*~A Bandit's Most Precious Treasure~*
Chapter 4: Stubborn Mind, Confused Heart
When Ayomi woke up the next morning with black lines under her eyes, the first thing that she noticed was that she was not in her own bed. 'So, it wasn't just a dream,' she thought. But to her disappointment, the person sleeping beside her was nowhere to be seen.again. "Damn that bandit!!! What the hell's going on inside his head? One minute he's all over me and the next it's like as if he doesn't even know who I am!!!" she shouted in fury as she jerk the covers off of her body and stepped out of bed.
Breakfast was waiting for her on the table as usual. But she was so pissed at Genrou that she didn't have the heart to eat. She needed to talk to someone. She needed a friend to understand what she was going through and give her advice. 'Hanaki. . . ' she thought, 'he's not exactly a best friend but he should be able to comprehend.'
She figured that he should be in the dinning room eating right now. 'Ah perfect, I didn't really fell like eating alone anyways.' With that, she hastily tidied herself a bit and went to find him.
When she arrived in the loud eating room, Ayomi almost fainted when she saw none other but Tasuki sitting at a table discussing seriously with the old man. She couldn't move a muscle; she didn't expect him to be there. What was she supposed to say? "Sorry about last night, I kind of got carried away?" or "I think I'm in love with you?" Her fears seemed to be getting bigger by the minute and she was trying to force her legs to turn around and run away.
But fortunately or unfortunately, Tasuki saw her before she could make a move and beamed at her. "Come 'n join us for breakfast Ayomi," he said as he gestured to the seat beside him. "I hope ya haven't eaten yet."
The young girl couldn't refuse such a pleasant invitation, so she sat down and picked up a pair of chopsticks. She was glad that Tasuki hadn't mentioned anything about last night since she quite frankly didn't have the time to figure it out herself.
The bandit continued his conversation with the martial arts master once Ayomi had taken a seat. He had decided not to mention about last night hoping that the girl had somehow, miraculously, forgotten about the whole thing or thought that it was just a dream. He hadn't quite figured out what to say to her just yet. More important things were at hand, like the attack that the Kaou bandits were planning.
"So, you're sayin' that they might probably attack us in the next couple o days," he asked the old man. Leaving his personals problems for later.
"Hai, their base is not that far from ours. So, judging from when the rumours started, they should probably be here right now, in hiding. Waiting for the right time to strike," answered Hanaki in a grave tone.
Tasuki went very serious and deliberated hard on the situation. "Are the men ready?"
The old man game a nod and informed his leader that he had told them all to prepare for an attack. "I have positioned some of the bandits in the woods so that they could be on lookout for any signs from the enemy."
During all this time, Ayomi was quietly eating the food but made sure not to miss a word from the conversation that was going on beside her. The men went on talking about battle tactics for the rest of the meal without any paying attention to her.
Well actually, Tasuki knew perfectly well that she was there and didn't address a word to her on purpose. He wanted to talk to her but considering the present circumstances of their weird 'friendship' he decided against it. It could always wait.
Ayomi, assuming that he two men wouldn't mind if she went out for a walk got up and went outside without saying a word. 'Besides, its not like if they'll even notice that I'm gone.'
The day was magnificent, the sun was shinning without being too intense and the temperature was just perfect. Not too cold, not too cold. As the girl walked around the grounds, she somehow ended up beside little river. The water seemed so inviting, it was blue just like her eyes and when she dipped a hand in it, little fishies swam around it. She wanted to jump in, but decided against the idea since the clothes she was wearing would probably go transparent once in contact with water. 'In a camp full of men, it's better not to expose oneself,' she said to convince herself.
But still, she took of her shoes and dipped her feet into the cool water and began singing. It was one of her hobbies, it helped her clear her mind when she was depressed or confused. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contrarily to what Ayomi thought, the bandit had notice that she had gone out. But he resulted that it was better not to follow her. He needed time to think, he needed time to decide what to do with the upcoming battle and with the bleu-eyed girl that occupied a lot of space in his thoughts. Genrou quickly concluded his discussion with Hanaki and decided to go for a walk, to clear his mind.
The day was magnificent and the atmosphere seemed so clam. He strolled around the base and talked to a lot of the men in attempt to keep a certain raven-haired girl from invading his thoughts.
