autumnleaf16

Gosh…university start tomorrow. I am almost glad to go due to a family incident. Got yelled by my parents for walking in our house too loud- is it fully my fault when my floor tends to creek in the first place? And note- my dad, who would scream at me, is not exactly walking very lightly either. But anyway…my weekly fan fiction uploading…


What happened last time: Upon returning to Tokyo, Miaka discovered Yuri’s identity from her brother. When she returned to Konan, she was told that Yuri has left, having decided to find the rest of the seishi. Yuri is not traveling alone, and she will soon find Tasuki…





The clue was like the last one, there were only two characters: the first was “mountain” while the next one was “leader”. Yuri was sure that it meant the person was a leader of a gang of mountain bandits. (1)
“What do I do about that?” she had muttered, looking at the mountain that housed the most infamous bandit gang of Konan. “I know a bit of fencing but I am not good enough to face an entire gang of mountain bandits on my own.”
She already found one other celestial warrior: Chiriko. Following the instruction on the scroll she found the young boy in Eiyo very easily. She hoped that he really did go to the palace immediately. (2)
The next celestial warrior, however, was not going to be found in such a trouble-free way.
Unfortunately for Yuri, she was not careful enough as the inn she went in, which seemed rather far from the mountain the bandits were rumour to reside in. She thought it was safe.
Being both young and beautiful, she naturally ended up as a target for the bandits who ran the inn, and even better- she was alone.
She was broken free from her reveries when the harsh feeling of steel touched her flesh from the back of her neck.
“You are very careful, I will admit that, but you still walked into our den, leaving this pretty body at our mercy.” The owner of the sword whispered suggestively to her, as he edged closer.
Having no other choice but to cooperate she watched them taking her sword away, and then binding her arms together. Her only consol was that she had a dagger tucked in the very dept of her bodice.
Her sole hope was that she was at the right place, because if the leader was a celestial warrior, then he could not be a bad man. Perhaps he would forbid his men from doing anything to her. (3)
“The more I see you the more beautiful you become.” One of the bandits remarked out, placing his hand on her shoulder. “Seems such a waste to let our leader ruin you.”
“And you wouldn’t?” she said coolly. Having spent a week working in a tavern that was occasionally mistaken for a brothel, she learnt a little of how to handle these type of men.
“We’ll treat you nicely, unlike that man.” Another spat out, but his anger was not directed at her, but their current leader. “We are not rapists. Although if you do desire any one of us…we will be very happy to oblige. I do agree though,” he went back to talk with his two other companions. “Why don’t we keep her to our self? It is not as he would find out, since he’s always at his own quarters…” (4)
“Waiting for us to bring back what we gained through our own hard work. Yes, let us keep her for a while.”
Yuri was more confused about what she just heard then to worry about herself now, such a man as they described, did not sound like a Celestial warrior who was chosen by Suzaku.
Much to her surprise the three mountain bandits who caught her did not take her to their leader, but to their own gathering room. They were even rather kind as they warned her to be careful.
“Never ever venture out of here. Hide in this cabin whenever anyone enters,” they warned her severely, but not harshly. “We cannot help you if you are discovered, so make sure that no one else sees you here.”
They were giving advice to their captive? Yuri thought in sheer disbelieve, if they didn’t take her sword away then she would actually start to question whether she really was in the base of a bunch of bandits.
Looking at them she smiled very softly and sweetly, keeping her smile as innocent as she could.
“Thank you all for protecting me.”
“Well you can reward us by serving us.”
With a careless shrug Yuri picked up the jug of wine and went to pour wine for them. The task itself did not bother her at all, as that was what she used to do before she was selected go into the palace. Her only worry was when these men would eventually get tired of this, or when she would be discovered.
Right now she detected desire and lust in some of them, but she did see not any hint of great malice in their eyes.
Above all there was the most important question of whether she was at the right place.
“You really are quite beautiful.” One of the man remarked out, his hands ‘accidentally’ resting on her leg.
Automatically she slapped him hard.
“I am already married.” She said, although she strongly doubted that this particular piece information could protect her. Even if she announced herself as their empress, they probably wouldn’t believe her anyway.
“So where is your husband then? They said you were travelling alone.”
“That is not your business.” She changed her voice so that it sounded as angelical as it could possible become, she could not afford to anger them right now.
“Running away from your husband then? We can look after you much better then any men from the city. Such a pity,” another mountain bandit grabbed her hands. “For such a flower to be planted into a marriage with a worthless man.”
Yuri jerked her hands out of his grip and went to pour the glass of the next man, forcing herself to not spring into Hotohori’s defence or striking them again for this insult.
