~ Chapter 5 ~
Rekka Shinen: Blazing Holy Flame
In a split second, Tasuki was sprawled out on his stomach in front of me, with a dizzy expression on his face. Did Suzaku-sama help me bring Tasuki here? Was it possible that Suzaku-sama had heard my plea for help and answered? The answer must have been yes. Even if I power up, my mage powers alone can never teleport anyone or anything into a totally different dimension and world. Only Suzaku-sama has that power.
"Oi, Chiri, where the hell am I?" Tasuki rubbed the side of his head, swiveling his head in every direction.
"In Sakura's bedroom no da," I answered simply. Tasuki looked at me as if I had grown an extra head.
"An' who's that?" I pointed towards the bed where Sakura still lay unconscious. Tasuki nodded like he got the idea, but he still looked shook up. "Why'm I here then Chiri?"
"Ano … Well Sakura got her head bumped today and she's been unconscious for a couple hours now no da. I don't have anything to help her injury – and Mitsukake is dead na no da. I need someone to help me and accompany me here too no da. You see … I sense some kind of magical power from her no da …" I trailed off to look at his expression.
Tasuki had his eyes closed and, for once, looked like he was really and truly concentrating on something … without an outburst. His face was unusually relaxed, or rather lulled. Was it that Tasuki was sensing her power or was it affecting his mind?
"Daijobu desu wa Tasuki no da?" I peered at his face. I didn't change. I tapped him on the shoulder. He bared his fangs and growled at me, and I moved back. What was wrong?
"Chiri, does this power seem familiar to ya?" Tasuki asked in a low voice.
"Sort of no da. It's very powerful, like that Seriyu Seishi Nakago's life force no da, but only … it feels much more powerful --- with a positive nature --- almost in comparing range with ……" I stopped short and took off my mask.
Tasuki bowed his head and looked at me through slitted eyes. "Kinda feels close to Suzaku-sama's life force, don' it?"
I closed my good eye and concentrated. The Chi of Sakura was growing stronger each minute, a good sign she was recuperating on her own. Not only that her Chi was incredibly high. I put my two fingers down and nodded in agreement, my eye still closed.
I broke the silence. "She's getting better no da, maybe we can get some answers na no da." Tasuki nodded.
"What do we do now Chiri?" Tasuki was unusually calm and collected.
"We wait for her to come around no da," I replied simply. "I don't think we should leave the room though no da … I'm not really familiar with anything else around the house no da."
"Dammit, too bad Mitsukake ain't here," Tasuki complained, slowly returning to his old self. He tapped his fingers on his knee.
"Ano … why don't I go get something to drink no da …" I scratched my head, and shrugged. "Well, I'll do my best to do that anyway no da." I chuckled and genuinely smiled without my mask. That made Tasuki happier, but must have reminded him of something.
"Oi, Chiri, where's tha' cat --- whass'is name --- Tama?"
"Oh! He's in my kasa … I'll take him out no da," I took off my kasa and set it down, reaching inside and taking out a still-sleeping Tama-neko. I walked over to Sakura's bed and bent down.
"I put a temporary sleeping spell on Tama, so he wouldn't get in the way no da," I placed Tama down next to Sakura, and brushed away some stray hair on her forehead to feel her temperature.
"Sakura took me out to a 'mall' to get some new clothes no da … that's when this happened, right after we got the right clothes no da. I had to get out of there, so I teleported no da." My hand left her forehead and I walked back to the door. Tasuki still sat on the ground wordless. This was nothing like the normal Tasuki. Tasuki --- Genrou --- was never too late to come up with a witty comment, joke, or prank. I was beginning to get a little nervous.
"Tasuki .. daijobu no da?" I turned before I walked out. Tasuki looked up at me with a blank expression.
"I don' know Chiri … not 'til we get answers." I nodded and walked out.
"Hmm … I wonder what this does no da …" I stood in front of a strange looking something or other. It wasn't flat, and it looked as if it was a shallow hole but lined with a hard substance. It also had a drain on the bottom, and a thin pipe over looking it all. I reached out and turned the knob to the left.
"Itai no da!!" I put my hand into the running water, which was boiling hot! I knew we couldn't drink that. I turned the knob to the other side, and hesitantly touched the water a second time. What a relief, the water was cool and it soothed my burn.
