Author Fangirling: I was a little stuck in the writing process right until this chapter, and then I had a breakthrough. Thus, one of my favorite confrontations in this whole fic was born. :D Still traveling, hopefully I'll have an update next week. Thanks for reading, and please review! ~Appa

Boushin had been in high spirits until his mother and counselor sat him down for a lecture that evening. "My son," she had a tense expression. "I had been holding my tongue in respect to the circumstances, but you have a responsibility to your country to take your seat at the throne."

"Not to mention, you're going to need to answer to your cabinet for your sudden disappearance."

"But we left a note," he struggled. "And mother, you didn't set a very good example for me to follow. Leaving with Mayo so unguarded was foolish."

"You are not old enough yet to tell me what is foolish, and I am not the leader of Konan. That is your role."

"I'm learning about Konan by being here. I can't leave before knowing if Miaka will agree to summon Suzaku or not!"

"We've already explained to you that it's not possible anymore."

"You're the only one who seems to believe that, Chiriko!" he yelled, startling Juan as he wondered in. Boushin was relieved to see him, and walked over to tug him back out the door. "Let's go, Juan."

"But," he glanced inside the room at Houki and Chiriko.

"Don't worry, we won't be going anywhere dangerous," he growled as he took off running with him.

"Boushin!" Houki called after him, and Chiriko stumbled across the room after him to the door, only to see him running up a hill to a thicket of trees to hide in.

He sighed, sarcastically thankful that there wouldn't be any wolves among those trees. He frowned back over his shoulder to Houki, who heaved an exasperated sigh. "Give him a head start before you go after him," she said. "He knows what he has to do, he just doesn't want to."

"You don't seem especially eager to go back yet either," he noted. "Were you able to speak with His Majesty?"

"Yes."

"What did he tell you?"

"You don't need to know words spoken between a husband and wife," she coyly smiled, making him blush.

Juan bit his lips and looked around aimlessly, waiting for Boushin to say something. He merely glared off into the distance, hugging his knees to himself and burying his chin behind them. "You know," he started, "my mother is probably angry with me, too."

"She'll probably never believe why you've been gone so long."

"No, but," he smiled, happy at the thought of returning. "I'm sure when she sees me again, she won't care why."

"Unless she blames Tasuki and doesn't let you play with him anymore."

"Uh oh, that wouldn't be good," he chuckled.

Boushin couldn't help but smile with him, as much as he was trying to fight a good mood. "How are you feeling, Juan? Since all these strange things have started happening?"

"Bewildered," his mood instantly sank.

Boushin laughed. "That's not surprising! I'm just glad you're alright now, and that Chiriko's alright, too! One way or another, I'll bet more good things are going to happen."

"Hey, Boushin," he asked in a low voice. "Do you think Miaka can summon Suzaku this time?"

"Of course she can! I'm sure of it!" he insisted. "Don't let it get you down! All that failure is in the past!"

"But she tried so hard before," his face wrinkled up like he would cry. "She tried so hard." His friend was at a loss for a response, and fumbled around with empty, comforting phrases in his head until Juan changed mood again. "Hey, who's that?"

Boushin put a finger to Juan's lips as he looked over his shoulder to see a cloaked figure leaping from tree to tree in near silence. As the figure descended down the hill towards the village, they gave each other a look and agreed to follow him.

Resigned to needing some help, Chiriko allowed Tasuki and Chichiri to tease him a bit before they would assist him in tracking down the emperor. "Doesn't take long to get on his bad side again, does it?" roared Tasuki. "Kids are a pain."

"Funny you'd know this, Tasuki. Maybe you're not telling us something, you know?"

"Shut your trap, Chichiri."

"I appreciate it," Chiriko hung his head. "It'll be easier to resolve matters with Mayo once His Highness is safe again."

"You mean Hotohori the Second? His sword handling really isn't bad for his age!"

"Are you implying we should let him continue to entertain his warrior fantasies?"

"Ha ha, no, but—look out!"

The three jumped away just in time to avoid being impaled by a spinning meteor ball. The ball just as swiftly returned to its weilder and floated in the air next to Suboshi, who threw his hood off when it was apparent that he had been noticed. "Nakago was right."

"S-Suboshi!?" yelled Tasuki. "What the hell are you doin' out here?"

"You tell me! If you're all gathered here, then you must be planning a revolt!"

"You're the one bein' aggressive out here!"

"Silence!" he bellowed and launched the second ball out with the first. The commotion summoned Miaka, who came running, inadvertently exposing her identity to the attacker. He froze for a moment, wide-eyed. "The Priestess of Suzaku. You're alive…"

"Suboshi, you shouldn't be here!" she yelled. "Didn't you want Yui to lay low to avoid causing any trouble again?"

He tensed, inwardly flaming with rage. "You won't lay a finger on her! Did you find her? Are you the reason she left?"

"I made her leave this world so she would be safe."

"Shut up!" he screamed. "You only wanted her out of the way so you could summon Suzaku! You came after her, I know it!"

