DISCLAIMER: HAH! I possibly own the new character. Only possibly. I still don't own FY. But I bought a bunch of stuff at a Japanese festival today!

AUTHOR'S NOTES: In order to reply to all your liver-ly reviews ^_^ I didn't have time to give this more than a cursory glance-over. PLEASE PLEASE tell me if you find any typos, mispellings, or places where the words don't flow! I am sooooooo busy right now, I don't know what's going to happen to my sanity!

Okay, review replies!

Wow, so many of you liked that last chapter! I was surprised! It was like... "They're gonna be bored they're gonna be bored they're gonna be bored but I am so stuck on inspiration and I don't wanna screw it uuuuuuuup..." Guess not. I need some self-confidence.

Amaya Shinkuyoake - ~grins~ I knew about the Tou-san/Dou-san thing a loooooooong time ago, and ALWAYS meant to post a note about it, but of course, me being me, I never got around to it. Especially once I got in Japanese class, where they fling "Otoo-san" at you five lessons in a row (out of twenty). I just... kept forgetting. I'm scatterbrained like that. (I'm doing my laundry now, put the first load in the dryer, put the second load in the washer, turned on the machine, and left. Half an hour later the washer's done and my father's yelling up the stairs that I never started the dryer in the first place.) I came up with "Dou-san" from the Amiboshi/Kaika episodes; I asked all my friends and even they thought he was saying it with a D. ~shrugs~ I'm kinda attached to it now. Might just leave it in as a "regional" thing. But no, that's definitely not the right way with correct Japanese!

Draconsis - yes, Sairou is the "long" sound. Techinically - and I don't like this because you're RIGHT it looks weird - technically it's supposed to be "oo". They use the hiragana "u" to extend the "o" sound (as in "Otoo-san") so it gets translated as "ou". I prefer the "ou."

Kris-chan, you KNOW if you want to know something you just gotta ask! I probably won't tell, but you can still ask ~grins~ I'm glad you like Toroki; I think he's become the general favorite of the "original" seishi. I like him too. He's a good kid ~ruffles his hair, much to his consternation~ But they're all good, even though they're not all kids. I'm gonna write you soon! When I get the chance! ^^;;;;

CLAMP, thanks for saying that about Masame - I'm an only child, but I baby-sit this absolutely adorable little girl who just turned eight and looks absolutely nothing like Masa-chan, but they're very close in spirit. She's my "little sister" in a couple ways. And yes, she'll probably end up getting amazingly spoiled in the next few years, what with Tokaki and Tatara and all ^_~ UNfortunately, she won't be in the climax - because the climax is in the capital. She WILL show up again, more than once, before the end of the story though.

Shira - how's this? ^_~ It's almost as long as chapter 15.

Chibigreen, don't die!

Skittles! I've missed you! ~huggles~ And I'm not, but that's beside the point.

Lib-chan, I was scared of turning you into a puddle of goo again ^_~ Oh, and the ACT sucks - I've gotta spend at least two hours on it at a time, and it's not something I enjoy. I can get through two hours of something I enjoy perfectly fine, but not something I detest. Ahh well, this time next wekk it'll be over. That's the best thought - but then I have the SAT yet again. Damn.

J. Liha, sorry, not a very sappy chap. Other stuff finally happens! And I'm still surprised you either haven't kidnapped Tokaki or theatened me to make a clone for you. I'm just waiting for it.

Tessen Girl/Brandy, it amuses me too ~chuckles at ff.n~ "Well rounded", huh? A lot of authors just want to hear they're doing well - PLEASE tell me what I'm doing wrong so I can fix it! I want to! I want to get better! And no, I don't think it'll be pissed ^_~

Flying heart, DOWN girl!

Lanen! It's been awhile! ~glomps~ Glad you still appreciate the story, and that you also like Masame. I love her reaction too ^_^ She knows who these people are, has had at least two days to get used to the idea, and yet still falls apart with "hero worship" - it amuses me. And just wait, I got more twists coming up. Now if I could just find time to WRITE them.

This chapter's last seven pages were finished in a rush of five hours the exact NIGHT before I went to my summer program. Despite the rushed writing, due to a sudden block in the R&R department and brain-slamming inspiration in the Market department, I like this chapter. Hope you do too ^_^



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Everyone except Masame ended up going back to bed once we got back - including Yujiro. His presence threw us for a loop, and as Kiyome had only agreed to put up four extra bodies for the night, we figured Yujiro-san could sleep on the floor of Toroki's room and not cause any trouble. But somehow he ended up in Toroki's bed while Toroki ended up in Tokaki's while Tokaki ended up in mine with me. Fortunately my parents had risen and left while we were gone, and Masame didn't intrude on any of the rooms where people were sleeping, or a lot of explanation would have been needed for something we were trying to keep under wraps. We were actually doing a fairly good job of it, too.

