"I hope you don't mind we also invited some friends to lunch with us Kourin-san."

Kourin laughed. "Not at all Miaka-san. It would be very nice to meet more of your friends, this is the first time I've felt so comfortable with almost strangers. Has anyone ever told you that you have a very welcoming air around you Miaka?"

Miaka blushed at the compliment and then noticed that the '-san' had been dropped off the end of her name, making it seem even more familiar. With a combination of delight and embarrassment, Miaka laughed. "Kourin-san!!"

Behind the two ladies, Taka and Hojun exchanged a fond glance. It seemed 'Kourin' was slipping into old patterns without even knowing it.

As the four entered the restaurant, they were waved over by Yui, Tetsuya and Keisuke, who were already seated. After introductions were made and pleasantries exchanged, which included having Keisuke immediately whip out a page and ask for Kourin's signature, prompting a round of laughter, lunch was finally under way.

While waiting for their orders to arrive, Kourin took the opportunity to take a look around. The restaurant was stylishly furnished in shades of fire red and gold, phoenixes in flight adorned the walls and ceiling every now and then. All in all, it created a beautiful and seemingly ancient Chinese style setting, for some reason very familiar to Kourin in the presence of these people.

Blinking at the golden phoenix statue stationed by the door with its wings spread as if to display their brilliance, Kourin blinked as the image of a similar statue seemed to superimpose the current image before the flash of pure white snow and a large chained door wiped it from her vision.

"Kourin-san...? Kourin-san?"

Hearing her name, Kourin shook her head slightly to clear the lasting images and smiled apologetically. "Gomen nasai, I must have been daydreaming. What were you saying Miaka?"

Miaka smiled understandingly. "We were just wondering if you would like anything to drink Kourin-san."

"Oh!" A slightly wicked smile came over Kourin's face as she looked at the waiter. "Yes, could you please mix one part baijyu, three parts laojyu and four parts shokoujou?"

The waiter blinked before smiling and nodding.

Taka didn't notice as he was too busy staring at Kourin to care that the waiter had disappeared with their orders. In his mind, there were no more doubts. There were no two idiots who could come up with the same recipe for that lethal drink his former brother-star had dubbed the 'Nuriko-Special'. Hiding his happy smile behind his water glass, the former Suzaku seishi Tamahome gazed warmly at the woman with the purple braid before him.

'It's good to have you back... Nuriko.'

The week passed by quickly and strong friendships formed once again between the former Suzaku seishi and their miko. Before long however, Miaka found herself back in school, attending classes while trying to pull as much time as she could to spend with Kourin.

Yui on the other hand was still disturbed by the fleeting but unforgettable appearance of the shin in her iced tea on that fateful day. And every day she could, she had returned to the cafe in hopes of seeing the man that the waitress had described, only to return home empty handed every time.

Thoughts of a time in another world bombarded her constantly, making her jump at shadows as again and again, when what she thought would be a familiar action would catch her eye only to become unfamiliar once she had turned her full attention onto it. It became often now that she would catch herself staring out the window of her classroom or the library, tugging at Nakago's earring in an almost unbreakable habit.

If Miaka or Tetsuya found her attention wandering whenever they talked to her, they kept their own council and continued to respect her privacy for as long as it was plausible. And while Miaka occasionally inserted the worried "Yui-chan daijoubu...?" over the shared lunch, Yui's constant denial of anything bothering her deterred the brown-haired girl of any further questions.

It was during one of these periodic daydreams that Yui overheard a whispered conversation beside her.

"... genius..."

"... only fifteen and in University already..."

Pulling herself out of her daydream, the former Seiryuu no Miko swivelled her head slightly to listen to the whisperings of the two girls sitting one row over in the library.

"He seems pretty cute though..."

"Ewww... He's only fifteen Ouka-chan!"

At this Yui rolled her eyes.

"But he seems like such a snob, he's always by himself and he hasn't made any friends at all."

"Well who would want to? People like him are always too good for the rest of the lowly population. He's probably got the snobby attitude down pat. I heard he was never popular in his high school either."

"I heard he has a younger brother that's *normal*."

