New Life, Old Bonds
By Babbling Brook42
Rating: R – for language
Disclaimer: See Prologue
I think I have covered everything….
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Chapter 4 – A New View (Tasuki's POV)
Suzaku, what the hell happened to me?
I bring my hand to my head as waves of pain race laps around the inside of my skull. I glance around - definitely a hospital. It has all the requirements: two beds with a shit load of buttons, the track curtains for privacy, wall mounted TV, and equipment the seemed to beep or ding every so often. The IV needle on the back of my hand is a give away too.
I try to remember what happened to me. It's fuzzy and my mind seems jumbled with thoughts. Too many thoughts, too many memories. They don't fit together or make sense. I place a hand on either side of my head trying to make it stop.
Did I scream? I must have. A busy-body nurse is at my side inquiring what's wrong.
"My damn head hurts," I manage to say.
"I'll see what I can get to help you," she responds.
She returns minutes later with a syringe and injects the stuff into my IV line.
"This should help," she says.
My eyelids start to droop almost instantly, but it does not free me from my nightmarish kaleidoscope of memories.
Suzaku, help me!
The memories suddenly stop moving and hang about me like an art exhibit. The dream me slowly uncurls and glances around. I walk to the nearest picture. It's Kouji and I playing in my fort. I touch the edge of the picture and it starts moving. I remember that day. That's when we first began our terror as bandits. It vanishes when finished.
I look around scanning the other still-lifes. There are several I recognize from childhood. My eye is caught by one that does not belong with the grouping I am currently looking at. I am dressed in clothes I don't remember owning. A dark haired man is froze mid attack. Off to the side is a teenage girl dressed in a school uniform, and Ri-san in funky cloths holds her protectively.
I hesitantly touch it. It springs to life playing out the battle in which I get the crap beaten out of me.
That can't be me. Can it?
I turn to another picture. This one shows me flaming a bunch of zombies with a metal fan. The girl is in this one too.
Who is she? I feel I should know her.
Another one shows someone lying in the snow. Spots of crimson stain the white covering. Purple hair is just visible on the still body.
Nuriko!
I know who it is. I don't want to watch that one and turn away only to face a battlefield where Ri-san and I are on either side of a fallen dark-haired man.
What does it mean? What does it mean?
I shut my eyes tight as my mind reels with names and faces.
Miaka – my Miko – I must protect her.
Nuriko – loving friend and first to die
Tamahome – fighter; flame practice; Miaka's love
Chiriko – little brother
Mitsukake – valiant healer
Hotohori – brave emperor of Konan
Chichiri – friend and lover
Tasuki – me
I open my eyes. The pictures start flying about and falling into order. When they still, four neat lines appear before me. One is my life in the world of the four gods – my life as Tasuki celestial warrior of Suzaku.
The next is my second life. I lived in Konan long time later. Chichiri was there. We found each other just like he promised even if we never remembered. I scan through the files looking for signs of the others. Nuriko was there as a small child – a girl – we adopt. Chiriko was an old government official.
The third life was in Miaka's world in Ireland when it was ruled by clans. Chichiri was a druid. Hotohori was a clan leader. Once more we lived our lives with no memory of our shared pasts.
Fourth is my current life. The life that is most likely to allow us all to be together again: the world that Miaka and Tamahome/Taka lived in.
I stretch my arms out wide in triumph. I know who I am, I know where I have been, and I know where I want to go. This time I know my star brothers are out there, and I will find them.
Slowly I wake to the hospital room once more. My head no longer hurts.
"Shun'u you're awake."
Only one person called me by that name anymore.
"Yes, Mom, I am," my voice cracks as I answer.
"Have some water, dear," she says handing me a cup.
I gently sip from it allowing the water to soak into the flesh of my parched mouth and throat.
"What happened?" I ask.
"You were hit by a car," a deep voice informs me.
I look up to see a tall broad shouldered doctor walking in. His brown hair is cropped short.
"Mitsukake?" I whisper and sit up straighter.
He shows no sign of recognition.
"I'm Dr. Myojuan. Well, young man, you are very lucky," Mitsukake says flipping through the chart. "You had trauma to the brain and were in and out of consciousness for a few days. How are you feeling?"
