Chapter Fifteen:
It's Like Swamp Mud, Except With Bunnies

Mr. Hobo-cat appeared around the corner of my living room, looking at me and Genrou in moderate disappointment. "Hmmm… Hobo-san was hoping to find you two in a more interesting situation."

Genrou glared over at him with his fist clenched. "You wanna repeat that?"

The hobo stretched his nearly-toothless grin even wider. "Hobo-san was hoping to find you two in a more interesting situation."

"That's it!" With one swift move, the bandit grabbed the hobo's torn collar with his right hand and unsheathed his tessen with his left hand. I tried to pull his left arm away, but he didn't even seem to notice me. "I should've roasted ya a long time ago."

Poof!
A cloud appeared where the hobo was before, and then it popped, revealing nothing there. Genrou tensed and stepped back. "What the… OW!" He jumped and looked down, trying to shake away the black cat that was biting his ankle. "Get off! Get off!" He continued to curse and yell, trying to kick off the cat, but the little critter hung on no matter how much he shook his leg.

"Tasuki, did you pick a fight with him no da?" Chichiri and the others had come in the room.

"He's the one picking the fights!"

The cat jumped off his leg and changed back to his hobo form. "Don't mess with me, sista!" The hobo snapped his fingers with a hand on his hip.

"See that! He just practically called me a gi…" Genrou stopped as he stared at the monk. "Hey Chichiri, you changed your clothes."

If I could have talked, I would have called him Captain Obvious at that point, for the monk did indeed look quite different. He was wearing loose, but not baggy, khakis and a dark blue shirt with long sleeves. He still had his beads on. It was the first time I had really gotten a good look at him and noticed his eye had turned a dark brown. His hair had been noticeable from the start since it had changed to a light brown.

"It seems you were too angry to notice at first no da." He lifted up his arm and picked at the sleeve, then looked down at himself. "Do they look okay? They're not really what I'm used to no da."

"They look all right." The bandit shrugged. "They're different, that's fer sure. Ya look so different now, th' only way I know it's really you is yer no da's."

I gave the monk a smile and thumbs-up.

"Thanks Haley-chan." He smiled back. I noticed that his smile was still oh-so-cute, even without his mask.

Just then, the back door opened, and my mom walked in, staring at us. I sucked in my breath as I thought of ways to explain the strange crowd. She looked towards the monk with the scarred eye, then to the bandit with a tessen, then finally to the hobo, who was grinning widely. She turned to me. "I always knew you'd bring home somebody weird. I just didn't know you'd bring home three of them." Then she walked to the garage door. We were all silent until we heard the car start and the garage door close.

"What was that loud noise?" asked Genrou, but before anyone could answer him Colin ran over to the bandit and pushed him from behind.

"And now it's your turn!" he exclaimed.

"Ah crap…"

He was whisked away, Chichiri and Max following. Dee was about to go too, but I grabbed her arm. When she looked back, I licked my index finger, touched it to my butt, and made a sizzling noise. She nodded, her eyes big and bright. "I knew he would look good in our clothes, but I had no idea he would look that good. It really works for him." She wriggled a little bit and giggled. I nodded and laughed silently.

"You know, I just witnessed that conversation." Dee and I turned around to see the hobo standing there flashing a toothy grin.

"Heh…" Dee blushed.

"Don't worry, I won't tell." His eyes glittered dangerously. "If you're nice to me." He walked past us, materialized a book out of the air, and threw it at me. I caught it, and after reading the title figured out with my skills of seeing the obvious that it was The Universe of the Four Gods. "Someone should be reading this."

I nodded, and we followed the hobo to the upstairs bedroom.

xxx

"Hotohori-sama is back!" yelled an anonymous soldier.

All the Suzaku seishi and bandits ran out to greet him, the bandits bowing.

"Where the hell were you?" asked Tamahome as Hotohori dismounted. Koji and the rest of the bandits sweat-dropped at hearing him speak so casually to the emperor.

