My take at Kouji's past. Please forgive any OOCs, I know I suck but that doesn't stop me from trying! *sob*

I don't own FY or anything for that matter. I'm the one being owned.

"speech"

'thought'

flashback

"Rise & shine sleepyhead," The warm morning rays shone brightly down, its brilliance reflected off orange tresses as wild as the fire itself. A total contrast of midnight blue bangs loomed slightly above the sleeping form. Without warning, a tanned hand gripped & pulled the blankets away from the guy & shoved him down the other side of the bed. A loud thud was heard, followed closely by some curses. "After all those times ya spent with the miko & all, ya still can't wake up on time, eh, Genrou?? Ah can't believe ya still need me ta wake ya up!!"

"Good mornin' t'ya too!" Genrou, or Tasuki—one of the Suzaku star warriors, grinned sheepishly before getting off the floor & towards the metal basin filled with fresh water & a towel handily beside it. The war was over & they'd won. But, without his band of bandits plus his best friend at the helm, filling in for him, the odds might have been a little too overwhelming. And the lost of their powers didn't add to the situation well too. "Can't cha juz let me off da hook fer once? Ya have any idea what ah did ta save ya sorry ass?"

"Oo…low blow man…ya know as well as ah do ta ya'r the star warrior, not me," Kouji pulled a chair towards him & dropped onto it, hugging the backrest to his chest. "'Sides, it's a nice mornin' today. Tot ya might wanna go hunt or s'th."

"We haven't done that in quite awhile, na did we?" the flame-haired guy pulled on his black trench coat, back facing Kouji.

"Uh huh, but we can only stay till juz before sundown coz ah've got a raid ta lead,"

"Ya coming with me right?" Genrou looked up rather hopefully. A gentle smile graced Kouji's lips.

"'Corz ah am comin'…who knows watcha gonna do wrong if ah ain't there,"

~~

The light zephyr weaved through the dense vegetations & forced the leaves atop the trees to sway & rustle to its movement. As quietly as boots could go, the two bandits crept forward, nearing their prey. Kouji readied an arrow & was about to fire when a loud thud sounded a little behind his prey, scaring the deer to fleet the scene.

"Ah damn…" Genrou cursed & sat down angrily. "There goes the deer!!"

"Shh…" the blue haired bandit shushed his buddy & strode towards the "distraction" cautiously. He slid the arrow back to its quiver, slung the bow behind his back & pulled out his saber for hacking at the ground vegetations.

'Mou…Kouji's taking too long…' Tasuki was polishing his tessen when he heard a metallic clang coming from Kouji's direction. He hurried there & saw his best friend & partner kneeling by a kid of barely 10 years old.

"Oi, pull yourself together!!" Kouji lifted the kid & shook his shoulders roughly. "Genrou, he's burning up! We better get him back."

"Right!" Tasuki sheathed his tessen.

"You're faster. You get him back. I'll go look for doctor or somethin'," Kouji handed the boy to Tasuki & draped a wet towel across the boy's forehead.

"Right!"

"Try ta keep his temperature down!!" Kouji yelled at their retreating form. A sense of déjà vu hit the bandit co-leader & images from the past flooded his mind's eye as he made his way down to the nearest town.

"Oi, pull yourself together!!"

'Wha?' Cerulean eyes opened tiredly & focused on the face above his. 'Who's this…?' Slightly tanned figure, handsome face, an authoritative aura radiated from the man.

"Watcha doin' out in the woods alone??" he heard water being poured & a wet piece of cloth was placed across his forehead. He felt himself being raised slightly & a canteen of water touched his parched lips. He drank the water hungrily, welcoming the cool liquid.

"I'm gonna bring you to town, okay?"

"Iya…" Kouji forced himself up & protested. "Otousan, Okasan…everyone in town's sick! I wouldn't return without at least some herbs!!!"

"Ya ain't exactly very healthy now either. Why don'tcha juz rest up & find d herb later then?"

"No! If I wait any longer…they'll…they'll die!" Being as hard-headed as he is, he pushed himself off the ground & took a few faltering steps, but was quickly overcame by darkness.

