DISCALIMER: I do not own Fushigi Yugi, but I love it. I also do not own your reviews, but I love them too! (Hint hint not-so-subtle hint.)

AUTHOR'S NOTES: It's finally spring ^_^ ~huddles in her blanket~ Then why is it so damn COLD?! Just above freezing all yesterday! Kaze-chan Popcicle! O.O And this is the south, for gods' sakes!

Actually, the south is good for some things. Like growing Japanese trees. We have a lot of them. We have a Japanese maple, a weeping cherry, and a yoshino (I think it's called that, I'm not sure). I'm fairly sure the yoshino is the cherry tree that the sakura petals fall from every year; in any case, when it gets warm enough (usually in April) our yoshino blooms with thousands of pink petals that last for only a few days. It's planted very close to the sidewalk, so it's easily visible from the street; I love driving up and seeing the big pink snowball (as I used to call it). Then the wind blows and the petals just come dancing down... I would swear that if you lay there long enough you'd be buried in pink petals. It's so pretty. Although they don't like coming out of my hair! ^_^

This chappie is for l. and kourin. Thank you so much! ~major hugs~ You guys and the other reviewers keep me going. I know this story looks a lot like some others, but I'm glad some people are still willing to give it a chance. I love you all! And now, on with the chapter! Good LORD I need more sleep...



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"SUGOI!" Nuriko yelled from the backseat of the convertible. "This is so much faster than a horse! And smoother!"

"Having fun Nuriko?" Reijirou called back over the wind, grinning.

"WAI!"

Risako laughed. "I guess so."

Nuriko was half-standing in order to see over the windshield, bracing himself on the headrests, watching buildings and lampposts and other cars go whizzing by at astonishing speeds. The wind didn't seem to affect him, and he was laughing like a little kid at this new, exhilarating experience.

"Reijirou-kun, can I ask you a question?" Risako piped up.

"Why not?" Reijirou picked up speed and passed a slow-moving truck.

"Reijirou, can I do this sometime?!"

"IYA!" they both yelled at Nuriko.

"Aww, damn." Nuriko sat down again with a huff.

Reijirou shuddered. "He'd be worse than Chiaki… What's your question, Risako-san?"

"Why didn't you want Taka and Miaka to know about Gesshin?"

Reijirou sighed. He'd been expecting something like this. "Remember the mugger yesterday?"

"'Course."

"That was him."

"NANI?!"

"Hai, that was Ijiri Gesshin. I didn't realize it myself until I heard him yell – and cuss." He smiled ironically into the review mirror. "That baseball cap hid his hair and face really well."

She whistled. "No kidding. Damn, I didn't recognize him at all…"

"I was scared you would. Yesterday I really did catch him, and I beat him up pretty bad for hurting an innocent woman. I started carrying him back, but he kept pleading and finally I let him go. He won't do it again, I know."

"Why'd you let him go?! He needed to be turned over to the police! He's the one who hurt Miaka!"

Reijirou sighed again. "You don't know him. I was going to turn him in, but I know him too well to think he meant to hurt her. He showed up at my house this morning, and we had a real long talk... after I again threatened to turn him in. He'd only done it to get some money and pay his rent."

"Couldn't he get a job instead? Why'd he try to steal?"

"It's a long story." He grimaced. "See, when he was eleven, before I met him, his mom ran off with this other man, leaving him and his little sister with their father. His father had never really been able to hold a steady job, and they always barely scraped by. But after his wife left, Ijiri-san took to drinking after work. Not much at first, but it gradually got worse, and a couple years later when I first met Gesshin he was a full drunkard. Gesshin was taking it upon himself to take care of his father and sister, got a part-time job even though he was too young. His father still worked, but more and more frequently forgot to pay the rent on their apartment and went on drinking binges. Their place is a pigsty, bottles everywhere. Gesshin's smart, and he passed the entrance exams to get into our high school with me helping him, but he dropped out soon after to work more. He shielded Mitsuyo, his younger sister, from the worst of their father, but soon after Gesshin dropped out Ijiri-san began hitting him. For the past year and a half he's been working as a short-order cook, scraping by on the rent. Mitsuyo managed to stay in school, and she's doing pretty well, in high school now, but Gesshin lost his job a couple weeks ago. That's why he tried to steal Miaka's purse."

Risako and Nuriko had remained silent, slightly in shock. "But… Can't anyone help?" Risako asked, her voice quivering.

Reijirou shook his head. "I've tried to give him money in the past. Gesshin won't accept charity. Calls it pity. He refuses to move out until he can take Mitsuyo with him, and also refuses to go back to school. He's afraid the drunkard will go after her. He's looking for a new job now, but it's going slow. And so…"

"He did the only thing he could think of to help his sister," Nuriko remarked quietly.

"Hai."

