Chapter Seven
The palace was in darkness, and everyone of any importance had retired to bed for the night as the moon hung high in the sky, gazing down at the citizens of the world below. Within the sturdy confines of the elaborate royal building, the Emperor's widow, Lady Houki and her young son, the new ruler of all Kounan slept peacefully, not knowing that, barely metres from the palace gate, a lone man stood staring up at the carved designs with hollow, uncomprehending eyes.
What had drawn him to this place, he wasn't quite sure. The image of a woman and the cry of a baby had penetrated his thoughts strongly enough to wake him from his stupor, and he had risen to find himself in a dark corner of an Eiyou street, cold and alone with no idea of who he was or how he had come to be there. A silver-bladed sword had lain at his right hand, it's hilt gold and ruby as if signifying some divine connection, and although he had no idea how he had come to possess it, he had slipped it carefully into the belt of his tunic, unwilling to let it go. It was as if, he reflected sadly, it was the last connection to a life he had forgotten - to something he could almost picture in his mind, but which was obscured by cloud and fog.
"What is this place?" He murmured softly, taking a hesitant step or two forward. "Why do I feel like I should be here? Like this is...some kind of...home for me? Have I been here before? Is there something important I must do here? I don't understand."
"Halt! Who goes there?"
A sharp voice from the darkness made him start, turning to face a man dressed in the smart uniform of the Imperial Guard, and he bit his lip, taking a step back as he realised the man was wielding a weapon of his own. As the moonlight cast down on the stranger's face, however, the guard's eyes opened wide with disbelief, and the sword slipped from his grip as he fumbled his hands together in a hurried prayer. His face had drained of all colour, and he swallowed hard, as if trying to understand what he saw.
"...S...Saihitei-sama?" He choked out.
The man with the gold and red hilted sword started at this, staring at the man in surprise.
"Do you know...who I am?" He asked faintly. The guard seemed even more terrified by this, and he dropped to the ground, prostrating himself on the stone.
"Forgive me for offending the Emperor's ghost." He babbled. "Houki-sama has always been convinced you still walk the halls here, to protect her and her baby son from harm. But I've always thought it a story - the grief of a heartbroken lady. Now you've come to punish me, for not believing in the spirit of the man who ruled Kounan!"
The man's eyes opened wide as he digested the guard's words.
"Ruled...Kounan?" He whispered, and as he did so, faint flickers of images buzzed through his brain, disconnected and disjointed as they sought to disorientate him. He stumbled, forcing them away, and as he did so, the face of a woman flickered across his consciousness, tears in her eyes as she looked at him.
"H..Houki." He murmured, reaching out a hand as if she were really there in front of him, but the image was gone as soon as it had appeared, and he let his arm drop back down by his side, suddenly deflated.
"Saihitei." He said the word slowly and carefully, no emotion in his voice.
"Your Highness, forgive me." The guard raised his head, still eying his companion in awe and fright. "Don't punish me for my lack of faith - please, sire, I beg you!"
"Why would I punish you?" A slight, bitter smile twitched across Saihitei's lips, and he shook his head, gazing up at the palace as he did so. "You at least have told me my name. That's more than all the stars in the sky have been able to do this night."
"...Sire?"
The guard was clearly confused at this, but Saihitei took no notice, his gaze drawn by the constellations that glittered atop the palace roof.
"Those stars." He murmured. "Something about them...something alive, and yet..."
"I didn't know that spirits watched the stars, your Highness." The guard was wary now, uncertain of his ground, and Saihitei turned, offering him another empty smile.
"Tell me, do you know the names of those stars?" He asked, gesturing to the sky. The Guard's eyes widened, but, seemingly thinking it was some kind of test, he nodded.
"Yes, sire. The stars of Suzaku are known by everyone, sire. Everyone in Kounan." He gabbled. "T...Tasuki, Hotohori, Mitsukake, Chichiri, Chiriko, Tamahome, Nuriko. The seven stars of Suzaku, sire. Everyone knows them. Everyone."
"Seven." Saihitei's expression became thoughtful. "But there are only six constellations that I can see. How strange. There are usually seven, you say?"
"Six?" The man stared upwards, properly looking at the sky for the first time, and he drew breath sharply as he realised his companion was right. He cast Saihitei a sidelong glance, and it was impossible for his face to become any paler.
"Stars disappearing and the Emperor's ghost walking the palace walls. This can't be a good omen." He murmured softly, more to himself than to Saihitei, but the man heard him anyway, drawing his brows together in a frown.
