Chapter 4:

It wasn't long before they arrived at an abandoned shack. Before moving on, they decided to stop there for awhile and rest.

"Why is it abandoned?" Miaka trudged up to the moldy looking shack, following Arisu ahead of her. "Is it haunted?"

"No nothing like that." Arisu laughed. "We don't have any haunted houses or ghosts in Sairou. Having people like me is enough to balance out the fear factor around here, I think." They chuckled at that. "It's been abandoned ever since I can remember. Travelers use it for a pit stop. It looks horrible, I know." She opened the rickety door open. "But it's quite safe inside. Well, if you don't jump around or lean on the walls too much, that is."

Inside, the small shack was rather clean, clean enough to sit on the floor. Although there was a dirty broken bed sitting at a corner, the table and chairs in the middle of the room were still in good conditioned. Light poured in generously through big opened windows, letting in fresh air to make the derelict shack more bearable.

"It's actually not bad, no da." He said looking around, leaning his staff on the wall. "It's a shame no one lives here, with a bit of work here and there, it'll be a nice home, no da."

"I think it's too far away from any village for anyone to live here conveniently, besides I think someone has used it recently and cleaned up the place a bit. It's convenient for travelers. Also, there's a small lake in the forest. So, if you want to wash up…."

"What are these for?" Taka pointed at a few baskets seating neatly on the floor.

"Oh those," She picked one up. "They're berry baskets. The great thing about this place is there is an ample amount of raspberry bushes further down behind this shack. It's great for when you're hungry and not many people know where it is, so there are plenty of them left untouched."

"Emmm…." Miaka rubbed her stomach at the mention of food. "Raspberries! Let's go get some, Arisu!" she quickly grabbed a basket.

Arisu laughed. "All right, Miaka. Let's go. I'm kind of in the mood for raspberries myself." They both grab a basket each and went behind the shack, skipping arm in arm together, disappearing into the forest.

The Suzaku Seven was left in the shack. Chichiri was already sitting down in a lotus position, closing his eyes attempting to meditate. Tapping into his chi in the middle of the shack.

"You owe her an apology you know," Taka sat down and looked at Tasuki from across the room.

Tasuki was on the floor, taking off his shoes and stretching his legs comfortably. "What are you talking about, obeca-chan?"

"You have to apologize to Arisu for what you said to her just now. I've never seen you like that, Tasuki. I know you don't like girls but give her a break! You didn't have to be so nasty." He said, staring at his friend.

"Stop it would ya? She probably forgot all about it anyway. I'd just be wasting my breath." He leaned on the wall and closed his eyes.

"That's not the point Tasuki." Hotohori intervened. "As a gentleman you must never ever raise your voice at a lady. It's unseemly."

"Who says I'm a gentleman eh? I'm a bandit remember?"

Nuriko frowned at him. "Bandit or not, what you said to her was horrible. You called her a whore and it was uncalled for. She's just very secretive; you have to understand she probably never had anyone to trust before."

"Look, I get where's she's coming from." He opened his eyes looking at his three oppositions. "We all have sad tales all right. But at least I got her to talk! At least now we know the truth about her."

"You made her cry Tasuki!" Taka said loudly. Chichiri was breathing hard and humming, trying to ignore the commotion around him.

"Hey, Miaka made her cry! And it was happy tears for cripe's sake! Don't blame me for that!"

"Are you sure about that? You so sure you didn't wound her inside? I saw her eyes; she was hurt when you called her names!" Nuriko convinced him.

"Criminy, stop biting my head off, would ya?" He got up huffily, putting on his shoes. "I don't need this. Go side with her for all I care!" With that, he stormed loudly out, floorboards creaking alarmingly in his wake and slammed the door loudly.

Chichiri jumped a foot in the air. "Oh I give up, no da!" He grumpily got up to leave, grabbing a basket on the way out. "I'm joining Arisu and Miaka berry picking, no da."

Deep in the forest among bushes of ripe raspberries, Arisu was teaching Miaka how to pick the best ones.

"Right, this one looks ok. But be careful you don't pick the ones with wasps inside. Like this one…." She pointed to one berry.

"Oooh okay. They all look so delicious!" Miaka said with her mouth salivating and eyes shining brightly. She grabs one and put it in her mouth. "Hmmm….and so sweet too!"

"Miaka…"She laughed at her friend. "You might want to wait until we get them wash first."

"Oh….oops!" she grinned foolishly.

