(A/N: I lied to you in a previous A/N. Sorry folks!! It had to be done 'cause I was gettin' so much mail regarding it, and I didn't want to spoil it for you guys (I had the whole thing pretty well thought-out from the beginning, believe it or not). Oh, and Tasuki actually SAYS the "f-word" during this chapter instead of the usual #$%!@. Lastly, I've switched to the Japanese names, which I meant to do it part one but forgot. I'm doing it because Kouji is fun to say ^^. Tsing-Ka, therefor, when we see him next, will be Tsuka. Next chapter I'll give you a chart of everything, I promise ^^;;;;;;))
Tsuki no Hitokoro
~Assassins Of The Moon
*Badumpbadumpbadumpbadump*
*Ba-DUMP! Ba-DUMP! Ba-DUMP!*
Rasconza HATED riding horses. ESPECIALLY horses moving THIS fast.
She latched on harder to Tasuki, who, on this particular ride, was a little uneasy himself, for more reasons than one. These reasons included:
1) He had no regrets about 'fessing up to Rasconza at all, but was a bit peeved at himself for doing so when a lot of the guys were watching. There hadn't been much, if any, time for conversation after their initial shock, so he had no frikkin' clue how the guys were gonna' react to it. Possibly with large blunt objects...
2) He was having trouble breathing, because unlike your typical Frightened Damsel In Distress, Rasconza had one helluva grip.
3)This particular horse that he was riding to be the brother of the one that had died the night before. The one that kept boxing gloves in its saddlebag...
4) The Prince Boushin, according to Chichiri, could be in grave danger.
After a quick conversation, Tasuki, Rasconza, Chichiri, and Kouji had mounted horses and sped off toward the palace.
In the absence of Chiriko, Chichiri had always saved lives with his brains, and now was no exception.
"Karasuki said to me that he and Subaru were looking for anyone who had any blood relation to a god. Seishis and their children, parents, siblings, or any blood relation no da. In that case, we should fear for Prince Boushin's safety na no da."
At this rate, it was going to take them another hour, and they couldn't possibly go any faster, nor keep up this speed. The stallion's body was slick with sweat, and Tasuki wasn't doing too much better himself.
"All right ya stupid horse," he said flatly. "Good job. Y'ken walk now." The horse slowed to a walk, and Rasconza exhaled deeply and relaxed her grip on him. Tasuki could feel the color come back to his face.
"Oi, Chichiri!" She called over her shoulder to the monk who was riding on the same blue mare he had been the evening before. She had returned to the hideout just as the quartet were about to leave, miraculously unharmed. "How much longer 'till we git to the palace? These old sacks o' bones have gotta' rest up..."
Chichiri did not answer, and Rasconza knew it was because he was thinking. They could've done it almost instantaneously if his kasa hadn't have been destroyed, and he wouldn't have been able to warp them all there using his kesa; It was too far away, and there were certain barriers there against any and all forms of magic. It wouldn't have been TOO much longer by horse at the speed they had been going, but it would've been stupid to think the horses could have kept up that pace for long. If they continued at a walk, they'd be there by morning. If they stopped to sleep, they'd lose time.
"We keep going no da," Chichiri stated firmly. "We'll be there by morning no da."
Rasconza groaned loudly and buried her face into the back of Tasuki's cloak. All night on a horse. Whoopie...
"All right, I'll lead fer a little while," said Kouji. trotting up to the front of the group. He winked at Tasuki as he passed him. "You folks jes' relax fer a bit." Tasuki seriously considered flaming Kouji to an annoying crisp.
Still, at least he hadn't been too disgusted or surprised to say anything, Tasuki thought with a grin. Same old Kouji. That was good. This might work out after all...
He heard Rasconza's breathing become for level and her grip relax further. But she was still holding on. Smiling, he patted her hand.
"The Boss is in loooooooooooooove," mocked Kouji. Tasuki gave him the Mother Of All Deathglares.
