Disclaimer: Kohana, Piaoliang Feng, Shen Yuan, An Hua, Ayame and Ruri are my characters. I suppose that's it.

Red Wings of Fate

Chapter 4: Family Comes First

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

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"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Ayame grabbed her husband by the collar.

"Ayame! Calm down!" Ruri grabbed her friend's arm in an attempt to pull her off Tasuki.

"No! Not until someone tells me why my little sister is in the book!" She gritted her teeth.

"Ayame…Kohana was destined to be a priestess. She's fulfilling her destiny." Amiboshi said calmly.

"She's only 16."

"Our priestesses were 15." Tasuki made her sit down. "Please understand. There's nothing we can do until she summons Suzaku."

Ayame's anger left as soon as it came. She was now upset. "No…I refuse to believe that. I want my sister home. I don't need this now…"

A cat watched everyone in the living room. Hime had grown up into a sleek, elegant cat rather than the mischievous little kitten it she used to be. Her white paws and tail still made her look a bit young though.

Her tail flicked back and forth as she entered the room. She hoped onto the seat next to Ayame and meowed. Ayame blinked in surprise. She stroked the cat's back, receiving a purr in gratitude. "Where'd you come from? Did you just walk in?"

Her tail flicked back and forth again and jumped to the table where the book sat. Everyone looked at Hime, then at each other.

"You don't think Hime's from the book…do you?" Ruri looked at the book.

"It's possible…she was Tai Itsukun's kitten…" Amiboshi said thoughtfully.

Hime meowed again. Everyone stared at her while her tail swished back and forth on the cover of the book.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kohana yawned. Sunlight poured into her room. 'Another day…' She dragged herself out of bed and out of her room. Two says had passed since she kissed Hotohori. She'd been in a slight daze since then, but she still felt that desire to go home. Hotohori was looking into the matter, but hadn't found anything yet.

"Finally up, huh?" Kohana turned to see Piaoliang standing there with a basket in her hand.

"What do you mean 'finally'?"

"It's like the middle of the day. I was wondering if you were ever gonna get up."

She yawned again. "Whoops. Where are you going?"

"Into town. I have to buy some stuff."

"Can I come? I could use some time out of the palace."

"Sure. Might wanna change into something a little less…attention grabbing." Piaoliang looked over Kohana's jeans and t-shirt.

"What? Oh, right. Hang on." A few minutes later, Kohana was wearing some average clothes. She looked pretty much identical to Piaoliang.

They left the palace together and headed into town. It was a pretty active day. Everyone was out. Street performers tried their best to attract people. Kohana just watched as Piaoliang fought with a few vendors over the prices of things. She would get her way with every one of them. Piaoliang put the fruit in her basket and Kohana blinked.

"What?"

"How is it you're willing to beat the crap out of a street vendor, yet you hardly ever say anything in the palace? And you refuse to tell Shen you love him. I don't get it."

Piaoliang rolled her eyes. "Do you have to bring him up? I don't want to talk about that. And I don't have to follow the same rules out here."

"I think you should act in there like you do out here."

"And get myself in more trouble than I could possibly imagine? Kohana, I don't know what classes are like in your world, but we don't work like that here."

"Well, you should." She huffed.

"Well, we don't. And not even you can change that." Piaoliang poked her in the chest.

Before Kohana could say anything, something caught her attention. She started staring at something sitting on the roof of a house.

"What's wrong?" Piaoliang started looking for whatever Kohana was looking at.

"That cat…" Kohana saw a light brown cat with white paws and tail sitting high about them.

"It's probably just a stray. There're a lot of them around."

"No. I don't think so." Kohana started following the cat as it began moving.

"Kohana, come on. It's just a stupid cat." Piaoliang started after her.

"No it isn't." Kohana broke into a run. Piaoliang sighed and continued to keep the priestess in her sights.

They ran up and down the streets of the capital after this one cat. After 15 minutes, the cat led them to a rather secluded part of town. The cat's tail swished back and forth.

"Hime?" Kohana approached the cat.

"Hime? Who's Hime?"

"My cat." Kohana held out her arms. "Come here sweetie." The cat meowed and jumped to her owner. "That's a good kitty. Now what are you doing here?"

