Disclaimer: Still don't own Fushigi Yuugi... and I don't own the song that's still partially displayed in this chapter.
Author notes: Longer update then before. Hope you guys and gals didn't mind. Some idiot was pushin people around at school and I sprained my pinky. Thank you all for reviewing Tasuki and the chapter at the same time. I knew he was too nice... I've turned violent Tasuki into Tamahome. None of my characters are turning out the way I planned. 'cept for Misora. Unfortunately, there's no mushy stuff in this chapter. I tried to fix Tasuki. But I don't think it worked too well. And if you find any lack of detail, please don't mind because I was too lazy. I know! Shame on me! Thanks to Kamehameha again for proof-reading.
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The next day, Kaho woke up, bright and early in the morning. Kaho sat up in bed and using her right hand, she rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes. After that, she stretched her limbs.
Last night, after her little hug incident with Tasuki, Kouji had quickly run off before being caught and Tasuki had returned to his own bedroom.
Kaho brought up her left hand and took off the bandages for examination. Her hand had healed quite a bit, but once it fully healed, it was going to leave a scar.
After stretching out, Kaho decided to go out of her room and look around the place.
Kaho got up and opened the doors. She was in awe when she saw the landscape scene in front of her. She put her elbows on the railings and viewed the sunrise, mountains, river, and other parts of the landscape. Kaho's face became very calm and she had a peaceful look in her eyes.
"Hey. You must be Kaho."
Sighing, Kaho turned to see Kouji with a tray of food. Kaho raised an eyebrow.
"Who're you?" asked Kaho.
"Me? Well, I'm Genrou's best bud and fellow bandit, Kouji. He told me ta bring ya some food ta eat." Kouji said and handed the tray to Kaho.
"Who's Genrou?" Kaho asked.
"Ah, well, Genrou's his real name, but most people just call 'im Tasuki." Kouji said. Then he raised a hand to her chin, "Genrou's got good taste in women, but he's too stubborn to admit he likes 'em. Maybe I oughtta keep ya instead."
Kaho went back into her room, but not without punching Kouji in the cheek with her fist first.
"Ow! That's some punch that girl's got!" Kouji said, rubbing his cheek.
'Men...' Kaho thought with disgust. Kaho placed the tray on the desk and sat down on her bed.
After finishing the food, Kaho began to think about how she got to this world.
'I went to the library to look for some books and found that red book inside that reference room...' she thought and remembered the words she first read. 'When I turned the page... that weird light enveloped me and I winded up here... It must be some kind of magic book or something.'
"If ya really want ta go back home... I'll protect ya 'til yer there."
Tasuki's words had entered her mind and Kaho began to blush.
'Argh! What am I thinking! Men are nothing but trouble!' she thought and clutched her head in frustration, 'He was probably just playing a prank.'
Kaho had stayed in her room for only about a half hour and then she was getting bored. Kaho decided to try looking around the hideout again. Kouji had already disappeared, so it wasn't a problem for Kaho. Kaho picked up her backpack, which was in a corner, then exited her room and began wandering around.
As Kaho wandered, some of the bandits began to whisper about her.
"What strange clothes she has." one bandit whispered.
"Her eyes are strange as well." another whispered.
'Ha... so even here I can't escape the misery.' Kaho thought dryly, but continued to explore.
"Hey, Kaho. How's it-" Tasuki said as he opened the doors to Kaho's room, but noticed she wasn't there. He also noticed the empty food tray. "Well, least I know she ate something.' Tasuki thought.
Tasuki left her room and began to look for her. When he found her, she had her backpack beside her and she was sitting in front of a pond, behind the hideout. She seemed to be just gazing into the water.
"Well, now's no time ta let 'er be. Gotta get goin' with the mission.' Tasuki thought and walked towards her. He stopped when he was beside her. Kaho noticed and looked up at him.
"Hey Kaho. Let's go. We're gonna start goin' ta the capital now." Tasuki said.
