"Did you say something Rae-kun?" Ariana asked looking up from her study of the map the rental car agency had given them.

Rae had to smile, ever since they had arrived in Japan and even for a while before they even left, Ariana had started adding Japanese words to her vocabulary. Rae always enjoyed visiting and learning about other countries, but she had never had quite the knack for immersing herself in a culture the way Ariana could.

"No, nothing Ari-kun." She replied affectionately. "What is my next turn?"

"Umm, a left after the next shrine and we should be there!" Ariana said happily after studying the map for a moment.

"Thank goodness!" Rae exclaimed as they turned the corner and the Nichibotsu Ryokan finally came into view. She pulled the car up to the door of the front office and heaved a sigh of relief! Ariana opened her door as soon as the car came to a stop and stepped out. Rae rested her head on the steering wheel and willed her nerves to stop jangling. She tried to visualize the most peaceful thing she could think of to calm herself, and the icy stillness of the mountains in winter was the first thing that came to mind. She could almost feel the silence that was so heavy that you would swear that you could hear a snowflakesfall to the ground.

Her reverie was interrupted as she heard Ariana laugh. "What are you laughing about, Ari?" She asked raising her head and gazing out the open car door.

Ariana leaned down and peered into the car, seeing Rae's furrowed brow she smiled. "Poor Rae-kun!" She said with a wink. "Don't worry Rae, very soon you and I will be soaking in a traditional Japanese bath and all that American road rage will go down the drain with the bath water by the time we are done!" It was a running joke between them about Rae’s ‘professed’ road rage; Ariana always teased her about driving being her only vent for all the negative emotions that she never expressed any other time. Rae didn’t dislike driving, but it tended to stress her out and make her edgy.

"I’ve got some sake in a carton and some plastic cups in one of my bags so that we can drink in the bath." She wiggled her eyebrows in a manner that always managed to make Rae smile and continued. "Let the festival begin!"

Rae rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but smile, Ariana was such a joy to travel with, she always managed to know exactly what would help, and right now that bath sounded absolutely wonderful! "Calgon-san take me away!" She responded, adding the Japanese ending to the long-standing private joke between them.

Ariana laughed and then turned to speak with someone who had come up to the car. Rae couldn't hear what they were saying, but it sounded like much of it was in Japanese. She made a mental note to herself to make sure and borrow Ariana's Japanese dictionary and put a little more diligent study into learning the Japanese language while she was here "Get out of the car, missy." Ariana said cheerily as she poked her head into the car again. "This wonderful man is going to take care of our bags and park our car for us while we check in. Come into the lobby with me and I'll take care of the registration."

"Thank you, Ari." Rae replied with gratitude. Then with an ornery thought she added, "And by the way, when we go back to Tokyo you are driving. Just thought I'd warn you."

"Yeah, yeah." Ariana grinned and laughed, "I hear you loud and clear. I'll worry about it later. We have the whole festival between then and now."

Rae grinned back at her before she grabbed her purse and ever-present camera bag and got out of the car. She joined Ariana at the gate, linked arms with her and they proceeded into the ryokan together.

As soon as they entered the gardens she felt her stress begin to recede and her nerves begin to calm. The peace and harmony of the garden was like a balm to her soul. She paused for a moment to close her eyes and feel the peace around her. Having been raised surrounded by first the lush richness of Wales and later the majestic beauty of the Rocky Mountains, Rae had always felt more at home when surrounded by nature. It was as if her soul cried out for something that it could only find there. She breathed deeply, drinking in the scents around her, the oxygen rich air was perfumed with scents, some that she recognized like moist earth and cherry blossoms, and others that were intoxicatingly beautiful if somewhat foreign. There was some almost spicy scent that tickled her nose and she promised herself that she would find out what it was before the week was over.

She opened her eyes to find Ariana smiling at her affectionately. She blushed as she realized that she had been standing there with her eyes closed for a very long moment while Ariana waited. "I already feel better." She said apologetically.

"Good, let's go inside so w can check in and then the relaxation will really begin." Arian replied with a nod and another smile.

