Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi. If I did, I'd have a million dollars.
And if I had a million dollars....
I'd be rich. ^.^
Yes, that was taken from Bare Naked Ladies. Which I don't own either.
And, without further doodoo, chapter 2.
Chapter 2: Her.7
"Huh?" Tatara said, looking at his friend strangely.
"I know that girl." Tokaki said, taking a slow step towards her. "When I was a boy...there was this girl. Younger than me." He pried his eyes away from the girl long enough to look back at Tatara. "She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life."
Tatara waved his hand. "How many times have you said that to me in the two years we've known each other?" He asked the other man dryly.
Tokaki just snorted, and then turned. "I think I'll see you later." He said, before starting towards the booth where the girl was shopping.
Tatara didn't walk away yet, as he normally would have. Typically, whenever his friend went after a girl, Tatara walked off towards the Inn, to let Tokaki work on his own. The one time they'd attempted to engage a pair of young women in conversation, it ended up being very awkward and uncomfortable, as the shy Tatara was quickly overshadowed by his more charming and exuberant companion. It didn't help that Tokaki kept dragging Tatara back into the conversation when it was obvious that both girls only had eyes for the wilder looking seishi. After that time, they'd talked about it (at least, as much as possible to talk about something when Tokaki was constantly bragging about what had happened after Tatara had left) and decided that while Tatara appreciated Tokaki's efforts on his behalf, Tatara was looking for a different type of girl than the ones that Tokaki usually chased. This one, this white-haired girl standing before them, was different. Something about her made Tatara pause. Just to watch, and see what happened.
"Hey there." He said, tapping the young woman on the shoulder and giving her his best smile, which did the best for his wild features, his hair blowing lightly in the breeze. It was a smile that had melted many women before, and he naturally assumed it would work now. It was the type of smile that would make mothers blush and fathers hide their daughters. "Did it hurt?"
She looked at him, confusion briefly crossing her beautiful face, before her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did what hurt?" She asked him, her voice, though in the lower range for women, was still very feminine and easy on the ears. It just added, at least to Tokaki's mind, to her cuteness.
"When you fell from heaven?"
Her eyes got real wide for a moment, and she appeared stunned. Why, exactly, Tokaki and Tatara couldn't say until much later. Tatara figured that she just couldn't believe what she'd just heard. He was about to step forward, grab his friend, and haul him away while apologizing profusely, but before he could do that, the girl reacted.
For the rest of their very, very long lives, neither Tatara or Tokaki could be certain just where the frying pan had come from. It's possible that they just failed to observe that she had it, or even that Byakko had given it to her for just such a purpose. Whereever she got it from, she put it to good use, swinging it around hard...right into Tokaki's skull.
The helpless seishi flew across the road landed hard against a wall, before slumping down it, momentarily stunned. Tatara followed the flight of his friend with a shocked expression, before turning back to Dourin. "...Wow." He said softly before shaking his head. "I'd never thought I'd ever see that." He held up both of his hands frantically as the girl then whirled on him, frying pan still gripped threateningly. "No, no, it's Ok. I'm....not like him." He pointed at the dazed Tokaki. "I'm T...Zonye Kasaru. That's Hahm Lan-uan. I...apologize if he offended you." Tatara kept his voice gentle, and his hands held outward.
She glanced at Tatara for a moment, then looked back at the crumpled form of Tokaki. "Gomen..Z..Zonye-san" She said then, smiling sheepishly and running a hand along her white hair. "I....guess I over-reacted."
"No......" Tatara said, drawing the word out for a long moment, turning to look at Tokaki himself. "I would have to say that he has had that coming to him for a long, looooong time now." He chuckled then. "Actually....it is kind of funny, when you think about it. I've never seen that happen before."
The semi-concious seishi groaned as his vision began to clear. "Damnit, woman." He muttered in irritation. "Did you have to do that to me again?" Slowly, cautiously, he started to right himself. "I think you gave me a concussion."
"I think she'd have to hit you a lot harder than that to give you a concussion, my friend." said Tatara quietly, before offering his friend a helping hand to his feet.
The girl watched the two friends for a moment, then tilted her head to the side, frowning at the man she'd hit with the frying pan. "Ano...what do you mean, 'again'?" She asked, distrust plainly evident in her voice.
Tokaki winced again as he got to his feet, one hand reaching up to gently touch the knot forming on his skull. "Ugh." He said, before turning his attention to the woman responsible for said knot. "Your name is Dourin, right?"
Dourin's eyes widened in surprise. "H-hai, but how did you-?"
"Know?" He finished for her. "Easy. Do you remember getting left at an old lady's when you were a kid? While your parents were in the market? About...say 12 years ago?"
"I remember coming to the city, but I don't rem...." She paused for a moment as the memory replayed itself in her mind, and then scowled as a grin spread across his face. "You were that boy, weren't you? The one that I hit with the little skillet my mom'd bought me."
Tatara, who at this point was looking from one to the other incredulously, asked. "Wait, you mean you two actually do know each other?" Then he psused
Wincing in pain as he continued to rub the knot on his head. "Yeah." Tokaki responded, his voice dry. "She whacked me then too."
"And I wouldn't have if you weren't trying to see up those girls' skirts. What kind of person does that, huh?" She asked, brandishing the frying pan again. "And how did you know it was me?"
"Easy." Replied Tokaki, his smile coming more easily as his headache started to abate, though he winced periodically when he pressed too hard. "You had the same hairstyle. And you're still just as beautiful when you're an-." He cut his sentence off as her knuckles whitened on the frying pan handle. "Er. Yeah. Hairstyle, that's how I knew." His smile started to falter.
"If you hit him again, Dourin-san, he really will have a concussion." The quiet voice startled both of them, as they'd been so intent on watching the other (though for entirely different reasons) that they'd forgotten about Tatara. "And..." He paused awkwardly for a moment, before continuing. "Lan-uan...how old were you then? Eight?"
"I was an early bloomer." The white-haired man responded, grinning at Tatara before continuing. "What can I say? Ouch." He winced, this time worse than the others, as he gave the knot on his head an experimental prod and did it just a little too hard.
"Oh, of all the...." Dourin started, before stepping closer to the man she'd injured. "Here. Let me see. And stop rubbing at it. It'll just get worse if you don't, baka."
******
From that day on, Dourin found herself often running into one or the other of the young men that she met that day as she ran her errands around the city, occassionally to her annoyance. (If it was Tokaki she ran into, anyway.) While she enjoyed talking to Kasaru, and would genuinely miss him when her tribe once more rolled up their tents to wander back into the desert, every time she ran into Lan-uan, she genuinely hoped that her parents were considering packing up soon. For some reason, just the sight of his white head annoyed her to no end. More often than not, their meetings ended with him being whacked into a nearby wall with something heavy. If it hadn't been for the fact that she'd seen him in the company of other women, she'd think he was obsessing dangerously over her, which was something she did not want him to do at all. There were even days that she'd leave her parents' company, start walking through the city, and every time she saw a flash of white and gold, she'd whip around, afraid that he'd found her. There was just something about him that she couldn't explain. Something that drove her crazy. She couldn't explain it, either, because she didn't hate Lan-uan, and he could sometimes be a very amusing and charming companion, easy with a joke and generous with his time and money. He just...annoyed her. Maybe it was because of the way the elderly couples would see the two behaving and nod in that knowing fashion that drove her insane. Maybe it was how..indestructible he seemed to her rather violent rebuffs. Whatever it was, the two of them together was generally an explosive combination.
