Disclaimer: Sessha doesn't own Ruouni Kenshin or its characters. Sessha wa Dirt Poor de gozaru. Don't sue sessha onegai!
Chapter Seventeen
Himura blinked the sleep away from his eyes upon the vague sensation of being nudged. Quickly adjusting his vision to the morning light, he found himself face-to-face with the source of the nudging feeling.
"Time to wake up, Himura-dono," Obaga greeted pleasantly. "Rise and shine!"
It took the redhead a minute, but he soon answered with the most natural response.
"DOU RYU SEN!"
"What was that for de gozaru ka?!" Nuhiro demanded from his new spot in the wall. "I woke you up nice today!"
"Oh." Kenshin rubbed the back of his neck a bit sheepishly. "Sorry. Old habits die hard I guess."
Obaga had to agree with that, and to prove he did, he fell into his morning routine of unconsciousness. Sighing, Himura was about to go over and pick the old man up when the door to the laundry room opened and Nikko stepped in. She surveyed the scene for a moment, observing Nuhiro's lack of awareness before shrugging and turning over to Himura.
"Your clothes are currently drying on the line," she told him. "One of the girls washed them first thing this morning."
"Oh, sorry. Sessha could've done that," he replied, choosing to ignore that part of him that was almost disappointed that he was denied laundry duty. He'd have to do some deep soul-searching to figure that one out.
"Don't worry about it," the woman assured him. "But you will have to have something else to wear until they dry."
"Any suggestions?"
"A rice sack would probably be more fashionable."
"Point. Have any on hand?"
"Plenty," she smiled. "But I actually have something else in mind for you."
Not missing the mischievous curve of her grin, Himura audibly gulped.
I have a bad feeling about this de gozaru.
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It is believed by many that every life is guided by a certain series of events predestined to them by an omnipotent and awesome deity. Himura found himself believing such a thing at the moment, and had only one thing to say to whatever mysterious entity it was ruling his fate.
"What did sessha ever do to you?!"
Mistaking this to be addressed to her, Nikko rolled her eyes. "Really Himura-san. Didn't you just say yesterday that you were willing to lend us any assitance?"
"Yes, but I was thinking more along the lines of a bodyguard type assistance, not a… a…"
"Model?" she offered.
"You've turned me into a life-sized Dress-Me-Up-Sachiko doll!"
Obaga, whom had recovered and was nearby handing Nikko pins when she asked for them, laughed heartily at this outburst. Futashi, who was putting the final repairs to the roof, overheard and guffawed his own amusement. Himura was two amber eyes short of going Battousai on them. However, even though a warning glare from him could intimidate quite a few men, the effect was somehow lost over the vibrant colors and butterfly pattern of the delicate kimono draped over his body, complete with striped obi. Even Nikko chuckled at the sight.
"Don't be ridiculous," she told him. "Those dolls have black hair whereas yours is red."
Himura grumbled something that Nikko couldn't hear but was quite sure it wasn't supposed to be. "Why can't Obaga do this?" the young man in drag complained.
"Because he doesn't have the build for this. Your frame on the other hand is much more…um…" She faltered for a safe word.
"Delicate?" Nuhiro supplied.
"Feminine," Futashi corrected.
"…Suitable," Nikko concluded.
The former hitokiri glowered. "I so hate my life de gozaru."
"Now Himura, I told you that this needs to be done," Nikko explained while continuing to fit the ensemble. "I've been putting it off for far too long and many of the girls need their kimonos back." The redhead shifted slightly and she had to stop herself before she pricked him with the needle in her hand. "Himura stop moving! You're fidgeting too much!"
"I can't help it, Obaga is leering at me!"
"Oro, I am not!" Everyone stared at him. "Well, it's not a leer per say. Besides, you have to admit Himura-dono looks very attractive in a dress."
"Hmm," the young woman said, looking her live-mannequin over a few times. "You're right, he's not half bad. Yuiishi-sama could probably use you at the gates to invite customers in, Himura!" Futashi whistled from the roof.
"Obaga-dono, where is sessha's sakabatou?" Kenshin asked in belying polite tones.
"Over in the corner there with my sword. Why?"
"Death by sword is much more preferable than death by humiliation de gozaru."
"What do you plan to do? Bruise yourself to death?"
"I could do it."
