'Sup? It's wonderful rainy dark fall weather here where I live and I can't get enough of it.

Enjoy!


-Polished Floors-

Guilt and shame and every other feeling that goes along those lines bears down on Tia's shoulders when they enter Houki's room. Even makeup couldn't hide the red around her eyes, the slight slump in her shoulders, and the way her mouth just couldn't smile as warmly as before.

"Tia, I'm so glad you've returned to us safely. You gave all of us a fright when you disappeared so suddenly that night months ago," she greets, but her voice is so much flatter than usual. So devoid of the spark that made her so fun to be around.

"Houki, I came to see you because I heard from Nuriko. There aren't really any number of apologies I can make that'll make you feel better, or make anything better really."

The gentlewoman, dressed in lilacs and pinks and whites with her long hair pinned up as finely as always, narrows her eyes in the first glare Tia has ever seen from her. It hurts to see.

"But I deserve it, and if it helps, it helps," Tia thinks, readying herself for whatever's next.

"Then why are you here, Priestess of Suzaku? Are you better now that there are more dire circumstances, or have you come to tell me that you've decided to run again?"

Nuriko begins to protest but Tia holds her hand up to stop her.

"You have every right to ask those questions, and I deserve to be treated this way after running and causing so much strife. Everyone has moments of weakness, but mine have grander consequences than most, and you paid the price. All I can do now is beg your forgiveness someday, and move forward to save Konan like I said I would," Tia answers, sniffling a bit because damn if she didn't tear up a bit.

"Houki, as her celestial warrior, I also promise to do all I can to save Konan. His Majesty said the same thing, didn't he?" Nuriko says, though the hint of slyness makes Tia perk up a bit.

"Huh? Hori-sama?" A few seconds of thinking and staring at a suddenly pink and bashful face and Tia snickers. "Oooooh, looks like Nuriko and I really have lost the contest. Houki, you sweetheart, are you on flirting terms with the emperor?"

Houki puffs her cheeks out at the teasing lightly smacking the back of her hand on Tia's arm as she doesn't have a fan to work with. The courtesan's two friends both giggle at her expense.

"Don't say it like that, so casual! After you left, he kept asking to see me! I am at no liberty to refuse," she defends, failing miserably at trying to keep her face from turning red.

"Oh, so he definitely likes you then. So that was one of the reasons you gave up, eh Nuriko?"

"Yep."

"Oh, hush you two! Who am I to guess at the intentions of our emperor?!"

Tia and Nuriko look at each other in surprise at Houki's frantic outburst, blink a couple times, then grin mischievously.

"We dunno, you're the one who's been seeing him!"

They both laugh when she groans, but she allows them to hug her close. The strength of her hold in return is all the positive feedback Tia needs.

"I'm sorry I left the way I did. I'm all better now, and I never meant for any of this, but the mission comes first. I'm leaving soon and had to come see you," Tia says, squeezing tight and meaning every word. She can't imagine the kind of pain Houki must be feeling.

"In time I will recover, and I know you aren't to blame. Just be careful who you tease, as we wouldn't want anyone spreading more rumors about you and a certain celestial warrior…"

Tia draws away, now suddenly at the receiving end of the teasing by her two friends. The tables turn fast, and she never expected Houki to turn them!

"Hey! You two, um… well, rumors are just rumors, they have nothing to do with the truth."

Nuriko and Houki share a conspiratorial look before trapping Tia between them, ignoring her feeble protests as her face glows.

"So what is the truth then, Tia? He did go into your room and you were both in there alone for quite some time earlier today," Nuriko starts, Houki responding with a joking, scandalized "oh my!"

"He taught me to meditate," she squeaks. Nuriko hums in disbelief.

"No, it's true! That's all that happened, did you forget he's a monk, Nuriko?! I know we had this conversation before a while ago, you two were relentless!"

"Pfft, like that really matters when it comes to love, Tia. He missed you, you know. He was all out of it and weird, more than usual anyway," she quips back, watching Tia's response through a knowing wink. The Priestess feels a bit faint at the mention of the solid word "love." Her stomach flips.

"I think it's a bit early for it to be love, don't you?"

"Why Trianna, are you admitting that there's a basis to the rumors after all?" Houki juts in. Tia hesitates, then wails at being outsmarted by the two.

"He doesn't like me back! Before I left he asked me to put a stop to the rumors that weren't from me in the first place, and I told him we were just friends."

Nuriko and Houki wave her off, but begin to let her alone. After all, it's getting late, and two of the three have a quest to prepare for.

