Disclaimer:I do not own Saiunkoku Monogatari if I did,Seiran and Shuurei would get married and live happily ever after.

As the sun traveled down, it threw tints of violet, gold, ginger and cherry across the evening sky. A 5-year-old girl and a 15-year-old man can be seen, walking from store-to-store gathering ingredients for dinner.

"Seiiiirennn," the girl whined, dragging him toward the pet store by his sleeve, "I want to see the little birds."

"But, ojou-sama, master said to come home early." Seiren replied.

"Please, Seiren? It won't take long." The little girl said.

"Okay, but only for a minute." Seiren said, finally giving in to the little ball of energy.

Two middle-aged women watched this scene. "I bet you, they are going to become Shoka and Shokun when they grow up." The first said, with a smile on her face.

"No, Shuurei will become someone else's bride. She will, without a doubt, grow up to be a beautiful woman. And on top of that, she is in the direct line of the Kou family and many will propose to her when she is of a marriageable age." The second woman replied, obviously against her friend.

"Let's make a bet." The first said, wanting to prove her comrade wrong.

"A bet?" questioned the second.

"If Shuurei grows up and she marries Seiren, I win. If she marries someone else, you win." The first said, with sparks in her eyes.

"You're on! Winner gets 3 gold pieces." The second exclaimed, almost feeling the weight of her soon-to-be heavy purse. The two women shook hands and continued with their conversation, occasionally pausing to sip their tea.

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Years have passed and Shuurei came back to visit the Kou resident while on her 3-month-vacation from being a governor at Sa province. Everyone greeted her personally. But a woman made their meeting really strange.

"Ah, Shuurei-chan, how nice to meet you here." The woman said, a wide smile on her face. Before Shuurei made her reply, the woman cut in, "Oh, my, look how big you've gotten. You're even old enough to marry. Speaking of marriage, you and Seiren would make a good couple." The woman said, winking at the last part.

Shuurei blushed. "But, Seiren doesn't think of me that way, Aunty." She muttered softly.

"So Seiren doesn't feel that way. But you're saying you do." The woman said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"No! I don't like him…I mean…I do…but…not in that way." Shuurei stuttered, her face redder than before.

The woman giggled. "Whatever you say. Ja ne.Shuurei-chan" she said, gliding away.

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"Hey! Seiren!" a woman called out. Seiren turned around. "You're extremely hard to chase. Do you know that?" she said, panting. Seiren was about to say something when she cut him off. "Anyway, I heard that an important guest is going to visit Shuurei-chan and take her away to marry her. And I also heard that he coming by the end of summer."

"Do you know who he is?" Seiren asked.

The woman pretended to think. She placed a slim finger on her sharp chin and slowly said "His name…Si…no, Su…no, Sai…no…Oh! His name is Sa Sakujun!" she finally said slamming her fist onto her palm.

"Sa Sakujun!" Seiren growled, grabbing his sword.

"Yeah! But, I heard he will not come if Shuurei-chan already married by then." The woman whispered get, "So, if you don't want Shuurei-chan to whisk of by Sa Sakujun, you have to find a suitor for her. Especially now, because the leaves are changing colors. Well, Ja ne."the woman waved and walked away.

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"Master" Seiren called out.

"Ah, if it isn't Seiren. Is something wrong?" Shoka asked.

"Well, I would like to discuss about..."

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One week later, two women could be seen, drinking tea and having a conversation.

"Have you heard about the wedding?" the woman asked.

"You mean the Shi's?" the second one replied.

The first one smirked. "Of course." she said, stretching her hand out. The second one grumpily dropped 3 gold coins into the outstretched hand.

"Want to bet if their child is a boy or a girl?"

A/N

i just realized that seiren's name is spelled wrong.i wrote seiren not tell me if there is any more grammer/spelling mistakes.i'm terribly sorry.