Toroki, Tokaki, and I were up a couple of hours later, feeling much better with a bit more rest under our belts. We were grouped around the kitchen table awhile after, studying a map Masame had purchased for us of the surrounding area, when Yujiro strode in, yawning and rubbing his eyes. I stood and quickly fetched him a large cup of tea, pressing it into his hands before guiding him to sit at the table. He sipped the tea for a minute to wake up more, and we waited for him to become conscious. We all had questions for him.

He yawned again and set down the cup, pushing his hair out of his face. "Thank you, Subaru. I'll be awake in a minute."

"Why didn't you sleep longer? We wouldn't have woken you."

He shrugged, already looking more alert. "Army. I'm a light sleeper. You have to be." He stretched one more time, then shook his head, and his eyes finally seemed as bright as they normally did. "So what's going on?"

"Something like this. We're going to find the final seishi tomorrow," Toroki began.

Yujiro politely cut him off with a nod. "I know the back story, what's happened since you got here? Have you really found him - or her?" he added with a glance in my direction.

"I think so. It's definitely the place with the best odds, beats the other options by several miles. If you look at the map you'll see a town named 'Tanyou.' I'm fairly sure that's where Amefuri is."

"Only fairly sure?" Yujiro asked, glancing down at the map for himself. The dot labeled 'Tanyou' was placed the distance of about a day and a little more's ride from 'Jikka,' my town and our current location. "Is that good enough?"

Toroki shrugged. "I'll have a better idea once we're there. And at this stage, 'fairly sure' is definitely our best bet. If we leave here tomorrow the latest we'll get there is the evening of the day after, and if I'm wrong then we can stop there and I can search again. Trust me, it's better than waiting for them to come to us."

"But what are you doing here, Yujiro-san?" I queried, unable to hold my questions any longer. "Why aren't you with the army?"

"Heh… Ebizo-sama ordered me away to save my neck. Every time I go out to fight, my ex-comrades see me and start trying to rush me to hurt me for deserting. Deserters receive death, after all, and those that desert to the enemy… Worse than death." A flash of a terrible, grim expression played across his face, then was gone. "And the men I was supposed to train… I have no authority with them. Even riding in with all of you and providing information on the Kutou army and all the commanders I knew of and anything else they could think of, none of it counts for anything. I'm still known as 'the Kutou,' 'the deserter,' 'Blue,' and several other things, no matter what I do. So Ebizo-sama came up with the idea that if I went with Suzuno and everyone then I might be able to be of use. It'd also give him some time to establish me as a respectable ally, hopefully. And that's it in a nutshell."

"That sucks," Tokaki spoke up in his usual eloquent way. "You're not like that at all. Remind me to beat some sense into those guys when we get back," he told me. I nodded solemnly, humoring him.

"Thanks. At least I have a purpose now. It looks like I'm protecting you guys, as laughable as that sounds, so criminals are more likely to leave you alone. You have to admit, most of you don't look like fighters." He finished off his cup of tea. "Even if it's just a façade, I feel like I'm doing something useful."

"How was the trip over? What's the deal with that patrol you were talking about?" Tokaki asked.

Yujiro grimaced again, staring down into his cup and causing his dark blond hair to spill into his face. "It was a small one, but it was still a patrol. Three men, all obviously dressed as Kutou soldiers - my former employers are getting bold. They're probably scouting out this area, looking at the resources, the population… everything." He looked up, a very significant emotion on his face. "If you all don't stop them soon, they will win. And everything you've fought for will fall apart."



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~




We sent Masame to Kiyome's to fetch the others for a group dinner at my house, an event that could have turned into barely controlled chaos. Fortunately everyone was behaving themselves (more or less), at least in the presence of my parents. Masame was having the time of her life, what with five new "older siblings" to play with and spoil her rotten. She was definitely the hit of the evening.

After we ate, everyone moved outside to stargaze and talk. Tatara, Suzuno, Kokie, Karasuki, and Yujiro were planning on using this night to catch up on some relaxing, and that's exactly what they did. We spread blankets on the ground and everyone just lay down (sometimes on top of someone else) and chatted easily, watching the clear winter sky. It took me a minute to realize Tokaki wasn't there, but I wasn't that concerned. He'd show up sooner or later. Until he did, Karasuki and I leaned against each other, wrapped in one blanket and sharing warmth (it wasn't that cold, but there was a stiff wind), talking with everyone else.

Kaa-san was in her element, entertaining large groups of people. Suzuno and the other seishi all seemed to like her on the spot, just as they had Masame. I was glad they had a chance to meet my family - but it made me wonder if I would ever meet any of theirs.

