Author's Note: Another story that was written sometime ago for the LJ community. I notice the lack of love for our monk and bandit so here it is. I will bring more. Must spread the love. ^_^ (Chichiri x Tasuki)

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"You have to talk to him."

Chichiri looked up from his scroll in surprise; it wasn't often that Nuriko barged in when he was working.

"Talk to whom, no da?"

"Talk to Tasuki," the ghost said with an exaggerated sigh.

"About what, no da?" Trying as it might be talking to Nuriko, he had always found it amusing.

The ghost stared at him. "Chichiri, which universe have you been living in? Of course you have to talk to him about this stupid letter of his."

"At the risk of sounding even more ignorant, no da – what letter? To whom?"

This time, Nuriko didn't bother to give him any kind of looks, he just flitted around the room waving his arms airily, muttering to any piece of furniture that would listen – not that they have any choice.

"Miaka's Santa. He's writing to a fat man in a red suit so that he could get a present from the chimney –how bizarre is that? He's also behaving himself so he could get on this guy's list. What kind of a list, did you ask? A good list! But why would anyone make a bad list anyway? That's like… trash. And the man lives on a pole somewhere in the north. How do you write to someone living on a friggin' pole? How DO you live on a pole anyway? He's going out of his mind –"

"Nuriko, no da!" Chichiri had to interrupt his tirade – he was getting dizzy and the dead seishi made absolutely no sense at all.

"I'm afraid to ask you to start at the beginning, no da. I may not survive another recount so… what is so bad about him writing to this…"

"Santa," Nuriko supplied.

"Thank you. Santa. If it amuses him, why not, no da?"

"Do you know why people write to Santa?"

Chichiri frown. "No." He didn't even know there was a Santa.

"To ask for a present," Nuriko told him with authority.

"The one that comes out of the…chimney, no da?"

"Yeah."

Chichiri ignored the beginning of a headache that throbbed just behind his eye. "Putting aside all the things that didn't make sense, how bad is it for Tasuki to ask for a present, no da? If you're worried that he'll be disappointed – because I don't believe there is a fat man on a pole either – we can always peek at the letter and get him the present, na no da."

"I don't think you'll approve of his request," Nuriko said, his semi-transparent face serious. "That's why you have to talk to him."

Chichiri didn't like the somber tone from the usually vivacious man er, ghost.

"What is he asking for, no da?"

Nuriko sighed and bit his lower lip. Chichiri was always amazed when he did that. What was there for a ghost to bite?

"He's asking for… well…oh geez!" Nuriko floated closer and looked around the empty room. Of course it would be empty; it was Chichiri's room and aside from the disrespectful ghost, most people would think twice before bothering him. "DON'T tell Tasuki I told you this." Nuriko looked doubtful but continued. "He's in love with someone and he wants this person to love him back. That's what he's asking for."

Tasuki was in love with someone?

Tasuki was in love with someone else?

Tasuki was –

"Chichiri!"

Chichiri jumped back a good two feet when Nuriko's face merged with his own. That was just… eek.

"Sorry about that," the ghost said apologetically. "You spaced out for a whole minute there. You okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine." Tasuki was in love with someone else, no da. "Er… who is he in love with, no da?"

Nuriko waved his ghostly hand airily. "Does it matter? It's wrong to wish for that kind of thing."

"You're right, of course. He mustn't do that." Chichiri wasn't sure that his reason was morally sound at all. He was more concern about the person that had beaten him to Tasuki.

Had he been so wrong? Had he misinterpreted Tasuki covert glances? Or had he waited too long? He was going to give the young bandit a couple of years before he made his move. Now he was too late. But maybe it was better this way. At least now he knew that whatever Tasuki felt for him wasn't very deep or lasting.

"Well?" While he was beating himself up for losing Tasuki to a nameless person coming out of a chimney, Nuriko had apparently asked him something.

"Well what, no da?"

"Well… aren't you going over there to talk him out of it?"

"ME, no da?"

"Yes, you, no da!" Nuriko rolled his eyes. "Who else?"

"Well, how about you, no da?"

"Why would he listen to me?" Nuriko shook his head and pointed to the door. "Go, Chichiri. He'll listen to you. He thinks you're a god, or something."

"Or something is more like it, no da," Chichiri mumbled, recalling the first time they had met. Tasuki sure didn't know what to think of him.

But he knew better than to ignore the persistent ghost when he was that determined. Chichiri had once – and only once – ticked Nuriko off bad enough that the tireless ghost camped out in his room for the entire week, keeping Chichiri awake with horrible singing and story-telling. He wasn't about to make that mistake again.

So he found himself in Tasuki's room, sitting on a chair, staring at the confused bandit and thinking about how in the world he always managed to get himself into these situations.

"Ne, Chiri, it's not that I don't enjoy your company or nothin' but you've been sitting there NOT talking for a while now. What's up? I didn't do nothin', I swear."

Chichiri had to smile. Poor Tasuki. Had he always scolded the bandit so? "I know, Tasuki, no da. Nuriko told me how you've been trying to be very good."

