*~A Bandit's Most Precious Treasure~*
Chapter 3: Mixed Emotions
The day was bright, sunny and full of surprises, along with Ayomi's training. She proved to be a very persistent student who was always open to learn new things. Hanaki had to admit that she did have some kind of talent. He had never trained a girl before but she was just as good as any guy he had encountered.
By the end of the day, when she was unable to continue any longer, Hanaki escorted Ayomi back to her room where she found a nice meal waiting for her. The man left her there to wash up and fill her belly. "Man, that was much harder than I thought," she said to herself as she cleaned up all the bruises that she had gotten that day. There where quite a few, but nothing serious.
As she sat down, ready to enjoy her meal, she heard footsteps walking towards her door. A few moments later, a hand was turning the knob. At first, she thought that someone was going to attack her again and was preparing to scream for help. But when the door opened, a sudden redheaded bandit appeared in its frame.
"Tasuki! You scared the hell out of me. You could have at least knocked." She held a hand over chest as if she had had a heart attack.
"What for? This is my room in case you've forgotten." The bandit grinned as he saw her. He had actually missed all her pointless chatter during the course of the day and was quite happy seeing her sound and safe.
Ayomi had to admit that he did make a point. "Oh never mind. Come and eat with me, I was just going to start." She gestured to the seat in front of her as if she was the host.
Tasuki chuckled and sat down while laying his tessen on the table. "So, who's pouring?" he asked jokingly.
Ayomi gave him an evil stare and picked up her chopsticks. "You are, and for yourself to. I'm never drinking with you again. Way to dangerous. . . " With that, she began piling food on her plate.
"Hey, last night was not my fault. I tried to warn ya but did you listen?" The bandit got up and went to take the sake out of a cupboard.
Ayomi frowned; she seriously didn't want to get into that conversation of fear that he would probably win because she couldn't remember a thing. Instead, she decided to ask fang-boy how his investigation went.
"Not to good," he answered with a frown, "the rumors seem to be true. Some villagers state that they overheard some Kaou bandits talkin' 'bout the raid. Looks like they have quite and army prepared. But at least we'll be prepared for when they come. I've informed Master Hanaki to prepare the men for battle. Those bastards seemed to be more organized this time. Wonder who's their leader now."
"I wouldn't worry to much. I mean c'mon, we got Tasuki-chan with us." She nudged him playfully with her elbow. "How could we possibly lose when we've got a Suzaku Seishi that can run really fast and that can make fire?"
"Stop, kidding around, this 's a serious matter," he said honestly.
"Oh but I'm not." Her face became grave as if to prove that she was being serious. "I mean you can just flame them all ne?" She gave him a big playful hug while saying: "Wai! Tasuki-kun is soooo cool!"
The bandit's eyebrows almost disappeared under his hair after Ayomi's teasing declaration. He couldn't make out if she was actually being serious or if that it was just a big joke. "Cut that off! It's getting' annoyin'," he said in exasperation. "Now I know that you can't really help it but this is serious business. People can get killed so stop kiddin' around!"
"Oh but I'm not. I really meant what I said bakemono* fang-boy!" She said with wounded eyes. Did she acted that childish?
A/N: Bakemono means monster.
"Hey what was that suppose ta mean? You think I look like a monster," he asked the girl. He was glad that she really thought him capable in defeating a whole army of soldiers.
Ayomi let go of him and took a moment to look at Tasuki's features. She thought that he was quite attractive with his red hair and amber eyes. His chin line was very smooth along with the contours of his face. He would have looked very serious if it wasn't for his fanged canines, they were so adorable. . . but of course Ayomi wasn't going to tell him all that. Instead, she said in as teasing voice: "Nah, monster's the wrong word to describe you. . . werewolf would be more appropriate." She picked up two chopsticks and put them to her canines, imitating his fangs.
Tasuki was about to hit her gently on the head with his tessen. But stopped before he picked up his fire-throwing fan. Instead, he had this irresistible temptation to tickle her. So, he held her with one hand so that she wouldn't fall of the bench and with the other one he began to graze her tummy.