"Never mind. We should bring some later so we can eat along the way. They're great snacks and really healthy. Berries are nature's disease barriers, you know. So eat 'em all you like and you'll never get sick." Arisu's basket was almost full.

"Wow Arisu. You make it sound so great to be a traveler. You're so independent and you know a lot of useful stuff. I totally admire you." Miaka gushed.

"Haha, that's funny Miaka when actually, I admire you!" She said smiling at the auburn-headed girl.

"What? Me?? I'm not that great. I can't take care of myself like you can, you know. I always need Taka to save me all the time. It's really embarrassing."

"Yeah, but you're so friendly and outgoing and so completely happy all the time, it's almost impossible! You make friends so effortlessly and people really like you. Even I like you the first time I met you, and that's saying something." She feigned a bitter expression. "I'm so jealous."

"Arisu! I could say the same thing about you! I mean, I know you can be a bit temperamental….."

"Hey!" she countered indignantly she chuck a berry at her and she dodged laughing.

"Well, it's true! But you're really funny and really nice to be with." She smiles convincingly. "Maybe you just don't see it because you never had a chance to be friends with anyone."

"Yeah, but after having met you….I think I'll pass on the friendship thing." She teased. "I mean just being friends with you; I can never eat again! You eat like a pig!" She laughed.

"Hey! I do not!" she chucked back a berry.

"Yeah you do!" she threw back berries. "I should give you a mirror every time you eat. You'll agree with me I'm sure!"

Miaka feigned a horrified gasped. "Why, I'll teach you…." And they began to have a berry war. Dodging behind trees and bushes and laughing, attempting to stain each other's clothes.

At that moment, Chichiri came between their line of fire and got a double dose of berries smacked on both side of his head. It drip down stickily and both girls just laughed at him ecstatically.

"Oops…sorry Chichiri…!"

"You know girls; some of us actually want eat these, no da." He grinned at them, wiping the side of his head and licked his finger. "Emmm…that's delicious, no da!"

"C'mon Chichiri," Miaka pulled him. "Help us pick berries. There are some really good ones over here."

Arisu heaved her full basket and called out to them. "You guy's go ahead, I'm going to get these berries washed."

"Okay."

She trudged along with her heavy basket looking for the lake nearby. She's been here a few times, so she was quite familiar with everything. It hardly changed over the years, she thought looking at the surrounding shrubs and eyeing the lake ahead. The only difference was she was in the company of friends instead of just by herself. Friends, she smiled. Who would have thought I'd be traveling with Celestial warriors?

But her smile quickly disappeared from her face when she arrived at the pond. A certain red-head was sitting, resting against a big rock. He didn't hear her come as he was busy skipping stones across the water and probably caught up in his own thoughts. She stopped, thinking if she should just turn back. Watching a stone skip five times before it sank; she took a deep breath and headed towards him.

The unsuspecting Tasuki was silently arguing with himself in his head. Complaining of how everyone was against him now in favor of her. Her! He thought and angrily threw a flat stone across the water where it skipped five times. The nerve of her to call him stupid! Well, you started it, his reasoning voice reprimanded. Well, if she wasn't so damn suspicious in the first place! He thought back. Oh like you are so innocent! The voice said. Get a reality check, you're a bandit!

Eurgh, he groaned. Now his own head was out against him.

Suddenly, there was a loud thump. He looked up and saw Arisu a few feet away, calmly ignoring him and had placed a basket full of berries beside her. He saw a few red stains on her clothes and a smudge on her cheek.

Great, he thought. I can get no peace anywhere! He sat quietly, deciding to ignore her too, and continued to skip stones. Two can play this game, girly. He thought superiorly, I ain't budging.

Arisu just kept on cleaning the berries coolly, not saying a word and ignoring him so blatantly that he was starting to feel like part of the rock. The awkward silence was so thick; they could cut it with Hotohori's sword. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, almost wishing she'd say something. Arisu looked like she might be at it for a while. That's a lot of berries!

Grumbling to himself, he made a move to leave, not wanting to take this any longer.

"Leaving so soon?" She acknowledged him finally and he turned around to face her. "I was just about to give you some of these poisoned berries. You'll like them I'm sure." She smiled mockingly at him.

He gaped indignantly, actually surprised that she dared to speak to him like that. He sat back down. "You said you've never killed anyone. Contradicting yourself, aren't cha?" He replied back coolly.

"I said I've never killed, never said I wouldn't." She looked at him dead in the eyes, and then went back to her washing, rinsing, washing, rinsing….