But when she ran into the gentle Kasaru, she would often go out of her way to spend time with him. He seemed comfortable, somehow. Like a close relative. Someone you could trust and let your guard down near. They would run into each other, and he'd then change his steps to match hers, and they'd talk, quietly. Part of her was afraid that she was going to fall for him, this quiet, pale young man with the long black hair. It wasn't that she was afraid of him, rather that she was afraid for him. He seemed too frail, to gentle, for the long, hard, though peaceful life of the nomadic tribe in which she lived, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to give up that nomadic life for him.
At least, she was afraid she might fall for him, until the day he brought her to the Inn where he lived. She'd been in the city for close to a month, and had even started warming to Lan-uan, who had, at least, stopped hitting so blatantly on her, having finally realized that what he used on a lot of the women he spent time with certainly wasn't going to work on her. The three had, sometime in between the severe beatings for Lan-uan because of the the blatant come-ons and the laughter and fun that the trio shared while walking throught he city, visiting gardens, or the shrine to Byakko, become friends, and they thought their lives idyllic. But all that changed the day that Kasaru brought her to the Inn where he lived.
She never forgot that day either. For that was the day that everything changed for her. That was the day that everything changed for all of them.
******
"Why are we here?" She asked, turning her head to look at Kasaru, smiling.
"Because I live here." he responded. "And...work here too, I guess you could say, although the Hahm family is too generous to ask me to work." He gave the girl one of his gentle, patient smiles, and then pushed open the door and walked inside.
Dourin could only smile in response, though there was something about the family he'd mentioned that set her on guard. But in the end, she just shrugged, and followed him inside. She paused just past the door to look around. "I do like the name." She said softly.
The Inn was well kept, that much was certain. Nothing was new, but it was clean, smelled fresh, and the tables and chairs were in good repair. The place seemed homey somehow, inviting. The bar that ran the length of the room bore the recent marks of a fresh cleaning, and the glasses and pitchers were stacked neatly. Light streamed into the room through the open windows, illuminating dust particles through the room. Along the windowsill sat a row of pots, each of them holding a small plant, though upon further inspection, it could be noticed that the plants growing in them were not usually this healthy so late in the year. It was still early in the day, so the place was completely empty. Empty, that is, save for one person, pushing a broom across the floor, whistling idly to himself, his unusual white hair tied back with a headband as he worked.
She frowned when she saw him across the room, sweeping the floor, as it meant that she would probably have to deal with some lame pass or other. "Why is he here?" She asked sharply, turning her head to glare at Kasaru. Now she knew why something about the family that owned the inn had made her pause. Because Lan-uan's family name was Hahm. "You mean he owns this place?"
"No." Kasaru replied. "His mother does. But I promise he'll behave himself." Said her gentle friend, smiling as he tilted his head towards the white-haired young man sweeping the floor. "Besides. His mother owns the place. If he doesn't behave himself...you'll be the least of his worries." He winked at Dourin then, and then went behind the bar to start fixing some drinks.
"Well." Dourin turned then, and found those golden yellow eyes fixed on her. "Nice to see you too." Lan-uan commented dryly, before glancing over at Kasaru. "Hey, Kasaru-kun. Ka-san wanted you to go down to that one store and get her some hops. I know you've got company, but...." He paused for a moment, and the dark skin of his face darkened even further for a moment. "...they won't let me in there anymore."
"Wonder why." Kasaru commented, his quiet voice filled with sarcasm.
"I told you she told me she was sixteen." muttered Lan-uan in response.
Dourin followed this exchange for a moment, her head moving back and forth from one man to the other, though she frowned every time she looked at Lan-uan. When she realized that Kasaru may be leaving, she took a step towards him. "We just got here, and we're leaving?" She wasn't going to stay with the perv.
"I won't be long. I'll leave you with a drink and Hahm-san's club. He's afraid of the club. About the only thing he is afraid of, really." While the voice was gentle, the response of the man sweeping the floor made it clear that this was a long standing joke. "Just whack him if he gets out of line."
Lan-uan only scowled in response, and went back to his sweeping. From his poise and the sudden vigorous way he started in on the floor, it was clear that he was sulking like a child, and it looked so comical. Dourin couldn't believe her eyes, and Kasaru was still chuckling as he left.
After he left, Dourin sat at one of the tables, the club in front of her as she sipped lightly at the glass of wine that Kasaru had given her, watching Lan-uan warily. He glanced at her from time to time, but was, this time, content to finish going about preparing the Inn for business that night, or so it seemed. He may have been watching her in any reflective surface the bar contained. 'Maybe he really is afraid of the club.' She thought, grinning to herself. Time passed in this manner for some time. A few hours later, a couple of men came in, and sat down not far from where Dourin was watching Lan-uan. He stopped cleaning then, and moved behind the bar.
She watched him for some time, the scowl on her face fading as time passed. As the Inn filled up, Lan-uan changed from irrepressible pervert to polite businessman. He moved with a fluid grace, always where he was needed, refilling a mug or bringing out a second order of noodles. He had an easy laugh and dangerous grin that made the few women in the bar blush, (and the scowl return to Dourin's face) and the men laugh knowingly. He also seemed to have an uncanny knack to knowing when and who had had enough to drink, giving no ground to the few who'd drunk too much too fast. Any that got rowdy were ejected from the Inn with a firm hand and a speed that Dourin couldn't believe. She wasn't cold sober, as he'd been by a couple of times to refill her drink and offer her food...and get threatened by the club, too. But even what alcohol she had drank couldn't mean that her senses had slowed that much. There was something..odd about the quickness in which he moved.
As the evening passed, one particularly rowdy drunk got thrown out of the Inn physically, after making a snide comment about girls who sit by themselves. The comment is not illustrated here because it's not something one would normally say in polite society. Even his drinking companions looked shocked. He was face first in the dirt before Dourin realized that the guy was probably talking about her, because she was the only woman in the inn by herself. She sat up a little straighter then, as the drunk didn't feel as though he'd been treated well, and decided to stand outside the Inn, loudly casting aspirations on her and Lan-uan that were vulgar, crude, and totally without merit.
She was at the door before she realized she had the club in her hand, arm raised, as though to leap outside and attack the man, who was actually cringing, so terrible was the look upon her face. Before she could react, however, a dark skinned hand closed firmly over her wrist. "He's a drunk." Came the smooth voice. "Don't do anything you're going to regret later."
