Disclaimer: The characters of Fushigi Yuugi do not belong to me. They
belong to Yuu Watase-san. So please don't sue me. Unless you want textbooks
as your settlement.
Author's note: Minna-san! Good news, I found three chapters on my disk. But after that, the rest is at home, gomen. But here's what happens afterwards. Too mushy? I have not idea ^^;; I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 7
At the stronghold, Kouji and several men were outside, resting and chilling. They all stood, however, when they saw Tasuki running up carrying someone in his arms. Tasuki came closer and they all started and anxiously waited for Tasuki to get with a distance to talk to him.
"Oi, Genrou. What happened to her?" Kouji asked.
Tasuki had a grim face. "Take a couple of men and go into the forest. You'll see several men down. I don't have a fuckin' clue if they're alive or not, but if they are, finish 'em off. Then get rid of the bodies."
Kouji nodded and faced the men who were there, "You guys are comin' with me." Kouji then turned to Tasuki but he was already going inside. The blue haired bandit shook his head and headed to the direction Tasuki told them to go. 'What the hell happened Genrou? I better get an explanation when I get back.'
~~~
Tasuki walked down the hall, heading towards Ruri's room. When the rest of the men saw the look on his face, they quickly jumped out of the way. And when they saw that it was Ruri he was carrying in his arms, their eyes narrowed. They looked on as Tasuki rounded the corner.
"Oi, what the hell happened?" One whispered. The other shrugged and they continued on for the day, wondering what happened to Ruri. Deciding to wait for Kouji or Takeshi to tell them what happened.
Takeshi was coming from the other direction when he was Tasuki carrying Ruri to her room. His eyes widened. "O- oi. Boss. What happened?" He quickly opened the door for Tasuki.
Tasuki entered and set Ruri in her bed. He turned to Takeshi, "Get me some bandages, some poultice, a bowl of water, and a cloth." Takeshi nodded and quickly left. Tasuki turned to the fireplace and unsheathed his tessen. "Lekka Shinen." A warm fire sprung up and lit the room. He then rummaged through her bag and found a long short-sleeved button down shirt. He also got a panty and quickly dressed her. When he put her shirt on, he made sure to only button the buttons starting from the middle down, so the cut on her chest could be attended to.
Takeshi entered the room with the stuff Tasuki wanted and set it on the table. Tasuki then picked up the cloth, dipped it in the water and started to clean Ruri's wounds.
"Oi, Boss, what happened to Ruri? She looks pretty beat up."
Tasuki gently dabbed at Ruri's face. "It was those bastards who were stealin' from us."
"What did they want from her?"
"I guess they fuckin' saw her tell me what they were up to. They wanted revenge. They were about to fuckin' rape her."
Takeshi bolted up, "NANI?!"
"Keep it down, aho! Anyway, thank Suzaku I was able to make it on time and save her."
"Yeah. Do you need anything else?" Tasuki shook his head. "Then I'll be goin'."
Tasuki turned to the young bandit. "Thanks."
"Just take good care of her, Boss." Takeshi winked and left to tell the others.
Tasuki wiped the blood from Ruri's cut of her chest. "Baka," he said quietly but vehemently. "Why the fuck did you have to go into the forest by yourself? If you would have fuckin' got raped or even worse, I would never have forgiven myself! You damn woman, thinkin' that you can do anything. That's why I hate women!" Tasuki paused and gently cleaned her arms. Then he gave a small chuckle. "Chichiri was right though. I don't hate you." He started to clean her leg in silence. When he got to her ankle, he set the cloth down and reached for the bandage. Gently taking her ankle in his hands, he started wrapping it. "You got pretty beat up, Ruri. But at least you didn't break anything."
When he finished wrapping her ankle, Kouji came into the room with Takeshi right behind. "Genrou, is the story true?"
Tasuki looked at them and nodded. He took the bandage and poultice and started tending to the bump on her head.
"Was it Segetsu and the other bodies the ones who did that to her?"
Tasuki nodded. "Yeah."
"Dammit! Why didn't ya save me one or two to kill?! They were all practically dead by the time we got there."
"Save it for the bastard bandits who're runnin' the show. If it wasn't for them, none of this would've happened." He smeared the poultice on the cut on her leg and started to bandage it.
Ruri stirred and opened her eyes slowly and saw a blur. Her head was pounding. She blinked slowly several times and slowly felt something on her thigh when feeling came back to her. She lifted her head to see someone's hand on her thigh. Ruri then looked around and saw two more people. She shot up and scrambled away from them, "Stay away from me!" She said in a quivering voice. The closest one went towards her. Ignoring all the pain from her injuries, she backed away. "Stay back! Don't hurt me anymore! Just stay away!!" Hands landed on her shoulder and she screamed.