He moves to my bedside. He picks up my un-bandaged wrist to take my pulse.
"Stiff, but the hell of a headache went away."
"That's a good sign."
He checks a few more vitals.
"I definitely want to keep you overnight to make sure everything is alright. I'd say you will be out of here tomorrow."
~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~
I am finally in the relative quiet of my dorm room. Mom and my sisters left not long ago. Through my conscious day in the hospital, I thought on how to find Miaka. I was only in her world for a brief time. It was not long enough to have a time reference. I don't know if she has found the book of the four gods or is withered with age. If she is married to Taka, I don't know his last name in this life. That will make her a hell of a lot harder to find.
I saw Mitsukake twice more. He does not remember anything more than vague feelings of déjà vu. He got an odd distant look when I told him he reminded me of a guy I knew named Mitsukake. He told me he was not the person, but I saw the flicker of doubt in his eyes. I did not push him any more even though I desperately wanted to. It is currently good enough that I know where to find him.
From my conversation with a nurse, I suspect that he has a small portion of his power and is using it unaware, just like I had with my speed. And that fact is why I most likely am alive now.
Flash Back
"You are one lucky kid to have gotten Dr. Myojuan," Nurse Sakura says as she checks my vitals. "If it had been anyone else, you would probably be dead with the injuries you came in with."
"He has a special touch?" I ask trying to be polite to get the information I wanted.
I could be polite if I wanted to. By the time I was in my forties, I had learned to keep a civil tongue in my head when the time called for it. I should be able to do it now.
Sakura looks at me with wonder.
"You could call it that. He has a knack for pulling back the borderline cases. That is why he works ER. But even he can't save them all."
No, no, he can't even when he gives his damn fucking life away.
I bite my lip so I don't say anything I will regret later. The pain washes away. It is like I am grieving for the loss of my friends all over again.
End Flash Back
I remove the brace from my left writs. I cautiously flex my wrist and fingers to find everything in perfect working order. Between Mitsukake's healing touch and my seishi rejuvenating ability, I seem to be healing faster than expected.
Now that I am out of the hospital and remember, I want to find the others.
In my last two incarnations, I had different names, but this time it is the same as in Konan – the first time. Chichiri's is the same, as well as, Misukake's. I bet that the other three will be the same. That narrows down my search greatly.
On a fluke, I pull out the university phonebook. I flip through the pages looking for Nuriko first. There were several Chous listed but no Ryuuen. Well who ever said it would be easy? Nothing for Hotohori either. I flip through the pages once more and look for "Ou." My finger runs down the list and stops. "Ou Doukun" was in black and white above where my finger pointed.
"Hot Damn! I may 'ave found another one."
I dance around my room with excitement but quickly deflate when I realize I have no clue how to initiate contact with him.
I have his number and could call, but he would think I was a fucking nut case. – Hi, my name is Kou Genrou. You don't know me now, but there is a chance you did in our past life. It would really be great if we could get together and talk. – He would fucking hang up on me faster than ice melt'en on the sun.
I push that aside and look at the stack of books on my desk. I probably have a shit load of homework to catch up on now, as well as, several projects for the end of the semester, which is in five weeks. My story rough draft is due in three. I pull out my printouts. Laughter floods through me. My story … was my story – my past. If I could remember what I evidently had before my accident, then there is hope the others will too. Maybe they just needed the right prompts to bring out the dormant memories.
Prayer beads. Have to find a set of brayer beads for Chichiri.
They will have to be exactly like the ones he had. I will start looking this weekend.
Kouji's entry distracts me from my thoughts.
"Hey, y'r back! How ya feeling?"
"Hell of a lot better than a few days ago," I answer.
"I got most of the assignments you missed. They are on y'r desk."
"Thanks," I say and start flipping through the papers.
Contrary to my earlier thoughts, there is not much. There are the standard reading assignments that I usually ignore. The most pressing is probably the math, business, and my story. I opt to work on the story till dinner.