Oh yes, saaaaame old Kouji...
"Your ass is soooo dead," growled Tasuki dangerously as he shook his fist angrily at his snickering friend. Rasconza moaned behind him and rapped him on the head with her knuckles.
"OW! What the - - - - was THAT for!?"
"Quit rocking the boat," she murmured groggily before she slumped back against the curve of Genrou's back.
*Zzz~*
Tasuki kept on going forward, though Rasconza was somewhat of a distraction to him. It was actually kind of neat (a pansy word), now that he thought about it: Here he was, worrying about what she'd think, and BOOM! Turns out she felt the same way!
He obviously had never read any modern romance novels from Miaka's world.
He was prevented from any further thoughts by a large blow to the back of his head.
***********************
"Glurb..." Murmured Rasconza groggily as she opened her eyes, then prayed to the four gods to erase her mistake and make it as though she hadn't. Her head was KILLING her...
She looked around the dark, dank room, the cold stone floor biting her sore flesh. She could see hear nothing, see nothing. She was lying face-first on the floor, her nose pressed to stone, and her body crushed by a sea of nothingness. She slowly sat up and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark. There wasn't much to see, though pretty much the only thing she could make out were iron bars, marring their way, and walls with a faint red hue to them. The whole place smelled of mold. She shivered and hugged her shoulders. It was cold...
She felt warm breath on her neck and a hand fall on her shoulder.
*FWAP! THUNK!*
Rasconza neatly flipped the man over her back and pinned him to the ground, clutching his throat in one of her hands.
"Where are we?" She hissed at him, her eyes glinting dangerously in the dark.
Without responding, the man grabbed her around the waist with a grip so strong it shocked her into letting go. She saw his silhouette sit up and before she knew it, he had swung her into the air, sending her crashing down into his lap.
"Hello to you too, Rassy." The man whispered softly into her ear. She sighed in relief.
"Tasuki? Oi, what're we doin' here?!" He gave her an exasperated sigh as he removed one hand from her waist to run it through his flaming hair.
"How th' hell should I know? All I know's that I don't have my tessen, Kouji's dead unconscious, and Chichiri's sittin' in the goddamn corner over there, just meditatin' like an asshole!" He let out a loud "humph".
Rasconza started. She HAD felt lighter than usual when she woke up, though at the time she'd attributed it to a blow to the head. A quick glance at her body confirmed her suspicions: She'd been stripped of the twenty-odd knives she always carried with her, including the ones she kept in her boots, headband, and inside her tunic. She grinned. Unlike the boys back at Ligé-San, whoever ran this show hadn't been too noble to check her thoroughly for weapons. She decided not to tell Tasuki this, though, because he'd probably just plain explode...
Rasconza let her eyes stray from Tasuki's agitated (yet still strangely cute) face to the corner in question. Sure enough, there was the unmistakible plume of hair that could only belong to Chichiri, who was, as it appeared from his shadow, sitting crosslegged, and chanting faintly. She looked back at the Phantom Wolf, who was muttering a stream of curses under his breath.
She continued to gaze at him with a rougish grin on her face until he looked up by chance and noticed her. He glared at her.
"Well." She stated. Tasuki raised an eyebrow.
"Well what?" Rasconza's smile softened as she wrapped her arms around the bandit's neck.
"Well," she whispered. "Do you think we'll be bothered HERE?" Her eyes darted about nervously, as if she expected the entire hoard of Ligé-San bandits to pop out at any moment.
'Damn, women ARE all the same,' Genrou thought in mild annoyance. 'This isn't the time OR the place and...'
*Ba-Dump!*
Tasuki grinned as he brushed the hair out of her face. 'Then again, what better time than the present?'
"Naw," he said quietly as he brought his mouth closer to hers and slid his hands up to halfway down her back. Damn, when had he gotten so frikkin' soft???
Well, he was beyond the point of being soft. He was currently at the point of being soft and not giving a damn.
