Love Hurts 5 Ways (OUTDATED STORY) Chapter 41: Hollow Soul of a Marionette, Part 2, a Fushigi Yuugi + Ouran High School Host Club Crossover fanfic

ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.

All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D

-Aloe

PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!

*On the last chapter of Love Hurts 5 Ways, the emotionless Aki was introduced to Miaka and the Suzaku warriors, the main being controlling her motives was the tiny and adorable yet vindictive Shokyoku, whom the Suzaku Warriors and their priestess are wary of. Stella gave the group a message that if they didn't send Tamahome over to Kutou, then their army would wipe out Konan. The group hesitated to make such a rash decision while to Tamahome and Aki, the choice was clear—he had to go in order to buy the Suzaku warriors enough time to find the remaining three warriors. So while he sneaks off to the rival country, his actions now unknown to everyone except Shokyoku and Aki, the group is left with an emotionless and literally unfeeling friend who has absolutely no sympathy for them or anyone whatsoever and who only seems to be fulfilling an assigned mission to destroy Stella as well as look out for her own safety. For now, it is unclear if everyone can trust Aki seeing as how she almost killed Miaka without any regrets. But as long as it's clear that she's fighting on their side for the time being, perhaps they can rest easy and even find a way to deal with her until she can recover from this negative condition.

Meanwhile, we also learned that Shokyoku needs Darkness in order to sustain her life. Now that she's connected to someone who is unable to emit the necessary energy for her survival, she spitefully looks to Miaka for aid, without her knowing, seeing as how the priestess is the only one besides Aki whom she can get her Darkness from. The reason is unclear, but it's reality.

The story continues to unfold…*

There wasn't much to say about the rest of the night. Shokyoku got away with stealing Miaka's Darkness as she slept, and we were able to slip out of her room and back to mine without any detection. Apparently, I wasn't as much of a priority as I initially thought since no one seemed to have come to check on the unconscious guards who were supposedly assigned on making sure that I didn't cause trouble. In a way, that was convenient since we didn't have to deal with anyone bothering us about leaving, but in another sense, it was poor judgment on their part because they—I mean Hotohori—assumed that I could be managed by a couple of normal humans. He was lucky that I had chosen to side with them for the time being.

As we returned to my quarters, I knew it as a time to go to sleep and rejuvenate—only, I wasn't really tired. Though it was true that sleep is a natural process needed to allow the body to rest and feel refreshed, I didn't feel the need to—only 'cause…I couldn't feel. Period. Regardless, it was actually a better plan that I should follow through. Shokyoku had no trouble hoping over my hollow body as she lied contently beside me on the bed, giving a small grin that seemed a bit melancholy to tell the truth, while wrapping her tiny arms around one of mine. Not thinking much of it, I continued on with my attempt at sleep. With a little added effort and after excessive staring at a dark, almost blackened ceiling, my eyes slowly shut and drifted me off to an uneventful, dreamless slumber.

It had been long after the sun had risen when a rude awakening encountered me. Only a few knocks on my door was heard in my semi-unconscious state, though at the time, I hadn't really pieced the connections together. That is, until there was an abrupt slam, which happened to be the catalyst that knocked me back into the awakened world of reality.

"Hey Aki! Rise and shine! A girl without emotions couldn't possibly need that much sleep." Nuriko. Usually it was customary to await someone's response before barging into a room. But obviously he thought himself so regal that he was above decency. Then again, customs in this world may have varied from the ones I was accustomed to. Well, at the very least, it wasn't like he walked in on anything important.

Opening my eyes, I found the room illuminated by the sun's peeking rays past the high windows, inviting a revealing morning light into my domain without consent quite similarly to the purple-haired intruder. And just as with the former, no harm done. I turned my head to see that Nuriko was crouched down to my height, with his arms rested on my bed as he smiled wide with his eyes closed—without a care in the world. I guess he doesn't know about Tamahome then… Shokyoku sat up and wiped the crust from her eye as she sneered at the awakening situation.

"I was in high hopes that I'd just wake up to the site of Aki, then here this thing is to already ruin my day." For the most part, her eyes stayed squinty as they attempted to adjust to the brightness. She complained, "And what's with all this light? I can barely even open my eyes!" Shokyoku had been in a literal world of Darkness all her life, it made sense that she wasn't used to something as imposing as the sun. Her pale skin even made that point apparent. She may have been seeing the world through my eyes this whole time, but, now that I thought about it, this was really the first time that she'd be able to experience the world in her own body—as much as she could anyway with a form that was mostly intangible. "Can't we just wait until it's nighttime again? I don't like the world all lit up like this…"

Not to my surprise, Shokyoku's complaint went unaddressed both because Nuriko couldn't hear her and because I didn't see enough of a reason to answer—besides, it sounded more like a rhetorical question. She must have known why we couldn't waste time simply because she preferred a nocturnal schedule.

Leaning away from my bed, Nuriko whipped out a white handkerchief from out of nowhere in order to wipe away a fake, stray tear which was forming on the outside corner of his eye. "It's a shame that Stella had to come in the middle of the night and ruin my sleep patterns." Just as fast as he brought out the handkerchief, it was taken away from site while the self-righteous Suzaku warrior rubbed his cheek tenderly. "This baby smooth skin and shining exquisiteness doesn't just happen you know, it takes a fair amount of sincere beauty rest." His pink eyes abruptly locked onto me in what I interpreted as some attempt at taunting. "I don't really expect you to understand though—your sleep doesn't seem to give you justice like it does for yours truly. Women like myself are just born with more luck I suppose!~" And with that, he just stared at me wide-eyed with somewhat of a goofy smile on his face, setting down a silence of expectation that opened the floor for me to speak my next line, as if rehearsed. Only, I hadn't gotten the script for that day, therefore I had no idea what he expected me to say then. All I could do was blankly blink at him until someone explained to me exactly what was going on.

Considering the silence, I half-expected Shokyoku to come in with some kind of remark, but instead, she just gave Nuriko a grimace with her eyes partially drooped. She let out an exasperated sigh and then whispered off to the side in disapproval. "That's not going to work you simpleton…" Somehow she managed to catch on to whatever he was trying to do before I even had a chance to comprehend it.

After the passage of a few more moments, the rather uplifting gleam in Nuriko's eyes faded as he dropped his arm to the side, resting his hand on his waist. "Nothing, huh?" I tilted my head to the side to indicate that I was still in the dark about his motives. Sighing in a disappointed fashion, he shrugged in defeat. "I just had to try to confirm it. You really don't have any emotions, do you? Usually if I said something like that, you would have retaliated somehow."

"Oh, I see…" Now things were cleared up. "You didn't believe Chichiri, Shokyoku, or I after last night? Did you think we were kidding?"

Chuckling silently, he closed his eyes and shook his head lightly. "No, it's not that I thought it was a joke, I was more like hoping that the solution was simpler than what we were expecting. Or maybe I was thinking it would wear off over night or something…I don't know…" His eyes opened to gaze into mine. "I guess I'm at fault here for thinking too optimistically."

"Or maybe you just fail at understanding the complexity of magic…" Shokyoku muttered under her breath.

Lifting himself up from the bed and onto his feet, Nuriko said, "Well, this only proves that I'm not very good at understanding the effects on this kind of magic on a person~" Shokyoku immediately jumped in response to hearing a statement that almost echoed hers.

"How the heck did he..?"

The coincidence was just enough to increase my own curiosity. "Did you by any chance hear anything before you last spoke?" I just had to ask him since it was supposedly impossible for anyone other than Shadow Maidens or I to hear or see the evasive little girl.

Nuriko blinked down at me in confusion. "Umm…no, I don't think so…Should I have?"

So it was just a coincidence…Unless he's lying about not knowing. But that might have just been me thinking too hard on such a trivial topic. "No, never mind. Forget I said anything."

Shaking off her moment of astonishment, Shokyoku tugged on my sleeve, using a smidge of energy, while still looking onto our visitor with contempt. "Ask him why he's here."

