Disclaimer: I don't own FY or any of its characters. They belong to Yu Watase.
Chapter 2
Heart's Acceptance
The light glowed around them, forming a bubble around the two and pulling them through a long, red tunnel. Gravity was non-existant here, there was no up or down. Bright spots of light were the only light outside of the tunnel, the lights suspended in the pitch blackness beyond it. Within their sanctity, the two seishi calmly waited for their trip to end. Or more like, one was calmly waiting. He stood beside his companion, who was sitting next to him and cursing under his breath.
"Daaaa. Calm down Tasuki-kun. We've almost arrived, noda. Just a little while longer." Chichiri spoke up when his bandit companion let loose a particularly loud string of swears. The young man's incredible vocabulary of such words never ceased to amaze the mage.
"Easy fer you t'say! Yer used to this sorta stuff! And you've been sayin' only 'a little while longer' fer the past hour!!" Tasuki growled back at him. Chichiri merely nodded and smiled. Which set the bandit off once more.
"And you wonder why that kid in Hokkan was afraid of you, noda." The monk muttered to himself.
"What did ya say!?"
"Absolutely nothing, noda."
"Hmph!"
Several minutes passed in quiet, broken occasionally by several random bandit outbursts.
"Tasuki-kun."
"Now what?!"
"Get ready, noda."
"Fer what?"
The monk didn't bother replying, just tensed himself for the impending impact they would encounter upon arriving in Miaka's world. Tasuki, not taking the hint, slowly got to his feet. He was half-way up when the bubble they were in suddenly disappeared, dropping them to the ground six feet below. Chichiri somersaulted upon landing, absorbing some of the shock of the fall. Tasuki however, was not as lucky. He landed hard on his back, the air knocked out of him and his eyes crossing. He stayed there, staring at the sky on his back in the middle of a small park, momentarily stunned.
"I told you to get ready, noda." Chichiri commented, fidgeting slightly as several people had stopped to stare at the two. "Ummm, I think we better get out of here, noda." The monk offered a hand to the bandit, pulling him up.
"So where does Miaka live?" Tasuki asked, retrieving his tessan from where it had fallen and slipping it back into its holster.
"Good question, noda."
"Y'mean ya don' know!!?!!"
"We'll just have to ask around, noda."
"There're probably hundreds of 'Miakas' in this world!! How are we supposed t'tell people which one we want?" The bandit argued.
"Really Tasuki-kun, you should pay more attention to your miko, noda. She told us her name was Yuuki Miaka. Which means we have her family name and can find her that way, noda." Chichiri sighed, rubbing his temple with one hand.
"Oh. Okay. Hey you!! Y'know a girl named Yuuki Miaka? She's got green eyes, pigtails, and eats everythin' in sight." Tasuki demanded, grabbing a random kid that looked about his age.
"What the hell!? Lemme go man!!" The kid demanded, twisting out of Tasuki grasp. He glared at the bandit. "What the hell are you? Some kinda queer in that outfit!" He spun around and walked away.
Two calm seconds passed. And then..."Ya fuckin' brat!! Lemme go Chiri, I'm gonna murder him!! Yer ass is so toast ya bastard!!" Tasuki struggled against the hold Chichiri had on him.
"Tasuki-kun!! We don't have time for this, noda! We have to find Miaka!! Or would you rather let harm come to your miko, noda?" That snapped the bandit out of his rage. Relaxing, he nodded for Chichiri to let him go. Shooting one last look at the kid, he turned to snag another person to ask. "Ummm, I think you better let me ask the next person, noda. Excuse me Miss." Chichiri tapped a passing blonde on the shoulder.
"Hm? Yes?" She asked, turning around. And froze when she saw the two. She gave them each an odd look, looking each one up and down. "Are you two in the circus or something? Cause you're a long why from it. Or are you two going to the anime convention or something?" She asked, deciding it had to be one of those two things considering the way they were dressed. But something was...familiar about them. It was as though she had seen them before.
Chichiri and Tasuki too were staring at this woman, knowing they had met her at some point. Neither one had any idea what she had been talking about. What in Suzaku's name was anime and convention?! This world was so confusing. And where were all the trees? How was one able to build homes tall enough to touch the sky like that?
Yui's eyes widened as she realized where she had seen these people before. They were Tasuki and Chichiri from her and Miaka's manga series Fushigi Yugi!! These two must be fans and were on their way to the anime convention. When the two Priestesses had returned to their world to stay, they had talked over their adventures in the other world. Somehow, they had gotten onto the subject of making it into a manga series so everyone could know what they had went through, even if everyone thought it wasn't real. They had kept all the names the same, giving the Priestesses in the manga their names as well, wanting to keep the story as accurate as possible.
The two couldn't believe how popular FY had become, even being turned into an anime series as well. When the anime studio had approached the two to buy rights to make it into a series, they had agreed on the one condition that they got to choose the voice actors. It had taken them several weeks, almost five months in fact, before the two former priestesses had found people who's voices matched their seishi well enough. Yui and Miaka had provided the voices for their characters themselves. It had been fun. In fact, there was talk of making several OVA's.
And the pure number of Fushigi Yugi sites out there had astounded Yui. It was rather interesting to read fanfics that people wrote on the series, though Yui thought Miaka had died of shock the first time she read a Tasuki/Chichiri pairing. Course, Yui had almost died herself when she saw herself paired with Suboshi, Nakago, and, most shocking of all, Miaka herself.
"Tasuki and Chichiri, right? Nice to see some fans of Fushigi Yugi." Yui said, extending a hand to the two. "I'm Yui Honda."
The first thing that went through the two seishi's minds were: How does she know our names? Followed by: What the hell is Fushigi Yugi? And lastly: Yui Honda? Isn't that....
"Priestess of Seirryu!" They each yelled. Tasuki whipped out his tessan with a resounding clang and Chichiri held his staff out with one hand while the other was held before him, first two fingers standing up and the last two folded down.
"Yup, that's me! Wow, you two went all out on your costumes." Yui said, still not catching on that these two were the actual seishi. "And you've even got the mask for Chichiri. How'd you make it? It looks so real." She mused, ignoring their weapons, thinking they were fake, and went up to Chichiri.
The startled monk stumbled back from her, unable to believe that the former priestess was brave enough to just waltze right up to an enemy seishi. Words stumbled over themselves as his concentration wavered. And then he stopped stone-still as he spotted someone he thought he would never see again. "H-Hotohori-sama!"
The young man who had been walking long the sidewalk with several of his friends, all dressed up as characters from Fushigi Yugi, stopped and looked at him. "Hey guys, check it out. They're dressed up for the convention too. Hey, you two wanna come with us, we're on our way there to.