Practically everything reminded him of her. The smell of her skin, he softness of it, her intensive blue eyes, her smile, she feeling of her lips against his. . . It was driving him crazy. And it pissed him of that he could actually care for a girl so much. "Damn, damn and damn!!! When the hell did I change so much? I'm supposed to hate girls go not completely speechless and numb when I see one!!!" he shouted in frustration as he kicked the ground sending dust everywhere.
He cursed some more but stopped suddenly when someone put a hand on his shoulder. "Knock, knock, knock. Who's there? Genrou best friend. Genrou's best friend who? Genrou best friend that has comes back and finds his friend in a total love crisis. Ah hello, hello pal, welcome back!!!" said a black-haired man in an amusing tone.
Tasuki turned around and was trilled to find Kouji standing there. The two bandits linked arms and danced around in a circle a couple of times. "So Kouji, you're back pretty early, I wasn't expectin' ya so soon," said Genrou once they finished their little ritual.
"What? Your not happy ta see me?" said Kouji with false solicitousness.
"No that's not what I mean," replied Genrou.
"Well to answer your question, I came back early cuz I heard that my buddy was in trouble. And from what I can see, in more ways than one," he snickered loudly. "So, Gen-chan, I see that you're in some deep shit. Kaou bandits want to raid your base and you seem to be having problems with your woman."
"She's not my woman damn it! And I don't have any problems with Ayomi. And as for the Kaou attack, it's perfectly under control," replied Genrou annoyed by his friends comment.
"I believe ya for the Kaou matter but if you're not in love with Ayomi than what were you cursing about earlier?" Kouji teased him while slinging one arm over his shoulder. "So, when's the marriage due?"
Tasuki jerked away from his friend. He was furious and was jumping up and down. "For the last fuckin' time, I'm not in love with. . . " he abruptly stopped. Ayomi. . . A sudden image of her formed instantly in his mind. "Kuso!" he was furious with himself. 'Get a hold of yourself Genrou! Your acting like a complete idiot!' he shouted to the part of himself that was in total control over his emotions. . . his heart. He took a deep breath and gathered up all this cool to tell his friend, "I'm don't have feelings for Ayomi."
Kouji tried hard not to laugh, but one glance at his blushing pal made him exploded with laughter. He was chuckling so much that his stomach was in pain and that he had to roll on the ground to help him stop. But between gasps for air, he managed to say somehow miraculously, "Genrou. . . you're. . . hahaha. . . ssoooo. . . hahaha. . . damn CLUELESS!!!" When he could finally get a hold of himself he stood up and patted his friend in the back, " Don't worry, I wont steal her from ya. . . "
Tasuki rolled his eyes and looked up to the sky. "Here I am tryin' to have a serious conversation with my supposedly BEST friend but what happens??!! He's guffawin' like a complete asshole and talkin' shit. Why is life so cruel?"
Unfortunately, Tasuki's dialogue didn't get the effect that he would have hoped for. Instead of pissing his friend off, Kouji simply added charmingly, "Aww. . . You're so cute when you're lovelorn." With that, he messed up Genrou's hair and hit him hard on the arm.
A/N: And no, I DO NOT think that Kouji is gay. Just because he never falls in love in the anime/manga does not mean that he has homosexual feelings. And Yuu Watase clearly specified that Tasuki and Kouji weren't gay when someone asked her that question. . . No offence though to all those who like to see guy-guy pairings. . . I have nothing against it. ^-^
The red headed bandit was so exasperated with his friend's behaviour that he didn't even bother to get his revenge on him. He lifted both arms towards the sky and cried, "Have pity Suzaku!"
Kouji simply pretended that he didn't hear his friend's comment and continued to tease him about the young girl. "Hey, speaking of Ayomi, where is she?" he asked as he noticed that the girl wasn't anywhere near them. "I hope you didn't break her heart or something by saying something stupid." He eyed his friend suspiciously as he waited for his answer.
"How the hell am I supposed ta know where she is? And what that hell do ya mean by breaking her heart, how do ya expect me ta kill her just by saying something? Man ya make no sense sometimes. . . " he said while passing a hand through his hair to replace it back to where it was before Kouji had touched it.
Kouji's jaw was about to drop to the floor in the meantime. He couldn't believe his ears. Ok, he knew that Tasuki was clueless about everything to do with love and women. . . but. . . but how the hell could anyone be SO clueless?
He was about to give Genrou a lesson in love 101 but decided against it. 'Bad idea, he'll probably flame me before I can even get to basics. Oh well, he'll have to learn on his own. . . ' He shook his head in regret but keep his mouth shut.
