Disclaimers: I am too tired to think of any. Thanks for asking, though.

Warnings: See above.

Notes: I’m SOOOOO sorry it took me so long to write this!!! ~.~() Sorry sorry sorry…baka Mouse-chan, being so Another Story-centric these past few weeks… I hope this is okay. Have fun, everyone! Thanks for reading, even though I’m awful at working on this fic.

"Tasuki-san?"

"……..Mmmmfffhhhhh, mtrynasleepgoway."

But the insistent little foot dug into his ribs once more. "Tasuki-san? I have to ask you something."

Never having kids. Never never never. "Horyuu…s’still dark…g’back t’bed."

"But…" Horyuu dropped to his knees by Tasuki’s head, gave a little tug on the bandit’s sleep-ruffled hair. "I have to ask you something."

"What?"

"You have to open your eyes! I can’t ask if you look like you’re asleep."

All the more reason to look like I’m asleep, then. But he groaned and managed to pry one eye open, and glared as a blurry image of the boy gradually came into focus. "All right, what?!"

Now Horyuu was lying on his stomach, chin resting on his forearms, nose to nose with his self-appointed guardian. "Those other kids, Shunshuu and Chiyu?"

"What about ‘em?"

"They’re like us, aren’t they? But no one told them yet, so they don’t remember anything, and if they do remember, they don’t remember what it means."

Tasuki opened his other eye to stare at his charge. "You recognized ‘em?!"

"Ken-chan thinks they’re familiar, too," Horyuu shrugged, beginning to pick at the soft grass in front of him. "He said they’ve gotta be more seishi, cuz we have familiar feelings and they said they were Called to Kutou. Are we right?"

With a small, fangy smile, Tasuki nodded. "Yeah, kiddo. Yer right."

"Really?? Who are they, then?"

"But listen; I don’t want ya ta go around blabbin it ta people, least of all them," the red-haired man instructed. "If we gotta tell em, I don’t want it blabbed. It’s gonna be me or Chichiri that does the tellin. Got it?"

Horyuu nodded frantically. "Yes, but who are they?!"

"The little one is Chiriko. Th’other one’s Mitsukake."

"Muh…Mitsukake???!!!"

"Really? It’s Mitsukake? Chiyu’s Mitsukake???!!!" If someone had given the kid a wagon full of sweets, Tasuki doubted he’d be more delighted.

"ShhhhhhhhhhHHHH!!!!" the bandit hissed violently. "What’d I just say????!!! Somethin about not blabbing????"

The child promptly ignored him, bouncing like he’d had that wagon full of sweets for breakfast. "I gotta go tell Ken-chan!! Bye, Tasuki-san!" Tasuki winced as he darted away, bounding over the prone forms of the bandits who were still sleeping. Rolling his eyes, the red-haired seishi put his head back on his arms and tried to fall asleep again. He had just breached the boundary between waking and a light doze when he was roused loudly and rudely by a very loud, childish scream coming from the direction in which Horyuu had headed.

He bolted upright and jumped to his feet, along with the majority of the others. Racing in the direction of the cry, he found that Kai and Rosuko, who had been on the night watch, had reached the site before him.

"What the hell was that??" he demanded, eyes darting quickly from Horyuu—who had wrapped himself around Rosuko’s leg—and a small form lying on its back on the dark ground, shaking its head slowly. "Who the hell IS that???"

Kai dragged the thing to its feet, evoking from it a small groan.

Gahhhhhhhhhhhh, ANOTHER one????? What the hell, are we a wandering orphanage, or something??!! "Who are you??" Tasuki asked firmly. Another refugee from one of Rishun’s rampages? Or just some stupid kid who decided to take a midnight frolick in the woods??

"The Mt. Reikaku Bandits, I presume?" said the form, deadpan, putting a hand to its head. "Thanks for the welcome."

"I hit him in the face, Tasuki-san!" Horyuu announced.

"Yeah. Good for you." He turned back to the captive. "You were lookin fer us???"

"Well…" the kid shrugged out of the arms that were holding him. "Not…exactly. I was supposed to leave you a message. Guess I wandered a little too close to the border."

"Message?" Tasuki blinked. "From who?"

"Guy with bluish hair, inside the palace," the kid grumbled, rubbing its nose. "Name of Shi. You know. Spy guy, or whatever."

"You…know he’s a spy????" Kouji hissed.

With a sigh, the kid cocked his head at the bandit. Tasuki could imagine the cynical look on his face, though most of the features remained shadowed by the trees. "Don’t get your knickers in a twist," he instructed. "Not like the whole kingdom knows, or anything. He sent me because he trusts me…I guess…and because no one at the palace would miss me."

"He told you we were here???" Tasuki exclaimed, finding it hard to believe that Shi would do such a thing.

"Course not," the boy—for it was a boy—snorted. "That’d be crappy tactics, wouldn’t it? They didn’t wanna tell me, but it’s not like it was hard to figure it out. You should be glad I’m on your side."

"THEY???" Kouji and Tasuki’s eyes popped out, and a vein on Kouji’s left brow began twitching.

"Look; do you want the freakin message, or not??" The kid put his hands on his hips.