Tasuki too was staring in shock. Was that Nuriko?! But he was dead! And there beside him stood Hotohori and Mitsukake. And Chiriko was there, but damn! The short little kid look to have grown two feet at least. Then he saw the blonde hair and growled. "Nakago." He was about to chant the incantation required to murder the Seirryu seishi when a flash of orange caught his eye. To the right of the blonde general he saw an orange-haired bandit-looking guy with fangs. He wore a black trench coat over a white shirt and pants. A tessan hung loosely from one hand. That guy looks a lot like me!! Creepy! I wonder if he's part of a bandit gang too? And then he saw something that made him faint dead-away. Chichiri stood with one arm wrapped around the Tasuki-look-alike. Only, he looked like he was female!!
"Tasuki-kun! Are you alright, noda?" Chichiri asked, kneeling beside him.
"Hey, is he alright?" Hotohori asked, crouching next to the Suzaku seishi.
"Hai, noda. But...how are you here Your Highness, noda?" The bewildered monk stared at his Emporer, noting he didn't look like he used to. He was too masculine looking now, and his eyes were green now.
"What the hell do you mean? And what did you call me?" The guy asked, perplexed.
Something clicked in Yui's mind. She hadn't noticed it earlier, but this guy who looked like Chichiri...he sure acted a lot like him. More than was usual for a person dressing up. And she noted how he seemed to never forget once to add the 'noda's' and how he had seemed poleaxed at the sight of someone dressed up as Hotohori. A vague thought came to her, but she shook it off. No way in hell they would come here. Miaka's part in the book was done afterall. She stepped up to the Hotohori. "Thank you for your concern, but we can take care of him."
"Yeah, okay. Come on guys. Man, was he weird." The Hotohori said to his friends.
"Weird? Have you taken a look at us recently?" The Nuriko giggled as they all walked away.
On the ground at Yui's and Chichiri's feet, Tasuki groaned and slowly sat up. "That is the last time I drink sake. Thought I say the baka okame and his Royal Highness." He grumbled. He opened his eyes to see Yui still there, standing next to Chichiri who was facing away from him. Waitasecond!! If the Priestess of Seirryu's here, than it weren't no dream!! Looking at Chichiri again, he tackled the older man from behind, slipping his hands around him and feeling his chest. "Hey! Yer a guy!"
Chichiri had been staring at the retreating seishi when he had caught a glimpse of orange hair. His mouth had fallen open in shock when he saw himself walking next to the firey seishi. And then had nearly fainted himself when he saw his twin kiss Tasuki and Tasuki seemed to enjoy it!! Then he had felt someone slam into him from behind and hands running over his chest, followed by a very familiar voice claiming he was male.
"Tasuki-kun!! Of course I'm a guy, noda!! Has it taken you four years to figure that out, noda!?!" Chichiri yelled, pulling away from the bandit and crossing his arms. "Did you have to molest me to figure it out, noda?!"
"Heh heh. Gomen Chiri. Its jus' I thought I saw ya a second ago, only ya had breasts." The bandit explained, rubbing the back of his head.
"Yes. That would be because that was a girl dressed up as him." Yui said, very confused now. Her original idea came back to her. There was only one way to prove it. Get them to say something that her and Miaka had left out of the series. Or do something that would convince her. Though the animosity in each one's eyes as the stared at her was almost enough to convince her. Wait! The OVA's weren't out, and she and Miaka had never written books on that particular part of Miaka's story in the book. Not yet at least. Yes, there was one sure-fire way to determine if this was the real Tasuki. Then she would think up how to determine if this was the real Chichiri or not. "So why are you two here?"
"Why should we tell y'anythin'? We're here t'see Miaka." Tasuki growled, answering just as Yui had wanted him to do.
"You'll tell me because I'm her best friend." Tasuki snorted, looking at her incredulously. "Now tell me, are you here to finish that little scene between you and her at the inn?" Yui asked him viciously.
He opened his mouth to snap right back at her as her words slowly registered in his mind. A look of immense sadness, shame, and fear entered his eyes. A hand gripped his shoulder and the bandit glanced over to see Chichiri watching him in worry. Taking a deep breath, he asked the one question who's answer he feared to know. "So Miaka still hates me for what I did to her? I thought so. And she has every right t'hate me, after I almost fuckin' raped her like that."
"Tasuki-kun. It wasn't your fault, noda. You were possessed, noda." Chichiri said, trying to comfort his friend.
Yui gasped, a hand raising to her mouth. The look on his face had almost broken her heart and now he had just confirmed that he was the real Tasuki, as Chichiri had confirmed he was the real one. "Tasuki no baka!!" She said suddenly. "Are you really as dense as she said you were!? Do you honestly think that Miaka could ever hate you, or anyone else for that matter?! She forgave you that night, you baka!"
The bandit gaped at the fuming priestess. Miaka, had forgiven him? That was more than he had ever hoped for! "But then, ya gotta know I'd never hurt my miko!"
"Yes, I know that. Its just...I had to make sure you were her actual seishi and not someone dressing up as them." Yui replied, biting her lip.
Fire flared to life in Tasuki's eyes as he glared at the former miko. Chichiri quickly cut in, realizing Yui's intentions had been for the good of Miaka. "Tasuki-kun. How could she have known it was us, noda. You saw those other people before. And we could have been an enemy spy for all she knew, noda."
The bandit grumbled and nodded reluctantly, accepting Chichiri's explanation. He was still pissed that Yui had used that to discover whether or not they were Miaka's true seishi. The image of him flaming the former priestess brought an amused smile to his lips for a moment. "Now will you please tell me, is Miaka in danger?" Yui asked them desperately.
"Iie. Not at the moment at least. I'm afraid we do not know much, but if you will take us to Miaka, I will explain everything there." Chichiri said, not comfortable enough around Yui to take off his mask, but the lack of his 'noda's' was enough to let Yui know it was serious.
"Sure. I was on my way over to her apartment. I'll show you two the way. We're only about five minutes from her place as it is." Yui said, motioning for the two men to follow her. She noted warily the way Tasuki's hand would stray to his tessan every time a car flew by them. Just her luck he would land himself in jail for destroying a car and the people inside not three minutes from Miaka's.
"Yui-san, what's that may I ask, noda?" Chichiri piped up, pointing to a stoplight. "How do you make the colors change and light up like that, noda?"
"Its a stoplight and it lights up with the use of machines." Yui answered, getting a little annoyed. That was the seventh question and they hadn't taken more than ten steps towards Miaka's.
"Any good bars aroun' here?"
"For the third time, yes Tasuki!"
"Hey 'Chiri! Y'still owe me a drink you know?"
"Nani, noda?!"
