4   Nuriko's Pure Love

The place was like a desert.

"This is my village?... Hakukou Village?..." Taka fell to his knees, his vacant eyes wandered.

The home he was born and raised in, the rivers and fields, and... even the grave where he buried his family who were butchered by Suboshi... it was all gone.

"Dad... Chuuei... Shunkei... Gyokuran... Yuiren..." Taka called the names of his family...

"...It's gotta be tough... Taka..." Tasuki put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

The hometown of Taka... Tamahome, that they had stopped by for a visit on their rough going journey after they had left Mitsukake, was already swallowed up into nothingness.

"Dammit......" Taka clenched his fists as he held back his tears...

He had parents and siblings as Sukunami Taka, his real world reincarnation, but he was seized by feelings of loss as if the core of his heart was being ripped apart.

It felt like his existence as Tamahome was being denied.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Being born in that village and earnestly working as the breadwinner of the family since he was little. It felt like it was all a lie.

And introducing Miaka to his family here and his younger sister Yuiren adoring Miaka... and Yuiren making a bride's floral decoration for Miaka... yes, it felt as if meeting Miaka itself ...as if it never happened.

"...Taka... Are you ready to go now...?" Chichiri gently announced their departure to Taka...

"Yeah..." Taka stood up as if to shake off the ominous thoughts that had taken hold of him. "If we go a little further, there should be a small town. How about we rest there today?..."

"...Yeah, I'm pooped..."

The 3 trudged along. Behind them came a mocking "caw caw".

The ominous black group had been following them unnoticed.

"You're still alive!?" Tasuki turned around and flung up the tessen at the flock of flying ravens. "Hehha Hinhen~ (Lekka Shinen)" But all that come out of the tessen was a spark like a toy firework. "Shit... I'm too starved, my power won't work very well..."

Taka shook his head as if he couldn't take it. "They're... demons with no substance... And with their dirty ways... they eat into people's hearts..."

The town that the group staggered to was quite different from Tamahome's hometown. It didn't appear to show any signs of destruction.

"We're looking for an inn in this town no desu but..." Chichiri caught hold of a man and asked.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Oh, you're travelers?" Looking deeply interested, the man questioned the 3 instead. "Hey. Is it true what they say about the country disappearing?"

"...Yes, it's true." Taka answered.

The man said with an expression of disbelief. "I see... But how 'bout what they're saying about another Suzaku no Miko having come from the other world?"

"Yeah. She's a fake... mff mff..."

The 2 covered Tasuki's mouth.

"Well, whatever happens I'm sure she has a plan to save the country. Oh medetashi medetashi." The man cheerfully smiled and pointed to an inn. "That way."
 
 

"What's medetashi medetashi? It's your head that's medetashi..." Tasuki threw open the inn door as he grumbled. "Hey. Is anybody here?!"

The 3 entered the inn and looked around.

"Are they on a break no da...?"

"What a disappointment. And this is supposedly the only inn..."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"......come..."

"Huh...?"

"Did you hear a voice just now...?"

"Welcome..."

"Huuh?? Where's it coming from~?"

Taka, Chichiri, and Tasuki kept looking back and forth.

"Errrrrrrgh~~~~!" They heard a shriek and the stamping of feet on the ground.

"Huh???" The 3 looked down simultaneously.

A small girl looked up at them and grinned.

She was a pretty girl with large eyes and petal like lips.

"You're customers, right?! I've been welcoming you for awhile now!!"

"Wha~t? Little girl, are ya minding the store?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Impressive no da..."

"Uh-huh!"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Ha ha ha, you're cute..."

"Uh-huh. Thank you." The girl smiled with big eyes.

"Well then are your mom and dad around? We're tired so we wanna get some sleep soon."

"Why are you tired?"

"We're on a journey no da..."

"H~m, what kind of journey?"

"Um. You know, that might be a bit difficult for a little girl to understand."

"Why, why?" The girl wouldn't leave the 3 alone and barraged them with questions.

Tasuki looked mean and said. "Enough, would ya hurry and get someone already...! I told ya we're tired."

"Tasuki. You've got a scary enough face as it is... quit it no da." Chichiri scolded him.

Not frightened at all by Tasuki, the girl looked at what Taka held in his hand with big eyes. "What's this?! What a pretty ball! And there's a character written on it."

At that, their eyes were drawn to the hint sphere.

"Wah wah wawawawawah! It's true, there it is~~~~~~" Tasuki said in a loud voice.

"It's 'bu'!" Taka had forgotten to check the sphere for awhile due to the shock of seeing his hometown disappearing. He looked at it in disbelief.

The character "bu" appeared in the hint sphere clear as day.

"That means..."
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"That's right no da..."

"Huh? Y-you're..."

The 3 men simultaneously looked down at the girl. She tilted her head, her rose lips partly open.

"Nuriko~~~~~~~~~~~~!?!?!?!?"

And then Chichiri said. "Nuriko... has been reincarnated as a girl no da..."

Taka nodded and sighed.

