Chapter five: Take notice of Your Protectors

That day, the grey of the skies matched that of the concrete road. Heat from a car muffler rippled the air as the vehicle raced down the long stretch. Eternal sand whizzed by on one side, while buildings fuzzed into impressionistic blurs on the other. Inside, the female driver glared at the empty road, her scowl intent on something other than the road. Soon enough, the convertible passed the limits of town, following the asphalt path as it stretched onwards into the distant horizon. Previously tall houses shrank into the ground, sprawling across boundless emerald lawns. Swerving past the posh residence areas, the car slowed to make a turn, curving left towards the fenced beach.

Late summer wasn't the ideal surf-hitting season. The cold front swept in over the waters, making the air too chilly for swimming. Waves were also rougher, thrashing, breaking foam over jagged rocks. Yet the driver didn't seem to mind as she braked into an abrupt halt beside the long cement stairway that led down into the sand. Yanking the key from the ignition, she tossed it into her backpack, fishing out a wildly ringing cell phone.

"Mom?" A pause, during which the driver leaned over to open the glove compartment, rustling papers inside the brown Manila envelope there. "Yes...I was just dropping off the confirmation forms. No, I won't be back for dinner. A few friends have asked if I wanted to get together. We're hanging out at Chloe's place." Another, longer, pause. "Yes, mom, I'll be careful. Bye."

Making a face, the girl killed her phone altogether, tossing it onto the passenger seat before slamming the glove compartment shut. She didn't usually lie, but she was absolutely not going to submit those documents. Shouldering her pack, she locked the car on her way out.

Just as expected, the beach was deserted. A month or so ago, the place had been swarming with people – beach buds with huge surfboards, teenagers in bright bikinis, boyfriends sporting washboard abs...even screaming spoiled brats who had nannies running around flailing sunscreen. Now, they were all gone. Probably indoors, watching movies on giant projectors, or else lounging in their bathroom Jacuzzis.

The girl shook her head, sand catching in her hair as the wind blew through it. Picturing out the beach in the full, swinging heat of summer only made her more depressed. While everybody was out celebrating the end of the school term, her mother had cooped her up indoors reading sheet upon sheet of Chopin and Stravinsky and Rachmanioff and Schubert. All for the sake of a goodly education, she was told.

Sure. Whatever.

Maybe that was why she was banging out concertos on maniacally expensive pianos while her schoolmates went on illegal drinking sprees and got high on coke.

Missed all that in the name of good breeding, she thought sarcastically..

Actually, her mother had conceded that her penchant for the fine arts could be granted a position on the things "the fairer sex must learn". Then she had to walk into the studio and see her darling daughter up to her elbows in oil paint that took forever to come off. It wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't have to attend a dinner party that night, and she couldn't wear the strapless Oscar de la Renta because of her rainbow-splotched arms.

That heralded the end of her paint-covered smock dreams.

Good thing her mother didn't know about her sneaking out late at night to get drifting lessons from a close friend. Or that the silver Lamborghini they got her for her sixteenth birthday initiated that new fanaticism. Or that she was going to rip up those stupid letters and throw them into the abyss.

Goodbye Vienna Music Conservatory whatchamacallit! Score for Lolita! She silently cheered, patting the envelope tucked under her arm.

The envelope.

Stopping in her tracks, she turned around, sneakers beginning to sink into the shifty sand. The car was a long way up – a hundred thousand steps back to the road. And so were the bloody acceptance forms. She was already more than halfway to the edge of the ocean. Shit. There was no way in all seven blazing hells she was going to go back to her car. Kicking the ground, she slogged forward. Seemed like the fates were on her case again. And they were screeching in laughter, watching her through their shared eyeball.

Ooh la la. Her mother was definitely going to get her way now.

Vienna Conservatory, here I come.