The girls giggled before the other replied, "You gotta feel sorry for the other kid, having to compete with such a snob."

Narrowing her eyes at the road these comments were heading down, Yui finally turned and saw the two younger girls snickering and pointing at a figure that sat in the front row, hunched over a book. Standing up and making her presence known to the other two girls, Yui sent them a searing glance. "It's considered impolite to talk about other people behind their back."

The two looked up at Yui before blushing and muttering a quiet acknowledgment. "Hongo-sempai."

With a last glance at the two, Yui swept her books off her desk and made her way over to the auburn-haired boy whom the two had been laughing at. There were few people in the University who didn't know Hongo Yui, or at least knew of her, and occasionally the status came in handy for quelling nasty rumors that could spread around.

Stopping just before the boy's desk, Yui smiled a little and cleared her throat. When the boy looked up at her from under thick auburn bangs and through round reading glasses, Yui held out her hand. "Yoroshiku. Hongo Yui desu. You're new aren't you?"

The boy's eyes grew round and seemed surprised at the offer of conversation. Hesitantly, he took her hand in a brief handshake and replied, "Y-yes, I'm new... My name is Chang Doukun..."

Yui smiled reassuringly. "Pleased to meet you Chang-san..."

The boy blushed and shook his head. "Doukun will do fine Hongo-sempai."

"Then you must call me Yui." Yui grinned a little at the boy's shy smile. "Unless you have any pressing matters Doukun-san, perhaps I could show you around campus a little...?"

Doukun's shy smile widened a little. "Thank you Yui-sempai. I'd like that."

"You don't sound like a native Japanese Doukun-san."

Doukun flushed a little as he walked beside Yui. "No, I'm not. Our family moved here from China when I was ten..."

"Do you have any siblings?"

At this, Doukun's voice tightened a little. "Yes, a younger brother. His name is Ougi."

Sensing the tension between this boy and his brother from just the few words he had uttered, Yui smiled kindly. "Your Japanese is very good."

"Thank you."

Taking a notice of the books the boy carried in his hands, Yui raised an eyebrow. "You are interested in Ancient Asian History?"

At the mention of his favorite subject, the boy's pale grass green eyes lit up with genuine interest. "Yes! I find asian history fascinating. All the people, all the legends and myths, it's as if I was transported back in time and everything is different." A happy smile settle over the boy's face. "I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live there... experience the sights and everything!" Suddenly aware that he was babbling, he darted an apprehensive glance at Yui. "I'm sorry... You're probably bored by all this, I tend to ramble on when this topic comes up."

Yui shook her head with an indulgent smile. Rarely do you find anyone with as much enthusiasm and genuine love for a subject that this boy had displayed. "Not at all. I find legends very interesting myself." A little sombering thought passed through Yui's mind. 'More than you could ever know...' But she squashed that, returning her attention to the boy as they neared the gates. "What's your favorite one?"

Doukun smiled widely. "It's not a very well known one but I have to say that my favorite is the Universe of the Four Gods."

Shock coursed through Yui's veins as she stopped and stared at the shorter boy walking beside her, happily relating the details of the legend. The Universe of the Four Gods... Shi Jin Ten Chi Shou... Very few would ever know the story that this particular legend held so how did this boy...?

"... and then the miko would summon..." Doukun trailed off and became aware of Yui's absence next to him. Looking back, his brow crinkled a little at Yui's frozen expression. "Yui-sempai...? Daijoubu desu ka? Yui-sempai?"

Yui shook herself. "H-hai, daijoubu..." She gave him a wavering smile. "Sorry, I'm just a bit surprised. That's my favorite legend too."

"Really?" The boy's excitement was cut off when they reached the gates and a car horn tooted at them. The boy's head whipped around and acknowledged the car on the curb before turning back to smile apologetically at Yui. "Gomen nasai Yui-sempai, I'm afraid that I need to go now."

"It was nice talking to you Doukun-san. Perhaps we could talk again some time? I have a friend that you might like to meet."

Doukun grinned. "I'd like that Yui-sempai. Ja na." With a wave, he took off for the otherside of the car.

