Part Three
Miaka awoke.
Her whole body ached. It took a minute for memory to hammer its way back into her head. She gasped in horror and pulled her shirt back around her shoulders. Nakago . . . No, I couldn't have . . .
She felt tears rising to her eyes. She couldn't face what she had done. She rose to her feet and ran out of the tent.
~~~~
"Any luck no da?" Chichiri asked as Tasuki and Nuriko came into the room. His face fell as he saw that Miaka wasn't with them. Nuriko shook his head, looking glum. Tasuki was dishevelled and looked depressed.
"We looked for hours," Nuriko groaned, dropping into a chair.
"Didn't even see a sign of her," Tasuki said. "Did you get anything from that little Seiryuu twit?"
"Nothing that applies to this no da," Chichiri said.
Tasuki glared at him. "Did you even ask?"
"No." Chichiri shrugged. "He really wasn't up to it. Mitsukake's staying with him no da."
"Well, let me see him," Tasuki said. "I'll pry it out of him."
"If you want no da," Chichiri said. "He's not awake, though, so I doubt you'll get anything out of him."
"I'll wake him," Tasuki snarled, heading for the stairs.
"You can't. Mitsukake gave him something to make him sleep no da."
Tasuki stopped short. "Why?"
"What's wrong with him?" Nuriko chimed in.
"I'll let Mitsukake explain it to you," Chichiri said. The three of them went up the stairs.
"Where's Chiriko?" Tasuki asked.
"He's asleep," Chichiri said. "It's kind of late no da. We were starting to get worried about you, in fact." He reached the door of the room that Suboshi and Mitsukake were in and knocked gently.
"Come in," Mitsukake called. Chichiri pushed the door open and went in quietly. The other two followed.
"How is he no da?"
"Asleep still. I managed to get some juice down him, but that was about it."
"Wait," Nuriko said. "Why couldn't you just give him some food?"
"He wouldn't eat it no da," Chichiri answered.
Tasuki looked blank. "Why not?"
"This might explain a few things," Mitsukake answered, and lifted Suboshi's arm out from under the covers. He was so exhausted that he didn't stir.
"So what the hell does his arm have to do with it?" Tasuki asked.
Nuriko was looking at the floor.
Chichiri sighed at Tasuki's stubborn denial of the obvious. "Tasuki no da, what would you do if somebody killed Kouji?"
Tasuki's answer was immediate. "I would go find the motherfucker and kill 'im. Why?"
"Now imagine you had a twin brother," Chichiri said, "who was even more important to you than Kouji. What would you do if somebody killed him."
"I would go find the motherfucker and -- wait a minute." Tasuki frowned as he began to get the picture. "Are you saying that this kid thought Tamahome killed Amiboshi?"
"That's what I'm saying no da."
Tasuki pondered this. "Well, why the fuck did he think that?"
"Because that's what Nakago told him."
Tasuki continued to ponder. "But it's not true."
"And Tasuki wins the genius award of today," Nuriko said, rolling his eyes. "Of course it's not true. But how was, uh, what's his name?"
"Suboshi," Mitsukake supplied.
"How was Suboshi supposed to know that?" Nuriko asked. "Why would he think Nakago was lying?"
"Well, why was Nakago lying?" Tasuki asked.
"Probably because he knew exactly what Suboshi would do no da," Chichiri said. "He knew that Suboshi would immediately try to kill Tamahome."
"So what happened to his arm?" Tasuki said, still not getting it.
"Baka," Nuriko said, smacking him on the back of the head. "Do I need to explain everything to you? He tried to kill himself."
"Oh," Tasuki said. Then he fully comprehended what Nuriko had just said. "Oh! What the hell for?"
"His brother's dead," Mitsukake said flatly. "He killed innocent people. Well, a few innocent people, and one he considered guilty."
"But to kill yourself . . ." Tasuki's voice trailed off. His personality just didn't allow him to understand the logic of taking your own life.
"So what on earth do we do with him?" Nuriko asked.
"We may just have to bring him with us," Mitsukake said. "We can't leave him here, and we can't spare time to bring him anywhere else."
"And I'm willing to bet that the Seiryuus don't want him anymore no da," Chichiri said.