"Oh really? So why don't you do it?" he said calmly. "Squeeze my heart out then…you're dying to try, I know you are."

"Can't…."she replied simply. "I'm having a hard time locating your heart."

Ouch, he thought, but instead of getting angry, he felt himself half-amused. "Are you always this infuriating or are you just making an extra effort today?"

"Are you?" she countered back.

They fell silent again. Sounds of water flowing broke through the stillness. The awkwardness had dissipated slightly.

"How old are you Tasuki?" she asked randomly, picking more berries from her basket.

He frowned. "Why are you asking?"

"Just because." She said. "You act too immature for your age, I was just wondering." She pretended to guess. "Is it 8 years old? Oh wait, no…4! Definitely 4." She nodded her head mockingly.

He snorted and crossed his arms over his head. "I'd like to tell you, but I'm not sure you can count that high."

She stopped and stared at him, fighting back a small smile. "I'm beginning to think you can't. Why so reluctant to tell your age? You sound like an old woman. Can't wait to ask how much you weight."

He half-sneered. "Calling me a girl now? Hey, that's just insulting! Do you hate your own kind that much?"

"Not as much as you hate us, I'm sure." She sneered back.

"Almost 20." He said quietly after a pause. "You?"

"Just 18."

"Just?" He leaned on his elbow.

"My birthday was yesterday." She shrugged nonchalantly.

He stared. It was her birthday? She never said anything….they could've….I don't know…wished her or something. Back at Mount Reikaku, the gang and he always celebrated birthdays. Maybe not with the traditional candles and cakes, but at least with a few gallons of sake and a huge feast, where they all ate like Miaka. It was a big deal and it was almost sad that she didn't seem to care for it that much.

"Oh….erm…well…Happy Birthday then, I guess." He mumbled to her. "Sorry I didn't get you anything."

Then she smiled, much to his surprise. "But Tasuki, you already did give me your present."

"Huh? Say what?" he scratched his neck.

"You were my donkey for the day, remember?" she sniggered.

"You knew about that?" He pretends to blush.

"Best present I ever gotten. I'm truly touched." She pretends to wipe a happy tear.

"Aww…shucks," he waved his hand dismissively. "It was nothing…Although my back did hurt! Still hurts now though…" He groaned dramatically and touched his back tenderly.

"Want me to do something about it?" Arisu punched her fist in her other hand, looking at him wickedly.

He quickly put his hand down. "If your idea of making me forget about my aching back is to punch my stomach, you can forget it."

She laughed genuinely. "Here! Catch." She chucked a berry at him.

He caught it and put it in his mouth, squeezing the juice with his teeth. "Hey…it's really sweet-ack….." He stopped chewing and suddenly grabbed his throat, and started making choking noises.

"Tasuki!" She ran to his side in panic. "Oh my god…what happen? Tasuki…." She grabbed his arm as he start to throw a fit on the ground, face turning red. It can't be poison… she thought in panic. Oh my god, he's going to die! What should I do? "Tasuki….hang in there!" She scrambled to hold him down.

Suddenly, the choking sound turned into fits of laughter, much to Arisu's bewilderment. Tears were coming out of his eyes from laughing so hard and he was rolling on the ground in glee. "G-gotcha!" he managed triumphedly.

Utterly shocked, she thumped his chest hard getting an 'ow!' "Tasuki! That wasn't funny!! I thought you were going to die! You creep! You scared me!!" she scolded him then sighed in relieve.

"You should have….seen your face!!" he fell back laughing. She 'eurghed' in disgust smacked him again for good measure and went back to her basket.

"Whaaatt…? You can prank us but I can't prank you now?" He got up still snickering and sat beside her basket.

In respond, she stuck out her red-stained tongue at him.

"Oh that's mature!" he rolled his eyes and chewed on the newly washed berries, watching her work.

She ignored him, intent on her washing. The red smear was still lining her cheek. He chuckled at her. "You have a….." he reached out without thinking and wiped the stain with his thumb. Her violet eyes shot up in surprise at the contact.

Tasuki paused and met her eyes, just realizing what he was doing, but still hadn't moved his hand away. He marvels at how fragile she looks up close and how tiny her head seems in his hands. Arisu could feel her face getting warmer as she stared unflinchingly into Tasuki's ember eyes, just realize how utterly captivating they are.

They were frozen at this position for a few moments before a voice called out from the forest and shook them out of their reverie.

"Hey Arisuuu….where are youuuu…? We can't find the lake!" Miaka's voice sounding shrill after the silence.

