...

XLIV

All aboard!

...

Miaka was used to things not working out. After the hideous fiasco of her first summoning in the Shijintenchisho, she had developed a fatalistic attitude toward everything involving deities. Instinctively, Miaka had known that this summoning was too easy. She had not actually expected it to work.

Even so, Taiitsukun's abrupt appearance brought a curl of foreboding to her gut.

Taiitsukun looked even more dreadful than usual. Since her customary appearance was hideous enough to give Saihitei nightmares, that meant she looked very horrible indeed. Miaka was not alone in being affected by Taiitsukun's appearance. Kaen gulped and covered her eyes. Tasuki, whose prior encounters with the old woman ought to have rendered him somewhat immune, still let out a swear that caused Nuriko to hit him with her fan.

(The unfortunate innkeeper, drawn by the commotion, stuck his head inside the room, caught Taiitsukun's eye, turned pale, and disappeared around the corner).

"Kill me now," Miaka muttered.

"I've half a mind to," said Taiitsukun darkly. "Consider yourself fortunate that your death would mean the demise of our entire universe."

Miaka blinked. There was a pause, in which she tried to digest this most unwelcome bit of news.

"I think," she said, after a moment, "your definition of 'fortunate'leaves something to be desired."

"I think," Taiitsukun mimicked, "your powers of observation leave much to be desired. If I'd known how badly you were going to muck up the worlds, I would have taken upon myself to ensure that you never looked upon the Universe of the Four Gods, much less got within arm's length of a summoning scroll."

That accusation stung. Miaka bit her lip, fighting the urge to blink rapidly. She knew she had messed up – still, it hurt to be called out on it so bluntly – She opened her mouth, preparing to ask Taiitsukun exactly what she had failed to observe, but before she could, a bossy voice said:

"All right. What did we do wrong this time?"

Nuriko was irritated, though trying to hide it. Nuriko had thought they had gotten everything right this time. And, as Empress, she was used to getting her way. All the things she tried usually worked out the first time, or if they didn't work, she simply paid a lot of money to the right sorts of people and then waited a few minutes for the universe to right itself.

"Well?" she said.

Eyes were beginning to drift, unconsciously, toward Amiboshi – multiple pairs of eyes, not only Nuriko's. He held up his hands in a defensive gesture, looking mildly panicked. "I didn't do it this time!" he said, blinking.

"No," said Taiitsukun grandly. "The fault lies with Miaka."

"What did I do?" Miaka said, backing up a step.

"You summoned the gods in the wrong place."

I knew it! thought Miaka, remembering her earlier reservations about the inn. "So we were actually supposed to summon the gods at the palace?"

Taiitsukun's eyes narrowed.

"Come closer," she said, "and bring the mirror of Sairou with you."

Miaka thought OhdoIreallyhaveto? and then she caught sight of the gleam and Taiitsukun's eye and thought, OhdamnIguessIdo.

She stopped at what seemed to be a safe distance and stared at Taiitsukun with wide eyes.

"Now," said Taiitsukun with what seemed to be forced tolerance, "Look into the glass and tell me what you see."

Miaka blinked. Looked down at the mirror in the palm of her hand. Squinted.

"That's funny," she said, after a moment. "There are words, floating in the glass –"

"You mean you never actually looked at the mirror," said Nuriko, a bit incredulously, "after getting it from Lord Kazuhiko?"

"Er -"

Miaka thought back to yesterday afternoon. She had taken the mirror, smiled, and put it in her pocket. There it had remained until it had slipped out during the fire the previous afternoon – and even then, Miaka had only glanced at it briefly to ensure that it was not shattered.

"Read the words," Taiitsukun said imperiously.

Miaka was silent. It was Amiboshi, leaning over Miaka's shoulder, who spoke.

"It says, 'Look into my depths'," he said, "'for here you will see the site of the second summoning of the four gods.'"

"A valuable hint, don't you think?"

The sarcasm in Taiitsukun's voice could have frozen lava.

Nobody moved.

Even as Amiboshi finished reading, the words in the mirror had faded, to be replaced by a lake as blue as the sky above it, with water as clear as the finest ornate crystal, barely rippling, almost still. The lake was surrounded by low, rolling hills that gave way quickly to sharper cliffs, which towered over the eastern shoreline and reflected starkly upon the glassy water.

