Disclaimer! FY no belong to me. FY belong to Watase Yuu. Fy belong to Flower Comics, Bandai, Viz Comics, Pioneer, and others. No infringement intended. Why I talk like Shampoo? ^^;;

Suzuno stood in the field and looked around. By the road, the coach sat at an odd angle, as the coachmen tried to fix the wheel. Thankfully, one of the guards noticed that the hub holding the wheel in place had come off. They stopped the coach just as the wheel came off. Ekie used his powers to hold the coach upright while Suzuno and Subaru got off.

Toroki suggested they eat while the others fixed the wheel. It wasn't long before Suzuno and Subaru had a picnic set up. Toroki had helped the coachmen and guard to set the wheel right, before the group of them joined the lunch. Suzuno was finished eating by that time and decide to walk around the field. She had collected some wildflowers and started to make her way to a wooded area on the edge of the field.

She saw something scramble across the ground and up a tree. Scanning the trunk and branches, she made her way around the tree, trying to catch a glimpse of the creature that ran up. She didn't notice that the tree was at the edge of a steep decline. She only had a chance to gasp as she lost her footing and began to stumble down the hill. When she got near the bottom, her foot hit an above-ground root, causing her to fall and roll the rest of the way down.

She pushed herself up to a sitting position and brought her right leg to her chest. Tears fell from her eyes as her right ankle throbbed painfully. The very same ankle she had injured before. It hadn't fully healed yet, and now it was even worse! She could also feel the pain of some scratches, but they were minor compaired to the pain from her ankle.

"Are you alright," a voice asked, quietly.

Suzuno started and looked up. A young man stood before her. His dark hair went down to his knees, and was bound all the way down with a ribbon. Long bangs hung down the sides of his face. His dark eyes had a gentle look to them. Suzuno gazed at him in wonder, till she realized that he had asked her a question. She lowered her head and replied, "I fell down that hill and hurt my ankle."

He looked up the hillside. "That's quite a steep hill. It's a wonder you weren't hurt more badly." He knelt down beside her. "But hurt bad enough for you, I'm sure." She looked up at him and their eyes met and locked. Suzuno suddenly found it difficult to breath and her face began to feel warm. She again, lowered her head. "May I take a look at it?" His voice was low and soft. Suzuno bit her lower lip and nodded, as she straightened her right leg. "Let me know if I hurt you."

She gasped when he touched her ankle. He looked over at her, concern in his eyes. He gingerly touched her ankle again, but she didn't make another sound. He carefully took her shoe off, aware that she was breathing hard and the muscles in her leg were stiff. She was in pain, but she wasn't letting him see. 'Strong girl,' he thought. 'She doesn't want to make me worry that I'm hurting her.' He gently began to feel around her ankle. She gave out a small cry. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She had a fist up to her mouth and he could see tears running down her cheeks. He felt bad about hurting her so much, but he had to find out how bad her ankle was. He continued the probing, feeling the pain she surely felt.

"It doesn't seem to be broken, but it's sprained pretty badly." Reaching into the bag he had with him, he brought out some bandages and began to wrap her ankle. She was breathing in short gasps. "I'd suggest you stay off of it for a few days, Byakko no Miko."

Suzuno gasped and looked up at him again. He was smiling gently at her. "How....how...?"

"Now I think I should look at those scrapes. We don't want them to get infected. There should be some plants around here that we can use." He smiled more as he spotted something. "Ah! Here we go!" He held his right hand over the tiny plant. Suzuno watched in amazement as a white glow appeared on his hand and formed the word 'lasso'. The plant suddenly grew more leaves. He picked several leaves and held them in his left hand. Only when he was picking the leaves did he look at her. "Hai, Byakko no Miko. I am Byakko Seishi, Tatara."

He sat cross-legged and set the leaves down in a pile beside him. Taking a few of them, he rolled them between his thumb and first two fingers, crushing them. "These will ensure that the scratches don't become infected. The scratches aren't bad, but it's best to safe." He indicated her arm. "May I?" She held out her right hand and he rubbed the juice from the leaves onto her hand, then bandaged it. She watched his face while he worked. He had such a gentle expression.

