Chapter 3


	Ariana woke up feeling quite warm and content. 
She sleepily opened her eyes, then closed them again as a 
shield against the harsh morning sun. She opened her eyes 
again, then sat up. A warm woolen blanket was covering her.
 She pushed aside the blanket and looked down at her rumpled
 fuku. It was in the colors of her school. Green and white 
to be exact. It was what all of her friends wore also. It 
was similar to the character Fuu's fuku, but not quite.

	Ariana glanced over to where Makoto lay. She was 
curled up on her side, her mouth wide open. Looking past 
that lump, Ariana noticed that Minamida was on her back, 
her mouth closed. 'Gee, looks like I'm the only one awake,'
 Ariana thought. 'But we can change that...

	Grinning mischievously, Ariana swung her legs over 
to the side of her bed and pushed herself up. She walked 
over to where Makoto lay sleeping. Leaning over her friend,
 Ariana began to push on Makoto's shoulder.

	"Mako-chan, wake up...time to get up."

	Makoto brushed away Ariana's hand and rolled over 
to her stomach, "Go 'way, lemme sleep..."

	But Ariana wasn't about to grant her friend's request. 
Instead, she walked back over to her bed, grabbed her pillow
, then walked back over to Makoto.

	"Makoto, it's_time_to_wake_up!" Ariana cried, then
 began relentlessly buffeting her friend with her pillow.

	Makoto held up her arms in defense, "Okay, okay,
I'm up! I'm up!"

	Ariana lowered her pillow, "Really? Wow, that was 
fast."

	Makoto grinned. Suddenly, without warning, she grabbed 
her own pillow and began to pummel Ariana with it. Ariana, 
caught off guard at first, got the hint and began to fight
 back. As the two girls' pillow fight ensued, their giggles
 and screams woke up Minamida, who decided to join in also.
 As the girls fought, a flurry of feathers surrounded the 
room. It got caught in their hair, in their wrinkled fukus,
 everything. 

	Meanwhile, two of the Suzaku Seishi, Chichiri and 
Tamahome were heading down the boardwalk toward the pillow 
fighters room. They were commenting casually about how it
 was strange that it was snowing in Konan. *It's fun being 
the author, ne?* As they turned the corner, they were quite
 shocked to see feathers flying out of the room that Makoto,
 Minamida, and Ariana were sharing. 

	"Nani?" Chichiri raised an eyebrow and looked at
 Tamahome, whose eyebrows had shot sky high. 
	
	Tamahome just shrugged, "Looks like we're gonna find
 out..."

	Both men walked into the room, waving feathers out
 of their faces. They stood in the doorway for a few moments, 
amused smiles hovering about thier lips. Ariana, Makoto, and
 Minamida, who were totally oblivious to the fact that they
 were being watched, kept on fighting, sending feathers in 
every direction imaginable. 

	Makoto drew her pillow back, intent on smacking 
Minamida, but was quite surprised when the pillow suddenly 
flew from her hands, smacking Chichiri directly in the face! 

	"Daaaa!" 

	That caused the three girls to suddenly stop what
 they were doing, and hang their heads like naughty little
 girls with their hands caught in the cookie jar. A feather
 landed on Ariana's nose, causing her to sneeze. Feathers
 were stuck in all three of the girls' hair, giving them 
an odd look. Makoto blushed and stammered out an apology 
for clobbering Chichiri. Chichiri just smiled as Tamahome 
cleared his throat. 

	"What, may I ask, are you girls doing?" Tamahome 
asked. 

	"Uh, waking up?" Minamida replied hopefully. 

	"Oh. Well, you guys certainly make quite a mess 
'waking up'," Tamahome replied. 

	All three girls blushed. They were all in high school, 
yet they were acting like preschoolers. Oh well, ya got one
 life to live right? Minamida, Ariana, and Makoto each looked 
up slowly at the two older men standing in the doorway. Both
 of them had amused smiles on their faces. 
	
	"Anyway, we just came to let you girls know that
 breakfast will be ready shortly no da," Chichiri said. 

	"Okay," came the reply. 

	Tamahome nodded and Chichiri grinned, then left the
 three girls to get ready for breakfast. Makoto looked down
 at her fuku. 

	"Great, we get to go looking like this?" 
	
	"Looks like we're gonna hafta," Minamida replied. 

	"Great. The least we can do is get rid of some of 
these feathers right?" Ariana suggested. 

	The other two agreed and they began the process of
 removing feathers from their hair. After they had done that,
 they all crowded about the vanity mirror and began brushing
 and styling their hair. Ariana brushed her purple hair so 
that it shone. It hung in loose waves down past her back, 
nearing her knees almost. Makoto brushed out her long pink
 hair, then swept it up into two buns, side by side, on the 
right side of her head. Minamida brushed out her hair, then
 took half of and put it up into a bun. Then, she braided 
the rest of it so that it hung down her back. 
	
	Once the girls were ready, they headed out the door,
 where they were met by a grumpy Tasuki, who was supposed
 to lead them to the dining room. 

	"Oi, why do I gotta be the one to take you guys 
there?" Tasuki complained when they reached him. "Why can't 
Chichiri take them? He's good with people at least." 

	"Nice to see you too," Makoto said dryly. 

	Tasuki just grimaced then showed the girls to the 
dining hall. As they walked, the three teenagers talked 
while Tasuki just listened, saying nothing. He stopped in 
front of the door, then opened them. 
	
	"We're here guys."
	
	But Ariana, Makoto, and Minamida weren't listening 
to Tasuki. Instead, they were looking with very wide eyes 
*In an anime story, this is possible, trust me* at the long
 table laden with food. 

"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"