Hidden Paths on a CloudCast Night

by roku kyu

An apocalyptic threat to two worlds reunites old friends and enemies...and lovers parted for ten years. Ch. 17. "Keep your friends close...and your enemies closer."

9. The quests begin

Disclaimer: The characters from Fushigi Yuugi are the creations and property of Yuu Watase and related enterprises. I do not own them and do not make any profit from this fiction other than my enjoyment in spending time with them.

However, the plotline for this story and all original characters DO belong to me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.

Many thanks to Kaze-chan for the loan of her original background history of Subaru and Tokaki as depicted in her marvelous story, "It Was a Normal Day in the Market." This history was used with her express permission and may not be used elsewhere without her permission.
 

Special Note: Due to the increased action throughout the ShiJinTenChiSho, Earth, and certain otherworldly sites, some chapters (such as this one) will have location headings to let you know exactly where the action is taking place. Think of it as jumping from scene to scene in a movie - which is exactly the way this story plays through my mind.

Important reminder: Although I know that this is probably unnecessary, I'll just give a quick reminder to everyone that time moves much slower in Tokyo than it does in the ShiJinTenChiSho. And so we rejoin Yui and company - right where we last saw them.
 

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Chapter 9.    The quests begin…

 
Tokyo
 

Yui breathed rapidly, trying to calm the pounding of her heart, trying to keep from panicking; panic was a luxury for which they would pay with their lives. Strong arms grasped hers, and two bodies pressed on her from either side, comforting her with their warmth. She tried to focus on that warmth instead of on the wet, squelching sound of tearing flesh coming from a spot only twenty meters from their hiding place. 'It doesn't matter,' she tried to reassure herself. 'He's already dead, so it doesn't matter that that thing is…is…'

But it did matter. There was something obscenely wrong about a human body being devoured, dead or not - something that touched off a chord deep inside her, overwhelming her with primal fear and a loathing so intense that she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. Despite her best efforts, a tiny strangled sob escaped her - and the tearing sounds abruptly stopped.

Yui shrank back against her companions, mentally shrieking at herself for her fatal mistake…and it was fatal for all of them, for with that strange inner sight that had come upon her, she knew that the nightmare beast was turning its malignant head toward their hiding place. She heard a machinelike chuff of breath, followed by the scraping of its metallic claws against the wet concrete.

Tetsuya reached across from her left, tugging at Keisuke's sleeve and pointing to himself, then motioning in a quick slash down the alley. 'NOOOOOO!' mouthed Yui in a silent scream, but Keisuke merely nodded grimly, understanding that Tetsuya was going to buy them their only chance to get Yui out of there alive. Yui pulled desperately on Tetsuya's sleeve, trying to hold him back. He placed his hand over hers and gave her a soft squeeze…before gently removing her hand and shifting his position, ready to run.

Just as Tetsuya burst from behind the dumpsters, a low moaning wail filled the alleyway, and flashes of scarlet light washed over the surrounding buildings. Tetsuya cried out in surprise as he bounced off the metal side of the new intruder, while the nightmare beast hissed and retreated. Yui felt the transdimensional exit of the beast in the popping of her ears and the cessation of the crawling sensation in her brain.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" shouted one of the two policemen exiting the patrol car. He grabbed Tetsuya and hauled him to his feet, holding him against the wall with his billy club. Tetsuya, still under the influence of his terror-induced adrenaline rush, could only shake his head and gasp for air. Keisuke held Yui tightly behind the dumpsters, signaling her to keep silent.

"Enoki-san! Did you see that?" The second policeman was pointing in disbelief at the spot where the nightmare beast had disappeared. "What was that thing?!"

The first policeman ignored him, shaking his captive roughly. "Why are you skulking around here?! Do you know anything about the explosion back there?!"

"Enoki-san! Come here quick!" The second policeman stood over the bloody, partially eaten remains of the assassin. "I think…" he paused, forcing down his gorge, "I think it's a body!"

Enoki-san ran toward his partner, dragging an unwilling Tetsuya with him. But even the hardened veteran blanched in shock at the sight of the headless, limbless torso steeped in its own gore. "Shikuso!" he swore. For the briefest moment, his grip loosened on Tetsuya's arm - and the young man twisted with surprising force, wrenching out of the policeman's grasp and darting around the patrol car. Keisuke pulled Yui out from behind the dumpster, and the three took off at top speed, ignoring the shouts of the policemen to stop.

Tetsuya and Keisuke held Yui by each arm, making her almost fly over the rain-slicked pavement. They could hear the police chasing them, but their terror of the night's events imbued them with desperate speed, enabling them to pull away from their pursuers. The police radio crackled in the distance as Enoki-san called for back-up.

The three fugitives finally gained the street, only to be brought up short by emergency vehicles parked helter-skelter across the road. Strobing red and blue lights flashed across teams of men in fire gear spraying water on the smoking remains of Taka's car. Yui sobbed in horror at the sight of Taka's murder scene, and Tetsuya forcibly turned her away, pulling her face into his broad chest. He exchanged grim glances with a suddenly tearful Keisuke, and they wove their way swiftly between the police cars and fire equipment, losing themselves in the morbidly excited crowd gathered behind the police barricades. Once past the outskirts of the crowd, they continued walking quickly until they reached the end of Gaien-Higashi Road, unobtrusively joining a small group of club-goers appropriating the cabs waiting at the taxi stand.