"Like I said, doesn't really matter when it comes to love, Tia. I'm sure he'll come around. Men can be dense, he just needs time and persistence," Nuriko says, before yawning with a long stretch over her head. Houki giggles.

"Thank you two for bringing me such happiness, to help me look forward in my dark time. Should I not see you before you leave, please be safe," she says, taking one of Tia's hands. The wish holds more weight now, and Tia nods.

"You know what… um, here." She pulls out the necklace she originally brought for Nuriko. "I want you to have this necklace. It's not much, but if you can wear it and think of me it'd be great, y'know?"

Houki allows her to drop the necklace into her waiting palm. She looks between it and the waiting Tia, her inspection ending with her closing her hand around the gift and throwing her arms around her friend.

"Of course I'll wear it. But please, Tia, while I know rumors are always troublesome, if you truly do have feelings…"

Tia pulls back, gaping.

"Don't give up on them so hastily. Hold him close to you, for you never know what the future might bring."

Without much more to say between them, Nuriko and Tia take their leave and go back to their respective rooms. It's late now, and their minds are swimming.

"Houki looked me right in the eye when she said that. Like she lost someone she cared about. But… oh man, I don't know," she thinks, running her fingers across her scalp before slapping her hands down to her sides.

She resolves that there are more pressing issues than her feelings for now. With three warriors left and Kutou breathing down their necks, and the knowledge she already has of what Chichiri has to say on the subject…

She frowns, feeling…

She feels so sad. So defeated.

"Well, that's why I keep saying so."

… … …

Hotohori didn't join them for breakfast the following morning, but that's just as well. Tia didn't get the best sleep. She's wishing coffee existed, or that she brought a cache of energy drinks, or perhaps even just a ton of donuts for a sugary jumpstart.

"Good morning Tia, no da!"

The chipper greeting is met with a mix between a grunt and zombie groan. Part of the reason she couldn't sleep in the first place was overthinking her feelings.

"Uh-oh, not a good morning?"

Another grunt.

"You have an interesting way of communicating, maybe you're not cut out for long days of travel no da!"

After a few grumblings she peers up at him.

"I'm not quitting. Just tired. Sleep wasn't my friend last night," she says, voice croaking but clear enough.

Chichiri settles in the chair next to her with a laugh. "Anything you wanna talk about, no da?"

He watches as she peeks at him again, this time her expression morphing into something akin to horror. He tilts his head in confusion, and when she realizes she's staring at him, her face turns very, very pink.

"No, it's nothing. Thanks though," she squeaks.

They turn back to their meals, both sort of waiting for the other to say something more. It doesn't make sense for them to, but…

"I thought I'd go fishing at that pond later, just to relax and even practice a little before we set out no da. Would you like to join me?"

Part of her alights in giddiness, and no part of her stupid brain can object. After all, it's a totally innocent invitation anyway, and they'll be spending lots of time together during their journey, so it's all normal. It doesn't matter that she wants to dance around in triumph.

"Sure! Fishing sounds nice."

"*Ahem*" Nuriko clears her throat, having just walked in with Chiriko and sat down. Tia and Chichiri hope they haven't been watching for long.

"If you two are gonna be like that, communal breakfast is not worth the time. Honestly, Tia, this is why people–"

"Shut up!"

Tia glances between her three friends frantically, her outburst only adding fuel to Nuriko's fire. Tia can see it in her eyes, and that damn haughty little smirk, but she mercifully doesn't jump on the chance to mock her. Or make things worse.

"Fine, fine. We had our talk last night. So, any word from His Majesty yet?"

Thankful for the rapid change in subject, Tia picks up her fork again and allows the conversation to continue without her.

"I was called in late last night to settle a route dispute," Chiriko offers, and Tia notes that he looks pretty sleepy himself.

"Oh, you should make sure you get some more rest today. Don't let them overwork you just cuz you're smarter than them, okay? Just say the word and me, Nuriko, Hori-sama, and Chichiri will kick all their butts," she says, reminding herself that she needs to give him the Rubik's cube. He nods, smiling shyly.

"Yes, Your Eminence. Thank you."

What went over her head however, and wasn't missed by Nuriko, is that Chichiri's face turned down. She has a feeling the monk has some news that Tia won't like, news that he doesn't even like himself.

"I'll be ready for waterworks later, then," she thinks, sighing a bit. Nuriko has been wondering about her own heart these days, and what her true feelings are. Is she still a woman? A man? Is she truly in love with Hotohori-sama, or, as she's beginning to fret… have her feelings changed toward Tia?

