Author Fangirling: You'd think it'd have been done by now… but there are no Amiboshi/Chiriko stories! What an injustice! I felt obligated to write this, but I don't know if I did it justice. It starts out a little fast to get to the premise of the story, and then slows down to individual anecdotes. The story focus switches between Amiboshi and Chiriko's POVs.

Oh, and this my first shot as writing Amiboshi. I wonder how I did?

Everything was going according to plan. The Priestess of Suzaku was thoroughly convinced I was her final warrior, Chiriko. I was given plenty of opportunities to play my flute and let them become vulnerable to it's sound.

Nakago recently had a set back because Tamahome overcame the Kodoku poison and brought back the Universe of the Four Gods scroll. That wasn't a problem, though, because I would take over soon.

Not that I wanted to… the Suzaku warriors were good people. But I'm a Seiryuu warrior, and it's my duty to follow Seiryuu. It would be easy, though, because everything was playing into my hands.

Until he showed up. The real Chiriko.

He had just shown up in the capital when I noticed him. He was standing on a bridge and looking at his surroundings, innocently enough, but I had a bad feeling about him.

My concerns were justified, when Miaka- their priestess- greeted me from a short distance. And that boy answered to 'Chiriko', excited to find her! I had to respond loudly to cover him up and divert her attention, and he quickly caught on to my act.

We shot each other quick glares, and I had to think fast. I could tell the gears in this boy's head were moving quickly and he was ready to blow my cover. Miaka was coming to talk to me, so I inconspicuously nudged him over the side of the bridge- as inconspicuously as one can do that, anyway. The water wasn't deep, so I knew he'd be alright, and I had to quickly usher Miaka somewhere else.

He would be back, though, and I'd have to be on guard.

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I had been picked on before, but it was the first time I had dumped over a bridge. The shock of the cold water made my character disappear temporarily, and by the time I had climbed back up to the bridge, the priestess and my imposter had vanished. A sense of dread filled my stomach.

"I need to stop him!" I whined.

"Not until you change into drier clothes," my older brother and chaperone protested.

I made sure to start pursuing the imposter as soon as my character returned, though. Every chance I had, I would jump out to surprise him, but far quicker than I was, he would do away with me. Pushing me down a hill, asking in a large crowd for someone to help me find my mother, or leading me in a short chase until I was lost. It seemed so easy for him to continually thwart my efforts! Obviously, he was a far more competent Chiriko than I was. If he were the real Chiriko, they probably would have been better off with someone as skilled as him.

In my observations, though, I was able to identify that he utilizes the sounds of a flute to channel his life force. I was careful not to listen. I wondered what else he might use the flute for-perhaps beating people with it? Shooting needles out of it? I shuttered at the thought of death by a brass flute.

A couple other times, I noticed him tracing him arm, as if writing notes, and I couldn't fathom why. I tried to analyze his motives for why he would try to replace a Suzaku warrior. He might have been disillusioned with the grandeur of being a warrior, or crazy enough to think he really was one. My gut instinct told me he was an enemy, though, and I deducted that he was a Seiryuu warrior, quietly sabotaging Konan's efforts to summon Suzaku. Which warrior, though, I wasn't sure. It was harder for me to read the stars pertaining to the east.

It would make the most sense for him to attack the Priestess when she's trying to summon Suzaku and the other warriors are vulnerable. I felt sure of that, because he hadn't done anything to her yet.

Finally, on one occasion, I caught him alone, with no place for him to toss me aside.

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The boy knew everything about me! I was horrified. His face said that he was bluffing, but he words were the truth when he called me "Amiboshi". How could he have guessed?

"So you know my name?" I smirked back, trying to not to show how nervous he was making me.

"Of course I did," he nodded. "And I know everything you're planning."

Was he physic? He didn't seem like a threatening person at all, but physics always hide how powerful they are, right? The worst ones are always children! I thought so, anyway. It's not as if I had ever met one before. My thoughts prattled on in a panic as he confronted me, but I still made an effort to keep my cool. "That's fine. How do you think you'll stop me?"

His confident expression faded away. Good, because I didn't really want to know how he was capable of stopping me anyway. Before he could respond, I jumped backwards onto a rooftop and got away from him. Suboshi would probably never believe me when I told him how scary physic children can be, so I resolved never to tell him. I couldn't have him teasing me for being afraid of a small child, after all.

The ceremony to summon Suzaku couldn't come soon enough. Even when we were well into the ceremony, he didn't show up, so I felt more at ease. Until the time came to take action, that is. I didn't really want to murder my new friends. Mitsukake could tell how apprehensive I was, and asked if I was nervous.

Of course I was. About what, though, he wouldn't know until it was too late.

More important to me than these people, though, was my brother. I had to do this for his sake. I started playing my flute, and had no trouble making them succumb to it's sound.

But then, a shrill noise began to break my sound waves. When my power over them was no longer working, I had to flee, unsure of what had gone wrong. I should have known, though. The real Chiriko proudly stood outside the shrine with a leaf in hand, and a contented smile on his face.

"See?" he said. "This is how I'll sto--"

I had no time to listen to him as Tamahome and Tasuki began darting after me. In my haste, I clasped his mouth shut, dragging him with me as I continued running. I'm still not entire sure why I did so. When you panic, you tend to do irrational things.

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More surprising than when he pushed me over the bridge was when he scooped me up around the head and shoulders. My feet lifted off the ground and my stomach begged for mercy as he bounded across rooftops. Carrying me, though, he started to get tired, and stopped to ask for a boat, which the dealer refused him. His pursuers- who I assumed were my fellow Suzaku warriors- caught up, and he turned around to face them, holding me tightly and pressing his flute to my neck.

"Come any closer and I'll kill him!" Amiboshi shouted to them. 'Him'? As in me? I was right, the flute could be used as a lethal weapon!

The other two young men halted, unsure of what to do next. I couldn't either, and was too terror-stricken to say anything to them even if I did have an idea. The Priestess of Suzaku, dressed ceremoniously, hurried to catch up behind then. Upon arriving, she exclaimed, "the character on his foot! That must be the real Chiriko!"

"He must have been the one who saved us," chimed in the one with the bright hair.

It was good that they figured out who I was, but it would have been better if they had rescued me. The rock wall beneath my and my captor's feet rattled and gave way, much to our surprise, and we fell. I clung to Amiboshi's waist and started crying in fear. He held onto his flute, as did the priestess. It was laudable how hard she tried to pull us back up, but to no avail; Amiboshi's hand slipped and we plummeted into the river, which was far more violent than the one I had fallen into before. We were quickly swept away.

My mind was a blur as I struggled to keep my head above the water, but I succumbed, and soon lost consciousness.