Tasuki beamed. Normally, this would set Chichiri's heart racing but this time, it only caused pain. It appeared that Tasuki would go to a great length to win this person…

Chichiri sighed; might as well get this over with.

"Tasuki, no da," Chichiri started, and then found that he didn't know how to go on. How could he approach the subject without giving Nuriko away?

"Yeah?" Tasuki looked expectedly at him. "What?"

"Er…what were you doing, no da?"

Tasuki blinked. Chichiri could have cheerfully kicked himself in the rear if that wouldn't freaked Tasuki out even more.

"Nothin' much. I was just writing –" Tasuki paused, looking like he had just thought of something. "Hey, Chiri, you know everything, don't you?"

"Hardly, no da."

"Yeah, yeah," Tasuki waved that away impatiently. "But you know an awful lot, yeah?"

Chichiri frowned, not sure he liked the way Tasuki's eyes lit up at whatever thought popped into his head.

"Well, I know some, no da."

"So… you know about Santa, right?" Tasuki scooted his chair closer to Chichiri, his face bright with anticipation.

While this was his opening to the subject, Chichiri didn't know how he could break Tasuki's heart by telling him the man wasn't real.

"Um… just rumors, no da." Great! What the heck was that?

Tasuki grasped onto that like Tamahome to a pile of money. "So if I have a letter for him, where do I send it?"

"Why would you send him a letter, no da? What can you possibly want that you don't have, no da?"

Tasuki turned a cute shade of pink, his fang poking out adorably as he pouted. "Never you mind, Chiri. Just tell me where to send it."

"Well…" Think, Chichiri, think! "Well, you don't send it, no da."

"Huh?" Tasuki made a face and shook his head. "How is it a letter if you don't send it?"

"A magical one, no da." Suzaku, he was brilliant. "You burn it in a fire and Santa will get your message, na no da."

The red-haired bandit chewed on his lips adorably thoughtfully and then nodded. "You're absolutely right, Chiri. It's perfect! I burn the letter in the fireplace, that's why my wish will come out of the chimney!"

"You had better put the fire out before your wish comes, no da," Chichiri muttered, none too kindly. A very evil but satisfying thought of Tasuki's burnt 'wish' flashed through his mind. Maybe he should add a few logs, no da…

"What did you say, Chiri?"

"Nothing, no da."

== == ==

As Chichiri walked back to his room, he suddenly realized that he still hadn't talked to the bandit about free will – one of the few rules of magic. You never use magic to violate someone else's free will and that included asking a magical entity to 'make' someone return your love. He would have to find another time to approach that subject. But for now, at least he took care of this 'letter to Santa'. That was something.

"Chichiri, are you a monk or an idiot?" Nuriko, the idiot ghost asked, hands on hips, braid swinging to and fro. "You do realize that writing stuff down on a piece of paper, and then burning it is ONE way of making a wish, right?"

Chichiri realized that he was also an idiot. What had he been thinking?

Nuriko sighed and shook his head. "Now you're going to have to get to that chimney before Tasuki does!"

"Me, no da?"

"Yes, you, no da."

"Why not you, no da?" Chichiri had a feeling they'd had this conversation before.

"Because you screwed it up, Chichiri. Now you have to fix it."

Chichiri sulked. Somehow he felt that he'd just been had but couldn't quite put his fingers on it.

"I don't think you need to worry, Nuriko, no da. Santa doesn't exist, na no da."

"Yeah, but you had Tasuki sent his wish to someone else when you told him to burn it. Suzaku might get it and you know how he is about pampering his seishi now and then."

"I'll send a prayer to Suzaku, no da."

"It's too late, Chichiri. Just go and… and take whoever comes out of the chimney back to his house."

"But –"

"Just do the 'poof' thing and you're in and out of his room. He'd never know it."

"But –"

"And you know that I can't do that. Anyone seeing a ghost would just scream their heads off and then we'd have the palace guards in the room."

"But –"

"Chop, chop, Chichiri. We don't have that much time."

And so Chichiri found himself in Tasuki's room once again. Nuriko had finally volunteered to do something for a change and had taken Tasuki out – he really couldn't imagine where a bandit and a ghost could possibly go together. Chichiri sat in front of the fireplace, poking absently at the ashes to make sure that all the embers had burned out. He looked critically at the soot encrusted space and wondered WHY anyone would send anything through the chimney. Mind boggling, really.

Then suddenly, he thought he heard sounds coming from above the fireplace. He moved closer and peered up the chimney. He couldn't see anything; it was pitch black but he could hear something moving in there.

"Hello?" He called. "Is someone up there, no da?"

There were more scuffling noises but no one answered. He looked distastefully at the ashes but took a step into the large fireplace so he could get a better look up the chimney. Maybe whoever it was got stuck. That would be very bad for Tasuki should his wish died in there.

As he stuck his head further up the chimney, he heard the door opened. Oh dear. It was rather pointless to teleport out of there when his kesa was draped over a chair and his staff leaning by the fireplace.