There was something familiar about the lake, Miaka thought. It was like a picture she had seen once, a long time ago. It was like the lake was shrouded in a veil of déjà vu.

And then, Miaka had it, the memory of where she had seen the lake before. No, Miaka thought, It can't be the lake in Tomo's shin, that would be too much of a coincidence. But was anything in the Shijintenchisho ever a coincidence?

She looked at Nakago.

Nakago was not smiling. Miaka got the impression that Nakago had carefully arranged his expression long before her eyes reached him. He wore an air of such patent boredom that it had to be feigned.

So Miaka was right.

Something very strange was going on here.

Miaka opened her mouth. But before she could interject, Nuriko chose that moment to speak, tossing back her head with a haughty sort of grandeur that bespoke her underlying irritation.

"We never had to worry about where the summoning took place before," she said. "Why, we even had the last summoning in the middle of a street somewhere in Miaka's world, and that turned out all right. I really don't understand why any of this makes a difference."

"Because the Rules have changed," said Taiitsukun, in flat, disapproving tones that suggested she was nearly as irritated as Nuriko.

"Well that seems terribly arbitrary," said Nuriko, snorting. "Please; you're the ruler of Mount Taiitsukun. Don't try to tell me that you couldn't make the summoning possible in this inn if you wanted it to be."

There was a tense and pregnant sort of pause.

"The Rules," said Taiitsukun, and the way she said 'Rules' seemed to imply that these were not just rules but Rules, of a much mightier, weightier sort than any of their uncapitalized cousins, "are the basic laws that govern this world, and right now, I have no more control over them than you have control over the weather. The Rules changed the moment Miaka managed to merge our old world with this one. They changed in wild and unpredictable ways. You might think that if two worlds with different rules were merged, then by common-sense principles, the rules of the resulting world ought to be the average of its parents. But the reality is far more complicated, and it would take more time than I have now to even begin to explain to you numbskulls what kind of intricate juggling comes into play when two entirely different worlds are forcibly shoved together. Even after spending the better part of six months trying to decipher how this new world operates, I continue to be surprised."

Silence. Whether it was Taiitsukun's admission of her own lack of knowledge, or the force of the words she had just spoken, something about her statement had brought a sudden grimness to the conversation. It was as if a chill sort of draft had just swept in through some secret doorway. Even Nuriko looked stunned.

"All right," said Miaka.

She probably should have been at least as worried as all the others, and twice as guilt-ridden. But Miaka had a streak of practicality to go along with her determination, and this took over now. She realized instinctively that comprehending the issue on the level of worlds would be complicated and unnecessary and probably beyond her abilities at this point. Someone else (Nakago) could do that. What she needed to know was what she needed to do. That was the most important thing.

"All right," she said. "So, just to make absolutely sure we're clear on this. The only way to summon the gods is if we're by the side of the lake. Because the… Rules have changed."

"Yes," said Taiitsukun.

"Will any lake do, or is there something particularly special about this lake?" said Miaka, carefully avoiding Nakago's eyes.

Taiitsukun gave her a mirthless smile. Miaka had a secret suspicion that the old witch knew exactly what was going through Miaka's head at that moment. She refused to let it bother her.

"This lake," said Taiitsukun, "is this-world's parallel of the place where Tenkou entered the Shijintenchisho. If you wish to seal Tenkou, you need to summon the gods here. Any other questions?"

Nuriko and Miaka both tried to speak at once. Miaka was first, but Nuriko was louder, and she overrode Miaka's question with a sharp: "How do we find this lake?"

Nuriko was still irritated. In fact, her irritation was rapidly giving way to full-blown Annoyance. All she had ever wanted was a quiet life as Empress of Konan with the most beautiful man in the Four Kingdoms and a son who – though not quite as good-looking as his parents, was still her deer, sweet, cuddly little boy, whose cheeks were the color of peach-blossoms. And now she was going to have to leave all that behind because she had been chosen to save Konan. And to make matters worse, demons were approaching Eiyou, and Hotohori would be stubborn and decide to take a stand instead of running for his life like a smart person, because he was noble and heroic and all the good qualities she had married him for in the first place. She really ought to be here in Eiyou with him and Boushin, instead of running off to a lake in the middle of nowhere. She had family life to consider. Couldn't Suzaku, in all his godly wisdom, have chosen Tasuki?