We packed in early, knowing we had a long day ahead of us in the morning. Toroki graciously gave Yujiro the bed in the room they were now sharing, and the captain didn't put up much of a fight. Tokaki and I once again separated, somewhat reluctantly, but knowing it would be the last night we'd have to do it.

Once again, morning came way too early after a fairly restless sleep. I could barely drag myself out of bed to answer Kaa-san's knock.

"Doulin-chan!" she said in surprise as I opened the door. "You look awful!"

"Thanks for being blunt," I mumbled, very far from being awake. "I just slept badly, that's all." A yawn swallowed half of my last word.

My mother peered at me closely, obviously worried. "You never used to sleep badly, is something wrong?"

I was barely able to stop my self from commenting that yes, something was wrong, Tokaki wasn't with me at night. "No… Just apprehensive I guess. I'm gonna get dressed."

"All right…" she replied, slightly worried still. I closed the door and peeled off my nightgown, reaching blindly for the clothing I'd set out the night before.

There was a creak of wood behind me and before I could think my self-defense instincts had kicked in and I'd spun, my foot snapping out of it's own volition to smash into someone's stomach. The intruder yelped in pain and surprise - a very familiar yelp - and flew back to land in a heap on my bed. My head finally followed my foot, and I discovered his identity. "Tokaki!"

"Owwwwww… Morning to you, too," he groaned, trying to unfold from the rather painful position he'd landed in. "Damn woman, when'd you get that strong?"

"How'd you get in here?" I demanded in a hissed whisper, hoping against hope that my mother hadn't heard any of it. "I didn't hear the door open!"

"I didn't open the door, that's why." He sounded a bit less pained, and he slowly unbent and stood. "I couldn't sleep, so during the night I teleported in here and settled down on your floor. See?" He pointed in the direction of a shadowy corner, where a blanket and a pillow were lying abandoned.

I opened my mouth to speak, couldn't think of anything, and just sighed and shook my head (even though I'd been having the same problem). "I have to get dressed."

"Why?" he whispered behind me, one hand snaking up to rest itself on my bare stomach. "What's the point in hiding those lovely curves?"

No way. It was too early. "How would you feel about others checking me out?"

"They'd better be prepared-"

"See?" I cut him off. "Now, let me go and let me get dressed. And shouldn't you go fake being in your room for my mother?"

"Shit!" he said, then vanished.

I nodded satisfactorily, then grabbed my clothes.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~




The next day, at around noon, we six seishi, Suzuno, and Yujiro rode into Tanyou, expecting… something. Some sign that we were in the right place after all, that Amefuri was there, or that we were completely wrong and we'd have to start all over again. What we got was nothing: it was a town just like any other town, that we'd all seen and felt the feelings of before. True, things were a little more nervous, but that was because of the war, not anything that really had to do directly with us.

We all glanced at Toroki as we paused in the yard of the first inn we'd found, where hopefully we could get food and rooms. He sat in the saddle, wearing the most frustrated look I'd ever seen on his face. "Nothing. I'm getting nothing. But damnit, this has to be it! It HAS to! I checked LAST FREAKING NIGHT!" he yelled, pounding his saddle with his fist.

"Calm down, Toroki," Suzuno said, nudging her horse forward to take his flailing hand. She had finally learned how to ride, a feat we all cheered her for. "Maybe you're getting interference again. Maybe Amefuri left. But blowing up's not going to help anything." She spoke gently, soothingly, and I felt my own frustration start to slide away as I listened. "Come on, let's eat and get rooms and then you can try again, all right? Maybe it's just the fact that you haven't prepared." She swung out of her saddle, and we all followed her example as she tugged on Toroki's arm to get him down. "It's not the end of the world quite yet."

"I guess," he reluctantly agreed, then let himself be dragged in by Suzuno. The rest of us waited around for the traditional young boys to take charge of our horses, then followed them.

The place was very crowded, making it look smaller than it really was. There was only one table open, the biggest one, and we all naturally flocked there, needing plenty of seats for our ever-expanding party. Every other seat in the room was filled, and some people weren't even sitting down. Being the first inn in a town definitely gave it an added benefit in the clientele department.

When we were settled a girl about a year or so younger than me approached the table, balancing a stack of cups and two pots of tea, which she set on the table with relief. "Hello, sorry about the crowd. I'll bring you food when it's ready." She walked away to take care of some other customers.

I noticed Tokaki's eye following her as she left.

It didn't drive me nuts. Yes, I was a bit jealous, but I'd known what I was getting into when I'd fallen in love with him. And compared to the way he used to react that was an ocean's worth of improvement. The old Tokaki would have sprinted after her and started hitting on her as soon as she realized he was there, so if he was only looking he was definitely getting better. But, I could still get him back…

No one else noticed his roving eye except Suzuno, and she glanced at me to see how I reacted. She was definitely taken aback by the mischievous little smirk that was beginning to play across my face. "Excuse me," I said quite calmly, and stood up, carefully sliding off my end of the bench. "I'm going to go see about getting us rooms for the night."