She held wrapped an arm around his shoulders, her free hand on the back of his head, running her fingers through his unruly fiery hair.
"I don't know what you did to me, Rassy," he said softly as he tilted her chin up to him with a single finger, "but I sure as hell ain't complaining."
She closed her eyes and pulled him closer. And as their li-
"NAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNIIII!!!!!!!!!?!?!??!?!!"
A shrill feminine cry came screaming into the cell from outside their prison. Rasconza sighed heavily and let her head drop onto Tasuki's shoulder in defeat, sweatdropping. Tasuki just kinda' sat there with his lips parted, blinking awkwardly.
"And the odds of that were WHAT...?" Tasuki snapped out of it, cursed his foul luck, and then listened intently. The speaker sounded strangely familiar...
"The PRISONORS were carrying these?!" She shouted at whoever was in the room with her. Kouji sat up abruptly right next to Genrou.
"WHAT THE FU-"
Rasconza bopped him soundly on his skull. Tasuki shook his head and grinned.
"Y-yes Houki-sama," someone stammered. Tasuki and Rasconza both guessed (correctly) that it was a gaurd of some sort. "There were three men and a woman, Houki-sama. They looked suspicious so we-"
"Houki...!" Breathed Tasuki. They were going to be fine! No stupid rag-tag escape attempts, no sacrifices, NOTHING. But why was the kind Empress so grouchy? Was it that time of the...?
"And did you two happen to notice anything ODD about the men that carried THESE?!" Tasuki's keen ears picked up the faint sound of something metallic clanking together.
"N-No Houki-sama," A different voice was stammering nervously. Tasuki heard an exasperated sigh from the Empress.
Light streamed into the room, and the form of The Empress Lady Houki was framed in the doorway, carrying a tessen and a monk's staff. She began to unlock the cells hurriedly.
"They're new," she stated simply. And that said it all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The three bandits and the monk sat down in the Imperial Palace to eat. The soldiers who had attacked them were feeling pretty stupid for having attacked two of the greatest heroes of all time, but Tasuki just shut them up.
"Shit happens," he stated plainly. The soldiers were horrified at his language in their Empress' presence. Chichiri sweatdropped.
"Ano... He means it's not a problem no da!" He yanked his buddy out of the room by the crook of the arm while Koji leaned against the wall in a corner, snickering
Rasconza had recollected her knives. She discovered that when she had been brought in with the others unconcious, the guards had some of the palace women search her. 'They're gentlemen here,' thought Rasconza. 'But a true gentleman can't kill a human being..."
The meal was delicious, and they enjoyed it very much. But something was amiss; No one spoke, no one laughed, no one even smiled. It was Chichiri who finally broke the silence.
"Houki-sama, Prince Boushin isn't here, is he?"
*CLATTER!*
The cup the beautiful Empress had been drinking from fell from her hand and shattered. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry softly.
"We were too late," breathed Rasconza, setting a piece of meat she had been eating down as she watched the imperial woman sob. She turned to Genrou with a pained expression, her eyes soft for once. He stared at the Empress, no expression at all on his face.
"I think," he said in a voice just above a growl, cold eyes glistening dangerously. "You should leave now..."
The servants who had been serving their meal blinked a few times before they realized who the fiery young hero was referring to. They hurriedly fled from the room, some squealing.
'Damn girls,' thought Tasuki. He still didn't like most.
"When did they come?" Chichiri asked levelly, removing his mask. Houki continued to sob as Kouji tried to comfort her by patting her on the shoulder.
"'s OK," he said. "We'll get yer kid back..." Funny thing, an Empress getting consoled by a bandit, but it was a noble bandit, and right now, anything could help.
"He came two days ago," Houki sobbed out. Rasconza flinched and turned away. She knew who the Empress meant by "he". "A silver-haired man with warpaint on his cheeks... Th-The servant girls were quite taken with him -said he was quite 'bishounen', so I let him stay... And then in the morning..." She choked on her words.
