Disclaimer: Tasuki: Smack still doesn't own Fushigi Yuugi.

Thanks to Otaku Pitcher! Shiriko is an interesting dog, isn't he? He's based on the awesome dog that lives across the street from me. (shh...don't tell...I have no rights to him, either) I don't have a dog at the moment, but on the off chance you care, I'm getting one around Thanksgiving! Also, Chichiri isn't that tricky; he's just smart enough to know that he would have gotten bit if he did that.

Author's Note: Sorry this took longer. We got a new carpet and so the computer was down for a day longer than I wanted and I had a big poster to make for my dumb marketing class. Last chapter was fun, eh? I guess Miaka is very trusting. Will that bring harm to her and the seishi? Anyway, this chapter is going to be very exciting. Dinner with the whole Suzaku seishi? Who could ask for more? So, Yume gets to meet the rest of the seishi. Will they get along?

Chapter 3: Introductions...

'Great...dinner with the Priestess' err...Miaka's friends. This should be interesting especially if Tasuki's there. I bet he's still wondering why I winked at him,' I thought as I grabbed my bag and followed Miaka to the door of her room. When she opened it, Tasuki and some purple haired guy fell flat on their faces. At least, I think it was a guy. I find it hard to tell here. "Were you two listening the whole time?!?" Miaka asked, her face red with anger.

"Err...no. We were just going to...uhh...tell you dinner was ready and uhh...ask if she needed an escort back to the dungeon," the purple-haired one explained. You could clearly tell that he was lying but we went along with it.

"Is that so, Nuriko? Is dinner really ready?" Miaka asked, her face dreamy at the mention of food. She snapped back to reality and added, "No, Yume will not be needing as escort back. She is coming to dinner with us. In fact, she will be staying with us until she goes back to our world. But you probably know that already because you were at the door listening in." Then, she turned to me and said, "Let's get going, Yume. Who knows how long they were sitting at the door. Dinner could be cold by now."

I laughed and followed with Shiriko. "Does that beast go with you everywhere?" Tasuki asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. That is, unless you want to hold him?" I asked with fake innocence, batting my eyelashes. He backed away. "No? Well then, I guess he has to come with me." Miaka laughed and we continued on.

When we arrived in the dining room, I got a mean look from just about everyone. There were two guys I hadn't seen before, along with the others I had seen but not met. I patted Shiriko and he licked my hand. I heard a cat hiss. Shiriko's ears went up. He barked. The cat ran and Shiriko tried to chase it. 'This is a great way to start dinner,' I thought with a sigh as Shiriko attempted to pull me across the floor. "Oh no. Not again. This is how we got into this mess. Shiriko! Heel!" I yelled. He stopped and I stooped to pick up the frightened cat. "It's ok little baby. He won't bother you now." The cat purred and Shiriko sniffed it. The cat just looked at him. One of the guys I hadn't meant before, a rather intimidating one with brown hair, got up and took the cat from me. He was tall and had a headband tied around his forehead. That was about the only thing I recognized of his clothing. 'They really do dress weird here.'

"Thanks, miss. Tama isn't always that careful. I'm Mitsukake by the way," the man said.

"You're welcome. Shiriko, while normally very well behaved, has one weakness: small animals. He always has to investigate, don't you little dumby?" I patted my friend's head lovingly. "I'm Yume," I told him.

"That's all well and good but who is she and what is she doing here?" the purple haired one from before said.

"She's Yume, a girl from my world," Miaka answered for me. I received "oohs" and "ahhs" and everyone stared at me like I was some kind of circus freak. "She's going to be staying with us here at the palace. I want to find out more about how and why she came here," she declared.

"But Miaka! How can we just trust her like this? What if she's lying? Or even worse, what if she's another spy from Nakago? We cannot simply allow her to stay here!" the turquoise haired one questioned. 'Oh no! What if they don't believe me? Or even worse, what if they do believe me, but hear me while I'm talking to Nakago? If he's their enemy...what will I do? I'll just have to win their trust.'

"She's not! How could Nakago fake those clothes? And how would he know so much about the United States? Even me and Yui don't know that much about that place!" Miaka argued back.

"We will settle this with a interview. I, as emperor, will interview her first," the brown haired one spoke up. 'He's the emperor? Isn't he young?' "All the celestial warriors are welcome to attend if they want. Miaka, you will come to verify what she says."

"Deal. Now, Yume," Miaka said, becoming friendly again. "We've been very rude. Already arguing about you and you don't even know our names! That brown haired man over there is the emperor, Hotohori. The turquoise haired one is Tamahome. You already met Chichiri, Tasuki, and Mitsukake so that leaves…Nuriko and Chiriko," she said pointing to the two remaining "warriors."

