"Everyone! I propose a toast."
Everyone seated in the living room of the Moroboshi home blinked as they all stood together in the living room, forming a circle around the living room table. The damage to the shattered windows and the wrecked front door had been set aright thanks to Kyech, who also cleaned up the mess downstairs with the presence of three now-empty Avalonian bioroid chambers no longer needed to contain bodies that were now fully completed and inhabited by the souls of Tariko Moroboshi and her adopted sisters, Hiromi and Negako.
Eyes locked on Momoe Marubeya as she hoisted her cup of tea. "To Negako Moroboshi, Tariko Moroboshi and Hiromi Moroboshi," she saluted the sisters now at the head of the room, with Tariko and Hiromi — both still pale, yet gaining strength as their bodies and souls recovered from the final magical shearing away of their very lives from the original body of Ataru Moroboshi, destroyed not an hour before on the crest of the Tarôzakura hill in the southern end of Tomobiki — flanking her. "Three souls that once were bound to a single body. Now free to live their lives as they so choose to live it, not as others — both in the past and today — forced on them."
"KAMPAI!" all the Terrans, plus Lum, Oyuki and Benten, cheered as one.
"ECHK'UO!" the Noukiites, even Kyech, chanted as one.
The tea was sipped. "Another toast," Ranma Saotome said, and then she smiled down to Happôsai. "To Negako-san's first true student and also a victim of the monsters who sought to keep her a slave in the minds of others: The grandmaster of my own school of the Art, Happôsai-shihansama. May he be soon free of being forced to live his life totally dependent on absorbing the ki of women and enjoy the remainder of his days happy and content, knowing his friend is not just alive, but free to live her own life."
"Aw, Ranma!" Happôsai blurted out, his cheeks red with embarrassment.
"Indeed, to the Lord Grandmaster! Echk'uo!" Kuohu called out as she hoisted her tea.
"ECHK'UO!"/"KAMPAI!" came from the others as tea cups were hoisted.
More tea was sipped. "Finally, to friendships and relationships that exist now and were born this day," Hiromi declared with a smile. "To reunions of old friends, the end of old animosities and the hope for a new tomorrow for us all."
"Indeed! Kampai!" Chôjô called out.
"KAMPAI!"/"ECHK'UO!" everyone else cheered.
The rest of the tea was consumed. "My Empress?" Chôjô then called out.
"Hai, Yuzumi?" Hiromi called back.
"With your permission, we will retire for the evening so that we can prepare things for tomorrow and ensure a victory against the alien slavers who hide behind a veneer of respectability," the leader of the Ten Attendants said as they all bowed to her.
"'Respectability?!'" Benten asked before she started to laugh.
Lum, Oyuki and the Noukiites also laughed at that. A nod from both Hiromi and her reborn wife. "You have my leave," the reborn Emperor Líng of Han declared. "But protect yourselves as well, especially if there are more surprises the spinward barbarians may unleash before we can suppress them and drive them from our land."
They all bowed to her again. "Please excuse us, My Empress!" they chanted.
Soon, they had put on their shoes and departed. "I have to admit, they are pretty nice deep down," Shimei noted as everyone moved to sit around the table.
"All start out the same way, Mimôko-san," Shiryû mused as one of the android Atarus — the only one yet to get a "date," so to speak — moved to refill the tea cups. "But in previous lives, outside circumstances often conspired against people, even straight from birth. At least in this generation, they were able to see Hiromi-sama not just reborn, but placed with a very loving and caring family."
Hearing that, Kuohu and Kyekkyek all tensed. "Can you be truthfully sure of that, Lady Kumomi?" the former wondered. "When I met her on Tengsei, all Tariko's mother could do was bemoan and complain about all the things Tariko and Lum had been forced to do to keep the truth of their relationship secret from all around them."
Tariko chuckled, though her eye was watching Ataru as he moved from person to person to refill the tea cups. He seemed to be moving slower than usual. What was wrong? "Don't worry about that, Kuohu. We all have a very sure-fire way of keeping Kâ-chan in line whenever she gets too out of hand." As people looked at her, she crooned out, "'Grow old and die alone.' The one phrase that Kâ-chan is scared to DEATH of hearing!"
Lum laughed. "Yeah, I've heard her say to you 'I wish I never had you' loads of times whenever I've come here," Benten noted. "How the hell did you put up to that for all this time, Tariko? I would've strangled her a long time ago!"
