"Oh well. Let's try something else, then." She rummaged around in her bag some more. Tasuki edged closer, curious as to what sort of things he would see in her bag. She gave up looking in the main part of the bag, and somehow opened another section with a strange zipping sound. While she looked in the new section, he peeked into the section she had given up on.

A strange article caught his eye, and he grabbed it, pulling it out of the bag to study it better. He couldn't figure out what it was. It was soft, but it also held its shape. It looked pretty useless to him. Yumi looked up, having found what she was looking for.

"Yumi, what the hell is this?" For some reason, she turned red when she saw what he was holding.

"I wear it." He looked at it again. This is clothing?

"You wear this? How? Oh!" He laughed, recognizing the shape. She snatched it back and stuffed it into her bag. Tasuki decided it was a good time to change the subject, before she turned too red.

"What's that in your hand?" This time she was holding a flat, circular object in one hand, and in the other she was holding odd strings. He ran his hands through his hair, confused, but he waited for her to explain this time. He watched as she made the strings stick to the circle somehow. Now the circle had two strings hanging off of it, and each one split into two thinner strings and at the end of each was a very strange thing. That was the only way he could describe it. He stared at it, wondering what on earth THIS could be useful for. Then, Yumi put the ends of one of the sets of strings on her ears. He tried not to laugh, she looked funny, but then she came over and tried to do the same to him with the other set. He backed away.

"Wait a minute, Yumi, first ya gotta tell me what the hell that thing will do to me!" She laughed at him, but it was in a way that reassured him, not a way that made him feel stupid.

"Just trust me. I think you'll like this. Just don't be afraid of it, because it can't hurt you." He couldn't refuse that smile. He sat still while she attached the strange thing to his head.

"I feel dumb." Yumi just laughed and pressed a small circle on the large circle. Suddenly, the room was full of music, but he couldn't see where it was coming from. There wasn't just a singer, but drums and all the rest.

"Shit!" He cried, pulling the things out of his ears, breathing heavily. As soon as he pulled the things away, the sounds disappeared. Yumi pressed another button before speaking.

"This is called a CD player. It plays music on things called CDs." She pressed yet another button, and the top of the circle popped open, revealing a flat, colorful inside.

"This is a CD. It's called "The Best of InuYasha." The song you would have listened to is called "My Will." It's very popular in my world." He looked at her with a totally different attitude.

"Are you a witch?" She laughed.

"No, this is called technology. Everyone in my world can do this, as long as they have the right equipment. Eventually, though, the batteries will run out and I'll have to get new ones, or it will stop working." Tasuki looked at the "CD player" warily. He had no idea what "batteries" were, but it didn't sound safe.

"Never mind that. This is the sort of thing Chichiri or Chiriko would like, I suppose." But she didn't put it away. She set it on the bed and rummaged in the bag one last time. She pulled out something else, looking triumphant.

"These are toothbrushes. See, I even have an extra one for you!" She handed him a toothbrush. It looked just like the one she still held, except hers was green and his was orange.

"Just do what I do." She took the top off a strange tube and squeezed some odd paste onto the bristles of her toothbrush. He followed suit. Wait, why is she putting it in her mouth?!

"Yumi! What are you doing? Stop! Take that thing out of your mouth right now!" She looked over at him, the toothbrush sticking out of her mouth. When she tried to speak, he saw that her mouth was full of bubbles and foam.

"OMIGOD!! Yumi!? Speak to me! Spit it out!" After a few moments, she spat the bubbles out in the washstand. Heart pounding, he stumbled over to her to check if she was okay. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. He frantically poked a finger on her cheek.

"Open up! I need to look!" She shook her head slightly and opened her mouth. The bubbles were all gone, and her breath smelled like… he didn't know what, but it was good.

"Your turn." She said playfully. He looked down at the thing in his hand as though it were an angry snake. Put it in my mouth? Well, if Yumi says I should do it… but, NO WAY!