"Now, now Himura," Nikko smiled. "We wouldn't let you off that easily."
Kenshin sighed. "There will be no honor in my passing, will there?"
"Not dressed like that there won't be."
The Ishin Shishi gritted his teeth and endured the laughter that followed. If he didn't bare it for the sake of his pursuit of new lifestyle, he did it for the fact that Nikko was laughing. Since he came here, he could not remember hearing her laugh, let alone smile (in that non-devious type of way). This was a refreshing change of pace, and it appeared that he and Obaga had finally earned the trust of these people.
What is it about sharing your deepest darkest secrets that makes everyone like you more anyway? Even the kids were being considerate!
To prove this train of thought, one of the girls piped, "Wow Himura-niichan! You look really pretty!"
"I hope I grow up to be that beautiful!" another agreed.
Ah the innocence of children. …How hard it made it to despise them.
Futashi entered then, keeping his eyes to the ceiling to survey his own craftsmanship. "It's not a professional job, but the roof should hold firm enough to keep out the rain and snow," he said, and then at last looked down. While he had known what they were doing to Himura, he hadn't yet actually seen it himself, and frankly, not even his worst imagination could've prepared him for this. Seeing what he knew to be the legendary Battousai dolled up in silks and sashes (and it complimenting his features) sent Futashi into a bout that could only be called Hysterical.
"I-I may have to take th-the 'Man' out of 'Girly Man' at this rate!!" he howled before doubling over with hilarity.
"I do believe he's turning purple de gozaru," Obaga said, observing the boy's face and lack of intake. He glanced over at Himura. "And I also believe you don't care."
"Sessha cares. …Somewhat. Besides, he'll pass out before he could choke himself." Before he could add "A pity that," he was cut-off by Nikko who suddenly sucked in a strong lung-full of air and clutched her stomach. "Nikko-dono?" he asked worriedly, and would've bent down to help her if that didn't result in a dozen needles sticking into his butt. Luckily Obaga was right at her side.
"Nikko-dono, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," she panted, then straightened herself out with a few more deep breathing exercises. "Just the baby," she explained after seeing their faces still etched with concern. "The little one nearly kept me awake all night last night."
"Should you be up and around this much in your condition?" the elder samurai asked.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" she assured. "Besides, the doctor said I'm not due for another month or so. The baby's just getting riled up by all the excitement I bet."
"Perhaps you should rest."
"No, no, I promised the girls I'd have their dresses done…"
"Oneechan, you're doing it again."
Everyone turned their attention over to Futashi, whom no one had noticed became quite alert when his sister had been in pain a moment ago. Nikko almost looked ashamed at her brother's accusation. So of course she slipped her defensive mask on a moment later.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, turning back to her work. "I'm not doing anything."
"Yes you are!" the boy insisted. "You're doing that… 'work' thing you always do when you get too upset! You know. Where you work!"
"Well that explained everything," Himura said when it didn't.
Futashi started over. "Every time oneechan is upset but doesn't want anyone to know it, she makes herself busy by doing lots of work, no matter what her condition." Nikko shot him a glare that labeled him as a traitor. "You do!" he pressed.
"Is that true, Nikko-dono?" Obaga inquired.
"It just helps me occupy my mind with other things," she answered defensively. "Not to say I ignore the problem, but I just don't want to upset the others. Especially the children." She paused. "By the way, why are we talking about this in front of the children?"
Everyone turned to the six chubby, little faces looking in from the porch. Each had a vacant expression.
"I don't think they get it anyway," Kenshin answered.
"I think they're still amazed at how well you put the 'male' in 'female,'" Futashi reasoned with a smirk. Himura scowled at him.
"In any case," Nikko continued, pulling out a few pins (much to Himura's relief) as she sewed. "You don't have to worry about me at all. I am putting my complete trust in you two." She paused as thought just realizing something. She turned to her brother. "Did I actually just say that?"
"Yup. Aloud even."
"I'm doomed aren't I?"
"Well when you say it with that attitude…"
"Er, Nikko-dono, when will you be done?" Kenshin asked, remaining still as she continued her sewing.
"Oh it hasn't been that long," she chided. Seeing his displeasure at her ambiguous answer she added, "Not much longer. I just need to finish this fitting and the hem and then it should be done!"
He sighed. "Good."
"…Then we'll have five more."
"Nani?!"