She turned her head to see the golden yellow eyes of Lan-uan fixed on hers, glittering strangely in the light. Her body relaxed for a moment, then tensed again, this time as she pushed the pervert away from her, and wrenched her arm from his grasp. "Leave me alone." She said, before stomping back to her table, totally aware that those eyes were still on her, watching her. She scowled at the rest of the Inn's common room, and a lot of people went hurriedly back to their drinks. "I wonder what's keeping Kasaru-san." She muttered to herself.
"He's not usually gone this long," A quiet voice said in her ear, its amusement plain. "I've been sneaking out to look for him as often as I can, but he's nowhere to be found. Hope he didn't stop to pick up any more girls." She didn't need to look to see who it was, although how he got behind her so quietly was a mystery in itself.
"Maybe you've got him confused with yourself, baka." She said then, shooting her elbow backwards, smiling smugly as she was rewarded with a loud oofing noise.
"I think you enjoy causing me pain." Lan-uan said in a pained voice, huffing slightly as he tried to regain the breath she stole from him.
"And I'm starting to think you like it when I do!" She shot back, turn turned to the door as it was flung open hard, her hair whipping around as she did.
There stood Kasaru, bent over almost double, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "I've found her! I've found her!" He said when he'd regained his breath. "The legends are true! They're real! She's here!" he exclaimed loudly, his green eyes bright with almost childlike excitement. His long dark hair was arrayed in a mess behind him. "You need to come with me!" He leapt forward, his hand wrapping around Lan-uan's wrist. "She needs our help. I think she broke her leg in the fall."
Lan-uan didn't move. "What? Fall? In Byakko's name, Kasaru, calm down, take a deep breath, and tell me just what the HELL you're talking about?" He said, exhasperated. "You've met a girl? No wonder it took you so long to get back here." There is a brief pause. "And here I thought you didn't go for the sort of girl who lives in that part of town."
Kasaru frantically shook his head. "No, you big perverted idiot." He shot back at his friend. "THE girl. The one? Remember?" He glanced at Dourin for a moment, and then back at Lan-uan. "I know we've talked about this...how you can be so thick-headed is beyond me."
"It's a special talent I have." Lan-uan, too, glanced at Dourin and then back at Kasaru. "But I can't really leave. The Inn and all. And my mother isn't here, remember? She went to go visit her sister."
"But this is important!" Kasaru said then, frowning. "This is-"
"I know what it MIGHT be." Lan-uan responded, shaking his head, indecision warring within him for a moment. "Oh, hell. I'd better go, because even if you're wrong, I still want to meet the girl that has you acting like this." Then he turned, and addressed the Inn at large. "I have to go out." he said, giving each of the patrons a stern look. "I will be back. I know where most of you live. Keep that in mind. C'mon, Kas-kun." He said then, and the two men left the Inn.
They moved quickly through the city after leaving the Inn and Lan-uan started to frown as the buildings got poorer around them. "This is not the best section of town." Lan-uan said quietly. "And you just left her here?" He said, running after Kasaru. "Wait." He skidded to a halt. "Where did you leave her?" He asked. "And how did you even meet her....no, just tell me where you left her."
At that precise moment, a scream rent the air, not very far away, but one that set both men running again, Kasaru first, and Lan-uan following behind. "Where is she!?" Lan-uan called again.
"She's over by that one bar you frequent so much. The one that's by that warehouse?" replied Kasaru. "I had to leave her there, she hurt her leg. It may be broken."
Lan-uan skidded to a halt again. "Oh, Sweet merciful Byakko...you left her by a BROTHEL?" He said then, giving his friend stunned look before he disappeared, reappearing next to the running man. "Time to speed this up a bit." Then they both vanished in a flash of white light.
*************
Meanwhile, back at the inn, Dourin was left holding the club, sitting at the table, staring after the door that swung crazily for a moment in the wake of the two departing men. "Sheesh. The quiet one finds a girl, and they both go nuts. I don't want to know." She murmured to herself, before turning back towards her table and her drink.
For about five minutes, anyway. "Oh, Byakko help me, I really do want to know!" She exclaimed, then slipped out of her seat and left the inn, darting off in the direction she saw the two boys run in.
**************
"No, no, get off me! I'm not a...a...one of those kinds of girls! Get off! Leave me alone!" said a young girl wearing strange clothing, as she tried to push past and through the men as best she could. She couldn't get very far, as her body was slight and her leg was injured. "Help! Someone help me!" She cried then, as one of the men wrapped a meaty hand around her wrist, pulling her backwards. "Aaaaiiee!!!" She screamed.
The men just laughed. "Sure, honey. That's why you were sitting outside this bar." One said, grinning to reveal a mouthful of bad teeth. "Good idea you had, dressing up in those unusual clothes. Shows just enough skin without giving away too much." He leered as his friends and they all grinned knowingly. So intent were they on their prey, that they failed to notice a sudden eruption of white light behind them.
"She's not for sale." Came a hard voice behind them, and they all turned their heads to find the owner of the voice. All they saw were two men, one fair of skin but dark of hair, the other having dark skin but white hair. It was clearly the white haired man who'd spoken. While both men wore stern expressions on their face, the other stood a little to the rear, so clearly, he was not the leader. Or so it seemed to the thugs, anyway. "Let her go." Spoke the same voice, and all the mens' eyebrows went up as they realized it was indeed the dark-haired man who had spoken.
Someone laughed. "Oh yeah? And just how do you plan to make us?" Said one man, the largest of the group, stepping forward. "It seems to me that there are 10 of us, and only two of you. Let us have this whore, you can get one inside, and live through the night."
The white-haired man spoke then, grinning wildy, his strangely colored eyes glinting dangerously in the moonlight. "And if we should refuse to do that?" He said then, his fists coming up and his body crouching into a fighter's stance. "I ask merely for information."
"Then we're probably going to kill you, and take her anyway." Said the largest man, clearly the leader balling one of his massive hamlike fists and raising it, one finger then extending to point at the pair of interlopers. The other men just leered at each other and at the struggling girl that their leader held. "Get 'em!" He called out then, pointing at the two young men.
"Good." The white haired man turned slightly to look at his friend. "Ready?" He asks, and, upon receiving a nod from his companion, he disappeared in a burst of white, just as the thugs charged forward.
The men stopped short, overbalancing as they tried to figure out where the white-haired one had gone. "Where the hell'd he go?" One snarled, looking from left to right.
"Where he went is the least of your worries." Said the dark-haired, quiet man, drawing the attention of their attackers, and they gasped in shock. The young man who had previously looked so frail was surrounded by a soft white-blue light, one hand outstretched in front of him, a tiny seed held in his palm. As they watched, the seed exploded, expanding rapidly into a long, thorny tendril, and his hand closed around it.
"Ten against two." Came the voice of the white haired man again, this time from the middle of the group of thugs. "This hardly seems fair." A smirk appeared on his face as he lashed out with one hand straight, catching one man hard on the side of the neck, dropping him. "I mean, really. You guys don't stand a chance." Before the men could turn and attack him, he was gone again, reapparing next to the guy with the vines.
