Episode 3: The Seven Stars of Suzaku

Miaka dreams of her brother, but as she pleads to go home, "Keisuke" informs her that he is not her brother. Miaka wakes up and sees Tamahome standing before her. Apparently Hotohori sent Tamahome to go check up on Miaka. Glaring at a reflection of himself for a while, Hotohori comes to the conclusion that “I look so beautiful, it’s scary”, making everyone bounce off the walls. Back in Miaka’s room, Tamahome comforts her, telling her that he will be her brother with no charges. Tamahome goes on and suggests that Suzaku might be able to help her return to her world. Hotori explains the legend of the four Gods of the four countries of the world. Konan’s God is Suzaku, and in order to summon Suzaku, one must find all seven Seishi named after the constellation. All the Seishi have one character somewhere on their body, and are Suzaku’s protectors. Hotori reveals that he and Tamahome are both two of Suzaku no Miko’s protectors, leaving her to find five more Seishi. Miaka decides to try and find the rest of the Seishi, and asks Hotohori to assist her. Hotohori calls for a group of men that are “the greatest warrior-scholars in the land”. Miaka then attempts to find the Seishi by asking the men to raise their hands if they have a Chinese mark on their bodies. According to Tamahome, however, the men might not have any clue that they're a Seishi unless it is brought out, so Miaka’s plan fails miserably. Tamahome then proceeds to testing them by beating the daylight out of all the guards, and finds that none of them so far are Seishi-worthy. Strongly disagreeing with his “method” of finding the Seishi, Miaka decides to provoke the men by teasing them. Miaka figures that if a man was one of the Seishi, then he would never be spiteful enough as to hit a girl, no matter what was said. This ill-advised plan only results in the men trying to attack poor Miaka. Miaka, being not the wisest person, runs to a small building held up by only a few pillars. Tamahome stops the men by beating them all up. One of the men, however, throws a mallet at a small support pillar, causing the building to almost collapse on Miaka. Luckily, Tamahome flies to her rescue by running to protect her. It falls on both of them, but only Tamahome gets seriously injured because he is using all his might to hold it up with his back. Tamahome’s strength begins to give out, and Miaka can only lie there helplessly. Meanwhile, back in the real world, Yui notices a bloody wound appear suddenly on her leg, even though she hasn't done anything! It seems Miaka has an injury in the same exact spot. Shocked, Yui realizes that whatever happens to Miaka happens to her as well. One of the castle’s members appears, asking the Emperor for permission to clear away the rubble. The purple-haired female grabs huge boulders and parts of the roof with ease. She saves Tamahome and Miaka, and introduces herself as Korin, “a princess of the realm” who is called Nuriko by everyone. It turns out Nuriko is also a Seishi, and Miaka tries to thank her, but Nuriko tramples over Miaka to get to Tamahome and kisses him. Miaka is washing out the blood on her skirt from the wound she received, when Tamahome bursts in on her. He blushes crimson, seeing as how she's currently nude, and quickly apologizes as Miaka screams and calls him a pervert. Tamahome frantically tells Miaka to hide him, but too late, Nuriko drags him out of Miaka's room, cheerfully waving goodbye to an irritated Miaka. Miaka reflects on how Nuriko kissed Tamahome before, wondering why she felt so uncomfortable at the sight. Miaka tries to befriend Nuriko, by asking her for any service she can provide. Nuriko gives her a lot of trouble about it while agreeing. Miaka leaves and stares at a body of water close to her room. A mummified Tamahome comes across Miaka's path, just having escaped Nuriko’s wrath. Miaka asks why Tamahome isn’t with “her”. Who doesn’t like being pampered like that? Tamahome doesn't answer, instead gently tending to Miaka’s bandaged leg.