"You should go look for her man. I mean it's not safe leaving her in a camp full of grown men. Never know what might happen. . . " Remarked Kouji after an uptight moment of silence.
"Guess your right. It's almost lunchtime," he said as he glanced up and saw a bright sun shinny right above them. "Better go and find her before she dies of hunger," he added sarcastically.
As Genrou walked away from his buddy in search for a cheerful girl with blue eyes that kept invading his thoughts, Kouji couldn't help but wonder how his friend was going to make it through without any idea of what was happening to him. As his friend disappeared into the bushes, he sincerely hoped that he wouldn't screw things up. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While the cool water was gently cascading on her feet, Ayomi was lost deep in her thoughts. She was thinking about the purpose of her life up to now. Pointless. To tell the truth, Ayomi was not as cheerful as she seemed. The only reason why she acted so was because she didn't want anyone to pity her for her fucked up life. By nature, she really was a high-spirited person, always ready to laugh and think positive, but to many obstacles stood in her way. . .
She bit her lip and frowned as an unwanted memory came to her mind. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Look Ayomi, we don't have the money to pay for your little school trip," said a mid-aged woman with blonde hair. She was busy putting on her makeup, obviously preparing herself for a grand event.
The young girl standing beside her was trying hard not to say any regrettable comments. She felt like telling the glamorous woman a piece of her mind but held her tongue; she certainly didn't want to spend the rest of her life grounded. "But mom," she pleaded, "it's not like if I'm asking you to pay me a trip for Spain, we're only going to visit the museum. In town!!!"
Her mother threw her an icy-cold glance. "Are you questioning my actions?"
Ayomi couldn't take it anymore. Her family was certainly not poor, but when it came to spending anything for her, they somehow didn't have a penny left. It wasn't that they didn't care for her; of course they did.in some strange way. But as give to her any sort of affection beyond that, it was hard to even imagine that happening. She had always been the consolation prize, the second child, the least important.
Ayomi had come to accept the fact her parents didn't even "like" her as half as they did her older sister. But sometimes, like right now, the feeling of being excluded from everything slowly got to her. "No mom, I don't doubt your actions, but I can't seem to figure out how you can pay for all of Maya's piano courses along with everything she wants not to mention how much you spend on jewellery," she added sarcastically, but soon regretted her words and wished that she had never said them.
Her mother stopped applying her make-up, she was furious with Ayomi's behaviour. "How dare you! Just because you don't have your sister's talents doesn't allow you to be so selfish. You're nothing but an ignorant little fool! Unlike Maya, you'll never go far in life. . ."
"You lie! You. . . you're just angry because I'm not you. Because I have better sense than you'll ever have!" shouted Ayomi cutting her mothers sentence short. She had no idea what she was saying; she didn't even know if it made any sense. All she knew was that she couldn't take anymore of that woman's cruel remarks.
She was going to hit her. She had gone to far this time. And without a doubt, Ayomi felt her check burn on fire a few seconds later.
"I have better things to do than listen to a worthless child talk trash." The tall woman didn't even glance at the girl as she walked out the door and locked it shut.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That was the last time that Ayomi saw her mother. Because on that same night, she had been transported here.
'What was I thinking that night when I actually thought that she would bother looking for me? Even worse, worried about me? I'm pretty sure that she hasn't even noticed my disappearance. . . It was probably just any excuse to convince myself that I don't belong here. . . ' She shook her head hard in attempt to stop her thoughts. 'I shouldn't be so ungrateful. I mean she is my mother even though I don't think she did me a favour by giving birth to me. . . ' She fixed her eyes on the forever-moving water and contemplated it while images of a certain red head slowly filled her mind. "Am I in love with him?" she asked herself doubtfully. She truly had no idea since she had never felt it before. Of course the girl knew what the word meant but as to experience it, it was something totally new to her. She had never really loved anybody and she doubted that anyone truly loved her in return.
There were always of course the boys at school constantly asking her to go out with them and always going on and on about how they loved her more than live itself. But she would usually just raise and eyebrow and walk away. She never quite believed them, because the next day, the same boy would be saying the exact words to another girl. As for her parents, she thought herself lucky that they didn't hate her and would probably even be sad if she actually died one day.
'Love,' she thought, 'such a strange feeling. How do I know if I am in love?' The girl placed a hand on her heart. 'Are we supposed to feel something?' She thought about the bandit and how she felt all warm and fuzzy inside each time she saw him. She smiled as she felt her heart beat slightly faster.
