Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, so don't sue me, or I'll be forced to call upon all the unholy powers of the deepest pits of hell to take wrath upon you. It'll be slow and painful... I'll manipulate your fate so you get a lawyer who drags it out forever, trying desperately to condemn me, and being powerless to prove anything because of this Disclaimer. But he'll keep on, and you'll lose your spirit and power, listening to his drawling, meaningless voice, and the quick and blunt proof my side will have. And then, once you have been thoroughly defeated, your lawyer will have such a high bill that you'll be living on the streets scraping for garbage to eat and writing fanfics for a living.
You've been warned. )
Enjoy!
An Interesting Revelation
Tasuki burst into the Priestess' room, furious.
"MIAKAAAAAAA!!!"
She sat at her table, playing with her cloaks, now wearing one that flowed across half the floor. She spun her head, showing that she was her usual cheerful self. "Oh, hi, Tasuki!" she said, smiling. She then noted how his shirt was wide open and that his pants were loose around his waist, and she smiled even wider. I guess I was a success! They must have really hit it off! She thought, squealing inside. "How was your trip to the lake?"
"You know damn well, Miaka! Geez, is nothing sacred?!" he hollered, his flaming eyes bulging. "How dare you set me up with someone!"
Miaka's eyes widened. Nervously, she said, "Oh... did you... meet someone...?"
Tasuki's face fell into something that looked a lot like a hungry demon, his sinister eyes glowing and his face falling gray. Miaka turned blue and shrieked.
"Ooooooh, don't act all innocent, Miaka. I knooooow what you're doing to me, and I DON'T like it."
Tamahome and Nuriko walked by Miaka's room, and heard yelling through the door.
"Huh?" Nuriko said, looking at the door. "I saw Tasuki go in there. I wonder what's going on?"
"It sounds like they're yelling," Tamahome said. "Let's see if we can hear what they're saying."
They both tiptoed up to the door and put their ears against it.
After a moment, Nuriko said, "Aww, man, I can't make out what they're saying. That seal Chichiri put up to protect her is effecting our spying abilities!"
"Yeah, but we can kinda hear how loud it is," Tamahome said. "I wonder what's going on in there? They're being really loud if we can hear them through the seal."
Tasuki returned to normal. "Besides, you know I hate women, so what are you trying to pull?"
Miaka looked at him, and tilted her head. "So what do you want me to do, help you meet a man?"
She found Tasuki (SD once again) directly in her face surrounded by flames, his eyes pushed downward evilly and his fangs brandished. "HELL NO!!" he screamed, making her yell aloud in fear.
"I just don't like people messing with my private life, okay?" he said once he had calmed down.
Miaka looked at him, saddened. "I'm sorry, Tasuki. I just thought... well, you're always acting so lonely, except when you're with Kouji..."
A light bulb appeared over her head. "Hey! I know why you're not interested in anyone! You're together with Kouji!"
"WHAT THE HELL?!?!"
Tamahome and Nuriko pulled their ears away from the door for a moment.
"Oow! What was that? That was the loudest sound I've ever heard!" Nuriko exclaimed.
Miaka shrunk and nervously repeated, "Just kidding, just kidding!"
"I sure as hell hope so," Tasuki said, annoyed. He then turned to face her, speaking normally. "Look, Miaka, I appreciate what you're doing for me... well, I don't, but I see what you're trying to do. And I'm telling ya now, don't waste your time, okay?" he smiled slightly.
Miaka sighed, looking back at him. "All right, Tasuki. I'm sorry."
He full-fledged smiled, making Miaka relax from seeing the usual Tasuki. "Hey, don worry 'bout it. You're doin' it to be nice, so I guess I can't be too mad atcha, Priestess."
"What's going on now?" Nuriko said. "They're being so quiet I can't even hear them."
"I don't know," Tamahome said. "You think something's wrong? Tasuki's never this quiet after yelling that loud, moody or not."
"Well, if it didn't go well, then... why are your clothes like that?" Miaka dared herself to ask.
"Don't ask," Tasuki shuddered. "But a word of advice, Miaka: when setting someone up, don't choose a psychopath, okay?"