"So that's all we can do, huh," Tasuki said, the tone of his voice implying that he didn't like it much.
"I guess so," Nuriko said.
~~~~
"So can you ride a horse?" Tasuki asked. He was eyeing Suboshi suspiciously. Suboshi was eyeing him right back.
"I know how."
Tasuki examined this statement. "That's not what I asked." He remembered that the kid hadn't eaten in about four days. "Can you hold on?"
Suboshi glared at him. "I could. But I won't."
Tasuki resisted the urge to strangle him. "So you'd rather just fall off and be trampled."
"Yes."
"Fine. All the easier for us." He turned to the others. "Remind me again why we're putting up with this."
"Be quiet, Tasuki," Nuriko explained. He leaned over and pulled Suboshi up onto his horse before Suboshi could protest. "He can ride with me. I'm strong enough to hang onto him."
"So we're trusting Taitsuu-kun to take care of Miaka?" Chiriko asked.
Suboshi began to cough.
Everyone turned to look at him. "Sorry," he said. "Got something in my throat."
"Like hell you did," Tasuki said, walking over to glare at him. "What do you know that we don't?"
Suboshi said nothing, looking in the other direction.
"Tell me or I'll fry you!" Tasuki threatened.
"Go ahead," Suboshi said flatly.
Tasuki blinked. "Tell me or I won't fry you?"
"So if I tell you, you'll kill me?"
Tasuki shifted uncomfortably. "Sure."
"Is that a promise?"
"Okay, okay," Mitsukake interrupted. "Would you please let us know what's going on here?"
Suboshi looked at the ground.
"If nothing else, you can get revenge on Nakago for lying to ya," Tasuki chipped in.
Suboshi's head snapped around. He looked at the red-haired seishi for a long second, then bit his lips nervously. "He . . ."
"C'mon," Tasuki said impatiently.
"That wasn't Taitsuu-kun," Suboshi blurted out. "Tomo, one of our seishi, has the power of illusions. He made a fake Taitsuu-kun."
The Suzaku Seishi were staring at him. "So where the hell is Miaka?" Tasuki asked.
"I -- I don't know. Taitsuu-kun told her something about Bochuu magic and getting the Shinzaho back . . . Tomo explained it but I wasn't really listening, and it's all kind of blurry anyway . . ." Suboshi was staring fixedly at the ground.
Tasuki's head was ready to explode. "Well, why the fuck didn't you tell us that last night?"
"You didn't ask," Suboshi snapped. "And I wasn't thinking about it."
"You little . . ." Tasuki spat.
Suboshi shrank back involuntarily, seeing Tasuki about to go into battle mode.
"Oh, stop it," Nuriko said. "We won't gain any time by sitting around here arguing it."
"Are you still going to fry me?" Suboshi asked hopefully.
"No. Shut up," Tasuki said. He got on his horse. The others followed suit. "Which way is the fucking Seiryuu camp?"
Suboshi said nothing.
"Tell us, you -- "
Suboshi pointed, too tired to even care anymore. The others followed his directions until they came to a single tent. "There used to be more," he said. "The others must have left for Sailo already."
They all dismounted except for Suboshi, who stayed on the horse in order to not have to get back on, and went inside the tent.
"It's empty no da," Chichiri stated the obvious.
Nuriko knelt next to a few beads on the floor. "Ne . . . didn't Yuiren give this to Miaka before we left?" He picked up some of the beads and a single feather.
The others crowded around him. "Hai, it looks familiar," Mitsukake said.
"So she was here." Tasuki stood and left the tent. "Yeah, there are her footprints."
"Can you track her, Tasuki-san?" Chiriko asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I think I can," Tasuki said. He waited for the others to get on their horses, then grabbed his horse's bridle and began to follow Miaka's footprints. Within a short amount of time, they got to a path. "From here I think she just followed this." He swung himself up onto his horse and began to ride down the path.
"I think she's headed for Sailo no da," Chichiri said after a while.
"What the hell for?" Tasuki asked.
"Presumably, to get the Shinzaho back, or maybe get the other one," Mitsukake said.
"Why didn't she try to find the rest of us?" Chiriko asked.