At that same moment, a red haired bandit appeared from behind some bushes. 'Ah! There she is.' He had practically searched everywhere for her. Tasuki was even getting a bit worried. As he approached her, he noticed that she was preoccupied about something from the serious look on her face.
"Hey Ayomi! I've been wondering where ya went all morning. Kinda surprised that your tummy didn't tell ya that it was lunch time yet." He teased her amusingly as he sat beside her on the green grass and stared at the repelling water.
Ayomi suddenly jump up as he came near her. She hadn't heard him approach her and was quite startled to see him here. Even with everything on her mind, she didn't forget about last night. It was quite an awkward moment since none of them knew what to say to each other. . .
"Sorry, about last night," they both blurted out at the same time.
Ayomi, realizing the stupidity of the matter suddenly burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Asked Tasuki slowly regaining his cool again.
"Because we're both acting like three year olds," she managed to say when she had finally stopped laughing.
Tasuki's eyes widened in bewilderment, she always seemed to a find way to surprise him. There they were in a total serious and embarrassing situation and what does she end up doing? She's laughing her head off. The bandit couldn't help but feel grateful towards her. He had just escaped a mortifying moment where he had no idea what he was supposed to say or do.
"Ah. . . women. Always changing moods; ya never know what they're thinking, never knew what to do. So complicated. . . " he stated in a teasing voice. But before he could finish, the red headed bandit found himself struggling not to drown. Ayomi had pushed him into the water.
"Big tough Genrou doesn't seem to be so tough right now does he? You never told me that you couldn't swim. . . " she said in an innocent tone as she watched in amusement as the bandit was trying to stay afloat in the small river. But before she had to time to laugh whole heartily at the situation, she felt a firm hand grab her by the ankle and pull her into the cool water.
Tasuki had someone dragged Ayomi in with him without her noticing anything. "Bwahahaha. . . ya don't look to smart now do ya?" the bandit chuckled as he swallowed a mouthful of water.
The girl easily climbed out of the swirling water due to the fact that she knew how to swim. The bandit in the meantime had held on to her shoulder and allowed himself to be dragged to the bank.
As Ayomi scrambled back to shore, she suddenly realized that her clothes were transparent. . . She quickly jumped back into the water and used it to hide herself. "Things can't get worse," she mumbled as she stood there shivering in the cold river.
"What the hell ya doing?" asked that bandit as he found the satisfaction of being on solid ground again. Water was not his thing; never had been, never will. "Ya'll catch a cold if you stay in there," he remarked to her.
"But I can't get out," answered Ayomi in embarrassment. She knew perfectly well that she would catch a cold if she stayed in it for too long.
Tasuki shook his head and sighed as he stretched out his arm to help her out.
The girl blushed even harder. How to explain to him? "No baka, I can get out by myself and I don't need your help. But I can't because well you see, I don't want you to see me."
The bandit gave her a puzzled look. He hadn't understood a word that she had just said. If she could get out of the water on her own then why did she say that she couldn't?
Ayomi's checks turned even darker. She couldn't believe how clueless the bandit was. She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and blurted out quickly, "I can't because my clothes are completely see trough. So, you can see well. . . everything."
Tasuki, having finally understood what the girl meant, went crimson. He turned his back to her quickly, detached his belt and took of his long back coat, witch he tossed in Ayomi's direction.
Ayomi was so humiliated that she would have preferred to just stay in the cold water. But since Genrou was calmly waiting for her, she had no choice but go get of the water and wrap the bandits long black coat around her. It was so long that it almost touched the ground. It was quite wet, but she didn't mind.
On the way back to the camp, the self-conscious pair didn't exchange a single word. They both looked away from each other's gaze and walked slowly back were a huge surprise waited for them. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok Ok!!! I know that I said that something would happen with the Kaou bandits. But you see, unless you guys want this chapter to be posted in about 2 weeks, then I'm unable to write in any action with the Kaou ppl. Cuz I'm going on camping tomorrow so . . . NO COMPUTER for a WHOLE week!!! NO!!!
Sigh~ Well, that's life. And plus, when I get back, I'll have one more week of vacation before school starts (soooo unfair, only ppl in Quebec start school in August); witch means, no time to finish this fic. So, unless you guys write me a lot of reviews. . . you probably wont get a new chapter before a long time. So, if you want me to spend the last week of summer writing, you know what to do. . . hehehe. Yes I know, I'm EVIL!
