Mai's Point of View

I awoke some time later to find myself lying in a strange bed. I shot up, startled by my new surroundings, before being forced back down by my own dizziness.

"Careful now, don't overwork yourself." I heard someone say from beside me. I looked up to see Fai kneeling over me. I lifted one arm, placing my hand on his cheek.

"Is it really you?" I asked, tears of happiness coming to my eyes. He smiled brightly at me, nodding happily. I moved my hand down to the collar of his shirt before tugging him down to me. I pressed my lips to his as he caught himself from falling on top of me. I felt him chuckle into the kiss before pressing his lips back to mine. Our kiss only lasted a moment before we heard someone clearing their throat from the doorway. We broke apart and I looked up to see Kurogane standing there, a blank expression on his face.

"Welcome back, kid." He said simply. I sat up and smiled, opening my arms to him and expecting a hug.

"Come on, you know you missed me." I laughed as he glared down at me, "Okay fine~!" I slowly made my way to my feet – with a bit of help from Fai – before stumbling over to the swordsman and giving him a tight hug.

"We're glad you're back." He told me, awkwardly patting my back, "Now, get off of me." I laughed, letting go of him and stumbling backward a bit. Fai gently caught me, placing an arm around my back to keep me stable.

"Easy now." He smiled, pulling me a bit closer.

"I'm okay~ Just a little tired is all." I told him.

"Dinner is ready if you're hungry, kid." Kurogane said, turning back toward the door and walking out of the room.

"He was very worried about you, though, I doubt he'll ever show it." Fai whispered, hugging me tightly. I couldn't help but smile at the thought of Kurogane – Mr. Only Ever Angry – being worried about me. Before I was able to say anything else, my stomach growled rather loudly, causing me to blush a bit.

"I—I guess I should eat something." I laughed.

"Are you okay to walk?" He asked me, still holding me close. I nodded, before turning into him and hugging him tightly.

"I'm much stronger than the last time you saw you, Fai." I smiled up at him. He leaned down and placed a long, sweet kiss to my lips. After a long moment, he pulled away, leaving me feeling very light-headed.

"I can tell." He said simply before leading me out of the room.

"Ah, so your friend is finally awake." A man with long green hair said as we entered a room set up with food and individual tables to sit in front of.

"Yes, I am sorry if I caused any trouble," I said, bowing deeply, "Thank you for allowing me to rest here."

"Please, it was my pleasure. I am Souseki and you are welcome at our shrine for as long as you need. Now, please, come sit, eat." He replied, motioning for us to take a seat. We did so and I smiled at the delicious smelling food in front of me. I picked up a pair of chopsticks and quickly popped a round shaped bite into my mouth before sighing happily.

"This is delicious!" I exclaimed before looking at Fai who was struggling to even hold the utensils.

"I'm really not very good at this." He said sadly, sounding very defeated.

"Trouble with the chopsticks?" Souseki asked.

"Kurogane and Mai are much more skilled." Fai replied.

"Well, this place isn't much different than the world I came from." the swordsman answered.

"And… well… I went to a university where it was almost a custom to order a type of food that required chopsticks." I added thinking back to college and all the nights I ordered Chinese food instead of cooking. I suddenly picked up on a strange energy coming from behind me. As I turned to look, I heard Fai speak again.

"There seems to be an unusual power coming from that building," He pointed where I had just turned to look, I couldn't lie, I did feel a bit proud of myself that I could sense something that my wizard could as well, "It feels like some sort of barrier has been constructed around it. As if something has been set in place to protect whatever it is that's inside. It must be very important." I looked back at Souseki to find a shocked look on his face.

"Your friend here is an expert with a sword, this girl can appear from the sky, and you can sense our magic." He said, "I'm beginning to think you aren't ordinary travelers." I simply smiled at him, hoping that he wouldn't kick us out because of how unique of a group we were. After we finished our meal, Souseki took us to the locked up building and opened it for us. Inside was a large statue of a man with a sword.