Rae returned the smile and the two girls continued through the gardens and entered the lobby. Immediately Rae knew that this room would be perfect for a couple of pictures that she had in mind for the book. The decor was outstanding, the colors were eye catching without being gaudy and the lighting was perfect! Turning to Ariana who had a knowing look on her face she asked if it would be all right to look around while she checked in. Upon receiving "permission" she let her mind proceed on it's one-track course and began laying out in her mind exactly what she wanted in the composition of the photo.

She was interrupted from her study of a gorgeous framed antique kimono that was hanging on the wall, by a set of keys that was suddenly dangled in front of her eyes. "Let's go, I have our rooms." Ariana cajoled her.

"Isn?t this lovely?" Rae said gesturing towards the kimono as she reluctantly turned her eyes away from it. There was just something about it that struck a chord deep within her and a nagging thought that there was something about it that she should know or understand. It was a beautifully woven dark green silk kimono, which since green was her favorite color would normally have been enough to catch her attention, but the thing that she couldn?t seem to get past was the strangely familiar embroidered figures that paraded across the fabric. She couldn't quite put a finger on what they were though; there was a series of seven small symbols interspersed with almost stylized figures of people and animals, one of, which was very much like a combination between a turtle and a dragon or a snake. She knew she had seen it before somewhere, but right now for the life of her she couldn’t remember where! *Huh, the stress is getting to me I guess.* She thought.

"Yes, of course you know how much I love antique textiles, but right now what I really would love is a nice hot bath and some sake and then a nice walk in the garden. What do you say?" Ariana responded with a chuckle.

"Sounds wonderful, let's go." Shrugging off her feeling as deja vu, Rae turned to Ariana, grinned and raised herself on the balls of her feet in anticipation of a nice hot bath. She followed Ariana down the hallway to their rooms where she was

***********************************

"Ahhhhhh, bliss!" Rae exclaimed as she finally lowered herself into the bath. "It's wonderfully hot too!" She chuckled at Ariana's grimace, "No, not that hot," she teased, knowing that Ariana preferred her water a few degrees cooler than the scalding temperatures that Rae loved.

Ariana dipped her foot in tentatively then followed it with the rest of herself, "Bliss indeed!" she said with a smile. Reaching behind her she grabbed the bottle of sake and plastic cups she had brought with her to the bath. With what Rae always referred to as her "evil grin", Ariana shook the bottle and raised the glasses with an inquiring lift of her eyebrows. "Shall we?"

"Only one!" Rae replied with a chuckled. "You know what a buzz I get from that stuff on an empty stomach."

Ariana giggled, "Yes, but at least you would be relaxed." She then proceeded to pour two very full glasses, one of which she handed to Rae with a grin. "Bottoms up!"

Taking the glass from Ariana, Rae sipped it slowly and leaned her head back against the edge of the bath. "Ahhh, at this moment life is perfect! Would it be asking too much to stay here forever?" She asked with such feeling that Ariana laughed.

"You probably could, but you would end up looking like a prune for the rest of your life!" Ariana teased. Raising her glass up she said, "Here's to a productive week, may we be blessed with beautiful weather, stunning photo ops, friendly and helpful natives and hopefully some fun too!"Rae chuckled,

"Don't forget the cute guys!" She teased Ariana.

"Ahh yes, and cute guys too!" Ariana added with gusto.

"Here! Here!" Rae agreed as she raised her glass to Ariana's.

"Cheers!" The girls chorused.

************************************

A short while later Rae was getting ready to go out to the gardens with Ariana for a drink and a light snack. The ryokan had supplied her and Ariana with very pretty robes that Ariana had called yukatas and some special wooden sandals that Rae hoped wouldn't make her fall on her face and embarrass her .' I wonder if anyone would notice if I just wore my tennis shoes,' she thought to herself.

She heard a knock at the door that joined her room with Ariana?s and called out, "Come in, it's open."

Ariana poked her head in the room, "Hey Rae, did you bring that ginger fish body spray that I like so much?"

Rae laughed, "yeah, it's in my suitcase on the bed, help yourself."

