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Lira: Well. Another story, another introduction- isn't that right, Iori?

Iori: Sadly, yes.

Lira: (frowns) Spoilsport. ANYWAY- this time we're going to have some FUN with the characters, are we not? And you actually get to be in the fic, Iori! You're, like, a star!

Iori: (pained look) I don't consider this to be a good thing.

Lira: (grumbling) Stupid midget. If you can't be positive, at least be productive. Get disclaiming!

Iori: Alright, alright. This should be fairly obvious, but you never know. Digimon does not belong to Lira-chan. She's making no money. She's flat broke. You REALLY don't want to sue her (she'll hurt me).

Lira: (beams innocently) Of course I won't! (hiding a rather suspicious-looking wire whisk behind her back) Pairings are important, too. This was originally primarily Takori. There are other couples, though. Jyoushiro, Mira, Taito, Daikensuke, and Miyakari. That's right, not a single het couple in the lot. If this isn't your cup of tea, feel free to leave. You HAVE been warned; but flames are welcome, you pathetic little fools! (cackle)

Iori: …Does anyone STILL not see why I fear her? Please? Help me?

Lira: (businesslike) I think that's everything. Love to my best people on the web, but this one is dedicated to the wonderful Karasu-goddess, a.k.a. Dragonflie, to Aphrael, and to Rae. Check out somethingzany. It's gorgeous. On to the fic! Not too much happening just yet; we need to meet the cast and crew.

Iori: Welcome to my private-hell-made-public. Enjoy.

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SABOTAGE CONSPIRACIES AND MEDIEVAL MATCHMAKING

--by: lira-chan--

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Chapter One

Iori lay on his back, staring sightlessly up at the white canopy billowing above him. He was mindlessly bored. Again. The thing of it was, Iori was supposed to be the "God of Wisdom." Being a god should have been great - save for the part where the Powers dictating who was destined for godliness and who was not forgot to tell him what the God of Wisdom did. Not knowing was becoming increasingly more and more frustrating.

Not many people prayed to the God of Wisdom, either. And they were constantly getting Iori's name wrong. For some reason, his entire following seemed to think that Iori was a Greek girl named Athena capable of turning anyone into a genius. If Iori really had godlike powers, he couldn't even use them to turn himself into a god who maybe came close to being of average height. He couldn't use his "powers" to toast bread. He was a pretty pathetic god to pray to. Apparently that was why so few people did.

There were upsides to being a god, though. For one, you didn't have to eat - or sleep, either. Iori did both of these things all the same, mainly because the activities took time, which Iori had an eternity of, but it was pretty neat to know that he didn't have to. That was what the bed Iori was laying on was for. He had been napping - until he woke up. Waking up meant he'd have to find something else to do, since he wouldn't be able to nap again for a while. Iori rose from the bed - a fun, four-poster canopy affair, which was made of a nearly white wood that Iori couldn't name and covered in an entirely white bed set. The bed vanished as if it had never been there.

Well, maybe Iori could use his godly powers after all. He could make beds disappear and reappear - although he didn't know how he did it - and he could "make" food. One would kind of think that a "God of Wisdom" would have more power. On the other hand, Iori couldn't use the "stuff making" power to change his room - although it was a pretty interesting place even without his personal touches. Maybe the living space was another perk. Iori happened to live in a big, white wall-less dome. The "ceiling" was supported by a ring of white pillars very reminiscent of Ancient Greece. However, there wasn't much of a ceiling to support; the majority of the dome was open to the elements, which were quite lacking. It was always comfortable inside the immaculate white dome, with its walls and ceiling open to a sky that was more white than blue.

A gorgeous house and nothing to do.

Calmly, Iori walked over to the very center of the surprisingly large round building, carefully seating himself beside the circular pool located there. The water in the pool was perfectly clear and colorless, and Iori liked to think that he could see straight to the bottom… Only whenever Iori looked into the water, the bottom seemed to vanish, offering an illusion of great depth - depth that was impossible, considering that the pool was in the middle of a building. Logically, Iori would have to dismiss magic as impossible - only he was a god, and that was magic, wasn't it? Iori had decided that this pool, too, was magic. It was also his one source of entertainment.