"I'll explain to everyone in a few minutes. Call a meeting."

Tamahome cupped his hands around his mouth. "Meeting! Oh meeting, where are you?"

Hotohori smacked him on the back of his head. "You meant what I know…" The emperor stopped, then shook his head and stared at Tamahome. "You understand!"

xxx

"How come my clothes look so different from Chichiri's?" asked Genrou. "And how come they're so…tight?" The bandit picked at his pants.

"Well…" Colin tried very hard to keep from laughing. "There are a lot of styles here."

"But these are so…"

"Comfy?" suggested Colin, his glittering eyes the only sign of how amused he was.

"No, they're sure as hell not comfy!"

Colin opened the door. "Hey Haley, come see Tasuki!"

"Wait! Aren't I supposed t'get a shirt first?"

"Nope!"

I walked through the doorway, then immediately blushed, looked down, and punched Colin hard in the arm. "Ow!" He grabbed his arm. "It's just a joke!"

"I knew it!" exclaimed Genrou.

"Oooh… I didn't know you had such a good body for hot pants Genrou." The hobo flashed his nearly-toothless grin.

xxx

"Um…excuse me…is anybody…"

"Mmmmm'yeeeees?" an old, gravely female voice called out. "I knew you had come. Please sit down."

Amiboshi reluctantly walked in and sat down across from an old lady wearing a purple robe and many purple- and green-beaded necklaces. "Um…I heard you had some psychic powers, and I was wondering…"

"Wait!" Her sudden outburst caused Amiboshi to jump. "Let me guess. Your name starts with a 'b' sound."

He shook his head.

"A 'k' sound?"

Another shake. "Listen, I don't need to know my own name…"

"It starts with a P! It's an unusual name… yes, I know! It's P. Diddy!"

Amiboshi sweatdropped. "How would you know that name?"

"Yahoo!" she exclaimed, a fist in the air. Then she immediately calmed down and stared at the seishi. "Is an excellent web site and search engine."

He began to stand again. "Um… I'm sorry, but maybe I should leave…"

"Wait! I'm just rusty. I haven't helped anybody in ages. I just need to warm up."

The seishi nodded and sat back down. "I don't need to know anything. I just need to get the two Priestesses back to this world. I was wondering if you could help me."

"You want me to get the Priestesses back?" Her eyes snapped open. "I'm a psychic, not a god. I'm afraid you're shit-out-of-luck."

The young seishi's head drooped.

xxx

"I have gathered all of you here before me to announce that Nakago and I shall fight to the death tomorrow."

The crowd of seishi, bandits, and government officials burst into chatter among themselves.

Tamahome ran up to the emperor. "You mean you went and challenged him without anybody with you? They could have killed you!"

The other seishi ran up to Hotohori as well, Koji following. Mitsukake handed the emperor a piece of paper.

Hotohori read it, then smiled and waved a hand. "Oh, you don't need to worry about Houki. I'm confident nothing will happen to me. But if something unfortunate does occur, she always has Joe."

Mitsukake kept himself from falling over. It's a good thing he didn't. If his voice could knock a tree over, just imagine what his body could do.

"Hotohori-sama, you don't have your seishi powers, remember?" Nuriko pointed out, desperation in their voice.

"I'm still pretty handy with a sword," the emperor said.

"But what if the pretty blonde-man uses one of his scary life force boom-booms?" asked Chiriko.

"Oh." The emperor sweatdropped. "I hadn't thought of that."

"Hotohori-sama!" Koji jumped forward, keeping his head and eyes to the ground. "If somethin' happened t'you, it'd be a huge blow t'the empire. An' besides, I can't bear t'think of ya never seein' yer son. There must be another warrior who could fight for you!"

Koji's eyes snapped up as he felt the emperor clap a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Koji. You're very brave."

"It was nothing, Hotohori-sama."

The emperor turned to the crowd. "Everyone, the brave ban…uh, the brave warrior Koji has volunteered to fight Nakago in my place!"

