Bishonen Beware
Chapter 13
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There was only the soft jingle of the rings on Chichiri's staff while Chichiri, Tasuki, Lana and Riina were quietly walking on the dusty sand road, heading to Konan. Lana had borrowed Chichiri's cloak to dry herself up with and she was currently drying her thick and wet hair with the other half of the cloak.
"I think I'll survive now. Thanks Chichiri." She sniffled as she handed the damp cloak to Tasuki, who sneezed and tried to wring his shirt's sleeves dry.
"Don't mention about it no da." Chichiri just shrugged without glancing back and kept walking.
siiiigh It's so hot that you two will dry up in no time. Riina sighed and looked miserably up at the sun, wiping sweat off her forehead. 'And it's only morning...' For her northern blood the warm days of Konan were a living Hell.
"Hey Lana. What 'cha doin'?" Tasuki asked curiously as he dried his face while walking when Lana stopped and closed her eyes, her face wrinkling up in serious concentration. There was wavering of red chi around Lana, like heat waves, and slowly she turned into a wolf.
Hey! Look! I did it!! she exclaimed on their minds standing dumbfound on all fours and lifting one paw at a time to look at them.
"That's wonderful. You really got your powers under control no da," Chichiri turned to look and nodded, smiling encouragingly. "But why did you turn into a wolf now no da?" he asked.
I thought that it'd be easier to travel in this form and I'd also dry up faster... Lana explained.
"Nice thinking red. But now ya reek like a wet dog!" Tasuki laughed as he walked past Lana, who bared her fangs and growled. Riina chuckled as she reached out to scratch Lana's ears and noticed her character softly glowing under her thick fur.
Sweet! But why don't you turn into Tama? That'a way you don't have to walk. You could hitch a lift. She asked the wolf, studying her character. The dark wolf just stared Riina for a moment in amazement before there was some more wavering of red chi and instead of wolf there was now a small, damp cat sitting on the road.
Lana stood up, shaking her fur, before scurrying after Chichiri with a loud mew. She climbed up his leg and promptly curled up on his shoulder. Riina and Tasuki stared at her dumbfounded for moment, their mouths hanging open.
What? You're still wet. Lana sniffled, looking over her small and furry shoulder in catlike arrogance, as if the answer should have been obvious. Chichiri just reached up to scratch the petite cat on his shoulder, who started purring in bliss.
"As long as you keep your claws shed no da..." he commented, glancing amusedly at the looks of his friends. Riina just snorted in amusement, shaking her head and without a word nudged Tasuki to continue their walk.
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At some point in their walking Lana had jumped from Chichiri's shoulders to Tasuki's and curled around his neck like a limp, furry scarf and was now fast asleep. Chichiri and Tasuki had been spinning stories of their adventures for Riina, who always appreciated a good story, to kill the time.
"There it is no da. Konan." Chichiri suddenly chirped, interrupting their conversation, when a huge city appeared to their view when the trio reached the top of a large hill.
"It's about Goddamn time 'a ready." Tasuki commented. He smiled his crooked grin when he noticed Riina's stunned look as she stared the breathtaking view open mouthed.
It's... It's HUGE! she breathed. And so beautiful! I've never seen anything like it. she grinned enthustiacly and then turned suddenly back to solemn and serious, making the seishi fall over in surprise at her quick changes of mood. Chichiri, do you think that you could port us to the palace? It'd take hours for us to walk through that city and another one to convince the guards to let us in. she asked from Chichiri, who sat up on the street, rubbing his back.
"Ya can't be serious!" Tasuki whined as he dusted his clothes "Last time he ported, I ended up hanging upside down on the dining room chandelier... An' lemme tell ya, it's not nice to fall face first through a solid wooden table." he glared at the monk, who was spreading his kesa out on the road, ignoring the bandit.
"Now now, it was only that once no da." He said calmly "How am I supposed to port properly when I have a temple collapsing around me and I have to save our skins na no da?"
"Oh yeah? How's about that time you ported us to Kutou and we ended up into a tree? All piled onto one thin branch!" Tasuki asked, showing the width of the branch with his thumb and forefinger.
Chichiri decided to ignore the bandit as he put his hand on Riina's shoulder and guided her to the center of the cloak. "Hold on no da." said as he hit his staff on the cloak.
Come on you big baby. Riina laughed and pulled the sulking bandit with them onto the cloak as she and Chichiri started to sink into the soft fabric.
"We're here no da!" Chichiri announced a second later when they had landed at a walkway that was crossing a beautiful pond in a large garden.
Ten points! Riina flashed a thumbs up sign for him without further explanation.
"It's been way too long." Tasuki smiled, looking around. He carefully poked the cat sleeping draped over his shoulders. "Oy. Red. Time to wake up." Lana just twitched her cat ear and ignored him. Riina walked to Tasuki and nonchalantly pinched the cat's ear.
