Chapter Six:
Friends Don't Let Friends Turn Into Vengeful Crazy Women

"AAAAAAH!" THUMP! I popped out of wherever it is Chichiri travels when he teleports and landed on something squishy. "Ooh… that landing was a lot nicer than I thought it would be."

I noticed Amiboshi and Chichiri had fallen quite clumsily on top of each other. Genrou had it a bit worse, with his butt stuck straight up in the air. I moved around a little, hearing something groan below me. I looked down and saw my best friend, now blue and gasping for air. "Oh, sorry!" I jumped to my feet.

Dee gasped for breath, holding her stomach with one hand. Finally, the color returned to her face. "Is that any way to greet a friend?"

"Sorry, sorry."

"It's okay... Mm... I MISSED YOU HALEY-CHAN!"

"I MISSED YOU TOO DEE-CHAN!" We locked in a hug, smiling widely.

Amiboshi sweatdropped. "How long were they apart?"

"Not more than a week," Genrou answered, folding his arms and sighing.

"That's best friends for you no da," Chichiri said with a smile.

Dee and I released our friendship hug. "So that Nakago guy decided to let you come?" Dee asked.

"Well…" I sweatdropped. "I told him I was leaving, and then Genrou and Chichiri showed up…"

"And the bastard tried to kill us!" Genrou shouted indignantly.

"We managed to get away with the help of one of Harii-chan's seishi no da."

"Yeah, you should meet Ashitare, Dee," I told her. "He's awesome."

"Is that Ashitare?" She pointed to Amiboshi.

"No, that's Amiboshi. He came with us because he didn't trust Genrou and Chichiri."

"What? He's here!" Genrou whirled around, spotted Amiboshi, and bolted across the room to hold his tessen to my seishi's throat, all in one swift motion. "You better not try and pull something on us, or I'll...!"

"Genrou! Calm down!" I ran over to him and put my hands on his shoulders. "He's not like Nakago…or Tomo… or maybe Soi… or maybe Snoop Dogu. I don't really know Snoop Dogu all that well."

"Snoop Dogu?" asked Dee, raising an eyebrow and laughing a little.

"Heh…I'll explain later."

Genrou put up his tessen. "I'll be keeping my eye on you." Amiboshi nodded grimly.

The two glared each other down for a while, until I finally broke the tension-filled silence. "Where is everyone staying?" I asked.

"Chichiri, Tasuki and Mitsukake are rooming together. Then it's Nuriko and Tamahome. And Hotohori and I are staying in this room," Dee gestured around us, then noticed my questioning look. She blushed and waved her arms in protest. "It's not what you think, I swear!"

I decided to let it drop for now. "I don't know those names. Are they the other seishi?"

"Yup!" Dee grinned and flashed a victory sign. "We only have one more to go!"

"We're going to go back to our room now no da," Chichiri informed us.

"We are?" asked Genrou.

"Amiboshi, you can stay in our room no da," the monk invited in his usual friendly way.

"He can?" Genrou screeched. Before he could protest, Chichiri grabbed Genrou's arm and dragged him out, Amiboshi following close behind.

Dee looked at me and nudged me with her elbow. "Hey, so this Ashitare guy, it sounds like..." she cupped her hands under her chin and practically sung her next words, "you liiiiiike him."

I laughed. "He's that wolf you saw."

"WHAT?" Dee nearly fell over.

"Well, actually he's half-wolf, half-man." I noticed Dee's huge chibi eyes and laughed. "I don't think of him like that. I think of him as a companion."

"O…kay... whew... got worried for a sec."

"So why are you and Hotohori rooming together?" I asked somewhat suspiciously. "Aren't there any female seishi?"

"Well, there is one…" Dee rubbed the back of her head and found something interesting to look at on the ground. I could tell she was about to pull a best-friend-spilling-her-guts bit, so I braced myself for something interesting. "...But, well, there was something I was going to talk about with you earlier, but I couldn't because Chichiri was right there. I didn't want him to hear it."

"What is it?"

"CREEEEAK!" A cloaked man walked in and threw back his hood, smiling that charming smile.

