Author's Note: Lets see... thank you thank you to all my reviewers! I nearly started crying when I read all of your wonderful reviews from my last chapters because I was so touched by their kind words (seriously ask my boyfriend, I called him up all sniffly and tearful). Secondly thank you to my wonderful beta, you guys can all thank her and not me for getting this next chapter done and out so soon. She's been a wonderful inspiration to me and a great friend to chat wacky concepts with. And lastly, thanks to my wonderful fiancé, who's fault it was I began writing again in the first place ^-^
p.s. You can thank Amy-chan for the last scene in this chapter, she's very persuasive!
Chapter 13:
"Well?" Tasuki asked, raising a dark eyebrow high on his forehead.
The door behind Chichiri shut with a quiet thunk and he looked at the other seishi curiously. "Well what no da?"
"Who is she?" the red head hissed, lowering his voice at a sharp look from the monk. Mindful of the girl sleeping in the next room Tasuki set his tessen and traveling bag on the floor noiselessly, propping them up against a leg of the table.
"She's my student no da," Chichiri replied, moving over to the hearth to check on the kettle that sat steaming over the flickering flames.
"Right." A snort followed. "An' I'm the fuckin Emperor o' Konan."
"I don't know what you're implying at no da," Chichiri piqued innocently, concentrating on pouring himself a cup of tea without getting burned by the hot water. When he finished he turned around and found an unnerving smirk residing on the bandit's face.
"If I didn know ya better I'd think ya were embarrassed or sumthin Chiri. Ain't it too bad ya dun have yer mask on, which I noticed ya havn put on yet, so yer like a open book ta me fer once. So spill it blue boy, I'm yer friend, th'only one left tha knows everythin tha's happened to us. Ya owe me some explain bout her." If there was one thing he could count on, it was the monk's honesty, and those looks he'd seen exchanged between "senpai and student" spoke of a lot more than time spent studying spells to Tasuki.
Somehow in this instance, with the protruding fangs accompanying his trademark grin, they did manage to deliver across a feeling of implied threat. Chichiri had a feeling being the bandit's leader for a year had managed to put more of a backbone on Tasuki. No longer just reckless heroism, but a true knack for subterfuge and strategy. This might be harder to tip toe around than he originally thought. Most of it was her story to tell after all, but he supposed he could fill in the parts that were just as much his story. It never occurred to him that Tasuki had been heading in a completely opposite direction with his questioning.
"She comes from another world no da."
Tasuki looked liked he'd just been hit with a bucket of ice cold water. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and scratched the back of his head. "Ha ha, ya almos' had me there Chiri. I know ya too well tho, ya could tie me up to a post in Kotou's palace but ya can't fool me now. So quit skirtin round th' issue an tell me who she's really."
Chichiri shook his head and took a seat opposite Tasuki at the table. The warm cup of tea sat untouched between his hands, sending up wisps of fragrant steam that made his bangs hang limp in front of his face, neatly obscuring the scar over his left eye. "Iie, Tasuki-kun. She is from another world no da. Not from Miaka's world, but one beyond that, where they've read about Miaka's story here no da."
Tasuki looked dumb founded for a moment, forgetting his hopes of pulling a confession out of the monk. "No fuck, eh." He looked around and licked his lips nervously. "Got any sake Chiri?"
"Iie, gomen no da. I know it's hard Tasuki-kun, I couldn't believe it myself first no da. We don't know why she's here, or what brought her. I've taken her to see Taiitsukun already and she asked me to look after Mari and to train her in the magical arts no da. She's been here about two months now, which Taiitsukun thinks will leave enough time to train her for... what ever's coming no da."
"What's comin? What the fuck are ya blabbin about Chichiri? Kotou's a shitty mess an everythin's jus fine here. Dun go scarin me n sayin shits gonna happen when it ain't." Tasuki crossed his arms stubbornly and turned his head to stare out the open window at the front of the house.
Chichiri sighed and took a sip of his cooling tea. The liquid was still fairly warm though and evoked a short coughing spell that made his nose run with the fluids of being sick. How he wished Mitsuake was still around. A bad cold would be nothing more than a headache for a few hours before it could be taken away by a soothing green light. That was cruel to Marissa though, she had done a wonderful job taking care of him and he was extremely grateful. But the situation had only managed to point out to him how vulnerable they both were, when such a thing as a bad cold could be considered life threatening. If something ever happened to Marissa that he wasn't able to fix... he didn't entertain the thought long due to the chills that ran down his spine from it. She was his student... after all.
But the immediate issue was convincing Tasuki, who for all his great deeds, was still a thickheaded idiot when it came to accepting facts. "You'd have to ask Mari no da," Chichiri confessed, taking another long sip of his tea.