"Want me to go with you?" Suzuno asked, starting to stand from her place next to Tatara herself.

I quickly shook my head; it wouldn't work if Suzuno was there. "No, that's fine. I'll be back as soon as possible."

"All right," Tokaki replied easily. He suspected nothing. Heheheh… "Just try and be quick, you don't wanna get stuck with cold rice."

"I'll try, I promise." I extracted myself from further conversation and approached the bar, ostensibly as that would be a good place to find someone who worked there, but really for a far different reason. Before I'd met Tokaki and discovered I was a seishi I hadn't been adverse to a little friendly flirting, or sometimes more than a little. It had never gotten serious, but I'd definitely acquired some skills in the area (although nowhere near as many as Tokaki; I'd flirted because it was fun, he did it to get girls). I shouldn't have forgotten everything in the past few months.

I sized up my options quickly as I approached the bar; unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot of selection. Mostly men in their thirties, much more likely to be married and have kids - I wasn't that desperate. And nearly all of them were conversing with their neighbors. Of the three that weren't talking, one was one of the thirties-with-kids type, one was obviously drunk, and one was off by himself in a corner. For lack of a better option I went with the dreamer; hopefully I could get his attention.

He glanced up as I leaned against the bar next to him, glancing back and forth to "look for someone to talk to," and I was satisfied to see him glance down at my low neckline before jerking his gaze back to my face. This might be easier than I thought at first… "Is the bartender around here somewhere?"

"He just came by, you might be awhile in waiting for him." Even better. I hadn't picked too badly either. He wasn't normally my type, but he was pretty good looking anyway - forest green hair about the length of his shoulder blades, pulled back with a leather thong into a pony tail, a nicely shaped face, deep black eyes that conveyed more emotion than that color usually did. I couldn't tell how tall he was, but at an off guess I judged him to be between Tatara and Toroki, maybe five inches taller than me. He also seemed to be fairly poor, as his clothes were probably homemade of cheap thread and fiber. He might have been out of work for awhile. "Why do you want him?"

"I need to see about rooms for the night. Quite a few of them." I leaned forward a little bit more, and once again his eyes strayed to my chest. This was too easy.

"Actually," he looked up again with a grin, "I think most of the rooms here are taken. I'm staying here, so I hear things. Might only be one left. Maybe you could take that one and your friends could go further in town."

I didn't want to make it too obvious, though. Time to be hard to get… sort of. "A woman by herself in a strange town? No thank you, I'm not that dumb."

And he took the bait. "If you wanted I could look out for you. Be happy to do so, as a matter of fact."

"I don't know…" I allowed myself to frown and leaned forward again, glancing towards the door behind the bar. And of course he looked down, but seemed to estimate all of my body this time. I felt myself instinctively beginning to panic, but I firmly squashed the emotion and made myself breathe evenly, watching the door until I'd calmed down. "Maybe. But I don't even know you."

"Goto Razan, at your service." He bowed on his stool, looking far more elegant than his cheap clothing hinted at. I began to rethink my judgement of him. Could he be some stereotypical lord's son that ran away for adventure, like so many stories had as characters? It wasn't completely unfeasible. "And may I ask your name?"

"Tamure Doulin," I said without hesitation, and bowed in return. When I straightened up it was pretty obvious he'd been staring down my chest again. I had no problem with it. I smiled, almost laughing; I'd forgotten flirting could be this fun. "I might have to take you up on your offer if he doesn't come by soon. You're too cute to be a psychopathic stalker."

"Well, thank you. And might I say, you're a bit too pretty to not attract some attention from unwanted places. Don't look, but behind you there's a large group, mostly guys, and most of them seem to be watching you."

Score! I sighed in pretend annoyance. "There's always one. Usually I can take care of one or two. How many did you say there were?"

He glanced briefly over my shoulder again. "Two women and five men. Four of the men are watching you." He frowned. "That one looks too young to be doing that… Can't say I blame him though," he added, giving me a very appreciative smile.

"Bet you say that to all the girls," I teased, giving him another flirty smile.

"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS AWAY FROM HER!" a very familiar voice exploded from the vicinity of our table. Tokaki had been sitting with his back to us, and was the last to realize what was going on. But now he had a clue. He appeared beside me and pulled Razan bodily off his stool with one hand by the front of his shirt, then flung him ten feet across the room to land on a table. Cups and plates went flying as Razan skidded to a stop on the thankfully sturdy table, then rolled off, scattering patrons, surprisingly without major injury and clearly very pissed.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a scarily calm voice. His hands balled into fists as he slowly approached us, and I began to think that maybe this wasn't the best way to handle Tokaki's flirting… Poor Razan was going to be pounded.

