~
"Taka, Miaka!" Genroe yelled slamming the front door open in his haste.
He looked around but nobody was downstairs. That's odd, he thought. A creaking
noise from the ceiling drew his attention. He grinned, and ran upstairs,
taking the stairs three at a time. "I found him, you guys, I found Chi-"
He stopped as he burst into the bedroom and got a good look at what they
were doing.
"AHHHHHH!!!" The scream echoed through the neighborhood. "NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!!"
Fifteen minutes later a somewhat bruised Genroe and Taka sat glaring
at each other from either ends of the table while an enthusiastic Miaka
yelled excitedly into the phone.
"That's right Keisuke, Tasuki saw him at your old school. All we need
to do is get him over here so he can read the book and then . . ."
Taka leaned over the table and growled at Genroe. "At least YOUR love
life seems to be going well. Thanks a lot."
"Hey, how was I supposed to know you'd be doing . . .THAT in the middle
of the day!" Genroe growled back, baring his fangs. "And don't you dare
make jokes about me'n Chiri!"
"Tetsuya still attends classes over there? Hey that's not a bad idea
. . ." Miaka replied brightly to the phone.
"Sorry." Taka looked somewhat apologetic. "I miss them too y'know.
And I guess this means I still owe Nuriko money." He added as an after
thought. Leave it to Taka to obsess over a bet made a lifetime ago, Genroe
thought in amusement.
"For what?" He asked. Taka blushed and then grinned.
"Heh heh, well Nuriko bet me ten bucks that you two would get together
eventually. It seemed like such a sure thing too. I mean, who would have
thought that you and CHICHIRI would . . ."
"Hey, what the hell is THAT supposed to mean? LEKKA-"
"Not in the house TASUKI!"
"SHINEN!!"
"Uh Keisuke, I better call you back."
It was night, Miaka and Taka had returned to their world, the others
had been reborn, and Tasuki and Chichiri were alone once again. They had
stopped in town to resupply and had rented a room in the local inn. This
was no big deal, except for the fact that the room they had paid for only
had one bed, which meant that Tasuki and Chichiri had to share. So there
lay Chichiri, wide awake in the middle of the night, with a tossing Tasuki
laying next to him. It was funny, even after so much time together Chichiri
couldn't seem to get the picture of Tasuki's kiss out of his mind.
I wonder why he did that, Chichiri asked himself for what had to
be the millionth time. For some reason, being this close to Tasuki brought
back memories of the kiss. The kiss that had happened more than a year
ago. The kiss that Chichiri had immediately laughed off as one of Tasuki's
jokes. He probably was just joking, Chichiri sighed, this is Tasuki
after all, He thought to himself.
Tasuki rolled over, mumbling in his sleep. He's so cute when he
sleeps no da, Chichiri thought fondly. Tasuki began to move again, this
time making noises like he was in pain. Chichiri frowned, I wonder what
he's dreaming about? Tasuki began to whimper and Chichiri hesitantly placed
a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. This seemed to calm Tasuki somewhat
and he spoke again , only this time his words weren't muffled, and they
struck straight to Chichiri's heart.
"I love you, Chichiri"
"I don't know Hikou, a bar no da? Won't Kouran be expecting you back?"
Houjun said hesitantly into the phone, rubbing the sleep from his eye.
He hadn't been getting enough sleep lately and it was making him drift
off at the oddest hours. His dreams had also been getting more frequent
and intense. The most frustrating thing was that he could hardly remember
any of them. He sighed, at least this time the dream had been pleasant,
and, from the state his body was in, it had probably been about Tasuki,
the mysterious dream lover.
"Don't worry, I told her I was taking you out tonight. You need some
cheering up. Besides, you know I hate drinking alone" Hikou replied brightly.
"All right, no da." Houjun gave in, surrendering to the inevitable.
"I'll be ready to go in a half-hour, come pick me up then."
The Bar in question turned out to be fairly decent as such places went.
Houjun wasn't very big on drinking so he didn't have much experience with
bars. Hikou and he took a table in the corner, tucked away from the crowd.
Hikou seemed more inclined to drink than to talk so Houjun studied his
surroundings. His eye was drawn by a flash of red, and he watched with
interest as two patrons sat down at a table a ways away from his. Two patrons
that seemed strangely. . .familiar . . . The acoustics were such that their
conversation traveled clearly to his table.
"I can't believe Miaka kicked us out!" The red head complained to his
companion.
"Tasuki, you incinerated half of the kitchen. You know how she gets
about that kind of thing."
"I told you, women are nothin' but trouble."
They said some other things but Houjun wasn't paying attention. One
word kept echoing in his mind, Tasuki. It's impossible, he thought to himself
in shock. Tasuki isn't real, he's just a figment of my imagination. He
looked back over at the red head and an image of that same red head welled
up from his subconscious and flashed before his eyes. I must really
need to get some more sleep, Houjun thought, shaking his head as if
to rid himself of the mental image. I'm starting to fantasize about total
strangers.
"Hello, earth to Houjun." Hikou said, waving his hand in front
of his face. "What are you spacing out about? Your face is a red as a
cherry tomato." Houjun shrunk back into the shadows as Hikou's voice,
obviously as a result of the alcohol, started to carry across the room.
That's when the red head looked over, his eyes widening as his gaze
met Houjun's and held. His gaze was magnetic and Houjun felt helpless
to pull away. His breath quickened as the golden gaze burned into him.
His companion also looked over and choked on his sake when he saw Houjun's
face.
Houjun broke away from his gaze, misinterpreting their stares. He turned
his head so that his bangs fell over his scar. What had he been thinking?
