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Kei yawned and climbed out of bed. 'Wow…what a weird dream…I actually dreamed that the seishi came back to Tokyo with us…but that's totally impossible. I wish it was true though…what I wouldn't give…' She bumped into something and lost her train of though. "Sorry…"
"It's okay. Morning Kei."
Kei rubbed her eyes a bit and stared up at Tasuki. "Tasuki?"
"Yeah…you were expecting maybe someone else?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"What? Oh no…I just thought…never mind…" She hugged him tightly.
"What? Is something wrong?" He looked a bit worried.
"No…I just thought I dreamed that you guys came back with us…I'm really glad it wasn't just a dream."
He smiled and stroked her hair. "So am I…"
Kei let go of him and smiled. "I better go get dressed…"
"Yeah…"
"See you at breakfast."
"Right." Kei disappeared into the bathroom. Tasuki sighed and went downstairs to the kitchen. Hotohori, Lily and Nuriko were already there.
Lily turned to Tasuki. "Morning. Did Kei get up yet?"
"Yeah, she's up."
A few minutes later Kei, Taki and Chichiri came down. The seven stood and sat in various places around the room.
Kei was on the counter. She looked at all the guys and Nuriko. "So…what're we supposed to do now?"
Taki set down a glass she had. "That's a very good question. I doubt there's anything we're supposed to do. There are other things we should do though." Taki brushed her hair from her face. "Like doing a lot of shopping."
"Shopping? Why, no da?"
"Because you guys need more clothes. Can't have you walking around in the same stuff." Lily tossed her breakfast dishes into the sink.
"There's something else I want to know…" Kei looked at the guys.
"What's that?" Tasuki glanced over at her.
"Have you guys ever been in this world before?" (AN: Have they? I don't actually know, but whether or not, in this story they've never been in the real world.)
"No, why?"
"Tasuki, how do you turn on the AC?"
"Adjust the thermostat."
"Chichiri, how do you change the channel on the TV?"
"Use the remote, no da."
"Hotohori, how do you turn on a car?"
"Turn the key in the ignition."
"Nuriko, how do you make coffee?"
"With the coffee maker or instant."
After Kei finished, everyone stopped and looked at each other. It didn't make sense that they all knew how to use modern things if they'd never been here. "*Huston, we have a problem…"
"*What makes you say that?" As soon as Nuriko spoke, she clamped her hand over her mouth.
Taki stared at her. "Great…now they speak and understand English. Should we find out if they can drive too?"
Hotohori thought for a moment. "Does anyone think there's magic involved here? That maybe when we came here, we were somehow given knowledge of how things work here so that we could adjust to this type of life?"
"I suppose that kind of makes sense. And it's the only semi-logical explanation for why y'all know this stuff." Lily sighed.
Kei hopped off the counter. "Well, I don't think we should worry about it right now. Taki, you and Hotohori have to go to work. Lily, you have to find that registration confirmation thing for that tournament, if you're still going to compete. And I have nothing to do today, but I should get some basis for what kind of clothing the guys and Nuriko like so we can buy that later."
"I found that letter last night. I don't know if I'll go though." Lily waved the paper in her hand.
Taki began cleaning the table. "You should. If you don't, Taka will tell you that you backed out so you wouldn't have to fight him."
"I suppose you're right."
"What tournament, no da?"
"A while ago, I signed up for another competition that's in a few day. Taka already finished registration. He wants to fight me again, even if he has no hope of beating me." Lily got up from the table and headed into the computer room.
Kei helped Taki finish cleaning the table. "Taki, what time will you leave and then be home?"
"I figure in an hour or so and around 3-4."
"You wanna just meet us at the mall? I think we're going to leave around 2:30."
"Sounds good."
Everyone filtered out of the kitchen at different times. Taki and Hotohori left for work and everyone else did something. Kei had gone upstairs to fix up her room. Tasuki followed. He watched unnoticed as began to clean.
After a bit, Kei saw him in the mirror. "How long have you been watching me?"
"Not too long. Can I come in?"
"Don't see why not." She smiled. "Was there something you wanted?"
He smiled and walked over to her, knocking the door closed slightly with his foot. "Not really…" He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Did you really think you just dreamed I was here?"
Kei sighed and leaned back into his arms. "Yeah…I mean…I just didn't think that it could happen. I couldn't be happier now that I know it was real though."
