jychan: I don't own Saiunkoku Monogatari… Enough said.
21. A New Person
"Himeko-nee-sama!"
Ryuuki called on Himeko as he hugged the older woman,
"Ryuuki-ten'no..."
"I was so worried about you, Onee-sama. I mean, after all that happened, I didn't know what I should do so that I could help you. I feel so helpless."
Ryuuki mumbled as Himeko gave a smile to Ryuuki and said,
"Daijoubou, Ryuuki-ten'no. It's OK. You've helped me now, especially by making me sneak inside the Palace. This is more than enough."
"I'll do anything for Himeko-nee-sama!"
Ryuuki said as Seiran smiled at the sight,
"I'm quite happy that one of you were able to deduce who Shimo Furiko was."
Himeko said as she looked at Seiran, who raised an eyebrow,
"It was Seiran who did so."
Ryuuki said as Himeko smiled and thought,
'I thought so.'
"Arigato, Seiran."
"You don't have to thank me, though."
Seiran replied as Himeko smiled,
"No, I really think I should thank you, after all, if you weren't there, Ryuuki-ten'no might have not known me."
"No. It was nothing."
"Really. I should thank you."
"Ehem! Ehem!"
Ensei coughed as the two were brought back to reality,
"Onee-sama, I'm really, really sorry for what happened to Hidari-hime. If I would've known..."
"No. It's OK, Ryuuki-ten'no. As what I have said earlier, you have provided much help towards me. Now, while I was having a detour to the Red Province, there were some few things that I have discovered. A lot of things."
Himeko said as she smiled,
"What things?"
Ryuuki asked as Himeko replied,
"Things that are going to help me on the way. And please, if possible, do refer to me as 'Shimo Furiko'."
"Hai, Shimo-san."
"Arigato, Ryuuki-ten'no."
"So, where are you going to stay for the meantime, Hime- I mean, Shimo-san?"
Ryuuki asked as Himeko leaned on the wall,
"I've thought about that... I'm planning not to stay inside the Palace, because it is very dangerous to be inside. So, I wish to stay outside."
Himeko said as she was deep in thought,
'So, where am I going to stay?'
"For the meantime, can they stay at the Kou Residence here at Kiyou, Seiran?"
Ryuuki asked as Himeko's and Seiran's eyes widened in surprise,
"Excuse me?"
The both of them chorused as Ryuuki gave a sly grin,
"It's OK since Seiran can guard Shimo-san in cases. So, I guess it would be OK if the two of you go together. And aside from which, Seiran won't do anything bad to Shimo-san, neh?"
Ryuuki said as the two nodded,
"I won't have any problem if it's Shi-san, I suppose. How about Ro-san, Kourin-san and To-kun?"
Himeko said as she stared at a side, while Ensei turned to Eigetsu, who raised an eyebrow, then turned back to the two and gave a grin,
"Oh. I see. I see. But, we'll not be staying at the Kou Residence, then. After all, it might be harmful towards us."
Ensei said as Himeko thought,
'Is this just me being paranoid or is something weird with Ro-san?'
'Ensei, you idiot...' was what went inside Seiran's mind as he closed his eyes and sighed,
"Well then, I guess we should start to go already. After all, the sun might rise anytime and someone might see us."
Seiran said as the others nodded,
"Well, lead the way, Shi-san."
A couple of minutes passed and Himeko and Seiran have finally arrived at the Kou Residence in Kiyou after they have sent Kourin, Ensei and Eigetsu to the Kougarou brothel so that they could pass the night there.
"So, where would I be staying, Shi-san?"
Himeko asked as she was looking at her surroundings,
"I suppose you could stay at ojou-sama's former room. That would be the most fine room for a Royal like you."
Seiran said as Himeko sighed and replied,
"And if you weren't royalty in the past, Seien-sama."
"Stop calling me with that name. Seien's gone now."
Seiran said as Himeko smirked and said,
"Seien-sama, Seien-sama, Seien-sama..."
Seiran raised an eyebrow over Himeko's tease,
"Himeko-hime, please do stop."