Ayomi was completely caught off guard and couldn't do anything to stop him. She laughed until her stomach ached and that she fell off her bench. She tried to grab his writs but failed in the attempt. He was so fast and strong that even if she succeeded in catching him, she wouldn't be able to hold on. So, she laughed until she could take no more and couldn't breathe. "Okok, uncle, uncle, I give," she pleaded.
The bandit stopped tickling her as soon as she had said those words. If she had held on much longer, he thought that she might have suffocated.
The girl lay on the floor out of breath. It took her quite some time before she began to breathe normally again. "Eating with you is dangerous. . . "she managed to say.
Tasuki helped her sit up and smile one of his loop-side smiles. "I forgot, how did your training go?" he said trying to change the subject out of fear that she would probably want to get her revenge. "I noticed a few bruises, did the old man treat ya right?" He sounded as if he was really concerned about her.
"Oh it went fine. Hanaki said that I made a great improvement. I might just kick your ass one day Tasuki-chan" she smiled evilly. "And as for the bruises." she lifted out her shirt a little to check on the painful one near she stomach. It had turned purple now.
He had noticed that one too while he was tickling her. He also noticed her fair skin and the fine lines of her body. . .
"Hey Tasuki, could you pass me some clothes? Because mine are kind of dirty and I need something to wear while I wash them out." She pointed to her baby blue shirt witch had been soiled during her practice.
Tasuki immediately went to his drawer where he pulled out the smallest black shirt and shorts that he could find. He tossed them to Ayomi while asking her if she would like to take a bath too.
The girl was delighted with the prospect of finally being clean again and accepted with pleasure.
Tasuki had someone bring in a wooden tub and fill it up with warm water. When all that was done he left Ayomi in the room and told her to take her time.
As soon as he was gone, the girl locked the door, took her clothes off and dipped herself eagerly into the hot water. 'Ah heaven. . . '
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When Ayomi had finished cleansing, she put on the clothes that Tasuki had passed her and examined herself in the mirror.
'Hmm. . . theses are a little too big for me but, at least they're comfortable.' She called someone in to help her take out the water tub and asked if they could tell Tasuki-san that she had finished and that he could come back now.
The tub was taken out quickly and Ayomi sat on the bed that some one had made for her and waited for Tasuki to come back. She wanted to say good night to the bandit before she went to visit dream world.
As she waited, Ayomi began to think about the people back home. She had been gone for what? Two almost three days know. 'Boy, mom must have organized a search party for me by know.' But of course she had actually only disappeared for about five minutes since time moved diffenrently in both worlds. Unfortunately, Ayomi didn't know that and continued to wonder about how worried her parents must be right know. 'I'm gonna have to find a way to go back soon. . . ' She sighed at the thought of having to leave this place. . . having to leave a certain red head. . .
When Tasuki entered the room, he discovered a girl dressed in clothes way to big for her size looking deep in thought. 'She looks kinda cute.' Not wanting to disturb her, he quietly walked over to his bed where he began to get ready for sleep.
But before he could slip under the covers, Ayomi came out of her deliberation and noticed the presence of Gen-chan. "Oh, sorry I didn't see you come in. I was busy thinking about how every one in my world must be worried about me right now."
"Yeah, I guess. As soon as I find Chichiri, I ask him ta brin' ya ta Taiitsukun so that she can send you. . . " He couldn't finish his sentence for some reason. He couldn't bring himself to say:" . . . back home." He didn't want her to leave. . . but he couldn't fall in love with her. He remembered clearly what had happened every time he cared for a woman: disaster. Reirei died and he almost raped Miaka. He couldn't let anything happen to her.
'What am I thinkin'? I don't have feelings for her. I should be happy that she's going back to her world. I. . . ' Tasuki repeat those words in his head to convince himself that he didn't care. But his heart was not convinced; it thumped furiously as if to protest against his thoughts. . .