"You talk to your cat?" Piaoliang looked around. She saw a bag on the ground. "What's that?" She picked it up. It didn't look like any bag she'd ever seen before.

"That's my gym bag…" Kohana put Hime down and took the bag. It was filled with clothes and other things from home. Sitting on top was a letter from Ayame. Kohana smiled with tears in her eyes as she read it silently.

"What's wrong?" Piaoliang put her hand on Kohana's shoulder.

"N…nothing." She stuck the letter back in. "Wanna go back to the palace now?"

Piaoliang was a little confused. "I…I guess so…"

Hime leapt onto Kohana's shoulder and she slung the bag over her other shoulder. "Then let's go."

They began to head back into town.

"Leaving so soon?" A voice from behind startled them.

They saw a rather nasty looking man behind them and when they turned to run, there were other men in front of them.

Kohana glared at Hime. "You always get me in trouble don't you?"

Hime's tail swished back and forth.

"Kohana, this really isn't time to yell at a cat…" Piaoliang bit her lip.

The girls were backed up against each other.

"Okay…maybe you're right…" Kohana looked around.

"Ladies, there's no need to be scared. We won't hurt ya if ya don't try 'nd get out." One of the men grabbed Piaoliang by the chin. "You're a cute one.

"Gross!" She shoved him away and smacked him over the head with the full basket.

"Why you little!" He hissed and smacked her in the face.

"Piao!" Kohana glared at the man. "You jerk!" She hauled the heavy bag off her shoulder and slammed it into the man that hit Piaoliang.

The men were angry now. They were about to attack when someone whistled. Everyone looked to the side.

"I take it no one every told you guys not to hit a girl." A guy was sitting on a wall, smiling. He had short dark blue hair that absently drooped over his green eyes. "They fight back."

"Who are you?"

"No one in particular." The boy hopped off the wall.

"Then stay out of business that isn't yours!" One of the men rushed the boy, ready to beat his head in. He punched at the boy's head.

He suddenly froze.

Everyone gasped. In the blink of an eye, the boy had ducked under the outstretched arm and had his fist embedded in his stomach. He groaned and collapsed.

"Another quick tip. Don't fight with people you don't know." He grinned. "You'll be sorry."

"You little prick!" One of the other men pulled out a knife and lunged at the boy. The boy dodged, but didn't get completely clear of the knife. There was now a smooth cut in his shirt, right across the front of his chest.

"Hey! This was a good shirt!" The boy grabbed the wrist of the hand with the knife and squeezed. The man screamed in pain. The knife tumbled from his hand as Kohana thought she heard a bone crack.

"Kohana…look." Piaoliang elbowed her and pointed at the boy's chest. Something was glowing red on his chest, but it was too hard to see what it was.

"A…a seishi?" She whispered.

"Maybe…"

Other men continued to attack the boy, but he was too strong. Pretty soon, they were all on their backs groaning in pain. The boy looked at his shirt. "Wonder if I can get this fixed…" He said absently then looked up at the girls. "You two okay?"

They nodded. Kohana hoisted the bag back on her shoulder. "I'm Kohana, that's Piaoliang. Who are you?"

"You can call me Nuriko. If you two are alright, I'll just leave then." He nodded to them and turned away.

"Hey wait! You can't just go!" Piaoliang ran after him.

He blinked. "I can't?"

"You're a Suzaku seishi, aren't you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"She's the priestess!" Piaoliang pointed at Kohana. You have to come to the palace. She's gathering all the seishi."

"You are?"

"Sorta." Kohana shrugged. "She knows more than I do."

Nuriko looked Kohana over. "Well, you do look like that girl that made all that fuss in the market a while ago."

Kohana blushed. "Can I not relive that embarrassment?!"

He laughed. "Sorry." He shook his head. "Look, I know I've got duties or whatever as a seishi, but I can't go."

"Why not?! You have to." Piaoliang glared at him.

"I have to take care of my little sister. Our parents are gone and I take care her. I won't abandon her just because the priestess comes calling."

Kohana swallowed hard. There was a pain in her chest that felt like someone ripped her heart out. "How old is she?"

"About 12." He started walking away.

"Hey! Wait!"

"Don't Piao." Kohana grabbed her sleeve. "He can go…"

"He can?"

"I can?"