"Both His Majesty and my brother were gone." A loud sob, bordering on a scream, confirmed what Rasconza had said.
"Hotohori was my world... Boushin-chan is my world now... B-But without him...!" She buried her face in her arms on the elaborate dining table. "I want my son back!! I want him to be safe!!" It was all she could choke out as the three men looked on in pity.
Rasconza was staring out of the window, out into the courtyard, into space. She didn't face the ruler of the country she now lived in as she spoke:
"That was my own brother, Karasuki. He an' I were insepri'ble, Your Majesty... 'Til that bastard Subaru showed up, if you'll pardon my Kansai, M'Lady." She clenched her fists at her sides. "But I'll give ya this: That bastard may be a Byakko Shichiseishi, but so was Toroki, my FATHER! And even though that's my own brother...!" Her teeth were grinding together. She shut her eyes tightly to prevent the tears from flowing freely, telling herself to be strong, and Genrou would let her be weak in a moment. A scared little girl. But for now, she would roar her oath to the heavens: "If it means getting yer kid back, I'll kill him!!"
There was no sound at all for a moment. Her Majesty then spoke three words that smashed the four friends apart:
"You are lying."
?!
Rasconza spun around, her hair whipping against her cheeks to stare at the stotic-faced Empress. Her friends were just as bewildered as she was.
"You're lying," Houki repeated, tears streaming down her face. "I wanted to trust you, you appeared to be close to Tasuki, but it doesn't change the fact that you're lying."
"What the he- ITAI!" Rasconza slumped a bit, clutching at her chest and breathing heavily as beads of sweat began to form on her forehead.
"Rasconza!!!"
Tasuki ran to her, but was thrown back by an invisible force. "Shit..." He mumbled. "RASCONZA!!!"
Rasconza crouched on the ground, head down. The Empress was terrified, but continued to tell her tale with as much courage as she could muster. Which was quite a bit.
"You could not be a child of Byakko!" She proclaimed as Rasconza's gasping turned to a strange, abnormal growl. Chichiri even looked stunned. "Don't you remember?! You told me yourselves!! Subaru is a woman!! She's Toroki's WIFE!"
The Suzaku no Seishi gasped for a moment as the pain hit them. It felt like a great solid fog had been violently ripped from just beneath their foreheads. The spell had been broken.
"THEY'RE ANCIENT!!" Houki shrieked. "SHE'S NO-"
Houki's voice caught in her throat as Rasconza's head suddenly snapped up to glare at her.
Her eyes had become angry slits, glowing white.
"Ras...conza...?" Tasuki asked. 'No no no, this isn't fucking HAPPENING...!'
A bizarre aura began to emit from Rasconza's body, a sinister purple-black glow. Her feet rose off of the ground, and she hovered in the air, growling.
The dark light suddenly grew brighter, and the laces on the front of Rasconza's tattered red tunic flew off. Her outfit sagged, and there, on her chest, was a blazing symbol:
"Tigress"
Then, with one final snarl, the false Daughter Of Byakko fell exhausted to the ground.
"RASCONZA!!" Tasuki flew to her, cradling her head in his lap. She reached up weakly to touch his cheek.
"What's... Going on....Shun'u?" The first time she'd ever used his real name. Or his birthname, at least. "What's...happening...to-"
Tasuki bit his lip until he could taste blood to stop himself from screaming. "Shh, don't talk Rassy... Don't..."
Rasconza closed her eyes to the beating of a heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
((A/N: Kooky, ne? Oi, it's not as kowoi (scary) as you may think; I have referances and links via mythology to what's going on. It's not quite what it seems. Sorry if Houki was OOC: That's because (A), this is a crisis with her little boy, and (b) I've never seen her before ^^;;;;;; (I've only seen up to episode 36, but I've read summaries). Also, I'm just assuming that during some conversation in the first week that Rasconza stayed, Tasuki told her his name. (probably when he was talking about a time his mother had smacked him with her GIANT *ahem!* and he'd yelled at her and she'd scolded him...) Oi, and call me strange, but I could somehow hear Tokimeki playing when Houki tells Rasconza she's full of it.
