Chapter Thirteen
As Miramu re-materialised on the moonlit slopes outside of the spider's mountain, he took a deep breath of air into his lungs, struggling to compose himself as he remembered the encounter with his sister in the underground shrine. For Jin's death he felt nothing - that the bandit would by now have succumbed to the swift-acting poison he had slipped onto the blade before plunging it through the young man's clothing did not even flicker at the edges of his conscience. But in Myoume's dark eyes, so like his own, he had seen the one thing that could still pierce him right through to his soul.
Her anguish at his disgrace.
He sighed, rubbing his temples as he struggled to push the image out of his mind. He fumbled at his belt for the pouch of herbal stems, his gaze touching briefly on the blooded blade and he frowned, pulling it from its loop as he wiped it clean of the young boy's blood.
"Damn you, Byakko." He muttered fiercely, as he returned the weapon to its casual position at his left side. "I thought you couldn't possibly make my life worse, but as usual, I was wrong. After ten years...what has time done to my sister? What have you done to her, you bastard? Bringing her to me like that...knowing how I feel. I will not kill her, no matter what poisonous pictures you feed into her foolish head! I will not do it - don't you understand that? I'll slay every one of Reikaku-zan's bandits before I'll lay a finger on Myoume...so take that and swallow it, you overgrown housecat!"
"Miramu!"
The voice shot through his shattered senses and he swung around, registering the presence of Hyoushin, Aoiketsu and Kayu in tow as they approached him. He sighed, forcing the shreds of his composure back into place as he raised his eyebrow, sending the paleskinned Meihi a questioning look.
"You look troubled, Hyoushin." He said softly. "What's ailing you?"
"We said to meet before the sun set." Hyoushin said quietly. "You are late."
"I had a little trouble in the shrine." Miramu admitted, holding up his blooded, wrapped hand as proof. "But I also have something else - something that you want."
He held out the bone casket, and Hyoushin eyed it carefully.
"The fang is in there?" He asked softly. Miramu nodded.
"It is." He confirmed. "Sealed within the shrine of Kitora, beneath the mountains. Just as I told you it was. It just took a little more time to get my bearings - and then, as I said, I got delayed."
"What kind of trouble?" Kayu eyed him suspiciously. "What did you do?"
"Kounan's people were there. They're in league with Toroki, and they came to find that too." Miramu said evenly. "I killed one of them, and took this before I left. That's all."
"Kounan's people." Hyoushin's eyes narrowed. "I see. Yes. I saw them too. But you say you killed one of them?"
"He was in my way." Miramu shrugged. "Don't pretend you're going to get sentimental about the enemy now, Hyoushin. He was only a bandit with a very ordinary sword. I doubt his death would cause your Emperor to receive a declaration of war. He was quite brave, but nothing extraordinary. Just a boy...that's all. Nothing else."
"And yet such a boy managed to wound you?" Hyoushin reflected. Miramu looked rueful, inwardly realising that even such a concession was better than admitting the truth of his Celestial identity to his travel companions.
"I suppose so." He acknowledged at length, unwinding the stained cloth from his palm as he glanced at the clotting wound. As he did so, he caught Aoiketsu's eye, noticing the look of dismay that flickered across the soldier's face.
"What's with you, Aoi-kun?" He asked lightly. "You're distressed because the one I killed was probably no older than you or your friend?"
"I don't like that you killed anyone." Aoiketsu said slowly. "And I don't like you waving that hand around like it's some kind of brave battle scar. You're a murderer anyway - don't pretend you were a wounded hero obtaining Byakko's treasure at great personal risk."
"On the contrary, there was great personal risk." Miramu's eyes darkened, and he was unable to keep the edge from his voice. "Toroki saw me down there. Her prophesy is that we will meet, and she will kill me. What use would I have been to you then, if she had chosen today to do it? If you want to blame anyone for the fiasco in the shrine, blame your Commander, Aoiketsu. He made me come below with you. I take no responsibility for anything that happened as a result."
"Convenient of you." Hyoushin murmured, and Miramu spread his hands.
"You know I'm right." He responded.
"Please, dammit, put that hand away somewhere?" Aoiketsu grimaced. "You're making it bleed again..."
He faltered, biting his lip, and Miramu eyed him keenly.