"The Emperor's...ghost?" This time, the term registered. "What do you mean?"
"Sire, I'm sorry, I didn't mean offence!" Now the guard was terrified, and something in his panicked demeanour elicited more memories from Saihitei's mist-cloaked brain. Snapshots of a village, burning, and a man on horseback, dressed in blue and silver with his fair hair flowing in the wind...
He clutched at his head, as fear stabbed through him, penetrating to the depths of his soul. He did not know why this man should cause him such pain, or why, in front of this place, he should remember the pain and devastation of a world that seemed a mile away. And yet, as he brought himself back to some level of composure, he registered the brush of soot on his hands, and a chill touched his heart.
"Fire?" He whispered, turning back towards where the guard had stood, but the man's fear had proven too much for him, and despite his patrol duties, he had fled. Saihitei sighed, for a moment feeling very alone. Then he gazed up at the stars once again.
"I came here for a reason." He murmured. "Houki...Houki was the reason? Houki and...Boushin. Why are those names so resonant within me? I wish I understood - I wish I remembered more. That man...he called me a ghost. Am I dead, then? But if so - how is it I can touch the walls of this place? What is going on?"
As he stood there, he saw the woman's face again, tears streaming down her cheeks as she held out her hands to him.
"Please, come back to me safety, Heika." She whispered, her voice choked and full of emotion. "Fight this battle, but don't leave me. Don't leave...don't leave us. Your son...your son and I...we need you. Please, Heika. Come back safely."
He held out his fingers once more, but she seemed to draw further and further away from him, and a deep pang of regret settled itself inside his heart.
"Was that...Houki?" He wondered sadly. "Should I go further - and find out? But...but that man...he called me a ghost. Can I go back?"
The darkness seemed to provide no answers, however, and as he leant up against the outer wall of the palace grounds, he found himself cast back to another time, when men wielded swords all around him, and blood and death were mingled in the air. So much pain, so much devastation, as fires ripped through villages and burned through crops and houses. Parents seperated from children, and the screams of babies whose mothers lay dead beside them. The images came thick and fast now and he crumpled to the ground, sobbing pitifully as he sought to push the pictures away. They came with relentless force, however, and somewhere in the midst of all of this, he saw the spectre of a young man, red hair blazing as he wielded something silver and glittering in his hand. At this, Saihitei's eyes snapped open, and he clenched his fists tightly, fighting to remember who the man was.
"Something to do with...the stars." He murmured. "But...so many people...so much suffering. If...If I am Saihitei, how can I go back? How can I face Houki, or anyone else, if it is truly how I saw it? If I was the one to bring so much pain and devastation to Kounan...how can I expect anyone to want to see me? If so many deaths do indeed fall to my bad judgement...then I should not be here. I should not stay...not in this place."
He turned, making his way slowly away from the palace as the blurry memories continued to tease and taunt at his senses. In the midst of it all, the face of the woman haunted him most of all.
"I couldn't come back to you, Houki." He whispered, as tears continued to run down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't come back."
------------------
"So, what happens now?"
Kouji hopped down onto a boulder, casting his kashira a sidelong glance as he offered him a smile. It was early in the morning, barely past dawn, but Tasuki had not slept much over the course of the night and as soon as the light had begun to stream through the trees, he had slipped out into the wilds out doors, squatting on the broken trunk of an old dead tree as he gazed down towards where his village had once stood. Even from this distance, he could see the blackened, charred corpse of the settlement, and he turned to send Kouji a grimace.
"It's not any prettier by the light of day. Worse, in fact." He said matter-of-factly. "People ain't gonna be able to go back there...it's wasted."
"So what do we do?" Kouji cocked his head. "Last night was emergency measures, I realise, but we can't have half a village population coursing all over our mountain. I know that we've kept them all pretty much out of headquarters up here, but even so - we can't keep this up. You must know that."
"I do." Tasuki nodded, getting to his feet. He pulled his tessen from his back, glancing at it, and then hitting it against the trunk of the tree in frustration.
"Damn it." He muttered. "The whole place, wiped out. Just like that."
"You're not thinking about Aidou's ravings, are you?" Kouji arched an eyebrow. "Talkin' like you should've been glued to the farmstead in case of danger, instead of living your own life?"
"No, I never listen to Aidou, so not at all." Tasuki shook his head. "But it just seems stupid, is all."
He frowned, pursing his lips.
"You know I can't stay here, now, at least until this is resolved." He added, and Kouji's eyes widened.