'He wants me to go back, I should be grateful that I can finally return come. But then.why does my heart ache so much?' Ayomi glanced up at the man in front of her; she could feel her heart beat faster with every second. 'Do. . . do I have feelings for him?' She bit her lip trying to find the answer, even though deep inside, she knew that she had come to care for the rough bandit. . .
There was this awkward silence. Ayomi couldn't stand it any longer. She had to do something. "Good night Tasuki," she said quite hastily and turned her back to him.
She could immediately feel the blood rush up to her face. 'Get a hold of yourself. You're acting like a complete child in adolescence Ayomi! It's only a simple infatuation. . . it'll. . . it'll pass,' she said to herself in a determined voice. But deep down, Ayomi knew perfectly well that it wasn't true. . .
" 'Night Ayomi. . . " answered Genrou, glad that she had turned her back to him so that she couldn't see him blush.
Tasuki blew out the candle and crawled into bed. . . determined that he would find a way not to fall in love with her during the night. But it was to late. . .
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When Ayomi woke up the next day, she found herself in a deserted room. Once again, Tasuki had woken up early than her and had gone god knows where. But to her satisfaction, a hot meal had been placed on the table for her.
She quickly got dressed and ate the food so that she could go find Tasuki. Ayomi spent the whole morning in search for the bandit. And surprisingly enough, no one knew where he was. She also noticed that all the men were acting extremely polite towards her. Must be Tasuki's doing she thought.
Witch was true since early that day, the bandit had threatened to flame them all, no exception, if they dared lay a finger on the girl. And knowing that their leader was true to his word, they decided to not go against his orders.
When lunchtime came, Ayomi was tired of looking for him (she was hungry too). So, she decided to grab something to eat and continue her search later. On her way to the kitchens, she bumped into Hanaki. 'He probably knows where fang-boy is,' she thought. She asked the old man, but no success, all she got from his was that Tasuki-sama was busy.
The old man proposed to continue her martial arts training in the meantime. Ayomi accepted cheerfully since she decided to stop looking for Genrou. She needed the training and was convinced that he would show up by suppertime.
But When Ayomi had said "thank you" to her master and left for the evening meal, certain that Tasuki was waiting for her in his room, she found food waiting for her but no sign of the red head.
Ayomi was quite pissed and even came up with a speech for him when he would finally decide to show up. In the meantime, she decided to not to wait for him and dug into the food.
After her dinner, Ayomi sat on her bed and waited. One hour passed, she got up and walked around the room. Two hours later, she sat down on her bed again, quite dizzy from all the walking. Three hours after, the girl was sound asleep on her bed, exhausted from all the waiting. . .
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When Tasuki came back, a little past midnight, he made sure that Ayomi was fast asleep before entering the room. He didn't want her to see him when he had been trying to avoid her all day long.
Where had he been? In a place where no one except Kouji and him knew about. It was a little shack hidden in the woods. Practically impossible to find.
Last night, after much thought, he concluded that the best way not to fall in love with Ayomi was if he couldn't see her. So, he decided to avoid her until the feeling growing inside of him died down.
After being positive that the coast was clear, he silently slipped into the room. The candle was still burning, but only dimly. He could make out Ayomi's body lying on the bed. His legs automatically walked towards her.
Ayomi was silently sleeping with a hand over her heart and the other one placed above her head. The bandit stopped to gazed at her for a moment. She looked so peaceful. Tasuki carefully pulled a blanket over her and made sure that she was nice and warm before whispering 'goodnight' and softly kissing on her forehead.
He quietly walked over to his bed, while his conscience was yelling at him that he shouldn't have done that. He knew perfectly well that his hiding efforts were in vain, after what he had done. 'What's the point of avoiding her all day if I'm just gonna stare at her when she's sleeping. I feel like a voyeur. . . ' He decided that he had to be more severe with himself from now on. . .