Yui watched as he entered the car and as the window on this side wound down, she could see another figure in the backseat closest to her. Deducing that this must be the younger Ougi, she marvelled at this difference between the brothers. Ougi was younger, and it seemed much wilder than the older Doukun, evidenced by the slightly sinister smirk on his features and the twin gold rings in both his ears. But the main difference she could see was that instead of Doukun's engaging green eyes, Ougi's eyes were a hard and unforgiving black.

As the car pulled away, Yui rolled her eyes inwardly, shaking her thoughts away from the brothers. It really was none of her business anyway.

In the car, Doukun settled himself and stared out the window, ignoring the smug grin he knew his brother was throwing at his back.

"So who was that Doukun? Your new girlfriend?"

Doukun sighed and answered flatly. "No. She's just an acquaintance."

Ougi snickered. "Sure... Whatever you say." A patronizing look took over his young face. "Just as well I guess... We wouldn't want Yui-sama's spotless reputation stained by a freak like you."

Eyes wide, Doukun swung around to face his brother. "How do you know her name?"

Raising an eyebrow, Ougi grinned. "Who wouldn't know her name? The high school's plastered with her picture and name: the Great Hongo Yui, most successful student in the history of the school..." Smirking, he looked down at the object he'd been fiddling with in his hands, admiring the way sunlight melted into the smooth polished wood.

Narrowing his eyes at his brother, Doukun took a deep breath and decided to let it go. There was no point in arguing with Ougi anyway, there never had been. In fact, he couldn't remember a time when they had ever been brotherly towards each other. It would be more correct to term their relationship based on fraternal hatred than fraternal love, for certainly, most of the time, they acted more like enemies rather than brothers.

Eyes drawn to the object in Ougi's hands, Doukun scowled. "You're still playing with that thing."

Ougi looked at him with a slight quirk of the corner of his mouth. Lifting the prayer beads up, he asked, "What these? I'm attached to them, that's all. They're a helluva lot more portable than your books, that's for sure." Grinning when his brother turned away from him and back to the window, Ougi returned his attention to the wooden beads.

A small, almost gentle smile appeared on his face.

'Soon... very soon...'

"So Hiroshi, you going to go see Kourin when taping's over?"

A tall man with long, flowing dark hair and brown eyes so light that they looked golden, grinned at the lady seated beside him. "Did you ever doubt that? Not everyone can be as lucky as you and Ryuu-kun, you know?" His voice, when he spoke, was gentle and deep, the mellow tones seeming to sooth one's nerves without a conscious effort.

Steel grey-blue eyes lit up with her laughter before turning from the man beside her to search for the other pair of ice blue eyes that she knew would be watching her. Finding her constant blonde companion beside the exit, Kogarashi Kaen smiled indulgently and a bit secretively. "I suppose you're right..."

Hiroshi followed Kaen's gaze and grinned at the tall, broad-shouldered blonde man that was the pretty actress's bodyguard and more. Lifting a hand with wave that was acknowledged with a small quirk of the blonde's lips, Hiroshi turned back to face Kaen. "You got any plans? If not, both you and Ryuu are still welcome to come with me."

A fine eyebrow rose up under vermillion bangs. "Tokyo huh? I'm not sure. I'd like to see the old place again... and Kourin too... But we'll see ne?"

"Kourin would love to see you again too, I know..." Both Hiroshi and Kaen stood up as the director announced them wrapped up for the day and to be back here same time tomorrow.

As the two neared the door, Hiroshi took his leave with a smile at the couple and a brotherly clout on the man's shoulder. Heading for his dressing room, Hiroshi couldn't help but smile at the thought of seeing his girlfriend in little more than two weeks.

"What do you think of this one?"

Miaka pursed her lips as she tried to look critically at Kourin holding another outfit. It was hard. It was very hard... considering that most things looked good, if not stunningly, on Kourin. "I think I like the other one better."

Kourin looked from one outfit to the other with a thoughtful expression before shrugging and putting both back on the rack. "Not what I was really looking for anyway."

Miaka laughed and wagged a teasingly protesting finger at Kourin. "So that was just to put me through the agony of choosing?"

Grinning, Kourin shrugged and tugged Miaka out of the shop. "Come on, let's grab something to eat."