Tariko smirked. "Because I've always know that I would have the last laugh on Kâ-chan, Benten. After all, our relationship — as Tariko and Lum, of course — was something totally beyond her influence. When we popped the secret on them after we dragged both her and Tô-chan to Tengsei so we could meet everyone there, it nearly floored her."
"Besides, if she gets TOO mouthy, all Darling and I have to do is move out and relocate to be with Hensô and Kuhu on Okusei," Lum added.
Benten and Oyuki perked on hearing the name of Hensô Redet, Lum's own Avalonian clone-replica. A woman — along with Benten's twin Kamen Shigaten, Oyuki's twin Mienai and Ran's twin Damasu Aruka — literally created to be a living target in case any of their templates were targeted for assassination, usually by the enemies of the rogue Vosian bounty hunter Nassur. Hensô, who — while never being accepted as she was by her own sister's parents — had been allowed to fleet to Noukiios' oldest colony to strike out on her own. And found love and marriage with one of Kuohu's, Kyekkyek's and Kyech's sisters among the Flower Youth of Noukiios, Seu-P'ye Yesu-T'ek Hechnich'-Nut'yek. The very own "spirit sister" of one Shimei Ryomô, born in this life as Mimôko Sebone.
"It will be good to see them again," the Neptunian mused.
"Yeah, it sure will," the Fukunokami added.
"We'll probably all get together at Tip'heng," Lum noted.
Many people smiled or laughed on hearing the name of the Noukiite version of Tanabata. Happôsai then sighed. "Well, I don't know about you, Negako-chan, but I need to get back to the Tendô home before Sôun decides to do something really stupid, especially when it comes to Akane. Anyhow, ladies, you all have a VERY good evening!" he said with a cackle before opening the living room window and bounding off into the evening.
Silence fell for a moment.
"He got all out underwear!" Tariko then said. "How the HELL does he do it?!"
"Sleight of hand, Tariko," Negako stated as she sipped her tea.
"I thought he would stop after Negako-san brushed his head with the soulsword," Hakufu said as she fought down the urge to blush. "Why'd he do it now, Ma-chan?"
"Force of habit," Ranma muttered to herself.
Later on…
"So you two wouldn't mind me sleeping with you this evening?"
"Of course we wouldn't mind," Reishi Kakyô — Mioko Izuku — stated as she and Shinobu sat together in the guest room of the Moroboshi home, located beside the master bedroom and across the hall from Tariko's bedroom. This was where Hiromi and her reborn wife would spend the night. "Shinobu, please remember that I come from a time when an emperor was expected to have multiple wives. I'm used to dealing with potential rivals for my husband's bedchamber." Mioko then wistfully smiled. "Though I must now confess that actually sharing a bed not just with my husband but with a co-wife — especially since all THREE of us ARE women! — well…"
Shinobu laughed in embarrassment before both perked as Hiromi stepped into the bedroom, now dressed in a yukata; she had just taken a shower to get whatever remained of the gestation fluid that had been on her new body a little over an hour before. Staring at her, Shinobu could only feel her cheeks heat as the sensuality of the other woman's looks flooded her senses. While she had only just met Hiromi earlier in the day, her growing attraction for the reborn emperor was increasing by leaps and bounds. Despite her being quite unfailingly polite and very soft-spoken, Hiromi was a woman with a soul of pure steel, possessing an inner strength that made others immediately defer to her, even the hard-nosed tôshi of the Seven Battle Schools represented today by Hakufu Sonsaku, Shimei Ryomô and Shiryû Chôun.
Hiromi sat down between her reborn wife and her new friend, and then gently drew her arms around them both as she laid back on the futon. The other women relaxed as they snuggled up to her. "I'm so glad you'll stay with us tonight, Shinobu," Hiromi said as she gazed fondly on the other woman. "It's only right for you."
Shinobu perked. "What do you mean by that?!"
A giggle. "Remember the time Ataru was split in half by Lum's candy and Sakurambô's cursed cake? How the one side of him gravitated to Lum and the other to you?"
A nod. "Hai."
"Well, I'd like to think I was touched by the spirit of that part of Onê-san that did feel closer to you," Hiromi admitted as she shifted her head over to touch Shinobu's. "And even if in the end we remain just friends, know that I will always love you."
Shinobu blushed. "Hiromi…"
They drifted together in a tender kiss which soon deepened as Shinobu reached around to draw Hiromi closer to her. Immediately, Mioko shifted over them to place herself at Shinobu's back, hugging her around the waist as she leaned down to gently kiss the back of her neck. Shinobu felt her whole body shiver from that two-way assault, and then she smiled as Hiromi pulled away from her so that she could move to kiss Shinobu's ear and neck. That gave Shinobu a chance to shift around, finding herself in the middle now as she allowed her lips to gently caress Mioko's just as…
"AH! Ataru-kun! What's wrong?!"