Nikko smiled up at him, but not in that entirely warm sense. "I told you I had put this off for a while. Work just kinda piled up."
For a moment Himura looked sick, then he addressed his deity again. "Sessha knows he has not always been the best person he could be, but is this really necessary?!"
To answer him, the gate leading to the brothel creaked open and clamored shut, followed by a swift shuffle of someone's footsteps. The children cleared the way as a moment later, one of the girls from the teahouse dashes up to the doorframe. Her distraught expression and lack of breath brought everyone's immediate attention.
"Yuki-chan!" Nikko cried, and would have rushed to the woman's side had she been able to accomplish the task of standing up in less than 15 minutes.
Himura immediately recognized the woman at the door. She had been the other of the two girls besides Asuka when he had first hunted down Obaga. She had also been the other girl to give him such a… er, ahem, "warm" welcome during his first meal here. He hadn't seen much of her since then, but she also didn't seem to have the same relationship with Nikko and the children as Asuka did. So what was she doing back here now?
Recovering her breath, Yuki looked up with panicked eyes. "Nikko-chan! Quick, you have to hide! Obaga-san, you and… Hi…mu…ra… er…"
Kenshin supposed he would have been less than amused at Yuki's sudden realization of his current attire if he hadn't already caught wind of the emergency in her voice. Urgently he told her to continue, hoping to get her mind back on track. It worked, and the brothel girl snapped out of her stupor and finished her message.
"Yuiishi-sama sent me to tell you!" she relayed quickly. "Your husband is here, along with his gang!" Silence dropped onto her audience like a 300 pound sumo wrestler fallen from an eight story building. "He knows you're here, Nikko-chan! You, Futashi, and even the swordsmen!"
"How?" Himura demanded, thinking of his pursuer the night before, but knowing that the person couldn't have possibly followed him back; he had lost him before then.
"I don't know," Yuki answered. "But they're creating a riot up front, demanding to see you all!" Nearing tears in her fright, she stammered, "A-Asuka-chan…"
"Asuka's in danger?!" Nikko cried.
Nothing more needed to be said to prompt the swordsmen, and both were soon out of the door in a flash, nearly breaking down the gate as they went. The women and children could only look after them, slowly adjusting to the fact that they were no longer there and marveling at their response to duty.
"…Fem-Lackey there was still in the kimono, wasn't he?" Futashi asked after a long pause.
"Uh-huh," his sister numbly replied, still trying to pull her wits together. She glanced at the corner of the room and added on an absent note, "And they forgot their swords."
"Great." Futashi quickly gathered up the blades and started out the door.
"Futashi-kun, where do you think you're going?!"
"A lot of good our protectors are gonna do us if they don't have anything to protect us with!" he shouted back. "Don't worry, I'll be right back!"
Famous last words, was the unbidden thought that ran through Nikko's mind. Biting her lip, she hoped she was wrong.
…Then she bit her lip harder and prayed that this kid in her stomach would give her a break! Honestly, this was worse than last night when…
Nikko blinked, then glared at her stomach.
"Don't you dare!" she hissed.
Another kick reminded her who was boss.
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When the two rurounis burst into the brothel, their first instincts told them to follow the noise of whatever the loudest ruckus might be. A few doors, several dozen apologies, and some blunt reminders of what the establishment's business was later, they decided to stop and ask for directions. Soon after that they were bolting for the front room.
Himura was expecting many things as he and Obaga charged into the lobby. Chaos, vandalizing, abuse, swearing, and lots of violence were naming a few. But of all the things he'd envisioned, Asuka doing a lap dance to a dozen catcalls was not among them.
"Oro?!" he and Nuhiro squawked at the same time. This along with their disruptive entrance soon gave them most of the attention in the room (although a few eyes still lingered on the brown haired beauty).
"Er… Asuka-dono, what are you doing?" Kenshin ventured to ask, temporarily ignoring the situation to observe hers.
Despite still having her audience enthralled, Asuka managed to step away from the crowd and make her way behind them without any hassle. "I'm stalling, what's it look like?" she hissed. Then she blinked as she noticed Himura's outfit. Before she could comment on it however, a chuckle and deep voice rumbled through the room.
"Well, well, well. Look who decided to join us."
