Disclaimer: Holidays are nice. Unfortunately, I don't have any holidays at the moment. Neither do I own Fushigi Yuugi. Got it?


"Chamka! Chamka!"

I waved a hand at the direction of the voice, irritated to be disturbed when I was enjoying such a peaceful slumber. Then-

"CHAMKA!!"

I shot up immediately, my eyes darting around to find the fire, or the landslide or anything of that sort that required my full concentration. Unfortunately, there was none of those- in fact there was this HUGE face in front of me. I think the shadow made me think that it was a ghost, for half of the frightening face was covered with jet black hair.

"…GYAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Takiko immediately leapt back from her crouching position in front of me, rubbing her ears. "Ow! Damn baka hentai no Chamka, it's just me! Or were you having some terrible nightmare or something?"

"You're more of that nightmare if I had one," I muttered, massaging my neck which had gone sore after my nap. I think it must have been something to do with that rock- it didn't seem to be hurt. Then again, I wasn't exactly thinking straight. "What do you want, head-hitting onna?"

She folded her arms, a slight frown on her features as she pointed outside. "The rain's stopped. Hikitsu and Iname are already waiting for you. And what do you mean by me being your nightmare?" she glared at me, giving me the chills down my spine as I laughed.

"Oh…nothing of that sort," I waved my hand left and right to dismiss the subject as I stood up, stretching to get the feeling back in my sore muscles. "The rain's stopped already? When I fell asleep, it was pouring like the world was going to end. Genbu, how long have I slept?"

"I don't know…maybe 3 hours or so."

"Tomite!" I heard Hikitsu's impatient voice from outside, accompanied with the sound of stamping hooves before I could even answer Takiko. "Are you awake yet? We don't want to waste anymore time waiting for you to nap away!"

"Fine, fine," I sighed, walking out, to be greeted by the fresh after smell of rain and the sky a little brighter than before. I understood what Hikitsu meant, though; the weather in Hokkan was as unreliable as always- we could be having the best weather of the year now and get drenched the next minute. It's crazy, I tell you. "Looks like a nice time to have a ride. Why don't we ride slowly for a change?"

The glare that I received from Hikitsu was more than enough to dispel that idea from my head. "We don't have enough time, Tomite," he scolded, looking quite annoyed at my lack of wit. "You, of all people, should know better- you came from a nomad tribe too."

"Uh…okay." I wilted under his furious glare, meekly climbing up my mare who gave me a rather irritated look as she had been enjoying some green grass while waiting for me. Then, throwing a glance down at Takiko, I quirked an eyebrow. "What about the head-hitting miko? She's lost her horse."

At the mention of her nickname, Takiko bent down, reaching for that gigantic stone nearby and threw it at me, almost knocking me off my horse with the extreme weight. "ITAIIII! What was that for, you damn onna?"

"I thought I told you to stop calling me head-hitting miko!"

"Since when? I don't seem to remember anything of that sort," I taunted, making a face at her, but quickly righted myself as she reached for another rock. "Now, hold it! We don't want to injure the horse, do we?"

Hikitsu sighed, applying slight pressure on his temples as he shook his head. "Honestly, don't the two of you ever stop?"

Iname who was patting her horse, looked up and held out a finger. "Well, I don't really think that is able to happen, Hikitsu-san. Let's just say that they're sworn enemies, ne?"

"I should've known." Another sigh came from him as he dismounted and took both our collars before pulling the both of us apart. "That's enough, the two of you. Stop acting like kids ("Who was the one who was beating me up?" I muttered), and Tomite, please learn to behave yourself. You're no longer a kid, if you've noticed by now."

Takiko was still struggling to escape from his grip, scratching thin air as she did so. "Demo, he started it first, Hikitsu! It's not fair."

"What's that supposed to mean? I believe you were the one who threw that rock at me in the first place!" I shot back, glaring at her while I wondered where in Genbu's name had my entire set of bow and arrows gone too. It was then that I spotted Iname hooking them to my horse, and I glared at her. Since when had she become Hikitsu's cohort?