Almost bouncing into the room Ariana went to the suitcase and started rummaging through it. Rae turned at her expression of delight. In her hand Ariana held a bag of soft butterscotch candies. Rae had brought them to give to her later in the week because she knew that Ariana craved them and would undoubtedly run out of her own supply before the week was over. "Step away from the butterscotch candies, I repeat, step away from the candy!" She said with a mock authoritative voice. Ariana turned to her with what could only be described as big green begging puppy dog eyes and a pushed out lower lip.

Loosing her stern expression Rae burst out laughing. "Oh all right, they were going to be for you anyway since I know you love them. Just be sure that you make them last the entire week! We can't have your blood sugar getting low now can we?"

Ariana smiled and walked over and hugged Rae, "Thank you dear, I will ration them carefully. Speaking of blood sugar, are you ready to go visit the gardens? That sake was great, but now I am really thirsty and hungry too!"

"Yes! Now if I can manage to walk in these sandals and not make a complete and utter fool of myself things will be perfect." Linking arms the two girls walked out to the gardens chatting happily.

The first thing that Rae noticed as they were sitting down on a bench in the middle of the park was a handsome group of three young men sitting nearby. Any of them alone would have been enough to catch her attention, but all three of them together were almost mind-boggling! The first was almost what you would call beautiful, with almost shoulder length black hair, delicate features and a gorgeous smile that made him one of the most photogenic men Rae had ever seen. The other two had ‘scoundrel’ written all over them, but in a good way, reminding her of Han Solo from Star Wars. Both had an ornery glint in their eye that was tempered by the genuine kindness that was also evident. One had bright red hair that looked like its owner had a habit of running his hands through it on a regular basis. 'Hmmmm, hair like that I might not mind running MY hands through!' Rae thought to herself with a soft chuckle. The other had black hair; eyes almost as green as Ariana’s and a small scar on his left cheek.

Rae turned to Ariana and softly poked her arm to get her attention, upon receiving no response she poked her again a little harder.

"What?" Ariana asked as she continued her visual search for a waitress whose attention she might catch.

"Look over there at the bench to the right, there's some really cute guys sitting over there." Rae whispered to her.

"They?d better be bishonen cute or I?ll be pissed at myself for looking at them if I miss getting the attention of a waitress.

"This better be good!." Ariana said with a sigh as she left off on her search and furtively moved to have a better view of the men sitting behind and to the right of Rae.

Rae had to smile as she saw Ariana's expression change from a frown of disgruntlement to a grin of amazement. Her mouth all but dropped open and she got this slightly dazed look on her face. Rae wondered if she would need to offer her a Kleenex to wipe away the drool any time soon.

"Okay, drinks are on me, you were right, those are the cutest guys I've seen since we got to Japan. I'd drool, but I'm too dehydrated." Ariana said turning to face Rae once again.

Rae burst out laughing at Ariana’s response and the answer to her unspoken question. She shook her head in mirth and amazement at how their minds seemed to be on the same wavelength most of the time.

"Uhmmmmmm, Rae... those guys heard you laughing and well now one of them is coming over to...." Ariana started but didn't continue.

Her thoughts interrupted by this completely unexpected turn of events, Rae looked up at Ariana at a complete loss as to what to do. She hoped he wasn?t mad that she had laughed so loud and disturbed their group. She also hated the thought that an action of hers had drawn enough attention to elicit a response.

"Konichiwa!" A melodic voice came from behind her. "I'm Nuriko and those two ruffians over there at the neighboring bench are my friends. The red head is Tasuki and the other one is Kouji."

Ariana stood up to greet the young man and Rae steeled herself and followed suit. When Ariana introduced her she bowed and smiled. As she lifted her eyes to met Nuriko?s for the time; she was caught completely off guard to see such dark liquid eyes staring back at her from his smiling face. She blushed as she realized that he had extended his hand and hastily extended hers to meet his. "A pleasure to meet you Rae-san. Are you two here for the festival or for business?"

Rae turned to Ariana with a grin and the girls burst out laughing. Ariana then proceeded to explain to Nuriko how they were here for a travel book they were working on. Nuriko informed them that he was with a large group here entirely for fun.

