"Megumi!" Yumi ran toward her friend to hug her. "Megumi! How did you get here?" Yumi tried to embrace her best friend, and was shocked when she passed through Megumi. Yumi looked back. Sure enough, it was definitely Megumi, down to the golden tint in her hazel eyes. She too was wearing the Jonan School uniform. Megumi walked up to Yumi.

"Can you really see me?" She asked, tears forming in her eyes. Yumi nodded, resisting the urge to try to comfort Megumi, knowing she would just pass through her again. She could see the street through Megumi. Megumi smiled, letting her happiness show.

"I'm so glad you can finally see me!" Yumi's mind raced back to all the times Koji claimed he was seeing a ghost, and Yumi asked, a little fearfully,

"Have you been with me since the bandits?" Megumi nodded, and Yumi looked down. Some of the worst moments of her life had occurred there, and she didn't want anyone but herself to know about it. Megumi tried to put a hand on Yumi's shoulder, and Yumi was glad to feel her friend's warmth, even if she couldn't feel her touch. Yumi looked up, trying to forget about what had happened to her while she on Mt. Reikaku.

"How did you get here? All I could think about was that at least you would be safe in our world, but you're stuck here, too. How did we get here?"

"Which one is the priestess no da?" Came the monk's voice, and he was answered by the low voice of the other man.

"I don't know, but I think the one with reddish brown hair is our priestess. She managed to draw two of her warriors to her already." Yumi looked over at the two men discussing her.

"Who are you really?" She asked, trying to piece everything together in her mind.

"I am Chichiri, one of the Suzaku Seven no da." The man with the blue hair tipped his straw hat in Yumi's direction, smiling cheekily. Yumi looked expectantly at the other man.

"I am Hotohori, but I usually go by another title." Yumi looked at him for another second.

"Are you the emperor?" Yumi asked. Hotohori smiled and nodded.

"And one of you is the Priestess of Suzaku." Yumi nodded. She had heard all this before. Chichiri interrupted Hotohori's speech describing all the reasons why she had to be from another world.

"You've met another of the Suzaku Stars no da. I can sense it no da!" The fox-faced man said, readjusting the wide brimmed hat over his blue hair. Yumi was very, very confused. She could still see Megumi on her right, staring off into the distance. Even as she watched, her friend grew fainter and fainter.

"Megumi!" She called sharply, trying to get the smaller girl's attention. Megumi looked up quickly, coming back into clear focus, though the street was still vaguely visible through her form.

"That is very strange, no da. I can't sense that girl's life force at all, no da. It's like she isn't even there…" Chichiri said softly, his first high-pitched cheery voice turning serious towards the end of his comment. Hotohori finally realized that no one was paying attention to his little speech and stopped in a very peeved manner. Yumi almost laughed. He looked almost like a little kid who hadn't gotten what he wanted.

"So… um… Hotohori? Who was that other wo- I mean, person?" Yumi asked. The emperor frowned slightly.

"That was Korin, one of the girls from the Inner Seraglio. When I tried to get out of the palace this morning, she found me and made me take her with me. Either that or she was going to tell my counselors." Hotohori said, flipping out his long brown hair that was restrained loosely with a small tie in the back. Chichiri arched one of his comical eyebrows.

"Um… your highness? Maybe we should go to the palace, no da? We need to find out which of these girls is the Priestess of Suzaku, no da." Yumi frowned, and Megumi giggled softly. Those "no da" sounds were rather hilarious, and strange.

The next thing the two girls knew, they were in the palace. It was absolutely amazing. Does anyone have a right to be this rich? Gold plated things were everywhere, on the walls and even on the silverware. Or, would that make it goldware? Hmm…

Hotohori was a very good host. They, well… Yumi and Chichiri ate. Megumi tried, but she still passed through the food, though it took a bit of pushing for her hand to pass completely through the hunk of bread she wanted so dearly. There was resistance, so maybe she'd become solid soon.

-------

Chichiri was deep in thought. He was deep within the Suzaku shrine, sitting directly underneath the golden statue of Konan's patron beast-god. The two girls from the other world were standing in front of him, looking extremely uncomfortable. They had been here for a long time. Chichiri frowned, the eyebrows of his mask turning upside down. He still hadn't removed his mask in the presence of the girls or his fellow Celestial Warriors. He didn't want them to be disturbed by the scar that slanted from his left eyebrow, across his eye, and ended at his nose. It made people uncomfortable. No, he wouldn't take off his mask, yet.

He could see the two girls fidgeting. He was probing with his chi to find out if he could tell the two apart, and see which one was the Priestess of Suzaku. He had discovered that a long hour ago. It had to be the solid one. He couldn't feel any life at all emanating from the second one. That was what puzzled his mind so. It was as if she was dead. But, that couldn't be right. Ghosts and spirits existed, true, but they did not linger so… well… he didn't really know how to describe it. She wasn't there.

Turning to the second girl, Megumi, he nodded, trying to catch her wandering attention. She looked at him questioningly. The monk smiled.

"Megumi? Would you please concentrate hard on something in this room?" He asked, deciding to test a theory. The girl frowned (she seemed to do that a lot) and looked at Yumi, her eyebrows set and her mouth in a firm line. She was definitely concentrating. Instead of using his chi to ascertain his hypothesis, he simply watched. Yumi twitched under Megumi's fierce gaze, and Chichiri watched. As he did so, he noted that the girl's form was becoming easier to pick out. And after a while, he could no longer see the shrine doors through her body.

Yumi smiled and ran forward, catching her friend in a tight hug. This time, she didn't pass through. Megumi squealed, making Chichiri's face go slack in a very strange expression. These girls are weird, no da. Chichiri thought.

