2   Mitsukake's Healing

Taka and Chichiri joined him.

"We're out of water no da..." Chichiri turned the water bottle upside down and shook his head.

Taka looked at the dried up river before them with vacant eyes. "Chichiri... Will Chiriko be alright?"

"Yes. I'm sparing as much attention as I can so that the barrier around Chiriko can't be broken no da but..." Chichiri answered with a worn out expression.

"But that wet nurse, Gyuuho, acting like that all of a sudden..." Tasuki muttered.

Taka silently bit his lip.

There was something evil near them and it was hindering them from finding the Suzaku Seishi.

He had a feeling that it was Sakaki Mayo behind it.

Taka looked at Taiitsukun's sphere.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Hey. Try hitting it. It might make a character appear like the time with Chiriko..." Tasuki told him in a parched voice.

Without thinking, Taka tried it but this time it was unresponsive. The 3 dejectedly looked out over the desolated mountain village.

"Excuse me..." A small voice came from behind them.

They turned around with a gasp. A girl about 10 years old with graceful features stood in front of the 3.

"You're travelers, right? Please take this water if you want..." The girl extended a bucket filled with water before the 3.

"But... this is your family's..."

The girl shook her head at Taka's words. "There's a spring that gushes water out here. I can get some more so..."

"O-oh?! Thanks little girl." Tasuki was the first to greedily plunge his head into the water bucket.

Taka and Chichiri followed suit, not holding back either.
 
 

With their horses in tow, the 3 followed the girl who offered to put them up for the night after they had filled up with water from the spring.

"We're really sorry to trouble you no da."

"It's no trouble." The girl shook her head as she smiled. "When we get to my house I'll get an infusion for you from the man next door. It works re--ally well on fatigue..."

"Oh. The man next door is a doctor then?"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
The girl nodded at Taka's words. "Yep. A really nice one. He has a boy that I get along well with. He's always with me going Shouka-neechan, Shouka-neechan."

The 3 all stopped at once.

"Your... name is Shouka!?" Taka grabbed the girl's shoulder.

"That's right." Shouka said and pointed a bit ahead at the deserted village that had just come into view. "See. There's my house."

"Tasuki! Chichiri! Look!!" Taka held the hint sphere in front of the 2.

"Oh, ohhhhhh~ A character has appeared, ha~sn't it!?"

Another new character appeared in the sphere.

"By the way, what does it say?"

"Heal. Healing... We've found Mitsukake no da..." Chichiri squinted his real eyes.

"Shouka-neechan!" Having found the girl, a small figure scrambled toward them. A young white cat followed close behind the child.

"Ah... that cat... must be a reincarnation too no da..." Chichiri, reminded of Mitsukake's white cat that had suddenly disappeared about 5 years ago, whispered to his friends.

"Chousei." Shouka said to the child who clung tightly to her. "I'm back. I'm sorry, were you lonely?"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"You shouldn't go off by yourself. Didn't I tell you I'd always be with you and protect you?" The child said with a firm tone.

"But, Chousei, weren't you napping? You're still only 5 years old, Chousei." Shouka giggled and patted Chousei's head.

The white cat happily rubbed it's face against Shouka's leg.

Having seen that, Taka, Chichiri, and Tasuki looked at each other and nodded.

It had to be. Just like Chiriko said, Mitsukake had been reincarnated as the child of a poor mountain village doctor.

Then could the girl named Shouka be the infant that Mitsukake saved just before he died? If so then because Shouka was a baby back then that must be why she can be with Mitsukake's reincarnation.

"Mitsukake! Good to see ya again. You've became a really cute boy." Tasuki patted the small boy's shoulder. "It's me, Tasuki. Look, Taka and Chichiri are here too. You're with your cat as usual, aren't ya?"

The boy, however, titled his head. "Shouka-neechan. Who are these people?"

"What're ya saying? Don't play dumb, Mitsukake."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
The boy smacked away Tasuki's hand and glared at them. "Who are you guys?! You didn't do anything bad to neechan, did you?"

The cat bared its fangs at the same time that the boy got angry.

"Huh!?..."

Chichiri put a hand on a speechless Tasuki's shoulder. "Mitsukake has lost his memories no da..."

"Probably the cat... as well..." Taka drooped his shoulders.
 
 

Mitsukake's father, the village doctor, Jo, listened to their story, crossed his arms, and sighed. "I see... He's the reincarnation of a Suzaku Seishi..." The doctor, who looked just like the previous Mitsukake, muttered as he offered the fatigue infusion to Taka and the others. "Finally I understand why he was so fond of the next door neighbor girl, Shouka... Ever since I could remember, he's been insisting that he would 'protect Shouka-neechan'. So it was because they had that kind of connection?... Shouka's parents died a long time ago and she was taken in by distant relatives from this village."