"Nakago will tell you where the lake is," said Taiitsukun. "He's been there before."

Eyes swiveled to Nakago, who looked perfectly unconcerned. Tasuki swore. Suboshi began to mutter "Why him?" before Amiboshi trod casually on his brother's foot.

"How far away is it?" said Nuriko.

"A week, by ship."

"A week! But the demons will be here any day now!"

Nuriko felt a sick, swooning sensation in the pit of her stomach. Unbidden, Nakago's words from the previous afternoon played back in her mind, brought into sharp relief by the dire nature of their current situation:

"I wonder how the Emperor would look possessed by demons, unable to control his own actions, only able to watch, a helpless bystander, as he drew his sword from its sheath, stabbed his guards through the heart, and then turned his weapon on other targets: his councilors – his servants – even his own son…"

Suddenly terrified, Nuriko turned toward Taiitsukun. "You have to pick someone else to go to the lake!" she said. "You have to pick someone else to be Suzaku seishi!"

"No." Taiitsukun's voice was coldly, horribly final. "It's up to you, Nuriko."

And that was it. No 'Oh, I'm sorry, did I disrupt your life plans?' or 'I'm sure everything will be okay, dear' or 'To compensate, I'll take care to watch over Eiyou and your husband and son in your absence.' Nuriko's hand – the one that was not still in splints – balled into a fist.

"Why?"

"You were chosen for a reason. Once chosen, you cannot be un-chosen. You have to be at the summoning ceremony unless you die. I suppose if that were to happen, someone else – Tasuki, probably – would be chosen take your place – but that isn't something you want to find out, is it, Nuriko?"

With the exasperated air of a bank teller addressing the next in a long line of difficult customers, Taiitsukun turned to Miaka. "Was there something you wanted?"

Miaka was still doing calculations. Since mental arithmetic was not her strong suit, this task required a significant degree of focus. She nodded vaguely in response to Taiitsukun's question, and made an indistinct hand gesture that was intended to indicate she was concentrating.

Three days ago in prison, Nakago had told her that he had fourteen days left to live before the kudoku ruined his life. A week plus three days was still less than fourteen. They could still make it to the lake in time to save Nakago's life!

"Miko!" Taiitsukun sounded like it was taking some effort not to start grinding her teeth. "I believe you had a question?"

"Sorry," said Miaka.

She tried to remember what she had intended to ask before Nuriko had started making inquiries about how to find the lake, but Nuriko's exchange with the ruler of Mount Taikyoku driven her earlier question clean out of her mind. She blinked and furrowed her brow, and finally she said:

"Who is Tenkou?"

It was not the question she had originally been intending to ask.

"Tenkou," said Taiitsukun, and Miaka could not help noticing the shadow that seemed to pass across her face, "is a very cruel man."

Well, that was decidedly unhelpful. Miaka had had the misfortune of meeting the demon lord twice, and she already knew he wasn't sunshine and unicorns. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but it seemed to be a day full of interruptions, because Amiboshi was already speaking.

"Do you mean to say Tenkou is human?"

Miaka blinked.

"That depends," said Taiitsukun, "very much on your definition of human. Tenkou's power is such that he cannot be killed in most of the usual ways." She turned sarcastic eyes on Tasuki. "I would not, for instance, take that sword that you're so fond of hacking at people with and try to defeat him with it. He is immune."

"But there are other ways to destroy a person," said Nakago, his eyes glinting.

Miaka looked up sharply. She caught the glance that seemed to pass between Taiitsukun and Nakago, almost as if either was issuing the other a challenge.

"You think you're above the gods, boy." Taiitsukun's dry laugh cracked through the air. "Willing to challenge one yourself?"

"How could I ever dream of challenging a god?" Nakago said drily. "Besides, you have already said that Tenkou is only a man."