"So you're gonna take off and leave me to handle a village's population? Thanks, buddy, that's real nice of you!"
"Don't be like that." Tasuki ran his hands through his hair. "Listen. I ain't got a choice. You and the guys, you didn't get down from the mountain in time to see, but the fire wasn't caused by lightning or a stray tinder. It was set by a person. The village was attacked. By...by one of us."
"One of...?"
"One of the Suzaku Shichi Seishi." Tasuki looked grim, none of his usual exhuberance in his expression. "At least, according to Chichiri, it was. Last night, Kouji, Chichiri and I defended the village against the former Emperor of Kounan, wielding a possessed sword and with the look of the devil in his eye."
"Saihitei-sama?" Kouji's eyes almost fell out of his head. "You are kidding me, right?"
"No, I wish I was." Tasuki shook his head. "That's why I have to go. Chichiri and I both. Because we have to find him, and whatever's making him act like this - we have to stop it. I doubt anyone else could - if he still has his Suzaku power, he's only gonna cause harm. Chichiri and I are stronger than other people. So it has to be us."
Kouji swore, shaking his head slowly.
"I thought that all that Suzaku business was over." He admitted. "That the Miaka girl went back to her own world. You came back here. Everythin' was gonna settle down to normal - whatever that is for a bandit. Since Hakurou-sama died - no, since before that, since you came to the mountain, nothin' has been completely secure on Reikaku-zan. And now this."
"Are you suggestin' that I cause trouble for Reikaku-zan?" Tasuki reacted, his grip on his tessen tightening as sparks flickered from the tip, and Kouji stared at him for a moment, shaking his head.
"Watch who you're pointing that thing at." He objected. "I'm your buddy, remember? Not some possessed dead warrior who goes round burning down villages for kicks. And of course not, you moron. I know that the things that have happened haven't been your fault. But even so...even so..."
He paused, then,
"I do sometimes wonder which is more important to you." He hazarded. "Hakurou-sama knew it too, when he was alive. That one day you'd be pulled away from Reikaku, because of Suzaku. And now it's coming true. The things he said then...you're not really Genrou, not all the time. At least, that's how it seems to be. You're Tasuki at least half of it. That's all."
Tasuki frowned for a moment, his eyes unusually dark. Then, he held out the tessen, dropping it with a clatter onto the stone-laden floor beneath his feet.
"I won't make a choice between who I am." He said softly. "If you want to fight about this, then the tessen is there. Come get it...if you think you can do a better job on Reikaku-zan than I can."
Kouji's jaw dropped, as he registered the seriousness in his friend's clouded eyes. He frowned, getting to his feet and walking over towards his companion. Slowly he bent to pick up the tessen, glancing at it. Then, with a swift flick of his wrist, he brought the flat of it down hard against his companion's skull.
"Hey!" Tasuki exclaimed, his hand going to his head. "That hurt!"
"Well, it should, you idiot." Kouji said unsympathetically, holding out the tessen to his friend. "You're talking totally unlike yourself, and I don't like it. Whatever's in the air - whatever was buzzing through your Hotohori's body when he set fire to your village, it seems to have nested in your brain too, now. God knows there's enough room in your skull for anything to take up house. Stop freaking me out and take this, will you? You know I'll see to the villagers for you, if that's what you want. I'm not questioning your right to have the tessen. And I would never take it from you. So stop being a moron. Okay?"
Tasuki hesitated, then took the cold metal between his fingers, eying the older bandit ruefully.
"All right. I get it." He said frankly.
"Good. Then snap out of it." Kouji instructed. "Hakurou-kashira chose you to be his successor because of your spirit and your will. Right now you're lettin' him down on both counts. If you can let me whack you with your own weapon, you ain't firing on all cylinders. So stop agonisin'. Where the villagers are concerned, we'll divvy up our recent takings and split it between 'em, then send them on their way. They should be able to make their way then in some other village, an' the people round here aren't as snidey as some - they don't mind migration, because of the nature of the mountain. That should see them okay, at least for a while. We can't do more than that."
"I want my father to stay here, till his leg is healed." Tasuki said quietly. "He doesn't talk much, so you won't notice him. But I'm sure it's broken. And I guess that means Ma and Aidou will stay here, too. Sorry about that."
"Ookay." Kouji bit his lip, but nodded his head. "You're the boss."
"Whatever that means."
"What is really botherin' you, Genrou?" Kouji demanded. "The village? Your family? Anzu? Suzaku no Miko? What?"