Nudging a thick, rotting piece of tree trunk, she sat on it just as an incoming wave crashed onto the shore, dodging the wave-breaking boulders around it to make a beeline for her. Icy waters splashed against her denim-covered shins, spray racing upwards to drench her thighs and grey sweatshirt in salty water. Her day was getting better and better. Seething inwardly, Lolita got up, moving inland towards the stone porch of a nearby beach house.

"Not exactly the right weather for the beach," the blond receptionist laughed as he saw her come dripping in.

"Hasn't been my day, Rick," Lolita countered with a wry smirk. "Think you could get me a towel? I need to go to the post office."

He raised an eyebrow, appraisingly looking her over as he half-turned to disappear into a side door. "You just passed the post office. It's in town, remember?"

"Yeah...just now. Anyway, I'll be waiting up front." Waving weakly, Lolita trotted back to the open porch. Behind her, she heard the office door click shut. After blatantly lying to her mother about spending the night at a friend's place, she couldn't exactly return home. The only viable option was to stay at the beach house, where she hoped Rick would keep her company. They have been friends for a while now. Surely, he would agree to stay overnight if she asked nicely. Sighing, she trotted over to a well recently built into one side of the entrance. The water inside was clear, orange goldfish darting below the reflection of the murky sky. Already, a few coins glimmered on the stone floor.

Ha. Wishing for good things was nearly impossible. By the way things in her life were turning out, she was bound to screw up the best wish. But maybe it would be fun... A sign hanging from the metal canopy bars over the mouth of the well warned people to be careful of what they wished for. Lolita rolled her eyes at the message and dug around for loose change.

Just for kicks. Rubbing her find on her sleeve, she clasped the coin between her palms, ready to drop it in the water the moment she made her wish.

Be careful of what you wish for...

What could she ask for? What was so crazy, so beyond anything the human mind can classify as possible? What did she really want?

Behind her squeezed eyes, a handsome, scarred face smiled, throwing her heart into a stuttering fit. She had seen this face so many times she could practically memorize every single detail there. The gentleness calmed her, made her forget there ever was a world to worry about – the world that was not entirely made up of his serene presence.

It was a long shot. It was so impossible. It could never, ever happen in a million years.

But it was what she wanted.

"I wish..." she swallowed, the beach house falling into a soundless void around her. The earlier anger that prompted her to see the ocean melted away until there was only his face, and the intensity of her feelings for him. For a fleeting second she remembered that it could not happen. Yet still she whispered, "I wish for Chichiri."

With a soft splash, the coin dropped into the water.

***

Missing morning meditation wasn't the way to begin Chichiri's day, and his finding every little crisis confounding only amped up his suspicions. Tasuki might have been on to something when he declared that girls were bad news.

The thought coaxed a tiny smile from the monk's face. That comment was made a couple of years ago, back when the only "normal" female the fiery bandit knew was the Suzaku no miko. With Lolita around, though, he knew the younger man had to eat his words. Chichiri tried not to let it show that he knew Tasuki was infatuated with the girl. His actions around her were telltale enough – from the way he always sprang to her defence to the way he hovered so protectively around her. Like that morning. For Suzaku's sake, Chichiri thought, he was a monk. Tasuki had nothing to fear with his being around Lolita. Of course, it didn't help that she confessed to loving him, and that the majority – no, practically all – of their acquaintances had caught wind of it.

He sighed, kneading his crossed legs. Life used to be so simple. At least, as simple as it could get after battling the forces of evil. When Tenkou was defeated, he decided maybe it was time to move forward. Tasuki had always insisted that the past was the past: there was nothing one could do to change it, so it was just best to forget and move on.

That was easier said than done. He had been so used to the life of repentance, of non-desire, that it was hard – no, almost impossible – to imagine the kind of life waiting for him outside that. Also, a part of him railed against it. That was the same part that insisted on remaining solid in grief, reminding him to feel guilty about atrocities already forgiven.