Keisuke drew in a shaking breath of relief as they settled in the warm, smoky interior of the cab. Tetsuya took Yui's chilled hands and chafed them between his own as the cab shifted into gear.

"Where to?" inquired the cabbie in a disinterested voice.

Keisuke exchanged a look with Tetsuya over Yui's bowed head. "The National Library," he replied firmly.

The cabbie adjusted his rear view mirror, frowning at his passengers. "Sorry, mister, but the library ain't open at this time of night."

Tetsuya removed his shades and fixed the driver with an intense stare. "Don't worry about it. Just drive."
 

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Northern Konan, the Byakko campsite

Sparks flew up from the small campfire, spinning madly in the chill currents of air, dancing like frenetic fireflies before winking out of existence. Subaru shivered and held her hands closer to the flames. It was mid-spring, she knew, yet the nights here in the mountains of Konan still held the icy breath of winter. She longed for the temperate climes of her home village, blinking back tears at the memories of sitting around the firepit with her brother, mother, and father. She poked at the fire with a thick branch, shaking her head at her turbulent emotions. Here she was, about to embark on a dangerous quest while the existence of her entire world was threatened, yet her greatest grief was the thought that she was now too big to be cuddled on her father's knee.

At that moment, she was seized by a pair of strong arms and pulled backwards against a lean body hard with muscles. She shrieked and twisted in his grip, swinging the tree branch in a dimly remembered defensive move and connecting solidly with something hard. A shout of pain echoed through the diamond-studded sky.

"Dammit, woman, what is it with you?! Is your day not complete unless you hit me over the head with a piece of wood?!" Furious golden eyes glared down into hers.

Subaru gasped, fighting to regain her breath. "You frightened me!"

Tokaki took his hand away from his temple, holding it out to the firelight. "Look - blood! You could have killed me!"

Subaru strode up to him and pulled his hand away, examining the wound with quick, deft fingers. "It's just a scratch," she sniffed, unconsciously lapsing into familiar banter with him. "Hardly worth staging an opera scene over."

"But worth bringing you close," he purred seductively, changing moods with lightning rapidity. Suddenly, his hands were wound through her thick ivory tresses, pulling her head back and forcing her face up to his. He leaned in, his slanted golden eyes afire, his lips slowly, lightly brushing hers. She felt the length of his body pressed against hers, hard with desire, and felt an answering surge of desire firing through her nerves. Her young, newly matured body flinched at the novel sensations, pleasure mixing with irritating, almost painful stimuli, and she cried out, pushing back from him violently.

"Stop!" she gasped. "Just…stop it!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" His voice was thick with frustration, his face flushed with anger.

Subaru stared at him in surprise. Although they had spent years equivalent to two lifetimes with one another, this was the first time that he had ever acted like a petulant teen-aged boy. But then again, he had been significantly more mature when they had first met, that day in the marketplace. He had been settled in his destiny as a Byakko shichiseishi whereas she had still been unaware of her seishi powers.

Tokaki saw her eyes soften with memory…and moved swiftly to take advantage of the moment, seizing her around the waist and plunging his tongue into her mouth. A sharp pain lanced through his mouth as a blow rocked him back once again. He glared at Subaru through tears of pain. "You bit me! And slapped me!"

"I told you to stop it!" she quavered, tears rising in her blue-grey eyes.

In their last lifetime, her distress would have brought him to his knees, tender and contrite - but this time, strong emotions surged through his young body along with unfamiliar hormonal urges, and all he knew was a raging sense of grievance.

"This is all shit!" he roared at her, waving his hands to take in their surroundings. "All of this! Nothing makes any sense, this goddamn Enemy, people dying for no reason!" His features twisted in pain, and for a moment, Subaru thought he might burst into tears. However, he quickly regained control by refocusing his rage onto her. "You're my wife, dammit, and I'm sick of being teased by you! It's your duty to submit to me!" Even as he spoke the fatal words, he cringed internally at their utter stupidity.

But it was too late. Subaru's famous temper was aroused at last, her eyes blazing as if filled with the fires of Hell itself. "You…you…you SCUM!" she shrieked. "Teasing you?! I was just tending the fire when you assaulted me! I have news for you, Tokaki! I'm not your wife in this life, not now, not EVER!"

Tokaki blanched at her rejection. "You're crazy! You…you've gone insane! We have a lifetime of history together! We were joined in the eyes of our god…"

"Don't call me crazy!" howled Subaru in fury. "Don't you dare call me insane! The fact that I don't want you makes me into a madwoman?! Your ego is the biggest thing in this entire universe!"

"No!" Tokaki grabbed her arm, pulling her to him desperately. "You can't say that you don't want me anymore, you can't mean that! I CAN'T LOSE YOU, TOO!"

Subaru pulled out of his grasp, hitting at him, punching at him. Some of the blows connected, but he kept grabbing at her desperately, trying to pull her to him, hold her and keep her…when suddenly a tremendous force caught him by the back of his shirt and flung him halfway across the campsite. Tokaki slammed into a tree and crumpled at its base, groaning in pain.

