A/N: Hello readers! This is pretty much one of the first fics I've published that aren't centered around Harry Potter…..Actually this is my first Manga fic………Feels weird. Anyways I have a couple of things I gotta say before the start of this story.

I'm an American so please excuse my ignorance of Japanese culture/language/customs/whatever else I mess up. This story will most likely seem more American than Japanese (That sounded wrong when I wrote it down :frowns: ) So please forgive my mistakes! Even though I changed the setting to America (see below) I really am trying to get it all right. I'm just terrible at it is all laughs.

I decided to change this story's setting into America. Yes, yes I'm very sorry but I'm afraid that I don't do a very good job of writing it in Japan. So; Miaka is from Japan and she lived there until she was five and moved to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Tamahome and the rest (including Tasuki and Washi) came from China and when they left varies. They all live in Minnesota though.

I never read Bandit (I blame the damn library, and my lack of money) so I have only the most general idea of how Tasuki and Miaka met. I don't know his bandit buddies names so I made them up by meaning. The names are all Japanese though! Also; I'm trying to imitate Tasuki's way of speaking but I haven't perfected it yet so I'll be making some mistakes, just to warn ya. I have read all the other books however grins

Okay this is a really long authors note but I just had to get those things out there………and to make things clear this is a Tasuki/Miaka story with only some Tama/Miaka romance in it, and Hotohori looking in from the background.

Disclaimer: I do now own Fushigi Yugi or its characters, they all belong to Yu Watase! I promise!

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The dark night was a quiet setting for troubled souls. The night wind blew softly, and the last soft chirp of the grasshoppers could be heard in the whispering grass. Weeping Willow's branches rubbed together to make a soft brushing sound. It was entirely peaceful.

Until a voice came through the dark branches of a nearby forest shattering the quiet surroundings around him.

"Are ya sure about this Tasuki?" The young man's voice carried on the wind, "We'll be sendin' out a beacon t' th' cops if they find us."

"Which makes it even more fun," said another man's voice, this one deeper and richer.

The two young men stepped out from the forest depths and stopped staring at the city before them.

"An' I thought I lived in a big city," said the one called Tasuki with awe.

He was taller than the man next to him, with flame red tousled hair and wide amber eyes. His mouth formed a grin, showing off a pair of long canine fangs. Bright chokers hung around his neck, standing out among his dark clothes, as did the red on his black armguards.

"Damn straight," the other one muttered, "How th' hell are we gonna avoid th' cops now! We'll stand out like a bloody beacon! Ya might as well hang signs around our necks sayin' 'Members of a dangerous gang! Come pick us up and bring us to the sheriff's office old chap!'"

This young man was darkly handsome, with long ebony hair hanging over his face and bright emerald eyes always sparkling with mischief. He was dressed like his friend, except his chokers were a dark blue and black, and a single striped eagle's feather rested in his black headband. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were worried, wondering what would happen to the rest of them if they were caught. Especially Tasuki.

"Washi we'll just stay in dark alleys an' try t' avoid th' cop cars okay?" Tasuki laid a hand on his friends shoulder in a reassuring way, "We all need more money t' survive an' we ain't gettin' it back in th' country."

Washi nodded and sighed, calming himself down. He was after all with Tasuki. Things would turn out okay. He was one of the best and no one had caught him yet.

"C'mon 'old chap' we got ourselves some thievin' t' do!"

The two men once again disappeared into the night, leaving it as peaceful as it was before.

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Miaka Yuki walked up the stairs to the bowling alley with a heavy heart. She didn't want to have to cancel out on her friends, but since her mom was so persistent……..

"Hey guys!" Miaka cried as soon as she spotted the large group off to the left.

They weren't hard to ignore.

Tamahome, Miaka's boyfriend of the past year, was tall, dark-haired and handsome with bright golden eyes. His best friend Hotohori had long hair which was as dark as his friends and reached his waist making him look more feminine. His elegant eyes were a deep blue. Chiriko was a smaller boy of about 15 years with short sandy hair and deep brown eyes that were intelligent and childlike at the same time, and beside him was Nuriko who had cropped his violet hair little over a month ago, and who had shimmering purple eyes. Chichiri had a sort of blue Mohawk on one side of his head while the other side was almost completely shaved. His eyes were an easy amber color that instantly sent a wave of calm over Miaka.

Lastly there was Yui, Miaka's best friend who had long blonde hair and sparkling green-blue eyes. She growled slightly as Miaka ran over her way, sending an annoyed glance at Tamahome.

"Convince Tama that it's not a waste of money to go bowling Miaka!" she cried whiningly.

Miaka grinned at Tama's obvious obsession over his money and sauntered over to where he sat staring at a few pennies (haha! No more annoyance! I know what they're called in America!) lay in the vent, where he couldn't reach them.

"What's this I hear about you refusing to pay for bowling!" Miaka asked, mocking anger.

Tama looked up and grinned, "Bowling's a waste of my precious babies," he said, going along with her.

Looking down Miaka could see Tamahome's wallet in his hands. Grinning wickedly she grabbed it and started to run in the other direction.

"I got his wallet!" she yelled, waving the leather prize above her head wildly.