Taiitsukun stared at him for a moment. "Mind that poison you're carrying, and stick to the summoning ceremony," she said finally. "It'll simplify your life considerably."

But I'm not sure if Nakago likes things to be simpler…

Miaka watched Nakago incline his head a fraction of an inch, as though in perfect deference to Taiitsukun. For some reason, she was sure that he was faking.

"Now if that is all –" said Taiitsukun.

"Just one more question!"

It was not The Question Miaka had been meaning to ask earlier. She still couldn't remember that. But this question was also important. It had been nagging at her for some time, actually, and now – with Taiitsukun in front of her, she could not help but think of it again. Because thinking of Taiitsukun brought to mind memories of another Taiitsukun, a fake duplicate meant to lure her into a trap that would render her incapable of summoning the gods – and thinking of that trap

"Taiitsukun!" she said urgently.

"What, girl? I am not made of time." The sage scowled at Miaka. "Ever tried to stop the world from falling into darkness? It's not a walk in the park."

Miaka disregarded this. "The summoning will still work, right?" she said. "Even though Tamahome and I were – er – married?"

She swallowed, face red. Taiitsukun raised a hideous eyebrow.

"It won't matter?" Miaka mumbled, feeling desperately – and not for the first time that day – like she really never should have gotten out of bed that morning.

Taiitsukun glared into her eyes and snorted. Somehow, this action made her appear even more hideous than ever.

"I already told you, the Rules have changed. Weren't you even listening?"

She vanished in a clap of gray smoke.

-v-

Amiboshi and Tokaki had gone to the palace to inform Saihetei that they would need a ship equipped straightaway. They would be traveling by ocean until they reached the southernmost shore of Kutou; from there, they would ride along the Beniirone ridge, arriving at the valley of the Hin from the east.

Miaka followed little of this strategizing. It was not that she didn't care, but she had never been good at geography, and the implications of the failed summoning attempt were starting to hit home to her. She was not the only one who seemed pensive; Nuriko's eyes were downcast and the set of her mouth was grim. Nuriko had wanted to accompany Amiboshi back to the palace to bid Hotohori and Boushin farewell, but her garments were far too conspicuous for travel in broad daylight.

Slowly, the others left to equip themselves for the journey. Tasuki took money supplied by Nuriko and left to purchase additional supplies for the journey. Subaru left too, saying she needed to put in a few orders at the marketplace. In the midst of the commotion, Kaen slipped out, saying only that she would be back.

"Follow her," Nakago told Suboshi, as the door clicked shut.

"Why –"

"Do you want her to be harmed by some ignorant, battle-ready fool on the street?"

Chaos was building outside; Miaka could hear the shouts and clamoring that seemed to accompany hurried preparations for war. It would be easy to get lost in this din – or worse, attacked.

"Don't expect me to believe that you actually care," said Suboshi, glowering slightly.

Nakago raised a mocking eyebrow, as though to emphasize the sheer unlikelihood of this. "Dead or alive," he said, "her fate will be on your conscience."

"He won't always do what you tell him," Miaka said, as Suboshi stormed out of the inn with a slam of the door. "Not forever. You can't just order people around like they're your slaves."

"On the contrary, Suzaku no Miko, I am quite capable of doing as I please. Suboshi will follow Kaen, because I was careful to impress on him the consequences of not doing so. Just as the Empress Nuriko will accompany us on this quest because Taiitsukun was very careful to establish that defying her authority has consequences. Is that not so, Your Highness?"

Nuriko looked like she had swallowed a lemon, rind and all. She called Nakago a word that Miaka had never heard escape the Empress' mouth before (to which Nakago raised his eyebrows) and then declared that she was going back to the palace. Immediately.

"By all means, leave," said Nakago, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. "Far be it from me to tell the Empress of Hong-Nan what to do."

"But," said Miaka, glancing out the window at the ever-more-chaotic scene in the streets, "she can't go outside without an escort! It's dangerous out there, and if she's recognized –"

"– then she may well have her throat slit by thieves in the chaos. It does not please me that I might need to interact with the bandit at the summoning ceremony because the Empress has suffered a gory and thoroughly avoidable death; and yet, it is ultimately the Empress' choice whether she wants to be foolish and risk her head over something so inconsequential as farewell sentiments."

