Disclaimer: No, Fushigi Yûgi isn't mine. It belongs to Shogakukan Comics, Pierrot Studios, TV Tokyo and Pioneer. No copyright infringement is intended.

kuroi hane: - Indeed I have! Miss me? Hehe, well if they do try something dumb, don't take it out on them! Take it out on the evil fanfic writer who's making them do whatever she pleases. :seen behind the scenes with an evil grin: Hehe, I shale keep his address a secret! Me and him have some business to take care of! ;) Aha! Just kidding. I'll share it with you.. :whispers it in your ear: And of course they will have more encounters. More intimate encounters. :elbow elbow nudge nudge: And don't worry. I won't be cruel to Hoto-kun. I plan to hook him up with someone in the future! :D I love Nuriko to death. And she loves Miaka as a friend, and well...a little more. So she might try something a little sneaky. She might not. You'll just have to wait and see! Awww! 33333 :huggles you because of how sweet you are: I'm so happy you like my story. And I'm flattered that you think so highly of it! And everybody's notes (including yours!) have convinced me to start a new story! :) I'm currently in the process of a nice long first chapter.

pretty moon kitty: Thank you for your review! - I'm glad I'm making some people happy with it! :D And I've taken everyone's advice and started a new TasMiaka fic. :)

KittyLynne: Wheee. Another long note from you! I look forward to your reviews. Thank you so much for your opinions. It means a lot to me! And when Tasuki broke off the kiss early, you figured out exactly what he was doing. I guess I should have mentioned a bit of his reasons for doing so. Heh. And you're right, only time will tell how Hotohori and Nuriko play their parts in the upcoming chapters. I can say that they will become a bigger factor in how the story progresses. 3333 And I love your constructive feed back! It's what I live for! Just like how Miaka hungers for food! Mmm, and I know exactly what you mean. I've got to pay attention to that, don't I? Sometimes I get so distracted that I don't know what I'm describing anymore. Strange, I know! And I tend to write into the wee hours of the morning. I guess those things contribute to how stiff my writing tends to be, which is something I hope to work on in the future. And I probably should go back and read everything over again before posting it. I can never get enough TasMiaka stories either! And when I stumbled across yours a couple of months ago, I was so excited! I know I haven't reviewed any three of your stories (I'm a proud reader of Burned as well.), even though I love them so much. I guess you could say I'm a bit shy? I have joined you're Yahoo Group as well. But I haven't made an appearance there either (okay I'll stop blabbing!) And I'd like to say that I am gladly following your advice. I've already started one fic and I am finished with the first chapter. Over all, I'd like to thank you again for your review, advice, and opinions!

RainbowSerenity: - Thank you! I figured that they just had to kiss. It would be wrong if they didn't! Right? Hehe. Hotohori is a naughty boy. I'm hoping to cover more time with him and the other characters. I've been focusing my a lot of my time on Tamahome, Tasuki and Miaka. There's no problem with that, but I can safely say that ALL of the other characters will play a HUGE roll in this story. I pretty know what will happen in the end and I'm hoping it will pull a few tears from peoples eyes. XD Well I can dream can't I? And I have already found the time to start a new story. It is well in the works. I'm still fiddling with some things, but it should be up as soon as I get a few chapters done (I am taking advice from KittyLynne).

xkuroxshinobix: - Thank you! I'm glad you do.

neokosazume: :D Thank you! I was hoping people would like the idea and I'm glad people do. :) And I've started to read your story and I like!

yuyufan kurama: Thank you so very much. - Tasuki's a sweetie. And you've gotta love Hiei! :)

And happy very belated birthday to Tasuki. :X I'm really late (almost a month late but shhhhhhhhh). I know. My deadline for this chapter was his birthday but seeing as I was at a three day concert that weekend...it was a bit impossible. And then, well. I just got really lazy and my computer started to be mean and freezing a lot. But without further adieu, I give you the sixth chapter of CIAWOL

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"You want me to what?!" Miaka had asked her lover who stood in front of him. It was a week after the kiss she shared with Tasuki and it was still on her mind. Even though they had both agreed to forget about it. It just felt too right to forget.

