Ugh; I finally got this chapter done. It's taken so long…with all the stupid assignments in school. School sucks.

Anyways…

Kasumi takemoto: Yep; long time, but oh well. Nice to hear from you again.

Fallenstar89: Yeah…I kinda promised that I'd email you but I haven't gotten the chance to. Even now, after I post this, I have to work on an essay for Macbeth. Apparently, according to our teacher and some stupid critic, the theme in Macbeth and most Shakespeare novels is 'waste', which is completely dumb because all I can think about it garbage when I think of waste and now I have to write five paragraphs about it. Ugh...

Oh yeah…send me the profile you had for this story again. I forgot. All I remember is the name and the part she played in the plot. All the other stuff…gone.

Silent Descant: Teachers and school suck; do you take computers as a subject or something? My teacher did that last year when I ditched my assignments to go on the internet. Maybe that's why I got such an awful mark in programming, huh? And nah; not that great. Your chapters are much better than mine. And in this chapter, they find Chiriko, which isn't as hard as it was finding Chichiri – a less tense atmosphere too – and I have plans for what to do for Mitsukake. At first, I was going to make him some sort of, I dunno, a 'career' that has something to do with violence, but I decided that was completely out of character for him. Or…all this ranting to you is giving me great ideas! Thank you!

Hiraikotsu: Thanks; glad you like it. Well…I don't really like Miaka and Tamahome, so that's why they're not in this story, but I'm glad you like it anyways.

Chichiri's Wanderer: Ahh…I can always count on you to go all enthusiastic about Chichiri. Of course, your name isn't Chichiri's Wanderer for nothing, right? Betcha can't wait for Kairi's entrance in this story…again.

Mtgranola: Tasuki bashing – in a good way – and violence is a good mix and about the other story that you reviewed for, if I write any future chapters, I'll send them to you, k? That should keep you happy. And since you were the only person to review for that…(hands you lots and lots of candy, coffee, etc…anything you could possibly want)

So, enjoy the chapter people! And don't forget to review and answer the question I have at the end

The night was quiet and the fire flickered slightly, threatening to go out at any moment. It was dying down and yet, some members of the group around the fire had yet to succumb to the spell of Morpheus, but those awake seemed too deep in thought to be even aware to notice that another besides them was awake. For now, at least.

She coughed, her mind drifted to the world that she so sorely missed, but yet…didn't. The world with advances such as technology, medicine that did not take two weeks to work, faster transportation, and most of all, her family, which she probably would have been visiting now if not for the fact that she was in here. She wondered if they missed her…

Coughing to clear out that tickle in her throat, she moved closer to the fire and wrapped her blanket closer around her. Although they were in Konan still, she found it cold and she was grateful that the males of the group were smart enough to bring so many blankets with them. Then again, they lived here.

She coughed again, careful not to wake any of the sleeping figures. Hotohori was leaning against a tree, having deemed it unfit for him to lay on the insect ridden ground; Tasuki was as close to the fire as he could get without burning himself, clutching his tessen like a security blanket. Chichiri…well, she did not know exactly where Chichiri was, only that he had teleported himself up high somewhere. In case someone attacked, he could be ready to retaliate.

Finally, but slowly, her thoughts lulled her to sleep…

f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y.f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y.f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y.f.o.u.r.g.o.d.s.p.r.o.p.h.e.c.y.

She opened her eyes once she heard the soft breathing that indicated that the other girl was finally asleep. She sat up and turned away from the fire, away from the rest of the group. Then she quieted down and listened, counting the different variations of snores and breathing she heard. Then, listening to make sure that Chichiri was indeed asleep, she sighed, rubbing her arm as she did so.

The long sleeves of her long, black, yet thin, coat, had irritated her all day, under the Konan sun and she itched to wear some sort or tank top or summer clothing but had stubbornly refused to. And for good reason.

A good fifteen minutes passed before she laid back onto blankets on the ground and covered her own body with blankets and fell back into sleep.

She was, however, unaware of one less person's breathing in their sleep and unaware of a pair of eyes watching her intently.

"Are we there yet?" Tasuki grumbled, dragging his feet across the dirt path.

Hotohori sighed and turned around, "Tell me, Tasuki, do you see any signs of civilization in sight?"

"No"

"Then, no, Tasuki, we have not reached Jinan"

Tasuki muttered under his breath, but the others in the group found it wise not to try to hear what he was saying. They thought that being succumbed to the very explicit curse words once already was one time too many.

"Why are you complaining anyways?" Nuriko asked, "I thought for sure you'd rather be on this stupid mountain than out at sea or something"

Naomi looked interested at this, mischief and promise of embarrassment for Tasuki shining in her eyes.

Noticing this, Tasuki whacked Nuriko over the head, "Shut up"

"Tasuki…are you afraid of…water?" Naomi asked.

"No!" he snapped, "Otherwise I'd be afraid of drinking it, idiot!"

"Let me rephrase that…are you afraid are large bodies of water?"

"NO!" Tasuki said a bit too quickly and a bit too loudly.

Naomi cackled evilly, "Wait 'till I tell Keikomi; I'm sure she'll be glad to help me throw you in a lake"

"NO!" Tasuki practically shouted, "Don't tell her!"

Naomi stopped cackling, "Why?"

"Because…just don't"

"Why?"

"You know that she's the incarnation of all things evil" Tasuki stated, "Just don't tell her"

"Why?"

