Messing With Washuu's Inventions Has Advantages

Disclaimer: Mou! I can't even spell without the aid of a spell checker; How could I ever hope to own such wonderful series?

Tsumi: Gomen minna!! This took much longer than I planned, complements of painkillers -- powerful enough for you not to feel a f^&%ed up left shoulder but makes you half coherent! Get them today at your local doctor's office! /sarcasm Anyway, it's out at least, and on my 16th birthday too!



Chapter Ten: Star Gazing Festival Part Two

"Where could he have gone?"

"Calm down, Nuriko-chan, Tasuki-san is around here somewhere . . ."

Kiyone and Nuriko walked down the streets, looking for the bandit, who had mysteriously disappeared from their side. Turning down one street in particular made Nuriko freeze, eyes going wide for a minute before a smirk appeared on his face.

"Ooh, I'm going to have fun teasing Ryoko tomorrow!" He whispered quietly.

"For what?" Kiyone also appeared around the corner and her eyes also widened at the sight.

Tasuki. And Ryoko. Kissing.

She blinked a few times before smiling. /I'm happy for you, Ryoko./ Tugging on Nuriko's arm, the two of them left without being noticed.

Walking back down the 'main' streets, the two of them slipped back into conversation. "So, what should we do now?" Kiyone asked.

Nuriko seemed to think for a total of three seconds. "We should go find Hotohori-sama!"

Kiyone blinked a couple of times and allowed herself to be dragged off. She smiled and laughed quietly. "You would make either a great guy or a great girl!" she exclaimed.

Nuriko gave her a mock serious glance. "I don't know if I should be accepting this as praise or offence." He sniffed. "Is it such a crime for a man to look so beautiful?" The two of them then giggled almost uncontrollably.

"It seems as if you two are having a good time." A warm voice interrupted.

Nuriko's eyes lit up. "Hotohori-sama!"

And indeed, Nuriko was right. Hotohori was dressed in regular 'commoner' clothing to not draw attention to his heritage. Behind him stood Amiboshi and Chichiri, both smiling. "Ne, where are Mitsukake and Chiriko?" Kiyone asked.

"Chiriko found something of particular interest and Mitsukake stayed behind with him." Hotohori replied. "Have you had any luck finding Ryoko, Kiyone?"

"I don't think we need to worry about her or Tasuki anymore, Hotohori-sama." Nuriko said with a mischievous grin. "They're having 'fun'."

Kiyone blinked. "Nuriko-chan, you know that could refer to something else, right?"

Nuriko gave a cheeky grin. "I know!"

Kiyone sighed and laughed slightly while Nuriko was thrown into a fit of giggles. "Anyway, would it be alright if we joined you three?"

"I do not see why not." Hotohori said as they started off again, Nuriko clinging onto the emperor's arm while Amiboshi, Chichiri and Kiyone stayed in back.

Looking out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something different about Chichiri. His ears and his neck seemed really red, like he was blushing or something. Concerned, Kiyone gave voice to her thoughts. "Chichiri, are you alright?"

Chichiri seemed to jump slightly, as if being broken out of some deep thoughts or something. "H-hai, I'm fine, Kiyone, no da." He then managed to convey to Kiyone that he was, indeed, smiling. "I didn't mention this before but . . . you look absolutely . . . amazing, no da."

Kiyone blushed lightly. "Thank you. Nuriko-chan really helped this. I don't get to do this sort of thing often." she said, looking down at the ground.

Amiboshi raised an eyebrow. "Why not, Kiyone-san?"

Kiyone blinked and looked at the flutist before smiling. "My line of work doesn't permit it. It's kinda hard to catch criminals in a dress." She said before frowning slightly. "That and I have an idiot for a partner. Just making sure she doesn't get into trouble is a twenty-four hour job."

"Ne, it can't be that bad, Kiyone, no da."

Kiyone gave him a look that clearly said 'you think so?'. She sighed and smiled. "But, let's get off of depressing subjects and have a good time, ne?" The other two nodded and Kiyone's smile became wider. Then it faded into surprise as she stumbled.

Chichiri immediately had his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "Careful, no da." He said.

Kiyone gave a sheepish grin. "See what I mean?" She said.

Chichiri smiled and didn't comment. That smile faded when Kiyone began to blush. "What's wrong Kiyone no da?" He asked. He then saw that his hadn't removed his hands from her shoulders. "Gomen . . ." He said quietly, moving his hands while thanking Suzaku that Kiyone couldn't see his blush from under his mask.

"It's fine . . ." Kiyone said just as quietly, still blushing.