Rae was so engrossed in the conversation that she didn't even notice the other two young men until one of them suddenly spoke up from right behind her and caused her to nearly jump out of her skin. She raised her eyes to the young man who had spoken and received a solemn if exceedingly mischievous wink. Blushing, she turned her eyes to the second young man, the one who's hair she had been daydreaming about earlier and received a similar salute.'Goodness,' she thought, 'they really are scoundrels!'

She didn't catch it all, but it sounded as if Nuriko were chiding them for their ungentlemanly behavior. She caught Ariana's questioning glance and shrugged. The red head behind her suddenly snorted and assumed a superior tone and replied, "Oh CAN it Nuriko, you are just mad that someone around here has prettier hair and eyes then you do!"

Once it dawned on Rae that it was she that the young man was referring to, she would have been perfectly happy to sink into the earth and hide for the duration of their stay. She held no illusions about her own beauty and couldn?t believe that anyone would ever compare her to such a beautiful person as Nuriko! She bowed her head and felt her cheeks warm. She heard Ariana giggle and reminded herself to tickle her mercilessly later.

"Gomen nasai, Ariana-san, Rae-san." Nuriko said. Rae raised her eyes just in time to see him bop Tasuki on the head.

Tasuki rubbed his head where Nuriko's blow had landed, but just shrugged and grinned. Catching Rae's wide-eyed look he winked again. 'Goodness', she thought 'this one IS a handful!'

Nuriko's next words however caught her attention away from the flame haired scoundrel as if someone had waved the Holy Grail in front of her eyes. "So. Do you two enjoy going to karaoke bars?"

There were few things in life other than her photography that really excited Rae, one of those things just happened to be karaoke! Knowing that Ariana also enjoyed a good round of karaoke she rushed to respond in the affirmative.

Nuriko said that there was a kareoke contest at a nearby hotel and he and a large group of friends would be going tonight and asked if she and Ariana would like to join them.

Before either Ariana or Rae was able to accept the invitation Tasuki decided it was time to repay Nuriko for his earlier rebuff. "Sure, come along if you want! But I warn you; once Nuriko gets that microphone in his hand no one will be able to shut him up."

As Tasuki continued his mischievous monologue, Rae noticed that Nuriko had begun to turn a rather interesting shade of red. Uncertain whether it was from embarrassment or anger she decided that a little intervention was called for, especially considering it would be hard to join these engaging gentlemen for a rousing evening of kareoke if they were laid up at the hospital! She quickly laid her hand on Nuriko's arm and mollified him with a bit of praise that she had no doubt would end up being true judging by his speaking voice. "Oh Nuriko, I'm sure you have a lovely voice. I'm looking forward to hearing you sing. Perhaps you will win the contest, then won't we be proud of our new friend!"

Ariana turned to Tasuki with her patented evil grin and said, "Perhaps one of your friends could even buy you a celebratory round of Sake. Of course, if they don't I will."

Kouji, who had been watching the entire proceedings with an immense amount of glee, burst out laughing and slapped Tasuki on the back. He pointed at Ariana, who he referred to as 'Red', and expressed his opinion that she reminded him of Tasuki's sister Aidou.

Tasuki growled and responded that without her chasing him around with a stick it would be a hard comparison to make.

Rae knew that Kouji and Tasuki had it coming just by the look on Ariana's face. "My name is Ariana, not Red, Kouji-san.

And I'm sorry to disappoint you, Tasuki-san, but I'm afraid I don't know you well enough to chase after you with a stick.

Maybe after we know each other better, perhaps by the end of the week...." Rae burst out laughing knowing that Ariana would probably get an inordinate amount of enjoyment out of doing just that!

When the five of them finally stopped laughing, they finalized their plans to meet later that night and walk to the karaoke bar together. The three young men bowed bid them adieu, Tasuki and Kouji with yet another rakish grin and wink, then disappeared, leaving Ariana and Rae a bit stunned in their wake!

They returned to their bench, chatted a bit longer, enjoyed their tea and cookies, then adjourned to their rooms to prepare for the evening's festivities

***************************************

Patience and decisiveness were not Rae's strong points unless it came to photography! It was probably a good thing that her suitcase only held a couplen of outfits that were suitable for an evening out. Nevertheless, she tried each of them on several times before she finally settled on her favorite black T and maroon skirt. She didn't quite know why she was so excited about tonight, but she just had this feeling that something important was going to happen! "Hmmmm, perhaps that red head....' she though to herself with a small smile as she finished with her hair and makeup. Glancing at her watch her eyes flew open and she grabbed her bag and rushed to the adjoining door to Ariana's room. She knocked and entered at Ariana's summons.