It was strange to see Nuriko so patently furious. Nuriko – who had broken up more fights in the Shijintenchisho than Miaka cared to remember – currently had her hands balled into fists, as if she wanted nothing more than to sock Nakago a good one.

"It is likewise her choice," said Nakago, not even looking up, "whether she will let concern for her family dominate this trip, or whether she will choose sensibilityover sentimentality."

"Of course I'm worried about them!" said Nuriko sarcastically. "Just because you may possess the ability to survive in the absence of normal human relationships (not to mention decency and moral fiber) doesn't mean we're all blessed with such fortune."

"I did not say not to worry," said Nakago, "I said that when we are attacked by demons on the road, will your first thought be of Boushin, or of keeping the Suzaku no miko alive?"

There was a very tense silence, broken finally by Miaka, who cleared her throat rather angrily.

"I don't think this conversation is appropriate at all," she said. "And I'm perfectly capable of keeping myself alive, thankyouverymuch –"

"Perhaps there is a reason the gods don't often choose women for seishi," said Nakago, not even glancing in Miaka's direction. As though coming to a decision, he stood up, swept his cloak off the rack, and donned it with a kind of casual, indifferent grace. "Priorities, Empress of Konan. Think about it."

And before Miaka had a chance to yell after his retreating back – before she even had time to internalize that he was leaving, Nakago had swept out of the inn.

Fuming, Miaka hurried over to the window and watched him head up the street. "He might have left someone to guard us here!" she seethed. If Nakago sensed her at the window, he gave no sign; he continued to walk steadily and purposefully toward the marketplace.

She heard a noise from behind her. At first she thought Nuriko was agreeing with her. Then she turned around and realized –

Nuriko was laughing.

Her back was hunched and her elbows were on the table and her shoulders were shaking and she was laughing; tears of mirth were streaming down her face and into her empty porridge bowl.

"He must really care about you," she said.

Sure, whatever that meant. Nuriko was hysterical, and it was clearly all Nakago's fault. "I think you need a cup of tea," said Miaka, and she went to the fireplace and made Nuriko a cup of tea.

Thankfully, Nuriko had calmed down by the time Miaka came back with the steaming mug. The Empress sipped the tea, almost thoughtfully, although once or twice Miaka had to remind her friend to blow on it so as not to burn herself.

"Tasuki really ought to have been chosen for this position," she said finally. "Not me." Her lip curled. "He wants to go. He's going to insist on coming anyway, you know – to 'keep an eye on things'. I belong here."

She stared morosely into her tea for a moment.

"But the bastard's right, in the end. I mean, I was born to be seishi, and seishi I shall be. Duty calls, and all that. And, between you and me, I wouldn't trust this mission to Tasuki. He'd make a mess of it somehow. No, you need someone to look after you lot. Stop you from almost drowning, make sure you dress right, start a betting pool on how many times Tasuki will be sick before we reach this mysterious lake that only Nakago knows how to reach –"

"It's the lake where he grew up," said Miaka.

"Ah," said Nuriko. She took a sip of tea and looked, thoughtfully, at Miaka.

"Not," said Miaka, "that he told me so himself. That is, I only know because I happened to see a memory that I wasn't supposed to see –"

She broke off, realizing that she was only digging herself deeper, and glared at her hands for a moment, before slowly and deliberately pouring herself some tea.

"What did Taiitsukun mean when she told Nakago, 'Mind that poison you're carrying'?" Nuriko said, after a moment.

"Oh," said Miaka offhandedly, setting down her teacup. "Nakago's been poisoned by slow-acting kudoku. So if we don't reach this place in a week and a half, really bad things are going to start happening."

"Ah," said Nuriko again.

"Yeah," said Miaka.

She took another sip of tea.

-v-

The others filtered slowly back into the inn. First Kaen returned, looking confused when she realized that almost no one else was there. Fortunately, the uncomfortable silence that accompanied her arrival was broken when Tasuki and Subaru arrived with supplies (they had apparently made contact in the marketplace). Nakago showed up next, hands so innocently empty that Miaka wondered what he could possibly have been up to; her eyes searched for suspicious lumps in his pockets but she remained bewildered. Nakago noticed her staring and caught her eye. She flushed and turned away so fast she almost gave herself whiplash.

