Author's Note: We would like to take this time to apologize to everyone about the delay. Between things going on in school, Keimei loosing the only copy of the story (K: I didn't mean to!!!!) and many other things, it took a little longer than expected to get this part out. So gomen nasai. Thank you for all your positive support. ^_^
Disclaimer: See Part 1. Don't feel like writing it out again.
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Tasuki's Swimming Lesson
By: Keimei and Suiren-chan
Part 2 - The Fun Begins
Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at the wailing bandit. He was still clinging to Chichiri as if the man were the only thing keeping him alive. The monk felt a sweatdrop roll down the side of his head.
"Umm…Tasuki-kun no da? Could you let go of me please no da?" he asked. The younger man continued to bawl and cling to his friend.
"Tasuki-kun?" the monk asked again. He gently shook the bandit whose face was buried in his chest. (K: *drools* S: Not like that! *whack* K: *pouts*) Tasuki only tightened his grip. Chichiri blushed at their position. Blushing was something he wasn't used to people seeing because of the ever-present mask. The only problem was that it wasn't present at the moment. The rest of the Seishi were still staring at Tasuki, and, as a result, him too.
"Tasuki-kun, please?" Chichiri asked again softly. His only response was sniffling and a barely audible 'I hate water' coming from Tasuki. He began to try to pry Tasuki's fingers from his back, but it was met with no success. Instead Tasuki's fingernails burrowed into his skin (K: *drools more*) and Chichiri blushed again. Chichiri (S: the kawaii little blue-haired monk... K: Shhh! *whacks* S: Gomen.) sighed. He started to wade quite ungainly due to the excess weight on his front, to the bank of the lake. With much difficulty, the monk managed to pry the man off him and in doing so, placed him on the bank. The bandit quickly picked himself up and scooted back from the edge of the water, fear evident in his eyes. He had stopped crying, but everyone continued to stare at him.
"Ne, Tasuki-kun, what's wrong no da?" Chichiri asked kindly. Tasuki mumbled something that no one could understand. "Tasuki-kun, I couldn't hear you no da, could you repeat yourself no da?
"I can't swim," the fire-haired youth replied very quietly. Due to Chichiri's blank expression he assumed he still couldn't hear him. "All right, I can't f*ckin' swim!!" he yelled. That was it. Tamahome, who had been trying not to laugh through the entire fiasco, burst into laughter. Miaka tried to shush him, but had to resort to dunking him. The others just stared. (S: as if they didn't know) Chiriko, however, smiled and said, "That's okay Tasuki-san, we'll teach you how to swim, ne Chichiri?"
Chichiri was slightly taken aback, but quickly pulled himself together. "H-Hai, Chiriko-kun," he agreed. "We'll teach Tasuki how to swim no da."
"Okay, Tasuki no da. A little further…keep going…one more step…nope, too small no da…another…NO! Tasuki no daaa!" shouted an over-frustrated Chichiri. Just trying to get Tasuki close to the water again was difficult. He was so close – until the bandit ran the opposite direction without so much as getting a toe wet.
"Hona, Chiriko na no da!" Chichiri called over to the boy frolicking in the water, "Onegai, help me out no da!"
"But you're doing so well, Chichiri-sama. You don't need me," he smirked as he dove underwater again. Chichiri groaned as he approached Tasuki for what felt like the millionth time. How'd he get stuck being teacher when everyone else was happily floating around?
"Tasuki, I'm about ready to give up no da. I'll give you one more chance." Chichiri warned.
"I wanna swim 'cuz the sun's fryin' the hell outa me, but I know I'll just drown if I try!" Tasuki complained.
"Not if I'm here no da," he told him. "Come on, one more time, if not, I'll leave you alone no da."
"But I wanna get cooled off!"
"Then let's go na no da!" the monk finished. Tasuki followed him down to the water's edge and watched as a tuckered Chichiri plopped down in the shallow waves, and motioned for the redhead to do the same. Tasuki shook his head violently.
"You aren't going to float away or anything no da. Just sit down." Tasuki reluctantly did as he was told. "There we go, now we're progressing na no da. Good job." Tasuki looked pretty uncomfortable sitting amidst the blue.
"Okay, now walk out to where I am no da. Look, I can sit down and it comes up to my chin. You can stand up and you'll only be up to your knees no da. You can't drown na no da."
"Yes I could," Tasuki spat back after a while of being silent.
"It's not possible no da."
"Grrr…" Tasuki gurgled in a low voice in the back of his throat. The heat was making him even more irritable. However, he tried to do his best for Chichiri without biting his head off, so he slowly ventured his way deeper into the water.
