"Youre a ...seishi!" H-chan gasped. "Tomo, why didnt
 you SAY anything?"

He looked noble. "miko, the forces to kill you have
 already gathered over Konan-koku...

"Kill me?" H-chan looked a bit too self confident for
 her own good. "Not with Chichiri-san and my wings! 
They wont get NEAR me!"

"Dont be sure, miko..." Tomo shook his head. "First
 that fake K-chan...then they sent ME as a spy."

"You were supposed to kill me?" H-chans face
 collapsed. "Boy, am I gullible..."

Tomo shook his head. "Dont even worry about it. I
 double crossed them to protect you. Theres no way
 they can get you now.To protect my miko, it was
 dangerous but worth it..."

"Geeze." Tasuki growled to a concerned looking
 Chichiri. "How corny can ya get? Why do girls eat
 this ^%$#UP!?!"

Chichiri sweatdropped as H-chan cerimoniously thanked
 Tomo. "I dont know no da...but Im keeping an eye on
 him no da!"

"So am I." Chiriko came up and glared at Tasuki. "And
 so are YOU."

"What? What the %$#@ do I care if he kills the oinu?"

Chiriko just shrugged and began to rummage around in
 Tasukis coat pockets. 

"Hey! Ecchi boy!" Tasuki swatted at him.

"I knew it!" Chiriko held up a few valuable looking
 jade figuinres. "Which palace shelf did you steal
 theese off of? Help watch H-chan, or Ill find out
 from Hotohori-sama!"

"Fine." Tasuki turned away, grumbling about how much
 he hated children.

"Diiiii-ner!" Nuriko ran out, jangling a little bell.
 "Hori-sama, sit by me!"

"Of course I will. My lovely finacee on the right-"


"waiii!" Nuriko giggled, giving a triumphant glance at
 the confused H-chan.

"And the guest of honor, Suzaku no miko, on the left."


Nurikos smile crashed as they all went into the dining
 room. "Ill get you for this, Suzaku no miko..." she
 hissed,closing the door behind her.

^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*

Dinner was aan elaborate aafair, they type you know
 was made with love. (or, in H-chans case, malice and
 deathwishes.)H-chan looked slightly slightly 
uncomfortable as she took a seat eside Hotohori.

This was, of course, bacause Nuriko put a fork on her
 seat.

"Ouch! Damnit, Tasuki!" H-chan picked up the fork and
 threw it at Tasuki. he plucked it out of the air and
 began to eat. "Thanks, Oinu!"

"H-chan no da! Calm down no da..." A swaetdropping
 Chichiri was sitting by H-chan, glaring across the
 atble at Tomo. Tomo merely smirked and turned wawy.


And who sat in front of Tasuki? A giggling Nyan-nyan.

"Tasuki have pretty red hair!" it giggled.

"Nyan-nyan have annoying speech impediment." Chiriko
 growled, sitting beside Tasuki, who had his head in
 his hands. (I want to fry it...why are they so %$#@in
 CUTE? must be defence...)

Nuriko was clinging to Hotohori. He shook her off
 momentarily to make a short speech.

"Everyone?" He stood. "I welcome you all to the palace, where we are truly lucky to be graced today by
 the presence of Suzaku no Miko-"

Nuriko hissed and was discreetly elbowed by Hotohori, who continued:

"Suzaku no Miko and her seven seishi, who although
 they are not as good looking, dashing, or heroic as
 ME-"


All sweatdropped except for Nuriko, who
 enthusiastically nodded in agreement.


"Will stil be more than adequate to protect her until
 her wishes are fufilled."

"Yata!" Tasuki pumped his fork in the ar. "we rule!
 Lets eat!"

Everyone nodded in aagreement (save a frazzled looking
 Hotohori, miffed at having his speech cut off) and
 dug in.

Chiriko picked at his meal very properly, studying the
 people around him and storing interesting things away
 for future use.

For example:

Chichiri's eyes never left Tomo for a second. It was
 hard to tell, because of the mask, but Chiriko
 noticed such things.

Nuriko kept trying to slip small packets of powder
 into H-chans food. Everytime she got close, however,
 Hotohori would grab the offending hand and kiss it.
 Nuriko would be too anesthezized to do anything else for at least the next five minutes.

Tasuki, though he insulted H-chan merciallessly,
 looked upon her with affection. Not love, but a
 protectivenbess Chiriko knew all too well.

