Mysterious Play

Middle school student Miaka Yuuki and Yui Hongo are both preparing for the exams for Jonan Academy, a highly competitive high school. Miaka is an average student, while the brilliant Yui is applying so she and Miaka can go to the same high school. While at the National Library, Miaka follows a vision of a phoenix to a special collections room where she finds a book called the Universe of the Four Gods. When the two girls start reading it, they are pulled into the book and taken to a world similar to ancient China. As they try to get their bearings, they are attacked by two slave traders. A young man with the character for "ogre" on his forehead appears and fights off the traders. He asks the two girls to pay him for saving them, but they have no money so he leaves. While Miaka is searching her pockets, Yui is transported back to the library and begins reading the book again. Miaka looks up to find Yui and the young man gone. Presuming he had taken Yui with him, she hitches a ride on a wagon to the nearest city to search for him. As she searches the city, another man tells her he is friends with the man she is looking for her. He leads her to a secluded area where four of his friends are waiting to rape her and sell her "strange" clothes. Miaka fights them off at first, but they manage to knock her off her feet and pin her to the ground. The young man shows up and easily beats up the four men, saving Miaka again.

When the young man is unable to tell Miaka where Yui is, Miaka doggedly follows him demanding he help her search. After she loudly accused him of selling Yui and being a slave trader, the embarrassed man stops to talk. Seeing the imperial procession nearby, the young man remarks that one jewel from the emperor's crown would make him rich, so Miaka runs up to the palanquin and asks if she can have a jewel. She trips and grabs one the cloth decorations to catch herself, ripping it. The guards attack her for dishonoring the emperor, but the young man rescues her using a smoke bomb. The man introduces himself as Tamahome. When she reminds him she has no money, he kisses her forehead as payment, just as the emperor's guards discover them. Suddenly, Miaka begins emitting a red light and starts to vanish. Slipping between worlds, she is relieved to see Yui is safe and reading the book in the library before the light fades and she returns to the world in the book. On the emperor's orders, she and Tamahome are captured and imprisoned. When Miaka chews some gum and blows a bubble, it terrifies the guard who runs away, leaving the keys behind. After they escape the cell, Tamahome tells Miaka about the four gods of the universe. He explains that the Konan empire is ruled by the phoenix Suzaku. He turns to find Miaka gone. (Miaka smells food and wanders off to eat.) While searching for Tamahome, she meets a beautiful person named Hotohori who seems excited to learn Miaka is from another world. As they talk, Tamahome is captured by guards nearby. The "woman" hides Miaka, but Miaka reveals herself to help Tamahome. When the guards roughly grab Miaka, Tamahome quickly breaks free from the guards holding to fight the ones hurting her. Seeing the symbol that appears on Tamahome's forehead as he fights, Hotohori stops the guards and reveals that he is really the emperor and a man. In the throne room, Hotohori asks Miaka to become the Priestess of Suzaku to save his country of Konan. In doing so, she will obtain the power to fulfill her wishes. After thinking of all the wishes she could make, including passing the exams and going to high school with Yui (and having a sexy body and having all the boys drool over her), Miaka accepts and all in the palace bow before the Priestess of Suzaku.

Miaka dreams about her big brother, but she wakes up and finds Tamahome instead. He's checking on her because Hotohori is worried that she's sad. He offers to be her honorary big brother, and tells her that with the power of Suzaku, she can go home. This galvanizes Miaka into action. Hotohori explains that there are seven constellations in the south that belong to Suzaku, and the names of the constellations appear on the bodies of seven people. When all seven are gathered together, the priestess will gain the power of Suzaku. The finest warriors in the kingdom are gathered and Miaka tries to provoke them, thinking that the Suzaku Seven would not try to harm her, but they all chase her and make a building fall down around her. Back in the real world, Yui notices blood on her leg. Tamahome has shielded Miaka from most of the rubble, but her leg was injured. Tamahome struggles to keep the building from falling on them both, almost killing himself to save Miaka, but luckily one of the royal consorts quickly digs them out, displaying superhuman strength. She is one of the Suzaku Seven, Nuriko. She says she really wanted to save Tamahome and gives him a kiss. Miaka washes her clothes and thinks about how to make friends with Nuriko, as she needs her to get home. Tamahome barges in, hoping to hide from Nuriko. Miaka decides to serve as Nuriko's maid, but Nuriko makes her tasks difficult, and flirts with Tamahome in front of Miaka. Later that day, Tamahome escapes from Nuriko and talks to Miaka, who is depressed about Nuriko and Tamahome's possible relationship. He tends to her leg.

