The horses raced through the village. It hadn't taken long for them to get back, but Nikki hoped they would be in time. One look at Nuriko's face showed that he was thinking the same thing. Suddenly, the horse reared back, throwing them both to the ground. Nikki landed on her back, with Nuriko on top of her. She lay there for a moment, stunned, until she realized why the horse had reared. They were surrounded by a mob of angry villagers with knives.
Nuriko pulled Nikki to her feet. Hotohori and Tasuki had been thrown from their horses as well, and they all stood defenceless in the middle of the angry mob.
"I've got a bad feeling about this whole village," said Hotohori. Nuriko pushed Nikki between him and Tasuki, getting ready to fight.
The villagers suddenly lunged at them, attacking all at once. Nikki turned just in time to see four men rushing at her. She stepped out of the way and put her foot out, tripping two of them.
Nuriko picked up a wooden cart and swung it at the villagers attacking Hotohori. "Go," he said, "Help Miaka."
Tasuki had been knocked to the ground, and a man was standing over him with his knife raised, ready to kill him. "No!" Nikki screamed. She ran to Tasuki and threw herself on top of him. `It doesn't matter what happens to me,' she thought, `But Tasuki has to protect Miaka. I won't let anything happen to him!'
Before the villager had time to move, a tall young man appeared out of nowhere and punched him, hard. Nikki thanked him and pulled Tasuki to his feet. Tasuki seemed somewhat embarrassed at being saved by a girl, but Nikki decided to wait till later to tease him about it. They had more important things to deal with right now.
They all burst through the door of Shoka's home to find not Shoka, but a demon holding Miaka. Hotohori was about to attack, when he turned to acknowledge their arrival. "Who is that?" he asked, looking at the young man.
"He just kinda showed up," Nuriko said.
Demon Shoka stood staring at the man. "Juan," she whispered.

`Juan?' Nikki thought, `As in, Myojuan?' She studied the man's face. `Sure, all he had to do was shave and cut his hair. That old man is way young!' Nuriko and Tasuki seemed just as surprised as she was.
Suddenly, the villagers outside appeared at the window, and Tasuki and Nuriko ran to shut it. Myojuan explained to them, "Those are all the people that Shoka revived. They are all the villagers that died."
"Told ya we should've fried 'em," Tasuki muttered.
Shoka looked at Myojuan with a look of pure hatred. "Even though I was dying," she screamed, "I still waited for you. You never came! Now, I'm going to kill this girl!"
Hotohori and Tasuki stepped forward, ready to strike, but Miaka stopped them. She placed herself in front of Shoka, so they could not reach her.
"She's not a monster!" Miaka cried.
`Poor kid,' Nikki thought, `That fever's gone to her head. She's crazy!'
"Shoka-san came back to see her boyfriend, Juan. She never got a chance to say good-bye before she died." Miaka explained.
Shoka's face slowly changed from the demon's, back to normal. She collapsed to her knees. She looked up to Myojuan and the others. "Help me," she whispered.
Just then, there was a loud, ripping noise, and an enormous demon emerged from Shoka's back as she cried out in pain. It grabbed Miaka with a few of it's large tentacles, and lifted her off the ground, ready to devour her. Shoka managed to whisper, "The demon took over my body as I was dying. Please, help me!"
Tasuki, Hotohori, Nikki, and Nuriko all rushed at the demon from different sides, but they were grabbed by the monster's tentacles.
Nikki fought as hard as she could, but she had no weapon, and there was very little she could do. The tentacle wrapped around her neck, trying to choke her.
"Hurry, Juan!" Shoka cried, "You have to kill me!"
`He still cares for her, but can he kill her?' Nikki thought, as she struggled to breathe.
Myojuan hesitated for a moment, but then a bright light suddenly came from his left palm, and surrounded the demon. A moment later, Nikki found herself hitting the ground, knocking the wind out of her. The entire house, as well as the demon, had disappeared.

