Kourin laughed and told jokes to herself as she downed a couple more shots and I had only a couple myself. My face felt hot and there was that nagging feeling that I shouldn't be fooling around with alcohol, but I did feel happier and more relaxed than I had been in a few weeks.

"And then he said, 'please marry me!' -hic- and I told him to come back the day before yesterday!" my drinking partner laughed. "He's not His Majesty, so I won't! I just won't!"

"As soon as you do meet him, though, he'll probably have no choice but to marry you!" I said. "I don't think you'd let him get away even if he wanted to!"

"I dunno," she pouted. "I hope he at least -hic- likes me a little. Juuuust a little." To illustrate, she pinched her index finger and thumb in front of her eye.

"Of course he'll like you if you're as beautiful as me," I joked.

"Noooo, it's not like thaaat!" she moaned. "You're so much more pretty and feminine than me! Just think of what His Majesty would think if he saw me so drunk!" She then looked me in the face and moved so close that our noses nearly bumped. "Why, you're not tipsy at all!"

"Oh no, I am feeling very relaxed," I assured her with a slight slur.

"It makes sense," she shrugged and paced across the room. "After all, real ladies like you don't get -hic- silly. But you're special. I wish I could be you."

"You'd rather be me than be Kourin?" I laughed. "You don't want to be a poor girl!"

"You have this natural beauty to you that I don't have," she walked across the room with an awkwardly stiff posture as if to imitate me. "You carry yourself -hic- with such grace, and you don't have to pretend you're a lady- it's natural for you to be nice -hic- t' people. I'm not like that at aaaaall. Aw, and look how rosy your cheeks are!"

"That's because of the liquor."

"No, you're nice without liquor, too," she untied her hair and let her locks falls around her shoulders. It might just have been because of the alcohol, but I started feeling very jealous of how shiny and pampered her hair was. Mine was layered with split ends and got oily easily. Even though she was saying otherwise at the moment, I thought she was far prettier than I was, no matter how drunk she might be. She let herself fall into her bed beside the chair I was sitting on and let out a loud, content sigh.

"I'm sure His Majesty will be just as smitten with you when he finally meets you," I said to her. "It won't be long before he does. I'll bet you barely have time to sober up before he comes through that door."

"Mmm, stop joking Houki," she pretended to be irritated, but still had a wide smile on her face. "After all, I have things to do. But I can't do those things. Oooh, I wish I was you, -hic- Houki! I wish I was you!"

"You don't know what you're saying. You don't even know who you are, Kourin!"

"Houki."

"Yes--?"

She sat up to hold my face in her hands and look at me very carefully. After being silent for a few moments, as if in deep thought (or lack there of), she declared, "You're beautiful."

I blushed and smiled, but was still sober enough to tell she was probably saying that because she was too drunk or because she thought I was beautiful because I looked like her. Before I could say anything in response, she fell back into bed while still holding my head, and dragged me with her. "Kourin? Let go…"

Laying next to one another, she planted her forehead against mine and closed her eyes, and spoke clearer than she had the whole evening. "It can only be you."

"Kourin?"

"You're the only one I'll let care for him."

"Kourin? Care for who?"

As soon as she had said that, though, she fell asleep, and her grip around my face got lighter. She looked very peaceful as she slept, so I smiled. With the alcohol in my system, I didn't feel like getting up, and I certainly didn't mind falling asleep at Kourin's side. After all, I enjoyed being with people I cared about, and I felt more relaxed there than I had in months, or possibly even since I entered the imperial harem. I slept very soundly that night.

That sleep ended abruptly the next morning when Kourin screamed. Startled, I sat up and looked around and saw her sitting next to me on the bed, horrified. "Kourin? Kourin, dear, what's the matter?"

"You were there the whole night!?" she shrieked in disbelief. "In.. in my bed?"

"Yes," I nodded with a groggy smile. "Last night was a lot of fun, thank you."

"Maybe a little too fun," she held her head and moaned. "Ohhh, my head. I barely remember it... How could I? How dare I?"

"Looks like you need some time to recover," I stood up with a touch of a headache. "I'll clear these bottles out of your way for you."

"Yes! Get rid of them! Oohhh," she still held her head. "How could I have done that! Nothing against you, Houki, but I feel sick to my stomach."

"Why don't you get some more sleep while I clean up in here?" I put my head to hers and smiled. She seemed like such a baby when we wasn't feeling well. Kourin shied away from my gesture with a yelp and covered her head with her blankets. I giggled a bit as I gathered the empty and half finished bottles and left. I didn't feel very well the rest of the day, but no where near as sick as Kourin must have felt. She avoided me until the next day.

When she found me, she had a very sheepish look on her face. "Houki, I'm sorry about the other night. I can hardly remember any of what I did, but…"

"Oh, Kourin, there's no need to apologize," I assured her.

She looked up to me with a panicked face. "Whatever you do, just don't tell His Majesty I slept with you!"

"I don't think he would hold anything against you for--"

"For your sake, Houki!" she raised her voice, then promptly covered her mouth and calmed back down to a hushed voice. "Listen, if we can just forget about it… if that's possible…"

"Of course let's forget about it if it bothers you that much," I nodded. "What does a little fun between friends matter, anyway?"

"If you say so," she smiled weakly. I found it sweet and somewhat unexpected that she regretted getting drunk even more than I did. "I'm glad that's over with!"

In the time that followed, she became a little less violent, and patient once again for the emperor to meet her.

Author Fangirling: I know, I know! It was horribly mean of me to make Nuriko think his manly side showed through, but I couldn't resist. But the main purpose of this chapter was I wanted to show Nuri's inner thoughts on Houki, which he probably wouldn't have said otherwise (though I'm it must have taken quite a bit of alcohol to get him to loosen up that much... oh my). I think Nuriko had planned a long time before series that she was the only one he'd give the emperor to if he couldn't have him himself. And yes, there's more coming.