"So they're not just idle rumours." He realised. "You really are a soldier who fears the scent of blood? That's almost ironic, given that your name means 'blue blood' - does it not?"
"Shut up. Just wrap it up and put it away." Aoiketsu snapped back thickly. "Just because you get a kick out of gore doesn't mean the rest of us do."
"Aoiketsu, pull yourself together." Hyoushin said quietly. "This is not the time for you to pass out...we have to make camp for the night somewhere safe and sheltered and I do not wish to have to carry you back to the others."
"I'm not going to pass out." Aoiketsu said firmly. "I just think he's gross. That's all."
"You could have learnt a few things from the young fool I killed." Miramu reflected, a malicious glitter entering his eyes as he surveyed the youngster's pallor in the bright moonlight. "He fought back even though I'd run my blade right through him...even with the blood running from his body, he was still determined to give his all. It puts you rather to shame, doesn't it, when you consider that he was just a bandit - and you're meant to be a soldier."
He stretched his fingers absently, tilting his palm so that the light caught his wound.
"I wonder why it is Hyoushin keeps you so close." He added. "When obviously you're not much use on the field of battle."
This was too much for Aoiketsu, whose face drained of any remaining colour and he clamped his hand over his mouth, disappearing into the shadows as his nausea overwhelmed him. Miramu laughed, shaking his head in amusement, although with the memory of Myoume's expression still lurking in his mind, the triumph felt hollow.
"He really is quite the entertainer." He reflected. "That must be why you continue to train him, Hyoushin. He's amusing, to say the least."
"I have warned you about tormenting my men." Hyoushin said impassively. "Bring the fang. We will return to the others - and I would appreciate it if you would not try my patience again before we leave Kutou."
"You still need me, because I'm the only one who might know something about the spell to raise Kitora." Miramu said evenly. "Toroki aside, and I doubt she'll help you. Not if she knows you're working with me - and I can't imagine that she doesn't know. There's very little that she can't see...even without the Shinzahou."
"She knows, for I spoke to her again this evening." Hyoushin said softly, and something in his gaze put Miramu on his guard. He eyed the Meihi warily, but Hyoushin met his gaze without hesitation, a faint question in the amethyst eyes. Miramu's lips thinned, but he decided it was safer not to ask what exactly had passed between the Commander and his sister in the mountain tunnels that night.
"Hadn't you better reel in your lost lamb? Make sure he hasn't lost consciousness somewhere on account of his little weakness?" He said instead. "It's probably not good to be alone on the mountain at night."
"Indeed not." Hyoushin agreed. "Aoiketsu? Get a grip on yourself. We need to return to the others, and I intend to leave now."
"I...I'm all right." Aoiketsu emerged, his face still pale as he sent Miramu a dark look. "You're a sadistic jerk, Miramu, you know that? I can't help reacting that way...it's not nice to provoke me on purpose."
"Call it aversion therapy. Or training." Miramu shrugged unrepentantly. "You can't be a soldier and defend your country without shedding blood, Aoi-kun. And so you need not to be afraid of it. I'm really doing you a favour."
"Like hell you are." Aoiketsu muttered.
"There is one other thing." As the four men headed through the mountain land to where the rest of the party were waiting, Miramu remembered what else had happened within the shrine.
"Such as?" Hyoushin glanced at him, and Miramu once again had the impression that the Meihi knew something that he had not yet voiced. He frowned, inwardly making up his mind.
"Two can play that game. I'll give you the bare bones, but until you show me your cards, Hyoushin, I won't reveal all I know." He decided.
"Well?" Hyoushin prompted. "What is it?"
"There's a girl with Suzaku's party that's interesting to me." Miramu said slowly, and Kayu snorted.
"You're sick and perverted?" He demanded. "Figures."
"Not in that way." Miramu shook his head. "She's still a child - I'm most definitely not, so give me some credit. No. I don't mean like that."
He frowned, remembering the odd flare of red light.
"Her name is Hikari." He added. "I don't know what it is...but there's something about her. Something strange. Something I've never seen before."
"Hikari." Hyoushin's eyes narrowed to near slits as he digested this. "Suiko said something similar. Myself, I saw only a young girl, but Suiko also said that the child called Hikari interested her. She has not been explicit on the subject - and I'm guessing from your vagueness that you don't intend on giving me any further detail?"
