Kou let out a startled yell and fell from her horse in surprise as Taiitsukun came into full vision. "Y- y- your face! (It's scary!)" she exclaimed. Taiitsukun glowered.

"Some things never change," the realm-lord muttered. "Other things, however…" Droopy, weathered eyes glanced over the girl on the floor with intense curiosity. "Come, we will discuss this inside."

As if on silent command, the odd pink bubbles moved to enclose the seven warriors, carrying them up to the pagoda set in the mountainside. Kou stifled another scream at this, clinging to Nuriko's sleeve as they rose higher and higher.

"We're all going to fall…" she wailed, much to her host's amusement.

"Only if I let you," Taiitsukun said mischievously. "So don't provoke me."

While the other six seishi seemed perfectly fine with the short journey, Kou was abjectly grateful for solid land. Still a little shaky, she followed everyone else inside the temple to a rather comfortable room where Taiitsukun seated herself on something akin to a throne.

"Sit, sit," she said. "The Nyan-Nyan will bring tea presently. And Hotohori, you can look me in the face once in a while!"

"I still cannot bear it," the young emperor said a bit dramatically, his eyes closed and his face turned away. Everyone had to bit their tongues to keep from laughing. Taiitsukun let out a loud, disapproving "Hmph," and turned her attention to Kou.

"Well," the ancient one started, "I never expected to see you again, especially as a woman. But, I suppose under the circumstances, a female form would be… advantageous."

Kou blinked dumbly, wondering if she'd missed something. "I don't understand… Look, I don't mean to impose, but I just need you to send me home. There's been some sort of mistake. I don't belong here."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, I-" Kou paused. The answer wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. "I just don't. I'm not even from this world."

"Neither was Miaka," Taiitsukun replied with sly easiness. Kou sighed.

"Can we please leave my grandmother out of this?"

Something in Taiitsukun's eyes gleamed at the redhead's words. "That explains it." Kou was not the only one left bewildered at this point; no one seemed to have a clue except Taiitsukun.

"Explains what?" Kou growled with more than a hint of agitation.

Taiitsukun took a deep, contemplative breath, exhaling in almost a sigh. "You are the product of very strange circumstances. Before Tamahome, no one had ever traveled from this world to yours. Even in finding a way to traverse the rift and being reborn in your world, his soul remained bound here."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"You're his grandchild, aren't you? The offspring of two souls tied to two different dimensions. You should not exist."

"Hey, now wait a minute," Kou interjected, beginning to rise.

"Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?" barked Taiitsukun, frowning at the outburst. Slowly and reluctantly, Kou sat back down. "Thank you. It may be an ugly truth, but it is a truth nonetheless. By proxy of your grandparents, half of you does, in fact, belong here. And yes," the ancient continued quickly as Kou opened her mouth to speak, butting her off, "that also means that half of you belongs in the world in which you were born. But if you have been brought here, there is a reason."

The redhead chewed her lower lip in concentration. "Why… didn't this happen to my mother instead? The connection to this world must have been stronger in her."

"Who knows?" Taiitsukun replied with a shrug. "Perhaps there was no need for her."

Kou carefully thought out her words again before speaking. "But there's a need for me now?"

"I believe there is. You see, you are not the only one in your position. There is another who shares a soul with both worlds. He seems to be causing… unrest in the land."

"So that's why I'm here."

"Most likely."

Kou fell silent again. "Why do I bear the mark of Tamahome?"

"I would assume it is because Suzaku has chosen you to replace his missing star. You are descendant from his priestess and one of his warriors, and now you yourself have been selected in your grandfather's stead. You should feel blessed."

"Blessed?" Kou goggled at this. Her features had gone from contemplative intrigue to downright indignity. "Blessed! Lady, you've got a severely skewed idea of what should make people happy. No, I am far from blessed." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Frustration and sheer stress were starting to pave the way for a major headache. "Listen, I know you've got all these aggrandized ideas of me, but I don't want any part of it. I just want to go home, graduate, get a job, and be normal. Please send me back."

The ancient entity regarded the girl before her. The silent anticipation of an answer had the other six seishi leaning forward, eyes wide and mouths agape. Finally, Taiitsukun spoke.

"No."




That single word resonated in Kou's mind, echoing again and again. Her heart felt as if it had leapt into her throat and dropped into her stomach at the same time.

"What?" she asked with a shaky, little voice.

"You have a purpose here that must be fulfilled."

"Taiitsukun, please…"

"You cannot run away from your destiny."