"CAT! WAKE UP!!" she bellowed to the petite cat's ear. In instant the teary eyed cat was on all fours, her fur standing up on end in anime style. Before anyone realised what happened, Riina was sitting teary eyed on the wooden bridge, holding her cheek, where was now sporting four long claw marks and Lana was panting in a crouched position on the bridge.
"O' sweet Suzaku... O' m' Gods..." Lana panted as she slowly relaxed. "I'm so sorry Riina, but please, DUN EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!! I almost got a heart attack there." She still had cat ears and totally golden wolf's eyes as she reached over to help Riina up.
"No prob. My fault, really. Sorry." Riina muttered, rubbing her cheek in embarrassment.
"Chiiii-chi-ri!" a high pitched little girl's voice called out from the lake when Riina climbed up and the four of them turned to see what it was, question marks hanging over their heads.
"It's Nyan-Nyan!" Lana smiled, chuckling at the green haired girl's slightly wavering flying, which was because she was dragging a heavy looking blue bag with her. For a second it almost looked like she might not reach the bridge.
"You're all right!" the little Nyan chirped in relief when she reached the bridge, dropping the bag with a loud thud and glomping into Chichiri.
"You're safe too, no da. When I didn't see you at Mt. Taikyoku I almost got worried, na no da!" Chichiri smiled in relief and hugged the little helper, rustling her light green hair, though he knew perfectly well that the little girls were almost impossible to harm. Tai-Itsukun bashed them through the roof into a higher Earth orbit at least four times a day, and that HAS TO count for something.
"It's really weird to see just one Nyan-Nyan. Usually there's, like, almost ten of them around." Lana commented to nobody in particular.
"Dun look at me. I just saw the mountain fer the first time." Tasuki said as he leaned on the rail.
Riina nodded and shrugged, not being concerned as she reached for her bag. "Thank you for bringing it Nyan-Nyan. I thought that I might have left it back there."
"Chichiri-sama! And Tasuki-sama too!" an raspy voice called out and a friendly looking elderly man hurried towards them, couple of guards following him.
"Prime Minister! It's been so long na no da!" Chichiri greeted the old man heartily. The general buzz broke up and everybody started talking at once.
"Geez. Was that old crone stalking on us or sumthin'? How'd he know that we were here?" Lana muttered to Tasuki, who was exchanging news with the two guards.
"Nah. It's his job ta know. Besides, I think he saw us 'porting in." Tasuki pointed at building near by, which windows were opening to the lake.
Riina had picked up her bag and slipped it onto her back. She handed a piece of chocolate to Nyan-Nyan, who had left Chichiri and was now lightly sitting on the top of her bag on her back.
"And who might these… er … your companions be, Chichiri-sama?" the old minister asked Chichiri when he noticed the girls standing calmly aside from the others. "Servants perhaps?" he looked slightly disapprovingly at their clothes.
"Da." Chichiri flinched, noticing Lana's dangerous glare "No, they are our friends who are traveling with us for a while no da." He didn't think that it'd be wise to mention them being from another world beyond their Miko's world and also the thing about them being new seishi. Chichiri just prayed that Lana could hold her temper.
"Servants?! Who does that old crone think he is?!" red faced Lana fumed quietly to Riina.
He just happens to be the most powerful person in this kingdom after Houki. So don't embarrass him and get us killed kittling. Riina calmly stated in Lana's mind, as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Oh I see. So they are your brides. My humble apologies my ladies." The minister bowed to them lightly.
So far Tasuki had had good time while watching Lana's expressions, then the Prime minister's words sank to him. "WHA?! CHOTTO MATTE!!!" he shouted, turning SD and going from pale to light red in a matter of seconds. Lana got an almost dreamy expression as she imagined what that would have been like, and Riina sputtered with a slight blush.
"Uh, yeah, whatever." Lana muttered when she finally came back to reality, all four of them refusing to look at each others with blushes.
The Prime Minister chuckled good naturedly, and exclaimed, "Ah! I see; newlyweds! Well, I won't bother you any further then. Follow me!"
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A little later they had moved inside to the large building and were now sitting in a large, luxurious dining room. They were sitting around the table that was filled with all kind of delicious looking food and exchanging news. The Prime Minister was of course sitting on the end of the table, Chichiri sitting on his right side, Nyan Nyan between him and Riina and Tasuki was sitting on the left side with Lana.
"Stones? Stones you say?" the old man asked surprised.
"Yeah. At the moment, it's the only clue we have." Tasuki confirmed.
"I see. I'll inform everyone and shall start the search immediately." The minister said and then turned to look at the two guards who were standing in the background. "You there." He ordered. "You heard the what I said."
"Yes sir." The men saluted and disappeared.
"In any case, Chichiri-sama," the old minister turned his attention back to Chichiri "if you're not in too much of a hurry, would all of you stay here for a while?" he asked worriedly.
"Dah?! Here?" Chichiri stammered surprised "You mean here in the palace?" he asked in amazement.
