As Miaka walked hand in hand with her now 5 year old daughter Hikari, she stared at all the cafes and restaurants with melancholy. Diets were difficult.
"Mummy, look! Look!" Hikari was pointing towards an electronic store that was showing the new series of outer space warriors. Miaka smiled as she did when reminded of the past. They continued to watch the screen until a tall man bumped into Miaka.
"Ah-", Miaka glanced at the figure and noticed the man's hair was a very bright orange.
"Sorry" said the man in a gruff voice that was so familiar.
"Tasuki…?" Miaka wanted to run to the man who reminded her of one of her former comrades, but several thoughts ran through her head. I can't approach a stranger like this and I have to look after Hikari. With that, Miaka returned her attention to her daughter and the television.
During the evening Miaka discussed what she saw with her husband Taka.
He pondered for a while then replied to her concerns, "I don't blame you for thinking that Miaka. I was reborn into this world and so it's possible that it happened to the others. Nonetheless you shouldn't worry. Tasuki and the others are our friends and I believe the gods will reunite us with them again one day."
"You're right Taka. All in good time…"
As she put Hikari to bed, Miaka would tell tales of her past adventures in the Universe of the Four Gods to her daughter. Of course to a 5 year old, these were just tales.
The next day Miaka went out to buy new clothes for Taka as he tended to have a strange habit of damaging his clothes to the point of no repair. The store she entered recently opened and so was having a sale as celebration. Miaka picked up a few shirts and a long black jacket that she thought might suit him and walked up to the counter.
As she looked at the salesclerk she could not stop herself, "Nuriko!" The woman looked up with a puzzled face and quickly corrected her, "Excuse me ma'am, I apologise but my name is Noriko…" Miaka recoiled slightly, "Oh yes, I'm sorry. You just reminded me of someone…" She proceeded to purchase the clothes and left the store. All the while, the mysterious Noriko kept an eye on her and during her break, made a call. "Tatsuki, I'm getting a strange vision…Yea, just like you mentioned yesterday."
As Taka was looking over the high school basketball teams' play that he was coaching, he thought back to what Miaka had mentioned earlier. Was it possible that the reincarnations of Suzaku Seven had reached modern Japan? The last encounter they had with them was 5 years ago and they had only just been reincarnated in the book. The laws of heaven have been broken so often, just maybe…
His thoughts were interrupted by the loud screaming from pre-pubescent girls.
"Wah! He's so handsome!"
"Is he a new coach?"
"His hair is beautiful!"
Taka looked to the new-comer and this time it was his turn to be shocked. "Hotohori…"
The beautiful man with long hair walked over to Taka and reached his hand out. "Nice to meet you, my name is Suzuki Hokuto. I've recently become the principal of Yotsubadai High School and thought I'd look at what was happening at the clubs. I hear you're rather popular with the girls here. That's…understandable…But you're certainly not as handsome as me." Hokuto chuckled. Taka only had enough in him to return the handshake and watched open-mouthed as Hokuto walked away.
He's still such a narcissist…
After club activities were over, Taka walked home resigned that this possible reincarnation of Hotohori was now…Kind of his boss.
"Hurry up! Give us the money!" It was another case of bullying and something that Taka definitely did not tolerate.
"4 guys against 1 kid? Heh, and you call yourselves men…" a phrase that Taka just couldn't seem to get out of the habit of saying.
"We're 16. Of course we don't call ourselves men yet. Especially if being a man means being an old fart like you!" The group of delinquents laughed.
"Oh, you darn brats. Just get away from the kid." Taka was weary of smart-arse comments and just wanted to get home. When it became clear that they were not gonna give way, he got into the ready position.
"Hah, I think the old man is gonna try kung-fu on us" Another kid said as his friends began to take out their pocket knives.
Taka dashed, too fast for the boys to react. He grabbed their knives, but not before using one to make a few adjustments to the teens' pants. As the Power Ranger themed underwear came to light, the ring leader of the group panicked and ran away, followed by his lackeys. Taka turned to the victim of the whole debacle and saw a boy with light brown hair, shaking.
"Are you okay?" Taka asked. The clearly shaken boy looked at his saviour and smiled.
"Thank you Taka." Green eyes stared straight at Taka.
"Chiriko, you know me…?"
"And you me. Although in this world my name is Chion. I honestly don't know how, but it seems we're reunited yet again." The shaking had stopped and all that was left was that bright smile.
