Hi everyone!

Chappie nine is here!

This is the longest chapter I've made so far so I hope you guys will enjoy it!

Thank you for all your kind reviews! I always look forward to your reviews since you guys are so nice to me!

Disclaimers: I don't own Fushigi Yugi, Yu Watase does!

And Akina is mine!

Please review!

Chapter nine: The Seagull and the Sakura flower!

The ceremonial burial for Tamahome took place the second day after the murder attempt on Miaka, Akina and the other celestial warriors. They stood by the grave in which Tamahome's body was going to be laid down to rest.

" The burial ceremony will now begin…" Hotohori announced loudly to all people who had gathered in the courtyard.

The servants and guards in the Konan palace were gathered to say their goodbye to the ogre seishi as the funeral began. The living seishi's and miko stood by the graves opening and watched as some soldiers approached them and salute the emperor.

Akina watched as they walked towards them. A lone tear slipped down her cheek as she saw the corpse of Tamahome.

Six strong soldiers were carrying his body in a slow pace as the passed the grieving mass of people. Many extended out their hands and gently touched the warrior's body as it passed by to show their respect for the body. And as soon the soldiers had reached the seishi's they stopped to let them take farewell of their fallen comrade.

" Miaka, maybe you should say your goodbye's first…" Hotohori said as he motioned for the miko to step forward. Miaka nodded and went forward with Tasuki beside her, as they approached the body to say their goodbyes.

" I wish that this wasn't supposed to end like this Tamahome, were ever you are now, by happy…" Miaka was crying as she reached forward and placed a small kiss on Tamahome's cheek.

" Sayonara Tamahome…" She whispered and backed away from the body to let Tasuki forward.

The young fire seishi was crying floods while he neared the body, true he had not forgiven Tamahome for hurting Miaka and the others. But he attended to the funeral for Miaka's sake, to be her support.

He looked down at the warrior that tried to kill him the night in Kuto, his eyes was filled with sorrow and grief. Tasuki smiled gently down at the ogre seishi as he made a vow to the corpse.

" Rest in peace Tamahome… Miaka will be safe with me; I'll make her happy… I promise you that." Tasuki sniffed loudly and a lone tear dripped down on the ogre seishi's pale cheek. Death was a difficult thing for him to handle, as for anyone else.

Tasuki ignored the fact that everyone else around him was seeing him crying as a small child, when he reached out for the dead seishi's hand and grasped it for a few seconds before withdrawing with a crying Miaka in his arms. Then it was Hotohori, Nuriko and Mitsukake's turn to approach the body.

Hotohori touched the seishi's forehead and silently said goodbye.

" Farewell Tamahome… I wish that it had not have to end like this…" Hotohori thought as he took a step back and let Nuriko forward. The cross-dresser was letting a few tears shed for the dead seishi as he also touched his hand as Tasuki did.

" Goodbye my friend… Don't worry about Miaka. All of us and especially Tasuki will take care of her…" Nuriko whispered and withdrew.

Mitsukake stepped up and he too prayed silently for the body.

" Forgive me Tamahome… If I had been more skilled as a healer, then I could have saved you…" He thought as he backed off and walked over to the others.

Chichiri, Akina and Chiriko were the last ones to approach the body to say goodbye. Chichiri placed his right hand in his prayer beads and said a small prayer for him to Suzaku. That this soul would find peace in the next world.

" You had such a short life Tamahome, only filled with hatred and war… I hope that your next life will be when Konan is at peace and you can find true happiness then…"

He continued to pray as Akina walked up by his side and glanced down onto Tamahome's pale face. She thought that the seishi looked as if he was sleeping peacefully and would wake up any minute, bouncing around to tease Tasuki and cuddle Miaka in his arms.

But she knew that it was impossible, Tamahome would never ever walk, talk or do anything else ever again. She reached down and gave him a small kiss on the forehead and let her left hand brush of some loose hair strands from his face.

" I'm so sorry Tamahome… If I had tried hard enough, then maybe you would have lived… Without you we only have the option to find the Shinzaho, since we can't summon Suzaku… And It's my fault all of it!"

She thought as she then rose up from the body, and turned towards Chichiri who just finished his prayers for Tamahome. He immediately reached out for her as he saw the sad expression on her face, wanting to wipe of the sad look and replace it with a bright smile.

" Don't worry Akina, he is in a much better place now than before… He'll be happy there, I'm sure of it." The monk said as he tried to provide the young girl with comfort by putting a hand on her shoulder. A lone tear slipped down her cheek as she looked up at the well seishi.

" Thank you Chichiri, for trying to cheer me up…" Akina said and gave him a weak smile before the two of them joined the others a few feet away.

