DISCLAIMER:
DISCLAIMER II: One of these days I'll get this right on the first try, but until that day, just assume that any blank disclaimers mean "Me No Own." Which is true.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sigh... real food, reaaaaaaalll foooooood... Kaze-chan just got her wisdom teeth out, and while she's not in pain, she's being deprived of real food. I need to stop talking in the third person. I've been living on popsicles and jello for the past two days, and I don't like either of the options all that much... Sigh. Tomorrow Kaze-chan, tomorrow and you can have crackers.
I forgot AGAIN! ~GLOMPS Stormlight~ You're my 100th reviewer for this fic! You are awesomely cool! (As is everyone else who reviews!) Wait, weren't you also the 50th? Huh, fate moves in mysterious ways ~grins~
Quick question-and-answer session this time, I think. Brace yourselves! ^_^ (Dad, please don't cook those biscuits! I'll want one! Noooooo!)
Chibigreenwizardmon, that's definitely one of the possibilities. A couple others exist, I'm gonna leave you all hanging until the end ^_~ Yes, I am the Incarnation of Pure Evil.
Kryssa, how do you get so accurate predictions of what's gonna be said in the next chapter? Do you look at my site or something? Not that it's bad if you do, but if you don't it's kinda telepathic! ^_^ You'll see what I mean.
CLAMPraven, no, Risako is not Shifan's reincarnation. If she was, they'd have the same color hair. Since they don't (Risako's is red, Shifan's was blue), they can't be ^_^ That clear it up?
Keimei, I'm sorry about making you wait for 16! I didn't really have much choice in the matter! But hey, I'm back, and back on a fairly normal schedule! ^_^ Happy?
And of course, props to Flying Heart, Lib-chan, Evil Hunter, Draconsis, and Stormlight (yet again) for reviewing ~glomps everyone~ Thank you all!
Reijirou could only watch Ryobe- Tokaki- whatever name he was going by now as mute as a log, eyes wide, Nuriko beside him not doing much better. Or, any better, really. They were both gaping, although Nuriko maintained enough control to close his mouth a few times. It always dropped open again though.
Hoshiko/Subaru started giggling, and her husband looked at her inquisitively. "It's like some bizarre carnival mirror."
Reijirou shook his head violently, forcing his wits back into place, the ends of his hair stinging his eyes and cheeks. "Oh g-god… w-what happened?" Well, shaky was better than nothing.
"Well, it was before Risako," Ryobe/Tokaki began, leaning back in his chair and puffing on his pipe. "Quite a bit before. In fact, before we got married, although we already knew each other and were dating."
Hoshiko nodded. "Yes, one day in winter we were going home from a movie when this-"
"Mom? Dad? What's going on?" The white light vanished, and Ryobe turned around to look behind him. Risako had changed clothes to faded jeans and an old sweatshirt, weekend wear. Reijirou finally and thankfully remembered it was Saturday - no classes, and he was still off work because of his injuries. "Why're you talking about before you got married? You almost never do that."
"Eh-heh… Nothing's going on, Risa-chan." Ryobe plastered a casual expression on his face rapidly. "We're just talking with your friend."
Risako raised one eyebrow in a combination skeptical/weirded-out expression. "Ohhhh…kay. If you say so." She sat down on the other side of Nuriko from Reijirou, watching her parents in a mildly quizzical manner.
"Really, we were just having small talk until you came back."
Reijirou rolled his eyes. He might have been a lot older, but Ryobe was being a - Sorry, but it's true! - very obvious idiot.
Hoshiko apparently thought so as well. She groaned lightly and smacked Ryobe in the back of the head, making Nuriko smother a giggle. "Oh for heaven's sakes, just tell her! She knows more than you think she does already!"
"What?! Why didn't you tell me instead of hitting me?!" Ryobe sulked briefly until he was met by a sharp glare aimed at him by his wife, then he sighed and sat up straight in his chair again. "Shall I do it again?"
"Yes, and be careful this time."
