Chapter 6 - Love and Longing

"AaAaAa~~!!!!!!" Hikaru screamed and woke everyone up. Tasuki was the first one to dash into her room. He had his tessen with him, too.
"WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?" he yelled trying to calm her down. She ran into his arms, spazzing and pointing to her bed. He looked over and saw nothing. "What the hell are you spazzing out on woman?" he asked.
"There's a spider on my bed!!!!" she yelled. Kirei entered, still groggy from sleeping. She rolled her eyes.
"Goddammit...That's freakin' dumb! You woke up the whole freakin' house over a SPIDER!!! I'm going back to sleep." Kirei grumbled, grouchily. Hikaru stuck her tongue out after her. Tasuki sighed.
"You should go get some sleep too Hikaru." he said.
"What?? The spider's still there!!" she protested. He looked on the bed and couldn't find it.
"Umm..I think it disappeared under the covers..." he observed.
"WHHHAAT?? I can't go back to sleep in that then!"
Tasuki thought for a moment. He had no other options. "You can sleep in my room. I'll sleep here," he offered. She looked at him a bit taken aback.
"S-sleep in your room?" she repeated. He nodded and dragged her to his room. Her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. It was a royal mess. Bottles of sake were everywhere and clothes strewn around. It was the equivalent to Kirei's room maybe worse, if that was even possible. "U-umm...." she started.
"Yea I know...it's a little messy. But the bed's clear. And trust me. No spiders." he said rather nicely. Hikaru kept looking.
"Who provided you with the sake?" she asked.
"Kirei gave Chichiri some money to go down to a nearby bar to buy it for me." he explained.
"Oh...~" she said.
"Well...go to sleep now. It's not even dawn yet." he said and closed the door behind him.
Hikaru looked around. How was she going to get to the bed? There was only one way. She crossed her fingers for luck and jumped over, landing on the bed. She looked around. No spiders. Feeling at ease, she eased herself into the covers and drifted to sleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Hikaru!!! Hikaru!!! Wake up!!!" Yuri yelled banging on the door. Tasuki grumbled to himself and opened the door.
"What is it woman?" he grouched. Yuri stood there speechless.
"What the hell are you doing in Hikaru's room??? Did you do anything to her???" she went ballistic on him.
"Ow...No! Ow! No! I didn't Do anything!!" he protested through her beating fists. Hikaru stepped out of Tasuki's room.
"What is it Yuri?" she said through bleary eyes. Yuri stopped.
"Hikaru? You weren't with him after all...." she trailed off.
"What? Huh? What are you..." she realized what Yuri was talking about. "Omigod...YURI!!!!!"
"I'm sorry...I didn't know...."
"It's okay...just apologize to Tasuki there."
"Eh heh...sorry Tasuki." she said meekly. Tasuki rubbed his sore arm.
"No sweat..." he grimaced.
"So anyways, why were you calling me?" Hikaru asked.
"Oh yeah! There are currently MONSTERS downstairs!!!" Yuri yelled and ran back down. Hikaru and Tasuki quickly followed after her.
"That's not how you tell people that kind of news..." Tasuki muttered.
When they got downstairs they found monsters attacking the others. They were not the same monsters as before. They were live creatures that looked robotic with sharp features. Kirei was flaming them with her newly found power. A monster appeared behind Tasuki and Hikaru.
"Shit! I left my tessen upstairs!!" Tasuki cursed.
"Mizuno...RYU!!" Hikaru yelled and blasted the monster. Two more appeared.
"Shit..they're fuckin' multiplying!" Tasuki yelled.
"WORLD~~~~ SHAKING!!!!!" Yume yelled a glowing yellow sphere headed for the monsters and incinerated them. This time they did not multiply. Hikaru turned to face Yume.
"I guess I finally got my magic," she said and her knees gave away, but Suboshi, who quickly caught her before she hit the ground, broke her fall. "Eh heh...thanks.." she said softly. Suboshi smiled at her.
"Anytime." he said. They stared at each other for a moment. Another monster then appeared. Suboshi glared at it. "It just had to ruin the moment," he muttered. He told Yume to stay put while he and the others kept fighting.
Finally all the monsters were destroyed. Yuri pouted a bit. "Man...this isn't fair...I'm the only one who didn't get my powers yet.." she said grouchily and went up to her room.
"I'll go talk to her." Yume volunteered. The other just nodded as Yume went after Yuri.
"Women.." Tasuki muttered. Hikaru rolled her eyes and gave him a playful punch. He grinned.
"Don't be so mean, Tasuki." Hikaru said.
"I wasn't being mean! I just said 'Women'!"
It was now Kirei's turn to roll her eyes. "C'mon you guys." she said, leading everyone to the rec room for food and games, leaving Hikaru and Tasuki to argue.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Hikaru shook her head as she rinsed her hair with water. After that argument she had with Tasuki, she deserved a nice warm bath. Especially, Kirei's bathtub. It wasn't in a normal bathroom, but it was a whole Japanese style bath, which was in one room. Basically the central bath. She heard a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" she called out.
"It's me, Kirei." her voice muffled by the door.
"Come in." Hikaru said and Kirei walked in with towels, quickly closing the door behind her. She laughed at Hikaru's pensive face.
"That bad?" she remarked. Hikaru groaned.
"You have NO idea!"
"True, true..."
Hikaru scowled. "Some help you are."
"I know, aren't I?"