"You said you'd buy the first round after we killed that bastard Naka...uhh...gomen Priestess." Tasuki apologized, remembering at the last moment that Nakago had been one of her seishi.
"That's alright Tasuki."
"What's that thing Yui-san, noda?"
"Its a plane Chichiri."
Chichiri gazed up at the plane curiously. It didn't look alive, so how could it fly? He sighed and filed it away in his mind as one of those things he'd have to ask about later. He looked at the signs hanging over the fronts of several shops. What was a discount store? Not watching where he was going, he didn't notice Yui stop and ran right into her. "Daaaaa. Gomen nasai, Yui-san, noda."
Yui ran a hand through her hair. It was gonna be a long night, that's for sure. "It's alright Chichiri-san. It was an accident."
"Hey! Kin we go there?!" Tasuki asked, pointed at a bar, already moving towards it.
"Da." Chichiri sighed, whacking the bandit with his staff. "We don't have time to go drinking Tasuki-kun, noda."
"Dammit 'Chiri!! Y'didn' have t'hit me so hard!!" Tasuki growled, rubbing the spot where the staff had landed.
"You guys, can we please get going?" Yui asked from where she stood waiting for the two of them.
Recovering his composure, the bandit leader swiped the monk's staff, dashing off to cross the street with Yui. "Tasuki-kun! Give me back my staff, noda! I need that, noda!" The monk wailed, going into his chibi form. Several passerbys found this amusing and a little freaky as the chibi-Chiri floated after the bandit and former priestess, turning cartwheels. He landed on the bandit's back and snatched his shakujo, instantly toppling over as the staff weighed about ten-times his own weight now. The monk quickly reverted his staff to its mini-form and floated up to sit on Tasuki's shoulders once again.
"How do I always end up carryin' ya on m'back?" Tasuki asked to no one in particular.
"Cause I'm so cute and cuddly like this, you wouldn't force me to walk, noda. Would you?" The mini-monk asked, putting on his cutest, most adorable, pity-the-chibi-monk face.
In response, Tasuki reached back and plucked the tiny monk off his back. Holding him out to the side, he dropped him, watching in amusement as Chichiri bounced a few times upon landing, uttering a squirrel-like squeak everytime he landed. Reverting back to his normal size now, since it was obvious he wouldn't be getting a free ride, the monk quickened his steps to catch back up to the other two. "That wasn't very nice, noda."
"Wasn' meant to be."
"How on earth did Miaka survive you two?"
"What do you mean by that Yui-san, noda?" Chichiri asked, putting on a hurt face. Then ruined the effect a moment later. "Yui-san, what's that building, noda? The one with all the lights, noda."
Yui looked to where he was pointing and blushed a bright red. "Ummm...that's a strip club Chichiri-san." She answered, refusing to meet their questioning gazes.
Chichiri nodded as if he understood what that was. Leaning close to Tasuki, he asked the younger seishi, "What's a strip club, noda?" Being a bandit and notorious for drinking everywhere and anywhere, he figured the bandit leader would know.
"Dunno. Maybe a type of bathhouse or bar maybe. Let's check it out later, 'kay? Y'still owe me a drink after all." Tasuki smirked as he heard the elder seishi groan. Chichiri had been hoping the bandit would forget about his promise to buy the first round of drinks at a bar here should the two of them survive. He nodded wearily, consenting to Tasuki's wishes.
"We're here." Yui said, instantly grabbing the two seishi's attention once more. Pulling out the spare key Miaka had given her, she unlocked the door to the building and held the door open for the two men. They slowly stepped in, looking around themselves in wonder. "Come on, she lives on the third floor."
"Yui-san! What's that thing, noda?! Why is it making such odd noises, noda?!" Chichiri demanded, his shakujo held offensively in front of him as he waited for the 'thing' to attack.
"That's a pop machine. I'm not to sure why the things are so noisy. Its not gonna attack you, you know." Yui ran a hand through her hair, keeping her tone civil and polite. Once more, she began to lead the seishi to their priestess.
"Sure will be nice t'fry Obake-chan again." Tasuki grinned, reflexively gripping the handle of his tessan. It had been a long time since he had used his brother seishi for flaming practice.
"About that...Hold on a second." Yui stopped the two on the second floor, chewing her lip slightly. "I'm really glad you two are here, even if you're coming may mean that Miaka is in danger, because I think seeing you two will cheer her up. She's been so depressed after...after Taka died."
"What?! Taka's dead!? But how? NO! That's impossible! He's too stubborn t'die! Ain't he?" Tasuki demanded, eyes wide in shock. Could it really be true that yet another of their number had fallen. That would mean he and Chichiri were the only ones left.
"When?" Came the soft question to his right. He looked to see Chichiri had removed his mask, a look of utter grief written all over his face. The earlier levity gave way to the gloom that settled over the three now.
"Six months ago. He died in a car accident. She...Miaka's never been the same since. I'm hoping that your presence may be able to cheer her up, make her smile again. I would give anything to see her smile again, and not the fake one she has now." Yui whispered. The pain and sorrow in the former priestess' eyes took both men aback, making them reconsider their opinions on this woman. "I've been meaning to ask, how long will you be here before you must return?"
Stunned, Tasuki looked to Chichiri. He hadn't thought about that! What if they only had a few more minutes!? "We have a week. Then we will have to return." Chichiri spoke. Taiits-kun had informed him of this just before the red light had whisked them off to Miaka's world. This world.
Yui nodded, looking crestfallen. "I'll show you the rest of the way there." She said softly. The former Priestess had been hoping they would be staying longer, but she was still grateful they were even there. But then again, their being there meant something had happened and it had to do with Miaka.
Stopping before Miaka's door, she knocked on it softly before trying the doorknob. The door opened easily, indicating that Miaka was home and not out wandering around the city. In the early weeks following Taka's death, Miaka had become so withdrawn and listless, that Yui would often come over to find the door wide open or unlocked when her friend was out someplace, usually the cemetary. She had finally confronted Miaka about it, getting her friend to promise to watch out for herself better. Slipping inside the apartment, she kicked off her shoes and motioned for the other two to come in as well. Following her lead, the two men took off their boots and followed her down the hallway into what appeared to be a kitchen.
"Wait here for a minute. I wanna make sure she's not asleep. I'll be right back." Yui quickly slipped out of the kitchen, searching for her friend.
Tasuki looked around the kitchen, eyeing the everything in there. Pacing around, he stopped before a tall, rectangular box with two doors in it, and that was humming softly. Curious, he reached out and pulled on the upper handle, staring inside in amazement. A light turned on and he felt cold air coming from within. Food and drinks were stacked on shelves on the inside and he licked his lips at the sight of the sake. Then blanched in horror when his eyes fell upon the milk carton.
