Disclaimer! As I've stated before, this is not mine. I'm only writing it because I feel the need to write it. ^_^ FY belongs to Watase-sama. Oh, and to Bandai, Tokyo Television, Pioneer, Viz Comics, Flower Comics, and others.
Part 4: A Female Seishi?
Suzuno kept herself busy, on the long journey, by reading through the scroll the Emperor had given her. She still had five seishi to find. The first two came on their own, but how to find the others? She looked up at the older man across from her in the carriage. As usual, his hands her tucked into his long sleeves. He also had his head lowered and seemed to be sleeping. Not wanting to disturb him, she leaned out the window. "Toroki?"
"Yes?"
"How will we know the other seishi?"
Before he could answer, a voice came from across the carriage. "We will know by their chi," Ekie said.
Suzuno gasped. "I'm sorry, Ekie. I didn't mean to wake you."
"I was only resting, Byakko no Miko."
"I wish you'd call me 'Suzuno'."
"As you wish. Seishi have different, more elevated chi then other people. So they should be easy to detect."
"But I didn't know that either you or Toroki were my seishi till I was told."
"Sensing one's chi takes time and practice. Concentrate. Can you sense Toroki and I?"
Suzuno closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, but she didn't really feel anything. Finally she stopped and shook her head. "I'm sorry."
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Suzuno," Toroki said. "As Ekie said, it takes time and practice."
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Suzuno's mother set the book down and yawned. Lifting Ayako's head from her lap, she gently set it on the pillow next to her. The woman stood and stretched. Walking to the window she looked out. It was still dark and showed no signs of morning yet, but from the position of the stars, she knew some time had passed.
"Okaasan?"
She turned to see that Ayako was sitting up, rubbing her eyes. "Is the story over? Has 'Neechan come back?"
"No, not yet. I was taking a break from reading. It's been a while." She told Ayako what had happened since the girl had fallen asleep.
Ayako picked up the book. "'Toroki told Byakko no Miko that she would be able to sense their chi with practice. The conversation was ended when an arrow struck the side of the carriage.'" The two looked at each other in surprise. The mother sat down beside Ayako as the girl continued reading.
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"Bandits," the carriage driver shouted.
Ekie grabbed Suzuno and pushed her to the floor, covering her and protecting her with his body. An arrow pierced the seat where she had been sitting.
"Get her out of here!" Toroki formed a fire ball in his hand and looked around for any sight of the attackers. "Hurry!"
The carriage lurched forward, only to come to a sudden stop. In the road in front of the carriage, stood two bandits with bows drawn. Toroki threw a fire ball at them causing them to run for cover. The carriage once again took off. When they were a good distance away, Ekie let Suzuno up. From far off, the sounds of fighting could be heard, and the flash of Toroki's fire balls could be seen. Suddenly Suzuno gasped, as a strange and horrible feeling came over her.
"You felt it," Ekie asked.
Suzuno looked at him. "I felt something. What was it? Why do I feel that something bad has happened to Toroki?"
"Because something has. He has been injured, badly."
"We have to go back!"
"We can't."
"But we can't leave him! He may die!"
Ekie looked out the window. "I'm sorry."
When they reached the next town, they stopped at an inn. They sat at a table. A young woman appeared. She wore women's breeches and a tight bodice, belted at the waist, that showed quite a bit of cleavage. Her pink hair hung down her back, except for two locks that were twisted into loops on top of her head. "What can I get for you?"
Ekie order them something to eat and drink, all the while regarding the woman. When the food was brought, he had to coax Suzuno into eating. She was upset about all that happened and worried for Toroki. Finally, she relented and ate a little.
The door flew open and one of their guards came in. "Ah, good! I saw the carriage outside and hoped you were here. We have a big problem. Our captain..."
While he was talking, Ekie and Suzuno were up from the table and coming towards him. Suzuno stopped, tears in her eyes. "Oh no! Don't tell me he's dead."
"No," Ekie answered. "We would have felt it."
"He's not dead," The guard confirmed. "But he's been gravely wounded. We fear for him."
"Maybe you should stay in here, Suzuno. In fact, take this money and rent two rooms."
The three went out where they saw the other guard holding the horses. Toroki was lain across the back of his horse. Inbedded in his back was an arrow. Ekie looked him over. "We should get him inside and take a look at it. Careful now."
They managed to get him off the horse and up into one of the rooms, where Suzuno waited. She gasped when she saw him. "Toroki! Will he be okay?"