Chichiri, who had been standing quietly until this point, decided to chip in. "Yes, perhaps we’d better hear the message, no da…"

Digging in his belt, the young envoy pulled out a folded piece of parchment. "There ya go," he said, handing it to Tasuki, who immediately opened it and read it.

The bandits and their companions were silent as their leader’s jaw tightened, waiting for the news with eager, albeit apprehensive, anticipation.

Tasuki stared at the paper for longer than he probably needed to, reading it over and over again in case he’d somehow misunderstood it. But the words didn’t change; the truth was there, in black and white, making his insides grow as cold as ice. "They’re attacking Konan," he finally said, crumpling the bit of parchment and squeezing it into his fist. "Tomorrow."

The boy was nodding. "That’s the long and short of it."

"Is he a reincarnated seishi, too?" Horyuu whispered to Tasuki, tugging on his hand.

The bandit took a deep breath. "No. Every damn kid we meet is not a reincarnated seishi. Five is enough, goddammit."

"We’ll have to fight," said Kouji grimly.

Chichiri sighed. "We need an army, no da."

"How’re we gonna get a freakin army by tomorrow??" Tasuki asked incredulously.

"Um," said a small voice.

All the bandits, plus the children and Chichiri, turned to see Shunshuu, standing shyly outside the circle.

"There’s an army not too far from here that I’m certain would help," the child said.

~*~

Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong. Shi could sense it, and it frightened him.

Mouki had not returned from his "delivery" yet, but that seemed to be the least of his worries. He knew the scullion had not been caught with the message, for such a thing would have caused an uproar, and he would almost certainly have heard. Next on the list of discomforts was the fact that almost everyone had taken to calling him "Ashitare," which disturbed him to no end. But even this could be dealt with, as it was really only a little thing, and he had dealt with much larger anxieties than that over the course of his life.

It was Rishun who was grating on his nerves, and more so than usual. The self-proclaimed emperor had not spoken to him since the day he’d met Soi, which seemed the slightest bit odd; even if "Ashitare" was supposed to be all brawn/no brains, he had thought that Rishun would have paid him more attention.

Not that he wanted attention. Far from it, in fact.

The army had been preparing for the past two days: drilling, listening to anti-Konan propaganda, and all that seemed to be necessary in order for an army to unreasonably hate the southern kingdom. He hoped that the bandits would find some way to overcome this obstacle. Not for the first time, Shi began to ponder their actual chances of winning, Destiny or no Destiny. Not paying attention to where he was going, mind in the clouds, he rounded a corner of the palace and bumped smack into Rishun and his attendants.

I’m stupid, I’m stupid, he reminded himself, trying to get in character, but realized bitterly that the surprised, slack-jawed expression on his face probably did the trick without even having to pretend.

"Ah! Forgive me, Ashitare-sama," said Rishun calmly. "I didn’t know you were nearby."

Shi bowed. "I’m sorry, Heika-sama. I should be more careful when I…"

"Nonsense. It isn’t as if you’d attacked me, silly boy." The words were condescending, but welcome, since they meant that Shi’s status as a dull, non-threatening rally-point had been asserted. "But this is a bit of luck, for I’d come to find you."

The tall boy kept his head bowed in obedience. What’s he up to, now?

"As a faithful servant of Seiryu, as I have already said, there will be no one better than you to take over the throne while I take control of our army. I’m sure you know my chancellor, Daishiku. Yes?"

Risking a small glance at the small crowd behind the man, Shi spotted the one of whom he spoke—a pointy-faced, sadistic man with a crooked, malicious smile—and grunted his affirmation.

"Good. Very good. During my absence, he will serve you as he would serve me. I put my full faith in him as an advisor; you can trust him with your life."

Right, thought Shi. So I’m to be a puppet. Well, we’ll see.

"The ones to be left behind when the great battle comes," Rishun continued, "have been gathered in the great hall. Surely that is where you were headed, having heard the news. I had intended on rousing you myself, to keep it more of a surprise… but you know how news can leak out."

Actually, he’d been heading to see Kourui…but better not to think of that now. Shi tried to conceal his frown, replacing it with an appropriately puzzled look. "Why have they been gathered, Heika-sama?"

"Why," said Rishun, "so I might announce to them that they should obey you, as the surrogate Emperor. To make certain that they have it, from my mouth, that you have been granted the right to rule."

"I was under the impression that Your Highness did not intend to attack until tomorrow," the young man said carefully, casually, although his mind was screaming with fury and dread. "Why announce it now? Why at this time of the morning?"

"Oh, that. Yes, well…the Redeemers are ready, Ashitare-sama, and eager to avenge themselves. My head generals and I have agreed that waiting another day would only delay the inevitable. Better to get it over and done with; wouldn’t you agree?"

"I think a morning attack would catch Konan suitably off guard, don’t you?" the man went on companionably, as if discussing the breeding of horses rather than the destruction of a neighboring kingdom. "Of course. Silly to wait a whole day more for a daylight invasion that would be picked up upon right away. No, no. This will be much more interesting.

"We attack an hour before dawn."

TBC…

Notes: REALLY, really, really!! Tell me about plot holes!! I’m sure there are a ton! ~.~() Sorry if I haven’t caught them. If you do, tell me, and I shall mend them. ^_^