"That ENOUGH." The both of us fell silent immediately, acknowledging the first signs of the arrival of Hikitsu's VERY bad temper. "The both of you will ride on the same horse, and no comments about that! Understand?"

"Uso!!!"

Hikitsu held out his hand, his palm facing us as his eye patch seemed to glow with a green light. "Would you rather have yourselves frozen?"

Both Takiko and I exchanged looks and turned away, the both of us not looking very pleased at our new predicament.

"…Fine."

-------

I will never ride on the same horse or any other animal together with Takiko. NEVER. Never in a million years, or even if Genbu descends to beg me to do so. N-E-V-E-R.

Feeling a kick to my shins, I glared down at her, wondering why in Genbu's name was I being such a martyr for our god. It was bad enough that I had to leave my village for such a baka onna, but going as far as having to pacify her? This was ridiculous.

"Stop kicking me!" I hissed, wondering how fast I could grab my bow and put an arrow through her heart. "Do it one more time and…and…"

"And what?" she stuck her tongue out tauntingly. "I didn't kick you, did I? Of course, we don't want Hikitsu to hear about this, do we? That is, unless you want to be severely maimed, of course."

I cursed fluently under my breath, trying to think what were to happen if I let the horse suddenly rear up and drop her onto the ground. She was getting on my nerves now, and it wasn't going to be any longer before I blew up. Damn that baka head-hitting miko!

Trying to draw my attention from her stupid antics and attempts to irritate me to no end, I looked around, trying to gauge how far we were from the village. The gray sky seemed to come closer to us every step we took, and I wondered if we were going higher or if it was actually descending upon us. I knew it wasn't the latter, but sometimes, thinking of such impossible things was the only way to get your mind of a certain head-hitting miko whose legs seemed rather interesting and ITAIII!

"As I said, I'm not blind," Takiko was brushing the dust off her palms as she folded her hands. "I know where your eyes are, Chamka; don't try to play dumb with me. You were being a hentai again!"

"I was not!" I argued back, flushing red as I glared daggers at her.

"Oh? Then explain why you were looking at my legs instead of the road in front!"

"Whoever said I was looking at your legs? As if I've nothing better to do!"

In front, Hikitsu sighed.

-------

I don't think any normal sane person couldn't have felt my relief when Iname offered to take Takiko out of my hands. Gods, it looked as if I owed her the biggest favour in my life; if I stayed closer to that crazy onna any longer, I'd either go insane or throw myself over the mountain ledge.

Riding up to Hikitsu, I glared at him, now not caring whether he was going to freeze me into an ice ornament. "Why in Genbu's name did you do that for?" I spat at him when he turned, acknowledging my presence beside him. "I understand that you don't like our bickering, but must you go that far?"

He shrugged, tugging slightly on his horse's reins. "Well, you survived, didn't you, Tomite? It couldn't have been so bad then."

"Not bad!" I exploded, my eyes dilating by the second. "What do you mean by 'not bad'? Do you know I nearly died back there while trying to save my skull from that head-hitting onna? I could've gotten a concussion!"

Hikitsu shook his head, turning his attention back to the road ahead of us. "Well, in that case, you'd better get ready for more of those 'near death' experiences; the longer we're caught on Mount Taihun, the longer you'll have to do that. Both Iname and me have do handle our own things too, you know."

"Demo, that's not fair! Why do I-" I was cut short when Hikitsu suddenly pulled his horse to a stop, almost throwing himself off balance. Tugging on my reins, I turned the horse the other way round, watching as he dismounted and bent down, touching the mud with his finger.

I blinked. Had he finally gone crazy, or was he scooping up mud with his finger and looking at it? Gods, had I driven him over the brink of insanity? Genbu help me…

"Er…Hikitsu?" I spoke up, wondering if he'd attack me if I spoke. "That's mud. What's so interesting about it?"