She tried to convince him to repeat her strange ritual, but he resisted, until…

"Come on! Its okay, I do this every day! Plus, it's more fun kissing when you have fresh breath!" Without further ado, he popped the brush into his mouth. She kept up a running stream of instructions for him.

"Don't swallow the bubbles; it'll make you feel sick. Good, now just brush your teeth like you would normally. Don't worry! As long as you don't swallow the bubbles, you'll be okay! Right, now spit it out in the washstand." He did so.

"Hey! My teeth feel really, really good!" He said, not caring that he sounded a little too excited. He couldn't help but run his tongue over his teeth; they felt so smooth and clean. It really was much better than using a twig or whatever was handy. Yumi knows what she's talking about… his concentration was broken when she kissed him.

"Now isn't that better?" She said when she backed away. "You should take good care of your teeth, because I wouldn't want anything happening to those awesome fangs of yours!" I think she likes my…FANGS? She called them FANGS? Tasuki looked down at the toothbrush, which was still clutched in his fist.

"Can I… uh… can I have this? And some of that paste, too?" Yumi laughed and pulled a smaller sized tube out of her bag and pressed in into his hand. He tucked the gifts into his coat carefully, making a mental note to repeat this ritual every day. Yumi smiled at his behavior.

"You're just like a little kid," she said, sighing. Tasuki didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or not. Yumi yawned and sat down on the vacant bed on the other side of the small room. She pulled a blanket from the foot of the bed with one hand and curled up, falling asleep almost immediately. For a while, Tasuki just watched her and listened to her breathe.

She trusts me so much… She just goes to sleep, even knowing what I want… He resolved not to abuse her trust. He sat down on his own bed, and his hand came in contact with the circular object she had scared him with earlier. He grabbed the strings and, after some effort, managed to get them to stay on his ears. He pressed all the different circles. Sometimes nothing happened, but he managed to make the music to come back, and he even figured out how to make it louder and softer. He fell asleep listening to the music of another world. InuYasha… I wonder what an InuYasha is…

-------

"Your Eminence, can we stop to make camp now?" Megumi heard Soi call to her. Megumi looked back. Soi was trailing far behind, level with Suboshi. Megumi had been enjoying her ride too much to notice how far ahead she had gotten. She pulled her horse to a walk and then stopped him. She jumped off, and watched as Soi slowed down her own steed.

"Suboshi," Megumi said when he caught up with her, "Are we any closer?" Suboshi shrugged wearily.

"I think so, but it's hard to tell. He's been moving around, like he's following something. But I think we are almost in Konan now." Megumi nodded and looked at the setting sun. Had time really gone by that quickly?

"Here, let's secure the horses and then we can rest." She looked around for a good place. Suboshi and Soi followed her.

"Suboshi, do these horses have names?" She looked at her lovely chestnut and stroked his nose.

"I don't think so. Why?" Suboshi looked over at her.

"Oh, I've just been thinking of a good name to call him, that's all." Megumi gave the horse a treat and rubbed his face.

"What?" Megumi was surprised to hear that Soi was asking, and her voice was almost… conversational.

"I think I'll name him Sango. It reminds me of home."

They got a campfire started and Megumi opened the food packs. She managed to fix a meal for herself, but she was glad everyone was doing their own cooking. I can make cookies from those instant cookie mixes, but… The stars began to peek through the dark sky, and Megumi felt sleep coming on. She hadn't ridden a horse in all the time she had been here, and she was a little sore. She only hoped she would feel better, not worse, in the morning. Megumi fell asleep looking into the dying flames.

Megumi walked outside to a dark street. Bright lights flashed before her, and Megumi knew they had to be the headlights of cars. Then a bright light filled all of her vision, and she heard a huge screeching noise, and everything disappeared into blackness. As she sat suspended in the darkness, she felt a glow from inside of her. She tried to move, but couldn't. The glow became brighter, threatening to devour her, but she couldn't get away, she couldn't even call out for help… Please! Her mind screamed for help. What is this? Someone please tell me this isn't real!