Miaka stared at him for a moment, and then it clicked.
"She... she... she did...?!?"
"Shaddap, I don't wanna remember! I don't like girls, but I like hit'n 'em even worse! That woman was scary, and I had to knock her unconscious with my fan in order to escape!"
Miaka was flabbergasted. "Wow, I never thought she was like that... she seemed so sweet when I met her this morning..."
"Looks can be very, very, VERY deceiving, then," Tasuki said, his face directly in hers, eyes pointing down. She nodded, wide-eyed.
But apparently, he was willing to drop it. He let out a sigh.
"Well, sorry I burst in like that. I guess I'll g..."
Tasuki turned to leave, but his foot caught on Miaka's cloak. Before he could catch himself, he tripped on it, pulling Miaka's cloak down on her body. The force of the cloak pulling on her not only ripped it down, but pulled her onto the ground beneath Tasuki, so he wound up landing his full weight directly on top of her. She yelled aloud from being jerked so suddenly by the pull of her cloak, and Tasuki landing so heavily knocked the breath out of her.
"Was that Miaka?" Nuriko said, concerned. "Did she just scream?"
"Miaka!" Tamahome said, almost yelling.
Tasuki, alarmed, pushed himself up on his hands to look down from above her. "Miaka, are you all right?"
She looked up at him. "Yes, I'm all right..."
Suddenly, the door flung open, and Tamahome and Nuriko stood in the doorway.
"Miaka, are you all r..."
He stopped, and Nuriko and Tamahome's eyes both got a lot wider.
"T... Tamahome?" Miaka said. "Nuriko?" Tasuki added. Both pairs of eyes were wide, wondering why they were staring at them like they had seen a ghost.
Tamahome then grew very, very, angry. "Wh... what are you two DOING?!?"
Nuriko was still staring, and eventually said, "Uh... T... Tasuki... I never thought... you and Miaka were..."
They stared at them, then stared at each other. It was then they realized that Tasuki's barely-hanging-on shirt, Miaka's almost completely exposed chest, and the fact that Tasuki was right on top of Miaka with his face dangerously close to hers... they all added up to quite the scenario.
"...iiieeehhh?!?" both of them whimpered, and they immediately jumped up, Miaka pulling her dress back up desperately and Tasuki clutching his ripped shirt together with his fist.
Tamahome just stood there, sullen with confusion and what was becoming rage against Tasuki, and Nuriko kept staring at the odd bedfellows they had caught in the act. Eventually, she said,
"I... I just can't believe it... Of all the people to cheat on Tamahome with..."
"N... No, M... Miaka would... never..." Tamahome suddenly became furious. "NO! Miaka would never do that! Tasuki!"
Tasuki turned to Tamahome, wide-eyed. "Eh?"
"How DARE you force on her, you bastard! I'll have your life, whether you be one of the Suzaku seven or not! I never... NEVER thought you'd betray me like this!" He almost grew fangs of his own as he began glowing an aura of threatening chi.
Tasuki immediately became rather worried, while Miaka became panicked. "No, Tamahome! He wasn't forcing anything on me!"
Needless to say, this comment was not taken the way Miaka intended. Tamahome turned to her, shaken and shaky-eyed. "Th... then... what Nuriko says... y... you really are..."
Miaka's hand shot to her mouth, and she and Tasuki found a background of sweat drops unroll behind them.
"NO, that's not what she means!" Tasuki yelled. "What she means is we weren't doing anything! I fell on her, all right?! Her dress was so freakin' long I tripped on it!"
"Oh right, like I'm going to believe that! Then explain why your shirt is open like that! Not to MENTION your pants!"
Tasuki became beet red and shuddered. "Do NOT bring it up! I've had a really hard day, and I don't need to wrap it up like this, all right?! Listen to me, Tamahome, nothin was going on!"
"Then what were you doing in here?"
"I don wanna talk about it."
"Then I don't believe you!"
"What, you don't trust me?!"
"Why should I trust a slimy, slippery, flame-headed, lying thief boss like you?!"