"This is the statue of Yasha." Souseki explained. As we looked upon the statue we all noticed a red liquid spilling from its right eye. I felt my breath catch in my throat as my surroundings immediately reeked of blood. I had to stop myself from covering my nose from how bad the smell was. I looked at the others and no one else seemed to be affected, though.

"Tears of blood." Fai said under his breath.

"Yes." Souseki replied, "During this time of year when the moon is at its most beautiful, the statue of Yasha cries tears of blood from his wounded right eye." I couldn't help but cough, the smell overwhelming my senses.

"He cries tears of blood. Do you know the reason for it?" Fai asked.

"It is said that he cries in response to another statue; a statue worshiped by a band of performing travelers. Ashura is its name. Ashura is said to summon war and catastrophe. But here, Yasha is the spirit we worship. He is the guardian spirit of the night and the underworld." He explained.

"Underworld?" Fai asked.

"The world of the dead." Kurogane explained.

"When Yasha cries tears of blood like he is now, it is said to be a warning that Ashura is bringing some great calamity to the land." Souseki told us. Before they could ask any more questions, one of the men who was a part of the shrine appeared.

"Excuse me, Souseki, but the time is nearly upon us." The man said.

"Very well," Souseki replied, "Forgive me but I must go now." And with that, he began to walk off.

"Are you sure about this?" Kurogane asked as he passed by.

"Sorry?"

"We're strangers, you know nothing about us, yet you leave us alone here in the shrine of your spirit?" I could barely hear the words the swordsman was saying, I was focusing more on how to rid myself from this horrible smell. I felt as though I was surrounded completely by death.

"I don't know you and I don't know why you're here. There has to be some reason why you've come to us. Sometimes we must trust in greater reasons." Souseki told him before walking off.

"I know that look, what are you thinking?" Kurogane asked Fai.

"Well… Just… I'm not really certain that the statue's weeping is a warning of danger like they think. I get the feeling that there's something else to it, something they aren't able to see." He replied.

"And you, kid?" Kurogane asked, both men turning to look down at me. I wasn't able to answer him, though. I collapsed to my knees, unable to breathe without feeling as though I was physically inhaling blood.

"Mai!" They both called out in surprise.

"P—please." I coughed out, "G—get me a—away fr—from here…" Kurogane quickly lifted me up and began to run back toward the room I had been eating in earlier. Almost as soon as we reached the main building, it was like I was breathing new air. I inhaled deeply between coughing fits as Kurogane set me down.

"What the hell was that, kid?" The ninja asked as the two men kneeled in front of me. Once my coughing fits stopped and I was able to speak again, I told them what I had experienced, I couldn't stop shaking.

"From that statue?" Fai asked, wrapping an arm around me.

"It must have been. It was so overwhelming. I… I almost felt as if I were drowning in… in…" I couldn't even finish the sentence.

"You're alright now." Fai said, smiling at me in an attempt to make me feel better.

"I—I'm sorry to worry you both." I told them, unable to look anywhere but the ground.

"Don't apologize, kid. You did nothing wrong." Kurogane said, his usual irritation sounding a bit softer.

"We're just glad you're okay." Fai added, smiling brightly.

"You probably need more rest." Kurogane told me.

"Yah…" I said, quietly.

"Yay! Let's go to bed Ma-cha!" Fai sang, lifting me off the ground and heading back to the room I slept in earlier.

"F—Fai!" I gasped, surprised.

"You two make me sick." Kurogane groaned.

"Don't be jealous, Kuro-burrow! You can cuddle with Mai and I too!" Fai smiled over his shoulder, eliciting a spew of yelling and curses from the swordsman as he followed us back to the room.

"I DON'T CUDDLE!" He yelled causing me to laugh against Fai's shoulder. I really was happy to be back with them. I had missed them a lot. It feels to good to be… home, I thought as I nuzzled my face into Fai's chest. I don't think I even made it back to our room before I had fallen asleep. It was nice to feel this safe and this loved again.