Disclaimer: I don't own FY or any of the characters, but I do own Tansho
and all the other people in the Black Dove.
Chapter 6 You Pitiful Little Fool
I trail my fingers up his black coat, allowing my palm to linger over his heart. It is beating wildly, like a caged animal. Then I think to myself that it is, in fact, caged behind his ribs. I move on upward to the collar of his coat, to his beaded neckalces. I curl my arms around his neck and press myself harder against him.
One time, my mind whispers, Only this one time.
I slip my fingers into his hair and pull his face down to mine. His eyes shine like gold encrusted emeralds, and I almost want to cry. I want to fall apart in his hands, his arms, against him, and have him put me back together. But I smile gently, sweetly, as any woman would. I linger over his mouth like a dragonfly over a pond.
No! Run! my mind whispers again, It's you last chance. You won't be able to leave him if you don't go now. Now. Now!
I press my cheek to his and wrap my arms tighter around his shoulders. I cannot do what I want to do so badly. Without warning, I begin to sob into his chest. I weep like an abandoned child. I weep like a fool.
"What's wrong?" he asks, holding me closer, tighter.
I squeeze my eyes shut. Now. Now. Run, Tansho. I hug him tightly to me like he were a treasure that I could never release. This man. This fire-haired man has done far too many things to me. He is doing things to me even as my mind speaks. He awakens too much, and allows too little to remain sleeping. I must go now. I must leave him behind.
I am a whore. A harlot. A prostitute, if you are ignorant of the other words for what I am. A woman who sleeps with men in exchange for money. I almost kissed a man out of nothing less than love. For that, I should die the death of a traitor. For that, I must get away. Now.
I reach between my breasts and feel the hot metal of the coin that I took from his pocket the night before. I grasp it between my fingers and slip it from the warmth of my breasts.
I suddenly feel my belly on fire. I feel myself burning, and I feel myself hardening inside. I will not give him up. I have claim just as a whore should have claim. But do I want the money...or the man? Perhaps both? Either way, I will have him. All I have to do is touch him and I can make him mine. All I have to do is speak and he'll fall before me like a wounded animal begging for my mercy. I am not a weak fool. I will not let the other women win him--and the money. I will get what I want. I pinch my eyes closed to stop the foolish tears from flowing. In moments, they dry up like a river bed in drought season.
You're a fool, Tansho, my mind tells me. You pathetic little fool. Crying over a man for no goddamn reason. You're a whore, girl. Do as your trade demands.
I feel the power of a harlot surge within me again, and I smile.
"No," I whisper, His body tenses. His body. His warm body. Still so close.
"What?" he asks, confused.
"You should go now," I whisper, pain no longer leaking from my lips.
No, I whisper madly to myself, You know it, don't you Tansho? You can feel it like you can feel his body pressed agaisnt you. You don't give a shit about the money. Hell, you don't even care about fucking him. You want him for only one reason. Love. You love him, and you're angry...because you don't understand it. And yet you know it.
I remove my arms from him, and push myself from his chest slowly, relishing the tension in his arms, not wishing to let me go. I reach out my hand for his, moist and hot from holding me, and press the coin into his palm. He looks hurt for almost a moment. So, Tasuki, my mind whispers menicingly, you say you don't like women? Why do you look as if you could die now? I feel the heat of the power in my veins, scalding me. I am ashamed of myself, for being so naive before, so soft, so pitiful.
"Tansho?" he whispers, slowly reaching for me again.
Slowly, I move towards him again, taking in the look of his eyes, the way his body is tense. I take his hand in mine and curl his fingers over the coin. I lean into him as I did the first time I touched him. I bring my mouth close to his ear and wet my lips, knowing that he can feel the breath of my lungs.
"Go now," I whisper slowly, "But don't stay gone too long." I squeeze his hand in mine as I move away from him again. He looks at the coin in his hand, then at me, a question on the tip of his tongue.
"When I touched you that first time by the latrines..." I explain simply. His eyes widen. "I took it...as an early payment, I guess you could say." His face goes blank at those words.
I step back up to him yet again. I am entoxicated by the way I have bewitched him. He is no longer the cool yet boisterous beauty who draws the eyes of women yet keeps them well away. He was so stubborn those first few times I saw him, his eyes so hard. But when our eyes lock, I see that I have softened him. I feel pride, and I feel lust. I lean into him again and touch him as I did that very first time, pressing my palm firmly to his stomach. He tenses again, just as he did before. It is obvious to me now that no woman has ever touched him before--at least not as I have.