"Ya sayin that chick can read the future? She looked ordinary ta me. I think she's pullin yer damn leg Chiri, ya know how them girls are, makin pretty eyes atcha an'runnin after ya jus for the fame, waitin te go back home s'they can brag bout how they had a Suzaku shichiseishi..."
The sound of a clay cup being set down heavily on the table stopped Tasuki in the middle of his tirade.
"Don't ever, say that about Marissa." The words were harsh and low, barely masking his irritation, but he couldn't stop them no matter how much his own voice was unnerving him. "I've been inside her mind Tasuki. She has never lied to me in all the time I've known her, never once has she denied her knowledge when she could have done so and left me and the rest of the world ignorant of the future she knows is coming. Marissa is the most honest, courageous, passionate girl, woman, I have ever known, and if I ever hear you say anything like that about her again I will use my kasa and drop you in the middle of the ocean."
Not even a cricket chirped in the quiet that followed. Chichiri's eye was riveted on Tasuki, who sat staring back in surprise at the monk's uncharacteristic outburst, a light shade of pink spreading across his cheeks. It was only after a whole silent minute had passed that the wood burning in the fire gave a loud pop and Tasuki's expression changed to amazement. "Sumanu, Chichiri, I didn know."
Choosing to ignore the out of place reaction on Tasuki's face the monk sighed and rubbed his runny nose. "It's ok no da."
"But ya know," the bandit grinned, managing to switch gears only the way Tasuki could. "I neva heard ya say 'no da' once durin tha whole speech. She mus' really mean sumthin to ya."
The vaguest feeling of a blush creeping over Chichiri's cheeks made him desperately wish for his mask more than ever at that moment. He coughed, hoping it didn't sound as forced as it felt, and turned his face away to cover his mouth. "She's my student no da," he replied. "Of course I have to look after her no da."
"Really na," Tasuki mused, stroking his chin uncharacteristically. "She wasn' bad lookin or nuffin, an I know this great lil' bar over n the city, with free rooms for payin customers..."
Chichiri straightened his back unintentionally, his muscles tightening. "I don't think she'd go with you no da."
"Hey, a girl like her needs a break after'll she's been through. Lil' sake neva hurt anyone, an a liquor'd up woman is a fun n unpredictable thing."
"I would have to disagree Tasuki-kun."
This was going better than he'd hoped. Chichiri had lost his no da's again and was definitely looking like he wanted to jump across the table and throttle Tasuki for even making such suggestions. Raising his eyebrows Tasuki let the last bomb drop. "Then again... if she's already taken, ya got nuthin te worry bout, ne?"
The look that crossed Chichiri's face after that was priceless and Tasuki wished he had that device Miaka carried around while she was here that managed to capture everyone's image from a single moment in time. Like a child that had just been caught stealing sweets from the candy jar, or a grown man suddenly having his inner feelings thrust into the spotlight, either way it was hilarious and Tasuki couldn't hold back the laughter he'd been restraining up until now.
"Baka!" he chuckled, throwing back his head. "I dun even like women! If ya could see the look on yer face, oh man, Chiri ya got it bad with her."
Chichiri managed to pull himself together and force away the blush on his cheeks to give Tasuki a stern look. "Uresai no da! Do you want to wake her up no da?" And just to pull himself away from this embarrassing conversation he stood up and pulled open the inner door, peeking into the room to make sure that Marissa was still asleep.
"Suman suman," Tasuki chortled, snorting in his effort to blanket his laughter.
"What are you doing in this part of the country anyway no da?" he asked after shutting the door behind him, hoping to steer the conversation away from something so close to his heart.
"Ah, oh that. Kouji n th' guys convinced me ta do some travelin. Went ta ma mom's place, checked our holdins round the mountain, an heard tha you'd been seen so I decided te stop by an find ya fore I wen'anywhere else."
Chichiri sat down at the table while Tasuki spoke, sipping at his tea contemplatively. "Where else were you going no da?"
"No place," Tasuki admitted ruefully. "Was thinkin mebbe goin ta th'palace, givin ma regards te th'empress an baby n stuff."
"Mmm," Chichiri nodded in thought, his blue bangs bobbing with the motion. "I suppose going to Eiyou would be a good idea na no da, demo..." he trailed off, his eye sliding towards the closed door. "I'd rather ask Mari first no da. If we're supposed to be going anywhere, she would be the one to know no da."
Tasuki rocked back on his seat and gave Chichiri a long look. "Ya honestly believe her then na?"
"I do no da." Chichiri set down his empty tea cup and stifled a short coughing spell.
The red head looked about to cut in with a sly remark, but then closed him mouth and began tapping his fingers impatiently on the table. "So wha's gonna happen in the future then, Chiri?"