"Hey, wait, what in Byakko's name are you guys?" Someone asked. The only reaction from the two men was that the white-haired one turned to the dark haired one and grinned toothily. Then, as one, they leapt forward into the fray.
*****
Dourin almost caught up to them as they stopped, apparently having a brief argument. Then she heard the scream, and turned towards it. When she looked back at her two friends, they were gone. She paused a moment, blinking her eyes. "They...are fast." She murmured softly, but then she took off running in the direction of the scream. "Maybe that's where they went. Kasaru-san did mention something about a girl."
She made her way quickly through the streets, running as fast as she could. Many years later, she never was quite certain just how she knew where she was going. But at the time, all she did was follow her feet, which seemed to know exactly where they were going. And a few minutes after the fight started, she arrived. It didn't take her long to figure out what was going on, as she could see the strangely dressed girl being held by a very evil looking person. And between her and the girl there was-
Wait, just what was going on here? She could see Kasaru and Lan-uan, but they were...glowing? She reached up with one hand and rubbed at her eyes, then opened them again.
The glow was still there. 'What in Byakko's na-', she thought, before she saw it. Once she did, all previous thoughts she'd had before were derailed. There it was as clear as day. In fact, it was just as bright as a desert day could be. There, on Lan-uan's cheek, the symbol 'kei' glowed brightly for the world to see. 'In Byakko's name...' she thought to herself. 'How appropriate. They're seishi. SEISHI!' Her glee was difficult to contain. At least for right now. Then the enormity of what she was seeing sunk in.
'Oh, No! That means I can't get away from Lan-uan!'
*****
Meanwhile, the fight was going badly for anyone without seishi powers. Tokaki reached out and dropped one man just by touching him in the ribcage. Tatara lunged after one man with his thorn vine and flung him into the air, sending him crashing back down to the earth thirty feet away. By this point, there were only two men and their leader still standing. The leader wasn't fighting, instead he was gripping the girl's arm, and as each man fell, his grip got stronger.
"What the hell are you fools doing? C'mon! Get up! These two punks should be easy for you!"
"Sorry, boss, but they ain't human! Look at '-urk!" One cried, right before he received a vine whip around his neck, yanking him across the street and into a building. The last of his men took one more look at the young white-haired man, his body glowing faintly, with a symbol on his cheek, completely untouched, and somehow able to move faster than the eye could see. The other, glowing as well, holding a whip made of vines that he'd grown right in front of them. He then did what any sensible person would do. He turned and ran as fast as he could, screaming.
"Now." said Tokaki, his eyes shifting their focus from the fleeing man to the leader of the pack, who was still holding the strangely dressed girl. "How about you let her go, and walk away?" He asked, one eyebrow lifting in query as he regarded the burly man, his hands and body still holding his fighter's stance.
"You little punk!" The man yelled, flinging the girl from him and leaping toward's Tokaki, shoulders lowered, as though to body check the man. Tokaki didn't move, just stood there, waiting. And then, at the last moment, Tokaki appeared to slide to the side, so quickly and precisely did he teleport, and brought his elbow crashing down on the back of the gang-leader's neck. A slight choking noise could be heard, and there was a brief flash of metal. Then the man hit the ground hard, unconcious.
"There." Tokaki said then, straightening and clapping his hands together smugly, dusting them off. But as he did this, his face started to rapid drain of color. He opened his eyes and look down. Sticking out of his stomach was a knife. A knife that none of them had seen that the now unconcious leader had even had. He reached down, his hands wrapping weakly around the hilt, and he lifted his head to look at Tatara. "Oh."
"Tokaki!" He cried out, leaping for his friend as his legs started to give out. He crumpled to the ground, his head landing in Tatara's lap. "You...idiot!" Was all the quiet man could say.
The girl they had saved limped forward slowly and sunk to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she faced her saviors. "Oh." She said softly, her accent strange. "Oh, no. No..." For though they had saved her, at what cost did it come? "I am...so sorry."
"Not your fault." Tokaki said softly, a pained grin still on his face. In as much as it's possible to grin impishly while your life is ebbing away, that is what Tokaki was now doing. "'D've done it anyway, even'f I knew this would happen. You're pretty cute." He glanced up at Tatara. "This's gonna make things hard now, Tatara-kun. W'need all seven."
"Damnit, Tokaki, you're not going to die!" Tatara said, reaching to pull the dagger from Tokaki.
"No. He's not." Came a new voice. A clear, familiar voice. Almost as one, three pairs of eyes turned to look as a figure emerged from the shadows. She was dressed strangely, in the low cut, flowing garments that many of the desert tribes wore. The colors were very bright, with pinks and yellows and blues that clung enticingly to her figure. But the most unusual thing about the woman was her hair. As white as Tokaki's, it was done up at the top of her head in two loops, one on each side. Bracelets hung from her wrist, and they clinked as she walked towards them.
"Ah. Dourin-chan." said Tokaki softly, closing his eyes as she kneeled beside him. "I'm glad I get to see the most beautiful woman in all of the Four Lands one last time."
"You really are an idiot, you know that?" She responded shortly. "You're not going to die." She toke hold of the knife handle, gripping it with both hands. Her eyes closed, and to Tatara's and the foreign girl's shock, she began to glow...and that glow was centered on her chest, just above her left breast. "Time Turn Tokaki's Body To This Point Yesterday." She said, pulling the knife out.
Tatara and the girl gasped in awe, and Tokaki's eyes opened as color returned to his face, and the twinkle returned to his eyes. Even the blood on his clothes disappeared, and his breathing became deeper, stronger. He sat up then, and stared at Dourin. "What in Byakk-" he started to ask, then broke off as he saw the white light around Dourin. "Y-you're a Seishi?" He asked, incredulous.
She nodded, the knife slipping from her fingers as she slumped slightly, taking a deep breath. "Hai. I am also known as Subaru." She pulled her clothing down briefly just enough to show the symbol of 'Ko' flaring briefly to life on her left breast. She looked up and smiled at Tatara. "You're Tatara." She readjusted her clothing, and then slapped Tokaki's face. Not that he'd said anything, or really, even SAW anything. But his knowing smirk was enough.
"Hey!" exclaimed the recently healed seishi. What was that f-umph!"
The quiet man nodded, clapping his hand over his friend's mouth. "Hai. And this melodramatic fool here is Tokaki." He said this while grinning at the comical dark look on his friend's face. Then the three friends turned to look at the girl they had rescued.
She looked back and forth from one to the other, awed, relieved, and, at the same time, completely confused and frightened. "I'm....Oosugi. Oosugi Suzuno."
**********
Whoo! Suzuno has arrived! And for those of you who read this story, Chapter 3 is already started!
Sorry about the delay too. Too much FFXI does not time allow. Or something.
And yes, in the tradition of great authors comes...Fushigi Akugi!
Tokaki: OI! Author person! How come I didn't score with Subaru yet?
Subaru: . *whacks Tokaki into the next century*
Author: .