Finally it was Chiriko's turn, the young boy stepped up and placed his flute to his lips and began to play a song to honor the seishi one last time. It was a very sad song that emerged from the flute, which made the entire crowd start to cry their eyes out. (Imagine the most sad flute song you know.)

" He plays such beautiful music! " Someone from the crowed yelled and got lots of people backing the fact up.

" I wonder who his master is? He couldn't possibly have learned such beautiful music on his own! "

They all whispered as they continued to listen to the song that went on for about ten minutes. But the song stopped at the command of Hotohori, who stepped forward to the graves opening and spoke up.

" We will now return Tamahome's body to the earth from which he was born, and let Suzaku judge his soul in the palace of the heavens… May Suzaku have mercy at this warriors soul…" The hydra seishi finished and motioned for Chiriko to continue to play the sad song again.

As Chiriko began to play again the soldiers walked down into the grave and Tamahome's body was laid to rest inside a large white stone tomb where all the warriors was going to be buried within when they all died.

" Oh my god, what are we going to do about Tamahome's family? " Akina thought as she remembered Tama's father and his younger siblings.

" We have to tell them the horrible news sooner or later…" She thought and pictured the family burst into tears as they heard that the faithful son and the caring brother were gone from this world. Akina rested her head on Chichiri's shoulders as they waited for the soldiers to return. And Chichiri looked down at her as he tightened his hold on Akina's shoulder in response to the gesture.

" What am I supposed to say to make her feel better? " He wondered as the girl snuggled her head further up against his neck. Chichiri sighed and placed his cheek above her head while he rubbed her shoulder. And those actions did not go unnoticed by six pair of eyes.

Nuriko and Kouji smiled at the two of them and mischievously at each other. And a pouting Chiriko looked at them from his spot beside the emperor and the healer.

" Hmph, acting like that in public! " He growled to himself and adverted his eyes from Akina and Chichiri to watch the grave opening.

After a while the soldiers returned to the ground above the grave and carefully sealed the door. But not so tight so that they could not open the tomb again, when the time had come to bury another warrior at the white stone tomb.

The saluted the emperor one more time before heading back to the soldier's barracks with their comrades. And by that the funeral was over and the servants of the palace all returned to their duties. But the Miaka and the others stayed put for a little while longer by the grave.

" What are we going to do now? " Miaka asked her warriors as she stared the white grave. No one answered the question since they were just as clueless as she was.

Mitsukake suddenly turned around and began to head back to the palace but looked over his shoulders and called out to the others.

" Well we can try to think of something inside, if we stay out in this rain then we're going to get cold and sick." The healer told them and walked up to the hall door. The others looked at him with confused expressions and cast a glance on each other.

" What are ya talking about Mitsukake? It's not raining." Tasuki replied, but then ironically enough the said rain started to pour and soak everyone down. Lots of cursing could be heard from the warriors as they ran for cover under the roof.

Tasuki tossed his black coat over Miaka's head as they ran after Nuriko, Hotohori and Kouji. Akina ran over to the stairs to the hall with Chichiri and Chiriko by her sides. As they all entered the hall many cast evil glances at Mitsukake for not warning them earlier about the coming rain.

" That was mean! " Miaka growled at the healer.

" Yeah, look at my clothes now I have to change! " Nuriko muttered.

Mitsukake just chuckled at them and told them to go inside and eat something warm. So their body temperature would rise up a bit. Akina giggled slightly and followed the healer as he lead the way to the dinning room, but stopped at the door to let Hotohori thru first.

" Let us move inside move inside now my friends… we should all try to eat something like Mitsukake said…" The emperor said and the others followed him inside. They reached the tablet and sat down while the servants served them all food.

" Here you go Akina no da. " Chichiri said and Akina took a plate that Chichiri handed her. Akina smiled at him as she thanked him for the food and then adverted her eyes from him. Chichiri could feel her depressed chi but did still not know what to say to make her cheer up.

" I don't like to see her sad no da… Maybe I should try and talk to her a little, if I can get her away from the others that is no da…" He thought and turned his attention back to his food.

Suddenly Nuriko hit the table as softly as he could without breaking it, as he told the others that he suddenly got a great idea that would cheer everyone up.

" What do you have in mind Nuriko? " Chiriko asked and put some noodles into his mouth. The cross-dresser smiled brightly at everyone as he stood up from the chair and viewed them all.

" Tonight is the Star-Gazing festival! We should all go there and try to have some fun! " Nuriko happily announced as he bounced around the table in chibi form.

" The Star-gazing festival? " Miaka asked and looked up from her plate and at Nuriko for further information.

" It's a festival when you go out at night and watch the beautiful stars. They also have great markets and snacks there…" He added when Miaka was about to say no. And food was all that took for the miko to change her mind.

" Of course we will go! Right Tasuki? " She said and looked at the fire seishi for support.

