Chikane and Reverend Ohgami quickly brought Marika up to speed with what was happening.
"Geez, this is so completely unfair," she declared. "Here you are, ready and willing to revive Ame no Murakumo and save the world, and someone goes and swipes the Solar Priestess job from Hikari."
Four pairs of surprised eyes greeted her summary of events.
"Um, what did I say?"
"I hadn't thought of that," Reverend Ohgami mused.
"Do you think it's possible?" Chikane asked excitedly.
"Again, completely lost here," interjected Marika.
"We had been thinking," her father said, "of the problem in terms of finding the Solar Priestess, wherever she may be. But as you have alluded to, perhaps that is not what is happening. It seems, after all, quite odd that Hikari would possess the memories of a previous life as Solar Priestess but not the role itself."
"Ahh," Professor Ohgami chimed in. "So you suspect that Hikari still is the Solar Priestess and that someone--probably one of the Orochi--is deliberately preventing her from assuming the part? That in this way the role has been 'swiped' from her like Marika said?"
"It makes sense," Chikane said eagerly. "Without the Solar Priestess, the power of Orochi cannot be defeated. They would surely seek out a way to stop her."
"Then why don't I even have the mark?" Himeko asked. "That appears at the beginning of the day, not when we awaken as priestesses. Wouldn't I have seen it when I got dressed?"
"You might not," Chikane mused, "if you were asleep when it happened."
Himeko thought it over, then surprised herself by spotting a flaw in the logic.
"But if they knew who I was, and they wanted to seal away my status as the Solar Priestess, then why wouldn't they just kill me instead? That would be more effective for the Orochi, and I'd think it would be a lot easier."
She looked from one face to another, finishing with Chikane. Her twin had a serious expression and a slight frown.
"What you say makes sense, Himeko," she said. "I have to admit, I wish it didn't."
"Why?"
"Because it would mean that there wasn't someone else out there, some Solar Priestess other than you."
"Oh!"
"Let's not take that off the table just yet," interjected Professor Ohgami. "After all, who says that these Orochi necessarily function in sane and rational ways--or that they don't have some other clever scheme afoot that we don't know about?"
Both sisters had turned back to her, slightly embarrassed that they'd just missed breaking into a romantic moment in front of other people.
"In any case, we have the beginnings of a plan of action," the professor continued. "Takeshi and I are going to hit the books. In the meantime, the two of you need to prepare yourselves for whatever the Orochi might do next, particularly you, Tsukuyo."
"If what happened at school is any example of what's coming, they need to find a really deep hole and hide in it!" Marika said. "The story said six people were killed and over thirty injured!"
Himeko gasped.
"What story?" asked Reverend Ohgami.
"I checked it out on my cell's 'net browser on the way over," she explained. "I can still barely wrap my head around the idea of Reiko Himemiya being a crazed magical killer. I guess it really is the quiet ones who snap."
"I agree with Marika," said Chikane. "We need to find out some way to fight back, and until we do we can't go around making ourselves into targets."
"But Chikane, we can't do that! Think of everyone!"
"Himeko?"
"If...if Reiko is an Orochi, then they know all about us, not just as priestesses but as people. Our names, where we live, what classes we take, the names of our friends, all of it!"
"That's what makes things so dangerous for us," Chikane agreed. "Until we find the Solar Priestess..."
"No! That's not what I'm talking about! We have to go back because Reiko knows all that."
"Himeko, you're not making any sense." Chikane glanced to the Ohgamis, to see if they had any ideas, but they appeared to be equally confused.
Himeko sighed. She supposed she wasn't being very clear, at that.
"What's going to happen if Reiko or another Orochi attacks the college looking for us and we're not there? What'll they do? Six people were killed this time, so how many would it be next time? Ten? Twenty? A hundred? Don't you see, we have to be there to protect people, to keep them from being hurt or worse for our sakes!"
Chikane looked at her for a long moment, then turned to Reverend Ohgami.
"Would you please excuse us for a moment?" she asked, then rose to her feet, drawing Himeko up by the hand that she'd never gotten around to releasing.
"Of course."
Chikane took Himeko to the inner door, slid the screen open, then closed it again when they were out in the hall. She then led Himeko a short way down the corridor so that their voices would not be instantly audible through the wood-and-paper shoji screens. She had that peculiar tightness in her face that Himeko knew meant Chikane was angry at her. Chikane always had trouble with that emotion because she still felt all kinds of silly misplaced guilt over what she'd put Himeko through in their past lives. Himeko wished she would stop that, but when her Chikane was angry at her wasn't the easiest time to tell her that she didn't need to be guilty and should just come out and yell--Himeko wasn't that brave!
