HANDS OFF THE BANDIT, NO DA! (1/3)
BY : Chikki

-------- I just want to say thanks to everyone who reviewed my previous fics, na no da. ^___^ I've focused mainly on drawing, but I just decided that I'm going to give a shot at ficcie writing, no da, and all your nice comments made me feel so nice, no da. Arigato Gozaimas!

Warnings Tasuki has a _VERY_ impressive vocabulary of official "bandit" words, no da…so it's PG 13 for swearing…oh…and some yaoi too,na no da. (^_^)
Disclaimer Not mine. Never will be,na no da.



"I'm glad that we got this chance to talk…everything has been so hectic these past few days…" Tasuki said.

"Hai, no da."

"I mean, it's always a good idea to take some time off…It becomes a bad thing if we work our asses off all the time…"

"Hai, no da."

"Not to mention that I have finally decided to give up sake forever so that I could buy Kouji an elephant for his birthday and then I'll turn into a priest for the rest of my fucking life…"
"Hai, no da."

"Chichiri…"

"Hai, no da?"

Tasuki gave Chichiri an accusing glare and smirked. "You're not listening to me."

Chichiri blushed and looked down. It was true. He had not been paying any attention to Tasuki at all. Wait, that wasn't right. He had been paying attention to Tasuki. He just hadn't been paying attention to what Tasuki had been saying.

"Gomen ne, na no da." The monk apologized. "Please, Tasuki-kun. Continue, na no da."

His younger companion gave an amused nod in his direction before continuing on with his rambling.

The blue haired monk tried desperately to focus on what Tasuki was saying, but it was to no avail. His own mind kept wandering to thoughts about how cute Tasuki's fangs were…and how his hair glistened whenever he moved…Chichiri sighed.

Meanwhile, Tasuki had come to a point in his monolugue that required seriousness and the monk's full attention. He took a deep breath. "Chichiri…" he started and looked up. "You gotta listen to me."

Chichiri rested his gaze on Tasuki. "Hmmm?"

"Well, we've been friends for a really long time now, right?"

"Hai, Tasuki-kun. What are you trying to say, no da?" Chichiri noted with concern that Tasuki's hands were beginning to shake. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong? No, nothing's wrong!" Tasuki answered and laughed nervously under the piercing gaze of the other. "No…nothing at all…"

"Well, if you're sure, no da…"

"I'm sure! I'm sure!"

Chichiri decided to ignore the fact that Tasuki was mutilating the fish that he had set before the other seishi and settled back in his seat. "Okay then, na no da. What were you trying to tell me?"

"Well, if we're friends, then we can tell each other anything, right?"

"Hai."

"And if we can tell each other anything, then that means that we understand each other…"
"Hai."

"And if we understand each other,then…"

"Just get to the point, no da."

"Okay…the point is that…I've been watching you, Chichiri." Tasuki took another deep breath and looked up to meet the mahogany gaze of the monk standing before him determinedly. "I've been watching you a lot for a long time now, and…"

Chichiri raised his eyebrows. "And…?"

"And I think I love you."

Chichiri snapped out of the cloudy daze that he was in and nearly choked on his food. "NANI, NO DA?!?"

"Whoa…Easy there, 'Chiri!" Tasuki said, thumping his friend's back.

Finally, the chokes subsided and Chichiri weakly turned to face a furiously blushing Tasuki. "Can you…could you please…repeat that, no da? I..I thought I heard you say that you lo-"

"'Ya didn't hear anything wrong, 'Chiri." Tasuki shrugged.

The monk simply stared at him blankly and sighing, Tasuki bent over a little so that he was at eye level with the older seishi. He placed both of his hands on the other's shoulders. "I love you." He said again.

Chichiri continued to stare blankly at Tasuki and the bandit sighed again in exasperation.

"Me Tasuki." he said slowly and pointed to himself. "You Chichiri." he pointed to the monk and took a hold of the older man's hand. The brigand then raised his eyes to meet Chichiri's.

"Tasuki loves Chichiri." He stated carefully, making sure that there was no space left for any misunderstandings that could occur. "Tasuki. Loves. Chichiri."

Chichiri's eye widened and a faint blush began to appear on his cheeks as comprehension finally began to sink in. Millions of emotions came crashing down on him in the space of a second and he struggled to regain control.

Tasuki gave a sigh of relief and nodded before he released Chichiri's hand. The younger seishi stood up and quickly turned away, his newfound courage beginning to disappear. "I didn't expect you to fall into my arms or anything like that, though…" Tasuki continued with his back still turned towards Chichiri. "I just…I guess I just needed to tell 'ya, that's all."

The stunned monk was completely incapable of doing anything else except to stare at the other man in disbelief. "Tasuki…"

"Hai?"

Chichiri opened his mouth to speak but found that no words came out.

A part of him was happy beyond belief. This part wanted to march over to the young brigand and kiss him senseless. He was overjoyed that the younger seishi had taken an interest in him, yet a larger part of himself felt scared and confused. Even angry at himself that he should allow himself to feel for Tasuki. Slowly, this part beat out the happiness that he felt and Chichiri bowed his head as the confusion began to overwhelm him.

Monks weren't supposed to feel this way.

And yet, he did. Chichiri let out a shaky breath.

What did this mean?

What was going to happen to him now?

The silence had begun to stretch uncomfortably between them and tension was heavy in the air.

Tasuki laid a concerned hand on his friend's shoulder. "Chichiri? Are you okay?"

Slowly, Chichiri's mind came back into focus and he registered everything around him. Unfortunately, he also registered Tasuki's hand on his shoulder, and the fact that the said hand was beginning to massage his shoulder in a very disturbing way,

"Tasuki-kun, no da…"Chichiri began, trying his best to sort out his thoughts in order to find the answer that Tasuki so desperately waited for.

Tasuki brought both of his hands up to his face. "No, 'Chiri…you don't have to answer me…don't let me push you or anything-"

But the monk cut him off with a wave of his own. "Iie, no da…It's all right, actually. In fact, it makes me happy to know that…"

The younger seishi looked up at him, hope beginning to shine in his eyes. "Chichiri? What are you trying to say?"

"It's just that…"Chichiri closed his eye. "I'm a monk, no da."

Chichiri failed to see Tasuki's shoulders slump in defeat as he continued. "…and monks aren't allowed to…I mean, it's forbidden for us to go into…" he blushed. "…relationships."

There was another long moment of silence.

The silence grew so thick and both Tasuki and Chichiri were afraid to break it. It was as if saying something would force the both of them to face the new difficulty set before them.

And they really didn't want to.

"It's okay, Chichiri…"

Chichiri glanced up and saw Tasuki looking at him. The other's face was blank, deprived of all emotion. He shivered.

"Like I said…"the younger seishi continued. "I really wasn't expecting you to feel the same way…" /But I really wasn't expecting you to openly reject me either!/ his mind argued and he tried to ignore the tears that were threatening to fall.

"But that doesn't mean that we should stop being friends, no da." Chichiri quickly interrupted. The thought of losing Tasuki completely was too much for the poor monk to think about. He fervently hoped that his close friendship with Tasuki wasn't going to be destroyed because of this new revelation.

The bandit simply gave him a half-hearted smile. "Yeah…"

"So…"Chichiri said carefully and shyly averted his gaze to Tasuki. "Still friends, no da?"

Tasuki smirked and winked. "Hell, yeah!"

Chichiri smiled in relief and turned his attention back to the meal before him…and he did not see the anguished look that crossed the other's face once his back was turned.



On to part two