Tokaki shoved me behind him, ignoring mine, Tatara's, Toroki's, Yujiro's, Kokie's, Karasuki's, and Suzuno's yells of protest. "I said keep your fucking hands off her, she's mine."

"I'M NOT YOUR PROPERTY!" I yelled in outrage. By now every eye in the place was on us, and some of the smarter people had hidden under tables.

Razan continued advancing, and for a moment I couldn't tell which one of them looked fiercer. "She doesn't seem to think so. And I think I take a lady's word over an animal's."

Razan never stood a chance. Tokaki roared in outrage and leapt at him, moving so fast he was almost a blur. His fist met Razan's nose and Razan stumbled back, managing to keep on his feet somehow, but under Tokaki's next blow he buckled. It might have been intentional, because he fell to the floor and rolled away, Tokaki's kick at his ribs missing its target. Razan rolled to his feet and got Tokaki in the face with his own fist, but Tokaki's powers gave him a very unfair advantage. He was popping in and out of the air, surrounding Razan on all sides and beating him soundly. All the while the seven of us kept yelling at him to stop, but he didn't pay attention to us at all. Tatara, Karasuki, Kokie, and Yujiro kept going forward and trying to pull him off Razan, but he wasn't budging. Poor Razan was wavering on his feet as I saw Karasuki fumbling in her pocket for string, presumably to do something to stop our local madman, but I knew it would be too late. Tokaki was pulling back to give the decisive blow when I saw the first opening I'd had to stop this thing - and took it.

I ran forward, pushing off hands that were trying to stop me from entering the battle zone, and slammed bodily into Tokaki. He fell over, toppling into Razan and knocking them both to the floor, and I barely managed to keep my own feet. They both lay there, winded, as some of the other customers grabbed my wrists and pulled me back out of danger.

Then came the explosion.

A soundless, noiseless explosion ripped through the room, knocking everyone but we seishi and Suzuno (even Yujiro) to the floor. Nothing had blown up; it was an explosion of light and power. Pure, shining, white light.

"GET OFF OF ME!" a slightly familiar voice yelled, and with the voice there came a gust of wind strong enough to send even the six of us to the floor. It swept Tokaki off the floor and slammed him spread-eagle onto the wall - five feet above the ground.

Suzuno, Tatara, Toroki, Kokie, Karasuki, and I picked ourselves up fast, staring at the source of the light that was still pervading the room, but gradually growing dimmer. The wind was still gusting, but only at the height Tokaki was, pinning him to the wall; we avoided it by stooping. Razan had gotten to his feet and was glaring venomously in Tokaki's direction, standing as tall as he could, arms crossed, and not caring about the wind. His hair barely even stirred, as if it was only in a mild breeze. And fading from view was something just above his left ankle: the kanji for rain net, glowing a brilliant white.

"A…A-Amefuri?" Suzuno called timidly across the distance.

Razan's head spun in her direction, glaring hard enough to put holes through stone, but he relaxed when he saw it was an "innocent bystander." "How did you know that?" he asked, sounding bewildered.

For answer, Suzuno pointed at me and Tatara, knowing we'd understand. We did; our symbols started glowing as Razan's - Amefuri's was, Tatara's on his hand, mine on my chest, and we just stood there, letting it sink in for him.

"Are you… all… are you…"

"I'm Tatara," Tatara said gently. "That's Kokie," he continued, gesturing to the youngest of us, "this is Toroki, that's Subaru, that's Karasuki, and this is the miko, Suzuno."

I couldn't resist one smart-aleck comment. "And that's Tokaki up there making a lovely wall hanging."

Amefuri turned to glare at me almost as venomously as he had at Tokaki, and I wondered if he'd ever be able to forgive me. "I'm not going anywhere," he snarled, a completely different person than the one I'd met, "and you can't make me." He whirled and blew through the seishis' outstretched hands like the wind, and flew through the door.

The wind overhead died when he left the building, and Tokaki crashed unceremoniously to the floor. Tatara ran over and hauled his groaning friend to his feet. Tokaki pressed a hand to his temple, massaging it gently, and looked around. "What happened? Where is he?"

"Now's not the time for questions. Now's the time to go find him," Toroki said. The people around us were starting to recover, standing slowly, keeping an eye out for any more trouble. The place was a wreck: one broken table Amefuri had crashed into, several broken cups, dishes, and teapots, and food everywhere. We barely noticed this, concentrating on the fact that the last one of us was getting away, and us seishi and Yujiro ran out of there as fast as well could - all except Tokaki and Tatara, who were more or less confined to Tokaki's slow walking pace for the moment.