Chichiri closed his eyes again, intent on shutting his mind to the world. But the calm silence of his room felt just a little odd. His body remained tense, alert, waiting for the shrill call he had known for less than a day. Strangely enough, he realized that he anticipated hearing her, that he couldn't focus on meditation because his physical self wanted to be outside, running down the halls with her again. Shaking his head, he finally opened his eyes.

The child had gotten to him. She gave him a glimpse of the future he could not picture outside his impenetrable shell and made him remember how it was to be so carefree. Take that morning, for instance. He had taken her down to the pond where almost instantly, she waded into the water, trapping little fish in her hands. He couldn't help joining her, discarding his pole to play her game. Between them, they only caught one fry. Chichiri was showing it to her when, with a tiny flick of its tail, the fish jumped out of his hands back into the pool. She jerked in surprise and he laughed, splashing her with the water. She retaliated. Had he not realized that they were already late to the meeting, they might have stayed there all morning, drenching each other by turns.

He told her about the trip as they walked back to the palace. She was so excited, and ran all the way to the meeting room. The discussions began, and somewhere in the middle, Lolita suddenly snapped.

Chichiri frowned. It wasn't that he blamed her. True, they couldn't possibly understand how it felt to be in her place – displaced from family and friends and the world she belonged to – and they probably underestimated that loneliness. He could understand her feeling homesick, though he couldn't fathom why she would take it out on Ami. Yet there was something in the latter's reaction that raised questions.

Lolita asked why Ami had come. Not how. Why.

Indeed, why? Getting lost in the Universe of the Four Gods wasn't a choice, was it? Girls from other worlds had to be called by a divine force to be able to set foot in his world. Then again, hadn't Taiitsukun said that she did not know the reason behind Lolita's coming?

Chichiri found himself wondering about the girl's answer to her own question. If he asked her outright, what would she say? Would she be like Ami? paling and refusing to answer? Meditation forgotten, he stood up, determined to satisfy his curiosity.

***

The freaking girl was stubborn. Tasuki had ascertained the fact minutes after she first arrived into his world, walking right into a trap his men had set. Bundled up in a net swinging several feet off the ground, she was not exactly the happiest person alive, and was screaming at the bandits who made crude jokes and tried to hit on her. When they hauled her up to the stronghold and let her out, she was practically snarling. Tasuki had pointed his tessen at her, and what did she do? She openly dared him to burn her into a crisp. How she even knew about his powers was beyond him, but before "Rekka Shinen" was out of his mouth, she had ducked beneath his outstretched fan and kicked him hard in the shin, apparently for "condoning unspeakable behaviour in his men."

The memory made him smile. It wasn't everyday that he met somebody like that, much less a girl who knew all about the Suzaku no miko and all her seishi. Shrugging out of his thoughts, he peered into nearby stores, muttering curses when he still couldn't find her.

He should have known. When she said she was going to look for a job, he should have taken her seriously and walked out with her, making time to banish the idea from her thick, pig-headed skull instead of hanging around listening to Chiriko and Hotohori make half-hearted comments about the journey. Any fool could see that they were all burning to talk about the scene Lolita made. She wasn't normally aggressive, so any vicious outburst against anyone but himself definitely tickled everyone's curiosity. Add Ami's cowering exit to that and Nuriko was practically foaming at the mouth to speculate what it was all about.

When everyone fell silent, indicating the end of the meeting, Chichiri excused himself, and Tasuki did not waste time following his example. By then, only ten minutes later, she had gone to the city. That left him no choice but to look for her, afraid that wearing clothes from the palace would get her mugged.

Pounding music suddenly met his ears and Tasuki glanced up, none too happy for the street parade marching down the opposite end of the street, directly in his way. Caught in the crowd, he was swept to one side of the road, nudged this way and that until he found himself at the outermost edges of the throng. He was scrambling to keep on course when he looked up and saw her two back streets away. A group of troublemakers were edging around her, one feeling in his pocket for a weapon. Spewing a few choice curses, Tasuki raged forward, pushing past the crowd, which had stopped moving to watch the parade.