" Sure why not? I don't want to think anymore about the funeral so I say we go there tonight! " Tasuki said and got a fierce hug from the happily chirping miko.

" What do you say Akina? Do you want to go? " Chiriko asked the girl from his seat across the table and the others turned also their attention to her.

" I don't know…" She began but got cut off as a purple mass of hair attached to her neck, and a puppy-eyed Nuriko was staring up at her as tears poured down his cheeks.

" PLEASE? Won't you come? It won't be fun if you're not there Akina! " Nuriko pleaded with her as she tried to contain a small laughter and get him off her neck. Chichiri then made eye contact with Akina as he began to speak with her.

" I think you should come Akina no da, staying in the palace alone isn't such good idea when you're upset no da. The monk said and grabbed the wailing Nuriko in the back of the tunic to get him off Akina.

" Please? " Nuriko tried again as he hanged two feet above the ground and staring at her in a puppy-chibi form as he pleaded with her.

" Okay then, I'll come. Are you happy now, Nuriko? " She asked as she watched the chibi go hyper and jump straight at Akina again to hug her. He latched on to her waist and hugged her very tight.

" Thank you, thank you! " He squealed as he let go of her waist and jogged back to his seat. And exchanged a quick glance with Kouji across the table as he sat down again.

" I'm glad that you'll come with me…us! I mean… no da… " Chichiri said and ruffled her hair and was replied with a small punch at his chest. Both of them laughed and resumed eating. Mitsukake informed that he would not come, since he instead wanted to spend the evening reading medical books to learn more cures for different diseases.

" You sure Mitsukake? " Kouji asked the healer, who nodded and grasped a bowl off noodles to eat.

" Yes, I'm sure Kouji. " The bandit nodded and exchanged another quick glance with Nuriko.

" Of course, you should all go and have some fun. This days events was depressing enough and everyone could use a good time to forget about it for a while. " Hotohori said and smiled at the miko who faced him with a concerned expression written all over her face.

" What about you then Hotohori? Could you not come with us? " She asked him, but the emperor shook his head.

" I'm afraid not Miaka, I have to much work to finish here. And besides my advisors won't approve to the idea without a mayor escort that will ruin the whole evening…" The young emperor replied with a sad smile.

" I'll keep him company, so don't worry about us Miaka. " Mitsukake said.

" Well then, we'll bring you two something from the festival! " Miaka chirped and patted the emperor on the shoulder who gave her a bright smile in return.

" OKAY! It's decided then we'll gather in the great hall by nightfall and head out together! " Nuriko announced and jumped up and down in his chair in pure excitement.

" But I've got nothing to wear! " Miaka suddenly remembered.

" Don't worry Miaka! I've got tons of dresses at my room and I'm sure that one of them will fit you just great! And Akina can borrow one to! " He quickly added as Akina opened her mouth to say that she did not have a dress either.

" Thanks Nuriko, you're the best! " Miaka squealed and hugged him tightly.

" I know Miaka, I know. " The cross-dresser said as he grinned down at the miko.

" Time for the magic to begin! "

Later in Nuriko's bed room

The two girls was now standing in Nuriko's room and watched as the seishi tossed dresses all over the room, as he tried to find the perfect dresses for both of them. Akina shook her head at the mess and went over to a pile of dresses while she spoke to the cross-dresser.

" Nuriko if you toss them around like that they're going to get dirty! " Akina said as she bent down and picked up several dresses from the floor. The seishi muttered something from the inside of the closet as he kept on looking.

" The servants can take care of that! After all that's what they are hired for! " He growled from the inside of the closet and tossed out another dress.

Miaka giggled and wait anxiously for Nuriko to find something that she could wear tonight. Akina sighed and folded some of the dresses and placed them down on the bed as Nuriko continued his search and threw out more on the floor.

" Akina what do you want to check out first when we get there? " Nuriko asked from the closet. Akina shrugged her shoulders and picked up another dress.

" I don't know Nuriko, I'll follow you guys since I don't know my way around there." The seishi nodded as he pulled out a yellow dress with green sleeves.

" Here Miaka, take this one! " He said as he threw it at the miko. Miaka squealed happily as she held the dress in front of her.

" Thank you Nuriko! It's gorgeous; Tasuki will surely like this one! " She said as she opened the door behind her and rushed of to the bathhouse so she could wash off herself before putting it on.

" Of course he will silly! That's why I picked it! Now i must make Akina leave the room before Kouji comes here… I know! "

" Akina can you go with Miaka to the bathhouse? I have not yet found any dress that will suit your eyes and hair so it could take a while. But I swear that I will find you a dress so just wait in the bath until I do. " Nuriko told her and Akina nodded.

" Okay, but I don't think it's a good idea that you enter the bath Nuriko…" Nuriko sweat dropped at the young girl as he heard the last part of her sentence.