She sat up suddenly, gasping for breath. She tried to relax when she saw Suboshi and Soi's sleeping forms by the embers left from their campfire. She thought about the dream she had just woken from. It wasn't all that scary; she had much worse ones in the past, so why was her heart pounding like a drum? It was just a dumb dream! But a part of her knew that there had been truth in it, if only she could figure out what it meant. As she tried to think things through, the dream and everything about it seemed to fade away from her mind.

Megumi realized that she was staring at Soi's baggage, and that gave her a good idea. Getting up carefully so as to not wake either of her companions, Megumi made her way over to Soi and grabbed her bag. I win again! She couldn't help but grin, her good mood back in place. Soi will be in for a surprise when she wakes…

-------

Chiriko sat in his room in the palace and looked around interestedly. He had not known that the emperor would turn out to be one of the Suzaku celestial warriors. Tasuki had forgotten to tell him that. He didn't blame him, though. If they are rivals…Though it looks like the priestess has already chosen Tasuki-kun. His elders were always surprised when he understood situations like this. I'm not a kid. He thought about the priestess, and hoped she would be able to find the remaining members of the Suzaku Seven quickly. Chichiri had explained the situation with the warriors to him, partially. Chichiri wasn't too clear about how the priestess felt about everything, and Chiriko had not seen much. He sighed. If we can't all trust each other, we'll never be able to summon Suzaku. Chichiri had showed Chiriko around the palace when they first arrived, but they had never gotten past the palace library. Chiriko was amazed by the extraordinary selection of writings hoarded there, and set about studying them, until a retainer had come by to bring him dinner. Afraid he might damage the books, he had taken his dinner to his room. He was lost in thought when he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in," he said politely. The door opened and Chichiri peeked his head around the door. Chiriko would never be able to forget THAT face, if it really was a face…

"Hello, Chichiri. Is something the matter?" Chichiri stepped in and closed the door behind him before sitting on the floor.

"I just thought you might be lonely, no da." Chiriko looked at the monk. Despite his appearance, he was very friendly. Chiriko smiled up at him.

"I was just thinking about the priestess." Chichiri nodded. "Do you think it's wise for both Hotohori and Tasuki-kun to be with her?" Chichiri seemed to be surprised by the way he added an honorific to the bandit's name, but not the emperor's. Chiriko thought about it, but it made no sense to him either, it just felt like the right way to say it.

"They will be fine, no da. Tasuki knows how to handle himself, no da, and Hotohori will have to behave, or he'll have Nuriko and Tasuki against him, no da."

"What's wrong then, Chichiri?" Chichiri looked up, surprised by Chiriko's insight.

"Okay, okay, no da. I've just been sensing something amiss, no da, and I was wondering if you were also, no da." Chiriko shook his head.

"Not really, but I do feel a sense of foreboding, like something is creeping up on us while we look the other way." That seemed the best way to describe the feeling he was getting.

"I wish I could help somehow. I know I'm younger and not as strong as the rest of you, but I am still a member of the Suzaku chosen. Let me do my part!" Chiriko gasped when he realized the manner in which he was speaking, and immediately apologized.

"Forgive my outburst. I just feel so…" Chichiri reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

"I know the feeling, no da. But I gotta fill in for the emperor while he's gone, no da." Chiriko looked up at Chichiri. There was no way anyone would mistake him for Hotohori.

"What do you mean?" Chichiri just smiled and there was a small puff of smoke, and Chiriko found himself looking at Hotohori's golden eyes, long hair, and regal bearing where Chichiri had been sitting cross-legged on the floor a moment ago.

"How?!" Chiriko smiled excitedly. "That's amazing. I have heard of powers like that, but I never guessed that one of my companions would possess them!"

"We must attend to our duties." He sounded just like Hotohori too, and he left the room. We'll be okay. With companions like that, we'll do fine! And that can't be all Chichiri can do, I mean, he teleported us here! I wonder what Tasuki and Nuriko can do?

When Chiriko went to sleep, he felt proud to be a member of the seven celestial warriors of Suzaku. I WILL be able to prove that I belong with them… someday…