"I'm begging you…"

Taiitsukun paused. "Let me ask you a question- you must answer truthfully. If I were to send you back to your home world, would you return here to finish what you were summoned to do?"

Tears brimmed at Kou's eyes. Her mouth opened, then closed, her teeth gritting at the knowledge of her impending response.

"No."

Taiitsukun nodded grimly. "That is why I cannot send you back."

Kou stood up, tears falling freely now even as her features were set in fierce determination. "I will find a way home," she said defiantly. "With or without you, I will find a way." With those words, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the room. The others watched her leave, dumbfounded. All, save Tasuki.

"Damn it," he growled as he rolled up to his feet and ran after her.




"Kou!" Tasuki shouted as he ran down the hall in search of the runaway girl. Surely she couldn't have gotten too far ahead of him. Not that it mattered, really; with his speed, he'd catch up in no time.

The sound of a large door falling shut reverberated through the corridors- Kou had found the way back out of the temple. Uttering another curse, the bandit raced toward the entrance, praying to Suzaku that she wasn't going to do anything stupid.

Tasuki threw the front door open, ready to dash after the girl if he needed to. Much to his surprise, however, Kou was not doing anything stupid; she was not doing anything at all. The red-haired girl had stopped a good thirty or forty feet away from the steps and was simply standing there with her back toward the pagoda. Tasuki started tentatively down the stairs, suddenly feeling more nervous than he might have if Kou was standing at the edge of the cliff instead.

"Kou…?" he called out softly as he continued his approach. Slowly, she half-turned to the sound of her name, glancing back at the bandit. The look on her face stopped Tasuki in his tracks; it was a look of utter defeat. He couldn't speak. All intelligible thought was chased away by the helplessness in those hazel eyes and the silent tears trailing down her face.

Tasuki barely registered that Kou had begun to move before he felt her weight crush against him, hands gripping his coat and face buried against his chest. The same aura that had been screaming all day, 'stay away!' was now screaming, 'hold me, hold me, help me.'

The bandit's arms fell automatically around the girl's back, embracing Kou's shaking form loosely, unsurely. What could he do? Up until now, he'd proved completely useless to the other-worlder. He couldn't let her down again, not this time.

"It's okay," he murmured, breath soft on her hair as his arms tightened around her. "We'll find a way to get you home. I promise."




The train blew its final departing whistle and started to move. Alex had settled into his seat just moments before, when his clothing and hair had miraculously dried just as suddenly as they had become wet. Now, with the train picking up speed and the other passengers occupying themselves for the journey, Alex pulled the Shi Jin Tenshi Sho out of his travel bag.

He still felt nervous displaying the book in public, as if people glancing at it would know its treacherous secret. Slouched down low, he opened to the page he left off on and marveled at how much had been written in the last few minutes. Alex scanned through the words quickly in search of anything important.

'The arrived at Mount Taikyouku.'

Hope welled up inside the boy. They'd gotten there okay! Maybe Corey was already home again! He read on in a frenzy. That hope promptly died when Alex reached the last paragraph; Taiitsukun had said no. He gripped the edges of the book so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and he suddenly jumped from his seat.

"Give her back, you stupid old hag!" he screamed. It was a few seconds later that Alex's anger abated enough for him to realize that everyone in the compartment was staring at him. His face was beet-red as he smiled sheepishly at his onlookers. "New Dean Koontz novel," he said with a nervous laugh. "He really gets you into it." Alex sat down hastily, hoping he didn't die on the spot from embarrassment.

'Taiitsukun said no,' he thought morosely. There was nothing he could do now but pray that Yui Hongo had another answer.




Tasuki had let Kou cry in silence, not as much in an effort to be considerate as a lack of any knowledge of what to do in this kind of situation. It was with a mixture of gratitude and reluctance that he let her slide out of his embrace when she pulled away at last.

"I'm sorry," Kou murmured, wiping the wetness from her face. "I just…"

Tasuki ran a hand through his hair uncomfortably as the moment turned awkward. "Er… don't worry 'bout it." He watched as Kou cast her eyes downward and wrapped her arms around herself. She looked so desperately alone…

"I don't know how much more of this I can take." The whispered words jarred Tasuki; if he had been expecting Kou to say anything, that certainly wasn't it.

"How much more of what?" he asked cautiously. Kou lifted her gaze back to the bandit. "Loss."

