Chapter Four
"Well, Hyoushin? What have you to report?"
Hyoushin settled himself more comfortably against the wall of the chamber, placing the mirror face up in front of him as he met the concerned, anxious gaze of his Emperor in its misty, enchanted depths. "You've reached Hokkan safely, I trust? There were no troubles along the way?"
"No, my Lord...all has progressed smoothly and we are in Touran, as I anticipated we would be by nightfall." Hyoushin shook his head slightly. "The men are cold, but otherwise they have suffered no ill effects from their trek. All in all, the journey was a relatively smooth one."
"Good." Hyoushin could see the relief flickering in the Emperor's eyes, and he offered a slight smile.
"You seem concerned, Kintsusei-sama - has something occured in our absence?"
"Just more civil uprisings, this time in a town south of the capital." Kintsusei sighed. "I sent what I could to help, but I'm afraid it was too little and too late - our communications have been largely interrupted by the advance of random rebel forces and two of our messengers have been slain in the last day alone. I am glad to hear you have reached Hokkan without incident...I was concerned that you might be a target, travelling as you were through the northern lands which are so far from my direct control."
"We are all trained and prepared to defend ourselves should such an incident arise." Hyoushin assured his emperor with a flick of his fingers. "But I can report that our progress here was largely a peaceful one and no blood was spilt."
"I'm glad about that." The Emperor pursed his lips. "And the Shinzahou? Hyoushin, what news of that?"
"That, my Lord, is more tricky." Hyoushin admitted. "I have sent my men the length and breadth of the city, asking questions of the locals, but have learnt little about Ashitare in his previous life. Reflecting on Kikei-sama's sources, I wonder if perhaps they are mistaken - I have learnt one thing of use since we arrived, and that is the former location of the Genbu Shinzahou. Kikei-sama's sources indicated Ashitare lost his life obtaining this for Kutou - but the place where Kikei-sama reported he'd died seems quite some distance from the treasure's original location. There is a mountain slope here known as the Black Mountain, and from local information I've ascertained that the Shinzahou was once sealed on this peak. So Ashitare must have gone there, and tomorrow, this is where we will go, also."
"I see." Kintsusei sighed. "It';s so difficult to be accurate when talking about distant, mountainous country and when doing so only through hearsay, not from direct sources. None of the people who accompanied Ashitare on his trip to Hokkan are still here to ask, and that's the truth of it. The Shougun, his fellow Celestial Warriors Soi, Suboshi...Seiryuu no Miko. All are options closed to us. But this is important, Hyoushin, and I have faith in your tenacity and your ability to find Seiryuu no Shinzahou, if it is indeed in the Northern lands."
"Yes, Lord, although it would be easier if Kikei-sama had furnished us with a map." Hyoushin's tones were laced with irony, and his Emperor shook his head.
"I'm sorry...Suiko's words were really not so very clear, were they?" He reflected with a sigh. Hyoushin shook his head.
"I begin to wonder if we have understood them at all." He murmured. "But tomorrow, maybe, all will become more clear. We are, at the very least, in Hokkan. And large as this country is, it is a start...if Seiryuu no Shinzahou is truly located in this area, I will do my best to track it down, Kintsusei-sama. You have my word on that."
"I know, and I'm glad of it." Kintsusei acknowledged. "You are invaluable to me sometimes, more than you realise - find the Shinzahou and come home safely, my friend. Things are uneasy enough here as it is."
For a moment, Hyoushin's violet eyes softened, and he slowly nodded his head.
"Nothing will befall me or my men, and we will not dally." He said evenly. "If tomorrow yields nothing, I will extend our search further afield - but we will not linger here longer than we need. If it proves that Seiryuu no Shinzahou is not anywhere to be found, I shall instruct the men that we are returning home. And perhaps, in the meantime, you might ask Lord Kikei if he can speak to the jezebel in the flames once again...she was none too helpful with her guidance the last time, and further detail would indeed be of some help."
