Running Away

Chapter 10

Kouji was walking across the bandit compound, refreshed after last night's partying. It felt great to have Genrou back. Not only because he was the leader but because… Kouji had a bit of an attraction towards the fiery-haired man.

Kouji grinned to himself. He'd been wanting to tell Genrou about it for some time, but he could never get the courage up enough to tell him. He figured that it would come out sometime, and he didn't try to push it too much when Genrou was around.

He was about to enter the mess hall when he heard a rustle in the bushes. A small voice could be heard coming out of the trees.

"Hmm…?" He walked closer, inspecting the bushes, and then walked through them into the forest that surrounded the compound.

He followed the voice, going a little deeper into the forest as he went. Finally, he came in sight of the source fo the noise.

"Se.. Seripa!!" He ran forward to the bound boy, gazing in wonder. Hadn't he just seen Seripa a few minutes ago? How did… when did…

Questions raced through his head and at first he didn't know what to do. A hard kick from Seripa brought him back from his thoughts.

"Yeouch! What the hell wazzat for?" He bent down, taking his sore knee in his hands.

Seripa let out something that Kouji couldn't make out from the cloth that was tied aroudn his mouth. He stood up and reached behind Seripa's head, untying the cloth.

Seripa gulped for fresh air, thankfully free from the tortures of the dirty rag. "Geez! Took you guys long enough to find me. I figured you'd have all kinds of people lookin' for me!"

Kouji stood, puzzled. "But… but… you were just fine a few minutes ago. You were talkin' with Genrou and I back in the bunkhouses."

Seripa's eyes opened wide. "It's him then! The one that tied me up! He looked exactly like me!!"

Now Kouji was even more confused. "So now there's two of ya'?" He scratched his head, looking down at the younger boy.

"You see, I was just walkin' along, mindin' my own business, when suddenly I'm attacked by… I swear it, it's like my exact look-alike or somethin'. He tied me up here."

"How long ago was that?"

"Well how the hell am I supposed ta' know? I'm the one who's been tied to the tree!!" Seripa started kicking out his legs. "Untie me, will ya'?"

Kouji nodded and went around to the back of the tree, untying Seripa.

* * * *

The pile of money next to Chichiri was growing quite large. The four men facing him were sweating, unnerved to be beaten by this young boy.

"Geez Seripa! You're becomin' quite the gambler, aren't ya'?"

Chichiri laughed, facing Tasuki. "I dunno', this really is my first time betting any kind of money."

He set down his last three cards on the table in triumph, staring the other four players eye-to-eye. "Rummy!!"

There was a loud groan as Chichiri happily scooted the pile of money in his direction. Tasuki patted Chichiri on the back, hard.

"Oi…"

"I'm not gonna' play anymore if I always lose." One of the men got up from the table and walked over to his bunk on the other side of the room.

Tauski looked after the man with an angry look on his face. "Aw… who cares. Who needs a spoilsport? Now let's make some more moolah!"

Tasuki happily rubbed his hands together, staring down at the deck of cards in the middle of the table. He wasn't playing of course, but that didn't mean that he and Seripa couldn't split the winnings. He was the boss after all.

Chichiri picked up the cards, preparing to shuffle and deal them once again. All of a sudden, the door to the bunkhouse opened with a slam.

Kouji entered the room, followed by a group of other men. He walked forward and picked up Chichiri by the collar of his shirt, lifting the smaller boy right out of his seat.

Tasuki stood straight up. "Kouji! What the fuck are ya' doin'?!" He rushed forward, grabbing Chichiri out of Kouji's grip and holding him protectively against his chest.

Chichiri felt a strong blush spread across his face. He felt Tasuki's arms around him, felt the cloth of his jacket, could hear his heartbeat…

"Give 'im back, Genrou. You don't know who the hell he is!"

"And why wouldn't I know one of my own guys, huh? 'Course I know who he is!!" Tasuki held Chichiri tighter against his body as Kouji jerked forward once again.

"So… you know who he is, huh? Well then, who am I?!"

Tasuki looked up at the new voice that thundered above the other commotion. He watched as another figure entered the room behind Kouji.

"Wha-… what the hell!?!" It was Seripa, standing there, hands across his chest.

Tasuki looked from this new Seripa to the one he held in his arms and back again, his brain in a whirl. "What in God's name…?"

The new Seripa charged forward, pointing a finger accusingly at Chichiri. "This one's a fraud! He attacked me from behind and tied me up to one of the trees out back. Hmph... how low can ya' get, playin' as someone else like that?"

Tasuki knelt down to Chichiri's height and looked into his face, trying to find the answer to this new problem that was set in front of him.

"What's the point in tryin' ta' figure out why, come on, let's kill 'im!"

The real Seripa charged forward, taking his sword from his belt. Using all of the expertise he could muster from his many practice sessions, he sliced the sword across Chichiri's arm.

The force of the blow sent Chichiri sprawling across the room. Blood now ran freely from the wound in his arm. He lay there at an odd angle, trying to get up.

He could see everyone watching him, ready to attack. He could sense that the spell wasn't going to last much longer…

Tasuki stepped in front of Chichiri. "Come on, guys. Let's find out what this is all about, first. I mean, we don't know what he wants!"

"Who cares! How dare he prance around pretending to be me!" Seripa tried to go at Chichiri again, but Tasuki stuck his hand out, stopping him.

"Seripa… think about it. Why don't we just let him talk." Tasuki tried to calm down the enraged boy.

Seripa's eyes opened wide as he looked down at the fake Seripa. He… changed! Now, instead of looking like him, his hair had turned blue, and he was wearing a long blue cloth around his shoulders.

Seripa pointed to this new person who sat on the floor of the bunkhouse, stammering. "He… he changed!!"

Tasuki and everyone else quickly turned to see what it was, but there wasn't anything there. Where the other Seripa had been there now was nothing.

Tasuki ran over to the spot, looking around. He ran his hands over the rough wood, looking for any signs of where the other Seripa might have gone. He finally sighed, shaking his head.

"He must have teleported…"

He slowly stood up, his eyes not leaving the spot. He heard the sounds of the other men talking, leaving the room. He heard Seripa and Kouji come up next to him.

"What's up, Gen-chan?" Kouji looked at his comrade worridly. "He was just a fake, I mean, if he got away, so what! At least now he'll know never to come back here again." He tried to sound happy, tried to lighten up the other man, but it didn't seem to work.

"You should be happy now!" Seripa said, gently touching the sleeve of Tasuki's jacket.

"It's… it's nothing. I'm just, you know…" Tasuki looked up, trying to smile at the other two bandits. "Why don't we go eat something?"

"…Sure, sounds good to me. Let's head over to the mess hall." Kouji started to turn for the door. "You comin', Gen-chan?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute, kay? I'll be right there." He gestured that the other two should leave, and soon he was all alone in the empty bunkhouse.

He turned back to the spot where the other Seripa had been, taking in all of the features. He brought his arms arms up, gently touching the sides of his hands and arms… I touched him. I held him… right here… He wrapped his arms around himself, wanting to feel it again, wanting to feel the warmth from the other body that had just a second ago been held in his own arms.

"Chi…Chichiri…"