I followed through with her demand—after all, it wasn't like Nuriko to just come into my room for a friendly visit—actually, it wasn't like him to drop by at all. "What did you want?"

"What did I want?" He repeated my question as if trying to make sense of the words. There was probably a chance that he was attempting to switch his focus back onto the primary topic since whatever conversation he was initially went for got thrown off on a tangent. "Well, first I came to say good morning and check up on you." There seemed to be an awful lot of "checking up on me" lately. And I had an intuition that that phrase really only meant that people were keeping tabs on me to make sure that I didn't do anything that they and their emotions would disapprove of. It was really looking like everyone would be looking at me out of the corner of their eyes for as long as my situation persisted.

They really needed to invest their time on doing something more important.

Shokyoku was offended by his words, her offence being demonstrated by the raising of her voice a bit above inside levels. "You never cared about checking on her before—you're only here to babysit, even if you don't want to blatantly say it." Crossing her arms and snapping her head in the opposite direction of him, she added, "At least I'm here because I care about Aki. I want to be here." I gave her a sideways glance. You have to be here. At the present moment, there was no way for me to tell if Shokyoku would actually stick around if she were to be given her freedom. The thought led my mind to wander to her condition now. She was out of her space, The Dark Ring, and here in the outside world. She could walk around and everything. Yet she still stayed relatively close. Which either meant that she wanted to be with me, or bringing it back to what I said prior about her having to be here. Nuriko, unlike her, was not obligated to me in any way, shape, or form—so his motives were in question, but were, for the most part, obvious. As degrading to my status as it was, he was essentially there to babysit me.

Nuriko smiled. "And plus, I thought it would be helpful to help you get started on your day—now that's not a crime, right?" Motives still in question. His behavior was still too uncharacteristic to what I was used to expecting from him.

There was something that he was avoiding telling me.

I wasn't completely sure of this inference, but it would explain his change in demeanor.

As I swung my legs around to the side-edge of the bed to where my feet touched the floor, Nuriko referenced the door with his thumb. "I couldn't help but notice that the guards at your door weren't exactly up to the task of keeping watch. By time I got here, they were asleep on the job! And behind the shrubs of all places." It took that many hours for someone to notice. "I really only noticed them because they were just waking up all disoriented and such. And then I thought to myself, 'what are the chances that guards in front of Aki's room would be knocked out cold in such a way?' There's no way that they would have gotten drunk while having to look after someone like you." His expression then became serious. "So then I put the pieces together and wondered what happened…" Here it comes…he's going to lecture me about how it's not morally right to exploit magic against humans who are deficient in the skill. People like him fail to understand that sometimes violence is necessary to get results—especially when dealing with a stubborn party. Wars happen sometimes because talking does not always get the job done.

I was completely thrown off when he perked up and proclaimed, "You knocked them out so that you could sneak off and see your secret boyfriend! I'm right aren't I?"

Shokyoku and I sat there staring at him for his ridiculous accusation. Then we simultaneously answered, "Not even close."

His response to that was a laugh, this one sounding sincere and not at all forced. Why do people keep laughing at what I say? I really need the answer so that I may remedy it and make it so that people will take me more seriously. "I was just joking." I continued to stare at him and his look became softer. "I wasn't really laughing at you you. I just couldn't help but think how that conversation would have went if you were your normal self…" He sighed, saying something to himself so low that I wasn't able to discern what it was. Then he brought the topic back on track. "But I was right about you knocking them out, right?" He didn't give me the time to respond that it was technically Shokyoku who did it. "I don't blame you. No one wants to be cooped up in a room that long—especially with how long you were kept in here. I'd probably have done the same to be able to get out of here and breathe some fresh air." He shrugged. "Of course, I would have felt a bit bad for knocking out the poor guys—they were just following orders. But I guess that feeling of guilt just completely goes over your head, doesn't it?" He asked me.

"Pretty much."

"Well, I know one things for sure," Nuriko's face flushed a bit as he held his cheeks in his hands. "If I were stuck in His Highness' room with no other option than to stay, I'd have absolutely no rejections to that whatsoever!"

Shokyoku tossed him a skeptical look of censure. "Suzaku can't be serious. He chose this girl/guy to be a celestial warrior."

"Nuriko…what's this about?" I asked him.

His daydream subsided as my question brought him back to reality. "What?"

"This…acting casual around me." Effortlessly, I stood up and almost matched our eyes, but not perfectly since he was a couple inches taller. "Now, it's either you want something or you're hiding something—which is it?"

He frowned and placed his hands on his hips as his voice adapted an accusing tone. "So I can't simply be nice without some kind of ulterior motive? Is that what you're implying?"

"Yes." People were naturally like that in order to get a result that they want. It may or may not have been intentional, but that's basically how things went.

Frown deepening, his face scrunched up even more as his foot began to tap feverishly as he tried to maintain a calm stature. This lasted for only a second though, for then he ceased the tapping and folded his arms. "Things don't always work out so negatively—you have to learn that some people really are more sincere than you're giving them credit for. It's just plain rude to accuse someone without evidence—and someone who's your friend at that!"

"My 'evidence' is experience. And we're not friends…if anything we're associates working towards similar goals." I walked past him towards the door and missed any physical reaction to my words. Stopping a few feet away, I told him, "Don't confuse 'friendship' with 'working together'. Keeping those ideas separate and away from each other will prevent you from mixing them up and getting angry over a matter such as this."

From this, I heard him growl a bit before turning around and saying, "I'm not angry—well, I'm trying not to be. But more than anything I'm frustrated."

"Don't allow yourself to be."

"It's not that easy! You're not the one who has to deal with you like this…we're all trying to adapt but…but it's frustrating!" I'm not the one who has to deal with me like this? It was my situation, therefore I was more affected by it than any of them. Who were they to really complain? They chose to keep me around. If I could feel, I'd be the one suffering by my curse and having to deal with it alone. At least this way I can get things done without the useless feelings of pity for myself or anyone else weighing me down. The rest of them didn't have my freedom though. They were all susceptible to drowning in whirlpools of sorrow, worry, and guilt—their mind's completely clouded to what was important. Which was why I wasn't so surprised by Nuriko's reaction to my non-reaction—he just didn't understand.

"I'm sorry," was all I could say.

He just stood there gazing down at me with an expression that was half-expecting, and half-disapproval, until he eventually sighed in exasperation and relaxed his arms, allowing them to hand at his sides. "No you're not…you're just saying that because you think you should say that—not because you honestly mean it. It would be impossible to be mad at you because you can't understand my feelings."

Trailing behind me almost like a shadow, Shokyoku tossed the Suzaku warrior a scornful look. "You can't talk about being upset that she can't understand your feelings…I've had one day…one day—no, less than a day with Aki where she sympathized with me and knew that I sincerely cared about her. Just that one moment in all the years of my life I was the most happy because I thought that we'd be together like that more often. But now, not only has she known you monkeys for a significantly smaller amount of time than she had known me and has got to see you all every day that she's been here so far, but it's because of all you that my Aki is so messed up now." Her voice began to crack as a sob could be heard from her. "Now she won't even acknowledge me the way she did—now she has absolutely no sympathy for me and it's all because you humans ruined everything!"

Nuriko apparently had a better sense of perception than I initially thought, since I could tell that he was reacting to the sudden change in the flow of chi that she was creating. His body vibrated ever so slightly as it started to shift uncomfortably in his spot as his eyes attempted to hone in onto where the disturbance was originating from. "Something's happening…But what is it? Is it Stella again?"

Drawing her arm back, a swirling ball of black and purplish fire concentrated itself in Shokyoku's palm, growing ever bigger as her emotions fueled the energy. Nuriko's eyes caught onto it, seeing as how the energy she was collecting was not invisible like the rest of her was. The warrior held his stance and stood prepared, yet perplexed to the obvious threat.