"Ariana, its 10:15, hurry, or we will be late!" She said as she entered the room. She stifled a chuckle at Ariana's expression of deep concentration as she stood before the bed; finger to her lips, glancing back and forth between several outfits laid out before her.

"Hmmm, I just don't know what to wear!" Ariana said as she furrowed her brow.

Rae shook her head and sat down in a chair nearby, ready to lend her assistance in choosing the perfect outfit. Personally she thought that Ariana was one of those women who looked good no matter what she wore. Dressed up, dressed down, soaking wet from a sudden shower in Wales, or covered in mud from a an unexpected tumble in a pond, Ariana always looked great. Rae chuckled, as she had the picture from the pond incident to prove it!

13 minutes later she was practically dragging Ariana down the hall to meet their companions for the evening while giving her a good teasing about her lack of decisiveness in the attire choosing department. Unfortunately as Ariana was able to point out, it was like the pot calling the kettle black.

They paused as they entered the lobby to search for their group. Luckily they weren’t too hard to spot! Rae had thought that three of them were mind bobbling, but now there seemed to be a virtual horde of them! ‘Oh my, this is going to be strange, Ariana and I alone with all those cute guys! Not that I mind, mind you, they are all gorgeous!? Rae mentally conversed with herself. 'And I know that Ariana won't mind! *Mental chuckle* 'Oh look, there are a couple of girls with them, phew, at least we won’t feel so awkward then!'

Ariana's mechanically whispered comment in her ear interrupted her thoughts and caused her to burst out laughing. "Too many cute guys!. Must... Self... Destruct."

"There are a couple of girls there?. See?" Rae chuckled as she pointed out the young blond and brunette girls that were standing in the midst of the group.

Just then Nuriko caught sight of them and called them over, explaining that they were waiting for one last member of their party. 'Another one?' Rae thought to herself, 'this is unreal!'

Nuriko then proceeded to introduce them to the assembled group. Both Tasuki and Kouji saluted them with the normal wink and a grin. Rae chuckled and even dared to wink back, which earned her a raised eyebrow from Tasuki and an even bigger grin.

Nuriko continued to introduce each member of the group to them, first were the two girls, Yui and Miaka, Miaka?s beloved, Tamahome, and then a rather tall man by the name of Mitsukake, who they both really had to look up to greet. His smile was warm and his eyes were very kind though. Rae shook his hand and smiled up into his friendly face.

"This guy here is Chichiri, and this is Amiboshi and his twin brother Suboshi." Nuriko continued with his introductions.

Rae turned to greet their next companion and suddenly everything seemed to fade but the man that stood before her. He had just finished shaking Ariana's hand and was turning towards her with a welcoming smile. The man before her couldn't be much older than she was now, yet his hair was a bright steel gray that seemed to catch and play with the light, giving it a bluish tinge. It was cut close to his head except for a long piece in the back and his long bangs that bobbed merrily in front of his handsome smiling face. As his smile fixed on her and grew warmer yet, she felt as if her heart would stop. As if in slow motion Rae felt her hand rise to meet his, their hands drifting closer and closer. As their hands finally met Rae felt as if a white hot bolt of lightening were coursing through her body closely followed by a burst of adrenaline so intense that she thought she might pass out. The young man?s eyebrows lifted in surprise and his grip on her hand tightened, telling her that he had felt something too.

Just as suddenly as it had faded, the world abruptly came back into focus. Rae shook her head and released Chichiri’s hand in embarrassment once she realized she still held it tightly. 'That was strange!' She thought, 'I wonder what it was?'

Still a bit disoriented she hastily turned to Ariana who had just now completed greeting the two young men who seemed to be identical twins. 'Could it only have lasted a moment?' she thought to herself, 'It felt like an eternity!' She glanced back at Chichiri who was staring at her with an unreadable expression. Disconcerted by his scrutiny she turned back to Ariana and greeted Amiboshi and Suboshi. Her heart was still racing and she needed a moment to compose herself.