"Are you going to keep saying why?"

"Why?"

"Argh; stop that!"

"Why?"

"Stop"

"Why?"

"Stop it!"

"Why?"

"STOP THAT!"

"Why?"

"Stop that or I'll set Akai on you" he said that part quietly in case Akai heard it and decided to peck at him mercilessly. He still had memories from the last time that happened…of course, that would be because it had happened yesterday.

Naomi pouted, "No need to be mean…so, why shouldn't I tell Keikomi? Besides the fact that you're convinced she's the 'incarnation of all things evil'?" she asked.

"Evil things are not meant to be given blackmail material" Tasuki said logically. For once. It was a historic moment for the seishi.

Naomi nodded, "Alright…but…" she then mocked an evil laughter.

Tasuki looked suspiciously at her, "What are you planning?"

"Me?" Naomi asked, pasting an innocent expression on her face, "What makes you think I'm planning anything?"

Nuriko shook his head and decided to have some nice, evil, fun himself. He got his horse to speed up to line up with the other seishi's and warrior's horses, "Hey Keikomi, Tasuki called you the incarnation of all things evil" he whispered loudly.

Tasuki looked panicked and Naomi pouted, "You people ruin all my fun and steal all my good plans"

The 'incarnation of all things evil' turned around slowly, "Hey Tasuki…" she said in such a sickly sweet voice that all those who heard it knew that the bandit was in for a world of pain and/or embarrassment.

"Finally" Chichiri stretched, "Jinan" he looked at the bustling city in which all the government buildings were located. While Eiyou was big enough to fit the palace, it would definitely not hold all the government buildings and it did not really make sense to put government buildings that usually relied on each other in different cities that took days to travel to. So, of course, Jinan, for its vast amount of land, was chosen for the building of the government structures.

"Well, let's go find Chiriko…" Nuriko said, "Um…where should we start?"

Chichiri looked deep in debate with himself. They waited in silence for what the most logical one thought, "I hate to say it…but we should split up" he said, remembering the chaotic search for everyone when that festival had been going on.

"Right" Tasuki said, about to take off, possibly for the nearest bar.

"In groups" Chichiri added wisely. Tasuki stopped and cursed while the others just rolled their eyes at the bandit.

"Yeah…pairs of three should be fine" Naomi deducted.

They separated in the groups. After Tasuki made it clear that he did not want to be in a group with 'that bitch', Keikomi paired up with Nuriko and Tasuki was dragged off by the ear by Chichiri, leaving Hotohori as the protection for the priestess.

Hotohori raised an amused eyebrow at the backs of their retreating friends, "So, shall we go?"

Hours later, the sun was setting and they had no luck in their search for the fifth seishi.

"Ugh…my feet hurt" Naomi complained.

"Then sit down" Tasuki snapped.

"Where?" Naomi shot back.

"The ground"

"No way"

"You sleep on it anyways"

"Not directly on it"

"Watch out" Hotohori said suddenly, pulling Naomi out of the way just as a runaway horse came pelting at Tasuki, stomping him to the ground and then continuing to run off.

"This is why I hate horses" Tasuki groaned from his position on the ground, his leg bent at an odd angle, indicating that it had been broken, probably when the horse had stomped on him.

"Because they always manage to beat you up?" Keikomi asked innocently, getting her a glare from the bandit.

"No; and help me up"

"You can't get up; your leg's broken"

"Oh, and you're a doctor are you?"

"No, just the way it's bent tells me that"

"No horse will get the better of me!" Tasuki declared.

Just then, two males, one a boy and the other looked to be a teenager, ran past, suddenly stopping. Nuriko's breath caught, looking at the younger one. The light brown hair, the eyes that revealed vast amounts ofintelligence. Chiriko.

"Erm…did you people see a horse run by here?" the elder one asked.

Nuriko nodded, not taking his eyes off of the younger boy, "It did. It also stomped on the idiot down there"

"Hey!" Tasuki glared furiously.

The two brothers looked shocked and then mortified. Before long, Tasuki was being carried on Nuriko's back and heading toward the Ou home, where Ou Dokun – who they recognized as Chiriko – and his elder brother had invited them to stay, to make up for the injuries their horse caused. Doukun's elder brother, along with Chichiri and Keikomi had gone to help round up the horse before it could do more damage.

Naomi was fumbling through her bag of belongings for the crystal, deciding that she really needed to put it on a chain and around her neck one day. It would be much easier in the long run.

As they walked into the house, Naomi gave a joyous cry, "I found it!" she held the crystal up high and there was a second where the crystal glowed brightly, enveloping all of them; Doukun and the priestess were the only ones who did not bother to shield their eyes. When the light faded, Doukun had a shocked expression on his face. He looked at each of the seishi in turn before realization seemed to set in his eyes.

He said three things immediately afterwards. One was, "What do I tell my brother and mother?"

The second was, "My horse ran over Tasuki!"

Silence.

Then, "I'm giving him lots and lots of carrots"

Anyways, they found Chiriko, so all the dumbness produced by a certain seishi will be balanced out. And the question I mentioned before…knowing that quite a few people don't like Tamahome, but for the sake of this plot, please put that…dislike aside in answering this question. Should I write Taka in, meaning that Miaka is mentioned a few times too, or should I create a new Tamahome? If I do write Taka in, there'd be lots of bashing…but a new Tamahome…I dunno. You people choose for me.