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When Ayomi woke up the next morning, the first thing she did was look for any signs of Tasuki. She saw that his bed has been used, so she knew that he came back last night. But as for the person in question, he was nowhere to be seen.
'Damn that bandit. What in the world is he up to? I bet his avoiding me. . . ggggrrrr.' She was quite angry.
Ayomi quickly got out of bed and noticed there was food waiting for her like yesterday. 'Oh no, this feels like déjà vu. . . But this time, I refuse to spend the day looking for you, bandit-boy.' She got dressed and ate her breakfast.
While she was munching down the food, an idea came to her. 'If Tasuki can get up early than why can't I?' She improved the plan in her head. All she had to do was wake up earlier than fang-boy. 'Easy enough. Now too can play your game Tasuki-chan,' she thought.
The day passed without much excitement. In the morning, Ayomi visited the grounds. It was much bigger than she thought. There was even a little river at the far left.
When she had eaten lunch, she went to find Hanaki to help her improve her martial arts skills. She was making rapid progress and bruised herself less and less.
When the moon had risen high in the sky, Ayomi was already asleep. She had decided to snooze earlier so that it would her easier to get up the next morning. . .
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Before the sun had begun to even rise, Ayomi woke up with a small jump. She looked around her and remembered why she had woken up so early. . . Tasuki. . . She glanced on the other side of the room. She had succeeded. It was so early that the bandit was still gently snoring in his bed.
The girl got up and walked to the edge of his bed. 'I got you Tasuki-kun!' she whispered. She was about to wake him up but had a difficult time trying to keep her eyes open. They wouldn't obey her. They kept on closing on their own. . . She was so tired.
The next thing she knew, was lying beside the bandit and fell asleep.
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When Tasuki woke up the next morning, he yelled in surprised as he found a snoozing Ayomi beside him. 'Damn, she's trying ta up smart me eh?' As he was about to get up and run off for the day again, Ayomi suddenly turned around to face him. The noise had awoken her and she was now wide-awake looking at him intensively with her light-blue eyes.
"Why are you avoiding Tasuki-chan?" she asked still staring at him. For some reason, she wasn't really angry with him like she had expected. She was more hurt. . .
The bandit didn't know what to answer. He couldn't possibly tell her that it was because he was in love with her. Instead, he came up with some lame excuse. " I was busy. Thinking about the Kaou matter and all. I'm not avoiding you, I'm just, just. . . " He couldn't come up anything else to say.
"I don't believe you." She said now sitting on the bed.
He could detect the hurt in her voice. He knew that if she would ask him the same question again, he wouldn't be able to lie to her anymore.
Ayomi bit her lip not knowing what to do next. What could she say? If he said that he was busy than she couldn't accuse him of lying. Besides, she trusted him. Her heart began to beat faster. Without thinking, he grabbed him around the neck and pulled him towards her. She lifted she head and kissed him, full on the lips.
Tasuki was so surprised that his eyes went wide and he gasped in shock.
When Ayomi pulled away from him, she suddenly became aware of her actions. "I. . . I. . . " she started. But Tasuki didn't give her the time to finish; he laid her down on the bed and kissed her passionately. Ayomi shrilled in astonishment but responded to him eagerly. All the love and desire that he had been keeping inside came pouring out into that kiss. He could feel her tremble slightly beneath him. Once he had lifted his head again, he stared at her in bewilderment.
Without saying a word, Ayomi curled but against him and closed her eyes. She decided that she would figure out what had just happened when she was fully awake. In the meantime, she would enjoy the moment as much as possible.
A small grin spread across Tasuki's face, he was grateful that Ayomi didn't ask him any questions since he had no clue to what had just happened himself. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. The thinking could wait until later. Right now, all he wanted was to be close to her. . .
