Disclaimer: (Forgotten in first chapter. Whoops) Ayame, Kohana and Ruri are my creations. Amiboshi and Tasuki belong to my god, Watase Yuu.

Speech

Thoughts

~Phone calls~

Thanks for the reviews. I will continue this while writing my other FY story. Oh, and as if you didn't notice, this story doesn't take into account the first OVA where Amiboshi dies. So we'll just pretend that never happened, kay?

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            Amiboshi stared out the window in his room. He looked down at his arm for a while. He thought about his brother and how he's never get to see messages from his twin ever again.

            "Why did he have to die?" Amiboshi racked his hands through his hair. "Dammit…it's my fault he's dead…Tasuki was right…I should never have…"

Tasuki listened to Amiboshi beat himself up. Tasuki leaned against the wall next to the door. 'Wow…he beats himself up over this more than I thought…guess I shouldn't have yelled at him…' He went to his own room and grabbed an old white t-shirt and stained ripped jeans, his work uniform at the garage.

After changing, he walked by Amiboshi's room "Hey…"

"Huh?" Amiboshi stopped his self pity for a moment to look up.

He stuck his head in the room. "I'm leaving for work. You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking about…"

"Don't." Tasuki cut him off. "You beat yourself up too much."

"I deserve it though…"

"No…no you don't. It wasn't entirely your fault. Don't put all the blame on yourself…"

"Now I know you've taken the real Tasuki. You really should bring him back."

"If I had something in my hand, I'd throw it at you."

Amiboshi smirked. "There's the Tasuki I know."

"Shut up."

"Whatever."

"I'm going now." Tasuki retracted his head.

"See ya later."

"Later." Tasuki grabbed his keys from a table and left the apartment.

He hurried down the stairs, but once he was outside he slowed down. As he walked a lot of little things reminded him of his lost friends.

He saw a really short kid walking with a much taller man, brother or father, he couldn't tell and he couldn't help but think of Mitsukake and Chiriko.

There was a long haired man he saw almost everyday who was always being followed by a crowd of girls that made him think about Hotohori.

At the bar he went to some evenings, the bar tender acted and cross-dressed just like Nuriko used to. A lot of people thought he was weird, but Tasuki didn't care either way.

'How could there be so many things here that remind me of them so much?'

The walk to work seemed longer that day. Maybe because he was thinking about his surroundings so much, thinking about his dead friends.

He walked into the back room of the garage and glanced at the list of jobs to be done that day.

"'Bout time you got in here." One of his coworkers looked up from the car he was working on. "The old man's gettin' annoyed.

"Shut up. I'm 15 minutes early. What the hell's his problem?"

"Jin didn't come in today. No one knows where he is. We're short now."

"You were short before." Tasuki jeered at the shorter man and went to fix one of the other cars.

He snorted. "Shut up."

"Whatever." Tasuki opened the hood and started to look at the engine.

He worked for about an hour when one of the other mechanics came up to his car.

"Yo, Tasuki."

He didn't respond.

"I'm talkin' to you!" He yelled louder.

Still nothing.

"Would you listen to me?!?!" The other mechanic slammed his fist on the hood of the car.

Tasuki looked up too fast and smashed the back of his head into the underside of the hood. "Shit! What the fuck do you want?!?!" He rubbed his head and glared at him. "What is it?"

"We just got a call. Some woman needs her car towed on 5th near Orchid."

"And? You want me to do what about it?"

"Take the tow truck and get her, dumb ass!"

"Why me?"

"Because I'm your superior and I said so."

"Fine." Tasuki muttered and went to find the keys to the tow truck. 'Dumb fuck…'

~*~*~*~

Amiboshi finished putting his laundry in the machine and started it up. As it ran, he went back to his room and flung open the window. He had a pretty good view of the city from the third story window. "Suboshi would have liked it here…" He pulled his flute out of its case and began to play. Even if he didn't have any special powers anymore, he could still play.

The melody wafted down to the streets below where people who weren't completely occupied with themselves heard it. A few stopped and listened for a moment, but then realized they had somewhere else to be. It did catch the attention of one person in particular.

Ruri.