"How have you enjoyed your time in Japan so far?" Chichiri asked them with a small smile once they finished their introductions. His voice caught Rae a bit off guard. It had a musical quality to it not unlike Nuriko's, but it was also mature, almost sadder, as if the owner of the voice had seen more of life than he might have wished. It also held a hint of authority, this was a voice that you could trust and confide in.

"Oh, we have enjoyed ourselves so far, but this is the first time we’ve done anything socially with someone we weren’t interviewing for the book, so we are very excited." Rae said breathlessly before she even realized that she was speaking.

Catching Ariana's shocked expression she blushed, hardly able to believe that she had spoken out like that! 'What is happening to me, why does this man affect me like this?' she asked herself. She raised her eyes to glance at him again and quickly dropped them when she found him still gazing at her with a faint smile.

"Hotohori-sama!" Nuriko was exclaiming from behind her, "These are the two ladies I was telling you about at dinner, Ariana Morgan-san and Rae Ward-san. They are going to join us tonight in song and merriment."

Somewhat grateful for the distraction, Rae turned to greet the newcomer who smiled and bowed in return. Of all the men in the group, this Hotohori was probably the most beautiful. He also seemed very nice, judging by the friendly conversation that he and Ariana were engaging in about books and reading.

After a bit of good natured teasing between Hotohori, Nuriko and Chichiri, the group finally gathered it's self and headed out into the night to walk over to the hotel just a couple of blocks away. Ariana came up beside Rae and linked arms with her. The two girls smile at each other and followed the horde of gorgeous guys down the street.

*************************

Rae sighed contentedly as she gazed around the bar; the evening had been one of the most wonderful of her life. She really couldn't remember when she had had more fun nor had more engaging companions. She glanced over to share her thoughts with Ariana who was sitting a couple chairs away from her and was surprised to see her in very close conversation with Nuriko! Unable to help herself, she spied on them for a moment to see if she could figure out what was up. She had a sneaking suspicion that Ariana kind of liked Nuriko but couldn't be sure.

Her eyes grew large and her mouth dropped open when she saw Ari reach up and quickly kiss Nuriko on the nose before he moved to the stage for his final performance. 'This is too good to be true!' she thought with a chuckle. A blushing Ariana caught her expression and mouthed a warning. Nodding innocently, Rae covered a grin with her hand and turned back to Chichiri who had just returned with her drink.

"I had them make it a little lighter on the vodka this time," Chichiri said with a smile as he set down her glass in front of her and resumed his seat next to her. Of the group that had been sitting at this end of their group of tables, only she and Chichiri remained. Tasuki and Kouji had pulled a table aside and were talking with two young women whose acquaintance they had made earlier in the evening. Ari and Nuriko were sitting at the other end of the group of tables by themselves, and the rest of the group had slowly dispersed during the evening, either gone back to the hotel to sleep, or to mingle with newfound friends.

"Arigato," Rae responded as she took a sip of her drink. "Mmmm, much better, that last one was way to strong for me! I really shouldn't be drinking this one at all." She chuckled ruefully and added, "You may find yourself having to carry this silly girl back to the ryokan!"

"It would be an honor and my pleasure no da!" Chichiri replied as he inclined his head with a smile.

Rae laughed, "Well, you have been warned!" Throughout the evening she had found his gallantry and unique way of speaking very refreshing, not to mention entertaining.

***************************

When they had first arrived at the bar they had pulled several tables together and all sat down together. Rae had sat between Ari and Nuriko, who, after insisting she tried one of his famous concoctions called a Nuriko special, immediately began regaling her with stories of the joys of karaoke and his numerous experiences.

Chichiri had sat across the table from them and watched the entertaining if somewhat one-sided conversation while he sipped his drink. Occasionally Rae would glance up and find him gazing at her with that placid smile that he always seemed to wear. Inevitably she was the first to drop eye contact. She still wasn't sure what had happened between them back in the lobby of the ryokan, but hoped that she would have a chance to ask him what he had felt, if anything. Soon after their arrival they announced the beginning of the kareoke contest.