"I will speak to Kikei, and see what can be done." Kintsusei promised. "All right, Hyoushin. I will let you rest - you will no doubt start early tomorrow, and I will await your further report with eagerness. Take care, old friend...I shall see you soon."
"Indeed." Hyoushin set aside the mirror, as the surface became smoky and then dull. "I wish I could bring you better tidings, Kintsusei-sama...but as it is, I only have scraps to convey."
He touched the edge of the mirror, a thoughtful look flickering in his amethyst eyes.
"Kikei's magic is powerful...I wonder if he is able to force more information from that irritating mage." He murmured. "I don't like how this troubles me - that while I am here, I am not able to be directly involved in protecting my Emperor against potential attacks. I wonder how loyal Kikei is to his leader...whether in a time of trouble, he would put his life on the line to ensure Kintsusei-sama's survival. He is a Hin, true enough - he doesn't lack for courage or spirit beneath his aging exterior. But I wonder..."
He shook his head with a sigh, getting to his feet as he loosed his long tail of hair, letting it fall free around his shoulders.
"Tomorrow we enter into Meihi land." He mused, gazing at his reflection in the mirror for a moment as he touched the scar on his cheek. "I wonder what that will bring - whether the people in those settlements may know more than the people of Touran. If they are refugees from the East - Meihi who fled back to the land of their origins rather than indigenous tribesmen and women who never left...they may have more interest in the fate of a Celestial Warrior than the Hokkan-jin."
He smiled ruefully, shaking his head at the thought.
"No, I have been in Kutou's Imperial palace too long." He realised. "Thinking such things. What use have the Meihi for Beast Gods and stars? They have never been protectors of our people...this scar should have taught me that a long time ago. Am I on a foolish errand? Maybe. But my word is my bond and I cannot break it. My Emperor must have his wish...whatever it takes to achieve it."
"Hyoushin-sama?"
A knock at the door startled him from his reverie and he frowned, recognising Aoiketsu's voice as he turned away from the mirror glass.
"Enter, Aoiketsu." He said evenly, and the door swung back, revealing the young soldier, a look of uncertainty in his unusual, expressive eyes.
"Yes?" Hyoushin eyed him reflectively. "Something ails you?"
"No sir. It's not that." Aoiketsu shook his head. "It's just...Maichu and I were talking to one of the serving girls downstairs, and she told us something...something I thought you should know, though I don't know if it's of any use to us at all."
"Information about Ashitare, perhaps?" Hyoushin's eyebrow twitched up, and Aoiketsu nodded his head slowly.
"Yes, sir. At least, I think so." He agreed cautiously.
"Then come into the room properly, and close the door. Such conversations do not need to be overheard by strangers."
"Yes, sir." Aoiketsu did as he was bidden. "Like I said, I don't know if it matters or if it doesn't. But she was telling Maichu about the circus performers who had been in Touran up until yesterday. Some of them stayed here, and apparently it was quite a big event."
"And this has some bearing on our search?"
"I think so." Aoiketsu looked thoughtful, then he nodded his head. "No, it must do. Commander, Ashitare was from Hokkan, wasn't he? And...and he was from a tribe who...had connections with...wolves? Beasts of the snow and mountains - isn't that how the stories go?"
"Indeed, though we have found no trace of any such people living here in Hokkan now."
"No..." Aoiketsu bit his lip. "But the wench did say that, while the travellers were here, they did talk about...a man like that. That once there had been a mountain beast in the guise of a man, able to speak and communicate yet with a thirst for blood and the flesh of young, innocent girls. They had told the story to either impress or frighten the girls here - I'm not sure which, to be honest - but she seemed more than keen to share it with us. Apparently...one of these beasts they held in their freak show retinue was branded with a blue sign...a mark of Seiryuu, in a land of Genbu's people."
"I see." Interest flickered in Hyoushin's eyes, and he nodded his head. "This girl was sure of her story? That Ashitare was once a member of a circus who travelled through the four lands?"