"Don't talk to ME like that, you..."
The two chibis immediately began pummeling the crap out of each other. Miaka, after watching for a few moments speechless, shouted, "ENOUGH!!"
The two froze in mid-punch, both wide-eyed at her. She seemed close to the verge of tears.
"Why are you two always fighting over stupid things?! Can't the Suzaku seven just get along for five minutes?!"
"Stupid?!" Tamahome yelled. "You call this stupid?!"
"Listen to me, Tamahome. We weren't doing anything. Tasuki was upset about something I did, and he came in here upset about it. He did trip on my dress, and that's why he fell on top of me, and that's why I yelled, if that's the reason you and Nuriko were concerned at first..."
She formed a pop mark on the back of her head as she realized that Tamahome and Tasuki were busy growling at each other, not hearing a word she was saying.
"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!?!"
The two snapped out of it, and fell down next to each other sitting on their legs in front of Miaka, heads bowed but eyes on her, frightened. "Yes ma'am," they both said in unison.
Miaka sighed in agitation. Nuriko stepped up.
"Listen, boys, it's clear there's a confusion here. Why don't Miaka and I leave so you two can talk it out."
Miaka stared at her. "Uhh... are you sure that's such a good idea?" She looked back at the two, who were eyeing each other again, even with their low faces still directed at Miaka, and silently growling.
Nuriko, in reply, took Miaka by the wrist and led her out of the room. "Look, they feel bad about fighting in front of you. Let 'em duke it out until Tamahome figures it out. It's healthy for them."
"WHAT'S healthy about getting beat up?!"
"Look, just trust me, all right? I think it's a guy thing."
Miaka sighed. "Yeah... I don't understand them at all... I guess you should know," she added to annoy Nuriko to her core.
"Miaka, how can you be so cold to people's sensitive subjects?!"
She giggled and ran down the hall away from the rampaging Nuriko.
"Alone at last!" Tamahome yelled, and grabbed what he could of Tasuki's shirt. "Now tell me! How long has this been going on!!"
"Nothing has been going on!" he hollered, chibi eyes down.
"Oh yeah? Prove it!" Tamahome yelled, disappearing and falling behind Tasuki to get him in a headlock. He squeezed, cutting off Tasuki's air.
"Ghh!!"
"Now tell me! Prove it!"
He squeezed even harder, making Tasuki's eyes clench and his desperation rise.
"Gaaahaaahaaa, why would I go after Miaka when I like N..."
Tasuki cut himself off and started gagging again, but Tamahome caught the odd change in speech pattern. He let go.
"Eh? What was that?"
Tasuki held his throat and gasped. He turned his angry SD face to his aggressor.
"I'm not interested in Miaka, all right?! She's like a little sister to me! It'd be... I dunno, incestuous! Wrong! Completely weird! Besides, you two are perfect; it'd be flat-out sacrilege to get between you two."
Tamahome tilted an eyebrow. "That's not what you were about to say. What were you gonna say?"
"Nothing!"
Tasuki found himself being gagged again. "C'mon, c'mon, whatcha say? Whatcha say?"
"Gaaahaaahaaa, I was gonna say why would I go after Miaka when I like no one! You know I hate women!"
Tamahome let go and looked at him with that evil SD look on his face. This made Tasuki pretty nervous; the last time Tamahome looked at him like this, he almost wound up in the ocean.
"Why're you lookin' at me that way?"
"All right, Tasuki, I believe that you weren't doing anything with Miaka."
"Y... yeah. Good."
"Because she's like a little sister to you."
"Right."
"And you believe she and I are perfect together."
"Yeah."
"And besides, YOU like NURIKO!!" he squealed.
"...! N... NO! That's not it!"
"Waaahahahaaaa! I can't believe it!" Tamahome hollered, pointing at Tasuki in shock and amazement, but not without mischief.
"Then don't! Because it's not true!"
"You suck at lying, do you know that?"
"I... I'm not lying!"
Tamahome completely ignored him. "Dayum! You and Nuriko, now there's a couple. Who'd have ever thought you were gay? I mean, you, Tasuki, of all people..."
