Listen!

Beautiful Music From a Special Flute!

Episode 15

Tasuki let out a large sigh. The others echoed his sentiments. They had been searching for the better part of a week and still no sign of the last Shichi Seishi had been found. It was enough to make even Lina's optimism run dry.

"Are you sure this is where the scroll says the next Shichi Seishi is?" asked Tamahome for the umpteenth time, eyeing Lina critically. "I seem to recall you mentioning that three days ago in the other village we visited."

It was enough to make everyone's tempers short, too. Lina, whose temper was already part of the short end of the stick, hit the boiling point. She thrust the Shijintenchiso at him and snarled, "Well, why don't you tell me where we're supposed to go, Tama-chan!"

His eyes narrowed as he grabbed the scroll. "I told you before to stop calling me that!" He turned at looked at the purple-haired Shichi Seishi. "It's all your fault!"

"Ne?" asked Nuriko, puzzled. "What is?"

"Tama-chan! You were the one who started calling me that and now everyone does!"

Nuriko smiled, hoping to lighten the situation, "Well, it's better than Lina calling Tasuki 'Fang-chan', now, isn't it? Tama-chan is so cute."

"I am NOT Fang-chan!" cried Tasuki, inadvertently showing his fangs.

"I am NOT Tama-chan!" yelled Tamahome at the same time.

"Well, excuse me," said Nuriko, miffed.

"Oi, this isn't getting us anywhere," interjected Lina, hands on her hips. "Now, Tama-kun, where's the last Suzaku no Shichi Seishi supposed to be?"

"Tama-kun, now, is it? That name's not any better than Tama-chan! I thought you knew! You were in such a rush to summon Suzaku and go home, after all!"

Nuriko tried to calm down tempers, "It's not her fault; we all know how hard the scroll is to interpret. All of us have had troubles trying to figure out where the last Shichi Seishi is!"

"Oh, sure, be on her side why don't you, because you both just love to call us -chan and other insulting names!" Tamahome threw down the scroll in disgust.

"That's the only copy of the Shijintenchiso we have, no da!" scolded Chichiri as he retrieved it, dusting it off.

Nuriko withdrew back several steps, muttering to himself.

"Chichiri, where's the next Shichi Seishi supposed to be? Please tell me he's nearby. The sooner I get away from this place, the better."

"Actually, I believe that the last Suzaku no Shichi Seishi is -" started Chichiri.

"What, so you're saying you don't like being around us anymore, is that it?" Tamahome retorted. "Just here for the three wishes and then, poof, you're gone, now is it?"

"I don't belong here, this isn't my world. I can't even use my magic here!" growled Lina angrily. "What are you getting so uppity about? Don't you want to save Konankoku? That's the whole point of being a Suzaku no Shichi Seishi!"

"-around here somewhere, no da," ended Chichiri, although no one heard him.

"The point," said Tamahome through gritted teeth, "of being a Suzaku no Shichi Seishi is to protect Suzaku no Miko, although why I'd want to do that when you obviously don't want it is a mystery to me!"

"Fine! I don't need your help any! I'll go find the last Shichi Seishi by myself!" With that, Lina stormed off towards the village.

"Hey, Lina, wait!" Nuriko ran after her.

Tamahome looked at Tasuki and Mitsukake, who were giving him an odd glance. "What are you two looking at?" he spat.

They both got large sweatdrops. "Um, nothing," said Tasuki quickly while Mitsukake bent down to make sure his cat was all right.

"Nyao!" purred the cat.

"And you!" He turned to Chichiri. "Where's this last Shichi Seishi? We're going to find him before Lina does!"

"Daaaaa..." said Chichiri nervously. "He should be in this village, no da."

"Great!" Tamahome stomped off in the village, taking a different direction than Lina and Nuriko. "The sooner this is over with, the better!"

Chichiri sighed and shook his head. "This isn't going very well at all, na no da."