She reached out and set her hands on Himeko's shoulders.
"Himeko, I know you were just trying to protect people's lives, but that isn't going to be possible. The Orochi are much more powerful than I--than we are, and there are eight of them. We don't have a Souma Ohgami among their number willing to turn to our side and hold the line until we can summon Ame no Murakumo. We don't even have both priestesses. There's no way we can protect everyone, Himeko. We can barely even protect ourselves, and that isn't certain."
"But people were killed! You can't think that's all right."
Chikane sighed.
"Himeko...Reiko didn't kill those people. I'm the one responsible for their deaths."
Wh-what is she talking about? She can't mean that!
"I told you that I escaped her by putting up barriers, didn't I? Trapping Reiko inside them so that I could run away? Well, it wasn't just Reiko that was trapped. That building was in use. There were students coming and going from class, there were professors and teaching assistants, and there were probably general staff members. I sealed them, helpless, inside an enclosed area with an incarnate force of destruction. More than likely they were killed as collateral damage when Reiko broke open those barriers; if she had wanted to lash out and kill more there would certainly have been more casualties."
"Chikane, that's not the same thing. You couldn't have thought about that when you were doing it."
She shook her head.
"No, I didn't. But if I had I would have done it anyway."
"What?" Himeko gasped.
"Himeko...you're talking about protecting people's lives, but those lives are lost anyway. There are only two possible outcomes for all of this. Either Yamata no Orochi will win and destruction will encompass the earth forever, or we will win, we and Ame no Murakumo. If that happens, time itself will be unwound and recreated, and the souls of those killed will be restored to life at the start of this morning--probably better lives since the malice that gave rise to Orochi will have been temporarily suppressed. But here and now, in this time, those people will die. It's inescapable."
Himeko gasped again; Chikane's words were like a slap across her face.
"Chikane, I...I can't believe you're saying these things! You can't be saying that people's lives don't matter!"
Chikane sighed again and let her hands drop.
"Oh, Himeko," she said, shaking her head sadly. "Of course I'm saying that. Don't you remember that in our previous lives, I was the final Orochi? That in the last cycle I destroyed the world with my own will in order to bring things to the endgame? Every single person then alive--six billion people, including my own family, the Ohgamis, dear loyal Otoha, your best friend Makoto, and even Souma? I did that fully expecting you to kill me and revive the world--as the world was revived--but I did it nonetheless, because it was a necessary step towards Orochi's defeat."
"But...but..." Himeko whimpered. Chikane's voice was so calm, even gentle as it said such horrible things; that was the worst of it. It shouldn't be possible to say that kind of thing without some overwhelming emotion, but not this way, not lovingly. Himeko found herself tearing up as her mind reached for the only explanation that made sense to her. "But you were Orochi then, and you were suffering from guilt and despair because I couldn't make my feelings clear. So that's...that's why..."
Chikane suddenly embraced her, pulling her lover against her, cradling Himeko's head against her shoulder and gently stroking her hair like she would to comfort a child.
"I wish that were true, but it isn't. My foolishness in mistrusting you, in not believing you could love me in the way I love you was the reason I hurt you, and why my soul fell to become one of the Orochi, but as for the people of the world..." She sighed again. "No, that was done with clear eyes, unclouded by doubts. It is inevitable, Himeko. Orochi must be unleashed for Orochi to be defeated and sealed. So long as the wills of the Necks contain the power of the serpent god, then the final battle cannot be fought."
She sighed yet again, and continued to tenderly cradle Himeko against her.
"I believe that in the past, before I lost my way, we would summon Ame no Murakumo as soon as we awoke as priestesses. One by one we would throw down the Necks who sought to wield the power of destruction, and when the last was defeated, Yamata no Orochi itself would be released. We would strike it down as well, but such forces could not be unleashed without grave destruction. Therefore we would revive the world and remake time itself to erase what had happened."
"But, Chikane..."
"I know it hurts, Himeko, but we cannot protect anyone by guarding their lives in this world. The only way we can save them is to make certain that we defeat the Orochi and give the people their new world. What happens to them here, only we and the gods will remember."
"I can't do it," she sniffled. "I can't just watch people die. I can't say to the Ohgamis that I would protect my life at their own expense. Or Marika. And what about Mama and Papa? You couldn't really let them die if you could stop it, could you?"
Chikane cradled her gently.