"You know Hotohori, the door can make the noise by itself," Dee said with a sweatdrop.

"Hotohori-sama! How are you?" I asked pleasantly.

The damn-sexy Emperor nodded politely in my direction. "I'm fine. It's nice to see you are well, Harii. Have they been treating you all right in Kutou?"

"Sure, they're nice to me. They are a bit weird," I admitted, "but they haven't hurt me or anything."

"Chichiri is paying for an extra room right now so we will have some extra space. You and Dee can have this room."

"Thank y—" my best friend started to say, but I interrupted with, "Oh, you can stay in this room with Dee. Amiboshi and I will room together."

"Whatever you two want, we will do."

"What if I wanted you to put your head up an elephant's butt? Would you do that?" I demanded.

"Uh…" Hotohori sweatdropped.

"Haley!" Dee shot me a look. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, you should be more specific about those kinds of things. People could ask you to do crazy things you know, and it's just like lying if you don't and told them you would do anything for them beforehand," I explained. Dee face-vaulted.

"I'll, um…go get a drink…" Hotohori turned and just about flew out of the room.

Dee smacked her forehead with her hand. "He's gonna think you're a big weirdo now - not that you aren't, but still."

I shrugged. "He probably already does. It doesn't matter to me either way. It's not like I'm trying to impress him."

"What was that whole 'I'll room with Amiboshi thing' about? You don't want to room with your best friend?" Dee frowned, pretending like she was about to cry.

"It's not that, Dee-chan. I thought it would be nice to let you room with Hotohori. We will have to leave eventually, you know, so we should spend as much time with these people as we can."

"You're the one to talk," she said with an eye-roll. "You left all of your seishi!"

"Hey! You don't know my seishi! They're... them. Besides, I'm going back soon. I'll be with them more than I'm with your seishi anyway, and I wanted to see Genrou, Chichiri, and Hotohori again, too. I hope we see Koji once more before we have to leave."

"Yeah." Dee was silent for a while. "That Amiboshi guy seems okay, and you said you liked Ashitare. Although that baby guy I killed did seem pretty creepy…"

"I didn't know Miboshi. We were trying to figure out how to find him when you told me you killed him." I sighed. "Anyway, what were you going to tell me?"

"Oh yeah...um, about that…" A knocking on the door interrupted her again. Dee swore under her breath, then called, "Who is it?"

"Is Harii in there? I thought we might check out our room."

"Okay Amiboshi! I'm coming!" I turned back to Dee. "I'll come invite you into my room later. You can tell me then. Bye!"

"But I..." She sighed. "Okay. Bye!"

I walked out of Dee's room, closing the door behind me and turning toward Amiboshi. "So, where is it?"

"It's one down from where Chichiri, Genrou, and that other guy are staying," he explained, leading me down the hallway.

We walked in silence for a while, until I finally decided to ask what had been bothering me for a while. "Amiboshi, when Nakago said he was going to kill Chichiri and Genrou, was he aiming at us, too?"

The flute player frowned thoughtfully. "It looked that way, but he's a very powerful sorcerer, so he probably could have made his blast just hit Chichiri and Genrou. I don't think he would kill another seishi – and I know for a fact that he wouldn't kill you. Without you, Seiryuu definitely wouldn't be summoned."

"So you mean there's a way to summon Seiryuu without all the seishi?" I asked with hope in my voice.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure there is. I read something about a shinzaho before."

"Shinzaho?" For some reason, the word reminded me of a Las Vegas hooker.

"Yeah." He opened the door to our room, politely holding it open for me. I walked in and he shut the door behind me.

I pulled out a chair that had been pushed under a small table in the corner and sat in it. "So what's this Shinzaho?" I asked once I'd gotten comfortable.

"A Shinzaho is something that a Priestess wears when she summons one of the gods. So far, Byakko and Genbu have been summoned. That makes two shinzaho, and with those it's possible to summon either Suzaku or Seiryuu, even if one of the seishi has died."

"AAAH!" My eyes got big and gooey. "I LOVE YOU AMIBOSHI!" I threw my arms around him and hugged him hard.

