3: Façade
A/N: Sequel to Stripped Away. Dedicated to KittyLynn, who was kind enough to review and who inspired this story, and to my sister Jessica… who's life will be much easier once she accepts that her name always has been and always will be Spike.
Chichiri had figured out a long time ago that everyone wore a mask of some sort. Some where just more obvious than others.
Tasuki, for instance, wore a mask of extreme annoyance when it came to anyone he cared about. Which often lead to fights.
Like the one he had just had with Ai-Tong, which ended when their mother ordered the girl outside to gather more wood.
Chichiri had chosen to follow her, rather than witness Tasuki be lectured by his mother.
Had Ai-Tong been anyone other than Tasuki's sister, the monk might have been surprised bu the foul language she used as she began gathering deadfall. Her vocabulary was rather extensive.
"I don't think Tasuki actually meant it. No da."
"Jun-Yu." Ai-Tong said firmly, not turning around.
Chichiri cocked his head to one side, an inquisitive expression crossing his bare face (Ai-Tong had hidden his mask as soon as they had reached Tasuki's home). "He prefers Tasuki. No da."
"He can prefer all he likes." Ai-Tong snapped. "His name is Jun-Yu. That's the name Ma gave him, that's what I've been calling him since he was born. He's my baby brother, dammit, an' I'll be callin' him Jun-Yu until the day he dies. Suzaku hisself could come here an' order me ta call him 'Tasuki', an' I'd still call him Jun-Yu." She turned around, faicing Chichiri directly, tears glittering in her eyes..
The monk saw, for a moment, past Ai-Tong's mask, to the young woman beneath who just wanted her little brother to be safe.
'Is this how Tamahome's family felt?' Chichiri wondered as he reached out and pulled Ai-Tong into a hug. "It's alright. No da."