Updating this one again…just as I thought. No one remembered me…no reviews…I am heart-broken…

Disclaimer: Nope, none of them are mine…they are all Watase-Sensei's characters…

"Now, tell me where my sister went, Suzaku-sama."

Suzaku settled on a red and gold cushion made from his own feathers. His regal grace was not unlike Hotohori's. Maybe it is in their blood and genes. Suzaku certainly wasted no time in recruiting his own brother as a Seishi. No wonder Hotohori was born to be an emperor – the post is the closest to the heavens. Nuriko narrowed her eyes at Suzaku. "What's with sending my sister down to add to my woes in Konan?"

Suzaku waved him away. "Well, I could not resist adding more love and tears to your previous life. It is my job, after all, to plan out different relationships and triangles in the mortal world."

"You had me in love with your own little brother and your chirpy miko!" Nuriko growled, grabbing Suzaku's collar. "How dare you…"

Seiryu materialised in Suzaku's palace, with an angry Ashitare in tow. "Humph, you've always known Suzaku's weird sense of humour. He had half of his Seishi in love with his miko! Roasted bird, you are out of your mind! My miko did not even know much about her Seishi at all!"

"Oh, are you jealous?" Suzaku quipped calmly. "Let go, Nuriko, or you will be banished into the depths of hell. You will regret it, I am sure."

Nuriko reluctantly released him and glanced at Ashitare. She smirked when she saw him. "I seem to take this better than the wolf-guy. I remember you as a dog, wolf-guy. Well, at least this is better than being Miboshi's little pet, don't you think?"

Ashitare let out a roar. Seiryu restrained him. "I advise you not to pour oil into the fire, wine-maker. He had led a sorry life."

"At least he need not get entangled in unnecessary love triangles!" Nuriko snapped back.

Suzaku smirked. "How was I to know that you bore a grudge against him? If you had not helped Byakuren in becoming a concubine, this would not have happened."

Nuriko was really angry. "You mentioned Byakuren! That snotty woman does not deserve my help at all! She destroyed my winery with your brother and got out of it scot free! Do you know how hard it is to rebuild it again? Even in the previous life, she indirectly killed my sister! Now, I…"

Seiryu grabbed her and asked, "Suzaku, you did know that it would soon come to this, did you not?"

Suzaku smiled. "They could not take a joke, could they?"

"IT'S ALL A JOKE?" the two outraged seishi roared.

-

"It does us no good to remember, Suzaku-sama. Come to think of it, you brother is rather handsome too. I get to see Byakuren's good side at least."

"I terrorize Miboshi in my previous life. It cheers me to remember it."

Seiryu sighed. It took them half a day to get them to calm down. "Burnt Bird, this is the last time I am going to support you when your love pairings have gone awry."

"It is the first time it did not work out. I realised that there were not enough females to go around pleasing all of the men. Also, a woman cannot marry more than one husband at a time."

"Suzaku-sama?"

"Yes, Nuriko?"

She set her wine glass down. "From now on, you are never going to get any wine from me or my sister. NEVER, do you understand? We are still gods, not your toys or playthings. If there is nothing to notify us about, we will be going back to our routine, godly lives again."

Ashitare and Nuriko rose from their cushions. They were stopped by Seiryu. "Do you realize that there is no one around?" He said softly. "There is no one to celebrate your return to heaven, no one except us and two Genbu warriors. They had already stepped into the reincarnation wheel."

"You both would find your way there too, had I not been there to guide you back here. Genbu was distraught, but there is no way back. They had fallen into Tenkou's trap," Suzaku said regally.

"You meant the weird little scholar who always appears at our gate of heaven? I gave him a few bottles of peach wine to enjoy. After all, he is our guest. Anyone who comes to heaven is a guest," Nuriko said thoughtfully. "He really is our enemy?"

"That scholar did not seem to use the right way to come here. Only the best come to heaven. Girly-b…fine, Girly-girl, you are the best in the wine profession. When you died, you came here," Ashitare growled, flopping back onto his cushion.

