Volume 6

Mitsukake heals Miaka, and tells her to stop pushing herself to act happy. Amiboshi plays the flute for her. Hotohori and the others visit her. They all say that Miaka is acting. Miaka blows up, "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT EVEN I NEED SOME TIME ALONE, TOO?!" Everybody leaves. Hotohori hates himself for saying those things to her.

Kutou: Yui is helping Tamahome recuperate, and asks him for whom those tears were. She asks if they were for Miaka. Tamahome pins her on the bed and tells Yui that he loves only her, and kisses her. Yui STILL has a hard time convincing herself that all of this was what she wanted. Then, Miaka's image comes into Tamahome's mind, and he draws back. He steps outside the room, wondering why he can't get that girl out of his mind. He thinks he'll just go off to Konan and kill her.

Miaka walks around the palace, eventually arriving outside the room Tamahome used. She sees his clothes and cries over them. Nuriko can't find Miaka, and sees the note that she left: "Sayonara" Of course, they can't read it (they ARE Chinese, after all). It's raining HARD, but Miaka walks around and reaches a lake. She sees hallucinates Tamahome in front of her, and walks towards the lake, and nearly drown. Hotohori to the rescue.

Yui looks for Tamahome around the palace, and sees Nakago instead. Nakao tells her that he went back to Konan...to finish his business there.

Miaka wakes up to see Hotohori. Another Hotohori proposal. Hotohori kisses Miaka (and Miaka lets him), but she snaps out of it and says that she isn't ready yet. Meanwhile, Nuriko is imagining herself in Miaka's place when Hoto-samsa rescued her. They get into a discussion which ends up with Nuriko punching Tasuki HARD. Miaka was about to say "yes" to Hotohori when the guards outside call Hotohori: Tamahome is back in Konan! Hotohori locks Miaka in the room.

Outside, Tamahome demands for the Suzaku no Miko. The seishi try to snap him out of it, when Hotohori arrives, and swears that Tamahome will NEVER touch HIS Miaka again...

Hotohori tosses a sword at Tamahome, saying that he will not fight an unarmed man. Amused, Tamahome picks the sword up and removes his cloak...And the two prepare to fight. Meanwhile, Miaka is STILL locked in the room, banging on the door. But the palace guards are too busy hurrying about to go to the battle scene. Miaka is desperate: She absolutely cannot see any one of the two die. she hits the door again, and Tama-neko suddenly falls on her! But how the heck did he get in there? Miaka looks up and sees that the wall on top of the door can be opened. She climbs up (in her bathrobe! Man, you have got to hand it to her...), but falls down face flat on the other side. Collecting herself, she runs as fast as her legs and bare feet could take her. Meanwhile, the seishi watch in horror as two of their comrades fight it out. The fight takes a while, as both of them are VERY good at fighting. Miaka finally turns around a corner to the court...only to see Tamahome get hit right at the gut by Hotohori's sword... With a stunned look on his face, Tamahome drops his sword and falls to the ground flat on his back.

Miaka runs to him... "Wake up! Please! Please...you can't die...I DON'T WANT YOU TO DIE!!!" All the other seishi are shocked. Even Hotohori unconsciously drops his sword. Then, Tamahome opens his eyes and utters Miaka's name. But then he reaches for his sword...to finish what he went there for...When Miaka realizes this, her facial expression of shock and sorrow turns into one that shows pure determination. She picks the sword up for Tamahome and puts it on his hand. "If you have to kill me, if you really want to kill me, then do it! ... But I really do love you, Tamahome..." and she gives him a kiss. The shocked Tamahome doesn't know what to do. Thousands of thoughts race in his mind. Miaka crying and saying good-bye to him, Miaka and himself talking about their meeting place. He tries to fight these thoughts and points the sword at Miaka's back. Nuriko cries out to Miaka, but Hotohori stops him: Tamahome's seishi mark appeared!!! He drops the sword, and looks at Miaka. Of course, he's completely disoriented. Why was Miaka crying? "That's right, I'm late...I'm sorry Miaka..." With even more tears flowing on her face, Miaka smiles and tells him "No, the moon...just rose...it's very high in the sky!" And the two hug in their very delayed reunion.

But Tamahome is STILL fatally injured, so Mitsukake goes to heal him. Tama-kun apologizes to Hotohori for...whatever he did, and the thing is settled. Later that night, Tamahome goes back to Kutou in full Evil Tama-kun regala. He is greeted by Nakago, who asks if he has accomplished his mission. He answers "yes" calmly and continues walking. But, Nakago notices that Tamahome's earring (the one Nakago gave him while he served for Kutou) was gone, and lashes his whip at him. Tamahome quickly jumps and takes a hold of the whip, with his seishi mark flashing. Yui arrives just in time to see this, and realizes her defeat. Tamahome says he just came there to get the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho, and that Chichiri, in Konan, is forming a barrier around Tamahome to shield him from Nakago's psychic powers. He also swears that he will defeat Nakago when he gets stronger. Yui stops Nakago from attacking again, but she calls out to Tamahome. Tama-kun stops walking, and says that he only feels pity for her now: what she did to Miaka was unforgiveable. "I still feel bad about what happened, Yui, and I wish for your sake, that you snap out of it."

Back in Konan the seishi are having dinner, and doing a review on the past events. Chichiri concludes that the poison used on Tamahome lost its power when Tama-kun himself weakened. And also, because of Tama-kun's love for Miaka, as Hotohori said. Hotohori, though happy for Miaka, is still sad inside. Chiriko notices this, and he decides to play a song for him. At a pond, Miaka and Tamahome are together (of course). Miaka comments that Tamahome chould cheer up. She enumerates all the things Tama-kun did to them, but reminds him also that he WAS brainwashed then, so it's not his fault. But Tamahome reasons out that even being so, it's not an excuse. Tamahome apologizes, and asks her how she can ever forgive him. Miaka comments that he DID break his promise that he won't leave her, that's why she had another realtionship. Of course, Tamahome is surprised. But Miaka admits that it was dangerouslf close, but not quite. That's the reason why he shouldn't think to do too much for her. Just staying there would be enough.

Meanwhile in Kutou, Yui is crying her eyes out. Nakago comes to comfort her, saying that the Suzaku shichi seishi, and their miko, will be falling into his trap VERY soon. Yui sits up abruptly at this, demanding that Nakago explain what he said...Suddenly the tune from Chiriko's flute changed from mellow, to earpiercing...

Small note: Remember the guards? Hmm...I guess they never made it there^_^