~ Chapter 2 ~

The Next Morning

(Note: now in the girl's point of view (PoV) starting from when she wakes up)

The sun rose at dawn sharp, the early morning sunlight slowly inched through the windows of the room to lighten the atmosphere. The girl, and the unexpected visitor, Chichiri, slept on. Her pet cat finally regained courage to inspect her room again. It snuck around the edges of the room to stay clear of the sleeping stranger, and jumped onto the girl's bed. It meowed lightly when it reached her head and curled up. The meow woke the girl from her slumber.

"Oh … Smoke … it's too early to wake me up, you know … " I yawned and stretched a little from my position. Smoke had her ears pricked and head erect towards the floor nearest my bed; she seemed very caught up in what she was watching. I turned to see what she what had her attention. I did not believe what I saw.

"What the hell … ?"

Chichiri, yes Chichiri of the Suzaku Seishi, was asleep on the ground near my bed. His clothes, mask, kasa, staff --- they were all real! Was this just some cruel trick my friends decided to play … but there was still a nagging sensation in the back of my head.

 "Wait, this is stupid. This isn't real … I'll call up Jessie later and ask her what's going on … " Another yawn broke my sentence as I grabbed the alarm clock to see the time better. "It's seven … way too early to wake up on a Saturday anyway." I laid my head back down, but failed to close my eyes. I stared at 'Chichiri,' wondering how such a doll could look and act so lifelike! It breathes, fidgets, snores, even … the 'Chichiri doll' blinked suddenly.

"… wakes up?!" I squeaked. Chichiri sat up, momentarily forgetting his setting, blinked followed by standing upright and brushing off his kesa. I gaped wide-eyed, Smoke not even moving behind my head, obviously still asleep. Chichiri stopped short midway in his inspection of his kesa and turned his head from side to side.

"Nani no da?" Chichiri pondered his surroundings for about five seconds before remembering everything that happened the previous night.

"Oh! Now I remember no da …" He pointed a finger up and smiled. I looked on with no expression, lowering the blanket from my head more. Chichiri turned his head toward me and looked at me curiously.

(AN: Chichiri's PoV)

"Ano …" There was the girl Suzaku-sama told me about. She looked younger than me, at least two or three years. I guess I kinda surprised her. I shrugged merrily and grinned.

"DA! Ohayo gazaimasu no da!" I popped up in front of her face in my infamous SD (super deformed) form and gave her the 'V for Victory' sign. The girl's expression changed from shock to disbelief, and I think she's smiling! Score one for me!

"Konnyanachi wa no da! My name's Chichiri and I came to this world from another world no da … it's kind of hard to explain na no da … a-ano …" She blinked a few times and her smile widened a great deal.

"You're CHICHIRI? The Chichiri??" She poked my forehead to see if I was real and not a mirage. I stopped my groping for words and blinked my eye behind my mask.

"A-ano … Hai, I'm Chichiri no da …" I didn't see what she was getting all excited about, I was sure she had no idea who I was or where I came from. But when I said that she practically exploded.

"Oh Kami-sama!!" She lunged at me and squeezed me so hard my face matched the color of my hair. Should I be scared, flattered, happy, or confused? Again I had no idea.

"Itai no da …" I choked out. She immediately let go and laughed nervously.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that. It's just that I can't believe it's you! Wai!" She pointed to her wall near her door. It had a massive collection of pictures mixed and matched together. I remembered seeing this last night, but barely, but now what I saw answered my question. There were a lot of pictures of me on that wall, mixed in with pictures of many, many other people I didn't know. I also saw lots of pictures of Tasuki, Hotohori, Nuriko, Tamahome, Mitsukake, Tama-neko, Chiriko, and Miaka; the Suzaku Seishi, including me. Pictures of all sizes.

"There are especially a lot of pictures of you, of course!" She grinned and hopped off the bed and stepped in front of it, posing as if it were her greatest masterpiece. She pointed to a particularly large picture nearest the top.

"I think that's my favorite as of this hour, but it changes all the time," she observed her other pictures.

I cocked my head slightly as I looked her over, my bangs swishing to the side as well. She was considerably tall, and I wasn't the tallest person in the world. I was only about 5"4' or so, and she looked like she was about my height. Yet she was younger than me, probably a good 9 or 10 years. She was clad in a loose blue shirt with baggy plaid pajama pants, typical PJ ensemble. She also had lightish brown hair that reached below her shoulderblades, and wide, curious green eyes. She seemed to like to smile.

"U-um … Chichiri?"

"Nani no da? Oh! Gomen ne, I was just looking at the pictures na no da."

I sighed inwardly. This was completely idiotic, I don't even know the girl's name, let alone anything about her, and I'm already thinking like that! I should stop while I'm thinking, anyway. I shook my head a little.

"I like them no da!" With that I put on a cheery smile. It seemed to have worked for her, anyhow, because she grinned almost triumphantly. She bounded over and sat in front of me.

"I forgot to tell you my name! I'm Sakura," she extended her hand with bright, anticipating eyes.

"Da! Nice to meet you no da," I took her hand and shook it heartily.

"Um, it's a little early for anyone to be awake now, so we can get out of the house now and shop for some more regular clothing …" Sakura trailed off, eyeing me awkwardly. "If you don't mind, that is, I think you look great in what you're wearing now."

I shook my head. "Daijobu no da! Actually I'd like to try out something new na no da …" I smiled at her expression as it lit up again.

"Great! Now, I have to get dressed … so if you don't mind, I'll be right back. Make yourself comfortable, by all means," she opened her closet door and pulled out some clothes, closed the door and opened up a drawer and pulled out some other clothes and put her finger to her mouth, signaling me to be quiet. She then closed the door behind her.

I got up and sat down on the bed, carefully holding my staff so the four rings wouldn't clang so loudly, and flopped backwards so I was lying on my back. I waited for Sakura's return, and looked over at her wall plastered with pictures, mostly of me. This was going to be very interesting …