Lina stomped around the town for several minutes, ignoring Nuriko. She had to use her pent up anger before she did something greatly irrational, like lob highly destructive spells at unsuspecting citizens and destroying large portions of villages. Tamahome was being so... so... irritating! What was his problem? He knew the deal with the miko was that she came from another world, summoned the god, and then went home again. Didn't he? Or was he refusing to accept it?

Why would he refuse to accept it?

"Lina-chan! Ne, Lina-chan, slow down and calm yourself, okay? We can't solve anything or find the last Suzaku no Shichi Seishi if we split up into groups that won't even talk with each other!"

She stared at him. He stared right back at her.

"Damn," said Lina. "I'm being a pain again, aren't I? It's just so frustrating to have suddenly found so many Shichi Seishi and then, the last one keeps slipping through our fingers. And what's happening in Kutoukoku? How's Naga doing? And... and things keep piling up and nothing can make them better. Nothing I know of, at least."

They sat down on some steps in front of a large store. Nuriko patted Lina's head lightly, smiling, "Ah, it's okay. We all get like that sometimes." He looked up at the blue sky, and remarked, "It's not like we're perfect just because we're Shichi Seishi or anything. We're human, after all. Everyone makes mistakes."

"But why did he get so angry over it?" Lina could not figure this part of puzzle out.

Nuriko gave her a quick glance. "You know, don't you? No... you don't... No wonder..."

Lina eyed Nuriko, "Know what?"

He leaned closer and whispered softly into her ear, "You didn't know that Tamahome's in love with you."

Two seconds passed.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD?!" screamed Lina at the top of her lungs. Once the initial shock was over, she said in a much more reasonable tone of voice, "You're kidding me, right? Haha, very funny Nuriko."

He smiled widely. "A person in love can always tell when someone else is in love, you know. Don't you see the way he protects you? That's why he can get so angry when you refuse him. He wants to protect you with all his heart, but a lot of the time you don't need it, and he sees it as a rejection of his help."

Lina's cheeks turned bright red, rivaling the maraschino cherry, the tomato and the cinnamon candy for the reddest objects in the known universe. She held her head in her hands. "Great. The last thing I need is for some guy in some strange world I don't even belong in to go ga-ga over me. At least Hotohori got a clue when I didn't respond to his advances. But I don't think Tamahome will ever give up."

"And that's why Tamahome doesn't want to you go home," Nuriko concluded.

"Damn, damn, damn, and quadruple damn! As if life wasn't complicated enough! What am I supposed to do now?"

"I think," suggested Nuriko, "that we should find the last Suzaku no Shichi Seishi."

"Damn," said Lina one last time. "Fine. Let's start searching."

Tamahome was not happy. He had blazed a trail through the city and found not a single clue relating to the existence of the last Shichi Seishi. It was enough to make his blood boil. And then there was the whole deal with Lina. What was her problem, anyway? She was acting like she could care less about any of them and that summoning Suzaku was her only goal in world. What about the rest of them? What was supposed to happen after Suzaku was summoned? Why couldn't Lina see there was more at stake than just three wishes?

Why was he overreacting so much?

"Tamahome-kun, wait up, no da!"

Chichiri, Tasuki, and Mitsukake ran up behind him, huffing and puffing like bellows. "We'll never find the last Shichi Seishi like this, no da."

"Damn!" swore Tamahome. "I know! I know... I... I just don't understand, somehow! Why is everything not working anymore? What's wrong with me?"

"Come on, you've got to know," said Tasuki diffidently.

"Know what?"

Tasuki eyed him. "Come on, come on, stop denying it. It's pretty obvious, you know, even for a guy like me who pretty much hates all women."

A giant question mark appeared over Tamahome's head. "What are you trying to say?"

"You... you mean... aaaaah! You don't know, do you! Hah! No wonder you're in such a temper!" The bandit let out a peal of laughter, "You don't know what's eating you! Hah, it's such a simple answer..."

