Wow. I totally rewrote this fic after I went over it again. It was my first ever fic and it needed a face-lift, bad. I hope this version gets a much more welcome response than the last one. I tell you it was crap. A very smelly piece of crap and now I know why no one liked it the first time around. Well this isn't your typical "oh look there's another priestess" routine. Lord there are too many out there for moi to add to. Soo I settled on something else. And nooo this is not a self insert, Mary sue or any of that. The character is slightly OC but in later chapters you'll find out why I said "slightly". Other than that I say on with the show.

Ch. 1

A long and dreary day at college had left Arashi drained and weary. Knowing she still had to pull an all-nighter for winter finals, she put on her trusty old sweats and favorite oversized tee and settled down for a long night. 'This is what I get for being such a procrastinator.' Tetsuya, it seemed, had some late night cramming to do as well when he walked in droopy-eyed, and carrying a stack load of text books. He sat down at the tatami table and joined Arashi, spreading out his books deciding which subject to tackle first. Both roommates had been studying diligently and helping each other out in certain subjects for a good two hours, when Arashi decided to get some energizers for the home stretch.

"Hey, bro. I'm goin' t' da kitchen, ya want anythin'?" she asked, her Osaka dialect as present as ever. She tried to hide it, since she wasn't from Tokyo, but she always ended up tripping over her words. Tetsuya only nodded, which by now, Arashi was used to. It was up to her to pick something out for him, and that always meant coffee, strong coffee. So while the coffee perked, she ate ice cream straight out of the tub, at this point not really caring if anybody else got her germs. She poured the coffee into two mugs and watched, for a moment, the steam rise up invitingly towards her nose. She placed the two mugs on a serving tray next to plates full of cookies and chocolate and basically anything with sugar in it. Then she headed back towards the study session.

On her way back, Arashi passed by Tetsuya's room and on the floor was something that made her stop. An ancient book, all in Chinese and faintly glowing white. She thought her sleep-deprived eyes were playing tricks on her, and since she couldn't read Chinese, thought it was one of Tetsuya's text books that he had forgotten. She placed it on the tray with the coffee and continued on her way.

"Ahhh, coffee. Oooh and its sugar rush time too? Yay!" Tetsuya squealed at the sight of the goodies. Arashi set down the tray and picked up the book. She didn't know why, she just felt compelled to grab it.

"Hey, Tetsuya, when didja start takin' Chinese fer a language class?" she prodded, opening the book.

"Hey! You shouldn't-" but it was too late, she opened the book and saw....nothing. The pages were....blank?

"What teh hell? Der's nothin' in here!" However, no sooner were the words out of her mouth, the pages sprang to life and she was drawn into the world of the Mysterious Play.

Tasuki had been tracking a group of rogue bandits for 4 weeks now, and was just catching up to fresh tracks. His warrior speed was of little use when tracking, because he always ended up back-tracking after he had bypassed the trail. So he resorted to tracking normally, which was a long and arduous process. The trail was becoming more recent the farther he ventured into Hokkan. They seemed to be taking their sweet time, staying two or three days at a time, raping and pillaging as they pleased. This is why he was tracking them; they were smearing the name of the Mt. Reikaku bandits. 'We have a code to follow, no rape and no needless destruction. They broke that code, now they pay.' Both he and Koji had banished the troupe, hoping that they would have the sense not to try anything stupid. Nope, not a chance. Tasuki was getting tired of having to see village after village up in flames, nothing but death and destruction in their wake. Tonight was the night he would finally catch up to them; he just hoped he wasn't too late to stop another needless attack.

Coming upon a clearing, Tasuki could clearly see the bandits surrounding something 'or someone' in curiosity. He strained to hear what they were saying without giving away his position.

"Lookit 'er hair, its soo strange, unnatural-like. An' 'er clothes, I ain't never seen nothin' like 'um." A big brute of a man spoke up. He was fingering the hair, which to Tasuki, was strange, but having spent time in Miaka's world, however briefly, had seen some teens with the same style. The kids first bleach their hair and then colored the ends an unnatural color; the ends of this person's hair were a deep royal purple. The clothes that the brute spoke of were indeed unusual for this world as well. Women did not often wear pants and the strange tunic she wore had the saying "WARNING: Rabid Fan girl", not something you see everyday in Hokkan, or, for that matter, China.

"So what?! A woman's a woman, an' they're only good fer one thing only, an' that's makin' me happy!" said a shorter man, whose figure was still intimidating and had an air of command about him. He seemed to be the closest thing to a leader this rag-tag team of bandits had. It seemed he was going to have the first shot at the unconscious girl in front of them, by the hungry look in his eyes, but Tasuki was not about to stand by and do nothing. He may hate women, but he drew the line at violation, whether it was abuse or rape, both were absolutely out of the question. While the men were preoccupied in their little circle, he snuck up behind the "leader" and tapped him on the shoulder. 'The old turn-around-to-a-knuckle-sandwich trick. Works like a charm.' As soon as the man turned around, he was sent reeling backwards over the girl. The big brute to the left took a swing at Tasuki but was too slow. 'Slow-brained, monkey-faced morons.' Tasuki dropped down to a crouching position while one leg swept around in circular direction, taking the big man's feet out from under him. Once the two "problem" children were dealt with, the other three ran, they ran like bats out of hell.

"Good riddance. Now t' deal wid these two idjits.' He tied the two men to a tree and left them food and water. 'If they could reach it o'course. Well I can't jus leave her here fer some other mongrel t' find.' Making up his mind, Tasuki lifted her onto his back, draping her arms over his shoulders and setting her thighs on his hips. She didn't seem to be from this world, rather, she reminded him of Miaka and her sailor fuku. His heart panged at the thought. No, he must think of the task at hand, not reminisce about past mistakes. Tasuki had been going at full speed, blanking out every now and then to think about what he was going to do with this mysterious newcomer, when she started to stir. He slowed to a stop as her eyes began to open.

"Huh? Wha-? Who? WOAH! Who're you?! An'...where...?" she looked around for the first time and saw the forest, not the small tatami table she shared with Tetsuya. For a few seconds she just stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed, and then a loud "POOF!" and the ever familiar "DA!" rang through the air.

"HOLY CRAP! What izzat?! A friggin' squirrel?!"

"Ya' know I said the same thin' when I firs' saw 'im."

It had just become too much for her already crammed out brain to handle, so Arashi passed out, overwhelmed by her current situation. Tasuki heard the loud THUMP behind him and found her once again sprawled out on the forest floor. 'Well doesn't dis look familiar.' He picked her up again, but this time he carried her in his arms since they wouldn't be running forever and a day no that Chichiri was there.

"What brings ya' all teh way out here, Chichiri? I thought I'd be runnin' fer days."

"Miaka and Tamahome came back and they want to see all of us, No da!" Chichiri chirped. He was already taking off his cloak, seeing as there would be three of them journeying to the palace in Konan. Striking the center of the cloth, Chichiri motioned for Tasuki to go through. He was met on the other side by the rest of the Suzaku warriors, including Tamahome, who was sporting a worried look along with Miaka. Both of their frowns seemed to dissipate when they saw who Tasuki had in his arms.

"Tasuki! You found Arashi!"

(A/N): and that's the way the cookie crumbles. Hehe I hope you guys all like the updated version. For those of you new to this story, thank GOD you never saw the first one. Oh and remember to review ppl!