READERS: YOU'RE STRANGE!!!
Me: ^^;;; Sayonara!!))
Tsuki no Hitokoro
~Assassins Of The Moon
*Badumpbadumpbadumpbadump*
*Ba-DUMP! Ba-DUMP! Ba-DUMP!*
Rasconza HATED riding horses. ESPECIALLY horses moving THIS fast.
She latched on harder to Tasuki, who, on this particular ride, was a little uneasy himself, for more reasons than one. These reasons included:
1) He had no regrets about 'fessing up to Rasconza at all, but was a bit peeved at himself for doing so when a lot of the guys were watching. There hadn't been much, if any, time for conversation after their initial shock, so he had no frikkin' clue how the guys were gonna' react to it. Possibly with large blunt objects...
2) He was having trouble breathing, because unlike your typical Frightened Damsel In Distress, Rasconza had one helluva grip.
3)This particular horse that he was riding to be the brother of the one that had died the night before. The one that kept boxing gloves in its saddlebag...
4) The Prince Boushin, according to Chichiri, could be in grave danger.
After a quick conversation, Tasuki, Rasconza, Chichiri, and Kouji had mounted horses and sped off toward the palace.
In the absence of Chiriko, Chichiri had always saved lives with his brains, and now was no exception.
"Karasuki said to me that he and Subaru were looking for anyone who had any blood relation to a god. Seishis and their children, parents, siblings, or any blood relation no da. In that case, we should fear for Prince Boushin's safety na no da."
At this rate, it was going to take them another hour, and they couldn't possibly go any faster, nor keep up this speed. The stallion's body was slick with sweat, and Tasuki wasn't doing too much better himself.
"All right ya stupid horse," he said flatly. "Good job. Y'ken walk now." The horse slowed to a walk, and Rasconza exhaled deeply and relaxed her grip on him. Tasuki could feel the color come back to his face.
"Oi, Chichiri!" She called over her shoulder to the monk who was riding on the same blue mare he had been the evening before. She had returned to the hideout just as the quartet were about to leave, miraculously unharmed. "How much longer 'till we git to the palace? These old sacks o' bones have gotta' rest up..."
Chichiri did not answer, and Rasconza knew it was because he was thinking. They could've done it almost instantaneously if his kasa hadn't have been destroyed, and he wouldn't have been able to warp them all there using his kesa; It was too far away, and there were certain barriers there against any and all forms of magic. It wouldn't have been TOO much longer by horse at the speed they had been going, but it would've been stupid to think the horses could have kept up that pace for long. If they continued at a walk, they'd be there by morning. If they stopped to sleep, they'd lose time.
"We keep going no da," Chichiri stated firmly. "We'll be there by morning no da."
Rasconza groaned loudly and buried her face into the back of Tasuki's cloak. All night on a horse. Whoopie...
"All right, I'll lead fer a little while," said Kouji. trotting up to the front of the group. He winked at Tasuki as he passed him. "You folks jes' relax fer a bit." Tasuki seriously considered flaming Kouji to an annoying crisp.
Still, at least he hadn't been too disgusted or surprised to say anything, Tasuki thought with a grin. Same old Kouji. That was good. This might work out after all...
He heard Rasconza's breathing become for level and her grip relax further. But she was still holding on. Smiling, he patted her hand.
"The Boss is in loooooooooooooove," mocked Kouji. Tasuki gave him the Mother Of All Deathglares.
Oh yes, saaaaame old Kouji...
"Your ass is soooo dead," growled Tasuki dangerously as he shook his fist angrily at his snickering friend. Rasconza moaned behind him and rapped him on the head with her knuckles.
"OW! What the - - - - was THAT for!?"