Ryobe muttered something under his breath and closed his eyes, looking for all the world like an average middle-aged man who was possibly going to take a nap before dinner. But the average middle-aged man does not suddenly have glowing kanji appear on his face.
Reijirou sighed audibly with relief as the brightness was very reasonable, making a nice statement without costing him a retina. Nuriko giggled, watching as Risako's lower jaw slowly fell open, her eyes locked on her father. "D… D… Dad?"
He nodded gravely, serious once again. "It's true. Your mother as well."
Risako turned unbelieving eyes on Hoshiko, who stood and held out her arms silently, a calm expression on her face that Risako could not match. She raised herself up to sit on the back of the couch, inching backwards, away from her mother, then pushed off and scrambled over to the floor, standing silently and gaping, her eyes wide and shining with tears of shock.
"Risa-chan…" Hoshiko's voice was steady and she simply remained where she was, holding her arms out to her daughter.
"You two… You two also…" Risako swallowed a small hiccup, taking a deep breath. "You two… could be… gone… after… NO!"
"Risako."
"NO! I WON'T BELIEVE IT!" The obvious weight of little sleep, the events of the night before still echoing in her mind, and the newly added shock of her parents' identities broke over her in an almost-visible wave, making her stumble back two paces, in the direction of the hall. Reijirou jumped to his feet, Nuriko shooting up next to him, both of them watching her anxiously.
Ryobe stood slowly, grandly, giving her a pointed look. "Whether you believe it or not, it won't change. You know that."
"NO! IT'S NOT TRUE!" She turned and fled down the hall, Reijirou dashing unthinkingly after her, she reaching her room first and slamming the door in his face. He grabbed the handle and tried turning it, but it wouldn't budge.
Damnit. She locked the door! "Risako!" He pounded on the door with his fist, not caring how much noise he made or if anything broke. "Risako! Open up! Risako!" No answer. He continued pounding, until a hand caught his wrist and pulled him around.
Hoshiko regarded him for a long moment, frighteningly calm, and Reijirou suddenly saw Subaru in her. He'd had his doubts, she offering no proof of who she claimed to be, but the woman looking at him now couldn't be anything less than a force of nature in and of herself, capable of keeping Tokaki's drooling over other women to a minimum and helping save the Suzaku seishi. She nodded and let him go, putting her face up to the door and calling loudly enough to be heard inside. "Risako, dear, open the door."
There was no answer, but the sounds of choked sobs came faintly to their ears.
"Risako, open the door. Now."
Still no answer. Reijirou looked at Hoshiko, eyes slightly wide, wondering what they should do. He might have had an older sister, but he couldn't remember her doing something like this in all the nineteen years he'd known her.
And Hoshiko was getting fed up. The understanding, sympathetic expression was erased as her brows furrowed together and her eyes narrowed at the door. "Stop acting like a child!" she snapped. "Come out of there now!"
"I… I can't…"
"Daishi Risako…!"
"Go away! Don't you get it? You don't understand! You can never understand!"
"I might not! But your being silent doesn't help anything either! It DIDN'T HAPPEN!"
"…What?"
"You got away! You're still in one piece! They couldn't do anything to you! TALK TO ME!"
How…?
She knew.
How did she know? Reijirou stood in stunned silence in the middle of the hall, staring at Risako's mother.
Or… perhaps Subaru was a more fitting description of her now. That had to have been how she knew. Her seishi powers. Surely she had them, if her husband did and she knew.
Yes. It was the only way.
"Risako… please, open the door, let me in, we can talk about it. It'll be all right, dear. It'll all be all right…"
"No."
"All right… I'm fed up. If you won't open the door for me, I'll just have to open it for you."
And before Reijirou could figure out what in the hell she was talking about, Hoshiko bent over the knob, holding it in one hand, and whispered softly to it. "On mi kawate-tara wasuni lock." There was a soft click as the lock retreated and the door swung easily open when she twisted the knob.
"Why do you get to have all the fun?" Ryobe called from the living room.
"Because you're useless in these situations, dear," she called back blithely. Without so much as a by your leave Hoshiko marched into Risako's now open room. Reijirou blinked for a moment, then cautiously put his head around the corner.