Suboshi was the next to filter in, looking thoroughly sulky and out of temper. Miaka wondered if he had actually been following Kaen, as Nakago wanted.

That left Amiboshi and Tokaki, who had had the most important mission of all. Miaka twiddled her thumbs and waited, and then grew bored and challenged Tasuki to a game of 'rock, paper, scissors' – after which she found herself explaining the concept of 'rock, paper, scissors' to Tasuki and Nuriko, who agreed that it was the oddest game they had ever heard of.

At last, just as Miaka was trying to think up an argument to Tasuki's heated "But parchment can't crush rock, 'cause, ya know, pretty much nothing can conquer a good solid chunk o' rock, but I've seen parchments messed up by having rocks chucked through them –" the door to the inn opened, and Amiboshi and Tokaki and a third, cloaked figure entered.

"Well?" said Nuriko, pinching Tasuki's lips together to cut him off mid-sentence and turning around.

The cloaked figure removed his hood and turned into Hotohori. "I'm surprised you don't recognize my disguises," said Hotohori, as Nuriko gave a joyful cry. "How long have we been married, again?"

"I take it you were successful," Nakago said to Amiboshi.

"One ship, fully provisioned, and we need to leave now. The harbor's a mess, it's going to be worse in an hour, everyone's trying to get out of Eiyou –"

Nuriko was crying. "Look after Boushin," she said. "Try not to die."

"Indeed," said Nakago drily. "It would be a pity if I returned to find you incapable of fulfilling our agreement."

Miaka opened her mouth, preparing to shout at him; surely now was not the time to be reminding anyone of that particular bargain.

"Likewise," said Hotohori, with a perfectly straight face.

The words she had been preparing to utter died on Miaka's lips. Had they actually just been civil to each other? She closed her mouth with a snap and stood staring, as Hotohori gently steered Nuriko away from the others.

She might have remained in that position for a couple of minutes, had not Nakago turned toward her with raised eyebrow, and murmured:

"Do you intend to dawdle all day, Suzaku no miko?"

"I wasn't dawdling!" she said, and then realized that most of the others – Hotohori and Nuriko excluded – were already outside the inn. With a muffled oath, Miaka turned to follow Nakago, grumbling under her breath as she hurried to keep up with his longer strides.

Despite the commotion, Miaka could not help but sneak covert looks toward Nakago as she trailed him and the other seishi up the street toward the wharf. She did not know how or when, but something had changed between them. She and Nakago had been enemies before, perhaps reluctant allies, if she was being generous. Something was different now. Were they friends? She hesitated over this characterization. He was like no other friend she had ever encountered. They had a very special relationship, she and Nakago. It involved a lot of name-calling on her part, disdainful sarcasm on his. He had possession of two secrets she had told no one else. The first was the fact that she had sealed Suzaku; the second, the secret of Tamahome's death. Strangely, it did not frighten Miaka that Nakago knew so much. At some point during their weeks of travel, she had come to trust him.

That frightened her.

He had been such a monster in the Shijintenchisho that Miaka would have been delighted to see him struck by lightning. His cruelty had led to the death of half her seishi and emotionally ravaged her best friend.

But regardless of what Tasuki thought, Nakago was different now. Now, Nakago was a combination of Shijintenchisho Nakago and this world's Ayuru. Ayuru's influence must have impacted him strongly, she thought.

(It did not ever occur to Miaka that she might have contributed to the change in Nakago's behavior as well).

"Do we hafta take this damn boat?"

Nuriko, who had caught up to them by that point and was in noticeably better spirits, grabbed Tasuki by the collar and dragged him toward the quay.

"Look at the nice, pretty ocean!" she said cheerfully. "Look at the big, rolling waves!"

"Ouch, Nuriko, get off! Do ya wanna make me sick before I even get on board?"

It was like the last time they had set sail. Back then, it had been Tamahome abusing Tasuki, and Tasuki had half drowned before someone stopped laughing long enough to pull him out of the wharf.