As Tamahome tends to her leg, Miaka asks him if he loves Nuriko. He laughs and calls her jealous, and says he wants money more than love. Nuriko overhears them. Later, she asks Miaka to search for a lost earring by the lake in the dark. Hotohori is being criticised by his advisors about not taking an Empress near the lake. Miaka and Hotohori meet, he offers to order Nuriko to behave, and Miaka says no, she'd rather become Nuriko's friend. Miaka falls in the lake, and gets caught in the weeds. Nuriko gloats that she sent Miaka on a false errand. Tamahome overhears and Nuriko reveals she's in love with Hotohori. Miaka comes back from the pond. They slap each other, make friends and Miaka promises to put in a word for Nuriko with Hotohori. Hotohori tells Miaka that he's only ever loved the priestess of Suzaku, but he senses Tamahome and Nuriko listening in. He proposes to Miaka. The next morning both Tamahome and Nuriko are cold to Miaka, and she follows them to the market. Tamahome tries to sell some of Miaka's bubblegum, but the crowd doesn't like it, so Miaka reveals herself. The crowd goes wild and they have to escape quickly. Later, a gang set upon them and Tamahome and the gang leader haggle over a price for Miaka. Miaka and Tamahome fight the gang and win, but Miaka is furious at Tamahome for rescuing her, as the gang leader said it would be impossible for Tamahome to work in the town without his say-so. Miaka tells Tamahome she loves him, but is rebuffed. She falls down in a fever.

Hotohori questions Tamahome about Miaka's illness. Tamahome is evasive. Miaka is seriously ill, so Hotohori resolves to send her home, using Taiitsukun, the ultimate ruler of the universe. Hotohori tells Miaka of this, asking her to come back once she's well again. Outside, Nuriko accuses Tamahome of being jealous of Hotohori, telling him to apologize to Miaka so that Hotohori will be free for Nuriko. They set off to go to Taiitsukun, with a tense feeling between Miaka and Tamahome. That night, Nuriko tells Miaka to bathe in the mineral spring near where they are camped. She tells Tamahome to go to the spring, saying Miaka asked him to meet her out there. Miaka undresses to bathe and she is frightened by a dark shape. Tamahome comes running, and "saves" her from the dark shape, a log. After realizing Miaka wasn't clothed, they both turned their backs on one another, and they both apologise. Tamahome is very embarrassed by Miaka's appearance. Tamahome leaves and Nuriko reveals herself. Miaka hugs Nuriko and Nuriko's top falls off enough to reveal that "she"'s a man! The next day, Hotohori and Miaka have a heart-to-heart discussion, which makes Tamahome and Nuriko jealous. Taiitsukun decides she will have to test the group. She sends a thick fog. Tamahome insults Miaka and she runs off. She sees a dinner table and runs towards it, and is trapped in a mirror, where she is confronted by an evil mirror-Miaka.

The mirror-Miaka insults her and tells Miaka she'd be taking over Miaka's life from now on. The imposter grinned evilly, saying Hotohori was "a much better catch" than Tamahome, and steps out of the mirror, trapping Miaka there, and walks back to camp, carrying the mirror. She reveals the secret of Nuriko's gender, and tries to kiss Hotohori, but Hotohori realises that something is wrong. They try to fight mirror-Miaka, but she uses the mirror to suck out all their power. Taiitsukun goads Miaka to think of something to defeat the mirror-Miaka. Miaka breaks a plate from the dinner table and stabs herself deeply in the heart to wound the mirror-Miaka, who is a part of Miaka. The mirror-Miaka is defeated by the three warriors, and Miaka reappears, nearly dead. Nuriko treats her wound. In the real world, Yui is also wounded. Yui and Miaka talk while Miaka is between death and life. Miaka sees a paradise, but returns to the world of the four gods. Taiitsukun reveals herself to the group, and tells them she can get Miaka home.