Stumbling back from the refridgerator, he knocked into Chichiri, stumbling to the ground and getting tangled up with the other seishi. Overbalanced and caught off-guard, due to the him daydreaming, Chichiri blindly reached for the nearest, solid thing with one hand. He tried to use his shakujo to help keep him on his feet, but only managed to knock down a pile of plastic bowls and some silver ware off the counter to the floor with it. His hand came in contact with one of the sink faucets and he instantly hung onto it to keep from falling completely to the floor and onto Tasuki. He was just regaining his balance, when the damned faucet turned, drenching his arm in icy cold water. Yelping in shock, the monk released his hold and toppled right on top of the bandit leader, the tessan digging sharply into his side. Momentarily stunned, Chichiri stared at the ceiling, mindless to the cursing and struggling bandit underneath him. Until two fangs clamped down on his shoulder.
"Ow! Tasuki-kun!! That HURT, noda!!" The monk yelled, rubbing his shoulder roughly.
"I tol' ya three times t'git offa me! What else was I supposed t'do? Let ya suffocate me!?" Tasuki snapped right back, still sitting on the floor. Unfortunately, he was sitting against the cabinets underneath the sink and got totally drenched when the water started overflowing out of the sink. "AHHHHH!!! What the fuck!? That's fuckin' cold, dammit! Is this Pick-on-Tasuki Day today or what!? Now I'm fuckin' wet and cold!"
"Damn you two make a lot of noise, don't you?" Yui remarked from the doorway. Her jaw dropped at the carnage they had caused in the two minutes she had left them alone. Dashing to the sink, she quickly shut off the water and pulled the plug from the bottom of the sink, allowing the water to drain. She pushed the fride door shut, then whirled on the two, flames flaring to life in her eyes. "What, did you two do? Can't I leave you alone for more than one second!? Look what you guys have already done!" The two seishi stared at the ground, not making eye contact with the furious priestess. "You are damn lucky you didn't wake her up! Bad enough she hardly gets any sleep at all with the nightmares she gets!" The two winced, glancing at each other guiltily. "And now look at this mess! You had better NOT be expecting Miaka to clean this up." The two quickly shook their heads. Yui glared at them for a long moment. "I'm giving you two ten minutes to get this cleaned and if it isn't, then Seirryu have mercy, because I will not." Twirling on one heel, she stalked out the door, closing it behind her.
Tasuki looked at Chichiri. "Please tell me y'got a spell or somethin' that'll clean this up."
"A spell? Nope. Guess we'll just have to clean this up by hand, noda!" The monk said brightly, searching through various drawers and cabinets until her came up with two towels. He tossed one to the bandit, slipping the other through his belt. "You start on the water, I'll get the bowls and stuff, noda."
"Ch'. Imagine me, a bandit leader cleanin' some chick's house. True, she's m'miko and all, but its still humiliatin'. If you ever tell Kouji about this, I swear to Suzaku that you'll regret it." Tasuki growled at Chichiri.
Behind his mask, the monk rolled his eyes. As if Tasuki could, no...WOULD ever hurt him. But, deciding he'd rather take orders from Tasuki than face Yui's wrath, he nodded and diligently stooped to pick up all the dropped items. Next to him, he heard Tasuki muttering something about how he hated women, especially priestess' of Seirryu. True to her word, Yui did come back precisely as ten minutes had passed. She walked in to find the kitchen as clean as before and two soaked seishi.
"You two look horrible. Oh well, guess it'll just have to do." Yui tsked, placing her hands on her hips.
A loud yawn came from the other side of the door. "Yui, who did you bring over today?" Miaka asked sleepily, pushing the kitchen door open with one hand while the other rubbed her eyes.
"Why not open your eyes and find out." Yui joked, poking Miaka in the side.
"MIAKA!!" Two voices cried out, almost cutting off the end of Yui's sentence. Miaka's eyes opened wide at the sound of the voices, eyes staring in disbelief at the sight she saw.
A pretty poor sight at that too. Tasuki looked like a drowned wolf and Chichiri wasn't much better off, his mask so water-logged that it was starting to peel off. A blur of black and orange flashed past the monk as Tasuki raced over to his miko, grabbing her in a back-breaking hug. "Its so fuckin' good t'see ya again, Mi-chan!"
"Is that really you Tasuki?" Miaka asked, half-afraid of his answer. When he released her, amber eyes appaising her and fangs showing from a cocky smile, she knew it was him. Only one man in history could ever smile like that! "Oh Tasuki!! It is you!" She cried, wrapping the pleasantly surprised bandit leader in another furious hug.
Chichiri stood a little ways behind the bandit, smiling. His miko sure had changed since he had seen her last. As Tasuki greeted her, the mage took stock of how much she had grown. No longer the short, cute girl they had all fallen in love with, Miaka had grown into a beautiful woman. She was at least four inches taller than the last time the monk had seen her. Her hair reached to her waist, flowing freely down her back instead of being done up in the dumbling knots she had always worn when she had been in their world. Her face and lost the roundness of youth and instead held sharply defined features, with smooth, full lips. Her eyes had darkened to a deeper shade of green, framed by her bangs. Silver hoop earrings hung from her ears and a small diamond stud showed where she had gotten one ear pierced twice.
His eye wandering over her body next, the monk noticed that she seemed to have all the right curves in all the right places and he just caught himself from whistling in admiration. Beneath the mask, he flushed a bright red. What am I thinking, noda!? I'm acting like some lecher and to my own priestess too, noda!! His mental scolding were brought to a halt as deep emerald eyes locked onto his own. Gently pushing away from Tasuki, she threw herself at the monk, hugging him for all she was worth. Chichiri's arms wrapped themselves around her as he buried his face in her hair, holding her tight against him. She still smells like jasmine and cherry blossoms.
"I can't believe you're here!" Miaka cried, tears flowing down her cheeks and soaking into the monk's shirt. "I'm so happy to see you! I thought I'd never get to see you two again."
The monk gripped her harder, unable to find the words to speak to her. In that moment, he dropped every barrier he had ever built up against her since the day he had met her. After three and a half years of denial, it had taken only one hug from her to break everything the monk had convinced himself of. He was finally able to admit it freely to himself. He had hopelessly fallen for his priestess.
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AN: I finally finished the second chapter. And damn is it long! This is twice the normal length I write for a chapter. I think I just may be improving. So, was this chapter any better than the first one? Anywho, I got the second box set of FY finally and I am totally obsessed with the music videos on the fourth DVD. I'm like, addicted to them or something. Anywho, back to the fic. How am I doing on it so far? Am I keep the characters in character for the most part? Anywho, see y'all at the end of the next chapter. I haven't thought of a name yet. And thank y'all fer not makin' fun of me southern accent. Love ya! ~L.G. Lena
Chapter 2
Heart's Acceptance
The light glowed around them, forming a bubble around the two and pulling them through a long, red tunnel. Gravity was non-existant here, there was no up or down. Bright spots of light were the only light outside of the tunnel, the lights suspended in the pitch blackness beyond it. Within their sanctity, the two seishi calmly waited for their trip to end. Or more like, one was calmly waiting. He stood beside his companion, who was sitting next to him and cursing under his breath.