"You already said you're only here because Nakago sent you. We have nothin' t' do with your priestess!" growled Tasuki. "Get out of Konan."

"Shut up, you worms!" he bellowed and shot his meteor balls with more speed. This startled Boushin into action, and he ran out of the bushes with his sword ready to strike. Had the others not screamed for him to stop, he might have managed to surprise Suboshi enough to get close to him. Instead, Suboshi dodged, and swung the cords of his meteor balls around to catch the blade of the sword, and Boushin was unable to wriggle it free. "What are you all trying to pull here? You'll never summon Suzaku, even if your warriors have come back from the dead!"

"Boushin, run!"

Getting rid of an easy target first, Suboshi aimed straight for Boushin, but Miaka's feet were faster than his arms. Cradling Boushin's head, she got to him just in time for the attack to rip through her back ribs. She shrieked and clenched him tighter.

"Mi… Miaka…?" His voice quivered as a coppery smell filled the air.

"Rekka Shien!"

Yui's gown swished around her ankles and she struggled to keep pace with Nakago as he strutted through the halls, directly to the shrine of Seiryuu. The swiftness made Kaika feel as though Yui was about to be slipped out of his hands, and it was almost as if he had to squeeze through the door before Nakago promptly closed it behind Yui. Maybe that was what it was like to be a ghost, he thought—present, but largely ignored.

On his guard, he remained silent and darted his glance between Nakago, Yui, and the dimly lit features of the shrine. The menacing statue of Seiryuu made him inwardly reel, and he thereafter fixed his attention on Nakago and Yui only.

"I hope you don't intend for me to use my wish as soon as you're finished here," she said, looking around to see how much of this place she had remembered. She had typically neglected this space before.

"Nothing of the sort. In fact, I would be happier if you never use that wish."

"Come again?"

"That is precisely what the makers of this world intended. That is the system they prescribed."

"Yeah, well, the writers were on some sort of crack. I should know, because I'm a part of this system just like you are."

He gave her a contemptuous glance, but didn't bother to say everything he was thinking. "It's true, you are meant to be a scapegoat. Sacrificed by your own world."

"Excuse me?" she retorted. "It's this world that has been the cause of so much of my suffering!"

"You had a difficult time here before," he lowered his voice. "Try as I did to protect you, you were still exposed to the war, hatred, and violence the people of this world harbor."

You did nothing to protect me. "You made me believe I had been raped."

"You speak as though what didn't happen to you was the worst injustice anyone could have suffered."

"It's true that it didn't happen, but you lied to me, and manipulated me, making me believe I had gone through that!"

"You're neglecting to acknowledge the thousands of women in this world subjected to that fate, with no need for anyone to lie to them about it. Rape is merely a weapon to be wielded."

"And you admit it!"

"It's not only used against women. It's been used against their children as well, thousands of times. Would you rather you or your own mother were to be subjected to torture?"

Yui was quiet for a moment, unwilling to imagine her mother being forced down against her will.

Nakago continued. "Neither, I'm sure. Consider yourself fortunate it only happened once, and that it wasn't even real."

"Don't try to pass blame onto me or tell me my pain isn't real," she forced back. "I'm lucky. I got to return to my world and leave the horrors of this one behind. I know that! I'm sure people have suffered more unimaginable fates here than I have."

At this, Nakago smiled. "You're correct. They're fates that people from your comfortable world do not want to think about, so you leave them here. And, just like the beast gods, the unfortunate people trapped here will be left to deal with all the dirt swept away from your world."

"What are you talking about, Nakago?"

"Lady Yui," he eyed her. "How did you come to this world?"

She shut her mouth and tensed, as if she had been caught inside of a whirling lie. Nakago looked around the shrine, stroking decorative items fixed there. "A crystal ball, perhaps? Or a mirror? I'm sure it was something you could look into and see this unfortunate world, a world that you could hold in merely your own two hands."

Kaika looked to Yui, who showed no signs being able to tell him he was wrong. Beyond fear, she looked guilty. Did Nakago's words have merit? Was the suffering of this world merely a cruel joke bestowed on them from higher powers? Were their lives so insignificant?

"After all, how else could people so similar be found in two worlds?" he went on. "You're no different from any of these young women in Kutou. Surely, two separate worlds would have no reason for bearing such similar creatures?"

To illustrate, Nakago revealed to her the shell in his hand, and the world it projected. She and Kaika gasped as buildings towered over hundreds of people and cars and shop fronts, a flow of constant dizzying sounds and sights.

"It's the kind of scene one could watch for hours, isn't it?" he asked. "So many humans, unstopping movement. Nothing interrupts their pace as they go from one task to another, living their lives as if they'll never end. They don't know pain or hunger or despair. But if you watch long enough, you'll notice this world is much like ours. Perhaps, at one point, they were linked. Or more likely, ours was born out of yours."

"That can't be true!" she protested. "Pain and hunger and despair exist in the world I'm from, too! You're only seeing a glimpse of it!"