Tasuki smiled again and pulled her down onto the bed with him. His hand gently brushed her face. "Why are you different from every other girl I've ever met?"
She leaned into his touch. "'Cause I'm special…"
He chuckled and brought her closer to him. "Don't I know it…"
Kei giggled. His warm hands brushed against her bare arms. She purred slightly when he began to kiss her neck. "Tasuki…" She loved everything about him, she just wished she could tell him. It scared her to think of what he might say if she told him.
Tasuki stared at the woman under him. Their faces were centimeters apart. He moved forward and passionately kissed her. Her hands wrapped around his neck in an effort to get him closer. 'Tell her! Tell her you love her, dammit! But what if she doesn't feel the same way? Do you think she'd let you do this if she didn't feel something? I don't want to scare her off. I'm fine where we are right now. Bull shit! You want her! Badly too. You know it too! Tell her! I can't! I don't deserve someone like her. I'm just a bandit. To her, you're more than just that! How many times have you saved her? Kouji and the other bandits probably would have killed her as soon as she got to Konan if it hadn't been for you. You saved her from Nakago too! She doesn't see me as a hero or anything like that! Why don't you let her decide that?' Tasuki snapped back to reality when he realized he had to breathe.
Kei was panting hard underneath him. He always did that to her. She stared deep into his eyes. 'I've been afraid of very few things in my life, so why am I terrified to tell him I love him? Because you don't want to be rejected. He doesn't like women… Would he do that though? I mean if he really did hate women, would I be lying here with him? Even if that were true, you know you can't be together… It's not fair! Why me? I never asked for some all-powerful entity to take over my body in another world! But somewhere along the line, you accepted it… That was when I didn't care whether I lived or died! I don't want it anymore! I want to live and be happy! I can do that now! It's too late for that now. It will happen and you can't stop it… It's just not fair…' A few tears slipped from her eyes.
Tasuki immediately backed off. He lowered his head. "Sorry…I…uh…"
She hastily wiped the tears away. "No…no…it's nothing you did…I was thinking about something…"
He leaned closer to her and cupped her face in his hands. "Don't think about it if it makes you cry…"
She placed her hands over his and smiled. "You know, you're the only person I'll cry in front of…but I hate to cry in front of you."
"Why?" He leaned even closer to her.
"Because I hate showing how weak I can be…" She looked down at her bed.
"Kei…you're anything and everything but weak…you're the strongest woman…hell, person that I know." His thumb traced across her lower lip.
"Am I? If I'm so strong, why'd I let Shigeru do what he did to me?" Kei stood up quickly and moved to stare out the window, away from his warm embrace. "Why did I bottle it up inside and not let anyone know?" She slammed her fist against the window frame. "Why the hell did I do that? Why couldn't I say anything?" She began crying. "I don't understand why I did it!"
Tasuki stood up and embraced her tightly from behind. He held her for a few minutes then sighed. His breath brushed against the back of her neck "Chibi-chan…it's because you cared too much about your mother. You knew if you told, she's be crushed and you put others before yourself. Even at the risk of yer own safety. It don't come from being weak…"
Kei stopped crying for a minute to think about what he said. He was so right. She smiled at the pet name he'd given her in Konan. "You're right…I didn't want my mom to get hurt…so I let it happen…" She rested her head on Tasuki's chest. "Thanks, Bandit Boy. You always know what to say."
He chuckled. "Anytime, Chibi-chan…anytime." He pulled her closer. She smiled and snuggled deeper into his embrace.
They just stood there not paying attention to much of anything, until Nuriko lightly knocked on the door. Nuriko smiled slightly as Kei and Tasuki split like oil and water when she entered. She knew how much they loved each other, they were just too scared to admit it.
"You guys, Lily says we should look at catalogs and figure out what kind of clothes we should buy later."
"Oh, right." Kei walked past Tasuki, purposefully brushing her hand against his. She gave him a small smile and followed Nuriko out the door.
Tasuki stood in the middle of Kei's room. He smirked as he ran his tongue across his fangs. He went over the past few minutes over in his head. 'Damn…every time I kiss her or touch her or even be with her, I fall even more in love with her…Shit…could I sound any more like a cheap romance novel?' He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and went down stairs with the girls. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Taki and Hotohori stood outside Taki's studio.
"You can still back out you know…I don't want you to feel like you have to…"
"It's alright. I don't mind, really."