"Look, it's Miaka-logic no da," Chichiri said. "I can't explain it."
"Should we stop for lunch?" Mitsukake asked around the middle of the day.
"We should catch up with Miaka as quickly as possible no da," Chichiri said. "She's on foot, so it shouldn't take long, but we can't afford to stop."
"Yeah, he'll wake up if we do," Nuriko said. The others turned to see that Suboshi had fallen sound asleep.
"That would almost make a cute picture," Tasuki marvelled, "if I didn't hate him so much."
"Shut it, Tasuki," Nuriko snapped. "For Suzaku's sake, have a little sympathy for the kid." He looked down at Suboshi. Wow, he looks terrible. He's so pale, and so thin . . . he probably hasn't eaten a real meal since Amiboshi died.
"Then let's keep going no da," Chichiri said. "We can give the horses a break a little later and eat something quickly."
The others agreed and they kept riding. Suboshi stirred in Nuriko's arms and moaned a little.
Oh great, Nuriko thought. Stop squirming. I have enough to worry about.
"Aniki . . . aniki . . ." Tears began to slide down Suboshi's cheeks.
Is he even still asleep? Nuriko wondered. "Ne . . . Suboshi . . . are you awake?" When he got no answer, he thought, Okay, apparently not. He sighed. Like this kid would ever cry in front of us if he could help it anyway. He held the reins in one hand and shook Suboshi a little. "Wake up, Suboshi."
Suboshi sat up with a small gasp. "What . . . where . . ." He quickly reached up and wiped the tears off his cheeks, hoping no one had noticed.
Nuriko pretended that he hadn't. "You all right? You were talking in your sleep."
"I'm fine," Suboshi said softly.
Nuriko decided to try again. "I was -- "
"I'm fine," Suboshi repeated, a bit sharper. "Just leave me alone."
Nuriko sighed. "All right, if that's really what you want."
Suboshi said nothing.
~~~~
"I don't think we should go much further tonight no da," Chichiri said. They had reached a small lake which was sheltered against a large rock formation. "This looks like a good place to camp. Why don't we stop here no da?"
Nuriko got off his horse, then lifted Suboshi down and leaned him against one of the rocks. The others also dismounted.
"How far behind Miaka are we?" Chiriko asked.
Tasuki knelt down and examined the tracks. "Not too long. Half a day or so. If she stops to rest, too, then we should catch up with her easily tomorrow."
"Good," Nuriko said. "Let's set up camp."
"I'll go get some water," Suboshi volunteered.
"No you won't," Mitsukake said. "You wouldn't be able to carry it, and you'd only try to drown yourself anyway."
"Yeah, so?"
"If you want him to be able to carry it, why dontcha just heal 'im?" Tasuki asked Mitsukake.
"Because the only thing keeping him from running off and killing himself is that he doesn't have the strength to do it. Giving him that strength would be . . ." Mitsukake searched for an appropriate term.
"Stupid?" Tasuki supplied.
"Yes. I'm saving his life by leaving him sick."
"I'll go get the water," Chichiri interrupted. "I'll try to catch some fish too no da."
Half an hour later, Chichiri came back with a jug of water and some fish. "Dinner no da!" he announced cheerfully. Tasuki had built a fire. Dinner was ready to eat in fairly short order.
Suboshi twitched. It smelled good. He was hungry.
"You sure you don't want any of this?" Mitsukake asked, bringing a plate over.
"Yes," Suboshi said through clenched teeth, crossing his arms tightly across his chest.
Mitsukake shrugged. "All right. I'll just leave this here." He put the plate of food next to Suboshi and left.
Suboshi stared at the plate, then nudged it away with his foot.
Chichiri walked over and sat down next to him. "You know, you can't really kill yourself by not eating no da."
"Watch me." Suboshi looked steadfastly anywhere but Chichiri or the food.
"Well, fine, but in a few days you'll be too woozy and incoherent to really stop us from feeding you no da. You just won't be able to do anything about it."
Suboshi glared at him fiercely. "That's not fair."
"Nobody said life was fair no da," Chichiri pointed out. "Whereas if you eat the food now, you'll heal faster and gain your strength back, and then you can go find a nearby cliff no da." He stood up. "Just thought I'd point that out no da."