"Oh, Rae, lets hurry and choose our song!" Ariana said jumping up, moments later she returned with a book listing the songs that were available to sing that night. The two of them and Nuriko pored over the book, trying to find their songs.

Nuriko almost immediately found a song that he proclaimed perfectly suited his voice and jumped up to put in his request with the DJ. Rae sighed sadly as she turned the last page; she was very disappointed to find that there were no suitable duets for her and Ariana to perform together. She hadn?t even seen any that she would want to sing alone either. Although it took a few more drinks than she was prepared to consume tonight to get her up on stage by herself!

"So, what ya gonna sing?" A velvety voice suddenly asked right in her ear. Jumping noticeably, Rae turned around to find that a wolfishly grinning Tasuki had taken Nuriko's seat next to her.

"Well it doesn't look like there are any of the songs in here that Ari and I usually do, so I don't think that we will sing tonight." Rae responded with a sad smile.

"Hmpf," Tasuki snorted. "Well that would be a shame! There has to be something in here that you could sing!" Pulling the book closer he began turning the pages with a serious look on his face. He smiled and got an evil glint in his eye after a moment. "How does Love Shack sound?" He asked with an exaggerated wink in Ariana's direction.

"Perfect, if you can talk Rae into it." Ariana said with a huge laugh, gesturing towards Rae, whose face mirrored mock indignity. Ariana knew that Rae really loved the song, but probably was afraid to give their new friends the wrong impression.

Cocking his head in Rae's direction he asked, "Well, how about it? I'll even sing with ya!" He added with a grin.

Unable to keep a straight face any longer, Rae chuckled and shook her head. "Alright, we'll sing it!" She said with an emphatic nod. 'Ahh, who cares what they think, it's all in fun anyway!' She thought to herself, but made a liar of her thoughts as her next action was to glance up at Chichiri to see what he thought of the proceedings.

"I am sure that the three of you will bring down the house with that number no da." Chichiri said with a genuine smile that answered her unasked question.

"Woooo hoooo, I'll go put in our request." Ariana exclaimed excitedly as she hugged Rae and literally bounded over to the stage to join Nuriko, who was still talking earnestly with the DJ.

Moments after Ari vacated her seat; Kouji inserted himself into it. The two scoundrels had apparently decided that their goal for the evening was to make her laugh as much as possible, as they proceeded to tease and cajole her until she was laughing so hard she cried. The hardest part was fending off their constant offers of Sake and other various drinks that they kept pressing on her. The two of them drank like fish, and had she even attempted to keep up with them she was sure she would have ended up under the table within the hour.

The drink that Nuriko had made for her, which he had dubbed a Nuriko Special, while wonderfully delicious, was far stronger than anything she normally drank. So soon after finishing it she switched to a concoction of Seven-up, vodka and a splash of cranberry juice that was refreshing without being too heavy on the alcohol. Knowing better than to mix drinks any more than she already had, she politely, if somewhat exasperatedly turned down their offers of a plethora of drinks that they insisted on urging her to try. She finally had to retire to the bathroom to dry her eyes and blow her nose and catch her breath after they began extolling the wonderful properties of a drink called Sex-On-The-Beach. She just hadn't been able to stop laughing and blushing.

The guys antics kept her and the rest of the party in stitches. Soon the entire party at their end of the table, including Mitsukake, Chichiri, Nuriko and Ari, who had returned to find themselves shuffled to new seats, were laughing and talking like close friends.

Nuriko’s first performance had been wonderful, and they had all cheered loudly for him when he was done. Their own song, while not terribly challenging musically, was a lot of fun and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. Rae had her suspicions that it was mainly the ladies in the audience that were expressing their approval of the two girl?s flame haired companion. Tasuki seemed to have somewhat surprised his long time friends with a nice singing voice and a talent for showmanship. He had a knack for making the entire audience feel as if they were part of the song. Rae could have sworn that she heard several dreamy sighs when they were returning to their table.

The trio made it into the semi-finals and got to perform a second time, but didn?t make it into the finals. Surprisingly, Rae didn't feel the disappointment that she normally would. She was having too much fun, and besides, she was excited for Nuriko who had made it into the finals and looked as though he had a good chance to win first prize.