I felt his hands slip around my waist and pull me close. A moment later, he whispered softly into my ear. "I love you, too."

My eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and I pulled back, staring at him. He sounded so serious, and he wore a gentle smile, making it look like he was serious, too. "Um… Amiboshi… whoa... I, uh, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, because the seishi Miboshi died, we have to summon Seiryuu another way. I was just happy you knew what to do…"

"Oh… I knew that. That's what I meant, too." He let go of me and stepped back a bit. "Wait a minute." Now Amiboshi's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"'I didn't mean it like that'?"

"No, after that."

"'I was just happy you knew what to do'?"

"No, before that."

"'I didn't mean it like-'"

"AGH! You said a seishi died, didn't you?" he cried, giving up on getting me to remember.

"Oh, yeah, that. I found out Miboshi died right before we left."

"How did he die?"

"Oh… well, I'm not sure about the details, but I know Dee killed him."

"She WHAT?" he cried. "How could she kill one of our seishi?"

"It was an accident! And we don't know what happened! Miboshi could have attacked them!"

"Does Nakago know?" He stared at me, fists clenched at his sides.

"No, not yet," I said. "I was going to tell him, but then Chichiri and Genrou showed up."

Amiboshi relaxed, then paused and cocked his head. "Wait… I thought his name was Tasuki."

"His seishi name is Tasuki, but I call him Genrou because that's the first name I knew him by. I don't think it's his real name either, though."

"Oh... okay." I could tell the number of names was confusing Amiboshi. "Well, I'm a bit hungry. I think I'm gonna go get something to eat. You want to join me?"

"No, thanks. I'm not that hungry, and Dee wanted to talk to me about something."

"Okay." He smiled halfheartedly and waved – then I remembered what I had told Dee about spending time with our seishi, and decided that I should practice what I preached.

"Well, maybe I can stuff something in me, or at least have a drink."

He smiled wholeheartedly this time. "All right, then let's go!" I followed him to the dining area/bar, and we sat down at an empty table. He ordered some dumplings, two drinks, and Peking shrimp with fried rice, then sat back and smiled pleasantly at me. "So what's your world like?" he asked.

"Oh, well…" I paused, wondering how to explain it to him. "It's very advanced."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we have lots of stuff that lets us be lazy. We have all sorts of machines. Some that take you places, some that kill people, some that wash the dishes or clothes, and some that even dry your hair super-fast."

"Dry your hair super-fast?" He looked at me with wonder-filled eyes. "How long does it take?"

"It depends, but I'd say around five minutes."

"Five minutes? Wow…"

"Yeah, I know!"

"THERE YOU ARE!"

"Huh?" I looked to my left and saw Genrou looming over our table.

"Genrou!" I smiled. "Want to join us for dinner?"

"That's okay. I already ate." He glared at Amiboshi. "Trying to gain her trust by keeping her in public places, huh? I can see right through you!" He leaned down until he was barely three inches away from the sweatdropping and sunglasses-wearing boy. "Oh wait…" He took off the sunglasses, squinting his gold eyes and glaring even harder at the flute player. "There, now I can see through you!" He stood back up and examined the glasses. "What are these anyway?"

"Oh, they're from my world," I told him. "I gave them to Amiboshi to help me tell him apart from his twin brother. They're called sunglasses."

Genrou sat down in one of the two empty chairs and continued examining the glasses, then he set them on the table. "I'm rooming with you two."

"I thought you were rooming with Chichiri and some other guy."

He turned to Amiboshi, still staring at him hard. "I was, but I don't trust you with Harii-chan. You may try to take her back to the palace, or you could try and kill her."

"Why would I kill my own Priestess?"

Genrou raised his eyebrows knowingly at the young boy. "That's what I'd like to know."

I laughed. "Genrou, I don't think you need to worry, but if it makes you feel any better you can stay in our room."

xxx

After I had eaten a few dumplings and Amiboshi had finished his dinner, the three of us walked up to our room. "Oh, I almost forgot. I told Dee that I was going to talk to her about something. I'll be back soon."