"Chiri?"

Oh damn. So much for no profanity this month.

Chichiri ducked out from the fireplace and nonchalantly brushed the soot from his shirt. It looked like he was going to have to magicked them off since they seemed to cling stubbornly to his clothing.

"Chiri? Were you in my chimney?" Tasuki was flushed from what Chichiri guessed was embarrassment.

"Well… technically, your fireplace, Tasuki."

"I can't believe it." The bandit sounded breathless. "You came." He moved slowly towards Chichiri, his expression ecstatic. Chichiri was confused to say the least. He looked around him, afraid that there might be something else here that was making Tasuki look so happy but found none. He turned back to the advancing young man and pointed to himself.

"Me, no da?"

"You, no da."

Oh, dear. He really hated this dialogue.

And then he understood. His eyes widen and his heart thumped excitedly in his chest.

"You wished for ME, no da?"

Tasuki nodded, taking Chichiri in his arms, hugging him tight. "Wow, that Santa thing really works."

Chichiri was still dumbfounded but he had enough sense to hug the bandit back. "Yeah, imagine that."

"I waited so long," Tasuki mumbled into his shoulder. "I thought you'd never be mine."

Chichiri sighed and held the younger man close. He never knew that it would feel so perfect to hold Tasuki this way. Maybe he didn't have to wait. Maybe Tasuki was ready now.

"You just have to ask, no da."

Tasuki pulled away, the side of his face smeared with soot. Chichiri smiled, tenderly brushing the spot.

"I can ask?" The uncertainty in Tasuki's voice put an ache in Chichiri's chest. No matter how boisterous the bandit was, he was still so vulnerable. It was one of the many things that Chichiri loved about him.

"Yes, no da."

Tasuki swallowed; his smile still unsure. "So… Chichiri, will you be mine?"

Chichiri nodded. "Yes, Tasuki, no da," he said, laughing. "Oh, and just so you understand," Chichiri said, kissing the bandit softly on the lips. "This has nothing to do with your wish."

Tasuki frowned, glancing at the fireplace.

"Oh, just tell him," Nuriko's voice echoed around them. "What's he going to do to me – I'm dead."

Tasuki pushed a little away from him and looked around. "What's that cross-dressing freak got to do with this?"

"Well –"

"You guys took FOREVER! I may be dead but I have places to go to, you know. I can't babysit you two until you both turn to prunes, and your vital parts fall off."

"Wait," Chichiri never thought he could be this slow but apparently a few snails had passed him on the road. "YOU set this up?"

"DUH!"

"You TOLD him? You promised!" Tasuki was now waving his tessen around wildly but Nuriko was nowhere to be found. Chichiri grabbed the arm holding the fan and took that off the bandit's hand.

"Tasuki, no da. You'd just set your room on fire, na no da."

"Yeah, listen to him, fang boy." The ghost laughed merrily. "Since, you kids are set up, I'm gonna get out of your hair for a while – you know, so you can do your thing and boink each other silly."

"NURIKO!" Chichiri knew his face was beet red; it certainly felt like Tasuki had set the tessen on him.

"What, like THAT didn't cross your mind?"

Well… of course it had. Much more often than not! And if he remembered his teenage years correctly – and it hadn't been that long, thank you very much – Tasuki had probably thought about it way more often than he had.

"You don't have to leave, no da."

"Of course he does," Tasuki hissed in his ears. "Bye, Nuriko. Have fun! Take your time! Don't let the door hit you on your way out."

"We have sliding doors, Tasuki, no da." Chichiri rolled his eye at the young bandit, shaking his head. "Nuriko, no da. I can put up a barrier if we're going to do anything – well, not that we WILL, of course –"

"Why not?" Tasuki wanted to know, frowning unhappily.

"Yeah, why not?"

"None of your business, no da! No, not you Tasuki. Wait. Agh! Okay, Fine! Go. Have a nice trip." Chichiri's headache was beginning to make another appearance. These two just drove him crazy – in different ways but crazy, nonetheless.

Nuriko's laughter was his only answer, and then Chichiri could not detect his presence anymore. He was really gone.

When he turned to look at Tasuki – who was unusually quiet – he found the young man sulking next to him. Aw, how cute.

He took Tasuki in his arms and kissed him soundly.

"You don't want to… you know?" Tasuki asked between kisses.

Holding the bandit now with his lean body pressing so tantalizingly against his own, Chichiri could honestly say, YES, he wanted very much. And he told Tasuki so.

"Really?" Tasuki asked, still unsure but his grip on Chichiri's shirt had definitely tightened.

"Really, no da." Chichiri confirmed and proceeded to show him just how much he was wanted.

== == ==

Later that night, as he lay with Tasuki wrapped snuggly around him, Chichiri thought he heard distant sound of bells. He sighed and pulled Tasuki closer, marveling at the contentment he felt. The last thing he heard as he drifted off to sleep was, "Happy Holiday to all, and to all a good-night."

How strange…

~ end ~