"Yes. We've been working our hardest to rebuild the nation since the war, but one thing still saps the strength of our people." The minister told them sadly and a tired look passed his face.
"Hotohori-sama's death." Chichiri stated with his soft low voice, his mask turning into an unusually sad expression.
"Konan still lacks a leader who can be a bridge to the future." The minister explained.
"What about Houki? That woman who looked like Nuriko?" Tasuki asked and kicked Lana under the table, who was fidgeting with the chopsticks, bored.
"Right… After giving birth to the crown prince the empress fell ill and hasn't spoken a word for a year and a half." the minister rubbed his temple sadly.
"A year and a half?…" Lana suddenly asked, feeling sorry for the widowed empress. "Minister, where is Lady Houki? Please let us visit her!" she looked pleadingly at the old man. "Please, this is important."
'Good. She remembers. We need to see Hotohori's son.' Riina smiled from her place and glanced at the hesitant looking minister, who slowly smiled.
"We would appreciate it. Perhaps talking to you would be just what she needed." The minister lowered his head, smiling faintly thankfully.
"But before that…" Lana turned serious "can we eat this? I'm starving!" she asked, making Tasuki almost fall from his chair and everybody else sweatdrop.
'It seems that Lana has really taken Miaka's place for now.' Riina tried to decide whether to laugh or slide under the table from embarrassment.
After they had finished the wonderful dinner, they were guided through the maze like palace until they finally reached a door, which was more finely decorated than others. Chichiri opened the door quietly and the five of them stepped in.
"Houki…." Lana whispered sadly when she saw a woman who looked like Nuriko lying on the bed. "And Hotohori." She added as she noticed the brow haired man sitting on the edge of Houki's bed. Lana grasped Tasuki's sleeve and bit her lip as she watched Hotohori trying gently to brush Houki's face, his fingertips continuosly slipping through her.
"I can't even touch her… " Hotohori said quietly to them whitout looking, pain evident in his voice.
"A broken heart. She couldn't stand the grief of losing Hotohori." Nyan Nyan said sadly, gliding right behind Lana's shoulder and clinging onto her. "She loved him so very, very deeply."
Tasuki slipped his hand into Lana's and squeezed it comfortingly. There was a long quiet moment and Chichiri quietly beaconed them to step out of the room. He shut the door behind them with a small click.
"I think that we should leave them alone for now no da." Chichiri said quietly as they walked away and Lana, Tasuki and Riina nodded in agreement.
"So, this is where Hotohori-sama ended up." Tasuki commented, trying to change the subject.
"It was Tai Itsukun's power!" Nyan Nyan chirped, going back to her happy self "The others were sent back to their homes too!"
"Great, now we only have to remember where the heck everybody else lived." Lana threw her hands to the air and then fixed the heavy egg back on her back. 'gack This thing really IS getting heavier every moment. If this continues, I won't be able to carry it around anymore'
"I think I might have some idea that could help us with that. I'll check on it later." Riina stated 'Now if there only was a net connection here…' she sighed.
"Oh, well." Tasuki shrugged, not really wanting to guess how much information from their pasts these two could actually dig up "We'd better start searching for the rocks for Obake-chan."
"Heh heh. That's not a problem." Lana suddenly smirked "If I remember anything we should run into it soon." She chuckled when Chichiri and Tasuki looked at her weirdly.
"Chichiri, can't you sense the stones location?" Riina asked curiously.
"Daah. That's one thing that I can't use my powers for no da." The monk sighed
"Oh, well." Tasuki shrugged "Then I guess it means that we'll be doing it in the old fashioned way and search one room at a time."
"You do realise that we're talking about of the palace here. There's a lot of rooms…" Riina muttered next to Chichiri. She stopped when they heard someone running from behind the corner and 'Hey, you can't run there..' being shouted. That was when Lana wisely stepped away from Tasuki.
"Eh?" The red head turned to look what was causing all the fuss, when something ran into his leg with a loud and very painful sounding bonk.
Lana snickered and Riina winced when very teary eyed Tasuki turned SD, trying hard not to scream at the little kid, who had run into him, almost breaking his right leg.
"That looks very painful no da." Chichiri commented, scratching his neck.
"You little rock-headed brat!!!" Tasuki exploded, turning chibi and leaning down to the same eye level as the kid, grabbing the little boy by the front of his robes.
"Prince!" a man, who had been running after the boy, stammered breathlessly. Tasuki stared at the boy, who he was about to throttle and then turned, if possible, even more chibi and patted the kids head.
"You cute li'l devil. Don't tell your dad that I said that, okay?" Tasuki fake laughed. Lana doubled over laughing and Riina had to lean to the wall, laughing for Tasuki's comical look and more than fast change of mood.
"That's… That's…" Lana wiped a tear from her eyes.
"This is Hotohori-sama's son na no da." Chichiri finished for her cheerfully.