"This." He looked up, and I finally saw what he had been inspecting; a very faint but still clear shoe print- and four hooves around it. A man and a horse- a well bred one too, judging by the fact that there was the sign of the horseshoe on the hoof mark. "It looks as if we've found the Kutou army's latest tracks."

My mind suddenly flashed back to the small blurs in the rain that I thought I saw, and my eyes widened. It finally made sense; they had been here to shelter themselves from the rain, just like how we had sheltered ourselves from the downpour in the cave. But what was the Kutou army doing so far north? Shouldn't they be trying to head to the capital instead of scouting in the outskirts of Hokkan?

Iname rode up with Takiko hanging onto her back for her dear life, the seishi's eyebrows raised as she glanced quizzically at the both of us. "Is anything wrong? Takiko-san, please stop clinging to my stomach like that- it really hurts. Itai…Takiko-san…"

Hikitsu stood up, pushing a few loose silver strands of hair behind his ear as he nodded at me, both our eyes serious. "We need to speed things up a bit, Iname. Let's just say that the capital could disappear even before we can arrive there."

"Masaka…the Kutou army again?"

"Unfortunately, yes," I answered, studying where the marks led to. "They lead to the same direction that we're going- up the mountain. However, it is weird that they should be so careless in leaving so many obvious trails here that can easily be seen."

Takiko frowned slightly, releasing poor Iname who breathed a sigh of relief before looking at the serious-faced miko. "Well, it's either that they want to trap us, or they think that no one's able to cross that wind. After all, none of the villagers dare venture across the gale- here's the perfect hiding spot for anyone who wants to build a base."

I raised an eyebrow at her, pulling my mare slightly so that I could pull myself up on the stirrups. "Interesting. I never knew you actually had a brain, head-hitting miko," I commented and rode off to join Hikitsu before she could fire back a smart comment about my hentai habits or something of that sort.

It didn't take long for me to catch up with the other seishi for he had slowed his horse to a trot and seemed to be deep in thought. Raising an eyebrow, I debated if I should speak to him, but decided not to. He needed as much quiet time possible now to think- other than Iname, only he was the brilliant one.

Finally, he spoke up. "We have at least 2 hours more before the sun goes down. If we ride fast enough, we might just be able to reach the peak in time. From there, we should be able to see the Kutou army and have a look at their numbers."

"But what good does it do?" I asked, massaging my sore shoulder slightly. "We'll still be behind them- and that puts us at a disadvantage as we won't be able to warn the emperor on the pending attack."

"That's easy," Hikitsu countered, his eyes looking piercingly straight at me. "I've gone to the capital before through the river path. There's a few shortcuts that not even the city dwellers know about, much less the Kutou army. If we take those shortcuts, we might just be able to catch up and gain time."

"How many years ago did you take that shortcut actually?"

He didn't look very pleased at my question as he turned his head to make sure that the girls were keeping up with us. "I'm not that old, Tomite, just around five years older than you."

My eyes grew as wide as saucers when I heard him say that. "Uso! Demo, your hair….your hair's white!"

"Silver actually," he corrected me, looking up at the sky as the words came out from his mouth. "It should've been light blue if that hadn't happened…"

"That?" I looked at him curiously. "What's 'that'?"

He smiled wryly, his attention diverted from our plan for once. "I was never that blessed, Tomite. And to think I lost my entire life to the person I trusted the most…" He shook his head. "I still can't believe I was that gullible, that immature when that happened. It seems like so long ago."

"What seems like so long ago?" I asked again, getting more and more confused by the minute. "You lost your entire life? Does that mean you're dead? Come on, Hikitsu, you were never the person to twist your words."

The sad smile remained on his face as he shook his head. "The past is the past, Tomite; no one can bring it back no matter how much you hope. It just serves a reminder that life is not as rosy as it seems. Why remember the past when you've got the future?"

Okay, now I was really confused. What in the name of all the four gods was he talking about? I knew that poets usually spoke like that, but I never knew Hikitsu to be a philosophical type of person. It just…didn't seem to fit him.

"Ne, why are we stopping?"

