Chapter Two

The next morning, the search for Nuriko began. Mamoru had at first been reluctant to hand out the amulets, but then thought back to his dream and the aged oracle of the book world. What was this going to do to his future? Miaka and the rest had been completely taken by surprise when they had been told about Tai itsukun meeting with Mamoru through a dream.

"I think I would rather call that a nightmare." Taka said, remembering how ugly Tai itsukun was.

"It's no wonder she thinks you're impolite, Tamahome." Mamoru said, getting a dirty look from the seishi.

"Well, let's get going. Nuriko's out there somewhere! Let's try to find him today!" Miaka said, cheerily.

"If this guy's as cute as you say he is, then I've got first dibs!" Minako said, matter-of-factly.

"That is exactly what you'd said about Hotohori last night, Mina-chan!" Usagi cajoled.

"And what's the matter with that? Men are allowed to have harems!" Minako protested. All the men got the 'anime blue streak' across their faces.

"Not in Tokyo, Minako-san, not in Tokyo." Mamoru sputtered, almost choking on his coffee.

"Oh? And why not?" Minako asked. Mamoru didn't reply, but instead walked faster in order to get away from Minako. The other men followed his example.

"Hey! Why are you guys walking so fast? Come back here!" Minako shouted, sending the male part of their group into a mad dash down the sidewalk.

"Wow! I've never seen Mamoru-sempai move so fast! He must really be scared of you, Mina-chan!" Makoto teased, getting a flustered look from Minako.

"He isn't afraid of youmas, but one mentioning of an all male harem and he's gone like greased lightning." Ami said, never once taking her eyes off of her keypad.

"Well, that's basically what Miaka-chan had…………eheh……..never mind." Yui said, with a nervous giggle when she saw Miaka's expression.

"'Scuse us, ladies, but do you know the way to…." One male voice asked.

"The Jubankoku High school?" another voice finished. All looked behind them and saw two young men.

"The Boshi Twins!" Miaka thought, suddenly feeling panic surge through her. One look at Yui's face proved that she was thinking the same thing.

"Erm. Yeah, down that way and take a left." Usagi said, pointing down the road in front of them.

"Arigato gozaimash'ta!" the twins said, in unison, before politely passing the group and continuing on their way.

"Whew! Chill right down the spine! That was way too creepy!" Miaka said, relieved when the 'Boshi Twins' were out of sight.

"Why? They were rather cute." Makoto said, confused.

"Those two looked exactly like two of Yui-chan's seishi. Those two were the Seiryusichisei Suboshi and Amiboshi!" Miaka explained.

"You mean that one of them, Suboshi, was the one that had ruthlessly killed Tamahome's family?! That Suboshi?!" Minako asked, her voice rising a couple of notches. Yui nodded and replied, " The very same."

"I can't believe it….But I didn't feel any negative vibes from them." Rei murmured, as they continued on their way.

"The funny thing is…I didn't either." Yui said, as she drifted into her own thoughts.

Hours later, they returned to the house without Nuriko. "Where could he be?" Miaka mused, with her mouth full of course.

"We've searched everywhere that we thought he would hang out at, and still no luck." Keisuke grumbled, before taking a big bite out of the slice of pizza he'd put on his plate.

"Hmmm……….." Mamoru said, ignoring the pizza on his plate.

"What're you thinking, Mamoru-sempai?" Ami asked.

"I was just trying to figure out where Nuriko could be that we haven't checked yet. From what I've learned about Nuriko, he should have been in each of the places we have checked. Yuki-san, is there something else I still don't know about Nuriko? The slightest bit of info would be a big help." Mamoru said.

"Well, I thought I'd already told you that Nuriko was a cross-dresser. What else haven't I told you?" Miaka asked.

"What about his personality? What did he act like?" Ami queried.

"Well, he was a pretty carefree person, yet he worried a lot. Other than that, he liked to prance around a lot and show off his wardrobe." Miaka replied.

"Prance around………..prance around………..Damn! Why didn't I think of this before?!" Mamoru shouted, standing up suddenly, scaring the daylights out of his companions.

"What, Mamo-chan? What haven't you thought of before?" Usagi asked, startled by her boyfriend's sudden outburst.

"Usa-ko, do you remember that time two years ago, not long after you had found Mercury and Mars, when you were lured into a trap that had modeling involved?" Mamoru asked.

"Hai! You'd even told me about when you had to model to get through high-school……….." Usagi trailed off as the idea dawned on her and the rest.

"The modeling agency!" the rest of the group said, in unison, as Mamoru smiled his satisfaction.

"What're we waiting for? Let's go! Nuriko's waiting!" Miaka shouted, happily, getting a unanimous agreement from her friends.

Mamoru braced himself as he and the group walked in.

"CHIBA! How good it is to see you again after so long! What have you been doing with yourself?!" a scraggly looking man asked, as he attached himself to an embarrassed Mamoru.

"I've not been doing much, Kagi-kun, now would you kindly get off of me?!" Mamoru asked, his nerves slightly frazzled.

"Oh, of course. What has brought you and your friends here?" the man asked, as he reluctantly let go of Mamoru and stood sullenly before them.

"We are looking for a man that matches this description." Mamoru said, as he handed a paper with the description written on it.

"Oh yes! There is a young man here going by this description! Ishida! Ishida Ryuen, get your sorry ass out here!" Kagi screeched, as he disappeared into a hallway, leaving the group standing there.