"Family comes first. Always." She started walking back towards the palace. "Let's go back, Piao."

Nuriko and Piaoliang blinked in surprise. "You're sure she's a priestess?"

"No." Piaoliang shrugged. "But she's gotta be from a different world at least."

Nuriko sighed. "Look, I'll walk you girls back to the palace. Just to make sure no one else comes around."

Nuriko and the two girls headed through the crowded streets back to the palace. Piaoliang and Nuriko made up most of the conversation. Piaoliang told him about the other seishi. Kohana was too busy with Hime and her bag.

When they reached the palace gates, Kohana asked Nuriko if he wanted to meet the other seishi and perhaps get another shirt. He agreed and they headed in.

Kohana ran off to change clothes, complaining about how uncomfortable the dress she was wearing was. Piaoliang asked Nuriko to stay put for a bit while she went to find a shirt.

Nuriko absently looked around. 'An Hua will be so jealous when she finds out I was in the palace today…' He smiled to himself.

"And you are?" A voice from behind made him jerk. Hotohori, Shen Yuan and Tamahome were all looking at him. Tamahome looked ready to fight and the other two had their hands on their swords.

He jumped back in surprise and held up his hands. "Whoa! Relax will ya? I'm Nuriko."

They all raised their eyebrows. "Nuriko?"

"Yeah." He continued to nervously back up. "I met up with those two girls in the market today."

Shen looked him over. "Two girls?"

"Yeah…Kohana and…um…Piaoliang I think."

"And what were you doing with them?" Shen was ready to jump down Nuriko's throat.

"Shen!" Piaoliang was suddenly at his side, shirt in hand. "What are you doing?"

"I was…uh…" He was more than a little shocked that she was suddenly there.

"Never mind. Here you go Nuriko." She handed him the shirt.

"Thanks." He slipped it on over the ripped one. "I'll bring it back when I get the ripped one fixed."

"Wait, if you're really a seishi, you should stay here." Hotohori spoke up.

"I can't. I have to go." Nuriko started walking.

"You can't just leave like that." Tamahome started after him.

"Leave him alone. Kohana says he can go back. She doesn't want him to leave his sister." Piaoliang stopped him.

The men looked a little confused as Nuriko started to leave.

It was at that moment when Kohana came around the corner. Hime walked near her feat. The dress and sandals had been ditched in favor of jeans, a white t-shirt and platform sandals that made her about 3 inches taller. She had a pair of headphones on and a CD player at her hip. The volume was so loud everyone could hear the music she was listening to.

She was singing along to the music, eyes closed, not caring who heard or saw her. "'Cause I'm dreaming of you tonight. Til tomorrow, I'll be holding you tight. And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be than here in my room, dreaming about you and me."

She didn't sing loud, but it was enough to make everyone, including Nuriko, stop and watch her for a moment of confusion and wonder. When she was a few feet away from Nuriko, she stopped and pulled her headphones off. "Nuriko?"

"Yeah?" He shook himself out of his surprise.

"Would you stay at the palace if your sister could stay here too?"

"Uh…" The question shocked him. "Um…I guess yeah."

She looked at Hotohori. "Can Nuriko bring his sister here?"

"I don't see a problem with it."

"R…really?" Nuriko brightened.

"Of course."

Nuriko bowed slightly. "Um…thank you very much, Your Highness." He left the palace.

Kohana put her headphones back on and continued walking and singing.

Hotohori and Tamahome left, leaving Shen Yuan and Piaoliang alone in the hall. She elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow! Hey, what was that for?"

"What's with you? You looked like you were ready to kill Nuriko two seconds ago."

"I was not." He looked a little offended.

"Yes you were." She looked up at him. "Why?"

"I wanted to know why he was with you and Lady Kohana." He didn't meet her eyes when he spoke.

She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I wasn't sure he was being honest about being a seishi."

"You think Kohana and I would bring him here if we weren't completely sure? He was helping us."

"What did you need help with?"

Suddenly uncomfortable with the thought of letting Shen know how much trouble she'd been in, she fidgeted nervously. "Nothing much."

Something suddenly occurred to him. "Piao…"

"Yeah?"

"You said you were sure he was a seishi right?"

"Yeah…"

"To be sure, you'd have to see his symbol right?"