"I think more a prisoner of one." Aoiketsu looked uneasy, and Hyoushin was aware of the boy's eyes flitting to his superior's scarred cheek. "A...a slave, Hyoushin-sama. But he was freed by Nakago - by the Shougun. That's what the girl said."
"The Shougun." Hyoushin's eyes narrowed to near slits as he digested what had been said. Aoiketsu nodded.
"The men who told her the story described it as a scene of carnage - that all those who'd kept the beast caged were obliterated by some unspoken power and that a man with blond hair and a blue glow about him had taken the prisoner away." He murmured. "She didn't call him by name, or really say any more than that. But it must have been the Shougun, mustn't it? Which means that it was Ashitare in that circus...and that Nakago took him to Kutou, as part of Seiryuu's legend."
"Indeed, that is how it sounds." Hyoushin looked thoughtful. "You and Maichu have done well, unearthing this information. It's a shame we weren't here before the travellers left, however if what you say is correct, it is an indication that some of Ashitare's life was indeed spent in Touran. And that it was, as rumours say, the place of his birth - even though he was born a Seishi for Kutou, not for Hokkan. I don't pretend to understand all of the finer points of how the Beast Gods operate their power. But that seems logical to me."
"The thing is, sir, how can we find him now?" Aoiketsu looked troubled. "If he has been reborn, he could be anyone of my age or younger, couldn't he? And if Seiryuu isn't going to be summoned by a Miko - will he even show any signs of being one of Seiryuu's Seishi? I don't know how we can locate him in such a wide-ranging country...he could be anywhere, and we don't even know for sure he has the treasure."
Hyoushin sighed.
"I have the same concerns." He admitted, drawing a startled glance from his young companion. "But it is the will of the Emperor and I will do as he bids me. So must you, Aoiketsu. Our duty is not to doubt or question, but to obey. Besides, it is true that our instruction is vague. That the treasure is in Hokkan, Kikei-sama was quite clear. That it is in the care of a reborn Ashitare - this is less clear. Tomorrow we will ride to Koku-zan and we will see for ourselves the place where, if I am correct, Ashitare lost his life. And then..."
He spread his hands.
"We will wait, search and attend any additional orders from the Emperor." He said simply. "But you have done well to locate this information, Aoiketsu. You are dismissed."
"Yes, sir." Aoiketsu nodded his head, withdrawing from the chamber and shutting the door behind him with a soft click. As he did so, Hyoushin's lips thinned, and he slowly shook his head.
"More and more I doubt that we are truly looking for Ashitare." He reflected. "How can a man with the spirit of a wolf - with the drive of a cannibal and an untamed beast - be the guardian of something supposedly holy and divine? And as Aoiketsu says, he would still be so young. But we can do nothing but investigate and then report back. Time to listen to your own advice, Hyoushin. Our duty is to obey, and obey we will. Tomorrow...we will see what secrets Koku-zan can reveal to us."
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"Shishi, run this by me again."
Chichiri stretched his patterned kesa out across the floor of the small inn bed chamber, settling himself atop it as he cast the young bandit an anxious, urgent look. "You were just talking - the two of you - and she was engulfed in red light? Bright, dazzling red light? Is that what you saw? Red light, like the light that powers Tasuki and my celestial marks?"
"Shishi nodded her head, raising frightened eyes to her uncle's.
"I never saw anything like it before." She whispered. "Was it...Suzaku, Chichiri? Was it...is that...what you meant by her being the Shinzahou?"
Chichiri frowned, rubbing his temples.
"When she first came into this world, she told me that she'd seen a red light twice - first that brought her from her world to this, and secondly that brought her back from the desert wasteland to this stream of time, where you found her in the valley." He said slowly. "Yes, I think it probably was the power of Suzaku that did this. But what I don't understand is why...or how. Hikari is not in command of her powers - not even a little bit. They're locked up inside of her and although I can feel a faint flickering of something in her aura when she's nearby, it's nothing like the kind of energy needed to send someone back through space or time. That she'd just...disappear...it worries me."