"THEN TELL ME ALREADY!" Tamahome grabbed him by the collar.

Tasuki stared at Tamahome, face to face. "You're in love with the miko," winked Tasuki.

He fell to the ground as Tamahome lost his grip. "Na-nani? Whoa... you've got it all wrong! I'm not..." His voice trailed off as he saw Chichiri and Mitsukake nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'm not..."

Tasuki grinned, showing the tips of his fangs. "See? Told ya'."

Suddenly, it all made sense. So that was why he was overreacting. Like Tasuki said, a simple explanation.

Of course, it didn't mean he had to accept it.

"No way!"

The three nodded.

Then again, there wasn't any way he could deny it.

"Damn... Have I been that big of a lunk head?"

Tasuki nodded. "Yup! Noticed it the first time ya guys showed up. Hard to miss. Anyways, shouldn't we be finding the last Suzaku no Shichi Seishi now?"

"Um... yeah, I guess so..." nodded Tamahome slowly. "Let's go..."

Lina and Tamahome's minds were in turmoil. They were both angry and ashamed, peeved and yet, somehow pleased... In a nutshell, their emotions were all out of whack.

Naturally, they were not the first to hear the plaintive music that drifted on the air. They were much too concerned with their own problems to listen.

"Lina... did you hear that?" asked Nuriko as the notes died away.

"Hear what?"

The song began again.

"Listen... there it is. It's so beautiful, isn't it? Come on, let's take a break and listen to it. It's very soothing, ne? Just the thing to relax us before we continue searching for the last Shichi Seishi."

"Uh, hai," agreed Lina. "That sounds good."

"Wait," said Mitsukake suddenly, as the music hung in the air.

"A flute?" wondered Tasuki.

"It sounds very beautiful, no da. And soothing, no da. Let's go listen to it, na no da. It'll give us a break because it doesn't seem like we're being very successful in finding the Shichi Seishi, no da."

The haunting melody wandered through the streets. Seven people followed it as it wound past vendors, markets, buildings, and villagers. They met at the well in the center of the town. There sat a young boy, playing his flute for the enjoyment of several others.

"Lina-chan!"

"Tamahome-kun..."

"Great!" said Nuriko. "We're all together again."

Several people shushed them.

Nuriko got a sweatdrop. "Gomen, gomen."

The music flowed up and down the scale, following no particular pattern and yet seeming to meld into one beautiful song. The flute player was oblivious to it all, concentrating solely on his instrument, eyes closed.

It had a calming effect on everyone. Lina and Tamahome slowly felt their tempers cooling off. Their argument seemed petty in this new light, their problems seemed less important. All that mattered was the song, the melody and the notes floating in the breeze...

The song ended as softly as a sigh. Indeed, many of the listeners let out soft sighs of their own.

"Amazing," breathed Lina as the villagers slowly dispersed.

"That power, no da," said Chichiri very softly. "It feels like that of a Shichi Seishi."

"WHAT?" asked Tamahome.

"The powers a Shichi Seishi have are unmistakable, no da. Didn't you feel how the song made you feel better inside? How it calmed you? It was not just the song, no da. It was also the player, na no da."

The flutist looked at them. "Ano..." he started.

Lina turned to him. "Are you the last Suzaku no Shichi Seishi? Do you have a character on your body?"

He blinked a few times. "I...I..."

"Look!" pointed Tasuki. The boy's shirt was partially torn around the chest area, and something glowed red.

Stretching.

"You're...you're..." started Mitsukake.

"I'm the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi known as Chiriko," he said quietly. "And I have been waiting for you to come."

Tamahome hugged Lina joyously. "Isn't this great, Lina? We've finally found the last Suzaku no Shichi Seishi! Finally we can go back and summon Suzaku!"

Lina was blushing to brightly to answer.

Continue: Episode 16: Success! A Triumphant Return to Konankoku's Palace!