Taking a deep breath she asked: “Do you people only have one leader?”
“Just one, although he shouldn’t even be the leader.” the man she was serving muttered.
At this she quickly crouched beside him, her eyes large and pleading.
“What happened? Can you tell me, it sounds interesting!” secretly, she was cursing the fact that she had to flatter and even flirt with these bandits in order to obtain the information. If only Hotohori was here…
The though made her smiled slightly, his first instinct would probably be to order their execution for daring to touch her like that.
The story of the past leader and the one he choose to be his heir made her frown, could it be that the man who was meant to be the leader, was the one she was seeking?
She could ask more directly but the sentence: “Is there a man among you with a word on any part of his body?” was not exactly the most normal method of starting a conversation.
For now she would play along, and plans what to do during the process.
“Does any of you…” she began but was interrupted by the loud sound of the door being thrown open. She made a quick move to hide in the cabin but it was too late.
“You lot are certainly brave.” One of the ‘intruders’ said, his voice mocking. “To keep such a price to yourself, our leader will not be pleased at this.” (5)
“She is only a local whore that we hired!” one of them said in what Yuri could only describe as a valiant attempt of rescue.
“Then if she is foolish enough to perform her trade here, she must pay the price by providing us all with additional services.” The same man said coldly, jerking Yuri up. “I think he will enjoy you, you are a bit old but I think your face will still please him.”
She would have spat into his face if it wasn’t for the fear of him doing something to her right now, as this group of men would not hesitate in harming her.
But unknown to Yuri, the day she came, was also the night that Tasuki returned. (6)

Tasuki glanced at his surroundings carefully before he snorted, so that was what happened during his absence. Well, that man was certainly brave in the foolish way to think that he would just watch and let him tramp over him. No, Tasuki was going to take back the position of their leader.
He’d have to think of a way to get the fan back though, then he could work out punishments for the rest leisurely.
He peered into the window in the vain attempt of spotting the fan, he really preferred to do this without bloodshed if he could as most of these men were like his brothers.
As usual ‘he’ was just sitting there, waiting for gifts to be placed on his lap, that man was really shameless. Tasuki had always been surprised that the formal leader actually kept him in the group.
Koji was at the room as well, being told to do something. After knowing his friend for such a long time Tasuki could see the great disgust present on Koji’s face.
A young woman was brought in to the room, surprisingly her hand were unbound, although they were tightly held by the two beside her. At the sight of these two men, Tasuki frowned again, it shouldn’t surprise him that they would support that usurper instead.
Every one quickly left, so that the young woman was alone in the room with the current leader…

At the sight of the current leader of the bandits, Yuri felt nothing but disgust. Great as her eagerness to find the celestial warriors as it was, she still deeply hoped that this man was not one of them.
As he approached her, she carefully began to raise her hand until it rested on her bodice.
She pulled out the hidden dagger and slashed it as the bandit’s hand almost touched her breasts.
Outside, Tasuki sighed, he was convinced that he was jinxed, as every woman he met would turn out to be like one of his maniacal sisters.
Still, she could be of use to him.
“Do not think of touching me,” Yuri hissed, spelling out every word, brandishing the dagger in front of her. “If you dare to touch me then I will make sure that you get executed.”
As soon as she said this Yuri laughed at herself, she was acting as if she was still the empress in the palace of Konan. She must forget all about that, as she had left Hotohori.
At this threat Tasuki snorted again, just who did this woman think she was? The empress? At any rate it was time for him to interfere. (7)
“Well, a lot of things certainly happened during my trip.” Tasuki laughed out as he jumped in from the window, “You actually think that you can become the leader?”
“Are you the man who is meant to be the leader?” Yuri asked, even though her gaze was still focused on the current bandit leader.
“I am.” Tasuki said proudly.
“Are you the one with the word on you? Because I do not believe it will be on him,” the mere fact that she referred to the other man with such distaste raised Tasuki’s liking of her greatly.
He would have answered her if it wasn’t for the fact that the other was reaching for the iron fan.
“DUCK!” he yelled at her.
Even with that warning, Yuri barely managed to dodge the flame that appeared from the fan.
“What is that?” she yelled in shock.
Her eyes lit up slightly as she saw a sword lying on the table, carefully crawling beneath the fire, she grabbed it.
Meanwhile Tasuki threw out his offudas, summoning wolves to his aid, and by this time a large group of other bandits had come as well, and Koji was there too. Tasuki and Yuri took a glance at the other and nodded simultaneously, even though they were complete strangers they would work together due a mutual goal.
