I wrote this a while ago, so it's not as good as some of my newer stuff. But I'm still very happy with it. Enjoy!
Breaking Point
by Kimura
"Man, what a night!" Genrou exclaimed, dropping a sack onto his bed. "That was one of our most successful raids."
"You can say that again," Kouji said, dropping a similar sack on the floor and collapsing into a chair. "You did a great job planning it."
"Huh?" Genrou's head was buried in the bag, eagerly looking through the newly acquired treasures. He looked up.
Kouji laughed. "It's great to have you back, Genrou."
Genrou grinned. "Aw, ya missed me, huh?"
Kouji frowned slightly. "I was worried about you, you moron." He stood up and walked to the window. "I wasn't sure you'd ever come back."
"Yeah, and that would've been a great tragedy, wouldn't it?" Genrou joked, still smiling.
Kouji didn't reply.
Uncomfortable, Genrou bit his lip, unsure of what to say. He and Kouji had been friends for a long time, but they almost never talked about feelings or emotions. He picked a hell of a time to start, Genrou thought. He slowly got up and stood by his friend. He took a deep breath and said the only thing he could think of. "I missed you too, Kouji."
Kouji looked up at him.
Genrou could see the concern in his eyes, the countless hours he had spent worrying about his best friend. He had never seen Kouji's eyes so clear and unguarded before. Uncertainly, he reached out and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Thanks . . . for worrying about me."
Kouji smiled, quickly regaining his usual composure. "Somebody had to, ne?"
Genrou returned the smile, letting his hand drop to his side.
Kouji shrugged his shoulders, as if to shake off the remnants of a bad dream.
Genrou flopped back onto the bed, grabbing his bag and dumping its glittering contents out in front of him. "Besides, I couldn't let you have all the fun back here. So, I guess I'll have to stick around for a while."
Kouji watched him, still smiling. That's Genrou talk for "Relax, you idiot. I'm not going anywhere, so quit worrying." He sat back down and started going through his own sack.
~~~
The next day . . .
Kouji sat down across from his best friend. "I think I should fill you in on what happened while you were gone."
Genrou frowned. "I don't like the sound of this."
Kouji sighed. "I don't know. Maybe it was my fault, maybe it was no one's fault . . . I just . . . I don't know. But now it's becoming more of a problem."
"What happened?"
"About two months ago, there was a group of men within the bandits that were starting to make trouble. They didn't like the way things were going. They said that our rules were out of date. The leader, Makara, tried to get a rebellion going to overthrow me."
"Shit, Kouji . . ."
"It didn't work. The other men were loyal. We ran Makara and his friends out of here. He vowed he'd form his own group and that one day he'd get revenge. We all just laughed it off then. But now we've started hearing things. There are rumors that Makara managed to increase his numbers. The word is that he's planning a raid pretty soon on a small town. He and his men don't play nice. That's why they started to get restless."
"So, you think if they gain more numbers, they'll attack us?"
Kouji shook his head. "They're not that stupid. They know we'd kick their asses if they attacked us at our stronghold. I think they might target some of our smaller teams that we send out."
Genrou nodded. "We'll have to avoid sending them out for now. That last raid will keep us going for a while anyway. But . . ." He stood up, pacing thoughtfully. "I don't like the idea that they know where we are and we're completely blind. I want to send out one team of our best men to gather information on Makara's operation."
Kouji nodded. "You want me to assemble a team?"
"Yeah. I've been a little out of touch with the men. Make sure they're smart. I don't want a hostage situation on my hands."
"You got it."
Genrou sat down, sighing. "I didn't expect trouble to come knocking on my door that fast," he muttered.
Kouji smiled at him crookedly. "Didn't think being leader, even co-leader, would be so hard, did you?"
Genrou shook his head. "You're better at it than me."
Kouji frowned. "Don't say that. The men respect you."
He stood back up, still shaking his head. "They respect the tessen, not me."
"No, moron. They respect you. Trust me."
Genrou ran a hand through his hair, still not convinced.
"Don't be so unsure of yourself. Whatever happened to that cocky, smart-ass Genrou I knew?"
Genrou sighed and stared out the window. "A lot of shit happened, Kouji. I . . . I don't want to go into it."
Kouji also sighed, hoping that someday Genrou would be able to talk about it. "Don't worry about it, okay?"
Genrou nodded, a small smile spreading across his face. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Kouji looked at him closely. "You sure?"
Genrou grinned and punched him in the arm. "Don't get soft on me, Kouji."
~~~
A few weeks passed in relative peace. Genrou appeared to pick up right where he had left off. The other bandits were pleased; together their leaders seemed invincible. Genrou, the former Suzaku Seishi, was back where he belonged.
That's what Genrou let them believe. That's what he tricked himself into believing. Kouji knew better.
Something happened to him, Kouji thought. Something he saw while being a seishi changed him. And he won't talk about it. I don't know if he ever will. He sighed, walking quickly to Genrou's room. There's no time for this now. He arrived at the door and knocked loudly.
"Come in," the voice called from inside.
"We've got a problem," Kouji said, coming and closing the door after himself.
"No shit! You didn't answer yourself when you came in the door!"
"This is serious."