He moved around to the other side. "May I," he asked again, this time indicating her left leg, where there was a scratch on her shin. She nodded. She noted how gently he handled her. As if she were a fragile piece of glass that would shatter if he touched her too roughly. He crushed some more leaves and rubbed the juice on her leg. "Do you have any more scratches," he asked, once he had bandaged her shin.

"Hai," she whispered, still entranced by the young man tending to her.

After a moment of silence, during which Suzuno continued to gaze at him, Tatara spoke up. "Where?"

Suzuno blinked. "Eh?"

"Where else are you injured?"

"Oh!" She unbuttoned her left sleeve and pulled it up to reveal a scratch along her forearm.

Crushing some more leaves, he took care of that scratch. "Are there any other scratches?" Suzuno shook her head. "Well, then, I suppose we should get you back to the others. I'm sure you're not here all by yourself."

In answer to his statement, the voices of the other seishi were heard, calling for Suzuno. Tatara picked Suzuno up and headed towards the voices. Suzuno felt her cheeks growing warm and being so close to this man she barely knew. As they cleared the woods, they saw the other seishi decending upon them.

Toroki reached them first. Taking only a moment to look Tatara up and down, Toroki made the move for Suzuno. Tatara, noticing the other man's protectiveness, handed Suzuno over without a word. Suzuno felt a little guilty, as well as a little confused, about being disappointed that she was leaving Tatara's arms. "I'm quite alright, Toroki. Tatara took care of my ankle. I should be able to walk soon."

Subaru groaned. "Not the same ankle you twisted before?"

At the same time, Ekie stated, "Tatara? Byakko Seishi Tatara?"

Suzuno turned her attention to Subaru, while Tatara carried on a conversation with Ekie.

"I'm afraid so, Subaru."

"Hai, I am he. How many others have been found?"

"Oh, Suzuno. That ankle will never fully heal if you keep twisting it."

"You are the sixth. I am Ekie." Pointing to different members of the group. "Toroki, Subaru, Tokaki, and Amefuri. We only have Kagasuki to find."

"I know. Gomen nesai."

"Anoooo....," Toroki interupted. "Since the carriage is fixed, can we be on our way?"

A day and a half later, they arrived in yet another small town. Since finding Tatara, they had been to 3 such small towns, and no sign of the last seishi. As they entered the town, they were approached by a man on horseback. He was a man of noblity, who lived in a large mansion just outside of town.

"I invite you to stay at my place, Byakko no Miko. I have rooms for you and all your seishi, as well as your guards and coachmen."

"As captain of the Emperor's Royal Guards, we accept. Thank you for you hospitality. We will send our carriage to your place. We wish to look around your village in search of our last seishi."

The man bowed. "I will see that the rooms are readied and that your belongings are taken care of." Ekie, Subaru, and Suzuno exited the carriage. Suzuno politely thanked the man, who was quite pleased to have such a gracious young lady as the miko of his country. With on more bow, the man ordered the carriage to follow him. Toroki sent the guards with the carraige, since they weren't needed in the search.

They had to go slow, since Suzuno walked with a slight limp. She could walk now, but her ankle still hurt a little. They weren't wandering long when a commotion caught their attention. "Stop, thief!"

"Where did he go?"

"This way! Hurry!"

"But I didn't see anyone!"

"Well, he has to be around here!"

The group looked in the direction of the voices. Voices that were coming in their direction. They also looked around for any signs of someone running, who would have been the thief the townfolk were hunting. But they saw no one. Ekie's eyes widened in suprise, and then narrowed. Suddenly, he reached out and closed his hand around nothing. Only it wasn't nothing. His hand appeared to be grasping something, though no one could see what his hand was around. A moment later, a boy appeared, his upper left arm in Ekie's grasp.

He was dressed in dirty, ragged clothes that were too big for him. His hair was cropped short and appeared to be dark blue, but it was so filthy, it was hard to tell just what color it was. He was dirty all the way down to his bare feet. "Let me go," he cried out in a voice that showed he hadn't quite reached manhood. "Let me go!!"

Ekie looked at the boy and then the others. "Suzuno, seishi, may I present to you the last seishi, Kagasuki." On the name of the seishi, he turned the boy, so that they could also see his left arm. On the bisep was the fading kanji of "Investigator."