Koji's eyes practically fell out of his head. "WHAAAAA?"

xxx

'There's no way! Koji's a skilled fighter, but how could he beat a sorcerer-seishi?' I stood up and poked Dee.

"Is it something in the book?" she asked.

I nodded and began to point out the part, but Colin slammed open the door, startling us.

"Damn Colin! Wanna give us a heart attack?" Dee yelled.

He completely ignored her. "Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you the fiery, loud, bad-mouthed, hot-headed…"

"Who th' hell're you callin' a bad-mouthed hothead?" demanded Genrou, walking out of the room with that familiar scowl on his face, familiar crossed arms, and very unfamiliar outfit. He was wearing loose medium blue jeans and a red short-sleeve shirt with a black hooded jacket over it. His hair had been trimmed so it wasn't quite so messy looking, but definitely still fluffy.

Unable to contain my giddiness, I smacked Dee hard on her arm. She held her arm, slowly turned to face me with her mouth open and her eyebrows pinched together. Then, she smacked me back.

"Lookin' good no da."

"So this isn't a kinky outfit Haley-chan?"

I shook my head, blushing. Then, I have him a thumbs up.

"She's giving a thumbs up because she liked them hot-pants better." It was my turn to hit the hobo, and I made sure it was a good hit.

"So bored, so bored…" We all turned to see Max smacking his head against the corner of the door frame.

"It must run in the family," commented Colin.

"Hey Haley, what were you going to tell me about the book?" asked Dee.

I couldn't believe I had forgotten, so I smacked her arm again. I immediately waved my arms as if to say sorry as she glared at me. I opened the book and pointed to a spot.

She read a bit, then stared at me with a disturbed look. "I don't think Nakago wearing pink…" She stopped as I waved my arms again, then pointed further down. She read it, then said two words that say so much. "Ah shit."

"What is it no da?" Chichiri peered over my shoulder.

"Hotohori challenged Nakago to a duel."

"What no da?"

"That's not it, though. Koji's going to take Hotohori's place."

"Awesome! Koji's gonna be Emperor!" Genrou threw up a fist. "I'm so proud of my-"

"No!" Dee yelled. "He's going to fight Nakago for him!"

Genrou's jaw dropped. "What the hell does that idiot think he's doin'?" Genrou rushed over to the book and grabbed it from Dee. "Book, lemme in!" He waited, and of course nothing happened. "BOOK! LEMME IN! I gotta keep that idiot Koji from killin' himself!"

I half-expected the book to change red and do what he said, but it stayed just like a regular book.

"Damn it!" The bandit threw it across the room. He felt somebody touch him on the shoulder. Genrou whirled around to face the hobo. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you."

"You're never in the mood to deal with me."

"That's the one thing you've said that's actually made sense," Genrou said emotionlessly.

"I'm glad you didn't attempt to hit me just now. If you had, I probably wouldn't have told you that I can get you into the book." He said it like it was no big deal. The rest of us stared at him for a while - well, except for Max, who was still sitting in the corner, completely bored.

Genrou grabbed the hobo's shoulders. "Why the hell didn't you tell us this to begin with?"

He shrugged. "Nobody asked."

An idea popped into my head. I poked the hobo's shoulder to get his attention. When he looked over, I pointed to my mouth and then made a talking motion with my hand.

"That's right! If you can send us back, you can fix the spell, right?" Dee asked anxiously.

The hobo frowned. "I didn't want you to catch onto that."

"We did, so you better do it," Genrou growled.

"I would if you'd give me some room."

The bandit backed up, still glaring. The hobo put his hand up to my throat, then muttered, "Mooka dooka whakka lakka frodo baggins boom shaka-la-ka...!"

Chichiri blinked. "Do I sound that stupid when I say spells no da?" Everyone shook their heads.

The hobo paused for a moment, then dropped his hand from my throat.

