Disclaimer! FY does not belong to me, nor do I pretend it belongs to me. It belongs to Watase-sama! Oh, and Bandai, Flower Comics, Viz Comics, Pioneer, and others. No infringement is or was intended in the writing of this fic.

Suzuno sighed. "I miss my home and family. I wonder how they are. They must be frantic that I'm gone."

"Well, don't worry. We'll have you home soon. I'm sure of it."

"But so much time has passed. What if they think I'm dead? 'Kaasan will worry herself sick!" She chuckled a little. "I don't know how I'm going to explain my absense."

"Simple," Toroki said, from outside the window. "Tell her that you went to another land, became the miko for a god, saved the country, then came home." He gave her a silly grin.

Suzuno couldn't help but laugh. "I don't think they'd believe me."

"Well, then don't worry about it till the time comes," added Tokaki.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, I think we'll believe her," Ayako said, grinning.

"I'll believe anything she's says, as long as she comes home. I just hope she returns before 'Ttosan does."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They arrived at a small village and got out. Ekie and Toroki walked in front, Subaru and Tokaki walked behind. As they walked down the street, a sudden gust of wind blew up Suzuno's skirt, causing it to fly up past her hips. Crying out in alarm, Suzuno pushed her skirt back down, but not before Tokaki got an eyeful. His eyes glazed over and drool formed at the edge of his mouth.

Toroki was by Suzuno's side in a moment. "What happened?? There wasn't even a breeze! And why was Suzuno the only one to feel it?"

Ekie looked around. "Because the breeze was created by someone. I felt a chi. Over there." There were two young men in the direction he was pointing. The two had a look simular to the one that Tokaki still had. Ekie and Toroki headed in the direction of the two men. As they got there, a young woman appeared and whacked the two young men across the head.

"What are you two doing? You should be working, not drooling over girls! Now back to work! We have customers!"

"'Neechan," the both cried out.

"Don't call me 'neechan, Shuji-kun," she said to the man with dark hair. "We're not related! Just because you're best friends with my perverted, little brother does not give you the right to call me that!"

"Sumimasen," Ekie said, as they approached the group.

The young woman looked up at them. She looked over at Suzuno, who was holding her skirt firmly down. A stance that the young woman had seen before, all too often. She turned to the other young man. A man who had light brown hair like her. "Baka!! How many times have I told you not to lift girls' skirts!" She whacked him across the head. "Baka! Sukebe! Hentai!"

The young man flinched away, but it was obvious that he wasn't being serious hurt. "Itai! Matte, 'neechan! I was only having fun! She's the first one I've seen in a while that was wearing a skirt."

"And why do you think that girls around here don't wear skirts? Eh??"

"Anoooooo," Toroki said. The two stopped arguing and looked at him. "Are you the one who did that?"

"Hai, he is! I'm really sorry about that." The young woman bowed. "I, unfortunately, have the most perverted brother in the village."

Ekie looked at the young man. "Do you have a symbol on your body?"

"Hai," he said. Lifting up his left pantleg, they saw the symbol 'net' on his calf. "I'm Byakko no Seishi, Amefuri. My power is the wind."

"Which he uses like he did on your lady friend." The young woman whapped him across the head again.

"Itai!" Amefuri rubbed his sore head. "I'm am Byakko no Seishi, Ekie, and this is Toroki. Our lady friend is Byakko no Miko."

The young woman gasped and looked horrified. "You attacked the miko???" She began pummeling her brother. "How could you???"

"I didn't know," he said, shielding himself from the blows.

"That's okay," Suzuno said, joining the group. "I was surprised, that's all." The blush that covered her face, said it wasn't entirely true.

The young woman bowed deeply, again. "Please, let me make it up to you. Please come and have dinner at my house. My name is Aiko, and you have already met my seishi brother and his best friend, Shuji-kun."

"Pleased to meet you all. We would be honored to have dinner with you."

Aiko flushed happily, before turning to the other. "Okay! Now you two baka get back to the stand! I have to go and get dinner ready!" She turned to the others. "You may stay at our house till dinner is ready."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"'The dinner was humble, but it was the best food Byakko no Miko had tasted since coming to the land.'" The mother put down the book for a moment and yawned. "I don't know about you, but I could use some tea."

Ayako yawned as well. "Okay."

They walked to the kitchen. The mother set the book down on the kitchen table and sat herself comfortably on the cushion. Ayako sat across from her. The mother looked over the passage she had read earlier.

"Her seishi are certainly an interesting lot. One pervert was bad enough, but two?" She sighed. "What has my poor daughter gotten into?"

"They won't do anything to her, 'Kaasan, except protect her. That is their duty as seishi."

The mother touched her youngest daughter's cheek, affectionately. "I hope you are right." The two smiled as each other for a long moment. "Now, how's about that tea?"

"I'll make it and you keep reading."

"Sounds good." Ayako began to make the tea, while the mother picked up where she left off. "'Byakko no Miko honored Byakko no Seishi, Amefure, and his oneesan by staying the night with them.'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I don't mind sharing a room with you Aiko-san. Really! You have been so kind to offer us dinner and a place to stay. I don't want to put you out more than we already have."

"Please don't think you're putting us out, Suzuno-sama. It's such an honor to have you here."

Suzuno blushed. "You don't need to refer to me as 'sama'."

Suzuno and Subaru shared Aiko's room, while the rest either shared Amefuri's room, or slept in the main room. The three women stayed up well into the night talking about the things only girls could talk about to other girls. Dawn came much too soon and they groggily got dressed.

Though tired, Aiko had enough energy to hit her brother across the head when needed. For all the hitting and scolding, it was clear to the others that the brother and sister cared deeply for each other. Suzuno thought longingly of her own family, and hoped that they weren't too worried for her.

As they made ready to leave, Aiko threw her arms around Amefuri and cried. He patted her back gently. He was about to say something, when she suddenly pulled back and grabbed the front of his tunic. "And don't you go doing anything stupid, you hear me??"

"Aww, 'Neechan. Don't worry. You know me."

"Yes, I do," she said, shaking him. "That's why I worry."

The others laughed and after a moment both Aiko and Amefuri joined in. Though there were tears in her eyes, Aiko smiled and waved as they rode off.