Tomos eyes shifted constantly. It was just suspicious.

And finally, H-chan was still utterly obsessed with 
Chichiri. It was obvious, the way she kept scootching 
closer to him, how she stared at him, and how she was
 oblivious to pretty much everything Tomo said.

However, her mouth kept openeing, then she would blush
 and quickly shut it, (What is she doing? What does
 she want to say?)

Chiriko shook his head and smiled. It was usefull to
 have a mind like this, and retain so much knowledge...but he would have to become even sharper
 to defend the miko.

"Alright." Hotohori stood up. "I would like to discuss
 new plans to take care of Suzaku no miko...Nuriko,
 darling, could you entertain our guests? Everyone
 else, follow me?"

Everyone followed suit, leaving an annoyed looking Nuriko glaring down at H-chan. (I suppose they want me
 to ENTERTAIN this little whore...but how? Ah...maybe
 its time for Nuriko to get her some "special tea"...)
 Nuriko giggled evily. "Il be right back. Get comfy." she snorted, and swept out of the room.


"Boy, shes weird." H-chan sighed.

K-chan rasied her eyebrows, then camre to sit by H-chan. 
"Boy, does Tomo got it for you!"

"Got what?" H-chan smirked "Whatever hes got, I dont
 want it."

"I thought you liked him." K-chan poked her in the
 shoulder. "Youre fickle."

"Cmon ,hes so creepy!" H=chan shuddered. "Those
 eyes...but hes a seishi, so I guess Id better be nice
 to him."

"Like youre 'nice' to Chichiri?"

"Shut up!" H-chan slammed her head down on the table.
 "Ite..." she rubbed her sore head. "Its not my fault-"

"That you LOOOVE him?" K-chan giggled. H-chan clamped
 a hand over her mouth. "Shut UP! Theyre in the next
 room!"

K-chan slapped off H-chans hand. "Chill! Its not like
 they can HEAR you-"

"But I CAN! BWAHAHAHAAA!" Nuriko swept into the room,
 laughing hysterically. She pointed at H-chan.
 "Bigamist! You cant have two men!"

"N-na-"

"PICK!" Nuriko stomped her foot, cracking the palace
 floor. "Pick between Chichiri and Hotohori-sama!"

"Hotohori?" H-chan looked confused. "what does-"

"I KNEW IT!" Nuriko began to throttle H-chan. "You
 love Hotohori-sama! You want my Hori-samaaa!!"

"eck-ack-gh-" H-chan flailed her arms, trying to beat
 off Nuriko. Finally Nuriko gave a strangled sob and
 dropped H-chan to the ground.

"I wont let you have him!" She screeched, beggining to
 rush from the room.

"Hey, wait!" H-chan grabbed the back of the dress trying to stop her. her dress ripped down the back-

That is, HIS dress.

"Da..." H-chans eyes widened. "Gomen nasai..."

K-chan, who was standing in front of them, turned
 blue. "Youre a...a MAN?"

Nuriko started to sob, heas in hands. "oh...oh..now
 you! Go and tell him! Youll ruin everything so YOU
 can have Hotohori-sama!"

"Nuriko..." H-chan sighed. "I dont _want_ Hotohori-
sama. One unrequited love is enough for me. But
 Nuriko...Why Hotohori? Is he yaoi?"

She just looked up, a tear running down her face. "No.
 Its just...I walways wanted to serve in the inner
 seraglio since I was a boy. When I dressed up like
 this, they let me in. And when Hotohori-sama SAW 
me..." Nuriko smiled. "he said, 'This is the one. This
 is the woman I marry.' I was so happy...how could I
 tell him the truth?" Nurikos face fell. "But he'll
 find out, eventually! Then Im gonna get killed!"

"No, he wont." H-chan smiled.

Nuriko lokked up at her, very confused. "Nani? We are
 going to be married as soon-"

"Look." H-chan sighed. "If you promise to stop trying
 to poison me and whatnot, Ill make you a woman with
 one of my wishes. Deal?"

"WAI! WAI!" Nuriko got H-chan in a bonecrushing hug.
 "YOU ARE THE COOLEST!"

"cant..breathe..."

"Nuriko?" Hotohori came into the room, trailed by
 Chichiri. 

"Hori-sama!" H-chan was left on the palace floor,
 gasping for breath like a unsubmerged fish. Nuriko
 and Hotohori left arm in arm, leaving Chichiri
 helping H-chan up. "So you and Nuriko are friends now
 no da?"