She was running home from an afternoon class and her path lead her past the boys' building.

'Huh…I didn't know there were any musicians around here…whoever it is, he's good.' Although she wanted to see who it was, she had to get home. She did see the person who was playing sitting in the window. She memorized where he was and kept heading home.

'I'll find him again…'

Amiboshi paid no attention to the people down on the streets. He just played for the fun of it now.

After a few more melodies, he tucked the flute away and got down from the window. He went to his closet and grabbed his work clothes. "Well, off to earn my keep…again…"

~*~*~*~

Tasuki parked the tow truck in front of the woman's car when he finally found her. She was leaning on the side of the car with her arms crossed. The car didn't look that old so he wondered what was wrong with it.

He got out and walked over to her car. "You called for a tow truck?"

"Yeah…damn thing stopped and now it won't start…" She muttered.

"Can you pop the hood?" She nodded and got back in. "How old's the car?" He asked as he opened it up to check it out.

"A couple of years I think." She got out again looked in with him. His bright red hair surprised her. "Is your hair naturally that color?"

"Yeah." He poked around the engine. "Why?"

His voice was sounding more familiar. "Tasuki?"

He was surprised she knew his name. Once again, he lifted his head to fast and the back of his head hit the roof. "Ah! Shit!" He rubbed his head and looked at her. "Ayame?"

"Oh jeez, I'm sorry, Tasuki!" She cringed. "How bad did that hurt?"

"Eh…2nd time today. I'm getting used to it…" He muttered and shook his head to get rid of the pain. "My fault anyway."

"I didn't know you were a mechanic." She looked at him with wide eyes. "Lemme see your head. I hope you didn't get a bruise…" She reached out to grab him.

"I never mentioned it before but I kinda fell into it…and I'm fine." He moved away from her hand. "No need to look at my head."

"But if you hit it twice, you probably have at least a bump." She went to grab his arm again.

He moved again. "Believe me, I've done worse. A lot worse." He thought about all the broken bones Tamahome had given him when he was evil.

"Come on! Just lemme look!" She grabbed at him one more time and caught him this time.

"Quit it! You want me to look at your car or not?" He squirmed in her grip. "I'll put ice on it later if it'll make you feel better!"

"What's the matter with you? I just wanna see!" She pulled him down so his head was closer to her eye level.

"Women…" He muttered when he finally gave up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She rifled through his hair a bit and found a big bump on the back of his head.

"OW! Don't touch it!" He recoiled from her. "And I didn't mean anything bad by it. It's just you've got this overprotective mother thing going on." He went back to the car engine.

"I do not!" She protested. "Even if I did, what's wrong with that? You have a bad relationship with your mother or something?"

He looked up at her and smirked. "Yep. I ran away from home 5 years ago."

"Oh!" She covered her mouth with her hand. "Well, I blew that one."

"Yep." He chuckled. "You sure did."

"Shut up you…you…"

"Wonderful mechanic who's in control of what happens to your car at the moment?" He gave her a fanged smirk.

She blushed and tried to hide it. "Maybe I'll call you wonderful if you fix my car."

"Well, it's nothing I can't fix here. Just a loose wire."

"Are you serious? That's what killed my car?"

"It happens." He went back to the truck to get a few tools.

"I hate this car."

He came back. "I'd rather you hate the car and not me."

~*~*~*~

Ruri ran back to the boys' building. "Now which window was that guy in? Oh yeah…" She went into the building.

"Can I help you miss?" The landlady came out of an office as she was coming in.

"Maybe…I was looking for someone who lives on the 3rd floor of this building. He's a musician I think."

"Oh, I know who you mean. I can't think of his name off hand, but he left from work a little while ago."

"I missed him? When will he come back?"

"Not till late. You're better off trying again tomorrow before noon."

"Okay. I really want to meet that guy. He's so good…"

"He is very talented. He lives in apartment 3G"

"Do you know where he works? I'd really like to meet him as soon as possible."

"I know he works in a doctors' office, but that's about it."

'Somebody doesn't know her tenants…no name, no work place, how does she keep in contact with them?' "Well, thanks anyway. I'll try later then."

"Alright dear."

