Chapter 7: A Meeting

Hikari:

"Hikari!!!" cried a bubbly bouncing Miaka as she hugged me. "You're finally out of bed!!!"

"Hai." I pulled myself away from Miaka's embrace. "I'm finally out of bed. I can't believe Mitsukake made me stay in bed for the entire day yesterday."

"Ohayo, Miaka-sama, Hikari," a deep voice bellowed behind me. I turned around. "Ohayo, Mitsukake."

Mitsukake immediately placed a hand on my forehead. I sighed. This guy was sure a worry wart. "Daijoubu! Honto!" I gently pushed his hand away.

All of a sudden, there was a loud rumbling sound.

"Oops! Gomen nasai! I haven't ate breakfast yet." Miaka sweatdropped as she realized that it was her stomach that was rumbling.

I sighed. "Let's go to the dining room. Mitsukake? Would you like to join us?"

Mitsukake nodded silently. Miaka was too impatient. She rushed off to the dining room, leaving me and Mitsukake alone.

"Hikari?"

"Hai?"

"When you came back, I mean when you were rescued. why did you have bandages wrapped around your body when you had no injures? And I thought that Chichiri said that you were blasted by Nakago." Mitsukake began.

"Did I change into a kid?" I could see that my question surprised him a little.

"Hai. Why?"

"Well. You see. I actually have two totally split personality. One is the immature kid. And another is me. I mean the fifteen year old me. Because our personality is totally different, we sort of have split physical forms as well. That's why I can change into a kid. But, in the process of transforming, any injuries on me or the kid version of me disappears. Well, not really disappear but sort of healed at an extremely fast rate. I did obtain a serious wound but when I changed into a kid, the wound got healed in a matter of seconds". I paused. I wonder how he will react to my explanations. Only a person who studied magic can really understand this.

"I see. So you mean, that every time you get seriously wounded, all I have to do is to whack you in the head and you're healed?"

I shook my head. "Iie!!! It takes a lot of ki energy just to change into a kid. It's my entire physical form changing! I. If you do so, especially if I have serious injuries, I probably end up unconscious for hours. Days even."

Mitsukake silently nodded.

I entered the dining room, greeted by the really shocking sight before me. Miaka was there in her seat and everyone else weren't eating. They were staring at her. All the plates of food were empty. Well, almost. Nuriko was hugging two bowls of porridge.

"Thank goodness you both arrived on time!!! If you came a second later, I swear I won't be able to save these two bowls for you!!!" Nuriko said as he handed us both the bowls of porridge.

"Arigatou." I began when Miaka asked me, "Are you eating that? Cause' if you're not, I'll finish it for you!!!" Without waiting for me to answer, Miaka snatched the bowl away from me and began gobbling it down. I could only stare at her in disbelief.

"Uh, someone please tell me that this is not the really miko. This has got to be a joke." I continued to stare at her, like the others.

Nuriko dug his elbows into my ribs. "Face it. This is the real miko".

"Right. Bottomless miko," Tasuki added.

This was going to be a long journey.

"Well, now that everyone is FULL, we'll begin the meeting," Hotohori tried to ignore Miaka who was gobbling down some sweet pastries. "We'll begin with Hikari. Hikari, after this, a servant will show you to your own room in the palace. And would you like to go back to your village for a while to gather your belongings?" Hotohori eyed my clothing. I wore a pale yellow long sleeved Chinese blouse with a pair of matching long pants. It was the same with the previous clothing that I wore. Its just that the colour was different.

"Uh, Hotohori? These are my clothes," I began before he interrupted me.

"How did you get your clothes? When we summoned you, you didn't have anything with you," Hotohori said, now he was beginning to doubt me.

"Let me explain. When you summoned me, I was travelling. The reason I wasn't carrying anything with me is that I can keep stuff in my shadow. Here, let me show you," I got of my seat. I faced my own shadow which was cast on the walls. I placed my hand on my shadow and muttered something. I could hear gasps behind me as my hand went through the wall, or should I say my own shadow. I pulled out a bag containing my belongings. "See?" I waved the bag around, as if I made a new scientific discovery.