Throwing my hand onto the top of her head, Shokyoku's small body jumped as she looked back at me with a look which seemed a mixture of fury and distress. "Don't waste your energy—this isn't something worth getting worked up on." I took my hand off her head and she calmed down, calling back the energy that she brought forth.

Then, discarding the feeling as if it were nothing, the little girl scoffed and looked away, pretending to be disinterested with the situation that she was so zealous about moments before. "Whatever…I'm not going to trouble myself with the likes of this queer human." She puffed her cheeks. "It's not like that or any of them can hear a thing I'm saying anyway…those inferior monkeys…"

"That was weird…where did it go?" Nuriko looked around for the black fireball, but not a trace of it was left behind. "I mean…that did just happen, right?" I nodded. "So if you can't use magic, then it must have been that girl hanging around you. What was her name…Shutpoku?"

Anger marks appeared on her cheeks and all around her head as she shouted, "IT'S SHOKYOKU YOU DUMB MONKEY!" so loud that the whole palace seemed to shake. Bringing a fist back, she said, "How dare you forget a name as perfect as mine you simpleto—" As she swung her fist forward in an attempted punch, she immediately became disoriented as her whole body phased right through his, and unlike last time when she lost her balance, she couldn't intercept this one with her foot. She went down with a thud, face down to the ground, and there she remained for several moments. "Dam…mit…" From the hair that was moved away, I saw her ears turn a shade of bright red. "I forgot that I wasn't tangible…" And that's why emotions screw you up.

Nuriko, being completely unaware to any of this that was going on, continued looking on in confusion. "And now I just felt a slight breeze…hey are you being haunted by ghosts and Shutpoku?"

Shokyoku turned her head while still on the floor as streams of tears rushed from her eyes, the blush on her cheeks still evident. "I'm not haunting anyone and my name is Shokyoku…" Gathering herself from that spot, she crawled over to me and wrapped her body around my leg. Then she peered up at me with big watery eyes while pointing back to Nuriko. "Akiiiiiii! Can I pleeeeease kill him? I j-just wanna do it soooooo baaaaad!" I couldn't help but think how all of this could have been avoided if no one had cared about what the other said or thought. This charade was just wasting a bunch of time.

"No, you can't kill him." Then I addressed Nuriko in order to help resolve this whole thing. "Yes, for the most part, that was Shokyoku –not Shutpoku—and she would appreciate it if you didn't mispronounce her name—"

"There's a difference between mispronouncing and getting it completely wrong!" Shokyoku complained as she continued to cry while burying her face into the side of my hanfu. "They're all such idiots Aki! I hate them all so much!"

"Oh, really?" Nuriko gasped and hovered an open hand over his mouth. This was followed by a wide smile and cheerily closed eyes. "Silly me, I guess my memory must have slipped from last night. I apologize for the mix-up!" I don't think I'll ever know if that's sincere or not. He opened his eyes as the perkiness began to fade. "By the way, what was with that black energy? Was she trying to attack me or something?"

"Don't worry about it."

He shook his head as he talked to himself. "And to add to the difficulties, Aki's got this invisible girl hanging onto her for dear life for some reason. I'll pray to Suzaku that things don't get even more complicated than they are now. And with Tamahome missing again—" At that he cut himself off, and looked at me in such a way that he was expecting something again. This time I anticipated what he must have wanted. He wanted me to be surprised about this fact. What he was unaware of was that I was the first to know of this bit of information. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Didn't that surprise you?"

"No."

"But he's gone…I mean, with how things developed recently, he decides to go now."

"Yeah, I know." I was actually more surprised of how surprised he was. Tamahome made the right choice.

"He left a letter and everything to Miaka—I can't believe he'd just follow through with what Kutou wanted—that's such a brash move! We figured he must have left pretty late for nobody to notice—" Then the realization of what I had just said finally hit him. "Wait, what do you mean you know?"

"I was the first to know—I saw him off."

"And you didn't say anything?!"

"He told me not to."

Slapping his hand to his face, Nuriko groaned. "Oh Aki…" His hand descended as it slipped completely from his face. He muttered softly, "It's like dealing with a child—Look," He spoke up signaling that he was addressing me full on again. "I won't tell His Highness that you knew about this, but just tell me why you thought that this was a good idea—without consulting the rest of us on it no less." His concerned expression lingered on me as he spoke. "We're a team, and it's kind of important that we collaborate. I know that ring makes you lose your emotions and because of Stella you lost your—" He caught himself going too far in that last sentence—stopping before saying anything that he'd regret. "Disregard what I was about to say, but you do know what a team is, right?"

Was he insulting my intellect by assuming that I didn't know the meaning to simple words? "Yes, of course I do."

"Then you need to start acting like it. I really don't want any miscommunications like that to get anyone hurt—what if something happens to Tamahome? I don't mean to jinx it, but that would not only hurt our cause, but break Miaka's heart. There's a reason why His Highness told us all to sleep on it so that we'd discuss it in the morning…"

My voice remained flat as I spoke. "I'm sorry that my decision has upset you and others so much. But I stand by what Tamahome and I believe is correct. This was the right choice." For a few moments, the two of us just stood there, staring each other down with intense gazes, neither one in danger of backing out. However, his glare was more intentional than mine, seeing as how I was confident on my fact and wasn't exactly determined to get him to see things my way. Tamahome had gone to Kutou—it was what it was. And what it was, was the right thing to do for Konan, even if the rest of the Suzaku warriors failed to see that.

They'd come to see things my way in due time.

Nuriko released his gaze and moved past me and opened the door, allowing even more of the sunlight to barge in, scaring any shadows that may have before dominated the space. Without giving me a straight look, he said, "There really is no arguing with you on the matter, is there?" Then he maneuvered around me, forcing Shokyoku out of her nested place around my leg, to this she let out a loud, "hey!", and applied some force to move me forward towards the outside.

"Where are we going?" Once we were out, Nuriko shut the door before Shokyoku even had a chance to follow us through.

"You and I can go back and forth on the matter all day, but there are things that just must be done—I think we've kept the others waiting long enough." Then he continued to herd me in a particular direction in the palace.

Shokyoku phased through the physical door without any trouble, but couldn't help but cringe the moment her skin came into contact with direct sunlight, to which she let out a loud, "Gah!" Attempting to keep up with us, she flattened her whole body against the wall where the shade was and proceeded by walking sideways, making sure that her pale complexion never again brushed up against the rays of the morning star. "How can anyone say that that blasted ball of gas is pleasant?! It's much too bright, it's hot, and it makes everything look too cheery! The colors are blinding me and those rays are bound to mess up my perfect skin. I cannot work under these conditions!" I heard her complain from behind. "Akiiiii!" She cried out. I didn't find much of a need to look back or offer any assistance. Shokyoku was a resourceful girl, I assumed—she'd figure something out.

Somewhere along the line, Shokyoku's voice trailed off as we left her behind. As in distress as she sounded, her melodrama was not enough for me to give notice. With the curse, there was no way that she could be too far from me at any time, again, I assumed, so at some point, she'd find a way to get over her sunlight phobia and catch up.

Meanwhile, Nuriko and I persisted on to Miaka's room without any words being exchanged between us—not that there really needed to be. After all, I think we've both said what we needed to say to one another. And frankly, I was beginning to believe that most of my conversations with any of these people were a huge waste of time. Most of their words and opinions were being fueled by emotions, so they'd never come to see things the way I saw them. They really were too inadequate to make any necessary decisions on their own…

During the last night when Shokyoku and I were looking for any Suzaku warrior to tell us Miaka's location, we failed to continuously scan at certain checkpoints to see if the priestess was around anywhere. My point being that she was actually closer to our location than we initially thought. It was not that much of a clumsy blunder considering our overlook was justified by the fact that it is much easier to see and identify a certain person's aura when you are closer to them—the fact is actually quite true for when you want to see anything really. Added to that, our minds were so focused on looking for the Suzaku warriors and dealing with Tamahome that it didn't occur to us to keep scanning. At least it was convenient to know that Miaka was closer than we thought—information that may prove helpful in the future.

