Amiboshi sat up slowly, wincing from the pain on his back and letting the blanket fall around him. It was no use. He couldn't sleep. Seiryu's priestess had been up late explaining medicine to him and Suboshi. After she had explained what Wellbutrin, Bengay, Calcium Supplements, and Vitamins were for, she had gone on to tell them all about the world she came from. It seemed like a marvelous place. The priestess had finally had to stop talking when she simply fell asleep where she was, and he had had to put her in her bed. With all that in his mind, he couldn't seem to close his eyes.

Suboshi had kept looking at him funny after he'd taken care of the priestess' wound. It was only the right thing to do. She had taken care of him, and so he'd helped her. There was nothing wrong about that… nothing at all. Amiboshi sighed softly and rested his head on his knees. Ever since the priestess had come there had been more war in Kutou. They were going to invade Konan. Everything seemed so sudden. But he couldn't hold it against the priestess; she hadn't chosen to be here.

He didn't want war. Amiboshi didn't want to see any war orphans like himself and his brother. He didn't want to see and poverty or strife, or any more people getting hurt by the needless disputes and killing. He ran a hand through his hair absently, staring into nothing. He was drawn out of his reverie when he saw the priestess turn over in her sleep and slip out of bed.

What was she doing? He wondered as he watched the priestess… he stopped in mid-thought. She had asked for him to call her Megumi, so he should. Megumi was walking towards him with a strange expression on her face. He grew even more confused as she started muttering softly. If he wasn't mistaken, she was saying his name.

Amiboshi blinked innocently as the pries- Megumi, reached out to touch his shoulder. His confusion only grew when she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him to her.

"Amiboshi…" She muttered, snuggling against his chest. He could feel himself blushing. Was she sleepwalking? Yeah that had to be it. She wouldn't be doing this if she were actually awake, would she? Shouldn't he wake her up?

But then again, didn't it attract bad luck spirits to wake someone who walked in their sleep? He didn't want that. Well, he'd just have to wait until Megumi let go and then move.

After what seemed like too short a time… wait… he meant an eternity, Megumi's arms slipped away from his neck and she curled up beside him, sleeping soundly. There, this was his chance. Amiboshi pulled the blankets down and arranged them around Megumi, smiling down at her before moving away.

Too late he realized the small movement behind him as he made for the spare set of blankets. He muffled a shout as he hit the floor. Ouch, but that hurt. He turned his head around to see Megumi's hand clasped around his ankle in a death grip.

"Amiboshi…" She murmured again, her other hand taking a fistful of his shirt. He smiled briefly and moved closer, letting Megumi's death-grip slacken. A safe distance away he lay down again, and realized that Megumi still held him. She shifted around for a moment until she settled on keeping one arm wrapped around him, curling up into a small ball and resuming a peaceful sleep. If he moved now he'd wake her up. He didn't want to do that, so Amiboshi simply watched the sleeping priestess until he too drifted off to sleep.

-------

That night, Yumi couldn't sleep a wink. She rolled over, trying to get comfortable. It was too bad Tasuki and Hotohori didn't get along too well… In the dim moonlight, she looked around the room she had been given. It looked a lot like His Majesty's room, now that she thought about it. She wondered why all her things had been moved from her old room to this one. Yumi shivered, but the night wasn't cold. The fact that this room was right next to Hotohori's had not escaped her, but she tried not to think about that. He's treating me like we're already married! And I haven't even had a say! She could almost hear the emperor's breathing in the next room. She felt very uncomfortable here, without protection.

What was Hotohori thinking? She thought for at least the tenth time that night. True, she hadn't minded too much, except for the fact that he had pinned her against a WALL! But still… Yumi touched her lips, remembering the emperor's kiss. Now, Hotohori was a very nice-looking man… She knew she was blushing. It's not like she was officially going out with Tasuki or anything, so why did she feel a little guilty? She wasn't even sure Tasuki felt anything for her. That didn't mean she felt nothing for him, but she didn't want to be rejected.

He's a bandit. Yumi reminded herself. He's just another guy that will take advantage of a helpless girl for his own pleasure. But Yumi knew she was wrong, and it hurt her to even think that about Tasuki. Yumi sighed, wishing she had an alarm clock. Then she would be able to tell what time it was. She sat up, having given up trying to sleep for now. She wandered over to the door and opened it. A bright light caused her to throw her hands up to shield her eyes. When her eyes had adjusted, she saw that she must have opened the wrong door, because this was NOT the hallway. Yumi tried to shut the door quietly, but she was noticed.