A figure stooped over Subaru, murmuring words of comfort to the angry, weeping girl, wrapping her in the folds of a thick cloak…then turned and strode over to the dazed Byakko warrior. A hand reached down and hauled Tokaki to his feet as easily as if he had been a child. Tokaki focused blearily on the glittering violet gaze of Suzaku no Nuriko.

"Listen up," said the Suzaku warrior in a quiet, dangerous voice. "This stops right here, right now. I want your word of honor as a shichiseishi that you will keep your hands to yourself, or I'll be forced to take her along with me and Hotohori-sama on our mission, and you can go off to Sairou on your own!"

Tokaki clenched his jaw in rage. "You can't do that! She's a Byakko warrior - and my wife! What happens between us is none of your business!"

"Oh, it's my business, all right." Nuriko's voice was mild as he casually inspected his fingernails, but the menace beneath the calm tones was unmistakable. "It's my business when any man ignores a lady's firm rejection, and it's especially my business when the two of you scream and shout, sending ki flares rocketing up into the night sky like fireworks. I happen to know that none of the Enemy are anywhere nearby - and the reason I know this is because if they were, they'd be attacking us right now." The violet eyes lifted, fixing Tokaki with an icy, threatening glare. "My camp is just over the next rise - and if you think for even one misguided moment that I will allow you to endanger Hotohori-sama," he moved closer, poking Tokaki in the chest for emphasis, "you had Better. Think. Again."

Tokaki flushed in humilation. He was supposed to be the one who protected Subaru, not the one she needed protection from. His shame flared up, converted into anger by his immaturity. "I guess I'm not the only one around here with woman troubles," he sneered.

"You're really spoiling for a fight tonight, aren't you?" sighed Nuriko. "Guess every group of seishi has their token hothead - though in my opinion, Tasuki is worth two of you! All right, if you want a piece of me, let's go!" He hauled Tokaki off into the woods, dragging the taller man easily down the animal paths. Tokaki thought briefly about teleporting out of Nuriko's grasp, but it seemed too much like running away.

When they reached a starlit clearing, Nuriko shoved Tokaki forward, releasing him. The Byakko warrior spun with celestial speed, lashing out at Nuriko - only to find his fist caught in an unyielding, iron grip. Nuriko slowly tightened his grasp, squeezing Tokaki's fist until he was forced to his knees, gasping in pain.

"All right." Teeth gleamed in the shadowed face. "Now that we've gotten the male posturing over with, let's have a serious talk." He released Tokaki's fist, allowing the Byakko warrior to collapse in agony. "None of this is going to work, you know. You could get your own way with Subaru," Nuriko paused, then deliberately chose crude words, "screwing her until you pass out from pleasure; you could beat me to a pulp and strut around like cock-of-the-walk - but none of this is going to bring him back."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Tokaki sullenly, his snowy tresses hiding his face as he knelt cradling his injured hand.

"Then let me spell it out for you. Tamahome. Dead. Gone. Forever." The words were bitten off as if they left a bitter, acrid taste in the speaker's mouth.

"Why should I care?" Tokaki's voice was muffled as he crouched on the ground. "I did my duty by him; I taught him what I could. It's not as if he was a brother warrior…or my…or…or anything! He was Suzaku and I was Byakko…and that's all. I died long before he did, anyway."

Nuriko watched as crystal drops fell silently to the ground, betraying their presence by catching the light of the stars. "But unlike us, he's not coming back. Ever." The words were thick with finality. "And you loved him. Like a…"

"Don't say it!" choked Tokaki. "I have no son! I have no one!"

There was a soft shuffle, a rustle of garments and dead leaves, then Tokaki felt a strong hand gripping his shoulder. "Listen," Nuriko's voice was husky with compassion and grief, "I know how you feel…and you know how I feel. The news of Tama's death hit all of the Suzaku hard, but I think that it hit you and me the hardest. After all, we were the ones who loved him the most. To me, he was the younger brother I never had, and no matter how much you deny it, he was your surrogate son."

The husky voice took on a musing tone. "He would kick my ass for saying this, but there was something about Tamahome that inspired love. He had this energy, this vitality and passion for life! He did nothing halfway - especially when it came to money!" Tokaki finally smiled weakly to himself as Nuriko continued to reminisce. "Miaka loved him from the start, and even…I swear that even Nakago, that cold-eyed bastard, felt something for Tamahome! After all, he let Tamahome kill him in the end…" Nuriko's voice trailed off for a moment.

"At any rate," he continued, "I wanted to tell you that I understand what you're going through - and that you're going about it all wrong. You see, I know a little about loss and death from my previous life, and I can tell you that running away from it only makes the pain last longer. The worst thing you can do with the rage and grief is to hurt the person you love."

"Love." The word dripped with bitterness. "I don't believe it. I don't believe in it. If love can die after more than a lifetime together, then what did it ever mean?"

"You really are an idiot!" Nuriko's eyes danced with amusement. "Just because she wouldn't lie down for you when you grabbed her as a comfort toy, you're going to sulk and say she doesn't love you?"

"It wasn't like that!" Tokaki snarled…then stopped as he replayed the events in his mind. "All right, it might have seemed like that - but she has the same memories of our marriage as I do! She used to laugh when I would sneak up on her like that…but now, it's like she's a different person!"

