Nikki joined Tasuki at his horse. It looked so much bigger up close. "You expect me to get on THAT?!" she asked with a skeptical look.
"What, you've never ridden a horse? C'mon, I thought you were weird before, but now..." Nikki gave him a hard punch in the arm before he could continue.
Tasuki leaped into the saddle, then leaned down to pull Nikki up behind him. "Hold on," he said. Nikki wrapped her arms around him for dear life; at least until he practically turned blue from not being able to breathe.
Nikki waved goodbye to Koji one last time, and they took off. Nikki hoped that they would get to Miaka in time to stop whatever was going to happen.
They didn't have to ride for long before they heard a scream coming from just off of the main trail.
Tasuki was off the horse in a flash, but Nikki took somewhat longer. She ran to where the scream came from, and looked down upon Miaka and her two companions. Not only that, but they were being attacked by dozens of zombies!
Nikki watched as the zombies came after the two men. The dark-haired one, Hotohori, was trying to protect Miaka, when he was grabbed from behind. Miaka was thrown to the ground, and more of the walking corpses converged upon her.
Nikki ran to help Miaka. "Leave her alone!" she yelled. Three of the zombies turned and came after her. "Oh, shit," she muttered. She punched the face of the closest corpse, and it's head went flying. She looked down at her fist. `Not bad,' she thought.
Just then, Tasuki yelled out, "Everyone, lie flat on the ground!" Nikki dropped to her stomach, just as flames shot everywhere, destroying the zombies. Nikki looked at the others, who didn't seem badly injured.
Tasuki joined Miaka and her companions. Miaka thanked him for saving them. "I thought you would have figured it out by now," he said, "Tasuki's me. Sorry for deceiving you..."
Nikki missed the rest, because her eyes came to rest on Miaka. Suddenly, the girl feinted. Nikki rushed to her side.
"She has a fever," Hotohori explained, "We have to get her back to the village. Nuriko! Find my horse!"

Nikki paced back and forth, watching Miaka. The girl was obviously ill, Nikki could tell just by looking at her, but Nikki couldn't shake the feeling that something else was wrong.
`Calm down,' she thought to herself, `You're going to end up making yourself sick. Miaka will get better, and everything will be fine.' She repeated this to herself a few more times, to make sure she really believed it.
Her pacing was starting to annoy Tasuki. "Would you stop doing that? You're making me dizzy!" he yelled. Nikki sat down at the foot of Miaka's bed.
Hotohori looked to Shoka, the young woman whose house they were in, and asked if there was anything she could do. "I'm sorry," she said, "But my powers are bringing the dead back to life. If Miaka should die, then I could help."
Nikki didn't doubt that this woman could bring the dead to life; she was beginning to get used to everything being completely and totally bizarre.
Miaka struggled to speak. "There must be a doctor in the village," she said, "It's worth a try,"
The next morning, they ventured out into the village to find the doctor who could help Miaka. They asked him for assistance, but he only told them to try Myojuan, another doctor in town, before throwing them out into the street.
Miaka was weak. Nikki could see that it took tremendous effort just to stand, even with the walking stick Miaka was using. Nikki put her arm around Miaka's waist, giving her a little support.
Just then, a man selling fish ran through the street, dropping one as he went. Miaka seemed to regain strength at the sight of food. Just as she reached for the fish, an old man grabbed it. Miaka chased him all the way out of the village, to his cottage in the forest. Nikki and the others, minus Shoka who had returned home, followed her.
They all peered through one of the cottages windows. Inside, a small cat was eating the fish the man had taken. The man sat on the floor not far away, with all kinds of medicines in jars around him.
"Perhaps this is Myojuan?" Hotohori asked.
Tasuki pushed open the front door. "You there," he commanded, "Are you Myojuan?"

The man looked up in surprise. He was badly in need of a haircut and a shave, and had a crazy look in his eyes.
"Please," Nikki said as she stepped beside Tasuki, "This girl is sick, and we were told you could help us,"
The man just yelled at them, "Get out! I am no longer concerned with humans!"
The others quickly turned to go, but Nikki stood in the doorway for a moment, staring at the man with a pleading look on her face. Finally, she shook her head and walked away.
Outside, Miaka's condition had taken a sudden turn for the worse. She had passed out, and Hotohori was carrying her back to the village.
`Poor kid must've overdone it, running like that.' Nikki thought. She didn't have time to react before Nuriko grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her after them. Nuriko pulled a bit too hard, and Nikki bit her lip to try to block the pain in her shoulder.
They returned to Shoka's house. They all stood around Miaka's bed, not knowing what to do next. Shoka suggested killing her, so that she could be revived. Tasuki and Nikki disagreed.
"What?" Tasuki yelled.
"You can't just kill her!" Nikki cried.
"That's okay," Miaka struggled to speak. Her voice was very weak. "I can't continue much longer in this condition. Please,"
Nikki knelt down by Miaka's head and gently brushed the hair from her face. "Miaka, you don't know what you're talking about," she said quietly.
Miaka looked to Hotohori. "Leave us." he said, "I'll kill her."
Nikki stood up, so that she was between Hotohori and Miaka. "I won't let you touch her!" she screamed.
Shoka turned to leave, followed by Tasuki. Nuriko grabbed Nikki firmly by the arms, and led her out of the room. Nikki struggled against his grasp. "No!" she cried, "Leave her alone! Let go of me!" It was no use. Nuriko was too strong. Shoka shut the door behind them.

