Enter the Sunflower Miko, Hasumi Fukuyama!

"What's this holy city like, doctor?" Homugi asked. "Is it a big place?"

She was walking beside Meioshi, who was pulling a wagon by her waist effortlessly, on her right side while Yuko was happily carrying her own travel bag on Meioshi's left. Yamashi had a field day when he found out she left with her mentor this morning, but the beauty of being married to him was that he was fairly easy to please with the promise of more intimate time to make up for her absence. She snuck into Meioshi's office at the clinic for one of her books containing sexual positions and showed Yamashi a few she was curious about trying. That shut the prince up for a moment, but he provided her with armor and tried to offer her a new weapon before placing a kiss on her lips and telling her to be careful. Just to steal more kisses, Yamashi reminded her of certain battle moves that would aid her if needed. That exchange almost made Homugi jealous. She found it sweet that Yamashi, who was a revered warrior of his kingdom, was that intimate with another and that he taught Yuko how to fight more cleanly from the sound of it. If she decided to give courtship another chance in the future, a relationship similar to theirs would be what she would like.

"Sozosora isn't as large as Ketsueki Shirudo, but it is just as beautiful," Meioshi replied, turning to Homugi before returning to the path ahead. "Its name comes from the field of flowers that surround it. Blues and purples to represent the sky, whites and creams representing the clouds and birds, and a gorgeous patch of sunflowers as bright the sun. It has a mirror in the town's center that produces a barrier against enemy attack and flashes when danger is nearby. Unfortunately, the mirror had to be built some years ago because demons kept trying to take the land. I wasn't aware that they were after the crown jewel. I was never told of this detail when I visited the city."

"Does the city have a princess?" Yuko asked, blushing with excitement. "With tall, strong knights and pretty handmaids and a wise, old vizier and a scepter of justice and power?"

Meioshi chuckled at her apprentice as she wiggled with anticipation. She then said, "No, the city hasn't had a princess for centuries since it was attacked by a demon named Azumamaro. Frightful, old bugger he was!"

"Wait... I know him," Homugi said, pointing to herself. "I was a little girl at the time, but I remember Azumamaro the Jewel Eater. He was so obsessed with jewels he wanted to become one. I think I remember him stealing one of Lord Okakura's prized containers of power. He, spectacularly I'll add, actually became a living container of power himself! Lord Toga had an immense problem in dealing with him until the eye of Lord Okakura's watch tower did something to him. I think he was sealed away or sent elsewhere before anyone could kill him or apprehend him."

"Oh!" Meioshi exclaimed, startling the girls when she jumped and slapped her face with her hands. "I forgot to go back to thank them! I'm so sorry, Lord Totosai! And you, too, Lord Okakura! I promise I'll bring your pearl back and make you dinner! If you can hear me from way out here, I'm so sorry!"

Yuko and Homugi laughed at the doctor's frantic wailing before she calmed down and continued their walk. They didn't know that she caught someone's attention, or that the doctor had detected a person nearby who was watching them. Instead, she continued to smile and spoke to the girls some more. As they were passing some bushes, a pair of eyes followed them as they made their way to Sozosora...

Taking a break near a small stream, Meioshi decided to eat a small lunch underneath a green parasol. It looked like she was having a picnic with her humble setup. Homugi was washing her face while Yuko was rubbing her feet with an exfoliating scrub. As much as she appreciated wearing boots, they definitely had a way of making her feet ache and the toes rub together uncomfortably. It was probably time for a new pair.

"Whoo..." Yuko exhaled, resting on her elbows under Meioshi's large parasol. "How long is this trip going to be, sensei?"

"About five days by foot. Less by horse or boat," Meioshi answered, eating a piece of beef. "I've spare shoes in the back in case your boots give you too much trouble. You may as well enjoy the break."

"I will once this scrub dries," Yuko responded, wiggling her toes. She then looked down at Meioshi's rations and asked, "Who's the fourth bowl for?"

"Oh, just a guest," Meioshi said, placing her chopsticks down and turning her head slightly.

Homugi heard it, too. The sound of metals rubbing against each other, but it also sounded like a bug's wings. It was like a dragonfly had flown in her ears. Before she knew it, a large metal spider grabbed Homugi around her arms and extended to her legs and mouth. Flopping backwards in the stream, she heard a small voice say...

"Wow! A rare demon type!"

Meioshi slowly walked around her parasol and was met with a small child in a defensive fighting position with a golden pole in her hands. It was way longer than her body! She was a cute, little girl, though. She had light brown hair decorated with a yellow and white frilly bow atop her head, and light brown eyes with baby blue paint across the lids. She had Shinto papers at the top of her pole with markings and sunflowers on the backs of them, and there was a bright orange light at the tip of the pole containing a large amount of reiki energy. The little girl herself was dressed in priestess robes, but the sleeves were long and flowy, and her pants were cut into shorts. Her tabi were up to her knees and her shoes were fully green with sunflower leaves covering her ankles. The leaves seemed to be a type of armor. Her clothes were a mixture of sunflower yellow and frilled white with orange and blue accents.

"I hardly ever catch girl demons," the child said, smiling victoriously. "She even has special markings!"

"Who are you, little miko?" Meioshi asked with that shrewd smile and an interested glint in her hazel eyes.

"Hasumi Fukuyama! The sunflower miko!" the girl cheered, twirling her pole around. The papers shot out of her pole and pulled Homugi out of the water. The blue merle beauty was not happy with being dragged by a kid! The child then said, "Not to be rude or anything, ma'am, but I'll be taking your demon now. She's about as useless as a caught fish in my spells. You're gonna hafta learn to defend yourselves without the pretty demon girl."

Meioshi raised an eyebrow at Hasumi and said, "Very well. I suppose we'll be seeing each other again at the holy city."

"Huh?" Hasumi questioned, furrowing her brow with suspicion. "You're not even going to try to bargain with me? You're just going to let me take her?"

"I've no reason to, Lady Fukuyama. You caught my Homugi fair and square. I only ask that you feed her before you go. We were having lunch," Meioshi answered, not erasing her smile but dropping her brow. Homugi was shocked at the doctor's response until she noticed the calm disposition in her body. She was up to something.

"You're weird," Hasumi said, frowning at the lack of response from the women. "I don't wanna grow up to be that weird."

"You don't want to grow up with a cocky attitude either," Meioshi said, showing teeth in her smile. "Negate the bind."

SNAP! Hasumi's eyes widened when her metal spider crumbled into pieces and the Shinto papers were ripped to shreds.

'No way!' Hasumi thought. 'How?'