"Like a six-year-old who has been magically aged into a sixteen-year-old?"

Tokaki fell silent, his golden eyes dark with thought.

"And you - a seven-year-old aged to nineteen. Do you mean to tell me that you're behaving exactly the same as you did in your former life? When you met her for the first time in that life, did you throw her on the ground and demand that she 'submit' to you?!"

"No!" Tokaki was stung by the accusation. "I knew better than to do anything like that! It was months before we…" he trailed off.

"So you're not quite the same person that you once were." Nuriko's voice was gently admonishing. "None of us are, Tokaki; we may have the memories of our past lives, but we're still new people, with slightly different appearances and personalities and quirks. Some of us even have quicker tempers," he said pointedly. "So why should Subaru be expected to behave exactly the same as she did before? Because you need her to be the same? Is that fair?"

"I never expected Subaru to be a certain way for me; she was always her own person!" Tokaki paused and swallowed. "And that's what scares me," he whispered. "The thought of losing her terrifies me more than the thought of my own annihilation. When she said that she didn't want to be married to me anymore..."

"Right after you tried to force yourself on her, right?"

"I've never forced myself on a woman in my life!" Tokaki stopped. "Before…" he amended guiltily.

"So why start now? If you truly love her, then allow her the space she needs to make up her mind about you. Stop demanding that she remain the person she used to be."

Tokaki sighed and raked a weary hand through hair the color of moonlight. "All right." Nuriko, who appreciated all things beautiful, couldn't help but admire the mystical appearance of his fellow seishi, all gold and silver in the faint light of the stars. Tokaki went on, unaware of Nuriko's smiling gaze. "I'll apologize to her and swear to you on my honor as a Byakko shichiseishi never to act like such a pig-headed boor again. Well, at least as far as Subaru is concerned."

He got to his feet, dusting off his breeches, then extended a hand to Nuriko. The slanted golden eyes tilted further, suddenly gleaming with a playful light. "So, if you considered Tamahome your brother, and I thought of him as my son, does that mean that you think of me as….?"

"Don't hold your breath waiting for me to call you 'Otou-san,'" growled Nuriko.

"Oh, I was thinking that 'Chichi-ue' was more the proper term of respect!"

"How about 'ji-ji!'?!" retorted Nuriko in mock anger, chasing his fellow seishi back toward the campsite.
 
 
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Subaru huddled in her roll of blankets and the cloak that Nuriko had generously left with her, staring up at the midnight sky and trying to force herself to sleep. Finally she gave up, turning carefully in her swaddled bundle to gaze across the glowing embers of the fire to the blanket-swathed form on the opposite side. The steady rise and fall of the upper portion of his body and the sound of slow, deep breathing told her that he was asleep.

Tears suddenly rose in her eyes at the memory of the misery in his face when he returned with Nuriko, apologizing simply and humbly for his behavior and swearing on his honor never to touch her again. 'Uninvited,' corrected her logical mind, but she wasn't feeling very logical right now. Something in her had wanted to rush up to him and fling herself into his arms, sobbing with relief, the way she used to after one of their particularly heated fights…but another part of her had shrunk back from the thought of contact with his hard, muscled body, and the inadvertent promise she would be giving him.

Conflicting thoughts tumbled through her head as she remembered the hard press of his arousal against her. She knew full well what it meant, and she felt a flush of responsive desire as memories, intimate, dark, and warm, flooded her mind. At the same time, something in her quailed in fear at the thought of his raw sexuality and what she would be expected to yield to him.

But why was she so reluctant? She loved him, didn't she? Or did she? Was he really the same man to whom she had pledged her heart in another life? Even if he was, was she the same woman?

Was she a woman at all…or just a frightened little girl desperately playing at being a woman, so that they…he would never discover her dangerous, damning secret?

At that thought, she lost control, biting down on her fists to stifle her sobs, the hopeless sobs of a small child. 'Oh, Byakko,' she prayed silently. 'Please protect your faithful servant! Don't let me be crazy…please don't let me go mad!

 
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Hotohori, Nuriko, Tokaki, and Subaru met at daybreak at the top of the rise that separated their two camps. The Genbu seishi had chosen to travel northward through the night instead of setting up camp near their peers, while Mitsukake and Chiriko had remained behind at Mount Taikyoku preparatory to being transported to Miaka's world.

Nuriko noted that Tokaki seemed subdued, only half-heartedly ogling Hotohori's beauty, flashing her a charming but distracted grin. Of course, he may have had the Fear of Nuriko pounded into him the night before, but Nuriko sensed darker shadows behind the slanted eyes. Subaru looked even worse, her pallor and white tresses transforming her into a figure carved from ivory, colorless but for the dark circles under her stormy ocean eyes.

Nuriko started forward, intending to draw Subaru aside and question her once more about her decision to continue on to Sairou with Tokaki, but Hotohori placed a slender, restraining hand on his arm and moved to join Subaru in his place. The two women walked a little way off from the men, cloud-white and tawny heads leaning toward one another as they conversed in soft voices.