"Daaaa. Calm down Tasuki-kun. We've almost arrived, noda. Just a little while longer." Chichiri spoke up when his bandit companion let loose a particularly loud string of swears. The young man's incredible vocabulary of such words never ceased to amaze the mage.
"Easy fer you t'say! Yer used to this sorta stuff! And you've been sayin' only 'a little while longer' fer the past hour!!" Tasuki growled back at him. Chichiri merely nodded and smiled. Which set the bandit off once more.
"And you wonder why that kid in Hokkan was afraid of you, noda." The monk muttered to himself.
"What did ya say!?"
"Absolutely nothing, noda."
"Hmph!"
Several minutes passed in quiet, broken occasionally by several random bandit outbursts.
"Tasuki-kun."
"Now what?!"
"Get ready, noda."
"Fer what?"
The monk didn't bother replying, just tensed himself for the impending impact they would encounter upon arriving in Miaka's world. Tasuki, not taking the hint, slowly got to his feet. He was half-way up when the bubble they were in suddenly disappeared, dropping them to the ground six feet below. Chichiri somersaulted upon landing, absorbing some of the shock of the fall. Tasuki however, was not as lucky. He landed hard on his back, the air knocked out of him and his eyes crossing. He stayed there, staring at the sky on his back in the middle of a small park, momentarily stunned.
"I told you to get ready, noda." Chichiri commented, fidgeting slightly as several people had stopped to stare at the two. "Ummm, I think we better get out of here, noda." The monk offered a hand to the bandit, pulling him up.
"So where does Miaka live?" Tasuki asked, retrieving his tessan from where it had fallen and slipping it back into its holster.
"Good question, noda."
"Y'mean ya don' know!!?!!"
"We'll just have to ask around, noda."
"There're probably hundreds of 'Miakas' in this world!! How are we supposed t'tell people which one we want?" The bandit argued.
"Really Tasuki-kun, you should pay more attention to your miko, noda. She told us her name was Yuuki Miaka. Which means we have her family name and can find her that way, noda." Chichiri sighed, rubbing his temple with one hand.
"Oh. Okay. Hey you!! Y'know a girl named Yuuki Miaka? She's got green eyes, pigtails, and eats everythin' in sight." Tasuki demanded, grabbing a random kid that looked about his age.
"What the hell!? Lemme go man!!" The kid demanded, twisting out of Tasuki grasp. He glared at the bandit. "What the hell are you? Some kinda queer in that outfit!" He spun around and walked away.
Two calm seconds passed. And then..."Ya fuckin' brat!! Lemme go Chiri, I'm gonna murder him!! Yer ass is so toast ya bastard!!" Tasuki struggled against the hold Chichiri had on him.
"Tasuki-kun!! We don't have time for this, noda! We have to find Miaka!! Or would you rather let harm come to your miko, noda?" That snapped the bandit out of his rage. Relaxing, he nodded for Chichiri to let him go. Shooting one last look at the kid, he turned to snag another person to ask. "Ummm, I think you better let me ask the next person, noda. Excuse me Miss." Chichiri tapped a passing blonde on the shoulder.
"Hm? Yes?" She asked, turning around. And froze when she saw the two. She gave them each an odd look, looking each one up and down. "Are you two in the circus or something? Cause you're a long why from it. Or are you two going to the anime convention or something?" She asked, deciding it had to be one of those two things considering the way they were dressed. But something was...familiar about them. It was as though she had seen them before.
Chichiri and Tasuki too were staring at this woman, knowing they had met her at some point. Neither one had any idea what she had been talking about. What in Suzaku's name was anime and convention?! This world was so confusing. And where were all the trees? How was one able to build homes tall enough to touch the sky like that?
Yui's eyes widened as she realized where she had seen these people before. They were Tasuki and Chichiri from her and Miaka's manga series Fushigi Yugi!! These two must be fans and were on their way to the anime convention. When the two Priestesses had returned to their world to stay, they had talked over their adventures in the other world. Somehow, they had gotten onto the subject of making it into a manga series so everyone could know what they had went through, even if everyone thought it wasn't real. They had kept all the names the same, giving the Priestesses in the manga their names as well, wanting to keep the story as accurate as possible.
The two couldn't believe how popular FY had become, even being turned into an anime series as well. When the anime studio had approached the two to buy rights to make it into a series, they had agreed on the one condition that they got to choose the voice actors. It had taken them several weeks, almost five months in fact, before the two former priestesses had found people who's voices matched their seishi well enough. Yui and Miaka had provided the voices for their characters themselves. It had been fun. In fact, there was talk of making several OVA's.
And the pure number of Fushigi Yugi sites out there had astounded Yui. It was rather interesting to read fanfics that people wrote on the series, though Yui thought Miaka had died of shock the first time she read a Tasuki/Chichiri pairing. Course, Yui had almost died herself when she saw herself paired with Suboshi, Nakago, and, most shocking of all, Miaka herself.
"Tasuki and Chichiri, right? Nice to see some fans of Fushigi Yugi." Yui said, extending a hand to the two. "I'm Yui Honda."
The first thing that went through the two seishi's minds were: How does she know our names? Followed by: What the hell is Fushigi Yugi? And lastly: Yui Honda? Isn't that....
"Priestess of Seirryu!" They each yelled. Tasuki whipped out his tessan with a resounding clang and Chichiri held his staff out with one hand while the other was held before him, first two fingers standing up and the last two folded down.
"Yup, that's me! Wow, you two went all out on your costumes." Yui said, still not catching on that these two were the actual seishi. "And you've even got the mask for Chichiri. How'd you make it? It looks so real." She mused, ignoring their weapons, thinking they were fake, and went up to Chichiri.
The startled monk stumbled back from her, unable to believe that the former priestess was brave enough to just waltze right up to an enemy seishi. Words stumbled over themselves as his concentration wavered. And then he stopped stone-still as he spotted someone he thought he would never see again. "H-Hotohori-sama!"
The young man who had been walking long the sidewalk with several of his friends, all dressed up as characters from Fushigi Yugi, stopped and looked at him. "Hey guys, check it out. They're dressed up for the convention too. Hey, you two wanna come with us, we're on our way there to.