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A/N: Yeah I know the story in getting a bit mushy and I completely left out all action. But I'm pretty sure that the next chapter will be more interesting. Remember the Kaou bandits? Well, I didn't forget about them so. . . they'll probably find something to do in the next chapter. . . Mouhahaha (evil laugh). Please write me a review. Thx ~-^
Chapter 3: Mixed Emotions
The day was bright, sunny and full of surprises, along with Ayomi's training. She proved to be a very persistent student who was always open to learn new things. Hanaki had to admit that she did have some kind of talent. He had never trained a girl before but she was just as good as any guy he had encountered.
By the end of the day, when she was unable to continue any longer, Hanaki escorted Ayomi back to her room where she found a nice meal waiting for her. The man left her there to wash up and fill her belly. "Man, that was much harder than I thought," she said to herself as she cleaned up all the bruises that she had gotten that day. There where quite a few, but nothing serious.
As she sat down, ready to enjoy her meal, she heard footsteps walking towards her door. A few moments later, a hand was turning the knob. At first, she thought that someone was going to attack her again and was preparing to scream for help. But when the door opened, a sudden redheaded bandit appeared in its frame.
"Tasuki! You scared the hell out of me. You could have at least knocked." She held a hand over chest as if she had had a heart attack.
"What for? This is my room in case you've forgotten." The bandit grinned as he saw her. He had actually missed all her pointless chatter during the course of the day and was quite happy seeing her sound and safe.
Ayomi had to admit that he did make a point. "Oh never mind. Come and eat with me, I was just going to start." She gestured to the seat in front of her as if she was the host.
Tasuki chuckled and sat down while laying his tessen on the table. "So, who's pouring?" he asked jokingly.
Ayomi gave him an evil stare and picked up her chopsticks. "You are, and for yourself to. I'm never drinking with you again. Way to dangerous. . . " With that, she began piling food on her plate.
"Hey, last night was not my fault. I tried to warn ya but did you listen?" The bandit got up and went to take the sake out of a cupboard.
Ayomi frowned; she seriously didn't want to get into that conversation of fear that he would probably win because she couldn't remember a thing. Instead, she decided to ask fang-boy how his investigation went.
"Not to good," he answered with a frown, "the rumors seem to be true. Some villagers state that they overheard some Kaou bandits talkin' 'bout the raid. Looks like they have quite and army prepared. But at least we'll be prepared for when they come. I've informed Master Hanaki to prepare the men for battle. Those bastards seemed to be more organized this time. Wonder who's their leader now."
"I wouldn't worry to much. I mean c'mon, we got Tasuki-chan with us." She nudged him playfully with her elbow. "How could we possibly lose when we've got a Suzaku Seishi that can run really fast and that can make fire?"
"Stop, kidding around, this 's a serious matter," he said honestly.
"Oh but I'm not." Her face became grave as if to prove that she was being serious. "I mean you can just flame them all ne?" She gave him a big playful hug while saying: "Wai! Tasuki-kun is soooo cool!"
The bandit's eyebrows almost disappeared under his hair after Ayomi's teasing declaration. He couldn't make out if she was actually being serious or if that it was just a big joke. "Cut that off! It's getting' annoyin'," he said in exasperation. "Now I know that you can't really help it but this is serious business. People can get killed so stop kiddin' around!"
"Oh but I'm not. I really meant what I said bakemono* fang-boy!" She said with wounded eyes. Did she acted that childish?
A/N: Bakemono means monster.
"Hey what was that suppose ta mean? You think I look like a monster," he asked the girl. He was glad that she really thought him capable in defeating a whole army of soldiers.
Ayomi let go of him and took a moment to look at Tasuki's features. She thought that he was quite attractive with his red hair and amber eyes. His chin line was very smooth along with the contours of his face. He would have looked very serious if it wasn't for his fanged canines, they were so adorable. . . but of course Ayomi wasn't going to tell him all that. Instead, she said in as teasing voice: "Nah, monster's the wrong word to describe you. . . werewolf would be more appropriate." She picked up two chopsticks and put them to her canines, imitating his fangs.
Tasuki was about to hit her gently on the head with his tessen. But stopped before he picked up his fire-throwing fan. Instead, he had this irresistible temptation to tickle her. So, he held her with one hand so that she wouldn't fall of the bench and with the other one he began to graze her tummy.