"I can't explain what it is, so you're going to have to do with intuition." Miramu said evenly. "But there's definitely something. You might want to look into that before you take your little baa-lambs into the Phoenix's territory."
"Perhaps so." Hyoushin admitted. "Very well. I have taken that on board."
"Am I forgiven for my lateness then, Hyoushin-sama?"
"It's not up to me, whether or not you're forgiven for anything you do." Hyoushin shrugged. "You are here now. You have the fang. We shall say no more about it."
"I'm honoured."
A hint of his usual droll irony touched Miramu's words and he bowed his head mockingly in the Commander's direction, somehow feeling better at the usual coolness of his companion's level temperament.
"Cold as ice, but somehow his impassiveness is reassuring." He realised ruefully. "To be around someone who lacks feeling is a relief – one who can't feel can't try to understand. And truly, I do not want anyone to understand what went through my head this evening. What I was thinking, when I met my sister's gaze across Byakko's shrine."
He frowned, his lips thinning at the thought.
"If it is ten years again before the next time, it will be too soon." He murmured. "Curse us both, Byakko, but don't force us into one another's company before you intend to make good on your dark predictions. I don't want to see Myoume again until the day I'm to die…so unless you plan on bringing that day forward, you can keep your slave far out of my line of sight."
He sighed, moving to follow the trio of soldiers as they headed back to their campsite.
"I'll go back to Kutou with Hyoushin and his companions." He decided firmly. "And somehow I'll keep my secret, even if I do help them raise Kitora's spirit. At least, if I'm in the Eastern lands, there's little chance of me crossing paths with Toroki again."
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At first, everything around her seemed to be in darkness.
As slowly she became aware of something hard and smooth beneath her body, Hikari struggled to gather the scattered shards of her consciousness, feeling trapped and stifled in the black vacuum that seemed to have engulfed her. Vaguely she could remember a bright flare of vermillion, hot and driving as it swept through her, taking charge of every cell in her body until she could stand the burning energy no longer. Now it was gone, leaving her feeling cold and empty, and as she tried to move, her battered muscles complained at the attempt.
For a while she lay there, not knowing where she was, or even why she had been drawn to this strange, dark nothingness. Then, as more and more awareness returned to her she began to realise that it wasn't that the world was dark, only that she was shutting it out, her eyes screwed closed as if to provide a barrier between her and the reality of her surroundings.
Slowly she opened her eyes, and as she did so, a rush of colour and light flooded her senses, disorientating her. She reached out to grab something for support, her fingers reaching something tall and firm, and as she brought it into better focus she realised that it was a bookshelf, and that the room was full of books.
She frowned.
"Shishi?" She murmured, and as she breathed the bandit's name, another memory slashed through her, causing her to draw breath sharply as the image became vivid in her mind.
"Jin!" She exclaimed, now alert as she scrambled into a sitting position, glancing around her in dismay and disbelief. "But this…this is…the National Library? But…how is that…"
She faltered, as she caught sight of the blood spatters that stained the skirt Aidou had so carefully stitched to her measurements before they had left Kounan for Sairou, and as she brushed her fingers against the already darkening stains, tears welled once more in her eyes.
"Jin." She whispered. "It wasn't a dream. It was…real. But…this is…this is the library. Isn't it?"
She got slowly to her feet, a strange numbness setting in as she realised that somehow she had not only come back to her world but that in doing so she had left Shishi, Myoume, Jin and the Shijin Tenchishou far behind her.
"But it was real." She murmured. "I've come back…but Jin's blood…is still on my clothing. Jin's death…he really did die…for me."
As if voicing this fact aloud had broken through her cold disbelief, grief and panic finally overwhelmed her as she drew a shaky breath into her lungs. Tears glittered on her cheeks, and as she reached up to brush them away more fell. Eventually she gave up trying to stop them, burying her head in her dusty hands.
"How could you die for me?" She murmured. "How could you…do something…how could you tell me you loved me, and then…do something like that? And how can I be back here? I was there, in the shrine, with Shishi and…now I've come back to my world. I've come back…on my own…somehow."
She glanced up at the bookshelves that loomed over her, her gaze scanning the rows of dusty volumes until she found the one with the familiar kanji on the spine.