I skim over what I already wrote. I am surprisingly close to the truth. I have a few things messed up and am missing a few critical characters. I even planed for a romance between Tasuki and the monk even if it was placed at the wrong point in my history. Mark it up to wishful thinking on my part.
There is still a lot of work to put into it, but it should be a lot easier now that I know how the story goes. I foresee many hours in the computer lab typing it up. Who knows I might find it therapeutic.
~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~
Meru sits down beside me.
"Hey, Gen-chan, Mom said you were out. She wants me to keep an eye on you," she said and pinched my cheek.
I furiously bat her way from me.
"Ri-san asked about you today," she says off-handedly as she drops her straw into her soda.
I swallow hard managing to keep a cool exterior and try not to demand her to tell me everything. If he asked that means that he noticed my absence. That is a good sign.
"I'm surprised he noticed on absentee in such a large class," Kouji says echoing my thoughts and nudging me under the table.
My sister scoffs.
"He said that you're presence is hard not to notice," she says in a taunting manner.
My heart beats faster.
Does he remember? No, he would have let something slip if he had, unless he is waiting till after the semester. At least I have caught his attention. That's half the battle.
Meru twisted the knife of the insult she is setting up.
"I think it shows how nice he is since he did not straight out call you a fowl mouthed noisy pain."
"You can thing whatever you wish, Meru," I calmly say not wanting to give her the satisfaction of making me angry with her jabs. If I only had my tessen, she would be burnt to a crisp.
"I guess I should thank you. Your absence gave Ri-san the opportunity to talk with me alone. Something he has wanted to do since the beginning of school. I see it in his eyes, he wants me."
I scoff.
"I have not heard anything so ridicules in my life," I tell her. "Why would he want a fucking bitch like you?" Especially when he has loved me in the past and can have me again.
She does not take well to that, but I make my escape and hide in the relative security of my room.
~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~
As soon as I enter the classroom, I feel his eyes on me. They rove over my body looking for signs of injury. I don't make eye contact to give him the freedom of examining me as I slowly walk down to my seat. I flash him a smile before entering the row. He looks away immediately.
I settle into my seat ready for an eighty-five minute Chichiri watching session. I immediately start cataloging the differences and similarities between past and present. This time he finally has both eyes. – That was the obvious one. – His movements are very much the same.
Memories of him walking in front of me as we travel and me admiring the "scenery" come to mind as he turns to write on the board.
I shift uncomfortable in my seat. Loving, caring, and sometimes passionate memories of three lifetimes together and a hormone influenced nineteen year old body is not the best combination.
Suzaku, I hope he remembers soon.
I need him to remember since I do. I know in the heat of passion I will call out "Chichiri" and not "Houjun." How can I fucking explain that away? It would hurt him, and he would probably leave me then and there. Fuck, I will probably call him Chichiri in an absentminded moment without the heat of passion.
~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~ ~=88=~
I enter my room with excitement humming through me. I clutch my bag of treasures close to me. Thank Suzaku, Kouji is not around. I am relieved that he had some group activity to go on this afternoon as I dump the contents of my plastic bag onto my desk. Thread, needles, boxes of beads, and a couple feathers tumble across my desk.
Unfortunately, with all my school work, I hadn't found time to look for a comparable string of prayer beads till the week before finals. All my efforts seemed in vain. Then this morning I realized it would be easier to make one than to find an exact match.
The craft store I visited had everything I needed and more. They had this cute aluminum hand fan that I could not resist buying. It is not my tessen, but it brings a smile to my face. I pick it up and fan it open.
"Rekka Shinen," I say with a wave of my arm.
Nothing happens. I didn't expect it to. I laugh as I enjoy my play and wave it around a few more times before putting it down.
I pop open the box of green beads. The box slips, and the beads explode out of the box to roll around over my desk and down to the floor.
"Shit!" I exclaim, among other expletives, as I hunt down the rolling balls.
I carefully return my gathered spheres to their box. With my materials spread out before me, I start threading the beads onto the string in a pattern that is intimately engrained in my memory. Each bead I add reminds me of Chichiri – his powers, his kindness, his gentle touch, his love. The entire time, I utter my request to Suzaku for Chichiri's memory to return to him. The last bead is added, and I tie the ends together. I hold it up to examine my work. It's perfect – feathers and all. Now to find the right time and way to give it to him.