"Do you think she went home, Chichiri-san?" Jin asked from the doorway, leaning up against the doorpost as he surveyed the grim expressions of his travel companions. "Could she have done that - gone back to her own world somehow?"
"It's possible." Chichiri bit his lip. "Shishi...there's nothing else you can tell me? Nothing at all?"
Shishi swallowed hard, glancing at her hands.
"We...did have a...sort of argument, I guess." She said unwillingly. "She was complaining a whole lot, about how it was cold and her feet were wet and blistered and something about her world and what it was like there. I told her to shut up and let me get some sleep..."
She trailed off.
"Before she vanished, she did say...she didn't want to be here." She admitted. "Do you think...did I...make her vanish?"
"No, Hikari did it herself, but whether she did it on purpose or by accident is debatable." Chichiri sighed. "And it creates a problem for us, now. If she's gone back to her own world, I have no way to reach her. But if she's still in this one - she could have ended up anywhere. Kounan...Hokkan...this time line or another. The power she has is exceptionally strong, Shishi - stronger than any spell I can perform. Miaka didn't just seal magic inside of her daughter, she sealed the power of Suzaku...elements of the power that govern and control our world. In unexperienced hands..."
"She could be hurt." Tasuki said bluntly, pulling his tessen from his back and glancing at it. "And we need to find her...if she's still in this world to find."
He glanced at Chichiri.
"Can you trace her chi?" He asked softly. "If she's still in our world, surely you can do that, can't you?"
"Ye-e-es." Chichiri hesitated, and Tasuki frowned.
"Well? What's the hesitation?" He demanded. "This is Tama's brat we're talking about, Chichiri - do you have any idea what that guy'd do to us if we let anything happen to his daughter?"
"I know." Chichiri looked troubled. "But opening my magic up to search for Hikari means opening it up to anyone and anything that might be in the area. In short, if I do, I might not only give myself away to Suboshi - but I could also lead him to Hikari, because I'm searching for her. She's too naive to be able to suppress her own life force - and I don't want to make her a target."
"So what do we do, then?" Tasuki retorted. "Let her freeze to death? Chichiri!"
"I know!" Chichiri snapped, and Shishi's eyes widened at the uncharacteristic note of tension in her uncle's tones. "I realise that...I'm thinking. Short of going looking for her...but not even knowing if she's even in the vicinity..."
He frowned, burying his head in his hands.
"I don't know the answer." He admitted helplessly. "I promised her I'd make sure she was safe...Tamahome and Miaka's daughter...and I can't even keep my word."
Shishi swallowed hard, registering the genuine distress in her uncle's expression, and she dropped down in front of him, eying him soberly.
"I shouldn't've yelled at her." She said contritely. "Even if she is a pain in the ass, I shouldn't've. I'm sorry, Chichiri...I didn't mean it."
"It's not your fault, Shishi." Chichiri cast her a faint smile. "And I don't really think it's Hikari's, either. Because she has so little control...if she went somewhere, I think she did it subconsciously. She might have gone back to the mountain, or Aidou and the children in the Eastern Village. Or she might have crossed back to her world - whenever Taka and Miaka went back there, they were always shrouded in red light. But..."
"You gotta take the risk." Tasuki said quietly. "To try and find out where she is, Chichiri. Even if it opens us up to a fight, or her, for that matter. We have no choice. If you can trace her, well, we can always transport there quick enough to defend her - can't we? An' I don't mind if we wind up fightin' Suboshi to protect her. She's Tama's kid, after all."
"This Suboshi is really a threat, isn't he?" Jin asked hesitantly, and Chichiri spread his hands.