" Of course I won't go inside dummy! I will send a female servant there in my place!" The cross-dresser said as he stuck his head deeper into the closet.

" If I go in to the women's bath then they will welcome me the same way as they did Tasuki and Kouji, remember? " He said and glanced over his shoulder at her.

Akina smiled and went over to the door to follow Miaka.

" Okay see ya later then Nuriko! " She called out to him as she slipped out thru the door and went off.

As soon as he was sure that she was far away enough. Nuriko looked up from the dresser and smiled as he checked outside to see if Akina was gone. She just rounded a corner and disappeared out of sight.

" Okay now she's gone… but where's Kouji? Don't tell me he could not find it! " He said as he nervously looked around for the said bandit. And as the sun was beginning to set the purple haired seishi could do nothing besides watch it happen while he waited for the bandit.

" Hurry up Kouji, we can't spoil this now…"

The women's bathhouse

Akina and Miaka walked inside the bath and were immediately approached by six female servants that started to undress them. Akina blushed furiously and told the servants to leave her lone.

" Back off, I can take care of that myself! " She snapped at the confused servants. But then one of them tried one more time to undress her. Akina quickly kneeled down by the water edge and splashed up water at them all to make them go away.

" Go away! Shoo, beat it! " She hissed at the retreating servants and she was left alone with a giggling Miaka.

" What are you so embarrassed about Akina? They are girls just like you, so you don't have to worry about them seeing you naked." The miko said as she slipped off her clothes and climbed into the warm water and brought down the bucket with oils.

" My problem is that they tried to undress me! I am an 18-year-old girl for crying out loud! I don't need anyone to undress me! I can do that myself thank you very much! " She muttered at the laughing miko as she went behind a pillar to undress.

She could hear Miaka still giggling at her from the bath and she soon emerged from the shadows of the pillar with a towel tied around her upper chest and waist.

" Come on now, get over here it's very nice and warm down here! " Miaka said and splashed water onto Akina's face. Akina smiled evilly at the miko as she jumped in and the two of them started to splash down each other while screaming and laughing at the same time.

Two servants walked by heard all the commotion and sweat dropped at the two other girls inside.

" Women! They are never serious about anything, and are acting like small children when they're bathing. " The older male servant muttered as they began to walk away from the bathhouse.

After a while the two of them calmed down and began to clean each other's backs and pour oil into their hair. Akina had chosen an oil bottle that smelled just like peaches and began to rub it into Miaka's hair.

" What do you want to look at on the festival Miaka? " She then asked as she gently massaged the miko's head with the oil.

" The snack stores of course! And maybe we can find a great spot to watch the stars all of us together! " Miaka said as Akina were done with her hair. Miaka stood up and went behind Akina to return the favor with another bottle of oil. Miaka opened it and a pleasant smell of strawberry's came from it.

" You like Strawberry's Akina? " The miko asked her friend, who simply nodded, and Miaka began to pour out the oil on Akina's head. Then she massaged out the oil into her hair for about five minutes as they both continued to talk about the festival and what they were going to do more.

" I think I also want to go to the arrow shooting range with Tasuki! And then to some of the other snack stores, of course! " Miaka said as they began to wash of the oils from their hair.

" All she ever think about is food…" Akina thought as she giggled slightly and went under the water to wipe off the last of the oil from her shinning white hair.

" I wonder what I'll go and see on the festival…maybe I can go to the bridge… Or watch when Nuriko will spin that large man around on his hand." She thought and mentally laughed at the picture of it all. Suddenly she felt Miaka knocking on her head to make her return to the above.

" What is it Miaka? " The miko pointed at the door and Akina saw a female servant standing in the door holding a folded dress in her arms. She bowed respectfully to the miko and Akina before she approached.

" Miko-sama, lady Akina. Lord Nuriko sent me to give you this dress and ask you to return to his room when you've dressed up." The servant said as she carefully placed the dress on a towel the she laid down on the floor. Then she bowed one more time to the duo and retreated outside.

Akina and Miaka reached out fro their towels and tied them around their bodies as they rose from the water to inspect the dress that Nuriko had sent to Akina. Miaka picked it up and held it out for Akina. And she gasped as she looked at the dress.

" HE'S GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! There's no way that I can walk around in that! I'm only going to trip on the folds! " Akina yelled and stared at the dress in disbelief.

" Oh come on Akina! It will be fine, this one I even more gorgeous than the one I got. Chichiri will drop dead when he sees you tonight! " Miaka said and giggled at the expression Akina made as Chichiri was mentioned.

" W-what do you mean Miaka? " She asked and nervously stared at the giggling miko.

" Don't give me that, I see the way you look at him! Why not confess to yourself that you are in love with him Akina? " The miko asked. Akina blushed and looked like she wanted to run and hide somewhere.