So the two of us, Nuriko and I, arrived at the girl's room in a fair amount of time. The voices of the others were jumbled and indiscernible at first, but once the proximity began to close, I was able to distinguish more easily who was talking.

But before we had a chance to turn into the girl's room, Shokyoku came running at us from behind, her voice yelling out, "Wait, Aki! I'm here!" This time, I stopped to look back—a request of my curiosity. And there with the little girl was something I did not expect to see. Her whole body was covered with a barrier of shade while in her hand she held a pitch-black parasol with ruffled lining around its circumference that spanned wider than her entire body, making it so that absolutely no sunshine touched even an inch of her. Where did she get that?

"Where did you get that?" I asked her.

At my question, Nuriko turned to see what the hold-up was, and almost instantly, his eyes widened as he faced the more than obvious umbrella standing out in the middle of the hallway. "Is that a black parasol? What's it doing here?" Inching closer to it, he placed a few fingers over his mouth as he inspected the strange phenomenon. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but this thing is floating on its own, right?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Huh…then it's Shokyoku again? She's the one holding it?" I nodded.

"Ah yes, I see that the girly monkey has noticed the fruits of my genius and good-taste," Noted Shokyoku who rested a hand on her waist while she tossed her head in arrogance—somehow managing to elicit sparkles that floated around her head as she spoke. "At first, I didn't know what I was going to do about that pesky star in the sky but then I remembered how amazing my powers are. I simply manipulated shadows influenced with a smidge of Darkness and voila! A little molding and creative talent formed this umbrella that will keep those rays off of my skin." So that's how she pulled it off. Judging by how calm and lively she was, it occurred to me that this wasn't necessarily wasting any magic since the energy literally remained in her hands…just concentrated…and in the form of a parasol. So concentrated in fact, that even Nuriko could see it.I couldn't help but recall when she and I first met face to face. When she was in the Dark Ring, she used her powers to make some kind of black throne that she sat in. This power to manipulate shadows and Darkness in such a way seemed eerily similar to something else I've witnessed…

"Shokyoku again? Doesn't that girl have anything better to do than follow you around all day?" Nuriko complained with a slight groan in his voice from exasperation. "I mean," Bringing his hand up, he repeatedly poked my cheek. That's what it looked like he was doing anyway since I couldn't feel it. "You're not really that interesting right now, so I don't see the appeal."

"Hmph!" Shokyoku threw her head to the side. "As if I really care about whether or not you want me around. I'm here for Aki's sake, not you humans'."

"Hey…" The blue-haired monk poked his head out of Miaka's room and peered at us with a troubled expression, witnessing the out of ordinary position of Nuriko pulling my cheek across from the mysterious "floating" parasol. For a few seconds, he didn't say anything as he tried to figure out the chain of events that lead to that scene. "What exactly…is going on out here?"

Nuriko and Shokyoku blankly blinked at him before the former released my cheek and proceeded to lift both my arms outward as we faced the monk. "Oh, it's nothing really—I'm just trying to convince the tacky parasol that Aki is no better off than a lifeless doll." He repeatedly lifted and lowered my arms, moved them back and forth and around in an odd manner as if he were a little girl playing with a toy for the first time and trying to figure out all of its functions. "Then again…I've played with dolls, and they're more entertaining than she is. Plus they smile."

Clenching onto the handle of the umbrella, Shokyoku ordered, "Don't call Aki a doll you—" Then suddenly, right in the middle of her sentence, something became apparent to her, causing her widen her eyes for a split second before stomping her foot on the ground and throwing down her free hand in irritation. "And what exactly do you mean by 'tacky'? I'll have you know that I possess more fashion sense in my pinky than you'll ever possess in your entire li—"

Chichiri sighed while dropping his head. "I think there are more important things to focus on at the moment, ya know?" Shokyoku and Nuriko both ceased their mindless squabble at the monk's command, listening to a particular voice coming from the nearby room. It was a female…and she sounded distraught—with her tone shaky and rather low compared to how vocal it usually was.

"I can't believe that Tamahome would just leave like that—that he'd just…leave me behind. I would've went along with him without question! Not even if he tried to pry me away…I just don't want to be separated from him! And now he's…he's…"

"Miaka…" Hotohori tried to soothe her with his words. "I know it's hard, and I don't particularly condone his actions…but I'm positive that Tamahome took your best interest to heart when making this decision."

The three of us moved to her room's entrance, witnessing the teary-eyed, puffy faced priestess who sat on her bed, still in her pajamas from her world, clenching onto a piece of paper for dear life. On her cheek lie a reddened line, the scratch left by Stella the night before, just now beginning to heal. The emperor sat beside her, a concerned look on his face as he wrapped a comforting arm around her trembling shoulders.

"Hmph!" Shokyoku scoffed at the sight. "So the baby's crying because she lost her favorite toy, huh? Big deal. If she breaks down this easily, perhaps she shouldn't even be priestess of anything."

"Miaka's been upset from the moment she woke up," Nuriko told us with a long face. "You should've seen her before I came to get you guys—she was so determined to search every inch of the palace to find Tama." It couldn't have possibly been that difficult to put all the pieces together. For the time she was wasting running around like a chicken without its head, she could have been doing some more productive. I scanned the room and noticed everyone, except Shokyoku and I, giving Miaka the most sympathetic expressions I had ever seen. This pity party is getting nothing accomplished. Although I have come to learn that the only way these people could really function was by going through pointless cycles in emotional extremes—either that, or marinating in someone else's cesspool of emotions. I couldn't help but wonder how efficient the world would be if everyone had my fortune. "But at some point she must have realized he was gone…even before finding that letter he left for her." Letter? So that's the paper she's holding.

Looking a bit uncomfortable, Chichiri intervened with his priestesses sulking. "Miaka, I know you must be upset, but…Priorities, ya know?" She lifted her heads up to him. "Tamahome gave us this chance, against our consent or not, and we should take it to find the other warriors, ya know?"

"Yeah, it's not like we have very many of us left to find," Nuriko joined in the encouragement. "I'm sure we can leave and get the final three before anything bad happens to Tama-kins!" Something in that last sentence of his triggered Miaka's tear ducts, seeing as how she began to chew on a white handkerchief with pathetically teary eyes as big as dinner plates. Jumping from her reaction, Nuriko held up two hands to her to try and calm her down. "But of course nothing bad will happen to him! I wasn't thinking when I said that. Tamahome will be fine—no doubt about it." He turned to me. "Right, Aki?"

"Oh, I don't know. He could be fine."

Miaka's eyes then began to look hopeful past the tears. "Onee-chan?"

"On the other hand, it's also possible that Stella was lying and they killed Tamahome the moment he crossed their border and they're only telling us he's alive so that we'd be playing into their game even more by putting us into a false sense of security." At this, Miaka began to squeal.

"Aki!" Nuriko scolded.

"When you think about it, there's really no benefit on their end keeping him alive. It doesn't even make any sense that they would. I mean, why would a country who has such a strong army with the potential of crushing their enemies just stop what they're doing just for the possession of one guy?"

"Akimoto!" Holding onto his priestess even more Hotohori joined in Nuriko's chastisement. "Can't you be more sensitive to Miaka's position right now?"

Chichiri scratched the side of his cheek lightly. "Of course she can't, ya know?" Hotohori gave him a look. "No disrespect Your Highness, but haven't you been paying any attention to recent events?"

I tilted my head, not understanding what I said wrong. "What? I did say that he could be fine."