High-pitched muffled voices drew the pair's attention toward the temple door and Kou moaned. "I don't want to deal with this…"

In another situation, Tasuki might have laughed. He knew full well what a nagging, gossiping, irritating bunch the Nyan-Nyan could be, and didn't blame Kou in the least for not wanting to have to face that. With hardly a moment of forethought, Tasuki seized the girl's hand in his own. "Come on," he said hurriedly and pulled her along before she could protest. No one would really worry if they weren't found yet- after all, this was the safest place in the world.

He didn't stop until they had run clear across to the other side of the temple. Hopefully, the childlike servants would decide not to pursue and let Kou have her privacy.

Presently, the girl in question was leaning against the wall to catch her breath. "Thanks," she mumbled as she drew into herself again.

Looking at her like this, she seemed so frail and small, like the weight of the world was slowly but surely crushing her. Tasuki suddenly wished Nuriko had run after her instead. At least he was good at talking about feelings and shit like that.

"So…" Tasuki said cleverly. "You… uh, you wanna talk about it?"

Kou scoffed and let a rueful grin spread across her lips. "Oh, yeah," she answered with a defined hint of sarcasm. "I'll bet you're just dying to hear about my problems."

"I'm just tryin' to help."

Hesitantly, Kou looked up, eyes searching for any signs of mockery or insincerity on the bandit's face. There was none to be found. In fact, if she didn't know better, she would have sworn he was being shy.

"You know about my grandparents already," she started quietly. "My mom and dad died… Last year, in a car accident."

"Car?"

"It's like… a carriage that drives itself."

"Oh."

"After the funeral, I was sent to live with my aunt and uncle on my father's side- mom was Miaka and Taka's only child. I thought that everything was fine. I mean, we got along well enough, and they had been really nice and everything, so I never…

"Anyway, a few months later, we were in Japan visiting my mom's best friend, whose son is my best friend, too. They dropped be off at Alex's house, said they had some errands to run… They never came back for me. For a while, I thought they had died, too, but then we found the receipt for their tickets back to America a few days later."

"They just left you there?" Tasuki asked, incredulous. Kou nodded numbly. "That's pretty fucked up."

"Alex and Jessica… they're all I had left. But now…"

"Hey, I told ya we're gonna get you home and I meant it. You have my word."

In spite of herself, Kou cracked a grin. "The word of a bandit."

"Watch it," Tasuki said playfully. "Ain't you ever heard of honor among thieves?

Kou let out a tiny chuckle and shook her head. "Thanks," she murmured softly. "For listening. I don't talk about it much. It still hurts, you know? My parents were amazing people.

"Well of course," Tasuki scoffed lightly. "Yer mom came from the best stock out there." There was a pause as some unidentifiable emotion flashed across hazel eyes. Kou dropped her gaze and fidgeted idly with her hands.

"Yeah," she said mysteriously, leaving Tasuki unable to determine what the girl was feeling. She spoke again before he could ask. "We should get back to the others."

The idea to argue with that and press Kou for more details crossed Tasuki's mind, but he somehow doubted it would help. Her words had sounded more like a command than a suggestion, and had a finality about them that assured the bandit that the conversation was over. So, with a displeased sigh, Tasuki led the way back in silence.

Inside the meeting room, the five warriors and Taiitsukun were sipping at their tea. All of them looked up expectantly at the sound of the door opening, curiosity brewing in lieu of the two dour faces that met them.

"We're ready ta go back ta Konan," Tasuki grumbled, hoping his unpleasant attitude would stave off any immediate questions. Luckily, it seemed to work as the warriors set down the fine porcelain cups and filed out after saying their goodbyes to the realm-lord. Kou was the last to head for the door as a sudden throng of Nyan-Nyan rushed in to clear the mess, blocking her way momentarily. She was reaching for the door when Taiitsukun spoke.

"Tamahome."

Kou turned out of intrigue, not immediately realizing that she was the one being addressed.

"You may think me cruel for denying your request, but know this: I cannot directly interfere with the matters of this world. That is why you have been summoned instead. The world needs you. I hope you do not take that in vain. If there's anything else I can do to help, you may ask anytime."

Kou said nothing, but simply stared emptily at the ancient a few moments before turning and walking out the door.




tbc...

Author's Note: Contrary to popular belief, I am not dead. And no, I have not given up on this story either. Unfortunately, real life events have led me to have to take drastically long hiatuses and are blocking my creativity (stress will do that to a person, I suppose). Considering the severity of my current situation, I do not see resolution anywhere in the near future, but fear not! I will continue to write for the few people who think it's worth it to read my story.

Thank you all for your continued support.