"I don't know." Tasuki admitted, frustration in his eyes. "It's like you said - whatever was buzzin' round his Highness's head yesterday has transferred itself to me. I'll snap out of it. Don't worry. And I don't want to take off from Reikaku-zan again so quickly. I just know I gotta. Chichiri thinks this is bigger than just one random occurance an' one fire. He's annoyingly right when it comes to karma, so I gotta believe him."
"I realise that." Kouji acknowledged. "I'm sorry I called you on it. You didn't choose to be Tasuki, an' I was the one who pushed you to reveal it to the world. So it's all right. We'll cope. As usual."
"Miaka ain't even here, and still the world is a mess." Tasuki let out his breath in a rush. "Stars disappearin' from the sky...Taikyoku-zan puttin' up some kind of barrier, an' now the former Emperor of Kounan attackin' mountain villages. Maybe Chichiri is right. Maybe the world is coming to an end."
He turned, offering his friend a grin.
"Chichiri an' me will fix it. Don't worry. And then we'll be back." He said firmly. "With Mitsukake, if we can find him, to see to Pa's leg."
"That sounds more like you." Kouji grinned lazily. "You'll probably find you need your little toy, too. It ain't like you to loose hold of it so easily...maybe the pressure's finally getting to ya, what do you think?"
"More likely it's something in the ether, you know."
Chichiri's voice came from overhead and as both bandits glanced up, they saw the monk in the branches of a tree, watching them from behind the security of his kitsune mask. He grinned, tikting his hat at them in apology.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I was following Tasuki's chi." He explained. "There's something muggy in the air today, and it's less easy for me to pick it up than usual."
"Get down here, will you? You're hurtin' my neck, staring up at you like that." Tasuki complained, and Chichiri nodded, leaping gracefully down to the ground and landing perfectly on his feet, slipping the kasa back onto his head.
"With pleasure." He agreed. "I don't think that branch was up to much more of my weight, anyhow."
"What do you mean, something muggy in the air?" Kouji looked wary. "Are you sayin' I'm right? That there is somethin' buzzing around the atmosphere since Genrou's village burnt down last night?"
"If you are, Kouji, it'll be a first for you, right?" Tasuki shot his friend a wolfish grin, and Kouji jabbed him with his elbow, grimacing in the red-head's direction.
"Shut up, moron. You could let one go, just once, you know."
"Buzzing around the atmosphere is a good way of putting it, you know." Chichiri said thoughtfully, calmly ignoring the playful spatting between the two mountain men as he leant up against the trunk of his tree. "I suppose a fire of that nature's bound to bring everyone down some, though. So many people losing homes and all of that."
"Noone was killed, though. That's something at least." Tasuki returned his tessen to its strap on his back. "Right?"
"Yes. Thanks to our interference and the help of the Reikaku-zan rescue brigade." Chichiri's lips twitched into a smile, giving him a surreal appearance. "But it will take time to rebuild. My village was destroyed too, you know...true, by flood and not fire, but I understand what the villagers must be feeling. And Tasuki's family are involved, so I suppose..."
He frowned, shaking his head as if changing his mind in mid sentence.
"No. It's not just that." He decided, holding out his hand as if feeling for something on the wind. "There's something else. Something negative. I can't explain what it is, but whatever I'm sensing is what was blazing from Hotohori-sama last night. A sort of...emptiness. Hopelessness. Full of doubt...full of fear. I don't know how to define it, but it's been there in flashes on and off since we came to the mountain. Little things to begin with, but slowly the sense has been stronger. When we encountered his Highness last night, I suppose I saw it in it's raw, original form. I think this has something to do with us, Tasuki. The Suzaku Shichi Seishi. I know I touched on it before, but I think that the others have been dragged back to some form of life by whatever has damaged Taikyoku-zan. We can't get there, because that is, in effect, the root source of spiritual sagacity for this world. Not just Kounan, but all of the four Kingdoms. And if something's wrong there, well...it's going to have a knock on effect. Like when Tenkou was able to manipulate this world and the people and elements in it - I'm afraid this is something along the same lines."
"Another Tenkou?" Tasuki clenched his fists, and Chichiri shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't think there's a demon." He said helplessly. "It's not that kind of feeling. It's just...what Kouji said. Something buzzing in the atmosphere. Last night it affected you, Tasuki, because your village was targeted. It's still flickering a little in your aura today, which is why I had such a job pinpointing you at first. Whatever drove Hotohori-sama in the village last night, I don't know. What he was thinking or feeling, we've yet to find out. But that it was your village - I don't know, is it a coincidence? I really wonder about that."