"But I don't require payment from you," I say, "You are far too beautiful..." I move my hand down his stomach and allow it to linger just above his manhood, my fingers barely touching him. "And I just want you far too much...to make you pay for me."
I pull away only to press my lips to the corner of his mouth, torturing him as he did me. I feel a want to trail my hand farther down to the junction of his legs, but I am wise enough to wait. He is still not sure of himself. Nor am I. I turn from him, knowing that now is when to leave.
Yes, he will be mine. He will come to me, and only to me.
Suddenly, I cannot walk. I try to lift my feet, but they are as heavy as logs. My head swims as I try to move. I see only blackness, and I feel only humidity. I feel like I am being suffocated.
What in the hell...
I cannot stand. I cannot hold my body against such a thing. It is like a war. A fierce war, with blood and steel strangling and impaling me. I feel myself falling, and I try to stand straight, by the gods, I do try. But I am too heavy. My hair flails like a spider's web as I fall, down, and into something. Warmth. And softness.
Arms are around me, one under the curve of my spine, the other in the crook of my knees. I feel softness against my cheek, and I breathe in dirt and fire. I open my eyes and see him.
I wonder if I am dying. Has the years of opening myself to any man with a gold coin finally diseased my body beyond healing? It is strange. Strange how I was so powerful only a moment ago, and now am only a limp child in the arms of a man. A man who I know nothing about. Nothing other than the curve of the muscles beneath the skin of his abdomen. Nothing but the taste of sake on his breath. Nothing but the heat he awakens in the valleys of my body.
But I care not. He is holding me. Perhaps I do love him. Perhaps he loves me. If a whore can be loved and love in return, surely she would be me. Surely I am her.
But why the hell did I act in a such a way? To suddenly change from a confused and timid child into an unknown and frightening creature. It was as if my soul was replaced with another. A malicious soul. A power- hungry soul. A soul set on devouring and taking for itself. A bewitching soul. What is wrong? What happened?
I scowl to myself in anger. I am a fool. There was no malignant soul. No unearthly creature. I was simply being awakened by my own common sense. The sense of an aged whore. But why is Tasuki being so kind to me, after I did the verbal equivalent of slapping him in the face? Why is he still holding me so gently?
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I don't know how in the hell he found my room. All I know is that I sit here now, propped up by mounds of pillows in my satin bed. And he is there, sprawled out in a chair by my bedside. His arms are draped over the arm rests, and his legs are spread out and twisted like tree roots. His mouth is open in a boisterous and never-ending snore so loud that I fear he will wake the souls of the long dead--or Shingen. Any moment now, Koi, Okichi, or any of the other women could come barging in, ranting about a farmer they had last night with breath so bad it could drop birds from the sky. Or Shingen could burst through, throwing the double doors open like simply tearing a peice of parchment down the middle, wanting to know what ails me so much that I stayed off the floor--and cost him good money because of it. But I wait, and no one comes in. The only sound is Tasuki's snoring, and my labored breath.
May the gods damn me. Hell, and him too, while they're at it. Why? Why did I crumble like some pathetic little bitch? I am so ashamed of myself. Me, who has been beneath the slithering, moist bodies of hundreds of men. Me, who has come away from those men with eyelids so swollen they've split down the middle, with blood pouring like a waterfall from my nostrils. Me, a whore, hard from her years.
You are a pitiful little fool of a girl, and nothing more, my mind taunts.
I should have cut it's throat from the very beginning, this damn feeling. It can only be one thing. One thing. The one thing that I can't have. And why the fuck do I want it so much? What does it bring but pain?
I guess that Okichi was right, when she said that I needed a rest. Maybe that's why I fainted like a pitiful little maid, worked beyond her limit. Or was it because of something else? I scowl. I am so disgusted at myself. Not only for fainting, but also for the way I was before I found my whore's senses again I was so weak. So weak. What was I doing? Why did I do it? What could cause such a thing to crush me so?
I shrug it off. It doesn't matter an ounce now. I am the way I was before. Strong, even though others may see it as obstinate. My head is where it belongs. High. Not drooping like a dead duck's.
He is still snoring. I fling the linens from my lap and climb out of my bed.