"If this Ryuen guy is a smart man, he won't come when he's called by Kagi." Mamoru muttered under his breath.

"Is he gone?" a voice whispered from overhead.

"Yeah, come on out." Keisuke said, as the group turned to face who had spoken first. "Thanks. Whew! That guy's as gay as a jaybird! He won't be back for a while." A young man said, as he climbed down from an overhead hiding place and faced the group.

"What's your name, sir?" Minako asked, out of curiosity.

"My name's Ryuen Ishida. What's yours?" the young man asked.

"My name is Minako Aino. My friends and I have come here to ask you some questions concerning a certain book." Minako said, speaking for the whole group this time.

"If you people are going to speak to me about that, then lets go someplace else to talk. I don't feel comfortable standing here talking." Ryuen said, as he nervously looked around.

"What are you afraid of, Ishida-kun?" Mamoru asked, curious as to why Ryuen was so nervous.

"There's this new model here. Some guy with long black hair and a mean disposition, calls himself 'Tomo' or somethin' to that effect. There's somethin' evil about him, something horribly familiar…….." Ryuen said, nervously.

"Tomo! One of the Seiryu seishi! Now it is imperative that we find all of the Suzakusichisei! Quickly!" Mamoru thought, as he turned an urgent gaze to his companions and they all ushered Ryuen out of the building just as Kagi returned to where they were standing just moments before.

"Hey! That was a dirty trick, Chiba! CHIBA!!!!!!!!!!!" Kagi screeched, as the group quickly disappeared into the crowd.

"You mean to tell me that I am the reborn Nuriko? A character from a book?" Ryuen asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"It is the truth, Ishida-kun. You are Nuriko, the third Suzakusichisei. We've been searching for you since early this morning to find you and hopefully help you remember what had happened to you previously." Mamoru replied, calmly. The entire group now sat (or stood, as in Hotohori's case) in Mamoru's spacious apartment's living room.

"Have you thought to check those amulets you are now wearing, minna?" Luna asked, as she came out of nowhere and perched on Usagi's shoulder.

"That's right! The amulets Chiba-sempai gave us this morning! Let's check them!" Miaka said, as she pulled the amulet out of its hiding place. The moment they had all revealed their amulets, a brilliant red light emerged.

"Suzaku……………" Miaka murmured under her breath, amazed by the sight. Then Hotohori let out a cry of amazement.

"My sword! Suzaku's returned my sword to me!" Hotohori exclaimed, as he felt the familiar weight of the weapon in his hands.

"And look at Ryuen! He's glowing!" Taka shouted, as the red light centered itself on Ryuen, and then on his chest.

"Look! He even has Nuriko's bracelets! Nuriko!" Miaka cried, hoping that Nuriko would awaken at the sound of her voice.

"Miaka? Suzaku no Miko? Is that you?" Nuriko asked, sounding almost sleepy as he came out of his trance.

"Nuriko! Yes! It's me! And Hotohori and Tamahome are here too!" Miaka said, happily, as tears of joy cascaded down her face.

"Hotohori-sama?! Forgive me your highness! I was so rude to have fallen asleep!" Nuriko yelped, immediately dropping into a bow.

"No need for that now, Nuriko. You and Hotohori are of the same class now. Now we have to go about trying to find Chichiri and the rest. That is going to be one hell of a task, especially since there is the possibility that the Seiryu seishi have also been reborn." Mamoru said, calmly.

"Hold up! Wait a minute! I just figured out how much you and Tamahome look like each other!" Nuriko said, as he placed the two men beside one another.

"It is fairly obvious to the rest of the world as well, Nuriko." Mamoru said, dryly, getting a laugh from the rest of the group.

"Mamoru-sempai, where do you think Chichiri would be? What would be your guess?" Keisuke asked.

"Well, you and Tetsuya-kun kept track of what happened to Yuki-san when she was in the book, you tell me. What was the most striking thing about Chichiri? What kind of places did he like the best?" Mamoru asked.

"Let's see…….from what I can remember reading about Chichiri, he seemed to really like fishing. And he also spent a good deal of his life in Mt. Taikyoku under the tutelage of Tai itsukun. Do you think he could be living in the mountains, Mamoru-sempai?" Tetsuya asked.

"Could be. We're going to have to work something out so we can all go up to the mountains together and find Chichiri, if he's there. He might even be living near the old ski resort that closed down recently." Mamoru said, as he pulled out an old road map and showed them the location he was talking about.

"Maybe we can get some skiing in too!" Usagi added, excitedly.

"The last time you went skiing, Usa-ko, you were crying from the time you got on the lift to the time you made it down the hill!" Mamoru said, sarcastically.

"Hey! How could you know that?! You were brainwashed, remember?!?" Usagi screeched, furiously.

"I remember tidbits every now and again. That was one of the few things I could ever forget about during my time as a brainwashed minion of Queen Beryl." Mamoru said, with a look that said it all on his handsome face.

"You're going to wish you'd never remembered it, Chiba Mamoru!" Usagi screamed, and proceeded to chase Mamoru around the room.

"Does this happen often?" Taka asked, with a deadpan expression on his face.

"This has never happened before! This is a side to Usagi even I have never seen!" Rei commented, not faking amazement when she said that. The chase continued until it was time for the rest of the group to go home.