Tasuki stared at him, not knowing how he should react. "T... Tamahome..." he said through gritted teeth. He couldn't decide whether to be angry at him, or... or...
He'd just be angry. "DAMMIT, Tamahome! You know what, screw you! How the hell should you know how I feel about anyone? YOU thought I was molesting Miaka less than a minute ago!"
"Oh, I knew you weren't doing anything to her."
"..."
"I mean, it was kind of out of habit of fighting with you that I dragged it out."
Tasuki stared at him. "Y... you mean... you knew since the first explanation we gave that it wasn't true???"
"Yup."
"...uhh!" Tasuki yelled in frustration. This wasn't fair!
"You're getting awfully riled up over something that's not true, Tasuki," Tamahome said, crossing his arms and showing a pride on his face from his success in extracting this information. "You're not fooling anybody."
Tasuki grit his teeth and glowered at Tamahome. He wanted to hit him. To hurt him so bad he wouldn't be able to move for weeks. He wanted it, but he couldn't have it.
Not over something that was true.
He growled and turned his back on Tamahome, folding his arms. This surprised Tamahome, and he let his eyes widen a bit in that surprise... he saw Tasuki's face weaken right before he turned. He could only imagine what was going through Tasuki's mind right now; he was the one who had found out his secret, of all the people who could have. But still, acting so confused and unsure was not Tasuki. This was more, much more sensitive than Tamahome had thought... but he was prepared for that the moment he told Tasuki he knew.
Tasuki couldn't say anything... what the hell would he say? All of a sudden, Tamahome, of ALL people, knew. This was just great. Anyone... anyone but Tamahome... would have been better. Except maybe Nuriko her... him... self. If that had happened, Tasuki would have had to simply die on the spot. Kind of like how he wanted to disappear now...
Suddenly, he felt Tamahome's hand fall on his shoulder. This startled him out of his mind, and he spun, knocking the hand off and facing the man with a furious scowl on his face. But Tamahome's expression wasn't aggressive... Tasuki unclenched his teeth and just looked at him, wary.
"You wanna talk about it?"
...Eh? Tasuki thought. He didn't move, only stared at Tamahome's face, finding no hint of mock. Good god, had the world gone insane? First some woman tries to rape him, then he's accused of trying to molest Miaka, and NOW, Tamahome was offering to have a heart to heart about Tasuki's hidden feelings for Nuriko.
He needed a drink.
He must have said so, too, because Tamahome gave a soft chuckle. He put his hands on his hips and sighed, shaking his head as if his words were a bad idea. "Of course, if you'd prefer to brood over it by yourself, that's fine with me."
Tasuki frowned, then let some of his sarcasm take effect. "Since when do you engage in past-midnight sleepover buddy chat about secret crushes?"
Tamahome could tell Tasuki really, really didn't like this, in more than one way. He was probably serious about that drink, too.
"Since I got nothin' better to do. How about that drink? You wanna go into town?"
Tasuki rose an eyebrow and sighed... it wasn't a bad idea, and maybe he'd run into an old friend at the pub. What the hell, he thought. Couldn't hurt anything. I need a good wrap-up to a bad day, anyway.
"Tch... Fine, but you're buying."
"All right! Let's go!" Tamahome yelled, smiling and cheerful so quickly that it caught Tasuki completely off guard. He grabbed Tasuki by the shoulder and urged him out of the room. Tasuki was so taken aback by Tamahome's willingness to pay and his sudden change in mood that he was easily pushed. In fact, Tamahome's sudden cheerfulness rubbed off on him, and he laughed too.
On their way out, they ran into Miaka and Nuriko, who smiled cheerfully at the two, since they were obviously on amiable terms now.
"Hey boys, did you sort everything out all right?" Nuriko asked.
"Oh yeah, Tamahome feels so bad about the whole thing that he's taking me out for some drinks," Tasuki said as he flung his arm around Tamahome's neck, putting him in a lock while messing up his hair with the other hand.