Expectedly, Miaka's eyes lit up. "Food!"

The two chatted animatedly as they made their way to the small cafes that dotted the street and Miaka revelled in the feeling of being with Nuriko once again. There was a contentedness that she couldn't describe, only to know that it was there, and had been there ever since she'd found her family once again.

But there were times that melancholy would overtake her, looking at this figure of Nuriko without able to share her true feelings. She had never hid anything from Nuriko, or could it be more correct that Nuriko sensed most of the things she'd felt... and to start keeping things from this Nuriko... It was difficult...

They had yet to decide on a method to give 'Kourin' the bracelets that were rightfully hers. Making a simple gift of them would be too sudden and also too extravagant, so they were waiting for the right time, and Miaka's patience was starting to wear thin.

During lunch, Miaka finally got around to asking, "So what *are* we shopping for Kourin-chan?"

Kourin smiled. "It's meant to be a secret, but I'm releasing a new single soon and they've decided that I can do whatever theme I want with it... so I want to try and find the best theme... and the outfit of course."

Hazel eyes lit up and Miaka eagerly prodded for more information. "Really? What's it called? How does it go?"

Laughingly, Kourin shook her head. "It's a secret, but it's a slow song, a little sad I guess... Lots of violins and strings."

Closing her eyes to imagine it, Miaka's lips quirked up. "It'll be a lovely song Kourin-chan. I can't wait to hear it..." Opening her eyes again, she blushed a little at Kourin's indulgent smile at her actions. "You should have told me sooner! Then at least, I could have helped you look." Miaka pouted before gathering up her things and putting down some cash for the lunch. Promptly standing up and reaching over for Kourin's hand, hazel eyes were now lit with a purpose. "Yoshi~! We are going to find you the perfect outfit!"

Chuckling a little, Kourin allowed herself to be dragged by the energetic woman in front of her. Something felt right about being in the presence of this girl. Whether it was her engaging and endearing personality or whether it was just the sense of genuine friendship and honest caring, she didn't know. But it was a good, and strangely enough, a familiar feeling... and she liked it...

Suddenly Kourin was pulled to a halt and she looked over to where Miaka had frozen. Worry crept over her features. "Miaka? Daijoubu...?"

Miaka on the other hand, was captured by the outfit she could see on the mannequin in the window next to her. Gazing at the dark blue ancient chinese style gown, trimmed in red and gold flowers, with lighter blue and volumous sleeves, a red skirt and sash accompanied with a light yellow wrap, Miaka shut her eyes tight against the memories.

'I couldn't find your earring, but I found this pretty rock...'

'You're... You're a GUY?!!'

'Ne Miaka~! Let's go the festival tonight!'

Tight and warm and secure arms holding her as she cried for Tamahome's loss.

'I had a younger sister... Kourin...'

'Even after the worst storm, the sun will always shine!'

A laugh. 'Tama-chan can't even keep his head on straight after my Nuriko-Specials... You two go find the others and I'll head up Mt. Black ne?'

And then her own choked voice. 'Nuriko...? Nuriko, wake up... Nuriko? Onegai, Nuriko.... OPEN YOUR EYES!!!'

"Miaka? Daijoubu? Miaka!"

The familiar voice pulled her out of her memories and not for the first time, she was tempted to throw herself into those arms that from the first moment, had always meant protection and security. But somehow, she restrained herself and bit down her tears before turning to the worried Kourin with a trembling smile. Gesturing at the dress, she said softly, "I think that would look perfect on you..."

Casting a frown at Miaka, Kourin tore her eyes from her companion long enough to glance at the dress Miaka had indicated... and found herself taking in an awed gasp.

Twenty minutes later, Kourin was still staring, awed at the reflection in the mirror. Miaka stood behind her, admiring her in the dress she'd chosen. "Perfect on you Kourin-chan..." But despite the happiness she could hear in Miaka's tone, Kourin could still see the slight sorrow that marred the usually cheery face.

"Miaka-chan? What's wrong..? Why so sad all of a sudden?"

Miaka shook her head, smiling with a touch of forlornness. "Nothing important Kourin-chan. You just remind me of a friend... who passed away... a long time ago."