"That's it?" I asked. Uh… wait a second. I asked? "I… I can talk…" Before I could say any more, I was enveloped in a tight hug. When the bandit pulled back, he avoided my gaze. Luckily, there was something that grabbed both of our attentions.

"Get off of me!" We looked over at the hobo, who was trying to fight off Dee. She was kissing him on the cheek over and over again.

"You're so cool for helping out Haley!"

"Dee-chan, try not to be so rough no da." The monk's voice didn't sound quite as cheerful as usual.

"Genrou." As soon as I said it, he looked at me, and it made me a little nervous. "If you want to help Koji, I should probably wish for you to get your powers back now."

"Okay… so why do you look so sad?"

I would have sweatdropped if we had been in the other world. "It'll be my last wish. I'll have to stay in my world afterwards."

"Oh…" He put his hands on my shoulders. "Don't worry. You don't have to use that wish yet. Your other two weren't even your own, so it's not really fair. We'll beat Nakago without our powers."

I shook my head. "He's too strong, and you know it. I don't have a choice." I spaced off for a second, trying to think of a way to get around this dilemma. "Hey! I know!" I looked towards the hobo. By this time, the others were eavesdropping in on our conversation. "Do I have to say my wishes in any particular way?"

The hobo held a finger to his chin. "I'm pretty sure there are no rules."

"Good, then I've got it figured out. Kaijin!"

Colin stared and pointed at me. "Whoa… her forehead's glowing!"

"Whoop dee do…" Max, who was still sitting in the corner, waved his finger around in the air.

"Seiryuu, I wish for the Suzaku seishi to gain their Celestial powers back, and for me to stay with them until Dee goes home too." Both seishi clutched their chests as the blue light faded away.

"I felt it no da."

"Now we just have to see if the other half of the wish worked," said Genrou.

"Is everybody ready?" The hobo held up the book. "Because it's almost time."

Dee, Chichiri, Tasuki and I looked at each other, and then nodded.

"All righty!" The hobo grinned. "Then away you go!"

xxx

Tamahome clapped Koji on the back as he mounted his horse for the duel. "Man, you sure are brave. Taking on a big, tough general with such powerful Celestial abilities! Suzaku knows I'd never try that, not in a million years!"

"Yeah! Does he have giant balls or what?" a fellow bandit remarked with a big grin.

Nuriko grabbed Koji's crotch, which immediately made the bandit's eyes grow wide and chibi. "No, it's definitely not balls. Maybe he's just stupid." Nuriko let go, but Koji's eyes stayed the same.

"Are you sure you don't want to wear my armor?" Hotohori offered the breastplate.

Koji held up his hands, sweatdropping and trying not to stare at the two shiny nipples. "Ah, that's okay yer Majesty..."

"Well, good luck!" everyone exclaimed at once, smiling chibily at Koji. They turned and walked off.

Koji stared at the tall figure on the horse across from him. "Wow… he looks even bigger'n usual. Wait… is that...?" The bandit squinted to get a better look. "He's still holding that dead woman." Koji sweatdropped. "How long ago did she die anyway?" He shook his head. "That's not important right now… even if it is kinda gross. I'll just have to try my best, or else I'll never see Genrou again! Besides, I'd like to help these people beat Nakago somehow. Even if it's just a scratch, and he kills me…"

Koji's head fell to his chest. "Knock knock. Who's there? It's Koji, ready t'fight a seishi... even if it's th' last thing I do. Well, Koji, step right up an' get yer head knocked off. A-ri-ga-tou..." He sighed. "I never thought I'd die so young. AH, SHUT UP!"

He had yelled all of this out loud, and by now the specators were giving him some pretty weirded-out looks, but he didn't notice. "I can't say that. I gotta be confident. I have to kick this guy's ass. Fer Genrou, fer all these people, and fer Harii-chan and Dee-chan."

A guy that looked suspiciously like Mills Lane stepped in between Nakago and Koji. "Are both challenger's ready?"

Nakago raised his hand.

"What do you want?"