His brow creased in thought, Chichiri tried to recover all the pieces he could gather that might answer Tasuki's question, and at the same time clear up the situation in his own mind. "To be honest I'm not sure no da. She's said that there's to be a battle sometime soon, soon enough that she wanted to be trained in the magical arts to prepare herself to fight in it no da. When... we've used telepathy no da, I've seen flashes in her memory, images of the fighting." He couldn't bring himself to explain any more than that. To reveal too much would be laying open his soul again and Marissa had already seen too much, felt too much from him. He no longer knew what had been his feelings and what had been hers in that intimate moment.
"Geeeez," Tasuki muttered. "So what th' fuck are we waiting here for? Lets go find the evil bastards an kick their asses 'fore they get th'chance to mess up our lives again!"
"It's not that easy, Tasuki-kun." Chichiri sighed. This was like speaking to a five year old, with both a short attention span and a bad temper. "If we change the future, it could cause more damage than good no da. I think Marissa knows this and that's why she hasn't told me or Taiitsukun exactly what's going to happen no da."
Tasuki stared back at the monk disbelievingly. "We jus sit here n wait for them to attack us then!?"
"That's the idea no da."
"Fuck this," Tasuki grumbled and stood up.
"Matte, Tasuki-kun, its not worth leaving over no da..."
"Na Chiri, ya got any food? I'm fuckin starvin!"
A sweatdrop fell down the side of Chichiri's head at Tasuki's unexpected request. Then again, that was exactly like the wing symboled seishi wasn't it? Chichiri chuckled and stood up as well. "Hai Tasuki-kun, I'm sure we have something no da."
* * * * * * *
Marissa woke up sluggishly, stretching out on the warm bed, feeling her toes curling in happiness from resting for so long The aches from her shoulders and back were completely gone, a fuzzy warmth having spread from her stomach outward that made her feel like she'd been sleeping for days. She never wanted to lift that damned kettle again.
Her lips curved upward in a smile still drugged with sleep, but her mind was waking up and dragging the rest of her body with it. How long had she been asleep anyway? Curiously she opened her eyes and found them staring at darkness speckled with silver light. Wearily she brought up a hand from under the covers, feeling the cold air hit her hot skin, and rubbed the sleep out of each eye. When she looked again the wooden ceiling met her gaze, giving off a subtle blue-white glow that seemed to grow stronger towards her right.
Rolling over she looked out across the floor to the opposite wall, seeing a bright swath of silver light hitting the open window sill inside the room. Outside she could barely hear the sounds of the night, crickets chirping and the trees rustling as the wind blew by under the gaze of the nearly full moon. It was all quite romantic, save for the strange chocking sounds that were coming from the opposite side of the room.
Curiously Marissa pushed up on one elbow and strained to make out the shape laying across the way on the floor. Spread limbs, dark messy hair, and a snore annoying enough to wake dead. It seemed Chichiri had put up Tasuki for the night. But then where was he?
Quietly she slipped out of bed, a shiver passing through her body at the cool air which hit her unexpectedly. Wondering why the window had been left open during such a cool night she tiptoed across the room and gently closed the shutters. There was no more incoming chill, but now she'd managed to cut off the only light source. Good going Mari.
Desperately hoping to not fall prey to a klutz attack she slowly inched her away across the wooden floor, using Tasuki's snores to judge her distance from the sleeping bandit. With palms stretched out she finally felt her hand smack the wall, then began searching for the latch on the door. It took a little longer than she expected since it seemed she'd actually come to the wall far to the right of the door, but finally her seeking fingers found it and she lifted it noiselessly, thankful for all the time she'd spent in the house learning how to avoid the noisemakers.
She slipped into the main room, surprised at the sight before her. "Chichiri, what are you doing up?"
He was sitting by the hearth again, though this time thankfully in a chair and not on the floor, but without anything on except the clothes she had dressed him in a few days before. Arms crossed over his chest he appeared to be in deep thought, but his eye was open and watching the dancing orange flames in the pit. At the sound of her voice he looked up, a faint hint of guilt drifting across his features. "Ah, Mari-chan, gomen I didn't know you were awake no da."
"No it's ok," she responded, dragging a hand through her sleep messed hair self consciously. She glanced about the room, taking in the fact that the table was clean and there was a pot of something hanging next to the fire though not over the flames. Yawning she scratched her side and wandered over to the hearth. "You guys made dinner?" she inquired, peeking into the pot.
"Hai no da. Did you want some?"
She nodded and searched around for a bowl, but was surprised when Chichiri rose up and produced one out of thin air, ladling up some of the fragrant smelling soup for her. Taking the full bowl he offered into her hands she blushed at his unexpected thoughtfulness. She watched him return to his chair by the fire before sitting down at the edge of the table closest to him, studying him for a moment under her lashes before taking a sip of the soup. "Mm, Chichiri this is wonderful, thank you."
He didn't look at her but the faintest hint of a smile tugged at the edge of his mouth. "Tasuki actually made it no da. He called it a secret bandit recipe, but I think his mother taught it to him no da."