...

After breakfast, Tia holds Chiriko back.

"Hey, before you go back to chilling and before I meet up with Chichiri, I wanted to give you something."

"Give me something? As in, a gift?" he asks, curiosity piqued as he gladly joins her on the walk to her room. He secretly doesn't want her to get lost.

"Yeah! I think you'll have some fun with it, even if you solve it fast. Maybe if you do you can teach me, I was never able to do it, haha," she explains.

"Solve? So it's some sort of puzzle."

"Yeah. One that lots of people can solve, to be honest, but not me. I'm too dumb."

He starts in indignation on her behalf.

"You're not dumb, Your Eminence! One of the things I've learned while here in the palace is that people have many different talents and types of expertise. I might be intelligent but I don't have the ability to fight the way His Majesty, Chichiri, and Nuriko can," he says, and the amount of passion in his voice makes Tia melt a bit inside. Such warm fuzzies!

"You're right, you're right."

Once in her room, she moves to her vanity and picks up the item in question, turning back to the small thirteen-year-old with an excited grin. Chiriko eyes the cube in her hand, having stayed at the entrance.

"Here. This is a Rubik's cube. The solution is to get all the sides to have solid colors, so like, all of one side will have red, one side will have white, and all that. Try it, and you'll see," she chitters, handing it off. Her grin grows wildly when his expression becomes perfectly enamored as he fiddles with the puzzle toy.

"Oh, I see," he mumbles, fascinated. He gapes up at her. "How can I repay you, ever, for something so amazing, Your Eminence?"

Tia waves him off.

"No repayment, none. You're my friend, and I love getting my friends things. Just part of who I am. Although, you can drop the overly formal 'Your Eminence' and just call me Tia, if it's really that pressing," she replies casually, sticking her hands in her hoodie pocket.

Chiriko, still fiddling, nods slowly, determined. "I will do my best to remember, Your- oh. Tia."

She laughs, ruffling his hair.

"Go get some rest, little dude. If you need anything holler, or if you wanna hang out you can come find me 'n Chichiri, he said he wanted to go fishing at the giant pond and you're welcome to join," she offers, yawning with a stretch afterward. Chiriko stares between her and the rather ominous-looking sky.

"Hm. I suppose I might, should the rain hold off…"

The doubt in his voice has Tia also looking at the sky, and grimacing.

"Oof. Yeah, I dunno…"

The two stand, as if waiting for the clouds to give them a definitive answer to the looming question.

"Tia, um… are you…?"

"Huh?"

She turns, having half-heard his small voice. He flushes, waving his hand up in front of his face.

"N-nevermind. I'll see you later, thank you again!"

Tia watches him go, wiggling her fingers in goodbye before turning back to lean against the railing outside her room. She sighs.

"Wonder what he was gonna ask. Hope I'm not intimidating him too much or anything," she worries. She leans back when she hears the first drops of rain on the roof tiles above. The shrubbery that retains its leaves around the courtyard all dip, each one at a time, then more rapidly as the storm picks up. The air, which was already soupy, becomes a fine stew of humidity.

She grumbles, watching a large muddy puddle in what was a pristine curated walkway ripple and splash. At the very least, despite her disappointment, the sound of the heavy rain is relaxing, and it's still pretty warm out so her hoodie has her covered.

"Na no da…. Looks like I underestimated the power of winter weather. Guess I was too optimistic."

"Eep!" She jumps, grabbing a wrapping hold onto the bannister in exasperation. She gapes up at him, only to see that he's definitely trying not to break down laughing at her. Must be good from his point of view if even his mask isn't helping! She leers.

"Dammit, how do you do that?! Someday I'm going to scare you instead and I'll get to laugh!"

He chuckles as she peels herself off. She resettles her arms on her hips, refusing to look at him to save her broken pride. They continue to observe the downpour.

"So…" she trails, shifting her feet. "Guess fishing is a bit out of the question, unless you have a magic rain shelter in your bag of tricks."

"Can't say I do, no da. Hmm…" he trails off in thought, shrinking to chibi form to pace around. She watches, lips turning up in amusement.

"If you keep thinking so hard steam will come out your ears," she remarks, distracting him from his track. She snickers at the cute look of wonder and confusion on his face as he stares up at her.

"Steam from my ears? Now that would be a magic trick no da!"

"I'd be impressed."

He pops up with a huge grin. "You're impressed by all my magic no da!"

She gleefully taps his nose with the tip of her finger, wearing a snarky expression.