The two entry men followed the sound of the voice over to a table to their far right. The table was shrouded in some shadow, but this was not unusual. All of the tables were shrouded in shadow, seeing as to how people liked a bit of privacy in places like this. Still, despite the lack of light, they knew who was addressing them.
Amatomo Aroji smiled grimly at them from the darkness. "You must be Obaga Nuhiro," he said, addressing the elder samurai. "Nanari-san here has told me so much about you." Their eyes widened as the noticed that next to Aroji was seated Yuiishi, the head mistress herself, but obviously against her will. Still, despite the hostility, the woman did not look the least bit panicked or perturbed. If anything, she just looked a little over-crowded for teatime.
"Yuiishi-dono," Nuhiro called. "Daijoubu ka?"
"Hai, I'm fine Obaga-san," she calmly replied, impressing Himura with her cool approach to the otherwise distressing situation.
"Sorry to have interrupted your pleasures," Aroji spoke, giving the redhead a brief glance before focusing once again upon the elder samurai, "but I was expecting the Battousai to show up as well."
"I'm right here if you want me," Himura replied evenly, his eyes edging on amber as he successfully captured all of their attention. A heavy, uneasy silence lanced through the group.
Finally Aroji snorted.
Not the kind of snort one would give to create a superior effect, but more along the "I'm-holding-back-a-fit-of-laughter-that-will-bust-my-gut-if-I-release-it-aw-screw-it" type of snort. This immediately broke down everyone else's resistance and the entire company was soon howling on the ground or clutching their sides in pain. Himura might've thought them to be sick or poisoned if it weren't for the fact that they were all laughing.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
Aroji decided to inform him in-between his own guffaws. "N-ni-nice skirt, Battousai!" he said with tears in his eyes. More catcalls and whistles ensued from those who could spare the breath.
"Oro? Nice… skir…" He froze as he realized that in his haste to rescue Asuka and protect the girls, he'd completely forgotten his state of dress. …"Dress" being the emphasized word here. It was probably the most awkward moment in Himura's life.
…Well, alright, so learning about a "woman's nature" from Yuiishi-dono had probably been almost just as uncomfortable; "The Facts of Life According to Shishou" following close behind. Still, this was incredibly humiliating and doing nothing for his intimidation factor except eliminating it.
"You forgot, didn't you?" Nuhiro asked from behind him.
Off the subject, the young man noted, "At this rate, sessha is sure he will have suffered enough for his sins in about another week's worth of time de gozaru."
"I'm not even going to ask," Asuka muttered, wondering if it was too late to act like she wasn't associated with them. Himura continued to turn red faced at the mockery.
"Shake it, Battou-baby!"
"Who does your nails?"
"Pretty Boy!"
"What, no fancy hairdo?"
"Ha ha! That girl thinks she's the Battousai!"
Laughter swiftly died at the last comment, and the entire assembly turned to the man who shouted it. At last Kunhori, the second in command, spoke up.
"Koeji, I thought I forbade you from speaking."
"Oh yeah. …You mean like now?"
"Always!"
"Oh."
Somehow maintaining his cool, Nikko's husband returned to the conversation as though it had never broke. "Should we come back later?" he asked with a sneer. "I wouldn't want to be… interrupting anything." His smile never left his broad features.
"A rain check would be nice," Asuka agreed. "How about the 2nd? …of Never," she grumbled under her breath.
"You have a rather sharp tongue," the lord of these radicals remarked lightly. Then in sudden dark, amused tones he hissed, "And unless you can hold it I'll cut it out for you. A woman should know she had no voice in a man's presence unless spoken to."
The warning silenced her, but Asuka stuck her tongue out at him to display her disgust before thinking that considering what his threat had proposed to do, that wasn't such a good idea. It quickly slipped back in her mouth but she scowled as nastily as she could.
"You will not be threatening any of the girls here," Obaga replied with tones so cold Himura was almost caught off-guard himself. "Your endangerment to them and to the government ends here today, Amatomo-san. You should surrender now or prepare yourself de gozaru."
Casting his gaze back at the old man, Himura recognized the feral glint shining there. The ex-hitokiri would've smiled had the situation been different. This was the Obaga he had first met on the morning streets earlier that week. The one that could handle his own just fine. He wouldn't have to worry about him in this fight.
"Himura-dono."
"Hai?" Kenshin waited for a possible instruction or signal.