"Shijin Tenchishou." She murmured, reaching out to take it with shaking hands as she ran her fingers over the smooth red covers. "This book…this one. I went…somehow…inside here."
For a moment she held it, as it seemed to burn against her fingers. Then, as her courage failed her, she shoved it back into the bookcase, taking a deep breath as she tried to calm her pounding heart.
"I'm home." She said it aloud, as if somehow by doing so she could make herself feel better. "I'm back in my world. Back in my real, proper life. Suzaku's sent me back."
She stumbled across the room to the door, reaching out to touch the handle, but as she turned it, the door held fast.
"Locked." She murmured, as panic began to rise within her once more. "But…now I remember. This room was restricted access. They keep it locked. They locked me in. Of course I wouldn't…and I've probably been missing for days. Noone would even think…"
She trailed off, as fear flooded through her anew, and she swallowed hard, pounding on the door as she let her emotions take control. She no longer cared whether or not she got into trouble for being in that part of the library. All she knew was that she was home, and that she wanted her family more than she had ever wanted anything in her life before.
"Besides, I can't go back. I don't know how to go back." She whispered, tears streaming down her face as she pounded on the door a second time. "And Shishi…Shishi'd never forgive me. Jin died…because of me. I'm not a help to Kounan, I'm a curse. If I hadn't been there, he wouldn't have died. They won't want me back, now they know I'm no divine saviour. I'm just Sukunami Hikari after all…and because of it, Jin…"
She closed her eyes, pounding a third time on the hard wooden door.
"Let me out of here! Someone, please, let me out!" She exclaimed. "I want to go home – let me out of here!"
As she sank against the wood, she heard the sound of a click, and she jerked back, staring as the door slowly opened to reveal a rather annoyed looking member of library staff. At the sight of her, however, his eyes widened, and for a moment he faltered, as if unable to believe what he was seeing.
"What are you doing in here, musume?" He asked softly. "This door's kept locked – how did you manage that?"
Hikari just stared at him, lost for words, and he sighed, scratching his head as he surveyed her.
"You're some kind of a mess, aren't you?" He murmured. "All right. You come with me – we'll have a little chat and you can tell me who you are and what you're doing here. Some kind of dare I imagine – right? A joke gone wrong? You look dressed up for some kind of cultural festival – let me guess, you and your friends got a little too adventurous and decided to play around in the library? You should tell them it's not funny, getting their companions locked in restricted areas. That room has a lot of precious documents stored inside – you could get into a lot of trouble for being there."
"I…I'm sorry." Hikari managed. "It was…an accident. I didn't…know."
"Didn't you see the sign?" The man's brow creased. "No unauthorised access."
"I…didn't…read it." Hikari faltered, and the man sighed.
"They don't teach you kids anything these days, in those schools of yours." He muttered. "If you all spent more time studying in libraries and less time playing computer games you'd learn your kanji much more quickly and you wouldn't find yourself in silly predicaments."
Hikari did not reply, too tired suddenly to try and explain the circumstances that had led her to the room in the first place. It seemed such a long time ago, although she had no idea how much time had actually passed, and at her lack of response, her rescuer sighed.
"My office is this way." He said at length. "You going to at least tell me your name, kid? Some parent or other's probably worried sick about you – it's almost time for library closing, and they must be wondering where you've got yourself."
"Sukunami Hikari." Hikari murmured softly, and the man nodded.
"Right. That's a good start." He reflected. "And do you have a telephone number that I could contact a parent on?"
For a moment Hikari's mind went blank. Then she frowned, nodding her head.
"My mother…is probably at home." She said quietly, hesitating, then giving the telephone number.
"She's usually there." She added.
"All right." The man nodded, making a note on the scrap of paper in his hand. "Then you come and take a seat in my office and I'll get you a glass of water. You're dusty and pale and you're too messed up for me to be cross with you. Are you hurt? Those marks on your skirt...they look like blood."
"It's not my blood." Hikari murmured absently, and the man looked startled.
"Then what...?"
"It...it's fake blood." With a jolt, Hikari realised how strange her words had sounded, and she blushed, inwardly cursing her lack of composure. "From the...from the play. In...the cultural...festival."
"Oh. I see." The man's face cleared. "And the sword too, I trust? You kids have been busy."
"The...sword?" Hikari's eyes widened, as her fingers went to her waist, brushing against the hilt of the shinken as she did so. "I...brought that back with me, too?"