"Maybe so, but you can't make a rain proof shelter so we can go fishing!"

He feigns hurt feelings as she laughs victoriously. If the moment could stretch into forever, this fragment of time where nothing is wrong and they're just two people joking around, she'd take it in a heartbeat.

He pops up to normal size. "I may not have a rain shelter, but I have an idea no da!"

Before she can open her mouth to ask, he scoops her up into his arms, surprising her on multiple levels as she whoops. Her arms scrabble around his neck, her face heating up as his masked smile grows.

"He's pretty strong, which I mean duh, but-!" Her thoughts run rapid.

"Hold on, no da," he advises, and she makes doubly sure she's snuggled in as the arm under her legs rises up to meet his prayer beads.

A whir and a pop later, and she untucks a little. The sound of rain is gone. While being carried isn't super comfortable, she's still inclined to keep close when he gently sets her down to stand. Once more, a tiny few seconds are etched into her mind, and she wishes they would have lasted longer.

"Ah, I was right! This is a small lake I visited on recent travels, and it's protected from most storms no da," Chichiri explains drifting away toward the calm waters. Tia takes a quick breather to get her entire sanity back together again before following.

"Oddly convenient. Hopefully no one will miss us back at the palace," she comments, looking around the small clearing that's surrounded by thick woods. A part of her wonders why, if it's so nice and sheltered, there isn't at least a hermit living here. That's what they do, right?

"Ah no, we'll be fine. Now let's get to it no da, or else we won't get to fishing before the sun goes down!"


Chiriko watches the spot where his priestess disappeared along with his warrior companion. Although well aware of Chichiri's various impressive powers, he still couldn't wrap his head around it. Not yet. After all, he himself is only blessed with intelligence beyond compare, but it's so conditional that it feels useless.

"Hmm… I hope his talk goes well. Her Emine— no, Tia—" he smiles at the recent memory, "seems closer to Chichiri-san than anyone else in general," he ponders aloud, the heavy rainfall masking the sound of his voice to the point where even he had a hard time hearing it.

"Perhaps Nuriko-san knows more. It's time I got to ask," he thinks, breaking himself from where he was rooted and seeking out his other warrior companion.

After knocking at her door, he gets permission to enter and is intrigued by the sight that awaits him. Nuriko is sitting at a desk, sorting through papers, all while twirling her long braid between her fingers. Her face is scrunched in thought, but perks up when she notices she has a guest.

"Oh, sorry. Helping my parents and my brother settle some affairs now that all this warrior business has cropped up. Is something wrong?"

"Not at all, no." Chiriko shuffles forward, mind swirling over how exactly to present his thoughts. He has to be coherent, and succinct for the type of answer he wants.

In his brainstorm, he forgets to step carefully. The floor, polished to a shine, is notoriously slick after recent cleanings. Nuriko's room had been polished during breakfast.

Chiriko's question, the words he desires so much to say, die in his throat as he falls backward. "I wanted to ask about Tia and-"

Thud.

Nuriko would've laughed. Would've laughed quite heartily. But after her short friend slipped and fell, he did not get up and brush himself off. He did not continue with his question.

Her dopey grin falls into a shocked expression of panic as Chiriko begins to sniffle and cry. Then sob. Carefully—so as not to meet the same fate— she rises and hurries to him, baffled. Although timid, he'd never been completely wimpy!

"Chiriko? Hey, you're fine, it's just a little bump on the head. Calm down," she says, her soothing voice from her courtesan days coming in handy once again. Chiriko hiccups, calming a bit. He stares at her with wide eyes before sitting up. Nuriko only keeps watching, a bit freaked, and more concerned. If they're going out traveling, this could be an issue.

"That really hurt… Nuriko, why is the floor attacking like that?"

She feels said floor drop out from under her. "Is… is he serious…?"

She awkwardly laughs, in case it's a joke. "Oh, you. What did you want to ask me anyway?"

Chiriko stares blankly. She stares back. Alarm sets in even more because something is definitely not right. There was something more to Chiriko's character and powers that his mother mentioned, and Nuriko can't recall the specifics. This has to be what she meant.

"I dunno. I don't have my kanji at all anymore, my brain don't work like it used to." He sniffles, wiping at his face with his sleeves like a child half his age. Nuriko stares off to the side, panic trilling in her spine.

"This is bad. And what's worse: Tia is going to kill me."


It's time for Chiriko to show his other side. Just in time for journeying! Asking for ultra-polished floors is a safety hazard, imo.

Thanks everyone for reading, I'm having fun!

Til Next Time,

-A