Chapter 4: Stubborn Mind, Confused Heart
When Ayomi woke up the next morning with black lines under her eyes, the first thing that she noticed was that she was not in her own bed. 'So, it wasn't just a dream,' she thought. But to her disappointment, the person sleeping beside her was nowhere to be seen.again. "Damn that bandit!!! What the hell's going on inside his head? One minute he's all over me and the next it's like as if he doesn't even know who I am!!!" she shouted in fury as she jerk the covers off of her body and stepped out of bed.
Breakfast was waiting for her on the table as usual. But she was so pissed at Genrou that she didn't have the heart to eat. She needed to talk to someone. She needed a friend to understand what she was going through and give her advice. 'Hanaki. . . ' she thought, 'he's not exactly a best friend but he should be able to comprehend.'
She figured that he should be in the dinning room eating right now. 'Ah perfect, I didn't really fell like eating alone anyways.' With that, she hastily tidied herself a bit and went to find him.
When she arrived in the loud eating room, Ayomi almost fainted when she saw none other but Tasuki sitting at a table discussing seriously with the old man. She couldn't move a muscle; she didn't expect him to be there. What was she supposed to say? "Sorry about last night, I kind of got carried away?" or "I think I'm in love with you?" Her fears seemed to be getting bigger by the minute and she was trying to force her legs to turn around and run away.
But fortunately or unfortunately, Tasuki saw her before she could make a move and beamed at her. "Come 'n join us for breakfast Ayomi," he said as he gestured to the seat beside him. "I hope ya haven't eaten yet."
The young girl couldn't refuse such a pleasant invitation, so she sat down and picked up a pair of chopsticks. She was glad that Tasuki hadn't mentioned anything about last night since she quite frankly didn't have the time to figure it out herself.
The bandit continued his conversation with the martial arts master once Ayomi had taken a seat. He had decided not to mention about last night hoping that the girl had somehow, miraculously, forgotten about the whole thing or thought that it was just a dream. He hadn't quite figured out what to say to her just yet. More important things were at hand, like the attack that the Kaou bandits were planning.
"So, you're sayin' that they might probably attack us in the next couple o days," he asked the old man. Leaving his personals problems for later.
"Hai, their base is not that far from ours. So, judging from when the rumours started, they should probably be here right now, in hiding. Waiting for the right time to strike," answered Hanaki in a grave tone.
Tasuki went very serious and deliberated hard on the situation. "Are the men ready?"
The old man game a nod and informed his leader that he had told them all to prepare for an attack. "I have positioned some of the bandits in the woods so that they could be on lookout for any signs from the enemy."
During all this time, Ayomi was quietly eating the food but made sure not to miss a word from the conversation that was going on beside her. The men went on talking about battle tactics for the rest of the meal without any paying attention to her.
Well actually, Tasuki knew perfectly well that she was there and didn't address a word to her on purpose. He wanted to talk to her but considering the present circumstances of their weird 'friendship' he decided against it. It could always wait.
Ayomi, assuming that he two men wouldn't mind if she went out for a walk got up and went outside without saying a word. 'Besides, its not like if they'll even notice that I'm gone.'
The day was magnificent, the sun was shinning without being too intense and the temperature was just perfect. Not too cold, not too cold. As the girl walked around the grounds, she somehow ended up beside little river. The water seemed so inviting, it was blue just like her eyes and when she dipped a hand in it, little fishies swam around it. She wanted to jump in, but decided against the idea since the clothes she was wearing would probably go transparent once in contact with water. 'In a camp full of men, it's better not to expose oneself,' she said to convince herself.
But still, she took of her shoes and dipped her feet into the cool water and began singing. It was one of her hobbies, it helped her clear her mind when she was depressed or confused. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contrarily to what Ayomi thought, the bandit had notice that she had gone out. But he resulted that it was better not to follow her. He needed time to think, he needed time to decide what to do with the upcoming battle and with the bleu-eyed girl that occupied a lot of space in his thoughts. Genrou quickly concluded his discussion with Hanaki and decided to go for a walk, to clear his mind.
The day was magnificent and the atmosphere seemed so clam. He strolled around the base and talked to a lot of the men in attempt to keep a certain raven-haired girl from invading his thoughts.