" What is the matter with Miaka? I don't love Chichiri…right? I'm so confused! " She thought as she met the mischievous gaze of Miaka.

" M-miaka, what are you saying! Chichiri and I are just friends! "

" Yeah right and I am a potato! " Miaka giggled and ripped the towel of Akina's waist.

" HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? " Akina shrieked as she blushing were covering herself from Miaka's view. The miko held fourth the chosen dress for Akina and motioned for her to take it.

" Come on now. Put it on, Nuriko wouldn't have chosen this if it didn't suit you! And besides we still have to do go back to his room, so if you don't want to go there naked then I suggest that you put the dress on." Miaka said as threw the dress over Akina's head and started to pull it down.

" Hey, ow, take it easy will you! " Akina growled from the inside and managed to stick her arms out from the sleeves as Miaka pulled the dress down her waist and to the floor.

" There we go! Aww, you look so pretty! Nuriko will climb the walls with joy when he sees this! " The miko squealed as she pulled the other girl with her out from the bath back to the cross-dresser's room.

" Why are we going back there anyway? " Akina asked as she hurried up her steps to keep it up with the hyper priestess.

" Make-up and fixing our hair! Nuriko knows what to do! " The miko chirped happily. Akina sweat dropped, she had never used make-up before and barley wears any jewelry at all. But she let the brown-haired girl lead her to Nuriko's room for the make-up.

Nuriko was walking around in circles as the girls entered the room, and as soon as he spotted the girl he pushed them both down in two chair and got started with his work.

" You two sure took your time… But let's get started so we can go to the festival! " Nuriko said as he grabbed a brush and pulled it thru Akina's long untied hair.

" Ow, ow, ow! Take it easy on me will you? " Akina hissed he brushed thru her hair.

" Don't such a baby now! It's going to be worth the pain, trust me! " The cross-dresser said as he continued the brushing. And finally after five painful minutes, Nuriko moved over to Miaka to brush her hair.

The miko hissed and tried to jump out from her chair time to time. And Nuriko had to use his super strength to keep her nailed in the chair while Miaka rant towards him. Akina sweat dropped and sighed.

" This is going to take sometime…"

Two hours later in the great hall

All the boys who were going to go to the festival with Miaka and Akina had already changed and gathered in the hall as they waited for the girls to show up.

" What are taking Nuriko and the girls so long? " Chiriko asked as he leaned up against a wall and stared to the direction were Nuriko's bedroom was.

" Girls are girls Chiriko, they always take as much time as possible to dress up… I don't think this is such a big deal, but it seems Miaka and Akina do…" The fire seishi muttered from the corner were he was sitting accompanied by his friend Kouji.

" Don't be so grumpy Genrou! I know you're just dying to see Miaka, but let them take their time. We have all the night to party! " The blue haired bandit chuckled as his leader threw a playful punch against Kouji's arm.

" Shut up! " He growled as the other bandit began to laugh and easily avoided the punch. Chichiri watched the two bandits with an amused expression on his face.

" Those two will never grow up." He thought as he then turned his attention over to the opposite corridor, which Chiriko was looking at.

He wanted to go and make sure that everything was okay with the girls, but did not want to walk inside if they were changing. Chichiri blushed as he thought of all the commotion that would make and that the others would never let him hear the end of it.

" I'll just have to be patient and wait as the others…" The seishi thought as he stared out into space. And suddenly a small picture of Akina dressed in a kimono invaded his mind; Chichiri blushed when the picture smiled one of those cute smiles that he was very fond of.

" I wonder what kind of kimono Nuriko has dressed her up in… Well whatever he chooses, I have no doubt in my mind that she'll look just beautiful…"

" Beautiful? Since when did I think of Akina as beautiful? True she is very cute, but…" Then the night in the garden returned to his mind. When she stood under the Sakura tree as the moonlight caressed her hair, and her eyes were shining like two bright stars.

He smiled to himself as he remembered the small kiss she placed on his cheek before they headed inside. And unconsciously touched his cheek, not noticing the angry glare he received from Chiriko.

" I have my orders, so calm down…" The younger seishi thought and jumped three feet up in the air as Nuriko popped into view.

" Hi guys! " Nuriko had a very satisfied smile on his face as he neared the group. Everyone walked over to Nuriko and asked where the girls were, Nuriko giggled and pointed at the corner and called fourth Miaka.

The miko was dressed in her yellow kimono with green sleeves and had her hair tied up in her usual plaits. She also wore a thin golden bracelet on her left wrist with a small blue stone in the middle of it. She swirled around as she stopped right in front of Tasuki to receive his opinion.

" Well, is it good? " She asked the fire seishi, who answered by taking her small hands into his and placing a swift kiss on them both.