Ayomi was completely caught off guard and couldn't do anything to stop him. She laughed until her stomach ached and that she fell off her bench. She tried to grab his writs but failed in the attempt. He was so fast and strong that even if she succeeded in catching him, she wouldn't be able to hold on. So, she laughed until she could take no more and couldn't breathe. "Okok, uncle, uncle, I give," she pleaded.
The bandit stopped tickling her as soon as she had said those words. If she had held on much longer, he thought that she might have suffocated.
The girl lay on the floor out of breath. It took her quite some time before she began to breathe normally again. "Eating with you is dangerous. . . "she managed to say.
Tasuki helped her sit up and smile one of his loop-side smiles. "I forgot, how did your training go?" he said trying to change the subject out of fear that she would probably want to get her revenge. "I noticed a few bruises, did the old man treat ya right?" He sounded as if he was really concerned about her.
"Oh it went fine. Hanaki said that I made a great improvement. I might just kick your ass one day Tasuki-chan" she smiled evilly. "And as for the bruises." she lifted out her shirt a little to check on the painful one near she stomach. It had turned purple now.
He had noticed that one too while he was tickling her. He also noticed her fair skin and the fine lines of her body. . .
"Hey Tasuki, could you pass me some clothes? Because mine are kind of dirty and I need something to wear while I wash them out." She pointed to her baby blue shirt witch had been soiled during her practice.
Tasuki immediately went to his drawer where he pulled out the smallest black shirt and shorts that he could find. He tossed them to Ayomi while asking her if she would like to take a bath too.
The girl was delighted with the prospect of finally being clean again and accepted with pleasure.
Tasuki had someone bring in a wooden tub and fill it up with warm water. When all that was done he left Ayomi in the room and told her to take her time.
As soon as he was gone, the girl locked the door, took her clothes off and dipped herself eagerly into the hot water. 'Ah heaven. . . '
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When Ayomi had finished cleansing, she put on the clothes that Tasuki had passed her and examined herself in the mirror.
'Hmm. . . theses are a little too big for me but, at least they're comfortable.' She called someone in to help her take out the water tub and asked if they could tell Tasuki-san that she had finished and that he could come back now.
The tub was taken out quickly and Ayomi sat on the bed that some one had made for her and waited for Tasuki to come back. She wanted to say good night to the bandit before she went to visit dream world.
As she waited, Ayomi began to think about the people back home. She had been gone for what? Two almost three days know. 'Boy, mom must have organized a search party for me by know.' But of course she had actually only disappeared for about five minutes since time moved diffenrently in both worlds. Unfortunately, Ayomi didn't know that and continued to wonder about how worried her parents must be right know. 'I'm gonna have to find a way to go back soon. . . ' She sighed at the thought of having to leave this place. . . having to leave a certain red head. . .
When Tasuki entered the room, he discovered a girl dressed in clothes way to big for her size looking deep in thought. 'She looks kinda cute.' Not wanting to disturb her, he quietly walked over to his bed where he began to get ready for sleep.
But before he could slip under the covers, Ayomi came out of her deliberation and noticed the presence of Gen-chan. "Oh, sorry I didn't see you come in. I was busy thinking about how every one in my world must be worried about me right now."
"Yeah, I guess. As soon as I find Chichiri, I ask him ta brin' ya ta Taiitsukun so that she can send you. . . " He couldn't finish his sentence for some reason. He couldn't bring himself to say:" . . . back home." He didn't want her to leave. . . but he couldn't fall in love with her. He remembered clearly what had happened every time he cared for a woman: disaster. Reirei died and he almost raped Miaka. He couldn't let anything happen to her.
'What am I thinkin'? I don't have feelings for her. I should be happy that she's going back to her world. I. . . ' Tasuki repeat those words in his head to convince himself that he didn't care. But his heart was not convinced; it thumped furiously as if to protest against his thoughts. . .
