AN: Hi minna! Oh, I feel so loved. So many reviews! I'm so happy that you guys liked the mushy romantic stuff. See Li-kun? And you say that no one likes romantic stuff. So here's more. Hope that you enjoy ^_~.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 6
"Naka-kun, where are we heading?" Usagi was currently squirming in front of Nakago. The scenery around them gradually changed from the harsh mountains to lush forests, as the shogun and the goddess rode away from Hokkan. Furball followed the horse, a content look on her furry face as her master and mistress finally reunited.
"We're going to meet up with Yui-sama at Sairou," Nakago answered the girl in his arms.
"Who's Yui-sama?" The name reminded Usagi of what Miaka told her.
Nakago smiled to himself as he heard the envious tone in Usagi's voice. Tightening his arms around his itooshi, he assured her that she was the only one in his heart. "Are you jealous Usa-chan?"
The blonde girl turned away blushing, before a pout appeared on her face. "Who said I was jealous?"
"So why did you blush when I asked you?" the shogun chucked as he turned Usagi's face towards him.
"I wasn't blushing!" the bunny denied, even though the tell tale pink crept back to her cheeks. "I was just curious that's all!"
"Right, I believe you," was the sarcastic answer she got in return. "Don't worry about her. She's just the Seiryuu no miko, the one who's gong to grant me eternity."
"Naka-kun?"
"Yes."
"… never mind," the words died off from Usagi's lips.
"What is it?" Nakago asked, his curiosity peeked.
"Um, nothing really."
"Usa-chan…" the blond man threatened, while using one of his hands to tickle the girl in front of him. Knowing Usagi for so long, one of her weaknesses was that the goddess of the stars was extremely ticklish. Giggles escaped from her soft lips as Usagi tried to evade his hand, which was virtually impossible since she was sitting in front of him, on the horse that they were currently sharing.
"Naka-kun…stop it…" the bunny panted out between her laughter.
"So are you going to tell me?"
Usagi hesitated, but as Nakago raised his hand again, she quickly surrendered.
"I…Iwasjustwonderingifyoustillmeanwhatyoujustsaidaboutbeingwithmeforallofeternity." was the string of words that flew out of Usagi's mouth in less than a second.
Poor Nakago stared in bewilderment, trying to work out the mumbo jumbo in his head. It was probably the first time that the ice general of Kutou looked so lost. "Can you repeat that?"
Usagi blushed as she lowered her head, allowing her unbound hair to cover her red face as she repeated more slower the second time. "I was just wondering if you meant what you said then, and now."
"Look at me Usa-chan," when the bunny didn't move, Nakago gently tilted her head up, until she was looking into his eyes. "I mean every single word that I've ever said to you in the past, and now."
The rest of the ride was silent, no words passed between the two lovers. The tranquility was only interrupted by the occasional squirming Usagi made, when she need to get circulation down to her legs. A sudden jerk of the reins stopped the horse, and almost sent Usagi flying off if Nakago didn't grab her arm just in time.
"It's pretty late, we'll rest here for tonight."
"Finally!" the blonde girl hopped off the horse and made a mad dash to the nearby lake. She was so engrossed in her thoughts previously that she didn't even notice the darkening sky and the setting sun, painting everything in an indescribable reddish orange hue.
Looking at the clear calm water of the lake, Usagi started to remove her clothing, with out thinking about her surroundings, or the person who she was with.
Nakago had chuckled quietly to himself when he saw his Usa-chan jumping down from the horse. He tied the horse to the tree, but when he returned with the supplies they would need for camp, nothing could have prepared for the sight that greeted him.
Standing under a sakura tree, his tenshi stood nude, her silky robe pooled at her feet. The only thing that covered her slender body was her shinny waterfall of golden hair, and the sakura blossoms that gently flowed around her. His breath was stolen away as the tennyo gracefully walked into the cool water, the sun laying its fiery fingers across her features, giving the girl a look of sensuality and mystery.
The shogun unconsciously dropped his bundles on the grass, and followed Usagi's path to the edge of the water. When the water nymph emerged from the surface, sparkling sapphire eyes locked onto Nakago as Usagi smiled invitingly.
"Come on in Naka-kun. The water is perfect for a swim!" the goddess beckoned with her hand.
"N…ahum…No thank you," the shogun had to clear his voice before he could barely chock out the three little words. A blush crept up his face as he realized that he had been caught spying.
"Are you sure?"
"Sure," the reply was curt and short, as the blond man sought to hid his embarrassment behind his cold mask. He missed the flash of hurt that crossed his itooshi's face at his indifference. However, the hurt was quickly replaced by mischief as the playful bunny once more disappeared under the water.