" You look like one of those women from the emperor's harem…" He said and stared lovingly down into Miaka's golden eyes. She smiled up towards him, and then she turned around and looked back at the corner, which Akina still was standing behind.

" Akina come here! You look great; so let the boys have a look at you now! " She called out to the other girl.

" O-okay…" Came the shy answer, and Akina stepped into view. Chichiri's jaw immediately dropped as he saw her, and he could do nothing else than just stare at her.

Akina was wearing a long light blue kimono, which was embroidered with small pink Sakura flowers on the skirt and sleeves. The mid section of the dress was plainly blue with a purple ribbon tied around her waist.

Nuriko had untied her plait so that her hair was now falling down along her back. And two hair-claps were holding two thick hair strands in place over her shoulders. She also had a blue necklace with a purple stone in the middle tied around her neck. Nuriko had also managed to make her use some make-up, pink lipstick, and some blue eye shadow.

She looked up at the boys to see if they were going to laugh at her. But all the boys did was staring at her with their mouths open, stunned by her new appearance.

" Whoa Nuriko sure did a great job on her, she looks like an empress! " Chiriko thought as he blushed when her eyes for just a second met his and then ventured down to the floor.

" She's stunning! Absolutely gorgeous! " The blue haired bandit thought as he proudly eyed his little sister. And cast a glance in Chichiri's direction to see his reaction. The monk did not notice Kouji's glance for he only had eyes for Akina; nothing else seemed to interest him now.

" Chichiri looks quite pleased with her appearance to! That's good! "

" It's working! All that takes now is a few more pushes and little more touches of Nuriko's magic! " Nuriko thought as he mentally grinned towards the monk and Akina. Nuriko went over and patted Chichiri on the shoulder, which made him snap out from his dreamy look.

" Well aren't you going to say anything to her Chichiri? She might want a compliment! " He said and pushed the monk forward to Akina. Akina blushed as Chichiri got to stand in front of her; she shyly raised her eyes to meet his, Chichiri was also blushing furiously as he spoke.

" Y-you look really pretty Akina no da. Um, a-are you ready to go to the festival now? " Chichiri asked as he rubbed his neck in embarrassment.

" Yes, I'm ready. " She replied and put a calming hand on his arm, which made Chichiri blush even harder.

" Shall we go then? " Chiriko said as he walked up beside Akina to get her attention. He reached out his left arm for Akina to take it. But then Kouji stepped between them and shook his head.


" Sorry Chiriko, but we have already decided who will go together. And Akina has already a gentle man who will escort her to the festival tonight." The blue haired bandit said, as he smiling looked at his little sister.

" Tasuki will escort Miaka, Chichiri will escort Akina, and Chiriko will go with me and Kouji! " Nuriko happily announced to the others. Tasuki smiled down at Miaka and courteously offered her his arm, Miaka giggled and took his arm in hers. Nuriko nodded in approval and turned his attention to Chichiri and Akina.

" Chichiri, you're supposed to offer her your arm! " Chiriko growled at the monk. Chichiri just nodded but did not take his eyes off Akina for a second. He stepped up right beside Akina and offered her his left arm.

" May I have the honor Akina no da? " He asked the blushing girl. She looked up at Chichiri and smiled sweetly as she nodded. Chichiri reached out for her right arm and gently entwined her arm with his. He smiled towards her, not his usual smile but one that was filled with affection for the young girl. Chiriko held back a gag sound as he turned around to avoid looking at the two of them.

" Okay shall we be off then? " Miaka asked as she and Tasuki started to head outside, followed by Chichiri and Akina. And after the two couples Nuriko, Kouji and Chiriko hurried after them.

The festival site

After a while they all reached the street where the festival was being held. All people who were there was either eating something or trying some of the games that you could win a prize from.

They tried the arrow shooting range that Miaka wanted to try. And Miaka scored the highest points and won the game.

" Congratulations miss! You won! " The old man said and handed her a dumpling.

" Alright! " Miaka cheered and swallowed the dumpling and the outstretched hand. The poor shopkeeper screamed and tried to shake Miaka off, until Nuriko bonked the miko in the head so she let go of the terrified shop owner.

" You are so embarrassing sometimes, do you know that? " Nuriko growled at her as he pulled her away in her plaits from the game. Akina giggled and looked at different stores as they passed by, and then suddenly Miaka, Nuriko and Tasuki stopped to eat at one of the snack stores.

" That's what I expected from Miaka…" Akina said as she sweat dropped at the glutton miko who swallowed her portion much faster than her seishi's, quickly ordered more and more to satisfy her enormous appetite.

