Suzaku to be summoned!" I looked up at Hotohori and everything became blurry as tears started to fill my eyes, and I tried to hold my tears back but ended up failing. I half yelled at him when I asked, "Do you think I want to break up with you? Do you think that I don't want to be with you? If that's the case, then I wouldn't even have fallen in love with you in the first place! You think this is some sort of game to me, don't you? Well, you know what? It's not! It kills me just to have to see you go through as much pain as I am!"

Hotohori suddenly looked miserable as he asked, "So what are you saying? We can't get involved in a relationship more than as a Priestess and a warrior?" I felt his hands on my waist and his head slowly getting near mine. I closed my eyes tightly with fear as Hotohori seemed to be deciding on whether he should kiss me, or if he should just go back to the town. He backed away after what seemed like forever, and quickly said, "I understand. I'll just have to go insane for not being able to have you, then." He quickly ran off, but stopped just before he entered the festival and turned to look at me, calling with a smile, "Ichimutsu, mark my words! I will make you my empress as soon as Suzaku is summoned! And you'll be the happiest woman alive! You'll see!"

As he hurried back to the gang, I couldn't help but smile as I wiped the tears from my eyes. After he was out of sight, I said, "Yeah. Happiest one alive."

The next day, I went to Hotohori's study and saw Chiriko talking to Hotohori with a map wide open in front of them. When Chiriko saw me walk in, he nodded slightly as he asked, "You ready to leave, Ichimutsu?"

I nodded as I replied, "Yeah." I looked over to Hotohori slightly as I asked, "Do you mind if I took Hotohori for awhile to talk to him privately, Chiriko?" When Chiriko shook his head and rolled up the map, I said, "Thanks." Hotohori and I headed straight for my room and I told him apologetically, "I'm sorry that we had to end the way that we did."

"What has to be done has to be done, Ichimutsu," Hotohori gently told me. "It can't be helped. But if it's a sacrifice we must make, then we'll have to hold our relationship until Suzaku is brought forth. We have no other choice."

Restraining myself from hugging Hotohori, I grabbed my bag as I said with a small smile, "Thanks for understanding, Hotohori."

He suddenly gave me his sword as he told me, "Take my sword with you to defend yourself when necessary. I'll feel safer knowing that you have something other than the warriors defending you while I'm not by your side when I remain behind in Hong-Nan."

I tried to give it back as I cried out, "But it was given to you by Tai Yi Jun! This sword is yours!" But Hotohori refused to take it, and when I looked into his eyes, he was looking as though he was begging me. I asked, "Why do you want me to take your sword? Tell me that much, at the very least. I mean, I can't take your sword without a reason. Any ways, Tai Yi Jun must've done something to this sword to specially be given to you."

"I just want to feel safe that you have at least my sword to protect you when you run into danger."

"Fine. I'll take it with me if it means that much to you," I quietly said and tied it around my belt. I quickly took my bear as I asked, "Until I come back, can you hold onto this for me? This stuffed bear is my most prized possession since it was the last thing my dad ever gave to me before my mom left me, Sakura and my dad just because my mom got sick and tired of me and my brother." Hotohori took the bear before we walked out of the palace. As we headed towards the others, I quickly asked, "Hotohori? Is it alright if Tamahome and I quickly went back to Tamahome's hometown with Nuriko and Mitsukake for awhile and head out tomorrow?"

Hotohori looked confused for awhile before he told me, "Go ahead if you want. We'll push back the journey by one day, then."

I smiled at him before I ran off to get three horses and quickly handed two of them to Mitsukake and Nuriko, saying, "Let's go to Tamahome's hometown. I have several things to do there before we set off." I could have told that Mitsukake and Nuriko, perhaps even Tamahome, were tempted to ask the question why, but they didn't bother to as we mounted on the horses.

It wasn't long before we started to go off when Hotohori quickly came up to us on a horse, saying, "Let me go with you guys. I want to say something to the family."

For hours, there was nothing but silence among us, until the ride was nearly over when Mitsukake finally asked, "What's the actual reason for me coming along?"

Just by looking at Tamahome's face, I could have told that he was struggling to answer, so I replied, "His father is sick and apparently, Tamahome's been working for money in order to try and send his dad to a doctor. But the money he's been earning still needs to be used to take care of the family. As far as I'm concerned, you're the closest to being a doctor from out of all of us, and extremely good one as well." Looking up at Tamahome, I asked sheepishly, "Good of an answer for ya as well?"