Now that I learned to work the … uh … thing that gives water, I had to find cups to hold the water in! Oh boy …
I stared at all the cabinets, large and small.
"Daa …"
~~ Meanwhile, back in the bedroom
Tasuki grew more and more impatient with every second. Finally, after about five grueling minutes, he slammed his fist into his hand and growled deeply. Sakura still hadn't woke up, but moved a few times in her slumber. This woke Tama up from the spell at last.
Tama looked around groggily and jumped off the bed, making its way to Tasuki. Tasuki patted Tama's head and walked over to Sakura in attempt to wake her, without actually prodding her. He knelt down so his nose and up were showing from the edge of the bed. He gave a blank stare at Sakura, who still hadn't shown any signs of waking. He gave an exasperated sigh.
"Hey, wake up," Tasuki said in a low voice, careful not to raise it too much.
Heh, didn't work. Tasuki sweatdropped.
"Come on, onegai?? I'm tired'a waitin' already …" Tasuki peered at her face and squinted as if inspecting her face through a microscope. He poked her arm. "'S time ta get up, come on!" His voice cracked and went a tad louder at the end, thus waking Sakura.
She blinked a few times, allowing her vision to get back into place. As it did so, she saw two slanted amber eyes unusually wide and surprised, a few inches away. Her face screwed up in confusion.
"Um … hi … ?" Sakura gave a bewildered half-grin. Tasuki backed away and turned SD at his extreme amount of embarrassment.
"It's 'bout time you came 'round! Chiri an' I got questions for ya!" He frowned, half-shouting the words and thrashing his hands about. Sakura still had a bewildered look.
"Questions?" She shook that off. "Hey, you're ---" But she was cut off.
"Um yeah. Anyway, I'm Tasuki, but everyone calls me ---" Sakura cut him off right back.
" --- Genrou? Yeah, I know. But only you're bandit gang back at Mt. Leikaku call you that, I'm sure," She winked knowingly. "And Kouji especially likes 'Gen-chan', isn't that so?" She smiled at him, her large green eyes bouncing with a childish glimmer.
Tasuki facefaulted and stared at Sakura skeptically. How did she know all of this? It probably had a connection with her Chi, her Mage Powers, and so on --- whatever powers she did have. I had to ask her --- but a cat's shrieking and Chichiri's 'da's' interrupted everything.
"What's Chichiri doing in there, Tasuki?" She sat up and swung her legs over the bed.
I got up. "Dunno, but I'd like ta see." Sakura walked to the door and opened it up.
"Well, come on. You might as well back me up in case I pass out again … or whatever happened to give me this bruise anyway."
Tasuki nodded dumbly and followed, looking Sakura over. {AN: Yeah, this'll happen a lot with many characters … ~_~} She had medium length brownish hair that was tied up, and wore blue jeans and a dark green t-shirt to match her eyes. She looked about 15, two years below Tasuki's age.
'Damn, maybe this won' be so boring after all …' He thought, smiling sideways so a lone fang protruded through the corner of his mouth. Sakura stopped suddenly, causing his thoughts to be disrupted as he tried not to run right smack into Sakura. She stared at the scene before her.
Chichiri was sprawled on the ground in a rather uncomfortable way, with scratch marks all down his mask, which was now ripped to shreds. His real face was visible through the slash marks, and his eye was dizzied. Sakura gaped and knelt down to him to see if he was okay, and Chichiri replied with a yes and sat up. Sakura didn't take this answer, and checked his face.
Meanwhile Tasuki's eyes caught something else. That something else was furry, very round, and was most likely the reason why Chichiri was like the way he was. Tasuki was enraged that such a vile creature could do such a thing to his best friend.
"Damn you …" Tasuki reached behind his back to grab his omnipotent tessen from its sheath. He lifted it over his head to strike.
"Rekka …" Tasuki began the Incantation. Sakura heard this and shouted at him.
"Tasuki, no! Stop!!" She saw that he hadn't heard and was finishing the Incantation off.
"… Shinen!!" Tasuki brought his tessen down to Smoke, who froze in terror. Sakura scrambled and ran to him, her two forefingers brought up to her face. Her lips moved swiftly and vaguely, clearly not stumbling over her words. At this succinct chant, her fingers started to glow a supernatural emerald color.