Regardless of the way the store owner was watching her, Kourin walked over and put her arms around the girl in a comforting hug. "I'm sorry..."

Hiccuping softly, and unable to stop the one tear that fell from her eyes, Miaka bit her lip at the feeling of being in these arms again. Indeed, nothing had really changed... and Nuriko would always be Nuriko...

Hugging the taller woman once, Miaka took a step back and wiped her cheek with her hand, smiling once again. "It's okay... I'm fine now... and you still look beautiful in the dress."

Kourin smiled softly, looking down at herself again. "I like it too..." Turning to the store owner, she nodded. "I'll take it..."

Twenty minutes later, as they stood on the sidewalk, Kourin with bags in hand, and just about to say goodbye, Miaka recognized this for the opportunity that it was.

"I'll see you at work in a week ne Miaka?"

Miaka nodded, an excited spark flaring to life in her eyes. "Hai! Oh and if you have time, perhaps you'd like to come to my house for a visit? I have something that would go perfectly with that dress..."

Kourin smiled and nodded. "Sounds good. Talk to you later then!"

Watching the cab head off, Miaka sighed happily to herself. 'We'll have you back soon... Nuriko...'

Two days later, Yui sat at the lunch table she and Miaka usually shared at university waving as Miaka walked up with her lunch bag.

"Yui-chan!" Plopping herself down on a seat with a big smile, Miaka asked, "How was your day?"

Smiling at her best friend's lightened mood after she had related the details of her trip with Kourin, Yui shook her head. "Nothing much... I take it you're looking forward to work on Saturday?"

Miaka grinned, mouth stuffed with food, and could do nothing else but nod rapidly.

Laughing at how much Miaka resembled a squirrel at times like these, Yui took a small bite of her own lunch before saying, "I met a new boy last week, he was very nice..."

Swallowing her mouthful, Miaka raised an eyebrow at her childhood best friend. "But Yui-chan... Tetsuya-san..."

Eyes widening at what Miaka was implying, it took Yui a moment to notice the teasing sparkle in the other girl's eyes. Glaring as Miaka trailed off, Yui stuck her tongue out childishly at her friend, wishing once again that her own teasing streak had not rubbed off on Miaka. Shaking her head, Yui continued, "He's a nice boy... but a bit strange..."

Miaka stayed silent, munching as quickly as she could, eyes riveted on Yui's face.

"He's obviously a genius... Only fifteen and in university already..."

That made Miaka choke. Coughing for a while, with Yui pounding her on the back, Miaka gasped for breath before screeching, "Fifteen!?!!!"

"Baka! Be quiet!"

Calming down, Miaka whisper yelled, "Fifteen??"

Yui nodded solemnly. "But that's not what's really strange about him..."

Miaka blinked. There was more...? The idea of a fifteen year old in university was very very foreign to her but what other strangeness could there be about this boy?

Turning serious eyes onto her friend, Yui said, "He's interested in ancient asian history Miaka... especially myths and legends." Seeing the uncomprehending look on her friend's face, Yui dropped the bomb shell. "His favorite is the Universe of the Four Gods."

Miaka froze. Even she knew the obscurity of that particular legend among the rest of the population and for a boy to have claimed that it was his favorite... to have known of the details of that particular legend...

"I asked him to join us for lunch today... I thought maybe you'd like to talk to him as well. He's really very nice." Yui turned when a hesitant figure approached and waved him over with a smile. "Speaking of the devil. Miaka, this is Chang Doukun. Doukun-san, this is Sukunami Miaka."

The pale green eyed boy smiled warmly at Miaka. "Yoroshiku Sukunami-san."

Miaka on the other hand, had gone stock still, staring at the newcomer. Sure, she had never seen him grow up, had never seen him cut his hair, had never seen him in modern clothes and had never seen him looking at her as hesitantly as he did. But neither could she ever mistake the shy smile, that particular shade of auburn hair, and the infinite wisdom hidden behind the warm grass green eyes that seemed as innocent as they had been in another time, and another world.

A voice screamed inside her head. 'Boku wa... Boku wa Shichiseishi da!!!'