Marissa giggled and took a heartier spoonful into her mouth. "Well, it's delicious either way." The sounds of the deep spoon hitting the bowl and the crackling fire were all that existed for a few minutes. The heat from the flames were quickly warming up her left side and Marissa felt her body trying to succumb to the urge to fall back into bed while she was feeling this warm and sedated. But she fought back the yawns and drained her soup bowl, setting it down gently on the table.
"Are you feeling better?" she asked softly, not feeling up to disturbing the peaceful moment they were sharing.
He nodded, but the shiver that zipped through his body was not lost on Marissa and with a sigh she stood up, causing Chichiri to lift his head in silent question. She circled around the table and picked up the blanket she had seen discarded on the bench earlier, then walked up behind him and held both ends open in silent command. Without protest he sat up straight and allowed Marissa to drape the blanket around his shoulders, the smirk on his face going unnoticed by her while she bent over to tuck the ends down his sides in the chair.
When she straightened up and pulled the remaining ends over his shoulders, she was startled to feel his hand come up and rest over hers. "Thank you, Marissa."
She smiled and gave and offhanded shrug. "No biggie. You saved my life once, brewing tea was the least I could do in repayment." Her hand started to pull away, but again she was surprised when she felt his larger one tighten over hers. "Chichiri...?"
His thumb slipped under her palm, catching her hand in a firm grip between his fingers. He gave a gentle tug and pulled her around from the back of his chair to stand in front of him, lifting his chin to stare up at the blushing girl. "I meant thank you, for more than just that."
The look he was holding her with was unnerving, orange firelight dancing through his brown eye that seemed both empty and full at the same time. It wasn't like any way he'd looked at her before and it scared her that she couldn't read anything in that gaze. Confused by her own reaction to his huskily spoken words she tugged her hand away from his and sat down on the bench next to his chair, threading her fingers together in her lap. "I don't know why you're thanking me. It was your own fault it happened."
That had been harsh. She watched him draw back out of the corner of her eye and felt the guilt seeping in. "Why did you do it?" she asked quietly. She knew he knew what she was speaking of by the slight sag of his shoulders, the barely audible sigh that escaped his thin lips.
"I don't know no da."
Marissa clenched her teeth and bit back a snort. "That's not going to work with me Chichiri, and you know that."
Instead of answering he sat up in his chair, reaching beside himself to pick up another log from the pile beside the fire place and dropping it onto the flames, watching a healthy blaze spring to life as it strove to devour the new food it had been given. "You're my student no da."
If he thought that would be a satisfying answer he was sorely mistaken. But at least he was talking, she was grateful for that small miracle. "I am," she answered, hoping to urge him forward. "But I'm also your friend Chichiri."
He sighed and passed a hand through his bangs, the blanket slipping back from his shoulder. "A certain distance must be kept between a teacher and student no da," he explained quickly.
A look of hurt passed over Marissa's face and she fought back the tremble in her voice. "Are... you saying we can't be friends?"
He looked at her sharply and she found herself held speechless by the vehement look on his face. "I would never say that, Marissa. If you hadn't been here I would have died on that road because of my own stupidity no da. Don't ever think I don't want you as a friend."
Marissa nodded numbly, the real reason behind all this still weighing heavily on her mind. Slowly she slid forward on the bench and reached out to lay her hand over the one that was resting on his knee. "Please tell me why you did it," she pleaded, her voice barely above a whisper, as though she feared he might run away from her like a scared animal. "I care for you a lot Chichiri... you don't know how much it hurt me, to see you doing that to yourself."
"Gomen, Mari. I never meant to hurt you no da. Believe that."
Suddenly nervous she bit down on her lower lip, voicing the question she had been dreading to ask. "Was it something... I did?"
Unexpectedly his hand turned over and snatched hers in a crushing grip. She looked up startled, then let out a cry when his face descended on hers and sealed her lips with a breathtaking kiss. It was quick but passionate, a tingled explosion of nerves all centered on one point on her body, soft and hot and painful and wonderful all at the same time. A dizzying tremble shook through her body a second before he pulled back, her lips feeling deliciously abused and swollen from the intensity of the kiss.
He released her hand and pushed it towards her, turning to look back at the fire. "Go back to bed, Marissa. You got your answer."
Shakily she rose from the bench, too dazed and surprised to question or protest. With hurried steps she fled back into the bedroom, dropping on the bed and curling up while one hand reached blindly for the blankets that had been tossed towards the end of the bed. When they were yanked up around her shoulders she shut her eyes, unsure of whether she wanted to laugh or cry. "I didn't mean for it to be like this..." she whispered to the dark room, while the sounds of the night only grew louder, and Tasuki's snoring faded away into the backdrop of fitful sleep.