Risako was sitting on her bed, backed against the wall, her mouth open and eyes wide in surprise and amazement. Her mother, a seemingly-non-threatening presence, was standing before her, hands on her hips. Reijirou was prevented from seeing her expression because her back was to him, but he could guess it was none too pleased. "Now, Daishi Risako-san, neither one of us are leaving this room until we have one of those long, meaningful talks teenagers seem to dread so much. Scoot over girl, I need someplace to sit." Risako unconsciously obeyed her mother's order, and Hoshiko sat gracefully at the foot of the bed, looking towards her daughter. "I know what happened last night."
Risako could only shake her head a bit, not understanding how.
Hoshiko sighed and rubbed her temple. "I get headaches when I do this now… I can't keep it up much longer. Using my powers, I mean," she explained when she saw her daughter's uncomprehending look. "Last night I used them also, to find out what happened to you when you didn't come home. So I know, Risa-chan. I know. And I know that you know about the book, although," she quirked a wry smile, a mischievous glint in her eye, "your father had no idea what's been happening this past week. I thought as long as you were safe, he didn't need to know, and everything could go on as normal."
"It can't," Risako whispered.
"I know that now. But that doesn't mean it has to be bad. We're still your parents, and we love you very much." Hoshiko paused and blinked her eyes. "Oh, Byakko save me, I'm starting to use cliches."
Risako couldn't help a small giggle. Her mother had to be original, if nothing else.
"Risako… you know nothing happened to you last night. You were attacked, yes, but you got away. All you got was a few scratches, when much worse could have happened." Her eyes grew hard again, her gaze direct. Risako sobered instantly. "Let me repeat that: you were safe. You were fine. So why are you so moody, pushing everyone and everything away? There's no cause for it, and I won't allow it to happen."
"But… Mom…"
"Don't 'But Mom' me, you won't get away with it. There's no cause, as Miaka and even poor Yui had. And you're surrounded by people who want to see you better. Do you want me to count them off for you?" Risako made no reply, so Hoshiko raised her hands and began ticking names off on her fingers. "Me, your father, Reijirou-kun, Nuriko-kun, Miaka-chan, Taka-kun, Naora-chan, Yui-chan, Tetsuya-kun, Keisuke-kun, shall I continue with names of people who would if they knew what had happened?"
"N… No… It's all right."
Hoshiko watched her closely.
Risako looked down at her lap, then up at her mother again, whose fingers were still extended. "I… I've gotta stop being stupid, ne?"
"Exactly."
"So that means I have to cheer up."
"Maybe not cheer up, but be more like yourself. Sullen and silent you are not, and I feel myself well-qualified to make that judgement."
"It's just… everything all at once… and then this past week, with Reijirou getting hurt, and so much going on…" Risako sighed heavily. "Now that I say it, it sounds really, incredibly stupid."
"Good, I think so too."
"And you call yourself my mother…"
"I have a right." Hoshiko took Risako's hand in hers and squeezed it gently, searching her daughter's eyes. "So will you be okay now?"
Risako nodded and brushed at her eyes with her free hand. "Yeah… You always knock sense into me. But can you try and explain about you and Dad? For me?"
"Risako, I… I don't know how to explain it. I don't know what to explain. But I'll try my best. Will you listen to me?" Risako nodded, watching her mother intently. "It was…" She trailed off and glanced at the door for the first time since entering the room. Reijirou couldn't pull back in time. "What are you, some sort of spy?"
"Rei… REIJIROU!" Risako shrieked, wide-eyed, as he slunk guiltily into the room. He hadn't wanted to listen to their private conversation, really he hadn't, but he kind of seemed frozen in the same position… "I'm gonna kill you for eavesdropping!"
"Oh now dear, you wouldn't want to do that. He's a nice boy, all things considered." She cast a withering glance in the direction of the living room, where Ryobe and Nuriko were presumably talking. "Not as bad as some I know…"
"Umm… can I stay?"