"He's nice." Riina smiled.
"So, he's Hotohori's and Houki's son." Lana stated 'I wonder when those two had time for that?…' she wondered silently.
"Come, your highness, let's go back to your room." The man who was taking care of the little prince said. "I promise I won't take your doll again." He sighed.
"That's right!" Lana grinned and grouched in front of the child, smiling widely to him "Did you know that Suzaku no Miko gave that teddy to your daddy long time ago?" the boy clenched the teddy protectively, looking at Lana suspiciously "Don't worry, I'm not gona take it. I have my own at home. What's your name?" Lana smiled reassuringly. There was a silence.
"See?" SD Tasuki leaned to say quietly to Lana "You wanna smack his head too, right?" Lana made a face, tension mark appearing to her temple before she punched Tasuki to the wall.
"Lady Lana, it's no use." The old Minister said, looking sad "Prince Boushin will not speak one word. It's just like with his mother, at though his mouth has been sealed."
Lana turned from Boushin, who was cuddling the teddy, to look at the minister.
"He seems to understand our words, but…"
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!?" Hotohori shouted, suddenly appearing next to Lana's shoulder and scaring the living daylights out of her.
"KYAAAHH!! Hotohori!! Don't pop out like that!!" she shouted, clunching her heart "It's bad enough that Chichiri's causing me heart attacks. You're gonna be my death one of these days." She would have bonked the ex-emperor over his head, if he had been solid. Hotohori ignored the fuming redhead and leaned down to look at his son.
"Can't you see it? It's me!" Hotohori said softly "He looks like I did as a baby. The lovable intelligence. The obvious wit and grace, and yet…" he clenched his fist wanting to keep ranting of how perfect he had been as a baby, and how it was being reflected in his son.
On the background Chichiri, Tasuki, Lana, Riina and Nyan Nyan were sweat dropping and moaning.
'You've gotta be kidding me… '
'What a narcissist!'
'How can you stand it?…'
Suddenly Nyan Nyan looked sharply up and jumped to the air. "Everyone! Get away from that doll!!" She shouted, spreading her hands and getting ready to use her powers on the doll.
"What?" Riina said and turned to see the teddy in Boushin's arms get ripped open by black energy, which took a shape of monster. "Crap. I didn't realize it'd happen so quickly!" she breathed when a tentacle whizzed next to her and wrapped around her, trying to choke her.
"What the-?" Tasuki managed to say before the tentacles tied him.
"It's a monster na no da!" Chichiri shouted and gritted his teeth when he was easily lifted into the air.
In two seconds the tentacles had spread like a web, capturing every seishi and lifting them into the air, trying to choke life out of them.
"No… Boushin!… Drop the damn teddy and get away from here!" Lana shouted, gasping for air.
"Lana!" Tasuki shouted when she whimpered as the tentacles tightened their suffocating hold on her.
"C-Can't… use my holy power!" Nyan Nyan coughed, struggling against the tentacles holding on her.
"No good!" Chichiri gasped, trying to move his shajukou "I can't use my powers without hitting Boushin no da!"
"I can't use my fire either…" Tasuki fought for air, trying to squirm at the tentacles hold. He looked worriedly at Lana, who shook her head at him.
"No use… My claws ain't working on this thing…" she managed to say. Lana had been able to shape her fingers into predator's claws.
There was no response from Riina. She was fighting just to stay conscious and not to break her neck as the tentacles choked her around her throat.
"BOUSHIN!!!" Hotohori yelled, lunging towards his son with a determined look on his face, when the monster finally attacked at Boushin. The monster was about to kill him with a one swift bite that would have cut the small child in half without problem. Hotohori dived head first for his son, smoothly sliding inside him and merging with him.
When a tentacle threw the child into the air in solid attempt to crush him, something had changed in Boushin's eyes as he reached his tiny hand and power started to gather into his hand. With one flash it materialised into Hotohori's holly sword, which was given to him by Tai Itsukun.
Lana would have laughed if she wouldn't have been about to die when she saw barely knee high boy holding angrily glowing sword with both hands. The kid was barely the size of the handle and was wielding a sword, which now looked like something that had escaped from Star Wars and was at least five times bigger than him. They could see Hotohori reflecting in Boushin, solid determination glowing in his eyes as he looked at the monster.
"His highness!!" Tasuki rasped.
"He's possessed him no da" Chichiri said.
"Yaaaahhhh…" A voice much older than his escaped from Boushin's lips when he attacked the monster and thrust the sword through what was left of the shredded teddy. The sword started to glow bright red as it absorbed the monster's energy into its self and turning it into dust. Tasuki blinked when the tentacle holding his throat suddenly turned into a dust which faded into the air, dropping him to the floor roughly.
