Chapter Fifty

"You've forgotten me?" Chu Chin said, something of a fake tone of disappointment in his voice. When there was no reply the old man looked down at himself, then he sighed as if he had remembered something. "Right, it must be this body of mine. Why, it's your old friend, the slave trader you captured!"

For a moment Lanva and Jin-Shun stared, one of them unsure of exactly what to think. Lanva was especially confused from the situation; when he had heard Chu Chin was back, he had the immediate vision of a young and handsome man, one with the coldest golden eyes he had ever seen in his life. 'But right here . . . this can't be who I'm looking for! He's too old!'

"While I'm sure you're looking for an explanation, Lanva," Chu Chin started, gesticulating his arms dramatically as he did so, "I can't give you one right now. All I have to say is that I'm freer than ever, and neither you nor that brat you called your best friend would ever be able to imprison me now!"

"Brat?" Lanva repeated, then he seemed to get the idea. "You mean Hansu?"

Chu Chin nodded in reply, giving out a small cackle when he paused. He opened his mouth to say something but instead he laughed more. It took a moment for him to calm down, but finally he was able to say what he wanted to say. As he did, the black aura Tatara had seen several times already began to form around him, and like Kemuri he too was beginning to dissapear within it.

"I'm going to have check up on my wife," he said, his eyes fully on the young silver haired man. "But I have a message from Hansu; just as you have looking for him these many years, he's looking for you, too. And he's not hoping for a happy reunion."

"Wait a sec!" Lanva shouted, stepping forward to reach out. His hand seemed to go right through the old man's flesh, and just then he was completely gone. A heavy silence filtered over everyone within the cave. Toroki, who had been clinging to a small portion of Tatara's sleeve at the wrist, let go as he went to Lanva.

"Hey," Toroki said softly, barely audible. He looked up at Lanva's face, which seemed so unusually quiet and lost. "Are you okay? Do you need to talk about something . . .?"

Toroki almost jumped when he felt a hand clamp onto his shoulder and looked behind him to see Tatara with a sweet, solemn smile on his face. The moment he saw he seemed to understand that it was something he wasn't supposed to ask about, something that was perhaps a matter Lanva wanted to keep completely hidden. He pouted, but he quickly nodded and obeyed.

Jin-Shun, who had a small knife in his hand, loosened his grip and sighed of relief as he placed it back into a pocket of his. "Well, it seems the danger left before we could even get started. Let's go back."

x

Subaru decided that it would be best for her and Suzuno to share the same bed, just in case the younger girl had another fit of pain again. She would be there to know, and both she and Amefuri had the perfect abilities to nullify whatever it was. Amefuri completely agreed and went back out of his room to sit at the table in the kitchen, his mind in a dull haze.

'Suzuno,' he thought, taking off the top to one of his mother's perfumes and balancing the point of his on his finger, bored. He couldn't understand anything that was going through his mind today, or the array of feelings he had had. He had been changing emotions too much; earlier he was loud with Jin-Shun, a little scared with the idea of Chu Chin being around, and then there was the most troublesome one of all. 'I can't even describe it, but . . .'

He almost felt that he was tired, not because of everything that had happened, but because of just that one, single feeling. He thought of Suzuno and his chest became heavy, his mind became weak. He could hide it easily at times, then there were just small things she did or said where he almost felt like hiding it was impossible.

A sudden realization came to him that made the perfume top fall off of his finger and roll off the table, cracking as it hit the floor. "Could I be . . . could I be in love?"

But immediately he dismissed the thought, laughing nervously to himself about it. He thought love was supposed to make one feel fluttery and happy all the time; something about this was almost painful and exhausting. Whenever he looked at Suzuno, a rather good feeling would arise, but then it would just as quickly be replaced with sorrow.

'Yeah,' he thought, laying his head in his arms and closing his eyes momentarily, opening them again just to stare at the cabinet in front of him. He sighed heavily, getting rid of what seemed like useless energy being closed inside of him. 'This isn't what love is at all . . . If it is, I don't know why everyone wants it so badly. But it feels almost addicting . . .'

A small mewl towards the ground made him looking down to see Aoi-Yuki glancing up at him curiously, his giant blue orbs just begging to be pet. Amefuri smiled and complied with the offer, reaching down to pick up the furry animal from behind his two from limbs and letting the tiger rest comfortably in his lap as he stroked him. Suddenly Amefuri felt comforted, making him realize just how lonely things seemed just a moment ago.

"You're a smart animal," Amefuri started, scratching behind Aoi-Yuki's ears and talking almost absentmindedly, "What do you think is going on right now? Is it even important? Probably not . . ."

Like he expected, Aoi-Yuki didn't answer and just took advantage of the attention he was getting. It wasn't too long after a while that the door to his home opened, revealing four young men behind it. Toroki was the first to run through, jumping over to pick up Aoi-Yuki, followed by Lanva and Tatara. Jin-Shun tried to step in, but because of his large size it was difficult.

"Don't even bother," Amefuri said bluntly, standing up and walking towards the door frame to speak with his old rival personally, "You'll break my house if you come inside. Maybe cause an earthquake or two with those big feet of yours."