"You're sayin' those people got burned out because of me?" Tasuki looked horrified. "Because that was my village? That's why?"
"No. Or not exactly." Chichiri pursed his lips. "Just that the Suzaku Seishi tend to be drawn to one another's life forces, when those forces are particularly strong. I don't know, Tasuki. Either last night was an attempt to weaken you, or some kind of cry for help. I can't work it out just yet. But either way, finding the others is important. Whatever's upsetting the balance, we need to try and rectify it however we can. If we have any powers left as warriors of Suzaku, we can't just stand back and let our friends run riot in the way Hotohori did last night. If he's been tainted by this aura, well, the others may have been too. I couldn't decide if he had a proper physical presence last night, but one thing I am sure of - he has not been reborn in the way Taiitsukun promised. And if he hasn't..."
"Nor have the others." Tasuki said darkly. "With you. Let's go."
"You should probably explain yourself to your family, where you're going and why." Kouji said ruefully. "I don't mind them stopping here, while you're gone, but if Aidou's going to whack anyone round the ear for it, it's going to be you. She's your sister - you tell her and your Ma too where you're takin' off to in such a hurry. I ain't doin' it. Playin' stand in kashira I can handle, but your family are somethin' else."
Chichiri chuckled, as Tasuki adopted a sheepish look. Slowly he nodded.
"Sure, if you're too scared to do it." He agreed evenly. "I'll go speak to them now. I should see how Pa is, anyway."
"He was sleeping, when I left, and your mother and sister were having some heated discussion over the best way to mind his wound." Chichiri reflected absently. "I don't know who won, in the end."
"Great." Tasuki slapped his forehead in resignation. "That makes me feel better, knowin' they're both breathin' fire before I even set foot in the room."
"Must be a genetic thing. They breathe it an' you shoot it. No wonder you fired the tessen before you even knew the whole incantation." Kouji laughed, and Genrou cuffed him playfully across the back of the head.
"Idiot." He said bluntly. "For that, you're coming too."
"Nope, not me." Kouji shook his head. "I'm going to go explain to the guys why Kashira-sama is takin' off on them again...and then I have a bunch of homeless villagers to see to - Kashira's orders. See you later."
"If you ask me, I think he got the easier job." Tasuki reflected ruefully, as his friend loped off into the distance, whistling under his breath as he went. "I swear, I take more bruises from Aidou than I ever have livin in this place. And the worst part about it is - I can't hit a damn girl, so there's nothing I can do about it!"
"If you say things to her like you did last night, I'm not surprised." Chichiri observed dryly, as the two Seishi headed back towards the base proper. "If you'd learn tact, Tasuki-kun, you'd probably get less bruises. Didn't you learn that at all from travelling with Nuriko, at the very least?"
"Another girl with a wicked left hook." Tasuki grimaced. "It's no good, Chichiri. Where women are concerned, it's just safer to steer well clear. Even women who are secretly men in disguise."
"If you ask me, I think you're more afraid of your sister and your mother than you are of facing demons and putting out fires." Chichiri mused, sending his companion a sidelong glance. Tasuki snorted.
"You try living with them." He returned smartly. "See how long you last!"
"Aidou-san has always been very polite to me, and your mother too." Chichiri said innocently. "It really must be down to you and your lack of delicacy."
"Genrou?"
As they reached the building, Anzu was just leaving the annexe where Tasuki's father, mother and elder sister had been given makeshift accomodation the night before. She cast him a hesitant, pensive look, and Tasuki could see that in her hands she clutched a soiled rag. He frowned.
"You've been with my family."
"I was helping." Anzu defended herself. "Is that a bad thing? I nursed my sister, you know, when she was sick. And your father's leg is broken. I was helping Aidou-san to bind the wound. I was going to see if I could find any herbs to help his pain, too."
"You know what herbs can do that?" Tasuki blinked, and Anzu shrugged.
"A little." She admitted, her cheeks pinkening at the surprise on his face. "Because of Karin's fever. She was ill on and off for a while, before she died. I learnt...things like that."
"For that matter, Nyan Nyan taught me a little, too, and so did Mitsukake, when I was helping him tend the war wounded." Chichiri added. "There are several plants around Reikaku-zan which would work as effective analgesics...it's a good idea, and I'm sure it will help."
Anzu dimpled, nodding her head.
"I hope so." She admitted. "He's been very brave about it, but it's obvious that the break is a bad one."
She frowned, pursing her lips as she eyed their expressions.