Later that night while they were waiting for the finals to start, she noticed a pretty young woman had walked up to their table and was conversing eagerly with Nuriko about his chances of winning the competition. Ariana had pointed her out earlier as the daughter of the ryokan's manager. Rae observed that the young woman kept surreptitiously glancing in Tasuki's direction and suspected that she probably had an ulterior motive for wishing to join them. Glancing around the table she was dismayed to find that all the chairs were full.

Nudging Tasuki in the ribs she nodded her head in the young woman's direction. "Hey Tasuki, I believe that young lady would like to join us, why don't you make yourself useful and see if you can find her a chair!"

Tasuki glanced up and grinned at the young woman, who blushed slightly. "Sure, just a sec! I'll find ya a chair!" Jumping up he started searching for a free chair. He didn't find any nearby so had to walk almost all the way across the bar before he found one that wasn't occupied or spoken for.

"May I sit here?" a soft voice asked from behind her. She looked up and saw Chichiri standing behind her and gesturing at the newly vacated seat next to her with an inquiring expression.

"Please, make yourself comfortable." Rae offered shyly. Chichiri set down his drink and sat down beside her. Tasuki, who had just returned with the long sought after chair gave him a surprised look. Seeing that Chichiri had absolutely no intention of returning his seat, Tasuki shrugged and winked at Rae. He set the new chair down between Kouji's chair and the chair that Chichiri had vacated and invited the young woman, whose name Rae later learned was Kure-ko, to join them. Soon they, along with Kouji and Kouji's new friend by the name of Lalia Kenshin, had pulled one of the tables slightly apart and were engaging in lively conversation and what appeared to be some sort of feat of engineering involving beer coasters.

Soon after, Mitsukake excused himself for the night, which left Rae and Chichiri alone together.

Chichiri leaned forward slightly as Rae nervously reached for her drink. "So Rae-san, what are you hoping to photograph during your time here?" He asked softly.

Rae’s heart began to beat a little faster. They had exchanged the occasional comment and social repartee from time to time during the evening, but this was the first time they had an opportunity to speak seriously.

Once Rae began to speak about her work she lost all her nervousness. Chichiri smiled brightly and laughed aloud as she enthusiastically recounted some of their adventures on her and Ariana's first assignment together in Wales. He seemed very interested in her past and her life in general. Rae found him to be easy to talk to and a mentally stimulating companion.

Rarely had she meet anyone who was not only as knowledgeable about many things in the world, but also as wise as Chichiri was.

She was also glad that she finally had an opportunity to study this man who had so caught her attention earlier in the evening. Normally his face wore a bland smiling expression that was nearly impossible to read, but when he really smiled his face seemed to light up and it become one of the most animated faces she had ever seen. She loved his smile and decided that she would try her hardest to make him smile as much as possible for the rest of the evening. She hoped that he would allow her to take his picture sometime during the week, as he would definitely be an interesting study. Plus, she definitely wouldn't mind an opportunity to spend more time with him.

A short time later they finally announced that the finals were about to begin. Gesturing towards her now empty glass, Chichiri inquired if she would like another.

"Hmmm, yes please, but this is my limit! It's a Seven-up, Absolute and cranberry juice, but please ask them to only put in half a shot of vodka this time." Rae replied with a grateful smile as she handed him her glass.

Rae leaned back in her chair and watched him walk towards the bar. Stifling a yawn she glanced at her watch and found it to be almost 2AM. Nuriko would be singing, and hopefully winning, soon. She hoped that Ari would be ready to go back to the ryokan soon after the finals were over, as she had begun to feel awfully sleepy. Plus she needed to get to bed, as she knew she wanted to get an early start in the morning and catch some of the dramatic lighting at sunrise. Another yawn prompted her to make a mental note to ask Chichiri or Nuriko or better yet both to walk her and Ariana back to the ryokan after the competition was over. She knew she hadn't had too much to drink, but as sleepy as she was, there was no telling where they might end up! Plus, a moonlit stroll with two handsome men would be the perfect ending to a perfect evening.

'Yes,' she thought with a contented sigh, 'this has been a truly wonderful evening!'

FIN ^_^

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