-------

Megumi was definitely glad. She was solid! Of course, that was a funny thing to say. I'm solid again? She thought suddenly, laughing at herself. Who could care if she hadn't taken her medicine in three days, or that she was stuck in this funny place. She was solid! Which of course, meant that she could eat!

She made her way straight to the room she shared with Yumi, poking her head in and looking around. Yumi was sprawled on her stomach across her bed, her head resting on her arms, sleeping away.

"YUMI!" She didn't move. If Yumi could do anything right, it was sleep. She practiced it all the time! In class, when Megumi came to visit her at her house… Megumi looked down at her friend and sighed. The girl was hopeless. Megumi set up her own blankets so they would be ready when she wanted to rest. Yumi rolled over in her sleep. Thinking that Yumi was ready to wake up, Megumi leaned close to her, ready to jump on her and scare when she opened her eyes, but it never happened.

"Genro…" Yumi whispered softly and fell back into a deep sleep. Megumi didn't recognize the word, but it definitely sounded like a man's name. She smiled to herself. When Yumi woke, Megumi would have some questions for her. While Yumi had been at the bandit compound, Megumi had just wandered around, hating the fact that she couldn't talk to anyone, and getting a kick out of spooking Koji. She realized she must have missed some things.

Megumi sighed and quietly exited the room leaving her friend to sleep in peace. She wandered through the brightly decorated palace halls, trying to find the kitchen. While it was true that she hadn't gotten hungry during the two days she spent as an apparition or whatever she had been, her stomach was now growling to make up for the lapse. She admired the beautiful art that was on display all over the palace. People shouldn't be allowed to be so rich! Especially when others were hungry, she thought, listening to her stomach rumble.

It wasn't long before she came across a maid bustling along on her own business. Megumi stopped her, asking which way she needed to go to reach the kitchens. The girl smiled and gave the instructions. It wasn't until Megumi was walking down another richly decorated hallway that she realized that the maid couldn't have been any older than herself, probably younger! Things really were different in this world. Without any further trouble, Megumi found the kitchen. When she opened the door a huge cloud of steam billowed out to greet her. Taking this as a good omen, seeing as there was still activity here, Megumi walked inside.

There were three women cooking for this shift. Two were young and chatty while the third was a good bit older than the girls, and a good deal heavier. One of the young girls noticed Megumi standing in the doorway and ran over excitedly, grabbing one of Megumi's hands and shaking it vigorously.

"Hello, my name is Hana, it's such an honor to meet you! You are one of the girls from the other world, aren't you?" Megumi didn't have time to answer before the large woman bustled over.

"Hana, you shouldn't be so bothersome! Get this girl something to eat, right away!" While Hana ran around, haphazardly throwing food onto a personal tray, the other girl peaked around at Megumi.

"Are you really from another world?" She asked. For some reason, Hana reminded her of someone, but she couldn't remember whom. Putting it out of her mind, Megumi nodded.

"I didn't mean to come here. I don't even know how I got here, to tell the truth. My name is Megumi." Megumi was about to ask the girl her name, when Hana pushed the tray full of food into Megumi's hands. Completely distracted, Megumi thanked the three and set off back to her room. It was much easier to find her way back to the room than it was to find the kitchens, and in a short time, Megumi had reached the room she shared with Yumi, who was still sleeping. She was now sprawled across both her sheets and Megumi's. It was obvious that she was used to sleeping on a bigger bed. Megumi set the tray down and sat by it, preparing to eat. Yumi suddenly sat up, sniffing the air. She looked over at Megumi.

"Food!" She exclaimed. "Wait, does that mean…" Yumi reached forward and poked Megumi in the shoulder.

"You're solid again! Wow! Wait, you were solid before… or were you? Everything is kinda fuzzy…" Yumi brushed her hair back from her face and stretched. Megumi smiled inwardly. Sometimes Yumi was such an airhead. Megumi was always amazed when Yumi received top marks in school.

"So…" Megumi said slowly. "Who's Genro?" She looked up quickly to see Yumi blushing slightly.

"Oh, um, he's no one." Yumi said, looking down at her knees. Megumi's interest was piqued.

" 'No one,' huh? Then why are you blushing?" Yumi looked back up at Megumi, a strange expression in her eyes. She was suddenly acting serious.

"He must have been another warrior. I felt the safe around him, it's like when I'm with Nuriko or Chichiri or Hotohori. But the circumstances were a little different then, so maybe it was nothing, after all…" Megumi couldn't believe she had missed so much during her explorations of the bandit compound. She let she subject drop and looked back at Yumi, only to see her eating from Megumi's rice bowl.

"Hey! That's mine! Go get your own!" Yumi jumped nimbly out of reach, still shoveling rice into her greedy face.

"You ate dinner already! I couldn't eat then, so please leave some for me!" Yumi looked down into her bowl and shrugged, setting it back on the tray. Megumi was relieved to see that a good amount of food was left. Yumi yawned widely, then looked intently at her pillow, obviously wanting to go back to sleep.

"I'm really glad to see you, Megumi, but it's not safe here." Megumi was silent, remembering Yumi's uncomfortable episodes. "We should try to get back home. Genro told me that if I find the Seven Celestial Warriors of Suzaku, then I would be able to go home. You'll help me, right?" Yumi looked up hopefully, and Megumi nodded, noting that Yumi was talking about Genro again. It made her warm inside to see that it made Yumi so happy that she would help. Megumi watched Yumi lie back down and fall asleep within moments. Finishing her meal, Megumi pushed the tray out of the way, hoping that a servant would come by to pick it up later and went to bed.