Nuriko couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from Hotohori. Now that she was absorbed in her conversation with Subaru, he felt free to fix his wondering stare upon her. She was tall for a woman, her height matching his, her legs long and graceful. The chestnut mane was still lush, falling past her waist in a shining cascade, but… there were so many differences! Her sparkling eyes were as thickly lashed as before, but now the lashes frequently veiled the dark gold orbs, imbuing her with an air of mystery. Her jawline was still defined and strong but tapered into a delicate, pointed chin, above which full lips trembled with feeling. Nuriko touched the tip of his tongue to his own lips, imagining for a moment…

"Amazing sight, isn't it?" Nuriko jumped, but it was only Tokaki, moving to his side to gain a better vantage point. The golden eyes were narrowed in appreciation, although Nuriko was relieved to see that Subaru still drew the lion's share of Tokaki's glances. "Snowdrift and golden fields…wild white jasmine against the full-blown Imperial rose."

Nuriko glanced at him ironically. "You've become poetic in this new incarnation."

"How do you know that I wasn't poetic in my last life? After all, we had never met back then." Tokaki flashed a grin at Nuriko. "However, I'll admit that the view may have inspired me to extend my talents." He sighed deeply. "There they are, the two most beautiful women in this world, and here we are, bound to them night and day yet excluded from their favors." His tone was half-mocking, half-serious.

Nuriko was suddenly, inexplicably irritated. "Speak for yourself!"

"Oh!" Tokaki's dark eyebrows arched up into his trailing white bangs. "Do you mean to say that you and Hotohori have already…?"

"No! And shut up! It isn't like that between us! He's…she's my emperor…um, empress…uh…"

"Sounds like you're confused." Tokaki was unable to repress his somewhat malicious enjoyment of Nuriko's discomfiture. "Let me give you some friendly advice. You're a man, she's a woman. The rest should come naturally."

"You know, I could knock you down as easily as draw my next breath…but I don't want to upset Subaru. So instead, I'm going to see if I can force some daylight into your sex-crazed brain." The violet eyes flashed, and the firm jaw twitched with anger. "Just once, try to think from a point-of-view other than your own. Think back on your last life, your memories of being a man and a warrior, fighting with your weapons and powers. Then imagine waking up in the body of a woman. After the initial shock…" Nuriko's eyes narrowed at Tokaki's grin,"…and knowing you, after a few days of familiarizing yourself with your new body, imagine facing the future knowing that you were a man trapped in the body of a woman. Not temporarily - forever. Or at least for the rest of your life. So tell me…upon meeting up with your brother warriors again, would you be pleased if their attitude was, 'Hey Tokaki, lookin' good - now lay down and spread 'em!'?"

Tokaki shuddered at the vivid word picture. "Damn! I never thought of it like that! That would be like…"

"A living hell." Nuriko's gaze rested on Hotohori once more. "So regardless of what the future holds for us, no matter what the rest of the world puts Hotohori through, she's going to have at least one person standing by her side who sees the true person she is underneath - Suzaku no Shichiseishi Hotohori, Emperor of Konan."

Tokaki's normally flippant manner had sobered, becoming reflective. "But you told me last night that although our new bodies might have our old memories, they still had their own personalities. So if Hotohori was born a female, won't that mean…?"

"I don't know, I don't know," said Nuriko, suddenly confused. "I don't know what it means! All I know is that..." He trailed off for a moment, then met Tokaki's gaze, his own eyes hard with determination. "All I know is that she matters to me, so I'm not going to make her life any harder than it already is." He paused a moment. "I'm hoping that you're taking my point here. I'll be honest - I'm not entirely comfortable with Subaru's decision."

Tokaki drew himself up. "I gave you my word of honor as a Byakko shichiseishi that she is safe with me. If you feel that my word means nothing, I'm not certain how to convince you otherwise…although I will tell you that you'll have to kill me before I let you take her away against her will." His hand moved to his sword.

"Fair enough." Nuriko maintained his relaxed stance. "I'm trusting your word, Tokaki, so you can quit bristling like a fighting cock. I just wanted some reassurances, and if our positions were reversed, you would feel the same."

"Maybe," grumbled Tokaki, still irritated at the implied insult to his honor.

"Oh, stop your sulking! The last thing we need is to fight among ourselves - don't we have enemies enough? Anyway, here come the women, so take that scowl off your face."

Subaru and Hotohori walked up, chatting easily. Nuriko was impressed that Hotohori had managed to dispel Subaru's tension; Subaru seemed relaxed, even cheerful, smiling at some remark that Hotohori murmured in her ear. Of course, Hotohori had always had that gift, putting his concubines at ease with gentle conversation. A sudden stab of jealousy took Nuriko by surprise.

"Is something wrong, Nuriko?" Hotohori's voice was low for a woman's, smooth and husky, as dark and rich as crimson velvet.

"Not really." Nuriko reached out and grabbed Tokaki into a head-lock. "I was just feeling bad for Tokaki, because he's going to miss me so much!"

Tokaki pulled out of Nuriko's grasp. "In your dreams, bakayarou!" But the white-haired seishi was grinning again, the hostilities dissolving between the two men.

Subaru turned to Hotohori. "I'm going to miss you as well," she said, pressing a gauzy swatch of material into her hand. "Remember what I told you."

