Welcome to Gaia! ::

Kouji sighed heavily and buried his hands in his hair for a second, now there was a touchy subject. His best friend Genrou didn't even know the full truth of it nor did his former leader, Kouji had kept all the details to himself. 'I suppose I may as well tell someone,' he thought to himself, 'for all I know I might not see her again, they say unwinding to a stranger helps.'
"I lived with my mother, father and younger sister in a small village near a forest and a lake in Konan, it was peaceful, there was never any danger and I guess pretty much everyone was happy. My sister was two years younger than me, she was shy and too scared to play with the other children so she used to just play with me." He gave a slight chuckle. "Sometimes we'd pretend to be bandits, ironic in a way since I never once thought I'd become one.
I was about six when my father became sick, he just kept coughing a lot and no one knew why. He tried to keep working but he became feverish and then other villagers started showings signs...They were angry, the children used to throw things at my sister and I so we stayed near the house, we didn't understand why they were so angry though." Kouji shuddered. "One night three of the village men broke into the house, my sister and I were in bed but we could hear them, they said someone had died and they said...they said it was my father's fault. My sister was so scared by their voices that she started to cry so I helped her go back to sleep and didn't take in what the men were saying, the next day we found our father had vanished, my mother said he'd been sent to heaven. I didn't really understand though, I knew she meant he'd died but I just didn't know, I found out when I had to go get fish for the supper though."
Kouji clenched his fists tightly and scowled. "They blamed my father for the sickness and they...they hung him! They suffered for it though, damn them all they suffered and many of the people became very ill and died.
I had to look after my mother and my sister, I talked to them constantly tyring to comfort my mother and keep my sister happy. I would always talk to my sister, read her stories to put her to sleep and so forth to help my mother out. Then one day...one day my mother didn't talk back, I got out of bed and I greeted her and I spoke to her and she didn't talk back and I thought the depression had gotten to her. Then I went to my sister and she wouldn't get out of bed so I thought the sickness had gotten to her. I looked after them for days, constantly talking to them but they never talked back." He sniffed slightly. "I kept talking to them though, kept talking to them..."

Kouji only briefly raised his head to catch the beautiful smile. "Yeah...I...the villagers came one day, said the house was cursed and ran off shouting about getting the sickness. I didn't know that they were....dead though but eventually I figured it out and I left. I want to bury them so much but I couldn't, I knew the others wouldn't give me the chance and would probably hang me, it was amazing I didn't catch the sickness myself though at the time I wished I had.
I travelled Konan for ages with very little money and no sense of direction, it was my last leader who found me. His name was Hakurou and he found me in Souun half-dead with starvation and exhaustion. The guy was nice, he bought me found, asked me where I'd come from and what had happened to my parents and when he realised I was an orphan he took me back to the bandits."

Despite whatever feelings she might harbor against the miko, she did not want Nakago to be disappointed in her behavior. Soi stood and nodded unemotionally at the girl. At the mention of the Byakko, she smirked. Straight to business I see.

"As you wish," she stated as he walked away. Soi was about to leave when Yui's words caught her by surprise. It took a lot to keep from looking as startled as she felt. "The honor is mine," she promptly answered with a bow. The seishi's green eyes stared at Yui's retreating figure, before finally snapping out of her daze. She couldn't let this interfere, despite her kindness Yui was still very much her rival...nothing could change that.

She silently patrolled the corridors her mind wandering to a time before gods and emperors. Back when there had just been him... He enfuriated and disappointed her so many times with his cold detatchment and yet always managed to enchant her at the same time. Soi knew she was no better than Yui. The only difference between us is that I know he is manipulating me... Just then, she felt a light tug. As if someone were pulling at the atmosphere around her. She let herself smirk yet again. They were practically sending up flares. There in the Western Gardens was the Byakko seishi. She had set up a spell to break through Nakago's barrier. Not that it will do them any good. She slipped behind the nearest tree trunk.

"Now why would a girl like you want to know about a nasty place like that?" she asked loudly thus cutting into their conversation.
"A bandit hideout is no place for a nice decent girl like you, but then again," she stepped into their line of sight, "neither is a place like this."

(((Sorry that i missed so much... sweatdrop Am about to collapse...will edit post later. Naka-)))

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



*That was the straw that broke the camels back. This time, Miaka's actions had brought just the wrong attention in just the right amounts. Within moments, a band of guards were pushing their way through the crowds straight towards her.*

*The assassin stared on in disbelief...was this girl...the Suzaku no Miko, really that naive? He wondered if they would ever get on their way towards the palace at this rate...surely not in the manner they had intended..but rather in chains.*

Nuriko had finished arguing with the bandit just in time to hear all the other commotion. He glancing around, noticing Miaka up ahead at another meat cart... and close by a swarm of guards getting closer to her. It baffled him how one little girl could get into so much trouble.

"Miaka!!"

He yelled at the girl, grabbing Tasuki so as not to loose him in the crowd than pushed his way towards Miaka.

"Come on, we're leaving now!"

//Nevermind...I'll just post and assume the tree is a suitable distance away.

Subaru barely reacted to the woman, instead she continued to gaze at Kouji for a few moments before turning her gaze towards Soi. Her expression had lost its warmth and her eyes had become almost glassy as she took note of the situation and adjusted. So, he had sent one of his little cronies - a concubine perhaps to do his bidding but she feared the woman very little after all, her magic was that of the blessed Byakko; even in these types of conditions it would be difficult to supress.

"Bandit hideouts have their uses," Subaru replied at last in a somewhat distant voice. It seemed that in one part she was focusing on Soi and the other on her magic but when the two were combined she just looked a little...well, mad.

"Much like Kutou," She added more harshly, "For example, Nakago proved most useful in many circumstances." She continued in a hollow manner; it was then that her eyes flashed briefly and the bubble around her crackled violently becoming visible for the briefest of instances.

"Afterall," As the bubble faded once more to be hidden from sight her own eyes cleared and she focused more clearly on Soi, a small and almost wistful smile appearing upon her lips, "Without his wonderful tour of this palace I would not have known where one of the most weak of areas was..." She trailed away at this and tightened her grasp on her own hands as they came to rest on her lap once more.

Secretly...she was curious as to who this woman actually was.

"Huh? Hey! What's going on?" Tasuki demanded loudly with a groan. "What's she gone and done now the nutcase?" He winced as Nuriko tightly grasped him and dragged him along. "Oh great there's guards!" He gripped his tessen firmly preparing for a fight.