Tasuki too was staring in shock. Was that Nuriko?! But he was dead! And there beside him stood Hotohori and Mitsukake. And Chiriko was there, but damn! The short little kid look to have grown two feet at least. Then he saw the blonde hair and growled. "Nakago." He was about to chant the incantation required to murder the Seirryu seishi when a flash of orange caught his eye. To the right of the blonde general he saw an orange-haired bandit-looking guy with fangs. He wore a black trench coat over a white shirt and pants. A tessan hung loosely from one hand. That guy looks a lot like me!! Creepy! I wonder if he's part of a bandit gang too? And then he saw something that made him faint dead-away. Chichiri stood with one arm wrapped around the Tasuki-look-alike. Only, he looked like he was female!!
"Tasuki-kun! Are you alright, noda?" Chichiri asked, kneeling beside him.
"Hey, is he alright?" Hotohori asked, crouching next to the Suzaku seishi.
"Hai, noda. But...how are you here Your Highness, noda?" The bewildered monk stared at his Emporer, noting he didn't look like he used to. He was too masculine looking now, and his eyes were green now.
"What the hell do you mean? And what did you call me?" The guy asked, perplexed.
Something clicked in Yui's mind. She hadn't noticed it earlier, but this guy who looked like Chichiri...he sure acted a lot like him. More than was usual for a person dressing up. And she noted how he seemed to never forget once to add the 'noda's' and how he had seemed poleaxed at the sight of someone dressed up as Hotohori. A vague thought came to her, but she shook it off. No way in hell they would come here. Miaka's part in the book was done afterall. She stepped up to the Hotohori. "Thank you for your concern, but we can take care of him."
"Yeah, okay. Come on guys. Man, was he weird." The Hotohori said to his friends.
"Weird? Have you taken a look at us recently?" The Nuriko giggled as they all walked away.
On the ground at Yui's and Chichiri's feet, Tasuki groaned and slowly sat up. "That is the last time I drink sake. Thought I say the baka okame and his Royal Highness." He grumbled. He opened his eyes to see Yui still there, standing next to Chichiri who was facing away from him. Waitasecond!! If the Priestess of Seirryu's here, than it weren't no dream!! Looking at Chichiri again, he tackled the older man from behind, slipping his hands around him and feeling his chest. "Hey! Yer a guy!"
Chichiri had been staring at the retreating seishi when he had caught a glimpse of orange hair. His mouth had fallen open in shock when he saw himself walking next to the firey seishi. And then had nearly fainted himself when he saw his twin kiss Tasuki and Tasuki seemed to enjoy it!! Then he had felt someone slam into him from behind and hands running over his chest, followed by a very familiar voice claiming he was male.
"Tasuki-kun!! Of course I'm a guy, noda!! Has it taken you four years to figure that out, noda!?!" Chichiri yelled, pulling away from the bandit and crossing his arms. "Did you have to molest me to figure it out, noda?!"
"Heh heh. Gomen Chiri. Its jus' I thought I saw ya a second ago, only ya had breasts." The bandit explained, rubbing the back of his head.
"Yes. That would be because that was a girl dressed up as him." Yui said, very confused now. Her original idea came back to her. There was only one way to prove it. Get them to say something that her and Miaka had left out of the series. Or do something that would convince her. Though the animosity in each one's eyes as the stared at her was almost enough to convince her. Wait! The OVA's weren't out, and she and Miaka had never written books on that particular part of Miaka's story in the book. Not yet at least. Yes, there was one sure-fire way to determine if this was the real Tasuki. Then she would think up how to determine if this was the real Chichiri or not. "So why are you two here?"
"Why should we tell y'anythin'? We're here t'see Miaka." Tasuki growled, answering just as Yui had wanted him to do.
"You'll tell me because I'm her best friend." Tasuki snorted, looking at her incredulously. "Now tell me, are you here to finish that little scene between you and her at the inn?" Yui asked him viciously.
He opened his mouth to snap right back at her as her words slowly registered in his mind. A look of immense sadness, shame, and fear entered his eyes. A hand gripped his shoulder and the bandit glanced over to see Chichiri watching him in worry. Taking a deep breath, he asked the one question who's answer he feared to know. "So Miaka still hates me for what I did to her? I thought so. And she has every right t'hate me, after I almost fuckin' raped her like that."
"Tasuki-kun. It wasn't your fault, noda. You were possessed, noda." Chichiri said, trying to comfort his friend.
Yui gasped, a hand raising to her mouth. The look on his face had almost broken her heart and now he had just confirmed that he was the real Tasuki, as Chichiri had confirmed he was the real one. "Tasuki no baka!!" She said suddenly. "Are you really as dense as she said you were!? Do you honestly think that Miaka could ever hate you, or anyone else for that matter?! She forgave you that night, you baka!"
The bandit gaped at the fuming priestess. Miaka, had forgiven him? That was more than he had ever hoped for! "But then, ya gotta know I'd never hurt my miko!"
"Yes, I know that. Its just...I had to make sure you were her actual seishi and not someone dressing up as them." Yui replied, biting her lip.
Fire flared to life in Tasuki's eyes as he glared at the former miko. Chichiri quickly cut in, realizing Yui's intentions had been for the good of Miaka. "Tasuki-kun. How could she have known it was us, noda. You saw those other people before. And we could have been an enemy spy for all she knew, noda."
The bandit grumbled and nodded reluctantly, accepting Chichiri's explanation. He was still pissed that Yui had used that to discover whether or not they were Miaka's true seishi. The image of him flaming the former priestess brought an amused smile to his lips for a moment. "Now will you please tell me, is Miaka in danger?" Yui asked them desperately.
"Iie. Not at the moment at least. I'm afraid we do not know much, but if you will take us to Miaka, I will explain everything there." Chichiri said, not comfortable enough around Yui to take off his mask, but the lack of his 'noda's' was enough to let Yui know it was serious.
"Sure. I was on my way over to her apartment. I'll show you two the way. We're only about five minutes from her place as it is." Yui said, motioning for the two men to follow her. She noted warily the way Tasuki's hand would stray to his tessan every time a car flew by them. Just her luck he would land himself in jail for destroying a car and the people inside not three minutes from Miaka's.
"Yui-san, what's that may I ask, noda?" Chichiri piped up, pointing to a stoplight. "How do you make the colors change and light up like that, noda?"
"Its a stoplight and it lights up with the use of machines." Yui answered, getting a little annoyed. That was the seventh question and they hadn't taken more than ten steps towards Miaka's.
"Any good bars aroun' here?"
"For the third time, yes Tasuki!"
"Hey 'Chiri! Y'still owe me a drink you know?"
"Nani, noda?!"
"You said you'd buy the first round after we killed that bastard Naka...uhh...gomen Priestess." Tasuki apologized, remembering at the last moment that Nakago had been one of her seishi.