Taki gave him an odd little half-smile. "Welcome to my world." She opened the door and let him pass her. As soon as she entered, someone rushed up to her.
"Taki! Here you are! I have been trying to call you all morning! Since you didn't return any calls, I assumed you didn't find a replacement and got someone else."
"That really isn't necessary. I did find someone." Taki gestured to Hotohori.
The woman gasped. "Where on Earth did you find him? He's perfect!" The lady began to look over Hotohori. He looked a bit nervous as the lady. A few of the other models at the studio walked by and saw the three standing by the door.
"Hey, who's the cute guy?"
"Don't know…never saw 'im before. Looks like he came with Taki though."
"But she hates men. Why would she voluntarily bring one here?"
"Maybe she actually found someone. He is so cute…"
"Oh keep your shirt on, for everyone's sake. If he came with her, he's probably already with her. Taki always gets the best guys following her after all."
"Why do the ones that don't want them, get them?"
"Law of the concrete jungle, hon. Let's get to make up." The tallest of the four women took the others away from the front lobby.
Taki glanced over her shoulder just in time to see the women leave. She blew a strand out of her face. 'Sometimes I wonder why I do this…' She sighed and watched her assistant poke at Hotohori and look at him from all angles. "Coco…what are you doing? You already said he was perfect…"
"I'm just making sure. You can never be too careful." After she finished, Coco looked satisfied. "You two can go to make up now. I'm happy."
Taki groaned and gestured for Hotohori to follow her. She rubbed the back of her neck. "How embarrassing…"
"What's wrong?"
"I can't believe she did that. I'm so sorry…"
"It's alright. It's no worse than what I went through every morning in Konan." He shrugged.
"I suppose…but I still…never mind…" Taki swung open the door to the make up room. "And so it begins…"
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Kei sighed as she flipped through another catalogue. "Nuriko, you're too picky. They're just clothes."
"I just don't know. I like a lot of them, but I don't think I'd like them if I tried them on…" Nuriko picked up another catalogue.
Tasuki grumbled. "Ya know, I think I liked you better as a guy…"
Nuriko glared at him. "Well! It's not like I had anything to do with being like this!"
"Whatever…" Tasuki closed the catalogue he had and tossed it on the table.
Kei rolled her eyes. "Let's not argue. It really doesn't matter. We should get going. It's almost 2:30." Kei got up and pulled Tasuki up too.
Lily sighed and fixed up the pile of catalogues they'd been looking at. Nuriko got up and followed Kei and Tasuki outside. Chichiri stood on the other side of the room.
"Ready, no da?"
"Just about." Lily checked her hair in a mirror on the wall. She picked up her car keys from a table and headed outside, followed by Chichiri.
Lily and Chichiri drove in Lily's car and Nuriko, Kei and Tasuki were in Kei's. Nuriko and Tasuki argued a lot the whole way. Chichiri and Lily discussed possibilities for why the guys had come back with them.
The mall was at least half an hour away. It was absolutely huge though. If there was a store you were looking for, it would be there. They all entered Nuriko went off on her own while Chichiri went with Lily and Tasuki was with Kei.
Nuriko accidentally found herself in a store that sold mostly leather clothes. 'Great. What am I doing here? I don't even like these.' Then she heard something familiar.
"Thank you, sir. Have a nice day."
"Yeah. You too." Nuriko saw a very tall blonde man standing at the counter holding a bag. He was wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt. He turned and headed towards the door and her.
"Nuriko?"
It took Nuriko a second to realize who it was. "Jason…hi. Sorry, I didn't recognize you at first." She noticed his dark eyes for the first his time. 'Wow…cute…'
"It's okay. What are you doing here?"
"Oh um…I'm not really sure. I didn't mean to come in here."
Jason didn't say anything as they both left the store. He noticed Nuriko staring at him. "What?"
"Nothing. It's just that I was noticing your eyes."
"My…eyes?"
"Yeah. I think they're pretty."
Jason tried to hide a blush. He found it odd. Lots of girls told him they liked his eyes or that he was cute or something like that, but it never mattered before. It actually mattered to him when Nuriko said it. "Ah…um…thanks…I think." He was at a loss for words.
"You know it's funny…"
"What?" They continued walking through the mall.
"Every time I see you, I see more of you."
"More of me, huh?"
"Yeah. The first time I saw you, I really didn't know what you looked like, then I saw your hair, now your eyes." She blushed. "I guess it sounds kinda silly."