Why him? What did he have that I've never seen before? Many men have come into this tavern, and come and gone from where I have lain. But none--none--have moved me so. Might he be what my mother once told me I would find? A man just for me and no other woman. A man connected to me by the strings of fate. A man separated from all the other men. Or was that all just a tale? Another lie to add to all of the others that have been fed to me? Or could I make him what I wanted him to be? Could I still win my four extra months' wages--with my conscience still intact? Or do I dare to tell him--and myself--the truth? Money doesn't matter. But do I want only his body...and nothing more?
I walk towards him quietly, though I doubt that even if I scream, his comatose state will not alter. So he brought me here, to my room? He actually carried me in his arms. So that was the warmth I felt.
I touch the fire of his hair delicately. I slip it through my fingers, and I feel chills even though it's not the first time it and I have made contact. I trace his hairline with my fingertips. I wonder if he knew where to go, or if he had to wander from room to room until he recognized my scent or the atmosphere of my presence.
He stirs and I pull my hand away quickly. I have to get him out of here. If he is found in my room, where not even the paying customers are allowed, Shingen will throw me to the jungle of the city to be devoured. And what of Tasuki? He would no doubt share my fate. But by the looks of him and the nights he spends in the tavern, tossing coins like nail clippings, he has a place to go. I have the street. No, he must go now, for both of us. But would he return, as I asked of him?
I lay a hand lightly on the bulk of his shoulder and move it back and forth quickly, causing his entire body to quake beneath my palm. But he simply snorts loudly and rolls onto his side in the chair. I reach my hand up to his face and slap his cheek softly, but there is no response. I slap a little harder, yet he only turns his face away. Pissed off from wasting my time while trying to save both our asses from Shingen, I fling my hand over my head and bring it down hard on his face. He flails in shock like a dying bird and thrusts his arms out, nearly hitting me. A frightened and shocked cry errupts from his mouth.
"What the fuck...!?" he howls, planting his hand drunkenly over the already developing red spot on his cheek. I seal his mouth with my hand, but it is no use. I hear the footsteps. Already. I hear the voices of the harlots trailing down the hall, toward my room. The bitches are fast.
I grab Tasuki by the collar of his overcoat and pull him out of the chair as hard as my body will allow. But it is too much force; and, instead of turning and pushing him onto my bed, his body is too heavy and connects with mine, landing us both on the satin sheets. I can hear the voices outiside my room now. In sheer panic I kick the linens with my feet, pushing our bodies all the way onto the bed. I reach up and pull both sides of the satin curtain that conceals my bed closed. Tasuki and I are plunged into darkness as the morning light is shut away from us. I hear the doors open. I see his eyes widen in the darkness at the sound. He looks at me with concern and surprisement, and I press my hand over his lips to tell him to keep silent.
Tasuki's weight is so heavy on me that I cannot draw a breath. His body is flat on top of mine, and my hand is pressed flat to his lips. I beg him with my eyes to shift so that I can breathe--and to stay silent. He sees my plea and lifts himself to his elbows, supporting his weight. But I keep my fingers over his mouth, just to stay safe.
"Ok..." I hear Misa's confused voice, "Am I going crazy? I just heard a man yell from in here." I hear shuffling and the sound of fabric moving againt fabric as the women move around my room. "Okichi? Are you sure that you didn't hear that? Damn it...I could have sworn..."
"Would you please shut the hell up?" Asako's voice screeches in annoyance, "Okichi said that Tansho was ill. She probably went to the Healer down the street..." I hear her voice trail away. I pray that she is leaving.
"I didn't see her leave..." I hear Koi say, but the rest of her words fade as the door slams shut again.
I sigh, thanking the gods that they didn't fling the curtains from my bed to find me there, with Tasuki of all people, on top of me. I laugh in my heart. That would have stirred the shit, but I would have gotten the four months' extra wages at least.
Well, Tansho's feelings are being revealed in depth. Does she love him? If she does, why all the guilt? Poor Tansho. And poor Tasuki...will they get caught?
Replies to reviewers:
frenchiegal: I've recently been informed of something that might interest you since you're French Canadian. The day before yesterday my senior class had a meeting with our principal to discuss our senior trip in March. Turn's out...we're going to Canada! Yep, to Toronto, Monteal, and Quebec City! I'm so excited 'cause from the video we say, everything up there looks absolutely beautiful!! Just curious...which province (that's what they're called righ? ^_^) do you live in? In reply to your review...thank you again for the lovely compliments! And thanks for understanding how slow I'm going with the updates ^_^.