"Sure looks like it." The man grinned. "It's a damn fine piece of prop-work, though - I'm sure your school's drama department will be looking high and low for it tonight."
"Someone will be." Hikari bit her lip. "Are you...are you going to call security on me? Because I was in...that room?"
"I should, but I won't." The man shook his head. "You've scared yourself more than anything with this little prank, so I think you've learnt your lesson. So long as you don't try it again, I'll let it go - but I will call your mother, and have someone come and pick you up. It's late, and it's dark out...I wouldn't want you wandering the streets in this shaken up state. Not even with your school's best sword to defend you!"
Hikari fingered the shinken again, a troubled look entering her dark eyes.
"I wouldn't even know where to begin." She said honestly.
As they reached the office, Hikari found herself ushered down into an empty seat, as her rescuer disappeared into the back to make a phone call to the Sukunami home. In a short few moments he was back again, eying her thoughtfully as he did so.
"Would you like something to drink?" He asked. "I just spoke to your father and he's coming right over, but you look very shaky still."
"No...I...I just want to go...home." Hikari murmured, relief flooding her heart at his words. "Dad's coming to get me? Right now?"
"Yes." The man nodded. "I'm sure you won't have long to wait."
"Thank goodness." Hikari closed her eyes briefly. "I...I'm really sorry to...put you to so much trouble. I didn't mean..."
She trailed off, and the man smiled.
"Well, kids will be kids." He said reflectively. "It's all right, this time I'll forgive you. But don't spend too much time hanging around the restricted area of the library again, all right? If you do, you might find someone making an official complaint to your school and you don't want this kind of thing on your permanent record, now do you?"
"No sir." Hikari shook her head. "I...I'll remember. To be honest I...don't want to come back here any time soon."
"Then I'm sure it'll all even itself out." The man eyed her keenly. "Your father didn't sound angry, you know. Just relieved you were safe. Like as not he and your mother have been worried about you, not coming home from school. It's near enough eleven o'clock...they must've wondered where you'd got to."
Hikari nodded her head slowly.
"I'm sure." She whispered.
At that moment there was a knock at the door, and as the library employee moved to open it, Hikari was aware of soft voices from the other side. A stranger stood there, but behind him, anxiety and hope in his eyes was a familiar face and at the sight of him Hikari felt the last of her composure slip away.
"Dad!" She exclaimed, and Taka hurried forwards, hugging her tightly as he registered his daughter's emotional condition.
"It's all right, Hikari-chan. You're coming home now." He said softly, and as she gazed up at him, she saw something unspoken in his expression. Slowly she nodded, swallowing hard.
"That's what I want." She whispered. "To go...home."
"I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, sir." Taka bowed his head apologetically at the library employee. "I'm sure it won't be allowed to happen again."
"Just take the girl home, Sukunami-san." The man smiled. "I think she's learnt her lesson -scared out of her wits, she looked, when I found her."
Taka eyed his daughter again, then nodded.
"So I see." He murmured. "Thank you for helping her. Come on, Hikari. The car's downstairs and the library will be closing soon - besides, you and I have things to talk about."
With that he slipped his hand into hers, and something about her father's strong, secure grip calmed Hikari's jittery heart somewhat. She nodded wordlessly, allowing herself to be led out of the office and down the stairs towards the library's main entrance. A few of the late night customers sent her odd glances as they passed, taking in her unusual attire, but for once Hikari did not care about how she appeared. That she was back in her world was enough, and as they reached the waiting Sukunami car, she paused, casting her father a doubtful glance.
"Are you...cross with me?" She asked softly. Taka started, staring at her. Then he smiled, shaking his head.
"No." He admitted. "We've just been too worried about you for that. Especially after the message from Chichiri. We knew...both your mother and I...where you were even before that. But...well, the Shijin-Tenchishou is no piece of cake to tackle. I'm glad to see you in one piece."
Hikari nodded slowly.
"Just about." She agreed hesitantly. "I...don't really know how or why I came back...now. I just...sort of...did."
"Well, get in the car and we'll talk about it." Taka gestured, and Hikari nodded, doing as she was bidden as she fumbled to fasten her seatbelt. "In some ways, it's our fault too - there's a lot of things that we never told you or Makoto. And I can understand why you'd get so confused...considering the little bits of information you had."