"Run away dammit!" he bellowed, shoving somebody's elbow out of the way. Lolita was just standing there, looking really angry as the men closed in around her. Several of them flicked out knives, and his eyes widened. She wasn't really planning to vent on... "Lo!"

Right before his eyes, the thugs lunged forward, weapons upraised. She managed to evade the first one, but staggered right into the two behind her, both of who instantly grabbed her arms, knives slanted against her throat.

"What are doing here all alone, ne-chan?" jeered the leader, coming up to pinch her cheek. Lolita made to bite him and received a hard slap. "Ya know, I don't think you have much on you. But we cou' make much off you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He looked her up and down, grin revealing missing teeth as his eyes settled on the undulations of her body. "I meant, there're bastards willing to pay a hefty sum fer a new bitch."

Understanding dawned, but fear dropped into her already seething internal cauldron, the contents bubbling into a surge of reckless bravery. She was just itching for a good argument. "Gee, I guess they'll be disappointed to learn I haven't got any bedroom tricks to show off then," she spat, pulling a sardonically distressed face.

Her captors laughed aloud, the leader leaning forward to examine her closely. "Don't worry about that. Most o' my customers're pretty good teachers." His hand found the curve of her waist.

"Get your filthy self off me," she scowled, eyes narrowing.

"Right! We wouldn't want to damage the merchandise, would we, boys?" Patting her cheek, the leader nodded towards a dilapidated building farther down the alley. "Keep 'er quiet. I'll be back with the buyers in a while."

Still struggling to free himself, Tasuki saw the leader leave. Barrelling out of the crowd, he took a second to steady himself before running in the direction of the remaining men, who were hustling Lolita down the street. To his satisfaction, and also to his frustration, she struggled, throwing herself back, rendering her captors off balance, and taking the opportunity to wriggle out of their grasp. He was mentally cheering, but then one of them caught the long sleeve of her gown, jerking her hard against a wall. In an instant, one of them wrapped his fingers around her neck and pointed a knife against her stomach.

Tasuki put on a fresh burst of speed. The fire he had seen in her only moment ago was snuffed out now, and Lolita only looked scared and hurt under the strangling grasp on her throat. The thug was saying something, slowly releasing his hold. Whatever reply she made Tasuki did not hear, though he clearly saw the heavy hand descend on her face again, leaving a stinging red mark. He was going to kill those bastards.

"Rekka –"

He couldn't finish, though, because that very moment, a powerful chi materialized in a shower of red. Chichiri appeared in the middle of the group, knocking out the men in a colossal wave of energy. Even Lolita sagged against the wall, and would have sunk to the ground had not Chichiri's arm snaked around her to keep her upright. He watched not twenty yards away, willing himself to move yet finding that his body refused to cooperate. He watched the whole thing unfold and end mere seconds after his fellow seishi's glorious entrance. Amidst the fallen bodies, the monk and the girl sank into the former's kesa.

A few of the thugs were beginning to stir. Although Tasuki cast a deathly glare at them, he had long lost the urge to pick a fight. Sheathing his tessen, he turned around, heading straight back to the palace.

All was quiet when he returned, and for a moment the bandit wondered whether Chichiri had really teleported to the palace or decided to go elsewhere. Upon second thought, though, he decided on the first choice, knowing that the monk was far too sensible to bring a shocked person anywhere far from medical attention. So he strolled down the row of bedroom doors, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of Ami. He had had enough trouble with hints of her lurking around every corner, and he was pretty sure Lolita would not want to hear about her after all she had gone through. Thankfully, the corridors were deserted, and he ambled over to Lolita's door.

There was hushed talking inside. He could make out Chichiri's voice, and Lolita's nervous reply.

"...I told you guys already – I made a wish, and it warped out of bounds and brought me here. Why do you want to know so much?"

"This morning you asked Ami-chan her reasons for coming to this world. I was wondering the same about you, no da."