Tokaki: *innocently* What'd I do?
And if I had a million dollars....
I'd be rich. ^.^
Yes, that was taken from Bare Naked Ladies. Which I don't own either.
And, without further doodoo, chapter 2.
Chapter 2: Her.7
"Huh?" Tatara said, looking at his friend strangely.
"I know that girl." Tokaki said, taking a slow step towards her. "When I was a boy...there was this girl. Younger than me." He pried his eyes away from the girl long enough to look back at Tatara. "She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life."
Tatara waved his hand. "How many times have you said that to me in the two years we've known each other?" He asked the other man dryly.
Tokaki just snorted, and then turned. "I think I'll see you later." He said, before starting towards the booth where the girl was shopping.
Tatara didn't walk away yet, as he normally would have. Typically, whenever his friend went after a girl, Tatara walked off towards the Inn, to let Tokaki work on his own. The one time they'd attempted to engage a pair of young women in conversation, it ended up being very awkward and uncomfortable, as the shy Tatara was quickly overshadowed by his more charming and exuberant companion. It didn't help that Tokaki kept dragging Tatara back into the conversation when it was obvious that both girls only had eyes for the wilder looking seishi. After that time, they'd talked about it (at least, as much as possible to talk about something when Tokaki was constantly bragging about what had happened after Tatara had left) and decided that while Tatara appreciated Tokaki's efforts on his behalf, Tatara was looking for a different type of girl than the ones that Tokaki usually chased. This one, this white-haired girl standing before them, was different. Something about her made Tatara pause. Just to watch, and see what happened.
"Hey there." He said, tapping the young woman on the shoulder and giving her his best smile, which did the best for his wild features, his hair blowing lightly in the breeze. It was a smile that had melted many women before, and he naturally assumed it would work now. It was the type of smile that would make mothers blush and fathers hide their daughters. "Did it hurt?"
She looked at him, confusion briefly crossing her beautiful face, before her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did what hurt?" She asked him, her voice, though in the lower range for women, was still very feminine and easy on the ears. It just added, at least to Tokaki's mind, to her cuteness.
"When you fell from heaven?"
Her eyes got real wide for a moment, and she appeared stunned. Why, exactly, Tokaki and Tatara couldn't say until much later. Tatara figured that she just couldn't believe what she'd just heard. He was about to step forward, grab his friend, and haul him away while apologizing profusely, but before he could do that, the girl reacted.
For the rest of their very, very long lives, neither Tatara or Tokaki could be certain just where the frying pan had come from. It's possible that they just failed to observe that she had it, or even that Byakko had given it to her for just such a purpose. Whereever she got it from, she put it to good use, swinging it around hard...right into Tokaki's skull.
The helpless seishi flew across the road landed hard against a wall, before slumping down it, momentarily stunned. Tatara followed the flight of his friend with a shocked expression, before turning back to Dourin. "...Wow." He said softly before shaking his head. "I'd never thought I'd ever see that." He held up both of his hands frantically as the girl then whirled on him, frying pan still gripped threateningly. "No, no, it's Ok. I'm....not like him." He pointed at the dazed Tokaki. "I'm T...Zonye Kasaru. That's Hahm Lan-uan. I...apologize if he offended you." Tatara kept his voice gentle, and his hands held outward.
She glanced at Tatara for a moment, then looked back at the crumpled form of Tokaki. "Gomen..Z..Zonye-san" She said then, smiling sheepishly and running a hand along her white hair. "I....guess I over-reacted."
"No......" Tatara said, drawing the word out for a long moment, turning to look at Tokaki himself. "I would have to say that he has had that coming to him for a long, looooong time now." He chuckled then. "Actually....it is kind of funny, when you think about it. I've never seen that happen before."
The semi-concious seishi groaned as his vision began to clear. "Damnit, woman." He muttered in irritation. "Did you have to do that to me again?" Slowly, cautiously, he started to right himself. "I think you gave me a concussion."
"I think she'd have to hit you a lot harder than that to give you a concussion, my friend." said Tatara quietly, before offering his friend a helping hand to his feet.
The girl watched the two friends for a moment, then tilted her head to the side, frowning at the man she'd hit with the frying pan. "Ano...what do you mean, 'again'?" She asked, distrust plainly evident in her voice.
Tokaki winced again as he got to his feet, one hand reaching up to gently touch the knot forming on his skull. "Ugh." He said, before turning his attention to the woman responsible for said knot. "Your name is Dourin, right?"
Dourin's eyes widened in surprise. "H-hai, but how did you-?"
"Know?" He finished for her. "Easy. Do you remember getting left at an old lady's when you were a kid? While your parents were in the market? About...say 12 years ago?"
"I remember coming to the city, but I don't rem...." She paused for a moment as the memory replayed itself in her mind, and then scowled as a grin spread across his face. "You were that boy, weren't you? The one that I hit with the little skillet my mom'd bought me."
Tatara, who at this point was looking from one to the other incredulously, asked. "Wait, you mean you two actually do know each other?" Then he psused
Wincing in pain as he continued to rub the knot on his head. "Yeah." Tokaki responded, his voice dry. "She whacked me then too."
"And I wouldn't have if you weren't trying to see up those girls' skirts. What kind of person does that, huh?" She asked, brandishing the frying pan again. "And how did you know it was me?"
"Easy." Replied Tokaki, his smile coming more easily as his headache started to abate, though he winced periodically when he pressed too hard. "You had the same hairstyle. And you're still just as beautiful when you're an-." He cut his sentence off as her knuckles whitened on the frying pan handle. "Er. Yeah. Hairstyle, that's how I knew." His smile started to falter.
"If you hit him again, Dourin-san, he really will have a concussion." The quiet voice startled both of them, as they'd been so intent on watching the other (though for entirely different reasons) that they'd forgotten about Tatara. "And..." He paused awkwardly for a moment, before continuing. "Lan-uan...how old were you then? Eight?"
"I was an early bloomer." The white-haired man responded, grinning at Tatara before continuing. "What can I say? Ouch." He winced, this time worse than the others, as he gave the knot on his head an experimental prod and did it just a little too hard.
"Oh, of all the...." Dourin started, before stepping closer to the man she'd injured. "Here. Let me see. And stop rubbing at it. It'll just get worse if you don't, baka."
******
From that day on, Dourin found herself often running into one or the other of the young men that she met that day as she ran her errands around the city, occassionally to her annoyance. (If it was Tokaki she ran into, anyway.) While she enjoyed talking to Kasaru, and would genuinely miss him when her tribe once more rolled up their tents to wander back into the desert, every time she ran into Lan-uan, she genuinely hoped that her parents were considering packing up soon. For some reason, just the sight of his white head annoyed her to no end. More often than not, their meetings ended with him being whacked into a nearby wall with something heavy. If it hadn't been for the fact that she'd seen him in the company of other women, she'd think he was obsessing dangerously over her, which was something she did not want him to do at all. There were even days that she'd leave her parents' company, start walking through the city, and every time she saw a flash of white and gold, she'd whip around, afraid that he'd found her. There was just something about him that she couldn't explain. Something that drove her crazy. She couldn't explain it, either, because she didn't hate Lan-uan, and he could sometimes be a very amusing and charming companion, easy with a joke and generous with his time and money. He just...annoyed her. Maybe it was because of the way the elderly couples would see the two behaving and nod in that knowing fashion that drove her insane. Maybe it was how..indestructible he seemed to her rather violent rebuffs. Whatever it was, the two of them together was generally an explosive combination.