"Red hair… bad language… strong sense of loyalty… thievery… I'd say you're right, Reijirou." Nuriko looked up at the lampposts speeding by overhead. "He has to be Tasuki. There's no other explanation."

"That's what I thought." Reijirou's voice was grim. "You two don't say anything to him about this. He doesn't like people to know. He'd probably kill me if he knew I'd told you. And Nuriko, NO appearing to him before Miaka explains everything. He's liable to go through the window if you do!"

Nuriko giggled. "That's Tasuki, all right."



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~




A few minutes later, Reijirou pulled up to Risako's apartment building. She opened the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk, reaching in the back to get her backpack. "Arigato Reijirou-kun. I could've walked, but this was faster."

"No problem. See you in class tomorrow?"

She grinned. "Hai. And don't forget the reading!" she chanted in a sing-song tone.

He groaned. "You had to say that, didn't you?"

"'Course! Sayonara!" She waved and disappeared into the building.

"Ne, Reijirou," came Nuriko's voice above his head. Reijirou looked up and his jaw dropped as he saw Nuriko sitting cross-legged in the air over the passenger's seat.

"D-D-Did I know you could do that?"

Nuriko grinned and floated down into the seat. "Iya. It's easier to move around like this when the bracelets are just bracelets." Reijirou glanced at Nuriko's wrists and saw the bracelets had indeed returned to their original state. "Can I ask you a question?"

"As long as you don't start floating again, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Nuriko laughed. "No promises, remember it is easier for me."

Reijirou groaned. "Go on then." He pulled away from the building, mentally trying to review the directions Risako had given him back to the university. He knew his way home from there.

"Why do you still use san and kun with each other?"

"Who, me and Risako?"

"Hai."

Reijirou shrugged and made a left. "We don't know each other that well. We knew each other slightly in high school, I had a couple classes with her, but we didn't do anything together. Yesterday she was the only one I knew in Taka's class, and I was the only one she knew, so we started talking and sort of… ended tangled up in this."

Nuriko gave him a sideways glance. "Well, I'd get to know her better. If the feeling on this is any indication, we'll be working with her a lot on this. Remember what Taka said she was."

"'A driving force,'" Reijirou repeated grimly, swinging a hard right.

"Hai. She'll be important. How well you know her may be the difference between life and death." Nuriko looked up at the sky. "I can't see our stars. There's so much light here, in…"

"Tokyo," Reijirou supplied.

Nuriko nodded. "Tokyo. It obscures the stars, turns the black sky gray. I used to be able to look up and see all seven of the Suzaku constellations, but here… I've been trying, but it hasn't happened."

"Light pollution." Reijirou sighed. "Where we lived on Hokkaido until I was ten, it was kind of small, not much light. There was this big open field, and sometimes our entire family would take blankets out there for the night, and lie on them and sky watch."

"That sounds like fun." Nuriko smiled wistfully. "After Kourin died, no one in my family seemed to want to do those kinds of things. We drifted apart a lot. Even Rokou and I seemed to be more separated. Although we still loved each other very much, my becoming Kourin seemed to scare him a little."

"I don't think I blame him," Reijirou muttered.

Nuriko grinned. "I heard that. Oh well, can't change the past."

"Iya. We're almost home, just a few more minutes." They'd just passed the university.

Nuriko punched him lightly on the shoulder. "It's not fair. You know so much about me, but I don't know anything about you. Care to share?"

Reijirou shrugged. "Why not? I'm 19, in college now, have an older sister named Chiaki and a younger brother named Hajime." Reijirou glanced at Nuriko. "I should probably warn you. Chiaki and I are very close, and look a lot alike."

Nuriko gaped slightly. "Kourin…"

"Hai, it's possible. I'm not certain. Will you know?"

"Definitely."

There was something in Nuriko's voice that Reijirou couldn't identify. He briefly looked at him, then turned his attention back to the road. "I'm not really a school person, but I'm good at English and other languages. In high school I ran track and swam. We moved here from Hokkaido when I was ten because my father got a job transfer. That's the basics."

Nuriko grinned impishly. "What, no girlfriend?"

"Iya!" Reijirou tried to whack him, but his hand went right through Nuriko's head as Nuriko grinned even more mischievously. "I'm too busy."

"Well maybe Risako-"

"Go after her yourself if you're so interested."



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~




"Mom! Hajime! I'm home!" Reijirou swung open the door to the apartment and went in, Nuriko floating along behind him (which still kind of freaked him out).

"Hello, Reijirou-kun." His father called, folding a newspaper.

"Hi Dad, how'd it go at work today?" He walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, Nuriko still behind him and looking around at everything with much interest. Reijirou had to keep reminding himself to act normal; after all, his father couldn't see his new "twin" that was ghosting about the apartment.

"Not bad. Lost an account, but got two more, so they're not that mad."

