AN: I am so TERRIBLY sorry about the long wait! I had a horrible case of writer's block and the last part of this chapter didn't want to be written! I'd like to thank all of my diligent reviewers, and my friend Kaze-chan (look, I said it rigth! Nyah...) for helping me with ideas! *glomps* Thank you!
Chapter 9:
'I'm going to die! I am going to die!' Those thoughts rolled over and over in Chiaki's mind as her skin seemed to burn under the icy touch before her body succumbed to numbness and her lungs burned for lack of air. 'I want to go home! I wish I never came here. I just want to be home, in bed, with hot chocolate and my stuffed penguin!' Her head throbbed mercilessly and black veils danced in the corners of her eyes, promising far more comfort than she was experiencing now. Her chest felt about ready to explode. The pain was unbearable. 'Just kill me already, for God's sake! Let me die and get this over with now!' she yelled internally.
A searing red image filled her mind; a collection of mental senses- painful and disturbing, but useful in distracting her from her current situation. "You won't die, child." The voice that filled her head, pressing painfully against her skull was hot and deep, booming but melodious in its own odd right. "I still have plans for you, child. You will not die."
'Then get me out of here dammit! Because I will if you don't!'
'SILENCE, FOOL!' The booming voice exploded into her conscious thought like a bomb going off inside her head, releasing pressure beyond her comprehension.
She screamed in pain and the ice around her exploded into a million sharp shards, spreading out like a starburst. Chiaki collapsed to her knees, the last of her scream fading away. She trembled, gulping in heaving breaths of air. Looking up at the two spirits, she waited weakly for her sentencing. 'Hopefully, it's a nice hot death,' she thought grimly.
The two spirits exchanged glances. "You have passed the test," the silver-haired spirit informed her. He sounded like he couldn't believe it.
Chiaki definitely couldn't. Behind her, the icy wall that kept the seven seishi in their place vanished and they rushed to her side. Nuriko gathered her icy body into his arms and quickly covered her up with her robe. "Are you alright, Chiaki-chan? You're freezing!"
"I'm fine, Nuriko," she managed to reply through blue, chattering lips.
Tasuki patted her exposed arm. "That was some real amazin' shit ya pu.... Damn, ya really are that cold!" He looked up at the observing spirits. "What th' hell wuzzat?!" he yelled, swinging his tessen around wildly. "Ya could've killed her!"
"If she was really who she claimed she was-" the dark-haired spirit began.
"So you do this to everyone?" Nuriko demanded. "You just... kill every trespassing girl until you find one worthy of your stupid relic?!"
"WHAT KINDA SHIT IS THAT?!"
The silver-haired spirit glared at Tasuki. "Well, you'll be pleased to know-"
"I'll be pleased t' kick yer ass!" he snapped back.
"Tasuki..." Chiaki began, reaching towards him, but Nuriko held her back gently.
"Shut it, I'm tryin' t' argue here!" Tasuki turned back to the spirits. "If ya think I'm gonna stand around-"
"If you'll just shut-"
"-an' let ya do that to Chiaki-"
"-up and listen-"
"-then you got another thing-"
"Shut your damn mouth already!" the dark-haired spirit roared.
Promptly, Tasuki fell into a very stunned silence. Chiaki breathed a sigh of relief. His voice was beginning to give her a headache.
The silver-haired spirit nodded to his companion appreciatively. "Because your priestess has passed our test, we will now grant you the shinzaho."
The seven seishi were silent for a moment before they broke out into cheers for themselves and congratulations to the girl they owed it to. But she heard none of it. She gave them a numb smile and passed out just moments later.
* * *
"I believe....... priestess..... can't understand......... Suzaku..........."
"But Taiitsukun............ Miaka must still be.................. besides, she doesn't want............"
"Genbu........... not possible if Chiaki wasn't.............. must be............. no other way."
Chiaki stirred and after a moment opened her eyes, bringing her arm up to her face to shield out the bright moonlight. Around a table and a lighted candle sat Chichiri, Mitsukake, and Hotohori. She watched them through sleepy eyes. Their voices seemed quieter now that she was fully awake. 'Eugh... I feel like I've been hit by a truck. And my back is killing me!' She shifted onto her side. The movement caused the bed to squeak and the noise drew the attention of the three men in the room.