Hotohori nodded and tied the scarf around her head, pulling the trailing length across her face to veil her features. Nuriko heaved an internal sigh of relief; Subaru's advice was astute and invaluable, especially since Hotohori had no memories from her previous life of the need to conceal her beauty from unwanted attention.

"Until we meet again, may Byakko keep you in his care, and Suzaku as well." Hotohori gripped Subaru's and Tokaki's hands.

Nuriko followed suit, dropping his facetious manner now that the time had come to part. Tokaki put his arm up as if to encircle Subaru's shoulders but paused, then dropped his arm again. He stepped back and gave her a polite, abbreviated bow, gesturing toward the horses. Subaru preceded him, her expression drawn and pensive once more.

Nuriko watched as the Byakko seishi galloped over the rise, heading west toward Sairou. He sighed and shook his head. "I hope that everything turns out all right for those two. Subaru seems to be having second thoughts about her decision to go with Tokaki instead of us."

Hotohori stared at him curiously. "What makes you say that?"

"Just now…just as they were leaving, she seemed upset that he tried to put his arm around her. Tokaki kept to his word and changed his mind, but I think that Subaru is afraid that he'll try to touch her again."

"No, that's not it." The velvet tones were firm and decisive. "She's upset that he didn't put his arm around her, and she's afraid that he won't try to touch her again."

"Wha-at?!" Nuriko was thoroughly confused. "Since when has she…did she tell you that earlier?"

"No, we didn't discuss the situation between her and Tokaki."

"So how do you know…?"

Hotohori shrugged one elegant shoulder. "It's obvious, isn't it?" She turned and headed toward her own mount.

Nuriko opened and closed his mouth a few times before deciding that he looked foolish enough without asking any inane questions. Shaking his head, he turned and followed the graceful figure of his emperor as she turned her horse toward the South Road to Eiyou.

 
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Tokyo

 
Yui peered nervously around the back corner of the library building, looking down the deserted utility drive for patrolling security cars. Tetsuya and Keisuke were half a building behind her, bent over a passcode keypad that they had unscrewed from its place beside the loading dock door. Keisuke carefully detached two wires with his computer microtools, then began tapping in patterns of numbers, his fingers flying over the keypad in a complex, fractal dance. Tetsuya held a penlight over the keypad indicator, whispering instructions and suggestions while looking for the green LED light that signaled the correct passcode.

Suddenly, two long beams of light appeared at the far end of the drive, accompanied by the crunch of tires on gravel. Yui turned and dashed over to Keisuke and Tetsuya. "Security! We have to hide!"

Tetsuya touched Keisuke's arm, but the other man shook his head. "Almost there!" he hissed through gritted teeth. "If I drop this now, we'll have to start over - and that's only if security doesn't spot the hanging wires. Just a few more seconds!"

Yui glanced back anxiously at the brightening light in the side drive. She bit her lip and shifted from foot-to-foot, but neither she nor Tetsuya made any move to desert Keisuke. The security car was now so close that she could hear the crackle of its two-way radio. Any moment now it would round the corner, and its headlights would illuminate them as if they were on stage…

"Got it!" The door clicked, and Tetsuya leaped and shoved it open. Yui dived in after him, while Keisuke paused only long enough to shove the keypad back in place. They pushed the door shut and crouched behind it, gasping for breath as their hearts hammered painfully against their chests. The window above them grew bright with yellow light, and they held their breaths as the brakes gave a low squeal. The light stayed bright in the window…then finally dimmed as the car continued onward, the sound of crunching gravel receding into the distance.

Once they were certain the car was gone, they made their way to the emergency stairwell in the back of the building, climbing swiftly and silently to the third floor. Careful manipulation of Keisuke's credit card opened the locked stairwell door, admitting them into the dimly lit corridors of the research section of the library. Yui paused one moment, shivering at a cool prickling at the back of her neck. Keisuke and Tetsuya looked at her in concern.

"I don't know," she said softly, replying to their questioning eyes. "There's definitely something going on here…but I can't tell if it's another one of those creatures or just the presence of the Universe of the Four Gods. We''ll have to be careful!"

They crept cautiously along the corridors, peering around corners until they finally found themselves before the worn wooden door labeled "References and Important Literature." Keisuke held up his credit card, preparing to slide it past the lock, when the door suddenly glowed with a soft sapphire light, then clicked and swung open.

Tetsuya cast a sidelong glance at Yui. Her eyes were wide, their blue depths shining with the same sapphire light that had surrounded the door. She moved forward as if in a trance, unblinking and resolute. "Hold on there, Seiryuu no Miko!" Tetsuya grasped her arm. "We're supposed to be careful, remember?"

Yui blinked and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just that…I can feel it calling me. It wants me to find it!"

"Fine, that's what we're here to do. But we don't want you being pulled into the Book again, at least not alone - so make sure that you hold onto us! Keisuke, take her other arm!"

Linked together, the three friends walked through the stacks, guided by Yui's instincts. Suddenly she halted, stooping down and grasping at a slender, worn volume shoved back among larger, newer tomes. As she pulled it out into the open, the kanji on the cover began to pulse with the same sapphire light they had seen earlier.