"…Uh, well I seem to have forgotten my sword de gozaru. Would you mind taking care of this one?"
Kenshin hit the ground face first. "NANI?!" he asked after picking himself up. "How could you forget your sword in such a… a… aaaaaaahhhhhhhh…" He looked down and noticed that a particular reversed blade was missing from his waistline. …Which looked much slimmer in stripes. After a moment, he said for the record, "Well that's not good."
"Ya think?!" Asuka screeched, taking into full account the new situation. "I can't remember why we all trusted you guys to take care of this in the first place! Suicide would've been quicker and easier! Not to mention a lot less embarrassing!"
Obaga tried calming her down as Himura sheepishly turned to the others.
"Er, you kind of caught us at a bad time as you can see. Why don't you just enjoy some snacks while we get our weapons and sessha changes into more appropriate attire? Then we can finish up this whole grudge battle and have our bloodbath after tea!"
If there was anything to be said to that, it was not said by anyone in the room. Instead, a shouting voice filtered in from the hall way and a minute later, the door slid open to reveal two figures. Both were quite short, but the smaller of the two was pushed inside and unceremoniously dropped to the ground.
"Futashi-kun!" Kenshin shouted, instantly recognizing the boy. Looking up, he took in the second figure dressed in black. A man about his height and build, long, dark brown hair held back in a high ponytail and black mask covering the bottom portion of his face. What struck Himura the most was the man's ki. It was the same that had tracked him last night.
"They have a ninja," he quietly informed Obaga.
"Eh, he's only a little one," his companion replied. Himura shot him a dirty look.
"Do you realize how many times I heard that said about me in the Bakumatsu?"
"…Er, better keep your guard up Himura-dono. Just in case."
"Yeah."
Aroji welcomed the spy with another smile. "Murobi-san, how nice of you to join us! I see you've found the whelp. Where's the woman?"
"Out back," Murobi replied, his voice scratchy and unpleasant. "There's a garden beyond the gate that leads to a small house. She is there with six other children who are offspring of other girls here in the teahouse, and the woman who ran to inform her and the men of your presence. It seems they carelessly left some things behind however…" Himura and Obaga tensed as the man brought up their swords. "I found the boy here trying to deliver these to those two over there." Although his mask covered his mouth, it was obvious he was smirking. "I thought it was rude for him to do such a thing without asking your permission, so I brought him here for you."
"Well done," the lord approved. His henchman bowed in gratitude, handing over the swords to Aroji's outstretched hand. The receiving man towered over the boy. "Well, that was a rather rude thing for you to do, Futashi. Were you really going to betray your own brother-in-law like that?"
Futashi finally looked, or more accurately, glared up from his position on the floor and suddenly his friends understood why he'd stayed down for so long. Welts and bruises covered his skin, his right eye black and swollen. Aroji merely tsked in light disapproval.
"You took away my fun!" he chided Murobi. "I won't have the satisfaction of punishing him myself!"
"Forgive me, Lord," the ninja apologized. "He put up quite a resistance."
"Yes, I suppose he would have. Stubborn one, he is. It must run in the family." The broad leader leaned down to grin openly in the boy's face. Futashi's eyes sparked with anger. "Oh well, his spirit doesn't look broken yet so there's still some fun to be had." He chuckled. "I admit I'm impressed though. You don't break as easy as your sister, Kid."
Asuka let out a sharp yelp of surprise when Amatomo's head suddenly snapped back due to Futashi's fist connecting with his jaw. While not a strong enough punch to do as much damage as Aroji deserved, the man still stumbled back quite a bit as his henchmen immediately swarmed the boy. They failed to find him however, seeing as to how Himura had instantly jumped in to bring him to safety. Using his godlike speed to reach Nikko's brother, he lifted the boy into his arms and leapt again, sailing over the heads of the radicals. Before any of them could blink, Himura was already smoothly landing back with the others.
…Well, he would have smoothly landed had the rush not gotten his legs tangled up in the tight constrictions of the kimono and the loose tails of the obi. As it was, he stumbled quite badly before crashing into another table. His only salvation was that he had managed to break Futashi's fall, saving the kid from further injury.
"Just when I think you can't get anymore hopeless…" Futashi grumbled, finding no need to finish off his sentence as her gingerly picked himself up, Asuka rushing over to help him.
"Futashi-kun, daijoubu ka?!"
