Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi.

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Narrator's POV

"So, the Genbu Seishi and their Miko are on their way to Taiisukun... We better make sure they never make it," said the Kutou emperor to one of his many spies that he had watching the Genbu no Miko and her three Seishi, "Miboshi," He turned to the tall, evil looking, black haired man bowing in front of him. Once the man looked up, he continued, "take care of them."

On Mt. Taikyoku, Taiisukun watched him threw her mirror. "Hm... Maybe this is the only test I will need for the Genbu Seishi. Miboshi is the only known Seiryu Seishi. Sense the Miko probably won't appear for many years, this could be a good test of his powers, too. Yes... Better to see how good he is when he's young. That way, if the Seiryu no Miko ever comes to me for help, I'll only need to test six seishi and the Miko instead of seven seishi. I can just leave him out of my test. Yes... Of course, that's only if he passes..." She smiled to herself. She would have to get Hikitsu out of the way for the test. He had already shown his capability many times during his apprenticeship to her. Hm... The question was... How? In the worst case, she'd have to teleport him to her. He'd probably be mad with her, and try to get back to his friends, but that was only a minor nuisance. She knew that she could handle him. He had never become as strong as her. He probably never would.

Taiitsukun had to wonder if Hikitsu was still messed up about that girl... What had her name been? Oh yes! Sora. That was it. Or at least something similar to that. The whole time he had been on Mt. Taikyoku, he had moped around mumbling things about her. He had only concentrated on his training after she hit him about twenty times!. Oh well... Taiitsukun sighed. She had to wonder why he had even left Mt. Taikyoku in the first place. He could have become so much stronger if he had stayed with her a year or two longer. He had said that it was because of his duty and that the Genbu no Miko would probably be coming soon. He had said that he would have to start protecting her as one of the Genbu Seishi as soon as she appeared. Taiitsukun had protested to loosing her first student and had told him that she would tell him when the Genbu no Miko appeared and he could leave her then. But in the end, she had let him go. Her assistant, Nyan-Nyan, had been even more upset than her to see him go. She and Hikitsu had become very close. Almost like a brother and sister. Taiitsukun sometimes wondered if Nyan-Nyan had a crush on him. But every time she asked her, Nyan-Nyan would just blush and say she didn't. Still... She couldn't help but wonder...

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Uruki's POV

Hikitsu was leading us to Mt. Taikyoku. None of the others, including myself, could figure out how he knew the way. He would refuse to tell me, no matter how many times I asked. Man, was he frustrating. He never told me anything! Takiko had asked me to forgive him and said that he had his reasons, but I just couldn't see what they were. True, I had been a little mean to him earlier, but still. He should treat me nicer. I was a Genbu Seishi, too. I was willing to be nicer, if he would do the same for me. Men. But... Maybe it was my fault. Now that I thought of it... He had been being nice... And I had been being mean... At first. I would have to make sure to apologize for that as soon as I could. Probably when we camped. After all, we would be together for a long time. It wouldn't do to be on bad terms with someone that I would have to be with until we summoned Genbu. Who knew how long that could be? I sighed. I hated apologizing.

"Is something wrong, Uruki?" Asked the Genbu no Miko.

"No. I'm fine, Takiko-sama," I replied.

"Uruki, please take off the 'sama,'" she said for about the billionth time, "It makes me nervous. I'm just a normal person, like you, Tomite, or Hikitsu." I wasn't so sure if Hikitsu was a normal person, but Tomite and I were, so I got what she meant. At least, if you overlooked the fact that we were seishi.

"If you don't count the teeny, tiny fact that you come from another world," Tomite added. All of us laughed but, you guessed it, Hikitsu. Did that guy have no sense of humor? Maybe he simply wasn't used to having a new member of the group. I'd just have to hope. But still... You'd think that he'd at least laugh at Tomite's jokes even if he didn't like me.

It was a couple of hours before we stopped for lunch. Tomite and Takiko chattered happily. Even Hikitsu said some things. He even smiled once. They were all so close. I felt a little left out. Maybe even a bit jealous. Okay... A lot jealous. They just all seemed so happy. I felt like an intruder. I felt the same way when we stopped for dinner a while later. As the others set up the tents, after we were done, I pulled Hikitsu aside.

"Um... I... I'm sorry. I was pretty mean earlier. I was just surprised that you knew that I was a seishi. Also... Our first meeting was kind of embarrassing." It was so hard to apologize. It had never been one of my strengths. I knew that I was blushing. Hikitsu ignored it.