"Are you having trouble sleeping, Yumi?" Hotohori asked her. Yumi was at a loss as to what she should say. She looked at Hotohori. He was wearing a sleeping robe and sitting at his desk. One elbow was propped on the surface of the desk, and his other hand held a quill. Yumi saw that she had opened the door leading to the emperor's room, not the one to the hallway.

"Um, sorry." Yumi said awkwardly. She didn't know there even was a door connecting their rooms! "I must have used the wrong door." Yumi tried to back away, but the look Hotohori was giving her cause Yumi to freeze.

"Is there something you need?" He asked politely, and Yumi shook her head and immediately contradicted herself.

"I was just going to go get a glass of water, but… ha ha… I didn't know there was more than one door to my room." Yumi wondered how she could communicate her discomfort without offending Hotohori, but she decided it was impossible.

"I'm okay now. Don't worry about me! Good night!" Yumi backed out and closed the door firmly, hoping he wouldn't come in after her.

"Iff'n he tries anything funny, scream, okay?" Yumi found herself remembering what Tasuki had said before the last encounter. She wondered it still applied. Yumi crawled back into bed and pulled the blankets tight around her. There was NO WAY she would be able to sleep now! She lay facing the window, and jumped every time she heard the floor creak, afraid that this time, she would have an unwelcome visitor. Yumi hardly noticed when the sky was becoming lighter as the sun rose.

Eventually, Yumi could stand it no longer and stood up. That was when she saw that the room was flooded with warm sunlight streaming in through the window. She arched her back and extended her arms over her head. When she had finished stretching, she slumped into a sitting position on the floor. Whenever she stayed up all night, her whole body felt sore the next day, and Yumi could already feel her muscles cramping up. How long she sat there, she didn't know, but suddenly she heard a sharp tapping on her door.

"Yumi! Are you awake, no da?" Her heart leapt with relief at hearing Chichiri's voice. Chichiri muttered through the door. "Are you always slow at waking up, no da?" Yumi didn't care what kind of remarks he made today. Still in the embroidered sleeping robe she had been given last night, Yumi rushed out into the hall and jumped onto Chichiri, throwing her arms around him.

"Thank you, Chichiri! I missed you! I missed you!" Yumi was so happy to see a man that wasn't likely to jump her or kiss her that she totally lost control. Chichiri, of course, was completely confused.

"Missed me, no da? But I just saw you last night, no da!" Yumi backed away from him, realizing she must be scaring her warrior. Chichiri looked down at Yumi with a very surprised expression on his fox-like face. When she had increased the distance between Chichiri and herself, she looked up at him, wondering how to explain her strange behavior. But she was spared the explanation when she heard someone call her name.

"Good morning Yumi!" Yumi looked over and saw Nuriko scurrying down the hallway toward her. He was dressed like a woman again. Men shouldn't be allowed to look so good in dresses. Yumi sighed, but she was glad of the distraction.

"Did you sleep well, Nuriko?" She asked innocently. For some reason, Nuriko glared at her and didn't answer.

"I don't think you got a very good night's sleep, no da. Your chi is wavering more than usual. Are you okay, Yumi?" For some reason, this statement seemed to make Nuriko even angrier. Yumi ducked behind Chichiri for protection.

"Why didn't you get a good night's sleep?" Nuriko asked in a friendly voice, but Yumi wasn't fooled; Nuriko was speaking through clenched teeth and his hands were balled into fists. Yumi started to say that she just couldn't sleep, but then she saw Nuriko glance at the door next to Yumi's room. Hotohori's door. Does Nuriko think that Hotohori and I… Yumi looked at Nuriko in disbelief. She came out from behind Chichiri, thinking of what to say to Nuriko, but no words came to mind.

"Well?" Nuriko prompted, and Yumi opened her mouth to answer, but right then, Hotohori walked out of his room into the hall, already fully dressed. Yumi shut her mouth quickly and tried to look as though she wasn't tired at all. Hotohori looked at the trio in the hall blankly and spotted Yumi. He smiled at her.