Miaka was the first to speak up. "Cool!!! So can you keep food in there?"

"MIAKA!!!" Everyone in the room exclaimed as we shook our heads. This miko was really bottomless, wasn't she?

"Fine, that's settled. Secondly, since we discovered that we're short of one seishi, we must find the last seishi soon. After we've found the last seishi, we will be heading to Mt. Taikyou to ask Taiit-sikun on how to summon Suzaku without the scroll," Hotohori cleared his throat before continuing. "But, since we have seen how powerful our enemy is, we all need to train and become stronger. There is also a possibility of your family in danger. So, I've come to a conclusion. Your family will be allowed to stay in the palace". Hotohori looked around.

Hotohori:

I looked around. It would be useless to ask Miaka's family. They were in another world.

Tamahome.

"Well, Tamahome? Your charming family must come to the palace. I insist!" I met his family before. It would be dreadful of anything were to happen to them.

"Honto ni?" Tamahome asked. I could see that he was doubting my words. After all, we didn't exactly started off that great. Miaka came in between us after all.

"Hai. And all their needs will be provided. They'll have three meals per day, don't have to work as I'll be providing them money. And. they don't need to pay taxes." I wasn't quite done with my sentence when Tamahome interrupted.

"YOOHOO!!! No taxes!!! I'm in!!! Alright, when do I pick them up?"

I shook my head. Typical Tamahome. I didn't know what Miaka saw in him.

"Tomorrow afternoon slightly before lunch will be fine." I replied. Hmm. I can't ask Chichiri, Mitsukake nor could I ask Nuriko. Unless I wanted several graves in the middle of the palace.

"Tasuki?"

"ME?!" he asked in disbelief. "Oh, don't worry, my family can take care of themselves. Those vicious sisters of mine, they can survive a war. My sis will kill all those bloody soldiers." He hesitated before continuing. "Trust me, women are SCARY. You DON'T want them here," he said in a low voice, as if trying to give his sentence a scarier effect.

"You sure?" Chichiri asked. "It's a war Tasuki, not a game."

"Oh, they'll be fine." Tasuki folded his arms. "So can we get this over and done with? I need some sake!!!"

Clearly, the discussion with Tasuki was over.

"Hikari?"

"Me? Nope. No one. Not that I can think of any," she replied with a casual smile.

I frowned. Girls who were orphans usually lead very miserable lives. They either end up in a brothel or die of starvation. Girls didn't really have high status and it was dangerous for any of them to be wandering around by themselves all alone.

I nodded silently. "Well, it looks like Tamahome's family will be the only ones coming to live in the palace".

Yukiko raised her hand.

"Yukiko?"

"I was wondering. how come we have to go to a mountain to ask some advice from some hermit living there?"

"Well, you see. I sort of lost the scroll at the Kutou palace when I went there." Miaka scratched the back of her head.

"So that's why the scroll was with Nakago!" Hikari exclaimed.

"Do you know what happened to the scroll?" I asked, hoping that there was a chance of summoning Suzaku without having to seek help from Taiit-sikun. It's a real disgrace for such a beautiful man like me to be found talking to such an ugly old hag.

Hikari shook her head sadly. "Alas, Nakago destroyed it".

Everyone gasped. The scroll destroyed?

Yukiko stood up. "That monster!!! How dare he! Hotohori, I want to announce something. Watashi wa.... I'm actually the oracle of Seiryuu."

I looked at quiet Amiboshi sitting in a corner. He nodded, confirming that Yukiko was telling the truth.

"And," Yukiko took out a blue scroll from her pocket. "This is Seiryuu's scroll. Since Nakago destroyed your scroll, I suppose the only correct thing to do is to do the same to this scroll". And with that, she tore the scroll into pieces. Amiboshi watched in horror.

"Yukiko..." he began.