Hoshiko looked at Reijirou for a few seconds, sizing him up, then nodded. "Hai, you should probably hear this as well." Reijirou looked around for a chair. There wasn't one to be seen, so he had to settle for the floor, which wasn't uncomfortable. Risako's room was painted red, but it was hard to tell because most of the walls were hidden with posters, photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings, Post-It notes, and scrap pieces of paper. There were more push pins in that room than in an office supply store. There was no desk, but Risako had a tall, narrow bookcase against one wall, next to her closet that didn't seem to get much use, as a lot of clothing was littering the floor. Reijirou restrained himself from glancing around for anything a male mind would probably take advantage of, making himself focus on the Daishis.
"So… where should I start?" Hoshiko inquired.
"The beginning would be nice…" Risako idly replied.
"Thought you'd say that. Let's see…" Hoshiko's gaze unfocused for a minute, as if she were looking at the past over Risako's shoulder. And, Reijirou realized with a start, maybe she was. "It was before we got married. We'd only known each other a bit before, your father mostly making perverted comments about my body and I retaliating, but he finally got up the nerve to ask me on a real date. We went out about twice before… everything started happening." Hoshiko hung her head and Reijirou was startled to see the sheen of tears between her lashes. "I'd rather not talk about that. It's… painful."
"It's all right." Risako squeezed her mother's hand. "We don't need to know that. What about after everything calmed down?"
"Well… we'd met our seishi counterparts and had taken them into ourselves, and finally remembered how much we'd loved each other in the past. So after that it was normal for us to get married. That's why we almost never talk about before, because there wasn't a way to explain everything without giving away the secret. You'd think we were crazy."
"How… How did you get through it? If it's this painful now…" Reijirou trailed off, hoping Hoshiko could fill in the rest of the question herself.
She smiled, happy and wistful in the same instant. "Being a seishi brought us grief, but it also brought us happiness, and for that I'm very thankful. We'd found each other at last, and it helped us find Risako."
"Find me? What're you talking about? I'm your daughter." Risako looked very understandably confused.
"Yes, you are. In everything but blood."
Maybe I shouldn't be here…
"…What?"
Hoshiko sighed. "Risako, you had to know at some point. You're old enough to accept it now. We wanted to have children, but for one reason or another, we were never able to. I had two miscarriages."
REALLY shouldn't be here…
"So we decided to adopt."
"You… you mean…"
She nodded softly, concentrating on her… daughter. "Yes. We adopted you. We decided we wanted a little girl… Well, actually, I decided, I didn't want a boy picking up on Ryobe's habits. So we went to an adoption agency and searched for the perfect girl."
Risako only stared at her. Reijirou considered leaving, but once again that would draw more attention to himself than just staying still. They seemed to have forgotten he was in the room.
"We saw about… twenty, possibly more. We met most of them in person, held them in our arms. And then we saw you." She smiled at Risako, reaching out to stroke her cheek. "You were perfect… just what we'd been looking for. So gentle and sweet, so loving… you smiled at me when I picked you up. After that I thought we'd found the one we'd wanted. But there was more. It felt like something was pushing me to choose you, in a way. I looked at your father, and it was clear he felt it too. And then, when the agency representative left us alone with you, 'to let you get to know her better' she said… both our symbols began glowing dully." She ignored a gasp from Risako and continued on. "We know a sign when we get one. We signed the papers later that day, and you've been our daughter ever since."
Silence filled the room for a few moments before Risako found her voice. "Wha… what about my… real parents?" The words were incredibly hard to get out around the lump in her throat. They were unimaginably odd, something she'd never thought she'd say… the person in front of her had always been her mother.
Hoshiko shook her head. "We don't know. The agency didn't tell their clients about the real parents, adoption records are private. You could probably get into them yourself if you tried hard enough, long enough, but we didn't try. We wouldn't have gotten through in any case. We were just grateful to whoever let us have you.
"But…" Her eyes clouded over again, a sign of grief. "We received a letter when you were seven. There was no return address, it was typed on plain paper, and postmarked in a major city. It thanked us for taking care of you, and was signed 'Her mother'. That's all we know about her."