Kitty Lynne: Thanks for your e-mail!! You made me feel alot better ^_^ Now, on to your review...thanks for the compliments on the chapter titles! I never know what I'm going to write in a chapter, so I always wait until I'm done then go back and skim through for a fitting title. I'm very pleased with how well they seem to fit their chapters, and I'm glad to know you do as well! As for our dear Tasuki and all his wonderful characteristics (both good and bad), I didn't have to try too hard to keep him character for some reason. I guess I had memorized him down to the last cuss word from reading the manga and watching the anime so much. Although I sometimes feel that he slips from character every now and then when with Tansho in some future chapters, I soon realize that he actually has a reason to. Men in love can sometimes be very fickle when it comes to their normal behaviour. I always tried to keep that in mind. And as for the delectable sexual tension that you mentioned you liked so well--that's my greatest weapon in this fic!! ^_^
Emerin Mornlight: Your reviews are hilarious and never cease to make me laugh! And don't worry about being all eloquent in your reviews...just so long as you're still enjoying reading my fic. That's all that matters to me! ^_^
shadow priestess: Oh good lord, if Math ruled the world *Iseult suddenly collapses dead on the floor for no apparant reason*...that's where'd I be for sure! ^_^ I've just sucked at Math since I was a kid, and exceled at English...so I kinda took the hint when deciding on a life career. Good luck though if you decide to major in Math! And dont' worry about being a certian age to read "Tansho". If you're comfy in reading it, that usally means you're mature enough to read it.
RyogazGal: It's good to rant!! Don't feel bad about doing it. It's human nature to express your feelings in complaints. I sure as hell never feel bad about it (as my friends know all too well ^_^). And as Kitty Lynne advised me...just ignore anything that's directed at you, and tell your friend to do the same. Never dwell on what other's think of you! And in response to the second half of your review...I always try my best to add every emotion I can to my lemons instead of simply sex. I've realized that those make the best lemons! ^_^
Torrent: Thanks again for the compliments!!
Thanks to all my reviewers!! Love and hugs for everyone!!! ^_^
Chapter 6 You Pitiful Little Fool
I trail my fingers up his black coat, allowing my palm to linger over his heart. It is beating wildly, like a caged animal. Then I think to myself that it is, in fact, caged behind his ribs. I move on upward to the collar of his coat, to his beaded neckalces. I curl my arms around his neck and press myself harder against him.
One time, my mind whispers, Only this one time.
I slip my fingers into his hair and pull his face down to mine. His eyes shine like gold encrusted emeralds, and I almost want to cry. I want to fall apart in his hands, his arms, against him, and have him put me back together. But I smile gently, sweetly, as any woman would. I linger over his mouth like a dragonfly over a pond.
No! Run! my mind whispers again, It's you last chance. You won't be able to leave him if you don't go now. Now. Now!
I press my cheek to his and wrap my arms tighter around his shoulders. I cannot do what I want to do so badly. Without warning, I begin to sob into his chest. I weep like an abandoned child. I weep like a fool.
"What's wrong?" he asks, holding me closer, tighter.
I squeeze my eyes shut. Now. Now. Run, Tansho. I hug him tightly to me like he were a treasure that I could never release. This man. This fire-haired man has done far too many things to me. He is doing things to me even as my mind speaks. He awakens too much, and allows too little to remain sleeping. I must go now. I must leave him behind.
I am a whore. A harlot. A prostitute, if you are ignorant of the other words for what I am. A woman who sleeps with men in exchange for money. I almost kissed a man out of nothing less than love. For that, I should die the death of a traitor. For that, I must get away. Now.
I reach between my breasts and feel the hot metal of the coin that I took from his pocket the night before. I grasp it between my fingers and slip it from the warmth of my breasts.
I suddenly feel my belly on fire. I feel myself burning, and I feel myself hardening inside. I will not give him up. I have claim just as a whore should have claim. But do I want the money...or the man? Perhaps both? Either way, I will have him. All I have to do is touch him and I can make him mine. All I have to do is speak and he'll fall before me like a wounded animal begging for my mercy. I am not a weak fool. I will not let the other women win him--and the money. I will get what I want. I pinch my eyes closed to stop the foolish tears from flowing. In moments, they dry up like a river bed in drought season.