This was the first time Yuri actually really fought with someone. It was naturally harder then the practises she did in the comfort of the palace, but still, she managed to defend herself tolerably well.
Soon she had the man at the tip of her sword, having no another choice but to kill him as she knew what he would willingly do to her if he had the opportunity. Her hands started to shake at the mere thought of her committing the deed but she still forced them to thrust the sword in. (8)
She should not be shaking as she was not safe yet, there were others who would attack her for the killing of that man, even if he was the usurper. But what she just done was too much for her, she slid onto the ground, her sword clattering down.
“Why do you follow that man just because he had the fan?” Koji was yelling loudly, hoping the death that just occurred would be the only death tonight. “You all know that Genro was meant to be the leader! He would have been a good leader too. Like our last leader, he would be fair!”
Some murmured in agreement and many actually purposely stepped back, but there was still that group of loyal supporters who wanted revenge. As one of them approached, Tasuki, who was trying to take hold of the fan, accidentally slid and the stack of offudas fell out.
“Write something on it!” he yelled to Yuri, who managed to grab them despite her shocked state. “Then throw it and that object will appear.”
At the moment Yuri’s mind went completely blank, what should she write on it? Sensing that someone was approaching her she wrote the first two characters that came into her mind, the two characters that she first wrote in Konan.
Hotohori’s name.
Chuckling, the bandit raised his sword at Yuri, who was barely focused due to what she just done, she felt as if her hands were stained forever.
Yet someone met the attack with her sword for her.
“Hotohori?” she chocked out.
Her beloved husband smiled gently at her and caressed her fingers lovingly as he always did whenever they practised swordplay together. Then he turned to the rest, his eyes hard.
“I will not forgive any one that dares to hurt her!” he announced coldly before he launched his attack.
She watched him fight for her in wander, and marvelled at the magic in the offudas. Even though it was only an illusion it seemed like the real Hotohori who taught her how to use a sword. Whenever he do so, his hair would always be down and tied with a ribbon, and he would put on very plain clothing.
Like the illusionary figure in front of her.
“Hotohori,” she whispered again.
Turning to him after he finished, he held out his hand, still smiling at her. With her tears falling she grabbed it tightly.
It did not last long though…soon her hand closed over the empty air, and the piece of paper fell down. Kneeling down she clutched the paper to her, because she could no longer hold him. (9)
For a long time she simply cling onto that piece of paper, unaware of the arrangements behind her.
“Hey,” the weight of a hand on her shoulder made her grab her sword and whirl around to face the man.
“Hey, I only want to thank you.” Tasuki said, raising his hands in the air innocently along with the metal fan. “I probably wouldn’t have got this back without your help.”
“Tasuki…” Yuri whispered, pointing to the word on his arm, visible as his sleeves had slid down when he raised his hands. “So you are Tasuki.”
“Are you the priestess?” he asked sharply, as who else would be searching for the seven celestial warriors?
Yuri shook her head. “I am merely searching for the warriors on behalf of the priestess, as she will not be able to come here until sometime later. I am…” she was sure that these people would not know the real name of their emperor. “I am the wife of one of the seven celestial warriors: the one named Hotohori, whom you just saw.”
“What do you want then?”
“I wish to find the warriors so Suzaku would be summoned faster. Then I might be able to be with Hotohori again. If you want to thank me,” Yuri said firmly, “Then go to the capital and find the priestess.”
Looking into her eyes Tasuki saw a mixture of wild, strong and contradictory emotions. There was despair and yet there also happiness, her emotions were so strong that he felt it impossible to refuse, yet he could not agree either, now that he was with all of his brothers in arms again.
“I cannot just leave yet.” He finally decided, “But I will go with the priestess when she comes here.”
In front of him Yuri chuckled, but there were no mirth in her laughter. “It seems that it is not possible for me to do this after all. The celestial warriors are meant to be gathered by the priestess herself.”
But surely I did something that helped Miaka. Yuri thought, she was almost forcing herself to come up with evidence.
“If you wish to leave and continue your search then Koji will escort you to the next town.” Tasuki said.
“I will leave now.” Yuri stated without any hesitation. “I have done all that I can. I only beg you, go to the Suzaku priestess as soon as you can.”
“Wait, what is your name?” Tasuki demanded. “When I see her I want to…”
“My name?” Yuri paused a bit as she debated whether she should tell them her last name, in the ended she decided against it, as it had become her title. “My name is Yuri.”
She then collected her luggage but she did not even bother to cheek whether everything was still in there, although they all were, as her gaze still rested on the piece of offuda with Hotohori’s name on it. (10)

Hotohori was looking at the strand of pearls again. He knew it was very unreasonable but he had ordered his advisors to give him a whole day of freedom.