"I see no da..."

So then Mitsukake was reincarnated in this family with no problems.

Taka asked Chousei's father. "Your son doesn't have any memories of being a Seishi?..."

The village doctor titled his head. "Come to think of it, I remember being surprised when he first started talking. He'd say... 'suzaku' from time to time. But after awhile he no longer said that."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Everyone loses their memories just like Chiriko no da..." Chichiri knit his brow.

"How do we recover Mitsukake's memories?..." Taka said as he watched the 2 children happily playing outside the window.

"That's a problem, isn't it?..." Tasuki also crossed his arms.

"But if this keeps up, Kounan Country will be destroyed, won't it?" Chousei's father looked at the 3 with anxious eyes. "The crops of this mountain village have also withered away and there are old people and children starving to death... There's nothing in my power that I can do."

Taka said to the doctor. "Will you entrust your son to us?"

"Chousei...?"

"Yes. We still have to find 2 more people. We don't have any more time. While we're doing that we'd like to somehow revive his memories but..."

"Right. He might remember something if he's with us." Tasuki nodded.

Chichiri also agreed and bowed his head to the father. "Please no da."

After thinking it over for awhile, Jo said. "Alright. Please take Chousei. My wife died of an incurable disease soon after giving birth to Chousei. My wife in heaven would also approve. If Chousei can help save the country, she would be happy..."

"Father!" The 3 grasped the hand of the father who looked just like Mitsukake.

"But..." He then said. "Will Chousei agree to leaving Shouka to set out on a journey?..."

"No! I won't leave Shouka-neechan!"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
The next morning, surrounded by the 3 Seishi, his father, and Shouka's adopted parents, Chousei clung to Shouka as usual and wouldn't let go. Everyone was at a loss.

"Chousei. Listen. If you don't go, this country will be destroyed. You know that, don't you?..." His father told him.

Chousei instantly fell silent.

"I told you about the Suzaku Seishi last night, right? That you were one of them..."

"......I don't know anything about that..." Chousei blubbered.

The father and mother who raised Shouka looked at the next door neighbor child in bewilderment.

Though they had heard that the child was the reincarnation of the Suzaku Seishi, Mitsukake, who saved Shouka's life long ago, it seemed it still hadn't sunk in.

"Hey. He really doesn't want to go... It's so sad... Jo-san." Shouka's adopted mother couldn't stand by and look.

"Chousei. Don't answer without even hearing them out!" Shouka said and suddenly pulled Chousei off her violently. "You want to protect me, right? Then you shouldn't be here. If you don't go, everyone will die! I'll die."

"......Shouka-neechan..."

Shouka continued. "Are you that much of a coward? I don't like that kind of boy."

The boy's small body began to tremble.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"......Shouka-chan..." Taka said to the 10 year old girl, clasping his hands together in his mind.

"Come on, let's go. You can ride up in front of me..." Tasuki pulled Chousei up on his horse.

Chousei looked over bitterly at the people who saw him off.

His eyes stopped on Shouka.

Shouka gave a great nod to Chousei. She stood there resolutely even as she desperately tried to hold back her tears. At her side the white cat sadly meowed.

"Please take care of him..." The father bowed his head to the 3 Seishi.

Dark clouds hung over the road and dust swirled as the group silently departed.

Soon after, black clouds slowly moved over the village but the 3 on their horses didn't notice.

That night, having made a place to sleep in a hollow of one of the mountains they crossed, the 3 sighed.

"He's finally asleep no da..."

At first, bringing Chousei on the journey was OK, but then the wailing child was really giving the 3 trouble and they were unable to continue the journey.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Shouka....nee...chan..." The child sadly talked in his sleep.

"Poor thing..." Tasuki said as he looked down at the child. "But I can't believe he's really Mitsukake... Chiriko was a surprise too but since he had his memories..."

"Will we... be able to return Mitsukake's memories?..." Taka muttered feeling depressed.

"I'm concerned about what'll happen now. Won't he just be a burden?..."

"At any rate we better get some rest too no da... We'll sleep in shifts no da." Chichiri told the 2.
 
 

Chousei opened his eyes with a gasp.

His heart was beating loudly.

"......Shouka...neechan..."

The sky began to grow light.

The 3 Suzaku Seishi men seemed to be sleeping against a large nearby tree.

Chousei quietly stood up so as not to wake them.