As she looked at the 3 customers the girl laughed. "Ah ha ha. Nuriko~? What's that? I don't have such a weird name. I'm Ko Reishun. Where's your lu~gage?" Reishun easily carried their luggage with that small body of hers.

Tasuki's shoulders drooped. "Damn. She doesn't remember either..."

An hour later, their tiredness from traveling forgotten, Taka, Chichiri, and Tasuki, faced Reishun's parents with bloodshot eyes.

"Huh~!? Our Reishun is the reincarnation of a Suzaku Seishi?" The merchant like father looked at the 3 suspiciously, his balding head shining. "So you guys are Tamahime, Chiroru, and Dosukoi?"

The 3 slumped over.

"Not Tamahime, Tamahome."

"Not Chiroru, Chichiri no da."

"Who the hell is Dosukoi?! It's Tasuki! It's completely different!" Tasuki's lips trembled.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"I'm sorry. My husband doesn't have a head for anything but business." The wife said in a clipped tone.

"Reishun-chan has great strength, doesn't she? Nuriko's Seishi power was superhuman strength." Taka said.

The wife waved her hands. "Please stop. Reishun has great strength for an 8 year old girl but not superhuman strength..."

"Since she's a reincarnation it's natural that she doesn't have power like before no desu da..."

The innkeeper crossed his arms and looked at the 3 suspiciously again. "I've heard of the Suzaku Seishi's exploits long ago. But, even though you say the country is being destroyed, this place hasn't changed at all, has it? You're saying that as a roundabout way to kidnap our Reishun, aren't you?"

"What was that?..." Tasuki stood up.

Chichiri held him back. "It's understandable that they wouldn't believe us no da..."

Taka bowed his head to the father. "Please! There's no time to lose. Sooner or later this town should show signs of destruction. If we don't gather the Seishi and summon Suzaku, Kounan Country will truly disappear."

"So you say."

The wife said to the sullen looking innkeeper. "Dear. Why don't we have them show us proof that they're Seishi? Seishi a have a character on a part of their body, don't they?"

The 3 were speechless again.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"What's wrong? Where are your characters?..."

Taka hung his head dejectedly. "......We don't have our characters anymore... Because our original role of Seishi is already over..."

The proprietor of the inn chuckled. "Because you're swindlers after all?  Because our Reishun, as you can see, is a pretty girl who'll become the prettiest woman in the country in another 10 years. Will you go home now that we found out your true intentions? Hey, someone bring the salt." The innkeeper made that parting remark and stood up.

"Please wait!" Taka frantically tried to stop Ko. "When Reishun-chan was still little she should've had memories of when she was the Seishi Nuriko."

"Right! She should've said something that has some connection, like with Mitsukake."

Chichiri asked the parents. "Did she say anything repeatedly up until she was about 1 year old no desu da?"

The mother tilted her head at that. "Yes... Even though we never taught her it... Reishun said it a lot..."

The 3 simultaneously sidled up to the mother.

"Wh-what did she say?"

The wife said. "Girl..."

"Girl~??"

"Right. She happily kept going on 'girl girl'..."

Taka and the others looked at each other.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"I see no da... Nuriko wanted to be born a girl this time no da..."

The mother asked coldly. "What? What do you mean by that?"

Tasuki answered. "Cause Nuriko was gay."

It suddenly became perfectly quiet.

"Are you saying... that my daughter is the reincarnation of... a gay?......" The proprietor slowly stood up, the blood vessel on his temple bulging as his arms shook.

Beside him his wife also frowned and glared their way.

"......That... was her previous life so... please calm down Ko-san..." Taka tried to somehow appease the man.

Tasuki pushed Taka aside and confronted the man. "What the?! What's wrong with being gay?! Nuriko isn't like most gays. He was a great guy who was way way more masculine than most men and way way more feminine than most women! Your daughter is the reincarnation of that kind of person! How 'bout having more pride, ya dumbass!!!!"

"Ergh! Quiet! Shut up and leave."

At the owner of the inn's words, several employees rushed into the room and violently threw Tasuki and the others along with their belongings outside the inn.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"And don't come back, you kidnappers." The wife suddenly sprinkled salt.
 
 

Tasuki ground his teeth and glared at the inn door that slammed shut. "Shit~... What the hell was that?..." He said and mumbled to his friends. "Sorry... He just got me worked up..."

"What's done is done no da..." Chichiri shook his head.

"I suppose it's a unbelievable story from a parent's perspective..." As he said that Taka looked at his left hand and cried out. "It's gone...! It's gone!"

"What's wrong no da?..."

"The sphere... Taiitsukun's hint sphere... is gone..."

"Wha~t?!"

"Where could I have lost it!? I'm sure I had it when we found Nuriko..."

"Aah. She must've..."

The 3 turned pale. Then they heard a nursery rhyme like melody.

"1, 2, 3, 4, let's play together. Let's play ball."

".........!?"
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
As if drawn to that singing, the 3 made their way past 2 back alleys and cried out.

"...I knew it..."

There was the inn's daughter, Reishun, playing ball by herself.

And the ball... was that hint sphere of Taiitsukun's.