Somehow, Iori's one "recreational activity" had turned into a bit of a guilty pleasure. He moved to stretch out in front of the pool, making himself comfortable; he'd probably be there for a while. It seemed so silly when Iori thought about it, but the pool could be used to watch people. More importantly, even Iori could use it, what with his meager godly abilities. Iori had decided that the visions in the pool were controlled by thought- but they were real visions, of real people. Iori felt guilty about spying, but it was lonely in whatever reality he'd come to inhabit… And he'd kill for decent company.

The problem was, with Iori's abilities, he'd probably be able to figure out how to kill, but not how to drag some company into the reality to visit him. And Iori wasn't a killer. Meanwhile, the pool had already begun to shift, and an image began to come into focus. His attention instantly caught despite the number of times he'd watched, Iori stared in fascination as a picture of a boy appeared in the water, colorful and full of motion.

The boy in the image was blond, his bright yellow hair hanging in his face, dampened by either sweat or soapy water- Iori wasn't sure. Perhaps if he stared more closely he'd be able to tell. From previous days spent watching the blonde boy, Iori knew that his eyes were blue, even if they were currently cast down at the boy's work. It was a shame, really, that the boy couldn't look up. He had the most beautiful blue eyes, or so Iori thought- very bright and intelligent eyes; not a sky blue, but more of a sapphire… Eyes you could stare into forever. Iori should shift the focus so that he could look up at the boy, as if he were lying on the floor the boy sat on, with the youth crouched over him -

But why would the beautiful blonde boy be lying over Iori? The blonde was busy anyway; he was scrubbing floors. From careful observation over oh, say, six months - maybe more? Iori had determined that the blonde worked in a tavern as some sort of drudge - he was always scrubbing and mopping and washing plates. His brother also worked in the tavern, and the brother's name was Yamato. Yamato was also blonde and blue-eyed, but unimportant. Iori's blonde boy, on the other hand-

"Hey, does your loverboy happen to have a name, Iori?"

"M-Miyako?" Iori spluttered in response, incredulous. He actually tore himself away from the blonde boy in the pool, who had begun biting his lip in an endearing fashion as he shoved his body forward and back, putting force behind his scrubbing.

Miyako grinned proudly at being recognized, flipping violet locks out of her face and shoving her glasses back up her nose with one finger. For a minute, Iori permitted himself to just be mortified that Miyako had found him in a zombie-like state, staring at a blonde kid in a pool of water. Then he began to wonder where Miyako had come from- she was the Goddess of Love, but she had her own little reality, separate from Iori's. She didn't really need to be paying Iori a visit. Still… Miyako wasn't just the "Goddess of Love," but she was the "Goddess of Light," too. Not only that, but Miyako took her positions seriously… As seriously as she could, anyway. Which meant she was there to meddle.

"So who's the pretty blond boy?" Miyako pressed, continuing to glance down at the pool every so often, where the boy was still scrubbing away. "And when were you going to tell me you liked boys, huh? Eternity would be so much less boring if I knew we actually had something in common."

"Takeru," Iori admitted, knowing that there was no way he would be able to avoid giving Miyako the name for forever. It was easiest to just get things over with, when dealing with the violet-haired fiend.

"But you like him, right?"

Miyako laughed when Iori began to go pink, obviously amused by the new source of entertainment. Iori glowered at her, not liking being laughed at, but Miyako paid him no mind.

"If you like him, you have to do something about it!" she decided. "Don't tell me you're too shy to say anything! You're a god. It would be pretty pathetic if you couldn't even say how you feel."

"I can take my time if I want," Iori protested, obviously unsure of how he should reply. He was still trying to figure out when he'd confessed to harboring feelings for the blonde, Takeru - and for way too long.

"Look, Iori, he doesn't even know you exist," Miyako began logically, reasoning. "Not only that, but you aren't exactly doing anything up here by yourself. You need to go down there now, and see about actually meeting this kid. Before you pine away to - well, I guess you can't die, but this certainly isn't healthy!"

"Supposing I figure out how to get there," Iori countered, "what, exactly, are you proposing I do? Somehow, I doubt mentioning how I'd caught sight of him in a magic looking-pool that was my 'welcome to the office of God of Wisdom' present would go over well with Takeru."