"He is right. The scholar used unorthodox methods to come here. Now he is imprisoning all the gods and goddesses that made it here. We want to ask a favour of you both. Go down there and find out what he is planning to do with them. Free them," Seiryu commanded.

"We will put together our magic to get you down, with real bodies and your symbols intact. Everyone would thank you for it," Suzaku agreed. He glanced at Nuriko. "Your sister is captured too."

"You are not serious! I killed Wolf-man in my past life! How are we going to get along?" Nuriko asked, gesturing at Ashitare and her. "I want to go alone!"

"I do not want everyone's 'thank you' when they come back. I want something more," Ashitare growled. "I have suffered so much that I desire the best."

"We will decide on that when you come back," Seiryu said. He grabbed Suzaku's waiting hand and squeezed it. Purple magic engulfed them.

The Seishi disappeared from heaven. The dragon god released his comrade's hand immediately and wiped it on a cushion. "This is the last time I am going to do magic with you, Bird Brain."

Suzaku smirked. "You said the same when we were schooling with Chichiri, Nuriko and the others. Trust me, this is not the last time."

Seiryu grimaced. "Forgive me for my rudeness, but I am going back to rest at my abode. Do you think two warriors would be enough? Should we send more?"

"I don't think so, lizard. We need people to contact Hades in Hell and also some to discuss how to prevent this from happening again," Suzaku sipped at his wine.

Seiryu turned away. "Lizard."

"I have a name, Bird brain," the dragon god retorted.

"As do I. No, I really wanted to ask you…Is Nuriko really serious about not selling me wine in the near future?" Suzaku looked worried, glancing at the barrels left.

Seiryu smirked. "I am certainly not giving you any of mine! When she comes back, think of something to please her, will you? If you succeed, she will make us a lot of wine that would last us until she comes back from her next job."

Suzaku groaned. "It would be the last reincarnation. After that, we'll wait for Genbu and Byakko to start the ball rolling again."

"Hopefully we won't be as unfortunate as this round, then. Birdie, I know you love my company. However, I know I am really tired. I am going back to my palace to sleep. Don't wake me up for unnecessary things."

He disappeared from the palace. Suzaku stared at his amount of wine left and sighed. Perhaps he should turn to another beverage. His supply of tea had long run out.

-

"Wine-maker, I know you are strong, but you could put me down!"

"I don't want you crashing down on me!"

"I shall break your arm!"

"Fine then!" Nuriko let go of Ashitare and watched him fall onto the cold, cemented ground. "How's that for Wolfy?"

Ashitare grabbed her collar. "I am not done with you yet, Nuriko!"

"Oh, now that I am not a boy when I turned back into a god, you had to call me Nuriko! I am certainly not a girly-girl, for your information!"

"No girl is as loud as you are!"

"You got that right Wolfy!"

"I am not Wolfy!"

All of a sudden, there was a flash out of nowhere. Startled by the flash, the duo ran away from the crowded area, hiding in an alley. "Hey, Wolfy, I don't think that is lightning…it came from that black box…"

"I've got news for you too, Loud-mouth. I don't think we are in the Universe of the Four Gods any longer," Ashitare replied sarcastically.

They looked at each other. "Come to think of it, I really could not recognise you in these weird clothes. Really, if you were properly groomed, you are dashing. Your eyes look almost human now, thank Suzaku," Nuriko praised. "And your hair and skin aren't grey anymore, which is a relief."

Ashitare was wearing a tuxedo and his black hair was long and sleek. His clawed hands were reduced to normal hands. His eyes were a dark purple and he looked as young as Nuriko. She stared at him in awe, before remembering about Ashitare's foul character.

Ashitare smiled. "You don't look half bad in those clothes either. It brings out the man in you."

Unfortunately, Nuriko is wearing the exact same thing as Ashitare. Nuriko punched Ashitare into the nearest wall. "I know what I am in my past life. No need to rake it up, Wolfy."

"So, do you know where we are, dear winery owner?" Ashitare asked the lady.

"If I am not wrong, we are in our mikos' world. This looks like what their world would look like…" Nuriko put a gloved hand to her chin.

"You are not making any sense here…"

Suddenly, the press caught up to them.