Strangely, the thought of Tamahome did not hurt as much as it had yesterday. She smiled, a bit sadly, shaking herself as she hurried up the gangplank behind the others. It all seemed so very long ago.

-v-

Nakago watched the miko as she strode up the gangplank. Something was different about her, as though a dark burden had lifted from her shoulders. She was not happy, but she was no longer the broken shell she had been after the fall of her house. She had faced that demon and won, had pulled the torn pieces of herself back together enough to stand, calm and determined, on the deck of the ship.

She caught his eyes for a moment, and then flushed and turned away, back towards the bow of the ship. She began chattering with Subaru, who replied with equanimity. Nakago watched them for a moment before his eyes drifted.

Kaen followed them onto the ship. Her chi was odd – Nakago's eyes narrowed – a mixture of alert watchfulness, pensiveness, and fear.

Suboshi who was helping shift supplies on board, did not even look up at Nakago's approach. His aura was its characteristic mixture of insolence and impatience and thinly-disguised irritation; it put Nakago in mind of a dynamite field. It would have troubled Nakago, had he not had every confidence in his ability to subdue Suboshi, were the dynamite ever to combust –

"Well?" said Nakago calmly.

"What do you mean, 'well'? I followed her, just like you said, but she was just fine; she didn't even go to the marketplace, just went up the road a little ways and stopped when she got to a big burnt space! Probably just wanted to get away from all the idiots chattering. So lay off."

Nakago watched the boy lift a box that a boy of his size ought not have been able to lift; and Suboshi ascended the gangplank after Kaen. Nakago waited a moment before following.

Sailors shouted to each other, and the captain shouted at all of them. Nakago watched as they weighed anchor, tracked the swell of the sails as wind filled them. A naughty breeze blew over the ship, causing it to buck. On the opposite side of the deck, the bandit was already crouched over the railing, miserable.

Nakago set his gaze toward the bow of the ship. His eyes narrowed.

He was going home.


Author's note: Info dump much?

Apologies for the delay. I had hoped to have this chapter out LAST week. Unfortunately, it was a week of Major Decisions concerning med school, which led to the onset of Major Writer's Block. But all that's behind us now, and I'm very happy about where I'm going, and life is good!

Anyway, I want to thank alex, irukanomiko, Nile1283 (x2), megumisakura, tohru78, Helena, and Desert Renaissance for your reviews for the last chapter! You guys are the best! Virtual cookies for all! ^_^

-v-

Questions (from you):

1. Is there going to be a sequel to this story?

Very likely not, although I might be prevailed upon to write a couple very short sequels tying up loose ends from this world (I have ideas for them anyway). Any additional stories would be tacked on to the end of this fic, so you wouldn't have to go hunting for them on this page as long as you kept this story on your alerts. But the current plan is to leave this story in a good enough place that large sequels won't be necessary.

2. Since it is natural for Nakago to use big words, I just wonder how Miaka keeps up with it and understands them...?

Because this story is full of such plot holes? Heheh! Actually, though, I think it's possible to get the gist of what someone is saying when one knows a critical mass of vocabulary, even if one doesn't know ALL the words, by guessing. I think this is sort of how I (and maybe other people?) learned to read. I never had the patience to look up words in a dictionary while I was reading so I just guessed the words' meanings and got a general sense of what they meant by how they were used. Of course occasionally this would lead to some unfortunate mistakes when I actually tried to use them in conversation…

3. How did they mess up?

Hopefully that was explained in this chapter!

4. Tasuki's speech pattern bothered me. Too many 'ye's and not enough 'ya's.

Oops. Yes. I do see what you mean. And I willll fix that going forward. Hehehe.

5. I must admit the style of writing gets a little bit like whip-lash. I know you are experimenting, but there should also be some continuity between styles.

I know! – winces – I'm sorry! I'm working on it!

Also, Nile, I really like your Yui explanation! It definitely fits well.

-v-

Questions (for you):

1. Did Taiitsukun's explanation feel too much like an author cop-out? XD

2. What is your favorite kind of cookie?


Disclaimer: Anything you recognize probably belongs to Yuu Watase and not to me.