The general sweatdropped. "I… I was letting you know I was ready."

"Oh… okay... Is the other challenger ready?"

Koji was about to raise his hand, but stopped. Instead, he nodded.

"All right. Let's get it on!" Everyone looked at the referee blankly. He sweatdropped. "Uh... CHARGE!"

Koji raised his sword and kept it high, charging towards the general. 'Genrou, Dee-chan, Harii-chan, I won't let you down.'

A purple ball above the two charging fighters appeared in the sky. "REKKAAAAA...!"

"What the…?" Koji pulled his horse to a stop as he looked up, but the light was too bright. Everyone on the battlefield shaded their eyes.

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINEN!" A flame flew from the blinding light and enveloped Nakago.

Genrou appeared first out of the ball of light. "Koji, what the hell d'ya think yer doin'?" He hit the ground lightly and ran up to his bandit buddy, literally pulling him off the horse. Everybody else was just beginning to look up, blinking as they realized the light was gone. When Koji gained his senses, the two participated in their annual dance.

Unnoticed by the two dancing bandits, Dee, Chichiri, and I fell out of the purple cloud and down to the ground in an unceremonious dog pile. And speaking of dogs...

"RAH!"

"Ashitare!" I looked up and braced myself for the wolfman's hug. "Ashitare, I'm so glad you're okay."

He pulled back and lifted his hand up. He made a talking motion as he said, "Rah, rah rah rah!"

I nodded. "Yeah, I can talk now."

"Harii-chan!"

I sweatdropped. I couldn't believe I had almost forgotten the way they pronounced my name.

"Harii-chan! I'm so glad you're back!" Amiboshi ran up to me, his twin brother close behind him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." I smiled. "I'm glad I got to see you again."

"And we'd be glad if you'd get off of us (no da)!" Chichiri and Dee squeaked from underneath me.

I blushed and stood up, and was immediately hugged by the happy Amiboshi.

By this time, the Suzaku seishi had reunited with Dee and Chichiri.

Chiriko helped his fellow seishi to his feet. "Chichiri-san, you look nice. Are those clothes from the Priestess's world?"

'Better than nice,'
Dee thought, trying hard not to drool.

"Thanks Chiriko. And yes, they are no da."

"HOTOHORI-SAMA!" Everyone jumped as they heard Genrou's roar. He stomped towards us, brandishing his tessen at the emperor. Nuriko and Tamahome jumped in front of the bandit, holding him back as he approached the group. "How could you let Koji fight Nakago? It was YER decision t'fight him, and then you forced my buddy in there instead!"

"I thought he was crazy as a muth-ah too, but it was his choice," replied the emperor calmly.

"His choice, my ass!"

The emperor looked at him blankly. "What does your ass have to do with this?"

Genrou growled.

"Poor guy," Chichiri whispered to Dee. "No matter how he tries to hide it, it's so obvious how much he cares for his friends no da."

By now Amiboshi, Snoop Dogu, Ashitare, and I had reached the Suzaku seishi. I sprang forward, waving my hands wildly. "Genrou, calm down!"

Koji joined me. "Genrou, really, it's no big deal. Nothin' happened after all, so..."

"Um, HELLO?" All of us forgot the present conversation and looked over at a scorched Nakago, who was waving his free arm in the air. The other arm held a now-scorched Soi. "Have you forgotten about the incredibly evil, incredibly powerful ME?" The way he said it reminded me more of a valley girl than an evil, powerful, general.

"Didn't I just kill you?" asked Genrou.

The general grinned. "Did you really think I wouldn't put up a shield in time?"

"Yeah, actually I did."

Everyone else nodded.

"I thought so too," said Koji.

"He came out so fast and everything," Nuriko said.

"And with the blinding light and all…" began Tamahome.

"SHUT UP!" A vein popped out on Nakago's head. "Aren't you scared of me? I'm the most powerful seishi and an evil general!"

Everyone looked at each other, then shook their heads.

"Not anymore," said Chiriko.