"You're awake!" Mitsukaka exclaimed, the first to rise. The other two followed and came to stand near her bedside.
"How are you feeling, Chiaki?" Hotohori inquired.
'Man, Nuri-chan's right. He is kind of hot,' she thought before blushing some. "Eh, I'm okay. I just feel like I've been hit by a truck. A big one. An eighteen-wheeler." The three men stared at her blankly. Right. They had no clue what an eighteen-wheeler was. Quickly she shook her head. "I'm alright." She placed a hand onto her forehead. "What happened though?"
"You passed out, no da," Chichiri replied. "It is likely the cold just shocked you, no da."
"That and a multitude of other things." Mitsukake patted her head. "Are you sure you're fine? You slept for three days."
"Three days!" Rubbing her temple, Chiaki glanced around. "Where's Nuri-chan?" She had figured that he would have already smothered her in a choking hug, exclaiming 'You're awake!' rather cheerfully by that time.
"He, Tamahome, and Tasuki went out for drinks, no da."
"Oh great. My best friend is out getting totally wasted when I'm unconscious. How's that for friendly service?"
The three of them looked at her, managing to understand what she said even though she had used the unfamiliar "wasted" term.
"You could always bring him back, no da," Chichiri suggested.
"Yes... the last thing we need are intoxicated seishi..." Hotohori muttered.
"Why me? A bar isn't good for a girl... and... and poor Nuriko is going to be mistaken for one amongst all those drunken men! You should be ashamed of yourselves!"
They looked at one another and then at her. "Nuriko is capable of fending for himself," Hotohori assured her.
"Oh yeah? Oh yeah? Well..." She couldn't think of a good argument because what he had said was, quite frankly, true. But still... She huffed in annoyance, blowing her messy hair out of her eyes.
"I believe you will be fine going to get them, no da," Chichiri finally said. "You certainly have the attitude to take care of yourself, no da."
She glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Daaa...." He muttered something incoherent to her ears and she was swallowed up in a familiar, dizzying blackness.
"Damn you Chichiriii!" Chiaki screamed as she fell into a dim lit, noisy room, on top of a drunkard she didn't know... and didn't care to. "Get off of me!" she yelled, slightly disoriented, and pushed the startled man away, ignoring the fact that he wasn't on her.
Adjusting her disheveled clothing, she snorted, thinking of what rotten things she could do to Chichiri when she returned and stalked away from the drunkard, who had already forgotten about her. Stopping in the center of the room, she glanced around, hoping she was in the tavern that Nuriko, Tasuki, and Tamahome were in. Now to find those three familiar heads... She scanned the sea of heads and sighed. 'What is this, Everybody-get-drunk Day?' In her opinion, it was quite possible that every man, woman, and- "What the hell?! Is that a child?!"- was at this tavern, getting drunk off their rockers, and intentionally making difficult for her to spot her comrades- or prey, as she was thinking of them at that very moment-
Grab! "Hey, sweetcheeks, why don'cha come give me some lovin'?"
Chiaki turned to see a dirty fat man with missing teeth grinning sloppily at her. His chin was wet with saliva he couldn't swallow because he was so drunk. 'Just great- pervs in Ancient China! How did he know that was exactly what I needed!' "Sir... Kindly remove your hand from where you put it.... or I'll shove that glass so far down your throat you'll be drinking through a straw out of your ass!"
"Ooh, feisty, I like that..."
"Fat Man, you are so gonna pay!"
It was his luck and hers that another dirty man- a scrawny one- stumbled past and barfed on the fat one's table. With the unpleasant, foul-smelling distraction, she stalked away from that table before Fat Man could get himself into more trouble.
"Tamahome, and Tasuki, and Nuriko, where are you? If I find you, you all will die... and oh, what painful deaths they shall be..." she muttered through gritted teeth as an unseen hand reached out and slapped her rear end. "Touch me again and I'll break your arm!" she screamed to anyone who would listen. Stalking away from wandering hands, she muttered under her breath, "I swear... they are going to die. I will kill them... Tasuki!" Spying a familiar shock of flaming red hair, she stalked over to the head bobbing through the crowd and promptly whacked him hard over the head.
