Sister to Miko
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Chapter Three: The Test of Suzaku no Miko
*Hotohori*
"Heika-sama!" a young guard rushed in, bowing. I recognised him as my recently appointed Head Patrol Guard. There had been a lot of controversy, seeing as how inexperienced he was. I suppose I had let him take the position because of my personal prejudice against age discrimination...
"What is it, Head Patrol Guard?"
"There is a girl at the door, saying she is Suzaku no Miko."
"That's great! We haven't been announcing this publicly or anything, have we?"
"No, Heika-sama."
"Good. Then she probably is telling the truth." I rushed to put on my robes; I wanted to leave a good impression on Suzaku no Miko...
As I was heading for the main entrance, a loud gong sounded, not unlike the bedtime gong for the trial concubines. It was the jailbreak gong.
A flurry of guards dashed past me, one of them telling me to stay where I was in case it was a trap. I sighed and sat on a rock, reminding me of the day I met that girl... Kiku, was it? Ah, things had been getting exciting these days, after that boring year. My first batch of trial concubines (father had had them being picked out annually by Madam Niyodo for Suzaku knows how long, but I put my foot down to that law, saying I would choose for myself), Suzaku no Miko's appearance and now my first jailbreak for a year.
Just then, I saw a young girl (she looked a little younger than Kiku) in indecent brown clothes running along. Remembering how Kiku had been fooled, I decided to act like a woman again.
She seemed nice but was flustered, and after exchanging a few words I had a strange notion that she was Suzaku no Miko.
Suddenly, we were surrounded by guards, disrupting my little masquerade and I was forced to reveal I was the emperor. The girl's big eyes flew open in shock, and she pressed her hands against my chest! Everyone sweatdropped.
"Uh, Miaka?" a young man with teal blue hair stepped into the scene uncertainly.
"Tamahome, she's a man!" the young girl exclaimed. Tamahome? I had read the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho, the book of destiny, and Tamahome was the name of one of the Suzaku shichiseishi.
"Capture them!" the Head Patrol Guard called. Tamahome settled into a fighting stance, defensive of Miaka. As he fought off the guards single-handedly, I could only watch in awe... I knew that I had found a seishi. The red symbol '
"Stop!" I commanded, halting the men in their tracks. Tamahome punched one more guard and turned towards me. "Suzaku shichiseishi Tamahome, we mean you no harm. Let's discuss this peacefully in the room."
"But Heika-sama, they were supposed to be in jail -"
"I'll handle it."
"Wai!" Miaka cheered innocently. Tamahome followed, but was much more wary and held his body as a shield to protect Miaka even as he walked.
"Call for my advisor urgently," I whispered to a soldier. In no time, the old man hurried to his place beside me. He was like a father to me, always with the right things to say. Kounan would have been a pile of rubble if not for him helping me.
"So, how did you end up in jail?" I asked.
"We were going to tell you that we had found the Suzaku no Miko," Tamahome began. "I believe Miaka is she."
"I was transported here by a book," Miaka said, her big brown eyes pleading at me. "The Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho. I am from a world in the future."
"Give me a moment to narrate the events of the past ten minutes to my advisor," I told them, then informed my advisor of Tamahome's symbol etc.
"We clearly need a logical person to deduce the truth right now," he pondered aloud (he always did that), "and I know one person who is superb at that, and on hand right now. You'll have to trust me on this one, Heika."
Just then, the Head Patrol Guard rushed in. "The other girl claiming to be Suzaku no Miko is still outside, Heika-sama." Now things were getting confusing.
"Bring her in, Head Patrol Guard. And advisor, please get that person to court."
Tamahome was impatient, I could tell. And Miaka... if this was Suzaku no Miko, the love of my life... Suzaku no Miko was a dream for me; the person worthy of my love. This girl was indeed beautiful. Probably not as beautiful as the trial concubine 'red', but a little prettier than Kiku. Kiku? In my thoughts, I vaguely heard her voice, "My respects to you, Heika-sama."
"Heika-sama!" my advisor gently tapped me on the shoulder and I saw that two more girls were now kneeling in front of me. One was in purple - Kiku. So it hadn't been in my thoughts. The other was dressed in garish clothing, with many-coloured hair. The 'other' Suzaku no Miko.
"Uh, advisor," I knitted my eyebrows, "where is that person who can deduce the truth?" He looked at me like I was six years old. "Kiku?"
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*Kiku*
I just knelt there foolishly, staring straight ahead at our emperor, who seemed to be a little dazed. I could only register the presence of the advisor and the emperor, and only one train of thought was going through my head: the old man knows! The old man remembers me! He called me Keiji!
Then I heard a voice to my side and couldn't help turning my head. A handsome young man with long blue hair had scoffed at the young lady with bad dress sense, "You think you're Suzaku no Miko?" and the half-naked girl with two buns for hair was laughing.
"Kiku, come up here," the emperor said.
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*Miaka*
The beautiful emperor beckoned the lavender-clad young girl up. I still couldn't get over the fact that I had mistaken him for a woman. Tamahome was still teasing the other girl who claimed to be Suzaku no Miko. For a moment I doubted I was, but I knew that Tamahome was my seishi, and he would protect me. Therefore I was Suzaku no Miko.
I watched the lavender-clad girl who looked about my age. She was wise, definitely.