Even though the two teen's had decided to keep the kiss a secret, their sudden closeness didn't go unnoticed by Tamahome. All week he watched the two of them laugh while they walked down the hall to their next class together. Finally he got the courage to tell Miaka what he'd been dying to tell her.

"You heard me. I don't want you hanging out with that Tasuki guy anymore." His voice was very firm as he spoke. He didn't want his love hanging out with another guy more than she hung out with him. After all, whose girlfriend was she anyway? His. That's whose.

Miaka stomped her foot on the ground in protest as she put her hands on her hips. Tamahome wanted to smile. She always looked so cute when she was angry. "But he and I are friends! Plus, we have to work on our Chemistry project together. We are partners you know!"

"But you're not going out with him! You're going out with me!" He growled angrily at her response. What could he say? He was a jealous boy who wanted his girlfriend all to himself. Plus he had a feeling that Tasuki had the hots for Miaka and he wasn't going to give her up without a fight. He wasn't going to give her up period.

Tamahome let a sigh escape his lips as he finished recalling what had happened earlier that day. He had begun to loose his patience with her and her persistence. And he had his own Chemistry project to do.

"Tama-kins, are you listening to me?" Tamahome was brought back to reality by a soft voice whispering in his ear. He realized that he was on his stomach laying across his bed. Looking over, he observed in the female specimen before him.

His eyes peered into her deep violet ones and caught a blush as it painted her pale cheeks. "Yes Xi Fang. I'm listening." A soft smile tugged at his lips as he spoke. Tamahome watched as she flung a few braided locks of indigo hair over her shoulder and looked back down at the Chemistry textbook.

After a few minutes of Xi Fang explaining a couple of passages in the text book, things became quiet. Tamahome was deep in thought about Miaka and him so he didn't even notice as Xi Fang snuck a little closer to him. When he felt a shiver run up his spine he thought nothing of it, assuming it was only because he felt a little chilly. But then he felt a hand creeping up his back slowly. He turned his head to look at the girl next to him, only to find that her face had advanced towards his. The space between them was now barely even there and he found himself trying to shrink away from her.

What was she doing trying to make a move on him like this? More questions flooded his mind as her small mouth inched towards his. Realizing he was against the wall and had no place to go, he tried to move his head away. It was then that he acknowledged the fact that her hand was on his cheek, keeping his face right where it was. He panicked. What was he supposed to do? He was trapped and he had no place to go.

Feeling her bare leg slowly rub up against his, his heart began to race. Her petite foot began to hike his pants up his leg as she continued to play around, enjoying every moment of it and thinking he was too.

In a split second, the world around Tamahome changed as it came crashing down on him. Xi Fang's lush lips collided with his own and for some reason, his eyes began to close. He didn't know what this fluttering feeling in his stomach was, but all thoughts of it were wiped from his mind as he heard the turning of his doorknob.

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Tasuki let out a sigh as he opened the door to his family's apartment. As he ran a hand through his wind blown hair, he thought of how it had been a long day. But the time he had spent with Miaka stuck out in his mind and that wasn't coming as quite a surprise to him as he thought it would. He was getting used to the fact that he had strong feelings for the girl with the green eyes.

The site of her face brought a smile to his lips as he shut the door behind him and walked into the kitchen, which oddly enough reminded him of Miaka. He thought of how much she loved to each and how many meals she per day as he set down his backpack at the kitchen table. As he walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a few snacks, his thoughts continued to flood with images of Miaka. From pictures of her all decked out in imperial garments or to portraits of her scantily clad within his arms.