"Yeah…"

"Seishi symbols appear when they use their particular power. What made Nuriko's show up? Why was his shirt torn?" He'd already put two and two together in his mind and knew she'd been in trouble of some kind.

"Uh…" She turned away from him. "He was…he was…"

"He was what?" He grabbed her by the shoulders. "What happened?"

"Nothing." She refused to look him in the face.

"Why can't you tell me?" He grabbed her chin and made her look at him. That made her wince. Her cheek still stung from getting hit. He let go and pulled his hand back, not wanting to hurt her. "Piao…" His voice was gentle and concerned. "Please…"

"We…got into some trouble when Kohana went chasing after a cat that turned out to be hers. Nuriko helped us out…"

"You were attacked…" He didn't sound happy while he gently moved her head. There were a few traces of red left on her milky skin where the attacker's hand hit her hardest.

"I wouldn't call it attacked…" She saw the look in his eyes. "Okay…maybe I would…" She pulled away from him, even though she did like feeling his hand on her cheek. "Why do you care so much?"

'I love you…' "I…you're my friend, Piao. You always have been. I worry about you. Especially if you're hurt."

"A friend. Of course. Never anything more." She muttered.

"What?" He looked confused. He hadn't heard everything of what she'd said.

"Nothing!" She snapped and walked off. "I've got…stuff to clean. Later!"

He blinked. 'Never anything more? Did I hear right? She sounded so mad…'

Piaoliang frowned at herself. 'Oh! I can't believe you just did that! You almost broadcasted to the whole world that you want to be more than friends with him! He only sees you as a friend. Stupid!'

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Kohana dangled her leg out her window. She had a great view of the city. It was beautiful from up there. Hime was curled up in her lap, asleep. Letter in hand, she read it over and over again with her headphones on.

'Kohana,

If you're reading this, I suppose Hime and the bag got to you in tact.

How are you doing over there? Ruri, Amiboshi, Tasuki and I are keeping an eye on you from the book. No, Momo's not reading it anymore. She seems to be in it. Tasuki's pretty sure she'll be the priestess of Seiryuu. Be careful okay?

Tasuki thought about it for a while and thinks that you might be able to come home for a while if you go see Tai Itsukun. You'd have to ask Hotohori about how to get there though.

And you better not do anything with Hotohori you'll regret later. Keep in mind I know about whatever you do with him.

I miss you a lot. The house seems so quiet without you, even with Houjun running around. I hope you can find a way home.

I hope you stay safe.

And get Piaoliang and Shen Yuan together. You're good at that kind of stuff.

Nee-chan'

The letter gave her a lot to think about. In some ways it made the homesickness less and in others it made her want to go home even more. The thought of Momo being her full-fledged enemy didn't bode well in her mind either.

She decided to talk to Hotohori about Tai Itsukun later. It would be hard explaining how she knew Tai Itsukun, so she'd have to make up something. She didn't want to tell him her brother-in-law and his friend were former seishi.

The thought of 4 people watching her from the book was definitely enough to stop her from doing much with Hotohori. It was rather unnerving.

She missed her little nephew. She vaguely knew that Tasuki named his son after a friend from the book.

She smiled at the thought of playing matchmaker again. She hadn't done it in 10 years, but it couldn't be that hard to stick together a couple of people who she knew were in love. They just needed a small push in the right direction, that direction being into each other's arms.

There was a soft knock at the door that she couldn't hear. It was Hotohori. He came in anyway when she didn't answer. He touched her shoulder. "Kohana?"

She jerked in surprise and yanked her headphones off. "Oh! Hotohori! I'm sorry I didn't hear you!"

He smiled. "It's alright. I didn't mean to scare you…again." He added coyly.

She gave him a funny look. "Ha. Ha." Hime opened her eyes and stared at Hotohori, a little angry that he interrupted her nap by making Kohana move.

"Where did that cat come from?" He scratched Hime's ears. She purred, no longer mad that her nap was over.

"She's my cat from my world. Her name's Hime. I guess she made it through the book. She came with a bag of stuff from my sister too. She has the book and is watching me from there."

"How do you know?"

She held up the piece of paper, making sure he couldn't read any of it though. "This is a letter from my sister, Ayame." She folded it back up and put it in the bag. "She said that in there."