"Chiriko..."

Yui whipped her head around at the tiny whisper and stared at Miaka in shock.

Doukun on the other hand seemed amusedly confused. "You didn't tell me that your friend was also a fan of the Universe of the Four Gods, Yui-sempai..."

Chichiri leaned against his balcony and stared down at the bustling city below. It still didn't cease to amaze him at the world that was Miaka's and Yui's. The first time he'd been here, he'd been too hurt and too preoccupied to really notice his surroundings. But now that he'd had a closer look, he could see why Nakago had wanted to conquer this world instead.

Lost in thought for a while, Chichiri unconsciously smiled at the recent memory of Miaka's ecstatic face upon return from her trip with Kourin. It'd been difficult, knowing that he could not detect the others' ki because they didn't have their memories. But it seemed that things were going well... he just wished he could hurry things along a little faster.

Suddenly, a little piece of ki niggled at the fringes of his mind and Chichiri frowned. Expanding his senses and focusing on the small source of ki he could detect, Chichiri's eyes widened.

It couldn't be...

Could it...?

Nevertheless, it required investigation.

So without hesitation, Chichiri reached for the phone and paged Taka.

Taka ran a hand through his hair annoyedly as he walked towards the building site that was his destination. Trust him to have drawn meeting duty that month.

A new lab was being built for his company and every month, one person had to go and check that everything was going to plan. Being a relatively comfortable company in terms of personnel relations, the lab workers, he being one of them, were designated the ones who would meet with the construction company as only they really knew what had to be installed and where in the new lab. And so the lab workers had decided to draw lots every month to see who would get meeting duty, and it was his luck that he had drew that month.

It usually wasn't that bad, going for a meeting with the head of Hikawa Construction. For one thing, the man was reputed to be fair, if a bit hot-headed at times. But they had been working with Hikawa Construction for a long time, and saw no reason to change when they provided good quality services. This was partly because of the boss, a young man named Hikawa Kakeru. It would seem that the boss, unlike many other company owners, didn't mind getting his hands dirty with manual work, and even seemed to prefer being at the building site than in the office. It was rumored that he prefered a personal touch on most of the buildings his company undertook.

This of course meant that most of his employees respected, if not worshipped him, and thus resulted in best quality results. However, the bad thing was that, one never knew when Hikawa Kakeru was going to decide to head for the construction site.

Such was Taka's bad luck as he walked into Hikawa Construction's head office on the other side of town only to find that the boss had indeed, left his office to lend his men a hand at the work site, which just happened to be right across town near where he'd started from.

Sighing, Taka shook his head and straightened his blazer across his shoulders before stepping into the construction site and looking for the person in charge. Seeing a muscled man come towards him, Taka breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't have to go wandering around.

"Can I help you?"

"Uhh, yes. I'm with Jinchuu Medical Technologies, and I need to speak with Hikawa-san. I was told that he'd be here?"

The man frowned at him before pointing him in a direction with his thumb. "Talk to the foreman first."

Thanking the man and inwardly rolling his eyes at the similarities between this construction site and an office, Taka set off. He was impatient to get home. Chichiri had paged him about some important issue that he'd just sensed, and that he would be waiting when both he and Miaka got home to discuss it.

Finally finding the foreman after asking directions from a few more workers. Taka walked up to the blue-haired and tanned man, clearing his throat. "Excuse me, could you please point me in the direction of Hikawa-san?"

The man turned bright green eyes onto him and Taka noticed a faint scar that ran down the length of the foreman's cheek. But the man grinned at him. "I take it you're from Jinchuu."

Taka nodded.

"The boss is around the corner." With that, the cheerful foreman went back to his work.

Sighing at the prospect of his journey finally coming to an end, Taka rounded the corner and finally saw the 'boss' as most of his employees seemed to refer to him as. Hikawa Kakeru seemed to work as hard as any of his men, sweat dripping off his bareback and worn work-gloves on his hands while a hard safety helmet covered his head.

Taka coughed to get his attention.

"Yeah?" Hikawa's rough voice came back at him. "Wha' do ya want?"