Reishun looked at the 3 who came near her, quit playing ball, and suddenly hid the sphere in her breast.

"Little girl, that sphere is ours." Taka drew near the girl as he forced a smile.

"No! This is mine." The girl tightly held the sphere.

"Reishun-----------! Where are you?" The mother called her daughter from the house.

When Reishun turned to the voice, Tasuki quickly snatched the sphere.

"What're you doing you thief." Reishun grabbed Tasuki.

"What the? You're the one who's a thief." Tasuki angrily replied to the 8 year old girl.

Reishun cried out. "Give it baaaack." She grabbed the sphere.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Tasuki tugged the sphere saying "Ya think I'm gonna just hand it over?"

"No~~~~~~"

"Hey, would ya let go."

Crush...

"Wa......"

Taiitsukun's hint sphere had suddenly broke like glass in Reishun's hand and fallen to the floor.

"..............." The 4 silently looked at the broken pieces of the sphere.

"......It's almost the same power as back then no da..." Chichiri muttered.

Taka shook the girl. "Nuriko! Do you remember?!"

The 3 stared at Reishun thinking for sure that her memories would return when her original power unconsciously came out, just as with Mitsukake.

But instead of remembering, Reishun's face suddenly contorted and she burst into tears. "Waaaaaaaa~~~~~~h! You guys broke my baaaall."

"Reishun." Hearing her daughter voice, the mother walked their way bringing the inn's employees along with her.

"............!!!!" Taka, Chichiri, and Tasuki looked at each other.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"Reishun-------------"

The footsteps were getting closer.

The girl cried out.

"Ergh!" Tasuki grabbed Reishun, put her on his back, and ran. "Let's go! This is all we can do now."

Since leaving the town and passing several villages, the 3 horses with Tasuki's horse that the crying girl was on sprinting in the lead, finally stopped.

The 3 got off their horses and stood there silently as they caught their breath.

Tasuki gently lowered the girl that he was carrying to the ground.

Reishun stood up straight, her crying forgotten.

"......Sorry 'bout that."

Taka kneeled down and patted Reishun's head. "Sorry, that must've been scary... But we're not bad guys."

"We just want you to travel with us a bit no da. We'll bring you home again no da..." Chichiri grinned with his fox mask that was popular with children.

But the 3 knew it wasn't the time for smiling.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
They had found Nuriko and forcibly lead her away but they didn't know when her memories would return. As Chiriko said, the memories would fade as time passes since the reincarnation. It was a clear fact that the recovery of memories would naturally become more difficult as time passes.

And the hint sphere that they were relying on to find Hotohori, the only one left to find, was broken by Nuriko's superhuman strength.

Right above them the flock of ravens cawed again as if teasing the group.

The 3 surrounded Reishun at their wits end.
 
 

Returning to herself, the girl was sure to cry out again just like before.

Waiting patiently for that, Taka, Chichiri, and Tasuki tiredly looked at Reishun.

But the girl didn't burst out into tears.

Instead of bursting out in tears her large eyes began to sparkle. "Hey. Are we going on a journey now?" Reishun asked them in a innocent voice.

"Yeah we are."

"Then, there's a place I want to go to!"

"...Hu~h" Everyone tilted their heads simultaneously.

"To the capitol?"

The girl shook her head.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"I know. To where your grandpa and grandma are, right?"

The girl shook her head.

"Where do you want to go no da?..."

"Well..." Reishun answered a bit hesitatingly. "To where the person I love is!" She said and hid her face.

"To where the person you love is...?"

Reishun blushed and nodded. "...Uh-huh. The boy I saw the other day when I was playing at a relatives house..." The girl gradually began to speak smoothly. "He was such a beautiful boy. As beautiful as me... no, way more beautiful than me. I want to see him. I'm sure we're fated to be together. "

Tasuki sighed. "Sigh~. That determination and attraction to good looks is just like before~."

"Then, you want to go to the city where those relatives live no da...?"

Reishun shook her head. "No. He just happened to have come to that city with someone. He lives somewhere else."

Taka lifted Reishun in his arms. "I'm sorry. We're really in a hurry. We'll take you there later. Right now Reishun-chan, I want you to listen to me carefully." Taka figured he better tell her the Suzaku legend before anything else.

Reishun's face contorted.

"Aaaah. I can't take it anymore~" Tasuki tore at his head.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
Reishun broke out crying and struggled in Taka's arms. "Nooo! I'm going!"

"......Reishun-chan. Please..."

"No no no! I'm going, I'm going to Suzaku Village~"

The 3 gasped when they heard the name of the village. "Suzaku...!?" Taka, Chichiri, and Tasuki looked at each other.

"Reishun-chan, did you just say Suzaku Village no da...?" Chichiri asked the girl.

She nodded as she wiped away her tears.

Everyone was now thinking the same thing.

The beautiful boy that Reishun...no, Nuriko fell in love at first sight with.

And the name of the village where he lived was "Suzaku".

The 3 Seishi nodded silently, and brushed aside their hunger and exhaustion.
Translation by Tasuki no Miko
"......Let's go no da...!" Chichiri's kesa fluttered in the wind.