Hello, readers! This one is a tad longer than the others so far, but I had fun with it. Can anyone guess who the next chapter will be about? XD

Shortly after leaving Tamahome's company, I decided to return to my original plan. Meditating in a temple would prepare me more for the journey, I hoped. I had barely made it to the courtyard when I spotted Nuriko being fussed over, but I wasn't sure about what. I figured it would be polite of me to say hello on my way out, so I headed in his direction. When I first joined the group after the faux-Suzaku summoning, she- I mean he- took the most interest in my being a genius. I should clarify now that he prefers to dress and act more like a woman than a man, and I was very confused by this at first. It's also safe to say he was trying to marry the emperor for while, but I get flustered when I try to think about that.

Regardless, I smiled as I came to his side. "Good morning, Nuriko."

"Hardly morning anymore, isn't it?" he said in a sassy tone. The servant girls he was speaking with giggled. "Ladies, this is Chiriko. He's one of the Suzaku as well.

"Much better than the last one, right, Lady Kourin?" one smiled.

"That Chiriko?" he rolled his eyes. "I'm relieved he wasn't the real one. I don't know how much more I could stand that flute." They giggled again. Apparently, they were fond of him and would giggle at anything he said.

At the reference to the Seiryu warrior who impersonated me, I winced. The older girls noticed and giggled more. "What a cute one! He may as well take your position someday," one said. Me replace Nuriko? I wasn't sure what they were referring to, and I wish I didn't find out.

Nuriko also didn't seem to like it, so he sounded a bit defensive. "Now, now, do you think anyone can pull my act off as well as I did? And still have enough favor of His Highness to remain in the harem?"

"We would help, of course!" another offered, and I hoped she was joking as I figured out that they meant I could pull off acting like a woman. And apparently, they were fond enough of him to still dote on him after finding out he was a really man.

"Y-you wouldn't," the doted upon one struggled. "I still--"

"How about it, little Chiriko? Do you want to serve in the harem? It seems to be a popular hobby for adorable warriors of Suzaku," they teased (at least, I hope they were teasing still).

"Adorable?" he sounded outraged. "But I'm… I'm beautiful!" My cheeks were too heavy with blush for me to say anything with him. The girls ignored him, and probably would have ignored my wishes anyway.

"I'll go get the hair brush and we can tame down that ponytail--"

"Excuse us!" he yelled in an angry, but still feminine tone and dragged me a ways away by the shoulder. I'm small for my age, but it was still very easy for him to take me. I think it was partly because of his unnatural strength and his being livid at the time.

"Aw, how sweet. Lady Kourin is so protective of him," was the last thing I heard them say. Oh, I wish.

His braid wizzed behind him as he turned around to look me eye to eye. "I was enjoying my spot light, thank you very much!" I was so startled my character immediately abandoned me as I could only look back at him for a moment, and then began to wail.

"I wasn't… sniff… tryin' to… hic… get their attention like that… hic…!"

"But you--"

"I was just sayin' 'hi'! ….hic… hic…"

I kept sobbing as Nuriko chased away his ill-wishes and tried to act more maternal (which was not his strongest point). "There, there, it's not your fault they lost interest."

I sniffled deeply and stopped crying for a moment before sniffling again. "Interest?"

"I… erm... Just thought I'd try my charm out on a gender I'm more familiar with. That's all," he looked relieved since my crying had quieted down, but I shouted how sorry I was that I ruined it and began wailing all over again. He awkwardly shifted his glance to the side, and hushed his voice. "Come on, stop crying. I'll go buy you lunch."

I guess I must still be an easily pleased child to stop crying at the mention of a treat. He led me to a small, but charming restaurant I had never seen and ordered us a few dishes, which I was happy to dig straight into.

"Are you better now?" he asked flatly. With my mouth full, I nodded a little. I swallowed a large mouthful so I could apologize for my crying fit, but he stopped me. "Don't feel so bad about it. I was just fooling around."

"Then, Nuriko…"

"Yes?"