I walked to Dee's room, and was about to knock when I caught the sound of two people speaking from the other side of the door. I didn't want to interrupt anything, so I leaned my ear against the tiny crack between the wood and the wall and listened to see if it was important.

"...know it must have been a shock when I asked you to marry me. Forgive me. I shouldn't have done it so suddenly," I recognized the Emperor's voice, and my eyes widened at his words.

"Oh, Hotohori, it's okay... Well, I was shocked to the point of comatose, but really, it's okay. I'm sorry I haven't answered you yet, but I'm not sure what to say." That was Dee's voice! My eyes widened even more.

"I understand. Take as much time as you need. Well... just don't wait until after we summon Suzaku." Hotohori laughed his rich, deep laugh.

That rich, deep laugh reminded me of coffee. I hate coffee. I slammed open the door. Hotohori and Dee were sitting on the bed, Hotohori holding her hands. They both jumped at the sound of the door swinging open and turned to stare at me.

Dee sweatdropped. "Haley, you could have knocked."

"How could you, Dee?" I cried, voice nearly cracking.

"What are you talking about?"

"How could you even think of marrying Hotohori? Would you really leave me and stay in this world? Besides, I met Hotohori at the same time as you! How come he had to fall in love and propose to you? Why couldn't he have proposed to me? I love him!" I turned to Hotohori. "Why couldn't you have proposed to me? I love you!" I turned back to Dee. "I can't believe I thought of you as a friend! How could you betray me? Are you really gonna leave me?"

SMACK! Dee's hand connected hard with my cheek.

I took a couple of steps back, tears in my eyes. "And now you're slapping me! What is this? I should be slapping you! You know, you're so lucky! You have all these nice, gorgeous people as your seishi! I have a crazy-in-love woman who fights with a cackling dude covered in feathers over a wannabe-badass-baddie general, a beast man, a dead floating baby, and two sexy twins!"

SMACK! Dee slapped me across the face again.

I rubbed my cheek, blinking in confusion. "Oh, hey... thanks... what the hell just came over me?"

"I have no idea, but it scared me."

I sighed, and let myself fall to the floor on my knees. "I think I'm just stressed over my seishi. They couldn't figure out the scroll, so they drank all night, and then they were hung over, and… Ugh. Anyway. I like the twins all right and Ashitare, but the others... ugh..." I looked up at a frightened Hotohori. "Oh geez, I'm sorry. Listen, I don't really love you, you know that, right?"

He nodded with huge chibi eyes.

I decided that that was enough embarrassment for one night. "Um... I'm gonna go now... yeah... g'night!" I walked out the door and to my room. As soon as I got there and closed the door, I hit myself in the face with an open palm. "What the hell... what the hell... what the hell...?"

"What's wrong?" I jumped; I hadn't noticed that Genrou was in the room.

"Oh, nothing... I just made an ass out of myself, that's all. I do that from time to time."

"Heh... me too." He shrugged. "You just gotta deal with it."

"Yeah, you're right." I glanced around the room. "Hey, where'd Amiboshi go?"

"I dunno." He looked away innocently.

"Genrou! You didn't do anything to him did you?"

"No, I didn't." He noticed my glare and held up his hands innocently. "I'm serious! He said he was goin' t'find the baths!"

"All right... I believe you. I guess you and Amiboshi will sleep on the bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

"Nah, Amiboshi's sleepin' on the floor."

I looked back at Genrou, wide-eyed. Then I walked up to him, grinned teasingly and stroking his arm. "Oh Genrou... I didn't know you were in-ter-ested."

"Hey! It's not like that!" He pushed me off and continued holding his hands up, almost as if in defense.

"Uh-huh, then why else would you have us sleep in the bed together?" I continued, trying to look seductive and trying not to laugh at the same time.

"D'you trust that guy sleepin' next to you? 'Cause I sure's hell don't," he growled.

"Hey... I've figured it out! That whole 'I hate women' thing is an act. Just so you can get clooooose..." At the last word, I cupped his hands in mine.

"Stop that! Yer freakin' me out!" He moved backwards so fast that he fell off the other side of the bed.