Ruri left the building. "Figures…" She mumbled to herself as she headed down the street. "I really did want to meet him…" She went into the park to take a short cut.

~*~*~*~

Tasuki finished fixing Ayame's car. "Try it now."

She turned the key and it started up fine. "So what's this gonna cost me?"

"Nothin'."

"What? Are you sure?"

"It was just a loose wire. It's not really worth it to use the paper I'd have to write the bill on." He shrugged.

"Really? Okay…if you say so."

"See ya then." He began to head back to the truck.

"Oh, one more thing."

"Huh?" He turned back to her.

"You are a wonderful mechanic." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and went back to her car. She smiled and waved. "Later!"

Tasuki was left dumbfounded as she drove off. 'Shit…I'm getting soft or somethin'…' He climbed back into the truck and went back to the garage.

~*~*~*~

Later that night, Ruri called up Ayame.

"Mushi mushi? Kurogawa residence. Ayame speaking."

~Hey, it's me.~

"Hey Ruri. What's up?"

~Man…I was running around in circles today…~

"What happened?"

~You know that class I've been taking that ends around 2?~

"What about it?"

~Well, when was going home today, I heard the most beautiful music ever coming out of an apartment window.~

"The most beautiful ever?" Ayame sat on her couch. "Don't you think that's a bit of an exaggeration?"

~Nu uh! I've never heard anything like it! I wanted to find the guy who was playing so bad, but I didn't get a chance to.~

"Why not?"

~The land lady said he left for work by the time I got there and couldn't tell me anything else about him!~

"You serious? No name?"

~Nope. Makes you wonder, don't it?~

"I'll say."

Kohana walked in on her sister's conversation. "Who called?"

"Ruri."

Kohana hopped onto the couch with Ayame and another hand set. "Hi Ruri!"

~Hi Kohana. You take another phone?~

"Uh huh! Ruri, guess who fixed ne-chan's car today!"

~Who?~

"Guess!"

"Kohana, it's not important."

~Your car broke down?~

"Yeah but it was no big deal."

"Yeah it was! 'Cause Tasuki came and fixed it!"

~Really? He's a mechanic?~

"Yeah. A good one too."

~So is the bill murder?~

"Tas-chan did it for free! Isn't he nice? I think he likes ne-chan!"

~Is she telling the truth? He really did it for nothing? Tas-chan?~

"Yeah…but nothing was seriously wrong with it. He said it wasn't worth the paper he'd need to write the bill. Don't ask about Tas-chan…"

~Well, you gotta admit, it was still nice of him…~

"True…even if I did make him bash his head on the hood of the car…"

~You did what?!?!~

"It was an accident!" Ayame protested. "I didn't realize it was him until he was looking at the engine. I said his name and he got up a little too fast."

~Was he mad?~

"No. He likes ne-chan too much to get mad at her!" Kohana giggled.

"Gimme that phone." Ayame snatched the handset from her younger sister.

"Hey!" Kohana made a jump for it.

"Come on Kohana! It's time for bed." Ayame picked up Kohana. "Ruri, can you hang on for a sec?"

~Sure.~

Ayame got Kohana to go to bed after a few minutes of pleading and a quick bedtime story from her new favorite book. Then she picked up the phone again. "Still there?"

~Yeah. She in bed?~

"Finally."

~What finally got her to bed?~

"I read her another part of that fairy tale she likes."

~I'm surprised she's still interested in that one. Most kids don't have attention spans long enough for a book like that. You've been reading it to her for like 2 weeks.~

"It's a good book though. Emperors, bandits, gods…good versus evil, love and betrayal. I love the book as much as she does. It's got what I want in a good story."

~It's just a book. And that sounds soooo sappy.~

"I know. I know…"

~So tell me more about your meeting with Tasuki. Did he look at good then as he did this morning?~

"What?!?!"

~You cannot deny that Tasuki is one fine guy. Even though he isn't really my type, I still like to look.~

"I know. Amiboshi is more your type." She giggled.

~Ha. Ha. Whatever, now spill! I wanna know how he looked!~

"Okay, okay…" She paused. "He did look really good. He has this old white t-shirt on and these tight jeans that were kinda ripped and stained, but oh God! He looked good! It's a good look for him."

