The Story of Miaka

Chapter 5: The 3rd Warrior of Suzaku

Tamahome might have noticed I’m feeling down because he approached me one day and he said, "I'm worried about you. Are you ok?”

I miss my family, my big brother (though he's not very nice to me I still misses him) and my mom who always pressures me for doing my best. I wonder if they are even looking for me right now. So no, I’m not ok.

"No... i'm not ok." I told him. With Tamahome I can always be honest.

Tamahome surprised me when he suddenly hugged me and said. "It’s alright. I’ll be right here if you need me."

Sometimes Tamahome confuses me. He’s still the man I knew who prioritizes money over everything else. However there are also times when I feel like I’m more important to him and this is one of those times.

"Thank you," I said.

On the next few days we started planning on how I’m going to fulfill my duties as the priestess. The job of the priestess is simple. Find the rest of the seven warriors, (which means 5 more to go), summon Suzaku by casting some spell, and then have my 3 wishes granted. Having my wishes granted sounds appealing to me. Maybe I could also wish for Suzaku to bring me back home. What if having my wish granted is the only way for me to go home? It sounds so easy but I’m sure there is a catch which I’m yet to find out.

In order to find the rest of the seven warriors Hotohori suggested I start in the palace. Who knows they could be among the palace guards. It’s also possible that a warrior may not yet know he's one of the seven warriors.

We decided that Tamahome will fight each one of the guards to see who can match his strength and anyone who can fight Tamahome one on one can possibly be one of the Suzaku's seven. I was kind of worried when I saw the number of people who will fight him. Although he has amazing abilities he could still get hurt given the number of people he was told to fight. However it seemed like I was worried for nothing because in no time, he was able to defeat almost everyone.

"Tamahome, we are here to look for the Suzaku's seven. The goal is not for you to show off." Hotohori complained.

"Enough! We're not going anywhere with this." I complained. "I’ll take it from here."

"Come on guys! Fight me"

"What? We cannot fight a girl."

"Why? Because you don't have the guts? You couple of losers" I said it to provoke them to fight me but I didn’t expect them to be so serious. I realized none of them is the Suzaku's seven I've been looking for because if they are the Suzaku's seven they would never have fought with me because they are meant to protect me… or at least that's what I was told.

After trying to provoke them the men started chasing me and then it all happened too fast. The pillars of one of the buildings where I was standing gave away after one of the guards hit it with his mallet. I didn't have time to react. The last thing I heard before I felt pain was Hotohori's voice saying, "Miaka, look out!"

I felt my legs burning and I realized it must have been crushed by something heavy. But the fact that I could feel the pain must mean that I’m still alive. When I opened my eyes I saw Tamahome on top of me risking his life by trying to keep the rubble from crushing on both of us.

"T-tamahome? What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"I told you didn't I? I'm going to protect you no matter what."

What the heck is he saying? Even if he's good at martial arts and he's stronger than any human being he could still die any instant. "Stop it…" I told him.

"Just… Stay still..." it must be hard for him to even speak. He's sweating a lot and grinding his teeth. I can hear a faint voice saying, "Do something!" It must be Hotohori.

"Your highness… All the men who fought Master Tamahome are down. We have no one else who could lift-… Your highness please… You could hurt yourself." Hotohori must be doing something dangerous just to get us out of the rubble.

"Your highness, let me do it." I heard someone say.

The next thing I knew I can finally see the bright sky and the two of us, Tamahome and I were both safe.

“Hurry! We need some doctors. Tamahome is hurt.” Hotohori started giving out orders.

"Who are you?" I asked our savior who is apparently a woman.

“I'm one of the royal consort and also one of the Suzaku's seven. My name is Nuriko.”

"Nuriko, thank you for saving Miaka." Hotohori said.

"Actually I didn't mean to save her. I only wanted to save Tamahome."

Then right in front of my eyes, Nuriko kissed Tamahome who was also as surprised as everyone of us. So much for making my heart race. After all those words he told me just moments ago, now he's breaking my heart.