"We all have our powers back," said Nuriko, flexing a bicep.

Dee pointed to the monk. "And besides, Chichiri's the most powerful."

He blushed oh-so-cutely. "Well... ah-heh…I'm not so sure about that no da."

"But you're definitely the sickest seishi," said Snoop Dogu. "You're still carrying Soi around! Why don't you give her a proper burial?"

Amiboshi tugged on his twin's sleeve. "I'm not sure about that, brother. Tomo was pretty sick."

"Hel-loooo!" Nobody paid attention to Nakago.

"Yeah, but even Tomo wouldn't carry around a dead body for nearly two weeks," argued Snoop Dogu. "It's really starting to smell."

Nakago sweatdropped as he looked down and saw a fly hovering above Soi's head.

Mitsukake wrote on a piece of paper and handed it to Chiriko to read. "Actually, we're all sick for eating Tomo." He looked up at the older seishi. "Ew... when did you guys eat Tomo?"

Koji turned green. "You guys… ate a guy?"

Genrou grinned. "I didn't. That means Chiriko, Koji, an' I are the least sick out of all you guys."

"We were stranded on that island for seven whole hours!" I cried. "We had to eat something!"

"Rah!"

"HEL-LOOOOO!" Nakago desperately tried to get our attention.

"You could have just eaten the fruit," Genrou pointed out.

"THERE WAS FRUIT NO DA?"

Genrou grinned. "Didn't you see all the fruit trees?" We all shook our heads and he almost fell over laughing. "Damn! That is pretty sick!"

"Ew… I never wanted to think about it, but now that I have…" My face turned green as I put a hand to my mouth.

"Ah! Harii-chan, don't think about it anymore!" The bandit waved his chibi arms wildly.

"Think happy thoughts." Dee frantically searched her brain for happy thoughts. "Bunnies, rainbows, cuddling chipmunks, ice cream on a summer day."

"Not on a summer day," said Chiriko. "Then it would melt." He paused. "And how would I know what ice cream is anyway?"

"I'm trying to think of happy thoughts, damn you!"

"Happy thought this!" Everyone looked over to see a blue light gathering in Nakago's palm. The sneer on the general's face didn't last for long as Tamahome and Nuriko hit him with a one-two punch to the chest. Soi dropped to the ground. A cloud of flies immediately swarmed towards her.

"I forgot… about… your… powers… shiiiit…" The general fell off his horse and next to Soi. He pathetically waved an arm around her head to keep the flies away.

"So what do we do with him now?" asked Nuriko.

The hobo grinned. "Just leave that to me."

xxx

"He looks even cuter than before!" I exclaimed.

"I don't know. This pink fluff isn't elegant at all." Nuriko made a face as they examined Nakago in the full-body sheep costume that looked it'd fallen off a truck headed to Disneyland.

Dee gave an approving nod. "I like it."

"Uh… Dee-chan…" Dee turned around to face Chichiri, and found him blushing. He had changed into his regular clothes, but it didn't disappoint her too much. After all, how could he not be oh-so-cute? Well…maybe if he wore a skirt with fishnet hose and red lipstick. Oh… and there was also the pimpmonk incident. Then he looked a bit… different. Er, that's not quite the word I'm looking for...

"GET ON WITH IT!" yelled Dee.

Oh right, sorry I just got carried away. I do that from time to time. Most people can stay focused and talk about what they were mentioning in the beginning. My problem is that sometimes I'll be thinking of one thing, and it'll remind of something else, and before you know it, I have pop tarts dancing in my head!

SMACK!

Moving on…

The monk stammered nervously, blushing a little. "The p-p-preparations… um… are… almost r-r-ready n…n…nooo…d…d-d-d…da."

"Oh, okay." Dee couldn't figure out why he seemed so embarrassed. "Chichiri, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm ok-kay n..n..no da."

Genrou grinned from behind the monk. "All that's left is yer purification aaaand," his grin grew wider, "for you to wear both shinzaho."