"gyah" Lana exclaimed when she was left hanging in the air for a second before she started falling. She landed heavily on Tasuki's back, who had used his speed to dive under her to break her fall. "Geez… Tasuki… You're really making this a habit aren't you?" Lana couldn't hide the small smile and a blush that rose to her cheeks as she took her egg bag from her back to check if the 'gift' was still fine, continuing to sit on Tasuki's back. "Thanks." She said quietly.
"No prob." Tasuki looked away with a grumpy look on his face, blushing lightly "What else was I supposed to do? Now get the fuck off of me! You're heavy!!" he exclaimed and squirmed under Lana's weight.
"Oh, you can live with it for a second." Lana teased as she closed her bag and slipped it back to her back and stood up, helping Tasuki from the floor.
"Tasuki's really been saving you admirably on this trip na no da." Chichiri turned to chide over his shoulder from next to Riina, where he was helping her to sit up "He even kissed you back at the lake na no da." He grinned teasingly.
"It's called artificial respiration!!" Tasuki stated angrily, a huge sweat drop hanging by his head and large tension mark appearing to his temple while he blushed.
Lana turned chibi and blushed, not being quite sure whether she should bash the monk, who was taking care of Riina, or Tasuki for kissing her while she had been unconscious. She was quite sure that Riina would hurt her big time if she harmed the blue haired bishonen and Tasuki had basically saved her life a couple of times at least. So she settled for fuming, her arms crossed and her hair turning into as red and standing up as Tasuki's to mach up to her face.
Chichiri turned back to Riina, watching her with a small worried frown on his mask "Are you alright?" he asked as she gathered herself up. Riina took deep breaths and managed to nod for him with a small smile.
"Ya really saved our skins, Hotohori." Tasuki commented, turning to look at Hotohori holding his sword. "Thanks."
"Yes. The monster has been destroyed with the holy sword." Hotohori said calmly "I'm a bit shocked myself at being able to do this."
"That was great, Hoto!" Riina rasped and smiled holding her throat "You acted like a real father. And trust me, coming from me, that's a lot." She lightly blushed when Chichiri helped her up. Lana raised a brow at this. The older girl had once long time ago mentioned something of her family, but she didn't remember what.
Hotohori looked like he had suddenly realised something and without a word he turned around and started running.
"Hotohori-sama, where are you going no da?" Chichiri asked.
"Oh, come on! You can't miss this." Lana urged them taking after the tiny figure running around the corner.
Hotohori ran as fast as he could with his tiny legs down the corridors and walk ways, almost skidding on the slippery floors. Finally after what felt like an eternity he reached a beautifully carved door and slammed it open with all the power that was on his small hands.
"Houki!" he called out for the woman, who was sitting in he bed, staring at him with mix of wonder and disbelief on her face.
"Boushin?…" she said softly smiling, her eyes starting to tear up.
"Houki…" Hotohori said, a lump forming to his throat "Can't you see? It's me!" he asked.
Houki stared at her son before a tear rolled down her beautiful cheek. "Highness.." she whispered as she stood up from her bed and dashed across the room to embrace the man in front of her. "Highness… It's really you." She choked to Hotohori's chest as he embraced her tightly.
"Yes, Houki.." Hotohori kissed Houki's violet hair lovingly "And it was my fault for leaving you and Boushin behind and filling you with grief." He closed his eyes, as tears threatened to fall down his cheeks. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me." He whispered.
Lana, Tasuki, Chichiri, Riina and Nyan Nyan were watching at them from the door.
"That's so beautiful.." Lana choked, clinging into Tasuki's arm and her eyes misting all over. Tasuki made a face and gave her a tissue, trying not to cry himself.
Riina leaned on the door frame with a small smile and soft look in her eyes. Chichiri's mask was as unreadable as always.
"Oh, highness… I missed you so much." Houki sighed as she held her son on her arms.
Few moments later when everything had calmed down, Chichiri and Lana filled Houki in on why they were there and told her of the Jewels of Memory. Houki was sitting on her bed, Hotohori by her side. Riina and Tasuki were sitting on the rail and listening right out side of the door.
"That's right. Without them Tamahome will disappear." Lana stated and sighed, having to hear the same story for the third time on the same day.
Houki looked thoughtful for a moment, as if trying to remember something. "Now that you mention it… I always thought that it was just an illusion, but…" she started and took a breath before continuing "It was just before I gave birth to my son. I saw a shining blue stone appearing before my eyes." She told with her quiet voice, her cheeks turning slightly pinkish "It gently entered my womb. I remember how warm it was… just after that, when our son was born the warmth passed out of me. I thought that it was just a hallucination brought on by labor." She sighed.
"Is it with him?" Chichiri asked, tiny frown on his mask. Before nobody could react a chibi Tasuki dashed in and took Boushin from Houki's arms
"All right! Leave this to me!" he smirked his fanged grin and turned the poor kid upside own, holding him by his ankles and started shaking him up and down. "C'mon! Out! Spit it out damn it!!" Chibi Riina and Lana stared at him with huge eyes and Riina was grasping Lana's shoulder.