"Quit rocking the boat," she murmured groggily before she slumped back against the curve of Genrou's back.
*Zzz~*
Tasuki kept on going forward, though Rasconza was somewhat of a distraction to him. It was actually kind of neat (a pansy word), now that he thought about it: Here he was, worrying about what she'd think, and BOOM! Turns out she felt the same way!
He obviously had never read any modern romance novels from Miaka's world.
He was prevented from any further thoughts by a large blow to the back of his head.
***********************
"Glurb..." Murmured Rasconza groggily as she opened her eyes, then prayed to the four gods to erase her mistake and make it as though she hadn't. Her head was KILLING her...
She looked around the dark, dank room, the cold stone floor biting her sore flesh. She could see hear nothing, see nothing. She was lying face-first on the floor, her nose pressed to stone, and her body crushed by a sea of nothingness. She slowly sat up and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark. There wasn't much to see, though pretty much the only thing she could make out were iron bars, marring their way, and walls with a faint red hue to them. The whole place smelled of mold. She shivered and hugged her shoulders. It was cold...
She felt warm breath on her neck and a hand fall on her shoulder.
*FWAP! THUNK!*
Rasconza neatly flipped the man over her back and pinned him to the ground, clutching his throat in one of her hands.
"Where are we?" She hissed at him, her eyes glinting dangerously in the dark.
Without responding, the man grabbed her around the waist with a grip so strong it shocked her into letting go. She saw his silhouette sit up and before she knew it, he had swung her into the air, sending her crashing down into his lap.
"Hello to you too, Rassy." The man whispered softly into her ear. She sighed in relief.
"Tasuki? Oi, what're we doin' here?!" He gave her an exasperated sigh as he removed one hand from her waist to run it through his flaming hair.
"How th' hell should I know? All I know's that I don't have my tessen, Kouji's dead unconscious, and Chichiri's sittin' in the goddamn corner over there, just meditatin' like an asshole!" He let out a loud "humph".
Rasconza started. She HAD felt lighter than usual when she woke up, though at the time she'd attributed it to a blow to the head. A quick glance at her body confirmed her suspicions: She'd been stripped of the twenty-odd knives she always carried with her, including the ones she kept in her boots, headband, and inside her tunic. She grinned. Unlike the boys back at Ligé-San, whoever ran this show hadn't been too noble to check her thoroughly for weapons. She decided not to tell Tasuki this, though, because he'd probably just plain explode...
Rasconza let her eyes stray from Tasuki's agitated (yet still strangely cute) face to the corner in question. Sure enough, there was the unmistakible plume of hair that could only belong to Chichiri, who was, as it appeared from his shadow, sitting crosslegged, and chanting faintly. She looked back at the Phantom Wolf, who was muttering a stream of curses under his breath.
She continued to gaze at him with a rougish grin on her face until he looked up by chance and noticed her. He glared at her.
"Well." She stated. Tasuki raised an eyebrow.
"Well what?" Rasconza's smile softened as she wrapped her arms around the bandit's neck.
"Well," she whispered. "Do you think we'll be bothered HERE?" Her eyes darted about nervously, as if she expected the entire hoard of Ligé-San bandits to pop out at any moment.
'Damn, women ARE all the same,' Genrou thought in mild annoyance. 'This isn't the time OR the place and...'
*Ba-Dump!*
Tasuki grinned as he brushed the hair out of her face. 'Then again, what better time than the present?'
"Naw," he said quietly as he brought his mouth closer to hers and slid his hands up to halfway down her back. Damn, when had he gotten so frikkin' soft???
Well, he was beyond the point of being soft. He was currently at the point of being soft and not giving a damn.
She held wrapped an arm around his shoulders, her free hand on the back of his head, running her fingers through his unruly fiery hair.
"I don't know what you did to me, Rassy," he said softly as he tilted her chin up to him with a single finger, "but I sure as hell ain't complaining."
She closed her eyes and pulled him closer. And as their li-
"NAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNIIII!!!!!!!!!?!?!??!?!!"