"Iie!!! I had just about enough of Nakago. Let him have a taste of his own medicine!!!" Yukiko flung the pieces of paper outside the window. She watched as they sank beneath the nearby pond's surface. "There!!!" She said, quite pleased with herself.

"Yukiko..." Amiboshi murmured as he shook his head.

Everyone else in the room stared in horror.

"Great job woman! Now Nakago has another reason to kill us!!!" Tasuki grumbled angrily.

Hikari:

Yukiko really hates Nakago. From her unwise decision to destroy the scroll of Seiryuu showed how angry she was at him. I wonder, whatever did Nakago do that made her hate him a lot?

Yukiko calmly walked back to her seat, with a big grin on her face. Obviously, she's quite pleased with herself.

Hotohori immediately resumed the meeting. " Ahem. And since we do not have anymore sudden and shocking news left, I want.."

I interrupted him. "Gomen, for interrupting you demo, I think you've left out a very important question. We must always be a step ahead of our opponents. Therefore, I think that it is best for us to know the other Seiryuu seishis better. That way, we're slightly prepared to face them." Everyone in the room nodded, agreeing with me.

"Hai! I think we should know our enemy better!!!" Nuriko said loudly.

"Amiboshi?" Hotohori asked. All pairs of eyes stared hard at him, waiting for an answer.

Amiboshi gulped. "Al... Alright, I'll tell you. There's Nakago. He can manipulate ki. Tomo, he's a master of illusions. Miboshi is a monk who practices black magic. Ashitare, a half man, half wolf. Suboshi, he's only weapon is a ryuuseisui. He's the youngest, be gentle with him. He always lets his emotions get the better of him. He's immature, please don't hurt him."

"Fine, fine whatever. Who's the last one?" Tasuki complaint loudly.

"Soi," Amiboshi replied. "The only female. She can control storms and lightning are her specialty. And she knows how to perform Bou-Chuu jutsu magic."

"Bou-Chuu jutsu magic, you say? That kind of stuff takes two parties. Who does she performs it with?" I asked, frowning. I didn't know that Seiryuu seishis were that daring...

"Umm... Nakago. Every night. I mean late in the night." Amiboshi blushed. Clearly, this was not something that was meant to be spoken in public.

"I see."

"What the fucking hell are you talking about? What is this bullshit magic you're talking about?" Tasuki asked confused.

"Oh, its something complicated that your tiny brain can't digest that's all." Chichiri answered him cheerfully.

"I think that we've covered all the basic topics needed to be discussed today. So, I'll end the meeting now," Hotohori announced.

Everyone left the room quietly. "Amiboshi? Can I see you for a while?" I asked. Amiboshi nodded. Amiboshi seemed to be distracted throughout the entire meeting.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Curiousity killed the cat. Why do you care so much for the seishi named Suboshi?"

Amiboshi hesitated to answer. "He's my twin brother."

"You care about him a lot, don't you?"

He nodded.

"I see. That was all I wanted to talk to you about. You can go."

Amiboshi looked at me, surprised that I dismissed him so soon. He simply shrugged and left.

"Hikari-sama, kindly follow me to your room." A gentle timid voice said softly.

I turned around. A servant bowed politely. "Hai." With that, I followed her to my room.

Author's Note: Hiya minna!!! Gomen, this one took pretty long to write!!! You guys rock, totally!!! Arigatou minna-san for actually supporting me all the way!!! I have to say, this is one of my most successful stories written ever!!! Kristen, thanks for reviewing my story! (finally!!! A long awaited review!!!)

Spoilers: The part of killing Tamahome's family will be in the next chapter. It wouldn't be just before they left Konan. And Chiriko will come in the next, next chapter, I think. In fact, I might add him in the next chapter as well, hehe. I'm not really that sure myself.

List of Japanese words :

Gomen nasai – I'm sorry

Hai – Yes

Arigatou – Thanks

Honto ni – Are you sure?

Gomen – Sorry

Bou-Chuu jutsu – A type of magic that uses sex to transfer one's ki into that of another person and vice versa