"Good morning, Yumi. I hope you have thought about what I-" Suddenly Hotohori cut off in mid-sentence. For a moment, Yumi wondered why, but then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Tasuki yawn lazily, exposing his fangs. Like her, he was still wearing his pajamas.

"Mornin' Highness…" He said sleepily. It was an awkward moment. Yumi could see the fireworks going off behind the two men's eyes, but it didn't show in either face. Hotohori was the perfect image of calm and Tasuki looked just as unconcerned. However, from Tasuki's grasp on her shoulder, and from the way Hotohori refused to look at Tasuki, Yumi knew better. Chichiri looked from one to the other, shaking his head despairingly.

Yumi's stomach growled. Loudly. Hotohori looked at her in surprise. Yumi looked down at her stomach, and put her hands over it, as though she could cover the sound that way.

"I think I'm ready for breakfast." She said lightly, breaking the tense moment. She broke away from the group and rushed ahead in the direction of the palace dining-hall. She turned down a side hallway and crouched there, hidden from view. She could hear the others catching up with her. Yumi had a plan. It didn't have much hope of success, but she would try it. She couldn't go another night without sleep.

As her warriors passed her, Yumi decided to give it a try.

"Psst. Nuriko!" Yumi whispered, hoping he would hear her. He kept walking, but he must have heard her, because he looked around curiously. Yumi tried again, and this time Nuriko heard Yumi and stopped.

"What is it, no da?" Chichiri asked him. Nuriko looked disarmingly at Chichiri and the others and waved his hands, gesturing for them to go on.

"It's nothing!" He said. "Go on ahead… I just remembered something I have to do before…" He trailed off. Yumi hoped the others would take the bait. She was rewarded when she heard their footsteps move along the corridor. Nuriko looked down at Yumi crouched in the side passage with a mixture of expressions on his face. Yumi stalled any accusations by getting right to the point.

"Um, Nuriko, I have a favor to ask of you…"

-------

Megumi sighed, waking up gradually from her wonderful dream. She couldn't remember any of the details, but the overall effect made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. She shifted her shoulders, trying to work the soreness out of them. She didn't remember her bed being so stiff… She opened her eyes slowly and tried to focus. She could see where the window was, from the concentration of light on the other side of the room. She blinked, trying to bring the room into better focus. She couldn't be absolutely sure, but the room had seemed different yesterday. She rolled over and reached for her glasses, but her hand came in contact with something soft and warm, most unlike her nightstand. Wait a minute… WARM? Megumi's eyes snapped open, and for a split second, she saw Amiboshi's face only inches from her own, asleep. That was when she realized he had an arm around her. She was on the floor! Sleeping with Amiboshi?! Blushing furiously, Megumi tried to back away. What on earth did Amiboshi think he was doing?

She had only just started to wriggle away when Amiboshi opened his eyes sleepily. When he saw Megumi so close to him, he blushed almost as dark as Megumi.

"Uhhh… Umm…" He stuttered, immediately releasing her and backing away. Megumi couldn't look him straight in the eye due to embarrassment, so she looked out the window.

"Amiboshi," she began seriously, but he interrupted her.

"Megumi, it's not what you think. I was not taking advantage of you. It was more like the other way around. You were sleepwalking and… Megumi couldn't help but laugh. She had been known to walk in her sleep at times, yes… but sometimes she embarrassed herself. Not to mention others. Megumi saw Suboshi's head pop up from the other side of her bed, and he had a scared look on his face.

"Megumi, has the demon gone away?" He asked fearfully. Megumi looked at him blankly. So Suboshi decided he needed to clear things up a bit.

"Last night, a demon possessed you, Megumi. It made you do funny things, and then the demon was trying to get my brother, too! But I couldn't do anything, lest I set the demon free to do as it wished… But it looks as though you're okay now. Right, Megumi?" Megumi held back the flood of laughter trying to escape her, and managed to pretend to cough instead. Yes, let Suboshi think it is a demon. That will be less embarrassing for the both of us.

"Don't worry, Suboshi, the evil spirit is gone now, and I've banished it from my body forever. We'll be okay, right, Amiboshi?" She stared at him, willing Amiboshi to play along. He smiled at his younger brother. Suboshi frowned at the two of them, but at least he bought it, or so Megumi thought.