Chapter Eight: Suzaku's test
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The six fought against the creatures.
"Tasuki, use your tessen! Fire is the only thing that could keep them away," Hotohori commanded.
"And then what?" Tasuki asked after he sent the bushes around them to fire.
"Let's run!" Nuriko shouted.
The wolf-like creatures started to follow them, but the fire kept them from doing so. The six ran so fast with no particular direction to go. They just run and run until they reached a cliff.
"Oh no!" Chiriko cried.
They heard some howling close behind. There came another pack of the horrible creatures.
"I guess there are far too many of them," Mitsukake remarked.
The creatures started to walk toward them.
"When I say go, we'll jump together down the cliff," Hotohori whispered as they take a step backwards when the creatures move forward.
"GO!" Hotohori shouted and they all jumped down the cliff.
"Brave guys," one creature said after changing into a little girl.
"Yes, I believe Taiitsukun will be pleased when she meets them," another creature said after transforming into a girl. All the other creatures did the same and they all looked alike. They are little cute girls also known as Nyan-Nyan.
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Chichiri was the first to wake up. He gazed at his surroundings and was very surprised that they're not in the forest anymore. They're in a beautiful place and the other five were lying on soft beds. He also had a bed of his own that he couldn't resist his desire to lie on it again.
"WAKE UP!" a shout woke up the five other men and sent Chichiri to fall from his bed.
"What the hell was that!" Tasuki exclaimed.
"Where are we?" Nuriko asked.
"I've read about this place. If I'm not mistaken this is Mount Taikyoku. The place of Taiitsukun," Chiriko answered.
"And I am Taiitsukun," an old woman said. She was with several girls who all looked alike.
"What! Taiitsukun was an old hag!" Tasuki shouted.
Taiitsukun eyed him and with that, Tasuki realized he shouldn't have said that. Hotohori just spoke with Taiitsukun to change the atmosphere.
"Why and how did we get here?" Hotohori asked.
Taiitsukun gestured the girls to transform themselves. They changed into the hideous creatures the seishis battled with a while ago. The six immediately showed their fighting posture to signal the start of another battle. Suddenly Taiitsukun spoke.
"Don't fight with them. They won't harm you any longer. In fact, they were the ones who brought you here. They're my assistants and I call them Nyan-Nyan. I used them to test you," she explained.
"Test us? Why?" Mitsukake queried.
"You boys are strong at will and heart but what happened to your brains? I dare you to answer your own question," Taiitsukun said.
"I think that we're being tested to see if we really could protect the Miko. If we can't defend ourselves, how then could we protect the Miko?" Hotohori answered.
"Quite clever my dear," Taiitsukun praised him.
"Hey guys, I just realized that excluding the Tamahome guy, we're already complete! the Seven Guardians of Suzaku!" Tasuki exclaimed.
"Yah, you're right Fangboy!" Nuriko agreed as he and Tasuki danced joyfully.
"Nah-ah-ah," Taiitsukun snapped her fingers, "I'm sorry but when you leave this place you won't remember a thing about your experience in the forest and here."
Hotohori was silent in a corner. He was worrying about Tamahome. "Speaking of Tamahome, I just remembered he went back with many wounds. He wasn't able to make it here so I guess he…"
"He didn't pass," Taiitsukun finished his sentence.
"So…what'll happen to him?" Nuriko asked.
"Well, all of you seishis are chosen for a cause. I guess Suzaku chose him because of another reason, other than physical strength," Taiitsukun replied rather sadly.
"I know, maybe he has some extraordinary sexual strength in him," Tasuki chuckled.
The people eyed him and then he apologized for saying such a thing. Nuriko changed the subject and said he's already hungry.
"Eat all you can," Taiitsukun showed them to a room with a big table filled with varieties of mouthwatering foods.
After eating, Taiitsukun gave them some things that that were more like weapons and said they could someday use them. After that, she commanded them to close their eyes as she transported them to where they were before the test.
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"Rei, Rei, wake up," Miaka was shaking Hotohori to wake up.
"How did you find me?" he asked the moment he regained consciousness.
"I found you by the lake. You were also holding this sword in your hands," Miaka handed him the sword, "Where did you get this anyway? It is magnificent. Whoever gave this to you must have a really generous heart."
"I don't know. I can't remember anything," he answered.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Tamahome asked.
"Why are you here? You should rest," Miaka said.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let him go. I told him he should rest but he insisted to follow the two of you," Jia Mei explained.
"What happened to you anyway?" Hotohori asked Tamahome as he stood up.
"I think he should just tell you the whole story when we get back to the house," Jia Mei insisted.
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Tamahome told Miaka and Hotohori everything that happened.
"As you know, when I found out Taka was missing, I immediately searched for him. I was circling the farmhouse when I saw Miki walking towards a forest nearby. At first I thought it was just my imagination because I knew that there was no such forest near this farm. Secondly, Miki was angry with me so I was surprised when she went to me and said she wanted to talk to me about the two of us…something personal," Tamahome paused when he realized he was blushing. He asked for a cup of water and drank it.
"Of course, I agreed so we walked toward the forest. After a while, she said she has a surprise for me and she'll leave me first to get it. She told me to close my eyes. I did it when I heard some howling nearby. When I opened my eyes, I saw some wolf-like creatures standing in front of me. They were gnashing their teeth. I got a tree branch and threw it to them to scare them away but instead, it passed through their bodies!"
"Honestly, I don't know a thing about what you're saying," Miaka said.
Hotohori was listening carefully. There were times when he thought he also saw those creatures before and was having some flashbacks of his erased memory of Suzaku's test. He was feeling weird but he still wanted to hear the rest of Tamahome's story so he requested him to continue.
"I still fought despite what happened and what really surprised me was that when they attacked me, they were able to hurt me so I got several bites from them. That's when I decided to run for my life," Tamahome ended his story.
"That was a great story. Good imagination," Miaka said.
"I told you the truth! I did not invent that! It truly happened!" Tamahome insisted.
"Nyah nyah," Miaka said in disbelief.
"I believe everything you said, Tamahome," Hotohori said.
"Ows? Really? I can't believe it! Tamahome exclaimed.
"Why Rei? Did you experience that also?" Miaka asked.
Since Hotohori was not sure, he just said that Tamahome couldn't have all those wounds if everything he said was not true.
"Sounds reasonable enough," Miaka remarked.
"Now, end that story-telling session and let's now have supper," Mr. Mao said the moment he entered the room.
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That's all! Thank you for reading and I also hope you'll review! Please REVIEW!