"Chichiri! Hit him from above!!" SD Tasuki shouted for Chichiri. "With Hotohori possessing him, the kid'll be all right!" he explained to SD Chichiri, who was standing next to him, holding his staff and ready to use it.
"D-daa!" Chichri said. Now the both chibi girls were clinging to each others.
"WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY SON!?!?!" a very chibi, very angry and very possessed with a pissed off Hotohori Boushin assaulted Tasuki, beating him to the ground. Riina and Lana cracked up into loud laughter and fell to the floor as they watched a little Boushin trashing Tasuki. "And Chichiri, how could you agree with that insane plan?!" Hotohori included the blue haired monk in his fuming.
"Daa!…" Chichiri turned chibi with a huge sweat drop and tried to inch away.
"And what did I ever do to you to make you put a stone in my son, Tamahome?!" chibi Hotohori Boushin shook his tiny fist at the sky, before returning back to punishing Tasuki.
"Excuse me" a voice called, interrupting the bashing and saving Tasuki from an angry Hotohori. "I've come to give the prince his food." A servant said, putting a tray with food to the table.
"Yosh! We'll discuss this later! Right now, my son must be fed." Boushin said with Hotohori's voice, which sent Lana and Riina into a new fit of laughter. "Eat well, Boushin, and grow up quickly." Hotohori said with a soft smile as he left from Boushin's body.
"Now then, your highness, come here." The servant lady said as Boushin walked to her.
"Wait a second. I remember this" Riina murmured as she dried her tears of mirth. "It's not…" She was about to shout, but Chichiri was a step a head of her. He dived and snatched the child, using his body as a shield as he took the slash of knife that cut deep into his arm.
"gck She isn't human no da!!" he shouted through his gritted teeth and backed to cover Houki, giving Boushin to her. Soon Riina was by his side and touched his hurt arm, making him wince and grimace. She ripped off her sleeve and pressed it against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
Tasuki stepped in front of Lana, who had started to turn into half wolf. "One after another, they show up!" he sneered "Keep down kittling, I'm gonna handle this! REKKA SHIN'EN!!!" with two words and one smooth movement of Tessen he sent a wave of purifying fire at the servant, who had revealed its true form.
"Did that stop it?!" Lana asked, deciding to ignore the fact that Tasuki had called her Kittling.
"Not quite!" Nyan Nyan shouted, attacking the monster when they saw something still moving in the fire. "San… Zen... HA!!!" she shouted, gathering her power and releasing it like rifle fire against the monster. The monster swayed, being mortally wounded. "This thing's tough!" she muttered.
When Chichiri was moving into position to attack, Riina held him by his shoulder. "No, wait." She looked somewhere behind the monster. "Hotohori's going to finish it."
"I'll handle this!" Hotohori yelled from behind of the monster and concentrated, summoning the full force of his holy sword making it to glow like a red star when he thrust it through the monster' chest.
"I won't allow you to lay one finger on my son!" Hotohori growled. "NOW BEGONE!!" The combined power of the sword and his will was too much to handle for the monster and it was consumed by its power. The power Hotohori released made the whole palace to glow in almost white red light.
When it settled down, Houki squinted her eyes, trying to see something in the sudden darkness. There were still some flickers of red chi flying in the room, lighting it gently with their soft light. Houki gasped when she saw an intangible figure standing in the light. "Highness!" she breathed, tears filling her eyes.
Hotohori turned around when he heard his name being called "Houki… You can see me?" he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Hai, I can see you." Houki said, turning Boushin on his arms to see the man standing in the light. The little boy smiled and tried to reach for the figure
"You see him too, don't you Boushin? You know who he is." Houki smiled and gently put his son down to the floor. "Yes. That man is your father." She told to Boushin with her soft voice. The boy let a delighted voice and started to walk towards Hotohori, his arms reached.
"Boushin… My son…" Hotohori smiled and kneeled spreading his arms to embrace his little son. "come to me."
Boushin smiled delightedly and hurried over. When their hands were about to touch, Boushin's little hands passed through Hotohori's hands, making the boy to loose his balance and falling through Hotohori to his knees behind of him. There was a shocked silence, when everybody looked sadly Hotohori's shaking shoulders and the confused look on Boushin's eyes. Only Riina leaned to the wall emotionlessly. There was a small sniffle before Boushin started crying heart breakingly.
Riina looked like she was fighting with her self and winced when Boushin happened cry practically high. With a sigh she walked over Boushin, lightly brushing his head as she walked past him and behind to Hotohori. Before he knew it, Riina had kneeled and slid inside of him.
'Why don't you use my body.' She asked from him in their mind as they merged 'I'm enough of an airhead so there should be more than plenty of room for the both of us in here.'
'Riina.' Hotohori said surprisedly and they smiled as he took over in her body. 'You are a good person. I'm in debt to you.'
