The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

Taiki returned to that spot. But our best bet is to start the search there and work outwards."
    "You really plan on launching this dragnet with only that clue to go by? Unbelievable."
    "You want to give up?" Rokuta scowled at her. "If you got a better option, I'll take it. But there isn't one. Obviously there's no telling how long this will take. But if you want to do something on behalf of Tai, it's all we've got!"
    The room fell into silence. At length Renrin said, "What about using our shirei?"
    "Shirei?"
    "Yes. Shirei can detect the presence of their kirin, right? No matter how far away, my shirei will sense where I am and return to me. It stands to reason that shirei should be able to detect other kirin as well. Probably better than we kirin can."
    "Indeed," Enki nodded. "What about it?" he said into the air.
    "Yes," a voice spoke out of the ether. The voice of Enki's shirei.
    "Well, then. What about youma?"
    There was no answer.
    "You can summon those of your own kind. Of course, we wouldn't want to gather dangerous youma. But the small, harmless ones?"
    After another moment of silence, "Yes," came the answer.
    "Great. This way we can really leverage our numbers."
    "In that case," Hanrin said, raising her voice and clapping her hands together, "Han does have the Kouyoukyou. "
    "The Kouyoukyou?"
    "Yes. The Kouyoukyou dematerializes the person whose image it reflects. Only beings capable of the tonkou can use it. Using it, theoretically, shirei and youma could replicate themselves infinitely. The replicated portion is limited in its capabilities. But if searching for someone is all that is called for, then it should prove sufficient."
    "And Ren has the Gogoukanda, " said Renrin. "The Gogoukanda creates a wormhole to the other side without triggering a shoku. People cannot pass through it, nor can it handle large number of beings at one time. But using it greatly minimizes the effects of a shoku. It was used once before to retrieve Taiki. When the En Taiho discovered his location, he was transported to Mt. Hou using it."
    "Fantastic!"
    A cool voice interrupted Rokuta's celebratory mood. "Does not the problem remain as to why Taiki has not returned of his own volition?"
    Everybody turned around. The Royal Han was standing in the doorway to the bedroom. He was dressed in a dazzling white silk robe. Shoukei stood behind him, a rather smug look on her face.
    "So you finally decided to join us? What's that question supposed to mean?"
    "What's it supposed to mean? If Enki got unwillingly swept away to Yamato, would you settle down there?"
    Rokuta was momentarily at a loss for words.
    "If it was Enki, then I'd say he'd happily given his Monkey King the slip. But Taiki never struck me as such an ingrate. He would definitely try to return. And yet he hasn't in six years. I think it best to consider the circumstances that would explain this."
    "We know that. But there's no way to know stuff like that. In any case, we're not going to find him if we don't look. Still, putting yourself in his shoes, can you imagine those circumstances?"
    "Well--" The Royal Han stared off into space. "Putting myself in his shoes, I'd say that it's because he's not a ki. "
    "He's not a ki ?"
    "The true nature of a kirin serving his king, and the wellspring of a kirin's compassion for the people. The part of him that would urge him to return for the good of his king and the good of the people. And that which would imbue him with the ability to do so. Because he cannot, I believe the only conclusion is that he is not a kirin."
    "How can a kirin not be a kirin?"
    "I'm not sure we can know," the Royal Han stated curtly. "But Taiki is a taika."
    "He is, but so what?"
    "I'm not sure how to explain it. Hanrin will probably only cease to be a rin when she passes away. But what happens to a taika kirin when he is in that other world? That, to put it simply, is the thought that occurred to me."

Chapter 35
    I t was midsummer when Youko informed Risai that the search for Taiki had begun. The enervated feelings accompanying the oppressive heat stole even into the Imperial Palace. Sleep came hard enough already, and her mounting impatience as she awaited word of good news disturbed her rest all the more.
    "No need to worry," Rokuta cheerfully assured her at first. "We'll find him right away."
    But his expression had soon turned cloudy. There was no sign of Taiki in Yamato where Rokuta had found him once before. They extended the search but nothing had yet