But Kaho didn't budge. All she did was turn her gaze back to the water.
Tasuki raised an eyebrow.
"Kaho? Come on." Tasuki said.
Still nothing from Kaho.
'Why don't women just do as they're told...' Tasuki thought, getting annoyed.
Finally, Kaho picked up her backpack and stood up.
Tasuki put on a confused look.
"Come on Tasuki. Let's go. Don't want the guys waiting any longer." Kaho said.
Tasuki began leading Kaho to the front of the hideout which was where the guys were waiting, and where it was also the easiest way to go down the mountain.
"What were you doing by the pond?" Tasuki asked as they walked.
"Nothing. Just... thinking." Kaho replied.
"Hey Genrou! Couldn't ya have spent some quality time with Kaho another time?" Kouji shouted as Tasuki and Kaho arrived at the front of the hideout.
"What! Why you..." Tasuki said and tried to whack Kouji on the head, but missed.
"Anyway, I got the tessen for ya." Kouji said.
"Thanks Kouji. This'll make the job a lot easier." Tasuki said, taking the tessen from Kouji.
"Well, not to sound rude or anything, but what could a giant fan do to help us out, except for cooling us down?" Kaho asked.
"What! This ain't any ordinary fan, ya moron! An' it's called a Tesssen. It's a magic fan, made of iron, that can spew out flames." Tasuki stated. "Oh yeah. Guys, this is Kaho. Don't try ta make a move on 'er, otherwise, she'll kick yer asses. Ya can even ask Kouji." Tasuki said and pointed to Kouji's cheek.
Kouji turned away.
"One more thing." Tasuki said and grabbed the sword on his waist, then handed it to Kaho," You can use this, incase ya get in ta any trouble while we're busy."
Kaho held onto the sword with her right hand and swung it a few times to see how heavy it was. It was obviously heavier then the wooden swords she used when she practiced at home, but it was light enough for her to carry around and use.
"Thanks Tasuki." Kaho said and tied the sword, blade facing down, to her waist with some cloth one of the bandits handed her.
"Alright. Everythin' ready?" Tasuki asked and everyone nodded, "Let's go."
Tasuki began leading them down the mountain.
After about six hours of walking, it was the middle of the day when Tasuki and the group decided to stop and eat something before continuing.
They had reached the forest Kaho was in when she first arrived. The bandages Kaho had used to hoist Eikens up were gone, and so was the sword that was wedged in the ground.
Kaho sat down at the same tree she had slept by.
Tasuki walked towards Kaho.
"Here," he said and handed Kaho a couple of pork buns, "We're already half ta the capital. A few more hours a' walkin' and we'll be there."
"Thanks Tasuki," Kaho said, "For letting me tag along."
"Eh? I didn't have much of a choice." Tasuki said and chuckled, "If I didn't let 'cha come, you'd be slappin' me silly."
Kaho smiled.
The group had stayed and rested for about twenty minutes before they continued to walk. When they got out of the forest, a big group of men were there. There were about fifteen to twenty men. They seemed to be waiting for Tasuki and the group to come out.
"Hey Tasuki, what took ya so long? I see you brought the girl too." a voice from the middle of the crowd of men said.
Eikens walked out from the crowd with a large smile on his face.
Everyone on both sides, drew their swords, except for Tasuki, who drew his tessen.
"ATTACK!" Eikens shouted.
All of Eikens' men ran at Tasuki's group. At least five men went after Kaho, thinking she was the weakest, seeing as she was a girl. But Kaho was more than experienced when fighting more then one person.
Kaho quickly shifted the blade the opposite way, so that the blade was facing upwards and she pulled the cloth down further and turned it, so that the sword's tip reached her feet and was between her legs.
When the men swung their swords horizontally at Kaho, she jumped on each of their heads, and because the blunt side of the sword was hanging so low, when Kaho landed on their heads and jumped off, the sword would strike their heads.
Jump, strike. Jump, strike. Jump, strike. Jump, strike. Jump, strike.