The moment he set foot into town, everyone cleared their way for him. It could be the amount of weapons he had on him, it could be his worried look that everyone else interpreted as fierce but they all stayed out of his way. Ignoring the looks he got, he stormed into the pharmacy & asked the person behind the counter for a doctor. The attendant cowered in fear & stammered that the doctor was out of town. Biting back his reaction of slamming his fist on the countertop, he asked the guy for some herbs that might help fever. The guy shakily pulled out some pieces of dried herbs & packed them up. Muttering a "thank you", he sprinted out of the store & towards the bandits' stronghold.

"Oi, kid!! Wakey, wakey. We got some medicine for ya! And don'tcha dare say it's too bitter!!" Genrou poked the kid on the cheeks. He watched as the boy squinted & tried to sit up.

"Who…who are you??" he frowned. "Where am I?"

"Ya in the Mt. Reikaku bandits HQ," Genrou gave his fanged grin & held out the bowl of blackish murky liquid. The boy might have felt intimidated & shrunk back into the sheets, away from Tasuki.

"Ya scarin' the poor kid, Genrou!" The boy poked his head out of the sheets & saw another figure enter the room. He took the bowl from the orange haired bandit & knelt down, eye-to-eye with the boy. "I'll take you back as soon as you feel better, okay? But you gotta finish this first,"

"Nn…"

"Ch'…How come ya could coax a kid so easily while they juz cry when they see me?"

"Ya have a scary face!"

"Well, I'm sorry for being born with a scary face!!" Kouji was howling with laughter even before Genrou finished his retort.

"So? Why are you in the woods alone?"

"I'm looking for herbs for my mama. She's sick & I need to find this special plant for her,"

"I see…But instead, you fell sick too!"

"I'm all better now!" the boy snapped.

"All thanks to us…" Genrou added.

"We'll help you find the herb then we'll send you back," Kouji grinned. "We don't need another brat here." The boy raised an eyebrow.

"Grr! Kouji!! I resent that!!!"

"Ahahahahahaha…"

'At least he'll have a different ending from mine…'

"Kid, wake up! You've been asleep for a week already!" Kouji jolted awake & pushed himself off his back.

'Sheets? And a bed??' He turned & saw the same man from before. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Mt. Reikaku bandits stronghold," A light frown tugged at his brows.

"Has it really been a week??"

"Yes," The man answered solemnly.

"Holy shit~!!!" he jumped off the bed & ran out the room. Miraculously, he managed to find his way out of the stronghold too. He ran & ran & ran, ignoring the aches & pains, ignoring his lungs' protest for more air. As he neared the entrance of the town, an extra burst of energy he didn't know he had propelled him forward even faster & he skidded to a stop just inside the town. Silence…cold, eerie silence.

"It's too late kid," he turned around & saw his rescuer.

"What…what's too late??" he gave a nervous chuckle. "You're kidding me right?"

"…"

"This isn't true, is it? It's all a big joke that they wanna pull off on me, right??"

"…It's true…"

"No…no…this ain't true!" Kouji yelled stubbornly through his tears. "It ain't true…not true…not true…" he barely felt his knees buckle & sank down to his knees. "It's not true!!" he pounded the dusty ground, repeating the same phrase over & over in a futile attempt to lie to himself.

"It's all true & you know it!" Strong arms gripped his shoulders & shook them. He slowly raised his head to see the man, tears still streaming down his face. "There is no way you could change it so just accept this!"

"…There's no way I could change it…" Those words sounded so hollow. 'Maybe the man's right, maybe I couldn't have changed it. But I tried! I really tried!!!' Another fact dawned upon him. "…I should've been dead too!!! I shouldn't have left the village! I should've just died with them!!" Kouji felt a slap cross his cheek. He immediately covered the stinging cheek with his hand & glared angrily at the man.

"That hurt, didn't it? That proves that you're still alive! All the more you should stop whining & bitching about death. All those who died didn't wanna die, do they? Being the only one alive, you should live your life to the fullest! You should live their lives for them too!!!"

"Live their lives for them? How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Kouji asked sadly, his hand still nursing his cheek.

The man grinned. "Smile for them, laugh for them, live for them! But for today, cry for them. No more tears shall be shed after today, okay?"

A sob escaped his lips & he hurled himself into the arms of the man that saved him—the one they call Hakurou.

'After today, I will not cry for them anymore. But only after today…'

END!!!

How's this? Kouji is so underrated, ne? heehee…the last paragraph… Don't think of the wrong things, minna-san!!! I'm warning ya…!

Read & review~!!!

^_~