Dee felt her face heat up. "I have to actually wear that thing?"

"I did." I sweatdropped. "Luckily, you'll get the chance to choose how you want to wear it. I didn't." Genrou and most of the men nearby began to blush. "Nakago literally threw them on over my clothes and dragged me to start the summoning."

The red on the bandit's face turned to the red of anger. Ooo… poetic. "HE WHAT?"

"Uh… I mean… heh…"

"Calm down, boss." Koji put his hands on Genrou's shoulders as he sweatdropped. "Nakago has had enough punishment."

"That guy will never get enough punishment!" Genrou futilely tried to pull out his tessen as Koji and Nuriko held him back.

"In any case no da…"

Dee held the shinzaho away from her as if they were poison. "I can't believe this…"

"It's not so bad." I shrugged. "Better go get changed."

"What's the hurry?" Hotohori-sama had walked in the room. Genrou was glaring at him quite angrily, but the emperor only seemed to notice Dee. He walked over to her, took the panties and earring, and threw them to Chichiri.

"Da!" He caught them, blushing crazily.

"Both armies have stopped fighting, and the empires are beginning to rebuild. We can summon later." He uncharacteristically put an arm around Dee and once again used his appearing-out-of-nowhere magical power to make a goblet appear in his left hand. "Right now, we're gonna PARTAY!"

All of us stared wide-eyed as a "party troop" burst through the doors carrying trays of…

"SAKE!" yelled Koji and Genrou.

"CRAB RANGOONS!" yelled Dee.

"BABY IN A SOUP!" yelled Chiriko. Everyone fixed their attention towards Chiriko, who realized what he'd said. "Ew…who wants baby in a soup?"

Both the chef carrying the baby in a soup tray and the baby sitting in the soup hung their heads sadly and walked off slowly with slumped shoulders.

xxx

Colin sobbed. "I knew I should have gone with them! I wanna party!"

Max walked in the room, smacking his head with his hand. "They STILL haven't come back yet?"

xxx

Genrou and Koji returned to the dining hall with the rest of the bandits. "Now we can have a real party!"

"Free sake!" they all cheered, running to the trays full of their favorite drink.

Koji handed me a glass. "Have one."

Genrou grinned and nudged me, almost knocking the glass out of my hand. "Maybe you shouldn't have any of that stuff. It's stronger than the last kind, and that made you pretty drunk before."

I blushed. "I wasn't drunk," I mumbled.

"What was that? I conveniently didn't hear ya."

"Nothing," I said, blushing even brighter.

"Who's up for a drinking game?" Nuriko yelled from across the room.

"I'm in!" Both bandits exclaimed, running towards them.

The super-strong seishi grinned. "Okay, here are the rules... every time Mitsukake talks and knocks over something, it's one drink. Every time Chiriko says something smart that we can't understand, it's two drinks. Every time Tamahome or Hotohori-sama say something corny, it's three drinks. And every time Tasuki does something loud or stupid, it's four drinks!"

"We're all gonna die," Koji said, grinning at his friend.

"SHUT UP!" Tasuki shouted.

"Oops! That's four drinks!" Nuriko pointed out. "Bottoms up boys!"

xxx

"Dee, I'm sorry about everything that happened between us," Hotohori said as he finally got the two of them somewhat alone.

"Don't worry about it."

He smiled. "Every time I sit on my throne, I will think of how we met, and the joy that you gave me."

"Uh…" Dee sweatdropped. "And every time I pour a rich cup of Folger's Coffee, I will be reminded of you, and how quickly you got a wife."

Hotohori cocked his head to the side. "Is that a compliment?"

"Yes," she said quickly.

xxx

"So…" I jumped at the familiar but unexpected voice, turning to find Mr. Hobo-cat looming over my shoulder. "You aren't going to tell him?"

"Tell who what?" I said quickly.

"He's the only one who doesn't realize how you feel," he said.

