Chapter Three

Rivalry

This heavenly bliss that I was experiencing all over again was interrupted when the door swung wide open, and I instantly pulled away from Tasuki. In the doorway stood a tanned man, with wild blue hair, and a scar that ran along the left side of his face. He was very well built, and he wore something similar to Tasuki.

"Kouji, ya bastard," Tasuki cursed. "Gotta learn to knock!"

"When do I need to learn to knock?" Kouji asked, grinning. "It's not like you're doin' anythin' widda girl!" But then, his eyes set upon me, and instantly, his eyes widened. "What the hell…?"

"Kouji?" I took a step forward, staring at him in disbelief. He sure looked older than that of the two years before, but still the same as always. I was so happy to see the man that gave me hospitality when I didn't have anywhere to go, and the man that gave me my first kiss.

"Mima?" Kouji looked at me with surprise, but I could see the joy in his bright, green eyes. "Is that really…?"

Tasuki put a hand on my shoulder, and laughed. "No shit, Captain Obvious! It is Mima all right."

"It's nice to see you too, Kouji," I grinned. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Genrou, how long has she been here?" he asked, getting over the big surprise and trying to act all cool again.

"I just came back today," I spoke for Tasuki. "You don't seem all that excited to see me, Kouji. I feel insulted." Tasuki and Kouji fell over at what I said.

"She expects a big welcome, doesn't she?" Kouji asked, whispering.

"Daa…" Tasuki replied, almost was sounding like Chichiri.

I yawned, walking over to Tasuki's bed and sat down, stretching my arms. "I'm so tired… I didn't get enough sleep last night. Can I go to sleep?" I looked pleadingly at Tasuki, hoping he'll let me sleep in his bed.

The two bandits got up, scratching their heads. Then Tasuki answered, "Yeah, sure. No problem." He faced Kouji. "C'mon, let's go grab a drink."

"Sounds good to me," Kouji and Tasuki turned around and left me in the room. But just as Kouji was about to close the door behind him, he turned his head to take one last look at me, then shut the door.

I was wondering why he gave me that look, but then, my eyes shot open again, and I gasped.

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed, panicking. "Kouji loves me, too!"

I woke up, feeling energized and ready to explore the Stronghold all over again. But then, I realized that my hand was being held. I looked to who was holding it, and saw that it was Kouji. He looked at me with soft eyes, along with a soft smile that quickly appeared on his face.

"You've finally woken," Kouji said, looking at me with those same lovely eyes I fell in love with two years ago.

But, I didn't love him for long.

"K-Kouji, I didn't…" I started, but Kouji cut me off.

"How are you doing?" he asked, still holding my hand. His eyes locked onto mine, and I saw that he did miss me dearly. Joy and excitement showed in his green eyes.

"I'm fine. But, Kouji…"

"Mima, I've missed you ever since the day you left this place with Genrou to find Suzaku no Miko. I wished I expressed my love to you back then, so that you would know that I still loved you."

"Kouji, I…" I began to worry. Tasuki didn't tell Kouji about us, and that troubled me.

My words were interrupted when Kouji closed in on me, and gave me a kiss. I remember his warm, soft lips. His warmth filled me up inside, making me shiver with delight. I closed my eyes, enjoying his kiss, when I thought about Tasuki. Instantly, I jerked my eyes open and pushed Kouji away.

"No!" I cried, shaking my head. "Kouji, I… I can't do this! I don't love you anymore! I can't love you anymore!"

Kouji backed away from me, and I could see the hurt that he felt. "I-I'm sorry…" He began to blush with embarrassment. "I should have known… Gomenasai, Mima." He quickly left the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Shit!" I cursed, clutching the sheets tightly. "Fuck, I kissed Kouji, and now I'm in very much deep shit. I even enjoyed the kiss!" I got up and saw a pair of Tasuki's shoes at the side of the bed. I slipped them on, then walked out into the hallways. It seemed as if the coast was clear, so I wound my way around, and found a door. I opened it, and stepped outside.

I shivered, rubbing my arms. "God, was it always this cold out?" I thought, my teeth chattering. I looked up at the sky, and saw that it was nighttime. The stars looked like shiny, glittering dots in the sky. The moon glowed brightly, brightening up the night sky. The skies were a dark blue, instead of its usual black at home.

Taking my time, I walked down the steps from the Stronghold down to the forest that I was in earlier that day. I wasn't afraid at all of the things that might be lurking around and about, because I was an extra Suzaku Seishi, with the ability to take form of any animal I wished to be.

My bravery was challenged when I heard the howling of a wolf nearby. The howl sent chills up my spine, causing my legs to wobble and my stomach to flip flop. I heard rustling nearby in a bush, causing me to freak out. The blood drained from my face, and I knew I was becoming pale.

"Calm down, Mima. It's just a wolf," I tried calming myself down. "I can take the form of Seiryuu to scare it off. Hell, I'm helluva stronger than any creature in this damned forest." I leaned against a tree, trying to get myself back together. A light breeze blew my hair in my face, and the music from grasshoppers were the only things I heard.

When I felt cool and collected again, I felt something tap on my shoulder.