"Hey, I'll take it back, Lemme go!" Tamahome yelled, and Tasuki laughed and held tighter. Miaka smiled.
"Well, it sure looks like you're back to normal!" she said.
"Just don't come back staggering drunk, okay?" Nuriko chided.
"We woooon't," they both said in unison, and ran off in the direction of the city.
You've been warned. )
Enjoy!
An Interesting Revelation
Tasuki burst into the Priestess' room, furious.
"MIAKAAAAAAA!!!"
She sat at her table, playing with her cloaks, now wearing one that flowed across half the floor. She spun her head, showing that she was her usual cheerful self. "Oh, hi, Tasuki!" she said, smiling. She then noted how his shirt was wide open and that his pants were loose around his waist, and she smiled even wider. I guess I was a success! They must have really hit it off! She thought, squealing inside. "How was your trip to the lake?"
"You know damn well, Miaka! Geez, is nothing sacred?!" he hollered, his flaming eyes bulging. "How dare you set me up with someone!"
Miaka's eyes widened. Nervously, she said, "Oh... did you... meet someone...?"
Tasuki's face fell into something that looked a lot like a hungry demon, his sinister eyes glowing and his face falling gray. Miaka turned blue and shrieked.
"Ooooooh, don't act all innocent, Miaka. I knooooow what you're doing to me, and I DON'T like it."
Tamahome and Nuriko walked by Miaka's room, and heard yelling through the door.
"Huh?" Nuriko said, looking at the door. "I saw Tasuki go in there. I wonder what's going on?"
"It sounds like they're yelling," Tamahome said. "Let's see if we can hear what they're saying."
They both tiptoed up to the door and put their ears against it.
After a moment, Nuriko said, "Aww, man, I can't make out what they're saying. That seal Chichiri put up to protect her is effecting our spying abilities!"
"Yeah, but we can kinda hear how loud it is," Tamahome said. "I wonder what's going on in there? They're being really loud if we can hear them through the seal."
Tasuki returned to normal. "Besides, you know I hate women, so what are you trying to pull?"
Miaka looked at him, and tilted her head. "So what do you want me to do, help you meet a man?"
She found Tasuki (SD once again) directly in her face surrounded by flames, his eyes pushed downward evilly and his fangs brandished. "HELL NO!!" he screamed, making her yell aloud in fear.
"I just don't like people messing with my private life, okay?" he said once he had calmed down.
Miaka looked at him, saddened. "I'm sorry, Tasuki. I just thought... well, you're always acting so lonely, except when you're with Kouji..."
A light bulb appeared over her head. "Hey! I know why you're not interested in anyone! You're together with Kouji!"
"WHAT THE HELL?!?!"
Tamahome and Nuriko pulled their ears away from the door for a moment.
"Oow! What was that? That was the loudest sound I've ever heard!" Nuriko exclaimed.
Miaka shrunk and nervously repeated, "Just kidding, just kidding!"
"I sure as hell hope so," Tasuki said, annoyed. He then turned to face her, speaking normally. "Look, Miaka, I appreciate what you're doing for me... well, I don't, but I see what you're trying to do. And I'm telling ya now, don't waste your time, okay?" he smiled slightly.
Miaka sighed, looking back at him. "All right, Tasuki. I'm sorry."
He full-fledged smiled, making Miaka relax from seeing the usual Tasuki. "Hey, don worry 'bout it. You're doin' it to be nice, so I guess I can't be too mad atcha, Priestess."
"What's going on now?" Nuriko said. "They're being so quiet I can't even hear them."
"I don't know," Tamahome said. "You think something's wrong? Tasuki's never this quiet after yelling that loud, moody or not."
"Well, if it didn't go well, then... why are your clothes like that?" Miaka dared herself to ask.
"Don't ask," Tasuki shuddered. "But a word of advice, Miaka: when setting someone up, don't choose a psychopath, okay?"
Miaka stared at him for a moment, and then it clicked.
"She... she... she did...?!?"
"Shaddap, I don't wanna remember! I don't like girls, but I like hit'n 'em even worse! That woman was scary, and I had to knock her unconscious with my fan in order to escape!"