Hotohori groaned, only shaking his head in response to Chichiri and I, then turned his attention back to Miaka and said, "At this point, we can't lose sight of what's important—"

"I know," She replied. He blinked at her while she wiped away her tears with her arm, then abandoned the letter on her lap as she lightly slapped her cheeks simultaneously with both hands, ultimately ending up with her placing a small, determined smile across her lips. "I can't just be sitting here crying like a baby—you guys are right…despite what Onee-chan said…and I know she really didn't mean it, but I know that Tamahome is still alive…" Her hands fell down to the letter once again, holding it so tight almost to a point where she ripped it. "He just has to be…I know that Yui wouldn't have him killed! She may be mad at me, but she's not that kind of person…she'll—I mean, Kutou will keep their word…"

"If this is Miaka's friend's idea, which we're still not completely sure that it is, then because she's the Priestess of Seiryuu, they'll most likely honor her wishes, ya know?" I wouldn't be so sure about that. Yui has a vendetta against Miaka. Killing off her boyfriend would be the perfect revenge. Chichiri continued, "But we can't exactly ignore what Aki pointed out either, ya know? I don't see exactly why they'd keep him alive…especially since they have the upper hand…"

"Chichiri! You know better than to take Aki seriously right now!" Nuriko pointed out. "You more than the rest of us should know that she's all gloom and doom right now, so of course she'll see the glass as half empty and given the situation, it'll do none of us any better to think that way."

"I'm being realistic, not pessimistic," I informed him.

He shot me a glare. "Clearly you can't see the difference between the two right now. The Aki I know would have assured that Tamahome was okay—or at least she would have ensured it in order to settle Miaka's nerves." I probably would have said something like that—for some reason or another, I must have enjoyed giving people false hope.

"Then!" Miaka spoke up above the rest of us, making us all face her. "Then we need to make sure ourselves…I mean, I don't know how exactly we can do that, but I know that we should do all that we can to help him out! He did this for a reason, right? He did this to help Konan, and I have no doubt that Onee-chan was on his mind as well. Tamahome's doing his part, and even though I don't like it, and I mean, I hate it so much that it makes me sick, but we have to go on without him." Snapping her head up, we all got sensed the fiery determination she was harboring in that body of hers. "I know we'll find those last three warriors, we'll get Tamahome back, and we'll find a way to help Onee-chan." Everyone besides Shokyoku and I all flashed smiles at her, then nodded once in agreement.

"Exactly, ya know?"

"Well said Miaka."

Nuriko held up a finger and winked at her. "Oh, and don't forget, we're going to summon Suzaku as well!"

Miaka nodded enthusiastically while smiling widely. "Yup! Definitely!"

Summon Suzaku…That's right. While we still had three warriors to go, who was to say how many more they had? Kutou was probably just as determined to summon their god just as Konan was—which meant that while we were searching for our last few, they'd either be doing the same thing, or taking advantage of our absence to either summon Seiryuu. For all we knew, they could have had only one more to find. Then what would we do? More importantly, what would be Stella's hand in all of this? My eyes captured everyone's happy exteriors as a result of Miaka's speech. I decided to keep these thoughts to myself, seeing as how sensitive they all seemed to get whenever I spoke or said something that wasn't to their liking.

Shokyoku rested a hand on her hip as she closed her eyes and turned away from the scene. "Is it just me, or do you get a little annoyed when these people are this happy?" Then she abruptly opened her eyes again while giving a nervous chuckle. "Oh…right…never mind."

"So, what's our plan gonna be?" Chichiri asked. "We're not gonna get anything done just sitting around here!" Everyone silenced as they tried to come up with our next plan of action.

Then, Hotohori spoke up. "It's important that Miaka go out to find our remaining comrades. And I'd be grateful to Chichiri and Nuriko to accompany her and keep her safe." Just those two should go with her? When he realized that everyone else was probably wondering the same thing I was, he frowned and continued. "It can't be helped—as much as I'd love to be with Miaka and support our cause, I must remain here and govern my country—if Kutou ever received word of my absence, I have no doubt that they'd definitely break their word and attack."

Miaka put a hand on his arm with a saddened countenance, shaking her head as she attempted to insist that he come with her as well. "But Hotohori, we—" Taking her hand in his, the emperor looked deeply into her eyes, making it seem as if they were exchanging some sort of sentimental silent message that was meant only for them.

"I'm really sorry Miaka—the thought of you going out there, without me, shreds my heart to pieces, but my country needs me to be here." He turned his head towards us. "But I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Chichiri and Nuriko will keep you safe." Smiling in our general direction, he said, "I trust them completely and I have very much faith in their abilities."

Nuriko's automatic reaction to Hotohori's confidence in them was for his face to suddenly turn into some shade of red while holding his cheeks with a goofy smile on his face. "Oh Your Majesty! I can't believe you think of me so fondly! I'm honored!"

"It is quite the compliment to be getting from you Your Highness—and we understand your predicament, so we'd be happy to assist and protect Miaka—and that's not just because we have to since we're Suzaku warriors, ya know?"

Okay, so he singled out Nuriko and Chichiri, but failed to say anything regarding what my role in this journey would be. "I was not included…why is that?"

"Akimoto…I know that you're fully capable of using your powers to help but…" Giving one last longing look at Miaka, he stood up and made his way towards me, stopping short of just a few feet. "I'd feel much more comfortable if you were to remain here…under my watchful eye." Remain here? And do…nothing…There's no role for me to play…I didn't fit in to their plans. So I would just stay at the palace until they came back. And then…

"UNACCEPTABLE!" Shokyoku's shouting broke me away from my train of thought—her sudden outcry vibrated between my ears, making me echo her words in my mind. U-Unacceptable? In a flash, she contracted her umbrella and dashed up to Hotohori, tilting her head almost ninety degrees in order for her to see his face from her short height. "How dare you belittle my Aki! You may be the emperor of a human nation, but you have absolutely no idea who you're talking to! You people would be lucky to get anything done without her!"Bearing her teeth, her differing cat-like eyes glowed above her grey-scaled form as she hissed at Hotohori, who took no notice of her whatsoever. Realizing this, she muttered under her breath, "Dammit…" Leading to her running over to Miaka on the bed and smashing her tiny palm onto the other girls' shoulder. The moment Shokyoku made contact, Miaka's body jerked, followed by the familiar hanging of her head as Shokyoku's essence began to take control.

Seeing Miaka's awkward pose caused Nuriko's eyebrows to pop up as he leaned a bit to the side to get a better view of her. "Miaka?"

"Where do you get off…" Their priestess whispered.

"What?"

Bringing her head up abruptly, Miaka's eyes shifted to match Shokyoku's, and her face was riddled with fury as she glared at Hotohori. "Where the heck do you humans get off telling Aki what she can and can't do?! The nerve!" Alarm struck the Suzaku warriors as now they were faced by the same "malevolent" presence that possessed their priestess the night before.

The face on Chichiri's mask scrunched with concern. "Shokyoku."

She/they let up a bit on their anger. "At least someone has enough brain cells to remember my name." At the very last words of her sentence, Shokyoku/Miaka visually shot daggers at Nuriko who jumped a bit from the intensity of her stare.

It didn't take very long for Nuriko to retrieve his blasé stature and cross his arms while facing her. "Yeah, yeah, so I messed up your name before, my bad—but did you have to try and threaten me with that black fireball? That was very immature by the way."

Shokyoku/Miaka's eyebrow twitched while averting his eyes. "I'm ignoring you—out of all the monkeys, you are the least worth my time." Nuriko clenched his fists and held one up to his face, ready to go off on a tangent and engage in a meaningless argument. Fortunately for the sake of this conversation actually getting somewhere, Chichiri stepped in.

"And how about you releasing Miaka?" He asked.

She/they turned to him. "I'll let her go once I get my point across," a statement that lead to her shooting a look back at Hotohori.

Without phasing from the presence of the intruder into his priestess, Hotohori tried to reason with her in a firm voice. "I only have Akimoto's best interest at heart." What exactly is my best interest?

