Running Away

Chapter 9

Chichiri stopped short where he was standing, dreading the sound of the voice that came from behind him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up straight.

He turned slowly around, coming face to face with the other man. "M…me?"

"Yeah you, dumb-ass. Who else'd I be talkin' to?" He was a large man, his arms built up with muscles. He wore a slick-black tunic that he left open in the front, only coming together at the red belt that barely went around his waist.

He had a couple of friends with him too, though neither quite as fearsome as the leader.

"I…I didn't do anything." Chichiri tried to look as innocent as he could, hoping that his nervousness didn't show.

"What are you talkin' about?! You stepped right in front of me an' my bros in line, ain't that right?"

His two followers nodded, sending a smirking glance towards Chichiri.

"And you know what happens to little smart-ass pricks that think they own the world, dontcha'?"

Chichiri's eyes opened wide as the leader rose his fist up in the air, preparing to pummel it down on Chichiri's thin frame. He brought his hands up to cover his head, shrinking back away from the blow.

He closed his eyes, bracing himself.

He heard the sound of fist smacking hand, and weakly raised his head to see what had happened.

"What's goin' on here, boys? Do we got a problem?"

"B..boss! No, course not. There ain't no problem!" The man and his two followers cowered slightly in Tasuki's prescence as Tasuki pushed the man's hand back.

"Hey, ain't this supposed ta' be a place where everybody's a family? Don't we respect everyone?"

"Y..yeah… I guess…." The man hung his head.

"Well I guess you'll just have to head on outside until you can learn how ta' treat another person, kay?"

"But… boss! We don't get no food-?"

Tasuki merely pointed towards the door to the building, and Chichiri watched as the three men begrudgedly shuffled out, making no more complaints.

Tasuki let out a sigh of relief as the men left, and then turned his attention to Chichiri.

"Hey, Ser-chan! Was wonderin' where ya'd been!" He kneeled down in front of Chichiri, now eye-level. "How's my favorite little thief?"

Chichiri seemed almost paralyzed by Tasuki's gaze. He felt a blush spread across his face, and the only thing he could get out of his mouth was a stammer or two.

Tasuki looked at the younger boy worridly. "You kay, Ser-chan?" He reached forward, laying the back of his hand of Chichiri's forehead.

Of course, this only worsened Chichiri's blushing fit, and he felt his legs go out from under him. He went down on the floor hard, and he felt a strong ache spread through his backside.

Tasuki jerked forward at Chichiri's fall. "Geez, what's wrong?" He slid his hands under Chichiri's body, picking the smaller boy up. But… maybe he got just a little to close to Chichiri's more… sensitive parts than he meant to.

"DAAAA!!!" Chichiri jumped out of Tasuki's arms, standing back in an upright position.

Tasuki looked at Chichiri with a very strange look on his face. "… da?"

Chichiri realized his mistake with a start. "DAAEEEeddd! He's dead! My pet cricket!!" He tried putting the saddest look on his face that he could. That's it… that's it… act natural…

Tasuki sweat-dropped, bringing his hand up behind his head. "Your pet… cricket?"

"His name was…" Chichiri panicked for a moment. "Jumpy!" He cringed, realizing how extremely stupid the name sounded.

"Okaaay!!! Well then… why don't we get somethin' ta' eat, kay?"

Chichiri nodded, walking back over to where Tasuki stood, fully taking in the opportunity to be close to the bandit. Who cares if he doesn't know it's me. It feels good just being close to him again.

As Tasuki and Chichiri walked up to the line, all the other bandits moved out of the way, allowing Tasuki to get to the front of the line right away. Chichiri was wondering for a second if he should follow or not, but quickly surged ahead as Tasuki grabbed hold of his hand.

"Comin' through, comin' through." Tasuki called out happily, until they finally reached the front of the line.

Chichiri picked up a tray and greedily piled on loads of the food, realizing once again that he was starving. That moment of shock a couple of minutes ago had taken his mind off food, but now that it was over the usual growl sounded in his stomach.

When his tray was full, he followed Tasuki to the table that he was sharing with Kouji. With his feet, he pulled the chair away from the table and sat down in it, pushing it up as close to Tasuki as he could without making it look like he was trying to get close.

"Hey, Seripa." Kouji gave him a slight wave as he commenced eating his helpings of food. Boy, it tasted good. Better than the palace food, at least…

"So, what do ya' plan on doin' now that your back, eh Gen-chan?"

"Well… I'm not sure." Tasuki said, leaning back in his chair. He looked around the room, studying the faces of his fellow bandits. "Guess I'll just do whatever it is that needs ta' be done."

