Disclaimer: Fushigi Yuugi doesn't belong to me, but to the talented Yu Watase.

Hi, I'm back!

Chapter 6

"What the …" Tasuki said as Mei zoomed pass him, catching him off guard with her comment. "Hey, come back here! You cheated! And where do you think you get off calling me 'fang boy'?!"

Tasuki ran after Mei and without difficulty overtook the young woman in the last few yards.

"Ha! I won! Hurray for the champion. That's what you get for cheating." He said the last part to Mei as she came up to him panting slightly.

"Okay, you won. Now which way …"

Both Mei and Tasuki froze when they heard a distant rumble followed by an explosion. They looked toward where the sound came from and Tasuki got a bad feeling when he realized that that way led to Tamahome's home.

"Come on, I think Miaka and Tamahome are in trouble!" Mei just nodded as her suspicions were confirmed and ran after the red-haired seishi.

When they reached the yard they saw a powered-up Tamahome about to attack a figure on the roof. Mei immediately sensed that the cloaked figure was a Seiryuu seishi and that the person was carrying someone. She looked to where Miaka was cowering and quickly ran to her, thinking of only protecting the priestess if necessary.

Miaka quickly clung to Mei when she recognized who had knelt beside her. When both girls turned their attention to the seishis, they saw Nuriko grab Tamahome from behind just as Tasuki hurled a stream of fire at the two people on the roof. Mei almost swore out loud when the Seiryuu seishi disappeared before Tasuki's attack reached them. Tasuki, however, had no qualms about colorfully expressing his frustration.

Miaka and Mei continued to watch as Nuriko, now with Tasuki's help tried to calm Tamahome down. After a while Tamahome returned to his normal self and glanced at a shaken Miaka before walking away.

"What the heck was that all about?" asked Tasuki. "What happened here? And how come you're here?" he asked the other seish.

"I followed them." Nuriko said, his eyes on their priestess.

Miaka stood up and moved to follow Tamahome, but Nuriko stopped her. "Maybe it's best to leave him alone for now."

Mei walked up to them and stood beside Tasuki. "What happened Nuriko? Were those Kutou spies?" she asked trying to sound naïve.

The purple-haired seishi quietly told them about the death of Tamahome's family. And about having to face off with the Seiryuu seishis.

"Nobody in the village even helped them when Suboshi …" A sob escaped from Miaka's throat and she couldn't go on. With a fist over her mouth, the priestess ran off into the woods.

Tasuki's fists were clenched to his side and his eyes held a hard look in them. "I can't believe those bastards. First, Amiboshi's deceptions and now his psycho of a brother's killing spree. What's next? What the heck's next?!"

"Why? Why would anyone want to hurt innocent children like that?"

Mei spoke so softly, the two men were not sure if she had spoken at all. When Tasuki looked down at her, he saw the anguish and uncertainty in her eyes and something within him stirred. She herself looked so innocent that he wished he could have spared her from hearing about the awful news.

"Why? Tell me why!" The tears she had been holding fell to her cheeks. And without thinking she threw herself at Tasuki and buried her face on his chest.

Tasuki tensed at the contact and began to panic. Part of him wanted to get as far away as possible from the hug, but a larger part of him wanted to comfort her and erase the anguish he had glimpsed in her eyes earlier.

"Why would anyone …" Mei sobbed incoherently. "… those innocent children … it's so barbaric … I didn't know anything that cruel or evil could exist."

To Nuriko's surprise, he watched as the bandit's features softened and in an awkward gesture tried to give the sobbing girl a comforting pat on her back.

******

Nuriko looked at the setting sun and began to get worried. It had been a while since Miaka had run off and was still not back. He sighed and hoped that she was out there somewhere in the woods with Tamahome.

The purple-haired seishi shifted his gaze to the two people sitting by the tree. The girl had her head on the man's shoulder and was obviously asleep.

'Probably exhausted from all that crying,' Nuriko thought as he spied still wet lashes on the girl's eye lids. He lifted his eyes just above, Mei's head and encountered a pair of amber eyes, which at the moment lid not look very happy.

"Don't even say it," snarled Tasuki.

"Ah, but you two look so cute like that," Nuriko cooed impishly.

Tasuki canines peeked out threateningly as he fought to keep his voice down. " Instead of making inane comments, why don't you make yourself useful and get her off me," the bandit hissed.

"What? And ruin the moment?"

Before Tasuki can snap back a reply, both seishi turned to see Miaka running towards them. With a choked sob she threw herself at Nuriko and cried.

Mei slowly opened her eyes and saw the priestess crying once again. She sat up and looked at Tasuki.

"Has something happened again?" she asked worriedly.

"Nah. I think I heard her mumble something about not knowing what to do after Tamahome said to leave him alone right now ." Tasuki stood up and flexed his shoulder.

Mei saw the movement and stood up as well. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to use you as a pillow."

The red head looked down at her briefly and then grunted. After a while he said, "I'm gonna go start us some fire. It looks like we'll be camping out here for the night."

Mei watched Tasuki walk away, then turn towards Nuriko when he spoke. "I think maybe Tamahome should remain here. I mean, considering his condition. The four of us can return by ourselves to the ship tomorrow morning. What do you think Miaka?" The priestess thought for a moment then nodded in agreement.

A solemn group of warriors left the dock the following morning. Though a bit surprised that Tamahome had still insisted in coming along and a bit sad that Hotohori was not able to leave his country.

Author's Notes: Thanks for the additional reviews and encouragement you guys. Maybe I will continue the story a little longer. ; p I'm working on my other story, but I'll try to upload a chapter for this fanfiction at least once a week.

= Xoni: Thanks for the critique, but I'm afraid that if I took you up on all those suggestions I'll end up revising the entire story. It's unfortunate that my imagination is not quite as good as yours, but I'll certainly try my best in the future. As for the sake drinking bit, I don't know about that, but I'll try to work something out.

By the way, for future reference, if you guys have any other suggestions, it might be best if you e-mail them to me instead. Wouldn't want to spoil it for the other readers. : )