"Yes, Himeko, I could. There's only one person for whose sake I would do something so shortsighted and foolhardy."
"Chikane..."
The Lunar Priestess twined a stray lock of Himeko's hair around her index finger.
"You really couldn't, though, could you? Even knowing what is to come, you couldn't just step aside and let events take their course without trying your hardest to stop them."
Himeko shook her head. She felt embarrassed and upset, almost ashamed; Chikane's manner was almost that of a mother acquainting her child with a difficult truth instead of being the way sisters or lovers would discuss things. Himeko hated when she felt this way; a child was a burden on the parent--albeit one borne with love--because it wasn't capable of bearing its own weight and Himeko hated, hated, hated being a burden of any kind on Chikane.
But she couldn't change her feelings, either, and one of the most important promises they'd made to one another was that they wouldn't hide what they thought or felt any more.
"No, I couldn't. I see what you're saying, Chikane, I really do, but it's wrong to just stand by and let others get hurt in our place. It's probably smart, but it isn't right."
She looked up at Chikane and found to her surprise that her beloved's eyes were wet.
"You shame me, Himeko, you truly do," she said, and gently brushed the back of her hand against Himeko's cheek. The feathery touch made Himeko shiver all the way down to her toes.
"Chikane..."
"It's all right, my love. We'll do what we can for everyone."
Himeko felt her heart leap.
"You mean that you agree with me?"
"No, but I don't care enough about the distinction to make you unhappy over it."
"Oh..." Himeko wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. It sounded a little bit like emotional blackmail, with her as the blackmailer. Honesty between lovers wasn't supposed to work that way. "Then you're doing this for my sake?"
Chikane seemed to take great care in choosing her words, clearly aware of the direction of Himeko's thoughts.
"Not for your sake, exactly. It's more that you reminded me of what the right thing to do would be." She smiled gently and kissed Himeko softly on the forehead, her lips like the brush of a bird's wing against Himeko's skin. "The moon shines while wrapped in darkness, so it is not unnatural that it may sometimes lose sight of the light."
Himeko let out a deep sigh.
"I'm glad. I didn't want to think I was bullying you into something."
Her lover chuckled.
"Who would ever believe you capable of being a bully?"
"Not with shouting or fists, but there are other kinds of bullying. And...you do let me have my way an awful lot of the time."
"So do gods, so at least I'm in good company."
"Chikane!" she protested, but her twin just laughed.
"I did think of a practical reason to do as you act, by the way."
"Oh?"
"Right now, our best hope is that the Ohgamis discover something in their archive research that lets us find out what happened to the role of Solar Priestess. If we stay here, sooner or later the Orochi will find us. Laying aside the merely mystical connection between the shrine and the priestesses, Marika is your best friend. That makes this a logical place to hunt for you. In a battle here, the Orochi might destroy the shrine archives. It's a dangerous game to play, using ourselves as bait, but there is something to be gained by it."
"I'm glad," Himeko said, smiling brightly.
"Let's go tell the others, then."
-X X X-
The next day was bright and sunny, a crisp October day where the air had just a hint of winter's bite to it but not enough to require a coat. It was hard to believe that something as awful as the Orochi was abroad on a day like this one, Himeko thought. The path she and Marika followed ran along the edge of the hill and she could see the Ototachibana students scurrying up and down the stairs. The girls' brown skirts and double-breasted jackets at this distance reminded her of fallen leaves, crisped and sere, being blown on the autumn wind. She paused and framed the shot, wishing she'd brought her camera.
"Huh? What'cha doing?" Marika asked, so Himeko told her.
"I could call it 'Leaves in the Wind of Learning,' or something like that."
"It might be good. Still, give me the summer unis any day. Bright red and white is way more my style than brown, and the tights make my legs look good."
"They used to wear them year-round; you'd have liked that."
"They did? How do you--ohhh, the past-life memories thing. You know, it was weird enough when that was all kind of a romantic story, but now that I know it's the plain truth..." She shook her head. "Of course, it means that Dad gets the last laugh on Aunt Minako. It's hard to be an atheist when you're helping resurrected shrine maidens summon a god to fight another god!"
Himeko giggled.
"She's really taking it well, though."
Marika shrugged.
"The scientific method really is her deity of choice. She'd probably say that a good scientist has no business getting emotionally attached to a particular theory but should just follow where the evidence leads."
"That does sound like something Professor Ohgami would say."
"Well, I ought to know her by now; she moved back in with us when my mother died. Since I was only three, she pretty much was all the mother I've had."