After jumping off the last man, Kaho landed on the ground, back towards the still men. When Kaho shifted the cloth and sword back beside her waist, all five of the men collapsed, unconscious, onto the ground.
"Kaho! Look out behind ya!" Tasuki yelled, and used the tessen to block his opponent's attack.
Kaho turned around and saw Eikens lunging at her, holding his sword with both his hands over his head.
Kaho's eyes became wide. She couldn't move! Her legs had turned to jelly and Eikens was about to strike. Kaho shut her eyes, waiting for death to come.
But nothing happened.
Kaho opened her eyes and saw Kouji standing beside a dead Eikens with a bloody sword in his hand.
Kaho came back to her senses and dropped to the ground.
"Hey Kaho! You alright?" Kouji shouted.
"Y-yeah. Just a little frightened." Kaho said. When she finally got herself back together, she stood up and ran towards Kouji, "Thanks a lot for saving me..."
"Hey, no problem. Genrou would have my head if somethin' happened to ya." Kouji said and snickered.
"Hey! I heard that!" Tasuki shouted and finished off the last of Eikens' men. After finishing off his opponent, Tasuki ran over to Kouji and grabbed his shoulders and began to shake him.
"How many times do I have ta tell ya! I don't like women!" Tasuki shouted while shaking Kouji.
Kaho smiled.
"Hey Tasuki. You said that your tessen could make flames right? How come you didn't use it on those men?" Kaho asked.
Tasuki stopped shaking Kouji and turned to Kaho.
"Eikens' men were too close to my own. If I had used it, I would've gotten rid a' me own men." Tasuki said, "And uh... sorry for... not rescuin' ya before. Good thing Kouji was around."
Kaho nodded, letting Tasuki know it was alright.
"Besides, we came outta that hassle with only a few injuries." Tasuki said and jerked a thumb towards Kenji, Takeo, and Montaro, "We should wait for these guys to get better before going on with the mission."
Tasuki brought out some bandages from his pack and gave them to the uninjured men who, in turn, helped bandage up the injured ones.
After the men were bandaged, Tasuki and company continued towards the capital. It took them the rest of the day to get there. When they arrived, it was already midnight.
Tasuki had found an inn and rented seven rooms. Each bandit had to pair up and share a room, and since Kaho was the only girl among the bandits, Tasuki decided it would be better if she got her own room. Each room was the same; auburn-painted walls, white floor tiles, two twin-sized beds, and a large wooden desk between the beds.
Tasuki and Kouji were sharing a room. They had already gotten into their beds and blew out the lanterns. Tasuki lay on his side, back towards Kouji, while Kouji lay on his back.
"Hey Genrou, you awake?" Kouji asked.
"Yeah," Tasuki replied, "What d'ya want?"
"Why'd ya bring Kaho ta our hideout?" Kouji asked.
"I thought I already told ya that I don't like women and because- "Tasuki said.
"Are ya sure there ain't another reason?" Kouji said quickly.
"Well what other reason could there be? Women are nothi' but trouble, I tell ya." Tasuki said.
"That ain't what it seemed like when you were in her room the other night." Kouji said, smiling.
Tasuki sat up and looked at Kouji with wide eyes.
"How did ya..." Tasuki said, then shaking his head, "I mean, whatever ya think happened is a misunderstandin'. It didn't mean anythin'."
"Then ya won't mind if I get the girl right?" Kouji said.
Tasuki lay back down on the bed and turned his back to Kouji.
"Be my guest. I couldn't care less." Tasuki said then dozed off.
'Man. What a stubborn guy.' Kouji thought then dozed off as well.
In Kaho's room...
Kaho had gotten into her bed and blew out the lanterns. Kaho was restless. She had a lot on her mind.
'Do I really want to go back home? Here, nobody knows me... and I could start a new life, and perhaps a happier one,' Kaho thought. 'But... when I was at the Mt. Leikaku hideout, it wasn't much different than at school.'
Kaho lay on her side and brought her knees up to her chest.