Miaka heard heavy footsteps behind her and gasped as she felt Tama crash into her back. Falling to the ground she winced slightly. Ow…..she thought, rubbing her wrist which must have bent the wrong way.

"Oh my babies are you okay…….?" She heard Tama ask somewhere above her.

She grinned and rolled over, happy at his concern. Then she sweat-dropped as she noticed he was talking to his wallet.

Taking on a pissed off chibi form she yelled, "WHAT ABOUT ME!"

Tama was still stroking his wallet. Miaka glared at his back before relaxing and giving a small sigh as she turned to the rest of the group and said, "I can't join you guys tonight."

Yui looked up from where she was currently positioned (on the floor laughing her ass off) and asked, "Why not?" with a puzzled look on her face. Then a look of realization hit her as she remembered the one reason Miaka wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

"Your mom," she said, as more of a statement than a question.

Miaka nodded, "My mom wants me to take the night studying and since I said Tama wouldn't get in the way of my studies…….here we are."

Tamahome looked up from his wallet (finally!) and said, "We'll see you tomorrow right?"

Miaka raised an eyebrow as if to say 'finally got your attention away from your money eh?' and Tamahome grinned sheepishly. She nodded and said, "Yeah I guess so, since we have school tomorrow."

"Then you should study," he said firmly. Miaka's face dropped. She had hoped he would tell her to blow off her studies and come bowling with them.

She felt his hands place themselves on her shoulders and looked up into caring golden eyes, "I told you," he whispered, lowering his mouth until it reached her ear, "That I would make sure I wouldn't interfere with school or studying. You need to need to study to get into a good school, and I don't want you getting in a fight with Mrs. Yuki again okay?"

He lifted his head and watched her nod. He nodded too for confirmation.

"Okay then. Do you want me to walk you home? This is Minneapolis and it's not safe to walk around at night by yourself (so true)…."

"No," Miaka said trying to smile, "I'll be fine. My house is only like a block away from here."

Yui was watched her with concern in her eyes as Miaka walked out of the door before walking over to Tamahome and commenting, "You know she doesn't like it when you do that."

Tama sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "It's for the best," he said, "She needs to be on speaking terms with her mom, and I refuse to get in the way of her studies. I don't want to get in the way of her getting into a good school and having a good life."

"You should say that to Miaka then Tama. She needs to hear it from you, not from me, Nuriko, or Hotohori, or Chichiri."

He sighed again, "I know."

:Page Break:

Tasuki glanced around, his bright amber eyes alert and cautious. Quickly he swung behind a building as a spotlight came on in the street before him, and pulled Washi with him.

"We'll take more back alleys," he said when they were away from the street; "It'll be safer."

Washi nodded and started forward on his toes, moving as silent as a cat. Tasuki followed a bit more loudly due to his heavy combat boots. His friend sent him an annoyed glance.

"Hey we can't all be like you buddy o' pal of mine," he said, poking Washi's shoulder, "I'm a good fighter, an' you've got all th' stealth which makes us such a good team!"

Washi grinned showing off perfect teeth; the complete opposite of his best friend's, and continued in silence. Tasuki stomped on behind him, looking for a good place to start.

"There," he said, pointing to a house whose lights were all off save a lone one in the corner, "The light is probably just some kid's nightlight," Tasuki said looking at his friend, "If they're in bed an' so are their parents, then it's easy cash. Looks like that family has some money at least."

Washi, however, was creeping ahead, completely ignoring his friend who glared at his back, a vein popping out in his head. Washi paid no attention, focusing his concentration instead on the house in front of him.

The doors were probably firmly locked, and were a direct entrance which was probably bad. There was a window on the bottom floor with led to the basement though……Washi crouched low to the ground and scuttled (yes scuttled) over to the window and tried it.

It was unlocked.

Washi quickly motioned to Tasuki with his hands and heard the flame headed boy come over. Tasuki squatted down near the grass level and peered inside.

"Do ya think we can get in?" he asked nonchalantly.

"I think we can if we squeeze through. I'll go first."

Without waiting for Tasuki to speak, Washi threw himself onto the ground and slithered into the black pit beyond the window.

"I'll unlock th' door for ya," said a soft voice from the darkness after Washi got inside, "It's probably better if ya come in th' easy way instead of makin' a ruckus by shovin' yerself through th' window."

Tasuki growled but still tromped to the front door and waited. A soft click sound was made and the door cracked open to reveal Washi's dark head. He beckoned Tasuki inside and he carefully walked in, shutting the door softly behind him. They looked around for a good place to start.

"Ya stay on lookout," Tasuki ordered his friend, all bossiness and seriousness, "I'll take a look around."

Just as he was about to creep ahead Tasuki noticed a family photo sitting on a shelf. Picking it up he was able to make out the shapes of an older woman, presumably the mom of the house, and young man of about 19 or 20 years who was probably the older brother. An even younger woman sat beside him, and Tasuki also predicted that this was the youngest of the house. Tasuki placed the picture on the shelf again.

He snuck around downstairs while Washi stood watch at the bottom of the stairs, listening for anyone who might come down for a snack or a drink. Unfortunately the young woman of the house decided to do just that.

And thus our story begins.