All three bolted up on hearing Izumi Kagabu's frightened shout, and then Hiromi got out of bed and ran to the doorway to see the tea shop owner's daughter now holding the android Ataru she had been with earlier in the day in her arms. "Izumi-san! What's wrong?!" Hiromi asked as she ran over to stare at her "brother" for a moment.
"I don't know, Hiromi-chan!" Izumi said, her eyes full of tears as she and Hiromi moved to gently place the android down on the floor. "We were kissing and feeling each other up when all of a sudden, he froze up and collapsed on me! What's wrong with him?!"
"He's not the only one to act that way!" a voice called out from Tariko's bedroom.
Hiromi looked up to see Tsuyoko Amamori standing at the doorway to the bedroom. Standing up, she headed over to look inside — and then she gasped on seeing half the androids that had been activated that day now unconscious, either on the futons laid out on the floor or in the arms of their frightened and crying lovers. "Oh, no!" Hiromi gasped before running to the stairwell. "Onê-sama! We have a problem!"
"I am aware of that," Negako called up from downstairs. "Have all the girls bring their companions to the storage room in the basement. I will examine them there."
"Hai!"
Minutes later…
"They're suffering a backlash from the explosion of all that ki at the Tarôzakura Hill?" Ranma demanded as she stared at Negako.
"Exactly," Negako stated as she probed the ki meridians in the back of the android Ataru that had not enjoyed a chance at being close to one of the girls in the house, either a member of the Handmaidens or Shimei Ryomô. "And I believe I understand why. When the organic tissue in their bodies was cloned to ensure their realism, they were clone directly from Tariko's male body. Which was attuned, all the way to the DNA itself, to the mana node under the Tarôzakura hill. When all the ki was released into the atmosphere…"
"The connection to that mana node was snapped, just like it was to Tariko and Hiromi," Shimei stated as she crossed her arms. "That's why they were so weak at first. Their souls, finding themselves in bodies that no longer were bound to all that dark ki, had to take time to adjust. The boys are suffering the opposite effect."
"Indeed."
"What will happen to them, Negako-sama?" Shiryû — who had been invited by Kuohu to sleep with her outside in a tent now being set up on the lawn by Kyekkyek; Kuohu's adopted sister would have her own tent — then asked.
"Most likely, they will suffer a full cascade failure."
People tensed. "They'll die?!" Momoe gasped.
A nod. "They will. Within several hours at best estimates." Negako then nodded to the android on the table immediately behind her; he had been Shimei's date for the day. "He will most likely be the last to succumb to this as he was deactivated and in the midst of recharging when the Tarôzakura hill was vented clear of ki."
Everyone winced. "Onê-chan! Do you HAVE to be SO blunt?!" Tariko pleaded.
Negako closed her eyes. "Tariko, it is wrong in my eyes to not express the whole and complete truth of a situation to anyone, regardless of how hurt their feelings might be when delivering such news," she stated. "I will not give the girls false hope. It is ultimately wrong to do that to them and will force an unnecessary extension of their period of emotional recovery from this incident." She turned back to the android.
Momoe sniffed. By now, all the Handmaidens looked on the edge of a fully wailing fit over what they had just experienced. "Arigatô, Negako-san. I appreciate the truth."
"Is there anything that can be done for them?" Kumiko Gekasawa asked. "I mean, even if they're androids, they're no different than Negako-san herself! Surely…!"
Ranma hummed. "Hey, Lum! How much of their bodies IS organic?!"
The Oni perked, and then she hummed. "Eighty percent. That's what Chara told me."
"Negako, would that be enough?"
Negako perked. "For what?"
"The Instant Jusenkyô packs Tariko used before today?!"
The ninjutsu grandmaster (as others clearly saw her as) blinked, and then she nodded. "An interesting proposal, Ranma. Let us see how that will affect them."
Minutes later…
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! THAT'S COLD!"
Everyone winced on hearing that scream from the bathroom as a lithe form burst free of the cold water in the bathtub, and then she quickly scrambled onto the floor, nearly falling flat on her face along the way. Negako and Shimei were there to catch her before she slammed into the ceramic tiles on her feet. "Easy there!" Shimei said as she helped her transformed date get back to her feet. "You okay?!"