"Don't worry, I'm alright," the boy winced, ignoring the pain in his body. Two others walked over a moment later.
"Is everything alright?" the head mistress asked.
"Yuiishi-sama, when did you get away?" Asuka inquired.
"Obaga-san here saved me while Himura was getting Futashi," she explained.
Nuhiro meanwhile was looking curiously at the expression of agony etched on his partner's face. "Oro? Himura-dono, what's wrong?"
Grimacing, the redhead weakly reported, "I don't think that Nikko-dono had all the pins out yet."
"…ow."
"Sessha isn't going to tell you where half of them are right now because there are women present de gozaru."
"…Ow."
"You have no idea."
A growing boisterous laugh from behind made them turn their heads. Aroji stood there, chuckling to his heart's content while idly rubbing his mildly sore chin.
"I'm glad to see you've still got such a fighting spirit, Futashi-kun. My brother tutored you well. You could become a great warrior with that determination and do many great things." He held out his right hand. " …With the right leadership, of course. What do you say? Let me finish what Seitaro started."
Futshi blinked his one good eye, then glared with it. "If that was an offer to join you, then you can forget it! No way will I ever allow myself to become a scumbag like you!"
"How about if I start treating you and your sister better?"
"How about you just leave us alone?!" the boy shouted. "What do you want from us anyway? We can't give you anything!"
"Ah, but that's where you'd be wrong. You're sister has something of mine that will be vital to the new age our troop will bring about. She herself is an important part of this plan, and will be renowned throughout history." His teeth gleamed in a twisted grin. "You see, she is to be the mother of the next generation."
Asuka gasped. "The baby," she realized.
"Exactly. I will need an heir to pass my legacy down to after all. But to make sure she raises it properly, I have to keep her under a close watch. Do you understand now?"
The shocked and angry silence that followed was short-lived as an outburst came from the hall Himura and Obaga had entered through. Yuki was soon again at a doorframe, panting and panicked. From her initial babble, one phrase finally jumped out above the rest.
"Nikko-chan's water broke!" she cried. "She needs help!"
Exasperated, Himura yelled back, "Well tell her we'll fix it later! We're kind of busy here!"
A pause, then Yuiishi calmly walked over, tapped the redhead on the shoulder, and whispered something into his ear that made his eyes widen.
"………Oh."
Aroji smiled. "My, what perfect timing," he said.
Kenshin thought just the opposite.
End of chapter seventeen.
Author's Notes:
Sorry people, no pink gi yet. (Hope you enjoyed the alternative though.) Man, I just keep you all hanging on for that don't I? Don't worry though, it WILL appear in this fic! Just... no yet. *grin*
Incredible! I nearly breezed through this chapter! For some reason, I find that I have a much easier time writing humor than I do writing drama. That's why this chapter came out so quick. Must be because I feel this should remain a humor fic, so whenever I'm writing drama, I go back and revise it 30 times, chanting to myself, "Where can I squeeze in a joke? Where can I squeeze in a joke?" But this chapter was getting back to the funny bone, so I hope you enjoyed it! Don't get too hopeful about the next chapter being out this soon, but I'll try. -_-;;
I didn't realize it until I was halfway done with this chapter, but... "A Rurouni's Guide to Idiocy" is almost done! I think I have about 3 or 4 more chapters to go until I complete this story (I can't say exactly how many because I've ended chapters soon than anticipated in the past). Still, in about a couple months (less if I'm feeling inspired like this past week), it should be complete! Sugoi. Ah, but I won't get into that now. I'll save sentements for the last post.
"The Akabeko Crisis" has been updated with another chapter, but no further chapters will be added until this fic's end. But that shouldn't be too long, so that's not a big problem. Thanks for all of your support, minna!
Speaking of support... SUGOI! Over 300 reviews! I never thought it would get this popular! *sniffles* I can't begin to express my appreciation for your kindness and for just taking an extra minute to punch out a review. For this, I'm going to try and cook up something special for when I close this story! A gift is in the works!
On a special note to Shiari: WOW! I still can hardly believe that you're making the thing! Well, I will be at AnimeExpo this coming year, so I'll definitely be looking for you!! (And if you're wearing the thing I doubt I'll be able to miss you.) Pictures galore! (I hope it doesn't break my camera though. Note to self: no flash)