Disclaimer: Fushigi Yuugi is the property of Watase Yuu and her affiliates. If you want to sue me, you can have whatever I personally own. Which is... absolutely nothing of any great value.

Yes, I am a lazy author. If you actually remember what this is about, you have an excellent memory and I applaud you. I just couldn't be bothered writing more for a long time and I'm very sorry. Thanks for all the previous reviews, they're much appreciated. Oh, and Ryuen, I'm sorry to say it but I have no idea as to where I found that quote. It was just in my computer files, taking up space with all the other junk. The twins are eventually going to be in this story. Miboshi and Tomo were, for some unexplainable and probably stupid reason, gathered before them. They'll turn up though, I like them (well, Amiboshi especially. I still haven't quite forgiven Suboshi for killing Tomo ^^'). To the person who said the chapter was short... well, you're right there. I'm afraid I lose what I was writing about if I make the chapters too long and they end up the most stupid random junk you've ever read in your life. A bit like this author's note, really. Anyway, I'm going to shut up now and write the story, which is a minor miracle.

Miaka, the Suzaku no Miko, listened carefully. Having stumbled upon one of her more serious moods, her face only held the smallest residual remains of a smile. Her companions were, on the whole, walking carefully as well. The gloomy atmosphere of the shadowed forest had affected them. Chichiri was the only one of them who was not sullen, having taken it upon himself to cheer up the others. He was currently hanging upside-down from a tree branch, a goofy grin on his masked face. Whether the mask could have an expression that didn't seem humorous was a moot point.

The silence was finally broken by Miaka. "Do you hear that?" she asked Nuriko.

"What?" Nuriko asked, moving his head to one side in a vain effort to discover what Miaka was talking about. "Unless it's your stomach again."

"Someone's singing," she replied, laughing along with Nuriko at his comment. "Although, come to think of it, I am hungry."

Nuriko fell over on his back in the dirt.

A few hours later, a very hungry and tired group of Suzaku seishi arrived at an inn. After they had all eaten (and, in Tasuki's case, drunk sake), they went to their rooms. Miaka and Nuriko were sharing, as the innkeeper, of course, had believed Nuriko was female.

"Nurikooooo..." Miaka whined.

"Yeeeees," Nuriko replied in the same voice.

"I think that singing's back," commented Miaka.

Nuriko strained his ears again. "I can't hear anything," he said. The tone of his voice indicated he thought Miaka was loosing her mind. "Miaka, maybe you should go to sleep, it's fairly dark."

Miaka nodded. Closing her eyes, she tried to sleep, but found it impossible. She could still hear the faint singing above Nuriko's snores. She made a mental note to annoy Nuriko about this later. "It couldn't hurt to go outside and check what that sound is..."

The Suzaku no Miko stumbled out of bed, slipping on a pair of shoes at the door to the inn. She wandered towards the forest, where the sound had been coming from.

Suddenly, there were bats all around her. The small creatures were tearing at her hair and clothes. A single bat couldn't do much harm, but in a mob they were as deadly as anything else. Miaka screamed loudly, trying in vain to keep the bats away with swipes of her hands.

She could hear the singing too, coming from somewhere closer now. There were footsteps behind her. Probably Nuriko... Miaka thought through a haze.

Suddenly, the bats were gone from her body. Opening her eyes which she had closed in her terror, Miaka saw that they were dead around her. A figure moved slowly from the dark forest, at first cloaked in shadow and then clearly visible.

Miaka looked up at her saviour. He had long black hair, a pale face and golden eyes. "I am Suzaku Shichi Seishi Chiriko," he said. He pulled up his sleeve, showing a red glowing symbol on the inside of his arm.

"How?" Miaka asked. "How did you kill those bats if you have no weapon?"

'Chiriko' smiled and held out his hand. Inside it was a small clam shell. "There's my weapon."

"What does it do?" inquired Miaka.

"I'll show you," replied Tomo. He tapped open Shin and concentrated. For once, he thanked Seiryuu that his symbol was in the place it was. A many-armed monster appeared out of thin air, its grotesque body a greenish gray colour. "He's what I used."

"Did you attack her?" It was Nuriko, running up to where Miaka was still sitting.

"It wasn't him!" Miaka said, getting up. "He saved me."

"Who did this then?" Nuriko asked.

"Him," said the false Chiriko, pointing at a man slumped on the ground some distance away.

"You didn't..." Miaka asked in shock.

"He's unconscious."

Sorry about the length. I try to write long chapters, but they never end up that way. Anyway, read and review.