Nikki was starting to feel disoriented. The one time someone really needed her, and she couldn't do anything. `I can't let this happen,' she thought, but deep down, she knew there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Nikki suddenly felt nauseous. Her head was spinning. She could feel her knees starting to weaken, and she couldn't breathe properly. Without thinking, she grabbed Nuriko's upper arm for support.
Nuriko, seeing that she was about to fall, pulled her against his chest. He wrapped one arm around her waist for support, and the other around her shoulders.
Nikki didn't fight back. She stood there, completely limp, with her head resting on Nuriko's chest. She could feel the warmth of his body, hear his heartbeat, but somehow she felt completely alone.
From inside the room, they heard the dull `thunk' as Hotohori's sword found it's target. Nikki buried her face in Nuriko's chest and cried, while Nuriko gently stroked her hair. She felt so fragile.
She couldn't tell how long they stood there like that. Nikki felt that, for once in her life, she was safe. Nuriko wouldn't let anything happen to her. She wanted it to stay that way.
When Nikki came back to her senses, she could hear voices coming from behind the door. It registered in the back of her mind that Miaka must be okay.
Somehow, her arms had become wrapped around Nuriko's neck, and she was holding him uncomfortably close. Embarrassed, she dropped her arms and stepped away. She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her kimono.
After a moment, Hotohori emerged from the room. Nikki rushed to him. "How is Miaka? Is she alright?" Hotohori nodded. Nikki poked her head in the door, to see Miaka resting peacefully. `Hotohori loves her too much,' Nikki thought, `He couldn't hurt her.'
Hotohori quickly walked to where his horse was tied, and pulled himself into the saddle.
"Where are you going?" Nuriko asked.
"To find a doctor," Hotohori replied.
"Wait for us!" Tasuki called, "Shoka-san! Take care of Miaka. We'll be back soon!" Tasuki lifted Nikki onto his horse and leaped up behind her. Nuriko borrowed a horse from Shoka, and they all set off for Myojuan's cottage.

Moments later, they stood at Myojuan's door. Hotohori threw it open. He dropped to his knees, to beg the doctor to help Miaka.
Nikki could sense that begging was not something he did very often. He always carried himself so proudly; Nikki was almost ashamed to see him on his knees. Nikki knelt as quickly as she could without ripping her kimono. Nuriko and Tasuki instinctively dropped to their knees also.
"Please," they said, "We beg you to help her!"
"You are the only doctor left in this village," Nikki pleaded, "You must help. We can't do it Shoka-san's way..."
Myojuan turned to them, with a horrified look on his face. "Just now," he said, "Did you say `Shoka'?" Nikki nodded. "That's impossible!" he cried, "Shoka...one year ago...died!"
"What?!" Nikki and the others cried in unison. Slowly, it dawned on Nikki that they had left Miaka alone with Shoka. "We have to get back to her," Nikki whispered.
Hotohori, Nuriko and Tasuki were instantly on their feet. Nikki had to brace herself in the doorway and ease herself into a standing position. Once she was up, she quickly ran to where the horses were waiting.
Hotohori and Tasuki were already mounted, and were leaving. "I guess you're with me," Nuriko said, winking. He reached down with one arm, and grabbing Nikki by the arm, lifted her off the ground and onto the saddle.
Nikki couldn't believe how strong he was. Well, she knew he was stronger than most people, but he was able to lift a sixteen-year old girl right off the ground with only one arm!
"Hold on tight," Nuriko said. Nikki, who was sitting sideways on the horse, wrapped one arm around his waist. Nuriko kicked the horse, and they took off. Nikki suddenly remembered how much she hated horses.
She leaned back against Nuriko and tightened her arm around him. She tried to take a deep breath, but the wind was rushing by so fast she couldn't breathe, and tears were coming to her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face into Nuriko's chest. She prayed that they wouldn't be too late.