Author fangirling: Five chapters in, and things are starting to fall into place now that people like Miaka don't have to be a secret! The "what if the priestess faked her death?" idea was the first plot bunny that bit me.

As for the Eikoden elements, more of them will start coming in, although not exactly the way they were in the original-for instance, Juan (Mitsukake's incarnation borrowing from his old name) is older in this fic than he was in Eikoden. Because come on, seriously? Why would Mitsukake put off joining her another few years, huh? I'd expect him to be the most in a hurry to reincarnate! That's to say nothing of how long Chiriko waited just so he could still be the baby of the group (in a more literal sense). Oh Eikoden, you're so silly.

Thanks for reading, and please leave a review! ~Appa

Boushin had trouble sleeping that night. First of all, the mattress was lumpy and the blanket smelled strange and he could feel the chill of the air outside, and every time he moved the bed would creak. Second, Miaka and the Suzaku warriors were making a racket in the kitchen—wouldn't they be disturbing the neighbors with their obnoxious stories about fishing and robbing people, and teasing each other about cookies and marriage proposals? But when he listened closer, there were other voices—many children were still outside and laughing as they played games in the dark, and neighbors jibed as they played chess and traded their own stories. They looked like they had so little, but perhaps it was their lack which made them so unconstrained.

Boushin had no place in the conversation. It was a foreign world to him, and even if he was welcome in that little world, it was only because he was Hotohori's son. In his capacity to understand their history, they would only be able to give him cut up pieces of information to chew. Even if there was something he could do, would they acknowledge it?

What right would they have to ignore him if he found a new way to summon Suzaku? They had failed, they would not be able to say anything! The mere thought of a possibility made him somewhat comforted.

Impossibility came as a comfort to Mayo, too.

It was outside of the everyday. Because it found its way into her hands, that was what made her feel extraordinary-the moment she had opened the book that she had taken off of Keisuke's desk, the contents of its pages flowed into her consciousness. Miaka Yuuki had to have been the sister he mentioned, and that was the mess from which she never came out of. Even for having been the treasure of so many peoples' lives and given such an important task, she failed. Mayo saw that as an opening.

"Suzaku, take me!" she yelled into its pages. "Where are you sealed?"

Images of Yui passed through her mind. She was the priestess who had sealed him with Seiryuu's power, but surely he wouldn't still be with her. Still, Mayo dug her fingernails into the cover as she clenched the book. She must be the door to where Suzaku is. I will find her and draw him out.

But how was she going to do that? By throwing the book at her or something? The book had said that she had closed herself off completely to that world. Something had to draw the Priestess of Seiryuu back out.

"Lady Yui!" Suboshi abruptly sat up in bed, and looked around frantically for what was in his hand the entire time. The bow was safe. "Lady Yui," he held it against his cheek and closed his eyes a moment.

Discreetly, he headed to the shrine of Seiryuu, and there he took a seat in front of the statue and listened to the waterfall. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to think or just to listen—neither of which were his strengths. Staring at the statue without really looking at it, he could only focus on his desire to see her again.

Sitting there was pointless. He stood up and turned to leave, and from behind him a clawed hand reached towards him. A voice he could not hear whispered, "Call her forth."

Miaka was the first one up the next morning. "Come on, sleepy-heads," she smiled over the bottom bunk, where all four of the others had been squished together. Tasuki sat up with a groan and the whole bed shifted, and it shook violently when he threw one leg out over the edge, clearing Boushin completely. Besides not being able to get comfortable, Boushin had been up all night terrified that the bed was going to collapse.

"I made breakfast," she sing-songed from the other room over. At least that came as a relief to Boushin. Filling his tummy would make him a little more—

Chichiri and Chiriko pulled back on either arm to keep him from standing up, and Chiriko had a hand over his mouth. "Actually, Miaka, I thought we could eat at a place I saw on the way!"

"Really?" she peered in with a frown.

"Tasuki's paying for it."

Tasuki, who had been in the kitchen, came up from behind Miaka and nodded eagerly with an otherwise strange expression on his face which could only leave the other warriors to guess that he had tasted breakfast already. "You bet I am! Let's go have a feast, Miaka!"

"Well, okay!" she smiled. The promise of special food made her forget all of her effort, and as soon as she walked away to clean up, the others sighed with relief. Chichiri turned to Boushin and explained that they had to protect him as well as the former priestess.

Boushin took a whiff of the air and grimaced at the acrid odor. "Have you had to put up with this all these years?" he turned to Chichiri.