" Yes no da, our miko's appetite is incredible no da…." Chichiri replied and walked away with Akina towards another game that they could watch. Leaving Chiriko and Kouji behind. Kouji was smiling wide towards the two of them as Chichiri pulled away Akina from the others. But Chiriko was not so happy about the whole thing.

" What about you Kouji? Aren't you going to eat, so you can compete with Miaka? " Chiriko asked the bandit while he watched Akina standing a few feet away from him with Chichiri watching a strength game. The young seishi did not notice the glare he received from Kouji as he approached Chiriko from behind.

" Nope, but you and I can try the knife throwing game over there! I sure do like to throw knifes, so you can be my target! " Kouji said as he grabbed Chiriko's tunic and pulled him away.

" H-hey, I was only kidding! " Chiriko yelled as Kouji laughing pulled him away towards the said knife throwing attraction.

" HELP ME, HE'S TRYING TO KILL ME! "

Akina looked over her shoulder as she heard Chiriko scream and saw him tied up on a knife board that spun around and around very fast.

" Gah! I'm sorry! Can't we talk this over! OW! Hey watch it! " Chiriko yelled as Kouji started to throw the knifes around Chiriko, one knife ended up only an inch away from Chiriko's head. Which made the poor boy faint.

" Aww, poor Chiriko. " Akina giggled and Chichiri looked at the direction Akina was looking at. Chichiri sweat dropped and then suddenly let go of Akina's arm. Confused Akina stared up into the monks smiling face.

" Akina could you go and sit over there for awhile no da? " He asked her as he pointed at the store that Miaka was eating from.

" Sure, but where are you going? " Akina asked as the monk walked off. He stopped in his tracks and looked back at her.

" I'm just going to look for something! Stay at the store until I return, okay no da? " The monk said and disappeared into the big crowd of families and couples that walked around. Akina sighed and walked over to the eating trio and sat down beside them. Nuriko was the first to notice that she had come alone.

" Hey Akina! Where's Chichiri? " He asked and looked around for the monk.

" He told me to wait here and walked of somewhere…." Akina replied as she watched the strength game from her seat, Nuriko frowned.

" Is he trying to sneak away? Oh no! Not after all the hard work i did on Akina to make her look this pretty tonight! " He thought angrily and stood up.

" Hey Kouji get over here for a second! " He called to the bandit who tried to shake life into Chiriko, but to no avail. So he just left him there to wake up on his own.

" What's up Nuriko? " He asked as he spotted Akina sitting on the bench without her date.

" Chichiri went off somewhere and left Akina here all alone. So lets go and find him and bring him back to his lady! " Nuriko explained and the two of them walked off to find the blue haired monk.

Tasuki and Miaka had not paid any attention to the conversation at all, so they stood up and walked off somewhere together.

" Thanks…" Akina thought as she stared after the two of them, as they walked into the crowed and disappeared.

" And what am I supposed to do now?" She thought.

Akina had been sitting there for about ten minutes when two drunken boys approached the snack shop to eat. But they both quickly lost interest in the food as they spotted the cute customer that already sat there looking a bit alone. Both of them grinned at each other as they went over and sat down beside her.

" What's up girly? Got no date on the festival? " The older boy asked as he eyed Akina's body. Akina cast them both a cold glare and stood up to walk away from them. But the other one grabbed her wrist to prevent her from leaving.

" Whoa, don't be so chilly, lady. Why don't you come with the two of us, we can show you a good time…" He offered and tried to pull Akina closer to him.

" Leave me alone! " She snapped as she wriggled her hand out from his grasp. The other man that sat closest to her then stood up and roughly embraced her so that she could not escape from them.

" Let go of me! " She yelled and many that was around the scene either turned around or stopped to see what was going on. Akina began to scream as the one who held her in her arms began to draw closer to kiss her.

" NOO! " She yelled as she closed her eyes and tried to get away from him.

WHACK!

Akina snapped her eyes open as she heard the sound and saw Chichiri standing beside her with his staff drawn towards the young boy who was lying on the ground.

" She said no. So back off! " Chichiri's cheerful voice was gone and so was the mask Akina noticed as he spoke to the boys. Akina could se a small glimpse of red playing in his right brown eye.

" He's angry, hopefully those two idiots will back away and leave us alone…" She thought and watched the other boy as he helped his comrade up to his feet. Both of them quickly reached their hands inside of their tunics and pulled out knifes that they pointed towards Chichiri and Akina in a threatening manner.

Chichiri sighed and pushed Akina behind him as the boys rushed forward and attacked him. Chichiri placed his hands in his praying beads and chanted a quick spell.

" HAAH! " He yelled and unleashed the spell onto them.

The young boys froze in their steps and were unable to move any further at all.

" W-what the heck did you do to us, sorcerer? Hey let go of us! " They screamed after Chichiri as he walked away with Akina.