Reijirou grinned as he poured his coffee. "Advertising is hell, that's why I'm not doing it."

"We'll see, we'll see. I think there's dinner in the fridge for you."

"Sugoi! I'm starving." He opened the fridge, Nuriko watching with great interest, and pulled out the plate of chicken and mashed potatoes that was sitting on the bottom shelf. "She forgot again." He also pulled out a small bag of shredded cheddar cheese and dumped a liberal amount on the potatoes.

His father grimaced. "She didn't forget, she knows no one else in the family likes that! She spared us this time."

Reijirou grinned and put the plate in the microwave, setting it on high for two and a half minutes. Nuriko bent over and watched the plate spin round and round in the black box with fascination. "Right. Did I get any phone calls or mail today?"

"Iie. Apparently Gesshin was here early this afternoon, though, he left a note."

"Where?"

"Under there." His father pointed to the same large photo magnet that had concealed Chiaki's note that morning. Reijirou pried it off the door for the second time that day and caught the falling piece of paper. "I am so gonna toss this thing," he muttered at the magnet, before unfolding the paper. Halfway through he whooped.

"What is it?" His father asked, opening the newspaper again.

"He's got a new job! One of the places near the university took him."

"That's good."

The microwave dinged, making Nuriko yelp and jump back in surprise. Reijirou muffled laughter and glanced at his father, but he was happily ensconced in his paper again and didn't look like he'd heard anything unusual. Reijirou guessed that Nuriko could be inaudible as well as invisible to who he wanted. Handy, especially if he was gonna keep exclaiming about modern conveniences. Reijirou pulled the plate out, grabbed a fork, knife, and napkin, and headed down the hall to his room to eat and do the reading for Taka's class.

He didn't make it. Halfway there the door to Hajime's room flew open, spilling his little brother and two friends Katai and Shirai into the hallway. "Aniki! Aniki! Come listen to us!" Hajime was excited, his light brown hair spilling into his wide green eyes. "You said you would, and we have the concert tomorrow!"

Reijirou grinned. "Let me eat first, I'll be done in about 15 minutes, all right?"

"Hai!" The light brown and two dark blond heads disappeared back into the room, shutting the door behind them to muffle the noise.

"Ne, Reijirou…" Nuriko said.

"What?" He looked back at Nuriko inquisitively.

Nuriko just shook his head. "Never mind, it's not important."

Reijirou shrugged. "If you say so." He started walking again, arriving in his room with no further interruptions. Nuriko drifted in, trying to look in all directions at once as Reijirou suppressed laughter, closing the door, setting his plate on his desk and sitting in the chair. "Nothing like two dinners." He mixed the cheese into the potatoes and began to eat quickly, watching Nuriko.

Nuriko was looking at everything: the posters of his favorite bands on the wall, the shelf of books over the bed, the other shelf over the desk that held the track and swimming trophies and medals, the desk and all its strange implements, the photos of famous athletes, the picture from the senior dance in high school (where Reijirou had actually enjoyed wearing a tux), a photo of he and Chiaki goofing off at a hamburger stand, trying to squirt each other with the ketchup and mustard. He was floating every which way so fast it looked like he was flying, and he exclaimed loudly over everything he saw. The bracelets morphed into the arm guards as he came to Reijirou's open closet and started pawing through it, marveling at the clothes and shoes.

Reijirou grinned and walked over to the closet, pulling out a shortish yellow jacket. "Here, try it on."

"Really? Thanks!" Nuriko grabbed it out of his hands and walked over to the mirror on the wall, pulling the jacket on quickly. It fit him well, and he stood grinning at his reflection in the mirror. "I could get used to it here."

"That might not be a bad thing. C'mon, lemme have it back." Reijirou held out his hand for the jacket, beckoning at him. Nuriko reluctantly took it off and handed it to him, but watched with interest as he pulled a hanger off the bar and put the jacket on it. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at the hanger.

"Oh, this? This is a coat hanger," Reijirou said. "We put clothes on it that we don't want to get creased or wrinkled."

"That's a good idea, all we had were drawers. My dresses always had these great big folds in them after they came out."

"I bet." He turned away. Reijirou was still having trouble with the fact that Nuriko had been, in essence, a girl for eight years. He couldn't picture it. He shook his head slightly and stuck the hanger back in the closet.

"Nani, Reijirou?" Nuriko asked, sounding serious. For once.

"Nothing."