As he made his way out of the kitchen and into the living room, he heard and urgent knocking on the door. He looked up at the VCR in the room only to be greeted with the infamous flashing numbers that read twelve o'clock. How long had it been since they had gotten that VCR? He stared as the green numbers continued to flash.

'Green...' He thought, thinking of Miaka again with a smile on his face. Then he heard the desperate knocking at the door again. 'I've got it bad.'

"Hold on!" he called out towards the door as he set down his food on the coffee table and then quickly hurried up to open the door.

Swinging open the door, he was surprised as a petite mass of feminine beauty fell into his arms. He stared across the hall in astonishment as Miaka's delicate hands gripped the front of his shirt. The feeling of his shirt becoming moist shocked him into embracing her tightly. 'Why is she crying?!' He thought as he gently pulled her further into his family's apartment and shut the door behind her, keeping an arm around her while he did so.

Under any other circumstances, Tasuki would never have known what to do. He was never good with women when they were emotional. Actually, he didn't even want to be around them when they were experiencing anything other than extreme happiness. But as always, Miaka was a different story.

He embraced her tightly, his strong arms wrapping around her slender body and pressing her against him. One of his hands rested gently behind her head as she squished her face into the center of his chest, her tears still continuing to moisten his shirt. He realized her hair was down and loved the way his hand felt in it. As he imagined himself curling the subtle waves of her hair around his index finger it be came difficult to keep himself from straying off far into a dream.

But he kept his mind focused on Miaka and what was wrong. After all, it was hurting him so much to see her like this.

"Miaka," he whispered softly with his eyes closed as his lips pressed against the top of her head in order to try and comfort her. "Tell me what's wrong."

The truth was that Miaka didn't know why she was here in Tasuki's arms. She didn't know why she had ran from Tamahome's after she walked in on Xi Fang and him. Maybe it was just that she was so surprised that she didn't know who to turn to. But then that didn't explain why she was at Tasuki's. Why wasn't she at her best friend Yui's?

Why was she even surprised when she saw Tamahome kissing Xi Fang anyway? She had kissed Tasuki and it didn't seem as nearly earth shattering as this did. Wait...earth shattering? Was it really all that bad? Yes, seeing the boy that you're going out with kiss another girl can be pretty bad. But she wasn't as devastated as she thought she would have been. She had just seen Xi Fang all over Tamahome and she wasn't angry in the least. Just surprised. Maybe it was the fact that she had done the same thing a week earlier. Or maybe it was something else...

She tried speaking, but the words just wouldn't come out. She couldn't help but sob into Tasuki's chest. It was because she was extremely upset right?

"Sh." Tasuki tried to quiet her down by rubbing her back tenderly. "It's alright. How about I walk you over to the couch and we can talk over a little snack, okay?" He whispered gently.

With a nod Miaka was taken over to the couch by Tasuki. He gently helped her onto his couch, bringing the coffee table closer to where they sat closely. Offering her the cookies and milk that he had brought over for himself only a few minutes ago, he continued to try and calm her down.

She hesitated before taking a cookie and nibbling on it, snuggling closely to Tasuki's side. His arms stayed securely around her shoulders as he held her close for a few minutes. The shaking of her body calmed down as she relaxed in his arms, finding comfort in the warmth of his body and the strength of his arms. When he was finally sure that she had settled down, he spoke up.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong now?" He whispered gingerly into her hair on the top of her head, which was now the resting place of his face and lips. As his face rested there, he let himself take in the sweet smell of her shampoo and perfume. He was savoring every moment of being so close to her, very aware of how he felt.

Miaka nodded slowly, wondering if he could feel the heat that was now rising to her cheeks. Being this close to Tasuki was invigorating and she couldn't help but feel intoxicated by his pure masculine scent. He was the only man that could make her feel this way. Tamahome had never made her blush like this just because he was touching her. It just felt so right.