Then he would be tangled with all these problems again. Konan would be at war soon from Kotou, it was inevitable. There was really nothing more to discuss as all the preparations were undergone, but he would still have to sit through these meetings.
Even worse, the sacred book of the four universes was stolen. Hotohori knew that it was not really Miaka’s fault but he couldn’t help but to blame her a little. If only she had held onto it before she ran away.
Last night was the eve of Miaka’s departure with Nuriko, Tamahome and Chichiri, as Miaka was packing the sacred book into her bag she was attacked by an assassin sent from Kotou.
As he charged at her with a sword she ran out of the room screaming, after a brief fight with the remaining celestial warriors in the room, the assassin decided to take the book instead. (11)
“How will Suzaku be called without the book?” Hotohori sighed deeply. “And how dare I blame her? It is not even her fault. Maybe that is why Yuri left.”
“You certainly look as if you are in pain, your majesty.”
“Chichiri, are you not with Miaka?”
“I rather have my question answered first, your majesty, if that is not too rude a request.”
“Very well, I am in pain. Yuri is gone and I don’t know how to carry on without her. Most importantly, who knows what danger she might be in? And the worse bit is that she is doing this all because of me.”
“If you could…you would travel with Miaka, as you believe that you might be able to find the Empress Houki during the journey.”
The young emperor nodded rather sadly, “I should not even be thinking about Yuri in such a time but I am a human being as well. I love her, so I cannot help but to worry about her. Because I am only a human, I cling onto that vain hope of finding Yuri if I leave the palace and travel with Miaka.”
“Then let me be in your majesty’s place while you travel with Miaka.” Hotohori didn’t even have time to react when he was suddenly faced with a clone of himself.
“You know that there wouldn’t be any major event that would happen that hasn’t already happened, so it will be alright for you to travel with Miaka if you have a replacement who can do the basic stuff.” Chichiri continued, only he was now speaking with Hotohori’s voice.
“Chi…Chichiri…” Hotohori was truly at a loss for words. He was shocked at the power of Chichiri’s magic as it allowed him to transform completely, and he was also suddenly so happy as there was a possibility of him finding Yuri.
Faint as the hope was, he would cling onto it tightly.
Just as he was about to leave he suddenly noticed something.
“Chichiri…maybe you should adjust your transformation slightly as I don’t think you got every aspect accurate.”
At this comment Chichiri laughed, it was not due to the almost childish nature of the comment, but because it was a sign that Hotohori’s mood was improving slightly, as the younger man was noticing his appearance again. (12)

Meanwhile, Tamahome and Nuriko were both fighting in order to protect Miaka, who was crouching on the ground, clearly in pain. (13)
“Tamahome, take her and get out of here!” Nuriko yelled, chucking a table to one of the bandits.
“I was just going to suggest that to you!” Tamahome snapped.
“Why do I have to be the one that runs away?” Nuriko protested but stopped as he saw another bandit approaching Miaka with a raising axe.
“MIAKA!” the two men yelled.
Stunned and frightened, Miaka found herself rooted to the ground although she knew she should try to run away.
A body fell down, covered by blood, but it was not Miaka…it was that bandit.
“Hotohori-sama?” the three all chocked out at the sight of Hotohori, who was at the doorway, panting slightly with his sword drawn, the tip stained with blood.
“Yes, I am here instead of Chichiri.” Hotohori said, still holding his sword, as the fight was not over yet. There was still at least two other men.
“Stop!” the wounded man commanded to his two companions, pointing to Hotohori. “I think he is that man!” (14)
“That man?” Hotohori said as calmly as he could, surely it was not possible for these bandits to recognize him.
“He does look a bit like him, maybe we should bring them to Genro…” he had barely finished his sentence before Hotohori’s sword appeared right in front of him.
“You will tell me everything that you know if you wish to live,” Hotohori said chillingly. During the discussion, Nuriko had quickly knocked out the other unwounded man with a single punch, while Tamahome tied the wounded man up.
“A month or so ago a young woman named Yuri arrived here, since she was rather pretty we decided to take her to our head quarters…”
At this Hotohori thrust his sword even further, almost piercing it into the other’s throat.
“If you hurt her in anyway, I will kill you myself.” He hissed. Even though he wasn’t even sure that the mysterious young woman was Yuri, the mere thought of her being harmed made him angry.
“We didn’t harm her at all! I swear!” the bandit screamed, on the verge of kneeling down and grovelling for mercy.
Half stuttering, he told them what had happened.
“So that is why you recognize me.” Hotohori nodded slowly, finally sheathing his sword. “Will you take us to your leader then?”