Miaka was flabbergasted. "Wow, I never thought she was like that... she seemed so sweet when I met her this morning..."
"Looks can be very, very, VERY deceiving, then," Tasuki said, his face directly in hers, eyes pointing down. She nodded, wide-eyed.
But apparently, he was willing to drop it. He let out a sigh.
"Well, sorry I burst in like that. I guess I'll g..."
Tasuki turned to leave, but his foot caught on Miaka's cloak. Before he could catch himself, he tripped on it, pulling Miaka's cloak down on her body. The force of the cloak pulling on her not only ripped it down, but pulled her onto the ground beneath Tasuki, so he wound up landing his full weight directly on top of her. She yelled aloud from being jerked so suddenly by the pull of her cloak, and Tasuki landing so heavily knocked the breath out of her.
"Was that Miaka?" Nuriko said, concerned. "Did she just scream?"
"Miaka!" Tamahome said, almost yelling.
Tasuki, alarmed, pushed himself up on his hands to look down from above her. "Miaka, are you all right?"
She looked up at him. "Yes, I'm all right..."
Suddenly, the door flung open, and Tamahome and Nuriko stood in the doorway.
"Miaka, are you all r..."
He stopped, and Nuriko and Tamahome's eyes both got a lot wider.
"T... Tamahome?" Miaka said. "Nuriko?" Tasuki added. Both pairs of eyes were wide, wondering why they were staring at them like they had seen a ghost.
Tamahome then grew very, very, angry. "Wh... what are you two DOING?!?"
Nuriko was still staring, and eventually said, "Uh... T... Tasuki... I never thought... you and Miaka were..."
They stared at them, then stared at each other. It was then they realized that Tasuki's barely-hanging-on shirt, Miaka's almost completely exposed chest, and the fact that Tasuki was right on top of Miaka with his face dangerously close to hers... they all added up to quite the scenario.
"...iiieeehhh?!?" both of them whimpered, and they immediately jumped up, Miaka pulling her dress back up desperately and Tasuki clutching his ripped shirt together with his fist.
Tamahome just stood there, sullen with confusion and what was becoming rage against Tasuki, and Nuriko kept staring at the odd bedfellows they had caught in the act. Eventually, she said,
"I... I just can't believe it... Of all the people to cheat on Tamahome with..."
"N... No, M... Miaka would... never..." Tamahome suddenly became furious. "NO! Miaka would never do that! Tasuki!"
Tasuki turned to Tamahome, wide-eyed. "Eh?"
"How DARE you force on her, you bastard! I'll have your life, whether you be one of the Suzaku seven or not! I never... NEVER thought you'd betray me like this!" He almost grew fangs of his own as he began glowing an aura of threatening chi.
Tasuki immediately became rather worried, while Miaka became panicked. "No, Tamahome! He wasn't forcing anything on me!"
Needless to say, this comment was not taken the way Miaka intended. Tamahome turned to her, shaken and shaky-eyed. "Th... then... what Nuriko says... y... you really are..."
Miaka's hand shot to her mouth, and she and Tasuki found a background of sweat drops unroll behind them.
"NO, that's not what she means!" Tasuki yelled. "What she means is we weren't doing anything! I fell on her, all right?! Her dress was so freakin' long I tripped on it!"
"Oh right, like I'm going to believe that! Then explain why your shirt is open like that! Not to MENTION your pants!"
Tasuki became beet red and shuddered. "Do NOT bring it up! I've had a really hard day, and I don't need to wrap it up like this, all right?! Listen to me, Tamahome, nothin was going on!"
"Then what were you doing in here?"
"I don wanna talk about it."
"Then I don't believe you!"
"What, you don't trust me?!"
"Why should I trust a slimy, slippery, flame-headed, lying thief boss like you?!"
"Don't talk to ME like that, you..."
The two chibis immediately began pummeling the crap out of each other. Miaka, after watching for a few moments speechless, shouted, "ENOUGH!!"
The two froze in mid-punch, both wide-eyed at her. She seemed close to the verge of tears.