He seemed to blink, as if newly woken up from a dream at the sound of Takiko's slightly puzzled voice. "Oh, nandemonai, Takiko-sama- I was just thinking about something else…"

"Sama?" The black haired girl blinked confusedly, grabbing hold of Iname's stomach even harder when the horse seemed to give a slight jolt. The poor crossdresser winced, shooting me a pleading look. I shrugged, knowing that it was not ethical of me to decline to help an onna in distress, but this was an exception. I was NOT going near any head-hitting mikos anymore today. "Ne, Chamka, is something wrong with Hikitsu?"

I glanced sideways at her, noticing the question marks that were popping up around her head, symbolizing her confusion. "Something like that, I guess. Anyway, I'd suggest you hurry; we're now aiming for the mountain peak in about…2 hours."

"We'll kill the horses by the rate we're going," Iname grumbled under her breath, patting her stallion's mane. "Well, what are we waiting for then? Hikitsu-san's not a person to wait for long, according to what I think, ao why don't we get going?"

"Well, I don't know about that," I turned to look at the sky above me. "He's been acting very strange lately."

"Strange?"

"Hai. Come on, don't stay behind, especially you, head-hitting onna. I wouldn't want to drag you up there, if that's what you're thinking," I spoke, raising an eyebrow as I quickened my horse's pace.

She glared at me. "Just be glad I don't have anything to throw at you, Chamka!"

I laughed, galloping slightly around the next corner. The sight that greeted me was one that I never forgot.


Author's Notes:

Ah…the curse of writer's block and the lull of better plot bunnies- dangerous things, these are. That's why they're the curse of all writers everywhere. Anyway… ^_~

This chapter isn't a fun as the previous one- took me 4 days to write it too. Okay, okay, I admit that I am lazy, but that's not the point. What can I do if I'm suffering from first class writer's block which leaves one mind in a single blank? Besides, I admit that I'm severely tempted to write that Hikitsu side story that I promised you guys about…only that I don't know how to start it. Juufan no baka!!

Hikitsu: And naturally, like all FY characters' histories, my history is an extremely sad one. In fact, Juufan's guaranteed that by the end of that story, every reader (who reads it, of course), will start crying on my shoulder. -_- I'm married, for crying out loud!

Well, not everyone likes to face the fact that you have a wife, Hikitsu. Notice, by the way, that his story is going to be dreadfully (and traditionally) tragic, as hinted by this chapter. Just make sure to get those tissues ready when you read it, okay? Oh, and for the guys out there, don't worry; a little crying never hurt anyone. Then again, I am an onna… ^_~ v

Tomite: A sadistic onna too. I still don't understand why you enjoy tormenting me by waking me up in horribly creative ways (quote from Purple Mouse herself).

It's fun watching you go 'GYAAAAHHHHH!!!!!'. The only other person who has the ability to do that now is…either you or Takiko. By the way, since when have you become my muse?

Tomite: *whistles*

*picks him up and throws him at Takiko* Go do horribly creative things to her (not hentai!!!) and don't disturb me. I'm busy. My sentences, in fact, if anyone has noticed, have been reduced to…three or four words per person. Bad, no da…I'm losing touch with how to write REAL conversations. .

Random question: Does anyone have Kimi Ga Hohoemu Nara, or rather known as Tomite and Hikitsu's song? It's so hard to find on the Internet, even if I have Winmx. Perhaps someone could recommend a site that has the song and doesn't get deleted as soon as it's posted? If you don't understand what I mean by that, take a look at how many sites that have anime mp3s on the Net: practically none. Copyright plays a very important role in all this too, no da. It makes songs disappear.

Random statement: Kaze-chan, Toroki is cool! ^_~ Seriously. Of course, Tokaki isn't bad too…

By the way, Kang Xiu, you're number one again!! And you really ahve to stop calling me sensei...I'm not that good. ^^;; And Syane, well...I'm not relaly sure if he's whining too much but as for the cursing thing...well, he hasn't set foot inside a temple for...seven years. Can't blame him, can you??

Okay then, until next time, ja ne~!