"I'm sorry, I'm from Jinchuu Med Tech... We were scheduled for a meeting today?"

Hikawa's back straightened and he rose from his crouched position with a laugh. "That'd be right." The man turned and gave Taka a wide, fang-toothed grin. "Sorry I made you chase me all around town."

The apology faded into the back of Taka's mind... Faced with the man he'd come to find, Taka suddenly realized why he hadn't noticed the man's hair-color from behind when he had noticed almost everybody else's. It was because the color blended so well with the fiery orange of the safety helmet... a fiery orange that he had seen on no one else...

Taking in the man's dark amber eyes, the cocky grin and the small rings in both ears, an all too familiar sense of rightness stole over Taka. Even as he quelled the urge to duck when the man in front of him lifted his hand as if to take something from his back by way of over his shoulder, expecting the burst of flames, he was inwardly laughing with sheer delight. And as the man merely took the helmet off to fully reveal the unruly mop of flame-colored hair to complete the visage that Taka knew was burned into his memory, his mind could only whisper one word.

'Tasuki... Tasuki!'

Yui glanced over at Miaka worriedly as they crossed the park in the direction of Miaka's home. Since the meeting with Doukun, Miaka had been shocked and then emotional and now obviously trying to sort through her own thoughts.

Only Miaka knew what strength of will it took to not throw herself at the boy that had been the baby of the group and that had sacrificed his young life to his duty as a Suzaku Shichisei... Desperately, she had wanted to reassure herself that he was indeed there but had restrained herself in time.

Yui, she knew, had kept glancing at her during the conversation over lunch, tacitly asking her whether she was sure. But there could be no doubt.

"Miaka? You okay?"

Looking up from her musings, Miaka smiled brightly. "Hai! Daijoubu. Why wouldn't I be?" Impulsively, she threw herself at Yui and hugged her tight. "Arigato Yui-chan! Arigato!"

Yui smiled and hugged the brown-haired girl back. "You're welcome baka. So what are you going to do now?"

Miaka bit her lips. "Nuri... Kourin's coming over on Saturday so I guess we'll see how that goes first but... Chiriko! We found Chiriko Yui-chan!!" Suzaku no Miko laughed happily, feeling at peace with the world.

Shaking her head at Miaka's antics, Yui smiled before she realized that she was tugging at Nakago's earring again. Seating herself onto a bench, she was aware when Miaka sat down next to her and put a worried hand on her shoulder.

"Yui-chan? Daijoubu?"

Keeping her eyes on the ground, Yui sighed. "I miss them Miaka..."

Miaka blinked for a second before realization dawned on her. How could she be so insensitive? Here she was, dancing with joy at the reappearance of her family when Yui was so alone with none of hers. For like it or not, the Seiryuu Shichisei were Yui's family, no matter what they'd done... And Yui missed them. "Gomen Yui-chan.... I..."

"It's not your fault!" Yui cut in quickly. "I'm happy for you Miaka... But sometimes, I wonder why I miss them and come up with no answers, only to say that I do..." Tugging at the earring again, Yui finally lifted her head to gaze into Miaka's sorrowful hazel eyes. "Do you think... they could be here...? That day before we met you at Phoenix's Lair, Keisuke-san, Tetsuya and I were at a cafe when a stranger ordered me an iced coffee... I thought I saw a shin in the tea Miaka... I really did..." For the first time in the conversation, Yui's tone was in need of reassurance. "Do you think... they could be here?"

Miaka put a comforting around around the other's shoulders. "Anything's possible Yui-chan... And I promise, if they're here... we'll find them. We'll find them togther..."

Just then, a squeal of tyres and then a muffled thud as something hit something drew both girls' attention to the road in time to see the grey/white body of a large dog hit the pavement from where it'd been thrown into the air by a car.

Time stood still for a moment before it was shattered by an teenage male voice screaming a name.

"ASHITARE!!!!!"

Yui's eyes widened.

End notes: *grins* Well there's the second episode... how was it? ^^;;; Like I said, I have no idea what the norm is for FY reincarnation fics so this one might be painfully similar or weirdoish original... So I have to have some feedback~~!! Please!! *holds up sign* "Feed the author!"