"Ruri!" The voice said. "Ruri! It's me! It's me, Tasuki!"
Ruri stopped screaming and took a good look at the man. She saw the orange hair and ambers eyes, and knew it was he. She looked behind Tasuki and saw that it was Kouji and Takeshi. She knew they wouldn't hurt her, but still, she shook in fear.
Tasuki looked back at the two and they nodded. "We'll be outside if you need anything," Kouji said. Then the two left quietly.
Tasuki looked back at Ruri. She had her head down and her hair would have covered her face if it weren't bandaged. She was also shaking so much it was visible. He remained where he was, hands on her shoulder, and started speaking. "Daijoubu Ruri. Listen, I'm not good at the comforting thing, but listen to me. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you here. I'm not going to hurt you. I'll protect you. I promise this will never happen again."
Ruri looked up and Tasuki's eyes filled with sympathetic tears. She was crying with tears spilling down her cheeks continuously and in them revealed immense hurt and fear. She drew her knees to her chest and buried her face in her hands.
"I- I- I was raped! I'm nothing! I'm so unclean and I've been degraded! I'm not worthy of anyone anymore! Something was ripped away from me and I can't get it back anymore!"
Tasuki slightly shook her. "Ruri, stop! Dammit, stop!" He sighed. "Look at me, Ruri." After a while, Ruri slowly brought her tear-stained face up and looked at Tasuki. He took a deep breath. "You weren't raped, Ruri." Ruri's eyes widened, tears still spilling down her face. "I got there just in time and I was able to save you. No one raped you."
"Honto?" Ruri asked quietly.
"Aa." Tasuki looked straight in her eyes.
"You're not lying?"
Tasuki gave her a stern look, "I would never lie about something this important."
"You lied about not being Tasuki to Miaka and them." Ruri pointed out.
Tasuki sweatdropped. "That doesn't count. They didn't need me right away. Besides, you're more important to me right now. And I'm telling you, you weren't raped." At the moment, Tasuki was able to see how many emotions can show in someone's eyes in a matter of seconds. Because at the moment, Ruri's eyes went from fear, incredulous, doubt, surprise, disbelief and relief in a matter of seconds. She flung herself into Tasuki's arms and started crying. Tasuki held her tightly and comforted her. A few tears trickled down his face. Not only of sympathy but of anger as well.
~~~
Kouji and Takeshi were in the dining hall, just sitting. Several men surrounded them, pelting them with questions.
"Oi, did Ruri really get attacked in the woods?"
"Where are those bastards?"
"What the hell did they want from her?"
Kouji stood up. "Listen up you morons. I'm gonna tell the story as it was once and that's it. Ruri was attacked by the other bandit gang here in the mountains. Apparently, they found out that she was the one who told 'em off. Nothing serious happened to her, except for her injuries. Now I know we're fond of her and we're going to get revenge for her sake. That's why we need to find their hideout." He pointed to some men. "I know you're trying your hardest but this is top priority right now. We gotta find their base. Got it? For our country and Ruri!"
A chorus of "OH~!'s" filled the room.
~~~
Tasuki held Ruri until she stopped crying and fell asleep. He laid her down gently and looked at the cut on her chest. It was still bleeding a little and he wiped the cut and very carefully he dressed the wound.
There was a slight knock on the door and Tasuki went to open it. When he did, he saw Kouji.
"How is she?" The blue-haired bandit asked.
Tasuki ran his hand through his hair. "I think she's a little better."
Kouji sighed of relief and his attention was brought to Tasuki's arm. "Oi, Genrou. Did you take a hit?"
Tasuki glanced at the wound and shrugged. "It's no big deal. It's just a small cut."
Kouji shook his head. "Here, I'll take care of it for ya. Go sit down."
Tasuki did as he was told and took off his shirt. Kouji cleaned and dressed the wound as Tasuki kept looking over at Ruri. Kouji grinned. "Ya know… she's not going to disappear anytime soon."
The Seishi glared at him, "I know that."
Kouji smirked, "Ya fell hard, didn't ya?"
"Just shut the hell up."
Ruri stirred and gave a small groan. They both turned to her but she didn't seem to get worse.
"Oi, ya want me to get the doctor?" Kouji asked.
Tasuki shook his head. "No, I'm gonna take care of her. It's nothing I can't handle."
Kouji shrugged, "Okay. I got the guys on the search for the other gang and they were filled in on what happened." Tasuki nodded. "I'm gonna turn in now. I'll see ya in the morning." He gave one last waved and quietly left.