"Usa-chan?" Nakago called out worriedly five minutes later. Usagi still hadn't resurfaced, and the shogun was beginning to worry that something was wrong. Did she get a muscle cramp? What if she got tangled in the water plants? She could drown, and it would be all his fault! Without hesitating, Nakago pulled off his armour and was about to dive in to the cold water, when something grabbed his leg.
Looking down, he quickly identified the object as a slim hand, Usagi's hand to be precise. The owner of the hand was grinning impishly up at him. Still to shocked to do anything, he could only stand there numbly as Usagi pulled him into the water with a strength that belied her fragile body.
A few seconds later, a wet and very unhappy blond head emerged next to the laughing Usagi. A roar came from Furball who was lying beside the lake, as the water interrupted her nap.
"That, was not funny," Nakago said as he saw the girl shaking with laughter.
"Loosen up a little Naka-kun. Enjoy yourself for once," Usagi answered the shogun, who had a cute scowl settled on his face.
"Loosen up?" a small smirk came to Nakago's face. Usagi slowly backed away. I have a very bad feeling about this. Right after the thought, a HUGE wave engulfed her. After it died down, a frowning goddess appeared, covered in weed and a small fish flapping on her head.
"Now, that's what I call funny!" This time, it was Nakago's turn to gloat.
"That's not fair! You manipulated that wave with your ki!"
The shogun shrugged at the accusation. So what if he cheated a little, Usa-chan was so kawaii when she's mad. Her cheeks puffed up, and her pouting lips. Her lips, the water peals on the soft skin, he wanted to cover them with his own.
"I'll show you what's funny!" with a little of Neptune's power, Nakago suddenly found himself the target of waves all around the lake.
"Usa-chan!" the blond man growled at the grinning girl, before lunging after her.
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"Naka-kun?"
The shogun who was leaning against the sakura tree, turned to look down at the golden head resting against his chest. After their little water fight (it was a tie), the two quickly changed and now was cuddling together, watching the stars, as their supper roasted over the fire.
"Yes Usa-chan?" Nakago gently picked up one of her slim hands, and carefully held it in his larger calloused one.
"Are the stars always so bright and beautiful in this world?" Usagi asked as she snuggled closer to the warm body against her, relishing at his familiar scent and his study heart beat, that was gently luring her to sleep.
"No, only until you came here," Nakago whispered, softly stroking Usagi's hand. The girl in his lap gave a pleased purr, content just being in his arms. The shogun just kept holding her hand, and listening to her even breathing. For the first time in a long time, allowing himself to enjoy the beauty of his world. They didn't know how long they stayed like that under as the Sakura blossoms protected them from the outside world. It could have been an eternity, or just a single second. Nothing existed except for their temporal paradise and each other.
The first signs that their peace was disturbed was the growl from Furball, who was purring by the roasting fish. The white tiger was sleeping, when she heard rustling noise from the bushes. Both the lovers immediately tensed, since they were both skilful warriors. Usagi turned and met Nakago's eyes before they both nodded. Handing his dagger to Usagi, the shogun quietly crept to the bushes. Without warning, he moved with lightening speed and pulled out the intruder from her hiding place.
"Soi?" Nakago asked in a shocked voice. "What are you doing here? I told you to protect Yui-sama." The coldness came back to his voice, driving away all the humanity that was there before.
The red head was about to answer when her eyes fell upon the blonde woman standing under the sakura tree. "YOU!"
Usagi smirked as she noticed that the other woman finally saw her. "We meet again Soi."
"You bitch, I'll make you pay," the seiryuu seishi cried as she prepared to attack Usagi with her lightening again.
Usagi on the other hand was no idle either. As the attack flew at her, she created her shield. The lightening bounced off the silver barrier and disappeared. Leaving a speechless and pissed off Soi. Seeing that ki power wasn't effective, the red head was about to attack physically when both of her arms were twisted painfully behind her back.
"I swear Soi, seishi or not, I will personally kill you if you hurt one hair on her head," a shiver went down Soi's spin at the chilling words Nakago said to her.
"Nakago, why are you doing this? Can't you see that she's the enemy? She was with the Suzaku no miko. You don't know what the little slut was doing with the Suzaku seishi. She's just here to steal the shinzaho from us!" Soi was too mad to see the anger in Nakago's eyes as she said those words. A sharp slap on her face brought her to reality. Looking up with hurt and resentment, she meet the furious icy blue eyes. It was the first time that she had seen Nakago showed so much emotion.
"What I do in my private time is none of your business. Is that clear Soi?" the shogun said, as he ignored the shocked expression on Usagi's face when he slapped Soi. "Now tell me, why are you here?" He was fully back to his seishi mode. The side he showed only to Usagi completely disappeared behind his mask.