" You two can just stand there all night to think about what you've done. Then you'll probably learn to remember to back off when a lady tells you to leave her alone! " The monk yelled back and disappeared with Akina into his Kaza.

On the bridge

Chichiri and Akina appeared on a bridge that went over the strong river. Akina smiled as she saw the view over the water, the moon's reflection was shinning brightly and so did the stars. She went closer to the edge and looked out over the water.

" This is really beautiful, thank you for brining me here Chichiri…" She said as she looked down on her reflection in the water mirror.

" Akina…"

" Huh, what's the matter Chichiri? " She asked as she looked up into the warriors face. He was standing right beside her, but did not meet her gaze. His face showed an expression of guilt as he began to speak.

" I'm sorry… I should not have left you there. It would have been better if I had taken you along…" He said and then turned his eye towards her as he finished the sentence.

" Don't worry about it Chichiri! I'm fine; you could not have known that those two would show up! So don't worry about it." She said while she gazed at him.

" But…" He began as Akina cut him off when she placed a finger across his lips.

" Shush now, I don't want to repeat myself again, okay? " The monk nodded and she removed her finger from him.

" What were you doing anyway, when you were gone Chichiri? "

" Oh, I almost forgot! Here…." Chichiri reached inside of his Kasa and pulled out a small packaged that he handed over to her.

" Chichiri! You did not have to go and buy me something because of the festival! " Akina said as he placed the packaged into her hands.

" I wanted to give you this because I thought it will suit you." He replied and opened the present for her, and then he pulled out two small necklaces. One shaped as a Sakura flower, and the other one was shaped as a seagull. Chichiri picked up the necklaces and held them up in the air in front of Akina.

" They are so pretty Chichiri! " Akina said as she stared first at the necklace and then back at him. The seishi smiled at her and gave her the one with the seagull on and a small knife. When she looked a bit confused Chichiri started to explain what they were going to do.

"These are special necklaces, you can give them to someone you love, or some one you see as a friend. You write down four words you think resembles the person you give the necklace to and carve them down with the knife." Chichiri explained.

" Okay so I am supposed to write down four words that suits you on this seagull? " She asked and he nodded. Akina looked down at the seagull as she tried to think of words that suited him.

" Maybe… Noble, caring, protective, and handsome…" She thought and blushed at the last word as she carved it down while waiting for Chichiri to finish his.

" There we go. " He said as he looked up from the necklace and placed it around her neck. Akina gently grabbed the flower and read the words he had written in the leaves.

" Brave, tender, bright and beautiful. " Akina blushed and looked up at Chichiri. He was smiling affectionately at her as he looked down at her. Akina returned the smile and placed his necklace around his neck and held up the seagull so that he could read what was written on the wings.

Chichiri's lone eye widened as he read the words and looked at Akina in disbelief.

" I think you put a wrong word here…" He said and pointed at " Handsome ". Akina let go of the necklace so that it fell onto his chest as she stared up into his eye.

" Every single word that is written on that necklace is true, because if it wasn't I would not wrote them down. Stop thinking less of yourself than others Chichiri…" She said as her hands reached up and gently caressed his mask less face.

" But i.." He began.

" Shh. I love you because of who you are as a person. It's the inside that counts…" Akina whispered while Chichiri stared down at her in shock.

He looked deep into her eyes to see if there was any doubt or lie there. But found nothing else than pure honesty from a girl who confessed her feelings to a boy she loved in the hope that he would feel the same way about her.

" Do you really mean that Akina? That you love me? " He asked her. Akina nodded and smiled brightly up at him.

" Yes I do…" She answered.

Chichiri gently entwined one of his arms around Akina's waist and the other one grabbed her neck and tilted her head as he slowly lowered his mouth to meet hers in a passionate kiss.

And all the feelings that he felt for the girl was poured out into a breathtaking kiss. But soon the two of them parted to breath and they stared lovingly into each other's eyes.

" I love you Chichiri…"

" I love you too Akina…" She whispered back and the two of them embraced each other for another kiss, which went on much longer than the first one.

And thankfully unknowing to them, they had an audience watching the two of them from the bushes. Nuriko and Kouji had found the two of them here as the two of them were busy carving the necklaces and did not notice them at all. Kouji and Nuriko looked at each other with pleased smiles.

" Seems like it worked! Good thing that those two idiots happened to show up. It made the whole thing a bit more interesting. " Kouji whispered to Nuriko.

" Well we helped them a bit on the way, now it 's up to them…" Nuriko whispered back and pulled Kouji with him as he walked away leaving the new lovers alone in the star-filled night.

Hi again!

So what did you think of this chapter?

Was it cute?

I worked with this chapter until 20.50 at night and I started 7.30 in the morning.

Well review all of you and email me privately if you feel like it! -

Until next time

Ja ne my friends!