"No, I usually do the cooking, and she does the cleaning. She helps with the farming too, you know," he said, then sighed. "Next she's probably going to try giving the food she made away to the neighbors, and then she'll get sad when they don't take it and the food gets wasted."

"Wouldn't it be kinder just to tell her that her cooking is terrible?" asked the boy, and Chichiri merely winced. His noncommittal response irritated him. "Then you think you're protecting her by just keeping her ignorant, and letting her hide from all her problems?"

Chiriko addressed him by name in a cautioning tone.

"I'm sorry," he said lowly and insincerely as he stepped away to get dressed.

The group wasn't especially talkative on the way, possibly because they had gotten conversation out of their systems the day before. As the horses trotted along, Boushin couldn't help but notice how easily Miaka took to the animal. "Miaka, do you ride often?"

"Yeah, I've gotten really good at it!" she smiled. "I can't summon Suzaku anymore, but I've been doing what I can. When we've needed to go track down doctors in other villages or bring water to other villages, I've been able to help with those kinds of things. It's the little things that really make everyone's lives easier."

"I had no idea."

"You wanna race?" she grinned.

Boushin couldn't answer before Tasuki chimed in, "You're on!"

Before long they were swept up in competition and laughing together, then ultimately wound up going slower than before because they and their horses were tired out already. Chiriko came bouncing up in the rear, unsettled from all the trotting. "Is this something you'd do often?" Boushin asked through heavy breaths as he wiped his sweat away.

"Not back then, no," he panted back. "It's hard to have fun like this when there's always a sense of urgency."

"I see," he answered and looked to the other's faces. They were all smiles, but he noticed Miaka wince.

The trip stretched on with small talk here and there, as well as a few extra stories about Mitsukake. They explained to Boushin who Shouka was to him, and who he was to the rest of the warriors, as well as funny things he did or said. When they mentioned his pet cat, Chichiri sighed. "He passed away a couple years ago."

"What, Tamaneko? I wouldn't worry about him," Tasuki shrugged. "Juan's got a cat too. Maybe Tama found 'im before we did."

"Oh, his name is Juan again?"

"Well, if Shouka is still Shouka, that's not too surprising, is it?"

"Do you think he'll be surprised to see us?"

"Well, we'll find out, won't we?" Tasuki said as they neared the secluded village, and once they approached on foot, he called out, "He-e-e-e-ey, Juan!"

A boy poked his head out of a window towards the voice. "Uncle Tasuki?"

"I got some people I want ya' to meet! Get out here!"

"Uncle Tasuki?" Chiriko repeated and shot him a glance. "What do his parents think about this?"

"They didn't like me hangin' around at first," he averted his glance as if he was in trouble, and Juan came running up to him. Tasuki squatted to about his eye level, and put a hand on Juan's shoulder, and pointed to the others with his other thumb. "These are some old friends of mine. I told them about you and they wanted t' meet ya."

He glanced up shyly with only his eyes and looked them over. "Hello," he said in a small voice.

"Could I…" Miaka approached, fixated on him. "Could I see you a moment?" Juan said nothing and only stared back at her as she bent down next to Tasuki, and then as if she could not help herself, she drew him close and gently embraced him. Unsure of what to do, Juan only stood there without moving or saying anything. "I'm so happy to see you like this," she said softly and closed her eyes to keep tears from coming out.

Boushin could sense the boy's discomfort, but wasn't sure what to do, if anything. He didn't have to do anything, however, because a girl came running towards them waving a fistful of cattails. "Don't touch Juan!" she yelled and swatted at Miaka, who was unhurt but surprised. The girl put her hand on her hips and yelled at her. "What were you trying to do, give him a heart attack? Take him away? Huh? Huh?"

Despite being berated by her, Miaka lit up. "You're Shouka, aren't you?"

Surprised to hear her name, the girl stepped back, and the confusion gave Juan enough of a moment to dash and hide behind Tasuki, who said, "Shouka, these are my friends."

"Oh, Uncle Tasuki!" she beamed and bounced over to him, and Tasuki took her hands and helped her jump high in the air as she giggled wildly. "What are you doing bringing all these bandits here, Uncle Tasuki?"

"Not all my friends are bandits, ya know! Why else would I be friends with you and Juan?"

"Because we patch you up."

"Free medical care, right, that's it, you adorable little doctors," he said in a forced sweetness through an annoyed smile, and then twisted around to put a hand on Juan's shoulder. Juan was clinging to his waist from behind. "Let me tell you who these people are. This is Auntie Miaka. She knew you a long time ago, Juan. And that's my friend Uncle Chichiri, and my friend Uncle Chiriko, and my new friend Boushin."