Seiran said as Himeko turned to him and said,
"X! It's not Himeko-hime, but Shimo Furiko. Remember I told you earlier to not call me 'Himeko-hime'."
"Then, do the same with me."
"But I don't want to."
"Why?"
"Because... Because I don't want to?"
Himeko said as she broke into laughter while Seiran was dumbfounded,
"Don't be selfish."
"I knew that. But couldn't I be selfish for a second or a minute? I've always been able to be free or break out of my wall when I'm with you, Seien-sama. I'm like being my childish self."
Himeko said as she looked at him,
"Stop referring to me with that name."
"I don't want to."
"Why? Tell me the real reason. There's always a reason for every single thing that you do, Himeko-hime."
"Because I'm only free when it's with Seien-sama. Shi Seien is different from Shi Seiran. I don't know a thing about Shi Seiran, unlike Shi Seien, who I know a lot. And I don't think I'll be able to be like this when I'm with 'Shi Seiran'."
Himeko said as she stopped for a moment,
"Well, as Shi Seien, I would say that you're right. After all, you don't trouble others. You're yourself when you're with me in the past. It has always been like that..."
Seiran said as Himeko nodded in agreement,
"Nn."
"...but you could also be like that when you're with Shi Seiran, you know. Although there might be some differences between Shi Seiran and Shi Seien, you could always be yourself when you're with either with the two."
Seiran added as Himeko looked at him and mumbled,
"Seien-sama..."
"That is, if you'd want to be yourself. I mean, it is your deci-"
"Sure. If you said so. I was thinking that maybe Shi-san would not be alright with it. Because I've always talked with Seien-sama and only a few words with Shi-san."
Himeko said as Seiran smiled and said,
"You could call him, Seiran, you know."
"Of course. But then, you should try and get to know, 'Shimo Furiko-san'. She's one hardworking girl. Working on her way to Kiyou. What a diligent girl."
Himeko said as she chukled while Seiran looked at her,
"Oh? Is that so? Well, have you known 'Shi Seiran'? He's 23 years old and he's also hardworking as well. He's a former retainer of the Kou Family."
"Oh? Then, if he's 23 years old, then, Shimo-san is 21 years old. For a girl her age, it's a wonder she's not yet married."
Himeko said as Seiran laughed at what she said,
"Hey, it doesn't mean that she's 1/4 years younger than me, you could laugh at her. Stop it! Seien-sama!"
Himeko protested as she realized that their faces were near to each other,
"..."
Silence engulfed the two of them as Seiran broke the silence,
"I suppose you should sleep now. This would be your room, Shimo-san."
"Of course, Shi-sa, I mean, Seiran. You can call me by my first name, you know."
"Well then, oyasuminassai, Furiko."
"Oyasumi, Seiran."
jychan: Well, that was it. SeiranXHimeko! I hope it was fine and there were no character OOC's!!! I'd like to thank the reviewers... Oh!!! There's a lot of reviews... I feel like I'm in Heaven!!!
z rox: You're welcome! oh? You like ShuueiXHidari? I was rather hesitating at first, since this was mainly SeiranXOC, and other people might not like Hidari... But I'm glad you liked it!!! Oh, so grammar errors are fine with you as long as the story's fine? Thank you very much! Sankyu!!!
Raz Rinoa: Romantic? Heheheh... I hope it was not OOC.... Oh. Shuuei the ever womanizer... I wonder how Hidari is going to handle him though.. Fufufufufufu...
xeronix: Oh! You like Himeko? That's great then! What happened? Hmmm... I guess, you already read it if you read this one already... Fufufufufu...
Stelra Etnae: Oh! Here is the SeiranXHimeko chaptie!!! Really? It's cute? Hehehehe... I always thought so... I do wonder what's going to happen after all, the Ran Clan is going to support Shinyen!!! Oh noo!!!
Iron Heart: I'm glad you liked ShuueiXHidari!!! I thought that people will think that they're corny or something... Here's the latest chaptie!!!
Silver starslin: Really? This story is fantastic? Wow... Thanks a lot! I've updated already!!