Taiitsukun takes the group to her palace atop Mount Taikyoku where her assistants, the Nyan-Nyans, heal Miaka, Tamahome, and Hotohori's wounds. As they heal Miaka's wounds, Taiitsukun says Miaka doesn't have enough power to go home because of the blood loss, so Tamahome and Hotohori offer to give her some of their blood, though it means their powers will be cut in half. Once the transfusion is done, Taiitsukun notes that with only three Suzaku warriors, the processing of sending Miaka home will be difficult, but they are all determined to help her. Miaka has trouble concentrating out of concern for the others, but then she hears Yui calling out to her. Remembering her friendship with Yui and their years together, Miaka is enveloped in the red light of Suzaku. As she is transported home, a comet-like ray of blue light passes her going back towards the book world. Miaka wakes up on the floor of the library with the open book nearby, but Yui is not there. As the library is closing, Miaka returns the Universe of the Four Gods to its shelf and leaves. She runs into two of their school friends. Thrilled to be reunited after so long, she learns that for them, it had only been two hours since she and Yui had left them to go to the library. Wondering if Yui returned home, Miaka calls her house.

Learning that Yui is still not home, Miaka goes to her own home where she tells her big brother, Keisuke about the events in the Universe of the Four Gods. Though he says he doesn't believe her, he also warns her to stay away from the book. However, Miaka had already promised her Warriors that she would return she also realizes that Yui may have been taken into the book in exchange for her. After packing some of her things and some snacks, she returns to the library. Keisuke sees her and tries to stop her, but Miaka tells him good-bye and is absorbed into the book. In the other world, Hotohori welcomes her back and tells her that it has been three months since she left and that their country is now caught up in a war. He asks her to hurry to summon Suzaku. She looks for Tamahome to ask him to help find the rest of the Celestial Warriors, but he has left the palace. Miaka, joined by Nuriko, go to find him. Miaka wonders how Tamahome could have left, but Nuriko explains her that Tamahome really missed Miaka while she was gone and that he does love her. Suddenly, the surroundings become pitch-dark. Nuriko and Miaka are thrown from their horse, and a man with a pickax towers over Miaka. When the man speaks, Miaka realizes it's Tamahome. They are glad to be reunited, and Tamahome introduces Miaka to his companions. However, the torches suddenly go out and a pair of hands pull Miaka into the forest.

A fox-like monk reveals himself to Miaka, warning her that people from the rival kingdom of Kutou are after her. He disappears, leaving only his hat, as Tamahome arrives. They hear a scream and run back to find all of the men that had been with Tamahome dead, and an unharmed Nuriko pinned to a tree by arrows. Nuriko recalls that as soon as Miaka had been taken and Tamahome had run after her, a volley of arrows had appeared, killing all but him. The three go to the local village Tamahome was hired to protect. In the morning, Miaka spots Tamahome leaving town and quickly wakes Nuriko so they can follow him. They soon arrive in Tamahome's home village. Tamahome's father is very ill and his four younger siblings tend the farm while Tamahome works. As he goes to leave, one of his younger sisters faints with fever and Miaka reveals herself to shout out instructions on how to treat the girl. She goes to the river to get some water, but is attacked by a group of assassins. Tamahome, sensing Miaka is in danger, runs to find her, but the fox-monk saves her by using a strike of energy from within the hat he left behind. He introduces himself as Chichiri and warns Miaka that unless she starts acting more responsibly, people around her are going to suffer. When they return to Tamahome's home, they find his family and Nurkio have been tied up in wires by another assassin. Tamahome is also captured and the assassin demands Miaka let him kill her to save the others. She consents, but Chichiri saves her and frees the others. During the battle, his Suzaku symbol is revealed. Nuriko pins the assassin and begins questioning him but he is killed by a flurry of arrows before he can saw more than that his kingdom is seeking their "Priestess of Seiryu." Miaka, worried that Yui is the one they are searching for and not wanting to put anyone in more danger, sneaks out of the house and runs off to Kutou.