'He wants me to go back, I should be grateful that I can finally return come. But then.why does my heart ache so much?' Ayomi glanced up at the man in front of her; she could feel her heart beat faster with every second. 'Do. . . do I have feelings for him?' She bit her lip trying to find the answer, even though deep inside, she knew that she had come to care for the rough bandit. . .
There was this awkward silence. Ayomi couldn't stand it any longer. She had to do something. "Good night Tasuki," she said quite hastily and turned her back to him.
She could immediately feel the blood rush up to her face. 'Get a hold of yourself. You're acting like a complete child in adolescence Ayomi! It's only a simple infatuation. . . it'll. . . it'll pass,' she said to herself in a determined voice. But deep down, Ayomi knew perfectly well that it wasn't true. . .
" 'Night Ayomi. . . " answered Genrou, glad that she had turned her back to him so that she couldn't see him blush.
Tasuki blew out the candle and crawled into bed. . . determined that he would find a way not to fall in love with her during the night. But it was to late. . .
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When Ayomi woke up the next day, she found herself in a deserted room. Once again, Tasuki had woken up early than her and had gone god knows where. But to her satisfaction, a hot meal had been placed on the table for her.
She quickly got dressed and ate the food so that she could go find Tasuki. Ayomi spent the whole morning in search for the bandit. And surprisingly enough, no one knew where he was. She also noticed that all the men were acting extremely polite towards her. Must be Tasuki's doing she thought.
Witch was true since early that day, the bandit had threatened to flame them all, no exception, if they dared lay a finger on the girl. And knowing that their leader was true to his word, they decided to not go against his orders.
When lunchtime came, Ayomi was tired of looking for him (she was hungry too). So, she decided to grab something to eat and continue her search later. On her way to the kitchens, she bumped into Hanaki. 'He probably knows where fang-boy is,' she thought. She asked the old man, but no success, all she got from his was that Tasuki-sama was busy.
The old man proposed to continue her martial arts training in the meantime. Ayomi accepted cheerfully since she decided to stop looking for Genrou. She needed the training and was convinced that he would show up by suppertime.
But When Ayomi had said "thank you" to her master and left for the evening meal, certain that Tasuki was waiting for her in his room, she found food waiting for her but no sign of the red head.
Ayomi was quite pissed and even came up with a speech for him when he would finally decide to show up. In the meantime, she decided to not to wait for him and dug into the food.
After her dinner, Ayomi sat on her bed and waited. One hour passed, she got up and walked around the room. Two hours later, she sat down on her bed again, quite dizzy from all the walking. Three hours after, the girl was sound asleep on her bed, exhausted from all the waiting. . .
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When Tasuki came back, a little past midnight, he made sure that Ayomi was fast asleep before entering the room. He didn't want her to see him when he had been trying to avoid her all day long.
Where had he been? In a place where no one except Kouji and him knew about. It was a little shack hidden in the woods. Practically impossible to find.
Last night, after much thought, he concluded that the best way not to fall in love with Ayomi was if he couldn't see her. So, he decided to avoid her until the feeling growing inside of him died down.
After being positive that the coast was clear, he silently slipped into the room. The candle was still burning, but only dimly. He could make out Ayomi's body lying on the bed. His legs automatically walked towards her.
Ayomi was silently sleeping with a hand over her heart and the other one placed above her head. The bandit stopped to gazed at her for a moment. She looked so peaceful. Tasuki carefully pulled a blanket over her and made sure that she was nice and warm before whispering 'goodnight' and softly kissing on her forehead.
He quietly walked over to his bed, while his conscience was yelling at him that he shouldn't have done that. He knew perfectly well that his hiding efforts were in vain, after what he had done. 'What's the point of avoiding her all day if I'm just gonna stare at her when she's sleeping. I feel like a voyeur. . . ' He decided that he had to be more severe with himself from now on. . .
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When Ayomi woke up the next morning, the first thing she did was look for any signs of Tasuki. She saw that his bed has been used, so she knew that he came back last night. But as for the person in question, he was nowhere to be seen.
