Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi or any of its characters.
Reviews:
Nitouryuu: Hey, thanks for being my first reviewer. Isn't it nice of me to make Yukari's birthday the same as yours? No, the other OC is not Hayashi!
Crimsonfirefox: Yeah, I know its confusing but its going to get much clearer soon…I guess so keep reading k?
Sami: Don't worry I'll finish the story, unless it gets deleted off again.
Chapter 3: Mt Reikaku
"Tasuki-san! Would you hurry up!" Yukari shouted without turning her head. 'Man and he is suppose to be the one who's familiar with this place.' Earlier this morning they were still debating on where to go and Tasuki finally decided on a place called Mt. Reikaku since Yukari wasn't in the best position to make that decision.
"Shut up, how can you expect me to go as fast as you, when you're using the erm… thing!" A vein popped up on the bandit's head. 'Why the hell did I even think of going back, there's nothing left for me. Kouji and they guys probably died long ago.' Tasuki thought with a frown.
"It's called a skateboard!" Came the reply, which was accompanied by a loud bark from Hayashi.
Tasuki looked up slightly, "Whatever."
Yukari squinted her eyes as she looked up into the sky; yesterday's event still felt like a dream. There were still many things that puzzled her, like why was she here; why is Tasuki encased in ice before she found him and why is there a dagger she has never seen before in her pouch.
The raven hair girl looked down at the dagger that was hanging together with her tools; she just discovered it this morning and thought she would keep it there for safety reasons. The sheath of the dagger was wrapped a crimson strap of leather and the blade was shiny with the kranji for fire craved onto one side of it.
"ITAI!" A shout from before her snapped Yukari out of her thoughts. The girl looked down and saw a man lying facedown on the ground, under her skateboard. Tasuki and Hayashi also ran towards the source of the shout.
The three of sweatdropped while Yukari sheepishly stepped off her skateboard and held it up, "Anou, are you alright?" All she got was a groan from the twitching figure on the ground.
"Actually I wasn't alright but seeing a goddess such as yourself standing in front of me, I'm as good as new. Your beauty has completely blown all my pain and trouble away." Yukari was taken aback when the man suddenly jumped up and held her hand.
"Domo arigatou but I'm no goddess." Yukari tried to laugh it off but a slight blush was evident on her face.
"Ah with looks and modesty, I couldn't ask for more." By now he was trying to kiss Yukari's hand but the girl kept running away. Suddenly the man was thrown back from his pursue.
"What the hell are you trying to do!" The man met eye to eye with Tasuki's glare, if looks could kill he would have died a horrible death by now.
"Heh, you must be new here. Do you know who I am?" The man pointed at Tasuki and laughed while the other three sweatdropped.
"No." Came the unanimous answer.
The man left eyebrow twitched at the group's ignorance, "I'M NIUROU LAMIAN, THE GREAT LEADER OF THE MT. REIKAKU BANDITS!" He declared as huge waves clashed behind him.
"Erm… nice effect." Yukari was not at all intimidated but there was a blank expression on Tasuki's face. The Suzaku seishi starred at his successor, 'messy green hair, big eyes, small nose, big mouth, sissy name… how could he be the leader of Mt. Reikaku!' Tasuki began to wonder how desperate the situations are with the bandits.
"Well aren't you scared now, I might forgive you if you hand over all your possessions nicely." The cocky bandit leader obviously did not know whom he is dealing with.
"Oh great leader of bandits, would you happen to know about a man called Tasuki or rather Genrou." Taski said in mock fear but Yukari could almost imagine him smirking, she did not know what was going on but instinct tells her that it's going to be interesting.
"Genrou! Of course everyone around here knows him. He was the greatest bandit ever and you know what, his best friend was my great grandfather." Niurou announced it proudly while Tasuki stood with his arms folded and a cocky smirk pasted on his face, 'So this is Kouji's great grandson eh?'
"And what more Genrou-sama was a great warrior of Suzaku with the symbol of yoku, he's also called Tasuki!" Yukari tried to hold back her laughter as Niurou talked about the very man before him.
"Ok then what if I tell you that this great Genrou-sama that you love so much is standing right in front of you." Tasuki said and they watched as an icy cool wind suddenly blew over Niurou, leaving the poor man frozen in ice.
The ice began to crack and before they knew it, Niurou was laughing his head off. "You? Genrou-sama, man this is truly the joke of the century." The green hair man clutched at his stomach as he continued to laugh until a forearm was suddenly in front of his face.