"Why are you two always fighting over stupid things?! Can't the Suzaku seven just get along for five minutes?!"
"Stupid?!" Tamahome yelled. "You call this stupid?!"
"Listen to me, Tamahome. We weren't doing anything. Tasuki was upset about something I did, and he came in here upset about it. He did trip on my dress, and that's why he fell on top of me, and that's why I yelled, if that's the reason you and Nuriko were concerned at first..."
She formed a pop mark on the back of her head as she realized that Tamahome and Tasuki were busy growling at each other, not hearing a word she was saying.
"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!?!"
The two snapped out of it, and fell down next to each other sitting on their legs in front of Miaka, heads bowed but eyes on her, frightened. "Yes ma'am," they both said in unison.
Miaka sighed in agitation. Nuriko stepped up.
"Listen, boys, it's clear there's a confusion here. Why don't Miaka and I leave so you two can talk it out."
Miaka stared at her. "Uhh... are you sure that's such a good idea?" She looked back at the two, who were eyeing each other again, even with their low faces still directed at Miaka, and silently growling.
Nuriko, in reply, took Miaka by the wrist and led her out of the room. "Look, they feel bad about fighting in front of you. Let 'em duke it out until Tamahome figures it out. It's healthy for them."
"WHAT'S healthy about getting beat up?!"
"Look, just trust me, all right? I think it's a guy thing."
Miaka sighed. "Yeah... I don't understand them at all... I guess you should know," she added to annoy Nuriko to her core.
"Miaka, how can you be so cold to people's sensitive subjects?!"
She giggled and ran down the hall away from the rampaging Nuriko.
"Alone at last!" Tamahome yelled, and grabbed what he could of Tasuki's shirt. "Now tell me! How long has this been going on!!"
"Nothing has been going on!" he hollered, chibi eyes down.
"Oh yeah? Prove it!" Tamahome yelled, disappearing and falling behind Tasuki to get him in a headlock. He squeezed, cutting off Tasuki's air.
"Ghh!!"
"Now tell me! Prove it!"
He squeezed even harder, making Tasuki's eyes clench and his desperation rise.
"Gaaahaaahaaa, why would I go after Miaka when I like N..."
Tasuki cut himself off and started gagging again, but Tamahome caught the odd change in speech pattern. He let go.
"Eh? What was that?"
Tasuki held his throat and gasped. He turned his angry SD face to his aggressor.
"I'm not interested in Miaka, all right?! She's like a little sister to me! It'd be... I dunno, incestuous! Wrong! Completely weird! Besides, you two are perfect; it'd be flat-out sacrilege to get between you two."
Tamahome tilted an eyebrow. "That's not what you were about to say. What were you gonna say?"
"Nothing!"
Tasuki found himself being gagged again. "C'mon, c'mon, whatcha say? Whatcha say?"
"Gaaahaaahaaa, I was gonna say why would I go after Miaka when I like no one! You know I hate women!"
Tamahome let go and looked at him with that evil SD look on his face. This made Tasuki pretty nervous; the last time Tamahome looked at him like this, he almost wound up in the ocean.
"Why're you lookin' at me that way?"
"All right, Tasuki, I believe that you weren't doing anything with Miaka."
"Y... yeah. Good."
"Because she's like a little sister to you."
"Right."
"And you believe she and I are perfect together."
"Yeah."
"And besides, YOU like NURIKO!!" he squealed.
"...! N... NO! That's not it!"
"Waaahahahaaaa! I can't believe it!" Tamahome hollered, pointing at Tasuki in shock and amazement, but not without mischief.
"Then don't! Because it's not true!"
"You suck at lying, do you know that?"
"I... I'm not lying!"
Tamahome completely ignored him. "Dayum! You and Nuriko, now there's a couple. Who'd have ever thought you were gay? I mean, you, Tasuki, of all people..."
Tasuki stared at him, not knowing how he should react. "T... Tamahome..." he said through gritted teeth. He couldn't decide whether to be angry at him, or... or...