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Author's Notes and Answers/Comments to Reviews:
Once more… THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed. I love to bask in the warm glow of your complimentary comments, and I highly value your constructive criticism.
Roku kyu: Thank you for your wonderful comments.
Xellas: I am glad you liked the fight scene it means my effort was not in vain. ^_^
I like that part too. It started as just a simple explanation as to what happened during the rest of the class to create closure for the scene. But, I got this mental image of Genrou trying to sense ki and I could not resist. ^__~
I hope you did not die before I could get this posted. That would be bad… very bad.
Moonraven: Thank you. I am surprised at how much detail I got into the fight scene and have become a bit proud of that. Takes a pin and pops own swelling head.
Kitsuna-Ri: Thank you for your continued support. ^_^
ShinigamiGod of Death: You love revisiting especially to review; I love to get reviews so it makes for a great relationship. ^___~
I too hate when I get confused with something I wrote.
We can always use more Tasuki-Chichiri fics. You should consider posting them.
Flattery might just get you someplace…. ^_^ As you already know, Tasuki gets his memory back in chapter four. Chichiri will not fully get his back till the next to last chapter.
My, my, aren't we anxious and curious. What fun will the story be if I tell you everything? ^_~
The story with Nuriko and Hotohori is currently titled "Fashioned for Each Other," but is only located on my computer's hard drive. It has too many holes in the story for me to even think about starting to post it. I am hoping it will be finished by the time I post the last chapter of NLOB.
As for other Tasuki/Chichiri stories, I have a few stories started, but none close to being ready to post. They are lacking things like… a plot.
Chiriko I was thinking is normal college age, but I have not defined that anyplace in the story. Thanks for mentioning it. It is something I should address and will work in.
Mitsukake showed up in this chapter and will appear again later.
Miaka and Tamahome show up in chapter 6.
Taiitsukun will be towards the end.
Had not thought about Tama. I will see if I can work him in. It will not be till the end if I do.
No Seiryu Seishi in the story
I am not telling how Chichiri gets his memory back because that will give away the whole story. – Sorry.
Yes, Chichiri does turn into his chibi self once (as of this point and time).
I am planning on updating once a week since the story is mostly written (currently at 87 pages of 10 point Times New Roman font in Word). I have been modifying it and adding things based on the reviews I get if they fit in with the story flow. (like Tama) I am still trying to fill in a few sections (like the end) and smooth out a few plot points. Anyway… the whole point of this is that it should not be months before I update this story – more like once a week. Two weeks at the most it I get caught up with something. It would be another matter if I was writing it on the fly and posting each chapter when finished. – Then it might take longer. If I was doing that, I don't think it would be quite as good and in depth.
I know what you mean about some authors taking months to update, but I find that if it is a really good story and the author posts fairly lengthy chapters when he/she posts that I am willing to wait. But I can't be too judgmental. I have stories posted elsewhere that I have not touched in months. I have lost interest in them, yet I still intend to finish them one day….
I think that answers your questions. ^_^
Any others?
Rath: Another Dragon Knight fan! Yeah!!! Or am I totally off base with that assumption?
Agree… he is with or without the mask. drools too
Riina: I am glad you are having fun reading this.
Akirasamoji: Thanks, and you will hopefully not have to haunt me. Hope you enjoyed your Turkey Day.
Moonlady: You nailed that one down. If I could, I'd give you a prize…. ^___^ I guess I can't be totally unpredictable, ne.
I noticed that little slip up the other day. sigh It is the result of 1) I am a horrible speller [although the more I write the better I get] and 2) I tend to read what I intended to write. Combine that with the fact the misspelled word is a real word then I have no hope of spellchecker pick up on it. A beta reader would help catch those, but I don't have one…. (However if anyone out there is interested in the job, let me know.) Thanks for pointing it out. I have gone through and fixed them all… I think. ^_^
Kouryou Sanomi: Houjun being the distraction was what I was trying to imply. ^_~.
Ja ne!
Babbling Brook42