"HEY! WHO'S GONNA PAY FOR ALL THIS?!" screamed the long-absent bartender as they made it through the door.

"Where has he gone?" Karasuki asked anxiously as we spilled out the door and Amefuri was obviously nowhere in sight. "Toroki, where has he gone?"

Toroki alone out of all of us (with the possible exception of Tokaki) didn't look anxious. "Don't worry, I've got a tab on him now. He can't get away anymore. That way." He pointed down the street to our right. Yujiro took off at a run with the rest of us no less than three steps behind. Suzuno grabbed Toroki's hand and pulled him with her, running with all the rest of us.

I ran after Yujiro, cursing my stupidity verbally and loudly. No one stopped me, but I didn't want them to. It was my fault that all this had happened, that Tokaki was hurt and Amefuri had run, my fault my fault MY FAULT!

"Left!" Toroki called, and Yujiro spun with a precision the rest of us couldn't match and charged down the side street, Karasuki, me, Kokie, Suzuno, and Toroki strung out behind him. Toroki continued calling out directions, and we made another left, then a right and another left - to end up in a dead-end alley.

"Shit!" Yujiro cursed, barely breathing hard, as Suzuno and Toroki caught up with the rest of us. "He got away!"

"No he didn't." Toroki wasn't looking at the wall, which I'd assumed was because he didn't know where it was, but then I saw he was singularly focused on one particular patch of shadow, one large enough to hide a full grown man. He stepped forward, hand outstretched - and was blown forcefully back by a sudden gust of wind from the shadow, landing painfully on his back.

A second later a golden dome sprung into existence, covering the shadow and cutting off the sudden wind. I glanced to my left and saw Karasuki with a singularly pleased look on her face, knotted string stretched tightly between her two hands, her lips moving but no sound coming out. Then the dark, slightly blurred form of Amefuri's body hit the bubble, crashing against it as if trying to break through. He just rebounded off the force, obviously stunned and shaken. He pressed his hands against it, pushing, and his lips moved, watching Karasuki almost desperately. She shook her head minutely and replied silently. He gulped, looked slowly at the dome again, then nodded at her. She nodded once, firmly, and put the string to her mouth, cutting it with her teeth.

When the dome disappeared, Amefuri tumbled forward, his support gone. Yujiro quickly ran forward and helped him to his feet, taking a careful grip on his wrist he'd once demonstrated to us, a grip that could prevent a man from getting free quite so easily. Hopefully it would work on Amefuri. "Don't run away again, we just want to talk to you," he said quickly, putting emphasis on the word "talk." "We promise, we only want to talk."

Kokie helped Toroki to his feet as Tatara and Tokaki finally appeared in the mouth of the alley, Tokaki walking on his own by that point. "What happened?" Tatara asked, preventing Tokaki's much less polite version.

"We're all going to have a talk, that's what." It was very apparent that Yujiro was the eldest of us as he gave Tokaki a parental glare that made him shrink back a little. "Now I'm not a seishi, but I know this isn't how seishi are supposed to get along. So there's not going to be any fighting. Get it?" he commanded with a hard look at both Tokaki and Amefuri, who reluctantly nodded while glaring at each other.

We all found places to sit. Tokaki tried to sit next to me, but I moved, disgusted with him for the moment. I might have started it, but his behavior hadn't helped the situation much. I sat between Karasuki and Suzuno with a huff. They both gave me a slightly exasperated look, but Suzuno put her arm around my shoulder and Karasuki picked up my hand with hers. Everyone else deliberately ignored our little drama, focusing on Amefuri.

Somehow Yujiro had been selected as master of ceremonies, and he led the questioning. He'd been with us enough that he knew what to look for in a seishi. "Where is your symbol?"

Amefuri pointed to his ankle without answering verbally, and just above the little knob of bone the rain net kanji appeared once again, as white and genuine as the rest of ours. "That good enough?" he spat.

"We agreed to be civil, so you have to be as well. We outnumber you, don't forget that." Yujiro gave him another of his parental looks. "What's your name and where are you from?"

"Goto Razan," he replied reluctantly, "from Kousa. In the east."

Yujiro just gave him another look.

"You want more? Fine. I worked in Yamatori-sama's house. More like a palace. That man was so pompous, so overbearing, that half of us wished he were dead. I hired on at an fairly early age, when my family was killed, before I knew I was a seishi. I just knew that the wind was my friend. My only friend. He figured it out before I did, and managed to keep me enslaved so he could use my power for his own gain. Once I figured out what was going on I tried to run away, several times, but his guards had special orders to keep me there and always caught me. I couldn't stop the number of them that went after me, and they beat me every time I tried. Shot me a couple of times too, I still have those scars." He took a deep, shaking breath. As he'd talked his eyes had slowly stopped glaring at us and turned inward, and his face had become more open and fragile, almost childlike. He was speaking in a rush; it was like he'd never let it all out before, and had nearly broken under the pressure. "And all the while he kept using me and using my powers for his own gain, never giving me anything in return. I doubled my escape efforts at twenty, when I heard the legend of the seishi he'd been keeping from me and figured out that I was one of them, but they caught me every time and beat me even worse.