"I…"
"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."
"No… Thank you for telling me. You're... You're still my mom, it'd be... kind of hard to change after this long."
Hoshiko smiled, then hugged Risako tightly. "That's what I'd thought you'd say."
The touching, tender moment was interrupted by the phone. The three of them jumped a bit in surprise, but two rings later it was picked up. There was a brief interlude of near-silence in which the only sounds made were the familiar sounds of an apartment building in the morning and Ryobe's muffled rumbling voice on the phone. Then the noise of footsteps on the carpet approached the door, and Ryobe looked in, a confused expression on his face. "It's for… Reijirou-kun."
Reijirou sighed internally with relief and scrambled up from the floor, grabbing the portable out of Ryobe's hand and ducking under his arm, heading back to the living room where he could see Nuriko looking no less confused. "Hello?"
"Reijirou! Good, you're still there."
"Miaka?"
"Hai, hai, listen to me, we've got… not exactly a problem, but we've got to do something about it."
"What's going on? Hang on." He flopped on the couch and put his hand over the mouthpiece. "Nuriko, go find another phone and get on it, it's Miaka, she says something's up."
The seishi nodded and drifted away, and moments later Reijirou heard the click of a phone being picked up. "Miaka? What's wrong?"
"Nuriko? Your telephone etiquette's getting much better." Reijirou could almost picture the teasing grin on Miaka's face.
"I'll tickle you later, what's going on?"
"Well… you know we have Chichiri now, right?"
"We know he showed up this morning, I caught you when you fainted, remember?" Reijirou replied.
"Fortunately no. Anyway, Yui-chan and Tetsuya volunteered to distract Morin-chan while we explained to Hokusai about… everything. He took it pretty well, all things considered. Yui-chan and Tetsuya took Morin-chan out to show her something, but apparently she forgot something and came back, and she opened the door about at the part where we were in Sairou looking for Tatara…"
Reijirou grimaced. "So she knows, too?"
"Sort of… It seems like she's more in shock now than anything else. Like she's in a dream. Hokusai is… almost there with her. He didn't freak out, but he doesn't believe us quite yet, even though Taka showed him the oni symbol."
"So what are we going to do about it?" Nuriko inquired. "I can pick them up if you like, but I'm not exactly there at the moment…"
"No, we've got a better idea. Yui-chan and I discussed it, and we decided it would be best to go ahead and summon Chichiri now, get him used to having the 'other him' around. It should also prove to Morin-chan we're not joking or insane."
"We leave you all for one morning…"
"Don't get me started, I'll tease you forever."
"So," Reijirou broke into their friendly bickering, "where are we doing this? At your place?" I hope not, he thought silently, their place is way way WAY too small for all those people and ghost-things.
He could almost hear Miaka shake her head. "No. We don't have the book. I already called Murai, he said we could do it at his house."
"Murai… Dr. Seo?"
"Hai. He's still got the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho, he's almost as enthusiastic about that thing as Nii-chan and Tetsuya were. And still are," she amended. "He actually has a house, so we'll be more comfortable. But… He said his wife knows as well."
"What's up with this?!" Reijirou exploded. "Is it all of a sudden Tell Your Family Members You're A Reincarnated Seishi Day?! Should I follow the trend?!"
"No, calm down Reijirou." Miaka's voice was hard and mother-y. He calmed down. "But he has reason to believe that his wife is also a reincarnation, although she's definitely not a seishi."
"You mean… Shoka-san?" Nuriko sounded a lot less surprised than Reijirou.
"Yes. Mitsukake apparently recognized her the first time he saw her, and then she accidentally found the book and started to read it, so he - they, sorry, told her everything."
"And how's she reacting?"
"Calmly. Better than about anyone else. But she was always that way."
"Hai… she was."
Reijirou held his tongue for a little bit, giving them time to think. "Do you want me to bring Gesshin and Risako?"
