The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

hairpins I picked out don't match the outfit, and he refuses to change. See for yourself! I swear I'm dressing him if it's the last thing I do!"
    "So he's been giving you a hard time."
    "Hmph," Shoukei pouted, crossing her arms across her chest. "We seem to have arrived at an impasse. As far as I'm concerned, they're fine. It's the choker that doesn't go with the earrings. I hope you don't mind, Youko, but I've been going through your stuff. Call me stubborn, but a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do!"
    Having spoken her mind quite forcefully, Shoukei at last took note of the figures following behind Youko. Her face turned bright red. With a yelp she sank to the ground at the side of the path and bowed deeply. "Forgive me please!"
    "A real pain in the neck, eh?" said Rokuta, the laughter evident in his voice. "That kirin of his sure is. She wouldn't be inside, would she?"
    "Yeah, um, yes, they are."
    "Ah. Well, we have something we need to discuss. The faster you can drag the Royal Epicure out of his room the better."
    "I understand," Shoukei replied, with another bow.
    Smothering grins of their own, they continued on their way, arriving at a pair of pagodas surrounded by a curious rock formation. Due to the Royal Han's idiosyncratic dislike of any of Youko's junior retainers except for Shoukei, nobody was there to greet them. So they simply announced themselves and walked in.
    Hanrin lay sprawled on the couch. But it was quite obvious, Youko noted with a wry smile, that the way Royal Han had moved around the furniture and adjusted hanging scrolls breathed new life into the living space. The man definitely had good taste. And in the midst of it all, Hanrin's unkempt presence was exactly what turned the still life into a living portrait.
    "Hey," she said, glancing up from her book. "It's Youko and Keiki." She all but vaulted off the sofa. "Long time no see, Rokuta."
    "Yo."
    Hanrin pounced down in front of Shouryuu and peered up at his face. "And a long time no see to you too, Shouryuu. I see you showed looking like a country bumpkin. As usual."
    "And you're as unhousebroken as usual. Go get your owner."
    "No can do. Alas, his Highness still hasn't found a thing worth wearing around here."
    With an expression that looked like he'd taken a bite out of a lemon, Shouryuu said, "I don't much care. If nothing suits him, then he can join us in the buff."
    "Just the thing I'd expect from an ill-bred boor like you, Shouryuu." Her eyes lit on Renrin. "Well, well, well," she said flirtatiously, and followed with an elegant bow. "I don't believe I've had the honor."
    "Um, this is the Ren Taiho."
    "It is a pleasure to finally lay eyes on you. I am Hanrin."
    With a bright smile, Renrin introduced herself as well.
    Hanrin surveyed the room. "I gather the dead serious mood everybody's in has to do with the search for Taiki commencing?"
    "That would be the case," Shouryuu answered dourly, motioning for Hanrin to sit down. "I asked you to come to En, but you never showed up. Instead I find you here."
    "Oh, so that's why you came here? Well, good. I much prefer Kei. Your retainers in En really are an uncool lot. All they do is spew hot air all day long."
    "You're describing yourself. At any rate, it's been decided that En and Kei, and Han and Ren will conduct the search in Yamato."
    "And China?"
    "Sou and Kyou and Sai."
    "A major operation," Hanrin mused. She tilted her head and asked, "But is it okay, doing this sort of thing? I mean, I don't think it's ever been done before."
    "It's okay," Rokuta answered. "We kirin searching for Taiki doesn't run up against Divine Providence."
    "Hmm. So how does this search work? In concrete terms. Send in the Imperial Army?"
    "Don't be silly," Enki said with a grimace. "Can't be done. Genkun asked us to keep the shoku to a bare minimum. And besides, it wouldn't do us any good. Taiki is a taika. Only we kirin can sense the presence of another kirin."
    Hanrin gaped at him. "Are you serious? Isn't Yamato a pretty big place?"
    "Not as big as any one of our kingdoms, if you're just talking about Yamato."
    "Even so, that's a whole lot of ground to cover. And only four of us. I could almost swear you're pulling my leg, Rokuta."
    "I know it's a tall order. If it wasn't, then we wouldn't have asked the other kingdoms to pitch in and help in the first place."
    "But--"
    "We found Taiki once before. I can't remember exactly where it was, but I've got a grasp of the general area. There's no guarantee that