"The ShiJinTenChiSho!" Keisuke's eyes were aglow with excitement. "But blue this time instead of red…"

"Seiryuu, not Suzaku," observed Tetsuya shrewdly. "Although I'd be a little happier if it was Suzaku…er, no offense, Seiryuu!" Tetsuya felt a little stupid apologizing to a book, but he'd rather be safe than sorry. Suddenly, the light changed, shading to a violet hue. "Er, either that's a fifth god, or…"

"No, it's Suzaku joining Seiryuu," Yui replied absently, not noticing the looks that Tetsuya and Keisuke were exchanging over her head. Caught up in the book's power, she had already opened it and was perusing the pages eagerly. "Let's see…" She scanned the kanji, paling and turning the pages quickly past the account of the attack on Tamahome. Suddenly she sucked in her breath in a shocked hiss.

"Miaka?!" asked Keisuke, guessing at the cause of her distress. "Tell us, Yui!"

"They were attacked as soon as they reached the ShiJin; it was an ambush! But wait…Chichiri drew off the attack, and Miaka and Tasuki - they got away!"

Keisuke slumped back against the shelves in relief, but Tetsuya frowned in concern. "What happened to Chichiri?"

"I don't know yet…I can't tell! He had planned to follow the creatures, but it gets a little muddled here; I just don't know…" Yui frowned as she began to read of Miaka's spell-induced memory loss.

"Damn it! Chichiri was supposed to get word to Taiitsukun that we needed help! Look, Yui, see if there's anything written about us there."

Yui obediently flipped the pages ahead, looking for any mention of them by name or title. She stopped, frowned at a passage, then flipped back again to read the preceding pages. Her eyes opened wide.

"What is it?!" Keisuke and Tetsuya crowded next to her on the floor, craning their necks to read over her shoulder.

Yui pointed to a section that looked new, the ink gleaming as if still wet. "Remember the seishi children that Chichiri told us about? They came under attack as well, so to help them protect themselves, Taiitsukun and the gods have aged them so that they're all grown up!"

"Yatta!" It was the first smile that Tetsuya had given all night. "Maybe they'll send Nuriko here - he's really strong! Or Hotohori and his sword…or maybe both!"

Yui shook her heads slowly, biting her lip. "Nooooo…um, Tetsuya, they're sending us Mitsukake and Chiriko."

"What?!" Tetsuya was unable to control his outrage. "Here we are under attack from those demon creatures, and all Taiitsukun's going to do is send us the two most useless seishi in the book?!"

"Tetsuya, that's not fair," admonished Keisuke. "They died just as heroically as any of the other Suzaku seishi."

"Fine, but I'm not looking to die heroically along with them! We need someone who can help us beat those things! What can Chiriko or Mitsukake do - throw calculus equations or band-aid bubbles at those beasts till they keel over?!"

Keisuke opened his mouth to argue but was interrupted when Yui suddenly seized his and Tetsuya's arms in a death grip. "Listen!" she hissed. The men lifted their heads but could hear nothing. Nonetheless, Yui grew very pale. "We have to get out of here! NOW!"

Snatching up the book, she turned and raced past the stacks, Tetsuya and Keisuke close on her heels. They burst out of the Important Literature room into the darkened corridor. Yui, guided by her strange insight, flinched back from the emergency stairwell and pulled the two men towards the main staircase that wound down beneath the vaulted glass foyer ceiling. They flew down the stairs, leaping past the second floor and continuing until they skidded onto the polished marble tiles of the reception area, no longer caring if they registered on the security cameras. Just as they glanced toward the electronically locked main doors, a low metallic hiss echoed through the foyer.

"Shit!" Keisuke looked around desperately for cover, pulling them behind the half-circle of the circulation desk. They crouched on the floor, trying to control their panicked gasps for breath.

The hiss sounded again, this time accompanied by the scrape of metallic claws against marble. The pencils vibrated in their holders from the shock of each weighty footfall of the huge creature. Yui pressed back against the men, willing herself not to give away their hiding place this time. She looked through terror-blurred eyes at the bookstacks receding into the depths of the first floor, wondering if they could make a break for it and dash through the long rows before the creature could catch them.

At that moment, a figure appeared at the far end of the row of bookshelves. It wasn't more than medium height, but it glowed scarlet with the concentrated force of its ki. Yui blinked, trying to clear her vision…was the figure male or female? She could only make out light-colored hair pulled up into a high ponytail, shimmering behind the dancing sparkles of ki energy.

Yui dug her fingers into the men as the demon creature's hiss sounded right above their heads. She closed her eyes in despair…but heard the heavy footfalls moving rapidly past the circulation desk, taking off in pursuit of the tantalizing ki energy at the back of the stacks. Yui had an impression of swirling darkness filling her vision, jointed legs and leathery wings flashing toward the glow at the end of the stacks. Keisuke and Tetsuya pulled her forward, intending to make a break for it while the beast was distracted, but something made Yui pull back, gazing desperately after the scarlet figure that had saved them.

Just when she thought that the beast was about to seize it, the figure turned and ran around the back of the stacks. The creature leaped forward…and at that exact moment, another figure, tall and gangly, stepped out from where he had been concealed behind the adjacent row. He swung a huge broadsword at the extended neck of the beast, severing it with a squelching thunk. The body of the beast crashed down, its long tail thrashing against the shelves and tipping them over. There was a thundering crunch of cracking wood and the sequential thunks of cascading books as three whole rows of bookshelves went down like dominoes, raising a cloud of concealing dust.