"I hate my powers!" he yelled, pounding his fist against the stone wall behind him with such violence that I was afraid he'd hurt himself. "I HATE THEM! If I didn't have them I'd have my family! I'd have my life! I wouldn't be a slave!"

"How old are you?" Suzuno asked gently.

"Twenty-three," he muttered. "And I've lived in hell since I was fifteen. Once I'd been there two years, I found out that Yamatori had had my home attacked and my family killed, all so he could possess me and what I could do for him. The only useful thing I've learned from my power is how to mask it."

"So that's why I couldn't find you earlier!" Toroki cried with understanding.

"I guess I didn't do a good job today. I felt something last night and tried to protect against it. It didn't work."

Karasuki shook her head. "No, it did work. We seishi simply seem to be drawn to each other, whether we want to be or not." She let go of my hand and stood, approaching Amefuri slowly and carefully to not alarm him. "We could not find you when we arrived. It was luck, and our powers attempting to come together, that brought us to you. We are all so sorry for everything you have suffered on the cause of your powers," she spoke so softly I could barely hear her. "No one should have to have that happen to them. We have all suffered too, and we know it is not easy. Will you please listen to us?"

He hesitated a moment before nodding. We were all watching Karasuki with awe. "I'll try."

"Good." She smiled and settled down on the ground in front of him, dwarfed easily by the new seishi. "How is it that you finally escaped your captor?"

He gave a wry, slight smile, but a smile none the less. "The Kutou army was a blessing in disguise for me. We were one of the first towns they got to. All of Yamatori's men were out fighting them, so I slipped through the cracks. And then I came west, making believe I was an ordinary farmer whose home had been destroyed. It was easier than living in that hellhole."

"Good for you," Karasuki said softly. She squared her shoulders, and I could tell the inevitable question was approaching. "Please consider what I am about to ask… Will you accompany us to the capital, to the palace," she said deliberately, letting him know exactly what he would be getting into, "and help us to call Byakko? You are the final seishi. It would be all you would have to do."

There was silence for a long moment, broken only by our baited breaths and the far away sounds of commerce in the middle of town. "What if I say no?" he asked slowly, guardedly.

"Then I am truly sorry, but you would come still. We have ways of bringing you with us, even unwillingly. I truly am sorry, Amefuri."

"I know."

"Please come with us of your own choosing. It will be finished within days, and you can go to whatever life you wish to pursue when it is finished."

He looked up from the ground slowly, his eyes studying each of us in turn, sizing us up. "I guess I don't have much choice."



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~




"Heika-sama, this is Goto Razan, also known as Amefuri," Suzuno said clearly in the throne room half a week later. We hadn't even bothered to stay in Tanyou that night, simply returned to the inn to gather Amefuri's few possessions (and reimburse the owner for the damage), and then sprinted as hard for the capital as our horses would allow. The group had had some tense rides in the past, but I would swear that this time you could have cut the tension with a knife, it was so prevalent. I wasn't speaking much to Tokaki, and Amefuri wasn't speaking to either one of us. In fact, Amefuri wasn't speaking much to anyone but Karasuki, and occasionally Toroki or Suzuno. The strain between Tokaki and I made everyone else uneasy. It had made for a long three days. "We have all of the seishi at last."

"Wonderful Suzuno! I knew you could do it!" We'd told Amefuri that Heika was about as different from his old employer/master as night and day, but he was still stiff as Heika approached him happily. "I'm so glad to see you at last! Now Byakko can be called and the country saved."

"I am honored to help, Heika-sama," Amefuri replied quickly, bowing to our ruler. Heika shot the rest of us a confused look at the action. Karasuki shook her head silently, and Heika let it drop. "When will the summoning be taking place?"

"Now that we have everyone, we can start the cleaning and preparations for the ritual. They will take three days to complete, and then we can call Byakko."

"Just three days?" Tokaki asked, sounding surprised. "I thought it took longer than that."

"It really does. Don't tell Byakko, but we cheated a bit. We did some of the preparations while you were gone, but certain things can only be started three days before the summoning. It saves us time, at least."

"I truthfully don't think he'll mind all that much," Tatara replied. "As long as the ritual itself is performed right, then we should see a white tiger in four days."