She scoffed and made her tone as cold as ice. "That's a lie. You're excluding her because you don't trust her—you think she's dangerous so you're willing to abandon your faith in her. Not that I want her to be included with any of your affairs…" I supposed in their eyes, I would be a danger to them, wouldn't I? Those people who didn't understand the concept of doing whatever it took to win. They were too overly sensitive and their paranoia's would get them killed. I was a weapon that they were too afraid to use.

Pity.

Hotohori sighed at her accusation. "You jump to conclusions too quickly. I'll ask that you do not assume my intentions. Akimoto is in a difficult and complex situation right now, we can't risk anything else happening to her…" His eyes trailed a bit to the side as his sentence seemed to die off. Something about his words seemed a bit…strained—like he had to convince himself to say what he did.

Shokyoku's orange and turquoise eyes glowered. "You don't want to risk anything happening to her, or you don't want to risk something happening to your priestess?" Hearing someone say the truth out loud made Konan's emperor clench his teeth and fists while clasping his eyes shut. Was it really so hard for him to admit that? I figured that was the reason. I didn't see why it was such a bad thing for him to say…or not say. It was his duty to protect Miaka, so naturally his first instinct would be to keep her away from any hazards. And I could not guarantee that she wouldn't get hurt with me being around her. But wasn't that the point of having her warriors around? To protect her? If they were competent as Suzaku pinned them to be, then they shouldn't have been so lacking in confidence with their abilities. So…maybe this was a matter of a lack of self-assurance on their part? "You all are just treating her as a burden at this point…Believe me if that monk didn't potentially have control over Aki with that ring on her head, I'd relieve you guys of her presence in an instant."

Before Hotohori could rebut, Chichiri made an inference. "Umm…by this point, I've figured out that you probably don't have a solid form." Shokyoku/Miaka's eyebrow cocked up while the monk lifted his index finger while explaining. "Which probably means that even if the ring wasn't an issue, you still most likely wouldn't be able to physically take her anywhere—something you made pretty obvious by taking over Miaka to communicate with us, ya know?" Shokyoku/Miaka's eyes blinked wide, a blush running across their dumbfounded faces.

She/they stuttered angrily through their words as they worked through her embarrassment from Chichiri realizing a flaw in her threat. "Sh-Shut up! D-Don't underestimate me and pretend as if you know what I'm all about you inferior human! You don't know what I can and can't do!" Adding an extra bit of energy, Shokyoku, who still had a bit of a blush on her face, made Miaka point an accusing finger at the Suzaku warriors. "Just know this: Only I know what's best for Aki and you guys should be grateful that I allow you to be blessed with her as long as I've been—so start acting like it!" And with that, the little girl took her hand away, breaking the connection. The absence of the energy that once filled her left Miaka temporarily empty, making her fall forward and almost off her bed, if it weren't for Hotohori who moved fast to hold her up.

"Miaka, are you alright?" He said while repositioning her onto the bed.

She held her head with her hand and gave a reassuring smile. "Yeah…I'm fine! Just…some things take some time to get used to." I wonder how often Shokyoku plans on manipulating Miaka like that…

Upon finding that his priestess was alright, Chichiri breathed a sigh of relief, and then proceeded with speaking to who he couldn't see. "Shokyoku, I know you're still there, ya know?" He had her attention. "For some reason or another, you're attached to Aki and this may be something that we'll have to accept. You accuse us of having little faith in Aki, well, it looks like you have little faith in us. Even if you only see what you want to see, the truth of it is that we do care about Miaka—she's very important to us for more reasons than one and it will always be our main priority to look out for her, ya know? But we also care about Aki. She's our friend for better or worse."

"And seeing how things are going, I say that it might spiral a few times on the worse side before it gets any better," Nuriko commented off to the side.

Chichiri sweat-dropped. "Not helping…But the point is that we need her just as she needs us, ya know? So try going a bit easier on us, alright?"

Shokyoku crossed her legs and tossed her head to the side in a huff. "Don't flatter yourselves. And I'll treat you however I see fit…intolerable humans…" Being a spectator of this whole performance, the result to me appeared as if Shokyoku lost. Lost what exactly? I wasn't sure, but she had an air of failure surrounding her so I guessed that whatever that was, she did not come out on top like she had probably planned.

Without dwelling on the situation any longer, Hotohori proceeded on, bringing back a sense of urgency to the group. "If we plan on helping Tamahome, then we should act quickly."

Nodding, Chichiri agreed with him. "Right, the sooner we head off, the better, ya know?"

Hotohori gave him a confirming nod, then nudged Miaka, her big olive eyes looking up at him with what I saw as hope, but I could have been wrong. He told her, "I will assure that you three can have all the essentials you'll need on your journey within a couple hours—will you be ready by then?"

She gave him a wider smile and nodded once. "Yes! Heck," Jumping up from her bed, she placed a hand on her hip while the other hand was clenched into a fist that she held up in determination, fueled by some kind of fire that we couldn't see. "I'll be ready in fifteen minutes if I have to be! Anything that'll speed up the time to when we can get Tamahome back!"

Shokyoku groaned. "I knew her being depressed was too good to be true…"

Hotohori grinned at her from behind. "I do admire your spirit—it's contagious. How about we aim for an hour then?"

She twisted her upper body to face him. "Yeah!" Just then, a peculiar grumbling sound emerged from the pit of Miaka's stomach, making us all stare at the monster that must have been lying dormant in her depths all this time up until now. Rubbing the back of her head, she laughed uneasily with flushed cheeks. "Oh, but…um…can I have something to eat first? All this worrying has made me hungrier than usual."

Nuriko chuckled. "Didn't know that was possible. But it's nice to know that given the circumstances, some things don't change."

"Of course they don't! If there's anything to rely on in the world, then food is a constant! It's never betrayed me and it always gives me something to look forward to!"

The purple-haired Suzaku Warrior then took her hand and inched towards the door. "Alright then, let's get you something to eat so that we can get ready." Miaka complied wholeheartedly. "Please excuse us Your Highness."

Hotohori gave him a look of acquiescence. "I shall call for you when preparations are done." And with that, the two dashed out of the room, leaving behind the monk, the emperor, the child, and myself.

Using his thumb, Chichiri gestured to somewhere outside. "Please excuse me as well Your Highness, I must consult with Lady Taiitsukun before our departure, ya know?" Before he even heard Hotohori's response, he exited Miaka's chamber.

Well, I guess there's no more of a reason for me to be here either then.

Jumping off of the bed, Shokyoku took her contracted, shadowed parasol in hand and made her way towards the door. "Let's go Aki before I break out just from being exposed to human for too long." I could only assume that she was exaggerating with that statement.

Right when I was about to follow everyone else's example and go my own way for the time being, my motion was halted by some outside force. Something was holding me back and keeping me from moving forward.

"Akimoto…" Well, that explained it. I looked back and saw Hotohori holding onto my wrist—something I couldn't feel since I had no feeling. There was a something particular in those hazel eyes of his that compelled me to cease my propelling forward. "Do you mind if we talk in private?"

"Like hell you are!" Shokyoku protested.

"Sure," I said against her wishes.

"Akiiiii!" She whined. Not allowing myself to get caught up in yet another pointless tantrum, I let Hotohori guide me out of the room and down one of the many hallways of the palace.

It was well into the morning at this point, so most of the servants and occupants of Hotohori's palace were running or walking around, going about their everyday royal duties and routines, whatever they were. Whenever one of them came across us, they'd stop in their tracks and bow politely to their emperor, giving me respectful yet wary looks as they passed on. From behind me, I could hear indiscernible mumbling from Shokyoku who went back to hiding from the sunlight under her large parasol.

For a while, Hotohori didn't say anything and I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I was pretty sure that he wouldn't do anything to put me into danger, but if he did, I was fortunate to have Shokyoku around to retaliate with. No…he wouldn't try anything. He knew what I was capable of and he wasn't so foolish as to make such a vital mistake. So where was he leading me?

Eventually, we stopped and leaned over one of the intricate railings that bordered the hallway from one of the palaces many gardens filled with plentiful types of flora that seemed to complement each other.