Tasuki looked back down at the sleeping girl. He gently pulled back her hair and stared at her. Her bruises and cuts showed visibly on her face but nothing that would leave a scar. Later, he fell asleep, leaning on the bed.
~~~
He woke up. Something was wrong. Tasuki looked at Ruri. She was restless, moving around. Tasuki felt her forehead, but she didn't have a fever. A helpless cry left her lips and Tasuki realized that she was having a nightmare. He gently started to shake her. "Oi, Ruri. Ruri! Wake up!"
"Tame!" She cried out. She shot her arm up seeming to be trying to grab something.
Tasuki shook her harder. "Oi, wake up! You're having a nightmare!"
Ruri's eyes flew open and quickly focused. She turned to see Tasuki's face filled with concern. "Tasuki?"
Relief washed over him and he nodded.
"It was a dream?"
Tasuki nodded, "Aa."
No one's going to hurt me?"
"Yeah. Now try and get some sleep."
Ruri nodded and closed her eyes. Seconds later, she opened them. "Will you stay here with me please?"
Tasuki silently nodded and Ruri went back to sleep. He watched her several minutes, then got up and went to the window. He was angry. Angry at himself and those bastards. Before this happened, she was so confident in looking after herself. She would never hesitate to go off by herself, insisting she would be fine. And now to her helpless and scared was heartbreaking. 'I fucked up again! I should've looked after her better! Dammit!' He looked over to the now peacefully sleeping Ruri. 'I'll make it up to ya.' Then he stopped. Why was he so worried for her anyway? The last girl he worried over was Miaka. But that was because she was the Miko and, he admitted to himself, because he may have had some feelings for her. And then in came this girl from another world. Totally different from Miaka's world. He would always remember those eyes. A sparkling brown filled with emotion. 'Can it be,' he thought, 'Am I in love with her?'
Tasuki thought back from the beginning and remember the moments with her and then without her. Every time they were together, it felt right. Something always happened. She somehow brightened his day, except for the occasional abuse, and gave him encouragement. He blinked; somehow she wriggled her way into his heart and knew she was there to stay. He didn't seem to mind either. A small smile played at his mouth when he remembered what Takeshi called her. "She may be our little onna," he whispered to himself. "But whether they like it or not, she's my little onna." He chuckled.
Author's note: Minna-san! Good news, I found three chapters on my disk. But after that, the rest is at home, gomen. But here's what happens afterwards. Too mushy? I have not idea ^^;; I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 7
At the stronghold, Kouji and several men were outside, resting and chilling. They all stood, however, when they saw Tasuki running up carrying someone in his arms. Tasuki came closer and they all started and anxiously waited for Tasuki to get with a distance to talk to him.
"Oi, Genrou. What happened to her?" Kouji asked.
Tasuki had a grim face. "Take a couple of men and go into the forest. You'll see several men down. I don't have a fuckin' clue if they're alive or not, but if they are, finish 'em off. Then get rid of the bodies."
Kouji nodded and faced the men who were there, "You guys are comin' with me." Kouji then turned to Tasuki but he was already going inside. The blue haired bandit shook his head and headed to the direction Tasuki told them to go. 'What the hell happened Genrou? I better get an explanation when I get back.'
~~~
Tasuki walked down the hall, heading towards Ruri's room. When the rest of the men saw the look on his face, they quickly jumped out of the way. And when they saw that it was Ruri he was carrying in his arms, their eyes narrowed. They looked on as Tasuki rounded the corner.
"Oi, what the hell happened?" One whispered. The other shrugged and they continued on for the day, wondering what happened to Ruri. Deciding to wait for Kouji or Takeshi to tell them what happened.
Takeshi was coming from the other direction when he was Tasuki carrying Ruri to her room. His eyes widened. "O- oi. Boss. What happened?" He quickly opened the door for Tasuki.
Tasuki entered and set Ruri in her bed. He turned to Takeshi, "Get me some bandages, some poultice, a bowl of water, and a cloth." Takeshi nodded and quickly left. Tasuki turned to the fireplace and unsheathed his tessen. "Lekka Shinen." A warm fire sprung up and lit the room. He then rummaged through her bag and found a long short-sleeved button down shirt. He also got a panty and quickly dressed her. When he put her shirt on, he made sure to only button the buttons starting from the middle down, so the cut on her chest could be attended to.
Takeshi entered the room with the stuff Tasuki wanted and set it on the table. Tasuki then picked up the cloth, dipped it in the water and started to clean Ruri's wounds.