Yui, Tetsuya, and Keisuke stood gaping at the destruction, stunned into immobility. The sound of footsteps accompanied by a dragging slither made them raise their eyes fearfully towards the next intact row of bookshelves.

The shorter figure appeared first, his features clear now that he no longer glowed with scarlet light. He looked to be nearly Yui's age, compact and graceful, with long chestnut hair tied in a high ponytail and moss-green eyes shining with self-satisfaction. Behind him came a younger but much taller figure with short dark hair, his gangly limbs showing their true power as he dragged the serpentine head and neck of the beast behind him.

A powerful feeling swelled in Yui's breast as she gazed at them; not only gratitude but also some strange sense of connection and recognition. She moved toward them with the regality of a priestess…then bowed humbly before them. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Suzaku no Chiriko, Suzaku no Mitsukake."

Keisuke jabbed an elbow into his best friend's side. "Not so useless after all, eh, Tetsuya?" he murmured. Laughter tinged with hysteria and relief bubbled out of him. "Calculus equations and band-aids notwithstanding!"

 
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Asteroid belt outside the ShiJinTenChiSho
 

A small silvery-blue ball of feathers hunched near a cold metal wall, bright bird eyes peering out at the surrounding landscape. The sky was obscured by a shimmering shield of greyish light, devoid of warmth or life. A chill, dry wind blew clouds of brown dust across the rocky panorama, no trees or glimmer of water interrupting the relentlessly grim landscape.

Satisfied that it was alone and unobserved, the small phoenix rose to its tiny feet, spreading its wings wide. Scarlet light suffused its form as it began to stretch and grow, rising and changing until at last a man stood in its place, gasping for breath in the thin, low oxygen atmosphere. The wind whipped his kesa around his slender form as he turned and began feeling his way along the metal wall, hoping to find an opening in its smooth span.

He blinked as dust blew into his eye, gripping his shakujou as if gripping onto his last hold on reality. He didn't have any idea as to where he was or how to get back…he only knew, with deep, gut-wrenching dread, that he was very, very far from home.
 

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Glossary of Japanese Terms:

Otou-san - Father (respectful)

Chichi-ue - Father (Highly respectful form of address, meaning something like "Lord Father.")

Ji-ji! - old fart! (disrespectful ^ ~)

Shikuso! - Shit!

Yatta! - Hurray! (a cheer)

Arigatou gozaimasu! - Thank you very much (very polite)
 

Author's notes (2-21-04) * shivers * Brrrrrrrrrrr, poor Chichiri! And the worst is yet to come. Is it just me, or do I seem to be in a "torture Chichiri" rut lately?

'Lately' being a relative term, of course. Bet you guys thought I fell off the face of the planet, right? Well, you're pretty close to being correct - life has been very fractal for me these past four weeks since I last updated. It's been damn difficult to get any computer time at all, and when I did, I often ended up nodding off in exhaustion. However, through hard work, determination, and threats to my loved ones to leave me alone on the computer this weekend, I finally managed to finish this chapter before I left on a much-needed vacation.

By now, you're probably getting a pretty good idea of how vast and complex "Hidden Paths" is going to be. In this one chapter alone, I have four different storylines starting out, encompassing ten canon characters including five Suzaku seishi, two Byakko seishi, and one Seiryuu priestess with friends. And that doesn't even include Tasuki and Miaka for once! Never fear, though, Tasuki/Miaka fans - they will be back in the next chapter with a vengeance!

I would like to thank Kaze-chan once again for the generous loan of her Byakko history. There are, of course, differences between her and my interpretations of Subaru and Tokaki, but remember that I am depicting their reincarnated versions as opposed to the Byakko-summoning versions in "Market." By the way, if you feel in need of a REALLY good fanfic, and you haven't done so already, go read "It Was a Normal Day In the Market." Then write to Kaze-chan and beat her over the head to get her to FINISH that enthralling fic!

Speaking of finishing fics…yes, Bridge fans, I AM going back to that story soon and releasing you from my cruel tenterhooks. It's becoming obvious, especially with Chichiri's storyline in Hidden Paths, that Bridge must be finished before I can get much further on this fic. However, before I go back to Bridge, I'm stopping off at Casting Stones - don't scream, because that poor fic has not been updated since September 2003! I have to get back to it before its fans write it off as abandoned, just like Purple Mouse's "Yet Another Story." (By the way, Mouse-chan, if you happen to be reading this, and you think that I'm putting the screws to you - you're right! Me and about 700 other fans of that fic!)

Anyway, thank you for sticking with me through the last two chapters of Hidden Paths. I think that you're beginning to see how HP is truly the sequel to Bridge, especially when you consider its complexity and scope. I'm merciless in my refusal to simplify or "dumb down" either Hidden Paths or Bridge, because I have faith in you, my select group of readers, and your ability to track with the intricate twistings of my convoluted plots. However, please don't think that I don't appreciate the effort you put in to read each epic chapter…I do appreciate you, more than you can ever realize. (bows deeply) Arigatou gozaimasu!

 
Ja ne!
 

 
Roku