"So Akimoto…what do you think of our gardens? Quite beautiful arrangements, wouldn't you say?" After how long he had me walking, that was the first thing he said. How were a bunch of plants and flowers relevant to our day?

Trying to see the relevance in his words, I replied, "If you think so…"

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "But what do you say about it?"

I shrugged. "Nothing. I don't know what to say. All I see is a bunch of colorful plants. Is there something I should say?" When I glanced back at him, he was giving me a saddened expression, one that I hadn't gotten from him since the night before. Why does he continue to look at me in such a way? My eyes were then distracted by a light breeze that moved through a bush that I hadn't noticed was directly in front of us at about waist level. The many pink and magenta flowers at the end of the stems were swaying with the wind, them being the heavier part of the plant made it sway even more than the leaves. I blinked curiously as I watched them move from side to side. Those flowers…Those pink flowers…Those intricate and plentiful petals…I…I remember seeing that flower before.

Just as I was walking out, something that was lying before my doorstep happened to catch my eye. There was a pretty flower with larger magenta petals on the edges and a bunch of light pink, skinnier petals on the inside that had more well-defined points at the ends. Tied around the greenish stem of the flower was a scarlet ribbon, wrapped on neatly, as if it were a gift.

Blinking a few times, I tried to figure out why there would be a flower—that was clearly meant for someone—on my doorstep. There was the possibility that someone dropped it…No…it was placed down way too nicely for that.Then again there was also the chance that it was meant for someone else and the deliverer got the rooms mixed up. But all the people who live and work here should know the palace by heart. They shouldn't have made a mistake like this. Unless…

Unless it was meant for me!

This flower…

"Akimoto…" Blinking hard, I turned my attention back to Hotohori, who I momentarily forgot was even there. How did I get so—In his hand was one of those flowers…and around its stem was…a scarlet ribbon…

…distracted...

Shokyoku caught onto my hesitation and she blinked at me with concern. "Aki? What's wrong?"

I didn't know why, but my eyes were wide from seeing that flower in his hand—why was I reacting in such a way? What was with the hesitation?

"Do you remember this?" I didn't say anything—I just continued to stare at the plant as if it were some kind of foreign specimen from space. So he rephrased, "Do you remember seeing this in front of your bedroom door that one morning?"

Finally shaking out of my trance I nodded my head slowly. "Mhm…yes—I remember." So it was him.

"I was the one who left it there for you to find—I was hoping it would bring a smile to your face—you'd often look melancholy and I prayed that this could bring you at least a little happiness." I wouldn't take the flower from his hand, so he retracted the invitation, but probably still hoping to probe some kind of emotion out of me. He flashed me a particular smile. "Did I achieve my goal?"

"I'm not completely sure…." His smile dropped. "I don't remember feeling that emotion upon seeing that flower, so I can't say that it did. When I picked it up, I was neutral, and I wondered where it came from and who left it. And I doubted that it was even for me—so I'm not sure if any of that equates to happiness." What would that have even felt like? Maybe I couldn't feel at that present moment, but I could remember the anger and the sadness and the suffering I went through. There was no margin there for me to be…"happy". As far as I was concerned, that emotion was an illusion or maybe even a delusion for the ignorant. I didn't want to associate myself with that feeling or any of them since they were all just a bunch of distractions hindering me from accomplishing anything important. But I couldn't help but wonder…even for a second what it would have been like for me to have been happy about receiving that flower. But the positive aspect to it was just too incomprehensible to me…

Instead of giving me that same pitiful look, Hotohori actually went back to smiling…but it was the "happy" kind of smile you'd expect…it was different. "I don't know why I keep forgetting—I guess I was just in denial and needed confirmation myself." That sounded familiar. Nuriko tried doing the same thing when he came to my room that morning. Why were so many people doubting reality? He held up the flower to his eye level. "This flower is called a Peony. It's supposed to be one of the most exquisite flowers, as you can see. They symbolize value, feminine beauty, and peace—they just seemed like the most perfect flora to give to you. Even if you didn't know their meaning, I hoped that they'd bring you the luck and happiness you longed for." Did I long for happiness? That…didn't seem right… His facial expression became serious. "Akimoto, a lot has happened in a short amount of time—for all of us. And I fear that things may end up getting worse, although I pray for the best for all of my friends and my country. I don't know how much of what I'm saying is actually getting to you, but, I just want you to stay strong and keep fighting, I know you're capable of getting through this. Despite anything that Shokyoku says, it may seem like we're occupied by our Suzaku duties, but you should know that you can always count on us to be there for you—we're not going to give up on you, we'll fight through the frustrations." He was right, that meant nothing to me. Absolutely nothing. None of his sentiments were being absorbed, just reflected off before marinating in them was even possible.

"Oh my gosh!" Shokyoku groaned even louder. "Why do these people keep repeating the same cheesy speech?! None of it has any meaning since their hidden agendas keep popping up."

I gave her a sideways glance and asked, "Hidden agendas?"

"The fact that pretty much everything they do, every decision they make is revolved around their whiny glutton of a priestess." That's old news. I was already aware of that. "Besides, no matter how guilty they feel, saying sweet words won't make everything better."

"What?" Hotohori's face was riddled with confusion. "Hidden agendas?"

I addressed him once more and shook my head. "Don't worry about it."

Staring at me to see if I'd elaborate any more, he finally gave up on that venture and cleared his throat, ready to continue on with his initial topic. "Very well then…where was I? Oh yes…I wanted…to apologize…"

"For what?"

"Being born," Shokyoku muttered.

"This whole time, during your predicament, most of my thoughts have been preoccupied on my kingdom." He turned his gaze towards the garden. "After you were brought back in that darkened state from Kutou and before Chichiri gave you that ring, we all assembled without you to discuss our course of action as well as how we were going to handle this new obstacle in our path. It was…difficult for me to choose between you and Konan…and I'll admit that I was leaning towards the latter. I even went so far as to…think of you as a weapon to use against our enemies in Kutou…" Where was the fault in that? Being the ruler meant responsibility over an extended area and a bunch of people. If he was willing to falter and throw away important leadership qualities for the sake of someone as insignificant to his life as I was, then he was a fool. He hadn't yet learned that war requires cruelty and sacrifice. Had our roles been reversed, I would have used him as a tool and would have been willing to have him killed in order to get the job done. "No honorable friend would think of the other in such a way." He pounded a heavy fist onto the railing, crushing the stem of the Peony in his grip. "I felt so disgraced…and yet, I found that I had no choice…I wanted to give you my full support, but an emperor's life is often one of sacrifice. Between choosing just one life out of so many should seem like such an easy decision—hence the misconception people often give to the role of an emperor." Why is he telling me these things? "I've been given these responsibilities since I was a child, and I fear that because of that, I'm not used to having close friends…so I may not make the correct decisions when it comes to affairs amongst my companions. But I'd like them to know that I'd do all I could in my power for them." He chuckled bitterly. "How ironic is it that now that I have friends as well as woman that I love, I'm the powerful ruler of a country and yet, I cannot even be there to assist them in the way that they need me the most? I have to remain here on my throne while they're out there risking their lives. Tell me, what kind of emperor am I to just sit back and watch my subjects suffer?"

"I'm guessing the kind who doesn't think that his friends are strong enough to go off on their own," Shokyoku pitched in.

"The last time I couldn't come along, I almost lost Miaka…" His hand continued to clench at the flower's stem so much that the plant was losing its ability to maintain its erect position. It was starting to limp, the bulb drooping downwards on an angle. "I'd never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to her. And of course," Finally, he realized what he was doing to the flower and eased his grip, dropping the wounded plant back onto the bush with the rest of its brethren. Watching the dying, detached flower seemed to have saddened him as I noticed his expression softening. "I wasn't there…during your incident. I just…I just can't help but feel responsible for all of this." What? Was he looking for me to console him or something? I had no interest in taking part in his worthless self-pity.

