Author's notes: YAY!!! Another three reviews!! Thank you, Rania and Ryoko- onee!! And yeah, Chisa-chan has a serious side (ooh… alliteration @.@). You'll get to see it. It's just that she is very rarely serious, except about a few things. But you'll get to see that later. ^_^ I think Chisa's one of my favorite OCs. Everybody! Take Rania, CLAMPraven, and Ryoko- onee's example and review! I value your opinions! Don't you feel special?



Tamahome was being dragged through palace halls by Chisa. "Chisa, hold on!" he yelped as he smacked into a corner. "Do you really have to go so fast?"

"It's not a matter…of having to…Kishuku…chan," she panted, slightly winded but not slowing down. "It's a matter…of wanting…to." After a few more minutes of running throughout the pavilions and various parts of the palace, dodging guards and servants, and barely missing various obstacles, such as walls, trees, etc., Chisa stopped. "We're… here," she panted. "He should be here soon." And sure enough, right at that moment, Hotohori walked up. "Seishuku!" she shouted. "I brought the guy I wanted you to meet!"

"Really," Hotohori smiled. "Well, it is a pleasure to…" He stopped when he came face to face with Tamahome. "Tamahome?" He hoped that Tamahome would realize Chisa's hatred of the emperor and not call him "Your Majesty".

Fortunately, Tamahome did. "Hey…Seishuku."

Chisa looked at Tamahome. "You know him?"

"Yeah. He was one of the first people I knew at court."

"Okay, then! I guess I don't have to deal with introductions!" She produced an enormous basket filled to the brim with food. "Look what I stole from the kitchen!" Hotohori and Tamahome sweatdropped.

"Isn't that a bit much, even for three people?"

Chisa looked at the basket. "Mm? No, I don't think so." She split the food between them, giving herself about half of the contents of the basket. Hotohori and Tamahome sweatdropped once again.

"Does she…always eat that much?" Hotohori asked Tamahome in a whisper.

"No, she usually eats more. She's almost as bad as Miaka."

Chisa noticed their whispers. "What are you guys saying about me?" she asked, glaring suspiciously. "I know you guys are talking about me." Then she laughed. "Forget it. Well, let's eat!"

~**~

"Your majesty!" A guard ran into the throne room. "There is a rapist lose in the palace. He has already raped three women."

"What?!" Hotohori rose from his throne. "Make sure every woman in the palace is in her room! Double the guard around the harem's dormitories!" The guard bowed.

"Yes, sir!"

A minute later, a guard returned. "We have done what you told us to the best of our abilities, Majesty, but we were unable to find one woman."

*Chisa!* Hotohori thought, and raced off. "Your majesty?" his attendants called after him, dumbfounded.

When he reached the meadow, he spotted Chisa sitting on top of a tree, visible from the ground. "Chisa!" he shouted. "You must get to your room immediately! There is a rapist on the loose!"

She looked down at him. Her eyes were pensive, sad, and angry at the same time. She returned to staring into space.

"Chisa, did you hear me?" Hotohori clambered up the tree. "I said, you must return to your room!"

"I am a rape-child," she said. Hotohori grew quiet. "My mother was a court lady, called the most beautiful person in the empire. She was considered for marriage to the emperor. Then…then one day, she was raped. The emperor cared for her, until it was discovered she was pregnant. Then he exiled her from court, sending her to live in poverty on the outskirts of the empire.

"She gave birth to me, and cared for me, but her health was ruined, and we didn't have enough money to be able to afford a healer. She died just before I turned one year old. I was sent to live with my uncle, who was a drunk and abused me. He gave me this scar," she pointed to a small scar on her cheekbone, "and this." She pointed to another along her hairline.

"When I was four, I had had enough. I ran away, and I was taken in by a family unable to have children. I also befriended their neighbors, a family with a son named Kishuku, who was destined to become the Suzaku seishi Tamahome. Kishuku was learning martial arts from a Byakko seishi, and I convinced him to teach me as well.

"I enjoyed life with my surrogate families, but I still suffered. My poverty, the death of my mother, all the pain I went through at the hands of my uncle; I blamed them all on one man: the emperor. It was *he* who exiled my mother for no fault of her own; it was *he* who took all of our money. It was entirely his fault. I swore I would hold a grudge against him for my entire life, and against all his successors." Tears had been welling up for this entire story, and they finally spilled over. She tried to dam them, but Hotohori just held her and said, "Don't be afraid to cry. You have every reason to." Chisa buried her face in his broad shoulder, and loud sobs tore themselves from her throat.

End notes: Yeah, I know. Short chapter, but I wanted to end it here. You can flame me for such a short chapter, I don't give a damn.