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Mystic Ring ~ Part Nine
By: Lady Genrou

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Sadako watched Tasuki sleep from underneath the warmth of his coat after they settled down in a small clearing in the forest. He had fallen asleep hours ago, but the nights previous events didn't let her sleep. The thought of one enemy surviving like that made her very uneasy. Roya had been exiled for attempting to take over her homeland by attempting to assassinate her and her mother.

"Screw you, Kouji!"

Sadako was startled out of her thoughts by Tasuki's outburst in his sleep. She couldn't help a small smile. He must have been dreaming about being back home with his men on Mt. Reikaku. He must be homesick. About a week had passed already and she wasn't exactly sure how many more were to come before she got home.

Tasuki rolled over on his side with a soft snore, now facing her. Sadako watched his mouth twitch and then open slightly, his canines peeking out from under his fine lips. His fiery hair fell in his face and she couldn't resist the urge to reach out and brush it back. He didn't even flinch. He had to be exhausted after everything that has happened. He had done so much all ready to protect her. Sadako also noticed a change in him ever since they escaped from Kiyoshi's palace. He wasn't cold to her anymore and his eyes were soft when he looked at her.

Sadako hesitated for a moment, but then gently scooted closer to him, pulling some of his coat over him to keep him warm. She closed her eyes only to open them again when she felt an arm come around her. Tasuki looked at her drowsily with a light smile before falling back asleep almost instantly again. Sadako sighed softly and cuddled up against him, closing her eyes, sleep finally overpowering her.

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Tasuki awoke the next morning to find Sadako nestled securely in his embrace. Startled, he let her go and sat up quickly, never expecting to wake up to that. He watched her stir in her sleep for a moment before turning and absently brushing debris from the forest ground out of his hair.

Things haven't been the same for him since he met Sadako. So far the adventures that he's been on have been more dangerous and exciting that the raids back at Mt. Reikaku. But there was something else too that wasn't the same. He looked back to her again, studying every feature of her pretty face. Without even thinking, he reached out and brushed stray locks of her jet, black hair from her forehead, letting his fingertips gently trail down her temples and then down to her cheek, caressing it lightly. As if in a trance, he didn't even realize that he had begun to move his lips closer to her slightly parted ones.

Sadako had only been half-asleep when Tasuki moved earlier, and was more awake when she felt his gentle touch upon her face. After a moment of debate, she slowly opened her eyes and started slightly when she found him so close to her. She held her breath as he froze, inches away from making contact with her lips and could only stare back into his eyes, not exactly sure of what to do. Then, she closed her eyes again when he closed the distance between them and returned the kiss.

It only lasted a moment though, for Tasuki realized just what he was doing and pulled back suddenly, blushing furiously. Sadako quickly opened her eyes and looked to him, taking a moment to collect herself. "Genrou..." she whispered finally when she managed to locate her voice. "I-I'm sorry," he stammered in reply as he got to his feet and started to walk off.

Sadako sat up and called after him to stop. When he did, she got to her feet and hurried over to him and lightly took his arm. "What are you sorry for? You didn't do anything wrong."

"But I... kissed ya," he responded, not yet able to look her in the eyes.

"So? What's so wrong about that?"

"Well... I just never did that to a girl before. I've always hated them, and now, I'm just suddenly startin' to kiss em. Hell, you weren't even really awake!"

Sadako couldn't help a small smile. "Ah, so I see that you, Mr. "Rough and Tough" bandit has developed a soft spot for we girls, hm?"

"No! I don't know what the hell yer talkin' about. I ain't soft! 'Specially when it comes to girls! Feh." Tasuki tried his best to keep his voice from faltering as he turned from her. He felt his breath catch in his throat when her arms went about his waist as she hugged him from behind.

"Tasuki... It's all right," he heard her say softly, resting her head lightly on his back. That was the first time she had called him anything other than Genrou. Tasuki was rigid, not fully comfortable with this, but moved his hands to rest lightly on top of hers as he looked down at them in wonder. He really was a softy after all. All those years of building up walls around himself to keep girls away had all ready begun crashing down the first night that they met, even though he never admitted it to himself. He hated it when people could see just how afraid he was of things. 'I'm a goddamn bandit, fer cryin' out loud!' he told himself. 'But still... I guess this is okay. She ain't too bad fer a girl.... Gah. I hope Kouji never finds out 'bout this one...'

Tasuki gently pulled back away from her after a moment to turn and face her. "We better get goin'. Maybe there's a city or somethin' up ahead where we can get food and a place t' sleep?"

Sadako nodded and reached out, holding his coat to him. Tasuki smirked and shook his head. "Naw, that's okay. You can keep it fer now. It's still kinda chilly out, and I ain't that cold."

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The city was pretty crowded for it's size and Sadako absently took Tasuki by the hand in fear that they might get separated. He didn't mind of course, but it was still a little embarrassing since he wasn't quite used to having a girl hang onto him. He was used to cities since he traveled back and forth to different ones on raids with Kouji and the gang. His thoughts began to drift back to all his buddies on Mount Reikaku. He wondered if they were doing all right without their leader and if that Kouji managed keeping them all from bringing the place down.

It wasn't too long before they cam across a small inn more towards the outskirts of the city. Neither of them was too happy with the location, but since it was really all they could afford, they took a room, not having any other choice. And since it wasn't the best area, it wasn't too crowded. There only had to be maybe five other people checked in, not including themselves.

At dinner that night, Sadako sat quietly and only picked at her food. Tasuki was doing his best not to order too much to drink. He was aware of Sadako's gloomy state and didn't want to make things worse by getting himself drunk. It took practically all his strength to resist ordering helpings after his second cup. He watched her as he took a small sip in his attempt to savor ever drop over the rim of his cup, noticing she hardly touched her food. "What's wrong?" he asked after setting it back down.

Sadako glanced up at him and laid her chopsticks to the side with a sigh.

"I'm just worried."

"'Bout yer kingdom? What fer? Ya got the ring with ya."

"Yes, but that isn't enough. I need to be back with it. And I am now the ruler. I have no idea how everything is fairing without me there to oversee things."

"I'm sure yer people are just fine. I mean, not t' sound mean or nuthing, but as long as ya have that ring, all them bad bastards are gonna be after us. What good is yer kingdom t' them without th' ring?"

"I've been thinking about that too, but even if everything is safe, I still need to get back as soon as I can."

A tall woman with a shawl wrapped around her face came by their table and set down two glasses for them. "The house special on me. We're giving all the guests a free sample since there are so few here."

"Hey, all right! This is my kinda place!" Tasuki laughed as he forgot his promise to himself and began to gulp the beverage down. Sadako blinked and watched as the woman stood off the side, watching them a moment before turning and going thought the doors that lead to the inn's kitchen. She glanced back to Tasuki and couldn't help a small smile, catching a glimpse of some of the cup's content dribbling down his chin. She then too picked up her cup and sipped from it.

She was almost done with hers when she noticed that Tasuki looked a little pale. Concerned, she reached out across the table and touched his hand. "Tasuki? Are you all right? You don't look to well all of a sudden..."

"Sadako... don't drink that... I think it was poisoned..."

Tasuki closed his eyes tightly to try and make the room stop spinning, but it didn't work. His vision started to go black as he felt himself begin to collapse; Sadako's frightened cries incoherent. But it didn't take long for the drink to do its dirty work on her either. She too lost conciseness and her limp body fell upon Tasuki's after she went to his side in attempt to help him.

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To be continued...

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Tell me what you guys think! ^_^ Thanks for reading so far!