A shrill feminine cry came screaming into the cell from outside their prison. Rasconza sighed heavily and let her head drop onto Tasuki's shoulder in defeat, sweatdropping. Tasuki just kinda' sat there with his lips parted, blinking awkwardly.
"And the odds of that were WHAT...?" Tasuki snapped out of it, cursed his foul luck, and then listened intently. The speaker sounded strangely familiar...
"The PRISONORS were carrying these?!" She shouted at whoever was in the room with her. Kouji sat up abruptly right next to Genrou.
"WHAT THE FU-"
Rasconza bopped him soundly on his skull. Tasuki shook his head and grinned.
"Y-yes Houki-sama," someone stammered. Tasuki and Rasconza both guessed (correctly) that it was a gaurd of some sort. "There were three men and a woman, Houki-sama. They looked suspicious so we-"
"Houki...!" Breathed Tasuki. They were going to be fine! No stupid rag-tag escape attempts, no sacrifices, NOTHING. But why was the kind Empress so grouchy? Was it that time of the...?
"And did you two happen to notice anything ODD about the men that carried THESE?!" Tasuki's keen ears picked up the faint sound of something metallic clanking together.
"N-No Houki-sama," A different voice was stammering nervously. Tasuki heard an exasperated sigh from the Empress.
Light streamed into the room, and the form of The Empress Lady Houki was framed in the doorway, carrying a tessen and a monk's staff. She began to unlock the cells hurriedly.
"They're new," she stated simply. And that said it all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The three bandits and the monk sat down in the Imperial Palace to eat. The soldiers who had attacked them were feeling pretty stupid for having attacked two of the greatest heroes of all time, but Tasuki just shut them up.
"Shit happens," he stated plainly. The soldiers were horrified at his language in their Empress' presence. Chichiri sweatdropped.
"Ano... He means it's not a problem no da!" He yanked his buddy out of the room by the crook of the arm while Koji leaned against the wall in a corner, snickering
Rasconza had recollected her knives. She discovered that when she had been brought in with the others unconcious, the guards had some of the palace women search her. 'They're gentlemen here,' thought Rasconza. 'But a true gentleman can't kill a human being..."
The meal was delicious, and they enjoyed it very much. But something was amiss; No one spoke, no one laughed, no one even smiled. It was Chichiri who finally broke the silence.
"Houki-sama, Prince Boushin isn't here, is he?"
*CLATTER!*
The cup the beautiful Empress had been drinking from fell from her hand and shattered. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry softly.
"We were too late," breathed Rasconza, setting a piece of meat she had been eating down as she watched the imperial woman sob. She turned to Genrou with a pained expression, her eyes soft for once. He stared at the Empress, no expression at all on his face.
"I think," he said in a voice just above a growl, cold eyes glistening dangerously. "You should leave now..."
The servants who had been serving their meal blinked a few times before they realized who the fiery young hero was referring to. They hurriedly fled from the room, some squealing.
'Damn girls,' thought Tasuki. He still didn't like most.
"When did they come?" Chichiri asked levelly, removing his mask. Houki continued to sob as Kouji tried to comfort her by patting her on the shoulder.
"'s OK," he said. "We'll get yer kid back..." Funny thing, an Empress getting consoled by a bandit, but it was a noble bandit, and right now, anything could help.
"He came two days ago," Houki sobbed out. Rasconza flinched and turned away. She knew who the Empress meant by "he". "A silver-haired man with warpaint on his cheeks... Th-The servant girls were quite taken with him -said he was quite 'bishounen', so I let him stay... And then in the morning..." She choked on her words.
"Both His Majesty and my brother were gone." A loud sob, bordering on a scream, confirmed what Rasconza had said.
"Hotohori was my world... Boushin-chan is my world now... B-But without him...!" She buried her face in her arms on the elaborate dining table. "I want my son back!! I want him to be safe!!" It was all she could choke out as the three men looked on in pity.