"They're your uncles?"

"No, they can be your uncles, numbskull!"

"Hello, Juan," Chichiri bent down to say hello, but with one look at his mask, Juan began to cry and ran to hide behind Shouka instead.

As much as Chiriko wanted to say hello, he thought it best to hold back a little longer. "They treat your wounds, Tasuki?"

"They helped with a scrape once. After that it's more like I became their test subject," he muttered, and Chiriko laughed.

"Look Juan, Uncle Chichiri's face is stretchy."

"Please stop pulling on my face, Shouka."

Juan's parents came out shortly to see what the commotion was, and recognizing Tasuki they greeted him warmly, and invited the others to come inside. On the way in, Miaka tugged on Tasuki's sleeve, asking if they knew anything, to which he answered that they didn't. Once inside, Miaka could not help but ask, "So you're used to having bandits hang around here?"

"We didn't use to be," they looked to each other, remembering how terrified they had been at first of the fanged man talking to their son. "Until the day the wolves attacked our village. They've been hungry, too," their tones fell.

"You got rid of them, Tasuki?"

"Well, most of them," he said. "Kouji and the others helped a little. But since then you could say things have been pretty smooth."

"They make sure we're not the target of any other bandits, either," Juan's father added.

"It looks like Juan and Shouka like to play doctor," Miaka looked in his direction, but Juan averted his glance. "Are you doctors, too?"

"What? Oh no, I think they were born that way," his mother responded. "Shouka's parents say it may be due to an experience she had as a baby, and Juan idolizes her so much that he might have picked it up from her. He's still the more squeamish one, though."

"That's nice," she replied, filling with pride.

Boushin could not be sure why, but he felt very uncomfortable in that little hut of a house. His throat itched, and his nose seemed to be refusing to work right. He discreetly excused himself and stepped outside, where he felt a bit relieved. He wanted to hear more of the adult's conversation, but there wasn't much for him to contribute.

At that moment, Juan stepped out in front of him. "Um," he began, "Are you feeling alright?"

"I feel better out here, thank you. I don't know what came over me."

Juan gummed some words around in his mouth, then said, "I'll be right back." Boushin watched him run off, and curiously waited for him to return. When he did so, he was carrying a cat. The younger emperor quietly gasped in surprise, as he had never seen one up close. "This is Tama," Juan said.

"Is it safe? To touch, I mean?"

Juan didn't say anything, but held out the cat towards him. Boushin slowly stretched a hand out towards it, but before reaching it he felt the tingling back in his throat and a sneeze come on.

"That's what I thought," Juan lowered the cat down and to let it walk away. "I think you're allergic to him."

"Allergic? Is that bad?"

"It doesn't feel good. I'll be right back." Boushin watched him run off again. When he came back, he had a little sack as long as his thumb which was attached to a string. "Shouka's daddy is allergic to Tama, too, so we made this for him. You can have it."

"Are you sure?"

"It's okay, we have more. You can have it."

"Thank you," he took it and stuffed his hand into his pocket.

"You have you put it around your neck," Juan explained and used his arms to illustrate, as if Boushin couldn't understand his words.

"Oh, like this then."

"That's right."

It smelled a bit like a potpourri, but Boushin didn't mind it. He stayed sitting there, and Juan kept standing in front of him, as if expecting him to do something. "Um," he looked up at him, "do you want to sit down?"

"Okay," he said, and did so. The two sat quietly. Boushin couldn't be sure if the silence was getting to him too.

"Have you always wanted to be a doctor?"

"Yeah. What do you want to be?"

"Me?" I'm already the emperor! "I… want to summon Suzaku!"

"Suzaku," Juan tasted the word and seemed to think on it deeply. Boushin wondered if he had stirred up something deep inside of him and if memories would start to flow out. Juan looked back and asked, "What's that?"

Boushin would have fallen over if he was standing up. "You don't know who Suzaku is? Isn't that a legend everyone in Konan knows?"

"I don't know."

Boushin frowned. This village is very secluded, and it certainly has been a long time. Perhaps no one talks about it anymore after all. "He's a heavenly bird made of fire who watches over Konan."

"Oh. That sounds nice," he smiled.

"Yeah, it's nice to think about," he smiled with him.

"I'll be right back," Juan said once again and ran off, then came back with his hands cupping something. "Give me your hands."

Boushin offered up both hands together, and Juan dropped several sticky seeds onto his palms. The sensation made him want to throw them away and go rinse his hands off, but he didn't want to be rude, and thus endured. Juan plopped back down next to him with a big smile and he stuffed a few in his mouth.