They all said their "hellos" and we sat down. Unfortunately, the only open seat was next to Tasuki. 'Great…this trip just keeps getting better and better.' I was ignored for the most part of dinner except for the occasional comment from Mitsukake. I think he's the only civil one. Hotohori and Tamahome are convinced I'm a spy, Chiriko just doesn't have anything to say to me, and Tasuki and Nuriko just hate me. Miaka was busy talking to Tamahome. Chichiri was watching me but made no move to start a conversation. 'I think there is something between those two. Too bad, Tamahome is kind of cute...but he hates me already. I wonder if she was treated like that when she first arrived here?' "Yume?" someone asked from the other end of the table waking me from my thoughts. I looked around to find the speaker. It was Hotohori. 'Great...'

"Yea?" It was more of a question than an answer but I didn't want to be rude and ask, "What the hell do you want?" to the emperor. I didn't think that would go over too well.

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind doing that interview soon. Like a little after dinner. I wouldn't want your memory to fade," he said with fake sincerity. 'He must be convinced that I'm a fake.'

"Fine. I'm done eating now so can I take Shiriko for a walk before the interview? He's going to need a walk sooner or later..." I asked. "Unless you want him to...have an accident on your nice clean floor."

"You may go but Tasuki has to accompany you. I wouldn't want to get lost or anything..." he ordered.

"You want Tasuki to go? What if that beast attacks him like before?" Nuriko asked.

"He's not a beast! He's my dog. And he won't attack unless you hurt me or I tell him to," I snapped, growing annoyed with everyone's insults on my guardian.

"He's your dog? He looks like a wolf," Chiriko answered. "How do you know he won't attack you?"

"He looks like a wolf because he is a wolf. Well, half wolf anyway. And he'd never attack me. He has no reason to," I responded patting him Shiriko on the head. "Now can I go without Tasuki? I promise I won't run away. Where would I go? Besides...Shiriko doesn't seem to like Tasuki...no sense in pushing our luck." I let Shiriko off the leash. He shook his head and looked around the room, smiling at the group and showing his teeth.

"I insist that he goes with you. After all you said he wouldn't attack unless you told him to so there should be no problem," Hotohori stated firmly.

"Why is Tasuki going? She looks semi-intelligent. She could out smart him and leave. Maybe Nuriko or I should go. Or at least go with him," Tamahome suggested, ignoring the fact that I was standing two feet in front of him.

"No, Tasuki is fast so if she does try anything... Besides, those two can bond. Tasuki could use a friend," Hotohori responded. "Where would she go anyway?"

"Arrg! I hate it when people talk about me like I'm not even here! It's not like I have anywhere to go! Come on, Tasuki! Let's just go!" I ordered angrily. Before Tasuki got up, I swear I heard Nuriko make a side comment to Tamahome. All I could understand was our names, "perfect," and "match." They both laughed and I got really annoyed. 'This whole world is so screwed up!' As soon as Tasuki came near me, Shiriko started growling and showing his teeth. I bent over and whispered to him, "You can't attack him now. If you do, they may never trust us." He quieted down but you could tell he didn't like the idea anymore than I did.

After we left the room, I felt Tasuki grab my wrist. On impulse, I spun around, ready to hit him and Shiriko growled. "Whoa! Calm down! I just wanted to let you know that I didn't want to go with you, either," he said, giving me a weird look. It was just then that I realized my fist was about a centimeter away from hitting him in the face. 'Good thing I have fast reflexes...' I thought. I moved it and he continued, "If it was up to me, I'd let you run away and wouldn't care at all. But Hotohori doesn't seem to want you to leave so I can't let you. Don't try anything, ok? I don't want to hurt you but I will if I have to."

"I wouldn't dream of running away from you," I said sarcastically. "Come on, Shiriko. Let's get going." We walked down the hallway, Shiriko behaving perfectly. 'Why couldn't he do this before? Maybe then I wouldn't be a spy in this world.' "Does this place have like an open field or something?" I asked.

"Uhh...yea. It's this way." He led us through endless doors and passages until we emerged in an open garden. There were a few benches scattered around, a lake of some sort, and a lovely little gazebo type thing in the middle of the water. "This is where us warriors train sometimes," he added. 'I wonder if he's trying to impress me or something...'

