"Oh, FUCK this!" Tasuki cursed loudly. He stepped back in the diner only to be met with Nuriko's angry face.
"Why are you coming back so soon, Tasuki no baka?" Nuriko asked, for it had been merely seconds since Tasuki had stepped out.
"But—"
"You should hope that I don't see you without Sakura-chan being safe and sound, otherwise…" He cracked his knuckles.
"But, Nuri-kun!" Tasuki whined. "Look!" He pointed outside. The sky had darkened dramatically and the rain was meeting the ground in sheets. "It's fucking raining."
Nuriko nodded. "It is," he agreed.
"I can' go out when it's like that!"
"Sakura-chan shouldn't be outside in this weather." Nuriko's arms were folded across his chest.
Tasuki knew he wouldn't give in and sighed. "Fuck you." And he sulked out into the rain.
Nuriko called after him, "If she catches a cold, you'll regret it!"
"Not much point in a movie, no da."
"We should retire to the hotel and await Sakura's return."
"I wouldn't mind an afternoon of sleeping," Tamahome agreed with a grin, just happy he didn't have the responsibility of searching for his younger cousin.
^-^
Chiriko held his coat over both their heads as he and Sakura hurried through the downpour.
"I'm getting wet," Sakura muttered.
Chiriko adjusted the coat to cover her more. "I'm sorry, Sakura-san."
She grinned. "Don't worry. A little rain couldn't hurt."
"I'm glad that you feel better, nee-san."
She glanced over at him. "You make it sound as if I was sick, or something. It was just a passing thing. Nothing to be worried about."
She is hiding her feelings again, Chiriko noted. "But you said you loved Tasuki-san," he objected.
She laughed ruefully. "How am I supposed to know what love is? I'm nineteen, I've never dated, my first kiss was the result of a bet, and the only guys I really know are you guys. How could I possibly realize what love is like this?"
^-^
"Stupid, stupid, stupid girl," Tasuki cursed as he wandered in the rain. "Why'd she have ta go an' get all emotional and shit?" He kicked at a puddle, causing water to soak the bottom of his jeans. "Stupid, stupid, stupid girl."
^-^
"Maybe you should leave THTC, if that would make you happier?" Chiriko suggested sadly. He never wanted her to leave. She was the only one who could really understand him.
Sakura let out a true laugh. "What would I possibly do? You guys are the truest family I have! Besides, I never finished high school, so what would I do? Get a job? Support myself? I don't think so. I could never go back home, really. Do you even know why I joined the THTC group in the first place?"
Chiriko shook his head.
"It was because my stepmother couldn't stand the sight of me anymore and she made Kishuku take me after my father died."
He gasped.
"She said that I reminded her too much of Daddy's playboy days. He was such a womanizer." She shook her head with a grim smile. "I am a product of a one night stand; I am a love child."
"How did you find out?" he sputtered.
"My mother contacted my father. She demanded that he support me."
"Couldn't she support you herself?" he cut in.
"No. She was a whore."
"Oh."
"It's funny, though."
Chiriko looked down at her.
"Only you, my stepmother, my father (may he find many beautiful women in heaven), and I know."
"Tamahome-san doesn't know?!"
"My stepmother wanted to keep my father's womanizing a secret. As soon as she found out about me, she made Daddy get her pregnant, so no one would be the wiser."
"What happened to that child?" he asked quietly.
"Dead. It was born on the same day I was. But it was two months premature. It didn't survive for a half hour. My stepmother told the family that we were twins, but the younger one had had complications, and didn't make it. Every last one of them bought it."
"I'm sorry, Sakura-san," Chiriko said quietly.
"Stop apologizing, Doukun-chan!" She laughed. "Let's get back to the hotel. I'm getting cold!"
^-^
Tasuki stopped. There she was. With Chiriko. He sighed, relieved.
Chiriko held his coat over both their heads as they hurried through the downpour. And…they were laughing.
Now Tasuki was confused. He was sure that she would be bawling about what a bastard he was. Or at least sulking.
Now he was angry.
"Where the FUCK have you been?!" he shouted at them.
The duo turned with somewhat shocked looks on their faces. Chiriko scowled once he realized whom they had met.
"I've been searchin' all over the fucking city lookin' fer ya." A lie, he knew. "What the fuckin' hell have you been doin'!"
Chiriko frowned. "You did not seem to care as much about Sakura-san's well being at the diner when you played your foolish joke on her."
"Well," he explained, "I figgered she'd be cryin' over me since I'm such a wonderful, handsome, amazin' kinda guy."
Sakura's hands clenched momentarily, then she walked up to Tasuki and looked him in the eye. "I always knew you were a bit arrogant, but to think that you would have that much of an affect on me? You are more than a bit arrogant." She jabbed her finger at his chest. "I'm not one of those crazy fangirls that you're so used to dealing with." She turned on her heel and started to drag Chiriko away.