That man over there wasn't his dream lover, he had just been staring
at his scar. His face burned with shame. It was the same everywhere, it
didn't matter how smart or friendly he was, all anyone ever saw was his
scar. The red head's companion started to get very excited, and began
to speak to him, his voice pitched too low for Houjun to overhear.
As if things couldn't get any worse, Hikou, now completely drunk,
(A/N: Too much 151 will do that to you folks O.O) accidentally spilled
his drink all over the guys at the next table.
"You BASTARD" One of the men shrieked, obviously every bit as drunk
as Hikou. He jumped to his feet and took a swing at Hikou. Fortunately
for Hikou, he missed. Not so fortunately for Houjun, Hikou decided to use
Houjun as a human shield.
"Save me Houjun!" He cried, grabbing Houjun and pulling him in front
of him. The man grinned evilly, grabbing a bottle and breaking it. Houjun
felt a flush of icy fear, this guy wasn't playing, he was serious.
"Let go, Hikou!" Houjun began to struggle, but Hikou, paralyzed with
fear, held him in place.
"So, we'll see just how long you're going to hide behind your little
friend." He slurred, swinging the bottle toward Houjun. Accepting the inevitable,
Houjun closed his eyes and braced himself. He had fought for his life before,
he would do it again.
The blow never struck.
Houjun opened his eyes tentatively to see his attacker laying prone
under the red head's foot. He had to admit, in that moment, no one had
ever looked more beautiful.
"I don't think so pal." Genroe growled, just dying to crush the bastard
under his foot. Whether or not he remembered his past, Chichiri was HIS,
and he was damned if he was going to let anyone else lay a hand on him
now that he'd found him.
"Hey get off of him you jerk!" The attacker's friends decided to take
charge and teach the redhead kid a lesson. They made it all of a few feet
before Taka sent them flying into a wall. Reincarnated or not, being a
Seishi had definite benefits.
"I wouldn't do that again fellas," Taka said cheerfully as he watched
the men cower in the corner, "my friend there is a bit of a hot head."
"HE's a hot head . . ." one muttered incredulously as they ran, in
unison, out the nearest door. The punk on the floor wasn't so easily frightened,
however.
"I'll get you for this." He muttered darkly, his face still press to
the floor by Genroe's foot.
"Go ahead and try." Genroe laughed. "The Name is Kou Genroe, leader
of the Red Dragon gang."
"The Red Dragon gang, they're nothing but a bunch of High School thugs!"
The man yelled back. Genroe shrugged, easing his foot up enough to let
the punk slither away.
"If you're so damn sure of yourself you're welcome to take us on any
time. Me and my boys will be waiting."
Houjun was torn between a number of emotions. The first was very definitely
relief, whoever these guys were they obviously knew how to handle themselves.
The second was disappointment. Kou Genroe huh? It would seem that this
stranger was not the mysterious Tasuki after all. Houjun tried to shrug
away his disappointment, after all, it's not like he actually thought Tasuki
was real or anything.
"Thanks a lot." He said tentatively, and was once again wrapped in
a heated gaze of burning amber.
"No problem. I'm Ta- Genroe, by the way. Me'n Tam- er Taka over here
saw that things were getting a little out of hand and . . ." Genroe trailed
off. Gods, Chiri was so fuckin beautiful. Same scar, same face, same toned
body . . . Taka decided to intervene before Tasuki said something he'd
regret.
"Hey, how about we help you out with your friend over there?" He said,
gesturing to Hikou, who was now passed out in drunken oblivion.
"Oh no, no da!" Houjun cried, bending down to shake Hikou awake.
"Hey, don't worry about it." Taka said, grinning. "We'll just call
a cab for him." He pulled Hikou over his shoulder and started to drag him
and Genroe outside.
"I'll be right there no da, I just need to pay the bar tab." Houjun
called, cringing as he took out his wallet. After a lot of arguing with
the owner over who would pay for the damages, they finally came to an agreement.
Houjun sighed as he turned to walk out of the door, he was just grateful
that the disaster was over. He left the bar and found the others perched
on a car, obviously waiting for the cab.
"I say we just take him back with us and get it over with." Taka said
solemnly.
Houjun stopped in his tracks.
"Shit Taka, you don't actually think he'd willingly go along with us
do you?"
"He doesn't have to be willing at first, and after it's all over he'll
thank us."
Houjun's blood ran cold. He had heard those words before, and they
had not been meant kindly.
Images of af a group of men in a dark alley flew before his eyes. Images
that still haunted him.
His mind flew back to the present and his body was instantly caught
between fight or flight. These men were no saviors, they were thugs, no
better than the men they had saved him from. He had to get Hikou away from
them.
"Hold it!" He cried, sticking his hand into his coat pocket and making
it bulge out. The two men swung around, their expressions betraying their
guilt.
"Shit! Chichi- I mean Houjun, it's not what it sounded like!"
"I have a gun." Houjun said coldly, shutting the red head up. "I don't
care what it sounded like, get the hell away from Hikou." He moved his
hand a little, making it appear that he was cocking his "gun". He was amazed
that he was able to maintain this facade, his heart was racing a mile a
minute and his legs felt like jelly.
"Er, Genroe, maybe we should go." Taka said softly, moving away from
Hikou very carefully.
"Hell no!" Genroe growled, switching to Chinese and praying that Houjun
hadn't gotten around to learning it in this lifetime. "I ain't leaving
him, Taka. Especially not like this."
"We can give him his memories back later, Tasuki." Taka replied in
the same language. "Look at him, he's terrified of us. He's been hurt . . . badly. You won't help him by forcing the issue now." He grabbed Genroe's
arm and started to pull him away, retreating under Houjun's accusatory
glare.
Genroe felt his heart break a little as he walked away, listening to
Houjun cry out Hikou's name
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Well, what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Indifferent?