Chapter 10

After a while the group was sitting in front of a really fat and really smelly bandit leader, who was drinking a REALLY STRONG brand of sake.
"My employee has said that you didn't fork over all you're worth," he said in a voice that sounded like gurgling sewers, "I have a strong belief in them, considering you're the Emperor of Hong-Nan. Surely you must have more than 10 doolars, or whatever it's called."
"I hone-" began Hotohori, but a bandit ran up an held a curved sword up to his royal neck.
"NOOOOOOO!!!" screamed Courtney and Nuriko at the same time.
"Don't put a scratch on my precious Hoto-baby's clean neck!!" squealed Nuriko.
"Don't hurt my lover!!" squeaked Courtney.
"He's MINE so LAY OFF," growled Nuriko, turning towards Courtney.
"I got there first!!" Courtney yelled.
"I've been at the palace for years!!" argued Nuriko.
"I've already made out with him!!!" said Courtney.
"Uhh.....a little help?" asked Hotohori quietly, the metal resting on his neck.
"Let him go!!" yelled Clare to the leader.
"Not on my sundial," he laughed. There was a loud banging noise, and suddenly the screen doors FLEW open. A tall man with fire-orange hair and a fan ran in, and made a face at the leader.
"Since when did YOU get elected leader?? Ure so fat, I dunno how anyone could see ure runnin' mate!!" he laughed.
"GENROU!!" the leader yelled, "I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONE FOREVER!!"
"Nope," Genrou said, "I'm baaaaaack, you sick pig. Now get off that seat. I think it belongs to me!"
"Over my dead body!!" said the leader. Genrou grabbed his fan, and aimed it at the leader.
"MOVE before I SET THIS THING OFF," he roared.
"Wait a sec," said Molly, "You're going to fight him with a paper FAN?? How the heck are you going to do THAT?? What, he's 500 pounds? That fan probably weighs 2 ounces!!! You got some high hopes, man." Genrou looked down at her.
"You know, people like you are the reason why I hate women," he said.
"Does that mean you're gay?" asked Molly. Genrou turned pink.
"I am NOT gay!!! Despite what people may think SO LAY OFF!!" he said.
"Geez," said Molly, "You've got some attitude."
"Go to hell," muttered Tasuki.
"Heh heh," the leader laughed, spit droobling down his chin, "So, you've got the tessen. I doubt you know how to use it, since my family has carried it for generations and kept the secret to themselves."
"Yeah, at least his family is trustworthy," whispered Nuriko to Liana, "They KEEP secrets."
"Does that mean you want to marry into HIS family?" asked Clare, "Because, go right ahead. He looks ready to settle down with a wife. Oh wait, I mean a HUSBAND." Nuriko glared.
"Do you need a napkin or something?" Ginni asked the leader, "Because your chin is really freaking me out here. You're just spitting all over yourself, man, and it's not SANITARY."
"I don't need a napkin," the leader spat, quickly wiping his face with his enormous green cloak, "Shut up."
"THERE'S A SWORD ABOUT TO CUT MY HEAD OFF!! A LITTLE HELP WOULD BE GREAT!!" yelled Hotohori from the crook of the bandit's arm, metal still resting above a vein in his neck.
"LEKKA SHI'NEN!!" roared Genrou. Fire shot out of the fan, but rebounded and slammed into Genrou's face.
"AHHHHHH!!!" he shouted, "WATER!! I NEED WATER!!" He ran blindly around the room, knocking into a vase, pulling out the dead weeds, and dunking his head in. Steam rose from the top.
"That's a way to cook your face," said Ginni, looking at Genrou.
"Sorry man," Molly called over, "It's kind and all for you to fry your face, but we don't eat humans. Even medium-well ones." Genrou looked up from the vase. His face was burnt a little around his cheeks, but he was fine besides. He glared at Ginni and Molly, and then walked back up to the laughing leader.
"WAHA HA HAAAAAAAA," the leader 'guffawed', "Genrou, old boy, I told you that my family kept the secret well!! Sure, you pronounced most of the incantation right, but you messed up your letters!!"
"What's th' letter then?! It's not 'Lekka Shi'nen'???" asked Genrou, staring down at the tessen.
"You think I'd tell you???" the leader asked, dumbfounded, drinking more of the strong sake.
"Let's try EVERY letter!!" said Courney happily, "A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J- K-L-M-N-O-P-"
"SHUTTUP YOU RAGMUFFIN!!" yelled Tamahome.
"Ragmuffin??" asked Courtney, "Why would you call me a ragmuffin? I'm not a rag, and I KNOW I'm not a muffin. There are worse insults you know." Chichiri stood up.
"Please no da," he said to the leader, "Please let our Emperor go no da."
"YES PLEASE LET HIM GO!! I LOVE HIM!!" shrieked Nuriko. Chichiri looked down at him for a moment.
"Let the Emperor go no da, and we'll give you this lovely woman in return no da," he said, gesturing down towards Nuriko, who turned pale. The leader eyed Nuriko for a moment.
"Hmmm," he said, "Yes, you are very beautiful....and lovely, at that...hheheheheheheeh. It may be a suitable deal-"
"NO I'LL NEVER GO WITH YOU!! I'D NEVER DATE TRASH LIKE YOU!!" screamed Nuriko.
"-and FIESTY too," he said, grinning, "That's a deal. Come here, sweetcheeks, and gimme a kiss." Nuriko looked disgusted.
"REKKA SHI'NEN!!" shouted Genrou, and the flames shot out of the tessen once again and swarmed around the leader. When they subdued, all that was left on the leader's seat was a pile of ashes and a 3/4 full jug of strong sake. Everyone stared at the black pile for a moment.