"I…" the once-been android blinked, and then she reached up to rub her head for a moment before she giggled. "I feel normal again…"
Everyone blinked. "'NORMAL?!'"
"That would make sense!" Lum then said.
Eyes locked on the Oni. "What do you mean, Lum?" Momoe asked.
"We got the androids ordered three weeks ago; they were just delivered last week," Lum responded. "Chara came to Tengsei to get the basic schematics, memory scan and the cell samples from Darling before returning to her factory in Kutzei to do the work."
The others perked as realisation dawned. "And because Tariko had pretty much accepted by then that she would be living as a girl for the rest of her life…!" Kumiko gasped before she turned to the transformed android. "That means…"
"Mentally, I was also a girl. We all were," the transformed Ataru replied as she reached up to scratch the back of her head. "But until I was exposed to the Instant Niángnìquán water to transform me into a full-organic, I always had my housekeeping computer and basic programming protocols there to make sure I would still behave as a man." She then looked down. "But now, I…!" She then sniffed. "Mimôko?"
Shimei tensed. "What is it?"
"Can you still love me this way?"
The blue-haired tôshi blinked in surprise, and then she chuckled before leaning over to gently draw her arms around her transformed date. "I will always be your friend," she promised. "And as time goes on, if we start a relationship, I will love you with the same passion as a girl as I would if you were a man." She then smirked. "Besides, I don't cherish the idea of girlfriends with some sort of master program running their lives. I assume that's what this 'housekeeping computer' you mentioned is."
Hearing that, the transformed android then perked before she grinned, and then she nearly swamped Shimei with a hug and kiss that took the latter's breath away. "Oh, Mimôko! You're the most perfect woman in all of Existence! I love you!"
As poor Shimei found herself bombarded with kisses, hugs and vows of eternal love, the Handmaidens all watched the scene intently for a moment before they exchanged looks. Finally, Aiko Nagahama straightened herself. "If Mimôko-san can do it, so can I!"
"Me, too!" Eiko Maeda declared as she raised a fist in a vow.
As soon as they said that, the others all immediately chimed in their support. Before they could move as one to race downstairs to get their lovers and return them up here so they could be transformed. At that moment, a shrill whistle echoed through the upstairs hallway, making them all stop as they stared at Kyech. "What is it, Kyech-san?" Kumiko then asked as they all gathered around the Noukiite.
A sigh. "While saving your would-be heart-mates is all well and good, there is one small consideration you need to keep in mind," she warned.
"What's that?" Hiromi Obinata demanded.
"Their physical looks will all have to be changed."
Eyes locked on Negako as the grandmaster gave them all knowing looks. "Twins, ladies, are quite easily to explain. Quadrodenuplets would be something else." She then shook her head. "And I do not believe we would desire to reveal the actual truth behind them, even after tomorrow and what is planned."
"'Quadrodenuplets?'" Shinobu asked.
"Fourteen born at once," Kyech explained. "Not even on Noukiios is that possible."
People took that in, and then they slowly nodded. "The souls within remain the same," Momoe said. "So what do we do now, Kyech-san?"
The red-haired Noukiite smiled as she turned to head downstairs. "I have already made some arrangements," she said with a light smile. "Allow me to make it a surprise."
She headed downstairs. People watched her go, and then they exchanged looks. "Um, Negako-sama, should we be worried?" Izumi wondered for them all.
Negako had a slight smile on her face.
A half-hour later…
"So Kyech noticed there were twelve complete Avalonians in that storage facility under the mountains when she obtained your new bodies?" Kuohu wondered.
"Indeed," Negako said. Most of the people in the house were back in the living room enjoying more tea, this time prepared by Hiromi and Mioko. Lum, Benten and Oyuki had gone to the Oni's scoutship to prepare the master bedroom for the honeymoon night for their lovers. Kyech had gone to Minakami to pick up At'at'at' and bring her back to Tomobiki so she could be in on the fun. Ranma had gone with her so that she could report to her parents, great-grandfather and Hakufu's mother as to what just happened in Tomobiki. Shinobu had gone home to get some night clothes, her book bag and uniform before she would come back to spend the night with Hiromi and Mioko. Kyekkyek was outside getting her tent set up and looking in on Seuchsa, who had recovered from Tsubame Ozuno's stun spell and was now enjoying a mix of greens and fruit to get his energy back up. Suikô was currently crashing out in the basement, using the chance to replenish her own ki stores after the events on the Tarôzakura hill. Tariko was currently upstairs in her bedroom. All the members of the Handmaidens — and Shimei, much to Shiryû's and Hakufu's mirth — had nervous looks on their faces as they awaited the coming down of the twelve former androids to present themselves. "It appears the observers in Tomobiki wished to make sure that the intelligence flow from here back to Phentax Two could not be interrupted. The twelve ladies who would have been targeted would have been forced through a soul-transference later this week. We will have to ensure the operative in Nippara is dealt with before he can raise the alarm."