"He might be flattered," Miyako offered, shrugging it off. Iori sighed. Miyako began speaking again. "This wouldn't work for you, because I doubt Takeru is interested in becoming a disciple of the God of Wisdom, but I could suggest looking to the priesthood if you're really that lonely… You'd be surprised how young some of the novices are! Cute, too."

"Miyako… You wouldn't…" Iori murmured, although he was already sure that she would and she had. "But you're the Goddess of Light! Aren't you supposed to have a following of priestesses?"

"And your point?" Miyako asked, unfazed.

"Aren't your priestesses supposed to be cloistered? Celibate?"

"So?" Miyako asked again, swirling her finger in the pool. Iori was about to protest, but already the image was beginning to come back together. The picture Iori saw in the pool then was different.

"She's a pretty priestess-in-training, isn't she?" Miyako asked, no longer completely paying attention to Iori. "And she isn't cloistered away, either. She lives with her brother."

"But is she celibate?" Iori questioned wryly.

"It's not important," Miyako said dismissively, brushing off the question. "And I'm a goddess anyway, so if you made vows of celibacy to me, you could still break them for me. It would be… Like… Praying!"

Iori didn't immediately have words with which to respond to that declaration. Only Miyako could link religion and sex in such an audacious manner. Iori was already burying his face in his hands; he didn't want to look at either Miyako or the image in the water.

"What's wrong, Iori?" Why did she have to ask?

"Nothing."

Miyako had changed the pool's focus so that it displayed a picture of Miyako's priestess-in-training in real time. The girl was pretty, Iori decided; she had chin-length brown hair and warm brown eyes, and she was petite… Slender… Utterly nude. The brunette in the water happened to be standing in a little cubicle, merrily soaping up her hair in what she doubtlessly thought was complete privacy.

"You're bright red," Miyako stated tactlessly. "There has to be something wrong."

"Oh, nothing, I was only wondering if you always spied on your priestesses when they're showering." Iori probably shouldn't have said that.

"Only sometimes," Miyako answered honestly. Iori's head went back in his hands.

"Oh, get over it!" Miyako exclaimed. "At least I'm going to do something. As a priestess of the Light, Hikari will have to perform a confirmation rite in order to transition from a priestess-in-training to a full-fledged priestess. Usually I only make an appearance at those rites if I'm really bored, but I'm showing up for Hikari's. It'll be perfect. Just a little while longer, and it'll be perfect."

Iori didn't understand how it would be "perfect," but he didn't dare ask. Miyako seemed content with the lecturing she had performed, for she chose that time to make her exit. A little flash of light, and she was gone. Alone again, Iori swirled his own finger in the water, before waiting for the image to reform. There was Takeru, still scrubbing the tavern floors… Nice.

-

"Come on, Taichi, get in here already! I'm not paying you to wander like a snail from one room to the next; get in here so you can get back to work."

The voice yelling out into the hall was shrill, feminine, and more than a bit irritated. That was because the girl the voice belonged to was a one Sora Takenouchi, and the boy she was dealing with was Taichi Yagami. When a person was short on patience, it was easy to become irritated with Taichi. It didn't help that, as of late, Sora's fuse seemed to be getting shorter and shorter. In Takeru's mind, Sora was a nice girl and a good person, despite being a bit of a control freak. She wasn't naturally impatient, but she was becoming uptight.

Takeru wouldn't judge, though; he'd be fair. Sora wasn't impatient or irritable by nature, but her need to control had unearthed a competitive side to the girl. A new tavern had opened up in town- a town that, previously, had been serviced exclusively by Sora's tavern. A tavern which happened to be aptly named "Sora's Tavern." The problem was that Sora was unused to any form of competition, and she didn't seem to be coping well. Takeru privately thought that the girl was going overboard, but he wouldn't say so - not in Sora's presence. The girl could be menacing.

Takeru was in the kitchen. Like Taichi, he worked in Sora's tavern. However, both Taichi and Yamato - Takeru's brother and another one of Sora's employees - had interesting employment positions. Takeru, on the other hand, did not. Taichi and Yamato switched off, job-wise. Beneath Sora, they were the only workers in the tavern other than Takeru. That meant that they were technically understaffed, but they coped. Both Taichi and Yamato were servers, with Taichi running the bar on the side, while Yamato manned the cashbox. They did switch, occasionally, but Sora didn't fully trust Taichi with the money. Takeru's job? He was the "cleaner." A drudge. He went back to scrubbing the kitchen floors, although he listened as Taichi finally managed to saunter into Sora's office.