I laughed. "Don't worry. I'm just joking. But I do think you're a nice guy with a really cute face." I inwardly cursed as soon as it came out.

Genrou popped up from the other side of the bed, blinking at me. "Sorry, I conveniently didn't hear you. What'd ya say?"

"I said, um... I think I'm missing the, uh... lice fly... of... Will and Grace."

"What the hell does that mean?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh... it's an, uh, expression in my world. It means I think I'm missing a really good episode of Will and Grace. That was a show in my world, and I think there's a rerun playing right now." Sometimes I was really glad Genrou wasn't from my universe.

"Oh. Okay." He shook his head and laughed a little. "You sure are a weird girl."

I sighed and lay down on the bed. "And I sure am glad to be here."

"Why?" Genrou leaned against the wall, hands behind his head.

"I'm not exactly sure." I paused, thinking about how nice it was not having to worry if two of my seishi were killing each other, or one was planning to attack the Suzaku seishi, and knew my answer. "I guess because it's a break. Maybe I'm just happy that I know how to summon Seiryuu now. I told Amiboshi what happened, and he told me we have to collect two shinzaho. That way we can summon Seiryuu without Miboshi."

"Have you thought about what three wishes you're going to make?"

"Oh..." I sat up. "I totally forgot about those! I should really think about that." I laughed. "Hey, Genrou, what would you ask for?"

"Me?" I nodded. He paused for a moment, smiling a little. "I guess, well, I'd ask fer the bandits of Mount Reikaku t'be successful in everythin' they do. Then I'd ask fer all the bandits' happiness and health."

"What about your family?"

"My family..." Genrou turned blue and hid in a corner, shivering.

"Um..." I sweatdropped and poked my index fingers together. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked. I think I'm gonna try and sleep now." I threw the cover over my head and closed my eyes. I could feel Genrou still standing next to me, watching me. I couldn't decide if that was creepy or sweet. "Um...Genrou?"

"What?"

"Um... well, I just wanted to say thanks for looking out for me. Even though I'm not the Priestess of Suzaku, you've still been helping me out." I looked up at him and noticed his blank stare. He blinked, then shrugged and looked away. I smiled at his reaction. "Good night, Gen-chan."

"Gen-chan?" He made a face and lay down on the other side of the bed, back facing me.

I turned around to lie on my side and closed my eyes.

After a moment, I heard him mutter quietly, "Good night Harii-chan."

xxx

I blinked a few times, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I sat up. I noticed Genrou wasn't next to me, and I was surprised to find myself a little sad about that. I stretched my arms out, yawning, and stood.

I jumped a bit when I noticed Genrou sleeping on the floor a few feet from my bed. I couldn't help but smile a little at the orange-haired man sprawled out on the floor with his fanged mouth wide open. I went over to a bowl full of water in the corner and splashed my face a couple times. Then I took a rag and went over my teeth with it.

"It's times like these I wish I had a toothbrush," I said to myself. "Or a my-world hairbrush." I used the comb on the table to get the knots out of my long hair and walked out of the room to the dining area of the inn. I didn't see any of the others sitting at the tables, so I started to walk back to my room… and that's when I heard him scream. I turned around quickly.

"AAAAAH! HARII-SAMA! THANK GOD IT'S YOU! HELP ME!"

"Amiboshi? Is that you? Where are you?" I looked around wildly, trying to find the owner of the panicky voice.

"I'm over here! At the bar!"

I looked at the bar and didn't see Amiboshi. Instead, I saw a huge clump of scantily clad women. I walked toward them. "Um... excuse me?"

"Yeah?" A girl wearing bright purple eye shadow and perfume so strong it almost knocked me over turned around to face me.

"Do you happen to have my friend somewhere in your group? He's a blonde-haired guy with a headband."

"Oh, you mean lover-boy?" She giggled. "Usually we get old drunk men in here, so when this fanged guy told us a handsome young man waiting at the baths wanted some excitement in his life, we jumped at the chance! I'm sorry, but he's not quite finished."

"Move over, lady!" I pushed girls left and right until I found a hand reaching out. I snatched it and I pulled as hard as I could until Amiboshi flew forward, almost knocking me over.