'Damn that bandit. What in the world is he up to? I bet his avoiding me. . . ggggrrrr.' She was quite angry.
Ayomi quickly got out of bed and noticed there was food waiting for her like yesterday. 'Oh no, this feels like déjà vu. . . But this time, I refuse to spend the day looking for you, bandit-boy.' She got dressed and ate her breakfast.
While she was munching down the food, an idea came to her. 'If Tasuki can get up early than why can't I?' She improved the plan in her head. All she had to do was wake up earlier than fang-boy. 'Easy enough. Now too can play your game Tasuki-chan,' she thought.
The day passed without much excitement. In the morning, Ayomi visited the grounds. It was much bigger than she thought. There was even a little river at the far left.
When she had eaten lunch, she went to find Hanaki to help her improve her martial arts skills. She was making rapid progress and bruised herself less and less.
When the moon had risen high in the sky, Ayomi was already asleep. She had decided to snooze earlier so that it would her easier to get up the next morning. . .
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Before the sun had begun to even rise, Ayomi woke up with a small jump. She looked around her and remembered why she had woken up so early. . . Tasuki. . . She glanced on the other side of the room. She had succeeded. It was so early that the bandit was still gently snoring in his bed.
The girl got up and walked to the edge of his bed. 'I got you Tasuki-kun!' she whispered. She was about to wake him up but had a difficult time trying to keep her eyes open. They wouldn't obey her. They kept on closing on their own. . . She was so tired.
The next thing she knew, was lying beside the bandit and fell asleep.
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When Tasuki woke up the next morning, he yelled in surprised as he found a snoozing Ayomi beside him. 'Damn, she's trying ta up smart me eh?' As he was about to get up and run off for the day again, Ayomi suddenly turned around to face him. The noise had awoken her and she was now wide-awake looking at him intensively with her light-blue eyes.
"Why are you avoiding Tasuki-chan?" she asked still staring at him. For some reason, she wasn't really angry with him like she had expected. She was more hurt. . .
The bandit didn't know what to answer. He couldn't possibly tell her that it was because he was in love with her. Instead, he came up with some lame excuse. " I was busy. Thinking about the Kaou matter and all. I'm not avoiding you, I'm just, just. . . " He couldn't come up anything else to say.
"I don't believe you." She said now sitting on the bed.
He could detect the hurt in her voice. He knew that if she would ask him the same question again, he wouldn't be able to lie to her anymore.
Ayomi bit her lip not knowing what to do next. What could she say? If he said that he was busy than she couldn't accuse him of lying. Besides, she trusted him. Her heart began to beat faster. Without thinking, he grabbed him around the neck and pulled him towards her. She lifted she head and kissed him, full on the lips.
Tasuki was so surprised that his eyes went wide and he gasped in shock.
When Ayomi pulled away from him, she suddenly became aware of her actions. "I. . . I. . . " she started. But Tasuki didn't give her the time to finish; he laid her down on the bed and kissed her passionately. Ayomi shrilled in astonishment but responded to him eagerly. All the love and desire that he had been keeping inside came pouring out into that kiss. He could feel her tremble slightly beneath him. Once he had lifted his head again, he stared at her in bewilderment.
Without saying a word, Ayomi curled but against him and closed her eyes. She decided that she would figure out what had just happened when she was fully awake. In the meantime, she would enjoy the moment as much as possible.
A small grin spread across Tasuki's face, he was grateful that Ayomi didn't ask him any questions since he had no clue to what had just happened himself. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. The thinking could wait until later. Right now, all he wanted was to be close to her. . .
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A/N: Yeah I know the story in getting a bit mushy and I completely left out all action. But I'm pretty sure that the next chapter will be more interesting. Remember the Kaou bandits? Well, I didn't forget about them so. . . they'll probably find something to do in the next chapter. . . Mouhahaha (evil laugh). Please write me a review. Thx ~-^