Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki. I don't own a lot of things. Like magic pencils. I am trying to remedy that situation. Anyone who knows where I may get a magic pencil, please let me know, so I can draw myself a Magic Portal.
Translation notes: … nothing really. You should all know what 'sama' means by now. Unless you want to make an issue of how I spell Ni Jyeni's name. Basically I chose the spelling that was easiest for me to pronounce. If you can prove beyond all shadow of a doubt that it's wrong, THEN I'll change it, not before.
Warnings: MILD language… um… let's see, what else… oh yeah Lirin, Yaone, and Dokugakuji may seem out of character. And for some reason, it ended up so that people who like to read too much into things could think that there's some one-sided Doku/Yaone going on. Completely unintentional, but it fit, and I didn't feel like trying to rewrite it.
And now on to this chapter's blab! It's official, I do work better under pressure. I wrote over half this chapter last night, while all the days before I got out maybe a paragraph at a time. Hopefully no one's out of character too much, it was late at night when I wrote, well, all of it actually, and the last half I may have been rushing things so I could still finish the book I was reading and still get a decent night's sleep. Didn't quite work that way. Mleh. Managed to finish the book though! No decent night's sleep though… mleh. Anyways, hopefully it came out alright, and isn't chock-full of grammatical errors. mleh. I also ended up having to split the chapter into 2 parts like last time… but this part is of a decent length (for me) so I don't mind too much this time.
Notes to Reviewers! The most favourite segment ever! Why? 'Cause it means that people are reading this and think it's good! YAY!
ForeverDreamerSakura: Glad you think so! It boosts the fanfic author's confidence when people say that.
Psycho-CJ: …o.o I know you! I read your fics! But I haven't reviewed any yet… hehe…-.-;;; I know, I'll go do that now. There. Guilty feeling gone.
JuniperTree: … Well first of all, that didn't quite fit the current theme I have going. Second of all, if I put Kanzeon B. in tight black leather, se'd hunt me down and kill me slowly and unpleasantly. I'm almost sure of it. -.-;
chisai1213: well here's the update, just like you asked. And it was only, what, five days after you asked so nicely? … -.-; I'm seriously working on stomping on that bad little habit I have of procrastination. Honest.
Wow 4 reviews since I put chapter 3 up! I wonder how many will come after this chapter goes up… hint HINT
On with the fic!
In which a fanfic author manages to stick to her updating schedule, still finish the book she was reading, and have the chapter a decent length, despite having to cut it off earlier than planned
Also known as
In which everyone is more Confused as Hell than Annoyed As Hell, and the winged-glow-puff's appearance is put off till next chapter
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It was a peaceful morning in Houtou Castle. The sun was shining, birds were sing- (Ack! -Dodges things thrown by readers enraged by the repetition-) -ing, yet this time, no one was sleeping peacefully. (See? It IS different!) The reason for the peacefulness this morning was the lack of I-don't-like-you-or-your-friends/and-I-don't-like-you-or-that-creepy-doctor-guy tension. (And because Lirin was being unaccustomedly quiet.) Now, the lack of said tension is because everyone is too Confused As Hell to keep it up.
And this time, the fanfic author will actually explain part of WHY they are confused before the end of the chapter.
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Lirin was muchly confused. She had bounded out of bed that morning prepared for Another Day, Another Search For Meat Buns. She had just finished dressing, and had taken a passing look into the mirror to make sure all her hair was in her ponytail, when she was struck by the realization that something was different.
Now Lirin isn't gifted with fanfic author omniscience. So her thoughts went something like, ? Wha…? Why…? It's not like it looks bad but…? Exactly what just happened here?
Lirin spent a good ten minutes in front of the mirror trying to figure out what was going on, until her stomach decided to remind her that she hadn't had breakfast yet.
So Lirin, ever mindful of her stomach's needs, but not one to let her curiosity go unsatisfied, decided to kill two birds with one stone.
I know! I'll go see Yaone! She'll give me food, AND she might know what happened!
And with that, Lirin tore down the halls in search of Yaone.
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Yaone was in front of the mirror. She wasn't as confused as Lirin was, more of a puzzled annoyance. As she wasn't sure anything had changed. But every time she turned to leave she'd see her reflection out of the corner of her eye, and could SWEAR-
-BAM!-
Yaone's thoughts were interrupted as the minor hurricane that was Lirin entered her room.
"Good Morning Yaone! Do you have any food with you?"
Yaone smiled, and turned around with a meat bun from the small emergency stash she had for just such an eventuality. (A quite common eventuality) And stared. Lirin, having yoinked the meat bun out of her limp grasp, munched happily, oblivious to the shocked look Yaone was giving her.
Finally Yaone said, "Um… Lirin-sama…"
Lirin looked up and mumbled around her meat bun, "Whaf?"
"When did your hair turn red?"
Lirin shrugged, "I don't know, sometime before I got up this morning."
"Um… Maybe I phrased that wrong. Why did your hair turn red?"