"Sorry for taking." Taichi's voice. Takeru couldn't see it, but he could hear the cocky grin on Taichi's face; the boy was obviously unrepentant.

"Taichi." And that was Sora. Takeru smiled slightly, but he kept scrubbing. Sora's voice sounded strained, and Takeru found that he could actually pity her. Having to deal with financial competition, then having to deal with Taichi on top of that? Sora had a right to feel stressed.

"Alright, alright." Taichi was actually becoming serious. Or, rather, as serious as Taichi would become. "What was it you dragged me in here for? The new tavern, right? What was its name again…? I just can't remember. Ah, well, I heard it was run by a girl. Guess you aren't the only overbearing female tavern owner in town, huh?"

"I guess not," Sora said tightly. "And it's 'Mimi's House of Marvels.'" Then Sora's voice sounded disdainful. Condescending. More like usual.

"Mimi, huh? That's the girl's name?"

Takeru had stopped scrubbing; he was interested in what was being said, so he sat up to listen. The problem was that he continued to hold onto the scrubber, and soapy water was dripping on his pants. With the air of one who was long-suffering yet tolerant, Takeru began to scrub again, although he never ceased his listening.

Taichi and Sora were in Sora's little office; inside the tavern everything was off of one main hall. The common room for customers was in front, and it took up more than half of the main floor. The main hall led to the back, with the kitchens occupying the entire space to the left. On the right, the first door was Sora's office, the second a broom closet, and the third a staircase heading upward, to the private half of the tavern and the bedrooms. The final door, at the end of the hall, was another staircase. This staircase led to the enormous basement and storage area. With the layout of the building, Takeru had to concentrate to hear Sora and Taichi all the way across the hall, despite their volume.

"Yes," came Sora's reply, after just a moment. "I… Know her. Mimi and I were friends a long while back, but she moved to another town. I guess she's returning at last - just in time to open that despicable tavern."

"If you know each other, and you're friends and all, why don't you just go over to her tavern and make nice?" Taichi suggested, surprising Takeru with his logic. Who would have thought - Taichi, making a reasonable suggestion? Never.

"No!" Sora exclaimed immediately, doubtlessly surprising Taichi with the force behind the statement. She must have realized her mistake; in his mind, Takeru could envision Sora flailing silently, gesturing futilely in an attempt to correct the error.

"I can't do that," Sora began again, sounding much calmer the second time around. "You just wouldn't understand, Taichi. We can't lose. Our tavern is older, we've been here longer, and we can't be driven out just like that. We have to show her how determined we are! That's why I asked to speak to you."

"Me?" Taichi asked, bafflement clear in his voice. "What do you want me to do?"

Once again, Takeru could hear the smile, rather than see it; Sora was scheming. "I know for a fact that Mimi has three assistants in her tavern. I don't know who they are, not yet, but that part isn't important. If we want to out-do Mimi, we'll need more help. Taichi, Hikari will have to start working."

"Not Hikari."

If anything, Taichi had spoken even more quickly than Sora, when Sora had been prodded in regards to Mimi. Hikari was Taichi's baby sister, and his love for the girl was fierce. He protected her whenever he could, unwilling to allow any misfortune to befall his little sister. Taichi's obsession with Hikari was probably his one real weakness. Taichi seemed a bit dense at times, and he was anything but serious… Still, he was a good person, and possessed the qualities of a strong leader beneath the rough exterior.

Hikari… Taichi probably didn't need to worry so much about his little sister. Takeru and Hikari were fast friends, and Takeru knew Hikari to be a tough girl in her own right. She, too, lived in the tavern with Sora, Takeru, and the rest, although she didn't work. Rather, Hikari was training to be a priestess. She aspired to be a priestess of the Light, an acolyte of the goddess Miyako. Her brother supported her dream, and it was on his earnings at the tavern that she survived. Takeru, too, respected Hikari's ambition. A priestess was a noble calling, and Hikari was perfectly suited to the role.