He'd just be angry. "DAMMIT, Tamahome! You know what, screw you! How the hell should you know how I feel about anyone? YOU thought I was molesting Miaka less than a minute ago!"
"Oh, I knew you weren't doing anything to her."
"..."
"I mean, it was kind of out of habit of fighting with you that I dragged it out."
Tasuki stared at him. "Y... you mean... you knew since the first explanation we gave that it wasn't true???"
"Yup."
"...uhh!" Tasuki yelled in frustration. This wasn't fair!
"You're getting awfully riled up over something that's not true, Tasuki," Tamahome said, crossing his arms and showing a pride on his face from his success in extracting this information. "You're not fooling anybody."
Tasuki grit his teeth and glowered at Tamahome. He wanted to hit him. To hurt him so bad he wouldn't be able to move for weeks. He wanted it, but he couldn't have it.
Not over something that was true.
He growled and turned his back on Tamahome, folding his arms. This surprised Tamahome, and he let his eyes widen a bit in that surprise... he saw Tasuki's face weaken right before he turned. He could only imagine what was going through Tasuki's mind right now; he was the one who had found out his secret, of all the people who could have. But still, acting so confused and unsure was not Tasuki. This was more, much more sensitive than Tamahome had thought... but he was prepared for that the moment he told Tasuki he knew.
Tasuki couldn't say anything... what the hell would he say? All of a sudden, Tamahome, of ALL people, knew. This was just great. Anyone... anyone but Tamahome... would have been better. Except maybe Nuriko her... him... self. If that had happened, Tasuki would have had to simply die on the spot. Kind of like how he wanted to disappear now...
Suddenly, he felt Tamahome's hand fall on his shoulder. This startled him out of his mind, and he spun, knocking the hand off and facing the man with a furious scowl on his face. But Tamahome's expression wasn't aggressive... Tasuki unclenched his teeth and just looked at him, wary.
"You wanna talk about it?"
...Eh? Tasuki thought. He didn't move, only stared at Tamahome's face, finding no hint of mock. Good god, had the world gone insane? First some woman tries to rape him, then he's accused of trying to molest Miaka, and NOW, Tamahome was offering to have a heart to heart about Tasuki's hidden feelings for Nuriko.
He needed a drink.
He must have said so, too, because Tamahome gave a soft chuckle. He put his hands on his hips and sighed, shaking his head as if his words were a bad idea. "Of course, if you'd prefer to brood over it by yourself, that's fine with me."
Tasuki frowned, then let some of his sarcasm take effect. "Since when do you engage in past-midnight sleepover buddy chat about secret crushes?"
Tamahome could tell Tasuki really, really didn't like this, in more than one way. He was probably serious about that drink, too.
"Since I got nothin' better to do. How about that drink? You wanna go into town?"
Tasuki rose an eyebrow and sighed... it wasn't a bad idea, and maybe he'd run into an old friend at the pub. What the hell, he thought. Couldn't hurt anything. I need a good wrap-up to a bad day, anyway.
"Tch... Fine, but you're buying."
"All right! Let's go!" Tamahome yelled, smiling and cheerful so quickly that it caught Tasuki completely off guard. He grabbed Tasuki by the shoulder and urged him out of the room. Tasuki was so taken aback by Tamahome's willingness to pay and his sudden change in mood that he was easily pushed. In fact, Tamahome's sudden cheerfulness rubbed off on him, and he laughed too.
On their way out, they ran into Miaka and Nuriko, who smiled cheerfully at the two, since they were obviously on amiable terms now.
"Hey boys, did you sort everything out all right?" Nuriko asked.
"Oh yeah, Tamahome feels so bad about the whole thing that he's taking me out for some drinks," Tasuki said as he flung his arm around Tamahome's neck, putting him in a lock while messing up his hair with the other hand.
"Hey, I'll take it back, Lemme go!" Tamahome yelled, and Tasuki laughed and held tighter. Miaka smiled.
"Well, it sure looks like you're back to normal!" she said.
"Just don't come back staggering drunk, okay?" Nuriko chided.
"We woooon't," they both said in unison, and ran off in the direction of the city.