"He has been, in the past." He admitted. "When Tamahome lived in this world, Suboshi attacked and killed his whole family - his father and his brothers and sisters. When he was killed in the other world, it was trying to bring down Tamahome, and in the end he fell foul of his own brutal weapon. And more than once he sought to hurt Miaka, simply because she was Suzaku no Miko. I don't say he's a completely cold-blooded killer, but I doubt he'd have any compunction about killing Hikari on sight, if he knew who she was and why she was here. But Tasuki's right...I...I don't really have a choice. I'll just have to be...careful about it. And hope that I can be guarded enough not to give my position - or worse, hers - away to him before I find her myself."
"So tell us what to do." Tasuki's demeanour relaxed at this and he glanced at his tessen once more, before returning it to its holder.
"There's nothing you can." Chichiri said with a sad smile. "Not if I'm going to be discreet - I can't risk any other life forces being picked up. It's a complication, you know, but it's how it is. All you can do is leave me to do my best...and I'll do that, you have my word. But you might as well get some sleep...it could take a while, and..."
"What if we don't have a while?" Tasuki demanded.
"We'll just have to hope we do." Chichiri bit his lip. "Tasuki, don't yell at me. I can't do what I can't do, you know that."
Tasuki sighed, but nodded, as if acknowledging his companion's words, and Shishi's bronze eyes darted from her father to her uncle, absorbing the seriousness of their expressions.
"I knew she was trouble." She murmured, shaking her head slowly. "Maybe she's trying to get us all killed."
"Shishi..." Tasuki met her gaze for a moment, then he sighed.
"Listen." He said quietly. "You know the legends of Suzaku an' you know the dangers of followin' his call. Hikari has no idea of any of that. While she's in this world, Chichiri an' I - we have a duty to protect her. For the sake of Suzaku an' because she's Miaka an' Tama's kid. If you got stranded in that world - or if Meikyo or Eiju did - Tama an' Miaka would do the same...do you understand?"
"I guess so." Shishi acknowledged with a grimace. "Yeah, I get it. I do. I just...disappearing..."
"Hikari is not a happy child." Chichiri said at this point, glancing at the young bandit pensively. "She's horribly homesick, confused, stuck in a place she doesn't understand with people who're pushing her into dangerous situations. You can't see it, Shishi-chan, but I can - I can feel it in her chi, when she's here with us. She's frightened, lonely and afraid...of a lot of things that you take for granted. Even before she came here, I'm not totally convinced that she was...secure with herself. And everything has happened so fast, really, since she first arrived in Kounan. If she complains, it's only because she's trying not to cry. And you'd like that even less, I'm sure."
"Then if she hates us and it that much, maybe she has gone home. Maybe it's a good thing, huh?" Shishi asked. Chichiri's expression became grave, and he shook his head.
"Whatever is coming, I don't think we can stop it without Suzaku no Shinzahou." He said grimly. "That's why Hikari chose to stay here, Shishi. I was serious when I said she wanted to protect my family - she told me that she intended to stay and fight, if she could really make a difference and help Kounan survive. Scared as she is - alone as she is - she made that choice. I didn't force it on her, and nor did Tasuki. I would have sent her back if she'd asked me - I'd have found a way to do it. But she was decided. And that takes courage, to make a decision like that. Especially since, in her own world, she's caught in a dispute with her family - one which is still eating away inside of her, whether she talks about it or not. Whether you like her or you don't - whether you understand her or otherwise - Hikari has sacrificed the chance to make peace with her parents, and the opportunity to go back to her own world in order to help save ours."
Shishi faltered for a moment, swallowing hard.
"She ain't so different from a bandit after all, is she?" Jin murmured. "Puttin' herself out to fight her comrades' cause. Maybe you an' she ain't so opposite as I thought, Shishi."
Slowly the young redhead shook her head.
"Guess not." She admitted unwillingly. "But if she's gone home now...?"