Tasuki made his way towards the central bath. After that argument with Hikaru he deserved a bath. 'Che...women...Who needs'em?' he said to himself.

Hikaru stepped out of the tub and reached for a towel.

Tasuki walked in without knocking.

And then there were fireworks. Everyone ran for cover, which meant running to the nearest Taco Bell for dinner. (jokejoke)

"WHAT THE FREAKIN' HELL, TASUKI!! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF KNOCKING!!!???" Hikaru yelled as loud as a bomb dropping.
"GOD...CAN YOU FUCKIN' CHILL WOMAN!!!" Tasuki yelled just as loud.
"NO I WILL NOT!! AND YOU WERE STARING, TOO!!!"
"STARE AT WHAT? THERE'S NOTHING TO FUCKIN' SEE!!!!"
Hikaru just stared at him in disbelief. She ran out of the bath in tears.
Kirei went up to Tasuki and slapped him across the face. "That was totally uncalled for and way out of line Tasuki!" she said angrily. Tasuki rubbed his cheek.
"I know..." he grumbled. He did feel bad. "I'm going to go apologize."
"You'd better go do that!" Kirei yelled and stamped on Tasuki's foot.
"YOW!"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Hikaru sniffled. She was in her bedroom (no spiders) sitting on the window seat, looking out. That was just plain mean. Another tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away. Another fell, and she wiped that one away with her sleeve too.
"You gonna keep wipin' your tears like that or do you need a tissue?" Tasuki broke in. Hikaru glanced across the room and saw Tasuki standing at the doorway smiling. She bristled. Did he think this was some kind of joke to laugh about???
"You really don't now how to knock do you!" she snarled.
"The door was already open." he commented. She opened her mouth to say some other petty remark but then closed it again. He smirked and walked over to her.
"I didn't say you could come in." Hikaru muttered. He stood in front of her.
"I didn't ask for permission." he said smugly and bent down to her, carefully wiping away each tear. His rough fingers ran across her smooth cheek.
"What do you want anyway?" Hikaru asked, sharply turning her face away from him. He winced.
"Look Hikaru I want to apologize...Not only because I insulted you but because I was looking." he admitted. Her blue eyes flashed up at him.
"I accept your apology but you were LOOKING!!" she spazzed. He turned red.
"I couldn't freakin' help it....I'm a guy in love! So sue me!!"
"What was that?"
Tasuki shook his head and lifted her chin up to his face. He could feel her breath on his chin. "Don't you freakin' get it yet Hikaru? You cast a spell over me. I'm in love with you."
Hikaru felt her head swirling. He was in love with her! Now what?? "I love you too." she found herself saying. He smiled and kissed her softly, both hands cupping her face. She kissed him back with equal passion, her hands roaming over his solid, muscular back.
Kirei smiled from the doorway. 'ohohohoho...' she thought to herself. She knew he'd come around, both of them in fact. She quietly closed the door, to leave them in their own dreams.