"I should go…" he mumbled shaking his head, getting up and leaving her still dazed.

Shaking her head to clear it, she heard Miaka said from somewhere in the forest. "Oh hey Tasuki…do you know where…." She paused. He must have pointed where the lake was because a moment later Miaka came tumbling out of the forest with Chichiri in tow.

"Hey, there you are." Miaka said, putting down her basket beside her's.

"Sorry, did you guys get lost?" She smiled at them.

"Not really, no da." Chichiri answered while Miaka looked at her softly.

"You guys got into a fight again huh?" she said gently, picking berries and following Arisu's example.

"What?" Arisu looked up.

"You and Tasuki. I can tell when I bumped into him." She evaluated wisely. "You know, he's actually a really nice guy…..in a rough around the edges kind of way." She tried to convince her.

Arisu smothered a laugh.

"No really! He's really sweet and loyal and…and funny……I mean, once you get to know him, of course."

"He's just really bad-tempered that's all, no da." Chichiri added. "So, don't take offense in anything he says, no da."

"Yeah, sure…." She said simply, trying to hide a smile.


"C'mon Miaka, hurry!" Arisu ran ahead with her basket, with Miaka following behind going as quickly as she can through the forest.

The downpour had started so suddenly that by the time they got back to the shack, they were drenched from head to toe and not to mention dirty from the mud.

"Brrr…." Chichiri shivered, putting down his basket of berries. "Hey, Tasuki…how about lighting up a nice fire for us, no da. Ah-Choo!!"

Half an hour later, the five travelers (excluding the dead ones) were sitting close to the fireplace and eating the raspberries that Miaka, Arisu and Chichiri had brought with them. Wet clothes were hanging on some chairs, as the three of them had stripped their outer wear fearing that they might catch a cold. Currently, Taka and Arisu were the finalists in the competition Miaka had suggested earlier, a fight to the finish, winner takes all and loser gets nothing.

They were engaged in a brutal sport of Staring Competition. With serious looks on their faces, they silently stared each other down, daring each other to blink. On one corner, Taka began to frown, eyes shrinking but not daring to close while on the other corner, Arisu's determined eyes were watering up, but neither of them were giving up. All were at stake in this final battle.

Tasuki was leaning beside the fireplace, twirling his diamond fan casually, and watching the competition. He declined to participate in it, saying he was tired. Chichiri and Miaka had already lost in the beginning and were cheering on for both Arisu and Taka respectively. He thought over of what happened at the lake earlier. Arisu wasn't mad at him about the fight this morning, in fact, he was quite shock that she got over it so quickly that he forgot to even apologize. He's not too good with apologies as it is, so it's better this way. He looked at Arisu, the fire was illuminating her hair and her serious profile, and he was glad he didn't join in the competition. At least by sitting on the sidelines he can stare at her quietly and has a reason to without anyone getting suspicious.

Then, with their faces a foot away, Arisu crossed her eyes and Taka blinked in reaction.

"Yes!! Haha, you lose Taka!!" She punched the air with her fists, and sweeps the remaining berries towards her.

"Hey!! You cheated!!" He shouted and shook his fist at her. "You crossed your eyes, you distracted me! I want a rematch!!"

"You're such a sap! No way, I won fair and square. Hands off!" She slapped his hand that was trying to steal a few berries.

"Give it up Taka, you blinked, no da."

Later that night, the five of them had huddled together in front of the fireplace and fell asleep sharing each other's body heat. The midnight owl cooed outside the shack and trees rustled animatedly, and Tasuki, who was staring at the ceiling, was finding all these disturbing. He couldn't fall asleep, not that he didn't try because he was exhausted. But his mind kept on wandering, thinking of everything and of nothing. More importantly, he was becoming increasingly aware of the number of times he thought of Miaka and the times he thought of Arisu. And Arisu was winning a hundred to one.

There was some shifting beside him and the floorboards creaked noisily in respond. He turned to look beside him; it wasn't Chichiri who was moving around. Tasuki sat up and looked at Chichiri's other side, squinting through the dark. Arisu who had taken off her wet outer garment was shivering and unconsciously rubbing her bare arms in her white sleeveless undershirt. He immediately took off his trench coat and blankets her with it. She immediately stopped shivering and gave a small sigh. Smiling at her, he pushes back a strand of hair from her face, brushing her cheek softly with his knuckles as he did. She has such smooth skin, he thought. Are all girls this delicate or is it just her?

Stealing one last look, he lie back down and promptly fell to sleep, the smile still on his face.