Takeru had slipped into his musings about Taichi, Hikari, and Hikari's dream of entering the priestess-hood, and he had forgotten to listen to Sora and Taichi. The conversation had been moving along without him.

"…She won't do it because I said so!" Taichi was yelling, when Takeru "came to." "Hikari never needed to work before, and she isn't going to start now. Don't you start up about her being 'soft' and me being unreasonable, either. This time it isn't about protecting Hikari. It's about Hikari's dream. Her studies are almost complete; supposedly there's just a bit more, this big ritual, and then she'll be a real priestess. You can't take that away from her. I won't let you."

"Fine," Sora said. Takeru couldn't quite hear it, but he knew the word had been accompanied by a sigh from the girl; Sora had been defeated. "I guess I'll just have to find another way of ensuring that we remain one step ahead of Mimi always. And ensuring that we make the money you need to support your priestess sister. You may go. Get back to your work."

"Oh… Okay." Takeru smiled wryly; Taichi must have been surprised about winning against stubborn Sora with such ease- and about being dismissed with such speed. Takeru heard Taichi's footsteps as he made his way back down the hall to the common room.

Takeru reckoned that he had just "witnessed" all of the excitement allotted to that afternoon. Resigned, he returned to his scrubbing with a vengeance.

-

Ken sat quietly in the common room, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. He was as immaculate as always, even in simple, plain-colored clothes. On the inside, however, he was in the mindset of a wanted man - a hunted thing. Mimi would be in at any moment, and he was already dreading that arrival with every fiber of his being. Mimi might look like a nice enough girl, but she could be fearsome. It wasn't even a matter of trying; she merely evoked a powerful feeling of dread in those wise enough to think ahead.

Glancing up furtively, Ken eyed the two companions present with him in the common room. Somehow, both Koushiro and Jyou looked remarkably calm. Then again, Ken was fairly certain he looked calm enough; the way he felt was another matter entirely. Ken had a reason to worry. He worked along with Koushiro and Jyou in Mimi's tavern - or he would, once the place officially opened. Koushiro was the doorman, keeping track of the customers coming in and taking their money. Even Mimi couldn't make that job too hellish. Jyou was their chef, meaning he was safe in the isolation of the kitchen. Safe from Mimi - Ken wasn't sure if Jyou was safe from himself. Ken, however, was a server, and he was sure that the worst was yet to come.

"Jyou-- Someone-- Urgh!"

There was a thumping sound, followed by what might have been a crash, only muffled. Then there was increasingly heavy breathing, accompanied by a weak yet triumphant squeal. Apparently, a near-catastrophe had been averted. A few moments more, and Mimi appeared in the doorway leading further into the tavern. Her cheeks were flushed and her vibrantly pink hair was in disarray, but a smile graced her lips. In her arms was an oversized wooden box, which she was struggling to keep a grip on.

The box was painted pink.

"I finally got the uniforms!" she announced cheerfully, hefting the box up onto the bar, exhaling forcefully, and brushing a few stray strands of pink hair out of her eyes. "Just in time for the grand opening…"

Mimi was obviously excited about the opening of her tavern, leaving the three boys to cautiously contemplate the box. Ken only wondered why the box had to be so pink. With Mimi, everything was pink. Her hair, her clothes - her tavern. The walls were all painted a deep, dignified red, the chairs and booths that were upholstered were done up in ruby, and all of the currently naked lanterns were accompanied by covers of red stained glass. With the glass in place, the tavern would be flooded in rosy pink light. The entire place would look like a room in a love hotel.

Then again, Ken did wonder why Mimi had bothered with a heavy box at all, if it was just three uniforms she was carrying. Perhaps it was the surprise element that appealed to her. Perhaps Mimi had only brought the box to be purposefully unreasonable - if the same odd logic were to be applied to the way Mimi had decorated the tavern, everything would make sense.

Well, don't you want to see what I got?" Mimi asked, when her declaration was met by naught but silence. Obviously, she expected a response - an affirmative response.

"Of course, Mimi," Jyou conceded diplomatically, just the slightest bit of resignation in his voice.

"Oh, good," Mimi said, bubbly once more. She slid the wooden lid off the top of the box, looking up at the three assembled boys expectantly. She pulled out the uniforms.

