Disclaimer: I do not earn money from this, though I hope Miss Watase would…so this anime's/manga's not mine…
"What the hell! Nuriko is going to be Miaka's pure body? What if she gets consumed with every wish instead of Miaka? What would become of Nuriko then?" Tasuki asked, brandishing his metal fan dangerously at the old lady. Taisukun ignored the fiery haired bandit and nodded at Chichiri to explain everything. Chichiri, thankfully, dropped his wide grin and explained.
"Nuriko will be consumed by Suzaku, not Miaka, no da. However, Nuriko's heart and will is much stronger than Miaka's, da. She would pull through without the god consuming her, no da. You know that Nuriko would rather face death than see someone hurt her loved ones, no da."
"Chiriko, Hotohori and Mitsukake died too…" Miaka whispered. "Does that mean that they are stronger than Nuriko?"
"All of them died for different reasons, no da. Chiriko died wanting to finally be of use to the group, to rid all of you of a menace, no da. Mitsukake died saving Shouka and Hotohori died for Konan, no da. No, judging by the reasons, Nuriko was the strongest, not only with her strength, but with her heart, no da."
"Hotohori was so loyal to his country…all of them are reincarnated too! Let's find the rest of our friends!" Nuriko said, with a determined look in her eyes. "Taisukun, anything else? We got a baby to save!"
"Two more things. One, there might be dangers that I've overlooked. Two, the Seiryu warriors are also reincarnated together, even Amiboshi, or Kaika, who had died in a flood eighteen years ago. And they had an eighty percent chance of remembering their past life naturally, and a ninety-nine percent of remembering if their murderer was seen."
"Like Nakago could remember if Taka was here?" Miaka asked. Taisukun nodded.
"They might bear never-ending grudges, no da. We must be careful, no da. It's won't pay to let these people remember, no da," Chichiri warned.
"But Nakago had been reincarnated with Nuriko at his side! Why did he not remember? Nuriko was an enemy of Seiryu!" Miaka was positively spooked now. Tasuki laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, making sure that the kitchen door was locked. He had not forgiven her about the food, and it would not do to have anyone find out that the food is gone, or that the Suzaku no Miko was around.
"Miaka, I've like only met him once in my entire past life! I did not meet him at all as a ghost! The only time I met him was when he was being crazy about being some god!" Nuriko shuddered when she remembered the utter insanity the blonde general showed. "And I was feeling really sorry for him at that time, because he had totally lost his mind! He could not have remembered me!"
Taisukun looked relieved. She had run dry of saliva to explain any other thing to the confused Priestess. "Here is another ball to find the Suzaku Shinchiseishi. DON'T BREAK IT THIS TIME, TASUKI!"
"Hey, Nuriko have a role to play in that too! I don't break damned red crystal balls for no darned reason, Grandma!" Tasuki yelled, pointing at the lady. "She threw me high up in the air!"
"Nuriko was young, Tasuki, and completely free of memories! How could she comprehend such trivial things! All she knew was that she was robbed of a ball a bandit gave her!" Behind the Creator of the world, Nuriko snickered. "And you, Nuriko, stop laughing at Tasuki!"
With that, Taisukun bid farewell to the Celestial Warriors of Suzaku. Chichiri suggested that they find food to replace what Miaka had eaten. Grumbling, Tasuki told his men that he was going to hunt with his friends. Koji was equally furious when told that the Priestess had eaten their rations.
"I swear, Genrou, I will never understand the Priestess's appetite!" he commented when the culprit was presented to him. Looking past the red-haired, bubbly wife of Taka, he saw a cheerful lady leaning on the wall of the house. Her eyes were a brownish red and her long purple hair flowed down her shoulders, the upper part of her hair done up in a simple bun. She giggled softly when Tasuki ranted about food to the Suzaku no Miko.
"Tasuki, Miaka will always be Miaka, you know. Don't be so hard on her! Come on, let's improve the situation just a little by finding food, instead of blaming Miaka!" she laughed, pulling the modern-dressed girl out of the room. "We are going to hunt for berries!" she called out, before engaging in lively talk with Miaka.
Her grace was eminent when she walked, with a slight sway in her hips. She had a regal air about her, something that told him that she was a girl of high status, not a low down prostitute. "Genrou, she reminds me of another woman I met before, my ex-ex-ex-ex-ex-ex, I don't know how many exes, girlfriend. Did I tell you that she had turned me down? She was my first crush. She had the same voice as that girl, even the same face, same height, same everything."
"Who is she?" Tasuki asked absentmindedly, amber eyes fixated on the purple haired lady too as she exited the house.
"The name the other man, the one with long brown hair, called her, was Nuriko. Her real name I weaselled out of her was Chou Ryuuen."
Tasuki jumped up at the names. Kouji had unconsciously gotten his interest. He tore his eyes from the purple-haired lady to stare at Koji, fire burning in his eyes. "What did you say?" he asked. "How long ago was that incident?"
"It was, say, eighteen or nineteen years ago, when you are out finding medicine for our deceased bandit leader. We caught them, and even thought that they were an all women group. The purple haired woman denied that she was a man. She told me she was a woman in men's clothes. However, she only thought of me as a good friend, unlike what she thought of the brown haired guy."
"What did she think of him?" Tasuki asked anxiously, even though he had a nagging feeling that he knew the answer.
"She said that she loved the brown haired man with all her heart, so much that it would last forever, even through lifetimes…and I knew she was lost to me. That was when I felt angry that the man travelling with her seemed to be blind to her forward advances. What did he do to deserve such a woman?"
"Yeah, that Hotohori did not deserve her at all. He seemed to be either ignoring her or focusing always on Miaka. Did he talk to Nuriko even once when we left for Hokkan? No. Did he ask Nuriko for advice? No. In fact, all he talks to Nuriko about is either work or Miaka…" Tasuki muttered darkly. "He did not even treat Nuriko as a real friend…just imagine the heartbreak she had been through…"
"What in the world are you talking about, Genrou? I did not even hear you curse at all!" Kouji said, breaking out of his trance and caring for his best friend. "Is this story too much for you to bear? To cut a long story short, I think heaven's giving me a second chance in finding a partner for life…"
That was when Tasuki stood up, ignoring his best friend. "That darned woman's life is totally messed up enough without you to add to her danged troubles, Kouji."
With that, he ran swiftly out of the door.
Kouji silently stared after the bandit in confusion. "Wow, Genrou must be having love problems…I wish he would share it with me…especially now that he had been more like a son to me…"
He shook his head. "Argh, best friend to son? This is too much!"