"No…not really." He was quiet for a moment. He suddenly smirked and looked down at her. "But…you do seem to be implying something about what might happen the next time we meet..."
Nuriko blushed furiously when she realized what he meant. "W-w-what?! I…I didn't mean that! I swear!" 'Oh shoot! I just made a total idiot outta myself!'
Jason chuckled. "I know. I know. I was just joking." He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. "Sorry."
"It…it's alright." Her blush went away a bit, but was still there.
Jason looked up and saw Hotohori and Taki, they had just entered the mall. 'Shit, they have the worst timing…' "I gotta go Nuriko. I'll see you later." He smiled. "And we'll see if you're little theory still holds true then." He leaned forward a little and brushed his lips against hers. He stared at her in silence for a few seconds. "Later." He quickly turned before Taki and Hotohori could see him and left. 'Shit! Why'd I do that? Why'd I just kiss her? I don't even know her that well…' He rubbed his temples with his fingers as he hurried out of the building. 'Further more, after Saturday, I'll probably never see her again…I'm starting to like her and I shouldn't…'
Jason stepped out into the parking lot. As he headed towards his car, a black BMW stopped in front of him. The window opened.
"Jason, have you seen Alana yet?"
"No Mr. Reddinbaour, I'm still looking." 'Way to go Jason…just lie to the man who adopted you and gave you a home for so many years…' "Sir, I do have a couple of questions…"
"What is it?"
"What if Lana doesn't want to come back? What if she's happy with the life she has here?"
"Jason, she has to come home to her family. It's where she belongs."
"Yes sir." Jason sighed as the car left. 'I don't believe this. Her family… Where she belongs…She belongs with who she's happy with and I think that's here. I'm sure as hell not gonna be the one to say that to him though…'
Nuriko blushed as she watched Jason leave. 'Did he just kiss me?' Her fingers brushed against her lips carefully. 'He's so cute…Wait a minute…he's a guy…technically so am I. What would he do if he found out?' A hand on her shoulder startled her.
"Nuriko? Are you okay?" Taki looked worried.
"F…fine…I'm fine."
"Mmmm…okay… Let's go find the others."
"Hmm…sure…" Nuriko reluctantly followed Taki and Hotohori back to the main section of the mall.
The group of 7 spent hours in the mall, spending unbelievable amounts of money. Hotohori's clothes were dress casual, Chichiri's were slightly less formal, Tasuki got totally casual stuff and Nuriko got outfits like the other girls.
After dinner, they stopped back at the house to change. All the girls were up stairs and the guys were down stairs. Hotohori was wearing black slacks and a white button up short sleeve dress shirt. Tasuki wore black jeans and a gray shirt like Hotohori's. Chichiri stood wearing a pair of khaki slacks and a slightly dressy green shirt.
Lily stared at herself in her mirror. "I can't believe you people convinced me to buy this stuff!" She turned around. "I feel so weird!"
"You look good! And Chichiri will like it too." Kei giggled.
"Shut up!" Lily grabbed a pair of black gloves and slipped them on. "He's a monk! He's not supposed to like what I look like."
Taki rolled her eyes. "He's a monk, not dead. Besides, he's not a monk here. He can look at girls if he wants to."
Lily picked up some silver bracelets and put those on her wrists over the gloves. "Why are you so intent on getting Chichiri and me together? It seems to be the only thing on you people's minds!"
Nuriko smoothed her top. "He does like you. I've never seen him so interested in a girl before. You really are special to him."
"Stop it!" Lily huffed and went back to her mirror. 'Aww…who am I kidding? I do want him to notice me…I mean…he already does and he's like my best friend…I can tell him anything… but I want him to be more than that…Shit…'
Kei put some final touches on her makeup. "Let's hurry up. The guys are really impatient."
The others nodded. They all hurried downstairs. Chichiri immediately noticed Lily.
She was wearing thigh-high leather boots, a black mini-skirt, a fire red tank top with only one strap on her right shoulder and a pair of uneven gloves. Her left glove went almost all the way up her arm and the right one was normal sized. Her hair was loosely pulled back.
"Damn, no da!" His eyes went wide.
Kei and Taki giggled when Lily blushed. Kei blushed when Tasuki began to eye her. She had on low riding white capris and a purple halter-top.
Taki and Nuriko sighed. "Let's go. The club opens soon and I'd rather get there early."