"Oi, Boss, what happened to Ruri? She looks pretty beat up."
Tasuki gently dabbed at Ruri's face. "It was those bastards who were stealin' from us."
"What did they want from her?"
"I guess they fuckin' saw her tell me what they were up to. They wanted revenge. They were about to fuckin' rape her."
Takeshi bolted up, "NANI?!"
"Keep it down, aho! Anyway, thank Suzaku I was able to make it on time and save her."
"Yeah. Do you need anything else?" Tasuki shook his head. "Then I'll be goin'."
Tasuki turned to the young bandit. "Thanks."
"Just take good care of her, Boss." Takeshi winked and left to tell the others.
Tasuki wiped the blood from Ruri's cut of her chest. "Baka," he said quietly but vehemently. "Why the fuck did you have to go into the forest by yourself? If you would have fuckin' got raped or even worse, I would never have forgiven myself! You damn woman, thinkin' that you can do anything. That's why I hate women!" Tasuki paused and gently cleaned her arms. Then he gave a small chuckle. "Chichiri was right though. I don't hate you." He started to clean her leg in silence. When he got to her ankle, he set the cloth down and reached for the bandage. Gently taking her ankle in his hands, he started wrapping it. "You got pretty beat up, Ruri. But at least you didn't break anything."
When he finished wrapping her ankle, Kouji came into the room with Takeshi right behind. "Genrou, is the story true?"
Tasuki looked at them and nodded. He took the bandage and poultice and started tending to the bump on her head.
"Was it Segetsu and the other bodies the ones who did that to her?"
Tasuki nodded. "Yeah."
"Dammit! Why didn't ya save me one or two to kill?! They were all practically dead by the time we got there."
"Save it for the bastard bandits who're runnin' the show. If it wasn't for them, none of this would've happened." He smeared the poultice on the cut on her leg and started to bandage it.
Ruri stirred and opened her eyes slowly and saw a blur. Her head was pounding. She blinked slowly several times and slowly felt something on her thigh when feeling came back to her. She lifted her head to see someone's hand on her thigh. Ruri then looked around and saw two more people. She shot up and scrambled away from them, "Stay away from me!" She said in a quivering voice. The closest one went towards her. Ignoring all the pain from her injuries, she backed away. "Stay back! Don't hurt me anymore! Just stay away!!" Hands landed on her shoulder and she screamed.
"Ruri!" The voice said. "Ruri! It's me! It's me, Tasuki!"
Ruri stopped screaming and took a good look at the man. She saw the orange hair and ambers eyes, and knew it was he. She looked behind Tasuki and saw that it was Kouji and Takeshi. She knew they wouldn't hurt her, but still, she shook in fear.
Tasuki looked back at the two and they nodded. "We'll be outside if you need anything," Kouji said. Then the two left quietly.
Tasuki looked back at Ruri. She had her head down and her hair would have covered her face if it weren't bandaged. She was also shaking so much it was visible. He remained where he was, hands on her shoulder, and started speaking. "Daijoubu Ruri. Listen, I'm not good at the comforting thing, but listen to me. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you here. I'm not going to hurt you. I'll protect you. I promise this will never happen again."
Ruri looked up and Tasuki's eyes filled with sympathetic tears. She was crying with tears spilling down her cheeks continuously and in them revealed immense hurt and fear. She drew her knees to her chest and buried her face in her hands.
"I- I- I was raped! I'm nothing! I'm so unclean and I've been degraded! I'm not worthy of anyone anymore! Something was ripped away from me and I can't get it back anymore!"
Tasuki slightly shook her. "Ruri, stop! Dammit, stop!" He sighed. "Look at me, Ruri." After a while, Ruri slowly brought her tear-stained face up and looked at Tasuki. He took a deep breath. "You weren't raped, Ruri." Ruri's eyes widened, tears still spilling down her face. "I got there just in time and I was able to save you. No one raped you."
"Honto?" Ruri asked quietly.
"Aa." Tasuki looked straight in her eyes.
"You're not lying?"
Tasuki gave her a stern look, "I would never lie about something this important."
"You lied about not being Tasuki to Miaka and them." Ruri pointed out.
Tasuki sweatdropped. "That doesn't count. They didn't need me right away. Besides, you're more important to me right now. And I'm telling you, you weren't raped." At the moment, Tasuki was able to see how many emotions can show in someone's eyes in a matter of seconds. Because at the moment, Ruri's eyes went from fear, incredulous, doubt, surprise, disbelief and relief in a matter of seconds. She flung herself into Tasuki's arms and started crying. Tasuki held her tightly and comforted her. A few tears trickled down his face. Not only of sympathy but of anger as well.