"I don't think she has." Chichiri bit his lip, spreading his hands as if trying to pick something up from the room's atmosphere. "I can't explain it, but I think she's still in Hokkan. But it's just a vague sensation...I'd need to do more to pinpoint her exactly, and for that, I need to be on my own, so I can concentrate properly."
"Then I guess we'll let you do that." Tasuki said frankly. "Shishi, you're goin' to have to bed down with us an' let Chichiri do his stuff in here...since this is where the kid vanished, I guess it's better he's here than anywhere. So you'll just have to lump sharin' for once."
"I don't care." Shishi cast a pensive look towards the spot where Hikari had been, then shrugged her shoulders. "I ain't gonna sleep much anyway, I don't think."
"None of us will." Tasuki agreed. "Chichiri, soon as you know somethin', you let me know, all right? I'm ready to move in a second and ghost or not, if that meteor-ball brain tries to hurt Hikari I'll flame him anyway. Got it?"
"I don't think it would do much good against him, you know..."
"I don't care. I'll do it anyway, if he tries to hurt her." Tasuki said bluntly. "So keep it in mind. Don't you go off lookin' on your own - if you pick her up, I'm comin' too. Right?"
"All right." Chichiri nodded his head. "I promise."
"Right." Tasuki pursed his lips for a moment, an uncharacteristically thoughtful look crossing his expression. Then he gestured to his young companions.
"Both of you, come on. Let the guy do what he has to do."
Shishi gathered up her jacket and her boots, obediently trailing behind Jin and her father into the other chamber as Chichiri raised his hand, closing the door behind them with his strange spiritual magic.
"You all right?" Jin nudged her, and Shishi glanced up at him, then nodded her head.
"I guess." She agreed. "Yeah. I'm fine."
"You look wound up 'bout something...don't tell me you're worried about Hikari too, now?"
"I..." Shishi faltered, then she sighed. "I guess I feel a bit shit, if I'm honest about it. I mean, I had no idea she was feelin' like that...or at least, if I did, I didn't bother 'bout it. Truth is, her whinin' got on my nerves an' I told her so. An' I feel like this is my fault somehow, so...even if I don't like her..."
She sighed, sinking down onto the floor and resting her chin in her hands.
"It's really true, huh? Her staying for our sakes? That wasn't just her spoutin' off...she really is doin' it to help us out?"
"You heard Chichiri." Her father leant up against the wall, folding his arms across his chest as he eyed her keenly, and Shishi bit her lip.
"What if she vanished because I was yellin' at her, though?" She asked hesitantly.
"Then you should learn to hold your tongue more around people you don't know." Tasuki said evenly. "Don't you start with the whinin', Shishi. Chichiri will find Hikari, but he won't get very far if all he can find is you complainin' an' worryin' about someone you don't even like very much."
He glanced across at Jin.
"Do me a favour...run down an' ask the innkeeper for an extra coupl'a blankets." He said softly. "It's gettin' a chill wind in here, an' I don't want one o' you goin' down sick on top of all of this."
"Yes, Kashira." Jin nodded his head, casting Shishi an encouraging smile, then obediently withdrawing from the chamber, closing the door behind him with a soft click. Once they were alone, Shishi raised her gaze to her companion's, the glitter of tears in the depths of her bronze eyes.
"I don't like Hikari." She murmured. "But I didn't...I don't want her to get killed because we had a fight. An' if she's really feelin' like that...I mean, if Chichiri is right..."
She faltered, and Tasuki sighed, hauling her to her feet.
"You're being a girl." He said, but his tone belied the harshness of his words. "No cryin', all right? You want Jin to see you cry?"
"No." Shishi shook her head, fighting with her emotions and winning. "But..."
Tasuki eyed her keenly.
"Chichiri'll find her, because that's what he does." He said softly. "You ain't ever seen your Pa an' your Uncle in action before, an' now you are - now you will. But listen. I told you already this trip wasn't a pleasure jaunt, an' that it would be dangerous an' difficult. Even if you don't like Hikari, you have'ta deal with her bein' here. That girl might be the one thing standin' between this world an' wholesale destruction, if you listen to Chichiri - an' Taiitsukun said the same, more or less."