But when she ran into the gentle Kasaru, she would often go out of her way to spend time with him. He seemed comfortable, somehow. Like a close relative. Someone you could trust and let your guard down near. They would run into each other, and he'd then change his steps to match hers, and they'd talk, quietly. Part of her was afraid that she was going to fall for him, this quiet, pale young man with the long black hair. It wasn't that she was afraid of him, rather that she was afraid for him. He seemed too frail, to gentle, for the long, hard, though peaceful life of the nomadic tribe in which she lived, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to give up that nomadic life for him.
At least, she was afraid she might fall for him, until the day he brought her to the Inn where he lived. She'd been in the city for close to a month, and had even started warming to Lan-uan, who had, at least, stopped hitting so blatantly on her, having finally realized that what he used on a lot of the women he spent time with certainly wasn't going to work on her. The three had, sometime in between the severe beatings for Lan-uan because of the the blatant come-ons and the laughter and fun that the trio shared while walking throught he city, visiting gardens, or the shrine to Byakko, become friends, and they thought their lives idyllic. But all that changed the day that Kasaru brought her to the Inn where he lived.
She never forgot that day either. For that was the day that everything changed for her. That was the day that everything changed for all of them.
******
"Why are we here?" She asked, turning her head to look at Kasaru, smiling.
"Because I live here." he responded. "And...work here too, I guess you could say, although the Hahm family is too generous to ask me to work." He gave the girl one of his gentle, patient smiles, and then pushed open the door and walked inside.
Dourin could only smile in response, though there was something about the family he'd mentioned that set her on guard. But in the end, she just shrugged, and followed him inside. She paused just past the door to look around. "I do like the name." She said softly.
The Inn was well kept, that much was certain. Nothing was new, but it was clean, smelled fresh, and the tables and chairs were in good repair. The place seemed homey somehow, inviting. The bar that ran the length of the room bore the recent marks of a fresh cleaning, and the glasses and pitchers were stacked neatly. Light streamed into the room through the open windows, illuminating dust particles through the room. Along the windowsill sat a row of pots, each of them holding a small plant, though upon further inspection, it could be noticed that the plants growing in them were not usually this healthy so late in the year. It was still early in the day, so the place was completely empty. Empty, that is, save for one person, pushing a broom across the floor, whistling idly to himself, his unusual white hair tied back with a headband as he worked.
She frowned when she saw him across the room, sweeping the floor, as it meant that she would probably have to deal with some lame pass or other. "Why is he here?" She asked sharply, turning her head to glare at Kasaru. Now she knew why something about the family that owned the inn had made her pause. Because Lan-uan's family name was Hahm. "You mean he owns this place?"
"No." Kasaru replied. "His mother does. But I promise he'll behave himself." Said her gentle friend, smiling as he tilted his head towards the white-haired young man sweeping the floor. "Besides. His mother owns the place. If he doesn't behave himself...you'll be the least of his worries." He winked at Dourin then, and then went behind the bar to start fixing some drinks.
"Well." Dourin turned then, and found those golden yellow eyes fixed on her. "Nice to see you too." Lan-uan commented dryly, before glancing over at Kasaru. "Hey, Kasaru-kun. Ka-san wanted you to go down to that one store and get her some hops. I know you've got company, but...." He paused for a moment, and the dark skin of his face darkened even further for a moment. "...they won't let me in there anymore."
"Wonder why." Kasaru commented, his quiet voice filled with sarcasm.
"I told you she told me she was sixteen." muttered Lan-uan in response.
Dourin followed this exchange for a moment, her head moving back and forth from one man to the other, though she frowned every time she looked at Lan-uan. When she realized that Kasaru may be leaving, she took a step towards him. "We just got here, and we're leaving?" She wasn't going to stay with the perv.
"I won't be long. I'll leave you with a drink and Hahm-san's club. He's afraid of the club. About the only thing he is afraid of, really." While the voice was gentle, the response of the man sweeping the floor made it clear that this was a long standing joke. "Just whack him if he gets out of line."
Lan-uan only scowled in response, and went back to his sweeping. From his poise and the sudden vigorous way he started in on the floor, it was clear that he was sulking like a child, and it looked so comical. Dourin couldn't believe her eyes, and Kasaru was still chuckling as he left.
After he left, Dourin sat at one of the tables, the club in front of her as she sipped lightly at the glass of wine that Kasaru had given her, watching Lan-uan warily. He glanced at her from time to time, but was, this time, content to finish going about preparing the Inn for business that night, or so it seemed. He may have been watching her in any reflective surface the bar contained. 'Maybe he really is afraid of the club.' She thought, grinning to herself. Time passed in this manner for some time. A few hours later, a couple of men came in, and sat down not far from where Dourin was watching Lan-uan. He stopped cleaning then, and moved behind the bar.
She watched him for some time, the scowl on her face fading as time passed. As the Inn filled up, Lan-uan changed from irrepressible pervert to polite businessman. He moved with a fluid grace, always where he was needed, refilling a mug or bringing out a second order of noodles. He had an easy laugh and dangerous grin that made the few women in the bar blush, (and the scowl return to Dourin's face) and the men laugh knowingly. He also seemed to have an uncanny knack to knowing when and who had had enough to drink, giving no ground to the few who'd drunk too much too fast. Any that got rowdy were ejected from the Inn with a firm hand and a speed that Dourin couldn't believe. She wasn't cold sober, as he'd been by a couple of times to refill her drink and offer her food...and get threatened by the club, too. But even what alcohol she had drank couldn't mean that her senses had slowed that much. There was something..odd about the quickness in which he moved.
As the evening passed, one particularly rowdy drunk got thrown out of the Inn physically, after making a snide comment about girls who sit by themselves. The comment is not illustrated here because it's not something one would normally say in polite society. Even his drinking companions looked shocked. He was face first in the dirt before Dourin realized that the guy was probably talking about her, because she was the only woman in the inn by herself. She sat up a little straighter then, as the drunk didn't feel as though he'd been treated well, and decided to stand outside the Inn, loudly casting aspirations on her and Lan-uan that were vulgar, crude, and totally without merit.
She was at the door before she realized she had the club in her hand, arm raised, as though to leap outside and attack the man, who was actually cringing, so terrible was the look upon her face. Before she could react, however, a dark skinned hand closed firmly over her wrist. "He's a drunk." Came the smooth voice. "Don't do anything you're going to regret later."