"We won't know till we have a look at him." Ekie and the guards began to carefully take off Toroki's uniform. Suzuno blushed and lowered her eyes, though she didn't leave the room. When they finally got the shirt off, Ekie looked at the wound. "I wonder if we should pull it out?"
"It might do more damage," one of the guards said.
"It would probably be the best thing for him." Everyone turned to see the young woman standing in the door. "It might be the only thing to do to save him."
"Do you know medicine," Ekie asked. "Are you a healer?"
"Medicine? Not really. Can I heal him? There's a good chance, if you get the arrow out."
Ekie nodded to the two guards. He and one of the guards held on to Toroki, while the other grabbed the arrow. In one swift movement, he yanked it out. Toroki, who had been unconscious the entire time, came to with a cry of pain, but Ekie and the guard managed to keep him down. After the first sharp pain passed, Toroki shuddered and collapsed. Ekie and the guard let him go, as he slipped back into unconsciousness, and quickly covered the bleeding wound.
The other guard, still holding the bloody arrow, glared at the young woman. "If he dies becuase of your advise..."
Ignoring the man, the young woman walked past him and to the bed, where the other guard, Ekie and Suzuno were standing. She bent over the form of Toroki. Ekie looked at the woman, then nodded in understanding. Suzuno, standing to the left of the woman, noticed a white character appeared on the woman's left breast. The character was "rise". Subaru! A woman?? Could a woman be a seishi? She never thought about any of her seishi being women.
She saw the woman's face contort as she concentrated. Finally she let her breath out and wiped the sweat from her brow. "There. He should be fine now. He might still need rest though. You can take the bandage off."
Everyone looked at her puzzled, but did as she said. To their surprise, there wasn't a wound under the bandage. "You are a healer, Subaru," Ekie asked.
"No. Not exactly. I took his body back one day. So his body is as it was before he was wounded."
"Will his memories be altered because of it?"
"No. Only his body was taken back. Not his mind. I can't do anything about a person's mind. Since you know who I am, I assume you are also seishi?"
"Yes. I am Ekie. This man you just saved is Toroki. And this girl here is Byakko no Miko. Her real name is Suzuno."
The young woman turned to Suzuno and smiled. "I've been waiting for you to come."
A groan from the bed stopped any further conversation. Subaru bent over to look at Toroki, just as he was opening his eyes. The first thing he saw was the beautiful face of a young woman. The next thing he noticed was that he had a very good view down the top of her bodice. His tanned face slowly darkened a little. He thought it best to close his eyes again, before he had a more emmbarrasing reaction. "What happened?"
"Toroki!" He opened his eyes again, to see that this time Suzuno knelt before him. "I was so afraid you would..."
Toroki's eyes widened. He reached back to the area that he remembered feeling the arrow enter. But instead of feeling a wound, he felt nothing. Again he asked, "What happened?" He pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked around. "I know I was struck by an arrow. How long have I been out??"
"Only a few hours," Suzuno said.
"You were healed," Ekie added. "And I would like you to meet Subaru." He indicated the young woman.
"Pleasure," she replied. "I'll go have some dinner brought up."
The others watched the young woman leave the room. "So," Toroki stated, "our third seishi is a woman."
"Disappointed," Ekie asked.
"No. Just surprised. It never really occurred to me that any our the others could possibly be women. What do you think of it?"
"It will be good for Suzuno to have a woman around." Both men looked at Suzuno, who still knelt by the bed. "Do you mind having a woman seishi, Suzuno?"
Suzuno shook her head. "As you said, Ekie, it will be nice to have a woman around. Someone I can talk to." She gasped as she thought about how her words might have been taken. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say that I don't like either of your company. It's just that....well...what I mean to say is...."
Toroki chuckled, and even Ekie's face softened for a moment. "We know what you mean, Suzuno," Toroki assured her, putting a hand on her head. "It will be good for you have another woman with you. It must be a little disconcerting for you to be traveling alone with men."
"Oh, not really," Suzuno said, quietly. "I haven't felt uncomfortable with you. You are my seishi after all."
"Still, it will be pleasant to have a woman also," Ekie replied. Suzuno nodded.
Subaru came through the door carrying a large tray, which she sat down on the table. On it were several bowls of stew, several of rice, water to drink, and some chopsticks. "Okay, lets eat," she said, cheerily.