~So are you gonna go out with him or not? Sounds like you want to.~

"I do. I really do…shoot…I meant to ask him about that…"

~Going out?~

"Well, part of it. I told him I'd go out with him if he got Amiboshi to help you watch Kohana. I meant to ask Tasuki if he asked Amiboshi. I completely forgot."

~Not your fault. You must have been to busy looking at those tight jeans of his.~

Ayame snorted when Ruri giggled. "Not funny!"

~Oh but it is!~

"Do you think that would be alright with you though? You know watching Kohana with Amiboshi?"

~What? Oh totally! Amiboshi's so cute. I'd be happy with any time I get to have with him.~

"I hope he can get Amiboshi to do it. I do wanna go out with him…"

~Amiboshi's nice. He should agree.~

"Are you gonna look for the mystery musician again tomorrow?"

~I think so. I really want to meet that guy.~

"What if he's mean? Or ugly?"

~He can't be mean. Or ugly. His music was too beautiful.~

Ayame made a gagging sound. "Ugh…that was so sweet I think I got cavities! Could you sound any more like a fairy tale damsel in distress?"

~Shut up!~

"Sorry. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Maybe I'll join you on your musician hunt tomorrow."

~Why? So you can see if he's ugly or not?~

"No! I just want to see who you're so enthralled with. Maybe he is cute. I do like Tasuki, but I can still look, right?"

~Oh course, girl!~

They both giggled and hung up.

Ayame smiled and went to get changed for bed.

~*~*~*~

Tasuki stood at the freezer looking for an ice pack. He found one and wrapped it in a dishtowel. Amiboshi walked into the kitchen as Tasuki sat at the table and put it on the back of his head.

"What's wrong?"

"I hit my head twice today."

"On what?"

"A couple of car hoods."

"Ow." Amiboshi grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and sat with him. "Bruise?"

"Nah…just a bump. And I've had worse. My ego's hurt more than my head. The second time I hit my head it was in front of Ayame…"

"Really? What happened?"

Tasuki recalled his workday to the younger seishi except for the part where Ayame kissed him.

"That's definitely an ego buster…"

"Tell me about it…"

"Did you really not have to bill Ayame?"

"Well…yes and no. It really wasn't much work but I could have billed her…"

"And you didn't because?"

"I gave her a break okay?"

"It'd be more convincing if you admitted you like her."

Tasuki groaned and tossed a dishtowel into Amiboshi's face.

"Would you cut that out?!?!" Amiboshi growled angrily.

"What? This?" Tasuki whipped another at him and laughed.

"Yeah! That!" Amiboshi balled one up and tossed it back at Tasuki.

Tasuki swatted down the towel with his free hand. "Are you free Saturday evening?"

"I think so. Why?"

"Would you wanna help Ruri watch Kohana while I take Ayame out?"

"You two make plans already? Remember, sharing is caring!"

"So is not busting your nose." Tasuki sneered. "But anyway…she agreed to go out for a night if you'd help Ruri watch Kohana."

"I see. Well…" He paused for a moment, thinking. "Sure. I'll do it."

"Cool. I'll call Ayame in the morning and see if this'll work out then."

"Alright." Amiboshi got up from the table. "I'm going to bed then."

"Night."

"Tasuki and Ayame! Sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Amiboshi began to run when he heard Tasuki growl and his chair move across the kitchen floor.

"AMIBOSHI! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!!!!!!"

Amiboshi laughed and made it to his room before Tasuki could rip his head off.

"If you kill me, you can't go out with Ayame!"

"Dammit Amiboshi! That's blackmail!" Tasuki pounded on Amiboshi's door.

"No way! I'm just trying to keep my head!"

"You wouldn't be in danger of losing it if you hadn't opened your big mouth!"

"Go to sleep Tasuki! It's late!"

"Fine! But you better watch it!" Tasuki left Amiboshi alone, though he was still royally pissed off. 'Of all the seishi there were…why the hell is it me and him?'

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Well, what did y'all think? Review please! Next time: Ruri finds her little musician and everyone has an interesting night out!

~*~Shadow Hawk~*~