Disclaimer: Fushigi Yuugi is the property of Yu Watase. The only character that belongs to me is Mei.
Author's notes: Yay, more reviews! Probably the most I got for a single chapter. Thanks you guys: DrangonGurlMiaka, Scythe, Princess Death, Angel Of AnimeXOXO, Ryogaz Gal, LanaPanther, and Liez. Your wonderful reviews are after all the fuel for my imagination. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. I think it's my favorite. I really had fun writing it. Enjoy!
Chapter 13
Tasuki easily caught up with Tamahome and Mei, who admitted to having lost sight of the priestess. Mei had secretly tried locating Miaka's chi, but failed. She sensed someone else's presence in the woods and wondered if it was a Seiryuu seishi.
'He or she could be the one preventing my attempts,' Mei thought as they searched the woods for Miaka.
"Tasuki," Tamahome said. "Keep looking around here with Mei and I'll check out that area over there."
"Sure thing, Tama." Tasuki and Mei watched the other seishi disappear, all the while calling out Miaka's name.
Tasuki turned to Mei with a frown. "What is it with girls? Is it just in you all to blindly run away into who knows where? Jeez, now I remember why I don't like girls."
Mei stopped her search and looked at Tasuki in surprise. "You don't like girls?" she asked hesitantly.
The bandit had his back turned to Mei and failed to notice her reaction. He continued to talk, not realizing what he was saying.
"What's there to like? They cry all the time, always getting into trouble. They could totally mess up a guy. Take Tamahome for example. He spends more time worrying over Miaka than just loving her. Now that's just plain miserable."
"Oh."
Something in Mei's voice made Tasuki turn around. He saw her crestfallen face as she looked at the ground.
"I didn't know you were that kind of a guy," Mei said softly.
Tasuki's frown disappeared and was replaced by sheer horror. His mouth worked to open and close, but no words seemed to come out as he realized what Mei was thinking. 'Oh gods, she thinks I'm … gay!' Indignation swelled inside him and he tried to convince Mei otherwise.
"What the heck are you talking about?!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Well you said …"
"I know what I said! And I know what's going on in that dirty little mind of yours! I don't go for … I'm not …" Tasuki gave up and thought to himself, 'gods! I can't even say the freakin' word!'
Tasuki looked at Mei intently and came up with an idea. He walked up to her and grabbed her around the waist. Mei let out a gasp, her hands automatically going onto Tasuki's chest.
"W-what are you doing?" she asked and tried to push him away.
"Proving something."
Mei saw the glint in his eyes before he closed the distance between them. Her heart skipped a beat as she felt his lips on hers. The kiss was rough at first, but gradually softened. Her eyes closed as a new, wonderful, and warm feeling flowed through her body. Her hands stopped pushing Tasuki away. She thought of nothing else, but the seishi and his kiss.
Tasuki slowly lifted his head and stared at Mei. Her eyes opened and their gazes locked on to each other. He tried to slow the rapid beating of his heart and gather his thoughts as well. The kiss was suppose to teach Mei a lesson- to show how much of a man he was. What he did not expect was how much he would be affected by it. And how much he would enjoy it. He was compelled to kiss her again as his eyes fell on her lips. But instead Tasuki abruptly let Mei go so that she will not see how much the kiss had affected him.
Mei blinked and watched as the redhead's expression became cool. He smirked at her and said, "Just because I don't like getting involve with girls, doesn't mean I'm not attracted to them." With that said, the seishi walked away nonchalantly.
'What just happened?' Mei silently asked. 'First he was angry, then he was kissing me, and now he acts like it was nothing.' Mei continued to stare at Tasuki's back. 'But it wasn't nothing. I could have sworn he felt as shocked as I was about that kiss.'
She was about to call out to Tasuki when she felt a strong chi power up. It was definitely not one of the Suzaku seishis. And since everyone of Suzaku's was being blocked, it could only mean one thing.
'Seiryuu,' Mei thought. 'That must mean Miaka's near by too.'
Mei gave Tasuki one last glance before quietly running off in the direction of the chi. As she neared a clearing, Mei spotted a tent of some sort and pinpointed the chi inside. Without wasting anytime, she ran up to the tent and pulled the flaps aside.
******
Tasuki turned as Tamahome emerged from the bushes. The other seishi looked distracted as he approached the bandit.
"Any luck?" asked Tasuki.
"What? Uh, no … I mean, kinda." There was a slight pause as if he was trying to gather his thoughts. "I just had a talk with Taiitsukun."
"Yeah? What did the old hag have to say?" commented Tasuki with a smirk.
"She said that Miaka was alright, just resting somewhere."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get her so we can get going!"
"That's the thing. Taiitsukun said she'll take care of Miaka and that we should go ahead to Sairo for the other shinzaho."
"Other shinzaho?!" exploded Tasuki. "She didn't tell us anything about a freakin' shinzaho in Sairo before. Hey Mei, you know anything about this?"
Tasuki turned to where he last saw the girl, but did not see her there. He ran to the spot and frantically looked in all directions.
"Oh for the love of … arggh! Now where did that girl run off to?!"
Tasuki started to take the left trail, but stopped as something inside him said to go the other way. Acting on instinct, the bandit took the right trail at a dead run.