"So that means I have some affect on you," he hinted.
She swung back around, nearly causing Chiriko to topple to the ground. "Why you insufferable…" Her face was turning crimson.
"Yer blushin'…" Tasuki pointed out, grinning triumphantly.
She huffed and stalked back toward the hotel.
"I have ta go that way, too, ya know."
Sakura sneezed.
"OH FUCK!"
^-^
"…the bastard…" Sakura muttered all the way back to the hotel. "…pulling a prank on me one minute…flirting the next…bastard…"
Despite Chiriko's efforts to keep Sakura and himself dry, both arrived soaked and sneezing.
Nuriko, who had been waiting in the lobby reading some women's fashion magazine, rushed over. "You guys are soaked! What happened?" Stating the obvious, then asking the obvious. It was one of Nuriko's customs.
"It's raining, Ryuuen-san," Sakura mumbled. She sneezed.
"Let's get you two up to your rooms and out of these wet things." Nuriko was the resident mother hen after all.
Chiriko's room that he shared with Mitsukake was the first stop. Mitsukake immediately started caring for Chiriko. He assured them that Chiriko would be fine after he changed out of his wet clothing.
Nuriko pushed Sakura down the hall to the room that they shared.
Sakura stumbled into the room. Though it was only mid-afternoon the drowsiness associated with illness proved heavy in her eyes.
Nuriko sat her on the edge of her bed while he dug in her suitcase for nightclothes. After some searching, he pulled out her pale yellow nightshirt.
"Put this on," he instructed as he pushed her into the bathroom.
Sakura slowly did as she was told.
She shuffled out of the bathroom to find Nuriko gone. Her bed was turned down, so she did the only logical thing she could think of: She fell asleep.
^-^
Tasuki wandered around New York City. He handled the rain well, and he would have retreated to the hotel, if it weren't for Nuriko.
He knew his senior always kept his promises; this was one promise Tasuki wanted to postpone the fulfillment of.
A flash of a familiar violet braid caught his eye. "…Shit…"
The violet braid must have noticed the fiery tangle: The violet braid swerved between the crowd.
"…Oh, fuck…"
^-^
As soon as the bathroom door closed, Nuriko bolted out of the room in search of the bastard who made her two young friends sick.
First he checked the room that Tasuki shared with Chichiri.
Chichiri opened the door. There was a book in his hand with his index finger marking the place he stopped reading.
"Are Sakura and Chiriko all right, no da?" he asked worriedly.
"They both have colds. Mitsukake is taking care of Chiriko and Sakura is probably sleeping now."
Chichiri smiled. "I'm glad they're okay."
Nuriko frowned. "Tasuki no baka hasn't come back yet."
He put his forehead in his free palm. "He is a baka." He shook his head. "Well, he hasn't been here, so you'd better go look for him."
Then Nuriko checked to see if Tasuki was hiding out in Hotohori and Tamahome's room.
"Nope," Tamahome said. "Hasn't been here." He grinned. "Probably risking the rain."
^-^
After slamming Tamahome into the floor and tiptoeing into his room for a suitcase filled with the "supplies" he would need for the punishment, Nuriko hurried outside to search for Tasuki.
Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as he thought it would to find the bandit reincarnate. His fiery hair was easy to spot down the street.
Nuriko's braid flung about wildly as he weaved, half sprinting, towards his victim.
Tasuki seemed to finally notice him flying in his direction as he stopped and looked rather frightened.
He stopped a foot away from the cause of the afternoon's hardships. "Sakura and Chiriko have colds."
Tasuki took a step back.
"It's your fault."
Another step.
"I'm reasonable and considerate, so I won't beat you up for it. Especially with the concert tonight."
Tasuki sighed, relieved.
"I've thought of something much worse." Nuriko's face flipped from one showing calm anger to a grinning one with a vicious, evil, sadistic air.
Tasuki took two steps back.
"Come with me." He dragged the frightened man back to the hotel and into the men's restroom.
"Don't worry, this won't hurt too much," could be heard from inside.
"This really ain't necessary ya know… OW!! What the FUCK! SHIT!"
"Really, it isn't so bad."
"SHIT!!"
"This is only a mild punishment."
"I'd hate ta see one'a yer har—OW—sha ones.'
"Oh, this one will be much better."
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!!"
"Really. You are being so difficult."
Some banging could be heard.
"Just stop moving, will you?"
"NOT UNTIL YOU PUT THAT FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT DOWN!"
"Now, now, Tasuki no baka. If it fucked, I would be a much happier man."
^-^
Author's Note: The next chapter will be much better. *evil grin* Trust me. You'll find out what "supplies" Nuriko has, though I'm sure most of you guessed.
The count is: Twelve "fucks" and seven "shits."