"Right no da. Now sit."
"Don't order me around," Tasuki said through gritting his teeth. He was losing his cool, and Chichiri wished he could just dunk him underwater to douse his temper and keep it from rising, but he knew he couldn't make Tasuki do anything he didn't want to. His mind wandered to thanking Suzaku that Tasuki had left the tessen on the palace grounds when they went off with Chiriko. 'I hope no one steals it no da' he thought to himself, 'I left my kesa and mask outside too no da.' (S: Yes, of course he thinks in "no da's"! K: laughs) However, to the monk's relief, Tasuki did end up sitting next to him eventually.
"Ya happy?" the bandit muttered.
"Yup! Very, na no da! Now I can really teach you how to swim!" Tasuki's irritated scowl turned into a twisted look of terror (S: How can anyone be this scared of water? K: *blank face* I dunno. Water is fun. S: I hope he never sees an ocean – for his sake.) while Chichiri had a look of pure happiness on his scarred face.
"The water's really shallow no da, just try to float on your back, and that's what you do if you feel like you're in trouble and you can't touch the bottom no da," Chichiri explained.
"Ummm…like this?" Tasuki asked as he pushed himself up off the sandy bottom on his hands.
"Hai, now let your arms float too, no da."
"NANI? How? You're tryin' ta drown me!!"
"No I'm not! I'll show you no da!" The monk floated for a few moments while Tasuki noticed that he was calm enough that he appeared to be sleeping.
"Now, you try it no da. It really relaxes you." Tasuki tried to look as calm as his friend did, but it just wasn't in his nature to stay still. 'This is crazy, maybe I should give up since I must be wasting 'Chiri's time,' the bandit thought to himself. He continued to put himself down until he felt Chichiri holding him up to the surface with his hands on his back. Chichiri couldn't help thinking that it was a good thing Tasuki's eyes were closed so he wouldn't see him blushing.
"Haha! You did it Tasuki no da!" Chichiri exclaimed when Tasuki stayed afloat by himself. All of a sudden, a beach ball came out of nowhere and landed on Tasuki's head, instantly sinking him.
"What the hell was that?!" the bandit coughed and sputtered, "Who threw that?!"
"That would be me," Tamahome noted, trying to look innocent as he came over to claim the beach ball. (K: Beach ball? Where'd they get that? S: Beats me, must have a Konan Rent-a-Blow-Up-Thing store. K: Yeah, sure.) He was grinning evilly just the same. "I just didn't see you there, fang boy," Tamahome commented.
"Nani?! Fang-boy again, huh?! OBAKE-CHAN, you're gonna get it!
"Oh yeah? Come and get me!" Tamahome dared. Chichiri crossed his arms over his chest and smirked when he saw Tamahome's plan. He was easily getting Tasuki to go farther and deeper into the lake with no effort at all. Too bad Chichiri couldn't start that to begin with, but then, his relationship with Tasuki wasn't like his with Tamahome. The two brawling boys could always find a reason to pick on each other. After a few minutes of chasing the other seishi without a tessen, Tasuki make an important observational discovery.
"Oi! I can't…*struggle*…touch the bottom…*stands on tiptoe*…anymore!" Tasuki yelled. Tamahome swam a few feet away from him holding up two fingers up to form a victory sign. His grin took up his entire face. Chichiri cluelessly waded to the both of them. (K: Perfect timing…)
"Ready to have your first lesson Tasu – " the monk-mage was cut off as Tasuki tried to use him as a float…again. "DAAA! NO! (S: Hey, it's backwards!) Off Tasuki-chan! No daa!!" Chichiri pushed Tasuki off him and he fell back in the water with a splash. "Ok," Chichiri sighed, "Now float like you did before no da," he told the seventeen-year-old, trying to make himself not help the frantic bandit. Eventually, Tasuki proved he had the potential to learn something as he floated peacefully. It even surprised Tamahome.
"Awwww…Chichiri, you took away my fun," Tamahome complained with a slight smile.
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K: Well, that's it for now. I refuse to make anymore promises about when the next part is coming out. Right now, this is gonna have to move over to make room for our English project, which, if it turns out right, you will see sometime within the next week or so. (NOT PROMISING ANYTHING!!!!!!) All I can tell you is that it involves two teenage girls, some seishi, and idioms. *shivers*
S: Now go and review and tell us we're not wasting our precious time on this. Go. Thanks!!!
K&S: Ja ne na no da!! *waves*
^_^