After a few more moments of silence, Miaka told Tasuki the answer was dying to know. "I...saw Tamahome kissing another girl on his bed," was what she whispered into his strong chest, her eyes shut tightly as they began to sting with tears. Yes, she had kissed another man. She had kissed the man that was currently holding her and she was wrong in doing so. Right? Or was she just making too big a deal out of all of this. Maybe deep down inside she was just afraid of being rejected by Tasuki.

Wait a second. Rejected by Tasuki? What was that supposed to mean. Rejected by Tasuki. Psh.

She wasn't even interested in Tasuki. He was just a friend. A really good friend. Who just happened to be really good looking. And super sexy. And charming. And...

Okay! So she could go on for hours about how amazing he was. And she could finally admit to herself that she had the teeniest crush on him. But what she wouldn't let herself admit was that it was a lot more than just a teeny crush.

Her breath caught in her throat as she was pulled closer to Tasuki's firm body by his powerful arms. Suddenly she felt a warm set of lips upon her forehead which caused her blush to darken further. Her cheeks were so red that she was afraid her small tears would evaporate off of her hot cheeks.

"Miaka," Tasuki spoke softly into her pale skin. He was touched that she had actually come to find comfort in him after what she had encountered. But he was a bit weary about what this meant. Did she think that it was completely wrong that they had shared something as sweet as a kiss? And if she did, had that destroyed every chance he might have had with her?

He mentally shook his head. 'I have to be here to comfort Miaka.'

Miaka timidly looked up at the man who was holding her and her eyes fell upon the charming smile that was curling the tips of his mouth upward. He was looking down at her with affectionate eyes, almost like a lover would.

'Almost,' She thought in an attempt to persuade herself.

Miaka felt something rise within her. The urge to tell Tasuki something. But she didn't know what. She knew she needed to say something, something that would probably end up confusing the both of them.

And then, she started rambling. She began in a whisper as she looked down at his chest, catching his full attention. His mind had guiltily wandered off into pleasurable fantasies of Miaka and him together, but now he was completely focused.

"Tas-chan," Under any other circumstances, he would have yelled. He wasn't to fond of nicknames. His name was Tasuki and that was that. But with Miaka, it was so different. "I don't think it's as bad as I'm making it out to be." Tasuki opened his mouth to tell her not to say that. If she felt horrible about this, he wanted to know. He didn't want her to cover up and keep her emotions a secret. But she continued. "I truly don't believe that it's that big of a deal..."

Miaka stopped for a moment before continuing. "She can have him."

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Tamahome had watched as Miaka ran from his apartment in tears. He really had no idea what had come over him. Why hadn't he pulled away from Xi Fang? Then he remembered that she was still in his bedroom.

Instead of trying to run after Miaka like he knew he should have, he felt compelled to go back to his room and talk with Xi Fang. What was with him these days?

As he made the trip back to his bedroom he thought about why he had let Xi Fang kiss him. What had caused him to give in? As he thought more and more, he came to the conclusion that it was probably him being spiteful. He admitted to himself that he was jealous of Tasuki for being so close to Miaka. Being angry with Miaka for not agreeing to stop talking to Tasuki had also caused him to act irrationally. But now was not the time to talk to her. She needed to calm down. He would call her later. Then a single thought popped into his mind.

Why wasn't his guilt weighing heavy on his conscious?

Heaving a sigh, he opened the door to his bedroom slowly and looked up at Xi Fang as he walked in. She had a brilliant smile on her face.

"Is Miaka okay?" He shrugged. What was he supposed to say to that? Miaka had just seen them kiss, how was she supposed to feel? Happy? Yeah. Okay. Sure.

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A persistent ringing resonated from down the hallway. Letting a heavy sigh escape his lips, Hotohori walked out of his bedroom to get the phone. It was true that he was glad to have his homework interrupted but he had a feeling that he already knew who was calling.

Hotohori reached for the phone reluctantly. He picked it up, but hesitated as he put the speaker to his ear. When a vixenish voice chimed in over the speaker, he knew that his previous assumption was correct.