They were pink. Very, very pink.

Ken was probably overreacting a little. All of the cloth wasn't pink; only a fraction of it was. Most of the clothing was red, like the walls. Perhaps, if they were lucky, the clothes would match the room so perfectly that Ken would blend into the background. He could only hope. Ken took in the uniforms swiftly, gauging their acceptability. Two red suits; one was obviously too small, but the other might be Ken's size… Except it was accompanied by an atrocious "matching" red apron. That uniform was Jyou's.

The blue-haired young man in question reached out, taking the uniform Ken was eying from Mimi's hands. A moment more, and Koushiro had taken the smaller uniform as well. Leaving… Lots and lots of pink ruffles, frills, and white lace, all of it stitched together in a manner that made Ken dizzy just looking at it. Lace at the collar, lace at the sleeves, lace along the hem… Ruffles and frills spilled down the front of the dress, and a skirt like a circus tent poured out below.

It was a dress.

"Hey Mimi," Ken began tentatively, knowing that no matter what the girl said, he wouldn't like it. "If that's the dress you're going to be wearing when we open, won't it be just a bit hard to actually work?"

"Don't be silly," came Mimi's scoffing reply. "I'm already wearing my dress. And you know that I wouldn't even try to sew the uniforms myself! I had them done for me. Mine, the cook's, the doorman's, the server's… That's what I asked for. I did mention that the server was kind of gorgeous- I would need something special for that one. I would need something special for you."

"Thank you," Ken said dryly, in response to the compliment of sorts. "You didn't happen to mention that I was a male, did you?"

"Oh, well, I told the seamstress what you look like…" Mimi trailed off, probably recalling the conversation with the woman. "You know, the long, dark hair, violet eyes, tall and slim build…"

Ken put his head in his hands. If he didn't know better, he'd say Koushiro was laughing at him. Thankfully, for Koushiro's sake, Jyou was shielding the smaller boy from view; at least Jyou was straight-faced.

"Mimi," Ken said again, assuming a perfectly serious tone and schooling his features back into a blank mask, "I'm not going to wear a corset. I won't be able to walk in this skirt, meaning you'll lose business. And I hope you didn't get any of those feminine shoes- they won't fit me."

"So what are you saying?" Mimi asked innocently. Her perception was remarkable - that was, her lack of perception was remarkable.

"I'm not working in this dress," Ken said patiently.

"Oh… Well… Um… I guess you're right. I'll get you something else. And before opening night, too!" Ken shouldn't have begun congratulating himself so soon; nothing was ever that easy with Mimi. "After all, pink is completely not your color. I'll find you something much better."

Ken knew instantly that whatever Mimi retrieved for him would be much, much worse.

-

Back in Sora's tavern, Taichi had just reappeared in the common room after his excursion into Sora's office. Brightening upon catching sight of his idol of sorts, Daisuke called out to Taichi, waving the older boy over to the table he had pretty much rented from Sora. To his delight, Daisuke had been dubbed the tavern's best and most reliable customer by Sora. Him! Reliable! Daisuke was so pleased with himself.

"Taichi!" Daisuke had called. "What did she want, anyway?"

"It seems Sora's still strung up about the opening of the new tavern," Taichi admitted. "Maybe she's getting desperate - she actually wanted to enlist Hikari."

At the mention of "Hikari," Daisuke's eyes instantly lit up. Everyone who knew of his obsession with the girl, his "unrequited love," made fun of him for it, but Daisuke took it all in stride. Maybe he snapped at his teasing friends more often than was necessary, but Daisuke thought he handled the situation just fine. Still, it didn't help that Taichi, his friend and idol, was Hikari's older brother. Daisuke would have to make sure Taichi didn't get weird, seeing as they were talking about Hikari.

"You told her no way, huh?" Daisuke asked, speaking as nonchalantly as he found possible. "Where is Hikari, anyway?"

Taichi offered Daisuke a level stare before answering; clearly saying "you can't pull anything over on me." "She's in her room. Studying. Did you really have to ask? And of course I told Sora no. Hikari already has enough trouble with you hounding her every hour of the day - she'll never become a priestess if she has to work on top of everything else."