"What are these?" Boushin asked him.

Juan picked up a single one between his finger and thumb and answered, "Lotus seeds. They're candied."

"Oh," he replied. He had eaten parts of lotus before. He put a few in his mouth, but wriggled around until he could chew it enough to swallow it. "That's so sweet!"

"Ssh! Mommy doesn't know I took them."

"Okay," Boushin nodded, and not really wanting to eat the rest, he held the sticky mass in his palm.

"Are you going to come visit with Uncle Tasuki all the time?"

"No, I live much further away than that," his tone fell, as did Juan's when he replied with an "oh." Boushin continued, "But it's nice here."

"It's fun, too. You can play with me and Shouka."

"Okay," he smiled, finding it strange that he would say that so easily, when it was something he had never heard another child say to him before.

By dinner time, Juan was much more comfortable with the additional company. Comfortable enough even to poke Chichiri's face.

Shouka's family had Juan's family and Boushin's party over for a meal that evening, as they were also familiar with Tasuki and the bandits and had heard him tell stories of some of his exploits before. When they asked about how Tasuki knew them, it sufficed to say that they were people he fought alongside in the war ten years beforehand.

"Even Miss Miaka?"

"Well, I did what I could," she laughed it off lightly.

"Auntie Miaka, will you take a bath with me later?" Shouka tugged at her sleeve.

"Oh, no," she laughed.

"But I want to make you look pretty."

"Don't bother her, Shouka," her mother scolded. "You're all welcome to stay as long as you like. It's not very large, but we do have a guest room."

"How long have you been living here?" Chiriko asked. As he recalled, the parents who brought a dying baby to Mitsukake ten years ago would not have lived so far away.

"We came not long after the war," they said. "Our village had been razed, and instead of rebuilding, we wanted to leave it all behind and start over. At the time, the mountains were mostly untouched."

"It looks like you'd be safe from floods here," Chichiri noted. "That's nice, you know."

"Floods? When's the last time we had to worry about that?" Shouka and Juan's parents all laughed, but Boushin didn't find it anything to laugh about.

The evening dragged on, and Miaka took a turn in the bath after the boys had been in. Shouka, not one who liked to be denied what she wanted, was insistent. "I don't want to take my bath later!" she whined.

"You can get in with me later," her mother argued back, and then turned back to her task at hand. "Oh no, I forgot to give her a towel…"

"I'll take it!"

"Shouka!"

Content that she had won, Shouka bounded over to the bath and pulled open the door, announcing that she was coming in. Miaka was caught by surprise and exposed.

"Hey Tetsuya, what's up?" Keisuke smiled to his friend at the door. Tetsuya invited himself in and grabbed him by the collar.

"How much have you been blabbing to your students, huh?"

"What?"

"Yui's getting harassing phone calls from one of your students! It's Suzaku this, and Seiryuu that! Where would she have heard all that from, huh?"

"What? Who is it?"

"Some girl… Sa…Sa-something…"

"Mayo Sakaki," he planted his palm against his forehead. "That's where the book must have gone!"

"What do you mean, 'that's where the book must have gone?'"

"Since she mentioned it, I was going to let Yui take it for a while, but then it disappeared right off my desk. I've been looking everywhere for it."

"You let some teenage girl go read that thing? Hasn't that only spelled disaster every other time a teenage girl has touched it?"

"You're right, it was stupid to bring it to a high school, I get it! At least we know where it is now and we can get it back."

"Yeah, but how about getting her to stop all this 'give Suzaku back' nonsense? Yui's already been edgy about that stuff lately."

"More than usual?"

"Keisuke," he took a deeper tone. "I think the book might be trying to call her back if it's making her this nervous."

"What for? What could the Universe of the Four Gods possibly need Yui for now?"

"I don't know," he shook his head. "As soon as we get the book back, I'm going to take a look and see if anything's changed. Something could be moving, and I don't like having this other girl involved."

"I got it. I'll talk to her tomorrow. I'll invite myself over for a parent-teacher conference if I have to."

"You can do that?"

"I don't know. Hopefully I don't have to find out. Just tell Yui to keep her phone off for now."

Mayo listened to the phone cut to Yui's voicemail. She threw it down against the floor in frustration and heaved her shoulders with a snarl. Call out to her, she beckoned and put her hands back on the book tightly.

Suboshi felt a choking sensation inside of his chest. He couldn't let his troops see, and covered the pain by yelling more forcefully at the soldiers performing their drills. It was the same pain he had felt when Yui left his world, and it had been getting stronger.

Lady Yui, he called out in his mind. Where are you?