In the past few years, Bukichi had taken up
fishing. He travelled around a lot, and it was good to sit down and
rest while waiting for dinner to come to him. Running all the time
was bad for you. You might miss seeing something important if you
ran all the time. Like your friends. No matter how far he ran,
he'd never found his master, even though it sometimes had felt as though
Bukichi was just a step behind Fukki. So now he spent half his time
searching, and half his time fishing. It had the same success rate
as running everywhere, anyway.
Suupuushan had gone back to his village to
spend time with his parents. Bukichi understood his feelings; if
Fukki didn't want to be found, maybe they should leave him alone.
Besides, it was a good excuse for Bukichi to not go to the Sennin-kai as
a doushi if he didn't have Suupuu to take him there. Many of the
sendou who lived in the human world were dead now, or had gone to the Sennin-kai,
and no new sendou had come to take their places of power. Bukichi
guessed that was because Youzen, Nentou, and Chuukei had started a stricter
control of where the sendou travelled and why. It made sense, maybe,
and there hadn't been any trouble with sendou or youkai attacking human
villages as far as he knew, but Bukichi himself had to stay here in the
human world until he found his master. Even if Suupuu was right and
Fukki didn't want to be found... he needed to be found. His master
needed him. Bukichi was sure of it.
Bukichi was good at fishing, good enough that
he could sell some extra fish he caught in town for a living. His
mother had always said "You can do anything if you put your heart into
it." That's how he knew he'd find his master someday. His heart
was into the effort, completely into it, and if half-hearted fishing was
successful, then surely his wish to help his master would succeed.
He just had to be patient, like in fishing. Maybe he could run out
into the water, and grab some fish with his bare hands... but, instead,
he'd wait for the fish to decide to bite.
"You shouldn't hurt the fish," a quiet, familiar
voice whispered into his ear. "They're just fish, after all. They
can't defend themselves."
Bukichi froze, unbelieving. A
gloved hand reached around him to take the pole away, while another arm
wrapped around him to hold him in place. A strange feeling of dread
crept up through Bukichi's stomach. "M-master?"
"Did you miss me? It's been a really
long time, but you still don't look like you've grown any." His head
rested on Bukichi's shoulder, words and breath making Bukichi's ears burn.
Resisting the urge to run away (you miss
important things when you run all the time) Bukichi took a deep breath.
"Where have you been, Master?"
"Everywhere. I'm bored, Bukichi.
Just walking around and eating and sleeping isn't fun anymore."
"D-do you want to fish with me, Master?
It's a little boring too I guess, but..."
"I can't fish, I didn't bring my fishhook
with me."
"You can use one of mine."
"No, I can't." For a moment, Fukki sounded
a bit more like Taikoubou. "Fugen'll be really mad at me if I do,
probably."
"Oh..."
"Say, Bukichi, why aren't you with your mom?
It's almost dark. Don't you spend the night at her house?"
"She died, Master."
".... I'm sorry." Fukki's other arm
wrapped around Bukichi, to hug him a little closer.
"It's... it's okay." Bukichi smiled
a little at the water. "Because of the medicine you gave her, she
felt much better for the last few years. So she wasn't uncomfortable
at all. And now she can keep my dad company. So it's okay."
"But you still look like a kid. You
have a kid's face. You should have someone to take care of you."
"I'm okay. I just wanted to find you
to make sure you were okay. When we thought you were dead... I ...
I was really glad you weren't dead, Master."
"Really? Why?" An alien cynicism
crept into Fukki's voice, hinting at Outenkun.
"Because... because my master fought so hard
and suffered so much all the time... and tried to take care of everybody...
it's not fair." Bukichi pulled away from Fukki's hold and turned
to face him, keeping a grip on one of Fukki's hands in case he decided
to run away again. Fukki's face seemed the same as Taikoubou's at
first glance, but there was something different... he had Taikoubou's bright
eyes, but there was a hint of Outenkun's bags under them, and beyond that
was a tired look that Bukichi knew wasn't there when he'd first met his
master. Still, Bukichi recognized his master inside of Fukki.
He smiled. "I know you're really tired after everything that happened.
You took care of everybody and tried to protect everyone. It's not
fair if you're hurt now. So if it's okay, I'd like to take care of
you until you feel better. Is that okay, Master? I won't be
in your way. I just want to make sure you aren't lonely all the time."
Fukki blinked once. "Bukichi..."
"You don't eat fish, right? I can run
into town and buy some fruit. Do you want a peach? I think
I know someone who sells them!"
"Bukichi... thank you."
This was originally chapter 2 of a larger fic. The fic as a whole was a bust, but I showed a friend this chapter, and she said "post it!" and so... here it is.
I'm a huge Bukichi fan, and I have to admit I like Fukki/Bukichi a lot... and maybe that's where this'll go. For now, though, just friendship-type-stuff. ^_^; Ayup.
Review is absolutely worshipped, and each time you review my fics, you make me grin. Even if it's a bad review! Just think, you can make a stranger feel such happiness! Don't you want to review now? It's good karma!
-- Mearl Dox
http://www.planetcolu.com/predestination/