"If you can. We're meeting at his house in about two hours. Have paper handy?" Reijirou grabbed a pen off the coffee table and Miaka rattled off the address, which he wrote on the back of his hand as there was no paper nearby. He then repeated it back to make sure he'd gotten it right.
An idea was itching at his mind, and he waited for it to slowly form as Nuriko and Miaka made other plans... Ah-hah, there it was. "Miaka."
"Yeah?"
"Since we have Yui now… should I bring Kadiri as well?" He mentally reviewed the store's schedule in his head, trying to remember who was working. "I think it's her day off, we might not get another chance."
"Kadiri?"
"Soi."
"Ahh. Let me ask Yui-chan." There was a series of soft thumps and thuds and some much muffled discussion between two barely recognizable female voices. "She says go ahead, she feels up to it. She managed to get her case changed to Monday, so we have the time today."
"Wow, you all've been busy since we left."
"Hai!"
"Well, we'll see you there… and we might have some news of our own."
"What? What're you talking about? Come on-" Reijirou hung up with a smirk. She could wait to hear, if Risako wanted to tell.
Nuriko came floating lazily back again, a matching smirk on his own face. "I just did what you did… That's not very nice, is it?"
"She'll forgive us."
Awhile later, after telling the Daishis about the phone call and letting Risako take a shower and change, then stopping by the Enomotos' for his own shower and change of clothes (and to let his parents know that he hadn't suddenly dropped dead in the middle of the street), they were on their way to the Ijiri apartment. Risako was chatting with Nuriko, in a much better mood, and Reijirou was trying to do the math to get four people and two ghosts into a car built to hold five at the most. Any way he figured it there wouldn't be enough room, so there was only one solution. "Ne, Nuriko."
"Hai?"
"Wanna possess me again?"
The seishi grinned. "Sure!" He started to move towards Reijirou.
"Ah-ah-ah, not now. When we get to Gesshin's. I don't want to have a wreck because you jump into me all of a sudden."
"Oh, fine." Nuriko sat back in the backseat with a huff, crossing his arms over his chest. Risako giggled.
A few minutes later he parallel parked in front of the Ijiris' building and jumped out of the car. Nuriko hopped out and landed beside him. Reijirou glanced at Risako. "Want to come? It's probably safer than sitting here."
Risako shrugged and unbuckled her seat belt. "Why not?" She exited the car as Reijirou locked it, and the group started inside and up the stairs.
The area outside 4C was surprisingly quiet. Usually if Ijiri-san was there the television was on, loudly, even though he was asleep in front of it. Maybe he's actually working now, Reijirou thought hopefully as he pounded on the door.
Gesshin's little sister answered. "Konnichi-wa, Reijirou-san."
He grinned. "Hiya, Kid."
"Don't call me that… for the hundredth time at least."
"I'm sorry, Mitsuyo-chan."
"No you're not." She peered around him, looking at Risako, her red-blonde hair swinging into her face. "Who're you?"
"My name's Risako, I'm a friend of Reijirou and your brother. Is he home?"
"Just a second. Come in, have a seat if you can." She left the door swinging open and walked down the short hall to her brother's room, opening the door and disappearing inside.
Reijirou, Risako, and Nuriko entered and glanced around. The Ijiri kids must have been trying to clean, because there were two large plastic trash bags pushed against the wall under the windows, filled and tied with twisty-ties at the top. The floor was pretty clean, as Reijirou rarely saw it, most of the bottles and cans and paper plates now living in the trash bags, but the chairs were still stacked with various papers. They just shrugged at each other and waited for Gesshin to appear.
A few moments later the door opened again and Mitsuyo came out, followed by her brother. "Hey man, hey Risako," he said casually.
"Hello again." Risako smiled and then turned to Mitsuyo, striking up a conversation with her. Reijirou thanked her silently but profusely for distracting Mitsuyo, then grabbed Gesshin and pulled him back to his room, ignoring the vulgar protests and hearing Nuriko smother laughter behind them.
Reijirou closed the door after they were all in Gesshin's room. "Tasuki-chan!" Nuriko cried gleefully, pouncing on the bandit and giving him a strangulating hug.