Practically everything reminded him of her. The smell of her skin, he softness of it, her intensive blue eyes, her smile, she feeling of her lips against his. . . It was driving him crazy. And it pissed him of that he could actually care for a girl so much. "Damn, damn and damn!!! When the hell did I change so much? I'm supposed to hate girls go not completely speechless and numb when I see one!!!" he shouted in frustration as he kicked the ground sending dust everywhere.
He cursed some more but stopped suddenly when someone put a hand on his shoulder. "Knock, knock, knock. Who's there? Genrou best friend. Genrou's best friend who? Genrou best friend that has comes back and finds his friend in a total love crisis. Ah hello, hello pal, welcome back!!!" said a black-haired man in an amusing tone.
Tasuki turned around and was trilled to find Kouji standing there. The two bandits linked arms and danced around in a circle a couple of times. "So Kouji, you're back pretty early, I wasn't expectin' ya so soon," said Genrou once they finished their little ritual.
"What? Your not happy ta see me?" said Kouji with false solicitousness.
"No that's not what I mean," replied Genrou.
"Well to answer your question, I came back early cuz I heard that my buddy was in trouble. And from what I can see, in more ways than one," he snickered loudly. "So, Gen-chan, I see that you're in some deep shit. Kaou bandits want to raid your base and you seem to be having problems with your woman."
"She's not my woman damn it! And I don't have any problems with Ayomi. And as for the Kaou attack, it's perfectly under control," replied Genrou annoyed by his friends comment.
"I believe ya for the Kaou matter but if you're not in love with Ayomi than what were you cursing about earlier?" Kouji teased him while slinging one arm over his shoulder. "So, when's the marriage due?"
Tasuki jerked away from his friend. He was furious and was jumping up and down. "For the last fuckin' time, I'm not in love with. . . " he abruptly stopped. Ayomi. . . A sudden image of her formed instantly in his mind. "Kuso!" he was furious with himself. 'Get a hold of yourself Genrou! Your acting like a complete idiot!' he shouted to the part of himself that was in total control over his emotions. . . his heart. He took a deep breath and gathered up all this cool to tell his friend, "I'm don't have feelings for Ayomi."
Kouji tried hard not to laugh, but one glance at his blushing pal made him exploded with laughter. He was chuckling so much that his stomach was in pain and that he had to roll on the ground to help him stop. But between gasps for air, he managed to say somehow miraculously, "Genrou. . . you're. . . hahaha. . . ssoooo. . . hahaha. . . damn CLUELESS!!!" When he could finally get a hold of himself he stood up and patted his friend in the back, " Don't worry, I wont steal her from ya. . . "
Tasuki rolled his eyes and looked up to the sky. "Here I am tryin' to have a serious conversation with my supposedly BEST friend but what happens??!! He's guffawin' like a complete asshole and talkin' shit. Why is life so cruel?"
Unfortunately, Tasuki's dialogue didn't get the effect that he would have hoped for. Instead of pissing his friend off, Kouji simply added charmingly, "Aww. . . You're so cute when you're lovelorn." With that, he messed up Genrou's hair and hit him hard on the arm.
A/N: And no, I DO NOT think that Kouji is gay. Just because he never falls in love in the anime/manga does not mean that he has homosexual feelings. And Yuu Watase clearly specified that Tasuki and Kouji weren't gay when someone asked her that question. . . No offence though to all those who like to see guy-guy pairings. . . I have nothing against it. ^-^
The red headed bandit was so exasperated with his friend's behaviour that he didn't even bother to get his revenge on him. He lifted both arms towards the sky and cried, "Have pity Suzaku!"
Kouji simply pretended that he didn't hear his friend's comment and continued to tease him about the young girl. "Hey, speaking of Ayomi, where is she?" he asked as he noticed that the girl wasn't anywhere near them. "I hope you didn't break her heart or something by saying something stupid." He eyed his friend suspiciously as he waited for his answer.
"How the hell am I supposed ta know where she is? And what that hell do ya mean by breaking her heart, how do ya expect me ta kill her just by saying something? Man ya make no sense sometimes. . . " he said while passing a hand through his hair to replace it back to where it was before Kouji had touched it.
Kouji's jaw was about to drop to the floor in the meantime. He couldn't believe his ears. Ok, he knew that Tasuki was clueless about everything to do with love and women. . . but. . . but how the hell could anyone be SO clueless?
He was about to give Genrou a lesson in love 101 but decided against it. 'Bad idea, he'll probably flame me before I can even get to basics. Oh well, he'll have to learn on his own. . . ' He shook his head in regret but keep his mouth shut.