"Moshi moshi." Hotohori tried to give off the feeling that he was too busy or not in the mood to talk but Nuriko's voice was just as cheerful and girlish as ever. Don't mistake Hotohori's reluctance to talk with Nuriko for annoyance. He liked the guy, but as a friend. Nothing more. Nothing less. He just wished that Nuriko could get that through his head.

"Hey Hotohori! How about you and I go to the mall for a bit? We could do a bit of shopping if you'd like." Hotohori rolled his eyes while he slouched against the wall. Then and idea came to him.

"Sure. Would it be okay if I invited Miaka to come along with us?" He pulled a persuading tone. Finally he might be able to spend some time with Miaka!

"Well...I don't know..." Nuriko sounded skeptical. He had actually called just to spend time with Hotohori. At least that had been his plan. He wasn't looking for a date exactly, just to spend a bit of time with the guy he liked.

"We haven't spent any time with her in a while..." Hotohori added to try and persuade Nuriko into saying yes. And it was true, it had been a long time since any of them had gone out in a large group like they had used to. He really did miss those times.

"Alright..." Finally convinced, Nuriko buckled under the pressure. He could get his time alone with Hotohori some other time. "Why don't we call the rest off the group too?"

A smile spread across both of their faces as they talked about the time and place where they'd meet. Hotohori would call Tamahome, Miaka and Tasuki while Nuriko called Chichiri, Mitsukake and Chiriko.

After hanging up, Hotohori started contacting the rest of the group.

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Tasuki stared down at Miaka, his amber eyes wide with surprise. What did she just say? She can have him? What!? Weren't they going out!? Shouldn't she be angry? Wait...does this mean...

Miaka timidly looked up at Tasuki for a moment before averting her eyes away from his penetrating stare. Her torso was still pressed against his and she felt desire bubble within her stomach. Maybe it was wrong, but she couldn't help it. His body was so close and it felt so right.

Finally, he spoke. "Miaka, don't say things that you'll regret later. You know you didn't mean--"

She interrupted him by shifting her weight in his arms, her face now mere centimeters from his. He watched her, eyes till wide open in shock.

"I meant what I said." He could barely hear her hushed whisper. About a minuted ticked by on the clock behind them before Miaka spoke softly. What she murmured astounded the both of them. "I've got someone else."

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Hotohori finished leaving a message at Miaka's apartment before he started to call Tamahome. He figured that Miaka was probably over at his apartment. They were an item after all. Tamahome picked up the phone. He sounded exhausted and ill tempered.

Timidly, Hotohori spoke. "Uhm. Nuriko and I were wondering..if you wanted to go out with the gang today."

In a tone that sounded edgy, Tamahome snapped back. "No. I've got a Chemistry project to work on. Something you should be doing too." Tamahome held his head with one hand as he spoke, his thumb and middle finger on his temples on either side of his head.

"S-sorry." Hotohori bowed his head in apology, even if Tamahome couldn't see him. It was out of habit. As they exchanged their goodbyes, he wondered if Xi Fang was over Tamahome's house.

Tamahome trudged angrily back to his room. He didn't like what Xi Fang had said about Miaka. She wasn't just an silly little child. The fact that she was a year behind him meant nothing to him. She was Miaka and he loved everything about her. Right?

Well, yes. He did love her.

Doubt sprang up in his mind. How did he love her? Like a sister or a significant other?

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Tasuki's heart thumped rapidly in his chest. What was she saying? Who was she talking about? Did she like someone else?! Did he now have more competition!? Was it that ebony haired male with the gold eyes? His name was Hotohori right? Yeah. He looked like he had the hots for Miaka. Inside he was brimming with envy, but then all of a sudden his doubt of who she was talking about was wiped from his mind.

It was him that she was talking about.

Miaka's hand was flat against Tasuki's chest and he watched as she pushed him back on the couch. As he lay beneath her, he strained to keep his hormones under control. Which was a hard task to do.