"I don't hound her every hour of the day," Daisuke responded, sounding hurt. He disregarded the other half of what Taichi was telling him; he really had only been curious about Hikari. "I'm here at night, too."

That earned a look from Taichi that clearly asked whether or not Daisuke was actually serious.

"You know, you should probably stop chasing Hikari while you still can," Taichi suggested carefully. He was only half changing the subject. Talking about Sora had only been a pretense; they had been speaking of Hikari all along.

"Are you saying I have no willpower?" Daisuke asking, jokingly. However, that, too, was a bit of a pretense; Daisuke knew that Taichi was serious. It would make Taichi quite happy if the younger boy decided to leave his baby sister alone. Daisuke almost felt bad. Almost. "That, now that I've gotten started, I won't be able to leave Hikari alone if I want to?"

"I'm just saying that it would be healthier for you if you gave up on Hikari. I'm not saying anything about you, Dai, but you don't have a chance. Stop looking after the unattainable and find someone who's interested in you." That was when Taichi gave Daisuke a stern look, but Daisuke just ignored it. He knew Taichi too well to be able to take it seriously.

"Maybe I don't want to stop," Daisuke said stubbornly. "What do you want me to do instead?"

"Get a job, maybe?"

Daisuke winced, just slightly; Taichi had scored a point. Perhaps it wasn't in Daisuke's best interest to spend every second of his free time at Sora's tavern when every second of his day was comprised of free time. By telling Daisuke to get a job, Taichi was basically telling him to get a life. The thing of it was, Daisuke didn't need a job. He already had more money than he knew what to do with. And he liked it that way. Spending entire days at his table, as Daisuke did, waiting to catch a glimpse of Hikari, was infinitely better than drudging away scrubbing floors for endless hours, to be rewarded only by a tiny handful of coins - like Takeru did. Daisuke didn't see why Hikari was friends with the boy; Takeru was so dull.

But all Daisuke said was "I don't need to." It was the truth, and it earned a "don't be an ass, Daisuke" look from Taichi, but Daisuke ignored that one, too.

"How can I convince you?" Taichi asked, almost beseechingly. "Just give up on Hikari. Your life is odd enough without you chasing a priestess-in-training on top of the inheritance."

It was true - Daisuke did have an odd life. He lived by himself in an enormous house, so even if he hadn't been coming to the tavern to see Hikari, Daisuke might have come just for some decent company. Living alone was no fun. It was the family fortune he had inherited, but his sister, Jun, was supposed to be there to share it. She had been annoying, but even that was preferable to her being gone, Daisuke reluctantly admitted to himself. She'd just taken her half of the money and left.

"I don't want to be convinced." Daisuke turned away slightly, knowing he was being childish, and not caring. "I like my odd life."

"Priestesses are supposed to be celibate, you know," Taichi added, almost offhand. Daisuke, however, did know that it was a purposeful addition. He just didn't know what "celibate" meant. And Taichi didn't need to know that.

"It means she's not supposed to have relationships, Dai. She can't have sex," Taichi said bluntly, but he sounded bemused. Daisuke frowned; Taichi wasn't supposed to guess what Daisuke was thinking so easily. And it had been unnecessary, saying "sex." Hikari was too pure to think about like that.

"Whatever," Daisuke said petulantly, defeated. Taichi had won that round. Stubbornly, Daisuke tried to ignore Taichi for the rest of the afternoon, to get back at him, but Daisuke's willpower wasn't that strong. Eventually, Taichi got the younger boy to cave in, and the conversation moved on to other things.

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Lira: Ta-DA! Chapter one and all twelve of the children have appeared. Jun even received an honorable mention, since I don't foresee her making a real appearance.

Iori: In my defense, I'd like to say that I don't MOON. (points up the page, where he's written as staring mindlessly into a magic pool)

Lira: (glare) If I say you moon, you MOON! You PINE and you PERISH and-- Eh, where was I going with this?

Iori: (sweatdrop) ANYWAY, tell us what you think. Does it suck? Is it good? Should Lira write more real soon? Should she resign from writing fanfiction and spare you the horror of an update? The review button is your friend!

Lira: Read: I can do some last-minute pimping if I want to! (pets her story) I'll even answer questions in my next introduction. Hit me with your best shot.

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