Nikki took in huge gulps of air. As her pulse slowed and her breathing became more normal, she looked around. Everyone else was okay. She rubbed her neck, and became suddenly aware of a familiar pain in her shoulder. She turned her head to see blood seeping through the back of her kimono. She cursed under her breath. "Damn thing must've re-opened the wound."
Myojuan knelt over Miaka. The same green light came from his palm, and she slowly came to. As her eyes focused, she let out a gasp of surprise. "You have the mark of a Suzaku seishi!" she cried.
"Yes," Myojuan answered, "I am the Suzaku seishi, Mitsukake. I have healing powers"
`Naw, really?' Nikki thought, rolling her eyes.
He continued sadly, "I was a doctor in this village. I tried to help her," He slowly lifted Shoka's body, cradling her against his chest. "I was away in another village, and by the time I got back, it was too late. I couldn't save her."
Nikki felt a lump in her throat, and gently placed her hand on Nuriko's forearm. He looked down at it in surprise.
Miaka started to cry. "But you did save her," she said quietly, "Shoka-san looks happy!" Mitsukake looked down at Shoka's face. There was a faint smile on her lips.
Nikki looked up at Nuriko. There was a single tear slipping down his cheek. She looked to Tasuki and Hotohori, who were trying desperately not to cry. Tasuki's chin was quivering. "You know," she whispered to him, "It's okay to cry,"
"I'm not crying," he choked, "Who said I was crying? Because I'm not. You're a girl, why aren't you crying?"
"What," Nikki hissed, "Just because I'm a girl, that means it's necessary that I cry about everything? What if I don't feel like crying? I'm not a wimp," She paused, giving Tasuki a meaningful glare, "Unlike SOME people,"
"What," he yelled, "So now you're saying that..."
Hotohori raised his hand to silence them. Tasuki opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. Nikki smirked, and casually looped her arm around Nuriko's. Together, they silently watched the sun rise.

"I'm so hungry," Miaka moaned. She was riding with Hotohori on his horse.
Nikki looked up at her skeptically and said, "Miaka, it's been about three hours since you last ate, and you ate a lot! I probably could survive a week on what you just ate."
"But I'm still hungry," Miaka whined.
Hotohori shook his head. "We'll stop at the next village we come to, and you can eat there." he said to her.
"But the next village," Mitsukake said, "Isn't for another..."
Nikki quickly elbowed him in the ribs. "I'm sure we'll get there soon. Just hang in there," she said cheerily.
They continued walking for the rest of the morning, and around noon, even Nikki was getting hungry. They stopped in a large clearing. Nuriko and Tasuki began preparing what little food they had brought.
Nikki picked up her bag and wandered into the forest. "I'll be right back," she called over her shoulder. She went as deep into the forest as she dared, and, convinced no-one could possibly see her, began undressing.
Carefully, she removed her kimono and threw it over a nearby branch. She quickly pulled on her jeans, and for some reason opted for the low-cut baby-blue T-shirt. Relieved to be in more comfortable clothing, she picked up her kimono and walked back to the clearing.
As she neared, she could hear Tasuki yelling at Miaka, who had apparently eaten most of the food already. Nikki just shook her head. She walked over to where Nuriko was making a fire, and put her bag down.
Nikki crouched down next to Nuriko. "Need any help?" she asked.
"This piece of wood won't light," he replied. He was trying to get a spark by hitting two stones together, but he got so frustrated that he ended up smashing them into tiny pieces. "Here," Nikki said. She bumped Nuriko out of the way with her hip, and pulled her lighter out of her pocket. Within moments, the fire was burning.
Nuriko stared in awe at Nikki's lighter. "What is that?" he asked, completely amazed.
"It's called a lighter. It makes fire. Similar to a tessen, only a lot less conspicuous. I keep forgetting that you don't have all the modern stuff that we do...I guess it's pretty lucky I had it with me," Nikki was interrupted by Miaka, who wanted to know if lunch was ready yet.