Nuriko snorted. "Remember, I'm you, so I know you're lying. Now, let's see, what could you be upset about now… Ah, yes. My living as a woman." Reijirou turned back and blinked at Nuriko, who grinned widely. "I understand, Reijirou. After all, it IS kind of weird, someone being so distraught over their sister's death that they literally become her. But it was the only thing I could think of, and no one could stop me. So I was Kourin. For a good eight years Ryuen didn't exist. It was my choice. You're you. You never had to deal with loss like I did, and so you can't imagine doing what I did. That's one of the great differences between us." He punched him lightly in the arm again. "So don't worry about it. I may talk about it sometimes, but I'm like I am when I died, and when I died I was Ryuen again. In other words, male. So I won't be showing up in makeup or prancing around in dresses. Or trying to make you do it." His grin widened. "Who knows, I might even decide to chase after some cute girl."

Reijirou threw back his head and laughed. "THAT I'll believe when I see!"

"Nii-chan!" The door to his room burst open, and Hajime ran in. "It's been 15 minutes! You ready yet?!"

"Hai, hai, I'll be right there!"

"Wai!" Hajime ran back to his room.

Nuriko blinked at Reijirou. "What're those three doing again?"

"Their band concert is tomorrow night. I think they have solos, so they're rehearsing together."

"What's 'band'?"

"A very large group of people playing instruments, or a group of professionals. In this case, band generally sounds bad, but they have fun."

"Then let's go listen."



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~




Reijirou had to admit that Hajime and his friends were pretty good, which was probably the reason they were playing the solos. They were short by quite a few instruments to be able to play the entire song, but each demonstrated their own solo admirably, Hajime on saxophone, Shirai on trumpet, and Katai on flute. Reijirou sat on Hajime's bed and applauded after each one finished, while Nuriko sat beside him and watched with an interesting expression on his face, half intrigue and half studious observation.

As soon as he was able Reijirou slipped out, the reading weighing heavily on his mind. He wanted to get it over with before midnight.

"Reijirou," Nuriko said after they were in his room with the door closed. "Do you realize that those kids are Amiboshi and Suboshi?"

"NANI?!"

"I thought so when I first saw them, but now I'm sure. They're the Seiryu twins."

"But… but…" Reijirou stuttered, then groaned. "How much else is gonna happen to me today?"

"You never know until the day is over."

"So what do we do with them?"

"What else? We tell Miaka, and ask her if she can bring Yui over soon."

"Nani?" Reijirou was confused again. "Why Yui?"

"Amiboshi and Suboshi were Seiryu seishi. Only the Seiryu no Miko can call them into this world. That means Yui."

"This day just keeps getting stranger and stranger…"

"Reijirou!" his father called. "Gesshin's here again!"

"Hey man!" Gesshin exclaimed, bursting into the room almost before Enomoto-san had finished speaking. "Look!" He held up a shiny laminated card, which had a fairly bad digital photo of him on it. "It's the badge fer my new job! Pretty cool, if I do say so m'self."

"Just don't start any fires there, all right? I eat there sometimes," Reijirou remarked dryly.

"Hey, those weren't my fault man! Things jus' seem to keep goin' up in flames!"

"Like your hair!" Nuriko piped up from his corner.

"The fuck?!" Gesshin swung around to face Nuriko, who waved at him cheerfully.

"YAAAAAA!" Gesshin jumped, falling out Reijirou's fortunately open window.

Reijirou and Nuriko leaned out the window side by side as they heard him splat on the sidewalk just a floor below.

"Nuriko, what did I ask you not to do?"

"Appear to him?"

"Bingo."



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Reijirou knelt on the ground next to Gesshin, looking him over. He'd be a bit black and blue in the morning, but other than that, and the fact that he'd been knocked out (which Reijirou didn't think would do anything to him, he had a very hard head) he was fine. "Why'd you do that?" he asked, as he picked up his friend's unconscious form and began walking into the building.

"I wanted to see if he'd really go out the window." Nuriko grinned. "He's as predictable as Tasuki."

Reijirou laughed. "I can't say I blame you. That was classic."

"Reijirou?! What happened to Gesshin?!" his sister's voice called to him from the curb. A car was pulling into the street behind her. Reijirou couldn't see who was driving, but he suspected it was that guy Suezo.

"Idiot fell out my window."

"Oh, is that all?"

"Hai." They grinned at each other as Chiaki walked up to him and Nuriko.

Reijirou heard a sharp intake of breath from his "twin". "Kourin…"



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AUTHOR'S NOTES II: Yes, we know, I am the Incarnation of Pure Evil. Hee hee hee hee hee...

Teenage boys are nothing but bottomless food pits.

Is it just me or did this chapter move too fast? Eh well, I'll do better next time. If you have any questions about anything, ask me! ^_^

One last thing. Just a quick poll. How old do you guys think I am? I'm actually pretty interested in these sorts of things. I have this obsession with knowing everyone's ages and knowing the time, but that's beside the point. Whenever I ask this question I get varying responses, and it always amuses me. So what about it? How old am I? ^_^ Ja mata!

PS-- If you know my age (Mousie, Bashou, Rabbit, etc...) don't say ANYTHING! Or face the threat of being thwapped!