“Hotohori-sama can’t go yet.” Nuriko whispered, tapping on Hotohori’s shoulder in what he hoped to be a rather discreet fashion. “Miaka is…”
“Miaka? Miaka!” Hotohori quickly crouched down beside the Suzaku priestess as he finally noticed her situation. “What happened to her?”
“She ate their poisoned food!”
“You lot…” Hotohori turned to the bandits again angrily, but it was clear that his anger right now was not the same fury he felt when he heard about Yuri’s capture.
“‘He must not forget his duty as a celestial warrior. It is to protect the Suzaku priestess, not his empress.’” Tamahome suddenly quoted Tai Yi-Jun’s words. None of them could bear to tell him these words when they arrived back at the palace of Konan, as Hotohori had been in a deep depression due to Yuri’s departure. Although he still was obviously sad at Yuri’s absence, Tamahome felt that he must tell that to the emperor now.
“And would you be able to do the same if Yuri was the priestess instead of Miaka?” Hotohori snapped back. At this the other man had to lower his gaze first, because the emperor was right: he could not.
“We didn’t put anything in the food!” the bandits protested.
“Really?” Nuriko snorted, raising his fist threateningly. “Explain Miaka’s condition then…”
“My stomach hurt…I know I shouldn’t have ate that much. Tamahome…can you give me a glass of water?” Miaka whispered weakly.
Both Nuriko and Tamahome had to restrain themselves from punching or slapping Miaka while Hotohori marvelled at the difference of the two half-sisters once again. (15)


1 I figured that if they still had the scroll then it would probably say mountain as that was the word that appeared in the orb/mirror. As for the leader bit I just made it up myself.
2 Eiyo is the capital of Konan. Although Yuri found Chiriko now, he actually didn’t go to the palace immediately, so that bit is not going to be changed that much.
3 Seems that this theory is not really applicable to all the Kotou warriors, but all the Konan celestial warriors are really good men, so Yuri’s theory is pretty accurate.
4 I really don’t think that these mountain bandits are bad men, with the exception of their leader, who was going to rape Miaka. Considering that all the other bandits only made Nuriko and Hotohori drink with them, and even expressed sympathy for Miaka, I think they are actually quite good people. So I hope I didn’t make their actions in regard to Yuri a bit too ‘idealistic’.
5 This is one of the men who really supported their new leader, not Koji. I just can’t find what the name of their leader is (my version of the manga is in Chinese) so I’ll just be referring to the usurper as him, that man etc.
6 I know Tasuki is also called Genro but I’ll be calling him Tasuki most of the time, in the same way that I’m calling every one else by their name as a warrior, with the exception of the bandits who would call him by his original name of Genro.
7 I couldn’t help but to add that ironic remark. 
8 Yes, Yuri actually killed a man. As I said in the beginning, this story is going for the more serious path, it is not comical. I have to admit though, I didn’t like the mountain bandit part that much in regard to Miaka, as what she did was truly stupid. Just charging up to grab the fan.
9 Kind of different from what I had originally planned. Tasuki was to have taken Yuri as hostage and once he arrived at his secret hideout, he attempted to do what he did with Miaka (let us not think about whether he really would have done what he appeared to want to do). Yuri would then threaten to have him executed if he dared to touch her. (Which caused some humorous scenes when he found out that Yuri is the empress.) But I like the result, I don’t want to do a fan fiction that is from the book word by word. And I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed making Yuri and Hotohori the central characters with the offuda incident instead of Miaka and Tamahome. I really love what Hotohori said, and did in the whole bandit bit, especially in the anime as Koyasu Takehito voiced Hotohori and he is my favourite voice actor. The way he put all these emotions in as he voiced Hotohori was just so good!
10 I hope it make sense now. Tasuke would only join the rest when he sees Miaka, but Yuri made it easier for Miaka as Miaka would not have to deal with the leader.
11 Since Yui is not in this world how else am I going to make the sacred book be lost/gone? It has to be lost, because the first attempt of calling Suzaku won’t and can’t work, so this is the best explanation I can come up with.
12 I have to say, I agree with what Miaka said in volume two: If Hotohori was not such a narcissist then he would be rather perfect.
13 Since Yui isn’t here, Tamahome will be traveling with Miaka and co although I still won’t be focusing on them much.
14 I am sure in the original story Hotohori actually killed them, but I am changing that to seriously wounded as otherwise they would have some problems with Tasuki later on.
15 This chapter mainly consists of Yuri so I hope everyone still like it. Hotohori and the rest went to see Tasuki and he left with them after making arrangements etc etc. In the next chapter Mitsukake will be coming out.