Rasconza was staring out of the window, out into the courtyard, into space. She didn't face the ruler of the country she now lived in as she spoke:
"That was my own brother, Karasuki. He an' I were insepri'ble, Your Majesty... 'Til that bastard Subaru showed up, if you'll pardon my Kansai, M'Lady." She clenched her fists at her sides. "But I'll give ya this: That bastard may be a Byakko Shichiseishi, but so was Toroki, my FATHER! And even though that's my own brother...!" Her teeth were grinding together. She shut her eyes tightly to prevent the tears from flowing freely, telling herself to be strong, and Genrou would let her be weak in a moment. A scared little girl. But for now, she would roar her oath to the heavens: "If it means getting yer kid back, I'll kill him!!"
There was no sound at all for a moment. Her Majesty then spoke three words that smashed the four friends apart:
"You are lying."
?!
Rasconza spun around, her hair whipping against her cheeks to stare at the stotic-faced Empress. Her friends were just as bewildered as she was.
"You're lying," Houki repeated, tears streaming down her face. "I wanted to trust you, you appeared to be close to Tasuki, but it doesn't change the fact that you're lying."
"What the he- ITAI!" Rasconza slumped a bit, clutching at her chest and breathing heavily as beads of sweat began to form on her forehead.
"Rasconza!!!"
Tasuki ran to her, but was thrown back by an invisible force. "Shit..." He mumbled. "RASCONZA!!!"
Rasconza crouched on the ground, head down. The Empress was terrified, but continued to tell her tale with as much courage as she could muster. Which was quite a bit.
"You could not be a child of Byakko!" She proclaimed as Rasconza's gasping turned to a strange, abnormal growl. Chichiri even looked stunned. "Don't you remember?! You told me yourselves!! Subaru is a woman!! She's Toroki's WIFE!"
The Suzaku no Seishi gasped for a moment as the pain hit them. It felt like a great solid fog had been violently ripped from just beneath their foreheads. The spell had been broken.
"THEY'RE ANCIENT!!" Houki shrieked. "SHE'S NO-"
Houki's voice caught in her throat as Rasconza's head suddenly snapped up to glare at her.
Her eyes had become angry slits, glowing white.
"Ras...conza...?" Tasuki asked. 'No no no, this isn't fucking HAPPENING...!'
A bizarre aura began to emit from Rasconza's body, a sinister purple-black glow. Her feet rose off of the ground, and she hovered in the air, growling.
The dark light suddenly grew brighter, and the laces on the front of Rasconza's tattered red tunic flew off. Her outfit sagged, and there, on her chest, was a blazing symbol:
"Tigress"
Then, with one final snarl, the false Daughter Of Byakko fell exhausted to the ground.
"RASCONZA!!" Tasuki flew to her, cradling her head in his lap. She reached up weakly to touch his cheek.
"What's... Going on....Shun'u?" The first time she'd ever used his real name. Or his birthname, at least. "What's...happening...to-"
Tasuki bit his lip until he could taste blood to stop himself from screaming. "Shh, don't talk Rassy... Don't..."
Rasconza closed her eyes to the beating of a heart.
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((A/N: Kooky, ne? Oi, it's not as kowoi (scary) as you may think; I have referances and links via mythology to what's going on. It's not quite what it seems. Sorry if Houki was OOC: That's because (A), this is a crisis with her little boy, and (b) I've never seen her before ^^;;;;;; (I've only seen up to episode 36, but I've read summaries). Also, I'm just assuming that during some conversation in the first week that Rasconza stayed, Tasuki told her his name. (probably when he was talking about a time his mother had smacked him with her GIANT *ahem!* and he'd yelled at her and she'd scolded him...) Oi, and call me strange, but I could somehow hear Tokimeki playing when Houki tells Rasconza she's full of it.
READERS: YOU'RE STRANGE!!!
Me: ^^;;; Sayonara!!))