"What the…" A glowing symbol for "yoku" clearly showed on the arm.
"No way…" Niurou muttered as he backed away from the former bandit leader. 'HE is Tasuki? Genrou-sama? But Genrou-sama died before I was even born!' He continued to debate with himself whether if all this was reality, the Genrou-sama that he admired for so many years is now standing before him but this man was nothing like the hero that he had imagined.
Niurou's shoulders stumped, he had always thought Genrou-sama would be very tall, with long straight hair, large clear eyes, broad chest, slim waist… a tessen and a spanner landed on the bandit's head.
"That fucking hell looked like an onna!"
"Hentai! You wouldn't dare to go any lower!" Yukari threatened as she continued to grip the tool in her hand.
"Hey that's the lost treasure of Mt. Reikaku!" Niurou exclaimed when he spotted the diamond fan in Tasuki's hand; it was exactly the same as the paintings on the walls of the stronghold.
"Yeah, looks like you know your history." Tasuki smirked and held his weapon up in its glory.
"How did you get it, the tessen was lost for 150 years?" The green hair bandit knocked his fingers against the fan to check if it was real.
"Of course! I was the one…WHAT 150 YEARS!" The information took a while to sink into Tasuki's thick head.
"Its has been 150 years since the war?" Tasuki asked with slight hesitation in his voice, he knew what the answer was but still he hoped that it would differ.
However, the hope that was left was all crushed when the reply came as, "Yeah."
Yukari knew where this is leading to, the girl quickly changed the topic, "Anou isn't Mt. Reikaku the place you said we were going to, ne Tasuki-san?" The former bandit leader looked up and saw Yukari smiling at him, Niurou with a smirk on his face, Hayashi slightly panting. Tasuki nodded and stood up straight, 'What happened was already the past, I can't keep lingering there; now all I can do is to look forward!' With the new resolution, Tasuki set off with the others towards the place he still called home.
"Wow sugoi ne! How did you do it?" Tasuki scorned at the obvious excitement in Yukari's voice, Niurou was just training on bamboo poles sticking out in the middle of the pond, and he did not know why Yukari had to be so impressed. Then Tasuki suddenly felt something he had never felt before; it was a funny feeling in the pits of his stomach.
"What the hell is this feeling? Is it something I ate?" Tasuki rubbed his stomach trying to ease the sensation but to no avail.
"Its called jealousy." The red head snapped up when he heard the voice, it was soft but he had heard it and it sounded familiar.
Tasuki looked around frantically but saw no one, "Who's that? You better show yourself before I burn your ass!"
"I'm afraid you won't be able to that." There was a cocky attitude in the feminine voice and Tasuki could have sworn he heard a soft giggle.
"Why you…" However before he could finish his sentence, something knocked into the man.
"Hayashi!" Yukari scolded as she tried to pry her dog off Tasuki.
After chasing Hayashi around the bandit, Yukari finally settled down with the puppy on her lap beside Tasuki.
"So where's Niurou?" Tasuki tried to sound nonchalant but apparently failed as Yukari shot him a look before answering his question.
"Said he got some matters to attend to. You know, Niurou-san was so cool. He stood with one hand on the pole and then in the blink of an eye, he was standing on another pole!" She could have continued if Tasuki hadn't interrupted her.
"I got something to do, I better get going." Tasuki was about to walk away when he felt Yukari pulling on his coat.
"Tasuki-san, do you think… we could be friends?" For a second, Tasuki did not know how to respond to the girl's request.
But that was only for a second, Tasuki smiled at Yukari, "Only if you drop the 'san', its too formal." He watched as Yukari's eyes widened, a wide smile spreading on her face. 'She looked like a little kid.' Tasuki had not even realised his own thoughts about his new-found friend.
"Hai Tasuki-kun!" The Suzaku seishi smiled inwardly at the suffix but as he walked away, there was a part of him that felt dissapointed.
'Why am I feeling this way, first jealousy then disappointment, it can't be that I like Yukari or something like that, I just met her besides I don't even like girls.' Exasperated, Tasuki ran a hair through his messy hair, deciding to raid the kitchen for some sake to clear his mind.
"Its about time, you found someone just for you, Tasuki-chan." The mysterious voice disappeared into the wind.
Ok now who can tell me, what's up with Niurou's name? Hint: you may to know Chinese to find out. Who's this mysterious person who seemed to know so much about Tasuki? I bet none of you know!