They all went outside to the cars and drove to a very exclusive club. Throughout the night, Tasuki and Kei either drank or danced, Chichiri and Lily found a private corner to talk and be somewhat romantic, Hotohori and Taki relaxed with specialty drinks in a lounge and Nuriko kept herself occupied with a few of the more decent guys there.
By the end of the night, Kei and Tasuki were totally hammered and the others had to help them back inside their house. Taki leaned in Kei's doorway and watched her sleep.
"Man…I'll be glad when Kei can get drunk legally…"
"How long till she's 20?" Hotohori took her hand and they went back to his room.
"A few weeks." Taki sat on the bed in her pajamas with Hotohori.
Hotohori stared out the window and sighed. He was thinking about Kei being his cousin. He thought he knew all his relatives, but now he was trying to come to grips with the fact that his grandmother wasn't dead and happened to be an incredibly powerful woman. And so was his cousin.
"Something wrong?"
"Nothing…"
"Come on, something's wrong. You look all worried."
"I was thinking about something I found out in Tai Itsukun's palace…"
"And it's still worrying you?"
"Well, believe me it won't just go away."
"What is it? You can tell me."
"Well…when we were there, I was told Hikari is my grandmother and Kei is my cousin…"
Taki cocked her head to one side. "Cousins? You and Kei? How?"
"Hikari said she fell in love with my grandfather when she was a miko and had twins with him. When she left Konan, she took Kei's mother with her and my father stayed in Konan."
"…" Taki stared at him. "Cousins…in two worlds…"
"Yes…"
"How weird…" She rested her head on his shoulder. 'I'm in love with my best friend's cousin… This is like the type of thing you hear about on American talk shows…'
"It truly is…I never dreamed I'd have a cousin in the miko's world."
Taki looked up at him. "It seems to me a lot of things have been happening that you never dreamed of."
He smiled. "I guess you're right there."
Taki smiled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I think it's good. I mean this way Kei will actually have a decent relative who knows…you know…what happened to her."
"You're right." He leaned over and kissed her. "Thank you."
"Any time. You always make me feel better when I'm worried or upset or something like that, I should do the same for you really."
He smiled and kissed her again. "Thank you. And good night."
"'Night." Taki kissed him on the cheek and got up to leave.
"Taki?"
"Hmm?" She turned back to him
He looked her straight in the eyes. "I love you."
"H-huh?" A deep blush spread across her face. "You…you love me?"
"You know I do. Almost since I met you. And I can't hold it in anymore." He stood up and took her hands in his.
Taki looked up at him. She had always had the feeling her loved her, he had never said it, but she knew. She was just surprised at how frank her was about it. Though it wasn't as surprising as it could have been, after what they talked about last night. "I…I'm not sure what to say…"
"Tell me honestly how you feel about me."
Her eyes locked with his. Her heart felt like it would leap out of her chest. "I don't know…" She could barely find her voice.
"Yes, you do know. Tell me."
Taki studied his face for the longest time, as if searching for some reason to leave that she couldn't find. She stumbled over her own words. "You…you're right. I do know. I…I…I love… I love you, Hotohori. I love you." She felt a great wave of relief flood her body. After holding herself back from loving someone for so long, she finally found the one person she'd been looking for. "I truly do love you." She felt so much calmer now.
Hotohori smiled widely and pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss. Taki almost fell into his arms as she kissed back. After a few moments, Hotohori parted from her just a bit. "I love you Taki." Then he kissed her again.
Taki's mind buzzed. 'I said it! I said I love you! And he said it too! Every time someone said I love you to me before, it wasn't honest…but this time it is…I know it. For some reason I can just feel it, he really is the one. Why didn't I see it sooner? Why?'
Hotohori pulled her back to his bed. "Stay here tonight." It wasn't an offer, it was an order.
"You act like I'd leave after that, silly." She giggled and cuddled up against his body.
"Taki…Aishiteru."
"Aishiteru Hotohori." Taki sighed softly as she began to fall asleep in her new found love's arms.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Okay, so that's the first couple officially admitting how they feel. Did I make it too mushy? I feel like I did. Did I rush again? I feel like I did that too.
Now, what will this insane teenage girl do with the rest of her work? Hmm…would anyone like to make some suggestions? If you do, I'll give you a cookie! Well…not really, but will someone do it anyway?
~*~Shadow Hawk~*~