"You're going away from the mountain again, aren't you?" She asked softly. "To find the one who burnt the village."
"Yes." Tasuki nodded. "That's the plan, anyhow. So you listen, okay? Do what Kouji asks you to and keep your head down. He's gonna have enough to deal with without pandering to a girl's whims, so keep that in mind."
"I don't need to be told. I can take care of myself." Anzu tossed her head. Tasuki snorted.
"Just don't get in the way, huh?" Was all he said, however, moving past her and pushing open the door of the small hut-like building. At his entrance, the figure in the corner got to her feet, and Tasuki hesitated for a moment, as if gauging his sister's mood.
"So you did remember we were here then?" Aidou asked quietly.
"Don't start." Tasuki grimaced. "It's too early in the morning, and besides, all I came to say was that Chichiri and I are going to be leaving the mountain, to track down the one who flamed the village. It's a big deal, apparently, so you just stay here with Ma and Pa, don't kill any bandits and keep out of the way. Okay?"
"So you're just taking off, to go play the hero in the hills of Kounan?" Aidou asked sharply. "While Father is here, hurt?"
"Anzu can help with that. Apparently she knows something about herbs, or whatever." Tasuki said simply. "And besides, Oneechan, this is a Seishi thing. It's Suzaku's business. It ain't just a random ride into the blue."
"Always escaping his responsibilities, that's my Shun'u." From the other side of the room, Tasuki's mother put in her bit, tut tutting under her breath. "Suzaku's business, as ever, waving your bit of metal around and yelling spells like that's the only way to fight a battle. You'll wind up getting yourself killed, if you're not careful."
"Mother..." Tasuki rubbed his temples. "For the last damn time, the tessen is not just a bit of metal, and I don't just...aw, what's the use? I'm going. Chichiri, we're out of here. Come on."
"I'm coming with you." Aidou's voice made him falter, and he swung back to face her, alarm in his bronzeish eyes.
"You?" He demanded. "What can you do, except get in the way and nag me till I go deaf? Aidou, this isn't a mission for girls. This is a man's fight and you're definitely not a man, even if you hit like one sometimes. You stay here, look after Pa. Leave it to me and to Chichiri. We can handle it."
"I said I was coming with you." Aidou moved purposefully towards the door of the chamber, and despite himself, Tasuki flinched backwards, as if anticipating her swinging fist. Instead, however, she stopped level with him, raising her gaze to meet his defiantly.
"Someone has to make sure you don't get yourself killed." She said calmly. "Mother will stay with Pa, and your little woman is here, if she's so good at running around at everyone's beck and call. She can see to it, too. But I'm not staying here, on a mountain surrounded by boys who think they're men. You shouldn't even want to leave your sister in a place like this, anyway, not with you taking off. You're still shirking your responsibilities, and I've decided. I'm coming."
"It might be dangerous, Aidou-san." Chichiri eyed her doubtfully. "I'm sure Tasuki wouldn't want to see you get hurt."
"A battle-axe like her would probably send any enemies we meet screaming for the hills." Tasuki muttered, and Aidou glared at him, putting her hands on her hips.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, Oneesama." Tasuki pulled a face. "Look, stop being a pain, will you? Stay here. I told you last night, none of the men are going to touch you. And I really don't need you. You'll just slow us down, and..."
"I told you. I'm coming." This time Aidou's hand did sweep across her brother's head, and Tasuki only just managed to duck the blow in time. "So stop whining like a baby and let's get a move on. You forget that it was my village that burnt last night too, you know. And it might be nice, for a change, to see if my little brother can actually do something properly."
With that she pushed past him, heading out into the sunlight and leaving her younger brother gaping after her.
"You know, Tasuki, I think I've just worked out why it is you're so slow on the uptake sometimes." Chichiri reflected absently, amusement in his expression.
"Huh?" Tasuki stared at him, non-plussed.
"Aidou-san seems quite happy to relieve you of un-used braincells...that's all."
"She's a damn menace." Tasuki grimaced. "If you're looking for a cause of local bad karma, Chichiri, I think she's a pretty good candidate."
"Is she really going to come with us, do you think?"
"Did you not hear her?" Tasuki gritted his teeth. "She's coming. That's Aidou when you can't shake her. Dammit, and I thought this trip was gonna be tricky enough without that. But I guess we're stuck with her...at least until she decides she's had enough and decides to high tail it back."
He sighed, gazing ruefully down at his hands.
"Let's go, then." He said resignedly. "Before she comes back and brains me for wasting time!"