You're a fool, Tansho, my mind tells me. You pathetic little fool. Crying over a man for no goddamn reason. You're a whore, girl. Do as your trade demands.
I feel the power of a harlot surge within me again, and I smile.
"No," I whisper, His body tenses. His body. His warm body. Still so close.
"What?" he asks, confused.
"You should go now," I whisper, pain no longer leaking from my lips.
No, I whisper madly to myself, You know it, don't you Tansho? You can feel it like you can feel his body pressed agaisnt you. You don't give a shit about the money. Hell, you don't even care about fucking him. You want him for only one reason. Love. You love him, and you're angry...because you don't understand it. And yet you know it.
I remove my arms from him, and push myself from his chest slowly, relishing the tension in his arms, not wishing to let me go. I reach out my hand for his, moist and hot from holding me, and press the coin into his palm. He looks hurt for almost a moment. So, Tasuki, my mind whispers menicingly, you say you don't like women? Why do you look as if you could die now? I feel the heat of the power in my veins, scalding me. I am ashamed of myself, for being so naive before, so soft, so pitiful.
"Tansho?" he whispers, slowly reaching for me again.
Slowly, I move towards him again, taking in the look of his eyes, the way his body is tense. I take his hand in mine and curl his fingers over the coin. I lean into him as I did the first time I touched him. I bring my mouth close to his ear and wet my lips, knowing that he can feel the breath of my lungs.
"Go now," I whisper slowly, "But don't stay gone too long." I squeeze his hand in mine as I move away from him again. He looks at the coin in his hand, then at me, a question on the tip of his tongue.
"When I touched you that first time by the latrines..." I explain simply. His eyes widen. "I took it...as an early payment, I guess you could say." His face goes blank at those words.
I step back up to him yet again. I am entoxicated by the way I have bewitched him. He is no longer the cool yet boisterous beauty who draws the eyes of women yet keeps them well away. He was so stubborn those first few times I saw him, his eyes so hard. But when our eyes lock, I see that I have softened him. I feel pride, and I feel lust. I lean into him again and touch him as I did that very first time, pressing my palm firmly to his stomach. He tenses again, just as he did before. It is obvious to me now that no woman has ever touched him before--at least not as I have.
"But I don't require payment from you," I say, "You are far too beautiful..." I move my hand down his stomach and allow it to linger just above his manhood, my fingers barely touching him. "And I just want you far too much...to make you pay for me."
I pull away only to press my lips to the corner of his mouth, torturing him as he did me. I feel a want to trail my hand farther down to the junction of his legs, but I am wise enough to wait. He is still not sure of himself. Nor am I. I turn from him, knowing that now is when to leave.
Yes, he will be mine. He will come to me, and only to me.
Suddenly, I cannot walk. I try to lift my feet, but they are as heavy as logs. My head swims as I try to move. I see only blackness, and I feel only humidity. I feel like I am being suffocated.
What in the hell...
I cannot stand. I cannot hold my body against such a thing. It is like a war. A fierce war, with blood and steel strangling and impaling me. I feel myself falling, and I try to stand straight, by the gods, I do try. But I am too heavy. My hair flails like a spider's web as I fall, down, and into something. Warmth. And softness.
Arms are around me, one under the curve of my spine, the other in the crook of my knees. I feel softness against my cheek, and I breathe in dirt and fire. I open my eyes and see him.
I wonder if I am dying. Has the years of opening myself to any man with a gold coin finally diseased my body beyond healing? It is strange. Strange how I was so powerful only a moment ago, and now am only a limp child in the arms of a man. A man who I know nothing about. Nothing other than the curve of the muscles beneath the skin of his abdomen. Nothing but the taste of sake on his breath. Nothing but the heat he awakens in the valleys of my body.
But I care not. He is holding me. Perhaps I do love him. Perhaps he loves me. If a whore can be loved and love in return, surely she would be me. Surely I am her.
But why the hell did I act in a such a way? To suddenly change from a confused and timid child into an unknown and frightening creature. It was as if my soul was replaced with another. A malicious soul. A power- hungry soul. A soul set on devouring and taking for itself. A bewitching soul. What is wrong? What happened?
I scowl to myself in anger. I am a fool. There was no malignant soul. No unearthly creature. I was simply being awakened by my own common sense. The sense of an aged whore. But why is Tasuki being so kind to me, after I did the verbal equivalent of slapping him in the face? Why is he still holding me so gently?