"That's okay. I suppose that I wasn't very sensitive. It must have been quite a shock," he told me. My blush deepened. Now I felt like a delicate young lady who fainted at every tiny shock that she got. It wasn't a very good thought. I had always wished that I'd been born a boy. I walked off and began to help Takiko with our tent. I'd prove to him that I wasn't useless. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Hikitsu walked over to Tomite and began to help him with their tent. As they worked, they talked quietly in whispers.

"What did you want to talk to Hikitsu about?" A voice asked. I jumped, surprised. But it was just Takiko.

"Oh... Nothing..." I told her. I didn't want to admit to her that I had been apologizing to him. I was afraid that she would think of me as weak. I wanted to make a good first impression on these people. They weren't just important, they acted like they were. They each had their own quality that made you know as soon as you saw them that they were powerful people. Tomite had this proud look about him and, even though he could be boyish sometimes, the was he held his bow with such ease that it looked like it was part of him, not just his weapon, told you that if you got in his way you would pay. Even though she was sometimes an idiot, Takiko had a regal look about her and the way that she held her body. Hikitsu was so quiet and serious that he was almost scary. His eye patch made him look even more scary. But on the few occasions when he smiled, he looked kind and gentle. But I... Well... I just looked like me. There was nothing special about me. I was just another person. I had to wonder if Genbu had made a mistake and picked the wrong person to be Uruki. I simply felt like Bai-Ling. Not some grand, legendary, protector of the Genbu no Miko and savor of Hokkan...

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Hikitsu's POV

I was glad that Uruki had apologized to me. I didn't really feel like she had done anything wrong, but she must have thought that she had. It had given me a chance to apologize to her. I been wondering if I would ever get a chance. I was being a little mean to her. She must have thought that she had hurt my feelings or something. I just wasn't good around other people. I was more relaxed around Takiko and Tomite because I knew them well and they knew my story. I would have to get used to Uruki if I didn't want to hurt her feelings again.

Tomite and I finished putting up our tent just after the girls finished putting up their's. We all sat around the fire and talked a little while. For the first time, I noticed that Uruki didn't talk much. No... It wasn't that... None of us were talking to her so she didn't say anything. She just sat there and watched the rest of us. When I thought back, it had been the same way at lunch and dinner.

"Say, Uruki... What was it like, back where you came from? We were all there for a little while, but we didn't get to see much," I asked her. I wasn't really interested, but I wanted to get her in the conversation. Besides, it was a good way to learn more about her.

"Well..." She replied as the other two ignored us, already raped up in their own conversation, "The inn was always busy. As you know, I worked there as a waitress. There were a lot of perverts in my town. A lot of people got drunk often, too. Hm... There weren't very many good things about it. It wasn't very big, but that didn't stop it from being crowded. There were a lot of homeless, too. I guess the only reason that I really liked it was because I grew up there. I didn't really know anything else. What about you, Hikitsu? What was the place that you grew up like?" I stiffened. I didn't want to tell her about what happened to my tribe. but she deserved an answer. She had told me about her home. Uruki saw the sad look on my face and looked down. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she said, "I understand." I quickly swallowed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. My home has many painful memories for me," I said. She simply smiled and nodded. I stood up and addressed the group.

"I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yes. We better all go to bed. It should be a long day tomorrow," Said Takiko. Tomite yawned. I watched as Takiko and Uruki disappeared into their tent and then followed Tomite into ours, trying not to think of Sora...

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Tomite's POV

When I woke up, I was surprised to find that Hikitsu wasn't in the tent. I walked out and looked around, but he was nowhere in sight. Where could he be? He never disappeared like this! I decided to check in the girls tent and see if he was in there. I just hoped that they weren't asleep or changing. I didn't want to face Uruki's wrath. She acted like she could do some serious damage if she wanted to. Luck wasn't with me. I quietly peeked into the tent, and saw Uruki just about to take of her nightshirt. She saw me, and screamed.

"PERVERT!! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!" Of course, that woke Takiko, and when she saw me she was just as mad.

"No! No! It's a mistake! I was just looking for Hikitsu!" I said as they threw stuff at me. When she heard that, Uruki stopped for a minute.

"Hikitsu? Why would he be in here? Isn't he in your tent?" She asked as Takiko stopped, too, and looked at me.

"No. I don't know where he is," I answered wordily...

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End of chapter 9

Where is Hikitsu? Will the remaining Genbu Seishi and their Miko be able to find him? Is he in danger? Is this part of Taiitsukun's test? Who knows? More coming soon! Don't forget to review!