even in death

While in Konan trying to find a way to convince Inami to join the group with them, Hikitsu and Tomite explore the town in search for a spiritual healer of sorts. During their search, they run across a tribute to the god of Konan, Suzaku. Tomite starts talking to Hikitsu about how, since they are the first group seishi out of the four, that it should be their responsibility to pave the way for the others that follow. However, Tomite also declares it's wishful thinking because Konan seems so peaceful that the country won't need their priestess for a long time yet.

Hikitsu agrees with Tomite, and then remarks about how they would be long dead before the Suzaku seishi would appear. However, we all know what happens then; according to Watase in Fushigi Yuugi, Tomite dies while trying to save a child and Hikitsu dies trying to save Tomite. For reasons that we do not know yet, somehow it became important for the spirits of Tomite and Hikitsu to stay behind and guard the shinzaho, in a mountain cave that is still speculatively created by Namame, until the other seishi groups came looking for it. And so they remain, guarding the shinzaho for Takiko for two hundred years in their spiritual forms, not allowed to join the others.

That brings us to the original story written years ago. In Fushigi Yuugi, after Miaka and the Suzaku seishi are tricked by Seiryuu seishi Amiboshi's fake Chiriko and have basically lost any hope of summoning Suzaku; they are told by Tai Ji-Jun that the only way left for them to summon Suzaku was for them to find the shinzaho in the country of Hokkan - Genbu's country. Upon arriving in Hokkan, they stay at a village but when asking about what happened to the priestess of Genbu after she did her duty, no one knows the real truth since two hundred years had already past.

In a race against the Seiryuu seishi to be the first to find the shinzaho, but suddenly left alone because the other group doesn't want to fight with the more powerful Genbu seishi, the Suzaku seishi finally arrive at the cave where the shinzaho is kept and Tomite and Hikitsu stand guard. At first though, until they put Miaka through a test to see if she is the real priestess, Hikitsu and Tomite attacked the Suzaku seishi. Apparently many other people have tried to take the shinzaho before and they were being extra cautious of anyone who entered the cave.

However, when it was determined that Miaka is the priestess of Suzaku, their demeanor changes and they are happy to give the shinzaho to her. Hikitsu and Tomite also are the ones to tell the Suzaku seishi about the second shinzaho that the group needed to obtain in order to summon Suzaku. After doing their deed of protecting Takiko's necklace, the two return to heaven finally able to rest in peace.