**************************************************************************** ***************************
I don't know how in the hell he found my room. All I know is that I sit here now, propped up by mounds of pillows in my satin bed. And he is there, sprawled out in a chair by my bedside. His arms are draped over the arm rests, and his legs are spread out and twisted like tree roots. His mouth is open in a boisterous and never-ending snore so loud that I fear he will wake the souls of the long dead--or Shingen. Any moment now, Koi, Okichi, or any of the other women could come barging in, ranting about a farmer they had last night with breath so bad it could drop birds from the sky. Or Shingen could burst through, throwing the double doors open like simply tearing a peice of parchment down the middle, wanting to know what ails me so much that I stayed off the floor--and cost him good money because of it. But I wait, and no one comes in. The only sound is Tasuki's snoring, and my labored breath.
May the gods damn me. Hell, and him too, while they're at it. Why? Why did I crumble like some pathetic little bitch? I am so ashamed of myself. Me, who has been beneath the slithering, moist bodies of hundreds of men. Me, who has come away from those men with eyelids so swollen they've split down the middle, with blood pouring like a waterfall from my nostrils. Me, a whore, hard from her years.
You are a pitiful little fool of a girl, and nothing more, my mind taunts.
I should have cut it's throat from the very beginning, this damn feeling. It can only be one thing. One thing. The one thing that I can't have. And why the fuck do I want it so much? What does it bring but pain?
I guess that Okichi was right, when she said that I needed a rest. Maybe that's why I fainted like a pitiful little maid, worked beyond her limit. Or was it because of something else? I scowl. I am so disgusted at myself. Not only for fainting, but also for the way I was before I found my whore's senses again I was so weak. So weak. What was I doing? Why did I do it? What could cause such a thing to crush me so?
I shrug it off. It doesn't matter an ounce now. I am the way I was before. Strong, even though others may see it as obstinate. My head is where it belongs. High. Not drooping like a dead duck's.
He is still snoring. I fling the linens from my lap and climb out of my bed.
Why him? What did he have that I've never seen before? Many men have come into this tavern, and come and gone from where I have lain. But none--none--have moved me so. Might he be what my mother once told me I would find? A man just for me and no other woman. A man connected to me by the strings of fate. A man separated from all the other men. Or was that all just a tale? Another lie to add to all of the others that have been fed to me? Or could I make him what I wanted him to be? Could I still win my four extra months' wages--with my conscience still intact? Or do I dare to tell him--and myself--the truth? Money doesn't matter. But do I want only his body...and nothing more?
I walk towards him quietly, though I doubt that even if I scream, his comatose state will not alter. So he brought me here, to my room? He actually carried me in his arms. So that was the warmth I felt.
I touch the fire of his hair delicately. I slip it through my fingers, and I feel chills even though it's not the first time it and I have made contact. I trace his hairline with my fingertips. I wonder if he knew where to go, or if he had to wander from room to room until he recognized my scent or the atmosphere of my presence.
He stirs and I pull my hand away quickly. I have to get him out of here. If he is found in my room, where not even the paying customers are allowed, Shingen will throw me to the jungle of the city to be devoured. And what of Tasuki? He would no doubt share my fate. But by the looks of him and the nights he spends in the tavern, tossing coins like nail clippings, he has a place to go. I have the street. No, he must go now, for both of us. But would he return, as I asked of him?
I lay a hand lightly on the bulk of his shoulder and move it back and forth quickly, causing his entire body to quake beneath my palm. But he simply snorts loudly and rolls onto his side in the chair. I reach my hand up to his face and slap his cheek softly, but there is no response. I slap a little harder, yet he only turns his face away. Pissed off from wasting my time while trying to save both our asses from Shingen, I fling my hand over my head and bring it down hard on his face. He flails in shock like a dying bird and thrusts his arms out, nearly hitting me. A frightened and shocked cry errupts from his mouth.
"What the fuck...!?" he howls, planting his hand drunkenly over the already developing red spot on his cheek. I seal his mouth with my hand, but it is no use. I hear the footsteps. Already. I hear the voices of the harlots trailing down the hall, toward my room. The bitches are fast.