Tamahome seemed surprised, but said nothing as we entered his town. But when we got nearer and nearer to his house, my stomach felt as though it was starting to form a knot inside. Just the house coming into the view told me that something had gone terribly wrong.

I yelled, "Stop!" When Nuriko, Tamahome, Hotohori and Nuriko all halted their horses, I slid off of the horse that Nuriko and I were on as I snapped, "Stay here. Something's not right about coming here this time around." I walked over to the fence, towards the door, and I felt my heart racing faster and faster as I opened slowly started to open the door. The second I did, the sunlight shined through the doorway, revealing Tamahome's entire family slaughtered on the ground, all of their bodies still in one piece, but dead. I screamed with horror, but quickly covered my own mouth with my hands and closed my eyes tightly.

I heard Tamahome asking with slight panic, "What's wrong?"

When I turned to look at Tamahome, I saw him hurrying towards me and the house, and nothing came out except, "Tamahome! Don't! You'll just hurt yourself by looking at your family!"

I tried to close the door before Tamahome reached me, but it was too late, because he already stopped me from closing the door as he looked inside. Look of horror appeared on his face as he quietly asked, "Dad? Zhong-Rong? Yu-Lun? Chung-Jing?"

Tears started to fill Tamahome's eyes and I painfully and quietly told him, "I'm so sorry, Tamahome! I didn't think this would have happened by the time we came back to see your family!"

We heard Jie-Lian's weak voice asking, "Tama…. home…?"

Tamahome ran over to where Jie-Lian's body was lying and picked her up, screaming, "Jie-Lian! Don't die! Please don't die, Jie-Lian! Just hang in there a little longer! I'll get one of Ichimutsu's warriors to heal you up even if I have to beg him! Don't die! Don't leave me like this, Jie-Lian! Don't leave your older brother like this! Please! I'm begging you, Jie-Lian!"

"Don't worry…. Tama…. home…," Jie-Lian replied rather weakly. Even from near the door, I could see her hand reaching up to Tamahome's face before she had lost all her energy and died.

Tamahome held Jie-Lian even tighter and he started to scream, "Jie-Lian!" I started to shake violently as I tried to hold my tears back, but when I felt tears forming my eyes, I covered my face and turned my back against Tamahome and the bodies of his dead family. I didn't bother to look who it was, but someone had come up to me and held me tight front the front, trying to calm me down, as I heard Tamahome continuing to scream shakily from behind me, "Jie-Lian! Please wake up! You can't leave me like this! Ichimutsu brought Mitsukake just because you guys were in pretty bad shape! Please don't die on me!" It was too late to bring Jie-Lian back to life. It was even too late to save her life, and I felt responsible for coming one day too late to protect Tamahome's family.

From somewhere in the wooded area, we heard a familiar sound of a flute playing, and it sounded more like Amiboshi's flute. As I looked towards where the sound was coming from, I saw Hotohori holding me, and I saw someone who looked so much like Amiboshi playing his flute on top of one of the trees. Soon, I heard Nuriko yelling, "What's the meaning of this, Amiboshi!"

"I'm not Amiboshi! I'm his identical twin, Suboshi!" he yelled back with fury as he stopped playing the flute briefly. "This was my revenge for you killing off my brother!"

When Suboshi quickly raised his arm, plants grew out of nowhere from the ground and he faced his palm right at me and Hotohori. Just as we were about to get hit, Tamahome got in front of us and took the hit himself, yelling, "Stop hurting everyone close to me, won't you? They have done nothing! It was all me! So if you're going to go after anyone, why not just straight for me seeing that you already killed my family?"

Hotohori held me back as I tried to grab Tamahome's arm, screaming with terror, "Tamahome! Don't! Please don't!"

For nearly an hour, Tamahome fought, taking every hit that was thrown at me, Nuriko, Mitsukake and Hotohori. During this entire time, I could have gotten out of Hotohori's grip, but horror held me paralyzed down to my knees and arms that I couldn't do anything to help Tamahome but to stand aside and watch. But after time has passed, Suboshi had retrieved and Tamahome weakly stumbled back into the house. There was nothing but silence coming from inside the house, but after some time passed, we heard Tamahome crying as he screamed for his baby sister once more.