Both were unaware of the three people watching the scene. Hotohori looked slightly confused at the display, while Nuriko, on the other hand, had wheels turning in his head, a sly smile on his features.

The only other person left clenched his fists. Amiboshi didn't know why, but seeing Kiyone react like this to anyone made him angrier beyond words.

Nuriko walked up and nudged Kiyone in the ribs. Kiyone finally broke eye contact with Chichiri and gave her attention to Nuriko. Nuriko smiled and whispered something to her that made her blanche and blush brightly.

"Nuriko! Can't you think of anything else?!" She exclaimed.

Nuriko just smiled like a schoolboy and said, "Let's go!" He then rejoined Hotohori and started walking again.

Chichiri and Amiboshi stared at Kiyone. "Kiyone? Is something wrong no da?"

Kiyone sighed and tried to get her blush under control. "Nothing, nothing." She muttered, running to catch up to Nuriko. Chichiri just blinked and followed, Amiboshi not far behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day for the seishi to travel to Hokkan had finally come. Hotohori had given them a ship so that they could travel to Hokkan by water and only requested that they help to bring the supplies onboard. Everything had been going well, until Tamahome spotted Tasuki hiding behind a tree.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

Tasuki froze slightly. "Wrong? What could possibly be wrong?" He said giving a weak laugh.

"Nothing, huh . . ." Tamahome reached a realization. "You're afraid of the water, aren't you?"

Tasuki gave another weak laugh. "Wh-why would you think that? Do you honestly believe that I'm some . . . loser who can't even swim?"

His act soon faltered as Tamahome carried him and held him over the edge of the dock. Tasuki screamed in fear.

"Tamahome proved him wrong, ne?" Kiyone said, looking at Nuriko, who just nodded.

"Come on Tama-chan, put me down!!!" Tasuki yelled.

"Tama . . . you better do what he says . . ." Tamahome turned his head to see a furious Ryoko barely keeping her anger in check. Paling and sweat dropping, he set Tasuki on the ground.

Shaking slightly, he looked up at his savior, who just smiled sweetly. He gave a fanged grin and stood up, dusting off his black coat and giving Ryoko a chaste kiss.

Miaka blinked. "Ryoko, why didn't you tell us you and Tasuki got together?"

Ryoko looked dreamy for a moment before snapping out of her little land and smiling. "Because it just happened last night." She replied flippantly. She raised an eyebrow at Tamahome. "Gotta problem with it, Obake-chan?" She asked in a sugar-coated tone.

Tamahome paled again and laughed nervously. "Ha, no I don't have a problem!" He said, rubbing the back of his head. Tasuki laughed quietly at Tamahome's scared reaction.

"Tamahome." Hotohori, no matter how amused he was with the sight of Tamahome cringing from Ryoko, he had to ask this. "I know you will be worried about your family, and I wondered if you would like to have them stay here at the palace."

Tamahome gaped at the emperor for a moment, eyes shining. "Real . . . ly?" At Hotohori's nod, Tamahome fell to his knees, reciting many speeches of gratitude to Hotohori.

A few seconds later, he jumped back up and ran to Miaka. "Do you want to come?"

Miaka nodded, then thought of something. "Could Kiyone come?" She asked. Tamahome nodded and with a smile of gratitude, she grabbed Kiyone by the arm and hauled her along.

Kiyone smiled at the enthusiastic miko, before it faded into a frown. /Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?/

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Dun dun dun! The cliffies return!

SessyRyo: *blink* Um . . . *blink* No more sugar for you for a while, Sessy-chan . . .

Burnedshadow: You are actually blushing?! I didn't think it was that good! And don't worry, with time, there will be a Chi/Ki moment like that. ^_~

Brittany67: Yay! Glad you like my fic! As I said, yours is really good, and I'm glad that I'm your Beta. ^_^

XellossShoujo and AzureNeko: *sweatdrop at display* Well . . . everyone makes mistakes, I guess. I kinda killed the D: drive on my computer by playing too many CDs. Mou, Xel-chan, do you mean gallant as in 'knight-in-shining-armor' type thing? Be sure to let me see the doujinshi when you do get your scanner back.

Animechick8: Hi Kit-chan! Okay, to answer your questions (but not give out spoilers) yes, Kiyone is going to end up with someone, but I'm not saying who. ^^ Tenchi and Ayeka didn't hook-up either; what happened is something I'm gonna put at the end of the story. *smile* I haven't got a chance to review 'Kiniro Sakura' yet, but it's pretty good! See ya at school!