"If that's what you want." Jin-Shun didn't really have any clever remark to say back, and after losing a fight just that morning he didn't feel like having any more personal confrontations. Before he turned to say goodbye he glanced back one more time. "Say hello to the Priestess for me when she wakes up."

"If I remember," Amefuri retorted before closing the door. He almost jumped when he heard a loud, almost piping screech and turned to see Toroki with a frightened expression on his face. Even Aoi-Yuki, who was in the boy's arms, had his fur standing on end. He looked to Amefuri, worry in his eyes.

"Suzuno!" he said, as if he had just remembered her from Jin-Shun's words. "Suzuno! Is she okay? Where is she?"

Amefuri had felt a sort of dreary nature for a quite a while now, and it didn't get better with seeing Jin-Shun. Still, seeing such a sweet, childish face before him almost erased any delicate thoughts he had and he smiled softly, earning a much more relieved face. "Don't worry; she and Subaru are resting together in my room."

"Together?" and for the first time Amefuri really noticed Lanva. He and Tatara hadn't said a word since they walked in, and while the warrior had taken a seat at the table, observing the others as they conversed briefly Lanva was still standing and looking down the hall. "Oh . . . that's good. I'll go check up on them then. One of those doors, right?"

"Uh . . . Yeah. The one of the right." Amefuri nodded afterwards for a sort of confirmation, but at the same time he was hardly thinking of what he was saying. In truth, he was almost expecting some sort of special retort from the older man, a perverted remark or one that would have earned him some dirty looks. But nothing of the sort came; in fact, he looked completely sullen.

As Toroki took a seat across from Tatara at the table, Amefuri waited until Lanva had gone inside his room to talk. He more looked to Tatara, who was older than the other two by quite a few years, for guidance. "What happened? Did Chu Chin do something . . .?"

"That man?" Toroki asked. Tatara also seemed to wonder about the name, and since neither of them were among the original party that started off, he was sure he would have to wait to learn everything. He knew that they had to have encountered him, however; Toroki was safe here, and he was the original reason they had set out to find the slave trader in the first place. "There was a guy named Chu Chin . . . Tatara saved me from him in the Haunted Mountain. He was weird and old and creepy, and he said some funny things that I didn't understand."

"Funny things?" Amefuri asked. Tatara delved further into the meaning.

"I agree with Toroki," he started, looking up to the younger Warrior of Byakko. "He spoke of a new body of his, and his . . . his wife talked of capturing Kagasuki of the Byakko Seven. They even mentioned Tenkou."

Although Amefuri easily recalled the fact that Chu Chin had no wife before he ignored it, finding the little information unnecessary. Toroki squirmed a little as he heard the name of the God, but he didn't seem to say anything either.

Tatara himself wasn't sure of everything that was starting to happen; different things were occurring, and while he just happened to be in the right place at the right time to meet a possible future enemy, Amefuri already knew of him. 'Lanva also knew about him . . . but at the same time, he didn't. It's becoming complicated.'

"If you must know why we're here, well . . . that's to capture all of you Warriors of Byakko."

"One thing is for sure," he said aloud, not really speaking to anyone in particular, "As Warriors of Byakko, we have a new threat on our hands. And as Priestess, Suzuno has even more troubles."

The other two didn't even seem to hear what he had said. When he looked up, he smiled softly at the site of Amefuri chuckling while Toroki possessed a small, cute pout. It looked like they were arguing playfully about something, and all of the troubles from moments before were forgotten.

"Come on!" Toroki begged, puffing out his bottom lip, "We can leave when Subaru and Suzuno wake up, right? Let's not worry about all this big stuff! It's too complicated, and there are too many people involved!"

"I don't know," Amefuri replied, half teasing as if he were playing with a little brother, "It's a pretty delicate situation here in the Capital . . . should we?"

"Yes! I wanna see Uncle Shuri! If these people have half a brain they'll be able to fight off some old man!"

"I say . . ." Both boys turned to Tatara, who paused a little bit before continuing his answer. As he did speak, he stood up from the table. ". . . We should go to Kutou. Those people were here to capture us, not anyone in the Capital. It doesn't matter where we move, so we should keep going."

"Yeah!" Toroki agreed, jumping out of his seat as well. He put Aoi-Yuki on the table momentarily to run over to Tatara's side and hug him around the middle, then he went over to Amefuri and stared up at him with precious blue eyes. "It's a great idea! We should do it!"

"They're going to capture us?" Amefuri questioned, giving Tatara a look that seemed to be filled with suspicion. Tatara nodded, but he didn't feel like talking any more about it. He began to walk towards the door, saying softly that he was going to go back home while they waited for Suzuno and Subaru.

Out of nowhere a new feeling of anxiety had hit Amefuri, something that seemed to climb into his throat and jump out before he could even think. Something was bothering him, something that was part of everything he had been feeling lately, something that might be satisfied with one question. As Tatara opened the door to the outside and readied to step out, the young warrior stopped him with a burning inquiry.

"Do you love Suzuno?"