"Get th' fuck offa me!" Tasuki, very surprisingly for a ghost, was turning an intense shade of blue. Nuriko snickered and let go of the bandit, who gulped in air like a drowning man.
Reijirou and Gesshin just shook their heads and let their counterparts bicker happily. "So what's up man? I know ya can't call an' all, but showin' up this early means somethin's going on."
"You're right. Sit down, this'll take awhile. Nuriko, Tasuki, PLEASE pay attention."
"Wait." Nuriko walked over to Gesshin and placed his left hand under his chin, his right on top of his head, the arm bands glowing dully as he exerted pressure to keep the redhead's mouth shut. "Okay, go ahead."
The entire story of everything that had happened since they'd last parted ways with each other, less than twenty hours before, took a long time. He summarized, but had to keep a lot of details in to make sure the story was comprehensible. He even told about the Daishis, all three having given he and Nuriko permission to tell about the two Byakko seishi. Nuriko added in details when he wanted, as he always did, holding Gesshin's mouth closed so his exclamations of surprise, various curses, and vengeful mutterings wouldn't be heard by his sister. They didn't worry about Tasuki, even though he was incredibly loud and profuse with his interruptions. Only the people who already knew anyway could hear him.
Fifteen minutes later Nuriko finally let go of Gesshin, who swatted the seishi away and rubbed his head. "If I get a fuckin' bruise there, it'll be yer fault."
"I know," Nuriko replied cheerfully.
"But right now, we've got a job to do. Ready, you two?" Nuriko and Tasuki both looked at Reijirou and nodded, Tasuki grinning just enough to show the tips of his fangs, his eyes narrowed with glee.
"'m not so sure I am, 'sit really gotta happen? I mean, Tasuki, no 'ffense man, but ye're lookin' pretty damn weird."
Reijirou grinned and clapped a hand on Gesshin's shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. And you get to do some pretty cool things."
Gesshin grumbled, but closed his eyes, swallowed hard, then nodded. "Jus' do it afore I get a chance t' think about it."
"That's the idea." Nuriko backed up a step, Tasuki next to him, then both charged forward at the same time. They ran two, three paces, maniacal grins plastered on both their faces, then jumped together.
Reijirou stumbled back a step, as did Gesshin next to him, as Nuriko hit him full in the chest and flew/sank into him, joining into his nerves and limbs and everything about him. Even though it had happened to him several times before, he still wasn't completely used to the way the two minds became one, and he clenched his teeth as Nuriko slowly appeared in his brain. Then the fire slowly retreated to a comfortable, bearable level, and everything was fine. He glanced down at his wrists, and there, indeed, were Nuriko's bracelets, half-hidden beneath his sleeves. He glanced over at Gesshin.
His friend was standing, a bewildered, vacant look on his face, one Reijirou instantly associated with the internal conversations one could have when one had one's counterpart inside them, especially the first time. In Gesshin's hand was Tasuki's tessen, flaring out slightly, looking as if it were just waiting for Gesshin to scream the incantation. Of course he wouldn't, not in his own room, but Reijirou could see his eyes shifting down to the tessen, then his mouth widening slowly in his typical half-psychotic grin. Tasuki must've told him exactly what he could do in this state.
~ Somehow I think Gesshin's going to have fun like this… ~
Oh yeah. "Ready to go?"
Gesshin slowly nodded. "Yeah… Yeah. Jus'…" He paused as if he were listening to something, and he probably was. "Jus' a second."
Reijirou hadn't noticed before, but as Gesshin's free hand moved he could see the wide strap of the tessen's carrier looping over his right shoulder. Well, that was convenient for some things. Gesshin's hand flicked at the large buckle near his waist and the carrier slithered off. He quickly caught it and slid the tessen in, then tucked it all under his flannel shirt, where it would be much less noticeable. "Now 'm ready. Le's go."
AUTHOR'S NOTES II: Not exactly a cliffhanger, but it still makes ya wonder ^_^ I am devious and evil and yes, I plan ways to end my chapters on cliffhangers. Don't you just love me?