"That should be a cake-walk," Hakufu muttered as she sipped her tea.
Footsteps then made everyone tense, and then they turned to see Tariko walk into the room, a smile on her face. "Are they okay?!" Momoe gasped.
"Oh, they're fine! They're fine!" Tariko assured her, and then she cleared her throat. "Okay! Since you girls are pretty anxious right now to get back together with your friends, allow me to introduce first the one of my 'sisters' who didn't get a chance to 'score,' so to speak, with anyone today." She winked. "I hope that'll change."
And in walked a blue-eyed girl with purple-highlighted hair cut to a point at mid-neck, now dressed in a plain Noukiite jumpsuit top, exposing very beautiful legs. As people stared at her in awed shock, she blushed as she reached over to grasp Ataru's hand. "Arigatô, Ane-chama," she whispered before gazing on everyone else, and then she bowed formally to them before straightening herself and smiling. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. My name is Ayumu Inaba. I was the sixth replica of Ane-chama as Ani-chama constructed and activated. And while I do not have any intimate bonds with any of you, please: Treat my sisters with love and kindness. They will love you back a hundred-and-ten percent if you do so."
Hearing her heartfelt plea, everyone smiled as Ayumu turned to call upstairs, "Everyone! C'mon down! Everyone's waiting for you!"
With that, eleven other ladies came down from upstairs…
Later…
"Eh?! You named them all after the characters in a dating simulation game, Tariko-san?"
Tariko giggled as she relaxed in the kitchen with Hakufu, Ranma (who had just returned from Minakami with Kyech and At'at'at'), Shiryû and Ayumu, all of them enjoying tea made by the latter as an impromptu party was held in the living room. Even some of the others who had been there earlier had come to join them and rejoice at the saving of Tariko's replicas and their transformation into her little sisters. "It's the game Hôkago Ren'ai Club that was put out back in '98, Kumomi-san. It's one of those that actually got across to America, too. The girls were tempted to use the American names of the characters they all resembled, but it would make it as lot easier to have them be accepted by their Japanese names." Tariko then sighed. "I just hope to the gods that we don't run into any namesakes out there!"
Ayumu giggled. "Oh, relax, Ane-chama! Negako-anechama said it was alright."
Hakufu blinked. "What's with the 'ane-chama' thing?"
Ayumu smiled. "Well, since we still see ourselves as Ane-chama's sisters, we decided to take a page from Sister Princess and have special ways of addressing our big sisters." She wrapped her arm around Tariko's. "And she likes it very much."
"At least Lum won't have any reasons to get jealous of me now," Tariko noted.
Laughter filled the kitchen, and then the front door opened and closed. "I'm back!" Shinobu called out, and then she gasped on seeing what was going on in the living room before she turned to look into the kitchen. "Tariko! What happened?!"
"Kyech was thinking ahead of time as she normally does, Shinobu," Tariko replied, and then she waved over to Ayumu as she began her explanation.
That took about ten minutes, including a quick briefing on all the new names Tariko's sisters were using now. After that, Shinobu giggled. "Well, if they all decide to come to school, it'll make a lot of the girls happy."
"Why's that, Shinobu-chan?" Ayumu asked as she moved to prepare tea.
"Well, Tariko has never come to school as a girl, Ayumu-chan, so she won't know this," Shinobu admitted. "But I can tell you now that there are a lot of girls at school who gladly do intimate things with each other to release some sexual tension whenever it gets out of hand. And believe me, it happens a lot there." She then nodded her thanks as Ayumu handed her a cup of tea. "Arigatô. So if you girls do come…"
Ayumu hummed. "Well, much that it would give us all sorts of wonderful wet dreams when we're alone at night, I don't think any of my sisters will EVER stray from the ladies we want to be with." She then winked before calling out, "Hinako-chan! Eiko-chan! C'mon in here for a moment, please?! We need to talk to you!"
Eiko soon came in, followed by Hinako Kawai, a lovely girl with chestnut eyes and burnt red-brown hair parted at the top of her head and curled inward at the shoulders. "What is it, Ayumu-chan! Ah, Onê-tama!" Hinako crooned out as she immediately went over to Tariko to give her a hug, and then she turned to hug Eiko. "What is it, Ayumu-chan?"
