Flowers. Cookies. Walkman. Discman. Books. Magazines.

And a teddy bear.

Yui sighed.

"Really, Miaka, I'm all right," she said for the third or fourth time. "Just the mystery novels'll be enough to occupy me. See?"

Miaka paused in her struggle to remove what suspiciously resembled a small-size CD rack from her backpack. "Datte�!"

"It's a flesh wound. The doctor said I'll be back at school in no time." Yui wrinkled her nose. "Well. Take it like a woman, right?"

"Yui-chan�"

"Miaka." Yui met the wide-eyed, worried gaze of her friend - her best friend still, by inexplicable grace. "It's not your fault."

Miaka looked down at her hands. "He said the Miko," she whispered.

"Which makes it either me or you. And he was crazy. You can't blame yourself for something a crazy man did. More to the point, the police have him in custody now." Yui smiled ruefully. "I know the bunch of you are going to try to get to the bottom of this. Heck, if I weren't stuck in bed I'd be right along with you. But at least we're not in danger anymore. And we've been through worse. So go home and get some sleep - I mean, you've been here longer than my parents. Okay?"

After the door swung closed behind the brunette girl, Yui sighed again, brushed her hair from her shoulders and reached for The Tale of Three Sisters with her good hand. Hopefully they'd think to keep her updated, at least.

After a moment she snagged the box of cookies as well.

Miaka turned the corner and bumped into Taka.

"Oh�!"

She tried to step backwards and found herself abruptly wrapped in a warm embrace. Taka's arms were firm, and after a moment Miaka relaxed, burying her face in his sweater.

"Taka�"

"It's all right," he breathed against the top of her hair. "As long as you're all right."

Miaka shook her head. When she spoke, her voice was muffled. "It's not fair." Taka made no answer, and she continued, "It's not� Yui-chan has had to go through so much already, because of me."

"It's not your fault."

Miaka gave a shaky laugh. "She said that too. But it is in a way, isn't it? If I hadn't been there� I'm tired, Taka. We've done so much. I thought� I thought after Tenkou, you know�"

"It would be over?"

"Yeah."

Taka said nothing more for a moment. Then he released her gently, reaching up to cup her cheek with one hand. "Miaka. What did you see?"

He knew. She had not said, but he knew. Miaka closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Suzaku's shrine."

She felt Taka pause. "In Eiyou?"

"Yes. I don't know." Miaka shook her head again, frustrated. "It wasn't seeing anyways, not exactly. Everything was mixed up. But Chichiri was there. Tasuki too." Tasuki. If she had reached out then she could have touched him, she felt sure of it. It had been that real. He was -

"I think they were trying to warn us of something," she said finally. "Taka, he did say the Priestess."

"And a lot of other things. Roses and nine of something - I don't remember it all. What worries me is that he seemed to be talking about someone else helping him." Taka frowned. "Miaka, he was a librarian. It was in the papers this morning."

"At the National -"

"At a university. But really, if you think of it there's no guarantee that our copy of the Book is the only one around."

Miaka bit her lip. "So then what do we do?"

"We check it out - and we exchange notes with the others. Takemiya-san might have caught more than I did, for instance. She was closer." Taka thought. "The library is at the next train stop, and it's almost lunch hour. You're probably hungry, aren't you?"

Miaka's smile told him the question was rhetorical.

***

Saitoh gave a snort that was almost laughter. "You're not just another facet of this fuck's personality surfacing, are you? That would be immensely tiresome."

"I assure you that is not the case," Watanabe - or whomever occupied his fleshly form - said. As Saitoh watched, he leaned over the table and pressed the tips of his fingers together delicately. "I am my own person, if that is the word. Hardly to be confused with a mere human. Now, Saitoh-san. What is it you wished to say to me?"

Saitoh dragged on his cigarette. "I merely wish to ascertain a few inferences."

"Well then. Please proceed."

"Firstly. You are a spiritual being versed in possession; not a mere human as you put it. You do not originate in this sphere of physicality."

A slight nod. "Correct."

"Secondly. You incited this man to the acts he committed, probably through long-term psychic exposure of some type. Not a particularly efficient procedure for control - he retains his own will though weakened - but effective enough."

"Correct."

"Thirdly. The victims were connected through a certain psychic ability. The sacrificial layouts reinforced regional weaknesses in the passage between the Makai and the Ningenkai - a clever touch, but a minor one. I imagine demonic attacks have picked up somewhat in the city."

"Again, correct."

Saitoh appeared absorbed in examining the glowing end of his cigarette. "It would be tempting to ask what you stood to gain from this farce, but I doubt you'll feel yourself obliged to answer."

"Astutely put, Saitoh-san. I don't." The creature smiled at him from over his steepled fingers. "You called on me nearly by accident, without prior knowledge, trusting in your own spiritual capacities. I'm not obliged to give you any clues. It's too early in the game to bluff, my friend."

"I'm no friend of yours."

"You were. Once."

"You're mistaken."