'The men here are the same as the ones back home.' she thought bitterly.
Kaho paused for a moment and began to sing.
Alone for a while I've been searching through the dark,
For the traces of the love you left inside my lonely heard,
To weave by picking up the pieces that remain
Melodies of Life - loves lost refrain.
Our paths they did cross, though I cannot say just why.
We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye.
And who'll hear the echoes of stories never told?
Let them ring out loud till they unfold.
In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me.
Though you're gone, I still believe that you can call out my name.
A voice from the past, joining yours and mind.
Adding up the layers of harmony,
And so it goes, on and on.
Melodies of Life,
To the sky beyond the flying birds - forever and beyond...
Meanwhile, in Tasuki and Kouji's room...
Tasuki had woken up and sat straight up in bed. He rubbed his right eye.
'I coulda sworn I heard Kaho singin' right now...' Tasuki thought and paused a few moments. 'Guess it was just my imagination.' Tasuki thought, then he yawned and went back to sleep.
The next morning, Kaho woke up to Tasuki knocking on the door, telling her to get up. After stretching her limbs, Kaho opened up the door and followed Tasuki downstairs to the tables for breakfast. Kouji and the other bandits were already there, waiting for Tasuki and Kaho.
After Tasuki and Kaho had sat down with the guys and grabbed a bite to eat, they began to discuss the plan to rob the emperor.
"Given from Kouji's info, the palace is friggin' huge. Hell knows how many rooms there are in that place, but at least one of 'em's gotta be the treasury. So all of us are gonna have ta take at least two others and go into the palace on all sides. There's probably gonna be a lot a' guards, so be careful. Kouji, Kaho, and I'll go in through the back. Chiko, Kaemon, Kano, and Ken'll go in through the left. Kenji, Montaro, and Takeo, go in through the right. Now, Yoshi, Michio, and Meiji, you guys're gonna have an important job. You'll be going to the front of the palace, but don't go in. Instead, attract as much a' the guards' attention on the other sides as ya can. Then just knock 'em out or somethin'. There're walls all around the castle so tie a hook to some rope and throw it over, that should do it. If you see any guards in the castle, knock 'em out. Alright, when the sun has reached its highest, meet back here." Tasuki said.
Everyone nodded, then got up and left for the palace. Tasuki and Kouji were at the front, leading the group, while Kaho was in the back. Kaho looked at the houses as she walked. Many of them were no less then two stories high and were made of wood and clay. The roofs seemed to be shingles made of split bamboo shoots and were fashioned like the roof of a chinese temple.
Along the way to the palace, as they passed people, the people began to whisper about Kaho.
"Oh my. That girl is wearing such strange clothes." one woman whispered.
"She's not human! Look at those eyes!" one man whispered.
"She must be a witch! Look at her hair!" another woman whispered.
Tasuki stopped and turned around.
"Will y'all shaddup! Ya don' even know 'er! What gives ya the right ta judge 'er!" he shouted.
Kaho walked up to Tasuki.
"It's alright, Tasuki. I've gotten used to it by now." Kaho said and continued to walk.
Tasuki frowned.
'What did she mean "by now"? ' Tasuki thought and continued walking as well.
Kaho was ahead of the group. The palace was within sight, so she knew where she was going. But she wasn't prepared for what happened next. Someone, as quick as a blur, ran at Kaho and snatched her backpack from her hands, then ran off into an alley.
"Hey! Come back here with my backpack!" Kaho shouted and ran after the stranger, matching the exact same speed.
"Kaho! Wait! Come back!" Tasuki shouted and ran after her, "You guys wait there 'til we're back!"
The mysterious figure ran through many twists and turns and eventually, he came across a fork. One way to the right and another path straight ahead. Both led to dead ends. The stranger decided to take the right path. At the end of the path were many crates. They reached as high as the walls. The stranger pushed some of the crates away and hid behind them.
Kaho had just reached the fork.