"HOLY HELL! Holy Hell!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, jumping away from the tree. I started running around in a circle, freaking out. "Holy Hell! Holy Hell!" My heart began to beat faster and faster, and my stomach was in knots.

But then, I heard somebody laughing.

I looked over at the tree, and saw Tasuki, rolling around on the ground, cracking up. He was holding his stomach, and tears were streaming down his face from laughing so much.

"Buhahaha!" Tasuki laughed, pointing at me. "You should've seen the look on your face! Hahaha!" He rolled onto his stomach, and began kicking his legs and pounding his fists on the hard ground. "God, you looked hilareous! Aaaahahahaha! Shit, that was funny! Ahahaha!"

"Shut up, BAKA!" I yelled, kicking Tasuki up into the air.

"Buah!" he cried when I kicked him.

"You shouldn't have scared me!" I scolded as I put my hand on my chest, panting, and eyes bugging out. "I seriously thought I was going to die from a heart attack!"

He chuckled. "I couldn't help it! I felt like scaring you."

"You're such a jerk, Tasuki, I swear," I frowned.

Tasuki took my hand. "Sorry 'bout that."

I sighed. "I guess it's okay."

We walked together, side by side, holding each other's hand. I rested my head on his shoulder, enjoying the moment I was sharing with him.

"Tasuki, I'm glad I found you again," I said, softly.

He faced me, and pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Let's continue what we started earlier today, hm?" he drew his face closer to me, and his lips landed on my lips.

I enjoyed kissing Tasuki in the middle of a forest, under the starry night sky, the moon smiling down at the earth. But for some reason, I felt like somebody was watching us.

The next morning, I sat in the dining area before any of the bandits were awake. I was afraid that if I went to eat by myself, the drunken men do something to me, even if I do have the power of Suzaku inside of me.

The chef served me rice and chicken, with soup and an extra plate of fried rice.

"You're the only girl around here," the chef smiled at me. He looked very old and tired, but not scared or fearful. He just looked old, tired, and happy. "You deserve a special breakfast." He turned around to continue his cooking.

"Arigatou," I began to eat my breakfast, enjoying every minute of it. "Um… ano…"

The chef turned to face me again. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Aren't you afraid of working in some bandit hideout's kitchen?" I asked, politely eating the fried rice.

"No, of course not," the chef chuckled. "They all respect me, even Kouji and that Genrou fella, although I'm only fifty two years old."

"This is delicious," I complimented.

"Thank you. It's better than the slop I'm serving them." He motioned towards a bucket full of really disgusting looking stuff.

"But they respect you?!" I raised an eyebrow at the slop.

The chef gave a hearty laugh. "One of them made me mad yesterday, so they deserve slop all day."

I laughed along with him.

"Say, you look like a girl that was year four years ago. She was a cute one, that she was."

The chef caught my attention. "Hm? I do?"

"Yes, you do. Ah… let's see… what was her name?" The chef thought for awhile, and then, "Oh, yes. It was Reirei."

"Tell me more about her, please." I finished off my plate of rice and chicken, and moved on to my soup.

"Well, Kouji and Genrou paid an awful lot of attention to her. Reirei indeed wanted to be a bandit herself, so I heard. She be following Genrou around 'til he told her to bother Kouji, and well…"

"Hm? I'm interested." I put the empty bowl on top of the two empty plates, and shoved them aside.

"When I see them walk together, they seem very happy. They seem to click."

"Like, how?" I urged him to go on.

"Well, Kouji was very much attracted to her, and Reirei was very much attracted to Kouji, too. Reirei was very cute, being fifteen and so full of life. She seemed to enjoy every minute of her life."

"Whatever happened to her?" I sat closer to the counter as I listened closely to the chef.

"Well, she seemed to have, passed on. I watched Kouji, and he seemed very upset over her."

I lowered my eyes at the floor. "Well, arigatou. The food was delicious, and thank you for the story." I got off of my seat when I heard some of the men coming in to get their breakfast.

"Sure, no problem!" The chef gave another smile at me. "Next time, I'll fix you something really good. So, look forward to dinner tonight!"

"Arigatou gozaimasu!" I waved to him as I left the dining area and head back to Tasuki's room.

Just before I was going to enter the room to wake Tasuki's lazy ass up, I heard yelling inside of the room. I put my ear up to the door, and listened in.

"How could you, Genrou?!" I heard Kouji yell.

"You very well knew my feelings for her, too, damn you!" Tasuki snapped back at him.

"But yours came while you were on that journey with her!" Kouji pointed out.

"Oh, no," I whispered softly. "They're arguing about me."

"I spent almost a year with her, Kouji!" Tasuki started up again. "How could I not become drawn to her?!"

"You shouldn't have started your fucking moves on her, Genrou! I told you when we first met her that I began to really like her. How could you go betray your best friend and go after the girl I love?"

Tasuki started swearing at Kouji, then said, "Well, she obviously chose me over you, didn't she?!"

"What about that kiss we had before you two left here?"

Tasuki didn't say anything to that, until, "FUCK!"

I backed away from the door when I heard Tasuki stomp towards it. The door swung open, and then he slammed it closed behind him. I jumped when a loud bang followed.

"Tasuki…?" I called after him.

He didn't turn around.