"Why does everything always have to boil down to Ami?"

"This is not about her, no da." Chichiri's tone dipped a few notches. "Or is there something you want to hide?"

"I'm not like her!"

"It can't be too easy to come here, no da. Either the gods called –"

"That's the whole reason I'm trying to get back home!" Lolita's voice had risen to an agitated near-scream, clearly audible through the door. "I've learned my lesson! Be careful what you wish for and all that crap. I shouldn't have made that stupid wish! I shouldn't have come!"

"Lolita-chan –"

"Leave me alone!" At her hysterical tone, Tasuki couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into the room. Chichiri sat on the bed beside Lolita, one of his hands firmly grasping her arm. She refused to look at him, hair veiling her turned face.

Hot confusion began to well inside the bandit. It wasn't like the monk to be so compelling. "Why're ya makin' such a big deal of it, Chiri? We've been through this before."

His comment went unheard. In a stern voice Chichiri said, "Please listen, Lolita-chan. This might be very, very important."

"Chichiri!" Angry now, Tasuki strode over, yanking his grasp away from the girl. "Leave 'er alone, dint'cha hear!?"

"This is none of your business, no da."

"It is too my business!" he contested fiercely. "What's yer problem? Th' Chiri I know would never act like this! If Lo doesn't want to tell you why she's `ere, there's no reason for your forcing it outta her!"

"If you'll leave –"

"Fine. I'll tell." Chichiri stopped to look at the young woman, whose voice had returned to its soft whisper from minutes ago. "I came for selfish reasons." Drawing a shaky breath she went on, "My parents were smothering me. They were dictating my future, and until the day I arrived here, I never really had the guts to stand up for what I wanted. That day, I was going to destroy the acceptance forms my mom wanted me to mail back to the music school. But I left the forms in my car. Instead of taking the time to fetch them, I went and found myself a wishing well, and just for fun, made a wish." Finding his silence incongruously reassuring, Lolita met Chichiri's masked eyes, irony clear in her hard words. "You want to know what I wished for? I wished for you." He flinched, but this time, she lay a hand on his face, forcing him to look at her. "Yes. I wished for you because wanted you so much. I loved you so much. With my coming, I lost everything I used to take for granted in my world. But here, there's you, and you're the only thing left for me to want badly enough to defend. And I hoped one day you'd have an inkling of that. Looks like...I was wrong."

Ripping her warm touch from his skin, Chichiri stood up and left abruptly, the door banging shut behind him.

"What about you?" Tasuki jumped at the sudden sound. "Do you want to know my secrets?"

"Lo..." Head down, she looked so completely humiliated that Tasuki was torn between staying and comforting her and racing out after Chichiri.

"Just ask. I'll answer every single question you can think of."

The hand at his side clenched into a tight ball of anger. "There's nothin' I want to know," he growled. Casting a swift, final look at her curled-up form, he stalked out. Chichiri was striding down the hall, not too far for him to catch up. Tasuki knew the monk could feel the hate vibrating off him, but he didn't care. Planting a firm hold on the older man's shoulder, he swung his arm back, fist colliding with Chichiri's jaw as the latter turned. The seishi glared at him as he reeled backwards, but Tasuki only shoved him away.

"That was for Lolita."

A/N: And this chapter is for you, InkedButterfly! I wanted to put off writing this and everything, but then you came and shooed procrastination away with your review. Thank you so much. I'm really glad you can relate to Lolita. It's not everyday readers tell you that. *wink*

(runs to Chiri-chan) I'm soooo sorry! I've been abusing you horribly in this story. Here's an ice pack for your face.

Chibi Chiri: That hurt, no daaa... *sniff*

Tasuki (stares at his hand): Oops. Guess I don' know `m own strength.

For all those who haven't yet reviewed, do feel free to click the button down there and leave one. If there's one thing I'm deathly afraid of, it's my OCs turning into Sues, so I'm gonna need your help policing Sue-ifications. I know you're reading...