"I..."
Shishi swallowed, then nodded her head.
"I understand, Kashira. I'm sorry. I'll remember that from now on."
"Good kid." Tasuki touched her cheek gently. "Because you told me you were grown enough to come on this trip - are you goin' to prove yourself wrong before we've even really begun?"
Shishi shook her head determinedly.
"No!"
"Then get some sleep." Tasuki gestured to one of the empty pallets. "If anythin' happens, you'll know about it...for now, there ain't nothing else for you to do, an' I know what girls are if they don't get enough shut-eye."
Shishi sank down on the indicated bed, pursing her lips as she pulled the blankets around her body. At length she glanced up at him.
"Maybe I didn't like that you an' Chichiri made such a fuss of her, Papa." She admitted. "But I won't think it...any more. Because if she...is that important...I guess I didn't believe she was the Shinzahou, till...that red light...she must be. She must be, an' so I get it, now. It's just..."
"You were jealous?" Tasuki was floored, taken completely off guard, and Shishi looked rueful. She spread her hands.
"Jin said so, but I told him not." She replied. "Though maybe...I was a little. I mean, you...an' Chichiri...an' Meikyo an' Eiju - you're my people. An' Jin is my friend. She's from outside but suddenly everyone's all about her an' makin' exceptions for her an'...all that shit. I didn't like it much. It didn't seem fair, especially when you wanted her to come to Hokkan but you didn't want me."
Tasuki was silent for a moment, then he stretched out his right hand, ruffling his fingers through her thick red hair. Beneath the heavy sleeve of his coat, Shishi could just about make out the faint glittering of Suzaku's mark against his skin, and despite herself, she felt faintly comforted at the sight of it, reminded of the strength that beat within her father's stocky body.
"I would give a lot to know you were safe on Reikaku-zan right now." The bandit leader said softly, and Shishi stared at him in surprise at the seriousness in his tones. "But you insist you're grown an' I know that sooner or later, you gotta have your chance to prove it. So I gave in...I let you come. Don't make me regret it, kid...no Father wants their kid rushin' into dangerous situations, an' that's a fact."
Shishi bit her lip.
"I'm sorry." She murmured. "I didn't think..."
She sighed, sinking back against her pillows.
"You really think Chichiri will find Hikari?"
"Yes. I do. I have faith in his power, an' so should you...he's always come through in the past, an' he's a lot stronger than he looks." Tasuki nodded. "So don't you worry about that. It might mean a little fight, but we'll find the girl, an' we'll bring her back safely. So you go to sleep...an' stop botherin' me with this girly fussing babble, okay?"
"Okay." Shishi smiled faintly. "Sorry, Kashira. I forgot."
"Well, don't forget again, you little idiot," The solemn moment was gone, and Tasuki sent her a wolfish smile. He tapped the tessen. "if you really want to earn the right to use this one day."
"Mmm." Shishi glanced at the silver fan, then nodded her head. "I guess so. I guess I do have a long way to go, huh, Papa?"
She sighed.
"If...when Chichiri finds Hikari, I promise to be nicer to her. At least, I might not like her, but...you know...I'll stop chewing her out." She added. "I promise. I'll remember what you said and I...I'll try."
Tasuki nodded approvingly.
"She's Suzaku's, but so are you, in a way, because you're blood to me." He reminded her. "An' we're all doin' this for Kounan, not ourselves. Keep it in mind too, huh...a bandit leader has to act for his men, not just his own wants. Whatever that means."
"Whatever that means." Shishi echoed. Then she nodded firmly, settling down against the cool, rough pillow as she gave a little shiver.
"All right." She agreed. "I get it. Just, I hope Chichiri finds Hikari soon...it's damn cold even in here, an' I wouldn't like to be out there on a night like tonight!"