"You should go look for her man. I mean it's not safe leaving her in a camp full of grown men. Never know what might happen. . . " Remarked Kouji after an uptight moment of silence.
"Guess your right. It's almost lunchtime," he said as he glanced up and saw a bright sun shinny right above them. "Better go and find her before she dies of hunger," he added sarcastically.
As Genrou walked away from his buddy in search for a cheerful girl with blue eyes that kept invading his thoughts, Kouji couldn't help but wonder how his friend was going to make it through without any idea of what was happening to him. As his friend disappeared into the bushes, he sincerely hoped that he wouldn't screw things up. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While the cool water was gently cascading on her feet, Ayomi was lost deep in her thoughts. She was thinking about the purpose of her life up to now. Pointless. To tell the truth, Ayomi was not as cheerful as she seemed. The only reason why she acted so was because she didn't want anyone to pity her for her fucked up life. By nature, she really was a high-spirited person, always ready to laugh and think positive, but to many obstacles stood in her way. . .
She bit her lip and frowned as an unwanted memory came to her mind. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Look Ayomi, we don't have the money to pay for your little school trip," said a mid-aged woman with blonde hair. She was busy putting on her makeup, obviously preparing herself for a grand event.
The young girl standing beside her was trying hard not to say any regrettable comments. She felt like telling the glamorous woman a piece of her mind but held her tongue; she certainly didn't want to spend the rest of her life grounded. "But mom," she pleaded, "it's not like if I'm asking you to pay me a trip for Spain, we're only going to visit the museum. In town!!!"
Her mother threw her an icy-cold glance. "Are you questioning my actions?"
Ayomi couldn't take it anymore. Her family was certainly not poor, but when it came to spending anything for her, they somehow didn't have a penny left. It wasn't that they didn't care for her; of course they did.in some strange way. But as give to her any sort of affection beyond that, it was hard to even imagine that happening. She had always been the consolation prize, the second child, the least important.
Ayomi had come to accept the fact her parents didn't even "like" her as half as they did her older sister. But sometimes, like right now, the feeling of being excluded from everything slowly got to her. "No mom, I don't doubt your actions, but I can't seem to figure out how you can pay for all of Maya's piano courses along with everything she wants not to mention how much you spend on jewellery," she added sarcastically, but soon regretted her words and wished that she had never said them.
Her mother stopped applying her make-up, she was furious with Ayomi's behaviour. "How dare you! Just because you don't have your sister's talents doesn't allow you to be so selfish. You're nothing but an ignorant little fool! Unlike Maya, you'll never go far in life. . ."
"You lie! You. . . you're just angry because I'm not you. Because I have better sense than you'll ever have!" shouted Ayomi cutting her mothers sentence short. She had no idea what she was saying; she didn't even know if it made any sense. All she knew was that she couldn't take anymore of that woman's cruel remarks.
She was going to hit her. She had gone to far this time. And without a doubt, Ayomi felt her check burn on fire a few seconds later.
"I have better things to do than listen to a worthless child talk trash." The tall woman didn't even glance at the girl as she walked out the door and locked it shut.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That was the last time that Ayomi saw her mother. Because on that same night, she had been transported here.
'What was I thinking that night when I actually thought that she would bother looking for me? Even worse, worried about me? I'm pretty sure that she hasn't even noticed my disappearance. . . It was probably just any excuse to convince myself that I don't belong here. . . ' She shook her head hard in attempt to stop her thoughts. 'I shouldn't be so ungrateful. I mean she is my mother even though I don't think she did me a favour by giving birth to me. . . ' She fixed her eyes on the forever-moving water and contemplated it while images of a certain red head slowly filled her mind. "Am I in love with him?" she asked herself doubtfully. She truly had no idea since she had never felt it before. Of course the girl knew what the word meant but as to experience it, it was something totally new to her. She had never really loved anybody and she doubted that anyone truly loved her in return.
There were always of course the boys at school constantly asking her to go out with them and always going on and on about how they loved her more than live itself. But she would usually just raise and eyebrow and walk away. She never quite believed them, because the next day, the same boy would be saying the exact words to another girl. As for her parents, she thought herself lucky that they didn't hate her and would probably even be sad if she actually died one day.
'Love,' she thought, 'such a strange feeling. How do I know if I am in love?' The girl placed a hand on her heart. 'Are we supposed to feel something?' She thought about the bandit and how she felt all warm and fuzzy inside each time she saw him. She smiled as she felt her heart beat slightly faster.