'Not really, but we'll call it even.' Riina gently chided as they stood up and Hotohori picked up the crying child.
"Boushin." Riina said lovingly, her voice now being lower men's voice. She gently hugged the boy, snuggling her face against his cheek.
"Boushin, forgive me. I am… I am a terrible father." In front of everybody Riina started to change when Hotohori took more over of her body. "I can't be here at your or your mother's side." Hotohori told him sadly "But both of you are always with me in my heart." He lifted his son to his eye level, smiling gently for him "Boushin… Grow up quickly, my son. Become a strong and noble man. And then, as much as I did… No, more than I did, love your people!" he told to the boy.
"Become a great leader who will build a world of peace. And protect your mother as a son should. I know you will be able to." The little boy looked at him seriously as he pulled him into another hug "You are… my most… precious treasure…" he said to his ear.
Suddenly a tear escaped down Hotohori's cheek, and he felt that he was smiling warmly. He knew that it was Riina in side of him.
"Pa… pa" a small voice said in their arms and Hotohori's eyes flew wide.
"Boushin." Houki breathed. In the room Tasuki had turned around to hide his tears and Lana gave him a tissue, tapping her eyes with another one. Because of his mask, nobody could tell what Chichiri was thinking of the situation.
"Boushin, you just… What did you just?!…" Hotohori stammered, feeling another tear falling down his cheek, this time it was his own.
"Paaa..pa?" Boushin tilted his head and smiled.
"Boushin…" he breathed, having hard time to get words by the lump on his throat when Boushin reached to touch his face. "Papa!.." Hotohori took his small hand into his as tears started flowing openly.
Suddenly Riina was standing looking a bright blue light and holding Boushin against her chest, bathing in the warm light.
"This is your jewel of memory." She stated smiling and leaned her cheek on top of the child's head, looking at the light as it came closer and merged with her.
She saw Hotohori standing tall at the door, right after Tamahome had confessed his love for Miaka. She remembered fighting him in the rain and Miaka running to him when she had got a fatal strike from Hotohori's sword.
'Yes. Even the power of kodoku was no match for the love that Tamahome and Miaka shared.' There was a small pause and Riina could feel Hotohori grinning on her mind 'I wish you shall find the same with Chichiri.' He finally added.
'ack Hotohori!! That's cheating!!! It's wrong to probe other people's hearts!!!' Riina blushed, squeezing her eyes shut and clenching the child in her arms.
'I couldn't help it. Your emotions were floating in so surface that I had to notice them.' Hotohori apologised. 'Just, please, don't squeeze Boushin so hard.' He added worriedly.
'Please, don't tell him or anyone else anything. Promise?' Riina pleaded.
'Don't worry, I won't. I promise.' Hotohori promised and Riina could feel him leaving her body. She opened her eyes and saw everybody looking at her with wide smiles and she blushed some more.
"Thank you for lending your body." Hotohori said from the bed, where he was sitting with Boushin and Houki.
"Riina! That was cool!" Lana grinned at her "You got Tama's third jewel!" then she turned to look at her like a curious cat "By the way, what just happened to your hair? It was bluish black before, but now it's totally brown." She asked.
Riina turned SD and tugged a lock of her hair to see it and then looked around for a mirror. "Huh. Whadda ya know. It seems that a hair colouring won't stand for 'merging'. What a waist of money." She blinked then looked at the guys, who were staring at her stunned. "What. So I am a brunet. Got a problem with it?"
"No…" Chichiri said, trying to calm her down but stopped when he saw her snickering at him, and relaxed.
'I think that at this point in the story Miaka and Taka returned to their world, didn't they?' Lana sent a thought to Riina. 'I wonder what will happen to us…' she looked at Tasuki nervously, obviously not wanting to leave.
I don't know. Riina fingered her collar, her character showing up as she talked with Lana I don't want to leave either, and you an' Tasuki need some 'personal' time, ne? she finally added, making Lana gack and blush at her hinting.
But before Lana could smack Riina for even suggesting that she'd like to hang around Tasuki in other than a purely business way, they were surrounded with red light. Lana and Riina fell to their knees as they felt all their energy being drained from them.
"What the heck?!" Tasuki turned around just in time when the both girls screamed in unison from pain as their bodies started slowly fading.
"It's Suzaku no da!" Chichiri said "They've been surrounded by the power of Suzaku no da!" 'But it can't be. They're in so much pain. Suzaku wouldn't do that.' He added horrified in his mind.
"Are they going back to Miaka's world or to their own world?" Tasuki asked and gritted his teeth when Lana screamed again, holding her head. "Lana!! Hang in there." He ran in front of the red haired girl and fell to his knees, as he tried to take a hold of the intangible girl. "Just hang in there and it's gona be a' right." He shouted to her, hoping that she could hear. Lana looked up, tears falling down her cheek just before she faded and there were only shapes of red lights left where the girls had been.