"Ok, Shiriko, get going." I patted him and he flew off, exploring every inch with his wolf like curiosity. I sat down on a bench and watched him for a few minutes before deciding that I should find out exactly what I had from my world with me. Tasuki seemed content just to lean on a wall, watching me. 'Whatever,' I thought as I looked down at myself checking to see what I was wearing. 'Hmm…my black short sleeved shirt with a red dragon on it.' I was wearing my fav pants too, big baggy ones with huge pockets and a hoody was tied around my waist. I still had my bag, though I don't remember what I put in there. I opened up the side pocket first. Sure enough, there was my CD player and an extra set of batteries. I always bring my bag with me when I walk Shiriko in case I get bored watching him run or something happens. I don't know; guess I'm just paranoid. I closed that pocket and searched the rest. Mostly my stuff from school was in there, you know, binders, paper, and pens...that kind of stuff. I also had a flashlight and my camera. I experiment with photography when I'm walking Shiriko sometimes. 'You can see such pretty things...'

I looked up at Tasuki, who was watching me with interest now. I took my CD player out again so I could listen to music while I waited. As soon as he saw my CD player again, Tasuki asked me what it was. I explained it to him and even let him listen to some music on it. He looked just like a kid when I was explaining it to him. It was so cute... Wait! What am I thinking?!? I can't stand him! We sat in silence for a few minutes; quietly content listening to Metallica, until Shiriko came back over. "Done buddy?" I asked him. He sat down and looked up at me. "Guess so." I put him back on the leash and got up. "We should probably get back before they think something happened."

"What would they think happened?" he asked. He had a playful smirk on his face and his eyes were sparkling. 'Uh oh! What's he planning?' I thought. Then it hit me. 'Of course! The headphones!' Before I could take mine off, he pulled the wire just hard enough for me to lose my balance. I fell forward, straight into him. Of course he caught me, he wouldn't want to be rude. I looked up at him. His arms were around my waist and I was leaning on him. I tried to push away but he held tight. "Let me go!" I cried.

"I don't know, I kind of like it this way," he responded, never losing the smirk. I glared at him. At the same time, I had the strangest urge to kiss him. I fought it full force. I guess he decided to add on, "Not until you tell me why you winked at me."

I tried to struggle again but it was no use. He was way stronger than me. I don't know why Shiriko hadn't attacked him yet. I should make him but it wasn't that bad. "Fine," I agreed, annoyed that I could so easily be beaten. He gazed down at me triumphantly. "I winked at you because I knew you weren't expecting me to and I wanted to throw you off."

He looked a little disappointed. I noticed that he was a couple of inches taller than me. 'The perfect height...' the little voice in the back of my head that kept telling me to kiss him said. 'Damn hormones. Now they got voices. Curse them eternally.' "What are you two doing?" a voice from above us asked. We turned around and Tasuki released me. We were both blushing. 'Stop looking like you did something wrong!'

"Uhh...nothing. Yume here fell and I caught her," Tasuki told the voice.

"If it was anything else, I would have had Shiriko attack him," I added.

"Suuuurrre... Hotohori wanted me to find you guys. He wanted to start now," the voice, Nuriko, replied. You could tell he didn't believe us.

"We'll be right there," Tasuki told him. "And Nuriko? Nothing happened here. And if you tell anyone different..."

"Yea. Right. I'll just leave you two alone and tell Hotohori that you're coming," he said in between laughter. "I guess you DID meet your match," he added before he disappeared.

"WHY DON"T YOU COME BACK HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE YOU FUCKIN GAY CROSS DRESSER!!!" Tasuki yelled after him, still blushing. He punched the wall. I took my headphones back and put them away. I couldn't help but laugh. "What's so funny about this?!?"

"Nuriko's gay? I thought there was something... uhh...different about him, but gay?" I started laughing again, this time Tasuki laughed with me. "It's not like I'd do anything with you anyway. Nuriko's probably just jealous." We crossed the garden towards the door, laughing the whole time.

Suddenly, Tasuki stopped laughing. "What do you mean it's not like you'd 'do anything' with me anyway?" he asked.

"Took ya a while there, Tasuki." I stopped laughing too. "I just don't know you that well, that's all."

"Oh." I think he sounded disappointed. 'Silly boy.'

Author's Note:

Tasuki: :: blushing:: I wasn't disappointed! So don't say I was!

Smack: :: giggles::

Chichiri: Tasuki likes Yume! Tasuki likes Yume!

Tasuki: :: growing angry and still blushing:: I DO NOT!!!

Smack: Anyway, next time, we will be experiencing the interview of Yume. Since I'm soooo nice-

Tasuki: :: mutters:: Yea right.

Smack: ::vein pops out of forehead:: AS I was saying, since I'm so nice, I'll give you a little taste of what's to come.

Quote:

"...walked out into the hall way straight into...a wall?!? 'Owwy...When'd that wall get there?" I asked myself, rubbing my head and getting up..."

Smack: Ha ha! That's all you get! Byebyes!