******
"No!" Mei screamed as she saw Miaka lying on the ground. A blond-haired man was walking towards the priestess menacingly.
At her scream, the man stopped in his tracks and looked at Mei with mild surprise. When he spoke however, his voice was emotionless.
"You must be one of the Suzaku seven. I didn't know one of you will be adept enough to trace your priestess' whereabouts. Not with the barrier I erected."
"Stay away from her," Mei threatened and put all she had in the same energy blast she had used earlier on Ashitare.
Mei saw the man put up a shield, but was still thrown against the tent. She did not wait to see if the seishi was dead or not, but ran straight to Miaka.
"Miaka! Wake up! Please be alright."
The priestess moaned and opened her eyes. "Mei?"
"Miaka!" Mei cried out happily. She helped her friend to her feet and placed an arm under her shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"What happened? The last thing I remember was … Nakago! Where's Nakago? Did he …?" Miaka slumped to the ground and began to cry.
Mei assumed that Miaka was talking about the blond guy in the tent. "Don't worry. I stopped him before he can do anything," Mei comforted the other girl and pulled her up again.
"He didn't …?" the brunette asked as they walked out of the tent. "But how did you …"
"No time for that. We have to hurry before…"
"Leaving so soon?"
Both girls whirled around at the softly spoken question and froze. In front them was the blond Seiryuu seishi.
"Nakago," Miaka whispered in fear.
Mei tensed and slowly backed up herself and Miaka from Nakago.
"That was quite something," Nakago said, his cold eyes boring into Mei's. "But definitely not Suzaku's. I sensed it's a different source all together. So tell me, what role do you play in this priestess' little adventure?"
Miaka looked at the other girl in confusion. "Mei, what's he talking about?"
"Nothing. Ignore him. He doesn't know what he's talking about." Mei stared back at the seishi with fierce determination even though she was shaking inside. 'Oh, I shouldn't have come here by myself,' she thought in a panic. 'Tasuki, where are you?'
"So that's how it is, is it? It doesn't matter. I'll find out soon enough." Nakago smirked then released a wave of chi power in their direction.
Mei sensed it at once and pushed Miaka out of the way. The demi-goddess, however, was not so lucky. Mei screamed as she felt the invisible force slam her against a tree. She painfully slid to the ground and thought in disbelief at how strong the Seiryuu seishi was.
"Mei!" Miaka yelled running over to her friend's side.
The priestess' scream was echoed by Tasuki as he came out into the clearing. He had seen Mei push Miaka away, but was still too far from them to prevent Mei from getting hurt. Tamahome was also soon out in the open and surveyed the scene before him. He ran towards the girls as Tasuki moved to face Nakago. Anger swelled inside the bandit, fueled by his fear for Mei's condition.
"How dare you attack defenseless girls?" Tasuki snarled out as a ring of fire circled around him and his tiessen. "You son of a … Recca Shinen!"
A column of fire erupted around a surprised Nakago. But the Seiryuu seishi quickly countered the attack with a barrier and the column of fire collapsed around him. Nakago coldly looked at the redhead and fired a succession of chi blasts in his direction. Tasuki easily dodged each one of them and returned the favor by hurling streams of fire at his opponent.
Mei, with the help of Miaka and Tamahome, slowly stood up. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw Tasuki fighting Nakago alone.
"Tasuki, no!" she cried out and tried to run towards him. Hands held her back as both priestess and seishi warned her to stay back. The demi-goddess turned desperate eyes on Tamahome. "You have to help him. He'll get killed if you don't."
Without wasting any time, Tamahome joined his fellow seishi in the battle. Both girls apprehensively watched as Nakago slammed both Tasuki and Tamahome against the trees.
(A/N: Sorry if I made too much references to people getting slammed against the trees. It is a forest after all, what else can they be slammed into. ^_^ )
Fear squeezed at Mei's heart when both seishis did not get back up on their feet right away.
'What do I do?' Mei asked herself. She watched as Nakago advance on the men. 'I can't let them see me use my powers, specially Tasuki. I don't know how he'll react.'
With her mind resolved, Mei ran closer towards the men and started pelting Nakago with whatever stones she can pick up from the ground. 'This should distract him for awhile and give Tasuki and Tamahome time to recover.' Mei ignored the priestess as she called out for Mei to come back.
The blond seishi turned to face the green-haired girl with an expression of disbelief. "Is this a joke?"
"Leave them alone," commanded Mei. Each word was emphasized with a stone hitting his body.
Nakago lifted a hand to stop the rocks in mid air. "I don't know what game you're playing, girl. But I am growing weary of it."
Tasuki fought the pain all over his body and struggled to get up. Beside him, he heard Tamahome doing the same and gingerly opened one eye. Both eyes widened in horror as he saw Nakago's outstretched hand glowing blue with energy. Tasuki quickly turned his head to see who the target was.
"No!" he screamed. With all the strength and speed he possessed, Tasuki pushed himself off the ground and ran towards Mei.
Author's note: Sorry to leave you guys hanging. Please don't be mad. But if you want to know what happens, you'll just have to wait for the next chapter. ^_^ Well, don't forget to review.