Damn hard.

Auburn hair hung wildly around her face as she leaned down close to him, framing it in the most exquisite way imaginable. With cheeks stained a shade of pink and eyes shimmering a vibrant emerald. She was utterly gorgeous. And she was his.

Confidence intensified within his body as he made this realization. Even though she was avoiding saying that she liked him straight out, he knew that she did. It was just something about the way she looked at him. The way her eyes smiled as they gazed at him. Why she couldn't just come out and say it, he didn't know. Was she still battling her feelings for Tamahome? If so, then he shouldn't make any moves on her...

But it was too late. Her lips connected with his and the dam was broken. Like a rush of water, washing over them both, desire pulsated through their veins. This is what Miaka had been missing. Desire. Lust. Not only that, but appreciation. She wasn't being walked all over and taken advantage. She was actually wanted by Tasuki. And not in only the physical sense. Or at least it felt that way to her.

Miaka waited with her lips pressed against Tasuki's for him to make a move. She wanted to see if he felt the same way about her that she did about him. She had a major crush on him, yes. But still that was the only thing she would allow herself to admit. It was desire and lust. And the fact that he looked out for her and cared about her. And that he was easy to get along with and had an amazing personality. And...

Yeah. Point proven.

Desire continued to stir within Tasuki, he wanted to pursue her. Feel her tongue against his. He wanted to be in her mouth. Be in her, period. Okay, maybe he was thinking a little to far ahead, but it was true. That was what he wanted. But when the time was right. Now he would just carry out a bit of innocent foreplay. Or at least try to.

He reached up and wove his fingers into her hair as he tilted his head a bit to the side. As his eyes closed his mouth separated a tiny bit to allow the tip of his tongue to gently caress her soft lips.

Excitement burst within Miaka's body like a firecracker. He was asking for access to her mouth, something she would surely grant him. Her eyelids fluttered closed as her lips parted slightly, enough to allow him passage to her mouth.

Just as Tasuki's tongue gently slipped passed her lips the two jolted apart, eyes wide. Tasuki leaned up on his elbows as he looked towards the kitchen with a groan. 'They better have a good reason for calling...' he thought as he quickly planted a kiss on Miaka's lips, seating her on the couch after he got up.

Walking into the kitchen and picking up the phone, he tried to hide the frustration in his voice as he spoke. "Moshi moshi."

"Hey Tasuki. How are you doing today?" Hotohori's cheery voice rung in his ear, taunting him. He felt like yelling at him for interrupting his private time with Miaka. 'I'd be doing much better if you hadn't called!' He thought angrily.

He made sure to clear his throat before speaking as a precaution. He really didn't want to snap on the guy. After all, Hotohori had no idea that he had interrupted anything. "Just fine. And you?"

"I'm doing good. Hey, Nuriko and I were wondering. Would you and Miaka like to come out with the gang? Well, I'm assuming that Miaka is there since no one picked up her phone when I called her apartment." To Tasuki, the tone of Hotohori's voice made it sound as if he was pleading for Miaka's presence. And in reality, he was.

Again Tasuki cleared his throat, but this time to get rid of the surprise that would most likely be found in his voice. He hadn't known the group for long, but already he was being invited along to hang out? Maybe it was just because he wanted Miaka to come along so he felt obligated to invite him. Tasuki held back a growl. "Sure. Why not."

To be continued...

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Okay. It's a bit shorter than the last chapter, and possibly not quite as good. But just as important (at least I think so). Sorry about the inconvenience of time. And I promise the next chapter will be much better. I have a song fic from Tasuki's point of view that is finished and going through editing by my best friend. And I have a new fic that I started and the second chapter of it is already being written. Any helpful criticism is ALWAYS welcome. Thank you! 3

Oh, and I'm sorry if it uploaded a little differently than the other chapters. I really have no idea what is going on with it.