She turned her head to see the golden yellow eyes of Lan-uan fixed on hers, glittering strangely in the light. Her body relaxed for a moment, then tensed again, this time as she pushed the pervert away from her, and wrenched her arm from his grasp. "Leave me alone." She said, before stomping back to her table, totally aware that those eyes were still on her, watching her. She scowled at the rest of the Inn's common room, and a lot of people went hurriedly back to their drinks. "I wonder what's keeping Kasaru-san." She muttered to herself.
"He's not usually gone this long," A quiet voice said in her ear, its amusement plain. "I've been sneaking out to look for him as often as I can, but he's nowhere to be found. Hope he didn't stop to pick up any more girls." She didn't need to look to see who it was, although how he got behind her so quietly was a mystery in itself.
"Maybe you've got him confused with yourself, baka." She said then, shooting her elbow backwards, smiling smugly as she was rewarded with a loud oofing noise.
"I think you enjoy causing me pain." Lan-uan said in a pained voice, huffing slightly as he tried to regain the breath she stole from him.
"And I'm starting to think you like it when I do!" She shot back, turn turned to the door as it was flung open hard, her hair whipping around as she did.
There stood Kasaru, bent over almost double, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "I've found her! I've found her!" He said when he'd regained his breath. "The legends are true! They're real! She's here!" he exclaimed loudly, his green eyes bright with almost childlike excitement. His long dark hair was arrayed in a mess behind him. "You need to come with me!" He leapt forward, his hand wrapping around Lan-uan's wrist. "She needs our help. I think she broke her leg in the fall."
Lan-uan didn't move. "What? Fall? In Byakko's name, Kasaru, calm down, take a deep breath, and tell me just what the HELL you're talking about?" He said, exhasperated. "You've met a girl? No wonder it took you so long to get back here." There is a brief pause. "And here I thought you didn't go for the sort of girl who lives in that part of town."
Kasaru frantically shook his head. "No, you big perverted idiot." He shot back at his friend. "THE girl. The one? Remember?" He glanced at Dourin for a moment, and then back at Lan-uan. "I know we've talked about this...how you can be so thick-headed is beyond me."
"It's a special talent I have." Lan-uan, too, glanced at Dourin and then back at Kasaru. "But I can't really leave. The Inn and all. And my mother isn't here, remember? She went to go visit her sister."
"But this is important!" Kasaru said then, frowning. "This is-"
"I know what it MIGHT be." Lan-uan responded, shaking his head, indecision warring within him for a moment. "Oh, hell. I'd better go, because even if you're wrong, I still want to meet the girl that has you acting like this." Then he turned, and addressed the Inn at large. "I have to go out." he said, giving each of the patrons a stern look. "I will be back. I know where most of you live. Keep that in mind. C'mon, Kas-kun." He said then, and the two men left the Inn.
They moved quickly through the city after leaving the Inn and Lan-uan started to frown as the buildings got poorer around them. "This is not the best section of town." Lan-uan said quietly. "And you just left her here?" He said, running after Kasaru. "Wait." He skidded to a halt. "Where did you leave her?" He asked. "And how did you even meet her....no, just tell me where you left her."
At that precise moment, a scream rent the air, not very far away, but one that set both men running again, Kasaru first, and Lan-uan following behind. "Where is she!?" Lan-uan called again.
"She's over by that one bar you frequent so much. The one that's by that warehouse?" replied Kasaru. "I had to leave her there, she hurt her leg. It may be broken."
Lan-uan skidded to a halt again. "Oh, Sweet merciful Byakko...you left her by a BROTHEL?" He said then, giving his friend stunned look before he disappeared, reappearing next to the running man. "Time to speed this up a bit." Then they both vanished in a flash of white light.
*************
Meanwhile, back at the inn, Dourin was left holding the club, sitting at the table, staring after the door that swung crazily for a moment in the wake of the two departing men. "Sheesh. The quiet one finds a girl, and they both go nuts. I don't want to know." She murmured to herself, before turning back towards her table and her drink.
For about five minutes, anyway. "Oh, Byakko help me, I really do want to know!" She exclaimed, then slipped out of her seat and left the inn, darting off in the direction she saw the two boys run in.
**************
"No, no, get off me! I'm not a...a...one of those kinds of girls! Get off! Leave me alone!" said a young girl wearing strange clothing, as she tried to push past and through the men as best she could. She couldn't get very far, as her body was slight and her leg was injured. "Help! Someone help me!" She cried then, as one of the men wrapped a meaty hand around her wrist, pulling her backwards. "Aaaaiiee!!!" She screamed.
The men just laughed. "Sure, honey. That's why you were sitting outside this bar." One said, grinning to reveal a mouthful of bad teeth. "Good idea you had, dressing up in those unusual clothes. Shows just enough skin without giving away too much." He leered as his friends and they all grinned knowingly. So intent were they on their prey, that they failed to notice a sudden eruption of white light behind them.
"She's not for sale." Came a hard voice behind them, and they all turned their heads to find the owner of the voice. All they saw were two men, one fair of skin but dark of hair, the other having dark skin but white hair. It was clearly the white haired man who'd spoken. While both men wore stern expressions on their face, the other stood a little to the rear, so clearly, he was not the leader. Or so it seemed to the thugs, anyway. "Let her go." Spoke the same voice, and all the mens' eyebrows went up as they realized it was indeed the dark-haired man who had spoken.
Someone laughed. "Oh yeah? And just how do you plan to make us?" Said one man, the largest of the group, stepping forward. "It seems to me that there are 10 of us, and only two of you. Let us have this whore, you can get one inside, and live through the night."
The white-haired man spoke then, grinning wildy, his strangely colored eyes glinting dangerously in the moonlight. "And if we should refuse to do that?" He said then, his fists coming up and his body crouching into a fighter's stance. "I ask merely for information."
"Then we're probably going to kill you, and take her anyway." Said the largest man, clearly the leader balling one of his massive hamlike fists and raising it, one finger then extending to point at the pair of interlopers. The other men just leered at each other and at the struggling girl that their leader held. "Get 'em!" He called out then, pointing at the two young men.
"Good." The white haired man turned slightly to look at his friend. "Ready?" He asks, and, upon receiving a nod from his companion, he disappeared in a burst of white, just as the thugs charged forward.
The men stopped short, overbalancing as they tried to figure out where the white-haired one had gone. "Where the hell'd he go?" One snarled, looking from left to right.
"Where he went is the least of your worries." Said the dark-haired, quiet man, drawing the attention of their attackers, and they gasped in shock. The young man who had previously looked so frail was surrounded by a soft white-blue light, one hand outstretched in front of him, a tiny seed held in his palm. As they watched, the seed exploded, expanding rapidly into a long, thorny tendril, and his hand closed around it.
"Ten against two." Came the voice of the white haired man again, this time from the middle of the group of thugs. "This hardly seems fair." A smirk appeared on his face as he lashed out with one hand straight, catching one man hard on the side of the neck, dropping him. "I mean, really. You guys don't stand a chance." Before the men could turn and attack him, he was gone again, reapparing next to the guy with the vines.