"Id almost prefer we were enemies..." H-chan coughed a
 bit and stood up. "Im whiped...do you know where we
 sleep?"

"Im here to escourt you to your room no da!"

"Hey! None of that, you two!" K-chan gleefully hollered. 

H-chan turned red. "K-chan!"

Chichiri laughed. "Cmon no da!" He took her hand.

"O-okay." The two left, K-chan giggling madly.

"Those two are so CUTE!"
^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~

"Well, here we are no da." The small guesthouses in 
the back had been set up for the seishis, the miko,
 and K-chan to bunk in untill better conditions were
 made in the palace. Chichiri held H-chans hand, not
 noticing her red face as he scanned the courtyard for
 Tomo.

They stopped in front of one of the houses. Chichiri
 helped her up the stairs. "Now, you get some sleep no
 da!"

"Hai, hai..." H-chan stood on he stars. "You sound
 just like my mom! "But, Chichiri-san...arigatou."

"Nani no da?"

"Thanks you....thnk you for being so kind to me!" H-
chan quickly bowed to hide her red face. "Arigatou
 gozaimasu!" 

Chichiri laughed, putting an hand on her bowed head.
 "Dont be so greatfull, H-chan no da! Youre too nice
 no da!"

"No, you are, Chichiri-san!" She straightened up and
 smiled at him. "Youre the nicest guy Ive ever met, in
 my world or otherwise."

He grinned, the pushed her by her shoulder torwards
 the house. "You need sleep no da! Tomorow, you can
 tell me all about your world no da."

"But-"

"Go no da!" He gave her a gentle shove in the small of
 the back. She giggled. "Oyasumi nasai, Chichiri-san."

"Oyasumi nasai, Haruka no da."

Her face was bright red as she went in the door. (Baka
 yo ne...I cant turn red everytime he says my name! I
 need to get some guts...)

She squinted. "I wish someone would have left me a
 candle or something..."

A voice came from the darkness. "Light isnt a problem,
 miss Suzaku no Miko."

"Nani?" She turned torwards the voice. An eerie light
 floated into the air from a shin clam.

Tomo!

"Mitsuakae?" H-chan smiled. "Its late, and I need to
 go to bed, so oyasumi-"

"My name isnt Mitsukake." The light floated down to
 reveal his shirtless upper half. A blue symbol glowed
 on his abdomen. "My name...is Tomo."

H-chan looked him in his yellow eyes and for the first
 time, realized the danger she was in.

"CHICHIRI!!!" She ran from the house. "CHICHIRII!!!!"


^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*


"I still dont trust him."

"You dont trust anyone." Tasuki rolled his eyes,
 laying in his bunk by Chiriko and Chichiri. Chiriko
 was complainging about Tomo.

"I agree no da. Its all too suspicious somehow no da-"

"Oh, youre just jealous!" Tasuki blurted out.

"JEALOUS NO DA!?!" Chichiri almost lost it then and
 there. "Tasuki, let me get this straight with you no da! I am not now, nor will ever be, intrested in-"


"H-CHAN!" A yelling came from outside. Tamahome and K-
chan ran in. K-chan ran over to Chichiri. "Chichiri,
 you walked H-chan back, right?"

"Hai no da."

"Shes gone! Shes not in the pavillion!" K-chan was
 freaking out. Even Tasuki looked a bit nervous.
 "Maybe she went on a walk or somthin'."

"Missing a SHOE?" K-chan thrust the shoe under Tasukis
 nose. "Augh! That thing SMELLS!" Tasuki wrinkled his
 nose.

"This is no time to joke, Tasuki no da." Chichiri
 grabbed him by the collar and draged him out the door.

Tamahome looked over to Chiriko. "Should we go?"

Chiriko shook his head. "They can take care of Tomo."

"How do you know its-"

Chriko just shook his head. "I just have a hunch. I
 hope they get there in time..."

^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*

"IYAAH!" H-chan fell on the path. An errant thorn had
 tore a deep gash in her foot, forcing her to a stop.
 Spots of red splashed on her pink nightgown. She
 grabbed her feather. She had not wanted to use it,
 she knew that it could attract Tomo like a beacon,
 but she couldnt run any-

"AHHH!" She screeched. Roots drove themselfs out of
 the gorund to twine around her hands and feet.