Suboshi stared after him as he walked away.
"What the hell didja tell him that for?" Tasuki asked. "I thought we were tryin' to save 'im."
"We are no da," Chichiri said. "But he has to eat. This might make him do it. And once he's back to actually living, he might be more reluctant to die than he thinks he will be no da." He shrugged. "It's worth a try no da. Not like there's much else we can do. But he has to recover gradually, or else it won't work. That's why Mitsukake can't just heal him no da."
"This is confusing," Tasuki complained.
"Why don't we try to get some sleep," Mitsukake suggested. "We'll have to be up early in the morning."
The others quickly agreed. Nuriko volunteered to take first watch, and the others went to sleep.
Suboshi watched the group. Nuriko was half-facing him, but not really paying any attention to him. He looked down at the food.
~~~~
"Kaa-san, I'm going for a walk. Okay?"
Sachiko looked up from the clothes she was mending. "That's fine. Don't be too long."
"I won't be." Kaika smiled at his mother. "Don't worry." He pulled a cloak around his shoulders and left. As soon as he was out of the house, his cheerful smile vanished. His long night walks were a good chance to think about some of the odd things that had been happening recently. For one thing, he always seemed to be hungry, even if he'd just eaten. For another, a pair of peculiar scars had just seemed to appear on his arms about a week ago. The one on his left arm ran from his elbow to his wrist. The other crossed his right wrist. He had no idea how he might have gotten them. They didn't even hurt. To keep his parents from noticing them, he had worn long sleeved shirts until they'd faded.
He heard a crash somewhere in front of him. "Hello?" he called. His voice echoed off the canyon walls.
He thought he heard a whimpering noise from ahead of him. He broke into a jog and soon reached the source of the noise.
There was a girl lying on the ground in a crumpled heap. She was completely dishevelled; her clothes were torn and tattered. She looked up when she saw him, and a look of complete terror crossed her face.
There was something behind her . . .
"Get down!" Kaika yelled. She blinked in bewilderment, then threw herself to the ground as he pulled out a long knife and hurled it. It hit the wildcat directly between its eyes and it toppled to the ground. Kaika breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to the bewildered girl. "Almost got you," he said, trying to keep his voice light to keep her from panicking. "Are you okay?"
She was staring at him with an odd mix of confusion and fear. "Suboshi . . .?"
The name had an oddly familiar ring to it. He blinked and shook his head, then leapt to catch her as she lost conscious. "Hey! Are you okay?"
She didn't answer. After a long, confused pause, he picked her up and headed back to his house.
~~~~
"Bring this in to the poor thing's room, would you?" Sachiko handed Kaika a bowl of broth. "See if you can get her to drink it."
Kaika nodded. He took the bowl and headed into the girl's room. She was still unconscious. He sat down on the edge of the bed and propped her up, then carefully fed her the broth. When he was done, he got up to leave, but a whimpering cry stopped him.
"Iya . . . Nakago . . . no . . ."
Kaika spun around. Those names . . . Nakago . . . Suboshi . . .
"Tamahome, help me . . ."
That was familiar too. Who were these people? Why did the name Nakago send a shiver of fear down his spine? And Suboshi . . . he raised his arm and looked at the scar there.
The girl shuddered in her sleep. "Keisuke . . . Aniki . . ."
Suboshi . . . Aniki . . . his arms . . .
He called me Aniki . . .
Everything snapped into place.
Amiboshi let out a gasping cry and fell to his knees. "Shun-chan . . . 'touto . . ." He instantly reached out for his brother emotionally, an instinctive reaction. He found him for one second, long enough to assure himself that his brother was alive. Then he pulled back into himself as the rest of his memories snapped into place. Nakago . . . I can't let him find me . . . he'll make me fight . . .
He got to his feet, somewhat shakily, and went into his own room, avoiding his 'parents.' He flopped down on his bed and stared at his arms. Shun . . . what happened to you? How could I have let this happen? What do I do now?
~~~~
Suboshi snapped awake. For a second, he thought he'd heard someone calling his name. For just one moment, he thought he'd felt . . . something . . . but now it was gone.
~~~~