"Hey, wait, what in Byakko's name are you guys?" Someone asked. The only reaction from the two men was that the white-haired one turned to the dark haired one and grinned toothily. Then, as one, they leapt forward into the fray.
*****
Dourin almost caught up to them as they stopped, apparently having a brief argument. Then she heard the scream, and turned towards it. When she looked back at her two friends, they were gone. She paused a moment, blinking her eyes. "They...are fast." She murmured softly, but then she took off running in the direction of the scream. "Maybe that's where they went. Kasaru-san did mention something about a girl."
She made her way quickly through the streets, running as fast as she could. Many years later, she never was quite certain just how she knew where she was going. But at the time, all she did was follow her feet, which seemed to know exactly where they were going. And a few minutes after the fight started, she arrived. It didn't take her long to figure out what was going on, as she could see the strangely dressed girl being held by a very evil looking person. And between her and the girl there was-
Wait, just what was going on here? She could see Kasaru and Lan-uan, but they were...glowing? She reached up with one hand and rubbed at her eyes, then opened them again.
The glow was still there. 'What in Byakko's na-', she thought, before she saw it. Once she did, all previous thoughts she'd had before were derailed. There it was as clear as day. In fact, it was just as bright as a desert day could be. There, on Lan-uan's cheek, the symbol 'kei' glowed brightly for the world to see. 'In Byakko's name...' she thought to herself. 'How appropriate. They're seishi. SEISHI!' Her glee was difficult to contain. At least for right now. Then the enormity of what she was seeing sunk in.
'Oh, No! That means I can't get away from Lan-uan!'
*****
Meanwhile, the fight was going badly for anyone without seishi powers. Tokaki reached out and dropped one man just by touching him in the ribcage. Tatara lunged after one man with his thorn vine and flung him into the air, sending him crashing back down to the earth thirty feet away. By this point, there were only two men and their leader still standing. The leader wasn't fighting, instead he was gripping the girl's arm, and as each man fell, his grip got stronger.
"What the hell are you fools doing? C'mon! Get up! These two punks should be easy for you!"
"Sorry, boss, but they ain't human! Look at '-urk!" One cried, right before he received a vine whip around his neck, yanking him across the street and into a building. The last of his men took one more look at the young white-haired man, his body glowing faintly, with a symbol on his cheek, completely untouched, and somehow able to move faster than the eye could see. The other, glowing as well, holding a whip made of vines that he'd grown right in front of them. He then did what any sensible person would do. He turned and ran as fast as he could, screaming.
"Now." said Tokaki, his eyes shifting their focus from the fleeing man to the leader of the pack, who was still holding the strangely dressed girl. "How about you let her go, and walk away?" He asked, one eyebrow lifting in query as he regarded the burly man, his hands and body still holding his fighter's stance.
"You little punk!" The man yelled, flinging the girl from him and leaping toward's Tokaki, shoulders lowered, as though to body check the man. Tokaki didn't move, just stood there, waiting. And then, at the last moment, Tokaki appeared to slide to the side, so quickly and precisely did he teleport, and brought his elbow crashing down on the back of the gang-leader's neck. A slight choking noise could be heard, and there was a brief flash of metal. Then the man hit the ground hard, unconcious.
"There." Tokaki said then, straightening and clapping his hands together smugly, dusting them off. But as he did this, his face started to rapid drain of color. He opened his eyes and look down. Sticking out of his stomach was a knife. A knife that none of them had seen that the now unconcious leader had even had. He reached down, his hands wrapping weakly around the hilt, and he lifted his head to look at Tatara. "Oh."
"Tokaki!" He cried out, leaping for his friend as his legs started to give out. He crumpled to the ground, his head landing in Tatara's lap. "You...idiot!" Was all the quiet man could say.
The girl they had saved limped forward slowly and sunk to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she faced her saviors. "Oh." She said softly, her accent strange. "Oh, no. No..." For though they had saved her, at what cost did it come? "I am...so sorry."
"Not your fault." Tokaki said softly, a pained grin still on his face. In as much as it's possible to grin impishly while your life is ebbing away, that is what Tokaki was now doing. "'D've done it anyway, even'f I knew this would happen. You're pretty cute." He glanced up at Tatara. "This's gonna make things hard now, Tatara-kun. W'need all seven."
"Damnit, Tokaki, you're not going to die!" Tatara said, reaching to pull the dagger from Tokaki.
"No. He's not." Came a new voice. A clear, familiar voice. Almost as one, three pairs of eyes turned to look as a figure emerged from the shadows. She was dressed strangely, in the low cut, flowing garments that many of the desert tribes wore. The colors were very bright, with pinks and yellows and blues that clung enticingly to her figure. But the most unusual thing about the woman was her hair. As white as Tokaki's, it was done up at the top of her head in two loops, one on each side. Bracelets hung from her wrist, and they clinked as she walked towards them.
"Ah. Dourin-chan." said Tokaki softly, closing his eyes as she kneeled beside him. "I'm glad I get to see the most beautiful woman in all of the Four Lands one last time."
"You really are an idiot, you know that?" She responded shortly. "You're not going to die." She toke hold of the knife handle, gripping it with both hands. Her eyes closed, and to Tatara's and the foreign girl's shock, she began to glow...and that glow was centered on her chest, just above her left breast. "Time Turn Tokaki's Body To This Point Yesterday." She said, pulling the knife out.
Tatara and the girl gasped in awe, and Tokaki's eyes opened as color returned to his face, and the twinkle returned to his eyes. Even the blood on his clothes disappeared, and his breathing became deeper, stronger. He sat up then, and stared at Dourin. "What in Byakk-" he started to ask, then broke off as he saw the white light around Dourin. "Y-you're a Seishi?" He asked, incredulous.
She nodded, the knife slipping from her fingers as she slumped slightly, taking a deep breath. "Hai. I am also known as Subaru." She pulled her clothing down briefly just enough to show the symbol of 'Ko' flaring briefly to life on her left breast. She looked up and smiled at Tatara. "You're Tatara." She readjusted her clothing, and then slapped Tokaki's face. Not that he'd said anything, or really, even SAW anything. But his knowing smirk was enough.
"Hey!" exclaimed the recently healed seishi. What was that f-umph!"
The quiet man nodded, clapping his hand over his friend's mouth. "Hai. And this melodramatic fool here is Tokaki." He said this while grinning at the comical dark look on his friend's face. Then the three friends turned to look at the girl they had rescued.
She looked back and forth from one to the other, awed, relieved, and, at the same time, completely confused and frightened. "I'm....Oosugi. Oosugi Suzuno."
**********
Whoo! Suzuno has arrived! And for those of you who read this story, Chapter 3 is already started!
Sorry about the delay too. Too much FFXI does not time allow. Or something.
And yes, in the tradition of great authors comes...Fushigi Akugi!
Tokaki: OI! Author person! How come I didn't score with Subaru yet?
Subaru: . *whacks Tokaki into the next century*
Author: .
Tokaki: *innocently* What'd I do?