At that same moment, a red haired bandit appeared from behind some bushes. 'Ah! There she is.' He had practically searched everywhere for her. Tasuki was even getting a bit worried. As he approached her, he noticed that she was preoccupied about something from the serious look on her face.
"Hey Ayomi! I've been wondering where ya went all morning. Kinda surprised that your tummy didn't tell ya that it was lunch time yet." He teased her amusingly as he sat beside her on the green grass and stared at the repelling water.
Ayomi suddenly jump up as he came near her. She hadn't heard him approach her and was quite startled to see him here. Even with everything on her mind, she didn't forget about last night. It was quite an awkward moment since none of them knew what to say to each other. . .
"Sorry, about last night," they both blurted out at the same time.
Ayomi, realizing the stupidity of the matter suddenly burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Asked Tasuki slowly regaining his cool again.
"Because we're both acting like three year olds," she managed to say when she had finally stopped laughing.
Tasuki's eyes widened in bewilderment, she always seemed to a find way to surprise him. There they were in a total serious and embarrassing situation and what does she end up doing? She's laughing her head off. The bandit couldn't help but feel grateful towards her. He had just escaped a mortifying moment where he had no idea what he was supposed to say or do.
"Ah. . . women. Always changing moods; ya never know what they're thinking, never knew what to do. So complicated. . . " he stated in a teasing voice. But before he could finish, the red headed bandit found himself struggling not to drown. Ayomi had pushed him into the water.
"Big tough Genrou doesn't seem to be so tough right now does he? You never told me that you couldn't swim. . . " she said in an innocent tone as she watched in amusement as the bandit was trying to stay afloat in the small river. But before she had to time to laugh whole heartily at the situation, she felt a firm hand grab her by the ankle and pull her into the cool water.
Tasuki had someone dragged Ayomi in with him without her noticing anything. "Bwahahaha. . . ya don't look to smart now do ya?" the bandit chuckled as he swallowed a mouthful of water.
The girl easily climbed out of the swirling water due to the fact that she knew how to swim. The bandit in the meantime had held on to her shoulder and allowed himself to be dragged to the bank.
As Ayomi scrambled back to shore, she suddenly realized that her clothes were transparent. . . She quickly jumped back into the water and used it to hide herself. "Things can't get worse," she mumbled as she stood there shivering in the cold river.
"What the hell ya doing?" asked that bandit as he found the satisfaction of being on solid ground again. Water was not his thing; never had been, never will. "Ya'll catch a cold if you stay in there," he remarked to her.
"But I can't get out," answered Ayomi in embarrassment. She knew perfectly well that she would catch a cold if she stayed in it for too long.
Tasuki shook his head and sighed as he stretched out his arm to help her out.
The girl blushed even harder. How to explain to him? "No baka, I can get out by myself and I don't need your help. But I can't because well you see, I don't want you to see me."
The bandit gave her a puzzled look. He hadn't understood a word that she had just said. If she could get out of the water on her own then why did she say that she couldn't?
Ayomi's checks turned even darker. She couldn't believe how clueless the bandit was. She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and blurted out quickly, "I can't because my clothes are completely see trough. So, you can see well. . . everything."
Tasuki, having finally understood what the girl meant, went crimson. He turned his back to her quickly, detached his belt and took of his long back coat, witch he tossed in Ayomi's direction.
Ayomi was so humiliated that she would have preferred to just stay in the cold water. But since Genrou was calmly waiting for her, she had no choice but go get of the water and wrap the bandits long black coat around her. It was so long that it almost touched the ground. It was quite wet, but she didn't mind.
On the way back to the camp, the self-conscious pair didn't exchange a single word. They both looked away from each other's gaze and walked slowly back were a huge surprise waited for them. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok Ok!!! I know that I said that something would happen with the Kaou bandits. But you see, unless you guys want this chapter to be posted in about 2 weeks, then I'm unable to write in any action with the Kaou ppl. Cuz I'm going on camping tomorrow so . . . NO COMPUTER for a WHOLE week!!! NO!!!
Sigh~ Well, that's life. And plus, when I get back, I'll have one more week of vacation before school starts (soooo unfair, only ppl in Quebec start school in August); witch means, no time to finish this fic. So, unless you guys write me a lot of reviews. . . you probably wont get a new chapter before a long time. So, if you want me to spend the last week of summer writing, you know what to do. . . hehehe. Yes I know, I'm EVIL!