"I never mistake a soul. Saitoh Hajime, is it not, Akela of the Sennin Society, gold-eyed lone wolf, lord of the wilds�? A charming avatar you took. One I would remember above all others, since I am where I am due to you. But be that as it may." He waved a hand. "For the sake of our friendship I will tell you this: follow the movements of that young girl who might have died last night. They should prove of interest to you."

"Who are you?" said Saitoh.

The creature smiled again.

"You will remain in this body," Saitoh said finally.

"Shall I?" A distant look. "Shields, my friend? So the conversation was to buy time then. A pity."

And then he attacked.

Masada read through the database entry, frowning, then scrolled up to the beginning and read it again.

It didn't make much more sense the second time around.

Checks on victims' backgrounds were a matter of routine. Since by all accounts the attack was random, he hadn't expected to turn up anything. But a report had been filed regarding one of the young girls, and not all that long ago either. Less than a year.

A missing-persons report.

Disappeared before dozens of eye-witnesses�

A television crew�

Into a mysterious red light�

She'd turned up again not long later, decked in a perfectly reasonable story involving her boyfriend whom her parents disapproved of and so forth, and the matter had been declared closed. Though the bizarre occurr-

Masada's train of thought was broken by a sound like a jet going supersonic directly overhead, accompanied by a shockwave that slammed him into the edge of his table and made his screen flicker wildly. Then the fire alarm went off.

"Nani?!"

The epicenter of the explosion was not difficult to identify; not when smoke was billowing from down the hall. Masada disengaged himself from his office set and ran, jostling other gathering officers as he careened toward its source.

"Saitoh-san�!"

Saitoh unfolded his lanky frame from where he'd been crouched beside the prone form of Watanabe, and stood.

"Don't bother," he said. "I'm fine. He's dead."

***

"Tasuki! Tasuki, slow down a moment no da!"

For a moment Chichiri thought his voice had failed to carry over the pounding of their horses' hooves, but then the other member of the Suzaku shichisei reined his steed to a trot, drawing alongside the blue-haired monk.

"What's wrong?" The voice was expressionless, and Chichiri suppressed a sigh.

"I said, we should walk the horses for a while. We won't find another change station until beyond the border."

Tasuki made no answer. Chichiri allowed himself another internal sigh, shifting the strap of his staff so that the rings clinked. The last time they'd traveled together the bandit had been irrepressible, all hijinks and complaints by turns. Chichiri found that he missed the energy.

Tasuki had been grim-faced since two days before. The fiasco at the palace had shifted priorities squarely to Miaka's protection. Even with Taiitsukun's aid, however, two shichiseishi couldn't open a Portal between the worlds large enough for humans to pass through - and Mt. Taikyouku had been under a veil since Chichiri had received his mission at the foot of the Creator's throne. Though no reason had been given, he'd known since then that there would be no divine intervention. That was when he'd thought of Sailoh, and the remaining Byakko seishi. With the dimensions in flux, Chichiri couldn't transport them that far, and so Houki had offered the services of the courier system that the four realms were in the process of assembling. They'd left almost as soon as the Empress had affixed seal to paper. Tasuki had set the pace without a word, pushing every pair of horses to foaming, trembling exhaustion, only pausing long enough at each station to toss the reins to a waiting groom and vault to the back of a fresh steed. Chichiri hadn't known his friend could ride like that, and wasn't sure he was happy to find out the hard way. He'd had to put his foot down to get Tasuki to stop for the night, only to have him up again before the sky was fish-belly grey. And now, in the no-man badlands between the two kingdoms, with no change of mounts in sight�

Chichiri stole a glance sidewise. They were proceeding now at a walk, though a rapid one. Tasuki was glaring at the horizon as if he could bring it closer by sheer force of will. His first-hand account had been confused to say the least, but Chichiri gathered that Miaka and Taka were being attacked.

Likely they were in danger still.

A few sums totted themselves up in his head with the ease of long practice, and the monk reined in his horse. "Tasuki. I'll port us there. We should be within range by now no da." Close enough that we won't end up in the belly of the sun, at any rate.

Tasuki stared at him. "Are you sure?" he said finally.

Chichiri felt the corner of his mouth twitch. "Insofar as I'm sure of anything nowadays no da." He dismounted, managing not to wince at the stiffness, and removed his cloak. After a moment's hesitation, he took off his mask as well. "The horses have followed this trail more than once; they should find their way no da. As for us -" He swirled his cloak around his arms, laying it on the ground in a rough circle of cloth. "Our business deserves haste no da."

"You can freakin' say that again!"

"Very well. Our business deserves haste na no da." And Tasuki deserved peace of mind. Not all the Suzaku shichisei had cultivated monastic detachment. Chichiri concentrated on his visualization, the strands of ki weaving themselves into familiar Portal-form. "A shortcut to Sailoh, and -"

Something took hold of his spell and wrenched.

Chichiri had one startled moment to realize that he had just opened a Portal into the unknown before something black and fast streaked out from it, leaving nothing but displaced air in its passage. The horses reared and bolted. Tasuki whirled.