"That's alright Tasuki."
"What's that thing Yui-san, noda?"
"Its a plane Chichiri."
Chichiri gazed up at the plane curiously. It didn't look alive, so how could it fly? He sighed and filed it away in his mind as one of those things he'd have to ask about later. He looked at the signs hanging over the fronts of several shops. What was a discount store? Not watching where he was going, he didn't notice Yui stop and ran right into her. "Daaaaa. Gomen nasai, Yui-san, noda."
Yui ran a hand through her hair. It was gonna be a long night, that's for sure. "It's alright Chichiri-san. It was an accident."
"Hey! Kin we go there?!" Tasuki asked, pointed at a bar, already moving towards it.
"Da." Chichiri sighed, whacking the bandit with his staff. "We don't have time to go drinking Tasuki-kun, noda."
"Dammit 'Chiri!! Y'didn' have t'hit me so hard!!" Tasuki growled, rubbing the spot where the staff had landed.
"You guys, can we please get going?" Yui asked from where she stood waiting for the two of them.
Recovering his composure, the bandit leader swiped the monk's staff, dashing off to cross the street with Yui. "Tasuki-kun! Give me back my staff, noda! I need that, noda!" The monk wailed, going into his chibi form. Several passerbys found this amusing and a little freaky as the chibi-Chiri floated after the bandit and former priestess, turning cartwheels. He landed on the bandit's back and snatched his shakujo, instantly toppling over as the staff weighed about ten-times his own weight now. The monk quickly reverted his staff to its mini-form and floated up to sit on Tasuki's shoulders once again.
"How do I always end up carryin' ya on m'back?" Tasuki asked to no one in particular.
"Cause I'm so cute and cuddly like this, you wouldn't force me to walk, noda. Would you?" The mini-monk asked, putting on his cutest, most adorable, pity-the-chibi-monk face.
In response, Tasuki reached back and plucked the tiny monk off his back. Holding him out to the side, he dropped him, watching in amusement as Chichiri bounced a few times upon landing, uttering a squirrel-like squeak everytime he landed. Reverting back to his normal size now, since it was obvious he wouldn't be getting a free ride, the monk quickened his steps to catch back up to the other two. "That wasn't very nice, noda."
"Wasn' meant to be."
"How on earth did Miaka survive you two?"
"What do you mean by that Yui-san, noda?" Chichiri asked, putting on a hurt face. Then ruined the effect a moment later. "Yui-san, what's that building, noda? The one with all the lights, noda."
Yui looked to where he was pointing and blushed a bright red. "Ummm...that's a strip club Chichiri-san." She answered, refusing to meet their questioning gazes.
Chichiri nodded as if he understood what that was. Leaning close to Tasuki, he asked the younger seishi, "What's a strip club, noda?" Being a bandit and notorious for drinking everywhere and anywhere, he figured the bandit leader would know.
"Dunno. Maybe a type of bathhouse or bar maybe. Let's check it out later, 'kay? Y'still owe me a drink after all." Tasuki smirked as he heard the elder seishi groan. Chichiri had been hoping the bandit would forget about his promise to buy the first round of drinks at a bar here should the two of them survive. He nodded wearily, consenting to Tasuki's wishes.
"We're here." Yui said, instantly grabbing the two seishi's attention once more. Pulling out the spare key Miaka had given her, she unlocked the door to the building and held the door open for the two men. They slowly stepped in, looking around themselves in wonder. "Come on, she lives on the third floor."
"Yui-san! What's that thing, noda?! Why is it making such odd noises, noda?!" Chichiri demanded, his shakujo held offensively in front of him as he waited for the 'thing' to attack.
"That's a pop machine. I'm not to sure why the things are so noisy. Its not gonna attack you, you know." Yui ran a hand through her hair, keeping her tone civil and polite. Once more, she began to lead the seishi to their priestess.
"Sure will be nice t'fry Obake-chan again." Tasuki grinned, reflexively gripping the handle of his tessan. It had been a long time since he had used his brother seishi for flaming practice.
"About that...Hold on a second." Yui stopped the two on the second floor, chewing her lip slightly. "I'm really glad you two are here, even if you're coming may mean that Miaka is in danger, because I think seeing you two will cheer her up. She's been so depressed after...after Taka died."
"What?! Taka's dead!? But how? NO! That's impossible! He's too stubborn t'die! Ain't he?" Tasuki demanded, eyes wide in shock. Could it really be true that yet another of their number had fallen. That would mean he and Chichiri were the only ones left.
"When?" Came the soft question to his right. He looked to see Chichiri had removed his mask, a look of utter grief written all over his face. The earlier levity gave way to the gloom that settled over the three now.
"Six months ago. He died in a car accident. She...Miaka's never been the same since. I'm hoping that your presence may be able to cheer her up, make her smile again. I would give anything to see her smile again, and not the fake one she has now." Yui whispered. The pain and sorrow in the former priestess' eyes took both men aback, making them reconsider their opinions on this woman. "I've been meaning to ask, how long will you be here before you must return?"
Stunned, Tasuki looked to Chichiri. He hadn't thought about that! What if they only had a few more minutes!? "We have a week. Then we will have to return." Chichiri spoke. Taiits-kun had informed him of this just before the red light had whisked them off to Miaka's world. This world.
Yui nodded, looking crestfallen. "I'll show you the rest of the way there." She said softly. The former Priestess had been hoping they would be staying longer, but she was still grateful they were even there. But then again, their being there meant something had happened and it had to do with Miaka.
Stopping before Miaka's door, she knocked on it softly before trying the doorknob. The door opened easily, indicating that Miaka was home and not out wandering around the city. In the early weeks following Taka's death, Miaka had become so withdrawn and listless, that Yui would often come over to find the door wide open or unlocked when her friend was out someplace, usually the cemetary. She had finally confronted Miaka about it, getting her friend to promise to watch out for herself better. Slipping inside the apartment, she kicked off her shoes and motioned for the other two to come in as well. Following her lead, the two men took off their boots and followed her down the hallway into what appeared to be a kitchen.
"Wait here for a minute. I wanna make sure she's not asleep. I'll be right back." Yui quickly slipped out of the kitchen, searching for her friend.
Tasuki looked around the kitchen, eyeing the everything in there. Pacing around, he stopped before a tall, rectangular box with two doors in it, and that was humming softly. Curious, he reached out and pulled on the upper handle, staring inside in amazement. A light turned on and he felt cold air coming from within. Food and drinks were stacked on shelves on the inside and he licked his lips at the sight of the sake. Then blanched in horror when his eyes fell upon the milk carton.