~~~
Kouji and Takeshi were in the dining hall, just sitting. Several men surrounded them, pelting them with questions.
"Oi, did Ruri really get attacked in the woods?"
"Where are those bastards?"
"What the hell did they want from her?"
Kouji stood up. "Listen up you morons. I'm gonna tell the story as it was once and that's it. Ruri was attacked by the other bandit gang here in the mountains. Apparently, they found out that she was the one who told 'em off. Nothing serious happened to her, except for her injuries. Now I know we're fond of her and we're going to get revenge for her sake. That's why we need to find their hideout." He pointed to some men. "I know you're trying your hardest but this is top priority right now. We gotta find their base. Got it? For our country and Ruri!"
A chorus of "OH~!'s" filled the room.
~~~
Tasuki held Ruri until she stopped crying and fell asleep. He laid her down gently and looked at the cut on her chest. It was still bleeding a little and he wiped the cut and very carefully he dressed the wound.
There was a slight knock on the door and Tasuki went to open it. When he did, he saw Kouji.
"How is she?" The blue-haired bandit asked.
Tasuki ran his hand through his hair. "I think she's a little better."
Kouji sighed of relief and his attention was brought to Tasuki's arm. "Oi, Genrou. Did you take a hit?"
Tasuki glanced at the wound and shrugged. "It's no big deal. It's just a small cut."
Kouji shook his head. "Here, I'll take care of it for ya. Go sit down."
Tasuki did as he was told and took off his shirt. Kouji cleaned and dressed the wound as Tasuki kept looking over at Ruri. Kouji grinned. "Ya know… she's not going to disappear anytime soon."
The Seishi glared at him, "I know that."
Kouji smirked, "Ya fell hard, didn't ya?"
"Just shut the hell up."
Ruri stirred and gave a small groan. They both turned to her but she didn't seem to get worse.
"Oi, ya want me to get the doctor?" Kouji asked.
Tasuki shook his head. "No, I'm gonna take care of her. It's nothing I can't handle."
Kouji shrugged, "Okay. I got the guys on the search for the other gang and they were filled in on what happened." Tasuki nodded. "I'm gonna turn in now. I'll see ya in the morning." He gave one last waved and quietly left.
Tasuki looked back down at the sleeping girl. He gently pulled back her hair and stared at her. Her bruises and cuts showed visibly on her face but nothing that would leave a scar. Later, he fell asleep, leaning on the bed.
~~~
He woke up. Something was wrong. Tasuki looked at Ruri. She was restless, moving around. Tasuki felt her forehead, but she didn't have a fever. A helpless cry left her lips and Tasuki realized that she was having a nightmare. He gently started to shake her. "Oi, Ruri. Ruri! Wake up!"
"Tame!" She cried out. She shot her arm up seeming to be trying to grab something.
Tasuki shook her harder. "Oi, wake up! You're having a nightmare!"
Ruri's eyes flew open and quickly focused. She turned to see Tasuki's face filled with concern. "Tasuki?"
Relief washed over him and he nodded.
"It was a dream?"
Tasuki nodded, "Aa."
No one's going to hurt me?"
"Yeah. Now try and get some sleep."
Ruri nodded and closed her eyes. Seconds later, she opened them. "Will you stay here with me please?"
Tasuki silently nodded and Ruri went back to sleep. He watched her several minutes, then got up and went to the window. He was angry. Angry at himself and those bastards. Before this happened, she was so confident in looking after herself. She would never hesitate to go off by herself, insisting she would be fine. And now to her helpless and scared was heartbreaking. 'I fucked up again! I should've looked after her better! Dammit!' He looked over to the now peacefully sleeping Ruri. 'I'll make it up to ya.' Then he stopped. Why was he so worried for her anyway? The last girl he worried over was Miaka. But that was because she was the Miko and, he admitted to himself, because he may have had some feelings for her. And then in came this girl from another world. Totally different from Miaka's world. He would always remember those eyes. A sparkling brown filled with emotion. 'Can it be,' he thought, 'Am I in love with her?'
Tasuki thought back from the beginning and remember the moments with her and then without her. Every time they were together, it felt right. Something always happened. She somehow brightened his day, except for the occasional abuse, and gave him encouragement. He blinked; somehow she wriggled her way into his heart and knew she was there to stay. He didn't seem to mind either. A small smile played at his mouth when he remembered what Takeshi called her. "She may be our little onna," he whispered to himself. "But whether they like it or not, she's my little onna." He chuckled.