"Dude," said Molly, "That's some fan you've got there."
"Ahh," said Genrou, grabbing the jug of strong sake, "All in a day's work. I stole the tessen from 'im a long time ago. Stupid tha' he hadn't noticed it went. I wonder if any of the ol' boys are still here from when I left."
"HELLO!!" cried Hotohori, "I'M STILL HERE WITH A SWORD TO MY THROAT!!" Tamahome turned and kicked Hotohori's captor in the face. Hotohori stood.
"I could see it. My life flashing before my eyes. Me getting beautiful. Me getting more beautiful. Then that day that I never want to see again. That horrible vision....the day....I got....my first white hair.....WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" wailed Hotohori. Nuriko and Courtney both rushed to his aid, and held either hand. Nuriko shot a look at Chichiri.
"Just wait Monk-man. You're going down." he whispered feircely. Chichiri bowed.
"I look forward to it no da!!" he said, grinning. Genrou laughed, and then downed the whole jug of strong sake in three gulps. Molly watched, mystified. Had this hansome bandit-dude just drank a WHOLE BOTTLE OF ALCOHOL?? Was this a dream come true?? She ran over to Genrou, and smiled.
"You know, I think we should have a drinking contest sometime." she said quickly. Clare shoved her out of the way.
"Hey, are you a Suzaku Seishi?" she asked. Genrou pulled down his sleeve to show everyone the black mark a little ways from his wrist.
"I'm Genrou, also known as Tasuki. I used t' be the leader here, until I left for a lil' while. Then tha' big ass took over. Can' trus no one here at all. Bastards." Molly stared dreamily at Tasuki. There was a knock on the door, and a tall man with blue hair entered.
"KOUJI!!" Tasuki shouted.
"TASUKI!!" Kouji shouted. They ran to each other and started dosey- doeing in the middle of the room. Everyone just stared at them. After a couple of hours they stopped, and did a secret handshake, and then patted each other on the back.
"Hey, long time no see Tasuki!!" said Kouji happily.
"Yeah, well, you know how it goes. I kinda got lost on m' way back. Returned a few months later than planned..." Tasuki said.
"Yeah, I always knew how much of a braindead idiot you were," sighed Kouji, looking at the ceiling. Tasuki turned towards him.
"WHAT?" he growled, brandishing the tessen.
"Oooohoooo so you've got the TESSSSENNN......well I guess I'll be going," said Kouji, turning pink, "Uhh, and I mean, you're REALLY REALLY smart Tasuki.....braindead?? Ahh, it musta slipped outta my mouth....hee..." And then he ran from the room. Tauski put the tessen away. Molly was currently making a list on a scrap piece of paper of reasons why Tasuki was better than Josh and Elijah combined.
"Red-head........can hold his drinks.......tall.........handsome.....well, sorta...." she was muttering to herself, scribbing on the paper with a burnt piece of wood from the old leader's ash pile.
"So," said Ginni to Clare, "We've found the fifth seishi. Only two more to go!!"
"I wonder if we'll ever get to see home again," asked Clare.
"I hope we don't. We've still got this term paper to finish." said Liana. Molly looked up, and nodded.
"A teeeeramana papeoeara?" asked Tamahome.
"A term paper," confirmed Liana.
"Tieaweehrrraeiiia paoooorelaaa?" he asked again.
"YOU'D BETTER TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW!!" yelled Molly, running past the other 3 girls and divebombing on Tamahome, who fell over. Hotohori was still wimpering.
"It was THERE.......in my beautiful black hair.......a long.....ugly....white strand......*sniffle* WAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...." he sobbed. Courtney patted his back.
"There there Your Highness," she said comfortingly, "It'll happen to everyone. I can get you some black hair dye, if you want, so your hair will ALWAYS remain black!!" Nuriko looked up from Hotohori's other arm. Hotohori looked over at Courtney, eyes all red and puffy from crying so much.
"You'd really....*sniff* do that for me??" he asked. Nuriko's eyes narrowed.
"Sure I would!" said Courtney.
"OOOOH YOU'RE THE BEST PRIESTESS ANYONE COULD EVER ASK FOR!!! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!!" cried Hotohori, shoving Nuriko aside and buring Courtney in a huge hug. Nuriko's eyes narrowed so much that it didn't even look like he had eyes to narrow. There was a loud BANG and Molly stood, and brushed off her school skirt. Tamahome was on the floor, battered and bruised, nose bleeding, crosseyed, and kinda funky looking.
"What was that bang??" asked Clare.
"I smashed his head on the floor," said Molly, walking back to her list. Tasuki watched her. Had this normal-looking schoolgirl just BEAT UP THAT WEIRDO GUY WITH A SYMBOL ON HIS HEAD?? Was this a dream come true?? He ran over to Molly and smiled.
"Let's gang up on Tamahome sometime," he said quickly, but Chichiri pushed him out of the way.
"You shouldn't beat up the other seishi!!!" he said, "That's bad!! It gives us bad auras for the god Suzaku and then our Chi is tainted and blah bah deeee blaaaaahhhhlaaaaaahaaa...." Molly and Tasuki were just staring at each other, eyes * sPaRkLiNg *!!!

!!!!!! End of Chapter 10 Ooooo the sparks are flying between Molly and Tasuki!! Don't worry, there isn't mush in my story..there aren't going to be any SCENES. (I don't do that.) I don't even think they kiss...hehehehe Next up...Mitsukake! .Until next time *runs off to listen to music*