Ayumu then cleared her throat. "Now, Eiko-chan. You don't need to answer the question if you don't want to. But Shinobu-chan here just revealed something I personally found quite shocking to hear." On seeing Eiko nod her permission, she sighed. "Is it true that girls at school play with each other intimately whenever they want to?"
A nod. "Of course it is, Ayumu-chan!" Eiko said, and then she sighed. "At first I didn't mind it. I'm curious, just like everyone else. But then I wanted the chance to date with a guy. That's why I joined up with the others and we began to dream about Ataru-sempai." She then looked down as she reached up to grasp Hinako's hands. "Gomen, Hinako-chan. While I'm glad you're okay and all that, I…"
"You still wish I could stay as a guy," Hinako finished for her.
A nod. "Hai."
"It's okay," Hinako assured her. "This was much a shock to me as it was to you, Eiko-chan. Don't worry! We'll find some way around it one of these days."
Eiko stared at her, and then she nodded before leaning over to kiss Hinako on the lips. "Alright, then," Ayumu mused. "Eiko-chan, if you ever get the chance to want to do it with a girl again, would you do it with any girl other than Hinako-chan?"
Eiko jolted. "OF COURSE NOT!" she called out, shaking her head. "I'm not going to two-time poor Hinako-chan just because some pretty face wanted me!"
She turned around and nearly sucked all the air out of Hinako's lungs with the next kiss she gave her. Everyone else giggled, and then Hakufu leaned over. "Ne, ne, Hinako-chan! Would YOU want to chase another girl other than Eiko-chan!"
"NO WAY!" Hinako snapped, that causing everyone to stare at her. "There's only one person I want to love! And I'm holding her in my arms right now, Ayumu-chan!"
Hearing that, Eiko's face turned a very deep red. At that moment, a knock was heard at the doorway, making everyone turn to see a smiling At'at'at' there. "My apologies for interrupting your more-than-stimulating conversation, everyone, but I'm here to drag Tariko off so she can join her beloved wife on their wedding night."
"And other things, too?! Right, At'-chan?!" Ayumu said with a wink.
"Hai!"
More laughter. "Well, much that I would like to keep chatting with people, my wife is lonely and I swore I'd be forever at her side," Tariko said. "Lead on, At'-chan."
"Please have a good evening, Tariko-san," Shiryû stated.
As Tariko and At'at'at' left, Eiko and Hinako returned to rejoin the party. "Well, lucky thing we brought some of my own camping gear down here so we can stay overnight and not crowd the house," Ranma said. "Coming, Fu-chan?"
"But of course, Ma-chan!" Hakufu said. "'Night, Bu-chan! Mu-chan! Un-chan!"
"'Night," Shinobu said as they headed off, and then she stared at Shiryû. "Does Tsueko-san ALWAYS call people with nicknames like that, Kumomi-san?"
"Indeed she does, Shinobu-san. I assumed you're rejoining Hiromi-sama and Mioko-sama?"
"But of course," Shinobu echoed Hakufu's words earlier. "'Night, Ayumu-chan."
"Pleasant dreams, Shinobu-chan."
As soon as Tariko's former girlfriend was off, Shiryû sighed. "I believe I myself will be heading to bed as well, Ayumu-san. I sense Kachnuk-dono is about to turn in herself. The tea was truly enjoyable. Please have a very good night."
"You as well, Kumomi-san."
The silver-haired tôshi moved to leave, and then she paused. "Ayumu-san?"
"Hai?"
Shiryû smiled. "You will find yours one day. Never fear."
"I know that, Kumomi-san," Ayumu said with a smile as she gazed out the kitchen window at the tent outside there, a very large pig sleeping on the ground nearby. "I believe I may have found that woman. And she is very close by."
"I commend you on your very good taste."
Ayumu blushed. "Of all our friends among the Flower Youth, she is the only one we know who doesn't have a heart-mate of her own." She looked down at her cup of tea. "She is so sweet and kind even if she is a simple girl at heart. Just like Kyech in so many ways." A finger was then raised. "Without the power boost, of course." As Shiryû found herself giggling, Ayumu sipped her tea. "She doesn't deserve to be alone. None of them do, just as much as none of you do in the long run." A shake of the head as Ayumu's smile slipped from her face. "I won't let her be alone."
A nod. "I wish you luck, then," Shiryû said as we…
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