"What the hell - !"

A pitch-dark liquid bubbled from the center of Chichiri's cloak, spreading rapidly over the ground like a drying puddle in reverse. Tasuki yelped, jumping back.

"Rekka Shinen!"

The liquid hissed as it met fire, and seemed to draw back. Then it suddenly split into two streams, uncoiling with supernatural speed across the terrain to either side. Chichiri's good eye snapped wide at the roar of demonic ki.

"Tasuki, run! It's trying to surround us no da!"

"Shit! To hell with that!"

They ran, but the liquid was faster, staying cannily out of shinen-range. Chichiri eyed the gap in the roiling black circle with mounting dismay. They weren't going to make it - they were -

Chichiri put on an extra burst of speed and dived head-first through the rapidly narrowing gap. Even as he flew through through the air he saw Tasuki stumble, and his heart skipped a beat. Suzaku above, Tasuki never lost his footing, so why�?

"Dammit, let go of me!"

Flare of heat at his back, and a furious hiss. Chichiri rolled to his feet and turned just in time to see a black wave rise and crash over his companion. Dread lanced through him, and he lashed out with brutal chi-lightning at the same time as Tasuki screamed -

And reality shifted -

The darkness parted briefly. Chichiri ran forward, grabbed Tasuki by one outstretched arm and pulled with all his strength. Tasuki gave a choked cry and twisted, kicking.

"Tasuki! Hit it again! Now!"

The demon's mindless roar of fury filled Chichiri's mind as Tasuki's gritted incantation called fire down upon them, but somehow they rolled clear, slamming against the trunk of the nearest tree. Tree. Chichiri did not pause to consider the incongruity, but dragged Tasuki to his feet and boosted him. Once Tasuki had clambered to the relative safety of the lower branches, he took a standing leap himself, making it just before the dark liquid spread over the tree's exposed roots.

"Tasuki -!"

"I'm all right," the bandit croaked automatically, but he was half-curled in a pained-looking ball at the juncture between branches, and his breathing was too quick. "Shit. Thing's ice. It's like frostbite up on the mountains -"

"It hates fire."

Chichiri spun as best as he could. Tasuki only raised his head, baring his teeth in a near-snarl.

Their interlocutor stood on a somewhat higher branch, as effortlessly as if it were solid ground. He was� small, all in black as if to blend into the evil shadows rippling now about the base of the tree. A child, Chichiri's mind named, until his head turned and decidedly unchildlike red eyes met the monk's own.

Demon eyes.

"Only thing that wounds it. It will fight, though, unlike most such creatures." A curl of the lips. "It's grown above itself, fed the way it is."

"You -" Chichiri forcibly swallowed the questions on the tip of his tongue. "What do you suggest, then?"

"If it were driven beyond the Portal, would you be able to seal it?" came the laconic counter-question.

"Just barely."

"Enough." The demon raised his arm - bandaged with wards, Chichiri realized - and flexed his fingers. "Prepare yourselves. Let it gather." Then he was gone, a flicker of darkness passing to Chichiri's right.

"Pluck Suzaku bare," Tasuki groaned. "What the hell was that?"

Chichiri glanced down at the liquid churning a few crucial feet beneath them. It was gathering, he realized: mounding at a little distance from the trunk, as if intent upon engulfing them once and for all under a tsunami. "How much fire do you have remaining, my friend?"

A snorted laugh. "Some still."

"Save it. Better yet, link with me."

"One strike, eh?" The familiar red-gold warmth of the other shichiseishi's energy. Chichiri kept a loose grasp on their ki, letting it wind through his staff, awareness intent on the rapidly building wave. He whispered a short prayer to the Phoenix Lord. Just a moment, a little more -

"Y'know," breathed Tasuki, "that was one helluva shortcut, man -"

"JAOH ENSATSU KOKORYUUHA!"

Black fire filled the sky.

Only inculcated discipline prevented Chichiri from losing his concentration at that moment, as the conflagration coiled into mystic form - dragon! his mind stuttered - leviathan and multi-headed, roaring with release. Its heat was beyond inferno, beyond light, and the monk found himself gaping in rare shock as the creature spread its claws and plummeted.

The demonic lake sensed it as well. It howled as it met the beast head-on, waves roiling outward in tendrils of deadly cold. The impact was like that of a hurricane; Chichiri's world was reduced in a moment to a chaos of stinging, flying leaves and twigs. He struggled to hold on. Ice and fire clashed until the air itself screamed with energy, and somewhere in the back of his mind carefully memorized words surfaced in astonished recognition -

The dragon flame of utterdark�

The liquid was retreating. The dragon pursued it to the ragged hole that was Chichiri's Portal, snarling through fangs of flame and shadow -

"Now!" Tasuki yelled, and Chichiri struck out, wrenching the edges of the Portal closed through brute ki-strength. Just enough. Just�

He gave it a vicious twist and slammed a quick sealing spell on the bruised surface of the barrier, just to make sure. And subsided, gasping.

"Holy," Tasuki breathed. "That was some funky shit."

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