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Hello everybody! Long time no see!laughs Now aren't we being evil? The first cliffhanger! But no worries, further chapters are on their way. looks amusedly Lana working at the keyboard, Thatz glaring behind of her, a kettle in his hand As said, they are under working progress, so this might take a while.
Chichiri: As only would be your school works as well, no da.
mutters something incoherent and hides behind the reviews
Vash: So what have we gotten? peaks over the shoulder
chuckles You guys are so loved. ;p
Tasuki: hides behind me from the crazed fangirls I thought that the authoress is supposed to PROTECT her muses from things like this?!
Anywho… back to review rantings!! purrs and huggz all the reviewers Thank you so much! You guys really do know how to make a girl happy!
Chichiri: chuckles She has been floating all day, no da.
sighs happily I just love long reviews… gives Finnish chocolate cookies and a Tasuki, Chichiri or Vash plushie for all reviewers
paws-bells – Hello honey!! bows Thank you dear! I hope that you enjoyed of this chappy too! Of the egg, smirks well, depends of what do you think it is. Just for a note, even I'm not quite sure what it'll be. Lana's changing her mind… rolls eyes amusedly Speaking of updates winks when are you going to continue your fic?! twitches from impatience
Songwind - grins and gives a slight bow Thank you! From all of your suggestions. Your reviews always cheers me up! I'm gona put that musing idea behind my ear and use it… thinks pretty soon I think. looks at her school works I think that I WILL knock myself your soon… --;;; takes a dull pen and tries to do a hara-kiri damn… not sharp enough.
Atomic-Witch - grins and thumbs up If you liked of that, what do you think of this chapter? The first cliffie… mwhahahaaa ahem cough cough Damn hairballs… smirks and winks If you have liked of the fluff this far, keep reading, 'cuz there's something interesting cooking up between our two hotheads…
D-chan - grins Hello! Thank you for your compliments. blushes and chuckles But I finally got to update this fic, though I don't know when it'll be updated the next. Depends of Lana. grins now ya can tell yer friends that this has been updated. They're more than welcome to leave their comments too. The more the merrier. sweat drops, watching Vash and Tasuki turning blue in your grasp Anouuu…
Vash: H-halp… .;;
Tasuki: Can't… Breath.
Honey… gently pries you off her muses I know they're sweet, but you can't kill my muses yet. I need them for the rest of the fic. ;;
Neokosazume - grins and sweeps a bow Thank you honey! I'm sure to tell Lana that she has a big fan when I see her next time online.
Opaaru Tsuki – Sure I'll give you MP3's. Just try to catch me online on the messengers… In Yahoo as Riina82 or Hotmail as DreamFeathershotmail. Preferably in Hotmail… We have so much things to do that I find myself feeling suicidal and homicidal towards a certain teacher… ; stares blinks Vaaaaash!!!
Vash: munches donuts while drinking coffee and blushes innocently Yesh? tries to hide behind the coffee cup
AND CHICHIRI!!!! sniffles I dun get any hugs or kisses… you guys are being so loved.
Chichiri: I'm innocent, na no da!!
Rhapsody: Daughter of the Sky – Hey yah! You're having a break? Lucky you. The next time I'm gona have a break is on the summer holidays before the summer job starts. I hope that you liked of this chappie, though I'm not sure when I'll update the next one. But in the mean time, have a nice and hot summer! puts on sunglasses
chiri26 – Hi Angela! grins and hugs Long time no see!! Glad that you came back. heh And we have just begun… so expect the unexpected. ;p blinks and grins Who does Lana remind you of? Do I know the person?
Neko-ane - hugs with a wide grin Hi honey!! Long time no see!! Don't worry of not reviewing. You're catching up neatly. ;p I hope that your computer is working now. Of course I like of Nightcrawler!! He's the sweetest fuzzy elf there is in the Marvel-universe. Personally, I liked most of the Excalibur series. And I'm a huge Pratchett fan too!! The Death is a hilarious character and Death of Rats is just the best! Susan and the witches are also cool characters. has a mission to collect all Pratchett's books chuckles If you think that misspelling Tai-Itsukun is annoying, try it with the Seishi's names gone all wrong. sighs and rolls eyes
I have never had any problems with my manga or anime… but I gotta agree with you on Eikoden. It was just a fill-in OVA sighs I just hope that they're gona make anime from the Genrou-den and Shouryuu-den (sorry if misspelled) and all the other gaidens! purrs And especially TRANSLATE THOSE BOOKS!!!! pats Neko's shoulder No need to go into withdrawal dear. ;; I just updated this chapter. I hope that it'll help you until the next chapter… even bigger sweat drop
counts the reviewers 9 persons!!! faints from joy You guys really know how to make an authoress happy! purrs like a kitten and hugs all the reviewers But while waiting for the next chapter, have a nice and sunny spring!
And please.. do review… I just love to read your reviews. But I gotta run now. I'm late form a toga-party! ;p