"We've been anxious for a good raid for a while now, I guess now one supplies the excitement on raids like you do!" Tasuki sweat-dropped as Kouji let out a small laugh.

Tasuki looked over at Chichiri who was now fully engrossed in his food. "You gonna' want ta' go with us, Ser-chan?"

"Hmmm…?" Chichiri looked up, realizing now that Tasuki had addressed him. "Oh… I don't know. I'll probably sit this one out."

Now this brought a strange expression to Tasuki's face. "But… I thought you were always beggin' me ta' let you go on the raids."

Chichiri's eyes opened wide in surprise. Damn… I've got to be more careful. I don't know anything about "Seripa's" personality… so…

"I just… ah… you know… I'm still a little depressed over Jumpy, you know?"

Tasuki balanced his elbows on the table, looking hard at Chichiri. Finally, he answered. "Okay, whatever. You just tell me when you want ta' get started again, kay?"

Chichiri nodded vigorously, wanting to look more like the hyper little boy he was portraying.

Suddenly, it seemed that a bunch of men had surrounded their table. Chichiri looked up, looking at the staring faces. Tasuki stood up, a big smile on his face.

"Come on, it's time for a party, eh? Now we're all back tagethe'!"

There was a cheer from among the group of men, and glasses could be heard clinking together.

"Bring on the saké!"

"Let's go everyone!"

"We need music!"

Everybody was doing something, from pouring drinks to forming their own make-shift band. Erherm… not that it really sounded like a band, but anyway, that's beside the point.

"Eh, Ser-chan. Why dontcha' have a little booze, eh?" Tasuki handed Chichiri a large mug full of some weird beverage that Chichiri didn't quite recognize. He shrugged, though, accepting that "Seripa" would probably have drunken it.

It tasted horrible, that was all he could say. He felt like he was going to faint, with the heat rising steadily in the room and his head spinning with this new wave of adrenaline. He smiled happily, though, gulping down the rest of the drink.

"That's the spirit!" Tasuki patted him hard on the back before taking a swig from his own bottle of spirits. "We'll party all night!"

There were heated arguments, swirling lights, everybody dancing… talking… drinking… Chichiri had never been to anything like this, but he realized that it was actually fun.

He walked over to where Tasuki was surorunded by a bunch of guys who were all asking him questions about things he'd been doing.

"So boss, why'dya finally decided to come back?"

"Well, I figured that Kouji over here'd probably had enough a' bein' leader, 'sides, I never know what kind o' trouble you guys are getting' in."

"Aw boss, you don't give us enough credit."

Everybody laughed. A bottle of more booze was passed around and everybody greedily filled up their cups.

"What were ya' doin' that whole time you were away, boss?"

Tasuki turned towards the person who had asked the question. "… well… I was just, travelin' around, you know. Nothing really interesting…"

"I thought you were travelin' with that one guy?"

"Yeah, another one of those seishi-thingys or somethin'. Haha… bunch a' shit if ya' ask me."

"Quite… it's a good thing the boss finally wisened up and came back. Stupid bastard had no right takin' the boss 'way from us, right?"

Chichiri noticed as Tasuki's head turned towards the ground, his eyes darkened. His hands were gripped tightly on the arms of his chair.

"Hey guys? I think… I think I'm gonna' take a quick time out in my room for a bit, okay?"

None of the guys seemed to mind, so it must not have been a rare occurace. Either that or they all figured the boss needed some "breaking-in".

Tasuki hurried out of the building as fast as he could. Chichiri, worried about the bandit, followed silently behind. After seeing him walk quickly away from the group he'd been talking with, Chichiri wondered what they had been talking about…

Tasuki breathed a sigh of relief as he walked out into the open air. He glanced around, making sure that no one was there, and then knelt down slowly on the ground.

He felt one tear after another slowly travel down his face, and he quickly covered his face in his hands. His shoulders began to rock up and down as he cried harder.

"Chichiri…" His voice was barely above a whisper. "Chichiri… oh Gods I miss you… I'm so… I'm so sorry…"

Chichiri walked slowly out behind Tasuki, being careful not to make a sound. He winced when he foot came in contact with a twig. Though it barely made any noise as it snapped, the noise seemed magnified out in the still air.

Tasuki turned quickly around after hearing the snap. "Seripa…!" He quickly wiped the tears out of his eyes, coming to a stand. He tried to get himself composed, tried to look like nothing had happened.

"Tasuki… are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah… I'm fine. I just… I think I had a little too much to drink is all. I'm gonna', gonna' go to my room now."

Tasuki turned quickly on his heels, walking in the direction of the building he stayed in. Chichiri watched him go, longing to go with him, longing to show Tasuki who he really was, longing to hold Tasuki in his arms and tell him everything would be alright…