"You like girls now, right?"

"Let's just say I know my place. I'm not ready to just give up on His Majesty, of course."

I wasn't sure what he meant, so my glance went down towards my food. "Was that was you always wanted, Nuriko?"

"Heck no," he smiled and took a bite of his food. "I didn't grow up wanting to be the Empress of Konan or anything, but I did know I really wanted to make something of myself and find someone I'd always want to protect."

"And that was Hotohori?"

"No, it didn't turn out to be him," he smiled his usual sassy smile. "At least, not just him."

Unsure where the conversation was headed, I trudged further into it. "Is that a good thing?"

"It's a very good thing, and much better than I expected, which I'm sure you'll understand soon. When I was very young, I tried protecting those I loved, but there was nothing I could do. After trying so many different ways to accomplish my goal, I found myself thrust into my life as a warrior of Suzaku. And look at me now."

"You get to protect the priestess now," I smiled.

"Not only her. I can take care of my fellow warriors, as well as the entire country! Now that's what I call making something of myself."

It was a heart warming thought. I had no idea how mature Nuriko was, since he never acted like that around the other warriors (especially Tasuki). I was enjoying a few sips of soup when he broke our silence and asked, "So how about you? What do you want to be when you grow up?"

My face flushed red as I gathered up a good answer for him. "Well, I'm going to take my exams, of course, and then be a government official…" His face looked disappointed, so I thought of what Hotohori said as I tried to make it sound better. "I'm going to lead the people of Konan… and…"

"What a scripted answer," he moaned. "Be honest, why don't you? It's just us here."

I thought I was being honest, so I furrowed my eyebrows at him and pursed up my lips. However, his words invited me to think deeper into what I really wanted for myself, and the kind of person I really wanted to be. "I want to be strong," I said under my breath.

"Oh?"

"I want to be strong! I don't want to be useless, and I want to protect people, too!" I raised my voice and looked him straight in the eye. "I can help people as an official, but I don't think I help them in any better way. That's why I want to be strong."

Nuriko rested his chin on his hands and looked back at me, much more relaxed than I was. "Then don't just settle for what you already know you can be. If you're so smart, then go learn what you're really capable of."

"But Nuriko, I…"

"You already know you can be a coward, or read a fancy book, or anything like that. But you can't limit yourself to that. Sure, you might not be as strong as me someday, but you won't know until you try. Forgive me for sounding cliché."

I struggled on his words for a few moments. "You've been talking to Hotohori, haven't you?"

"No! What would that have to do with anything?" he lifted his head off his hands. "I buy you lunch and you get suspicious, jeez."

"Sorry," I shifted to one side and grimaced, avoiding looking at him, but couldn't avoid hearing him start laughing. I turned back to him with a cross face. "What's so funny?"

"You're so cute when you pout!" he continued laughing. "Don't worry, someday you'll grow into such an angsty face!"

"You… you're just as bad as those girls back there!" I whined.

He chuckled a little more and regained a more serious composure. "I guess being a kid kind of sucks when you're trying to help save the country. But don't let that keep you from imagining all the great things you'll do, okay?"

We finished our lunch and headed back towards the busier part of the city, and he continued to pick on a me a bit. It wasn't at all like how I'd be picked on back home by neighborhood boys, so I started to have a lot of fun with it and teased him back. However, we were interrupted by a certain red-headed bandit running straight into us frantically.

"Tasuki!" Nuriko caught a hold of him. "What the heck is the matter with you?"

"I cracked one too many ogre-jokes back there," he struggled and looked over his shoulder, only to spaz a bit when saw Tamahome struggling through the crowds after him.

The man I had just spend lunch with rolled his eyes. "Again? Grow up, Tasuki."

"Please, Nuriko, you gotta help me!"

"Fine. Chiriko, go hide Tasuki and tell him when he was come out. Oh Tama-kiiins!" he ran off.

I wanted to scream after Nuriko not to leave me alone with him, though. This was the frightening warrior I had been avoiding the most, and was now left in charge of.