"Yeow!" The man crouched a bit and whirled. "Okay, who th' HELL is lookin' for a fight-"
"Whoops.... wrong guy.... sorry," she squawked. She ran off when he made an angry grab at her. She collided with someone seated at the bar. Flailing backwards, she smacked someone else in the face. "Sorry," she muttered to the guy she hit in the face before realizing the one she ran into at the bar was Tasuki- really. "Tasuki!" she yelped. Grabbing a fistful of his hair, she pulled his head back. "I have been looking everywhere for you!"
"YEEEEOOOOWWW! Watch what ya pull, ya damn broad!" he bellowed.
"Oh... right." She released the fistful of hair she had. "Where's Tamahome? And Nuri-chan?"
"Tamahome is plastered off 'is ass-" he pointed to the man dancing erotically on someone's table top, "from somethin' Nuriko made up, and Nuriko's over there." She glanced back and saw him sulking over a glass in the corner of the room. Very unlike Nuri-chan.
Elbowing her way through the crowd, she approached him and sat down on the empty stool next to him. "Nuriko?" she asked, poking his shoulder gently.
With a startled yelp, he flopped across the table. Then, he slowly pushed himself upright and gave her a slightly cross-eyed stare. "... Oh... um... Hello."
He said it in such a dejected manner that Chiaki felt cause to be concerned. "What's wrong?" she asked, pulling up a stool beside him, ignoring the vulgar songs that it sounded like Tamahome was now singing.
"Nothing, nothing."
It wasn't actually a nothing sort of nothing, but she didn't know how to respond to it and figured that if he wished to tell her, he would do so on his own terms... And possibly without a deep saturation in alcohol... "All right then, if you say so-"
"It's just...I've been thinking a lot lately..." he went on.
"About what?"
"About this... Do you think I'm worthy enough to be a seishi?" He was staring at the mug before him, tapping it absently with his fingertips.
"I... Of course you are, Nuriko. I don't think that Suzaku would have picked you if he didn't think so..."
"You really think he'd like a seishi who was a man dressing like a woman?" he asked crossly.
"Well..." Chiaki chewed her lip. He was obviously going through some tough thoughts- she supposed alcohol did that to a person- and she was hesitant to reply. After all, she didn't want to complicate matters. She had never pictured him with a low self-esteem before... "I'm sure you... have your reasons. Everyone has their quirks- that's what makes them... who they are."
"Do you think I'm pretty?"
Chiaki choked on her own breath. "P-p-pardon?!" This was... sudden. She coughed to clear her throat.
"Am I... pretty? Do you think I am?" He gave a little flick of his wrist, pushed his violet hair out of his eyes, and turned to her, watching her morosely. "There has to be something... something acceptable about me..."
"Nuriko, you have plenty of fine qualities. You- you... I mean... You're friendly um.... and you have a good sense of humor and... um-"
"But am I pretty?" he asked desperately.
So he was vying for that acceptance? She assumed. "Well... um... I wouldn't use the word pretty..." 'Pretty damn handsome is more like it-' "What the hell?!"
Nuriko gave her a startled look. "What?"
She turned scarlet. "Nothing.... Of course, Nuriko. You're quite ... er... pretty."
"Will that be enough for Suzaku?" He turned fully to face her. "Am... am I worth it?"
Chiaki shifted her weight uncomfortably. She was starting to feel afraid of this deeper side of Nuriko. 'It's the alcohol... it has to be...' "Well.... Yes, of course you are!"
"You honestly think so?" He still looked a bit uncertain.
"Y-yes!" 'Would you STOP looking at me like that?!'
For a moment he chewed his lip. Then he glanced up at her through the fringe of his bangs. "Then... then prove it..."
'What the hell...?' "Um... E-excu-" But she wasn't able to finish her reply, because Nuriko, quite suddenly, tilted her chin up and kissed her.