Again, another shrug, "That's what I was hoping you would know. It's not just my hair either. See?" Lirin, having finished the meat bun, walked closer to Yaone and used her fingers to open her eyes wider. "My eyes are green now. Are you sure you can't tell me what happened?"
"Sorry Lirin-sama. I don't know what could change hair and eye colour like that," replied a now thoroughly confused looking Yaone.
"Awww…" Lirin flopped down cross-legged on the floor, "Lirin-chan is confused." A growling sound was distinctly heard. "And hungry too. One meat bun isn't enough for breakfast!"
"Well, we could try Kougaiji-sama. He might know what's happening, and he might have more food for you with him as well."
"Really?" Lirin bounced off the floor. "What are we waiting for then?" And proceeded to bound out the door, with Yaone following at a slightly slower pace, calling, "Lirin-sama! Please wait for me!"
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Dokugakuji was confused. And slightly annoyed. He had spent a good five minutes in front of the mirror, trying to figure out who would find this sort of thing amusing.
I mean, if I was SO deeply asleep that I wouldn't notice anything, why wouldn't they go all the way, and shave off an eyebrow or two while they were at it? Unless Yaone decided for some reason that this look suits me better…Ah who am I kidding? She's too polite to do something sneaky like this.
Dokugaku briefly considered other suspects, like Lirin, or Ni Jyeni, but it didn't seem to fit Lirin's style at all, for one thing. She was more the type who would scribble on your face with a permanent marker. And… well… it could be Ni, he wouldn't put it past the guy to try and creep someone out with the whole 'I can get you while you're sleeping' bit, but… this didn't seem like it would be Ni's method. Bedecking the room in bunnies while the occupant was sleeping fit Ni more.
Maybe he'd go see Yaone, she might have more ideas on who the culprit could be.
Besides, he might be able to tell from her reaction if his unwanted new look was Alright or Just Plain Awful.
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Yaone and Lirin were maybe halfway to Rasetsunyo's room, where Kougaiji-sama was almost certain to be, when Dokugakuji caught up with them.
Yaone's first reaction on seeing him was to blink and think, Well it looks like Lirin's not the only one having hair troubles.
Lirin's first reaction was to blink and say, "Oi Dokugakuji, why's your hair so short?"
Dokugakuji's first reaction was to say, "It's not that short! Is it? And I don't know why it's so short. Why don't you tell me why you're suddenly a green-eyed redhead."
Lirin's reply was to sulk and grumble, "But I don't know EITHER."
Dokugaku's first reaction on turning to Yaone was to think, Hey did Yaone's… are they… did they get… nope get your mind out of the gutter pal, you don't wanna know what will happen to you if two people suddenly gain the ability to read minds. Besides, you're probably imagining things. Actually, now that I think about it…did Lirin's also…? Nope you REALLY don't wanna go down that path if you have any value for your own hide.
Doku's second reaction was to mentally thank whoever decreed that thoughts should take up Less Real Time Than They Seem To. (Ain't thinking just Handy Dandy?)That had just saved him from having to explain a Spaced Out look.
Quickly shaking off all remaining thoughts of dubious purity, Doku asked Yaone, "Hey do you have any ideas about who would have the inclination or the ability to cut my hair while I was sleeping?"
"Not really, no." replied Yaone. "Unless it's the same person who turned Lirin-sama's hair red. We were just going to find Kougaiji-sama, and see if he had any ideas about what could have happened."
-GROWL- "I'm hungry." whined Lirin.
"And see if he had some meat buns for Lirin-sama."
"Mind if I tag along? I wouldn't mind hearing what Kou thinks about this whole situation."
Yaone smiled. "Of course! Why would we mind?"
"I don't know, but it's polite to ask first anyway, isn't it?"
"Why yes, I supposed it is." Yaone was still smiling.
Dokugaku fell into step beside Yaone, while Lirin scampered ahead yelling, "Yippee! FOOD!"
After a moment, he looked over at her, and said, "Hey, Yaone…"
"Yes?"
Doku looked away, the tips of his ears faintly pink. " Does it… well… does the shorter hair look okay?"
He was having trouble deciding whether or not Yaone's smile had become slightly fixed. "Well… ah… it's different. Oh Lirin-sama be careful, you might break something!"
"What do you mean diff-" but she had already dashed ahead, in the hopes to try and protect the Breakable's in the hallway from Lirin's exuberance.
What the hell? What the hell does DIFFERENT mean?
Dokugakuji started running, and yelled after her, "Oi Yaone, what do you mean by 'different'? Yaone! Wait up will you! What's 'different' supposed to mean?"
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Author's Notes
I actually I have no idea if it's possible for youkai ears to blush, but I've read enough books where HUMAN'S ears blush for me to not care. I also left out something I should probably have added, but I only confirmed that it actually happened right now. Mleh. I'll see if I can work it into next chapter. Anyways next chapter could be up in the next couple of days, it depends entirely on whether or not I write as fast as when I did the LAST time I split a chapter in half. If not, Wednesday August 24th is the latest it'll be up by.