Heika-sama dismissed us, asking Karasuki, who he'd rightly picked out as Amefuri's "middle woman", to stay behind while they got him a room and then show him to it. The rest of us trickled out of the door, spreading in various directions. Kokie and I walked back to our rooms while Yujiro returned to the barracks. Tokaki disappeared somewhere with Toroki, and Tatara and Suzuno went to the garden for some alone time. Kokie left me at the room I shared with Tokaki and continued down to his, opening the door and disappearing inside.

I entered our room, which was as clean as ever, thanks to the servants. Our things had already been left on the table - both of our piles of stuff, as a matter of fact, proving just how quiet we'd managed to keep our relationship around the palace. But the sight just made me angry. I walked over to the bed and collapsed on it, burying my face in my pillow. Our bed. I still loved him, desperately, but if he always did that-

"We have to talk. You're not going to ignore me any more." I wavered between rejoicing with happiness or killing him as I heard him quietly shut the door, but not move from where he was standing. "You were flirting with him."

"And you were looking at that girl."

"I couldn't help it. And you're my girl, aren't I enough for you? I thought I was."

"I am not your property," I snapped. "You idiot, it was to prove a point. There can't be a double standard."

"What do you mean?" He finally moved, coming slowly closer to sit beside me on the bed. Fortunately for him, he kept his hands to himself.

I finally looked up at him, not quite glaring but not quite neutral either. "I mean that there can't be one set of rules for me and one for you. I wasn't angry you did it. I knew it was going to happen, and as long as you don't do more than flirt casually then I'm all right with it. But I have to be free to do it as well. You can't go around beating up all the guys I talk to."

"But he was touching you inappropriately!"

"Like you're one to talk. And he wasn't at all, I would have killed him myself. I'm not that much of a weakling."

"You? A weakling? Never in a thousand years," he said firmly. "Is that all you want?"

I nodded, almost feeling like I could cry out of sheer exhaustion. It was tiring being angry at him. "I just want you to keep your head and realize it's not serious. I love you, why would I want someone else?"

"I love you too," he said quietly, and bent down to kiss me gently. I let him for the first time in three days, realizing how much I'd missed it, and him, and his touch, and… simply everything about him. The kiss gradually grew deeper and deeper, until we were holding each other desperately, never wanting to let go. I didn't even think of how corny it all was; we'd worked it out. I would damn well be as corny as I wished.

Almost five minutes later we broke apart, both of us smiling for the first time in days. "Subaru, I've got something to ask you," Tokaki said softly.

"What?" I asked, not raising my voice above his.

"Will you marry me?"

My eyes widened at his face.

Marry? Him? Tokaki? The lech?

It was… was… sudden, to say the least. Somehow, in all my thinking that I would love him forever, that word had never entered my mind. Even though he'd been "adopted" by my family, my mind had never gotten that far in its thought process. We just were, there didn't seem to be any reason to think of it as any more, just accept what we had and love it as well as him.

Besides, this was Tokaki. Who knew how many girls he'd been with before me? I didn't care about that; it was in the past, before we knew each other. But was he really, seriously ready to commit his life to just one person? Exclusively? Was I? Would he be able to stand me after ten years? What about five? Or even one? Could we really do this?

It scared me more than a little, as anything untested did, but I knew exactly what would make me happy for a long time and dove into it without a second thought. "Yes."

And he kissed me again.

Before we could get too deep into anything though, there came a tentative knock on our door. We both stood, straightening our clothing as we approached the door. Kokie stood out there, with Inoue next to him. I gave a glad cry and swooped out to hug her, but she didn't return the greeting or the hug. In fact, she was trembling.

"What's wrong, Kokie?" Tokaki asked, sounding like an older brother. I glanced at Kokie, and was disturbed to see him so withdrawn and sad.

Inoue finally looked up at us, and her face was streaked with tears. "It's Uncle. He's dead."



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AUTHOR'S NOTES: Wow, THREE major things in one chapter! Amefuri, the engagement, and Tsumura-san's death. Never knew I had it in me.

Natsuki-chan asked me a couple weeks ago to describe Amefuri, and the first word that came out of my fingers was "bitter". He doesn't want to be. He wants to be normal and like all these people, because he can tell they're good people who wouldn't hurt him - but he's been scarred so deeply in his past that anything having to do with the nobility or being a seishi automatically puts him at his most defensive, and his most... grating. ~sighs and hugs him~ I hate to torture him. I can't write a full-length background story for him because it would make me too sad and suck away all my energy. Hopefully he'll get better as the story goes on - I don't know, I still haven't had the chance to do much with him yet.

After this I have exactly ONE finished chapter. ONE. That's it. ONE. Uno. Ichi. Un. Better get ready for as-I-get-them written updates, like when I first started this. I doubt I can get ahead again.

Oh, and about my site - it's not being updated because it's in the process of being moved. I don't want to do twice the work when I can't even get one whole part done. ~grins~ Sorry for being so depressing!