Stumbling back from the refridgerator, he knocked into Chichiri, stumbling to the ground and getting tangled up with the other seishi. Overbalanced and caught off-guard, due to the him daydreaming, Chichiri blindly reached for the nearest, solid thing with one hand. He tried to use his shakujo to help keep him on his feet, but only managed to knock down a pile of plastic bowls and some silver ware off the counter to the floor with it. His hand came in contact with one of the sink faucets and he instantly hung onto it to keep from falling completely to the floor and onto Tasuki. He was just regaining his balance, when the damned faucet turned, drenching his arm in icy cold water. Yelping in shock, the monk released his hold and toppled right on top of the bandit leader, the tessan digging sharply into his side. Momentarily stunned, Chichiri stared at the ceiling, mindless to the cursing and struggling bandit underneath him. Until two fangs clamped down on his shoulder.
"Ow! Tasuki-kun!! That HURT, noda!!" The monk yelled, rubbing his shoulder roughly.
"I tol' ya three times t'git offa me! What else was I supposed t'do? Let ya suffocate me!?" Tasuki snapped right back, still sitting on the floor. Unfortunately, he was sitting against the cabinets underneath the sink and got totally drenched when the water started overflowing out of the sink. "AHHHHH!!! What the fuck!? That's fuckin' cold, dammit! Is this Pick-on-Tasuki Day today or what!? Now I'm fuckin' wet and cold!"
"Damn you two make a lot of noise, don't you?" Yui remarked from the doorway. Her jaw dropped at the carnage they had caused in the two minutes she had left them alone. Dashing to the sink, she quickly shut off the water and pulled the plug from the bottom of the sink, allowing the water to drain. She pushed the fride door shut, then whirled on the two, flames flaring to life in her eyes. "What, did you two do? Can't I leave you alone for more than one second!? Look what you guys have already done!" The two seishi stared at the ground, not making eye contact with the furious priestess. "You are damn lucky you didn't wake her up! Bad enough she hardly gets any sleep at all with the nightmares she gets!" The two winced, glancing at each other guiltily. "And now look at this mess! You had better NOT be expecting Miaka to clean this up." The two quickly shook their heads. Yui glared at them for a long moment. "I'm giving you two ten minutes to get this cleaned and if it isn't, then Seirryu have mercy, because I will not." Twirling on one heel, she stalked out the door, closing it behind her.
Tasuki looked at Chichiri. "Please tell me y'got a spell or somethin' that'll clean this up."
"A spell? Nope. Guess we'll just have to clean this up by hand, noda!" The monk said brightly, searching through various drawers and cabinets until her came up with two towels. He tossed one to the bandit, slipping the other through his belt. "You start on the water, I'll get the bowls and stuff, noda."
"Ch'. Imagine me, a bandit leader cleanin' some chick's house. True, she's m'miko and all, but its still humiliatin'. If you ever tell Kouji about this, I swear to Suzaku that you'll regret it." Tasuki growled at Chichiri.
Behind his mask, the monk rolled his eyes. As if Tasuki could, no...WOULD ever hurt him. But, deciding he'd rather take orders from Tasuki than face Yui's wrath, he nodded and diligently stooped to pick up all the dropped items. Next to him, he heard Tasuki muttering something about how he hated women, especially priestess' of Seirryu. True to her word, Yui did come back precisely as ten minutes had passed. She walked in to find the kitchen as clean as before and two soaked seishi.
"You two look horrible. Oh well, guess it'll just have to do." Yui tsked, placing her hands on her hips.
A loud yawn came from the other side of the door. "Yui, who did you bring over today?" Miaka asked sleepily, pushing the kitchen door open with one hand while the other rubbed her eyes.
"Why not open your eyes and find out." Yui joked, poking Miaka in the side.
"MIAKA!!" Two voices cried out, almost cutting off the end of Yui's sentence. Miaka's eyes opened wide at the sound of the voices, eyes staring in disbelief at the sight she saw.
A pretty poor sight at that too. Tasuki looked like a drowned wolf and Chichiri wasn't much better off, his mask so water-logged that it was starting to peel off. A blur of black and orange flashed past the monk as Tasuki raced over to his miko, grabbing her in a back-breaking hug. "Its so fuckin' good t'see ya again, Mi-chan!"
"Is that really you Tasuki?" Miaka asked, half-afraid of his answer. When he released her, amber eyes appaising her and fangs showing from a cocky smile, she knew it was him. Only one man in history could ever smile like that! "Oh Tasuki!! It is you!" She cried, wrapping the pleasantly surprised bandit leader in another furious hug.
Chichiri stood a little ways behind the bandit, smiling. His miko sure had changed since he had seen her last. As Tasuki greeted her, the mage took stock of how much she had grown. No longer the short, cute girl they had all fallen in love with, Miaka had grown into a beautiful woman. She was at least four inches taller than the last time the monk had seen her. Her hair reached to her waist, flowing freely down her back instead of being done up in the dumbling knots she had always worn when she had been in their world. Her face and lost the roundness of youth and instead held sharply defined features, with smooth, full lips. Her eyes had darkened to a deeper shade of green, framed by her bangs. Silver hoop earrings hung from her ears and a small diamond stud showed where she had gotten one ear pierced twice.
His eye wandering over her body next, the monk noticed that she seemed to have all the right curves in all the right places and he just caught himself from whistling in admiration. Beneath the mask, he flushed a bright red. What am I thinking, noda!? I'm acting like some lecher and to my own priestess too, noda!! His mental scolding were brought to a halt as deep emerald eyes locked onto his own. Gently pushing away from Tasuki, she threw herself at the monk, hugging him for all she was worth. Chichiri's arms wrapped themselves around her as he buried his face in her hair, holding her tight against him. She still smells like jasmine and cherry blossoms.
"I can't believe you're here!" Miaka cried, tears flowing down her cheeks and soaking into the monk's shirt. "I'm so happy to see you! I thought I'd never get to see you two again."
The monk gripped her harder, unable to find the words to speak to her. In that moment, he dropped every barrier he had ever built up against her since the day he had met her. After three and a half years of denial, it had taken only one hug from her to break everything the monk had convinced himself of. He was finally able to admit it freely to himself. He had hopelessly fallen for his priestess.
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AN: I finally finished the second chapter. And damn is it long! This is twice the normal length I write for a chapter. I think I just may be improving. So, was this chapter any better than the first one? Anywho, I got the second box set of FY finally and I am totally obsessed with the music videos on the fourth DVD. I'm like, addicted to them or something. Anywho, back to the fic. How am I doing on it so far? Am I keep the characters in character for the most part? Anywho, see y'all at the end of the next chapter. I haven't thought of a name yet. And thank y'all fer not makin' fun of me southern accent. Love ya! ~L.G. Lena