"I...I'm sorry I took the money." Hikari flushed. "I really really am and I'll never do anything like it again. Really, Dad. I promise."
She bit her lip.
"And I..I'm sorry I said you weren't my father." She added softly. "I just felt like...all of a sudden I didn't know you. And in some ways I think I feel...a little bit like that still. Chichiri and Tasuki had so many stories about Tamahome and Suzaku no Miko and I didn't feel a part of them. That I'd be a Shinzahou - what a Shinzahou even was...there was a lot I didn't understand. And I guess, I still don't."
She sighed, glancing at her dusty fingers.
"Are you Sukunami Taka or Sou Kishuku? Really?" She whispered. Taka frowned, fastening his own belt as he put the car into gear.
"Both." He said honestly. "I was Tamahome when I met your mother - Sou Kishuku, a man of that world just as Chichiri and Tasuki are. And I had the power of one of Suzaku's chosen, too. But after the last battle with a demon called Tenkou, both your mother and I...well, we were given the choice as to where we would live our lives. In order to be with Miaka, I gave up my past and memories as Sou Kishuku and became Sukunami Taka, because Sukunami Taka could live in this world...Sou Kishuku could not. And my memories were returned to me in order to fight Tenkou...so now I know I'm both people."
"Isn't it confusing?"
"Sometimes." Taka nodded. "That's why this family is so important to me, Hikari-chan. It's the constant that both Tamahome and Taka have - Miaka, you and Makoto. Nothing is as important to me as that...and I'm sorry you felt that we'd kept important things from you."
"It's all right." Hikari sighed again. "I...I'm not mad about that any more. I...to be honest, I was sort of...proud, to be in that world...and be...Tamahome's daughter. Even though I felt a little like Tamahome was a stranger to me...he seemed to have been...someone so important in Kounan. Everyone...everyone speaks well of you and Mother both, Dad. I guess I started to see you both a little differently, because of that."
"Well, I suppose that's all right." Taka said ruefully. "But I'm sure you have a lot of questions, and frankly, so do we. We never expected you to be pulled into that world...if we had, it might have been different."
"I don't want to go back." Hikari said quietly, fingering the stains on her skirt as she did so. "Dad, something...terrible happened, before I found myself suddenly back in the library. And I...it was my fault. I...I'm no good for Kounan after all. I..."
Taka eyed her thoughtfully, and Hikari shook her head.
"I don't even think I can talk about it." She murmured. "Not...right now. I...I'm just...glad to be home."
"Not as glad as I am to see you." Taka assured her, flicking on the indicator as he turned onto the forecourt of the apartment complex. "Or as glad as Miaka will be to see you, either. She was about beside herself...we felt you'd come back, but when the phone rang...it's been the longest day in history, today."
"Day?" Hikari started. "I've been away...a day?"
"Yes." Taka agreed. "Twenty four hours, more or less."
"Chichiri did say time moves differently there from here." Hikari bit her lip. "But I didn't think...I was in their world almost three weeks, I think. But here...here it's just been...one day?"
"It works like that." Taka told her. "The flow of time between this world and that one is diverse...and it isn't always constant. I don't know how it works, to be honest. A day here can be a week there, or a month, or even three months. But you must have been somehow outside of time, Hikari-chan - because otherwise, how was it possible for you to be with Chichiri and Tasuki? Am I right in thinking that you...went back in time somehow, in their world?"
Hikari nodded slowly.
"I think so." She agreed. "Chichiri said...it was because...because I was the Shinzahou, and I...went back to where they were. Where they could protect me. And they...have. They were good to me, Dad. Especially Chichiri. He and his family..."
She closed her eyes, unable to continue as suddenly an image of Meikyo's innocent, trusting smile flashed into her head.
"Stay a long time, all right?"
The young girl's words echoed in her mind, and she shook her head, trying to clear it.
"I'm sorry, Mei-chan." She whispered. "I couldn't stay any longer...I couldn't."
"Hikari?" Taka sent her a concerned glance, and Hikari opened her eyes.
"Nothing." She said softly. "I just...I'm home now. Right? It's over. It's behind me."
She frowned, biting her lip as she remembered the scene in the shrine in Sairou.
"I...I'm back...where I belong."