"Which way, which way... I think he went right.' Kaho thought and ran to the right. When she reached the end of the path, all she saw were crates.
'Damnit. Where'd he go...' she thought, 'Maybe he went the other way...'
Kaho turned around and ran back to the intersection and went in the opposite direction as the one she went through.
As soon as the stranger couldn't hear her footsteps anymore, he breathed a sigh of relief.
'Alright. Let's see what we can sell today.' he thought, grinning.
He dug inside Kaho's backpack, but all he found were textbooks, a key, and a diamond encrusted bracelet.
'This stuff's worthless! The only thing worth selling is this bracelet!' he thought and put the bracelet in his pocket.
He opened another bag and dug in. This time, he found a picture. It was a picture of a girl, about nine years old and a woman and a man on both sides of her.
'Looks like this is pretty important to that girl,' he thought with guilt, 'I should give it back to her.'
He got out from behind the crates and ran after Kaho.
When he caught up to her, he saw that she was being confronted by two men. Both of them seemed drunk. The first man had brown eyes and wore a green shirt and gray pants. The other man had the same color of eyes, but wore a red shirt and brown pants.
He found some more crates along the right wall and hid behind them.
"Come on, girlie. Come have a little fun with the two of us." the man in the green shirt said.
Kaho crossed her arms.
"I'll ask you one more time. Have you, or have you not, seen a man with a dark blue bag come through here?" Kaho asked, getting annoyed. She had already asked the two men the same thing three times and her patience was running out.
"Oh, come on. Just for a little while." the red shirted man said and grinned.
Kaho uncrossed her arms and turned around to leave, but both men had grabbed her arms.
"You're not going anywhere." the man with the green shirt said.
The stranger behind the crates looked away. He was going to help her out, but not with something in his hands. So he put the backpack down and stepped out from behind the crates. But what he was seeing next was unexpected. There Kaho was, standing in front of two men who were sprawled out on the ground, unconscious. Lucky for him, Kaho had turned her back to him, so he wasn't caught yet.
His left eye twitched and a nervous smile appeared on his face.
'What's up with this kid,' he thought, then closed his eyes and breathed in and out a few times to calm himself, 'Don't wanna mess with a person like that.'
When he opened his eyes, he saw Kaho right in front of him. Apparently while he was distracted, Kaho had noticed him and took the advantage.
Kaho could see him very clearly now. He had dark blue hair that reached down to the middle of his back and gold eyes. He wore a navy blue shirt and pants to match. He also wore a red sash on his waist.
"Give me back my backpack." Kaho said sternly.
The stranger grabbed the bag from where he left it and handed it over to Kaho. As soon as Kaho got her bag, she began to dig through it to make sure everything was there.
"Well, guess I'll be going." he said, smiling and waving goodbye.
"Hold it!" Kaho said, "Give me back the bracelet."
He took out the bracelet from his pocket.
"This thing? But it's worthless" he lied.
"Not to me it isn't. A thief like you could never understand what it means to me." Kaho said and snatched the bracelet and put it back into her bag.
The stranger frowned at this and was about to say something, when Tasuki finally caught up with Kaho.
"Yo! Kaho! Are ya alright?" he shouted, then noticed the man next to her.
As soon as Tasuki got close enough, he jumped onto the man's shoulders and began pulling his hair.
"What did ya do ta her! Ya better not 'ave done anythin'!" Tasuki yelled.
"Ow, ow, ow! Quit pulling my hair and get off of me!" the stranger yelled and began to spin around in circles.
Kaho watched and sweatdropped at the two men fighting.
The stranger finally got Tasuki off of his shoulders and Tasuki landed on his butt, with a thud on the ground.
"I didn't do anything to the girl, got that? I'm not that kind of person. I'm only interested in money," he said, "And my name's Tamahome."
With that, Tamahome ran off, back through the allies and back onto the streets.
"The nerve of that guy" Tasuki said, "Let's go Kaho. The guys're waitin'."
Kaho nodded, and followed Tasuki back to the bandits.