I grab Tasuki by the collar of his overcoat and pull him out of the chair as hard as my body will allow. But it is too much force; and, instead of turning and pushing him onto my bed, his body is too heavy and connects with mine, landing us both on the satin sheets. I can hear the voices outiside my room now. In sheer panic I kick the linens with my feet, pushing our bodies all the way onto the bed. I reach up and pull both sides of the satin curtain that conceals my bed closed. Tasuki and I are plunged into darkness as the morning light is shut away from us. I hear the doors open. I see his eyes widen in the darkness at the sound. He looks at me with concern and surprisement, and I press my hand over his lips to tell him to keep silent.
Tasuki's weight is so heavy on me that I cannot draw a breath. His body is flat on top of mine, and my hand is pressed flat to his lips. I beg him with my eyes to shift so that I can breathe--and to stay silent. He sees my plea and lifts himself to his elbows, supporting his weight. But I keep my fingers over his mouth, just to stay safe.
"Ok..." I hear Misa's confused voice, "Am I going crazy? I just heard a man yell from in here." I hear shuffling and the sound of fabric moving againt fabric as the women move around my room. "Okichi? Are you sure that you didn't hear that? Damn it...I could have sworn..."
"Would you please shut the hell up?" Asako's voice screeches in annoyance, "Okichi said that Tansho was ill. She probably went to the Healer down the street..." I hear her voice trail away. I pray that she is leaving.
"I didn't see her leave..." I hear Koi say, but the rest of her words fade as the door slams shut again.
I sigh, thanking the gods that they didn't fling the curtains from my bed to find me there, with Tasuki of all people, on top of me. I laugh in my heart. That would have stirred the shit, but I would have gotten the four months' extra wages at least.
Well, Tansho's feelings are being revealed in depth. Does she love him? If she does, why all the guilt? Poor Tansho. And poor Tasuki...will they get caught?
Replies to reviewers:
frenchiegal: I've recently been informed of something that might interest you since you're French Canadian. The day before yesterday my senior class had a meeting with our principal to discuss our senior trip in March. Turn's out...we're going to Canada! Yep, to Toronto, Monteal, and Quebec City! I'm so excited 'cause from the video we say, everything up there looks absolutely beautiful!! Just curious...which province (that's what they're called righ? ^_^) do you live in? In reply to your review...thank you again for the lovely compliments! And thanks for understanding how slow I'm going with the updates ^_^.
Kitty Lynne: Thanks for your e-mail!! You made me feel alot better ^_^ Now, on to your review...thanks for the compliments on the chapter titles! I never know what I'm going to write in a chapter, so I always wait until I'm done then go back and skim through for a fitting title. I'm very pleased with how well they seem to fit their chapters, and I'm glad to know you do as well! As for our dear Tasuki and all his wonderful characteristics (both good and bad), I didn't have to try too hard to keep him character for some reason. I guess I had memorized him down to the last cuss word from reading the manga and watching the anime so much. Although I sometimes feel that he slips from character every now and then when with Tansho in some future chapters, I soon realize that he actually has a reason to. Men in love can sometimes be very fickle when it comes to their normal behaviour. I always tried to keep that in mind. And as for the delectable sexual tension that you mentioned you liked so well--that's my greatest weapon in this fic!! ^_^
Emerin Mornlight: Your reviews are hilarious and never cease to make me laugh! And don't worry about being all eloquent in your reviews...just so long as you're still enjoying reading my fic. That's all that matters to me! ^_^
shadow priestess: Oh good lord, if Math ruled the world *Iseult suddenly collapses dead on the floor for no apparant reason*...that's where'd I be for sure! ^_^ I've just sucked at Math since I was a kid, and exceled at English...so I kinda took the hint when deciding on a life career. Good luck though if you decide to major in Math! And dont' worry about being a certian age to read "Tansho". If you're comfy in reading it, that usally means you're mature enough to read it.
RyogazGal: It's good to rant!! Don't feel bad about doing it. It's human nature to express your feelings in complaints. I sure as hell never feel bad about it (as my friends know all too well ^_^). And as Kitty Lynne advised me...just ignore anything that's directed at you, and tell your friend to do the same. Never dwell on what other's think of you! And in response to the second half of your review...I always try my best to add every emotion I can to my lemons instead of simply sex. I've realized that those make the best lemons! ^_^
Torrent: Thanks again for the compliments!!
Thanks to all my reviewers!! Love and hugs for everyone!!! ^_^