For a long time among the three a heavy, unnerving silence seemed to follow. Toroki was very surprised by the sudden outburst and unsure of what to think as his eyes drifted from one man to the other. He had once commented that he thought of Suzuno and Tatara as a couple, but he also thought the same for Suzuno and Amefuri as well. 'Was I really seeing something . . ? There's something going on between the three of them, isn't there?'

Amefuri waited as patiently as he could, not exactly sure what move to make or if he should say any more. Tatara's back was turned, one hand on the rim of the door and his head down as if in contemplation of what to say. But nothing came. Before anything more could happen the man muttered something incoherent and walked out the door.

X x x x

Sorry for the wait guys! My jobs have me busy, and I'm also working hard on a Rising Stars of Manga contest entry. :D I haven't even written in three weeks! Lucky this story is about three chapters ahead.

Amefuri is starting to realize things more and more, and getting the scope of stuff. And Chin Chin and Lanva's relationship is perhaps the strongest tie; this chapter also revealed more to Lanva! He's been a character for such a long time, but he hasn't had much story. I'm excited about this.

Also, 50 chapters! Yes! Next goal: 100 chapters. XD

YueMichiruNaragisawaMiko- I'm happy you like Reikoku; of course he comes in more in the future, and now he's darker than ever. His calm, confident self is now hell-bent on revenge. Especially since Suzuno ruined his pretty face with that sword. ;.; Just playing!

Suzuno Oosugi- Your review last time wasn't terrible:D And hyper-ness is a good thing. It is the body that's different, as Chu Chin implies. And apparently Chu Chin was an extremely sexay young man. The timeframe from which Lanva and Chu Chin knew eachother are quit different from the time Amefuri, Jin-Shun and Chu Chin knew each other, so things have changed. Ack! So much. XD

Queen of the Paperclips- :D Thank you! The moment Watase Yuu starts writing the story on Byakko (I think she will- why not, when the other three are being written?) I can die happy. Plus, it'll be so much fun to compare her characters from mine! It makes me curious as to what her Toroki or Ame-chan would look like. Lol!

Lena- Wow, what an honor! Thank you very much for the kind words. Although I can't imagine that my story is greater than anything Watase Yuu has ever written.

sesshomaruobsessed- Thank you! Hopefully things are starting to wrap together, and within the next five chapters or so everything will be laid out better. It seems everyone is sporadic and the party hasn't had any real time to just sit and talk:D But things will work out. XD

Care- lol! Piece of man beef . . . that exactly what he is. XD It's so strange how an old man ended up with the sexy doll by his side when Reikoku is the one who's all smexy and everything. XD Kemuri will be more than just a whore though! Actually, she is a former prostitute and is very open about it (Not much of a spoiler XD). She and Ame-chan could probably get along if they weren't set enemies. And . . .

Don't worry about all the questions! I love them.

Yup! It's the same Tenkou. :D You said you had future questions on that; what are they?

For now, I don't have any plans on giving her a love interest with any generals or princes. Right now it's strictly Amefuri, Suzuno and Tatara (And I guess a little Toroki too, though he doesn't count so much for me). Other characters have roles in it, however. Toroki in particular gains a new love interest with a royal later in the story (Ack! Spoiler!).

One could say it was a mix of both. XD It was almost as if he were looking for an excuse to kiss her, but when he thought of poison inside of her he wasn't thinking about that; he really was just trying to keep her safe.

I hope this answers them! They were very interesting questions. XD

Littleadryan- Gosh girl, that sounds crazy! But I'm honored you're still reading this story even then. Have you tried ebay before? Or amazon? Those are the best places . . . In truth, I bought Fushigi Yuugi (The whole anime!) three years ago on ebay for only $25.00! It's worth it; and if you need any help, just ask:D

Kiko- Wow, thanks a lot! I'm surprised you like it more than FY or FYGK though . . . those are created by the Watase Yuu-sama! Lol, it feels wonderful to know you like my story though.

Kaeru Soyokaze- lol! Even I feel like cheering for Ame-chan x Suzuno sometimes. We are mean! I never knew I could create a character that could be loved so much. :D But hopefully things will turn for the better when Tatara shows more romantic interest in Suzuno. XD

RabidMantisGirl- lol! XD Yes, Tatara lost round one, but in round two he kicked butt! He and Kemuri will have more interaction in future chapters, even if he really isn't too happy about it. :D And Reikoku is awsome like that! I can't wait until he has a stronger role in the story . . . which is the next arc! So yeay! –Parties-

Linka- No, not bad at all! –Hugs- Thank you so much for the encouragement and kinds words! I will try my best!

Lira- Ack, thanks so much! Greatest story ever . . . I'm honored!

Mira- Thank you:D Hee, everyone seems to love Reikoku best. Probably because he's the most interesting . . . or because he's the sexayest. XD lol!

Sifradel- Thank you very much:D Wow, so much going on. Yes, Reikoku does have ties with Tenkou! You're very observant. XD Reikoku, Chu Chin and Kemuri are all tied to Tenkou as well as many future characters. There's so many I'd love to introduce too! Oh, and yes! Lanva is Tokaki of the Byakko Seven. It's going to be fun revealing him sometime too. XD

And what do you mean by Byakko Bouken coming out in english? This is it right here! XD