Soi turned to Nakago. "Can I talk to you alone?" She gave Usagi a glare.
Without answering, the blond man lead her behind the bushes. "What do you have to tell me?"
"Yui-sama was concerned about you. She was wondering why you wanted to stay at Hokkan by yourself, and sent me to check on you. I wonder how she will react if she knew you were spending your sweet time with that slut," Soi sneered, knowing Nakago's only weakness was his wish for immortality. "Why are you wasting your time with that girl Nakago, when you can have so much more?" The female seishi asked seductively, moving her body closer to the shoguns.
"Tell her that I'll meet her soon. There are some things that I need to take care of first," Nakago answered indifferently. "As to why I'm with her, she shall be our key to summoning Seiryuu." Nakago lied smoothly, not wanting the jealous Soi to know his relationship with Usagi and hurt her further.
"I should've known that such an immature girl couldn't satisfy you Nakago-sama," Soi purred as she caught a flash of blond hair behind Nakago. All of a sudden, she pulled down Nakago's head for a deep kiss. Smirking in satisfaction when she heard the gasp from the blonde girl watching them. Nakago heard the gasp too. He quickly pulled away, to turn and stare into the heartbroken eyes of his itooshi.
"Usa-chan…" Nakago whispered before his tenshi ran away dropping Soi's cloak on the ground.
Why? The question repeated in her head as she tried to ran away from the images in her head. When Nakago left with Soi, she found the cloak that Soi had dropped when the seishi tried to attack her. Being the nice person that she was, and also a little curious, the blonde girl decided to bring Soi's cloak to the other woman, only to hear Nakago say that she was just a pawn to Soi, before the two kissed passionately.
Finally exhausted, the broken-hearted girl dropped on her hands and knees on the ground, tears falling to the dry earth. After all this. He's just using me. I'm just a pawn in his little game to be immortal. Usagi sobbed as she pounded the unforgiving ground with her fists.
"Usa-chan…" Nakago whispered, not knowing what to say.
"Leave me alone!" was the harsh cry, Nakago flinched at the tone. It was the first time that he had seen her like this.
"No. Usa-chan let me explain. It wasn't like that at all…" the shogun begged in a desperate tone, surprising even himself. He hadn't felt this kind of tearing pain since when he lost her the first time. He wasn't going to go through with living with a sense of loss and hurt all over again.
"What's there to explain?" the goddess of the stars laughed brokenly. "That I was just another of your conquests. What a fool I was to think that you would stay true after all these years. I should have known better than to think that you can keep your promises!"
The words cut into Nakago's heart like thousands of poisoned arrows. He was left speechless. Didn't she know that everything he did was for her? Anger swiped through him at her last accusation. Oh dare she say that, she was the one who decided to break their promise. She was the open who killed herself! "I wasn't the one who broke their promise. You broke them first when you committed suicide! You were the one who left me!"
"Is that what you think?! You think that I broke my promise to you on purpose. You think that I killed myself one thousand years ago to get rid of you?!" Usagi spat out. "If you think that, than you don't know anything about me!"
"Maybe we aren't meant for each other after all. Who knows what you did with the Suzaku seishi" the words dropped from his lips like lead, breaking her already shattering heart.
*slap* Nakago's head stayed turned as Usagi's hand slapped him. Leaving a red mark on his face. Even without looking at her, he already knew that her heart was broken into irreparable pieces.
"I HATE YOU!" The blonde girl screamed at the shogun before she stumbled into the night. Leaving the unmoving man standing there, looking at the place where she had stood.
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Soi smirked as she saw Nakago walked back alone, a lost look in his eyes. She had purposefully left her cloak, knowing that the other woman would bring it to her. It was just a matter of time when the she learn that Nakago was hers.
"Let's go," the blond man ordered as he leapt onto the horse. Furball looked up at him, questioning where Usagi was. The shogun ignored the tiger and rode away without waiting for Soi.
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How could he? Usagi thought to herself as she ran through the desert. Tears blurred her eyes, but the girl didn't seem to care. After all this. I came here for nothing! In her heartbroken state, she didn't notice the ground beneath her give away.
Usagi felt her body give away to the emptiness she was falling into. Her first instinct was to transform and use her wings to fly away. But, what was there to fly to? There was nothing left of her life now. With these thoughts in mind, the goddess closed her eyes and drowned in the darkness…
AN: Ducks behind Li-kun. Don't kill me! If you kill me, you'll never find out what happened. And please read and review my story Haunted. I know that it's a little mean, but I won't update any of my stories unless I have at least 10 reviews for Haunted. I really like Ayashi no Ceres and I enjoyed writing Haunted, but the number of reviews are very discouraging. So please review.