I sighed, knowing he knew everything. "I don't think I should. I mean… it's not like it will matter. I can't be with him now anyway. I don't think I'd be able to leave Dee, my family, and the rest of my friends, and I know he belongs on Mount Reikaku. Besides, I've used up all my wishes."

"Liar."

I looked over at him, startled at the seriousness in his voice.

"You're scared to tell him."

"So what?" I folded my arms and closed my eyes.

I saw him smile from the corner of my eye. "You almost looked like him just now."

I blushed as I quickly unfolded my arms.

The smile disappeared. "But remember, if you don't tell him now, you'll most likely never get the chance." I knew without looking that he had vanished again.

xxx

After Hotohori-sama went to meet up with his wife, Dee searched for the oh-so-cute, friendly masked monk she had become so close to. She couldn't find him anywhere in the room, but noticed Chiriko and Mitsukake sitting together at a table, Mitsukake exchanging notes while Chiriko talked.

"Chiriko, Mitsukake, have you seen Chichiri anywhere?"

The younger of the two thought for a moment, then said, "I think I saw him outside."

"Thanks." Dee exited the dining room, but didn't find him out front. "If I was Chichiri…" she said aloud to herself. Then, she snapped her fingers. "Of course!"

She hurried towards the same pond where they'd first become close friends. Just as she expected, she found him sitting on a rock, outlined by the setting sun. His mask was lying next to him, and his chin was in his hands. She walked up slowly to him, not wanting to startle him, and forgetting his ki-sensing abilites would keep him from ever being startled. As she neared him, he turned his face even farther away from her.

"Dee-chan," he said quietly. "Please go back inside no da. I'll be back in soon. I just... need a minute to myself, is all."

She took a seat next to him. "C'mon, what's wrong? Everything's all right now. Both empires were saved, none of the Suzaku seishi died, both gods are going to be summoned…"

"That's exactly what's wrong no da."

"You mean…" She tilted her head to the side. "You wanted one of our seishi to die? Which one?" She leaned in close. "Was it Hotohori? It was Hotohori, wasn't it?"

For a second, Dee thought she had made her friend cry, but when he faced her, she realized he was laughing. "No, that's not it no da." His voice had gone a bit higher, but then it lowered again as he spoke. "It's that the gods will be summoned no da. All of this will be over. Dee-chan… during this time I've spent with all of you, there have been moments when I've… well…" He smiled sadly as he looked over at her. "Being with you and the seishi makes me feel like I don't need the mask to make me smile no da."

Not knowing what to say, Dee just looked at the monk intently. Much to her surprise, she found her eyes beginning to sting with water. "I… I'm really gonna miss you." She was barely able to say it, and the effort of it brought forth the tears she'd been trying to keep at bay. Chichiri leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face in his shoulder.


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DEE: Mya... mya... mya... mya...
HALEY: For those of you who can't see it, Dee is currently lying on the floor with a big stupid smile on her face. Her arms and legs are twitching, her eyes are rolled back, and she's making funny noises... it's very disturbing.
DEE: Chichiri... me... Chichiri... me... so cute... so cute... Hehehehehehehe!
FREAKY CAY THING: Oh my.
DEE: HALEY-CHAN, YOU'RE THE BEST! You've made all my obsessed fangirl dreams come true! Woohoo, hoohoo, hoo, hoohoohahahahahaha...!
FREAKY CAY THING: Now see what you've done?
HALEY: If I'd known she was gonna have a seizure I'd-a toned it down a little bit... Geez, Dee...
DEE: STAY TUNED FOR MORE FUSHIGIGGLES AND GOODNESS! There's just one chapter to go but it's sure to be one hell of a trip! Me 'n' Chiri-chan, me 'n' Chiri-chan, nyeeheeheehee...! (falls over gleefully)
FREAKY CAY THING: If you're willing to put up with this fangirl, then you may as well stick around for the next chapter, "Now it's time to say good-bye to all our company..."
HALEY: I sure hope Disney doesn't sue us for that one.