"You're lucky she was there. You never know what you'll be getting when you're in someone else's care."
"Yeah," Marika said, then stopped. "Wait a sec--what do you know about it? Your mom and dad are still alive!"
Himeko smiled sadly.
"I know. I say a prayer of thanks for that every night."
"Then how--oh, not again," Marika sighed, realizing that her experience was Himeko Kurusugawa's, not Hikari Asamiya's. "Was it terribly awful?" her friend asked, more gently.
"My parents died when I was five. I was given to the care of relatives, but they...weren't suited to raise a child. So the government put me into foster care; my guardians weren't bad people but we weren't close, either."
"Geez, Hikari, I'm sorry to dredge up painful memories."
Himeko quickly shook her head.
"Mm-mm. It's okay. You're my best friend; I can trust you with stuff like this. And besides, I have a wonderful family now, with a mother and father who love men and I've gotten to be with Chikane right from the day I was born! So I don't have any regrets!"
"You're really something else, you know that?"
"Eh?"
Marika grinned.
"Never mind. Hey, just out of curiosity, how long ago was it, anyway? Your past life, I mean."
"I'm not really sure."
"Hikari, that didn't even make sense."
"I know," she groaned. "I didn't get it either. Every time Chikane tries to explain it, I get a headache."
"Give it your best shot."
"Well, it's because of what happens to time, she says. It isn't just that Orochi gets defeated and the world gets put back where it was, but it's a different world, where things happened that didn't happen or things didn't happen that did."
"Like in a parallel universe?" asked Marika, who was a sci-fi fan.
"Yes! Maybe...I don't know. It's like...the Mahoroba we're living in now is really similar to the Mahoroba from my last life, but they might be five years or five hundred years apart." Himeko shook her head as if to loosen the fuzzies that seemed to have taken over. "I really, really don't understand how it works. You should ask Chikane."
"It would probably give me a headache, too."
They were nearing the dorm, now; in a minute Marika would turn left towards the stairs to catch the bus back to the shrine.
"Say, Hikari...do you want to do something tonight? I mean, you and Tsukuyo kind of missed your entire birthday celebration thanks to those idiot Orochi."
"I'd like to, but...we were going to spend it together. We never got to exchange gifts and we were so tired after we got back home yesterday night that we just went straight to sleep, and then it was off to class again this morning..."
Marika laughed.
"Hey, it's okay. One excuse was enough."
"No, really, we did have plans."
She reached up and ruffled Himeko's hair.
"I know. I'm just saying that being with your girlfriend is good enough reason. I'm so jealous of you, though."
"But you don't even like girls that way, Marika."
Marika groaned.
"Oh, geez, I just meant that--" She looked up into Himeko's grin. "Argh, you got me that time. I usually forget that you have a sense of humor."
"Am I really that bad?"
"No, but Tall, Dark, and Princessy is."
"Actually, you'd be surprised. Chikane really has a very sly sense of humor."
"You're right. I would be surprised."
Both girls dissolved into giggles.
"Hey, would you like to come up for a while?"
"Won't I be in the way?"
"No, Chikane has that late world history class on Tuesdays so she won't be back yet."
"All right, then. It'll be more fun to hang out with you," Marika said brightly.
Himeko led the way up the stairs to her dorm room, past other students who milled around, going in and out of their rooms on their own business.
"Now," Marika said as Himeko put her key in the lock, "you're sure this will be okay, right? After all, I'm about to step into the"--she stood up on tiptoe so she could whisper the rest of it in Himeko's ear--"love nest of two notorious perverts!"
Himeko flushed.
"Geez, Marika, if you're going to be that way about it, why do you even hang out with me?"
"Whoa! I'm sorry; I was just giving you a hard time about it like always. I didn't mean anything bad by it, honestly. It's fun to tease you, but I've honestly thought the whole forbidden love thing was kind of sweet. I don't know what that says about me," she added with an attempt at a grin, "but I really am glad you have someone who loves you that much. When I'm not jealous as heck, that is."
Himeko let out her breath and her anger together.
"No, I'm sorry too," she said. "I know the difference between your teasing and real feelings. I'm...just worried, what with all that's happened. But I'm really lucky to have a friend like you, who's on my side."
"Um, so we're okay, then?"
"Of course!"
She turned the key in the lock and opened the door. Himeko gasped as she saw the long, lean form seated in Chikane's desk chair, a pale woman in her mid-twenties with short, silvery-blue hair.
"Welcome home, Solar Priestess."
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