"I see." He looked at the bag. "Are these things from your world making you feel any better?"

"Better and worse all at the same time. It's nice having them 'cause I can relax, you know? It makes me feel at ease. Yet at the same time, it makes me want to got home more 'cause it's…" Her voice faltered.

"Because it's home." He finished for her.

"Exactly." She let out a sigh. "God, am I glad you can finish my thoughts for me."

He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure something will come up. We'll find a way to let you return home."

"I know. Something will turn up." She looked up at him. "Thanks."

"Of course." He bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll leave you alone for now. I have some things to attend to."

"Sure." She nodded. "Gotta do what cha gotta do." She put the headphones back on after he left and began to root around in the bag for what else Ayame gave her.

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"Hey girl, you dead or what?" Momo felt someone poking her in the shoulder. Her head was throbbing. She didn't have the energy to smack the hand away.

"That's not very nice." She groaned when another voice filled her head. It was too noisy.

"I don't see why you brought her here. She's just about dead."

"She was hurt. I'm not going to leave a hurt girl out in the forest."

"Would you both shut up?" Momo groaned. "You're both too loud."

"Sorry."

"Whatever."

Her eyes opened slowly. The room was pretty dim. A couple of small lanterns were the only sources of light. It seemed to be night. She thought she was seeing double when her vision cleared slightly. There were two identical brunette boys standing over her. She tried to rub her eyes.

One of the boys stopped her. "You're not seeing double." He knew that's what she was probably thinking. "We're twins."

"Oh…" She lowered her hands. "Ow…what happened? How long have I been out?"

"A day and a half or so. Now that you're awake, you can get out of my bed." The other one snorted.

"I can't even move yet!" She snapped back.

"You can move your mouth."

"Hey, relax you two. Ototo, be nice. She just woke up. You'll have to excuse him. He's never very nice." The older boy laid a piece of wet cloth across her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Nothing hurts except my head. I don't want to move yet."

"You don't have to. Could you tell us your name?"

"Momo. Who are you and Mr. Grumpy Pants?"

The boy deemed Mr. Grumpy Pants made a face. "Shut up you little bi---"

The other boy cleared his throat. "That is Suboshi. I'm Amiboshi. It's nice to meet you Momo. Could you tell us why you were out in the forest?"

"Forest? Lemme think…" She closed her eyes. "I was heading towards the library with a book when my friend's brother found me…he tried to take it from me when a blue light came out of it. I screamed and got engulfed by the light…that's all I remember." She opened her eyes again. Amiboshi was looking at her with clear amber eyes.

"What the hell is a library?" Suboshi glared at her with eyes the color of the deep blue sea.

"What do you mean, 'what is a library?'" She started to get up. "Where am I now?"

"You're in a forest a few kilometers from the capital of Kutou. Did you lose your memory?" Amiboshi helped her rest against the wall.

It gave her a chance to look around. The house looked so antique. Her jaw dropped. "I'm in the book!"

"In what book?" Suboshi asked, warming up to her a little.

"The Universe of the Four Gods! The one I was reading with Kohana! Oh my God!" She threw the blankets back and got up with some difficulty. "I came here to find her."

"You're in no condition it do anything." Amiboshi said, worried.

"Screw my condition! I gotta find her." She stumbled towards the door.

Her legs didn't quite work right though and her knees buckled. Suboshi was closer and caught her. Their eyes met for a brief moment. "Yeah. Like you could make it out of the house." He picked her up and put her back on the bed. "Get some rest will you? Maybe it'll make you shut up and make some sense later." Suboshi left the room.

"Is he always like that?" Momo rubbed her head.

"Only when he likes someone."

"I'd hate to see it if he hated me." She grumbled.

"But he's right. You should get some rest. Your strength isn't back yet."

"Yeah…thanks." Sleep sounded like a good idea. She closed her eyes again and went back to sleep almost immediately, not caring about where she was, what was going on or finding Kohana again.

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Should I put Momo with someone? There's already an opportunity for Momo/Suboshi, but I can easily change that. She could be with someone, stay single or get killed off. Okay, no. I wouldn't kill her off. Not so soon anyway.

Is the originality picking up? I'm really trying. I guess school's really draining me and my creativity. Damn, do I hate Junior year.

~*~Shadow Hawk~*~