And yet…

There was something there…something stirring inside of me that I couldn't explain. It was attempting to peak the whole time while he spoke. Whatever it as, it was faint…like a fleeting thought…It was so faint that I wasn't even sure if anything was there. Perhaps my mind was playing tricks on me.

It was obvious that Hotohori wanted to accompany Miaka, Nuriko, and Chichiri to find the final three warriors. Why he was pouring his heart out to someone who couldn't sympathize with him, I'll never know, but…I don't know! His excessive worrying on trifles made him out as an inferior emperor in my mind…and that should have been the only thing on my mind. But instead, I was going through all the possible ways that I could help him out. What brought upon this urge? I shouldn't have even been having any urges of any kind, no matter how faint.

I was malfunctioning.

That had to be the only explanation…something was wrong with me. But what was it?

Finally, a well-enough idea made its way to center stage in my thought processes.

"You want to go with them, right?" I asked him.

He seemed surprised by my voluntary comment, but answered, "Of course. Nothing would make me happier than to assist my beloved on her journey. But…I've accepted my role in the bigger picture, how I must remain here in order to keep my people safe from Kutou or any other enemy force."

Shokyoku looked puzzled. "…Aki? What're you…"

"What if I told you that there was a way for you to be in two places at once? Or at least fool enough people to think that you're where you need to be instead of where you want to be?" Hotohori gave me his full attention with added interest as I relayed to him my nearly flawless idea.

"Aki! Why the heck did you do that?!" It was only a little while before Miaka, Chichiri, and Nuriko would head off in search for the final three Suzaku Warriors, and Shokyoku didn't waste any time after Hotohori left me to complain to me (even more) about my decisions. "Why would you just help him out like that? What made you do that? You couldn't have possibly wanted to do that because you don't have the emotions to want anything."

"Honestly? I don't know."

"What?" She asked, holding back on some of her anger.

"I mean, I'm sure that telling him what I did is sure to be beneficial to me in the long run. It has to be…after all, I only care about myself and my survival and my mission."

"And yet…" Her voice lowered to something just a notch higher than a whisper as she held onto the handle of her parasol with dear life. "Even without your emotions…you're still choosing them over me."

Giving her full eye-to-eye contact, I told her, "I'm not choosing one person over the other—I have absolutely no preference." With that, Shokyoku didn't come back with more opposition—she just stood there looking up at me past her tilted umbrella. Then she retreated back under the somewhat semi-spherical shape, most likely attempting to hide whatever she was expressing. The silence between us allowed my memory to relay my time in this unemotional state. And I was realizing, just as I had during my conversation with Hotohori, that my constant unfeeling nature wasn't as constant and iron clad as I initially thought. I had experienced…I guess you could call them hiccups. Those hiccups had opened my eyes to a flaw that was buried someplace…

I could see cracks…

…pieces of something that wasn't filled in…

…broken shards of something…or somebody…

Buried deep inside…

Something was missing.

I wasn't complete.

"Shokyoku." She didn't stir. I tried again. "Shokyoku."

She hesitated to answer. "…yes?"

"I can't feel my body… I can't feel anything at all. You're right when you say that I shouldn't be able to feel anything. But now even I know that something isn't right. I don't know what it is." Holding up my arms, I inspected my unsuspecting palms which were covered by long, black, partially fingerless gloves. If I closed my eyes, I wouldn't have even been aware that they were there. I really was just a consciousness floating around in a vessel. "The only thing I have right now is my life—my…existence. I function only to ensure that I maintain this existence. However, I don't know why. When I destroy Stella, then what? What's to become of me? There has to be a reason for me to automatically be programmed to ensure that I go on. Otherwise, it wouldn't matter if I lived or died. But since it does matter for some reason or another, I think…I think that whatever I'm missing is important for my survival. And…I need whatever it is to fully function, so that I won't be threatened." I clenched my fists and looked down at her and said, "I need to be complete."

Shokyoku's parasol began to tremble and soon, faint sounds of sobbing could be heard from underneath it. Tears fell from the girls' cheeks and onto the ground, creating a plethora of droplets next to her stockings. "I…" She fought to get her words out. "I…I…I" Bringing her head up, she revealed a small face drenched with tears, the puffiness finally adding some color to that pale complexion of hers. "I can't do anything to help you!" Dropping one of her arms off of the parasol's handle, he brought the free one up to her eye, trying to wipe away at least some of the tears that were flowing. "I know I said things like I'm the only one who can help you, but I said that mainly because humans are incompetent, and because I didn't expect you to realize that something was wrong—at least…at least not this quickly…I was willing to take that time to figure out how to help you on my own. But now that…but now that even in this state when you can't feel, you still long for something that you need and I…I don't…" Her hand dropped from her face as she scowled, her tears drying up quicker than I expected. "I don't have any other choice."

My face twisted. "No other choice for what?"

Her scowl transformed into a grimace. "I…have a theory…" She paused, her face becoming even more disgusted, almost as if she was trying to keep vomit down.

"Go on."

"There may potentially be a way that you can retrieve the thing you're missing…" Again she paused.

"And that would be?"

Taking a deep breath in, she let it out, however her frown never wiped away from her face. "You remember that bandit monkey, right?"

"Bandit…monkey?" I repeated.

She grinded her teeth. "You know! That fanged moron with the flaming head!" I just continued to stare at her. "Tasuki! Formerly known as Genrou…"

"Oh yes. What about him?" It wasn't exactly that long ago since he and I went our separate ways. The bigger questions were why it was so difficult for her to just blatantly say his name, as well as how in the world would he be the answer to my problems?

"We'll have to find him in order to prove my theory. And in order to find him…bleh…" There was that vomiting face again. "We'll have to go with the whiny priestess and her flock of loyal monkeys…he's one of the people they're looking for, right? A Suzaku warrior?" I nodded. That's right…he is a Suzaku warrior. And I was probably the only one who knew that—even I only found that out by accident. Apparently I'm supposed to keep it quiet both because he told me to and because Taiitsukun said that Miaka had to do this on her own. If he'd that important, how bad would it be to just tell Miaka in order to shorten the process? "Then I'd like to think that the priestess has some special ability or something to find her cronies faster than we can blindly. So as much as I hate the idea, we," She sighed, dropping her shoulders as low as they could do, "have to go along with them."

"But…Hotohori said that I had to stay here."

"To Hell with what he said! He's just a human, don't let him tell you what to do! Besides," Crossing her arm as best she could while holding a parasol, a snarky grin ran across her face. "I know what's best for you!" Taking a few steps around me, the little girl twirled around as if she were playing in puddles on a rainy day. "Like I said, I hate the idea, but it's the best we've got. And you want to find what's missing, right?" I can't really say that I want it necessarily…it's just…essential. "Then we have no choice." She stopped twirling. "And it's not just that we find him—he has to touch you. And not just any touch, he has to feel something—like sincerely feel something, otherwise this would all be for nothing."

"Okay." I still didn't see the point of him touching me, in fact the whole idea sounded ridiculous. But Shokyoku sounded pretty sure of herself and I did need what I was missing in order to maintain my survival. So, I guess I had to try.

"Now, this may be difficult since he's an insensitive idiot…and his personality is rather irritating at that," From out of nowhere, this heavenly spot light shone on top of her as a choir of what I thought were supposed to be angels sang. For some reason, this seemed highly illogical especially given the fact that Shokyoku had a sunlight phobia. But, I guess she was on a roll. "But I'm willing to go through whatever it takes for my Aki! We'll figure it out together!"

Speaking from behind her spotlight, I interrupted by saying, "Alright then. So…don't we have to ask permission?"

At that, Shokyoku fell over as the heavenly choir ceased their song. She chuckled slightly uneasily as she peered up to me with a sweat drop and said, "A-Aki…Let me…explain this 'not listening to humans' thing to you one more time…"

-Aloe

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!