"Harii-chan!" He grabbed me in a tight hug. "YOU SAVED ME! YOU SAVED ME FROM THE EVIL WHORES!"

"Lover-booooooy!" a few of them sang dangerously. "We're not finished yet!"

"AAAAH!" He grabbed me around the waist from behind, crouching down and trying to hide behind me. "Keep them away from me... keep them away! I don't want The Syphilis, Harii-chan!"

"What's going on no da?" Chichiri appeared out of nowhere. I guess he must have been awake and sensed all the scary ki coming towards Amiboshi and me. Either that, or he's just got really good timing. Or I needed him to show up at this point and made some lame excuse for why. Or...

"GET ON WITH IT!" Dee shouted out of nowhere.

"Ooooh..." The leader of the girls looked at Chichiri under thick lashes. "You're a little funny looking, but you're young…" Her eyes traveled from his head down to his… feet. We'll say they traveled to his feet. "And you've got a nice body, too…"

Chichiri turned chibi, backing hurriedly away from the mob. "Let's go no da!" He grabbed my hand, I grabbed Amiboshi's hand, and we ran to the closest room: Hotohori's and Dee's.

Hotohori was awake looking at the scroll, but Dee was still asleep.

"Oooh! HEHEHEHE!" I ran to Dee. "Look guys, she doing that weird thing she always does when she sleeps. TEEHEE!" I pointed to her. "See? Her mouth is moving, but she's not saying anything."

"Shhh no da!" Chichiri whispered. "If she's sleeping then you should let her sleep no da."

"What's going on?" asked Hotohori, looking at the three of us curiously - particularly Amiboshi, whose clothes were all wrinkled and whose face was covered with lipstick prints.

"Oh, Hotohori-sama." I bowed. "We're so sorry for barging in, but a group of hookers was chasing us."

The Emperor blinked several times, looking at me in disbelief. I could tell he thought I was even crazier, now. Finally, he said, "...What?"

"I don't know much about what's going on either no da."

"It was that Tasuki-Genrou guy." Amiboshi clenched his fists as he spoke. "He sent them after me."

Hotohori sighed and put his head in his hands.

"Why am I not surprised no da?" Chichiri asked with a sweatdrop.

I couldn't help but giggle.

"I fail to see what's so funny!" Amiboshi glared at me, looking a little hurt.

"Sorry Amiboshi... it's just, it's a very clever way of keeping someone out of the way," I explained.

The door slammed open and—

"Haley-chan, how can a door slam open?" Dee demanded, springing awake as her spider senses warned her of a writing error.

Would you leave me alone? I didn't mean to write that, so just shut up and change it!

"Nah, it's funnier this way," she replied sweetly.

Whatever... anyway... the door made a noise, which made Dee spring awake. Again. "Where's..." Tasuki saw me and relaxed. "Oh... there ya are, Harii-chan."

"Good morning, Genrou!" I greeted cheerfully.

"Aw shit..." Genrou looked straight at the glaring Amiboshi. "Hey there Amiboshi... heh-heh... heh..." He waved innocently... then ran off giggling like a naughty kid.

"You won't be able to get away from me!" Amiboshi followed him, but when he reached the hallway he looked both ways and grunted in frustration. "How'd he get away so fast?"

"I think we should discuss how we're going to get you and Amiboshi back to Kutou as soon as possible," suggested Hotohori.

"You're right Hotohori-sama." Chichiri saw Amiboshi's chibi head looking left and right down the hallway and sweatdropped. "Um... Amiboshi, you might not want to try and chase Tasuki no da."

"Why not?" Amiboshi demanded, glaring at Chichiri from the hallway.

"His seishi ability is speed no da."

"Don't worry, we'll deal with him later," the Emperor assured him. "Right now, I think we should wake up the others and discuss what we should do next."

"Good idea Hotohori! But... what all just happened?" asked Dee with a blank expression on her face.