"You're hiding that you know the relationship between our world and yours."

"That… that's not important. It's not what you think it is."

"Certainly, the people in your world must know what cruelty is. That is why they put it here. Our world was created as a way to rid your world of that which it did not want. The Four Gods were sealed away into this universe so that they would not terrorize your own."

"No! That's not true!"

"It's neat and systematized to keep it under control. This world exists solely for them to run their course. The people who populate this world are only here to bear the cruelty yours chose not to acknowledge."

"No!"

"That is why we've been burdened with war, hatred, genocide, and power."

"You're wrong! The world I'm from still has all those things! You can find them in any country all over the world!"

"Lady Yui," he stared straight through her. "Those are not things you know in your world. You might know what they are, but you do not understand them. They've never existed for you, except for in this world you can hold in your hands." Yui had no immediate response. Nakago looked back to the image he held of her world and continued. "We've taken your chaos."

"But… no, I never…"

"I don't blame you, Lady Yui. You've had the unfortunate fate of paying the price for everyone else in your world, coming here to play your role in this cosmic order they've dictated. You are the sacrifice they've chosen so that they can forget the suffering they've left here."

"I never wanted anyone to suffer," she shook her head.

"Is that so? Then what did you wish for your friend Miaka, when you wanted to separate her from Tamahome? Have you forgotten what you ordered me to do to her in the shrine of Seiryuu the day you betrayed her? Perhaps staying in this world awoke the violence that had been sleeping inside the innocent people of your world."

"No! That was all me! It had nothing to do with my world!"

"Your world. The heavens."

"The heavens?"

"I've always sworn revenge against the heavens for what they cast upon me. It's merely taken me this long to understand where that would take me."

"I don't understand."

"Like you, I'm cursed with a fate tied to Seiryuu, and fulfilling his role in this world. Even my powers that fate has given me have been a curse. The only thing left to curse is the world that gave me these powers. They will regret ever having granted them to me."

"You can't do that! That's ludacris!" she yelled. "What did my world ever have to do with you? Even if what you said is true, the people responsible for your world must have died hundreds of years ago! What good would revenge even do besides make you feel better?"

"Did the people of Kutou seem happy to you?"

"What?" she stopped.

"You spent time among them these past days. Did they seem happy? Peaceful? Well-fed?"

"Well, yes. Is that a problem?"

"That's exactly what I've worked to attain. I'd rid them of those who would incite violence and hatred among them, and encouraged civilty—much like your world. Common people can move from task to task without fear of war being thrust upon them, and being so concerned about their own private lives makes them ignore the ways of tribes they don't understand. With well distributed food, they have moved past a need for wide scale violence."

"But it can't be perfect—there must still be accidents and fires and disease, and even rape!"

"No, but unless it happens, they can pretend they don't exist. Does this sound familiar to you? I've raised Kutou to spite your world for what it deemed it could not have."

"Then what should you even have against us anymore?" she protested. "What's more, you don't even have a way to get to my world!"

At that instant, Kaika cried out and held himself. Startled, Yui turned and saw him grimacing and shaking. "Kaika, what's the matter?"

"It's my brother…"

"Suboshi?" she gasped, then turned back to Nakago sharply. "Where is he?"

"Konan."

"Konan! Why did you send him there?"

"He's seeing to it that this world does not meet its end."

"You're spouting nonsense!"

"You just wanted to get him out of your way," Kaika accused him through gritted teeth.

"You're not just a monster, Nakago," shouted Yui. "You're a madman! You just want to find someone to blame for your hardships. Maybe I'm no better. At least I know not to blame anyone who is not even involved!"

"You still condoned the war that happened here ten years ago."

"That's different! That war would have happened even without me and Miaka here. You would have incited it anyway. I won't let you incite anything in my world. I won't even let you get close to it! I can stop you with this wish!"

Yui! Yui, listen to me! Save yourself!

"Tetsuya?" she gasped under her breath.

"I do not need to ask for your cooperation, Lady Yui," he stepped towards her. "You were a great help to me in ridding Kutou of the evil that ruled over it before, but I no longer need Seiryuu. I only need you."

She started to shake and back away from him, and stopped when she hit a table and knocked it over. Flinching at the sound, she looked cautiously over her shoulder to the contents that had spilled to the ground. Candles, scrolls of a script she couldn't recognize, and rope. A slight scream escaped her.

Yui, get out of there! Get out of Kutou now! Nakago wants to use you as a medium in a ritual to get to our world! Stop whatever you're doing and run!

She darted past him looking for the way out, a door she couldn't even measure the distance to in the dim light. As he passed him, Nakago caught her outer robe, but she wriggled out of it and continued running until she hit the door. She pushed and pulled, but it wouldn't budge.

"I've waited this long already. I won't wait any longer."

"Don't touch me!" she screamed and beat at the door. There were no locks—Nakago had to have been holding it closed with his life force. She pushed and silently pleaded with the iron doors as Nakago's footsteps approached steadily from behind her.