The Twelve Kingdoms: Shadow of the Moon

some glad-hander who stoops to rubbing shoulders with run-of-the-mill kaikyaku."
    "But . . . . "
    "No. If I pleaded, yes, perhaps he might deign to see me, but it is something I simply am not interested in pursuing."
    "No interest at all?"
    "I was tired of the times and was happy to come to this new world. I harbor no longings for my old country. By the time I understood that a way might be found to return if I petitioned the king, I had gotten used to living here and had lost any desire to go home."
    " I still want to," Youko said to herself, feeling a strong stab of homesickness.
    "Take care. I'll pray for your successful audience with the king."
    "At the very least, we can talk about Japan on our way to the gates."
    "There is no need." Rakujin laughed. "You see, that is the country I ran away from when I tried to start a revolution and failed."

Part VII
    raveling the highway at a brisk pace, they made it to the next city just as the gates were being secured. The next morning they set off as soon as the gates opened. Youko still could not quite grasp the significance of what this was all about, but from the looks on the faces of both Rakujin and Rakushun, she knew it was serious.
    She asked as they walked along, "I wonder if we'll really be able to see the Royal En."
    Rakushun quivered his whiskers. "Indeed. I've never had an audience with a king, so I'm hardly in the position to say. I think asking to see the king out of the blue like this is not usually done."
    "Yeah, you think?"
    "When traveling to Kankyuu, there are also the county and prefectural governments to deal with. We should probably ask for a meeting with the Taiho first and see how that goes."
    "Taiho?"
    Rakushun nodded, with his forefoot tracing the spelling of the Chinese character in the air. "It's what the king's counselor, or Saiho, is called. A kind of honorary title. Kankyuu is in Sei Province, so the Marquis of Sei is the Taiho."
    Youko continued to stare at where Rakushun had written the characters in the air. She said, "That sounds familiar. I've heard that word before."
    "No doubt you have."
    "No, it was in the other world. A long time ago." She thought about it, when and where she had heard someone say, "Taiho." She said, "Oh, yeah, that's it! That's what they called Keiki."
    Rakushun blinked his black eyes in surprise. "Taiho? Keiki?"
    "Yeah. He's the guy who brought me here. He gave me this sword." Youko laughed. "He kept going on about how he was my servant and that I was his lord and all. I'm telling you, he had this heavy-duty attitude about him."
    "Hold on a minute!" Rakushun frantically put up his hands and even with his tail dragged Youko to a stop. " Keiki, you said? They called Keiki the Taiho? "
    "Yeah, I think so. Why, do you guys know each other?"
    Rakushun shook his head vigorously. His whiskers fluttered up and down in great agitation. "You are Keiki's Lord . . . . "
    Man, it was so long ago, Youko thought to herself. She reached back through her memories like turning through the pages of a photo album. For a moment she was lost in her thoughts. When she came back to herself and sighed, she saw that Rakushun had taken several steps back and was staring at her. He looked totally freaked out.
    "Hey, what's with you?" Youko tilted her head the side, puzzled.
    "What's with me?" Rakushun said to himself. He looked up at her. "If your Keiki was addressed as Taiho, then that makes him the Kei Taiho."
    "And that is?"
    The thunderstruck expression on Rakushun's face was quite extraordinary.
    "So Keiki is the Kei Taiho. There something wrong with that?"
    Rakushun sat down on the shoulder of the road and motioned for Youko to join him. Youko sat down next to him. For a while he just stared at her.
    "So who is this Keiki? What kind of person is he?"
    "This is really, really, really serious, Youko."
    "I don't get it."
    "I'll try to explain it to you. Keep calm and listen."
    Youko felt a growing sense of unease. She nodded and gave Rakushun her undivided attention.
    "If I had known earlier that you were taking about the Taiho, the remarkable state of affairs we've found ourselves in could have been cleared up a lot earlier. You probably wouldn't have had to suffer so much, either."
    "Rakushun, you're not making any sense."
    "What I'm telling you is, the Taiho is a royal counselor. The royal counselor. And you say that his name is Keiki. That being the case, then it must be the Kei Taiho. There can be no other explanation."
    "Okay.