Genrou's smile quickly faded. "What is it?"
"It's Makara." Kouji looked uncomfortable. "He attacked a town. He . . . his men . . . they killed a few people and then . . . burned the place to the ground."
"WHAT?!" Genrou leapt to his feet. "What the hell does he think he's doing?!"
Kouji sighed, shaking his head. "They're not bandits, Genrou. They're murderers."
"Why the fuck would he do that? Unless he plans on moving constantly, he can't burn all his sources of supplies. What is the bastard thinking?!"
"Apparently not much," Kouji said dryly. "Unless he does plan on moving. We just don't have the information."
"The team couldn't pick anything up?"
"Not a thing."
"Damn," Genrou said, sitting back down. "We've gotta stop him. I'm not about to let some fucked up amateur go around killing people and burning all the towns around here!"
"We should wait," Kouji said calmly. "We wait until he strikes again, then try to figure out his next move."
Genrou nodded, though he knew the inactivity would drive him insane.
Kouji sighed again. "It was my fault for letting him go. I --"
Genrou's head snapped up. "Don't say that! It wasn't anyone's fault. You had no idea he'd actually get people to join him."
Kouji shrugged. "Yah, I guess you're right." He only sounded half-hearted.
Genrou opened his mouth to say something, but no words came to him. Something's wrong with him, Genrou thought. Why isn't he like he used to be? He shrugged the thought off. Nothin' I can do about, I guess.
~~~
One week later . . .
A messenger knocked nervously on the leaders' door.
"Come in," Genrou said.
The young boy nearly stumbled over his own feet in his haste to get into the room. "The team heard some information on Makara!" he blurted out.
"Well don't just stand there! Tell us!" Genrou cried.
The boy swallowed, trying to calm down. "We know where a small group of his men are going to hit next."
"Where?" Kouji asked.
The boy told them the name of the town, proud to the be the bearer of good and important news.
Kouji nodded. "You can go." The boy obediently left the room. Kouji looked at Genrou. "You think we should stop them?"
"He said it'll only be a small number. It should only take a few of us to teach 'em a lesson."
Kouji nodded, then looked at his friend carefully. "You okay to do this?"
Genrou looked at him strangely. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Kouji shrugged. "Ya just don't seem like yourself lately, that's all."
"Well you don't either!" Genrou snapped.
Kouji shook his head. "Look, forget it."
"No, if you've got something to say, the just say it! You not want me here or somethin'?!"
"It's nothing like that! You're putting words in my mouth!" He sighed, calming himself. "I'm just worried about you."
"Worry about me when I've got a sword to my throat," Genrou growled, shoving past him.
Kouji was left alone. I didn't even think of that, he thought. He's right; I have changed. I can't talk to him about this until I figure myself out first. He walked to the window and leaned his head against it. Shit, Suzaku, don't let me screw this up. I've gotta talk to him about this. And I can't if he just ends up blowing up at me. Please, Suzaku, let me get through to him.
~~~
Genrou and Kouji waited tensely behind some thick bushes with the other bandits.
"Maybe they're not gonna show," Genrou said.
"Be patient," Kouji told him.
Genrou fidgeted. He and Kouji had fought side by side many times. I thought I'd be thrilled to be back here, Genrou thought. But something's just not right. Much to his irritation, he grew more tense.
The group grew silent as the sound of approaching horses was heard. The bandits waited until just the right moment, then sprang out of their hiding place.
"Shit!" Genrou cried as he saw there were at least twenty men facing them. He engaged three men at once. He looked over at the other bandits. Kouji and six of the others were each battling two men. The other two bandits each faced one foe. He had no time to grab his tessen with three men bearing down on him. There's no way we can win this, he thought. I've gotta get rid of these guys so I can get to my tessen. He stole another quick glance at Kouji. He winced as an enemy sword slashed at his friend's arm. Despite the bright burst of blood, Kouji didn't slow down.
Tasuki felt a cold feeling settle in his stomach. His hands grew slick on his sword. He attacked his enemies viciously, momentarily forcing them back. He had just enough time to grab the tessen.
"REKKA SHINEN!"
Genrou's opponents ran off, all three of them on fire.
Genrou turned to Makara's men. "Rekka shinen!" The new burst of fire caused all of them to back off and begin to scatter.
One seemed particularly angry at being frightened off. He leapt out at Kouji.
Tasuki watched the scene in slow motion. The man charged at Kouji.
Kouji saw him in plenty of time and raised his sword in defense.
Without quite realizing what he was doing, Tasuki gave out a yell and shoved Kouji out of the way, out of danger. He blocked the man's sword with the tessen.
Metal clanged against metal. For a moment, they were locked together in stalemate. Then Tasuki shoved him back, nearly knocking him over.
"Rekka shinen!"
The man ducked out of the way of the flames and ran off to join the others.
"Is everyone okay?" Kouji asked. The exhausted bandits nodded. Two of them knelt beside the fallen man.
"Is he all right?" Genrou asked, leaning over them.
"He'll live, I think," one answered. "But we need to get him back."
Genrou nodded. "Let's go."
~~~
So, what do you think? Does anyone remember this from the Fushigi no Website?