If he didn't hurry, Shouka-neechan would die.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
He slowly ran away.

His pace gradually quickened.

The boy began to run at full speed toward the village.

"Shouka-neechan!"

He'd had a dream. Shouka was surrounded by an evil flock and was being hurt. She was in pain... It was a scary dream...

"Shouka-neechan!!!!"

Chousei didn't think of what Shouka told him yesterday.

He just continued to run, anxious about Shouka.

"Wah! Oh no! He got awaaay." Tasuki woke up from dozing off on his watch. It was already an hour after Chousei had left. Taka and Chichiri jumped up at Tasuki's loud voice. "That damn bra~t."

Chichiri poked his staff at the steaming Tasuki who ignored his own negligence. "What's done is done no da!"
 
 

With Chichiri's spell, the 3 returned to the village again and froze at a strange voice.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Shouka! Shouka! Hang in there." A woman's cry came from a neighboring house.

The 3 rushed into the house. "............!"

The adopted parents continued to call out the 10 year old girl's name as they cried. The girl's entire body was covered in blood.

Chousei's father hung his head beside them.

"What...happened?..."

Noticing the 3, Jo shook his head and said. "......She was attacked by a large flock of ravens... They all of a sudden went after just her... There wasn't anything we could do... We tried everything we could but..."

"Wha~t?"

Caw... Caw... Caw...

Hearing the eerie cries of the ravens, Tasuki rushed outside. "Lekka Shinen--------------------!"

The black group circling high above Shouka's house were engulfed in the flames that gushed out of the tessen and instantly fell down. Tasuki crushed the remains under his foot in irritation.

Going back into the house, Tasuki reported to his friends in a low voice. "...I turned them all into roast chicken..."

"Shouka~~~~..." Nearby, the adopted mother continued to rock her barely breathing daughter.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"By the way... why are you here?..." Jo asked.

Taka questioned him instead. "Chousei-kun hasn't returned here?"

"Huh...!?" The doctor shook his head with a surprised look.

"I'm sorry! He got away... when I dozed off." Tasuki bowed.

"It's your fault!" Shouka's adopted mother said to them. "Because you took Chousei. That child really did protect Shouka! That's why this has happened..."

"Don't..." The husband tried to calm down his wife.

"No! And on top of that, you didn't keep your eye on Chousei. He's only 5 years old. What do you think would happen if he'd gotten lost on a dangerous mountain path?! How terrible of you. You've been irresponsible with... such a little boy..."

"Mom... stop......" The dying girl's mouth barely moved.

"Shouka, Shouka..."

"...I'm...... O...K......" Shouka said with gasping breath. "Chousei...... carried out...... his mission...... for me......" Shouka said and gave a small smile.

Long ago, Mitsukake's lover, Shouka, held a grudge against Mitsukake after she died from a disease and became a horrible byouma. But she was saved by Suzaku no Miko's heart and peacefully passed away in Mitsukake's arms.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Then she was reincarnated as a girl named Shouka again.

In the violent war with Kutou Country, the weakened baby's life was saved by Mitsukake just before he exhausted himself and died.

And then, 10 years later... The light of the girl's life was now quietly going out again.
 
 

At that moment, there was a sound of something breaking down the front door.

Everyone turned around and open their eyes wide with a gasp.

"......Chousei."

Not seeming to hear his father, Chousei ran up to Shouka's bed at full speed.

He must have ran the whole way without stopping... His breath came out in gasps, his small chest heaving.

"......Shouka...neechan......" Chousei clung to the girl. "You can't! You can't die! I came back. I came back..."

But, though he called her and shook her, Shouka didn't open her eyes.

Jo gently took the girl's hand, checked her pulse, and shook his head. "It's... no use now..."

"Why?! Why?! Even though I had to be with her no matter what happened. Even though, no matter how important it was, I had to protect the person special to me..." Chousei shouted.

"......Mitsukake..." Taka softly murmured.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Chousei put his left hand to Shouka's small wounded face. "......Why? ......Why is this happening again...... Shouka..."

Taka, Tasuki, and Chichiri had been hanging their heads. They raised their heads with a gasp at the words that came out of the 5 year old boy's mouth.

And then they saw.

A red light came out of Chousei's outstretched palm...

Then, at that moment, Shouka's wounds vanished without a trace...
 
 

Chousei slowly turned around.

He showed his friends the character "sad" written on his palm and silently nodded.

"Mitsukake! You remember?"

He smiled at Taka's question. "Shouka will be alright now. She should wake up soon..."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
The white cat also meowed in an adult sounding voice at Mitsukake's side.