Tomo came out from behind a tree. "Last chance, Suzaku
 no Miko. Become Seiryuu no Miko, or no miko at all."

H-chan spat at him. "Id rather die than follow you!"

Tomo laughed. "Alright then." The roots grew throns,
 ripping away her outerdress and leaving only the
 flimsy dress underneath. H-chan looked up at him in
 stunned shock. "Why-"

"I wont kill you. Ill have mercy on you in that
 respect. But...Do you know..how to immobalize a miko?"

H-chans eyes widened with realization. "Oh no. Oh
 god...you call that MERCY?!?"

he came near her, the tightening thorns beginning to
 rip away her dress. "It will be quick...and
 painless..that is my mercy to you, Suzaku no-"

"SARENAI!" Chichiri came charging out of the clearing,
 a massive ki blast forming on his staff.

"Oh, please." Tomo snapped, and the roots twined 
around his running feet. He fell to the gound, staff
 clattering beside him. Tomo laughed. "Youre too slow-"

"REKKA-SHIEN!"

"Nani?" A blast of fire swept across them, burning 
away the roots. "Tasuki?" H-chan struggled into a
 sitting position, wincing at the pain from her thorn
 scrapes.

Tasuki stepped out of the woods smirking, tessen
 pointed at Tomo. "Could I let Chichiri be the only
 cool guy?"

Meanwhile, Chichiri had gotten a hold on his staff.He
 concentrated for a second, letting his anger build,
 then released the energy.

A shining green light peirced the forest, bursting to
 Tomo like a speeding comet. It knocked him a yard
 away into a large tree. The ki consumed hum, burning
 him badly. He choked and opened the shinclam,
 disapearing inside.

Tasuki ran over to Chichiri. "Hey! You okay?"

"Yeah..." Chichiri winced. Both knees had been ripped
 out of his pants by the fall. He had been severly
 scraped up, but H-chan had it worse...

He stood up and walked over to her. She was shaking,
 sniffling, tears running down her cheeks. Chichiri
 sat beside her. "H-chan?"

She looked up at him a second, eyes brimming. She
 began to wail. "Chichiri! I was so scared-" He
 gathered her up, holding her shuddering body. He
 nodded at Tasuki. "Im going to stay out here with her
 for awhile. Go on back, tell Tamahome what happened."

Tasuki nodded. he took one last look at H-chan, to
 reassure himself more than anything else, then ran
 back to the guest houses.

Chichiri rocked her back and forth, trying to calm her
 down. "Its okay, Its okay...Im here...calm down,
 Haruka...Its okay..."

The muffled sobbing subsided. He gently pushed her
 away. He then ripped the bottoms off of his pants.
 "Here no da..." He ripped the bottoms into strips,
 and began to bandage the scrapes on her arms and legs.


She studied him as he did it. He had an earnest look
 on his face, but also one of anger. 

"Chichiri-san, why are you so nice to me?"

"Youre very important to me, H-chan." Chichiri tied
 off the last bandaid. "Would you like to go for a walk? The rirver is beautiful at night..."

"Hai." She stood up, and he lead her to the banks 
of a small river that flowed by the palace. The stars
 rippled in the water, and a slight breeze blew the
 reeds reflections over it. It was like a river of 
glass, reflecting the warped reflection of the moon
 and stars.

She stared over it, then shivered.


"Here no da!" Chichiri covered her with his kesa. "I
 just wasnt thinking no da!"

"Im such a fool!" H-chan sighed. "I should have been
 able to tell he wasnt legitimate! I put you all in
 danger!Why did I accept such a STUPID story?"

"I think he had you under a spell no da." Chichiri
 shook his head. "I cleared it off you no da. But H-
chan, its alright. Ill never let anyone like that hurt
 you again. My guard was down..." He stared over the
 water, a painfull expression on his face. "It was my
 mistake."

H-chan stared up at him for a second. She swallowed
 hard. 

"Chichiri-san, how do you feel about me?"

"Well, youre very precious to me."

"That not what I mean." He looked over at her, a
 confused expression on his face. "What do you mean no
 da? I think youre very nice, and kind, and-"

"THATS NOT WHAT I MEAN!" Her frustration at not being
 able to speak had built up, and now she had finnaly
 lost it. She glared up at him, almost resentfully.

"Damnit, Chichiri! Cant you see..." She choked, then
 continued. 

"DAMNIT, CHICHIRI! CANT YOU SEE IM FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU!?!"