"Poor Dee-chan." I walked up to Dee and patted her on the head.

xxx

"He's right where you said he'd be Chichiri!" Nuriko walked into Hotohori and Dee's room where all of the other seishi, Dee, and I were waiting, carrying a struggling Genrou over her shoulder. Amiboshi stood up, walked around Nuriko, and punched Genrou square in the face.

"OW!" Genrou pushed himself off of Nuriko and unsheathed his tessen while Amiboshi crouched, lifting his flute to his lips.

"Ah! Guys! Stop!" I stepped in front of Amiboshi as Chichiri stepped in front of Genrou.

"You two need to calm down no da!"

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! LET 'EM FIGHT!" The dirty old hobo chanted.

"If you two fight, I will personally tie you up, shove bananas in your pants, and leave you in a field with rabid monkeys!" Nuriko threatened.

The two reluctantly relaxed, glaring at each other.

She smiled. "That's what I thought."

"Chichiri, you better start reciting the spell now before something else happens," Hotohori said.

"Wait, Hotohori, we were going to help them find out how to summon Seiryuu," Dee reminded him.

"Oh yeah... Amiboshi already knew how." I sweatdropped, realizing that this entire chapter had basically been a waste of time.

"Oh... okay..." Judging by the size of her sweatdrop, I figured Dee had realized the same thing. "Well then, I guess I'll see you later?"

"Bye Dee-chan! Bye Genrou! Bye everyone! And thank you!" They all smiled as Chichiri recited the spell and we were back in the Kutou palace.

"Aahh..." The monk looked over. "Tasuki, what are you doing here no da?"

"Oh, hey Chichiri!" The seishi bandit quickly thought up an excuse. "I just thought I'd make sure ya didn't run into trouble when ya came here."

"Thanks, but I can handle myself no da."

"Did you know you're a pain?" Amiboshi received a glare for his comment.

"We better go no da! People are coming!"

"Thanks, Chichiri." I gave him a quick hug - I'm so huggy - and then hugged Genrou, too. He still didn't return the hug as I spoke. "Thanks, Genrou."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he grumbled under his breath. "Just get off me, would ya?"

I let go. "I hope to see you again soon!"

"Bye Harii-chan no da!"

"If any of those seishi give ya hell, just come an' tell me!" Genrou punched a hand into his open palm meaningfully. I smiled at him, and he winked in response as the two of them faded away.

"Dammit, I just missed them!" Amiboshi and I looked over our shoulders to see the Nakago and Tomo standing in the doorway.

"Maybe that's a good thing Nakago-sama," Tomo remarked. "You are wearing nothing but your cute pink nighty right now." At Tomo's comment, Nakago blushed and ran out, crying like a baby. "No, don't be embarrassed! It's very flattering! You should wear it more often!" Tomo ran after him.

"How could someone forget that they were wearing something that frilly?" Amiboshi asked aloud.

"RAH! RAH! RAH!" A big... and I mean big... furball jumped on me, pinning me to the floor.

"Ashitare! Aww... you really missed me that much?" I sat up and rubbed the smiling wolf's head. As he smiled, he showed two fangs, which made me think of a familiar person... Count Chocula.


Next Episode Preview...

FREAKY CAT THING: After some... interesting, if not completely pointless, quality time with the Suzaku seishi, Haley-sama returns to the Kutou palace unharmed and ready to begin her search for the shinzaho!
DEE: Damn good thing, too! She was movin' in on my seishi, and they're all supposed to fall in love with me!
HALEY: I thought we decided not to follow the script! You don't even like Tamahome that much, and you told me Tasuki's so-called romance scenes were hella-weird.
DEE: Well yeah, but... c'mon, how much ass would it kick to have a harem of guys fawning over you? And even if Tasu-chan isn't my type, he's still a hotty hot-pants.
HALEY: Grr... FINE THEN! We'll just follow the WHOLE script, then! Gonna murder seishi, waste time on a creepy rape plot...
DEE: Wha…? Okay, okay, forget I said anything! Geez...
FREAKY CAT THING: Bloody Americans. If you can handle them and their they-ness, then you may as well come back for the next chapter, "Just Your Typical, Loving, Annoying-as-Hell Onii-chan."